The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-11 00:00:00

General Gi tribaldi,

On Saturday the Chamberhem of the City of London (Mr.
Scott) proceeded to the Isle of Wight to inform General
Garibaldi that the Court of Common Council had passed a
resolution conferring upon him the honorary freedom of the
city, and to learn from him the day which would bemost
the
convenient to him to appear at Guildhall to receive
compliment. The result of the interview hasecivic
not yet tran-
spired, bat as impression obtains among th
authori-
ties that the ceremony will take place towards the end of
the present week—it may be on Thursday.
The presentation would beyond doubt have taken place in
the Guildhall itself, as being by far the most appropriate
for the occasion, in consideration of the large number of
people it is capable of accommodating in comparison with
the Council Chamber ; but at present the hall is undergoing
a thorough repair, and its whole interior is occupied with
scaffolding, so that it cannot be used for the purpose. The
Council Chamber will not hold more than about 350 or 400
people at the utmost, and, as there are upwards of 200 Com-
mon Councilmen, all of whom are sure to be present, and
each will probably bring a lady on the occasion, it is clear
that but few or none of the general public can be present
at the ceremony. Ordinarily, the Common Council so far
recognises the privilege of strangers to be present at their
deliberations as to provide for their accommodation in a
gallery at one end of the chamber, but it only holds about
40 or 50 people. That being so, the necessities of the
case point to the Egyptian-hall of the Mansion-house
as the proper place for holding the ceremony, next to
Guildhall itself, both because it is capable of holding
about 1,000 people, and of its being easier of access than
Guildhall on an occasion of a public pageant, and
when crowds of people will probably throng the streets
through which the procession will pass. It rests, however,
with the Lord Mayor to say whether ho will, under the
circumstances, allow that part of his official residence to be
used for the ceremony. On the occasion when M. Kossuth
went to Guildhall to receive the freedom so dense was the
crowd which had collected in the open space in front of the
entrance to the building that it was only with the greatest
difficulty, and at some risk to life and limb, that a passage
could be made into the hall for the distinguished visitor and
his suite. Assuming tho use of the Egyptian-hall to be
granted, the narrow gorge of the Poultry—a place always
of great peril to a crowd—would have to be traversed by the
pageant before it could reach the Mansion-house, and there
might also be a repetition of the tumultuous gathering in
front of the official residence of the Lord Mayor, from which
so much danger was apprehended on the entry into London
of the Princess Alexandra, unless, indeed, Colonel Fraser,
the City Commissioner of Police, could make arrangements
for lessening the pressure.
Her Majesty's paddle steamer Fire Queen, Staff Com-
mander Paul, the steam yacht of the Naval Commander-in-
Chief at Portsmouth, Vice-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour,
K.C.8., was despatched from the harbour early on Saturday
morning to Cowes, in charge of Captain Scott, Aide-de-
Camp to the Queen, and Flag Captain to Sir Michael Sey-
mour, in order to convey General Garibaldi, his sons, and
suite across to Portsmouth on a visit to the dockyard and
shipping. The Fire Queen returned to Portsmouth from
Cowes at 10 45 a.m., and the General, accompanied by his
sons, Mr. Seeley, M,P. (of Brook-house, Isle of Wight),
Colonel Chambers, and other gentlemen, disembarked from
the Fire Queen in the Admiral's barge, which was in wait-
ing for the purpose, under charge of Flag-Lieutenant Soy•
mour, and landed at the King's-stairs of the dockyard,
where he was received in a semi-official, but most cordial,
manner by Vice- Admiral Sir Michael Seymour and Major
General Lord W. Paulet, C. 8., attended by Captain Call.
well, commanding the steam reserve and acting second in
command, in the absence of Rear-Admiral Superintendent
G. Elliott; Captain Key, C. 8., her Majesty's ship Excel-
lent ; Captain J. Seccombe, her Majesty's ship Duke of
Wellington; Captain St. John Paulet, aide de camp to
Major- General Lord Paulet; and other officers, military
and naval, and a large number of ladies and gentlemen. As
Garibaldi and his friends stepped on shore there was no
difficulty of recognition, for, independent of the well-known
noble features, while all in his suite wore plain morning
dress, the hero himself stood among the group conspicuous
in his famous red shirt and white capoot, and at once became
the observed of all observers. Returning the kindly salu-
tations of Lord Paulet and Sir Michael Seymour, and also
that of the other cfficers and the crowd of ladies and gen-
tlemen at the landing place, Garibaldi, accompanied by the
admiral and general, with their staffs, moved forward
through the crowd with a quiet dignity that for a few
moments chained the tongues of all present. It was only
for a very few moments, however, that this respectful, but
almost oppressive silence lasted. A half quavering exclama-
tion from some of the ladies present was caught up by the
gentlemen, and, communicating like an electric shock to the
crowds of mechanics and others employed in the yard, who
had now collected in large numbers round the place of de-
barcation, hearty, ringing cheers told again and again of the
welcome accorded to the hero of Italy. As the visit could
but be, under the circumstances, a very short one, it was
only the chief objects of interest that could be hurriedly
inspected, and the steps of the party were at once directed,
under Admiral Seymour's guidance, to the Royal Sovereign
turret ship, lying alongside the dockyard jetty and within
some 50th of the Victoria three-decker, fitting out as flag-
ship fur the Mediterranean, the first a mere long, low raft
upon the water, carrying cylindrical turrets, pilot-house,
and smoke-funnel along its naked deck—a thing of ugliness
to the eye under ordinary circumstances, but no doubt of
marvellous beauty for purposes of war; the second the very
beau ideal of a three-decked screw steamship, towering in
all its magnificent beauty, but remarkably suitable for pur-
poses of combustion, cr as the grave for a thousand seamen
under the influence of an enemy's shells. In crossing the
caisson of No. 1 dock, on his way to the Royal Sovereign,
General Garibaldi exhibited considerable interest on having
her Majesty's yachts, the Fairy and Elfin, then lying in
dock under repair, pointed cut to him. Like all other ves-
sels under repair in dock, there was nothing very interest-
ing in their appearance ; but it was the fact that they were
and had been for so long a time the favourite yachts of the
Queen of England that evidently excited the General's at-
tention. The Royal Sovereign attracted a good deal of
attention from the General and his friends by the novelty
of her turret arrangements and general equipment, and
Garibaldi himself exhibited great interest in the endeavour
to make himself conversant with everything brought under
his notice, and especially with the method of revolving the
turrets and of working the large guns, with which they
will be armed, the latter being shown with the 10.5-inch,
or 150-pounder smooth-bore gun, mounted in the foremost
turret. From the Royal Sovereign the party proceeded to
the block manufactory, where the beautiful machinery de-
signed and erected by Mr. Brunel many years ago may
still be seen at work, and still astonishes every one by the
marvellous beauty and rapidity of its work. A cursory
view was next taken of the smithery and steam factory,
the steam ba.sin and docks, and of her Majesty's
paddle yacht Victoria and Albert, undergoing re-
pairs in the basin, The general and suite, with Admiral
Seymour and Lord W. Paulet and suites, next embarked
on board the gunnery ship Excellent, Captain A. C. Key,
C. 8., where the crew were beat to quarters in the ordinary
manner, and a broadside of shot fired at a target at 1,000
yards distance, and the target knocked over, and then a
broadside of shell at 1,250 yards, with, of course, the same
result to the target. The Armstrong 110-pounder rifled
breech-loading gun was then brought into play, and fired
independently at a target at 2,000 yards distance with shot,
with equally satisfactory results. The 12-ton smoothbore
gun, one of the guns intended for the Royal Sovereign, was
next manned with a crew of 21 men, and was handled with
wonderful steadiness and ease, considering its great weight,
and excellent practice was made with it, The average time
between the firing of each round was only two mine'
The firing concluded with practice from the 7-in"
,
strong shunt gun, which has been termed on ri Arm-
noteral occa-
sions " Admiral Frederick's gun," but witn,
no other reason
than that the gallant Admiral has tak,
a
greatinterest in
this particular gun, believing it t 0.,"
ca well suited for naval
purposes, and has suggested,
cort,ain improvements in its
equipment, which have aeon carried into effect. Shot
weighing 9Slb were 11",rnwn from it with 201 b powder at a
target at 2,600 yard, distance, and the practice was beau-
tiful. General `thiribaldi had displayed the keenest interest
and adrair':eton of the drill and practice made with the guns
througfeout,
and his enthusiasm, expressed more than once
in tient warmest terms, reached its culminating point on wit-
nessing the practice made with the last mentioned weapon,
The General, having expressed his thanks to Captain Key
and the officers of the ship, prepared to return to the shore,
—ea matter of no small difficulty, for the Excellent had by
this
time been boarded by enthusiastic hundreds in boats
from the shore, wlto were determined that, come what might
ofth eit'mtal7 vvvw.ild shake hands with, speak
to, or shout for
The eey had come to see.
,0 eadnairal's barge was at length reached by Garibaldi,
las, acid friends, and the officers accompanying them and
Who had received them on landing, and, proceeding to the
Admiralty-house, the whole partywere
entertained at lun-
cheon
by Sir Michael Seymour. After luncheonand Garibaldi
,re-embarked on board the Admiral's barge
to Southsea new Pier, where he landed, and entering dSeidr
:Michael Seymour's carriage, which had been sent rounl for
the purpose, was driven off to visit the widow of an old
friend with whom he was on
,terms of intimate friendship
in Portsmouth some years since—Mr...Thomas White, of
the patent slipway, who was accidentally killed a few
months since while superintending the execution of some
public works under contract with the Portuguese Govern-
ment. This tribute of private friendship paid, Garibaldi,
his sons, and his friends re-embarked on board the Fire
Queen, at four p.m., and left for Cowes and Brook-house.
It will be many years before Garibaldi's visit of Satur-
day win be forgotten at Portsmouth.
We understand that General Garibaldi, accompanied by
his sons and a very limited suite, will arrive at Stafford•
house, St. James's, between half-past three and four o'clock
to. day, and during his 5,90ur in the metropolis he will be
the guest of the Dnke and Duchess of Sutherland. INVe are
informed that the General will stay a week at Stafford-
house. To-morrow the General will go with the Duke and
Duchess of Sutherland and a select company to lunch with
the Duchess (Dowager) of Sutherland at Chiswick.'
The Duke and Duchess of Sutherland give a grand en-
tertainment on Wednesday evening at Stafford• house.NA
brilliant evening assembly will follow the banquet. Vis-
ccuat and Viscountess Palrnerston, the Eael and Countess