clinations led him, which which were chiefly History and Poetry; to which, for his Diverfion, he joined Mufick and Painting; and I have feen fome Pictures, faid to be of his Drawing, which remained in that Family; which I mention not for the Excellency of them, but to fatisfy the Reader of his early Inclinations to that noble Art; for which also he was afterwards entirely beloved by Mr. SAMUEL COOPER, one of the moft eminent Painters of his Time.

He was, after this, recommended to that great Encourager of Learning, ELIZABETH Countess of Kent, where he had not only the Opportunity to confult all Manner of learned Books, but to converfe alfo with that living Library of Learning, the great Mr. SELDEN.

Our Author lived fome Time alfo with Sir SAMUEL LUKE, who was of an ancient Family in Bedfordfhire; but, to his Difhonour, an eminent Commander under the Ufurper OLIVER CROMWELL: : And then it was, as I am informed, he compofed this loyal Poem. For, though Fate, more than Choice, feems to have placed him in the Service of a Knight fo notorious, both in his Perfon and Politicks, yet, by the Rule of Contraries, one may obferve throughout his whole Poem, that he was most orthodox, both in his Religion and Loyalty. And I am the more induced to believe he wrote it about that Time, because he had then the OpI portunity to converfe with thofe living Characters of Rebellion, Nonfenfe, and Hypocrify, which he fo lively and pathetically exposes throughout the whole Work.

After the Restoration of King CHARLES II, thofe who were at the Helm, minding Money more than Merit,

B 3

THE

AUTHOR's LIFE.

S

AMUEL BUTLER, the Author of this excellent Poem, was born in the Parish of Strenfham, in the County of Worcester, and baptized there the 13th of Feb. 1612. His Father, who was of the fame Name, was an honeft Country Farmer, who had fome fmall Estate of his own, but rented a much greater of the Lord of the Manor where he lived. However, perceiving in this Son an early Inclination to Learning, he made a fhift to have him educated in the FreeSchool at Worcester, under Mr. HENRY BRIGHT; where having paffed the ufual Time, and being become an excellent School-Scholar, he went for fome little Time to Cambridge, but was never matriculated into that University, his Father's Abilities not being fufficient to be at the Charge of an Academical Education; fo that our Author returned foon into his native Country, and became Clerk to one Mr. JEFFERYS of Earls-Croom, an eminent Juftice of the Peace for that County, with whom he lived fome Years, in an eafy and no contemptible Service. Here, by the Indulgence of a kind Mafter, he had fufficient Leifure to apply himself to whatever Learning his In

I

clinations

clinations led him, which were chiefly Hiftory and Poetry; to which, for his Diverfion, he joined Mufick and Painting; and I have seen fome Pictures, faid to be of his Drawing, which remained in that Family; which I mention not for the Excellency of them, but to fatisfy the Reader of his early Inclinations to that noble Art; for which also he was afterwards entirely beloved by Mr. SAMUEL COOPER, one of the moft eminent Painters of his Time.

He was, after this, recommended to that great Encourager of Learning, ELIZABETH Countess of Kent, where he had not only the Opportunity to confult all Manner of learned Books, but to converse also with that living Library of Learning, the great Mr. SELDEN.

Our Author lived fome Time alfo with Sir SAMUEL LUKE, who was of an ancient Family in Bedfordfhire; but, to his Difhonour, an eminent Commander under the Ufurper OLIVER CROMWELL: And then it was, as I am informed, he composed this loyal Poem. For, though Fate, more than Choice, feems to have placed him in the Service of a Knight fo notorious, both in his Perfon and Politicks, yet, by the Rule of Contraries, one may obferve throughout his whole Poem, that he was most orthodox, both in his Religion and Loyalty. And I am the more induced to believe he wrote it about that Time, because he had then the Opportunity to converfe with thofe living Characters of Rebellion, Nonfenfe, and Hypocrify, which he fo lively and pathetically expofes throughout the whole Work.

After the Reftoration of King CHARLES II, thofe who were at the Helm, minding Money more than B 3 Merit,

Merit, our Author found that Verfe in JUVENAL to be exactly verified in himself:

Haud facile emergunt, quorum virtutibus obftat
Res angufta domi :

And being endued with that innate Modefty, which rarely finds Promotion in Princes Courts; he became Secretary to RICHARD Earl of Carbury, Lord Prefident of the Principality of Wales, who made him Steward of Ludlow-Caftle, when the Court there was revived. About this Time he married one Mrs. HERBERT, a Gentlewoman of a very good Family, but no Widow, as our Oxford Antiquary has reported: She had a competent Fortune, but it was most of it unfortunately loft, by being put out on ill Securities, fo that it was little Advantage to him. He is reported by our Antiquary to have been Secretary to his Grace GEORGE Duke of Buckingham, when he was Chancellor to the Univerfity of Cambridge; but whether that be true or no, it is certain, the Duke had a great Kindnefs for him, and was often a Benefactor to him. But no Man was a more generous Friend to him, than that MECENAS of all learned and witty Men, CHARLES Lord Buckhurft, the late Earl of Dorfet and Middlefex, who, being himself an excellent Poet, knew how to fet a juft Value upon the ingenious Performances of others, and has often taken care privately to relieve and fupply the Neceffities of thofe, whofe Modefty would endeavour to conceal them; of which our Author was a fignal Inftance, as feveral others have been, who are now living. In fine, the Integrity of his Life, the Acuteness of his Wit, and Eafinefs of his Converfation, had rendered him moft acceptable to all Men; yet he prudently avoided Multiplicity of Acquaintance, and wifely chofe

fuch

fuch only whom his difcerning Judgment could diftinguish (as Mr. COWLEY expreffeth it)

From the great Vulgar or the small.

And having thus lived to a good old Age, admired by all, though perfonally known to few, he departed this Life in the Year 1680, and was buried at the Charge of his good Friend Mr. LONGUEVIL of the Temple, in the Yard belonging to the Church of St. PAUL'S Covent-Garden, at the Weft End of the faid Yard, on the North Side under the Wall of the faid Church, and under that Wall which parts the Yard from the common Highway. And fince he has no Monument yet fet up for him, give me leave to borrow his Epitaph from that of MICHAEL DRAYTON the Poet, as the Author of Mr. COWLEY's has partly done before me:

And tho' no Monument can claim
To be the Treafurer of thy Name;
This Work, which ne'er will die, fhall be
An everlasting Monument to thee.

The Characters of this Poem are for the most part obvious, even to the meanest Pretenders to Learning or Hiftory; nor can fcarce any one be fo ignorant, as not to know that the chief Defign thereof is a Satyr against those Incendiaries of Church and State, who in the late Rebellion, under Pretence of Religion, murdered the best of Kings, to introduce the worst of Governments; deftroyed the best of Churches, that Hypocrify, Novelty, and Nonfense might be predominant amongft us; and overthrew our wholfome Laws and Conftitutions, to make Way for their bleffed Anarchy and Confufion, which at B 4

laft