"The delay in the building of this new Theatre, which was originally intended to have been finished by the opening of the ensuing season, has been occasioned partly from Mr. Sheridan's mind having been long employed in performing the last mournful duties of a husband; and from a dispute in the purchase of the dormant patent belonging to Covent-garden Theatre, on which security the money for the new building was to be advanced. Mr. Harris had agreed with Mr. Sheridan for the price of this patent at 15,000_l._ "The old Theatre was pulled down, and the money offered to be paid for the patent, when it occurred that there were other persons necessary to be consulted, who had a property in it. Mr. White, who had married a Miss Powell, had a quarter share of the patent; and when the assignment of it was offered him to be signed, he objected, and said he would not sell his share under 5000_l._ "Here then was a difficulty which had never been thought of. The old Drury was pulled down, and the money for the new House was not to be advanced without the patent. What was to be done? There was much cavilling on both sides; and the dispute had the appearance of being drawn into Chancery, to compel Mr. White to sell. All this time Mr. Sheridan was paying 5_l. per cent._ interest for the first payment that had been advanced for the new building, which was laying idle; his present Theatre in the Haymarket was filling every night with new Proprietors' tickets; and he was paying a heavy ground-rent to the Duke of Bedford. This was a ruinous business,--and at length Mr. Sheridan concluded a bargain a few days since at the price of 20,000_l._ for the dormant patent. It is believed that had he employed his usual _finesse_ in the management of this affair, as well as in the dear bargain he made for the Haymarket Theatre, he might have saved himself full 20,000_l._; for he has been likewise outwitted in the agreement he entered into with Mr. Taylor, which we shall speak of to-morrow. "The new Drury, however, now proceeds; and Mr. Holland has declared he will have the Theatre covered in by the month of January next. The plan is extremely magnificent, and will afford the most ample accommodation. It is almost a square. A very grand piazzi will be built round three sides of it, over which will be setts of chambers. The Theatre will be insulated, as there are to be streets all round it. An opening is to be cut from Bridges-street into Drury-lane, through Vinegar-yard; and as the Theatre will extend to Drury-lane, there will be on one side Brydges-street, on the other Russell-street, the third Drury-lane, and on the fourth, the street through Vinegar-yard. Thus will there be avenues on all sides; and then can the Theatre be emptied of its company in the space of a quarter of an hour, a convenience which is much required.