I have made it my Business to examine whether this pretended Lion is really the Savage he appears to be, or only a Counterfeit.

But before I communicate my Discoveries, I must acquaint the Reader, that upon my walking behind the Scenes last Winter, as I was thinking on something else, I accidentally justled against a monstrous Animal that extreamly startled me, and, upon my nearer Survey of it, appeared to be a Lion-Rampant. The Lion, seeing me very much surprized, told me, in a gentle Voice, that I might come by him if I pleased: For (says he) I do not intend to hurt anybody. I thanked him very kindly, and passed by him. And in a little time after saw him leap upon the Stage, and act his Part with very great Applause. It has been observed by several, that the Lion has changed his manner of Acting twice or thrice since his first Appearance; which will not seem strange, when I acquaint my Reader that the Lion has been changed upon the Audience three several times. The first Lion was a Candle-snuffer, who being a Fellow of a testy, cholerick Temper over-did his Part, and would not suffer himself to be killed so easily as he ought to have done; besides, it was observ'd of him, that he grew more surly every time he came out of the Lion; and having dropt some Words in ordinary Conversation, as if he had not fought his best, and that he suffered himself to be thrown upon his Back in the Scuffle, and that he would wrestle with Mr Nicolini for what he pleased, out of his Lion's Skin, it was thought proper to discard him: And it is verily believed to this Day, that had he been brought upon the Stage another time, he would certainly have done Mischief. Besides, it was objected against the first Lion, that he reared himself so high upon his hinder Paws, and walked in so erect a Posture, that he looked more like an old Man than a Lion.

The second Lion was a Taylor by Trade, who belonged to the Play-House, and had the Character of a mild and peaceable Man in his Profession. If the former was too furious, this was too sheepish, for his Part; insomuch that after a short modest Walk upon the Stage, he would fall at the first Touch of Hydaspes, without grappling with him, and giving him an Opportunity of showing his Variety of Italian Tripps: It is said, indeed, that he once gave him a Ripp in his flesh-colour Doublet, but this was only to make work for himself, in his private Character of a Taylor. I must not omit that it was this second Lion [who] treated me with so much Humanity behind the Scenes.

The Acting Lion at present is, as I am informed, a Country Gentleman, who does it for his Diversion, but desires his Name may be concealed. He says very handsomely in his own Excuse, that he does not Act for Gain, that he indulges an innocent Pleasure in it, and that it is better to pass away an Evening in this manner, than in Gaming and Drinking: But at the same time says,

with a very agreeable Raillery upon himself, that if his name should be known, the ill-natured World might call him, The Ass in the Lion's skin.

[that]

This Gentleman's Temper is made out of such a happy Mixture of the Mild and the Cholerick, that he out-does both his predecessors, and has drawn together greater Audiences than have been known in the Memory of Man.

I must not conclude my Narrative, without taking Notice of a groundless Report that has been raised, to a Gentleman's Disadvantage, of whom I must declare my self an Admirer; namely, that Signior Nicolini and the Lion have been seen sitting peaceably by one another, and smoking a Pipe together, behind the Scenes: by which their common Enemies would insinuate, it is but a sham Combat which they represent upon the Stage: But upon Enquiry I find, that if any such Correspondence has passed between them, it was not till the Combat was over, when the Lion was to be looked upon as dead, according to the received Rules of the Drama. Besides, this is what is practised every day in Westminster-Hall, where nothing is more usual than to see a Couple of Lawyers, who have been tearing each other to pieces in the Court, embracing one another as soon as they are out of it.

I would not be thought, in any part of this Relation, to reflect upon Signior Nicolini, who, in Acting this Part only complies with the wretched Taste of his Audience; he knows very well, that the Lion has many more Admirers than himself; as they say of the famous Equestrian Statue on the Pont-Neuf at Paris, that more People go to see the Horse, than the King who sits upon it. On the contrary, it gives me a just Indignation, to see a Person whose Action gives new Majesty to Kings, Resolution to Heroes, and Softness to Lovers, thus sinking from the Greatness of his Behaviour, and degraded into the Character of the London Prentice. I have often wished that our Tragoedians would copy after this same use of their Arms and Legs, and inform great Master in Action. Could they make the their Faces with as significant Looks and Passions, how glorious would an English Tragedy appear with that Action which is capable of giving a Dignity to the forced Thoughts, cold Conceits, and unnatural Expressions of an Italian Opera. In the mean time, I have related this Combat of the Lion, to show what are at present the reigning Entertainments of the Politer Part of Great Britain.

Audiences have often been reproached by Writers for the Coarseness of their Taste, but our present Grievance does not seem to be the Want of a good Taste, but of Common Sense. C.

Monde, at present, is only grown more childish,
not more innocent, than the former. While I was
in this Train of Thought, an odd Fellow, whose
Face I have often seen at the Play-house, gave
me the following Letter with these words, Sir,
The Lyon presents his humble Service to you, and
desired me to give this into your own Hands.

From my Den in the Hay-market, March 15.
SIR,

'I Have observed the Rules of my Masque so carefully (in not enquiring into Persons), that I 'cannot tell whether you were one of the Comand still design to come, I desire you would, for pany or not last Tuesday; but if you were not, 'your own Entertainment, please to admonish the for this Sort of Diversion. Town, that all Persons indifferently are not fit I could wish, Sir,

'I have read all your Papers, and have stifled my Resentment against your Reflections upon 'Operas, till that of this Day, wherein you plainly 'insinuate, that Signior Grimaldi and my self 'have a Correspondence more friendly than is 'consistent with the Valour of his Character, or the Fierceness of mine. I desire you would, for your own Sake, forbear such Intimations for the future; and must say it is a great Piece of Ill-you could make them understand, that it is a 'kind of acting to go in Masquerade, and a Man 'nature in you, to shew so great an Esteem for a 'should be able to say or do things proper for the 'Foreigner, and to discourage a Lyon that is your 'Dress in which he appears. We have now and 'own Country-man. 'then Rakes in the Habit of Roman Senators, 'and grave Politicians in the Dress of Rakes. "The Misfortune of the thing is, that People dress 'themselves in what they have a Mind to be, and not what they are fit for. There is not a Girl in 'the Town, but let her have her Will in going to 'a Masque, and she shall dress as a Shepherdess. 'But let me beg of them to read the Arcadia, or 'some other good Romance, before they appear in any such Character at my House. The last 'Day we presented, every Body was so rashly 'habited, that when they came to speak to each other, a Nymph with a Crook had not a Word to 'say but in the pert Stile of the Pit Bawdry; and 'a Man in the Habit of a Philosopher was speech'less, till an occasion offered of expressing himself

a

'I take notice of your Fable of the Lyon and 'Man, but am so equally concerned in that Matter, 'that I shall not be offended to which soever of 'the Animals the Superiority is given. You have 'misrepresented me, in saying that I am 'Country-Gentleman, who act only for my Diversion; whereas, had I still the same Woods to 'range in which I once had when I was a Fox'hunter, I should not resign my Manhood for a 'Maintenance; and assure you, as low as my 'Circumstances are at present, I am so much a 'Man of Honour, that I would scorn to be any Beast for Bread but a Lyon.

Yours, &c.

I had no sooner ended this, than one of my Land-lady's Children brought me in several others, with some of which I shall make up my present Paper, they all having a Tendency to the same Subject, viz. the Elegance of our present Diversions.

SIR,

Covent Garden, March 13.

'I Have been for twenty Years Under-Sexton 'of this Parish of St. Paul's, Covent-Garden, and 'have not missed tolling in to Prayers six times in 'all those Years; which Office I have performed to my great Satisfaction, till this Fortnight last past, 'during which Time I find my Congregation take 'the Warning of my Bell, Morning and Evening, 'to go to a Puppett-show set forth by one Powell, 'under the Piazzas. By this Means, I have not 'only lost my two Customers, whom I used to 'place for six Pence a Piece over-against Mrs Rachel Eyebright, but Mrs Rachel herself is 'gone thither also. There now appear among us 'none but a few ordinary People, who come to 'Church only to say their Prayers, so that I have 'no Work worth speaking of but on Sundays. I 'have placed my Son at the Piazzas, to acquaint 'the Ladies that the Bell rings for Church, and 'that it stands on the other side of the Garden; 'but they only laugh at the Child.

I Masquerades took rank as a leading pleasure of the town under the management of John James Heidegger, son of a Zurich clergyman, who came to England in 1708, at the age of 50, as a Swiss negotiator. He entered as a private in the Guards, and attached himself to the service of the fashionable world, which called him 'the Swiss Count,' and readily accepted him as leader. In 1709 he made five hundred guineas by furnishing the spectacle for Motteux's opera of Tomyris, Queen of Scythia. When these papers were written he was thriving upon the Masquerades, which he brought into fashion and made so much a rage of the town that moralists and satirists protested, and the clergy preached against them. A sermon preached against them by the Bishop of London, January 6th, 1724, led to an order that no more should take place than the six subscribed for at the beginning of the month. Nevertheless they held their ground afterwards by connivance of the government. In 1728, Heidegger was called in to nurse the Opera, which throve by his bold puffing. He died, in 1749, at the age of 90, claiming chief honour to the Swiss for ingenuity. 'I 'was born,' he said, 'a Swiss, and came to Eng'land without a farthing, where I have found 'means to gain £5000 a-year, and to spend it. 'Now I defy the ablest Englishman to go to 'Switzerland and either gain that income or spend

'I desire you would lay this before all the 'World, that I may not be made such a Tool 'for the Future, and that Punchinello may chuse 'Hours less canonical. As things are now, Mr'it there.'

pro-lished puppet play for more than two generations. I The History of Susanna had been an estabAn old copy of verses on Bartholomew Fair in the year 1665, describing the penny and twopenny puppet plays, or, as they had been called in and since Queen Elizabeth's time, 'motions,' says Their Sights are so rich, is able to bewitch The heart of a very fine man-a;

'Hay-Market the Undertakers forgetting to change their Side-Scenes, we were presented No. 15.] Saturday, March 17, 1711. [Addison. '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 and down WHEN I was in France, I used to gaze with

How different to this is the Life of Fulvia! she considers her Husband as her Steward, and looks upon Discretion and good House-Wifery, as little domestick Virtues, unbecoming a Woman of Quality. She thinks Life lost in her own Family, and fancies herself out of the World, when she is not in the Ring, the Play-House, or the DrawingRoom: 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 Company 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 poorspirited, unpolished Creature. What a Mortification 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.

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 never cast away a Thought on those Ornaments of the Mind, that make Persons Illustrious in themselves, and Useful to others. When Women are thus perpetually dazling one anothers Imaginations, and filling their Heads with nothing but Colours, it is no Wonder that they are more attentive to the superficial Parts of Life, than the solid and substantial Blessings of it. A Girl, who has been trained up I cannot conclude my Paper, without observing in this kind of Conversation, is in danger of every that Virgil has very finely touched upon this Embroidered Coat that comes in her Way. A Female Passion for Dress and Show, in the Pair of fringed Gloves may be her Ruin. In a Character of Camilla; who, tho' she seems to word, Lace and Ribbons, Šilver and Gold Gal- have shaken off all the other Weaknesses of her loons, with the like glittering Gew-Gaws, are so Sex, is still described as a Woman in this Parmany Lures to Women of weak Minds or low ticular. The Poet tells us, that, after having made Educations, and, when artificially displayed, are a great Slaughter of the Enemy, she unfortunately able to fetch down the most airy Coquet from the cast her Eye on a Trojan [who] wore an emwildest of her Flights and Rambles. broidered! 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 Mettle. 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:

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 itself, 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.

-Totumque incauta per agmen Fæmineo prædæ et spoliorum ardebat amore. This heedless Pursuit after these glittering Trifles, the Poet (by a nice concealed Moral) represents to have been the Destruction of his Female Hero. C.

Aurelia, tho' a Woman of Great Quality, de- No. 16.] Monday, March 19, 1711. [Addison. lights in the Privacy of a Country Life, and passes away a great part of her Time in her own Walks

in hoc sum.-Hor.

very satyrical upon the little Muff that is now in Fashion; another informs me of a Pair of silver Garters buckled below the Knee, that have been lately seen at the Rainbow Coffee-house in Fleet-street; a third sends me an heavy Complaint

and Gardens. Her Husband, who is her BosomQuid verum atque decens curo et rogo, et omnis Friend and Companion in her Solitudes, has been in Love with her ever since he knew her. They both abound with good Sense, consummate Vir- I HAVE receiv'd a Letter, desiring me to be tue, 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 little 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 it so properly as to grow weary of it, that they may renew in themselves the Relish of a Country Life. 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.

I [that]

2 The Rainbow, near the Inner Temple Gate, in Fleet Street, was the second Coffee-house opened in London. It was opened about 1656, by a barber named James Farr, part of the house still being occupied by the bookseller's shop which had been there for at least twenty years before. Farr also, at first, combined his coffee