'Cause they were such who liv'd not when they were;
Yet your great Generall (who doth rise and fall,
As his successes do, whom you dare call,
As Fame unto you doth reports dispence,
Either a —— or his Excellence)
Howe'r he reigns now by unheard-of laws,
Could wish his fate together with his cause."
It is clear to me, that these lines could not have been written in 1643, soon after the death of Sir B. Grenvill; and, supposing any part of the poem to have come from the pen of Cartwright, they must have been interpolated after the elevation of Cromwell to supreme power.
I have thrown out these points for information, and it is probable that some of your readers will be able to afford it: if able, I conclude they will be willing.
It may be an error to fancy that the copy of Cartwright now in my hands, containing the cancelled and uncancelled leaves, is a rarity; but although in my time I have inspected at least thirty copies of his Comedies, Tragi-Comedies, with other Poems, I certainly never met with one before with this peculiarity. On this matter, also, I hope for enlightenment.