File:The Fetes at Cherbourg - ILN 1858.jpg

English: The Fetes at Cherbourg. Illustration for The Illustrated London News, 21 August 1858.

Her Majesty Queen Victoria proceeding to visit the Emperor
French and English squadrons saluting
Ships listedː Diadem, Jena, Curacoa, Bretagne, Fairy, Victoria and Albert, and Arcole.

The Queen in the Fairy passing the Royal Yacht Squadron at anchor. Napoleon Dock.

Ships listedː Fairy, and Pera.

Read the ILN ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE CHERBOURG FETES. We resume our Engravings, from drawings by our own Artists, of some of the principal events connected with the inauguration of the Cherbourg docks. It is our pleasing duty to express the acknowledgments we are under to the authorities at Cherbourg, to the officials of the various steam-boat companies, and to others, for the courteous assistance rendered by them to our Artists, by which we have been enabled so vividly to depict the chief incidents of the Cherbourg festival. Annexed are some details respecting the scenes which form the subjects of the accompanying Illustrations. THE BANQUET ON BOARD THE "BRETAGNE." On Thursday afternoon their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress of the French embarked at six o'clock, with their suite, to go on board the Bretagne. As soon as the Imperial barge appeared it was saluted by three salvoes from all the French and English vessels and from the artillery of the forts. The yards were manned, and the sailors cheered lustily. At seven o'clock the barge of her Majesty the Queen of England left the Royal yacht and pulled towards the Bretagne. There was another cannonade from French and English. The English and the French manned yards. The English sailors crowded out in perfect lines on all the yards, even to the topgallant, while, to the amazement of the whole French fleet and town, the strapping fellows stood high above all on the masthead trucks of the Renown, waving their caps in one hand and a union-jack in another with as much sangfroid as if they stood upon the breakwater itself. A richly-decorated accommodation-ladder, covered with flowers, was provided for the Royal visitors to the Bretagne, while the poop was covered with an awning of crimson and gold for the Royal guests to witness the display of fireworks from Fort Centrale on the breakwater after the banquet. The Emperor received his august guest at the foot of the companion-ladder of the Bretagne. The cheers of the crew, and the repeated shouts of " Vive la Reine d'Angleterre! " informed the squadrons that the Sovereign of the United Kingdom had put foot on board a French ship. The table was laid for seventy. During the dinner the hand of the Guides of the Imperial Guard performed various pieces. At dessert the Emperor rose and proposed the following toast:-" I drink to the health of her Majesty the Queen of England, and to that of the Prince who shares her throne, and to that of the Royal family." In proposing this toast the Emperor expressed most energetically his wish that the two nations might long remain at peace. Prince Albert's graceful reply was conceived in the same spirit of amity, and concluded as follows :---" That friendship is the basis of their mutual prosperity, and the blessing of Heaven will not be denied it. The Queen proposes 'The health of the Emperor and Empress.' " After dinner their Imperial and Royal Majesties went on deck to witness the fireworks. The band of the Guides played all the time on board the Bretagne. The Queen took leave of their Majesties about half-past ten. The Emperor in person accompanied her Majesty back to her yacht. At this moment all the vessels were brilliantly illuminated, and there was a final salute from the ships and forts. Their Imperial Majesties returned at eleven o'clock to the Hotel of the Maritime Prefecture. An immense crowd awaited them, which loudly cheered them. THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO THE ARSENAL. The good town of Cherbourg was startled from its propriety at noon on Thursday by a tremendous cannonade. It was, in fact, a complete bombardment, and brought every one running helter-skelter down to the jetty to ascertain what possibly could be the matter. First, there was a continuous roil of the great guns of all the ships in the road, then the still greater roll of the guns on the forts, when again the ships took up the wondrous tale, until at last the whole atmosphere was filled with smoke. The fact was that her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen of Great Britain was just at that moment leaving her Royal yacht for a visit to the shore. The spectacle which the harbour presented at this time was one of rare and almost matchless beauty. Along the outer side and parallel with the breakwater lay the French squadron, consisting of the Bretagne, 140 guns, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Desfosses, the Donawerth, with the Rear-Admiral's flag, the Napoleon, the Ulme, the Arcole, the Austerlitz:, the frigate Isly, the St. Louis, and the Alexandre. Alongside, and nearly opposite the Bretagne, was the Royal Albert, 130. Near the Royal Albert were the Renown and the Diadem. Nearer them lay the beautiful yacht Victoria and Albert, with the Royal standard flying at its tall mast, and in the rear the Osborne, the old Royal yacht. Then there were several other English frigates, and the pretty Royal tenders of Fairy and Elfin. The inner part of the harbour was literally covered with yachts, the colours flying from which in immense numbers gave the appearance of an enormous mosaic on the blue waters of the bay. At twelve o'clock her Majesty, with the Prince Consort, Lord Lyons, and the members of her suite, stepped down the companion ladder of the Royal yacht, and proceeded by one of the boats of the yacht to the Fairy steam-tender, which came alongside, and proceeded to the landing-place at the south entrance of the new dock. The salute was fired as her Majesty stepped on board the Fairs. It was commenced by the French line-of-battle ships, and taken up in succession by the forts and batteries; in some forts the guns fired in tiers simultaneously, in others a dropping fire was kept up. As soon as the Fairy got under steam the British ships thundered out their salutes, and their heavy metal reverberated with magnificent effect. All the ships manned their yards, and English and French seamen vied with each other which should most vigorously exert their stentorian lungs. The scene was one of the greatest excitement. Her Majesty, having visited the dockyard, town, and fortifications, and having partaken of a dejeuner at the Prefecture, returned to the Victoria and Albert under the same roar of artillery which had marked the Royal progress to the shore; the Fairy passing on the way back the Royal Yacht Squadron, which lay at anchor. The steam-yacht on the left in our Engraving is the Norseman, the property of Arthur Anderson, Esq., managing director of the Peninsular and Oriental Company. THE ENCAMPMENT AT CHERBOURG. Near the railway station was a sort of small "Camp de Chalone," where were pitched tents for those invited by the railroad directors to witness the inaugural ceremonies. In this romantic spot, surrounded by overhanging hills crowned with rich foliage and verdure, and hawing over it at one corner a grim fort which might send a shell or a ball far out to sea, were congregated 1500 persons in their canvas abodes. Amongst the other amusements provided by the railway accompany for their guests, them were dramatic entertainments at what was called the Theatre of the Gare (station), and they appear to have been very successful, notwithstanding one or two little hitches. On the first night a numerous audience assembled to witness the performance of the well-known and popular charge, " Un, Monsieur et une Dame," to be followed by a ballet by the little Danish dancers from the " Pro Catalan," and by a pantomime by the renowned Debureau. On the lifting of the curtain Madame Doche announced that the scenery had not arrived, and that the orchestra was absent on duty (the music of the Guides), and she begged indulgence. So the piece, which should be played in a room at an inn, was played in a forest, the only decoration available. All the properties were wanting; there were literally only the actors, Doche and Poirier. Their ready wit and dramatic skill saved the situation, and they appear to have been only once hard put to, which was when, according to the action of the piece, they ought to look out of a window. There was no window to look out of, and the nearest approach they could make to it was to look behind a tree. The music not arriving, the ballet had to be postponed to another night. The evening terminated with a collection for the poor of Cherbourg, made by Madame Doche. One of the reporters of the Paris press located at the encampment had some visiting cards struck off for use while at Cherbourg, on which he had printed, "M. -, camp de la Gare, rue Chasseloup-Laubat, tente 24, lit 3." THE HON. MAJOR FITZMAURICE'S LIFE-LIGHT. Amidst the grandeur of illumination that took place at Cherbourg there was nothing that told more effectively than a little episode on Tuesday night just as the Emperor was quitting the Royal yacht. Orders were suddenly received on board the Diadem that, if possible, the Emperor's barge should be lighted to the shore by one of the Hon. Major Fitzmaurice's lights. In a moment the Emperor's picturesque and beautiful gondola stood out, the single bright spot upon the dark waters, and the most enthusiastic cheers broke forth at this unexpected and splendid effect. On the following evening the Hon. Major Fitzmaurice put on the full power of ten lights on board the Diadem, which, to use the expression of a naval officer who witnessed the scene at half a mile distant, made her look like a floating aurora borealis. On board the Bretagne, where the Royal banquet took place, which was upwards of 600 yards from the Diadem, persons could see to read distinctly on her quarter-deck; and, as the Emperor returned to the shore after the fireworks were over, these lights made the Imperial bees and eagle on the summit of the gondola stand out in bold relief when at a thousand yards distance from the light. The whole proceeding was long and loudly cheered as the crowning event of the night's illuminations. The various vessels in the harbour were also rendered distinctly visible by means of this light during the nights of Wednesday and Thursday. The Hon. Major Fitzmaurice's life-light was also on Saturday night exhibited to, and tested by, Admiral Sir George Seymour, in company with his Flag Lieutenant, and Captain Moorsom, R.N., of H.M.S. Diadem, and several other gentlemen on board the gun-boat Bullfinch, up and down the harbour at Portsmouth, and round to Spithead. And on Wednesday, the 11th, it was experimented with by Captain Seymour, R.N., Commander, on board H.M.S. Victory, with his follow-officers, and Mr. Hay, Professor of Chemistry in the Government Dockyard, Plymouth, and elicited the admiration of those gentlemen-objects being rendered distinctly visible at Gosport and Portsmouth towns for upwards of a mile on the river. By a variety of tests, it seems clearly to be proved that the portability, power, and practicability of this economical light are beyond anything of the kind over before invented.

The superiority of this powerful light over the ordinary oil, spirit, gas, lime, or electric light appears to be very great. Its chief advantages, as set forth by the inventor, consist in its cheapness and ease of management. Not being incumbered with apparatus, it may be fixed anywhere, or carried about in the hand, or in a carpet bag, while burning, any length of time, in any weather; its rays (which can be instantly modified to any power, from that of a candle or to exceed the electric light) can be diffused all around, or directed (white or coloured) on to any moving or fixed object. One of these life-protecting lights will render objects visible two miles, or show a signal of any colour twenty miles off of the most vivid description.