The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland/Volume 4/Peter Motteaux

THE

LIVES

OF THE

POETS.

Peter Motteaux,

French gentleman, born and educated at Rohan, in Normandy. He came over into England, was a conſiderable trader, and reſided here many years. He is ſaid to have poſſeſſed no inconſiderable ſhare of wit, and humour; and, beſides a tranſlation of Don Quixote, ſeveral Songs, Prologues and Epilogues, together with a Poem on Tea, dedicated to the Spectator, (ſee Vol. VII. Numb. 552) he is author of the following dramatic pieces.

1. Love’s a Jeſt, a Comedy; acted at the new Theatre, in little Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, 1696. In the two ſcenes, where love is made a jeſt, ſome paſſages are taken from Italian writers.

2. The Loves of Mars and Venus; a Maſque ſet to Muſic, performed at the Theatre in Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, 1696; dedicated to colonel Codrington. The ſtory from Ovid.

3. The Novelty, or every Act a Play; conſiſting of Paſtoral, Comedy, Maſque, Tragedy, and Farce, after the Italian manner; acted at the Theatre in little Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, 1697.

The model of this play is formed upon Sir William Davenant’s Play-Houſe to be let: But neither of them met with much ſucceſs.

4. Europe’s Revels for the Peace, and his Majeſty’s Happy Return, a Muſical Interlude, performed at the Theatre in Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, 1697.

5. Beauty in Diſtreſs, a Tragedy; acted at the Theatre in Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, 1698. There is ſome poetry in this play; and in the multiplicity of its incidents, he has followed the example of the Britiſh Poets. Before this piece, there is prefixed a diſcourſe on the lawfulneſs or unlawfulneſs of plays; written originally in French, by the learned father Caſſaro, divinity profeſſor at Paris; ſent by a friend to Mr. Motteaux.

6. The Iſland Princeſs, or the Generous Portugueze; made into an Opera, and performed at the Theatre-Royal, 1701. The muſic by Mr. Daniel Purcell, Mr. Clark, and Mr. Leveridge. The greateſt part of the play is taken from Fletcher’s Iſland Princeſs. Scene the Spice Iſland.

7. The Four Seaſons, or Love in every Age; a muſical Interlude, ſet to Muſic by Mr. Jeremiah Clark; printed with the muſical Entertainments of the above Opera.

8. Britain’s Happineſs, a muſical Interlude; performed at both the Theatres, being part of the entertainment, ſubſcribed for by the nobility. Scene a proſpect of Dover caſtle and the ſea. This Interlude was long before deſigned, only as an introdudion to an Opera; which if ever finiſhed was to have been called the Loves of Europe, every act ſhewing the manner of the different nations in their addreſſes to the fair-ſex; of which he has informed us in his prefatory epiſtle.

9. Thomyris Queen of Scythia, an Opera; tranſlated from the Italian; performed at the Theatre in Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields.

10. The Temple of Love, a Paſtoral Opera, from the Italian; performed at the Queen’s Theatre in the Hay-market, by her majeſty’s ſervants, 1706, Scene Arcadia. Time of action, the ſame with that of the repreſentation.

11. Love Dragoon’d, a Farce.

This gentleman, who ſeems to have led a very comfortable life, his circumſtances being eaſy, was unfortunate in his death; for he loſt his life in a diſorderly houſe, in the pariſh of St. Clement Danes, not without ſuſpicion of having been murthered; which accident happened to him, on his birth day in the 5 8th year of his age, 1718. His body was interred in his own pariſh church, being that of St. Mary Ax, in the city of London.