The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-07 00:00:00

the waters which
Ityfraosin the shore danced
taht,
eS plistlheeaodf, olnv
ingahtz re's w
studded
oa beautiful ti fwu
hl
ite breakwater,graceful
villas, fringed with wood to the water's edge, and
pleasure seekers who
over
va
esrh t
ht undulatingse sripples,
o or re s varied
Many
inyn
gab
the
eua
were so fortunate as to find berths in the squadron.
As they passed under the bows or sterns of each ship
the challange of the watch was answered by the
Aye, aye," or " No, no," according to the boat's
destination. The lights in the Admiral's cabin of
the flag-ship proved that the Duke de
Malakoff and the noble Admiral were
cementing the alliance in the most cheerful manner.
There cannot be a greater contrast between the two
nations than there is between the military and naval
heroes of this expedition—the sturdy, stout, exube-
rant frame of the General, and the thin, worn, hag-
gard appearance of Lord Lyons, who recalls to every
one who has seen him the pictures of that Nelson
whose successful career he has conspicuously emu-
lated. Notwithstanding the fatigues which his frame
has undergone, those who slept on board the fleet
were made sensible at three this morning that the
Admiral has lost nothing of his energy. The report
of the signal-gun aroused everyone; and long before
the sun had risen on the grey, cold-looking Solent,
the squadron was well under weigh. It was a glo-
rious sight to witness these proud, gallant, solid
things sailing through the water so silently and
solemnly, as if moved by some mysterious impulse.
The Admiral led, with the blue flying at the main ;
then followed the Renown, worthy of the name she
bears ; and in her wake the beautiful Diadem, fit
h ekeeping guardian of the Imperial diadem, and, in
h
Thegrace, emblematical of its
Imperialer other ships followed in due
order,
her assigned station. Why the
each
power
wcar wearer. and
squadron got under weigh at 3 a.m. in order to await
the arrival of her Majesty off the breakwater at
Cherbourg, to roll for 4 hours in a western swell, is
a question which the French ambassador :and his
suite must haie frequently asked in the course of
the morning's sail ; but as this is the first time Sir
John Pakington has visited Cherbourg, he may be
excused for not,knowing the distance across, and the
Secretary of the Admiralty may have been anxious
to gain fresh inspiration from the glad blue waters in
which we are rolling. About half-past four, three
small black specks on the horizon gave tokens of the
Royal progress. The seventeen miles an hour which
can be obtained from the Victoria and Albert soon
reduced the distance which separated the Queen of
England from the bristling fo:tifications of Cher-
bourg. The squadron formed into two lines, the
Royal Albert and Renown leading, followed the for-
mer by the Curacoa and Euryalus, the latter by the
Diadem and Racoon. It was a spirit-stirring sight when
the Victoria and Albert, with the Royal standard, fol-
lowed by her fairy flotilla, the whole under the protec-
tion of six men-of-war, each a perfect specimen of her
class, rounded the western fort of the breakwater.
The French fleet, moored in line, thundered forth
their broadsides of welcome, to the serious damage of
all the windows in Cherbourg, but to the delight of
the pleasure yachts, with which the whole roadstead
was covered. How the fleets of yachts, steamers,
pilot-boats, and Jersey hoys which may be expected
within the next two days are to find space to anchor
is a question which those who arrive last will have
to solve to their great discomfiture. After the smoke
of the guns had cleared away, the magnificence of the
harbour, the strength of it defences, must have struck
those who saw them for the first time with astonish-
ment, for, to judge by the flashes and reports from
the whole heights surrounding Cherbourg, the city
must be like a salamander girt with fire. It was
half-past eight when the watch announced the ap-
proach of their Imperial Majesties. The orders—
" man the yards," " be ready to cheer," " muster the
band," were severally uttered by the first lieutenant,
when the barge swept under our bows. It is a beau-
tiful model of a boat ; white and gold, with a
canopy of green velvet covered with golden bees,
and surmounted by the Imperial Crown. The
hurrah Which greeted the Royal party must have
been as grateful as unelPeeted. It was a good hearty
English cheer—not damaged by any jealousies of
tower, or port, or tented, ground tit -
as should greet an or carry a ship into action.
What mysterious conferences succeeded the paternal
embraces en the deck of the Victoria and Albert,
history shall hereafter tell ; we are only in search of
the picturesque ; and the scene on the Em-
peror's return was worthy of the miss en scene of the
grand opera. Simultaneously as the barge shoved
off, the mast heads, yards, and rigging of the whole
squadron was illuminated by blue lights. Suddenly
round the barge a light, bright as noon day, covered
it with its glory during its progress through the fleet
of yachts. It was Major Fit zmaurice's new light,
which the Admiralty allowed him to exhibit on this
occasion, and with the success of which they must be
satisfied. The light was so powerful that the pas-
sengers around whom it shone had to turn away
from its excess. If Major Fitzmaurice could only
throw a little of this light into the recesses of the
Imperial heart, as well as on the Imperial mantle, it
would be a great advantage to the politicians of the
day. In spite of cheers and enthusiasm, the mind
would return back to the days of Louis XIV. and
the memories of those times when Imperial bees bad
power to sting, and the hives were scattered over
Europe; and when the blue lights had died out,
and when the electric lamps grew pale, and the
sound of cannon and of cheers had ceased to echo
from rampart to breakwater, some few might hare
reflected on these strange fortunes which caused the
Queen of England to be a welcome visitor in that
port which was bombarded by our fleets just a cen-
tury ago, and which has associated the name of
Napoleon with the peace and tranquillity of Europe.

CHERBOURG ROADS, AUG. 5, 4 P.M.

Yesterday closed upon a remarkable scene—the
arrival of the Sovereign of England within the har-
bour of a fortified French port. Her Majesty, on
this occasion, anticipated the generally understood
programme of her movements, and steamed into
Cherbourg Roads at six o'clock this evening, twelve
hours earlier than was expected, and within a brief
hour of the arrival of the Emperor and Empress
from Caen, where their Imperial Majesties had
passed the previous night.
The town of Cherbourg,. as. our readers are aware,
is but a gradually-grown sea village—originally
established by the fishermen on this coast as conve-
niently situated, where the little river Divette opens
into the bay, at a spot between the small rock on
.vhich Fort Cavaignac is now situated, and the Isle of
Pelee, also now a fortified position, and by them shel-
tered from all storms except those that come from
the W.N.W. round to the E.N.E., no wide range,
certainly, but still something on a coast which, from
La Hogue to Barfleur, or, indeed, to Havre, affords
no protection whatsoever. Here there was a natural
haven, small,
but not insecure, for fishing-boats and
lesser craft only. The entrance of this little river,
widened on either side, divided into an outer port
and an inner commercial dock, and faced with quays,
is the present port of the town. The dock-
yard, surrounded by a double wall and fosse,
with casernated entrance, lies on the west,
and in the formation of this dockyard and
arsenals, with the breakwater which spreads itself in
front of the spectator, looking upon the town, from
six to seven millions have been expended, with
brave resolution and a perseverance unflinching.
Through all the circumstances of the country, or
changes in tile dynasties that have ruled it—for in
the heart of every Frenchman there is one thought
ever prominent, and above all selfish interests—the
honour and welfare of France. It was a saying of
Madame du Pompadour's—or rather she gives it in
a familiar letter to one of her female friends, as-the
guiding spring and secret of all politics—that "when-
ever any nation" has a large fleet England never rests
until she has captured and destroyed it herself or got
some other nation to do it for her. " This," said
our fair politician, "I haye learnt at Court to he the

secret of all the wars we hear about." Such being
the impression of the leaders of France, the conver-
sion of Cherbourg into a port of offence and refuge
became the dearest object of French policy, and great
has been the struggle with nature and finance to
conquer the difficulties presented by either for a ful
century in carrying out the project. The crowning
glory of this grand national achievement is due to
one of whom, M. Dacres, speaking as Minister of
Marine, on this spot, in September, 1851, during the
Presidency of Louis Napoleon, said—" His manly
hand, after rescuing France from the horrors of
rapine, impresses now upon the peaceful develop-
ment of our naval power all the activity and resolu-
tion of his genius." Something has been heard of Eng-
lish jealousy, and our regarding these great works
as a standing menace against ourselves. Why
France should not have a military port on her shores,
as well as ourselves, it is difficult to say. But, be
this as it may, Cherbourg is now almost complete as
a dockyard and an arsenal ; and France possesses its
Plymouth as well as its Portsmouth in this place and
Toulon. The breakwater is a mighty work, com-
posed, not of vast masses of stone, like that of Ply-
mouth, but of rubble and smaller stones, with a
mole, pier, and wall erected upon it, and batteries of
great guns in the centre and its extremities.
Yeur special reporters will have kept you duly in.
formed of the gay scene of bustle and excitement
which the town has presented for several days past.
The arrival of the French fleet first, and subse-
quently of a whole squadron of beautiful vessels be-
longing to the various English yacht clubs, have
given extraordinary interest to a place not remark-
able in itself for more than ordinary activity, and to-
day the roadstead lying between the town and the
breakwater has been studded with vessels of all de-
scriptions. Shortly before noon yesterday the Pen-
insular and Oriental Company's Steamship Pera,
freighted with the Commons of England, steamed
into the harbour and took up a position apportioned
for her by the authorities. This ship had left the
Solent at 4 a.m., and made a pleasant run of 7f
hours. Although the weather had been very favour-
able several of the honourable gentlemen appeared to
have had " quite enough of it." One or two pale
faces peeped out of the poop windows, and here and
there a distinguished legislator might be seen leaning
his unhappy head upon his hand over the gunwale of
the ship. A feeling of overpowering nausea seemed
to reign supreme, and if Mr. Acton Ayrton had
breakfasted upon an act of Parliament in " Com-
mittee-room, No. 24," he could scarcely have looked
more disgusted. We heard of no contretemps during
the voyage, save the precipitation of Mr. Dupre from
his sleeping berth to the cabin floor, to the serious
detriment of his physiognomy—but happily with no
more serious consequences.
The Queen sailed from Osborne at a quarter past
12 o'clock, and the run of 80 miles thence to this
port was made in less than 6 hours—an accidental de-
tention of half-an-hour at the back of the Isle of Wight
owing to a piece of seaweed having in some unaccount-
able manner got into the piston of one of the en-
gines, occasioning a delay to this extent. The Royal
squadron appointed to escort her Majesty across the
Channel left Spithead six hours in advance of the.
Queen's yacht, and making good way came to about
five o'clock this afternoon, six miles due north of the
western entrance of the harbour, where they awaited
the approach of the Victoria and Albert in the fol-
lowing order, about a cables length apart :
H.M.S. Royal Albert 131 I H.M.S. Renown .... 91
„ Curacos
„ Euryalns 5l „ Racoon 22
The patience of the gallant Admiral, Lord Lyons,
was not much tried, for the squadron had scarcely
slackened steam, when in the distance the lofty prow
of the Queen's yacht was seen rapidly approaching.
Onwards and onwards came the majestic vessel
bearing England's Majesty, the Monarch of the Seas'
reminding the spectator of Falconer's truly Homeric
lines :

" The natives, while the ship thus nears the land,
Ashore with admiration gazing stand,
Majestically slow before the breeze
She moves triumphant o'er the yielding seas ;
Britannia riding awful in the prow
Gazed on the vassal waves that rolled below ;
Where'er she moved the vassal waves were seen
To yield obsequious, and confess their Queen."
The Victory and Albert passing through the line

oLikto, Jaiu‘cu LUC 11.UU1114.1.15 dna

then taking the van, proceeded at diminished speed,
attended by the Osborne Admiralty yacht, the Black
Eagle, the Banshee, and the Fairy tender yacht,
direct for the western entrance of the harbour. The

ships of war followed in the wake of the royal yacht,
and the whole squadron now bore up for Cherbourg.
There were a large number of spectators on the pier-
heads and along the shores of the port, but it was
only at this moment that the Emperor. and Empress

had arrived at the railway station on the other side
of the town, and hither the great majority of the
sightseers had been attracted.
The Queen entered the harbour between the Fort
tie la Roche Cavaignac and the western battery of
the breakwater. Directly the yacht rounded the
ports a perfect hurricane of sound broke the silence
of the scene. The French ships of war, which, to the
number of eleven, with " the Bretagne," the flag-ship
of the Admiral at their head, were moored in one
long line inside the breakwater, and all the various
forts in the harbour vomited forth from their sides
clouds of smoke and sheets of fire with a loud
thunder, which was rolled back by the amphitheatre
of hills overlooking the town. Each vessel fired her
broadside gun after gun, in half-second time, short
and sharp like a rolling fire of musketry or a fen de
joie. The forts discharged salvos of eight guns at
the same short intervals—a mighty salutation to the
royal visitors; while dockyard and arsenal took up
the sulphurous welcome, and repeated it in still
louder thunder. As soon as the Victoria and Albert
came to her moorings all the French ships saluted
her Majesty and manned yards, not, as in England,
from stem to stern, but athwart the ships' yards,
which, combined with the variety afforded by our
own vessels, had a very pretty effect.
The Earl and Countess Cowley, who had come
down from Paris to receive her Majesty, went off in
the Victoria and Albert immediately after the arrival
of the Queen, and had the honour of being received
on board the yacht. Dinner was served at seven
o'clock, the following composing (he guests at the
Royal table :
The Queen and the Prince Consort.
The Prince of Wales.
The Duke of Cambridge.
The EiFf and.dOuntess Cowley.
The Earl of Malmesbury.
The Earl Delaware.
Sir John Pakington.
Sir Charles Phipps.
The Countess of Desert.
Miss Bulteel.
After the shades of evening had closed in, the
Emperor and Empress came off in the Imperial
barge to pay their respects to her Majesty. It was
half-past eight o'clock when the Emperor came
alongside. Her Majesty stood on the quarter-deck
to receive the Empress, who was handed up the
gangway by the Emperor. Ilis Imperial Majesty
stepped upon the deck with the Empress, and gave
to the Queen and the Prince Consort, as well as to
the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge, a
most cordial welcome to the shores of France. The
Emperor and Empress retired with the Queen and
the members of the Royal Family to the saloon, and
remained on board until half-past nine o'clock, when
they raurned to the Prefecture for the night.
During the Imperial visit all the ships of war were
illuminated with coloured fires from their port-holes,
and the harbour presented a scene of marvellous
beauty.

This morning a whole squadron of steamers, bear-
ing excursion parties from England and other places,
arrived at Cherbourg. Foremost amongst the fleet
were the two ships of the Imperial and Royal Mail
Steam Packet Company, the Prince Frederick
William and l'lmperatrice, bearing large parties from
Dover, which port they had left on the previous:
evening at six o'clock, arriving here at seven a.m.
All was quiet up to this hour; but as the Admiral's
ship Attack eight o'clQck, the Queen's nciat lowered

the Admiralty flag, which it had hitherto carried at
the fore, and ran up the French ensign. This was
the:signal for a salute from all the ships iu the har-
bour, fired with the admirable precision we have
noted on the previous evening. At the same moment
all the ships and yachts in the roadstead dressed ship,
the sailors manning yards and cheering lustily.
Again a lull occurred for some two or three hours,
during which more ships of the Peninsular and
Oriental Company, the Benares and the Salsette,
and a great many other steamers, all chartered with
sightseers, all too late, steamed into the harbour,
which, under the cheering influence of a bright sum-
mer sky, presented a picture of singular beauty and
interest.

At noon her Majesty and the Prince Consort, with
the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge,
embarked on board the Fairy tender, and steamed
into the Imperial dockyard, where the Thnreror and
and Empress received her Allajesty on the jetty and
conducted the royal party over the military fortifica-
tions. From the dockyard the Emperor and Em-
press conducted the Queen to the Prefecture de la
Marine, where the Imperial and Royal party partook
of luncheon.

Afterwards her Majesty was conducted, amid
the applause of thousands of spectators, through the
principal streets of the town, and then to the
heights on which the Forte Roule is situate, which
commands, from an elevation of 200 feet, a magnifi-
cent view of the harbour and town.

The Queen is now gone with the Emperor and
Empress to inspect the breakwater and forts, after
which her Majesty will accompany the Emperor and
Empress on board Admiral Hamelin's flag-ship,
where the Imperial and Royal party Will dine this
evening.

The fleet will be illuminated to-night on a grand.

scale.

All is excitement and gaiety here, the only parties
appearing to be disappointed being the members of
the British House of Commons, who arc very much
aggrieved at not having been admitted to the Im-
perial dockyard this morning.

CHERBOURG, AUG. 5.
Her Majesty the Queen has arrived at Cherbourg.
Her Majesty's ship, followed by the Royal squadron,
entered the harbour at six o'clock in the evening. I
shall again refer to this auspicious visit.
The Emperor and Empress of the French arrived
in Cherbourg at five o'clock in the evening.
Before giving an account of the reception of the
Emperor and Empress, of the place in which they
were first welcomed to Cherbourg, and of the vari-
ous circumstances connected with that event, I wish
to notice briefly the aspecct which this city presented
previous to their reaching the terminus of the new
railway.
Although it was pretty generally believed that the
Imperial guests could not possibly be in Cherbourg
before half-past five or six o'clock in the evening,
still all parties, the civilians not less than the officials,
were on the qui rive from a very early hour. I saw,
for instance, more than one officer of high rank, in
full uniform, in the ctreets at six in the morning,
whilst at the same time were to be observed dust-
covered travellers hurrying in from all quarters, and
seeking for places of refreshment and repose.
At seven o'clock the restaurateurs of all classes
were busily engaged with customers, and each hour
added to their numbers, until, at last, as the day wore
on, the rooms of the breakfast providers became a
scene of crowded confusion, in which bewildered
waiters and distracted attendants in vain attempted
to answer the various conflicting and still augment-
ing demands that were flooding in upon and over-
whelming them.
The crowds were great on the land before nine
o'clock in the morning, and they seemed to be
equally great in the commercial port, along the
quays, and out in the road, from the number
of skiffs and boats sailing towards Cherbourg,
the smallest boat showing the tricolor at its bow or
stern, and every trade ship or pleasure yacht that
was stationary unfolding her snow-white sails, and
dpeqrating hPrcPlf with all lIPr mnnifnlrl qtrt,amorQ
Amid this ever-moving water-picture, which was
lighted up and occasionally obscured by a brilliant
sun and ever-shifting clouds, there were conspicuous
in the distance the sullen-looking war-ships—dark,

formidable, and threatening batteries, crowned

with bare, taper, unadorned masts—seemingly
standing aloof, as if they disdained to take a part in

the merriment of the little barks and cork-like boats
that were capering and scudding about them—
haughty and reserved, as if they were proud of the
power they possessed, and conscious that all these
tiny, volatile things beneath them would be not only
overlooked, but absolutely forgotten, the instant they
roared forth their first broadside, and by the clamour
of their brazen throats should shake Cherbourg with
emotion, and prove to its people how a sovereign
should be welcomed when he visited a port which he
had commissioned them to protect from every danger.
From this scene at sea, so exquisitely beautiful in
all its parts, the eye turned towards the land, and
there, upon every point, was to be observed floating
the tricolor, as if it had sprung up from the soil of
France, an emblem of the political principles and the
attachment of the people to that family which had
wreathed its favourite banner in every land to which
it had been carried with the laurels of victory.
From the rocky mountain—the stark and stern

Montagne du Itoule—to the quiescent, grass-mounded,
and still more formidaLle Port Militaire, the extreme
points in the horizon, including the insulated bat-
teries which rose amid ever-bursting billows, were

the white-painted and red-bricked houses of
Cherbourg, and their long spacious quays.
There was everywhere to be seen the tricolor and
the overtopping eagle, fluttering and glittering in
the sunshine, and attracting attention—frequently
admiration—by the manner in which these constantly
recurring objects were arranged or grouped together
—the most conspicuous amongst all, from its posi-
tion on the Place d'Arm6e, being the Hotel de Ville
—a mass of embroidered tapestry from its topmost
balcony to its ground apartments.
It would be a vain attempt to specify the multi-

tudinous devices to which the Cherbourgers have
had recourse to manifest their loyalty and attach-
ment to the Sovereign of France ; but cne mode
adopted by the inhabitants of the various places and
streets (marked over for the Imperial procession
from the Rochard to the Prefecture) I cannot re-
frain from referring to. All those houses were de-
corated with wreaths of laurel, uniting together, so
as to make the whole line have the appearance of a
triumphal pathway ; and so honouring as a con-
queror the family that had in Cherbourg struggled
against nature itself, and compelled the most obdu-
rate materials to become instrumental in guarding the
trade and securing the peace of France. It was
hailing as a conqueror the Third Napoleon, who
had completed what the First Napoleon had de-
signed. There was, therefore, not merely taste in
this design, but there was a thought expressed which
gave it a significance far more worthy of attention
than the mere beauty of its arrangement.

I pass, then, from the streets of Cherbourg, its
banners, streamers, decorations, and well-arranged
platforms on plain and river to the festive encamp-
ment erected by the conductors of the Paris and
Cherbourg Railway in honour of the Imperial fetes.
Favoured by a friend who is one of the guests of
the compiny, I was permitted to pass the outer
barriers of this encampment, which is appropriately
guarded by soldiers of the regular army. There are
lines upon lines of snow-white tents, each tent being
sufficient to hold three perions, with beds ready pre-
pared for them—clean, soldier-like beds they are--
a table provided with all things necessary for dinner
and breakfast, and camp-stools to sit upon. To these
several lines have been given the names of different
streets appropriate to the. occasion on which they
have been erected, and the lines or streets all branch
off from what may be regared as the main road,
WhiCtt h§§ bees maned with wimirol?lo taste, for

there are on both its sides flowering shrubs and hot-
house plants—

"All dear Nature's children sweet"—

which give it the appearance, whilst they enrich the
entire encampment with the perfume, of a summer
garden. It was, in substance, the realisation of the
truth of the praises bestowed by Fletcher upon
French hospitality and politeness. For there wag

accommodation afforded to English visitors
" In France, that garden of humanity,
The very seed-plot of all courtesies."
From this festive encampment I pass to the plat-
form erected at the terminus for the reception of the
Emperor and Empress on their arrival at Cher-
bourg.
The site of this terminus, and the manner in which
it had been decorated as a reception-hall for the
Emperor, with the splendid amphitheatre, suflicicut
to accommodate at the least four thousand persona
presented a picture such as I am sure was never
before exemplified in human circumstances. Permit
me to attempt to give your readers an idea—at best
it can be but a very imperfect idea—of the opening
scene in the inauguration of the Cherbourg and
Paris railway,
Looking at it from such a place as was assigned
to your correspondent on this occasion, there was to
be seen on the left a truly palatial hail, from the
ceiling of which depended large wreaths of laurel,
intertwined with the national colours, and forming,
as it were, a canopy to the two throne-like chairs of
the Emperor and Empress. The high walls were
tapestried, and on the door beneath was a costly
carpet, whilst arranged around, with equal judgment
and taste, were flowering shrubs, and in the centre--
as the greatest and most honoured object of all—we 9
a high altar with rich silver candlesticks, golden
ornaments, and wax-tapers lighted as for one of the
most solemn celebrations of the Roman Catholic
Church, whilst by its side stood, in the rich vest-
ments of a Cardinal Bishop, the prelate of the
diocese, the Bishop of Coutance, his dean, capitulsr
clergy, and a great number of priests in their White
vestments. In this magnificent hall, as it was the
railway terminus for the moment, the principal
ornaments were the banners of France, and the
golden eagles of the Empire, whilst on each side vral
erected magnificent trophies of arms and bannergt
with the letter " N." in gold in the centre
compartment. With these war trophies en
each side of the hall were at the lower
end of the amphitheatre similar trophies tn
correspond with them. Next to this hall was the
amphitheatre—the finest construction of the kind I
ever saw, for the seats rose, at the least, a foot above
one another,—a wide space being maintained be-
tween each seat, and the seats themselves resting
upon solid rock, so that thousands were accomme.
dated without the slightest pressure, and the persons
on the backmost bench could see as well every thing
passing, as those nearest to the stage at which the
Emperor landed. All the spectators could see what
was passing, and all could behold one another—an'
when the majority of the spectators in this portion
of the spectacle wereladies of rank and wealth of both
countries it is unnecessary to observe how much the
richness and variety of their attire, combined with
their personal appearance, contributed to the bout/
of that scene they had themselves come to admire'
There were certainly many English persons of rani'
present, and I thought I could recognise the faces
and voices of several members of Parliament. I aid
quite sure that amongst the members were the Eng-
lish Ambassador and Lady Cowley, Lord Chelsea'
Hon. E. Monson, Colonel Claremont, Mr. Attleif
Sir John and Lady 011iffe. Count Wallewski was
also a looker-on, and appeared to take an interest in
the transactions of the day. Upon this amphitheatre
platform were all the chosen visitors to Cherbourg'
the favoured thousand of the many thousands that
had come, like them, to do honour to the Emperor.
But having thus described to you the magnificent
reception-hall fitted up for their Majesties, and the
splendid amphitheatre spreading out on both sides
and with its fine awning covering the back seats
(especially intended fur ladies), and adorned with
wreaths, and boughs, and tri-colored strearnerli it
is not to be supposed that the scene is complete. °LI
the enntrary, that which made the spectacle most re"
markable was to find palatial hall and large amphi-
theatre, directly fronted by a high mountain all one
mass of rugged rock, and along the sides and Peak;
of which, as on the ramparts, were to be discerned
clusters of men and women looking down upon WI
and platform, and seeming themselves, from the
height and distance, to be an army of pigmies, Vih°
had gathered in wonder to gaze at what had been
achieved by human skill and industry in the Cow
struction of the Cherbourg railway. And truth t°
say, this Cherbourg railroad is a marvel; for, look:
ing at it from the amphitheatre, it seemed to sell°
the line of carriages out of the very.depths of the,
granite mountains, which nature had, in vain, erected
to prevent the possibility of any communication he"
tween those dwelling upon the opposite sides. There
was then the gorgeous hall, the crowded amPhi•
theatre, the railroad, and the steep, craggy noun:
Lain. Never, it might well be supposed, did the s"
shine upon a finer and a more extraordinary conlhi‘
nation of interesting objects—each, by itself, a 113tit‘
ter worthy of admiration.
Such was the scene which those who bad bceo
honoured with tickets of invitation to the platforal
were for two hours looking upon, and delighted td
contemplate ; for it was a spectacle the eye won
never weary in regarding.

There were other things besides to amuse the eye'
and to render the promise of expectation less painful'
There were, in that scene I have been attempting to
describe, objects always in motion. There was, for
instance, "the clink of hammers," as the upholsterers
men were engaged in giving the last touches to the
decorations of the hall, and fastening down carpe"
on the wide central space which was to be walke"i,
a
upon by their Majesties. It was amusing to reran'
the conscious importance of the operators engaged ill
this latter occupation, each looking as if he felt that
without his little hammer and very little nails the
whole thing would be a failure, and the Emperor
without a carpet to walk upon (such as they were,
laying down), would be placed in a ,position that
would reflect the highest discredit upon Cherbourg,
Such is man's nature of his own importance to OS
world—each thinks that without the blow and noise
of his own puny hammei, society wouli soon fall to
pieces. Then came those especial objects of admit**,
tion to English ladies—the two daintily-dresSo
cantinieres, as they marched with the regiment
whose care they had devoted themselves. Then
there were the fierce-looking pompiers--the acute
infantry men—then the agile sub-lieutenants, se
the grave-looking silver-collared civil officers
and after them some grand old veteran officer/
in rich uniforms and feathered hats, and then
the Bishop of Coutrais and his clergy, and
then the hurrying up and down the line, as if tele'
graphic messengers had told the Emperor was COe:
ing sooner than he was expected. Amongst thes;
incidents that which excited the most disappoints:o
was the sudden rolling in of two snorting enginee
that appeared as wicked and as unmanageable, thong
coming for a benediction from their bishop, as a sulkY
schoolboy when forced to submit to punishment.
And then—at last--:-at ten minutes to five, the die-
taut firing of cannon was heard, showing that the
Imperial train must have been discerned advancifig
towards Cherbourg.
A pause—a very long pause—ensued, and it it
characterised by the same gravity and quieseen'.
which had marked the preceding part of the day
„;
for the feelings of the majority of those present 'ere
too deeply interested in the fact—the seeing and vibe
coming the Emperor—to allow themselves °
amused by trifles which were a source of en,toYreco
to strangers.
-
The braying of trumpets, the rattling of drum:
and the awful roaring of cannon, filled the cars
all at two minutes to five o'clock, and at the saim.,
instant the Imperial train rolled slowly forward 3U
the acelamatiOns of thousands. At that racluell
fe;
who wet! till thog pitting stated to their

,