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Show l8 TfeREHEARSAL. Bayes. Wrhy, Sir, the Gentleman-Ufher and Phyfician of the two Kings of Brentford. Johnf. But, pray then, how comes it to pafs, that they know one another no better ? . Bayes. Phoo ! that's for the better carrying on of the Plot, Johnf. Very well. Phyf. Sir, to conclude. § S«*7£. What, before he begins r 5«y^. N o , Sir, you muft know they had been talking of this a pretty while without. Smith. Where? in the Tyring-Room? J W r . W h y , ay, Sir. He's fo dull! Come, fpeak again. P£y/". Sir, to conclude, the Place you fill, has more than amply exa&ed the Talents of a wary Pilot: and all thefe threatning Storms, which, like impregnate Clouds, hover o'er our Heads, v ± hen they once are grafp'd but by the Eye of Reafon) melt into fruitful Showers of Bleffmgs on the People. Bayes. Pray mark that Allegory. Is not that good ? Johnf. Yes j that grafping of a Storm with the Eye is admirable. Phyf But yet fome Rumours great are lhrrmg ; and it Lorenzo fhould prove falfe, (which none but the great Gods can tell) you then perhaps would find that [Whifpers. Bayes. N o w he whifpers. Vfh. Alone do you fay ? Phyf. N o ; attended with the Noble [Whifpers. Bayes. Again. U/h. W h o , he in grey? Phyf Yes; and at the head o f - - [Whifpers. Bayes. Pray mark. Vfh. Then, Sir, moft certain 'twill in time appear, Thefe are the Reafons that have mov'd him to't; Firft> he * [Whiffs. Bayes. N o w the other whifpers. Vfh. Secondly, they [Wbifpen. Bayes. At it ftill. Vfh. Thirdly, and laftly, both he and t h e y - J ' [Ifbiffen. Bayes. N o w they both whifper. [Exeunt whilpering. N o w , Gentlemen, pray tell m e true, and without Flattery, is not this a very odd Beginning of a Play ? The R E H E A R S A L . 19 Johnf In troth, I think it is, Sir. But w hy two Kings of the fame Place ? Bayes. W h y , becaufe its new, and that's it I aim at. I defpife your Johnfon and Beaumont, that borrow'd all they writ from Nature : I a m for fetching it purely out of my own Fancy, I. Smith. But what think you of Sir John Suckling ? Bayes. By gad, I a m a better Poet than he. Smith. Well, Sir, but pray why all this Whifpering ? Bayes. W h y , Sir, (befides that it is new, as I told you before) becaufe they are fuppofed to be Politicians; and Matters of State ought not to be divulg'd. Smith. But then, Sir, w hy Bayes. Sir, if you'll but refpite your Curiofity till the end of the fifth Act, you'll find it a Piece of Patience not ill recompenfed. [Goes to the Door. Johnf H o w doft thou like this,*" Frank ? Is it not juft as I told thee ? Smith. W h y , I never did before this fee any tiling in Nature, and all that (as M r . Bayes fays) fo foolifh, but I could give fome guefs at what mov'd the Fop to do it: but this, I confefs, does go beyond m y reach. Johvf. It is all alike; Mr. Winterfhull has inform'd m e of this Play already. And I'll tell thee, Frank, thou fhalt not fee one Scene here worth one Farthing, or like any thing thou canft imagine has ever been the Practice of the World. And then, when he comes to what he calls good Language, it is, as I told thee, very fantaftical, moft abominably dull, and not one W o r d to the purpofe. Smith. It does furprize m e , I'm fure, very much. Johnf Ay, but it wont do fo long : by that time thou haft feen a Play or two, that I'll fhew thee, thou wilt be pretty well acquainted with this new kind of Foppery. Smith. Pox on't, but there's no Pleafure in him : he's too grofs a Fool to be laugh'd at. Enter Bayes. Johnf. I'll fwear, M r . Bayes you have done this Scene moft admirably; tho' I muft tell you, Sir, it is a very difficult matter to pen a Whifper well. Bayes. Ay, Gentlemen, when you come to write your-felves, on m y Word you'll find it fo. Johnf. |