40Monday October 20th: 1794.r: Jay’s in company with Mr: Pinckney, in
conversation upon the subject of the negotiation now on foot between the
former of these Gentlemen and the Ministry here. The plan of a Treaty
now in discussion was read, and then taken up and considered Article by
Article. The business however was not finished, & we adjourned over
the subject for a further meeting till to-morrow. We dined with Mr: Jay; and afterwards I went with Coll: Trumbull and
Mr: Peter
Jay, son to the Minister to Covent-Garden Theatre, having
first called at my lodgings to take my
brother with us. The performance of the Night was Romeo and Juliet with a pantomime called Oscar and Malvina, the subject of which is taken
from Ossian. Juliet was personated by a
Miss Wallis, who makes her
first appearance on the London stage this Season. Her external
appearance has every thing to captivate. Young, beautiful, and amiable
in the highest degree, she is peculiarly calculated for characters in
which these qualities are to be displayed. But her voice has hardly
sufficient strength to fill the house, and she is not adapted to those
situations where the energies of a sublime genius are required. In these
talents Mrs:
Siddons has yet no competitor; but for the soft and
delicate 41graces, for the peculiar charm of female
tenderness and sensibility, I have seldom seen an actress who could
dispute the prize with Miss Wallis. Holman in Romeo, was
detestable. Lewis in Mercutio excellent. The Nurse was very well
acted, and friar Lawrence
tolerable. The rest were worse than indifferent, and the tout-ensemble
of the performance was very little superior to that of Powell’s company at Boston which I
saw there last May. The pantomime of Oscar and Malvina, was an insipid
pageant, which was only made tolerable by the comparison with the stuff
I had seen at Drury-Lane. We left the house and came home before it was
finished.
The House has also undergone a total alteration since I was in it before. It is not so splendid as the other; but more convenient as it is not so large, and has none of the pillars to intercept the sight. The cylindrical form of the boxes is the same, and of course not so well accommodated as if they were semi-circular.
In the Interlude between the plays, the music, struck the tune of God save the King. immediately a thunder-clap of
loud applause, burst forth from every part of the house, and the whole
Audience rose: they continued standing for as much as ten minutes, while
the tune was played; clapping their 42hands and
crying bravo! bravo! with as much enthusiasm as
they could have done, and they felt all the interest they pretended.
Pure patriotism again. All for the service of their king and Country. I
am always averse to an appearance of singularity. I rose with the rest
of the Company but I was under no Obligation to join in the applause,
& I could not help disdaining the baseness of their servility.