The Sun.
London, England, 1808-09-30 00:00:00

-THE NET TILE ir INT.

The Drama occupies so conspicuous a rani; in tbe
arnpsements of this country,,and as indeed, it is cone
sidered as something more than an amusement;:sliite
it may; and ought to be rendered the instrument ori
taste and, morals,
the proved of a new Theatre is
an object, of greit interest and importance. to the
community. We have the best dramatic. writings
that the world can supply. They came from men
who,.in genius and . knowledge of tuankin.l, never
will be surpassed, and the product tons of such men
will be fit for all future generations of Englishmen.
Many of the Works of SOPHOCLES,EURIPIDES, and
other preek-Writer's, are gene, but the worksf,aft
SHAKSPEAgE;, and other great Dipmatists,„ of this
country, will be.coeval with Britons as a people. We
know that the Grecians thought, the national charab-'
ter was intimately conne6ted with a due exhibition
of the works of dramatic genius, and. that they in-
curred enormous expence in order to bring forward
a single play,, Their theatres also exhibited the tri-
. umph of architeettifal skill, and as we have dramatic, ,
writers fully equal, if not superior, to the greatest of
their dramatic Poets ;we ought-to raise edifice; pro!-
portionate to the,value of
,their works, and calculat-
ed to give them due efficacy in their operation upon
the manners of the people. The late dreadful cala
mity .in Covent-garden, if it admits of any topic lot:
consolation, affords it in the opportunitY of raising a ,
new Theatre upon the best.principles. The Imo-
fonndesfknowledge, taste, and skill should be employ-
ed on such an occasion, and it is the duty ofthose who
conchi6t the public Journals to avail themselves of
every suggestion that may be gi't;en, in order to effe&
theprodudion of an edifice worthy of the national
character. We have before observed that no pitiful
ideas of a false economy, no sordid interest, no bias
of mere friendship should be suffered 'to interpose on
this occasion. We may apply to the Patentees the
words of the Poet, addressed to the greatest AL:tor the :
wolid-ever saw— •

a A nation's taste depends on you ;
a Perhaps A nation's virtue too."

They have a great duty to discharge to the publiC
as well as a great interest in view respeaing them-
: selves, and it becomes them to pause, and not hasti-
ly to determine upon a point of such magnitude and
importance. We therefore confidently hope they
will deeply reflect on the situation in which they
are placed. In whatever plan they may devise for
procuring resources suitable to the vast and compli-
lapflinterests of such a concern, they may be sure
thet4oe public will assist them, and they should con,.
sider4at the eyes of that public will follow their
measures, .and will expect to find the result correS-:'
pondent with the charatler of the nation, such as.
may excite the respe& of surrounding States, and
induce them to admire us as much for our taste and •
judgment in the arts, as they .must esteem us for
our wisdom manifested in that political system Which
renders. us free, happy and secure. • The. following
suggestions have-been submitted to the public, and
we think it proper to give them circulation ih-this
Pappr,that the.subjea may be fairly canvassed, and
we shall readily avail ourselves of any liberal com-
munications which men of taste, judgment, and
science map, present tows.
" Ina newtheatre, however, if the front boxes
,shall be made more deep than the side-boxes, the
whole area will be flung out of proportion and bar-
I The symmetry of the King's Theatre in
this respe& is beautiful. The circles are uniform.
There -are no ups and downs in going the turns of
any one circle. When you have reached to the first
tier, you tread sure upon level ground ; and
.the
mtisic 'having equal expansion in alldireaions, comes
.full and perfe&ly to the ear. The King's Theatre
would be an incomparable form, if it were not-for
the sake of an enormous gallery mounted up so high. '
If the roof of the King's Theatre were lowered 12
or 14 feet, it would be the best form in Europe.
" The next property we would recommend in the !.
new Theatre is to have a double wall all round.—
This is the only security that can be given to the
audience against the accident of fire during the per-
formance. By a double wall, arched corridors might
be,made to afford an instantaneous escape, provided .
that the coffee•rooni, as it is called, were made to
extend and encircle the whole. tier of boxei. • For
instance, at D-ury-lane there is a room on each_ side
of the House, and also one in the front ; but they
do not communicate and open into one another..
If they did, a coinpany might pass from one side of
the Theatre to the other on the most erowded night.
without inconvenience ; whereas, the pressure in
the lobby is intolerable.

It is totally in vain to strive to preserve, by any
contrivance, the hall or the stage from destruclion
by fire. A Theatre mu,t be constructed on the prin-
ciples of a musical instrument, and must be of wood.
All the trumpery ofiron7curtain, reservoirs, &c. are
idle. The only precaution is that of double walls,
arched between, which, if a fire happened, would_
keep it °to the centre. if there are.reservoirs they
should be placed out of the :Theatre, in two,, or four
adjoining quarters, with pipes to communicate, that
men might get to them, and direet the play of water
to the place on fire. For-the same reason the paint-
ing-room, scenes, and wardrobe should be all in ad-
joining preMises. Against fire, the best precaution
would be to give to the watchman an occupation
that should keep him on the alert. There is an in-
genious clock that only goes a quarter of an hour at
a tinie, marks on the fate of it the number of 'evo-
lutions it makes in the night, and can only be wound
bp at the interval of fifteen minutes. Such an
engine should be. fixed in a,,,theatre. The watch-
man must then, to do his duty, be at his post every
quarter of an bour.

Lastly, The eno'itnbuS increase Of
.carriages at
the Theatres now demands an arrangement for the
saiet' of the frequenters. GovQnt Garden is well
adapted to this purpose, if common pains be taken,
even better than it. it were insulated, be6a.use hawing
the Piazza on one band; a and three distin streets
branching oft on the other, an easy plan might be
devised to give security to the foot pasSengerS and
access to the cOaches ; but for thiS purpose the en-
trance from tow-Street to Long-acre should be
widened."

. . . , .
TO the above suggestions we think 'it proper .to
add, that some place should be exclusively appro-
priated . to women whosle fate must be pitied, but
who should not be suffered 'toannoy tho'se who vi-
sit. the Theatre for amusement and instrudion.—
The virtuous fetnale, under parental guidance, shotild
not be obliged to sit in contact with the profligate
clan of Ityr sex, to lefir till olainou.r of ril)l4rh

and to ire her attention constantly interrupted.—!•
lii Alblin and in : Edinburgh due, carte is .ta-ken.ju
04.vresPea, and a part or the.Theatr,.• i,, w.ll,illy ap;
1 pr9priated to,women of the description alluded.to,
,norare.they suffered ..to appear in any other?, ...1-irioT
- thing can be, more ,offerisive . than then prom;sepous
intercourse which now takes place, and, evtly:tuan
of decent habits,, as well aieyery Nell-.brt.:,:fand de-
licate
.female,, must feel disgust at. having their at,
tention disturbed ,by, the. unfortunate. tribe -of loose
women, and the noisy and
.drunken hiockht-ads who
iiirong about them in total. defiance of decency,—,
Nor can it be. impossible to restrain that turbulence
which too.often prevails duritig the per:ormance iti
.tlibdobbies,and. other places Within the hearing. of
ths.A4dience, rendering what. should. b,e . the,.scene
of rational amusement a receptacle of disorder.and
dikion. • • ... .. .... . . ,-,u,

TI-TEATRE.•••••!The :pleasant Comedy :of .The
IPonder„with thepowerfol support of Mrs. Joanna
in Violante, attraaed a numerous audience last night
to Drtiry-lane Theatre.-4i.LISTON'S Don Felix is
,tbn well ktiown to- need any comment. He shews
great versatility, but there is too much studied ease
in his general acting, Miss MELLON, for the first
time, took the part of Flom, and she follo..vecl the
steps of Miss POPE with great spirit.- - She could net
have' chosen a. better model. :,Co do her justice,
boweVer,:ittilust be said that
.there Fos much on
ginal humour in 'her performance. Miss BOYCS
looked very well in Isabella, apd gave the part, more
consequence than usual,. This lively Comedy was
followed by a new musical Farce entitled The For-
tune Teller. ' It did not possess any
_prominent
merits. as a drama, nor did it alTord much scope
for the Performers engaged in it, but was entitled to
pass muster. as well
,as
.many produaions of the
same kind which, have, experienced a more favour-
able regeption.. It. was,, however, dismissed
_from
the pt ric service, last
.night, and therefore there is
noioccatiien to enter into any discussion on its me,
kits-,,,Vbe Music was partly seleCted and partly,
composed by, Mr. REEVE, and so creditable to his
`lsi9elatid talents, that we hope it will be introduced
to, the. Public again in some piece more lucky, than
The Fortune-Teller,
.wlsici), other London
Sytils, was unable to predia its own fate.
When the Theatre at Paris was burnt .down, e
clever builder undertook to.. replace it in about
nine months, lie. did so; but. some apprehension
bein;,entertained as to the solidity of it, various Ar,
alitedsiurveyed it, but could not.agree in opinion ;
'sortie th-Thkina° it, substantial, and others maintaining
-that it .w.iinid not support, the weight of a crowded
audience.,. By way of coming, however, to a satis-
faabry tlecision, notice was given tint would be
'opened, for the first night, gratis, and,- lyckily fof
the populace, the builder was found to have per-
formed his contract in,a workman-like manner;
The Prince of WALES has issuedhiscomman&,
that his box at the. Opera House shall .not be given
to any person whatever; tt is to be at the disposal of
the Proprietors of tile late Theatre at Covent-garden.
ANECDOTE.A corpulent actor being asked what
character he could' do in Sir R. STEELO Conscious
Lovers? answered, " Tout, to be sure." " Tom !"
replied' the other, " why, you are too fat for Torn:"
Upon which the'cor'pulent Man roared out in great
rage--=" Too fat ? what do you mean by too fat ?
are there not fat Torts as well'as 'leanTontS?"

Box Mor.;---In a convivial company, not lont
since, Sir THOMAS THOMPSON, who gallantly lost
his left leg with Lord NELSON at Copenhagen, jo-
cosely observed, that from the effeas of the acci-
dent, his right leg is now left !
It isiby no means paradoxical to assert, thwt hough
Sir. Sikomph,Hoon, in his gallant attack upon: the
Russian Fleet, had two ships, yet this intrepid
Officer fought the enemy single-handed.
'24n Imranrdinary occurrence took .place last week;
in Yiery,ion-square, Dublin :—A groom belonging. to
Mr. Atwell slivery-stables had a horse in traiuing
for the harness, and when driving from Upper, to
Lower Merrion-street, the animal took head, broke
the driving reins, and, galloping furiously aiong the
west side of the square, threw off both his hind
shoes, one of which passed throigh a winclOW it; the
attic story of Mrs. Cumming's house, the corner of
,clarefstreet, a distance nf • Go• feet from the flagged
-way. This extraordinary circumstance was wit-
nessed b)Pd'humber of people.
.•

- The hiiuse which her Royal. Highness the Duchess
of. BaugsWicK resides in•`at Blackheath was origi-
nally built by the celebrated Earl of CHESTERFIELD,
and is a very comfortable and convenient mansibn.
It was purchased for her Royal Highness for 901)01.
together with a considerable part of the ftirriitUre.
It has since been very much improved, and a new
wing added to it, It is most particularly eligible to
the Duchess, as it immediately adjoins the residence
of, the Princess of WALES, with which there has
been a handsome communication made for their Mare
ready intercourse, without either being under the ob.
cessity of going out. by the public road. •"

SMITHFIELD MARKET, SErt. Jo. •
. .
This day's market bad a pretty good supply of
different kinds of Cattle; .Beef, Mutton; Lamb,
Pork, and Veal, support last prices,* and thb trade
for the mast part was not over brisk. The sale.: in
the Haymarket were rather dull ; Hay, Straw, and
Clover obtained last prices.—We subjoin an accurate
statement of the prices and numbers
'To sink tbeOlfal per stone of 81b.
Ecci- 4s. Ao, to Ss: 6d.:l4futton 4s. cd. to Ss.
6s. cd. to 7s. cd.—Lamb 4s. otl.qo 6s. od.—Pork ss. od. to
Ilcusts, 7oo.—Sheep and Lambs, 6,soo.—Calves;
Pigs, 2.50:
Hay 51. os. od. to 61. los..o4.—Clover 61. 05. od. .to 71.
Los: od.—Straw 11. 12s. od. to xl. 18s. od.

. • ,
bNIN'EXCHANGE, SEPT. 30.--Thequantitigs of
Wheat here to-day are rather considerable,. and last
prices fully supported?—the best new abut is per
quarter; Barley and Malt very dull of sale,
and
continues at last prices; White Pease r4ther,cie4rer;
Aeps of both sorts vary but fittie ; there are con,
sitierable supplies of Oats, ,partly from Ireland,, and
Sales liarcl&'at last quotatidn ; Flonr is lower.
. _... .

Wheat 'Ylirtiiii 76s a 90s od Tick Ileans . 62s a 67S od
Fine ditto am go a 96s od Oats - 3_s a 34s a 36s od
'Rye ..‘ - Sos a 55s od Poland ditto 37$ a 3es od
Barley - 4C$ a 45s od Nance Nance - - —sza —s cd
Malt .- . 72s a Sos cd 1 lape Seed
‘. *7l a 441 od
'White Pease 13os a 142$ od Fine Flour . 7ss a Bos ( d
Grey ditto . 6os a 63s od Second§ . . 7es A7j od
Dcmi • • • 64$ a 70aNgt1
•