Equals the glory of thy flowing pride,
The City, nay the World's transferr'd to thee,
Fix'd as the land, and richer than the sea.
The various metals Nature can produce,
Or Art improve for ornament or use,
From the Earth's deepest bowels brought are made
To shine on thee, and carry on the trade.
Here Guilleaum, fam'd for making silver pass
Through various forms----
And Sparks as fam'd for brass.
There's T----, 'tween God and gold who ne'er stood neuter,
And trusty Nicholson, who lives by pewter;
Wrote o'er their doors having affix'd their names,
We under-writ removed to the Thames,
Who on the slippery substance seek their food,
Some miles together for the common good.
Here healing Port-wine, and there Rhenish flows,
Here Bohea-tea, and there Tobacco _grows_.
In one place you may meet good Cheshire cheese,
And in another whitest Brentford peas;
Here is King George's picture, there Queen Anne's,
Now nut-brown ale in cups and then in canns;
One sells an Oxford dram as good as can be,
Another offers General Peper's brandy.
See! there's the Mall, and in that little hut
The best Geneva's sold, and love to boot.
See there a sleek Venetian envoy walks;
See here an Alderman more proudly stalks.
Behold the French Ambassador, that's he;
And this is the honest Sire and Captain Leigh.
Here is St. James's street, yonder the Strand:
In this place Bowyer plies; that's Lintot's stand."
The Societies of the two Temples gave grand entertainments at their
Halls to the Lord Chancellor and many of the Nobility in February; but
the most remarkable accompaniment to these convivial meetings was the
representation of the comedy of _The Chances_, performed within the
greater Hall by the Comedians of Drury-lane Theatre.
The present representatives of the Societies will forgive my transition
from their elegant amusements to those of a Bear-garden, "the back-side
of Soho-square," where the proprietors had an amphitheatre of three
gradations; the lowest of which let at 2_s._ 6_d._ for each seat, the
next 5_s._ and the third 10_s._ 6_d._ There, "at the desire of several
persons of Quality," a Leopard, twelve feet in length, was advertised
to be baited to death on the 24th of March; and gentlemen who chose to
risk their dogs were permitted to assist in the destruction of this
monstrous animal, which appears to have been the first so used within
the century. The Leopard was shewn with other beasts in a room "at the
boarded-house, Mary-le-bon-fields." We will leave the "Quality" in
full enjoyment of their classical entertainment; and follow another
description of citizens to Wanstead, where a female had long resided,
who annually attracted notice by the following advertisement, in which
she then mentioned her age for the first time: "This is to give notice
to all my honoured masters and ladies, and the rest of my loving
friends, that _my lady_ Butterfield gives a challenge to ride a horse,
to leap a horse, or run on foot, or halloo, with any woman in England
seven years younger, but not a day older, _because I won't undervalue_
myself, being now 74 years of age. My Feast will be the last Wednesday
of this month, April, where there will be good entertainment for that
day and all the year after in Wanstead in Essex."
From a paragraph in a newspaper we subsequently find the Boarded House
at Mary-le-bon to have been used as a Theatre for Pugilism.
The Prince of Wales frequently visited the Theatre during his father's
first absence in Germany. The visit of Thursday night the 6th of
December, 1716, appears to have been a dangerous one, and very similar
to that of his successor George III. in May 1799; and, what is more
remarkable, Drury-lane was the place selected for a Royal assassination
twice within a century. A Mr. Freeman attempted to enter a box facing
the Prince's in a very coarse dress, which excited suspicion of the
Box-keeper, who, with the assistance of a centinel, discovered a
pistol under his coat; this he immediately discharged at the Soldier,
and wounded him in the neck; but before he could accomplish farther
mischief, the people knocked him down, and, searching his person, found
other loaded pistols. These circumstances led to farther enquiries,
when it was found that he had a servant in waiting with a horse at the
door of the Theatre. It is observed in the papers which relate this
occurrence, that the Prince evinced no signs of agitation, though there
was every reason to suppose the assassin aimed at his life; and in
this particular he has been emulated by his present Majesty under more
trying circumstances.
Mr. Freeman committed horrid outrages some time after his commitment
to Newgate, which he commenced by a pretended quarrel with a woman
occasionally admitted to his cell. Two of the keepers proceeding to
the spot found Freeman without the door, who immediately stabbed Mr.
Russell in the breast with a rusty fork he had held in his hand behind
him, and then returned to his room, shutting the door, which he refused
to open. A guard of Soldiers was called by Mr. Smith, who endeavoured
to force it open; and an unfortunate man introducing his hand, Freeman,
who was upon the watch, almost severed it with a knife from the wrist.
They then threatened to fire through the door: this alarmed him, and he
opened it; but the Soldiers met with a fierce resistance in attempting
to secure him; and he actually overpowered two ere he was mastered
and conveyed to the condemned hole. It is singular that during this
contest he had planned the firing of Newgate; and his handkerchief
was found burning within his hat in a convenient part of the room for
communication. Freeman was afterwards tried at Kingston for the murder
of a Trooper, and acquitted as a lunatic.
Moorfields was occasionally used by Showmen and Merry-andrews as
their Theatre. The Act of the 12th of Queen Anne was aimed at the
suppression of these low amusements. The proprietors of them, fearful
of the penalties annexed, endeavoured to prevail upon Mr. Justice
Fuller to license them in April 1717, but in vain. Finding this worthy
Magistrate obdurate, they ventured to begin their operations; which he
was no sooner acquainted with, than he assembled thirty constables,
and issued his warrant, supported by the signature of Mr. Rand for
their apprehension. When the High Constable and his posse proceeded to
Windmill-hill, they found it occupied by Messrs. Saunders and Margaret,
two Middlesex Justices, who forbade the execution of the warrant, and
declared they would protect the Showmen. The intrepid Fuller, conscious
of his own rectitude, commanded the arrest of the principals, which was
promptly obeyed; and when conveyed to his residence at Clerkenwell, he
committed them to the House of Correction, where they had been but a
few hours, when three other _upright Magistrates_ set them at liberty.
The next occurrence under this head seems perfectly in unison with
the preceding articles: the proprietors of the Boarded House Soho
advertised a savage entertainment for the 21st of May, 1717, which
required the support of such Magistrates as Margaret and Saunders, and
such spectators as Freeman. They had, during the period between the
baiting of the Leopard and May 21, refined upon cruelty to the very
_acme_, and were ready to exhibit an African Tiger on a stage four feet
high worried by six bull and bear dogs, for 100_l._; a mad bull, and a
bear, both covered with fire-works; and, lest those pleasant spectacles
should fail to amuse, six young men were to play _at blunts_; in other
words he that broke most heads obtained a hat. The miscreants had even
the audacity to conclude their detestable advertisement with "_Vivat
Rex_."
Tottenham Court-road was another place of resort for the lower orders
of society; and their successors even now presume at Easter and
Whitsuntide to set order and magistracy at defiance. "Information
having been given upon oath to divers of his Majesty's Justices of the
Peace for the County of Middlesex, that several lewd and disorderly
persons, and players of interludes, had erected booths and sheds at
Tottenham-Court in the County of Middlesex aforesaid, wherein were
used a great deal of prophane cursing and swearing, together with
many lewd and blasphemous expressions, as also several rude, riotous,
and disorderly actions committed; eleven of his Majesty's Justices,
having duly considered the evil tendency of such wicked and abominable
practices, for suppression thereof, and for preventing the like for
the future, granted a warrant under their hands and seals, dated the
10th instant, for the apprehension of several of the persons concerned
in the management of the said interludes, which hath since been put in
execution, and the same have been suppressed accordingly, and the said
booths and sheds pulled down and taken away[148:A]."
On Friday evening September 13 several Constables visited Southwark,
and particularly Penkethman's booth, whom they apprehended, with others
of his company, just as they had concluded a play, and in the presence
of near 150 noblemen and gentlemen seated on the stage. They were soon
liberated, on making it appear that they were the King's servants. The
Prince visited this booth.
In the same month Mr. Rich assigned his patent granted by Charles II.
and his right in the New Theatre, Lincoln's-inn-fields, to Messrs.
Keene and Bullock, who commenced their reign with the performance of
Cymbeline.
One of the amusements of 1718 was the juggling exhibition of a
fire-eater, whose name was De Hightrehight, a native of the valley
of Annivi in the Alps. This tremendous person ate burning coals,
chewed flaming brimstone and _swallowed_ it, licked a red-hot poker,
placed a red-hot heater on his tongue, kindled coals on his tongue,
suffered them to be blown, and broiled meat on them, ate melted pitch,
brimstone, bees-wax, sealing wax, and rosin, with a spoon; and, to
complete the business, he performed all these impossibilities five
times _per diem_, at the Duke of Marlborough's head in Fleet-street
for the trifling receipts of 2_s._ 6_d._ 1_s._ 6_d._ and 1_s._ Master
Hightrehight had the honour of exhibiting before Lewis XIV. the Emperor
of Germany, the King of Sicily, the Doge of Venice, and an infinite
number of princes and nobles--and the Prince of Wales, who had nearly
lost this inconceivable pleasure by the envious interposition of the
Inquisition at Bologna and in Piedmont, which holy office seemed
inclined to try _their mode of burning_ on his _body_, leaving to him
the care of resisting the flames and rendering them harmless; but he
was preserved from the unwelcome ordeal by the interference of the
Dutchess Royal Regent of Savoy and the Marquis Bentivoglia.
The following paragraph occurs in the Weekly Journal of March 15,
1718; from which an idea may be formed of the audiences at Sadler's
Wells about that period: "Sadler's Wells being lately opened, there is
likely to be a great resort of strolling damsels, half-pay officers,
peripatetic tradesmen, tars, butchers, and others that are musically
inclined," who had an opportunity this year of gratifying their
curiosity at the Duke of Marlborough's head, by listening to sentences
in German, French, and English, pronounced by a _Speaking Dog_ in
sounds so correctly articulate, as to deceive a person who did not see
him into the belief that the _vox humana_ was actually in use at the
moment. Penkethman exhibited at his booth in Southwark several _dancing
dogs_ imported from France.
A person who was called the Grimace Spaniard induced the proprietors
of the Boarded House to advertise his intention of fighting bulls with
darts, and to kill one with his sword after the Spanish manner. The man
attempted the feat; but whether he was unskilful, or _John Bull_, the
British beast, was too spirited, it is certain he completely failed;
and retired with the disappointed clamour of the populace thundering in
his ears.
A Royal Academy of Musick was established by letters patent in 1719;
and the Directors were concerned in the management of the Opera, for
which Mr. Handel visited the Continent to obtain performers.
The close of the same year presented the eighth wonder of the world to
the Londoners, as Mr. De Lepine, the inventor, had the vanity to call
it. This was a machine, moved by springs and wheels, impelling figures
to advance on a stage, where they performed a pantomimic opera, aided
by the usual changes of scenes, musick, &c. &c.
The patent of Sir Richard Steele, dated October 18, 1714, by which that
gentleman, Robert Wilks, Colley Cibber, Thomas Doggett, and Barton
Booth, had authority to establish a company of Comedians, received a
violent attack in January 1720; when, through the intrigues of the Lord
Chamberlain, the King was induced to revoke his Royal licence, and
to command their silence at Drury-lane Theatre. This proceeding was
violently resented by Sir Richard; who vented his anger in very severe
terms against the Duke of Newcastle in a periodical paper, intituled,
"The Theatre," and the King now and then received a slight rub.
At the very instant a company of French comedians arrived in England,
encouraged by advantageous offers and a large subscription. Whether the
above prohibition had any reference to such arrival does not appear;
but that the King was partial to their performances is very certain,
and he frequently saw them act.
The London Journal of March 5, 1720, says: "Yesterday morning the
King's company of Comedians belonging to the Playhouse in Drury-lane
were sworn at the Lord Chamberlain's office at Whitehall, pursuant to
an order, occasioned by their acting in obedience to His Majesty's
licence, lately granted, exclusive of a patent formerly obtained by
Sir Richard Steele, knight. The tenor of the oath was, that as his
Majesty's servants they should act subservient to the Lord Chamberlain,
Vice Chamberlain, and Gentleman Usher in waiting."
The company of the New Theatre in Lincoln's-inn-fields was dissolved in
July 1720, and the house seized in execution for debt.
The fashionables of 1720 derived one of their amusements from a
most magnificent marriage celebrated between a Jew and a Jewess of
great respectability named Cornele. Part of the ceremony was held at
Leathersellers Hall, which they hired for six days. These spirited
Israelites went in procession on the Sabbath after their marriage to
the Synagogues, preceded by two men strewing flowers and herbs, and
followed by a great number of nobility and their friends, all on foot,
as the Law of Moses forbids the use of carriages or horses on that
holy day; but, as John Bull did not enter into the spirit of these
rites correctly, Master Cornele thought it useful to provide a guard of
grenadiers, who served to render the pageant splendid, and the persons
who composed it safe.
At the Hall the happy pair were seated under a canopy, for the purpose
of receiving the congratulations of their visitors; those they
returned by entertainments of musick, dancing, and every description
of rich viands, presenting them besides with silver favours elegantly
ornamented with the motto, "_This is God's command_," inscribed above
their effigies joining hands. The more humble guests had streams of
wine poured from the mouth and breasts of the old Mermaid, which till
recently fronted the Hall door.
The Theatre in the Haymarket appears to have been re-erected by John
Potter, who leased the King's-head inn of John and Thomas Moor at
a fine of 200_l._ in 1720. On this site he erected the Theatre for
1000_l._ and expended 500_l._ on scenes, dresses, &c. It was finished
December 1, 1720, and appropriated to the company of French Comedians,
who arrived in that month from Paris. Their opening was some time in
January; on the 31st they acted, by desire of several ladies of the
first quality, _Le Tartûffe_ and _Le Tombeau de Maitre Andrè_ with
dances. The prices were, boxes 4_s._ pit 2_s._ 6_d._ and gallery 1_s._
6_d._
A riot which happened in Lincoln's-inn-fields Theatre in March 1721
occasioned the custom, still retained, of having a serjeant and twelve
men stationed round the house during the performance.
Wells, who had left the old Bear-garden at Hockley in the Hole, and
established that at Mary-le-bon, died in 1721. Dan Singleton composed
the following ludicrous epitaph on the occasion:
"Shed, O ye combatants, a flood of tears;
Howl, all ye dogs; roar, all ye bulls and bears!
Ye butchers, weep! for ye, no doubt, are grievers,
And sound his loss with marrow-bones and cleavers.
Wells is no more! Yet death has been so kind
That he hath left the bulls and bears behind."
One of the newspapers of the day says: "By the decease of Mr. Wells,
the original Bear-garden in Hockley in the Hole is now likely to be
thronged, especially since all the old gamesters are resolved to
bait every Monday and Thursday; and the gladiators have promised
frequently to try their skill there; the brutes to box; the furmity
and hasty-pudding eaters to cobble down their hot guttage at Madam
Preston's, and at no other place."
The French Comedians appear to have met with little encouragement at
the Haymarket. Aaron Hill announced himself manager and director of
a new company formed by ladies and gentlemen who had never before
appeared on any stage, with the aid of scenery quite novel and upon
an improved plan. He opened with his own play of "Henry the Fifth" in
December 1721.
The prognostick relating to the Bear-garden in a preceding paragraph
seems to have been realized in June 1722 by the following extract from
the London Journal: "Boxing in public at the Bear-garden is what has
lately obtained very much among the men; but till last week we never
heard of _women_ being engaged that way, when two of the feminine
gender appeared for the first time on the Theatre of War at Hockley
in the Hole, and maintained the battle with great valour for a long
time, to the no small satisfaction of the spectators. The challenge and
answer of these females being originals, we give them to our readers:
"I Elizabeth Wilkinson, of Clerkenwell, having had some words with
Hannah Hyfield, and requiring satisfaction, do invite her to meet me on
the Stage, and box with me for three guineas, each woman holding half
a crown in each hand, and the first woman that drops her money to lose
the battle."
"I Hannah Hyfield, of Newgate-market, hearing of the resoluteness of
Elizabeth Wilkinson, will not fail, ---- willing, to give her more
blows than words, desiring home blows, and from her no favour."
Their habits on this occasion were close jackets, short petticoats,
Holland drawers, white stockings, and pumps.
The Opera of 1723 was supported by the introduction of a lady from
Italy, of great musical celebrity, named Cuzzoni. She sung in private
for the amusement of the Prince and Princess of Wales, to their great
satisfaction, previous to her appearance in publick. Her engagement
was at the enormous salary of 2000_l. per_ season, presuming on her
future success; nor were the managers disappointed, for they were
enabled on the second evening of her performance to demand and receive
four guineas each ticket. An excellent epigram was made upon this lady
immediately after her first appearance:
"If Orpheus' notes could woods and rocks inspire,
And make dull rivers listen to his lyre;
Cutzona's voice can with far greater skill
Rouse death to life, and what is living kill."
She received an incredible number of rich presents, which would
have been extremely well, if other sums equal to those employed in
their purchase had flowed in a stream at all correspondent towards
the meritorious performers of the English Stage, who languished in
comparative penury; while the managers profited, and exhibited them in
a way which occasioned the following just censure from a contemporary:
"When we come to consider the decoration of the Stage at present, we
shall sometimes find it magnificent and well ordered. In this I include
the habits of the characters or persons of the drama, in which the
propriety is not near so well observed as in the scenery; for we shall
often see a shabby King surrounded by a party of his guards, every
man of which belongs to the ragged regiment. One would think that the
managers of the Theatre were republicans in their principles, and they
did this on purpose to bring monarchy into contempt; for it is certain
that Duncan King of Scotland has not had a new habit for this last
century; and the mighty Julius Cæsar first Emperor of Rome appears as
ragged as a colt, and many other Monarchs I could name that are no
better dressed than heathen philosophers. The reason is, that you will
find those parts are not played by any of the _three_ managers; and
it is their awkward vanity to appear fine themselves though never so
much out of character; so that when you go to see a play there in new
habits, it is not the King, the Prince, or the General, but Cibber or
B. you are to see well dressed."
One of the entertainments for which the Opera-house was used in 1723
attracted the notice of the Grand Jury of Middlesex, whose presentment
follows: "Whereas there has been lately published a proposal for six
Ridotto's or Balls to be managed by subscription at the King's Theatre
in the Haymarket; we the Grand Jury of the County of Middlesex, sworn
to enquire for our Sovereign Lord the King and the body of this
County, conceiving the same to be wicked and illegal practices, and
which, if not timely suppressed, may promote debauchery, lewdness,
and ill conversation; from a just abhorrence therefore of such sort of
assemblies, which we apprehend are contrary to law and good manners,
and give great offence to His Majesty's good and virtuous subjects; we
do present the same, and recommend them to be prosecuted and suppressed
as common nuisances to the publick, as nurseries of lewdness,
extravagance, and immorality, and also a reproach and scandal to civil
government." This presentment had no effect whatever.
The Theatre in Lincoln's-inn-fields seems entitled to the exclusive
honour of introducing Harlequinades to the publick. The manager is
mentioned in 1723 to have been particularly successful; so much
so as to have excited the envy of his brethren of Drury-lane, who
determined either to ridicule, or eclipse him, by the introduction of
a piece called "Blind Man's Buff, supported by the freaks of _eight_
Harlequins." My author of the Weekly Journal adds: "The thing was so
ridiculous, there was no musick to be heard but hissing."
A Footman's gallery is mentioned at the Opera-house in the papers of
this date, with the addition that its frequenters were so insolent and
noisy that threats of shutting it were circulated.
The Cock-pit and Bowling-green before-mentioned, back of Gray's Inn
gardens, was let on a building lease in 1723.
In the month of December an entertainment or pantomimic performance was
produced at the Theatre in Lincoln's-inn-fields, founded on the old
story of Dr. Faustus, written by Mr. Thurmond, with musick by Monsieur
Galliard. The publications of the day take such repeated notice of it,
and appear to think it so very wonderful, I shall venture to give the
story _verbatim_ from the Universal Journal of December 11.