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

TAB EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY

.FRANCE.

PARIS, TONSDAT Bviniteo.
The Ada] amounts of the military ceremony of
yesterday are remarkable for the suppression of its
meet important feature--I mean the cry of " Viva
rEmpereur 1" by all the regiments of infantry and
cavalry, and the omission of the cry by the artillery.
I have already stated that there could be no
mistake about the nature of the cry, as I was
seated myself in the tribune of the ministry
of war, opposite to the position taken up
by Louis Napoleon and his staff, and the regular re-
petition of the same imperialist
cry produced a
marked effect upon all the spectators in my neigh-
bourhood, mostly clerks of the war office and their
&milks, who exclaimed " Cul toqjours le Incase cri
on we peat s'y blooper." In fact, the twanging of
the r proved plainly that it was not the offizial cry of
" Vivo Napoleon." I think it the more necessary to
insist on this, as the papers generally, and a great
number of people, who affect better sources of in-
telligence than the publio journals, affirm
tenaciously that tbo cries of " Vive I'Empercur!"
were very few, and the general shout "Vivo Napo-
kon." This established, the distribution of the eagles
must be considered as a trumpet-tongued announce-
ment that the empho is at hand. 1 hear that if
there had been a regular proclamation of the empire
by the army, the ambassadors of the northern powers
were prepared with notes of protest, and would have
proceeded at once to put the rjuestion to the Presi-
dent's government whether it acknowledged the
treaties of 1813. This proceeding would have been
the more menacing to the general peace, as an ac-
knowledgment of a treaty which had been used as
a target by Austria and Russia could hardly be ex-
pected to be acknowledged as binding and sacred by
France.
It was noted yesterday that very few English
officers appeared in uniform at the military fete,
although 1 believe that several hundreds came to
l'aris to witness the ceremony. I can only speak
myself to having seen two officers of the
guards in full tnihtary costume, and these entered
the Champ de Mars with the prince's staff, and rode
about the field. 1 understand that the absence of
the red coats arose from superior orders at the Horse
Guards. To the numerous applications made for
furloughs the duke, I hear, caused it to be replied
that although there was no objection to allow officers
u much latitude as possible to witness this military
ceremony in a professional point of view, still it
would be desirable that they should abstain from
wearing their uniforms, as the fete might assume
a political character. For this reason the numerous
British officers who were present, with the exception
of the two above mentioned, were fain to forego the
display of their regimentals, and repair in plain
coats to the tribunes Provided for them, or such
other places as they could get.
Among the foreigners in the tribunes General
Rosas, the cx-dictator of the Argentine Republic,
was noticed.

The capers of the President's horse yesterday have
drawn much comment in private circles. Some sup-
pose that the restlessness of his impatient steed was
destined to baffle the aim of the supposed assassin.
Others remember the witty vote of Charles Nodier
at the imperial piebirite in 1804. " Since." he wrote
down as a justification of his eccentric election,
"it is said that France must have an emperor who
can ride well, I vote for Franconi."
I hear that General St. Arnaud is created marshal
of France. He is the only general advanced on the
present occasion to that rank. In fact, legally not
more than six marshals can co-exist in time of peace,
and there are already five. The only spare baton has
therefore been given to the Minister of War.
It was not to be expected that the Archbishop of
Paris could refuse to ackrowledge the fait accompli
of Louis Napoleon's government. His presence at
the head of his clergy on the occasion of a great pub-
lic religious ceremony was but • natural Inci-
dent of his office. The opening sentence of his
speech—" The God of Peace, whose ministers
we are, is also the God of War," sufficiently
accounts for the concurrence of the priesthood in
the presentation of colours and emblems to the army,
and might well have served for the text of an inde•
pendent discourse expressive of a solemn hope that
they might ever be turned to a righteous use. But
the friends of Monseigneur Sibour, who, notwith-
standing recent misgivings, have continued to admire
his character, have seen with poignant regret the
needless flattery with which he interlarded his
speech. That he should have condescended to echo
Louis Napoleon's own words, Mitred but a few days
before the Sod of December, in contemplation of the
Ireaak Obis SOW= oath, and to tell him that his
mina sod resolute will" was supported not only by the
stresses of an army, but by the national voice, which
formedlds "right," was to give the sanction of his sacred
authority to the miserable sophism implied in that
motto, •• 7,500,000 Vox populi, Vex Dei, impudently
emblazoned on the tents of the glittering field, in
allusion to that unparalleled combination of fraud,
perjury, ignorance, helplessness, and terror which
resulted in the misalled "election" of Dec. 20 and
21. The too probable explanation of this lamentable
time-serving of the archbishop is that a bargain has
been made in return for the support of the priest-
hood to concede more power to an ever encroaching
church. The institution of a comparison between
Solomon and David sad Louis Napoleon and the
Emperor, is a sad piece of ill-timed flattery, calcu-
lated to encourage the fatalist tendencies of the Pre-
sident's mind.

I informed you yesterday that M. Francois Argo,
the celebrated astronomer, and director of the Ob.
mystery at Paris, had addressed to the minister et
public instruction a letter, resigning his plebe In cow
sequence of his determination not to take the oath of
fidelity to Louis Napoleon. This letter is published
to day by the Journal des Debuts, and is certainly by
far the mot remarkable protest which has yet been
recorded against the government of the 2nd of
December.

At the Bourse the Four-and-a-Half per Cents. fell
6,claim at 100.23; the Threes closed without
ohmage at 70.70. Railways generally were weaker;
laws* thrasboin, Northers. and Orleans fell 2.60
seek ; Central, 135 ; Test* and Bordeaux rose 230 ;
and Dieppe, 1.26. Sseaux shares reappeared in the
market at the quotations of 1001 k.

1/ION An OCCASIONAL COIMINTONDINT.
PARIS, Champ de Mars, May 10,11 o'clock.
The morning is glorions : the finest by far that we
have seen this year. Malignant prophets yester-
day foretold rain. Bo far, then, the fatalist hero of
the fat may continue to believe in him star. The
approaches to the Champ de Mars are so many and
so vast that the crowd at any given point is far leas
than might be an
thAsed. Paean' alseg the Botts.
verde, and the Place de la Concorde, to the
bridge, thin the "lay ea the loft bank,
and up the of the Invades to the Pleas
Fostenoy, I ow= pelvis everywhere, bat
no crowding or Mei whole line along
which the Presided sad his if *lll presently
pass is thickly hoard in by Wised iseetators,
whose only rewind will be a rasmsetery gleam at
the President as he paraea by. I have jest taken
the seat, which I the promotion to mews beg
ago, in a tribune on the lelt it file lktole Militate.
The appearance of the Amid is mast animated.
Throughout its immense We' the metre is Nee-
pied by masses of infantry who gradnaDy march and
form into lines on the left of the Asa The dent
, which yesterday threatened to deed the whole
1 affair in obscurity moms miraculously to have been
conjured away. 'The field has been well watersil and
rolled during the night, and with so much lessen that
the slightest movement may be distinctly seen in
every part of it. • • • For more than halTinn-hour
I have seen cavalry pouring into the field over the
Pont de Jena at fail gallop, and taking up their posi-
tion on the right. The centre of the field is now
clear. The vast army is arranged in battle array on
either side.

Noon.—The officers are in their places: General
Marian and his staff in front. The guns announce
that the President has left the Tuilenes, and all is
expectation. Monseigneur Sibour, the Archbishop
of Paris, followed by the clergy, escorted by gen-
darmes, and preceded by drums playing a slow
march, have just marched in procession to
the monumental altar. They mount the three
nights of steps. They occupy the whole area of the
stairs, with the exception of a small space left open
in the centre. Their black and white robes give to
the altar a singularly picturesque appearance, seen

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EVENI MAT .