The Sun.
London, England, 1853-11-24 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, Nov. 23.

The Queen, with the Duchess of Brabant, attended
by the Duchess of Sutherland, the Countess Gustave de
Lannoy, and the gentlemen in waiting, left Windsor
by a special train of the Great Western Railway at a
quarter past 9 o'clock this morning, and proceeded to
Buckingham Palace.
Her Majesty and her Imperial Highness visited 'West-
minster Abbey, went over the Houses of Parliament,
paid a visit to the Duchess of Gloucester, and then re-
turned to Windsor Castle, where they arrived a little
before two o'clock.

Mr. Oliveira, M.P., had an interview with the Duke
of Newcastle yesterday at the Colonial•office.
The Commissioners for inquiring into the state of the
Corporation of the City of London held a meeting yes-
terday at the Privy Council-office in Downing-street.
The commissioners present were the Right Hon. H.
Labouchere, the Right Hon. Sir John Patteson, and G.
Cornewall Lewis, Esq.

A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon at the
Foreign-office ,Downing-street. The ministers present
were the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord John Russell, the
Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Duke of Argyll,
the Marquis of Lansdowne, Viscount Palmerston, the
Earl of Clarendon, the Duke of Newcastle, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, Sir James Graham, Sir Charles
Wood, the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, and Sir William
Molesworth. The Council sat three hours.
The Rev. Dr. Colenzo and the Rev. Dr. Armstrong
will be consecrated to the sees of Natal and Graham's
Town in the parish church, Lambeth, Surrey, on Wed-
nesday, the 30th instant.

CBE QUEEN AND THE DLCIIESS OF BRA
RANT AT WETMINSTER ABBEY AND THE
HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

Yesterday morning, shortly before 11 o'clock, her
Majesty, accompanied by the Duchess of Brabant,
and attended by the Duchess of Sutherland, and
other ladies of her suite, arrived at Westminster Abbey,
in three carriages, and were received at the western
entrance by a few of the authorities, the visit being
strictly of a private nature. Her Majesty pointed out
to her royal guest many of the monuments and objects
of interest, particularly the newly erected statue of the
late Sir R. Peel. The party remained in the sacred
edifice for upwards of an hour, and left by the south
transept door. They then paid a visit to the New
Houses of Parliament, entering by the Victoria Tower,
and after examining the various portions of the build-
ing, took their departure for Windsor. The royal
party were conducted through the building, in the
absence of Sir Charles Barry, who is oonfined to his
residence by an attack of influenza, by Mr. Edward
Barry, and Mr. Thomas Quarm, the chief Clerk of the
Works.

THE FOG OF YESTERDAY.

ALARMING AND FATAL ACCIDENTS.

During the whole of yesterday the metropolis and
suburbs were again visited by a dense fog, rivalling in
intensity that which prevailed during Tuesday, and
almost a continuation of the same fog. From about
five o'clock in the evening the streets presented a most
singular appearance ; torches and lanterns flashing about
in all directions, completely bewildering the unfortunate
pedestrian. The omnibuses, cabs, and other vehicles in
the principal streets, generally formed themselves into a
sort of procession, and travelled along at a slow pace,
headed by the conductors with links, &c.
At the London Docks the utmost confusion prevailed,
the various heavy waggons being brought almost com-
pletely to a stand-still. In the Camberwell New-road a
man was knocked down by a light cart and severely
injured, and in the London-road an elderly lady slipped
from the kerb-stone and fell into the road, dislocating
her ankle. At the approaches of the various bridges
the accidents were numerous, the horses losing their
foot-hold, owing to the slippery condition of the road-
way, thus causing the greatest obstruction to the traffic.
The greatest confusion prevailed among the shipping
below bridge, particularly in the upper and lower pools,
and in Greenwich and Blackwall reaches. Several of the
large foreign, Scotch, and Irish steam-vessels, unwilling
to run the risk of passing through the pools (over-
crowded with colliers) to their customary moorings,
brought up at Blackwall, where they landed their passen-
gers and cattle. The river steam-boats above Blackwall
discontinued running altogether, and very few left Black-
wall for places down the river, the obscurity of the atmos-
phererendering the passage extremely hazardous. About
half-flood (4 o'clock) nothing could be seen of the ship-
ping save the passing lights of steam-vessels ; captains
shouting and bells tolling to warn passing vessels of
their proximity to others, and spars snapping as colli-
sions occurred, of which there were unfortunately many
instances. A large timber-laden ship, in backing and
filling up to the Commercial Docks, got athwart hawse
of a tier of smaller vessels, and caused them to drag
their anchors, carrying away their jibbooms and two top-
gallantmaats, and in order to get clear the rigging had
to be cut away. A large steamer came into collision
with a schooner between Blackwall and Woolwich, when
the latter lost jibboom and foretopmast, and sustained
serious damage to head and bulwarks. It was stated
that a barge was run down and sunk in Gallions-reach,
the crew (a man and a boy) saved; the particulars,
however, could not be ascertained. The injury sus-
tained by shipping in spars, rigging, and topsides be-
tween Blackwall and London-bridge, must have been
very great.
At St. Thomas's Hospital two sufferers were re-
ceived. The first is William Reddte, of Bexley, whose
waggon was drawn off the road by the horses, and ran
against a post. This threw him off the shafts, and the
wheels passing over his thighs, produced a compound
fracture. The second case is that of Mrs. Smith, of
Lewisham, who lost her way on Blackheath, and fell
down a gravel pit 12 feet deep. Both her thighs were
broken, and she has sustained other injuries. A youth
named Edward Field has also been admitted into the
London Hospital. His father was driving across Bow-
common a van drawn by two horses and heavily laden
with timber, the property of Mr. Rigby, of Westmin-
ster. The lad was carrying a link, but he slipped off
the footpath into the road, and was immediately run
over by the off hind wheel. His right thigh bone was
found to be fractured and the ancle smashed. It is
feared that his accident will terminate fatally. Several
other accidents have also occured in different parts of
the suburbs.

At the various railway stations a rich harvest was
reaped by a large number of men and boys, who, with
the greatest independence, demanded, and in most cases
obtained, as much as a shilling a-piece for links, or for
their escort for a short distance, and in several instances
where the unsuspecting pedestrian paid for this accom-
modation beforehand, he was surprised to find his escort
vanish in the fog without fulfilling the contract. On the
North Kent and South-Eastern lines the various trains
were considerably delayed, and, to prevent any accident,
each of them was individually telegraphed. As on Tues-
day, the whole of the above-bridge steamers were pre-
vented from running, as were also the Greenwich and
Woolwich steamers.

Towards 9 o'clock in the evening the atmosphere gra-
dually cleared ; and the metropolis is to-day free from
fog.
SEVEN PEOPLE DROWNED.—The fog on Monday at

Stourbridge was the occasion of several fatal accidents.
Between seven and eight o'clock in the evening two
young women, sisters, named Sarah and Eliza Payton,
who were on their way home from work, missed the bridge
at the Wordsley Dock, within a very short distance of
their home, and walked into the water. The sons of
Mr. Webb, who has a timber yard adjoining the dock,
heard an alarm, and with some difficulty got both the
young women out of the water, but not until one of
them, Eliza, was past recovery, and the other appears
to be in a somewhat precarious state. Two young
women, sisters-in-law, named Reece, with a young man
named Alfred Hampshire, who was courting Miss Reece,
were present when the unfortunate Paytons were brought
to their house ; and Miss Reece having observed to
Hampshire that they had better go to look for her father,
who would be by the canal side, they started together,
and it appears soon met the father, with a lighted candle
sheltered between his hands. The father joined the
party, and almost immediately afterwards the whole
four walked into the water together. The services of
the Messrs. Webb were again called into action, and all
were brought to land, but not before life was extinct in
both the females. A young man, named Joseph Ridley,
married and having one child, was also drowned in the
same neighbourhood, as he was returning home from his
work. Also a boy called Mail, and an Irishman, name
unknown. A boy who had been occupied in bedding
up a horse in a stable on the Stourbridge Canal side, in
endeavouring to find his way home, walked into the
canal and was drowned.

Leeds has for the past three days been enveloped in a
dense fog, which has rendered it necessary to light up
places of business during the day. On Tuesday night
it was so dense that it caused a cessation of traffic
through the streets, objects being undistinguishable
within a couple of yards. We regret to add that some
accidents happened to persons missing their way, but in
no case was it of a very serious nature.
A meeting which was to have been held in Cowper-
street, City-road, for the purpose of the working men of
London considering the propriety of assisting the weav-
ers and spinners now on strike at Preston, was post-
poned by the chairman in consequence of the density of
the fog.

THE CHRISTMAS LOTTERIES AND THE GOVERNMENT.
—ln consequence of the great increase of lotteries
announced to be drawn at Christmas next, and the sub-
ject having been brought under the notice of the law
officers of the Crown, notices will shortly be issued,
through the Commissioners of Police, to all persons pro-
moting such gambling, that, if persevered in, they will
render themselves liable to prosecution, and will be pro-
ceeded against for penalties, under the provisions of the
act for the suppression of lotteries and other gaming.
Mr. Booker, M.P., met with a serious accident on
Wednesday afternoon. He was walking through his
works at Pentyrch, when he unfortunately struck his
foot against a projecting piece of iron and was thrown
violently to the ground, thereby causing a fracture of
the small bone of his right arm.—Hereford Journal.
THE NORTH OF EUROPE.—The North of Europe
Steam Navigation Company's screw steam-ship Scandi-
navian arrived in the Humber on Monday night from
Gothenburg with a large general cargo and 44 casks of
' silver coin, value about 50,0001., consigned to Messrs.
Thomas Wilson, Sons, and Co. This is the sixth arrival
of specie from Gothenburg within the last six weeks,
amounting altogether in value to about 150,0001. When
the Scandinavian left the weather continued mild, with
;light frosts at 'light.