No. 235. Thursday, November 29.

T

-Populares

Vincentem ftrepitus

Hor. Ars Poet. v. 81.

Awes the tumultuous Noifes of the Pit. RosCOMMON.

'HERE is nothing which lies more within the Province of a Spectator than publick Shows and Diverfions; and as among thefe there are none which can pretend to vie with thofe elegant Entertainments that are exhibited in our Theatres, I think it particularly in-cumbent on me to take notice of every thing that is remarkable in fuch numerous and refined Affemblies.

IT is obferved, that of late Years there has been a certain Perfon in the upper Gallery of the Play-houfe, who when he is pleased with any thing that is acted upon the Stage, expreffes his Approbation by a loud Knock upon the Benches or the Wainscot, which may be heard over the whole Theatre. This Perfon is commonly known by the Name of the Trunk-maker in the upper Gallery. Whether it be, that the Blow he gives on thefe Occafions resembles that which is often heard in the Shops of fuch Artifans, or that he was fuppofed to have been a real Trunk-maker, who after the finishing of his Day's Work used to unbend his Mind at these publick Diverfions with his Hammer in his Hand, I cannot certainly tell. There are fome, I know who have been foolish enough to imagine it is a Spirit which haunts the upper Gallery, and from time to time makes thofe ftrange Noises; and the rather because he is obferved to be louder than ordinary every time the Ghoft of Hamlet appears. Others have reported, that it is a dumb Man, who has chofen this Way of uttering himself when he is tranfported with any thing he fees or hears. Others will have it to be the Play-houfe Thunderer, that exerts himself after this manner in the upper Gallery. when he has nothing to do upon the Roof.

BUT having made it my Bufinefs to get the best Information I could in a Matter of this Moment, I find that

the Trunk-maker as he is commonly called, is a large black Man, whom no body knows. He generally leans forward on a huge Oaken Plant with greatAttention to every thing that pafles upon the Stage. He is never feen to fmile; but upon hearing any thing that pleafes him, he takes up his Staff with both Hands, and lays it upon the next Piece of Timber that ftands in his way with exceeding Vehemence: After which, he composes himself in his former Pofture, till fuch Time as fomething new fets him again at Work. IT has been obferved, his Blow is fo well timed, that the moft judicious Critick could never except against it. As foon as any fhining Thought is expreffed in the Poet, or any uncommon Grace appears in the Actor, he fmites the Bench or Wainfcot. If the Audience does not concur with him, he fmites a fecond Time, and if the Audience is not yet awaked, looks round him with great Wrath, and repeats the Blow a third Time, which never fails to produce the Clap. He fometimes lets the Audience begin the Clap of themselves, and at the Conclufion of their Applause ratifies it with a fingle Thwack.

HE is of fo great Ufe to the Play-house, that it is faid a former Director of it, upon his not being able to pay his Attendance by reason of Sickness,kept one in Pay to officiate for him till fuch time as he recovered; but the Perfon fo employed, tho' he laid about him with incredible Violence, did it in fuch wrong Places, that the Audience foon found out that it was not their old Friend the Trunkmaker.

IT has been remarked, that he has not yet exerted himself with Vigour this Seafon. He fometimes plies at the Opera; and upon Nicolini's firft Appearance, was faid to have demolished three Benches in the fury of his Applause. He has broken half a dozen Oaken Plants upon Dogget, and feldom goes away from a Tragedy of Shakespear, without leaving the Wainscot extremely fhattered.

THE Players do not only connive at his obftreperous Approbation, but very chearfully repair at their own Coft whatever Damages he makes. They had once a Thought of erecting a Kind of Wooden Anvil for his Ufe, that hould be made of a very founding Plank, in order to tender his Strokes more deep and mellow; but as this might not have been diftinguished from the Mufick of a Kettle-Drum, the Project was laid afide.

IN

IN the mean while, I cannot but take notice of the great Ufe it is to an Audience, that a Perfon fhould thus prefide over their Heads like the Director of a Confort, in order to awaken their Attention, and beat time to their Applaufes; or,to raife my Simile, I have fometimes fancied the Trunk maker in the upper Gallery to be like Virgil's Ruler of the Winds, feated upon the Top of a Mountain, who, when he ftruck his Scepter upon the Side of it, roused an Hurricane, and fet the whole Cavern in an Uproar.

IT is certain, the Trunk-maker has faved many a good Play, and brought many a graceful A&tor into Reputation, who would not otherwife have been taken notice of. It is very visible, as the Audience is not a little abashed, if they find themselves betrayed into aClap,when their Friend in the upper Gallery does not come into it; fo the Actors do not value themselves upon the Clap, but regard it as a meer Brutum fulmen, or empty Noife, when it has not the Sound of the Oaken Plant in it. I know it has been given out by those who are Enemies to the Trunk-maker, that he has fometimes been bribed to be in the Interest of a bad Poet, or a vicious Player; but this is a Surmife which has no Foundation; his Strokes are always just, and his Admonitions seasonable; he does not deal about his Blows at Random, but always hits the right Nail upon the Head. The inexpreffible Force wherewith he lays them on, fufficiently fhews the Evidence and Strength of his Conviction. His Zeal for a good Author is indeed outrageous, and breaks down every Fence and Partition, every Board andPlank,that stands within theExpreffion of his Applause.

AS I do not care for terminating my Thoughts in barren Speculations, or in Reports of pure Matter of Fact, without drawing fomething from them for the Advantage of my Countrymen, I shall take the Liberty to make an humble Propofal, that whenever the Trunkmaker shall depart this Life, or whenever he shall have loft the Spring of his Arm by Sickness, old Age, Infir mity, or the like, fome able bodied Critick fhould be advanced to this Poft, and have a competent Salary fettled on him for Life, to be furnished with Bamboos for Operas, Crabtree-Cudgels for Comedies, and Oaken Plants for Tragedy, at the publick Expence. And to the End that this Place should be always difpofed of according to

M 3

Merit,

Merit, I would have none preferred to it, who has not given convincing Proofs both of a found Judgment and a ftrong Arm, and who could not, upon Occafion, either knock down an Ox, or write a Comment upon Horace's Art of Poetry. In fhort, I would have him a due Compofition of Hercules and Apollo, and fo rightly qualified for this important Office, that the Trunk-maker may not be miffed by our Pofterity.

No. 236. Friday, November 30.

-Dare Jura maritis.

с

Hor. Ars Poet. v. 398.

With Laws connubial Tyrants to reftrain.

Mr. SPECTATÓR,

Y the subject of Marriage as that important Cafe

YOU have not fpoken in fo direct a manner upon

deferves. It would not be improper to obferve upon the Peculiarity in the Youth of Great-Britain, of railing and laughing at that Inftitution; and when they fall into it, from a profligate Habit of Mind, being infenfible of the Satisfaction in that Way of Life, and treating their Wives with the most barbarous Difrefpect. · PARTICULAR Circumftances and Caft of Temper,muft teach a Man the Probability of mighty Uneafi⚫neffes in that State, (for unquestionably fome there are whose very Difpofitions are ftrangely averfe to conjugal Friendship ;) but no one, I believe, is by his own natu⚫ral Complexion prompted to teaze and torment ano⚫ther for no Reafon but being nearly allied to him: And can there be any thing more bafe, or ferve to fink a Man fo much below his own diftinguishing Characteri• stick, (I mean Reason) than returning Evil for Good in fo open a Manner, as that of treating an helplefs Crea⚫ture with Unkindnefs, who has had fo good an Opinion ⚫ of him as to believe what he faid relating to one of the greatest Concerns of Life, by delivering her Happiness in this World to his Care and Protection? Muft not that Man be abandoned even to all manner of Humanity,

⚫ who

H

⚫ who can deceive aWoman with Appearances of Affecti. on and Kindness, for no other End but to torment her ⚫ with more Eafe and Authority? Is any thing more un⚫ like a Gentleman, than when his Honour is engaged for the performing his Promises, because nothing but that can oblige him to it, to become afterwards falfe to his Word,and be alone the Occafion of Mifery to one whose Happiness he but lately pretended was dearer to him than his own? Ought fuch a one to be trufted in his common Affairs? or treated but as one whose Honesty confifted only in his Incapacity of being otherwife?

• THERE is one Caufe of this Usage no lefs abfurd than common, which takes place among the more unthinking Men; and that is the Defire to appear to their Friends free and at Liberty, and without thofe Trammels they have fo much ridiculed. To avoid this they fly into the other Extreme, and grow Tyrants that they may feem Mafters. Becaufe an uncontroulable Command of their own Actions is a certain Sign of intire Dominion, they won't fo much as recede from the Government even in one Mufcle of their Faces. A kind Look they believe would be fawning, and a civil Anfwer yielding the Superiority. To this muft we attribute an Austerity they betray in every Action: What but this can put a Man out of Humour in his Wife's Company, tho' he is fo diftinguifhingly pleafant every "where elfe? The Bitterness of his Replies, and the Severity of his Frowns to the tendereft of Wives, clearly * demonftrate, that an ill-grounded Fear of being thought too fubmiffive, is at the Bottom of this, as I am wil ling to call it, affected Morofenefs; but if it be fuch only, put on to convince his Acquaintance of his intire Dominion, let him take care of the Confequence, which will be certain, and worse than the present Evil; his feeming Indifference will by Degrees grow into real Contempt, and, if it doth not wholly alienate the Af⚫fections of his Wife for ever from him, make both him * and her more miferable than if it really did fo.

HOWEVER inconfiftent it may appear, to be thought a well-bred Perfon, has no fmall Share in this clownish Behaviour: A Difcourfe therefore relating to "Good-breeding towards a lovingand a tenderWife,would