PROLOGUE SPOKEN by Mr. GARRICK, At the Opening of the Theatre Royal, DRURY LANE, 1747. W! 'HEN Learning's triumph o'er her barbarous First rear'd the stage, immortal Shakspeare rofe; Then Jonfon came, inftructed from the school, The wits of Charles found eafier ways to fame, Nor wifh'd for Jonfon's art, or Shakspeare's flame. Themselves they ftudied; as they felt, they writ: Intrigue was plot, cbfcenity was wit. Vice always found a fympathetick friend Till Shame regain'd the poft that Senfe betray'd, Then crufh'd by rules, and weaken'd as refin'd, Perhaps (for who can guefs th' effects of chance?) Then prompt no more the follies you decry, * Hunt, a famous boxer on the ftage; Mahomet, a ropedancer, who had exibited at Covent-Garden theatre the winter before, faid to be a Turk. 'Tis yours, this night, to bid the reign commence Of rescued Nature and reviving Senfe; To chafe the charms of Sound, the pomp of Show, For useful Mirth and falutary Woe; Bid fcenic Virtue form the rifing age, And Truth diffuse her radiance from the stage. |