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Show ^ H H T r i t t havltne comfort ol a caft l^erl I will think well of m y tclf^nd dcfpife m y Miftteftcs. VJNCE. Bell. Enough, enough; let's end the Carnival abed. M 'ild. A n d for thefe Gentlemen, w h e n e er they try, M a y they all fpeed affoon, and well as I- ' ' [Exeunt Unenes. EPILOGUE-M7" Part being fmall, I have had time to day. To mark your various cenfures of our Play: Firft, looking for a Judgmmt or a Wit, Like Jews I faw 'em fatter A through the Pit : And where aKjiot ofSmilerslent an Ear To one that talk'd, I knew the Foe was there. The Club of Jefis went round ; he who had none Borrowed d'ttf next, and told it for his own : Among the reft they kept a fearfulfttr, In whtsfring that he [tote rA'Aftt ologer; And faid, betwixt a French and Englifh Plot He eas'dhis half-ttr^dMufe, on Pace and Trot. Vpfiarts a Mounfieur, new come o'er; and warm In the French fioop; and the pull back d'th7 Arm ; Morbleu dit il, and cocks, I am a Rogue But he has quite fpoil* d the feign1 d Aftrologue. 'Pox, fays another; here's fo great a ftir With a Son of a Whore, Farce that's regular, A Rule where nothing muft decorum jhock! Dam' me 'ts as dull as Dining by the Clock. An Evening! Why the Devil fhould we be vext, Whether he gets the Wench this Night or next ? When I heard this, I to the Poet went, Told htm the Houfe was full of Difcontent, And ask'd him what excufe he could invent. He neither fwore norjlorm'd, as Poets do, But, moft unlike an Author, vow'd 'twas true. Tet [aid, he us'd t heTrench like Enemies, And did not fteal their Plots, but made 'em Prize. But fhould he all th pains and charges count Of taking 'em, the Billfo high wou'd mount That, like Prize-goods, which through the Office come, He could have had 'em much more cheap at home. He ftill muft write; and Banquier-like, each day Accept new Bills, and he muft break, or pay. When through his hands fuch fumms muft yearly run, Tou cannot think the Stock is all his own: His hafte his other Errors might excufe; But there's no Mercy for a guilty Mufe: For, like a Miftrefs, flje muft ft and or fall, And pleafe you to aheighth, or not at all. The 337 T o the Moft Illuftrious Prince, JAMES, Duke of Monmonfb and cBucclugb, One of His Majefty* s moft Honourable Privy Council, and Knight of the moft Noble Order of the Garter, & c. J a av, r | V S / R, \H E favourable Reception which your Excellent Lady afforded to one of m y former Plays, has encouraged m e to double m y Preemption, in addrefling this to your Grace's Patronage. So dangerous a thing it is to admit a Poet into your Family, that you can never afterwards be free from the Chiming of ill Verfes^ perpetually founding in your Ears, and more troublefom than the Neighbourhood of Steeples. 1 have been favourable to m y felf in this expreflion; a zealous Fanatick would have gon farther, and have called m e the Serpent, who firft prefented the fruit cf m y Poetry to the Wife and fo gain'd the opportunity to feduce the Husband. Yet I a m ready to avow a Crime fb advantageous to m e ; but the World, which will condemn m y boldnefs, I am will juftifie and applaud m y choice. All m en will join with m e in the Adoraddh which pay you they would wifh only I had brought you a more noble Sacrifice, lnltead of an Heroic Play, you might juftly expe&an Heroic Poem, filled with the paft Glories of your An-ceftors and the future certainties of your own. Heaven has already taken care to form you for an Heroe. You have all the Advantages of mind and body, and an Illuftrious Birth, confpiring to render you an extraordinary Perfon. The Achdlo and Rinaldo are prefent in you even above their Originals i you only want a Homer, or a TaJJb, to make you equal to them. Youth, Beauty and Courage, (all which you poffefs in the height of their perfection) are the moft defirable Gifts of Heaven: and Heaven is never prodigal of fuch Treafures but to fome uncommon purpofe. So goodly a Fabrick was never framed by an Almighty Architect for a Vulgar Gueft. H e fhew'd the value which he fet upon your Mind, when he took care to have it fb Nobly and fo Beautifully lodg'd. T o a graceful fafhiori and deportment of UnHv vou have iovned a winning Converfation, and an eafie Greatnefs, derived you from X>OU), JfUU ij • 9 . . ..... „ „„„„. ,„„„ „f H W m l n a tUo U7r.rM emploY "nothing of Poetry° in it, any more than I do in that humble Proteftatibn which I make, to continue ever Your Grace's moft obedient and moft devoted Servant, John Dryden, P R E F A C E IWas movU to write tbu Play by many Reafom; amongft others, the Command, of fome Perfoni of Honour for whom I have a moft particular refill, were daily founding mmy ears, J bat tx would be of good example to undertake a Poem of th* Nature. Neither were my own ^chnaUons wanting to fecond their defirei. I confider that pleafure was not the only end of Poefie; and that even tl induction; of Morality w erf not fo wholly the bufinefs of a Poet, *<*£*<%"£ Examples of Piety were to be omitted, for to leave that employment altogether to thiCUfj^ to forget lot Region was firft taught in Verfe (which the lavmfor dulnefsfff^f'fj^s Jn'J afterwardslnto Profe.) And it were alfo to grant, (which 1 never fhall) *k* **$£?» If tbu kind may not as well be conducing to Holinefs 'm to good Manners. Tet, far be > fa"™* o compare the ufe of Dramatize Poefie with that of Divinity: I only maintain agstnfi the Enemies of thc Stage, that Patterns of Piety, decently reprefented, and'equally ' ^ J ^ . ^ f f Superftdion and Propb,nenef, may be of excellence to fcond We Precepts of our lUhg**. ^gfr |