The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-12 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, MoNnAv.--,The Queen and Prince.
Albert left the Castle this afternoon for an airing,
poneY phaeton, his Royal Highness driving,
attended by Lord Charles Wellesley and Colonel
Bouverie on horseback.
Sir dames Clark arrived at the Castle this af-
ternoon at half-Past five o'clock.
Dr. Locock left the Castle to-day.

The Duchess of Kent walked for some time
this mprning on the terrace. oftheLlitstlt., attended
by Lady Charlotte Dundas, and -afteifwards,:rode
out in a pone phaeton. - L'9 1"
The Princess Royal has been -tal6n`otit
to-day.

Prince Albert; accompanied by his Gmce the
Duke of Wellington, had an excellent hunt with
the beagles about 12 o'clock, in the Great Park.
His Royal Highnes4 was attended by Colonel
Bouverie, Mr. G. El." Anson, and Lord Charles
Wellesley. His Huai Highness- and the Duke
were_in at the death.,,

. .
Colonel Arbathnot4.72d Highlanders, and Mr.
G.E. Anson.. willi.have: they honour of dining
with the Royalparty this evening.
Their Royal highnesses the Diflie and-Duchess
of Cambridge, and the Princess Augusta-M.(241117.
bridge, arrived in town yesterday from their re-
sidence at Kew. :.The Duke of Cambridgro,
visited the Duchess of Gloucester, at GlonenSter
House, and in the evening returned to Kew.
The. Lords of the Conttitittee of Council on
Education had a meeting at the Council-office
yesterday. There were present the Lord Presi-
dent, the Lora Privy Seal, Lord Stanley, Sir
Robert PeeL Sir James Graham, the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, and Lord Granville Somerset.
Dr. Kay was in attendance. •
Their Lordships remained in deliberation until 1
six o'clock.

Mr. Charles Buller had an interview with Sir
Robert Peel yesterday, at his official residence
in. Di iwning-street.
M. Fortique, the Venezuelan Minister, trans.
acted business yesterday at the Colonial-office.
Lieutenant Moody, R.E., Lieutenant-Gover-
nor df' 'the Falkland Islands, left town on
Ss t u rday.

The Earl of Ripon left town yesterday for his
seat, Nocton, Lincolnshire.
Despatches from the Governors of Honduras
and the Bahamas were received yesterday at
the Colonial-office.

OLYmPIC THEATRE.
This pleasant little theatre Opened last even-
ing for the winter season,. under -the manage-
ment of Mr. G. Wild. During 'the recess the
theatre has been newly and elegantly fitted
up, a new dress circle has been: formed, :the
stage has been relaid, a new proscenium
has been painted, and the front of ,the
upper circle has been adorned with various de-
signs from the pencil of Mr. Wilson, jun. The
appearance of the interior has been greatly im-
proved by these judicious alterations, and the
Olympic is now one of the most elegant little
theatres in London. Mr. Wild has been fortu-
nate in securing the services of a most talented
and efficient company, among whom is that most
delightful songstress, Mrs. Waylett. The
performances commenced, last evening, with
the burletta of First Impressions, in which
Mrs. Waylett as Constance, sang her beautiful
ballad of " Kate Kearney," as she can only sing
it, and was, as a matter of course, rapturously
encored. After the burletta we had a comic
ballet, admirably performed by a company of
juveniles, pupils of Mr. Frampton; and then, for
the first time, a new comic drama, (an adaptation
from the French,) entitled Cousin Peter. The
scene is laid in the house of Gibelon (Mr.
Halford), an officer in the French police,
on whose wife Cecile (Mrs. Waylett), a
certain 'Marquis de la Foix (Mr. Fitzjames),
entertains certain designs, in pursuit of which he
has entered the house clandestinely, while he
has managed to have Gil:elon called away on a
false alarm. A certa!n Nicholas Bnnne (Ross),
a plebeian thief, has also entered the house in
pursuit of certain designs on the lady's diamonds.
The lady, after her husband's departure, dis-
covers that they are in the house; and, as the
scene is in the dark, adroitly plays off the thief
against the Marquis as her cousin Peter, who is
asleep in the next room, and will be alarmed if he
make any noise, while the Marquis in his turn
is played off against the thief; until Gibelon's
return, when both are taken into custody. The
situations were excessively comic, and were made
the most of by,those engaged. The piece was com-
pletely successful. The burlesque ofßilly Taylor
concluded the evening's perfbrmances, Wild him-
self being the " gay young fellow," while the
part of Mary Wagstaff, the heroine, was admir-
ably sustained by that exceedingly clever actress
and singer, Miss Le Batt. Mr. Calcott is the
leader of the orchestra, which is complete and
efficient; and our old Maud Baker has /resumed
his post as stage manager. The house was
ceedingly well filled.

;

LITERATURE. PARLEY'S PENNY LIBRARY AND TREA-
SURY OF KNOWLEDGE, ENTERTAIN-
MENT, AND DELIGHT,
London, Cleave, Shoe-lane.
The First Part of this publication has lately
appeared, and is to be continual weekly in penny
Parts, and monthly in fburpenny Parts, firming,
certainly, one of the cheapest periodicals of the
day. The fourpenny Part contains 144 pages
duodecimo, of small type, but neatly and dis-
tinctly printed, and interspersed with a great
variety of wooden cuts. Some of these are well
finished, others are not ; and we would, there-
fore, suggest to the publisher the propriety of
improving the cuts, even though he should re-
duce the number by one-half. A few executed
like that of the fin of the whale, and a vase
illustrating the art of manufacturing glass, would
be ornamental as well as instructive, and add
greatly to the value of the book. The tales with
which it abounds are in general well told ; the
language is simple and intelligible; the informa-
tion good; and the moral tendency of the work
well calculated to make a lasting and beneficial
imkession on the youthful mind. The publisher,
who says he has no pecuniary interest whatever
in the little work, farther than the very slight
portion which attaches to him as publisher, thus
gives an -outline of its plan and object :
"We propose, through the medium of Familiar and
Interesting Conversations,' to elicit incidentally such
traits of character as require correction, together with
contrasting exhibitions of the nobler qualities ; and our
Tales and Legends, our Poetry and Dramatic Pieces,
will supply antidotes a hich, while they exhilarate the
mind, enliven the imagination, and enlarge the under-
standing, will neutralise the ingredients of many a poi-
soned chalice, at.prosent so indiscriminately circulated.
But these constitute by far the least consequential por-
tion of our scheme. Strenuous endeavours will be
directed to the formation of a vigorous taste—to the
creation of a just perception of wilat is really beautiful,
in contradistinction to the prevailing rage for unmiti-
gated indulgence in sanguinary horrors on the one hand,
and gross buffoonery or maudlin sentimentality on the
other. The rich and costly stores of the Greek and
Roman classics, of the very existence of which vast num-
bers of both sexes never heard, will be popularly pre-
sented to our readers by an occasional prose analysis of
some celebrated author ; by which many even of those
who have dog's.eared a school Ovid, and subsequently
arrived at the distinction of applying their wretched
latinity to the exposition of Greek, will derive more
knowledge of the classics from one of our humble num-
bers, than could be gathered from all the disjointed and
fragmental lumber which they have heaped together
in the course of their too generally worse than useless
studies.

" Natural History will also obtain the share of notice
due to its importance ; together with such of the Arts
and Sciences as are most interesting, or confer the
greatest benefit upon man."
The following description of the whale affords
a fair specimen of the work :

" The.whale is one of the most extraordinary pro-
ductions of nature, and contributes very largely to the
comforts and convenience of man, while the extensive
fisheries, for capturing that monster of the deep, consti-
tute an excellent school for rearing hardy and experienced
seamen, the importance of which is incalculable, in con-
nection with a great nation like this, which is indebted
for all its influence and vastness of foreign possessions
to the' insulated position of the mother country, and the
exercise of almost undisputed mastery on the sea, the en-
tire length and breadth of which may be said to form a
portion of the British empire. But the whale, though
an inhabitant of the depths of ocean, and invested with
amazing power in swimming and directing its course,
with no legs to walk and no capacity to exist out of
water, its proper element—the whale, notwithstanding
these fish-like qualities, is not a fish, but belongs to the
order of miunnialia—of animals that bring forth their
progeny and suckle them with milk ; and its fins differ
in it singular manner from those of fishes ; .they nearly
resemble the human arm, and terminate with a hand,
having four fingers, as delineated in this drawing. The
whale is thus enabled to clasp its young, and carry
them in its arms, and perform many of those acts of dal-
liance and affection for which the mother is distinguished
among terrestrial animals. The tail of the whale is also
a curious combination of mechanical powers ; and, in
additition to the great strength bestowed upon it, the
musoles allow it to be turned any way, with as much fa-
cilitras the human arm ; but the formation of the tail
of the fish circumscribes its motions to the limited use
fur which it was designed, that of directing its course,
while in the whale it presents a most formidable weapon
of defence, _with which it frequently hurls a boat and its
crew into the air, whilst writhing from the anguish of
harpoons buried in its flesh, and striving in vain to escape
from the persevering efforts of its destroyers. The blood
of the whale is warm, like that of terrestrial animals ;
its brain is much larger in proportion than that of the
fish ; its eyes have a remarkably intelligent expression ;
and its sense of hearing is so acute as to increase very
considerably the difficulty of approaching it near enough