Prologue to the opera by Mr. Dryden. Albion and Albanius. Prologue Dryden, John, 1631-1700. 1687 Approx. 5 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 2 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2008-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A36671 Wing D2340 ESTC R18396 12111394 ocm 12111394 54208 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A36671) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 54208) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 64:12) Prologue to the opera by Mr. Dryden. Albion and Albanius. Prologue Dryden, John, 1631-1700. 1 sheet ([2] p.) s.n., [London : 1687?] In verse. Title on p. [2] reads: Epilogue to the opera, by Mr. Dryden. Place and date of publication from Wing. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO. EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor. The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines. Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Broadsides -- England -- 17th century. 2007-06 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-07 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-08 Pip Willcox Sampled and proofread 2007-08 Pip Willcox Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion PROLOGUE To the OPERA . By Mr. Dryden . FUll twenty years and more , our lab'ring Stage Has lost , on this incorrigible age : Our Poets , the John Ketches of the Nation , Have seem'd to lash yee , ev'n to excoriation : But still no sign remains ; which plainly notes , You bore like Hero's , or you brib'd like Oates . What can we do , when mimicking a Fop , Like beating Nut-trees , makes a larger Crop ? Faith we 'll e'en spare our pains : and to content you , Will fairly leave you what your Maker meant you . Satyre was once your Physick , Wit your Food ; One nourisht not , and t'other drew no Blood. Wee now prescribe , like Doctors in despair , The Diet your weak appetites can bear . Since hearty Beef and Mutton will not do , Here 's Julep dance , Ptisan of Song and show : Give you strong Sense , the Liquor is too heady ; You 're come to farce , that 's Asses milk , already . Some hopeful Youths there are , of callow Wit , Who one Day may be Men , if Heav'n think fit ; Sound may serve such , ere they to Sense are grown ; Like leading strings , till they can walk alone : But yet to keep our Friends in count'nance , know , The Wise Italians first invented show ; Thence , into France the Noble Pageant past ; 'T is England's Credit to be cozn'd last . Freedom and Zeal have chous'd you o'er and o'er ; 'Pray' give us leave to bubble you once more ; You never were so cheaply fool'd before . Wee bring you change , to humour your Disease ; Change for the worse has ever us'd to please : Then 't is the mode of France , without whose Rules , None must presume to set up here for Fools : In France , the oldest Man is always young , Sees Opera's daily , learns the Tunes so long , Till Foot , Hand , Head , keep time with ev'ry Song . Each sings his part , echoing from Pit and Box , With his hoarse Voice , half Harmony , half Pox. Le plus grand Roy du Monde , is always ringing ; They show themselves good Subjects by their singing . On that condition , set up every Throat ; You Whiggs may sing for you have chang'd your Note . Cits and Citesses , raise a joyful strain , 'T is a good Omen to begin a Reign : Voices may help your Charter to restoring ; And get by singing , what you lost by roaring . EPILOGUE To the Opera . By Mr. Dryden . AFter our Aesop's Fable shown to day , I come to give the Moral of the Play. Feign'd Zeal , you saw , set out the speedier pace ; But , the last heat , Plain Dealing won the Race : Plain Dealing for a Jewel has been known ; But ne'er till now the Jewel of a Crown . When Heav'n made Man , to show the work Divine , Truth was his Image , stampt upon the Coin : And , when a King is to a God refin'd , On all he says and does , he stamps his Mind : This proves a Soul without allay , and pure ; Kings , like their Gold , should every touch endure . To dare in Fields is Valour ; but how few Dare be so throughly Valiant to be true ? The Name of Great , let other Kings affect : He 's Great indeed , the Prince that is direct . His Subjects know him now , and trust him more , Than all their Kings , and all their Laws before . What safety could their publick Acts afford ? Those he can break ; but cannot break his Word . So great a Trust to him alone was due ; Well have they trusted whom so well they knew . The Saint , who walk'd on Waves , securely trod , While he believ'd the beckning of his God ; But , when his Faith no longer bore him out , Began to sink , as he began to doubt . Let us our native Character maintain , 'T is of our growth , to be sincerely plain . T' excel in Truth , we Loyally may strive ; Set Privilege against Prerogative : He Plights his Faith ; and we believe himjust ; His Honour is to Promise , ours to Trust . Thus Britain's Basis on a Word is laid , As by a Word the World it self was made . FINIS .