The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-01-08 00:00:00

THEATRES.

OTIVRY-T.ARE.

compared with the outcry which we witnessed
on Weilvestlay evening, peace may he said to have
last night leigned in this theatre. The Pantomime
coup:muted entire attention. during its Oliellltlg
hernes—M is* 'Tillie wits verni I I tell to perform--
without ioteuniptitiii. a pretty vole on the flageolet,
which slur executedwiill tun touch taste ?old ipirit
not to 111•111.• all estrare-.-411.1, indeed. smell thing
alga oft in pert...et ousel, except where applause
intervened, riitil lIAItTLAND ilia-a hit Turki,li
dies,, snot appesred us Clown. Some disappro-
bation ensued. sod, indeed, f.illowed his exertions
during the evening—boot, plated in competition
with what lie endured on the preceding night, it
was a pull' of wind from a pair of hellnytei com-
pared with a hurricane. The malcontents were, in
numbers, most inaigoilieant—and, like the pill-
boxes in the shop of the starved Apothecary,

.6 Were thinly seatteed to mike ups sliest."
Their cries in favour of " Bradbatry" were
feeble-s-end would, in all probability, have wholly
ceased, had not some indiscreet, and, in truth. we
must add, not very respectable-looking friends of •
the establishment, hoisted two pllcavds, inscribed,
" Hartland for ever!" in the upper boleti ee Ow
Knee's ind Patrice's side of the house, This
acted as a stimulus to that p.ission which was
ota the point of expiring—and to so injudicious and
ill.timed a display, the chief noire. and the only
quarrels of the evening, must be attributed. The
Pantomime met with great applause—the kirks
went off, for the most put, smoothly—and. for the first
time, we had an opportunity of hearing the music,
which has. at least, the merit of being fatefully se-
lected. When the curtail fell, shouts of Hartland
fur ever !" issued from all parts of the house—and
the new Clown, who possesses much strength and
activity, but is not remarkable for invention,
herring his name so vociferously repeated, stood,
forward, as other great actors are wont to du,
and made his bcw of gratitude to the audience. A
slight skirmish of tongues then ensued between the
supporters or the rival Veva. It lasttd butt •
few minutes—and the house was cleared at half-
put eleven o'clock. three cheers having been pre-
viously given for The trinnsphant Hero of the
('op God Bells I"

COYEYT•GARDRN.

It reflects great credit on the taste, spirit, and
liberality of the Manager of this house, that the
delightful dramas of our immortal Bard can he pro-
duced there in the style of excellence they are.
Wednesday night we were gratified with the repre-
sentation of 'twelfth lVizla, awl last night with
that of The Winter's Tait:, both ill a very superior
manner, and we imagine the public would rejoice
to see ibis carried to a further extent—and with the
bust of talent the company now commands, there
is no question but it might. The Winter's Tale is
one of those plays in which SMAESPRARE gave the
rein to his mighty genius, uricontined by those rules
of art of which he was probably not ignorant, but by
which he disdained to be kept under control ; rules
derived from the works of poets not superior a'
least to himself, and which, had lie and Soetioctes or
EURIPIDES changed places, ill order of time, would
in all likelihood never have had existence. It cannot
properly be denominated either* t raged t' or a comedy,
its prevailing cast is that of sadness—but many light
and pleasant, nay, highly humorous scenes, are into--
opened, and the conclusion is fortunate—resembling
the " many-coloured" web of our being, w here bright
and gloomy hues alternately succeed, and frequent-
ly interniiiigle. The transition from the forms and
ceremonies of a court to the plain simplicity and
pastoral innocence of rural life, is one which every
mind loves--ftSkIAIESPEttte himself seems to have
luxuriated in the change, for he has drawn the scarce
with great felicity, and breathed some of his sweetest
" native wood notes wild" in the person of Per-
ditto. Miss SOMERVILLE appeared for the first time
in the character of liermione. We have seen
tragic queens tread the stage with mare graceful
dignity and a more courtly air, but we have not
seers ally actor or actress enter more entirely into
the state of mind and feelings of the character as-
signed to her. The boldness of conscious
iuno-
cruc•e—the resentment of calumniated honour—
the sorrow for conjugal confidence and affection
lost and despaired of, seemed to have possessed her
breast and inspired her language. The first answer
to the accusation of Leontes, was amazingly power-
ful and energetic. The speeches in the trial scene
were also .delivered with great force and pathos,
In the concluding one, where Ilermione eount«,r-
feits the statue of herself, Miss SOMERVILLE'S 1105-
, tore was so well chosen, and her gradual approaches
to motion, to life, to words, so artfully managed
(while the husband's amazement was so well ex-
pressed by Mr. You NG) as to produce a something
like actual suspense in the audience. The occa-
sional strains of music in this scene were so tender,
so soothing, so unearthly, and the whole of the
acting so exquisite, that we cannot conceive it possi-
ble any thing could more deeply chain the atten-
tion and hearts of the spectators—a rapid thunder
of applause followed it. Mr. YOUNG embodied
the conception of Leontes admirably, inimitably.
In the first scene the workings of nature herself
could hardly have assumed is stronger colour of
reality than he threw over her ideal ones. The
passages in which he recounts to Camillo the con-
firmations strong of his hitter fancies, were charac-
terised by • rapidity, a ,veheinence, an ardour and
energy, seldom equalled. Bin it is in vain to at-
tempt to be particular—s : ti hole of the cha-
racter was acted with lidekty. vigour, trod drip
feeling. Miss BEAUMONT Perditta. Her
acting ill the rustic feast was very appropriate,
pretty, and pleasing, and she sang the simply beau-
tired song introduced there with exceeding taste
and sweetness. Mr. FAWCETT'S A/110/yCNS WHO IS
most excellent performance. He pass.d through the
degrees of a thief, a peillsr, and a courtier,
with perfect approbation of the distinct requi.
sites. Mr..BLANCIIA RD personated the Shepherd
with great goad sense and corwtness—and when
we say that Mr. 4...ts•rox rag the Clown, it is
almost unnecessary to add that he Via. a most
Comical cue. Mr. CONNOR was very reipeotable
in Camillo. The pixy was deservedly received with
every mark of favour, and eiveu out for repetitiou
amid a tumult of applouse.

tAIF INTRWORATE.

'COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Ovicoacu,
Tituatamlr. JANUARY 7.

ildjourntrl .S Wings qfier .VicAarhour Terse, &fire
Mr. Jt.stece I Iot•HOYD and ape. iud ✓uries.

avatim and OTHERS. Assignees of BENSON, v.

ea ngstitt.
Mr. MARRVATT blot,* that this actin* was
brought by the assignees of Mr. Benson, for
the purpose of recovering damages for a loss
sustained by the negligence of the Defendant
in executing an order intrusted to him. The
Defendant, who resided at Gibraltar, had been
employed, in 1809, by Mr. Benson and a
Gentlefties) of the name of Byrne, who was
partner with lion in the tresisaction, to
purchase Spanish wines for their use. He had,
however, executed the order so negligently, that a
considerable loss was sustained by the individuals
by o hosnlie had been engaged. It might seem
extruordinary, that this motion should be brought
after so great n lapse of time—but th.t circum-
stance was attributable to the Defendant himself.
The subject matter of the action occurred ill linp,
bid the lielesidasit residing in Gibraltar, it was
funsid impossible to compel him to (toter all appear.
once its this Court, Thera 11041 bees& aunty fre-
virtu* trausacti ssss ss between the Defendant and
Messrs. Bemoan and Byrne—and the litter Gentle-
govt. residing at 'thin the jurisdiction saf tlie Court,
it was in the Defendant's power, by sending a letter
of attorney to this country, to sue for any demand
he had on then', tool he actually tattooist his actioa
against them for a cerium halence. At length, ins
opplicatiou to the Coast, an order was made to
stay all proceedings in that cause, lillill the Dt-
*Pendant entered an appearance, ill order to enable
the present Plainnifs to sue. shortly after that
order was istued, the Defendant creme to Englu.sil
himself, and prepasationewere made sts bring a..
soda,. Mr. Benson afterwards becalms batik-
runt, and it pis thought necessary to institute ars
action, in the name of Isis aowignecs, for the loss
sustained by his eaten.. its consequence *l* tram-
action in question. Ile• slow came ill the facto of
the caste. Messrs. Relation and Byrne vet* in the
habit of supplying Isis Mojesty's troopa with wine.
They uuderstood the trade well, moil lied sent out
large quantities of Spouts!) wine to difterent parts
of the wend, on whin4, they made a large profit.—
During the Egyptian expeditious, they sent not 600
pipes of wine, not one of which was returned ; taut
when they employed Mr. Parker, in thisitlolllllClN
the result, ill coooequeuce of his negligeut mew.
t of the order, was very different. This order it
wits optional with the Defendant to have tinder-
taken or not, as lie pleased ; for. iu a postscript
to the letter, directing the purchase of the wisies,
Mr. Benson said, " If you cannot execute the
order, as we wish, you ova '.'and it over to two
persons," nho were therein isained. De-
, fendant, in his answer, said, " he would not hand
over the order to those persona. as he could
hie correspondents as much justice as Huy
other neighbours whattoever." lie thus under-
took the order—and the less occasioned by his
negligence in fulfilling it properly. was greater,
the Learned Cuumel leered, than he could rt.o.vtr
by this octiou. Parker adtised Brisson :tad Co.
of the purchase of 260 pipes and 33 hogsheads
of Spanish red wine, in compLauce .vrtill the terms
of the order, and they were shipped for England,
on board u vessel named the Proteus, iii April,
180 g. The wine was collected in the awing of
that year. The Defendaut described the wine to
be of excellent quality—but, on exatninaliou, is
was found poor and vapid—of attach a specie*. in-
deed, as no merchant would purchase. Mr. Ben..
sou had desired the Durelidaut to reinforce the win*.
which was of the kind denominated Sall Carlos.
By reinforcing was meant, the pattinr, into the
wine, a certain quantity of brandy, to resider it tit
fur the voyage to Eugland, or to any other part of
the world. Pat ker, it seemed. rettenderl joitticu-
lady to the order for reilforeemerge. and, ill the
invoice, he charged fir each toss of wine, three
gallons of brandy. The wine, as deapribeit in the
Defendant's' letter, would have sold for 3tll. per
tun—but, when the raigo arrived in this comitiy„
it was found unfit for the purpose fur which it was
intended. and was ultimately sold for /sf. per too,
being less then one-half the sum which it would
have brought, if it had been a good marketable
article. In the mean time, bills had !teen accepted
to the full amount, and were ultimately paid by
Benson and Co. The present action was brought
to recover the difference between the price which
was paid for the wine, and that which it ultimately
produced, together with such sum, as the prctit oil
the wine would have amounted to, but for the
negligence of the Defendant in not properly exe-
cuting his order.
The commission of bankruptcy sued out egainst
Mr. Benson was proved—and the letters pass-d be-
tween him and the Defendant, on the subject of
the wine, were put in and read. In the first of
these, dated 15th of January ISOI'„ Mr. Bensou
directed the Defendant to rend him 500 wits of
good Spanish red-wine. to be reinfurred, and welt
coopered. Each cask to have six iron hoops—curl
the casks to lie new. The Defendant, in Ins an-
swer, relative to the wine shipped per the Pro.
tens, said, " The wine you rosy depend on is good
—but clean new casks are hard to be got."
Mr. Bensonstated, that Spanish wines were brought
down to Gibraltar, from the Spanish coast, in dif-
leient vessels. A proportion of brandy was put into
the trine, previous to its bring shipped for El:I:laud.
11 Fle had supplied the army to Egypt with 600 pipes
of red-aisle, not a pipe of which was returned.—
Three gallons of broody was a fair proportion in a
pipe ol 117 gallon.. The wmeecost Y. 173/. Is. 51.
There were besides charges for freight, prienage,
insurance. and interest an his money, to the amount
of 1,131/. )9'. 2.1. He maw the wines, when they
arrived. The casks were all old. The wine was rf *
I bad colour, of very indifferent quality, and smelled
I unplessently. Good Smattish red-wine was sold its the
dock in hood, for 36/. a tun, or lal. a pipe, et ilea
time. But, in consequence of the bmiouNs or tlo:ao
wines, they were mild in September fur 154 per
tun. The loss between the original cost of the
wine, told the sum for whicb a was sold, was
• 1,547/. 44.
Crwr-recnianed.--0a the 7th of April. /909, b,e