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

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, AUGUST 25 1855

7, ;.

IIER MAJESTY'S VISIT TO PARIS.

kind greeted the arrival of the august guests. As soon as
the National Anthem had ceased, the Imperial quadrille
was formed. The Emperor danced with the Queen,
having Prince Albert and the Princess Mathilde for
tie-a via ; Prince Napoleon danced with Lady Cowley,
Prince Adalbert, of Bavaria, standing opposite. The
Victoria quadrille, composed expressly by Strauss for
the occasion, was played. Her Majesty danced. The
Imperial party then resumed their seats, and after a
Pause another quadrille was formed, M. He.ussman and
several of their Majesty's suites taking part in it. After-
wards a waltz was played. During the interval the
Emperor signified some command to Marshal Valliant,
the Minister of War, and the latter went to the spot
where stood some Arab chiefs and brought one of them
over to where the Queen was seated. The Emperor pre-
sented the bronzed son of the desert to the Queen, and
the Arab bending down embraced her knees, after the
custom of his country, that is placed his hand on them
at each side. The Queen seemed much amused at the
.act. Their Majesties then went round the rooms.
Then returning through the Galeria des Fetes, the whole
party descended to the Court Louis XIV., and entering
their carriages amidst tremendous acclamations from the
crowd, drove off at a quarter-past eleven.
To name all the distinguished parsons at this grand
entertainment would be to give a list of all the Ministers,
corps diplomatique, and all the persons distinguished in
Paris, for rank, wealth, or talent. One of the names
which, however, was most frequently in every one's
mouth was that of General Canrobert, who was present
and attracted the greatest attention.

PARIS, THURSDAY NIGHT.

According to arrangements the Queen remained at
St. Cloud this morning, and Prince Albert came alone
to Paris to visit the Univk real Exhibition. Hls Royal
Highness was expected at half-past ten, but he reached
the pa'ace about a quarter of an hour sooner. The
Prince and his suite came in an open ewriage.
His Royal Highness, who wore the ribbon of the
Garter, and appeared in ex client health and spirits,
commenced his examination of the terracotta awl other
objects exposed iii the great passage leading to the
transept. He then turned to the left to the court occu-
pied by the glass and crystal of C ichy, Baccarat, and St.
Louis. The next court which his Royal Highness en-
tered contained work-boxes, necessaries, built furniture,
&c. The next court, which is that of the " Arts Indus-
triels," was inspected wi h much interest by the Prince
—whilst in this court his Royal Highness was joined by
the Prince Napoleon. Tne Prince then descended an
alley, and entered by the back the square devoted to the
Imperial Printing-office. His Highness examined with
interest the different productions of that establishment.
His Royal Highness next passed into the silversmith's
court, atter which, proceeding into the porcelain court,
his Royal Highness noticed several objects in biscuit,
and then entering the Transept examined the trophy of
porcelain. After a passing glance at the zinc of the
Vieille lilontagne Company, the Prince entered the
square of bronzes, and made critical remarks on several
objects. His Royal Highness then proceeded direct to
the staircase which leads to the Swiss Exhibition. Then
passing through the Swiss Exhibition, the Prince pro-
ceeded to descend the long gallery by the wall. Ar-
rived at the salon and boudoir of the Empress, the
Prince entered it, and expressed the highest admiration
of the splendour and exquisite taste with which it is de-
corated. The Prince next examined the contents of the
adjacent staircase, and proceeded to ascend the gallery,
which is chiefly occupied by specimens of French jewellery.
Arrived nearly at the top of the gallery, iihe Prince,
turning aside, proceeded to the great staircase, and de-
scending it went across the transept to the pourtour of
the Panorama.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

( From the Times of this day.)

There are performers of such modest pretensions that
even if we do not think their cause very hopeful, on the
other hand we could never have the heart to discourage
them. Of these the most inoffensive, and with the
most claims, at least, to a respectful neutrality, are
those gentlemen who take up the wholesome and con-
venient view of business. The Early Closing Asso-
ciation, the demand for a weekly holyday or half-
holyday, and Mr. Brotherton's twelve o'clock motion
are movements too quiet and reasonable to be called
agitations. Certainly there is an immense amount
of unnecessary wear and tear in all business, pub-
lic or private. Everybody works too hard—either
always or at times ; and the occasional recreation of
tsavelling 3,000 miles in a month may afford excitement,
but no rest either for body or mind. So we are disposed
to feel very good natured towards a proposal by an ex-
cellent young nobleman to time the Parliamentary ses-
sion with some little regard to comfort and health.
Lord Stanley gives the best possible reasons for begin-
ning the session in the middle of November, confining
the Christmas recess between December 15 and January
15, thus gaining two good months by the usual time for
opening the session at the beginning of February, and
for deducting these two months from the present end of
the session—that is, fixing the prorogation at the middle
of June. He proposes, in feet, that we should continue
to g,ve seven months a year to public business, that we
shoui.l stick close to it, end take it at a time when Na-
ture shuts up, instead of that when she comes out with
all her charm. Such a proposal is a good one, and we
can only soy we wish Lord Stanley was in a position to
give it effect. Nothing can be more miserable, not to
say scandalous, than the fag-end of a Parliamentary
seeeion,—houses made with difficulty by the use of
" the whip ;" the smallest possible divisions on im-
portant questions ; great meastne s floored for want
of ',umbers aed impetus to carry them, and jobs of all
kinds smug sled through Houses too thin, too ',artisan.
too idle, or too corrupt, to care about them. With half
the business of the session still to be dene, members be-
gin to pair off on the plea of illness or engagements, and
set eff to the country, only learning from the newspa-
pers the success of bad no-aeuree, the failure of good
ones, and a general shipwreck of public business—all
through the ettempt to keep Parliament sitting through-
out the Dog Days to the beginning of September
Of course, we ourselves are only too much interested
in the success of such a proposal. Nobody can doubt
which way our opinion lies We have deprecated a
hundred times that waste of Parliamentary time in the
earlier months of the session which throws all its real
business to the end. The sight of spring flowers, of the
hay harvest, the glorious midsummer days, and the
equally enjoyable midsummer nights, appeal to us as they
do to other mortals, and anything that Parliament can
do, or is likely to do, in the six weeks or two months
after midsummer, compensates very poorly for the loss of
Nature in her palmiest hours. But then comes that
painful question which has damped the zeal of reformers
from the beginning of the world—how is it to be done !
The proposition is one to set laws to a body that itself
sets the laws ; to prescribe measures to that which
defies ad measures, except the merest rules of
business. There is nothing so uncontrollable as the
House of Commons. Every member of that House
may speak ten times a night, and as long as he likes.
Every member may declaim for hours on a trifle, .
or say the same thing over and over again ; and if he
does not care for a thin audience, a good deal of
interruption, and a very short reprrt in the newspapers,
there is no other check to his garrulity. For the first
half of the session the house will always think questions
of confidence and other party diQcuQsions much more
important than legislation, so the first half will always
be so employed, leaving the actual lawmaking to the
summer months. The house works in summer becau,e
it has been idle, desultory, talkative, and quarrelsome in
the winter IN ud spring. In the fable, the grasshopper
came to the ant on the cold winter's day and asked for
some food. The provident ant asked the grasshopper
what it had done in the spring and summer, and the
' answer was, that it had danced and sung. "You may
go on, then, singing to your own dancing," said the ant.
The House of Commons dwindles into a jaded old hack,
dragging on a wretched existence from day to day, sim-
, ply because it has misspent its time and opportunities
in the earlier part of its career. About the beginning of
June it usually wakes to the conscioneneee of an ill-
spent life, and then sets about to make up for lost time
with fiaetic and generally unsuccessful energy. That is
the body which Lord Stanley proposes to reform ; he
would teach it so to number its days as to apply its
heart to wisdom in winter or spring—at the beginning
ef the session, instead of the end. As it is. the House
or Commons does what most bad or idle men would do,
if they had tho power ; it prolongs its natural life a
couple of months to supply the omissions of its youth.
To come to the point, at what time and in what form
would Lord Stanley apply the remedy! It is of no use
to wait fer June, because then all the work of the session
is still to be done, and it must be done at all events, ever,
if the members die for it. We cae only suppose, there-
f re, that Lord Stanley would draw up a number of
standing orders with a view to stifling usele-s speeches
end securing the free pes-age of bide through the
house. Douhtle-s limitations might be made to the
power of introducing new measures late in the ses-
sion, and to the proposal of amendments, and to other
causes of interruption. Speeches, except on oxtraordi-
nary occasions, and except in the exposition of a, measure
might be limited to a reasonable time. Abstractedly
there is no reason why the house should not take its
seven months when it pleases—begin them in November
as well as in February. and end them in June as easily
as in August. But suppose the session to he begun as
Lord Stanley advises, and suppose a month's holvday at
Christmas, a week at Easter, and none at Whitsuntide ;
June comes, with the usual result a great deal to be
done ; important measures in committee, or not yet in
committee ; numerous promises still unfulfilled ; supplies
still to be voted ; a budget still to be reconsidered ; a
Church-rate Bill, No. 2, an Education Bill (No. 3), on
the list of notices ; some revelation just made affecting
the character of a Minister ; some negotiations in pro-
gress- -in a word, everything as it usually is about the
let of June. What will Lord Stanley do We very
much fear that the only result of his intended kindness
would be to lengthen the session at the beginning as well
as the end ; and to take away our winter as well as our
summer. If be can really send us all into the country
on the 18th of June he will have achieved another Wa-
terloo-day, and will deserve to be Prime Minister ; but
we doubt whether even a Prime Minister will be able to
get the House of Commons forward enough for so timely
a prorogation.

The Prince did not enter the Panorama, but turned
direct to the transept. Thus far his visit has been al-
most exclusively devoted to the French part of the Ex-
hibition, and his Royal Highness destined the remainder
for foreign countries. He began with England. Pass-
ing through the court containing locks, and Birmingham
and Wolverhampton goods, his Royal Highness de-
scended by the alley to the Manchester court, which he
crossed rapidly. The Prince then ascended the stair.
case, and noticed on a landing a splendid table of New
South Wales woods, and exhibited by the comtni,sion
nominated by the colony. This table his Royal High-
ness said he would purchase. The Austrian productions
on the top of the stairs were next visited, and the Prince
passed through the Exhibition of Turkey, and then
entered that of Tuscany. Here Prince Napoleon, being en-
gaged elsewhere, took leave of his Royal Highness.
The Prince next visited the collections of the Pontificial
States and Sardinia. Returning by the gallery next the
Transept, the Prince proceeded to the exhibition of the
East Indies, and examined it with great interest. The
Prime afteru ards examined Hunt and Roskell's case of
silversmiths' productions, &c. ; Handcock's diamonds
were next examined by his Royal Highness. After a
glance at Leuchar's and De In Rue's productions, the
Prince went to the section occupied by English printing.
The Prince having now completed his 'lamination of
the English part of the Exhibition, proceeded into that
of Belgium, then into that of Austria ; and then into
that of Prussia. The Bavarian, Wurternberg, an-1 S3XOII
collections, and those of certain of the smaller Gere'an
States were next visited by the Prince ; and he then
proceedel into Sweden and Norway, then passing
through the Netherlat:de, the PI incer-acht-d Switzerland.
his R.'yal Highness afterwards cescended the stairca-e,
and crossed the transept to the large courts of Prussia.
The Prince after war is vi-ited the Austrian Courts.
With this, the visit to the Exhibition terminated (it was
half-past one o'clock), and the Prince was conveyed in
one of the Imperial catriAges to the Tuileries.
A number of people were in the palace during the
visit of the Prince, but though they manifested the most
intense curiosity to see his Royal Highness, there was
no confusion.

The Queen and the Emperor arrived at the Tuileries
from St. Cloud at halt-past two ; their Majesties were
in an open carriage, arid were accompanied by the
Princess Royal. The Royal vehicle was escorted by
cuirassiers. As the Queen passed, loud shouts of " Vive
la Reine !" were raised, and her Majesty graciously ac-
knowledged them.

The Queen and Emperor, having been joined by
Prince Albert, afterwards proceeded to the Museum of
the Louvre.

The Imperial party dined at the Tuileries, and at
nearly ten o'clock set off for the ball at the Hotel de
Ville.

The exterior of the building presented a scene of the
most striking character, whilst below the windows were
displayed shields of crimson velvet, having the cipher
of the Queen and that of the Emperor interlaced. From
the summit of the centre tower floated the broad stan-

dards of England and France, whilst below,_in front of
the statue of henry IV., was erected a wide tent adorned
with blue draperies, to receive the principal guests.
The whole front was splendidly illuminated by jets of
gas. Eight gigantic pyramidal stands, placer.: two by
two, presented a luxuriant mass of coloured lamps, most
harmoniously blended, whilst opposite, at the extre-
mity of the wide space which stretches out in front of
the building, were placed an equal number, similarly
disposed. Two grand entrances bad been prepared to
the general suite of rooms thrown open. From the ves-
tibule, at which the Queen was to alight, a wide stair-
case, the walls of which were hid from sight hy ever-
greens and a profusion of the richest flowers, led up to
the State apartments, but leaving the Court Louis XIV.
first to be traversed. This court, which not many
months back was open to every wind, has now been
p ermtarnaenr?folyrined i
coveredto
a in,h au adrit)i waswor
wondrous
theusb
beauty.
The
sionThe chief ornament was a staircase placed exactly
under the central lustre, and erected expressly for the
occasion. Right opposite the grand staircase, from toe
centre of the room, sprang with indescribable lightness
a wide flight of steps, which at about six feet from the
ground separated to the right and left, to wind upwards
by a curve of the most graceful sv;e p to a wide landing
at,ove. Flowers ent,:ined their branches and tendrils
round the gilt rings of the staircase, the balustrade of
which was covered with crimson sad gold. At each
side below, at the spot horn which the balustrade took
its starting point, stood, on a lofty pedestal, a bronze
fernab) figure, nearly of ; one an Egyptian, and
the other a Greek, bearing high in air a cluster of lamps
to sui,, those so profusely lavished around. Tee stair-
case, was composed of a wide landing at about five feet
from the ground, from which steps struck off to the
sight and left to the rooms above, round a grotto in
which stood two statues, one of France on the
right, and the other 'of England on the left,
leaning on each other to imp' f Force, and bear-
ing between them an olive branch to represent
Union. At the sides were two Naiades in a,
reclining posture, representing the Seine and the
Thames, and each holding an urn from which gushed
forth a copious stream of sparkling water into a wide
Munk. in, filling the grotto which was placed below.
At the point where the staircase reached the mason-
work of the building above, one of the windows of the
Council Chamber had been transformed into a doorway,
hung with crimson velvet embroidered in gold. In the
Council Chamber a bust of Queen Victoria was placed,
in the midst of flowers, over the fireplace of the right,
and one of Prince Albert on the left. _ _

Beyond stood the grand ball-room where the Queen
was to appear to the eight thousand guests who hal re-
ceived invitations. The place of honour was exactly
opposite the wide entrance from the Salle des Cariatides,
and over the place assigned for her Majesty and the rest
of her party, stretched a magnificent line of hangings of
crimson velvet looped up with torsados of gold of the
most gorgeous character, and the centre point terminat-
ing in a royal crown of immense size. Six chairs of
state, crimson satin and gold, were ranged below await-
ing the imperial and royal guests.
The anxiety to bs present early exceeded anything
ever seen at these celebrated balls, as carriages had ar-
rived even before the bull ling was open to receive the
guests, and at nine o'clock the crowd was dense in the
vicinity of the spot at which chairs of state bad been ar-
ranged. About that time between forty and fifty ladies,
the wives or relatives of the members of the Municipal
Commission, assembled in Court Louis XIV., each wear-
ing on her left shoulder green and red ribbons, with a
crown embroidered on the part near the rosette, to show
that they were to be coesidered ma in waiting on the Queen
during the evening. Some time after the members of
the commission, all dressed in white knee-inexpressibles
and silk stockings, took up their place in two lines from
the grand entrance to receive her Majesty.
About ten o'clock the shouts of the multitude in the
distance announced that the Imperial cortege had left
the Tuileries and was advancing. The party advanced
in ten state carriages of the most gorgeous description,
and the whole of the distance down the Rue de
Rivoli was brilliantly illuminated. The cheers at the
outside of the Hotel de Ville when the Queen ar-
rived were deafening. Her Majesty,the Emperor, and
Prince Albert were in the first carriage, and were
escorted by a party of the Cent Gerdes. Her Majesty
on alighting was at once led forward by the Emperor,
and was received at the entrance by M. Haussinann and
iagpni
the principal members of the Municipal Commission.
ledseern ts e
et withd a n
rel
The Imperial party then ascended the staircase, and at
tfiliceenlanding u
, thous stones to the Queen ; another was also pre-
I sented by Mine. Haussmann to the Princess Ma-
thilde, who accompanied -he party, Prince Napo-
leon having preceded them. Her Majesty then
ascended the staircase, and the moment after entered the
Galerie des Fetes, leaning on the Emperor's arm, the Prin-
cess Mathilde following with Prince Albert. Strauss's
band then played •4 God Save the Queen !" with won-
derful effect, the august guests taking their places in
the chairs of State, and their suites lining the sides of
the open space already spoken of. The Queen sat at
the left of the Emperor, and Prince Albert being on her
left, and then Prince Napoleon. On the right of the
Emperor was seated the Princess Mathilde, and then
Prince Adalbert of Bavaria. The Empress was not
present. The Queen wore a white satin dress, with five
lace flounces, and with a profusion of geraniums sprink-
led over it with great taste• Her Majesty bad on a
splendid diadem of diamond', with necklace, bracelets,
ear-rings, and other ornaments, to match, and wore also
the broad ribbon of the Garter. The Emperor, who was
dressed in the uniform of a general officer in the French
service, also wore the ribbon of the garter. Prince
Albert wore the uniform of a Field-Marshal of the Eng-
lish army, with the grand cordon of the Legion of
Honour. M. Hanssmann stood a little at the right of
tho party. No oheoP !nig deraoastratio" of azy

(Front the Times of this day.)
In the discussions upon the theory of fortification
which the memorable operations before Sebastopol have
naturally suggested, it has been assumed as a probable
deduction that the employment of earthworks, with an
abundant supply of guns, would restore the resources of
the defence as compared with those of the attack ; or,
in other words, that fortified places in general would no
longer be reducible with the same amount of certainty as
before. This conclusion we consider a fallacy, and the
subject is of such interest, not only at the present con-
juncture, but as an abstract question of military science,
that we once more bring it under the notice of our
readers. _ _

To prove that earthworks and guns will accomplish
what is stated above, it should be shown that such re-
sources will, in the ordinary course of things, be less at
the command of the besiegers than the besieged. Nei-
ther of these instruments represents any new invention.
Earthworks have always been known and esteemed in
fortification, and gunpowder serves one side as well as
the other. The objection to earthworks, as we have be-
fore stated, is, that owing to the want of tenacity in the
material, they cannot be made to present a perpendicu-
lar front to the enemy, but must be constructed at such
a slope as will admit of asoent without ladders. This
condition has not been changed at Sebastopol, nor have
the Russians thrown up their works at any extraordi-
nary angle ; their strength has consisted solely in the
prodigious number of guns which they were enabled to
mount, and in the multitudes of men at hand to serve
them. Sir John Burgoyne has explicitly stated that the
plan pursued by the Russians was " the plan which had
been pursued for hundreds of years—namely, making
ordinary fieldworks of earth along the surface of the
ground ;" and he added, that the efficiency of these
works arose from the fact that they had a great army
and 300 or 400 pieces of cannon behind them. In this
view of the case we entirely coincide, and the question,
therefore, between the relative means of the attack and
the defence becomes limited to the point of artillery
alone. No doubt, the besieged can construct earth-
works in place of, or in addition to, works of masonry,
but can a garrison under ordinary circumstances occupy
such works with what alone will give them their strength
—men and guns in the proportions referred to ? We
think not.
As far as the mere number of guns is concerned, no
doubt it would be possible to accumulate them almost_
without limit in the arsenals of a fortified town, butr syocnb,
an armament would require munitions in pronp
men in proportion, and provisions in proportioa.:t.o. the
men ; and how is this unlimited store to be ;tam,'
_within the walls of a place? The verythparrinescoip:oeosi
ofa
siege depends upon the assumption that
co=paesot
foroe shut up a tows F•nst b• c.°