Chapter VII: Act II: A Piece of Musick by The Child

The ‘Piece of Musick by the Child’ was evidently a youthful composition and may be the identical MS. mentioned by Musgrave in his “Obituary.” Musgrave’s entries meant a great deal to himself, but they are very puzzling to those not initiated into the secret. Thus the entry “Benjamin Hallet, MS. (Music)” without date and no indication as to where it may be found, led us to a good deal of research which proved quite fruitless.

To be associated with such shining lights as Garrick, Yates, and the charming Mrs Cibber was an excellent send-off for “the child” and he was doubtless the recipient of much petting from the men and women of birth and genius who frequented the theatre. Who little Hallet’s parents were, we have been unable to discover, the only likely clue to his father is found at the foot of Benjamin’s “benefit” programme quoted later. There it is announced that tickets may be had of Mr Hallet in Exeter Court, near Exeter Exchange, in the Strand, but what was the exact relationship between this gentleman and the prodigy is only a matter of conjecture. The London Directory for 1749, gives the name of “Crowley Hallet, Old Swan Lane, Thames Street,” and that of the year 1752 announces that “Crowley Hallet was living near Fishmongers’ Hall, Thames Street.” In the year 1754 there was a “Captain John Hallet, Royal Exchange, Assurance Director, and Ships’ Husband” living in “Love Lane, Aldermanbury.” Of these two, Crowley Hallet--whose address presupposes him to have been a tradesman--was more likely to have been Benjamin’s father, for the advertising genius of the day was a great stickler for _class distinction_. If a person of genteel birth appeared--by chance--on the stage or concert platform, they were invariably announced as a “gentleman,” or “gentlewoman,” or as in the following advertisement of a seventeenth-century prodigy, in _The London Gazette_ for 26th November 1694:--“The Consort of Musick in Charles Street Covent Garden will begin again next Thursday with the addition of two new voices, _one a young gentlewoman of 12 years of age_.”

Had Benjamin Hallet been able to claim a “Captain” for his father, he would certainly have been accorded the distinction of being a “_young gentleman not yet nine years of age_.” But surmise is of little use, for Benjamin’s parents have faded into the land of oblivion and left no trace of themselves except in their talented offspring.

The next we hear of “the child,” is three years later when he is announced in _The General Advertiser_ to appear in “The Old Woman’s Oratory, conducted by Mrs Mary Midnight.” This entertainment was one of the most humorous and up-to-date amusements of the period. It continued to exist for many years on and off, and was eventually taken up by Colley Cibber, whose drolleries gave it a further lease of life. The names of the original promoters do not appear on the playbills, but the name of “Mrs Mary Midnight” perhaps but thinly veils the half-crazy personality of Christopher Smart, the leader and prime spirit of the choicest wits of the day. Poor Smart was twice confined to Bedlam for taking the injunction, “pray without ceasing” too literally, but in spite of his evident madness on this point, he was otherwise sane, and few could surpass the neat wit and epigram that flowed so freely from his ready pen. Under the pseudonym of Mary Midnight (a name said to have been suggested to Smart by some booth at St Bartholomew’s Fair) he brought out a magazine which he called _The Midwife, or the Old Woman’s Magazine_ by Mrs Mary Midnight. This purely satirical weekly was published by good John Newberry whose name Goldsmith epitomised in the lines:

“What we say of a thing that has just come in fashion,
And that which we do with the dead,
Is the name of the honestest man in the nation,
What more of a man can be said.”

On the 24th of December 1751, a long list of the attractions to be found at “The Old Woman’s Oratory,” is given in the front page of _The General Advertiser_. The entertainment is announced to take place at “the New Theatre in the Haymarket, and to be conducted by Mrs Mary Midnight and her family. Being the second time of their appearance in public.” The first act opened with “A grand piece for the Kettle Drums and Trumpets,” after which, “Mrs Midnight made her Inauguration Speech.” The third act consisted of, 1. “Speech of Old Time to the Good People of Britain. 2. Solo on the violoncello by Cupid” [the God of Love was impersonated by little Hallet]. “3. A Song by Mrs Midnight. 4. Another Solo by Cupid. 5. Overture to Alexander. An occasional Prologue by a Gentleman, and an Epilogue to be spoken by Master Hallet in the character of Cupid. The doors to be open at Eleven o’clock, in the morning, and the concert to begin exactly at Twelve.”

The hour at which this entertainment took place was prohibitive to the city clerk or tradesman, but to the beaux from the neighbouring coffee-houses, and the _belles dames_ fresh from their lengthy _toilette_, Mrs Midnight’s entertainment proved vastly amusing. Thus little Hallet was again amongst the _élite_ of the land.

_The Midwife, or Old Woman’s Magazine_ for 1752, which claims to contain “all the wit and Humor, and all the Learning, and all the Judgement that there was ever, or ever will be inserted in all other Magazines or any other book what-so-ever. So that those who try this book will read no other. Published pursuant to several Acts of Parliament, and by the permission of their most Christian and most Catholic Majesties: The Great Mogul and the States General.... Printed by Mary Midnight and sold by T. Carman in St Paul’s Church Yard, Price three Pence,” gives several of the poems and pieces said to have been spoken at the “Old Woman’s Oratory.” Among these we came across the following lines, which were assigned to Benjamin Hallet in the character of Cupid:--