The Sun.
London, England, 1801-12-24 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

THE.SOLICI.TOR GENERAL said; that having con—
sulted with his iearned:Frierids, and considering the
peculiar nature of this case, and the facts which his
Client alone could be fully possessed of, •it was
thought most expedient for Mr. Sheridan to reply.
The-LORD-CHANCELLOR said' he was ready to
hear all parties.
Mr. SHERIDAN said, if other claims were to be
set up, he hoped he might be at liberty to hear all
those claims, and afterwards to comment upon them.
Mr. lioLtitsi said a few words on behalf of Mr.
W-estley.
frht::LORD CHANCELLOR said, •he perfe6ily un_
dersiood, the case of Mr,-Westley. An annuity
had been granted him by the 'Proprietors of the
Theatre, on his ceasing to be Treasurer, by a Deed
which' was executed by Messrs. Sheridan and Ri-
chardson, "but not. by Mr. Grubb : it was contend-_
ed that Mr. Grubb was effectually bound by that
agreement..
Mr/ MANSFIELD Sai& there was a Petition call..

ing upon the Trustees to compel Mr, Holland to
complete his contract. The Trustees were under
no contraa with Mr. Holland, 'nor could they enter
into any. 'With respell to the claim of Mr. White,
Mr. Sheridan had entered into an agreement with
him for s'oool, for the, purchase of his claim,
Mr. TRUWEIL, on behalf of Mr. White, said,
there had been an agreement made by the Proprie.
tors of Drury-Lane Theatre, to grant his Client an
annuity of 2501. per annum. -
The L4l) CH4NCELLOR asked how that agree..
ment was rnadel
Mr. TIOWE% said, with Mr. Linley and Mr.
Sheridan), Proprietors of Drury-Lane Theatre.
Mr, Ac4kaddressecl the Court on behalf of Mr.
Grubb,
_The Loßb CHANCELLOR said, there was one
consideration he wished then to state. The Pro-
posals handed to, him went to certain acts to be
done by the Proprietors ; upon\ these therefore
he could not decide till he knew who were the
Proprietors. He had received,' he said, a Let-
ter . from a person of the name of Glossop, who
domed' to he a Creditor, to the amount of 60001.
for ,ilrinninating the Theatre. He thought it ne-
cosary ,to say„that he should consider every Let-
ter sent to him in that way as a Speech in, Court.
If the principle was 'admitted, that the monies 0
the Theatre should become an accumulating Fund,
it would go farther in favour of those claims against
the Fund than for it.
IVIr..AcAa said, there 'cvas no way of compelling
,those having Papers in their possession to come for_
ward with the means of substantiating Mr, Grubb's
,
claim.

The LORD CliN ACr ',Lox said', he was willing to
hear every thing that could be urged on all sides,
and having heard every thing, he should come down
on Saturday morning to pronounce judgment,
Mr. AGAR said, Mr, Sheridan-and Mr. Richard-
son had acknowledged -Mr. Grubb, to be a Proprie-
tor, under their own hands, in Bills drawn upon-
them all three, as .Proprietors. Mr. Grubb was,
unfOrtunately unable to support his claims in persol),
whilst, they could come down in fall fagee-against
him. It was in agitation for his, Client, to. file" tat
Bill against Mr. Sheridan, to compel him to com-
plete Jtis contrael, and relieve Mr. Grubb. from

'that load of Debt Which he' had incurred on account
of the, Theatre.. it appeared by the Affidaiir 'of
Mr. Grubb, that in August 1785, Messrs.: 'She-
tidarf and Richardson contraded with'Mr. Grubb
for the sale to. him, of one-seventh .Share,,, of
the, Theatre, in consideration of which, Mr.
Grubb had paid several sums of money, amounting
to more than 16,0001. whilst he had received in re-
turn no more than 3001. To the sum, thus ad-
Vanced, must be 'added the engagements which
Mr. Grubb had `contra led; on account of the
Theatre, which amounted to' upwards of 40,0001.
—The Attorney to the Theatre had directions
not 'to appear' for Mr. Grubb, and he had no
notice of the proceedings in the 1 Court relative
to the Theatre, but through the 'medium of the
Public Papers. Mr. Sheridan had denied any such
'eodirad,. but: his Lordship would see by a memo"-
rari'd'uin' Of an agreement, that, Mr„.Sheridad had'
expressly allowed Mr. Richardson- and Mr. GrUbb
to aa fOr. him in his absence, and had 'agreed to be
bOund by their ads. By the Deed of 1798, all three
were expressly called Proprietors, and however iAny
memorandum indorsed upon "that Deed might except
the ultirriate property of Mr. Sheridan ,from being
affected by the provisions of the Deed, yet
,there
could be no doubt that they were joint Proprietor's
of the Patent and the other property of the Thelitre.
Independent of this, ho'.vever, bills. had been drawn.
'bk Mr. Sheridan . himself upOn Messrs. Sheri&n,
-Richardson, and Grubb, Proprietors of Drury Lane
'Theatre, and expressly accepted by the Tieasurer,
'in the name of those three Gentlemen, as Proprie-
"tor's. of the theatre. Cagnoviis had alsabecn given
in the same %VV. by those three Gentlemen, as Pro,
prietors..

The LORD CHANCELLOR asked whether the
words. « Proprietors ,of Drury Lane Theatm" were
ex,pressly mentioned,

Mr. AGAR said, the bills he alluded to were ac-
' cepted by Mt. Veake, the Treasurer, for Mesirs.
Sheridan, Richardson, and Grubb, Proprietots of
Drury Lane Theatre," It had been' asserted On the'
other side, that if all the arrears were to be liqui-
dated, the payment of the rent-charges must be
postponed for 'a considerable time ; but he submit-
ted .to his Lordship, that under the Trust-deed, the
arrears oughbto be discharged, and the notes given
by !IVlr..Grubb for the arrears of rent charges, ought,
never' to have been given. He trusted 'that Mr.
Sheridan would be called. ripen to account for the.
37,0001. which lie had received for those rent_
charges, which he had sold. Mr.-Sheridan had re-
ceived money to the amount 0f,z0r.,0001, and if to.
that was added the sum • of 10,0001. paid by Mr.
Grubb, and the sum 'of 40,0001. for which the Lit-
ter had made himself liable, 'on account, to the Thea-
tre, the whole would amount to 3+1,0001. If from
this' sum was dcduCted the sun which it appeared
Mr..l-folland had. expended on account of building
the Theatre, ,there would still remain the sum et.
2.76,40061. received by Mr. Sheridan, of which no I

account had-been given, and of which, he submi
to his Lordship, an account ought to be dema
frOm Mr. Sheridan.- As far as he was concer
he pledged himself,that a bill should be filed on
ml
half of his Client before the first day of nekt Te
to compel Mr. Sheridan to answer upon oath as
the expenditure of the monies he had received.
'appeared also for the Executors of Mr. Vine,
claimed under Mr. 'Lacy, and he hoped some .
would be .adopted to bring before the Court, 1.
anti truly, all the respective. rights of Mr.
Mr. Richardson,: and Mr. Grubb. He likes
appeared for Mr. Clanfield, who was a creditor
fireworks furnished the Theatre upon various oet
sions, partiCularly upon the glorious x'st ()fib
and various other occasions. It was undoubted
highly proper. that a Theatre like that of DO
Lane should make a splendid exhibition upon d
of national exultation ; but surely the persons ,
furnished- the means of rejoicing, should not be,s
fered to be mourners upon that account, for y
afterwards. ' .
.The LORD CHANCELLOR said, he could not
cover,, from the' Affidavit of Mr. Richardson, v,
ther he was a Troprietor or not.
Mr. Hoiumin said,. he could have no objeat
to what was-contained in Affidavits, but he did hi
that if Mr. Sheridan. threw out any iasinuationi,
the spirit
.inwhich former assertions had been ma'
that they would be considered as irrelevant,. of
least-that- his. Lordship would hear- him -in reture'
The LORD CHANCE-LLO,R said, that,
,under 1
circumstances of the case, he should certainly tt
-whateVer Mr. Sheridan had to say upon the subj.
.Mr..l-louhArin then requested his Lordship's i
dulgence:for a few observations. It had been star
by Mr. Sheridan, that he. had expended. Ca.o,on
upon an estimate of mobol. in consequence of whi
great distress had fallen upon. the Theatre. This
had felt very much : it was nor, however,
.adbol
the case. Mr. 'Sheridan had since withdrawn ti
statement, and did not now attempt to deny that.'
estimate was 80,0001. and not 75,0001, and
he expended' under .75,0001. and not 146,00
All these ,premises being abandoned,: he 'nig
take - the liberty to conclude, that they we
completely untenable. . The question had b •
started, why was not the whole Theatre finis '
With equal activity ? For this two reasons h
been stated -in his Affidavit, the one was criiil
towards the workmen employed, the other was
refleOion :upon the Proprietors. He did not kilo
who the Proprietors were, although he had , ~
employed under them for seven years. He '
know, that -according to the 'original
,agreenter
and it was so held out to the workmen employed, .t
if the sum allotted for building the Theatre was P
sufficient, the produeelarising from the sale of flu
private boxes was to be added to that sum. . So
stood in his proposal, and so it was agreed u
What alteration had since been made he knew fl•
but he had all along a confidence in Mr, She
'clan, that that agreement would be adhered to,
Under this impression, and with this confide
himself and the workmen worked early and lag,
they did every thing in, their power to render ','
Theatre in-a fit state to be,opened for repress
don, and no delay whatever could be imputedi
them.' Mr. Sheridan would surely give him etc.'
for this, =ay means= of the::-greuteet. awn, t,
Thea,ire was made ready ter representation in l'i
month of February, of which circumstance he 41;
notice to- the Solicitor of the Theatre and to P. , ,
Sheridan. 'He left it in that state in which
might ,be used for those objetis for which it 0"
intended: Mr. Sheridan then represented that '
nightly receipts would soon overbalance, from '
capacity of the Theatre, any additional exile
which" might have been incurred in eredting
.o.'
finishing it. The event certainly proved 'this to
true, for in the year '1796, as was proved 1#
paper- which he held in hiS nand, containing a ret'',
of the Treastirer upon. that occasion, the House 11.1;',
hear 9001. - If this was certain, that the recall'
of. the Theatre, Overbalanced the 'additional :'"
pences attendant upon the extraordinary expedit' ,
with which it was ere4ec4 and finished, Aim rb,c
i
were entitled to be paid with prornprirale, that fry ,
remuneration- to whiih they, were justly entitle;i '
Instead of this, their accounts were not settled, P
ever since-bp to. the present moment had been' set`
tied. The Workmen have been promised frOm ti',
to time, and from day to day, but had never be;
paid; until at length, tired out by repeated Fr
inites, which were as repeatedly broken, they Ic,
fused to go on any longer, and this was the rea50,,
j,
why
.the Theatre was not. completely finisbe
He knew, at the same time, that 36,0001. had bee
p
received from the produce of the private Bog'
which remained unaccounted for: There was ar't;
ther circumstance which he wished to.advert to, t,
Gentleman had sworn, and he thought a little stoill
ly, that the Duke of Bedford would not gratlri
LeaSe till the Out-buildings were completed ,4
but 'it appeared to him, from all that he knew-vr;
the subject, that' the Out-buildings could not be 01,t
pieced- till' a Lease was granted: And it should v,
'recolleded, that if these Out-buildings were to,ii
subjeaed, along with the Theatre itself, to `llf
rentiof zoool. it could never be certain. how' 1$
theY might be liable for that rent, as, if the D',,,
of Bedford could not- find his rent in the Tliear,
he might find it in some of these Out-build:lr,
One of these buildings was intended to be a tave d
but it was -not to be supposed that. that, or any
,„4
the other, buildings, could be let to any advale
under such circumstances. From the outside or
Theatre, however, he must now, according Nis
via
AffidaVits, go•within side, and here the Atfld3,op
had stated, that the inside was a mere shelf. P,,,
Sheridan had stated, that an excess of debt, to a roio
siderable amount had been incurred, arising °Lc!,
the 'large sums 'expended to make the i Theo ill
fit for representation. A person of the nallievo
Jacobs, a little carpenter, employed in OP iiii
odd jobs about the Theatre, had stated in
oj,
Affidavit, that a considerable such had been o:l3efter
~
ed ; but he knew that the price of a pot of porgy
1,6
was to Jacobs a 'considerable sum, and how Was -
to know from this, how, much had' been expel* i jil
Besides which, Jacobs had never been emploYe` V
any work upon which a considerable sum cool`.itl).l.
expended. The fad was, that the labour o'cAir
workmen within the Theatre had been suspend-
01J
consequence of the bad credit of the Trustee'

-fropri
ever,'
reduce
Jacobs
4661.
discov

heard
There
sarpen
render
tions (:)
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of the
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heat
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been ei
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he had
other
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Mr.
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Mr 4
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creditor

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n upon
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been mad
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rtainly
the subje
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and 01
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.easons

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and 10,

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and to
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from I
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.

;, that

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ever b

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was aI"A

?topriezors. When these considerable sums, how_
ever,'wereinvestigated, they became ye rymaterially
reduced: there appeared a bill of the little tarpenter,
Jacobs, for 1661. and another of Mr. Fasbrook for
4661. 16s. 3d. but no considerable sums were to be
discovered, nor was any work tobe found, or even
heard of, corresponding to such a statement.—
There was indeed an expence of 7001. or 8001. fora
carpenter's shop. It had been a material obje& to
render the Theatre incombustible, and if the direc-
tions of Lord Stanhope and Mr. Hartley had been
followed, it might have been rendered so. But those
dire&ions not having been followed, the Fire-offices
Would not insure the Theatre under a very .high
premiuM, which they still further increased on ac-
count of the carpenter's shop, which it was snp.
posed by them, added very greatly to the danger
of the Theatre. It was .fund that the destrudion

of the carpenter's shop would save 4.001. per
annum in premiums ; accordingly, in consequence
of this the Carpenter's shop was destroyed. This
was done without his knowledge. He had stated
all he knew upon the subjed of the building of the
Theatre ; he contended, that it was so far finished
as to be fit for every purpose for which it had been
Used before. It was the misfortune of this Theatre,
that the original plan upon which it was to have
been ereaed, had not been followed up, for had that
excellent plan been followed up by all. parties,
the subsequent embarrassments would not have
arisen, nor would any occasion have been given for
those proceedings which were now before the Court..
Suppose the ground .around the Theatre lud been
let...upon -Building-kases, he considered that it would
have produced 503,1. per annum. He had thought of
this, and bad spoken to several persons upon the sub.
jest. He did not like to state his opinion, but he had
often refleCtcd, in his own mind, on the loss the
Theatre hod sustained by suffering this ground

to remain unoccupied' and producing nothing, and
he was convinced that loss was not sb little as
:0,0331. It seemed that Mr. Fosbrook now com-
Vlained of the want of a Box-Office. The houses
however, which he now occupied, had been ori-
ginally fitted up for him as a Box-Office, and, with
that he always expressed himself perfedly satisfied.
lie did not know who were the Proprietors of
the Theatre, but when aertions were made
involviiz his .charaCter, he felt himself called
Lyon to contradict them. But unfortunately for
him, those Profrietors had employed Learned C:ouno
sel, by whom assertions were made in ,a language
Which he could not understand, or else he would
!ale answered them more fully. There was one
ttint more which he wished to take notice of : A
Contraa had been mentioned, or a something
Which he was supposed to'have made. When he
Wa:, first called upon,. relative to rebuilding the
Theatre, Mr. Sheridan wanted. a Plan ; he made
but a summary. Mr. Sheridan wished to know the
expence 1 it was well knoWn, that in works of
Illgnitude, it was_ very usual to form an Estimate
according to the great square ; and according to this
thethod of estimation, he j rough Estimate.
The Sum of So,oool. was held out to the Sub.
scribers, as the Sum for which the whole would be
ciimplettql. He said, he was willing to Under-
take it for that Sum, but no Contract was draWn•

14p, nor' was any regular Estimate made. The
elkide out a :onrraCl with tht workmem,
to do so much work for sa much money ; they
were to receive certificates from.him of the work
Perforimed, to entitle them to yeceive the stipulated
compensations for such work. Those certificates
]le had regularly given, and the sums paid upon
them would be found to be in the total amount as
he had stated the expenditure to have .been Many
ether circumstances had come to his knowledg' that
he could explain, but he would forbear, as he did
not Wish to be irrelevant.

, Mr. Ao.%tti said, it was not merely the private
boxes, but Mr. Sheridan- had taken upon himself to
Sell other boxes. He trusted his Lordship would
Order a proper • inquiry to be made, whether the
Looney so raised had been received by the Trustees.
lie submitted that all the receipts out of the boxes
'should he received by a receiver.
Mrr t.RI DAN said, that having listened with
Patience to every word'that had been urged, after
having waittd for ::very possible claim from every
quarter, after having listened with some astonish_
tnent to the Learned Counsel -who had spoken last,
rind with all the patience to which that Learned
Centlemati had -so peculiar a claim, he now rose to
offer to the Court the observations that c;:curred to
Lim upon this case, and to take advantage of the
indul9;ence which his Lordship had allowed him, of
being heard upon this complicated question. I tpight
perhaps appear strange, that having the advantage of
such able assistance at the Bar, he• should wish to

Plead his own cause ; it certainly did not arise from
any idea entertained by him that he could do it bet-
/et than they could, but be had to apologize to his
counsel that they had. not from the beghning been
furnished with full and complete Briefs. in this case,
impossible, in the progress of the cause,
to-give them all the necessary infortrenion upon
every point that had arisen., It therefore became
I)ecessarrfor him to take upon himself the task of
• troubling the Court with sonic observations upon
this cause, and he was the more anxious to do so,
because he felt this to be a questiOn of charaaer as
well as of property. Notwithstanding what' had
been insinuated by Mr. Holland (who appeared to
bim to have aced upon this occasion with great in-
discretion, to use no stronger language), he respected
the Court and himself too much to attempt to dis-
flay any flowers of eloquence upon this occasion
be should, on the contrary, take Truth and Proof
with him in every Step-he advanced, and by so
doing, he should, before he .sat down, remove every
aspersion that had been thrown upon his charafter
end condtid, and he had no scruple to say, that upon
the Noble Lord's opinion, after having fully heard
this case, he was content to rest his claim for public
tharaeter and private honour.
The first case to which he should allude was, that
°f Mr. Grubb; with regard to whom, the first ques.
tinn to be decided was, whether he was a Proprietor
0,1 Drury-Lane Theatre or 'not i:—The Learned
I`:;ounscl who had argued on the part of Mr. Grubb,
lad contended that he was a Proprietor ; hut this
rested mr,rely on the assertion of the Learned Gen-
Tteruan, for he had not offered any thing like proof.
Ltd been asserted that Mr. Grubb hadpurchnsed a

qearter of Drury. Lane theatre, and it was -stated
that a Memorandum had been drawn up to that ef-
fed.—lf any such Memorandum had been executed,
he should have supposed that, it would have been
produced ; but in point of fad, nothing of the kind
existed. Mr. Grubb had acknowledged that it
was not signed by him (Mr. Sheridan), and Mr.
Richardson had positively declared that it was not
a final agreement, but merely a sketch.—Upon the
strength of this supposed agreement, which could
not be produced, it was contended that for the sum of
soool. he had transferred to Mr. Grubb two 30001.
shares, and one 7th of the whole management and
profit of the Theatre for moo years, or as long as
the Patent was to continue. When it was consider-
ed, that they entered the Theatre when it was in an
unfinished state, that for four or five years it was
necessary to have new scenes fur every play that
was acted, when all this was considered, it would
appear that Mr. Grubb would have obtained not
less than 30,0001. for his payment of pool. They
had undoubtedly a right to call him a careless and
negligent mad, but they had no right to represent
hint as a fool and an ideot, for he must be complete.
ly infatuated, to haye.given away so large a portion
Of his property to a Man whom he had not seen
above four or five times. Indeed if he could have
been fool enough to have offered to give his proper-
ty away in that manner, a man who would have ta-
ken it would have merited a stronger epithet. It was
unnecessary to occupy the time of the Court longer
upon this part of the subject : there was internal evi-
dence in the thing itself, which must satisfy every
rational mane, that he could not have made a pre-
sent of so large a portion of his property to Mr.
Grubb: The Memorandum, by which it was said
he had made this foolish bargain, was before the
Court ; he hardly knew what to call it, for it was
neither an-original nor acopy. It was not a copy, be-
cause it Was all scratched, and interlined ; and it could
not be an original, because it had neither date nor
signature.—But in point of fad, the only agree-
ment which gave, Mr. Grubb any property in the,
Theatre was, one signed on the r9th of September,
;795. Of this agreement there were three copies
made, each of which was signed by I.dm (Mr. Sheri
clan), by Mr. Richardson, and by Mr. Grubb, and
witnessed by Mr. Peake. Smile time after, when it
wasefouud that they could not agree together, a
meeting was held far the purpose of coming to terms
of separation. It was then stated that Mr. Grubb's
interest was only founded upon the agreement of
the 19th of September, and that he (Mr. Sheridan),
finding that Mr. Grubb did not give that assistance
which he.expeded, had a right to put an end to
that agreement, upon paying the stipulated penalty
of 5001. Upon that occasion Mr. Grubb declared
that he had never signed the agreement of the
19th September, and offered to make oath that he
had not. He did not mean to insinuate any thing
against Mr. Grub's; if he wished to make a charge,
he would make it openly and fairly, and therefore
he was ready to declare that he really believed that
Mr. Grubb had forgotten that he had signed that
agreement, or otherwise he was sure he would not
have denied it. At last, however, Mr: Grubb found
his copy of that agreement, and found that he had
signed it. He, however, acquitted Mr. Grubb of
having intentionally denied that agreement, because
he really believed that he had forgotten the whole
transaction. But what he blamed Mr. Grubb for,
was, that after having found his memory so bad
upon one occasion, that he should now ha('e come
and spoken with so much positiveness, about an
agreement in the month of August 1795, which
agreement could not be produced. But it was ask-
ed, whether he would deny Mr, Grubb to be a Pro-
prietor, when it appeared, that by a deed of 1798,
signed by him (Mr. Sheridan), Mr. Grubb was
styled a Proprietor, that bills were drawn by him
(Mr. Sheridan) upon Mr, Grubb, as Proprietor, &c. ?
With regard to the deed of 1798,he confessed he did
sign it, and he was induced to do so from very par-
ticular circumstances, which he would not now state
to the Cou'rt ; but even under those circumstances
he would not sign it until a memorandum was in-
dorsed upon it, specifying that nothing in that In-
denture should atied his exclusive right and pro-
perty in the Theatre: it further stated, that their
respedive interests were to be governed by the
agreement of the 19th September, to which he had
'before alluded.—But it had been said, that he (Mr.
Sheridan) had drawn Bills upon Mr. Grubb, as Pro-
prietor ; undoubtedly he had, because it was im-
possible, in a bill, to enter into a minute detail of
Mr. Grubb's exaft title ; they were therefdre drawn
in that manner for the sake of convenience. ft was
also true, that the orders for the Theatre were in the
name of Sheridan, Grubb and Richardson, Proprie-
tors of the Theatre, but it was for the same reason,
viz. that it was impossible, in transatlions of this
kind, to set forth, in accurate language, Mr.Gruhb's
precise title. MI allusion had been made to the
annuity.' granted to Mr. Westley ; if that deed was
examined, it Would be seen, that whenever he came
tOparchinemt with Mr. Grubb, he always gave him
his proper title. The Learned Counsel hami con-
tended that Mr; Grubb was not responsible for the
annuity granted to Mr. We! tley—but how did this
fad stand ? Mr. Grubb wished to be Treasurer—
,wished to be Proprietor, and he supposed would
have desired to be an Adore Mr. Westley had been
in the Theatre above thirty. ears, and had faithfully
served it ; he had also entirely managed the whole
of his (Mr. Sheridan's) private affairs, in which he
might, if he had not been an honest mw, have de-
frauded him to almost any amount, because he never
kept voucher, book, or paper to.check him.—Under
these circumstances, he would not consent that
MreWestley should he deprived of his situation as
Treasurer, to make room for Mr. Grubb, without
allowing him an adequate compensation. When
Mr. Grubb wished to undertake the office of Trea-
'surer, there remained two years unexpired of an
agreement between him (Mr. Sheridan) and Mr.
Westley, by which the latter was to receive 5001.
a-year as Treasurer ; he therefore proposed that
Mr. Westley should receive soot. a-year for these
two years, and zsol. a-year afterwards, during the
lives-of Mr. Westley and his wife. An agreement
was drawn up for this purpose, which was
sem to Mr. Grubb to sign, but he kept it,
anti never would return it.—Another subjed
upon which the Learned Counsel had comment-
ed, was the shares which had been sold ; it was

true \hat thirty ,seven 30001. shares had been
sold, and he conceived he had as much right to
create thesd shares as to .mortgave hip iiv to
estate. .But it had been asked what had becotte of
the money Upon this Siit3'.c.l he wished to have
no secrets with the Court four of these shares had
been sold to Mr. Hammersley, and with part of
that money he had purchased a smell estate in Sur-
rey. Ten of those shares had been lodged in the
hands of Dttw and Hammersley, to satisfy the un-
paid mortgages in consequence of the misapplica-
tion, if he might use that expressicw, of the
; and others of them were gone to pay
debts for which Mr. Grubb would otherwise ha'. e
been responsible. He bad now, he hoped, satin_
tied the Court that Mr. Grubb had no right to the
title which he claimed ; indeed he believed there
never was an attempt to break into private property
so sillily conduCted—there never was such a clumsy
attempt at a legal burglary. He was sorry to find
that Mr. Grubb's situation had been such as it had ;
but Mr. Grubb might, if he thought proper, get
-rid of his responsibility in a fortnight, if he chose.
He would do any thing in his power to assist
him, but after the Affidavits he had seen in this
case, no temptation under Heaven would make him
enter into a partnership with Mr. Grubb.

The CHANCELLOR asked, whether he under-
stood Mr. Sheridan correaly, when he supposed
him to contend that Mr. Grubb was neither a Pro-
prietor nor a Partner ?

Mr. SH ERI o A !sr replied, that Mr. Grubb was enti-
tled to have been a partner, if he had advanced the
money for which he had contraaed ; but, under the
present circumstances, he only conceived him enti-
tled to receive back. the money he had advanced,
with legal inierest. _ _ _

Having said thus much with regard to Mr.
Grubb, he would now proceed to notice some of
the observations which had fallen from Mr. Holland :
it had been stated, that the Theatre had stood still
for a long time after money had been provided :
this was true, and he would state the cause,of these
embarrassments. The plan for raising iso,oool.
was first suggested by himself, and it certainly was
a most advantageous plan. It was settled in 170 ;
in T 792 above 30,0001. was lodged in the hands of the
Bankers ; but owing to artificial delays,ereated by one
of the Trustees, the building was stopped for above
z 6 months. It might .be said, what was he doing all
that time ? In answer to this, he should be under the
necessity of stating some circumstances which would
explain the cause of the delays, and of the-embar-
rassments which took place : He was sorry to do
it, because it related to a person now no more ;
but in this case, he was bound to state the truth.
A Security had been entered into by Dr. Ford, Mr.
Linley, and himself, frii a Debt of Mr. Lacy's to
Mr. Garrick. Mr. Wallis was the only person ern,
ployed upon this occasion. Some time after this,
Dr. Ford retired from the Theatre, and he, (Mr.
Sheridan), purchased his Share for 17,0001. Dr.
Ford then retired into Wales, where, after he had
resided some time, a person called upon him, for
him to sign a judgment upon a bond for the seCu.
rity which had been given for the debt of Lacy.
Dr. Ford wrote up to him'about. it. He wrote him
back word not to sign it, for his plan would soon
take effea, and then tl-e mortgages upon the
Theatre wQtrld be paid ofn Dr. Ford afteiwards
came to London, and being alarmed about this debt
retired to France ; and being pressed to come
back, declared, that he had taken an oath not
to return till the bond was paid. Some delay
also arose respecting the patent called Killigrewia
Patent ; but at length it was admitted to be
a valid patent. At length the money was pro-
cured for paying off this incumbrance, and for
enabling Dr. Ford to return to ,England.— A
meeting , was appointed, and Mr. Wallis *as de-
sired to come and receive the 28,0001.. which was
the sum due upon the Bond. When they all met at
Mr. Hammersley'a, Mr. Wallis went out of the
room with Mr. Troward, and remained a consider-
able time ; at length he came in again„. with con.
siderable emotion, and said,• there was no Bond to
cancel. It was at first intended to prosecute him,
but it was afterwards given up. He thought it
right however to say, that he did not believe that
Mr. Troward knew that there was .no Bond.
Mr. Holland had taken crait to himself for the
dispatch with which the Theatre was ereaed, and
certainly he was entitled to it, for he really did
not think that any other man could, have crated
such .4 substantial building in so very short a time.
as he had done. He could not, however, help la-
menting that Mr. Holland had thought it necessary
to oppose himself to him (Mr. Sheridan) as he had
done upon this occasion. He would ask Mr.
Holland whether he had ever reproached him be-
cause die estimate had fallen short of the money ne-
cessary- to complete the Theatre by one halt, and
that instead of 80,0001. it would take 160,0001.—
But he thought it was not very decorous in Mr.
Holland to treat persons employed about the Thea-
tre with the degrecof Contempt he had done : he
ought not to talk in that manner of the Little Carpen-
ter, who was an honest and industrious tradesman,
and whose oath (unless his charafter was impeach_
ed) was entitled to as much credit as the oath of
Mr. Holland himself. But it had been asked,
what sums had been expended upon the Theatre,
or at least upon the stage part, after Mr. Holland
had left it ? The answer to that was very easy—very-
considerable sums had been expended, because,
though he admitted the audience-part of the Thea-
tre was well finished, yet the part behind the cur-
tain was no snore like a Stage than it was like a
Ship of the Line. As to accusing Mr. Holland of
perjury, he had never done any such thing, nor
was he now throwing out any insinuation against
him. Mr. Holland was certainly correa in one
part of his assertion, which was, that he only- ex-
tended 74,0001. Undoubtedly Mr. Holland 'on-
,ly gave certificates for 74,0001. ; but did he
finish the Theatre for that sum ? Certainly not
for much was left to be done. Mr. Sheridan
then proceeded to state several sums of money.which
he had paid to different people after Mr. Holland
had left the Theatre ; one sum wcts.to Mr. Hanson;
for the iron curtain, which was certainly most ad-
mirably calculated to bring down the roof if.it was
not so strong, but which could not be moved up or
down But Without going into detail upon
this subject, he wO4l only say, that it would take

. .
ifetween 30 and 4.0,t.,20;. tne TheatNe---,.4e
confessed hi,e astonishment that Mr. Holland.
shoUld say he had Only undertaken to build the
Theatre, and not the other buildings, and that
had not, in point of tad, pledged himself at all,
he had only expressed his willingness to undertake
it. - Mr. Shedeian then entered into a variety' of
arguments, to spew that Mr. Holland considered
himself as contrading, not only to beild the 'Chez.
tre, but the Tavern,- &c. and that is was not a
mere expression of his willingness, but a solemn
undertaking to perform the w'.rk. After having
argued on. this subject AL great length, Mr. Sheridan
proceeded to state, that the certificates issued by,
Mr. Holland, though stated to aincont- to 74,0001.
amounted in fad to 77,0001. to pay which there was
but 69,0001. is-sued, consequently there remained
Soool. to pay: though he was not strictly answer
able for this sum, yet by degrees he involved himt
self in the business, and made himself responsible.
He then stated, that though he had a right to sell
the private boxes to finish the Theatre, yet he had
applied the money to The. Mortgagees. With re
gard to the Renters, he had found that 401. a night
was not sutlicient, and he raised it to .}sl.' a night.
With regard to An observation of Mr. Mansfield's,
that the Proprietors were taking away the money, •
he begged to observe, that it appeared by the
.oath
of Mr. Peake, that for some time past, the Proprie.
tors had not received a single halfpenny ; on the
contrary, they had advaneedezeool. and therefore
he hoped that Mr. Manstield would, in candour, re--
trait his assertion, because he hoped that th:: Equity
which governed the decisions of thut Court, would
appear in the conduct of those who pradised in it,
The first claim was from three Authors, Mr.
Cobb, Mr. Hoare, and Mr. Lewis. ' The • latter
Gentleman had the merit of bringing into public:
notice many tales of wonder, writtep by such paltry
scribblers as Chaucer, Dryden, Parnell, and others,
which would otherwise have retrained in obscurity,
and been buried in oblivion. He was too much of
a Gentleman, however, to oppose an arbitration
which he meant to propose. The Cbmedy. of -Mr.
Hoare, called Indiscretion, which had given rise for
a joke, had been playrd six nights, and then only_
because nothing better could be had, in which the
Indiscretion appeared rather on the side of the Ma--
nager. As to the claim of Mrs. Nunn, she had
only come forward because others had done so, and
she was so advised. Mrs. Lowndes would not have
applied,but she had made over the debt to Mr:Bloxam,
and was compelled in consequence of that to make ap...
plication.—Mr. Shaw had authorised him to say,.
that he did not wish to press any claim of his. As
to the claim of the Duke of Bedford, he had agreed
originally to take an increase of rent,'making it
20001. per annum, or zol. per night in lieu of
arrears ; but afterwards he had consented to rake
the debentures of Mr. Richardson for the arrears,
and a deed had been drawn up for that purpose,. He
had understood in consequence of this, that only
4001. or 5001. Was due to his Grace, and he had no
idea that the Duke of Bedford would now at in
contradiaion to that Deed to which he had before
agreed. Mr. Franca's mortgage-had been satisfied.
With respc& to the claim of Mr. White, the
Trustees had never seen the Dormant Patent, it be-
ing held by Mr. Const for Mr. White, until his
claim trag'settled. The last claire' he had to notice,
was that of -Mr. Glossop ; and be lead securities in
his hand to the amount of 14001. more than his
debt. •

The CHANCELLOR • WiSiltd to know what was
the state of the arrears of the 'i'erforrners.

Mr. SHERIDAN'. replied, that although some
little sourness might have arisen, on account of the
arrears of the salaries, yet he was sure no4man en•
joyed their confidence more than he did ; so much
so, that there was hardly a memorandum, in the
Theatre, respeding their engagements, benefits, &c.
He had created a Trust-deed for the benefit of the
Performers, which was in the hands of Mr. Adam.
He could not avoid most earnestly entreating the
protection of the Court against future law-suits up..
on these subjects; because, though the Theatre had
stamina enough to surmount the many difficulties it
had surmounted, yet it could not survive the pro..
teaion of ifs Trustees. He meant not to throw a
refledion upon any body, but some people were so
fond of the protedion that the Law afforded ta pro-
perty, that they never thought it was safe except
when it was in a course of law. He did not wish
to make any essential alteration in the propoials of
agreement which had been handed up ; but perhaps
it .would be better if a Treasurer was appointed,
who should be out of the reach of the Proprietors,
and who should be appointed by his Lordship.
Having discussed tall these points, Mr. Sheridan
begged pardon for troubling the Court with a few
words respeding -himself. He would not pay so
ill a compliment to. the Noble Lord as to thank' him
for hearing him upon this occasion, because he was
sure he had done it with a view to have the fullest
information upon the subject; but he did thank the
Noble Lord for the indulgence he had siiewn him
throughout what he had. offered to the Court.—
Much of what he had said related to the past; he
Would now say a little about the future. Nobody
held CaluMny more. cheap than he did : he did not
boast of this--=if he were to live over again he
would not do'so ; but he had often felt the stings of
unmerited reproach, when he appeared not to feel
them. BLit though he was indifferent about himself,
yet no man felt more severely than he did at the
idea of what others might lose by his death. The
settlement of this case would relieve his mind
from a load of uneasiness which had pressed upon
it. The dissipation of the great property in
question, was not the subject that principally dis-
tressed him, though he certainly could not hold it as
nothing. He could not consider what this property
might have been, and what his income would
have been, without strong feelings of regret---%
With regard -to what arose from his own want
of exertion, it was no affedation to. say, that
it gave him more uneasiness for the sake of others
than for himself. Wh;itever appearances traigl;it
have been, and however people might have diJdgte
upon them, wealth was not necessary to his hap_
piness, nor he believed to his estimation i n this
world, though the good opinion of those who se good
opinion was really valuable, undoubtedly was.—
But it was a disadvantageous circurnstana to any
man, more espticially to a careles man, to have as

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