y of the play. But the statement has not obtained much acceptance.

The ministry hurried on their Licensing Bill. It was entitled "An Act
to explain and amend so much of an Act made in the twelfth year of
Queen Anne, entitled 'An Act for reducing the laws relating to rogues,
vagabonds, sturdy beggars, and vagrants, into one Act of Parliament;
and for a more effectual punishing such rogues, vagabonds, sturdy
beggars, and vagrants, and sending them whither they ought to be
sent,' as relates to common players of interludes." But its chief
object--undisclosed by its title, was the enactment that, for the
future, every dramatic piece, including prologues and epilogues,
should, previous to performance, receive the license of the Lord
Chamberlain, and that, without his permission, no London theatre,
unprotected by a patent, should open its doors. Read a first time on
the 24th of May, 1737, the bill was passed through both Houses with
such despatch that it received the royal assent on the 8th of June
following. It was opposed in the House of Commons by Mr. Pulteney, and
in the House of Lords by the Earl of Chesterfield, whose impressive
speech on the occasion is one of the few specimens that survive of the
parliamentary eloquence of the period. With the passing of the
Licensing Act, Fielding's career as manager and dramatist was brought
to a close. He was constrained to devote himself to the study of the
law, and subsequently to the production of novels. And with the
passing of the Licensing Act terminated the existence of the Master
of the Revels; the Act, indeed, made no mention of him, ignored him
altogether. He survived, however, under another name--still as the
Chamberlain's subordinate and deputy. Thence forward he was known as
the Licenser of Playhouses and Examiner of Plays.

CHAPTER III.

THE LICENSER OF PLAYHOUSES.

The Act of 1737 for licensing plays, playhouses, and players, and
legalising the power the Lord Chamberlain had long been accustomed to
exercise, although readily passed by both Houses of Parliament, gave
great offence to the public. The Abbe Le Blanc, who was visiting
England at this period, describes the new law as provoking a
"universal murmur in the nation." It was openly complained of in the
newspapers; at the coffee-houses it was denounced as unjust and
"contrary to the liberties of the people of England." Fear prevailed
that the freedom of the press would next be invaded. In the House of