The Express.
London, England, 1858-10-13 00:00:00

NAPOLEON 111. AT RHEIMS.

The first pier* in yesterday's Moniteur is given to
the following letter from Rheims :

Their Majesties having left the camp at one o'clock,
arrived at three before the walls of Rheims. Triumphal
arches had been erected along the whole extent of the Roman
way, which extends from Barle•Due to Rheims. The Em-
peror at the antenna of the city wee met by the mayor, who
presented to him, on a gold dith, the keys formerly presented
to Charles VII. ills Majesty having replied to the speech
addressed to him, entered Rheims. Then was offered to his
eyes a spectacle of the most vivid and touching originality.
All the houses were hung with woollen stuffs of brilliant
hues, which gave to the entire city • strange and charming
aspect. These stuffs were prodnoed in the looms of the
country. The value of these remarkable tissues amounted
to • million of francs. The sound of the church bells,
rung in fall peal, spread throughout the Mane-
phere like a solemn and penetrating emotion. One
of those immense throngs that no official effort could collect,
which only assemble under the impulse of popular feelings,
blocked up all the ways by which the Emperor was to pass,
covering both the street itself and the tope of the houses.
The quarter through which his Majesty wished to enter is
the one where the workmen abound. The administratke

had left to this zealous and laborious population the are of
adorning their dwellings after their own fashion. Thus the
character of this popular display, intended to do honour to
the Emperor, had in it something surprising, spontaneous
and unforeseen, in which the ideas of our period were mingled
with a sort of reminiscence of distant and simple times.
Each guild of workmen, each useful and industrious associa-
tion, had its own triumphal arch. One of theme tem-
porary monuments, the one raised by the Agricultural Society,
presented an ingenious assemblage of all the animate and
inanimate forces of the plains. Huge fruits and vegetables
appeared through thick tufts of leaves. Two opus, like
pacific sentinels, were stationed at the two sides al this
rustic gate, the top of which was sumounted by wicker-
cages containing the birds of our poultry-yards. In front of
all the public edifices, and even of several private houses,
we'read various inscriptions—all of them conveying the same
sentiment, that of the acclamations with which their Ma-
jesties were accompanied, "Long live the Emperor I"
" Long live the Empress I" " Long live the Imperial
Prince!"

Their Majesties proceeded to the cathedral. Tide
edifice, stamped with the grandeur of ages, is not
merely the ornament, the honour, the pride of the
city which it seems to protect; it may be said
to be Its personification. These stones will speak
eternally the language of the people, such as it really
otters when not disfigured by ambitious and faithbles inter-
preter*, that is to may, • religions and strong language,
r,fiecting those general ideas and that sincere belief that eon-
etitute the support of stable governments. The Emperor
was received in flout of the splendid doorway of this edifice
by Monseigneur the Cardinal Gotuiset, a learned prelate,
encircled by a popularity as solid as the virtues which form
Is foundation. Monseigneur de Rheims presented likewise
some keys to the Emperor ; they were those of the spiritual
city of which he is the chief. Having addressed to the illus.
inane gaests whom he was receiving a fervid allocu-
tion, in harmony with the solemnity celebrated by an
entire population, the cardinal introduced the Emperor
and Empress into his church. Their Majesties first
stopped under a canopy, where they received the honours
due to their supreme rank; then they went in promedon to
take their places on a prie-Dien in the middle of the choir.
The organ played, and in the midst of an attentive public, of
• preying clergy, the vaulted roofs of the church resounded
with the chant that invokes the blessings of God upon the
Sovereign of France. After this religious ceremony, which
will be one more tradition added to those from which Rheims
derives its authority and lustre, their Majesties repaired to
the Archbishop's Palace, which they bad chosen for their re-
sidence. In the vest halls of this palace, replete with the
noblest, purest, and most patriotic historical recollections of
the monarchy, the Emperor received the =Mutated civic and
departmental bodies. The working guild• were equally ad-
mitted to present their homage to the Monarch. The market-
women presented to their Majesties • rich present, in-
tended for tee Imperial Prince. The Empress,
with en emotion of pleasure and a feeling of klndasse that
threw a fresh charm over her features, addressed a few bene-
volent words to these women enthralled by her grace. These
receptions were finished by an appearance of their Majesties
upon the flight of steps before the Archbishop's palace. The
representatives of all the communes, having their mayors at
their head, and distinguished by banners of diSerent colours,
and the medallists of St. Helena, filed off before the Emperor,
uttering acclamations as they passed, that showed mote and
yet more profoundly than ever the source from which the
proteetive dynasty of the interests of all derives its greatness
and its strength. This evening the entire city is illuminated
end a compact crowd is thronging before the Hotel de Ville,
where their Majesties are present at • grand bell.