Part 9

The postal services of the colonies now began to assume a somewhat business form, and, although some of these services were not immediately connected with the department, they were nevertheless highly advantageous to the community: as, for instance, letters arriving from beyond sea were usually delivered on board the ship into the hands of the persons to whom they were addressed; families expecting letters would send a messenger on board for the purpose of receiving letters. Those that were not called for before the sailing of the vessel were taken to the “Coffee-House,” where everybody could make inquiry for them; thus showing that the post-office did not seem to claim a right to distribute them, as now. Persons coming from adjacent settlements called at the “Coffee-House,” and carried away not only their own letters, but all those belonging to their neighborhood. These were called “neighborly posts.”

As the trade of the colonies extended, the system of letter-delivery began to vary; and thus the “neighborly post” system resolved itself into that of the “post-rider.”

Perhaps Boston deserves the credit of the first formation of a foreign postal system; for in 1639 the General Court of Massachusetts issued the following decree:—

“It is ordered that notice be given that Richard Fairbanks his house in Boston is the place appointed for all letters which are brought from beyond the seas, or are to be sent thither to be left with him; and he is to take care that they are to be delivered or sent accordingly to the directions; and he is allowed for every letter a penny; and he must answer all miscarriages through his own neglect in this kind.”

In Philadelphia, the Old Coffee-House system prevailed for many years.

In Virginia, the mail-bag was passed along from plantation to plantation, and each planter was required by law, passed in 1757, to send a messenger with it to his next neighbor, under a penalty of a hogshead of tobacco. Every man took out his own letters from the bag, and so on to the remainder.

In 1672 the government of New York established a monthly mail to Boston, advertising that those disposed to send letters should bring them to the secretary’s office, where, in a “locket-box,” they shall be preserved till the messenger calls for them; all persons paying the post before the “bagg be sealed up.”

In 1692 the office of postmaster-general for North America was created; but as late as 1704 no post-rider went farther east than Boston, or farther south than Baltimore. When Franklin was appointed postmaster-general, in 1753, the line of posts still began at Boston, and went no farther south than Charleston.

In 1738 Henry Pratt was made riding-postmaster for all the stages between Philadelphia and Newport, Virginia, “_to set out in the beginning of each month, and to return in twenty-four days. To him all merchants, &c. may confide their letters and other business, he having given security to the postmaster-general._”

In 1744 it was announced in the Gazette that the “Northern post begins his fortnight stages on Tuesday next for the winter season.” In 1745 John Dalley, Surveyor of the State, says that he has just made survey of the road from Trenton to Amboy, and has set up marks at every two miles to guide the traveller!

An attempt was made in 1692 to establish post-routes throughout Virginia. A patent was laid before the Virginia Assembly for making a Mr. Neal postmaster-general of that and other parts of America; but though the Assembly passed an act in favor of this patent, it had no effect. The reason assigned was that it was impossible to carry it into execution, on account of the dispersed situations of the inhabitants.

The locality of the colonial post-offices is a matter of doubt; but, as nearly all the public departments were located in private houses, the presumption is that the post-office was, under Bradford, at his printing-office, and it is more than probable that Benjamin Franklin’s residence, corner of Second and Race, was, or at least a portion of it, used for postal purposes. The first located building used for the purpose was on the east side of Water Street, a few doors below High Street,—the same house which had before been the residence of the chief justice.

It is evident from the old records that all along Water Street and Front Street, extending to South, the chief business of the city was transacted. The earliest papers show by their advertisements that many of the goods for retail were sold on Water Street. Even Penn Street at that early period was of some note; and there are to this day many buildings in its immediate vicinity which bear date prior to 1750. As early as 1737 Mrs. Fishbourne kept a store in Water Street below Walnut, expressly for “ladies’ goods.” In Water Street above Pine Street, in 1755, there was a fashionable furnishing-store for gentlemen’s wearing apparel. The “Old London Coffee-House” stood at the corner of Front and Market Streets: it was the resort of merchants and the _élite_ of the city.[29] All that portion of Front and Second Streets extending as far down as Almond was termed “Society Hill,” and was the nucleus around and near which the tradesmen, the milliners, mantuamakers, and retail merchants gathered.

William Penn, Jr., had a small house at the corner of Second and South Streets. The scenery in the neighborhood of Second and Dock Streets is described by old historians as being very beautiful. Watson says, “Looking across the ‘Dock Creek,’ westward, we see all the margin of the creek adorned with every grace of shrubbery and foliage; and beyond it a gently sloping descent from the line of Second Street, whereon were hutted a few of the natives’ wigwams, intermixed among the shadowy trees. A bower near there, and a line of deeper verdure on the ground, marked ‘the Spring,’ where the naiad weeps her emptying urn.”

In the neighborhood of Union and Front Streets, “Alderman Plumstead” had a splendid garden on the “Sloping Hill:” it was the admiration of the town. In 1739 the Rev. George Whitefield preached to fifteen thousand people on “Society Hill,” near to the flag-staff near Front and Pine. There was also a place of resort in this vicinity, called “Cherry Garden.” “The Friends’ Meeting-House” was also located here, and “George Wells’s place” was much admired. The Loxley House, which stood back of 177 South Second Street (old number), below Little Dock, and only within a few years torn down, is well known for its historical reminiscences to our readers. Near to the Loxley House there was a peculiar spring of water, called “Bathsheba’s Spring and Bower.” The origin of the name is somewhat curious. “Bathsheba Bowers” was the name of a young lady. She erected a small house near to the best spring of water that was in our city. The house she furnished with books, a table, and a cup, in which she, or any that visited her, drank of the spring. Some people gave it the name of “Bathsheba’s Bower,” and the spring long afterwards bore the name of “Bathsheba’s Spring.”

It was in the immediate vicinity of this then beautiful portion of the city the first theatre was opened.

Perhaps there are many of our readers unacquainted with the early history of the stage and the drama in Philadelphia. True, much has been written upon the subject; but in almost every instance discrepancies both in dates and names have occurred.

In the year 1747, one hundred and nineteen years ago, a company of comedians were performing in this city. As this announcement will no doubt startle many, we must, as pioneers in the cause of truth and the drama, be chronological as well as logical in establishing the fact.

The state of society at the period alluded to above was different from what it is now. A feeble, sickly spirit of aristocracy, even at that early stage of our history, disgraced alike the moral and intellectual character of those who caught the infection; and hence a bitter feeling existed among the various classes making up the great body politic. This dangerous foe to all social and religious forms was brought over to the colonies by a few decayed branches of the nobility-trees of England, who had established a sort of “West End” fraternity along Front Street below Spruce (in the immediate vicinity of the Loxley House), and which was known for many years as Society Hill. Broad lines of distinction were drawn between the classes, and mechanics were looked upon as being so far beneath the consideration of these “Malaprops” of real life that servants had to negotiate all business transactions: _the quality had nothing to do with them_!

In the principal streets, such as Second, Front, Spruce, and even as far down as South Street, various artisans, shopkeepers, and others had established themselves in business; and it was here the first attempt was made to enact plays and lay the foundation of the drama’s temple.

The Quakers, and the more sober portion of other denominations, left no means untried to break up what they termed “these Satan-like doings.” It is true, these exhibitions were not publicly announced, and the citizens generally were not aware of their secret place of exhibiting “profane plays.” Private as they were, however, sufficient publicity was given to them to create an alarm among a class of people possessing all the primitive qualities, as well as virtues, of their great founder.

The dawn of literature in this country (_that is, admitting it ever had a morning_) dates at a much later period than the year 1747. It is true many obstacles stood in the way of its advancement; apart from which, the colonists were not a reading community, and the press throughout the land might be likened unto “angels’ visits, few and far between.” It is true the colonists could boast of a few names, whose works bear date as far back as 1640. In 1639 manuscripts were used in courts. The laws by which the colonies were governed were not printed until 1641. The art of printing was introduced into North America in 1639. The first printing-press established in the States was put up at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1639, by Stephen Day. In 1640 he published the Bay Psalm-Book. The year 1678 may be said to form an era in our literature; for at that time John Foster, Boston, published the works of Anne Bradstreet; in 1676, Peter Folger wrote and published his famous “Looking-Glass for the Times.” Various poems, orations, sermons, &c. &c., were published; but it was not until 1720 the _first play was written on the American continent_; and we deem it of sufficient importance to engross it in our sketch of the American stage.

Benjamin Coleman, or, as some wrote it, Colman, was born in Boston, October 19, 1676. While at Harvard College, he wrote the tragedy of “Gustavus Vasa;” and this was the first play enacted by a company of amateurs in the colonies. The history of our literature is associated with that of the press: without the press it would have been as learning was when vellum and beech received the impression of certain figures called letters, and were sold at enormous prices, in proportion to the intellectual and physical labor bestowed upon their productions. The moment the press was put in operation in Connecticut, poetry, Pallas-like, sprang from its mystic womb, and, if unlike Pallas, completely armed, was at least so decently clad that criticism faltered at the threshold of censure. The next play written and the first published in the colonies was “The Prince of Parthia,” by Thomas Godfrey: it was printed in 1768. A copy of it is in the Philadelphia Library. This author was the son of Thomas Godfrey, a glazier, and inventor of the celebrated quadrant now in use. He was born in Philadelphia, in the year 1736. We never refer to these pioneers in the cause of our drama and literature without feeling a desire to moralize. Indeed, to look back over a series of years, and call up images to the mind which have long since passed away, strikes so forcibly the conviction of man’s identity with the infinite works of God, that he trembles, while he meditates, and feels his own insignificance while mourning o’er “visions fled.”

They are brought up to our view by the “Old Mortalities” of every generation; and the selfsame enthusiastic feeling which prompted them to remember coming ages urges us to fulfil our destiny in this. It would be curious to us in this generation, if it were possible, to raise up the curtain of the mouldering past and bring to view “the things that were,”—paint the lowly dwellings of our ancestors, the simplicity and primitive qualities of their minds, and the stern moral rectitude of their even lives. All this would contrast fearfully with what we are now, not only as regards our temporal but our spiritual state. If we differ from our good old friends of the eighteenth century, it is on the subject of the drama and the strange notion they had of its immoral tendency; for we never could imagine that the choicest gems from the British poets—conveyed to us through the medium of the stage—could have any other effect than to exalt the mind, expand the intellect, and open to the view the rich and inexhaustible mental wealth of the mimic world. It would be curious, we say, if it were possible to describe that state of society which could exist without _music_, _poetry_, and _painting_,—a state of society no doubt perfectly moral, strictly pure, but rather stiffly starched with the old-fashioned notions of propriety and the right of enjoyment. At that period, dancing was prohibited, and a fencing-master from Paris almost hunted down for attempting to teach the art in this city. It is true, a few wax figures and Punch and Judy made their appearance on some holidays; but they soon _melted_ away before the heat of puritanical sunshine.

We now come to the first attempt at theatrical representations. In the year 1747 a company was formed, composed chiefly of young men whose education and birth placed them in positions to advance the cause of science or art, as their tastes and inclinations might have led them to advocate. A family by the name of Courtland, an English family, had but recently arrived in this country, and, possessing many of the prevailing notions at that time popular in England, their astonishment at our total ignorance of the drama and its literature was fully shown by a display of their knowledge and a familiar acquaintance with the living dramatists of that period in England. It is not our purpose to connect the name of Courtland with the organization of this company: indeed, such a thing would be almost impossible, inasmuch as the association was as secret as were the names of its members. One thing, however, was evident: a taste for dramatic reading soon became prevalent, and the plays of Shakspeare found favor even in the eyes of the godly. Young Courtland, the leader of “Society Hill” boys, soon inoculated his companions with many of their follies, and the playgrounds about the Loxley House resounded with their shouts. From this circle came forth the pioneers of our drama. A companion of Courtland’s, by the name of Aitken, was the first to propose a dramatic association. The name of Garrick and the uprising of the English drama in London had already enlisted many here in its favor.

The place of meeting for the early pioneership of the drama was held in a house on Second Street adjoining the then gardens of the Loxley House, and immediately connected with an old white building, recently altered into stores, and which was used in our Revolutionary War as a hospital. The front portion of this dramatic temple was used as a boot and shoe store; the rear was occupied by the proprietor’s family, and the range of rooms over the back building was the scene of the drama’s birth. It was here “Richard III.” was enacted, and it was here the few plays that had crossed the Atlantic found favor in the eyes of the aspirants for histrionic fame, and whose dramatic efforts kindled a flame in many a youthful breast, which has sent its light down through the mimic world to brighten it in all ages.

A great sensation was created by this theatrical outbreak, and on its reaching the ears of the Quakers, they, with others opposed to such “unlawful proceedings and profane exhibitions,” had the matter brought before the council, or, rather, the recorder, and we find upon his office-books, bearing date January 8, 1749, gravely written, “The recorder then acquainted the board that certain persons had taken upon them to act plays in this city, and, as he was informed, intended to make a frequent practice thereof, which it was feared would be attended with mischievous effect, such as the encouraging of idleness, and drawing great sums of money from weak and inconsiderate people, who are apt to be fond of such kinds of entertainments, though the performance be ever so mean and contemptible. Whereupon the board unanimously requested the magistrates to take most effectual measures for suppressing this disorder, by sending for the actors and binding them to their good behavior, or by such other means as they should judge most proper.”

This proceeding, strange as it may seem, produced quite a contrary effect; for the company, which was now regularly organized, and was made subservient to the interests of all concerned, actually stepped out from behind the law and boldly asked permission from the authorities to enact plays in some more public place other than the obscure spot they had selected. Backed by the aristocracy of “Society Hill,” their application was granted.

What aided to strengthen this company and give it character was the fact of several members of a West India company arriving here, who immediately joined them; and thus Richard III., Hamlet, Beau Stratagem, &c., were played in a manner to please the “million.”

The Philadelphia company left the Quaker City at the close of 1749, and opened a temporary theatre in a wooden building in Nassau Street, New York. A writer, alluding to this company and the early history of the drama, says, “The earliest theatrical performances, in the recollection of the oldest inhabitants, were in a store on Crugar’s wharf, near Old Slip, by a company of Thespians, composed of ‘choice spirits’ of a certain order. They were roystering young men, full of tricks and mischief, who used to play cricket in the fields, and who spent their nights at the Boat-House, on Broad Street, near where the United States Public Stores now stand.” Our readers will recognize in these young men the Thespian company from the Quaker City. After playing here with some success, the company left for Virginia.

They then went to Williamsburg, Virginia, and, although William Dunlap denies the fact in his “History of the American Stage,” yet it is true that under the presidency of Thomas Lee the Philadelphia company, strengthened by the addition made to it in New York, obtained permission to erect a theatre in Williamsburg, and in the year 1750 it was begun and finished. They played here in 1751.[30]

Hallam opened at this very theatre on the 5th of September, 1752, and on the evening of July 13, 1752, the Philadelphia and New York company opened their second new theatre in Annapolis, and performed “The Beau Stratagem” and the farce of “The Virgin Unmasked:” boxes, 10_s._; pit, 7_s._ 6_d._ Richard III. was performed twice,—the character of Richard by Mr. Wynel, and that of Richmond by Mr. Herbert. Mr. Eyniason, Mr. Aitken, and Mr. Courtland are the only names handed down to us as belonging to the colonial company.

As Hallam’s company arrived at Yorktown in June, 1752, and did not open until September at Williamsburg, there is no doubt that a portion of his company joined Eyniason at Annapolis and played until the opening at Williamsburg.

The first play, therefore, acted in this country by what may be termed a regular company (and this company was composed of the old actors, and two or three of Hallam’s, viz.: Wynel and Herbert) was “The Beau Stratagem,” and the farce of “The Virgin Unmasked.” After the organization of Hallam’s company the members of the old became incorporated with it. The Annapolis theatre, which in 1752 was called the New Theatre, was built of brick, and was calculated to hold over five hundred persons. Dunlap says _this was the first theatre erected in this country_, not being advised of the one erected in Williamsburg in 1750. In justice, however, to Dunlap, the author has a letter from the veteran of the drama within a short time before his death, wherein he acknowledges his error and does justice to Burke the historian, and admits the justice of our correction made in the year 1835.

The following are the names of a portion of the company who played in the “The Beau Stratagem:”—Mr. Eyniason, Mr. Bell, Mr. Miller, Mr. Love, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Aitken, Mrs. Love, and Mrs. Becceley. These we have every reason to believe were of the old company.

COPY OF THE FIRST PLAY-BILL ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH COMPANY AT WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA, SEPTEMBER 5, 1752.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.

Bassanio Mr. Rigby. Antonio Mr. Clarkson. Gratiano Mr. Singleton. Salanio and the Duke Mr. Herbert. Salarino and Gobbo Mr. Wynel. Launcelot and Tubal Mr. Hallam. Shylock Mr. Malone. Servant to Portia Master L. Hallam. Portia Mrs. Hallam. Jessica (first appearance on the stage) Miss Hallam. Nerissa Miss Palmer.

LETHE.

Æsop Mr. Clarkson. Old Man Mr. Malone. Fine Gentleman Mr. Singleton. Frenchman Mr. Rigby. Charon Mr. Herbert. Mercury Mr. Adcock. Drunken Man and Tattoo Mr. Hallam. John Mr. Wynel. Mrs. Tattoo Miss Palmer. Fine Lady Mrs. Hallam.

The above cast includes in the bill the names of all who composed the company, with the exception of Mrs. Clarkson, Mrs. Rigby, and Adam Hallam, a child.

After playing here for a while under circumstances by no means pleasing, the manager cast his eyes to the principal cities of the country, and selected New York as the first step towards the establishing of the drama among the _élite_. At that period the _first families_ in Virginia had not assumed that prerogative. Hallam opened his first place of amusement in the city of New York on the 17th day of September, 1753, with “Conscious Lovers,” and “Damon and Phillida.” The site was originally occupied by the old Dutch Church on Nassau Street. As a matter of history, as well as of curiosity, we append the opening bill:—

BY HIS EXCELLENCY’S AUTHORITY.

By a company of comedians from London, at the New Theatre in Nassau Street, the present evening, being the 17th of September (1753), will be performed a comedy called

THE CONSCIOUS LOVERS.