The Press. — London, England, 1856-03-22 00:00:00

270 neither the one nor the other would be slow to im prove. J. E. L. BRUSSELS, March 20. No sympathy exists between Belgium and France, more especially the France of the Empire. When the telegraphic despatch conveyed the news of the birth of Prince Napoleon Eugene, no cordial wel come hailed the announcement, and for once the ultramontane Jesuit, the Nonconformist, and adhe rent of the Dutch dynasty, the pseudo hero of 1830, the Bourbon Royalist, and the Orleanist pre tender, one and all, fraternised on this subject with the Red Republican and Socialist. A great blow has been dealt to the " Absolutist" and Red Rapublican parties, and the future of Belgium is not judged to be made more agreeable by the advent of the Impe rial Prince, by this accession of strength to the foundation of the Napoleonic dynasty. But politics are one thing ; the outpouring of malevolence is another. The first may be respected, notwith standing the extravagance of opinion ; whereas the other can never be advanced on public or other grounds, as a basis of action, with any plea of justi fication or of right. In the dislike, amounting to a far stronger term, which the higher orders in Bel gium express openly, and on all occasions, for the person of the Imperial mother, there is something marvellously akin tl the insanity of folly. No cause of offence can have been given. A beautiful woman, even divested of the splendour of a crown, claims an allegiance from " les braves," and receives the uni versal and noble assurances of fealty by the law of social order and of nature. These canons of civili sation have in this instance been disobeyed, and the revolt against the better nature of man is little creditable, and still less chivalrous. But the child is born, and that Imperial infant permits the beautiful and Imperial mother to re spond to Belgian discourtesies with the beaming smile of happiness and contentment. The anti-Gallic ebullitions, characteristically Belgic, are fearfully unwise, and perhaps, in a future sense, may prove lamentably prejudicial. E. R. Inept an Colonial 3nttiligtut. FR INCE. BIRTH OF AN IMPERIAL PRINCE. The accouchement of the Empress of the French took place at a quarter past three o'clock on last Sunday morning, when she was safely delivered of a Prince. The first pains of labour were felt as early as six o'clock on Saturday morning. From that moment till the hour of her delivery she suffered, and at times severely. On Saturday afternoon, during a remis sion of pain, the Empress arose and walked about her apartment, leaning on the Emperor's arm. Many per sons of the crowds in the gardens of the Tuileries, it is said, saw her through the windows of the apart ment. During the afternoon and evening of Satur day, so violent were the pains that the accoucheurs thought the moment of birth was at hand. For twelve hours more, and twenty-two hours in all, her sufferings continued, till at length, a little before three o'clock on Sunday morning, birth was pronounced to be imminent, and the great dignitaries of State were immediately ushered into the chamber. The sight of so many persons alarmed the Empress, and checked the action of nature. In a few minutes the Empress was safely delivered of a fine boy ; the child was imme diately presented to the Emperor, who in turn presented it to the great officers of State. The prods verbal of its birth was then registered, and the officers of State retired. So serious was the effect of these strangers sud denly crowding into the Empress's room, and so cri tical to the safety of the child, that, according to the Indipendance Beige, the birth alive of the Imperial Prince was owing solely to those extreme resources which Science confides i n such cases to the hands of her representatives. Tne roeps has left on the face of the Imperial Prince a few plight traces, which will speedily disappear . A vast number of presents were sent up from the provinces to the Empress, and among them were some singular things. One was an encrmous jar of honey for the child, while another, from an old woman, consisted of a well worn and not over clean girdle, with a letter from the donor, stating that she had worn it for eleven successive confinements, and had been safely delivered of a boy on each occasion, so that she thought the Empress might wish to have it for good luck. The Imperial infant is described as rosy, plump, well made, fully devel3ped, and with a surprising abundance of chestnut-coloured hair, resembling his father's. So undeniable is the size of the young THE PRESS. Prince that the Emperor on being presented with him, exclaimed :—" Voila ce qui explique les longues soufrances de l'lmperatrice." Within a few minutes of the birth, the Emperor sent messages in his owu name, announcing the event to Queen Victoria, the Pope, the King of Piedmont, the Queen of Sweden, the Grand Duchess Dowager of Baden, and some other Courts. It is related as a curious fact, as showing not only the wonders of the electric telegraph, but also the activity of great personages at hours when the world at large is wrapped in sleep, that telegraphic mes sages of congratulation were received in answer before six o'clock from the Pope, Queen Victoria, and the Queen of Sweden. At six o'clock the cannon of the Invalides fired a salute of 101 guns, and announced the tidings to the city of Paris. The child remained with its mother, the Empress, until noon, when the ondoiment or preliminary bap tism took place, in the presence of the Emperor and household and the great dignitaries of State, the child receiving the names of Napoleon Eugene Louis Jean Joseph. The Senate and Legislative body met at eight o'clock on Sunday morning, and received the message announcing the birth of a son to the Emperor. M. de Morny communicated the event in the following terms to the Legislative body : " Gentlemen, At four o'clock, the Emperor sent one of his aides-de-camp to apprise the Legislative body of the safe delivery of the Empress. Her Majesty gave birth at a quarter past three o'clock this morning to an Imperial Prince." (M. de Morny was here in terrupted by cries of "Vive l'Empereur !") "I per. ceive, gentlemen," continued the President, " that you ;hare the joy of all France." (Unanimous accla mations.) " Vive I'Empereur! Vive l'lmperatrice ! Vive le Prince Imperial !" The Municipal Council, on receiving the news, im mediately voted a sum of 200,003 f. for the poor. On Sunday night the most splendid illuminations took place in Paris. Not only were the decorations magnificent and tasteful, but the illumination was general—rich and poor alike lighted their lamps and candles, and contributed to a sight not seen for many years. On Tuesday, the Emperor received the felicitations of the plenipotentiaries now in Paris, and of the Legislative bodies of the State. The receptions took place in the Throne-room of the Tuileries. The plenipotentiaries, headed by Count Walewski, were first admitted. Count Walewski, advancing, addressed the Em peror in the following terms : Messieurs the Plenipotentiaries at the Congress have deigned on this solemn occasion to charge me to speak in their name to your Majesty. lam happy and proud, sire, to find myself called to express to your Majesty, in the name of Europe, the sentiments, the hopes, the joy in- spired everywhere by the felicitous event which Providence has deigned to accord to you, and which, while it secures and consolidates the Napoleon dynasty, is for the entire world a fresh pledge of security and confidence. The Emperor replied I thank the Congress for the wishes and felicitations addressed to me through you. It gives me joy that Provi dence has sent me a son at the moment, when an era itt general reconciliation announces itse(f to Europe. I will rear him in the sentiment that peoples ought not to be egotistic, and that the repose of Europe depends on the prosperity of each nation. At half-past one o'clock the Emperor received the Corps d'Etat. The President of the Senate ad dressed the Emperor in appropriate terms of felicita tion, concluding with a hope that., this sovereign of oar children may follow the footsteps of his august father, then may he remember a reign in which the genius of the Government was directed by moderation, justice, and equity; and in that march of humanity, France will still be, as it is now, a regulator of Europe, a lever of progress, a torch of human intelligence. The Emperor replied, and characterised his son as the child of France, observing that the title, if admitted under the old monarchy, was doubly true now when the sovereign was the choice of the nation, the first citizen of the country, and the representative of the interests of all. The Legislative Corps having been introduced, his Excellency Count Morny addressed the Emperor, and in the name of the country accepted the child as a pledge of security and of the future On other occasions similar hopes were formed and not realised. Why do those, to which we now give ourselves up with such delight, inspire us with such great confidence? It is because the two dangers that have overwhelmed thrones, revolution within, and coalition abroad, you, sire, have conjured and averted. The revolution you have conquered by force, diverted by labour, calmed by clemency ; the foreigner you have recon ciled to France, because your armies have covered them selves with glory solely for the maintenance of justice and lawful right, and because you have known how to exalt France without humiliating Europe. Thus, since every Frenchman owes to you the repose of his family, the future welfare of his children, and, above all, the right to be proud of his nationality, you will understand, sire, with what pleasure he receives this young prince, and how many SATURDAY, hopes he rears on the head of a child. I come, then, sire, in the name of the Legislative Corps, to congratulate your Majesty, to beg you to lay at the feet of the Empress our congratulation, our prayers for her speedy recovery, and, lastly, to renew over this cradle the oaths of fealty and devotion we have sworn to you, and which we shall keep to our latest day. The entire Legislative Corps identified itself with the words of the President by the loudest acclama tions. The Emperor replied, thanking the Legislative Corps for the expression of their sentiments . You have (he said), saluted in him the hope we love to indulge respecting the perpetuity of a system that we regard as the surest guarantee for the general interests of the country ; but the unanimous acclamations that surround his cradle do not prevent my reflecting on the destinies of those who were born both in the same place and under analogous circumstances. if I hope that his lot will be more fortunate, it is because, in the first place, more con fiding in Providence, I cannot doubt its protection, when I see it raising up anew by a concurrence of extraordinary circumstances all that it thought fit to humble forty years ago, as if its intention had been to make old by martyrdom and misfortune a new dynasty proceeding from the ranks of the people. Then history has its teachings, which I shall not forget. It says to me, on the one hand, that we must not abuse the favours of fortune ; on the other hand, that a dynasty has no chance of stability but by remain. ing faithful to its origin, and by exclusively occupying itself with the popular interests, for which it had been created. This child, consecrated in his cradle by the peace now being prepared, by the blessing of the Holy Father, conveyed through electricity one hour after his birth ; lastly, by the acclamations of the French people, whom the Emperor so much loved—Lthese words are italicised in the Moniteurl —this child, I say, will be wor thy, I hope, of the destinies that await him. The health of the Empress continues satisfactory, while that of the young Prince is reported by the latest bulletins to be as good as possible. Prince Jerome is slowly recovering from his severe illness. In connection with the birth of the Imperial Prince, the Moniteur of Thursday announced that the Emperor renewed the offer of amnesty made at the period of his inauguration. Permission to return to France will be granted to every exile who declares a loyal intention to submit to the Emperor's government. Congratulatory addresses hourly arrive at the Tuileries from all parts of the empire. Generals Bosquet, Canrobert, and Bandon, have been created Marshals of France, while promotions and honours have been granted to other distinguished officers. AUSTRIA. The thorns of the Concordat are beginning to bud and flourish, and threaten to produce endless com plications between the Austrian Government and the Pope at Rome. A total reform of the University of Vienna is talked of, with the view of revising the statutes of 1849, so as to bring its teaching in conformity with the instructions of the Roman Ca tholic Church. _ The Pope's Nuncio has summoned a Synod, under his presidency, to meet at Vienna on the 6th of next month, without referring to the one summoned by the Austrian Government, and naming the Prince Archbishop of Vienna as president. The Lombardo-Venetian and Central Italian rail ways have been handed over by the Government to a company, at the bead of which is an Anglo-French society, headed by the Rothschilds. PRUSSIA. The invitation to Prussia to attend the Conferences at Paris has created much satisfaction in political circles. The Baron de Manteuffel left for Paris on Satur day morning, to attend the Conferences. M. Ballan, Under-Secretary of State, is to discharge the func time of the absent Minister ad interim. __ The circumstances connected with Herr ven Hinckeldey's death still excited great indignation among the middle classes. The subsciiption opened for the deceased's family already amounted to 10,000 thalers. The military tribunal appointed to try Herr von Rochow would give judgment this week. M. de Zedlitz Neukirch, Chief Councillor of the Government at Liegnitz (Silesia), is appointed suc cessor to M. Hinckeldey in the Director-Generalship of Police. Colonel de Manteuffel, who has returned from his mission to Vienna, has received from the King the decoration of tilt Red Eagle, second class. The inquiry into the late private despatch robbery was eliciting some curious details connected with the counsellors of the King. RUSSIA. Letters from St. Petersburg announce that, after the conclusion of the peace, conferences will be held for the purpose of examining and discussing projects of reform in commercial policy. An extension of Russia's military system has been organisediat St. Petersburg, and is to be put in force at once. A twelfth corps d'armee has been added to the eleven existing corps of Cossacks. This new corps is formed in the governments of Perm and Orenburg, and is to furnish twelve regiments of r r B 1 1 3 ; 4 a a i Y e d S n :e LO of