CANTO III.]
HUDIBRAS.
407
Quoth Hudibras, I understandWhat fights thou mean'st at sea and land,And who those were that run away,And yet gave out they 'd won the day: 310Altho' the rabble sous'd them for 't,O'er head and ears, in mud and dirt.'Tis true our modern way of warIs grown more politic by far,[1]But not so resolute and bold, 315Nor tied to honour, as the old.For now they laugh at giving battle,Unless it be to herds of cattle;Or fighting convoys of provision,The whole design o' th' expedition, 320And not with downright blows to routThe enemy, but eat them out:As fighting, in all beasts of prey,And eating, are perform'd one way,To give defiance to their teeth, 325And fight their stubborn guts[2] to death;
- ↑ Butler's unpublished Common-place Book has the following lines on "The modern way of war."For fighting now is out of mode,And stratagem's the only road;Unless in th' out-of-fashion wars,Of barb'rous Turks and Polanders.All feats of arms are now reduc'dTo chousing, or to being chous'd;They fight not now to overthrow,But gull, or circumvent a foe.And watch all small advantagesAs if they fought a game at chess;.And he's approv'd the most deservingWho longest can hold out at starving.Who makes best fricasees of cats,Of frogs and ———, and mice and rats;Pottage of vermin, and ragoosOf trunks and boxes, and old shoes.And those who, like th' immortal gods,Do never eat, have still the odds.
- ↑ Later editions read, the others' stomachs.
was neglected after the battle of Roundway-down, called by the wits Runaway-down.
