Page images
PDF
EPUB

And fell t'his wonted trade again,

To feign himself in earnest flain :
Firft ftretch'd out one leg, then another,
And feeming in his breast to smother
A broken figh; quoth he, Where am I,
Alive, or dead; or which way came I
Through fo immenfe a space fo foon?
But now I thought myself i'th'moon;
And that a monster, with huge whiskers,
More formidable than a Switzer's,
My body through and through had drill'd,
And Whachum by my fide had kill'd,
Had cross examin'd both our hofe,
And plunder'd all we had to lofe;
Look, there he is, I fee him now,
And feel the place I am run through÷
And there lies Whachum by my fide
Stone dead, and in his own blood dy'd :
Oh! Oh! with that he fetch'd a groan,
And fell again into a fwoon,

Shut both his eyes, and stopp'd his breath,
And to the life out-acted death;
That Hudibras, to all appearing,
Believ'd him to be dead as herring.
He held it now no longer fafe,
To tarry the return of Ralph,
But rather leave him in the lurch:
'Thought he, he has abus'd our church,
Refus'd to give himself one firk,

To carry on the public work;

Defpis'd our fynod-men like dirt,
And made their discipline his sport;
Divulg'd the fecrets of their claffes,
And their conventions prov'd high places:
Difparag'd their tyth-pigs, as Pagan,
And fet at nought their cheese and bacon ;
Rail'd at their covenant, and jeer'd
Their rev'rend parfons to my beard:
For all which fcandals, to be quit
At once, this juncture falls out fit.
I'll make him henceforth to beware,
And tempt my fury, if he dare:
He must at least hold up his hand,
By twelve freeholders to be scann'd;
Who, by their skill in palmistry,
Will quickly read his destiny;
And make him glad to read his leffon,
Or take a turn for't at the feffion :
Unless his light and gifts prove truer
Than ever yet they did, I'm fure;
For if he 'scape with whipping now,
"Tis more than he can hope to do:
And that will difengage my confcience
O'th'obligation, in his own sense:
I'll make him now by force abide
What he by gentle means deny'd,
To give my honour fatisfaction,
And right the brethren in the action.
This being refolv'd, with equal speed
And conduct he approach'd his steed,,

And with activity unwont,

Affay'd the lofty beast to mount;

Which once atchiev'd, he spurr'd his palfrey, To get from th'enemy, and Ralph, free: Left danger, fears, and foes behind,

And beat, at least three lengths, the wind.

AN

HEROICAL

EPISTLE

O F

HUDI BRAS

то

SIDRO PHE L.

Ecce iterum Crifpinus

WELL, Sidrophel, though 'tis in vain
To tamper with your crazy brain,

Without trepanning of your fcull
As often as the moon's at full;
'Tis not amifs, ere y'are giv'n o'er,
To try one defp'rate med'cine more;
For where your cafe can be no worse,
The defp'rat'ft is the wifeft course.
Is't poffible, that you, whose ears
Are of the tribe of Iffachar's,
And might, with equal reason, either
For merit, or extent of leather,

With William Pryn's, before they were
Retrench'd, and crucify'd, compare,
Should yet be deaf against a noife
So roaring as the public voice?

That speaks your virtues free and loud,
And openly in ev'ry croud,

As loud as one that fings his part
T'a wheel barrow, or turnip-cart,
Or your new nick-nam'd old invention
To cry green-hastings with an engine;
(As if the vehemence had stunn'd,

And torn your drum-heads with the found,)
And 'cause your folly's now no news,
But overgrown, and out of ufe,

Perfuade yourself there's no fuch matter,
But that 'tis vanish'd out of nature;
When folly, as it grows in years,

The more extravagant appears;
For who but you could be poffeft
With fo much ignorance, and beast,
That neither all mens fcorn, and hate,

Nor being laugh'd and pointed at,
Nor bray'd fo often in a mortar,

Can teach you wholesome fenfe and nurture;:

But (like a reprobate) what courfe

Soever's us'd, grow worfe and worfe?
Can no transfufion of the blood,
That makes fools cattle, do you good?
Nor putting pigs t'a bitch to nurse,
To turn them into mungrel curs,

1

« PreviousContinue »