The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-02 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

SUMMARY OF NEWS

AND
tittbitz eptitton.

'Who runs may read."

ronzzGrz.
In addition to the election of President of the French
Chamber of Deputies, the election of the other officers
for the session has been in favour of the Guizot Minis-
try. . All the Vice-Presidents, and a majority of the
Presidents of Committees, are supporters of the Go-
vernment.
On Thursday evening, the King received at dinner
Generals Jamin, Lamare, Thiebault, Blancart, and Ba-
ron d'Andre ; the Presidents of the Chambers of Peers
and Deputies ; the Duke and Duchess de Marmier, the
Marquis de Los-Llanos, the Marquis de Terranova;

Counts d'llauterive, De Mousbourga , Portalis, De Sal-
yandy, D'Haussonville, and a number of other distin-
guished personages.
The Gazette de France states that, in the House of
Peers, the Duke de Richelieu will be called upon by the
President to explain his conduct in visiting the Duke de
Bordeaux, in London ; and that, in the Chamber of
Deputies, MM. Jacqueminot and Liadieres will bring
forward the subject of the visit of the Legitimist
Deputies.
The day after the funeral of Casimir Delavigne, M.
Villemain, the Minister of Instruction, sent to his widow

an order for an annual pension of 1,260 f., and a bursar-
ship for her son to the College of Henry IV., the de-
ceased having left no fortune.
The Municipal Council of Havre, the native town of
the late Casimir Delavigne, has unanimously voted the
erection of a monument to his memory, each member of
the Council subscribing immediately 50f. It is to be
placed on the Quai de la Barre, at the house in which
the poet was born. The Quai is henceforth to bear his
name.

The StOcie having mentioned a report that the King's
Commissioner attached to the Thatre Francais had for-
bidden the performance of Tartufe at that theatre, the
Messager states that the report is utterly destitute of
foundation.

Letters from Rome to the 26th of December state that

the condition of the Pope's finances is very bad, and the
country in a wretched state ; but that, notwithstanding,
he is obliged to levy further imposts upon the people.
The direct taxes have been, doubled throughout the States,
and the Customs duties have beeH greatly increased.
The Barcelona papers of the 22d contain a remon-
strance addressed to the Queen by the Ayuntamiento
against the extensive smuggling proceeding in the port of
Barcelona, which they impute to the scandalous conni-
vance existing between the smugglers and the public
officers of all classes.
The Constitutionnel expresses its doubts of the article
announcing the death of Mme. Catalani. It is said this

lady expitlefl at her residence near Sinigaglia (Roman
States ; that her husband, M. Velabreque, died in 1828,
and that she has left a fortune of eight or ten millions of
francs. These circumstances are not exact. Mme.
Catalani has never had any residence in the Roman
States ; her husband still lives ; and all her remaining
fortune amounts to only 20,000 f. a year.
COURT-FASHIONABLE.

Intelligence was conveyed to her Majesty on Sunday
evening that sickness, said to be the scarlet fever or the
measles, prevails in some of the families of the domes-
tics at the seat of his Majesty the King of the Belgians,
and it is, therefore, very improbable that any of the
Royal Family will accompany their illustrious parents
to Claremont. Indeed, it is not unlikely that, from the
circumstances alluded to, the visit of the Court may be
postponed fur a few days.
Sir Robert and Lady Peel have been entertaining at
Drayton Manor, during the Christmas vacation, the
Earls of Aberdeen and Lincoln, Viscount and Viscountess
Villiers, Sir James Graham, and John Wilson Croker,
Esq., Mr. George and Mrs. Dawson, Sir Alexander
Grant, Bart., Dr. Buckland, &c.
The Earl of Haddington is staying at Cliefden House,
Berkshire, the seat of Sir George Warrender.
The Marquis and Marchioness of Anglesey have been
entertaining a large family party at Beaudesert during
the Christmas holidays, consisting of the Earl and
Countess of Uxbridge, Ladies Eleanor and Constance
Paget, Lord and Lady Sydney, Lord Alfred Paget,
Lady Templemore, and the Hon. Misses Chichester.
Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston have, during
the last week, been surrounded by a family circle at
Broadlands. The Earl and Countess Cowper, Viscount
Melbourne, Lord and Lady Beauvale, Viscount and
Viscountess Jocelyn, Lord and Lady Ashley, Hon. Win.
Cowper, Hon. Spencer Cowper, &c., have been among
the guests. Earl and Countess Cowper left on Friday
for town ; and Viscount Melbourne and Lord and Lady
Beauvale leave in a few days for Brocket
The Earl and Countess of Deluwarr have a party
visiting at Buckhurst Park, Sussex. The Noble Earl
has, during the last week, bountifully supplied the poor
of Hartfield, Withyham, &c., with excellent cheer for
Christmas.
The Earl and Countess of Warwick arrived at Patter-
son's Hotel, Brook-street, on Thursday last. Her Lady-
ship has bad a severe attack of gout, and been confined
to her room for some time at Yatton Park. Her Lady-
ship remains in a very weak state of health.
The Earl and Countess of Limerick are entertaining a
large family circle at South-hill Park.
The Countess of Roden and Lady Maria Jocelyn left
the Clarendon Hotel on Friday for Paris, viol Dover.
The Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury left the Cla-
rendon Hotel on Saturday for Brighton.
Lady Jenlima Eliot gave her third ball for the season

on Thursday evening at Dublin. The Lord Mayor and
Lady Mayoress, the Countess of Donoughmore,' the
Ladies Hutchinson, the Attorney-General, Lord and
Lady Francis Gordon, &c., were among the company,
which was very numerous.
DIISCELMAN3IOTIS.
Yesterday (Jan. 1), the Queen's proclamation re-
specting light and defaced gold, came into operation
It directs that from that day light and defaced gold coin
will no longer be a legal tender, and it gives power to the
person to whom it may be offered, to slant or cut it so
that it may never be again circulated. As a great quan-
tity of the coin will probably be brought out, persons
cannot be too careful in the gold coinage they take, as
the loss will fall entirely on thevaselve:.
The General Post-office gives notice that the next
mail for. India, via Marseilles, will be dispatched thence
on the 4th inst. _

The Duke Rutland's birth-day on Thursday next
will be celebrated with the usual rejoicings, and a nu-
merous and distinguished circle will assemble to cele-
brate the occasion. The Duke of Cambridge will honour
the Noble Duke with his presence.,
The sixtieth anniversary of the Surrey Chapel Bene-
volent Society, which was established in the year 1784,
by the Rev. Rowland Hill, was held on Sunday at Surrey
Chapel. From the address, prepared by the Committee,
it appeared that the Society, since its establishment,
had raised 28,0001., and by its means 55,000 cases of
distress had been relieved. The spacious chapel was
crowded to the ceiling, ar.d a collection was made at the
conclusion of the service.

The Earl of ilardwicke has contradicted a paragraph
originally inserted in a provincial journal, to the effect,
that at a late rent-day dinner he had expressed his
opinion that free trade principles would ultimately
triumph; but that such a result would not be so dis-
astrous as generally anticipated. His Lordship states
that he uttered no such sentiment.

We undertand that a considerable number of the prin-
cipal coalmasters of North Staffordshire have agreed to
give the advanced rate of wages, namely, 4s. per day.
Lord Munson has made a return of fifteen per cent. to
his tenants on his Lordship's estates in Lincolnshire ;
and Earl Fortescue has made a reduction of ten per
cent. at his late audit on the rents of the Tattershall
property, in that county. •
The Chief Justiceship of our newly-acquired settle-
ment, Hong-Kong, has been offered to no less than seven
members of the English bar, and been declined by them
all, although the salary attached to the office is to be
3,0001. a year.
Workmen, under the direction of Mr. Blore, the
architect, have commenced the construction of a new
corridor at Buckingham Palace, from the equerries'
entrance in the south wing_to lead to the new private
Chapel Royal, now in ccurse of decoration, and which is
expected to be completed by the arrival of the Court at
the palace for the season, at the end of the month.
The Duchess. of Kent, it is said, will give a
grand banquet this evening, at Frogmore House, to
her Majesty, his Royal Highness Prince Albert, and a
distinguished party; and her Majesty's departure from
the Castle to Claremont has consequently been post-
poned until the following morning.

SOUTHAMPTON.—The Lady Mary Wood Peninsu-
lar steam-packet arrived at Southampton on Saturday,
the 30th of December, at half-past nine o'clock in the
evening, bringing mails from Malta of the 15th ult.,
from Gibraltar, the 23d ult. ; Cadiz, the 24th ; Lisbon,
the 26th; Oporto, the 27th; and Vigo, of the last date;
left at Gibraltar her Majesty's ship Belvidera, and
Locust steamer; at Cadiz, the Seine and Vulage French
men• of-war brigs; at Lisbon, her Majesty's ship War-
spite, and two Portuguese frigates; and exchanged blue
lights with the Iberia steam-packet between Oporto and
Vigo. She brings home as passengers the Hon. G.
Grey, Captain of the Belvidera; Lieutenant Lewis,
commanding the Locust; and Lieutenant Sprat, of the
Beacon surveying ve:sel; also, Mr. Kelner, of the Post-
office, London; the Rev. Mr. Davies, a Roman Catholic
clergyman; M. Alfocorado, a Portuguese gentleman
going to France; and the Misses F. and J. Duff, from
Lisbon, the elder of whom is going to the nunnery at
Youghall. There is no particular news by this packet.
WILFUL DESTRUCTION Or CORN.-011 Saturday
last, an additional quantity of corn was taken out of
bonded warehouses in this town and destroyed, having,
by being kept too long, become unfit for human food !
Had the corn-laws been repealed, this corn would have
been brought into the market and purchased by some of
our fellow-townsmen, who are now probably on the
borders of starvation. And yet there are men who pro-
fess and call themselves Christians and friends of the
poor who advocate 'a law which permits, nay compels,
the wilful destruc:ion of food in a country where tens
of thousands are lacking bread !—Sunderland Herald.
EARL GRET.—The latest accounts from Ilowick
Hall represent the staV, of Earl Grey's health as still very
precarious. No untlivonra6le change had taken place
since Wednesday last, and some bad symptoms had been
relieved, but the Noble Earl was not considered out of
danger when the last report left. Viscount Howick,
and nearly all the members of the Noble Earl's family,
are in attendance upon their revered relative.
HINTS FOR DRAMATIC AUTIIORS.—Prune off
shoots of the French stage, and transplant Vaudevilles
against the season. Dig up old plots, and nail mana-
gers. Drill supers, plant friends in pit, and train slips
to applaud,--Punch's Almanac*.

WINDSOR, MoNDAY.—Her Majesty and his Royal
Highness Prince Albert received the Sacrament early
yesterday morning.
This morning the Queen and Prince Albert, attended
by part of the Royal suite, went to the Riding-house to
see the poor receive her Majesty's bounts,.
In the afternoon the Royal party left the Castle for an
airing, her Majesty and Prince Albert in a pony phae-
ton, his Royal Highness driving ; the Marchioness of
Douro and the Hon. Miss Hamilton following in another
phaeton, with the Shetland ponies ; and Colonel Ar-
buthnot, Equerry in Waiting, on horseback, in attend-
ance on her Majesty.
Major-General Sir Edward Bowater has succeeded
Colonel Bouverie as Equerry in Waiting on his Royal
Highness Prince Albert. Colonel Arbuthnot remains
at the Castle as Equerry in Waiting on the Queen.
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, and his
Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, will
join the royal circle at dinner.
Lady Montagu and the Hon. Miss Montagu, Viscount
Anson, the Hon. Mrs. Arbuthnot, Mr. George and the
Hon. Mrs. Hope, and Sir Henry Wheatley, will also
have the honour of joining the royal dinner party at
the Castle this evening.

His Royal highness the Duke of Cambridge, attended
by Baron Knesebeck, left town at half-past ten o'clock
yesterday morning, to honour the Earl of Cardigan
with a visit at his seat, Dean Park, Northamptonshire.
Previous to leaving town the Royal Duke visited her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester at Gloumiter
House.

The Prussian Minister transacted business yesterday
at the Foreign-office.
Dispatches were sent off last evening from the Co-
lonial-office for the Earl of Elgin, Governor of Jamaica,
and for the Governors of the other West India Colonies.

The Earl of Haddington has returned to his residence
in the Admiralty, from the seat of Sir George Warren-
der, Cliefden House, Berkshire. _

Dispatches were received yesterday, at the Colonia
office, from the Governor of Sierra Leone.

MR. WILSON'S ENTERTAINMENT
ON SCOTTISH MUSIC, AT THE MUSIC
HALL, STORE-STREET.

Wilson has returned from his provincial tour in good
health and in excellent voice, and recommenced his de-
lightful Scottish Entertainments at the Music Hall,
Store-street, where he was enthusiastically welcomed by
a crowded audience. " Oh, weel may the Boatie row"
was his opening melody, and this was followed by the
beautiful, plaintive " Login o' Buchan," which he gave
with most exquisite tenderness and expression; this and
" We're a' Noddin" were the gems of the evening, as far
as sentimental songs were concerned. With regard to
this latter song, all the lovers of Scottish music are
under infinite obligations to Mr. Wilson for having res-
cued this delicious melody from the absurd words to
which it has hitherto been set, and for having substituted
for them one of the most beautifully pathetic lyrics ever
penned, and which was given by him with the most
touching pathos and feeling. It was, of course, loudly
encored, and we. hope that henceforth these words will
be, to the exclusion of all others, the words of " We're a'
Noddin." We have said that these were the gems of
the evening at far as sentimental songs were concerned,
and many of the audience perhaps preferred them to any
of the others : but great as Wilson is in the pathetic, he
is equally great in the humourous and the dramatic, and
we delight to hear him in such songs as " There cam
a young man to my daddy's door," and " Muirland
Willie." In these songs he stands alone. How admir-
ably humourous was his acting in this latter song
last evening—the rough wooer, the cautious father,
the coy and coquettish maiden, were all delineated
to the life. Then again, what could be better than his
acting in " Come under my Plaidie ?" It was a perfect
drama, the characters of Donald, the old wooer, Marion,
the young maiden, and Johnnie, the rejected suitor,
being sustained, and sustained with the most harmoni-
ously truthful effect, by Mr. Wilson. In " Hooly and
Fairly," too, what can exceed the ludicrously dolorous
manner in which he gives the line
"O gin my wife would drink hooly and fairly,"
Never were the sufferings of the henpecked husband more
humourously and ruefully represented. The finale was the
excellent old ballad " Get up and bar the door." Mr.
Wilson adds vastly to the humour of this admirable do-
mestic comedy, for such it is, by his manner of giving
it. He repeats the first line of each stanza, and then
sings the other three—this, he says, was the old way of
giving the ballad, and it is decidedly the most telling
and effective. He was loudly encored in this song, and
repeated it with, if possible, increased gusto. At the
conclusion of the entertainment he announced that he
should this day week give " Anither nicht wi' Burns."

There are serious complaints owing to the scarcity
of silver, which now bears a premium. The Master of the
Mint should do something to remedy this serious
grievanee.
THE QUEEN AND THE DUKE.—At the conclusion
of the banquet at Windsor Castle, on Tuesday evening
last, her Majesty and Prince Albert, with their distin-
guished guests, retired as usual to the green drawing-
room, the Queen's private band being stationed in
the adjoining apartment (the crimson drawing-room),
the folding doors of which were thrown open. In
the course of the evening her Majesty left the private
.apartment, arm in arm with the Duke of Welling-
ton, and seated herself with the Duke on her
right hand, and surrounded by the Court, near the
band. After listening to the performance of two or
three compositions, the Queen rose from . her seat to
retire, a movement which was, of course, followed by
the whole of the Royal party, with the exception of
the Duke, who had fallen into a profound nap. Her
Majesty, smiling, and evidently enjoying the involun-
tary forgetfulness of his Grace, playfully tapped the
Duke on his shoulder with her bouquet, which speedily
brought him from a state of momentary oblivion to
perfect consciousness, when the Queen, with a gracious
smile (amidst the suppressed titterings of the illustrious'
guests), made his Grace a low curtesy, and taking the
noble warrior's arm in the most kind and affectionate
manner, and laughing the while, proceeded from the
crimson to the green drawing-room, where coffee was
served.

THE QUEEN'S HouNns.—There was a "meet" of

the Queen's hounds last Thursday; it took place
at Ilil-
lingdon-house, and was arranged with such secrecy, that
very few out of the immediate Court circle could learn
anything about it; and it was a source of considerable
amusement in the neighbourhood of Windsor to see the
"gentlemen in scarlet" riding about the country for the
chance of meeting with hounds. This, doubtless, was
amusing enough to the lookers-on, and might furnish
subjects for a joke, or a good-natured quiz—but " gen-
tlemen in scarlet" are not exactly the men with whom
it is at any time sale to make sport, more especially
when the said individuals happen to be owners of land.
It would, doubtless, take a great deal of provocation
for the Queen's hunt to be warned off ally person's
ground, but recent circumstances have shown such a
consummation to be by no means impossible. For the
sake of all parties, therefore, it is to be hoped that the
examples of George the Third, George the Fourth, and
William the Fourth, will not continue to be departed
from.—Chelterthani Looker-on.
ITAYhiARKET THEATRE.--Madame Vestris and
Mr. C. Mathews re-appeared here on Saturday evening,
after a.short absence, arising from circumstances which
have been already stated to the public. The performances
were the lively burletta of Patter v. Clatter, and the Little
Devil. The reception of Mr. and Mrs. Mathews was
warm and cordial, and must have been most gratifying
to both. The Ganzbols of l'uch with the Elf King Obe-
ron, by Professor Risley and his clever son, Le Petite
Mercur6, were as successful and delightful as ever ; and
the varied performances of the evening concluded with
the delightful musical fairy extravaganza of the Fair One
With the Golden Locks.

When the body of Casimer Delavigne was lying
in state, three women, closely veiled, were seen to ad-
vance, and throw holy water en the coffin. These ladies
were Mademoiselles Mars, Rachel, and Plessy. Jules
Janin being asked who were these mysterious mummers,
maliciously answered, " that it was
,the plinth! come-
dienne (surname of Madeinoiselle Mars), the grande
tragedienne (surname of Rachel), with the young lady
who was neither the one nor the other." He might
more justly have said, " the lady who was both." One
very elegant lady excited general curiosity and sym-
pathy. Hidden beneath her thick veil, which prevented
the least feature to be discerned, she followed on foot the
procession throughout the day. She was said to be a
lady to whom the poet had inspired a most tender
passion without ever seeing her, and who followed him
about for years—in all his travels present, but unknown
and unseen.—Puris Letter.
EXTRAORDINARY FREE TRADE DEMONSTRATION.
—On Friday morning last the inliztbitants of the village
of Coalbrookdale, in Shropshire, and the immediate
vicinity, were astonished by the announcement, by pla-
card, that a meeting would take place that evening, in
the new Lecture-room, for the purpose of commencing
subscriptions in aid of the Great League Fund of
100,000/. Notwithstanding the very short notice, the
absence of many of the "Stars" of the League, and the
smallness of the population, the room was comfortably
tilled ; Abraham Darby, Esq., in the chair. After
speeches from the chairman and others, the subscrip-
tion-cards were handed in, and the amounts
and names were afterwards read. The first
was the ladies' subscription of Coalbrookdale,
(anonymous), 1501. ; then came Abraham Darby,
Esq., 501. ; Alfred Darby, Esq., 501. (these gentlemen
having already given 200/. this year at the Liverpool
meetir,g); Henry Dickinson, Esq., 501.; Richard Darby,
Esq., 50/. ; W. H. Darby, Esq., 5/. (in addition to his
donation at Liverpool) ; Joseph • Robinson, Esq., 21.
(besides a subscription at Liverpool) ; William F. Sim,
Esq., Si. ; Edward Edwards, 21.2 s ; ten of 11., besides
various smaller sums, making in all 148 subscribers ; the
total amount being about 350/. The whole amount of
last years' subscriptions, in this part was under 901.
Liverpool Albion of Monday.
A BACKSLIDING TEETOTALLER.--The New York
papers of the 4th of December contain the following
statement regarding the suicide of a temperate back-
slide!. ; but when names are not given in such matters
suspicions arise. However, here is the article, and if it
check one " inordinate glass" it will do good :—" We
learn from the Monticello Watchman that a man named
Crocker put an end to his life in the Bethel Church, in
that village, on Saturday last, He had been a drUnkard
for twent3 -five years, until about three months' sine
when ho became a member of the Temperance Society,
and held fast to the pledge till within a few days, when
he joined a hunting party, and was induced by his com-
panions toindulge in liquor. Be remained drunk for a
week, and on recovering from his debauch his remorseful
feelings were so strong as to make lifo a burden. He
shot himself with his rifle, leaving directions that his
body might be prepared for burial by those companions
whose solicitations induced him to return again to the
maddening bowl I"