The Express.
London, England, 1855-08-25 00:00:00

HE BALL AT THE HOTEL DE VILLE.

CrIILOY OVA

PARIS, numeric: NIONT.
To describe the festivity of this evening with
proper amplitude, I should begin a considerable way
down the magnificent Rue Rivoli, and carefully eau-
musts the brilliant devices with which its palatial
bosom were decorated, the flags and trophies that
hung across the street, the crowds of happy-lookieg
pro* that circulated slowly, but with perfect enn
trey to each other, through its extent ; the spawn*
Municipal Dragoons, who sat pensively an their
horses es if thinking they would mach prefer Wag
at the course; and the votaries of the Ise
arts, who were loyally endeavouring to used
the odes& cordials, by driving an active eon-
metre in woken* medals and other similar
memorials of the royal visit. It was, in feet, a fete
as much in the street as within the Hotel de Ville.,
sad the penability daneing wan Petty. nearly the
mate in the sae place es ia the other ; indeed, of the
two, I think the crowd in the street was the lees
dean. ltillionsof gas jets sad variegated lamps—the
latter a specie' of illumination which seems to be as
great a favourite with the French se are the lanterns
with the Chinese—the inany-ooloured latapioss hang-
ing from every window—an electric light beaming
*an the Tour do Bt. Jam, and the bright moos
dining, a modest attempt at rivalry overhead, made
Mil whole some as bright as day, and wonderfully
leiliteted the attempts of the persecuted police
to keep French coachmen in something like
order and subjection. These latter gentlemen, who
maw their horse' by a series of explosive demon-
eleallsos with their whip., always endeavour to
masige the police by mune of a most voluble oratory;
bat the police are masters of the art as well as them-
selves, and the consequence was that in a crowd like
that of this evening the whole passage along the
streets wee a series of animated debase, which, how-
ever, ea esiang to adivisios, were uniformly decided
is Wised tls Haman. On reaching the large
spa epee la feint of the Hotel de Ville, the natural
ileadmilia laid an uninitiated spectator must have
OM 10 111 that the ball was to be held there, se
*MOM dad gay was the appearance which the
wilsb assiomire presented. The boundaries were
Mimed by a series of lofty obelisks, is coloured
lap, which had a surprisingly gorgeous
east, and in the space between every two
mat a mounted dragoon, making the combined
seed melt as must have been soon to be
properly appreciated. The space macs= was kept
perfectly dear, erupt where it was intersected by a
thin black Ilse of carriages of vertu' descriptions,
which were very slowly indeed moving towards the
entrance allotted to the general visitors. The glo-
nose renaissance facade of the Hotel heat was
oovered with lights and banners, and every estrum
was grouped with officers of almost every nation in
full uniform, and ladies in fall dyne, who bad alighted
from their °integre in the hope of expediting their
admission to the ball room; so that, what with the
lights, what with the banners, what with the dra-
goons, what with the gay and orderly crowd, the en-
mashie was as brilliant as one of the most highly
elaborated court meow of Madame D'Anois. The
eye was seedy sated with splendour, but all this was
merely the preliminary flourish, it was necessary to
pass late the well guarded vestibule to realise the
full extent of civic magnificence and taste.
The interior of the Hotel de Ville has been
made familiar to newspaper readers by many descrip-
tions, but the recent improvements have much added
to its attractions. What was formerly an open
smart, round which the state apartments ran, bas beep
essverted into a grand ball of entrance, covered
over with glass, fitted with a noble flight of stairs,
isneuested with statuary, and refreshed on great
sismises by the play of innumerable fountains. In
the early part of the evening this approach was re-
' served for the admission of the Queen and the two
surto, the only inhabitant being the state porter, a
eery formidable-looking gentleman indeed, standing
surly seven feet high, and armed with a massive ha-
lisai.that threatened instant annihilation to any reckless
wigwam correspondent who might attempt to cree-
p= ea the escheated territory. The first impres-
41ss made by the appearance of this dread functionary
was that Gag or Magog had been brought over
°Wild" from Guildhall to officiate on this great
nods% but on nearer approash, the terrific looking
paiika et the fairy pikes turned oat to be a real
Frassimas, although of the largest size, perfectly
mild and tractable, and ready to apologise for the
painful position which he found himself placed in by
being obliged to put bounds on too ardent curiosity.
At 10 o'clock his more active duties commenced, for
about that hour the Imperial carriages drove up to the
antrum, the armour of the Cent Garda was beard
rattling outside, and in a few minutes the (loses,
Emperor, and their respective wiles wen within the
vestibule. The respectful and deferential courtesy
of the Emperor to his illustrious guest was on this,
as on every other occasion since her arrival in France,
universally observed aid commended. It was first
noticed at Boulogne, when, on the Queen taking her
place in the carriage, the Emperor sprang upon his
horse, and became her equerry, thus obliging
the high dicer to whom that duty properly be-
longed to become the equerry of an equerry
on that particular occasion. In the sales way, at all
the state visits to public places in Paris, the function-
aries whose duty it is to deer the way for the royal and
Imperial promenade have their instructions to call out
"La Reins" alone; the Emperor thus studiously dis-
claiming all share in the courteous greetings with
which a succession of brilliant crowds have received
his visitors. On this occasion the royal guests were
received at the foot of the espalier by Baron Hausman
and the civic functionaries of the first class, and im-
mediately an invisible band struck up " God save the
Queen," the time of which seems to offer insuperable
dam= to the otherwise diciest French musicians.
The vestibule and escaper were unoccupied, except
by the Emperor, Queen, and their respective courts,
bat the balconies all round (formerly the windows
of the open court) were filled with splendidly
dram= eompany, who, although forbiddes by the
etiquette of the place to cheer, were as demonstrative
as possible in their gestures of welcome both for
Qom and Emperor.
I may here observe that before I man to Paris I
had heard a great deal about the reign of Napoleon
the Third being a reign of terror in his owe capital ;
but if it be, it is certainly the best-moosaled state of
panic I have ever witnessed. To any observer who
should be content to judge from the evidence of his
own ryes, not from the upsets ef refugees, who, pes.