This sturdy Squire had, as well 475
As the bold Trojan knight, seen hell,[1]
Not with a counterfeited pass
Of golden bough, but true gold lace.
His knowledge was not far behind
The knight's, but of another kind, 480
And he another way came by't;
Some call it Gifts, and some New Light.
A lib'ral art, that costs no pains
Of study, industry, or brains.
His wits were sent him for a token,[2] 485
But in the carriage crack'd and broken.
Like commendation nine-pence, crookt
With—to and from my love—it lookt.[3]
He ne'er consider' d it, as loth
To look a gift-horse in the mouth; 490
And very wisely would lay forth
No more upon it than 'twas worth.[4]
But as he got it freely, so
He spent it frank and freely too.
For saints themselves will sometimes be, 495
Of gifts that cost them nothing, free.
By means of this, with hem and cough,
Prolongers to enlighten'd snuff,[5]
He could deep mysteries unriddle.
As easily as thread a needle; 500
- ↑ In allusion to Æneas's descent into hell, and the tailor's receptacle for his filchings, also called hell.
- ↑ Var. "His wit was sent him."
- ↑ From this passage, and the proverb "he has brought his noble to ninepence," one would be led to conclude, that coins were commonly struck of that value; but only two instances of the kind are recorded by Mr Folkes, both during the civil wars, the one at Dublin, and the other at Newark. Long before this period, however, by royal proclamation of July 9, 1551, the base testoons or shillings of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. were rated at ninepence, and these were as abundant as sixpences or shillings until 1696, when all money not milled was called in. Such pieces were often bent and given as love-tokens, and were called "To my love and from my love." See Tatler, No. 240.
- ↑ When the barber came to shave Sir Thomas More, the morning of his execution, the prisoner told him, "that there was a contest betwixt the King and him for his head, and he would not willingly lay out more upon it than it was worth."
- ↑ Enlighten'd Snuff.—This reading, which is confirmed by Butler's Ge-
