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

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.