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
By long-eared rout, to battle sounded,
And pulpit, drum ecclesiastic,
Was beat with fist instead of a stick;
Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling,
And out he rode a colonelling.

A wight he was, whose very sight would
Entitle him mirror of knighthood,
That never bowed his stubborn knee
To any thing but chivalry,

Nor put up blow but that which laid
Knight worshipful on shoulder blade.
Chief of domestic knights and errant,
Either for cartel or for warrant,

Great on the bench, great in the saddle,
That could as well bind o'er, as swaddle;
Mighty he was at both of these,
And styled of war as well as peace.2
(So some rats, of amphibious nature,
Are either for the land or water.)
But here our authors make a doubt,
Whether he were more wise or stout;
Some hold the one and some the other;
But howsoe'er they make a pother,

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
As naturally as pigs squeak,

That Latin was no more difficile

Than to a blackbird 'tis to whistle :
Being rich in both, he never scanted
His bounty unto such as wanted,
But much of either would afford
To many that had not one word.

He was in logic a great critic,
Profoundly skilled in analytic.
He could distinguish and divide
A hair 'twixt south and south-west side:
On either which he could dispute,
Confute, change hands, and still confute.
He'd undertake to prove, by force
Of argument, a man's no horse;
He'd prove a buzzard—is no fowl,
And that a lord may be-an owl;
A calf-an alderman; a goose—a justice ;
And rooks-committee-men and trustees.1
He'd run in debt by disputation,
And pay with ratiocination.
All this by syllogism, true
In mood and figure, he would do.
For rhetoric-he could not ope
His mouth, but out there flew a trope.
And when he happen'd to break off
I' the middle of his speech, or cough,
He had hard words ready to show why,
And tell what rules he did it by;
Else, when with greatest art he spoke,
You'd think he talked like other folk;
For all a rhetorician's rules

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,
In loftiness of sound was rich;

A Babylonish1 dialect,

Which learned pedants much affect.
It was a parti-colour'd dress

Of patched and piebald languages.
'Twas English cut on Greek and Latin,
As fustian heretofore on satin.

It had an odd promiscuous tone,
As if he had talked three parts in one.
Which made some think when he did gabble
They had heard three labourers of Babel,
Or Cerberus himself pronounce

A leash of languages at once.

HIS SWORD AND DAGGER.

His puissant sword unto his side
Near his undaunted heart was tied,
With basket hilt that would hold broth,
And serve for fight and dinner both.
In it he melted lead for bullets

To shoot at foes, and sometimes pullets,
To whom he bore so fell a grutch,
He ne'er gave quarter to any such.
The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty,
For want of fighting was grown rusty,
And ate into itself, for lack
Of somebody to hew and hack.
The peaceful scabbard, where it dwelt,
The rancour of its edge had felt;
For of the lower end two handful
It had devour'd, it was so manful;
And so much scorned to lurk in case,
As if it durst not show its face.

This sword a dagger had, his page,
That was but little for his age,
And therefore waited on him so
As dwarfs upon knight-errants do.
It was a serviceable dudgeon,
Either for fighting or for drudging.
When it had stabbed or broke a head,
It would scrape trenchers or chip bread,
Toast cheese or bacon, tho' it were

To bait a mouse-trap 't would not care ;
'Twould make clean shoes, and in the earth
Set leeks and onions, and so forth:

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
Where this and more it did endure;
But left the trade, as many more
Have lately done on the same score.

227

MODERN WARFARE SATIRIZED.
'Tis true, our modern way of war
Is grown more politic by far,
But not so resolute and bold,
Nor tied to honour as the old.
For now they laugh at giving battle,
Unless it be to herds of cattle,
Or fighting convoys of provision,
The whole design o' th' expedition;
And not with downright blows to rout
The enemy, but eat them out.
As fighting, in all beasts of prey,
And eating, are performed one way;
To give defiance to their teeth,

And fight their stubborn guts to death.
And those achieve the highest renown
That bring the others' stomach down.
There's now no fear of wounds nor maiming;
All dangers are reduced to famine :
And feats of arms, to plot, design,
Surprise, and stratagem, and mine;
But have no need nor use for courage,
Unless it be for glory, or forage:
For if they fight, 'tis but by chance,
When one side venturing to advance,
And come uncivilly too near,
Are charg'd unmercifully i' th' rear ;
And forced with terrible resistance
To keep hereafter at a distance,
To pick out ground t'encamp upon,
Where store of largest rivers run,
That serve instead of peaceful barriers
To part th' engagements of their warriors;
Where both from side to side may skip,
And only encounter at bo-peep.

For men are found the stouter hearted
The certainer they're to be parted;

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.