The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-26 00:00:00

'Visit of the French Fleet to Portsmouth.

To the relief of many of the officials concerned in
the preparations at Portsmouth for the forthcoming
festivities in honour of the French fleet, including,
no doubt, Sir Michael Seymour, the naval Com-
mander-in.-Chief, the booming of the Victory's gum
in Portsmouth harbour yesterday morning announced
the arrival of the Lords of the English Admiralty
from Brest in their yachts the Enchantress and Os-
borne. Matters were beginning to look serious.
The progress of things had been to a great degree
arrested on board the Duke of Wellington pending
the arrival of the Board ; and the construction of
the ball-room in the quadrangle of the Royal Naval
College, although proceeding with all the rapidity
that could well be asked for, was far from satisfac-
tory in other respects. It is understood that invita-
tions to attend the Admiralty ball at the College
have been sent to the Guards without limitation as
to number, while all the officers of the French fleet
have, of course, invitations. Each regiment in
Portsmouth garrison holds ten cards of invitation,
the Royal Marine Artillery and Light Infantry a
greater number, owing to their greater proportionate
strength. Every ship of war has also received its
allotted number of invitations, which may be
reckoned at 10 for a 34-gun frigate like the 0 ctavia,
and six for a sloop such as the Scorpion. In the
probable number of acceptances of these invitations
there will be quite sufficient people to crowd the
ball-room now building to suffocation, and there are
as yet no ladies entered into our calculations. Into
our consideration, so far, there has been also no re-
ference to the many persons in civil life who will
flock to Portsmouth to the Admiralty ball. There
are alsohundreds of people in and around Portsmouth
whose heads of families are either in or connectedwith
one or other branches of the service that gives them a
kind of claim of admission, and also there must not be
forgotten the municipal authorities of Portsmouth,
and that portion of the inhabitants of the town
and its suburbs whose position entitles them to be
placed on the invitation-list for the Admiralty ball,
the invitations in the case of all civilians being
deferred until after the arrival of the Lords of the
Admiralty from Brest. It was, therefore, as we
said, with intense relief that the guns announcing
the arrival of their Lordships were heard, as it was
naturally hoped they would now take the manage-
ment of affairs into their own hands and become
responsible for either success or failure.
The Enchantress, Staff-Commander Petley, en-
tered Portsmouth harbour at 9 a.m., with Lord and
Lady Clarence Paget, the Earl De Grey and Ripon,
Mr. Otway, M.P., and Mr. Kemps on board, the
Osborne following in about two hours afterwards,
with the Duke of Somerset, Sir Frederick Grey,
and other members of the Board of Admiralty,
with Captain Robert Hall, R.N., Secretary to the
Duke, &c. Immediately on the yacht's arrival Sir
Michael Seymour, G.C.8., with Rear-Admiral J.
Drummond (who had arrived in Portsmouth from
town by the 9.42 train), Captain Scott, C. 8., A.D.C.
to the Queen, and Flag Captain to Sir Michael
Seymour, Rear-Admiral Superintendent George
Wellesley, and other officials, embarked in their
boat at the King's stairs, waited upon the Admiralty
on board the Osborne, and were admitted to inter-
views with their Lordships, when the preparations
for the berthing of the fleets at Spithead anchor-
age and the after reception of the officers at the
proposed festivities in harbour and on shore were
preliminarily discussed. Their Lordships after-
wards disembarked and proceeded to the residence
of Sir M. Seymour, where the subject was gone
into more fully and in detail. The arrival of the
Admiralty was too late to substitute a larger
site for their ball than the one now half
completed at the Royal Naval College, and
therefore there remains no other Course than
to follow the one already marked out and im-
prove it as much as possible. One great improve-
ment has already been effected since yesterday
morning in throwing up a series of raised seats out-
side the walls of the ball-room, setting back the
drapery, over the area railings of the college. With
all that can now be done, however, the space will
be totally inadequate for such a purpose. Let any
one take a sheet of paper and draw on it to scale
the floor of a room 100 ft. in length by 48 feet in
breadth (the space of the ball-room floor for
dancing), and he will then be able to calculate the
number of people such a room will hold at one
time, with a given space for dancing to each per-
son.
With regard to the time of the departure of the
yachts and fleets from Brest and the arrival of the
latter at Spithead, the Enchantress left Brest at
noon on Thursday, when the English fleet was
getting up steam, took her bearings from Ushant at
about 2.30 p.m., sighted the two lights off Port-
land in the night, and eased her engines to the
third degree of expansion, drifting up with the tide
until daylight, when she steamed in for Portsmouth
harbour. The Osborne left Brest about 2.30 p.m.,
the English fleet being then outside and ahead of
the Osborne. The English fleet arrived at Spit-
head last evening. The French fleet will arrive at
Spithead early on Tuesday, and will join the
English fleet at the anchorage. Three lines of
buoys, each a light pole buoy surmounted by a red
flag, have been laid down at Spithead, from about
N.W. to S.E., 200 fathoms apart, for the ships to
drop their anchors over. The English fleet will
anchor on the outer line, in the deepest water, and
nearest to the Isle of Wight. The French fleet will
anchor on the two inner line of buoys, be necessarily
nearest the Spit and Southsea-beach line, and will
thus occupy the post of honour, as our Channelfleet
did inside the Digue at Cherbourg. It is now uncer-
tain how many vessels will compose theFrenchfleet,
but it is expected that, as previously arranged,
the nine ironclads first named for the purpose
will come over, the Brest and Cherbourg squadrons
uniting. Due precautions have been taken for the
provisioning of the fleets—the French as well as our
own—which will be effected through the Admiralty
victualling establishment at the Royal Clarence-
yard, Gosport, under the management of Victual-
ling Storekeeper and Accountant Mr. Robert G.
Grant. Each of the French ships directly she comes
to anchor at Spithead will have a screw gunboat or
other steam vessel sent off to her, and attached to
her as a permanent tender while she remains at
Spithead. This will be a very great boon to the
officers of the ships, especially considering the dis-
tance their vessels must necessarily lie from the
shore, and the arrangements are very creditable to
the foresight of our Admiralty.
The accounts brought by the Osborne and En-
chantress from Brest speak of rough weather during
the whole time of the fetes there. The courtesy and
attention of the French officers and officials was con-
tinued with unabated interest towards all in the
English fleet. In the taste displayed in decorations,
both on shore and afloat, our neighbours are said to
ban shown themselves Unrivalled, and more espe-
cially in the decorations and arrangement for the ball
and banquet on board the ship of the line Ville de
Lyons. There was one mistake, however, committed
by our allies on board that ship from which we our-
selves might possibly guard by the light of their ex-
perience. Innumerable wax lights were burnt in the
ball-room and other parts of the ship overhead,
which, as soon as the place became heated, melted
and dropped upon the costly toilette of the ladies and
the dress coats of the gentlemen, inflicting irrepar-
able injury.
The Lords of the Admiralty left Portsmouth for
London yesterday afternoon, no change having been
effected by them as yet in the programme noticed
in The Sun of Thursday, except that the number
to be entertained at the banquet in the ball-
room of the Naval College on the 30th is
increased from 100, the original number fixed, to
160 persons. As, however, the Admiralty are now
all in London, and will, therefore, be constantly in
short communication with Portsmouth, both by
telegraph and rail, we may soon expect to hear of
the entire programme being decided upon and drawn
up officially for the guidance of all concerned, as
was done by the French Minister of Marine both
at Cherbourg and Brest.

At 4.15 p.m. yesterday the English fleet were in
Ventnor, Isle of Wight, steaming up Channel in
two lines, the Edgar, flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir
S. C. Duxes, K.C.8., leading the weather line. At
6.45 p.m. they were in Bight from Portsmouth,