5

But just peep up, and then pop down again.
Let thofe who call us wicked change their fenfe;
For never men liv'd more on Providence.
Not lottery cavaliers are half fo poor,
Nor broken cits, nor a vacation whore.
Not courts, nor courtiers living on the rents
Of the three laft ungiving parliaments:
So wretched, that, if Pharaoh could divine,
He might have fpar'd his dream of feven lean

kine,

10

And chang'd his vifion for the Mufes nine. The comet, that, they fay, portends a dearth, Was but a vapour drawn from play-house earth:

Pent there fince our laft fire, and, Lilly fays, Foreshews our change of state, and thin third

days.

15

'Tis not our want of wit that keeps us poor; For then the printer's prefs would fuffer more. Their pamphleteers each day their venom fpit; They thrive by treason, and we starve by wit. Confefs the truth, which of you has not laid 20 Four farthings out to buy the Hatfield maid? Or, which is duller yet, and more would fpite

us,

25

Democritus his wars with Heraclitus?
Such are the authors, who have run us down,
And exercis'd you critics of the town.
Yet these are pearls to your lampooning rhimes,
Y' abuse yourselves more dully than the times.
Scandal, the glory of the English nation,
Is worn to rags, and fcribbled out of fashion.
Such harmless thrufts, as if, like fencers wife, 30
They had agreed their play before their prize.
Faith, they may hang their harps upon the
willows;

'Tis just like children when they box with pillows.

Then put an end to civil wars for shame;
Let each knight-errant, who has wrong'd a

dame,

Throw down his pen, and give her, as he can, The fatisfaction of a gentleman,

35

PROLOGUE

TO THE

LOYAL BROTHER*:

OR,

THE PERSIAN PRINCE.

[BY MR. SOUTHERNE, 1682.]

POETS, like lawful monarchs, rul'd the

stage,

Till critics, like damn'd Whigs, debauch'd our

age.

Mark how they jump: critics would regulate
Our theatres, and Whigs reform our state:
Both pretend love, and both (plague rot
them!) hate.

The critic humbly feems advice to bring;
The fawning Whig petitions to the king:

5

* The Loyal Brother, or the Perfian Prince, Mr. Southerne's firft play, was acted at Drury-lane in 1682; a time in which the Tory intereft, after long struggles, carried all before it. The character of the Loyal Brother was a compliment intended for the Duke of York. This prologue is a continued invective against the Whigs. DERRICK.

But one's advice into a fatire flides;
T'other's petition a remonstrance hides.
These will no taxes give, and those no pence ; 10
Critics would ftarve the poet, Whigs the prince.
The critic all our troops of friends difcards;
Juft fo the Whig would fain pull down the
guards.

Guards are illegal, that drive foes away,
As watchful fhepherds, that fright beafts of

prey.

15

Kings, who disband fuch needless aids as these, Are fafe as long as e'er their subjects please: And that would be till next queen Befs's night: Which thus grave penny chroniclers indite.

Ver. 18. -queen Befs's night:] At the King's-head tavern, the corner of Chancery-lane, and oppofite the InnerTemple-gate, the principal opponents to the court-measures and the chiefs of the Whig party affembled, under the name of the King's-head Club, and afterwards the Green-ribbon Club, from ribbons of that colour which they wore in their hats. Here they fubfcribed a guinea a-piece for a bonfire, in which the effigies of the pope was to be burnt on the 17th of November, being the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's birth, with more than ordinary pomp; for it was heretofore an annual ceremony, ufually made without any remarkable parade. The proceffion now confifted of one reprefenting the dead body of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, carried on a horfe, with a perfon preceding it rir ging a bell, to remind people of his murder: then followed a mob of fellows, dreffed like carmelites, jefuits, bifhops, cardinals, &c. and feveral boys with incenfe-pots furrounding an image of the pope, with that of the devil juft behind him,

"Like thief and parfon in a Tyburn cart."

In this manner they marched from Bishopfgate to the corner of Chancery-lane, where they committed the inoffenfive effigies to the flames; while the balconies and windows of the King'shead were filled with people of confequence, who countenanced

20

Sir Edmondbury firft, in woful wife,
Leads up the fhow, and milks their maudlin

eyes.

25

There's not a butcher's wife but dribs her part,
And pities the poor pageant from her heart;
Who, to provoke revenge, rides round the fire,
And, with a civil congé, does retire :
But guiltless blood to ground muft never fall;
There's Antichrift behind, to pay for all.
The punk of Babylon in pomp appears,
A lewd old gentleman of feventy years:
Whofe age in vain our mercy would implore; 30
For few take pity on an old caft whore.
The devil, who brought him to the fhame,
takes part;

Sits cheek by jowl, in black, to cheer his heart;

Like thief and parfon in a Tyburn-cart.
The word is given, and with a loud huzza
The mitred poppet from his chair they draw:
On the flain corpse contending nations fall :
Alas! what's one poor pope among them all!

35

the tumult; which, the Hon. Roger North fays, ftruck a terror upon people's fpirits. The year of acting the play, to which we have here a prologue, great additions, alterations, and expenfive improvements, were intended to be made in this proceffion, which was prevented entirely by the loyalty and vigilance of the sheriffs of the city; Sir Dudley North and Sir Peter Rich, who paraded the streets all day and the best part of the night. DERRICK.