CANTO III.]
HUDIBRAS.
399
And from th' enchantments of a widow,Who 'd turn'd you int' a beast, have freed you;And, tho' a prisoner of war,Have brought you safe, where now you are;Which you wou'd gratefully repay, 115Your constant Presbyterian way.That's stranger, quoth the Knight, and stranger;Who gave thee notice of my danger?Quoth he, Th' infernal conjurerPursu'd, and took me prisoner; 120And, knowing you were hereabout,Brought me along to find you out,Where I, in hugger-mugger hid,[1]Have noted all they said or did:And, tho' they lay to him the pageant, 125I did not see him nor his agent;Who play'd their sorceries out of sight,T' avoid a fiercer second fight.But didst thou see no devils then?Not one, quoth he, but carnal men, 130A little worse than fiends in hell,And that she-devil Jezebel,That laugh'd and tee-he'd with derisionTo see them take your deposition.What then, quoth Hudibras, was he 135That play'd the dev'l to examine me?A rallying weaver in the town,That did it in a parson's gown,Whom all the parish take for gifted,But, for my part, I ne'er believ'd it: 140In which you told them all your feats,Your conscientious frauds and cheats;Deny'd your whipping, and confess'dThe naked truth of all the rest,More plainly than the rev'rend writer 145That to our churches veil'd his mitre.[2]
- ↑ Meaning privately and without order. Thus Shakspeare, in Hamlet "We've done but greenly in hugger-mugger to inter him; poor Ophelia."
- ↑ This character has been applied to several church dignitaries: Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, afterward Archbishop of York, "the pepper-nosed Caitiff that snuffs, puffs, and nuffs ingratitude to Parliament—a jack-a-lent made
