Believe mechanic virtuosi 6 Can raise 'em mountains in Potosi; Were such things here, as we do speak about? Act i. 325 330 Meibomius de cervisii, xxiii. 10. Est in eodem censu strychnon, sive manicum, sive halicacabum, quæ interdum confundunt auctores. De eo Theophrastus Hist. Plant. ix. 12. ait drachmæ pondere potum efficere πάιζειν τινὰ καὶ δοκεῖν ἑαυτῷ κάλλιστον. Plinius xxi. ex eo lusum gigni, speciesque vanas imaginesque conspicuas obversari, affirmat. Dioscorides iv. 72. ait eadem herba pota pavraoias ἀποτελεῖν οὐκ ἀηδεῖς. • Believe mechanic virtuosi Can raise 'em mountains in Potosi ; And sillier than the antic fools, Take treasure for a heap of coals;] The poet here ridicules the alchymists for pretending to the power of transmuting metals, or turning baser minerals into gold. In the mountains of Potosi are the rich mines belonging to the king of Spain. The credulous disciples of these philosophers our author calls antick fools. Antic, antick, or antique, because the cheat began to be out of fashion when Mr. Butler wrote this part of his book-soon after the Restoration. Or perhaps by antic fools he might mean those silly dreamers, among the ancients, who gave occasion to the proverb, “pro thesauro carbones;" they dreamed of gold, but on examination found coals: it is frequently applied by Lucian. And Phædrus v. fab. vi. Ben Jonson uses the word antique in two senses. The last line is not clearly expressed. If it had been written, "For treasure take an heap of coals," or " Turn treasure to an heap of coals," the meaning would have been more obvious. 7 Seek out for plants with signatures, To quack of universal cures ;] Plants whose leaves resemble the 8 With figures, ground on panes of glass, To draw in fools, whose natʼral itches And keep me in continual fears, And danger of my neck and ears; When less delinquents have been scourg'd, . Which others for cravats have worn 335 340 And held my drubbing of his bones 345 form of some or other of the vitals, or have marks or figures upon them representing any cuticular affection, were thought to point out their own medicinal qualities. Thus wood-sorrel was used as a cordial, because its leaf is shaped like an heart. Liverwort was given for disorders of the liver. The herb dragon was employed to counteract the effects of poison, because its stem is speckled like some serpents. The yellow juice of the celandine recommended it for the cure of the jaundice. . And Paracelsus said, that the spots which appear on the leaves of the Persicaria maculosa, proved its efficacy in the scurvy. With figures, ground on panes of glass, Make people on their heads to pass;] The multiplying glass, concave mirror, camera obscura, and other inventions, which were new in our author's time, passed with the vulgar for enchantments; and as the law against witches was then in force, the exhibitors of these curiosities were in some danger of being sentenced to Bridewell, the pillory, or the halter. For knights are bound to feel no blows Who when they slash and cut to pieces, But when they make a leg and bow.' I therefore spar'd his flesh, and prest him Quoth he, For many years he drove 350 355 And crazy ribaldry of fancy, 360 By those the devil had forsook, As things below him, to provoke ; But b'ing a virtuoso, able To smatter, quack, and cant, and dabble, For any mystical exploit, • For knights are bound to feel no blows 365 From paltry and unequal foes,] According to the rules of knighterrantry. See Don Quixote (book iii. ch. i.) and romances in general. But when they make a leg and bow.] i. e. the courteous knight never strikes his horse, but when he stumbles; but Mr. T. B. gives it a different sense, and thinks it alludes to the action of a horse when the rider gives it a blow on the head; ducking the head, and throwing out the leg, being not unlike an awkward bow. 2 Quoth he, For many years he drove A kind of broking-trade in love,] He transacted the business of intrigues; was a pimp. Before so meriting a person For those that do his bus'ness best, 375 He serv'd two 'prenticeships, and longer, Cou'd get a grant, but in reversion, I' th' myst'ry of a lady-monger. For, as some write, a witch's ghost, As soon as from the body loos'd, He, after searching far and near, At length found one in Lancashire, With whom he bargain'd beforehand, And, after hanging, entertain'd: Since which he 'as play'd a thousand feats, 3 But as an elf, the devil's valet, 380 385 Is not so slight a thing to get,] William Lilly tells us he was fourteen years before he could get an elf, or ghost of departed witch. At last he found one in Lancashire, a country always famous for witches. Thus Cleveland, p. 76: Have you not heard the abominable sport A Lancashire grand jury will report. For, as some write, a witch's ghost,] A better reading would be, Now, as some write. Transform'd himself to th' ugly shapes 390 395 And turns to comfits by his arts, To make me relish for deserts, 400 And one by one, with shame and fear, Beside-But as h' was running on, And told him, now 'twas time to hear. 'Or Pharoah's wizards cou'd their switches;] See Exodus vii, 405 410 415 |