The welcome to our French visitors, begun so auspiciously at
Portsmouth, was continued in London on Thursday, when Admiral Caillard and his officers were entertained by the Lord Mayor at the Guildhall. Not only was the function in the City a very brilliant and a very cordial one, but, in spite of the rain, our guests were cheered with the utmost enthu- siasm by the crowd which lined the streets. The newspapers report many acts of tactful politeness on the part of the French officers, but none touched the British public more than the respectful homage paid to the memory of the greatest of British seamen by the Admiral and his officers as they passed through Trafalgar Square. To-day the Lords and Commons are to give an entertainment in Westminster Hall, which, if the word had not become so hopelessly hackneyed and conventional, might in the truest sense be called an historic event. The Hall of Rufus is not lightly used, and the fact that it has been given over to the entertainment of the officers of the French Fleet, with the heartiest approval of the whole nation, is not without its significance. It remains to , be said that both here and in France the Press has acted with admirable discretion in regard to the incidents that are marking the entente. The note of provocation or defiance has been entirely absent, and on all sides the Agreement between the two nations has been fully recognised as a league of peace,—a mutual insurance against the calamities of war.
