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gloom would have overspread the city of Lon-, but to insist, with all the urgency in our

don on the morning of that day which should announce the loss of five hundred lives at the theatre, on the over-night! We shudder at the very idea, and the recollection of our personal disquiet gives additional strength to our

sensations.

power, in the name of reason, common sense, humanity, policy, personal preservation, and every other inducement that can affect the public on one hand, or the manɔger on the other, that before a single stone of the foundation of any NEW THEATRE, or of other place of public resort be laid, that most scrupulous attention be paid to ample and effectual modes of exit, places by which conpany may retire, places to which company may retire: additional doors that may be readily opened when required, and that conimunicate with spaces capable of affording relief to a multitude, and of tranquillizing minds suffering under terror, or at least, under alarm. The new theatre should be insulated; and we insist that no door be suffered to open inwards only: but that the greatest soficitude be exercised to render them easy, and that the public be satisfied of this quality being completely annexed to them.

We do also censure in the severest terms, all chapels having but one door; or doors at one end, or on one side, only : all assemblyrooms placed so high up in taverns, &c. that the company has several flights of stairs to descend before it can land on solid ground, on the level with the street: also, such as

We had, on a former occasion, (vide Panorama, Vol. II. p. 410,) the melancholy duty to perform of relating the disastrous event that took place at Sadler's Wells, and we then distinctly suggested * some of those principles that ought never to be lost sight of in constructing places of public resort. Happily our parish churches are mostly substantial buildings of stone: though some in the city are so closely connected with houses, to which | they adjoin, that should an auditory be under any inducement to press suddenly out of them, many lives must be lost before the mass of people could arrive at a space capable of containing them. But though our parish churches, for the greater part, may be safe, there are many chapels, meeting houses, assembly rooms, taverns, and other buildings, in which numbers of people meet, and where they remain together for some hours, which cannot be described as places of safety, in case of accident, to a numerous concourse of persons. The laws of our land take cog-have only one staircase: for we have only to nizance of the solidity of walls, and the scantling of timbers, in structures intended to contain great bodies of people: why shouldly they not also prescribe due attention, and make it imperative on some (the magistrates of a district, for instance) to see that equal attention be strictly enforced, to the local situations of all kinds : but we are at this time most tion of such places: the leading avenues from the public streets to the number, size, and disposition of the doors, and to their facilities for ready and unencumbered exit. We say exit, because we have heretofore explained the difference between admission by twos and threes at most, and exit by as many hundreds, all intent on being foremost, at the same instant of time.

The result of our considerations is, not to accuse the managers of places already built, where no improvement REALLY can be made,

We likewise hinted, in-page 999 of the same volume, the absolute necessity of making two additional central doors in the pit of Covent Garden theatre, to be opened only for departure from the theatre.

imagine the confusion attending any impediment to free passage at the bottom of the onway of egress, to perceive that a considerable portion of the company must be lost.

The same precautions attach to provincial theatres, booths at fairs, and temporary erec

peculiarly affected by the recent event, the calamity of which will be felt for a long time to come, and we earnestly insist that Covent Garden Theatre be not suffered to be rebuilt, till every precaution has been taken, that art, and not only art, but good sense and enlightened understanding, can suggest.

TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF COVENT GARDEN
THEATRE, BY FIRE.

The foregoing observations are introductory to a history of one of the most afflictive evenis of the kind, that London has witnessed for a long series of years. Our memory indeed furnishes us with recollections of several theatres consumed by conflagration, but no instance in which the attendant circumstances so extremely calamitous. Loss of

were

without betraying its ravages either to the eye,
or to the smell, almost immediately in that
part of the theatre, which certainly some per-
sons visited in the course of their duty.
It is certain, say some, who attempt to ac-

property, to whatever amount, may be replaced after a time; but loss of lives is irreparable. We have already stated the reflections that arose in our minds, on the evening of Monday, Sept. 19. while in the theatre at CoventGarden: little however, did we really, anti-count for the accident, that there had been cipate the melancholy incidents of a few hours.

About 4 o'clock, on the morning of Tuesday, a female servant, one of those who reside in the theatre, awoke Mr. Hughes, the treasurer, who inhabits a part of it, with the alarming intelligence that the building was on fire. The flames burst out in the upper part of the theatre; and, happily, by this circumstance all the persons who were resident in it, had time to escape. The quantity and quality of the combustible materials that are contained in the interior of a theatre, left no hope that this disaster could be prevented from spreading throughout the whole structure, especially as there was reason to conclude that the fire had been some hours in kindling, and that it had seized on many extensive articles.

It appears from the evidence of one of the stage carpenters, that he left all safe, as he supposed, at about half past eleven o'clock, on the over-night: it is affirmed also, as certain, that the usual precautions were taken, by those entrusted with that duty; the persons who had lighted the lamps and candles had extinguished them: the housekeeper had gone over the building; and the watchman of the theatre had been his rounds during the night. It is not for us to say, what other precautions might have been taken. After an accident has happened, to suggest means by which it might have been prevented, is one of the easiest operations of thought: and those who are least competent to foresee such misfortunes, are the most forward to point out, with the greatest precision, what ought to have been done, to prevent them. That character we do not intend shall attach to us.

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much confusion in the shilling gallery the preceding evening: and some unfortunate spark might have fallen unheeded, during these scuffles. But our objection to this, also is, that it must have fallen on wood, and the smell issuing from burning wood must have been sensible, and it must have been in a state to be detected by cursory observation, before the theatre was examined for the night.

Those who think the fire originated in the mechanist's work-roont, which is between the roof and the ceiling, have, in support of their opinion, the fact, that the Opera House at the Pantheon, was certainly burnt down by a fire that originated in a like apartment: and the fire at the Opera House it the Haymarket, was reported to have been first discovered by flakes of fire falling from the upper parts on to the stage below.

Our observations go to prove the necessity of a better arrrangement of the apartments of a theatre, and a inore than usual attention in the architect who may have the direction of the structure hereafter to be erected, to interpose effectual defences between all such working-rooms, and the man body of the theatre. In fact, to place apart all combustibles by nature, or-so far as their uses in the theatre is concerned-by possibility,

From general appearance, it is concluded, that the fire must have broken out in the upper part of the theatre, in the quarter of Hart-street: and nothing could prevent its spreading from end to end of the building. It is true, there was a reservoir of water on the upper parts of the structure: but that was unapproachable; and there was an engine on the premises; but the hose did not fit: of course, that was useless, even had there been sufficient assistance to work it.

Conjecture has fancied, that the wadding of the gun fired off in the representation of Pizarro, had risen high in the roof of the The whole of the property is consumed, Theatre, and there had set on fire some part together with the building: the wardrobe; where it lodged: this is possible, no doubt; the music; the instruments of the perform. and it may be recollected, that that magnifiers; and all other articles on the premises. cent vessel the Queen Charlotte, was burnt in the Mediterranean, from the wadding of the musquets fired by the marines at their customary exercise. Their presentation being to windward, the flaming paper was carried into a window of the ship, that happened to be open, and falling on some loose papers, soon communicated a blaze throughout that noble structure. Had the marines fired to leerd, this could not have happened. We recall this event to the memory of all naval officers.

It is scarcely possible, however, that a flaming substance" "should have been thus active

Among the music, were several original scores of Handel, Arne, and other celebrated composers; of which there were no copies extant; they having never been transcribed, much less printed. Those of Handel were composed for what was called the Little Theatre in Lincoln's Inn-Fields, and were the property of the patent. Handel's celebrated organ, which that eminent composer bequeathed to Covent-Garden theatre, is consumed. It was heard only in the Oratorios performed during Lent. Several of the instruments lost by musicians are estimated at hundreds of pounds in value: and the

suits of character-dresses lost by some of the
performers, are said to have cost as much
as £200 or £300. There was also a Society
held in the theatre, the losses of which in
plate, wines, &c. is very heavy. We con-
ceive, however, that the valuation of the
damage at £150.000 is, so far as concerns the
theatre, excessive. but the damages sustained
by property adjoining, ought, no doubt, to
be valued at something considerable.
The distribution of the insurances among
the Fire Offices we understand to be,
The Royal Exchange........
The Phoenix....
The Union......
The Sun

the Piazza, which they were working, directly under this room: the explosion of this gunpowder, meeting with materials already more than half consumed, threw these down, and the mass falling on the people below proved fatal to many.

The party working the engine, sundry volunteers keeping guard, and others looking on, were all smothered in one common ruin, or burnt by the heated mass. We hope, for the sake of the sufferers, that a speedy termination closed their agonies: several who were £5,000 drawn from this dreadful situation, were the .15,000 subjects of a lingering torment, ere death re..5,000 lieved them. Thirteen bodies were found ..25,000 after incessant efforts, by the bye standers, fire men, &c. Sixteen others, mostly hopeTotal............£50,000 less cases, were taken to the Middlesex hospital: several were taken to St. Bartholomew's hospital: seven persons were killed by the fall of a wall in Hart Street, that was left in a tottering state by the fire: two females, that got on the top of a neighbour's house to examine the fire more closely fell with the house, and were lost.

The distress of at least two hundred persons, dependent on the theatre, may be better conceived than described..

The destruction of so large a building, connected as it was with the adjoining houses could not take place without including them in the calamity. The tire raged with the In short, the number of persons to whom utmost violence on the upper side of Bow this calamity has proved immediately fatal, Street, and soon involved eight or nine houses is supposed to be at least fifty: and many in ruin. It communicated to several who survive will be severely disfigured. others on the opposite side of the street in Coroners inquests have been held at the Hart Street, but these were saved by great Britannia Coffee-house Covent-Garden, on exertions. Four of them were on fire at the those who suffered at the Piazza entrance : same moment. The quantity of flying flakes the evidence went to prove the falling down of fire, that were carried by the wind which of a heavy stack of chimneys in the Shakesblew strongly from the south west, was pro- peare, which the people without connected digious, and the height of Drury Lane thea- with what they thought to be an explosion tre exposed it reculiarly to an accumulation of of gunpowder: and this iminense weight them the effects they might have produced falling on the arch-way brought it down. were prevented by diligent attention, and the The verdict, of the jury was, "That the adoption of every precaution that prudence sufferers were accidentally killed by the could suggest. Other houses in the neigh-falling down of a room in Covent-Garden bourhood, were watched with equal assiduity. The flakes of fire, were picked up, or extinguished the instant they fell. A very necessary and commendable solicitude.

But the most melancholy part of our duty is to follow, in narrating the events that took place during the conflagration. Very few persons had any conception of the extent of the theatre fewer still could form any idea of the prodigious power of such an immense body of flaming substances; and only those intimately acquainted with the interior distributions of the apartments could tell in what places the most dangerous articles were deposited. This ignorance appears to have led many persons into danger, and to have cost them their lives. Certain rooms, in fact appertaining to the Shakespeare tavern and coffee house, were occupied by the theatre; and in one of them was kept a small quantity of gunpowder. This was wholly unknown to a body of Fire Office men, and others, who had advanced an engine, from

theatre, cailed the Apollo room." The juries held in other places have mostly returned verdicts of accidental death.

We desire to terminate this disastrous history by impressing on the minds of our readers the necessity of taking advice, when advice may be of use, in such cases; for it is affirmed, that Mr. John Kemble, and others, did in express terms caution the sufferers at the Piazza entrance, on the subject of their danger: as to those who lost their lives the next morning, by going too close to the ruins, without occasion, the number of which is greater than we have stated, we must decidedly blame their insensibility. was not courage; it was fool-hardiness.

It

Again we are thankful to Providence, that this calamity did not happen while the house was full and we heartily wish that many years may clapse without any occurrence taking place in the city of London, to which this dreadful conflagration, with its consequences, may be compared.

VIEWS OF SPAIN.

Taken in the Year 1805.

No. V.

at the present juncture. If the Catholic cler gy in other countries should take the hint, and follow the example set them by those of Spain, we may yet see the machinator of evil meet with a reception befitting his intentions, in countries which his plans and his imagination devote to ruin and overthrow.

We are not so thoroughly satisfied with some of the writer's arguments in the following paper, as he seems to have been himself; but we have made a point of altering none of his sentiments; nor of varying his language beyond what was necessary to render it into correct and perspicuous English.

SECULAR AND REGULAR CLERGY.

The clergy in general enjoy great preponderance in Spain: although it has diminished materially of late, still their influence on public opinion is considerable.

According to an account taken in 1787, the number of rectors and vicars amounted to 22,460; and the remainder of the secular clergy to 47,710. Supposing that half of these 47,710 individuals be in possession of livings, it will follow that the number of public functionaries is 45,315, and that of ecclesiastics not in functions 23,855 total 69,120, composing the secular clergy of Spain.

Report has stated that the Clergy of Spain have taken a decided and conspicuous part in the present revolutionary movements. It is extremely credible; because they could not have been ignorant of the ravages committed by the French on ecclesiastical property in Italy, and more lately in Portugal. Whatever may be the sentiments of the philosophic statesman, we must suppose that the clergy, who are bound by their profession, cannot anticipate the destruction of what they have been accustomed to venerate, without pain, neither would they be backward in their personal endeavours to prevent it, or in those exhortations which are the arms of their profession, to excite the resistance of others, in behalf of the church establishment and church property of their nation. From the following communication we learn that the elergy are in the habit of attending the armies, so that they are inured to scenes of warfare, and to the dangers of the field. We learn, too, that they exhort the inhabitants of Madrid daily, in the open places of It is said that the government intend to forthe city and their harangues, no doubt, bid the admission of novices before the age of have their effect on the auditors. We cannot 25. It is to be hoped, for the sake of the resbut suppose, that under the present commo-pect due to religion, and even for that of tions of Spain, these public addresses, by touching on national topics, may tend to inflame the public mind, while they direct the public opinion. We have seen several of the Spanish proclamations signed by bishops and ecclesiastics of high rank: we have seen others declining the honour of the journey to Bay onne: and others are said to have even headed

The regular clergy amount to 100,000. In this the religious establishments for wo

men are not included.

the state, and of society at large; that this prohibition will take place. A man, according to the civil code of different nations, is only reckoned such from his majority: he cannot dispose of property before his twentieth year; why then should he be allowed to dispose of his existence in life, sometimes before he has reached his fifteenth year?

The Spanish clergy, both regular and seculanded property; they share with the grandees lar, are in possession of the most considerable almost the whole of the country; but it is to be remarked, that their property is much better cultivated and taken care of, than that of the nobility, who entrust the management of salaries, which they gayly spend without taktheir estates to stewards: these receive high ing any sort of concern about the improvement of their masters' lands.

armies acting against the usurper of the Spanish throne. Under these circumstances, we feel a gratification in being able to lay before our readers, in continuation of the papers under the title of Views of Spain, a character of the clergy drawn from actual observation, and extremely favourable to the body at large. That a body which maintains such a conduct should possess great influence is ex- M. de Lovillanos considers great ecclesiastitremely credible, and that this influence will cal property as prejudicia to the civil econobe urged to the utmost in opposition to Buo-my, as well as to the legislation of Spain. To naparte may easily be believed. Nothing donations of lands to the clergy, and to sell remedy this evil, he proposes to prohibit all could be worse policy in that usurper than their property, or commute it into shares in the disgraces he has accumulated on the Pope, the public funds, VOL. V. [Lit. Pan. Oct. 1808.]

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presses himself thus: Every thing reminds one of abundance, and peace of mind."

Whoever has witnessed the services performed by the monks, either in military hospitals or in battles where they ran amidst the fire to carry a word of consolation to the dying; whoever has seen them, when the alarm bell has rung, going processionally to the place on fire, each bearing a hatchet, a bucket, or other necessary utensil, not to give it to others, but to use it himself; or at MaJaga, Alicant, and Carthagena, devoting themselves to wait on such as were infected with the plague, running about the streets with a bell to acquaint those who were abandoned by their father, mother, brother, or other relation, that charitable souls were coming to their assistance, such will not reproach the religious orders with being useless.

BISHOPS.

Let us inquire how far this measure might conduce to the real interests of this country. -The number of proprietors would be augmented without a doubt, but the property would change its nature, the cultivation be Jess attended to, and the revenue of the state would be impoverished. The labourer, some will say, who toils for his master's profit, cares but little for the amelioration of the land he cultivates, provided he be paid regularly; little does he mind losses by hail and inundations; whereas, if he became proprietor, his interest would change; his industry would increase; he would enter into details which the opulent proprietor cannot. This objection would be unanswerable, if these domains were subdivided among proprietors in easy circumstances, who had funds sufficient to support the purchase, and to meet the expences of careful cultivation. But what would be the consequence, if ecclesiastical possessions in Spain were put up to sale? Would the ca- In Spain episcopal dignities are the reward pitalists and merchants lay out their money of a long life of virtue, and it is not uncom in the purchase of land? Certainly not; for mon to see the Cordelier, or Capuchin friar, the produce of land can never be compared quitting his cloister to occupy the see of Sewith that of commercial speculations. Who ville, Toledo, &c. The Spanish prelates ofthen would be the buyers? Labourers, jour-fer an example of the most rigid regularity. neymen, persons who subsist by their daily labour. To facilitate the purchase, it would be requisite to fix low prices, or settle the payaments at distant terms, or in annuities, which many would pay very ill, and some not at all; for he who desires to acquire landed property must, in a certain sense, be, rich. A proprietor lays out on his estate what money he possesses beyond his wants, by which means he improves it, and reaps material benefit in the end. But a first term, must be fixed; and the purchaser, we have supposed, not having that term, would fail in his engagements; he would be turned out, the property would fall into the king's management, the revenue would get nothing by it, and agriculture would -eventually be materially injured.

The enlightened Arthur Young observes, that dividing a large property is only substitut. ing a crowd of peaurious proprietors, a swarm of starving journeymen, who, if they were not toiling on their own account, would earn enough to exist upon while working for others. He observes, that those counties in England, that are the most opulent, are those where there are the fewest small proprietors.

Most travellers have acknowledged how useful and charitable monastic orders are in every part of the country. In comparing the state of cultivation on their possessions, with that of possessions belonging to the laity, they acknowledge the superiority of the former. Ease and comfort reign everywhere, says one; "the possessions of the monks are well cultivated, and give life throughout the adjacent country." Speaking of the Carthusian goavent at Porta Celi, near Valentia, he ex

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No assemblies, no entertainments, no women, admitted in their houses. Secluded from the world, they are wholly taken up with spiritual cares. They all enjoy considerable possessions, attached to their sees; but their wealth belongs to the poor. Instead of gilt carriages, footmen loaded with lace, you meet at the doors of their palaces none but poor wretches, waiting for the hour when the distributions are made. Women of a better condition, who may have been reduced to indigence; unfortunate persons, whom calamitous and unexpected events have visited, fill their anti-chambers, and never leave them without being relieved and consoled. For "prelates are at the head of every charitable institution in their provinces, and all lay out the greater part of their incomes in relieving the indigent."

In those times of desolation when celestial wrath visited a kingdom formerly called "Most Christian," the faithful priests, running away from an useless martyrdom, found support and assistance in the charity of these virtuous prelates. Who could have been insensible enough, to visit without tears, the palace of the archbishop of Orense? That palace, transformed into religious barracks, where three hundred priests were hospitably entertained; the bishop confining himself to the smallest apartment, eating at the same table with these martyrs of the faith, supplying them with every article necessary for subsistence, and allowing monthly stipends to those whom his palace had not room to contain ; and, all this, without curtailing any of his accustomed bounties in his diocese!

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