The Express.
London, England, 1853-09-23 00:00:00

To his Imperial Majesty Napoleon the Third, Emperor
of the French.

Stan,—We, the undersigned British residents and
visitors at Boulogne, desire to approach your Imperial Ma-
jesty, and offer ear cordial cengratulatiou on your Ma-
jesty's snivel at this pert of your dominions.
It is new upwards of forty years since Boulogne
was honoured with an imperial visit. War and its hor-
rors then debarred oar countrymen from friendly
intercourse with Franco. Peace and its Liming'
now invite us to enjoy the climate, the literature,
the amusements, and, above all, the society of our
neighbours. And whilst, as strangers in the land,
we cannot but admire its natural wealth and great capabi-
lities, and the extent to which your Majesty's measures
may yet develops them, we sincerely pray that your Ma-
jesty may be preserved to France to consolidate its institu-
tions, cement its friendship with Great Britain, and, by a
constant intercourse of commercial and friendly relations,
render both countries not only tke guardians of the liberty
of Europe, but generous rivals in the perfection of the aro.,
and reciprocal consumers of each other's produets, at tariffs
based on the sound principles and enlightened views, of the
interest and prosperity of the many, and not the aggran-
disement of a few.

If the world acknowledged the prowess in the field of the
first Napoleon, it equal'y admires the magnanimity of his
successor, whose "Empire to penc►," and prays that the
tranquility, which his strength secants to France, may, in
turn, wore to himself a long and peaceful reign, bn•ed on
the affections of his people, and blessed by the enjoyment
of domestic happiness.
Upon her Majesty, whose virtues merit and adorn
the throne, and whose happiness is the constant care of
chivalrous affection, we pray Heaven to bestow its choicest
blessings !

EMPEROR NAPOLEON'S VISIT TO TILE
NORTHERN DEPARTMENTS OF FRANCE.

ARRAS, THURSDAY EVININO.

It would be difficult to describe fully the enthu-
siasm of the inhabitants of this ancient town is their essay
to give effect to the preparations for the due reception of
the Emperor and Empress.

All the decorations were completed u early as three
o'clock this morning, the flowers having been plucked but
a few hours prior to their being fashioned into their re-
spective positions, for the better preservation of their fra-
grance, a precaution, characteristic of the care bestowed
by the French artists in the minutest detail, and which gives
them that pre eminence so widely acknowledged in efforts
for effect.

At the railway station is a superb canopy, crowned with
evergreens entwined with the choicest bouquets, and over
all the golden eagle, with, on either side, the letters N. and
E. (Napoleon and Eugenie) worked in burnished gold.
The national flag floats majestically from various points of
this tastefully arranged erection, while the flooring, sur-
(teed with green velvet fringed with golden lace, augments
the imposingness of the interior.
Paging from the last mentioned point of attroction, we
behold from the Porte Rouville to the Prefecture the entire
length of a long line of streets bearing ample testimony to
the ingenuity of those employed in catering for the oc-
casion. Here are trees growing, as it were, for years, yet
not many hours in the pathway they skirt at both sides of 1
the roadway. There is even unity in this temporary plan-
tation; gaily woven garlands and festooning, gracefully
linking them into brotherhood, while the letters N. and E.,
most artistically worked in flowers, catch the eye on all
sides.

As early as eight o'clock in the morning the various
deputations from the town and communes began to assemble,
and at 10 o'clock the municipal body were burying to h •
rendevoes for the purpose of assigning places to th, se
bodies. All this was of course conducted under the im-
mediate inspection of the prefect and mayor, for the preser-
vation of regularity in conducting the cortege through the
town on their Majesties' arrival. The more distinguishable
for bustle, however, were the clergy, hundreds of whim
were to be seen now in bodies assembled together, and
men dividing themselves into sections and mingling with
the laity for the purpoee of aiding the general arrange.
ments of the trades for a display of banners and the insig-
nia of their order. By this general aiding of each other
all classes had the satisfaction of being marshalled according
to the rules laid down by the municipal authorities for
precedency.
As the time drew on for three o'clock, officers, both mili-
tary and civil, were to be teen dashing through the toast
in full speed to acquaint themselves of the line of route
being kept open, and shortly after that hour the Prefect,
his officers, the municipal body, and the deputations of the
trades, together with a deputation on behalf of the pea-
santry of the district, took up their positions in the place
allotted to them, adjacent to the canopy at the railway
station, while the elite of the town to the number of some
three thousand, had taken their seats in en immense am-
phitheatre, which had been constructed at their own cost.
At four o'clock the Bishop of Arras, with other high dig-
nitaries of the church, approached the hall leading to the
canopy, and where, surrounded by their clergy in full
eanonicals, they awaited the momentarily expected arrival of
their Majesties. The picture presented at this moment was
most imposing, crowds of people acting as shade to the gay
festooning of flowers, while silken flags wafting in the
b augmented the eked. It was stated that there
could not have been fewer than two hundred thousand per-
sons in the town, and when ft is considered that the popu-
lation of Arras is under 26,000, it may easily be believed
that the interest mast have been extreme.

At a few minutes to Rye o'clock their Majesties arrival
was signalled by the booming of ten heavy guns, whereupon
the bell of the Cathedral, quickly followed by those of the
various churches of the town, informed all that the visit for
which they had been so eagerly looking forward, had been
at length placed beyond the possibility of doubt.
Their Majesties were received by the Bishop of Arras.
the Prefect, the Mayor, and the Municipal body, and were•
amidst the most vociferous cheering of the multitude and a
salute of artillery, on their way to the Prefecture to receive
the addresses of the townsp. ople through their deputations,
when this despatch was being sent off.
The lower and upper tcwn is to be brilliantly illuminated
tonight, and a grand ball, to which their Mojesties ars in-
vited, is to take place.