It is certain, that he reaped no other benefit from his poem than an order upon the Treasury for three hundred pounds;* which, as he owed more than the cause of it's fame; as the turns of humour and satire, being short and pithy, are therefore more tenable in the memory, whence Hudibras is more frequently quoted in conversation than the finest pieces of serious poetry. As a masterly piece of criticism, Dr. Johnson's Dissertation upon Hudibras, appended to his Life of Butler, will be read with great pleasure. The work (it may be briefly remarked) considered as a whole, is certainly deficient in incident and interest: for though it contains more wit and learning than perhaps any other that ever was written, and though there is hardly a subject for which an appropriate motto might not be found in it's pages, it cannot often be perused except as a task. The characters, indeed, are now obsolete; for the manners, that gave them birth, no longer exist: yet will this work remain an unrivalled monument of genius and erudition, as long as the English language endures. * Some assert, that the King drew the order for three thousand pounds; and that a cypher was cut off in some of the offices, through which it passed.' But this does not seem probable: for Butler, in that case, would hardly have been so personally severe upon his Majesty's neglect of him, as we find him in his HUDIBRAS at Court.' • Now you must know Sir HUDIBRAS That all that saw him did him honour. This prince, whose ready wit and parts entire sum, he requested his friend Longueville to appropriate to the discharge of his debts. Few more particulars of his life are to be found; for from his extreme modesty, and his dislike of what Cowley so well denominates "the great vulgar and the small," he studiously avoided a multiplicity of acquaintance. Even the Earl of Dorset, one of his best friends, was obliged to resort to a stratagem in order to get introduced to him. He prevailed on Mr. Fleetwood Shephard to introduce him into his company at a tavern, in the character of a common friend. At this interview Butler, who never shone in conversation till he had drank pretty freely, appeared flat and heavy while the first bottle went round: in the course of drinking the second, however, he became brisk and sprightly, displayed to it's best advantage his wit and learning, and proved a most agreeable companion; but, before the third was finished, he relapsed into his original stupidity. Next morning, his Lordship pronounced him "Like a nine-pin, little at both ends, but great in the middle." t During the latter part of his life he resided in Rose Street, Covent Garden; and there, it is supposed, he ended his days. Upon his death in 1680, Mr. Longueville applied to many of his great and wealthy admirers, to contribute to the expense of burying him in Westminster Abbey: but they, who had courted his company without promoting his interest in life, were not very likely to exert themselves in paying honour to his remains. He was, therefore, privately interred in the church-yard of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, at the sole charge of his friend, the burial-service being read by Dr. Patrick (subsequently Bishop of Ely) the minister of the parish. From this and other circumstances it was reported, that he died deeply in debt.'* But Mr. Charles Longueville, * A monument, however, was in 1721 erected to his memory by Mr. John Barber, citizen of London, which gave occasion to the following lines by Mr. S. Wesley: . Whilst Butler, needy wretch! was yet alive, No generous patron would a dinner give. See him, when starved to death and turn'd to dust, The poet's fate is here in emblem shown: He ask'd for bread, and he received a stone.' The inscription upon it is as follows: M. S. SAMUELIS BUTLERI, Qui Strenshamiæ in agro Vigorn. nat. 1612, 3 Vir doctus imprimis, acer, integer; Hoc tandem posito marmore curavit the son of the above-mentioned gentleman, publicly contradicted the assertion. In this mist of obscurity passed the life of Butler, a man whose name can only perish with his language. The mode and place of his education are unknown; the events of his life are variously related; and all that can be told with certainty is, that he was poor. The Third and Last Part of Hudibras was published some time after the First and Second; and a complete edition of the whole was printed under the author's inspection in 1678. It has since received the highest commendations from foreigners, as well as from his own countrymen. Among the first, Voltaire has done it the highest honour. This great genius thus expresses himself upon the subject: "There is an English poem, the title of which is HUDIBRAS;' it is Don Quixote,' and our Satire Menippée," blended together. I never met with so much wit in one single book as in this; and, at the same time, it is the most difficult to translate. Who would believe, that a work which paints in such lively and natural colours the several foibles of mankind, and where we meet with more sentiments than words, should baffle the endeavours of the ablest translators? But the reason of it is this; almost every part of it alludes to particular incidents." Hudibras has gone through many editions: that published by Zachary Grey, LL. D: with large annotations, and a preface containing some memoirs of the author in 1744, in two volumes octavo,* and subsequently reprinted, was The few royal paper copies (six only, according to Mr. Dibdin) sell at an enormous price-even nine guineas, and in some catalogues they are valued at a still higher sum! It has provoked, as is usually the case with powerful and 6 long regarded as the standard one; until Dr. Nash, the historian of Worcestershire, in 1794 published a new edition in two volumes quarto, with an Inquiry into the Life of Butler; containing, however, few particulars not previously known. In 1759 were published, The Genuine Remains, in Verse and Prose, of Mr. Samuel Butler, printed from original Manuscripts, formerly in the possession of William Longueville, Esq.; with Notes by Mr. R. Thyer, Keeper of the Public Library at Manchester,' in two volumes octavo. Of these volumes, the first consists chiefly of poetical pieces; the second, of characters drawn with great strength, to which are annexed ingenious thoughts on a variety of subjects.* Some of the popular compositions, many inferior imitators; a Second Part,' prior to his own, a Dutch,' and a 'Scotch Hudibras,' 'Butler's Ghost,' The Occasional Hypocrite,' &c. Some vain attempts have, likewise, been made to translate parts of it into Latin. Of these, one or two (ascribed to the learned Harmar, once Greek Professor at Oxford) are subjoined for the amusement of the reader: "So learned Taliacotius from, &c.'* Sic adscitities nasos de clune torosi So wind i' th' hypochondres pent, &c.' Sic hypochondriacis inclusa meatibus aura In justice to Butler, we must not omit to mention an old edition of his Posthumous Works, first printed in three and afterward in one volume duodecimo, containing many indecent and immoral pieces, of which Mr. Charles Longueville declared many to be spurious. 77 |