The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-04 00:00:00

SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE.

On Monday the holiday-makers at this attractive
and favourite place of resort were admirably enter-
tained by the corps dramatique, who exerted them-
selves most creditably throughout the performance,
which consisted of the representation of Shakspere's
tragedy of Macbeth, from the original text, followed
by an entirely new interlude, entitled A Village Tale ;
the whole concluding with Mark Lemon's farce of
The M.P. for the Rotten Borough. Macbeth was
excellently cast, Mr. Phelps representing Macbeth ;
Mr. G. Bennett, Banquo; Mr. H. Mellon, Duncan
King of Scotland ; Macduff, Mr. H. Marston ; Lady
Macbeth, Miss Glyn ; Lady Macduff, Miss Ed-
wardes. The acting of Mr. Phelps, Mr. Marston, and
Miss Glyn, was very good, and the way in which the
piece is put upon the stage certainly reflects the
greatest credit upon the management. The interlude
is a neat, telling piece, sparkling with little gems well
struck off by Tony (Mr. Henry Lye), who appears
in the character of a country milkman, in love with
Emma, a cottager's daughter (Miss T. Bassano);
Bessy Forster (Miss A. Brown), a dapper country
girl, and an intimate acquaintance of Emma's, has
had as her first love Philip (Mr. G. K. Dickinson),
who having enlisted for a soldier, has been compelled
on the field of battle to encounter great danger, and to
suffer in a distant land extreme indisposition. During
the whole period, however, his affection for Bessy re-
mains inviolate, and he returns to the " home of his
youth" seeking most anxiously for the object of his
early love. Bessy, meanwhile, understanding that
Philip has fallen in battle, promises her hand to a
country farmer, George Foster (Mr. Graham), but
the return of Philip leads to her rejection of Foster,
and the piece concludes with his retiring in high
dudgeon, while the other parties are legitimately
made happy. Mark Lemon's farce was well hit off,
and the curtain fell amidst the boisterous cheers of a
very crowded auditory, the whole of whom appeared
upon the happiest terms imaginable with the world at
large, and with the actors who had performed for their
amusement in particular.

THE TRIAL OF THE BIRDS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Mr. Ball presents his compliments to the editor
of The Sun, and incloses a copy of a letter sent to the
editor of the Times on Thursday last, which has not
been inserted in that paper.
Western Circuit, Taunton, April 2, 1850.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—l am not not surprised at the feeling of in-
dignation which the report of the trial of Bird and
his wife, at Exeter, has excited in the public mind,
but as one of the senior members of the bar present
during the principal and material part of the trial, I
hope I may be .permitted to express my sorrow on
reading your very severe observations on the conduct
of the learned judge before whom the prisoners were
tried. I heard the material part of the statement of
the mother of the poor girl, and from thence the
whole of the case to the close of the evidence of Mr.
Turner, the surgeon, and I then left the court with
a deep impression on my mind, without bearing the
defence or the observations of the learned judge, that
the case on the part of the prosecution had wholly
failed in bringing home to the prisoners the infliction
of the blow which was the cause of death, and I
stated my opinion to one or two friends near me at the
time. This was evidently the opinion of Mr. Justice
Talfourd, and he directed the jury accordingly.
How then, I would ask, could he as an honest and
impartial judge have acted otherwise
With respect to the expressions which fell frOm his
Lordship, and to which you have called very parti-
cular attention, I am confident )ou will agree with
me in thinking that the judge, so long as there was
any the least chance of this sad affair being investi-
gated elsewhere, would have acted most improperly
if he had not repressed those feelings which the de-
tails of the case naturally tended to excite. I use the
word repressed, because in a case tried before the
same judge, the previous day, in which three ruffians
were convicted for a gross aesault on a poor unpro-
tected girl, his Lordship, after the verdict was deli-
vered, and in passing a severe hut just sentence,
poured forth a torrent of eloquent indignation at the
outrage which had been committed. Hoping that
these remarks may not be deemed obtrusive,
I remain, Sir, your very obedient servant,
HENRY BALL.
Temple, March 28, 1850.

SUNDAY RAILWAY TRAVELLING.
(From the Examiner.)
At a meeting of the shareholders of the Caledonian
Railway, the following copious effusion of cant took
place :
" Mr. MEIKLEHAM, in pursuance of notice, moved
that no systematic or predetermined work should be
performed on the line on Sunday. Having liberated
slaves in the; West Indies, it became them to take care
not to make slaves in this country. The minds of the
men could not but suffer from Sunday labour. Scot-
tish independence was at stake in this matter. Had
it not been for English proxies there would not now
be -a railway in Scotland open oa a Sunday. He com-
plained of this interruption as unjust to Scotland,
where Sabbath observance was a national institution.
The consequences of Sabbath desecration were the
potato disease and the famine.
" Mr. M‘Micxtsio, a director, seconded the motion.
He stated that there were 129 men employed on the
line on Sunday, and that their Sunday wages for half
a year amounted to upwards of 4,0001. There were
four trains on a Sunday, and on an average 361 pas-
sengers. Was it worth while to deprive 129 persons
of the means of attending a place of worship, for the
accommodation of 361 passengers ?
"A'' SHAREHOLDER observed that 500 men were
generally employed, and that no more were occupied
on Sunday than were required for works of mercy
and necessity.
" Mr. Mom supported the motion. On some lines
in Scotland, on which there had been no Sunday
travelling, no serious accident had ever occurred. The
question was, therefore, of importance with reference
to damages, now a formidable item.
"Mr. CAMPBELL, a director, stated that, with the
exception of the mail train, there were no passenger
trains on the line on Sunday. Everything that was
possible had been done to reduce Sunday labour. The
men were only •called upon to attend in turn, and the
time occupied did not exceed one hour per clay. It
should not be forgotten that, in the providence of
God, diseases and accidents prevailed Sunday on
as
well as on other days.—(Hear, e.)
" On a show of bands the motion was lost."
Mr. Meikleham presumes to penetrate the inscru-
table wisdom of Providence, and has no difficulty in
diacovering that the potato-disette and -the famine
were the copequences of journeying 911 the SO-

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bath. But last harvest was one of bles4d abundancei:_,
even though people sought fresh air and cheerfu
scenes, or visisted the sick, or distant frietula,'-kor-re
lations, on Sunday. t_sM4Abir
Mr. M'Micking cannily counts what Sunday wages
amount to, and puts it as a rule-of-three question,
whether it is worth while to break the Sabbath for
such small profits.
Mr. Muir takes the same sort of view, and thinks
the formidable item of damages might he retrenched
by discontinuing Sunday trains, as serious accidents
never occur on lines closed on Sunday; peradventure
because there are marvellously few miles of such
lines; but, in all human, and especially in all puri-
tanical probability, let us observe the assertion is ut-
terly untrue.

Mr. Meikleham boasts that Sabbath observance in
Scotland is a national institution. Let us see the evi-
dence of the Scotsman upon this point :
"TILE OPPONENTS OF SABBATH-BREAKING IN
SCOTLAND.—A statistical friend hands us the follow-
ing as the statistics of the Sabbath desecration he
observed on his return from church last Sunday a few
minutes before four o'clock, walking. from the
west to the east of Princ(-'s-street, Edinburgh :
C,irriages waiting at Rev. Dr. Chandlisti's
door, 4 ; at Rev. Mr. Drummond's, 5
running on Prince's-street, 23; waiting on west
stance, 8; on east stance, 13 ;in all, 53. But, as (to
say nothing of our informant having been a few
minutes too early to see the full extent of the iniquity
at the door of Free St. George's and St. Thomas's)
he did not pass until the doors were closed at St.
John's, where there are seldom fewer than a doz-n
carriages, and as he forgot to take a peep at the West
Kirk, additions must be made, bringing up the num-
ber to 70, which, allowing for two-horse conveyances
and for footmen, gives the total number of men and
horses at about 80 ! And these, too, employed at
least four times in the day, that is, setting down, arid
taking up at each of the two services ; almost all of
them, in fact, being virtually employed all day; and
that day, as it happened, a bright and settled one,
affording no excuse in point of weather. Eighty men
and horses employed in a single day for the purposes
of mere ostentation, with the cognizance and mainly
for the use of the very men who embitter public and
social life in Scotland by their clamours against the
labour, comparatively of small amount and unobtrusive
quality, required to maintain postal communication
and the means of locomotion on the highways of the
country.—The Scotsman."
We recommend Mr. M'Micking to inquire whether
equipages not used on Sunday are exempt from the
accidents to which profane horses and carriages are
liable.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
NORTHAMPTON AND PYTCHLEY HUNT
RACES.—WEDNESDAY.
The Trial Stakes of 10 soy's. each, and 40 added. Ono
mile. (a Subs.)
Mr. Roles Collingwood, aged, Bst 131 b ...(Flatman) 1
Mr. Hobson's Gladiole, 3 yrs, Est ...(Osborne, jun.) 2
Mr. FoAler's the Monk, 3 yrs, Est (Wells) 3
Mr. Dawson na Mark Tapley, 3 yrs, Est ...(Arnold) 4
5 to 2 on Collingwood, who won cleverly by a length;
a very close race between the other three. Run in 1 min.
55 secs.

The Harlestone Produce Stakes of 50 sovs. each, h ft,
for three yrs old. One mile. (11 Subs.)
Lord Exeter's Clelia, Bst 111 b (31b)... ...... (Norman) 1
Lord H. Lennox's Bee-hunter, Bst 41b (31b) (Flatman) 2
Lord Spencer's b f out of Agnes, (31b) (Pettit) 3
6 to 4 on Bee-hunter. Won by a bead, Agnes filly
beaten off. Run in 1 min. 57 secs.

The Great Northamptonshire Stakes of 25 sm. each,
15 ft, and only Sit declared, with 100 added. Two
miles. (118 Subs., 76 of whom declared.)
Mr. Dawson's Priestess, 4 yrs, Est 101 b (Arnold) 1
Mr. Jaques's Chantrey, 4 yrs, 6st 131 b ...(Charlton) 2
Mr. H. Hill's Osterley, 4 yrs, 7st (Maton) 3
The following also ran:—
Lord Clifden's Wanota, 6 yrs, Sat 71b (Pearl) 0
Duke of Richmond's Halo, 6 yrs, Bst 21b (Elliman) 0
Lord 11. Lennox's Borneo, 4 yrs, Bsl 2lb (Kitchener) 0
Mr. Irwin's Ballinafad, 6 yrs, 7st 121 b (Whitehouse) 0
Mr. B. Green's Westow, 4 yrs, 7st 61b (Basham) 0
Lord Eglinton's Belus, 4 yrs, 7st slb (Pettit) 0
Mr. Crawford's Iron Rail, 6 yrs, 7st 21b (Dockeray) 0
Lord Warwick's Grief, 4 yrs, 7st (Crouch) 0
Major Pitt's Mounscer, 4 yrs, Gst 131 b ...(Charlton) 0
Lord Exeter's Tophans, 5 yrs, Gst 131 b (G. Sharpe) 0
Mr. Hudson's Velox, 4 yr►, 6,1 111 b (G. Oates) 0
Mr. T. Rolt na Pius IX., 5 yrs, Est 111 b ..(Marlon) 0
Duke of Bedford's Mahratta, 4 yrs, sst 111 b (Collins) 0
Mr. Halford's Harriett, 3 yrs, sst 101 b (W. Sharpe) 0
Mr. Des Voeux's b c by Lanercost, out of Concer-
tina, 3 yrs, 4st 121 b (Wells) 0
Capt. Lowther's Bastinado, 3 yrs, 4st 61b (Steggles) 0
Betting-7 to 2 agst Osterley, sto 1 agst Mounseer,
6to I agst Ballinafad, 7 to 1 agst Belus, 8 to 1 agst
Chantrey, 10 to 1 agst Harriott, 14 to 1 agst Bastinado,
20 to 1 agst Halo, 20 to agst Lanercost colt, 40 to 1 agbt
Priestess. Won by a length; a bead between second
and third; halo fourth; Tophana fifth, Run in 3 mio.
46 sees.

The Open Stakes of 10 sows. each, and 25 eddrd; the
winner to he sold for 150, &e. Once round and

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distarce. (6 Subs.)
Mr. 'l'. Thorehill's Iron Crown, lOst 121 b (F. Butler) I
Captain Lowther's Watchdog, I Ist 121 b (S. Rogers) 2
The followie, also started:—Mr. J. Harvey's Dover,
5 yrs, lost 121 b (Dally)—Sir J. Hawley's Sponge, 5 yes,
Wet 121 b (A. Day)—Mr. Delamere'a Telegraph, 5
.1 rs,
lOst 121 b (13srtholoniew)—rind Mr. Dawson's Reversion,
4 yes, lOst 51b (Whitehouse).
Betting-5 to 2 ag“ Dover, 3to 1 each agst Watch-
dog and Telegraph, 7 to 2 agst Reversion, • and S to 1
sign Iron Crown. Won by a head ; nothing near the
first two. Run in 3 Intn. 25 sic,

Her Majesty's Plate of 100 guineas. Two miles.
Duke cf Bedford's Retail, 4 yr?, 9st 21b (F. Butler) 1
Mr. parson's Nutbrown, 3 yrs, 6st 101 b (H. Marson)
Sir J. llawley's Van Dieman, 4 yrs, 9st 21b (A. Day) 3
Lord H. Lenuox's Borneo, 4 yrs, 9st 21b...(Flatman) 4
Betting-5 to 4 on Retail. 3 to 1 agst Borneo, 4 to 1
each agst Nutbrown and Van Diemen. Won by two
lengths. Run in 3 min. 59 sec.
The Farmers' and Tradesmen's Cup of 50 soya. Twice

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