Dr. William King (1663-1712) was an English poet and miscellaneous writer.
Life
Youth and education=
King was born in 1663, the son of Ezekiel King, a gentleman of London, from whom he inherited a small estate in Middlesex. In his Adversaria he mentions his great-grandfather, a merchant named La Motte, and his cousin Harcourt; and he had some connection with the Hyde family.[1]
In 1678 he was admitted a scholar of Westminster School, and was elected a student of Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on 16 December 1681. On 8 December 1685 he earned a B.A. as a grand compounder, proceeding M.A. on 6 July 1688, and B.C.L. and D.C.L. on 7 July 1692.[1]
Career
In 1688 he joined Edward Hannes in Reflections upon Mons. Varillas's History of Heresy, chiefly in defence of Wycliffe. About 1690 he published an amusing Dialogue shewing the way to Modern Preferment. In November 1692 he obtained a fiat from Archbishop Tillotson admitting him an advocate at Doctors' Commons.[1]
He continued to use his talents as a humorous writer upon the side of the tories and high church party. In 1693 he contributed a pamphlet to the famous Sherlock controversy (see Macaulay, Hist. chap. xvii.) In 1694 he published Animadversions on the account of Denmark, by Robert (afterwards Lord) Molesworth, a sound whig, who had attacked the Danish system of government. The Danish envoy supplied materials to King, and he received the thanks of the university of Copenhagen. Prince George of Denmark also obtained his appointment as secretary to Princess Anne.[1]
Charles Boyle, in the book commonly called Boyle upon Bentley, mentions an interview between Bentley and a bookseller at which King was present, and gives a letter from King describing Bentley's insolence. Bentley attacked King in his famous Dissertation (1699); and in the same year appeared A Short Account of Dr. Bentley's Humanity and Justice, with a 2nd letter from King to Boyle. King probably gave other help to Boyle, and, according to Pope, as reported by Warburton, contributed the droll argument to prove that Bentley was not the author of the Dissertation and the index (Letters from an Eminent Prelate, 1809, 11). King's Dialogues of the Dead, 1699, one of his cleverest productions, attacks Bentley in a series of 10 dialogues.[1]
Another very characteristic work appeared, probably a few months earlier than the Dialogues of the Dead. This was A Journey to London in the year 1698. After the ingenious method of that made by Dr. Martin Lister to Paris in the same year. Written originally in French, by Monsieur Sorbière, and newly translated into English, 1699. This was a travesty of a very recent book upon Paris by Martin Lister. Sorbière had published a much-abused book of travels in England (1664), and King adopts the name to insinuate a comparison between their styles. He thought this his best work,[1] and described many of his later writings as "by the author of A Journey to London."[2]
A poem, The Furmetory, was published in 1699, and others were circulated in manuscript. In 1700 King published anonymously The Transactioner, with some of his Philosophical Fancies, in two Dialogues, a satire upon Sir Hans Sloane, who edited the Transactions of the Royal Society.[2]
In 1701 King defended his friend the earl of Anglesea in an action for separation brought by the countess. He is said to have shown ability in spite of his usual indolence. Directly afterwards he was appointed judge of the admiralty court in Ireland, and, as appears by a letter in the British Museum (Add. MS. 28887, f. 369), was in Ireland by 13 November 1701. He probably obtained his post through the influence of the earl of Rochester, lord-lieutenant from 1700 to February 1703, or of Pembroke, then lord high admiral, to whose son he afterwards dedicated his Miscellanies.[2]
On 10 January 1703 King wrote to John Ellis, M.P., begging that an order might be sent to swear him, delay being caused by the obstinacy of a Scottish lord mayor, in whose hands was his commission. King also asked Ellis to support his request for the post (which he obtained) of vicar-general of Armagh (ib. 28890, f. 17).[2]
King was likewise sole commissioner of the prizes, but appears to have neglected all his duties. While idling at Mountown, near Dublin, the house of his friend Judge Upton, he wrote "Mully of Mountown," Mully being the red cow that furnished him with milk. It was surreptitiously published in 1704, together with another poem, "Orpheus and Eurydice," as the Fairy Feast. King reprinted the poems, asserting that they had no hidden meaning, and added "Some Remarks on the Tale of a Tub."[2]
In 1705, or a little later, King published a collection of Miscellanies. On 19 June 1707 he was appointed keeper of the records in the Birmingham Tower at Dublin Castle, but resigned on 28 November (Lascelles, Liber Munerum Publicorum Hiberniæ, 1824, pt. ii. p. 78). Probably King returned to England at the close of 1707.[2]
It seems that he had by this time spent his private fortune, and had nothing to rely upon except his studentship at Christ Church. In February 1708 Lintot paid him 32l. 5s. for The Art of Cookery, in imitation of Horace's Art of Poetry; with some Letters to Dr. Lister and others, occasioned principally by the title of a book published by the Doctor, being the Works of Apicius Cælius, concerning the Soups and Sauces of the Ancients. It was published in the following month without date (Daily Courant, 13 March 1708). 2 spurious editions of this amusing poem, perhaps his best work, appeared, and it was coarsely attacked in A Letter to Dr. W. King, occasioned by his Art of Cookery. In February 1709 Lintot paid King 32l.5s. for The Art of Love, in imitation of Ovid, but dealing with "innocent and virtuous" love, if not always within modern bounds of propriety.[2]
In 1709 appeared also the amusing Useful Transactions in Philosophy and other sorts of Learning, which were "to be continued monthly, as they sell." 3 parts appeared, for each of which King received only 5l. These ‘Transactions’ are a parody of the ‘Philosophical Transactions,’ and the 3rd part again satirises Sloane. The Memoirs of Martin Scriblerus probably owe some hints to this book.[2]
King supported the high church party in the Sacheverell controversy by several pamphlets, including A Friendly Letter from honest Tom Boggy to the Rev. Mr. Goddard, Canon of Windsor; A Second Letter to Mr. Goddard, occasioned by the late Panegyric given him by the Review, 1710; A Vindication of the Rev. Dr. Sacheverell, 1711 (in which King was assisted by Charles Lambe of Christ Church, and probably by Sacheverell himself); Mr. Bisset's Recantation, in a Letter to the Rev. Dr. Henry Sacheverell, 1711; and An Answer to a second scandalous Book that Mr. Bissett is now writing, to be published as soon as possible. King contributed to the early numbers of the Examiner, started in August 1710, but it is not known that he had any connection with the paper after Swift undertook the management of it in November.[2]
At the end of 1710 King published his Historical Account of the Heathen Gods and Heroes, a compilation which was used in schools for many years, and for which the author was paid 50'l. In 1711 he wrote a bitter attack upon the Duke of Marlborough, which was published late in the year, with the date 1712, entitled Rufinus, or an Historical Essay on the favourite Ministry under Theodosius and his son Arcadius, with a poem, "Rufinus, or the Favourite," annexed.[2]
In December 1711 King, on Swift's recommendation, was appointed to succeed Richard Steele in the post of gazetteer. King had been in great difficulties. John Gay, writing earlier in 1711, says, in The Present State of Wit, that King deserved better than to "languish out the small remainder of his life in the Fleet Prison." Swift, in the Journal to Stella (19 December), speaks of King as a ‘poor starving wit;’ but on 31 December mentions the appointment to the ‘Gazette,’ which he values at 200l. a year. He afterwards (8 January 1711–12)[2] tells Archbishop King "that it will be worth 250l. per annum to him if he be diligent and sober.’ King, however, was incapable of diligence. Upon the influx of an unusual amount of matter he had to sit up till 3 or 4 in the morning to correct the proofs. King therefore resigned the office on 1 July 1712. On the same day Lintot paid him 4l. 1s. 6d. for the Useful Miscellanies: Part the First, containing the tragi-comedy of "Joan of Hedington" and an "Account of Horace's behaviour during his stay at Trinity College in Cambridge." In August he published some verses, "Britain's Palladium; or, Lord Bolingbroke's welcome from France."[3]
During the summer of 1712 King lived in a friend's house between Lambeth and Vauxhall. He visited his friends in London, especially his relation Lord Clarendon at Somerset House.[3]
In the autumn his health grew worse. Clarendon had him conveyed on 24 Dec. to a lodging opposite Somerset House. That night he made his will, by which he appointed his sister, Elizabeth King, sole executrix and residuary legatee; and on the following day he died.[3]
King seems to have been sincerely religious and moral in his life, though given to occasional conviviality. Pope told Lord Burlington in 1716, "I remember Dr. King would write verses in a tavern three hours after he could not speak." He sometimes said ill-natured things, but was generally amiable and easy-going. His Adversaria proves the width of his general reading, and he was certainly well skilled in law.[3]
Writing
Many of King's writings were published anonymously, and some without date. Among the fragments left by him are an Essay on Civil Government (reprinted by Samuel Johnson in 1776), and Crapulia, translated from Joseph Hall's ‘Mundus alter et idem.’ King wrote also several papers for Harrison's continuation of the Tatler, and a few songs and tales in verse, which are of little value. One of these, "Apple Pye," was printed in The Northern Atalantis, 1713, and in the following year it was included in Hill's collection of Original Poems and Translations.[3]
King in his early years translated some books from the French, and was one of the translators, from the French of De la Croix, of ‘The Persian and the Turkish Tales compleat,’ published in 1714, having begun the work, as the dedication states, at the request of Lady Theodosia Blye, baroness of Clifton.[3]
Recognition
On 27 December 1712, King was buried in the north cloister of Westminster Abbey. His grave is unmarked.[4]
A eulogistic "Pindarick Ode to the memory of Dr. William King" appeared after his death.[3]
In 1732 King's Remains were published, with an account of his life, and a dedication to Lord Orrery; and in 1734 they were edited as Posthumous Works, by Joseph Browne, M.D. A portrait, engraved by J. Vandergucht from a painting by Dellow, was prefixed to both collections. In 1776 the Original Works of William King, LL.D., in 3 volumes, were published, carefully edited by John Nichols. On the title-page is a portrait in a circle, engraved by Cook.[3]
Samuel Johnson included King in his Lives of the English Poets.[5] [6]
Publications
Poetry
- The Furmetary: A very innocent and harmless poem, in three cantos. London: A. Baldwin, 1699.
- The Fairy Feast. London: 1704.
- Mully of Mountown: A poem. London: Booksellers of London & Westminster, 1705.
- The Swan Tripe-club, in Dublin: A satyr. Dublin: Booksellers of London & Westminster, 1706.
- The Art of Cookery: A poem, in imitation of Horace. London: Booksellers of London & Westminster, 1708.
- The Art of Love; in imitation of Ovid. London: Bernard Lintott, 1708.
- Miscellaneous Poems and Translations by Several Hands (contributor). 1720.[7]
- The Poems of Garth and King (with Sir Samuel Garth)). London: J. Nichols, 1779.
- Poetical Works. (2 volumes), Edinburgh: Apollo Press, by the Martins, 1781. Volume I
Non-fiction
- Reflections upon Mr. Varillas his History of Heresy. [Amsterdam?]: 1688.
- A Journey to London, in the Year 1698. London: A. Baldwin, 1698.
- Dialogues of the Dead: Related to the present controversy concerning the Epistles of Phalaris. London: A. Baldwin, 1699.
- A Journey to England: With some account of the manners and customs. London: A. Baldwin, 1700.
- The Transactioneer: With some of his philosophical fancies; in two dialogues. London: Booksellers of London & Westminster, 1700.
- Some Remarks on the 'Tale of a Tub': To which are annexed Mully of Mountown, and Orpheus and Euridice. London: A. Baldwin, 1704.
- A Friendly Letter ... to the Rev'd Mr. Goddard (as "Tom Boggy"). London: 1710.
- A Second Letter ... to the Canon of Windsor (as "Tom Boggy"). London: 1710.
- An Historical Account of the Heathen Gods and Heroes. London: Bernard Lintott, 1710; Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1965.
- A Vindication of the Rev. Dr. H. Sacheverell ... in a dialogue between a Tory and a Wh-g. London: John Morphew, 1710.
- Mr. B—t's recantation; in a letter to Henry Sacheverell. London: A. Baldwin, 1711.
- Rufinus, or an historical essay. London: John Morphew, 1712.
- Mr. L-----b's recantation : in a letter to Poor Tom. London: J. Sackfield / J. Morphew, 1716.
- An Essay on Civil Government. London: J. Wheble, 1776.
Collected editions
- Miscellanies in Prose and Verse. (2 volumes), London: B. Lintott / H. Clemens, 1709.
- Remains ... in verse and prose. London: W. Mears, 1732.
- Posthumous Works ... in verse and prose. London: E. Curll / W. Mears, 1734.
- Original Works (edited by John Nichols). (3 volumes), London: J. Nichols, 1776. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III
Translated
- François Pétis de La Croix, The Persian and the Turkish Tales Compleat. London: W. Mears / J. Browne, 1714; London: R. Ware, 1739.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[8]
See also
References
Aitken, George Atherton (1892) "King, William (1663-1712)" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 31 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 161-163 Wikisource, Web, Aug. 10, 2020.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Aitken, 161.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Aitke, 162.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Aitken, 163.
- ↑ William King, People, History, Westminster Abbey. Web, July 11, 2016.
- ↑ http://www.online-literature.com/samuel-johnson/3209/
- ↑ Andrew Robinson, "The Last Man Who Knew Everything" (London: Plume, 2007), 25. Print.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ Search results = au:William King 1712, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, July 27, 2016.
External links
- Poems
- "Imitation of Horace"
- William King (1663-1712) info & 3 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830
- The Art of Cookery" at PoemHunter
- William King at Poetry Nook (4 poems)
- About
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: King, William (1663-1712)
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