The Sun.
London, England, 1832-02-25 00:00:00

It is nearly eighteen years since the admirable
Judge, Baron BAYLEY, last came the Midland Circuit.
At Leicester, it is said, Lord lIENTINGTOWER is again to
be defendant, at the plaint of a Rev. Divine, in an action
for trespass.—Stamford News.
AMERICAN CLIMATE.—Some idea of the
variations in the Northern State may be formed from the
circumstance of the thermometer standing at 80 degrees
above zero in the street, in Albany, on the 19th of January.
The ice in the Hudson had been broken up, and was drift-
ing in huge masses, and with dangerous rapidity. A
great many accidents had occurred.
A UDUBON.—This distinguished ornithologist
is prosecuting his tour of observation and discovery through
the Florida,. In a letter to one of his Philadelphia friends
he says, " although it freezes during the night, the alli-
gators and butterflies are frequently seen during the day.
The woods are all green, and yet it freezes; a pheno-
menon in nature of which I had no previous knowledge."
Judging from the general character of the
dramas now performing in the metropolis, it would appear
as if old Nie had completely got possession of the stage.

The Court having maturely and deliberately
weighed and considered the evidence which has
been adduced in support of the charges which have
been preferred against Captain William Henry War-
rington, of the 3d regiment of Dragoon Guards (the
prisoner before the Court), as well as what the said
prisoner has offered in his defence, came to the fol-
lowing decision :
With respect to the first charge—namely,
" For that he, Captain Warrington, being on the
night of Sunday, the 30th of October, 1831, in the
personal command of a troop of the 3d regiment of
Dragoon Guards, in the city of Bristol, at a time
when that city was the scene of most outrageous
and alarming riots, insomuch that the said troop had
been repeatedly called out by order of the Magis-
trates to quell the rioters, and at a time when
several public and other buildings in the city had
been fired by the rioters,—some whereof were al-
ready consumed, and others were still in flames.—
and at a time when, by reason of the circumstances
aforesaid, it was peculiarly necessary that the said
troop, being then the only military force in Bristol,
should act in the most prompt and effectual manner
for the protection of the city, and that he, Captain
Warrington, as the commander of the same, should
use every exertion for that purpose, subject to the
orders of Lieutenant-Colonel Brereton, who than
held the chief military command in the city, and
when it therefore behoved the said Captain War-
rington to forward instantly and without delay to the
said Lieutenant-Colonel Brereton every requisition
that might be made, or intelligence that might be
conveyed to him, Captain Warrington, or to the
quarters of the said troop, calling for the services of
the said troop in the city, or showing the same to be
necessary ; nevertheless, he Captain Warrington,
being between eleven and twelve o'clock on the
said Sunday night applied to, at the said quar-
ters, where he was then in command, by Mr.
Thomas Kington, a merchant in Bristol, and in-
formed by him, (as the fact was), that the rioters
were about to fire the Custom-house of Bristol,
and that the presence and services of the troop were
urgently and immediately required in Queen-square,
where the Custom-house then stood, in order to save
that building, or to that effect, did not only refuse to
order out the said troop or any part thereof, or to take
any step for the purpose so stated, but used no means
of carrying the information so received by him, or the
purport thereof, to the said Lieutenant-Colonel
Brereton, or of obtaining from the said Lieutenant-
Colonel Brereton any orders applicable to the occa-
sion; the said Captain Warrington thereby (as far
as in him lay) leaving the said Custom-house at the
mercy of the rioters, by whom, in fact, the same was
shortly afterwards set on fire and totally destroyed."
That he is Guilty thereof.
With respect to the second charge—namely,
" For that afterwards, that is, on Monday morn-
ing, the 31st October, 1831, he, Captain Warring-
ton, being (as before) in the personal command of the
said troop of the 3d Dragoon Guards, then the only
military force in Bristol, and when the riots were
raging in that city with increased and destructive
violence, a letter being about half-past three o'clock
on the same morning delivered to, and left with, the
said Captain Warrington, at the quarters of the said
troop, where he was then in command, which letter
was from Charles Pinney, Esq., the Mayor of Bristol,
and was addressed to Lieutenant-Colonel Brereton,
or to the officer commanding his Majesty's troops,'
and was to the following effect :
" Bristol, Three o'clock, Monday morning,
Oct. 31,1831.
_ _

SIR,-I direct you as commanding officer of his
Majesty's troops to take the most vigorous, effective, and
decisive measures in your power to quell the existing riot,
and prevent further destruction of property. I am, &c.

CHARLES PINNEY:'

" And he, Captain Warrington, having then read
the said letter, and it being thereupon his bounden
duty either to act on the said letter without delay,
or if his order did not allow of his so doing, then
and in that case immediately to transmit the said
letter, or to communicate the contents or purport
thereof, to the said Lieutenant-Colonel Brereton;
nevertheless he, Captain Warrington, neither acted
on the said letter as aforesaid, nor transmitted or
communicated the same, or the contents or the pur-
port thereof, to Lieutenant. Colonel Brereton: but
on the contrary retained such letter in his possession
without taking any step whatever in reference to,
or in consequence of the same, until some time after-
wards, when he was applied to by a magistrate in
person; by reason of which conduct on the part of
'Captain Warrington, the said troop remained inac-
tive in its quarters for upwards of art hour after his
receiving the said letter, during which interval of
time the rioters, being left without opposition or
controul, sacked and fired several houses, and des-
troyed a great amount of other property."
That he is Guilty thereof.
With respect to the third charge—namely,
" For that during the said 30th and 31st of Oc-
tober, 1831, while the said rioters were perpetrating
acts of gross and increasing outrage in the city of
Bristol, so that the said city, for many successive
hours, appeared in imminent danger of destruction
at periods when it was peculiarly important that the
said troop of the 3d Dragoon Guards, being then the
only military force in the city, should be comm.,* led
and directed in the most efficient manner for the
protection of the city under every emergency that
might arise; and when for that purpose it was
necessary that the said Capt. Warrington, he being
the only commissioned officer then in Bristol with the
said troop, excepting a young Cornet of not more
than sixteen months' service in the army, should
constantly remain at or within immediate call of the
quarters of the said troop, while the troop continued
there, in order to superintend and direct any move-
ment required of it ; and, in case of the troop, or
any detachment thereof, being ordered out to meet
and put down the rioters, he (Captain Warrington)
should himself accompany and command the same;
and that he (Capt. Warrington) should at every mo-
ment be ready and on the alert for the performance
of the said services, nevertheless he (Captain War-
rington)i greatly neglected or violated his duty n
the said several respects, and especially in the fol-
lowing instances :
" 1. In that the said Captain Warrington, at or
about four o'clock in the afternoon of the said 30th
of October, when a detachment of the said troop,
consisting of two-thirds, or thereabouts, of the dis-
posable part thereof, was ordered out to the city
gaol, which was then attacked and threatened with
destruction by the rioters, permitted such detach-
ment to march to that service under the sole com-
mand of the said Cornet, he, the said Captain War-
rington, meanwhile remaining inactive in quarters.
" 2. In that the said Captain Warrington did
afterwards, in the course of the said 30th October,
the troop being then in its quarters, altogether ab-
sent himself from the said quarters, and from the
neighbourhood thereof, and remained absent from
the same for a very considerable time ; during which
time, namely, at or about eight o'clock in the
evening, a detachment of the troop, consisting of
' nearly the whole of the disposable part thereof,
i being called out to protect the Palace of the Bishop

Total of Meal andl
Flour

146,156 1 19!

1.31,987 3 22

678,144 1 13

By order of the Commissioners,
T. WHITMORE, Secretary.
Custom-bouse, London, Feb. 22, 1832.

The Spectator says, " The Earl of MANS-
FIELD, who has at no period been much beloved by his
neighbours, has of late become so unpopular in Perth-
shire, from his factious opposition to the Reform Bill, that
he was seriously urged by his family not to trust himself
at Scone Palace, lest he should be exposed to personal
danger. It has been thought proper to barricade the
mansion, and to maintain an armed guard of servants
round it. A pretty picture of rural felicity "
In Wools under the value of 2s. per lb. there
is at present a fair business doing for the Yorkshire ma-
nufacturers, as well as in qualities from 2s. 6d. to Se. per
lb., for the West of England trade. The arrivals from
abroad are very small:at present.
TIIE MINISTERS OF CHARLES X.—Se-
veral of the Paris Papers having published a private letter
from Senlis, stating that the Governor of the Castle of
Hain had. received orders to observe the strictest vigilance
over hie prisoners, the Ex-Ministers, in order to prevent
theirjoining in the plots of the Carlists, M. de PaYRoN-
NET has addressed the following letter to the Editor of the
Courier de l'Europe, dated the 18th instant :—"
I have just read your Paper of the 16th February. Your
correspondent at Senlis has led you into an error. What
can the people of Senlis know about the Castle of Ham ?
Do not, I entreat you, disturb and harass the minds. of
our friends--they havealready sufficient cause for affliction.
There cannot be ou earth any one so absurd as to believe
that we are sufficiently so as to dream of conspiracies at
the foot of the Constable's Tower. This would be the
most ridiculous pretext for the most absurd violations of
the law. Why cannot they leave me in peace? Seven
months have elapsed since I quitted my chamber, three of
which I have been deprived the use of my limbs by the
sciatica. Twelve feet square is the utmost space I now
occupy in this world. If this is thought too much, so be
it; but, for tke love of God, wherever I may be put, let
me be sheltered from the attacks of fools and meddlers.
To every man his fate—mine is a prison, since. God so
wills it—but let folly remain at the door. I, am not
aware of any..decree that warrants its admission, Accept,E4c.

Mr, LYTTON BULWER, on taking the chair, said
that the object of the meeting was to take into con-
sideration the final arrangements for presenting a
petition to Parliament for the repeal of all Acts tend-
ing to restrain the free performance of the drama.
Feeling, as he did, a deep interest in the success of
their proceedings, it gave him great pleasure to see
so numerous and respectable a meeting. The ques-
tion for consideration is not one of yesterday ; it was
one which the public had long had before them, and
in which it took a deep interest; it was a question
which depended for success on their proceedings
that day. This age was particularly characterised
by monopolies. There were monopolies in corn,
monopolies in trade, monopolies in the elective fran-
chise, monopolies in knowledge, and, what was still
more extraordinary, a monopoly in the drama. It
was extraordinary, indeed, that the mighty genius of
Shakspeare, who had gathered his beauties from all
ages, and all nations, should be monopolized by the
two patent theatres. It might be considered a great
hardship by monopolists to have their monopolies
taken out of their hands; but when a monopoly was
not only doing an injury to the public, but to the
monopolists themselves, he thought some deference
ought to be paid to public opinion. The monopoly,
of the drama differed from all others in some im-
portant respects. In all others the monopolists have
some advantage, with the exception of drama mono-
poly alone. He was surprised that the managers
should wish to continue to keep up the monopolies,
when he believed that at the end of every year, in-
stead of a yearly profit, there was a yearly deficit,
and suffered the legitimate drama, for the perform-
ance of which they had their monopoly, to give way
to the Lions of Mysore, and other such entertain-
ments. Whilst the major theatres thus sunk the
legitimate drama, were the proprietors of the minor
theatres to have a clog put on their exertions—to
have such a wide field shut out from them, except
at the hazard of litigation and expense ? What, he
would ask, could be the policy of the two great
houses in pursuing a system which was ruinous to
themselves ? Their only policy seemed to be ex-
pense. He had looked at a memorandum presented
by the managers of the two patent theatres to
the Lord Chamberlain, requesting the protection of
their rights against the infringement of the minor
theatres. A statement so vague, so inconclusive,
and so unsatisfactory, he had never read. They
rested their claims upon two grounds :—the first
was, that they had expended already a million of
money on the monopoly. Was it not sufficient that
one million of money should be expended? They
then spoke of the necessity of upholding the dignity
of the national drama. Was, he would ask, the i
dignity of the national drama upheld by introduing
on the stage the whole of Mr. Martyn's menagerie ?
They seemed to thick that the national drama, like
the national coat of arms, ought to be supported by
brutes. They should not resort to such projects
for success; they should give up their monopoly,
and place themselves on a fair and equal level.
They might rely for success on the convenience of
their situation, on the old recollections attached to
them. Who would desert those scenes where ap-
peared a Garrick, a Siddons, and a Kemble—scenes
which they had consecrated ? They might rely on
their splendour of display, and their command of
capital, instead of trusting to scenic pomp and paste-
board cavalcade. It was their duty to encourage the
best actors and authors, and to hold out prizes for
their ambition. He had heard it stated that
the present age was indifferent to the drama.
The institution of the Garrick Club was a
sufficient refutation of this undeserved censure.
The cant of indifference had been raised, but the
drama had always advanced in proportion as a people
became more civilized, and he would ask where
they less civilized now than when Queen Elizabeth
laughed at the wit of the fat Knight, or when ,
Charles the Second bestowed the pipe of good
Canary as an encouragement on the drama ? If the
drama triumphed in those times, in spite of all the
obstacles raised against it, surely it ought to triumph
now in the midst of advantages, and when all
obstacles were removed. Though those times gave
Congreve to comedy and Shakspeare to the world,
yet, if the restraints on the stage were removed, he
had no doubt but some genius would arise in the
present age who would be an ornament and an
honour to the country. Do but reform the stage,
and ,literature will reform itself. He felt the most
sincere thanks for the kind attention the meeting
had given him, and he hoped they would bestow
the like attention on any gentleman who should
address them. He hoped that, if they made any
distinction, they would pay more attention to those
who might come there to oppolie them. They should
recollect that nothing tended more to forward a just
cause than free discussion. The petition they were
about to present that day, when presented to Par-
liament, he would, for his part, be at his place
ready and happy to support it. His friend, Colonel
de Lacy Evans, who was by his side, and who was
always ready to support any measure of Reform
which was for the public good, would move the
first resolution. He hoped the time would return
when the Green-room would be the scene of wit,
and the boards would be frequented by those anxious
to enjoy the pleasures of the drama; and future
poets, in recollecting their effort that day for the
cause of literature and the drama, would record
their gratitude to posterity.—(Loud cheers.)
Colonel EVANS, M.P., said it would be unneces-
sary for him to take up the time of the meeting,
after the excellent speech they had just heard; he
would, therefore, merely propose the resolution. The
resolution would speak for itself, and would render
any preface unnecessary. The resolution was to
the effect, " that any restrictions on the performance
of the drama, except what regarded morality, were
opposed to the spirit of the age, and injurious to arts,
sciences, and literature."

The resolution was seconded by Mr. HARRISON,
and carried unanimously. •
Mr. SWIFT rose to move the next resolution, and
said it was a great honour to him to be called on to
follow such leaders. He would make a feW obser-
vations respecting the question in a legal point of
view. It was an admitted principle that, where it
was impossible to execute the law, the law ought to
be changed ; and he would ask could any thing be
more absurd or impossible than the present law re-
lating to the drama ? It had been framed for times
that no longer existed, when London was a village
compared to its present state, and two theatres were
quite enough for its playgoers. But now, with a
population of a million and a half, it required nothing
more. Circumstances had changed, and the law
ought to be changed to suit them. They could not
be compressed to the meaning and intention of the
law, and the law ought, therefore, to be enlarge
them. He would not take up the time of the m
ing long, as he felt that to speak after the able
speech they had just heard, would be " to gild re-
fined gold—to paint the lily." The morality of the
times depended, in a great mature, on the stage.

7071,1 IA V 10 .!!
He remembered, in some lines addressed to Garrick
the! following :--
f A nation's taija depends ou you ;
Perhaps a nation's pleasure too.'o
Mr. Swift spoke:at'lreat:langth, and, in conclusion,
moved—
" That it would be for the interest of the drama that all Acts
relating tet it shouldhe repealed."
The resolution was seconded by Mr. MACKENZIE,
and carried unanimously.
Mr. WOOLER said that the Committee had placed
in his hands a resolution, which he begged leave to
propose to the meeting. The resolution was that a
petition should be presented to the House of Com-
mons for the repeal of the laws respecting the
drama. This was not a question of faction or party;
it was the common interest of all connected with
the drama, and anxious to forward its interests. He
would ask if the whole British empire were to be
deprived of an innocent and useful amusement by a
patent obtained from one man Those patents had
been granted to certain favourites, for certain pur-
poses, and, like all other patents, ought to expire
with the first possessor. A patent in perpetuity
had never been heard of before, nor could it be de-
fended on any reasonable grounds. It was a ridicu-
lous anomaly that the Magistiates 20 miles from
London could grant patents for the performance of
the drama, and that this power should be denied to
the Magistrates in and near Londoti..
Mr. SEARLE seconded the resolution, which Was
carried unanimusly.
A Mr. EIiMONDS said that in AMerica the flee
exercise of the drama was allowed. It was danger-
ous to monarchies to be obliged to refer ;o republics
for free institutions.—(Cheers.)
Mr. MACARTIIY did not present himself before
the meeting as a member of the theatrical profes-
sion; on the contrary, he understood that he had
no connection with the major or the minor theatres;
and with respect to the managers of both he could
say that he neither courted their favour nor feared
their hate. In the few observations he was about
to make he would confine himself to the rights of
the people. It had been asserted that the subject
of dramatic amusement was not of sufficient im-
portance to excite the attention of the citizens of
London. When he beheld the present assembly, so
numerous and respectable, he flung back with indig-
nation the unfounded Insinuation. He was happy
to find that the enemies of the drama were to be
found amongst those only who oppose every step to
improvement; but they could not check the feel-
ings of improvement now abroad. The present pe-
riod, therefore, was the worst that could be chosen
to revive those obsolete and oppressive laws re-
specting the drama. The managers of the minor
theatres were threatened with a fate similar to Chap-
man, who was now in prison at the prosecution of
the managers of Drury-lane and Covent garden, and
which fate could only be avoided by the united
energies of the people. He hoped that the proceed-
ings of that day would prove that there was an im-
pulse in the hearts of Englishmen which caused
them to swell with hatred to every species of op-
pression. It had been asserted on the Continent
that we have not a true taste for the drama, which is
attributed to our commercial pursuits; and it is
added that when trade flourishes the arts decay.
We can exhibit, in answer, our galaxy of genius,
from Newton to Davy, from Shakspeare to Byron.
A German writer has named Homer, Milton, and
Shakspeare, as the greatest epic poets; and shall it
be said that the art which obtained such illustrious
fame should be restricted by the revival of obsolete
laws ? The spirit of the age forbids such an un-
worthy act, and the meeting of this day will decide
the triumph of the petition to be presented to the
House of Commons for the abolition of those laws.
The sentiment of the metropolis can be best ascer-
tained by the number of signatures to the petition.
The character of a theatre depends on the character
of its manager, as is evident from the state of the
Surrey theatre tinder Mr. Elliston. The change in
that theatre was entirely owing to the superior ta-
lent of the man, who, with all the attributes of a
genius, had many of the failings too often attached
to it; Vat__

" Hard is his fate on whom the public gaze—
fixed for ever to detract or praise;
Repose denies her requiem to his name,
And folly loves the martyrdom of fame."
One of our greatest poets has said that " the
greatest study of mankind is man," and where can
man be better studied than on the stage ? Mr.
Macarthy spoke at great length, and concluded with
moving—

" That the legitimate drama ought to be fostered, and
all Acts restraining it repealed."
Mr. RAYNER seconded the resolution, which was
carried unanimously.
Mr. S. C. HALL found himself unexpectedly
called upon to move the next resolution, to the
effect that the minor theatres in this metropolis
were of great public importance, as the vehicles of
amusement and instruction, and that every one resi-
dent therein was deeply interested in their prospe-
rity and success. Although, at the moment he rose
to address them, it was his intention to have con-
fined himself to a mere reading of the resolution, for
it was one respecting which he did not apprehend
there could be a single dissentient voice, yet having
risen, he would just so far trespass upon their atten-
tion, as to observe that he did not believe there was
an impartial man in England who did not feel in-
dignant at the prosecutions to which the minor
theatres had been exposed—minor, he called them,
in compliance with custom, for they were only minor
in the sense of being smaller than the patent theatres.
The great theatres complained that their lesser
brethren had been guilty of the offence of trenching
upon the provence of the patentees; but the simple
answer to that was, that the persons bringing the
accusation were themselves the originators of the
grievance.—(Hear.) He regretted to find himself
thus occupying so much of their time—(Hear)--but
he could not sit down without adverting to one cir-
cumstance, which he thought of rather a remarkable
character. The novel lately published, written by
the gentleman near him, " Eugene Aram," would
have been produced as a tragedy had the stage been
in a condition in which genius of a higher order could
find its proper place. He had but one word at
parting to say—he hoped they would not imitate
the example of the Garrick Club, by omitting to do
honour to the name of Shakspeare ; lie hoped
they would not part without a cheer in honour of
the immortal bard.—(Hear.)
The CHAIRMAN had one observation to make.
Mr. George Lamb had undertaken to conduct in
Parliament an Act for the relief of the drama, but
on his accepting office he had given over the con-
ducting of the Act to Lord Mahon. He (the
Chairman) bad asked Lord Mahon when he would
introduce the Act, and he was told that it would be
introduced after the Reform Bill should be carried.
He thought if the petition was included in that Act.
it would a great advantage.
The proposition was referred to the Committee.
Many other gentlemen spoke—among others,
Mr. Sloman, Mr. Dowton, Mr. Moncrieff, and Mr.
Davidge; and, after a vote of thanks to the Chair-
man, the meeting separated at about a quarter to
five o'clock.

It was agreed that the petition should remain for
signatures at the City of London Tavern until Wed-
nesday next.

On Thursday last an inquest was held at
Friskney, before Mr. IlasTrig, on the body of JouN
6TEfilt, aged three years, who was accidentally drowned
in a ditch near the house in the absence of his mother,
who bad gone to call the father to dinner. Verdict as
above.—On Monday, at the Croft, on the body of ANN
WARD, whose clothes took fire in the momentary absence
of her mother. Verdict, "Accidental death."

FEMALE INFLUENCE.—A paper in the
ho system
iulir of
e education
to t h
is
dk
forthcoming number of the " New Monthly Magazine,"
oe influence and education of women,
i
wiollredoexaalb ttleed is is spoken of as
lial! to possess no ordinary degree of interest. It front
the pen of one of the writers in the " Edinburgh Re-
'view," who comes forward, it is said, as the strenuous
advocate of the fair sex in their intellectual capacity, and
than is at present conceded to them. The zealous atten-
corner/Won by the eubjeet
tuirges
onofthfeciimatlietle to a
readers
ear more