1709


 * John DeOrnellas, 1709 **

//These letters were found in a small case in early 1710 titled "To my dear Amelia, Brookshire" after a small riot occurred near Queen's Theatre. It is unclear whether the "Amelia" mentioned is the women who was attacked last night; but it is clear that the gentlemen mentioned were not there to comfort her as she nearly lost her life.//

-  October 5, 1709

My Dear Cousin Amelia, It is with my most sincere regards that I apologize for not having written to you sooner. The city life in London is quite overwhelming for a country boy such as myself, and there was so much to do. I have quite a lot to tell you about, and much to hear that will both excite and embarrass the emotions of a innocent woman such as yourself. There are many social movements, political influences, and the gossip? My oh my. I think you would be quite excited to hear about a publication titled the //Female Tatler//, since you and Uncle James are so excited to hear the tales of Mr. Bickerstaff in his //Tatler//. But first, I feel I should tell you of the city life! Every morning when I wake up there is always something to do. I have spent many of my days getting breakfast with my friends Jack and Abel, going to the theatre at night after spending the day committing hard labor at the periodical production plants. Having the work to do during the day makes the hours go by quickly, but I do miss the lazy afternoons that we had in Brookshire. While farming and planting crops for the city is not something I aspire to do, I get to see the effect of our family’s labors in full force as the city recovers from the Great Frost that plagued our seas earlier this year. The people have begun to feel less terrified of nature, and now even feel in a mood to make jests about the ice chunks that blocked our boats for such a long time. I have enjoyed my first month here so far, and only hope that I will continue to enjoy the next few months as well! Give my regards to Uncle James and the family.

Your dear cousin, Paolo

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November 6, 1709

My sweet cousin Amelia, As you know, our great Queen Anne is still reigning monarch of England. I have had an opportunity to see her only once in person, though you know that I came here to see every sight imaginable. The one time I did see her, though, was not a jolly one. I was witness to the trial against a great female novelist, Delarivier Manley, who voice very satirical thoughts against our great Whig government. It was quite horrid, but I am just glad that no heads were chopped or voices permanently silenced. While Mrs. Manley was arrested, she still has a chance to be redeemed in the future. Her satirical thoughts will come back to entertain the populace once more when she is returned to her former status. On more grim terms, we are still engaged in the War with Spain. I have heard word that our grand army was engaged in battles alongside the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch against our feared rivals the French. The battles of succession seemed to have lasted much too long for my tastes, but I am glad we British are able to resolve our internal struggles in a much more efficient manner. After all, the Interregnum only lasted twenty years! Maybe the grand comedies and dramas that our parents were privileged to enjoy in the theatres will be replicated and recreated with the themes of the Spanish Succession, and we will get to enjoy them as well as our ancestors. These global and domestic events do give plenty of information for mouthpieces such as Mr. Bickerstaff and Mrs. Crackenthorpe to give a new light towards. Oh yes, as I mentioned before Mr. Bickerstaff is not the only mouthpiece that gives entertaining perspectives on the lives of the general populace in light of the issues which plague our great home. Now Mrs. Crackenthorpe, she is someone who you would enjoy much more than Uncle James would. She writes as a woman of status who wishes to help other women be as smart and bright as she is, but with a tone that matches Mr. Bickerstaff in humour. I can only imagine that if they were to write together, rather than separately, their works would be some of the most popular in all the country! When I have a few free moments, I shall explain to you some more about Mrs. Crackenthorpe and The Female Tatler. For now, I am off to work. Give my regards as always, Amelia!

Your cousin, Paolo

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November 20, 1709 Dear Amelia, I apologize for the delay in writing to you. This has been a very exciting month in London, and I hope to share many splendid stories about how //The Country Wife// and Miss Margery is a true representation of some women in the city! But for now, I shall explain to you in more depth about Mrs. Crackenthorpe. Mrs. Crackenthorpe is the voice of a publication named //The Female Tatler//. Now that explains the references to Mr. Bickerstaff and his works in //The Tatler//. Anyway, the //Female// enjoys a decent readership from what I can see on the streets. Mrs. Crackenthorpe discusses many a topic, including the local and foreign issues our dear country is facing, the local gossip, entertainment, and literature. Her pieces are very eye-opening to a gentleman such as myself, and do nearly offend my delicate sensibilities with her talk of misogyny and feelings of ill-will about women’s rights and behaviors. But I believe that this is just talk, and that whoever the author is has jaded feelings due to a sense of rejection by the men of society. Her writings are, after all, only one penny, and produced every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. This is counter to //The Tatler’s// publication dates of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so they do not compete more than through their male or female points of view. Regardless, I very much enjoy reading both versions in the mornings while having breakfast, so that it gives me something to discuss as I work. I feel as if I am just rambling on, but this is also the mood that I get from //The Tatler// and //The Female Tatler// as I read them in the mornings. In particular, The Female Tatler has become quite well-known, and quite successful, for taking on the role of correcting the actions and behaviors of both women and men alike. We in the city are witness to very rowdy and naughty behaviors, particularly in the theatres, which you and Uncle James would probably blush to the highest regard at. It helps to create a fine atmosphere in the theatre areas, in my opinion, but to others it is seen as promoting immoral behaviors, and we should not have any of that or Queen Anne will come get us! There has been a slight change in the voice of Mrs. Crackenthorpe since early November, right around the time of Mrs. Manley’s arrest. I wonder if these two events are connected, and if so, who leads the Female Tatler now? I can only hope their success will continue to occur as the years go on. For now, it is time for me to be returning to work. These papers are not printing themselves, after all! Until next time, my young cousin.

Your cousin, Paolo

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December 3, 1709

Dear Amelia, I have almost forgotten to tell you about the best thing in London: the theatre! My dear cousin, London’s theatres are a very exciting place to be! There are three theatres in particular that I have had the opportunity to visit: the Queen’s, the Drury Lane, and the Greenwich. Queen’s and Drury Lane, according to Jack and Abel, have begun the process of transitioning back towards producing more dramas than concerts compared to the last few months prior to my arrival. According to Abel, Drury Lane produced more dramas during that time, whereas Queen’s produced operas and concerts for audiences to attend. I can see why that may have been good for their businesses, but I still believe that dramas will ultimately be more popular, and thus more advantageous, for every production company at this time. I can only hope that the impending trial of Dr. Sacheverell will not severely impact the productions made, since they were such a grand past time for the boys and I while I visited! I feel I should tell you about the staffs of the theatres, since they have a good influence on the types of dramas that were seen. In Queen’s and Drury Lane, there were large staffs of actors and actresses, dancers, singers, boxkeepers and doorkeepers. On the other hand, Greenwich only had actors, actresses, and a dancer. These staffs are always quite busy, and I have not had a chance to discuss with them if they have seen many of the plays produced outside of their workplace. I wish that I could one day interview Mr. Cibber, whose journals criticizing the works of Ms. Aphra Behn and The Rover have filled my thoughts since first reading The Female Tatler. There are many days where I wonder how Ms. Behn would react to Mrs. Crackenthorpe, and if she would be a good candidate to bring on her perspective to the “character” of the paper. The staff of Queen’s consisted of the actors Betterton, Bowen, Bowman, Bullock Sr. and Jr., Cibber, Cross, Dogget, Estcourt, Evans, Harris, Husband, Johnson, Mills, Penkethman, Smith, and Wilks; the actresses Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Barry, Mrs. Bicknell, Mrs. Cross, Mrs. Oldfield, Mrs. Porter, Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Saunders, and Mrs. Willis; the dancers La Bee and Thurmond Jr.; the singers Cassani, Dogget, Cavaliero Nicolini Grimaldi, Holcomb, Lawrence, Valentino Urbani, Signora de l’Epine, Mlle Isabella Girardeau, and Mrs. Lindsey; Newman the prompter; and Willmore, Dykes, and King as the boxkeepers. The staff of Drury Lane consisted of the actors Bickerstaff, Booth, Boyce, Burkhead, Carnaby, Cole, Corey, Elrington, Fairbank, Freeman, Hall, Knapp, Keene, Layfield, Leigh, Miller, Norris, Pack, Powell Spiller Underhill, and Weller; the actresses: Mrs. Bickerstaff, Mrs. Bradshaw, Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Finch, Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Kent, Mrs. Knight, Mrs. Moore, Miss Santlow, Mrs. Shireburn, and Mrs. Spiller; the dancers de la Garde, Layfield, Leigh, Prince, Mrs. de la Garde; the singers Pack and Mrs. Hodgson; Baggs as the treasurer; and Cartwright, Halstead, Haughton, Lovelace, Martin, Pervill, Sherman, and White as boxkeeper and doorkeeper. Finally, the staff in Greenwich consisted of the actors Boyce, Bullock, Carnaby, Cole, Corey, Cross, Elrington, Freeman, Husband, Leigh, Norris, Norris Jr., Pendry, Penkethman, Powell, Ryan, Shepherd, Thurmond Sr. and Jr., Underhill, and Verbraken; the actresses Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Baxter, Mrs. Granger, Mrs. Kent, Mrs. Pollet, Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Richardson, Mrs. Sapsford, Mrs. Shepherd, Mrs. Shireburn, and Mrs. Spiller; and the dancer Le Sac. The staff of Queen’s seemed the most busiest, as Jack and Abel were always attending performances at the theatre. I personally preferred Drury Lane, which had one or two performances compared to Queen’s four or five; but both had wondrous dramas and concerts. The most commonly performed pieces included The Recruitment Officer (Uncle James’s favorite), Pyrrhus, and Love for Love. The variety of professional actors and actresses included some very well-known characters, such as Betterton and Cibber; and some of their works were produced while I was in town. I feel I should present to you one grand, and one not so grand, performance so that you may feel how vast the differences are in terms of audience reception, but I will do so with my next letter. I shall write soon, my dear.

Your Cousin, Paolo -

December 5, 1709

My dear cousin, As I said before, I shall tell you of two plays: one grand, one not so grand. The play that Mr. Betterton was involved with was John Vanbrugh’s //The Provok’d Wife//, a place which reminds me somewhat of Wycherly’s //Country Wife// or Etherege’s //The Man of Mode//. The play deals with themes of marital infidelity, scheming, flirtation, sexual shenanigans, intrigue, revenge, misogyny, abusive relationships and ill-advised coupling. When it premiered, there were two actresses along with Mr. Betterton who are very popular here in the city: the tragic-comic heroine pair Elizabeth Barry and Bracegirdle. Mrs. Barry was better known as a tragedy play actress, Bracegirdle only as part of this pair, and Mr. Betterton is considered to be at his peak in Provok’d Wife as the character of Sir John Brute. Although the play has been very popular, there were some aspects of it which angered the Restoration society: specifically the premise of the story, that a wife is trapped in a abusive marriage and must either leave or take a lover to feel happiness once more. The audience and I, along with Jack, feel as if the characters were written to perfectly reflect the personalities of the actors who played them. My oh my was it a wonderful night when we watched the Rebel Actors’ Company perform it. On the other hand, Mr. Cibber seemed to miss out on a potentially amazing performance with his play //The Rival Fools//. The play was, according to Abel, an apparent alteration of Beaumont and Fletcher’s Wit at Several Weapons, but this version was nowhere near as good as the latter. Abel told me that it has only been performed three times, with the company choosing to allow it to be played twice more before it is removed. I do not expect it to come back again, especially after Mr. Cibber’s incident with the audience and their chants of “Miller’s thumb.” Now I do not know the specifics of what happened, but I know that Mr. Cibber will have quite a difficult time regaining his credibility after this downright dreadful play! I feel I have caught you up as much as I can on the theatre during my stay with Jack and Abel. I must say, dear cousin, you would have enjoyed this trip nearly as much as I did if you could have joined me. I must take you in sometime; maybe for your next birthday? I shall speak with Uncle James about it and make you aware of any responses I hear. I shall be back in Brookshire in the next two days, and then preparations for the holidays shall commence once more.

Your most favorite cousin, Paolo

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