The Sun.
London, England, 1837-03-08 00:00:00

PETITION OF ALFRED BUNI'4, LESSEE OF THE
TUE.-kV:IE ROYAL:DRURY-LANE.
TO THE. HON. THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
That your Petitioner 'numbly submits to your Honourable
House, that this Theatre; together with those of the Adelphi,
the Strand, and the Saint James's Theatre, are within the un-
derstood. jurisdiction of the Lord Chamberlain for the time
being, and that the three latter Theatres haVe no power to
open their doors, but by the express permission of his Lord-
ship; and yet on the very evenings in question, m hen your
Petitioner was prohibited from performing at Drury-lane
Theatre any " other than Sacred Entertainments," these
other Theatre% were permitted to give a variety of entertain-
ments of a mixel and ribald character.
The Adelphi Theatre has been opened " on the Wednes-
days.and Fridays in Lent," with the performance of an actress,
in " the delineation of the passions," with comic singing by
other pers;ms, one of whom is the singer of the song called
" Jim Crow," and other Negro Melodies, and the perform-
ances of the Lledeuin Arabs, with scenic displays and a Mo-
nopologue.
`Pa; Saint James's Theatre opened on the evening of Fri--
day, the 3d instant, with " Comic Singing," and " 'lmitations
of the London Actors," with a ~.nintonnmic piece, called. " the
Adventures of a Night," and other miscellaneous singing.
The Strand Theatre opened on the same evening with a
performance called a " Wallet of Whims and Waggerics
with Musical Performances by the English Paganinvh—Gym-
nastic Exercises by an Indian Juggler, and a variety of Danc-
ing, and Scenic Views.
That-your Petitioner, with great humility, submits to the
consideration of your Honourable House, that all these enter-.
tainmcnts are in direct violation of the restriction which has
been placed on Drury-lane Theatre.:
That in all those Thea:res, vaii-Al are either in or out of
London, and nut in the jurisdictie,i of the Lord Chamhcrijli,
every description of Stage entertainment is nightly played
throughout the whole period of Lent.
That the Church of Saint Paul, Covent-garden, in which
parish Drury-lane Theatre is situate, is not open on the even-
ings-of the Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent, and that alt
clubs, balls, concerts, public dinners, and amusements, are
open, and given on these, the same- as any other evenings in
the year. •

Your Fctitioner therefore humbly, yet earnestly, prays, that
your Honourable House will take into consideration the cir-
cumstances of the case, and interfere, in order to save him and
the numerous other persons who arc so deeply interested in
keeping open au establishment of such a magnitude, from the
,reat loss which will otherwise be sustained by the partial
exercise of an authority so extensive and powerful, as that
which has led to Drury-lane Theatre being closed ; and tha
his Theatre, enjoying a Royal Patent, and erected under an
Act-of Parliament, may not be deprived of privileges which
are extended to Minor Theatres, which have no Patent what-
ever, and which therefore must, it is humbly submitted, have
received from the Lord Chamberlain an authority his Lordship
has. thought proper to withhold from your NtitiZmer.
And your Petitioner will ever pray, &c.

, -
Earl Grey, it is expected, will arrive in town in the
course of the week from his seat, Howiek-hall, Northum-
berlaud.

A more daring act of villany is not recorded in the
annals of crime than was attempted about six miles from Co-
lumbus, on the evening of Thursday, the 4th of January, by a
negro belonging to Mr. John Matthews, planter. Mr. Mat-
thews was from home on business, leaving his family, consist-
ing of his wife, three small children, and the negro. During
the night the fiend endeavoured to deprive his mistress of life,
and probably to steal a large sum of money, which Mr. Mat-
thews was said to have in his house. In the evening the negro
made a large fire, and soon after a whistle was heard outside of
the window. .The negro pretended to he alarmed, and said he
would go out and get the axe for defence ; he did 'o, and placed
it against the wall. A few minutes after, while Mrs. Mattlietss
was stooping down, the black seized her by the neck, and at-
tempted to kill her with the axe ; but with a bold effort she
broke from his ferocious grasp, -gained possession of the deadly
weapon, and threw it from her. The demon then tried to force
her into the fire ; and, in the struggle, threw her on the hearth;
but again she overcame him, rose from the ground, and suc-
ceeded in throwing him on the floor. A scuffle :gain ensued,
and, the negro getting the advantage, dragged her out of the
house by the hair, intending, as he afterwards. confessed, to
drown her in the pond. Before they reached it, however, she
once more made a desperate struggle, when he drew a knife,
and tried to stab her; she grasped it, and after a violent effort
possessed herself of that also, and gave him a gash in the
throat. lie fell, and the woman with her children escaped in
a most exhausted state to the house of a neighbour. A search
was soon after made for the baffled murderer, and he was found
in some under-bush not quite dead. He admitted that he had
made a large fire for the purpose of burning his mistress and
her three children. At the time the letter was written he was
still alive.

Sickness prevails to a greater extent among cattle
and horses itobis hart of Cumberland than has been ever be-

fore remembered. Many extensive farmers are at a stand still
where horse labour is required, in consequence of all their
horses being off work. We have not heard that the malady
has been very fatal.—Cuniberland Packet.
Monday, at eight o'clock, a Coroner's LupeFt
was held in the Board-room of St. Bartholomew's Hospital,
before Mr. Payne, on view of the body of John Robert Miller,
aged 58, who committed suicide by severing his windpipe with
a razor, under the following afflicting circumstances:--Anne
Miller, the widow of the deceased, deposed that her husband
had been in a desponding state of mind for some weeks past on
account of the death of a favourite son, 15 years of age. On
Thursday night last witness went to bed, leaving her husband
up. Some time,after she was awakened by his groans, when
she found him sitting on the side of the bedstead. A razor
was in his hand, and blood was streaming from his throat.
They procured a stretcher from the station-house, on which
he was placed and conveyed to this hospital, where he died.
Ile was a very sober industrious man. Verdict—" Temporary
Insanity."
_ _

On Saturday afternoon an inquest was held at the
Prince of 'Wales, North-street, Pentonville, upon the body of
Sylvia Abrahams, a child of seven years and three months of
age, who came to her untimely death by that most dreadful
of calamities—fire. The Jury, after a few minutes' conside-
ration, came to a verdict of " Accidental death." It is not
more than eight years since the unfortunate father of the
child lost his wife by fire, the poor woman being literally burnt
to a cinder, and only three years ago, one of his children was
so dreadfully scalded by boiling water, that her life was for a
time despaired of. The present affliction weighs heavily upon
the poor man, more particularly as the Radical executive of
the parish of Clerkenwell have so miserably arranged matters,
that a Poor-rate of more than four times that of any other
'mists in London has been levied. Mr. Abrahams is an ex-
ceedingly industrious tradesman, and has ten children, now
hying, to provide for.

_ .
A master tailor of Amsterdam, named Weiland, a
German by birth, has invented a machine which performs the
task of sewing a garment as hell as it can be done by the
hand. The Kin.' of Holland has just presented him with
lbo ducats, but the tailors have vowed vengeance against him.

On Wednesday the jury in the —Sheriffs Court,
York, had a " turn out." After trying three cases, the Co.
vernor of York Castle handed to each juror Is., being 4d.
each per trial. The foreman said that it was usual to gite
6d. per trial ; this the Governor denied. A feud arose, which
the Sheriffs deputy could not quell, and the "tut-a
-outs" left
the jury-box in high dudgeon. The Governor sent the money
demanded of him after them into the Castle-yard, hut they in-
dignroceeantly refused to receive it, saying that they would tak,l
pdings to-recover Bd. each per case, the sum they w‘.-tre
legally entitled to.—West Riding Herald.
he Sheffield papers announce the benefit nk* Mr.
Skerrett, of the Sheffield theatre. It appears that on this
occasion the -visitors to the gallery and pit will receive a
number on entering, and afterwards the tickets will be drawn.
on the sLage,• and the holders of the fortunate numbers- wilt
receive as prizes two pigs, on application at the stage door
A M. de Larra, a Spanish author, lately committed
suicide at Madrid, conceiving the mad idea that Queen
Christina was in love with him. He frequently utithesseel
letters to her Majesty, but received no answer,. He then
threw himself in her way, nlienever.she appeared abroad, but.
could never obtain a single loi-l.frOni her. tic: next imagined
that the only obstacle to the gratification of his passion was
the presence of Munoz, anti he accordingly sent him a chal-
lenge. Tl:is was contemptuously sent back without an ai,swer.
Suicide at last became his only resource, and placing himself
bcfore a portraiz Qneen, which he kci-I in his room, he
shot him,elf with it pistol, the ball of ni,i,h afterwards vassed.
through the pieture.—Madrid Paper.