EPILOGUE.
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hat Sophocles could undertake alone,Our poets found a work for more than one;And therefore two lay tugging at the piece,With all their force, to draw the ponderous mass from Greece;A weight that bent even Seneca's strong muse,And which Corneille's shoulders did refuse.So hard it is the Athenian harp to string!So much two consuls yield to one just king.Terror and pity this whole poem sway;The mightiest machines that can mount a play.How heavy will those vulgar souls be found,Whom two such engines cannot move from ground!When Greece and Rome have smiled upon this birth,You can but damn for one poor spot of earth;And when your children find your judgment such,They'll scorn their sires, and wish themselves born Dutch;Each haughty poet will infer with ease,How much his wit must under-write to please.As some strong churl would, brandishing, advanceThe monumental sword that conquered France;So you, by judging this, your judgment teach,Thus far you like, that is, thus far you reach.Since then the vote of full two thousand yearsHas crowned this plot, and all the dead are theirs,Think it a debt you pay, not alms you give,And, in your own defence, let this play live.Think them not vain, when Sophocles is shown,To praise his worth they humbly doubt their own.Yet as weak states each other's power assure,Weak poets by conjunction are secure.Their treat is what your palates relish most,Charm! song! and show! a murder and a ghost!We know not what you can desire or hope,To please you more, but burning of a Pope.[1] Footnote:1. The burning a Pope in effigy, was a ceremony performed upon theanniversary of queen Elizabeth's coronation. When parties ran highbetwixt the courtiers and opposition, in the latter part of Charlesthe II. reign, these anti-papal solemnities were conducted by thelatter, with great state and expence, and employed as engines toexcite the popular resentment against the duke of York, and hisreligion. The following curious description of one of thesetumultuary processions, in 1679, was extracted by Ralph, from avery scarce pamphlet; it is the ceremony referred to in theepilogue; and it shall be given at length, as the subject isfrequently alluded to by Dryden. [Illustration:The Solemn Mock Procession of the POPE, Cardinals, Jesuits,Friars, &c.Through the CITY OF LONDON November 17.th 1679. London Published January 1808 by William Miller, Albemarle Street.Dryden Works to face Vol 6th page 223] "On the said 17th of November, 1679, the bells, generally, aboutthe town, began to ring at three o'clock in the morning. At theapproach of the evening, (all things being in readiness) the solemnprocession began, setting forth from Moregate, and so passed, firstto Aldgate, and thence through Leadenhall-street, by the RoyalExchange, through Cheapside, and so to Temple-bar in the ensuingorder, viz. "1. Came six whifflers, to clear the way, in pioneer caps, and redwaistcoats. "2. A bellman ringing, and with a loud (but doleful) voice, cryingout all the way, remember Justice Godfrey. "3. A dead body, representing justice Godfrey, in a decent blackhabit, carried before a jesuit, in black, on horse-back, inlike manner as he was carried by the assassins to PrimroseHill. "4. Next after Sir Edmonbury, so mounted, came a priest in asurplice, with a cope embroidered with dead bones, skeletons,skulls, and the like, giving pardons very plentifully to allthose who should murder protestants; and proclaiming itmeritorious. "5. Then a priest in black alone, with a great silver cross. "6. Four carmelites, in white and black habits. "7. Four grey-friars, in the proper habits of their order. "8. Six jesuits, with bloody daggers. "9. A concert of wind music. "10. Four bishops, in purple, and lawn sleeves, with a goldencrosier on their breast, and crosier-staves in their hands. "11. Four other bishops, in _Pontificalibus_, with surplices, andrich embroidered copes, and golden mitres on their heads. "12. Six cardinals, in scarlet robes and caps. "13. The Pope's doctor, _i.e._ Wakeman,[a] with jesuits-powder inone hand, and an urinal in the other. "14. Two priests in surplices, with two golden crosses. "Lastly, The Pope, in a lofty, glorious pageant, representing achair of state, covered with scarlet, richly embroidered andfringed, and bedecked with golden balls and crosses: At his feet acushion of state, and two boys in surplices with white silkbanners, and bloody crucifixes and daggers with an incense potbefore them, censing his holiness, who was arrayed in a splendidscarlet gown, lined through with ermin, and richly daubed with goldand silver lace; on his head a triple crown of gold, and a gloriouscollar of gold and precious stones, St Peter's keys, a number ofbeads, agnus deis, and other catholic trumpery. At his back, hisholiness's privy counsellor, the degraded Seraphim, (_anglice_ thedevil,) frequently caressing, hugging, and whispering him, and ofttimes instructing him aloud to destroy his majesty, to forge aprotestant plot, and to fire the city again, to which purpose heheld an infernal torch in his hand. "The whole procession was attended with 150 flambeaux and lights,by order; but so many more came in volunteers, as made up somethousands. "Never were the balconies, windows, and houses more numerouslylined, or the streets closer throng'd with multitudes of people,all expressing their abhorrence of Popery, with continual shoutsand exclamations; so that 'tis modestly computed, that, in thewhole progress, there could not be fewer than two hundred thousandspectators. "Thus with a slow, and solemn state, they proceeded to Temple Bar;where with innumerable swarms, the houses seemed to be convertedinto heaps of men, and women, and children, for whose diversionthere were provided great variety of excellent fireworks. "Temple Bar being, since its rebuilding, adorned with four statelystatues, viz. those of Queen Elizabeth and King James, on theinward, or eastern side, fronting the city; and those of KingCharles the I. of blessed memory, and our present gracioussovereign, (whom God, in mercy to these nations, long preserve!) onthe outside, facing towards Westminster; and the statue of QueenElizabeth in regard to the day, having on a crown of gilded laurel,and in her hand a golden shield, with this motto inscribed: _TheProtestant Religion, and Magna Charta_, and flambeaux placed beforeit. The Pope being brought up near thereunto, the following song,alluding to the posture of those statues, was sung in parts,between one representing the English Cardinal (_Howard_)[b] andothers acting the people:
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