Dryden had evidently by this time become aware of Purcell's superiority to his contemporary musical brethren; the poet and musician met on intimate and friendly terms. It is recorded that Purcell, by virtue of his court appointments, had an apartment in the clock tower of St. James's Palace, and that Dryden when in debt availed himself of his friendship with Purcell, to escape arrest by taking refuge in Purcell's room, where he was perfectly safe, and could moreover enjoy the air and exercise in the Palace gardens.[40]
_King Arthur_ after many years of neglect, possibly in consequence of the loss of the score of the music, was revived at Drury Lane theatre in 1770 with enormous success; again in 1781, in 1784, in 1803, and in 1842. The music remained unpublished until 1843, when it was edited by Edward Taylor, the Gresham music professor, and printed by the "Musical Antiquarian Society." Unfortunately the edition is imperfect, several pieces being still wanting, and of those which are printed we can be quite certain that they are not presented to us in the complete form composed by Purcell: for instance, the first overture is simply scored for strings, whereas Purcell freely uses flutes, hautboys, and trumpets in other parts of the work. Professor Taylor could find no trace of this overture excepting in the _Theatre Ayres_ published by Mrs. Purcell in 1697, a collection which only gave string parts. Whilst speaking of Dryden and Purcell it will be well to correct a great blunder made by Hawkins in his _History of Music_; he writes:--
"It is said that Dryden wrote his _Alexander's Feast_ with a view to its being set by Purcell, but that Purcell declined the task, as thinking it beyond the power of music to express sentiments so superlatively energetic as that ode abounds with; the truth of the assertion may well be questioned, seeing that he composed the _Te Deum_, and scrupled not to set to music some of the most sublime passages in the Psalms, the Prophecy of Isaiah, and other parts of Holy Scriptures."[41]
Had Hawkins made proper inquiry he would have discovered that _Alexander's Feast_ was not written by Dryden until two years after Purcell's death. This fact is verified by a letter addressed by Dryden to his son in September, 1697, in which he says: "I am writing a song for _St. Cecilia's Feast_," and by the additional testimony of Mr. St. John, afterwards Lord Bolingbroke.[42]