Star.
London, England, 1819-06-24 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

A Meeting of the New Renters of this Theatre was
yesterday held in the Grand Saloon of the Theatre,
for the purpose of receiving a communication from
the Select Committee appointed to take into consi-
deration its present situation, &c.
Mr. HOSIER having been called to the Chair, he
read the requisition calling them together.
Mr. CALCRAFT, in rising to communicate to the
Meeting a letter he had received, felt confident that
it would be heard with the same satisfaction with
which he communicated it. It was from Sir Benja-
min Bloomfield, and to the following effect :

4 19th June, 1819.

" Sir B. BLOOXVIII,D is honoured with the commands of the
PRINCE REGENT, to convey to Mr. CALCEAFT the expression Of
his Royal Mimesis regret at the embarrassed state of the
Fi-
nances of Drury-lane Theatre, and to subscribe, in his Royal
Highness's name, One Thousand Pounds, in aid of the Fund for
its relief, with the assurance of his Royal Highness's anxious
feeling for the prosperity of so ancient, useful, and distinguished
an Establishminso
This most liberal subscription was received by the
company with parks of warm gratitude and appro-
frbatidn, and Mr. CALCRAFT expressed his firm per-
suasion that this royal example would be followed
by corresponding liberality on the part of all those
who felt for the British Drama, and for the preserva-
tion of the theatrical art. The sum wanted to relieve
the Theatre from its pressing incumbrances was
£25,000, which it was proposed to raise by a loan to
be repaid with interest in five years. But to do this
the Select Committee were under the painful neces-
sity of making an appeal to the body of new Renters,
to make a considerable sacrifice for the moment to
secure their property hereafter. lle hoped, there.
fore, they would agree to forego the arrear of four
years now due to them ; and also all that would be-
come due to them for the next five years, when the
loan now to be raised would be repaid. He had the
fullest assurance that they would make this liberal
sacrifice for the general good, from the very liberal
manner in which they had always acted and from
the conviction that it was the only means by which
the property could be ultimately saved, since from
the offers that the Select Committee had received for
a lease of the Theatre, with security for the perform-
ance of the contract, the £25,000 by their forbearance,
would be repaid in the period mentioned.
Mr. HOSIER read a letter from George Robins,
Esq. the principal holder of New Renters' Shires,
warmly recommending his Brother New Renters to
make the sacrifice required.
Mr. FALLOWFIELD, also a Trustee for the New
Renters, said, that the sacrifice demanded of them
amounted to the sum of £32,000, aad he had no hesi-
tation in saying that it would be advisable to make
it ; but he recommended that a Committee of the
body should be appointed to take the • proposal into
consideration along with the Trustees, and this they
might do without loss of time.
Sir THOMAS TURTON, another of the Trustees, sr
corded this motion, and warmly recommended the
adoption orthe measure proposed, for the salvation of
the Theatre.
The Resolution for the appointment of the Corn-
.
mittee was then put and carried, and the following
Gentlemen named to compose it :—CLAUD SCOTT,
Mr. SNODGRASS, Mr. CHURCH,
_ Mr. MINDER, Mr.
BURCRALL, Mr. BELL, Mr. GREGORY, Mr. Fos-
almost t, and Mr. FRASER.
Mr. Home said, that the number of nights on
which the Theatre would be open was calculated at
200 ; but if it was kept open more, then the overplus
was to be paid overfor the benefit of the New Renters.
A Resolution was passed, that it would be for the
benefit of the concern to let the Theatre, and also.
one confirming the appointment of the Committee
before named, who are to confer with the Trustees,
&c. and to report, on Monday next, the result of their
inquiries; to which day the Meeting was adjourned.

It is no &mist in the recollection of the Public,
that had they purchased only 44 Tickets more last
Lottery, they would have obtained Two Prizes of
1220,000, as Blau had one £eO,ooo udsold at his
Mee; Charing-Cross, and another £20,000 at his
Moe in Cashill.-The Loutary begins Ind finishes
_Not? TgossuAy, mid we hope the Public viilt not
let the Two Money Prizes of I:3o,ooo.tesiitin unsold.

... LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OPKOIG'S IiVI4CH, maim
IRON COFFIN.
LINO V. THE SEXTON AND CIIURCHWARDEWS OE
ST. AWDREW, imiotres.
Mr. CHITTY, pur,uanr to permission of the Court,.
Mentioned again his motion for a Writ'of Mandamus,
and observed that he thought be should Le able to
Sustain the motiou.ia-He the cited the general prin.
ciple upon which Writs of Mandamus had usually
been issued by the Judges. It might be directed to
any body or individuals in office, commanding them
go do justice, and act injinatters wherein the right
knd interest 'of the publit or individuals seem to be
Impeded. The acting Churchwardens in the above
E' arish having refused to bury abody, merely because
was in an iron-coffin, were amenable to Common-law,
s well as the Ecclesiastical Courts. He cited the case
bf the Bishop of Exeter, in which a Mandamus had
Issued, commanding him to administer Hoty Oil at
the baptism of an infant. It was also held, upon au-
Otority, that every body ought to be buried in the
Church-yard of the parish in which the party died.
Mr. Justice BAYLRY said, the right of burial in the
parish Churchyard Might not extend to interment in
Iron-coffins, which, not being subject to speedy decay,
might soon fill the Church• yard, to the exclusion of
other bodies.
Mr. Orrery said, it had been customory to bury it;
lead coffins, and bodies had been found which had
laid buried in iron armour more than a century. The
Churchwardens, in this instance, admitted the claim
to interment, by 'offering to bur" the body for an ex-
trairagaikt slim of money. -
The Cum JUSTICE, and Mr. Justice BATLEY, still
were of opinion, that the application could not be
successful in a Court of Law ; but in order to dispose
of the question with due consideration, Mr. CHITTi
was allowed to take a Rule to shew cause.
MORRIS V. HUNT. .

Mr. Hunt, having amended his affidavit according
to the advice given to him by the Court on Saturday,
applied for a rule to shew cause why the Master
should not review his taiation of the costs in the
action brought against him by the High Bailiff of
Westminster. On the perusal of the amended Affi-
davit, the Court granted the rule.
LORD CHURCHILL V. THE TIMES,
Mr. PLATT obtained a rule to shew cause why
judgment should not be entered for the defendant, as
in case of a nonsuit.

Richard Coomby was brought up-for.judgment for
having made signals, by fire, to smugglers off the
Island of Portland, on the night of the 18th of Sep-
tember last. The affidavit of a Revenue Officer set
forth, that perceiving a boat about to land some tubs
of smuggled spirits, he toot steps to seize them, in
which he would have succeeded, if the persons in the
boat had not been warned off by these signals. The
defendant did not deny that he was guilty, but pleaded,
in mitigation, that he had a wife and a large family.
He was adjudged to three months imprisonment and
hard labour in the Dorchester Jail.

HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY, EDINBURGH.
Yesterday se'nnight came on the trial of Peter
Bowers, journeyman mill-wright in Haddington,
charged with the murder of John Sandilands, day-
labourer, or farm-servant, to the Earl of Dalhousie,
upon the 15th day of April last, by striking him on
the head s' ith an axe.
Tke prisoner having pleaded Not Guilty, the Jury
were sworn to try the case. It appeared in evidence,
that same young men had been amusing themselves
by leaping on the high-road opposite to Coalston
toll-bar, when they were joined by the prisoner and
his master's son, who had been working in the nei h-
bourhood, and after finishing their job, had re ed
themselves with some gills of whiskey at di erent
public-houses. The deceased was standing enjoying
the amusement, when the prisoner said he would
jump with any of them for two pence; and having
lost his bet, refused to pay it, when some trifling al-
tercation took place among the parties, and the de-
ceased said, old as he was (66), he would either jump
with him, or fight with him, for any thing he liked.
Some high words then ensued between the prisoner
and the deceased, the import or amount of which
was not distinctly recollected by any of the witnesses
present; but' it ended in this, that the prisoner ad-
vanced towards the deceased, and struck him a blow
on the head with an axe, which he then had on his
shoulder, and inflicted a severe wound on his left
temple, out of which part of the brain protruded.
After the examination of the witnesses, the Counsel
for the prosecutor and prisoner addressed the Jury ;
and the Loan JUSTICE CLERK having summed up
the evidence, the Jury retired, and deliberated for an
hour and three quarters, when they returned a writ-
ten verdict, finding by a plurality of voices the pri-
soner guilty of the crime of murder libelled, but una-
nimously and earnestly recommended him to mercy.
After a most solemn and impressive address from
the LORD Jus rice CLERK, he was sentenced to be
executed at Edinburgh on the 21st day of July next,
between the hours of eight and ten in the forenoon,
and his body to be given for dissection.
There has never, perhaps, in the annals of drunken--
ness, appeared a more striking illustration of its fatal
effects than this trial has afforded. One of our fel-
low-beings has already fallen a victim to the madness
of intemperance, and the surviving prisoner has justly
forfeited his own life to the laws of his country. The
origin of this quarrel was the paltry sum of two-
pence, and the fumes of a liquor, which have des-
troyed more than the wildest ambition of the n o't
sanguinary tyrant. It was very strongly and very
justly impressed, by the Lord Justice Clerk, upon the
prisoner and all present, that, according to the laws
of Scotland, intemperance is neithm- a justfication nor
a palliation of a crime. In delivering his admirable
charge to the prisoner,' he again observzd that he
wished to enforce it upon all classes, from the highs st
1 to the lowest, that all must ansy er to the violated
laws of their country for offences committed under
the influence of ardent spirits. The prisoner had al-
ways supported an ereellent and irreproachable cha-
racter, and the clearest evidence was adduced to
prove his former solkety ; the drinking of half a
bottle of Scotlalars~s, made him murder an old
man whom be never before saw, merely because he
used some contumelious language to him ; abd we
trust and hope so awful and striking an event will
contribute to the forming of societies against the in-
temperate use of the destroyer of our reason, of our-
, selves, and our fellow 'mortals.