commands.
Ibid.--As you like it.

"'Tis true, and pity 'tis, 'tis true,"
That though on fairest winds we flew,
I in the clouds, beneath them you,
We still must parted be;

And that, e'en whilst the world still hung
On what you wrote, and what I sung,
Enamour'd of our double tongue,
Exits my Bernard B-----.

Well, all great actors must have pause,
When toiling in a patriot cause,
And ere another scene he draws,
New characters to cast,

~340~~

Secure of having played his part,
As nature dictates, from the heart,
'Tis fair before another start,
He brush up from the last.

But how will humbugs of the age,
(I don't mean Mr. B.'s dull page,)
Crow that they scape satiric rage,
And get off in whole skins;

How will dramatic fools rejoice!
No more is heard great Bernard's voice,
And that, Heav'n knows, there is a choice,
Their flummery begins.{1}

But go your ways; it may be wise,
To let these puny, pestering flies
Buzz about people's ears and eyes,
A season or two longer;

There must be evil mixed with good,
A bottom to the clearest flood,
And let them stand where others stood,
Till shown who is the stronger.

Then, fortune-hunting squires of Bath,
Fine as the Burmese jewell'd Rath,{2}
Pray totter o'er your Bond-street path,
A respite short is yours.

1 I speak of would-be actors (male and female), vain and
incompetent managers, flippant and unequal critics, puffed
and translating authors, in short, of all before and behind
the curtain who have injured, or may injuro, the legitimate
drama. Let the theatres, like our trade, be free, and
monopoly thrive not, and for their success the Spirit will
ever pray; at present, it is "a mad world, my masters;" and
I am afraid Mr. Rayner with his long and set speeches, as
chairman of Thomas's Shakspeareans, will not mend the
matter. We note this to him in a friendly way; seeing, that
he is a worthy fellow, and a clever Caliban, and really
loves Shakspeare next to Newmarket and Doncaster.

2 The Burmese carriage is certainly a curious ma