Dr. Richard Corbet
This reverend Doctor was born at Ewel in Surrey; a witty Poet in his youth, witness his Iter Boreale, and other facetious Poems, which were the effects of his juvenal fancy; He was also one of those celebrated Wits, which with Mr. Benjamin Johnson, Mr. Whitaker, Sir Joh. Harrington, Dr. Donne, Mr. Drayton, Mr. Davis, whom I mentioned before, and several others, wrote those mock commendatory Verses on Coriats Crudities; which, because the Book is scarce, and very few have seen it, I shall give you them as they are recited in the Book.
I do not wonder, Coriat, that thou hast
Over the Alps, through France, and Savoy, past,
Parcht on thy skin, and founder’d in thy feet,
Faint, thirsty, lousie, and didst live to see’t.
Tho’ these are Roman sufferings, and do show
What Creatures back thou hadst, could carry so;
All I admire is thy return, and how
Thy slender pasterns could thee bear, when now
Thy observations with thy brain ingendred,
Have stufft thy massy and volumnious head
With Mountains, Abbeys, Churches, Synagogues,
Preputial Offals, and Dutch Dialogues:
A burthen far more grievous than the weight
Of Wine or Sleep, more vexing then the freight
Of Fruit and Oysters, which lade many a pate,
And send folks crying home from Billings-gate.
No more shall man with Mortar on his head
Set forward towards Rome: no, Thou art bred
A terror to all Footmen, and to Porters,
And all Lay-men that will turn Jews Exhorters,
To fly their conquer’d trade: Proud England then
Embrace this luggage, which the man of men
Hath landed here, and change thy Welladay
Into some home-spun welcome Roundelay.
Send of this stuff thy Territories thorough,
To Ireland, Wales, and Scottish Edenborough;
There let this Book be read and understood,
Where is no theme, nor writer half so good.
He from a Student in, became Dean of Christchurch, then Bishop of Oxford, being of a courteous carriage, and no destructive nature to any who offended him, counting himself plentifully repaired with a Jest upon him. He afterwards was advanced Bishop of Norwich, where he died Anno 1635.