" To
recite an epilogue while seated on the back of an ass was a favourite
expedient of the comedians of the early Georgian period, while the
introduction of comic songs and mimicry--such as the scene of "The
Drunken Man," and the song of "The Four-and-Twenty Stock-Jobbers,"
which Mr. Harper performed on his benefit-night in 1720--was found to
be a very attractive measure. Authors who were on friendly terms with
the actors, or had reason to be grateful to them, frequently gave them
short pieces or wrote special epilogues for their benefits. Sheridan's
farce, "St. Patrick's Day, or the Scheming Lieutenant," was a present
to Clinch, the actor, and first produced on his benefit-night in 1775.
Goldsmith felt himself so obliged to Quick and Lee Lewes, who had been
the original Tony Lumpkin and Young Marlow in "She Stoops to
Conquer," that for the one he adapted a farce from Sedley's
translation of "Le Grondeur," and supplied the other with an
occasional epilogue, written in his pleasantest manner. When Shuter
selected "The Good-natured Man" for his benefit, the gratified author,
in a fit of extravagant kindness, sent the actor ten guineas--possibly
the last he had at the time--for a box ticket.
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