The Express.
London, England, 1852-05-12 00:00:00

1, isn.

from this distance. The priests, elosety massed
together, look like a bad of full-blown Cldaa-esters, '
under the shade of a gold and crimson canopy. I
am surrounded by my countrymen, and, above all,
by my countrywomen. I should think there must
be as many English on the field as fought at Water-
loo. Some of them betray signs of very recent arrival
in the country. I just heard a lady exclaim, u
the band of one of the regiments struck up
a perfect orthodox march, " Oh, don't you hear
the Mareeillaise P"—a singular anachronism !At the
distance of a mile a cloud of smoke rises among the
trees, at the foot of the height of Trocadero. In an
instant the booming report of a cannon follows ; it is
the signal that the President approaches the Pont do
Jena—he enters the field, and without stopping a mo-
ment gallops at a steady even pace in front of the
infantry lines, followed by a staff, in point of num-
bers, itself an army. Silence and order reign un-
disturbed ; not a cry of any kind is heard, either
from the troops or from the spectators. As the
cortkge nears the &oh) Militaire, the President is
diatiuctly seen from the tribunes, slightly in front of
the staff, and nearer to the troops, whom he salutes
frequently as he Ramses. He is superbly mounted on
a fiery, or seemingly fiery, black charger, whom
he bestrides admirubly, and as he sweeps by, cap in
hand, in full view of the central tribunes' he might
well be taken, as far as appearance goes, for the real
military commander, which, if report speaks true, he
aspimi to become.
The President vanishes towards the cavalry on the
right of the field, and now, in the rear of his train,
we see the Arab chiefs, with their queer night-cap
looking head-declare and wrappers, some red and
some white, thrown loosely about them like blankets.'
They maintain a characteristic gravity of demeanour,
manage Louis Napoleon's horses, on which they are
mounted, without any apparent effort, and seem
surprised at nothing. -Indeed, the scene may not be
so novel to them as might be supposed. The sandy
expellee of tho Champ do Mars is not very unlike an
African desert, and they have long been familiar
with the sight of French troops at home. The Pre-
sident has made the complete round of the field, has
descended from horseback, and taken his stand on
the grand " estrade" prepared for him in front of
the F..cole Militaire, where the eagles and flags are
to be distributed. I shall not attempt to describe
the ceremony. I have no doubt that it is all going
on according to the programme ; but not being able
to see through the embroidered coats of the senators,
and I know not what other newly made great men
who are closely packed in front of me, I can give
no evidence on the subject • • •. I see a
procession of officers carrying the flags and 'ogles
to be blessed at the altar. I see the priests, still
looking like China-asters, but distinctly visible through
my telescope, on their knees at the steps of the
altar. The man is being performed. The religious
ceremony . over, the marching past commences.
Every regiment, and every deputation from a regi-
ment, marched in turn before the President, still on
his grand stand. This is the stage of the proceedings
at which the cries of " Vive Empereur" were ex-
pected. To what extent these expectations were
realised you wilt learn from your official accounts.
It is proverbial that no species of eight-seeing is
more disappointing than a review. Faithful to my
engagement to speak only of my own impressions, I
can only say, that although most of the regiments
cried out with more or lees vehemence, I have not the
least notion whether they cried " Vire l' Empereur,"
" Vive Napoleon ror " Vive le President !" I can
pretty well guess that none of them cried " Viva la
Republique!" My state of ignorance is shared by all
those around me, although we wore within a few
yards of the troops while they passed. You may
judge from this what idea can be formed of the re-
sult of the demonstration by the multitude who
throng the distant partsof the field. I can vouch for ,
this—that some of the regiments, and I especially I
noticed some Hussars among the number, were silent.
Others shouted but feebly. A lady near me charita-
bly accounted for this, by observing that they were
" probably very tired."
Four deice:Jr.—The review is now over. The pub-
lic are admitted to the Champ de Mats to view the
decorations; the troops are marching home to their
dinner, and the visitors are dispersing.