This Ralpho knew, and therefore took Never did trufty fquire with knight, Thus was th' accomplish'd Squire endued With gifts and knowledge perilous fhrewd: 625 Or knight with fquire, e'er jump more right. As well as virtues, parts, and wit: And out they fally'd at the gate. Few miles on horfeback had they jogged For they a fad adventure met, 630 Of which anon we mean to treat : 635 Atchievements fo refolv'd and bold, Thou that with ale, or viler liquors, Didst inspire Withers, Pryn, and Vickars, And cross-grain'd works of modern wits) 64.0 645 650 With With vanity, opinion, want, 655 660 When w' are, or are not understood. 670 To this town people did repair On days of market or of fair, And Ver. 665.] Brentford, which is eight miles wek 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, From Ifthmian or Nemæan game; That at the chain's end wheels about, In the bear's name (as is the fashion 685 690 According 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, so it was incumbent on the Poet to be very particular 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 those 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 D 2 loofe; According to the law of arms, To keep men from inglorious harms) If any yet be fo fool-hardy, T'expose themselves to vain jeopardy, 695 No honour's got by fuch a maim, Although the bear gain much, being bound 700 When he's engag'd, and takes no notice, But lets them know, at their own cost, This to prevent, and other harms, "Tis hard to keep out of harm's way); To keep the peace 'twixt Dog and Bear, 705 710 Than loofe; "That all manner of perfons give way to the bull, none being to come near him by forty foot, 66 any way to hinder the minstrels, but to attend his or "their own fafety, every one at his peril." See Dr. Plot's Staffordshire. Ver. 714.] This fpeech is fet down, as it was deli For fo of late men fighting name, Quantum in nobis, have thought good 725 And vered 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 so extravagant a folly would become tedious and impertinent, the rest of his harangues have only his fenfe expreffed in other words, unless in some few places, where his own words could not be fo well avoided. Ver. 715.] Had that remarkable motion in the House of Commons taken place, the Conftables might have vied with Sir Hudibras for an equality at least; "That it was neceffary for the Houfe of Commons to "have a High Conftable of their own, that will make "no fcruple of laying his Majesty by the heels ;" but they proceeded not fo far as to name any body; becaufe Harry Martyn (out of tenderness of conscience in this particular) immediately quashed the motion, by faying, the power was too great for any man. |