The Sun.
London, England, 1822-11-28 00:00:00

TO THr.:F.Drron. OF THE CHESTER COURANT.

Siit,—As a friend to the theatrical world, f beg.through the
medium of your communicative paper to ask a few questions,
on the proceedings which took place a few evenings ago at a
public-house, where the constables forced their way into the
room, took indiscriminately all who fell in their way, and drag-
ged them to prison, where they were lodged and treated as
felons, lying upon filthy straw, &c. Mr. Folliott represented it
as a bastile ; the humanity t 1 Mr. Voice, however, is well
known. 1 beg to know; Mr. Editor, is there a law in force to
warrant such proceedings against a few young persons, who
chose to amuse themselves with what is termed ‘private thea-
tricals ?" No money was received at the doors. The scenery,
dresses, and other expenditures, I understand, are defrayed by
the individuals concerned in this little company of tragedians,
who were so unmercifully treated while going through Mr. P.
Lewis's play of the " Castle Spectre.' Poor Angela was
dragged from Earl Osmond by Major Dodd; Hassan' Percy,
Kenrick, Father Philip, poor Alice, &c. were taken by General
Washington and his brigade; the scenery destroyed, dresses.
torn—swords, helmets, turbans, caps, &c. " taken, stolen,
and carried away." I now seriously ask, was this treatment
lawful If so, would it not have been equally lawful to
have sent a body of police officers on Wednesday (the very
same night these persons were taken to prison) to the Royal
Hotel, and taken the whole of the performers and auditors
to jail ?* They received at the doors 7s. tid. per head for
admission, while the little troop Of " amateur actors" per-
formed to their circle of- acquaintance gratis. The magis-
trates are sworn to do justice to the poor as well as to the
rich. In this instance have they exercised their duty fairly ?
It will be urged, perhaps, that there were apprentice boys
there. Admitting there were, why not get warrants for them,
and them alone ? But, no, that was not the way to do the bu-
siness ' • destroy the whole, root and branch ; they are only at
a pot-horse ;—but the er body must be held sacred—they
are at the Royal Hotel. I remember the other day seeing an
account of a company of performers in London treated in the
like manner as this little troop was on Wednesday last ; they
were all seizettand taken under the new Vagrant Act to prison ;
but there happened to be a SHADE of difference in the case--
they were playing for pr yit. while the company in question
were performing for their own recreation, and amusement of
their friends. lam informed that the Mweistrates wished to
get rid of the business, and wash their hands from it in the
best possible way they could, and dismissed them with an ad-
monition to go home, and do so no more."
1 am, your's, &c:
Chester, 23d Nov. 1822.

4' HORATIO.

* 'Whether the seizure and treatment in the manner described
of these theatrical amateurs were legal or not, we shall not take
upon ourselves to determine; but certainly there could be no
foundation for proceeding in this way against the performers or
auditory at a concert qf music, under an Act of Parliament which
is solely directed against persons who " perform interludes, or
entertainments of tile stage."—Em T.

THE SIMPLE RECTOR OF LOW NORMANDY.

" I am very unfortunate," says this Rector to
M. DIDEROT after a long conversation, " to be
Rector of Mont Chauvet, the most melancholy
place in the world, where my talents are buried,
and where I am the only man of genius; besides
there is no society, and my only resource is the
school-master, who is a countryman dressed in
black. lam just arrived from my Rectory, and
am delighted to have become acquainted with a
man of your reputation, that I may ask your
opinion of a madrigal of alrout seven hundred
verses that I have composed." " A madrigal of
seven hundred verses," exclaimed the Philoso-
pher, in a tone of surprize Upon which the
other pulled out of his pocket a large quire of
paper. 'M, D., frightened at the thoughts of
reading it, said to him Sir, I think you are
very much to blame for employing your leisure
on such subjects ; a person of acknowledged ge-
nius like you ought to compose tragedies, and not
amuse himself with madrigals. Allow me then
to tell you that I will not listen to a single verse
of your composition till you bring me a tragedy."
" You are right," replied the Rector, " the truth
is, lam too timid." By this means the Philo-
sopher of the mountain got rid of the madrigal ;
but what was his surprise a few days after, to see
the Rector of Mont Chauvet with a tragedy.—
There was "no escaping, he was obliged to
undergo the reading, and, to make it more amus-
'ing, it was resolved to Invite the Rector to the.
Sunday Society. Behold then the poor Rector
in the midst of a set of wags, all prepared to flat
ter him and to make him a fool if he was not one
already.
The citizen of Geneva alone (Rousseau), with
his invincible honesty, was determined to act the
part of an honest man, and he succeeded so well
that the Rector has taken the greatest dislike to
him. I have no doubt that the reading of the
tragedy would have greatly amused you ; but
the criticisms that were made, and the manner in
which the Rector answered them, you would
have enjoyed much more. In his preface he al-
leges his reasons for not introducing a particular
scene ; he then excuses himself for the resem-
blance which he has been told there is, between
his style and the great Corneille's, and solemnly
protests that he by no means wished to become
a plagiary. After which he said, i❑ the most ri-
diculous way possible, " why he makes an-
goisse rhyme with tristesse," which the citizen at-
tacked. He concluded with saying, that some
people exclaimed 'against the word "Hanon," as
a name which did not sound well, apparently be-
cause of the ridiculous pun of that of ( anon),
an animal so common and so well known.—
" I think," says he, " that a name in itself should
never give offence ; Scripture has made use of it;
its ears are as delicate as ours." All this preface
is written purposely against the Society with
whom he was very much displeased, although he
dissembled ; for with all his vanity, he hasplenty
of deceit. The reading was begun ; every body,
ranged in a circle, was listening attentively.
M. de la Condamine, among the rest, had taken
the cotton out of his ears, to hear more distinctly,
but his patience was exhausted at the first scene.
In the second, the hero appears and complains,
that love torments him day and night, and
.pre-
vents his sleeping. He has however something
to employ him ; he has new enemies, he says,
Quatre rois, vire Dieu, ci-devant rn,2s amis.

Viva Dieu, cried M. de la C--, and why no

(venire Dieu), and, putting the cotton in his
ears again, he went out abruptly. There, said
the Rector coolly, is a man who does not know

that Wive Dieu) is the oath of the Hebrews. In
another passage Ole heroine being entreated by
the hero to make him happy, in order to rouse
him to a sense of honour, recalls to his mind his
former exploits ; she says,
Vous sites arracher ce Saul ses furies ;
Ou ce prince vainqueur de mille incirconcis,
Frernissait que David en etit dix mine occis.

"Ah ! goodness, what a verse," cried the ci-
tizen of Geneva, " and why (occis) .2 why not
(me) 2"—,4 I could answer you," said the
Rector, coldly, " that (hie) does not agree with
(incirconcis) ; but you seem to imagine that 0/0
and (occis) are synonymous ; know, Sir, that they
are not. It is very frequently said, "Get homme vtc

tue parses discours, and we are not occis (killed)
by that." " I own," replied the citizen, 44 that
it would be very disagreeable to be occis, but I
should not care so much for being tue." In an-
other passage the heroine says,

Le roi ne m'offre plus que d'innocentes charmes.

" How, now, Sir," said they, " Marine is mascu-
line." "Ah ! that is the way you take it, Gentle-
men ; well, in the next scene, you will find it
masculine ; I have tried to please every body."
In another part he had made plus rhyme with
superflu. " That rhyme is not perfect," said
they. "Ah ! why ?" he demanded. " Because
super." is singular, and has consequently no s."
" Pardon me," said the Rector, " I have put one."
These are a few instances of the genius of the
Rector ; and what renders it truly pleasing is,
that it is not exaggerated, and there is nothing

more admirable, 'in my opinion, than a character
purely original. Notwithstanding the severity of

these criticisms, they loaded him with praises, but
his vanity was hurt, and he went away very much

displeased with the Society. Three days after, he
met one of our friends, who was his champion
whether right or wrong, during the reading of the

tragedy, as had been previously arranged. lie

made great complaints. "If I associate with
those Gentlemen," said he, " I shall come to

think my verses are insipid ; however, I am well

assured to the contrary, and if they had only

examined their own observations with as much

PRICE SEVENPENCE

severity as they did my tragedy, they would see
that they are insipid. Howevet)• their criticisms
do not frighten me; I depend not for subsist-
ence upon my work, like a mean author. I have
made every verse triple, and I can, as you see,
sacrifice any thing without the least, inconve-
nience." Our friend assured him that the So-
.ciety• admired.his talents exceedingly; but he
would not believe it. "I often saw them laugh,"
replied 'he, " whilst the tragedy was reading,
and it is not customary to laugh at a tragedy
when we are sincere." in fact one of our friends
was attempting. to conceal his laugh with. hi;
hands, and the Rector said to him very sharply,
" You are laughing, Sir," " I, Sir," replied the
other as seriously as .possible," I never laughed in
my life." " In short," said he to our friend,' I -see
how it is; these gentlemen are afraid of works of a
certain description which, may Attract the public
attention ;- they have only their encyclopapa in
their heads, and they are afraid that, tny success
will injure theirs. But the public will knoW
how to do justice to every one.".
This same simple Rector, who wrote. the tra-
gedy which is so well calculated to make one
laugh—this original poet, is at present employed
in another play, called Belshazzar, the subject of
which is the Supper of that King, during which
were written by an invisible hand the memorable
words—

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
Our Rector, who came to bring us his second
master-piece, said the other day • " Gentlemen,
I have discovered an admirable plan for all
plays. For instance, in my tragedy, the ques-
tion is, whether the King shall sup or not • for
if he does not, the hand will not write. Now,
I have only to bring forward the actors, one of
whom wishes the King to sup, and the other does
not, and that alternately. if I am the poet who
wish the King to sup, I speak first ; thus, in the
first act lie sups, in the second he does not sup, in
he third he does, and so alternately to the fifth. If,
on the contrary, I do not wish him to sup, in the
first act he will not, in the second he will, and
so on. That is all the mystery."—(Grimm's
Corre.pcndence.)

FOR THE SUN.

Mr. Enrron.—ln a Morning Paper of last
week we have a long article on the Political and
Commercial Relations of this Country. with
Persia, evidently written by one well acquainted
with the subject, and giving, as far as my infor-
mation serves, a very accurate detail of our con-
nections in the East. Whatever differences may
have arisen between our late Resident, Mr.
WILLOCK, and the Persian Court—and that there
have been differences is pretty evident—l hope
they are now in a fair way of being .made. up :
but certainly the first step is for the British
Government to give assurances that a person who
has made himself disagreeable.to the Sovereign
and Court of Persia, shall not again be forced
upon them as the Representative of Great Britain.
I know nothing of Mr. Wir,r,ocn ; but from the
accounts I have received of his manner of con-
ducting himself, I have no hesitation in saying,
that I should not deem him a fit Minister to be
charged with our important interests in the country
from which he has just returned. And I. there-
fore hope the Government will weigh the circuru-
stances well before they determine on his being
again sent out. lam one, Sir, who, from some
knowledge of the subject, consider our friendly
relations with the Shah of Persia as a matter of
some importance; and if we take a view of the
gigantic strides which Russia has made, in cur-
tailing and hemming in the possessions of her
neighbours, we may have some idea of the
facility with which she may turn her advantages
to good account, should any circumstances
render an attack upon our Indian territories
at all a part of her policy. By her possessions
on the west of the Caspian, Russia completely
outflanks Persia on that side, and bears towards
the Turkish frontier. By her position with her
Turoman allies she also outflanks in that quarter,
and comes in the rear of India. BUONAPARTE
foresaw the natural consequences of such pro-
gress, should it be made, and knowing that
whatever other considerable European Power
Should take the pains to hold Persia in
the closest amity might be able to • keep
the Russians in check, and make their own im-
pressions eastward ; not indeed by bringing their
own European armies to act there, but by having
gained the confidence of the Persian Gornment
to organize and officer the native troops, turn
them to account on whatever side of the Indus
he might stimulate his ally to move—with this
view BUONAPARTE took his ambitious station
in Persia—at that time the British Cabinet
understood these views as well as BUONAPARTE,
and sent out a mission which superseded his mili-
tary Embassy. The Sovereigns of Persia, from
the time of SHAH ABBAS and Sir ROBERT SHIRLEY,
have considered themselves the natural allies of
England ; and we have abundant evidence of
the friendly disposition of the present Emperor,
from the facility with which he withdrew his
confidence from the French mission, and gave
it to Great Britain on the occasion alluded
to. It will require no great effort on our
part to maintain these friendly relations ; and
while we continue our support to that country,
Persia may safely stand independant of any
other ally ; but should England fall off, she must
take care of herself and provide against her old
enemies the Turks, and it is easy to foresee how
indissolvable hereafter might be the bonds which
would then unite her to the similar interests of
her great neighbour, Russia.
London, Nov. 27. H.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

PARIS, DEC. 16.

A Royal ordinance, published in the Moniteur
.of yesterday, augments the artillery of the line :
The total force of a French squadron of artillery
In future is to consist of 26 officers and 935 non-
'commissioned officers and privates, with 149
saddle and 1,280 draught-horses. There are to
be eight of these squadrons ; so that the artillery
• of the line will be composed, in all, of 7,688
men and 11,432 cannoniers.

The Itioniteur of yesterday states as follows :-
44. We are assured that proceedings are ordered
--against the Etoile, on account of an article pub-
lished in that journal of -the 11th of this month
-from the Spanish paper the Indicador. It is said
that the Journal du Commerce is also prosecuted
on account of the insertion of the same article."
- We have no intimation of this intelligence,and
we believe it to be unfounded.---(L'Etode.)
.On Saturday, at four o'clock in the afternoon,
M. the Marshal Duke d'Albufera had the honour
to be received by the Duke d'Angouleme, and
Temained with his Royal Highness nearly three
quarters of an hour.
The Congress of Verona may be considered as
terminated. 'The Emperor Alexander was to set
-Out on the 13th instant for Venice, whence he
will proceed directly to Warsaw. His Imperial
and Royal Majesty has appointed an interview
-With the King of Wurtemberg, at Inspruck, and
another with the Grand Duchess of Weimar, at a
more distant town.—(Journal des Debuts)
It is- affirmed, that the Royal Ordinance, for
the convocation of the Chambers on the 28th of
-January will be published forthwith.
Yesterday his Excellency the Minister for
Foreign Affairs gave a grand dinner. Their
Excellencies the Ministers, the Foreign Ambas-
sadors, and the Duke of Wellington, were present.
VERONA, DEC. s.—(Extract of a Private Let-
ter.)—" Yesterday 'and to-day new conferences
have been held on the subject of the affairs of
Italy. It appears that a final decision has been
adopted respecting Naples and Piedmont. Va-
rious versions are in circulation here respecting
-''the mode in which the gradual evacuation of the
'Sardinian territory has been regulated. How-
ever, up to the departure of this letter, nothing
official on this subject has been published and

:no extraordinary courier has been dispatched to
.Turin. With regard to the kingdom of the Two

• Sicilies, we are assured that it will continue to be
•occupied by the Austrian army, with the excep-
tion of some arrangements which will be made
by the Neapolitan Government, to render the
-presence of 40,000 troops in his territory less bur-
densome. It is thought that the staffs of the di-
visions and brigades, which are very numerously
composed, and which consequently cost the Nea-
politan treasury much, will undergo some reduc-
tions which will so far alleviate the burden of a
foreign occupation. Prince de Metternich re-
ceived another courier from Vienna yesterday.—
The dispatches, of which he was the bearer,
relate to Turkey. The advices from that quarter
must have been of great importance, for the Aus-
• trian Chancellor of Foreign Affairs instantly com-
municated them to Count de Nesselrode. This

latter Russian State Minister, last evening, dis-
patched a courier to St. Petersburgh. It is re-
ported that new conferences will take place on
the affairs of the East, and that the extraordinary
circumstances under which the Empire of the
Crescent is placed, will necessitate great modifi-
cations in the mission that Lord Strangford is
charged by the Congress to fulfil at Constanti-
nople."—(Journal de Paris.)