The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-10-30 00:00:00

To the EDITOR of THE ST4TESM4N. --.0.-- Ste—ln the namo of my brethren, vulgarly called Traps, I beg kave to say, that we should n ever have dreamt of attending the Row Shop, 11:141 ire not received Iris in our principal Mak. pu. sitive and strict orders to apprehend, pull up, and ! crab, as the Law directs, all idle Rioters and dis orderly person•, such as Horts.hlowerg, Hissers, Toraspeferw, Rgitiors, /I hisiter,, Groaners, &c. kc. The job was not a profitable one, be. i n z uo re;:ard; but go wo must, or leave the oilce. Bone of us gut a good thamphig for our pliqs ; um!, what is worse, expect to be troubled with indictments and actions for our over offici ousness. So, n,► more at present from your dis consolate 808 BLUNDERBUSS. Ru••i!fl Coffee-13(1w. apw•street. P. S. The Jra Prigs and Punching Men, that kiekt up the row in the Pot, did nut belong to us. TH L► •STA' To rat Eol7Vit yr TIIE STITESIGIN. Sin—As the Covenl•garden Grand Jury bane only returned True Bills against 12—ont of the 41 persons charge/1 with high crime" and noiscle. 'Nemours at the Nete Theatre Royal, I beg leave to recuminend that good legal advice be hail, how far it would he advisable fur those who have beets liberated to bring actions against the Magistrates who committed them, and the Constables and Po lice Officers who apprehended them. Many of these persons certainly acted with the most unjus tifiable violence. - Lincolq's Ina. A CCINSTANT READER. COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. TO THE 1.131T0R SrATESUtN. Bin—M.44, 'during several evenings been an attentive observer of the proceedings at Covent. garden Theatre, I am induced to trouble you with a few facts respecting the very impartial and dirinterestcd conduct of th . worthy and enlight. cued Magistrates of now.street, in their laudable elitists to put a stop to the tumult. On Saturday last I entered the Pit, accompanied by an iiiteili. gent friend, who bad scarcely procured a place oa the last row u( the Pat before he was accosted by an ill-looking fellow with a dirty neckcloth, .who thrust his fist in his face, and asked him if •" he had a mind for any thing." In the first impulse of resentment, I kit struagly tempted to knock him down,but reoollecting that we went there for a better purpose than engaging in an affray, and that a pretence would gladly be sought to insure our apprehension, we prudently forbore to notice the unprovoked insult. A few minutes after, this fellow, in concert with about half a dozen others, who surrounded him, attacked a young Gentle. man for hissing, tore his coat, and threw him down ; he applied to me to know if I could assist him, to procure a Peace Officer. I isnmediately . pointed to one who stood quietly near us at the back of the Pit ; but upon applying to him, he refu , (9l to take charge of the assailant, ullegieg that " he saz., no breach of the peace ;" but if he had, that he would have taken both parties, the complainant as well as the delinquent, into custody. It was in vain that the Gentleman showed his turn coat, (offered to point out the ruffian, and swear to the assault—the Officer persisted in his wilful blindness. During the re. mainder of the evening, these ruffians were coil. Banally engaged in creating uproar and could. len, and insnlting and annoy ing every one amend them. Several Gentlemen were severe'y hurt, and yet, nut one Peace °Aker could see a breach of the peace—they were all absolutely stone blind--and so far from offering protection to the assaulted, insulted spectators, one of them, a stunt athletic man, went up to a youth who was -standing upon one of the benches, atid told him that he bad marked him—and a few minutes afterwards, took the opportunity of an affilty to approach him, during the confusion, :Ind knock him dub:u ! The conduct of these ratlines at length became se outrageous, that about half. past nine o'clock, a deputation of reipeetable gen tlemen went to Bow-street, for the purpose or procuring a wiyrrasit to apprehend them, boot were idol-tied that Mr. Graham was gone h.:me! The above facts I should content myself unlit barely laying before your Readers, but I cannot help eon. trailing tka etramiseforbitorassee and serspislos: attention tu krill's** observed by the Boir.street .11agistratcytucturds the prise-fightcrs and raffians who are nightly hired to insult and ill-treat the audience, with the rigorous severity, and heavy bail required, at an unseasonable hour, from Gentlemen, however remote from their friends and home—and asking whether they can be recoil cited either with the Laws and Constitution of our Country, or the principles of impartiality and j astice ? Yotse! , . J. 6. J. To the EDITOR of TUE ST.ITES.II4IIT. Sia...l cannot persuade myself that a News. paper lilt.: yours, which professes independence, should arrogate to itself a right to be personally abusive toms individual, because he has, in common with the major part of the Public, given an upi. tilos' ou the dispute with the Proprietors of Co vent Garden Theatre. Your liberal Correspond out has dared utter that sort of language, he has not the courage to avow with his signature, and therefore it would probably have been as prudent to have treated it with contempt—there are, how. ever, to be found those who might be pleased to construe silence into an admission o f the fact, and I therefore feel it a duty I owe myself, to declare, 1 that the letter which appeared in your paper on Saturday evening, signed 0. P. is a gross and wil. ful falsehood. Your Correspondent has presumed to assert, that I assisted Mr. Brandon in the dirty work of the Theatre. It must be a very had ! cause that stands in need of this low-minded advo cate, and I shall content myself by observing, that if he will dare avow his name, I will submit (for once) to the degradation of performing the 4 6 dirty work" of giving him that sort of chastise- l 1 ment, his unworthy conduct so justly entitles him 1 to. I am glad your friend Vcritas has so soon read his recantation-..probably he has been told, by wiser heads than his unit, that it is not consistent i with the liberty of the press to attack a Juryman in the discharge of an arduous, but Imperative duty; and that the air of the King's Bench Prison is nut very inviting at the approaching season of the year. Be that as it may, I envy him not his feelings (if he be possessed of any) for being the propagator of so much slander and falsehood ; nor will it diminish his mor. tikation, when lie is aslured that my father (who is the subject of his indecent attack) had not been in town for two mouths, till the evening previous to his being summoned upon the Grand Jury, and, of course, was never inside the Theatre; and that neither him or myself have' any property or interest whatever in that concern. I have thought this expl.nation due to my own feelings, and have only to observe, 1 shall hold you as responsible for any other libel that may ap pear, as affecting my father or myself. tureot-wrdea, Suoday. ti. 11, ROBINS. •• , -..Nim ' ill\ l If • —r-- Th the EDITOR of T • 'IB ST'ATESAIIAN. Stu—Mr. Mainwaring, In his charge to the Gravid Jury of the Westminster Sessiums, relative to the disturbance at the new Theatre, after bring. in; forward a long series of sophistic observations in favreor of the Proprietor", broached some doe. trines, which, its my opinion, were moire mom struus than hid ever before been delivered from any Bench. He expressly coautions the Jury, in determining the causes which are about to come before them, not to suffer their judgment to be influent . . I by their opinion of the propriety or impropriety of the Managers raising their prices, or who is right or who is wrong, but merely to examine, from the evidence, whether the persons charged with having committed unlawful acts, to thu injury of the Proprietors, have done su or not. loi my opinion, Mr. Mainwaritig ought to have said exactly the contrary. Good Gun ! n h-re has the Gentleman teamed either his law or his morality ?—ls it not the constant practice, in criminal cases, to enter largely before the Jury in. to a consideration of the principles of public pu. licy which make it necessary to punish in an ex. emplary manlier the olfenees charged against the prisoners at their Bar ? When a man is arraigned for forgery, is nut the Jury instructed in the tie. lure of • public credit, and the importance of our commerce ?—When fur adultery, how essential to social order is the sanctity of the marriage bed I —As Mr. Mainwaring loves the Public es dearly i as the Public lore f ion, and a oald bo• extremely sorry to sacrifice the liberties and fortunes of his fellusr.criatures to au error of judgment. we may I hope that his next charge will be to the following ' i effect : " GENITLEMEN—TiIe case now before you is of a very singular complexion ; for in general you have to decide upon o,:fences committedagainst the Public, but now upon the Public itself, at the suit of certain players: the individuals under pro. motion are merely indicted as part of a resisting Public, and my duty will lead mo to state briefly the grounds of the (pseud between then. and the ! Proprietors of the Theatre, is order that you may cli.cover in what degree the Gentlemen now at your Etc ars entitled to your especial pkotec lion. 66 Gentlemen, the Proprietors of the present Theatre ware also the Proprietors of the last : they paid large sums of money for their shares, which were estimated at as Ideal value, mid yet they thought it advisable not to insure the pro po.rty they had s ► embarked. They were mer chants who were their own insurers—who saved the premium, but lost the vesse% • Other mer chants, under the sante circumstances, would have been h k rtopts, uepitied and unrelieved.; bet these people have another resunrce: they insist that the Public has run the risk, that the Public shall effect the insurance, and their claim are backed by all the civil authority of the country. They charge upon us as a debt, for which we must pay an enormous interest, er forego the privilege of theatrical represeetallrie, or be err:signal — at this Bar, not only the original cost of the old Theatre, but the ideal value which they paid for their shares, and also the cost of the new. They charge us with those sums for which an insurance ought to have been effected, and call us a liberal Pubiic.-1 have heard of a thief calling a inan e whom he had robbed of his watch and his money, a liberal passenger, but that I considered adding insult to injury. " The point at issue between the Proprietors and the Public, is, whether the risk of the late Theatre shall have been run, and the insurance effected, by those who have put tho premium in their pockets, or by the other party : fur the old prices would be clearly sufficient to support a Theatre burdened by no other charges than the cost of its building. I abstain front mentioning the Committee to whom the Proprietors submitted their accounts, order that the Public might be informed of the profits of the late Theatre, and calculate what it would be just to give fur admis. siun into the new, because, the dissatisfaction ex. cited by the report of that Committee is very general ; and people feel grieved and rather alarm. ed, at finding that persons who hold situations of so high responsibility, will condescend to palm a trick upon the Public, by calculioing as an aver age year of the profits of the late Theatre, the loss sustained by keeping the company together for the ben. it of the new establishment. But we arc told, Gentlemen of the Jury, that any body who objects to the prices may abstain from thea triesl exhibitions. Here then the injury is com plete. The monopoly occasioned by exclusive Patents, reduces the unwarranted advance of prices into a tax—a tax indeed upon olio of the luxuries of life, and of the same ~store as a tax Upon wine, or carriages, or any other thing, with. out which life might still be supported. I need Out tell you, Gentlemen, that the principle of private taxation in the luxuries of life, is equally pernicious with that of private taxation upon the necessaries of lifts ; because, were one .0( these sources of revenue diminished, the deli eiency insist he supplied from the other ; and if theatrical exhibitions be nut lit objects of a public tax, then a fortiori not of a pa . kote one. It liws always been the policy of all civilized states to flattish the people with amooscooents as cheap as competition would allow ; and I cannot help thinking those persons in coacert with the cue. miss of the country, who, to perievere in a fraud, wo.tild excite as much dissatisfaction, as would be pruiuced by a famine, or as has been produced by our two late unfortunate expeditions, which have probably cost twelve millions of moneys " The Legislature of the Country seems wholly to have overlooktd,' and then fore not to have provided for, the case of a nest of playeis, tisrt attempting to cheat, and theft to intimidate the Public ; the law has provided no check upon the fraud and insolence of these oirio—so that if the Managers had asked a guinea, instead of seven shillings, for admissiuoi into the Boxes, the situa tion of the Gentlemen now tinder prosecution would not have varied from : what it is at this mo• mesa. - " These persecuted individuals Ire stood for. ward the champions of the fp nerAl interests of the TILE C.ISE I:IC . II4RD DRAPER. .-- • •11•••••• 7'llE MARKETS. CORN-EXCHANGE-0c ronew 33. - I4tY•MARIET. Illy M. 04. Od. I* S. 03. M. Straw 2l Od. t 0 O. 103. Od. Clifver __s_ .... faintly, the only means that were open to the Public ; did not the names of a similar dc. scripts!' of men sparkle through 41 . 1 tlte pages of our history, instead of enjuying the blessings of Magna Charta, and the Bill of Rights, with a dynasty the object of our affection and net choice, we might have been siiiTering under the 6ra3P of a Nero, or a Napoleon. " I have been thus circumstantial iamy obser. vations, Gentlemen of the Jury, because I feel tbat I should be anworthy of the situation I now fill, so much to the public advantage and my own honour, did I not tell yu►y tl►st if you are really of opinion that these men were ainglod out as martyrs in the cause of the Public, and Abet cause a just one, yon will nut only feel it your loth. nation, but it will be your duty, to gird then► the full benefit of the least defect of evid:ltee, and even to be active in bringing forward to their ad. vantage the least circumstance of suspicion with which the testimony of tl►e witnesses may be eon. ta►ninated. " I shall not take notice to you, Gentlemen, of that species of evidence upon which an honest and conseientibes man would be loth to convict an enemy's dog ; but you will haru. before yea theinuch respected and notorious Mr. Brandon, and all the venerable and illustrious host of thief. takers, who (well pald fur all the malevolence and anger which they have 'hewn towards the Public, and having entered the lists with all the fury of partizans) will yet be able, in consequence of the extent of their faculties (what you and I, in. deed, poor simple men ! might think impossible), to swear distinctly to the acts of this or that man, in the midst of so great confusion : and I have reason to believe they will give their evidence without tha least hesitation or doubt. You uill believe them, if you can. " Gentlemen of the Jury, the eyes of the coon. try are fixed spun this box—in your hands is re. pt.sed the national character, upon which all our b'essings, civil and religious, depend. Think not the cause trifling, because It is against the lowest of mankind that the Public• has been under the necessity of contending : the meanness of the sub. ject renders the consequeures more alarming : what has a man to hope for that is overwhelmed by a straw ? Shook! you—a British Jury !—take part againit, the interests of your country ? To what encroachinents, let th—li come from what quitter they may, ein resistance henceforward be effectually made ? ‘Vhere is the evil to stop ? Yon have now to decido, not only upon the Gentlemen at the bar, but on yourselves, on me, on our children, an'? our children's children. You will du year duly—and not be appalled." A BRITON. Amongst the numerous cues of brutal vio. lance and oppression by the agents of the The atre, m hich hare, occurred during the contest at Covont-G,rden, that of Richard Draper is not the least ilagrAat. This unfortunate individual, by profession, to use the epithet of the Covent Garden Buz-keeper, a journeyman currier, was dragged from one of the one shilling pigeon•hoks, ou the night of Thursday, the 19th of this month. Two of his shopmates, and two other r:spectable persons, who wore present at the whole transac tion, offered testimony to prove that Draper was not the person against whom the fury of Professor Brandon was intended to hays been directed. The real otinrider escaped, and Draper was mis taken for that individual. The public accuser, however, never acknow ledges a mistake; and although tie must be be lieved to have been conscious that in this instance he had certainly mistaken his victim, he persevered !in smearing to the person of Draper—the testi.. molly of four individuals W:l9 not received, and heavy hail was demanded by the Magistrate. Bail was offered on the sput,but rejected,on the ground uf a want of knowledge uf the sufficiency. Draper was committed to T4)0611-fields Bridewell, and there he remains to this moment. The Magis trates have, doubtless, felt themselves compelled to commit, on oath being made by the party accusing—such certainly is the law. But the im prisonment of individuals on. charges so indefinite, so imperfectly supported, and hi many instances where testimony has been offered flatly contradic tory, is certainly what our ancestors could never have expected to be.tainely witnessed by their pos terity. Draper, kis wife and children, are now exiling upon charity. There has been through out this contest a degree of brutality and unfeeling persecution oil the part of the Proprietors and their Agents, which must fur ever mark them as the objects uf public hatred and contempt. But it is nut the wealthy they attack—on the poverty uf victims is principally founded tilt it hope of success. But that hope is delusiri, and will be thf...uted by the PUITLI e. Tile supply of %VW'S this Jay is but inconsi. derable, and sales thereof are somewhat dearer than oh Frislay. 13.14 ley rather lower. Malt liken ise. White Peas are cheaper. Beans of tho two kinds also. ''here are tolerable iupi•lics of Oats and this article is named at little variation, and Door continues at late prices. . CURRENT PRICE OF GRAIN. Wheat. - - 73, 99. A 1010. Tick Beans, - - 4.5 1 , 53 1 , Vine ditto -- - - Ittdo. 1124. Oth, R ye , - - 37.. 40g. &wiry, - - to 410. Shit, - - - £4B .234. W. I'. ac (Boiler') 84.-Sh. 1. toe Flour - - - 906. ”4t, titre Pena. a4,. Sec, nd% Brack. - b*. 641. SMITH 1. Itil.1)-04T. S 3. To iirtk th- Offal, per 61014 C Or Bib. to 5.. W. Item' of Cattle this day Abater' ..4-. 61. to 5- ttli. I Be.t.st- Veda Od. V.I. I Mery Pork 01. to is. OA. 1 Cakes UJ. to 04. tat. I Pigs To THE EDIT° li OF TILE STATESMAN. Silt—lf it 1x right to pay the Performers with only equal, but f.tr superior, to the tint Officers or ytute, I see no sufficient reason dignities of honour should be withheld from th 6 lliiiirtie lleroes, Who strut and fret their Iron. upon the stage." Why bhuni(l the Directio3 of Cori:tit-garden, mure thaso th.it of the ludic House. or the Corporation of Loudon, be without Knights, * L iaruttets—nye, and Lords ton ?—The Proprie. tun of Covent-garden Theatre, have rendered 11r. Percesal and his Colleagues as important ser. rice is dirertitig the attention of the People from contemplating the result of the Spassish Campaign---the 44 Grand Expedition," and the honourable intrigues of pistolling Secretaries, aid a despicable, deceitful, hollow.hearted, set of Ministers, as the belligerent Sir IVillia:n Curtis, the stippk Sir James Shaw, or the ailq-tongned Sir Charles Price. When peace shall be restored to the Theatre, and the play of Pivirro h,. an nounced, why shush! we act see, in the hills of I the nicht, the cis:trader-of ellon:o by Sir Charles - Kemble, Bart. that of Italia, by John Plidip Earl linable, ate' places to be taken of Sir .1. Brandon, Knt. Professor of Boa-keeping, and Head Turn. key e ic uven t.garilen Theatre? If, unfortunately, Clot great lax.yer and high anthoe•itg, Mr. Jets. tics Mainzoaring shall be of opinion that the peerage of the Great Philip is objectionable, on account of the nightly prn,ll.4sional avocations of that lofty personage, lI intreat him to remelt). ber, that the .Itity in the house of Peers may be performed by proxy, and Oat too on a scrap of paper nu larger than one of D.tn the Hittite's or. Minot' rs or rewards might surely be conferred ; on the Proprietors of the Sew Theatre, am' their' able and most judicious assistants. The int:rho. rious minduct o f Professor Brandon, 1 4rust, will WIRT 1w forgotten, for if the 1)411 %%Inch that fater/hd is perforating, hilt hitherto unhAitigly faded is. A iring totirersal tiatiefaction to tire• Mob--5 the respectful, endearing twin of the' Professor for that Public by %hunt he lives, the merit and fa lout of the Professor will nevertheless be hamled down to posterity, as a brjlliant exa...aple of what may be effected by a liberal and jearle.rs declare. Lion on the E.Ningelisit. I am, Sir, your's, &c. Lincoln's Inn, Oct. ?S. 1908. Dr. PANGLOSS. To the EDITOR of TUE STAMM AN. SI R —My cariosity being excited by the marvel. lees docriptiinis tha• have been given in the pub. lic prints of the twelvepessuy pigenu.hules, 1 went to the Theatre on Saturday evening, accompanied by a friend, for the express purpose of seeing, from those aerial regions, the now Performer, Mr. Easturos. Ilavina reached the summit of the or. duous ascent, we threw down our money, but judge of my astonishment, when, instead of receiving the accustomed passport of a check, we were asked, %kith a vacant stare, what we wanted " Athnit. thee to be sure," was the reply.—" The Gal. lery latish," oai the rejoinder; and we in vain I:rged admittance, stating, that we should require no return of our money ; remonstrance was fruit. less, and we were rudely repulsed. A person at that moment leaving the Upper Gallery said, its the pro , enee Of the door keepers, " Gentlemen, Mere i. plenty of room.”--" That don't signify, its of no use to persevere, you cannot go in— saeh are our orders"—terminJted the conference. Nuw,Sir, you will infinitely oblige me, (and I have no tl•subt you posse.. the information,) by stating in your Paper, whether the Proprietors of this patent Theatre can legally justify the refusal of admis sion to individuals to any part of the Theatre— admitting even that it were full—for although the Gallery, Pit, or Bow, may be crammed, yet, if individuals ehoose to pay their soon, y for the chance of obtaining the places of those who may retire, it appears w holly inconsistent w ith justice or propriety, cysts io that extreme case, to refuse admission to any one who offers his mousey. I am, Sir, A DETESTOR OF IMPOSITION. [On the subject of this letter, we think our 1 Correspondent, so far from cainplaiming, ottett to congratulate himself on having been suffered to ascend the stairs leading to the Gallery—for se veral Gentlemen, as we stated last week, were, on litursday, stopped at the bottom doors by the Guards, who presented fixed bayonets to those who wished to enter the door leading to the stairs of the Gallery. As to the question of right, we have sot the smallest doubt that the conduct of the Proprietors, by their servants, in this, as in many other instances, is clearly an abuse of the Patent ender which the monopoly is claimed, and which Patent is, therefore, unquestionably im peachable un the ground of abuse—as is also every Patent where abuse can be found. StActot.—Last Thursday, a poor lrbouring man at St. Alban's, who owed Is. Gd. at a pub-. lie-house, And borrowed 10d. of another, being unable to discharge the same, it preyed so strongly 0:1 his mind, that ►e hanged himself. A Coro. u..r's Jury returned a verdict of Inourrity. I