The National Register.
London, England, 1809-12-10 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER:

river. is the Asia. The Lord Castlereagh, Company's ship, is
said to have arrived at Bencoolen.

The Neptune, True Briton, Cumberland, and Scaleby Castle,
arrived at Bombay, the 25th June, all well.
The Lord Melville, Perseveitince, Lord Duncan, Catnatic,
Nottingham, and Baring, arrived at Madras on the 3d and sth
July last.

The Upton Castle and Lord Castlereagh sailed from Bombay
on the 27th July.
The account of the capture and dispersion of the four extva
ships in the Bay of Bengal, gave rise to a report, that these were
the identical vessels so long missing, as their numbers corres•
pond. We wish we could offer this consolation, even melan-
choly as it is, to those who are interested in the fate of the tat-
ter. We are concerned► however, to state 4 that scarcely a•hope
remains of their safety. It was the general opinion at St. He-
lena, that they had all foundered.
At no period has our Indian Commerce suffered greater losses
than within the last twelve months: fifteen or sixteen vessels
having been captured or lost within th,nt time.

CLIFFORD'S C4SE.

That actual good will result from the verdict in Mr.
CLIFFORD'S case, away, perhaps, by some be disputed, but
that positive evil must have been the consequence of a
different verdict, we believe few will have the hardihood
to deny, as the principles deducible from a verdict for the
Defendant would have been totally destructi- c of that con-
troul, that wholesome coercion which the public have
always held over the Theatre, independent of Courts of
Law, but forming a part of the law of the land, inasmuch
as their practice was founded on custom. 'Tis true that the
Counsel for the Plaintiff did not rest much on the merits
of the case, but trusted principally to the illegality of the
arrest, nor had he indeed an opportunity, as the Defend-
ant waved these pleas he had put in, pleas, which,
if allowed, would have been a death-blow to our
theatric portion of British Liberty. Some censure, we see,
has been thrown on Mr. CLIFFORD for going to the pit con-
trary to his usual practice; but if Mr. CLIFFORD really went
to the pit for the express purpose of trying the question,
we feel that he is at least deserving of the thanks of the
public, nor do we think that he has any reason to be asham-
ed if he had actually joined in what has by some been call-
ed a riot. Of a riot, however, there may be different defi-
nitions, and though there may have been riotous proceed-
ings connected with the marked displeasure of the public, it
does not follow that all those who join in expressing that
displeasure are to be considered as amenable to the law.
Though not coifed nor robed in ermine, we feel as great an
abhorrence oft and as great a dread of the consequences
from, a riotous disposition, as any others can be actuated
by, but we wish that this business should be considered as
distinct from all party, from all politics, nor can we consent,
for fear of consequences, to submit patiently to the annihi-
lation of our rights, when those consequences may be pre
vented by a legal and rational interference of the Govern
ment, with respect to the very origin of the evil itself. We
cannot dismiss this part of the subject, however, without
noticing an axiom of one whose authority has hitherto been
revered ; he lays it down that riots are " either such as are
an actual breach of the peace, or constructively 30, by
Vuding to make others break it. Both of these species are
also felonious or not felonious," and iu the decision of this
latter point, is the great advantage attending, our Trial by
Jury, with whom it rests to determine the law, after the
Judge has explained it. There is also an observation of
Burn with respgct to rioting, which is deserving of notice ;
be says, " that it is possible for three persons or more to
assemble together with an intention to execute a wrongful
act without being rioters—much more may any person in a
peaceable manner, assemble a meet company to do any law-
ful thing, or to remove or cast down any common nuisance."
That the venerable Judges of the Bench, anxious for the
literal preservation of the law, should be decidedly inimical
to every the slightest appearance of riot, is not surprising,

DEC. 10.

it is indeed one of the greatest supports of British rights,
both public and individual, that they are so tenacious to
preserve it in its strictest purity; but whilst we listen with
reverence to their opinions, it is not unbecoming to notice
some points' which have arisen on the late trial. It has
been •aid that 'theatres are not necessaries of life, and that
people are not obliged to go there ; that the proprietors
have a right to impose what terms Nit), please, and that
if the prices are too high, they must ru►n themselves for
want of custom. This reasoning is, indeed, very fair in a
general way, but in the present case there is a patent which
prevents all fair oppositiou, and if the people stay a.► ay,
they most consent to forego their usual amusements en-
. tirely. There seems also a mistaken idea to have gone
abroad respecting this patent, which, though ttr same in
name with other restrictive patents, is very different from
them in substance; they are given for pri v ate advantage,
to secure the profits fur some useful invention, and thus
to give a stimulus to genius ; but this is tor public advan-
tage, and given to the patentees merely as a security that
they shall have the advantage of the market, provided
they supply the necessary demand ; this patent was given,
not merely to curtail thektric rein esentations, but to secure
to the public the accommodation bete on andbffore the stage,
which might be afforded them by large establishments, in-
stead of the petty Theatres which had existed previous to
the time of Charles the Second. We are told, indeed, that if
the Proprietors abuse their patent, redress may be had in a
Court of Law; all this is very true, but then custom has
sanctioned a shorter methork of redress, where the public
have beea both Judge and Jury, and to their decision the
Managers have hitherto been accustomed to bow. As to
the question of private boxes, that is not sanctioned by the
Opera-House, for that establishment could not be carried
on without them, nor do they :nterfere at that place of
amusement with the accommodation of the public, as the
pit is to the full as commodious and equally genteel ; be-
sides the Opera-House is not John Bull's natural amuse-
ment. Still less are they sanctioned by the practice of
the old Theatres; there the private boxes were but few in
;lumber, and could scarcely be said to interfere with the
public accommodation ; besides, in the old houses, if these
private boxes were unoccupied at the close of the second
act, it was the custom to open them for the accommodation
of any individual who chose to insist upon it, a thing
totally impossible as they are constructed at present,
as we presume, even though they were all empty,
John Bull would not be permitted to have any access to
the private staircase. Thus far have we slighty noticed the
merits of the case on one side of the public, and we feel
anxious that its merits should be quickly decided by the
wisdom of the Bench, and the honesty of our impannelled
countrymen; but much happier should we be if a hand-
some submission to the demands of the public should put a
stop to all further discussion, for no verdict can place the
Managers on the high grounds on which they once stood.

COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE.

The temporary calm which had eiisted in the early part
of the week, and which had been hailed by some as a
prelude to submission on the part of the public, has now
given way to a reiteration of that clamour which has for
so many nights filled the house, to the exclusion of all ra-
tional Entertainment. The verdict of Tuesday, in West-
minster Hall, seems, like Don Cleophas when he broke the
bottle and released Le Diable boiLeux, to have set the " im-
prisoned spirits free," and we may with justice aver that if
the clamour of any three preceding nights had been added
into one grand sum total, it would not have equalled the
din which then assailed us. Horns, and white night caps
were the order of the night, a conjunction, which, whe-
ther ominous or not, certainly boded no good to the pri-
vate boxes, as their inmates were never before so much
annoyed by the notice of the pbttites. Some peace officers