could tolerate, was probably humming over their exile in France and Holland, we hear
his old songs and fancies and writing new not a word of any publication pro or con, in
ones to amuse his leisurè in some cottage verse or in prose, bearing the name of Samuel
near his old parish ; Hobbes was abroad, Butler. It was not till after the Restoration
teaching mathematics to Charles II. in his that amid the general gathering of the old
exile, and writing his “ Leviathan" and wits from their haunts, around the throne of
other works, which he afterwards came over Charles II., and the sudden crop of new and
to England to publish ; Waller, Davenant, younger wits evoked by the license afforded
Denham, and Cowley, also lived abroad as roy- to dramatic riot and all that had hitherto been
alist exiles, till towards the end of Cromwell's repressed – the face or the name of Butler
Protectorate, when they were permitted to emerged to challenge notice.
return and write as much as they chose, and Of course it cannot be that Butler was pos-
when Waller, at least, thought it wise to itively idle with his pen all this time. He
make his peace with Cromwell and become was not heard of as a writer prior to 1662;
one of his panegyrists; Suckling had died but the man who then came forth with such
almost at the beginning of his royal master's a poem as the first part of Hudibras must
troubles ; Izaak Walton, having quitted his have had a good deal of quiet practice before-
cloth-shop, in Chancery Lane, in 1644, was hand in the art of putting his thoughts on pa-
dividing his time between fishing, the prepara- per. It becomes of some importance, therefore,
tion of his book on that art, and pious recol- to find out, if possible, at what point in that
lections of Donne, Hooker, Wotton, and other obscure period in Butler’s life which elapsed'
good men whom he had known before the before the Restoration, the literary impulso
king's head had been cut off; and, lastly, first seized him, what was the precise nature
Milton, the true literary representative of of that impulse, and what were the circum-
Puritanism and the Commonwealth, though stances which retarded so long the public ex-
he had forsaken for the time the softer muse hibition of his talent. For this purpose let
of his youth, was still conspicuously at work, us glance at the little that is known of this
shaking the very soul of Royalism and Prel- portion of his life.
acy, by his noble prose treatises in defence Butler was the son of a substantial farmer
of the Revolution and its leaders. Nay, there in Worcestershire. He received a very good
were others, not mentioned in the above list, school education at the Cathedral school of
whose literary career began, or was continued, Worcester, under a master who had a consid-
during the stormy period of the Common- erable reputation in his day for turning out
wealth. The manhood of the great Jeremy pupils who afterwards became distinguished.
Taylor corresponds with this period, which he It is not certainly known whether he was sent
did not long survive ; Richard Baxter, and to either of the Universities. There is a
other non-conforming divines, became famous vague account of his having been at Cam-
during it; the quaint Fuller then penned bridge, and there is a still more vague account
many of his writings; the philosophic Sir of his having been at Oxford ; but Mr. Bell
Thomas Browne, calm as a mollusc in the is disposed, and we think justly, to believo
midst of the social perturbations, was pursu- that neither account is correct, and that But-
ing his fantastic speculations in his study atler nerer received any university education. If
Norwich ; tbe vagabond trooper Cleveland, he was at either of the Universities, however,
now abroad with his Royalist associates, and we can well suppose that it was not then or
now risking his neck in England, was inditing there that he began to write verses.

It is
his racketty squibs against the Roundheads, easy to see, from the nature of his writings,
with especial reference to that grand topic of after he did become a writer, that he never
fun with all the satirists of his party, Oliver's could have had anything about him of that
copper nose ; and Milton's friend, honest An- overflowing productive disposition, that rich
drew Marvell, had at least given evidence to imitative instinct, which belongs to the young
those who knew him of his capacity of writing sons of Apollo, and which made his contem-
well on the other side. Yet, in the midst of poraries, Milton and Cowley, poets even in
all this cross-fire of writings from Royalists their teens. Milton, a fond disciple at college
and Puritans, from poets and philosophers, of all that was best in classical as well as in
from Englishmen at home and Englishmen in / modern poetry, was already himself a writer

of sweet verse ; and Cowley was but a flow- ishing Justice of Peace in his native county
ing-haired child when, meeting with Spenser's of Worcestershire. While in this service he
"L'aery Queene," the imitative impulse seized is said to have had some thoughts of turning
him, and he began to lisp in numbers, painter ; and, as late as the middle of last

century, there were some portraits and other
" The Muses did young Cowley raise ; pictures at Earl's Croombe which were said

They stole him from his nurse's arms,
Fed him with sacred love of praise,

to have been painted by Butler during his
And taught him all their charms."

residence there. They do not seem to have

been worth much ; and, though Butler kept A much tougher subject, if we guess aright, up his taste for the art in after-life so as to was young Butler, and not the kind of infant become acquainted with Samuel Cooper, the for any Muse to dandle. “When but a first English portrait-painter of his day, his boy," says Aubrey, "he would make obser- own practice in it was probably never more rations and reflections on everything one than that of an amateur. There was more said or did, and censure it to be either well feasibility in the plan which he is said also or ill;" and, wherever Aubrey got his infor- to have entertained about this time of becommation, it has a singular smack of truth about ing a lawyer, or at least a country attorney ; it. Not a flowing-haired poetic child of the and, as evidence of some such intention, there Cowley stamp at all, milâly stealing away is not only a tradition of his having entered from his companions into the fields to read, himself at Gray's Inn, but also the fact of but a decidedly hard-headed if not stubby- bis having left behind him among his papers haired bog, keeping uncomfortably near to a syllabus of Coke upon Littleton, drawn up people when they were talking, and " censur- in law French' in his own handwriting. ing things to be either well or ill ;” such, Not even to the dignity of an independent even without Aubrey's hint, but merely on country attorney, however, was Butler to be the principle of the boy being father to the promoted. From being law-clerk to the man, should we have conceived young Butler Worcestershire Justice of Peace, we find him to bare been in his school-days. If he did - through what intermediate stages of go to college he doubtless made the most of amateur portrait-painting, and law-studenthis time there, and read books and acquired ship, is unknown — transferred to a superior knowledge assiduously, as would become a situation, as secretary, or the like, in the sensible farmer's son, receiving education at household of the Countess of Kent, at Wrest, some expense to his family ; but to Spenser's in Bedfordshire. Here, besides leisure tó " Faery Queene," and all that class of influ- amuse himself with painting and music, he ences, we suspect he would have presented a had the advantage of an excellent library, cuticle of greater resistance than either Mil- and of the conversation of the learned Seltop or Cowley did. In short, if he was at den, then steward of the Countess's estate, the University, we can well believe that he and, according to Aubrey's account, privately left it without ever having perpetrated verse married to her. It is this circumstance of at all

, or at least anything more than a few Selden's being domesticated at Wrest at the lines of such hard downright doggrel as time of Butler's service there that enables would not matter much one way or another. us to form a guess as to dates. Mr. Bell, He may, bowever, have written good sound finding that Selden spent the Parliamentary prose, of a quality quite sufficient for his pur- recess of the year 1628 at the Earl of Kent's poses as a scholar,

as we have done, that he did not leave Earl's immediately antecedent to the King's recall.
Croombe for Wrest till about the year 1639; When the King had returned, it would be
in which year, as Mr. Bell himself informs us, natural, amid the general change of system,
Selden, by the death of the Earl of Kent, for Presbyterian knights and county magis-
became permanently domesticated in the trates to sink into comparative idleness and
household of the Countess at Wrest, and obscurity, and for their secretaries, especially
that on a more intimate footing than when if of Royalist connections, to look about for
the Earl had been alive. The fact that But other situations.
ler is always represented by his biographers Such is the meagre outline, with which
as having entered the service of the Countess we must be content, of the first forty-eight
of Kent, seems to confirm this ; and in other years of Butler's life. It is possible, indeed,
respects it accords with the facts. If Butler that farther research might disclose addi-
did enter this service in 1639, when he was tional facts, or at least verify or disprove the
in his twenty-eighth year, he may have conjectures we have ventured to make as to
remained in it till 1651, in which year the the dates of such facts as are known.
Countess died, leaving Selden her executor Meanwhile, what concerns us is to ascertain,
and part-beir ; and still there would be if possible, at what point in the life, as thus
ample time left for a third and different ser- laid out, Butler first felt his vocation to liter-
vice which Butler is said to have discharged ature, and first secretly practised the talent
before the Restoration - namely; that of which was afterwards to make him famous.
secretary or general man of business to Sir Now, if our chronology is correct, we have
Samuel Luke of Cople Hoo, in the same little hesitation in saying that it was some-
county of Bedfordshire. Sir Samuel was one where in what we have represented as the
of the leading Presbyterians of the county, middle portion of his adult life prior to the
and a Justice of Peace. He had been a Restoration that is, during his service with
Colonel in the Parliamentary army during the Countess of Kent at Wrest, in Bedford-
the Civil Wars, and Member in the Long shire, from 1639 to 1651.
Parliament for Bedfordshire ; and, though We found this opinion on the evidence
with others of the Presbyterian leaders, he afforded by what remains of his writings, in
bad shrunk back from the extreme proceed- addition to Hudibras. Of all these writings
ings of the Parliament about the time of the whether those included in the “ Genuine
King's death, and had, in consequence, been Remains,” published from the actual manu-
one of those members whom the army lead- scripts by Mr. Thyer of Manchester in 1759,
ers and Independents " secluded " about this and which are indubitably authentic, or such
time froin farther attendance in the House, other casual pieces in prose or verse, not in-
he yet appears to have retained his zeal in cluded among these, as there is any probable
the general cause of the Revolution, and to ground for believing to have been really his
have been an active magistrate in Bedford there is not one which we can ascertain to
shire under Cromwell's government. The have been published prior to 1660, or, at all
precise nature of Butler's duties in bis ser- events, to 1659, if indeed any one of them
vice cannot be known ; but if he entered it was published prior to Hudibras itself in 1663.
after 1651, when the Civil Wars in England But, though none of them was certainly pub-
were over, and the Commonwealth was an lished before this period, there are one or two
established fact, they may very well have of them which were certainly written before
been such as a secretary, though of Royalist it. Among these, the earliest to which we
connections and sentiments himself, might can assign a probable date is a piece of rude
consistently enough discharge for a Presby- doggrel, calling itself a “Ballad,” and seem-
terian master. As to the duration of this ingly meant as a squib against · Cromwell,
service, however, we are totally uninformed about the time of his military successes and
We have assumed it to bave begun in 1651, paramount influence in the kingdom, just
and it may have continued till 1660 or there- before the King's death. It occurs among
abouts - i. lv, through the period of the first Thyer's “ Genuine Remains," where it is
Rump, and the Protectorships of Cromwell printed from the manuseript. Here is a
and his son Richard, down to the confusions specimen, part of a portrait, which must be
of the second Rump and Monk's intrigues supposed to be that of Cromwell :

1

His face is round and decent

" As close as a goose
As is your dish or platter,

Sat a Parliament House
On which there grows

To hatch the royal gull ;
A thing like a nose,

After much fiddle-faddle,
But, indeed, it is no such matter.

The egg proved addle,
"On both sides of th' aforesaid

And Oliver came forth Noll."
Are eyes, but th' are not matches, The topic of this piece of doggrel fixes its
On which there are

date at about 1656-1657, when the propriety
To be seen two fair
And large well-grown mustaches.

inf Oliver's exchanging the title of Protector

for that of King was a matter of general dis-
* Now this with admiration
Does all beholders strike,

cussion. Butler, among others, had his no-
That a beard should grow

tions on the subject, of which he relieved Upon a thing's brow

himself, for his own satisfaction, or probably Did ye ever see the like ?

for the amusement of those about him, as " He has no skull, 't is well known

above, After the death of Cromwell, and To thousands of beholders' ;

amid the confusions of Richard's brief ProtecNothing but a skin

torate and the second Rump, there was less Does keep his brains in

reason for reserve in such expressions of opinFrom running about his shoulders."

ion; and, accordingly, during the year im-
And so on, through a score or so of stan- mediately preceding the Restoration, Butler's
228 more, the last of which, containing an pen seems to have been somewhat busy. Be-
allusion to the King and Parliament as both sides other scraps, there is one prose piece of
still extant, and to the civil wars as still rag- some length, the composition of which may
ing

, enables one to assign the year 1648, or be certainly attributed to the year 1659–1660,
thereby, as the probable date of the compo- though it remained unpublished till after-
sition. Such as it is, it is the first authentic wards. This piece consists of “ Two Speeches
piece from Butler's -pen that remains to us; made in the Rump-Parliament when it was
and that which comes nearest to it in point restored by the Officers of the Army in the
of time is a short prose tract, entitled “The year 1659,” the said speeches being mock-
Case of King Charles I. truly stated,” orig- harangues, invented by Butler, and put, the
inally published from the manuscript in 1691, one into the mouth of an old Presbyterian
by an anonymous editor, after Butler's death, member of the House, who is indignant at
and reprinted by Thyer. This tract is in all that has been done by the Army during
the form of a reply to a pamphlet, entitled the last ten years ; and the other into the
"King Charles Case, or an Appeal to all mouth of an Independent, or Army-man, who
Rational Men concerning his Trial," prepared hates the Presbyterians. The composition
by John Cook, Master of Gray's Inn, soli- is one of some vigor ; and the writer makes
citor to the Parliament in the proceedings the two debaters abuse each other, very much
against the King, and afterwards executed as as Hudibras and Ralph do in the poem, only in
one of the chief regicides. The pamphlet sober earnest, and so as to produce an impres-
was put in circulation with others after the sion unfavorable both to a continuance of mil-
King's death, in defence of the policy of the tary rule or Independency, and to a revival
Commonwealth leaders ; and Butler appears of mere Parliamentary government without a
to have tried his hand at writing an answer, royal head. Had the pamphlet been published,
with the intention of publishing it some time it would really have done some service in the
or other

. He never did so, however, and it cause of the Restoration, while that question
was found
among

his

papers. . It may be was being debated, and Monk's intentions
assumed to have been written some time be- were uncertain. It is evident, in short, that
tween 1649 and 1654, the anonymous editor Butler took a great interest in that question ;
of 1691 speaking of it as having been“ penned and it is possible that, though the composi-
about forty years since.” Next, in point of tlon just mentioned was not printed, he may
certain date, among Butler's remains, is a about this time have contributed other pieces
piece of doggrel similar in style to that above of a political tenor which did find their way
quoted, entitled, “ A Ballad about the Par- into circulation.
liament which deliberated about making Oli The result of this brief investigation is, that
ver King.” It begins :

427,

.

Inscriptions on Watch-Papers,
270 Pinchbeck :- Why so called,

576
• Windows,
470 Pipes,

330
Italian-English, Specimen of,
192 Polygamy among the Jews,

605
Postal Reform in America,

442, 498
Japan, Spalding's Account of,
395 Pottery, Ancient,

685
England and the United States, 661 Prescott's History of Philip the Second, 27, 449
Treaty with,
662 Proverbs and Old Sayings,

136, 268
Jew Butcher's Case, The,
107 Punch to Brother Jonathan,

447
Junius Inquiries,

359

POETRY.
Kars,

567-8-570
At the Linn-side,

74
Kane, Dr.,
675 Aurora Borealis, An, :

160
King who could do Wrong,

785
Kossuth, Speech of,
127 Babie Bell, .

96
Books, Sonnet on,

113
Lamb, Charles,
128 Brother Lands,

824
“ Leader,” Doing A,
175 Bunyan, John, In Memory of,

468
Leprosy in the Crimea,

660
Changes,

160
Letter-Writing, Curious Specimen of, 155

Christmas,

160
Liberia and Sierra Leone,

193
Tree, The,

183
Liberty, Japanese Idea of,

32
Comic Artist,

256
Lind, Jenny, on Singing,

201
in Sacred Music,
334 Dark Side, The,

74
Lions and Lion-Hunting,
678 Dew,

204
Literary Talent, Sympathy with,
90 Double Life,

616
Longevity,
576 Drink and Away,

566
Love, Philosophy of,
357 Dust,

48
Luther, Martin, on Copernicus,

554
Glee-maiden's Spell,

346
God's Blessing,

204
Macaulay's History,

405
Mad Painter,
791 He giveth his Beloved Sleep,

37
Maria Theresa and the Pompadour, 182 Herre I Love,

256
Marriage, Prohibited Days for,
95 Interpreters, Two,

312
Matrimonial Alliances, Royal,

63
Medical License, An Old,
153 Jubilate,

183
Message, President Pierce's, The English

Launch, The,

183
638 Levavi Oculos,

113
Metals, New,
144 Lines written at Chicago,

203
Military Adventure in the Pyrenees, 541, 805
Milton and Napoleon,
139, 575 Military Execution,

732

312
Molé, Count, Biographical Notice of, 254, 359 Moss Rose, The,
Moon, The, Circle Round,
658 My Love is full of Happy Mirth,

74
Montesquieu,
273 Murmurs,

616
Mormon Etymology,
318 Nightingale's Song, The,

768
Mother, The Aged,

317
Mustache worn by Clergymen,
174 Old Love, The,

732
Murat,

** Over the Hills and Far Away,"
139

824
Patience on a Monument,

48
Nagpore, Widowed Queens of,
154 Peace,

700
Napoleon's House at Longwood,
351 Peace, Mrs. Durden's View of.

700
Napoleon the Third, Speech of,
501 Perfect Sincerity,

765
Newton's Principia, Analysis of,
321 Present, The,

44
New York, Under Strata of,
269 Pure and Simple,

638
Nicaragua, Government of,
571

615
Nightingale, Miss, Queen's Present to,

Ranger, The,

660
“Noctes Ambrosianæ,” The,

179 Rope-walk, The,
Nursery Tale,

388 Rupert's March,
Sebastopol, English Worship in,

346
Ocean River in the Pacific,
532 Shadow on the Wall,

400
Oscar I., King of Sweden,
95 Shadow of George Herbert,

824
Oxford and the Fine Arts,
873 Simile, A,

48
Sonnet,

96
Paper Materials, New,

576
Tomb in Ghent,

398
Peerages, Life,

759
Too Late,

824
Pera, Society at,

617
Persia and the East India Company, 446 Vermonters' Song,

745
Philip the Second, Reign of,
27, 449 Voyage of Life,

732

.

Press on,

113
255

671,