Titlepage: Non est mortale quod opto. / 1647. ¹ / CHARLS / TRIUMPHANT, / &c. / [rule] / This is that CHARLS, who did from CHARLS proceed; / Who shall in Greatness CHARLS the Great exceed. / [rule] / CAROLUS e CAROLO descendens, / erit CAROLO magno major. / [rule] / [design: laurel crown] / [rule] / LONDON, Printed in the year, MDCLX.

    Manuscript sources relating to the author and circumstances of this poem's publication are to be found in the British Library: BL MSS: family correspondence -- Add. Mss. 27,999 and 28,000; family papers -- Add MSS. 28,006 to 28,011; 28,010=Henry's early commonplace books and misc. verses etc: includes transcriptions of "The Doctrine of Mahomet which is of great authority amongst the Saracens," and "The Law of the Saracens which they call the Alcoran, that is a gathering together of Commandments into one booke" (ff.45-53v=) -- ms circa 1626, aged 17.

    Henry's commonplace book (Add MSS 28,012; also Add MSS 28,013) is a long scroll, made up from a large legal document cut up into three-inch strips that are stitched together into a roll -- of proverbs he collected/transcribed -- : eg: "The Turkes hold the foundation of all empire to consist in exact obedience, & that in exemplary severity"

   further letters -- Add MSS. 44,846=Thos Peynton's letter book (1640-56), 44,847=letters from Charles Nichols to Henry O; 44,848=misc letter book, containing transcript copies of various state letters. -- check Bodleian for ms papers linking Oxenden with Needham

   Other works ascribed include:

    The copytext is taken from the Bliss copy at O which has ms note on flyleaf: "Oxenden, Henry of Bumstead. See some account of H Oxenden in the [Brydges] Censura Literaria vol. 10. and in the 4to. edition of Woods' Ath. Oxon. Sir Egerton Brydges, Watt and the last editor of Wood were not aware of this Poem which has all the appearance of a privately printed book, there being no bookseller's name, nor place of sale &c."

    The titlepage seems to have been cropped by binder. Irregularly gathered; the first text page appears as sig A3, and is followed by sig A. This copy has been corrected in hand, most often for the better, suggesting authorial intervention: I have incorporated many of the hand corrections but included a full record in the notes.

    In A List of Knights made since His Majestie came to London, May 29. 1660, London, Printed by S. Griffin, 1660; LT 669.f.25(66) dated 1 August), the name appears of "Sir Henry Oxendine", that is of Deane, his first cousin of that name, MP for Sandwich.

    On Oxenden and the circumstances of this poem's publication, see the Introduction. Kent was a site of obvious importance and we have general good record of other Kent writers

    Henry Oxenden or Oxenden (1609-1670) was born to an old land-owning family from Kent, entered Corpus Christi on 10 November 1626 and graduated B. A. in 1627. In 1632, he married Anne, daughter of Sir Samuel Peynton, who died eight years later. In 1642, he married Katherine, daughter of James Cullen, who survived him. A staunch anti-prelate, Oxenden fought for parliament at Arundel in 1644, nearly dying from illness the next year. It was presumably in the early 1640s that he composed the verse satire, "A dismall summons, to Doctors Commons":

Thou Cage full of foule birdes & beasts,
attend thy diosmall doome,
Thy Canonists now murdered are,
with Canons of their owne.
Civillians civill villaines are,
old doting knaves are Doctors,
Notorious knaves are Notaries,
bold prating Knaves are Proctors.
. . . .
Thy Court is called Christian,
yet Antichristian is,
The Court of hell is not so full
and divelish as is this.
The Bishops they are bitesheepes,
the Deanes they now are Dunces,
Thy Preists they are the Preists of Ball,
the Devill take all by Bunches. ²

   But Oxenden's political allegiances proved weak and circumstantial: in 1647 he published a call for the return of the king. Involved in wrangling for land and wealth throughout the 1650s, Oxenden found himself so much in debt at the Restoration that he started selling off family property while searching for a church living. In 1663, the same year that the family house at Great Maydekin was finally sold (28 May), Oxenden was appointed rector of Radnage in distant Buckinghamshire, where he held office until his death in 1670.

    His early published poems are both satires on religion: Religionis funus, & Hypocriti' finis (1647) is in Latin hexameters; Iobus Triumphans (1651) contains prefatory verses by Alexander Ross and others and was reported to be much read in foreign schools (DNB). A small engraved portrait appears with Religionis funus here reproduced from the copy in Bodleian. It also appears bound in with the copy of Charls Triumphant currently in the Huntington.

    Despite its considerable length and the care which the author and several friends put into its publication, Charls Triumphant has been much ignored and even for a time, appears to have been lost. Dorothy Gardiner was unable to find a copy of this poem when, in 1936, she sent her edition of The Oxenden and Peyton Letters, 1642-1670 to the press. Thanks to Gardiner's work, however, we do know a great deal about the circumstances surrounding the writing and publishing of this poem. Gardiner was in good company since other scholars have failed to notice Oxenden's poem. As the author of the manuscript note to the copy currently in the Bodleian Library commented, "Sir Egerton Brydges, Watt and the last editor of Wood were not aware of this Poem which has all the appearance of a privately printed book, there being no bookseller's name, nor place of sale &c." Perhaps scholars had been looking for it under the Latin title which Henry himself uses in his letters to describe it.

    The turbulence of the times was unkind to Henry Oxenden, whose 1647 portrait nevertheless suggests a man younger than Henry's 38 years who is still full of hope, energy, and optimism. In many ways, the ignominity that later overcame Oxenden's Restoration poem sadly resembles this poet's ambitions for a speedy appointment to a lucrative position and indicates something of the speed with which formal and lengthy panegyrics to the restored monarch very quickly became old stuff of which noone took much notice. The rectorship of Radnage "a small living in the King's gift" (Gardiner, xli) which he finally secured in 1663 proved poor. Unfortunately there is insufficient evidence to know whether Oxenden's labours over his poetic tribute three years previously helped him to the appointment. But in the spirit of 1660, Oxenden labored over publishing his poem at considerable personal expense. Indeed, he so far expected promotion through writing poetic tributes that he payed for two long poems to be printed that year, circulating copies of both to people about the royal court. His other poem, Eikon Basilike, is a lengthy set of verses on the wedding of Sir Basil Dixwell to Dorothy Osborne, eldest daughter to Sir Thomas Peyton and niece of the famous letter writer. Oxenden wrings everything he can out of Sir Basil's name being the Greek word for "king." His notebooks tell us that 97 copies were printed, and were distributed to likely patrons in the hopes that Henry's courtly poem would help find him a job.

    By 1660, Henry had been out of work for several years and, at the king's return, was among the many educated middle-class men without obvious employment who flocked to London in hopes of finding something suitable. On 4 June, Phineas Andrews writes to Henry that he passed a copy of the wedding poem to Sir Basil, who sends his thanks, and then reports that there are no jobs in the Customs (BL Add Mss 28,004, f. 128; Gardiner, 234). Later that summer, Henry writes home to his wife from London where he has been looking for a job: "In short thousands ar come to London in expectation of great matters who wil returne worse then they came: for nothing is here to be had without money, and that at very high rates" (Gardiner, 235).

    In his poem, Oxenden claims to have been "Finished June 1660," but the poem was still being printed in December; and the author himself was receiving page proofs as late as March 1661. Presumably he had completed writing his poem during June, and then sent copies to various friends while negotiating with printers. During the summer, months Oxenden received advice of different sorts on how to revise his poem, but seems not to have ignored most of it. On the 20th of September, Thomas Williams, whose dedicatory verses appear in the prefatory material, reported that the printer David Maxwell had failed to print Oxenden's poem and that other printers were unlikely to do it because the "mournefull state of the Court, and indeed of all ye Citty . . . hath taken of their eyes and mindes from all things of this nature, And fearing your poeme (as tryumphal) will not nowe bee soe reasonable -- they demand more for the print than I shall wish you to give" (BL Add Mss 28,004, f.140; Gardiner, 239) following the death on the 15th of Prince Henry; this was not a good time to be publishing a poem about Charles in triumph.

    The poem was still looking for a printer on 2 December when Williams wrote that Henry Birkhead will arrange printing "at 13.s the sheete to the number of 100 copies, makeing about 4 sheetes, and in no place in London under" and advises Oxenden to think of issuing the poem for the New Year (BL Add Mss 28,004, f., 161; Gardiner, 241). On the 17th, Henry Birkhead, probably the "H. B." whose dedicatory verses appear in the prefatory material, writes "One sheete of your Charles Triumphant is printed off, the next is setting" (BL Add MSS 28,004, f.173; Gardiner, 242.)

    By 17 March 1661, Birkhead is finally sending "an inclosed poem corrected as well as I could obtaine it to be done" together with "twelve title pages"; on 28 March, he undertakes to "present Sr Kenhelm Digby with a coppy superscribed ex Dono Autoris" (BL Add MSS 28,004, ff.212, 236).

    Perhaps the most fascinating letter sent to Oxenden about his poem, came from Charles Nichols dated 9 July since it not only gives us a witty account of the manuscript poem, but shows us a reader actually at work reading a Restoration poem. It's fortunate for us that Nichols is such a clever critic who knows how to offer friendly advise on another's poetry, since the opening of the letter indicates how sensitive he is about returning a poem with suggestions for revision. It also appears that Henry himself is very shy of having his verses read by others. Lest he has caused the poet offence, Nichols casts his apology in the fashionable cant of a stage wit, but includes sound advice about language, metre, and style. Nichols reports enclosing dedicatory verses for Oxenden's poem, so his may well be the anonymous verses calling Oxenden an English Virgil:

Heroicke Sr

    The tayle, rather rump, of my paper lookes like one of the tribe of the beast Momus, but its teeth are either not grown, or els dropt out, it rather kisses (though not Al a mode) then bites its generous friend. I am soe ashamed of my presumption, that if you send mee not a pardon under yor hand & seale in short time, my Phantasie, to avoid a Lingring death, will turn ffelo de se & knock it selfe on the head, as the last shift of despayre. Noe one in the world hath seene yor booke but my selfe, & I only, last night in a Nodding houre could reade it over in dreameing hast. It is a pitty you tooke not a Little more time to polish every syllable, ffor, Beleeve mee Sr, the princelienes or sovereignetie of your subiect matter, the essays alreadie nibling at yt grand baite of honor (though most mubble it as an old woeman doth a Crust) the Curiositie of our times impresse all acuratnes in his Maiesties service. Ye fancie is truely Noble & rich, (it made me laugh to see yor muse greene her Teeth at Hugh, threatening the gentle Craft a new sett of St Hughs-bones, though I bitt my lipps) yor style Copious. but Me-thinkes, Now and then a Monysillable rushes in on purpose to tell us that you was in hast, and some of yor wordes Transposd would sound much sweetlyer, wch for mee to have essayed further (wthout order) would have beene to have turned Pargmatical in grayne, & it may bee have spoyled all.

    I have made only a few offers. Ha, ha, he, who hath made mee A Correctr? Am I contagiond with the epidemical disease of the world? & know not my selfe in this paper; oh sure I grow insolent; well Sr I dictate noothing, I only humbly propose you are the Judge. Workmen must not sett a stitch a misse in the King's robe, every one's eye will bee upon it. In a little more Time, you might make yor Copie an original, if you would bestow it thereon. Our novelists will tell us yt Whilome, (wch is twice us'd) is growne rotten wth age, & that O repeated above 20 times in one booke, stands for nought but a stilt to help a verse to hop out its Number when it wants otherwise a foote; or yt Oh is an interiection of groaneing, when Henry hath hard stooles. I meete wth some fancis rich enough for a Coronation day. But there be some Phrases, about Sisters, &tc, wch if my own ffather should Antedate the resurrection, & come from the dead & whisper them into my eare I could not possibly approove of them. Your designe is obvious; I iudj you an Inocent man, you Love good men, but the smoothest way to step up into esteeme, is without treading upon others' Soulls, though not ye surest.

    To Add my Signett to all my papers wch ensure thee my Love I have signed thine And Daunced a little Jygg whilst garlands attend yor Brow. & therin shew how yor verses worke wonders beyond all that ever I heard of. The most yt I ever observed sayd of the best writeings, was that they were Celebrated by everybody. Yors exceede them, for as it is admir'd by everybody, soe hath it inspir'd Noebody

    & Noebody thus sings. ³

   In its finally printed form, Oxenden's poem shows that he didn't heed Nichols' advice about revising and cutting. The printed version contains over a thousand lines; there are nearly 30 uses of "O," and the scurrilous passage about Hugh Peters and the Sisters is still there for the curious.

    In printed form, Oxenden's poem opens with some prefatory verse addresses to the reader by Oxenden, then a series of dedicatory poems by, respectively, Jo Hobart of Kent; "H. B." is probably Henry Birkhead; Thomas Williams; The anonymous verses that follow, rather extravagantly call Oxenden an English Virgil and might be by Nichols. A final set of dedicatory verses are signed "J. W."

    Oxenden's own poem is over a thousand lines of pentamter couplets; it is made up of three books composed of 15, 18, 15 verse paragraphs of varying length. Plenty of anti-Rump satire here, together with an account of Worcester, Jane Lane and the escape, a great deal of rather pious sentimentalizing, and some explicit requests for a place at court. The second part recounts some events of Charles's arrival. The final part opens by making much of Charles touching for the Evil, then addresses the king directly in order to enumerate the horrors suffered during his absence by loyalists such as the poet. His attacks on the Rumpers are typically personal and scurrilous, making evident use of Howell's Proverbs which had recently appeared in print.

    It remains unclear whether the poem had any influence on Henry's appointment in 1663 to a rectorship in Buckinghamshire.