been the first to
master the Pindaric ode in English; while Cowper expresses, in his Task,
regret that his "splendid wit" should have been

Entangled in the cobwebs of the schools.

But if he is neglected in the present day as a household poet, he stands
prominently forth to the literary student as an historic personage of no
mean rank, a type and representative of his age, country, and social
conditions.

SAMUEL BUTLER.

BUTLER'S CAREER.--The author of Hudibras, a satirical poem which may as
justly be called a comic history of England as any of those written in
prose in more modern times, was born in Worcestershire, on the 8th of
February, 1612. The son of poor parents, he received his education at a
grammar school. Some, who have desired to magnify his learning, have said
that he was for a time a student at Cambridge; but the chronicler Aubrey,
who knew him well, denies this. He was learned, but this was due to the
ardor with which he pursued his studies, when he was clerk to Mr.
Jeffreys, an eminent justice of the peace, and as an inmate of the mansion
of the Countess of Kent, in whose fine library he was associated with the
accomplished Selden.

We next find him domiciled with Sir Samuel Luke, a Presbyterian and a
parliamentary soldier, in whose household he saw and noted those
characteristics of the Puritans which he afterward ridiculed so severely
in his great poem, a poem which he was quietly engaged in writing during
the protectorate of Cromwell, in hope of the coming of a day when it could
be issued to the world.

This hope was fulfilled by the Restoration. In the new order he was
appointed secretary to the Earl of Carbery, and steward of Ludlow Castle;
and he also increased his frugal fortunes by marrying a widow, Mrs.
Herbert, whose means, however, were soon lost by bad investments.

HUDIBRAS.--The only work of merit which Butler produced was _Hudibras_.
This was published in three parts: the first appeared in 1663, the second
in 1664, and the third not until 1678. Even then it was left unfinished;
but as the interest in the third part seems to flag, it is probable that
the author did not intend to complete it. His death, two years later,
however, settled the question.

The general idea of the poem is taken from Don Quixote. As in that
immortal work, there are two heroes. Sir Hudibras, corresponding to the
Don, is a Presbyterian justice of the peace, whose features are said to
have been