PROLOGUE, SPOKEN BY MR. GARRICK, At the Opening of the Theatre Royal, DRURY LANE, 1747. WHEN Learning's triumph o'er her barb'rous foes Then Jonson came, instructed from the school, But left, like Egypt's kings, a lasting tomb. The wits of Charles found easier ways to fame, Nor wish'd for Jonson's art, or Shakespeare's flame. Themselves they studied, as they felt they writ; Intrigue was plot, obscenity was wit. Vice always found a sympathetic friend ; They pleas'd their age, and did not aim to mend. Yet bards like these aspir'd to lasting praise, Their cause was gen'ral, their supports were strong, Their slaves were willing, and their reign was long: Till Shame regain'd the post that Sense betray'd, And Virtue call'd Oblivion to her aid. 'Then, crush'd by rules, and weaken'd as refin'd, For years the power of Tragedy declin'd; From bard to bard the frigid caution crept, Till Declamation roar'd whilst Passion slept; Yet still did Virtue deign the stage to tread, Philosophy remain'd, though Nature fled. But forc'd, at length, her antient reign to quit, She saw great Faustus lay the ghost of Wit; Exulting Folly hail'd the joyful day, And Pantomime and Song confirm'd her sway. But who the coming changes can presage, And mark the future periods of the Stage? Perhaps, if skill could distant times explore, New Behns, new Durfeys, yet remain in store; Perhaps where Lear has rav'd, and Hamlet died, On flying cars new sorcerers may ride: Perhaps (for who can guess th' effects of chance?) Here Hunt may box, or Mahomet* may dance. Hard is his lot that, here by Fortune plac'd, Must watch the wild vicissitudes of taste; With ev'ry meteor of caprice must play, And chase the new-blown bubbles of the day. Ah! let not Censure term our fate our choice, The stage but echoes back the publick voice; * Hunt, a famous boxer on the stage; Mahomet, a ropedancer, who had exhibited at Covent-Garden Theatre the winter before, said to be a Turk. The drama's laws, the drama's patrons give, To chase the charms of Sound, the pomp Bid scenic Virtue form the rising age, of Show, And Truth diffuse her radiance from the stage. |