Thus was he gifted and accouter'd, We mean on th' Infide, not the Outward, That next of all we fhall difcufs; 240 Then liften, Sirs, it follows thus: His tawny Beard was th' equal Grace Ib. -and Widgeon.] When Mohammed fled from Mecca, he got into a Cave at Mount Thur, where he lay three days to avoid the fearch of his Enemies: Two Pigeons laid their Eggs at the entrance, and a Spider cover'd the Mouth of it, which made them fearch no farther. (fee Sales's preliminary Difcourfe to the Alcoran, fect. 2. p. 51. fee more, id. ib. S. 4. p. 116.) It is farther fabled of him, that he had a tame Pigeon that used to pick Seeds out of his Ear, that it might be thought to whisper and infpire him. Scot's Difcovery of Witchcraft, book 12. chap. 15. pag. 252. fee note by Mr. Warburton, upon Venus's Pigeons, or rather Widgeons. Shakefpear's Merchant of Venice, act. 2. Works, vol. z. Mr. Theobald's edit. P. 30. .235, 236. As if Hypocrify and Nonfenfe, Had got th' Ad-vorfon of his Confcience.] Dr. Bruno Ryves (Mercurius Rufticus, N° 16. p. 190.) gives a remarkable inftance of a Fanatical Confcience, in a Captain, who was invited by a Soldier to eat part of a Goofe with him; but refused, because he said it was stolen: but being to march away, he who would eat no ftolen Goose, made no fcruple to ride away upon a ftolen Mare; for plundering Mrs. Bartlet of her Mare, this hypocritical Captain gave fufficient teftimony to the World, that the Old Pharifee, and New Puritan have Consciences of the felf fame temper, "To ftrain out a Gnat, and fwallow a Camel." (How would fuch a wretch have fared under the Dif cipline of Charles XII. King of Sweden, who commanded two brave Soldiers to draw lots for their Lives, and him to be shot, upon whom the Lot fell, for taking fome Milk and Curds from a Child; and a Dragoon to be fhot upon the spot for ill ufing his Hoft, who attempted to prevent his killing fome Fowls, Guftavus Adlerfeld's Military Hiftory of Charles XII. vol. 2. p. 288, &c.) fee the pretended Sanctity of thofe Hypocrites fully expofed, Continuation of the Friendly Debate, p. 268, &c. Oldham's Satyr against Vertue, S. 6. .241. His tawny Beard, &c.] Mr. Butler, in his description of Hudibras's Beard, seems to have had an eye to Jaques's defcription of the Country Juftice, in Shakespear's Play, As you like it. act. 2. vol. 2. p. 220. It may be afked, Why the Poet is fo particular upon the Knight's Beard, and gives it the preference to all his other Accoutrements? The Anfwer feems to be plain; the Knight had made 245 In Cut and Dye so like a Tile, 255 Tho' it contributed its own Fall, a Vow not to cut it till the Parliament had fubdued the King; hence it became neceffary to have it fully described: This Beard, and that of Philip Nye, mentioned by the Knight in his Epistle to his Mistress, might probably be two of the most remarkable Beards of the times. (Mr. B.) fee a description of Beards, with an account of Hudibras's Beard, Spect. vol. 5. N° 331. .243. In Cut and Dye fo like a Tile, &c.] They were then fo curious in the Management of their Beards, that fome (as I am in◄ formed) had Pafte-board Cafes to put over them in the Night, left they fhould turn upon them, and rumple them in their Sleep. . 247. This hairy Meteor.] A Comet, fo called from Coma. . 251. And tell with Hieroglyphic Spade.] Alluding to the picture of Time and Death. Hieroglyphics, fee Baily's Dictionary, Monfieur Huet's Treatife of Romances, London 1672, p. 12. Mr. Warburton's Divine Legation of Mofes. .253. Like Sampfon's Heart-breakers.] Heart-breakers, Love-locks, Cyrri Amatorii: fee Mr. Pryn's Animadverfions upon Love-locks, Hiftrio-Maftix, p. 188, to 195. 209, 210, 211. 882, 883, 888. 254. In time to make a Nation rue.] Sampson's Strength confifted in the Hair of his head: when Dalilah had treacherously cut it off, the Philiftines put out his Eyes; but as it grew again, his Strength returned; and then he pull'd down the House over the heads of his Enemies, and was himself buried with them in the ruins. Judges 16. upon the publick Downfal. To wait It was monaftick, and did grow In holy Orders by strict Vow; Of Rule as fullen and fevere, 269 As that of rigid Cordeliere: 'Twas bound to suffer Perfecution, .257. It was Monaftick, &c.] Alter'd to Canonick 1674, restor'à 1704. This whimfical Refolution of the Knight, was fo peculiar, that the Poet cannot forbear defcanting upon it, in his humourous Tale of the Gobler and Vicar of Bray; Remains, p. 135. edit. 1727. This worthy Knight was one that fwore He wou'd not cut his Beard, 'Till this ungodly Nation was Till they were both no more. (Mr. B.) He was not of the mind of Selim I. Emperor of the Turks, who was the first Emperor that shaved his Beard, after he afcended the Throne, contrary to the Koran, and the received Cuftom; and being reprimanded by the Mufti, he answered, That he did it to prevent his Vifier's having any thing to lead him by. (fee Prince Cantemir's Grouth of the Othman Empire, 1734, P. 145. Sir Francis Bacon's Apothegms N° 162. Refufcitatio, p. 242.) 260. As that ef rigid Cordeliere.] A Grey Friar of the Franciscan Order, so called from a Cord full of Knots which he wears about his middle: Corda nodofâ corpus domare confuevit; vid. Geft. Pontfic. Leodiens. tom. 3. p. 214. Leodii, 1626. VOL. I. C : *.272. Maugre all which, 'twas to ftand fast, 270 As long as Monarchy fhou'd laft, But when the State fhould hap to reel, A Sacrifice to Fall of State; 275 Whose Thread of Life the Fatal Sifters Did twist together with its Whiskers, . 272. 'Twas to fubmit to fatal Steel.] Arcite (fee Chaucer's Knight's Tale.) devotes his Beard to Mars the God of War, in the following manner. And eke to this avow I will me bind, My Beard, my Hair that hangeth low adown; That never yet felt offencyoun Of Rafour, ne of Sheer, I wall thee yeue. (give) See Don Quixote, vol. 2. c. 4. p. 46. .275 Whofe Thread of Life the Fatal Sifters, &c.] Clotho, Lachefs, and Atropos, the three Definies, whom the ancient Poets feign'd to fpin, and determine how long the Thread of Life should laft. vid. Virgilii Bucol. Ecl. 4.47. Horatii Carm. lib. 2. Od. 3. 15,16. Ovid. Metamor. lib. 1.653, 654. Juv. fat. 12. 64, &c. vid. etiam fat. 3, 27. fat. 9. 135. Martial, lib. 4. Epigram 73. lib.6. Epig. 58. Oweni Epig. ad Hen. Principem, lib. 2. Ep. 4. p. 147. Thus Spenser describes them, Fairy Queen, book 4. canto 2. f. 48. vol. 3. p. 475. There he them found all fitting round about, That cruel Atropos undid, With curfed Knife cutting the Twift in twain: Moft wretched Men, whofe days depend on Threads fo vain. (fee f. 47, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54. The Complaint of the Black Knight, Chaucer's Works, edition 1602, fol. 260. Shakespeare's MidsummerNight's Dream, a&t. 5, vol. 1. p. 144, 145. Cotton's Virgile-Travestie, book 4. p. 140.) . 281. So learned Taliacotius, &c.] Gafper Talliacotius was born at Bononia A. D. 1553, and was Profeffor of Phyfic and Surgery there; he died 1599; his Statue ftands in the Anatomy Theatre, holding And twine fo close, that Time should never, But with his rusty Sickle mow holding a Nofe in it's hand He wrote a Treatife in Latin call'd Chirurgia Nota; in which he teaches the art of ingrafting Nofes, Ears, Lips, &c. with the proper Inftruments and Bandages; this Book has pafs'd through two editions. Many are of opinion, that Taliacotius never put his ingenious contrivances in practice, they imagine that fuch Operations are too painful and difficult to be attempted, and doubt of the fuccefs: however, Taliacotius is not fingular in his doctrine, for he fhews in lib. 1. cap. 19. that Alexander Benedictus a famous Writer in Surgery, defcribed the operation for loft Nofes before him; as does that great Anatomift Vefalius: and, Ambr. Pareus mentions a Surgeon that practiced this Art with fuccefs in feveral inftances: our own Countryman Mr. Charles Barnard (Serjeant Surgeon to Queen Anne) afferts, That it has been practiced with wonderful dexterity and fuccefs, as may be proved from Authorities not to be contested, whatever Scruples fome who have not examined the History, may entertain concerning either the truth or pof fibility of the fact-so that it is a moft furprizing thing, that few or none should have fince attempted to imitate fo worthy and excellent a pattern, Wotton on Ancient and Modern Learning, c. 36. (Dr. H.) (see an humorous description of Taliacotius and his practice, Tatler N° 260.) Dr. Fludd, a Reficrufian Philofopher, and Physician, mentioned V. 541. has improved upon this Story. (Defence of the Weapon Salvet or the Squeezing of Parfon Fofter's Spunge, 1635, p. 132.) he informs. us (as he pretends from unexceptionable Authority,) of a certain Nobleman in Italy, who loft a great part of his Nofe in a Duel; he was advised by one of his Phyficians to take one of his Slaves, and to make a wound in his Arm, and to join the little remainder of his Nofe to the wounded Arm of his Slave, and to continue it there for fome time, till the Flesh of the Arm was united to his Nofe. The Nobleman prevailed upon one of his Slaves, on the promife of his Freedom and a Reward, to consent to the Experiment; by which the double Flesh was united, and a piece of flesh was cut out of the Slaves Arm, which was fo managed by a skilful Surgeon, as to ferve for a natural Nofe: the Slave being rewarded and fet free, C3 |