The Sun.
London, England, 1822-05-06 00:00:00

v ~ 'V

~p.
. _ -W

KING'S TittaTax...—The new Opera of Piano
l'Elcmeta, 'and the balkt. of. -fief P,404 du Due
"de" Vendome, were atteld, ed .on Saturday by as
full an audience Us the ' litoatitqdixid-hold, and
I the. applause •was .warm and ttniveYsil; Some
abridgement was necessary to avoid entrenching
on .the Sabbath morning.,
bitunr-LANE.---The Siegeird Bglitadf, which
was repeated before a very numerops,ftudience
on Saturday lastat. this ,Theatrey and
.xery well
received,, was to have been fpliowtd by the farce
pf Modern Antiques. M LADEN,- however, having
been suddenly taken ill with the gpalt,it:di,lorder
to which he has long been subject, ;it wns...neces--
sary to change the farce,. and .aul?ktitute that of
_Monsieur Tonson, of which necwity, due...uotice
bad been given in printed bills posted_ round the
theatre; When; hwever, the perforraers•in the
latter piece came .forward,, they.:were greeted
with violent inaklis'of. displeasure,.whichinduced
Mr. Cooi,itt taa-dvance to
_thee front of stage,
and with modeSt firmnessappegrld 0-the audi-
ence in the following. mannerip.-n,...,
" Ladies and Gentlemen,—ram tptaislx at a. loss ,to .conekitte
the cause of your displeasure. 1-fatieriot hilts bdin posted
&ant of the theatre, 'annou'neing the ottiatthange-orcharac-
ter ? It is utterly impossible that,th.a,f,a_rixt fifodrrn An-
agues could be performed withoufthii;assistartec.>ir. 1004 DEN,
who is confined to his bed by.a sudden alfaclt of tile-gout."
This reasonable explanation might be expected
to have been perfectly satisfactory" to theliberal
part 'of the audiences and such was really the
case; buta discontented party, much inferior in
number to the other, had still power enough to
obstruct the performance, though cries of" Get
on " came from most quarters. The Farce was
then resumed, but was Still impeded by the vio-
lence of the discontented few. At length, after
a short period, Mr. ELLISTON came forward, and
with evident emotion, naturally arising from the
injustice which prevailed, addressed the andi-
.
enceas follows

" The public apology made by Air. Cooperhas been received
by the-sensible part of the audience.—(Great disapprobation.)—
Is this conduct proper, thus to endeavour to injure the *petty
of the theatre without any cause ? It is mostiniprOpers—(ln-
creased confusion, and cries of No reflections.')--k .do not
mean to cast reflections; but can I prevent the dispensations
of Providence ? Cain I bring Mr.. Blunden here from 'his bed
of sickness ? As soon as'it was ascertained that he could not
play, it was publicly, announced, and a better farce.substi-
tuted.—(A voite in the gallery-6 Why make distinctions ?'—
alluding, we believe, to the exclusion, in consequence of the
alteration, of Miss Copeland.)—l make no distinctions. I re-
peat, that a better farce has been substituted. You have al-
ready had two apologies for the change ; you have now a
third • can man do more? However, if this does not satisfy
you, leave the house, you who are riotous, and your money
shall be returned to you:—(Applause.)—Has not illness been
allowed as a good plea in every theatre in the world, and will
it be denied to me ?—(No, no.)—ls this the fair play lam to
expect at the hands of a British audience ? No man can tell
when a dispensation of Providence may occur.; and why, there-
fore, when it does, should it be necessary for me to come for-
ward ? It was by the Merest accident that I happened to be
hefe this evening ; and'would it not have been very hard, had
I been away., to have interrupted the performance, because that
had taken place which no man could prevent ? Gentlemen,
press not too heavily upon a fallen man."—(No, no; enough;
go on with the performance.)
This emphatic and affecting address,
,coming
from a man to whom a heavy responsibility iu
the direction of the-theatre is entrusted, effec-
tually allayed the storm, and the whimsical farce
of Monsieur Tonson admirably supported by the
performers lit general, went on, when all unplea-
sant feelings were succeeded by universal laugh-
ter and approbation.