The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-31 00:00:00

marked that the Empress looked, indeed, very
beautiful, as she took her seat by the side of her
imperial husband.
The Archbishop having saluted their Majesties,
proceeded at once to the ceremony of the marriage,
which was conducted in all respects according to
the solemnities of the Roman Catholic Church,
p res igand
accompanied by all the pomp of imperial
and, royal tradition. A canopy of silver
bishops;
was held over their Majesties' heads by two .ishops ;
the choir repeated several times the " Domine Sal-
yarn ;" the Archbishop presented holy water, and
chanted the Te Deum, which was repeated with
ecstatic effect by the orchestra and choir.
The orchestra consisted of 500 musicians, under
the direction of M. Auber, the grand organist to
the Emperor, and the following pieces were played
during the ceremony:-1. Hymn to St. Genevieve,
Patron Saint of Paris (the Urbs Beata of Leseueur);
2. The Consecration Credo of Cherubini ; 3. The
Sanctus for Mass of St. Cecilia, by Adolphe Adam;
4. An 0 Salutaris, by Cherubini ; 5. Domine Sal-
oum (after benediction); 6. The Te Deum of
Leseur. The latter composition has now in turn
been chanted at Notre Dame to celebrate the bat-
tle of Austerlitz, the consecration of Napoleon 1.,
the vote of Dec. 20, 1851, and the marriage of
Napoleon 111. •
The ceremony lasted about an hour.
At the conclusion of the Te Deum, the Emperor
and Empress descended from the Throne, and the
imperial cortege, 'having formed as in the order of
arrival, their Majesties returned to the Tuileries by
the Rue d'Arcole and Quai Napoleon, to the Place
de la Concorde, passing to the palace by the garden
entrance. The Archbishop of Parts also accom-
panied their Majesties, and conducted them to the
door of the Tuileries ; the return, as had been the
departure, being celebrated by the roll of drums,
the flourish of trumpets, the roars of the artillery,
the shouts of the people, and, heard above all, the
deep boom of the bourdon, or great bell of Notre
Dame.
While going and returning the Emperor and
Empress were enthusiastically, saluted with cries of
"Vive l'Empereur ! " "Vive I'lmperatrice ! "
Telegraphic dispatches were immediately for-
warded to all the chief towns in France, instructing
the Prefects and Mayors to make known to the in-
habitants the completion of the religious cere-
mony of their Majesties' marriage, and their safe
return to the Tuileries amidst the enthusiastic
greetings of the people.
The garden presented the. most picturesque as-
pect. The terrace adjoining the river was occupied
by deputations from all the corporations of the city,
es eh distinguished by a banner bearing appropriate
mottos. The operatives of the Canal St. Martin
had a fine live eagle standing on the top of their
banner, to which it was attached by the feet. This
exhibition afforded the soldiers much amusement
as they filed by. The bird also attracted the
notice of the Emperor, who laughed very heartily
and showed it to the Empress. All the villagers
of the Banlieue were represented by their young
girls, attired in white, and distinguished by
silk scarfs of different colours. Each, moreover,
carried a banner, ornamented with devices, and
vivas for the Emperor and Empress. Foremost had
been placed that of the inhabitants of Courbevoie,
on which were written these words Courbe-
voie, the landing place of the ashes of the Emperor
—Souvenir, sympathy, and gratitude of the opera-
tives." The young girls sbf Colombes had brought
out on the occasion a banner, which is only exhi-
bited on the religious festivities of the Virgin Mary,
whose figure, with the infant Jesus in her arms,
was worked on the silk. Those young girls had
been stationed round the large basin of the garden,
and, previous to the arrival of the cortege, they
amused themselves dancing and singing in chorus.
The burden of one of their songs was—" Five
rAmourr and " Vive Napoleon!"
At about half-past two o'clock the cortege entered
the garden of the Tuileries, and the cavalry, aftei-
ridirig up to the Palace, turned to the left and
drew up in the alley adjoining the Rue de Rivoli.
The moment the Imperial carriage made its appear-
ance, all the young girls rushed forward and ac-
tually filled it with bouquets. The shower was so
great at one moment that the guards were obliged
to interfere. The impression made by the Empress
was most favourable. Everybody found her beau-
tiftil and graceful.
At 3 o'clock their Majesties appeared at the bal-
cony of the Pavilion de l'Horloge, and, after stop-
ping a short time to look at the procession of the
banners, retired amidst loud vivats. The troops
and the immense multitude gradually dispersed.
Before seven o'clock the illuminations commenced
along the Boulevards.
The following appointments have been made in
the clerical service of the Imperial household:—The
parish priest of Ham and the Abbe Bertrand,
nephew of the Emperor Napoleon's companion of
exile at St. Helena, are appointed Almoners. The
Abbe de la Tour-d'Auvergne, Vicar-General of
Arras ; the Abbe Llabeuf, Vicar of St. Thomas
d'Aquin ; the Abbs Muloir, a Carmalite missionary;
and the Abbe Semain, a priest of the diocese of
Ajaxcio, are appointed chaplains.

THE FRENCH EMPRESS.
(From the Leader.)

Mdlle. Teba de Montijo is an Andalusian, and
was born at Grenada, in the country of the Alham-
bra. Her mother comes from the Kirkpatrick
family of Closbuni. She is daughter of a colonel
of artillery, the late Count ofMontijo. The latter,
one of the best officers in the Spanish army, served
the French cause till the year 1814 ; in other words,
be served in that heroic war of Spanish nationality
asserting against the despot of France its indepen-
dence, and its liberty. The Count de Montijo took
arms against his own country ; unfaithful to Spain,
he was always faithful to France. In the campaign
of 1814, he served in France as colonel of artillery;
and even had the honour to fire the last shots for
the defence of Paris. On his return to Spain he sat
in the Chamber of Proceres, or Grandees of Spain,
till his death, which occurred in 1839. The Coun-
tess of Montijo, his widow, after the fall of Es-
partero, became Camerera mayor, or surintendante
of Queen Isabella. The Montijo family is allied
with most of the great families of Spain, among
others, with the Gusman, the Leyva, the Cordova,
and the Le Cerda. As far as the aristocratic blood
goes, Mdlle. de Montijo is of higher birth than
Bonaparte, who (as we know well enough), is sim-
ply the bastard son of a French Creole and of a
Dutch admiral. So much for origin.
With regard to charms of person, Mdlle. de
Montijo is not one of royal and sovereign beauties
who seem to have been born to the diadem, and
before whose native majesty every brow uncovers
and every head bows down spell-bound ; neither is
she one of those dazzling angelic types which we
all are wont to worship as the ideal of more than
mortal loveliness. She is not what you would call
beautiful or pretty. She is simply pleasing. She
has the proud air of a noble lady, without the
beauty one ascribes to noble blood ; and she has all
the piquant grisette without the sansfaeon.
She has, moreover, le gcste libre et la desivolture
cavaliers. Her features are destitute of character.
She has your Spaniard's eye—the black eye of the
Andalusian. Unfortunately, she is red-haired, and
the French detest red hair ! The French people's
hatred of poor Marie Antoinette—a blind, dark,
unreasoning hatred as it was, which dragged that
unhappy Queen to the scaffold, sprang from that
fatal antipathy to red hair ; now Marie Antoinette's
hair was golden ! But you will say, by what magic
spell did Mdlle. de Montijo captivate the heart of
Bonaparte ? By the magic of her smile ! In sober
truth, that smile of hers is an empire in itself—it is
the smile of an enchantress—a triumphant smile.