Butler, Samuel

1612 - Born in Worcestershire on December 4, 1612.

1627 - He was the son of a farmer and was educated at the King's School, Worcester, under Henry Bright whose teaching is recorded favourably by Thomas Fuller a contemporary writer in his Worthies of England. In early youth he was page to the Countess of Kent, and thereafter clerk to various Puritan justices, some of whom are believed to have suggested characters in Hudibras. Through Lady Kent he met John Selden who influenced his later writings. He also tried his hand a painting but was reportedly not very good at it; one of his editors reporting that "his pictures served to stop windows and save the tax" (on window glass).

1663-1678 - The first part of Hudibras was published, and the other two in 1664 and 1678 respectively. One fan was Charles II, who granted him a pension.

1680 - Notwithstanding the popularity of Hudibras, Butler was neglected by the Court and died on June 18, 1680, although whether in a state of poverty as often claimed and how much this may have been a self imposed exile either by choice or because of his sharp satirical wit is uncertain. John Aubrey in his notebook jottings called Brief Lives records that Charles II gave him a gift of £300 and that he had been secretary to George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, when the latter was chancellor of the University of Cambridge; Butler was close enough to Buckingham to collaborate with him in The Rehearsal, a satirical play mocking the heroic drama of the time. Butler is buried in Westminster Abbey. There is a memorial plaque to him in the small village church of Strensham, Worcestershire, near the town of Upton upon Severn, his birthplace.

• "Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself."
• "It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly."
• "Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises."
• "'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have lost at all."
• "Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule. Nevertheless one had better know the rules, for they sometimes guide in doubtful cases, though not often."