No. 14. Friday, professing in his Advertisements to set up Whittington and his Cat against Rinaldo and Armida, my Curiosity March 16, led me the Beginning of last Week to view both these Performances, and make my Observations upon them. 1711, First therefore, I cannot but observe that Mr. Powell wisely forbearing to give his Company a Bill of Fare before-hand, every Scene is new and unexpected; whereas it is certain, that the Undertakers of the Hay-Market, having raised too great an Expectation in their printed Opera, very much disappoint their Audience on the Stage. The King of Jerusalem is obliged to come from the City on foot, instead of being drawn in a triumphant Chariot by white Horses, as my Opera-Book had pro mised me; and thus while I expected Armida's Dragons should rush forward towards Argantes, I found the Hero was obliged to go to Armida, and hand her out of her Coach. We had also but a very short Allowance of Thunder and Lightning: tho' I cannot in this Place omit doing Justice to the Boy who had the Direction of the Two painted Dragons, and made them spit Fire and Smoke: He flash'd out his Rosin in such just Pro portions and in such due Time, that I could not forbear conceiving Hopes of his being one Day a most excellent Player. I saw indeed but Two things wanting to render his whole Action compleat, I mean the keeping his Head a little lower, and hiding his Candle. I observe that Mr. Powell and the Undertakers had both the same Thought, and I think much about the same time, of introducing Animals on their several Stages, tho' indeed with very different Success. The Sparrows and Chaffinches at the Hay-Market fly as yet very irregularly over the Stage; and instead of perching on the Trees and performing their Parts, these young Actors either get into the Galleries or put out the Candles; whereas Mr. Powell has so well disciplin'd his Pig, that in the first Scene he and Punch dance a Minuet together. I am informed however, that Mr. Powell resolves to excell his Adversaries in their own Way; and introduce Larks in his next Opera of Susanna, or Innocence betrayed, which will be exhibited next Week with a Pair of new Elders. The n 'e The Moral of Mr. Powell's Drama is violated, I con- No. 14. yfess, by Punch's national Reflections on the French, Friday, e and King Harry's laying his Leg upon the Queen's March 16, Lap in too ludicrous a manner before so great an Il Assembly, As to the Mechanism and Scenary, every thing indeed Is was uniform and of a Piece, and the Scenes were mantaged very dexterously; which calls on me to take notice, that at the Hay-Market the Undertakers forgetting to e change their Side-Scenes, we were presented with a Prospect of the Ocean in the midst of a delightful Grove; and tho' the Gentlemen on the Stage had very much contributed to the Beauty of the Grove by walking up sand down between the Trees, I must own I was not a little astonished to see a well-dressed young Fellow, in a full-bottom'd Wigg, appear in the midst of the Sea, and without any visible Concern taking Snuff. I shall only observe one thing further, in which both Dramas agree; which is, that by the Squeak of their Voices the Heroes of each are Eunuchs; and as the Wit in both Pieces is equal, I must prefer the Performance of Mr. Powell, because it is in our own Language, R No. 15. WHE I am, &c.' 1711. superficial tast Saturday, March 17. Parva leves capiunt animos.—Ovid. HEN I was in France, I used to gaze with great Astonishment at the Splendid Equipages, and Party-coloured Habits, of that Fantastick Nation. I was one Day in particular contemplating a Lady, that sate na Coach adorned with gilded Cupids, and finely painted with the Loves of Venus and Adonis. The Coach was drawn by six milk-white Horses, and loaden behind with the same Number of powder'd Footmen. Just before the Lady were a Couple of beautiful Pages, that were stuck among the Harness, and, by their gay Dresses and smiling Features, looked like the elder Brothers of the little Boys that were carved and painted every corner of the Coach. in The No. 15. The Lady was the unfortunate Cleanthe, who after Saturday, wards gave an Occasion to a pretty melancholy Novel. March 17, She had, for several Years, received the Addresses of a 1711 Gentleman, whom, after a long and intimate Acquaintance she forsook, upon the Account of this shining Equipage, which had been offered to her by one of Great Riches, but a Crazy Constitution. The Circum stances in which I saw her, were, it seems, the Disguises only of a broken Heart, and a kind of Pageantry to cover Distress; for in two Months after she was carried to her Grave with the same Pomp and Magnificence; being sent thither partly by the Loss of one Lover, and partly by the Possession of another. I have often reflected with my self on this unaccount able Humour in Woman-kind, of being smitten with every thing that is showy and superficial; and on the numberless Evils that befal the Sex, from this light fantastical Disposition. I my self remember a young Lady, that was very warmly sollicited by a Couple of importunate Rivals, who for several Months together did all they could to recommend themselves, by Com placency of Behaviour, and Agreeableness of Conversa tion. At length, when the Competition was doubtful, and the Lady undetermined in her Choice, one of the young Lovers very luckily bethought himself of adding a supernumerary Lace to his Liveries, which had so good an_Effect that he Married her the very Week after. The usual Conversation of ordinary Women very much cherishes this natural Weakness of being taken with Outside and Appearance. Talk of a new-married Couple, and you immediately hear whether they keep their Coach and six, or eat in Plate: Mention the Name of an absent Lady, and it is ten to one but you learn something of her Gown and Petticoat. A Ball is a great Help to Discourse, and a Birth-Day furnishes Conversation for a Twelve-month after, A Furbelow of precious Stones, an Hat buttoned with a Diamond, a Brocade Waistcoat or Petticoat, are standing Topicks. In short they consider only the Drapery of the Species, and neve cast away a Thought on those Ornaments of the Mind that make Persons Illustrious in themselves, and Useful to a to others. When Women are thus perpetually dazling No. 15. one another's Imaginations, and filling their Heads with Saturday, March 17, nothing but Colours, it is no Wonder that they are more 1711, attentive to the superficial Parts of Life, than the solid and substantial Blessings of it. A Girl, who has been trained up in this kind of Conversation, is in danger of every Embroidered Coat that comes in her Way, A Pair of fringed Gloves may be her Ruin. In a word, Lace and Ribbons, Silver and Gold Galloons, with the like glittering Gew-gaws, are so many Lures to Women of weak Minds or low Educations, and, when artficially displayed, are able to fetch down the most airy Coquet from the wildest of her Flights and Rambles. True Happiness is of a retired Nature, and an Enemy to Pomp and Noise; it arises, in the first place, from the Enjoyment of ones self; and, in the next, from the Friendship and Conversation of a few select Companions. It loves Shade and Solitude, and naturally haunts Groves and Fountains, Fields and Meadows: In short, it feels every thing it wants within it self, and receives no Addition from Multitudes of Witnesses and Spectators. On the contrary, false Happiness loves to be in a Crowd, and to draw the Eyes of the World upon her. She does not receive any Satisfaction from the Applauses which she gives her self, but from the Admiration which she raises in others. She flourishes in Courts and Palaces, Theatres and Assemblies, and has no Existence but when she is looked upon. Aurelia, though a Woman of great Quality, delights in the Privacy of a Country Life, and passes away a great part of her Time in her own Walks and Gardens. Her Husband, who is her Bosom Friend, and Companion in her Solitudes, has been in Love with her ever since he knew her. They both abound with good Sense, con summate Virtue, and a mutual Esteem; and are a perpetual Entertainment to one another. Their Family is under so regular an Oeconomy, in its Hours of Devotion and Repast, Employment and Diversion, that it looks like a ittle Common-wealth within it self. They often go into Company, that they may return with the greater Delight to one another; and sometimes live in Town, not to enjoy No. 15. enjoy it so properly as to grow weary of it, that they Saturday, may renew in themselves the Relish of a Country Life. March 17, By this means they are happy in each other, beloved by their Children, adored by their Servants, and are become the Envy, or rather the Delight, of all that know them. 1711, How different to this is the Life of Fulvia! she con siders her Husband as her Steward, and looks upon Dis cretion and good Housewifry as little domestick Virtues unbecoming a Woman of Quality. She thinks Life lost in her own Family, and fancies her self out of the World when she is not in the Ring, the Play-house, or the Drawing Room: She lives in a perpetual Motion of Body, and Restlessness of Thought, and is never easie in any one Place when she thinks there is more Com pany in another. The missing of an Opera the first Night, would be more afflicting to her than the Death of a Child. She pities all the valuable Part of her own Sex, and calls every Woman of a prudent modest retired Life, a poor-spirited unpolished Creature. What a Morti fication would it be to Fulvia, if she knew that her setting her self to View is but exposing her self, and that she grows Contemptible by being Conspicuous, I cannot conclude my Paper, without observing that Virgil has very finely touched upon this Female Passion for Dress and Show, in the Character of Camilla; who though she seems to have shaken off all the other Weak nesses of her Sex, is still described as a Woman in this Particular. The Poet tells us, that after having made a great Slaughter of the Enemy, she unfortunately cast her Eye on a Trojan who wore an embroidered Tunick a beautiful Coat of Mail, with a Mantle of the finest Purple. A Golden Bow, says he, hung upon his Shoulder: his Garment was buckled with a Golden Clasp, and his Head was covered with an Helmet of the same shining Metal. The Amazon immediately singled out this well-dressed Warrior, being seized with a Woman's Longing for the pretty Trappings that he was adorned with totumque incauta per agmen Femineo praedae & spoliorum ardebat amore, |