after which the steamer returned. The pleasant greeting
of many hundreds of spectators on the river, told
how hearty is the sympathy felt for those who are
enjoying a holiday made sweet by honest labour. There
are many shoeblacks in the streets who will not join any
of the societies. More than £2,000 a year is earned by
the boys in London.

On the 14th inst., nearly 400 children, attending the
Ragged Schools of the united parishes of St. Giles's and
St. George, Bloomsbury, were treated to an excursion
to Willesden on the Harrow-road, where they spent
the day in the fields adjoining the house, selected for
their reception. They made the trip comfortably seated
in nine vans, and took their departure from the school-
house in George-street, St. Giles's, amid the cheers of
a large number of their parents and the inhabitants of
the neighbourhood. At Willesden they were supplied
with a good dinner and tea, and means of amusement
and exercise were provided for them in the shape of
bats, balls, swings, bows and arrows, donkey-riding, &c.
In the afternoon the four curates of the two parishes,
and several friends of the school, joined the youthful
throng, and helped on the amusements. The expenses
of the treat were defrayed by special contributions, so
as to avoid resorting to the funds of the school.

PERSONAL NARRATIVE

On the 31st of July, the Queen went to Portsmouth
to assist at the launch of the Marlborough, a screw line-
of-battle ship of 131 guns. There was an immense
concourse of people. Her Majesty, with the usual
ceremony, gave the vessel her name, and she was
launched; but, in her progress to the water, she stuck
fast and remained immoveable, and it was not till
midnight, when it was high water, that she was got off by
the united exertions of 2000 men. The vessel had
sustained no damage.

On the 8th instant, the Queen inspected the Foreign
Legion now at Shorncliffe. Her Majesty was received
by the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Hardinge, General
Wetherall, Lord Panmure, and Mr. Peel. The regiments,
some 3500 strong, had rapidly formed in line.
They were composed of the German Light Infantry,
the Rifles, the Swiss Regiment from Dover, and 500
recruits from Heligoland—a fine, strong-built, hardy-
looking, well-disciplined body of men. On arriving at
the flagstaff, her Majesty was received by a general
salute. She then inspected the whole line. After the
review, Baron Stutterheim, Colonel Woolridge, and the
other officers, were presented to the Queen; and,
crossing the parade-ground, her Majesty and the other
guests inspected one of the huts, and partook of luncheon
in the mess-room of the German Light Infantry. The
troops loudly cheered as the Queen departed for
Osborne.

The Queen and Prince Albert, with the Prince of
Wales and the Princess Royal, left Osborne on Saturday,
the 18th, at half-past four in the morning, on their
visit to the Emperor and Empress of the French. The
royal yacht arrived about two in the afternoon at
Boulogne, where splendid preparations were made to
receive the illustrious visitors, the Emperor himself
having come from Paris for that purpose. The Emperor
was waiting on the quay, and, as soon as the vessel
came alongside, hastened on board; and, after respectfully
kissing her Majesty's hand, saluted her upon both
cheeks. He then shook hands with Prince Albert, the
Princess Royal, and the Prince of Wales, and, giving
his hand to the Queen, led her down the stage to a
pavilion on the quay, within which state chairs were
placed on a dais, and here her Majesty, seated, received
the congratulations of the civic authorities and the
English residents. After a brief pause the Emperor
led her Majesty to one of the royal carriages. The
Princess Royal took her place beside the Queen, and
Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales took the opposite
seats, while the Emperor mounted his horse, and rode
upon her Majesty's right hand. Several carriages
followed, containing her Majesty's suite. In this manner
they reached the railway station amid the strains of
military music and the acclamations of thousands of
spectators. The cortège passed under a lofty triumphal
arch, and entered the reception-room, which was
magnificently fitted up. About half-past two the train started
for Paris. At Amiens the magistracy of the district were
assembled, and the daughter of the prefect, an interesting
young lady of seventeen, habited in white, approached
the royal carriage, and timidly but gracefully presented
to the Queen a splendid bouquet, which Her Majesty
received with more than queenly courtesy. The progress
of the train was extremely rapid after leaving Amiens,
and the royal party arrived safely at 10 minutes past 7
o'clock at Paris, the journey having been performed in
four hours and a half. Instead of alighting at the station
of the railway by which she travelled to Paris, the Queen
was conveyed to the terminus of the Strasbourg line, as
best adapted by its architecture for adding to the
ceremonial effects of a grand reception. The road of the
procession lay along the Boulevard de Strasbourg, the
Porte St. Denis, the Boulevards Bonne Nouvelle,
Poissonniere, Montmartre, Italiens, Des Capucines, and the
Madeleine, down the Rue Royale, across the Place de
la Concorde, and by the Champs Elysées, the new
Avenue de l'lmperatrice, and the Bois de Boulogne to
St. Cloud. About 4 o'clock the troops, to the number,
it is said, of 100,000 men, half of the line and half of the
National Guard, began to take up their positions on this
immense and splendid route. The former held the left
side of the thoroughfare, and the latter the right, while,
penned in behind them, the myriads of spectators
gradually settled into their places, and waited patiently for
the arrival of the illustrious strangers. The Prefect of
Police set down the number of people assembled at
800,000, and, considering the vast accession made within
the last few days to the population of Paris, it did not
probably fall much short of that aggregate. The expected
strangers did not appear, and the people became
disappointed and anxious. The reputation of our Queen for
punctuality was known, and people wondered that she
should be behindhand. At a quarter past 7 o'clock the
dull booming of the Royal salute began, and instantly a
hoarse roar of satisfaction swelled along the line of the
Boulevards. The salute of 21 guns for the Queen had
hardly died away when that of 101 guns for the Emperor
commenced, and that in its turn had scarcely ceased
when the cortège was sweeping on its way through the
city. First came a troop of cavalry of the Municipal
Guard at a sharp trot, then a double line of Sergens de
Ville on foot, then the Commander of the Municipal
Guard with his staff, then an advanced guard of the
Guides, and behind these the Imperial outriders in their
liveries of green and gold. An open barouche followed,
drawn by four horses, and in which were seated the
Queen and the Princess Royal on the one side and the
Emperor and His Royal Highness Prince Albert on the
other. Her Majesty, who looked exceedingly well, was
greeted most enthusiastically, and graciously bowed her
acknowledgments to the multitude. Nothing could exceed
the cordiality and earnestness of her reception; and
from the blouses on the pavement the demonstrations of
respect were quite as fervent as from the wealthier
classes at the windows and on the balconies. It was so
along the whole route of the procession, though the
declining light compelled the travellers to quicken their
pace, and thus seriously abridged the opportunity for a
full display of the public feeling. Behind the royal
carriage came a second containing the Prince Napoleon,
the Prince of Wales, Lord Clarendon, and the Marquis
of Breadalbane. Others followed containing the suite of
the two sovereigns; and to these succeeded a rear guard of
the Guides. The Prefect of Police, the Prefect of the
Seine, and other high officers of State closed the procession.
The royal party arrived about 9 o'clock at the palace
of St. Cloud, which had been superbly fitted up for her
Majesty's reception. On Sunday the Queen did not
leave the palace, but spent the day in privacy. On
Monday morning her Majesty visited the Universal
Exhibition of the Fine Arts, where she was received by
the Prince Napoleon, MM. de Mercey (Special
Commissioner for the Fine Arts Exhibition), Leplay, Aries,
Dufour, and all the members of the jury. "God Save
the Queen" was struck up by the band of the Guides
as her Majesty entered the building. In the course of
her examination of the galleries, it was observed that