BUTLER, SAMUEL, poet, was b. at Strensham, Worcestershire, in 1612. His father was a farmer in that place, and said to be a person of some education. Young B., after acquiring the rudiments of his education at home, was placed at the college school at Worcester. His progress there was rapid, and on leaving it lie proceeded to one of the universities. After finishing his education, he was appointed clerk to T. Jeffreys, esq., justice of the peace, and in his leisure hours devoted himself to the study of music and poetry. He afterwards entered the household of the countess of Kent, which lie left, and went to live with sir Samuel Luke, who resided in the same county. After the king's restoration, he was made secretary to the earl of Carberry, which office he held till 1661. About this time, B. married a Mrs. Herbert, a lady of good family and some property, which, however, was afterwards lost by being invested in bad securities. He published the first part of LIadibras in 1663, and its reception at court was immedi ate and triumphant. It received all the favor Charles could spare from his spaniels and his mistresses, and he deigned even to garnish his royal conversation with its wit. The courtiers took up the fashion, the coffee-houses and taverns followed suit, and finally the mob went into raptures, in imitation of its betters. Hudibras was pirated within four weeks of its publication. The king had wit enough to see the merit of the work, but lie lacked generosity to relieve the necessities of the writer. There seems to be no
good reason to believe that B.'s palm ever tingled to the touch of royal pension or gra tuity. Poverty is almost the only thing In B.'s life that one is certain of. In 1664, he published the second part of his book, and a third part appeared in 1678. He died in Rose street, Covent garden, in 1680; and while some say that he starved from pride, all agree that at his death lie was very poor.
Hudibras is a kind of metrical Don Qulrote; and if the work of Cervantes stands at the head of its class in the literature of Spain, Hudibras occupies the same place in the literature of England. The Puritans are the subjects of B.'s derision, and king Charles must have felt that the poet avenged for him the battle of Worcester. The weight, compression, and plenteousness of the wit is wonderful. Hudibras is like a mass of crystals, every point flashes. It is, beyond any other book, of wit "all com pact." B. thinks in witty couplets, he argues in them, he spears his foes with a jest, lie routs and chases them into oblivion with unextinguishable laughter. His best things have become proverbs. His mass of wit has been grated down into common speech, and particles of it may be found any day glittering in the talk of English plowmen and artisans.