The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-25 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR —To those who are at present haunted by the bugbear
of returning Romanism in this land, I would seriously recom-
mend the perusal of Mr. Sandcrson's Essays on the Apoca-
lypse ; a work which Bishop Ridley, were he now living,
would not hesitate to call opus aureum. Though published
less than six months ago, a second edition is called for already,
a convincing proof of the great demand there has been for it.
Should the subscription now in progress for the monument to
the Memory of the Early Reforthers who were burnt at Ox-
ford, produce a statue of each of them, I trust that in the hands
of all of them will be placed either the above work by the
learned Sanderson, or else some other in which the Apostoli-
cal claims of the Established Church arc advocated upon the
like grounds, and with equal strength.
I have the honour to remain, Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
OXONIENSIS.
Atheumual, Pall-mall, December 29, 1838.

NOVEL MODE OF NAVIGATION.--The French
Government steamer Veloce has been fitted out on a new
principle for working the vessel with either sails or steam,
and is now on her voyage from Rochefort to Mexico, for the
purpose of testing this important invention. When fallen in
with of late by a Spanish ship, north lat. 40. long. W. of
Paris 14., the Captain reported that her rate of sailing under
topsails, studding sails, and royals, had been for two days
and a half upwards of eleven knots an hour.
THE SUSPECTED MURDER OF A POLICENIAN.—
On Wednesday a youth named Holland was charged with being
concerned in the murder of police-constable Barton, by throw-
ing him into the Regent's Canal, at Bromley. The prisoner
denied all knowledge of the transaction. Inspector M'Craw
said that, from what he had been able to learn, it appeared
the parties had arranged, in the event of anything being said
about the matter, to agree in their respective statements that
the thing took place after Christmas ; but he would be pre-
pared on the next examination to prove, by the testimony of a
lad who was on board a barge in the canal, close to where
the murder took place, that it was on the night of the 18th
of October, and that the prisoner arid three other persons at
present iu custody were those who flung the deceased into the
water. As a further corroboration of the fact, he would be
further prepared to prove that on the same night a till was
stolen from a public-house in Bromley, and that the prisoners
were the parties engaged in that robbery. The prisoner was
then remanded.
Monday morning an inquest was held at the Swan
Inn, Old Brompton, before Mr. Baker, the Coroner, on view
of the body of Mr. John Lowe, aged 36 years, who died from
the effects of locked jaw. It appeared that the deceased car-
ried on business as a turner at Old Brompton, and on Wed-
nesday last, was in the act of sawing a piece of hard wood,
when he rather severely lacerated one of his fingers, which he
soon afterwards had dressed by a surgeon in the neighbour-
hood. On Thursday he complained of a pain in his back and
jaw. Deceased continuad to get worse until Friday afternoon,
when he died. The surgeon who attended him stated that the
affection of the jaw proceeded from the injury to the finger.
Verdict, Died from locked jaw.
On Monday information was forwarded to the Parish
officers of St. Andrew. Holborn, that a man named Wade and
his family were in a state of extreme destitution, at their re-
sidence in Field-lane, Holborn. Inquiries having been in-
stituted, the room in which the unfortunate individuals were
discovered was found to be totally destitute of every article of
furniture, and exposeti to the inclemency of the weather, the
windows being all broken. The man Wade was found asleep
in a cupboard, and had evidently been drinking, while five
children were surrounding the dead body of an old woman,
their grandmother, and crying bitterly. They stated that they
had not tasted food for a long time, that their father was a
plasterer out of work, and that a few days ago their gran-d-
-mother left home for the purpose of procuring some employ-
ment, when she met with an accident which obliged her to re-
turn. Ever since she had been very ill till Sunday morning,
when she died. Immediate steps were taken to relieve the
urgent distress of the family, and a communication was made
to the Coroner that an inquest might be held on the body of
the old woman. •

WHO ARE THE THIEVES ?—Messrs. F. and T.
Clerke, flour-dealers in Brunswick-street, a short time since,
complained of an entrance having b,en made into their shop
on Christmas night, or St. Stephen's morning, their desk
broken open, and a sum of 4,500/. stolen, 600/. of it in gold,
and that the " robbery" disabled them from meeting the seve-
ral demands upon them of various merchants in the trade. The
claims on them were considerable, but they had previously,
such a character, that it is said many of the creditors avowed
that they (the Clerkes) might have owed them twice as much.
The circumstance became known on St. Stephen's Day, and
next day the Clerkes were arrested for debt at the suit of the
largest of the creditors, and three porters in their employment
were taken into custody until the facts should he inquired into.
An investigation was then entered upon, which lasted some
days. It ended on Saturday last, when a warrant was issued
against the Clerkes on a charge of attempting feloniously to
defraud their creditors. There being no evidence to inculpate
the three men, they were liberated on Friday. The Messrs.
Clerke have since been committed for trial.
ENGLISH OPERA-HOUSE CONCERTS.—This
without exception, the most successful project ever entered
into by instrumental performers in this country ; and we rejoice
at it ; and if the result be unpleasant to the managers of our
theatres, we cannot shut our eyes to the fact, that they have
in the same measure been instrumental in causing the same.
The unmerited neglect, and the grudgingly paid salaries
which have been doled out to the talented musicians of Eng-
land, who were constrained to apply for, or accept of engage-
ments at our theatres, have been always sources of vexation
and chagrin to the whole profession. Then the universal pre-
ference shown by our nobility and gentry to bands of strangers
who were brought here under some one talented performer,
and whose only excellence consisted in their playing together
for some time, was quite enough to have broken up the desire
of any but such men as our own countrymen to cultivate the

science; but that which is inherent in them, resolution, surmounts

wonderful difficulties;—their industry is great,and their capabi-
lity not to be surpassed ; but should any one doubt this latter
quality in them, let him attend these concerts, and if round-

ness and mellowness of tone of the wind instruments—if deli-

cate fingering, and energetic and at the same time finished

execution with the bow, be not enough to convince him of the
fact when the orchestra is in full swing, then let him wait and
listen to the solos of that inimitable artist Harper on the trum.
pet, Platt on the horn, Willey on the violin, Cooke on the
hautboy ; and, indeed, a long string of names which we could
recount, and who possess all the qual;lies which make good
performers, and possess them too in an eminent degree, and
e think he will own that we are right. These concerts are
doing more to improve the taste of the British public for
music, than anything that has taken place in our time.