meful to see so great a change in the temper and inclination of the
British people; "we now exceeded in levity even the French themselves,
from whom we learned these and many other ridiculous customs, as much
unsuitable to the mien and manners of an Englishman or a Scot, as they
were agreeable to the air and levity of a Monsieur." Moreover, it was
remarked that, to the amazement and indignation of all Europe, Italian
singers received here "set salaries equal to those of the Lords of the
Treasury and Judges of England!" The bill was duly brought in, but was
afterwards dropped, "on account of a clause offered to be inserted ...
for enlarging the power of the Lord Chamberlain with respect to the
licensing of plays." It is curious to find that Tony Aston, a popular
comedian of the time, who had been bred an attorney, was, upon his own
petition, permitted to deliver a speech in the House of Commons
against Sir John Barnard's bill.

But two years later the measure was substantially passed into law. The
theatres had certainly given in the meantime serious provocation to
the authorities. The power of the Chamberlain and the Master of the
Revels had been derided. Playhouses were opened and plays produced
without any kind of license. At the Haymarket, under the management of
Fielding, who styled his actors "The Great Mogul's Comedians," the
bills announcing that they had "dropped from the clouds" (in mockery,
probably, of "His Majesty's Servants" at Drury Lane, or of another
troop describing themselves as "The Comedians of His Majesty's
Revels"), the plays produced had been in the nature of political
lampoons. Walpole and his arts of government were openly satirised,
Fielding having no particular desire to spare the prime minister,
whose patronage he had vainly solicited. In the play entitled
"Pasquin, a Dramatic Satire on the Times; being the rehearsal of two
plays, viz., a Comedy, called The Election, and a Tragedy, called the
Life and Death of Common Sense," the satire was chiefly aimed at the
electoral corruptions of the age, the abuses prevailing in the learned
professions, and the servility of place-men who derided public virtue,
and denied the existence of political honesty. "Pasquin," it may be
noted, was received with extraordinary favour, enjoyed a run of fifty
nights, and proved a source of both fame and profit to its author. But
the play of "The Historical Register of 1736," produced in the spring
of 1737, contained a