The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-03 00:00:00

FRANCE.

On the 4th August their Majesties the Emperor
and Empress will be received at the railway ter-
minus by the principal civil, maritime, and military
authorities. The keys of the city will be presented
to the Emperor by the mayor and the municipal
council. The benediction and inauguration of the
railway from Cherbourg to Paris will then take
place in the presence of the Emperor and Empress.
This ceremony is to be followed by the presentation
of the leading authorities, civil, maritime, and mili-
tary to their Majesties in the grand saloon, which
has been fitted up and decorated for this purpose at
the terminus. Upon leaving the terminus, the Em-
peror is to be greeted by the rural delegations, with
banners displayed.
Upon this occasion, the pompiers, the douaniers,
and all the sea and land forces, will be under arms.
These will form a line from the railroad to the hotel
of the Prefect. The batteries, land and sea, will
announce by a triple salvo of all their guns the mo-
ment when their Majesties have entered the city.
The programme having stated the names of the
different localities through which the Imperial pro-
cession will pass from the railway to the Prefecture,
then mentions that all the vessels of the French
squadron will be decorated with all their flags, whilst
each of the public edifices of the city, as well as the
vessels put for the moment in the commercial port,
will exhibit their colours.
Upon the arrival of the Emperor and Empress at
the Prefecture, the ladies of the families of the prin-
cipal officials are to be introduced to the Empress,
who will at the:same time receive a deputation of
young maidens, who will be permitted to offer flowers
and a present of lace to her Majesty.
The next regulation worthy of being mentioned
is the fact that all the public establishments, on the
land as in the harbour, as well as the mperial
squadron, are to be illuminated every night that the
Emperor remains in Cherbourg.
It is, I perceive, from the official document issued
by the mayor, and addressed to his f'ellow-eitizens,

Upon the next day, the sth, her Majesty the
Queen of England arrives in Cherbourg harbour;
and the official programme thus notifies the fact :
" 'heir Majesties, the Emperor and Empress, have
reserved to themselves this day for the purpose of
receiving on board the ship, the Bretagne, her
Majesty the Queen of England. An ulterior order
will make known the regulations to be adopted if
requisite to do so. There will be a regatta in the
road of Cherbourg in presence of the united ships of
the French and English marine and the Royal Yacht
Squadron. This regatta is to take place in front of
the Quay Napoleon, and a specious programme will
give in detail the course of proceedings."
Such is the official reference to the proceedings of
the sth of August—the day of the Queen's Visit.
The 6th of August is to be devoted by their
Majesties the Emperor and Empress to proceedings
in the road of Cherbourg, to an examination of the
breakwater, and visiting the vessels composing the
Imperial Squadron.
Whilst they are thus occupied the citizens of
Cherbourg are to be amused with public sports and
games, the organisation of which is confided to the
Municipal Council, and the details of which are to
be announced in a local advertisement. At two there
is to be a gratuitous spectacle at the theatre. At
three there are to be balloons, with parachutes, from
which will fall flowers, standards, toys, &c.
At nine o'clock the same evening there are to be
fireworks upon the Place Divette, by the celebrated
Ruggieri, pyrotechnist to the Emperor.
On the 7th of August the Emperor and Empress
will leave the house of the Prefect at an early hour
in the morning. awl will make a pLuniu..au
parts of the city, and, so far as they possibly can, in
the environs, so as to be back precisely at 12 o'clock,
when they will enter the port by the southern gate,
where they will be received by the officers and em-
ployees of the marine. Upon their Majesties descend-
ing from their carriage, there are to be three salvos
of artillery. Their Majesties will then proceed to
the Arsenal, through a line composed on the one side
of the troops of the Arsenal, and on the other side of
the workmen, banded together according to the dif-
ferent ateliers in which they are engaged. The
floating of the fine vessel, the Ville de Nantes, will
then commence. During the time that will pass be-
tween the first immersion of the vessel and its final
launching, the Emperor and Empress will visit the
different workshops of the arsenal—all the operatives
will be engaged at their usual labours during this
inspection—but on the appearance of the Emperor
in each department all labour is then to cease, so
that each operative will have full opportunity of
seeing and being seen by his Sovereign.
The regulations set forth to prevent any person un-
connected with the arsenal, and not in military or
marine uniform, from being present are most minute.
I have seldom read any regulations more strict for
the purpose of excluding the possibility of an un-
invited stranger being a spectator of proceedings
in which he could have no other interest beyond that
of indulging his own curiosity.
It is supposed that the immersion of the Ville de
Nantes will be completed by six o'clock, when the
launching and benediction of the vessel will take
place.
The same evening the ball of the city of Cherbourg
to the Emperor and Empress will take place,
and a notification is to be published stating
the route their Majesties will take both in going and
returning from this entertainment, which will be on a
truly magnificent scale.
I now come to the last day of their Majesty's visit,
the Bth of August. The climax, the grand coup of
all the doings and festivities of Cherbourg, is to be
the inauguration of the equestrian statue of Napo-
leon the First. It is to take place at half-past nine
in the morning. At this ceremony is to be congre-
gated all the forces now in Cherbourg. At eleven
o'clock their Majesties will hear a low mass at the
Church of the Trinity, and at half-past two they
will leave Cherbourg ; but the precise plan on which
their separation from the loyal citizens of Cherbourg
is to occur has not yet been determined upon. It
will be made known by a special order.
It is notified that during the stay of their Majes-
ties in Cherbourg the officers of the marine and
army are to be invariably en grande terme d'hiver.
To these regulations is to be added one which
does not come in an official form, namely, that the
Emperor and Empress are to give a public reception
to the Mayors of all the communes of the arrondisse-
ment—each commune having a banner surm.ounted
with the imperial eagle, and inscribed with the name
of the commune to which it belongs. Each Mayor
will be accompanied by the municipal administra-
tion, and by the old soldiers of the Empire dwelling
in each commune, wearing the St. Helena medal.
Each parish will have at its head its rector and
curates, and those clergymen appointed to assist the
Bishop of Coutances in the solemnity of the bene-
diction of the railway from Cherbourg to Paris.
A semi-official notice forbids the throwing of
flowers, garlands, or bouquets into the carriage of
the Emperor, as they might cause accidents ; and it
is requested that petitions may not be personally pre-
sented, as her Majesty's Secretary will attend at the
Prefecture, and receive them, fbr the purpose of
bringing all such documents under the notice of the
Emperor or Empress—whichever of them may be
specially addressed.
Having thus given you an abstract of the official
and non-official programmes, I turn to matters
which are connected with the same subject—the
Imperial and Royal visit—and which are at this mo-
ment topics of observation in Cherbourg. One in-
genious gentleman has, I find, calculated that there
will be five thousand discharges of cannon fired in
the road of Cherbourg, each time that their Majes-
ties will go out into the harbour, and as all the ves-
sels of war fire by broadside, the public is invites] to
calculate the force of the detonations. This is a
matter on which the public has already had some
experience, for on last Friday evening the fleet was
practising with a few broadsides, and I am assured
that the effect en some of the houses looking out
on the grand war-ship basin was to smash the
glass in several windows. What will happen
in Cherbourg if the casements are not left open may
thus be easily anticipated. None will, lam sure,
be more delighted with the result than the honest
glaziers of Cherbourg.
A local paper of Cherbourg contains the following
paragraph, on which it is necessary to make an ob-
servation. It is an illustration of the different way
in which buyers and sellers are disposed to regard
the same subject.
The Cherbourg paper says :—" There arc from
four to five hundred apartments, at the least, adver-
tised to be let in Cherbourg for the fetes. The
price of these, which has never been so high,. as has
been reported, has been considerably diminished, and
lowers each day as the number of lodgings increase."
The writer of this paragr ah has not informed the
public what he considers a high price ; but this I
can say, I have been asked a scandalously high
price, and have had to make my way to a distant part
of the town before I could procure any suitable resi-
dence—and even then have had to pay by the day
treble what would be demanded for the same accom-
iuudatiou in the came locality fora weak, and even
such I could not get until I had paid in advance for the
full term. All strangers of all nations are mulcted
by the astute Norman, but beyond all others those
who speak French with an English accent. It is a
species of French patriotism to charge the English
twice as much for the same article, as would be
charged to a Frenchman. Ido not affirm this pecu-
liar development of nationality, as the result merely
of my own experience. Its accuracy is recorded by
a very popular French author, M. Feval, who in-
troduces in one of his novels a character to which he
has given the name of M. Benoit, whom he de-
scribes as a man who lived by letting lodgings, and
whose trade-principles are thus explained :—" Les
Anglais devaient payer un tiers en sus parce que M.
Benoit etait bon patriote.
The Cherbourg letters-of-lodgings seem to be in-
fluenced by the same want of conscience of which
the thrifty Mallicorn boasted, when reproached for
his ingratitude for favours already received :
" Would yeu have
A citizen book those ? Thankfulness is
A thing we are not sworn to in our indentures ;
You may as well urge conscience."
One result of the enormous prices asked in Cher-
bourg has been to force numbers to seek for apart-
ments in the neighbouring hamlets and villages—
persons finding it cheaper to take up their abode in
the neighbourhood of Martinast, Couville, and even
so far away as Valognes, and pay for voitures daily,
than to be mulcted by the remorseless charges sought
to be extorted from them for dwelling in Cherbourg.

TILE AMERICAN MAILS.-LIVERPOOL, July 31
—The British and North American royal mail steam-
ship Niagara sailed from the Mersey at a few minutes before
one o'clock this morning for Halifax and Boston, with the
weekly mails, 105 passengers, and a full cargo of manu-
factured goods.

THE FETES AT CHERBOURG.--LIVERPOOL, Mon-
day.—The Dundalk and Midland Steam Company's steamer
Independence, sailed from the Mersey for Cherbourg this
afternoon with 78 passengers. It is intended that the In-
dependence shall accompany her Majesty's fleet across the
Channel to France.

A supplement to the Lokdon Gazette of last Friday
was issued yesterday. It contains certain orders in Council
issued at a Court held at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, on
the alst

PARIS, AuG. 2.
Nothing can be more liberal than the arrange-
ments made by the French Government for British
visitors to Cherbourg. The marine authorities have
received orders to permit members of Parliament,
the proprietors of yachts, and gentlemen belonging
to the important London journals, to occupy con-
venient places in order that they may be spectators
of the ceremonies to take place on the meeting of the
Sovereigns of England and France. lam assured
Earl
.Cowley has so arranged with the French
authorities as to secure these privileges. I am happy
to be able to report that the most cordial under-
standing exists between the Governments of England
and France concerning foreign officers generally, as
well as the courtesies growing out of the fetes at
Cherbourg.
The Ministers of Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover,
Baden, and Sardinia, have joined in freighting a
steamer at Havre to attend the flies at Cherbourg;
the Russian Minister, M. de Kisseleff, is to go alone.
M. de Hatzfeldt, the Prussian Minister, has not
recovered sufficiently from his indisposition to be
able to attend, and M. de Hubner, the Austrian
Ambassador, though invited, has not yet received
the instructions of his Court as to whether he is to
go or not. No one but the British Ambassador has
received an official invitation to Cherbourg.
The Continental journals confirm the intelligence
you have already received concerning the affairs
of Montenegro. An official despatch says :—" The
Sultan's Government having sent orders to remove
the Turkish troops from the Montenegrin frontier,
Prince Danilo on his part has withdrawn the troops
charged to defend it."
Imperial rescripts have been sent to the nobles of
the Governments of Orenbourg and Kalouga, .
Russia, granting them permission to form Emancipa-
tion Committees in those provinces.
The Duke de Rivas is about leaving Paris for
Madrid. His Excellency has taken leave of the
Emperor. I have been assured that both the Em-
peror and Empress expressed deep regret at his de-
Count de Cavour retured to Turin on the 314
ult.

The Hanover Gazette gives the following on the
subject of the vote of the Germanic Diet :—" The
proceedings of the Diet, as regards the reply of
Denmark, threaten to take a very deplorable turn.
The commission for the affair of Holstein, which
had been united to the Executive Committee, was
charged to examine that reply and to present a
prompt report on it. These two bodies terminated
their labours on the 28th ult. Unfortunately, the
propositions of this report are such that the EnvoY
of Hanover, who is a member of the united
body refused to sign the report, and demanded 3
delay to draw up a different decision. Under
pretence of the urgency of the affair, the
committee refused to grant that delay, and on the
29th, presented to the Federal Assembly the opi-
nions of the majority of the committee without
making any mention of the views of the dissident,
member. The Hanoverian Envoy, in the sitting 01-
the Diet, protested against the refusal of the delay,
and announced that his Government would apPe3!
to the co-Federate Governments. He also protestea
against the proposition of the majority, according to
which the Danish Envoy was to form part of the
Executive Committee. The final settlement of this
difference is looked for with impatience. The G°-
vemments, it is to be hoped, will never adhere to the
conclusions of the majority, as, if they should do sOi
the cause of the Duchies is lost for Germany and
gained by Denmark."
We learn by telegraph—
" NAPLES, lst.—The King has commuted the sentence,
of death passed on the seven men in the Sari affair ; tb
commutation for Nicotera and two others is the galleys fO5
life, and for the four others twenty-five years' imprison
in irons."
" BERNE, Ist.—The Federal Assembly has been dissolved'
and will again meet on the 10th January next." as
Mr. Sams, of St. James's-street, yesterday,
honoured by the Emperor with a reception at Pt_
Cloud. The object of Mr. Sam's visit to Paris W3'_,
that of placing before his Majesty the prospectus °!
the Dramatic College, accompanied by a letter fro,vve
Mr. Webster, the chairman of the committee. TDA
Emperor received Mr. Sams most graciously 39„"
was pleased to promise his support of an instituti°'
towards which he expressed much sympathy.
PARIS BOURSE.—The market has been steady, and,
the settlement has been effected on favourable 01,.,
ditions. Threes, after having been done at 680,
15c. improved to 68fr. 25c. ; Mobilier varied frc°7;
620 fr. to 630 fr. ; Austrian, 627 fr. 50c. to 630:gr,
Orleans, 1,267 fr. 50c. to 1,270 fr. ; Lyons, 76
50c. to 770 fr.; Southern, 515 fr. to 520 fr. ; Easte,s'fr,
648 fr. 75c. to 655 fr.; and Western, 595 fr. to 60v
The following are the last quotations :
Fr. Ct. Ir. C!:
41- per Cents... , 95 25 Credit Fonder 6OO ..,
Do. end of month Belgian 4f
3 per Cent. 6B 25 Piedmontese 5 SO i
Do. end of month 68 45 Roman.....
Bank Shares .... 3,100 Austrian Ol
Credit Mobilier.. 630 Spanish. Threes
Do. account..... 628 75 Home Debt

••••••

RAILWAYS. QS.
Cash—Fr Ct, Account—Fr....

orleans .. 1,270 1,210 "0
Northern
New ditto 772 50 ....• 0
Lyons & Mediterranean 772 50 70
New ditto ..... , — .....• 0
Geneva 582 50 581' 0
Midi
Western . 6OO , 600 ,
Eastern
.-- Grand Central ...... ~ -- 0
Sardinian
630
Austrian ..... 630 ..

DISTRIBUTION OF THE VICTORIA CROSS i3l

HER MAJESTY.

PORTSMOUTH, MONDAY NlGifice
The distribution of the Victoria Cross, which took rot
place yesterday afternoon, on Southsea-common, ureetio
event of no ordinary interest, and to the inabitants of 5
locality it was a great patriotic festivity, numbers ber •
attracted from the surrounding districts to witness the 13:00
ceedings. The troops began to assemble on the colludes
about half-past three o'clock, and formed into two brie gi:
the first commanded by Lieut.-Col. Cole, of the 15th Peegs-
went, and the second by Col. Hurdle, C. 8., of the Royal
/to
tines Light Infantry. There was in all about 4,000 infontrost
very respectable gathering considering the large drOfte,ooo
have recently gone out to India, and including, besides, joie,
companies of Royal Artillery, the 15th Regiment of the ors
and five regiments of militia. The officers and coloured',
drawn up in front of the line of continuous columns 11,00
in g the arrival of her Majesty. Per the accommodltketea
the Queen an elevated dais, suitably decorated, Was eretferal
in front of the brigades, and in the rear of the Pledst
was a royal pavilion or tent for her Majesty and the 010
party. Enclosures were set apart for the officers °rse s
garrison and their friends, among whom were of o°ooo
arge number of ladies. These enclosures flanked fie 0
ide of the platform erected for the sovereign; not°
line of sentries, extending a considerable distance juJhr-wet°
the enclosures formed a square, in the centre of Whie",
the
stationed the brigades. The general public thronge"tioet
space immediately beyond, and obtained no very aide
view of the ceremony itself. A grand stand was Prop
for the use of those who chose to pay for an elevate Cod
Lion, but the situation was more favourable fora
4
Wait than for minute inspection. AOO
The esplanade was gaily decorated with partyt,
Plate
flags, and here also were erected a number of smou;
tb
forms, the property of enterprising speculators
tler
gratification of nuhli, curiosity. Om
The Queen landed at the stairs in the dockyar of
-
royal salutes shortly after four o'clock, the creWo
vessels in harbour manning yards and cheering tO6
during the royal approach and disembarkation, afolooll,,
ships themselves being dressed in their gayest
Her Majesty proceeded at once to Southsea-comni°°;so
was saluted in passing opposite the fleet at SPitb"itoilr.
the magnificent screw vessels at anchor, and tor'l
homage was paid by the garrison battery. Tbeiesore,
carriage entered the ground by the eastern °IIi,, (10`,
'
and stopped for two or three minutes alongside fore
while her Majesty gazed on the beautiful scene be l° ye
the principal feature of which was the gallant boxo tel.
deeds were the occasion of the ceremony. 00 tb; 00;
of her Majesty was his Royal Highness the Princi-lreli de°
sort on horseback, in the uniform of a field-mars
the left was his Royal Highness the Duke of Cuiice°'s
In the carriage with the Queen were the Princess
the Princess Helena, and a lady in waiting. irberly-filesp"e
numerous and brilliant staff. At a signal from he:rtv ofd At
the royal cortege proceeded to the eastern extrero7,ooci
two brigades, and traversed the whole front from COu
a slow walking pace. It then returned amid the e of
he multitude to the dais appointed for the ceren3ol3jej'
tribution, which her Majesty immediately asce"cons:
companied by the two royal Princesses, the Priguehst P•rie
and the Duke of Cambridge, and by Gen. Peel' ;cid e,
jesty standing in front. The officers and men seosiliv
receive the Victoria Cross were then ordered the olio
which they did successively, and each in turn hod y bi
fication of having the cross fastened on his bred tob's,e
hand of the Queen herself—an honour which see°ee Of% it
a rather dazzling and bewildering effect on some te,
was shown by a forgetfulness of the military salt tied
certain amount of bashfulness in retiring. „0 oar tlll,
After the crosses had been presented, the tror tosot De,
past her Majesty in open columns, in ntlileprelecs
bands of the several regiments playing as toe' brig° rtif;
the Queen. The troops afterwards formed 10 - a' f tee
maiety, oor
he ground which they occupied on her J pIOP
and the presentation of arms &c., and the P'9,001.7,
National Anthem by all the bands simultsue 001' oog,
flounced the termination of this interesting eerenite ma=ll''
It was remarked by every one who was fortuue
to have a good view of the Queen's face as she wee.. 130, ~ttCCP b 6
to depart, that it beamed with smiles of satisfactt geett.
The royal party left about half-past five o'eloc
affectionate plaudits of a vast assembly.