THE particulars of the life of the author of Hudibras are scanty and obscure. He was the son of a farmer in Worcestershire. It is doubtful whether he received a university education; for, though alleged to have resided some years at Cambridge, he is not known to have matriculated in any college. He is afterwards found in the family of the Countess of Kent, and enjoying the friendship of the learned Selden. He appears again, probably in the capacity of tutor, in the service of Sir Samuel Luke, one of Cromwell's officers, who is considered to be the prototype of Hudibras. The Restoration brought to his fortunes a gleam of hope. He obtained employment as secretary to the Earl of Carbery. Having lost his wife's fortune through bad securities, he became an author, and published in 1663 the first part of his satire. It was received with unbounded popularity, and was made known at court through the kindness of the Earl of Dorset. The author, however, was unrewarded. The king is said to have given him £300, but of this there is no proof. In the subsequent years, he published the second and third parts of his poem; and died in indigence in 1680. The neglect of the king is the more criminal, since the satire must be viewed as a valuable service to the royalist cause. Broad caricature, inexhaustible wit, and strong sense are united to hold up the puritan party to contempt and ridicule. The idea of the piece is, of course, borrowed from Cervantes; but there is no resemblance between the two works. The fiction of Hudibras is of little consequence, compared with the dialogues. The poem is enriched by the resources of immense learning; language, character, and imagery are moulded at the author's will. No rhyme is so complicated that he wants words to form its counterpart; no image so remote that his hand cannot compel it into his service. The work is unfinished, and, from the range of years over which it was published, the plan is desultory and incompact. The wit of Butler," says Hallam, "has still preserved many lines; but Hudibras now attracts comparatively few readers." Still, it is one of those works whose epigrammatic practical wisdom has woven itself into the phraseology of the language; and its popularity caused many imitations and even forgeries. "Genuine remains,' in prose and verse, were published in 1759, by Mr. Thyer, from manuscripts left in possession of Butler's friend, Mr. Longueville. When gospel-trumpeter, surrounded A wight he was, whose very sight would Nor put up blow but that which laid Great on the bench, great in the saddle, 1 Altered in the second edition to "fury;" dudgeon, primarily is a dagger (see p. 226), or rather the wooden handle of it. 2 "The hero of Butler is a Presbyterian justice, who, in the confidence of legal authority and the rage of zealous ignorance, ranges the country to repress superstition and correct abuses, accompanied by an Independent clerk, disputatious and obstinate, with whom he often debates, but never conquers him."-Johnson. "Swaddle,” alleged here to mean, to beat, or cudgel. Besides, 'tis known he could speak Greek That Latin was no more difficile Than to a blackbird 'tis to whistle : He was in logic a great critic, Teach nothing but to name his tools. 225 1 Members of the committees for conducting the sequestrations or receiving the compositions of the vanquished royalists. Trustees appointed to the trust-charge of crown, church, or other lands seized by the republican government.-See Scott's Wood stock. But, when he pleased to show't, his speech, A Babylonish1 dialect, Which learned pedants much affect. Of patched and piebald languages. It had an odd promiscuous tone, A leash of languages at once. HIS SWORD AND DAGGER. His puissant sword unto his side To shoot at foes, and sometimes pullets, This sword a dagger had, his page, To bait a mouse-trap 't would not care ; 1 Babylonish dresses were distinguished by variety and glitter of ornament.-See Sil. Ital. xiv. 657. FROM HUDIBRAS. It had been 'prentice to a brewer,1 227 MODERN WARFARE SATIRIZED. And fight their stubborn guts to death. For men are found the stouter hearted 1 Alluding to Cromwell, whose parents are said to have carried on a brewery in his native town, Huntingdon. This circumstance formed a favourite subject of merri ment with the cavaliers. Sir Samuel Luke (if Hudibras be intended for his portrait) was an officer in Cromwell's army; hence the dagger "had been 'prentice to a brewer." The synalpha, an ornament in Milton and Chaucer, is often harsh and rugged in Butler, Cowley, and the metaphysical poets from Donne downwards. |