Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Geography, Measurement, Controversy, Crime, Surveying

    Discusses the dispute between John Hampden and Alfred R Wallace over the former's claim that the earth is flat. Begins by explaining that Hampden bet five hundred pounds that he was right but 'the Globe's champion', Wallace, was declared by an 'umpire' to be correct and Hampden's 'vulgar belief' unfounded. Hampden then 'waxed wrathful', possibly because he lost his bet or because his creed was 'upset'. Hampden was later fined one hundred pounds by the Stratford Bench for his libellous remarks about Wallace. Concludes by suggesting that Hampden 'illustrates one of Heaven's laws'—'Fools must pay for their folly'.