have directed him to do.

Mr. Shadwell died the 19th of December 1692, in the fifty-second year
of his age, as we are informed by the inscription upon his monument in
Westminster Abbey; tho' there may be some mistake in that date; for it
is said in the title page of his funeral sermon preached by Dr. Nicholas
Brady, that he was interred at Chelsea, on the 24th of November, that
year. This sermon was published 1693, in quarto, and in it Dr. Brady
tells us, 'That our author was 'a man of great honesty and integrity,
an inviolable fidelity and strictness in his word, an unalterable
friendship wherever he professed it, and however the world maybe
mistaken in him, he had a much deeper sense of religion than many who
pretended more to it. His natural and acquired abilities, continues the
Dr. made him very amiable to all who knew and conversed with him, a very
few being equal in the becoming qualities, which adorn, and fit off a
complete gentleman; his very enemies, if he have now any left, will
give him this character, at least if they knew him so thoroughly as I
did.--His death seized him suddenly, but he could not be unprepared,
since to my certain knowledge he never took a dose of opium, but he
solemnly recommended himself to God by prayer.'

When some persons urged to the then lord chamberlain, that there were
authors who had better pretensions to the Laurel; his lordship replied,
'He did not pretend to say how great a poet Shadwell might be, but was
sure he was an honest man.'

Besides his dramatic works, he wrote several other pieces of poetry; the
chief of which are his congratulatory poem on the Prince of Orange's
coming to England; another on queen Mary; his translation of the 10th
Satire of Juvenal, &c. Shadwell in his Comedies imitated Ben Johnson,
and proposed him as his model of excellence, with what degree of success
we shall not take upon us to determine, but proceed to give an account
of his plays.

1. The Sullen Lovers, or the Impertinent, a Comedy; acted at the duke's
theatre, dedicated to William duke of Newcastle: the dedication is dated
September 1st, 1668.

2. The Humorist, a Comedy; acted by his royal highest servants,
dedicated to Margaret duchess of Newcastle.

3. The Royal Shepherdess, a Tragi-Comedy; acted by the duke of York's
servants, printed at London 1669, in quarto. This play was originally
written by Mr. Fountain of Devonshire, but altered throughout by Mr.
Shadwell.

4. The Virtuos