ABSTRACT
The name of Drummond of Hawthornden is in a manner entwined in cypher with that of Ben Jonson. The greatest egotists are those whom it is impossible to offend, because they are wholly and incurably blind to their own defects; or if they could be made to see them, would instantly convert them into so many beauty-spots and ornamental graces. Michael Drayton's Poly-Olbion is a work of great length and of unabated freshness and vigour in itself, though the monotony of the subject tires the reader. The Hue and Cry of Love, the Epitaphs on Lady Mary Villiers, and the Friendly Reproof to Ben Jonson for his angry Farewell to the stage, are in the author's best manner. The answer of the High-way has been preserved, but the sincerity of this appeal must no doubt have moved the stocks and stones to rise and sympathise.
