 | The Earl of Essex |  |
EPILOGUE.
Written by Mr. GARRICK.
Spoken by Mrs. PRITCHARD, in the Character of Queen Elizabeth.
If
any here, are Britons but in name,
Dead to their country's happiness and fame:
Let 'em depart this moment—Let 'em fly
My awful presence, and my searching eye!
Dead to their country's happiness and fame:
Let 'em depart this moment—Let 'em fly
My awful presence, and my searching eye!
No more your Queen, but upright judge I come,
To try your deeds abroad, your lives at home;
Try you in ev'ry point, from small to great,
Your Wit,—Laws,—Fashions,—Valor,—Church and State!
Search you, as Britons ne'er were search'd before:
“O tremble! for you hear the lion roar!”
Since that most glorious time that here I reign'd,
To try your deeds abroad, your lives at home;
Try you in ev'ry point, from small to great,
Your Wit,—Laws,—Fashions,—Valor,—Church and State!
Search you, as Britons ne'er were search'd before:
“O tremble! for you hear the lion roar!”
An age and half!—What have you lost or gain'd?
Your Wit—Whate'er your poets sing or swear;
Since Shakespear's time is somewhat worse for wear.
Your Laws are good, your Lawyers good of course;
The streams are surely clear, when clear the source:
In greater store these blessings now are sent ye;
Where I had one attorney, you have twenty.
Fashions, ye fair, deserve nor praise nor blame;
Unless they rise as foes to sense or shame;
Wear ruffs, or gauze—But let your skill be such,
Rather to shew too little, than too much.
Let those who best have prov'd it—speak—Your foes.
Your Morals, Church, and State, are still behind—
But soft—prophetic fury fills my mind!
I see thro' time—Behold a youthful hand,
Holding the sceptre of this happy land;
Whose heart with justice, love, and virtue fraught—
Born amongst Britons, and by Britons taught;
Shall make the barking tongues of faction cease,
And weave the garland of domestic peace:
Long shall he reign—no storms to beat his breast,
Unruly passions that disturb'd my rest!
Shall live, the blessings he bestows, to share,
Reap all my glory, but without my care.
FINIS.
| The Earl of Essex | |