The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-30 00:00:00

The French Fleet at Portsmouth.

PORTSMOUTH, Aug. 29.
The long expected visit of the French fleet to this
port has at length become an accomplished fact.
Within range of our forts and in close proximity to
the most fruitful nursery of our naval power a for-
midable squadron of foreign men-of-war at this mo-
ment rides at anchor. Such, however, is the manner
of their coming that so rare an event gives rise to no
other feeling than one of intense satisfaction, and
that not even the most timid lady sees anything in
the invasion more perilous than a long vista of plea-
surable excitement, culminating in a ball. From an
early hour this morning the appearance of Ports-
mouth gave evidence that it was stirred by some un-
wonted expectation, but the streets were compara-
tively quiet until about 9 o'clock, when the firing of
artillery spread a somewhat general impression that
the French fleet might have come in sight. A sud-
den rush of some hundreds of people to the pier and
ramparts was the result, but it was soon discovered
that the firing was caused by the arrival of the Aus-
trian screw wooden frigate Friedrich, 22 guns, Capt.
von Wiplinger, which had just arrived in the road-
stead and dropped her anchor on the extreme west
of the English fleet off Ryde, after exchanging
salutes with the Victory, the flagship of the Port-
Admiral, Sir M. Seymour, and the King's Bastion
battery. The disappointment occasioned by this in-
telligence was, however, very trifling, for although
the sky was far from being free from clouds, there
were at intervals streaks of blue from which the sun
shone out brightly, and it was pleasant to walk by
the ramparts looking across the tranquil roadstead in
which the British ships of war lay moored. During
the night their numbers had been increased by the
arrival from Portland of the Research, 4, iron-cased
sloop, Capt. Wilmshurst, 1,253 tons and 200-horse
power. On reaching Spithead she took up her posi-
tion in line west of the Prince Consort, 35, screw fri-
gate, 4,045 tons and 1,000 horse power, Capt. G. 0.
Willis, C.B. The remaining English vessels of war
lying at Spithead to receive the French fleet, anchored
in a line from N.W. to S.E., are the Edgar, 71,
screw, wooden line-of-battle ship, on board which
is hoisted the flag of Rear-Admiral Sir S. C. Dacres,
K.C.8., 3,094 tons, and 600-horse power, Captain
G. T. P. Hornby ; the Hector, 24, iron frigate,
4,089 tons and 800-horse power, Capt. G. W.
Preedy, C.B. ; the Defence, Capt. A. Phillimore, 16,
iron frigate, 3,720 tons and 600-horse power ; the
Black Prince, 41, iron frigate, 6,009 tons and 1,250-
horse power, Capt. Lord F. Kerr; the Achilles, 26,
iron frigate, 6,121 tons and 1,250-horse power,
Capt. E. W. Vansittart ; the Royal Sovereign, 4,
turret ship, 3,765 tons and 800-horse power, Capt.
11. Herbert ; the Liverpool, 39, wooden frigate,
Capt. R. Lambert, 2,656 tons and 600-horse power ;
the Salamis, paddlewheel despatch vessel, 835 tons
and 250-horse power ; and 10 screw wooden gun-
boats, acting as tenders, each of 250 tons and 60-
horse power. It will be seen by this list that the
English fleet is very powerfully represented at Spit-
head, consisting, as it does, of 20 vessels, with a
combined tonnage of 38,187 tons, and a nominal
horse power of engines of 9,750.
There are few places in which a naval spectacle
can be seen to greater advantage than the broad
expanse of water separating the Isle of Wight from
the mainland, in which this splendid squadron lay
moored. It is sufficiently wide to admit of
manoeuvres on a considerable scale without being
so extensive as to preclude the spectator from
following them easily with the naked eye. Spit-
head itself is one of those magnificent anchorages
which would seem to have been formed by nature
as a resting-place for ships, possessing, as it does' in
the Isle of Wight, a breakwater more powerful than
any which human ingenuity could construct. In
this respect it has an advantage over Cherburg
which no digue could supply. For some time before
the French vessels cast their anchors in its waters
to-day yachts and boats innumerable plied about the
roadstead like a swarm of busy bees. The weather,
happily, grew warmer and the sky more cloudless
as the day wore on, and the streets of Portsmouth
became from hour to hour more thronged, and as-
sumed a gayer aspect, for, as if by magic, the house-
tops and church steeples sprouted out at noon with
a perfect forest of bunting, the tricolor of France
being for once in the ascendant in the very heart
of one of our most cherished strongholds.
One of the divisions of the Imperial fleet was seen
off Ventnor last night, and at daybreak this morn-
ing it stood down to the westward, where it formed
a junction with the main body of the fleet, under
Vice-Admiral Count Bonet Willaumez, consisting
of eight vessels. Soon afterwards the ships were
seen south-east of Dunnose, communicating with a
pilot vessel.

About half-past 10 the Osborne paddle yacht,
with the Lords of the Admiralty on board, accom-
panied by the paddle yachts Enchantress and Black
Eagle,steamed out to Spithead to receive the squad-
ron, which could now be seen in dim outline through
the dark haze collected to leeward, the Reine Hor-
tense, having the Minister of Marine, M. Chasse-
loup Laubat on board, leading, followed by the Sol-
ferino, carrying at the fore the flag of the French
Commander-in-Chief, Count Bouet Willaumez.
Sir Michael Seymour, Naval Commander-in-
Chief, in attendance on:the Lords of the Admiralty,
had by this time arrived at Spithead in his paddle
yacht the Fire Queen. _ Steamers of all sizes and
descriptions, too, were cruising about the roadstead,
while a fleet of schooners, yachts, yawls, and
cutters belonging to the Royal Victoria Yacht
Club came out from Ryde Roads and darted
to and fro by the line in which the English ironclads
lay at anchor, in as yet silent and grim array.
Meantime the French squadroncontinued to ad-
vance, ship after ship, in single file, the at first
shadowy outlines of the vessels becoming each moment
more clearly defined, conspicuous among them being
the Magenta and Solferino, with their high black
hulls and double rows of ports, light rig, and pecu-
liar beaks. It was not, however, until near noon
that the squadron hove in sight off Portsmouth. Its
approach was the signal for a merry peal being rung
by the bells of St. 'Thomas's Church, and for a more
determined rush of people to the ramparts, -which
were, from that moment until long after the fleet
anchored at Spithead, thronged with spectators.
Shortly after the nine most powerful ironclads in
the navy of France, accompanied by four frigates,
steamed slowly into Spithead, and dropped ;each
her anchor opposite to one of her English sisters.
As soon as the Solferino had anchored, the Osborne
and the Refine Hortense stood towards each other,
midway between the two fleets dipped
andtheir flags inineeting salutation. The English ships at Spit-
head were then with almost magical rapidity manned
at every yard, and a more stirring scene than that
which greeted the spectator, both on shore and
afloat, as they did so it is not easy to conceive. A
vessel with her yards fully manned is always a pretty
sight, but when, as to-day, a whole squadron con-
tributed to the effect the view presented was strik-
iug in the extreme. The Reine nortense, followed
by the Osborne, then made for Portsmouth, and as
the former rounded the Spit Buoy the flag of the
Minister of Marine received a salute from the
Victory, stationed in the harbour. This salute
the Solferino, not wishing to be outdone in cour-
tesy, returned with rigid punctuality, belching
forth flame in rapid flashes, each being succeeded
by a brief silence, which although it might convey
no compliment was extremely grateful to civilian
ears. But the land was not to be outdone in this
great strife of sound, and accordingly the roar of the
garrison artillery went booming across the water,
dying away in reverberations which grew fainter
and fainter until at last they totally ceased, and the
vexed air was quiet once more. By this time, too,
the smoke created by the firing, which hung over the
water, began to drift before the wind and to break
up into light fleecy clouds, each of which took its
own way int o the heavens, leaving the atmosphere
immediately over Spithead perfectly clear. Then
might be see' t lying harmlessly by one another in
the roadstead. such an array of ironclads constructed
on the most deadly principles as has never been seen
assembled together before. Hundreds of boats im-
mediately clustered round them, and loud cheers
continued lc ing after they anchored to greet the ap-
pearance of the French officers and sailors on the
decks of the' lr respective vessels. The allied fleets, as
they now lie. Spithead, are anchored in three pa-

rallel lines—the English and French admirals' ships,
the Edgar and Solferino, being abreast of each other,
and the French ironcladslying inshore of tile' osition,
and, consequently, occupying the place of honour.

About three-quarters of an hour after the Reine
Hortense reached the buoy assigned to her in Ports-
mouth Harbour, where all the ships in commission
were manned to receive her, and from almost
every craft in which flags were flying, the Lords
of the Admiralty left the Osborne, which was
drawn up within a few hundred yards of her, in
their barge, and paid a visit in full uniform to the
French Minister of Marine. They remained on
board the French yacht for about 20 minutes, and
immediately after were rowed back to their own.
Scarcely had they taken their departure, when the
Mayor of Portsmouth, Mr. Ford, accompanied by
the Chevalier Vanden Bergh, French Vice-Consul,
went on board the Reine Hortense, to pay their
- respects to M. Chasseloup Laubat. Soon after they
•had left the French Minister returned the visit of
the Lords of the Admiralty.
The Chevalier Vanden Bergh also went out to
Spithead, and waited upon the Vice-Admiral com-
manding the French fleet on board the Solferino.
On leaving the ship the Vice-Consul was saluted
with seven guns.
Visiting has been the order of the day here too,
among the chief officers of the French and English
ships at Spithead, and nothing more worthy of note
is likely to take place until the banquet on board the
Duke of Wellington this evening.

The British American Provinces,

(From the Times' Correspondent.)
MONTREAL, Aug. 14.

General Grant has just concluded a flying visit to
Quebec and Montreal. In both cities he has been
received with the distinction due to his renown.
The civil and military authorities have united to do
him honour, but in neither city nor in any portion
of his route did the people—as that word is usually
employed—exhibit anything towards him but a re-
spectful curiosity. In Quebec, where there are but
few Americans, his presence scarcely excited notice
beyond the circle of the garrison ; but in Montreal,
where citizens of the United States are more numer-
ous, both as permanent residents and transient visi-
tors, an attempt was made to force a popular mani-
festation in his favour. ' A crowd of about 200
persons, mostly Americans, gathered in front of the
St. Lawrence-hall, in which excellent hostelry the
General had taken up his quarters, and cheered him
whenever he went out or in, much, it is said, to
his personal annoyance, for, with the modesty
of true greatness, he dislikes to be what his
countrymen call " ovated." With this excep-
tion, the inhabitants of Montreal allowed him to
come and go as he pleased, uncontrolled by their
applause. If there were any design on the part of
the General, as some allege, or of the American re-
sidents, as many believe, to make political capital
out of his visit in favour of the perpetually threat-
ened annexation of Canada, it proved abortive.
The visit was too short and hurried, and the Gene-
ral too entirely surrounded by his staff and fellow-
travellers to gather much, if any, information from
intercourse with the Canadians ; though, perhaps,
as some staunch loyalists assert, he saw enough to
convince him that the conquest of Canada—should
unhappy fate impose upon him the task of at-
tempting it—would by no means prove easy in the
present temper of the population. He could not
but have felt, however, that he was in a foreign
country, and among a people who respected his
character and admired his abilities, but who had no
enthusiasm to bestow upon the cause with which his
name was associated.

Another and more stirring episode, growing out
of the American war, occurred in this city on the
night of the 7th inst., and has for the moment ab-
sorbed the attention of the public, and excited a
feeling the reverse of friendly to the Federal Go-
vernment. Happily it ended well for all parties
except the guilty, and happily the Federal Govern-
ment disavowed all connexion with it as soon as the
facts became known. The results will thus be left
in the hands of Canadian justice, without any neces-
sity for the diplomacy either of Lord Russell or
Mr. Seward. Two Southern gentlemen, Mr. George
N. Sanders, of Kentucky, and Mr. Beverley Tucker,
of Virginia, forlorn and stranded remnants of the
once great Southern Confederacy, are, as all the
world knows, residents of this city, where they are
quietly living under the protection of the British
flag. President Johnson, ill-advised by Mr. Secre-
tary Stanton, and perhaps in a moment of alarm
and irritation at the dastardly murder of President
Lincoln, accused these gentlemen of complicity in
the crime, and put a price of $25,000 upon each of
their heads. No one believes that either of them
had the slightest foreknowledge of, or sympathy
with, the murder, and no one, whether lawyer or
layman, reading the voluminous evidence of per-
jured and suborned scoundrels with many aliases, who
testified before the military tribunal at Washington,
could discover a scintilla of proof that collectively
or individually they knew more of the plot to assas-
sinato Mr. Lincoln than the man in the men or
President Johnson. Messrs. Tucker and '`/Iders
no sooner heard of the charge against th. s than
they offered to return to the United States, and
meet it, provided the Government would guarantee
their personal safety pending the investigation, and
secure them an impartial trial before a judge and
jury. The offer was not accepted, and the exiles
zemained on British territory, content to know that
on that soil they were as safe as Louis Napoleon
Buonaparte had been in Switzerland or in London,
or as any European fugitive from political vengeance
would be in New York or Philadelphia, or that, if
demanded by the Federal Government under the
Extradition Treaty, the demand would have to be
supported by such evidence of their complicity in
assassination as would satisfy the legal authorities
of Canada that there was a fair presumption of their
guilt. Of this there was no prospect. The danger
was that as long as the proclamation against them
remained uncancelled the rowdyism of the States
might produce ruffians in sufficient numbers to
attempt their forcible abduction for the sake of the
reward. Nor was the danger illusory. A fortnight
ago a party of desperadoes, two of them a father
and son of the name of Blossom, from Auburn, in
Maine ; two brothers named Adams, from the
Canadian frontier, and four or five from New York
and Washington, arrived in Montreal and distributed
themselves among the minor hotels and boarding
houses of the city, carefully avoiding the St.
Lawrence-hall, where, from the general publicity of
the place, they were more likely to attract notice
and suspicion. Theymatured theirplans, which were
first for the abduction of Mr. Sanders, and secondly
of Mr. Tucker, very quietly, and, as they imagined,
very skilfully. Their leader, Blossom, who passed
under the alias of Hogan, appeared to be bountifully
supplied with money, freely distributing it among
the conspirators. Casting about for that Canadian
aid without which they feared their scheme might
fail, they fell in with one O'Leary, formerly a de-
tective in the Montreal police, but who for some
venial error had forfeited his position, and was with-
out the means of livelihood. To him they cautiously
disposed,
paid by theoff ered
federal him
communicated their plans, and finding him well
Government
SnUramenotf
Sanders as 14
soono,o 00,
ast to be
was safely lodged in the gaol of that cit
y.
informed him
They furthermore
that the Federal
Government was determined to secure that person,
that he was intriguing from Montreal with the lead-
ing opponents of Mr. Johnson's Administration in
the States, that next to Mr. Jefferson Davis he
was considered the most important capture that could
be made, and that the Government had raised the price
put upon his head to $50,000, which large sum was
to be further supplemented by $25,000, the personal
contribution vf a New York millionaire, who had
made a large fortune by contracts with the Govern-
ment during the war. They furthermore promised
O'Leary any position in the police service of the
Government at Washington which he might desire.
O'Leary, apparently dazzled by these magnificent
terms, accepted, but not so gladly as to excite sus-
picion, and the bargain was solemnly sealed—more
Americano—by a drink at the nearest bar. O'Leary,
however, had a game of his own to play. He knew
himself to be an able detective, and preferred
honourable reinstatement in his old position in the
Montreal police, and the good opinion of his fellow

subjects and old companions, to the $lO,OOO in green-
backs, or any other blood money to be won at the ex-
pense of an innocent man. He accoadingly communi-
cated the whole scheme to Mr. Penton, chief of police,
and a little counter-plot was arranged between them,
by which, if Mr. Sanders could be induced to play a
part, they hoped to capture the whole gang. The
scheme was unfolded to Mr. Sanders by O'Leary,
and though attended with extreme risk to that gen-
tleman's life, had it failed in the smallest particular,
was approved by bim, on consultation with Mr.
Tucker, two of the magistrates of the city, and other
personal friends. It was proposed by Blossom and
his confederates that O'Leary should call upon Mr.
Sanders in a carriage with a pretended message from
the Recorder, and persuade him to enter. This done
the rest would be easy, and the prize would be won.
A fast horse was to be purchased for the purpose,
and one of the gang, in the guise of an ordinary
cabman, was to act as driver. After proceeding a
short distance the vehicle was to be stopped by three
other conspirators posted by the wayside to await its
coming, who were to jump in, throw O'Leary out,
gag and manacle Mr. Sanders to prevent outcry and
resistance, and then rattle away as fast as horseflesh
could carry them to Lachine, where a boat was to be
in readiness, under charge of a crew of Indians,
handsomely paid for their services, to ferry them
across the St. Lawrence to Caughnawaga, where an-
other batch of conspirators was to be in attendance
with horses and vehicles to drive into Federal terri-
tory, near Rouses's Point. The weak part in the case
was thehonesty of O'Leary. If, instead of betraying,
he were true to the Confederates, and took any other
road than the one indicated to the police, Mr. San-
ders was a doomed man. Mr. Penton, however, an-
swered for O'Leary's fidelity, and Mr. Sanders re-
solved to trust himself in their hands. At 8 o'clock
on Monday evening last O'Leary called, as agreed,
at the house of Mr. Sanders. Mr. Sanders entered
the carriage without hesitation, and with all the air
of innocent unsuspicion, and in less than a minute
afterwards the three conspirators stopped the
vehicle, threw O'Leary out, and clapped a 'pair of
manacles on Mr. Sanders's wrist. " That

scoundrel, O'Leary, has betrayed me," said Sanders.
Blossom immediately drew forth a gag and at-
tempted to force it into the mouth of the prisoner.
" There is no necessity to gag me," said Sanders ;
" I am betrayed and helpless, and will make no re-
sistance." The conspirators had humanity enough
to forego the gagging ; and the carriage drove on to
wards Lachine, at what Sanders calls a John Gilpin
rate. On arriving at the tollbar the gate was shut.
The driver lashed the horse to break through the
obstruction, and the animal stumbled and fell. In
an instant Mr. Penton and his assistant, Mr. Tetu,
with a strong body of police, aided by Mr. Beverley
Tucker and his son, who had been sworn in as
special constables for the occasion, sprang upon the
conspirators. Seeing that the biters were bit, and
that, to use the expression of their leader Blossom,
they were " infernally sold," they leapt from the
vehicle, driver and all, and took refuge in an ad-
joining oat field, in which the crop was four feet
high. From this ambush they fired at least half-a-
dozen shots upon the police, which the latter re-
turned. No blood, however, was shed on either side,
and in less than a quarter of an hour after Mr.
Sanders had entered the carriage, the whole party
of conspirators, except those stationed at Lachine
and the driver, were captured, and Mr. San-
ders released. Three others were afterwards
captured at Lachine by a detachment of the
force specially detailed for the purpose by Mr. Pen-
ton, but up to this moment the driver had succeeded
in concealing himself. On searching the persons of
the kidnappers photographic portraits of Sanders
and Tucker were found on the persons of each, con-
siderable sums of money, and letters, tending to
show, though not conclusively to prove, that the
Federal authorities at Washington had cognisance
of the scheme. Blossom wore upon his breast, con-
cealed by his overcoat, the silver badge of a Deputy-
Provost-Marshal of the United States, which badge,
together with the correspondence, the greenbacks,
the gag, and the manacles, remain as trophies of the
bloodless, but spirited, encounter. The utmost
satisfaction is expressed at the result in Montreal,
and great praise is bestowed upon O'Leary, Mr.
Penton, and the police, for the adroitness with which
the affair was managed. _Nor is due credit with-
held from Mr. Sanders for the coolness and pluck
he displayed in the transaction, for had the conspi-
rators suspected even at the last moment that he
had acted as a decoy it is highly probable that one
at least of the ruffians might have aimed a revolver
at his heart, instead of firing at random upon the
police. The attempt to kidnap is, it appears, only
a misdemeanour, punishable with fine and imprison-
ment for two years, whereas the firing upon the
police in the execution of their duty is a more serious
matter, which, at the option of the Judge, may be
punished with imprisonment for life. The trial on
both issues, and probably on a third (for conspi-
racy), will take place before the Ordinary Court in
this city about the middle of next month, and jus-
tice, nor more nor less, will be done upon the offen-
ders, if they be proved guilty of either the major or
minor crimes in the committal of which they were
captured red-handed.

While the Canadian Parliament, especially con-
vened to discuss in all its bearings the question of
Confederation, is preparing with a majority in
favour of the Quebec scheme in both Houses
to enlighten the public opinion upon the sub-
ject more thoroughly than has ever yet been
.done, with a view of overcoming the faint dis-
sent of the French population, the maritime pro-
vinces appear to harden in their opposition, both
inert and inactive. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia;
Prince Edward's Island, and Newfoundland, have
each a surplus of income over expenditure. Canada
alone suffers from a deficit. For this reason perhaps
more than any other, the four colonies looks with
distrust upon a scheme of Confederation emanating
from Canada, and in which Canada will of neces-
sity play the greatest part, lest the first result might
be over the whole territory a greater financial de-
ficit than now exists in Canada alone, to be made
good by increased taxation over a people very ill-
fitted to pay it. It is just possible, however, that
Confederation and a uniform tariff, more wisely
framed than that of the United States, and one more
nearly in accordance with the highly-successful free
trade policy of the mother country, might not only
remove the Canadian deficit, but give such an im-
petus to the internal improvement and foreign com-
merce of the whole Confederation as greatly to in-
crease the revenues without increasing the expenses
of the maritime provinces. The present feeling in
Canada is that the maritime provinces should not
be subjected to anything like pressure or dictation,
unless the British Government for imperial purposes
should see fit to employ the former as gently as
may be ; but that Canada, confining itself to its own
legitimate share in these important transactions,
should endeavour between this and the Ist of Jan.,
1866, to form itself into the nucleus around which
the other provinces should gather at their leisure.
Little Rhode Island refused for a long time to come
into the Federal Union of the United States, but
ultimately saw that it would not do for her, with
her scanty population, to "be left out in the cold."
Other States of the Union were not convinced all
at once that it was wise in them to cast their lot
with their fellows ; but all ultimately found reason
to change their minds, and the Uuion was estab-
lished. So it is argued may be the case in British
America. It is for Canada to take the lead, and all
the rest will follow when public opinion is sufficiently
ripened, to accept the inevitable, and make the best
of it.

CORONER'S INQUEST.—Yesterday Mr. W. J. Payne
held a painful inquiry at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, on
the body of Richard Ray, Esq., aged 67, the secretary of
the Hand-in-Hand Fire and Life Insurance Company, New
Bridge-street, Blackfriars, who fell from the third floor
window. Tho jury returned a verdict of " Accidental
death."

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