330
HUDIBRAS.
[PART III.
That brought the lawyers in more fees
Than all unsanctify'd trustees;[1]
Till he who had no more to show
I' th' case, receiv'd the overthrow;
Or, both sides having had the worst, 85
They parted as they met at first.
Poor Presbyter was now reduc'd,
Secluded, and cashier'd, and chous'd![2]
Turn'd out, and excommunicate
From all affairs of church and state, 90
Reform'd t' a reformado saint,[3]
And glad to turn itinerant,[4]
To stroll and teach from town to town,
And those he had taught up, teach down,[5]
And make those Uses serve agen[6] 95
Against the New-enlighten'd men,[7]
As fit as when at first they were
Reveal'd against the Cavalier;
Damn Anabaptist and fanatic,
As pat as popish and prelatic; 100
Than all unsanctify'd trustees;[1]
Till he who had no more to show
I' th' case, receiv'd the overthrow;
Or, both sides having had the worst, 85
They parted as they met at first.
Poor Presbyter was now reduc'd,
Secluded, and cashier'd, and chous'd![2]
Turn'd out, and excommunicate
From all affairs of church and state, 90
Reform'd t' a reformado saint,[3]
And glad to turn itinerant,[4]
To stroll and teach from town to town,
And those he had taught up, teach down,[5]
And make those Uses serve agen[6] 95
Against the New-enlighten'd men,[7]
As fit as when at first they were
Reveal'd against the Cavalier;
Damn Anabaptist and fanatic,
As pat as popish and prelatic; 100
- ↑ The lawyers got more fees from the Presbyterians, or saints, who in general were trustees for the sequestered lands, than from all other trustees, who were unsanctified. Nash.
- ↑ When Oliver Cromwell, with the army and the Independents, had got the upper hand, they retaliated on the Presbyterians by depriving them of all power and authority; and before the king was brought to trial, the Presbyterian members were "purged" from the House.
- ↑ That is, a voluntary saint without pay or commission.
- ↑ Amongst the schemes of the day was the appointment of itinerant preachers, who were to be supported out of the lands of Deans and Chapters. Walker's Hist. of Independency, Part ii. p. 156.
- ↑ Poor Presbyter, i. e. the Presbyterians were glad to teach down the Independents, whom as brethren and friends (v. 55) they had indiscriminately taught up; the unhinging doctrines of the Presbyterians having set up the Independents in direct opposition to themselves. Nash.
- ↑ The sermons of these times were divided into Doctrine and Use: and in the margin of them is often printed Use the first, Use the second, &c.
- ↑ The Presbyterians endeavoured to preach down the Independents by the very same doctrines these had used in preaching down the Bishops; that is, by objecting to Ordination and Church government.
rapidly, and if the striker was not very nimble the sand-bag struck him a heavy blow. Judicial combats between common people were also fought with sand-bags fixed on shafts. See Henry VI., Part II. Act ii., where Horner and Peter are so equipped for their combat.
