following verses are rather better worthy of preservation than
most which have been written against Dryden.

From Father Hopkins, whose vein did inspire him,
Bayes sends this raree-show to public view;
Prentices, fops, and their footmen admire him,
Thanks patron, painter, and Monsieur Grabu.

Each actor on the stage his luck bewailing,
Finds that his loss is infallibly true;
Smith, Nokes, and Leigh, in a fever with railing,
Curse poet, painter, and Monsieur Grabu.

Betterton, Betterton, thy decorations,
And the machines, were well written, we knew;
But, all the words were such stuff, we want patience,
And little better is Monsieur Grabu.

Damme, says Underhill, I'm out of two hundred,
Hoping that rainbows and peacocks would do;
Who thought infallible Tom[a] could have blundered?
A plague upon him and Monsieur Grabu!

Lane, thou hast no applause for thy capers,
Though all, without thee, would make a man spew;
And a month hence will not pay for the tapers,
Spite of Jack Laureat, and Monsieur Grabu.

Bayes, thou wouldst have thy skill thought universal,
Though thy dull ear be to music untrue;
Then, whilst we strive to confute the Rehearsal,
Prithee leave thrashing of Monsieur Grabu.

With thy dull prefaces still thou wouldst treat us,
Striving to make thy dull bauble look fair;
So the horned herd of the city do cheat us,
Still most commending the worst of their ware.

Leave making operas and writing of lyricks,
Till thou hast ears, and can alter thy strain;
Stick to thy talent of bold panegyricks,
And still remember--_breathing the vein_[b].

Yet, if thou thinkest the town will extoll them,
Print thy dull notes; but be thrifty and wise:
Instead of angels subscribed for the volume,
Take a round shilling, and thank my advice.

In imitating thee, this may be charming,
Gleaning from laureats is no shame at all;
And let this song be sung next performing,
Else, ten to one that the prices will fall.

Footnotes:
a. Thomas Betterton.

b. An expression in Dryden's poem on the death of Cromwell, which
his libeller insisted on applying to the death of Charles I.

2. Langbaine has preserved another jest upon our author's preference
of Grabut to the English