The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-08-28 00:00:00

SATURDAY.

A quiet visit to St. Germains, with its fine scenery of forest,
river, and chateau, began the day, and fitly prepared his royal
guests for that wondrous spectacle, which the emperor had
prepared in their honour at Versailles. Talk, indeed, of en-
chanted palaces and fairy halls and illuminated gardens, and
all the decorative adjuncts with which the fancy teems when
its love of the wonderful is highly excited. But what idea can
they give you, or any true description, or anything short of
having been present yourself, as to what Versailles was that
night ? You must go back to the feelings which you had
when still a child—to the time when the imagination and the
senses were so quick that nothing seemed impossible to you—
when it was not too difficult to put "a girdle round the earth"
or to perform any one of " delicate Ariel's" proffered feats.
Some ten miles from Paris, to the westward, stands the
Palace of Versailles, a building of great extent surrounded by
a terraced garden in the Italian style, with fountains and sta-
tues spreading coolness and beauty outside, and long ranges
of saloons and halls within, the walls of which are either hung
with historical paintings or decorated with marble and gild-
ing and mirrors and tapestry. A lovely autumn night has
set in, and the moon is shining pensively in a sky which is
not altogether free from clouds, and yet not overcast.
As you approach this home of the Sovereigns of France
wherein in times gone by so many wonderful persons have
lived and so many strange and great scenes taken place,
you find the long avenues lighted up, and the architec-
tural outlines of the building itself indicated by lines of
gas illumination. There is a block up of carriages at the
entrance to the courtyard, all filled with men in Court
dresses, and women so beautiful, so covered with jewels that
they flash out upon you through the dark, and whose light
robes, carefully held up to prevent crushing, make them look
like so many Venuses emerging from the foam of the sea.
Presently a sergent de ville and your own dexterity get you
through, and you are soon passing through anterooms filled
with stately porters and footmen who stand up as you pass by
and don't laugh, but look very grave indeed at the horrible
absurdities of the uniform which you have borrowed from
some costumier for the occasion. A staircase brings you to
the floor on which the State apartments in splendid success
set forth upon their emblazoned walls the historical glories of
France. But before you enter these you must give up the
precious green ticket which you have persecuted everybody
for several days to obtain, and only got at last as a favour
never to lie repaid, except by prostrating yourself before the
donor for the rest of your days. You forget all that,
in what you now have to see. The retinue of servants
disappears, and the Cent Gardes in full costume, varied occa-
sionally by a Sapeur Pompier, occupy a series of cham-
bers through which you pass in grand procession. Standing '
in pairs at the entrance to each salle they look upon you with
magnificent coldness as you pass. But at length you leave
the bulk of them behind, and join the rest of the company,
who you find are all in uniform, moving about in a flood of
light poured down upon them from thousands of waxlights.
Imagine the effect. The windows are open, the night comes
in refreshingly, and you turn to look out upon the terrace,
when, behold you find its verge of ballustrade illuminated
with coloured lamps which have converted it into an arcade of
variegated splendour, in which three sets of arches with ter-
minal crowns over them form the most conspicuous objects.
The fountain basins in the foreground have undergone the
same process of decoration, and their surfaces tremble
under the murmuring flash of gas jets like so many
lakes of molten silver or gold. Arab chiefs move about with
the slow, solemn gait which they appear to have borrowed
from their own camels, admiring the wonderful spectacle
within the palace and outside. Suddenly, towards the south,
a gun is heard ; the bands in the great mirrored ballroom
play " God Save the Queen," and a movement among, the
crowd shows that the fireworks have commenced. On the
further verge of a fine sheet of water, with the shadows of
the Park behind to bring out its effects, and the thunder of
the cannon countenancing authoritatively the streams of
soaring rockets, the pyrotechnic display takes place. We
know nothing about the management of such things in Eng-
land, nor does Cremorne or Vauxhall give any—the faintest—
conception of the refined spendour with which they are
conducted on this occasion. A double bouquet, the first
springing from a transparency of Windsor Castle, and the
last, still more magnificent, from ships of war, brings the
fireworks to a close, and causes the ball to open with every-
body in a frenzy of admiration. Then the Emperor,
wearing the riband of the Gaiter, takes the Queen into
the circle prepared for her, and Prince Albert leads as
his partner the Princess Mathilde, and Prince Napoleon the
Princess Royal, and the Prince of Wales and Prince Adalbert
of Bavaria join in the stately quadrille, which is danced while
grave Ministers of State, like Lord Clarendon and Count
Walewski, and Lord Cowley, and soldiers like Canrobert, and
Valliant, and the Arab chiefs, already alluded to, some in
white bourilous' some in red, look solemnly on at a spectacle
such as few of those who witnessed it can ever hope to see
repeated. Waltzes and quadrilles followed each other three
or four times. Among the Imperial and Royal guests the
Empress looks gaily on, a perfect Queen of the Reves, though
not sharing in them before general dancing commenced. It
was midnight when the Emperor took Her Majesty and the
rest of the Court to a banquet, which was magnificently served
in the Theatre of the Palace.

The ball at Versailles may be considered in some respects as
the drop-scene of this Royal visit, for Sunday was a dies non,
and yesterday Her Majesty left on her return to England.

CITURCH EDUCATION SOCIETY FOR
IRELAND.
-e-

A public meeting of the friends of this Society was held
last night, at the Hope-hall, Hope-street, to hear a deputation
from the Parent Society. The Rev. W. M. Falloon was in
the chair, and amongst those on the platform were the Rev.
H. Verschoyle, Rev. Boardman, Rev. B. S. Clarke, Rev. S,
Minton, Rev. G. W. Warr, Rev. D. Barry, Rev. Daniel Foley,
Rev. J. J. Butler, Rev. F. Parry, Rev. T. C. Cowan, Rev.
Thos. Rooke, Rev. Ireland, &c.
The CIIAIRMAN, in commencing the business, said they hal
the good wishes, though circumstances had occurred to cause
the absence of the Rev. Rector Campbell, Mr. Horsfall, M.P.,
and the Rev. Dr. M`Neile. He proceeded to comment upon
the important work which the society had undertaken to per-
form, referring especially to a pamphlet by Mr. Chas. Buxton,
on .the subject. Their chief ground of complaint was, he
said, that they had been denied a portion of the national
grant for their schools in Ireland, although the government
had allowed the schools of Romanists and Dissenters in Eng-
land to participate in the grant. The subject, however, had
been before a committee of the House of Lords, and next session
would be brol;ght by Mr. Walpole before the House of Com-
mons. It was an interesting fact, that of the children edu-
cated in the schools belonging to the society, about 66,000
belonged to the Church, and nearly 19,000 were children of
Romanist parents.
The Rev. Tnos. ROOKE addressed the meeting, and stated
that the clergy of Ireland were determined, at any hazard, to
maintain scriptural education in their schools.
The Rev. HAMILTON VEESCIIOTLE, chancellor of Christ
Church Cathedral, Dublin, spoke next, and said the national
school system in Ireland was most unfair to Protestants,
while it favoured Romanists ; for a Romanist could refuse
the admission of the scriptures to a school, though the majority
of the children were Protestant; but a Protestant could not
admit the scriptures into a school it' there were one child
whose Romanist parents objected. He proceeded to show
that the objections to scriptural education which were
at one' time entertained, had been in a great measure over-
come ; for experience had proved that while the rule designed
by the State to promote union had signally failed, the Church
schools,promoted by the society,hadbeen as signally successful.
They were as yet compelled. to rely on their kind friends for
support, but he trusted that very 60011 they would gain their
object by receiving substantial aid from government.
The CHAIRMAN remarked that the arrangements of the
meeting having been left to him, he had decided on departing
from the ordinary course. They would, therefore, have no
report presented to them—no resolutions moved. -
The meeting was subseoently addressed by the Rev. Daniel
Foley, of Trinity College, Dublin, and. by the Rev. B. S. Clarke,
Incumbent of Christ Church, Southport; after which a col-
lection was made in aid of the funds of the society, and, thanks
having been voted to the chairman th t'separated.,
glee mg