| Citation |
BPB.742.004
17 May 1742:11,12 (356)
A View of London; in a letter to the Rev. Mr.-A.M. of ------
-College, Oxon.
. . . Seneca, I believe, wrote of the tranquility of life
after having his ears dinn'd with the hackney coaches of his
time, because I was inform'd, a poet of our age, the better
to describe the spring, ledg'd, while he compos'd it, in
Thames Street. The hideous cries of people who walk the
streets to herbs, milk, fruit, old cloaths, sand, brick
dust, and bloody murders make me think Morose in the play a
wiser man than I took him for. But the most [ridiculous]
noise is that of their bells; their use is, to tell the
inhabitants of their holidays, call the living to prayers,
and toll the dead to rest. . .
There are several theatres where people of all ranks
assemble. Last night plays were exhibited at five, viz.
Drury-Lane, Covent-Garden, Lincoln's-Inn Fields, Goodman's
Fields and the Hay-Market tho' no opera was performed; from
whence you may judge of the prosperity and riches, or the
declines and poverty of this great metropolis. These
theatres labour to rival one another: When Cato, or any
noble Greek or Roman, appears on the stage, the audience is
thin; laughing is in fashion, therefore the people would
lose their diversion; but Monsieur Harlequin is a great
favourite.
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