The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-02-10 00:00:00

THE THEATRES

At the Theatre Royal, on Tuesday, Mr. Hammond, in
pursuance of an announcement in the.bills of the day, deli-
vered the following address :

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,-It is with considerable re-
luctance I appear before you, to address you upon a subject
irrelevent, as I may say, to the legitimate purposes of the
theatre. I rely, however, upon your kindness to grant me
a patient hearing, whilst in my own justification I shall a
" round unvarnished tale deliver," which, in its effect, I hope
will convince you that " I am a man more sinned against
than sinning." lam unwilling to trust my feelings on this
subject, lest, in ,the warmth of my excitement, any expression
might fall from me which, op after reflection, I might regret
having used. "lam no orator, as Brutus is ;" but to all
who know .me " a plain, blunt man," and speak only to facts.
I, therefore, with your permissiOn, will read what I wish
cautiously, yet fearlessly of contradiction, to state to you
and, through the press, to the public generally.
Mr. Hammond proceeded to read as follows .
The pert;on now assuming the management of the Liver
Theatre, Mr. Copeland, is connected with me by relation-
ship, having married the sister of Mrs. Hammond. I feel
called upon to state this circumstance, as, in the hearing of
the pubiic assembled at the Court-house, at Kirkdale, on
Tuesday laut, when the magistrates decided upon the infor-
mations laid before them against the performers engaged at
the Liver Theatre, it was asserted by an individual in his ad-
dress to the. bench, that Mr. Copeland and his family had
cause to cur se me as their bitterest enemy. Ladies and gen-
tlemen' the sin of ingratitude is one which few men have had
the hardihood to acknowledge. If, therefore, Mr. Copeland
has been indebted to me on many occasions for acts of kind-
ness shown to him, I think you will agree with me that he
should have been the last person to have placed himself in
hostile array against me in my professional pursuits. Mr.
Copeland was well aware of the difficulties I had encountered
in carrying on the concerns of this establishment; and bad
he had one spark of feeling or gratitude towards his former '
benefactor, be would not have lent himself as a willing agent
to increase those difficulties.

I pass over many occurrences in which pecuniary aid had
been affordec' Mr. Copeland, as well as Mrs. Copeland, by
myself and Mrs. Hammond, from the year 1823 up to the
period of 1E33. In the month of May in that year Mr.
Copeland became manager of the Theatre Royal, Manchester,
(and let it be remarked, that during his management, the
same conduct which Mr. Copeland now pronounces as harsh
and persecuting in reference to the proceedings of the pro-
prietors of this establishment against the manager and per-
formers of the Liver Theatre, was adopted by the proprietors
of the Manchester Theatre Royal towards the manager and
performers of the Queen's Theatre : notices of an intended
prosecution were served upon the different members of that
establishment, and Mr. Copeland was strenuous in his
efforts to close the minor theatre.) At this time Mr. Cope-
land visited London for the purpose of securing the services
of his sister, Mrs. Fitzwilliam. That lady, however, de-
clined an engagement, assigning as her reason that Mr.
Copeland could not ensure her a remuneration adequate to
her expectations. As a last resource, and at the eleventh
hour, Mr. Copeland in his necessity applied to me for my
professional aid ; and though promised a salary and benefit,
not one shilling did I receive for my services, constantly em-
ployed from the 27th of May up to the 2d of August. I shall
not enter into a minute detail, or recapitulate the many oc-
casions, during a long period, in which Mr. Copeland was
indebted to me for pecuniary aid, and also for my services
given on many of his benefit nights, with all the attendant
expense of travelling and personal inconvenience; but shall
bring under your notice a circumstance which took place in
the years 1838-9. At that time I was the lessee of the
Sheffield theatre; and with a desire to place Mr. Copeland
in a situation to obtain an honest livelihood, and eventually
to afford him an opportunity of becoming lessee of that es-
tablishment, Mr. Copeland was made manager of the
Sheffield theatre, with the understanding that the rent should
be paid in weekly proportions to the proprietors. This ar-
rangement, however, was not made good by Mr. Copeland ;
and, as 1 was held accountable for the rent, legal proceedings
were threatened, unless the same was promptly paid. And
upon the occasion of my acting for Mr. Copeland's benefit
at Sheffield, without remuneration, and with an assurance
from him that the receipts should be appropriated in liquida-
tion of the rent, and although he saw me served with a copy
of a writ, not one shilling of the proceeds was applied in dis-
charge of the debt due to the proprietors. To this particular
circumstance may be ascribed my downfall in theatrical ma-
nagement ; for, as I am prepared to show, the losses in-
curred, which were paid by me, amounted to a sum conside-
rably exceeding two I- undred pounds. I still did not neglect
the claim which Mr. Copeland held upon me on the score of
relationship, but, on his return to London, used every en-
deavour to serve him ; and from the month of May, 1839,
until October in the same year, Mr. Copeland was an inmate
of my house, and supplied by me with such means of comfort
as my circumstances would allow.

In my arrangement for Drury-lane, I lost a valued, and I
have every reason to believe a most sincere, friend ; not for
having supported Mr. Copeland in his need, but for having
employed him in a responsible situation in the theatre. These,
ladies and gentlemen, are facts incontrovertible. If they bear
hard upon Mr. Copeland, he himself is only, to blame for
having drawn forth this exposure of his conduct, by nightly
appeals to the sympathies of the public, and by printed state-
ments, evidently showing a desire on his part to injure me in
public estimation.

Ladies and gentlemen,—During the past year, my best
endeavours have been used in producing the performances of
this theatre in a style of excellence in the scenic department,
in the stage appointments, and wardrobe, that would not suf-
fer by comparison with the patent theatres of the metropolis.
My exertions, in this respect, 1 have reason to be satisfied,
have been acknowledged and appreciated by the patrons of
the drama. If there has not been the same succession of star
attractions (to use a theatrical phrase) .as in former seasons,
it may be accounted for by a deficiency in the market, or to
an over-expectation on the part of those who set too high a
price on their commodity. Still, on this point I trust that
sufficient has been done to convince you, that there has been
no want of alacrity on the part of the management ; and the
engagements of Miss Adelaide tremble, Miss Rainforth, Mr.
Balfe, Madame Grisi, Signor Lablache, Signor Mario,
members of the Italian Opera-house, in conjunction with
many others—Mademoiselle Cerito, Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Kean, and other established favourites—l trust will bear me
out in the assertions. That some of the auxiliary engagements
have been disastrous in the result, lam free to confess. I
will instance one amongst the number ;—that of Monsieur
Thalberg and the party associated with him. The demand
for their services, and which, in my anxiety to gratify my
patrons, I yielded to, was £7O per night. On one of their
nights the receipts did not yield an amount exceeding £56,
another less than £lOO, and the third night the receipts
amounted to little more than £2O. There is another subject
to which I wish your attention to be directed. In the season
previous to my becoming the conductor of this theatre, a pe-
tition had been presented to Government, praying for the
grant of a second patent; that petition failed in its object;
and it was therefore reasonable to infer, that the privileges
of the patent attached to this theatre would, in future, be
duly respected. But the reverse was the case ; and the per-
son on whose behalf that petition had been concocted, seemed
to care little for the protection sought for, by giving for a
season the same routine of performances, at the Liver Theatre,
which he could only have been authorised to produce by a
legal license or patent; thus, in fact, bearding the authorities
and defying the law. lf, therefore, upon the faith of the pro-
tection of the existing patent, the value of which might be
fairly considered as enhanced by the rejection of the petition
for a second one, arrangements had been concluded with the
proprietors of the Theatre•Royal which rendered the lessee
liable to a heavy annual charge, it surely cannot be un-
reasonable that the person having the rightful claim should
be considered entitled to the protection of the legal and civil
authorities in preference to those who knowingly are guilty
of continued infractions of the law. Much has been said in
reference to my former situation as Co-Manager of the Liver
Theatre. Upon this subject I shall not dwell further than
by saying, that having paid the penalty of fifty pounds for
an infringement of the patent rights of this theatre, I never
afterwards yielded to the advice given me to contend with the
law ; and can with truth state, that had rigorous measures
been enforced to suppress the performances at the Liver
Theatre, I should have withdrawn from the concern, rather
than have encountered litigation which must have been at-
tended with enormous expense, and must have eventually
ended in defeat and ruin to the parties having no legal sanction
or authority for their proceedings.
Ladies and Gentlemen,—With thanks for the kind atten-
tion you have given to this plain statement of facts, I shall
conclude by saying, that as a father of a family, with a wife
and seven children depending upon my labour and professional
exertions, I trust I shall have claims upon your consideration
on the score of " auld lang syne," for support, more power-
ful than those of an interloper, who, whether employed as
agent or principal, I cannot but designate as an ingrate, and
whose inflated speeches and printed addresses I shall in
future cease to notice.

Lord Huntingtower applied for his certificate on Wednes-
day, which the commissioner agreed to grant on the 14th of
April.

H AVERFORDW EST. —This town was yesterday (Thursday)
morning thrown into no small excitement by the discovery of
the loss of the toll-gate erected at the top of Prendergast, on
the Fishguard-road. It appears that some evil-disposed per-
sons, moved, it is thought, by the desire of emulating the
fame of " Rebecca and her Daughters," in the adjoining
county, on the night of Wednesday last lifted the gate off its
hinges, and carried it to a field at the distance of about a
quarter of a mile. Early on Thursday morning a search
was instituted for the missing gate, and about noon it was
found in the field, sawed to pieces, and quite useless, except
for firewood. It is supposed the plot was executed by at
least half a doen persons, as the gate was very heavy and
no disturbance was made. At present there is no clue what-
ever to the discovery of the offenders.—Cambrian.

THE GREAT CABBAGE CASE.—The Cour Royale of Paris
has
just
famous u s t
ob
leoesns
lo cecaubpbi e a
gd
e, withthat
case s
b a
ta
some
time ch
backar os e ou t o f the
excited
so
much interest in the capital. AM. Billandeau had originally
purchased this vegetable wonder for 15f. in the arrondisse-
ment of Melles, which is remarkable for large productions of
the kind. The Royal Society of Horticulture named a com-
e g
oa
us et ,
Fartai du e isw
irtehp oar tl \
notice.
be
seeds of the wonderful cabbage would be sold at the moderate
price of a franc each. The advertisements in the journals
announced that the King had taken 100 seeds, and delivered
them to M. Jacques, his head gardener; and that the Minister
of Agriculture had offered 200 f. to the Royal Society of Agri-
culture to try experiments on the new production. As there
were 200,000 seeds ready to be delivered, it was expected that
a tolerable profit might be made on the first cost of the cab-
bage. A copy of the report having reached M. Remont, an
honest nurseryman of the Seine-et-Oise, he hastened up to
Paris, and proposed to M. Billandeau to form a partnership
with him for sending the seeds to America. M. Billandeau
listened to the proposal, and having fixed the value of his
cabbage at 20,000 f., received 3,000 f. from his new partner
towards their common expenses. A quantity of the seed
was sent off to the United States, with a certificate from the
Secretary of Legation, properly signed and sealed, to the
effect that the seed had really been gathered from the monster
cabbage. M. Remont, after doing all this, thought it could
not be a bad plan to make some experiments on the seed
himself, and after some time he found that they produced
cabbages exactly similar to his own. This being the case,
M. Remont demanded his money back, hut M. Billandeau
refused to give back a sou. The matter was referred to arbi-
tration, and M. Billandeau exculpated himself from all in-
tentions of fraud ; but on the appeal, which came on on
Thursday, the court reversed the sentence, proclaimed the
dissolution of the partnership, on the ground of its not having
been based on an object of legitimate speculation, and ordered
the 3,000 f. advanced by M. Remont to be returned.