The Express.
London, England, 1868-06-23 00:00:00

THE QUEEN AND HER GUESTS.

AT the Royal Breakfast yesterday everyone
seemed to suffer from the atmosphere except the
QUEIN.i, and her MAJESTY never looked better or
stronger in her life. So true is it that " the
" wish is father to the thought," that these
words have been sometimes used convention-
ally; but no ono who passed the royal tent
could fail to observe and rejoice over the
more than healthy and happy—the radiant,
beaming aspect of the QUEEN. At no period of
her reign has her MAJESTY seemed in heartier
spirits than while she was extemling a gra-
cious welcome to her guests yesterday.
Tlu delicate loveliness of the Princess of WALES,
and the cordial accord between her and her royal
mother-in-law, were as manifest as ever; and if,
to some minds, the canvas tents, the Tyrolean
singers, the gay dresses of the ladies, and the in-
spiriting strains of the band, occasionally
suggested a garden entertainment, of a
type more popular than exclusive, this only
heightened the enjoyment by the sub-flavour of
piquancy it gave. The people whom, for
numerical reasons, it was impossible to in.
vite, regretted that the Breakfast was
not given at Windsor, where thrice the
number of yesterday's guests could be
easily distributed about the grounds.
But to those present the cultivated beauty and
the comparative seclusion of the Buckingham
Palace gardens made a fete there appear appro-
priate enough. It is worth remarking that
although the male costumes were not
so absolutely ludicrous as was feared, they
were far from graceful or becoming. When will
the Prince of WALES introduce the promised
velvet, and so make the fashionable English
gentleman a less absurd contrast to the bright
colours and flowing gauzes of his wife and
daughters than he was yesterday?

MR. BARRY'S friends in the House of Com-
mons are determined to press for an inquiry into
the circumstances connected with the late com-
petition of architects for the erection of the new
law courts. Last night a petition from Mr.
BARRY, praying for the appointment of a select
committee, was presented, and on Friday next
Mr. LOWE will move that the prayer of the
petition be grunted. Mr. liforrnatr CHAMBERS
on Thursday intends to inquire of the Film
COMMISSIONER of WORKS " if the intention of the
•' Government to appoint Mr. STREET (whose de-
" sign was approved by the judges for elevation
" only), sole architect of the New Law Courts was
" communicated to the Royal Commission, and
" whether the royal commission has expressed any
" opinion on the appointment." Mr. Bryrritcx
also will ask whether the judges were unani-
mous in recommending Mr. STREEr's de-
sign as the best for external elevation,
and will propose that the design be ex-
hibited in the library "in order that the House
" may test the decision of the judges." Mr. E. W.
PUGIN has a letter in this morning's Timm, the
professed object of which is to support the selection
of the- Government, but the effect of which
is to throw discredit upon his old opponent
Mr. BARRY. It is anything but edifying to find
one architect writing to a public journal of
another, that his design "is about as giddy,
" puerile, and firework sort of a design as could
" possibly be produced; there is positively not
" one vigorous, sober, or manly line in it from ono
" end to the other." What would be said of
Mr. MILEAts were he to write to the Times in
terms like these of a picture by Mr. Flinn

Mr. GRANT DUFF intends to put to the PREMIER
a question which has come to the lips of many
within the last few days. The reports in the daily
journals represented the right hon. gentleman to
have used words in his speech last week at
Merchant Taylors' Hall, to the following effect :
" When we acceded to office the name of England
" was a name of suspicion and distrust in every
" foreign court and cabinet. There was no possi-
" bility of that cordial action with any of the
" great Powers which is the only security for
" peace, and in consequence of that want of cor-
" diality wars were frequently occurring." Mr.
GRANT DUFF will ask Mr. DISRAELI on Thursday
whether, when he made that statement, he was
aware that, when Lord DERRY was forming his
administration in 1866, his Lordship earnestly
requested Lord CLARENDON, who had been
Foreign Minister in the previous Government, to
retain the seals of the Foreign Office ? Lord
CIARENDON seems destined to be a source of diffi-
culty to Mr. DISRAELI in the nice maintenance of
his relations with Lord CLAnEsuox's distin-
guished relative.

On Saturday last the Rev. William Collings
Mathinni, clerk, M.A., was instituted to the rectory of
Dicklebergh, in Norfolk, on the presentation of the
master, fellows, and scholars of Trinity College.
DEATH OF THE DEAN OF KILLALA.—At his
residstice, Brookview, Militia, on the 19th instant, the
Veiy Bev. James Collins, D.D., Dean of Hillala, breathed
his list. A distinguished scholar, he dedicated his great
talents to the ministry. Ho soon became well known as
miund divine and an eloquent preacher. At the time
when evangelical doctrines wore unpopular ho was their
firm supporter sad advocate. After some twenty years'
active labour in the diocese of Bilmore, he was presented
to the deanery of Killala.—DsOlus litemits9

EAANG. JUNE 2,t;

Di: It et NT ENI 1'0114491, •
(THIS DAY.)