CX. TO CLEMENT EDMONDS, ON HIS CÆSAR'S COMMENTARIES OBSERVED AND OT Cæsar's deeds, nor all his honours won, The name of Pompey for an enemy, To have engraved these acts with his own style, 9 To Clement Edmonds, on his Cæsar's Commentaries.] Of this learned gentleman, who bore several public offices, during the reigns of queen Elizabeth and James I., the reader has an account in the Athena Oxoniensis. WHAL. This, and the following poem were prefixed, with other commendatory verses, to Observations upon Caesar's Commentaries: by Clement Edmundes, Remembrancer of the city of London. fol. 1 In these west parts,] i. e. in Gaul and Britain. WHAL. CXI. TO THE SAME. ON THE SAME. HO, Edmonds, reads thy book, and doth not see What the antique soldiers were, the modern be? Wherein thou shew'st, how much the later are And that in action there is nothing new, That to the world thou should'st reveal so much, By thy great help; and doth proclaim by me, CXII. TO A WEAK GAMESTER IN POETRY. ITH thy small stock, why art thou venturing still, At this so subtle sport, and play'st so ill? too? I leave thee there, and giving way, intend That both for wit and sense so oft dost pluck, Nor scarce dost colour for it, which is less. CXIII. TO SIR THOMAS OVERBURY.3 O Phœbus make me worthy of his bays, stood, Where, what makes other great, doth keep thee good! 2 There's no vexation that can make thee prime.] This is an excellent little poem; the allusion to a set at primero, which pervades the whole of it, is supported with equal spirit and ingenuity. One of sir John Harington's "epigrams," or, as Jonson called them, "narrations," contains "the story of Marcus' life at primero." In this the various accidents of the game are detailed with great dulness and prolixity. A short specimen taken at random, will shew how closely our author has kept to the terms of the game. "But Marcus never can encounter right, 3 Sir Thomas Overbury.] This epigram was probably written about 1610, when sir Thomas returned from his travels, and fol I think, the fate of court thy coming crav'd, Could make such men, and such a place repent: CXIV. TO MISTRESS PHILIP SIDNEY. MUST believe some miracles still be, In mere out-forms, until he lost his sight, lowed the fortunes of Carr with a zeal and integrity worthy of a better fate. That sir Thomas was poisoned in the Tower by the infamous countess of Essex is well known; but it has been, and indeed still may be made a question, whether Carr himself was privy to this atrocious fact. It is said that his opposition to the marriage between his friend and the divorced countess made it expedient to remove him from court, and that while Rochester (Carr) intreated the king to bestow an embassy upon him, he secretly instigated Overbury to refuse the charge. It would seem, however, from Winwood's State Papers (vol. iii. pp. 447, 453, 475,) that the refusal originated with sir Thomas himself, who was of a lofty and unmanageable spirit. However it might be, James was justly irritated; the destined victim was committed to the Tower, and the catastrophe followed with fatal speed. Overbury was of an ancient family in Warwickshire. He was born in 1581, came to court to push his fortune in 1604, was knighted in 1608, and died in 1613. He was highly accomplished, and, as Granger truly remarks, was "possessed of parts, learning, and judgment, beyond his years." 4 Daughter of that great statesman, sir Francis Walsingham, many years principal secretary to queen Elizabeth, and widow of sir Philip Sidney. Walsingham died poor, so that his daughter, who was also his heiress, brought little to her husband besides her beauty and her virtues. Hath changed his soul, and made his object you: CXV. ON THE TOWN'S HONEST MAN. OU wonder who this is, and why I name Suffers no name, but a description; 5 Can come from Tripoly,] i. e. can jump, and do feats of activity: see the Silent Woman. WHAL. |