James Howell, a noted British author, was born at Abernaut, in Carmarthenshire, in 1594, and died in November, 1666. Of all his works, his “Letters,” the “Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ” (four volumes issued in 1645, 1647, 1650 and 1655) are best known, and his elaborate allegories are forgotten.
Actions of the last age are like almanacs of the last year.
“The Sophy,” A Tragedy,—Sir John Denham.
Sir John Denham, a noted English poet, was born in Dublin, 1615, and died in London (?), March 15 (?), 1669. He translated the “Æneid,” and produced “The Sophy,” a tragedy, and “Cooper’s Hill,” a famous poem.
I have ever thought,
Nature doth nothing so great for great men,
As when she’s pleas’d to make them lords of truth.
Integrity of life is fame’s best friend,
Which nobly, beyond death shall crown the end.
The Duchess of Malfi, Act V, Sc. 5,—John Webster.
John Webster, a famous English dramatist, was born near the end of the sixteenth century. Some of his dramas are: “The White Devil, or Vittoria Corombona,” “The Duchess of Malfi,” “Appius and Virginia,” and “The Devil’s Law Case.”
My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such present joys therein I find,
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind;
Though much I want which most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.
—Edward Dyer.
Sir Edward Dyer, a noted English courtier and poet, was born at Sharpham Park, Somersetshire, and died in 1607. He had a great reputation as a poet among his contemporaries, but very little of his work has survived. “My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is,” is universally accepted as his.