that a blessing which closed his mouth, or a misfortune which
opened it with a good grace, were nearly equal to him; nay, that
sometimes the misfortune was the more acceptable of the two. It is
possible, by a parity of reasoning, that Dryden may have felt himself
rather relieved from, than deprived of, his fanatical patrons, under
whose guidance he could never hope to have indulged in that career of
literary pursuit, which the new order of things presented to the
ambition of the youthful poet; at least, he lost no time in useless
lamentation, but, now in his thirtieth year, proceeded to exert that
poetical talent, which had heretofore been repressed by his own
situation, and that of the country.

Dryden, left to his own exertions, hastened to testify his joyful
acquiescence in the restoration of monarchy, by publishing "_Astroea
Redux_," a poem which was probably distinguished among the innumerable
congratulations poured forth upon the occasion; and he added to those
which hailed the coronation, in 1661, the verses entitled, "A Panegyric
to his Sacred Majesty." These pieces testify, that the author had
already made some progress in harmonising his versification. But they
also contain many of those points of wit, and turns of epigram, which he
condemned in his more advanced judgment. The same description applies,
in a yet stronger degree, to the verses addressed to Lord Chancellor
Hyde (Lord Clarendon) on the new-year's-day of 1662, in which Dryden has
more closely imitated the metaphysical poetry than in any poem, except
the juvenile elegy on Lord Hastings. I cannot but think, that the poet
consulted the taste of his patron, rather than his own, in adopting this
peculiar style. Clarendon was educated in the court of Charles I., and
Dryden may have thought it necessary, in addressing him, to imitate the
"strong verses," which were then admired.

According to the fashion of the times, such copies of occasional verses
were rewarded by a gratuity from the person to whom they were addressed;
and poets had not yet learned to think this mode of receiving assistance
incompatible with the feelings of dignity or delicacy. Indeed, in the
common transactions of that age, one sees something resembling the
eastern custom of accompanying with a present, and not always a splendid
one, the usual forms of intercourse and civility. Thus we find the
wealthy corporation of Hull, backing a polite address to the Duke of
Monmouth, their gover