s forbids complaint. Words are for
lighter griefs. Some ministring angel bring her peace! (_Jarvis and
Charlotte lead her off._) And Thou, poor breathless corps, may thy
departed soul have found the rest it prayed for! Save but one error,
and this last fatal deed, thy life was lovely. Let frailer minds
take warning; and from example learn, that want of prudence is want
of virtue.

Follies, if uncontroul'd, of every kind,
Grow into passions, and subdue the mind;
With sense and reason hold superior strife,
And conquer honour, nature, fame and life.

EPILOGUE.

Written by a FRIEND,

And Spoken by Mrs. PRITCHARD.

On every GAMESTER in th' Arabian nation,
'Tis said, that Mahomet denounc'd damnation;
But in return for wicked cards and dice,
He gave them black-ey'd girls in paradise.
Should he thus preach, good countrymen, to You,
His converts would, I fear, be mighty few:
So much your hearts are set on sordid gain,
The brightest eyes around you shine in vain:
Should the most heav'nly beauty bid you take her,
You'd rather hold--_two aces and a maker._
By your example, our poor sex drawn in,
Is guilty of the same unnat'ral sin:
The study now of every girl of parts
Is how to win your money, not your hearts.
O! in what sweet, what ravishing delights,
Our beaux and belles together pass their nights!
By ardent perturbations kept awake,
Each views with longing eyes the other's--stake.
The _smiles_ and _graces_ are from Britain flown,
Our_ Cupid _is an errant sharper grown,
And _Fortune_ sits on _Cytherea_'s throne.
In all these things, though women may be blam'd,
Sure men, the wiser men, should be asham'd!
And 'tis a horrid scandal, I declare,
That four strange queens should rival all the fair;
Four jilts, with neither beauty, wit nor parts,
O shame! have got possession of their hearts;
And those bold sluts, for all their queenly pride,
Have play'd loose tricks, or else they're much bely'd.
Cards were at first for benefits design'd,
Sent to amuse, and not enslave the mind:
From good to bad how easy the transition!
For what was pleasure once, is now perdition.
Fair ladies, then these wicked GAMESTERS shun,
Whoever weds one, is, you see, undone.

FINIS.

[Illustration: Act 5. The Gamester. Sc. 4.
Mr. REDDISH as BEVERLEY.
Bev.--_Thou art most friendly to the miserable._
_Published Octo. 19, 1776, by T. Lowndes & Par