Elogium famae inserviens: Jacci Etonensis, sive Gigantis; or, the praises of Jack of Eton, Commonly called Jack the Giant Collected into Latin and English Metre, after the Manner of Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, John Burton, and Others. To which is added a dissertation on the Burtonic Style. By a Master of Arts [i.e. William King] |
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THE PROLOGUE. |
 | Elogium famae inserviens: Jacci Etonensis, sive Gigantis; or, the praises of Jack of Eton, Commonly called Jack the Giant |  |
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THE PROLOGUE.
Argument.
What Work the Giant undertook;How he compos'd a Latin Book;
What this and t'other said;
And how (tho' this comes in by chance)
Once on a Time he went to France;
May here be plainly read.
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Spirit of Sternhold me inspire,And hither deign to bring
Not David's, but thy own sweet Lyre,
While Giant Jack I sing!
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Or else, that now I may not dream,When I incline to write;
Do thou, who art thy self my Theme,
My Numbers all indite.
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As thou didst erst, to mend the Times,And for our Children's Use,
In Numbers quaint and bonny Rhymes,
Some sacred Staves produce.
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Jack, who is Giant eke and PrinceOf Eloquence and Wit,
To Glo'ster hied him some Time since,
To shew what he had writ.
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To Beaux he sheweth and to BellesHis Work in Latin lore;
Who all confess, it far excels
All he had wrote before.
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But how they prais'd him, should I say,And faithfully report;
It would take up at least one Day,
Now Days are very short.
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Then unto Oxenford he came,And walked round the Town;
And told all Folk, that his great Fame
Should pull the Doctor's down.
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But here, alack! and well-a-day!He met a strange Rebuff:
Some Friends advis'd him to delay;
Some said, he wrote poor Stuff.
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Others more cautious, mild and meek,For to prevent all Cavils,
Did counsel him to write in Greek,
As he had wrote his Travels.
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To tell you how he travell-edHere let me take Occasion;
Altho' I needs must break my Thread,
And lengthen my Narration.
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Well!—suddenly he did appearIn Dover, Cinque-Port Town;
But I must own it is not clear,
By what Means he went down.
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From hence he did resolve for France;Not that he there design'd
To learn so late to dress or dance,
But to improve his Mind.
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A while he seem-ed at a StandTo see the Sea so wide;
But waxed bolder, when the Land
He ken'd on t'other Side.
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Aboard he went: The Wind was South;Which is a Wind gainsaying;
And, blowing full into his Mouth,
It hinder'd him from praying.
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And so it happ'd, in passing o'er,His Passage was not quick;
And, as he ne'er had been before
At Sea, he was Sea-sick.
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At length, now maugre all Delay,He did arrive at Calais:
Next Day to Church (it was Sun-day)
He went, but full of Malice.
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But this, which Malice here is hight,Good Christians Zeal do call;
Which doth provoke our Giant Knight
On Papist Folk to fall.
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And tho' the Pope doth nothing dreadIn this his holy Year;
Yet when Jack's Anglo-Greek is read,
I think he must look queer.
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Thus doth our Traveller reportHis Deeds so rare and true:
And since he makes his Tale so short,
Great Praise is to him due.
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How Jack returned, 'tis not plain,And when we do not know;
But surely he came back again,
And came by Sea al—so.
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This small Digression pray excuse;Since for my Hero's Glory
It maketh much: And so, good Muse,
Let us resume our Story.
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Now many Councils had been hadIn Oxford and at Eton:
And some declar'd the Book was bad;
And some said, 't was a feat one.
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Sometime our Jack was in a doubt,Since Friends did not agree:
Orders at length were issu'd out,
The Work shou'd cancell'd be.
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When thrice our learned Landlord H---meAnd four Times eke did cry:
“O do not such fine Things consume!
“For I no Faults espy.
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“And sure I am, that Jew or Turk,“If Jew or Turk were by,
“Would sore lament, that such a Work,
“As soon as born, should die.”
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But now observe, in human BreastWhat sudden Turns are seen:
This Book, of all good Books the best,
Had scarce destroy-ed been;
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When Jack was with himself displeas'd;And saith, repenting, Ne these
Are real Friends: And then was seiz'd
With his old Cacoethes.
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So up he goes to London City:Increased in his Gall:
And now he mindeth without Pity
Unhappy King to maul.
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And, tho' his Face was erst so ruddy,It waxeth pale with Ire:
And, when he sitteth down to study,
His Breast doth glow with Fire.
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But not with sinful Fire, or that,Which Ancients call Phoebean;
Which whosoever would come at,
Must pray to heathen Pæan.
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At length a Book he doth compile,A Latin Book indeed;
And so well fashion'd is the Style,
'Tis pleasant for to read.
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Who, that hath Cunning, doth not noteThe Print is most correct?
Unlike the Print of Master P---te;
Who doth his Press neglect.
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And now with Labour, Sweat and Pain,This Work will I rehearse;
Report the whole it doth contain,
And do it into Verse.
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For Verse all Matters doth refine,And makes gay Things more gay:
And if it cometh from the Nine,
It will endure for aye.
| Elogium famae inserviens: Jacci Etonensis, sive Gigantis; or, the praises of Jack of Eton, Commonly called Jack the Giant | |