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November 1663, printed 1664), which if possible exceeded the first in popularity . From this time till 1678, the date of the publication of the third part, we hear nothing certain of Butler . On the publication of Hudibras he was sent for by Lord See also:

CHANCELLOR (M. Eng. and Anglo-Fr. canceler, chanceler, Fr. chancelier, Lat. cancellarius)

Chancellor See also:

Hyde (See also:

Clarendon), says See also:

AUBREY, JOHN (1626-1697)

Aubrey, and received many promises, none of which was fulfilled . He is said to have received a See also:

GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

gift of L300 from See also:

Charles II., and to have been secretary to See also:

George See also:

VILLIERS, CHARLES PELHAM (1802-1898)

Villiers, 2nd See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke of See also:

Buckingham, when the latter was chancellor of the university of See also:

Cambridge . Most of his biographers, in their eagerness to prove the See also:

ill-treatment which Butler is supposed to have received, disbelieve both these stories, perhaps without sufficient See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason . Butler's satire on Buckingham in his Characters (Remains, 1759) shows such an intimate knowledge that it is probable the second See also:

story is true . Two years after the publication of the third part of Hudibras he died, on the 25th of See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September 1680, and was buried by his friend See also:

Longueville, a bencher of the See also:

MIDDLE

Middle See also:

Temple, in the See also:

churchyard of St See also:

Paul's, Covent See also:

GARDEN (from O. Fr. garden, mod. Fr. jardin; this, like our words " garth," a paddock attached to a building, and " yard," comes from a Teutonic word for an enclosure which appears in Gothic as gards and O. H. Ger. gart, cf. Dutch gaarde and Ger. .garten)

Garden . He was, we are told, "of a leonine-coloured See also:

HAIR (a word common to Teutonic languages)

hair, sanguine, choleric, middle-sized, strong." A portrait by See also:

LELY, SIR PETER (1617—168o)

Lely at See also:

Oxford and others elsewhere represent him as somewhat hard-featured . Of the neglect of Butler by the See also:

court something must be said .

It must be remembered that the complaints on the subject sup-posed to have been uttered by the poet all occur in the spurious See also:

POSTHUMOUS

posthumous works, that men of letters have been at all times but too prone to complain of lack of patronage, that Butler's actual service was rendered when the See also:

day was already won, and that the pathetic stories of the poet starving and dying in want are contradicted by the best authority—Charles Longueville, son of the poet's friend—who asserted that Butler, though often disappointed, was never reduced to anything like want or beggary and did not See also:

die in any See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person's See also:

DEBT (Lat. debitum, a thing owed)

debt . But the most significant notes on the subject are Aubrey's,1 that " he might have had preferments at first, but would not accept any but very good, so at last he had none at all, and died in want "; and the memorandum of the same author, that " satirical wits disoblige whom they converse with, &c., consequently make to themselves many enemies and few See also:

friends, and this was his manner and See also:

case." Three monuments have been erected to the poet's memory—the first in See also:

Westminster Abbey in 1721, by See also:

John See also:

BARBER (from Lat. barba, beard)

Barber, See also:

mayor of See also:

LONDON

London, who is spitefully referred to by See also:

Pope for daring to connect his name with Butler's . In 1786 a tablet was placed in St Paul's, Covent Garden, by residents of the See also:

PARISH (Gr. irapouda, district, neighbourhood; 7r&poucos, one dwelling near or beside, from crap&, OtKOS, house; Lat. paroecur, Late Lat. parochia; cf. Fr. paroisse)

parish . This was destroyed in 1845 . Later, another was set up at Strensham by John See also:

Taylor of that See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place . Perhaps the happiest See also:

EPITAPH (Gr. it oa¢cos, sc. X/yos, from bri, upon, and ra¢os, a tomb)

epitaph on him is one by John See also:

DENNIS, JOHN (1657—1734)

Dennis, which calls Butler " a whole See also:

SPECIES

species of poets in one." Hudibras itself, though probably quoted as often as ever, has dropped into the class of books which are more quoted than read . In See also:

READING

reading it, it is of the utmost importance to comprehend clearly and to See also:

bear constantly in mind the purpose of the author in See also:

writing it . This purpose is evidently not See also:

ARTISTIC

artistic but polemic, to show in the most unmistakable characters the vileness and folly of the See also:

ANTI, or CAMPA

anti-royalist party . Anything like a See also:

REGULAR

regular See also:

plot—the See also:

ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of which has often been deplored or excused—would have been for this end not merely a superfluity but a See also:

MISTAKE (i.e. take amiss)

mistake, as likely to divert the See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention and perhaps even enlist some sympathy for the heroes . Anything like regular See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character-See also:

DRAWING

drawing would have been equally unnecessary and dangerous ' Letters written by Eminent Persons .. , and Lives of Eminent Men, by John Aubrey, Esq . (2 vols., 1813) .

for to represent anything but monsters, some alleviating strokes must have been introduced . The problem, therefore, was to produce characters just sufficiently unlike See also:

lay-figures to excite and maintain a moderate See also:

INTEREST

interest, and to set them in See also:

motion by dint of a few incidents not absolutely unconnected,—meanwhile to subject the principles and See also:

MANNERS, CHARLES (1857– )

manners of which these characters were the incarnation to ceaseless satire and raillery . The triumphant See also:

SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution of the problem is undeniable, when it has once been enunciated and understood . Upon a See also:

CANVAS

canvas thus prepared and outlined, Butler has embroidered a collection of See also:

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

flowers of wit, which only the utmost fertility or See also:

IMAGINATION

imagination could devise, and the utmost See also:

PATIENCE

patience of See also:

INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry elaborate . In the See also:

union of these two qualities he is certainly without a parallel, and their See also:

COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination has produced a See also:

WORK

work which is unique . The poem is of considerable length, extending to more than ten thousand verses, yet See also:

HAZLITT, WILLIAM (1778-1830)

Hazlitt hardly exaggerates when he says that " See also:

HALF

half the lines are got by See also:

heart "; indeed a diligent student of later English literature has read See also:

GREAT

great part of Hudibras though he may never have opened its pages . The tableaux or situations, though few and See also:

SIMPLE

simple in construction, are ludicrous enough . The knight and See also:

SQUIRE

squire setting forth on their See also:

JOURNEY (through O. Fr. jornee or journee, mod. Fr. journee, from med. Lat. diurnata, Lat. diurnus, of or belonging to dies, day)

journey; the routing of the bear-baiters; the disastrous renewal of the contest; Hudibras and See also:

RALPH (d. 1122)

Ralph in the See also:

STOCKS

stocks; the lady's See also:

RELEASE (O.Fr. reles, variant of relais, from relaisser, to release, let go, Lat. relaxare)

release and conditional See also:

ACCEPTANCE (Lat. acceptare, frequentative form of accipere, to receive)

acceptance of the unlucky knight; the latter's deliberations on the means of eluding his See also:

VOW (Lat. votum, vow, promise: cf. VOTE)

vow; the Skimmington; the visit to Sidrophel, the astrologer; the See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to cajole the lady, with its woeful consequences; the consultation with the lawyer, and the immortal pair of letters to which this gives rise, See also:

COMPLETE

complete the See also:

ARGUMENT

argument of the whole poem . But the story is as nothing; throughout we have little really kept before us but the sordid vices of the sectaries, their See also:

HYPOCRISY

hypocrisy, their churlish ungraciousness, their greed of See also:

MONEY

money and authority, their fast and loose morality, their inordinate See also:

PRIDE, THOMAS (d. 1658)

pride . The extraordinary felicity of the means taken to place all these things in the most ridiculous See also:

LIGHT

light has never been questioned . The doggerel See also:

METRE ((terpuc?, sc. rFxvf, from Gr. Or poi', measure)

metre, never heavy or coarse, but framed as to be the very See also:

VOICE (Fr. voix, from Lat. vox)

voice of mocking See also:

LAUGHTER

laughter, the astounding similes and disparates, the rhymes which seem to chuckle and to sneer of themselves, the wonderful learning with which the abuse of learning is rebuked, the subtlety with which subtle See also:

CASUISTRY (from the Lat. casus, a point of law)

casuistry is set at nought can never be missed . Keys like those of L'Estrange are therefore of little use .

It signifies nothing whether Hudibras was Sir Samuel Luke of Bedfordshire or Sir Henry Rosewell of See also:

DEVON, EARLS OF

Devon-See also:

SHIRE

shire, still less whether Ralph's name in the flesh was See also:

Robinson or Pendle, least of all that Orsin was perhaps Mr Gosling, or Trulla possibly Miss See also:

Spencer . Butler was probably as little indebted to See also:

mere copying for his characters as for his ideas and See also:

style . These latter are in the highest degree original . The first notion of the See also:

BOOK

book, and only the first notion, Butler undoubtedly received from See also:

Don Quixote . His obligations to the Satyre Menippee have been noticed by See also:

VOLTAIRE, FRANCOIS MARIE AROUET DE (1694–1778)

Voltaire, and though English writers have sometimes ignored or questioned them, are not to be doubted . The art, perhaps the most terrible of all the weapons of satire, of making characters without any great violation of See also:

PROBABILITY (Lat. probabilis, probable or credible)

probability represent themselves in the most atrocious and despicable light, was never perhaps possessed in perfection except by See also:

PITHOU, PIERRE (1539-1596)

Pithou and his colleagues and by Butler . Against these great merits some defects must certainly be set . As a whole, the poem is no doubt tedious, if only on See also:

account of the very See also:

BLAZE (A.-S. blaese, a torch)

blaze of wit, which at length almost wearies us by its ceaseless demands on our attention . It should, however, be remembered that it was originally issued in parts, and therefore, it may be supposed, intended to be read in parts, for there can be little doubt that the second part was written before the first was published . A more real defect, but one which Butler shares with all his See also:

con-temporaries, is the tendency to delineate humours instead of characters, and to draw from the outside rather than from within . Attempts have been made to trace the manner and versification of Hudibras to earlier writers, especially in See also:

Cleveland's satires and in the Musarum Deliciae of Sir John Mennis (Pepys's Minnes) and Dr See also:

James See also:

Smith (1605-1667) . But if it had few ancestors it had an abundant offspring .

A See also:

list of twenty-seven See also:

DIRECT

direct imitations of Hudibras in the course of a See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century may be found in the Aldine edition (1893) . Complete See also:

TRANSLATIONS

translations of considerable excellence have been made into See also:

French (London, 1757 and 1819) by John See also:

TOWNLEY, JAMES (1714-1778)

Townley (1697-1782), a member of the Irish See also:

BRIGADE (Fr. and Ger. brigade, Ital. brigata, Span. brigada; the English use of the word dates from the early 17th century)

Brigade; and into See also:

German by D . W . Soltau (See also:

RIGA (Esth. Ria-Lin)

Riga, 1787); specimens of both may be found in R . See also:

Bell's edition . Voltaire tried his See also:

hand at a compressed version, but not with happy results . Other pieces published separately and ascribed to Butler are: A See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

Letter from Mercurius Civicus to Mercurius Rusticus, or London's See also:

CONFESSION (Lat. confessio, from confiteor, acknowledge, confess)

Confession but not repentance . . . (1643), represented in vol. iv. of See also:

SOMERS, JOHN SOMERS (or SOMMERS), BARON (1651–1716)

Somers's tracts; See also:

Mole Asinarum, on the unreasonable and insupportable burthen now pressed . . . upon this groaning nation . . . (1659), included in his posthumous works, which is supposed to have been written by John See also:

PRYNNE, WILLIAM (1600-1669)

Prynne, though See also:

Wood ascribes it to Butler; The Acts and monuments of our late parliament .

. . (1659, printed 1710), of which a continuation appeared in 1659; a " character " of Charles I . (1671); A New Ballad of King See also:

EDWARD

Edward and Jane See also:

SHORE

Shore (1671); A Congratulatory poem . . . to Sir See also:

Joseph See also:

Sheldon . . (1675) ; The See also:

Geneva Ballad, or the occasional conformist display'd (1674); The See also:

SECRET (Lat. secretum, hidden, concealed)

Secret See also:

HISTORY

history of the Calves See also:

head See also:

CLUB (connected with " clump ")

club, compleat . . (4th edition, 1707) ; The See also:

MORNING

Morning's Salutation, or a friendly See also:

CONFERENCE

conference between a puritan preacher and a family of his See also:

FLOCK

flock . . . (reprinted, See also:

DUBLIN

Dublin, 1714) . Two tracts of his appear in Somers's Tracts, vol. vii . ; he contributed to See also:

OVID [PUBLIUS OvID1us NASO] (43 B.C.–A.D. 17)

Ovid's Epistles translated by several hands (168o) ; and works by him are included in See also:

MISCELLANEOUS

Miscellaneous works, written by . George Duke of Buckingham . . . also See also:

State Poems .

. . (by various hands) (1704); and in The See also:

Grove . . . (1721), a poetic See also:

MISCELLANY

miscellany, is a " Satyr against See also:

MARRIAGE

Marriage," not found in his works . The life of Butler was written by an See also:

ANONYMOUS

anonymous author, said by See also:

William See also:

OLDYS, WILLIAM (1696-1761)

Oldys to be Sir James Astrey, and prefixed to the edition of 1704 . The writer professes to supplement and correct the See also:

NOTICE

notice given by See also:

Anthony a Wood in Athenae Oxonienses . Dr Threadneedle Russel See also:

NASH, RICHARD (1674-1762)

Nash, a Worcestershire antiquarian, supplied some additional facts in an edition of 1793 . See the Aldine edition of the Poetical Works of Samuel Butler (1893), edited by Reginald Brimley See also:

Johnson, with complete See also:

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL

bibliographical See also:

INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information . There is a good reprint of Hudibras (edited by Mr A . R . See also:

Waller, 1905) in the Cambridge See also:

CLASSICS

Classics .

End of Article: BUTLER (or BOTELER), SAMUEL (1612–168o)

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