| Citation |
PG-P.770.024
10 May 1770:32 (2159).
For benefit of Mrs. Douglass. By authority, by the American
Company, at the Theatre, in Southwark, this present
Thursday, the 10th of May, will be presented, a comedy,
written by Congreve, called,
Love for Love, with the Humours of Ben the Sailor.
A Prologue, in the character of a Country Boy, by Mr.
Hallam,
To which will be added, a new farce, never acted in America,
written by Mr. King, of the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane,
called,
Wit's Last Stake.
N.B. The Comedies of Congreve, though replete with wit and
humour, have been censured for a levity, incompatible with
that purity of manners, which is essentially necessary to
render the entertainments of the theatre, subservient to the
great and useful purposes, for which it was first
instituted; and for which, the drama has been countenanced
and protected by the good and wise, in all ages, and in all
countries, where the beams of science have dissipated the
clouds of ignorance, or where the gloom of superstition and
intolerance, has not absorbed every generous sentiment,
extinguished every impulse of genuine benevolence-----After
this remark, it will be, perhaps, superfluous to assure the
public, that no line in this play, offensive to delicacy,
will appear in the representation-----the beauties of the
author are preserved, his blemishes expunged.
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