So far as can be ascertained, especially by study of the
"History of the Stage" (compiled by that industrious clergyman, Mr.
Genest, from the playbills in the British Museum), but few new plays
were produced in the course of the season immediately following the
passing of the Licensing Act; certainly no new play can be found
answering the description furnished by the Abbe with due regard to the
period he has fixed for its production. Possibly he referred to the
"Beaux' Stratagem," in which appear a French officer and an
Irish-French priest, and which was certainly represented some few
nights after the condemnation of Mr. Jacob's "Nest of Plays."
Farquhar's comedy was then thirty years old, however. Nor has the Abbe
done full justice to the public opposition offered to the Licensing
Act. At the Haymarket Theatre a serious riot occurred in October,
1738, fifteen months after the passing of the measure. Closed against
the English actors the theatre was opened by a French company, armed
with a license from the Lord Chamberlain. A comedy, called "L'Embarras
de Richesses," was announced for representation "by authority.
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