Th' incendiary vile, that is chief
Author and engineer of mifchief;
That makes divifion between friends,
For profane and malignant ends.
He and that engine of vile noise,
On which illegally he plays,
Shall (dictum factum) both be brought
To condign pun'fhment, as they ought,
This must be done, and I would fain fee
Mortal fo fturdy as to gainfay;
For then I'll take another course,
And foon reduce you all by force.
This faid, he clapt his hand on fword,
To fhew he meant to keep his word.

But Talgol, who had long fuppreft
Inflamed wrath in glowing breast,
Which now began to rage and burn as
Implacably as flame in furnace,

Thus anfwer'd him: Thou vermin wretched,
As e'er in meafled pork was hatched;
Thou tail of Worship, that doft grow
On rump of justice as of cow :
How dar'ft thou with that fullen luggage
O' th'felf, old ir'n, and other baggage,
With which thy fteed of bones and leather
Has broke his wind in halting hither;
How durft th', I fay, adventure thus
T'oppofe thy lumber against us?

Could thine impertinence find out
670 No work t' employ itself about,
Where thou, fecure from wooden blow
Thy bufy vanity might show?
Was no difpute a-foot between
The caterwauling Brethren?,
No fubtle queftion rais'd among

675

Thofe out-o'-their wits, and those i' th' wrong
No prize between thofe combatants
Q' th' times, the land and water faints,
Where thou might'ft ftickle, without hazard
680 Of outrage to thy hide and mazzard,
And not, for want of bufinefs come
To us to be thus troublesome,
To interrupt our better fort
Of difputants, and fpoil our fport?
Was there no felony, no bawd,
Cutpurfe, or burglary abroad?
No ftolen pig, nor plunder'd goofe,
To tie thee up from breaking loofe?
No ale unlicens'd, broken hedge,

685

695

690 For which thou ftatute might'ft alledge,
To keep thee bufy from foul evil,
And fhame due to thee from the Devil?
Did no Committee fit, where he
Might cut out journey-work for thee."
And fet th' a task, with fubornation,
To stitch up fale and fequeftration,
To cheat, with holiness and zeal,
All parties and the common-weal?
Much better had it been for thee
He 'ad kept thee where th' art us'd to be,
Or fent th' on business any whither,
So he had never brought thee hither;
But if th' haft brain enough in fcull
To keep itself in lodging whole,
And not provoke the rage of ftones,
And cudgels to thy hide and bones,
Tremble, and vanish while thou may'st,

Ver. 673-676..] The threatening punishment
to the Fiddle, was much like the threats of the
pragmatical troopers to punish Ralph Dobbin's
waggon, Plain Dealer, vol. I. "I was driving
(fays he) into a town upon the 29th of May,
"where my waggon was to dine: there came up
❝in a great rage feven or eight of the troopers
that were quartered there, and asked "What
"I bufhed out my horfes for?" Itold them, “To
"drive flies away." But they faid, "I was a Ja-Which I'll not promife if thou ftay'st.
"cobite rafcal, that my horfes were guilty of
"high treafon, and my waggon ought to be
"hanged."-I anfwer, "It was already drawn,

and within a yard or two of being quartered; "but as to being hanged, it was a compliment we "had no occafion for, and therefore defired them "to take it back again, and keep it in their own

hands, till they had an opportunity to make use "of it."-I had no fooner fpoke thefe words, "but they fell upon me like thunder, ftript my "cattle in a twinkling, and beat me black and blue with my own oak-branches."

Ver. 683, 684.] It may be asked, Why Talgol was the first in anfwering the Knight, when it feems more imcumbent upon the Bearward to make a defence? Probably Talgol might then be a Cavalier; for the character the Poet has given him doth not infer the contrary; and his anfwer carries ftrong indications to justify the Conjecture.

Ver. 694.] Is lam'd, and tir'd in balting bitber. Thus it ftands in the two first editions of 1663.

At this the Knight grew high in wroth,
And lifting hands and eyes up both,
Three times he fmote on ftomach ftout,
From whence, at length, thefe words brake
Was I for this entitled Sir,
And girt with trufty fword and fpur,

Ver. 732] To keep within its lodging. Edit, 16 reading 1704. 1684, 1689, 1694, 1700. Reftored to the prefe

Ver. 741.] Hudibras fhewed lefs patience on this than Don Quixote did upon a like occafion where he calmly diftinguishes betwixt an afre and an injury. The Knight is irritated at fatirical anfwer of Talgol, and vents his rage in manner exactly fuited to his character; and wh his palion was worked up to a height too g to be expreffed in words, he immediately into action; but, alas! at his firft entrance inte it, he meets with an unlucky disappointment an omen that the fuccefs would be as indiffere as the caufe in which he was engaged,

Her gorgon fhield, which made the cock
Stand ftiff, as 'twere transform'd to stock.
745 Meanwhile fierce Talgol, gathering might, 785
With rugged truncheon charg'd the Knight;
But he, with petronel up-heav'd,
Instead of fhield, the blow receiv'd;
The gun recoil'd, as well it might,

750 Not us'd to such a kind of fight,

Though arm'd with all thy cleavers, knives, 755 But Talgol first, with hardy thwack,

Twice bruis'd his head, and twice his back;
But when his nut-brown fword was out,
With ftomach hug: he laid about,
Imprinting many a wound upon

760 His mortal foe, the truncheon:
The trufty cudgel did oppose
Itfelf against dead-doing blows,
To guard his leader from fell bane,
And then reveng`d itself again.

Wood wounds and bruifes honour more.
And now both Knights were out of breath,
Tir'd in the hot purfuits of death,
Whilft all the rest amaz'd stood still,
Expecting which fhould take or kill.
This Hudibras obferv'd; and fretting
Conqueft should be fo long a-getting,
He drew up all his force into
780 One body, and that into one blow
But Talgol wifely avoided it

Meanwhile th' incomparable Colon,

825

To aid his friend, began to fall on;

Him Ralph encounter'd, and straight grew
A difmal combat 'twixt them two;

The Bear, upon whofe foft fur-gown
The Knight with all his weight fell down,
The friendly rug preferv'd the ground,

830

And headlong Knight, from bruife or wound: 370
Like feather-bed betwixt a wall,

And heavy brunt of cannon-ball.
As Sancho on a blanket fell,
And had no hurt, our's far'd as well
In body, though his mighty fpirit,
Being heavy, did not fo well bear it,
835 The Bear was in a greater fright,

Th' one arm'd with metal, th' other with wood,
This fit for bruife, and that for blood.
With many a ftiff thwack, many a bang,
Hard crab-t ee and old iron rang,
While none that faw them could divine
To which fide conqueft would incline;
Until Magnano, who did envy
That two thould with fo many men vy,
By fubtle ftratagem of brain

Perform'd what force could ne'er attain;
For he, by foul hap, having found
Where thiftles grew on barren ground,
Ju hafte he drew his weapon out,
And having cropt them from the root,
He clapp'd them underneath the tail
of feed, with pricks as fharp as nail:
The angry beaft did ftraight refent
The wrong done to his fundament,
Began to kick, and fling, and wince,
As if he 'ad been befide his fenfe,
Striving to difengage from thistle,
That gall'd him forely under his tail;
Juftead of which, he threw the pack
Of Squire and baggage, from his back;
And blundering ftill, with fmarting rump,
He gave the Knight's steed fuch a thump
As made him reel. The Knight did ftoop,
And fat on further fide aflope.
This Talgol viewing, who had now
By fleight efcap'd the fatal blow,

He rally'd, and again fell to 't;
For, catching foe by nearer foot,

He lifted with fuch might and strength,

As would have hurt'd him thrice his length,
And dafh'd his brains (if any) out;

But Mars, that still protects the ftout,

In pudding-time came to his aid,
And under him the Bear convey'd;

Ver. 825.]

But now fierce Colon 'gan draw on,
To aid the diftrefs'd champion.

In the two first editions of a663.

8-5

Beat down, and worsted by the Knight;
He roar'd, and rag'd, and flung about,
To fhake off bondage from his fnout:
His wrath inflam'd, boil'd o'er, and from
840 His jaws of death he threw the foam;
Fury in ftranger poftures threw him:
And more than ever herald drew him:
He tore the earth, which he had fav'd
From fquelch of Knight, and ftorm'd and rave,
And vex'd the more, because the harms
He felt were 'gainst the law of arms:

845

850

855

For men he always took to be

His friends, and dogs the enemy;"

Who never fo much hurt had done him:
As his own fide did falling on him:
It griev'd him to the guts that they,

For whom he 'ad fought fo many a fray,
And ferv'd with lofs of blood fo long,
Should offer fuch inhuman wrong;
Wrong of unfoldier-like condition,
For which he flung down his commiffion;
And laid about him, till his nofe

From thrall of ring and cord broke loose.
Soon as he felt himfelf enlarg'd,

860 Through thickest of his foes he charg'd,
And made way through th' amazed crew;
Some he o'er-ran, and fome o'erthrew,
But took none; for by hafty flight
He ftrove t' efcape purfuit of Knight,
From whom he fled with as much hafte
And dread as he the rabble chac'd;
In hafte he fled, and fo did they,
Each and his fear a feye:al way.

865

appointment. It was reasonable that the God of War fhould come in to his affiftance, fince a God defs had interefted herself on the fide of his e mies (agreeably to Homer and Virgil). Had the probably difabled from future action; and conkKnight directly fallen to the ground, he had bee quently the battle would too foon have been determined: befides, we may obferve a beautiful gra dation, to the honour of the hero: he falls pe the Bear, the Bear breaks loofe, and the fečte tors run: fo that the Knight's fall is the primary caufe of this rout, and he might juftly, as he terwards did, afcribe the honour of the victory ta himself.

1

Ver. 9c6. Avoid the conquering Keg editions 1674, 1684, 1689, $594, $700, 17759 Reftor'd 1710, as above.

Ver. 948.] To shield the Knight entranc'd from the Rebels of thofe days, that dominion is founded