The Express.
London, England, 1855-08-20 00:00:00

(Stamped id. Additional.) [TWOPENCE.

of at least eight miles in length. The decorations
in the interior of the station will be described to you
by another pen. I would Edo have visited them, bat
my ticket of admission was reused on the reason-
able plea that the workmen were yet completing the
finishing strokes of the ornamentation, and that
visitors distracted them. All that I saw at the
station were some beautiful orange trees, remarkably
full of blossom, placed at the entrance. Starting
from thence towards St. Cloud, along the magnificent
new street called the Boulevard de Strasbourg, I
found the newly built, and in many cases unfinished,
houses on either side of the way so shrouded by flags
and streamers, and garnished with platforms in iron!,
that the as yet incomplete state of the street will
not strike her Majesty's eye. As early as three
o'clock people were settling down into their place.,
where they deliberately made up their minds to re•
main patiently for many hour., awaiting the spec-
tacle. In this quarter 6f, was the very least sum
charged for a tolerable seat on a back row bench.
But there were places very far retired indeed, and more
favourable to the exercise of the woes of the Imagina-
tion than of sight, which were let as low as 2f.
Further along the line, on the Boulevards proper,
good places fetched 15f., 20f., and 25f. Many enop
windows were let for 250 f. and 300 f. A speculator
paid 3,600 f. for the balcony of the Cafe du Grand
Balcon. The Maison Dore" would not admit any
parties to dine in a private room fronting the Boa-
levard (and these rooms, or cabinets as they are
called, are of infinitesimal proportions) except
on condition that the dinner was to cost at
least 300 f. But to return for a moment
to the Boulevard de Strasbourg. It was deco-
rated with 64 Venetian poles of great height,
bearing ample flags—the Union Jack and the Tri-
colour tastefully intertwined. At the angle where
the Boulevard de Strasbourg abuts into the Boulevard
St. Martin, there was an extraordinary profusion of
decorations, and from thence along the whole length
of the Boulevards St. Denis, Bonne Nouvelle, Poi.-
eonni&e, Montmartre, and Italica', there was
scarcely a window from the top to the bottom of any
house without its flag. The total sum of money spent
in these decorations must have been enormous. The
least expeoiive cost s°. each, and at this price a great
trade was driven all day by itinerant vendors, who
drove up and down the boulevards in carts loaded
with this merchandise, and waving a scroll
with the inscription, " French and English
flags for sale." Medals with the likenesses of Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert were sold at two eons
each. A biography of her Most Gracious Majesty,
illustrated by a very good woodcut, was sold ex-
tensively for the same moderate sum of two sow.
In this sketch numerous anecdotes are related illus-
trative of her Majesty'. many virtues as displayed
from her very cradle. In early youth, the writer has
been informed, her offability was such that she never
met any stranger in Kensington•gardens without
stopping him to inquire after his health. I think
this fact worth recording, as you may perhaps never
have heard it before. The pamphlet breathes
throughout the most friendly spirit towards England
and England'. Sovereign, and concludes with the
following highly complimentary paragraph, which
not only evinces good feeling on the part of the
writer, but an amount of talent worthy of a work of
higher pretensiona:—" In truth, the entire life of the
Sovereign whom we have described, is but one bril-
liant page which the history of England develops with
pride. To see a young Queen coming to the throne
of a great nation at the age of 18 years, and govern.
ing her people with wisdom, prudence, and firmness,
is an example for the world. 'fbie is the reason why
the English people, full of love for its good and
beautiful Sovereign, proffers continually that cry, in
which we join with all our heart and soul, ' God
save the Queen.'"

Interspersed with the flip, arches, and decorations
along the Boulevards, were numerous well-chosen
mottoes and devices. The hearty English word
" Welcome" was repeated in a hundred placer.
" Hurrah for Queen Victoria" (in English), appeared
on a magnificent streamer near the Gymnase Theatre.
In front of the theatre itself was a very handsome
decoration bearing the inscription " August, 1855
April, 135 (alluding to the periods of the reciprocal
visits of the two Bovereigns)—Union—Force—Dia-
interestednesa"

less than 200 milieus of subjects; in this circum'
stance they will be the interpreters for all the nation.
The Queen will find here a welcome not less cordial,
not lees enthusiastic, than that which the Emperor
and Empress have received in London. Certainly,
one of the moat important facts of the epoch, so fer-
tile in great events, will be this visit to Paris of the
Queen of England, under the reign of the Emperor
Napoleon—this solemn consecration of an alliance
now cemented by sufferings and victories in common,
and which draw closer still the mutual sympathies
of the sovereigns. What more striking proof of her
friendship can England give us than thus to confide
tons at one and the same time her well beloved sove-
reign, who is a brilliant example on the throne of
every virtue, and the young prince who is to succeed
her. France will worthily reply to this loyal confi-
dence. The wekwme given to the Queen of Great
Britain will be addressed also to the august sponse
so intimately associated with her high destinies, and
who, by the rare qualities of his mind and by his
noble character, has known how to conciliate the
esteem and affection of the English nation. From
the eagerness which is manifested in all cheese/1, from
the preparations which are making upon the points
of passage of these august guests, it is easy to dis-
cern that the population comprehends all the bearing
of this great event, that it associates itself heart and
soul with the sentiments of the Emperor for his faith-
ful ally, and that the arrival of the Queen of England
in Paris will be a day of rejoicing for all France."