, known to the world by the name of Corinna, with which Dryden flattered
, known to the world by the
name of Corinna, with which Dryden flattered her, was
born in 1675; and, after a life of ill health and various
disappointments, died Feb. 3, 17 3O, in her fifty-sixth year,
and was buried in the church of St. Bride. Among her
other misfortunes, she laboured under the displeasure of
Pope, whom she had offended, and who took care to place
her in his “Dunciad.
” He once paid her a visit, in company with Henry Cromwell, esq. whose letters, by some'
accident, fell into her hands, with some of Pope’s answers.
As soon as that gentleman died, Curl I found means to
wheedle them from her, and immediately committed them
to the press; which so enraged Pope, that he never forgave
her. Corinna, considered as an author, has very few;
claims to notice: she had not so much wit as Mrs. Behn or J
Mrs. Manley, nor so happy a gift at intellectual painting;
but her poetry was once thought soft and delicate, and her
letters sprightly and entertaining. Her poems were published after her death, by Curll; and two volumes of letters (under the title of “Pylades and Corinua,
”) which
passed between her and a Mr. Gwynnet, who was to have
been her husband, but died before matters could be accomplished. In this last publication she gives an account
of her own life, which has been abridged in Gibber’s
“Lives,
” and other collections but which Mr. Malone has
proved such a tissue of improbabilities and falsehoods, that
a mere reference to it may be thought sufficient