The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-04 00:00:00

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wished to dance. This was no difficult task, for
the ladies showed every disposition to second his
efforts, and they mustered in great force. Nor were
they more numerous than fair. In whatever other
respects there might be shortcomings, the fresh
beauty which we are accustomed to associate with
the young womanhood of England was not inade-
quately represented. Supper was served at 1 o'clock
at buffets, in spacious rooms, constituting a portion
of the permanent building of the College, while
reffeshment-rooms also branched off from the en-
was resumed
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leave, but at
4 o'clock there were still not a few who were keep-
ing it up with apparently unabated vigour. Morn-
ing had long dawned before the last carriage drove
from the entrance porch of the Royal Naval Col.
lege and through the dockyard gateway by the
avenue which a few hours before had been so
bright with a thousand lights.
This ball, the last in the programme of festivi-
ties, was unusually brilliant. It may not have been
accompanied by any of those artistic surprises in
which Frenchmen excel ; there may not have been
connected with it anything so ingeniously beautiful
as those impronzptu groves and gardens through
which the guests wandered at the ball given at
Brest on board the Ville de Lyons ; but it was,
nevertheless, very splendid and bright, neither un-
worthy of the national taste, of the national
resources, nor of the occasion which it was meant
to celebrate.

Not more than four or five hours elapsed after
the ball had terminated before the French fleet was
under way. It was expected that it would not leave
until about noon on Saturday ; but late on Friday
evening instructions were given to prepare for its
departure as early as 9 or 10 o'clock on the follow-
ing morning.
Favourable weather attended the coming of the
fleet, but a still brighter sun shone upon its leaving.
Shortly after 9 o'clock the Mayor of Portsmouth--
Mr. Ford, and the members of the Corporation, ac-
companied by a large party of ladies and gentlemen,
embarked from the Victoria pier in H.M.'s steam yacht
Sprightly, and proceeded to Spithead to witness the
departure of the Fleet, and 'to say farewell, as
far as was possible, to the pleasant guests whom
it was about to bear away. The Sprighly had on
board her also several children of the Orphan School,
for whom an agreeable excursion was thus con-
siderately provided. When the Sprightly neared
the French ships a number of officers were seen
on board the deck of the Magenta aad Solfe-
rino, as well as of their companion ships, and the
moment the Sprightly drew sufficiently close a loud
cheer, in which the Mayor led the way, was raised
from her decks. .A cheer in answer was at once
given from the decks of the Solferino, and hats were
taken off and waved in recognition of the compli-
ment. Handkerchiefs were seen, too, to wave at
more than one of the portholes of the French vessel,
and then there was one more cheer louder and more
sustained than the last, and the Sprightly glided on
her way, steaming by each vessel in the Fleet, and
bidding the crews and officers of each as they stood
upon the decks a similar adieu. From each in turn
the cheers were cordially given back, and hats and
handkerchiefs waved as before. Meantime parting
visits were being paid by the Lords of the Admi-
ralty to the French Minister of Marine on board
the Reine Hortense, which lay in the harbour, and
immediately after that beautiful yacht steamed out
for Spithead, salutes being fired from the Victory
and the garrison batteries. The Enchantress, with
the Lords of the Admiralty on board, followed in
her wake, and as soon as they reached the spot
where the leading ships of the Fleet lay prepared
to start, the guns of the Edgar thundered forth
a salute of 19 guns, and then the two yachts drew
towards each other, and dipped their flags in a
parting salutation. It was the last official adieu, and
while it was taking place, and for some time before,
the Black Prince and all the other ships of the Eng-
lish fleet had their yards manned in honour of those
companions from whom they were in a few minutes
about to separate. It was an imposing sight, that
parting scene between the two fleets, amid the
thickly clustering yachts with their snow-white
sails, under an almost cloudless sky. The Enchan-
tress, immediately after she had bid her consort
" good bye," steamed back to the harbour, and the
Reine Hortense made for the open sea. The
Sprightly had by this time got beyond the fleet on
her way to the Nab, and those on board had an
opportunity of seeing each ship of the French fleet
to advantage, as following the lead . of the Reine
Hortense one after the other gradually but surely
overtook and passed the little steamer. First in
order came the stately Solferino, and immediately
after her the Magenta, the whole of the fleet steam-
ing, ship after ship, in single file. When leaving
Spithead the band stationed on the poop of the Sol-
ferino struck up " God save the Queen," and a cheer
was given by the crew on deck. As she passed the
Sprightly a cheer was given on the deck of thelatter.
The cheer was at once echoed back by the crew of
the great ship and the officers, amid the waving of
hats and handkerchiefs as before, and the Solferina
moved ahead on her way. Again were the cheers
repeated as the Magenta followed in the wake of her
sister ship, and so it was with each of the seven fri-
gates, the Normandie, the Couronne, the Invincible,
the Provence, the Flandre, the Heroine, and the
Gloire, with three attendant sloops--the Peon,
Caton, and Ariel—one by one steamed after their
huge leaders. The Gloire brought up the rear of
the long and formidable line.

~ ~=.~~

About 11 o'clock, when the leading ships were
about three miles south of the Nab light, the flag
of Admiral Bouet-Willaumez, the admiral in
command of the French squadron, was dipped in
salute to that of the Minister of Marine, who pro-
ceeded on board the Reine Hortense to Havre,
while the remaining vessels held on their way for
Cherbourg ; and thus ended the visit of the French
Fleet to the shores of England.
Whatever may be the comparative merits of the
two Fleets, there can be no doubt as to the cordial
spirit in which they met, both on the coast of
France and Portsmouth. While the French officers
stayed among us, nothing could surpass the courtesy
which they displayed towards all with whom they
came in contact. The English naval authorities, on
the other hand, left nothing undone to make the
best return in their power for the splendid hospi-
tality they received at Cherbourg and at Brest.
From the moment the French Fleet anchored at
Spithead until the hour of its departure an English
gunboat in command of an English officer was
placed at the disposal of each of the French ships,
and while the French Minister of Marine and the
chief officers of the French navy were being enter-
tained at magnificent banquets on board the Duke
of Wellington and in the Royal Naval College, the
officers of the Black Prince and the other English
ironclads at Spithead dispensed to thosele md,horhee-
mained behind a hospitality only less spndi • T
hh
ee
civicrepresentatives
entertain-
ment
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its vicinity could scarcely be exceeded. What pleased
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them most, perhaps, throughout the whole series of
entertainments was the evident spontaneity which
characterised every effort made to contribute to
their gratification. There is reason to believe that
they left our shores most favourably impressed
with the endeavours which had been so earnestly
made to render their stay at Portsmouth as.agree-
able as possible. Nothing, more than one French
officer has been heard to say, greatly as they all ad-
mired our dockyards and our fleet, struck them so
much as the immense number of yachts which all
day long shot to and fro about the roadsitne.daideaattioSpit-
head, affording, as it did, so strong an
the naval tastes of the people.

The officers and men of the French Fleet will
probably look! back for many a day with satisfaction
on the events of the past week, and on the more
than kindly spirit in which the inhabitants of Ports-
mouth, and in their persons the entire people of
England, bade them farewell.