The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1809-10-27 00:00:00

KILKENNY T:IIE.4TIUG'ALS. •

On the lith instant, the filentleMen of the KA-
k-on% Company performed the Comedy of The
enh the Fame of Tim Jilayor of
Garrat--Tbe charartera were r. fukow

of

coV F NT-C4 RORN, 711lLitR Z.

It is with extreme satiefection we find our.elves
enabled to OtitllollllCit to the lovers of order and dra-
matic entertainments.. that they may note, in Co-
'RNA-Clan:en Theatre, have their taste gratified with
little lateltonce. The tyrannical uppositimi are at
',Nth humbled ; aor, in their defeat, displayed as
much usraimess. as, *la their dayi of *tremolo, they
evinced i raggmt iniolenteenti turbulent oppression.
The arnimettietats of lust night consisted of Lang%
whea you Can, the Jubilee, and Oscar and Maiti-
na. first wits descriliol in the piny-bills, as
having " the characters as usual ;" but we found
doors as the representative of Gersaniee, for• the
first time ou the London boards. This is a charac-
ter most perfectly suited to that actor's powers, and
in his pereitiotiou of tt last night, he left us nothin4so
regret for Cie absence of even the original possessor
of the part. Lewis, in very light ports. NAY ',Minn-
., ; anti as Ins forte consisted in this seecies Of
ticit.tg. be seldom allowed the more serious parts •
of any character he sustained to peewee any gravity
is all. This answererho the life in Gollif ech.or
Alseilleturs, bat not iu Gossamer; who. though s
malt of fashion and gaiety, h.B yet on excellent
11;tart, and is guided ill his hou.res by principle and
sentiment. Jones, while he gave life and playful-
ness to the gay parts mist, gave ifitilrealinis cud ef-
ilia to the sentiments ; Ana thus, asr far as an opi-
nion goes, produced a perfect representation of
the'mixed character allotted to hum. He was pe-
culiarly happy in the drunken and dying. scenes.
Mundell, ill %foxes, was, as lie ever as, excellent.
/be Arcadian luveosiektiess, and the cooteisttou
in hid mind between jealousy and inclination, were
depicted in his counts...once, us to erede berets of
latighter. bliss Bristow. in dirs. Mortimer; Miss
Norton, ire Emily; Mrs. Davenport, and the rest of
the Dramatis Personal, were much to be praised, for
the manlier is which they sustained the par's as-
sigued to them. The Play went oil till the noddle
of the sth Act (oh ran:!) without interruption; the
rooks then began to clemour ; bat the burnout of.
Boxes prevailed ; and, 111 they found themselves be-
low par, they thought lit, for the present. to desist
from /pitying in. The piece, therefore, concluded
with petted truitquillity.
Tke Jubilee followed, end the opposition haying,
In the amen tune, mustered all their fteceit, made
another attempt to let erriipt the performanc. Shane.
fights. and two or three plat:turfs at the buck of the
pit, were the sigma foe bosses and noise :
able I the crest of the party had fallen, cud
only " two or three followers threw tip their lists
and shouted."—The Bow-sorest officers interfert
in a must nageistlexurely manner. and cruelly
dragged two `um three of the common nuitmoces
from the House ; and three groans, from their .
corn panitins,: instead of three cheers, us usual,
proved how much the ease was altered. The dis-
turbance was entirely confined to It few of the back
rows in the pit ; Ili the hoer, end galleries, not a
single hiss was heard dining the while night. 'fbe
hoist rendered the greater part of The Jobilie
inaudible ; hit, from those parts of the music we
heard, it appeared to us to be a selection, or rather
combination. of old tunes, and to have no novelty
to hoist of. The airs were. however, selected with
judgment. and several of the songs were heantifully
accortyanied. It was during the singing that the
priticited effo.-te of the opposition were mode.; but
the opfitioa of the audience was expressed so de-
"sidetily against them. than /sliding they coold make
so impression in tee way of riot, they begat. to
'Wensiik off, arid-soon relinquished the field of contest:
This was • glorious triumph 1 Oscar sad Nefoies
seseceetied, seal the whole performosice was enjoyedby the coinpaily present. Toe interruption was very
casual. and very trifling ; such, indeed, as we would
leave seen, in better times, with disgust, and met
with reproliation, but, utter what we have endured,
October Me 2iiik was liaradise regained !

Immediately on the dropping of the curtain, the'
audience withdrew lii the most decent end prime-'
able manrwr.

We know ant whethe► it is to the proceedings at
the t‘11•401111 House, that we are indebts4l' for this
change ; lint, certain it is, that something has
wrought a wonderful effect. Men begin to find
that these distutbances bring serious coliaequences
to the promoters of them; aad they will find
that there is, is reality, ao legal way of espressiug
their sentiments at a Tiimitre, night after night, in
a question between tlw Theatre and the pub-
lic. Now, ►ince Decorum ham gaiued the as-
residency, we trust itwill keep it ; and that shame-
less Indecermy never again be allowed to
►aise its hoirid crest at this public Theatre.' Lord
elatilittimoile(ryon one of the private bows, attract-
ed the outlet of the petite*, wLo 'addressed his
. Lordship, and bawled for soap to wash his hutwln.•l
The placards were only held ep for a moment ;
those we noticed were; a caricature of Mr..-ltem-
Lfe, as a dug, and Catalani, as a eat ; the Union
Jock, with the inscription, 1. Old Prices; and a
K. 1,. with, .4 Removed from Chattdoratrtet-•-No
Theatrical Seduttton.".-

Mr. MUSLIM having called upon the Preprie-
lois of Covent-Garden I'lleaire, and apologised to
Viet!) for the disturhuiter which he made oil the
. 11th of this month, they have politely declined
any further notice of it.
Mr. jsanes's Poem. The Jubilee, was presented
i Ire MAJESTY. at IVtooktot-Caslle, on the morts-
it% of the 'lsth. by her_Royal Highness the Prin-
ter/. ELIZABETH.
The .beastiifill transparency. exhibited on Wed-
nesday,• liy Mr. Co Ll.lllllll, of the grand, attar Ter&
- ttle-filar, wee again lighted up, hat night, and at-
tracted great crowd.. It is the Most hl thlyBnished
aptl splendul device of the hinderer displayed upon
a puLlic occasion.
Mr. Srunes, of Piccadilly,' 111 d, last night, his
bikautiful transpareiwy lighter's' p, which attracted
a great coucoarsg of people during the
Amongst the .illorninations iii Catherine-street,
Strand, we ca.mnt help noticing the Emperor of all
tonjurers„ wu, menu Mr. Instuar, proprietor of
-.the Minor lir:tire, which etui elegantly lighted

_ .
up. ~G. It." and the •• Crown." we•beshil.itrd
"variegated Woe. Raul owler the parch of the front
door. a tronsparene), with tlw 6,lluviing *nr.l,:
" Long Ildi the King ! C•4d Weirs his people r A
to eto.ebrate the honour eche evening. s man eh.
Aunt Wall wt.

WESTMINSTER SESSIONS, OCTOBER ?5.

inoTs AT COVENt (ARDEN THEATII r:.

SiMiss before Mr. AXING and a Bencl

If Jautwes.

This being the find day of the Westittitister
Sessioin, the Grand Jury was sworn in ; after
which, the Chairman, Mr. MAIN w* St NG, addre.sed
them to the follnwing effect : Ile said, that, be-
fore they tittered upon the discharge of the du-
ties to which they were now appointed, be thought
it necessary to make a few observations. upon • sub-
ject which. front its continuance, god the tutschisi it
produced, was of the utmost importance to the
community ist large, as well as to the individuate
whose property it affected.
It was a matter of public notoriety, that, since
the opening of the new Theatre, at Covent-
Garden, for the ainiiseineist of the town, disturb-
ances had taken piece, and frequent breaches of
the peace been committed within its walls ; it
had been declared. Ly many persons, that, unless
the Proprietors would consent to Want the public
at the saute prices as before the ire took place. they
would not permit the performance to go forward,
or at all events they would prevent it front being
heard ; they had demanded admission at .the old
prices, mud this being refused. they persevered in a
tinhult which destroyed the tranquillity of the
theatre, to the inconveitience and terror of a great
part of the audience. They seemed to cousider
their demand a matter of right—upon what ground
lie knew out. It had been said, in support of it, that
every our was eutill.vl to express his disepprobetiou
of a perfortnance"in • theatre. Custom certainly
had sanctioned filch a practice ; bissiug and clap-
ping of hood. had been long used as the uterus of
expressing applause or dislike--probahly front au
idea that it was the readiest and most convenient
way of expressing the sentiments of an audience, as
it prevented the delay and disturbance of au at-
tempt at discussion, under circumstance' so uafa-
vourable to it. But this did not justify any person
in retorting to the xame meals* for a different par-.
pose; there wits us parallel between the . two
elutes. The proprtet ors had risked their fortunes
in the pruseut inidertaking, and it was not con-
sistent, either with law or justice, that any per-
sons should destroy their property, in consequence
of a dislike to their arrangetnents. There was
no principle, no act of Parliament, no owe to
sanction such an opinion; the law was most clear
upon the subject, and denied any such- right.—
The audience of a Theatre wee not recognised
in this eouutry as a codrt of law ; it had no au-
thority to Mute decrees, and none to enforce.
them. If, as was asserted, it could settle the
' prices of istlnaiseion, what could it Hot do ? by what
distinguishing line weld it be prevented from tak-
ing the whole management into its heads, and
regulating the saltines and the dresses? What
contusion, tooonust result from the wavering na-
ture of such an assembly, who .would, the very
next night; undo what they had done the night'
before ? But even if such a right dal
the audience was justified in assuming to itatif Goal,
• prerogative; it could not be by riots and brewches
of the peace that it-was to be enforced. Aecording
to the law of the land, no inaii could be • judge in
Ins own case; he ass phevented even from being a
witness. No man could take the law into his own
ham's, except in the single instance of self-defence.
If any man was injured, his redress was in the taw ;
the opponents of, the advanced prices could uot,
therefore, be justified in becoming themselves the
punishers of conduct upon which they themselves
prouounced judgment, and oL which they them-
selves complained.. It was not competent to them
(the Grand Jury) to enter et the present moment,
into any inquiry or resolution upon the subject
of the Managers' conduct. or that of the disturbers
of the Theatre; but if persons were brought before

them, charged with disturbing the peace, it would
then heeome their duty to inquire u►iuutely
'into the *Kole circuuritances; they had a straight
formard line before them, a proems extremely

_ .
clear and simple ; they were to exemine witnesses
upon the charge, and if they found it sufficiently
established by proper witnesses, to provide that the
offending party should be put upon his trial. He
was aware that they all knew whit was meant by
ilie word " riot," in common language ; hut as it
was possible they did not understand its meaning
in strict law, he felt •it his ditty to caplet"
it. In sluing so, he would uut otii•r soy
thing upon Isle own unsupported snthority, but
refer them to s great name (well known in
Courts of Justice) for a %oohs certain guide. Here
the Learned Justice produced quotations' from
Bacon, by which it appeared that the assemblage
of three, or more persons without any authority,
for the purpose of creating disturbance, constituted
a riot; and that it was legal to resort to foresaw' its
suppresNion; thatany persons, who joined in such
disturbance. even though they had not assembled
for the sane purpose, were equally rioters with the
rest. That even if the object they had in view,
was a justifiable one. such as tl►e suppression of
a nuisance, &c. the adoption of unjust means would
still- be punishable, and the riot as complete as if
the motive was as criminal as tne linens. An un-
lawful assembly waosioy assembly met to do an un-
lawful act, and, sisuch, wait punishable by fine aud
imprisonment. The act was punishable every where,
not leis so in a theatre than ►o any other place..—
He was not inflamed of the-course of proceeding
which would be taken with respect to the persons
he alluded to; it was enough for him to have stated
the law, as it stood with respect to the late extraordi-
nary trarstactioiss, and if the auliect was brought
before them; he was eositisle.nt that they would de-
termine legally and justly. acuonling .to the oath.
they had takiii.

The Court wan occupied the remainder isf the
day in trying frivolous assaults. none of which were
of Bulimia eonseqiitnee to give them imartsos.

Wednesday sentlight. us Mr. and Wen. SNOW. of
Pcurith. aceompauieli by their daughter. were re-
turning home m s gig from Keswick, where they
hid been. on • tour to the Ldtri, the horse .toolt
fright. near Titrelkeld, by which lirepleilt, they
wet', all three thrown out. Miw Snow had her
antic broken. and was otherwise much brui.led,
Mr. and Mrs. Snow, rolling on some sharp stones,
bid their bsodsaed feats cat iu a shaking manner: