The National Register. — London, England, 1809-12-10 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER: river. is the Asia. The Lord Castlereagh, Company's ship, is said to have arrived at Bencoolen. The Neptune, True Briton, Cumberland, and Scaleby Castle, arrived at Bombay, the 25th June, all well. The Lord Melville, Perseveitince, Lord Duncan, Catnatic, Nottingham, and Baring, arrived at Madras on the 3d and sth July l ast. The Upton Castle and Lord Castlereagh sailed from Bombay on the 27th July. The account of the capture and dispersion of the four extva ships in the Bay of Bengal, gave rise to a report, that these were the identical vessels so long missing, as their numbers corres• pond. We wish we could offer this consolation, even melan choly as it is, to those who are interested in the fate of the tat ter. We are concerned ► however, to state 4 that scarcely a•hope remains of their safety. It was the general opinion at St. He lena, that they had all foundered. At no period has our Indian Commerce suffered greater losses than within the last twelve months: fifteen or sixteen vessels having been captured or lost within th,nt time. CLIFFORD'S C4SE. That actual good will result from the verdict in Mr. CLIFFORD'S case, away, perhaps, by some be disputed, but that positive evil must have been the consequence of a different verdict, we believe few will have the hardihood to deny, as the principles deducible from a verdict for the Defendant would have been totally destructi - c of that con troul, that wholesome coercion which the public have always held over the Theatre, independent of Courts of Law, but forming a part of the law of the land, inasmuch as their practice was founded on custom. 'Tis true that the Counsel for the Plaintiff did not rest much on the merits of the case, but trusted principally to the illegality of the arrest, nor had he indeed an opportunity, as the Defend ant waved these pleas he had put in, pleas, which, if allowed, would have been a death-blow to our theatric portion of British Liberty. Some censure, we see, has been thrown on Mr. CLIFFORD for going to the pit con trary to his usual practice; but if Mr. CLIFFORD really went to the pit for the express purpose of trying the question, we feel that he is at least deserving of the thanks of the public, nor do we think that he has any reason to be asham ed if he had actually joined in what has by some been call ed a riot. Of a riot, however, there may be different defi nitions, and though there may have been riotous proceed ings connected with the marked displeasure of the public, it does not follow that all those who join in expressing that displeasure are to be considered as amenable to the law. Though not coifed nor robed in ermine, we feel as great an abhorrence of t and as great a dread of the consequences from, a riotous disposition, as any others can be actuated by, but we wish that this business should be considered as distinct from all party, from all politics, nor can we consent, for fear of consequences, to submit patiently to the annihi lation of our rights, when those consequences may be pre vented by a legal and rational interference of the Govern ment, with respect to the very origin of the evil itself. We cannot dismiss this part of the subject, however, without noticing an axiom of one whose authority has hitherto been revered ; he lays it down that riots are " either such as are an actual breach of the peace, or constructively 30, by Vuding to make others break it. Both of these species are also felonious or not felonious," and iu the decision of this latter point, is the great advantage attending, our Trial by Jury, with whom it rests to determine the law, after the Judge has explained it. There is also an observation of Burn with respgct to rioting, which is deserving of notice ; be says, " that it is possible for three persons or more to assemble together with an intention to execute a wrongful act without being rioters—much more may any person in a peaceable manner, assemble a meet company to do any law ful thing, or to remove or cast down any common nuisance." That the venerable Judges of the Bench, anxious for the literal preservation of the law, should be decidedly inimical to every the slightest appearance of riot, is not surprising, DEC. 10. it is indeed one of the greatest supports of British rights, both public and individual, that they are so tenacious to preserve it in its strictest purity; but whilst we listen with reverence to their opinions, it is not unbecoming to notice some points' which have arisen on the late trial. It has been •aid that 'theatres are not necessaries of life, and that people are not obliged to go there ; that the proprietors have a right to impose what terms Nit) , please, and that if the prices are too high, they must ru►n themselves for want of custom. This reasoning is, indeed, very fair in a general way, but in the present case there is a patent which prevents all fair oppositiou, and if the people stay a.► ay, they most consent to forego their usual amusements en . tirely. There seems also a mistaken idea to have gone abroad respecting this patent, which, though ttr same in name with other restrictive patents, is very different from them in substance; they are given for pri v ate advantage, to secure the profits fur some useful invention, and thus to give a stimulus to genius ; but this is tor public advan tage, and given to the patentees merely as a security that they shall have the advantage of the market, provided they supply the necessary demand ; this patent was given, not merely to curtail thektric rein esentations, but to secure to the public the accommodation bete on andbffore the stage, which might be afforded them by large establishments, in stead of the petty Theatres which had existed previous to the time of Charles the Second. We are told, indeed, that if the Proprietors abuse their patent, redress may be had in a Court of Law; all this is very true, but then custom has sanctioned a shorter methork of redress, where the public have beea both Judge and Jury, and to their decision the Managers have hitherto been accustomed to bow. As to the question of private boxes, that is not sanctioned by the Opera-House, for that establishment could not be carried on without them, nor do they :nterfere at that place of amusement with the accommodation of the public, as the pit is to the full as commodious and equally genteel ; be sides the Opera-House is not John Bull's natural amuse ment. Still less are they sanctioned by the practice of the old Theatres; there the private boxes were but few in ;lumber, and could scarcely be said to interfere with the public accommodation ; besides, in the old houses, if these private boxes were unoccupied at the close of the second act, it was the custom to open them for the accommodation of any individual who chose to ins i st upon it, a thing totally impossible as they are constructed at present, as we presume, even though they were all empty, John Bull would not be permitted to have any access to the private staircase. Thus far have we slighty noticed the merits of the case on one side of the public, and we feel anxious that its merits should be quickly decided by the wisdom of the Bench, and the honesty of our impannelled countrymen; but much happier should we be if a hand some submission to the demands of the public should put a stop to all further discussion, for no verdict can place the Managers on the high grounds on which they once stood. COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. The temporary calm which had eiisted in the early part of the week, and which had been hailed by some as a prelude to submission on the part of the public, has now given way to a reiteration of that clamour which has for so many nights filled the house, to the exclusion of all ra tional Entertainment. The verdict of Tuesday, in West minster Hall, seems, like Don Cleophas when he broke the bottle and released Le Diable boiLeux, to have set the " im prisoned spirits free," and we may with justice aver that if the clamour of any three preceding nights had been added into one grand sum total, it would not have equalled the din which then assailed us. Horns, and white night caps were the order of the night, a conjunction, which, whe ther ominous or not, certainly boded no good to the pri vate boxes, as their inmates were never before so much annoyed by the notice of the pbttites. Some peace officers