King Pyrrhus was at Dinner at an Alehouſe bordering on the Theatre, when he was ſummoned to go on the Stage. The Heroe, being unwilling to quit his Shoulder of Mutton, and as unwilling to draw on himſelf the Indignation of Mr. Wilks, (his Brother Manager) for making the Audience wait, had bribed theſe his Harbingers to be out of the Way. While Mr. Wilks, therefore, was thundering out, ‘Where are the Carpenters to walk on before King Pyrrhus,’ that Monarch very quietly eat his Mutton, and the Audience, however impatient, were obliged to entertain themſelves with Muſic in his Abſence.
To be plain, I much queſtion whether the Politician, who hath generally a good Noſe, hath not ſcented out ſomewhat of the Utility of this Practice. I am convinced that awful Magiſtrate my Lord Mayor contracts a good deal of that Reverence which attends him through the Year, by the ſeveral Pageants which precede his Pomp. Nay, I muſt confeſs, that even I myself, who am not remarkably liable to be captivated with Show, have yielded not a little to the Impreſſions of much preceding State. When I have ſeen a Man ſtrutting in a Proceſſion, after others whoſe Buſineſs hathbeen
