Part 1 (1/2)
A Lecture On Heads.
by Geo. Alex. Stevens.
ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC.
There having been several pirated editions published of this Lecture, it is necessary to describe their nature, and to explain the manner in which they were obtained; from which the public will judge, how much they have been imposed upon by the different publishers.
When the Lecture was first exhibited, a very paltry abridgment was published by a bookseller in the city. This edition was so different from the original delivered by Mr. Stevens, that he thought it too contemptible to affect his interest, which alone prevented him from commencing any legal process against the {VI}publisher for thus trespa.s.sing on his right and property.
Mr. Stevens, having exhibited his Lecture with most extraordinary success in London, afterwards delivered it, with a continuance of that success, in almost every princ.i.p.al town in England and Ireland. During this itinerant stage of its exhibition, it had received great additions and improvements from the hints and suggestions of Churchill, Howard, Shuter, and many other wits, satirists, and humourists, of that day. It therefore re-appeared again in London almost a new performance. This, I suppose, induced another bookseller in the Strand to publish his edition, with notes, written by a Reverend Gentleman: however this might be, Mr. Stevens obtained an injunction against the continuance of that publication; he was dissuaded from proceeding to trial by the interposition of friends, who persuaded the litigants, over a bottle, to terminate their difference; Mr. Stevens withdrew his action, and the publication was suppressed. I relate this circ.u.mstance from {VII}the authority of Mr. Stevens himself. The public will, no doubt, be surprised to find that this Lecture should ever have been pirated, by one who is now complaining of a similar act against himself. I am no advocate for any infringements of right or property; but I cannot avoid thinking, that complaints of this nature come with a very ill grace from those who have committed the same species of literary depredations themselves. The last piratical publication of this Lecture was by a stationer in Paternoster-Row, who has had the a.s.surance to use my name without having my authority, or even asking my permission. He likewise very falsely and impudently a.s.serts, that he has published it as I spoke it at Covent-Garden theatre. It is so much the contrary, that it contains not a syllable of the new matter with which it was then augmented. With respect to the rest, it is taken from the spurious and very imperfect abridgment first mentioned in this piratical list. It is, therefore, evident, that the original Lecture was never before published until this opportunity {VIII}which I have taken of thus submitting it to the Public, for their approbation and patronage, whose
Most humble and devoted servant
I am,
CHARLES LEE LEWES.
July 22, 1785.
PROLOGUE,
Written By Mr. Pilon Spoken At The Theatre Royal, Covent-Garden, June 24, 1780.
All's safe here, I find, though the rabble rout A few doors lower burnt the quorum out.
Sad times, when Bow-street is the scene of riot, And justice cannot keep the parish quiet.
But peace returning, like the dove appears, And this a.s.sociation stills my fears; Humour and wit the frolic wing may spread, And we give harmless Lectures on the Head.
Watchmen in sleep may be as snug as foxes, And snore away the hours within their boxes; Nor more affright the neighbourhood with warning, Of past twelve o'clock, a troublesome morning.
Mynheer demanded, at the general shock, ”Is the Bank safe, or has it lower'd the stock?”
”Begar,” a Frenchman cried, ”the Bank we'll rob, ”For I have got the purse to bribe the mob.”-- ”Hoot awa, mon!” the loyal Scot replies, ”You'll lose your money, for we'll hong the spies: ”Fra justice now, my lad, ye shanna budge, ”Tho' ye've attack'd the justice and the judge.”-- ”Oh! hold him fast,” says Paddy, ”for I'll swear ”I saw the iron rails in Bloomsbury-square ”Burnt down to the ground, and heard the mob say, ”They'd burn down the Thames the very next day.”
Tumult and riot thus on every side Swept off fair order like the raging tide; Law was no more, for, as the throng rush'd by, ”Woe to my Lord Chief Justice!” was the cry.
And he, rever'd by every muse so long, Whom tuneful Pope immortaliz'd in song, Than whom bright genius boasts no higher name, Ev'n he could find no sanctuary in fame; With brutal rage the Vandals all conspire, And rolls of science in one blaze expire.
But England, like the lion, grows more fierce As dangers multiply, and foes increase; Her gen'rous sons, with Roman ardour warm, In martial bands to s.h.i.+eld their country arm, And when we trembled for the city's fate, Her youth stood forth the champions of the state; Like brothers, leagu'd by nature's holy tie, A parent land to save, or bravely die.
Did Britons thus, like brothers, always join, In vain to crush them would the world combine; Discord domestic would no more be known, And brothers learn affection from the throne.
But know your Lecturer's awful hour is come When you must bid him live, or seal his doom!
He knows 'tis hard a leader's post to fill Of fame superior, and more ripen'd skill.
The blame will all be mine, if troops should fail, Who'd lose their heads, but never could turn tail Who no commander ever disobey'd, Or overlook'd the signals which he made.
Under your auspices the field I take, For a young general some allowance make; But if disgracefully my army's led, Let this court-martial then cas.h.i.+er my head.
ADDITIONAL LINES TO THE PROLOGUE,
Spoken At Newbury,