Page:Poetical Works of John Oldham.djvu/16

6 to that love of liberty, and scorn of the slavery of patronage, which are energetically asserted in his poems. By the force of these qualities he won his reputation, and rose from a position of obscurity to the companionship of men of rank and letters, and the intimate friendship of Dryden.

John Oldham was the son of a nonconformist minister who had a congregation at Nuneaton. He was born at Shipton, near Tedbury, in Gloucestershire, on the 9th August, 1653; and, after having received the rudiments of his education at home, was placed at Tedbury school, where he remained for two years. He was indebted for this step in his preliminary career to an alderman of Bristol, who had a son at the school, and was anxious that the boy should have the advantage of reading with young Oldham — from which it may be inferred that the latter had already shown more than average diligence and capacity. Oldham made a rapid progress at Tedbury; and in June, 1670, was entered at Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he was assisted in his studies by the Rev. Mr. Stephens, who early discovered the tendency of his genius. Here he soon distinguished himself by his mastery of Greek and Latin. His favourite authors were the poets, and the success with which he cultivated them is shown in his subsequent translations and imitations. The love of poetry manifested itself strongly at this period, and at last took complete possession of his time and thoughts. Later in life, when opportunities were thrown open to him of embarking in more profitable pursuits, he confessed that his efforts in every other direction were fruitless, and that the Muse, his 'darling sin,' still drew him back to the inveterate habit of his youth:

In vain I better studies there would sow; Oft have I tried, but none will thrive or grow.

In May, 1674, he took his degree of B.A.; shortly after which, much against his own wishes and remonstrances, he was summoned home by his father, who, probably, could not afford the expense of a more prolonged residence at the