"Rosamond" was produced during one of the most unlucky seasons at Drury Lane, 1706-7; during which Swiney parted from Rich, took the Haymarket, from Vanbrugh, at a rent of £51[87] per night, and carried with him some of the best actors from Drury. "The deserted company," as they called themselves, advertised the "Recruiting Officer," for their benefit, "in which they pray there may be singing by Mrs. Tofts, in English and Italian; and some dancing." The main stay of the season was the "Recruiting Officer." Estcourt was advertised as "the true Serjeant Kite," against Pack, who played it at the Haymarket. At Drury, where Rich depended chiefly on opera, it was said that "sound had got the better of sense;" and the old motto, "_vivitur ingenio_," was no longer applicable. It is at the Haymarket, says the dedication of "Wit without Money," to Newman, the prompter, that "wit is encouraged, and the player reaps the fruit of his labours, without toiling for those who have always been the oppressors of the stage."
In the season of 1706-7, at the Haymarket, Mrs. Oldfield and Mrs. Bracegirdle first played together,--the younger actress ultimately winning or vanquishing the town. Cibber, too, joined the company, at the head of whom remained Betterton and Mrs. Barry. Every effort was made to beat opera, by a production of pieces of a romantic or classical cast; and Addison's pen, in prologue on the stage, or in praise in the _Spectator_, was wielded in the cause of the players, his neighbours.
Mrs. Centlivre, and Mrs. Manley, contributed now-forgotten plays. The former,--the "Platonic Lady," in which there is the unpleasant incident of a couple of lovers, who ultimately prove to be brother and sister. Mrs. Manley, in "Almyna," recommended what she had little practised,--unlimited exercise of heroic virtue. Some vamped-up old pieces, with new names, were added, and subscription lists were opened, to enable the company, whose interests were espoused by Lord Halifax, to make head against opera. The greatest attempt to overcome the latter was made, by producing a truly and drily-classical tragedy, by Edmund Smith, called "Phædra and Hippolytus," which the public would not endure above three nights,[88] to the disgust and astonishment of Addison, as recorded in the _Spectator_. Smith, or Neale rather--the former being a name he adopted from a benevolent uncle--was not the man to give new lustre to the stage. Scarcely a year had elapsed since he had been expelled from Oxford University; the brilliancy of his career there could not save him from that disgrace. His success on the stage, when he made this his sole attempt, was perhaps impeded by the exactions of actors and actresses at rehearsal, to suit whose caprices he had to write fresh verses, and furnish them with "tags," whereby to secure applause, as they made their _exit_. The play fell, and the author with it. The once brilliant scholar descended to become a sot. The once best-dressed fop of his day, became known by the nickname of "Captain Rag;" and as neither his wild life nor his careless style of costume seriously affected his great personal beauty, the women, tempering justice with clemency, called him the Handsome Sloven! This scholar, poet, critic, and drunkard, attempted to recover his reputation by writing a tragedy on the subject of Lady Jane Grey; but he died in the attempt.