PRIOR, pri'ar, Matthew, English poet and diplomatist : b. Wimborne Minster, Dorsetshire (possibly Winburn, Middlesex), 21 July 1664; d. Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, 18 Sept. IR1. He was educated at Cambridge, and in 1688 was chosen fellow of his college, Saint John's. With Charles Montague he wrote in 168 'The Coun try Mouse and the City Mouse,' a parody of Dryden's 'Hind and Through the Earl of Dorset he was appointed secretary to the English plenipotentiaries at The Hague in 1690; in 1697 he became secretary to the com missioners who concluded the Peace of Rys wick, and on his return from The Hague, secre tary to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and finally Under-Secretary of State. In 1699 he produced his 'Carmen Secular for the Year 1700.> He succeeded John Locke as commissioner of trade and plantations and sat for a short time in Par liament. At the beginning of the reign of Anne he left the Whigs to join the Tories. Made
commissioner of customs in 1711, he was em ployed in secretly negotiating at Paris the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, and he remained in France as secret agent and Ambassador till 1714. On the accession of George I, he was impeached on the charge of high treason and kept in custody two years in his own house. During his imprisonment he wrote 'Alma, or the Progress of the Mind,' which, together with his more ambitious work, 'Solomon,' was pub lished in 1718. Having been rendered nearly penniless, he published a folio edition of his poems by subscription. He was buried in West minster Abbey. Prior made his way chiefly by his wit and social qualities. His poetical powers were at their best in short occasional pieces in the flowing ease and vivacity of narration. Consult Aldine edition of 'Prior's Poetical Works' (1892). •