Which made fome confidently write,
They had no ftomachs but to fight.
'Tis falfe; for Arthur wore in hall
Round table like a farthingal,

On which, with fhirt pull'd out behind,
And eke before, his good knights din'd;
Though 'twas no table fome fuppofe,
But a huge pair of round trunk hofe,
In which he carry'd as much meat
As he and all the knights could eat,

335 They were upon hard duty ftill,
And every night stood centinel,
To guard the magazine i' th' hofe
From two-legg`d and from four-legg'd foes.
Thus clad and fortify'd, Sir Knight,

340 From peaceful home, fet forth to fight.
But firft with nimble active force
He got on th' outside of his horse:
For having but one ftirrup ty'd
T' his faddle on the further fide,
It was fo fhort, h' had much ado
To reach it with his defperate toe;
But after many ftrains and heaves,
He got up to the faddle-eaves,
From whence he vaulted into th' feat
With fo much vigour, ftrength, and heat,
That he had almost tumbled over

As learned authors ufe, to whom
We leave it, and to th' purpose come.
His puiffant fword unto his fide,
Near his undaunted heart, was ty'd,
With basket-hilt that would hold broth,
And ferve for fight and dinner both
In it he melted lead for ballets

350

To fhoot at foes, and fometimes pullets,
To whom he bore fo fell a grutch,
He ne'er gave quarter to any fuch.
The trenchant blade, Toledo trufty,
For want of fighting was grown rufty,
And ate into itself, for lack
Of fomebody to hew and hack:
The peaceful fcabbard, where it dwelt,
The rancour of its edge had felt;
For of the lower end two handful
It had devoured, 'twas fo manful,
And so much scorn'd to lurk in case,
As if it durft not fhew its face.
In many defperate attempts
Of warrants, exigents, contempts,
It had appear'd with courage bolder
Than Serjeant Bum invading shoulder:
Oft had it ta'en possession,

And prifoners too, or made them run.

This fword a dagger had, his page,

That was but little for his age,
And therefore waited on him fo,
As dwarfs upon knights-errant do:
It was a ferviceable dudgeon,
Either for fighting or for drudging:
When it had ftabb'd, or broke a head,
It would fcrape trenchers, or chip bread;
Toaft cheese or bacon; though it were
To bait a moufe-trap, 'twould not care:
Twould make clean fhoes, and in the earth
Set leeks and onions, and fo forth:
It had been 'prentice to a brewer,
Where this and more it did endure,
But left the trade, as many more
Have lately done on the fame score.
In th' holsters, at his faddle-bow,'
Two aged piftols he did ftow,
Among the furplus of fuch meat
As in his hofe he could not get:
Thefe would inveigle rats with th' fcent,
To forage when the cocks were bent,
And fometimes catch them with a snap,
As cleverly as th' ablest trap:

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With his own weight, but did recover,
By laying hold on tail and main,
Which oft he us'd instead of rein.

But now we talk of mounting steed,
Before we further do proceed,

It doth behove us to fay fonething Of that which bore our valiant bumkin. The beast was sturdy, large and tall, With mouth of meal, and eyes of wall; I would fay eye, for h' had but one, As most agree, though fome fay none. He was well stay'd, and in his gait Preferv'd a grave, majestic ftate; 365 At fpur or fwitch no more he skipt,

370

375

Or mended pace, than Spaniard whipt;
And yet fo fiery, he would bound
As if he griev'd to touch the ground;
That Cæfar's horfe, who, as fame goes,
Had corns upon his feet and toes,

Was not by half fo tender-hooft,
Nor trod upon the ground fo foft ;

And as that beaft would kneel and stoop
(Some write) to take his rider up;
So Hudibras's ('tis well known)

Would often do to fet him down.

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405

415

420

4:5

430

440

445

450

As wifely knowing could he itir

To active trot one fide of 's horse,

455

A Squire he had whofe name was Ralph, That in th' adventure went his half,

395

Ver. 457.] Sir Roger L'Estrange (Key to Hudi bras) fays, This famous Squire was one li

But with more lucky hit than those That ufe to make the stars depofe,

By help of thefe (as he profest)
He had Firft Matter feen undreft:
He took her naked, all alone,
Before one rag of form was on.
The Chaos, too, he had defcry'd,
And feen quite through, or else he ly'd;
Not that of Pafteboard, which men fhew
For groats, at fair of Barthol'mew;
But its great grandfire, firft o' th' name,
Whence that and Reformation came,
Both coufin-germans, and right able
T' inveigle and draw in the rabble:
But Reformation was, fome fay,
O'th younger house to Puppet-play.
He could foretel whats'ever was
By confequence to come to pass:
As death of great men, alterations,
Difeafes, battles, inundations:

All this without th' eclipfe of th' fun,
Or dreadful comet, he hath done
By inward light, a way as good,
And eafy to be understood:

Like Knights o' th' Poft, and falfely charge
Upon themfelves what others forge;
As if they were confenting to
All mifchiefs in the world men do:`
Or, like the devil, did tempt and sway Yem
To rogueries, and then betray 'em.
They'll fearch a planet's houfe, to know
Who broke and robb'd a house below;

What makes men great, what fools or knaves:
But not what wife, for only' of those
The ftars (they fay) cannot difpofe,
No more than can the aftrologians:

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630

There they fay right, and like true Trojans. 620
This Ralpho knew, and therefore took
The other courfe, of which we spoke.
Thus was th' accomplish'd Squire endued
With gifts and knowledge per'lous fhrewd :
Never did trusty fquire with knight,
Or knight with fquire, e'er jump more right.
Their arms and equipage did fit,
As well as virtues, parts, and wit:
Their valours, too, were of a rate,
And out they fally'd at the gate.
Few miles on horfeback had they jogged
But fortune unto them turn'd dogged;
For they a fad adventure met,
Of which anon we mean to treat:
But ere we venture to unfold
Atchievements fo refolv'd and bold,
We fhould, as learned poets ufe,
Invoke th' affiftance of fome Muse
However critics count it fillier
Than jugglers talking to familiar;
We think it no great matter which,
They 're all alike, yet we shall pitch
On one that fits our purpose most,
Whom therefore thus do we accoft,

Ver. 573.] The rebellious clergy would in their prayers pretend to foretel things, to encourage people in their rebellion. I meet with the following inftance in the prayers of Mr. George Swathe, minifter of Denham in Suffolk: "O my good "Lord God, I praife thee for discovering the "laft week, in the day-time, a vision, that there 66 were two great armies about York, one of the "malignant party about the King, the other party "Parliament and profeffors; and the better fide "fhould have help from Heaven against the "worst; about, or at which inftant of time, we "heard the foldiers at York had raised up a "fconce against Hull, intending to plant fifteen pieces against Hull; against which fort Sir "John Hotham, Keeper of Hull, by a garrison, | "difcharged four great ordnance, and broke "down their sconce, and killed divers Cavaliers "h it.-Lord, I praife thee for difcovering this 66 victory, at the inftant of time that it was done, to my wife, which did then prefently confirm "her drooping heart, which the last week had "been dejected three or four days, and no argu 66 ments could comfort her against the dangerous times approaching; but when he had prayed to be cftablished in faith in thee, then prefently "thou didst, by this vifion, ftrongly poffefs her "foul that thine and our enemies thould be over" come."

66

66

Thou that with ale, and viler liquors, Didft infpire Withers, Pryn, and 'ickars, And force them, though it was in spite Of Nature, and their stars, to write; Who (as we find in fullen writs, And cross-grain'd works of modern wits) With vanity, opinion, want, The wonder of the ignorant, The praises of the author, penn'd B' himself, or wit-infuring friend;

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640

645

650

The itch of picture in the front,
With bays and wicked rhyme upon 't,
All that is left o' th' Forked hill
To make men fcribble without skill;
Canft make a Poet fpite of Fate,
And teach all people to tranflate,
Though out of languages in which
They understand no part of speech;
Affift me but this once, I'mplore,
And I fhall trouble thee no more.

In western clime there is a town,
To those that dwell therein well known,
Therefore there needs no more be faid here,
We unto them refer our reader;

For brevity is very good,

When w' are, or are not understood.
To this town people did repair

On days of market or of fair,

And to crack'd fiddle and hoarse tabor,

'Tis hard to keep out of harm's way);
Thither the Knight his courfe did fteer,
To keep the peace 'twixt Dog and Bear,
As he believ'd h' was bound to do
In confcience and commission too ;
And therefore thus bespoke the Squire 1
We that are wifely mounted higher
Than conftables in curule wit,
When on tribunal bench we fit,

710

715

For authors do affirm it came

For fo of late men fighting name, Because they often prove the fame; (For where the firit does hap to be,

725

From Ifthmian or Nemaan game;
Others derive it from the Bear
That's fix'd in northern hemisphere,
And round about the pole does make
A circle, like a bear at stake,

That at the chain's end wheels about,
And overturns the rabble-rout:
For after folemn proclamation
In the bear's name (as is the fashion

Ver. 665.] Brentford, which is eight miles weft from London is here probably meant, as may be gathered from Part II. Cant. iii. Ver. 995, &c. where he tells the Knight what befel him there :

And though you overcame the Bear,
The dogs beat you at Brentford fair,
Where sturdy butchers broke your noddle.

Ver. 678] This game is ufhered into the Poem with more folemnity than thofe celebrated ones in Homer and Virgil. As the Poem is only adorned with this game, and the Riding Skimmington, fo it was incumbent on the Poct to be very paricular and full in the defcription: and may we not venture to affirm, they are exactly fuitable to the nature of thefe adventures, and, confequently, to a Briton, preferable to thofe in Homer or Virgil ?

Ver. 689, 690.] Alluding to the bull-running at Tutbury in Staffordshire; where folemn proclamation was made by the Steward before the bull was turned loofe; "That all manner of per"fons give way to the bull, none being to come VOL. II.

Ver. 714.] This fpeech is fet down, as it was delivered by the Knight in his own words: but fince it is below the gravity of Heroical poetry to admit of humour, but all men are obliged to speak wifely alike, and too much of fo extravagant a folly would become tedious and impertinent, the reft of his harangues have only his fenfe expreffed in other words, unlefs in fome few places, where his own words could not be fo well avoided.

Ver. 15. Had that remarkable motion in the Houfe of Commons taken place, the Constables might have vied with Sir Hudibras for an equality at leaft; "That it was neceff ry for the Houle of "Commons to have a High Conftable of their

Owl, that will make no fcruple of laying his "Majefty by the heels;" but they proceeded not fo far as to name any body; becaufe Harry Martyn (out of tenderness of confcience in this parti cular) immediately quafhed the motion, by laying, the power was too great for any man.

3 [C]

Unless by providential wit,
Or force, we averruncate it.
For what defign, what intereft,
Can beaft have to encounter beaft?
They fight for no efpoufed Cause,

The bloody duel without blows.
Are not our liberties, our lives,
The laws, religion, and our wives,
Enough at once to lie at stake

For Covenant and the Caufe's fake?
But in that quarrel Dogs and Bears,
As well as we, muft venture theirs?
This feud, by Jefuits invented;
By evil counfel is fomented;
There is a Machiavilian plot,
(Though every rare olfact it not)
And deep defign in 't to divide
The well-affected that confide,
By fetting brother against brother,
To claw and curry one another.
Have we not enemies plus fatis,
That cane & angue pejus hate us?
And fhall we turn our fangs and claws
Upon our own felves without caufe?
That fome occult defign doth lie
In bloody cynaretomachy,
is plain enough to him that knows
How Saints lead Brothers by the nose.
I wish myself a pfeudo-prophet,
But fure fome mifchief will come of it,

735

760

Frail Privilege, fundamental Laws, Nor for a thorough Reformation, Nor Covenant nor Proteftation, Nor liberty of Confciences,

765

Nor Lords and Commons' Ordinances;

Nor for the Church, nor for Church-lands,
To get them in their own no hands;
Nor evil Counsellors to bring

740 To juftice, that feduce the King;
Nor for the worship of us men,
Though we have done as much for them.
Th' Egyptians worship'd dogs, and for
Their faith made internecine war.

745 Others ador'd a rat, and fome
For that church fuffer'd martyrdom.
The Indians fought for the truth
Of th' elephant and monkey's tooth:
And many, to defend that faith,
750 Fought it out mordicus to death;
But no beast ever was fo fight,
For man, as for his God, to flight.
They have more wit, alas! and know
Themfelves and us better than fo:

755 But we, who only do infufe

The rage in them like boute-feus,
'Tis our example that inftils
In them th' infection of our ills.
For, as fome late philofophers
With man take after him, as hogs
Have well obferv'd, beafts that converfe
Get pigs all th year, and bitches dogs.
Juft fo, by our example, cattle
Learn to give one another battle.
We read in Nero's time the Heathen,
When they destroy'd the Christian brethren,
They few'd them in the fkins of bears,
And then fet dogs about their ears;
From whence, no doubt, th' invention came,
Of this lawd antichristian game.

The point feems very plain to me;
To this, quoth Ralpho, Verily

770

775

880

790

795

Ver. 765.] Nor for free Liberty of Confcience. Thus the two first editions read: the word free tions; and Mr. Warburton thinks for the worfe; was left out in 1674, and all the fubfequent edifree liberty being a most beautiful and fatirical periphrafis for licentioufnefs, which is the idea the Author here intended to give us.

Ver. 766.] The King being driven from the Parliament, no legal acts of Parliament could be made; therefore when the Lords and Commons had agreed upon any bill, they published it, and required obedience to it, under the title of An Ordinance of Lords and Commons, and fome. times, An Ordinance of Parliament.