The Express.
London, England, 1858-08-05 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 5, 1558.

ship of the Peninsular and Oriental; but for real
enjoyment the balance is decidedly in favour of the
latter. Both nations feel this, and, though factious
politicians and eloquent journalist. may maintain
the contrary, both are resolute to keep the peace.
It is beyond the power either of newspapers or
statesmen to met the two countries together by the
ears for any length of time.
But, say some of our liberal friends, this excessive
cordiality between your QUEEN and LOUIS NAPO-
LEON tends to confirm his despotic rule in France.
Fudge! dear gentlemen; unmitigated fudge. The
first NAPOLEON was on the most cordial terms with
the Emperor of Runts and the King of PRUSSIA at
Tilsit:. The Emperor of AOSTILIA gave him • daughter
to wife. There was more of a domestic intimacy in
the visits of Louts Pniurra to Windsor, and of our
Qua= to Eu, than there has been in her intercourse
with Loris NAPOLEON. Yet when the power of
the great European conqueror, and of the plausible
sagacity whom throne was erected on the barricades,
malted from their grasp, of what avail were thew
royal and imperial friendships ? There is, there can
be, no personal friendship between monarch'. There
can only be, at the most, a kindly and social spirit so
long as circumstances bring them together on a
footing of equality. When a people have re-
solved that a man shall no longer rule over them,
no royal allies can procrastinate his falL So long
as a people acquiesce in a man's dominion, it would
be impertinence and folly in any royal neighbours
to object to it. For all foreign Nations and foreign
Oovernments the Sovereign de facto is and ought
to be treated as the Sovereign de jure. This at
least is the view we Englishmen take of the matter.
Whatever our private opinions of LOOM NAPOLEON
may be, so long as the people of France tolerate
him we hold it to be our duty by our civil de-
portment towards him to express the respect we en-
tertain few the great nation he represents for the
time. Of Louts NAPOLEON we Englishmen have as
Englishmen no cause to complain. True, we think
his domestic policy most detrimental to France; but
that is the business of the French people, not ours.
If they were to send him back to 1111V111V8
marrow, we would say they did right. We would
say the same of any private friend who divorced an
r unfaithful wife ; and yet we would abstain from
mixing ourselves up, before that extreme step was
taken, in a family quarrel.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE.

THE CHERBOURG FETES.

ARRIVAL OF HER MAJESTY.

CST SURNARINI ♦ND MUT= 1111.1101 LATE.)
(THON Ora OWN 00111SPONDRVIT.)
CHERBOURG, THURSDAY MORNING.
The Emperor arrived at five o'clock lut evening,
and was received by an immense crowd with accla-
mations.
At seven o'clock her Majesty the Queen arrived
with her escort, and was saluted by the French
feet.
At eight o'clock the Emperor visited her Majesty,
amidst remarkable demonstrations of enthusiasm.
The illtiminations were magnificent.
An altar had been erected at the railway terminus,
and a To Deism was performed by the Bishop of
Contanees, on the Emperor's arrival.
His Majesty, addreesing the Mayor, said:—" I
am happy to have finished the work of Louis XIV.,
and to inaugurate, in a time of peace, the port
which wee so actively commenced in a time of
war."

A telegram, received by a ootemporary, also dated
this morning, says ;—" The Queen and Prince Con-
sort are expected to breakfast at the Prefecture with
the Emperor at twelve. To-day their Imperial aid
Royal Majesties dine together on board the line-of.
battle ship La Bretagne. The weather is cloudy.
The town is crowded with visitors, and in all quar-
ters the greatest excitement and animation prevail.,

THE TOWN AND MILITARY PORT.
(PION Ova /PAULL 002211OPO1DZINS4
CHERBOURG, TIIZIDAY, Aro. 3.
The ancient town of Cherbourg is by name as
familiar to English ears as either Calais or Boulogne ;
but, judging from the peculiarly French aspect of
the whole place, and the extreme scarcity of the
insular physiognomy, I should say that there is
hardly a place in France about which so little was
known in England, until the completion of the mili-
tary port, and the flourish of trumpets, both hostile
and friendly, with which the hot was announced,
aroused curiosity and concentrated attention on the
hitherto little heeded French seaport. The beet
point from which to look over the town and port is a
rock thatbeetles over the commercial port, and which
rock is situated within the territory of the British
Consul, and it will be therefore some consolation to
that portion of the English community who believe
in and tremble at the imminency of French inva-
sion, to know that if their warder watches vigi-
'sally on his tower it will be impossible for any
preparations hostile to England being ever com-
menced in the military port without his at once
becoming aware of what is going on. I have
further comfort for the alarmists, and that is, the
assurances I receive from the beet informed quarters
of the excellent feeling that prevails in Cherbourg
and Norman society generally towards England and
the English. Indeed, all well-informed people'
laugh heartily at the apprehensions so loudly ex-
pressed in a portion of the English press. I should
not mind that much, as some people are most dan-
gerous when they laugh ; but when I fully ascer-
tain that interest strengthens sentiment, I begin to
have more faith in it ; and ffom all I can learn, the
Cherbourg people believe that they have the
strongest interest in the maintenance of a
friendly alliance with England, and that before long
they may hope to divide with Boulogne the profits
of that Saxon emigration which is annually stimu-
lated by sanitary and other motives nearly as
powerful. Besides, Cherbourg is a sort of k much
Galway, and is always dreaming of a line of
steamers to America. The railway, it is expected,
will powerfully favour that project, and some people
are even so sacrilegious as to observe that the Bassin
Napoleon would suit admirably for reception of
the Leviathans which belong to ocean steam navi-
gation.

The first thing that you see, looking down from
the arch before mentioned, is the railway station
close at year feet, and which by the way is upwards
of two miles from the military port, while from
Mantes there is only a single line cif
rail, with little prospect of a second being laid
down for a long time to come. Your
first impression on looking down here would be
that the military preparations had already com-
menced, for the whole of the enclosure is covered
with neat little white tents, intended as the tem-
porary lodgings of the guests of the railway
directors. Row the retired oozy citizens of Paris,
the renting notaries, avocets, &c., will like this
bivouac, I cannot tell, but I would forewarn them
that although the days are very hot here the nights
are often bitter cold, and that the proverb runs that
in Cherbourg it rains every day, and in Brest all
the day. There will be, however, some balm in
Gilead, as I understand the directors have arranged
with an eminent Paris boon for a table d'hote of
200 coven daily, and that good cheer is to be the
leading feature in the approaching ceremony. The
trains discharge immense crowds of visitors nightly,
and the streets are always popalons with many
travellers searching for shelter. The Maine lately
published a notice io the Mniateur to the effect that
apartments were to be had in abundance and at very
moderate rates ; but, on *loser inquiry, it is soon
found that Cherbourg moderation is a very different
sort of moderation from that which is found in other
places. The town is like nearly all French towns,
tall, white, and dirty, at once new and ruinous,
and redolent of a variety of perfumes, of which fried
mines may be ranked as the otto of roam. It is of
considerable extent, and has some good streets, but,
judging from the appearance of the shops and the
circulation, I should say that its commercial import-
ance is very moderate indeed. In short, it looks
in this respect very much like many English
towns before they have got their railway. Let us
hope that the great renovator may now prove as
effectual here as it has been found to be in all other
places where it has once been introduced. The com-
mercial port is situated furthest inland, but, tutus a
won lueendo, there is hardly a merchant ship in it,
the vessels with which it is crowded being nearly
all gunboats which have helm mead up there to be
out of the way as the day of the grand ceremony.
The number of naval Ahem and einem to be seen
about is quite as great as in Portsmouth, and if is
with some difficulty you recognise either as French-
men. The officers ere evidently a mast superior elms
of men, polite, intelligent, and manly ; probably the
beet specimen of any of the French organised services,
and yet it is strange that while every shop window is
filled with military prints and pictures of the various
uniforms in the army, you never see one of the gal-
lant tar, either officer or A. 8., although both would
'look quite as well on paper as the members of the
other branch of the public service. They are all
perfectly jolly at the present moment, the elders
smoking and laughing about the cafes, and the young
middies kicking up shindies that would de bows
to any ship in her Majesty's service. The 11110111011
sailors are equally jovial, and—tell it not in
Oath !--the real, genuine, undoubted college'
hornpipe, delivered in the purest style, may
be heard nightly streaming through the doers of

the cabarets, while within, a young sailor, evidently
a pupil of Tom Cooke's, is performing that immut-
able dance with immense vigour and moons. One
favourable peculiarity of all the merrymaking is
that there is little or no drunkenness, and another
is that nearly all the soldiers and sailors wear Vic-
toria medals, of which they seem very proud, and
which they take care you shall see whenever you
come near enough to observe them.

I have now brought you down to the quay, from
which you can see the roads, with Its seven or eight
men-of-war lying at anchor; and the Digue, with
its much-dreaded forts and batteries at either end.
The men-of-war are about eight in num-
ber, the most conspicuous being the splen-
did three-decker Bretagne, with the flag of
the Admiral at the main. It is on board
this ship, as you are aware, that the meeting
of the Queen and Emperor is to take place, and here
her Majesty is to be entertained in grand state.
Covers are to be laid for fifty-two in the great
cabin, forty at an outer table, and twelve (including
the Queen and Emperor, the English Ambassador,
and, I believe, the French Minister of Marine) at an
inner one. An English frigate, the advanced guard
of the squadron, arrived early this morning, and
her Majesty is expected to-morrow evening, but of
course nothing public will take place until the fol-
lowing day. AB a proof that the morbid state
of the public mind which was so assiduously culti-
vated in England, has proved slightly contagious
here, I may mention that when the official pro-
gramme appeared, busybodies ran about exclaiming,
" See, the Queen gets only a single line," alluding
to the brief way in which the day of her Majesty's
visit was announced. Now, it so happens, that the
original programme, when submitted to the Em-
peror, had no place for the majesty of England at
all, and that his Imperial Majesty altered it alto-
gether, inserting the announcement with his own

hand. The officials, when subsequently putting it
into form, did not dare to alter the Emperor's words;
and so this curt announcement remains—an evi-
dence, not of slight, but of extraordinary courtesy
and cordiality on the part of our august ally.
The French squadron looks by no means formid-
able, but, nevertheless, the rade is well furnished,
being thickly studded over with English yachts,
Iwhich will, no doubt, on the occasion of the royal
visit, all sail out in a flotilla to welcome and escort
their sovereign into French waters. The French
men-of-war are all anchored close to the Digue, it
being the only portion of the rade which is at
I once roomy enough, and having a sufficient draught
of water. The Digue is certainly an immense work,
but to my eye it appears loose of construction, and
likely to suffer in the storms which so frequently
lash this coast. The stone of which it is formed is
of considerably less specific gravity, and is
also softer than English granite. The three forts
with which it is furnished, but which are as yet all
unarmed, have settled considerably, and are at
this moment filled with stones, in order that they
may gradually find a firm foundation. Every one
in England is by this time familiar with the plan
of the military port, and will remember that besides
the three forte in the Digue, there are at each end,
and insulated, two other forts set down in the map.
The one at the east end, Fort Imperial, is finished,
but unfortunately the passage which it guards is so
shallow as to be useless for men-of-war, while the
one at the west, Fort Chavagnac, has not been begun
yet, although the passage over which it dominates
would permit of a fleet of three-deckers passing in
in safety. I went round the new basin this morn-
ing along with a numerous crowd, all of whom
seemed to look at it with pride and admiration. In
the oaten time—when the hard stone, as well as the
soft clay, had to be worked with pick and shovel—it
would have been u wonderful a work as the Pyra-
mids, with which it is so often compared; bat in
the present day, when the galvanic wire and a few
barrels of gunpowder surpass the labour of whole
nations and generations, and with the recollection
of how speedily the accumulations of stone on oar
various railways and at Sebastopol were blown
into the air, we need not hold up our
hands in such speechless wonder at an excavation
of about the extent of Kennington-common, and
in which the stone to be removed is the soft CORD,
into which our English masons have such pleasure
in thrusting their chisels. The basin itself is com-
plete, the sides being " dressed," and the quays coped
all round. But the works in stone are all in a meat
unfinished state,' lthough I was informed that 2,000
men have been working here for some time. The
preparations for the opening ceremonial are very
modest indeed, consisting of a small central altar for
the mass, and two small tribunes for the ladies. There
being no special accommodation provided for any
. _

other person ; bat the public will be admitted all
round, and there will be room enough for a hundred
thousand persons. The arrangements for the inun-
dation are to be novel and scientific, the particular
feature being an artificial mound of sand placed at
' the entrance into which the water is at first to flow
in a cascade. Subsequently this mound, which is
mined, is to be blown up, and the whole body of
water is to be permitted to flow in in a torrent. The
Ville de Nantes stands proudly in her cradle ready
for launching, and there is another large ship (the
Beaumanoir), but disarmed, in the outer basin. Oae
or two vessels also are on the stocks, but altogether
the immense place has an unfurnished look,
and it will take mouths of the most energetic labour
to put it in a condition calculated to give the
slightest reasonable uneasiness to friend or foe. It
is very difficult to write truly on this subject with-
out seeming to depreciate • work which is entitled
to every respect, bat the point originally raised that
the ceremonial opening of the military basin was
intended to hold out a covert messes to England.
A single glance at the place was sufficient to coo-
vines me that such an assertion was as unfounded as
it was injudicious. Another of the bugbears was
the facility with which an army could be shipped
here in a few hours. Let us remember that, in the
first phase, there is only one railway into the
town, and that it is a single lire; that
it is • large train that takes a thousand
passengers,and that with sash a train the
jemmy is tea hours. The three Inaba errtainly
present an immerse extent of quay, and perhaps
fifty steamers might be taking in troops at the one
time, but then they would all have ultimately to get
to sea through the same narrow pass, and thus ano-
ther, and I think a substantial objection arises to
the theory of sudden descent. But I shall not pur-
ees a disagreeable subject farther, nor could I have
gone so far but from my consciousness that alarmist
writing had made a mischievous impression in both
countries. Even if we take it at the worst
we have no right to quarrel with France for doing
what she likes on her own coasts, any more than she
could object to our getting up g good Channel fleet ;
in presence of which, floating tranquilly, but proudly
in the narrow waters, the most timid of our English
alarmists might enjoy their natural rest in perfect I
nearby.

I The Mayor of the town has issued the following
exhlrees to the inhabitants :
Fellow-citirens,—ln 1852 we requested the Emperor to
grant a railroad to oar district. Oar reqeset was granted,
and now his Majesty comes to inaugurate this great road,

which unites our town to the metropolis. ;The third
dock of our military port is finished. The Emperor will pre-
side at its opening, and thus crown the completion of this
Magnifforat arsenal, which excites the admiration of the whole
world. His Majesty will also inaugurate the monument you
have naiad to Napoleon 1., and, by his presence at this
imposing solemnity, add to the splendour of the homage
you have paid to the powerful founder of the Napo-
leon dynasty. The Empress, his noble partner, the
august mother of the prince on whom rest the
dearest hopes of the country, deigns also to visit us.
If the eyes of Franoe are at this moment fixed ca Cherbourg,
it is because every town wishes, like our own, to enjoy the
happiness of possessing the Sovereign who has raised so high
the glory dourarms, and secured the prosperity of the country;
it is because Cherbourg is now the town privileged above all
others. Need I excite your authorisers f No ; I know your pa.
triotic sentiments, and I know, in anticipation, that every.
where on their passage their Majesties will be received with
fervent acclamation; the sincere proofs of your devotion to
the empire. Your houses will be deoorated with dogs and
illuminated during the whole sojourn of our auguot guests.
We all know what we owe to the Government of the Emperor
and we shall feel happy to be able on this great occasion to
offer him abundant proof of our affection and gratitude.
Vivo l'Empereur I Vies rlmpiratrice Viva le Prince Im-
perial I LODE, Maim

DEPARTURES FROM SOUTHAMPTON.

(THIS DAY.)

("sow owl owx oosawrowourr.)
SOUTHAMPTON, THURSDAY.

The Balsette and Betimes, with the directors of
the Peninsular and Oriental Company end their friends ;
the Bina, with the directors of the Cunard's Mail Packet
Company and their friends ; and the Havre, with the direc-
tors of the South Western Steam Navigation Company and
others, left here early this morning for Cherbourg. There
have been refreshing showers daring the night, and the
wind is round to the north-west. There is every prospect of
a very beautiful day.

The French steamer has arrived Mrs, and brings news
that quite a fleet of steamers and ships have been employed
in conveying exeursionista to Cherbourg from Havre.
Nantes, Dunkirk, and Bordeaux, and the excitement to wit-
nem the Cherbourg fetes is without parallel. The company of
Maritime Carriers alone have put on six steamers to convey
excursionists to Cherbourg. AU the merchant vessels in
Cherbourg harbour are moored together, and fitted up to
provide sleeping accommodation for excureionists. lbfr. and
20(r. a night are charged.
_

A regatta is to take place at Cherbourg to-day, in presesoe
of the whale fleet of nun-of-war, mail and passenger stammer
and yachts, amembled there.