Selected essays of Henry Fielding Author:Henry Fielding Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SELECTED ESSAYS OF FIELDING OF PROLOGUES I have heard of a dramatic writer who used to say, he would rather write a play than a prologue; in like manner, I... more » think, I can with less pains write one of the books of this history, than the prefatory chapter to each of them. To say the truth, I believe many a hearty curse hath been 5 devoted on the head of that author, who first instituted the method of prefixing to his play that portion of matter which is called the prologue; and which at first was part of the piece itself, but of latter years hath had usually so little connexion with the drama before which it stands, that the pro- 10 logue to one play might as well serve for any other. Those indeed of more modern date, seem all to be written on the same three topics, viz. an abuse of the taste of the town, a condemnation of all contemporary authors, and an elogium on the performance just about to be represented. The sentiments in 15 all these are very little varied, nor is it possible they should; and indeed I have often wondered at the great invention of authors, who have been capable of finding such various phrases to express the same thing. In like manner I apprehend, some future historian (if any 20 one shall do me the honour of imitating my manner) will, after much scratching his pate, bestow some good wishes on my memory, for having first established these several initial chapters ; most of which, like modern prologues, may as properly be prefixed to any other book in this history as to that which they introduce, or indeed to any other history as to this. But however authors may suffer by either of these inventions, the reader will find sufficient emolument in the one, as 5 the spectator hath long found in the other. First, it is well known, that the prologue...« less