The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-01 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR..

The Queen and Prince Albert h ..orlour,A. the k:.1!:'•. ,•!
the Royal Academy- with a visit yesterday. Her
and his Royal Hienicss arrived int afal:ar Sql,at e
twelve o'clock, attended by the Mistft,s of the
DUCIMSS of Sutherland, and the Master of the 11.
Duke of Norfolk; the Lady in Waiting, the Cowitess of
Charkmont ; the Maids of Honour, Hon- I.lliz,ses Kerr
Cavendish; and the Lord Chamberlain, the &al '•;Ftt.o'.
_occupied anothec„ carriage. And the Lord in
Earl of Morton; the Lard in Waiting to Prince Ail, rt,
George Lennox; the Groora in Waiting, Major the lion.
Robert Boyle; .the Equerry in Major-General
Wemysa; and the Equerry in Waiting to Prince Albert, Col.
Bouverie, followed in two carriages and four.
Her Majesty and Prince Albert rode out on horseback
'vesterday, attended by the Hon. Mits Stanley, Majur-Gent.
Vemyss, and Colonel Bouverie.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert presided yeste7-day
afternoon at a meeting of the Commission for Promoting and
Encouraging the Fine Arts in the Rebuilding the Palace of
Westminster. His Royal Highness arrived at the new
Palace at, a quarter past. three o'clock, attended by Mr. G.
E. Anson, and Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. C. 13. Phipps.
The Conunissioners present were Viscount Morpeth, Viscount
Mahon, Sir Robert H. Inglis, and Mr. Hallam. The secre-
tary, Mr. Eastlake, was in attendance.

The meeting broke up eta quarter past live o'clock, when
Prince Albert proceeded to Westminster Hall, and afterwards
returned to Buckingham Palace.
Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the
Princess Royal, took an airing in the royal gardens yesterday.
Their Royal Highnesses Prince Alfred, the Princess Mice,
and the Princess Helena, accompanied by the Dowager Lady
Lyttelton, took an airing yesterday in an open carriage-and-
four.

Her Majesty and Prince Albert honoured the performance
of the French Plays with their presence yesterday evening.
The royal suite cc,nsisted of the Countess ofCharlemont, Hon.
Miss Kerr, the Earl of Merton, Major-General Wetnyss, and
Colonel Bouverie. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent
(attended by Lady Augusta Bruce, Baroness de Speth, and
Qeneral the Hon. Arthur Upton), and her Royal Highness
the Duchess of Cambridge (attended by Baroness Hammer-
stein and Mr. Edmond Mildtnay), also honoured the per-
formance of the French Plays with their presence last
evening.

Her—Royal Highness the Duchess cf Kent visited her Ma-
jesty the loieen Dowager yesterday, at Marlborough House.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge honoured the
Nobleman's and Gentleman's Catch Club with his company
at dinner last evening.
Tickets to view the two Royal pictures by Winterhalter, in
the Banqueting-room in St. James's Palace, will be issued
from the Lord Chamberlain's Office, from twelve to tour
o'clock. Each ticket will admit the lady or gentleman whose
name will be inserted in it, and five other persons.
All applications must be made personally, or through a
responsible agent, as it will be impossible to send tickets, or to
answer written applications.
Ladies and gentlemen receiving tickets, will be required to
leave their names and address on their cards, at the Lord
Chamberlain's Office.

Among the visitors to view the royal pictures were the
Bavarian, Brazilian, and Netherlands Ministers • the Duke
and Duchess of Beaufort, the Duke and Duchess of St.
Albans, the Marquis of Exeter, Marquis of Douro, Marquis
and Marchioness of Worcester, Earl Delawarr, Earl Auck-
land, Count d'Orsay, Lord Fitzroy- Somerset, Lady Sondes,
Lord Colville, Sir George Couper, Sir John Hobhouse, Mr.
Bannerman, M.P., and the Hon. W. Ashley.
A deputation from Glasgow, including Mr. G. W. Muir,
Mr. Abercromby, Mr. M'Cann, Mr. Drew. and Mr. Craig
had an interview with the Right Hon. Edwsrd Strutt yes-
terday, at the office of the Commissioners of Railways, in
Great Georgesstreet.

The Rev. Dr. Smyth had an interview with Lord John
Russell yesterday at his official residence in Downing-street.
The Bishop of Tasmania had an interview with Earl Grey
yesterday at the Colonial-office.
Lord James Stuart had an interview with Sir George
Grey yesterday. Lord Charles Fitzroy had also an interview
with the Right Hon. Baronet at the Home-office.

The Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England had a
Con'rnittee meeting yesterday.
The Chairman of the Customs had an interview with the
Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday at his official resi-
dence in Downing-street.
The Marquis of Westmeath had an interview with the
Earl of Clarendon yesterday, at the office of the Board of
Trade.

A deputation from Norwich and Lynn, consisting of the
Mayor, Mr. Colman, and the following merchants :—Messrs.
Bank, Chamberlayno, Nogate, Carter, Hulton, Moves,
Fowell, and CoateF, had an interview with the Right Hon.
E. Strutt yesterday.
.

Dispatches were received yesterday, at the Colonial-office,
from the Governor of New Zealand and an Diemen's Land.
Dispatches were sent off last evening from the Colonial-
office for the Governor of Van Diemen's Land.

LITERATURE.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE ROMAN

PATRICIAN ALEXi.i—B;iiile; (Gerald Keon.
One of those exquisite little works with which, after
the perusal of only three consecutive pages, the reader
becomes fascinated. Biography is perhaps the most en-
thralling kind of prose composition, and Mr. Keen is an
eloquent and impassioned biographer. The life of Richard
Savage, written by Samuel Johnson, so seized the ima-
gination of Sir Joshua Reynolds, on his accidentally
meeting with it in a road-side tavern very shortly after
its first publication, that he read on and on, leaf
after leaf, with his elbow resting upon the mantelpiece,
until he closed the volume at the " finis," and discovered
that his arm had become paralysed. And yet the life of
Richard Savage is the life of a bad reran, the life of a
homicide, a profligate drunkard, a man who perished
ignobly in a debtor's prison at Bristol ! Mr. Keon has
selected a nobler theme, and, what is more, he has
treated it with the skill of a rhetorician and the fervour
of a poet. The life of the Roman Patrician Alexis
is a sublime and affecting life, the life of a
very wonderful and admirable mortal. To the
Roinanists he is a saint ; while to every right-minded
man he presents the spectacle of a splendid and immacu-
late character. The book is tinged of course with, the
peculiar views which its author is already known t
vacate ; but it is on that account by no means addr'
at
exclusively to religionists. As the very dedication in-
dicate., the volu:ne is characterised by an enlarged and
philosophic liberality—being inscribed, at once, to Pius
IX., the Honourable George Sydney Smythe, and the
New Generation. In purpose, if nut in principle, we
cannot but regard Mr. Keon as in a great measure iden-
tified with that new generation, the importance of which
he thus commemorates ; 'and as a fresh testimony of
this identification may. be mentioned this beautiful
biography of the Patrician Alexis.