The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-27 00:00:00

MARKET NEWS•--(THIS DAY.)

CORN EXCHANGE—WEDNESDAY
Since Monday the arrivals of English Wheat coot-
wise, as well as by land carriage, have been on a very
moderate scale. To-day the show of samples of both
red and white was small, and a moderate business wee
transaete 1, at about stationary prices. The imports of
Foreign Wheat have been confined to 2,290 quarters•
Fine parcels moved off steadily, at full rates of currency.
In the middling and inferior qualities very little was
doing, We were heavily supplied with Barley, especially
f a.eign parcels. That grain met a dull inquiry, at barely
Monday's decline in value. Malt was in good ouPPIYI

and heavy request, st la3t week's prices. The quxttity
of Eugiith Oafs on sale was small, that of foreign good.
All kinds ruled inactive. Beans, Year, Indian Corn, and
Flour, very dull.
No market will be held her: on Friday next.

ARRIVALS THIS WEEK,

Wheat.

Qrs.
F.nglisk
Fmtch • •
Irish . • • -• •• • •
Yoreign

11Arley.

Outs.

Malt.

Flour,

Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Sachs
650 1,740 1,670 1,560

2,290 1,0 10,310
157 ,

WHITECILAPML.
Our market was very inactive to-day. lc prices no
material chani:e took place. Beef from 2s 4d to 3s 2d ;
Mutton, 25 Sd to 35 6d; Lamb, 45 10d to 53 10d; Veal,
33 to 35 10d; and Pork, 2s 10d to 4s per Sibs.
rsouteUOZ UOP zrzzatunT.
Only a 'United business is doing in our market.
Holders, howerer. will not sell except at full prices.

SECONDARIES.—(THIS DAY.)
(Befoze 'Mr. Secondary POTTER )
HILL V. COLLINS.
This was an action to recover 91. 15s. on an I 0 U.
nacre was no defence to the action.
WRITECHLIRCH V. GILLENT.
This was an action to recover the sum of 481. premium
for the lease of a house, granted by plaintiff to tit-
fendant.
It appeared by the evidence that the defendant had
obtained the house on the underatancling that hu should
pprform certain repair:,' in lieu of paying the plemium,
but he had negleged to do so.
The jury gave a verdict for the amount.

BANKRUPTCY.—(THIS DAY.)
(Before Mr. Commissioner GOULBURN.)
IN RE WOODHAINL
This was an insol% eney case under the old Act. The
insolvent had carrred on business as a chinaman in Lam-
beth - w alk.
Mr. Beard, from the office of Mr. Buchanan. appeared
with proofs preparatory- to a dividend, the creditors, who
were chiefly of the Hebrew persuasion, having declined
to sign the proofs on Saturday from religious scruples,
and it became necessary to adjourn the case till this
day. The proofs were now admitted.

BOW-STREET.-(THIS I)AY.)
A showily-Iressed young woman, whose name did not
transpire, was charged on suspicion with stealing a gold
watch, the property of a professor of music, named Ken-
clay, residing in Euston-place, Euston-square.
The prosecutor stated, that on the evening of the sth
instant, he paid a visit to the Holborn Casino, and re-
mained there till about half-past eleven o'clock. On
leaving the dancing saloon he accidently ran against the
prisoner, who enticed him up a court, and after
fumbling with him for a few minutes, she darted off, and
then he discovered that she had taken with her his valu-
able gold watch. No sooner had she disappeared, than
a couple of suspicious-looking fellows blocked up the
entrance of the court, and he was therefore afraid to
leave the spot at the moment.
Mr. HENRY—Then you did not follow the female ?
. The prosecutor replied that he did not.
Mr. Ilexes'—How do you know that the female took
your watch ? The prosecutor said, when he entered the
court ho examined his waistcoat-pocket, and found that
his watch was quite safe. Directly the prisoner ran
from him he felt that there was something wrong,
and then, to his dismay, he ascertained that the prisoner
had managed to detach his watch from the guard-chain,
leaving the chain dangling from the pocket.
Mr. HENRY—Are you satisfied teat the prisoner is
the party? The prosecutor was confident she was. He had
not seen her since till last night, when he met her again
near to the same spot in Holborn, and gave her into
custody.
The prisoner, in her defence, Raid the prosecutor was
mistaken. She had never seen him till last night, when ,
be came up to her and said " Ab, my dear, how do
you do?" She told him that she was quite well, and
asked him to treat her, but, instead of doing so, he said
" What have you done with my watch? I shall give you
into ceetody," and shortly afterwards they came up with
a policeman, and he did so accordingly.
Mr. HENRY—What are you? Prisoner—An unfor-
tunate woman.
Mr. HENRY—Has the watch been found?—The pro-
secutor replied in the negative, adding that the police-
man who was on duty near to the Casino on the night
of the Bth instant remembered having observed the pri-
soner loitering about.
Mr. HENRY remanded the prisoner for a week, to
enable that officer to attend, and to allow time for in-
quiries at the pawnbrokers.
The prisoner was therefore detained in custody.
The five men, Bennet, Tiddyntan, Laidler, Jones, and
Sullivan, who were remanded from last Wednesday,
were again placed at the bar on the charge of obtaining
sums of money from Mr. Wyatt, an aged and infirm
man, carrying on the business of tobacconist in Great
Queen-street, by threatening to give publicity to an un-
natural crime with which they charged him.
The whole of the prisoners were most respectably at-
tired, and here upon this occasion represented by Mr.
Games. Mr. Wontner, as usual, attended on the part of
the prosecution.
It will be remembered that the prisoners had by their
threats succeeded in extorting money from Mr. Wyatt
to the sum of 501. hard cash, an 1.0. U. for 50/., and a
promissory note for 40/. The note was, however, partly
cancelled before the present proceeiings were instituted,
but the 1.0. U. was to have be en met and raid by the
prosecutor on the very day that the prisoners wore en-
trapped.
Sergeant Thompson, F 11, deposed that on the 12th
instant, by previous appointment, he attended -at the
prosecutor's house, about nine o'clock at night, and was
concealed behind a curtain. Soon afterwards Laidler
and Jones came into the shop, and saw Mrs. Lake, the
prosecutor's niece. She asked where the others were, •
and Laidler replied that they were at a neighbouring '
public-house. She directed ono of them to go for them,
and Jones left for that purpose. la the meantime
Laidler begin talking to Mrs. Lake as though he were
a professional man, remarking that Mr. Watts, of the ,
Olympic Theatre, had been arrested for forgery; but, be
continued, "we have got Clarkson for him, and as 6,0001.
have been ra;sed on the lease of the theatre, we shall do
everything to get him off." By this time the other
prisoner bad come in, and they were in-
vited into a back Farlour by Mrs. Lake.
He heard Mrs. Lake ask them, " Well, gentlemen, what
is your demand upon Mr. Wyatt ? " Laidler replied
" 240 She asked him if all of them were to have the
money, and one or two of them said " Yes, certainly."
Some conversation then took place about an agreement,
Mrs. Lake asking where Mr. Laidler, who represented
himself to be a solicitor, lived. Laidler replied " You
have got it," but Mrs. Lake said she had lost it, and
Laidler exclaimed " Well, never mind, you will find it in
the agreement here." Mrs. Lake then asked " Who
shall I pay the money to ?" Laidler said "To me, I
will make it all right with the rest." Sullivan was then
about to leave the room, when witness thought it high
time to come from his hiding place. He did so, and
said, " Which is the,, solicitor?" Laidler said, " Ob,
that is no matter now, and as witness thought so too,
he simply took him into custody, and told the other I
prisoners that they were his prisoners. On the way
to the station-house, Laidler said, sneering, "Is that
b--y old fox Sullivan taken?" Witness replied that
he believed he was. " Ah," added the prisoner," I'm glad
of that. He was the general, you know, but with
all his generalship Ido not care. Mrs. Lake can clear
me." At the station-house he found on him an agree.
went, and an I. 0. U. for 501., which be now produced.
Laidler gave his address as 5, Cecil-court, St. Martin's-
lane; and in searching his room, witness found the fiy-
aheet of a brief, the draft of an agreem• nf, and some
Other papers, which be also produced. He had known
all the prisoners for some time. Bennett ho had fre-
quently seen dressed as one of the Horse Guards Blue,
and as an Hungarian. Sullivan was frequently' with
women, and upon different occasions he had seen all the
prisoners together.
Laidler said the brief sheet found at his premises was
not in his haudwriting.
Sullivan said that tall that had been stated about him
was false.
The police-constable deposed to having waited out-
side the shop, while Sergeant Thompson went in, and to ,
seeing all the prisoners, with the exception of Laidler
end. Jones, loitering about the street;
After which the depositions of Mr. Wyatt and Mrs.
Lake were read over. It will be remembered that one
of the prisoners first introduced himself to the prosecutor
by purchasing a cigar at his shop, and finding that he
was a man of nervous temperament, he enlisted the
services of the other prisoners, and commenced
the system of extortion which has lei to this prosecution.
Mrs. Lake, who is neje, of the prosecutor,
planned the meeting with Sergeant Thompson, her sus-
picion having been aroused Is 3 the mysterious communi-
cations which were passing between the prisoners and her
uncle, and to her sagacity is due the credit of having
brought the conspiracy to light.
This was the case for the prosecution.
Mr. HENRY asked eash of the prisoners if they bad
anything to say, giving them the usual caution, that
what they did say would be taken down in writing and
used against thew.
Laidler denied that he had ever been guilty of such
an offence. He had teen an innocent tool in the hands
of others; and it was mainly at the request of Mrs. Lake
herself that be attended to see the matter settled.
The other prisoners said nothing, but Sullivan wished
to know if he was charged with extorting money from
the prosecutor?
Mr. HENRY said he way.
Sullivan then replied that he was innocent. He had
understood that the matter arose out of a gambling
transaction, and he had never spoken to or made any de-
mand on the prosecutor.
Mr. HENRY reminded him that he was present when
the demand of 24/. was made.
Sullivan said he was there entirely by accident; he
was induced to go in by a boy connected with a person
menisci Hollind, end when he heard Mrs. Lake a,k what
demands they had upon her uncle he said distinctly that
he did not expect anything.
Sirs. Lake stated that the prisoner could hear all that
passed, but it was true that he disclaimed having any
demands upon her uncle, and said that "he did not ex-
pect anything."
Sullivan having again protested his innocence,
Mr. HENRY said it was his duty to commit them for

trial.
An attorney, who said he was instructed to watch the
cuss for Bennett by his uncle, a captain in the navy, up•
plied to have his client 'admitted to bail, but his applica-
tion was refused.
The parties were then bound over to prosecute, and
the prisoners removed in custody.

THE RAILWAY COMMISSInIv,--1t is understood that
Captain Simmons, the Government Inspector of Railways,
succeeds Captain Harness, as Secretary to the Commission.

ATTEMPT TO BURN DOWN THE!

SURREY THEATRE.

At a few minutes alter one o'clock this morning the
vicinity of the Surrey Theatre, in the Blaektriars-road,
was thrown into a state of considerable alarm by the
outbreak of a fire (subsequently discovered to be the
work of an incendiary) in that favourite theatrical estat-
li,hment, the destruction of which for some time wee
threatened. The circumstances are these : At the close
last night of the Lenten musical entertainments of Mr.
Henry Phillips (who Lae taken the theatre for the week)
the fireman and watchman, who are expressly employed
to secure the safety of the bailing from fire, went over
the various departments as was their customary duty,
and saw to the proper extinguishing of the gas and
fires. At one o'clock they resumed their rouude
and bad completed them, when one observed
a strong smell of something burning, and upon searching
the various rooms found that it emanated from the ward-
room, and on the door being opened so dense was the
rush of smoke anal heat as to prevent the exact locality
of the fire being detected. The men promptly gave an
alarm to the police, who started oil for the aid of the
engines, end in a short time the e belonging to the bri-
gade, under the superintendence of Mr. Henderson. ar-
rived. Most fortunately their services eventually were
not rt quired, the firemen connected with the theatre,
aided by the police, succeeding in confining the mischief
to the apartment where it had been discovered. It at
once excited suspicions as to the origin, no light having,
it waa said, been admit'e 1 into the wardroom
since the close of the theatrical entertainments
on Saturday night last; and an investigation
being made, sufficient proof was established to
show that it had been wilfully kindled, and no dout t by
some party who possessed a perfect knowledge of the
interior of the theatre. A basket filled with pieces of
canvas', saturated with oil and turpentine, had been placed
in one corner cf the ward-room, and its contents tired
through a hole in the wall of the building from the out-
side. Whether the hole bad purposely been made does
Not transpire. It is evident the destruction of the
theatre was the intention of the miscreant. Had
the discovery taken place later, and the ward-room
" well alight" (the phrase of the firemen) it would have
ben impossible, from the peculiar construction of the
building, to have obtained assistance in time to check
its easier, and the destruction of the whole house
would have been inevitable.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
NEWCASTLE RACES.
The following are the declarations of forfeit at New-
castle up to seven o'clock P.N. on Monday, and to the
close in town .
The Northum ethnic] Plate— Chanticleer,, Inheritress,
Uriel, Defaulter, Legerdemain, Vanguard, Langton,
Strychnine, Quiz, Ada Mary, Alp, Priesteo, Backbiter,
The Cocktail, Champion, Robert de Bro., Primrose,
Lady I am off, Clincher, Burghley, St. Valentine, Sir
Philip, Probity, Mulgrave, Seneca, Equine, Timothy,
Luxury.
The Members' Plate—Lady Hyde, Ribaldry, Van-
guard, Strychnine, Robert de Brus (sold to go abroad),
Timothy, Baroness.
BETTING AT MANCHESTER—TUESDAY.
TUB NORTHAMPTONSHIRE STALES.-7 to 2 agat Os-
terley (take 4 to 1), 7 to 1 egat Harriott (t), 8 to 1
agat Itahratta (t freely), 2 to 1 agst Mounseer (t), 11 to
1 agst Chantrey (t), 15 to 1 agst Belus (t), 16,t0 I agst
Ballinafad (t), 25 to 1 agst Sylvan (t), 25 to 1 agat
Grief (t), 25 to 1 agst Bastinado (t 30 to 1).
THE ALTHORP PARK STAKES.-2 to 1 sgst Prestige ,
(t freely), 7 to 2 agat Buckhound (t).
CHESTER CuP.-15 to 1 agst Miss Ann (t 16 to 1),
16,t0 1 agat Glaucs, 18 to 1 agat Peep-o'-Day Boy (t),
20 to 1 agst Cossack (t), 20 to I asst Roland 22 to 1),
22 to 1 agat Fogleman, 25 to 1 agst Ellerdale (t 30 ti 1),
30 to 1 agst Horn of Chase (t), 40 to 1 agst Mounseer
(50 to 1 taken freely).
METROPOLITAN HANDICAP-2 to 1 agst Cheerful (t),
25 to 1 sgst any other.
DERBY.-6 to 1 agst Ghillie Callum (t 13 to 2), 7to
1 agst Bolingbroke, 12 to 2 agst the Nigger, 12 to 1 agst
Knignt of Avenel, 15 to 1 agst Italian, 15 to 1 agat Vol-
tigeur.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM TIIP, MORNING PAPERS OF THIS
TlMES.—Easter is generally considered the car-
dinal point of the session. It may then be guessed
with tolerable accuracy what will be done, what will
never be attempted, and what will be introduced only
to be given up. The youth of the session is past ;
from this to Whitsuntide is the less imaginative, but
more practical period of manhood ; and then succeeds
the fag-end of the legislative life—wearinesq, haste,
vain repentance, and inevitable decay. But Easter is
rather early this year, and they who congratulate
themselves on having broken the neck of their annual
task may possibly find themselves deceived. There
are those who " sow their wild oats " in youth, and
rapidly mature into dulness; and there are those also
who scarcely wake up till they are men, and then
break into unsuspected activity. It may be so with
this session. Hitherto it has not shown remarkable
power either for good or for evil. There has been
scarcely one adjourned debate. With a regularity
that smacks of design the cry to " Divide "
has risen at the most critical moments, and con-
signed to the limbo of good intentions many
a well-prepared harangue. It is true we
have been spared endless reiterations, nor can it be
complained that any subject has been left unex-
hausted. Bat suppressed eloquence often begets open
dissatisfaction. There are murmurs of volcanic rebel-
lion in the foundations of the political world. Oa the
most leading question of the session Ministers have
been run very close; on several other occasions they
have found their friends rather lax in their allegiance,
and lately they have had recourse to the ultimo ratio,
the threat of a resignation. To check the rising sedi-
tion it has been feund necessary to preach the doc-
trine of blind party submission. The utmost con-
tempt has been expressed for inconvenient excesses of
private opinion. " The beneficent whip," which an
eccentric writer holds to be the fated instrument of
African and Celtic civilization, has been still further
glorified for its mission on the backs of the Whigs.
We have a feverish, restless, and desultory House,
formidable not so much for any positive error as for
the slight resistance it might offer to a sudden and
attractive delusion. But it this be the youth of the
session, what are we to expect from its manhood ?
The danger is that no man can tell what to ex-
pect from it, or what not to expect. Wherever
there is uncertainty there is also danger.
If the House of Commons showed a little more
momentum, if its canvass were a little better filled, its
course would be steadier, and it would answer the
helm more truly. But whose fault is this ? It is the
fault of circumstances—the fault of many men and of
many things; but the foremost fault of all is, that
colossal blunder which has tied the bulk of the agri-
cultural interest to an exploded, a blasted, and a
scandalous cause. A question long ago settled in our
great court of arbitration and before the tribunal of
national justice, with an award on its merits and a
verdict on its crimes, is still kept alive in the memo-
ries and follies of the defeated party. A hundred
living questions are thrown into abeyance by one dead
one. A fanaticism for the impossible past shuts out
its victims from a proper interest in the possible future.
In the frivolity, passion, and impotence of its pro-
ceedings, the Protectionist sect suffers a sentence
of self-excommunication. Thus it becomes an
element of disturbance rather than of activity in the
political machine. It lies across the deck of the
State like a broken mast, which can neither be used
nor consigned to the waves. Thus a party which
possesses many claims to our gratitude and respect
has made itself almost incapable of good. Every
question that arises is already prejudiced by its
bearings on a dead and gone corn-law. If an angel
from Heaven were to announce a new boon, or a
messenger from below were to suggest a new crime,
the novelty, from whatever source, would be judged
by its protective tendencies. So long as we have
such men amongst us, we must needs be liable to the
extremes of stagnation and tempest, to hollow con-
federacies and fruitless diTersions. Ministers are
said to complain of a state of things which adds fresh
elements of uncertainty to a game already more de-
pendent on chalice than OR skill. It is true that they
have to deal with variable winds, a treacherous cur-
rent, and a chopping sea ; but, u nfortunately for the
state, men with the trick of power can better turn
such a condition of affairs to their own convenience
than to the public weal. It is easier to baffle and
neutralize folly than to make it patriotic and wise.
The Ministerial specific for this disorder is to keep
the House of Commons well employed. A rapid
succession of business has brought it through its first
period with comparatively little damage. Ministers
have not permitted it either to rest or to fly off into
an eight days' debate. Their very errors have
amused and occupied the public mind. Alcibiades
lopped off his dog's tail to divert the attention
of the Athenians, and Lord Palmerston has
created a similar distraction by his fleet in the
Pincus and his squadron on the slave coast. There is
a prospective virtue in such absurdities, for every
mail that arrives is expected to bring the tidings of
some fresh political divertissement—some barbarous
protégé to be avenged or chastised—some insurrection
ro be encouraged or betrayed. For our domestic and
colonial affairs a more blameless and appreciable
policy is required. Last night the House of Com-
mons adjourned to meet on Monday week ; and for
that week, and the week after, the work is cut out
for us by a ready, if not a master-hand. The ord •
nance and the navy estimates, the Irish Franchise
Bill, the Australian Colonies Bill, the stamp duties,
and the announcement of a Select Committee to in-
quire into the emoluments of all public offices, pro-
vide for the fortnight after Easter, • and evi-
dently will have to fight their way against
rival and contending movements from all sides of
the House. Every independent legislator has his
designs on this critical period of the session, as
if it were now or never. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer must be at his post to defend
the window•tax, "taxes on knowledge," the malt-
tax, and we know not what taxes besides. A pro-
posed general revision of the salaries of our judicial
offices is already anticipated by Lord John's ampler
notice. Lord Palmerston wilt have to prove to Mr.
Cobden's satisfaction that a little bullying is an ad-
mirable substitute or assistance to arbitration ; and
either be or a colleague will have to reconcile Mr.
Disraeli to our existing diplomatic arrangements.
Such is the prospect as far as we are permitted to see
for the present, but we do not forget that there is
much to be done yet before Parliament has earned its
salt for this year. Not to ask for more than was
promised in the Royal Speech, there are measures of
great importance and of difficult determination still in
an embryo stage. There are but fifty days between
Easter and Whitsuntide, after which nothing re-
mains but to wind up the session, to gather up the
fragments, and to busy the dead. We have only
seven weeks left for preliminary discussion on the
general merits of such measures as may be proposed,
and two weeks out of the seven are already provided
for. So no time must be lost when we meet again.
CHRONICLE.—That the time has come for a
temperate and well-adjusted reduction of the higher
class of official salaries, whether political, diplomatic,
or judicial, few reasonable persons are likely to dis-
pute. In announcing their intention of taking the
first step towards this object, the Government are
certainly in no degree in advance of public opinion.
To spare the highly-paid functionaries while the
subordinate officers are in daily process of being
cashiered or cut down, is a sort of economy against
which every man's sense of justice revolts. The re-
trenchment which the voice of the country now
demands must pervade all ranks of the public ser-
vice, from the highest to the lowest. That the more
exalted offices of the State afford a fair scope and
margin for reduction, without impairing either the
efficiency of the administration or the real dignity of
the occupants, none but those whose minds are
sophisticated by false standards or vicious precedents
will be found to question. We repudiate, indeed,
the short-sighted parsimony which, in filling
such appointments as those of a Chief Justice
or Minister of State, would select these
officers on the principle of accepting
the lowest tender. The Crown is entitled to com-
mand for its service the highest talent and the most
distinguished merit that the community affords, and
those who accept its more eminent preferments should
be placed above the reach of temptation, of depend-
ence, or of contempt. These principles, it is true,
have been too much overlooked in other countries ;
while, in England, not content with a just and ra-
tional assertion of them, we have carried our munifi.
cence beyond the verge of prodigality. The differ-
ence in the rate of judicial and political remuneration
here and abroad—we allude particularly to the
United States and to France—is not merely the dif-
ference between a niggardly and an adequate allow-
ance—it is a disproportion which the diversities of
wealth, of prices, or of social habits in the respective
countries are quite inadequate to justify. Thus the
salary (as now reduced) of the Cnief Justice of
England is B,oool.—that of the President of the
Court of Cessation in France is 8001. a year. The
salary of the English Ambassador to the French Re-
public (exclusive of residence and outfit) is 10,0001.
—that of the American Minister to the same country
is 2,0001. per annum. We should be sorry, indeed,
to exchange the exalted character and status of our
British judges for the inferior estimation and ieflu-
encc which necessarily attach to the underpaid law-
yers who preside in the French courts, nor do we
desire to see the representatives of Majesty in foreign
capitals cut down to a bare standard of Spartan fru-
gality. But there is a rational medium in all things,
and in the present instance there can be little doubt
that, if our neighbours have pitched there estimate
below the mark, we have erred, to almost the same
extent, in over-:hooting it. It is idle to tell those
who know, as we do, the crowded numbers and the
curtailed profits of the English bar, that the presi-
dency of the Queen's Bench, with a salary of 7,0001.,
, or even 6,0001. a year, is not a prize sufficient to at-
tract and satisfy the ambition of the most learned and