The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-21 00:00:00

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The Prince and Princess of Wales.

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess
of Wales (says the Dundee Advertiser), accompanied
by the Count of Flanders, drove through Braemar
on Friday evening last, on a visit to the Earl and
Countess of Fife, at Mar Lodge. As the visit wee
strictly private, there was no public demonstration;
yet, on their return from Mar Lodge, a large num'
ber of visitors and people of the village had awn'.
bled, who kindly hailed them. A man of the name
of Farquharson, a pearl-fisher, having called at the
Castle a few days before, his box of pearls were pre-
sented to the prince and princess for inspection, and
they selected two from the lot, and greatly admired
the whole. These pearls have all been taken out of
the Strathmore River. One, for which the owner
has been offered £3O, is indeed a "perfect pearl.,
On Saturday the royal party drove by Clachintuen
and Lochnagar Distillery, on their way to Loch
Muick, upon a fishing excursion. The weather,
however, having proved rough, and the rain falling
very frequently, the enjoyment of the party was not
such as it would have been had the day been fine'
The Edinburgh Courant says :---Since the 12th his
royal highness has been grouse shooting every day
with great success. Her royal highness devotes a
good deal of time to angling—a sport of which she
seems to have a thorough appreciation—and has
met, we believe, with much success, considering the
advanced period of the year. As usual on Sunday
their royal highnesses and suite attended service at
Crathie Church, The Rev. A. Anderson preached
an excellent practical sermon from James, let chap-
ter and 25th. verse, The church was well filled, and
the parts from which a good view of the royal party
could ba obtained were crowded to excess.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are to be pre-
sent at the Braemar Gathering, which is to be held
on the 27th inst. at Mar Lodge; and we learn that
the prince and princess intend to honour the Earl
and Countess of Fife by remaining at Mar Lodge
from the 27th (the day of the gathering) till Satur-
day, the 29th. The Count of Flanders will accom-
pany the prince and princess.

The Duke of Athole is, we are informed, suffering
from very severe illness, and the condition of his grace oc•
casians much anxiety to his family. The noble duke is
residing at Dankeld, Perthshire, with his duchess. The
Marquis of Tullibardine is at present serving with his regi-
ment, the Scots Fusilier Guards, in Canada.
The Duchess (Emily) of Beaufort and Lady
Edith Somerset are about to leave town for Yorkshire, and
will visit for a few days Lord Londesborough, at Grimstoa
Park, near Tadcaster.

The Earl and Countess of Chesterfield, Sir
Henry and Lady Sophia des Yceux, and the select party
who have been staying with Captain and the Hon. Mrs.
Egerton at Grimston Park, near Tadcaster (Lord Londes-
borough's seat), during the week, for the York races, sepa-
rate to-day.

The Earl and Countess Somers arrived in town
yesterday from a protracted sojourn in Spain, and will
shortly go to Eastnor Castle for the autumn.
Lord Louth has arrived at Cherbourg in his
yacht from Ryde, Isle of Wight.
Lord Londesborough is expected to leave town
to-morrow, for his seat in Yorkshire, for the season.
Vice-Admiral the Hon. Sir Frederick Grey,
K.C.8., and Lady Grey left Spring-gardens yesterday for
a tour of visits.
Colonel Peers 'Williams, M.P., and Mrs. and the
Misses 'Williams have left Berkeley-square for their seat in
Berkshire.

A NOBLE ACTRESS—a rival to Prince Galifzin
among musicians !—A great sensation has been
created at Paris, we learn, by the news that the Countess
Bathyanyi, adopted daughter of Prince Esterhazy, is
shortly to make her appearance on the stage—first of the
Ecole de Jeunes Artistes, and then of the Thatre Francais.
The lady has already written three novels, published by
Amyot, novels which have earned for her the distinction
of being made a Member of the Suei6t6 des Gens de
Lettres.
THE ARCHMOLOGISTS AT ROCHESTER.—Our
immortal Boz—author, among other wonderful
things, of "Bill Stumps His Mark," in .Picheick—appears
to be making the amends at last down in his own neigh-
bourhood to those very tempting gentlemen whom he has
so often poked fun at, before now, the archaeologists!
The year 1863 will be a red-lettered oue in the annals of
the Archiealogical Institute, writes one of the reporters of
the late proceedings of that body, for the meeting at
Rochester, the later proceedings of which we are about to
chronicle, must be reckoned among the most :uccessful that
have taken place since, twenty years ago, these charming
annual reunions were inaugurated at Canterbury. Nor must
we omit to call attention to the fact, that, although at the
time Mr. Pickwick's idea of an archaeologist was not far
from the mark, Mr. Dickens, in the present year of grace,
is content to be a committeeman, and as such to work with
the host of worthies, thanks to whose exertions such pro-
gress in the science has been made, To this the writer
adds :—We may remark that the paper by the learned
master of Gonville and Coins College on the Wednesday,
on the landing of Julius Caesar in Britain, a subject of such
interest to the author of the " Vie de Caesar," should have
been listened to by a French
,archaeologist, M. A. Maury,
who was specially sent over by the Emperor to hear it. lie
unfortunately came too late; but Dr. Guest had not left
and was enabled to go over the subject a second time with
the distinguished visitor.
" CAPTAIN SWING " appears to be abroad again,
if we may judge from the following paragraph from
The Age We Live In:—
" WILFUL ATTEMPT TO FIRE GODIL3IING
On Sunday night last some evilly disposed persons delibe-
rately broke several panes of glass in one of the large win-
dows on the South side of Godalming Church, and having
ignited a large bundle of papers they endeavoured to throw
it into one of the pews, but happily the aisle was too broad
to allow of their mischievous design taking effect, and the
mass of flame fell harmlessly on the stone floor. Had they
succeeded, this noble old structure, built principally of wood,
must have been destroyed, as the pews are of the old
fashioned style, and would, from the very dry material
of which they aro built, have been speedily on fire.
The miscreants having been foiled in this diabolical object,
went to a retired part of the village, to a yard where a car-
rier's van was kept, into which they thrust a quantity of
straw, and set it on fire, thereby destroying the poor man's
harness, whips, &c., although the van itself was fortunately
saved. What makes this case more distressing is the fact
that the van and harness were the property of a young man
who supported his little brothers, all of them orphans, by
the business of a carrier between Godalming and Guildford.
As yet no clue has been obtainel wherewith to fix the guilt
on such heartless reprobates, although the police are on the
alert to detect them."
A WORD ON PETS.—The choice of pets is gene-
rally an index to character. The farmer entertains
a dull affection for some gentle heifer, with mild Juno-like
eyes and aromatic breath. His man Giles lounges at leisure
moments round the sty, and fondly scratches the fat backs
of the lethargic tenants with! a clownish smile evoked by
visions of future flitches. Community of tastes and pur-
suits leads the huntsman to seek an object of affection in
his stables; and the soldier, whose life may depend on the
fleetness and endurance of his charger, will share his last
crust with him. A bucolic partiality for sheep can only be
accounted for by the drowsy placidity of rural life. The
love of birds is almost peculiar to women ; and there is a
graceful appropriateness in the tenderness of young girls
for canaries and other little creatures, nimble, sweet-
tongued, and sensitive as themselves. Matrons have a
loquacitytry of parrots, and admire
.
Venerable spinsters
relish thoughtfulthe
spitefulness
preference
and forpoula
gaudiness of plumage according with their own msthetic
tastes. Some mental perversity may be inferred in a 3 oung
lady who Pets a Parrot ; and the Roman lady who, accord-
ing to Martial, fondled a snake, must have been a sour old
maid.—Once a !reek,.
A WORD OF SOLACE FOR ROBERT BROWNING
AND HENRY TAYLOR.—...A. genial critic in the ,S'atur.
day Review, referring to those two eminent but scantily-
appreciated playwrights, reminds them thus, that these aro
evil days for those who write " Philip Van Arteveldes" or
"Blots on the 'Scutcheon." For, he asks, has not a stam-
mering fop monopolised ono of our principal theatres for
more than two hundred evenings ? has not a plunge into a
painted lake been popular as long ? and does not now a
magic-lantern prove the sole attraction of a fitth•rato
melodrama ? Should there ever be a renaissance of the
acting drama in Britain, a restoration of the audiences to
their senses (the actors will soon recover theirs), Robert
Browning may then, for some two or tnree of his tragedies,
be summoned to make his bow to an applauding pit. Mean-
while, in Sancho's phrase, " patience and snuff the candle ;"
it needs it sorely, for it burns very dimly before our pros-
ceniums. Whether, however, that good time be near or
remote, whether it will for ever be a promise lacking per-
formance, these Tragedies and other Plays will live in the
remembrance of all who study dramatic compositions, not
as the recreation of an idle hour, but as ranking among
the purest and noblest-, recreations of the human mind. To
this fit but few audience they need not our recornmcnda-

'un; for they have already taken their place among the
volumes that have in them the prowioe of long, at least, if
not perpetual, life,