The Virginia Gazette

We hear the following Prologue is to be spoken at the Theatre in Drury-lane, upon the Revival of King John, altered from Shakespeare, by the Reviser, and Author of the Alterations.

To You, most learned Youngsters of the Law,
Who long have kept the Stage, and Me in Awe,
Lo! on my Knees, thus humbly do I bend,
And beg you, gentle Sirs, to stand my Friend.
For Fame I write not, as my Odes have shown.
And laugh at all the Censure of the Town:
But Profit is, you know, a real Good,
Which fires the noblest, and ignoblest Blood;
And though great Caesar, to record his Praise,
Hath crown'd my Temples with immortal Bays,
What modern Bard on Sack can always dine?
I, for my Part, love honest Jephson's Wine.
I therefore hereby constitute the Pit,
Whereon that dread Tribunal now you sit,
The Sovereign Judge and Arbiter of Wit
For who to proper to direct the Stage,
As those, who've rul'd the Land in every Age;
Besides, as ancient Chronicles report,
What was Apollo but a Clerk in Court;
Or, as from other Authors I could prove,
My Predecessor, Laureat to King Jove?
And all our modern Muses, alias Misses,
Still troll about the Temple, fond of Kisses.
As for those painting Dames, and Pig-tail'd Beaus,
Who in the Boxes sit, to show their Cloaths.
Smear'd o'er with Powder, and bedaub'd with Lace,
Are they fit Judges in a Poet's Case?
No, let the Law proceed in its due Channel,
So, with one Dash, I strike them off the Panel:
And if the Galleries dare to hiss, or bawl,
If you'll stand by me, S'blood! we'll stand them all!
Then for the Sake of Shakespeare, and King John,
O save me for this Time, or I'm undone.