This was the first visit of an English Sovereign to France since Henry VI. was crowned in Paris in 1422. The Royal Visitors were received by the Emperor on the landing stage at Boulogne, and conveyed to the Palace of St. Cloud. During their stay in Paris they paid several visits to the Palais des Beaux Arts, a part of the Exposition Universelle in which they were greatly interested.] [Illustration: _G. H. Thomas._} {_From the Royal Collection._ REVIEW IN THE CHAMPS DE MARS AT PARIS, August 24, 1855. During their stay in Paris, Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince Consort were present at a grand review of troops held in the Champs de Mars. Especial interest was attached to the spectacle, as at the moment the armies of France and England were fighting side by side in the final struggle in the Crimea. Canrobert, one of the heroes of the war, was present, and was decorated by the Queen with the Order of the Bath. Her Majesty, with the Empress and Princess Mathilde, are sitting together in the balcony, while the Emperor and the Prince Consort are below watching the movements of the long series of battalions.] [Sidenote: Evacuation of Sebastopol.] After repeated attempts to retake the Malakoff, the Russian commander resolved on evacuating the town. Fortunately the wires connected with the magazine in the Malakoff were discovered in time by the French and cut, for arrangements had been made for blowing up all the forts. One after another they went up with terrific din during the night; early on the morning of the 9th the Russians executed a masterly evacuation across a floating bridge, leaving their town in flames and their fleet at the bottom of the harbour. Sebastopol had fallen, but not into the hands of the Allies; it had been erased from the face of the earth. [Illustration: _E. M. Ward, R.A._} {_From the Royal Collection._ HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN VISITING THE TOMB OF NAPOLEON I. IN THE INVALIDES, PARIS, August 24, 1855.] [Sidenote: Conclusion of Peace.] The Congress of Paris met on February 26, 1856, and a treaty of peace was signed by the plenipotentiaries of the Great Powers on March 30. The most important Article was that which guaranteed the perpetual neutrality of the Black Sea; Russia received back the ruins of Sebastopol in exchange for the wreck of Kars, and the Eastern Question was laid to rest, at least for a season. [Illustration: THE EARL OF ROSSE'S GREAT TELESCOPE AT PARSONSTOWN. This great reflecting telescope, still the finest in the world, is 56 feet long; the speculum or mirror of copper and tin at the bottom of the tube is 6 feet in diameter and weighs nearly 4 tons. Its nominal magnifying power is 6,000, and it reflects about 165,000 times as much light as the naked eye itself would receive. It was designed and constructed in 1845 by the late Earl of Rosse, and has rendered great service to science.] [Illustration: [_From a Photograph by the late Mrs. Cameron._ SIR JOHN F. W. HERSCHEL, BART. 1792-1871.