Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet (March 1639 – 20 August 1701), was an English noble,
dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...
and
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
. He was principally remembered for his wit and profligacy..


Life

He was the son of Sir John Sedley, 2nd Baronet, of Aylesford in
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Savile. The Sedleys (also sometimes spelt Sidley) had been prominent in Kent since at least 1337. Sedley's grandfather, William Sedley, was knighted in 1605 and created a baronet in 1611. He was the founder of the Sidleian Lectures of Natural Philosophy at Oxford. Sedley was educated at
Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...
, but left without taking a degree. There his tutor was the poet Walter Pope. The second surviving son of Sir John Sedley and Elizabeth, William, succeeded to the baronetcy in 1645. Charles Sedley inherited the title (5th baronet) in 1656 when his brother William died. By his first wife Lady Katherine Savage, daughter of John, 2nd Earl Rivers he had only one legitimate child, Catherine, Countess of Dorchester, mistress of James II. The couple lived in Great Queen Street. After his first wife had been sent to a convent in Ghent on account of a serious mental condition, Sedley in vain tried to obtain a divorce. He met Ann Ayscough, probably around 1670, by whom he had two illegitimate sons, William and Charles Sedley. William died in infancy, and the brother Charles was knighted by William III after the coronation in 1689 and created a baronet in 1702. The relationship with Ann Ayscough lasted to the end of Sedley's life. Sedley died at
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...
on 20 August 1701 and was buried at Southfleet Church on the 26th. The Sedley baronetcy became extinct on his death. Sedley is famous as a patron of literature in the Restoration period, and was the Francophile Lisideius of Dryden's ''Essay of Dramatic Poesy''. However, it was above all Sedley's wit that his contemporaries admired him for. Sedley was reputed as a notorious rake and libertine, part of the " Merry Gang" of courtiers which included the Earl of Rochester and Lord Buckhurst. The gang engaged in acts that were violent, outraged public decency and often included violence against women. In 1663 an indecent frolic in Bow Street, for which he was fined 2,000 marks, made Sedley notorious. From the balcony of Oxford Kate's Tavern he, Lord Buckhurst and Sir Thomas Ogle shocked and delighted a crowd of onlookers with their blasphemous and obscene antics. According to
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...
, 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
cunt "Cunt" () is a vulgar word for the vulva in its primary sense, and it is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleas ...
s 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 behaviour provoked a riot amongst the onlookers and condemnation in the courts, where the Lord Chief Justice gave his opinion that it was because of wretches like him "that God's anger and judgement hang over us". Sedley was member of parliament for New Romney in Kent, and took an active and useful part in politics. A speech of his on the civil list after the
Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
is cited by Macaulay as proof that his reputation as a man of wit and ability was deserved. His ''bon mot'' at the expense of James II is well known. The king had seduced his daughter and created her countess of Dorchester, whereupon Sedley said: "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 ( Mary) a queen". 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 their behalf. Sedley's parliamentary career started in the 1660s but around 1677/78 he joined the Whig cause. When Charles II died in 1685, Sedley was illegally excluded from the parliament of his successor James II, which convened in May 1685. There can be no doubt that Sedley opposed the Catholic James and supported William of Orange in the crucial year of 1688. Sedley was returned in the second Parliament of William, elected in March 1690. 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. Sedley's speeches were included in the 1702 edition of ''The Miscellaneous Works''. Sedley kept his seat in Parliament until his death in 1701.


Family

Charles Sedley inherited the title (5th baronet) in 1656 when his brother William died. By his first wife, Lady Katherine Savage, daughter of John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers, he had only one legitimate child, Catherine, Countess of Dorchester, who later became a mistress of
James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...
. After his first wife had been sent to a convent in
Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...
on account of a serious mental condition, Sedley tried in vain to obtain a
divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
. He met Ann Ayscough, probably around 1670, by whom he had two illegitimate sons, William and Charles Sedley. William died in infancy, and the brother Charles was knighted by
William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 167 ...
after the coronation in 1689 and created a baronet in 1702. The relationship with Ann Ayscough lasted until the end of Sedley's life.


Legacy

His reputation as a wit and dissolute was partially responsible for the Sedleys of
William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...
's '' Vanity Fair''.


Works


Poems

His most famous song, "Phyllis is My Only Joy", is much more widely known now than the author's name. While Sedley chiefly produced light amatory verse and pastoral dialogues in the 1670s, he turned to satirical epigrams in the 1680s and 1690s. His ''Epigrams: or, Court Characters'' are modelled on the works of
Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', pu ...
. In his epigram "To Nysus", for example, Sedley describes the function of satire and emphasizes the aggressive mode of satire: "Let us write satyr than, and at our ease / Vex the ill-natur'd Fools we cannot please." At the same time, Sedley translated other specimens of ancient poetry, such as
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
's Georgics IV, the eighth Ode of the second Book of
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...
and three elegies from
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
's ''Amores''. Dryden included Sedley's translations from Ovid in the ''Miscellany'' of 1684. A number of his poems have been set to music: "Phyllis is My Only Joy" in a
glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...
by John William Hobbs (1799–1877), "Not, Celia, that I Juster Am" in a solo song by the English composer Elizabeth Turner (1700–1756), and "Hears Not My Phillis" (Knotting Song, Z.371) in a solo song by the English composer
Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...
(1659–1695). In 1692 Sedley wrote the birthday ode for Queen Mary, "Love’s goddess sure was blind", which was also set to music by Purcell. The poem was printed in ''The Gentleman’s Journal'' of May 1692.


Plays

His first comedy, '' The Mulberry-Garden'' (1668), sustains Sedley's contemporary reputation for wit in conversation. The best, but most licentious, of his comedies is ''
Bellamira ''Bellamira'' is a genus of flower longhorns in the beetle family Cerambycidae The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetl ...
: or, The Mistress'' (1687), an imitation of the ''Eunuchus'' of
Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright during the Roman Republic. He was the author of six Roman comedy, comedies based on Greek comedy, Greek originals by Menander or Apollodorus of Carystus. A ...
, in which the heroine is supposed to represent
Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine ( ; – 9 October 1709), was an English royal mistress of the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many Royal mistress, mistresses of King Charles II of Engla ...
, the mistress of Charles II. While ''The Mulberry-Garden'' exuberantly praises the achievements of the Restoration, ''Bellamira'' displays a dark cynicism which has to be accounted for within a changed historical context. His two tragedies, ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (1677) and ''The Tyrant King of Crete'' (1702), an adaptation of Henry Killigrew's ''Pallantus and Eudora'', have little merit. He also produced ''The Grumbler'' (1702), an adaptation of ''Le Grondeur'' of Brueys and Palaprat. However, many contents of Sedley's posthumous edition are spurious. Apart from the prologues of his own plays, Sedley wrote at least four more prologues to comedies, the best-known of which was written for
Shadwell Shadwell is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England. It also forms part of the city's East End of London, East End. Shadwell is on the north bank of the River Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff and ...
's ''
Epsom Wells ''Epsom Wells'' is a 1672 restoration comedy by the English writer Thomas Shadwell. It was the first in a line of plays set in spa towns. The incidental music was composed by Nicholas Staggins. In the 1690s Henry Purcell scored a new staging of t ...
''.Pierre Danchin, ''The Prologues and Epilogues of the Restoration 1660-1700'', 4 vols (Nancy, 1981).


Editions

* ''Pompey the Great'' (1664); adaptation and translation of
Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage o ...
's ''
La mort de Pompée ''The Death of Pompey'' (''La Mort de Pompée'') is a tragedy by the French playwright Pierre Corneille on the death of Pompey the Great. It was first performed in 1642, with Julius Caesar played by Molière. Like many of Corneille's plays, it ...
'' (1644); together with Charles Sackville (later Earl of Dorset), Sidney Godolphin, Edmund Waller, and Sir Edward Filmer. * ''The Mulberry-Garden'' (1668); party modelled on
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...
's ''L'École des Maris'' (1661). * ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (1677) * ''Bellamira: or, The Mistress'' (1687); partly modelled on
Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright during the Roman Republic. He was the author of six Roman comedy, comedies based on Greek comedy, Greek originals by Menander or Apollodorus of Carystus. A ...
's ''Eunuchus'' * ''Beauty the Conquerour: or, The Death of Marc Antony'' (posthumous 1702) * ''The Miscellaneous Works of the Honourable Sir Charles Sedley'' (London, 1702). * ''The Works of the Honourable Sir Charles Sedley'', 2 vols (London, 1722). * ''The Works of the Honourable Sir Charles Sedley'', 2 vols (London, 1776). * (possibly by Sedley) ''The Tyrant King of Crete''; shortened version of Henry Killigrew's ''Pallantus and Eudora''. * (possibly by Sedley) ''The Grumbler''; translation of a French farce ''Le Grondeur'' * ''The Poetical and Dramatic Works of Sir Charles Sedley'', ed. Vivian de Sola Pinto. 2 vols (London, 1928; repr. New York: AMS Press, 1969). *''Sir Charles Sedley's "The Mulberry-Garden" (1668) and "Bellamira: or, The Mistress" (1687): An Old-Spelling Critical Edition with an Introduction and a Commentary'', ed. Holger Hanowell, Münster Monographs on English Literature (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2001).


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sedley, Charles 1639 births 1701 deaths 17th-century English poets 17th-century English male writers Baronets in the Baronetage of England 17th-century English dramatists and playwrights English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English male dramatists and playwrights English male poets People from Aylesford English satirists English satirical poets