The Sun.
London, England, 1809-10-07 00:00:00

COVENT GARDEN

• Our Readers will doubtless,bear with surprise and
concern that the rational part of the community
:still suffer a herd of boys and republican ruffians to
disttirb the enjoyment of the public every time that
Covent Garden Theatre is opened. The uproar last
night seemed nearly as great as on any farmer oc-
casion. We.observed, however, with pleasure, that
the friends .Of peace and justice began to ,stew
themselves last night, and though we deprecate all
dangerous contests,
.yet we hope the majority of
the auditors will have resolution enough to drive the
rioters out of the theatre.—The performances last
night were to have been John Btill and The Poor
Soldier, but the tumult began as soon as the stage
lights appeared. The band had previoody played
God save, the King, and we ha.l the satislaotiOn of
perceiving that the malcontents were afraid to ma-
nifest their feelings against the loyal spirit of the
general body, but,the moment the curtain drew up,
the 'mingled, din Of whistles, rattles, bells,-and every
other instrument of annoyance prevented any thing
on the stage from bein3 heard. Several printed
bills v.ere as usual fixed in parts of the Theatre, but
not so many as on,
,preceding nights, and we
had an Opportnnity of admiring the spirit of our
fair countrywomen, many of whom, instead .of as-
sisting to fix these signals for uproar, tore them in-
dTgnantly, into pieces as ,soon as They reached their

The opposition last night was chiefly contined,to
the Pit
,and Gallery, and in the laiter the persons
were better dressed than usual in that place. On
the other hand, the malcontents in the Pit were ap-
parently low. men, who - t 4 ere obviously sent there
for purposes of disturbance, if not of mischiet:-,-
The Pit was last night the scene of greater: violence
than " has appeared since the reign of tut bulence be-
gan, for ~n regtllir ,battle took place between the
yppgpqpis ql .the Proprietors, and some
severeblpys'were: received,on,both sides.
In addition to the other instruments of riot, there
was last night a rnanial, trumpet. ,We. must still
assen,, that the • turbWent, visitors bore a small_pro-
pinion to the majority of the audience, but the lat-
ter sat quietly down, though a proper exertion on
their pans trust have 'reduced the tither to submis-
...
mon.

The performers were, not heard throughout the
whole of the play and farce, and on the_conclusion
9f the latter,; a more trettaeodous variety of sounds
preVailectthan before. .There were a few calls for
KEMBLE, Ot. 4s all hip foymer addresses and expla-
nati4is were ineffeetual, and as a part of thti enter-
taintneof t the rioters appeared to .be an oppcnto-
ri4y of haiting him, he, wisely kept in- retirement.
The rettactory. spirits waned a considerable time
after.,the pertbrinances, in expeaation that he would
at length appear, but. finding that the decent part of
the itidteoce. were retreating, and that they would
soon be lett without
,specuttors to gratify thevanity
of being noticed, they gradually dispersed, without
doing any mischief to the Theatre..

_ It is proper to notice one ciicurnstanee, as it shews
a spirit very •ditferent frorn a e,,ere desire. of- lowering
the prices of admission :—A man in one of the up-
per Boxes, whether from de,ign or acei.lent it is
difficult to say; drop fed oee of rile large piloted bills
directly upon-one or the chandeliers, atti 'at the tno-
xtleti thh peer took fire; there. .vac a shout of
Savage exultation in the Gallery. The Box-keeper,
however, snatched it itinnediately, and -prevented all
danger: It also pfoper to notice that a notorious
Democrat, who is a distiogithheti Orator at one of
the schcii)ls of sedition denominated .Debating Socie-
ties, has, taken Ins station in the Pit, and though he
,has never d livered a' public harangue to the audi-
ence, he_ was very active in exciting 'those who sur-
rounded him to persevere in their ton-1060ns. efforts.
A Writer in a Morning Paper accuses his compe-,
titors ref having shifted their ground, and Of attempting
to cover their retreat by the 'cry of Jacobin. We,'
for our part, have been 'consistent in otif whdle con-
dud.. We never said a• word in favonr'of the inten-
tion of the Proprietors to raise the prices of admis-
sion, because we were assured that they resolved to
present a statement of the concerns of the Theatre
to the Public; we therefore calmly waited till that
statement should be given, determined to oppose it,
it it were not clear and satisfactory. But When we
read the opinion and award of five of the'most.re-
speaable men in the kingdom, eminently qualified
for the investigation, and the elucidations annexed
by the Proprietors to the Report of the 'Committee,
we were convinced of the justice of their cause, and
were anxious to defend( helnglrorn the outrages of the
ignorant, the prejudiced, and the malignant.—We
still think that there are many well.Ldisposed
.persons who oppose the Prof)rietors from prin-
ciple and • true public spirit, but such persons
are not likely to -join in the ferocious cabals
that have hitherto disturbed the public peace,
and would doubtless give Mr. KEMBLE a fair and
an impartial hearing in any .explanation which he
might offer to satisfy the minds of those who have
nothing but the just rights of the public in vie W—
. have no doubt that the public prints which were
adverse to the cause of the Proprietors before the re-
port of the Committee was given, and now appear
on their side, have aced from convidion, and a
due sense of the fatal consequences- which may arise
from these repeated tumults, and we heartily wish
that those writers, who throw out insinuations
against tnen who have soliberally relinquished their
errors, would ad upon the same honourable prirrei'-
, ple. We do not think it necessary to gratify the
turbulent faclion by inserting any more of their in-
flammatory labels, as they areas destitute of and
humour, as of truth and justice.

During the scuffle, last night,. in. the Pit of 'CO-
yent-Garden Theatre, two persons were forced
against the spikes of the orchestra, and much hurt.
One of them, a fine young man, about nineteen
years of age, son of Mr. Lorimer, silk-dyer in the
Strand, received two wounds on the back of his
thigh from two spikes, which_ entered several inches.
—He was with great difficulty brought out of- the
place, and carried home in a coach to his fathers
house, where he was attended, by a Surgeon. - The
wounds are very serious, ,and the young man was in
great agony last night. The other permit was wound-
ed by spikes in the back. -
The cause of such -a number of dollars being now
in circulation is, that thellank- tie:. had 10,0001:

worth of Spanish dollars pew stamped. Thu charge
to; stamping is only oile farthing eaeh.