The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-26 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

The Duchess of Kent paid a visit of congratulation to
the Queen at Buckingham Palace, early yesterday, the
birthday of her Royal Highness the Princess Alice.
Her Majesty and his Royal Highness Pi ince Albert,
accompanied by the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal,
Prince Alfred, and the Princess Alice, went at one
o'clock to pay a congratulatory visit to the Duchess of
Gloucester, at Gloucester House, on the return of her
Royal Highness's natal day. The Queen and Prince
were attended by Lord Charles Fitzroy, Lieut.-Colonel
F. H. Seymour, and Mr. Gibbs.

The Queen and Prince Albert left the palace at half-
past three o'clock, for the Crystal Palace at Sydenham.
Her Majesty and his Royal Highness were accom-
panied by the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal,
the Princess Alice, and Prince Alfred, and were
attended by Lady Caroline Barrington and the equerries
in waiting. The royal party returned at half•past six
o'clock.

Her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert,
accompanied by the Princess Royal and the Princess
Alice, honoured the Haymarket Theatre with their pre-
sence last evening. The royal suite consisted of the
Countess of Charlemont, the Hon. Lucy Kerr, Lord de
Tabley, Lord Charles Fitzroy, and Lieutenant-Colonel
F. H. Seymour.
The Countess of Charlemont has succeeded the Coun-
tess of Desart as the lady in waiting to her Majesty.
Lord De Tabley and Colonel the Hon. A. N. Hood have
relieved the Earl of Listowel and Major-General Berke-
ley Drummond as the lord and groom in waiting.
Her Majesty's private band was in attendance in the
palace on Monday evening, and played the following
selection .

I Overture, " Idomeneo" Mozart.
Selection, " Marco Spada" Auber.
Romance, "Guido et Genevra" Halevy.
Gruss im Alpenlande—march Hubner.
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent visited the
Duchess of Gloucester yesterday, at her residence Glou-
cester-house, Piccadilly.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer had a dinner party
last evening at his official residence in Downing-street.
The company consisted of Lord Ernest Bruce, M.P.,
Mr. Keogh, Mr. J. S. Brickwood, Mr. R. Phillimore,
M.P., Mr. Monsell, M.P., Lord John Thynne, Mr.
John Wood, Mr. Delane, the Rev. Mr. Cureton, Mr.
Anderson, Mr. Shelley, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Cowper,
M.P., and Dr. Jelf.

Despatches were received at the Colonial•ofsce yes-
terday from the Governors of Australia.

HER MAJESTY'S VISIT TO THE
CRYSTAL PALACE.

Yesterday her Majesty, accompanied by his Royal
Highness Prince Albert, the Princess Royal, the Prince
of Wales, Princess Alice, and Prince Alfred, and attended
by Lady Caroline Barrington and the Equerries in
Waiting, paid an unexpected visit to the works of the
Crystal Palace and grounds. Her 3fajesty, whose in-
tention to visit the works was only announced a few
moments before her arrival, was received at the building
by Mr. Laing, the chairman ; Mr. Fuller, the ma-
naging director ; and Mr. Scott Russell, one of the
directors of the company ; Sir Joseph Paxton,
Mr. Belshaw, Mr. Milner, and others. Upon entering
the building, her Majesty, who had not yet had an
opportunity of seeing the central transept after the re-
moval of the scaffolding, appeared to be highly pleased
with the bold proportions and magnificent appearance
of this portion of the structure ; and the contractors,
in the person of Mr. Cochrane, were highly compli-
mented on the completion of their arduous and diffi-
cult undertaking. The Royal party next visited the
various courts of ancient art, through which they were
conducted by Mr. Owen Jones, and the Greek and Ro-
man courts, with their classic beauty and exquisite
colouring, and the effectively arranged statues, received
in the most marked manner the approval of her Majesty.
Those colossal emblems of power, the winged human-
headed bulls, with their striking red and black colours ;
the profusely foliated columns of Persepolis, and the
gorgeously-decorated ceiling and cornices which form
such prominent features in the Assyrian Court of
Mr. Fergusson, was examined with much interest. Cross-
ing the nave, Mr. Digby Wyatt led the Royal party
through the courts devoted to Christian art, pointing out
the most remarkable of their highly interesting contents.
Her Majesty having expressed a desire to visit the
grounds, proceeded along the upper and lower terraces,
and with some difficulty, but with evident delight, tra-
versed the rough, stony walks, the uneven tramways,
the deep cuttings, the unformed slopes and hollow basins,
and mountains of loose earth, which now abound in such
interesting variety in the park, until she arrived at the
bottom of the lake which the antediluvian monsters have
selected as the place of their abode. There Sir Joseph
Paxton and Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins had an opportu-
nity of explaining in concise terms all the technicalities
of primary, secondary, and tertiary formations, and the
mysteries of antediluvian existence. A giant ich-
thyosaurus, rejoicing in a grand system of unfinished
iridescent lecoration, with several men working busily
on his screw-propeller tail, did not fail to attract
due notice, and to lead to some inquiries as to
the particular style of colouring which the animal
would ultimately display. The theory of Mr. Owen
Jones with respect to the decoration of these
monsters is, that those of them which were preyed upon
by others ought to be a dull colour, in order that they
might not attract the notice of their devourers, while
those which were accustomed to chase their interesting
dinosaurian brethren ought to be of a gay or lively
colour. This is conformable to experience ; for the
Nimrods of the present day are decorated with scarlet
coats and white breeches, but the stag or fox is deficient
in those vivid colours.

On returning to the building, Mr. P. Delamotte, the
eminent photographer, presented to her Majesty two
splendid collodion plates of the nave and exterior of the
building. These plates, 24 by 18 inches, are the largest
that have yet been taken. We do not remember ever to
have seen plates of such excellence. Up to the very roof of
the building, the smallest detail was distinctly marked,
every sash, bar, and fracture in the ten thousand squares
of glass were as plainly and distinctly shown as in a
photograph of the ordinary size. The view of the nave
of the building was not less beautiful, and the groups of
statues, the network of the roof, and the lattice girders
were admirably pourtrayed. Some idea of the extent
of the plates and of the difficulty in procuring a perfect
representation will be formed from the fact that the
diameter of the lens employed in the camera was not
less than eight inches.
Mr. Delamotte has been for the past eighteen months
almost daily employed in taking views of different parts
of the building and of the most remarkable of the statues
and works of art, and copies of the most interesting of
these will be placed in the building for sale, at such prices
as will place them within reach of the humblest class of
visitors, who will thus be enabled to replace those
wretched prints and coloured daubs which abound in
the dwellings of the poorer classes for accurate repre-
sentations of works of art. Her Majesty expressed
herself highly pleased with the plates, and Prince
Albert made several practical inquiries as to their mani-
pulation. Her Majesty and the Royal party were loudly
cheered, on leaving the building, by a large concourse of
persons who had assembled round the Royal carriages.
As we intimated on Monday, it is intended to open
the Crystal Palace on Saturday, the 27th of May. It
was also decided yesterday that the company should
undertake the supply of refreshments in the building.
Mr. Horne, of the Lord Warden, of Dover, has been
appointed superintendent of the department. The part
of the building to be occupied by the refreshment rooms
are at the end and along the sides of each wing.

MILITARY SAVINGS BANKS.—From a recently printed
return, it seems that the funded property belonging to
military savings banks amounts to 219,0451. 3s.
EDUCATIONAL EXHIBITION.—The subcommittee for
classification met at the rooms of the Society of Arts on
Tuesday, at 5 o'clock,—present—Professor Willis (in
the chair), the Rev. J. Barlow, Mr. Chester, Rev. S.
Clark, Mr. C. Wentworth Dilke, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Ed-
ward Hughes, Mr. J. Reynolds, Mr. T. Twining, jun.,
and Mr. J. Waley—when it was determined to issue
forthwith a classified list of objects for exhibition. The
sub-committee for correspondence also met on the same
day ; present—Lord Ebrington (in the chair), Lord
Berriedale, Mr. Joseph Kay, Mr. F. R. Sandford, and
Mr, E. C. Tufnell.