has exhibited scenes of vice, immorality, and indecency,
which it is the great object of this Charity if possible to prevent, by
an endeavour to reclaim the miserable and deluded wretches from their
evil ways. I remember the late John Home Tooke related in the House of
Commons a curious anecdote, in allusion to himself and his situation
at the time, in which this institution was mentioned, and which excited
considerable interest.
"It is well known that the late John Home Tooke, of political memory as
the reputed tutor of a certain patriotic Baronet of the present day, as
well as the author of the Diversions of Purley, and a correspondent
of the yet undiscovered Junius, was a reverend divine of the Church
of England; and when he became a Member of Parliament, it was objected
against him that no person in Holy Orders could hold a seat in the
honourable House of Commons. In his reply, he very ingeniously observed,
that this objection reminded him of an applicant for admission to the
Magdalen, who, upon being exhorted by the Chaplain to forsake her
evil ways, replied that she was not aware of his meaning, and upon
explanation she was excluded from the Charity, because she was not bad
enough to require reforming. 'This,' said Mr. Home Tooke, 'is exactly
my case; because I am in Holy Orders I must leave the House, and
after committing some act of impropriety to lose my gown, I may yet be
eligible for a Member of this Assembly.'"
"Pointed enough," said Bob Tallyho.
"Yes," replied Tom; "and having mentioned the name of the man, you may
perhaps recollect the order of the day, ~44~~ as well as the curious
definition (before the Commissioners of the Income Tax) as to how a man
lives who has no income at all. Being interrogated by the Commissioners,
as to how he obtained his living, Mr. Home Tooke replied as
follows:--'Why, it appears to me, Gentlemen, that there are three modes
by which a person may obtain a living; the first is by begging--now
this I am too proud to submit to;--the second, by stealing--this I don't
choose to resort to;--and the third is by the exercise of the wits--and
this, Gentlemen, I presume, you know nothing about.'
"Here," said Dashall, "is the Surrey Theatre, formerly denominated the
Royal Circus. I shall, however, dispatch my description of it in a very
few words, as we will ere long pay a visit to its interior. It is a
neat building, and shews a good front to the road; is fitted up with a
conside
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