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Show A 6 Love and a Bottle. Lyr. The reafon of that is, every one that knows not a tittle of the matter, pretends to be a Judge of it. By the Lard, Mr. Lovewell, I put the Criticks next to the Plague, Peftilence and Famine in m y Litany. Had you feen 'em laft Night in the Pit, with fuch demure fupercilious Faces their contemplative Wigs thruft judicioufly backwards; their Hands rubbing their Temples, to chafe 111 Nature ; and with a hif-' fing venemous Tongue, pronouncing Pifh ! Stuff! Intollera-blc ! D a m n him ! • • Lord have mercy upon us. Lov. Ay, and you fhall have others as foolifh as they are' ill-natur'd; fond of being thought Wits, w h o fhall laugh out-' ragiouQy at every fmutty Jeff; cry, Very well,by Gad ; that's fine, by Heavens; and if a Dyflich of Rhime happens, they clap fo damnably loud, that they drown the Jeft. Lyr. That's the Jeft. The W i t lies in their Hands; and if you would tell a-Poet his Fortune, you muft gather it from the Palmiftry of the Audience ; for as nothing's ill laid, but what's ill taken ; fo nothing's well faid, but what's well taken. And between you and I, Mr. Lovewell, Poetry, without thefe laughing Fools, were a Bell without a Clapper; an empty founding bus'nefs, good for nothing ; and all we Pro-feffors might go hang our ielvesin the Bell-ropes. Lov. Ha, ha, ru. But I thought Poetry was inftrudYivei Lyr. O h Gad forgive me, that's true; T o Ladies it is morally beneficial; For you muft know, they are too nice to read' Sermons ; fuch Inftruefions are too grois for their refin'd Ap-prehenfions: but any Precepts that may be inftill'd by eafie Numbers, fuch as of Rochefler, and others, make great Converts. Then they hate to hear a Fellow in a Church preach methodical Nonfenfe, with a Firjily, Secondly, and Thirdly : they take up with fome of our modern Plays in their Clofet,. where the Morality muft be devilifh Inftrudtive. But I muft be gone; here comes the 'Squire. What, in the Name of Wonder, has he got with him ? Lov. That which fhall afford you a more plentiful Re-renge than your Lampoon, if you join with m e in the Plot, To the better effecting of which, you muft be leerningly re-concil'dto him. Let's ftep afide, and obferve 'em while I give you a hint of the matter. (Exeunt between the Scenes, and feem to confer and hearken. Enter Mockmode, leading Trudge drefs'd like a Widow. Mock. This is very fine Weather, blcfTed Weather indeed, M a d a m ; 'twill do abundance of good to the Grafs and Corn. Trud. think the A Wy ,e aStihre,r t mhue cDha ybse ttaerre hgerreo wtnh ana girne Iatn llaenndg.h ; aMindd ! |
