The Express.
London, England, 1865-09-01 00:00:00

THE FRENCH FLEET AT PORTSMOUTH.

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T'l STUDENT'S ENGLISH DICTIONARY,
ETYMOl,4wac‘L, PitoNoi and EXPLANA•
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WR Prepare.i for Oa. Use of Cat 2t 5 And AllVoinCed
csathnnwo.d.l"ii JOHN kaLviE, LLD. With about 1,0 Engravings

Inndrn : 13a, kie ar.tl snn, 44. r4ternnstor-row.

Hay be had of ri husk in :did Nl:ashen, pea free for 7 starlit..
ANEW \VI)Kh on the TtETEI, entitled
PURE DrlNliol KY. and WHAT 11 D 164 VOA By
I.'gri.L. Brno, eta.r•strset " From the great sueeeas of the
'Mims wort in dental surgery by the same author, we antici-
Miehesbovr well t.e read with avidity by all classes who are
to diserintiletting between pure and ineretrltioua
. _ _

John C. Clements, little Pune.), greet.

rIiiiiiPLAGUE, by Prof. GAmorm. Defini-
ons.Syrapo.nr., hout Morton ApPerlf.lllCel, and Nature.
fg's4.4l Treataient, Prevention. Legislation. History and
—" abroad and at born. Wilda! Report of interosoooat
Louden : Robert Hardwick*, 192. Piccadilly.

Da. CIILVERWELL on MARRLLGE :
IY Obilptieur, Happiness. sad Dtrappointwenta
I'l%i Ilan.. oru ldn ; Author.
PANTHEON IC RK ISHC BATHS. St. Ilttatm, hK
Bra*
S.L. 15. llorlitarrloCersod. B.C.liood•TA At Dr. C.'s protentiousl residence, S.
&Hut
unimikiiarlborauthatruel, W. Alto, the Post-Ake arrod
la.

PORTSKOUTB. THIMICAT.
Portsmouth is in a complete state of siege.
Crowds of pleasurerieskers, all eager to join in the
rites of welcome to "Nos braves allies," as the
banners and transparencies have it, in all din e-
tions have been rushing in from the railway., and
hurrying on to attack the hotels and take up strong
positions on the esplanade. As to the hotels, they
have been fairly swamped and boarded by ravenous
and bedlam strangers. I saw one party in posses-
sion of a room, having carried it by assault, stoutly
holding their ground against another party, who
too truly represented the forlorn hope, and were
in the end compelled to beat a retreat. Inside the
hospitable fortress the fight for dinner was some-
thing terrific+, amidst a din of electric bells and a
rush of bewildered waiters, awful to behold,
and still more to endure upon an empty
stomach. Those were lucky who happened
to have invitations for the Admiralty banquets,
which by the way have not been very liberally
given. Indeed, I hear many rather annoying
remarks about doing these things better in France,
and especially at Cherbourg. But whether at
Whitehall, or at Portsmouth, the Admiralty, I will
not say naval, authorities are not distinguished for
good taste or finish iu the art of pleasing, any more
than they are for their knowledge of what should
be their own business. Perhaps some allowance
must be made for the unfortunate flag secre-
tary of Sir Michael Seymour, who has fairly been
run down with this banquet and ball, and must
have found it rather hard to meet all the exigencies
of the occasion. The banquet was quite as
brilliant an affair as was expected, the viauda being
good, without being touched with any very ex-
visite strokes of gastronomic att. The decora-
tions, which I partly described, came out well, but
I cannot say much fur the eye for colour
that chose the red and blue, or the dirty yellow cord
that ran round the angles, or the curious patterns
stencilled on the stripes at the border of the tent,
Still, altogether it lit up well, and looked sufficiently
gorgeous for any festive dinner iu the world. Of
the wines, the champagne was pronounced " mid-
dling ;" but this would not matter, as our visitors
would be more likely to notice our port, and this
was full-bodied enough to startle most Frenchmen,
and not what the connoisseurs would call " a' very
remarkable example." The wine of the evening
was the Madeira this was of a rare and subtle
bouquet, and the admirals seemed to sip the fra-
grant nectar with immense satisfaction, as I heard
one say, with &glorious unction ou his well-bronzed
face, "Ah ! this has made the voyage
The toasts and the speeches were uncommonly
well seasoned with the beet of expressions and the
most cordial remarks of mutual esteem on both
sides.
The Dnke of Somerset's speech and the toast of
the Emperor were received with three times three,in
a style that completely astonished our French friends,
and contrasted rather strangely with the cheers that
followedthe responding toast from M. de Chasseloup
Laubat. The French officers did uot seem quite to
understand our habit of acknowledging in this
vociferous style; their enthusiasm hung fire fur an
instant, but when the English officers joined in
with a hearty shout, the whole party united in good
English fashion with one cheer more. A French
officer remarked that we must please to remember
that with us cheering is an institution, and I could
see that it was one of ours that he admired. The
same gentleman was no amiable as to say, in
reference to the Duke of Somerset's remark about
our poor fellows of the Bombay being so kiudly
befriended by the French, that in Cochin China,
where he had served, the French had quite ex-
hausted their stores at one time, and were entirely,
or very largely assisted from those of our fleets.
He seemed to regret that it did not occur to Admi-
ral Willaumez to mention this as an instance of the
great good feeling between the two navies. I may
mention a curious little fact which turned up in
conversation with the French and English officers
after the smoking began—it was, that our men of
the Bombay were actually brought home and tried
by court-martial, as is the custom in the cases of
losing a ship, wearing the very clothes that the
French had given them. Indeed I may say that
between the French and English officers and sailors
here it is quite a contest of generosities.
The illumination of the fleets was an immense
success. Nothing could have gone off better.
The evening was one of those balmy moonlight
evenings one may often see iu the bay of Naples,
but rarely in these climes. It was well known
that at the time the royal bealths were drunk a
flight of rockets from the Victory would signal to
the fleet to prepare, and as it grew darker thou-
sands of people flocked down to the beach at South-
sea, and every window and roof was crowded with
visitors, all looking out into the deep blue starry
sky for the rockets. Up they went at last, then
some large blue lights on the saluting battery, and,
after a few minutes, bang went the first gun of the
royal salute, and, in au instant, out blazed the
lights from the Blockhouse Fort ; and towards the
sea, as if lit up by a meteor, the whole line of ships
shot out in bright stars, all marking the perfect
form of the ship, as if every rope were a string of
stars. The form of the hull of each vessel was
shown most beautifully in this way, and by the
splendid lights in red, white, and blue along the
porta and sides of the ships. All the while this
brilliant sight lasted, the scarlet flashes of the guns
and the loud thunder on every side gave an extraor-
dinary excitement and magic beauty to the scene.
The English illuminated first,and then this was an-
swered by one sudden blaze of the brightest lights
from the French ships, then flights of rockets, all
breaking out into large bouquets of blue, red and
white stars, which fell like flowers upon the
water. The Royal Sovereign blazed away, with all
her bulwarks cast over her side, one mass of the
brightest white light at times becoming a perfect
volcano of rockets. The magnificent forms of the
Achilles and Black Prince were very distinctly
made out, and as the last blaze died away, and the
moon, whose ineffectual fires had certainly paled,
again shone out upon the silvery waves, one
breathed again, and thought that everything bad
suffered a sea change into something rich and
strange.
The grand affair of to-day is the civic entertain.