 | The Cruel Gift |  |
PROLOGUE. Spoken by Mr. WILKS. By Mr. Sewell .
This
Play (I wonder how the Thing could hold!)
Is, if I reckon right, two Winters old;
It should have courted you the last hard Frost,
But you in Ice and Politicks were lost,
Two slipp'ry Things—Some know it to their Cost.
The prudent Mother, therefore, with good Reason,
Wean'd not this Child before a better Season:
Well-pleas'd she sees the Madness of the Age
Spent in an Impotent Successless Rage.
From civil Life transfer your Horrors here,
And give to Tragedy its proper Sphere.
Is, if I reckon right, two Winters old;
It should have courted you the last hard Frost,
But you in Ice and Politicks were lost,
Two slipp'ry Things—Some know it to their Cost.
The prudent Mother, therefore, with good Reason,
Wean'd not this Child before a better Season:
Well-pleas'd she sees the Madness of the Age
Spent in an Impotent Successless Rage.
From civil Life transfer your Horrors here,
And give to Tragedy its proper Sphere.
Our Woman says, for 'tis a Woman's Wit,
(That single Word will gain us half the Pit)
This is her first Attempt in Tragick-Stuff;
And here's Intrigue, and Plot, and Love enough.
The Devil's in it, if the Sex can't write
Those Things in which They take the most Delight:
If she has touch'd these Scenes with artful Care,
Be kind, and all her smaller Failings spare.
The Ladies sure will ease a Woman's Fears,
For common Pity's Sake, the Men for Theirs.
(That single Word will gain us half the Pit)
This is her first Attempt in Tragick-Stuff;
And here's Intrigue, and Plot, and Love enough.
The Devil's in it, if the Sex can't write
Those Things in which They take the most Delight:
Be kind, and all her smaller Failings spare.
The Ladies sure will ease a Woman's Fears,
For common Pity's Sake, the Men for Theirs.
On Hopes like these her Tragedy depends,
Not on confed'rate Clubs of clapping Friends,
Dispos'd in Parties to support her Cause,
And bully you by Noise, into Applause.
If she must sue, she scorns those vulgar Arts,
But fain by nobler Means would win your Hearts;
Tell you she wears her Country, in her Breast,
And is as firmly Loyal, as the best;
Then bid your Hearts their kindest Pray'rs convey,
And meet your coming Monarch on his Way;
Who, from one peaceful Journey, brings us more
Than our long List of conq'ring Kings before;
For ne'er did Britain's Hopes so highly Tower,
Or promise such a glorious Stretch of Power,
As on that Day, which shall to Council bring
The Bravest Senate, and the Greatest King;
Whose rip'ning Schemes shall distant Nation's Rule,
Make Tyrants tremble, and Divans grow cool:
To Britain's Ensigns then, as They decree,
The World shall strike by Land, as well as Sea,
Not on confed'rate Clubs of clapping Friends,
Dispos'd in Parties to support her Cause,
And bully you by Noise, into Applause.
If she must sue, she scorns those vulgar Arts,
But fain by nobler Means would win your Hearts;
Tell you she wears her Country, in her Breast,
And is as firmly Loyal, as the best;
Then bid your Hearts their kindest Pray'rs convey,
And meet your coming Monarch on his Way;
Who, from one peaceful Journey, brings us more
Than our long List of conq'ring Kings before;
For ne'er did Britain's Hopes so highly Tower,
Or promise such a glorious Stretch of Power,
As on that Day, which shall to Council bring
The Bravest Senate, and the Greatest King;
Whose rip'ning Schemes shall distant Nation's Rule,
Make Tyrants tremble, and Divans grow cool:
To Britain's Ensigns then, as They decree,
The World shall strike by Land, as well as Sea,
| The Cruel Gift | |