periencing the scoffs and the jeers of every urchin in the street. But what most affected Faulkner, was a ludicrous story which Foote made him tell, of his passage with his wife from Dublin to Holyhead.

Faulkner, thus so cruelly exposed, became alarmed, and commenced an action against Foote, by which he recovered damages, to the amount of three hundred pounds. This drove Foote back to England, where he was received with the favour to which he had been accustomed.

66 THE BEGGAR'S OPERA."

THE following account is told respecting the cause which gave rise to this popular piece, and the success which it afterwards met with :

Upon the accession of George II. to the throne, Gay was offered the place of a gentleman-usher to the then youngest princess, Louisa; a pos which he thought beneath his acceptance; and resenting the offer as an affront, in that ill humour with the Court, he wrote the "Beggar's Opera," as a satire on the Italian Opera, then patronized by the Court. On its being brought upon the stage, Nov. 1727, it was received with greater applause than had ever been known before,

on any other similar occasion; for, besides being acted in London sixty-three days, without interruption, and renewed the next season with success, it spread into all the great towns of England; was played in many places to the thirtieth and fortieth time; at Bath and Bristol fifty times, &c. It made its progress into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, where it was performed twenty-four days successively; and, lastly, was acted in Minorca. The ladies carried about with them the favourite songs, in it, on their fans; and houses were furnished with them on screens. The fame of it was not confined only to the author; Miss Lavinia Fenton, who enacted Polly, till then obscure, became, at once, the favourite of the town; her portrait was engraved, and sold in great numbers; her life written; books of letters and verses to her, published; and pamphlets made of her sayings and jests; and, to crown all, after being the mother of several antenuptial children, she obtained the title and rank of a Duchess, by her marriage with Charles, third Duke of Bolton.

FRENCH TRAGEDIAN AND ARTIST.

A FRENCH actor, accustomed to perform

the part of Achilles, wished to have his portrait taken, and desired it might be in that character, stipulating to give the painter forty crowns for his work. The son of Melpomene had been a journeyman carpenter; and the painter, who was informed that he was a bad paymaster, thought proper to devise a mode of being revenged, should Achilles play him any trick; he, therefore, painted the figure in oil, the shield excepted, which was in distemper. The likeness was acknowleged to be great; but the actor, that he might pay as little as possible, pretended to find many faults, and declared he would only pay half the sum agreed upon. "Very well," replied the painter; however, I will give you a secret for making the colours more brilliant. Take a sponge, dip it in vinegar, and pass it over the picture several times." The actor thanked him for this advice, applied the sponge, washed away the shield of Achilles, and instead of that hero, beheld a carpenter holding a saw.

ELKANAH SETTLE,

In the latter part of his life, was so reduced as to attend a booth in Bartholomew Fair, kept by a Mrs. Myons and her daughter, Mrs. Lee,

and received a salary from them for writing drolls, which were generally approved. He was also obliged, in his old age, to appear as a performer in these wretched theatrical exhibitions; and in a farce, called "St. George of England," acted a Dragon, inclosed in a case of green leather of his own invention. To this circumstance Dr. Young alludes, in the following lines in his epistle to Pope :

"Poor Elkanah, all other changes past,

For bread, in Smithfield, dragons hiss'd at last;
Spit streams of fire, to make the butchers gape,
And found his manners suited to his shape."

The

At last, he obtained admission to the Charter House, and died there, Feb. 12, 1723-4. writer of a periodical paper, entitled The Briton, speaks of him as then just dead; and adds, “he was a man of tall stature, red face, short black hair, lived in the city, and had a numerous poetical issue, but shared the misfortune of several other gentlemen,-to survive them all."

NOSEY, THE FIDDLER.

MR. CERVETTI, the famous player on the violincello, so well known at the Theatres by the nickname of Nosey, one night, during his performance

in the Orchestra, received a violent blow on the nose with a potatoe, thrown from the upper gallery; being a man of spirit, he, with difficulty, contained himself till the conclusion of the piece, when running up into the gallery, and demanding who was the scoundrel that dared to assault him, the man being pointed out, Cervetti seized him by the collar, dragged him into the passage, and gave him a hearty thrashing.

Some years after, when returning from a ride, he met, near Paddington, a cart-load of convicts going to Tyburn. One of them, recognizing him, cried out, Nosey! and telling the surrounding populace that he had something of importance to say to Nosey; Cervetti was stopped, and his horse led up to the cart, where he soon recognized the man who had thrown the potatoe, who told him that being just about to leave the world, and wishing to die in peace with all mankind, he had taken the liberty of stopping him to ask his forgiveness for the offence he had formerly committed, and to assure him of his entire forgiveness, for the drubbing he had inflicted on him; then, wishing him a good day, he bid the carman drive on. This story was often related by Cervetti to his friends.