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The First of April Or, The Triumphs of Folly: A Poem Dedicated to a Celebrated Duchess. By the author of The Diaboliad. By: William Combe (1742-1823) |
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FIRST OF APRIL: OR, THE TRIUMPHS OF FOLLY: A POEM. DEDICATED TO A CELEBRATED DUTCHESS.
BY THE AUTHOR OF THE DIABOLIAD.
DOST THOU CALL ME FOOL, BOY?
ALL THY OTHER TITLES THOU HAST GIVEN AWAY
THAT THOU WAST BORN WITH! SHAKESPEARE.
LONDON: Printed for J. Bew, No. 28, Paternoster Row. MDCCLXXVII. [Price Two Shillings and Six Pence.]
DEDICATION TO A CELEBRATED DUTCHESS.
MADAM, I am rather apprehensive that you will rank me among the Impertinents of
the Age, in giving a performance which treats professedly of the
Triumphs of Folly, the Sanction of Your Grace. But tho', in the too
great quickness of apprehension, this may be the case; I have not the
least doubt but, in some succeeding moments of coolness and candour,
you will accompany me through this Address; and not suffer a condemning
spirit to pass a final sentence upon me, without giving some little
attention to my justification. I need not tell Your Grace, that, in former times, every Family of
Distinction was considered as incomplete in its establishment, if it did
not possess a certain whimsical Character called a Fool ; who was
either to afford amusement to his witty Master by the real singularity
of his Humour, or to act as a foil to his foolish Lord by well timed
displays of affected Folly. These appendages to Greatness have long
been laid aside. Indeed, the present Age, which is remarkable for its
refinements, has, in the general methods of forming the Great, blended
the two Characters; and it does not seldom happen, as Your Grace very
well knows, that a Modern Man of Fashion serves his Company both as
their Host and their Buffoon . I cannot therefore, in justice, be
considered as guilty of any impropriety in addressing this work to Your
Grace, as it relates to a Personage, who has heretofore possessed, as it
were, a domestic union with the Great, by furnishing, from among her
Children, the chief Wits of their noble Houses. Tho' it has changed its appearance, the connection has not ceased to
subsist; and FOLLY, though she extends her influence over all ranks and
professions, still seems more particularly attached to the higher Orders
of Life. FOLLY loves the Toilette of a Woman of Fashion! It is her Altar. The
enormity of its expences, the frivolousness, to say no worse, of its
conversation, and the time which is lost in attending its duties, are
so many offerings to her honour. The love of display is inherent in her
nature: every place of public amusement is, more or less, her
delight; but an Opera is her favourite entertainment. There, she not
only presides, but triumphs. There, Sense, Taste, and Reason, lie
beneath her Feet. As she is now become your intimate companion, I will not mortify Your
Grace with the history of her origin, and an account of her genealogy,
which I am sure would greatly distress you. Believe me, Madam, I should
be sorry to give you a moment's mortification. My sincere desire is to
do you good, by warning you of the danger which awaits such a
disgraceful connection. At your time of life it is not wholly unnatural that you should find
something pleasant in the frolic gaiety of your Friend; and the
Flatterers, who are alike under her influence, may find something
graceful in the manners which she might communicate to you: but in the
Mirror of Wisdom, the highest beauties of FOLLY appear but as foul
deformities; and she is there seen in her natural appearance, attended
by Vice, Contempt, and Misery. The Prosperity of Fools , says the Wise Man, shall destroy them . The
influence of FOLLY is more dangerous, as the station it possesses is
more exalted; and as the means of doing good are more enlarged among the
Rich and Great, that time is the more to be lamented which they consume
in frivolous pursuits and empty pleasures. Without intruding upon your recollection the more awful obligations
attendant upon your station in the world, you will forgive me if I just
hint to Your Grace that Society has claims upon you, which you cannot
refuse but with dishonour to yourself, and the contempt of those who
possess the right which you refuse to grant; a contempt which they will
not fail to bestow... Continue reading book >>
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