The visit of the French fleet to Portsmouth, and the
review,, proved a great success, the officers being delighted with their reception by the Queen at Osborne, and with the ball and other festivities on land, and the men with the solid dinner of roast-beef and plum-pudding provided for them by the Mayor, This entertainment must, indeed, have proved specially grati- fying to the tars of both nations, for it confirmed two well worn beliefs. The menu showed that Englishmen do actually live on nothing bat ros-bif and glom-pudding; while the fact that the French sailors insisted on kissing as many of the townsmen of Portsmouth as they could get at during the triumphal procession back to their ships, confirmed the• stories of Gallic embracement between man and man which are current in England. Both sides, in fact, did what was expected of them,—a sure foundation for a good understanding The French fleet returned to Cherbourg on Wednesday morning, and the ceremony of leavetaking is described as having been, from the point of view of picturesqueness, the most striking event of the visit. The French squadron, as they passed between the lines of the English fleet, were greeted with rounds of hearty cheering, which were as heartily returned. As a mark of friendship and international good- will, the visit was a great success. It is pleasant, too, to note that none of the European Powers have shown any jealousy,. or have attempted to represent the visit in any light but the true one. As a political event it has no significance, unless.to• show that our sole desire is to see peace maintained.
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