The Statesman.
London, England, 1815-05-04 00:00:00

••• *Rat, he sieves., Who., aman of t Class rtiae
-rior'are his tiAris so eisily developed as Mane would
suppose. But, at the same moment that 111inisters
mulearsi.:r to show his teal intentions, is it • not evi-
.
e,nt thm they give the lie to their °am. account of
I is pepola Lily in France? for I believe thete is no men.
sts re a Inch would tend more to this than his Abolition
of the Shire Trade, which he adopted the instant he
r‘Naietl his capital, and be also makes a voluntary
ce,•,iop ‘,1:: great part of his precngative, which there
is no doubt he ungbt have retained. There ire-two
messarcs, among others, of so much importauce, that
it is very unlikely he aonld adapt them for the mere
purpose of covering his future plan of ambition;
espprially at the moment when he would naturally be
looked upon with an eye of suspicion by his enemies.
It must, indeed, be a rcil'of suck a flimsy texture,
nod so unworthy of its author, as to. heifer no -Doer
effect than to enable such shallow politicians as Lord
Casit.cass ‘Gtr to exclaim against him is the English
House of Commons; especially when we take into
consideration, that his Lordship bas played the first
fitidlit in raising him to his piesent popularity and
greatness. There cannot, in my opinion, he exhibited
a stronger proof of the want al thav penet wive faculty
which Statesmen should possess, than in the speeches of
filiaisters at this moment, in their opinions respecting al
ma!), of a hose vies s or character they seem incapable
of making a proper estimate, and consequently of
judging of the hest line of policy to be adopted by
ourselves. From their own confessions (to their
shame be it spoken), we are now " in a ,stene neither
If peace nor war." How long we shall recline on
this " led of roses" it is impossible to say; but it
has already continued much torf lotsg, at a time when •
derisive measures are so necessary. It mutt be la-
snented, that the helm of the State should be in the
hands of such imperfect and inefficient pelitiiians : •
Oat We should lire in times of so much difficulty,
and yet have no " leading mind" to direct our
slid,:..

~r'F..2'llE4 i 5,

Yesterday, agreeably to pdblic notice, a Meeting
ofsthe Subscribers to this Theatre took place at the
Cnewn and Anchor, ler the purpese ot choosing at
new.A aditor, ;when the, I/on., Thos. Brand was una-,
ribonus! V. reneged. ~
WIIITRIIEAO.theiI stated t? the, Meeting, that,
he &Pink it roper to take the sense 'of the Pro-
p ivtai y• ol tile uhjeet" of 4 themode of conducting
the attains of the Tlieetre in fatute. After de,clarieig,
it to UP theititentiou of himself, and the rest of the
Snb.Cummittee,, to withdraw at the expiration of the;
present seasoq,. frpm e)I interfere,nee in the manage-
went-, he proceeded to deliver it as his opinion, that
it would be Moir Benefieial to the interests of the '
Subscriber, to let the Theatre on !Wise, could au eli-
gible lessee be found, wile might he able and willing
to encounter the risk .of .carrying on the eoncern,
and of assuring to the Shareholders a fair interest en
their capital, ,and he recommended • this mode in pre-
ference to that of placing it in the hands of a new
,Committee, because he doubted whether any five Gen-
tlemen could be found who would he willing to nn-
dertake the an xietyand responsibility which the present
Sub-Committee had encounteted, when they should
become acquainted with those fluctuations which were
fOund to he inseparable from all theatrical property,
Mr. G.'Rnatirs exiiresed the great regret he felt
at heatidg from the Han, Chairman, that be was fully
resolved on quittingitte•stiperiutenckmee of Drury.
lane Theatre at the vnclai this season. He found it
extremely &limit to ilearibe in 'terms correspondent 1
with his feelings, the immense *eight' of "obligation
he had imposed on the Proprietary at largii it was
hardly to be' conceived' by any but these *he had
been eye-witnesses to it ; the constant ensfety—.the.
unceasing attention—the naven.ending labeur that
Mr. Whitbread had er:neutered ie 'the sel-siett of the
Theatre for four tong yeses, sod therefore itvere al-q
moat presumption in them to expect a coati:maimed
The fact being. now Tally established, he rose
howerer, we are again to attempt the over- it'
throw of NAeotrgoN, an to (Peke laws for the thus early to give his hearty douttirrence to the seg.
li
gestions kindly pointed' oat by MT. Whitbread fir
French nation ; or, in other worth, to force on them
the future management of the Theatre. If the preselst
the discarded 800 wooNs (for it means qothing more),
. Committee, with such a host of stem* at theft
let us lint be so blinded as to suppose this will be
could not devise means to Ore them a dividelld
dope with all imaginable ease on y
ou part !! Let us
beyond five per cent. shat"could be expected frets j
tint trust too much to those countless millions who
any other •who would succeed them, wanting (as they
are said to be in arms for this oda *fel • purpose, or
neurally must) therimplicit confidence that the °thee
even to the faith of those Princes. ander, whose ;
banners they fight. Ministers deceive the country Members have-uniformly paid to the opinion of the
Honourable Chairman ? It was therefore evident
when they attempt to impose on it the unpopularity
they had but one course to parser., and that had been
of BONAPARTE in France, or the military strength of
that country, as much, I believe, as they ore themselves completely anticipated by Mr. Whitbread. A system
,-
deceived, as to the unanimity and spirit of their magria of, econoury would he ititrodeced by any petson.
s' taking upon. himself the respenaibility of paying an
ninsous Allies: if we consider that among the nuttier-
ous rent, that never had been exp
ous Coalitionwhich have been set on foot by us against a dequa
%ell lie effected byny Committee oected.or coutdr- Board of
him, all terminated in diagram except the last, and
sbet
Management; and it was as netevions as noon-day
this, it must, be alto wecl,was hidebted for its succes te
that mt th where
an unr;amplcd concurrence offorianate em ProPoir its, rather 1 eatritair
!Ow prospered;

. .
either the one or the other fiat, been adopted—it must
hare a head—one seaponsib!e frrr every thing, and

AN.

- -
engaged. in unpleasant scenes of controversy .with
.sotins.poth in and out of the Theatre, who had
thought themselves aggrieved. In large bodies such
discontents must inevitably sometimes occur ; but he
had discharged what he thought to be his doty, and
these were the only circumstances which had occa-
sioned him what he could call trouble. Mr. Whit-
bread took occasion to pass a just eulogium upon
Mr. Kean, and declared his opinion to be, that Mr.
Kean had greatly improved in his old characters this
season, and had greatly added to his stock of reputa-
tion by those pew ones in which hehad beenproduced.
He congratulated the theatrical world on the great
accession of Miss O'Neill to the London stage, and
added, that although it was always out of fashion to
speak highly of living merit, he was persuaded there
was to be found in the two companies of the prin-
cipal London Theatres, as much dramatic talent as
ever flourished at any one time on the London stage.
Mr. Whitbread observed tipnn the great expences at-
tendant upon the Theatre, and stated that although
the three first seasons %sere of course the beeriest,
nevertheless, in contemplating the Pay-list, litc. upon
the scale at which it Would stand at the 'expiration
of the present season, he might now, asp disinterested
person, throw out the expediency of soliciting from
the public a small advance of price of admission to
a particular part of the house, to render the receipts
of the Theatres in any degree commensurate to their
expenses. Competition had carried the management
of ail Theatres to a profusion of splendour, which
the public now always expected, and for which they
did not adequately pay.. He thought an additional
sixpence to the first price of the pit, might, at the
eommeucernent of another season, be considered a
very moderate increase; and he was convinced it was
jest, and would.now be cheerfully accorded_ by the
pattrlic., • • •
Mr. Panic" suggested the expediency of some im-
provements in the accommodations of the Pit, which
had not a suffi4ent eleiation.
Mr, WIIITIMEAD said, that the same idea had
Wore been started, and that Mr. Wyatt had made
'an actual measurement, by which-it was proved that
;the elevation .in both Theatres was precisely the
same.
r Mt. Ptna replied, that it was not of t 4 com-
parative elevation that be complained, for he be-
lieved both Pits were nearly on a level; but in Dryry-
lane the sound was affected by the number of P,it
Boxes, from Which defect the Pit of Covent-garden
was free.
After some further conversation It was moved and
carried unanimously, that a General Meeting of the
'Proprietors should be summoned for Wednesday
next., •
The Thanks of the Meeting to the (Attest i was
then moved by Mr. G. ROBINS, and cittfitarby ac-
clamation. .

LAW INTELLIQBNCE.