The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-23 00:00:00

AN IMPERIAL SKATING PARTY.

A Paris correspondent writes, under dcte of
Saturday evening :—" Last night I had the luck
to be present at a grand Court skating match by
torelhight. In Paris the streets were muddy ; it
was supposed a thcided thaw had set in, the ice on
the lake in the Bois de Boulogne was pronounced
unsafe—it was, as I ascertained myself, watery oa
the surface, and net a soul was to be seen upon it.
But beyond the Longchamps race-course, and on
the banks of the Seine, near M. de Rothschild's
splendid villa, and just opposite Suresne, there is
a meadow studded with pretty clumps of high trees,
which was overflowed during the late floods, and
which, although the thermometer had risen to a
shade above zero, still presented a smooth coating
of solid ice, there being scarcely any water under-
neath. At this spot the Emperor, with as much
secrecy as possible, had made a rendezvous for 10
o'clock at night. The great Godilot, undertaker of
public rejoicings, hung the branches of the trees
with handreds of Chinese lanterns, and serving
men, as numerous as those peasants who erst walked
all night long up and down the ponds about the
Hovel palaces to prevent the frogs from waking the
Kings of France, promenaded the frozen meadow
with lanterns fixed on their heads. Besides this
constant illumination, there was an intermittent suc-
cession of Bengal fire and fizzing torches, which
lighted up the scene al giorno. A body of men in
white blouses--a special ice police—formed a cordon
round the field of operations, and kept off those
who were uninvited, but the crowd of spectators,
though considerable, consisted mainly of the inhabi-
tants of St. Cloud, Suresne, and the neighbouring
villages. The population of Paris knew nothing
of thefete,and up to this hour neither the lifoniteur
nor any other journal has said a word about it. As
soon as the Emperor and the Court arrived the
sport commenced in very business-like style. The
Empress got into a sledge, and M. Hartogs, a Ger-
man gentleman, whose proficiency as a skater
attracted the Imperial notice two years ago, and
who is now called at Court the Emperor's Aide-de-
Camp de glace, had the honour of pushing her Ma-
jesty on the ice. He took her along at railroad
speed, and was out of sight of shore in less than a
minute. The Empersr then put on his skates, and
conducted the sledge of a lady whose name I could
not learn. The Countess de Morny, enveloped in
velvet and white furs, essayed her prowess, but
was supported by two gentlemen, who gave her a
hand on each side. The Princess Poniatowski
went along very well by herself. In a short space.
of time the ice was thickly studded with a host of
chamberlains, generals, aides-de-camps, and even
judges who had come with the Court party to join
in the fashionable amusement of the hour. The
notion of coming to skate in a thaw was highly ap-
proved, for the night was by no means cold. The
Emperor and Empress remained on the ice till half-
past 11. This afternoon, the frost in the meantime
having returned with considerable intensity, the
sport was resumed by the Imperial party at the
same spot. M. Hartogs gave the Empress a pro-
menade in a beautiful sledge, which was sent for
by telegraph from Germany, and only arrived
this morning. Afterwards her Majesty ventured
to skate, but only with the assistance of two
gentlemen. She is not at her ease upon the ice,
and, considering that she comes from sunny Spain,
this is not to be wondered at. The Emperor is a
very good skater. He does not attempt any tours
de force, but he is perfectly master of his move-
ments. His wont is to go along rather slowly, and
he stops frequently to contemplate the animated
scene around him. Not the least etiquette is ob-
served on the ice. No clear space is kept about the
Emperor or Empress. They go about just like any-
body else, and to-day, unlike last evening, every-
body without exception was allowed to skate at the
same time with them. The Emperor had nothing
whatever but his own adroitness to prevent him
from being knocked over by the first tyro in the
sport whose skates might run away with him. It
was an interesting sight to see the master of so
many legions, the mighty potentate upon whose
mysterious breath tha fate of so many nations
hangs, slipping about unpretentiously on the ice,
no squire or even servant following him, and appa-
rently as much on an equality with the people
about him as a carter is with a ploughman on an
English farmyard pond. Once a young man, who
saw the Emperor skating slowly along the middle
of the lake, steered almost indiscreetly close to him
and gave him the go by, with the evident intention
of getting credit with the spectators for being the
best skater. The Emperor then, without any ap-
parent effort, increased his speed, gracefully dis-
tanced his opponent by a few yards, and, contented
with his victory, resumed the steady pace which,
as I said before, he seems to affect. The frost is
severe to-night, and should it continue the rage for
skating will attain extraordinary proportions.
Marry ale ornot-..-tia IN hu has a good pair of skates,
for the manufacturers cannot make them fast
enough. The lake in the Bois de Boulogne is
again in capital order.