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.”