_Tale of a Tub._--It is generally supposed that the title of Swift's
_Tale of a Tub_ was a jest originally levelled at the Puritan pulpit. It
probably had served a more ancient purpose. In Bale's _Comedye
concerning Three Laws_, compiled in 1538, Infidelitas says:
"Ye say they follow your law,
And vary not a shaw,
Which is a tale of a tub."