EPILOGUE
TO THE
COMEDY OF THE FASHIONABLE FRIENDS,

Performed at *Strawberry Hill*,

1801,

*Written by the Hon. William Lamb, & Spoken by the Hon. Anne S. Damer,*

IN THE
CHARACTER OF LADY SELINA VAPOUR,

AH e'er I sail for Naples, to attend
The last sad moments of my dearest friend,
Tho' full of tears, my fond impatient heart
Heaves in my breast and prompts me to depart,
I must suppress the sigh, and hush the tear,
And steal from woe some precious moments here.
Altho' your smiles, I own it with delight,
Have told us that we have not fail'd to night;
Have not entirely fail'd to entertain;
Our scene not tiresome, nor our efforts vain.
Yet think me not too bold, if I demand
A higher praise for our theatric band,
And ask, if midst the laugh of humour gay
You have not reap'd instruction from our play?
For, say the wisest critics of the pit,
Authors should mingle wisdom with their wit;
And we should draw, as erst they did in Greece,
A sage good moral from the lightest piece—