1796. laid on Monday, at two o'clock, by Mr. John Palmer, of Drury-Lane Theatre; and as there was a novelty in the manner and proceffion, the following authentic account of both may not prove unentertaining to the public. British Theatre. recommending him to oppose wit to his dumb rival's activity, retires to the Well, and the front of the New Hotel prefents itself, where Doctor Diachylon, his niece Angelica, her maid Nannette, and the Clown are feen entering---Angelica and Nannette are discovered in a chamber---The Doctor, Clown and Harlequin Lack are in love with the latter. ---Angelica favours the addrefles of Harlequin Lack, which naturally occafions a jea-. lafy between mistress and maid, as the two Harlequins are often mistaken for each other. --In this feene a mock Bravura fong is introduced, each inftrument anfwering to its de£ription. A variety of patients appear before the houfe of Doctor Diachylon---"No cure no pay," in the front---Both Harlequins try to get in. Lack cures a lame man by a touch of his dagger of lath---takes the crutches--. Imps to the door, and of course is admitted. Clack, by means of his ring, gets fight of Angelica; after which a fuccefsful trick is played off, by changing "No cure no pay,' to a washerwoman's house, with "Mangling done here."---The doctor's chamber is efined, and a dialogue between the doctor nd his clerk fatirizes quack advertisements and attestations.---Much pantomimical fun níues before St. Dunstan's Church, which is followed up by a converfation of advertifers out of character, before Jenour's Daily Advertiser Office, which concludes with a well-known catch.---Wilkinfon's White-bait boufe changes to a view down the river.--Both Harlequins again create confufion--Clack, by means of his ring, affuming a vahety of voices efcapes his purfuers---the characters deceived at length feize each other, till the dumb Harlequin is perceived by them and taken.---Clack and Angelica ftill purfued, are told by the Fairy to repair to the enchanted well. Harlequin Lack appears as "Peter Pumpkin, Gardener and Florist".the hot-houfe is discovered---on it is written, "Vegetation quick as thought." Variety of tricks enfue---two children are put in, who quickly vegetate into a man and woman--the Clown is turned into a water melon.--Sheppard's Fruit shop at Kensington fucceeds the two Harlequins meet, and every perplexity being explained, they repair with their miftreffes to the Fairy, who on taking them down with her into the well, changes the dreary scene to a fplendid palace, where the Hurly Burly is happily concluded by the union of Clack and Lack with Angelica and Nannette. The above Pantomime was well received throughout. The Royalty Theatre, Dec. 29. THE firft flone of a New Theatre, which to be erected near Well-Clofe Square, was In confequence of a previous invitation, feveral of the magiftrates and patronizers of the plan affembled at the Court-House in Well-Clofe Square, and formed the following proceffion to the ground: Six Bricklayers and Carpenters alternately. Four Labourers with iron crows. The High Conftable. Drawing Board and Inftruments neceffary, The Infcription read at the Ground. Two Students in Architecture bearing the emblems of level and plumb rule, fufpended by rich filver orice, and fupporting two figured and mounted five feet rods. The Regulator of the proceffion, with a setting beetle, and an infeription-plate. Magiftrates and Subscribers two and two. The regalia used on the occafion belong to his Royal Highnefs the Duke of Cumberland's Lodge, who is the present Grand Master of England. The proceffion having reached the ground, Mr. Palmer laid the firft ftone; his fon depofited in a cavity appropriated for the purpose, an mfcription, which was publicly read by JOHN MORGAN, Efq. Recorder of Maidftone. The following is an authentic Copy of the Infcription: The Infcription on this Scroll is intended to convey The following Information: On Monday the 26th of day of December, In the 26th year of the Reign Of our Moft Gracious Sovereign, GEORGE THE THIRD, The First Stone of a Building, Intended for a Place of Public Entertainment, Was laid by JOHN PALMER, Comedian, In the prefence of a numerous Party of Friends to the Undertaking; John Wilmot, Efquire, being the Architect and Builder. The Ground felected for the Purpose His MAJESTY'S FORTRESS and PALACE It has been refolved, that in honour of the Magiftrates, the Military Officers, and inhabitants of the faid fortrefs and palace, the edifice, when erected, fhall be called THE ROYALTY THEATRE, Sanctioned by authority, and liberally patronized by fubfcription. It will be the conftant effort of the Manager of this Theatre to exclude every thing indecorous, and encourage every thing laudable on his boards. To render the Mimic art fubfervient to rational amusement, that time, unemployed, may not be mifpent; and by exhibiting the amiability of virtue, to allure the fpectators of the Drama to the practice of it, as the only means of promoting PRIVATE, SOCIAL, and PUBLIC HAP manner. The poet was flruck at his addref and the elegance of his appearance. Boj leau had put fome loofe filver in his waistcoa pocket, which he proposed for the benefit o the poor, or the ftill more unfortunate wh cannot fubmit to beg- gentlemen high way men. Boileau emptied his waistcoat-pocket gave the contents, and his late companion retired with great civility, but ftill with a de jected air. The bard called him back, "Sir faid he, I have made a mistake, having ap plied to the wrong pocket, that was mean for thieves and villains; but I can diferimi nate between blackguards and gentlemen." Saying this he pulled out of a private pocke his purfe, with all the gold he was poffefied of. "There, my friend, he added, mak the most of it, and I will, upon my honour never appear against you, let your affairs take what turn they may E at. Thoughts on Religion. RRORS and mistakes however grofs, in matters of opinion, if they are fincere, ought to be pitied, but not punished nor laughed The blindness of the understanding is as much to be pitied as the blindness of the nal for a man to lose his way in either cafe. eyes; and it is neither laughable nor criniCharity bids us endeavour to fet them right by argument, but at the fame time forbids Every man feeks for truth, but God only us either to punish or ridicule his misfortune. knows who has found it; it is unjust to perfecute, and abfurd to ridicule people for their feveral opinions, which they cannot help entertaining upon the conviction of their reafon; it is he who acts or tells a lye that is guilty, and not he who honeftly and fincerely believes the lye. The object of all public worship in the world is the fame, it is that great cternal Being who created every thing The different manners of worship are by no means fubjects of ridicule, each thinks his own the beft: and I know no infallible judge in this world to decide which is the beft. Anecdote. othered that the parties muft perform Holland a promife of marriage is held their contract if they vere of age when the promife was made, and that fuch promift can be proved by writing or witneffes; but, in this matter a great deal depends upon the ladies: a gentleman at the Hague lately gave a lady a trow-brief (a promife in writing) which is confidered there as binding as a marriage, the lady admitted the gentleman to her bed, but the next day the threw her trow brief into the fire, and is perfectly at liberty again to marry whoan the pleafes. Letters Letters addreffed to the Lord Mayor of London. Letters addreffed to the Lord Mayor of London. (Continued from P:701, of Appendix for 1785.) VIII. LTHO' ridicule has been generally 17 fidered what method can be fallen upon to ture. From the Police Bill I receive but little affiftance. It orders, indeed, that night A poured on reformers, in an age, where walkers are to be appreheated and carried reformation is much wanted, a zealous friend ta reformation does not confider himself as a fufferer, nor does he impute the difgrace which he must bear to any caufes of which he has reafon to be afhamed. Had I confidered the difesteem of the world as the only bject of terror, it is probable I never should have taken up my pen on this occafion. But all I claim is the attention of your Lordship and of the reflecting few, and all I ask is their candour and indulgence. My laft letter related to the increafing number of proftitutes, which I enumerated as one of the principal caufes of the increase of thieves. Proffitutes, in general, co-operate with vagrants in the deftruction of the public peace, and they even poffefs a depravity of difpofition which we rarely find in men. This depravity is fo well known, that a common faying has arifen from the confideration, which is, that " a bad woman is 13 This, however, worse than any bad man.' is not an obfervation which I fhall let pafs, without adding that it is not to be imputed to any thing in the nature of the female mind, but merely to the despair occafioned. by a confcioufnefs that their character is utterly gone, never to be retrieved, whereas a man, after many errors, may reform, and be admitted into the fame fociety, and meet with as cordial a reception as before. I have remarked that in all bad women (I mean Common proftitutes) this defpair prevails, and what is fo likely to create it as the fhock ing reflection that they muft earn their bread, by a repetition of the crime which was their undoing, that in order to live, they must of neceflity become more and more vicious every day, and that there are no means left for fubfiftence but the arts of meretricious cunning, whereby to impofe on and delude mankind? But it is not neceffary to enlarge on this The number of these proftitutes, and the This being the cafe, it remains to be con- before a juftice, and, if he, or the, cannot give a proper account of themselves, which they certainly never can, they are to be confidered as vagabonds. This regulation, as far as it merely regards clearing the streets of the vermin, is extremely proper, but, without a method of difpofing of them, no good can be done. If, on any particular night, all the proftitutes in the different ftreets, lanes, and alleys, were to be taken up, I question if there would be room in all the prisons in London to receive them even for a nightAnd, if they are to be taken up, examined, and difmiffed, they muft inevitably return to their old trade. They have no other refources. Were there only two or three in every ftreet, Bridewell would be fufficient for their reception, where they might be compelled to induftry and labour. But this is wonderfully far from being the cafe. Of late, fome active conftables paraded their wards, and took up in one night, and, I believe, almoft in one street, fifty of these poor wretches-But, what could be done? Two or three were fent home to their parents, and the reft discharged. Of what avail was it that they were threatened with imprifonment, if they returned to their ftreetwalking? They must exift in fome way or other. Miferable as the lives of most of them are, they ftill are fupported by fome nourishment, and that they cannot procure by honeft induftry. They must lay in wait for the heedlefs paffenger, the intoxicated 'prentice, or fimple countryman. As this is the plain ftate of the matter, ought it not, my Lord, to be seriously confidered, whether there be a poflibility of contriving fuch employments, as these poor wretches may be engaged in, and have a chance thrown in their way of reforming. their manners, and being brought to a due fenfe of their fituation. Perhaps, by a general fubfcription, houfes might be built for their reception-the whole of them apprehended, examined, and feparated, the one from the other, according to the degrees of their advancement in profigacy. While the man of humanity is fhocked to confider the excefs of depravity at which fome of them have arrived, he is allo comforted by the reflection that many hundreds of them are not fo far abandoned as to be incapable of returning to the paths of decency and virtue-Let it not be thought that I am so far visionary as to think that prov proftitution would, by this means, be put an entire ftop to that idea is too ridiculous to be entertained. But this I am juftified in faying, that, if all the prostitutes who are fo poor as to be obliged to walk the streets, were provided for in houfés of penitence, and the others confined to their homes, and prohibited from infefting the avenues of public places, half the mifchief complained of would be done away in a very few years, and the prayers of many thousand penitents would arife to heaven for bleffings to a nation of Howards and Hanways. When one paffes through feveral ftreets, and particularly thofe near places of public entertainment, the Theatres, Opera, &c. a fpectacle prefents itfelf moft peculiarly fhocking-Scores of proftitutes not exceeding, any of them, the age of fourteen; the greater part not approaching near to it.-I know not if fuch a fight is to be seen in any other part of the world, but in truth and fincerity, as well as in bitterness of foul, I muft pronounce that a greater difgrace to humanity cannot be fuppofed. Shame on it! That a nation distinguished for the frequency of public and private benevolence, fhould bear with this infult offered to their character, by a fet of wretches grown hardened in villainy, and the immediate agents of the enemy of mankind, in the feduction of thefe poor young creatures! Can the father of a family look on them without fhuddering at the thought, that this may one day be the cafe with fome of his, as yet, innocent babes? My Lord, I am of opinion this abuse may be remedied. Let thefe poor creatures be taken up and examined. They are fo young, that, in all probability, the greater part have parents, who will be glad to receive them, and, if poffible, reclaim them -Such as have not parents, may be provided for in the Magdalen, or in fuch houfes as I have taken the liberty to fuggeft above. Nor do I think it impoffible to trace out their feducers, who are of their own fex, and bring them to condign punishment. This only requires the agency of a fpirited magiftrate impreffed with a fenfe of humanity, and the duty he owes to the public. I need not add, that it is abfolutely neceffary that this method fhould be fpeedily adopted. The effects of early proftitution are immediately deftructive to the conftitution, and few of thefe miferable wretches live even to the years of maturity. During their exiftence, they are under the yoke of the fevereft tyranny, impofed on them by the bawd or procurefs, who furnishes them with dreffes for public places, and woe be to them if they dare to conceal one penny of their arnings. There are other confiderations to be ad AS I have been prevented from followi my laft letter fo foon as I could have withe I take the liberty to recapitulate, that it r lated to the immenfe number of bad wome who infeft the streets, and combine in th deftruction of public peace, which deftruc tion is, indeed, in a very great measur owing to them entirely. It were averfe to the intention of the letters, to confider whether there ever ha been a time when fo many of the female fe were abandoned to luft and mifery. We ca only speak of what has fallen under our ow experience, and that tells us that their in creafe for fome years paft, has been mo aftonishingly rapid; and we fee that it con tinues fo from day to day. Where one wo man used to be brought to the Old Bailey we now find twenty. Nay, fo far removed are they from the nature of their sex, tha they have even gone upon the highway, and difplayed the fame intrepidity as we have been used to obferve only in the hardiest o the other fex. It is probable, my Lord, that the plan 1 propofed in my laft, of receiving houfes for fuch of thefe poor creatures as are willing to become useful members to fociety, will nevo be promoted. It cannot, indeed, be fet on foot, without the affiftance of fome men of power, as well as of fpirit, and who are prompted byhumanity, to promote fo ufeful an undertaking. If a few fuch were only to ftep forward, their endeavours would foon be affifted by the public at large, and we fhould have a heart-felt fatisfaction of stemming the current of public licentioufnefs, and snatching many thousand miserables from a dreadful fate which hangs over their heads. But I confefs, on reflection, I look on this event as on a very diftant prospect. Whatever the wisdom of future ages may decree, without the spirited interposition of men in power, the prefent age will not be dignified by fo laudable an undertaking. Nor, indeed, is it to be expected, while we fit quietly, and behold the many infulte offered to decencey, and which are allowed to pass with impunity, even while we have it every day in our mouths, that fuch are the caufes of proftitution, and female mifery. I repeat, my Lord, that the only way in which the crouds of bad women already in being can be provided for, is by a plan like the above, but I repeat alfo, that I have no hopes it will be fpeedily adopted. Some fteps, ha e po 1 1786 Letters addressed to the Lord Mayor of London. fieps, however, may be taken, which I prefume are in the power of the prefent laws, and which have been neglected in our late hurry and confufion, occafioned by a long and unfuccessful war, Whatever effects may be produced by the arts of the feducer; whatever temptations poverty and desertion may expofe women to, I believe it is poffible to mention one principal caufe of the increase of proftitutes, which cannot well be denied, I mean the public manner in which indecent books and pamphlets are printed, published, and diffe minated over the kingdom.-If there is a vice prevalent in this kingdom, which before was uncommon; if there is a greater degree of profligacy and indecency among the young than ever known; if there is a decay of connubial happiness, a want of tafte for matrimony, an increase of matrimonial infidelity, or a greater contempt for chastity than ufual, I do not hesitate to impute all to this caufe; a caufe which must be allowed to be almoft entirely modern. My Lord, this is not the first reprefentation that has been made to Magiftrates on this fubject. They have been called upon both in public and private, to apply the res medies in their power; or requeft of Parlia, ment greater powers, if the prefent are ineffectual.-They have been obtefted as parents, guardians, and as men, to compaffonate the ftate of youth, exposed to fuch temptations-But in vain-nothing has been done of any efficacy; and if attempts to Crapt our wives and daughters, may be reckoned an infult, furely never was a community fo grofsly and impudently infulted as we are at prefent. It is a ftrong proof of indolence and want of fpirit, not to refent fach infults, efpecially when the guilty perfons are fuch as may be crushed at once, and brought to that punishment which their trimes fo juftly deserve, Formerly, there were indecent books in the world as well as now, although their pumber was not fo great, but then they were difpofed of in the moft fecret manner, and a man might live to the years of difcretion without ever having heard of them. The authors and publishers then had some regard for the public. They did not dare to infult them by indecencies; they knew, or fuppofed that attempt to do fo, would meet with the fevereft punishment. The pillory, and the pribon, were objects of terror. In time, however, they laid hold of public infatuation, and, as they faw licentioufnefs getting the better of true liberty in other cafes, they feized on this as the moft proper occafion to gratify the paffions. Their progrefs, however, in this damned attempt, was gradual. In the evenng, by the help of a faintly glimmering lamp enly, could the paffenger be tempted by the 19 bait-Next, they expofed their books by day; I confefs, my Lord, that when I look The fame may be obferved of all criminals. They feek not to injure the immortal, foul; they feek not to ftep between the innocent mind and eternal happiness; they do not employ their time, and the talents God has given them, in undermining the fine fabric of a good confcience. They do not ftudy, night and day, how to facilitate the arts of his feducer, how to affift the grand foe to human happinefs. Corrupted as they are, they do not intermeddle with the virtues of another; and although they firip a man of all the worldly property to the laft rag, they leave him peace of confcience, and integrity of mind. No-To make the road of virtue barren and unfrequented, to deftroy that fine fenfibility which is the foundation of decency in mfte and morals, to make the mind a willing C 20 recep |