350 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



sible part, in our opinion, of the 

 conduct of the managers, is the 

 erection of private boxes, which, 

 as they are the haunts of profligacy, 

 are offensive to morals and to de- 

 cency ; and were they appropriated 

 only to the nobility, and persons of 

 consequence, they would be invi- 

 dious distinctions in a national the- 

 atre. It may be doubted, howe- 

 ver, whether the proprietors would 

 be able to indemnify themselves, 

 or, at any rate, to derive a reason- 

 able profit without the private 

 boxes. They are said to produce 

 12,000/. a year. Their value to the 

 proprietors is certainly the only 

 excuse that can be made for them. 



After all, if the proprietors were 

 in the wrong, the law was open for 

 the redress of grievances. The 

 proprietors act under a patent, 

 which patent, if it can be shown to 

 have been abused, is liable to be 

 revoked. Serjeant Best, though 

 counsel for Mr. Clifford, observed, 

 that " however illegal or improper 

 was the conduct of the managers, 

 it could not be resisted by riot." 

 He admitted the illegality, there- 

 fore, as well as the existence of the 

 riot ; he only contended, that his 

 client could not be proved to have 

 had any share in it. We are about 

 to have another new theatre erect- 

 ed, and it is to be hoped, that no 

 pretext will be afforded for a repe- 

 tition of noises and outrages, which 

 are more distinctive of barbarism 

 than of civilization. 



23. Curious cause.— The King 

 and the Lord of the Manor of HoT- 

 dernesse. — The curious suit be- 

 tween the Crown and Consta- 

 ble, esq. lord of the manor of Hol- 

 dernesse, in Yorkshire, is at length 

 determined; it is of much import- 

 ance to lords of manors on the sea 



A cask of wine was floated oit 

 shore on the coast of the manor of 

 Holdernesse. The coast-bailiff, 

 and some Custom-house officers, 

 on hearing of the stranger's arrival, 

 went immediately to pay a compli- 

 mentary visit ; the officers laid hold 

 of one end of the cask, and said, 

 " this belongs to the king ;" the 

 bailiff laid hold of the other end, 

 and said that it belonged to the 

 lord of the manor. Say the offi- 

 cers, " it is smuggled, it has not 

 paid the Port duty ;" said the bai- 

 liff, " I think it is Madeira." The 

 officers smiled at the honest man's 

 blunder, and explained, they meant 

 the duty on wine imported; says 

 the bailiff, " it has been in no port, 

 it has come by itself on the beach." 

 Both parties remained inflexible ; 

 and the officers having, after grave 

 consultation, determined, that the 

 bailiff could not drink the cask of 

 wine whilst they went to their Cus- 

 tom-house at a short distance for 

 advice, proposed the wine should 

 be put into a small hut, but the 

 bailiff thinking it safer within the 

 lord's immediate jurisdiction, in the 

 mean time removed it to the cellar 

 of the baronial chateau. The offi- 

 cers returned on this : " Oh, ho !" 

 said they, •* now we have you ; 

 the wine is our's to all intents 

 and purposes, as it has been removed 

 •without a permit."~Says the bai- 

 liff, "If I had not removed the 

 wine without a permit, the sea 

 would the next tide." «'Then," 

 quoth the officers, •' the sea would 

 have been put into the court of ex- 

 chequer." The bailiff shut the 

 great hall door in their faces. 



The lord was exchequered ; that 

 is, the attorney-general filed his 

 information against him ; lawyers 



learned 



