The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-08 00:00:00

oNDO X, o D,A. v IN G) YMA ft c 1.1 ei) 1847.

AN IMPORTANT LEGAL DIS-
CLOSURE.
(From the Opera-glass.)
COVENT-GARDEN CLOSED AGA SST ITALIAN
OPERA.—MUTUAL CON VENTI

PATENT THEATRES.
If the good faith of treaties have any weight in the moral
estimation of the community—if repudiation of engagement
have not ceased to incur among us an honest English clis.
gust—if deeds are to preserve their legal value, and a plain
commercial transaction to maintain its probity through the
lapse of time—then, through the authentic statement we
have now to make—and the verified legal documents by
which we shall support that statement—the public will arrive
at the conclusion that Covent-garden is, by every code of
justice, closed against the undertaking which it is seeking
to enforce; and that, of public right, there can be no second
Italian Opera in this metropolis—no legal Italian drains but
that which is performed at her Majesty's Theatre.
The story of the circumstances out of which arose, and
upon which were founded, the patents granted respectively
to the three great theatres, in the Haymarket, Covent-
garden, and Drury-lane, must now be, for the first
time, made known to the community; and it will be
seen that what is now her Majesty's, and was, of old,
the King's Theatre, secured to its own, arid shut out
from the other patents, the exclusive right to the per-
formance of Italian opera in. London, by an immense pecuniary
sacrifice—a large amount of money paid in compensation, and
a vast transfer of vested interests—the consequences of which
have all descended, with the deed by which they were exe-
cuted, to the present proprietor, and, through the changes of
property, brought with them incumbrances which he has de-
frayed. That deed, embodying a mutual convention between
the three theatres, and reciting the very stipulations upon
which they obtained their patents in concert, is morally as
binding now as it was then, and must hold its good faith in
public estimation, in spite of the flagrant and daring violation
of it which is being attempted now.
The deed was framed " for the purpose of regulating the
conduct and management of the King's Theatre in the Hay-
market, and for the purpose of paying the debts of the late
Pantheon Theatre, and for other purposes therein men-
tioned." It refers to a most interesting period in our
dramatic history, when Richard Brinsley Sheridan was one
of the ruling spirits ; when Thomas Harris (the
theatrical veteran, so long proprietor of Covent-garden, who
ended his days in rural retirement and rheumatic gout iu that
elegant ground-floor villa called " Kensal Manor," now in
the possession of Harrison Ainsworth); when George
Prince of Wales and the high nobility took warm and per-
sonal interest in the prosperity of the drama; when the
Duke of Bedford was proud of having a national theatre
on his domain, and the Marquis of Salisbury performed the
office of Lord Chamberlain with con amore spirit and a hearty
good will.
The condition of AA* called into action the energies of
all these royal, noble, and distinguished personages. An at-
tempt bad been made, to establish a second Italian Opera at
the Pantheon, in Oxford•street, which had ended in signal
failure and ruin; debt having overwhelmed the project, and
fire consumed the premises. Harris was one of the parties
interested in settling the enormous responsibilities which had
accrued; and Druly-lane, only itself a skeleton theatre,
new building from the wreck of another conflagration,
wanted house room for its company, and leave and license
to perform on the Italian Opera stage. Harris had a dor-
mant patent to assign and legalise this performance, and
for such assignment he sought compensation in sterling
moneys.
The King's Theatre in the Haymarket was selected to
meet the difficulty and to bear the onus of all these emer-
gencies. It was to settle the debts of the Pantheon—to
award Harris a compensation—to give the Drury-lane com-
pany a place of pertbrmance, and to actually disemburse or
encumber its exchequer with a responsibility of about
68,000/. ; the condition being a right in perpetuity to the ex-
clusive production of Italian opera, and a bar in perpetuity to
either of the other theatres attempting the same. And the
value of this condition has been always taken by other pro.
prietors, and was taken by Mr. Lumley, into the estimate
of the value of the property when he purchased her Majesty's
Theatre.
Now here are the incontrovertible facts—facts which, if
they do not startle the Court' of Chancery, force conviction
upon the Sovereign and the LOrd Chamberlain, assume the
form of injunction, and crush an -attempting treason in its
plot, will yet speak trumpntrtnilued to the British public,
and proclaim the truth througn, the land.
The proceedings commenced gust 24th, 1792, as:
" Between William Taylor, Jain Andrew Gallini, William
Sheldon, Robert Burton, John-Needham Williatham,
Richard Brinsley Skeridan, Thomas beet Bray
O'Reilly."
These parties having drawn up a preliminary outline of
arrangements to be submitted to the arbitration and ap-
proval of the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Bedford, and the
Marquis of Salisbury, preparatory to a deed of convention
between the three theatres being founded upon it, this out-
line has been preserved, and is before us; and we make
from it the following extract from the seventh clause :
" It is to be understood as apart of the settlement bond
fide between the three theatres, that the patents of Drury-
lane and Covent-garden shall never be exercised for the
purpose of Italian operas; and,that the Haymarket Theatre
and patent shall be fur Italian operas only, with such occa-
sional aid as has been usual from' balls and masquerades."
The entire outline of these irrangements was laid before
the royal and noble arbitrators In the following form by the
parties interested in their fulfilment :
" We recommend the above outline as a just and honour-
able settlement for all parties.
" R. B. SHERIDAN.
THOS. HOLLOWAY.
AVM. SHELDON."

To which the arbitrators responded:—
" We approve of the same.

" GEORGE P.
BEDFORD.
SALISBURY."
d upon the good faith of the Prince nearest the throne, the
authority of the Lord Chamberlain, and the participation of
the landed proprietor of the Covent-garden domain, the deed
in 1793 was duly executed, is now in the proprietor's posses-
sion, and recites as follows:
"It is agreed, with the consent and approbation-of all the
said parties to these presents, that the said theatre or opera-
house, in the Haymarket, shall bo again exclusively used for
the performing Italian operas, and tor exhibiting ballti,:sitw
querades, musical and other entertainments according to the
original institution tittreof."

The deed goes on—
" And this indenture further witnesseth, that in further
pursuance of the said outline, and for effectually carrying the
same into execution, they, the said R. B. Sheridan and 'l'. S.
Holloway, for themselves respectively, and for their respec-
tive heirs, executors, and administrators, do, and each of
them for himself doth covenant, promise, and agree to and
with the said W. Taylor, his executors, administrators, and
assigns, that from and immediately after the execution of
these presents, the said two Theatres Royal, Drury-lane and
Covent-garden, shall be used only for exhibiting English
plays, tragedies, and comedies, farces and other entertain-
ments such as have usually been given in the same theatres
respectively. And that no Italian operas shall ever in future
be given there."
There can be no mistake about such a document as this
deed, framed fora perpetuity, and by the Act of the three
great theatres in concert excluding one of them—the Italian
Opera—for all time from the performance of the British
drama ; and the other two—Drur --lane and Covent- garden—
equally for all time from the performance of Italian opera.
Upon this mutual convention were obtained the patents
which have been from time to time renewed to the Great
English theatres--which have formed the stronghold of that
very exclusiveness which one of them is now seeking to dare
and to defy—which have been the subjects of so many
popular murmurs, so many dramatic execrations, such fierce
and radical debates in the Commons, and such sturdy de-
fences by the Peers; these patents, which the proprietors of
Drury-lane and Covent-garden have claimed as permanent
and inalienable, exercising towards all minor establishments
the most tyrannous rights of property—which Covent-garden
was loudest to proclaim when its own interests were in jeo-
pardy, and is loudest to abjure now that it is about to per-
petrate on another the injury it once scouted from theatre
elf—
these patents, which, in the case of her Majesty's T
only, secured the aristocracy, when in the cases of the other
theatres they robbed the people ;—well,
these were only
granted in virtue of a convention which, in return for an
outlay of 68,0001., secured to the Italian Opera its solitary
privilege and its exclusive right.
The matter does not seem to be one for the Sovereign or
her Chamberlain, but for the Lord Chancellor of England ;
but even if the deed were by some slaughter of honesty to
be struck dead—if the respect due to the good faith of her
Majesty's august uncle King George IV. were to be violated,
to the detriment of regal authority and the value of a royal
word—if the compact made through the instrumentality of
the house of Bedford were to be broken upon its own ground
of promise—if a succeeding Lord Chamber
melain were asked
one
to
abrogate a property which the arrangent of a former
d
secured—if, in a word, all ties of probity are to be shattered
for the purpose of giving to a Costa what would have been
refused to a Kemble, and floundering a Mario over the ruins
among which a Macready failed—we believe that equity will
gladly step in to stay the robbery and the desecrat
he ion
n, and
, that the law will ratify the natural integrity of t Eglish
people, and vindicate the national fairness of the land.
Nous verrons!—and we believe we shall witness also the
closing of Covent-garden Theatre against the performance of
Italian opera.

A MAN AND A HORSE DROWNED IN TileßcidSenUtßittooEYk
CANAL.—On Saturday forenoon a distressing
place at the Grand surrey Canal Docks, Rotherhithe, by
which a man and a horse lost their lives.
_Bmeitthw, about forty
ten and
eleven o'clock a man of the name of John S
years of age, went with a timber carriage and three horses
to the dock for the purpose of getting a load of timber deals.
In order to get the carriage to the edge of the dock, the man
unhitched two of the horses, and was backing with the one
in
the shafts, when the animal backed farther than it ought,
and the carriage fell over the bank into twenty feet of water.
The deceased, who had hold of the reins, was pulled in with
the horse. The animal, as the carriage drifted about, kicked
and plunged
most frightfully, and having struck Smith a
violent
blow with its feet, the unfortunate man became
andstun-
ed
immediately sank. Mr. Mackinnon, the super-
intendent of the dock, gave orders to have the waters
searched, but upwards of an hour and a half elapsed before
the poor fellow was found, life of course being extinct. The
body was removed to Rotherhithe parish dead-house to await
a coroner's inquest. The carriage and horse were got out of
the water at a late hour of the day, with the aid of floating
cranes belonging to the Dock Company. Smith was in the
employ of a timber-merchant at Paddington, and has left a
wile and two children totally unprovided for.
THE LATE STEAM-SHIP COLLISION.—GRAVESEND,
SATURDAY NIGHT.—The efforts of the Whitstable smack-
men in raising the sunken wreck
by theckoft Royalhescho ovniecrtoßrioss,eh, run
e
down on Sunday morning last
proved most successful. Immediately intelligence reached
them of the accident they proceeded to the spot, and con-
trived, after much labour, in chaining down six smacks to
the wreck, and on Friday she was lifted and carried about a
mile up the river. She there grounded, and the flood this
morning carried the smacks and their burthen on to the
Essex shore at Shell-haven, where there is little doubt all
her cargo, a most valuable one, will be saved. Her appear-
ance externally forcibly shows the fearful character of the
collision, her larboard bows being cut down nearly to her
keel, the deck torn up to a considerable extent, and the
foremast carried away. Captain Webber, the master, who
was saved, and taken into Leith by the steamer, returned to
London last night. It should be observed that the captain
was saved by a bargeman, who picked him up in a boat and
took him aboard of the steamer. With respect to the situa-
tion of the schooner at the time of the collision, we have
ascertained that she was moored close in shore on the Essex
side, out of the way of the general navigation of the Thames.
There were three or four large vessels lying at anchor outside
of her. How the steamer came so close in shore, out of the
proper course, is a circumstance difficult to solve.
A young man, of about 20 years of age, was arrested
on Friday, in the garden of the Palais Royal, after having
seized on a handful of bank-notes at a money-changer's.
He entered the shop under pretext of inquirillg whether a
counter which he presented was gold or not, and whilst the
master of the shop was looking at the piece lie seized on the
notes and took to flight. Fortunately for the money-changer,
k the thief was arrested, and the money recovered.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

MIIITSMOUTH, MAWR 7.—The Sphynx was docked yes-
terday afternoon (the copperinL,, of the Centaur having been
most expeditiouly completed), but the water not having
Leer, run off, the damage she has sustained cannot be all
r.scertatned. That the vessel is much strained is evident, in.
asmuch as the bed-plate and condenser of the enginea- are
both broken, the former in several places. The kelSorrbolts.
are also several of them started up by her thumping on the
rocks. The engines and boilers will have to be entirely re-
moved to repair the injuries sustained by the keel and bottom
planking. The lower part of the knee of the head was car-
ried away on the 14 ult. by the chain cable, when the vessel
went broadside on the shore.

( ANOTHER ACCOUNT.)
TILE RECOVERY OF THE SPRY NI STEAM :?LOOP.—The
recovery of the Sphynx steam-sloop from the fate which
was generally predicted for her, has reflected so much credit
on Captain Austin, C. 8., Commander Caffin, Lieutenant
Thompson, of the Victory; Mr. Bellamy, assistant master
attendant of Portsmouth Dockyard ; Mr. Biddlecomb,
master ; and Mr. Mallard, second master of the St. Vincent,
and the officers and men belonging to the royal navy, and
Mr. Watts, assistant master shipwright, and the officers
and men of Portsmouth Dockyard, that although it involves
a repetition in some respects of what we have already pub-
lished, we shall be excused far giving the following correct
details of an operation which has excited so much attention.
As we have before stated, it is impossible to commend too
I ighly the exertions of all engaged in the arduous task, and
the cheerful manner in which they endured all sorts of pri-
vations. It will be recollected that Commander Catlin, of the
Scourge steam. sloop (a most worthy officer), was at first
sent to assist in getting off the Sphynx. He at once saw the
necessity of mechanical help, and immediately applied to the
dockyard, when Rear-Admiral Parker ordered Mr. Watts to
go to her, taking 50 mechanics of different departments. In
an officer of Mr. Watts's attainments, scientific and prac-
tical, Commander Catlin had a most agreeable colleague, and
no time was lost in consulting on the best means to be
adopted. It occurred to Commander Caffin that they should
avail themselves of the paddle beams and framing to apply
buoyant vessels of some kind underneath, and Mr. Watts
thought a raft of casks or of tanks might answer the purpose.
The difficulty, however, of lashing or uniting them together
sufficiently securely to withstand the immense force of the
rollers and breakers, so common off that part of the island,
was seen, and Commander Caffin then suggested the London
barge, decked over and applied as camels underneath the
paddle-boxes. On this the framing was immediately planned,
and Mr. Watts's designs were received at Portsmouth-yard,
where it—together with the barges—was prepared. In the
first attempt with these barges they failed, in consequence in
part of one of them having received injury for want of suffi-
cient security. Unfortunately it forged a head, and the pump,
which projected up through the deck, came in contact with
one of the bearers of the framing, and ripped up a portion
of it, which caused it to fill. But even if this accident had
not happened, the change of weather would have defeated
them. They profited by this experience, and Commander
Caffin having left, Mr. Watts went to work to remedy and
improve on the first attempt; and Captain Austin having
arrived, determined on carrying out the plans agreed upon.
The barges were found not to possess sufficient buoyant
power, and consequently they were raised upon so as to bring
them up to about 140 tons. Mr. Watts found that the nose
of the vessel, instead of being lifted ever the reef of rocks or
bank, was rather forced into it by the downward action of
the cables when hove upon. To obviate this he had a third
barge or camel prepared, with a framework at the extreme
end sufficiently high that when the cables, hawsers, &c.,
were carried over it, this downward action, instead of de-
pressing the vessel, should produce the contrary effect. To
accomplish this he placed at the opposite end of the camel,
firmly secured to its deck, two strong pieces of timber, kept
sufficiently asunder for the stem of the vessel to pass between
them, so that they forked the stem. Attached to the stem,
immediately over this fork, was a strong cleat on each side.
By the depressing of the end on which the frame was placed
the end next the vessel was raised, and an upward pressure
on the cleats resulted therefrom. Beyond this a great por-
tion of the buoyant power of the camel came into operation.
The undulations of the sea also contributing to increase its
effect. .

The Sphynx, cleared of everything except her engines,
drew upwards of ten feet of water; and the reef over which
she was ultimately carried had not more than six feet on it
at the time. She had twice before been brought up to this
point, and could not be got over it; but on Wednesday last,
by the joint effects of the camels under the paddle-boxes—
the one against the stern, nicknamed the dromedary, and the
two tiers of casks (alias bulls', under the bottom, and main
strength in heaving, she effected the passage. The outer
shoal or reef, on which there was only about. six inches more
water than on the inner, brought her up again. The pur-
chases having been perhaps prematurely detached from the
vessel, not expecting that they would be further required,
they impeded the progress of the vessel over the intermediate
flat, and would perhaps have prevented her reaching the
outer reef in time to get over in that tide, so that the result
would have been the same in either case; thus she was not
got entirely over these reefs before ten o'clock on Thursday
morning.
The "recovered" Sphynx was taken into the Angle Dock
at Portsmouth, on Saturday afternoon, but as it was too late
to get the water out, it could not be seen what damage she
bad sustained in her keel, stern-post, &c. As she made but
little water after she was floated off (about an inch per hour),
her bottom cannot have been very materially injured.
To-day, a large gang of shipwrights will be turned on her,
and we have no doubt but in a short space of time she will
be again fit for commission. Her engine gear having been
nearly all disconnected and brought up to Portsmouth piece-
meal, will also require very considerable repair. The Echo
and Monkey steamers have returned to Brook to collect the
material, hawsers, anchors, &c., which were of necessity left
behind.
With great pleasure we mention the Admiralty Board
had, previous to the getting the Sphynx off the shore,
rewarded the risers and artizans employed on her for
their extra exertions, and the damage done to their
clothes, by a payment of 61. 10s. each, and higher re-
wards to the leading men ; in addition to which all the
bands employed on her recovery Ns ere on Saturday assem-
bled at the Naval College, when a public letter of thanks
from the Admiralty was read to them acknowledging their

services.
The Centaur, steam-frigate, having been caulked and cop-
pawl, was-brought out of dock at Portsmouth, and will take
on board another load of meal for Scotland. She is still
under command of Mr. Davy, of the Caledonia.
The Rattler, steam-sloop,Commander Moorman, is lying
at the mooring of the King's Stairs, Portsmouth, awaiting
the arrival of Lord Bowden. Mr. Grant, paymaster, ap-
pointed secretary to Sir Thomas Herbert, goes out to South
America in her.
The Myrtle, steam-vessel, left Devonport for Portsmouth
on Friday morning.

APPOINTMENTS.
Lieutenant Robert Reid (1843), late first lieutenant of the
Sappho, to the Mariner, 16, at Devonport.
Acting-Master William Thomas Chapman, second master
of 1844, to the Volage, surve) ing Nessel for the Mediter-
ranean.
Surgeon William Folds (1830), to the Royal Sovereign.
Paymaster and Purser C. Little (1835), to the Volage.
Chaplains—Rev. G. Bellamy (1840), to the Ocean, vice
Fielding; Rev. Charles L. Bell (1846), from the Avenger,
steam-frigate, to the Rodney, 92.
Second Master—James F. Tomlin, from assistant-master,
to the Volage.
ROYAL MArtms.—Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Wearing,
Captain Phineas Priest, First Lieutenant John Manger, and
Second Lieutenant John Barlow Butcher, to the Plymouth
division.
The following ships are confidently spoken of as under con-
sideration for forming the chief members of an experimental
squadron for 1847 :
Britannia, 120 guns, 2,616 tons, built by rule in 1820,
stationed at Portsmouth.
Howe, 120 guns, 2,619 tons, built by rule in 1815, sta-
tioned at Sheerness.
St. Vincent, 120 guns, 2,612 tons, built by rule in 1815,
stationed at Portsmouth.
Queen, 110 guns, 3,083 tons, built by Symonds in 1839,
stationed at Devonport.
Powerful, 84 guns, 2,296 tons, built after the Canopus in
1826, stationed at Portsmouth.
Formidable, 84 guns, 2 ,289 tons, built after the Canopus in
1825, stationed at Sheerness.
By a letter from the Hibernia, 100, Captain Richards, flag
of Vice Admiral Sir William Parker, dated off Lisbon,
February 19, we are furnished with the following statement
of a trial of smartness in executing the important manoeuvre
of sending down and sending up lower yards and topmasts
by the fleet then off Lisbon :

-
Sending down. Sending up.
Minutes. Minutes.
Hibernia, 100, Captain Richards (flag) 12 9
Trafalgar, 120, Captain Nott
22 30

Canopus, .84, Captain Moresby
Superb, 80, Captain Corry 23 18
America, 50, Captain Sir S. Maitland 33 381'
Thetis, 36, Captain Codrington 42 28
Mutine, 12, Commander Tryon 27 18
Captain Frederick Wood (1842) died at Southsea yester-
day morning, aged 48. 1-4 was raade a Lieutenant in July,
1821; Commander June, 1838 ; and Captain Septem-
ber, 1842.
Mr. Vincent Pappalardo is appointed Vice-Consul for the
Brazils for this port and district.
The Royal Humane Society of London yesterday sent a
most handsomely-worded certificate, and the committee of
Lloyd's an unanimous vote of thanks, expressive of their
sense of the noble gallantry displayed by Lieutenant Clarke,
R.N., of the Hayling coast-guard station, in rescuing the
lives, at the risk of his own, of nine men belonging to the
brig Gipsey, wrecked on the Woolsners, near Portsmouth,
during the late gales. Lieutenant Clarke was Admiralty
midshipman (supernumerary in the Leander frigate for a
passage to join his proper ship, the Pactolus) at the battle of
Algiers, where he was wounded in the left arm. lie has lost
five brothers in action in the naval service of his country.
The Undine steam-vessel, Master. Commander Allen, is

rilaced under the orders of Commander Crispin, of the Royal
achts, and will be employed chiefly as a dispatch-boar, and
relieve the Fairy frequently in the duty of conveying h
Majesty's papers, letters, &c., during the sojourn of the Court
r
at the Isle of Wight.
The Britannia, 120, has been hauled down from her moor-
ings, it is asserted, to be prepared for commission by Captain
Sir James Stirling. This ship has been four or five times in
commission, whereas neither of those fine 120's, the Nelson
or the Neptune (although the former has been lying in this
harbour ever since she was brought from Woolwich in 1814,
and the latter ever since she was launched at this port in
1832), have ever hoisted a pennant.
The St. Vincent, 120, Captain Milne, flag of Admiral Sir
C. Ogle, Bart., Commander-in-Chief at this port, is about to
have a thorough overhaul and refit. She will have entire
new rigging, which she will commence being fitted with to-
morrow morning. We expect to see her at Spithead by the
latter end of May.
The Favourite, 18, Commander Murray, was at Sierra
Leone on the 18th of January, all well ; and the Kinfisber,
12, Commander Horton, at St. Helena, on the 11th of
January.
The -Rapid, 10, Commander Galwey, was cruising off
Benguela on the 2d of January, in company with the Espoir,
10, Commander Hand, which latter was under orders for
England, and was to proceed round the coast to commu-
nicate with the different officers in charge of the cruising
grounds. She is to come home in company with the Cygnet,
the latter in a leaky state. They may both (says our let-
ter) be expected at Spithead in April. The Kingfisher
gave a parting dinner to the officers, and three cheers when
they took their departure. Commander Galwey, of the
Rapid, has come home invalided in a merconhboard the ant vessel, which
has put into Penzance; he King-
fisher, which took him to St. Helena. All healthy on the
Benguela station. The Wanderer, 14, Commander Somer-
ville, was at anchor off Sierra Leone at the above date. She
was to have received pratique about the Ist of January, the
fever having left the ship. Commander Galwey was much
beloved and respected by his officers and men, who wit-
nessed his departure with deep regret.
The Myrtle steam-vessel, Master-Commander Battiston,
arrived from Plymouth yesterday morning.
The Aid, navy lighter, arrived yesterday with stores from
the eastward.
(From the Deronport Independent.)
Her Majesty's steamer Volage, was commtssioned on Mon-

* And ant flubbed at that time,