"
The above is taken from the "Tale of a Tub" published in 1704, but never
directly owned by him. At the commencement of it he says that,
"Wisdom is a fox, who after long hunting will at last cost you the
pains to dig out; it is a cheese which, by how much the richer, has
the thicker, the homelier, and the coarser coat; and whereof to a
judicious palate the maggots are the best; it is a sack posset,
wherein the deeper you go you will find it the sweeter. Wisdom is a
hen, whose cackling we must value and consider, because it is
attended with an egg, but then, lastly, it is a nut, which unless
you choose with judgment may cost you a tooth, and pay you with
nothing but a worm."
He attacks indiscriminately the Pope, Luther, and Calvin. Of the first
he says--
"I have seen him, Peter, in his fits take three old high-crowned
hats, and clap them all on his head three story high, with a huge
bunch of keys at his girdle, and an angling rod in his left hand.
In which guise, whoever went to take him by the hand in the way of
salutation, Peter with much grace, like a well educated spaniel,
would present them with his foot; and if they refused his civility,
then he would raise it as high as their chaps, and give them a
damned kick in the mouth, which has ever since been called a
salute.
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