The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-18 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—" Utterers of untruths should have good memo-
ries," is an old saying, and Mr. Boucicault's is rather at
fault.

Mr Boucicault, in his letter relative to the comely of
" The Fox Chase," says that he did not state that he took
his idea from the French drama of " Sullivan," but from
the same source as "David Garrick" at the Haymarket,
which is avowedly " Sullivan"—a distinction without a
difference. "We must speak by the card, or equivocation
will undo us," it seems. I hope Mr C. Mathews will com-
ply with Mr Boucicault's request and publish his letter. I
ask for no better sample of Mr Boucicault's epistolary style.
I have a vast number of Mr Boucioault's letters which, if
he desires to see in print, his wish shall be instantly
acceded to, with notes.
Mr Boucicault states that in 1853 he offered me an un-
finished comedy, in five acts, called " The Married Bachelor;
or, Don Quixote the Second." That I lent him £5O upon

it and made no inquiry as to its originality. Now mark, sir,
how a plain tale sets him down, The comedy was not only
finished up to the last speech, but had been carefully rewritten
in parts, as the manuscript in my possession will amply
prove. In verification of its being finished, it was offered, and

I presume accepted, at the Royal Princess's Theatre on
December 12, 1852, nine months before he brought it to
me, and afterwards to the Lyceum Theatre, but whether
before or after it was sold to me I have no data at present
to ascertain precisely.

Knowing that Mr. Boucicault's originality in "London
Assurance" and other dramatic works had been rather
seriously questioned, I required Mr. Boucicault's assurance
that this comedy was "new and original." He assured me
it was entirely so, and on the title-page of each act is written
by Mr. Boucicault himself "A now and original oomedy in
five acts, by Dion Boucicault." In addition to this, the
memorandum of agreement, dated September 6, 1853, drawn
up by himself and witnessed by my son, commences—
" Received fifty pounds on account of my new and original
comedy, Don Quixote the Second,' being half the entire
purchase money, if successful."

- It must be understood that Mr. Boucicault was in the
continual habit of borrowing sums of money of me, and
working a portion of each piece. I have before me now
his I 0 U for £2OO, dated June 23, 1853, scarcely three
months before the arrangement for the comedy. This I 0 U,
with many others, are now only curious autographs, as
Mr. Boucicault's incidental residencein America for seven
years allowed him the advantage of the Statute of Limita-
tions.

The production of the comedy until now was delayed in
consequence of the illness and death of Mr. Wright, for
whom the character of Tom Waddy was written. I pro-
posed it as the first piece to be produced this season at the
St. James's Theatre, and knew nothing of its not being
original; but " The Silver Lining " was preferred.
However, being confident in the word and honour of Mr.
Boucicault as to the originality I did not conceive delay was
dangerous. Upon finding that I had been imposed on, at a
time when I was his only friend, I thought it a duty to
myself to announce the fact. I appeal to the public if his
borrowed work has not been produced and cast in a manner
to secure the success of any drama deserving success, and
not in a manner, as he asserts, to secure its failure and
condemn the play. The artists saved it, and were twice
called at the end. Doubtless Mr Boucicault has been con-
founding this comedy with three or four others that he had
advances of money to write, but forgot to do all but the
titles.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,
Royal St. James's Theatre, May 17.

13. WEBSTER.

Condemnation of La Pommerais,

PARIS, May 17 (Evening).

The trial of the poisoning case of Ls Pommerais
was concluded to-day. The jury found the prisoner
guilty of poisoning the widow De Pau w. No men-
tion of extenuating circumstances having been
made, La Pommerais was condemned to death.
The main points relied upon by the prosecution
were :-
1. That the deceased died of poison.

•
2. That the poison was the nature of those
which, belonging to the vegetable kingdom, might
leave no characteristic traces in the organs, and
might not be eliminated by chemical analysis, but
which revealed their presence by their effects, and
were discovered by the deadly action which they
exercised upon living animals.

3. The experts attracted not only from the matter
vomited by Madame Pauw on the flooring of her
room, but also from the organs whiuh were analysed,
a toxical principle which, being tried upon animals,
produced effects analogous to those experienced by
Madame Pauw.

4. These effects and this action greatly resemble
those known to be produced by digitalis, and the
medical men, without positively affirming that digiL
talis was the poison used, say there is a strong pre-
sumption that Madame Pauw's death was caused
by that substance.
5. Madame Pauw was in no way ill till the day
before her death ; the alleged affection of the heart
and stomach for whioh she consulted several doctors
was like the fall she said she had had—fables in-
vented by her, or to which she lent herself.
6. The autopsy showed conclusively that she
neither died from a fail nor from internal hemorr-
hage, nor acute or chronic gastritis, nor from a per-
foration of the stomach, nor from any natural

cause.

7. That poison was found in the prisoner's house,
which he cannot account for.
B._That digitalis was one of these poisons.

THE PRUSSIANS IN JUTLAND.—We learn from a
reliable source that on the 11th inst., the day previous to
that fixed for the cor.mencement of the truce, Field
Marshal Wrangel imposed a fresh contribution on the in.
habitants of J utland, and that the troops under his cora.
wand actually levied it on the 13th and 14th Wt.