Star.
London, England, 1824-05-28 00:00:00

CO VENT-GAIIDEN THEATRA

Last evening a new Piece, in three Acts, under the title of
Charles the Sec.,nd; or, The Merry 2110‘zureft ; was produced at thi,
Theatre. This is inn :he first time, by several, that the freaks of
this Mowircii and his libertine compamohs, of whom Rochester was
the foremost, have been dramatised.
There are some very comic situations and some point in the dia-
, love, and the excellent acting of C. KENISLE, as Chnrks ; JUNE%
as Reehe&ter ; FAwcrrr, as Cuptnin Copp, a blunt old seaman, who,
after weathering many a gale for hity years, has settled down
quietly into the landlord of the " Grand Admiral," a public-house
in tVapping; and Miss M. T., as his orphan niece, served to
keep the interest alive, and the production was received throughout
1 with unmixed approbation, by a numerous audience. There are
two or three very pretty soups alktt-d to Miss TRZE, 'Which she
sang with her usual sweetness.
petition, amiast general autause. The Piece was given out for re-

Yesterday afterr.oon, at two o'clock, a Cabinet Coun-
cil was held at the Fincign Office, Downing street, which was 'at-
tended' by the Loru Chanccllor, the Duke of Wellington. the Earls
of Ilarrowhy, Liverpool, Westmorland, and Bathur,t ; Mr. Secre-
tary Canning, Ur. Secretary Peel, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Viscounts Melville and Sidrnnuth, Lord Bexley, and i‘lr.
Hutkia-
Cabiiitt at in deltlmation till tbot.t four o'clock.
Ye:qcrliy. the Ditche,s of KENT! ti:e Duchess of
Ct.oecEsridt, act' the Princess FLoutiitx, visited the Duchess of

CLAitExer.
The Ilttenv:g c f Ci.Antlxch took an airing yesterday,
towards
IVedtleldity, Mr. LustliNcros gave a grand pally
to Mr. Secretary Canning, Lord Granville Somerset, Lord Du-
:Lilly, Lord End:mon:, S:r (1. Warriudvr, Mr. Berkeley Paget,
Scr..t his house in Downing-t•trect.
The New Mohtily Ylagazine for June 1, will con-
tain, we understand, among a variety of other Papers of peculiar
interest, the first of a series of article. entitled " Absenteeism,"
Attribweil to the pen of a celebrated literary Irish Lady; a hu-
motous Paper on " Every Day People," by one of the Authors of
the " Rejected Addresses;" and a Latter from Captain Cochrane,
relative to Ciptain Parry's Third Voyage to the Polar Seas.

MR. OWEN ro twr EARL vi LAUDERDALE,
IN AMSSPDX .20 SOMR CHISERVATIONS OP MIS LORDSHIP LAST NICHT

IN THE noun 'Or Pasts. •

Me LORD—I am in'
which you made last night iii
h-geedtin
theto yon,o fseor tfh epesepreech
s,
reply to the Marquis of Downshire, when he presented
a petition from me, prayirg for the appointment of a
Committee to examine a tilau which I have prepared,
to remedy the evils which for centuries past have been
suffered to aftat so many millions of our fellow-sub-
jects in Ireland.
I am indebted to you, my Lord, because you have
opposed the measures which I have prepared to amelio-
rate the condition of our fellow men, both in Ireland, in
this country, and in othercnuntries' upon &finite (r rounds.
You express an opinion, that the principles and plans
which I recommen,ied for the gra •
eua_ improvement 01
society are such, that if they were car: ied into practice,
none of the present Governments of the world could re-
main RS they nom arc.
My Lord, I fully admit this conclesion, and it is for
this very reason that I have thus far persevered in
bringing before the Legislature and the I'abiic, horn
time to time, those measures which I have advocates.
and which, ere long,canuot fail to he generally adopted.
S:nce then! Governments were e:teblished in cher:-
present form, and upon their present principles,"the
greatest improvements have taken place in the various
sciences connected with politi:al economy ; and the hu-
nein mind has made the most rapid and extensive
strides in the knowledge of human nature, and in gene-
ral knowledge.
It is not, then, possible that the devices of any indivi-
duals, however active or intelligent,-will render a gene-
ral improvement in Governments necessary or practi-
cable; their most strenuous efforts would little avail, if
the late gigantic advances of the human mind did not,
like other great operations of nature, make it impera-
tive that improvements in one course should be followed
by improvements iii every other direction.
Any attempts to stay or retard this mai ch of intellect,
or to prevent it from going forward in the natural course
of events, you, my Lord, will be soon convinced must
prove puny indeed.
The well-being of those wile) govern society, as well as
that of those %situate governed, will speedily call loudly
for improvements in government corresponding with
the improvements in the arts and sciences.
Permit me to ask you, my Lard, if you deem it pos-
sible, in the nature of things, that, after this little
island, with a population under 16 millions, has ac-
quired, in less than half a century, a new artificial power
of producing wealth, which exceeds twice the whole
unassisted manual power of the world, millions of its
subjects should yet continue to be allowed to remain in
as low a state of ignorance and poverty as if no means
existed to supply them with the first necessaries of life,
or to furnish them with the first elements c f knowledge?
Would there be one particle, my Lord, of wisdom, or
justice, r r even of retard to their own self-jute:est, in
those who direct the affairs of this great State, if they
were to stand by and suffer such a system of misrule to
go on from day to day, without applying some effective,
practicable remedy ?
I readily admit, my Lord, that Great Britain at this
moment deservedly stands at the bead of the civilized
world. Its real power is enormous, and, under a wise
administration, it would be inexhaustible and irresistible:
its present resources, if they were judiciously directed,
are sufficient not only to place all its own subjects in a
situation of complete and permanent pecuniary inde-
pendence, but they are abundant also to enable this
country to bestow a similar boon upon the population of
every other country, into which our mechanical and 1
chemical inventions and discoveries can be introduced.
But, my Lord, we have not only attained a period
when, by extended science, judiciously directed, the
po-
pulation of this and of other countries may be with
ease rendered independent with regard to considerations
of wealth, we have also been permitted at the same
period to acquire the knowledge by which, with equal
ease and certainty, the human character shall be formed
to virtue, to intelligence, and to happiness.
These are not the rash as ertions of youth or of inex-
perience, nor yet the speculations of one who unac-
quainted with the world ; but they are put forth by a
thorough-bred, money-making, cool, and deliberate
man of business, who is now ready to be examined at
the bar of your Right Honourable Douse, to prove the
truth of the principles and the ease of the practice by
which these new and hitherto unheard-of consequences
shall be established throughout society.
And, my Lord, if these things are as they have been
stated, who is there that has an interest opposed to their
adoption? Whnse interest is it to place an obstacle ier
the way of attaining o much good for our present suf-
fering fellow-creatures, and such permanent benefit for
the thing generations ?
I do call to mind, my Lord, that, some years ago, I
had, for a considerable period, almost daily cominu-
nings with your Lordship respecting some of the practi-
cal arrangements which I had then formed in further-
ance of some of the extensive views which I entertain;
and l do recollect that your Lordship was much ena-
moured what you were pleased to call the beauty
and or der of thpractical measures which I placed be-
fore you, and in these feelings you indulged for some
time, and also amused me with hopes of your cordial
aid and assistance; and I well knew how valuable the
acuteness, the intelligence, and activity which ,you
possess would have been to such an infant cause as
mine was at that period. I
do recollect, too, that one day when I was dilating
to you, with great satisfaction to myself, on the nume-
rous advantages which the working classes would de-
rive Com the new combination of favourable and vir-
tuous circumstances which I had arranged for them, to
replace the unfavourable and vicious circumstances by
which they have till now been surrounded, that to my
surprise and astonishment you exclaimed, as though the
idea had at that moment, for the first time, flashed on
your mind—" I see most distinctly the independence
and happiness which you have prepared for the work-
ing
classes; but. what is to become of us?" meaning the
aristocracy of this and other countries. And from that
day to this I could not succeed in inducing your Lord-
ship again to enter upon the subject.
111 had not been so unfortunate as to frighten your.
Lordship with the idea of the independence and happi-
ness to be given by this system to the working classes,
(exclusively, as you then thought), I haVe no doubt thl.it
I should soon have convinced. you of What is.rcarly the
fact, that much as the condition.of the lower orders'
would have been ameliorated, the improvement in the
situation of the higher orders woiald he still more im-
portant. Instead of the almost universal dissatisfaction
which they now necessarily experience, they would pos-
sess in security and abundance the highest enjorpents

that human natureimithitypresent knowledge,can attain.
But your Lordship said, last night, in your place in
Path fluent, that when you expressed an opinion to me,
that the plan which I proposed would overturn all the
existing Governments, my reply was, " your Lord.
ship
.well understands the consequences of the proposed
improvements," or words to that effect.

It is not only in private, my Lord, that I have ad-
m:tted the extensive consequences which would natu-
rally follow from the adoption of the measures which I
p,opose and recommend—l have also uniformly stated,
in the mo,t d:stinct manner, at every public meeting
I have he:o, that this was the impression upon my own
mind, and that I anticipated an elevation of the human
character and condition solely through these extensive
chai.ges. But I have as uniformly added, that they
Are ci.anges to be effecte4, not by revolution or vio-
lence, but by pt udent, steady advancement in know-
' ledec and virtue; Ira by the overturning of any Go-
vernment, but by the improvement of all Governments.
I have also uhifo:mly advocated the necessity that the:e
great amellorating c;rcamstances should be introduced
and Jireeted by existing Goveinmeitts. This senti-
ment I still chteitain, and I am every day more con-
vince.l that is would be the highest wisdom in the pre-
sent Adroinistiatiun to take a much more decided lead

in adopting the improvements which the vast increase of
science and knowledge is strengly forcing upon society.
And I must have expressed myself very inaccurately if
1 have conveyed to your Lordship's mind any other im-
pressions than these.
A most decided improvement in the condition of all
classes must at this period take place. As well may any
of the European Governments, if they were so disposed,
attempt to stay any of the other great operations (Wm
ture, as to retard this beneficial change—and wisdom
would lead to make a virtue of necessity. .

To produce this change without viclence, to render it
easy for the Government, and most beneficial for all
classes, 1 tendered my petition by t',e Noble Marquis,
who feels a deep interest in the welfare of his suffering
country ; and I trust, for the honour of Parliament, that
the prayer the petition till be granted, and that you,
my Lord, kill see cause to give it your efficient support.
My Lord, the plan in question is to employ and edu-
cate the L lush Peasantry at the least possible expense,
consistently with the efficient attainment of these im-
portant ohjects; it is the only practical plan before the
Public, chick has been matured by extensive experience,
or which promises the smallest chance of permanent
benefit.

It is my duty to offer it to Government in the first
instance. Should it, however, be declined, I intend,
knowing as I do its capabilities, to lose no time in pre.
ssining it to the Public, v. ho v. ill their ascertain its de-
tects, and judge of its benefits: and I feel not the least
antiety as to the result.
I ought to apologize for the liberty which 1 have
taken with your Lordship's name; but it has been called
for by a great public duty.
I have the honour to be, very respectfully,
Your Lordship's obedient Servant,
ROBERT OWEN.

To the Right Hott. tilt: Earl of Lauderdale.
Pall-mall, May 27, 18.24.

MATH OF SIR JOHN 111 LL, BART.

Died, at three o'clock, on Friday morning, at his seat, llawk-
stone, Salop, in the 84th year of his age, Sir John Hill, Bart. The
happy parent of sixteen children, the majority of whom survivir
him, and six of whom have attained high r Auk and distinction in
the service of their country, Sir John Hill not only sustained
patriarchal character, but was especially distinguished by the moat
bonoursble appellatien of " The Father of lieroes."
Sir John Hill represented the Borough of Shrewsbury in Patna-.
meat thitteen years ; in the year 1811 he served the office of
Mayor of Shrewsbury ; and at the pet iod of his decease he was
Colonel Commandant of the North Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry.
Ile completed his 83d year on the Ist of August list, and he died
easily and happily, after scarcely one whole day's illness. Sir John
Hill is succeeded in the Baronetcy and in his extensive estates by
hi: grandson, Howland, one of the Representatives in Parliametit
lot the County of Salop.