The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-02 00:00:00

CRIMINAL COURT-(THIS DAY.)

The January Sessions of the Central Criminal Court,
being the thil'd of the present mayoralty, were opened
this morning before the. Right Hon. the Lord Mayor,
the Recorder, Alderman Moon, and Carroll, and
Sheriffs Wire and Wallace. The first edition of the
Calendar contains the names of 58 prisoners. The grand
jury having been sworn and empanelled,
The Recorder proceeded to deliver his charge, con-
gratulating them upon the fact of the Calendar being
light, bothin point of number and the character of the
offences. The majority of the charges to be preferred
against the prisoners were of the ordinary description
usually tried at this court, and there were only two
cases which called for auy comment from him. One was
a case of arson, where some paupers were accused of
having set fire to a Union Workhouse. It appeared that
the prisoners fired some tow, and the grand jury would
have to ascertain whether they did so with the intention
of destroying the building, or only with the view of
frightening the other inmates. If the latter should
appear to have been the intention a true bill could not
be found for arson. The second was a case of forgery,
where a party was charged with having forged a certifi-
cate of character for the purpose of procuring the ap-
pointment of a Village Schoolmaster. It would, per-
haps, ultimately become a question of law as to whether
the document could be treated as a forgery ; but as that
would be a matter for the judges to decide he should
advise the grand jury to find a true bill, without going
into the merits of the case.
The grand jury then retired, and shortly afterwards
several true bills having been returned into court the
trials were proceeded with.

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

A new drama in three acts, entitled The Pegging
Letter, was produced here on Saturday evening, and ve-
rified the words preceding it's doiinencement in the play
bill, that it abounded in " striking incidents, romantic
situations and novel features." We could have wished that
the connection between the different events had been a
little more apparent, but this fault may be found with
many original pieces, especially nowadays, when
authors and managers see that one or two excit-
ing tableaux often secure the success of producl-
tions which, without them, would certainly have
been doomed by the public to oblivion ; and this strain-
ing-after effective and absorbing scenes has, in the pre-
sent case, tended to interfere with the intelligibility of
the plot. The Begging Letter was, however, well received
by the audience, and notwithstanding some little dissent,
the conclusion may be pronounced to have been success-
ful. It is just one of those dramas of life which is well
adapted to precede the comic fare of Christmas, and it
will no doubt have a run during the holidays. The
story may be told in a very few words. The most
prominent character is Mad Bess, a kind of gipsy
Queen, whose husband has been killed by the blow-
ing up of a transport ship destined for a penal set-
tlement. She lays his death at the door of Sir
Arthur Banewood, who was the means of his being
expatriated for poaching, and she resolves to wreak her
unrelenting and bitter hatred against the whole Bane-
wood family. For this purpose she adopts a devious
but no less certain course. Reginald Banewood, the
son of Sir Arthur, has just returned from his travels in
Italy, where, unknown to his father, he has formed a m's-
alliance with Marlette, a native of that country, the result
of which is a daughter. Sir Arthur, however, with a
mercenary view, has made up his mind that Reginald
sliall wed Lady Alicia Banewood. To this the son de-
murs, he having discovered that his lawful wife and
child have followed him 'to England, and are starving for
want. He is about proceeding to the rescue when the
first act closes, and in the next (the interval is sup-
posed to cover a space of several years), we find
him married to Lady Alicia, Sir Arthur having, it
appears, ascertained the secret for his first refusal, and
succeeded in convincing him that both Marietta and the
infant were no more. In some way which is left unex-
plained, but probably through the machinations of her
evil genius,', Mad Bess, the unfortunate young wife,
becomes the inhabitant of a wretched hut near the
head-quarters of the gipsy at the haunted pit, and the
daugther, now grown up, is a milliner's apprentice,
ignorant of her real parentage. Mad Bess induces
her to visit the pit on the promise that the circum-
stances of her birth shall be disclosed, but with the
bona fide intention of consigning her to a dreadful
death. When the girl reaches the spot she hears faint
cries for assistance from the but ; she unloosed the door,
and there ex:clergies a starved female who has been for-
gotten by her keeper, and been without food for
many days. A relic on the neck of the young milliner,
at once proves they are mother and daughter, but
the recognition is no sooner made than the former draws
her last breath. This is not yet enough to appease the
unrelenting revenge of the gipsy, and she drags the girl
to the top of a rock, with a threat that she will fling
her below. We must now return to Sir Arthur.
Being no longer able to endure the remorse at the
deception he had practised on Reginald, he confesses
to him that Mariette and her offspring still survive,
and the two, accompanied by Lady Alicia, who
has forgoten and forgiven her wrongs in the
desire to relieve the distresses of the deserted wife, visit
the haunted pit, which they enter at the critical moment
when the destruction of the daughter is almost inevi-
table ; but a rescue takes place, and Mad Bess meets
the fate which she had intended for her helpless victim,
who, we may add, is in the end adopted by Lady
Alicia.
Mr. G. Bennett as Sir Arthur, Mrs. Vickery as
Mad Bess, and Mr. Belton as Reginald, acquitted
themselves in their several parts with remarkable
ability. Miss Featherstone was extremely clever as a
laughing grisette, who though unconnected with the
plot, gives a tinge of humour to some of the scenes
which we should not like to see omitted.