=194=: 8. =Touched for the evil.= Scrofula, called "king's evil," because it was supposed that it could be cured by the touch of a legitimate sovereign. King William III, as he was king only by act of Parliament, had not "touched"; but Queen Anne, unquestionably a legitimate monarch, resumed the practice. Samuel Johnson was touched by her in his infancy, but without effect. No sovereign after Anne pretended to this power. The act of "touching" was accompanied by an elaborate ceremony, the ritual for which continued to be included in the Book of Common Prayer until 1719. For an account of the procedure, see Ashton, _Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne_, Chap. xxx, pp. 325-326. =194=: 12. =One of our English kings without an head.= Henry V. The head of the effigy, which was of solid silver, was stolen in the reign of Henry VIII, at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries. =195=: 4. =His lodgings in Norfolk Buildings.= In II Sir Roger is said, when in town, to "live in Soho Square," a more aristocratic quarter. That paper was written by Steele; this by Addison. XXIX. SIR ROGER AT THE PLAY =Motto.= "I bid the skilful poet find his models in actual life; then his words will have life."--Horace, _Ars Poetica_, v. 327. =195=: 11. =The Committee.= A play by Sir Robert Howard, brother-in-law of Dryden. It was a satire on the Puritans, which explains its reputation as "a good Church of England play." =195=: 14. =This distressed mother.= The "new tragedy" Sir Roger went to see was an adaptation by Addison's friend, Ambrose Phillips, of Racine's _Andromaque_, and bore the title _The Distressed Mother_. =196=: 1. =The Mohocks.= A company of young swaggerers who roamed the streets of London at night, committing various insults upon belated passers. They were specially bold at just this time. Swift has several entries in the _Journal to Stella_ about them. March 12: "Here is the devil and all to do with these Mohocks.... My man tells me that one of the lodgers heard in a coffee-house, publicly, that one design of the Mohocks was upon me if they could catch me; and though I believe nothing of it, I forbear walking late." March 16. "Lord Winchelsea told me to-day at court that two of the Mohocks caught a maid of old Lady Winchelsea's, at the door of their house in the park, with a candle and had just lighted out somebody. They cut all her face and beat her without provocation." March 18. "There is a proclamation out against the Mohocks. One of those that was taken is a baronet." March 26. "Our Mohocks go on still, and cut people's faces every night, but they shan't cut mine. I like it better as it is." Further facts about them may be found in _Spectators_, Nos. 324, 332, 347. For a full account, see Ashton's _Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne_, Chap. xxxvi. =196=:23. =That we may be at the house before it is full.= The play usually began at five o'clock.