entered upon the scene, "seated upon an ass," to deliver "an
occasional epilogue," with more mirthful effect. Extravagances of this
kind have usually been reserved for benefit-nights, however. In Tom
Brown's works, 1730, there is a print of Haines, mounted on an ass,
appearing in front of the stage, with a view of the side boxes and
pit. An "occasional epilogue" was delivered in 1710, by Powell and
Mrs. Spiller, "on the hardships suffered by lawyers and players in the
Long Vacation."

For some years before their extinction, epilogues had greatly declined
in worth, although their loss of public favour was less apparent. They
were in many cases wretched doggerel, full of slang terms and of
impertinence that was both coarse and dull. With a once famous
epilogue-writer--Miles Peter Andrews, who was also a dramatist,
although, happily, his writings for the stage have now vanished
completely--Gifford deals severely in his "Baviad." "Such is the
reputation this gentleman has obtained for epilogue writing, that the
minor poets of the day, despairing of emulating, are now only
solicitous of assisting him--happy if they can obtain admission for a
couplet or two into the body of his immortal works, and thus secure to
themselves a small portion of that popular applause so lavishly and so
justly bestowed on everything that bears the signature of Miles
Andrews!" A few lines make havoc of quite a covey of "bards" of that
period:

Too much the applause of fashion I despise;
For mark to what 'tis given and then declare,
Mean though I am, if it be worth my care.
Is it not given to Este's unmeaning dash,
To Topham's fustian, Colman's flippant trash,
To Andrews' doggerel, when three wits combine,
To Morton's catchword, Greathead's idiot line,
And Holcroft's Shug Lane cant, and Merry's Moorfields whine, &c.

Criticism was not mealy-mouthed in Gifford's day.

The "tag" appears to be following the epilogue to oblivion; for though
it is difficult to differentiate them, the tag must not be confused
with the epilogue, or viewed as merely an abbreviated form of it. As a
rule, the epilogue was divided from the play by the fall of the
curtain, although this could hardly have been the case in regard to
the epilogue mentioned above, delivered by "Mrs. Ellen," as Dryden
calls her, after the tragedy of "Tyrannic Love." But the tag is
usually the few parting words addressed by the leading character in a
play, befor