no If fick at heart, and heavy at the head,
My drunken friend fhould reel betimes to bed;
And in the morn, with affluent difcharge,
Should fign and feal his refidence at large;
Or fhould he in fome paffionate debate,
By way of inftance, break an earthen plate;
Wou'd I forfake him for a piece of delph?
No-not for China's wide domain itself.
If toys like thefe were cause of real grief,
What fhou'd I do, or whither feek relief,
Suppofe him perjur'd, faithlefs, pimp, or thief?
Away-a foolish knavish tribe you are,
Who falfely put all vices on a par.
From this fair reafon her affent withdraws,
E'en fordid intereft gives up the cause,
That mother of our customs and our laws.
10 Comminxit lectum potus, menfave catillum
Evandri manibus tritum dejecit: ob hanc rem,
Aut pofitum ante mea quia pullum in parte catini
Suftulit efuriens, minus hoc jucundus amicus
Sit mihi quid faciam, fi furtum fecerit ? aut fi
Prodiderit commiffa fide ? fponfumve negarit ?
Queis paria effe fere placuit peccata, laborant,
Cum ventum ad verum eft; fenfus, morefque repugnant
Atque ipfa utilitas jufti prope mater, & æqui.
Cum prorepferunt primis animalia terris,
Mutum & turpe pecus, glandem atque cubilia propter,
Unguibus, & pugnis, dein fuftibus, atque ita porro
Pugnabant armis, quæ poft fabricaverat ufus:
When first yon golden fun array'd the east,
Small was the difference 'twixt man and beast;
With hands, with nails, with teeth, with clubs they fought,
'Till malice was improv'd, & deadlier weapons wrought.
Language, at length, and words experience found,
And fenfe obtain'd a vehicle in found.
Then wholesome laws were fram'd, and towns were built,
And juftice feiz'd the lawless vagrants guilt;
And theft, adultery, and fornication
Were punish'd much, forfooth, tho' much in fashion: 11 For long before fair Helen's fatal charms
Hiatus magnus lacrymabilis
Donec verba, quibus voces, sensusque notarent,
Nominaque invenere; dehinc abfiftere bello,
Oppida cœperunt munire, & ponere leges;
Ne quis fur effet, ueu latro, neu quis adulter
11 Nam fuit ante Helenam cunnus teterrima belli
Caufa: fed ignotis perierunt mortibus illi,
Quos Venerem incertam rapientes more ferarum
Viribus editior cædebat, ut in grege taurus.
dum tu quadrante lavatum
Rex ibis, neque te quifquam ftipator, ineptum
Præter Crifpinum, fe&tabitur: & mihi dulces
Ignofcent, fi quid peccavero ftultus, amici:
But kindly kept by no hiftorian's care,
They all goodlack, have perish'd to an hair.
But be that as it may, yet in all climes,
There's diff'rent punishment for different crimes.
Hold, blockhead, hold-this fure is not the way,
For all alike I'd lafh, and all I'd flay,
Cries W******N, if I'd fovereign fway.
Have fov'reign fway, and in imperial robe,
With fury + Sultanate o'er half the globe.
Meanwhile, if I from each indulgent friend,
Obtain remiffion, when I chance t' offend,
Why, in return, I'll make the balance even,
And, for forgiving, they shall be forgiven.
#2 With zeal I'll love, be courteous e'en to ftrife,
More bleft than Emperors in private life.
12 Inque vicem illorum patiar delicta libenter, Privatufque magis vivam te rege beatus.
+A word coined in the manner of Mr. W
An occafional Prologue and Epilogue to Othello, as it was acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, on Thursday the 7th of March, 1751, by Persons of Diftinction for their Diverfion.
WHILE mercenary actors tread the stage,
And hireling fcribblers lash or lull the age,
Our's be the task t'inftruct, and entertain,
Without one thought of glory or of gain.
Virtue's her own-from no external caufe
She gives, and fhe demands the self-applause :
Home to her breaft fhe brings the heart-felt bays,
Heedlefs alike of profit, and of praise.
This now perhaps is wrong-yet this we know,
'Twas fenfe and truth a century ago:
When Britain with transcendant glory crown'd,
For high atchievements, as for wit renown'd;
Cull'd from each growing grace the pureft part,
And cropt the flowers from every blooming art,
Our nobleft youth would then embrace the tafk
Of comic humour, or the mystic masque.
Twas theirs t'incourage worth, and give to bards
What now is fpent in boxing and in cards:
Good sense their pleasure-Virtue ftill their guide,
And English magnanimity-their pride.
Methinks I fee with Fancy's magic eye,
The fhade of Shakespeare, in yon azure sky.
On yon high cloud behold the bard advance,
Piercing all Nature with a fingle glance:
In various attitudes around him stand
The Paffions, waiting for his dread command.
First kneeling Love before his feet appears,
And mufically fighing melts in tears.
Near him fell Jealousy with fury burns,
And into storms the amorous breathings turns;
Then Hope with heavenward look, and Joy draws near,
While palfied Terror trembles in the rear.
Such Shakespeare's train of horror and delight,
And fuch we hope to introduce to-night.
But if, tho' juft in thought, we fail in fact,
And good intention ripens not to act,
Weigh our defign, your cenfure still defer,
When Truth's in view 'tis glorious e'en to err.
Spoken by Desdemona.
TRUE woman to the laft-my peroration
I come to speak in spite of fuffocation ;
To fhew the present and the age to come,
We may be choak'd, but never can be dumb.
Well now methinks 1 fee you all run out,
And hafte away to Lady Bragwell's rout;
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