panegyric on the Lord Chancellor; and a satire on the Dutch; were all,
and are all short, and all savour of a vein somewhat hide-bound. He
planned, indeed, too, and partly wrote, one or more plays, and was
considered of consequence enough to be elected a member of the Royal
Society in 1662. Previous to this he had been introduced, through
Herringman, to Sir Robert Howard, son of the first Earl of Berkshire,
and a relation of Edward Howard, the author of "British Princes," and
the object of the witty wrath of Butler. Sir Robert, too, had a
poetical propensity, and Dryden and he became and continued intimate for
a number of years, the poet assisting the knight in his literary
compositions, particularly in a play entitled "The Indian Queen;" and
the latter inviting the former to the family seat at Charlton, where
Dryden met in an unlucky hour his future wife, Lady Elizabeth Howard,
the sister of Sir Robert. It was on the 1st of December 1663, in St
Swithin's, London, and with the consent of the Earl, who settled about
£60 a-year on his daughter, that this unhappy union took place. The lady
seems to have had absolutely none of the qualities which tend either to
command a husband's respect or to conciliate his regard, but is
described as a woman of violent temper and weak understanding. Much of
the bitterness of Dryden's satire, some of the coarse licentiousness of
his plays, and all the sarcasms at matrimony which he has scattered in
multitudes, throughout his works, may be traced to his domestic
unhappiness.

Otherwise, the match had some advantages. It broke up, for a time at
least, some licentious connexions he had formed, particularly, after a
time, one with Mrs Reeves the actress, with whom, having laid aside his
Norwich drugget, he used to eat tarts at the Mulberry Gardens, "with a
sword and a Chadreux wig." It secured to him, including his own
property, an income of about £100 a-year--a sum equal to £300 now--and