The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-09-21 00:00:00

T"' I."' Arrived. Mails. , .• \ Due. 1 Dublin •ri..i.rv . -% 0 I Waterfard......... ........ 9 Geitee.burgb.—••• le r' 1 1 1 0 tisdis kit i THE STATESMAN. . . pitopusiTt /BMA X. LONDON: . THURSDAY, SEPTESIBRIf 21. ST. MarrltEw.—elitittday eel the Peatic-OAces. Tut public expectation, which had been yester day wound up to the highest pitch with respect to the change of Ministers, was disappointed. The resignation of Lord CASTLEREAGH is, we believe, decided—ho did not attend at the Levee. The Earl of CHATHAM was, however, present, for thu first time since his return from the Scheldt, and ivas received most graciously. The other Minis ters were also present, including his Grace of PORT LAND, - who manifestly laboured under indisposi. than, and retired in less than half an hour.— Hls Grace itiieed attended, as. was said, from necessity, rather than inclination, having been requested to hold the seal of office one day longer. The Levee broke up, and his MA JESTYIth town, without any definitive arrange ment having been concluded. The resignation of Mr. CANNING is confidently anticipated ; bc is said to have differed in opinion from Mr. Pracer L,on the subject of the " Premiership," to which Mr. Psacxv A L is reported to have aspired, while Mr. CANNING was unable to divest himself of an opinion, that he might lay equal claim to that honour. In fact, whatever report may say on the subject of these changes, nothing is with Fertainty known. at. We lament the neeeshity we are under of an. vouncing to our 11....3adi.q14 report, of whichakl prevalence is BO geneAl 2 : that we can qatEtAy . doubt its truth. In cou,equence of a potiticej o rlif r ,, Terence, L CASTLEREAGH and Mr. CANSINEIV are said to have met this morning—the consequence' 4 of th it Meetiog is said to be a severe te a tind iu the thigh of Mr. C.tNNISG. Of the further parti culars of this rumoured duel wears ignorant. Our political sentiments have long been in direct hos tility to those of Mr. CANNING, whom, as a Mi nister, we avowelly dislike. But for Mr. CAN NING, as a Gelid:Alan—as a Scholar—and a Man of Brilliant Talents—we entertain a respect so sincere, that no circumstance could to us be productive of more heartfelt satisfaetion,than find thg that this revert is unfoundl , (l. We, however fear that such an event has occurred, and can therefore, only exi!ress our hopes that the conse. quence's will not be fatal. Lord ELDON had a long conference on Tuesday 'frith the Duke of COSIDERLAND. We understand that Mr. Camels° has ten tiered h;s resi4oltiott to his MAJESTY; and thit . _ - he continues to hold the Seals of the Furtign De partment only till his successor is appoin . ed. Viscount C iSTLERE.Iop did iiiitlitten4 be Levee 1 yesteril4y ; and the Duke of Pi4imarrn,appeared so extremely infirm, that it Nair with didieuPy he y made his ingress and cgruss to *pd. how ths . d i tyli. , ence.chamber. ,4, . 11.- •u v •, • i. • ..t io u jor : a 4L Mr. Hose, jun. is s§iblitlcti proceed w I: 1 .• chereit in an i 4 "cial cat . * - -,,,.e6 M Mr. Secretary CA arek'd has purchased WWI. tester Lodge, and its 'elegant demesne, tteir Iprompton, Lite the prisperty of the Duke of GioucEcrvm. The preinaes aro now undergoing a thorough repair. A Gentlemau ki ho left WAlcheren on the lath instant, says, means were eniploy b ing to place the Island in the boot posture of defence, and a chain Of batteries had beets established at the South. eastern extrennty to oppose the enemy, who were collecting in great numbers on the opposite shores cd•South tieveland. He positively states, that a Dutch Merchant, rrhotn he accompanied, per. •uaded of the ignorance of the Commander in ;Chief, as to the weakness of the French forces, solicited and obtained an audience of Lord CHAT • siAit. during whirls he assured his Lordship, that the French forces in the vicinity of Antwerp did nut exceed 11,000 men, of which fact he was ba tisfi od on the evidence of his own senses, hay.. bog rviiiiied there daring the preparations of the enemy. Sir [Ulm, Deen as, the present Commander. its-Chief, upon getti:ig the Villa Itegi , nent, imme diately removed the *gentry of it from .Messrs. Gam/swoon and Cu. to his own . agent, Mr. SPDOMIALD. We are hippy to heir the whole of the crew rad vioree of the Agamemnon (lately lust) have - been saved- A marriage between the h. it of Bavaria and an .A;astrian Princess, is spoken of in the French rapers in a manner that seems to indicate a design t o e , l l O Anshia as her dower. The constitution of Bohemia into.an intle.pendent kingdom, annex ed to the Conft•Jeration of the Rhine, is also Spoken of. The 12th Light Dragoons, although they did not disembark till :lade rain; to Ram.egate, lost 1,1 only I 5 horses. yr The Managers of Covent-gariflm Theatre assert, . that theaverJi.,e profits fir ttio last ten years have not exceeded six per cetii. on the capital emplu a y.• ed. It would be candid In thearto state the whale, truth. Did they separate ilbe actual et pa r neer from the annuities and other payments for inen 1. brances laid at different times un the establish. taent ? Mr. DcsnAYES, with D'Ectit.t.s and his Pu. Ails, *ill shortly set off for Dublin, Wh i g. en. gaged by Mr. llEwny JOHNSTON. • , GARDEN. T i ';NT I - To rout the opposition so decidedly manifested by those spectators who had paid for their admis sions on Monday and Tuesday evenings, recourse was list night had to every stratagem which eon ning, arrogance, and meanness could - devise. Orders, fur gratuitous admissions, were issued in such abundance, that 'they were absolutely lysaiked about in the printing-offices, and other places connected with this 'flit:etre. A uumerous corps of bruisers was posted in the pit, and the whole body of workmen employed in the eonstruction of the Theatre was dispersed in different parts of the house, pre-occupying, as on the preceding nights, a great number of the benches. The Bow-street 011ie.ers, together with a strong reinforcement of Constables, had been put in requisition, and were ready to rush into the different parts of the !louse on a liven signal.—At the doors directions seem to have been given to exclude, as far as was practicable, independent visitors—fur while admission was re fused to many who tendered their money, on the pretest of the House being fill, those who pre sented orders were passed without hesitation. To these precautions it, the interior, was added that of circulating under the Piazzas, and at all the doors of the Theatre, the following " COVENT GARDEN THEATRE. " It having been stated in some of the public prints, that the profits of the late Theatre were sufficient, without any increased prices for admission, the Proprietors think it their deity to .Itate, that the average profits of the last TEN YEARS have not been SIX per CEN T. The Proprietors cannot doubt but a liberal Public will feel the justice of their present advance, particularly when the very precarious nature of their property, and their heavy additional ex - pence!, are consider: d." • The Managers bad weakly flattered themselves, that the resentment of the public might be absorb ed in their regard for Mr. CooKE, so justly and pre-eminently the favourite of the loan ; whose appearance in the character of Richard, was an nounced in the Advertisement—but in this vain and futile expectation, they were deceived in a degree more mortifying (if that be possible) than on the two first nights of the performance. The !louse was filled at an early hour in all parts, and the number of ladies was consiiierable. The usual overture, prelude, serenade, or by whatever ,other name this mope! 'xiiecics of performance way be described, cute fenced some time before the curtain was raised r anal the various parts of this concert were nso,q,e.lily sustained by Boxes, and GullerieiAti addition to the national music of Tuesday, two fresh instruments were introduced ; the bugle, now so conmionly blown by the fa shionable gentleman who guard our mail-coaches, anti that small stentorophona: tube of tin, with which the newsmen are wont to rouse the curiosity of the western inhabitants of th;s metropolis to the tidings announced its " Second Editiont."— From the skill displayed on these instruments last night, we apprehend that they were played by expe rienced performers; for the tones were alternately a. deep and so shrill, as to be distinctly heard • above every other sound, whether vocal or instru mental. A boatswain's pipe in the One Shilling Gallery was played with much effect ; and a ju dicious distribution of Bartholomew Fair wooden trumpets greatly enlivened the performance. The Milers' elbows jerked away, as un the preceding evening, at what was conjectured to be the over ture; but the performance of the spectators to tally overpowered every other sound. At length the curtain rose, and every Per former exerting hisnaelf to the utmost, poor Cooic.: - . was greeted, with a redundancy of sound, which, had it been sliAteted against himself, we 'should have greatly lammed—but painful as was situatiun of that Geode:Han and all the other Performers, they seemed fully sensible of the real objects of . the unprecedented fulness of harmony with which they were saluted. So excessive was I I the noise, that a discharge of musketry, although it might have been heard, would nut have startled arty one. Mr. Coast gesticulated his part with his usual ability ; and the visiting performers vi sibly' lamented the necessity they were under of contidtling the performance in his presence. Of the concert there was nu remission, except between the acts of this pantoniimical exhibition of the beautiful and interesting Richard of our immortal SuAKESPEARE. During the presence of the perfor mers on the stage, the greater part of the house stood up, covered, and with their backs to the Stage. In the fifth act, the entrance of Mr. CHARLES KENNA, as Richmond, was the signal fur an increased effort on the part of the performers, who almost outdid themselves. 'flue peal wilt which this branch of the proud :loci: of " our ' 6 truly and right esttirely beloved Cousin 64 and Counsellor--Julast Pump Kamat.E" (to use to that representative of mcmarclis who " Struts and frets his hour upon the Stage ;" regal language) %S'34 received, cannot be described ; it was tremendous, and continued with- I out intermission till the curtail, stropped. In the last Act a Pigeon was set at liberty from one of the pigeon -holes, and made two complete circuits of the Biome, in which it extinguished some of the lights. Unlike, however, to the slave which re turned to the ark after vainly searching for a rest ing-place, it took refuge in the arms of a lady, wnu tenderly enveloped it in the folds of her shawl, and thus secured the little prisoner, whose appropriate presence in the House was loudly applauded. The spectators bad leisure, after the curtain dropped, to contemplate the various banners that were flying in different parts of the House. On those itiseribeal—" Old Prices—No Cata !ant—John Bull against Julius liemble--Native kTalent---No private r t iottis....-Opposition pease. were, slid you must succeed---No snug anti.rooms Prices fur ever ) never submit to the new sines—Perseverance and no violence—No privi ieged orders in the third circle.--Resist the intpo tkcion every night till iliated---No Foreigners to fait us, taxes enough' Ilivatly-.-No monopoly-- NO private accommodations before the curtain." The farce was gesticulated in the same manner, and with tlic same accompaniment which had Oil. FS VAN. r tinguished the performance of llichard....Of O'Kearit's witty production, The " Poor Sol- flier," not one syllable was heard ; and we verily believe, that had even Juttm EnwlN himself arisen, through one of the trap-doors, and appeared on the stage in his favourite character of Dusty, he could not have diverted the attention of the Per. formers in the Holm front their purpose. Tut Pantomime at last concluded, and at half past nine o'clock the eurtain dropped, but not a single spectator 'hewed any disposition to depart ..." Manager" and " Kemble" resounded from all parts of the House, and, at length, on came Sir. Kemble—the uproar at his appearance was extreme ; but silence was finally obtained — and, addressing the company, he with apparent humility requested to knew " of what the House had to complain :?"--This insulting alli:c(alion of I ignorance produced an effect on the people " Sudden as the spark from smitten steel, " From nitrous grain the blaze." [" Off, off, d—n you, can't you read Old Prices rcrilten up ;" hissing, groaning, and shouting followed.] Mr. LEIGH, the gentleman who addressed the audience un Tuesday evening, intimating by signs his wish to speak, silence was obtained, and he addressed the company to the Idlowing elrect.— Ite is, we understand, a respectable gentleman of the city. •1 I took the liberty of addressing you last night, because I feel a comm.in interest with you upon this occasion; and, from the attention with w high you honoured me, I am encouraged to address you again to-night. Last night as well as this night you acted as became a British audience, and as you are en titled to do. Peacefibly but firmly pm eterri-cd your right to mark your opinion of those nho breathe upon your fa vour. Its the way admitted from tiow imine in a Ilri thh Theatre,lyou manifested your itylings, nod y'. acted legally. It was, therefore. wit.! serprize, I the conduct of those who are employed to thwart your wishes. I saw last night a wirer! of Ho w-strret Officers i nsu lting every man who educed any disapprobation of the imposture attempted to be practised upon you. In the Pit I saw these officers, seconded in their releoess and violence by a number of those who are notoriously hired—who are io the regular employment of the Proprietors of this Theatre. One man indeed in particular I notices', who h. I am assured, a foreman in a particular department of the work., and who with his coat off was striking at every owe in his way. challenging any man to fight him who dared to oppose the will of the Managers. lit this conduct I lamented to perceive that he was encouraged and supported by those Constables who were preessedly cal led to to keep the peace, bat who only distinguished them selves by protecti , s and caching every rioter in favour of the Managers, an I treating with violence every one who differed from them. Several Gentlemen indeed were dragged to Bow street, and some. I am told, detained is custody for the night. Let m hope that among those Gentlemen one at least will be found of stAcientspirit to make these °Meets account f or stitch ostrageous conduct—to try the question at law with them. I have no doubt that they have acted illegally. But however that question may be decided, the public must ever consider it as an aggravation of the misconduct of the Managers to attempt the establishment of their imposture by such meats —to FORCE a submission to it. I know of several of their espedients for this unworthy purpose. I can state facts which I can prove. Upon the Ent might the theatre opened, orders mere sent to printing-offices and to trades-people w ho have many persons in their employ, removing that buch orders should be chop .-cil of" for the beneht of the Managers." But jt will amn-e you to hear that many of those orders were used against them. This ss as a trick of war, and not unfair. It was," bitingthe biter." Last night, and to-night also, the use of orders was glaring.—ladeed money has been refused, where ordtrs have been admitted. I myself was refined adinittauee at one ui the doors last night, being told that there wit no room, while there wa- plenty, and u bile, at the same time, paper orders were received. Probably the refusal was the cons..quenee of my observations last night—but the object of the refusal did not answer. lam here still, and shall he here again to morrow night, to assist your opposition, a , e and neat night al-n, if the Managers will provoke time continuance of op -1,1,3ii ton —[/splartre].—The causes assigned to justify the im position a r complain of are insufficient, a hile the real causes are at terly inadinissible,and the al naagers kilos% That, therefore t hey do not venture to state them. You are told that this Theatre hiss been long a losing concern. What do you not icow that John Kemble paid twenty-five thousand pounds for a Share of this Concern; and do you believe that John Keruble does not know the value of moue) [o lame] I wish that some Manager would come fora ard who does know, or who would nit PRETEND to be ignorant of what we want [a lame]. If such soon did appear, I would point his eye to the placards about the House ; if he were so deaf as not to have heard our cries since the opening of the The etre ; and if be were to say that the advance complained of was r.ittlered necessary by du money burrowed to build this Theatre. I world tell him that which I eau prove, Gebtlemen, that the rent of the private boxes &Haw, upon the appendages to which I shall nut ruse observe, is more than 'edit ieut to pay the interest of the whole of the loan raised, Hod also the salary of Madame Catalani. Having men tinned this Performes. ! hope 4 way be allowed to express the general discontent at such aa exorbitant grant to a fo reigner, while native talent is overbooked.. But If the day esauld eser arrive when that Stage is to be contaminatA by Italian depravity awl French duplicity, I trust this audience will feel and art as it ought."— [,L•atiplaustils.] The Gentle man, after requesting a clap for the Performers, in order to shew that no ofeoce was intended to them, nhichrmiest was promptly and universally acceded to, emieludeil with ex horting the audience to conduct itself as it had hitherto done, prionaing. if it continued to do so, that he would attcrd this night, amid frout alight to night, until tbeptiblic cause was tri umphant. After this, a Mr. Sstrrn addressed the Com. pany, and proposed that Mr. liessaLa should be requested to attend, to hear the complaints of the Audience, of which he had tiffecicd to bu ignu. rant. This proposal was loudly applauded, anti in a few minutes Mr. engage again came upon the Stage, and said, " Ladies and Gentlemen—l attend, with great respect, to " learit your demands." (You know what they are, resounded from all sides.) Mr. Luau, the Gentleman who had first spoken, then said, I will tell you what they are—"_7HE OLI PAWLS." Mr. KEstaLs then addressed the Company as follows " Ladies and Gentlemen, I have of last comprehended that 'at roue of your displeasure commits to the small advaaer of Opp on the Boxes and l'it : [cries of Yee, Yes.]-I.ad les aid Ontlemea—ln the reign of Queen Atm the price of ad *NM .to the► Pit was three ebillinp. One leadred years ap t the Liialletie9 l Ladies and Gentlemen, 1% ere at the same e , prices neat present. Really I throw myself entirely on your aesterosity and liberality. For the last tea years the Pro prietors have not received more than sis per cent. for their capital, which is certainly very trifling, considering the great hazard of the property. The Proprietors have laid oat 150,0001. in building a Theatre which shauld be worthy of a British Public, owl in making it the finest Thea tre in Europe ;—besides width, the enorm:ius expeace of dresses, &c. and the getting up (as we phrase it) of plays, in a style that shall be worthy of you, is beyond comprehension. The exigences of dresses sod scenery have, within these few years, doubled, trebled, quadrupled; sod, indeed,there and with which I am in fact inacqsalrited.—L 1 hotel Suffer me, Ladies and Gentlemen, to speak a few words lb reply to a Geatleman, who observed l'otAer eight, that not one farthing of the advance would ever god is, way i nto t h e pockets of the Performers. Now, is truth, I state to you (and I am sure that no one will doubt of my speaking the truth before you), that at the last raising of the iirkes, the Performers were also benefited I and, I tun sure, all the Performers are ready to come forward, to testify it. La dies nod Gentlemen, I have only to say, that I folly rely op I vow . liberality; and, that on mature deliberation, you nil) I not see any thing inroasocabk is the proposed regulation at the primp." To Mr. lionaLes speech succeeded execra tions, hisses, groans, and ekciamations of vario. ous descriptions. One wicked wit shouted 1 66 f) —n your apology, decamp Joule PHILIP 1 KEMBLE, decamp." Such part of the company as were within hearing of this expression, immediately took the hint, supposing it to allude to an apology once made by Mr. Kemblo on" the I subject of a Lady of the• name of Do Camp—and 1 loud peals of latighttr were protracted to an im : moderate length ;—•-a person in the pit shouted—, " No extortion, John Kemble"—this was all. swered by another roice—" We hate all *ex. 6 4 turtion either tidal KING JOAN Of JOll,l KING" : This play upoo the lIALIICS of two such celebrated characters produced great merriment. No compa rison can however, with propriet ) , b e made be. tweets tw 6 persons, n liu, although both posties%ing considerable talents, are• certainly of characterp utterly dissintriar. innumerable a:tticisms were bandied about, and the house presented a continued scene of noise and confusion, till a little before eleven o'clock, when the visiting performers gave three cheers, and plighted their mutual faith to per. severe in resisting the imputation attempted to be forced upon the people by the greedy monopo lists of this national Th..atre. At 11 o'clock the House 1123 clear. We arc happy to say that the number of fights was not greater than un the pre ceding eveniags. The skirmishes, scutilcs, anti squabbles were numerous, but the °facets and Constables were much more cautious in their be, haviour than on the preceding evening. This pro. bably arose from an idea that has gone abroad of the legality of the proceedings of the Magistratea and Officers being questionable. A report was in circulation that the Marquis Of TITCHFILLIi, who is the Lord Lieutenant of the county of Middlesex, had made some parti. I cular inquiries on this subject—but fur the truth . of that report we cannot vouch, any more than for one which was also prevalent, of Madame Ca. TA..t ! haring thrown up her engagement. Tiss resignation of Lord CA"ri.dotAc If at this moment furnishes a coincidence of circumstances some what ludicrous, and induces malicious wits to en. tertain themselves at the expence of these illus. triuus characters- 7 -who, retiring with the'' otium " cans dignitate,'' may now view the perform ances on the boards of Covent.garden from one of those snug delicious recesses in the third circle. A little Pamphlet, on dirty coloured paper, was distributed at toe dour of the Theatre, of which the following extracts may give some ideal— " It may be said, that if the l'enprietor of ti Theatre be allou ed to raise the pric•s of .olmi,sion to !lathe, agree ably to any capricious rc sea he may advance, there would . be no knowing to word exteot he might every season carry detnartd.on thr ieuhlii. T h;i•, however, cuuld not be the rase, as he until ads once better rer.soot than arc usually given by the Merchant or COIDIS3IOI trader; and if hr once attempt ed to unnecevanrily inerrasr the prie,! of admission► to his Hoarse, the evil would cure itself by the immediate (Anita don of his visitors, and the consequent reduction of his ;tightly receipts." " I believe there is scarcely an article of ornament or ge neral eonsumptiop,• whiCh has not, within the4e 13 seary, in creased to double, I may say treble, of its former price; and tee Proprietor of a Theatre canoot con.iuct hi* p operty without an extensive variet3 of almost every articic that can he mined, for the oecessiery ellect of his Mimic World; he, therefore, of course, expends many thnn•nnrls more than he did a few years baca, anhout any udditionul return from the public. .4 If I were to my,, that every article occeainry for build ing, besides workmen's labour. is iluuldr to what it wits at that time, I should be speitkii,g coinidenio:ly nithiu the truth. "Fir timber. which was then about 21. 1(. and ii. per land, is now Ibl. and I believe up to :fol. Bricks; Which sere not quite a Aaffpenny a piece, Is 17. ^ 1W more than double teat mime) a brsck. " Lime, soma, lato/4118115. an 1 indeed all kinds of dron end Pais work, nu►e alai advanced In proportmo ; taus a vlendid structure might, 1i years ago, uove hers atectt•d at teatime half tar son the Proprietors of Covent-garden base ht4si under the necessity of paying fur their prescut elegant -and substantial house. " The progressive advance in the price of every necessary article of life, has made a co n siderable difference to the pro perty of the rroprietor4. 'Teo years ago, the principal Per formers were satisfied- with trot or twelve pounds per week ; now they hate advanced tirrir dens-rods to fifteen, sixteen, and even twenty pou.ats, in cutsizqoence of the high price of the different articles of comma) consumption. I have before ob served on the high price of fir-tinther, but that' was in the building of the Theatre. I now mention it as a very expel,- sive article w hich they arc always wanting, fur the frames of scenes, and the machinery of the stage.. Lucre are al-u other thaws which are in constllA vulva:opt too, twat have evidently risen in price within these few yei;rs. " Oil, that was, a few years hack, three shill iogs and three pence per gallon, Is now EIGHT shillings and pence.— Canvass necessary foracenery to/ which they c ntaaror large quantities), was TER Fever: per yard, is now one shilling and nine peace. Cantles, that were to n shillings and sixpence per pound, are now three shillings and sixpence. Coals that were two pounds per cheldroo, are now tome postai tam shillings. " Colours, for paiating the screwy; cloth, fur the draws of the mule performers, and th• imusberlemtapealin article, and Gar the dames and decawatleas of the Ladies, have all