The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-12-11 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

Sheridan's comedy of The School fur Scandal was last
night performed at this Theatre. Mr. Downe, from York,
made his first appearance on the London stage, in the part
of Sir Peter Teazle. Of this actor's merits or defects we
do not at the present moment wish to speak ; and shall
merely observe, that if the impression he made last night
be not removed the next time he appears, he can never
hope to sustain a respectable station on the London boards.
Toward■ the close of the performance the expressions of
disapprobation became so loud and frequent that Mr.
Downe felt himself obliged to address a few words to the
audience. He apologised for any errors he might have
made in the reading of the play ; stated that he was suffering
under the effects of a severe cold, and was therefore unable
to put forth all talent. He entreated his auditors there-
fore to suspend their judgment until another opportunity
was afforded him of appearing before them. Glider these
circumstances we deter our observations. The comedy
was followed by a new operatic farce, called My Uncle
Gabriel. It possesses much humour and spirit, and will
certainly be the favourite of a season, notwithstanding
that, like most of its brethren, it possesses nothing
that is original, and little that is meritorious. The plot
contains the story of two lovers and an old guardian, who
declares that his ward shall not marry any person whose
fortune is not equal to licr's unless he obtain the said
guardian's written cotsent. The lover, Lient. Sutton (Mr.
Horn) therefore, iv in despair, until encouraged by his
friend Jock Req./ (Mr. Harley) who contrives to introduce
himself to the guardian under three different disguises, and
to persuade L•im that Sfetioa has an East Indian uncle with
immense wealth, who is jut arrived in England, for the
purpose of preventing the marriage of his nephew. The
guardian is thus induced to sigg►► the agreement for the
marriage of his ward, ft fi;:a (Miss l'ovey), with the
Lieutenant. The hoax is then discovered, and the guar-
dian, making a merit of necessity, Li catisfied with the
result. The characters were all well sustained, and the
piece was given out for repetition, apparently without a
dissenting voice.

Wrisnsox, Die. 9.—Yesterday it was expected that his
Majesty would visit the Castle or take an airing. A close
carriage was ordered to he in readiness ; but the weather in
the afternoon proving very cold and unfavourable, his Ma-
jesty did not leave the Royal Lodge. His Majesty is
! likely to be prevented, for some days, from enjoying his
usual exercise, owing to the late heavy rains, which render
his favourite drives at present almost impassable. Ilia Ma-
jesty dill not leave the Royal Lodge this day.
The Duke of York had a select party at dinner on
Thursday.

l'esterdsy morning, about eleven o'cloclr, the Duke of
Clarence arrived at his residence in Stable Yard, St.James's.
from Bushy. The Royal Duke returned to Busby iri the
afternoon.

The Duke of Clarence, hav;ng, previously intimated to
the owners of the Colombus, laying at Blackwall, that he
would sisit their immense ship, yesterday did them the
honour to inspect every part of her, with the scrutinising
eye of a seaman, and his Royal Highness was pleased to
express his decided approbation of her model, and of her
strength for carrying timber from the Baltic, or from
America, to which he was assured she would again return
in the spring of the year, fitted with a steam-engine for
working the pumps in case of emergency. His Royal
Highness did the owners of the ship the honour to partake
of a cold collation in the cabin, and when he left her the
Royal Standard was lowered, while the whole assemblage
of ladies and gentlemen united in greeting hint with three
hearty cheers.
Yesterday afternoon at two o'clo:k, the Cabinet Ministers
assembled at the Foreign Office, Downing-street ; among
them were the Lord Chancellor, the Earls of Liverpool,
Westmorland, and Bathurst, Mr. Secretary Peel, Mr.
Secretary Canning, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Vis-
count Melville, &c. The Cabinet continued in deliberation
till half-past five o'clock.
li ATNIE.—A fortnight since we copied a paragraph
from the Jots hull newspaper, its which it was stated, that
" Mr. Hayne had paid his addresses to the three daughters
of a Colonel 11. consecutively ; that he was actually ac-
cepted by two of them, and promised a friend a large pre-
sent if he would bring about his marriage with the third."
At the time we inserted this statement, we thought it at-
tached rattler toe much consequence to Mr. Hayne ; and,
for the sake of the ladies alluded to, we are happy to say,
that the prineipil part of it is incorrect. His true that Mr.
Rayne did fay his addresses to each of the three daugh-
ters of a gallant Colonel, but that he was accepted by ei-
ther, is entirely out of the question. The elder of these
young Wks first attracted his attention, but she would not
for a moment listen to him, and he was rejected sans sere-
monis. He now lavished the most assiduous attentions on
the second, and when he.firricied he had secured her affec-
tions, he had the hardihood to make overtures to the third,
hut who, instead of " accepting him," actually laughed at
him. The Gallant Colonel treated him with " silent con-
tempt," and he was forbad ever entering the house again.—
Derixes Gezelle.

Dv ;t..—On Saturday morning a meeting took place at
Compass-hill, near Kinsale, between Lieutenant
R.N. attended by Liiutenant Bevan, R.N. and Gerald
Henry Gibbons, attcndrd by F. OVonogliue, Esq. An
exchange of shots having taken place, and the Police ap-
pearing in view, the seconds interferei, and adjusted the
affair to the satisfaction of the parties.
_ _ _

Sunday, at the Uwnan Catholic Chapel, Slicpton-Mal-
let, nine persons made their recantation of the Protestant
faith.

The Baptist 111i%sionary Society lately received from
a Christian friend the noble suss of !moo/. With a re-
quest that it might be entered as from " An t'nprnfitable
Serrunt."

The young Englishman who suffocated himself the day
Wore yesterday at the Hotel St. Phar, was named John
Moore ; he was, it is said, the nephew of Heneral Sir John
Moore, who was killed at Comma ; he was not more than
twenty, of a very studious disposition, and very fond of
astronomy. The lady to whom he wrote is the mistress of
the Hotel de Montmorenry Rue St. Marc. His parents
usually resided in this hotel, and this lady had known him
when he was young. I la :Mg returned to l'aris some days ago,
and being bent on suicide, he changed his residence in order
that this lady might not witness his death. He selected
the Hotel St. Phar, having resided there fur eight months
about a year before, and where he was generally liked.
He was of a sprightly disposition. He bequeathed all he
hail to the servant of the hotel, having previously set apart
a sum for his burial, which, if it should prove insufficient,
will be increased by the mistress .of the hotel. In the
letter which he wrote to her before the fatal act, he beg,sed
of her to acquaint his father of it, who is at present' at
ier Fro nods.

A bedstead which was wird at Baltimore by General La
Fayette, has been purchased by a South American gentle-
man, who intends it as a present for President Bolivar of
the Cvlombia:i It?pul:liz.--inicrican 2ater.

LITERATURE.

A VOICE FROM INDIA, IN ANSWER TO THE
REFORMERS IN ENGLAND.

IT J. 11. /CELT, C•PTAIW IM TOP lIONIAT NATITt raItTRT, to Whittaktt.
Captain Seely is chiefly occupied, in the course a this
volume, with the discussion of the policy of admitting
free press in India, and his local opportunities of °ton,
lion have, no doubt, qualified him to throw some light up,,,
this interesting subject : his own opinion upon it er ,k,
cided, and his arguments are well worth listening to, gl
readers will draw from them such conclusions as theiropt
judgment and habit of reflection enable them to ffint,
The following remarks, it must be owned, carry wiry tb,„
considerable weight:—
" That mighty engine, the free press, in a eoniert
country, where our numerical strength is nothing, te
alarming instrument in the hands of the public of
(as they are miscalled,) without any counteracting i,k,.
slice as in England by other classes, all of whom are
or less concerned and identified in the prosperity and arm
of the state.

" How widely dissimilar is the state of society in 114,
where the free press, and the said public, arc to have t,
controlled sway ! In that country the native popeletteti
restless, military, and powerful ; the free sett:en dim&
tented, ambitious, and intelligent; and theotherbed, tie
immediate servants and stipendiaries of the goyeinmet
And is this a public, as we understand the word in Eeg.
land, where every class is dependent or coalescing with tie
other,—where every man knows his duty in society, tai
the dangers be exposes himself to by miscenduct? Hw
vastly different is the public in India, *herethe isajeeper
have nothing to lose either in character or property ,ed
every thing to gain by overthrowing the British pryer,
and substituting their own rule, till they, in their lurks?,
massacred and expelled, and the country become epee 14
prey of the Mussulinan, or fall in part to the grasper the
Russian, while the maritime provinces would fall into the
possession of France, Holland, and America, &c. The tr
nor speculative reasoning, nor unsupported arguen
l'nrestrained liberty of publishing and writing mil
duhitably, in the course of thirty years, he the max or
revolution in India, and filially expel us from the clam,
" It is hard to differ with men so very respectable, rot,
eminent, as Messrs. Hume, D. Kinnaira, and Laminas. ft
a freegovernment, however, men must and will (litter in*.
nion ; and, notwithstanding Mr. Hutue's distingnislirdss
vices, general knowledge, and residence in India, may OR
some weight to his arguments, we shall probably find, is n.
sunning these gentlemen's speeches, sonic few Made
misconceptions, and errors, as will be seen by-and-by ; sd
even the ' master spirit,' with his great and varied talon,
who has brought the talents and services of these and she
gentlemen into play, will be shown to be defective is b
arguments and erroneous in his statements.

We have now to speak of the native population of Is.
ilia ; and I wish it to be recollected, that we spiak of s
subjugated country, immensely populous, and where it
acknowledged on all sides that our rule is that of ' pub!i;
opinion,' strongly engrafted and maintained in the mink
of she people by our scrupulous attention and respect n
their inveterate teliginent prejudices, their institutes, and
their intmenterial customs. Nothing can shake this but
our own misconduct in ill-treating the natives, or allowirg
others to do so, in the shape of free settlers. I shall awn,
without fear of contradiction, that the great mass of the
people are satisfied and pleased with our rule; that thei;
condition, moral and political, is beyond all comprises
better titan it was when under their former MUCH, Or
Maliomedans ; but I am far from admitting that thereat
rot thousands of able, aspiring, and dircontented natirs
of education and rank, who would gladly jour in any mes•
sure that promised to displace the British power. Thew
persons could not have a more efficient and powerful instil.
silent than an unrestricted, licentious, and intammatey
press to aid their machinations. Once informed of the
opinions of each other, the time of going to work, het to
act about it, their own physical strength, and the pure-
sources of the country, our discomfiture and final stirs.
lotion would he far more speedily accomplished than e•
rise to prosperity and power has been. A few eorresper'•
big societies, fraternal club., and other materiel of N
French Revolution, would soon be formed. By a fry
press the great body of priests would be stimulated
action by means as obvious as they are certain. 11,1i!.3'7,
would be the watch-word, and the mass now atts,hol
to us would fulfil the command of the idiests tJ
extent.

In the revolutions which have taken place in India,
and in the establishment of our extensive power, it sal
be evident to every thinking mind, that elousands of .17•
wlligeist and respectable men have necessarily fallen io
their fortunes : can it be doubted for a moment that then
would not readily seize the opportunity of rising and ag-
grandizing themselves ? or, in other words, that by .1
change to the old native rule, instead of being assistants
the public service, they would become deputies, invent d
deputies becoming principals? In subordinate cans they
would exchange from the servant to the master ; and that
man who now, in consideration of his decayed respectabilo
ty or the former services of his family, receives a peso"
would, in the course of political eveiits, expect to he ena-
bled, by the happy change,' to pay pensions hiauelt
All those nobles, ministers, and others, who kehl to the
old court at Delhi, the countless scions of royahy. and
thousands of other dependents, would look with delight
and enthusiasm to the re-establislueent of theteselves and
followers. Vl'here is a fitter instrument tl forward their
projects and assist them in their now dormant vices than a
free press, by which they 'could communicate with etch
other, and give excitement and disgust to the gnat body. of
the people, by misrepresenting, falsifying, and libelling the
acts of the British authorities?

" Those acquainted with the facilities of rcyohition
India, and the rapid rise and fall of the various 41yr.lcr c
and states, will see the great probability of what 1 !Ve
The causes may be sunitred up in a few wools: the pel.k
are of military habits, have few wants, and are formol C. s
mitten, high-minded, and inflammable temperament. A
popular commotion in India is the work of a day.
if weld
arranged and its ramifications extended ; it is the work e:
a year to put it down. Let it, however, be Awl! se.mented and kept in motion by those who administer to the
ambition of the higher, and to the passions and prejudioN
of the lower, orders, and we shall find the task of sed°Bll,g
the publiepeace more difficult than we Ht boor cm Pa"
bly imagine. Religious enthnsiaym, disappointed hor,
and prospects of better times, would cause revolts stall";
of a very different charset, r to the solitary and install
attack or rebellion of a native prince, wbo. having sulk°
a few thousand followers and some treasure. makes swot
the government to obtain bout: terms, and against ww)our allies will cheerfiilly proceed, if commanded. or. 111,.'2
once enlightened by a free puss, and stimulated into sire.
by the designs of active and intelligent Europeans, se Ter
dily act against us."

SuaralNC. ACCIDENT.—Abovit four o'clock TirF:
day afternoon, a green-bodied chaise, drawn by a hider.!
spirited horse, with an elderly gentleman sitting in !hi"'
seen proctvding with furious speed along the Lag"'
road ; and as it was obvious, from the manner of its oce!::
pant, that he had lust the presence of mind mcosl7
checking the horse, anxious fears were excited h'• 11,
safety. Sveral attempts wet.r made to stop it. tri"•,:
proving unsuccessful. only had the etliet of increpi!,;.'
speed ; and entering Oxford-street, front Tyburmturn;
it continued its furious career. iVhen opposite Old
le
street, the gentleman was seen to throw himself out of
cl.aise ; but his foot, or part of his dress, beconaqrl,,
tangled with the reins. be tell on his head with considerabl:
force, and was dragged, with his brad dashing 30'4
1
stones, a distance of nearly a hundred yards, bcf.W`.
horse could be stopped. He was instantly contcYol w •
Lightfoot's, a surgeon, residing on the spot, whto a 31`.
pearesi that the skull was dreadfully fractured, and 170;
it pressed inward upon the brain. Ile was totally
sible, and expired in about a quarter of an hour
Some silver was found in his pockets, and front his
and equipage it is supposed that he is a country (3r1:11,'
but no certain information has been obtained 35 tobi,
or residence. The NAY is lying a; the Delaware
Oxford-street.

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