The Sun.
London, England, 1804-01-12 00:00:00

NEWCASTLE THE

A Competition has recently started against Mr.
trEPHEN ICEmzt,e, who has lung had the dire Lion
of the Newcastle Theatre, in consequence of which
he has submitted the following manly Address to the
Proprietors at large. The secret mover of this at-
tempt to deprive him of the management, is sus.
pe4ed. to be a man who was formerly on the stage,
and I.y
who as chiefly instrutiental in getting the
Edinbiiigh-Tyleiitre out Of the hands of Mr. STE-
Plitt; lc aritß LE. There are one hundred Proprietors
of the 'rhe'atre at Newcastle, most of whom are in
habits of friendship with Mr. xptAire, so that it
'Can only be expeded that this new attempt of phi.
',tate malevolence will terminate in mortification
and defeat.

" LADIES AND 46ENTLEMENj
•
igc li4 consequence of the Advertisement in the
sTeweastte ChrOniele and Courant, respeaing the
Theatieltoyal, I take the libertyf o intreating that
ei-,ou - will have the
which is adV goodness to attend the Meeting,
ertised to be held at the Shakespeare
'Tavern, on Thursday, Jantiary i ith, i >30.>30.}.0.
I ; Meeting takes place, I hope I shall
be allowed an opportunity of answering any thing
that • may be alledgett against my condua ; and I
shall make a point of attending at the Shakespeare,
in perfea Confidence of this favour being granted
to me.
. ," As some serious proposals are intended to be
brought forward at the above Meefing, permit me
to say that I have, as Manager of your 'Theatre,
omitted non pportunity of gratifying the Public • in
proof Of which ;might be adduced a long list of I.:on-
don Performers ceeasionally engaged at a very con_
expense. I believe there is searcely.one
Performer Of erninenee in either Theatre who has
hot, dO.ritig my Management visited NewcaStlee
" Whenever the Theatre could he; rendered use-
ful to the Public, I have readily resigned all pro.
6pea of emolument on such ocCasionS.
" I have now been yodr tenant during the best
thirteen years of my life; I oven I have no wish to
leave you--I am rather too far advanted to form
new connexions; and I have very many friends in
l Newcastle that I should much regret being parted
from; added to this; a great deal of my property
would be rendered useless; on account of its having
bseen prepared solely for this Theatre. It will have
vetorel.ne Weight, I doubt not; with several of the Pro.
s, when the--
y are infornied that I gave Mr.
umbels roo6l. when I entered into the 'rhea.
tre ; and though it was but a yearly tenement, yet
I was kindly assured; by several Proptietors, that
it was exaaly as good as a lease, for that I never
Should be removed without some very sufficient
cause !--I am unconscious of having givenlahy.
" Some persons have said that the Company is
not a good one : I
.know it is impossible to please
every body ; but I declare I have always endeavour.
ed to have the best Performers that were to be_pro-
e_ured; and the Salaries I
pay them entitle me to
have
as respeaahle a Company as any Provincial
Manger :—lndeed, when I
last winter, ever performed in London
cerned with had e Y Person of the Drama I was con-
;
castlefrequently aaed with me in New_
the char4aers the
bT y then were representing.
ehelhs .tiisn'suat least'
.o"e'proof that I have not always
itave.now.hcceen lessful in my seleaion of Performers.
40 years at my trade ; and, without
Pretendihg tO any superior intelleat I think I ought
to kno.tv
good workmen : and, if I have any .judge
meat, the present Newcastle Company is, at least,
as g•Jod as any Provinci4 Company in
dom. the,King.
" I have been informed that some persons have
pton at my having altered the theatrical
season ; this step was not taken by me,
suggestion of a Committee Of the
Proprietors' who
but on the
kindly advised
e.o.n
me to the
more
beneficial to the c• measure, as likely to be
sea:mn as usual *ie. Had I opened the
conta , in Oauher, when it was said that a
gious fev6 was raging, and when also most
of theyourtg men were laudably, employed in even-
itn.; drills, what coul I expeE but total ruin ? Yet
evets•-this d•
I should have encountered, but for the
previous suggestion of the Committee, rather than
have run the risk of displeasing any one.
ii
" When the Proprietors have weighed all flies" t
Considerations,' cannot allow myselfto believe
that
they Will think a Stranger has an equal claim with
\ me to bid for the Theatre : For if, as I understand,

it is iot::-%!eci to be let to the best bidder, .there can
be no doubt !bat many will prese.ait themselves, who
• will gladly °Fr v R any thing, and certainly much
more th:in it would be prudent 'in me to Bite.
" The standing scenery, Ladies and Gentlemen,
not being my own, I had no power either to alter
or renew : it is your property. That your scenery',
after fifteen years service, though-ail possible care
has been taken of it, should decay, can excite no
very great wonder ; indeed it is matter of surprise
that it has lasted so long, Considering that the
Theatre is let to all sorts of people, and for all oc.
casions, when-I am absent ! I assert that more in-
jury is done to the scenery and painting one of
those extra.nights, than in ten of the regular the-
atrical season ; added to which, the Manager's
property rarely escapes being much damaged, and
is very frequently purloined. Indeed the scenery
is now in such a state as to require entirely. new
painting, nor can the Theatre be creditable to any
one concerned in it, till it has received this em_
bellishmer\t.
" The Magnificent chairs, sofa, &c. once so ot%
namental to the stage, I had new gilded and
thoroughly repaired, at my own cost, only two
years since ; but they are now again, in a great
measure, either broken or destroyed.
" The covering of the seats in the boxes is either
worn bare, or else in such a state as to be no
longer fit for use ; some of the benches too have
fallen ; the matting is also ragged and dirty ; and,
in short, the appearance of things altogether is
not at all befitting Abe opulence and elegance of this
great town. 1.4

" These particulars I mention with regret, as I
well know, from experience, that they cannot be
remedied without a considerable expence, much too
great indeed for an individual, who is no more than
a tenant at will, to undertake ; nor can I allow
myself to suppose, cotisidering the liberality with
which I have always been treated) that it ever was
expeded I should do it.

" It only now remains, Ladies and Gentlemen,
for me, to say, that if, after a trial of me for thirteen
years, upon a calculation of the expence it will cost
to put the Theatre into as handsome and as good
repair as it was the first hour it was opened, you
will do me' the honour to entrust me with such a
lease as you shall judge will make the undertaking
on my part prudent, I will willingly engage to pay
every shill to which the repairs may amot3nt-7.
and further agree, that whenever the time shall
arrive, either from the expiration of the lease, or
any other cause, that I am compelled to leave the
Theatre, it shall he put, at my expence (all reason-
able wear, &c. allowed), in equal good condition.
" I am, Ladies and Gentlemen,
'' Your obliged and obedient Servant,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, " S. KEMBLE."
Dee, 31, zBo3.

It is reported (upon what authority we know not)
to be the intention of Government to prohibit horse_
racing throughout the United Kingdom during the
war.

The Privy Council we understand have closed
their investigations respelling the Charges exhibited
against the late Governor of Ttinidad, but the re,
suit is not yet made public.

The following melancholy fart is related by a
young Prussian, who landed a few days ago at Hull,
in his way to London, whither he has been sent by
his parents for the purpose of attaining improve.
menc in an eminent mercantile house in that city—
Needy two years since, a young lady, then resident
in the neighbourhood of Ravensberg in Westphalia,
the very evening prior to her intended marriage
with the son of a respe&able and wealthy inhabi-
tant of the same distritf, suddenly disappeared from
-her family and home, and it was generally supposed
had eloped with a rival of her deatined spouse, he
having absented himself the same evening. The
disappointed and disconsolate lover, as may naturally
be supposed, suffered severely in his health, and had
nearly been thrown into a state of mental derange-
' ment ; but time, aided by the anxious care and soli.
citude of his relatives, at length prevailed, and the
young gentleman endeavoured to bury in oblivion
the supposed inconstancy of his mistress. One day,
hoWever, in the late summer (184 while he was
diverting his melancholy with the amusement of
hunting, his favourite dog accidentally came to a
kind of hillock in a forest of Westphalia, where it
set tip a dreadful howling and barking, at the same
time scratching violently among the earth, and,
notwithstanding its master's utmost endeavours to
diaw it off, would not quit the spot. Alarmed at
this uncommon incident, the Gentlemen procured
the aid of some inhabitants of an adjacent village,
and .returned to the place, where they found the
sagacious animal still employed in scratching up the
earth, and howling hideously. By the help of spades,
&c. they quickly removed the soil ; but the feeling
mind will recoil at the recital of the shocking dis.
covery then made--.--the youth stood petrified with
speechless horror un beholding the mangled corpse
of the woman he once loved most ardently, and
whose loss he had lung deeply deplored. We think
it unnecessary to dwell too long on a subjea so
truly dreadful and melancholy ; suffice it, therefore,
for us to state, that a strong suspicion immediately
attached to the fugitive rival, which was strengthen.
ed by the fad. of his never having returned since
the period of the fatal catastrophe. Every exertion
was instantly made, in order to discisver his re-
treat, ant.l he was at length traced to Paris ; 'an 'ap-
plication was, in consequence, made to the Police of
that city fur his apprehension; but it seems a re.
!nurse of conscience had operated so powerfully
upon him, as to induce the guilty wretch to enlist as
a private soldi'er in a French regiment of the line,
hoping, by that means, to bury himself iirobscurity,
and escape an -ignominious punishment.—We are
sorry to add, that his hopes have not been disap-
pointed ; for the Chief Consul has hitherto resisted
every application, and adually refused to surrender
him to justice, allcdging that the laws of France
bound him to protect every individual that may seek
an asylum in its territories—But his Consular
nest would have verged more closely, upon the truth,
had he plainly declared that he deemed such diaboli-
cal assassins the fittest instruments to' be employed
in the execution of his Own villainous and sanguiesery
projeas.