The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-09 00:00:00

C 0113-

HER MAJESTY.

-ei- -

BALMORAL, Monday.
The Queen, Prince and Princess Christian, Prin-
cess Louise, and Prince Leopold attended Divine
service yesterday in the parish church, Crathie.
The Rev. Mr. Taylor, minister of Crathie,
officiated.

Sir Stafford Northcoto and Mr. Mowbray 1174
the honour of dining with the Queen and royal
family.

Health of the Emperor Napoleon 111.

The Paris correspondent of the 7inzes says :—I
believe there is not a malady in all the sad list of
ills to which flesh is heir that has not been, at some
time or other during the last 14 years, attributed to
the Emperor Napoleon. It is true that his Majesty;
with his robust constitution, has had his share of
these indispositions, from which no special privilege
exempts him. But had he only the twentieth part
of what common report has imputed to him he must
have succumbed long ago. The Pope, I think, 13
the great personage who, after the Emperor, has
been repeatedly declared to be beyond all chance of
recovery. Until the last few years his;Holiness has
been often in the last agony; and the Parisian public
watched with much interest and from various
motives the telegraphic news from Rome with the
certainty of its soon announcing that all was over.
In the present instance the persons who sent about
the various stories in the early part of the week, in
which that about the Emperor's health figured pro-
minently, must have been sorely taxed to discover
some new ailment, which, as I have already hinted,
was no easy task. Before his accession to the
throne, and from his election to the Presidency
down to the Coup d'Etat, it was confidently
believed that he was of weak understanding ; so
strong is the force of prejudice that an eminent
statesman, one who had held a high place in the
Council of the nation in former days, declared, after
a pretty long interview with the President of the
Republic, that he was struck by the poverty of his
intellect. He soon showed he was not an imbecile,
whatever else he may have been. It was to this
mental incapacity that the propagators of these
reports reverted. It appears that accounts, "on
unquestionable authority," had reached from
Biarritz that his Majesty had fallen into complete
imbecility : he could not understand anything that
was said to him, he had lost the use of speech, he no
longer recognised anybody, and, in fact, he was
reduced to that prostration—

"Qua nec
Nornina servorum, nec vultum egnoscit amid."

It was in consequence of this deplorable state of
things that the Ministers and members of the Privy
Council, Marshals of France, &c., were summoned
to Biarritz in hot haste, and where, as the latest
accounts stated, they were in axious deliberation in
the Villa Eugenie. .

About seven or eight years ago the Emperor's
health was said to be in the same desperate state.
Rheumatic gout, liver complaint, sciatica, intermit-
tent fever, together with various other affections,
had before that been attacking his constitution, but
apparently without any serious effect, for it was
certain he persisted in living, no doubt to spite his
enemies, and the alarmists who had given him over
were, like the good folks of Islington mentioned in
Goldsmith's well known Elegy, again baffled. The
Emperor and bis family were then at Biarritz, as
they now are. I happened about the same time to
pay a visit to Bayonne—.a town, by the way, which
surpasses any other in France in its picturesque
beauty, the more striking as the tourist comes on it
after the wearisome hours on the flat and monoton-
ous Landes—and had just got a letter from a friend
in London, where these alarming reports had reached,
and which bad not, as you may suppose; lost
anything by the distance, asking me to make so:no
inquiries on the spot as to their truth or falsehood.
The morning after my arrival I walked down to
Biarritz, and met, at the angle where the road
branches off at the village of Anglet to that now
celebrated bathing-place, au old acquaintance
whose residence was hard by. As the morning was
fine, with a light breeze that came up from the
ocean, and which tempered the heat of an August
sun, we continued our way. My acquaintance was
a most worthy gentleman, without a particle of ill-
nature in his composition, and as free from weak-
nesses as most men. He was, indeed, somewhat
credulous and easily imposed upon, and he had one
little foible, moreover, which consisted in desiring

to appear not only better but sooner informed than
anybody else of all that was going on in the world.
Some of his friends who knew this foible used to
amuse themselves by telling him stories about
things which never happened, and he invariably in-
terrupted them by declaring that he had known all
about it long before, though prudence kept him
silent. As we walked along I asked him as to the
reports about the Emperor's dangerous illness,
which he must have known, as he was residing in
the neighbourhood. He answered :—" Of course I
have, and I knew the fact long before any human
being even suspected it. lie is very ill, poor man,
and I am very sorry for it; for what would become
of us all if anything happened to him ? I have not
seen him simce I came here, but I know it is posi-
tive that he is hardly able to walk ; he receives no
visits, hardly stirs out of the villa, and the most se-
rious part of the affair is that he, who was so fond
of exercise, cannot mount his horse. He has not
had his foot in the stirrup for a long time, and his
doctor says that, in his present state, to mount a
horse would be fatal to him. Carriage exercise,
and that very gentle, is all that is allowed him, but
as for walking or riding it is out of the question.
This I heard last night on the best authority.°
While we were talking we saw in the distance two
horsemen coming from Biarritz in the direction of
Anglet, by what is called the old road, which affords
more shade than the new one, and appearing and
disappearing as the trees and windings of the road
allowed them to be visible. They were at first
walking, but as they approached the level ground
they got into a trot. From the peasants who were
working in the meadows and maize fields on both
sides of the road taking off their caps and saluting,
we knew that one at least must be a person of great
distinction, probably the Sous-Prefect of the arrow"
dissement, or the Mayor of the commune. As theY
emerged from a dip in the road and came close to
us they broke into a gallop, and there could be no
mistake about the matter, it was the Emperor him-
self and one of his orderly officers, both in light
summer clothing, and with the low.crowned melon-
shaped grey felt hats which are so commodious in.
the country. There he was, the man who could
hardly stir from his bed or off his sofa, and who was
utterly unable to mount his horse. We, of course,
saluted as they passed us at a smart pace, and coil'
tinned on their way to the citadel of Bayonne, at
least four miles distant, his Majesty looking well
and hearty. I stole a glance at my companion, but
only for an instant, and, out of sheer compassion,
turned the conversation to some other topic for the
rest of the time we remained together. I soon
learnt at Biarritz that not a day passed without tlo
Emperor walking out, and making pretty longex-
cursions in the country, either riding or drivie.g:.
Since then I have been a little difficult of bullet
when the Emperor's health is talked about.

His Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant will return to
the Castle from Baronscourt on ThnrsJay, and will
be pr,.2sent at the conferring of degrees in the QueoLi'd
University on Friday.

THE EDINBURGH BANQUET TO Mn. DISRAELI.---
In consequence of the great number of applications for
tiekots to the dinner to be given to Mr. Disraeli at Edin-
burgh on the 29th, the place of meeting has been altored
from the Music Hall to the Corn Exchange, where upward°
of 1,200 can be accommodated. Already, however, moil
than the full number of tickets has been bespoken, an'
applications are still pouring in which the committeo are
unable to satisfy. The Corn Exchange is not a very suit-
able place in point of acoustics, but in the absence of a
public hall of sufficient size it is the only place available'
Every exertion is being made by the committee to gllr°
eclat to the demonstration.