Page:The lives of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland to the time of Dean Swift - Volume 4.djvu/46

36 he was diffident of Mr. Hughes’s abilities; but knowing that no man could have ſo perfect a notion of his deſign as himſelf, who had been ſo long, and ſo carefully thinking of it. I was told this by Mr. Hughes, and I tell it to ſhew, that it was not for the love-ſcenes, that Mr. Addiſon conſented to have his Tragedy acted, but to ſupport public ſpirit; which in the opinion of the author was then declining.’ In the year 1720 the Siege of Damaſcus was acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, with univerſal applauſe. His preſent majeſty honoured it with his preſence, and the late queen diſtinguiſhed it with marks of favour.

Mr. Hughes drew up the dedication of this Tragedy to the late Earl Cowper, about ten days before he died. It is indeed ſurpriſing, that he ſhould be able to form a piece ſo finely turned, and at ſuch an hour; when death was juſt before him, and he was too weak to tranſcribe it himſelf.

Mr. Pope, in a letter to Mr. Hughes’s brother, written ſoon after his death, in anſwer to one received from him, with the printed copy of the play, has the following pathetic paſſage. ‘I read over again your brother’s play, with more concern and ſorrow, than I ever felt in the reading any Tragedy. The real loſs of a good man may be called a diſtreſs to the world, and ought to affect us more, than any feigned diſtreſs, how well drawn ſoever. I am glad of an occaſion of giving you under my hand this teſtimony, both how excellent I think this work to be, and how excellent I thought the author.’ It is generally allowed that the characters in this play are finely varied and diſtinguiſhed; that the ſentiments are juſt, and well adapted to the characters; that it abounds with beautiful ,