A prologue spoken by Mrs. Bracegirdle, at the entertainment of Love for love. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription B04848 of text R228053 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing P3660). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 3 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-IV TIFF page image. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2018 B04848 Wing P3660 Interim Tract Supplement Guide C.161.f.2[20] 99887621 ocm99887621 182409 2240898251

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Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. B04848) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 182409) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books; Tract supplement ; A3:5[19]) A prologue spoken by Mrs. Bracegirdle, at the entertainment of Love for love. 1 sheet ([1] p.). s.n., [London : 1695] Imprint from Wing. Verse: "Custom, which every where bears mighty sway ..." With marginal notes. Reproduction of original in the British Library. eng English poetry -- 17th century. eebo A prologue spoken by Mrs. Bracegirdle, at the entertainment of Love for love. anon 1695 1 558 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2008-04 Assigned for keying and markup 2008-08 Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2008-10 Sampled and proofread 2008-10 Text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 Batch review (QC) and XML conversion
A PROLOGUE SPOKEN BY Mrs. Bracegirdle , AT THE Entertainment of LOVE for LOVE . CUstom , which every where bears mighty Sway , Brings me to Act the Orator to Day : But Woman , you will say , are ill at Speeches , 'T is true , and therefore I appear in Breeches : Not for Example to you City-Wives , That by Prescription's settled for your Lives . Was it for Gain the Husband first consented ? Making Horns with her Hands over her Head . O yes , their Gains are mightily augmented : And yet , methinks , it must have cost some Strife : A Passive Husband , and an Active Wife ! 'T is aukward , very aukward , by my Life . But to my Speech . Assemblies of all Nations Still are suppos'd to open with Orations : Mine shall begin , to shew our Obligations . To you , our Benefactors , lowly Bowing , Whose Favours have prevented our Undoing ; A long Egyptian Bondage we endur'd , 'Till Freedom , by your Justice , we procur'd : Our Taskmasters were grown such very Jews , We must at length have Play'd in Wooden Shoos , Had not your Bounty taught us to refuse . Freedom's of English Growth , I think , alone ; What for lost English Freedom can attone ? A Free-born Player loaths to be compell'd ; Our Rulers Tyranniz'd , and We Rebell'd . Freedom ! the Wise Man's Wish , the Poor Mans Wealth ? Which you , and I , and most of us enjoy by Stealth ; The Soul of Pleasure , and the Sweet of Life , The Woman's Charter , Widow , Maid or Wife , This they 'd have concell'd , and thence grew the Strife . But you , perhaps , wou'd have me here confess How we obtain'd the Favour ; — Can 't you guess ? Why then I 'll tell you , ( for I hate a Lie ) By Brib'ry , errant Brib'ry , let me die : I was their Agent , but by Jove I swear , No honourable Member had a share , Tho' young and able Members bid me Fair : I chose a wiser way to make you willing , Which has not cost the House a single Shilling ; Now you suspect at least I went a Billing . You see I 'm Young , and to that Air of Youth , Some will add Beauty , and a little Truth ; These pow'rful Charms , improv'd by pow'rful Arts , Prevail'd to captivate your op'ning Hearts . Thus furnish'd , I preferr'd my poor Petition , And brib'd ye to commiserate our Condition : I laugh'd , and sigh'd , and sung , and leer'd upon ye , With roguish loving Looks , and that way won you : The Young Men kiss'd me , and the Old I kiss'd , And luringly I led them as I list . The Ladies in meer Pity took our Parts , Pity 's the Darling Passion of their Hearts . Thus Bribing , or thus Brib'd , fear no Disgraces ; For thus you may take Bribes , and keep your Places . FINIS .
Notes, typically marginal, from the original text
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