PROLOGUE,

By a FRIEND.

Spoken by Mr. BOOTH.

ONG have you feen the Greek and Roman name,

LONG

Affifted by the mufe, renew their fame,

While yet unfung thofe heroes fleep, from

hom

Greece form'd her Plato's, and her Cæfars Rome.
Such, Egypt, were thy fans! divinely great
In arts, in arms, in wisdom, and in ftate.
Her early monarchs gave fuch glories birth,
Their ruins are the wonders of the earth.
Structures fo vaft by thofe great kings defign'd,
Are but faint fketches of their boundless mind:
Yet ne'er has Albion's Scene, though long renown'd,
With the fern tyrants of the Nile been crown'd.

The tragic mufe in grandeur fhould excel,
Her figure blazes, and her numbers fwell.
The proudest monarch of the proudest age,
From Egypt comes to tread the British stage:
Old Homer's heroes, moderns are to thofe
Whom this night's venerable fcenes difclofe.

Here pomp and Splendor serve but to prepare;

To touch the foul is our peculiar care ;

By juft diftrefs foft pity to impart,

And mend your nature, while we move your heart;
Nor would thefe fcenes in empty words abound,
Or overlay the fentiment with found.
When paffion rages, eloquence is mean;
Geftures and looks beft fpeak the moving scene.
Ye Shining Fair! when tender woes invite
To pleafing anguish and severe delight,
By your affliction you compute your gain,
And rife in pleasure as you rife in pain.
If then just objects of concern are shown,
And your hearts heave with forrows not your own,
Let not the gen'rous impulse be withstood,

Strive not with nature; blush not to be good:

Sighs only from a nobler temper rise,

And 'tis your virtue fwells into your Eyes.

Dramatis

SCENE, a Temple at MEMPHIS, in Old Egypt.

BUSIRIS.