The Sun. — London, England, 1807-11-21 00:00:00

~ f . . IMPROMPTU, 04 Tilt LITE OF THE LATICHRISTOPIIER ANSTEV, ESQ. WRITTEN BY HIS ,SON. Ar irEy, with all the zeal of filial fire, Records the merits of his tuneful. Sire, And his own sportive eftbrts . wol aec.lare, In genius, as in blood, he's rightful Heir. THEATRICAL PROPERTY. [The following article we insert in compliance . , With a particular desire. It is supposed to have an immediate reference to a , plan, which has been an ' nouncedin fashionable circles, and which hai been . in some degree promoted ly the present state OA he Opera-House.: It is, however, not improbable that the object of thefollowing 'Paper is intended to have a more extensive operation.) We understand, from undoubted authority, that the Proprietors of the Winter Theatres have _come to a resolution to put an immediate stop to ,the en croachmenti daily made on their property, under the supposed authority of the LORD CHAMBERLAIN : their Counsel are decidedly of opinion, that hirnA JESTY having graciously- made his elee - tion:,by 'Pa tent Appointment, as to -what Theatres . should exist in Westminster, the LORD CHAMBERLAIN cannot infringe on those Patents, or legally. licence . . any other place for theatrical representation, with out the consent of the Patented Theatres ; and cer tain it is, that from the day the first Royal Patent was granted, to Old Drury, through the whole of Mr. GARRICK'S time, and ever, since; until the Chamher .: iainship of Lord SALISBURY, the uniform . praOlice • pt the Chamberlain's Office was, to refuse even to Hiten to an application for a single night, though 'or a charity benefit, unless the 'party 'applying brought with them the previous consent iii writing ' f the Proprietors of the established Theatres. But beside the question of legal 'right, the Proprietors also refer to their title, in equity, that the LORD CHAMBERLAIN, even if the right were with,liim, is bound by positive covenant not to grant : any n new licence for any dramatic exhibition • - there having been -- executed a regular deed,- styled " The final --irrangement;" the result of ; a long ' discussion . any{ ' arbitration, recognizing ' and guaranteeing the exclusive rights of the three established Theatres, which deed received the express sanction of hii Metazsry, and was signed under his Royal pleasure by his Chamberlain, the Marquis SA LIS : Poily. It was also honottred'by the concurrence of his Royal Highness the PaticeetWklis,Who signed _ it himself, as did also his -Grace the late Duke of • J3Enrot t n . On the faith this settlement sd gua !anteet4 the Proprietors of Covent Garden' Theatre teceivecl fifteen thousand pounds from the . Proprie ors ofDrury-lane Theatre, for their dormant patypt the Kit!g's Theatre contributed ' thirty thoegin'd &Ands oetrecovering it,s licence, to the losses of the Pantheon Opera undertaking ; - -and finally this, deed ()rated the whole foundation fio the rebtulding of rnry-l ane Th eatre , i n w hi c h un d ert akin g Q a pro- perty of not less than three hundred thousand pounds have been embarked, and all -in the eonfi- - idence and en the faith of this arrangement, secured tindel%such authority. :-- should the difficulties of the present Opera House root be evercunie, instead of locking to a new iCherne or projett, contrary to-all-faith a nd j us tic e , ~ .. V.te. understand that resort will be had to the d or , striant patent, with the consent and for the benefit of both the Winter Theatres,- which Patent is 'at pre . • ientonly withheld from being operative through respect to the established Opera House, and the terms of the agreeMent before referred to.. The first' step, we haveleason to believe, which will be taken -for the 'assertion of the claims of the iestablished 'Theatres, will be by an humble Pea , *cod to his MAJESTY, who hal ever been a most . • gracious and firm proteEtor of their jus t -,rigltfs•-':. ' Such a Petiti on , s i gned by all th e numerous an d re . ipeaable itidiViduals, • whose propertyis'involVe'et; illo! establiShed Theatres, on the pledie Of a set:- lienient which never could be expected to he ques tioned, will nb doubt dieet as it merits • the Royal. attention. . PRoV : INCiAL THRATRE.-TOR'play-bill, publis h e d ty a CoUntry Manager, in the vicinity of the atetro. ! 1)911s, announcing the performance 61 the play of Oeurge Barnwell, and the romance' of Blue Beard; i .was lately.added the following novel arid Very attraO. 'titt iilVitAtion : , Let none be afraid from the country to came; AD the .• loon is eng,igsd for to ilea them all hoirtof =i' .11M - should she &rut/ that honou r decline,, i , , , The ,Voir,r hi:ve agreed with more I itstre to shine. mor,s open at s i x , b eg i n about seven, • At liOttie bafe in bed betwLvrt ten antl:t;leven. . ',• • , Ther6 is as eager a r i va l ry aniong thellealers in Music to purchase Stitupn's admirable compositions for the new Opera of Two fat* undo. a 'Rood, as if they were all competitors for 'a 'Place at Court: . ' The new Entertainment Of Ella Ilbsentcre WnS ' ' speared last night at Drury-lane Theatre with in- 1 : creased effea. It will certainly be very popular and attraetive, as it is interesting in itself; and is adini- • tably performed. ' ; ' , : • 1 A Sailor at ont'of onr sea-ports being present at , . the representation of•Hamlet,' was rather disgusted 1 with the violent rantings Of the principal charaEter. 1 , • On being informed that he ,was ihe Prince of Den- .!'tack, honest JACK Calmly 'Obiet'ved, .`i Why, then, "'how, that sufficiently accounts for it ; but, let,him norm as lie will, he shall no have his ships 'buck front u s ," ~ The Parisian Dentist who . has gained,a 'fortune by • Hibbing the dead of their teak after the, battle ;; of : , 4 no, may be.deetned a true' Soil of the Frencli.l4.., 7A volution. There can be little doubt that this ferl;o , :‘', previous to that dreadful havoc' of the human race, hacU considtred the result' merely *id) an eye to bu 7 , sines , and had made due arrangements for hiS sa., , vage speculations. • The Duke of ATltot. it now , building, in the Isle of Man, 'a most su p er b a n d Coatly edifice. This A ltthle• strueltire, built entir e ly ,of stone , w ill, w h en finished, be one of the finest fabricsThr‘the simplicl:' tY of its, architedttue ever seen; its order is Tuscaii. ~ Ey the promdtion of. the Bishop of CARLISLi t0,.."1e ,.."le See of YORK, a Cannonry of Christchurch, OX- • Lord .? becomes vacant ; and by that of . . Dr. Zobett ,, 1... W C arlisle, a Prebend of DURHAM. '- • The. large field northward of the Foundling 'I-1--'' Phil) * be lottging to the Skinners' Compatt . k nown by the nam e of Skinners' Field; ii 'let upon . Y'• - and' - ill . iklin g leases; and will be covcred'with tieW edificeS k quickly as possible,„ • .ofiglL:l !MUSE. IN CllkNcEk, Nov. 49. WATERS V. TAYLOR. This day Sir 5..110241LLY spoke in behalf -of the, Defendant. He began by expressing. his regret that. the Theatres, which were intended as sources of pleasure and amusement, should be converted into Theatres of contest and litigation. His Lordshrp, both 'from the present application, and from. others on a foi•rner occasion, seemed to be looked up to by, those .who were conneEted with them . as. a lint of Manager-,General, to. be resorted to on every oc casion; and though he had often 'professed a total ignorance of . suvli matters, yet the Plaintiff seemed. to think that be might call in to his assistance some experienced veteran of the Stage, ,in the same way as, in cases conneeted with the shipping interest, the Elder Brethren of Trinity House were .often con sulted by the Judges. lt appeared to him that Many of the charges brought'against the Defendant, and 'upon which the-Court would be called upon to de cide, were they to assumethe management of the Theatre, were frivolous in the extreme: Of this fri volous sort were the charges of profusion, because Alr. Taylor had employed eight carpenters rather than five, ,and three watchmen rather than two; and last, though not least, of his still.continuaty to eth-_ ploy a poor dresi-niaker who had'beert dete&ed in stealing candle ends. Of this last charge Mr. Taylor had never heard a syllable till be found it gravely stated in the Bill before the Court. Of all these charges this one thing was obvious, that they were unimportant and frivolous,' perfettly unfit for. the decision of this Court. 'Another point also insisted on was, that he had admitted fewer free tickets than usual ; but by this very means, and by discharging useless retainers, he had Materially increased the profits of the Theatre;. and the prOduce of thelast season had been unusually great. One of the grave subjects of complaint against Mr. Taylor also was,. that he had borrowed money of some of the interior atiors. • So high an idea seemed to be entertaineJ of the dignity of a Manager, that this trifling circum— stance was supposed to degrade. him, and render him unworthy of such a high and dignified office. Another objection was, his ignorance foreigU languages, and consequent inability to communicate with the 'players, who were mostly foreigners. But how could this Court judge how fiir and in What degree such knowledge was necessary ? Mr. Taylat had been twenty years Manager of the Theatte,' ands his knowledge of these languages in all that time might be supposed rather to increase than 'to decrease, it was strange that such an objeCtion should now, for the first time, be advanced. To shew how peevish all these Charges were it was only !- necessary to refer to the late prosperity of the ; Theatre. It had never prospered so much as during that' very period when the Defendant's non-attend ance was described 'as menacing it with total ruin. At the period when the Opera House Was burned down, it was saddled with an incumbrance of 70,0001. In addition to this, its re-building cost 98,0001. with other incumbrances to the amount of 20;0001 more. During the management of Mr. Taylor, with the short interregnum of Mr. Gould, . all , these debts had been reduced to 23,0001. Which constitute the whole of the demands that could be, made on the Theatre ;, and • from the untmampled prosperity' of last Season, this sum. was likely to be still farthet reduced ; and yet," in spite of these fads, it was said, that if the Defendant was continued in the management, the Theatre would be ruined.— Nothing could be more peevish or ill-founded than these allegations. 'lt was observable that none of the Trustees, Messrs. COnst, Lowten, and Palmet, had joined in the charges; they seemed perfectly satisfied with the management. 'Upon the whole,* he submitted to his Lordship, that. the Theatre had sustained no injury from the acknowledged absence of Mr. Taylor, who ; while he exercised a general suPetintendance, employed a .Deputy Manager, ac- ! cording to the usual practice. He would submit also, whether most of the charges were not frivolous in themselves; and totally unfit for the decisiota of the Court ? Mr. LEACH followed on the samerside. He con tended, that the whole. affair was a mere personal struggleon the part of the Plaintiff for the manage'. ment of the Theatre, 'in which the Trustees, who' were certainly interested in its prosperity, took no concern. On the death of Mr. Geoid, the Plaintiff aspired to the high office of Manager. His threats of arrest all, tended to that point, and when he found that he could not expel Mr. Taylor, by preventing his regular attendance, he now complains a that very'irregularity which he himself had caused :-;-- hinc ill ',adapt:cc. The Plaintiff himself had as sumed the powers of Manager, and bad engaged performers to the yearly amount of 7o001: Finding, however, he could not oust Mr. Taylor, he Made a proposal, that it 1 u would add the performers whom he had engaged to those Who Mr. Taylor had en gaged for 13,0001. in short, make the whole expence 20,001, then the matter should be acedrrimedated but otherwise he was determined to bring it into the Cour& of Chancery, and stigmatise the Detetidant as a profuse Manager. This was the language of a man who proposed to add 70001. to the burthent, of the Theatre. Air. WET itattAti. for the Defendant, took up the same argument, and contended that the Plaintiff bad prevented M. Taylor from coming to the Th6atre,merely that he might, have .his absence to ~ urge, as a plea tort is diSinissal, and then he himself :hoped to till the vacant tlirone. Having disrtiount ed•Mr. Taylor, he . expeiEted to vault into his saddle. It Was Said to be necessary that the Manager should attend the rehearsals of the various exhibitions,to be brought forward in the Theatre. Wa4 it necessary fur hint to make the singers, female is Well as male, repeat their songs and their airs till they 'were'per-„ ; feet in their. parts ? This, he was afrdid, would pore a difficult task indeed.'. It was the observation ot puet who knew the world well=» ' • Omnibus hoc vitium est cantoribus, intaraniicbs, tit nuiludio indllCAnt 4111111u411 cantate , • 11).410M, tafilqUalll 110 i Stich was the indisposition of singers to display their powers when requested, in the Augustan age ; and • he suspetied it was much the sense in the Georgian: , It WaS, also the subject of complaint, that the .De fondant- had , permitted .114adame Catalani to sing at private concerts, and by that means cheapened tho , e powers of song which ought to have been confined within the walls of the'Orera Houie. But was it • , not much letter policy to suppose, that those Who liad heard her once, would wish to hear her again ? and, besides, his refusal might have produced a rising I of that fashionable corps of Ladies wlio Wire the Support off' the Theatre; . a 'rising which all the laws ii , 4ainit sedition might riot have beenable to quell.-- ?41r. WE'rtiE RA LL was' proceediifg in this style, and diicomposin the gravity of the Court; when the LORI) . CLIANCELLott observed, that it was difficult:to "say how,far causes of this nature' were compatible with the grsvityrof COOrt of Justice:. He rernem . bered, that when he was Chief Justice of the Com mon Pleas, a cause-came befOre hith from one of the minor places of amusement, and, among other chri, ens things, he'found a regulation imposing a fine upbn the performers proportioned' to the degrees of intoxication in which they sometimes appeared. Mr. WI3I4IERkLi proceeded in the same straih of irony, observing on the charge of profusion in restoring cer tain embellishments of the Theatre ; in particular„ there was a painting of Thetis rising out of the sea, surrounded with the - aquatic deities, which his Learned Friend (Mr. Fonblanque) might perhaps have seen and admired, when,. in his younger years, he .relaxed himself at this place of amusement. These deities, all begrimed - with dust and age, had been merely touched up and 'white-washed, and thiswas. enumerated as an instance of profusion. • Mr. AGAR then said; that he appeared for a Mi. Wither, an iticumbrancer, and was proceeding with his brief, when he was' interrupted- by • • Mr. FONBLANaUE, who contended that it had no thing to do with this suit. The. LORD CHANCELLOR' said, he remembered many such extraneous applications in the Drury-lanb business, to which he ' had listehed, but ha ivould never do it again. 1 Mr. FON 81. A NOME was then heard for the Plaintiff in reply. He admitted that were the Court to take the affairs of the Opera , House into their manage ment, they would meet with considerabledifficulties. But when he recolleaed the anxiety and attention with which his LOrdship had investigated the. affairs of another Theatre, and the good effeas that had resulted from it, he was anxious that this business Should be • submitted to the same super.intendance. •If his Lordship thought, that by the deed of 1803, the parties were bound to submit their disputea to arbitration, it would lie, perhaps, unnecessary for him to proceed any further. BUt still- he must ob serve, that this ought to have been made a previous question, and submitted to the 'decision- of the Court. The Defendant,however, had admitted the superin tendance of this'Court, and replied to the present ap plication; he felt it therefore incumbent on him to state the case as strongly for his client as he was able.. The doarine of arbitration might be carried too far ; for it might be said, that even in - cases of the most iihameful mismanagement, the Court could not in terpose., ,He should therefore take it for granted that, his Lordship could interpose in-the-present case. The 'point on,which the whole Matter turned , was, that the Manager bad a duty to perform, which. Mr. Taylor, from whatever emus, was ineapableof per forming. His' Learned Friends seemed to define 'a Manager to be a sort of person whO had' no duty to perform. This reminded him of the derivation of Areas a non lucendo ;. but ' his Lordship would think very differently, and being now in possession of the .• attendietjs, whale case, would grappl e with• a ll -th e diffi cult ies , ape tinaity overcome th em. -. The LOAD CHANCHII,LOR t h en proceed e d to,deli ver his s opinion.. It was the duty of every Judge, he said, to meet the difficulties which attended every cause that-came before him, and the difficulties of the present case could form no reason for his declin ing the consideration of it. It never fell to the lot , of any Judge perhaps to struggle with greater diffi culties than it had done in the Drury-lane concern,. arid therefore it could not be supposed that he would decline the present cause on account. of the diffieulties which might surround it. Even in part nership_coucerns; he : would put it to the Court: whether he did not in genentl recommend it to the parties to settle the matter themselves, well knows • .ing'that apAcations to this Court to settle partner .shiplisputes were at best but ruinous. If that were so, hefound it particularlynecessary in this cause to enquire-how far the parties had provided another mode of reference, and what were their ideas with regard to resorting to a Court of Equity. In this view the. deed of tBu3, to which Mess's. Goold and Taylor were the, parties, and by which Mr. Wa ters, as Executor to Mr. Geoid, must be considered as bound, that deed was of .great importance. in that deed the powers of the Manager were described as very extensive, and were indeed undefined ; hence would arise the greatest difficulty to this Court in ascertaining those duties, and in declaring whether or net they were fulfilled. At the death of Mr. Gould those powers devolved on Mr. Taylor as fully as they were ever enjoyed by his predecessor ; be sides it seemed against the spirit of the deed that a Court of. .Equity should be resorted to at all. The parties who had. it drawn up, seem to have been .ahxious to avoid this. They had appointed a tbruin of their - oWn ; and expressly stated, that all disputes_ touching the duty of a Manager should be settled by arbitrators, who Were mutually appointed, and whose decision was to be final and binding on, both without any suit Whatever. Perhaps it was not a good covenant Which hounli theM 'ndt, to go to ' law ; yet still the Court would be juStitied iaa pans- ' ing before they took the dispute flora, that forum ; which the parties themselves had appoieted, and. which was perhaps best Calculated to settle such disS putes. It Was probably the' most wholesome' doe,' twine to say, Jet the parties refer this matter to arbi4 ti..itors,' and npt to this Coutt. -The subjea in dis pute was the dutzt of a mateiger, and in the deed this very subjed was' ordered to be referred to athi ttsitnrs. Were the Court to interfere at present, it emeld , be like giving judicial Mier against an express comma. In common, partnership concerns there w:is.no such contrail, and then :the Court did fre- • queerly interpose on the application of a pakty.--- FloWeier he felt nis•diffieulty in saying, that the ac-' tire' an E personal exertious of the Manager Were required by the deed, ac i d. "necessary to its fulfil mein. I,' what'degree personal attendance was tie ceisary might be doubtful.. .Upon the whole, he Wished the partici to pause a week at least, and try soine means of acatiminOdation by arbitration. If they again demaniied the interposition of the Court, he Waii afraid that *lett animerposision 'could nut take plce Without' doing infinite mischief to ail concerned. The deciiion of theva.e of linuenin v. Bazoley, was poopotied. WHITE' V. THR RAIL GP CARHASTPTOY. Sir Slty Boltrr.t.v moved For an Injunction. to restrain t .. the Defendant from proceeding., at laW against .the,Plaintitt, in, an aetio9 at law instituted by him, groundeh upon a• bond for 20,0001. being part of the, purchase 7 money of Luttrell's Town, in the. County of_ Dublin, which had been purchased, by Mr. White; the Plaintiff, in 1861, fothe suns of 80,0001. The sum of 20,Q001. of the purchase ;7 Money having' been lett in Mr. White's hands upon his bond, for the securing him against all ?ncum brances affeaing the estate, as provisions tbr the yotinger children of Simon late Lord Irnharti e the - Defendant's father, of whom the Duchess of Cutnberland was one. The Noble Earl bad in London held Mr. White - to bail, for the sum of 95001i4in the promise of thii bond; and the Plain-' tiff, Mi. White, put in a plea to the declaration, and Lord Carhampton 'filed a demurrer to the plea,' - which demurrer was allowed in the CoUrt of Kinds Bench. .The Learned Counsel ~observed, that the - Noble Lord had put in an answer upon his honour to the present Bill in this Court ; he dtd 'not deny the Plaintiff ' s charges, but contended , or subMitted, that the Plaintiff was the person bound to get that incumbrmces upon the estate in question at the time Of Sale removed, and that the 'fortune of the Duchess Of 'Cumberland, being 40001. was paid to her on bet first marriage, and that the other incumbrances did not affed the 'estate in question.° Rut it appeared that an annuity . of Ani. a year remained as tin inx cumbrance on this estate, and that; with other charges, the sum of 95001. remaining in Mr.. White'ts hands; was not too much -tor his security of the pur chase. _ Mr. HRELD addressed his Lordship' on the sa.i e side, and• nearly to the slime etfea. -. Mr. RICHARDS was proceeding for the Defendant, against the injunBion, when his Lordship deir,4 him to resume his argument on a future day.—Mo , ;ion adjourned. DUBLIN, sov: 15. . . Several men are now employed for the purpose et erecting a complete harbour at the fast side of the Hill of Howth, 'which, when finished, will fltford' safe harbour fin' the Holyhead Packets, as well as for other Vessels, as ,occasion may require, and to and from which the Holyhead Mails will be landed and dispatched, which will he attended with a , con= siderable degree_ of conreniente to the Public, in general, as the, Mail from Dublin can be dispatched at one given liOur throughout the year, independent of the time of hid] water; the voyage will be shor tened ten miles' t 6. the pawner, and the danger and impediment of crossing Dublin Bar and the North Bull be wholly avoided; the expence of thi4 public Undertaking is defrayed by the Imperial Par; , liament, by a vote ; of which 12001. have been al• ready granted for that purpose. • TIIE GERMAN LEGION.—This Corps is to be dig poied of as follow's :--The Ist; 2d, 3d, 4th, 6th, and 80i - battalions of the line,. have commenced disem= barking at liortsmouth. The four first go fo their old quarters at Bekhill, the fit i to castings, and the Bth to Battle. ''The sth and 7th' battalions of the line; and the light brigade, comprising the lst and vd light battalions are 'to sail . immediately for Irel4nd. Four battalions' of the line; Via. 3d, 4th, 6th, and Sib, - fife, it is said, , to go on foreign service imme diately. The Statf-ship of the 2d . battalion of oie line, the Salisbury, foundered off, the Knock, be t Ween the Tha mes an d Yarmouth, on Tuesday setti night: Lieutenant-Colonel LozEKB, Capt. RITTEII; and seven other Officers, and 188 privates, most unfortunately perished. Three of the five battaliOns, which contained the sth battalion of the line, are still at,Oottpubargh. A singular circumstance occurred on board the Worsbeck, Wm. •ALLRN, Master, lately arrived at Exmouth from Sunderland : 7 —When they had laden about htdf of their cargo of Coals at Sunderland, the 'Master brought a favourite cat of his on'board, front the shore : the animal not being used to a vessel, was frightened, and ran away, they did . ' riot, know whither. When they arrived at Exmouth, and bad unleaded about half the cargo of coals from the ves sel, to their astonishment,, they heard the cat cryi, under one of the beams of the hold, about five feet below the deck, where it hadslain, under five feet of coals, ,three weeks and. four, days, without the smallest sitstenanCe whatever. A is now ali'Ve and well. Tuesday, the toth instant, aboUt ten o'clock at night, - the Mail Coach from Plymnuth-Dock was overturned upon Dinham-bridge, about four mileti on the western side of Ashburton. The coach was proceeding with more than common veldcity, andi from the circumstance of the. horses instantly Stop ping, the driver was precipitated over the bridge, where the waters had swollen beyond their ordinary height by recent torrents. He,was much bruised by, the fall, was carried to some distance by the cur rent, and probably would have perished but for the exertions of a Gentleman, who caught hold of his great coat, and dragged him to the shore. None of the passengers were hurt. .A daring set of depredators have commenced their winter operations in. Liverpool mid the neighbour hOod, In the course of last week no fewer than two attempts at house breaking,' and two instances of shoplifting occurred in Edmund-strcet. In .both the latter the'villains were sticcessltil, but in each of the former they- were not.. On Tuesday some un knewn thief, took the opportunity of Mr. Winston leYs, sale room being open for the purptise of exhi biting the.-turhiture which was advertised for sale, to secrete and carry oti s e ver a l art i c l es o f plate. On Wednesday'.liight, between_ It and 12 o'clock, a yoon g matt. was attacked. in mid -strut, apposite Newington, by three footpads, .who, after knock ing him down, ,and wounding him severely in tho head with a blUdgeon, • robbed him of what cash he had about him. The Supplementary Lottery finished last night, and the holders of the following Prizes, sold by Bleu, may receive their Money, by applying at either of his Oftices„ 4, Gemini', and g, Charing. Cross4m-- '40 94 • - A:1,000 5.90 - - 1000 7.575 . 1, 00 3,14 - " 5-0 111 , ,513 - • • , 500 3 0 7 2 sk ." PC' Ticketi and Shares for the city Freehold Lottery, are selling in gall variety.