gs,
The hero struts, and the whole audience sings;
My jarring ear harsh grating murmurs wound.
Hoarse and confused, like Babel's mingled sound.
Hard chance had placed me near a noisy throat,
That, in rough quavers, bellowed every note:
"Pray, Sir," said I, "suspend awhile your song,
The opera's drowned, your lungs are wondrous strong;
I wish to hear your Roland's ranting strain,
When he with rooted forests strews the plain."--
"_Monsieur assurement n'aime pas la musique._"
Then turning round, he joined the ungrateful noise,
And the loud chorus thundered with his voice."
_Epistle to the Right Hon. William Pulteney._

Names of the Persons, represented in the same
order as they appear first upon the stage.

MERCURY.
AUGUSTA. _London._
THAMESIS.
DEMOCRACY.
ZELOTA. _Feigned Zeal._
ARCHON. _The General._
JUNO.
IRIS.
ALBION.
ALBANIUS.
PLUTO.
ALECTO.
APOLLO.
NEPTUNE.
NEREIDS.
ACACIA. _Innocence._
TYRANNY.
ASEBIA. _Atheism,_ or _Ungodliness._
PROTEUS.
VENUS.
FAME.
_A Chorus of Cities._
_A Chorus of Rivers._
_A Chorus of the People._
_A Chorus of Furies._
_A Chorus of Nereids and Tritons._
_A grand Chorus of Heroes, Loves, and Graces._

THE

FRONTISPIECE.

The curtain rises, and a new frontispiece is seen, joined to the great
pilasters, which are seen on each side of the stage: on the flat of
each basis is a shield, adorned with gold; in the middle of the
shield, on one side, are two hearts, a small scroll of gold over them,
and an imperial crown over the scroll; on the other hand, in the
shield, are two quivers full of arrows saltyre, &c.; upon each basis
stands a figure bigger than the life; one represents Peace, with a
palm in one, and an olive branch in the other hand; the other Plenty,
holding a cornucopia, and resting on a pillar. Behind these figures
are large columns of the Corinthian order, adorned with fruit and
flowers: over one of the figures on the trees is the king's cypher;
over the other, the queen's: over the capitals, on the cornice, sits a
figure on each side; one represents Poetry, crowned with laurel,
holding a scroll in one hand, the other with a pen in it, and resting
on a book; the other, Painting, with a pallet and pencils, &c.: on the
sweep