The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-11-06 00:00:00

I .• ,z 4 - I • ;: To rut BDIT'OIt or DM STATES: N. "Being In the Pit of Covent-Garden Theatre on, Thursday evening, as It (pact, though not inatten. 'tit*, observer of the colifesion which might ensue there, it was with the utmost astonishment and Concern that 1 perc_•ived so many females present, like bu:d adventurers, who were compelled to en. dare the rude shucks of tumultuous violence. Not wishing myself to take any active part in the present contention, I to • ► s induced w place my imitate; among the orderly benches. Thus situ.. atilt, I, undisturbed, (comparatively speaking at least) was as eye-witness to the Alarming, and, in. l ived, dangerous situation in which twiny Ladies kith their children, were placed. M efforts were 'directed to their assistance and protection, and expoiairlateri with several of them, on the great im. propriety which attaches t o th ose persons , who not Only b• iii;; 'heir wives; • but their children, many o f whom arc :wetly of an age to be out of the nursery. The answers which I hivariahly received ccuivinezd me, that this evil has originated from the statements w h ich have lily appeared in many of the Newspapers, particularly • The Post, and a f r iv o lous pap. r, called 77sa Press, representieg the opposition et the New Them rt., as having sub. • sided. and that through the united ezertions of t h„ se Pace-hunting Gentlemen, too nunterons.to' sien ti..ll,l)lo for whose nitwits I refer your Readers to th•• order.ly book in► the lobby, " Paradise" Met born " regained." This language, Mr. Editor, however torre.. spundent it may be with thy telAhes of those from whom 64 proreudi, is repreivensilde in the highest degree. and certainly conveys a direct falsehood. Mr. Kemblc and the other Proprietors may, and do in truth know better...such a !Littering picture still not Cease them to dream of :zol cut harvests ; bus it has induced many a tender female, ut.know ingly, to endanger the safety of her person in that settee of nightly contention. It is to ho Itoped,lhitt for the future, such wri. tern %ill4sltew as much feeling for the Public, by imitating the truth and tirerlit) of your accounts, as they scum anitootis to evince fur Pro,trietot-, by taisreprecettlityg facts. u J. P. Kemble, I speak in the language of rape (Prrilogne to 17sc. Satires) Pii, it al is contal, , inns " Thou .t••.tl'►t unhook amidst a burbti.L.; world." I am, Sir, your's, Saturday. FOU Si'.47'ES.ll.lN. MR. EDITOR—The ready insertion which you gave to any turner observations on tho circuits 'latices in dispute between the Proprietors of Co vent-gatilio Theatre and tbe " thitish Public," inducts me again to convey al sentiments to that Public, through the medium of your impartial Pape*, nor I hail' remained so long silent . hail 1 nut Aservett your columns daily filled with Lacess on the subj-ct, and naturally supposed the saw ideas might have sugr•stel themselves to some of your Currespondenrs, who were capable of treating the subject with tours ability thaw 1 pos isss. As to the Private Boles, they arc fur the gratificaiion ut ii few luitorious or fastidious in. dividnals, and occupy a.space which " the Pub. lie" have a right to claim, as free for all in a P u blic Theaire V' ....the y ruder OKI; alleries to tally devoid of comfort or co , iteniciice either for seeing or hearing what is going forward on the Stage, thus sacrificing to the butterflies of fashion, or the bloated sons of spectilatiee wealth, every consideration of honest John Bull. _ h e n our beloved Suterc.go attends the reptc. .sentation of a Play, where ts' his seat ?—" In the midst of his subjects"—nail whore any one of them may f reel, g.au admisslai on the following or dny oi,.er night. We i.ase Already one " Ex. clic Theatre," where Italian Ballad iingere, and French Posture-masters amuse the votaries of fa. shion by an exhinition of every 01114 which is not natural, where eve!) , pair have weir pigeon hole, and a .:ere those who prefer .t piping 8011. finch to the native me!ody . of the Blackbird, or the 44 Ilistt t. ;he vigoruusext rtions of the 44 Milli se," May iiiilC 4 ! ;.) thogrhtioeations of a false and vitiated taste ; but to this Theatre there is no " veto" of competition. The case is widely rhtfeient when Monopoly is created by Pa. tent, to the ex.clusion of all rivalship. Two Tlteatres only are allowed by Act of Par. but an awful calamity has deprived us of one, and the Proprietors of the other seem to take advantage of the 46 Hubsun's Choice° we are rediseod to...aad resolved leaks* sally the illweleneo et their conduct, the CONTEMPT in which they &otd the Public ; they appear, how. ever, to - me like the Bey and his Goose—At the Old Prices, malting the "Privileged Circle" open to all, tiny might have realised their Gulden Egg per do) ; let them say how their attempt to pocket the wbule tremolo at once has answered their expectations. 1 have swabs( objedioo to these Private Boxes, ,they are an imitation of the French and Italians ; and though I do not carry my antipathy so far as to say, with Goldsmith's sailor, " I hate the French because they are slaves, and wear wooden shoes"—yet it a Theatre, eselassk* privilegedl for the representation of " the British Dransa l al hate every thing French. I say nothing of im. morality, beibleSe others of your Correspondents have attacked them on that head ; and my htten.i Con it only to offer such observations as have not b?en offered before, iot ail of the genuine cause. In my former letter you had my opinion of " the Jiistices ;"...that opinion, a Grand Jury of the County of Al.dillires have amply supported, notwithstanding the eatraordinary charge delivered Is) their Chairman, and which, I will venture to my (as having been myself 11;,enty years in the mei/fission of the peace), no other Cuuuty Ma. gistrate wood have dared to utter. I will now take my leave, most ardently hoping the Public will per.evere; and though indisposi. t,us prevents mil attendance at the 'I lira' re, con. vet: d of the accuracy of your reports,. I shall IT A h evcry favourable opportunity to offer you the ..nseevaLons of AN OLD CORRESPONDENT. • . • •- TO JOUil PIIILIP KIMBLE. Psu—ln one of your early addresses to the an. .diessee, in the new Theatre, after making an as_ minion respecting, I think, the necessity of the augmentation of the prices of admission, you concluded as follows, " and if this were not true, I would not say it." Your declaration might, at that time, have !mined credit ; hut I think, unless you can sates , facturily answer the charge I am about to mak:• against you, the possibility of your aberration from truth, whets your interest is ooticertod, will at least remain questionable. You have coolly and deliberately asserted, in your last rioted address to the public, " that you are. happy to see that the pre sent prices of admission meet with the approval of a very large mfijority of the community" —Credit spivs:it. In soother part of this same address you 64 hope nut to be thought intrusive in a4ain ap pealing to the reason! and justice of the fre. quenters of the Theatre!!!" Where were your own " reason and justice" when you make th • foregoing assertion ? Upton what grounds do you make it ? Satisfy our reason as to4hat, it you wish to attempt to impress the Public with the opinion that you aro one ince' able of de_ *parting from the truth. No general meeting has taken place, to collect the sentiments of the it community" on this occasion ; I must, thcrt faro, assume, that the majority you mean, is that of the nightly audiences. Now, Sir, admitting taw no &elite exertions have been made against your by this majority, it is your duty to tell• the Public how it is constituted : an swer, then, the following question :—lles not the major , art of the nightly audiences been admitted, without paying for snch admission all.l if not the major part, what numbt.r each night to toe best - of your knowledge? I have nut said admitted by orders, because we have been toll there has been a pass word, or parole, upon the occasion. An answer to this question would be only consistent with yodr professed respect fur th..se who have made you what you are; mere particularly after your assertion respecting the majority of the communit), as connected with your previous declaration, of being incapable of asserting aught but the truth, which I fear you will have some difficulty in establishing, even if you answer this letter t and if you do not, the ob. vious conclirsion will be drawn. AN ADMIRER or YOUR TALENTS, Bat not of your Mesons. FOR TII1! STATESMJN. Ma. Enrrost—l should he ♦ery glad to know who is to be Presiding 3tagistrutc, should the trials of the Covent Garden reputed itioten, take place before the Bench of illative' asseikbleti - in Quarter Sessions ; the Chair is generally taken by Mr. Maintparing—sometimes by Mr. Jieadynn. der all the circumstances (hit have Oaten place, would it be strictly proper for either of these Gen tlemen tie fill the situation ? Liwola's tern. A MODERATE MAN. FOR THE STATES 314. V. MR. EOTTOR—I was yesterday informed that no half-price nail been taken at the Upper Gal. lery of Covent-garden Theatre for spine time past. I was determined to asrertain the fact; and with a friend went last night 14 the gallery.dour. I was then told by the os. ivy or order take►, that it was half-price, but that no money would be taken. I insisted on my right of admission, when the man at the door told me there was no half. price taken, nor had there been for three weeks ur a month past. Atio.her man then said, An. sorer no more qeestions ; there is no room. I ..Efered to pay 24. for myself and friend ; the answer then was—We have no pass-tickets, and cannot take your money ; you may go to the lower gallery. I am your constant Reader, Nov. 5. T. 5. P. S. I think the. Managers wish to make the experiment of not taking half-price, and have be. gun at the Is. gallery. [The above appeared in The Mornin 4r Chronicle of this day.) ttik STATPSMAPI. • • to the EDITOR of THE STATESMAN. • 1 SI a —I am a constant reader of your paper, and I admire the efforts you are making to bring the .Wanageet of Covent Garden Theatre to their senses, but have doubts of your succeeding in the attempt ; the obstinacy of an avaricious man is as difficult to overcome as is kit arrogance—and those three virtues Mr. John Keinbl, possesses in a pre-emistent degree. IVtien we t:ike a retro spect of what he was, and contrast uith it w hat he has been raisbd to by the favour of the Public, does not the heart of every honest Briton beat high with indignation at his ingratitude ? When inco in a situation lite Mr. Remble, not only insall, but ferociously attack the Public—that very pub lic by whose bounty they rose to affluence—it may be inferred that they have forgotten what they truce been—and if their " old. lining" will bear " ripping op," it assuredly, in the eye of an Eeglio:tman IN no recommendation to John Kern. hie, that he was educated at Dotsay fur a Jesuit— nor is it agenerallypopular recommendation ta. say, that heattempted td become a Methodist preacher— that he attempted to become an author, and wrote Poem, which was consigned to oblivion from the hour of its birth--that he attempted to train , slate certain plays, which he murdered, as he has dune his professional reputation—that he was a Istroller —and when in necessity, a buffooo —hut since raistal to attluence, a theatrical tyrant. //is late coutluct entitles every man to speak his opi. nion of hiss ; if Mr. Ken3ble is the cause ofpri rate characters being examined at a Police tribu nal, his own character should be erposed before a tribunal, to the favour of which he is indebted fur power, reputation, and affluence —the tribunal where sits, Public Opinion. These, Mr. Editor, are the opinions not only of myself, but also of a very considerable proportion of the public - and when I stand upon the firm basis of truth., I defy consequences. Mr. Ketnble to me is bids " shadow and a name," and so he ought to be to us ell. The tenderness with which he has been.treated, has only served to increase his airroaant pretensions, Ind as far as the law will permit, he shall meet my censure. I know as well as Mr. Kimble, the difference between the rational, and licentious liberty of the press. In concluding, I cannot help observing that the obstinacy of King Kemble is such, that if it be net speedily subdued, it will create a degree of clamour which will require the interposition of higher au. thority to reduce the Proprietors to reason, and, indeed, to the true sense of their own interest.— : I hate a name s and am neither afraid or ashamed to .mA — it.. No.I, Brompton-row. JOHN MITFORD. To the EDITOR of THE STATESMAN. Sta—,As neither the Bow.stroet Traps nor the Amateur Trap:, employed by the Mys Iger, have been ab:e to suppress the groveling of Op 0. P. Mn,d I b eg l e ave to recommend tO Messrs. H. K. and. (... to try whether the introduction of a few heel trap, and spring-guns, would not have a tendency to keep than discontented rascals in or. der. A HUMANE FRIEND TO ADVANCED Surgeons Hall. PRICES. Tv rfti EDITOR or TIIS ST‘ITESM,IN. Ste—ln consequence of so many Bills being thrown out by the Grand Jury, the Managers at Covent-GArden were duly besieged with applica tions from the officers at Bow-street, to know who was to indemnify them from the actions they so justly apprehended for their active e.certions against the hissers, groaners, &c. at the Theatre. The Pnblic &reinter said, "that to the best of his belief," Mr. K. would settle that matter. Mr. K. accosted them with " Wilat do you want, Gentle men," and sent them to Mr. H., who received them very gracionsly, and kindly promised to get up The Busy Body, The Comedy of Errors, awl Much ado about Nothing, for their exclusive Benefit. Primes-Place. ONE IN THE SECRET. FOR TIM STATE.SMAN. MR. EDlTOR—Notwithstanding the frequent boasts in the Managerial Papers of the " Beauty and Fashion" which crowd the Boxes at Covent.. garden Theatre, theru appears to me •to prevail in that part of the horse a general hydrophobia. This, you know, Sir, by a learned lexicographer is explained to be " a disease of one who feareth water escoadiney." And certainly if the Tier:. Etat of the New Theatre ever experience the com. forts of clean lincp, they never enjoy the luxury of a more than hebdomadal ablution. On this subject a classical friend of mine has produced the under-written lines, of which I send a trent. lation. Your's, &c. Gray's Inn-square, Nov. 4. NIT-ions. complent ululatibus cedes, Coodactosno velis atinumerare J 'recent Al sine venales—emptieque sileatia lingua Et *cum sordes squalid& tarba feet. With law fel noise the pay-side rends thc house, The fru-side sits as quiet as a mouse ; So HOLM/DON orders, whose theatric sway The sismase'd Imams of each boa obey; And should their filthy vesture nut dicta., 'eat, The offended Kest would in the lobby nose 'too." • Hamlet. (The above appeared ia Tie Morning Chronicle of this day.] The Fr-a:rick:ails frigate on Friday sailed from Portsmouth, with 40 tail of merchantmen, under convoy fur the Mediterranean. The West India convoy nu In afternoon made the signal fur sailing. Two Ladies, accompanied by a man servant, were riding lately in a une.hurse chaise, from Diu to Shelfanger, near Norwich, w hen a man, sta.. tinned in a lenely part of the road, discharged a hlutklerbuss at litchi. Fortunately none of the party tectivod the least injury. Nothing has since transpired to give the least clue to this voya terivas and Waxman circumstance. To the EDITOR of TDB STATESM4N. Sin —A very silly writer in Bell's Weekly Messenger of yesterday, spurts a great deal of theatrical law, of which be knoweth no more than I opine he cloth of any other, and yet he may perchance be clerk to a trading justice. To confute him would be idle, for he Both constantly confute himself in the cuurae of his journey. . But though this sapient gentleman calla the sub. scription for the assistance of persons considered as unjustly prosecuted, by the Prot,rierurs and Managers of Cosent-Garden Theat►e, ' 6 a gross indecorum," how a subscription fur the relief of those we apprehend have been wronged by Mi. gistrates and Managers, or Managers and Ma. gistrates, for, according to the present system, I know not which should take rank, can be We colons, I conceive nut. As to his law on the subject, let Up with the rest. • lie also attacks the projectors of a New Them. tre. I know them not ; and the deprecating the indignation of the Covent-Garden gang, I think contemptible. The conflagration at Drury. Lane, was certainly accidental, and was against their interests; that at Covent-Garden I firmly believe, equally so, although it might be fur their interest. Nor do I think they thew themselves Learned in the law ; their application for a Patent should be to the King, in whom the power is already vested by Parliament. As to the illegality of a Subscrip tion, to endeavour to obtain Law, the fellow is fool or knave. It is a contradiction in terms.—So studious of decorum have been the sobscriberi,that the conduct of the Magistrates is not even glanced at, though it must have been in their contempla. tion, as it soon will also be in that of the Court of King's Bench. It is pity Mr. Harris is impli. cated in the mistier. Ile has passed a long life, Kith, I believe, much esteem ; and though, per haps, In the early part, he might, like Falstaff, have had to have cried " out triton women," he has, I understand, been many years married to one of the most' amiable of the sex. A SUBSCRIBER AND AN OLD BARRISTER. Oct. 90, 1009. - 47 1 , 1 , r • • dig/ ••' • 13 c•NI •••:. 21111) 1.4.4.5i.E X SESSIONS. . Friday, Noventbete 3. Trueuses a. xos•r.ea. —Tit is wit a p mein ti on instituted by Mr. Elliott, *Chief Officer of the East India Company's ship Wexford, for an as. sank cominittes: by the D..fetulasit, the Caps' tel servant. Mr. Elliutt slated, that he had been in the I Alia Company's 'cilice upwards of 20 years, and had put himself to the calicoee and trouble of this prosecution, solely in the hope of checking the spirit of insubordination, which constantly reigned in the ships, on their homeward-bound arrivals in the river, when the ship's discipline was discontinued, to the frequent imiiinext danger of both ship and cargo : he said, that i.i the evening of the day laid in the indictment, he observed one of the Lascars filing a cut on the starboard side of the middy ; the prosecutor said, that as he himself tic, spied the starboard silk, of the same birth, he was by no means desirous of so near a neighbevr, and directed it to be taken below ; on which th, Defendant, the Captain' servant, who ordered the cot for his own accommodation, came into the birth, much intoxicated, using most opa prelacies's epithets and ex pi elisions, and ass tutting the prosecutor, which he was restrained froni chastising net the spot, by the impropriety of be. ing involved in personal contest undet such circuits. stances ; he therefore prefei red the present indict. ment. The facts were proved by witnesses, and the defendant, having no defence to make, he was instantly found guilty, and sentenced to three months' imprisonment in Coldballt Fields prison. Saturday, Woronfrer 4. A boy was indicted for stealing two pair of stockings and two handkerchiefs, the property o George Henzell, at Shacklewell.green, Hackney. The Prisoner, it appeared, had been servant tO the Prosecutor, whose service he quitted first oa the 101 h, and filially on the 13th of October. Oa the 17th he returned with an officer, having a war. rant against his master. The Prosecutor took this opportunity of having the Prisoner's box searched, and in it, which %cis without a lock, or other fastening, were the stockings and handker. chiefs found. Among other evidence for the Prisoner, cos. listing of many. respectable people in the a Mrs. Burge,a swore to a fact ukteh oceer►e•d in her presence a few days previous•to the charge in qiiestion l ,wlsen the Prisoner deli►ered to Mrs. if coach x bundle which he had found in his box, and whielv,.he said lie did not know how it got there. Mrs. IL then said, it wait of no com e . quence ; she supposed Sally had put it their, but they were nothing but rags. When the present charge was made, Mts. Derge , s called on Mrs. Ilenzell, reminded her of this circumstance, and observed, that the articles found in the box •► hen the charge was given were r 448 st4 n . Th e Jury immediately Blond the Pres •m•r Net Guilty. They also male a subscription among themselves for the poor bey ; en example which was followed by massy persons in Curt. OLD B.4ILLY. Saturday, November 4. Samuel Taverner stood indicted 01, suspicion of feloniously and publishing, as t. u. and offering ita payment, divers forged awl coon ter&ited Bank ' , notes, purporting to If notes of the Girvernor and Company of the Biak :of I.:ng find. It appeared in eviJetice, that tbe Pi t• u o c e bled paid away the notes in question (thrtA: tie. imam! and two two-pound notes) to a Mr. Job Cbles, a grazier and farmer, in part payiurti, 1 , ,r B . bullock ; and on their l!eing paid into the sink of England, they were discovered to ow forgeries, and were traced bark to the possession of the Pit. loner, who was a butcher, at Ilviii) 1 1 Jr.. The defence set up on the pit of the Prisoner was, that he revelled the notes in the course of his business.—lie nas aCquette . l. John Sly and Eliza Hempstead pleaded guilty to an indictment, charging totem wiur having is their possession an engraved plate, purporting to be a plate fur printing one-pound awes of the Go. vernor and Cumpany of the Bank of Enid Ind, well knowing the same to be forged.; mil also far having divers impressions of the said plate in their possession. The Counsel for the Prosecution, in conse quence of their pleading :Wily, did not pleas Another count, charging the Prisoners with titter. ing several of the said notes, knowing them to be forged. Charles Rutherford was capitally convicted of burglariously entering the dwelling-house of lien. ry Davidson, a pu.il'ean, in Wilti.str to, St. and therein s 'era! bottles of trine. The Prisoner was found in the cellar by the watchman, and pretended to have fallen in there by accident. A lad named Bronyate, 14 years of age, was Jast week committed to York Castle, charged by the verdict of a Coroner's Inquest, with the akar. der of Catharine Finials, at Selby. A s was hanged at &leen, near Lisbon, on the 'Nth ult. pursuant to the sentence of a Court. Martial, he having Leen found guilty on a charge of rubbing General Reresford of several valu4ble articles. All the British troops at Lisbon attended on the occasion. On Saturday, at the Bow.strcet Ogee, Jotter and 'Valiant:, two well-known characters, were fully committed for stealing two watthes. Sere- ral other persons were exainined, and remanded a • for another hearing. A man of decent appearance was taken t., Union Hall, charged by the CM. ers of the Surrey Roads, with having been guilty of indecent language end behaviour to so uc 14,tilies. He expr , •sed much contrition, and the Magi,trates, after • severe re primand, discharged hint. A woman who sells rabbits about the streets was taken into custody, in censequenec of giving fent counterfeit shillings in change for a seven shilling pieee, aii.l after undergoing an examination at the Union 06ce, was committed for trial. I!.. - r! 1 . ► I