. Historical portraits ... the lives of Fletcher .. . d it was the reflection ofa mind of essential vigour and manliness. Dryden was no sycophant, as he was no saint; he obeyed thepowers that were, and, when he liked them, he flattered them toomuch, for he had to live by their patronage and they loved turned Roman Catholic under King James, who would otherwisehave turned him out of his poor little office; but it is clear that heattached little weight to the difference of creeds, and he refused, inspite of much pressure, to revert to Protestantism after the Revolu-tion, altho
. Historical portraits ... the lives of Fletcher .. . d it was the reflection ofa mind of essential vigour and manliness. Dryden was no sycophant, as he was no saint; he obeyed thepowers that were, and, when he liked them, he flattered them toomuch, for he had to live by their patronage and they loved turned Roman Catholic under King James, who would otherwisehave turned him out of his poor little office; but it is clear that heattached little weight to the difference of creeds, and he refused, inspite of much pressure, to revert to Protestantism after the Revolu-tion, although he lost the laureateship by this refusal. The besttrait in his character is perhaps his generous and sound apprecia-tion of the work of others, even of such bitter political opponents asMilton. He staunchly maintained the fame of Shakespeare as thegreatest of Englishmen, in an age which had forgotten and belittledhim. He died revered by the whole literary world of England,the oracle of the wits and the cynosure of all eyes at his JOHN DRYDEN From the portrait by Sir GodlViy Knellcr in tlio Kit Cat Collection belonging to H. C. Baker, Esq., of Bayfordbury Face />. 30i SIR CLOUDISLEY SHOVELL (1650-1707) was the son of John Shovell, a Norfolk squire, and Anne enter the Navy was a county and a family tradition, and at the age offourteen Shovel! went to sea. During the Dutch War he saw somefighting; there is even a legend of his swimming with dispatches inhis mouth under a hot fire. Promotion came to him steadily as thereward for much hard service, and after the Battle of Bantry Bay hewas knighted (1689). Next jear as Rear-Admiral of the Blue, hecommanded a squadron in the Irish Sea, while two years later in thefamous Battle of La Hogue his manoeuvre in piercing the Frenchline at Barfleur contributed greatly to the English victory. Sub-sequently he joined Rooke, and had a large share in the capture ofGibraltar and the victory of Malaga (17
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectportraitpainting
