The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-08-10 00:00:00

from Chterboneg. Ma Majesty was salut•d by the
qualm it Ittinthead and the ihtg-ahipe ill rol4lll2lolitil
harbouri

A train appropriated to journalists left Paris on Wed-
nesday morning at half-past live for Cherbourg. Some
artistes of Peri*, who were invited at a short notice by
the Western Railway Company, who conceived the idea
of forminga theatre in the railway station, went by the
none tram. Among them were Mines. Doehe and
Utfpnits, M. Deritdder, the Danish dancers, and the beet
performer, of the Theatre Deburau.
The Pars, with the members of the Howls .of
Commons, must have had a splendid pusage to Cher-
bourg. A gentleman who had oceuion to go out to the
Banonia, whioli lay in Sou"' Water, on Tuesday
night, returned to the d ski jel t titter 11 o'clock, and
his attention was attraoteu .ne inusic of a beautiful
band on board the Pere, and on approaching close he
saw many of the members of the House of Commons ap-
parently %mewed by Speaker or Sergeant-at-Arms.
i Many members were n the shrouds looking on at others
dancing on deck. Some Sooteh reehi and Irieh jigs were
danced with extraordinary animation and elegance.
When the nub were proposed, there were load calls for
Scotch names, and Irish naines were heard shouted for
when jig tunes were demanded. The splendid and
capacious deck of the Pere, nearly 400 feet long, and
proportionately broad, the calm and beautiful night, the
exhilarating 'drains of music, and the satisfying effects
of a superb banquet, all eeemed to have induced the
company on board the Pere tothorongh enjoyment. Even
the aged members were sitting on deck pleased to witness
the enjoyment of their more juvenile companions, and
thoughts of Pitt, Fox, Burke, and Sheridan gave way to
Apollo and Terpsichore, who may be considered tr
have caught the Speaker's eye.
Cherbourg is another "Napoleonic idea,"—at last
realised. The military port forms the western ex-
tremity of the inner road of the bay ; it is divided from
the western end of the town by fortifications, with
fosse and bastions, sweeping in a semicircle inland, and
abutting on the rocky shore of the bay, which washes
the walls of the part facing the harbour and break-
water. There is only one entrance from the land side,
strongly fortified. Within the enceinte is the most per-
fect arsenal in the world. It includes iff itself all the
means of fitting out an armament. A ship of war might
be built from the keel, launched lined, armed, and
maimed, without quitting its baling, from which it
would pass to the wean, quite ready to engage an
enemy. The continuation into the enceinte of the rail-
road from Paris, which ii projected, will increase ita
capabilities. It may be connected with any inland
camp, and the embareation of troops become only •
calculation of hours. This continuation of the road
from the capital to the quays of the amens' has yet to
oefvenalrnl
otrehetharLatnhgeem.i.enteof iathewphlaat.e.triklens
I be made; but exclusive of this work, the completeness
odbserim,revenrt,
omiur
naval establishments of Plymouth, Portsmouth, an
,Woolwich we have ample means of effecting the same
things, but more than one of them would have to con-
tribute to the result; our powers are, as it is our custom
to make them, or to permit them to be, scattered. The
French system is to concentrate means and force, and
nowhere can that concentration be seen at work
more effectively than at Cherbourg. A ship-of-war
weld be built, her guns cut, and her crew held in
reserve in barracks, on the tame spot of ground.
The instrument is perfect.