The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-31 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

The Queen, attended by the Countess of Gainsborough
and Colonel the Hon. Charles Grey, visited her Ma-
jesty the Queen Dowager )esterdax, at Marlborough
House. The Queen al. o vi,ited her Royal Highness the
Princess Sophia at her residence in Kensington.
His Royal Highness Prince Albt-rt, attended by Colo-
nel the Hon. C. B. Phipps and Colonel Bouverie, ho-
noured the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Ma-
nufactures, and Commerce, in the Adelphi, with a visit
yesterday,
Lord John Russell had an audience of her Majesty
yesterday at Buckingham Palace.
The Royal Family took their accustomed walking
and riding exercises yesterday, in the royal garden.
The Duchess of Sutherland, the Marchioness of Or-
monde, Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps, and Captain
Francis Seymour, had the honour of joining the royal
circle at Buckingham Palace at dinner yesterday
evening.

A Cabinet Council was held at three o'clock yester-
day afternoon, at Lansdowne House, Berkeley-square.
It was attended by Lord John Russell, the Marquis of
Lansdowne, the Earl of Minto, Sir George Grey, Earl
Grey, Earl Auckland, Lord Campbell, Sir John Hob-
house, the Marquis of Clanricarde, the Earl of Claren-
don, Viscount Morpeth, and the Right Hon. T. B. Ma-
caulay.
The Council sat an hour and a half. The meeting
took place at Lansdowne House, owing to the continued
indisposition of the Marquis of Lansdowne.
The Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson has for some days
been prevented by indisposition from attending at the
Board of Trade. The Right Hon. Gentleman is now
much better.

Dispatches from the Governor of the Cape of Good
Hope were received yesterday at the Colonial•office,

THE POTATO CROP.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—In your paper of last evening appeared a letter,
signed " Alfred Smee," relative to the failure of the
potato in Ireland, and recommending that efforts should
he made to prevent a like occurrence in future. The
letter was headed " Food or Famine," and was calcu-
lated, I think, to impress persons with the notion that
the Irish are still to continue to depend on the potato as
they have hitherto done. Now, Sir, my object in trou-
bling you, in this hasty and very imperfect manner, is
to endeavour to call attention to this subject, for I am
satisfied it is a subject that has not yet had that atten-
tion which it demands. I remember the time when Mr.
Cobbett went over to Ireland for the purpose of seeing,
with his own eyes, the condition of the Irish people, and
on his return, I remember he stated that they could only
be rescued from the destitution in which he found them,
and which he so forcibly described, by introducing the
English poor-law, and banishing the potato ; he
gave it as his opinion, that the Irish people could
never have been reduced to such utter poverty if the
potato had not been introduced, and he considered it the
curse of the country. When we reflect that failures
more or less extensive have constantly attended the
potato crops, and that the people have been so fre-
quently on the verge of starvation, I think it becomes
the duty of every man to do what he can to prevent the
continuance of such a state of things. The sufferings which
the poor Irish people have endured from time to time
within my recollection on account of the failure of the
potato, induces me to inquire if it can be desirable that
they should continue to live on this lowest description
of food, which has, in the opinion of men who have
thought a great deal on the subject, been the means of
degrading the Irish people below the people of any
other country in Europe, and has caused more suffering
than has been endured in any other country on the face
of the earth. I am, Sir, your obedient servant.
25, Fort-street, March 26, 1847.

JOSEPH HEYLIN.