And thus the great Figg became lord of the field."
Sir Richard Steele exhibited a bill in the Court of Chancery against the holders of Drury-lane Theatre for a share in the profits of the house by virtue of his patent, in October 1725.
The editor of the Flying Post observes in February 1727: "The directors of the Royal Academy of Musick have resolved, that after the excellent Opera, composed by Mr. Handel, which is now performing, Signior Attilia shall compose one; and Signior Bononcini is to compose the next after that. Thus, as this Theatre can boast of the three best voices in Europe, and the best instruments, so the town will have the pleasure of hearing these three different styles of composing."
However flattering these prospects seemed, they ended most unharmoniously in a fierce contention between the rival female performers Cuzzoni and Faustina, whose partizans were so vehement in the operations of hissing and clapping, that they proceeded in them even in the presence of the Princess of Wales.
After this notice of the polite portion of the community, the following advertisement, copied literally from the original issued by the proprietors of the Amphitheatre, will appear less wonderful and disgusting: "In Islington road, on Monday, being the 17th of July, 1727, will be performed a trial of skill by the following combatants. We Robert Barker and Mary Welsh, from Ireland, having often contaminated our swords in the abdominous corporations of such antagonists as have had the insolence to dispute our skill, do find ourselves once more necessitated to challenge, defy, and invite Mr. Stokes and his bold Amazonian virago to meet us on the stage, where we hope to give a satisfaction to the honourable Lord of our nation who has laid a wager of twenty guineas on our heads. They that give the most cuts to have the whole money, and the benefit of the house; and if swords, daggers, quarter-staff, fury , rage , and resolution, will prevail, our friends shall not meet with a disappointment.'—'We James and Elizabeth Stokes, of the City of London, having already gained an universal
approbation by our agility of body, dextrous hands, and courageous hearts, need not preambulate on this occasion, but rather choose to exercise the sword to their sorrow, and corroborate the general opinion of the town than to follow the custom of our repartee antagonists. This will be the last time of Mrs. Stokes' performing on the stage.'—There will be a door on purpose for the reception of the gentlemen, where coaches may drive up to it, and the company come in without being crowded. Attendance will be given at three, and the combatants mount at six precisely. They all fight in the same dresses as before."
Although a Coronation cannot by any means be considered as an amusement by a serious and reflecting person, there have been, and will be, numbers who see it in no other light than as a brilliant pageant. The splendour of that of George II. in October 1727 attracted vast crowds of strangers to London; and it was generally computed at the time that full 200,000 seats were provided for their accommodation in every situation which afforded even a glimpse of part of the ceremony.
In the month of October 1727, a lady, seated in the pit of Drury-lane Theatre, thought she perceived smoke issuing through the apertures of the stage, and, fancying she smelt it, declared her apprehensions aloud, and at the same time endeavoured to leave the Theatre. The audience
were immediately excessively alarmed, and numbers rushing to the different doors impeded each other's progress; confusion prevailed for half an hour before her error was perceived, during which time a pregnant woman was pressed to death, and several persons severely injured. The Play was that of King Henry VIII. and the house very much crowded.
The new Theatre, as it was called in 1728, now the little Theatre in the Haymarket, was opened in that year for the season with the Beggar's Opera: it was handsomely decorated, and the actors were described as very respectable.