Event Comment: Last time of company's performing this season. Benefit for Bowers and Widow Veal. Tickets deliver'd by Berrisford, Hodges, and Burroughs will be taken. Thus Ends the Season-63 different plays-36 different Farces-186 Nights in all (Hopkins Diary). Paid Watch, Rector, Cleansing, &c., cg to Lady Day last #5 18s. 4d. (Treasurer's Book). After Season Receipts: 11 June: Box Office Keeper's cash #25; Condill's 3rd and last payment for Fruit Office #20. 16 June: Candles, Oyl and Lampmen of Theatrical Fund Night 2nd inst. #3 18s. 6d. 23 June: Mr Johnston for Candle ends sold to sundry #11 7s. 6d.; Ditto for Lace burnt form the Wardrobe #205 8s. 26 June: Harrison's rent 1 yr to Lady Day last #46 but with #12 5s. in taxes deducted amount rec'd #33 15s.; Williams rent ditto (#48 with #8 6s. 8d. taxes deducted) #39 13s. 4d.; From Public Advertiser this season #50; From Daily Gazetteer #50. 3 July: Remainder of Sinking Fund #160 2s. 6d. 6 July. Mr Rowland 1 yrs rent to Lady Day last with #3 8s. in taxes deducted, #139 12s.; Mr Pope 1 yrs rent to ditto with #3 11s. 2d. taxes deducted #26 8s. 10d. 10 July: Benefit deficiencies cleared and Cash taken up by Evans as per acct. #89 7s. (Treasurer's Book). After Season expenditures: 11 June: Hopkins, Prompters Bill #8 15s.; Miss Hopkins 18 Nights full #2 5s. 13 June: 2 days salary list at #72 6s. 5d. per diem #144 12s. 10d.; S. French 6 days #1 10s. 16 June: Davies on note #7 6s.; Printer's 2 bills #11 14s.; Mas. Thomson 3 nights in full 15s.; Mrs Mann on note #2 2s.; Tallow chandler's 9th bill (#30 14s. 4d. with a discount of #26 15s. 6d. on all bills for season) #3 18s. 10d. 19 June: Miss Berkley on note #5 5s. 3 July: J. Stevens 2 weeks as usual #1 16s; Sandys & Co. for Colours #10 4s. Dorman for Coals #20 10s. and for attending practices of dances, as usual #10 10s.; Cole (turner) #14 3s.; Bibb (sword cutler) #3 12s.; Barret (wax chandler) #20 6s. 6d.; Blakes, (hatter), #5 12s.; Lowe and Co (glaziers) #16 6d.; Cropley, (linen draper) #14 7s. 6d.; Chamberlain & Co. (ironmongers), #25; Carter (scowerer) #14 12s.; Jennings (glover and furrier) #18 6d.; Scott (copper laceman), #51 19s.; Carpue, (silk dyer) #9 1s. 6d.; Mrs Chitty (coals) #28; Carver's bill #2 1s.; Chettell (timber) #14 9s.; Cubitt (Tinman) #18 2s. 6d.; Waller (hosier) #24 19s. 6d.; Barrow & Co. (only) #118; Vaughan (haberdasher) #3 6s.; Hatsell (mercer) #28 2s.; Thomson (smith) #10 15s. 6 July: B. Lyon, Wardrobe & Carp Bills #10 10s. 6d.; Stephens (manson) #6 4s.; Pope (peruke maker) #29 6s. and #3 16s. for 38 extra nights dressing &c.; Mrs Slaughter's Bill #9 2s. 6d.; Roberts (shoemaker) #3 12s. 6d.; D. Richards, 30 weeks 5 days extra salary in full for this season #30 16s. 8d.; Hewetson (laceman) #17 6s.; Mr Page in full of #25 this season #1 17s. 6d. 8 July: J. Johnston's Music Bill #37 13s. 6d.; Powney & Co., (stationers) #3 14s.; Landall for Mrs Cape's Funeral per order #4 7s. 6d.; Kirkman, (harpsichord maker) #18 14s.; John French, painter's bill #5 3s. 10 July: Palmer for Spermacetti Candles #255 8s.; Miss Collett's schooling #2 8s. 10d.; Stafford (glassman) #4 19s.; A. Johnston's bill for feathers &c. #15 6s. 6d.; Ditto four Housekeeping Bills #10 1s. 4d.; Chapman (Jubilee horsekeeping) #3 13s. 6d.; Victor 2 weeks salary as usual #5; Victor gratuity as usual #30; Evans 2 weeks salary as usual #3 and #42 in lieu of a Benefit. Books Closed 10 July. Total income #32,538 6s. 1d. Total outgo #26,410 8s. 8d. Profit #6,127 17s. 5d. paid To Managers #5,040 To Clutterbuck #1,087 17s. 5d

Event Comment: James Brydges, Diary: I set Mr Bullock down at ye Playhouse, & came home (Huntington MS St 26). John Dryden wrote to Mrs Steward on 23 Feb. [1699@1700, but possibly 1698@99, as the letter concerns theatrical affairs of the autumn and winter of 1698-99]: The Poem of The Confederates [see The Island Princess, November 1698] some think to be Mr Walsh: the copies are both lik'd. And there are really two factions of ladyes, for the two play-houses. If you do not understand the names of some persons mention'd I can help you to the knowledge of them. You know, Sir Tho. Skipwith is master of the play-house in Drury-Lane; and my Lord Scarsdale is the patron of Betterton's house, being in love with somebody there [presumably Anne Bracegirdle] (The Letters of John Dryden, p. 133)

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. John Dryden to Mrs Steward, 4 March 1698@9: This Day is playd a reviv'd Comedy of Mr Congreve's called the Double Dealer, which was never very takeing; in the play bill was printed, Written by Mr Congreve; with Severall Expressions omitted: What kind of Expressions those were you may easily ghess; if you have seen the Monday's Gazette, wherein is the King s Order, for the reformation of the Stage: but the printing an Authours name, in a Play bill, is a new manner of proceeding, at least in England (Letters of John Dryden, 112-13)

Event Comment: This farce of Lethe was wrote some years ago and play'd with Success, & was reviv'd this Night with great Alterations, & was but indifferently receiv'd by the Audience (Cross). The Poet, Frenchman, & Sot Mr Garrick perform'd most inimitably (Charles Adams to John Gilbert-Cooper, Theatre Notebook, XI (1957) p. 138). No After Money will be taken, and no Persons will be Admitted behind the Scenes (General Advertiser). Receipts: #180 (Cross); #186 7s. (Powel). N.B.: Mr G-k is the author of Lethe and did receive #36 8s. 6d. for this night which is the overplus after the charge of #63 for the House is paid, and which I must subtract from the rest (Powel). [A letter appeared in the General Advertiser this day giving advance notice and approval of a performance of Cato to be put on at Leicester House 7 Jan. by members of the Royal Family. The author noted that "proper Habits are absolutely in the making," and that the Princes would learn the principles of liberty from the lines of the play.

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This performance, the premiere, is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 216: first Acting. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 348. Nell Gwyn also attended this performance; see VanLennep, Nell Gwyn's Playgoing, p406. The title page states: The English Opera; or The Vocal Musick in Psyche, with the Instrumental Therein Intermix'd...By Matthew Lock. Preface: All the Instrumental Musick (which is not mingled with the Vocal) was Composed by that Great Master, Seignior Gio. Baptista Draghi, Master of the Italian Musick to the King. The Dances were made by the most famous Master of France, Monsieur St.Andree. The Scenes were Painted by the Ingenious Artist, Mr Stephenson. In those things that concern the Ornament or Decoration of the Play, the great industry and care of Mr Betterton ought to be remember'd, at whose desire I wrote upon this Subject. Roger North Upon Music: I am sure the musick in the Psyche was composed by Mr M. Lock, of whom wee may say, as the Greeks sayd of Cleomenes, that he was ultimus Heroum. This masque is also in print, and begins 'Great Psyche,' &c. and the book containing the whole musick of that entertainment is not unworthy of a place in a vertuoso's cabanet (ed. John Wilson [1959], pp. 306-7). Preface to Settle's Ibrahim (licensed 4 May 1676): I have often heard the Players cursing at their oversight in laying out so much on so disliked a play [Psyche]; and swearing that they thought they had lost more by making choice of such an Opera: writer than they had gained by all his Comedies; considering how much more they might have expected, had such an Entertainment had that scence in it, that it deserved: and that for the future they expect the Tempest, which cost not one Third of Psyche, will be in request when the other is forgotten. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, pp. 35-36): In February 1672. The long expected Opera of Psyche, came forth in all her Ornaments; new Scenes, new Machines, new Cloaths, new French Dances: This Opera was Splendidly set out, especially in Scenes; the Charge of which amounted to above 800l. It had a Continuance of Performance about 8 Days together it prov'd very Beneficial to the Company; yet the Tempest got them more Money

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Written by the late Mr Congreve. St. James's Evening Post, 31 Oct.: We are informed, that John Ellys Esq: the eminent painter, succeeds Mr Wilks in the management of Drurylane Play-House; and that Mr Cibber Jr succeeds his father, who has resign'd to him

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Alter'd from Beaumont and Fletcher, by Sir John Vanbrugh and Mr Dryden. Afterpiece: An English Opera, written by the late Mr Addison, and new set to Musick by Mr Arne, reserving two or three Favourite Songs, out of his former Opera

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; P 2, by John O'Keeffe. MS: Larpent 608; not published. CG playbill of 16 Nov. 1795 has a detailed synopsis of the action]: Intermixed with Songs and Dialogue. With new Music, Scenes, Dresses, Machinery, and Decorations. The new Music composed by Shield. The new Scenes designed by Richards, and executed by Richards, Hodgins, and assistants. To conclude with a Representation of the Lord Mayor's Show on the Water. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. Nothing under Full Price will be taken. "As to the Pantomime it wanted nothing on the first Night but Abbreviations . . . [which should be] omission of the Doctors, the two Women of the Town, and the whole of Edwin's Character" (Public Advertiser, 27 Nov.). Gentleman's Magazine, Jan. 1783, pp. 29-31, contains a detailed synopsis of the procession, and adds, "The personages of this procession were all dressed in the characters of the time in which they lived, and before each of them a label, a scroll, or a pageant was carried, bearing their name, or some allusion of the poets to their occupation. The figures in transparency were all painted as large as the life, and had a most grand and beautiful effect . . . The idea of the paintings was furnished by Mr Richards and Mr Smirk [sic], and all of them executed by the latter in a style of so much taste and excellence that it is a matter of some wonder to us, where an artist of Mr Smirk's abilities has been so long concealed . . . The glee introduced with so much applause is the composition of the late Dr Rogers (who lived in 1600); the other airs in the pantomime and procession arc by Handel, Lord Kelly, Abel, Stamitz and Shield, and have very great merit. The expense of preparing this splendid spectacle must have been very great, and the cost of continuing its representation cannot be inconsiderable, since more than 200 supernumeraries are employed to walk in the procession." Receipts: #215 3s. (206/3; 9/0)

Event Comment: Under the Patronage of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, H. R. H. the Duke of York, and H. R. H. the Duke of Clarence. Benefit for a Fund for the Relief of the Wounded Seamen, and also for the Widows and Orphans of the Brave Men who fell in the late Glorious Action, under Admiral Lord Viscount Duncan [see 16 Oct.]. The Tickets for the Boxes are issued under the Direction of a Committee consisting of the following Noblemen and Gentlemen, who have obligingly undertaken to attend to the arrangement of the Evening: The Duke of Leeds, The Duke of Bedford, The Earl of Guildford, The Earl of Thanet, The Right Honorable the Lord Mayor [Brook Watson], Mr Alderman Combe, M. P., Mr Alderman Skinner, John Julius Angerstein, Esq. Tickets and Places for the Boxes not disposed of by the Committee to be had of Fosbrook at the Box Office, Little Russell-Street, and at the Bar of Lloyds Coffee House. Ladies and Gentlemen having Privilege of the Theatre are requested by the Stewards to waive the use of it for this Evening. [Address by Richard Cumberland (European Magazine, Nov. 1797, p. 339). True Briton. 23 Nov. 1797, prints a letter from the Chairman of Committee of Subscribers to the performers of the theatre, thanking them for not "accepting the usual emolument on the night of performance."] Receipts: #631 8s. (357.17.6; 57.4.6; 1.11.0; money extra left at the doors: 2.14.6; tickets: 212.0.6) (charge: #161 0s. 6d.)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Comedie in 5 Actes de Mr Baron. The alleged deposition of Wm Davison:...he on the 17th Day of November being the second Night of the French Strollers acting at the Theatre in the Haymarket, was at the Sign of the Globe, a Publick House about Nine of the Clock that Night, where this Deponent saw John Haines, one of the Waiters at the said Tavern, and several other Persons, to the Number of 16, dressed like Chairmen, each of which had a great Bludgeon in his Hand, which he put under his Coat, in order to hide the same, but in such a manner as this Deponent was capable of seeing said Bludgeons;...and was informed by several Persons of credit that they and others to the number of 30, were hired by Lord Trentham to protect the French Strollers from any Attempt that might be made to prevent their Acting [claims Haines had a list of their names and told them Lord Trentham would need them again on other nights] notarized before John Waple, 24 Nov. [Lord Trentham offered a fifty pound reward for the original copy of the above affidavit.] John Haynes...maketh Oath...that he...never had any Conversation directly or indirectly, with Lord Trentham, relating to the French Players, nor did the said Lord Trentham dine at the King's Arms on 17 Nov., nor did this Deponent see the said Lord Trentham on that Day, nor for several Days before, nor did the Deponent make use of the said Lord Trentham's name, in any conversation at the Globe Alehouse the said Lord Trentham was not in the least privy to this Deponent's going to the said little Theatre on the said 17th of Nov. with several Persons as mentioned in the affidavit or pretended affidavit of Wm Davison...Sworn the 26th Day of Nov., before me, H. Fielding. [This notice repeated in the General Advertiser for a week. The French players departed for France on 28 Dec.

Event Comment: Benefit for the Widow and Four Children of the late Mr Follett. [John Follett had died in Jan. 1799. Address by John Cartwright Cross (Monthly Mirror, June 1799, p. 367).] Receipts: #416 7s. 9d. (120.4.3; 4.1.0; tickets: 292.2.6)

Event Comment: Flora's Figarys appears in Herbert, Dramatic Records, p. 148, under this date. As Flora's Vagaries, it had been acted at Christ Church, Oxford, on 8 Jan. 1663. The play was not published before 1670, and the entry in Herbert's list has sometimes been regarded as the date of licensing, sometimes as the date of a performance in London. Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 427, assigned it to ca. January 1662@3 at Vere St, presumably because "Mr Bird" in the cast in the quarto of 1670 referred to Theophilus Bird, who died before 3 Nov. 1663. But the cast in the edition of 1670 is presumably that for 5 Oct. 1667, when Pepys saw the play and referred to Nell Gwyn and Mrs Knepp as acting in it; they, too, are listed in the quarto of 1670 but could hardly have played in it in 1663. If the cast in the 1670 edition is not that for 3 Nov. 1663 and if the "Mr Bird" is Theophilus Bird Jr, then the obstacles to consiuering 3 Nov. 1663 as the date of a performance rather than of licensing are less formidable. [I am indebted to professor John Harold Wilson for much of this argument.

Event Comment: On this date, L. C. 5@16, p. 101 (Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 10n) Nathaniel Lee's The Duke of Guise was banned. John Drummond to Marquis and Duke of Queensberry, 16 July 1682: Ther is a play hear to be acted that maks a great business, for the Duke of Munmuth has complained of it, and they say that notwithstanding it is to be acted sometime nixt weik. They call it the Duke of Guise, but in the play the true story is cheinged to the plott time hear (HMC, Buccleuch-Queensberry MSS., 1903, II 108). Newsletter, 29 July 1682: A play by Mr Dryden, termed the Duke of Guise, wherein the Duke of Monmouth was vilified and great interest being make for the acting thereof, but coming to His Majesty's knowledge is forbid, for though His Majesty be displeased with the Duke yet he will not suffer others to abuse him (HMC, 15th Report, Part VII, 1898, p. 108). Newdigate newsletters, 29 July 1682: A play having been made [by] Mr Dryden termed ye Duke of Guise supposed to Levell att the villifying the Duke of Monmouth & many other protestants & great Interest made for the Acting thereof but bringing to the knowledge of his Matie the same was forbidd for though his Maties pleasure is to be dissatisfyed and angry with the Duke of Monmouth, yet hee is not willing that others should abuse him out of a naturall affection for him (Wilson, Theatre Notes from the Newdigate Newsletters, p. 81)

Event Comment: Philip Perceval to Sir John Perceval, 1 Feb.: The opera of Camilla has been one of the chief diversions of the town this long time, and business is forgot. Next week we expect a new one, and soon after another. One goes by Mr Addison's name; I think they call it Fair Rosamond, the other is Mr Clayton's undertaking. Great things are expected of them both. (Egmont MS, II, 215.

Event Comment: At the Desire of several Persons of Quality and Distinction. Mainpiece: Written by Sir John Vanbrugh and Mr Cibber. Afterpiece: Written by Mr Carey

Event Comment: Benefit Castelman, the Treasurer. Mainpiece: Alter'd from Beaumont and Fletcher by Sir John Vanbrugh and Mr Dryden. [Tickets at Castelman's Lodgings, at Mr Watford's, Upholder, over-against the Sun Tavern, Russel Street, Bloomsbury.

Event Comment: Benefit Widow Harper. See Daily Advertiser, 30 April: The case of the Widow of the late John Harper, Comedian: Mr Harper, having been seiz'd about four years since with a Paralitic Disorder, which not only rendered him incapable of acting, but depriv'd him of the use of his limbs, and in some degree affected his senses so as to make him an object of great compassion; during which long and dreadful Indisposition of near four years all possible means were tried (tho' in vain) to recover him, which impair'd and hurt his Circumstances, so greatly, as not to permit him to leave a sufficent Support for his widow, who is in years and unprovided for. Mr Harper dying in January last, according to a custom in the theatre his widow is entitled to a Benefit, and the Comedy of The Miser is to be acted to-morrow night for her Benefit, at Drury Lane; but as she is incapable of making a proper interest for it, without applying to the Compassion and Generosity of the Publick, she hopes to be excused in giving them the Trouble of this her case. Tickets deliver'd out by Roger will be taken.See Garrick's Additional Benefit for her on 11 May.] Receipts: #50