ng free,
It moves again for ease and luxury;
Till swelling by degrees it has possest
The greater space, and now crowds up the rest.
When from behind there starts some petty state,
And pushes on its now unwieldy fate.
Then down the precipice of time it goes,
And sinks in minutes, which in ages rose._[190]

[Footnote 180: "I'll teach you a way to outwit Mrs. Johnson; it is a
new-fashioned way of being witty, and they call it a _bite_. You must
ask a bantering question, or tell some damned lie in a serious manner,
then she will answer, or speak as if you were in earnest, and then cry
you, 'Madam, there's a _bite_.' I would not have you undervalue this,
for it is the constant amusement in Court, and everywhere else among the
great people; and I let you know it, in order to have it obtain among
you, and to teach you a new refinement" (Swift's "Journal"). See the
_Spectator_, Nos. 47, 504: "_A Biter_ is one who tells you a thing you
have no reason to disbelieve in itself; and perhaps has given you,
before he bit you, no reason to disbelieve it for his saying it; and if
you give him credit, laughs in your face, and triumphs that he has
deceived you. In a word, a _Biter_ is one who thinks you a fool, because
you do not think him a knave."]

[Footnote 181: Owen McSwiney, a manager of Drury Lane Theatre, and
afterwards of the Haymarket Theatre. After living in Italy for some
years, he obtained a place in the Custom-house, and was keeper of the
King's Mews. On his death in 1754 he left his fortune to Mrs.
Woffington.]

[Footnote 182: Christopher Rich, manager of Drury Lane Theatre, who died
in 1714, was at this time involved in a quarrel with the principal
actors about the profits of their benefits.]

[Footnote 183: Cibber ("Apology," chap. x.) complains that Rich paid
extraordinary prices to singers, dancers, and other exotic performers,
which were as constantly deducted out of the sinking salaries of his
actors. In December, 1709, the Lord Chamberlain ordered that no new
representations were to be brought upon the stage which were not
necessary to the better performance of comedy or opera, "such as
ladder-dancing, antic postures," &c., without his leave.--(Lord
Chamberlain's Records, Warrant Book, No. 22.)]

[Footnote 184: Sir John Vanbrugh built the Haymarket Theatre in 1705.
The new house was opened with a translation of an Italian opera, "The
Triumph of Love", which met with little succ