e play created a furore, and its political purport as a picture of the
baffled intrigues of Shaftesbury in favour of Lucy Walter's overweening
son is obvious, nor is it rendered less so by Dryden's clever and
caustic _Vindication of the Duke of Guise_ (1683). It is interesting to
note that Lady Slingsby, who played the Queen Mother, Catherine de'
Medici, in this play, has some very sardonic speeches put in her mouth;
indeed, as Henri III aptly remarks,'she has a cruel wit'.

In 1684 were published the famous _Love Letters between a Nobleman and
his Sister_. The letters, supposed to have passed between Forde, Lord
Grey,[39] and his sister-in-law Lady Henrietta Berkeley, fifth daughter
of the Earl, are certainly the work of Mrs. Behn. Romantic and
sentimental, with now and again a pretty touch that is almost lyrical in
its sweet cadence, they enjoyed the same extraordinary popularity which
very similar productions have attained at a recent date. A third edition
was called for in 1707.

[Footnote 39: Forde, Lord Grey of Werke, Earl of Tankerville, who
succeeded to the title in 1675, was married to Lady Mary Berkeley.
He eloped, however, with Lady Henrietta Berkley, and great scandal
ensued. When he and his minions were brought to trial, 23 November,
1682, his mistress and a number of staunch Whigs boldly accompanied
him into court. He was found guilty, but as his friends banded
together to resist, something very like a riot ensued. He died
25 June, 1701. Lady Henrietta Berkeley, who never married, survived
her lover nine years.]

Mrs. Behn was also busy seeing her poems through the press. The title
page is dated 1684, and they were issued with a dedication to the Earl
of Salisbury.[40] In the same volume is included her graceful
translation of the Abbe Tallemant's _Le Voyage de l'Isle d'Amour_,
entitled, _A Voyage to The Isle of Love_.

[Footnote 40:
Astrea with her soft gay sighing Swains
And rural virgins on the flowery Plains,
The lavish Peer's profuseness may reprove
Who gave her Guineas for the _Isle of Love_.
--_Contemporary Satire_,-- (Harleian MSS.)]

The following undated letter (preserved at Bayfordbury) addressed to
Jacob Tonson, and first published in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, May,
1836, pleads hard for an extra payment of five pounds for her book. She
writes:--

Deare Mr. Tonson

I am mightly obleg{d} to you for y{e} service you have don me to Mr.
Dr