352
HUDIBRAS.
[PART III.
By pure geometry, and hate
Dependence upon church or state;
Disdain the pedantry o' th' letter,[1]
And since obedience is better, 610
The Scripture says, than sacrifice,
Presume the less on't will suffice;
And scorn to have the moderat'st stints
Prescrib'd their peremptory hints,
Or any opinion, true or false, 615
Declar'd as such, in doctrinals;
But left at large to make their best on,
Without b'ing call'd t' account or quest'on:
Interpret all the spleen reveals,
As Whittington explain'd the bells;[2] 620
And bid themselves turn back agen
Lord May'rs of New Jerusalem;
But look so big and overgrown,
They scorn their edifiers t' own,
Who taught them all their sprinkling lessons, 625
Their tones, and sanctify'd expressions;
Bestow'd their gifts upon a saint,
Like charity, on those that want;
And learn'd th' apocryphal bigots
T' inspire themselves with shorthand notes,[3] 630
For which they scorn and hate them worse
Than dogs and cats do sow-gelders:
Dependence upon church or state;
Disdain the pedantry o' th' letter,[1]
And since obedience is better, 610
The Scripture says, than sacrifice,
Presume the less on't will suffice;
And scorn to have the moderat'st stints
Prescrib'd their peremptory hints,
Or any opinion, true or false, 615
Declar'd as such, in doctrinals;
But left at large to make their best on,
Without b'ing call'd t' account or quest'on:
Interpret all the spleen reveals,
As Whittington explain'd the bells;[2] 620
And bid themselves turn back agen
Lord May'rs of New Jerusalem;
But look so big and overgrown,
They scorn their edifiers t' own,
Who taught them all their sprinkling lessons, 625
Their tones, and sanctify'd expressions;
Bestow'd their gifts upon a saint,
Like charity, on those that want;
And learn'd th' apocryphal bigots
T' inspire themselves with shorthand notes,[3] 630
For which they scorn and hate them worse
Than dogs and cats do sow-gelders:
- ↑ That is, they did not suffer their consciences to be controlled by the letter of Scripture, but rather interpreted Scripture by their consciences.
- ↑ Every one knows the legend of Dick Whittington, who, having run away from his master as far as Highgate, beard the bells of Bow ringingAn augury which he obeyed, and in time realized, being Lord Mayor in the years 1397, 1406, and 1419; he also amassed a fortune of £350,000. See Tatler, No. 78.Turn again Whittington
Thrice Mayor of London. - ↑ Learn'd, that is, taught, in which sense it is used by the old poets. Apocryphal bigots, not genuine ones, some suppose to be a kind of second-rate Independent divines, that availed themselves of the genuine bigot's or Presbyterian minister's discourse, by taking down the heads of it in shorthand, and then retailing it at private meetings. The accent is laid upon the last syllable of bigot.
by a stone, the right broken by a bullet. His fervours in devotion were so strong that, according to the legend, they sometimes raised him two cubits from the ground, and sustained him for a considerable time together.
