It is difficult to conceive now that certain of the prologues and
epilogues of Dryden and his contemporaries could ever have been
delivered, at any time, upon any stage. Yet they were assuredly
spoken, and often by women, apparently to the complete satisfaction of
the playgoers of the time. But, concerning the scandalous condition of
the stage of the Restoration, there is no need to say anything
further. The ludicrous epilogue, which has been described as the
unnatural tacking of a comic tale to a tragical head, was certainly
popular, however, and long continued so. It was urged, "that the minds
of the audience must be refreshed, and gentlemen and ladies not sent
away to their own homes with too dismal and melancholy thoughts about
them." Certain numbers of "The Spectator" were expressly devoted to
the discussion of this subject, in the interest, it is now apparent,
of Ambrose Philips, who had brought upon the stage an adaptation of
Racine's "Andromaque," and who enjoyed the zealous friendship of
Addison and Steele. To the tragedy of "The Distressed Mother," as it
was called, which can hardly have been seen in the theatre since the
late Mr.
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