The Statesman.
London, England, 1809-10-27 00:00:00

To the EDITOR of TIIE STAITESMAN.

Sta...l beg to congratulate the Public on the
happy selection of the Grand Jury, who are to
decide upon the truth of the bills of indictmeut
about to be preferred by the Proprietors of Co.
veta.garden Theatre. I say most happily, as I
believe they are, fur the most part, resident in that
very parish, and must therefore, be presumed to
be minutely and correctly informed of the
cause and nature of the circumstances that have'
occurred during the recent disturbances at the new
Theatre. The appointment of Mr. Routos, the
Auctioneer, particularly marks the penetrating
discrimination of the Returning Otlicer...as Mr.
Robins is so intimately connected with the 'rhea.
tre, that his information of the grounds of the
demands of the Proprietors, may be presumed to
have pre-eminently qualified him to decide upon a
question so intimately interwoven with the Li-
berty of the Subject. lam the more pleased with
this appointment, as I am now convinces! that
Mr. Rotuma the Auctioneer, under the Piazza,
who is on the Grand Jury, cannot by any pussi.
bility he the Mr. Roams who has been daily in
the habit of distributing orders, and of nightly
occupying with his family and friends--one, and
sometimes two entire Boxes in the Theatre, the
company in which were always conjectured, from
their vociferous applause, to have been in the
pay of the House. That there has been a
person assuming that name so conducting him.
self, is generally reported, and believed—but
the name of Robins being common, such a
mistake cannot be very surprizing, and the pub.
lic ought to be set right in this respect, that
the " saddle may net be put on the wing
horse." I therefore assure you of my conviethn
that the person who distributed the orders was not
Mr. Robins, the Auctioneer) and Grand Jury.
man. It is to be regretted, that this gentleman
had not been on the Jury who arc to try Me Pri-
soners, as those persecuted individuals would, I
doubt not, have been so candid as to have given
Mr. Robins an opportunity of proving the incor-
rectness of the report, by declaring, when chat.
longed, for that specific reason, that he was in
no wise accessary to the distribution of orders, or
supporting, by his nightly presence and applause,'
the system of the Proprietors.

V ER ITA S.

To As EDlTaft of THE STATES,II.IN.

Sts—From your having so long delayed the
insertion of my last letter in your really impar-
tial Paper. I was led to suppose it had been re.
jected, and as I write, which you may perceive,
CC currente calamo," I was not inclined to feel
offended, not being one of the " genus irri.
labile," wham you have noticed in an answer to
another Correspondent.

I now address you, to state a most aggravated
circumstance, which took place in the Pit of
the New Theatre last night (Wednesday), and
to which I was partly witness :—A
man, most respectable in appearance, was, in
the usual ruffian-like and violent manner, dragged
out, at a time when no placards had been ex-
hibited, and none but the customary and legiti-
mate marks of disapprobation had been shewn-1
was, of course, much surprised, and was conse.
quently induced to follow the party into the lobby
of the Pit, where, under the direction of the wor-
thy professor and informer, of swearing noto-
riety, this young Gentleman was forcibly held,
until his pockets were searched, and, from the
triumphant expressions used by the party on the
occasion, I should suppose something in the shape
of a placard was found tipon him. Is this
really legal, Mr. Editor ? Are our persons at the
mercy of si:oundrel ruffians like these ? Is it
possible that they can be justified, thus on the
way to, and before their arrival at, the judgment
scat, to rifle the pockets of an unresisting specta-
tor. I have seen no account in the Papers of this
day of the appearance of this young mall at Bow-
street ; if he was liberated before his arrival there,
I hope and trust he will lay a more particular ac-
count of this offence before that Public, whose pa-
tronage the chief actor in this most abominable
transaction annually solicits at his benefit, and
whose patronage he undeniably so well deserves,
from his mild, temperate, and conciliatory con.
duct on this and other occasions connected with
the dispute between honest John Bull and his
would-be dictator, Curiolanus.
Oct. 26, 1809. TIIEATRICUS.

Nearly 400 men of the Kent, 74 guns, Captain
Rogers, lately returned from the Meaiterraneen,
obtained, on Sunday last, fourteen days leave of
absence, as a reward for their long service and or-
' derly conduct. Great numbers of them went the
same avening to London by the coaches, and to
accommodate them, Messrs. Peters forwarded
about '25 of them on a coach, with post horses,
the axletree of which was broke before it got
out of Portsea ; and at Kingston Cross, the
prudent coachman and guard, unwiVing further to
risk their own necks, mounted each of them a
horse, and reached I'etersfield, a distance of 18
miles, in the space of six hours: here the coach
was obliged to be left, owing to its bad state,
and the 'cameo were forwarded the remainder of
the journey in fish carts. We mention this cir-
cumstance, from the indifferent manner in which
the lives of brave men appear to have been
sported with; and think we should not be doing
our duly, if we did not in this manner express
our unqualified tli4vent to the over-loadiug of
coaches.