Italian opera was coming mightily into vogue, but a new theatre was needed for its performance, so a company was formed, capital 3,000_l._ in 100_l._ shares, which covered a subscription for life; and Sir John Vanbrugh was entrusted with its building. The members of the Kitcat Club were large subscribers; and Cibber says, 'Of this Theatre I saw the first Stone laid, on which was inscrib'd _The little Whig_,[426] in Honour to a Lady of extraordinary Beauty, then the celebrated Toast and Pride of that Party.' But this seems an inaccuracy, for in a newspaper-cutting of March 19, 1825, it says, 'Removing that portion of the walls of the Italian Opera House, immediately adjoining the cellar of Mr. Wright, on Saturday last, the workmen discovered the first stone of the old building, laid in 1704. The stone was in a perfect state, and in the cavity formed for the purpose of receiving them were found several coins of the reign of Queen Anne; a brass plate which covered the cavity bore the following inscription: "April 18, 1704. In the third year of the happy reign of our Sovereign Lady Queen Anne, this corner stone of the Queen's Theatre was laid, by his Grace Charles Duke of Somerset, Master of the Horse to her most sacred Majesty."' [Footnote 426: Lady Sunderland, second daughter of the Duke of Marlborough. _See_ p. 22.] The outside was imposing: an arcade, as now, ran along the front of the building, the length of which was relieved by a dome in the centre, and on the balustraded parapet were eight statues on pedestals. But, if Cibber is to be trusted, the inside was so badly constructed acoustically that 'scarce one Word in ten could be distinctly heard in it,' and the consequence was that the roof had to be remodelled and made flat. Vanbrugh and Congreve opened this theatre on Easter Monday, April 9, 1705, and Mrs. Bracegirdle spoke a prologue, written by Dr. Garth, in which are the lines, alluding to the Haymarket:-- Your own magnificence you here Survey, Majestick Columns stand where Dunghills lay, And Cars triumphal rise from Carts of Hay. The play on this occasion was, according to Cibber, 'a translated Opera, to _Italian_ Musick, called the _Triumph of Love_.' This, he says, only ran three days, and then Sir John Vanbrugh produced his comedy called 'The Confederacy.' Downes[427] says, 'It (i.e. the Italian Opera) lasted but 5 Days, and they being lik'd but indifferently by the Gentry; they in a little time marcht back to their own Country. The first play _Acted_ there was _The Gamester_.' [Footnote 427: _Roscius Anglicanus_, 1712.]