THE

PROLOGUE,

By Mr. ADDISON.

Spoken by Mr. W I L K S.

LONG has a race of heroes fill'd the stage,

That rant by note, and through the gamut rage;

In fongs and airs exprefs their martial fire,
Combat in trills, and in a feuge expire;

While, lull'd by sound, and undisturb'd by wit,
Calm and ferene you indolently fit;

And, from the dull fatigue of thinking free,
Hear the facetious fiddles repartee:

Our home-spun authors must forfake the field,
And Shakespeare to the soft Scarlatti yield.
To your new tafte the poet of this day
Was by a friend advis'd to form his play;
Had Valentini, mufically coy,

Shunn'd Phædra's arms, and fcorn'd the proffer'd joy;

It had not mov'd your wonder to have seen

An eunuch fly from an enamour'd queen.

How would it please, fhould fhe in English speak,

And could Hippolitus reply in Greek?

But he, a stranger to your modifh way,
By your old rules must stand or fall to-day ;
And hopes you will your foreign tafte command,
To bear, for once, with what you understand.

THE

EPILOGUE,

By Mr. PRIOR.

Spoken by Mrs. OLDFIELD..

LADIES, to-night your pity I implore,

L

For one who never troubled you before:
An Oxford man, extremely read in Greek,
Who from Euripides makes Phædra speak;
And comes to town, to let us moderns know
How women lov'd two thousand years ago.
If that be all, faid I, ev'n burn your play,
Egad we know all that as well as they :
Shew us the youthful handsome charioteer,
Firm in his feat, and running his career;
Our fouls would kindle with as generous flames,
As e'er infpir'd the ancient Grecian dames:
Every Ifmena would refign her breast,

And every dear Hippolitus be bleft.

But, as it is, fix flouncing Flanders mares

Are ev'n as good as any two of theirs ;
And if Hippolitus can but contrive
To buy the gilded chariot, John can drive.

Now of the bustle you have seen to-day,
And Phædra's morals in this fcholar's play;
Something, at laft, in juftice fhould be faid,
But this Hippolitus fo fills one's head.-

Well!

Well! Phædra liv'd as chastely as she could,
For she was father Jove's own flesh and blood;
Her aukward love, indeed, was odly fated,
She and her Polly were too near related;
And yet that fcruple had been laid afide,
If honest Thefeus had but fairly dy'd :
But when he came, what needed he to know,
But that all matters stood in ftatu quo:

There was no harm, you fee ; or grant there were,
She might want conduct, but he wanted care.
"Twas in a husband little less than rude,
Upon his wife's retirmeent to intrude :
He fhould have fent a night or two before,
That he would come exact at fuch an hour;
Then he had turn'd all tragedy to jeft,
Found every thing contribute to his reft;
The picquet friend difmifs'd, the coast all clear,
And ipouse alone, impatient for her dear.

But if thefe gay reflections come too late
To keep the guilty Phædra from her fate;
If your more serious judgment must condemn
The dire effects of her unhappy flame:

Yet, ye chafte matrons, and ye tender fair,
Let love and innocence engage your care;
My fpotlefs flames to your protection take,
And spare poor Phædra for Ifmena's fake.

DRAMATIS

DRAMATIS PERSONE

Mr. Betterton...

}

Mr. Booth.

M E. N..

Thefeus King of Crete

Hippolitus his fon, in love with?

W O M E N..

Mr. Keen.

Mr. Corey..