The National Register. — London, England, 1809-12-03 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGMEnt.- had been infringed upon bii wh eat 4 . 4 " ;;Kers, iliose duty it is to keep the peace, and by gangs a raffielia whoa sole emplo-ymeat it is to break it. Uutil.the present-day, thia internal arrangement, this manageotent of the .111anagers, was in the hands Of the audience ; hissers were op i ;oseil by clappers, and the majority always settled the busineos; to this decision the Managers always beloved, without asking them 4 '. Whitt'do you want ?" and if the Oppositionlltt ..had adhered strictly to this, it is not likely that On:Walla . r„ers would have ventured on their .present conduct. There :s no doubt whatever, indeed, that t.hor of the real Oapo.. sitionists, who have committed acts of assault, for which alone have hills, we behere, been found, ha , e actually come within the gripe of the law in defending themselves against the Oreleilies; but now the question of prices :is forgotten in the , itogept at rolice Officer's 'taterferin,,o ► in our 1 amusements, are 4Th.g iiiit;i4diidnity as if the liberty of the siibleet Was a uteri: farce, and iveth brutal and' unne cessary violence tearing the clothes of the devoted suffer er, after assaulting every.perseg to their way, until II)ey come tat the person pointed out. by . the Inspector-i;eneval. Such conduct, eseti in a street riot, in a nialit brawl, would be indecorous, rnd ought in any case whatever to call down reprehension from the Magistrat..ts ; but it we are to believe the new paper reports which hitherto re main uncontradicted, if sea' conduct has not met with suppo't, at least the perpetrator 4 of it have escaped-ani• mad version when complaint li4o been made, with the ex. caption awn: solitary case. -There is aii..a.cr po:o!, too, which seems, if nut -a new point of law, at lea 4 a new point of practice; several peeple have lwai tole :sat the How-street Office is private, and therefore that no indivi dual can demand admission; but this, though it may be • tolerated with our preseet uprilit 1.3e. , ' le, may lead to very unpleasant consequences under a set of men actuated by partiality, or influenced by . hribe'ry ; nay, it js even pos sible at present, that eoustahle who bring persons to the (Mee, may refuse admittiince to thole !Wiped to offer hail, 4 circumstance which must escape the notice of 'the most tigilant Magistrate, and which may oblie"e an inno cent man, or a simple girl, to pass a night in 'Dahl!. fields. • - _ . Whilst thus scrutinising one side of the question, we CAR• not wilfullir shut our epee to some circumstances on the other, which deserve severe reprehension ; whilst the Opposition was confined to Pie usual expressions of thea tric displeasure, no imiropor consequences could be dread ed ; but when O. P. became the Signal for nocturnal shouts and for street processions, it was impossible for moderate people not.to view such proceedings with a certain degree of jealousy.; nor is it surprising that one party should stigmatize the whole as of Jacobinical tendency, when they perceived that some busy spirits, fond of a row of any kind, and perhaps predicting therefroin a free admission into oth er places besides the - Theatre, were endeavouring to unite thekeexpreisions'of public displeasure, with what they have been pleased to denominate the canse of the people. What one Paper has Chronicled as effUsiens of liberty, another would naturally POJa as ebollitiongs of li centiousness, and we are sorry to see that some individuals %%hose rank and situation in life ought to teach them that it is possible to be blackguard's like gentlemen, have given too much occasion to suspect that opportunity was only wanting to carry things a little farther. There may be wit in a man boasting; to his friends that he will go to the dreas-boxes in a night cap, it is rither,incongruoustow even ley a Auppo,rter of Opposition, and consequently of public *Komi . ), to commit such breach of bknsea,ncg, even as a jest upon the Manages; party, We hope that no.such exhibitions will take place in future, st• they must disgust the . moderate, please the rancorous, and stake t h e per. former an object of ridicule to all. 4r There is a report iu circulation, tilt the late of Sweden, Gustavus, is ; anit OHO tlier . 6. 4 siiike d 04'6•'' otal* sacs at btickhpiii. . . • .faret the issue of the Expedition was known ikere." This informa tion I received from your Lordship, in a Jester dated the 19th q*fieptember. It was then perfectly neva to sue. . . I leave your Lun'ship to Sudge witat must have beep iny gar prize, sit hen after receiving from your Lordship, on the evening of the 19th a September, his frank avowal of the real origin tlf 'the conccaltwat maintained, during this latter and,:most portant period, towards Lord Castlereagh, I received on the follow* morning Lord Castlereagh% letter of the same date, 'staking me respousible for that concealment. • I :have not to trouble y Our Lordship with any further observa tions. I have confined myself to matters growing out of Lord Clastlereagli's letter, and out of your Lordship's statement ; oa those alone have I any right to claim your Lordship's attention. lo this address to your Lordship I have been compelled to 'resort, however rtAuctantly, to vindicate my private honour. — ..es to any cl r against my public conduct, this is not the *ode to reply to them. If any such shall be brought against me, at the proper time and in the proper place, I shall be pre pared to repel them. I have the honour to be, with great re-' meet, my Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble servint, GEORGE CAXEING• TLIBATRIC JURIES. • As general laws cannot be framed so as to apply in all points to specific cases, it will often happen that a literal adherence to them may pl'oduce • injustice to the innocent, and afford security to the guilty ; but even these diti4dvatt tnes we are willing to submit to; for general goed,. well knowing that the merits of the case must be finally sub mitted to a Jury of honest, perhaps simple, men, who wilt dispense:pat/cc, though they cannot procure redress.. To such a decision, the Public, and we should conceive even the Police Magistrates, must be anxious, that both the Theory - and practice of the present Theatrical Rowe, may soon be submitted, in order that John Boamay know' far he may go, and no farther." If, indeed, we ate to judge of the public right in the manner in which hither 4; has been dispensed, all contrpul of that pub lic over the sage, and indeed over the whole Theatre, is notbiug more than an empty name ; one person has been committed, or obliged to find bail, for hissing, because the Box-keeper thought he hissed too much ; another for ap. plauding, because the Box-keeper thought he applauded tpo much : many have been taken up for exciting the au d, fence to make a nois:!. and another for calling out silence! The advocates for the new reading of the StalutOs, may tell us, that these are not insulated facts, but actually forming part of « system qf riot; this, however is the _very point we deny ; a point, too, which fortunately must be determined, not as a point of' law, bet as a matter of fact, and that by a Jury'. But we .are told that the Mana,;ers, out of tenderness to the Public, will not press the cases to• a decision ; out of frnderness to themselves, perhaps,- they limy not e but ins for the interest and honour of the Pub lig, as fives ;he right of the Variou*individuals, that it silt.tild beb rought to a decision , otherwise the &cline of .Opposition, as• the law is aupposed to be at pre,seet, wtil be tantammult to a general gagv,iug of the visions to the Theatre who will then, indeed, literally becotno the audience, and may thus be forced to hear whatever sash a Manager may chime to patronize ; nay, even that Mana ger, without fear of a hiss, may then give so many new readings, z that Shakespeare himself will be no loneritn- telligible, and the Theatre at last become so thinly attend 41,,Lhat th,ose who venture there, must run the risk of catclaing cohl, and of being tormented with *itches ! Who can tell, indeed, but that those *by sit silent at Brandon's benefit, may be.carried to Bow-streot for not applanding, whilst those who prevent their :friends from going, by ask ing them to dinner oa that day, run be 'indicted for a eanspirne# Act° ttos tenderness for the Publie, we would have been ,last if it ha 4 made its appearave a little earlier in the 4eissue, before the laternal arraogetneuts of a piablic Out ~~ rtE G I 41„,