The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-12 00:00:00

APRIL 12, 1856.

The Moniteur also announces that the health of
the French army is materially improving.
General Codrington has published to the army a
translation of the Ordre du Jour issued by Marshal
Pelissier on the celebration of the birth of the
French Imperial Prince.
_ .

The intelligence of the birth of an he'r to the
French Imperial Throne appears to have been received
with much enthusiasm in the allied camp. A royal
salute of 101 guns from the French camp was fol-
lowed by another from the whole of the British field
batteries, counting ninety guns, drawn up on the
verge of the high ground overlooking the Balaklava
and Tschernaya plains. As soon as the salute was
fired, the whole force was passed in review by the
commander in•chief. The tine discipline and splen•
did condition of men and horses excited the great
admiration of the French officers present. The
royal salutes were followed up with grand bonfires,
and displays of fireworks at night. The French
army received double rations of wine on the occasion.
The running roll of fire which at noon welcomed
the little Napoleon, writes a correspondent, was a
fine sight
The sight was very fine indeed, for from all the redoubts
and batteries in the plain below French and Sardinians
seemed to answer our fire, and one might have thought a
battle was raging, but for the absence of the rushing sound
of the shot. A great number of navvies and sailors turned
out from Balaklava to enjoy the sight. The commander-
in-chief and the chief of the staff were also present. As
soon as the news was thus loudly proclamed the day was
devoted to festivity, and a general rush was made to all
the canteens, so that toward evening the natural conse•
quences followed, and I, among others, witnessed as pretty
a little faction fight in the French camp at Fedukhine,
between artillerymen, Zouaves, liners, and canteen-keepers,
as could have been witnessed in the best days of Tipperary,
and was also gratified by many demonstrations of the
entente cordiale between the soldiers of the two nations,
who did their best to get helplessly "happy together."
At night the camps were a blaze of fire—Kamiesch was
illuminated. Every Englishman who found himself there
was obliged to lose his health in drinking to that of the
Emperor. A perpetual fusilade was kept up all over the
plateau. Some tents were burnt down amid the jollifica-
tions, and the Russians must have been in continual ex-
citement from the fire of musketry and the explosion of
powder, which raged all over the plateau for several hours.
Great banquets will be given in honour of this event, of
which, indeed, we all appreciate the magnitude and felicity.
There will be dinners and balls and theatrical perform-
ances, and if peace is proclaimed the Russian generals
will be invited to a grand entertainment at the French
head-quarters.—Times cor., March 23.

But the birth of the "little stranger" did not
cause half so much excitement in the camp as the
"Sebastopol Spring Meeting," held on Monday, the
24th March. Forty thousand men crowded together
upon the banks of the Tschernaya to witness the
great races. Epsom, Ascot, Doncaster, or New-
market, atter such a gathering, must hide their
diminished heads :

Four great armies, with their marshals, generals, and
knights in arms ( writes the Times correspondent), were
the spectators. To the French the races were but a pro-
longation of the festivities peculiarly their own of the
previous day, on an occasion in which their allies took a
deep sympathy; and to the English it was a national out-
burst of men deprived for two long years of Epsoms and
Ascots, and even of garrison races. Our allies, too, won a
fair proportion of the honours of the day, and M. de Tulon,
on his Irish racer " Paddy Boy," and M. le Capitaine
Cornet, of the Chasseurs d'Afrique, on his fiery little pony
Biquet, " wiped the eyes " of the " haughty islanders " in
their own pet recreation.—March Z.
The day was magnificent. Two hours before noon
the roads were crowded by horse and foot, massed
into positive armies of men, converging towards the
racecourse along the Woronzoff road :

siveness of the Anglican temper is more consistent
with the sound sense of the North men, tban the
brilliancy and graceful levity of our Gallic neigh-
bours. But the Russians have been profoundly
offended, hurt, and mortified, and as the natural
feeling is favorable to the English, so do they con-
sider them in the light of having betrayed the
alliance. Lord Aberdeen is not at a premium for
sagacity. Occasionally the national differences be-
tween their former antagonists are divertingly
illustrated.

A French officer, desperately wounded, was con
veyed to the military hospital of Simferopol. His
bed was placed beside one containing a Russian in a
condition scarcely less precarious. A parity of
suffering begat a friendship strengthened during a
long convalescence that was thus beguiled and
solaced. The Russian was the first to quit the hos-
pital, and the friends parted with every mark of
attachment, and promises of uninterrupted corre-
spondence. When the Frenchman recovered he was
sent to Moscow. There he found his former ally of
the sick chamber, now retired from active service,
living on his pension, and overjoyed at the opportu-
nity of testifying his regard. He became the in-
mate of his house, where the kindest attentions
were lavished upon him, and which became doubly
grateful when received at the hands of the beautiful
wife of his attached host. Propinquity has it•; ad-
vantages and disadvantages; albeit peril is certain
to each and to all. The usual course of romance
was run, and the handsome Frenchman and lovely
Lithuanian succumbed to the inevitable destiny in
becoming obedience. Discovery was sure to follow;
it did follow, for security neglected the advice of
Byron to bolt the door. Taunts, reproaches of in-
gratitude, vows of vengeance, and a duel "1 mort,"
are the usual concomitants of similar affairs. Tbey
were omitted on this occasion by particular desire.
The lady was not a canonical wife, the Russian re-
linquished his claim, the Frenchman embraced him,
the frail one smiled, and the marriage was
solemnised. "Cela me convient," was the simple
and philosophic reply of the Russian to an imperti-
nent observation.

A Muscovite officer of rank, taken prisoner at In-
kermann, formed an intimacy with a young Eng-
lishman during his detention within the British
lines. He was subsequently exchanged. It was the
turn of the young Englishman to be wounded and a
prisoner, and to be sent to St. Petersburg, where
the daughters of his Russian friend performed the
duties of hospitality most gracefully and affec-
tionately. Again comes the old and eternal story.
One of these fair ones—be it Lola, Katinka,
or Dudu—saw the son of Albion that he was fair,
and the truths of the antediluvian epoch were
brought into practical operation. But the social
means of the Englishman were not in accordance
with his comeliness of person, and to his credit, not-
withstanding the Eden temptation, he straightway
informed the parent, his friend of the camp at
Odessa, of what are termed frequently, in common
parlance, " the rights of the case," and which still
more frequently belie their integrity of expression.
In this case moral rectitude was rewarded according
to the canons of five-act comedies. The Russian
was not only content, but insisted on the acquisition
of a fresh subject to the Emperor, by matrimonial
arrangement, and the bold Briton will dwell in ease
on his Russo-Sabine farm.

P. G.