On the following evening “Hamlet” was played for the benefit of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and the theatre closed for the season. The members of the company—at least the chief portion—were Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, Miss Cheer, Mrs. Morris,[33] Mrs. Crane, Mrs. Allyn, and Miss Hallam. In addition to the company which we have already mentioned in another chapter, we find the names of Quelch, Tomlinson, Stuart, Tremaine, Reed, and Morris. Francis Mentges, afterwards an officer in our service, was the dancing performer. While he danced he assumed the name of Francis. Miss Cheer was the _Lady Macbeth_ of the day, and Morris, the husband of the lady whose unfortunate fate we have stated, was the low comedian: his name is to be found in various companies, enacting old men, up to as late a period as 1800. Dunlap says, “Those that can look back to 1788 will remember him as a little, shrivelled old man, with a voice palsied with age, having for his second wife a tall, elegant woman, the favorite comedy lady, and the admiration of the public.” The Presbyterian Synod, in July, 1759, formally addressed the governor and legislature to prevent the opening. The Friends made their application to Judge William Allen to suppress the representations. His reply was that “he had got more moral virtue from plays than he had from sermons.” As a sequel, it was long remembered and spoken of, that the night the theatre opened, and on which he intended to visit, _he was called to mourn the death of his wife_! The motto over the stage was:— Totus mundis agit histrionem. There are many persons who confound this with the third theatre, erected by Douglas. That no further doubt may exist upon its site, three brick buildings are situated, as stated, at the southwest corner of South and Vernon Streets. Society Hill, which extended from Spruce Street (gradually rising, having its summit on Pine Street) to the Swedes’ Church, was the fashionable portion of the city. At that period they had “Cherry Garden” on Society Hill; the “Friends’ Meeting-House,” the “theatre,” “George Wells’s place.” They had also a flag-staff erected on Society Hill, under which Whitefield preached. This staff stood at the corner of Pine and Front Streets. Alderman Plumstead’s garden was situated in Union Street, and it was the admiration of the town. In the year 1724 a slack- and tight-rope exhibition was given by a company of men and women, at the corner of South and Front Streets. They continued their antics for twenty nights to gaping crowds. This was the first exhibition of the kind ever given in the city.