The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-23 00:00:00

The Prince and Princess of Wales.

The Prince and Princess of Wales had a dinner
party last evening at Marlborough House. The
company consisted of their Royal Highnesses the
Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse, their Royal
Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge and the Prin-
cess Mary, his Serene Highness Prince Edward of
Saxe Weimar, the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort,
the Duke of St. Albans, the Danish Minister, the
Earl and Countess of Tankerville, the Earl and
Countess De Grey, the Countess of Macclesfield, the
Earl Russell, the Earl and Lady Constance Grosve-
❑or, Viscount Chelsea, Baroness Von Schenck,
Baroness Von Grancy, Lady Geraldine Somerset,
Colonel Home Purves, Captain Westerweller, Mr.
Becker, Captain Falbe, Mr. Cadogan, Lieut.• Gen.
Knollys, and Major •Teesdale.
The band of the Coldstream Guards was in atten-
dance and played during dinner.
The Princess of Wales had afterwards an evening
party.

The Prince of Wales, atter ded by Major Tees-
dale, rode on horseback yesterday morning.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, and Prince and
Princess Louis of Hesse, took a drive in an open
carriage in the afternoon.

The Duke of Cambridge and the Princess Mary
visited Princess Louis of llease at Marlborough
House.

The Prince of Leiningen paid a visit to the Prince
of Wales.

The Princess of Wales and Princess Louis of
Hesse, attended by the Countess of Macclebfield.
Lord Harris, Baroness von Grancy, and Mr. Becker,
went yesterday afternoon to the performance in St.
James's Hall.

The Approaching Royal Visit to the City,

The Corporation of London are making extensive
and costly preparations for the reception of the
Prince and Princess of Wales, on the occasion of
their forthcoming visit to the city. A large num-
ber of distinguished persons will be invited to the
fête in Guildhall which their Royal Highnesses are
to honour with their presence on the evening of
Monday, the Bth of June. Three other members at
least of the Royal family have accepted invitations
—the Duchess of Cambridge, with the Princess
Mary, and his Royal Highness the Commander-in-
Chief. The Ministers of State, members of the
Court, the foreign ambassadors, and a number of
peers and members of Parliament, with their
families will also be invited. The remainder of the
company will chiefly consist of London merchants,
bankers, the representatives of joint-stock societies,
masters of the great civic companies, the mayors of
the chief provincial cities and towns, the members
of the Courts of Alderman and Common Council,
and the leading officers of the Corporation. At
first it was intended to limit the invitations to
1,500, but the Entertainment Committee have found
it impossible to adhere to that arrangement with-
out causing much disappointment. They have,
thrrefore, increased the number to 2,000. The ap-
plications for tickets are said to have been numerous
beyond all precedent, and they are still pouring in.
The decoration of the Guildhall has been con-
fided to Mr. Crace, and, under his superintendence,
the work is proceeding. The design, which is
quite novel, and altogether different from anything
hitherto attempted at great civic festivals, has met
with high praise. The chief object sought to be
attained is to bring out in conspicuous relief all
the architectural features of the interior of the Hall
by the use of gilding and colour. A temporary
roof, resembling oak, and intended closely to re-
present that which the Corporation mean to substi-
titute for the present unsightly and dilapidated
ceiling, will be erected for the occasion, and from
it will hang masses of foliage gracefully arranged.
ale monuments on the walls of the Hall, which
on festive occasions are generally concealed, will be
conspicuously displayed by the use of drapery. A
dais and canopy will be erected at the eastern end
of the building for the Prince and Princess; and
the interior will be reflected in mirrors placed at the
western extremity. The Council-chamber, which
will be appropriately adorned, has been set apart
for the accommodation at supper of their Royal
Highnesses and the more distinguished guests. All
the great civic companies will contribute their ser-
vices of plate, which will be added to that of the
Corporation on the occasion.

The Court of Common Council, headed by the
Lord Mayor, is to be summoned to meet at nine
o'clock in the evening to present the freedom of the
city to the Prince. This ceremony, necessarily
brief, will take place in the presence of such of the
company as shall then have arrived. At its con-
clusion the ball will be opened.

The Entertainment Committee, composed of se-
veral of the Aldermen, Sheriffs, and about 30 mem-
bers of the Common Council, with Mr. Truscott as
their chairman, meet at Guildhall to make the no.
cesary arrangements. Yesterday they drew up
and settled the list of persons who are to receive in-
vitations, and they will continue to assemble daily
for the next fortnight and upwards.

THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS LOUIS OF HESSE.—
Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess
Louis of Hesse will take their departure to.day for the
Continent. The carriages and heavy luggage belonging
to the Prince and Princess left town yesterday, by the
South-Eastern Railway for Gravesend, to be shipped on
board the Royal yacht appointed to convey their Royal
Highnesses to Antwerp.
ROYAL VISIT TO THE CRYSTAL PALACE.--Their
Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales
baying notified their intention to honour with a visit the
flower show which takes place to-day at the Crystal Palace,
the public will not be admitted until 1 o'clock in lieu of 12
o'clock as originally intended. Sir Joseph Paxton will
attend the Prince and Princess, and conduct their Royal
Highnesses over the building, of which, as the architect,
he is accustomed, by the wish of the directors, to do the
honours to any illustrious personages who may honour the
Palace with a visit.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cam-
bridge and Princess Mary intend to leave St. James's
Palace to-day for Cambridge Cottage, Kow, for the holi-
days.
The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland leave
town to-day for Sion House, Isleworth, for the Whitsun-
tide recess. The noble duke and duchess wiil entertain a
succession of visitors during the holidays.

The Earl and Countess of Derby have issued in•
vitations for a dinner and evening party, on the 10th of next
month.

The Earl and Countess Dalawarr, accompanied
by Sir Alexander and Lady Arabella Bannerman, leave
town to-day for Buckhurst Park, Sussex, for the holidays.
The Earl of Dudley will give a ball at Dudley
House, Pal k•lane, on Monday next.

The Countess Fi:zwilliam had a dancing party
last night at the family residence in Grosvenor-square.
Viscount and Viscountess Doneraile entertained
at dinner on Thurslay evening the Marquis and Mar-
chioness of Waterford, Lord and Lady Wiliam Osborne,
Lord and Lady Colchester, Lady Augusta Cadogan, Sir
James and Lady Edith Fergusson, Hon. Mr. and Mrs.
Fellewes, Hon. Mrs. Rashleigh, Sir David Baird, Mr.
Lennox Conyngham, and Captain Bei keley.
Lord and Lady St,fford have arrived from Rome
at Edwards's Royal Cambridge Hotel, George-street.
Mr. and Lady Caroline Towneley gave a dinner
party last evening at her ladyship's residence in Charles-
street, Berkeley-square. A small party assembled later in
the evening.
The Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchcqucr
and Mrs. and Miss Gladstone leave town to-day for Somer.
setshire, for the Parliamentary recess.
M. de Montgomery, the owner of La Toucques,
the winner of the French Derby, has made a present of
25,0001. to the trainer and 5,000 f. to the jockey.
A sum of 12,000 f., given by the Steeplechase
Company to the poor as the net proceeds of the day's run-
ning at Vincennes on the 9th has been divided as follows :
—1,500 f. to each of the four communes of Joinville-le-Pont,
St. Maurice, Fontenay, and Vencennes, and 3,0004 each to
11th gad 12th moditiounAto Paris,

LITERATURE.

The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous,
By George Augustus Sala. Three void. Tinsley

Brothers.

A pleasant writer is George Augustus Sala, and
a delightful companion for a holiday excursion.
With unflagging interest we have followed him
" Twice Round the Clock" in his admirably graphic
sketches of London life during the varying
vicissitudes of the twenty-four hours. Guided
by his facile pen we have made agreeable
acquaintance with the " Men and Manners" of
many lands. We must confess, however, that we
prefer his companionship in his own familiar guise
—in proprta persona. In the volumes now before
us he appears in the habit of a buccaneering captain
of the last century, " who," as the title-page re-
minds us, " was a soldier, a sailor, a merchant, a
spy, a slave among the Moors, a Bashaw in the
service of the Grand Turk, and died at last in his
own house in Hanover-square." Adventures of
every kind, perilous and perplexing, manifold and
marvellous, as may be expected, abound in
the narrative, and many of these adventures,
wonderful as they are, are founded upon
fact, and are the result, Mr. Sala tells us,
of years of weary plodding and note-taking
through books of travel, memoirs, acts of Parlia-
ment, and old newspapers. Among these true in-
cidents are the adventures of Arabella Greenfield,
the Voyage Round the World in the Eighteenth Cen-
tury, the execution of Lord Lovat, and the account
of a Christian's captivity among the Moors. While
the history of Captain Dangerous, however, teems
with curious and interesting information collected
and compiled by an adept in the art, the manner and
tone of the composition are not to our fancy. It is
written in old-fashioned English, and to that we do
not object; but the style is somewhat coarse, and the
scenes and descriptions are not over-refined. It
may be urged in extenuation that we should not
expect to meet with refinement either of sentiment
or of language in the life of an Adventurer of that
bygone age. While we admit the reasonableness
of such a suggestion, we must also take leave to
declare that such an Adventurer as Captain
Dangerous (interesting though his adventures may
be) is not individually a companion to our
taste. The introductory chapter in which the
author himself addresses us is, to our thinking, by
far the most delightful in the whole work. What
can be happier than the following remarks on