Thy happier Graces, Purcell, have prevail'd!
And surely none but you with equal ease,
Cou'd add to David, and make D'Urfy please."
The above lines were printed in the Gentleman's Journal with an editorial note: "A music book intituled Harmonia Sacra will shortly be printed for Mr. Playford. I need not say anything more to recommend it to you, than that you will find in it many of Mr. Henry Purcell's admirable composures. As they charm all men, they are universally extolled, and even those who know him no otherwise than by his Notes are fond of expressing their sense of his merit. Mr. Thomas Brown is one of those, as you will find by these lines."
The lines appeared in the several editions of Harmonia Sacra even as late as 1714, and there is no ground for believing that the poet and musician ever met.
Dr. Arne gave a concert at Drury Lane Theatre on the 21st of June, 1768, for which he published a book of the words; and one of the pieces is Purcell's catch, "Jack, thou'rt a toper." To this Arne has appended the following note:—
"The words of this catch are said to be written by Mr. Purcell, wherein, it is obvious, that he meant no elegance with regard to the poetry; but made it intirely subservient to his extream pretty design in the music."
The catch, as has been noticed previously, forms a part of the opera Bonduca.
When we consider the immense amount and varied kind of labour Purcell accomplished during his short life of thirty-seven years, we must conclude that although of a bright and joyous nature he was of temperate habits; he had not only his duties at Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal to fulfil, but there was also constant occupation in composing for the Church, the Court, and the Theatre; he had numerous professional pupils, and gave lessons in the families of some of the most distinguished gentry and aristocracy; he also was frequently called upon to preside over and direct the concerts which were given in private assemblies. The Lord Keeper North, well known for his theoretical and practical skill in music, and the author of the Memoires of Musick, was wont to employ him in that capacity at his house in Queen Street.
The position Purcell held in his profession necessitated his keeping late hours, which undoubtedly overtaxed a delicate constitution and culminated in his fatal illness in the prime of his manhood. Valuable testimony to this view of the circumstances attending Purcell's death is to be found in a curious volume called the Great Abuse of Musick, published in 1711 by the Rev. Arthur Bedford, Chaplain to the Duke of Bedford, and Vicar of the Temple in Bristol. The author, himself a musician and composer, was also the writer of a companion volume, On the Evil and Danger of Stage Plays, and in both books he vigorously exposes the vice and immorality prevalent in his day, and is justly severe on poets and musicians; therefore the passages in which he speaks of his contemporaries, Blow and Purcell, are of great importance. He says:—