original!" The mortified Whig retired, and waited for better times.
In 1714 he produced "Jane Shore," in which Cibber took a part, written professedly in imitation of Shakespeare; though, as Dr. Johnson very justly remarks, in what he thought himself an imitator of Shakespeare it is not easy to conceive. The piece, however, was frequently acted, and with success.
In the following year he produced his last, though by no means his best tragedy, "Lady Jane Grey." A friend of his, a Mr. Smith, of Christ Church, Oxford, whom he terms a very learned and ingenious gentleman, had meditated writing a play on this subject, but died, leaving some papers filled with notes, though in a state of great confusion. Rowe took up the idea, but could only avail himself of one scene, which is that in the third act, in which Lord Guildford persuades Lady Jane to accept the crown. The preface to this piece, the only one he ever wrote, concludes thus: "I shall turn this, my youngest child, out into the world with no other provision than a saying, which I remember to have seen before—one of Mrs. Behn's:
"Va! mon enfant, prend ta fortune."
The accession of George I. (1716) brought Rowe an auspicious gale of worldly success. He was made Poet-Laureate. "I am afraid," says Johnson, "by the ejection of poor Nahum Tate, who died in the Mint, where he was forced to seek shelter by extreme poverty." He likewise became a land surveyor of the Customs in the port of London. The Prince of Wales nominated him Clerk of his Council; and Parker, the Lord Chancellor, on the very day he received the seals, appointed him without solicitation Secretary of the Presentations. He was revolving a tragedy on the story of the "Rape of Lucretia," when death over-
