"Mr. Hayter (treasurer) desires I will, in his name, acknowledge the receipt of a bank-note for 20l. sent in a penny-post letter signed P. Q. R. and also of one guinea sent in the name of E. B. for the benefit of the above charity."
A fire attended with many distressing circumstances occurred in King-street, Covent-garden, at the close of 1759, in consequence of which the managers of the Theatre there granted the sufferers a benefit, when every person employed on the occasion gave their salaries for the night
cheerfully. The produce of another at Drury-lane was 230l.
A subscription in imitation of that which took place in 1745 for rewarding the soldiers with money and clothing who assisted in suppressing the Rebellion, distinguished the winter of 1760; and a very considerable sum was obtained for those then in the field.
Another subscription, far more disinterested, amounting to 1782l. 17s. 3d. in January 1760, was intended for the relief of French prisoners. As the prologue spoken at the Drury-lane benefit alludes to each of the above traits of national benevolence, I think, the reader will pardon its insertion.
"Cowards to cruelty are still inclin'd,
But generous pity fills each Briton's mind.
Bounteous as brave; and though their hearts are steel'd
With native intrepidity, they yield
To Charity's soft impulse: this their praise,