THE TATLER. No. 20. THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1709. THOUGH the theatre is now breaking, it is allowed still to sell animals there; therefore, if any lady or gentleman have occasion for a tame elephant, let them enquire of Mr. Pinkethman, who has one to dispose of at a reasonable rate. The downfal of May-Fair has quite sunk the price of this noble creature, as well as of many other curiosities of nature. A tiger will sell almost as cheap as an ox: and I am credibly informed, a man may purchase a cat with three legs for very near the value of one with four. I hear likewise, that there is a great desolation among the gentlemen and ladies who were the ornaments of the town, and used to shine in plumes and diadems; the heroes being most of them pressed, and the queens beating hemp. Mrs. Sarabrand, so famous for her ingenious Puppetshow, has set up a shop in the Exchange, where she sells her little trocp, under the term of Jointed Babies. I could not but be solicitous to know of her, how she had disposed of that rake-hell Punch, whose lewd life and conversation had given so much scandal, and did not a little contribute to the ruin of the fair. She told me, with a sigh, that, despairing of ever reclaiming him, she would not offer to place him in a civil family, but got him in a post upon a be seen from sun stall in Wapping, where he mass in one hand, and rising to sun-setting, with a a pipe in the other, ther as sentry as sentry to a brandy-shop. The great revolutions of of this nature, bring to my mind the distresses of the unfortunate Camilla, who has had the ill luck to break before her voice, and to disappear at a time when her beauty was at the height of its bloom. This lady entered so thoroughly into the great characters she acted, that when she had finished her part, she could not think of retrenching her equipage, but would appear in her own lodgings with the same magnificence that she did upon the stage. This greatness of soul has reduced that unhappy princess to an involuntary retirement, where she now passes her time among the woods and forests, thinking on the crowns and scepters, she has lost, and often humming over in her solitude, I was born of royal race, Yet must wander in disgrace, &c. But for fear of being over-heard, and her quality known, she usually sings it in Italian. Since I have touched upon this subject, I shall communicate to my reader part of a letter I have received from a friend at Amsterdam, where there is a very noble theatre; though the manner of furnishing it with actors is something peculiar to that place, and gives us occasion to admire both the politeness and frugality of the people. "My friends have kept me here a week longer than ordinary, to see one of their plays, which was peformed last night with great applause. The ac འག wa moil 1996 tors are all of them tradesmen, who, after their day's work is over, earn about a guilder a night by personating kings and generals. The hero of the I saw, personating as a journeyman taylor, and his first minister of state a coffee-man. The empress made me think of Parthenope in the Rehearsal; for her mother keeps an ale-house in the suburbs of Amsterdam. When the tragedy was over, they entertained us with a short farce, in which the cobbler did his part to a miracle; but, upon enquiry, I found he had really been working at his own trade, and representing on the stage what he acted every day in his shop. The profits of the theatre maintain an hospital: For as here they do not think the profession of an actor the only trade that a man ought to exercise, so they will not allow any body to grow rich on a profession that in their opinion so little conduces to the good of the commonwealth. If I am not mistaken, your playhouses in England have done the same thing; for, unless I am misinformed, the hospital at Dulledge was erected and endowed by Mr. Allen, a player: and it is also said, a famous she-tragedian has settled her estate, after her death, for the maintenance of decayed wits, who are to be taken in as soon as they grow dull, at whatever time of their life that shall happen. No. 42. SATURDAY, JULY 16, 1709, Celebrare Domestica Facta. THIS is to give notice, that a magnificent palace, with great variety of gardens, statues, and water-works, may be bought cheap in Drury Lane; where there are likwise several castles to be disposed of, very delightfully situated; as also groves, woods, forests, fountains, and country seats, with very pleasant prospects on all sides of them; being the moveables of Christopher Rich, Esq. who is breaking up house-keeping, and has many curious pieces of furniture to dispose of, which may be seen between the hours of six and ten in the evening.T sto gaitziegos The INVENTORY. Spirits of right Nants brandy, for lambent flames and apparitions. Three bottles and a half of lightning. One shower of snow, in the whitest French paper. Two showers of a browner sort. A sea, consisting of a dozen large waves, the tenth bigger than ordinary, and a little damaged. A dozen and a half of clouds, trimmed with black, and well conditioned. A rainbow, a little faded. A set of clouds, after the French mode, streaked with lightning, and furbelowed, A new-moon, something decayed. A pint of the finest Spanish wash, being all that is left of two hogsheads sent over last winter. A coach, very finely gilt, and little used, with a pair of dragons, to be sold cheap. A setting-sun, a'pennyworth. An imperial mantle, made for Cyrus the Great, and worn by Julius Cæsar, Bajazet, King Harry the Eighth, and Signior Valentini. A basket-hilt sword, very convenient to carry milk in. Roxana's night-gown. Othello's handkerchief. The imperial robes of Xerxes, never worn but once t J A wild boar, killed by Mrs. Tofts, and Dioclesian. A mustard-bowl, to make thunder with. Another of a bigger sort, by Mr. Dis's directions, little used. To be h *་་་ Six elbow chairs, very expert in country dances, with six flower-pots for their partners. The whiskers of a Turkish Bassa. The complexion of a murderer, in a band-box; consisting of a large piece of burnt cork, and a coalblack peruke. Levezte Asuit of clothes for a ghost, viz. a bloody shirt, a doublet curiously pinked, and a coat with three great eyelet-holes upon the breast. A bale of red Spanish wool.. Modern plots, commonly known by the name of trap-doors, ladders of ropes, vizard-masques, and tables with broad carpets over them. Three oak-cudgels, with one of crab-tree: all bought for the use of Mr. Pinkethman. Materials for dancing; as masques, castanets, and a ladder of ten rounds. Arrengzebe's scimitar, made by Will. Brown in Piccadilly. A plume of feathers, never used but by dipus and the Earl of Essex. There are also swords, halberts, sheep-hooks, cardinals' hats, turbans, drums, gallypots, a gibbet, a cradle, a rack, a cart-wheel, an altar, a helmet, a back-piece, a breast-plate, a bell, a tub, and a jointed baby. These are the hard shifts we intelligencers are forced to; therefore our readers ought to excuse us, if a westerly wind, blowing for a fortnight together, generally fills every paper with an order of battle; when we shew our martial skill in each line, and, according to the space we have to fill, we range our men in squadrons and battalions, to draw out company by company, and troop by troop; ever observing, that no muster is to be made, but when the wind is in a cross point, which often happens at the end of a campaign, when half the men are de |