[p. 212, l. 26] nobly throw away. 1724 ‘throw a Way’.
[p. 213, ll. 3-22] All this won’t do. The concluding twenty lines of the Epilogue are only given in 4to 1681. All subsequent editions omit them.
Notes: Critical And Explanatory.
Rover II.
Dedication
[p. 113] The Duke. James, Duke of York, for whom Mrs, Behn, a thorough Tory, entertained sentiments of deepest loyalty. The ‘absence’, ‘voluntary Exile’, ‘new Exiles’, mentioned in the Dedication all refer to James’ withdrawal from England in 1679, at the time of the seditious agitation to pass an illegal Exclusion Bill. The Duke left on 4 March for Amsterdam, afterwards residing at the Hague. In August he came back, Charles being very ill. Upon the King’s recovery he retired to Scotland 27 October. In March, 1682, he paid a brief visit to the King, finally returning home June of the same year.
[p. 114.] young Cesar in the Field. During the Commonwealth and his first exile James had joined Turenne’s army, 24 April, 1652, and was frequently in the field. He distinguished himself by conspicuous bravery. In 1656, at the wish of Charles, he joined the Spanish army.
[p. 114] Some of Oliver’s Commanders at Dunkirk. During the Flanders campaign of 1657, Reynolds, the commander of the English at Dunkirk, sought and obtained an interview with James, whom he treated with the most marked respect and honour. This was reported to Cromwell, much to the Protector’s chagrin and alarm.
[p. 115.] City Pope. An allusion to the exploits of Elkanah Settle, who was so notorious at that time for violent Whiggism that in 1680 he had presided over the senseless city ceremony of ‘Pope-burning’ on 17 November. This annual piece of ridiculous pageantry is smartly described by Dryden in his Prologue to Southerne’s The Loyal Brother (1682); and in the Epilogue to Oedipus, (1679), after enumerating the attractions of the play, he ends—
We know not what you can desire or hope