The subtle spider never spins,
But on dark days, his slimy gins;
Nor does our engineer much care to plant
His spiritual machines,
Unless among the weak and ignorant,
Th’ inconstant, credulous, and light,
The vain, the factious, and the slight,
That in their zeal are most extravagant:
For trouts are tickled best in muddy water;
The more he’s sought, and follow’d after;
And greater ministrations gains;
For talking idly is admired,
And speaking nonsense held inspired;
And still, the flatter and more dull
His gifts appear, is held more powerful:
For blocks are better cleft with wedges,
Than tools of sharp and subtle edges;
And dullest nonsense has been found
By some to be the solid’st and the most profound.
“Upon an Hypocritical Nonconformist” was written by Samuel Butler in about1675, yet describes an engineer born some 250 years later in a peanut patch. The Poetical Works of Samuel Butler, Vol. II, pp 182, New York, D. Appleton & Co., Broadway, 1854. ****
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