The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-26 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, DEC. 25.—Her Majesty rode out in a pony
phaeton this morning, accompanied by the Princess
Royal. The Hon. Colonel Phipps, Equerry in Waiting,
attended on horseback.

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, Prince
Alfred, and the Princess Alice, took walking and pony
exercise on the Eastern-terrace and Slopes.
The Queen and Prince Albert, the Ladies and Gentle-
men of the Court, and the Domestic Household, attended
divine service this morning in the private Chapel of
the Castle. The Hon. and Rev. C. Leslie Courtenay
officiated.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent also at-
tended the service.

In the afternoon her Majesty and Prince Albert rode
out in a pony phaeton, his Royal Highness driving. The
Equerries in Waiting, the Hon. Colonel Phipps and Co
lonel Bouverie, attended on horseback.

The royal dinner party at the Castle this evening will
include her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, the
Viscountess Forbes, and Mr. Vaughan, the Dowager
Lady Lyttleton, Hon. Miss Lyttleton, Miss Pole Carew,
the Lady in Waiting to the, Duchess of Kent, the Ba-
roness de Speth, Lord James Murray, General and Lady
Isabella Wemyss, Colonel and Lady Emily Seymour,
Mr. G. E. and the Hon. Mrs. Anson, Sir George and
Lady Couper, Captain Francis Seymour, and Mr. Glover.
The Band of the Scots Fusilier Guards will attend
during dinner. Her Majesty's private band afterwards
attend in the Castle.

WINDSOR, FRIDAY EVENING.—This being Christ•
mas-day, Divine service was performed in the private
chapel of the Castle, by the Queen's private chaplain,
the llon. and Rev. C. L. Courtenay, her Majesty, the
Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal,
and the Prince Alfred, with all the ladies and gentlemen
of the Court, attending, After the service, the Leauty
of the day induced her Majesty to ride out; and-La open
phaeton, with postillions, being sent round from the royal
stables, her Majesty, attended by the Marchioness of
Douro, and escorted by the lord and equerries in wait-
ing, drove through Old Windsor, as far as the Bells of
Ouseley, and the❑ returned by the same road to the
Castle. In the meantime the Prince Consort, with the
Prince of Wales in his hand, walked across the Home
Park to Frogmore, and visited the Duchess of Kent, and
before their Royal Highnesses left the lodge, they exa-
mined the state of the ice on the lake of the grounds of
Frogmore. This afternoon, about three o'clock, the
Queen again rode out in a pony phaeton, the Prince
Consort driving. They again took the road through
Old Windsor, with intent, it was supposed, of entering
the Great Park at Bishopsgate, and so returning by
Spring Hill and the Long Walk to the Castle, but from
some cause or other they returned to the Castle by the
Old Windsor road, and after having been out little more
than three-quarters of an hour.
WESTMINSTER-BRIDGE.—The following seven re-
solutions appear in the third report of the Select Com-
mittee of the House of Commons on the New Houses
of Parliament and Westminster-bridge, which was pub-
lished on Wednesday last. The Parliamentary blue-
book contains the evidence given. "1. That the
majority of the witnesses who have been examined on
the point concur that the foundation of Westminster-
bridge having been originally vicious, that bridge can
never be permanently sound. 2. That the expense of
completing the alterations and repairs now in prograss,
or in contemplation, according to contracts and designs
under the superintendence of the Bridge Commissioners,
will be very considerable, amounting at least to 70,0001.
3. That this expenditure will still leave the bridge in a
state requiring constant attention in respect to repairs,
and without any certainty of permanent security ; while
it will likewise leave the water-way far less adequate to
the requirement of the navigation, particularly when the
contraction of the stream by the embankment in
front of the new palace is considered, than would be the
case under a new bridge. 4. That irrespective of the ap-
proaches, the expense of a new bridge over the site of
the present bridge, and retaining the present bridge for
temporary use would not exceed 360,000/, according to
the highest of the estimates for that object which have been
furnished to the Committee, either in 1844 or in the pre •
sent year. 5. That the bridge estates would probably
furnish a clear surplus of at least 100,0001. in aid of the
funds for the erection of a new bridge. 6. That Parlia-
ment, having by direct grants from the Exchequer (the
remaining expenditure having been provided by money
raised in lotteries under Acts of Parliament), furnished
a large part :of the expense of erecting originally the
present bridge, and having constituted the commission
under which the said bridge was erected and has been
administered, and having by section 20 of the 9th
George 11., c. 29, declared that the said bridge shall be
extra parochial, and by the section 21 that it shall not
be a county bridge, maintainable as such bridges are by
county rates, has recognised and sanctioned the prin-
ciple that this bridge, which is thus by law excluded
from other support, shall be maintained, and when need-
ful repaired, restored, and rebuilt, at the expense of the
state. 7. That in these circumstances a sufficient case
has been made out to justify this Committee in recom-
mending to the House, that the present bridge be pulled
down and that a new bridge be constructed, and that a
Bill be brought into Parliament next session to transfer
to the Commissioners of her Majesty's Woods, &c.,
the estate and property of the Bridge Commissioners,
due consideration being had to the claims of the officers
of the bridge estates, if their services should be discon-
tinued."

SURGICAL OPERATIONS WITHOUT PAIN.—We have
been informed that two operations were performed by
Mr. Liston, at the University College Hospital, on Sa-
turday last, while the patients were under the stupefying
influence of vapour of ether. The one was amputation
of the leg, the other, evulsiosi of the nail of the great
toe. The vapour of ether was inhaled by means of a
proper apparatus, and, when it had produced its full
effect, the operation was speedily performed. Neither
of the patients knew, when they recovered from their
stupor, that the operation had been performed. Mr.
Liston observed that the vapour of ether had been used
i
for a similar purpose in America, but only n minor
operations, such as the removal of tumours, &c. We
hope to have further particulars on this very interesting
subject. Medical Times.
Loss AND RECOVERY OF ONE HUNDRED AND
SEVENTY SOVEREIGNS.—On Thursday, the proprietor of
a public-house in the neighbourhood of Drury-lane paid
to the receiving-clerk of a brewer 170 sovereigns, secured
in a bag. After receiving the money, the clerk sat for
a short time in the parlour, placing the bag of gold at
his side, but on leaving the house he forgot to take it
with him. Shortly after his departure a poor woman
entered the parlour, when the first object that attracted
her attention was the bag, which she opened, and on
discovering its contents presented one of the sovereigns
to the barman, asking him to change it. The barman,
aware of her poverty, said that she must have robbed
some one, when she became confused, and attempted to
conceal the bag under her meagre clothing, which at-
tracting the barman's attention, he discovered the bag
of sovereigns which he had just paid away. While he
was taking it from her, the affrighted clerk returned,
and was highly delighted at having thus recovered the
bag of money.