they decoyed him into their fervice; and he has fince performed the part of the Mack Doctor with univerfal applaufe. Upon his revolt, the Doctor himself found it abfolutely neceffary to enter of the company; and having a talent for tragedy, has performed with great, fuccefs the Apothecary in Romeo and Juliet. The performers at our ruftic theatre are far beyond thofe paultry ftrollers, who run about the country, and exhibit in a barn or a cow-houfe; for (as their bills declare) they are a Company of, Comedians from the Theatres Royal; and I affure you, they are as much ap. plauded by our country critics, as any of your capital actors. The hops of our tradesmen have been almost deferted, and a crowd of weavers and hardwaremen have elbowed each other two hours before the opening of the doors, when the bills have informed us in enormous red letters, that the part of George Barnwell was to be performed by Mr. , at the particular defire of feveral ladies of diftinétion. It is true, indeed, that our principal actors have most of them had their education in Covent Garden, or Drury Lane; but they have been employed in the bufinefs of the drama in a degree but just above a scenehifter. An heroine, to whom your managers in town (in envy to her rifing merit) fcarce allotted the humble part of a confidante, now blubbers out Andromache or Belvidera; the attendants on a monarch ftrut monarchs themfelves, mutes find their voices, and meffage-bearers rife into heroes. The humour of our best comedian confifts in fhrugs and grimaces; he jokes in a wry mouth, and repartees in a grin: in short, he practifes on Congreve and Vanbrugh all those distortions that gained him fo much applause from the galleries, in the drubs which he was condemned to undergo in pantomimes. I was vastly diverted at feeing a fellow in the character of Sir Harry Wildair, whofe chief action was a continual preffing together of the thumb and fore-finger; which, had he lifted them to his nofe, I fhould have thought he defigned as an imitation of taking fnuff but I could eafily account for the cause of this fingular geture, when I difcovered, that Sir Harry was no lefs a perfon than the dex ous Mr. Clippit the candle-fnuffer. You would laugh to fee, how ftrangely the parts of a play are caft. They played Cato; and their Marcia was fuch" an old woman, that when Juba came on with his-Hail! charming maid!”— the fellow could not help laughing. Another night I was furprised to hear an eager lover talk of rushing into his miltrefs's arms, rioting on the nectar of her lips, and defiring (in the tragedy rapture) to hug her thus, and thus for ever;' though he always took care to ftand at a moft ceremonious distance: but I was afterwards very much divert◄ ed at the cause of this extraordinary rea fpect, when I was told, that the lady laboured under the misfortune of an ulcer in her leg, which occationed fuch a difagreeable stench, that the performers were obliged to keep her at arm's length. The entertainment was Lethe: and the part of the Frenchman was performed by a South Briton; who, as he could, not pronounce a word of the French language, fupplied it's place by gabbling in his native Welch. The decorations, or (in the theatrical dialect) the property of our company, are as extraordinary as the performers. Othello raves about a checked handkerchief; the Ghost of Hamlet ftalks in a poftilion's leathern-jacket for a coat of mail; and, in a new pantomime of their own, Cupid enters with a fiddle-cafe flung over his fhoulders for a quiver., The apothecary of the town is free of the houfe, for lending them a peftle and mortar to ferve as the bell in Venice Preferved; and a barber-furgeon has the fame privilege, for furnishing them with bafons of blood to befmear the, daggers in Macbeth. Macbeth himself carries a rolling-pin in his hand for a truncheon; and, as the breaking of. glaffes would be very expenfive, he dashes down a pewter pint pot at the fight of Banquo's Ghoft. A fray happened here the other night, which was no finall diverfion to the audience. It fees, there had been a great, conteft between two of thefe mimic he roes, who was the fitteft to play Richard the Third. One of them was reckoned to have the better perfon, as he was very round fhouldered, and one of his legs was fhorter than the other; but his antagonist carried the part, because he fanted belt in the Tent-fcene. However, when the curtain drew up, they both ruthed rushed in upon the stage at once; and bawling out together Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths,' they both went through the whole fpeech without ftopping. I am, dear cousin, your's, &c. N° XXIV. THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1754. ILLE DABIT POPULO, PATRIBUSQUE, EQUITIQUE LEGENDUM. BOOKS, THAT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD CAN SHEW, HENI confider the abfurd tafte MART T writer of the following letter, and would WHEN free recommend it to all perfons of fashion. vailed among our perfons of diftinction, I cannot but applaud the reformation which has been fince brought about in this article by the polite world, A Duke of Newcastle made himself remarkable by a Treatife on Horfemanthip; a Rochefter fupplied the place of Ovid in the clofets of men of pleasure; and even the ladies of former ages facrificed to love in Novels and Romances. I will not mention a Shaftesbury, as our prefent age has produced a Bolingbroke. We of this generation are wifer than to fuffer our youth of quality to lofe their precious time in ftudying the belles lettres, while our only care is to introduce them into the beau monde. A modern peer, instead of laying down the theory of horfemanthip, is perfect in the practice, and commences jockey himself; and our rakes of fashion are content with acting the fcenes which Rochefter defcribed. Our ladies are, indeed, very well qualified to publish a recital of amours; and one in particular has already entertained the world with memoirs of her own intrigues, cuckoldoms and elopements. I am very glad to find the prefent age fo entirely free from pedantry. Some part of the polite world read, indeed, but they are fo wife as to read only for amusement; or at least only to improve themselves in the more modern and fashionable fciences. A Treatise on Whift has more admirers than a Syftem of Logic, and a New Atalantis would be more univerfally read than a Practice of Piety. A fine gentleman or lady would no more chufe the mind of a pedant, than the perfon of a cook-maid or a porter. I cannot, therefore, but approve of the plan laid down by the to fubfcribe to his propofals. I SIR, Have long obferved with infinite regret the little care that is taken to fupply perfons of diftinction with proper books for their inftruction and amufement. It is no wonder that they fhould be fo averfe to ftudy, when learn ing is rendered fo difagreeable. Common creatures, indeed, as foon as they can spell, may be made to read a dull chapter in the Teftament; after which the Whole Duty of Man, or some other ufclefs good book, may be put into their hands; but thefe can never inftruct a man of the world to fay fine things to a lady, or to fwear with a good grace. Among a few dirty pedants the knowledge of Greek and Latin may be cultivated; but among fine gentlemen thefe are juftly difcarded for French and Ita lian. Why fhould perfons of quality trouble themfelves about Mathematics and Philofophy, or throw away their time in fcratching circles and triangles on a flate, and then rubbing them out again? All the Algebra requifite for them to know, is the combination of figures on the dice; nor could Euclid be of any use to them, except he had reprefented the most graceful attitudes in fencing, or drawn out the lines of a minuet. In order to remedy these inconveniences, and that the erudition of perfons of fafhion may be as different from the vulgar knowledge of the rest of mankind as their drefs, I have formed a project for regulating their ftudies. An old crabbed philofopher once told a monarch, that there was no Royal way of learning the Mathematics. First, then, as to the the mufty volumes which contain Greek, Latin, and the Sciences, (fince there is no genteel method of coming at the knowledge of them) I would banish them entirely from the polite world, and have them chained down in univerfity li braries, the only places where they can be useful or entertaining. Having thus cleared the fhelves of this learned lumber, we shall have room to fill them more elegantly. To this end, I have collected all fuch books as are proper to be perufed by people of quality; and fhall thartly make my fcheme public by opening an handsome room under the title of the Polite Circulating Library. Many of my books are entirely new and original all the modern novels, and molt of the periodical papers, fall fo directly in with my plan, that they will be fure to find a place in my library; and if Mr. Town fhews himself an encourager of my fcheme, I fhall expect to fee peers and peerelles take up the pen, and thine in the CONNOISSEUR. I intend in the beginning of the winter to publifh my propofals at large, and in the mean time, beg you to fubmit the following fpecimen of my books to the public. CATALOGUE OF BOOKS, &c. Revelation, a Romance. The Compleat Cook. By Solomon Gundy. The Gentleman's Religion. By a Freethinker. Differtation on Parties; or an Effay on Breaking of Eggs. Addreffed to the Big and Little Endians. A Defence of Alexander the Copper. fmith against St. Paul. By the late Lord Bolingbroke. The Practice of Bagnios; or the Mo⚫dern Method of Sweating. The Ladies Difpenfatory: containing the most approved Recipes for Toothpowders, Lip- falves, Beautifying Lotions, Almond Paftes, Ointments for Freckles, Pomatums, and Hyfteric Waters; according to the pres fent Practice. Defcription of THE WORLD with the Latitudes of Vauxhall, Ranelagh, the Theatres, the Opera-houfe, &c. calculated for the Meridian of St. James's. AMap of the Roads leading to Tyburn. ન . By James Maclean, Efq. late Surveyor of the Highways. Effay on Delicacy. By an Enfign of the Guards. The Art of Diffembling. From the French. A New Way to pay Old Debts. Fron an Original published at Berlin. The Spirit of Laws. With Notes on the Game act, the Jew-bill, and the Bill for preventing Marriages. Jargon verfus Common Senfe. By a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn. Univerfal Arithmetic. Containing Cal 'culations for laying the Odds at Horseracing, Cocking, Card-playing, &c. Optics, or the Ufe of Opera-glaffes; with the Importance and Benefit of Near-fightedness confidered. To which is added, a Differtation on the portable Pocket Looking-glafs. The Modern Gymnafium. By Brough P ton. Geometry made eafy, and adapted to the meanest Capacity. By Nath. Hart, Dancing-mafter to Grown Gentlemen. De Oratore, or the Art of Speaking on all Subjects. By Andrew Mac Broad, F. R. H. S. Fellow of the Robin Hood Society. A Differtation on the Miracle of the Five Loaves. By the Baker, Prefident of the fame Society. Garrick upon Death; with an Account of the feveral Distortions of the Face, and Writhings of the Body; and particular Directions concerning Sighs, Groans, Ohs, Ahs, &c. &c. for the Ufe of Young Actors. The Court Register; containing an exact Lift of all Public Days, Routs, Affemblies, &c. where and when kept. The Englishnian în Paris. * The Englishman returned from Paris. The Whole Duty of Woman." Dif pofed under the Articles of Vifiting, Cards, Mafquerades, Plays, Drefs, &c. A Differtation on the Waters of Tunbridge, Cheltenham, Scarborough, and the Bath: fhewing their wonderful Efficacy in removing the Vapours with Directions how to affift their Operations by using the Exercise of Country dancing. The Traveller's Guide, or Young Nobleman's Vade Mecum, Containing an exact List of the most eminent Peruke |
