The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-28 00:00:00

COURT I:;I;,'•CTJLAR.

The Queen held a Court and Privy Council at half past
two o'clock, on Saturthy afternoon, at Buckingham palace.
At the Court, the Marquis of Sligo had an audience of
her Majesty, and delivered the ensigns of the most Illus•
trious Order of St. Patrick, worn by his late father.
The Privy Council was attended by his Royal Highness
Prince Albert, the Lord Privy Seal, the Commander-in-
Chief, the First Lord of the Treasury, the Secretaries of
State for the Home, Foreign, and Colonial Departments, the
First Lord of the Admiralty, the President of the Board of
Control, the Chief Commissioner of the Woods and Forests,
the Secretary at War, the Lord Chamberlain, and the
Master of the Horse.
The Honourable William Bathurst was the Clerk of the
Council in' Waiting.
Sir James Graham had an audience of her Majesty.
The Court was attended by Viscount Combermere. Gold
Stick in Waiting, the Vice-Chamberlain, the Trea4uter of the
Household, and the Comptroller of the Household. Vicount
Sydney and Sir Frederick Stovin were the Lord and Groom
in Waiting.
Prince Albert, attended by Mr. George E. Anson and Col.
Bouverie, visited and inspected the Hungerford Suspension
Bridge on Saturday morning.
The Queen and Prince Albert honoured the Italian Opera
with their presence on Saturday evening. The royal suite
included the Viscountess Jocelyn, Lady Caroline Cocks,
Viscount Sydney, Colonel Arbuthnot and Colonel Bouverie.
The Queen-Dowager, the Duchess of Kent, the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge. and the Hereditary Grand Duke
and Grand Duchess of Mecklenburgh Strelitz were also pre-
sent at the performance of the opera.
Her Majesty and Price Albert, the Ladies and Gentlemen
of the Court and the Domestic Household attended Divine
service yesterday morning, in' the Chapel Royal, Bucking-
ham Palace. The Hon. and Rev. C. Leslie Courtenay
officiabed.

The Duchess of Kent visited the Queen yesterday.
The Princess Royal was taken an airing yesterday.
The Queen Dowager and the Hereditary Grand Duke of
Mecklenburgh Strelitz attended Divine Service yesterday in
the Chapel Royal, St. James's. The Prayers were read by
the Rev, Dr. Wesley, the Lessons by the Rev. Dr. Knapp.
The sermon was preached by the Rev. J. Monson, from
Psalm 145, verses 13 and 14. The anthem was " Give the
King" (Boyce). Sir G. Smart presided at the organ. Her
Majesty was attended by the Countess Brownlow and Earl
Howe. Among the nobility present were the Duchess of
Beaufort, Ladies Wilton and Palmerston; Lords Bandon,
Essex, St. Germans, Tyrconnell, Palmerston, Cantilupe, and
IVrottesley ; the Duke of Wellington and Sir F. Trench at-
tended the early service. The Rev. Dr. Wesley officiated
and preached the sermon. The Marquis and Marchioness of
Douglas, Earl and Countess Delawarr, Earl of Haddington,
and Viscount Ebrington, attended the afternoon service.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Princess Mary,
and the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburgh Strelitz,
attended Divine service yesterday afternoon, in the chapel
of the Foundling Hospital.
. . .

The Grand Duchess Stephanie of Baden attended Divine
service yesterday in the chapel of the Austrian Embassy.
The Queen Dowager visited the Duchess of Gloucester on
Saturday.

The Grand Duchess Stephanie of Baden and suite went
on Saturday morning to the East and West India Docks,
and afterwards went to Woolwich and Greenwich. The
Grand Duchess was accompanied by his Excellency the
Chevelier Bunsen. The illustrious party went on board the
Great Britain.

The Duchess of Kent visited the Queen Dowager yesterday.
The Duke of Cambridge inspected the new Palace at
Westminster on Saturday.

The Governor of the Bank of Ireland had an interview
with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Saturday.
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England had a
meeting on Saturday afternoon. There were present the
Bishops of London, Winchester, Chester, Hereford, Lichfield,
and Worcester.

Dispatches from-the Governors of Hong-Kong, Ceylon, and
Malta,' and from the Lord High Commissioner of the lonian
Islands, were received on Saturday, at the Colonial-office.

HER MAJESTY'S STATE BALL.

The Queen gave a State Ball on Friday evening, at Buck-
ingham Palace. The ball, the first of the season, was at-
tended by upwards of one thousand of the Nobility and Gen-
try—the ladies appearing in new dresses.
Among the earlier arrivals were the Earl and Countess of
Shrewsbury, Lord Chief Justice Tindal, the Lord Chancellor
and Lady Lyndhurst, the Duke of Wellington, Viscount
Beresford, the Marchioness of Clanricarde, Earl Howe, Lady
Georgiana Curzon, Earl and Countess of Zetland, Lord and
Lady Cottenham, Earl and Countess of Haddington, Earl of
Clarendon, the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress, Viscount
Gage, Marquis and Marchioness of Norm an by, Duke of Buck-
ingham and Chandos, Duke of Richmond and Lady C. Gor-
don Lennox, Marquis and Marchioness of Ailesbury, Marquis
of Salisbury, Viscount Combermere, Earl of Enenborough
the Lord Chief Baron and the Misses Pollock, the Earl and
Countess of Rosebery, Admiral Sir R. Stopford, Earl and
Countess of Listowell, Lord and Lady Ponsonby, Lord
Forester, Hon. Sir Edward and Lady Butler, Viscount
Jocelyn, Lord and Lady M. Alford, Mr. and Mrs. Cardwell,
Earl of Mansfield, Marquis of Northampton, Lord Monteagle,
Sir Thomas Fremantle, Marquis of Lansdowne, Earl and
Countess of Shelburne, Marquis of Douglas, Lord Ashley,
Earl of Clare, Mr. J. W. Hogg (Chairman of the East India
Company), Mrs. and Miss Hogg, Viscount Castlereagh,
Viscount Howick, Earl of Devon, Right Hon. W. E. and
Mrs. Gladstone, Lord C. Manners, Sir J Graham, Lord
Denman and the Hon. Misses Denman, Sir H. and Lady
Douglas, Earl of Besborough, Hon. C. E. and Mrs. Law,
Sir J. Hobhouse, Viscount and Lady S. Ingestre, Marquis
and Marchioness of Blandford, Marquis Camden, Earl of
Ripon, Viscount Goderich, Sir Charles Napier, Admiral Sir
Edward Codrington, Lord and Lady Stanley, Vice-Chancellor
and Miss Wigram, 11r. Babbagc, Lord and Lady Kinnaird,
Earl of Aberdeen, Viscount and Lady Frances Sandon, Earl
Talbot, Marqnis and Marchioness of Londonderry, the
Duchess of Sutherland, Marchioness of Lorne, Earl and
Countess of Lincoln, Earl of Bandon, Earl and Countess
of Kinnoull, Sir Augustus Clifford and the Misses Clifford,
Earl of Auckland, Lord and Lady Langdale, Viscount Dup.
plin, Sir Edward Cust, Viscount and Viscountess Palmer-
ston, Admiral Sir George Cockburn, Lord W. Lennox, Lord
Alfred Paget, Lord Ashburton, the Chancellor of the Ex -
chequer, the Duke of Montrose, Lord and Lady Beauvale,
the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, Viscountess Forbes and
Mr. Vaughan, Lord Saltoun, Earl and Countess of Ennis-
killen, Earl of Shaftesbury, Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, the
Marquis and Marchioness of Breadalbane, the Solicitor-General
and Lady Thesiger, the Baron and Baroness L. de Roths-
child, General the Hon. Sir W. and Lady Lumley. The
Marquis of Lorne and Captain the Hon. James Murray wore
the Highland costume. The Duke of Norfolk carried his
gold baton of office as Earl Marshal of England. The Duke
of Buccleucli appeared in his uniform as Captain of the
Royal Scottish Archers.
The Foreign Ambassadors, Ministers, and Charges
d'Affaires and their Ladies, the Secretaries and Attaches of
the diflerent Embassies and Legations, and all the principal
foreigners of distinction in town, were present.
The Royal Family were conducted to the yellow drawing-
room, where the Queen and Prince Albert received their
illustrious guests.
The general company, after ascending the grand stair-
case, passed into the green drawing-room, the picture-gallery,
and the saloon. The alcove at the south end of the gallery
was filled with a variety of plants in flower, tastefully
grouped, and the recesses in the other rooms were also simi-
larly ornamented.
At ten o'clock the Queen and Prince Albert left the yellow
drawing-room, preceded by the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord
Steward, and the Vice-Chamberlain, and followed by their
Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent, the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge, the Hereditary Grand Duke and
Duchess of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, and the Grand Duchess
Stephanie of Baden, the Duchess of Buccleuch, Mistress of
the Robes ; Viscountess Jocelyn, Lady in Waiting ; and
Viscount Sydney, Lord in Waiting, being in attendance on
the Queen.
The royal party passed through the saloon into the ball-
room, which was most brilliantly illuminated by a magnifi-
cent lustre of cut-glass in the centre, six smaller lustres of
cut-glass, and numerous waxlights in branches. The quad-
rille band, stationed in an elevated orchestra at the south
end of the room, played" God Save the Queen" on the en-
trance of her Majesty and the Prince.
A quadrille was shortly formed, and the Queen opened
the ball with the Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburgh
Strelitz.

The throne-room was also prepared for dancing, an or-
chestra for a quadrille band, semi-circular in form, being
fitted up within the throne alcove, the front of the or-
chestra being hung with festooned draperies of crimson
velvet and gold, corresponding with the splendid furniture
of the apartment. This room was also most brilliantly il-
luminated.

Dancing commenced in this room, where Weippert's band
were in attendance. In the course of the night the following
quadrilles, waltzes, and polka were danced :—" The Castle
of Aymon," " The Pleiades," and " The Beauties of England,"
quadrilles. The Almack's Tanze, the Lyra and the Bruder
Lustigs, waltzes, and the Palace Polka.
In both ball-rooms elevated seats, for her Majesty and her
illustrious visitors, were prepared at the sides of each, and
were occupied by the Royal Family. The green drawing-
room was used as a refreshment-room during the night.
Supper was served in the drawing. room on a long range of
tables extending round the apartment. The plateau was
ornamented with a variety of articles of gold plate, including
a number of vases (modelled from the Warwick Vase), which
were filled with exotics in flower. Cherry-trees bearing fruit
from the royal gardens were placed at each extremity of the
tables; the buffet at the south end of the room contained a
great variety of articles of gold plate, consisting of shields,
salvers, vases, tankards and cups, the centre group being
formed by the " Armada Urn,' the " Shield of Achilles, '
the " Neptune Epergne," and a very beautiful cup, carved
in ivory, the work of Cellini. The buffet was lighted by
candelabra and sconces of silver gilt, filled with waxlights,
which were interspersed with the other articles, the whole
reflected in a magnificent mirror at the back.
Her Majesty and Prince Albert entered the Supper-room
loon after twelve o'clock on Friday night, accompanied by
their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent, the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge, the Hereditary Grand Duke and
Grand Duchess of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, and the Grand
Duchess Stephanie of Baden.

The illustrious party, after partaking of supper, returned
to the Ball-room, where Mr. M'Kay, her Majesty's Piper,
was in attendance. A Scotch reel was then danced, in which
the Marquis of Breadalbane and Captain the Hon. James
Murray took part.
A waltz followed, and afterwards a second reel was formed,
in which the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, the Marquis
and Marchioness of Breadalbane, the Earl of Mansfield, Cap .
tain the Hon. Jaynes Murray, and Mr. Wm. Russell, joined.
The Queen and Prince Albert afterwards passed from the
Ball-room, and were conducted by the Lord Chamberlain
and the Lord Steward to the Throne-room, which presented
a spectacle of gorgeous spleadr-nr, the mag,,milicence of the
rich and costly draperies and furniture, composed of crimson
velvet, with bandsome gold embroidery, being displayed to
the greatest advantage, by the very brilliant manner with
which this saloon was illuminated.

Her Majesty danced in a quadrille, and his Royal High-
ness Prince Albert joined in several dances.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge left at one
o'clock.

At two o'clock her Majesty and Prince Albert retired from
the Throne room, WiPppert's Quadrille Band playing "God
save the Queen" as the Illustrious Party quitted the apart-
ment. The Duchess of Kent, the Duchess of Cambridge, the
Hereditary Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Mecklenburgh
Strelitz, and the Grand Duchess of Baden, took their depar-
ture at the same time.
The dancing ceased in the Throne-room, but was kept up
a short time longer in the Ball-room.
The attendance of the Nobility and Gentry at this brilliant
assembly was most numerous, invitatiqns having been issued
to the number of fifteen hundred and thirty-five.
The company embraced nearly all th
ables at present in town. 0 nobility and fashion-