Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A29786
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The reasons of Mr. Bays changing his religion considered in a dialogue between Crites, Eugenius, and Mr. Bays.
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Brown, Thomas, 1663-1704.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing B5069; ESTC R13524
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41,504
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46
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my Oedipus I bring in a certain â—â—t speaking to the People to make way for the old Tiresias to pass Don't tread on the Blind Prophets Corns says he we ought to show him respect because he says he comes from the Gods. Ay Ay replies a Neighbour whom I had tutor'd before at Long-Acre He 's not the sooner to be belived for saying so all of the Profession can pretend as much as that for themselves and so Gentlemen for the future if you find me expose kick and toss some poor Heathen-Priest in a Blanket you may be sure I mean some sleepy Prebend of a Cathedral or else some Imprimatur-man who lives at the Scandal-office a Bishops Chaplain Now if you please Mr. Levite to go about your lawful occasions you may Presto vade be gone and make room for the Fraternity of Poets to enter Crites Methinks Mr. Bays if you had observed the true Order your Lawyers and Physicians ought to have succeeded the Divines Bays So they should Mr. Crites if I had any reason now to introduce them upon the Stage But I was ever master of so much Christian Prudence I bless my Stars for it as not to meddle with the Velvet-coat and Urinal or the Green Bag and long Robe for as I have had from my Cradle a greater regard to the Welfare of my Body than my Soul so I was always so circumspect as to consider that a Physician might revenge his quarrel upon my Tenement of Clay and the Lawyer either hang me or ruine my Cause when I was to appear before him and he made a Judge But as for your Divines you may as safely assault them as a Herd of naked Indians otherwise you may swear a Poet durst never venture to invade them so often they have only a pointless poor Weapon Curtana by name to defend themselves and as my Son Gomez well observes if there were no more in Excommunication than the Churches Censure a wise man wou'd lick his Conscience whole with a wet finger As for the Poets Mr. Crites of which Company I am the present Master they are without doubt the poorest Company about Town tho at the same time the largest if you take in the City Writers and the out-lying Deer in the Suburbs and to the best of my knowledge cannot say they have produc'd one Lord Mayor one Alderman one Sheriff nay scarce one Common-Council-man or Constable since the Conquest They are besides a very ill-natured querulous complaining sort of men much of the same constitution with the Old Hebrews always railing at Fortune and damning their own Function Eugen. And in my opinion Mr. Bays 't is as preposterous a way in these Gentlemen to endeavour to recommend their profession to the World by railing at it as to think to Palm a bad Play upon an Audience by calling them Fools and Sots and Hobby-horses in the Prologue Bays 'T is very true Sir and therefore the rest of Mankind have generally the discretion to speak well of their own present condition your Married men to wheedle more Company into the Magick Circle can say a hundred pleasant things of the conveniences of Matrimony nay a Scotchman shall inlarge as much in commendation of his own ragged Country as a Millenese for Lombardy But Poets as I told you before are the only men in the Universe that rail at their own calling and upon this very score think they may be somewhat excused for making bold with other men and other profession For my part I have taken better and wiser methods 't is but telling the world that my Maker is an Almighty Poet and the Ball we live in a true sublime well contrived Heroids Poem and the honour of our vocation is sufficiently secur'd from any scandals that may afterwards be fastned upon it I must confess I never had a good word from my Brethren the Poets nor they from me since I presided in the Chair But a man may very well allow the losers the liberty of talking and I am apt to flatter my self that my assuming the Glorious Title of Poet Universal and degrading the rest of my Brethren so far as to make them take all their Commissions from my own hands was as great and as Politick an undertaking as Crites But pray Mr. Bays oblige your old acquaintance so far as to let them know how you managed your self in this important affair Bays With all my heart for you cannot impose me a more grateful province than to recount my past labours and acquaint you from what inconsiderable beginnings I aspired to my present Grandeur and Dignity In the first place after some years spent in the University I quitted all my preferment there to come and reside at the Imperial City because it was likely to prove a Scene of more advantage and business by reason of the great resort of strangers to it and likewise because it was the fittest place in the whole Island for a Monarch to settle his Court issue out orders for his Subjects at home and entertain a commerce with his Allys abroad At first I struggled with a great deal of persecution took up with a lodging which had a Window no bigger than a Pocket-Looking-glass Dined at a Three-penny Ordinary enough to starve a Vocation Taylor kept little Company went clad in homely Drugget and drunk Wine as seldom as a Rechabite or the Seignior's Confessor Much about this time Mr. Crites as you may very well remember I made my first addresses in Panegyric to Oliver Cromwell and that puissant Usurping Phocas had certainly conferr'd the Title of Oecumenical Universal Poet upon me if a Tempest had not hurried him out of the World before his time Eugen. Under favour Mr. Bays would not you have refus'd the Title coming from a person of his Charecter Bays Refus'd it No not I'gad I beg your parder Sir a better person by far than your self was glad to accept the same Title from a worse hand no dispraise to the Protectors by the same token that his Successors have the grace to keep it to this present minute Being unfortunately disappointed of my hopes in this place I tack'd about with the times and applyed my self to the Almighty Grandees at Court flatter'd Lords whom no body else would flatter but especially made it my business to win the affections of the Ladies who I knew had the disposal of their Husbands and consequently would prove sure Cards in time of need Finding some little encouragement here and resolving to weather all storms that might happen I began to reform the Theatre and restore it as I gave out to its Primitive Splendour and Purity receiv'd the appeals of my younger Brethren of the Stage Coyned Heroes as fast as Brumingham-Groats depâ—sed Kings divorced Quâ—ees damn'd and ejected all those that oppos'd my Novel Constitutions and pretended to square themselves by uncorrupted antiquity Lastly instead of sense reason and true passion I introduced nothing upon the Stage but meer Show