The Sun.
London, England, 1810-03-17 00:00:00

THE ALIP THEATRE.

. „ •
Yester4riv rhoreinz: the Lords of the Council,
• ceniistine of the 'Loki Putzsideot, -Earl of Ayleseare.,
Tad 'debit Tlicunee MaSter
t!e• Mr Trevor, and Mr,
Sheridan, rnet for the nureoSe"of healing Counsel
,in behalf of the Lord Mat he and others, fora Char-
,ter or Patent ebr a third Theatre in London'. • •
Mr; PAM. K.N en, the Clerk of the Ciuncil, open-
er; the .t...,eese :Ny 'rearing the Petition of the Los d
Mayor,' '&c. praying tri be heardby Counsel, against.
the AttorneY anti -Solicitor-Generai's.- Report ; and
also to stregeet means by' which the Creditors I.vOettf
always be safe as to any dent ehe Theatre might
film.' Mr. Fawkner also lead' the Attorney. and
Soacitor-General's "Report, which states, that ifa
Ceerter was granted to the persons, applying, it
would be placing them in abetter sluation than the.
other legelmateTheatreS already established.
Mf..-NVieettEN, Counsel in behalf of the New
Th&.tre; acidreSsed their Lordships at considerable`
lehgi He stated thai 'it would be hard if Kicg
Cheri s the Second, who granted these Ritetits, had
taken the power out of the hands of All succeeding
Ki' gg, to establish:Theatres by Charter or by Patent.
as they should think proper. That, in faCt, it was
not intended at the time the Patents were originally
granted, that there shoukl be only two Theatres,
but in,:e ,o restrain play-aEting, as before that
time, th rp wfrie a' least between 40 and 50 play-
houses in LOndon and its snburbs, and the Parents
.granted by Charles the Second were intended that
the Drama should be, regularly attended to; as well
,for the sake of morality, as of the amusement of
the public. Mr. W. then called their _Lordships'
attention to. the great increase of the population of
the Country, and stated that it was not only the in-.
habitants ot the cities of London• eand Westminster
that- visited TheatreS, but persons from all quarters
of England, which increased the population ot Lon-
don to-1,000,000, and how could the Theatres al-
ready established entertain even a small portion of
that. 'number i Many.people were deterred from
'going, •to Covent• Garden• Theatre, because they
could not get room or hear 'a single 'word that was
• He addressed their Lordships personally, and
said, when they wanted to go to the' Theatre they
hau every care taken to preserve places for them,
but the middling claSs Of people, or those _ who go
by chance, experienced every l ossible inconve-
.niecice. '"As. to there being no security to the
creditors, 10' do away that die-Boulty; if their
Lordships Would be pleased. to recommend
the •gi.airting, a, Charter, they would pledge them-
selves to deposer in the. Ban-k, or in the .bands,
or the Trustees, the sum of 40 or 56,000 i. to pay at
• any time claims on theTheatre, should it not sue-,
eted, and place the house and property so as the
creditors might lace llieir demands satisfied by exe-
cution on the premises. Mr, •W. then 'stated that
the. Newl.;lleatre should be byilt so as 'to accOmttio
da:e all-classet of peoplo'e tart, Trot on so large a scale
as the Theatres of the preSent day ; he also men-
tioned that- all atietition would be paid to the mo-',
rarey and good order.of the concern, and concluded
by praying that their Lordships- *ould be pleased to
great a Charter of Incorpbratien -for acting legiti,
mate drama, &c. &c.
FAwnNEK:lben read a Pelition presented by
'Mr. Grey-Mt-, -which stated •that lie had long had it
ire .onteoi, 1 ition' to creel a third Theatre in Lon-
don; and as long ago as April last, he wrote to Alr.
Percevalon the subject, re9uesting his-advice as to
the propriety of .brineing a Bill ieto Parliament for
that purpose, who ietureed for aitswer,. that it was
then too far advanced in the SesSion to present any
-Petition for priVate Bill, and that if it wa, pre-
sented, ha (Mr. Perceval) did not think it would
succeed. the Petition also states, that Mr. Sheri-
dan Avoeld give his assistance; and that the
eriesent application was endeavouring to wrest frOm
him a boon that he already received from the Lord
Chamberlain by a lieenSe. The Petitioner states
that he had been,twenty-five, years in his Majesty's
service,- and' being of an a6tiveemind turned his
thoughts to' the 'Drarna and Polite Arts, and con-
cluded by praying that his Majesty would not grant
a charter to the Petitioners,- but that if a third The-
atre was necessary,. lie had a claim prior to theirs.
Mr. FAWKNER then read a Petition front Mr.
Sheridan, principal PrOprietar of the Theatre Royal,
•Drury-later :it slated a gereral history of the The-
etre. The Petitioner stated that he heard. with
astonishment and iocredulity that a plan was in,
agitation tot tak ng adVantage of -the present situa-
lion of Drury-la: e Theatre, and thereby. destroying
the means and the pessibilitY -re...beading ihe said
lleettrerned on which property much exceeding the
sem "of 300,0001. had been embarked 5. and that
such a pioposition should have'olatained the sanction
of respeetaele subsc'ribers. The, Petitioner states
the; the present applicants have. abandoned. their
• P, ti ion to the. House of Cothinons, And prayed -to
1.1:i heard by liimscdfor‘Coutisel.
Mr. FANyKNIIR readara Petition from Mrs. Sheri-
dan, the wile of Mr. Thomas Sheridan,-to the same,
effeee, which stated that Mr. T. Sheridao was in
Spedn oil account of ill health, -aed praying to be
heard by Ceunsel•
Mr. FA‘v KNen read a Petition
,from Mr. Elliston,
of the BeYal Cirens. This petition sta:ed that
Mr. Elli. ton laid 2,4001. a year for the rent of the
abo‘.e Theatre awl that by granting a third Thea,
ere, it would infringe Upon •lris property •: and that
ire consetiCeticc of an additional authority' lately
reeled him by :the LOrd Chathberlain, he'had
gaged 'Eijneinbert-of persons at. a considerable ex-
p uce and praying that his Majesty would not
eront °barter or Patent.
Mr....Cut:wool) then followed Mr. Warten for
New Theatre„arid Said, that what was
•
Sheridan's Petition was not. a •fa6t as
to les being taken by surprise ; so
,far. from it.,that
cummunicatioAs 4ad been made pa the
f±prietors of both Theatres, froth. the Committee
-61 the ikendeil New Theatre ;• and as to their
i.ixku7roning their Petition in the House of Conituons,
in t the...Viele Hdo2.Gentleman (Mr. Sheridan) must
knoe that it was. necessary for them CO get their
l'etii ion into the HOese on a particular day, or else
be" 4xchl !cc,' _ for the 'Sessions. After this, Mr.
Sheridan; quitted the Churl', ,

Mr. CURWOOD then entered into a long history
of she Stage, fro .1 the.rcign of Queen Anne;. and
co ,tended that the-Lord Chamberlain had no power
over the present Theatres, and that tbe.assumed
power of the Lord Chemherlain-.over the „Play-
bonSes, originated by King Charles having' a com-
pany of performers in pay as servants, Who wore his
livery, and, acted in every respect as such. He
tploted a ininilier cases tOAhe present ap-
plication,-and concluded by saying, that the present
Covent-Garden Theatre. ,was SO very inconvenient,
that any of their Lordships, and the female part of
their families, could not. go in or out of the' Theatre,
without being annoyed by a certain description of
persons, and _that it was the intention of the archi-
led to build robbies, Bre.- so as to remedy that
great inconvenience.
Mr. ADAM then addressed their Lordships on 'be-
half of the Proprietors of Covent-Garden Theatre,
and Mr. and Mrs. Sheritran. He briefly stated,
that what had been said on the other -side convinced
him more of the impropriety of granting a Charter
.for a thud Theatre, as his Learned"l'riends had said,
that they should have a capital of from- foity to fifty
thousand- pound4.always at hand ; -and that there-
fore :he agreed.. with the Attorney and Solicitor_
General that: it. would be giving a great advantage,
to the IS T e‘ii Theatre over the old ones. Mr. Adam
conQltided With a pathetic address to their Lordships'
feelings reipcaing the injury the granting the Char-
ter would be to Mr. Sheridan,•and the other Peti-
tioners.

Mr. RANDLE& JACKSON presented himself oh be-
half of the Trustees of Drury-Lane; but the
speeches of the other learhe 1 Gentleihen having.-
oLcopied :three hours," their Lordships adjourned. the
further hearing of the question to a future day.