Fust. These little things, Mr Sneerwell, will sometimes happen. Indeed a poet undergoes a great deal before he comes to his third night; first with the muses, who are humorous ladies, and must be attended; for if they take it into their head at any time to go abroad and leave you, you will pump your brain in vain: then, sir, with the master of a playhouse to get it acted, whom you generally follow a quarter of a year before you know whether he will receive it or no; and then, perhaps, he tells you it won't do, and returns it to you again, reserving the subject, and perhaps the name, which he brings out in his next pantomime; but if he should receive the play, then you must attend again to get it writ out into parts and rehearsed. Well, sir, at last, the rehearsals begin; then, sir, begins another scene of trouble with the actors, some of whom don't like their parts, and all are continually plaguing you with alterations: at length, after having waded through all these difficulties, his play appears on the stage, where one man hisses out of resentment to the author, a second out of dislike to the house, a third out of dislike to the actor, a fourth out of dislike to the play, a fifth for the joke sake, a sixth to keep all the rest in company. Enemies abuse him, friends give him up, the play is damned, and the author goes to the devil: so ends the farce. Sneer. The tragedy, rather, I think, Mr Fustian. But what's become of Trapwit? Fust. Gone off, I suppose; I knew he would not stay; he is so taken up with his own performances, that he has no time to attend any others. But come, Prompter, will the tragedy never begin? Enter Prompter. Promp. Yes, sir, they are all ready; come, draw up the curtain. [FIREBRAND, LAW, and PHYSICK discovered. Sneer. Pray, Mr Fustian, who are these personages? Fust. That in the middle, sir, is Firebrand, priest of the Sun; he on the right represents Law, and he on the left Physick. Fireb. Avert these omens, ye auspicious stars! Fust. What omens? where the devil is the thunder and lightning! Promp. Why don't you let go the thunder there, and flash your rosin? [Thunder and lightning. Fust. Now, sir, begin if you please. I desire, sir, you will get a larger thunderbowl and two pennyworth more of lightning against the representation. Now, sir, if you please. Fireb. Avert these omens, ye auspicious stars! Law. Certainly they must. Fireb. Speak boldly; by the powers I serve, I swear Law. What then can the powers Phys. My lord of Law, you speak my sentiments; Law. Thou know'st, my lord of Physick, I had long Phys. My lord, there goes a rumour through the court Law. Perhaps so; but we have raised ourselves so high, And shook this founder from us off so far, We hardly deign to own from whence we came. Fireb. My lords of Law and Physick, I have heard Law. Propose the method. Fireb. Here, survey this list. Enter Queen COMMON SENSE, attended by two Maids of Honour. Fust. What! but two maids of honour? Promp. Sir, a Jew carried off the other, but I shall be able to pick up some more against the play is acted. Q. C. S. My lord of Law, I sent for you this morning; Law. Madam, these things will happen in the law. Q. C. S. Will they, my lord? then better we had none: Law. That may, perhaps, be some poor person's case, Too mean to entertain your royal ear. Q. C. S. My lord, while I am queen I shall not think Fireb. Madam, a more important cause demands Q. C. S. The gods, indeed, have reason for their anger, Enter an Officer. Q. C. S. What means this hasty message in your looks? Offic. Forgive me, madam, if my tongue declares Q. C. S. Order our army instantly to get [Exit cum suis. Fireb. They know their interest better; or at least Phys. Oh! my good lord, had I her royal ear, Fireb. My lord of Physick, I applaud thy spirit. [Exeunt FIREB., LAW, and PHYS. Fust. Thus ends the first act, sir. Sneer. This tragedy of yours, Mr Fustian, I observe to be emblematical; do you think it will be understood by the audience? Fust. Sir, I cannot answer for the audience; though I think the panegyrick intended by it is very plain and very seasonable. Sneer. What panegyrick? Fust. On our clergy, sir, at least the best of them, to shew the difference between a heathen and a Christian priest. And, as I have touched only on generals, I hope I shall not be thought to bring anything improper on the stage, which I would carefully avoid. Sneer. But is not your satire on law and physick somewhat too general? Fust. What is said here cannot hurt either an honest lawyer or a good physician; and such may be, nay, I know such are: if the opposites to these are the most general I cannot help that; as for the professors themselves, I have no great reason to be their friend, for they once joined in a particular conspiracy against me. Sneer. Ah, how so? Fust. Why, an apothecary brought me in a long bill, and a lawyer made me pay it. Sneer. Ha, ha, ha! a conspiracy, indeed! Fust. Now, sir, for my second act; my tragedy consists but of three. Sneer. I thought that had been immethodical in tragedy. Fust. That may be; but I spun it out as long as I could keep Common Sense alive; ay, or even her ghost. Come, begin the second act. The scene draws and discovers QUEEN COMMON SENSE asleep. Sneer. Pray, sir, who's that upon the couch there? Fust. I thought you had known her better, sir: that's Common Sense asleep. Sneer. I should rather have expected her at the head of her army. Fust. Very likely, but you do not understand the practical rules of writing as well as I do; the first and greatest of which is protraction, or the art of spinning, without which the matter of a play would lose the chief property of all other matter, namely, extension; and no play, sir, could possibly last longer than half an hour. I perceive, Mr Sneerwell, you are one of those who would have no character brought on but what is necessary to the business of the play.—Nor I neither—But the business of the play, as I take it, is to divert, and therefore every character that diverts is necessary to the business of the play. Sneer. But how will the audience be brought to conceive any probable reason for this sleep? Fust. Why, sir, she has been meditating on the present general peace of Europe, till by too intense an application, being not able thoroughly to comprehend it, she was overpowered and fell fast asleep. Come, ring up the first ghost. [Ghost arises.] You know that ghost? Sneer. Upon my word, sir, I can't recollect any acquaintance with him. Fust. I am surprized at that, for you must have seen him often: that's the ghost of Tragedy, sir; he has walked all the stages of London several years; but why are not you floured?—What the devil is become of the barber? Ghost. Sir, he's gone to Drury-lane playhouse to shave the Sultan in the new entertainment. Fust. Come, Mr Ghost, pray begin. Ghost. From the dark regions of the realms below [Ghost descends. Sneer. I presume this is a character necessary to divert; for I can see no great business he has fulfilled. Fust. Where's the second ghost? Sneer. I thought the cock had crowed. Fust. Yes, but the second ghost need not be supposed to have heard it. Pray, Mr Prompter, observe, the moment the first ghost descends the second is to rise: they are like the twin stars in that. [2 Ghost rises. 2 Ghost. Awake, great Common Sense, and sleep no more. 3 Ghost. Dear ghost, the cock has crow'd; you cannot get Under the ground a mile before 'tis day. 2 Ghost. Your humble servant then, I cannot stay. Fust. Thunder and lightning! thunder and lightning! Pray don't forget this when it is acted. Sneer. Pray, Mr Fustian, why must a ghost always rise in a storm of thunder and lightning? for I have read much of that doctrine and don't find any mention of such ornaments. Fust. That may be, but they are very necessary: they are indeed properly the paraphernalia of a ghost. Sneer. But, pray, whose ghost was that? Fust. Whose should it be but Comedy's? I thought, when you had been told the other was Tragedy, you would have wanted no intimation who this was. Come, Common Sense, you are to awake and rub your eyes. Q. C. S. [Waking.] Who's there?— Enter Maid of Honour. Did you not hear or see some wond'rous thing? Maid. No, may it please your majesty, I did not. Q. C. S. I was a-dream'd I overheard a ghost. Maid. In the next room I closely did attend, And had a ghost been here I must have heard him. Enter FIREBRAND. Q. C. S. Priest of the Sun, you come most opportune, Sneer. Then I suppose she sleeps with her eyes open. Fust. Why, you would not have Common Sense see a ghost, unless in her sleep, I hope. Fireb. And if such toleration Q. C. S. Men cannot force belief upon themselves, And shall I then by torture force it on them? Fireb. The Sun will have it so. Q. C. S. How do I know that? Fireb. Why I, his priest infallible, have told you. Q. C. S. How do I know you are infallible? Fireb. Ha! do you doubt it! nay, if you doubt that, Q. C. S. Ha! sayest thou, priest? Fireb. Madam, our power is not derived from you, Q. C. S. Shew me the instrument and let me read it. Fireb. Madam, you cannot read it, for, being thrown Into the sea, the water has so damaged it That none but priests could ever read it since. Q. C. S. And do you think I can believe this tale? Fireb. I order you to believe it, and you must. Q. C. S. Proud and imperious man, I can't believe it. Fust. Law and Physick. Where's Law? Enter PHYSIC. Phys. Sir, Law, going without the playhouse passage, was taken up by a lord chief-justice's warrant. Fireb. Then we must go on without him. Fust. No, no, stay a moment; I must get somebody else to rehearse the part. Pox take all warrants for me! if I had known this before I would have satirized the law ten times more than I have. |