HOBBINOL;

OR,

THE RURAL GAMES.

A Burlesque Poem.

TO MR. HOGARTH.

PERMIT me, sir, to make choice of you for my Patron; being the greatest master in the burlesque way. In this, indeed, you have some advantage of your poetical brethren, that you paint to the eye; yet remember, sir, that we give speech and motion, and a greater variety to our figures. Your province is the Town; leave me a small out-ride in the Country, and I shall be content. In this, at least, let us both agree-to make Vice and Folly the objects of our ridicule; and we cannot fail to be of some service to mankind.

I am, SIR,

your admirer, and

most humble servant,

W. S.

PREFACE.

NOTHING is more common than for us poor bards, when we have acquired a little reputation, to print ourselves into disgrace. We climb the Aönian mount with difficulty and toil, we receive the bays for which we languished; till, grasping still at more, we lose our hold, and fall at once to the bottom.

The Author of this piece would not thus be felo de se, nor would he be murdered by persons un

known. But as he is satisfied, that there are many imperfect copies of this trifle dispersed abroad, and as he is credibly informed, that he shall soon be exposed to view in such an attitude, as he would not care to appear in; he thinks it most prudent in this desperate case to throw himself on the mercy of the public; and offer this whimsical work a voluntary sacrifice, in hope that he stands a better chance for their indulgence, now it has received his last hand, than when curtailed and mangled by others.

The poets of almost all nations have celebrated the games of their several countries. Homer began, and all the mimic tribe followed the example of that great father of poetry. Even our own Milton, who laid his scene beyond the limits of this sublunary world, has found room for descriptions of this sort, and has performed it in a more sublime manner than any who went before him. His, indeed, are sports; but they are the sports of angels. This gentleman has endeavoured to do justice to his countrymen, the British freeholders, who, when dressed in their holiday clothes, are by no means persons of a despicable figure: but eat and drink as plentifully, and fight as heartily, as the greatest hero in the Iliad. There is also some use in descriptions of this nature, since nothing gives us a clearer idea of the genius of a nation, than their sports and diversions. If we see people dancing even in wooden shoes, and a fiddle always at their heels, we are soon convinced of the levity and volatile spirit of those merry slaves. The famous bull-feasts are an evident token of the quixotism and romantic taste of the Spaniards: and a country wake is too sad an image of the infirmities of

our own people. We see nothing but broken heads, bottles flying about, tables overturned, outrageous drunkenness, and eternal squabble.

Thus much of the subject: it may not be improper to touch a little upon the style. One of the greatest poets and most candid critics of this age, has informed us that there are two sorts of burlesque. Be pleased to take it in his own words. (Spectator, No. 242.) Burlesque (says he) is of two kinds. The first represents mean persons in the accoutrements of heroes; the other, great persons acting and speaking like the basest among the people. Don Quixote is an instance of the first, and Lucian's gods of the second. It is a dispute among the critics, whether burlesque runs best in heroic, like the Dispensary; or in doggrel, like that of Hudibras. I think where the low character is to be raised, the heroic is the most proper measure; but when an hero is to be pulled down and degraded, it is best done in doggrel.' Thus far Mr. Addison. If therefore the heroic is the proper measure, where the low character is to be raised, Milton's style must be very proper in the subject here treated of; because it raises the low character more than is possible to be done under the restraint of rhyme; and the ridicule chiefly consists in raising that low character. I beg leave to add the authority of Mr. Smith, in his poem upon the death of Mr. John Philips. The whole passage is so very fine, and gives so clear an idea of his manner of writing, that the reader will not think his labour lost in running it over:

Oh, various bard! you all our powers control,
You now disturb, and now divert the soul:

Milton and Butler in thy Muse combine;
Above the last thy manly beauties shine.
For as I've seen two rival wits contend,
One gaily charge, one gravely wise defend;
That on quick turns, and points in vain relies;
This with a look demure, and steady eyes,
With dry rebukes and sneering praise replies:
So thy grave lines extort a juster smile
Reach Butler's fancy, but surpass his style.
He speaks Scarron's low phrase in humble strains;
In thee the solemn air of great Cervantes reigns.
What sounding lines his abject themes express!
What shining words the pompous Shilling dress!
There, there my cell, immortal made, outvies
The frailer piles, that o'er its ruins rise.
In her best light the comic Muse appears,
When she with borrow'd pride the buskin wears.
So when nurse Nokes to act young Ammon tries,
With shambling legs, long chin, and foolish eyes,
With dangling hands he strokes the' imperial robe,
And with a cuckold's air commands the globe;
The pomp, and sound, the whole buffoon display'd,
And Ammon's son more mirth than Gomez made.

But here it may be objected, that this manner of writing contradicts the rule in Horace :

Versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult.

Monsieur Boileau, in his dissertation upon the Joconde of de la Fontaine, quotes this passage in Horace, and observes, Que comme il n'y a rien de plus froid, que de conter une chose grande en stile bas, aussi n'y a-t-il de plus ridicule, que de raconter une histoire comique et absurde, en termes graves et serieux. But then he justly adds this exception to the general rule in Horace: à moins que ce serieux ne soit affecté tout exprés pour rendre la chose encore plus burlesque. If the observation of that celebrated critic, Monsieur Dacier, is true, Horace himself, in the same Epistle to the Pisos, and not far distant from the rule here mentioned, has aimed

to improve the burlesque by the help of the subupon this verse:

lime, in his note

And

Debemur morti nos nostraque; sive receptus
Terra Neptunus -

upon the five following verses has this general remark: Toutes ces expressions nobles qu' Horace entasse dans ce six vers servent à rendre plus plaisante cette chute :

Ne dum verborum stet honos

Carrien ne contribute tant au ridicule que le grand. He indeed would be severe upon himself alone, who should censure this way of writing, when he must plainly see, that it is affected on purpose, only to raise the ridicule, and give the reader a more agreeable entertainment. Nothing can improve a merry tale so much, as its being delivered with a grave and serious air: our imaginations are agreeably surprised, and fond of a pleasure so little expected. Whereas he, who would bespeak our laughter by an affected grimace and ridiculous gestures, must play his part very well indeed, or he will fall short of the idea he has raised. It is true, Virgil was very sensible that it was difficult thus to elevate a low and mean subject:

Nec sum animi dubius, verbis ea vincere magnum
Quam sit, et angustis hunc addere rebus honorem.
But tells us, for our encouragement, in another
place,

In tenui labor, at tenuis non gloria, siquem
Numina læva sinunt, auditque vocatus Apollo.

Mr. Addison is of the same opinion, and adds, that the difficulty is very much increased by writing in blank verse. The English and French, (says he)