The Press.
London, England, 1853-08-13 00:00:00

'SATURDAY,

and snow-white "ducks;' and the crews, which should
amount to 10,423 men, did not number much more than

9,(00.
The dockyard stairs were hemmed in by swarms of
men•ofwar boats, while the beach, as far as the eye
could reach, was lined by those wicked " landsharks,"
the watermen, looking out for their prey in the shape
of innocent and eager cockneys, who " rose " at their
fabulous legends llf the performance of "that here craft
that 'ill walk right away from all of them with this
wind! See if she don't, your honour!" as a trout rushes
out an artificial greendrake ; and already the streaks
of black smoke, floating above the land to east and west,
indicated that a host of steamers were bearing down from
Southampton and coastwise to join in the multitude of
ugly brethren which they boasted in their waters, from Fort
Moncton to Whale island, and from thence to Ilayling

Bay, all_ floundering and rolling about from side to side,
with a top cargo of passengers, who covered deck, and
paddle-box, and lower rigging; who sat on the bowsprits,
and the windlasses, and the tarry ropes, and entered into
reckless and forbidden discourse with " the man at the

wheel." By bulf-past nine o'clock all that wood and iron
could float of mortal man, his helpmate, and his house,
was afloat and steaming away for the fleet. The Gorgon,
Stromboli, fleela, Bulldog, richly freighted with the Admi-
ralty's " friends" and the members of the two Houses of
Parliament, stood off from the dockyard, and proceeded to
take up their positions to witness the approach of the
Queen. The Stromboli was reserved for the peers ; though
some noble lords not members of that honourable house
were on board. It was hinted that the bishops were in
great force on the main-deck ; and I was assured that the
Bishop of Oxford kept his eye to a porthole all day, and
made himself a great favourite with the tars afterwards by
smoking a short pipe, and dancing a hornpipe of an eccle-
siastical character. Lord Palmerston was visible on the
upper-deck, and was, I understood, busily engaged in teach-
ing the quartermaster a new way of" boxing the compass ;"
while the Duke of Argyll lectured the boatswain on the
use of the blowpipe in fusing the most opposite bodies into
one ; and the Duke of Newcastle amused the ship's boys by
composing and igniting devils" of state gunpowder.
The honourable the House of Commons made a great
show in the Bulldog and Gorgon. Mr. Hume, Mr. Brother-
ton, Cobden, Mr. Bright, and other members of the
peace party, fired the salute to the royal standard at their
own request ; and the admirable manner in which they
used sponge and rammer was the theme of universal
admiration.
In the Black Eagle there was a very brilliant party, as it
contained Mr. Bernal Osborne and a number of his friends,
as well as Sir James Graham, some members of the Board,
and Mr. Ford, the celebrated solicitor. The striking re-
semblance between the right hon. baronet and the
eminent practitioner, us one stood at the bow and the
other at the etern of the vessel, struck every one, and it
was doubted which was which till Sir James went down
below to attend on his Secretary Bernal, who became
dreadfully seasick as soon as the steamer went out of
harbour, and was confined to his berth all day. The
assiduity of the right hon. baronet, and the delicacy of the
petits sidles which he bestowed on his suffering colleague,
deserve every commendation, though some ill-natured
people say the First. Sea Lord was rather sick himself, and
didn't want to be laughed at by "Jack," who would take
great delight in seeing the head of the navy in that in-
teresting condition. Sir Baldwin Walker and Sir Hyde
Parker, for some reason or other, did not accompany the
Lords of the Admiralty, but went on board the Banshee,
en bourgeoise. laid were of great service to the ladies by
their affable explanations of all the manoeuvres which took
The Fairy was placed at the disposal of the Duchess of
Leuchtenberg (née Grand Duchess of Russia), and of the
Crown Princess of Wurtemberg (nee the Grand Duchess
Olga of Russia), and their respective consorts. She pre-
sented a bright stray of uniforms and flashing lace and
steel, as the Royal party were attended by a numerous
suite of officers in full uniforms; some with the imposing
steel headpiece, and its graceful streams of horsehair,
the jack boots, and richly-ornamented green frock
of the Russian heavy cavalry ; others in the tight white
coat and powder-blue inexpressibles in which the house of
Austria delights to clothe its soldiery. It is to be hoped
they marked, learned, and inwardly digested all they saw
on the occasion ; and that the fair ladies who, as in duty
bound, write now and then to their " dread " papas and
governors, will add a postscript in their next missive, just
to say how the fleet looked, and what the feeling of the
people appeared to be.
Well, here, we are all out on the bright waters, which
sparkle gladly in the sunshine, and all a merrie company—
whether in stately steamer, lowly yacht, or broken-down
" dingy "—here we area a tif ction of this great British

AUGUST 13,1853.

nation, about to witness a display of that which we feel to
be our life and power iu the country of nations. " The
glory of a young man is his strength," saith the proverb .
and all, from rich to poor, not a man but felt the force Cl
it as he beheld the hearts of oak and the material muscle
of that powerful arm which has never yet struck one blow
in vain. We are all nearing the squadron, and minim;
out, with many a tapering whirl of smoke behind us, to the
nethermost vessels at the head of the line ; when at 10.2 u
we hear the echoes of Portsmouth woke up by the well-
known voice of the guns of the old Priory, as she utters
her twentyone notes of welcome to the Sovereign. Fin
away in the distance, towards the west, and approach
ling rapidly, may be seen the familiar form of the rictori,
and Albert, with the royal standard of England at the main,
and the Lord High Admiral's flag at the fore; followed b,
her beautiful satellite, the Elfin, some small steamers
and a ruck of yachts; and at 10.45 the yacht enters the
broad channel left between the columns of the squadron
and, as she passes between the two most leeward vessels
at a signal from the admiral, the dark hulls along tin
whole of the double line pour forth a storm of fire, smoke
and thunder, which startles and appals by its vehemen
magnificence. It is over in a minute, but the impression
remains long atter the opaque masses of fat white smoke
which curl out from hundreds of portholes, anti wrappe,
the whole pageant from view, have been drifted away an.
dissipated by the gentle breeze. The royal yacht is no%
joined by the Fairy, the Virid, the Banshee, the Elfin, th,
Gorgon, Hecla, Bulldog, Stromboli, Black Eagle, Fire Quen
and other steamers, at a more or less respectful distance
and proceeded onwards right through the fleet, amid tli,
enthusiastic cheering from the thousands who were Awl
and within eyeshot of her.
The Queen, attended by her ladies of honour and 3
courtly train of nobles in state uniforms, was visible 03
deck all the while ; the Prince was by her side, in hi:
field-marshal's garb. The young Princes, in constan
motion up and down the deck, seemed highly delighte,
with the scene, and, but for their size, could not be wri
distinguished from the boys of the royal yacht, as the•
wore the usual dress of a " ship's boy ;" and a blaze of ref
coats, gold and silver lace, and white feathers marked tin
position of the brilliant staff of officers on board.
The yacht at length arrived off the Duke of Wellington
and lay to for a few momenta to give those on board at
opportunity of admiring her stupendous proportions. It
the interval the royal barge conveyed the Prince of Prussia
and the Russian Archduchesses and German Princes. *on

the Fairy to the Victoria and Albert, where they were re
ceived by her Majesty ; and it was very generally believei
by those who saw the reception, that her Majesty did no
appear very cordial with the daughters of the Emperor a
Russia, but saluted them with a certain air of royal reserve
and did not proffer them her hand. Immediately after
wards the yacht passed round under the stern of tin
Duke, to the port side, but before she did the Prussian
50-gun frigate tie/ion and the corvette under the same flag
lying outside the squadron, manned yards and tired a rays'
**date in excellent style. The English ships did not mar
yards because they were about to get under way, and
besides that., the practice is about to be dispensed with
en board steamers in consequence of the dirty stat.
in which the soot on the yards and rigging leaves the
men's clothes. At 11.25 two barges, the first of which
steered by Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, contained he:
Majesty, the Prince, the foreign visitors, &c., and the
second their respective staffs, moved off from the rays'
yacht, and pulled up to the starboard quarter of the fluke
As the Queen sat her foot on her quarter-deck the royal
standard, which had been transferred from the yacht to flit
barge as her Majesty changed her place, was run up to the
main of the Duke, and instantly the whole squatlron, with
the exception of the admiral's ship, blared forth another
royal salute with an effect finer, if possible, than that pro-
duced by the first, and wrapped the whole scene from view
or the space of five or six minutes, so that the vessels to
windward could see nothing but the '' war-cloud r fling
dim," that fell like the folds of a massive curtain down on
the water. The Queen remained inspecting the line-
rior of the Wellington for upwards of twenty minutes, and
at 11.53 she made her appearance at the stern gallery of
the captain's cabin, and remained there till 12.5 o'clock in
contemplation of the wondrous spectacle before her, re-
eeiv ing the cheers of her subjects, who recognised the
Royal lady. She looked remarkably well, and conversed
with great animation with her foreign guests, and with
Sir T. Cochrane, who stood on her right-hand side in what
is irreverently termed by the service " full fig." At 12.7
the Queen and her party returned on board the royal
yacht as they came, and immediately afterwards the signal
was given to "to weigh " and stand out to the S.E. In
loss than six minutes the whole squadron was in motion !
They stood out in two columns, the Puke 4 Wellington
leading the starboard and the Agamemnon the port divi•