Star.
London, England, 1809-11-21 00:00:00

COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE.

The Arroatimv-GENERAL said, he took the liberty
of moving for a Rule to spew cause why a criminal
information should not be filed against persons whom
he should name, for conspiring to compel the Pro-
prietors of Covent-Garden Theatre, to admit persons
into that Theatre at what they were pleased to call
Old Pi ices," for the most extraordinary and can-
!iproar and riot that had ever appeared in any
place of public entertainment. He should state the
substance of the affidavits on which this motion was
founded. The first affidavit he should take notice of
was that of Mr. Kemble, part proprietor of the Thea-
,re, in which affidavit was mentioned, the burning
of the late, and the building of the present Theatre ;
in consequence of which a rise took place in the terms
of admission, ci one shilling in the boxes and sixpence
in the pit, the half-price of which was the same as
formerly, and no advance whatever in the gallery
admission. The nett affidavit was that of Mr. Glas-
sington, the Prompter of the Theatre, and that affi-
davit stated, that after the building f the Theatre
was completed, and previous to its opening, an ad-j
was published, respectfully stating to the,
public the necessity of the advance in the price of ad-
mission ; but, previous to that advertisement, there
appeared in several newspapers certain paragraphs
and observations, calculated to produce clamour at
the opening of the Theatre. That on the 18th of
Septerntrt .ist it was opened; on which occasion a
great number of persons assembled, and conducted
themselves in the most disorderly and riotous manner :
they proceeded to the extent of beginning to demolish
some of the doors and other parts of the Theatre, ut-
tering,- at the same time, most loudly " No New
Prices," " Old Prices for ever." That such pro-1
ceedings were continued for five successive nights, in
which there was incessant hooting, hissing, howling,
groaning, blowing of horns and trumpets, the ring-
ing of bells, springing of rattles, &o. &c. That they
proceeded to the length of tearing the entering from
off the seats in several parts of the-Theatre, and-other-
wise injuring the property therein ; in consequence of
which it was found necessary for the Proprietors to
shut up the Theatre for a few nights. That during
that period they endeavoured, by the testimony of
certain respectable Gentlemen, to satisfy the minds
of those who were discontented with the new arrange-
ment concerning the Theatre. The Theatre opened
again on the 4th of October, on which occasion again
a number of persons assembled, and behaved in the
most disorderly and tumultuous manner, uttering very
loudly, the cry of " No New Prices," " Old Prices,"
“ No Private Boxes," &c. in consequence of which,
' little of the entertainments of the Theatre could be
heard. That these tumults were not so great, nor the
parties engaged in them so conspicuous, in the be-
ginning of the play, and often hardly commenced
until the time for admission at half-price ; but from
that time, such were the tumult and the uproar, that
hardly any thing could be heard that was uttered on
the stage ; on these occasions a party always attended
Ind employed rattles, trumpets, bells, horns, &c. the
party always wearing the initials 0. P. in their hats,
and on their breasts. Frequently in the pit they made
sham fights. They formed themselves into bodies
in the upper part of the pit, and ran down to the
lower part of it, trampling upon those who did not
get out of the way. That when it was necessary to
call in officers of the peace, constables, &c. they were
resisted and turned out. That this party, in going
out of the Theatre, took the 0. P. out of their hats,
and from their breasts, so that they could not be re-
cegnized ; or else they went in a body of such force
that they could not be apprehended by the peace of-
ficers. Such was the substance of the affidavit of Mr.
Glassington, the prompter; it added, that the depo-
nent verily believed, that all these tumultuous procee-
dings were with a view, and for the purpose of com-1
pelting the Proprietors of this Theatre to continue
epeniag it at the old prices. These tumults were con-,
tinued every night down to the present time—that
not a night past in which this uproar did not take
place, at least at half-price--that se4eral individuals

concerned in the fnmnit, were of ptehended, indicted,
and bills found against them ; notwithstanding which
these disorderly proceedings still continued) that an
advertisement was daily inserted in the newspapers,
recommending subscriptions to support the defence
of those whom they pretended to say, were unjustly
proSecuted by the Proprietors and Managers of this
Theatre—that this advertisement was accompanied
by reflections on the character of Mr. John Philip
Kemble ; who also swore, in his affidavit, that he
believes a conipiracy is formed by certain persons,
(and that the wearing of the letters 0. P. is their Sig-
nal to know each other) to take these measures for
the purpose of compelling the Proprietors of this Thea-
tre to return to the old prices of admission.
The next affidavit upon which this motion was ,
grounded was that of Mr. James Blandon, the Box- !
keeper of the Theatre. That affidavit stated, that
from time to time a great number of persons assem.
bled, distinguished from others in the Theatre by
wearing the letters 0. P. in their hats, and they ex:. I
hibited various placards, such as, " Keep your noisy I
stations," " A long pull, a strong pull, and a pull
altogether," " Conquer or die," &c. &c. The al& I
davit then went on to state, that a certain number of
persons had entered into an agreement for the pur- I
pose of compelling the proprietors to restore the .old
prices ; and, to make themselves known to other,
they adopted the letters 0. P. Some of the affistavits
particularized the persons who constantly went to this
Theatre for this purpose, and assembled in the man-
ner already stated. That as to the 31st of October
last, the 4th, 7th, Bth, and 14th of November invnt,
the affidavits were specific concerning certain irMfyi-
duals, and among them was one whose name he must
mention with regret. He should have felt great sa-
tisfaction in omitting his name, if he could ; he felt
pain in mentioning it, but he must do his duty, there
was no avoiding it, although he was a member of
the learned profession to which he had the honour to
belong. And here he could not help observing, that
it was important to make the gentleman to whom he
was alluding a defendant, in the prosecution which
he was now asking of the Court leave to institute ;
for many people might be misled into fatal errors,
when'they saw a gentleman of legal habits engaged
in these tumultuous proceedings. It was difficult to
conceive, impossible to express, the effect which an
example set by such a person might have upon a giddy
multitude. When they saw such a man engaged in
these scenes of tumult, they might imagine that the
proceedings were legal. The necessity of bringing
forward such a person, therefore, was apparent.—
Such a gentleman, if such a gentleman there was in
the profession, rendered it incumbent on those who
had the care of forwarding this motion to make such
a person a defendant in it, not only on account of the'
proprietors, who had sustained such serious damages
by these riotous proceedings, but also on account of
the learned profession itself. If, possessing the ad-
vantages which he did of a legal education, he who
had mixed in these tumults was not brought forward
and made responsible, and others who did not possess
such advantages were brought forward, the public
would think that he was screened because he was a
lawyer, since he did not share the common fate of all
those who have been implicated in these tumults.
It would appear from the affidavits, that on the
31st Octo', r last, a number of Fersonsrhoeing,

this badge of 0. 2. and possessing certain iilacards,
collected together as usual, when great discord, con-
fusion, and riot, took place. It was not until the
commencement of ba.'t price this gentleman, with the
letters 0. P. in his hat, appeared in the pit. He was
joined by others; he could not say he could fix on
that gentleman any specific act of riot or tumult, but
he certainly gave countenance to the riotous pro-
ceedings. It was considered that he had countenan-
ced these tumultuous proceedings, and he continued
so to do ; for, on the 4th of November, he attended
the Theatre again, with the same insignia, which was
the very emblem of riot. That gentleman was re-
cognized in the house as the leader of the tumultuous
party ; for when he came into the house, the cry of
" Clifford for ever," was set up, and was remarkably
prevalent. The party then proposed that they should
give him three cheers, which passed in the affirma-
tive, and it was done accordingly ; after which the
uproar continued for the remainder of the evening.
The object of his appearance was we'l understood, and
the effect which it produced was apparent by his hav-
ing those three cheers. Not only did they recognize
him, but they cheered him as their leader, and he
harangued them, telling them, " that if they continu-
ed their exertions, they would in time be sure of gain-
ing their object." The affidavit stated positively that
these three cheers were given to that gentleman, by
those who wore the letters 0. P. which he wore at
that time, and that he had been heard to say to those
who wore this badge of tumult, ,g That's right, go on,
persevere, and when you leave the house, disperse."
So that they had him on the 7th of November in this
scene of riot, among those who blew their horns and
trumpets, and sprung their rattles, &c. Hitherto he
hart only taken notice of Mr. Clifford ; on the night of
the 31st of October, he might not have been expected
three ; however, he was recognized there by the peo-
ple, and he addressed them afterwards, advising them
to rrsevere, although with the prudent caution of ad-
vising them to disperse when they should be gone out
of the house. He was fixed with being in these tumul.
mous scenes on the 31st of October, the 4th, ith, and
14th of November.

He then came to the cases of other persons, against
whom he moved, and those were Mr. Wienholt, Mr.
Scott, Mr. Savage, and Mr. Ridley. With respect
to Mr. Ridley they had no proot about him, except
that he was at the Theatre one night, and that was
on the 31st of October ; but then he had 0. P. in
his hat, and he made a great noise. He was appre-
,
hended, conducted before a Magistrate, whore he con-
fessed
that he had worn 0. P. in his hat, and said
that lie would do it again. Here was a manifest de-
termination to persevere. With respect to Mr. Wien-
holt, he had been present and conspicuous amidst the
tumult on the :;lst of October, Bth, and 14th of No-
vember, and took an active and pointed part in the
riotous proceedings, and was encouraging the rioters
to persevere ; and on one occasion, when the placard
of 44 conquer or die" was exhibited, a person having
torn it, he was one of the most active in turning that
person out of the pit.
As to Mr. Scott, it appeared by almost all the affi.
davits that he was concerned in these tumults, parti-
cularly those of the 28th of October, and the Bth and
14th of November. The affidavits applied to Mr.

Wienholt, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Savage, stating their
tumultuous conduct in the lower boxes, shewinz that
they joined the number of those who cried Off, off,
off, off!" No new prices !" No new prices ?" &c.
with 0. P. in their hats.
,g It is not necessary, (said the Attorncy-General)
to go through the whole of the acts rf a and tu-
mult which took place at the time when thee persons
were present. I have stated genfu-dly what took
place every night, from the opening of the Theatre
• to the present time, and we have fixed on certain
characters, win) we say conspired to carry into effect
their purpose, by combining and using their joint
strength, in order to accomplish, by unlawful means,
that purpose which they had determined to att,,rn:)t ;
namely, that of obligieg the Proprietors and Mana-
ger to admit persons to the Theatre at the old prices;
that is to accomplish that object by force, which they
have no right to attempt. The Proprietors might
have included a much greater number than these per-
sons in this application to the Court, persons who were
connected intimately with these tumultuary proceed-
ings ; but they have only selected these individuals
who were the most prominent in these uproars, and
they appear to have been more than ordinary active,
and therefore are they only selected ; and the Pro-
prietors hope, that proceeding against thoSe will be
sufficient to restore order and tranquillity in the The-
atre.—l therefore, with that view, trust your Lord-
ships will grant a Rule, calling on each of these indi-
viduals to shew cause why a criminal information
should not be tiled against him?
Lord ELLENBOROUGII.—" 'fake a Rule to shew
cause."

1

12oLmr.

Bow-sturr.—Mr. ALLEY (the Banister) applied
to the Magistrate at this office, last night, for a war-
rant
to enforce the attendance of the door-keepers of '
the LyceWn Theatre, to answer is charge he intend-
rd to exhibit against them of receiving money under
false pretences.
The grounds upon which he made this application,
he stated to be, his having gone to the Theatre with
his wife and two friends, and having been informed
by the door-keepers that there was plenty of mom, he
paid 245. for the admission of himself and his party.
On arriving at the dress-boxes, however, they found
that every place was occupied, and not chusing to
take his wife to the second tier, where she might be
liable to the intrusion of women of improper charac-
ter, he retuned to the entrance door, and demanded
back his money, alledging as a reason that he had
been misinformed with respect to the state of the
boxes. This demand the door-keepers refused to com-
ply with, and in consequence he deemed it expedient
to apply to the Magistrates for redress.
Mr. GIIAHABI said no such charge could be receiv-
ed against the door-keepers as that of having obtained
moneyunder false pretenees, inasmuch as Mr. Alley had
himself confessed, that he had not even tried to gain
a seat in the upper boxes, where in all probability
such accommodation could have been obtained. The
Magistrate consequently refused to comply with the
request.
Yesterday a number of livery stable keepers, who
have been robbed of horses and gigs, attended for the
purpose of seeing the person of Robert Norton, who
has been in custody for several days, on a charge of
hiring a horse at a livery-stable at Moorgate, and
selling it at Tattersall's ; but upon enquiry for the
prisoner, the Gaoler of New Prison, reported that he
cut his throat early yesterday morning ; he, how-
ever, is still alive, and there are some hopes of his
recovery.
MARLBOROUGH-STREET.—Harry Hart was comnsit•
ted for a felony at Stephenson 's Hotel, Sond-street,
where he, on Saturday, got in, in the dress of a sai.
Jot.' and stated himself to have been sent by two
Naval Captains, who were on their way from a sea-
port, to engage accommodation for them. He like-
wise had a note, purporting to be from the Captain,
to a Waggon-office, from whence luggage was to be
sent to the Hotel. He was, however, seen walking
out of the hall, with a pair of the waiter's boots, and
was taken into custody. He was also complained of '
from Wake's Hotel, in Bond-street ; and at the
King's Arms, in Palace-yard, at which places he had,
attempted similar impossitions. 1
A fellow who keeps a brothel in Suffolk-street,'
Middlesex Hospital, was charged with committing a
rape on a child twelve years old, under very aggra-
vated circumstances. The child's sister was an un-
fortunate inmate of the hrothel,the former called to see
her, when the prisoner contrived, by artifice, to accom-
plish his purpose, to the full extent of the capital part
of the charge. He was remanded for another exami-
nation.
WIUTECHAPEL.—Yesterday a Portuguese sailor
was charged with desperately wounding a shipmate,
in a tumult, near the London Docks. He vas com-
mitted till the state of the wounded man is ascer-
tained.
UNION HALL—Saturday John Davis, a journey-
man carpenter, was brought before Sir JOHN PIN.
HORN, charged with stealing three deals, the property
of the Corporation of the City of London.
It appeared that the prisoner was in the employ of
Mr. Kitchen, of Bridge-yard, from whose premises
the deals were taken. The conduct of the prisoner 1
having excited suspicion, some of his shop-mates were
induced to watch him ; and perceiving him place
some deals near the gate of the yard, they contrived to
mark one of them, and on leaving work at night twol
of them quitted the yard a few minutes before the
prisoner, and concealed themselves near the spot.—
Soon afterwards they saw him come out of the yard'
with a deal on his shoulder, which when he got some
distance from the premises he placed up against a
house, and returned for another, and then for a third.
One of the persons concealed then came forward, and,
an examining the deals one of them proved to be the
deal which one of the witnesses had marked previous
to his leaving the yard.
The prisoner, in his defence, said, he bad been
drinking, and did not know what he was about. Hel
was fully committed for trial.
Yesterday Hugh Jona and Rice Roberts,i, wing
a elch
dro-
vers, were charged by an officer, with i
quan-
tity of contraband goods in their possession.
The officer stated, that he met them on Sunday
evening, in the Kent-read, leading a pone), with a
pair of trowsers across its back ; on inspecting which,
he discovered them to contain a number of silk hand-
kerchiefs, which, with several parcels concealed about
them, amounted to 19 dozen.
The prisoners said, they had travelled from Wales
to Deal, with beasts ; while there they purchased the
harkik.2rchiels for A3l), of a person named priim ;
they bou:,ht them as English manufacture, and inten-
ded to have sold them again in Wales.
Several mercers agreed, on examining them, that
they were India handkerchiefs, and such as are pro-,
hibited being sold in this country. A person from
the Custom-house attended, who, on this decision,'
seized them The prisoners were then discharged,
but were served with a summons to attend on Friday,
and shew cause why the handkerchiefs should not be
condemned, and why a fine amounting to three times
-1 the value, should not be levied on them ?
tme I ----

A most daring robbery was committed on Thurs-
day morning last, by some villains at present un-
known, who broke open the dwelling-house and shop
of Mr. JAM E 3 BENNETT, in Frankfort-street, Ply-
mouth, and stole thereout a large quantity of foreign
and British lace, silks, velvet, and other articles,
amounting to upwards of £3OO ; together with .420
in cash. There is a watch-box close to the premises,
but the ♦igilant guardians of the night retire to rest
before four in the morning, and this robbery was
perpetrated about half an hour afterwards. The loss
is very severe to Mr. BENNETT, who is an industrious
tradesman, and has a very large family.

A few days ago, as W. Pitt, a lighterman, was
working a barge eut of the bason at the West India
Dock he fell overboard, and was shortly taken out of
the water, but although every attention was paid to
Painla he died tour hours after.

117. The