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thirteen on a side. When I went in I
knew not what the play would be, but
expected a ribbald farce, as usual; when,
to my great surprise, I found it was an
Italian tragedy called Tomiri, written by
Padre Ringhieri. I had never seen one
before, and was much pleased with the
opening, but soon grew tired of the long
speeches and declamations; they were
past all bearing tedious.
Thomyris, Queen of the Amazons
came on dressed in a very equivocal man-
ner; for, in order to give her a martial
look, she had her petticoats trussed up
in front above her knees, which were very
discernible through her black breeches.
However strange this appeared to me,
the audience clapped violently, as they
did constantly at the worst and most ab-
surd things in the piece. There was a
great deal of religion in it, and such ana-
chronisms, that they talked of J. C. and
the Trinity, nor were Free-will and
Predestination forgotten; and when Cy-
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