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

the Ladies Innes Her, the Earl of Haddington, the Earl
and Countess of Rozebery and Lady L,,eisa Primrose,
the Countess of Morton and Lady Helen D mglas, Lord
and Lady Belhaven, Lord and Lady Berriedale, sirs.
and Miss Hope, Sir George Clerk, M.P., and Lady
Clerk, Sir William Gibson, Craig, nr., Mr. Cowan,
M.P., the Ladies Charteris, and Sir George
and Lady Harriet Grant Suttie, Colonel Fer-
guson, of Bahia, M.P., Lady Anne Baird, Mr.
Balfour, of Balbirnie, and Mr. Baillie, of Dochfour.
On the west side of the area was another stand, capablo
of containing 1,300 persons, and within which were also
seated the magistrates and town-council, and the pro-
fessors of the University M 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 tick -ts. 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 impressive.
The Lord Justice-General then advanced, and taking
up the trowel, which he afterwards presented to the
Prince, said—
" May it please your Royal Elighness,
" As the senior member now present of her Majesty's
Board of Commissioners at,d Trustees fur Manufactures
and Improvements in Scotland, I am about to have the
honour of presenting to your Royal Highness the imple-
ment to be used in the ceremony of laying the founda-
tion-atone 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
Sculpture, whose exertions for the advancement and im-
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 at:ended w:th
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 ar-
chitect, it is confidently_ hoped will add an additional
ornament tce.the metropolis of Scotland, were informed
that the Contort of bur beloved Sovereign was to honour
the proceedings of this day with his presence, aware, as
we all are, cf 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 further advancing the general welfare and pros-
perity of the British realm,. I shall 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
yoar 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 Roy al Highnese, who was assisted by his
Grace the 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 much satisfac-
tion it bas given me to have had it in my power to com-
ply with your invitation, and to lay the f ,undation•stone
of this important national institution, and that this should
have coincided with the moment when her Majesty the
Quean has come among you, and has given you a fur-
ther proof of her attachment to this country by again
taking up her abode, if for a short time only, in the
ancient palace of her ancestors in this capital, where she
has been 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 religion. Let us hope
that the impulse given to the culture of the fine arts in
this country, and the daily increasing attention bestowed
upon it by the people at large, will not only tend to re.
fine and elevate the national tastes, but will also lead to
the production of works which, if left behind us as me-
morials of our ago, will give to after generations an ade-
quate idea of our advanced state of civilfzation. It must
be an additional source cf gratification to me to find that
part of the funds rendered available for 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 fisheries and manufactures of
Scotland, as it affords a most pleasing proof that these
important branches of industry have arrived at that stage
of manhood and prosperity that—no longer requiring
the aid of a fostering Government—they can maintain
themselves independently, relying upon their own vigour
and activity, and can now in their turn lend assistance
and support to their younger and weaker sisters,
the fine arts. Gentlemen, the history of this grant
exhibits to us the picture of a most healthy
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 progress, 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 acclamationaof the multitude.

Before concluding this account of the proceedings
on the Mound yesterday, I think it necessary to
notice, which I do with much pain, the extremely
discourteous and unmannerly behaviour of Mr.
Prim: oie, secretary to the board of trustees, to my-
self and one or two other representatives of the
London morning newspapers, who applied to him
for the means of perforwing their duties as reporters.
Mr. Primrose is well born, and might. therefore, natu-
rally be expected at least to be gently bred. His Grace
the Duke of Buccleuch at once granted to us what Mr.
Primrose denied, and treated us with a degree of polite-
ness 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 had resumed their journey northwards.
Notwithstanding the early hour at which the departure
took place, vast numbers of the inhabitants of Edin-
burgh attended to pay a parting tribute of loyalty to
'heir Sovereign. The train, passing Stirling and Perth
on its way, reached Cupar Angus about half-past eleven
o'clock. Thence the royal party were conveyed in four
carriages to Balmoral, where they arri►ed at half-past
five o'clock.—Times.

(From the Court Circular.)

EDINBURGH, FRIDAY, AUGUST 30.
Her Majesty and Prince Albert arrived at a quarter-
peat firo 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, Bir James Clark, Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon.
C. B. Phipps, Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. Alexander
Gordon, acd Mr. Birch.

The followingbadthe honour of dining with her Ma-
jesty :—The Duke and Duchess of Bucclench, the Duke
of Roxburghe, General Riddell (Commander of the
Forces), the Lord Provost, Mr. Sheriff Gordon, the
Hun. C. A. Murray, and Sir James Clark.

Her Majesty and hia Royal Highness Prince Albert,
accompanied by the Prince of Wales, the Princes;
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 }:,y the Marquis of Abercorn, Colonel the
Hon. C. B. Pisippe, and Colonel the Hon. Alexander
Gordon.

In the afternoon her Majesty and his Royal High-
ness Wince Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess
Boy a:, the Princess Alice, and Prince Alfred, drove
thre. ugh the town of Edinburgh and round Arthur's
seat, visiting Donaldson's Hospital. They were attended
by the Marchioness of Douro, the Hon. Miss Lennox,
Colonel the Hun. C. Grey, and Colonel the Hon. A.
Gordon.

The. Royal Family, attended by Sir James Clark and
Miss Hildyard, viewed the Castle of Edinburgh this a!-
ternoon.

The Duke and Duchess of Buceleuch, the Duke and
Duchess of Rontburgbe, the Ea.' and Countess of Mor-
ton, the Earl and Countess of Rosebery, the Lord Jus-
tice-General, the Lord Justice Clerk, the Earl and Coun-
tess of II iddinzton, the Rev. Principal Lee, Sir William
Gibson Crai4, Lord and Lady Belhaven, the Lord Ad-
vocate, the Marquis of Abercorn, and Colonel the Ikon.
Charles Grey, will have the honour of dining with her
Majesty this evening.
The Queer_ nas afterwards a small evening party, t I e
visitors corr,prising Lord Aberdour, Sir George and Lady
Clerk, arr"..t Mr. Brolti i f D4,chfour.

AT'IEMPTED SUICIDE.—John Blower, who cut
his t'oroat immediately after he was sentenced to seven years'
transportation at the last quarter session, on Tuesday morn-
1-ag made another attempt at self-destruction. When the
unhappy man was let out of his -sleeping cell to go into the
slay room, be run against the angle of a stone wall, butting
his head against it with all his force, breaking the scalp from
the forehead to the crown.—Portsmouth Times and Naval
Gazette.]