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Show 64 The'PubliJJjer to the Reader. forced to name feveral Perfons, and fome of great Families to w h o m he had been obliged ; and he was very unwilling to offend any Perfon of Quality, or run the hazard of making fuch w h o are, or may be his Friends, become his Enemies * tho' he fhould only aft the part of an Hiilorian, barek reciting the Words he heard from our Author. However, faid he, if you think a Preface of fuch abfo-lute Necefiity, you may eafily recoiled Matter enough from the Difcourfe which hath pafs'd between us on this Subjecl, to enable your felf, or any other for you to write one ; efpeciaily if you confider there are but two Topicks to be infilled on. 1. T o give the Reader an Account of the Writer of this Farce. 2. T h e Motives which induc'd him to compofe it. I can flay no longer now, faid he ; but if you defire any further Direction in this Matter, meet m e here to-morrow night, and I will difcourfe more particularly on thefe two Heads, and then take m y leave of you ; wifhing yon good Succefs with your Preface, and that your Key may prove a Golden One. N o w , kind Reader, having received all the Inftruftionj I could gain from m y refolutc Spark at our feveral Meetings, I muft ftand on m y own Legs, and turn Prcfacer tho' againft m y Will. And thus I fet out. 1. T o tell thee what all Perfons, who are any thins quainted with the Stage, know already : viz. That this Farce was wrote by the moft noble George Vil/iers, late Duke of Buckingham, &c. a Perfon of a great deal of natural Wit and Ingenuity, and of excellent Judgment, particular matters of this nature : his forward Genius was improved by a liberal Education, and the Converfation of they eft Perfons in his time ; and all thele cultivated and improved by Study and Travel. By the former, he became well acquainted with Writings of the moft celebrated Poets of the late Age; viz, Shake/pear, Beaumont, and Johnfon, (the lail of whom he knew perfonally, being thirteen Years old when he died) as alfo with the famous Company of Aclors at Black-Fryan, w h o m he always admired. H e was likewife very intimate with the Poets ol T i m e ; as Sir John Denham, Sir John Suckling, the herd fa. ft The Publijher to the Reader. 65 Falkland, Mr. Sidney Godolphin, (a near Relation to the late Lord High Treafurer of England, the Glory of that ancient Family) M r . Waller, and M r . Cowley ; on the laft of whom, he bellowed a genteel Annuity during his Life, and a noble Monument in Wefim infer -Abbey after his By Travel he had the Opportunity of obferving the Decorum of foreign Theatres; efpeciaily the French, under the Regulation of Monfieur Comeille, before it was fo tar Italianated, and over-run with Opera and Farce, as n o w it is; and before the V e n o m thereof had crofs'd the narrow Seas, and poifoned the Englip Stage, w e being naturally prone to imitate the French in their Fafhions, Manners, and Cuftoms, let them be ever fo vitious, fantaftick, or ridiculous. By what has been faid on this Head, I hope thou art fully fatisfy'd w h o was the Author of this Piece, which the learned and judicious Dr. Burnet (late Bifhop of Sarum) calls a Correction, and an unmerciful Expofing ; and I believe thou hail as little caufe to doubt of his being able to perform it. • Had this great Perfon been endued with Conftancy and Steddinefs of Mind, equal to his other Abilities, both natural and acquir'd, he had been the moil complete Gentleman in his Time. s I fhall proceed to fhew, 2. The Motives which induced him to undertake it. The Civil W a r filenced the Stage for almoft twenty Years, tho' not near fo lead then, as it is fince grown j and it had been happy for England, if this had been the worft Effect of that W a r . T h e many Changes of Government, that fucceed-ed the Diffolution of the ancient Conftitution, made the People very uneafy, and unanimoufly defirous of its Refti-tution; which was effected by a free Par in the Year 1660. This fudden Revolution, which is beft known by N a m e of the Ref oration, brought with it many ill Cu from the feveral Countries, to which the King and the Cavaliers were retir'd, during their Exile , which prov'd very pernicious to our Englip Conftitution, by corrupting our Morals ; and to which the reviving the Stage, and bringing W o m e n on't, and encouraging and applauding the many leud, fenfelefs, and unnatural Plays, that enfued ur - on this great Change, did very much contribute. The r |