The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1809-09-22 00:00:00

CAUTION

Lord MANSFIELD, on the trial of the Rioters in
ewe of tie. MAC:4:LIN, stated, • British Audience had •
right to empress their approbation or disapprobation of Plays
and Acton in the sisal way, but if it could be proved that say
Person or Persons went, night after night, to the Theat►e, for
th,! purpoiw of presenting an Actor exereis,ag his P. dession,
or TO INJURE Til C MANAGERS or PICO PRI ETORS,
such Perron or PC1140416 would NOT only be subject to AN
ACTION nt LAW, but might be INDICTED FOR THE
OFFENCE.
:lad in the ewe of the Prisoners is the Kin(s Bench,
Lord MANSFIELD Mated, if the parties con,mr in doing
the act, although they were NOT PREVIOUSLY acquaint-
ed with earls other, IT IS A CONSPIRACY.,"Sappiemmat
is riser's Ahridgmeet.)
The placard.. notwithstanding this, were still
disldayed, and the riot persisted in. The perfor-
mance went on, without and• intermission of the
tumult, except in the interval between the acts,
when the belluwers took breathing time. Between
the third and fiurth acts, an orator arose in the
Boxes, and waved hi. 'mini in signal of an intention
to exhihit. After mine time, the uproar subsided
into a noise, which was comparative silence ; and
the speaker (who, we understand. is junior partner
in a barber'. coneern in the city) began ;
" LA Dila A!D GENTLEIIE7C,
is a most remarkable circumstance, that Mr. limbic
uppea, a, inattentive to She wishes and indignation of
tlie audience, that he should continue reclining upon his
sirs, while the resentment of a Brith.b theatre is loudly and
*wirers:4lly !pressing itaelf. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is
ma sett", ou,:lit by Jolts Bell &gona John Linable, arid
if you only twricvere, you may depend opus a just and equi-
table verdict.'

ortoor coachuled, the lintm resounded. and
vanstles, catcall*, horns, and rattles, bore their ter
tin:on:: talrot*, Ilia argument was of that
nire chserituinitting, kind ,vhieh is signified by
the Omar of splitting hairs. Ois the cooeltisiou
of the play, • toy of exultation broke forth, and
God Save. Nit Bing' was •ititN ooiversally, when
their voices were as hoarse us the raven's. The in-
terval between the ploy and farce Knee them time
to rscoser themselves, sad the farce elcperienced

the 1:41116f fl uences.
Immediately as the curtain dropped, a new can•
dictate for public fame started on the trout of one
of the side boxes. He eppeared like any thing
but a gentleman or an orator; it was whispered
through the house he was a billiard marker
in the Leighboinhuoil of the Italian Opera-horse.
The um;iroce, however, had too much iseo,e to
libten to him ; but they were highly amused by his

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-' - r - S -- • '.- •\

•
tO3 the Proprietors an their adverearioe is pro-
longed. Instead of hearing, fairly and discreetly,
whet the former have to urge in their own behalf—
instead of attending to the common principle of
justice, sad abseils pattern—the mingled cries of
‘. Off! if/ Mu! ao !" and " Hear him out !" de-
stroy at once every notion of equity and sense of
decoru.n. Were Mr. Kernble allowed, once for all,
to explain, definitely, fully, and fairly, the reasons
and resolutions of his eel/sewers awl self, theu the
public could determine on the validity of their plea,
and in turn express their fixed detertninetioo, either
to acquiesce, or to resist. But hued' perence always
carries its own punishment with it ; and, front the
folly of not listening to the other side, it is, that
this scene of contention is prolonged ; mid the sane,
unbiassed part of the puhlic,defraaded of the plea-
' sure to be derived from such representations as
Macbeth, The Beggar's Opera, Richard the Third,
and Lone ix a Village. If Mr. Kemble's love of
money be so great as is imputed to hits by these
silly persons, who are ambitious of rendering them-
selves courpiciaous, and consequently ridiculous, in
• public place, surely the present mode is nut that
most likely to bring hint to reason. or as accordance
with their erishes.--The house was more crowded
to-night thin it has been since Monday ; and to a
merely avaricious Manager, it must be indifferent
whether the receipts at the door are prodoeed from
a desire in the visitors to attend to the actors he
produces, or to become actors themselves, and en-
tertain him with empty speeches, and the opera of
catcalls. After Mr. Kemble's exit, the billiard-
marker again obtained a temporary and irregular
hearing. Indeed. so many candidates for popu-
lar favour now *muted Perth, that almost every box
produced its Demosthenes. The billiard-man re-
insisted on his former arguments, and, with most
violent gesticulations, accused the Managers of
falsehood and of ideoleoee. in endelivouring to awe a
British audience by means of constables, Bove.
street officers, staves, fighting watermen, water
engines, and trap-doors. Another orator gave a
succinct history of his own life. He had been in
the navy since he was thirteen years of ac ;
but now he wts married, and had a family.
He liked plays, and liked that his family should
now and then ate a thing of the kind. It was there-
fore that he was averse to the d--d rascally rise in
the prices ; avid he only trusted, that if that scheme
was brought to he 4r, His Majesty would be advised
to make an ad..,ia v on his pay, to enable him to
meet it. God .S.te., the King, in litany parts, fol-
lowed this rhetorac.al effusion ; and the front lamps
beingoinoved, the pit began to thin; still, how-
ever, numbers remained, and exercised their agility
in learning the new art of our. Au alarm of Con-
stables being given in the pit, they made a quick
inoverneet into the boxes; and, on a similar alarm
.ring given in the boxes, they as speedily resumed
their stations in the pit. Other public speakers also
appeared ; one man from the pit spoke at great
length, and, considertEg his appearance, which
V 144 that of a common workman, with great ener-
gy, and often with considerable spirit. He ad-
dressed hid observations to a Gentleman, who, be
said, had espoused the cause of the Proprietors; and
contended, that neither of the two reasons alleged
by Mr. Kemple, for the advance of price, were
sufficient. The high price of every necessary ma-
terial, was no just ground ; for, if it was, every
other Theatre might urge the same claim ;
and. indeed, with a much better face; as none of
them possessed the advantages Covent-Garden
did, or had a monopoly in their favour. He
continued to speak for nearly half an hour, in
the same stile, and denominated the high, the
mighty Mr. Kenable, a vagrant, in the strict
letter of the law. This law hail nut been
repealed, and it now appeared to be wisely re-
tained, to keep such ge utry in check ; for if co-
thing of the kind existed, he supposed the pub-
lic would in the end be obliged to send peti-
tions to their own servants to come and enter-
tain them. In the middle of his speech, a rival
started near the stage, and being literally pitted
against him, divided the wordy honours of the eight.
The gentleman accused of advocating the Case! of
the Proprietors, was suddenly precipitated from the
boxes into the pit, and was considerably hurt ; and
sundry other rows caucludcd the cutertainceents of
this evening. A stave of " God s cc the king;'
was the signal for departure, and the crowd slowly
disappeared by It

BULLOCK v. Buo rititt.—Ou Wednesday last, at
North Shields, a bullock broke louse from some
butchers, and ran through the street in a furious
meow", but his progress was at length stopped by
his taking down the Hole-iu-the-Wall quay. which
was scarcely wide enough to a:low hint a free pas-
sage. To the astonishment of the spectator, when
he came to the door of the Hole-in-the-Wall,
which was opened by a sudden twist of his body.
he entered the home staid walked majestiv-ally up
stairs now the kitchen, where the *revue of uproar
and confusion that ensued is iodescribable; the bul-
lock was heard bellowiii4, the women screaming,
and the furniture breakiug in pieces; in the midst
of which confusion, the fluor yielded to the ponder-,
ous weight of the animal, who, however, disengaged
himself by a desper.tte plunge, and, breirki:lg dean
a partitios, entered the grand chamber of the Lady
Abbeys, where he oleo laid Mine valuable furniture
guider his feet, and then thrust his head through Hie
window, whence he loudly bellowed defiant.- tn his
pursuers. He wax at last secured, and is, nerli. :Is.
the tint made visitor that ever got out of that ...tea
without having his pockets lighteowl.

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