The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-14 00:00:00

RED GERANIUMS.

Lady Gwendoline St. Maur and Marquis of Bowmont
Miss Montgomery and lion. Mr Carrington
Miss Osborne and Mon. Mr Leeson
Miss Steuart Mackenzie an,l lion. Captain White
WATER LILIES.
Lady Diana Beanelark and Prince Esterhazy
Lady Marion Loftus and Earl of Tyrone
Miss Bagge and Sir Samuel Hayes
Miss Fitzpatrick and Mr Leigh
PINK ROSES.
Lady Harriet Grimston and Viscount Valentia
Miss Dudley Ward and Hon. Norman Grosvenor
Miss Tufnell and Hon. Charles Hanhury-Tracy
Miss Allen and Count Mat:fie
FORGET-ME-NOTS.
Lady Augusta Yorke and Viscount Duncan
Miss Watson Taylor and Lord Dunlop
Hon. Miss White and Lord Sandys

Miss Sybil Montgomery and Sir Frederick Johnstone
After this quadrille had been danced, the boys
and girls educated in the asylum marched into the
room and formed in front of the dais, where the
Prince and Princess had an opportunity of admir-
ing their admirable appearance.

At the word of command from Sir Charles Forbes,
the boys gave a general salute, and the juvenile
band played the National Anthem, the company
rising from their seats.
After the children had retired, the officers of the
asylum and hospital were presented to the Princess,
who conversed very graciously with Sir Heron Max-
well and others.

A quadrille was then formed, in which the royal
visitors took part. The Princess of Wales gave her
hand to the Duke of Buccleuch, president of the
asylum. The Prince of Wales danced with the
Duchess of Wellington. Prince Alfred with the
Duchess of Buccleuch.

A valse followed, the Princess of Wales dancing
with Prince Louis of Hesse, and the Prince of Wales
with Lady Agneta Yorke.
At half-past 12 o'clock the royal visiters were
conducted to supper, which was served in the card-
room to a select party of sixteen guests.
The Prince and Princess of Wales retired shortly
after one o'clock.

The ball was a great success, all the arrangements
being perfect, and not the slightest hitch having
occurred.

The Cession of the lonian Islands,

CORFU, Jane 3.
The curtain has fallen upon the last act of the
British Protectorate—the fair lonia is wedded to
young Greece, and the guardian has given the
happy couple his parting benediction. Long ex-
pected as the event bas been, its realization seemed
to take every one by surprise. The dismantling of
the batteries, the embarcation of stores, and the
demolition of the works have been going on steadily
for months past, and yet there were many who
continued to doubt that the cession was near at

hand, and not a few persisted in hoping against

hope that it might yet be averted. The arrival

of the Greek Commissioner Extraordinary came

upon all like the final verdict, and the inter-

change of signatures to the Protocol, which took
place on the 28th of May, was the death warrant

of British dominion in the lonian Islands. On

the day following the promulgation of the
Protocol, the Royal arms surmounting the Lord
High Commissioner's palace and the main gate of
the citadel were removed by a party of Royal Engi-
neers, and their fragments (they were of massive
atone carving) were sold to eager competitors at
fancy prices. The removal was effected at the in-
s'ance of the Greek Commissioner. It is to be
hoped that this sacrifice will propitiate ilelienic
patriotism, and that the winged lions of Venice
which ornament most of the old works in Corfu may
escape the spoiler's hand.
On the 2d of June Corfu put on its holiday dress
to bid farewell to its English protectors. There was
not a cloud in the bright blue sky, there was not a
ripple on the water—yet more bright and more
blue. A small fleet of troopships and transports
clustered around the majestic Marlborough ; near
them lay a clumsy-looking paddlewheel steamer,
with 800 Greek troops, forming the future garrison
of Corfu, on board. The harbour was dotted with
yachts and pleasure boats; the shores were lined
with a dense mass of people of all classes. At 11
o'clock the last remaining regiment in the citadel,
the 4th King's Own, marched out, and their
guard at the main gate was relieved by a Greek
guard of gendarmerie. They are not ill-looking
men, and are fairly dressed and set up. The troops
sent to garrison these islands are, however, said to
be picked men, and superior in equipment and in
discipline to the rest of the army. Meanwhile the
approaches to the Palace of St. Michael and St.
George were choked by crowds of townspeople
and villagers from many a mile around, and there
was hardly standing room in the reception-hall, so

eager were the people to pay their parting respects
to the last of the Lords High Commissioners.

When Sir Henry Storks, in a few graceful words
in Italian, and in a voice which betrayed his emo-
tion, bade them farewell, at least three-fourths of his
audience were in tears, and many blubbered out-
right (for the lonian is much given to the melting
mood), as they crowded round his Excellency,
shaking him by the hand, embracing him, and con-
ferring upon him not unfrequently those salutations
which Englishmen generally reserve for the other
sex. Nothing could exceed the good temper with
which he bore these inflictions, and even when—
freed at length, as he fondly hoped, from these over-
whelming demonstrations of affection—as he was
descending the steps of the Palace, an elderly, fat
gentleman approached him from behind, and, fling-
ing his arms about his neck, gave him half a dozen
smacking kisses, there was not a shade of impatience
mingled with the expression of surprise at this un-
expected honour. As he passed to the place of em-
barkation every man in that dense crowd respect-
fully uncovered, and a running fire of " Zito's"
marked his progress—interspersed now and then
with a cordial " Good-bye and God bless you, Sir !"
in an English voice ; and when he entered his
barge and was rowed away under the last English
salute from the batteries, there arose a parting cheer
more loud and more hearty than I should have
believed lonian lungs capable of uttering.
At noon the Commander of the Forces, Sir
Robert Garrett, accompanied by his staff, mounted
to the flagstaff at the citadel, and as the British
red ensign was unfurled at the Marlborough's main,
our colours at Cape Sidero, Port Neuf, and Vido
were simultaneously lowered, and the blue-and-
white flag of Greece was hoisted in their place. A
very irregular salute was fired by the Greek Artil-
tillery from what but a minute before had been our
ralutin4 battery; the Marlborough replied in
splendid style, and the union was consummated.
It was very touching to behold Sir Robert Garrett,
in person the very beau ideal of an old English
general, reverently, almost tenderly, tearing away
the colours which had floated over the citadel
for half a century. It will probably have been
the last public act of a long life spent honour.-
ably in the service of his country, and, as all un-
covered and bowed, as the old soldier passed along
he was greeted with many a hearty " God bless
you," and many an unspoken wish that he might
yet live long to enjoy in his retirement his well-
earned honours.
There is a signal from the Marlborough ; she
moves; the strains of " God save the Queen" arise
from all the ships as they follow in her wake, bear-
ing away the last representatives of British rule in
the lonian Islands. Until the last ship has be-

come dim in the distance, crowds still gather upon
the shore. "Sono buoni genti," said an old man, as
with tears in his eyes he waved his hat towards the
departing Britons. "Adesso slam liberi !" said a
young man, as he lit a cigarette by way of inaugu-
rating the new order of things.
It was memory and hope brought face to face—
the grateful recollection of rn.-,lny a past blessing,
the vague ambition of some future greatness; the
death of the old regime by the cradle of the new.
Among those who witness the exodus may be seen
a white-haired man, who with erect gait, but totter-
ing step, mingles with the crowd. He is a half-pay
officer, above 80 years of age, and was present with
the army when Genoa was ceded to Sardinia, again
when bicily was ceded to Naples, and now once more
he has seen the marching out of an English army and
the hauling down of the English flag by English sol-
diers. He served under the first Lord High Com-
missioner, and he has made his parting bow to the
last. He feels himself too old to be transplanted,
and returns to the home in Corfu which he has oc-
cupied for 50, years, a stranger in the land of the
stranger. _ _

One of the old-established institutions of Corfu is
Taylor's." Not to know and to be known by
Taylor is to argue yourself unknown. His shop
under the esplanade is the refuge for distressed
British subjects, whose wants he is ever ready to
supply, from selling them a' pair of gloves to hiring
a house or buying a yacht, or negotiating a bill.
Taylor's name is in Corfu " familiar in men's mouth
as household words." He is part and parcel of the
British Protectorate, and dearly loves the English,
and especially the garrison, to whom he owes his
prosperity. He has made a large fortune, but has
never been suspected of a shabby act. If he is high
in his prices, he is magnificent in his charities, and
many an imprudent young officer has owed his sal-
vation to Taylor's liberality. He cannot survive
the cession. As the English colours at the citadel
are lowered, Taylor's signboard comes down with a
run. His public life ends with the political death
of the last Lord High Commissioner.
The undisguised joy of the populace, now that the
English are fairly off, is not flattering, but, after all,
natural enough. Besides, it is not the wild exulta-
tion of the liberated slave, but rather the satisfaction
of the old soldier who, weary of service, has bought
his discharge and looks forward to make his own
living. Some old grudges, perhaps, rankle in his
mind; he cannot forget how the adjutant was hard
upon him once when he took a drop too much, or
how tha colonel would not allow him to marry when
he was most in love, and he revenges himself by
swaggering past them in plain clothes with a free-
and•easy salute. Nevertheless, he treasures the old
uniform, and in days to come will point, not with-
out a feeling of pride, to the facings which he wore.
Perhaps, too, when he is struggling hard to make
a living for himself, he will look back with regret
to the good old days when all his wants were pro-
vided for, and he had not a care or a thought for
the future.

Upon the whole the people are very orderly, and
the few remaining English are treated with marked
courtesy and respect. Every impartial witness will
admit that our policy has been disinterested and
honest, that our influence has been beneficial upon
the character of the people, and that our rule has
been marked with justice and moderation. Any
animosities which may now exist will pass away,
and in days to come, be their fate evil or prosperous,
the Seven Islands will remember their English pro-
tectors as we shall surely remember those beautiful
islands with a deep and affectionate regret.

JUNE 6,

The King of the Ile;lents arrived here this morn-
ing, escorted by her Majesty 's ship Revenge, carrying
the flag of Rear Admiral Yelverton, and the French
and Russian ships of war Magicienne and Oleg. In
order to render his entry into Corfu as imposing as
possible a temporary wharf had been erected in the
Bay of Castrades, whence, preceded by his Cape
Stalliere—as gorgeous es Widdicombe himself,
and whom the pope ace occasionally mistook
and saluted for the King—and two outriders,
he drove slowly into the town, enthusiastically
cheered, and, as he passed through the streets,
literally pelted with bouquets from the windows
which beauty, fashion, and loyalty occupied.
His Majesty proceeded directly to the Church of
St. Spirodine, where he made his obeisance to the
well•preserved saint, and received the benedictory
welcome of the Greek Archbishop; thence ho made
his way to the palace,apparently much pleased with
his reception, as he kept on bowing from right to
left with a happy smile upon his open boyish face.
His councillor, Count Sponeck, sat by his side serious
and thoughtful,speculating, perhaps, on the average
duration of Hellenic enthusiasm.
In the afternoon the young King put on a paletot
and a white hat, and, taking his seat on the box of
his phaeton, drove at a rattling pace along the
favourite road, the One Gun Battery, astonishing
the country people, who found it a Dfieult matter
to dissociate majesty from fine clothes. To make
up for this, howeNer, King George appeared at the
illuminations in the evening dressed in the uniform
of the National Guard, and bestriding a prancing
charger.
The King purposes making a stay of eight days
in Corfu, and on his homeward way will pay pass-
ing visits to the principal southern islands.
It will be then, when the novelty and excitement
of her new existence will hare worn off, when lonia
in the cold gray morning light contemplates the re-
mains of the wedding feast and calculates its cost,
that an interval of painful thoughts and sad fore-
bodings must intrude. Already the mass of the
people feel the loss of a good and liberal customer ;
the shops are empty, the market place is deserted,
the houses are tenantless ; the Greek soldier affects
airs of superiority over the provincial, and looks
upon the Seven Islands as on the summer residence
of the Hellenic King, or at best as an Athenian
suburb. The conscription lists are unrolled; the
tax-collector is girding up his loins.