No COOKE, no KEMBLE, can salute you here,

No SIDDONS draw the sympathetic tear,

To night, you thong to witness the debut,

Of embryo actors to the drama new;

[pg 40]

Here then, our almost unfledg'd wings we try,

Clip not our pinions, ere the birds can fly;

Failing in this our first attempt to soar,

Drooping, alas, we fall to rise no more.

Not one poor trembler only, fear betrays,

Who hopes, yet almost dreads to meet your praise;

But all our Dramatis Personæ wait,

In fond suspense, this crisis of their fate;

No venal views our progress can retard,

Your generous plaudits are our sole reward;

For them each Hero all his power displays,

Each timid Heroine shrinks before your gaze:

Surely these last will some protection find,

None to the softer sex can prove unkind;

Whilst youth and beauty form the female shield,

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