S'mi, ^ 4 ^ LAa ■ 'V';' \ I \ j. ^Ay y7rj^//?^^y^Aj, ^/i/y SjyiAf^d t? Theophilus Cibber, T O Dav Garrick, Efq, WITH ' DISSER TATIONS O N THEATRICAL SUBJECTS. I. Of Poets and Aftors, their Antiquity, and Eftimation ; particuiarly among'the Greeks nnd Romans: Adling of Plays encouraged by the greatelt Men in all Ages. II. Socrates, Epaminondas, CaB> far, Scipio, Brutus, Cicero, fee. Promoters of Dramatic Compofi- tions, Encouragers of A£tors, fee. III. The Apoftles no Enemies Co Plays : Quotations from Holy Writ, and of fomc modern Di¬ vines in their Favour. Hiftory of patents and Licences, from Queen Elizabeth’s Time to the prefent, chiefly granted in Favour of the AAors. IV. CoodConduA of Patentees: Pantomimes exploded) the ill Vfage of Authors coniidered. V. Some new and revived Pieces reviewed. The new Manner of A£ling pointed out. An Ac¬ count of Drolls, Farces, mock Opera’s, fee, Extrafted from Shakefpear’s mutilated and ma¬ cerated Remains, by the Littlf Charlatan of the prefent Stage. VI. The Rehearfal verfed, — — Mimicry an Abufej Specimens of modern genteel Comedy. Ditto of modern Tragedy, , VII. The new Manner of aft- ing the Chances, —— and the Morals of that Play en¬ quired into. VIII. Seneca,Callipedes* .■ and a reigning Aflor, compared. The Caufe of Spou- ters, fee. Shakefpear, Rowe, Johnfon, now are quite undone^ ^beje are they ^riumfhs, thy Exploit!, O Lun ! AdornM vfithiiFrorttifpiecii ?indQ\xx\Q\x&Copper-Plates, LONDON: Printed for W. Reeves, at Shakefpear-Head in Fleet-Streety and J. Phipps, at the Britannia Printing-Officey White-Friers, MDCCLIX ’:?.x C I B B E R^s \ \ D ISSERTATION O N T H E THEATRES. FIRST DISSERTATION. RAMATICK Compofitlons have ever been efteem’d among the greateft Produftions of hu¬ man Genius^ and the adling of ^em, has, by fome of the wifeft, and beft Men, in all Ages, been countenanced, a$ highly ferviceable to the Caufe of Virtue. B «— Ex- — Example is the ftrongeft Manner of en¬ forcing Precept ; and a Stage Reprefentation (rightly conduced) the beft Pidture of Na¬ ture. — In this humanifing and inftrudting Academy, the young Man may learn the Manners of the World, without running through the Perils of it. As Pleafure is the Purfuit of the greateft Part of Mankind, all well regulated States have judged it proper, in a political and moral Senfe, to. have fome publick Exhibitions, for the Entertainment of the Many. —- What Pleafure fo rational, as that proceeding from a well wrote, and well aded Tragedy or Comedy, — where the Mind may have at once its Fill of Improvement, and Dq- light ? Thus thought the Grecians^ the Romans co'py’d them, and all the polite Nations of Europe have receiv’d and cultivated the Dra¬ matic Art. — In this our Britijh Iflands have been moft eminent \ — England^ Scot^ landy and Ireland^ have produc’d admirable Adtors, and excellent Authors, both in the Comic and Tragic Stile; and fometimes, no¬ ble Patrons, who have done Honour to them- ( 3 ) themfelves by becoming the Friends and Proteftors of Men of Genius. Nor was the Stage ever totally overthrown, but by a Set of gloomy-minded Men, whofe melancholy, mifchievous, perturbed Spirits, were ne'er at reft, ’till wickedly they broke thro’ our Laws, wounded our Conftitution in its tendereft Parts, degraded our Peers, and our Prelates, trampled on the Mitre, pull'd down the Crown, and, fliocking to Remem¬ brance ! ftruck off the Royal Head that wore it. — I need not here acquaint the Learned, at what Expence the Athenians fupported their Theatres, nor point out how often, from among their Poets, they chofe Gover¬ nors of their Provinces, Generals of their Armies, and Guardians of their Liberties. — Who were more jealous of their Li¬ berties than the Athenians? Who better knew that Corruption and Debauchery are the great Antidotes of Liberty ? — Who better knew, than they, that the Freedom of the Theatre (next to that of the Senate) was the beft Support of Liberty, — againft B 2 all ( 4 ) ( all the undermining Arts ofx thofe who wick¬ edly might feek to fap its Foundation ? How came (lays a living Author)' the Athenians to lay out an Hundred Thou- fand Pounds upon the Decorations of one ‘‘ lingle Tragedy of Sophocles ? Not fare, as it was merely a Spedtacle for Idlenefs, or « Vacancy of Thought, to gaze at, but be- ** caufe it was the moft rational, moft in- ftruftive, and delightful Compofition, that «« human Wit had yet arrived at, and confe- ‘‘ quently, the moft worthy to be the Enter- tainment of a wife and warlike Nation: — And it may ftill be a Queftion, ' — Whether this publick Spirit infpired Sopho^ cleSy or, whether Sophocfes infpired this y publick Spirit'?^* The divine Socrates affifted EuripideSy ' in his Compofitions — The wife Solon fre¬ quented Plays, even' in his Decline of Life ; and, Plutarch informs us, he thought Plays ufeful, to polilh the Manners, and inftill Principles of Virtue. — The Grecian States were all Encouragers of Plays. Nay, Epa^ minoJidaSy who, kis faid, was rarely obferv'd to laugh, was an Encourager of Comedies. As ( 5 ) •—As Arts and Sciences encreas’d in Rome^ when Learning, Eloquence, and Poetry flou- rifli’d, Letius improv’d his locial Hours with Terence, a Scipio thought it not beneath him to enjoy the polite, the pleafing Party:—- Then triumph’d Wit indeed. Mighty Cafar^ who gave Laws to Rome^ was an excellent Poet as well as Orator; he thought the former Title an Addition to his Honour,— and ever mention’d Terence and Menander with Refpedl. His Succeffor, Augujius^ found it eafier to make himfelf Sovereign of the World, than to write a good Tragedy: — He began a Play, called Ajax^ but cou’d not finifli it. BrutuSy the virtuous, the moral Brutus^ thought his Time not mifemploy’d in a Journey from Rome to Naples^ only to fee an excellent Troop of Comedians; and was fo pleas’d with their Performance, he fent ’em to Rcmey with Letters of Recommenda¬ tion to CicerOy to take ’em under his Pa¬ tronage : — This too was at a Time when the City was under no fmall Confufion from the Murder of Cafar j yet, ’midft the Tu¬ mults of thofc Times, and the Hurry of B j his his own Afhiirs, he thought the having a good Company of Adors of too much Con- fequence to the Publick to be negleded.— And in fuch Eftimation was Rofcius held by Cicero, that in pleading the Caufe of the Poet Archias, he makes honourable Mention of that Ador, and emphatically and affec¬ tionately fays, — “ Who of us was fo brutifh of Temper, or hard of Heart, as not to feel the tendereft Emotions from the ‘‘ Death of Rofcius? True—he died old-— But, methinks, for the Excellence and “ Beauty of his Art, he merited to be ex- empt from Death. ” In the Days of Augujius, when Dramatic Entertainments were the common publick Diverfions of the People through all the Provinces of that fpacious Empire, Had they been deem’d immoral, cou’d they have pafs’d uncenfur’d by all our Apoftles, who at that Time went forth by Divine Command to convert all Nations ? — No Vice, no Im¬ piety efcaped them ; not only crying Sins provok’d their Cenfure,—they even reprov’d the Indecencies of Drefs, and Indelicacies of Behaviour,— In many Places they muft cer- tainly* ( 7 ) tainly met with many Theatres — But we hear, not of any one Poet or Aftor who re¬ ceived any Reprimand from them. The Holy Scripture furnifhes us with no Argument againft Plays; on the contrary, we find Quotations there in Favour of them. — The Text of St. Pauly ‘‘Evil Communication corrupts good Manners,” was an Expreffion of the Comic Poet Menandery near three hundred Years before : The Apoftle adopt¬ ing this Sentiment, fhews Dramatic Poetry lay not under Gofpel Cenfure. Wou’d St. Pauly one of the moft learn’d o£ the Apoftles, have incorporated a noted Saying of a Heathen Poet into the Golpel (however moral the Expreffion might be) if Plays had been deem’d criminal,— or had been thought Entertainments unworthy Chriftian Auditors ? A further Inftance of his Refpedt for Dra¬ matic Poets, we find in the 28th Verfe of the 17th Chapter of A 5 ls-y — “ In him we “ live and move, and have our Being, as “ certain of your own Poets have faid, for “ we arc alfo his Offspring.”- B 4 Again. Again, In his 12th Verfe of the firft Chap¬ ter of his Epiftle to — ho ufes the Words of Epimenides the Poet, when he fays, “ One of themfelves, even’ a Prophet of their own, faid, the Cretans are always Liars/’ Thus, while the Apoftle fpeaks in the Words of the Poets, does he not vindi¬ cate the Ufefulnefs and Innocence of the Prama ? , To come nearer our own Times, — Did not the truly pious and learned Archbilhop ^illotfony fpeaking of Plays, fay, — They might be fo fram’d and govern’d by fuch Rules, as not only to be innocently di- verting, but inftruftive and ufeful, to put fome follies and Vices out of Counte- nance, which cannot perhaps be fo de- cently reprov’d, nor fo effedtually expos’d and corredled, any other Way/' Nay, that inveterate Enemy of the Stage, Colliery — allows, as an undeniable Truth,— That the Wit of Man cannot invent any Thing more conducive to Virtue, and dc- ftruftive of Vice, than the Drama.” A learned A learned Divine juftly obfcrves . A Verfe may find him who a Sermon flics. And turn Delight into a Sacrifice*” From Queen* Elizaheth\ Time, to the breaking out of that unnatural Rebellion in 1641, the Number of Play-houfes were feldom lefs than Eight, and fometimes dou¬ ble that Number; tho’ London and Weji^ min/kr were then fcarcely a tenth Part fo large as at prefent; and the Frequenters of Theatres are now increafed an hundred Fold. Every Theatre then had its particular Pa¬ trons, among the Nobility 5 and the Stage in general, was thought worthy the Encou¬ ragement of that glorious Princefs : This appeared in the Countenance, Favour, and Protedlion, flie gave to all the Sons of the Mufes, efpecially the Dramatic Poets. Then a Fletcher^ John/oHy and Shakefpear^ arofe, and enriched the Stage with their admirable Compofitions : A Queen patroniz'd them, — her Nobles follow'd the great Example: — A Southampton at one Time, made a Prefent of One Thoufand Pounds to hi$ honoured ( lo ) honoured Friend Sbakefpear: — A Gift then equal to five Times that Sum now. In thefe, and fome following Reigns, fuch Honours were done to Drafnatic Compofi- tions, that the noblefl: Perfonages of the. Court, nay crowned Heads, have thought it no Impeachment of their Honour, or good Senfe, not only to become Spectators, but were Performers in many Plays and Mafques, afted at Court 5 to decorate which no Ex¬ pence was fpared. In Rhymers Fcedera we find a Copy of a Licence, under the Privy-Seal, granted by' King yames the Firft, for the ellablifhing and fupporting a Company of Comedians, not only in London but in any Part of England: — Which Grant was made to Cowley^ Armyn^ Sfyy Condel, Hemings^ Phillips^ Burbage^ Fletcher^ and the immortal Shakejpear: Thefe were all Actors, and feveral of ’em Poets : — A fenfible, honourable, and hap¬ py Junction. During that Reign, and Part of King Charles the FirlPs, the Theatres were encou¬ raged; then Poets and Actors reaped the Harveft ‘ of their own Labours. — ’Till Pu- ritanifm () rk^nlfm prevailed, when with much Zeal, and little Knowledge, they began their Attacks on the Stage ; and, in a heavy Load of dull Abufe, licentioufly libelled all the Encou- ragers of Plays, of what Degree foever Soon after the Reftoration, the Theatres again revived, and two Patents were granted by King Charles the Second, one to form a Company, to be called the King’s, the other the Duke’s : — They were feverally granted to Sir William Davenanfy and Mr, Killigrew, — But both thefe Patentees found it prudent to take fome principal Adtors into Shares with them. Accordingly Mr. Moburiy Mr. Harfy Mr. Kynajloriy and other Adtors, became Part¬ ners with Mr. KilligreWy — as did Mr. Bettertoriy Mr. Smithy Mr. Harrisy Mr. TJnderhilly and others, with Sir William Davenant. But thefe Patents became afterwards branched out into different Hands, and were purchafed in Parcels, by the Indolent and Ignorant, who fo opprelTed the Adtors, that on their juft Complaints made to the Earl See an Account of Pryne, &c. in the Appendix, ( ) Earl of Dorfet, then Lord Chamberlain, he not only heard, but redrelTed their Greiv- ances: He took the moft efFedlual Method for their Relief. -— The Learned of the Law were advifed with, who then (as many have fince) gave it as their Opinion, that if adling of Plays were malum in fe (was in itfelf criminal) no Royal Sandlion ought, or could, protedt them ^ — but, as neither Law, nor Common Senfe, had ever deemed ’em fo, — Patents, and Licences, were thought proper Grants from the Crown: And that no Patent, from any former King, could tie up the Hands of a fucceeding Prince from granting the like Authorities. On this Reprefentation, King Williamy of glorious Memory, granted a Licence to MelT. Bettertony Kynajiony Doggety Bowman^ 17 «- der billy Mrs. Barryy Mrs. Bracegirdle, and others, to form a Company, and adt for themfelves. And a voluntary Subfcription was foon raifed to build ’em a Theatre, — which they opened, on Bajer-Monday, 1695, with that admirable Comedy (then a new one) called Love Jor Love. --- There they con¬ tinued ( 13 ) ‘ tinned about ten Years, till a Licence from Queen AnnCy being granted to Sir yahn Vanbrugh^ and Mr. Congreve^ - thefe Aforementioned Aftors were influenced, by Hopes of large Rewards, to adl under thefe new Managers; — But, in two Seafons, thofe Gentlemen, tho* Men of great Parts, Wit, and Senfe, -—fromtheir Inexperience, and Want of Knowledge in the various Branches of Stage Management, foon found themfelves difappointed, not only in their flattering Prolpeits of Gain, but were un¬ able to make good their Contrads. Then the late Mr. Swinny agreed with Sir John for the Ufe of his Houfe, Cloaths, Scenes, &c. at a certain Rent j — this was no fooner effeded, but the Adors flew from their ignorant Tyrant of Drury 4 ane^ (who had got the Patents, by unaccountable Me¬ thods, into his Hands ) and played under Mr. Swinny^ who took Mr, Wilksy Mr. Cib¬ ber y and Mr. Doggety into the Management with him. The Theatre again revived, and the Adors began to know the Sweets of being honeftly and regularly paid their Due. Due. I have heard feveral who adled In that Company declare, they, in one Seafon, received Two Hundred Days Pay. The Royal Patents being again fold out In feveral Parcels, became the Property of Gentlemen who were too much attached to their Pleafures, to allpw fo much Time, and Attention, as was neceffary for carrying on the Bufinefs of the Theatre. — The Patents being united, the Proprietors of ’em, to fave themfelves Trouble, deputed an Agent to adl for them. He was, perhaps, one of the moft dull, yet cunning Mortals, that ever by Stupidity Ipoiled a good Projedt, — or, by Craft, and Chicanery, got the better of un¬ guarded Men of fuperior Parts. Mr. Cibber^ Senior, in his Apology, ob^ ferves, that ‘‘ This good Mafter was as fly a ‘‘ Tyrant as ever was at the Head of a The- atre ; for he gave the Adtors more Liberty, and fewer Days Pay, than any of his “ PredecelTors 5 he wou’d laugh with 'em “ over a Bottle, and bite 'em in their Bar- “ gains j he kept them poor, that they might “ not be able to rebel; and, fometimes mer- “ ry, that they might not think of it ” “ This . { 15 ) This was the Net the Adtors danced in for feveral Years; but, no Wonder the Ac- tors were Dupes, while their Matter was a Lawyer and he often fliew’d the Proprie¬ tors (who entrutted him with the Manage¬ ment of their Patent) that he knew enough of the wrong Side of the Law to lead ’em a long Chace in Chancery, for many Years to¬ gether. —- Thus did he perplex, and emT broil their Affairs, ’till he tir’d ’em out, — and got the Power into his own Hands: There being then but one Company, the Adtors found themfelves all reduced in their Salaries (low enough before) and an In- dulto was laid of one Third of the Profits of their Benefits, for the Ufe of the Patentee, Thefe, and other his repeated Adis of In- juttice, and ttupid Tyranny, made the Adtors join in a Body to appeal for Redrefs to the then Lord Chamberlain. They again were heard, and again found Redrefs \ an Order came from that Of¬ fice to filence the Patentee, and to fuperfede his Power; — The Authority of the Patentee no no longer fubCftIng, the confederate Adtors walked out of the Houfe; to which they never returned ’till they became Tenants and Matters of it. However, this cunning Shaver, having once made himfelf foie Monarch of the Theatri¬ cal Empire, at his Death left the quiet Pof- feffion of that Power to his Son. —- After the Superfedeas of the Patent, the Power of adlihg Plays was, by a Court Li¬ cence, and a Court Interett, ttiifted into different Hands, during the latter Part of Queen Anne\ Reign. — But the nominal Director (appointed by the Court) leaving the Management thereof intlrely to Meffrs. ^ Wtlhy Cibbery and Doggety contented him¬ felf with die Certainty of receiving an annual Income of Seven Hundred Pounds. No in- confiderable Stipend for doing nothing. On the happy Acceffion of his Majetty King George the Firtt to the Crown of Great-Britairiy Sir Richard Steele obtained a Patent, as Governor of His Majetty’a Company of Comedians, and Meffrs. Wilksy Cibbery and Boothy were made joint Diredtors, and Sharers with him : — During ( '7 ) During their Adminiftration (which lafted near Twentjr Years) theBufinefs of the Stage was fo well conduced, that Authors, Aftors, and Managers, had never enjoyed more mu¬ tual Content, or a more general Profperity, Then it was, that the polite World, by their decent Attention, their fenfible Tafte, and their generous Encouragement of Au- thors, and Adtors, fhew'd, that the Stage, under a due Regulation, was capable of being, what the wifeft Ages, thought it might be, the moft rational Scheme that human Wit could form, to dilRpate with Innocence the Cares of Life ; to allure, ** even the Turbulent, or Ill-dilpofed, from worfe Meditations ; and t© give the Icifure Hours of Bufinefs, and Virtue, an inftruc- tive Recreation,” Then Authors were treated like Gentlemen, —- and Adors with Humanity. — Thofe Managers never dif- charged an Ador, unlefs his total Negled of their Bufinefs Compelled them to it: The Ador then, who, through Sicknefs, Ac¬ cident, or Age, became an Invalid, flill en¬ joyed his Salary,— nay, had his Benefit in Turn, nor dreaded Poverty being added to C his I ( i8 ) hIs other Misfortunes:—Of this Benevolence and Generofity they gave many Inftances. The Patent granted to Sir Richard Steele was for his Life, and to his Affigns for three Years after. He died in the Year 1729. In the Year 1732, a new Patent was granted to Melf. Cibber^ Wilks^ and Booth ; foon after, Mr. Booth (whofe unhappy Illnefs had for fome Years paft deprived the Stage of one of its chief Ornaments) fold a Moiety of his t Share : Not long after, the Stage fuffer^d . an irreparable Lofs, by Mr. Wilks\ quitting that and Life together: — His Widow took a nominal Partner into her Share:—I farm’d Mr. Cibber Senior’s Share ’till he fold it. Towards the End of that Seafon, Mr. Booth died. — As the Merits of Mr. Wilks and Mr. Booth were univerfally admired, no Wonder their Lofs was univerfally la¬ mented : —They left the judicious Lovers of the Theatre in Defpair of feeing their Equals. Looking over this Theatre in order to prepare it for the Reception of my honour¬ able Auditors, the Motto Combimur^ now placed over my Head, caught my Eye, and brought * The little Theatre in the Hay-markit^ where thU Diflertation was firfl deliver’d. ( 19 ) brought to_my Remembrance, the Time and the Occafien of my firft placing it there, ’Twa$ in the Month of September^ in die memorable Year 1733, — myfelf, and a large Body of Comedians, found a happy Aflylum in this little Theatre, protefted by a generous Town, againfl: the defpotic Power of fome petulant, capricious, unlkilful, in¬ dolent, and oppreffive Patentees 3 — at that Juncture, a Patent, granted as a Reward to Aftors of Merit, by being privately ftockjobbM, became the Property of fome who proved by the Event they had more Money than Knowledge of what they traf¬ ficked for.—The Aftors, who chofe not fuch unlkilful Governors, and who reafonably fup- pos’d they cou’d guide themfelves, had taken a Leafe of Drury^lane Theatre 5-— but being illegally fhut out of that by the then Paten¬ tees, they were reduced to the Neceffity of afting in the little Theatre in the Hay-market — ’till, by Courfe of Law, they were re- ftor’d to their Right in the other. ’Twas here we fet up our Standard of Liberty 5 ’twas then we affix’d that Motto C a —And , , ,■ ( ) — And oh ! the blefs’d Remembrance of thofe golden Times ! 'Twas here that up¬ wards of a hundred fucceffive Nights, as . many crouded Audiences loudly fpoke in Favour of our Attempts : And, to crown all, when the Laws were ftrain^d to crufh. us — a Lord Chief Juftice, whofe . Memory ought ever to be ador’d, aflerted our Liberty, and defended us againft the heavy Hand of Power, that fought to opprefs us: — But T'empora mutantury — How hard the pre- fent Condition of an Ador ! If not the Fa¬ vourite or Flatterer of a Patentee, how de¬ plorable may be his State ! The Endeavours of the Patentees, "to fup- prefs the Comedians, prov’d ineffeftual, and the haughty Treatment they met with from thofe Patentees, render’d all Poflibility of a Reunion hopelefs: — Then Mr. Fktewood bought the Patent, and theatrical Stock, at an eafy Price ; the Aftors return’d, and lifted under his Banner, on advantageous Terms to both Parties : For awhile the Manager reap’d a plenteous yearly Harveft.—-’Twere invidious to dwell on this Gentleman’s Errors,- which threw the Stage again into Confu- fion,' ( ) fion, and fo reduced his own Affairs, he found it n^effary to retire to France (where he died) at which Time, to fatisfy a Mort¬ gage by a Decree in Chancery, his Patent was fold to the beft Bidder,-—and became the Property of Melf, Green and Amber, who admitted Mr. Lacy as a third Sharer, and invefted him with the whole Power :— The Purchafers (who were Bankers) fail’d foon after: Then Mr. Lacy contriv’d, not only to purchafe their Shares,— but had Addrefs enough to gain a Promife of a new Patent,— the old one being near expiring. To this Patent he admitted Mr. Garrick as a Partner, who is now become foie Manager, the other feeming content with his Share of the Profit. The Charafters of Nations, as well as private Perfons, are beft known by their Pleafures. —- This allow’d — of what Con- fequence to this Illand is the Condudl of our Theatres? When we confider what Numbers of Foreigners, — of various Coun¬ tries, and different Degrees of Diftinftion, through Curiofity, or Intereft, pour into this vaft Metropolis, and frequently make a Part C 3 of ( ) of thofe crowded Audiences^ the Managers of Play-houfes have fo happy an Occafion to boaft of. Does it not behove us to look into the Conduft of thofe Managers of Play- houfes, who are honoured with fo weighty a Trull, as the uncdntroulable Diredlion of our monopolized Diverlions ? This perhaps is little conlidered by the greater Number of Spedlators, who go to the Theatres merely as an idle Amufement — To while away the Hours, or diffipate the. Spleen, — as Humour, Leifure, Indo¬ lence, or Falliioh, lead ’em. If we confider this general Humour of Diffipation in which People go to Plays — we lhall no longer wonder we hear of fre¬ quent loud Applaufes, moft lavilhly and in- difcriminately bellow’d ;-if they are amufed they care not how, — and feldom Hay to alk their Judgments the Q^ellion, — Whether the greatell Abfurdities have not met with the greatell Encouragment ? And whether Patentees, and Players, have not joined in laying a Foundation for a falfc dirp-nccful ? Does Does not this call loudly for Reforma¬ tion i — It refts on you, Gentlemen, who are properly call'd the Town. That fo deficient an Orator prefumes to awake this Spirit in you, requires many Apo¬ logies : Confcious of my Inabilities, I tremble at the Attempt •, — I doubt, like an o’er-heated Man, I have rufh’d into a rapid Stream, and find, too late, my Strength unequal 5 — plunging I emplore your Mercy, I look to¬ wards your Good-nature, I truft to your Candour: — Already I fee your friendly Hands extended to help me to Shore. But your humane Britijh Hearts will never fail to fave the Man who throws himfelf on your Generofity.—Then let me boldly ftart to the Point at once—and cry out with Jaffier; I am among you —and by Heaven it glads “ me. To fee fo many Virtues, thus united, To reftore Juftice, and dethrone Oppref-^ fion." I am prompted by no Envy, no Malice guides me : If I point out the Mifmanage- C 4 ment. ( 24 ) mcnt, the Abufe of Power, and the unfair Treatment of Men bf Genius : — If, on En¬ quiry, ’tis prov’d the Mifconducft of Stage- Rulers is produblive of a bad Tafhe — let them blame themfelves. If on Monition they mend their Manners, let ’em gratefully remember their Monitor: — As there is Rooni for Reforniation (which { I V.' begins more and more to be call’d for) I fhall not fear, with the Spirit of a free-born Englifimany to attack thefe powerful mock Princes, in Behalf of the Ablors in general, who may be call’d the Limbs, of the The¬ atrical Body ; and of our Authors, who may be juftly ftil’d the Soul of the Theatre. Wit, Good-fenfe, and Politenefs, were al¬ ways thought necelTary to fupport the Cha- radter and Dignity of the Stage, and that the Management of it ought to be inllrufted to Perfons juftly qualified to judge of all Performances fit to be- introduc’d there : That Works of Genius might meet with proper Encouragement — and Dullnefs, and Immorality, be effectually excluded. Plas this been the conftant Condudl of the prefent grand Director ? I am about to fpeak but { 25 ) but of one now. — That one will afford ample Theme_enough. Let us then view the Afting-Manager of Drury-Lane: — In the Year 1747, — He open’d that Theatre with an excellent Pro¬ logue : — The Conclufion of which gave the Town to hope —’twould be their Fault if, from that Time, any Farcical Abfurdity of Pantomime, or Fooleries from France^ were again intruded on ’em. ’Twas the Town who were (from that aufpicious Night of his Theatrical Inaugu¬ ration) - To bid the Reign commence Of refcu d Nature, and reviving Senfe; To chace the Charms of Sound, and Pomp of Shew, For ufeful Mirth, and falutary Woe; Bid Scenic Virtue form the rifing Age, And Truth diffufe her Radiance from the “ Stage.” But has he kept his Word during his fuccefsful Reign ? Has the Stage been pre- ferv’d in its proper Purity, Decency,, and Dignity ? Have no good new Plays been re¬ fus’d i ( iS') fus'd or negledted ? Have none, but the moft moral, and elegant, of the old ones been reviv’d ? Have we not had a greater Num¬ ber of thofe unmeaning Fopperies, mif- call’d Entertainments, than ever was known to difgrace the Stage in fo few Years ? Has not every Year produc’d one of thofe patch-work Pantomimes ? Thefe Mafquing Mummeries, replete with Ribaldry, Buf¬ foonery, and Nonfenfe; — but void of In¬ vention, Gk)nneftion, Humour, or Inftrudli- on ? Thefe Arabian Kickihawi, — or Chinefe Feftivals, — Thefe, — call ’em what you pleafe, — As any one filly Name may fuit ’em all alike-Thefe Mockeries of Senfe .— Thefe larger Kind of Puppet Shews — Thefe idle Amufements for Children, and Holiday Fools j —as ridiculoufly gaudy as the flittering Pageantry of a Paftry-Cook’s Shop on a Twelfth-night! — Cou’d he plead Neceffity, for this Introdudlion of Theatri¬ cal Abufe, this Infamy of the Stage ! — This War upon Wit, in Behalf of Levity and Ignorance ? — No — he wanted no En¬ couragement to cllablilh the Theatre, on a reputable ( 27 ) reputable Foundation, without thefe Auxili¬ aries ;—his Theatre was conftanftly crowded, his Performances applauded 5 nor did the Spectators grudge paying the rais’d Prices, for a Play alone: — If he fear’d this Tafte for good Senfe wou’d not laft, — ’twas at Icaft worth a little longer Trial. But Avarice is ever in hafte to encreafe its Store.—It never flays to confider what is mofl Laudable, when what may prove mofl Profitable is the Queftion. Our Politic Man of Power therefore, wou’d not lofe this Opportunity (of being in full PofTeflion of the Favour of the Town) to introduce thefe Motley Mummeries, while he had it in his Power to make every Thing go down, that he judg’d for his Eafe or Profit. In Confequence whereof, what large Rewards have been given to the Compiler of thefe Interludes, ftol’n from the ftale Night-Scenes of Sadler i-Welh^ and Bartholomew-Fair ? Such Rewards as wou’d have fatisfied fome Authors of Merit for as many good Plays. More Money is annually fquander’d on one of thefe foolifli Farces—than, judici- oufly . ■ (’’ 8 ) bufly laid out, wou’d decorate three or four Tragedies, or Comedies,—in the bringing forward of which the Time, (loft on the other) might be more eligibly employ’d. Has this little Giant Queller, who ftep’d forth in his Prologue, and promis’d the Town, to drive exotic Monfters from the Stage—has he kept his Word ? On the con¬ trary, has he not commiffion’d Great Harlequin to lay the Ghoft of Wit ? Exulting Folly Hails the Joyful Day, ‘‘ And Pantomime,, and Song, Confirms her Sway.” ’Tis True, he has given us fome New Plays j and, we have been conftantly told, that each fucceeding one was to be more excellent than the former: So pregnant of Promifes were our Stage Puffers, — the Ecchoes of their little Monarch, —to have ^ given them Credit, one muft have imagin’d, all former Poets, Men of little Genius, com¬ pared to the all-be-praifed Writers for the prefent Stage: But, unluckily for the Mo¬ derns, and happily for the Reputation of the old Writers, the Produftions of - both __ are ( ^9 ) arc Printed.—Cou’d the Pen, or Pencil, de- fcribe, or delineate the Graces, and Ex¬ cellencies, of fome former Aftorsj — we fhou d not be pefter’d with impertinent Com- parifons, or a prepofterous Preference, of any living Adlor to a Booths or a Better^ toriy as we have been with a Profufion of Praife equally beftow’d on a Barbaroja^ and the noble Produdtions of Otway^ and Shaken- fpear: —Yet ’till Barbarojfa was Printed, — what a Parade of pompous Praife was la- vifh’d on it? Unlefs a Play comes ftrongly recom¬ mended from fome high Intereft, how dif¬ ficult is it to get it read ?— And how much more difficult it is, even then, to have it Adted, is well known to Several, who have gone through the ridiculous Ceremony: And to many more, who fcorn’d the At¬ tendance required by thefe Stage Dictators; to gain Admittance to them is frequently more difficult, than to come at a Prime Minifter. How drole to fee the Mockeries of State — when one of thefe petty Princes is furrounded by his little Theatrical De¬ pendants, ( 30 ) pendants, watching the Motion of his Eye, — all joyous if he deigns to fmile, — as downcaft if his Looks are grave or fallen; but if the pleafant Prince conde- fcends to joke, — like Sir Faul Pliant^ they are prepar’d to laugh incontinently: —They ftand like Antony'% Kings,—who, “ when he faid the Word — wou’d all ftart " forth like School-bo3rs to a Mufs.”—Thus is the little Pride of a Manager puff’d up, by the fervile Adulation of his Theatrical Dependants; — who, poor unhappy Objedts of Pity, never confider their abjed State; Ufe has made their Fetters eafy to ’em: yet, how natural is it to demand, as on the Entrance of the Blacks in Oroonoko — “ Are all thefe Wretches Slaves ? — All, “ all Slaves; — they, and their Pofterity, " all Slaves !”— From hence, this mock Prince prefumes to expert fuch Solicitation, as Gentlemen, every Way his Superiors, cannot ftoop to.— Then what avails the Merit of a Play, while fuch Monopolifers can prevent its Appear¬ ance ?—^What Man of Spirit will undergo the ungenteel Treatment he is like to meet with ( 31 ) with from falaclous Triflers ?—Thus many a Piece is loft to the Town, that perhaps had given Credit to the Stage. I will venture to affirm, there is now in being fome dramatic Pieces (of which I have been favour’d with a Perufal) no ways in¬ ferior (I ftiall not fay too much, if I add of fuperior Merit) to moft that a partial Paten¬ tee, in his Wantonefs of Power, has thruft upon the Town ; and by his Stage Politicks, has fupported for an unufual Number of Nights: Such is the Power of our Stage Dic¬ tators - who may cry out, Drawcanjir like, All this I do, becaufe I dare,” The common Put-off to an Author, when the Patentee is not inclin’d to ferve him, is —The Thing is pretty,*—to be fure there’s Merit in it,—But it wants Alteration yet ; ifit was alter’d, they have notTimeTheir ** Hands are full,—The Bufinefs of their Sea-* ** Ibnis wholly plan’d,—They haveuot a Night to fpare.”—And fuch paltry Put-byes as no one believes, not even themfelves who fay ’em. Not to dwell on the indifferent Plays they have ailed, ot fome of more Merit that may ( 3 ^ ) may have been refufed by "em,—let us en-^ quire a little what mighty Bufinefs has fo eih- ployed their Time, that not a few Nights can be found to give an Author fair Play j—the prefent Seafon ^ is now above half over, and what has been done ?—Why, the Town has been entertained with a frequent Repe¬ tition of their old Plays, and ftale Farces 5 — and one Farce, entitled the Fair ^aker of Dealy has been palm’d upon the Town as a reviv’d Comedy, arid exhibited agreater Num¬ ber of Nights, than formerly better Plays, much better aded, were ever known to reign : — As Bartholomew Fair has been fome Years fupprefs*d, the politic Manager contriv’d to introduce Drolls on the Stage, at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane .—’Twas ufual with the Matters of Droll Booths to get fome Genius of a lower Clafs, to fupply ’em with Scenes, detach’d from our Plays,—altered and adapted* to the Tatte of the holiday Audiences they^ were commonly perform’d to :—This Hint the Manager has taken—and of this galli¬ maufry Kind was the Pattoral (as he call’d it) exhibited at Drury ^ Theatre.- The * This DifTertation was firfl: deliver’d towards the End of Januaryy 1756. The Winter's Tale^ of Shake/pear^ tho’ one of his moft irregular Pieces, abounds with beautiful Strokes, and touching Circumftan- ces ^—the very Title (A Winter s Tale) feems fix'd on by the Author, as an Apology for, and a befpeaking of, a loofe Plan, regardlefs of Rule, as to Time or Place:—The Story affedted his Mind, and afforded a large Field for his lively Imagination to wander in :—« And here—the Poet: —Fancy’s fweeteft Child, Warbles his native Wood-Notes wild.’^ In the Alteration, many of the moft inte- refting Circumftances, the moft affedting Paffages, and the fineft Strokes in writing, which mark the Charadlers moft ftrongly, and are moft likely to move the Heart, are entirely omitted, fuch as the Jealoufy of Leontes^ the Trial of HermionCy &c. What remains is fo unconnedled, — is fuch a Mix¬ ture of piecemeal, motley Patchwork, that The Winter i Taky of Shakefpeary thus lop’d, hack’d, and dock’d, appears without Head or Tail. — In order to curtail it to three Adis, the Story of the three firft Adis of D the r . ( 34 ) the original Play (and which Contain fome of the nobleft Parts) are crowded into a dull Narrative j in the Delivery of which, the Performer makes- no happy Figure - So at the Beginning of the third Aft, the principal Parts of the Story, which in the Alteration we might have expefted to have feen reprefented, were given in two long- winded Relations, ^by two unfkiird Per¬ formers,—whofe Manner, made ’em ap¬ pear— As tedious—as a twice told Tale, » vexing the dull Ear of a drowfy Man/*--And this hafty Hafh, or Hotch¬ potch, is call'd altering Shakefpear.-^'Whtn- ever Shakefp^ar is to be cut up—let s hope, fome more delicate Hand, and judicious Head, will be concern'd in the Direftion. Let’s carve him, like a Difli fit for the Gods ! Not hew him, like a Carcafs fit for Hounds.” I have heard of an Aftor, who humou- roufly told one of his Brother Comedians, that, whenever he had a Part,- where the Redundancy of the Author run into too great ( 35 ) great a Length in the Scenes, — he had re- courfe to a whimfical Expedient for the fhortning of ’em : He had the whole Part wrote out, and then, gave it his Cat to play with : — What Pufs claw’d off, the Actor left out ; yet he generally found enough remain’d to fatisfy the Audience. In this frolickfome Manner, feems Matter Davy to have laid his wanton Claws on. Shakejpears Winter'*s Tale .— Or, perhaps, he follow’d the Aitor’s Example, and left the Laceration of it to his Cat. — Sure, he was not fo avaritioufly unreafonable, to demand of his Brother Manager, the Profits of the Third, Sixth and Ninth Nights, for the Be¬ nefit of his Cat. However, his Houfes were crowded; for what he defigns to give mufl be receiv’d.— It is Hobfon\ Choice with the Town. Thefe monopolifing Venders of Wit, like Fellows that fell Wine in a Jail, con- fult not the Health, or Pleafure of their Cuftomers : — But, as it adds to their Pro¬ fit, force a Sale of their Balderdafh, and then demand the Price of the beft Wines; — D 2 No C ) No Matter, whether or no It pleafes the Palates of the Purchafers. — They muft have that or nothing. ~ Were Shakefpears Ghoft to rife, wou’d he not frown Indigna¬ tion, on this pilfering Pedlar in Poetry, . who thus fhamefully mangles, mutilates, and emafculates his Plays ? The Midfummers Night*s Dream has been minc’d and frica- feed into an indigefted and unconnefted Thing, call’d. The Fairies : — The Winter s Jaky mammoc’d into a Drolls The Ta^- Tiling of the Shrewy made a Farce of ^ — and. The Tempefiy caftrated into an Opera. — Oh ! what an agreeable Lullaby might it have prov’d to our Beaus and Belles, to have heard Calibany Sycorax, and one of the De¬ vils trilling of Trios. And how prettily might the North-Wind (like the Tyrant Barbarojfa) be introduc’d with foft Mu-^^ lick ! — To crown all — as the Chinefe Fefti- val prov’d the Devil of a Dance; how cle¬ verly might it have been introduc’d, in the Tempeji new-vamp’d', as a Dance of frolick- fome Devils ? — Roufe Britonsy roufe, for fhame ! and vindicate the Caufe of Senle, thus facrific’d to Mummery ! Think you fee ' Shakefpears ' ( 37 ) Sbakefpear i Injur d Shade^ with Patriot- Anguifh, lighing over your implicit Belief, and Paffive Obedience 3 your Non-Reliftance to this Profanation of his Memory : — He grieves, to fee your tame Submiffion to this mercilefs Procrujles of the Stage, who wan¬ tonly, as cruelly, maffacres his dear Re¬ mains. — Are you not ready to cry out. — Ye Gods ! what Havock does this Scrib- bier make, among Shakefpears Works !” Yet this fly Prince would infinuate, all this ill Ufage of the Bard is owing forfooth to his Love of him. — - Much fuch a mock Proof of his tender Regard, as The Cobkrs Drub^ bing his Wife. — In the two laft Bellman-like nonfenfical Lines, of his abfurd Prologue to the Winter s Tale, — he tells you, — That ’tis his Joy, his Wifli, his only Plan, To lofe no Drop of that immortal Man !” Why truly, in the aforementioned Pieces, he does bottle him up with a Vengeance ! — he throws away all the fpirited Part of him, all that bears the highefl: Flavour; — then, D 3 to { 38 ) to fome of the Dregs, adds a little flat Stuff , of his own, and modeflily palms it on his Cuf- tomers — as Wines of the firft Growth 5 ' a pleafant Beverage to offer Gentlemen, by way of Bonne Bouche: — Did every trick- ing Vintner brew fo fcandaloufly ? But thus it will be, ’till his Play-Houfe-Puffers are thoroughly enquired into ; — and that it is publickly made known, both who and what they are j a Number of which, to the A- mount of forne Hundreds, are made free of the Houfe,-or fent bccafionally in with Orders, by one of his Agents •, who, from thence, in Mockery, is not improperly call’d,' the Orderly Serjeant.,-From hence, the great Applaufe that always is lavifhly be- ftow’d on every Thing, that is brought on that Stage: — But when thefe Place-Men, as they may be literally call’d, are pointed out, — as little Regard^ will be paid to the Claps of thefe Mercenaries, — as to the bawling Hirelings in Sjnithfield — who are appointed to roar out. Gentlemen, this is the only Booth in the Fair, — The Wonder of ' the World is here, Gentlemen. So ( 39 ) So ftrongly had Falhlon prevail’d, in Behalf of this lucky Son of Fortune, —i that it became a Kind of Treafon, among fome People, even to hint a Poffibility of his being in an Error : Such was the Infallibility of this Patentee, that if you heard any Tale of the Theatre, it reminded you of the T^ale of a — where Lord Peter^ having the foie Poffeffion of the Will of his Father, paid no Regard to the Remonftrances of his Brethren 3 — his Power was not to be difputed, — he became exceeding rich : — But he kept his Brain fo long, and fo vio¬ lently, on the Rack, that at laft it £hook of itfelf, and began to turn round for a little Eafe : — In £hort, what with Pride, Projedts, and Knavery, poor Peter was grown di- ftradled, and conceived the ftrongeft Imagi¬ nation's in the World : In the Height of his Fits (as it is ufual with thofe who run mad out of Pride) he would call himfelf Al¬ mighty, and fometimes Monarch of the Univerfe : Elate with Power, and puffed up with Pride, Peter determined to thruft down Peoples Throats the coarfeft Bread; and, with an infolent Ipfe Dixit^ infilled on its D 4 having ( 4 ° ) having all the Qualities of every other Food. But Peters Pride, and Power, were at laft pull’d down y — and a Pontiff-like Patentee may be fliaken : — Then may he ftrut and fret his Hour on the Stage.” ‘‘ Then look aghaft, when unforefeen Re- proof comes pouring in on him from Box and Pit.” Or in a Fit of difappointed Pride, ftart, and cry,—Shall I, who to my kneel- ing Players cou’d fay. Rife a Theatric K-ing, —- £hall I fall down at the proud Publick’s y Foot, — and cry. Have Mercy on me ?” Silence the Clarnour of thefe Mercena¬ ries, — ye generous Sons of Britain ! — Exert your Power ^ laugh the Herd to Scorn, who condefcend to'be thus meanly purchas’d ; No longer' endure this infolent Innovation, ^n. the Works of your dear Countryman (your Nation’s Glory) by the unmerciful Hand of this mongrel Pigmy of Parnajjus : The infulted Bard complains that ye are «« Jlons)y and Shakefpear’i Gboji swalks unre^ veng^d amongft usl* Refent the Injuries of» ferM to this Poet. ’Tis expefted from ye. Gentlemen, in Vindication of your Tafte ; as in a political, and patriot Senfe, *tis your Duty to~refift any audacious Attempt on your Liberties, or the Infolence of a French Invafion on your Country : r— No Wonder Shakefpear^ Name is infulted by Fo¬ reigners, while he is tamely fufFer’d to be thus maltreated at Home. We’ll now drop the Patentee a-while, and look into the Merits of the Adtor. —- That he often deferves all the Applaufe a favoura¬ ble Audience may beftow, will not be de- ny’d 5 — that he always deferves it, is a Queftion : That he is a great Genius, is al¬ low’d. — But that Judgment does not al¬ ways direct his Spirit, will not fure be thought too bold an Affertion. — Whatever Wants there may be in a Performer, which are the Defeats of Nature, cannot be too tenderly touch’d ; but Errors of the Judg¬ ment demand Reproof, — and willful Er¬ rors, fubilituted in the Room of Truth, de¬ mand more ; — They ought to be pointed out; — they ought to be exploded. — When an Adtor proftitutes his Profeffion, for the vain Satisfadtion of a falfe Applaufe, fuch ( 42 ) fuch paltry Ambition fhould be check’d by the fevered: Cenfures of the Publick. - / The Faults, or Affedlations of the Igno¬ rant, or Undeferving, never fall under the Cognizance of Cenfure , being, in their Na¬ ture, beneath it: But the Faults of Men of acknowledg’d Merit, and Genius, call on ' every Lover of his Country, and Tafte, for an Antidote againft the delicious Pcifon of their Errors, which are fo greedily fwallow’d by the Young, and Unexperienc’d. — Semay a Man of Wit and Learning, defpairing to rival the fober and mafeuline Eloquence of his PredecelTors, ftep’d afide for Help, to all the meretricious Arts of AfFedtation, and Quaintnefs; he obtain’d what he propos’d, by the tinfel Embroidery of a fparkling flafhy Stile, and blaz’d forth the Idol of the gaping Multitude : While the Judicious repin’d in Secret, at the Rapidity of falfe Tafte, which made gigantic Strides in the Republic of Letters.— But alas! what was the Confequence ? As far (hortas Seneca fell of thofe great Writers, the true Refled:ors of Nature, fo did his Imitators,in regard to him;-—for being devoid of ( 43 ) of his natural Capacity and Genius, they could attain nothing hut his Tricks of Eloquence : — Hence a general Depravity of Tafte arofe. — Of which the celebrated Rhetor ^intiliariy in his LelTons to the Youth of Rome^ moft pathetically complain'd, and gave wholefome Admonitions, to fleer clear of the Syren Enchantments of Senecas PriJ^ matic Elocution, It can be deem'd no lefs than a Compli- . ment to any favourite Aftor in being, to compare him to Seneca, — Permit me then, againft a pleating infectious Example, in humble Imitation of the Rhetor, to hold up the Teft of Nature, Experience and Tafle. —- If this Attempt may be thought worthy the Attention of difinterefted Judges, 4 — let flavifh Hirelings bark out their Dif- like. About fifteen ' Years ago, when our lively Hero firft flarted up at Goodmans Fields^ and met with that Encouragement he de- ferved flufh’d with Applaufe, after the long fuccefsful Strides he had taken in Richardy he determin’d to flep into tragic .Charafters of a different Caft, Having the Theatres, at this ( 44 ) this End of the Town, in his Eye, —he concluded, that, could he by any artful Means damn the Aftors, then playing at the two Theatres Royal, it would not a little contribute to his Succefs:—He therefore, with the Policy of a Frenchman, and the Cunning of a Jefuit, contriv'd to depreciate the Performance of thofe Players, in the Opinion of the Town, — previous to his ftepping into their Parts. He recollefted — the Rehearjal had been reviv’d, about two Years before, and afeted upwards of forty Nights in one Seafon, at the Theatre Royal, in Covent-Garden The Charadler of Bayes^ he thought he cou’d pervert to his own Ufe, by indulging his artful Spleen, in mimicing the Actors, and by turning the Force 'of Ridicule on them, give Victory and Triumph to himfelf: — On this, the Play was got up there — and Garrick's Bayes (not Buckingham's^ as it then appeared)- was pufli’d on feveral Nights. Thus The Rehearjal was no longer conli- der’d as a witty Satyr on the Foibles, and. Faults, of Authors, and a Reproof of the Town for their falfe Tafle of the Drama : ... It ( 45 ) —It became a motley Medley of Buffoonery, to explode the Acftors. But, where did he attack ’em ? — On their weak Side, indeed, — where they cou’d not be on their Guard ; Inftead of critically pointing • out' their Want of Tafte, or Judgment, — he cruelly turn’d the whole Artillery of his Mockery againft their natural Defeds, or fuch Particularities of Voice, which did not milbecome them; nor met with Reproof, ’till his Vice of taking off, as it is call’d, became the foolifh Fafhion 5and taught School-Boys to be Critics. His Attempts to prejudice the Million a- gainft his Brethren, had its defired EffecfV,_ feveral w’ere hurt by it. — The late Mr. De^ lane^ in particular, a Man of great Modefty, was fo fhock’d eyery Time he came upon the Stage after it, new Terrors feiz’d him, — he could not not get the better of his Weaknefs 5 fo became a Votary to Eacchus, and facrific’d his Life at that Shrine. If, poor Man, he had been Matter of. Temper and Refolution enough, to have rous’d a proper Spirit on this Occafion, and had fought the Improvement he was capable ®f ( 46 ) of in his Profeffion, he might ftlll have been giving Pleafure to the Town in, feveral Charafters ; — fuch as Lord Hajlings^ Pyrr- VaraneSj Bajazety Antonyy Hotfpur. and Alexander ; to thefe his Power of Voice, his- Comlinefs of Countenance, his graceful Adion, and Dignity of Deportment, ren¬ der’d him more equal than the Ador; who fo wantonly attack’d him 5 in which Attack, the • Mimic fliew’d he cou’d only ti;anli- ently hit on fome peculiar Tones of the other’s Voice : — It had been better for this Mimic, cou’d he he have equall’d the Ador in all his happier Gifts of Nature, As this Ador was thus indulg’d in his mi- micing the Defeds of Nature, I hope, I may be allow’d to point out the lefs pardon¬ able Errors of Judgment; or more unpar¬ donable Tricks of the Player, knowingly introduc’d, againft the Convidion of Senfe, and Judgment : Thefe modern Clap-Traps of the Stage, — where Reafon is facrific’d to Vanity, — where Vehemence fupplies the Place of Spirit, and Extravagancies are call’d Beauties 3where mouthing, and ranting, pafs ( 47 ) pafs for Elocution, and the Voice fo injudicl- oufly forced, the Power is loft e’er half the Part is play’d. A falfe Jeu du theatre be¬ comes, too often, the Vice of fome prefent A(flors 5but they are happy, if they can thereby raife a Clap from the Million : — No Matter whether the Applaufe is juft, fo it be loud : — When Stage Tricks become fo fre¬ quent, may we not fay, — Nature’s forfook — our new Theatric Art, Aiming to ftrike the Eye, neglects the Heart,” The Adtor, I’m about to Ipeak of, has un¬ doubtedly feveral natural Requifites, and fome acquir’d Talents 5 — and altogether is juftly deem’d a good Comedian: His Per¬ formance in Kifefyy in Every Man in his Humoury is To excellent a Piece of Nature, — fo truely comic, — it makes Amends for all the Farce with which that indelicate Piece of low Humour abounds. But is not his chief Talent Comedy? not of the genteel Caft, — but of the lower Kind ? — This perhaps, by a candid Exa- men of his Abilities, and Execution, may be / fi { 48 ) be made appear : — As may his Errors in Tragedy : Some of thofe Errors a Gen¬ tleman of Wit, and great Vivacity, — an admirable Mimic, has pleafantly pointed out, and humouroufly exploded ; — the Correftion was of Ufe to the Adlor: Per¬ haps, future Remarks may be of farther Ufe to him. — If we' look into his favou¬ rite Charadter of Ranger^ fhall we not find lefs of the Gentleman in the Performance, than the Author intended in the Writing — That he is exceeding lively and enter¬ taining, is certain; but, that he is fome- times, even moft abfurdly rude, will appear, by only remarking his ungentlemanlike Be¬ haviour, in one fingle Scene. — He meets with Frankly and Bellamy^ — both fuppofed to be Gentlemen 5 Frankly particularly, a Man of Fafhion, and Fortune :— This very Gentleman (without any Regard to Decency or good Manners) Ranger makes his Lean- ing-ftock, and, lolling, a confiderable Time on his Shoulder, indulges himfelf in be¬ ing pleafant on Bellamy : — Can any Friend- , flfip, or Intimacy, tolerate fuch ill-bred Free- • dom j ( 49 ) dom in a Man, to confulthis own Eafe, with¬ out feeling the Pain he muft give his Superior ? Oh ! but Tt’s a pretty Attitude forfooth, he caught it perhaps, from" a French Print, v/here a Gentleman leans againft the high Eafe of a Pillar, in a Garden 5 it took his Fancy probably, and this Attitudmarian w'as refolved to introduce it. — No Matter for the Impropriety of making a Gentleman his Lolling-Poft. This is but one of the many ftudy’d Ab- furdities. — How ridiculous might be the Confequence, if the Perfon who plays Frankly^ were to give him the Slip, and drop Mafter Ranger to the GroTind ! tho’ this might become Frankly^ as a humorous Reproof of Ranger s Rudenefs, — yet the poor Player, whom Neceffity has taught to prefer Sla¬ very, t0 the Liberty of ftarving, muft rather feerh to think himfelf honour’d by this imper¬ tinent Freedom, as it comes from the Manager. That he difplays in Archer great Vivacity muft be granted ; - but that the Gentleman appears thro’ the Footman, or, that his Deportment, and Addrefs, are equal to the Charadler, when he puts on the E Habit ( 50 ) Habit of the Gentleman, — is what I never heard aflerted. —- This, and the ftill fuperior Charadters in genteel Comedy, feem now quite loft : — We have ftrutting Flafhes, and finical Fribbles, pert Prigs, bold Bucks, and dapper Smarts : — But, when do we meet on the Stage, a genteel Charadter, fup- ported with a graceful Eafe, and Elegancy, expreffive of the Man of Qimlity ? Or that gives any Idea of a well-bred Perfon, ufed to polite Affemblies, or the Manners of a Draw¬ ing-Room ? — Who is there at the Head of the Stage to fet the Example ? We have feen a Comedy revived, and played to a fur- prifing Number of Audiences, wherein the Perfon, who performed the principal Cha- radler, was in an Error, from Beginning to End ; - and yet, the Play-Houfe Puffers ex¬ tolled -it, as the Mafter-Stroke of Comedy: — They rung the Changes on the Words Amazing! Great ! Surpriling ! Fine ! Imi- menfe ! Pleafant! Prodigious ! Inimitable \ till every Ear was tired with the Sound : — Any one, who never faw the Performance, might have conclued from Report, That the fuHbme Flattery a certain Writer beftow’d JOB ( ) f on hfm, was but Truth, — when he fald. This Ador was not only the moft ex- cellent of his Profeffion that ever was, —« “ but that ever would be.’* I imagine, e’er I name the Title of this Comedy, moft People will guefs I mean the Chances. It has been remarked, in this Play, the Poet, in his Wantonnefs of j^Humour and Spirit, feemed determined to declare open War upon Decency, — and fcorning double Entondre, fpeaks plain Englijh: — The chief Bufinefs of the Drama is barefaced Proftitution. It was wrote by Fletcher^ — but it was fo well fuited to the Tafte of the loofe Wits of King Charles the Second’s Court, that the Witty Debauchee Buckingham^ thought it worth his Revifal, and Alteration. Mr. Pope elegantly inveighs againft Plays of this Caft, and juftly fatyrifes the Tafte of thofe Times, when the Obfcenity of a Piece was no Objeftion, if fupported with Pleafantry : — Perhaps this Play was in his Thoughts, when he fays, E a ?! The •( 5i ) The Fair fat panting at a Courtier's Play, And not a Mafk went unimprov’d away j The modeft Fan was lifted up no more, “ And Virgins fmil’d at what they blufti’d “ before : n Thefe Mpnfters, Critics, with your Darts ‘^engage, “ Here point your Thunder,—here diredl your Rage !’’ The Revival of this Play, undoubtedly, laid the fober Part of the Town under no fmall Obligation to the immaculate Manager. ' But however incorrefl: or loofe the Plan of this Play appears ;—the Author certainly drew his Charadters from Nature,—and fup- ports ’em well:-“ Servetur ad ununif' I apprehend, it readily appears to any one who reads this Play —That, in Do 7 i John^ the Poet meant to give us a fpirited Reprefenta- tion of a young Nobleman on his Travels: — However gay his Youth, or wild his Confti- tution,—he entertains high Notions of Ho¬ nour :—Gallantry is but a fecondary Principle of his Character,—he never deviates from the ftately Pride of a Spaniard^ tho’ he re¬ ceives a Challenge, and fights a Duel, with a No 7 i- i ( 53 ) a Non-Chalance of Temper, that nothing but the greateft Courage can fupport. ■ Toperfonate this noble joyous Voluptuary, there fhould be Comelinefs, Grace, a fpirited Dignity, and Eafe;—he Ihould appear the Rake of Quality ^—not a pert Prig, let loofe on a Holiday.—In his moft unguarded Fro- licks, we Ihould not lofe Sight of the Noble¬ man.—In this Light, I am informed, did the Charadler of Don John appear, when the great Betterton played it; in this Light have I beheld it, when perform’d by that Mailer of genteel Comedy, Mr. Wilks. But as my Friend the Doctor fays,—The College have altered all that now, and pro- “ ceed upon an entire new Principle.”—If an Adlor finds himfelf unequal to a Part, why will he undertake a Talk impofed on him only by his own Vanity ?-But, fays this arch Manager,—’Tis the Bufinefs of ‘‘ Comedy to make People laugh,—I can fill ‘‘ the Part with Plcafantry, tho’ I neglect ‘‘ Propriety ; I have Faihion on my Side,—- “ and a Fad:ion to fupport me,—none dare difpute my Tafte or Power And, if I can’t rife to Don John^ I’ll bring Don E 3 John t 5 + ) I John down to me:—So, enter Ranger in a Spanijh Jacket.” Had it been a Harle¬ quin Jacket, it wou’d not have milhecome the Part, as it is now ncw-model’d.—Where Nature is negledted, the Gentleman entirely dropt, and lively Abfurdities, with brifk Buf¬ fooneries, make up the ftrange Melange :— ’Tis no longer the noble Don John^ —’tis a little "Jack-a-dandy. To point out Particulars, where the whole is abfurd, were endlefs;—One is as good as^ a Hundred :—Only think of this young Spa¬ nijh Nobleman, becaufe his Ear is caught by the Sound of a Fiddle from the Window of a Tavern, being tempted to give you a Touch of a^Hornpipe in the Middle of the Street. Is it in Nature to fuppofe any Gentleman, in his Senfes, could be guilty of fo ridiculous an Abfurdity?—How muft the Stage im¬ prove from thefe lively Specimens of genteel Comedy ? When an Adtor prefumes to fubftitute the farcical Liberties of an Harlequin, inftead of a juft Reprefentation of Nature,—what muft be his Ignorance,—or what his Affurance ? What What fliould be his Reward—if thus he de¬ viates from the unerring Rule, that great Judge of Nature, Shakefpear^ lays down for his Direftion, when he admoniflies the Player : Not to o’erftep the Modefty of Nature, whofe End, both at the firft, was, and now is, to hold, as it were, a Mirror up to Nature/'-This over-done, or come tardy of, though it may make the Unlkilful laugh, cannot but make the Ju- ‘‘ dicious grieve: The Cenfure of which one, —ought to o er-fway a whole Theatre of others/' As this Genius has a Knack of Hieing Co¬ medies into Farces, and frittering Sbakefpear into Drolls, Paftorals, and Operas :—As we have many Inftances of his happy Talents for altering, and embellifhing old Plays,— 'tis Pity he did not make a new one of the Chances 5 —had he but given EngUJh Names to the Charadters, and remov’d the Scene to London^ — this, with the new Manner of adting, might have made it pafs for a new Comedy, under the well-adapted Title of, 7 he Delights of Dame D--glfs: Ovy 7 he Frolicks of Majler Jacky in Covent Garden. E4 Tho; ( 56 ) Tho* I have as quick a Perception of the Merits of this Ador, as his greateft Admirers, and have not lefs Pleafure from his Perfor¬ mance, when he condefcends to purfue Ample Nature:—Yet I am not therefore to be blind to his ftudied Tricks, his Over-fondnefs for extravagant Attitudes,- frequent affedled Starts, convulfive Twitellings, Jerkings of the Body, fprawiing of the Fingers, flap¬ ping the Breaft and Pockets —A Set of mechanical Motions in conflant Ufe,—the Caricatures of Geilure, fuggefled by pert Vivacity,—his pantomimical Manner of adl- ing, every Word in a Sentence ;—his unna¬ tural Paufes in the Middle of a Sentence; —his forc’d Conceits,—his wilful Negleft of Harmony, even where the round Period of a well exprefs’d noble Sentiment demands a graceful Cadence in the Delivery. Thefe, with his miftaken Notions of fome Charafters, and many other Vices of the Stage, which his Popularity has fupported him in, I fliall take a proper Opportunity of remarking, in a more particular Manner, and laying fuch Obfervations before the fu- perior Judgment of the Town. Aa ( 57 ) An Adlor, who Is a thorough Mafter of his Part,—-not only m Point of Memory, but by having clearly conceived, and entered into the Spirit of the Sentiment and Expreffion,— will ftand in no Need of premeditated Gef- tures or Attitudes ^ the Words and Situation will, of themfelves, fuggeft ’em to him; and they will appear the rnore natural, and confequently have the greater Effedf, for their not having the Air of Study, and Prepa¬ ration. The various Inflexions of Voice, the Strefs of the Emphafis, the juft Proportion of Pathos, neither carried improperly into Rant, nor over-tame, but governed by the Occa- fion :-All thefe will rife fo naturally, that^ the Part will feem to ad: the Adcr, inftead of being aded by him :-The Emotions, in fliort, (hon’d begin at the Heart,—and there’s no Doubt of the Voice and Body re¬ ceiving fuch right Diredions from it, as can never fail of making proper Impreflions; Whilft moving of the Head, Legs, and Arms, by Rule and Compafs, muft have compara¬ tively a cold, infipid, and even a ridiculous Efted :—Nor is this Complaint a new one ; even ( S8 ) •—even in Ariflotlez Days, there \vas an Aftor call’d CallipideSy who ufed to prefix his Motions before he came on the Stage; the Affedation of it was fo palpable, that Minefm his Rival, nick-named him the Ape^ from that Disfigurement which the Cha- raders he play’d receiv’d from his trickful Imitation :—I call it trickful, becaufe all thofe forelaid Attitudes, or Puggijications^ are the poor Arts of thofe who are not ca¬ pable of exhibiting, or, what is ftill worfe, are infenfible of the Beauty of Nature.— Our Stage, in its prefent State, affords more Examples of thofe who follow the Manner of a CallipideSy than of a Bet ter tony or a Boothy who were not above receiving their Direc- ' tions from Nature, tliat great Guide and Prefident over all the imitative Arts, and efpccially the Theatre, from whence how¬ ever fhe has been fo long banifhed. To this Extravagance of Behaviour, in ading, and to the Applaufes thus frequently and eafily gain’d, is it not owing that the epidemical Diftemper of Spouting (accord¬ ing to the modern Phrafe) has fpread itfelf io widely ?——When young Men ceafe to confider ( 59 ) confider Afting as an Art,—an Art too, that requires, perhapsj more natural Requifites, more acquir'd ones, more Time, Experi¬ ence, Study, and Knowledge, than many others,-we need not be furprifed, that fo many Candidates for Fame are fo ready to expofe themfelves :—They regard it not in that Light.—They judge, from the extraor¬ dinary Examples fet ’em, that a little Rant¬ ing or Mouthing, a Start or two, an outri At¬ titude, and a few harlequinade Tricks, are all the Requifites to make a compleat Adlor. —And as Managers, not fo careful of the gradual Improvement of the Stage, as greedy of prefent Gain, too frequently allow raw unexperienced Men to ftart out in top Cha¬ racters (however unequal to ’em, or hopelefs of Improvement) with a View, that the bare Novelty may draw an Audience,—and as fuch Heroes, made in i Hurry, are too ready to miftake the Encouragement of an indul¬ gent Audience, for an Applaufe due to their fu perior Merit;—what Hopes is there of fee¬ ing a Set of good Aitors, compleatly and regularly form’d ? For- ( 6o ) ; Formerly, each After, by Degrees, came forward 5 they began at the lower Round of the Ladder :——But now they take a flying Leap to the Top at once :—Tho*, in¬ deed, they generally drop as fuddenly to the Bottom/. To thi^ Mifeonduft of the Mana¬ gers, and bad Examples of the Performers, is it not owing, that fuch a Number of young Men negleft their various Profeffions, for which their Talents are more happily adapted, to follow this Ignii Fatuiis of Stage Fame ?—They think of nothing lefs than being applauded Pleroes on the Stage, and from thence, like their Coulin Sir Francis (for they are all nearly related to the Wrong’- heads) propofe to indulge themfelves in the eafy-gain'd Income of a trifling Thoufand a Year~‘‘juft to be doing with, 'till fome- ‘‘what better falls in."—Tho' a few (a very few) may have fucceeded yet, alafs! what a Number of young People, difap- pointed of thefe flattering Views, have, in the End, found themfelves literally Aftor-bit — By this Delufion, many young Men, to the Grief of their Parents and Friends, have been loft to the World, who, had they fol¬ lowed ( 6i ) lowed the more eligible Profeffions they were delign’d for, might have lived to have been a Comfort to their Friends, a Joy to their Families, an Flonour to themfelves, and relpedable Members of public So¬ ciety. I have heard of an Academy,-in¬ tended to confift of a feledl Number of Gen¬ tlemen, eminent for their Tafte of the Belles Lettres and fome, whofe Works have the deferv'd Eftimation of the Public: — On which Plan it will be propos’d,' to fupport Authors of Merit; — to give Praife to the Deferving, and due Cenfure to the Dull and Prefuming; — to fhew the many, why they are pleas’d, — and with what they ought to be delighted : — May that laudable Scheme fucceed, and prevent the Depravity we are falling into, by refcuing found Senfe, and Morality, from the barbarous Attacks of Ig¬ norance, and Gothifni! 1. have alfo heard a Weekly Paper, under their Inipedlion, will be publifh’d, entitled, Ihe Theatre ^ wherein no mean Arts will be us’d, to prejudice the Public in favour of an unworthy Author,, or' Ador; nor will any Writer, or Performer, of ( 62) of any Degree of Merit, be depreciated thro’ the Wantonnefs of Mirth, or to gratify tlie Vanity, or Spleen, of ^ another. —Whenever this Paper appears, — « Dread it, ye Dunces, and Dramatic “ Drones! “ Tremble, ye Tyrants, on Theatric ** Thrones !*’ Thus may the encroaching Power of Ma¬ nagers be properly check’d, and rational En¬ tertainments alone become the polite Amufe- ment of the Town; thus may our giddy, and unwary Youth, be caution’d againft the dangerous Illufions of Falfehood — who, in her gaudy Trappings, oft bewilders their Imaginations, and enchantingly entices ’em to become her Admirers, — while they to¬ tally negledt the fimply-elegant Beauties of unaffedled Truth. — ’Till this Plan is put in Execution,-and I hope the'Interim will be but fliort, — permit me humbly to pro- pofe an Expedient, for the immediate Cor- redlion of Theatrical Mifeonduft. Many public Companies have proper Offi¬ cers appointed to infpeft their Conduct j fome ( 63 ) fome have their Governors, fome their Di- redtors 3 and our Univerfities have their Vi- fitors. Since then thefe Patentee Potentates, out of their immenfe Humanity and Goodnefs, will allow me Time from my Avocation as an A6tor,™What if I become the Volunteer- Vifitor of the Theatres !—To look into, and report their Proceedings, whether worthy of Praife or Cenfure.—This is a Poft I can ap¬ point myfelf: — And if the Thought meets with the Approbation of my honoured Friends and Patrons, I 0iall endeavour to difcharge that Office, to the beft of my Abilities, with Impartiality, Integrity, and Juftice: Thus, in Spight of their unjuft Oppreffion, I may ftill continue, what I have ever thought it an Honour to be, the moft obliged, devoted Servant of the Publick. As a Theatrical Vilitor then, give me Leave to lay before you, fome of the ftudied Ab- furdities, or Callipedian Ape-Tricks, which are often fubflituted, inftead of the inftinc- tive unaffefted Adlions, which Ample Na¬ ture would have diredted. Of I ( 6 + ) Of this Kind, is the pantomimical adt- ing every Word in a Sentence. — When Be- nediB fays, — If I do, hang me in a Bot- «« tie like a Cat, and fhoot at me !” Me- thinks, this flight fliort Sentence requires not fuch a Variety of Adtion, as mi¬ nutely to defcribe the Cat being clapp’d into the Bottle, then being hung up, and the farther painting of the Man fhooting at it: — But fuch Things we have feen, nay fometimes feen applauded. — Obfcrve the Golden Rule of not too much ; this Rule every Adlor Ihou’d pay regard to. But how is this obferved when Richard (as I have feen it played) in his very firfl: Speech, wherein he defcribes his fullen Mood of Mind, his Rellleffnefs of Spirit, unemployed in War, — his confcious Unfi'tnefs to join in the fportive, piping, medley Amufements of idle Peace, — ironically fays, — “ I have no Delights to pafs away my Hours, Unlefs to fee my Shadow in the Sun, And defcant on my own Deformity.” This ( 65 ) This Idea of defcanting on his own Defor¬ mity, is what his hurt Imagination would naturally turn from, the Moment it occurs to him : ——- But for the Sake of an Atti¬ tude, which is fure to be dwelt on ’till the Audience clap, •— this Sentence is com¬ monly clos’d with an Aftion of pointing to the Ground, and fixing the Eye thereon for fome Time, as if Richard had a real Delight in ruminating on his uncouth Perfon, — Again, after he has woo’d, and (to his own Surprife) has won the Widow Anne^ — can we fuppofe, that Richard is fuch a Fool, as really to think himfelf comely of Perfon, when he, exulting on his Succefs, in wanton Pleafantry, breaks out j My Dukedom to a Widow’s Chaftity, I do miftake my Perfon all this whilo/^ Or when he fays — « I’ll have my Chambers lin’d with Look- ing-Glafs, V And entertain a Score or Two of Taylors To ^dy Faihions to adorn my Body.” ( 66 ) Richard Is not fuch a Simpleton, ferioufly to intend this,-jT-’tis Laughter all, and Moc¬ kery of the Widow’s Weaknefs ; —- yet I have fcen a Richard; when he makes his Exit with thefe Lines, — Shine out fair Sun ’till I falute my Glafs, That I may fee my Shadow as I pafs.” This Rum-Duke Richard^ has gone halt-: ing off, all the Way looking at, and admi¬ ring his fuppos’d Shadow on the Ground* Is this being the After ? •— Is it not Buf- ' foonery ? But what fliall we think of a Richard^ who, in the laft Aft, when he U met by Norfolk^ in the Field, at the Head of the Army ^ — inftead of afluming the Air • of Gallantry and Intrepidity, which mark« the Charafter of Richard ? W’hat fhall we think of a Richard^ who bounces on like a Mad¬ man, and bellows out, ‘ Well, Norfolk, what thinkft thou now ' Might not Mafter Norfolk reply, ^ 1 diink you are mad. Sir/' But ( 67 ) "But the mouthing Rant infeded the in¬ ferior Performer, who, in Return, roared out, y That we fhall conquer, Sir.’* Nay, to that Extravagance is this Mockeiy of Spirit carried on, — that Richard reads the few Lines, Norfolk puts into his Hand, in a vociferous angry Tone, as if he knew their Meaning e’er he faw them : — Tho’ the very Lines that follow, fhew Richard is unmov’d by ’em, and fcornfully difregards 'em. A weak Invention of the Enemy.” ; But that cool Scorn, I have heard ranted out, as if poor Richard was quite out of his Wits. — What Confiftency of Charader is here preferv’d, or what Regard paid to Na¬ ture ? Is it not Mummery all ? the frequent Starts, with which our Stage Performances abound at prefent, are not unworthy No¬ tice. — .They are fo common, they fometimes tire the Eye, — and often fo improper, they offend the Underftanding: — Some of this Sort we have feen in Romeo. This unhappy Lover, when in the laft Ad, he is in- F a ( 68 . ) Form’d of the Death of his beloved Juliety — is. at once ftruck with«a deep Defpair^, and immediately determines that Night, to em- ' brace her, even in Death i«— He coolly re- folves on taking Poiibn, and fends a Letter, to inform his Father of the Caufe of his Death. He has but little Time to execute this in, the- Night being far fpent;-yet the Aftor can find Time, it feems, between his quittittg the Apothecary, ^and his going to the Tomb, to fhift his Cloaths, that he may die,'with the Decency of a Malefadlor, in a Suit of Black : — This Trick of Stage Drapery,—puts one in Mind of Mifs Notable^ a young Jilting Coquettey who, when fhe’s in¬ formed, one of her young Lovers is wounded in a Duei, on her Account, amidft her af- Ji;.’ fedled violent Exclamations of Grief, — fays, — She’ll go and fee the dear Crea- ture ; but it fhall be in an Uiidrefs: ’Twill be proper, at leaft, to give her Grief the Appearance"of as'm'tich Diforder as pofli- ble.:-“-Yes, i’ll‘change my Drefs-imme- diatcfy.'’^ —And fo fhe does.—-But what ficcd 'Romeo lo do this?—Has he Lei- " ' iure. ( 69 ) fare, or wou’d he beftow a Thought on fuch a Trifle ? — Well, but he's now going to the Tomb, —hTs firfl: Thought is to difpatch his Servant, from whom he conceals his real In¬ tent ; and threatens him to prefume to watch him at Peril of his . Life Yet, on the opening of the Scene, — the Aftor, with folded Arms, advances about three or four" Steps, — then jumps, and ftarts into an x4tti- tude of Surprize : — At what ? — Why, at the Sight of a Monument, he went to look for : — And there he ftands, 'till a Clap from the Audience relieves him from his Poft. Is not this forced ? Is it not mifplaced ? — Is it not as improper, as ranting loudly thofe Threats to his Servant, which fhou'd be delivered in an under Voice, expreffive of Terror, — but not mouth’d out loud enough to alarm the Watch. I wou’d alfo fubmit it to the Judgment of the Public, whether a favourite Attitude, into which Romeo throws himfeif, on the Appearance of Parisy is a Beauty, or an Abfurdity ? Romeo is a Gentleman, has a Sword by Lis Side j • Education is a fecond Nature: F 3 May ( 70 ) May we not reafonably fuppofe that, on his being diverted from his Purpofe of opening the Tomb, when calfd on by Park, that he would immediately drop that unwieldly Inftrument, the Iron Crow, and have re- courfe to his Sword Would not this'be the inftinftive Refource of the Gentle¬ man, But then this Cyclopedian Attitude wou'd be loft, in which RomeOy now, (lands long enough to give Paris Time to run him thro’ the Body, which wou’d be juftifiable, when a Man faw fuch a Weapon, rais’d by an Enemy, to dafli out his Brains. —^ . No Wonder the Generality of an Audience clap, as they may well be aftoniftied, to fee my little Romeo wield this mafly Inftrument with fuch Dexterity : — But their Admira- ticn would ceafe, when let into the Secret, that this feeming iron Crow is really but a painted wooden one: Were it not fo, — it would be as impoffible for the fictitious Romeo to manage it, — as it is improbable the real Romeo would have made fuch a Ufe of it: — The Author did not Intend he (hould, fince he makes cm both engage with their ( ) their Swords, as Gendemen naturally wou’d. — To fuch an Extravagance is this Fondnefs for Attitude indulged, that in Merope^ we have, fome bold Strokes of that Sort repre- fented, even at an Hour’s Diftance from the Time the Addon happen’d. Towards the End of the laft Act, Narbas and Ifmene are left on the Stage, dreading the Fate of Merope and Eumenes, — They are alarmed as the diftant Din of Shouts, of battling Parties, echoing Trumpets, and Groans of dying Men.- Euricles enters, arid in a Ipirited Defcription, relates the Death of the Tyrant Polyphonies^ by the Arm of th "- brave young Prince Eumenes: — The Prieft follows him, — and farther informs ’em, — the Tumult is appeas’d ^ the Q^en and her Son are vidtorious Silence has fucceeded Uproar ; and the joyous People, with awful Homage, hail Eumenes King. But on drawing the Scene^ —- what Ob- jed: falutes the Eye of the Spedlators ?- Inftead of the mutual Tranfports and Con¬ gratulations of Mother, Son and People, F 4 Oil (70 on this happy Deliverance, and unexpefled Revolution, — Why, — we are entertain’d with the following Groupe, — that bloody Objedl the Tyrant, ftill lies Iprawling on the Floor, as new fallen from the topmoft Steps of the Altar* — The poor Mother is con¬ tinued in her fainting Fit;- EumeneSy mounted at the Altar, with pendant Eye, and with uplifted Arm, feems as if he was going to repeat the vengeful Stroke he long before had given Poliphontes. — Any one who looks into the Play, will find no Diredlion for this ill-judg’d Poji’- faBo Reprefentation : — No, — This is the pretty fanciful Conceit of the Stage-Di- reftor.— Thefe are thy Triumphs ! thy Ex¬ ploits ! — O P)a^oy I — His Fancy was en* raptur’d, and his Imagination overheated; — fo, like Alexander at the Feaft, he ‘‘ Fought bis Battles o’er again, And thrice he flew the Slain.” When we confider the vafl; Extent of this o’ergrownMetropolis, — its prodigious Num¬ ber of additional Buildings, — and its great Increafe of Inhabitants, —r- it appears a Mat-* tec { 11 ) ter of Surprlfe, that two Theatres fliould be judg’d fufficient j when I remember fix flourifhing in one Seafon, fomc Years ago: And yet, on a moderate Computation, the Number of Play-going People is now twenty to one, compar’d with that Time, As People will have their Amufements — (and a well conduced Dramatic Entertain¬ ment, is allow’d to be the moft rational one,) as the pleafurable Money expended through¬ out this Kingdom Amounts to a vailSum.— Would it be abfurd to propofe, that at leaft, four Theatres, fix’d at different Quarters of London^ and JVeJiminJiery fhould be again al¬ lowed ? — And that a certain Number of travelling Companies of Comedians fhould be appointed, thro’ the feveral Circuits of the Kingdom, and allotted their different Towns to play in, at different Seafons of the Year ? If too, from the Profits of thefe, a Fund might be rais’d, for what public Ufe the Legillature might think proper to appoint, •— what Emolument to this Kingdom'^ might thence arife ! — Let the Stage Di- reftion be the Care of feme few of the fe- nior { 74 ) nior A£lors of each Theatre, whofe Experi¬ ence and Abilities fit "em for it j — let ’em be confider’d for that Trouble j — let the Aftor have his honeft Hire and Benefit: —- Let the Authors be amply rewarded. — Let proper Terfons be appointed to infpedl the Accounts monthly, and to receive a Propor¬ tion of the Profits, to be paid for public Ufes, imo the Exchequer: Let the Stage Ma¬ nager every Year make his Report to a Com¬ mittee of Gentlemen (to be chbfen every three Years) who are to hear and deter¬ mine all neceflaiy Caufes relative to the The- tre : — In their Power it fliould be, to pre¬ vent the Tyranny of Managers, — and the Idlenefs, or Exorbitancy, of Performers. — There has been Inftances, when Men of the^ firft Rank have not thought it beneath ’em to become Direftors of an Academy of Mu- fick; — and, I fuppofe, there are many Gerl* tlemen who would think it no lefs honour¬ able, to become the Diredtors of a Plan, ftr the Encouragement of good Senfe, and Morality. Here I drop my Subjedi: for the prefent, ; 'f — and now Ladies and Gentlemen, what j {• 75 ) Words can fpeak — what Manner exprefs the Senfe I have of my Obligations to you ! •— Let your own generous Hearts fpeak for me, — I want Language: I want, even Power of Utterance, on this Occalion* I fear the Tafk I undertook, in giving this Diflertation, ftands in need of many Apo* logies. — Believe me, Gentlemen, 'twas not Vanity, ’twas not Spleen prompted me, —^ cruel (let me add undeferv’d) Oppreffion drove me to it; — you know my hard Condition, without my expatiating thereon : — But,j while I am bleffed with yoUf Countenance, and Protedtion, I can teach myfelf to /corn the Infult of an unmerited Injury^ —— to have a proper Contempt for the FalJIooods of pregnant Slander^ and an honejl Indigna^ tion for the unfeeling Injolence of upftart Pride, They may endeavour to take my Food from me, —- they cannot take away my Stomach 5 — they may try to break my For¬ tune, they fhall not break my Spirit: —— I may yet find Means, legally, in a more ex¬ tended Manner, to give the Town Enter¬ tainment There ( 76 ) . There is mEngldndy—^ 'Power above their Influence, — to which lany injur’d opprefs’d Englijhman has a Right to apply by Petition ; a Power from whence the- lowefl: Subjed: ifnay hope for Redrefs. . . • Happy fliould I have been, cou’d I have procur’d an abler Hand to have embellilh’d this Subjed:— Happy fliall I ftill be, fhou’d this'Attempt awaken a ^ Man of Ge¬ nius to purfue it. ^ ^ . My Circumftances,' which'your Huriianity will feel; are my beft Excufe, —- and throws me on your Candour and-Generofity,>»'for Pardon to my Errors, and Protedion from my OppreflTors. V I {hall now conclude this firJft Diflerta- tion, with the Words the Poet Majfenger puts into the Part of Parh the Ador, at the. Conclulion of his Defence before a Roman Senate: --- I have faid, — and now as you find Caufe, Or cenfure me, or free me with Applaufe. End of the Fjkst Dissertation. kU C I B B E R's Second DISSERTATION. Friendsy Britons, Countrymen, lend me your Ears. ENTLEMEN Antigallicans, —under which Denomination, in the prefent Crifis of Affairs, all Lovers of their Country, and its Conftitution, all worthy the Name of Briton, ought to be rang’d. — It is fome Alleviation to my Grievances, to find, that --fome Affociate, or Partifan, of the chief Inftrument of my Ferfecution _has ftrove, thro’ very indiredl Means, at the Expence of Truth, by the Mifreprefen- tation of a laudable Britijh Referttment, to have affrontful Reflexions propagated againft you, Gentlemen : -— Of this, one of the B moft. 1 moft glaring Inftances, is a contemptible French Libel, — inferibed, A Letter from Monjieur De Voltaire, to the People, of England, on fkeir wrong Behaviour towards Daiicers: It may be very- diffi¬ cult to prove, by whofe particular Contri¬ vance this Letter was publiffi’d; or who was the real Author : — But fure, it is not fo hard to guefs, by whofe Connivance, at leaft, (if not immediate Direction) this extraordi- dinary Epiftle was wrote.—One of the chief fophiil:icating ironical Arg^iments, in this curious Piece, is, — that it;s beneath the Dignity of a Man EngUJh born, to be a Mu- fician, Danger, or Valet de Chambre; that for fuch Ufes we fhould employ Foreigners only, — as the Romans did Greek Slaves: — Not conlidering, — Englijhmen delire no Slaves to herd among ’em. — Befides, as every tlnglifman is not born to an indepen¬ dent Fortune, — and as it is not a Place for Idlers, — Why may not an Englifhman^ in Quality of a Mulician, or Dancing-Mafter, parade in a Chariot, as well as a Swarm of Foreigners; who have no Refource for the Sup¬ port of their feveral Equipages, but the de¬ generate generate Tafte of too many People of For*’ tune ? — And really, fuch a Situation is more eligible, than to work all Day at a Loom, or Smith s Forge ; whatever his Fallacy of Argument would, farcaftically infinuate to the contrary : — And, while Money is to be given among People, who are ProfelTors of amufing Arts, — Is it not moil eligible to beftow it on our own Natives ? — Or are they difqualified for an Eminence, in fuch Profeffions ? 'Tis too well known, that we lavifh away a great deal of Money, in purchafing Bau- bl«s, and Follies, from France ^ — happier were it for us, if, in lieu of their Fopperies, we fometimes condefcended to take a Hint from their Policies. — While England (with Concern I fay it) is become, to a Proverb, ‘‘ The fweet Milch-Cow of every other Nation — France^ far from counte¬ nancing Foreigners in any Shape (unlefs it be fome of our idle Spendthrifts, to wafte their Fortunes there) ever give Preference to their own Countrymen — 'Tis vrell known, they have eftedlually eradicated all foreign Enter¬ tainments j — they retain the Name alone of B a Italian (-4 ) Italian Comedy 5 the Performers of it are their own Natives : Nay, the Performances are chiefly their own Produce. Their Operas are entirely French^ and fome Years ago, when an Englijh Company attempted to exhibit in France^ they were exprefly prohibited : A- bout four or five Years ago, when a famous Burletta Company perform^ in Paris^ — ^ their Succefs undid ’em;—-their Partifans grew too numerous: — And when a Paper- War arofe, contending for the Superiority of French and Italian Mufic, —- the Govern¬ ment order’d the Italians to decamp : Decla¬ ring they could never be idle difinterefled Spedators, of any Innovation, by Foreigners, on the Bread of their own Natives. -The fame laudable national Pre¬ ference has appear’d, in behalf of their own Artifts, on many Occafions ; even in making their Fireworks (on Occafion of the Peace] againfl: all Italians^ or Foreigners, whatever: — An Example well worthy an Ehglijhman. — Nor need we blufh to copy the Virtues, even of our Enemies; fince, as Shakefpee^r fays, — Thus Thus may we extrad: Honey from a Weed, And make a Moral of* the Devil himfelf/’ How great had been their Indignation, if an arrogant Diredor of any Theatre in Paris^ had (by his Treafurer difpatch'd to England for that Purpofe) exported near Six- and-thirty Thoufand Livres, to enlift a Regiment of EngUjh Dancers, to come over, on the uncertain Hazard of being liked, while feveral of their native Adors were un¬ employed ? --- What would have been their Refentment to a Manager, who fhould^thus lavilh' their Treafure on Foreigners, — thoi^ he would not, for all the Authors in the Kingdom (into whofe Works he had not thruft his own Harpy-Fingers) advance one Thoufand Livres ; — no, not one Thou- {and Pence? — There, a Stage Manager, had not dar’d to have attempted fuch a Thing ; — fb great and dangerous would be the Refentment on fuch an Occafion, No Performer is received into a Company there, but by the joint Concordance , of the Public ; that gain'd,' he is regarded as a • B 3 Servant Servant of the Public 5 and never difeharged the Theatre, but becomes a Sharer in the Profits, which is 'divided among ’dtn ^ after a Deduction, made towards the Support of the Hotel Dieu, and other public Chari¬ ties* To return to what happen’d here, on Ac¬ count of the French Dancers : — Whatever^ might be the Refetitment of thofe Gentle¬ men, who were for oppofing their Ap¬ pearance in fuch Numbers, at fo critical a JuncSlure, when the Minds of Men-were na¬ turally inflam’d, againfl: an infiduous Enemy, who premeditated a daring Invafion of our Country; yet, ’tis probable, not one of -thofe Gentlemen, but pitied each individual momentary Sufferer; tho’ they were deter¬ min’d to fhew their Refentment, againfl •the Manager, — in hopes, perhaps, that having firfl drove Galiican Importations from the Stage, the laudable Example might have been follow’d, in every other Circumflance of Life. The coxcombly Writer of this Letter (who'-ver he be, ’tis the foftefl Name can be ( 7 ) he allow’d him) abufes, and affedls to de- fpife our worthy Citizens of London^ for what they ought to be rever'd; their Appli¬ cation to Trade:—Aii Employment that brings Honour, as well as Profit, to them- felves; as indeed, Traffic is reckon'd, by all Rationals, to add to the Power of the Crown, and Dignity of the Nation. — Previous to this,- this curious Cox¬ comb beftows a fulfome Compliment to our little great Man, p. 13. --“ Y* a^t 4 l un ABeur eii Europe^ A - I . (hall endeavour to give the French an Eng-^ UJh Tranflation, — the Language that pro¬ bably it was firft wrote in; — tho’ it was pretended to be fent from France, 'tis a Queftion, whether the Printer did not re¬ ceive the Manufcript from the Environs of Covent-Gar den. But to the Letter Writer : — Says he, — Is there in Europe, an Adlor who has «« made himfelf fo great a Name, as the ce- ‘‘ lebrated Adtor you have inful ted, by a Behaviour as grofs, as brutal?”—Great “ indeed ! and very civil, Monfieur.*') — He goes on-Be it your Glory to B 4 pofTefs poffefs a RofctuSy •— let hot a Baron be rais’d above a Gar rick y — I agree with you I rejoice in your Rights” : — Is it poflible to believe a Frenchman could write this ? Would any Frenchman allow a Prefe¬ rence to be given any Englijh Performer, to their juftly admired darling Barony — any more than they would praife any King of Fnglandy at the Expence of their well- beloved Grand Monarque ? This pretended French Writer alfo falfely alTerts, that Englijhmen form’d themfelves into Societies, meerly to oppofe French Dancers ^ and p. i8.-^— he fays, — from this Motive have arifen fo many ** different Societies, fo many Clubs of dif- ferent Sorts of People, under the pom- pous Title of Anti-Gallicans 5 —r- in Time, each EngUfoman fliall become an Hannibaly who, with their Families, fhall fwear at the Altar, an eternal Hatred to every Thing call’d French : — O boyifh Hatred ! O contemptible Jealoufy ! — if “ we may judge by what happen’d to Car- thagCy of what may be the Fate of a Country, unable to difguife it’s Hatred, C 9 ) ** we may prophefy very unfortunately of “ thefe defpic^Ie Anti-gallic am T — This Arrogance is fo truly French ^—it tempts one to fuppofe no Englijhman could have a Hand in it: — One would fcarce imagine, a natu¬ ralized Subjed: of England^ tho* even of French Extradion, could be guilty of fuch Abufe, — and dare to brand a Set of worthy Britonsy as the Fore-runners of their Coun¬ try’s Ruin, becaufe they endeavour to dif- fufe a noble patriot Spirit thro* the Nation ;— the beft Barrier of our Conftitution : — Yet, thefe Men, he infolently calls, — head- long Torments of boyifh Hatred, incapa- ble of aught, but Noife, and Rhodo- “ montades.”-After this, he pretends to prove, that the Dancers, Fidlers, Cooks, Valets de Chambres, Frifeurs, Taylors, and Footmen, which France does us the Ho¬ nour to fend over in fuch Numbers, muft certainly enrich our Nation ; — as there is fcarce a Man of ’em, but brings almoft twenty Shillings in his Pocket. What an Acquifition of Wealth! how deledable a Counterbalance to the Sums they gain here (while ( lo ) ' * (while our own Countrymen are unem¬ ploy’d) and what an Emolunient to the Na¬ tion ! as ’tis well known, fcarce a Beggar of ’em, but foon puts on the Habit of a Gentleman, and generally departs, — with his Coat Gallone, and his Pockets well lined. Tho’ the Policy of the French makes ’em endeavour to become our Rivals in Trade, —yet this wife Letter-writer would inlinuate, the Extention of Commerce will be our Ruin. P. 23. — He cries out, — Infatia- <5 ble Defire of Gold ! how hail thou blinded Nations! —how do a People, who apply themfelves to the Spirit of Commerce, become interefted I-and from thence, become mean ! — Is it hap- py for a State to extend, and aggrandife “ their Commerce too much 1 — would it be ‘‘ any hurt to confine and limit it ?” So we may conclude, that our dear Friends, our faithful Allies, the ever honourable French^ mean only to circumferibe, or defeat our Trafiick, our of their immenfe, and moft incomprehenfible Kindnefs to us. ’Tis to be hoped, we fhall hardly take their Word, though, — and, whatever this prating Gaf- coon {) coon would infinuate to the contrary, the Natives of thi^ Sea-Girt Ifland will not readily forget our Navy is our beft Bu^ walk 5 that our Trafiick is the beft Support of that Navy: That not only Riches,, but Power, and Glory, are added to this Na¬ tion, by its extended Commerce. With that our Arts and Sciences eiicreafe : In you then. Gentlemen, we truji for an Amendment of our Tafte, by a fenjible CorreBion of OUr PUBLIC Diversions, when Leifure from more important AVocatibnS allows you Time for your Amufement in out Theatres. 'Tis true, — it well may prove your Power to effed it 5 And yet, me thinks, 'twere Folly to fulpecft it. What cannot Bodies join’d, like yours, obs^ tain. Ye lordly Merchants of the Britijh Main ! Well may your Influence mend, and raife their Station ; .Since Europe knows, ’Tis you fupport our Nation. Free { ) Free Trade the vital Streams of State fup- plies. And when that Courfe is ftopt, the Body dies. Look Ages back, our happieft Kings muft own \ Traffick the .brighteft Jewel of their Crown! . /While Trade protected is their ample Scheme, From your fair Profits Greatnefs flow to them ! Since then this happier World your In-^ . fluence feels. To you, before falfe Tafle, too far pre¬ vails The Stage, the World in Miniature ap- I peals: J '• Drive all Dramatic Pirates from that Coaft, Nor let the Trade of ftaple Senfe be loft. While you judicioufly Applaufe fhall give. Who know fo well to laugh, fo well to grieve, Nature again fhall take her Turn to reign. While Frenchmen dance, and Eunuchs fqueak in vain. 9 Britom ( 13 ) Britons attend, the noble Caufe purfue, While Wit you honour. Wit fhail honouiT you ; And every'fneering Foreigner convince. You may like Novelty, but ftill love Senfe. Having perufed, in the firft Number of the Vniverfal ViJiteVy or Monthly Memorialijly lately publifh’d, — a Letter, thro’ the fidU- tious Intelligence of the revived Mr. Ben-* crafty from Mr. BettertoUy to Mr. Garrick, many, whom I read it to, declared, from the Manner it was couch’d in, it might be taken as well for Irony, as Panegyric. I continued muling thereon juft before I lay’d me down to Reft, and as our Dreams are frequently a Repetition of our Tranfadlions,' or Meditations of the Day, I found myfelf (pray Gentlemen obferve, ’twas but in a Dream) in ' the Ely fan Shades, among the deceas’d Wor¬ thies ; two illuftrious Appearances firft at- tradted my Eye,- Shakefpeary and Better- ton -y — the Poet holding, wiith Difdain, a Scrip of Paper, on which was, in legible Charadlers, the Letter abovementioned.-—He alk’d that great Adlor, — If *twas pofli- ble ( H ) V. ble he could advife a Fidgetter, a Mani- kin, to dwindle away Othello ? A Cha-» rafter which required all Betterton's Dig- nity of Deportment, or Powers of Elocu- “ tion, to fupport/" Betterton read the Epiftle, then fubmif- lively bow’d, and aflured his Inlpirer on the Scene, that was the firft he ever knew of the Letter; that it muft be written by the Perfon addrelTed to, or fome of his menial Hirelings, who are dear to him, in Propor¬ tion as they abufe, not only his Cotempo¬ raries, but all preceding Aftors, whether Greek or Romany or Frenchy or Englijh. — He farther faid, By all Accounts that I have heard, from the Judicious on ** Earth, his afting Othello was rather- Tragi-comic.” — While his falaried Clap¬ pers deafen’d the Audience, Cried, the Judicious, in a Rage, Where is Othello f That’s his Page,’’ At this, Siakejpear fmiled Reconciliation to Bettertony inforn^ing him, that to afford a Scene of Diverfion, to all the great Dra- matifts belgw — this mock Rofcius, and fome of ( 15 ) of his chief Evidences, were fummon’d from above, to attend, — Soon as on one Hand the illuftrious Shades had feated themfelves, on the other a Noife of Petulance, Jabbering, and Diffonance, was heard. The Heralds of the Court cried, the or- ** derly Clapper-men and hir'd Puffers o( Drury-Lane attended — fuch as fwear themfelves black in the Face, that there was never any Thing, nor is, or ever fhall be^ equal to him. The foremoft was a tall, mea-? gre, heavy, fnuff-daub'd. Horror of a Man,^ who wQu’d never have ceas'd his monftrous Fibbs, but that he Tpied the Spedlres of cer¬ tain Thief^catcherSj difpatch’d after him, fur-» nifh’d by the Furies with Whips, who thought it an Office beneath themfelves ta chaftife fuch a Retrograde front Truth andt Juftice,—‘Who ever prais’d or fatyris’d, as mercenary Views or Spleen, infpir'd him. The fecond was the ragged headed Form of a younger Man, with the Face of Minerva's Bird, and hufky Bark of a Dog, that had got cold, with two written Papers, one fix’d on 1 { i6 ) on his Breaft, the other on his Back; on that on his Breaft, was—Abufe on any “ Perfon—Price Half-a-crownon the Pa¬ per behind,—Praife on the fame Perfon for three Shillings f'—His Excufe for the for¬ mer was, that of many Culprits at the Old- Baily ^—his Youth, Want of Cafh, an huge Appetite, dirty Paflions—and an Ambition for a clean Shirt:-He alledg’d, that no¬ body ought to be angry with him, for abuf- ing them; for that he had calumniated his deceafed Uncle, to whom he ow’d his Edu* cation ; as alfo one of his beli Friends, who oft fupplied him with Lodging, Food, Rai-* ^ ment, Cafh, and all Neceflaries, for many Months; that, for his Part, he had no Ma¬ lice to any Perfon,—that he never threw Dirt but when he was paid for it; what wou’d they have a Man do ? That he, was willing to wafh it away, when made worth his while,—and fure that is fair. The whole Confiftory turn’d* with Aver- fion from the infamous Avowal.—By Order of the Court, he was fentenced to Earth a- gain, there to be confin’d in a Garret, in the Parifh of St, Giles —where fome Curl of the ( *7 ) the Times fhould allow him Board and Lodging, ancL Six-pence on a Sunday, while he confin’d himfelf to writing Poefies for Bath Rings, Anagrams for Cutlers, Verfes for the Bellman, and Intelligence (with cri¬ tical Remarks) for Grub-Jlreet Journals:— He then withdrew.—The Furies hifs’d him as he pafs’d,—the triple-headed Cerberus bark’d Abhorrence, and chafed his ftigma- tifed Venality, and Daftardlinefs, far from the facred Precindl. ' • A horrid Difcordance grated every Ear, utter’d thro’ Cow-horns, from the boifterous . Lungs of Glare-Market Butchers; and their Slaughterers, the good Allies of Drury-LanCy frequently call’d upon, as of late, to knock down, and maim Citizens of London, in be¬ half of French Strollers. The Heralds cried aloud,—The Man “ unparalell’d in prefent Times, Antiquity, or Futurity, is arrivedthe AflTembly rais’d themfelves to view this Chief of FIu- manity,—they look’d forward, but could not difcover any Thing :—Upon Enquiry, they learn’d, he was hid among the Crowd of •Horn-blowers and Puffers, attending him j . C they ( i8 ) they were ordered to fall off, and make an Opening for him on both Sides, when they difcovered a petit Figure,-not fo much to the Admiration of the Court, as erji JEneas flood breaking from the Cloud, be¬ fore the enamour'd Dido and wondering Car^ ihaginians, -They look'd down at him, and feem*d furpris'd,—but 'twas a Surprife of Difappointment.-A Refpedl for themfelves prevented them breaking out into a general Laughter. — By Order of the prefiding Powers, the moll famous Adlors were or¬ dered to accofl the newly-arriv’d Original ; the Greeks and Romans declined the Office, as being totally unacquainted with him : They faid, “ It was more the Bulinefs of his “ Countrymen 5—" at which BettertoUy with a ferious and penetrating Alpedl, and a com¬ manding Mien of Majefly, drew near, and faluted him with imperial Dignity; —then turn’d off, with a mix’d Smile of Scorn for the Objedl, and refentful Compaffion for his Country, to ‘ have expofed itfelf fo much in his Behalf. The ( 19 ) The next who approach'd was Booth, - -- Grace was inrall his Steps, Spirit in his Eye ^ In all his Motions Dignity and Eafe.’' In that majeftic Manner he advanced, as he ufed in Pyrrhus paffing to the Throne j he juft condefcended to nod a cold Salute, and look’d down on him, with that condefcend- ing Superiority he had over Orejies, on his defpifed Demand to facrlfice the Trojan Boy. -The third that came lightly forward to the Sound of Muftck, was Wilks, in his fa¬ vourite Character of Sir Harry Wildair :—A joyous Murmur fill’d the pleafed Aflembly, on his Appearance with fpirited Volubili¬ ty, he demanded,—Well, what News from London^ How does my old Friend Colley the Laureat ? Long have the Famous of every Theatre, of all Ages, and all Climates, ex- pefted him here —He was inform’d (and was pleafed to hear it) the Laureat, tho’ re¬ tired from the Stage, was ftill happy enough (in a very advanced Agt) to enjoy Spirits fuf- ficient to give and receive Pleafure among the polite, tho’ chearful, Lovers of focial Converfation.-Where then, he cryed, C 2 iu IS this nouveau^ T'—Being fhewn to his dlfappointed Eye,—he turn’d inftantly afide, to’divert a rifing Laugh, and humming a Tune, with carelefs Gaiety, he left the Place. Like Fribble in the Farce, the Mimic- Hero all this while flood trembling—amaz’d at the Novelty of‘•Beings he had no Idea of. Our Attenrtion was immediately drawn to a Grove of Cyprefs, from whence proceeded a handfome manly Form, who emphatically fpdke,- When the Immortals on the Billows rode. And I myfelf appear’d the leading God”. He advanc’d—and fcoul’d Indignation on the Buffoon-Caufe of his blafled Laurels, and haflen’d Death,—then, looking him thro’, he cry’d- ‘‘ Say, thou foul Thief, thou Murderer of my Reputation, as in the befl thou art, v/hat Quarter can’fl thou expedt from this Congrefs of the truly Meritorious, who, fa- tisfied to gain Applaufe by their own Abili¬ ties, never thought the mean Mimickry of another Man’s Foibles' cou’d enhance their Defert - ) Defert r’’ The Caufe of Complaint being communicated around, this Aflaffin of other Adtors was order’d to difplay his own Powers :—Something like a Stage was in- ftantly eredted, which he was ordered to af- cend, and to give ’em iome tragic Specimens of his Abilities.-There he flood fome- time, like Gulliver before the Brobdig- 72 ianSy and not beginning,—the Caufe of his Delay being ailc’d,—-he replied, he wanted a Hat—without which there was no ex- preffing the Paffions.”—The old Trage¬ dians declared, they never knew the Ne- ‘‘ ceffity of any fuch Thing But a Plat was got for him, which he began moft cruelly to bruife and to comprefs ;—a Sort of Purloin from Harlequin The faft-clutched Hat was twitched from Hand to Hand, frequently drawn crofs the Eyes of the (thereby) flartled Perfon he fpoke to 3—then, with both Hands, was moulded on his Stomach, and with un¬ graceful Vehemence flapped upon the Thigh : This was called ‘‘ The theatrical Exercife of the Hat.” PEs Tones of Diftrefs too often over-flrained, like thofe of a greenfick puling Girl, focn grew hoarfe with affedled C 3 Lamen- { ) Lamentations; his Anger was a Mixture of Flurting, Jerking, and Bouncing: His fa¬ vourite Geftures were a hafty Shrugging of the Shoulder-bone, a fudden Dart of his Right-hand to his Left-breaft, as if there bit by a Flea, or a Slap therewith on his Thigh, as if feized with a Cramp 5 fometimes a dif- torted throwing back of his Left-arm, as if contrafted ; his Right-hand often concealing his Eyes, which ought to difplay the Paffion to the Spectators, if he feels any,—which may be doubted, from the too frequent Ufe of that Action ;—if he does not feel, that quick Clapping of his Hands to his Eyes is but a cunning Expedient of Quackery in Acting : It may impofe on the Vulgar, while laugh’d at by Connoiffeurs, Nothing evinces Want of Genius, Inven¬ tion, or Tafte, more than an awkward Imi¬ tation, or improper Application of what may have been univerfally admired Beauties. The Greek Painter,'in his Piece of the Sacrifice of Iphigenia^ having adapted Paf- fions in Gradation to the Difference of Inte- refls of the Characters prefented 5 as,—among others, Cakhas the Achilles the ^.over, -^Clytem-^ ( 23 ) ^^Clytemnejira the diftracled Mother,—-when he came to ddineate Agamemnon the Father, finding no Expreffion adequate to the Idea he had conceived of his paternal Grief, he veil'd the Father's Face from View, leaving it to the Spedlators Imagination to fupply what he perceived his Art unequal to exprefs : This ingenious Defpair has been admired by the Virtuofi of all Times and Countries, —but has been often abominably imitated, by prophane Medlars in the polite Arts. T wo Inftances fhall fuffice for the prefent. One of 'em, a taftelefs Writer, giving an Ac¬ count of his Travels thro' Italy at the Ar¬ ticle of Venice^ fays, “ When I faw that wonderful City immerge, as it were, from the Sea 3—its magnificent and lofty Build- mgs, refting, in a Manner, on a watry “ Foundation 3 I was fo agreeably furprifed, that, like Agamemnon^ I wrapt my Head in my Cloak, and could behold no more." The Man, to be fure, thought this a very pretty Allufion ; Was there ever one more impertinent, or ridiculous ? I imagine any one elfe would rather have indulged o his Sight, by feafling on the Profpect; and C 4 would ( M ) would have been extremely angry with any Perfon, who fhould have bound his Eyes, like Jobfon in the Farce, to fit them for play¬ ing at Blindman’s Buff, inftead of'contem¬ plating Venice, that foremoll of Curiofities: The Second is this great Myrmidon of the Stage, who, in Imitation of the above fa¬ mous Piece, no doubt, fo frequently prevents our feeing the Shifting of the Paffions in his Eyes. Hiding the Face, and particularly the Eyes, is generally faulty in Oratory and dra¬ matic Expreffion, the Cafes, where allow¬ able, very few; therefore the frequent Ufe of fuch an Adlon mull proceed from abfurd Affe6lation or ridiculous Ignorance. Having attended to him, fome (tiled him a grotefque Forlliortner of the Paffions. Being called upon in the other Walks of tragic Expref¬ fion, he lliewed no great Variety, but a con- llant Round of the fame Gellures, wanting of Dignity in Deportment,—or that Grace of Motion and unafteded Eafe, fo requifite to finifli a compleat Tragedian. His next Tri¬ al was in genteel Comedy,—there he ap¬ peared an abfolute Blank ; in the Fop's, as bads and in the Coxcomb, no better;-—in low 6 ( ^5 ) low Comedy and Farce, he wanted no Power to pleale, but all his aggrandifed Merit in every other Sphere, was found to confift of too much Trick and Qimckeries of the Stage, and his Utterance appeared often faulty, by affefted paralytic Paufes, and fluttering Stammers. The diflatisfied Aflembly rofe fudden, all at once, and, — breaking up, the Court took different Ways. The little Hero’s Pride was greatly hurt, that none of the Immortals alk’d him with ’em 5 — awhile he flood aghafl, — and then, endeavour’d to follow Betterton^ and Booth : But, with majeflic Step, they had too far advanced, for him to have any Hope of overtaking them. — He faw Wilksy leading Oldjield thro* the Crowd \ Her Elegance of Vifage, Form and Mien, With Majefly, and fmiling Grace, commixt. Claimed from the Senfible, refped:ful Love, Dapper Davy offered to join ’em,—but fhe fmiling, told him, — She chofe, for her Companions, the Elegant, the Polite, and fuch, whofe Manner was expreffive of a Ipi- rited Delicacy, and genteel Deportment; — that he had no Ilopes of AdmiiTion to their “ Society y ( 26 ) Society; unlefs, reduc’d, for want />f Company, like Mrs. Sullen^ in the Stra- “ tageniy to take up with Scrub the Butler, in order to make one in a Country- Dance.” While thus he flood defpond- ing, — - lofl in a fullen Reverie, — he was '. pull’d by the Sleeve by one, whom, on turn¬ ing, he perceived to be his ever-honoured firfl Infpirer, Momu’This Deity claimed him as his own : And told him, “ he fhould frequently employ him, with Antic- Jefls, and pert Vivacity, to laugh away the Spleen of the Public.” Rejeded by all elfe, he gladly embraced this Invitation from the farcical Deity,-whom Shake^ fpear thus addrefled — Thou wanton Infpirer of Mimicry, and Buffoonery, henceforward, let not thy “ Votaries prefume to intrude their Fop- ‘‘ peries in the tragic Scene ; nor daringly “ afliime a Right, to lacerate, and malTacre, the Remains of ancient Writers : Never more let ’em prophane the hallow d “ Scenes of Authors, long fince honoured ‘‘ with the Approbation of a Britijh Audi- ence, by a ihameful Intruffon of their enervate Scribbling.—*-Let not fuch ped- ‘‘ dling ( 27 ) dling Poetafters think my Works, on which the Public Voice have ftamped a Merit, are any more to be mutilated, and man- gled, under the poor Pretence of pre- ferving 'em : Let ’em henceforth ap- ply themfelves to what their little Talents are more equal; — let ’em continue to fteal Farces from the Fre?ich ^ to fcribble occafiorial Prologues to fuch low Pieces ; ( ^8 ) fefs’d himfelf guilty of having thruft upon an indulgent^ and too partial Town, for many Nights together : Among 'em were, — the inimitable Comedy of Gil-BlaSy the incomparable profaic Tragedy, call'd the Gamejlery and the fublime Barbarojfa y to thefe were added, —- that excellent Droll, of three Adts, called the Winter s Tale ; the mangled Farce of Catherine and Petruchio > — that childifh Mafque, called the Paries ; and that mutilated Play, called the Tempejly frittered into a mock Englijh Opera: — All thefe were immediately, by order of MinoSy laid on a Pile together, — and burnt, by the Hands of a Printer's Devil. — Moft of the Spirit, and Fire, which formerly ani¬ mated thefe lafl; mentioned Pieces, having been entirely extracted by the prefent curi¬ ous hypercritical Editor, and malapert Mar- Play, — and their poor Remains fo damped by the Stuff he had crammed into 'em, — no Flame arofe from the confuming Leaves, but they evaporated in a thick Smoak. — During this Ceremony, News came from Earth, that the Englijh Opera, called the Tempejly was in no Danger of peftering the Town ( ^9 ) Town many Nights, notwithftanding the Puffs, and Orders, to fupport it. This In- ftance of returning Tafte, and the proper Contempt the Public fliew’d for thefe Man- glers of Sbakejpear, by forbearing to attend thefe favage Scalpers of this immortal Bard, diffufed a general Joy amongft all the Con- noiffeurs below :-A loud Applaufe re¬ echoed thro’ the Place, — and wakened me : — Yet waking, I found, it was not all a Dream. The Public reaffume their Right to judge; they no longer implicitly approve all the Trafh, this crafty Coftard-Monger would impofe on ’em; — nor, on his Ipfe Dixit, will accept of a Green-Crab, in lieu of a Pine-Apple : — Even the laft new Tragedy, tho’ paraded into the World with the ufual Puff, of— « its excelling all that went be- “ fore it ; -not like it’s Predecellbrs, ran rapid on j — but limpingly endeavour’d to get forward :—At length we found—(as appeared by the Public Advert ifer.) “ Great Athelftan grew lick, —. O fatal “ Stroke ! “ Of empty Seats, and Boxes unbefpoke !” A ( 30 ) A frefli Inftance of the unbiaffed Judg^ ment of the Public has appeared,' in their candid Reception of Mr. Barry^ in the Character of King Lear^ and the univerfal Applaufe they have beftowed on his excel¬ lent Performance. This high-drawn Charafter has been long the Admiration of the Public, — one Adtor having the foie Poffeffion of it, for thefe fourteen Years paft, and having furprifed the Town by his fpirited, and early Per¬ formance of it, — moft People were fo pre¬ judiced in his Behalf, that many .cenfured Mr. Barryy for the Undertaking, previous to his appearing therein ; nay, feveral as raflily, as ungeneroufly (on Notice given of the intended Performance) did not ftick to call it, an impudent Attempt. — So ftrong is Prepoffeffion, that, fome good natured Perfons had their Doubts concerning him. But, to do him Juftice, — his Performance has cleared ’em all: — So whimCcal were fome' of thefe prejudiced Perfons, in their Objedtions, — they even urged he was to tall for the Part \ ~ yet, I think, 'tis gene- rally V { 31 ) rally allowed, the Advantage of tall Stature is a Beauty in Nature ; it exprelTes a Kind of natural Dignity. When we read the Hiftory of any Monarch, or Hero, we feldom an¬ nex the Idea of a little Man ; — unlefs fome Paflage, in the Hiftory, particularly marks him as fuch : Nor have I ever heard of any Dramatic Law, or Ad: of Parliament, to reduce our Kings to the low Standard, in which they are fometimes reprefented. I mean no Reflediions hereby on any one, who may be difqualified, as myfelf, for a Grenadier ; — nor do I prefume to hint, that a great Mind may not inhabit the fmall Body of a Man, even of but five Foot five Inches.-Long fince it was remarked, that daring Souls often dwell in little Men.’’ Not to give Praife to the little Gen¬ tleman, for his Performance, in fome Parts of this Charadler, were doing him Injuftice ; there is a quick fpirited Manner in his Exe¬ cution, that often fets off many Paflages there¬ in : But, when we confider the chief Cha- radieriftick of Lear^ to be Pride, and Impa¬ tience, —- a kingly Pride, hitherto uncon- trouled,—and an impetuous Temper, asfoon fufceptible ( 3 ^ ) fufceptible of Anger, Rage, and Fury, .as Flax is ready to catch Fire 5 and in the Ex- preffion. of thofe Paffions, as quick, and rapid, as the Lightning’s Flafli: If this is the Cafe (and I'have often heard it allowed) muft we not give the Preference to Mr, Barry, not only,in majeftic Deportment, and Gracefulnefs of Aftion, but alfo in his Man¬ ner of imprecating the Curfe, this injured Monarch throws out againft his unnatural Daughter ? Can the A(flor be too rapid in the Delivery ? — Do not long Paufes damp the Fire of it, like cold Water dropp’d there¬ on ? 'Tis hafty, rafh, and uttered in the ^Whirlwind of his Paffion ; — too long a Pre¬ paration for ,it, feems not confident with Lears Charafter: ’Tis here unnatural. Such long Paufes give him Time to refledt, which the hafty Lear is not apt .to do, ’till ’tis •too late : — This philofophic Manner would become a Man, who took Time to recoiled:; — which if Lear did, would not the good King, the o’er-kind Father, change this dire Curfe into a fervent Trayer, for his Child’s Repentance and Amendment ? To ( 33 ) To prepare this Curfe with an over- ftrained Look of folemn Addrefs, long dwelt on, before the Curfe begins, makes what the Author defigned to excite Pity, and Terror, become deteftable, and horrible ; fo dire is the Curfe, Nature can fcarcc en¬ dure it, unlefs delivered in the rapid Manner^ the wild Tranfport of the choleric King, with fudden, and unchecked Paffion, would furely give it : — When it appears premedi¬ tated, — it fpeaks Rancour, Spleen, and Ma¬ lice ; a cool Revenge ; not a Burft of Paf¬ fion, from an o’ercharged Heart. —Whether this Remark is juft, is left to the Determi¬ nation of the judicious Public. I have feen both thefe Gentlemen play King Leary within a few Days of one ano¬ ther ; — I muft confefs, I had Pleafure from the Performance of the lefler Monarch in feveral Paflages: — My Expedation had indeed been greatly raifed, by the many En¬ comiums lavifhed on him, but were not anfwered to my Wiih : There was a Petlt- nefs attended the Performance, which I thought not quite equal to the Character. His Behaviour often liable to Cenfure, — D parti- ( 34 ) particularly, I thought, at the End of thoTe Scenes, where the unnatural Behaviour of his Daughters work him up almoft to Frenzy. — Does not the preceding, and fol¬ lowing Parts, point out to us, that Lear rulhes wildly from beneath the Roof, where he has been fo unhofpitably treated ? -- Why then is he to link into the Arnts of his Attendants ?-Thus helplefs, as he there affcdls to appear, — tho’ his Daughter turned him out of Doors, furely his At¬ tendants would have convey’d him to fome Place of Reft : Yet, by the Play, we find, he roams into the Wood —— expoling himfelf unto the Storm. Bolides the Error of this fainting Fit, — let us examine how ’tis executed. — His Spirits being quite ex- haufted, he drops almoft lifelefs, into the Arms of his Attendants :— Do they carry him off? — Why, — No. Relaxed as we may fuppofe his whole Machine — (for his Head and Body are both thrown extrava¬ gantly behind, as if his Neck and Back were broke) yet his Knees (which in Nature, would moft likely falter firft) are ftili fo able to fupport hjm, in that odd-bent Condition^ "hat ”*■ 1 / that he walks off, with the regular Stiff- Step, of a SolSier in his Exercife, on the Parade. — Is this confiftent ? Is this natu¬ ral ? Is this Charad:er ? Does not this un¬ couth Appearance, with his bent-back Body, and dropping Head, rather refemble the un¬ comely Diftortion of a Pofture-Mafter, when he walks the Sea-Crab, as they call it ? By the Introduction of fuch Extravagancies, — he feems to have borrowed a Hint from our Brother Bayes y — when he fays, — fcorn “ your dull Fellows, who borrow all they ‘‘ do from Nature, — Pm for fetching it ‘‘ out of my own Fancy I.”-And a pretty Fancy it is truly! I queftion, if it would have entered into the Imagination of any other Man : — But, as Bayes again fays, — It ferves to elevate and furprife.” — Thus the ACtor is fatisfied, if he can gain a Clap from the upper Gallery ; — while the Pit, and Boxes, with a lilent Shrug alone, condemn fuch outre Behaviour.- Certainly, the Author meant not this faint¬ ing Fit, or that Lear fhould ftay to be held :-He rather meant, the King, in Hurry of his Rage, and Grief, ftung to the D 2 Heart ( 36 ) Heart by thofe unnatural HagSy fliould fly all Roofs, —^ fliun all Attendance, — Pomp, and Ceremony,-fhould fl:rive, in his Agony of Soul, to fly himfelf, — if pofiible. I have been informed (I know not how true it may be) tho’ the Story is not unlikely, —,that when Mr. Garrick firfl: undertook the Part of King Leary he went to Bedlaniy to learn to ad: a Madman ; — it had not been a very improper School, perhaps, had he been to have play’d fome of the low ridicu¬ lous mad Charaders, in the Pilgrim : — But as we do not hear of any mad King being locked up there, I do not readily con¬ ceive how his Vifit, to thofe elder Brothers of the Sky, could anfwer his Purpofe. —— One might imagine his Judgment (if he has any) might have fuggelled to him, a confi- derable ‘ Diflference, in the Behaviour of a real King, by great Diilrefs, drove to dif- tradion, and the Fantafque of a poor mad Taylor, who, in a Kind of frolick De¬ lirium, imagines himfelf a King :-Tho’ the Mockery of King Cabbage might caufe a Smile, with our Pity ; — yet, fure, the deplo- deplorable Situation of the real Monarch, would rather rive the Heart, than excite Rilibility. - I am at a Lofs to guefs, what End this Vifit to the Palace, in Moor^Fieids, could anfwer. — ’Tis probable the moft ftriking Objects he could fix his Eye on, and the moft worthy his Attention, are plac'd over the Gate to that Entrance. — I imagii">.e, no one would think, Shakefpear would have paid fuch a Vifit, —- to have learn't from the Medley jargon of thofe unhappy Ma¬ niacs, Matter to hve furniftied out his Scenes of Lears Madnefs ! No, — his ama¬ zing Genius, whofe extenfive Imagination took in all Nature, and, with a Judgment adequate, arranged his Ideas, giving proper Sentiment, Language, and Spirit, to every Charafter : — When Lear's Madnefs ftruck his raptured Fancy, the Poet’s Brain, in a fine fiery Fit of Frenzy row- « ling,’'-wanted not fuch mean Re- fources. — I have heard fome Perfons objedled^ — that Mr. Barry would want Pleafantry,’ in the mad Scenes of King li^ar} ——I P 3 niuft ( 3 » ) muft confefs, I was at a Lofs to know what they meant. — Lear\ Madnefs claims a fe- rious Attention,-fometimes excites our Admiration j often moves our Tears ; and ever our Pity, and our Terror : If a Spec¬ tator of thofe Scenes, fhould be inclined to laugh, might not one fufpeft, fuch Speftator had no very delicate feeling ? — or that there was fomething abfurd, in the Aftor’s Per- forniance ? “It may be obfcrved, tho’ Lear is turned of Fourfcore, yet he finks not into the enervated, . or decrepid old Man \ - he no more bends under Age, than a^ Na¬ ture (tho’ in Spirit and Health) will, at that Time of Day, fometimes give way to Eafe : His Deportment will flill exprefs the Mo¬ narch. — We have an Example in, a King now living (God grant him long tp live) who, from the Blefljng of a well prefcrved Conftitution, and an elevated Mind, at a very great Age, ftill walks eredt, and firm, as many of his younger Subjedts. — I own, I think Mr. Barry well deferved the uncommon Applaufe he met with, in this Part ; — it may be a Quellion, wher ther, ?n this Charadler, he has not fliewn more ( 39 ) more of the mafterly Ador, than in all he has done before : — Hjs Voice was well ma¬ naged, his Looks expreffive, his Deportr- ment becoming the Charader, his Adions graceful and pidurefque ; —-- he meant well, and executed that Meaning with a becoming Dignity, and Eafe : There ap¬ peared, throughout, a well conduded Va¬ riety, and fpirited Propriety. — His Atti¬ tudes appeared the Refult of Nature, and, by a happy Tranlition from one to ano¬ ther, they feemed not ftudy’d. - Pie threw himfelf into ’em, as if his immediate Feeling, alone direded him to the Ufe of ’em. Tho’ the whole was plealing, there is a Paflage, in the laft Ad, where his Beha¬ viour deferved particular Notice ;-and wherein he merited that Excefs of Applaufe, the roufed Admiration, of an almoft afto- niflied Audience, moft generouily bellowed on him. When the pious Cordelia^ as the only Means of efcaping the Anguiili of a Fa¬ ther’s Death, entreats the Ruffians to dif- patch her firft ^ which the Villains feem ready to comply with : — While Lear is D 4 with- with-held, from the vain Efforts, of a fond Father, to preferve his Darling, — his Ac¬ tion, Look, and Voice, moft exquifitely ex- preffed his diftrefsful Situation; his quick Progreflion, from Surprize to Terror, thence to Rage, ’till all were abforbed in Anguifh, and Defpair,-were Mafter-Strokes. At length his roufed Spirits, catching the Alarm, endeavouring to fn'atch her from her Fate, — his Recolledlion of his unhappily being unarmed, and unable to preferve her, when he throws himfelf on his Knees, pre- ferving Majefly in his Diftrefs, — his whole Figure, and Manner, are finely expreffive of the reduced Monarch, and Heart-torn Father: AH thefe Gradations of well paint¬ ed Paffions, would tafk the Power of one of much fuperior Talents, ■ (much more my fmall Abilities) to do Juftice in the Deferip- tion.—To the Ideas, therefore, of your own lively Imaginations, I muft leave what I find myfelf fo unequal to paint. And yet the Subjed: warms me to take farther Notice of his Behaviour. — When he finds himfelf reflored to his Kingdom, the o’ercharged Heart of the Monarch cafes itfelf, by joyous Excla- Exclamation. At once, to his delighted gination, rufli the tranfporting Ideas of Greatnefs/ Majefty, and Power reftored ; a Power to revenge, and to reward, This latter Thought he immediately indulges,' by declaring his worthy Child, his dearly beloved Daughter Cordelia^ (hall be a Queen .; • His diftrelTed Mind, thus fuddenly rc- lieved, by fo quick a Tranfition to Joy^ may, in that Guft of Rapture, drop a Tear, but 'twill be a Tear of Tranfport, that joins thofe wakeful Expreffions of EnthufiafrhV when he bids Winds catcli the Sound/™' and Nature liften to the Change, that Lear fliall be a King again, and his dear Child a Queen,”— . // The Pride of the Monarch, and Tender- nefs of the Father, are blended ; —he here¬ in fupports his Dignity, amidft his fofter Feelings, Can then this be properly ex- prefled, by the Whindling of an old frib¬ bling Nykin, when reconciled to his naughty Cocky ? I cannot forget, that in the adting of this Play, I met with no fmall Plea- fure from the Performance of my good na- tured, honeft, old Acquaintance, Mr. Ryan j the ( 42 ) the Notice a judicious Audiertce took of him, hy the frequent Applaufes they gave him, in the wcll-adted Charadler of Edgar^ gave me alfo no fmall Satisfadtion. — His fenfible At- - tention throughout his Charadler, \vhether leaking, or filent,—his happy Feelings, and Ipirited Execution, were I^effons worthy the Imitation of fome younger Players ; —. who are far from having any Advantage of this Ador, whom, too frequently, they pre¬ tend to triumph over, in their familiar Chat- terings ; and give themfelves a Preference, theerly on Account of their Youths —not remembring, at the fame Time, their callow Judgment, and Want of Experience :—^Yet let'em know, , This, Veteran, in Edgary on the Stage, Suftained the Fire of Youth at Thrice the ‘‘ young Man’s Age.’’ There { 43 ) There has lately appeared in {bra? o^ our public Papers, the following Epigram on the two Lears. .. , ,- T H E Town have found two different Ways, - To praife the different heart j To Barry, they give loud fTiTzza’s,,, ■' ' To GiumV^ only Tears. A pretty Conceit j but how if it is not ' .^xj«j2c;C THE APPENDIX (Befides feveral other Pieces) CONTAINS Some Matters relative to the STAGE, Not yet made Public; Some Obfervations on a B i l l once brought into P-1, to reftrain the Number of Play- houfes; ALSO A general Review of the Laws relative to to the Theatres, and Remarks thereon ; and a memorable Speech, delivered in a great Af- fembly (previous to the Pafling of the P-y- H---fe A~—t) by a very great Man ; ‘‘ Whoy as be /poke, would take the prifondSouh And lap it in Elyjiumy Milton’s Comus. lOr ifx iW WJr ine lOc S the following Epiftle fpeaks the ^1 A Igh Ck:calion and Neceffity of the fore- going Diflertations,—it may not be iniproper to give it again to the Pub¬ lic, as Part of the Appendix:—I have ad¬ joined thereto fome Petitions and Addreffes, on the fame Occafion ; to which, not having had the hoped-for Anfwers, which many Perfons of the firft Rank and Diftinftion thought I might reafonably expeft, I have undertaken a Scheme in Trade for my Sup¬ port ; of which the Reader will find an Ac¬ count in the Poftfcript hereunto annexed.—• In which Undertaking I doubt not of the Favour and Protediion of all generous fpirited Britons, who, as Enemies to Oppreffioa and arbitrary Power, have a juft Senfe of that in¬ valuable Blefling of our Conftitution, the Liberty of an Englijhman, fupported by Mag- Tu-Charta, the Habeas Corpus A(ft, and an hoiieft Jury of Free-Britons, . A N EPISTLE FROM Mr. Theophilus T O David Garrick, Efq ^ To which are prefixed. Some occafional Verfes, Petitions, ^e. _ _—-Lowlinefs is young Ambition’s Ladder, Whereto the Climber upwards turns his Face ; But when he once attains the upmoft Round, He then unto the Ladder turns his Back, Looks in the Clouds, fcorning the bafe Degrees By which he did afcend. Shakespear. Let them not fay in their Hearts^ Ah^ fo we would have it : Let them not fay^ we have /wallowed him up* Pf. 25* I c ^ I V CfJ .;, t^n.I V(.c' ■ ■ . tL^ .'• IlkL^' PREFACE. TO THE TOWN. —Now if I hold my Tongue^ I Jhall give up the Ghojl. Job, c. xiii. v. 19. HIS Phrafe (the Town) has been made frequent Ufe of, without any determinate Meaning; and is often confidered in a vague, or partial Senfe afk an Author, or an Ad:or, feparately, what is meant thereby ? Each will tell you (’tis probable) that, by the “ Town is meant, the Judging Few,"'—as They will flyle their Friends ;—that is, in other Words, thofe who approve, and cry up, A 3 their their feveral Performances :—Afk the the¬ atrical Manageh, thby Ml give that as the ^cntirnehts ( 5 f the Tbwh, which, perhaps, is only what they with to have faid ; fuch Chat as is ecchoed, and re-ecchoed, by their particular pd:'rtial Intimates, or theatrical Mer¬ cenaries :—But to drop them,—I think, the Town may be Ibppoftd to indude all De¬ grees of Perfons, from the higheft Noble¬ man, to the lowly Artizan, (Sc. who, in their difietent Stations, are Encouragers of dramatic Performances ;—Thus all Perfons, who pay for their Places, whether Noble, Gentle, or Simple,, who fill thfe BepceSy Pit^ and Galleries^ in a theatrical Senfe, form the Town,>^as.K—G, L-rds ;a]id Commons, in a conftitutional ^one, make that great Body, the Nation.. To the Towh (in the true Meaning of the Word) I ftand indebted for many Favours^ —-When 1 confider thcni, eolledted as one great Body, I am at a Lofs to exprefs my Ef- teem, Refped, and Gratitude :-^—Their Smiles have amply rewarded my pad: La¬ bours;—I have felt their Influenr ' ' . ( 1 ) tune: the Servant of the Public, I make bold to publilh the following Epiftle, Gfc. whereby it will appear, it fhall not be my Fault, if the Remainder of my Life is not employ’d in Endeavours to add to their Di- verfion. I grudge no Man his Feaft, I only wifli to be fure of my own plain Dinner 5—Juftice to myfelf therefore, not Ill-will to any one, occafions me to throw my Cafe before the TownI make no under-hand Solicitations; —I form no Parties;—I never did.—I fpeak openly ;—wou’d I had been always as openly dealt with, by thofe whofe undermining Arts, and felf-interefted Policies, have drove me to my prefent Dilemma.—I fhall only add, I remain, with a moft grateful Senfe of paft Favours, and an humble Hope of future Proteftion, The TowN’i ftncerely obligdy Mojl obedienty and moft devoted Humble Servant^ A 4 t. c. H E N I returned from G.nilfordy in July ^ laft, I found a Dif- charge from the Covent^Garden Manager, left for me at an un- ufual Time of the Year, and in an un¬ common Manner, under the Hand of one Whitey a Servant of the Manager's : I pitied the Man that fent it-fo thought him and his Scribe equally unworthy of farther Notice. I immediately applied to the proper Power for Leave to try my Fortune at the little ^ In 175s. ( 9 ) little Theatre in the Hay-Market, -His G-e moft-kindly ligned me a Licence during Pleafure, which I took the fpeedieft Means I could make to Ufe of.-I had but a little Time to raife a Company, and haftily to inftrud: fome new Pupils whom I was obliged to employ. A little more than a Fortnight after my Licence was granted, with a few unlkilled Irregulars, I opened the Theatre, and performed there ten Nights in about three Weeks; I fpared no Pains, but Night and Day attended the Bufinefs, or I had not been able to have proceeded fo far : —— My Labours were encouraged, and I gratefully remember the Honour feveral Noble Perfonages did me, by frequently gracing the Theatre, with their Appearance, on that Occafion :-- I was in Hopes to have ftrengthned my Company by fome additional Forces, as feveral new Performers (fome not unpro- mifing) wilhed to take their Trials under my Tuition ; and was not without Hopes of being favoured with fome Pieces from fome Gentlemen who had before given Sped- ( lo ) Specimens of their Tafte and Humour. — But alas ! when D. L, Theatre opened, I was ordered to flop awhile;-Some¬ what farther paffed on this Head, which I cannot fo readily communicate : — But, my Epiftle, addrefled to Mr. Garrick^ ex¬ plains it.- I ceafed not to petition, and folicit Leave to continue. -- While the D. of G. con¬ tinued at New-Markefy I employed a Morn¬ ing, in the following Attempt at a Tranf- lation, or Imitation, of the firft Ode of Horace ;-’Twas fent to the D —, and not unkindly received ;--1 then pub- lifhed it in fome of the Papers. --Here it follows, tvith the prefixed Letter printed with it. LON- (II) LONDON. To the AVTH OK, &c. S I R, H O U G H I flatter myfelf I have feme Tafle for the Poetry of others, --- yet I prefume not to boaft any great Ta¬ lents that Way myfelf;-'tis not the Vanity of ah Author, but a ‘more grateful Motive, occafions me to publifli the follow¬ ing ODE: --’Twill be no Mortification to me^ fhould the Criticks pronounce me no Poet.-While the Candour of the Town allows me to be an Adtor,-and the Continuance of their Favours, with the Protedtion of the Great, permits me to get my Bread by my Profeflion.-Such In¬ dulgence gratifies the utmoft Ambition of, Jbeir mojt obliged^ mofi devoted^ and^ Sir, Tour moji obedient Servant^ . T. C. An ( ) An Imitation of the First Ode, of the First Book g/" H O R A C E, \ Humbly Infcrib'd to HisG - tbe D - of G -, By bis moft obliged^ moft obedient^ and moft devoted Servant^ THEOPHILUS CIBBER, Comedian/ ‘‘ ’JVx a Crufts a lajiing Crufts' for your Rogues^ the Criticks^ ' fy ^ Vide Bayes, in'the Re hearsal. . ODE. TEND my Patron, Joy, and Pride, G-N, to ancient Kings ally’d. While o’er Newmarket's fpacious Plain, Swift-footed Steeds for Vift’ry ftrain. Their Riders,* proud t’ have won the Odds, In Fancy, lift themfelves to Gods : If giddy Crowds, a noify Crew, Their wanton Caprice fliould purfue. And ( 13 ) And raife fome Upftart, from the Duft, To honour’d Offices of Truft; Another find his Coffers fraught With Riches, by Advent Vers brought ; A third, mean while, his own Eftate, Careful, delight to cultivate; All India*^ Wealth could not prevail, On fuch, o’er fwelling Seas to fail: When ftormy Winds, with fhudd’ring Blaft, Shiver the Sheets, and fhake the Maft, The Merchant, at his rural Seat, Bleffes his little calm Retreat; But, when the Tempeft’s Rage is o’er. He quits the Safety of the Shore, Hefits his Veffel, dares the Sea, Dreading difgraceful Poverty: The jovial Toper, with Delight, Waftes, o’er full Bowls, his Day, his Night, In Indolence, out-llretch’d, oft’ lay’d. By dimpled Stream, in cooling Shade j The Souls of many wake to War, At Trumpet’s Clangor, heard from far, Th’ Ear-piercing Fife, and thundVing Drum: .While fighing Mothers weep at Home ; The ( 14 ) The Sportfman keen, e’er Break of Mom, Attends the Hunter*s.ehearf4l Horn 5 His Heart-felt Joys his Nerves new-brace, Envigour’d by the healthful Chacq : Thus each Man’s biafs’^ by,his Mind, -While G-r—grajcioully incli4’d. Permits me try to pleafe the Town (Whofe paft Indulgence I muft own) With fmall Attempts, and Troop as fflaall, In Play-houfe fmaller than ’em alj s Let thofe, whom vain Ambitjon fires, Boaft gilded Domes, or lofty Spires > ^ Contented with my humblie. Lot, Tll Bless my Patrqn, in tny pot. t With grateful' Heart, fiiaU faptnr'd Exclaim- J’m blefs d tQ !> SUBLIMI FERIAM §fJ[^ERE VeRTICIE.” ^ After fome Delays^ znd many Attendances, I delivered a Pefifion, the Copy of which J have unluckily miflaid, or loft, —«— but jf, was to the fame Pnrp^f^ one intended to be fcnt, printed herejvijth : -—77- On the D — * ■ ■ ’s Return to Town, ,^er a lo^g Stay in the Country, I made bold thus to addrefs him. BLESS’D, ( 15 ) jgLESS’D, Princely Sir, be your Return^ Whofe Abfence left us all forlorn; Benighted Men, whoVe loft their Way, Thus grateful blefs returning Day. Once more I beg—May’t pleafe your Grace, Confider my Unhappy Cafe ; IVe told already my Condition, * ' ^ Humbly prefented my Petition j ■ Then — not to prefs upon your Time, Or pefter you with frequent Rhime, — Your Grace’s Goodnefs thus I fue to. Only to fay (the Words are few too) ‘‘ I Give You Leave.”— Thofe Words renew. Your Grace difpels my dreary View: So, when the World was wrapt in Night, Be it Lkjht,” "-faid Heaven, and Aui. was Light. Still I remain’d unanfwered-ftill was in Hopes, as not having been pofitiveiy de¬ ny'd -A NoHe Lady was apply’d to, who moft generoufly and compaffionately, undertook to plead my Caufe j She fpoke to it— She kindly condefcended to deliver to his G — the following Lines. MAY ( ) “A yf A Y it pleafe your. Grace, thefe Lines to view; ^ . Their Merit this —TheyTe Ihort and few. Anxious, my noble Lord, I waitj 1 To learn, from you, my deftin’d State ; v Whether Tm doom’d to Faft or Eat ! j Tho’ Priefts, and Dodors, .as we’re told. May fading, fometimes, wholefome hold,— Yet fure, no.Curfe can Man befall. Like downright Eating not at all: Then G-—not more Great than Good, By Worth enobled, as by Blood, Will never from that Goodnefs fwerve, , Nor fentence any Man to ftarve. 'After fome other Applications, —— This worthy Lady propqfed to deliver for me the following Petition, T O ( n ) T a His G-the D— of The Petition of Thbophilus Cibber, Comedian, Humbly Sheweth, T HAT your Petitioner Is now in the 52d Year of his Age, 36 of which he has fpent in the Service of the Public, whofe conftant Approbation has encourag’d his En¬ deavours s That your Petitioner, thro’ the (yet un^ accounted for) Policies of the Pheafresy is ex¬ cluded Both, while feveral, his Juniors (by fome thought his Inferiors) are getting For¬ tunes therein : Your Petitioner, at this late Time of Dajv dreading the melancholy Profpecfts of Starv¬ ing in, or, at beft, out of Jail (from whence he was but lately freed, by the Clemency of the Le^flature, on his furrendering his little All to his Creditors) has no Refource, but to pray —- B Your B ( 18 ) Your G —'s wonted Clemency, andGood- nefs, would pleafe to compaffionate the un¬ precedented Hardfhip of his Cafe, and allow him to continue his Endeavours, for the Re¬ mainder of the Seafon, twice or thrice a Week, to get his Bread, by his'Profeffion, at the little Theatre in the Hay’-Market 5 — which Boon your Petitioner is the more em¬ bolden’d to alk, as feveral of the Nobility and Gentry, his Patrons, wifh to fee him , there : — And, as this AEl of your G-’s Generofity can be of no Prejudice to others, — but a Relief to many ; — and is the only Means to prevent yt)ur Petitioner’s ftarving. The Lady mofl: humanely appeared con¬ cerned for my Condition ; all about her were fatisfied, Ihe was in Earned: in my Behalf: 4 — But, at laft — die was informed, further Application would be to no Purpofe. — Af- fured of this, I ventured to throw the fol¬ lowing Papers before the Public,-and thought I had a juftifiable Right to addrefs Mr. Garricky in the following Epiftle* EPISTLE EPISTLE T O Mr. GARRICK. SIR, S I am certainly indebted to you for the Negative Anfwer I have received (after repeated Solicita¬ tions) to the Petition, here¬ to prefixed — Is it not incumbent on me, to return you my public Thanks, for your ex¬ traordinary private Favour ? —— But, is it not poffible, feme People may think it a lit- tie ( ) tie hard, that an Englijhmatty the Son of an Englijhmany (whofe Birth entitled him to a better Fortune than a Playhoufe promifed, and who, in his Theatrical Capacity, as Author and Aftor, has been judged one of the greateft Ornaments of the Englifi Stage) — is it not hard, that his Son, after having fpent many Years, with Approbation, in the Service of the Public, fhould be obftrudled in his honeft Views, of getting his Bread ftill in their Ser¬ vice ? —; and really, by whom obftrudled ? May one not reply, by the Son of a French-- many who, not content with having amalTed a princely Fortune, is ftill jealous a Shilling fhould be added to a poor Man’s Purfe, left his Coffers fhould not fufficiently run over.? Alas! miftaken Sir, you need not fear be- ing gay in your Palace, tho* I were to fmile in my Cottage.-Can you really think it reafonable, to have my Head taken from my fhort Shoulders, that you, my little great Man, may appear the taller ? -— Methinks, you might be fatisfied with the Height you have rifen to (without obftrufting others) as it is well known you are, in a very few Years,, in Point of Fortune, become the talleft 1 ( ai ) talleft Man of your Generation, by many Thoufands. _ It is a melancholy Refledfion for poor Eng^ lijlo Comedians, in a free Kingdom, to con- fider, they are the only Slaves of that Coun¬ try 5 but, too true it is: — And to whom are they Slaves ? His Majefty ? No : His be¬ neficent Heart wiflies for none. --To whom then ?-Vv'hy, to the Patentees of the Theatres (the A( 5 lors Superiors only as. Patentees, which they became by great good Luck ;) for it is certain, fuch is their Power -that if Want of Judgment, if Pique, or Caprice prevail, they can render the Abilities of the beft Performer very ufelefs Qualifica¬ tions 3 they can damn good Performers by their Arts, and pufh indifferent Ones for¬ ward by their Partiality ; kill fuch Favou¬ rites, growing familiar to the Town (and none better being fuffered to oppofe them) they pafs for Aftors of eftablifhed Merit, and the Epithets Celebrated^ Eminent and Excel¬ lent^ are as wantonly tacked to their Names as in the Marriage Articles of News, when “ Mafter Aaron TSIicknack^ the Son of a ce- lebrated Dutch Toyman at Wapptng, is B 3 married ( 3a )• “ married to Mifs Biddy Frijf e, the Niece of an eminent French Barber near Eoce- cution Dock"' In how much a happier Situation are the French Players, tho’ in a Country of hateful arbitrary Power ?-Tho’ Superftition, and Prieftcraft, deny them Chriftian Burial, yet Humanity denies them not a comfortable Livelihood: -Nor is it in the arbitrary Power of the Diredlors of the Theatres, wantonly to difeharge the meaneft of them, without Caufe affigned ; nay, Provifion is made for all Kinds of Performers, who, by Age, or other Accidents, become Invalids, after fpending their Time in a theatrical Ca¬ pacity : —— Nor is that Provilion fuch a fcanty Stipend, but that it enables them to live with Decency and Comfort. — But you. Sir, may probably know more of this, as your Father, a Native of France^ was ca¬ pable of acquainting you more fully there¬ with. Think, Sir, what might have been your Situation, with all your Merit (which, be¬ lieve me,. Sir, I am not either ignorant of. A or ( 23 ) or wilfully blind to) but for the late Mr. Fktewood\ falal Indifcretions ? — Fatal, un¬ happy Man, to himfelf, his Family, and Friends.-Butforthefe, which occafioiied,. at laft, his mortgaged Patent to be fold for a Trifle, —and many other happy Incidents, that all, at _once, occurred in your Favour, you might have been in my Situation, Sir ; -or at beft, receiving a Stipend^Thou- fands fhort of your prefent Income : Since you may remember, a Cartel (of a cruel^ Nature) was propofed, and near figning, by the then Managers of the Theatres, — when he who became the Patentee of Z). L. The- atre, and to whom alone the new Grant was firfl: made (and which before had been de¬ nied to you) prudently propofed your being a-Partner therein ; on which Foundation (I do not infinuate unmerited) you have raifed a noble Fortune:-Sir, I have employed thrice the Number of Years, you have, in the Service of the approving Public, — and am I, Sir, at laft, to be flopped in my ho- nefl Purfuit, thro’ you. Sir ? For, Sir, not to mince the Matter, it is thro’ you, I know (and you know) I am delayed. Sir,' your Po- E 4 licy I ( ^4 ) licy overflioots itfelf, as I fhall endeavour foon to make appear, by proving my little Attempts at the Haymarket^ might be of fu¬ ture Ufe to you. But firft give me Leave to hint- 1 think this Sort of Treatment I have met with, the lefs fupportable, as it is what I never chofe to inflid: on others, when in Power. Let me dare to fpeak Truth, without the Imputation of Vanity : I re¬ member not any Opportunity I ever flipped, to encourage any Author ; or any Hardfliip, or Injury, diredly, or indiredly, I was ever guilty of, towards any Performer : — On the contrary, I was ever forward to advance them, to the utmofl: that could be allowed, whenever their Merit feemed to encreafe : ■— Nor did any Partiality to myfelf, make me ufe any finifler Means to obftrud thg Rifing of another. When you became a Manager, I was in an Article with your Partner 5 it was left to your Option to have me as an Ador, at a Salary inferior to what I had formerly re¬ ceived, from Mv. Fletewood -who found me of Confequence enough to give me equal to A ( ^5 ) to any Aftor then in being (Mr. ^in ex¬ cepted, whofe Merits had earlier procured him a larger Salary than any Performer had received before.) I then perfuaded Mr. Fletewood (who confulted me on that Occa- fion) by all Means to add you to the Com¬ pany, as he then hinted he could have you : -And, tho’ he had articled with me, to give no other Performer a fuperior Salary to mine, without mine being advanced equal thereto, I confented he (hould agree with you, on any Terms he thought fit for his Purpofe, and declared I would take no Ad¬ vantage of fuch Agreement.-You may remember. Sir, our Meeting with you, in order to fettle fuch Agreement. There were prefent the late Mr. Fletewood and Mr. De-- ' lane^ Mr. Crofs^ ftill living, and myfelf. You may remember too, I declared (regard¬ ing you as a young Performer of rifing Merit) that any Part I had played was at your Ser- ’ vice, only deliring Mr. Fletewood to al¬ low me reafonable Time to ftudy fome ot’fiers (which I fhould not be againft ailing in the fame Plays) that I might not, thro’ fuch Conde- ' ( 26 ) Condefcenfion, be thought idle, or become ufelefs. But, to return to my leaving it to your Option whether I lliould continue in your Company-You may remember my wait- ' ing on you, at your Lodgings, in Covent- Garden^ to that Purpofe 3-nor can you, I fuppofe, forget the Letter your Partner re¬ ceived from me, on that Head :-You muft have feen it-it related to you both. -You beft know. Sir, why you then de¬ clined my ferving you , - 1 too, Sir, know your Reafons now 5 — I gueffed them then ; — and may, at a farther Opportunity, take more Notice of them.-In the Interim, let me remind you, Sir, I have not made Ufe of that inconteftible Power the Law has given me, to deprive you of a potent Affiftant, in your theatrical Bufinefs; — Time has taught me to ftifle private Refent- ment, howeverjuflifiable, where the Quiet,’ or Entertainment, of the Public is con¬ cerned : -— I think it not confiftent with my Duty to them, to ftop their Pleafure in any oJie { 27 ) one Place, efpecially when I would wifli to divert them myfelf in another. Perhaps your fuperior Policy may arraign mine. But, when I was a Maijager^ which I have been Sir (uncomplained of) of His Majejly s Company of Comedians^ and might have continued fo, had not a miftaken Purchafer bought my Farm over my Head, when I had no Sufpicion of fuch Proceed¬ ing 3-as a certain Set of Renters were lately ferved-a Cafe not quite unfimilar. -When I was in the Management of the Theatre-Royal, I neither endeavoured to force any Entertainment on my Spedla- tors, nor took any Methods to prevent their Diverfion in any other Place,-though fre¬ quently urged thereto by my Brother Ma¬ nagers, who often confulted fome partial Counfel, in order to fupprefs other Thea¬ tres ;-which Meetings afterwards occa- fioned that outrageous Profecution againft Mr. Harper^ the Comedian (who, by the Way, happened to be a Houfekeeper in Mid- dlefeXy and a Freeholder in Surry) and in a moft unprecedented, and arbitrary Manner, did ( ) did tHe’ ftrained Power of a petulant Mid- dlefex J — ce treat him.-: Such was it deemed by a then L. Ch. J, (now an Orna¬ ment to the ftill higher Station he fills) who releafed Mr. Harper^ on his fingle Recogni¬ zance to appear, if his Profecutors thought it prudent to proceed further at Law :- This was after hearing many Counfel, learn- ed in the Law, on both Sides,-and Mr. Harper left the Hall, with the unanimous Joy of feverab Hundreds, who crowded it on that Occafion. ’Twere ungrateful not to remember an honourable Speech of the Great Man, who then fat on the Bench. — The Caufe was ap¬ pointed to be heard early in the Morning, when fome of the oppofite Counfel were for ' deferring the Pleadings, and treated it as a Matter of little Confequence ; that Great Good Man declared—He thought it a Matter of great Confequence, as the Liberty of a jed: was concerned ;-that he could not enter on it too foon,-nor fhould he grudge any Time beftowed on it. This known Facfit was fome Years before die Law fince made, whereby afting is made illegal Q { 29 ) illegal (though deemed by no Statute crimi^ nal or bad in itjelf) unlefs authorifed by Pa¬ tent, from the Crown, or Licence from the Lord Ch-n ;-and, that the Le- giflature did not mean always to confine it to Two Theatres, in this fo great Metropolis, is evident from the unlimited Power (as to Number) which that very Law vefts in the Crown, and noble Perfonage, before menti¬ oned. . Many Years before this Law I was in the Profeffion of an Ador — encouraged by the Candour of the Town 5 happy in their Smiles: ’Tis not my Bufinefs here to remark on that Law; I leave that Tafk to abler Heads, to whom fuch Province more properly belongs-Nor fliall I dwell here on the many theatrical Chicaneries which have been pradlifed againft me, when I was moft unhappy * — ~ I may have already tired the Reader too much. — — But, as I before hinted (which let me here explain) that the little * I declare, I do not mean, hereby, a general Reflexion, on my theatrical Brethren ; none will think it needs further Apology, but thofe who feel the Smart of its Truth : Such are welcome to wince, and be mifty — and to fuch I fay, — ‘ In mine Adnjerfity they rejoicedy and gathered themfelj it mt } they aid tear me, and ceafed not,' Pf. XXX7. V. f5. ( 30 ) little Theatre in the Hay-Market might be-= come a Nurfery for young Performers, from whence might be culled, at proper Seafons, new Aftors, for the Advantage of the Pa¬ tentees, and the better Diverfion of the Town, is undeniable. — Thus the Trial of fuch Performers at that Place, might fave the Patentees both Expence, Time, and Trouble : The Murmurs of feveral Authors might alfo be flopped hereby-fince many Pieces might be here received, when the Managers of the Theatres Royal might be able to bring forward but few of the Mul¬ tiplicity with which they are often over¬ loaded 3 —- and the Patentees might well fuppofe, they would ever have the Prefe¬ rence, both as to Performers, and Perfor¬ mances 3 fince that Theatre, from its Small- nefs, and Situation, could never hope to vie with them, to their Prejudice :-Their Apprehenfions may be great, but their Danger could be but fmall. — Yet, what¬ ever their Fears, is ' it reafonable, a Mono¬ poly fhould be made of any one Profeflion, for the Emolument of two or three alone, —^ while ( 31 ) — while all the reft muft He at their Mercy ? Would not any Foreigner be afto^;iifhed to hear that any Set of People, Proficients in any Art (in a free Country) are to work, or ftarve, at the Will, and Pleafure of one, or two —— nay, perhaps, as may be determined by fome one, who is totally incapable, either by Inftrudlion, or Performance, of further^ ing, or improving, by Precept, or Exam¬ ple, that Art which he gets an Eftate by ? What a cruel Condition would the ProfeC. fors of all .the Sifter-Arts be in, thus tyran¬ nically made a Monopoly of, to fupport the Profufion of a few Ignorants ? Once more. Sir, let me repeat-what would you think, — what would you feel, -thus hard befet as I am ?-Would you think it reafonable that no Portion of that Bread, the Town is able, and willing, to beftow, fliould fall to your Lot ?—That yoa (hould, to gratify the Ambition, or Avarice, of any rich fuccefsful Man, when Neceflity urges in the latter Part of your Life, (though hlefled by Heaven with Health and Abili- • ties) - ( 3^ ) ties) be prevented from exerting your Fa¬ culties in your own Behalf ?-Would you be filent on fuch an Occafion?—- ■ Would you not let the World know your j Condition ? Would you not acquaint fuch as may not have already confider’d it, that this Metropolis is amazingly encreas’d, that Property is greatly diffus’d 5 that many Fa milies are advanced ;-that all De¬ grees of People go to Plays, as the moft rational Amufement ; — that there are near thirty Times the Number of Spectators there were'.30 Years ago; —that fix Theatres, have flourifhed in one Seafon, when there ^ were much fewer Numbers to fupport them; — and that the Town now have but two to go to ? For my own Part, I have but fimple : lijh Honefty to proceed upon ; —. whether » that will be of as much Service to me as French Jefuitical Policy, Time mufl deter- i mine.-My remaining Hope is in a K—g, whofe Benevolence of Heart, were he but ‘ a private Man, would make him one of the firft Characters j and whofe Virtues, as a Prince, * ( trl Prince, it will better become 'me^filently to admire, (wWle a ; happy; Nationi* proelaima* his Praife) than prefumingly to expatiate on. —— If all other means fail (remember, Sir, you urge me to it) I have ftill the Right of an Englijh Subjedl, to addrefs that great Power, who is juftly ftiled the Father of his People, who is univerfally regarded as the Fountain of Goodnefs, as well as Ho¬ nour :-1 will not therefore defpair, of ftill having Leave to gain Bread for myfelf, and '^a little Britijh Company, in that The¬ atre, wherein the French Comedians have been more than once licens’d.- It may pofiibly be remembered I have, fometimes, from the whole Royal Family, excited a Laughter of Approbation. ^ Why then may I not hope their conde- fcending Goodnefs will confider and relieve the anxious Heart of a loyal Subjedl, who has often had the Honour of making them fmile. . .— I am. Sir, with all y due Deference to your Merit, your real Admirer i ^ ^ and fliould have been C glad. / (i8) glad, long fince, in a theatrical Capa¬ city, on proper Terms, to have fubfcribed myfelf, ' . I ^ yS I Rj * . r ^ ; ^ - ' Tour mojl obedient^ &e> . 'r^ The. Cibber. POST- ( 19 ) POST SCRIPT, S 1 R, r H E Reafon of my writing to you at this yundlurCy is owing to my having received my Refufal but . Yefterday After¬ noon. I fliall take no Notice of any anonymous Anfwers hereto ; —^ but if you think it worth your Notice, you may be affured I, (hall not fail to reply : And I hope Truth will be our mutual Guide : In the mean Time, let me recommend .to you the follow¬ ing Text : — Do JuflicCy Mercyy and Walk hum^ blyy &c. Great Newport - Street^ Thurfd. Nov, 20, i755« C S2, \ To / i i l5 ' I ( 21 ) C D* 1* * 7«/i. i^. 1755. To the PUBLIC. every feven Years is allow’d to be ^ A ^ a new Stage of Life, confequen^ly k-)8()C^ the Majority of our theatrical Au¬ ditors, may be faid to be renew’d at the End of every fuch Period.—As, thro’ the little Arts of our theatrical Politicians and Governors, it has been contriv’d, during thefe laft feven Years, almoft to exclude me from the Stage, it may not be improper to publifli a Lift of thofe Parts, in which, for the Courfe of many Years, I have frequently been allow’d to entertain an indulgent Town -—That I have not oftner appear'd in’em, of late, is not my Fault.—-How I acquitted myfelf therein, will better become thofe, who remember me, to declare, than for me to boaft. I hope I (hall (land excus’d (in my prefent Circumftances) if I fay, I am ready to take my Round in thefe Parts, in either of our C 3. Com^ ( ) Companies 5 nor fhould I fear performing them, alternately, (take "cm thro’) with any of our prefent Adors, to a judicious and can¬ did Audience. Thofe Parts, which I have been moft us’d to play latterly, I have diftinguifh’d by print¬ ing them in Roman Capitals; and fuch are the Parts I ftiould not now decline, were I permitted to get my Livelihood by my Pro- feffion : But that (without any Reafon given) is deny’d me—Though I have been honour'd with the Approbation of the Public as an Ador—was ever willing to be in their Service .—and am, thank Heaven, ftill blefs’d with Abilities to continue fo—I hope, I am the only Man, in his Majelfy’s Britijh Domini¬ ons, fo feverely circumftancM. Mr. Cibber^ fen. whofe Length of Years and" Experience (join’d to his undifputed Ta¬ lents as an Author and an Ador) give him an undoubted Knowledge of theatric Juftice, fays. He never knew, nor remembers ever to have heard of, any Performer meeting with fuch unjuftifiable Treatment. However, I’ll not defpair,—as I’ll not leave untry’d all decent, Jegal Methods, of ob- .. . taining ( 23 ) taining Permiffion. With a grateful Senfe of all Favours, I beg Leave to fubfcribe my- felf. The obliged, obedient. And devoted Servant of the Public, P L A V s. Agamemnon y Akhymifty Ale%andery All for LovCy AirsJVellthat Ends mil Amorous JVtdoWy As Tou Like Ity Athelwoldy Author* s Farcey 'Art and NaturCy Bartholomew Fair, Bayes*s Opera y Bonducay Bufy Bodyy ComuSy Cdsfar in Egypt y Carelefs Hujhandy Cato,, QhanceSy Country JVity CommitteOy Chrijiian Hero, THE. CIBBER. Characters. MELISANDER. Dapper, and ABEL DRUGGER. Polypherchon, and Caf- fander. ALEX AS. PAROLLES. Clodpole, and B A R- NABY BRITTLE. JAQUES. Ofwald. The Author. Julio, the Savage. Cokes. Bayes, Venutius. MARPLOT. Secoiid Brother. Ptolomy. Lord FOPPINGTON. SYPHAX, Peter. Merry. Abel and Teague. Amafie. Confeious ( ^4 ) Pl”aV;s, C.onfcious' 'Lovers y Confiant Coupley Covent Garden Tragedy, Country Lajfes, Country IVife, Cymbeliney ’Debauchees, Dijirefs'd Mother, Don Sebaftian, Double Dealer, Double Gallant, Drummer, Fair Penitent, Fair ^taker. Funeral, Fatal Marriage, George Barnwell, Hamlet, \ Fir ft Part of Henry, the Fourth, ■ Second Part of DiiiQ, Henry the Eighth Incofiftant, , Jane Gray, Jovial Crew, Julius Cesfar, King Lear, King and the Miller of Mavfidd, . Characters. Daniel, and TOM, Beau CLINCHER, and Sir Flarry Wild air. Lovegirlo. Lurcher. . SPARKISH. LEONATUS. Father MARTIN. Pylades, and Orelles. Antonio, and Mufti. BRISK, and Sir PAUL PLYANT. Finder, and ATALL. TINSEL. Lothario. MIZEN. TRIM. CARLOS. George Barnwell. Off rick, Laertes, Ham- < let, and POLONiUS. Carrier, Weftmoreland, Francis, King, Prince, and Falftaff. Arch bilk op of YORK, and PISTOL. .SURRY, and WOL- SEY. DURETETE. GARDNER. Juftice Clack. CASK A. Glofter and Gentlemaa- Ulher. King. Second ( ) Plays. Second Part of King and the Miller of Mansfeld, Lady's laft Stake^ Lancajhire Witches^ Lotterjy Love for Love^ Love makes a Matty Love's laft Shifty Lover^ Mackbethy Man of Modcy Man of f aftCy Match in NewgatOy Merchant of VenkCy Merry tVives of tVindfoVy Meafure for Meafure^ Mifery Mock Doctory Modifh Couplcy Mother’‘in-LaWy Mourning Bridey INonjurory Old Batchelor^ Oroonokoy OrphaHy Othelloy ^apal T yrannyy ^af^uiny Characters. King, Lord GEORGE BRIL- LIANT. Sir Timothy. Lord LACE. TATTLE. CLODiO. SirNOVELTY FASH¬ ION. Smart. LENOX, and MAC- DUFF. Sir FOPLING FLUT¬ TER. Lord A PE MODE. Vizard. GRATIANO. Slender, and Cains. LUCIO. Ramilie. GREGORY. Chip. Headpiece. Garcia. Dr, WOLF. Sir JOSEPH WIT- TOL, and NYKIN. DANIEL. Polydore, -and CHAP¬ LAIN. Montano, Caflio, Ro- derigo, Othello, and lAGO. Dauphin. Trap wit. Pro^ ( 26 ) Plays. Provoked Hushandy Provok'd Wife^ Recruiting Officer^ Refujaly Rehearfaly Relapfey Richard the ^hirdy Rival Foolsy Rival Modes^ Romeo and "Juliety Rovery School Boy, . SheWou'd and She Wou'd Noty Stratagemy Silent IVomany Sir Courtly NicCy Sir Thomas Overhuty^ Spanifh Fry ary Stage Coachy Tempejfy ^ender Husband . Characters. Count BalTet, Manly, Lord Townly, and Sir FRANCIS WRONGHEAD. Razor, Conftant, and Sir JOHN BRUTE. Thomas Appletree, and Capt. BRAZEN. WITLING. BAYES. Lory, Young Falhion, and Lord FOPPING- TON. Treflel, Richmond, Hen¬ ry VI. and RICH¬ ARD.- Credulous. Toupet. Romeo. BLUNT. Mafter Johnny. Odavio, Trappanti, and Don MANUEL. Foigard, and SCRUB. Sir AMOROUS LA FOOL, and Sir JOHN DAW. C R A C fC, and Sir COURTLY. Somerfec. GOMEZ. Fetch, M cahone, and ’Squire Somebody. Ventofo, Mutacho, and T rincalo. NUMPS.'^ Tim ( 27 ) Plays. Characters. Titus Andronicus^ Timon of Athens^ __ Tunbridge Walh^ Twin Rivals^ Univerfal Pajfion^ ' Venice Preferv* d^ JVay of the IVorld, What D^ye Call It^ Whig and Tory^ Wife's Relief Wit without Mone)\ Woman's a Riddle^ Zara. Demetrius. The Poet. Squib. Young WOU*DBE, TRUEMAN, and Teague. Joculo. RENAULT. WITWOU’D. Sir Roger, Peter Nettle, and Timothy Peafcod. Young Indolent. Spitfire. Shorthofe. Sir AMOROUS VAINWIT. Nereftan. After this, thq Diflertations were frequently publickly delivered, and approv’d ; then the following Petitions were prefented. . To To his moft Ex—t M The Memorial and Petition of TheO' PHILUSCiBBERj SonofCOLLEY Cibber, Moft Humbly Shevveth, the faid T'heophilin Cibber is defcended from the antient Family of the Colleys^ of Glaijlon^ in Rutlandjhire 5 his Grandmother being an Heirefs of that Fa¬ mily : Her Grandfather, Sir Anthony Colleyy reduced an Eftate, of feveral Thoufands per Annum, by his Attachment to the Royal Caufe, and railing, and fupporting. Troops, for the Service of the Crown. The faid Theophilus Cibber ^ Father, Mr. CoJley Cibber, was early in Arms, as a Vo¬ lunteer, under the Marquis of Devonjhire, at the Time of the Glorious Revolution ; to which blefied Event, England owes its pre- fent ( 29 ) ient happy Eftablifhment, in Church and State : The Succeffion to the Crown being then fixed in the prefent Illuftrious Fa¬ mily. The faid Mr. Colley Cibber^ by his W^rl- ting. Acting, and Management, is gene¬ rally allowed to have been greatly inflrumen- tal, in bringing" the Englijh Theatre into Reputation; his Writings, and public Pro- feflions of Loyalty, created him many Ene¬ mies, among the Difaflfefted,-who never fail’d to perfecute your Memorialift. The faid Theophilus Cibber^ has often beeii intruiled (under the late Mr. Wilks) with the Management of the Theatre, and, fome Time after, in his own Right, wherein the faid Theophilus Cibber acquitted himfelf to the Satisfadtion of Authors, of Adlors, and of thQ Publick in general.-And, to the Utmoft of his Power, ever endeavoured to make the Theatre a School of Morality, and Loyalty. The faid Theophilus Cibber, as an Adlor,' always was happy in the Approbation of his Auditors j — and has often had the Honour to lo add to.the Diverfion of the late King, his prefent Majefty, and all the Royal Fa¬ mily. The faid Theophilus Cibber^ in the 52d. Year of his Age, and 37th of his Profeflion, IS n(W excluded the Theatres, without any Manner of Caufe affigned, while feveral Performers, his Juniors, and Inferiors, re¬ ceive larger Rewards, and Salaries, than were ever before gained from a Theatre. The faid Theophilus Cibber'^ Hardfhip, is not only deplorable, but unprecedented^ Yoiir Petitioner therefore proftrateS him- felf before your -known Clemency, and Goodnefs, humbly praying your M—’s R—— 1 Licence to form a Company of Comedians (according to AA of Parlia¬ ment) that he may get his Bread by his Pro- feffion :-Or for fuch other. Relief, as fhall, - to your Majefty’s Wifdona, and Hu¬ manity, feem meet. ( 31 ) To his moft E-1 M —^ The Second Memorial of ThEO* Cibber, Humbly Sheweth, ^"T^HAT about two Months fince,^ a N—— L— prefented to your M —— a Memorial, reprefenting the un¬ precedented opprefled Condition of your Me- morialift. That your Memorialift was commanded to wait on Mr.-of the Back-Stairs, for an Anfwer, where your Memorialift has frequently attended. That the faid Mr.- fays, he has received no Orders concerning the faid Me¬ morial. Your Memorialift, prelTed by the urgent Neceffities of his Circumftances, implores Leave to renew the Prayer of his former Petition. Your i ( 3 ^ ) ‘ , 1 Your M- *s Petloner, proftrates him- \ felf before your M- *s known Clemency ■ and Goodnefs ; humbly praying your M—’s i R-Licence, to form a Company of Comedians (according to Adi of Parlia- ment) that he may get his Bread by his Profeflionj — or for fuch other Relief, as ' « fhall to your M-'’sWIfdom and Hu- , *y'manity feem meet*^’ " i ( 33 ) j! 4 s the following Addrefs differs not in Matter to the foregoing^ - the Reader may ima^ gine much the fame Words Jerved the Pur- ■pofe. A N A D D R E S S AND M E « M O R I A L T O T H E NOBIL ITY and GENTRY - OF T,H E if C L U B, at Mr. A r t hu'r’s, Gff. My Lords and Gentlefnen^ jyjETHINKS already I perceive you fmlle at this drole Beginning of an Ad- drefs from a Suppliant,-fo like the Com¬ mencement of a Speech from His Majefty to both Hoiifes of Parliament \ ^— but, as I flatter myfelf ’tis a Laugh of Good-nature, I will venture to proceed ; '" Tour ( 34 ) Tour Memorialiji them humbly Shewethy That he is defcended from the ancient Fa¬ mily of the ColleySy of Glaifton in \Rutland^ Jhire his Grandmother being an Heirefs of that Family : Her Grandfather, Sir Anthony Colley^ reduced an Eftate of feveral Thou- fands per Annum by his Attachment to the Royal Caufe, and raifing and fupporting Troops for the Service of the Crown. -Here, perhaps, you may fmile again at this parading Introduction ; that is, --- if your Patience has held out fo far.”-To fay Truth, — I borrowed theJHint from Mafter Abel in the CommitteCy who (willing to keep up his Importance with his Miftrefs Arabella) moft fagacioufly intimates,-‘‘ She fhall perceive he is fomebody,-althof’ the makes nobody ** of him.”- Then, not to drop-our Confequence at once,-permit me. Lords and Gentle¬ men, to add,-Your Memorialift’s Father, Mr. Colley Cibbery by his Writing, ACling, and Management, has been generally al¬ lowed to have been greatly inftrumental in bringing bringing the Englijh Theatre into Reputa¬ tion j-his Writings and publick Profefli- ons of Loyalty often created him Enemies among the Difatfefted,—-many of whom have not fail’d to perfecute your Memo- rialift. The faid Theophilus Cibber has formerly- often, been intrufted (under the late Mr. Wilh) with Part of the Management of the Theatre,—-and fome Time after in his own Right,-in which Station the faid Theo- fhilus Cibber acquitted himfelf to the Satif- fkftion of Authors, of Aftors, and of the Publick in general; and to the utmofi: of his Abilities and Power, ever endeavoured to make the Theatre a School of Morality and Loyalty: And the faid Theophilus Cibber^ as an A(flor, has been always happy in the Ap¬ probation of his Auditors. Now, as your Memorialift has enter’d in the 53d Year of his Age, and would be in the 37th of his Profeffion, were he not moft unjuftly (without any Caufe aflign’d) ex¬ cluded the Theatres,-while many Per¬ formers, his Juniors and Inferiors, receive larger Salaries and Rewards than were ever C 2 before ( 30 before gain’d from a Theatre; —and as your Memorialift is ftill blefs’d with Abilities to purfue his Profeflion, - permit me humbly to intreat you, my Lords and Gen¬ tlemen, to ufe your Intereft in my Behalf (in my prefent unhappy Situation) with his Grace the D- of G -, whofe Hu¬ manity, I hope, will be prevail’d on to give me Leave to perform once or twice a Week (during the Vacation only) at the little The¬ atre in the Hay-market. - 1 alk this Per- miffion for the Summer alone. Could I obtain the additional Favour of having his Grace’s Leave to occupy the lit-* tie Playhoiife at Richmond once a Week alfo (where the Nobility and Gentry are de- firous of fuch a Diverfion) which is in his Grace’s Power to grant (that Playhoufe be¬ ing adjacent to a Royal Palace, where His Majefty and many of the Royal Family fre¬ quently are in the Summer) I could by that Means be enabled the better to keep a little Company together. •-With this Indulgence, by a clofe Application to Bufinefs, I might have fome Chance to recruit my poor exhaufted Fi¬ nances, ( 37 ) nances, -and in fome Degree repair the Lofles I have fuftain’d, by being a whole Winter excluded from my Bufinefs. ms Requeft /j, my Lords and Gentlemen, rather of more Confequence than fuing for Life* -^’Tis an bumble and earnefi Soli¬ citation FOR Means to live-1 am the more embolden'd in my Hopes of being thought worthy your Confideration, - when I remember, my Father has, for many Years, enjoy'd the Honour of laughing with you in your focial Hours of private Pleafures, as well as adding to your public Diverfion;-and, in that latter Capacity, your Petitioner has, fometimes, had the Ho¬ nour of adding to your Mirth. The humane Conlideration of making him glad, who has fometimes made you fmile, —- of relieving a Heart from Sorrow, that wiflies ftill to add to your Entertainment, -will, I flatter myfelf, incline you ge- neroufly to fupport this Petition of. My Lords and Gentlemen, Tour mojl obligdy mojl obedient^ And moji devoted humble Servant^ THE. CIBBER. Sometime after the following was delivered. T O G - r— ’s Gr—e I humbly fue, That his Compaffion may renew Licence to entertain the Town, During Vacation-Time alone -y On you, my L—d, depends my Fate, My only Hope, or Chance, to eat: Your kind Compliance, from Diftrefs (As hard to feel,. as to exprefs) Relieves your moft devoted Servant ; Whofe grateful Heart, with Wiflies fervent, Shall for your Gr—’s Welfare pray, As will become him, Night and Day, Thefe Petitions, &c. have been approved ' of by many of the Nobility, Gentry, and others. — But, — alafs! — have not had their wifhed EfFed. ( 39 ) Here follows fome Account of Prynne, men¬ tioned in the firft Dissertation, p. nth. T~^HIS Prynne, of the puritanical Tribe, was a moft virulent Libeller of all who encouraged the Theatre,—fparing no Degrees of Perfons, from the crowned Head to the loweft Mechanic 5—his Abufe had one good Effedl:: — It occafioned many excellent Plays to be printed or revived, as the beft Anfwer to, and Reproof of, his Malevolence, an 4 Scandal. But for this Accident many good Pieces had been loft in Oblivion, which are now an Ornament to the Stage, His Sentence was as follows, — his Book was ordered to be burnt by the Hands of the common Hangman ; —- He was ordered to be put from the Bar (for an unworthy Bar- rifter he was) and fentenced to be excluded the Society of Lincoln s-lnuy to be degraded by the Unlverlity of Oxford^ to ftand in the Pillory at Wejiminjier-Hall, and Cheapfide, to lofe an Ear at each Place, — to ftand with a Paper on his Head, declaring his O/Fence C 4 ( 40 ) to be, ^—the Publifliing an infamous Libel againft their Majefties, the Peers, the Pre¬ lates, and the whole Government, to be find 500 /• — and to fuffer perpetual Imprifon- ment. However flagitious his Crime, his Punifti- ment was certainly heavy enough : But thofe were Times when little Lenity was ufed. — What was the Confequence ? A few well-meaning Patriots flruggled for their na¬ tural Rights and Liberties ; — Power grew jealous, — this created Heats and Animofi- ties on both Sides. — Faftious defigning Men took the Advantage of thofe unhappy Feuds, and introduced Rebellion, Anarchy, and Confufion : — May they never return. — May llrained Power never more irritate a free People, to deviate from Liberty into, Licentioufnefs. SOME (41 ) O M E unwarrantable Strokes of Power in the Year 1733, were aimed at the Liberty of the Stage in general, and at the Liberty of a Comedian in particular (Mr. Harper who was a Freeholder in Surry^ and a Houfekeeper in Wejiminjier) only for endea¬ vouring, in a fettled Manner, to get his Bread by his Profeffion, with his aflbciated Brethren ; he was brought up by a Habeas, to the King S’-Bench^ where a Right Hon. L—d C-f J-e difcharg’d him from his Confinement, only continuing him on his fingle Recognizance, to anfwer any Ob- jeftions might be pretended to be brought againft him :-But his tyrannical Oppref- fors, the Patentees, were advifed, by their Lawyers, not to prefume to carry on a Pro- fecution, — which, on this Occafion, was, by learned Arguments, proved to be an un¬ warrantable, unjuftifiable and illegal Proceed¬ ing. * Of this Mention is made in the firft DlfTertatinn ( 42 ) 'i However, two Years after, when the | Aftors had returned to the Theatre, in f Drury-LanCy and confented to adl again un¬ der the Patent, — the Stage Direftors of thofe Times, it feems, had Influence enough to procure a Bill to be brought into Par-1, for reftraining the Number of Playhoufes, Gff. Under whatever jfpecious Pretences this Bill was brought into the Houfe, it foon be-*- gan to tranlpire, that it was an Artifice of the Patentees, to engrofs to theinjelves the TJfe and Profits of an Arty in which they j were moll ignorant. A few Perfons, of a j peculiar Turn indeed, were very fond of this j Occalion, and feemed defirous to improve it, \ by laying the Ax to the very Root of the Theatre.-Some of thefe were of that - kind of People, who thought the Stage took too great a Liberty, in expoling the Folly and 1 Wickednefs of mock Patriots, and mock | Zealots : Whofe tender Confciences coulcT not bear the fevere Strokes of Wit, which- 1 (in their Sentiments perhaps) too fmartly lalh'd the Craft, and Cant, of Bigots, Knaves, and HypocritesWith fuch, while Wit I A ( 45 ) Wit was judged Wickednefs, — no Wonder Dulnefs, or Stupidity, pafled for Wifdom. — As if good Ehamour was inconfiftent with Religion, or to be chearful, and to have the Ufe of our Senfes were repugnant to the Dictates of Morality and Chriftianity. —-- It was plainly feen by thofe who would make Ufe of their own Eyes, that thefe ftifF, ftarch'd Gentry meant this Stroke at the Theatre, but as a Prelude to further Re- ftrid:Ions. For, with fuch Men, Encourage¬ ments to Literature, in any Shape, muft ap¬ pear a Nufance : ’Tis their Intereft, to chain up the Senfes of Mankind in general; to fhut up all Refources to Knowledge ; to pro¬ hibit all Freedom of Speech (nay of Thought if poffible) that their Pradlices may be lefs lia¬ ble to Difcovery, and their galled Confciences fecure from the Sharpnefs of Reproof, and the poignant Stings of Satire. But when it was plainly perceived, this Bill was chiefly calculated to ferve the Ma^, nagers of two Theatres,-it began to be treated with lefs Refpedl, than it was at its firfl: Appearance; ’till, at length, even Tony Aston (a ftrolling Player of Interludes) of droje ( 44 ) drole Memory, was introduced to the Bar, where he pleaded his Caufe, in Forma ^ FauperiSy before the Honourable Ch—m—n of the C—m—tee;—and, operating on the rifible Mufcles of the Gay, and Good-natu¬ red, he fairly laughed it out of the Houfe. — On Occafion of this Bill, the following Cases were prefented feverally to the Houfe, and back’d by Petitions to that Purpofe, — j m: f THE ' ( 45 ) -THE CASE O F John Mills, James Quin, Benjamin John- fon, Theophilus Cibber, Jofiah Miller, William Milward, John Harper, Benja¬ min Griffin, William Mills, Dennis De- lane, Lacy Ryan, Thomas Chapman, Mary Heron, Katherine Horton, Elizabeth But¬ ler, and Catherine Clive 5 on Behalf of ^bemfelveSj and the other principal AStorSy and Performers of the two theatres Royal of Drury-Lane, and Covent-Garden ; in Relation to a Bill now depending in Parlia- menty for refraining the Number of Play^ houfesy &c« H E ASIng of Tragedies and Come¬ dies, being not only a Profeffion legal in itfelf, as well in this Kingdom as all others ; but a Profeffion that has been greatly encouraged by the learned and ferious Part of Mankind for many Ages paft; and when¬ ever any Performer hath acquired a Reputa¬ tion ( 46 ] tion in that Profeffion, the fame .hath been by fuch only as entered into that Bufinefs in their Infancy, and applied all their Time therein with great Pains and Study. The above named Performers, entered in¬ to this Profeffion in their Youth, and by great Study and Application, have arrived to fuch Reputation therein, as hath merited them fuch Stipends or Salaries, as enable them to maintain themfelves and Families, in a comfortable Manner. But fhould the Bill now depending before the Houfe of Commons, for reftraining the Number of Play-Houfes, pafs into a Law, in the Manner it now ftands ; the fame would be fuch a Reftraint on the Liberty of the Performers, that they would be debarred of the Privilege every Englijhman enjoys, and the beft of them fcarce capable of getting his Bread, which would tend to the great Difcouragement of the Profeffion, and, as it is hopedy is not 'the Intention of the Legi- flature. It is well known, that when there was only two Theatres, the Mafters or Patentees thereof, entred into an Agreement (which they called a Cartel) greatly to the Prejudice of () of the Performers in general \ and at the Pleafure of the Mafters, rendered them in¬ capable of a Livelihood, they having ipent their youthful Days in that Profeffion only, were unable to betake themfelves to any other Imployment. And the Agreement or Cartel, continued till very lately, and would probably have been ftill, had not a * Body of the prvicipal Performers joined together, and afferted the Rights and Liberties of Englijh- meriy by having recourfe to the Law of the Land; by which Means, they were permit¬ ted to exercife their Imployment, without the Reftraint and Oppreffion of' their Pa¬ tentees. Under thefe Circumftances, the above- named ^John Millsy Pbeopbilus Cibbery and eight other Performers, took a Leafe of Vrury-Lane Play-Houfe, at the Rent of 920 /. per Ann, which they have covenanted to pay, clear of Taxes, for fifteen Years. And fhould it be thought proper to pafs the Bill as it now ftands, it would be in the Power of the Patentee to ad: in what Houfe • At the Hay-Market Theatre, under the Diredion of Meflrs, yehn Ben yohnjbn, Hho, Cibber^ &c, or { 48 ) or Theatre he pleafed, and corifequently the Leflees of 'Drury-Lane Play-Houfe could not carry on their Bufinefs in that Theatre, to enable them to pay the Rent thereof. Therefore it s humbly hoped, that their Pro¬ perty in that Refpedt will not only be taken care off, but their Rights and Liberties in ] every other Refpeft ^ and that a Power may | be.veiled in fome Perfon or Perfons proper j for that Purpofe, to relieve any Grievance or ’ Oppreflion which the Performers may from \ time to time labour under from the Pa¬ tentees, either concerning their Salaries, or otherwife; for the Patents, as they at pre- ; fent Hand, have from time to time been fo of¬ ten affigned over from one Perfon to another, that the Performers don’t know under what Mailer they may fall; and fuch has been the j Inveteracy of fome of the late Patentees to , the Aftors, that when Mrs. Booth, Execu- ; trix of her late Hufband, Barton Booths Efq; fold her lixth Part of the Patent to Mr. Gifardy Ihe made him covenant, not to fell or aflign it to Aftors. THE ( 49 ) THE C A S E Of the two Companies of Comedians of the ^Theatres Royal^ of Drury-Lane, and Co¬ vent-Garden, in Relation to the Bill now depending in Parliament ^ for refraining the Number of Houfes for Plafngof Interludes^ &c. T N this Bill is a Claufe of the following ^ Purport, No Perfon or Perfons lhall aft, reprefent, or perform any Tragedy, Comedy, or other Entertainment of the Stage, except fuch Perfon or Perfons in whom the Right and Property of, in, or to the feveral Letters Patent mentioned in the Bill is veiled, and their refpeftive De-^ ** puties and Servants^ If this Claufe ihould pafs into a Law, the faid Companies do humbly conceive, that all their Rights and Liberties, which they are D by ( 50 ) ^ by Nature, and by the Law, as E,ngUJhmen^ ' intitled to, v/ill be thereby wholly transferred out of themfelves, and vefted in fuch Per- fons as fliall hereafter become poffeffed of the aforefaid Patents ; and it will be abfo- lutely in the Power of fuch Patentees to deal with the faid Comedians as they (hall think fit, and to take the Profit and Fruit of all the faid Comedians Labour, Study and Ex¬ perience, without even allowing them the Means of fubfifting. As the Law now ftands, the Managements and Agreements, called Cartels, made be¬ tween Patentees, do fufficieHtly atteft the In¬ clinations they have had to opprefs the Co¬ medians, and take from them that Liberty, which hitherto they have been fo happy as to preferve, by the Law of the Land. Therefore, if Patentees fhould be armed with this Claufe, the Ruin of the Comedians is inevitable. As the Bufinefs of the Stage, which is to be eftablifhed by this Bill, cannot be carried on, but by the Labour, Study and Induftry of the Comedians; they humbly hope the Legiflature will not think it reafonable, they dial! ( 51 ) iliall be thereby abfolutely undone, and made only Inftruments in the Hands of Paten¬ tees, to be~ applied and dealt with juft as they and their Affigns from time to time (hall think fit. This will be a Cafe attended with the higheft Circumftances of Opprefli- on ; and therefore they do further humbly hope, that their Rights, Properties and Li¬ berties, will be taken into Confideration, and that they may be fecured to them in fuch Manner as £hall be thought moft meet. iV. B. Mr. yohfi Milky Mr. Theo» Cibbery &c. have taken a Leafe of Drury-Lane Theatre, for Years, at 920/. per A?2n, be- fide Taxes, Repairs, If this Bill pafies, they not being able to perform, but un¬ der the Patentees, they may (whenever the Patentees think it proper to defert the faid Theatre) have near a Thoufand Pounds per Ann. to pay, after the Means of raifing » it is taken away by Law/ D 2 A ( 5^ ) A Paper, called T^he Promptery was then publiflied, from which I have extraded fbme Paragraphs relative to this BILL;—which I thought might be properly inferted here. I Heartily agree with the Majority of all Ranks, and Diftinftions, that there is the mofl vifible Neceffity for reducing our The¬ atres under fome better Regulation, than they have hitherto been govern'd by.—But then I am for applying the Axe to the Root of the Evil:—Inftead of confining the royal Per- miflion to thofe Hands, in which it has al¬ ready been treated fo fcandaloufly, I am for depriving, in the firft Step, thofe licentious, as well as licens'd. Incumbents, ofa'Power, they have appeared fo- unworthy of. I will not undertake for the Truth of a Report, which, yet, feems likely enough to Ueferve the Cre“dit it meets with among think¬ ing Men \—that the Advertifement concern¬ ing ( 53 ) ing a Defign to build, by Subfcriptlon, a New Theatre, near the Heart of the City, was a Manager’s Stratagem, to alarm and in- cenfe its Magiftrates, and pave the Way for Succels of his own modeft Purpofe, to efta- blilh his Throne (and that of his Brother Monarch) in the Empire of Nonfenfe, by a parliamentary Exclulion of all other Pre¬ tenders. Great Pains have been taken, by ^ at leaf!: of thefe Stage Sovereigns, to prove his Subjects no better than Rogues, under Pro- tedlion of' his Patent.—Now, to fay nothing of the Efteem which this muft have procur’d him from his loving People, he feems to have borrow’d an Abfurdity fr6m the Harlequin Side of his Charafter ; fince a Fool, at the Head of Rogues, muft have put Monarchy into manifeft Danger : The Reverfe of this extraordinary Pofition being both the fe- cureft and the commoneft Situation. I fliall dedicate a Paper or two to the tho¬ rough Examination of this Subjeft: For, if the Players Profeffion is unlawful and unwar- D 3 rantable, * T . R . Efq; in t} Cafe of Harper . ( 54 - ) f rantable, he, who lives by their Exercife of it, niufl: be a fneaking and infamous Betray¬ er of the Intereft and Honour of his Coun¬ try .—Whence, it is plain, that if the Mana¬ gers of our Play-houfes continue to reap'Pro¬ fit from a Profeffion they have fo openly ftig- matized, they believed not a Word of the Arguments they made ufe of; and their Sin¬ cerity fhou’d be reverenced accordingly. But I own myfelf very far from confider^ ing the oft-quoted. Statute oi\Elizabeth in the Senfe which is commonly given it:—I be¬ lieve, on the contrary, it is eafy to prove,— firft, that the Word Interludes, in that Adt, bears no Relation at all either to Tragedy or Comedy, in a Theatre ;-and, fecondly, that the Adtors cou’d never be meant, or in¬ cluded, within the Compafs of that extraor¬ dinary Statute. To infer from a reafonable and necefiary Difcountenance of Vagabonds affuming the Player, that all Players, regularly fuch, ought alfo to be confidered as Vagabonds, is a groundlefi a 7 jd irrational Contradiction to common Senfe^ and a Satire on the Wifdom of Parliaments. —Neither is the Compliment, which ( 55 ) which is paid by thefe deep-difcerning Pa¬ tentees of the Theatres, to the Royal Power, under which they afiert their Monopoly, the leaft Opening they have given us, to judge of their Underftanding, and their Gratitude : —- No Matter (fay they) tho’ the Players, by the Sweat of whofe Brow we live comfort¬ ably, are Vagabonds and Rogues, by the Sta¬ tute, the King can proteit ’em, by calling them his Servants. — And it is no fuch un- comnion Thing, for a King to have Rogues in his Service. — But they ought to have been convinced by the Royal Refentment, that it is no Prerogative of a Crown to pro- tedl the Bafe or the Guilty 5 and that if Men are ufefully and honeftly employ’d, it is In¬ famy to fuppofe, that they ihould ftand in need of a^ Shelter. — If illegally and cor¬ ruptly, it is an Affront to the Majefty of Kings, to provide them a Power for fup- porting or licenling them. Upon the whole ; All the Evil to be found in dramatic Inftitutions, arifes from one Root: And that is, the Avarice and Igno- . ranee of Men who take upon them their D 4 ' Manage- ( 56 ) Management.-Were the Government of the Stage in judicious and capable Hands, no Aftor would dare to be lazy, becaufe fure to be degraded in Confequence : Neither would he dare to be arrogant, becaufe he would be judged of, and treated impartially. He would be taught, that to ftudy his Part, required more than to remernber the Words of it. — The Poets too would lofe Time, if ever they writ loofely, becaufe fure to have their Pieces rejedled, for that Reafon.-So that the Town would be formed, by a kind of infenfible Compulfion, into a juft, and a moral Tafte ; becaufe no Plays would be feen, but fuch as were formed upon thofe Princi¬ ples. I gave fome Reafons in my laft, why an Attempt of our Play-houfe Patentees, to fe- cure to themfelves, their Heirs, and Affigns, a Monopoly of dramatic Wit, in this King¬ dom, was an arrogant, and ill-grounded Proof, that they had but little of the Com¬ modity to fpare, notwithftanding their Der ftgn to engrofs it.-- I come now to another Diviiion of my Purpofe; which is, to conftder, why the Bill, { 57 ) ^ Bill, as folicited by thofe Interefted Mana^^ gers, was neither neccffary, nor expedient; and with what Variation it might poffibly have been formed, in fuch Manner, as to have been acknowledged both the one and the other. Had not the Wifdom of an illuftrious Body diftinguifhed, as it juftly did, between regulating Players, and immuring them ; be¬ tween the Improvement of a Theatre, and the Enrichments of it’s Managers; the ever to be lamented Succefs of two or three pri¬ vate Men’s Prefumption, would have torn away from the public Hope, all Means, Ex- peftation, or Likelihood, of ever feeing the Stage in a Condition becoming the Greatnels of a People, who would be thought either lettered or politic. That inattentive and indolent Survey, with which moft Readers run over thefe Pa¬ pers of the Week, makes it neceffary to repeat Confeffions we would wifli remem¬ bered. -Let me therefore, here again, de¬ clare, that' I allow the Stage to be corrupt, and that it languiflies for Reformation. — But I cannot, without ftumbling, get over fuch ( 58 ) fuch a Rub, in the Way of Common Senfe, as that appropriating the Power of corrupt¬ ing it farther, to thofe who have been fo adtive ' in corrupting it already, is the Means of pro¬ tecting us, againft the Growth of its Corruption! It is not from the Number, but the Na¬ ture of Things, we are to expedt their In¬ fluence, in Good, or Evil.-Let the Root of a Tree be found, and the Soil not im¬ proper, and it will never the fooner wither, for the Widenefs of it’s Branches. Even were we, for Argument’s Sake, to al¬ low that the Stage is dangerous in itfelf, I don’t know, but an Adi for it’s Reilraint might tend rather to make it defirable, than weaken it’s Influence.-When fome deep, and turbulent River, has obfl:rudled the March of an Army, we read of Generals who, by mul¬ tiplying it’s Channels, have reduc’d it to the requifite Shallownefs. — Why fhou’d we not expedl a like Effedl, from a Caufe of the fame Nature, fuppofing it applied to the Play-houfes ? — Were their Numbers to be ,encreafed, the Delight they afford would, in Confequence, be lefs tempting: The No¬ velty taken away, would mfenfibly diminifh the ( 59 ) the Delire. —► And when thofe honeft Citi¬ zens, of whofe Welfare their Magiftrates are fo prudently careful, fhould find Play- houfes as familiar to them as their Wives, they would grow lefs fond of them, for the fame Reafon. So that in this Light, their Reftraint were bad Policy. It has been urged with more Noife than Argument, that without fome feafonable Re¬ ftraint, we might come to have a Play-houfe fet up in every Street.-The very fame Complaint was made, by fome gloomy En- thufiafts, in the Reign of King Charles the Firft. — There were then eight Play-houfes within the Bills of Mortality, and the Town fcarce, no, not a twentieth Part, half fo large or fo populous as at prefent.—Thefe were fo many Looking-Glaffes, in which thofe Pro¬ moters of Fad:ion and Anarchy faw them- felves, and were mortified.-At length, together with Law, Religion, and Monar¬ chy, down went the Theatres ! - But what arofe in their Place, gave, I think, no great Inducement to make us fond of re¬ newing the Example. A Play-houfe in every Street, is a Sen¬ tence, that (like Patentees of the Theatre) carries ( 6o ) carries an empty, tho’ formidable Sound ? — The Words have Menace, and Vanity; but their Meaning is light, and ridiculous. — Let us fuppofe a Foundation for the extrava- % gant Idea: -What ill Confequence could follow?-Are there not Taverns in every Street ? Places whofe Support depends really on that Luxury, which is but aukwardly, and affeftedly, made a Ground-work for the Encreafe of our Theatres ?-Let us ima¬ gine the Number of thefe Taverns reduced to a fourth, by Effeca; of fome Adt of Re¬ formation, which had the Honour to be fo^ licited, by Men of fuch known Self-denial and Gravity, as the Managers of our Farces and Opera’s;-fliould we then fee Drun- kennefs diminifli, in Proportion to fo pious a Reduction ? —— Not at all. — The Cafe, as it regards the Public, would be found juft the fame : The Taverns remaining, being a fourth of their former Number, would have four Times their former Cuftom: And the only Improvement vilible would be, that a Few would grow extravagantly rich, upon the Follies of the Public, inftead of a great many moderately fo. 'Patentees might I ( ) might not be able to fupport the Grandeur of Nobility y but they might Jlill live quite as well as they deferve^ and much better than any of their Family did before 'em'* It would be the fame Thing exadtly, in the Cafe of the Play-houfes.-Any Re- Rraint of their Number, without proportio¬ nable Enlargement to their Manager s Capa¬ city (an Extent of Grace, for which I have heard of no Precedent, in Parliament) would be of Benefit only to the Licentiates of DuU- nefs. —— Harlequin'^ Dogs might indeed be transformed into Race-Horfes j and he might call up new Domes to fuftain himfelf^ in Place of depofed Mercury j infulting Wit, with the Triumphs of Folly : But far would all this be from refining, or correcting the Stage! -- Emulation, on the contrary, would be exfmguiflied, both in ACtors and Managers ; and theatric Entertainment muft degenerate in Proportion. After having thus plainly declared for ivhat Reafons I am pleafed with that Damp, • which has been thrown by the Legiflature, .upon the Warmth of the Managers Expecta¬ tion and Avarice j I fliall offer my Thoughts ( 6z ) in a Hint, how a virtual Reftraint may be ca^ pable of anfwering every good Purpofe, with¬ out any of that unneceffary Severity, which would be fuppofed to accompany an adlual one. . Inrtead of putting down all Play-houfes^ but fuch as are ftamped with the Mark of Authority, and carry their Lead, at the Head of the Piece, like Broad-Cloth, in the Shops of our Woollen-Drapers, it would be fufficient, (or I am greatly out in my Judg¬ ment) — to prohibit the Afting any Farce, Harlequihery, Buffoonery, or other, dancing, finging, dumb, or deferving to be dumb, En¬ tertainment, or .any Thing, beyond, plain Tragedy, or Comedy — except only in the Royal, and Licens'd Theatres.— Such an Ad: muft be approved, even by the Patentees, becaufe it would leave to thofe Sampjbns of the Stage, the lovely Da-- lilahs they are fo fond of; and beftow no¬ thing upon their Rivals, but what they have made it a Choice, to part with already. It muft be approved by the Adors, be¬ caufe being wholely ufelefs, as the Thea¬ tres are managed at prefcnt, they would be reftored ( 63 ) feftored to a Chance in the new ones, of re¬ covering their JDiftinftion and Encourage¬ ment. -It muft he approved by the Town, be- caufe Audiences w^ould be left to the En¬ joyment of their natural Liberty. — The Gay, and the Fafhionable, might meet one another at the Sign’ of the Licenfe 3 while the Wife and the Serious, would content themfelves with plain Reafon, nor regard good Senfe the lefs, becaufe my Lord has no Tafte for it. One of thefe following Confequences muft, inevitably, attend fuch a general Indul¬ gence to poor Senfe, with Reftraint from thofe fine Things only, which are fit for Rank and Diftinition : — Either the New Theatres, Encouragement failing, muft drop, of themfelves, in which Cafe the Guilt of their Murder could not be charged upon their Rivals - or their Succefs, fhould they' meet with it, muft be the Reward of their Merit, in afting, and of their Skill in the Choice of their Pieces : In which laft Cafe,-* they would corredf, and reform their Competitors of the Patents 3 till, by out-aft- ing ( 64 ) I ing and out-managing them, they might (I ^eak with due Salvo to the Poffibility of the Suppohtion!) ihame thole licens’d Stage- Triflers out of Corruption and Ignorance, and compel ’em, in Confequence, either to ^ve up their afie^ed Diftin^on j or main- ton it, by a well-grounded Superiority, in l&eir Judgment and Influence. ( 65 ) The following Addrefs to a cofijiderable Perfon (a great Favourer of the Bill) was wrote at that Time ; but (the Bill being dropped) it was laid by": —- Yet, as not foreign to the prefent ^Purpofe, we hope it may be acceptable to the Reader. To the H—iUSu J— B - . T H E declined Stage was before in fo languifhing a Condition, and Science in general reduced to fo low an Ebb, that a lefs Ikilful Hand than yours, would have fufficed to deprefs it; but in all Nations it has had its Rife and Fall: Our Britain has, for a Century pad, been the Patronefs of Arts, but now no more.—Unhappy are the Men who, for the bed Part of their Lives, have afGduoufly drove to cultivate a Science, for which they lhall be adjudged Vagabonds. — A pleafing Profpedl for a Man, who has toiled twenty, thirty, or forty Years ; who, tho’ guilty of no Crime or Indecency, if, by the Caprice of a Mader or Patentee, he fliould be difcharged, fhall be called a Rogue by A(d of Parliament, becaufe he's a Player. Hard State ! So that, at bed, he was but a licenfed Rogue ) yet this is mere Contra- E dicdion: { 66 ) dliSion : — If the being a Comedian makes a Man a Rogue and Vagabond out of the Theatre, why will an Afl: of Parliameiit licence him jn one ? Or do they put up with a fmall Number of Rogues, if confin’d to two Theatres only ? The Theatre, from it’s firft Inftitution, has always had the Honour of being fup- ported by Men of the beft Senfe and Tafte y and has ever been efteem’d the beft School for moral Virtue, and the only Academy for inftrufting People in their Mother Tongue > and, I dare venture to fay, whatever Improve¬ ments have been made in our Language, are chiefly owing to that. From the earlieft Days Mankind has been lur’d to Virtue by inftrudtive Fables ^ and I believe you’ll find the Book of Job to be one of the dramatic Kind. The holy Writ makes frequent Inferences to the old Grecian Poets j and even our bleflTed Saviour, who purg’d the Temple of Jerufalem of the Mpney- Brokers, ©’c. never once fpoke agajnft the Theatres ; for it may be proved both by Hif^ tory and Chronology, that there were Plays> and other public Diverfions, as well at yeru^ falem^ as other Parts of Judea : Had he not known known it to be conducive to Virtue, he, who warn’d ’em of all Vice, would fure have per- fuaded ’em againft that 3 fo far from it, he himfelf has chofe to teach that, and fucceed- ing Ages, by Parables; on which fame De- iign the Stage Entertainments are founded: That is, inftruftive Fables, fo wrought up, as to convey, at the fame Time, Pleafure and Profit. Nay, whoever confiders the Views of the Pulpit and Stage, muft neceffarily confefs they were defigned mutually to affift each other : The Theatre was to moralize Men,’ either fmilingly to lure ’em into Virtue, or by (hewing ’em the tragical EfFedls of Vice, with all the Flowers of Rhetoric and Poetry, to point out the dangerous Paths, and guide ’em to the right: The Pulpit was, by grave Precepts, to fix and improve thofe' Morals that the Stage infpir’d 5 the Theatre was to purge away the grofs Humours, and cleanfe the filthy Mafs, and the Pulpit a reviving Cordial to reftore it to its primitive Vigour. Randolph, an old Englijh Poet, fays- -They abufe our Scene, and fay We live by Vice : Indeed ’tis true, E 2 As ( 68 ) As the Phyficians by Difeafes dog ‘‘ Only to cure them*' And again, —Boldly I dare fay, There have been more by us, in fome one Play, Laugh'd into Wit and Virtue, than hath been’ By twenty tedious Ledlures, drawn from « Sin." But when I endeavour to prove that the Stage and Pulpit are alike calculated to re¬ form the Vicious, I know there are People in England^ who will wreft my Meaning to Blafphemy 5 who, by pretending tender Con- fciences, are allowed to diffent from the ef- tablilhed Religion of their Country, and, not content with that, wou’d, if they cou’d, a- bolifli it: Who, like the outcaft Fiend, ftill reftlefs and unfatisfied, repine at the Good of their Neighbours, and damn all who differ from their Tenets who 5 think no Man can be virtuous, unlefs ftupidly dull; and that Wit and Chriftianity are inconliftentj de- fpifing Knowledge, becaufe they ufe it not j all their Wifdgm confiding in a ftarch’d Gra¬ vity, ( 69 ) vity, clofe Hypocrify, and mimic PIety.-»- What wou’d they have Where would their mad-Brain'd Zeal hurry them ? Have they not already dethroned one King, mar¬ tyr’d their anointed Lord, and pioufly de- ftroyed their Brethren and Kindred, becaufe they cou’d not think the fame Way as they ? What! And are they again purfuing the old Scheme ? I think ’tis plain to all Perfons in their Senfes : Are they not, even now, en¬ deavouring for a Repeal of the Teji by which Means they have Hopes of fharing in Power, and the Adminiftration of Affairs; and by that Means be better enabled to per¬ petrate and renew their former horrid Vil¬ lainies ? Would they make Time, as it comes round, carry the fame fatal Influence, and (which Heaven avert) the Forty-eight of this Century tally with the Forty-eight of the lafl: ! And what we are to expedt, we mufl: judge by their Behaviour heretofore-Our Monarch is pur Guardian, and we, as well as his other Subjedts, depend on his Clp- mency for Life, that is, the Enjoyment pf Life (Liberty), Heaven gave us Life; our King gives us Liberty, without which, L jfe ( 70 ) is but a vaft Nothing, or a galling Load j and every Englijhman juftly abhors both pa¬ pal and fanatic Rulers. Their ftriking at the Stage is but a Pre¬ lude,—they wou’d, if they cou’d, entirely deftroy all Learning, nay, chain up your very Senfes: For whilft Mens Eyes are open they W'ill fee, and, whilft they fee, dif- cover their Pradices j Satire .or Reproof flings their galPd Confciences to the Quick. The Bill now depending in Parlianrfent, may, by fome, perhaps, be efteem’d a pub¬ lic Good ; that is, by all who are mean-fpirited enough to rejoice at the Slavery of their Fel- low-Subje£ls. The Occafion of its bringing in was, the Report of a Playhoufe being to be built in St. Martin le Grand^ which Re¬ port was previoufly raifed (as I am well in¬ formed), for that Purpofe 5 there never be¬ ing any fuch Thing defign’d, or on Foot (fo that if it is a private Good, the firft Source of it was fome low private Pique). There was too, about the fame Time, a Letter in one of the daily Papers, wherein feveral Reafons were aim’d at, endeavouring to prove the ill Confequence thereof 5 and fome invidious Hints ( 71 ) Hints at Goodmans-FieldsT^\xQ2Xrt^ declare, that they all come from the fame public-fpi- rked Hand.- It has been proved by Counfel, learned in the Law, in Harpers Cafe, that the Bufi- nefs of afting Plays' is lawful ; for that if it were illegal, the King could not grant a Pa¬ tent. His Majefty cannot authorife a Man to fteal; and a Patent, granted as at Drury^ Lancy is only to conliitute fuch Perfons his Majefty’s Servants, but cannot m*ake the Thing elfewhere illegal. No Power can make Malum infiy Bonum tit fcy tho** fanatic Hypocrify nlay make it feem fo. You fay they continue to aft in Defiance of his Ma¬ jefty and the Aits of Parliament; no; they aft by the inhere'nt Right every Engli/hman was always deern’d to have, till no\^, of fol¬ lowing any' vifible Means of Livelihood he pleafes.—I believe there' are feveral Men in London that make confiderable Figures, whofe Bufinefs or Arts are not illegal, tho* there is iio‘ diredt LaW' for them. Foreigners that come over to England ate free to chufe what fimployment they will, and (hall a Native E 4 b? ( ) be denied what is granted to Interlopers ? If Patents can protedl People from the Laws, here they are neceflary. A Scum of exil’d Frenchmen or Italians have Need of a Patent to play by; but the Defign of this Bill is not to opprefs them.—There is a Loophole for the firft to get out of, and tV^p latter have a ftronger Power than a Patent, they are made a Body-incorporate, by Charter, under the Title of the Royal Academy of Mufic. A Charter, every body knows, is the ftrongeft Grant that can be. They are, in fhort, deem’d as confiderable Perfons as the whole City af London^ or any other; fqr they fubfift but by Charter; whilft his Majefty’s Englijh Servants have a Patent for twenty-one Years. For fliame blot it from your Records, left Pofterity laugh at the Folly of their Sires. The fecond Charge is Lewdnefs, and the inticing ’Prentices from their IVIafters Buli- nefs ; here you miftake the Effeft for the Caufe : ’Tis not the Playhoufe makes them kwd, but (if it is fo) they the Playhoufe; and unlefs you can deprive People of their Appetites, you do nothing: A Man that is vicioufly ( 73 ) vicioufly inclined will be fo at a Church, a$ well as a Playhoufe. As to ’Prentices, and Perfons of the-like Clafs, ’tis evident they will Ipend their leifure Evenings fomewhere abroad 5 if they go to a Play, it will coft' ’em but one Shilling for the whole ; if they go to a Tavern, or even an Alehoufe, it mufl: needs coft them more, befides the Danger of coming Home drunk, and fetting Fire to their Mailers Houfes -r And further,—the Spirit of Gaming now runs fo through the Kingdom, that they are more liable to be in- fnared by that than any Vice, which may be attended with the worft Confequence ; and, I think, this, and another moll deteftable Sin, that is daily growing up amongft us, calls louder for the Regulation of the Legiflature, than the Playhoufes. Are not our Youth fo debauch’d with Effeminacy and Italian Airs, that we daily Tee Male Children of the bell - Families, dwindle almoll into Women ? And, is the antient Britijh Fire, Spirit, and Bra¬ very, to be fupported by fuch as thefe } On the other Hand, don’t our Ladies look and behave more like Males than the Gentle- ; men ? Is it not cullomary, for Ladies of Falhion I ( 74 ) Fafliion efpecially^ and Citizens Wires too, when the Tea-Equipage is difpatch’d, to fit either to Cards or Hazard, and play away the Portion of a favourite Child at a fingk Setting ? Does the Playhoufe encourage Gam- jng and Effeminacy ? On the Reverfe, does it not expofe them both kt a partieukr Man¬ ner ? Befides, the Theatre in Fields k chiefly fupported by C^^tarns: of Ships^ and feafaring Men, who thereby caitry abroad a Tafle of Politenefe and Generofity, and^v^ the World a better Idea of Englijh Manners ; they are roufcd from* their Barbarity, and taught to think like* human; .Creatures j a confiderable Sum of their Money is^ left here to circulate, which otherwife, per¬ haps, be carried abroad,- Or confider the better Clafs of People that frequent it,—^which are MerchautSi Tradef- fnen, their Wives,* or Daughters : Gan it any Way interfere with their Bufinds, it: ne¬ ver beginning'till the Hour that* all Bufinefs is over, and' has conftandy doner by Ten at fartheft,, which is no unfealbnablhHour j but I think ( 75 ) I think an Objedtion is raifed, that it Is of bad EfFeft to young Tradefmen, by making them negledl their ^ulinefs, and Ipending their Money, which is often the Caufe of their becoming Bankrupts. As to their Bufinefs, I think 'tis anfwered before ; and as to the Expences, if a Man goes to the Play every Time one is adled (which no-body does) it may ftand him in but eight or nine Pounds />er Annum 5 fo that *tis evident the Play- houfe cannot contribute to any Man's break¬ ing : — No, — 'tis the Affedtation of the younger Tradefmen to appear like Gentle¬ men, to keep their Brace of Geldings and MIftreffes, a Foot-boy, and a Country-houfe; to have a fumptuous Table ; 'tis this that makes fo many Bankrupts : All which Vices the Theatre condemns and ridicules. I think 'tis needlefs to mention the Num¬ ber of Tradefmen and Families that fubhft entirely by that Houfe, and muft confe- quently perifli, if denied the Freedom of Subjedls of England, to live by their Bu¬ finefs. Limners, Etchers, and Engravers, are al¬ lowed a Property in their Works j the Man that ( 76 ) that preferves our' Shadows, is carefled and rewarded; a Hair Cutter fhall get an Eftate, and People grow rich by making a Lixivium to clean our Hands and Faces: But a Set of People, that endeavour to lure us to Virtue, to mend our Manners, and inform us with a living Soul, we treat like Slaves, o^: Things beneath our Cognizance. A Fiddler (hall be enrolled in a Company, tho* all the Benefit he is to Mankind, is only tp amufe a drun¬ ken Herd of a Lord Mayor's Day, or fet the Girls a jigging to fome lamentable Tune j whilft a Playe|-, the juft Mirror of the Age he lives in, — that holds ye up a Glafs, and (hews ye your Follies, difplays your Vice, and tells ye where to amend, — is poorly condemned to be efteemed a Vagabpnd. Barbarous Thought \ Injuftice to the laft Degree ! —• a Freeman of London^ a Native of England^ our Fellow-Subjed, and our Brother in a focial Tye, lhall be denied the Liberty that is allowed French Dancers, and Harlequins, — to effeminate Enunchs, and Sod- 1 Italians ; yet fuch fhall be en¬ couraged, and Englijhmen defpifed! That. ( 77 ) That the Stage is the chief Encouraget of the Mufes, is plain, and in fome late Years, where the Stage met with Succefs, it produ¬ ced feveral fine Genius’s within itfelf. All the NecelTaries of Life the great Dryden had, was from thence 5 this, I believe, is well known to all Men. — But now 'tis ufelefs all, — the Poets and the Players Labours 5 vainly has a Shakefpear^ Dryden^ Southerriy Otwayy RowCy impearled each Eye, warmed the phlegmatic Soul to glorious Deeds, and melted each obdurate Heart to Pity:-- Vainly have yohnfoTiy Fletcher y and manly Wycherlyy lafhed our Follies \ — Englandy ungrateful to the laft Degree, as if fhe had vowed to abrogate all Wit, and Scnfe,-- condemned her Poets whilft alive to ftarve, and dooms the Orators, that keep alive their Works, Vagrants. Have we not even now one living, who, belonging to the Stage, hath produced feveral moral and entertain¬ ing Comedies ? Of which the Carelefs Huf- bandy and the Provoked Hujbandy will be lafting Monuments, fpite of the Ingratitude pf his Countrymen ? Is not Vice and Folly, there ( 78 ) there expofed in the moft lively Manner^ and Virtue cheriftied ? If it can be proved that any one Perfon ever learned Virtue at an Opera, or imbibed one good Thought at the moft favourite Air of Farinelloy Pll give up the Stage to the Mercy of it's word. Ene¬ mies without repining. I may have already been too prolix, there¬ fore will only beg leave to make one Re¬ mark more concerning the Stage of Great Britain y which is, that in every Reigriy in which’ Liberty and Honour flouriftied, the Stage was likewife cherijhed 5 — which is no Indication, that it depraves Men's Manners. As for Inftance, the firft Traces of it were in Henry the Vlllth’s Time; it funk with the Protestant Religion, beneath Queen Marys Perfecution : In Queen Elizabeth's Time it flouriftied again, — and Shake^ear was a Player, beloved by the Queen. Du¬ ring the Civil War, it was laid afide, and thofe very Fanatics, that murdered their King, aboliftied the Play-houfe ; but may Heaven fubvert their prefent Defign, which carries a manifeft Tendency to the fame End: Dif- appointed in their Repeal, they fain would ti-y ( 79 ) try their Force in this; which Point, if car* ried, will induce them next to llrike at the Liberty of the Prefs j and where then they may drive is impoffible to imagine. This Epiftle, by fome gloomy Malevolents, will be looked on as impertinent; but Juftice is open to the loweft ; Lofers have leave to Ipeak.— And what mull become of 500 Fa¬ milies, who will be dellroyed by this Adi, yet have a Right to live as well as you, or any of their Fellow-Subjedls ?-Will they not have Reafon to wilh they had been born any Thing but Britom ? -There are many who have had the bell Education, who are unable to endure the Fatigues of Labour, and can apply to nothing elfe ; and I believe, there is no Inllance of a Parliament of Eng-- land^ depriving the Subjedl of their Right. The Intent of Law is to guards not to break tbrd their Privileges: But herein the Liber¬ ty of many,—nay, their all is llruck at s and he that tamely lies down, and fulFers himfelf to be trod on, deferves fuch Ufage. And if their Privileges .are to be thus invaded, and their Rights dellroyed, let's hope you next will chain ’em to Oars, — there to drag out a few ( *0 ) few tirefome Moments, and, with their dying Breath, curfe their Undoers. ' You often affed. Sir, --to be a zealous Pleader for our Liberties; — give me Leave therefore to afk you,-‘‘ Whether it is conjijlent with Common Senfe and JuJlicey to make a Penal Law againjl a Profejjion^ that no haw h2iS pronounced Criminal ?*’ As all Approaches towards abjolute Power, .arbitrary Adminiflrationy ought to be ftrenuoufly oppofed, —— fhould there not be a more than ordinary Care taken, that fuch fuperior Powers fhould never come into the Hands of fo inferior a Magiftrate^ as a fujlice of the Peace ; who, may not always be wife enough,—too often, not honefl enough, — and rarely, very rarely, indepen-, dent enough,-to be entrufted with the extraordinary Powers of original and final Jurifdidion ?-When by fuch Laws, the Englijh fuJHce is invefted with the Power of a lurkijh Bajhaw^ the Briton will have but little Reafon to boaft his Superiority of Free¬ dom over the Mujfelman, -Will fuch Powers be confftent with our Constitu¬ tion ? -- How deliberately therefore ought every e^ery Member to weigh every Article of any Bill that is propofed, left he ftiould unwarily give his Confent to a LaWy that may in any Sort conduce towards the Weakening our Con^ Jlitutiony and render the Liberties of a Vgq- pie precarious. Will not every wife Head, and honeft Heart, be very tender — of add¬ ing to the Power of J-s, already too enormous ?-- Will they not dread dif- penfing with that Barrier of our LibertieSy the Habeas Corpus Act ? Or will they deprive any Subjedl of that Jewel, which Magna-Charta left us, a yury ? Or will they deny any of the People the Privilege of Bail ? , I amy S I R, ^c. The Bill to which this Addrefs relates, was (as before intimated) laid afide. In what an artful Manner another was introduced, — how precipitately brought in, and as haftily hurried on, at what Seafon of the Year, ISc. F the ( 8 >, ) the following elegant Speech will fhew. I think myfelf happy, in having preferved ^ Copy of it.-Whatever are the Defedls of thefe Diflertations, &c. — this admirable Oration will, I may venture to affirm, com- penfate for ’em all. Its Excellency needs no Comment; its Delivery cannot be defcribed ; — never did Orator comrnand more deep Attention :-His charmed Auditors flood motionlefs, and filent as calm Night y They were all Ear.- The raptured Soul abforb’d in deep Atten¬ tion, , Caus’d every other Senfe to drop its Func-r tion, As Hearing were it’s only Faculty, The ( 83 ) The E —/ of Ch -’s Speech, againft the Bill, entitled, — An AB made to explain and amend fo much of an Adi make in the twelfth Year of the Reign of Queen Anne, entitled, an Adi for reducing the Laws rela¬ ting to Rogues, as relates to common Flayers of Interludes. My L—ds. HE Bill now before you, I apprehend extraordinary, a very dangerous Nature. — It feems defigned not only as a Reftraint to the Licentioufnefs of the Stage, but it will prove a moft arbi¬ trary Reftraint on the Liberty of the Stage i and I fear, it looks yet farther ; I fear, it tends towards a Reftraint on the Liberty of the Press, which will be a long Stride towards the DeJlruBion of Liber¬ ty ITSELF. — It is not only a Bill, my L—ds, of a very extraordinary Nature, but has been brought in at a very extraordinary Seafon, and puflied with moft extraordinary F 2 Difpatch. ( 84 ) Difpatch.—When I confidered how near it was to the End of the Seffion^ and how long this Seffion had been protraBed beyond the ufual Time of the Year \ when I confidered, that this Bill pafTed through the other Houfe with fo much Precipitancy, as even to get the Start of a Bill, which deferved all the Relpeft, and all the Difpatch the Forms of either Houfe of Parliament could admit of ; it fet me upon enquiring what could be the Reafon of introducing this Bill at fo un^ feafcnable a TimCy and prejjing it forward in a Mariner fo very fingular and uncommon. —. I have made all poffible Inquiry, and as yet, I muft cpnfefs, 1 am at a Lofs to find out the great Occafion. I have, ’tis true, learned from common Report without Doors, that a moft feditious, a moil heinous Farce * had been offered to one of the Theatres 5 a Farce for which the Authors ought to be punifhed in a moft exemplary Manner : But what was the Confequence ? The Mafter . of that Theatre behaved as he was in Duty bound, and as common' Prudence directed : He not only refufed to bring it upon the Stage, but car¬ ried It to a certain Honourable Gentleman ill the f The Golden Rump,-- it was rejc;6led, . ( 85 ) the Adminiftration, as the furcft Method of having it fupprefled.-Could this be the Occafion of introducing fuch an extraordi-. nary Bill, at fuch an extraordinary Seafon^ and puihing it in fo extraordinary a Manner ? Surely no :-The dutiful Behaviour of the Flayers^ the prudent Caution they fhewed upon that Occafion, can never be a Reafon for fubjedling them to fuch an arbitrary Re- Jiraint: It is an Argument in their Favour, and a material one, in my Opinion, againft: the Bill. — Nay farther, if we confider all Circumftances, it is to me a full Proof, that the Laws now in being are fufficient for pu- nijhing thofe Players^ who fall venture to bring any feditious Libel upon the Stage^ and confe- quently fufficient for deterring all Players from adting any Thing, that may have the leaft Tendency towards giving a reafonable Offence.-I do not, my L—ds, pretend to be a Lawyer \ I do not pretend to know perfedtly the Power and Extent of our Laws; but I have converfed with thofe that do, and by them I have been told, that our Laws are fuficient for punijhing any PerfoUy that fhall dare to reprefent upon the Stage^ what may F 3 appear, ( 86 ) appear, either by the Words or Reprefentatioriy to be blafphemousy feditiouSy or immoral. — I muft own indeed, I have obferved of late, a remarkable Licentioufnefs in the Stage. — There have but very lately been two Plays afted, which, one would have thought, Ihould have given the greateft Offence, and yet both were fuffered to be often reprefented without Difturbancc, without Cenfure — In one, the Author thought lit to repre¬ fen t the three great Profeflions, Religioriy RhyJiCy and the haWy as inconfiftent with common Senfe : In the other, a moft tragi- , cal Story was brought upon the Stage, a Ca- taftrophe too recent, too melancholy, and of too folemn a Nature, to be heard of any ■^here but from the Pulpit. — How thefe Pieces came to pafs unpunifhed, I do not / know : If I am rightly informed, it *was not for * The late H. F -§•, Efq; whofe Licentioufnefs, as an Author, chiefly contributed towards drawing on the Refentment of a Miniiler ; and thereby occafioned the heavy Hand of Power to fall on the Stage in general:-Whereby the Innocent fuffered with the Guilty. This fame Gentleman, as a M —g--te, with fpecious and fallacious Arguments (Hole from Mande-ville and others) has occafioned fome Laws to be made, which give fuch unlimited Power to J-es of the P - , as may, by Degrees, prove the entire Deflruflion of our once boafted Liberty ; and lay the Foundation of •Ue jnoft tyrannic and arbitrary Power. ( 87 ) for want of Law, but for want of Profecu-" tion, without which no Law can be made effedlual. But if there was any Negleft in this Cafe, I am not convinced it was not with a Defign to prepare the Minds of the People, and to make them think a new Law neceflary. Our' Stage ought certainly, my L — ds, to be kept within due Bou 72 ds 3 but for this, our Laws, as they ftand at prefent, are fufjcient: If our Stage-Players at any Time exceed thofe Bounds, they ought to be profecuted, they may be punifhed : We have Precedents, we have Examples of Perfons having been puniflied for Things lefs criminal than either of the two Pieces I have juft mentioned.- A r.ew Law muft therefore be unnecefTary, and in the prefent Cafe it cannot be unneceffary without being dangerous: unnecejfa-- ry Peflraint on Licentioufnefs, is a Fetter upon the Legs, is a Shackle upon the Hands of Liberty. — One of the greateft Bleffings we enjoy, one of the greateft Blef fings a People, my L—ds, can enjy, is Li¬ berty 3 -but every Good in this Life has its Allay of Evil: •—~ Licentiouffiefs is the Allay of Liberty : It is an Ebullition, an F 4 Excref- Excrefcence, —. . It is a Speck upon the Eye of the political Body^ which I can never touchy but with a gentlcy with a trembling Hand, left I dejlroy the Body, left I injure the Eye upon which it is apt to appear.-- If the Stage becomes at any Time licen¬ tious, if a Play appears to be a Libel upon the Government, or upon any particular Man, the King’s Courts are open, the Law is fufficient for puniftiing the Offender j and in this Cafe, the Perfon injured has a lingu¬ lar Advantage ; he can be under no Difficulty to prove who is the Publifher ^ the Players themfelves are the Publifhers, and there can be no Want of Evidence to convidt them. But, my Lords, fuppofe it true, that the Laws now in being are not fufficient for putting a Check to, or preventing the Licen- tioufnefs of the Stage 5 fuppofe it abfolutely neceffary fome new Law fhould be made for that Purpofe ; yet it muft be granted that fuch a Law ought to be maturely conjideredy and every Claufcy every SentencCy nay, every Word of it well weighed and examined^ left,under fome of thofe Methods, prefumed or pretended to be neceffary for reJlrainingLkentioufnefs^ a Power ( 89 ) Power fhould He concealed, which might af-' terwards be made Ufe of, for giving a dan- gerous Wound_to Liberty, — Such a Law ought not to be introduced at the Clofe of a Seflion; nor ought we, in the Faffing fuch a Law, to depart from any of the Forms prefcribed by our Anceftors for preventing Deceit and Surprife. There is fuch a Connexion between Li» centioufnefs and Liberty, that it is not eafy to corred: the one, without dangeroufly wounding the other : It is extremely hard to diftinguifli the true Limit between them : Like a changeable Silk, we can ealily fee there are two different Colours, but we can¬ not eafily difcover where the one ends, or where the other begins.-There can be no great and immediate Danger from the Licentioufnefs of the Stage. I hope it will not be pretended- that our Government may, " before next Winter, be overturned by fuch Licentioufnefs, even tho* our Stage were at prefent under no Sort of legal Controul.- Why then may we not delay till next Seffion paffing any Law againft the Licentioufnefs of the Stage ? Neither our Government can • be ( 90 ) be altered, nor our Conftitution overturned hy fuch a Delay j but by faffing a Law rajhly and unadvifedlyt our Conflitution may at once be deftroyedy and our Government rendered arbitrary. —— Can we then put a fmall, a ihort-lived Inconvenience, in the Balance with perpetual Slavery ? Can it be fuppofed that a P-1 of G-/ will fo much as rifk the latter, for the Sake of avoiding the former ? ' Surely, my L—ds, this is not to be ex- pedted, were the Licentioufnefs of the Stage much greater than it is j were the Infufficx- ehcy of our Laws more obvious than can be pretended ; but when we complain of the Licentioufnefs of the Stage, and the Infuf- fkiency of our Laws, I fear we have more Reafon to complain of bad Meafures in our Polity, and a general Decay of Virtue and Morality among the People.-In public as well as private Life, the only Way to pre¬ vent being ridiculed or cenfured, is to avoid all ridiculous or wicked Meafures, and to purfue fuch only as are virtuous or worthy. —— The People never endeavour to ridicule thofe they love and efteem, nor will they fuffer ( 91 ) fufFer them to be ridiculed : If any one at¬ tempts it, the Ridicule returns upon the Author ; he-makes himfelf only the Object of public Hatred and Contempt.-The Adlions or Behaviour of a private Man may pafs unobferved, and confequently unap¬ plauded, uncenfured; but the Ad:ions of thofe in high Stations, can neither pafs with¬ out Notice, nor without Cenfure or Ap- plaufe j and therefore, an Adminiftration without Efteem, without Authority among the People, let their Power be ever fb great, let their Power be ever fo arbitra¬ ry, they will be ridiculed :-The feve- reft Edifts, the moft terrible Puniflinients, cannot entirely prevent it.-If any Man therefore thinks he has been ridiculed, if any Man thinks he has been cenfured upon any of our public Theatres, let him examine his Adtions, he will find the Caufe ; let him alter his Condudt, he will find a Remedy. -Aa no Man is perfedt, as no Man is in¬ fallible, the greateft may err, the mofl: cir- cumfpedt may be guilty of fome Piece of ri¬ diculous Behaviour.-It is not Licentiouf- nefs, it is an ufeful Liberty, always indulged ‘the Stage in a free Country, that fome great Men ( 92 ) I Men may there meet with a juft Reprodf,- | which none of their Friends will be free enough, or rather faithful enough, to give ; them.-Of this we have a famous In- ftance in the Roman Hiftory. —The great ! Pompeyy after the many Viftories he had ob¬ tained, and the great Conquefts he had < made, had certainly a good Title to the Ef- teem of the People of Rome ; yet that great | Man, by fome Error in his Condudt, became \ an Objecft of general Dillike ; and therefore, in the Reprefentation of an old Play, when Diphilus the Aftor, xame to repeat thefe Words, Hojlra miferia tu es Magnus, the Audience immediately applied them to Pom'- pey, who at that Time was as well known by the Name Magnus, as by the Name Pom- pey, and were fo highly pleafed with the Sa¬ tire, that, as Cicero fays, they made the Aftor, by their Clamour, repeat the Words a hundred ' Times over. ^An Account of ; this was immediately fent to Pompey, who, inftead of refenting it as an Injury, was fo wife as to take it for a juft Reproof.-He examined his Conduft, he altered his Mea- fures, he regained by Degrees the Efteem of the ( 93 ) (the People, and then he neither fear’d the Wit, nor felt the Satire of the Stage,—This is an Example which ought to be followed by great Men in all Countries.—Such Acci-r dents will often happen in every free Coun¬ try, and many fuch would probably have afterwards happen’d at Rome, if they had continued to enjoy their Liberty. But this Sort of Liberty in the Stage came foon after, I fuppofe, to be called Licentioufnefs j for we are told that Augujius, after having efta- bliflied his Empire, reftored Order in Rome by reftraining Licentioufnefs_God forbid we Ihould, in this Country, have Order re¬ ftored, or Licentioufnefs reftrained, at fo dear a Rate as the People of Rome paid for it to Augufius I In the Cafe I have mentioned, my L_ds, it was not the Poet that wrote, for it was an old Play, nor the Players that adted, for they only repeated the Words of the Play, it was the People who pointed the Satire j and the Cafe will always be the fame: When a Man has the Misfortune to incur the Hatred and Contempt of a People, when public Meafures are defpifed, the AuJitnce will { 94 -) will apply what never was, what cou'd not be delign’d as a Satire on the prefent Times, ■>—Nay, even tho’ the People fhould not ap¬ ply, thofe who are confcious of Guilt, thofe who are confcious of the Weaknefs or Wick- ednefs of their own Condudt, will take to themfelves what the Author never defign’d. -r-A public Thief is apt to take the Satire, as he is apt to take the Money, which was never defign’d for him.—We have an In- ftance of this in the Cafe of a Comedian of the laft Age, a Comedian who was not only a good Poet, but an honeft Man, and a quiet and good Subjedl. The famous Moliere^ when he wrote his Tartuff'e^ which is cer¬ tainly an excellent and a good moral Comedy, did not defign to fatirize any great Man of that Age; yet a great Man in France^ at that Time, took it to himfelf, and fancied the Author had taken him as a Model for one of the principal, and one of the worft Charac¬ ters in that Comedy, By good Luck he was not the Licenfer, otherwife the Kingdom of France had never had the Pleafure, the Hap- pinefs I may fay, of feeing that Play afted j . but when the Players firft propofed to ad: it at { 95 ) at PariSy he had Intereft enough to get it forbid.— MolierCy who knew himfelf innocent of what was laid to his Charge, complained to his Patron, the Prince of Conti y that as his Play was defign’d only to expofe Hypocrify, and a falfe Pretence to Religion, ’twas very hard it Ihould be forbid being adted, when, at the fame Time, they were fuffer d to ex¬ pofe Religion itfelf every Night publickly upon the Italian Stage: To which the Prince wittily anfwer’d ; ‘f 'Tis true, MolietCy Harlequin ridicules Heaven, and expofes Religion , but you have done much worfe, cc —you have .ridicurd the lirft Minifter of Religion.” I am as much for reftraining the Licen- tioufnefs of the Stage, and every other Sort of Licentioufnefs, as any pf your L—d —ps can be j but, my L—s, I am, Khali always be extremely cautious and fearful of making the lead Incroachment upon Liberty ; and therefore, when a new Law is propofed a- gainft Licentioufnefs, I fhall always be for confidering it maturely and deliberately, be¬ fore I venture to give my Confent to its be¬ ing pafs'd.-—This is a fufiicient Reafon for my ( 96 ) my being againft paffing this Bill at fo un^ feafonable a Time, and in fo extraordinary a Manner; but I have many Reafons for being againft paffing the Bill itfelf, fome of which I ftiall beg Leave to explain to your L—d—s. ■ . —The Bill, my L—-S, at firft View, may feem to be defign'd only againft the Stage, but to me it plainly appears to point fome- where elfe.—It is an Arrow that does but glance at the Stage j , the mortal Wound feems defign^ againft the Liberty of the Prefs.—By this Bill you prevent a Play’s being ad:ed, but you do not prevent its being printed; therefore, if a Licence fhould be refufed for its being adled, we may depend on it, the Play will be printed.—It will be printed and publifficd, my L—s, with the Refufal in Capital Letters on the Title Page. —People are always fond of what’s forbid¬ den .—Libri prohibiti are in all Countries di¬ ligently and generally fought after.—It will be much eafier to procure a Refufal, than it ever was to procure a good Houfe, or a good Sale; therefore we may expert that Plays will be wrote on Purpofe to have a Re¬ fufal j ( 97 ) fufal ; this will certainly procure a good Sale. Thus will Satires be fpread and dif- pers'd through the whole Nation, and thus every Man in the Kingdom may, and pro¬ bably will, read for Sixpence, what a few only could have feen a6ted, and that not under the Expence of Half-a-Crown.—We (hall then be told,—What! will you allow an infamous Libel to be printed and dilpers’d, which you would not allow to be adled ? You have agreed to a Law for preventing its being adfed; can you refufe your AlTent to a Law for preventing its being printed and pub- lifhed ? I fhould really, my L-—s, be glad to hear what Excufe, what Reafon one could give for being againft the Latter, after hav¬ ing agreed to the Former ; for I proteft I cannot fuggeft tlie leaft Shadow for an Ex¬ cufe.—If we agree to the Bill now before us, we muft perhaps, next Seffion, agree to a Bill for preventing any Plays being printed Without a Licence.—Thus, my L—s, from the Precedent now before us, we (hall be in¬ duced, nay, we can find no Reafon for re- fufing, to lay the Prefi under a general Li^ G cencef^ ( 98 ) cence^ and then we may bid adieu to the Liberties of Great-Britain, But fuppofe, my L—s, it were neceflary to make a new Law for reftraining the Licen- tioufnefs of the Stage, which I am very far from granting, yet I fhall never be for efta- blifhing fuch a Power as is propofed by this Bill.—If Poets and Players are to be re- ftrain’d, as other Subjects are, by the known Laws of their Country ; if they offend, let them be triedy as every Englifhman ought to bey by God and their Country, — Do not let us fubjeft them to the arbitrary Will and Pleafure of any one Man.—A Power lodged in the Hands of one Jingle Man^ to judge and determine without Limitation, without any Controul or Appeal, is a Sort of Power unknown to our Laws, inconjiflent with our ^ Conjlitution ^ it is a higher, a more abfolute Power, than we truft even to the King him- felf; and, therefore I muft think we ought not to veft any fuch Power in his Majefty's L—d Ch-n.—When I fay this, I am fure, I do not mean to give the leaft, the moft * Have not J —fl—s of the P^ce too much of 'this enor¬ mous Power ? Has not fuch Power been granted ’em of latJC Years ? ( 99 ) moft diftant Offence to the noble D—, who now fills the Pofl of L—d Ch-n ; his natural Candour and Love of Juflice, would not, I know, permit him to exercifeany Power, but with the ftridleft Regard to the Rules of Juftice and Humanity.—Were we fure his Suc- ceffors in high Office would always be Per- fons of fuch diftinguifhed Merit, even the Power to be eftablifhed by this Bill could give me no further Alarm, than left it fhould be made a Precedent for introducing other new Powers of the fame Nature.—This in¬ deed is an Alarm which cannot be prevented by any Hope, by any Conlideration :—It is an Alarm which, I think, every Man muft take, who has a due Regard to the Confti- tution and Liberties of his Country. I fhall admit, my L—s, that the Stage ought not, upon any Occafion, to meddle with Politics, and for this very Reafon, a- mong the Reft, I am againft the Bill now before us.—This Bill will be fo far from pre¬ venting the Stage's meddling with Politics, that I fear it will be the Occafion of med¬ dling with nothing elfe ; but then it will be a political Stage Ex Parte.-^^Jt will be made G z fubftr- ( 106 ) fubfervient to the Politics and Schemes of the Court only.—The Licentioufnefs of the Stage will be encouraged inftead of being re- ftrained ; but, like Court Journalifts, it would be licentious only againft the Pa- - trons of Liberty, and the Proteftors of the People. —^— Whatever Man, what¬ ever Party oppofes the Court, in any their moft deftru6live Schemes, will, upon the Stage, be repr^fented in the moft ridicu¬ lous Light the Hirelings of a Court can con¬ trive. True Patriotifm, and Love of public Good, will be reprefented as Madnefs, or as a Cloke for Envy, Difappolntrjient, and Malice, whiifl the moft flagitious Crimes, the moft extravagant Vices and Follies, if they are faftiionable at Court, will be dif- , gulfed and drelled up in the Habit of the moft amiable Virtues. This has formerly been the Cafe.-In King Charles IPs. Days, the Play-houfe was under a Licence, what was the Confequence —— The Play-houfe retailed nothing but the Politics, the Vices, and the Follies of a Court: Not to cxpofe them s no—but to re¬ commend them y tho*, it muft be granted, their ( loi ) their Politicks were often as bad as, their Vices, ai^ much more pernicious than their other Follies. — ’Tis true, the Court had, at that Time, a great deal of Wit, it was then indeed, full of Men of true Wit aod Humour, but it was the more dangerous ; for the Courtiers did then, as thorough- paced Courtiers always will do, thc.y facri- ficed their Honour, by making their Wit and Humour fubfervient to the Court only ; and what made it ftill more dangerous, no Man could appear againft them.-We know that Dryden^ the Poet-Laureat of that Reign, always reprefents the Cavaliers as honeft, brave, merry Fellows, and fine Gentlemen : Indeed, his fine Gentleman, as he generally draws him, is an atheiflical, lewd, abandoned Fellow, which was at that Time, it feems, the failiionable Charailer at Court. — On the other Hand, he always reprefents the Diffenters as hypocritical, dd fembling Rogues, or fiiupid fenfclefs Boobies. ...— When the Court had a Mind to fall out with the Dutchy he wrote his Amboyna^ in which^ he reprefents the Dutch as a Pack of avaricious, cruel, ungrateful Rafcals; — And G 3 ( lOi ) when the Exclufion Bill was moved in Par¬ liament, he wrote his Duke of GuifCy in which thofe who were for preferving, and fecuring the Religion of their Country, w^*e expofed under the Charafter of the Duke of Guifcy and his Party, who leagued together, for excluding Henry IV. of France from the Throne, on the Account of his Religion. -The City of London was made to feel the partial and mercenary Licentioufnefs of the Stage at that Time y for the Citizens having at that Time, as well as now, a great deal of Property, they had a Mind to preferve that Property, and therefore they oppofed fome of the arbitrary Meafures, which were then begun, but purfued more openly in the following Reign ; for which Reafon, they were then always reprefented upon the Stage, as a Parcel of defigning Knaves, diffembling Hypocrites, griping Ufurers, and-Cuckolds into the Bar- gain. My L-ds, the proper Bufinefs of the Stage, and that for which it is only ufeful, is to expofe thofe Vices and Follies, which the J ( 103 ) the Laws cannot lay hold of, and to recom¬ mend thofe Beauties, and Virtues, which Minifters or Courtiers feldoni imitate or re¬ ward 3 but by laying it under a Licence, and under an arbitrary Court Licence too, you will, in my Opinion, entirely pervert it’s Ufe 3 for tho’ I have the greateft Efteem for that noble D-in whofe Hands this Power is at prefent defigned to fall, tho’ I have an entire Confidence in his Judgment and Im¬ partiality 3 yet I may fuppofe that a Leaning tow;ards the Fafhions of a Court is fome- times hard to be avoided.-It may be dif- ficjult to make one, who is every Day at Court, believe that to be a Vice or Folly, which he fees daily pradifed by tliofe he loves and efteems. --By Cuftom, ^ven Deformity itfelf becomes familiar, and at laft agreeable. — To fuch a Perfon 3 let his natural Impartiality be ever fo great, that may appear to be a Libel againft the Court, which is only a moft juft and a moft necef- fary Satire upon the fafhionable Vices and Follies of the Court. — Courtiers, my L'—s, are too polite to reprove one another 3 the G 4 only ( 104 ) only Place where they can meet with any juft Reproof, is a free, tho’ not a licentious Stage ; and as every Sort of Folly, gene¬ rally in all Countries, begins at Court, and from thence fpreads thro’ the Country,- by laying the Stage under an arbitrary Court Licence, inftead of leaving it what it is, and always ought to be, a gentle Scourge for the Vices of great Men and Courtiers, you will make it a Canal for propagating and conveying their Vices and Follies thro* the whole Kingdom. From hence, my L—s, I think, it muft appear that the Bill now before us, cannot be fo properly a Bill for reftraining Licenti- oufnefs, as it may be called a Bill for re¬ ftraining the Liberty of the Stage, and re¬ ftraining it too in that Branch, which in all Countries has been the moft ufeful 3 there¬ fore I muft look on the Bill as a moft dange¬ rous Incroachment upon Liberty, likewife an Incroachment on Property : Wit, my L—s, is a Sort of Property : It is the Property pf thofe that have it, and too often the only Property they have to depend on.— It is, indeed, but a precarious Dependance. r— - Thank - ( 105 ) —- Thank God ! we-my L-^—s, have a Dependance of another Kind ; we have a much lefs precarious Support, and therefore cannot feel the Inconveniences of the Bill now before us ; but it is our Duty to encou¬ rage and protedl Wit, whofoever^s Property it may be.-Thofe Gentlemen who have any fuch Property, are all, I hope, our Friends : Do not let us fubjedt them to any unnecef- fary or arbitrary Reftraint. — I mull own I cannot eafily agree to the laying of any Tax upon Wit 5 but by this Bill it is to be hea¬ vily taxed ; it is to be excifed ; for if this Bill pafles, it cannot be retailed in a proper Way without a Permit ; and the L— d Ch—n is to have the Honour of being chief Gauger, Supervifor, Commiffioner, Judge and Jury: But what is Hill more hard, tho* the poor Author, the Proprietor I fhould fay, cannot perhaps dine till he has found out a Purcha- fer, yet, before he can propofe to feek for a Purchafer, he muft patiently fubmit to have his Goods rummaged at this Excife Office^ where they may be detained fourteen Days, and even then he may find them re¬ turned as prohibited Goods, by which his chief “4 ( io6 ) chief and beft Market will be for ever Ihut againft him ; and that without any Caufe, without the lead: Shadow of Reafon^ either from the Laws of his Country, or the Laws of the Stage. Thefe Hardfhips, this Hazard, which every Gentleman will be expofed to, who writes any Thing for the Stage, muft cer¬ tainly prevent every Man of a generous and free Spirit from attempting any thing in that Way; and as the Stage has always been the proper Channel for Wit and Humour, there¬ fore, my L—s, when I fpeak againft this Bill, I muft think I plead the Caufe of Wit, I plead the Caufe of Humour, I plead the Caufe of the Britijh Stage, and of every Gentleman of Tafte in the King¬ dom : But it is not, my L-s, for the Sake of Wit only, even for the Sake of his Ma- jefty’s L—d Ch-n, I muft be againft this Bill.-The noble D-e, who has now the Honour to execute that Office, has, I am fure, as little Inclination to difoblige as any Man 3 but if this Bill pafles, he muft difoblige, he may difoblige fome of his* moft intimate Friend 5 .---^It is impoffible to write a Play? but fome ,( 107 ) fome of the Charafters, or fome of the Satire, may be interpreted to point at fome Perfon or another, perhaps at fome Perfon in an eminent Station: When it comes to be adted, the People will make the Application, and the Perfon againft whom the Application is made, will think himfelf injured, and will, at leaft privately, refent it : At prefent this Refentment can be diredted only againll the Author, but when an Author's Play ap¬ pears with my Lord Ch-n's Paffport, every fuch Refentment will be turned from the Author, and pointed diredlly againft the L — d Ch—V-n, who, by his Stamp, made the Piece current.-What an unthank¬ ful Office are \Ve therefore, by this Bill, to put upon his jVlajefty’s L — d Ch-n! an Office which can no Ways contribute to his Honour or Profit, and yet fuch an one as muft neceffarily gain him a great deal of Ill- will, and create him a Number of Ene¬ mies. -The kft Reafon I ffiall trouble your L---^ s with for my being againft the Bill, is, that, in my Opinion, it will no Way anfwer the End propofed ; I mean the End, End openly propofed, and I am fure the only End which your Lordfhips propofe. --To ^ prevent the Adling of a Play, that has any Tendency to Blafphemy, Immorality, Sedi¬ tion, or, private Scandal, can fignify no^ < thing, unlefs you can likewife prevent its being printed and publifhed. — On the con- tr^iry, if you prevent its being a£ted, and ad¬ mit of its being printed and publiflied, you will propagate the Mifchief: Your Prohibi¬ tion will prove a Bellows, which will blow up the Fire you intend to e 3 {tingui(h. —' This Bill can therefore be of no Ufe for pre¬ venting either the public, or the private In^ jury, intended by fuch a Play; and confe- quently can be of no Manner of Ufe, un¬ lefs it be defigned as a Precedent, as a leading Step, towards another, for fubjefting ! the Prefs likewife to a Licenfer.-For fuch \ a wicked Purpole it may indeed be of great I Ufe 5 and in that Light, it may moft properly ! be called a Step towards arbitrary Power. | Let us confider, my L — ds,.. that arbitrary Power has feldom or never been introduced into any Country at once it muft be intro- | duced by flow Degrees, and, as it were, Step ( 109 ) by Step, left the People fhould perceive its Approach.-The Barriers and Fences of • the Peoples Liberty \muft be plucked up one by one, and fome plaufible Pretences muft be found for removing, or Hood-winking, one after another, thofe Sentries who are pofted, by the Conftitution of every free Country, to warn the People of their Danger. -__ When thefe preparatory Steps are once made, the People may then indeed, with Re¬ gret, fee Slavery and arbitrary Power making long Strides over their Land 5 but it will then be too late to think of avoiding, or preventing the impending Ruin.-The Stage, my L — s, and the Prefs, ;are,two of our Out- Sentries j if we remove'them, if we Hood¬ wink them,——.the'feneiwy may furprifc us.-Therefore I’muft look upon the Bill now before us as a Step, and a moft necef- fary Step too, for introducing arbitrary Power into this Kingdom : It is a Step fo neceffary, that if ever any future ambitious K — g, or guilty Minifter, fliould form to himfelf fo wicked a Defign, he will have Reafon to thank us for having done fo much . of ( no ) of the Work to His Hand j but fuch Thanks, or Thanks from fuch a Man, I am convinced every one of your L—s Avould bluih to receive, — and fcorn to de- ferve. I^np tptn tpt il paCTeD* v I ( III ) Inly I* 1750- TO THE PUBLIC. AdDecus^ et Libertatem-, aut Nati Sumus •, hoc teneamus^* aut cum dignitate moriamur, Cicero. o PPRESSED and overpowered as I am, by the wicked Influence of fome prefent avaritious theatrical Tyrants, -r- I have taken {^as appears in the Appendix to my Disser¬ tations) every decent and proper Step to obtain a Licence, to get my Bread by my Pro- fejjion^ in my native Country that I have it not, will probably appear, to every honejl Eng- lijhmany a very extraordinary Hardjhipi-c^on- fidering the Reafonablenefs and Juftice of my Requeft : And that the fame Sort of Licence which I prayed in vain for, has often been grantedy nay, never refufedy to any Company of French StroIierSy or other ForeignerSy that thought it worth their while to apply for it: —- But as I find that neither Reafon, Huma¬ nity, or Jufliice, have yet been able to prevail, in my Behalf, againfl the furprifing Influence of fome certain alLpowerful Patentees, — I have applied to the Learned in the Law,—in Confequence of whofe Advice, and in Obe¬ dience . dience to the fupreme Laws of Nature/ J am determined to enter into Trade 5 which I hope will enable me and my Partners, &c, to entertain our Friends and Cuftomers fre*- quently with the Rehearsal of a moral Play, without Gain^ Hir^^ or Reward. In this juftifiable Scheme, every encourag- • ing Circumftance emboldens me to hope Suc- •cefs; as no gigantic, overftrained Stroke of Power can poffibly reach me, or my Partners in Trade, but what muft firfl: fir ike through the very Heart of Liberty^ Humanity^ and Jufiice: Nor is it poffible that I fliould fail x>f finding a warm Friend, in eveiy difinte- refted, horieft, humane Heart. — Notwith- ftanding the fupreme Laws of Nature are fo •full, and clear, in my Behalf, I will carefully ^void doing any Thing againft the Letter of any Britifi:> Law; I honour my King-, and love my Country : And, whatever Hardihips I may have fuffered, I never Vill do any Thing th^t can be conftrued an Offence to either j and in that honeft Confidence I fhal proceed undreading the Iron Hand of unjuft Op- .preffion. I ( 1 \