The Statesman. — London, England, 1812-11-09 00:00:00

THE THEATRES. pansy-LAtit.—Su ‘aset:Ane's Historical Play of A w ry the Fourth was brought forward nt this place 00 Saturday evening last, in which the casting of t h e Wawa was not very creditable to those who are intrusted with the management of that scenic con cern. Mr. DOWTON filled the character of the humorous Knight, instead of Mr. PALMER, and this was an alteration which ought to have been ; for, although Mr. DowzoN was not eActly fitted for the part, yet he did it 50 much snore naturally, and perfectly, than his predecessor, that we were gratified with the change. Mr. ELLISTON bustled through the fiery Hotspur with energy, if not s. lilt indgment ; and though we are not much in the habit of approving this Gentle man when he wears the livery of the Tragic Muse, yet he certainly marked the r.;.:: , ages, in his inter view with his wife, with more p.,:eision an d po i nt than we have been accustomed to hear, thew der nevite We have now a serious word or two to utter, in regard to the decorations and properties (as they are technically termed) of this Play. Imprimis, Why was Mr. AVitoccirrote encum bered with his coronation robes, in scenes of business there the-regalia of state was not necessary? • Secondly, why did they give him a table to lean on, At the Council Board, which was not large enough for a bohea party of tea-drinking washerwomen ? Thi r dly, Why did they dress the carriers in smock frocks, which were not in use in those days ? Foui:lily, Why did they paint waggons in the Inn yard, when no such conveyances as waggons were in. vented at that period, and all the carrying &linen of the public roads was effected by pack-horses ? Fifthly, why was Hotspur trimmed and bedecked In his jei kin, like a fighting cock, rather than a mar. fiat hero of the old school ? It may be said, that Mr. JUMBLE indulged himself in this mode of attire, in this part; yet that is but an inefficient apology : as with nil teat gentleman's merit (and he bath a great portiou) ; he was not e uniformly, a mark for imitation. Now as the aim of the Dramatist, and the aim of the Performer, should bc to deceive the sight of the spectator, as much as pcssible, in order to delude him into a temporary supposition of a reality, how necessary it may appear to some, that a small degree of attention should be given to the due arrangement of the Drama, by those whose bounden duty it is to have their attention engaged upon the furtherance of such objects ! It should be noted, on the behalf of theatrical fitness, that the Manngers of Drury-lane Theatre have twice attempted to emulate the Directors of the other Theatre, in two of itIAISPEARE'S Plays, viz. The Merry Wires of Windsor, and Henry the Fourth, and have, assuredly, failed in both. COVENT-Caeprl.—On Saturday evening Mr. BETTY performed the character of Osman, in Zara. To the early efforts of every candidate for public fa vour we wish to be indulgent; but Mr. BETTY, though young in years, is not entitled to the consi deration that would be shewn to an Essayist ; for his pretensions are of the highest order, and he is to be judged of as an actor estimating ais value at 513: per night. The play of Zara, though so greatly altered from the play of VOLTAIRE, is still so much in the French style, that its interest almost entirely depends on the acting. Long dialogues, without business or inci dent, derive their interest altogether from the grace of declamation ; and it requires vary su perior talents indee d to keep alive the atten tion.—Lusignan, in the person of a GARRICK, was one of the most affecting instances of the power of acting on the stage, but it requires a GAR. RICK to produce the emotion. Osman is through out declamatory, and it is one of the parts in which Mr. Berry was early tutored ; and when a boy, he made a conspicuous figure in it, by his lofty and au dible voice—by his erect and stately carriage—by his knowledge of the stage-play--for then the sentiment of the spectator was, 66 When this youth shall have judgment added to his organic powers—when time and observation shall hate instructed him to imitate and display the workings of nature, we shall possess an actor." Unfortunately, Itowefer, this sentiment no longer rises in :he mind ; for after the lapse of the most valuable years of his !if.. for the acquirements that are essential to the art, he appears again only the grown Loy, with the same stateliness of person indeed, with the same audibility of tone, but without hav ing advanced one step in the progress of the fine and delicate art of pourtrayitig the passions of the soul, so as to communicate the impression to the specta tors. If the mere standing erect, like a trumpeter Oh the parade, and bellowing forth a qusitsilty...of loud breath, could constitute an actor, any one with a sound voice might be taught to declaim mechani cally, and to assist his speech by studied starts and appointed postures ; but it requires thought and feeling to mould his whole frame into the being that he represents, and by the joint influence of eye and (0(.33 to agitate the bosoms of those who see and hear him. The , :e requisite powers Mr. Berry does not seem to possess in any eitent•to justify his claim to the rank of a tragedian. He spouts well, and if his voice were of a good quality, its vo lume n mild he an important recommendation to a theatre so gpC,l !t: as Covent-garden; but it wants die meiical and variety that are re ;aired to harmonize with the sentiment which he utters, and which, through the captivated ear would begot in the h earer he kindred emotion of the speaker. In his representation of Osman he was always hur ried, loud, and indiscriminate. He scarcely waits for the end of the sentence to which he has to reply. '%e look i% vain in his features for the impression which the speech of Zara makes upon him, bat the instan t she has done, forth bursts the answer, with unretlecting vehemence. He tells us, I refonried, when the wept, her nail a thonsand times " Sprun g t o In'r and lobed to leap to mine— We say, he tells US this.—bnt we did not see in his intelligent eye tiny vestige of such remark at the tine. There were some passages which requiring a burst of violent c:chmation, were in unison with lis tone, and in these he was crowned with honest applause. ynE TA"ri4l,Vl‘\l itoBEERY Or THE LEEDS MAIL. After a diligent investigation, it is supposed the property in the•letters contained in the different bags stolen, amounts to about 16,0001. not any of which has yet been discovered or come in. The robbery, it has been ascertained, was com mitted between Burton and lUghham Ferrer,. The guard had rode from Kettering to Burton with the coachman, there being no outside passenger. At Burton the guard purchased a pair of ducks, and put them into the locker whic.. contains the bags, when he was positive all the bags were safe. They proceed ed on to Hiham Ferrets, to which place the guard continued riding with the coachman, he there had oc casion to open the locker again, when he discovered that all the bags had been taken out, but by what means could not be discovered, as no violence ap peared to have been used either to the lock or the spring. Great alarm was spread in consequence ; the guard took the precaution to send a man express back to Kettering, to give notice of the robbery, and he proceeded on with the coach towards Lou don. On his arrival at the Post-Office, in Lombard street, and giving information of what had happened, a general meeting of the principals of that Office was called to consult what was-to be done. In the coarse 1 1 of the morning an investigation took place at Mr. Parkin's house, in Great Ormond-street, the Salici tor to the Post Office, where the guard was strictly investigated, when he swore that he locked the locker at Burton, and that he saw no person or persons on the road the four miles between Burton and Bighorn Ferrets. The guard, in consequence of disobeying a positive order against riding with the coachman has been dismissed. After the investigation at Mr. Par kin's !louse, he was sent of to accompany Lavender, the Bow-street Officer, into the country, in pursuit of the robbers. At the same time the Deputy In spector of Mails set off express to the different towns and parts from where the bags belonged, to have bills printed, and to give other notices to prevent the Ot• tulation of the notes that had been stolen, &c. The coachman who drives the mail from Ketterint to Bedford, was sent for to London, and he under went a strict investigation. He stated to Mr. Parkin and others belonging to the Post-office, that he had no care of the letter bags, and did not hold himself responsible for any thing that might happen to them, that being 14-holly the business of the guard, ner did he interfere With the guard, if he chose to ride with him on the hex, as he did it at his own risk. lie confirmed what the guard had stated of locking up the bags at Burton. There being no circumstances to implicate him he was not detained. Lavender, the Bow-street officer, after taking the guard some distance into the country with him, find ing that if he was in the least implicated in the trans action, he would undo all that he was doing, or hie person being so well known all the way on the road as the guard of the mail, it would spread far and wide who he was, and thereby prevent him from making any private enquiries, or gaining any secret information, he therefore seut the guard back to London. Lavender continued riding day and night in his pursuits, he found the statements of the guard and coachman to be correct as to no person being on the road between Berton and Iligham Fervors. lie thee proceeded on the cross roads, where he heard of a man of the name of Kendall, who is a farmer of tolls, who rented the gate at Bythorn Bar, on the road leading from Huntingdon to Kettering. He knowing a suspicious character of the name of Ken. dell, who was a short time since convicted of utter ing conterfeit money, anti who he had frequently seen in the company of thieves, if it was the same man he had no doubt but that he had either been con. eerned in robbing the mail, or knew those that had done it---he, accordingly, made enquiries respecting him, and found that he resided at Wellingborough, he proceeded there, and happened to meet him in the street there—having previously known him be fore, entered into conversation with him upon in different subjects, and at length respecting the rob bery of the mail, and told him frankly he suspected he knew something of the business. Kendall de nied it, hut on the officer questioning as to where he was at the time of the rubbery, he acknowledged he was not at home. Lavender's suspicions were such as induced him to take Kendall into custody, and he afterwards proceeded to search his premises, which he found large enough to have contained the mail coach and horses—nothing was found there relative to the mail robbery. Having lodg ed Kendall in prison, the officer proceeded iu his en quiries for evidence during several days, when he procured such information as induced him to take Kendall's sister into custody, she having kept By thorn Bar gate during her brother's absence on the evening and at the time the mail was robbed. La. vender having proctited a long chain of circumstan tial evidence, examinations of his prisoners took place at Wellingborough last Wednesday and Thurs day, before Lord Compton, Mr. Dickins, and Mr. Hudson, Magistrates for the County of Northampton ; Mr. Parkin, Solicitor to the Post Office, and Mr. Ascar, Superintendent of the Mails, when we under. stand the following particulars were proved as appli cable to the Prisoners. On the evening the mail was robbed, Kendall left Bythorn Bar in a cart, in com pany with another man. They stopped at a public house near Thrapston, drank ale and smoked—it was then about five o'clock. They were then about seven miles on a cross road off the spot of road where the mail is supposed to have been robbed. They left the , loblic-house soon after five o'clock. As they passed along the road, a man in a field, who they did not see, overheard them arraogiug who was to pay toll at a turnpike-b ate through which they were to pass— they agreed that the ether man was to pay the toll, as Kendall was known by the gatekeeper ; and to avoid his being seen he got out of the cart, and walk ed across some fields, and no doubt got into the cart again. The mail is supposed to have been robbed while ascending a hill, at about a quarter before seven o'clock. The hill is only about three miles and a half off the residence of Kendall. He returned home at half-past seven. lavender had searched Bythorn Bar-gate-house, belonging to Kendall, bot nothing relative to the mail robbery was found. • Kendall denied all knowledge of the person who rode with him in the cart, but stated that he merely took him up on the read to give him- a ride. .1141 said he was at home before seven o'clock on the evening of the robbery, but it was proved that he was not home till half-past. ii could not account satisfactorily what business he was out upon in the cart. The circumstances against the sister of Kendall are, that she sent for a post-chaise in a clandestine manner, to a bye place, and went in it in company with the Man who had been in compativ with leer brothtr in the cart, and proceeded by cross roads to Huntingdon. At this time it is suspected the valu able contents of the mail were conveyed away, but all trace of the stranger ceases at Huntingdon. lei addition to the above a variety of other circum stantial evidence was produced. Kendall was fully committed for trial, as a prin• cipal in committing the robbery,.and his sister was fully committed as an accessary after the fact. On Friday Lavender conveyed them to Northamp ton, and lodged them in the prison there ) to take their trials at the ensuing assizes.. TO THE INDEPENDENT ELixrory 6is THE BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK. s. GENVII , PIem,—A due regard to p 'bile opinion, to. gettler with It eonseintemess of innocence and inte. grity, are powerful incitements enough to animate the must hereide spirit to rebut malice, and refute misree presentation. It would indicate an indifference to the sentiments entertained of me by the Public in general, and by the Independent Electoes. of the 80 , rough of .Seuthwark .in particular, unbecoming any mm, at any time, and especially unbecoming me at the present time, after the so recent testimony of your favour towards my Brother, as unexpected as unpresumed upon and unsought for by bite, were 'to remain silent upon the venemous aspersions of your lately returned, I cannot add worthy Represene Wive ' Mr. Henry Thornton. f Gentlemen, although I should b e little disposed to . notice any attack from Mr. Henry Thornton indivie dually, however unmannerly and offensive, yet I should think . myself wanting in that love for the general liberty, in that desire to promote the pub , lk good (which he who lives without leads a life very little differing from that of his cattle), did I not ex pose the gross misrepresentation in which Mr. [leery , Thornton has indulged, of those public principles I have uniformly maintained, and U;5011 the success of which, In my apprehension, depend the freedom and happiness of my Countrymen. Gentlemen, the zeal and spirit you manifested in their support, during the late Election for South , wark, seems to have excited a morbid sensibility, ; and overflowing spleen, in the bosom of Mr. Henry Thornton; which, as he dares not spit it out upon you, he has exhausted upon me. It is a common observation, that anger as often makes a man ridl , culous Its odious: You, Gentlemen, *ho know hove hr my brother was from the presumption of think• ing himself entitled to your support, from the atnhi. tion to seek it, or even from wishes to ebtaiti it, cannot but have smiled at Mr. Henry Thornton's self-conceited absurd exultation, and imaginary triumph over him. In his address to you. Ge:ele men, in the Morning Chronicle, October the 6th, he sacs, "The victory obtained over my comp , itor i Mr. Burdett, sufficiently evinces the preference giren by the great body of the Electors of the 80, otigh of Southwark, to those rational views both of Economy and Reform which I have professed."--eln the first place I beg leave to observe, my Brother was no competitor ; in the secohd, that if any Victory was obtained, it was obtained over you ; in the third, that if it he true, as charged upon him by one of his Cone stiteents, in a Letter to the Public,that Mr. H. Th ton canvassed with a corrupt font's of Go' support, no great ma no great room for tfenry Thornton, tri titor. I I I . i I. • 4 i f z •t Kines- stitoents, in a Letter to the Public,that Mr. H. Thorn. . . ble to ton canvassed with a Tex-gatherer at his elbow; if the corrupt means of Government were employed in hill r t , , :mila. support, no great mane! would have been wrought, ~ f's • • tto great room for exultation afforded, had Mei r with Henry Thornton, triumphed oter a real compet 1: , t t re his g. - Bdt 'tis tint id. ite.— - '' ti; 'Twas but a bolt at nothinz, shot at nothing, (port- Which the brain makes of fumes. i ' {, s ng to Supposiog, however, Mr. Henry Thornton had, • tiv 9 and under such circumstances, " with such appliances t with and means to boot," overcome a real competitor. 4 *: .. . Ile re' even then, out of decency at least, if not out of it l‘la. modesty. he ought to have been content with solid . ' ,i.:'.• urges 'padding, without looking after empty praise. .• Gentlemen, Mr. Henry, Thornton's language is no I 9 duof" less incomprehensible than his boasted triumph. He i ~ Hind says, " The Victory obtained over his Competitor, l i; Mr. Burdett, • evinces the preference given by you to i;. ; N r Ilia his rational views, &c. &c. &c. &c. &c." One na- , , . . Fox rurally asks, preference over whoa—the fumes of , •• • (19• his imaginary triumph really seem to hate confused airing his brain, . . perhaps upon souse future occasion they i Ports- may bedispelled by the Independent Electors of the Borough of Southwark. Mr. Henry Thornton talks II ' ' acket, of " the rational views of Economy and Refornt (Mot- which he has professeT° Who professes any other? I . ii he Ist —Can any thing be more rational than the English I Constitution ?—and who wants any thing store?— . sloop Mr. henr y Thornton may slily insinuate, but he i ' . will not dare to assert, that I do. I would fain ask t i • 1 , -br an ig d this alt-sullicient Gentleman, what reason, what ins terest, l vith a what motive, he can assign for my being less . ' I rational, or less co t rect, in my views and objects . • i , than himself? We may indeed, and probably do : mber ) diff ter widely in our estimation of what is, or is not • , , rational. Mr. Henry Thornton, or his brother, is, • 1 lifl am rightly informed, a Bank Director. Ile mat' tYheel l think it rational Mat the country should he inundated 7 t• tau of i by paper money, coined at the w ill of the Minister, a i.(• r, free I substitute for theancient coin of the land ;he may thank to at Lon- e th x e I it rational that a Company of Hankers should pocket , f annuallyimmense gains by paying no interest on their ;1 ' ? • own issues, and charging it on those of The public ; form- be may think it rational to have the corrupt will of a 'lance,' jas — stO Of Koyottghmonjati, grinding the faces of the sptaiu poor, * substitute for the paternal aff•ction of a • .. went- r .i . , benevolent King; hemay think it rational that Col. 1 I t II ; !', . lectors of Taxes should also be a Collector of Votes; f the ih e may think it rational that corrupt ministerial been i power should force into the House of Commons it! i 1 I °° l * tools sod instruments (which he may call "an info. k sion of monarchical or aristocratical principle"—See 1 E Ht - I Times, October 28) as substitutes for the Represen- ;• d !Inlet, I . tatives of the People ! Mr. Henry Thcrtitett also ll' 'r au- , discourses largely about our'" mixed and balanced . Constitution." I suppose he means as composed of 1 Kin, Lords, and Commons ; but of this I am by ' t i . ►k a nt i sib means sure, as he tells us "of an Aristocracy of . • . pri th ce a s 1 wealth, and an Aristocracy of talents," &c. &c.— I .' Os. per : (he might as well have said an Aristocracy of folly, Oats and gra i n, 1 then we might have guessed to what Aristocracy . ' he naturally belonvd): with a deal of skimble, • 1 ._ .., ; '‘p 105 Ito i Owdfnuie stye, perfectly unintelligible to a plain um. to g , 10 5° s ; derstandiug, whether Mr. Henry Thornton ranks t Ft 58 ! himself in the Aristocracy of talents, ar the Aristos . , . Oa 00 ' cracy of wealth, or any other Aristocracy he may ,'' . • 50 55 _, . 1 4 ,.. 6o avant abet:, I !:sow not : but as I tun swat:quaint. 1; , 51 58 l ed with any of these Aristocracies, I hope I shall • .1, 1 I ° s 1 1 1 9 4 not- offeed him by considering him with myse:f, one 111 aso 2.2 , i ,x,e! of w hat he terms the larger orders of the People.— • If Mr. , Iltwry . Thorn ton ,,d oes, by - " our mixed and I ai an • nos.notton, , however, man ou ^ 1 0 ... Government of King, *Lords, and Commons, I beg . . 14.750 9740 of him to eizoo , ider how this balance is observed, if . , 164 i the Kist; a,ti Lords, by 'force, faaud, or corrop. ISO Lion, arrogate exclusively to themselves the whole management, benefit, and income, throning all the danger; burden, and losses, upon the• deluded and excluded people, and then stigmatise as traitors, or, • • • .1 4t. : ' t . . .. . _.."., • .. . • • NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. DEAL, Nor. B.—Sailed yesterday, the narossn and Baring East Indiamen, for the River; also to day, his Majesty's ship Corddia, with a convoy, for Portsmouth. Arrived the Royalist sloop of war, from a cruise. POaTSMOUTR, Nov. B.—gaited his Majesty's ships Niemen, Columbine, and Zephyr, with a convoy, for Lisbon; Warspite, for otf Brest; Diomede, for Cork ; Magicienne and 2 ',feud, on a cruize. Arrived his Majesty's ship Rolla,from the Downs ; and Parthfan, from a cruise. His Majesty's ship Thred, is aprlnted convoy ; jot the Coast of Africa; Pickle, for Guernsey. Ties Clio, White, kir London, from Curacna, in coming in yesterday, got a-ground on Normand Sind ; at high water they shored her, but at low water every :thing-gave way, and she fill over and bil,rd, and I filled with water. The cargo and miterials will be j got out, but the vessel will be entirely lost. PLYMOUTH, Nov. 7.—Arrived the Prits•ihn ship Brothers, from Bourdeaos, in ei iil ,Ltys, brings no news detained by his Majesty's ship Grozckr. A French privateer was seen the whole of yester day from Maker Tower, and captured a brig and a sloop, supposed to be London traders. Sailed the Nimrod cutter, for Basque Roads ; and the Pantome gun brig, on a cruise. Suctantss, Nov. B.—Extra convoy is applied for, to proceed with somo tranworts to the Baltic; and, if any merchant vessels are here by Wednes day, bound to Gottenhurgh, they ill be able to obtain the protection of this convoy. FALMOUTH, NOV. 6.--Arrived the Lady Ernila, a new packet, from Dartmouth. The Duke of Kent packet arrived yesterday with Mails from Lisbon, nine days passage; left them his Majesty's ship In:pettier, 71, and Pique frigat The accounts from the army arc not of great ins; ante. It is now snl,l that Souk is not advancing Madrid, but entered the province of Murcia, that Lord Wellington, having left General Paget a sufficient force before Burgos, had, with the mainder of the army, advanced to the south of drid, and was approaching the French army. Bur, still held out. Sailed yesterday the Scylla and 5,-afforcer sl of war, with transports for Lisbon ; and the Revenue cutter, on a cruise. The Fliindsor Castle packet, for Gibraltar Malta ; Express packet, for Cadiz ; and the packet, for the Brazils, are gone into•the Rola Seven or eight sail of merchantmen are wai here, bound to Malta, until the convoy from 1 1 ( mouth comes round. AI:WIC Nov. S.—Arrived the Auckland pat Bridge, with a Mail and passcitgors from Got burgh; a convoy sailed from Gottenburgh on tht inst. for England, about 100 sail. YARMOUTH, Nov. S.—Arrived the Drake of war, from off the 'reset ; Brevdagerers gun-, from Heligoland ; Sarprdon, from the Nore, sailed for Leith ; Starling, prom the Nore, wi convoy for the Baltic, and remain wind-hound. Sailed the Betsy , r sloop of war, for the Hum to take convoy from thence for the Baltic. There is now at Plymouth a native of Owh . who came over to see the country, son of a mt rank there. He came over in the Isaac Tad, ship, from Nootka Sound . , with poultry, for eon. He much amused the Plymouth audience Theatre on Barnes's night, last Monday, by th 4 precsive astonishment he evinced while the pert . < ance was going on. He has the exert countenai and bushy hair, descrihed'in the plates in Car !Cook's last voyage. It has been said, that the Proprietors of Cox jarden Theatre, from the commencement of wason to the appearance of Mr. BETTY, had losers, on the average, to the amount of nearly 1 per night. It is said to be the intention of the PRINCE GENT not to create any person., in future, a Bare , who is not possessed of an estate of 20001. per num. CORN CXCITAND'2, Nov. 9. We had a large supply of Wheat this morning. the sale which article nits very heuvy at (Is. per quarter cheaper last week. flaring considerable arrival, of Ilarl-y, our have deelindd Is. ph quarter. Rite i. 81. and Beans 10i. quarter dearer. White Peas are ss. per quarter ciseaper. are 5, per quarter lower, having large supplies of that la other articles no alteration. Wheat (English) ....11h 141 Ditto (N'oreiga) lilt Int) Rye Barlev New dittn.... ..OD GO Malt... . 114 White Pens Ditto tbotiefty l9O 135 ' New ditto .... 00410 Pras 74 78 New ditto OO 00 SU rill El RLD N. To sink hi Oat r l .l i%. 04. la 6: 01. Brut: PR 10(,1 Tick do. Fine ditto ..... ..... 00 Poland do Foci! ditto 46 Pomo* do. -Fine Flour ..... He Moronic —. . . 110 Rape Seed '.,... SO Aft KRT.—Nal'. 9. k per sitmo ul hitt. Flen,l Catt:e this sta &I. 11i4441. - Yell' .•. 64. 6d. to 7S. 6i. 1 Sltrep. ...4. d Purk . 01 to 74. Id. ; Otiver . .• 1.8444 •.. 04. od. to Os. od. 1 Pig+ 11A flaw eliter 01. 0, 4441. lit 71 10- M . NW, • 1 Y