The Sun.
London, England, 1811-12-07 00:00:00

THE GREAT PERFOIVPIER,

We have several times been indebted to -a very
atUnsing and instinctive periodical work entitled
THE PROJRCTOR,. and we hail - now indulge our
'Readers with another extra} from the same inge-
nious miscellany. The' ass; eis applicable to an
expected theatrical perfoi'mer of extraordinary wag-
' nitude and importance:' It is observable, however,
that Mr. PROJECTOR; when he wrote4he following
article, was as little of a propheras Dr. JOHNSON,
,on wl> >se short-sightedness he animadverts, as to
,the course. of events, and the, nature of the perform-
ers who are destined to grace the-Stage. at this en-
lightened period of our theatrical history,

Nearly. a century ago, come of my predecessors,
who were not tame Spectalors of what went. for.
.ward in the world at that time, pereeiving among
the play-going people of their days, predileaion
for the animal Creation, proposed the introdation
ofsuch beasts and birds as might appear properly
qualified to fill up certain parts in the drama. But
this scheme, although Well recommended, and
clearly demonstrated to be practicable, even on a
very extensive scale, fell to the 7,round, The pub-
lic at Ihrge:was not yet ripe' for so great a revolution,
nor disposed to S'eu plays acted without some decent
proportion'of the human species on the stage. The
record of it, hoWlever, remaining in print, the ma-
nager of one of our heatres laid bold
.of it, studied
it with great 'attention, foresaw the , possibility of
success, and the strongeSt probability of 'profit, and
determined to attempt a revival of the sch,eme, by
adding a Newfoundland dog to the other performers
of a' new opera, which was, in thetheatrical phrase,'
to be got hp with all the strength, not only' of the
, house, brit of the kennel. An author was accord.'
ingly employed who could write a part
.suited to the
talents of this dumb candidate for public applause ;
. and a fable was invented such as ntight exhibit a dog,
to the greateSt. advantage. Flow well the ichenie
has succeeded, the most crowded audiences of mo-
dern fillies, in. the largest theatre ever built,.have
imply testified every night since the. first appearance
of this hold projed,
It has not,' bout ever, boo unanimously applaud
ed by the critics, from whoht, perhaps, perfect 134.
nimity i. Pot to be expOird an'y case. Some. 4
them adruit the i'ogeotri:ty white (Ivy doubt i
linallty df the plan, and wish to' rlolind us of the
learned dogs and pigs, which tits,

. _
the 'auspices of St. Bartholomew' have for warty,
years vxhibited Smithfield, "'Among the'se'critica.
of met/Wry and rehealoh; nay readers • may suppose,
from what hasAiready been advanced, ithit I 'am to be
classed. But diet e are others vklea think proper'to
represent the intrvitOtion or clop, as iitt iitsnif,t6
the dignity 'of the drama, an infringement of the
rights of..man, and probably as the first slop to The
entire* expulsion gif thelminan here I beg
leave to plow : I cannot, hastily ~atbsciThe to tW,se
opinions. I have not that oitick apprehension of
the dangers of innovation' Which plompts soma po.
litioians to look always to ektreme cases. With
whatever view the managers introthiced this actor
(and my private opinion is, that they had but one
imetition), T am inclined to think that much ray
be said in favour of the experiment, and much
, good may be expetted, if it can be Cal tied on to What
our new philosophers call perfeetiOdity: lam cer-
tain, at least, that in this conjeaute I shall have the.
approbation of that ingenious and long7sighted phi-
losopher, who declares, that he can conceive the
happy. days when a plough may perform its opera-
lions in the field, without the impulse of man or
horse. Surely a much Jesserfort may be sufficient
. to render a. dog. as good an aaor as some whobave,
in the hills, enjoyed that title for a much longer pe-
riod., This, I trust, I may venture to affirm, if the
mere question of ability is cdhstdered ; but there
mother weighty points to be attended to. Al-
though the managers May &serve censure for arro-
gating to themselves the iovenlkirraf a very 'old
scheme, yet if it tends equally :tot
.their advantage,
and to.tlte amusement and 'ietioecl taste of the pub-
lic,(which seems to be the case in the present in-
stance), we ought to: make' every possibility alloW-
ance,..extend our fOrgiveness, and hail the day on
'which we shall have seen a British Theatre become
a place of " Entertainment for man and beast."
In thisarue spirit of candour, then, Valready fore-
see,. that although. mere profit, is, the only ostensible
objea, oar managers have a, much deeper design in
prosnea, by which the public will ultimately be a
Kohler, It 14,Weil known that, of late years, by
what, succession of causes we shrill not now.iiignire,
"the salaries of perlbrtners have beon,?augtrtemed.
truly eportrieu4ly. We hear,Of 201.' and sometimes
of 301. per oight, pa the salary,ol,,dertain ladies and.
gentlerwn. It is evident that, without a suitable
encouragetnent on the part of the public, the treasta=
ries of our Theatre's. mat soon be exhausted.; and.
the fail is, as lam credibly informed, that the phb-
lie has, in many instances, been ao remiss in their
patronage, that very great losses. have been sustain.
ed.. :Another consequeece ,pC this liberality on one
side; and shyness CHI the other, or, to, speak politi-
cally, this fatal disproportion betwixt expenditure
and receipt, has be..e.ia the confntation of. that pleas-
ing ide4 that great. ttalarietruake great performers.
In this view of the matter, it tuust be obvions,
that the introduction of four-legged actors,Avhoare
equally popular, i. e. draw us fell houses (which
has been the chat in the instance before us), most
bel prodigious saving.

(To be continued.)

A most intrepid ;Ind i:inguinary battle was 'fought
on -lieeehy Cotinnon, about five Mika from Dor-
cheater, on Wednesday, fui 50 guineas a sidi, 'be-
twixt Henry Janson, a miner, icon) Somerset-
shire,.and William Thorn, a seientitie.man, of no-
toriety, at. ,fisty-ctilfs, During the firstiineen
ml-
sluts of the tight, the science Thorn, possessed gave
him a decisive odvantage by, hittinti his antagonist
flush on the head, right and. left. Weight, added
to,extrente, gluttony, however, was ultimately ser.
livid, and oh tin first symptoms of weakness exhi.
bii'ed by Thorii, in %vat hit about the body until he
was, to all appemance, lif,:desq,; and When lie re-
sighed, he wt4s unable r() supptar himself.,. The
miner fought at the body with the right Innid, and
slight at the head with rho left. .S'evetal hutt-
driid spe6takors welt' pre eh t.

4..11P REPORT.

COURT OP KING'S BENCH, Dtc. 5.
' ,IPAGA V, CORDRS.

This was an action for a malicioup pro4ecution.
The defendant had indictud the plaintiff at the Ses..
charging him with habing'iniudulently de-
ceived the defenclaot, and obtained money from him
under false prettinc,s, by selling hint ground-rents at
more than their vnire., The. dedaration
.bring in-
lorinal, the Wonld,,have•b•en noti-sulted ,
.ELi.ENBOLOUPp. rep h d
ro_att— the sirosecu.
tion, which was very ptopoly ihe subject of the
plesent action, and scootcd the' idea of indiding a
man' for obta,ning Money under 'false 0-etences.opou
questions of the value of
..real pntrpert,,. thought
that each party should Si, down with his own costs,
and rocornm,ehded toe k% ith.,raw,ment of a juror.

were some rem..iins of the erroneous principle laid
down in Co i hetes ca e, in which it was held that a
woman havit,g.a separate rnainienarice,. was:on that
account deprived of her righis as a femme eauverte,
had not been completely exploded. j,ordShip
had
.no. fear wpatever in direting. the-Jury in this
case, to find for the defendant, being-:Siiiihfied that
she was entitled to be regarded as ajimitin
• .
verte.

, .
Mr. GARitow `'aid, in .that case he thust_defer to
his LordshiPis'opinion,.attd should.thcrefore consent
to be called.

THE KING V. MOUNT.
This alSo was a prosecution by the_ Corporation
of ,London, as COnservators of the River Thames,
agaiSt• the defendant, an Anehor-smith in 'Shadwell,
whOse premises %vete connefied with the river, for
leaving anchors 'and hearths of ships made of . iron,
on the bed of . the ricer opposite to his premlies, to
the great danger :of boats and small- craft 'winch
might:chance to pass that way, while the articles in
question were covered by the water:. -
GtritNEY for the defendant; confessed he had
no defence against the prositaulioti. The defendant
conceiving, however, that the terms proposed to
him were rather severe, thought himself, entitled to
.avail himself of an objection in point of. form.—
The nuisance was stated to htfve been in the parish
of St. John at Shad well ; now,,on lookinL; into the
AA of the sth of iry, he found that
this` palish was erected as the,prish of Si. itihnof
and that it had been sodeseribed in every
succeeding -Statute.
The Jury found the defendant guilty, subjea ti
the'opinion of the Court on the
.poiut ut 11•. v.

WILSON V. ,Ntro:x.
This was an aEtion brought, to recover a eotnpen-
satiorr in damages for an injury sustained by tke
plaintiff, by, reason of the, negligenee- of the
fendant'a servant, in • carelessly driving a cart or
.the plaintiff was an eminent ;Surgeon, and suc-
cessor of ale .late -DG.I--4lnter •in his ,Anatothical
f.:.eures,; the defendant& were Messrs,-Aleuxi and
Co,. eminent brewers in this City.
• appqared. that in the mouth of May list,. the
plaintiff was driving' his giolong the King's-road,
when .a , single-horse earl or ditty belonging' to; the
defendants, laden empty beer-casks, came
drivhig along at, a ,illl7iotlS rate; the driver was sit.
itig .on the shaft, without holding .the reins, and the
horse being-unmanageable, • the cart, came in con-
teal with the plaintiff's, gig, broke the wbeaand
shafis,',and Anew hint on the.back 91 his horse, in
consequence, of which,, he received a contusion on
the eye and. mast, , and, apiained ids • liand;L'ao that
the fortper,waa, black,,and,,the latter in such.a state
that, for some days, he was unable to pay' the, or-
dinary attention to his pgient&i.and preventedirom.
performing any of those operations for %%quell. !leis.
so peculiady en)irwiit. The, repairs of the.4ik
amounted to seven hounds odd.
Mr. GAilans,vii; c(, fence was, that -his clients were
not answerable in the.preSent, athioll, inasmuch as
this
,was an .accidelit .which might .occur•- to any
man, and for which Aio• one. was ansi,verable, . the'
fact being, that from something which ',frightened
the•horse, he became. Unmanageable and. ran away,
in spite of all the Oi,irg and estertions of the driver ;
but, if the driver was to' blame, he could only re-
peat the observation-of the late Mr. Whitbread,.
that they could tiot,get Gentletiseri to drive drays.
, Lord ELLaritsonopq*l said, if there had been an
omission of oidinary eartin thequanagensent of his
'horse by the' driver, :his•employer was certainly an-
swerable. It appeared that this dray was coming
along at a full gallop, and no reins in the hands of
the driver to check the horse's speed and prevent
accident, 'there was, 'therefore, an omission of due
and. ordinary care on the part of the defendants'
servant, for which they were responsible, and. the
Jury would give such, reparation in damages, as the
nature of the case and situation of tbeparty entitled
him to.
• • The Juiy,
.after a short, consultation, found 'a
verdict for the plaintiti.,-Darnages 301. and keSts.

•
The fallowingAs extraaed from a letter, dated
Charlestown, Sept. 12', .118 1 :
On Monday this city was visited by one of the
most awful 'dispensations of Providence. About
half.;past twelve o'clock a gale commenced at N. E.
and changed (torn `thence :to N.N.E. and blew with
much violence during the night, accompanied at in-
tervals with heavy, rain. Yesterday morning the
wind 'veered back into the N.E. and at ten 'o'clock
was at East, and lulled a little. At i 1 it in-
creased again, and bleW with great vielence.
being
.clirealy, in upon the city with a rising tide, the
Shipping and small craft began to feel. it very se-.
vereiy. About lialf•past twelve it became suddenly
calm for five minutes, which was followed by a tre-
mendous tornado, which passed.: through the city in
the direction from S. to W,'destroying every
• thing in its course. Houses, recces, trues, tn 'short
every thing that came within` its vortex, which,: ge-
nerally speaking, did not exceed a breadth of '5O
yards,,were levelled to-. the ground. The scene ut
desolation marked by itidestruCtive progress is be-
yond description. Many lives, were lost."
• Three French prisoners, that made their escape from
prison, were taken up at Plymouth on Tuesday
.by.
the town 'serjeants. while loitering near 'the gully,whence they intended, 'in tile night, to have sbolen
some straall vessel, and made • towards, the French
coast.

The new harbour of Putney town, in Caithness,
sustained, thOugh in an unfinished 'state, the terri-
ble assail of the late tempesis without being damag-
ed, The sea heaved' tumultuously over the pier
heads, and broke in upon ten sail of
a'frightftil inundation, bur behig secured rtorn ti.e
agitation of "the'stortu without, they remained un—
hurt.

Dlany new, roads have been construned in Su_
titerland, and'bridges joining hitherto inaccessible
banks, have been thrciwn over several rapid rivers.
When the mound and bridges of Bonar and Beauly
arc finished, the Communication 'froth the'Friih..of
Forth to the northern parts of.the island will be coth-
piece without a ferry.
The-house of the Earl of BEsnottouoti, in Caven=
dish.square, was Imiken
,into a few nights since,
by boring holes la the window- Shutters at the ;back
of he house; but " fortunately the thieves alarmed
the servants, and escaped without their booty,.