The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-02 00:00:00

the Ladies Lanes Pier, the Earl of Haddington, the Earl
and Countess of Rosebery • and Lady Louisa Primrose,
the Countess of Morton and Lady Helen Douglas, Lord
and Lady Belhaven, Lord and Lady Berriedale, Mrs.
and Miss Hope, Sir George Clerk, M.P.' and Lady
Clerk, Sir William Gibson, Craig, M.P., Mr. Cowan,
M.P., the Ladies Charteris, and Sir George
and Lady Harriet Grant Suttie, Colonel Fer-
guson, of Raith, M.P.. Lady Anne Baird, Mr.
Balfour, of Balbirnie, and Mr. Baillie, cf Dochfour.
On the west side of the area was another stand, capable
of containing 1,300 persons, and within which were also
seated the 'magistrates and town-coimcil, and the pro-
fessors of the University in their robes. , There was a
platform south of this for the students attending the
• School of Design, and beyond some galleries left nearly
untenanted, from the. extravagant price charged for ad-
mission into them by a set of hungry speculators who
bought up the tickets. Such being the preparations for
the ceremony, the Prince Consort entered the area, and,
amidst loud cheers, took up his position close to the
foundation-stone. The Rev. Dr. Lee, Principal of the
University, then stood forward and offered up a fervent
prayer for the success of the proposed edifice. The man-
ner of the venerable Principal, and the substance of his

prayer/ were exceedingly inpressive.
The Lord Justice-General then advanced, sind taking
by the trowel, which he afterwards presented to the
Prince, said—

" May it please your Royal Highness,
•"-As the senior member now-present of her Majesty's
- • . Board of Commissioners and Trustees for Manufactures
and Improvements in Scotland, I am about to have the
• honour of presenting to your Roy al Highness the imple-
ment to be used- in the ceremony of-. laying the founda-
• tion-stone of a work which • has received the gracious
sanction of her Majesty and the • authority of a Parlia-
ment for its erection. The edifice, which is this day to
•' be commenced under the auspices of your Royal High-
ness, is destined for a national gallery of art, and among
• other purposes, also for the better accommodation of the
• Royal Scottish Academy` of Painting, Architecture, and
Seufpture, whose exertions foethe advancement and ims
provement of the fine arts, fostered as they have been
by the countenance and approbation of her Majesty and
• her Royal predecessors, have already been attended with
- considerable success, and have recently, under the su-
perintendence of the board of trustees, been followed by
the establishment of a school of design, an institution so
, important to the manufacturing and commercial
interests of Scotland. It was therefore with the highest
satisfaction that: those intrusted with the execution of
this national undertaking, which, from its intended
structure and the well-known. • skill and talents of its are
.7chitect, it is confidently hoped will add an additional
ornament to the metropolis of Scotland, were informed
• .that the Consort of our beloved Sovereign was to honour
the proceedings of this day with his presence, aware, as
. we all are, of the unceasing anxiety that your. Royal
Highness has uniformly evinced for the success of every
measure calculated to promote the interests of science
and art, as well as the development and improvement of
the industrial resources of the empire at large. If any-
thing had indeed been wanting to enhance the value of
the obligation you are about to confer, not only on
' the body to which I have the honour to belong,
but also on the Lord Provost, magistrates, and council,
and community of this city, it would be afforded by
the knowledge we have that your Royal Highness
has originated and' taken the most active part
in the preparations for the intended exhibition
of 1851 of the inventions and works, not only of
our own, but of all surrounding nations. This magni,
ficent undertaking, while it will demonstrate to the world
what the skill, energy, and perseverance of British
artists can accomplish, will prove, it is trusted, also the
means, not—only of establishing their pre-eminence, but
of still farther advancing tte general welfare and pros.
perity of the• British realms. I shell detain your Royal
- Highness no longer than to assure you that all classes of
her. Majesty's subjects in this part of her- dominions re-
joice that, along with a part of her royal offspring; she
. -is- now reposing in the ancient palace. of her ancestors,
and that your Royal Highness continues to manifest
your predilection for Scotland and its sports by your re-
cent acquisition of a portion of- its Highland territory."
The usual masonic rites having been duly complied
with by his Royal Highness, who was assisted by his
Grace ;he Duke of Buccleuch, Sir George Clerk, Sir
John Watson Gordon, and Sir William Gibson Craig,
His Royal Highness Prince Albert, addressing the •
Lord Justice-General and those more immediately
around him, said,— •
" Gentlemen,—Now that the ceremony is concluded,

you must allow me to express to you how-mach satisfac-
- lion it has given me to have had it in my power to com-
ply with your invitation, and to lay the foundation-stone
of this important national institution, and that this should
have coincided with the moment when her Majesty the
• Queen has come among you, and has given you,a.fur-
ther proof cf her attachment to this country by again
taking up her abode, if fur a short time only, in the
• ancient tilitee.of her ancestors in this capital, where she
has teen received with such unequivocal demonstrations
of loyalty and affection. The building of which we have
just begun the foundation is a temple to be erected to
the fine arts—the fine arts, which have so important an
influence upon the development of the mind and feeling
of a people, and which are - so .generally taken as the
type of the degree and character of that develop- -
ment that it is on the fragments of the works of art
come down to us from bygone nations- that we are
wont to form our estimate of the state of their civili-
zation. manners, customs, and religlon.. Let us hope
- that the irnpulse given to the culture olthe fine arts in
this country, aid the daily increasing attention bestowed
upon it by the people at lar,e, will not only tend to re-
fine and elevate the nationaCtustn, but Will also, lead to
the production cf works which, if left behied us as me-
mortali of our age, will give to after generations an ade-
quate idea of our advanced state of civilization. It must
be an additional source of gratification to me to find that

pat Of the funds rendered available fur the support of
this undertaking, should be the ancient grant 'which, at
the union of the two kingdoms, was secured towards the
encouragement of the tiiheries and manufactures of
Scotland, as it rAFor.ls a most pleasing proof that these
itaportant'branches of industry have arrived at that stage
of manhood and prosperity that—no longer rtviring
the aid of a fostering Government—they can maintain

themselves independeialy, r,dyiug upuu their own vigour
and activity, and can now in their turn lend assistance
and support to their youtig4 and weaker sisters,
the fine arts. Gentlemen, the history of this grant
exhibits to U 3 the picture of a most he dthy
national progress: the ruder ,arts connected with
the necessaries of life first gaining strength; "then edu-
cation and science supervening and directing further ex-
' ertions, and, lastly, the arts, which only adorn life, be-
coming longed for by a prosperoUs and educated people.
May nothing disturb this progreso, and may, by God's
blessing, that peace and prosperity be preserved to the
nation, which will insure to it a long continuance of
moral and intellectual enjoyment."
This concluded the ceremony, and his Royal Highness
almost immediately after returned to the palace, followed
by the acclamations of the multitude.
Before concluding this account cf the proceedings
:on the itfoand yesterday, I think it' necessary to
notice, which I do with much pain, the extremely

discourteous and unmannerly 'behaviour of Mr.
Primrose, secretary to the board of trustees, to my-
self and one or two other representatives of the
London raurnin4 newspapers. who applied to him
for the means of performing their duties as reporters.
Mr. Primrose is well born, and might. therefore, natu-
rally be expected at. least to be gewly, bred. His Grace
the Duke ut Lim:clench et once granted to us what Mr.
Primrose denied, and treated 11A with a degree of polite•
mess from which we hope, for his own credit, Mr. Prim-
rose will in future take a lesson.

At half-past eight o'clock this morning the guns of
the castle, firing a royal salute, announced • that her
Majesty and suite hadresumed their journey northwards.
Notwithstanding the early hour at which the departure
took, place, vast numbers of the inhabitants of Edin-
burzh"attended to pay a. parting tribute of loyalty.to
their Sovereign. The train, paastng Stirling and Perth
on its way, reached Cupar Angus about halt-past eleven
&clock. Thence the royal party were conveyed in four
carriages to Balmoral, where they arrived at half-past
five o'clock.— Times.

(From the. Court Circular.)
EDINBURGH, FRIDAY, AUGUST 30.

Her Majesty and Prince Albert arrived at a quarter-
past five o'clock on Thursday afternoon at Holyrood
Palace from Castle Howard, accompanied by their
Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred,
the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice, and at-
tended by the Marchioness of Douro, the Hon. Miss
Lennox, Sir James Clark, Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon.
C. B. Phipps, Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. Alexander
Gordon, and Mr. Birch.
The following bad the honour of dining with her Ma-
jesty:—The Dike and Duchess of Baccleuch, the Duke
of .Roxburglae, General Riddell (Commander of the
Bones), -the—Lord' Provost, Mr. Sheriff Gordon, the
Hen. WA. Murray, and Sir James Clark.
Her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert,
accompanied by the Prince of Wales, the Princess
Royal, the Princess Alice, and Prince Alfred, took an
early morning drive to-day (Friday) round the park of
Holyrood, and afterwards ascended to the top of
Arthur's seat.
At one o'clock his Royal Highness Prince Albert
laid the first stone of the new National Gallery of Scot-
land, attended by the Marquis of Abercorn, Colonel the
Hon. C. B. Phipps, and Colonel the Hon. Alexander
Gordon.
In the afternoon her Majesty, and his Royal High-
nesi -Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess
Royal, the Princess Alice, and Prince Alfred, drove
through the town of Edinburgh and round Arthur's
seat, visiting Danaldson's Hospital. They were attended
by the Marchioness of Douro, the Hon. Miss Lennox,
Colonel the Hon. C. Grey, and Colonel the Hon. A.
Gordon.

The Royal Family, attended by Sir James Clark and
Miss Inidyard, viewed the Castle of Edinburgh this al-
ternoon.
The Doke and Duchess of Buceleucb, the Duke and
Duchess of Roxburghe, the Esrl and Countess of Mir-
ton, the Earl end Countess of Rosebery, the Lord Jus-
tice-General, the Lord Justice• Clerk, the Earl and Coun-
tess of fladdington, the Rev. Prineipal Leo, Sir William
Gibson Craig, Lord and Lady Belhaven, the Lord Ad-
vocate, the Marquis of Abereorn, and Colonel the Hon.
Charles Grey, will have the honour of- dining with her
Majesty this evening.
The Queen has afterwards a small evening psry, the
visitors comprising Lord Aberdour, Sir George and Lady
Clerk, and Mr. Briley of Dochfour.

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.—John Blower, who cut
his throat immediately after he was stntenced to seven years'
transportation at the last quarter session, on Tuesday morn-
ing made another attempt at self-destruction. When the
unhappy man is as IPt out of his sleeping cell to go into the
dog room, ho run against the angle of a stone wall, butting
• Its hard against it with all his force, breaking the scalp from
the furtitead to the crown.—Porambuti Times and ...Vara
Cleigette.: