The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-08-21 00:00:00

• _ _
THEATRICALS.
The novelt last nixht at the Haymarket, was the
.pet-
formance of the pars Of Maria Dairlington by Miss PATON,
who introduced a bravura, which commanded the most
unanimous encore we have ever witnessed. In the perform-
ance of the part, it if no discredit to Miss PAToM to admit
she was something lesiveffective than Madame VgBTRIS, or
Miss Fool.' ; but she is rapidly improving as an actress,
and her exquisite powers of voice make ample compensation
for what is yet wanting.
Signor Denali, it appears, has finally concluded the ar-
rangements for the Opera House with Mr. Ebert, and this
week enters into the possession of that establishment. He
sets off immediately for Naples and other places, to make
engagements for the season. The Noblemen who coned•
tute the Committee for conducting the King's Theatre next
season, are, it is understood, the Marquis of Hertford, Lord
Lowther, Lord Aylesford, Lord biountedgecumbe, and
Count St. Antonio. The interior of the Opera House is to
be entirely renovated.

THE WEATHER.
"Heigh ho, the wind and the rain."

The Government Scribes have acquired so inveterate a
habit of lauding every thing that is, that even the seasons
it would seem, must be treated like the last quarter's re-
venue, and represented as most,flottrishing and productive.
The JVew Time* has actually taken a Ministerial view of
the weather ; it looks at the sunny side of our sunless sum-
mer. and paints the skies couleur de rose,at mild and shining
as his Majesty's Administration. It may indeed be Said of
this writer, that he touches nothing that he does not
adorn ; whether the subject is the state of the nation or
the state of the weather, it eq3ally glows beneath his
hands—the one is always prosperous, the other always 6ne;
Government ever mild, and the Sun ever genial ; none but
the base and discontented demagogue interested to delude,
will arraign the wisdom of our riders, or say that " the rain
it rainetb every day." Horace's Madman sat in the empty
theatre, and saw most excellent tragedies ; our Contempo-
rary sits in his office in Fleet Street, and sees sunny
days. That some gentle refreshing showers have fallen,
he cannot deny, but they were " unpleasant not destruc-
tive," and it should be remembered, quota he, " that
though the summer is backward, the spring was also un-
usually tardy—that there have been no stars to destroy
the grasses or the corns—that the rain, though it has been
frequent, has seldom fell in torrents; and that there has not
been any extraordinary change or severity in the tempera-
ture of the atmosphere. The flavour, quantity, and price
of the fruit, which has been brought to the metropolis
chew, that whatever weather its inhabitants may have
experienced, their neighbours have been tolerably for-
tunate."

Here is first, the deuce to pay with the seasons—here
summer is made to recriminate on spring ; the pot calling
the kettle • •• •. The spring was backward too, but
lupkily though 'melte ard It did come—better late than
never—while summer has no time to lose—its days are few.
Then, "there have been no storTs"—dear heart, what
would the New Times have? It has been " blowing- great
guns" from the gentle south for the last two months; our
oldest sailors never remember such gales. And " the rain,
though frequent, has seldom fell in torrents."
If ever the proverb held true that " it never rains hot it
pours." it has been this delicious summer. Navies might
have rode in our kennels, several dandies have been soept
away by the torrents from the spouts, and an officer in the
lirenadier Life Guards was lately knocked down and wetted
to the skin, so that his life is despair- al of, by a single drop
of rain! Then, again, "no extraordinary severity in the
temperature of the atmosphere." Has the man no feeling?
Is he a Laplander or an Esquitnaux ? All we shall say is,
that if the duty on coals be not taken off next- summer, we
will not answer for the consinences. Nankeens and Russia
duck are drugs ; and the ladles have this summer been ob-
served to be clothed when dressed, a thing nee. r before seen
since the days °km grandmothers. The writer talks of—
" the flavour, quantity, and price of the fruit." If the fruit
will grow in toe shade, it is very much to he commended for
so conforming to circumstances ; and for the price it may
well be low, for what man will risk his life by putting
snow-balls into his month, cold, crude fruit into his chilled
stomach? We have•eat a hot pie or two, no more. He in-
sists on the flavour of the fruits ; now it is notorious, as the
Frenchman said, that nothing. has been sweet this year, ex•
cept the vinegar. But perhaps, like the Scotch Laird, he
likes them tour.

The people in the north, it seems, tell nothing but lies
p;wout the weather; it is as hot as an oven in Scutland,wntle
they pretend it is as cold as a church.
16 In the north, the fears have been mostlMully expressed,
and continued with the greatest determination ; even at the
present moment, in Perthshire, and other parts of Scotland,
they talk of the season being like winter, bat, unluckily for
their veracity, tell us in the same breath, that the fields Pre
well nigh ready for the reaper, &c."
We are then told to weep over the beans, and rejoice at
the
.prosperity of their little brothers, the peal—Chat bar.
ley is thin, and oats pinched with cold. So much for the''
north.

In England nothing is wanting hut—a f'w flays of real
warmth. The Midland Counties confine theroseirea to the
same moderate desire. _

We rejoice to hear that Somerset, Wilts, Devon, Dorset,
and Cornwall, are about to loge their notoriety for being
rainy counties, though we grieve that it will be attributed
to all the other Counties baying acquired a soaking
name. _ _

We are then told to expect great things from the Moon,
and when the Sun fails us it is certainly a co mfort to have
a Moon to trust to for consolation. And lastly, the writer
supports his Tory view of the state of the weather by some
ofkcial dornmen s.

They write ft om Magma that they have had a dry day.
At Stockport no such thing bad occurred, but mention
is made of torrents of rgin.

At Margate, the whers and citizens " come down re-
markably fine."
They had a hot Tuesday at Canterbury, date unknown.
The apple trees fall short in Sussex, but the apples fall
far and wide, tired no doubt of dangling and swinging about
in the cold wet wind, and soured by misfortune.
The Nee Times might further hare added, that um-
brellas have this summer had an unprecedented sale, the
numbermade and sold having exceeded that of every pre-
vious year by one million four hundred and fifty nine
thousand three hundred and one; while we have at the
same time to lament a falling off in parasols, which, how-
ever, it must be remembered, are smaller than parapluies,
anti the one is an article of necessity, while the other is one
of luxury.
The sale of stamps for quack medicines is infinitely in-
creased, particularly on Pectoral Lozenges, and Essence
of Mustard for Chilblains, which were very general in the
dog-days.
No young ladies have suffered, we rejoice to say, this
summer, from the indiscretion of eating ice when violently
heated ibut more persons than usual bare been burnt from
sitting with their knees over the fire.
Coals 1111,0 had a lively sale ; and warm hearths and
light works have beguiled the tedium of our long wintry
days.--Christmas tales are all in a state of great forward-
ness, and horrid murders will come out earlier this than any
preceding year.
Not a single dog took occasion to go mad during the dog
days, and the number of ladies who fainted at the Theatres
fell somewhat short of the winter average.
Knee buckles and corderoys have been sent to the High-
lands, and thousand five hundred and three persons
have been committed to Bridewell for sleeping on brick-
kilns and breaking into bakers' ovens.