The Sun.
London, England, 1823-08-29 00:00:00

Fk.:s.rw.AL:oF ST. LOUIS.

PARIS, AVG. 26.—1 t had been announced by
,the Ultras, that this year the fête of the King
vas to be celebrated with peculiar splendour,
and more than ordinary enthusiasm. The success
of his-Majesty's arms in Spain, in.restoring to an-
other descendant of St. Louis the .brilliancy of
an absolute throne, and the power of making as
many saints as he chose, was supposed sufficient
..to occasion this new explosion of loyalty and de-
--vat u. 'The event has not answered .the expecta-
tion.. With the exception of the Court, the Mi-
nisters, and the immediate agents of GoVernMent,
.civil and military, there was yesterdity no dais
,of applauders. The illuminations of the evening
were confined to the Tuileries,4he royal palaces,
the public offices, and the houses of the employes
,of the Government. Nor was this indifference
the result of ignorance or inattention. In Eng-
, land, Where the Roman Catholic saints,, as well
ns the Roman Catholic worship, have gone out of
. fathion, the King's Birth-day cannot properly be
, regarded as a holidajj. 'No man is required to
desist from his usual labours—no interruption,
save of a voluntary nature, occurs to his usual oc-
cupations.. But in France, as the fête of St.
_Louis is at once a festival of the church and the
anniversary of theSovereign,,labour is prohibited
and business interrupted as religiously/ as on oc-
casien of the greeter solemnities of the Christian
faith. There is ,another distinction no less re-
markable •between the manner of observing the
anniversary in the two countries. In Eng-
land, Government contributes nothing to the pub-
lic.,rejoicing, and the firing of a certain number
of cannon, or the parade of the mail coaches, is
Of only indication that it gives of .participating
in the celebration of the day. In the capital of
France, on the contrary, the Government sup-
plies :amusement. for the public at. the public
. charge. Louis XVIII., who probably resembles
very little either the best or the worst of the Ito.
man Emperors, imitates their custom of affording
to his good people of Paris, on occasion of It's
'fete, pclent et eireenscs. On the eve of the fes.
tival, all the theatres of the capital were opened
to the pefilic gratis, and the water-works of the
Royal Qardens were ordered to play for
the amusement of those who preferred pro-
menade, to bustle or bad panegyric ; and
Yesterday, beside , the distribution of bread,
fowls, and wine-to the lower orders who chose to
sciamble for them on the public road,exhibitions
to suit : all tastes were lavishly provided, froM the
most: brilliant display of fire-works, down to the
teentebank'e stage, or the climbing pole. The
people of, Voris; ever fond of shows, flocked
crowds to enjoy the Governmentilluminations in
the evening, but not one in a thousand thought of
lighting a candle-end in the windows of his own
house ; and, bating the exertion of the autho-
Aties,,and the expenditure of the public money,
the Pte of St. Crisnin, or the fate or St. Viacra,
(Ole saint of hackney-coachmen) would IttCtrnVeen
as well celebrated us that of St. C.ouis. l.t. 4!auld.
be needless to describe illuminations wbich Inn)
nothing in them either new or ingenious; or
scenes of us regular yeayly occurrence as the 25th
of August. ft .was :remarked that the Rotel of
the - guards was ,particularly brilliant (having
beneath a.Sun.„ en.its,front, the,insc;riinion—Nee
pturibus impart and that the Chamber of De-
- putiechas not displayed such spleedour sjnceihe
secession of Manuel and the Left Side. ~ •