first part of _Absalom and Achitophel_ appeared in 1681, in which Charles figures as "David," Shaftesbury as "Achitophel," Monmouth as "Absalom," Buckingham as "Zimri," in the short but crushing delineation of whom the attack of the _Rehearsal_ was requited in the most ample measure. The effect; of the poem was tremendous. Nevertheless the indictment against Shaftesbury for high treason was ignored by the Grand Jury at the Old Bailey, and in honour of the event a medal was struck, which gave a title to D.'s next stroke. His _Medal_ was issued in 1682. The success of these wonderful poems raised a storm round D. Replies were forthcoming in Elkanah Settle's _Absalom and Achitophel Transposed_, and Pordage's _Azaria and Hushai_. These compositions, especially Pordage's, were comparatively moderate. Far otherwise was Shadwell's _Medal of John Bayes_, one of the most brutal and indecent pieces in the language. D.'s revenge--and an ample one--was the publication of _MacFlecknoe_, a satire in which all his opponents, but especially Shadwell, were held up to the loathing and ridicule of succeeding ages, and others had conferred, upon them an immortality which, however unenviable, no efforts of their own could have secured for them. Its immediate effect was to crush and silence all his assailants. The following year, 1683, saw the publication of _Religio Laici_ (the religion of a layman). In 1686 D. joined the Church of Rome, for which he has by some been blamed for time-serving of the basest kind. On the other hand his consistency and conscientiousness have by others been as strongly maintained. The change, which was announced by the publication, in 1687 of _The Hind and the Panther, a Defence of the Roman Church_, at all events did not bring with it any worldly advantages. It was parodied by C. Montague and Prior in the _Town and Country Mouse_. At the Revolution D. was deprived of all his pensions and appointments, including the Laureateship, in which he was succeeded by his old enemy Shadwell. His latter years were passed in comparative poverty, although the Earl of Dorset and other old friends contributed by their liberality to lighten his cares. In these circumstances he turned again to the drama, which, however, was no longer what it had been as a source of income. To this period belong _Don Sebastian_, and his last play, _Love Triumphant_. A new mine, however, was beginning to be opened up in the demand for translations which had arisen. This gave D. a new opportunity, and he produced, in addition to translations from Juvenal and Perseus, his famous "Virgil" (1697). About the same time appeared _The Ode for St. Cecilia's Day_, and _Alexander's Feast_, and in 1700, the year of his death, the _Fables_, largely adaptations from Chaucer and Boccaccio. In his own line, that of argument, satire, and declamation, D. is without a rival in our literature: he had little creative imagination and no pathos.