The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1809-02-25 00:00:00

Tli E BRITISH PRESS.

LON DON,
SATURDAY. Fseatuar 23.
Mr. Pommels's, leg night, made his promised
motion ou the oar in Spain. The burning of
Drury-lane Theatre, in %hush M. sHverDAN,
ili,tingitiNlieJ Member of wus drepl3
int, rested, appeared to several Meinber• as suffi-
cient eawie for adinurtiinfr, the &hide, and many
of his friends left the. flume before the division.
The Nlntority, oustwitlisteriding, amounted to one
hundred and twenty-teves. Mr. l'orrsumnv's

Speech was powerful and couviiicing. Mr. CAN.
NINO endeavoured to tvatle it, by throviing the
blame upon thr late gannet and lamented Ge.ter.d
,'ir Jolts Moults:. This *lli o ily whit we ex-
pected, but it *AM most ungraciumi. We will take
au early opportunity to make some observations
upon this subject.
It will be seen, on refereoce to our report of the
proceedings yesterday, in the house of Commons,
that the Duke of l'olte'e Letter has been objected
to, as uneoustitutional, and inconsistent with the
privileges of the Howse.
Dispatches have been received from Admiral
KEATES, orf Gottenburgh,—the Sound is open.—
Our squadron appears to be safe, except the Mag-
net sloop, which had bees lost in the ice, the crew
saved.
A letter from Lisbon, dated the 15th instant,
meutitais the arrival there of an officer who had
escaped front Madrid, who gave as necount (lithe
Prince of NEUITMATEL, (Marshal BERTMER) nod
General Mstssow, having been assassinated by two
women at Madrid.—Other accomits state, that en
insurrection of the people had taken place, and that
those two officeralell in combat.
Yesterday n Court of Directors was held at the
East India House, when the Earl Hoare, Captain
EASTFIEED, was ordered to be a-float the of
March, sail to Gravesend the shish, stay there jP
twenty days, and lie in the Dawns the 11th of
April. The following ships were taken-up, in ad-
dition .tw those engaged for the present W 4400119 via.
Sir William Po/teary, Northampton, and timion.—
The Court adjosinted at seven o clock till liVedues-
day Iwo.
Mr. Aclitin INN has authorised us to inform our
readers, that his next number of The Repository
,csj Arts earl Fathoms. to he kiniblislied on the Ist
March, will contain, in addition to many interest-
ing subjects, a Fae-Simik of a line of a Lobo
Poem, found and unrolled by Mr. A YTEIt, from
The Pampsiaa /'.pyre, and also an authentic com-
munication respecting the Merino sheep. ',hid'
has been made to him by &gentleman lately arrived
from Spain, and who has missed a great part of his
life in that kingdom. This communication em-
braces every kind of information than eau be de-
sired on this very importuut subject.
. The Mattle4ekl. --, from London, for Stir'.
nam. was deserted at sea by the crew, on the 13th
inst. basing lost her redder, mid IN•in4 very 1,1,4,
The "Jerald, —, from Madeira bur London, is
captured and carried into Dieppe.

-

DREADFUL FIRE.
pItURY-LANE THEATRE BURNED TO
THE GROUND.

WT-s--•.

At a quarter past eleven o'clock last night this
magnificent Edifice appeared a blaze afire. The
night was dark, but in a 'moment the atmosphere
was illuminated, and the light was as strong on the
steeples and the roofs of the !muses fur miles rouud
as iu the brightest sunithine. The tire-bells, bugles,
and drums instantlx.gave the alarm. The Volun-
teers mustered in farce, and the engines crowded
from all quarters to the spot. Their exertions to
save the Theatre, we saw with regret, were inef-
fectual. The tire 'had seized every part of the
budding, and blazed with irresistible fuiye Such
was the tieireneu of the flames. the immense
mass of fuel which this superb pile afforded %as
almost exhausted before two o'clock this morning,
when the %plume of flame that issued from it was
not greater than what might be produced by an
ordinary building. The advantage of having a great
public structure of this kind in an isolated situution
was apparent upon this awful and inelenclio!y OCCIM
@ion. Alai& theengines'could not arrest the progress
of the flumes its the Theatre, they acre able to play
upon the surrounding building,oe, amid thus saved
the neighbourhood front destruction. In centeme
elation of tire, there wa, a reservoir full of water ose
the top of the building, which fell no. Of its queue,'
tity, and that simplied by the-engines, some idea
may be formed front the appearance of the streets
in the. vicinity. Tile whole line from the Thentre, •
down to St. Clement', Church, which had been
perfectly dry only an hour before, was scarcely pas-
sable at two o'clock, from the depth of water upon
it. Several of the houses iu the vicinity, p
rrticu-
larly those au Vinegar-yard, had caught the fire,
and the neighbourhood was thrown into great cone
tneioe;. but tile activity of the engines prevented
any c'onsiderahle mischief outside the Theatre.—
Neither the burning of Covent-Garden Theatre,
our the late fire at St. James's Palace, en n be come .
pared in terrific grandeur with the tire idlest :fight. es
The Themes appeared like a sheet of tire; for tbs.!
reflection of the flames, and the wiud, which blew
from the south west, carried the burning matter
hitq the atmosphere, where it ap;ieared fur many
miles around, like stars floating ea the firmament.
When the leaden cistern fell in, it produced a shock
like an earth:puke, and the busining matter forced
too into the air resembled a shower of rockets and
other artificial tire-works. At three o'cluek the
walls fell, and most fortunately they fell in ; had
.they fallen outside, they mast, from their great
lieteta and tveight, have in many points overwhelm-
ed this toeighbouting houses. How this dreadful
tire ass occesioued we have not beets able to aim.-
taiu. It being a Friday in Lent, there was no per-
refinance, and the House was shut up. A feiv mite
meets previnus to the breaking out of tile Theatre,
there aas no smell on the outside, nor any symptom :
whatever of fire, and when the lire was deocovered •
it covered the whole of the upper part of the
building. as if a train had been laid all through it. •
The crowd of people who attended was immense,
and it was u eutninon idea atnoug them that Cie .;
place was set intentionally on fire. This, how.
ever, was probably only a suspicion, from the seveee
nil public fires that have lately happened. When
the lire took place it became immediately discern- ,
dale at the House of Commons, then in full. debat*
upon Mr. Ponsouby's Mntle. 'Mr. Sheridan was
in the House, and it was proposed, froM respect to '•
him, to adjoUrn the dehete, hut lie requested that
it should nut be allowed to interrupt the public
business, and the debate was suffered to pro-
co:ed.—Mr. Sheridan remaind in the House for
some time after without apparent emotion.
—Manliness and fortitude have ever been the
leading features in his character. The building of
this Theatre cost 200,0001. Of the immense pro-
perty of all sorts, in scenery, machinery, dresses,
decorations, music, instruments, plays, atc. of
which nothing was saved, we can form no estimate.
The house, we understand, was insured to a cone
siderable extent. The flames contitmed to burn
furiously when this paper was put to press, but
there was am apprehension of their spreading
farther. No lives were lost, nor did any serrouss
accident happen among the immense multitude
whom curiowity attracted to this awful scene.
That a thousand Tickets, Shares
of Tickets, may be obtained by the purchase only
antic Ticket, or of a single Share, and which be- •
sides mad• possess all the Capital Prizes in the
Sheme, is the singular distinction of the preseist
Lottery.—And as this great meta will take place
first lily of Drawing, it easi be hardly necessary to
oti the enforce the prutletice and policy or becom-
ing early adventurers.

COMM'S FAMILY.
IF WALTER COOK, MARY COOK, spin-
ster, Or ELIZABETH wiled VALENTINE NOW-
LA N 0, *Ow a ere twisted to Mn,. BA MARL, of Hereford,
will apply hi Mr. Freeman, Bridge-sari!, Tesdoy-street, will
Liar ud.uwelbial to their aolveatage.
tiiiarisi is pulilisloid, rite 7s7trd. the flecood Pari d lbs
' Fourteenth Voaerne of
REPORTS of CASES in Liar 111611 CO Ur.T
of CHANCERY.
By V. VIEAEY, FAA.
Banister at Law..
Loudest.; Printed Au W. Need, Law Hoshaeltor.. Bell.
yard, 1 eample.bar and nitabirsi and Pinion, Upper Or.
outmilsay, Dobbs.

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flsttrll-rosoi, Carry-strait ark pabliabca at the OLcc
Nu 11, Hark of Bt. Citations Char. h, Should. by J
WRITE, of maw pl ore —Oniers, Jar. Rw this Paper
aunt to dm Othre , (prat paid!, .111 las dilly &Moira t•

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