But the art of saying things well is useless to a man who has nothing to say; and this was Dryden's case.

He soon found himself unequally paired with an antagonist whose whole life had been one long training for controversy.

The veteran gladiator disarmed the novice, inflicted a few contemptuous scratches, and turned away to encounter more formidable combatants.

Dryden then betook himself to a weapon at which he was not likely to find his match.

He retired for a time from the bustle of coffeehouses and theatres to a quiet retreat in Huntingdonshire, and there composed, with unwonted care and labour, his celebrated poem on the points in dispute between the Churches of Rome and England.