The Works of John Dryden, Volume 4

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The Works of John Dryden,
Volume IV

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4 (of 18)
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Title: The Works Of John Dryden, Volume 4 (of 18) Almanzor And
Almahide, Marriage-a-la-Mode, The Assignation
Author: John Dryden
Commentator: Walter Scott
Release Date: March 13, 2005 [EBook #15349]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE
WORKS
OF
JOHN DRYDEN,
NOW FIRST COLLECTED
_IN EIGHTEEN VOLUMES._

ILLUSTRATED
WITH NOTES,
HISTORICAL, CRITICAL, AND EXPLANATORY,
AND
A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR,
BY
WALTER SCOTT, ESQ.

VOL. IV.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR WILLIAM MILLER, ALBEMARLE STREET,

BY JAMES BALLANTYNE AND CO. EDINBURGH.
1808.
* * * * *
CONTENTS
OF
VOLUME FOURTH.
Almanzor and Almahide, or the Conquest of Granada by the Spaniards,
a Tragedy, Part First Epistle Dedicatory to the Duke of York Of Heroic
Plays, an Essay
Part II Defence of the Epilogue; or an Essay
on the Dramatic Poetry of
the last Age
Marriage-a-la-Mode, a Comedy Epistle Dedicatory to the Earl of
Rochester
The Assignation, or Love in a Nunnery, a Comedy Epistle Dedicatory
to Sir Charles Sedley, Bart.
* * * * *
ALMANZOR AND ALMAHIDE:
OR, THE
CONQUEST OF GRANADA
BY THE
_SPANIARDS._

A TRAGEDY.
_--Major rerum mihi nascitur ordo; Majus opus moveo._ VIRG.
ÆNEID.

THE CONQUEST OF GRANADA.
This play,--for the two parts only constitute an entire drama betwixt
them,--seems to have been a favourite with Dryden, as well as with the
public. In the Essay upon Heroic Plays, as well as in the dedication, the
character of Almanzor is dwelt upon with that degree of complacency
which an author experiences in analyzing a successful effort of his
genius. Unquestionably the gross improbability of a hero, by his single
arm, turning the tide of battle as he lists, did not appear so shocking in
the age of Dryden, as in ours. There is no doubt, that, while personal
strength and prowess were of more consequence than military skill and
conduct, the feats of a single man were sometimes sufficient to
determine the fate of an engagement, more especially when exerted by
a knight, sheathed in complete mail, against the heartless and
half-armed mass, which constituted the feudal infantry. Those, who
have perused Barbour's History of Robert Bruce, Geoffrey de Vinsauf's
account of the wars of Richard Coeur de Lion, or even the battles
detailed by Froissart and Joinville, are familiar with instances of
breaches defended, and battles decided, by the prowess of a single arm.
The leader of a feudal army was expected by his followers not only to
point out the path to victory but to lead the way in person. It is true, that
the military art had been changed in this particular long before the days
of Dryden. Complete armour was generally laid aside; fire-arms had
superseded the use of the lance and battle-axe; and, above all, the
universal institution of standing armies had given discipline and
military skill their natural and decisive superiority over untaught
strength, and enthusiastic valour. But the memory of what had been,
was still familiar to the popular mind, and preserved not only by
numerous legends and traditions, but also by the cast of the fashionable
works of fiction. It is, indeed, curious to remark, how many minute
remnants of a system of ancient manners can be traced long after it has

become totally obsolete. Even down to the eighteenth century, the
portrait of every soldier of rank was attired in complete armour, though,
perhaps, he never saw a suit of mail excepting in the Tower of London;
and on the same principle of prescriptive custom, Addison was the first
poet who ventured to celebrate a victorious general for skill and
conduct, instead of such feats as are appropriated to Guy of Warwick,
or Bevis of Hampton. The fashion of attributing mighty effects to
individual valour being thus prevalent, even in circumstances when
every one knew the supposition to be entirely gratuitous, the same
principle, with much greater propriety, continued to be applied in
works of fiction, where the scene was usually carried back to times in
which the personal strength of a champion really had some efficacy. It
must be owned, however, that the authors of the French romances
carried the influence of individual strength and courage beyond all
bounds of modesty