Charles Sedley

Sir Charles Sedley, 4th baronet (March 1639 - 20 August 1701) was an English poet, playwright, and courtier.

Sir Charles Sedley (1639-1701). Portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Life

Overview

Sedley, son and heir of a Kentish baronet, was at Oxford and, coming to the Court of Charles II, became one of the most popular and brilliant members of its dissipated circles. He was the author of 2 tragedies and 3 comedies, now forgotten, though extravagantly lauded in their day, and of some poems and songs, of which the best known are "Phyllis" and "Chloris". His only child was the witty and profligate Catherine Sedley, mistress of James II, who created her Countess of Dorset. Bellamira and The Mulberry Garden, founded respectively on Terence and Molière, are his best plays. His prose in pamphlets and essays is better than his verse.

Family

Sedley was the youngest and posthumous son of Sir John Sedley (or Sidley, as the name was properly spelt), baronet, of Southfleet in Kent, where this ancient family had moved its seat from the neighborhood of Romney Marsh. Sir John Sedley's wife Elizabeth was the daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Savile (1549–1622). "An Epitaph on the Lady Sedley" was written by Edmund Waller (Poems, ed. Drury, 243). Their son Charles succeeded to the title and estates after his elder brothers William and Henry had both died unmarried (Collins).

Youth and education

Charles Sedley was born about 1639 at Aylesford in Kent.

He entered Wadham College, Oxford, as a fellow commoner on 22 March 1655-6, but did not earn a degree.

Career

On 23 February 1657 Sedley married, at St. Giles's-in-the-Fields, Catherine, daughter of John Savage, earl Rivers, by whom he had a daughter, Catharine (who became the favorite mistress of James, duke of York).

After the Restoration Sedley entered parliament as a member (baron) for New Romney. The parliamentary speeches attributed to him bear largely upon the advantages of retrenchment, and in general reflect the opinions of a moderate tory.

Sedley was reputed as a notorious rake and libertine, part of the "Merry Gang" gang of courtiers which included the earl of Rochester and Lord Buckhurst.

The earliest of many notices concerning Sedley in Pepys's Diary refers to a shameful drunken frolic in which he, Lord Buckhurst (afterwards Earl of Dorset), and Sir Thomas Ogle engaged at the Cock Tavern in Bow Street. From the tavern balcony he, Lord Buckhurst and Sir Thomas Ogle shocked and delighted a crowd of onlookers. According to Pepys, Sedley -

showed his nakedness - and abusing of scripture and as it were from thence preaching a mountebank sermon from the pulpit, saying that there he had to sell such a pouder as should make all the cunts in town run after him, 1000 people standing underneath to see and hear him, and that being done he took a glass of wine and washed his prick in it and then drank it off, and then took another and drank the King’s health.

This behavior provoked a riot amongst the onlookers and condemnation in the courts; Sedley was fined £500 in the court of king's bench. Chief-justice Foster is said to have observed on this occasion that it was for Sedley "and such wicked wretches as he was that God's anger and judgments hung over us" (Pepys, s.d. 1 July 1663; cf. Johnson's Lives of the Poets, s.v. Dorset).

5 years later Sedley and his boon-companion Buckhurst were guilty of a similar escapade, and when they were threatened with legal proceedings, the king was reported to have interfered on their behalf, besides getting drunk in their company (Pepys, 23 Oct. 1668).

On 16 November 1667 Pepys speaks of Lord Vaughan as "one of the lewdest fellows of the age, worse than Sir Charles Sedley." On 1 February 1669 Pepys alludes to the brutal assault contrived by Sedley upon actor Edward Kynaston, who had presumed upon his striking personal resemblance to Sedley by appearing in public dressed in imitation of him. On 4 October 1664 and 18 February. 1667, however, Pepys listened with much pleasure to Sedley's witty criticisms at the play.

Sedley is also occasionally associated with a notorious gang of unbridled revellers who called themselves Ballers and who were active between 1660 and 1670. It was probably Sedley who wrote the Ballers' Oath on behalf of them.

The literary reputation of Sedley among his contemporaries equaled his notoriety in the world of fashion and scandal. King Charles II is said to have told him that "Nature had given him a patent to be Apollo's viceroy," and to have frequently asserted that "his style, either in writing or discourse, would be the standard of the English tongue." Flatteries were lavished on him by Rochester, Buckingham, and Shadwell (see Langbaine).

Dryden introduced him, under the anagrammatic designation of Lisideius, as one of the personages of the dialogue published in 1668 as "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy." Dryden dedicated to Sedley The Assignation (1673), where he calls him the Tibullus of his age, and recalls the genial nights spent with him "in pleasant and for the most part instructive discourse.’

In January 1680 Sedley's skull was fractured by the fall of the roof of the tennis-court in the Haymarket, and he narrowly escaped with his life (Hatton Correspondence, Camd. Soc. i. 216).

Under James II

After the death of Charles II in 1685, Sedley is said to have withdrawn from London as much as possible. He was illegally excluded from the parliament of James II, which convened on May 1685. There can be no doubt that Sedley opposed the Catholic James and supported William of Orange in the crucial year of 1688.

According to a well-known anecdote, Sedley is said to have declared himself to be even in civility with King James. As Duke of York, James had taken Sedley's daughter, Catherine, as his favorite mistress, and had her created countess of Dorchester. After voting in the Convention parliament for William and Mary (James's daughter) to take the throne, Sedley explained that he was returning the favor: "As the king has made my daughter a countess, the least I can do, in common gratitude, is to assist in making his Majesty's daughter a queen."

However, supposing the earliest of the prose papers printed as Sedley's, entitled "Reflections upon our Late and Present Proceedings in England," to be genuine, he at the time of the Revolution favored delay till the question as to the birth of the Prince of Wales should have been settled, and, only in the event of this proving impossible, supported the succession of the Princess of Orange in her own right and without her consort. This contribution to the pamphlet literature of the crisis furnishes a good example of Sedley's clear and facile prose style.

In the 2nd parliament of William, elected in March 1690, Sedley was returned, his political career reaching its zenith through his becoming Speaker of the Commons. More speeches and parliamentary motions followed in 1690, including discussions on the Bill for regulating trials for High Treason, which sheds light on Sedley's political commitment after the Revolution. A speech of his on the civil list after the Revolution is cited by Macaulay as a proof that his reputation as a man of wit and ability was deserved.

Sedley kept his seat in Parliament until his death, on 20 August 1701.

Writing

When the literary remains of Sedley are examined, they are found very imperfectly to warrant their contemporary reputation.

Plays

Sedley's plays consist of 2 tragedies and 3 comedies.

Antony and Cleopatra (1677, reprinted 1702, under the title of Beauty the Conqueror; or, The death of Marc Antony) was extolled by Shadwell (dedication of A True Widow) as "the only tragedy, except two of Johnson's and one of Shakespeare's, wherein Romans are made to speak and do like Romans." It would be more appropriately compared with Dryden's All for Love (1678), but is too frigid and uninteresting a composition, especially in its earlier portions, to sustain the comparison. It is in heroic couplets, largely interspersed with triplets, to which Sedley was particularly addicted.

The Tyrant King of Crete, which seems never to have been acted, is merely an adaptation of Henry Killigrew's The Conspiracy (printed 1638), or, more probably, of its revised edition, Pallantus and Eudora, printed 1653 (see Genest, x. 150). This romantic drama is in blank verse, which the printer terribly confused.

The comedy of The Mulberry-garden (1668), partly founded on Molière's École des Maris, is an example, composed partly in easy prose, partly in rhymed couplets, of what may be called the "rambling" comedy of the age. This worthless piece is supposed to play just about the time of Monck's declaration in favor of the Restoration.

Bellamira; or, The mistress (1687), founded on the Eunuchus of Terence, is the single play of Sedley's which may both for better and for worse be said to come near to his reputation; it is both the grossest and, from a literary point of view, the best executed of his plays. The character of the heroine was said to be intended as an exposure of the Duchess of Cleveland (cf. Genest, i. 455). The author, in his prologue, need hardly have asked:

Is it not strange to see, in such an age,

The pulpit get the better of the stage?

Sedley also adapted a French original (which has not been identified) under the title of The Grumbler. This piece appears to have remained unacted until 1754, when it was brought out as a farce at Drury Lane, and this or the original was again adapted by Goldsmith in 1773 for Quick's benefit (Genest, iv. 391–2, v. 373; Biographia Dramatica, ii. 274).

Apart from the prologues of his own plays, Sedley wrote at least 4 more prologues to comedies, the best-known of which was written for Shadwell's Epsom-Wells.

Prose

His prose writings consist, besides the pieces already mentioned, of a commonplace "Essay on Entertainments," and a prose version of Cicero's oration "pro M. Marcello." The burlesque "Speech and Last Will and Testament" of the Earl of Pembroke may be his, but it has also been attributed to Butler.

Verse

Sedley's non-dramatic verse comprises little that is noticeable, and is not to be regarded as equal in merit even to his friend Dorset's. He has, however, occasionally very felicitous turns of diction, the effect of which is enhanced by the unstudied simplicity of his manner. Among his amorous lyrics, while various tributes to Aurelia or Aminta are forgotten, the pretty song "Phillis is my only Joy" (to which he wrote the companion "Song à la mode") survives chiefly because of its setting as a madrigal. Another lyric of merit is "Love still has something of the Sea."

In his non-dramatic productions Sedley, although a licentious, is not as a rule an obscene writer. He has also left a series of translations and adaptations, including versions in heroic couplets of Virgil's "Fourth Georgic" and Eclogues, and an adaptation, under the sub-title of "Court Characters," of a series of epigrams from Martial.

Sedley's poems, together with those of Dorset, were collected in A New Miscellany, 1701, and in a Collection of Poems of the same date. They were published separately, together with his speeches, in 1707, London, 8vo; subsequent editions, 1722 and 1776.

Critical introduction

by Edmund Gosse

Sedley was one of the most graceful and refined of the mob of Restoration noblemen who wrote in prose and verse. For nearly 40 years he was recognised as a patron of the art of poetry, and as an amateur of more than usual skill. 3 times, at intervals of 10 years, he produced a play in the taste of the age, and when his clever comedy of Bellamira was condemned at the Theatre Royal, on account of its intolerable indelicacy, he sulked for the remainder of his life, and left to his executors 3 more plays in manuscript.

His songs are bright and lively, but inferior to those of Rochester in lyrical force. A certain sweetness of diction in his verse delighted his contemporaries, who praised his "witchcraft" and his "gentle prevailing art." In his plays he seems to be successively inspired by Etheredge, Shadwell and Crowne. 2 lines in his most famous song have preserved his reputation from complete decay.

Recognition

2 of his poems, "To Chloris" and "To Celia", were included in the Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900.

A portrait was engraved by Vandergucht (Bromley).

Publications

Poetry

• The Happy Pair; or, A poem upon matrimony. London: John Nutt, 1702.
• Poems (edited by Anthony Astbury). Warwick, UK: Greville Press, 2010.

Plays

• The Mulberry-Garden: A comedy. London: 1668.
• Antony and Cleopatra: A tragedy. London: Richard Tonson, 1677
  • also published as Beauty the Conquerour; or, The death of Marc Antony: A tragedy in imitation of the Roman way of writing. London: John Nutt, 1702.
• Bellamira: or, The Mistress: A comedy. London : Printed by D. Mallet for L.C. and Timothy Goodwin, 1687.
• "The Mulberry-Garden" (1668) / "Bellamira: or, The Mistress" (1687): An old-spelling critical edition (edited by Holger Hanowell). Frankfurt am Main & New York: Peter Lang (Münster Monographs on English Literature), 2001.

Non-fiction

• Reflections upon Our Late and Present Proceedings in England. 1689.
• The Speech of Sir Charles Sidley in the House of Commons. London: L.C., 1691.

Translated

• Pierre Corneille, Pompey the Great [la morte de Pompey] (translated with Edmund Waller, Charles Sackville, Edward Filmer, & Sidney Godolphin, Earl of Godolphin). London: Henry Herringman, 1664.
• Virgil, The Fourth book of Virgil. 1692.

Collected editions

• Miscellaneous Works (edited by William Ayloffe). London: John Nutt, 1702.
• Poetical Works of the Honourable Sir Charles Sedley Baronet, and His Speeches in Parliament. (2 volumes), London: Sam. Briscoe, 1707.
• Works: In prose and verse. (2 volumes), London: Sam. Briscoe, 1722. Volume I, Volume II"
• Works: In prose and verse. (2 volumes), London: T. Davies, 1777.
• Poetical and Dramatic Works (edited by Vivian de Sola Pinto). (2 volumes), London: 1928; (facsimile edition), New York: AMS Press, 1969.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

Poems by Charles Sedley

435 Child and Maiden by Charles Sedley Clarica Poetry Moment

Sir Charles Sedley - On the Happy Corydon and Phyllis

1. Phillis is my only joy

See also

• List of British poets
• List of English-language playwrights

References

• Michael Benjamin Hudnall Jr. Moral Design in the Plays of Sir Charles Sedley. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee, 1984.
• Robert D. Hume, The Development of English Drama in the Late Seventeenth Century. Oxford, UK: 1976.
• Derek Hughes, English Drama, 1660-1700. Oxford, UK: 1996.
• Vivian de Sola Pinto, Sir Charles Sedley 1639-1701: A study in the life and literature of the Restoration. London: 1927.
•  Ward, Adolphus William (1897) "Sedley, Charles" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 51 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 187-188  . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 26, 2018.

External links

Poems

• Sedley in the Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900: "To Chloris," "To Celia"
• "Corydon and Phyllis" (attributed to Sedley)
• "A Pastoral Dialogue"
• Sedley, Sir Charles (1639?-1701) (2 poems) at Representative Poetry Online
• Sedley in The English Poets: An anthology: Song: ‘Love still has something of the Sea’, Song (from The Mulberry Garden): ‘Ah! Chloris’, Song: ‘Phillis is my only joy’
• Sir Charles Sedley at PoemHunter (9 poems)
• Sir Charles Sedley at Poetry Nook (20 poems)

Books

• Charles Sedley at Amazon.com

About

• Charles Sedley, 4th Baronet in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• "Sedley, Sir Charles" in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
• Sedley, Sir Charles (1639-1701) at History of Parliament Online, 1660-1690
• Sedley, Sir Charles (1639-1701) at History of Parliament Online, 1690-1715
• Sir Charles Sedley (1639-1701) at English Poetry, 1579-1830

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Sedley, Charles