"Sermons," it is added that "several street-robbers confessed in Newgate
that they raised their courage at the playhouse by the songs of
Macheath."[8] Others certainly shared the views of the clergyman. When
on September 15th, 1773, at the Old Bailey, fifteen prisoners were
sentenced to death, forty to transportation, and eight to a whipping, it
is recorded that the magistrate, Sir John Fielding, "informed the Bench
of Justices that he had last year written to Mr. Garrick concerning the
impropriety of performing 'The Beggar's Opera,' which never was
represented without creating an additional number of real thieves,"[9]
and that to this effect he not only wrote to Garrick at Drury Lane
Theatre, but also to Colman at Covent Garden Theatre. "Mr. Colman's
compliments to Sir John Fielding," the latter replied, "he does not
think his the only house in Bow Street where thieves are hardened and
encouraged, and will persist in offering the representation of that
admirable satire, 'The Beggar's Opera.'"[10] Sir John Hawkins, Chairman
of the Middlesex Bench of Justices, also held the view that the Opera
was harmful, and in 1776, wrote: "Rapine and violence have been
gradually increasing since its first representation."[11] Dr. Johnson
took a saner view, and one that was subsequently supported by Sir Walter
Scott, and is generally accepted to-day. "Both these decisions are
surely exaggerated," he wrote in reference to the opinions expressed by
Swift and Dr. Herring. "The play, like many others, was plainly written
only to divert, without any moral purpose, and is therefore likely to do
good; nor can it be conceived, without more speculation than life
requires or admits, to be productive of much wit. Highwaymen and
housebreakers seldom frequent the playhouse or mingle in any elegant
diversion; nor is it possible for anyone to imagine that he may rob as
safely because he sees Macheath reprieved upon the stage."[12] And
again, he said: "I do not believe that any man was ever made a rogue by
being present at its representation. At the same time I do not deny that