The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-20 00:00:00

E iUPERIAL FETE.

The following is a description, abridged from
Galignani, of the Imperial Fete which took place
at Paris on Thursday last e—The Emperor's Fete
was celebrated on Thursday, and, though the ab-
hence of his Majesty and the Emprese from Paris
deprived it of one of its main elements of attrac-
tion, went off with great eclat. A fete iu France
would be considered incomplete unless ushered in
with great expenditure of gunpowder, and accord-
ingly, at six o'clock in the morning, the boom of
the guns of the Invalides, ringing out through the .
clear, still atmosphere of the yet slumbering city,
intimated to the Parisians that the anniversary of
the national holiday had come round once more,
and that the fete had officially commenced. The
public rejoicings did not, of course, begin until a
much later hour, but as the morning wore on excur-
sion trains from every part of the country poured
their living freight into the capital, crowding the
streets and the Champs Elysees withleieturesque
specimens of provincial and foreign costume, among
which the tall caps of Normandy and great varieties
of that popular but hideous head gear, the " pork-
pie" hat, far outnumbered the rest. While the
foreign and provincial visitors wandered about,
seeing the lions, and breakfasted al fresco in front
of cafes and wine-shops, the first, and though the
least brilliant, far from the least interesting, por-
tion of the programme was being gone through by
the authorities—the distribution of food and alms
to the aged and indigent of the various Mairies anti
Bureaux de Bienfaisance. At about 10 o'clock the
old soldiers of the First Empire assembled in the
Place Vendome. They marched round the pillar,
each laying a crown of immortelles at the foot of
their hero's statue. This muster of the survivors
of the Grand Armee formed a melancholy and
touching episode amon g the sights of the day. Accord-
ing to annual custom, they all dined together in this
evening. At 1 o'clock a :re _Num was celebrated
at Notre Dame, at which all the great bodies of the
State were present. Services of a similar character
took place in all the other churches. At the same
hour the principal theatres gratuitously threw open
their doors to the lovers of the drama—the popula-
tion of the manufacturing quarters showing, as
uaial, a marked predilection for the performances
of the Theatre Francais, where classic tragedies are
performed on these occasions, which few French-
men, however humble their station, are not ac-
quainted with. The attention they paid to the per-
formance might be imitated with advantage by
better-dressed audiences. In addition to the theatres
the Hippodrome and the Circus in the Champs
Elysees were filled to overflowing, and the instru-
mental concert in the Exhibition building was at-
tended by a crowd that evidently both enjoyed and
appreciated what they heard. These amusements,
however, absorbed only a small portion of the sight-
seers. For the great mass the fete would be a dis-
appointment were the favourite "grand spectacles
militaires, mats de cocagne," &c., to be omitted.
The military spectacles consist of two huge booths,
on the boards of which the skill of the scene-pain-
ter represents some intensely impregnable-looking
fortress ; a good deal of gunpowder is expended,
and after some desperately sharp skirmishing, the
French goes in and wins. Yesterday the luckless
Cochin-Chinese received a further lesson at the
hands of the Troupier Francais. Near the Military
Theatre, four Mats de Cocagnes exhibited their
well-soaped proportions, surmounted by the usual
array of prizes. On the river there were rowing
matches, of the merit of which there is but little to
be said. The best sport in the water was afforded
by a tilting match. Each champion stands on a
platform in the bows of a yawl, armed with a long
pole, with a kind of mop at the end. At a given
signal the boats row against each other, and each
champion tries to push his opponent into the water.
In many instances both were successful, to the
great merriment of the multitude. Considering the
temperature on the quay, the ducking must have
been rather pleasant than otherwise. Nine o'clock
was the time fixed for the fireworks, and as that
hour approached crowds might be seen wending
their way towards the Trocadero to see what mar-
vels the prince of pyrotechnists, Ruggieri, had
prepared for their amusement. Precisely at the
appointed hour the first signal rocket was seen
rising in the air, and in a moment after a brilliant
flight of those projectiles followed which, on burst-
ing, displayed the national colours—blue, white,
and red. After these had disappeared a dazzling
column of light burst into view, surmounted by a
large eagle, and the initial of the Emperor. On.
its subsiding, the smoke had hardly been swept
away by the breeze when the whole of the Pont de
Jena started into a blaze of light from a gigantic
cascade of fire, the effect of which. when,„enea-aese
Mllistmelstert2af-a representation of the Summer
Palace of the Emperor of China, at Pekin, which, it
may be remembered, was sacked and destroyed
during the late war by the allied troops. This build-
ing was described as of miles in extent. Its repre-
sentation in variously coloured fire was on a com-
mensurate scale, presenting a facade of more than 200
yards—a more brilliant specimen of the pyrotechnic
art has never been produced. The fires of constantly
changing hues, the bouquets, and the thousand
other imitations of Chinese •ornamentation, alto-
can give an idea, and which reflects the highest
gether produced an effect of which no description
credit on the celebrated artist. The illuminations
commenced at nightfall, and were one of the prin-
cipal attractions of the fete. The most important
of them were at the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile,
and there vast crowds collected. All the public
buildings were more or less gorgeously illuminated-
All the foreign embassies were also illuminated.
The facade of the residence of the English Ambas-
sador, in the Faubourg St. Honore, displayed an
imperial crown, the letters " N. and E.," and a
wreath, all on a large scale, and all in gas. All the
theatres and club-houses, together with a vast num-
ber of private houses in different parts of the town,
were likewise illuminated. The new Parc de Mon-
ceaux, which has been laid out with exquisite taste,
was also splendidly illuminated. The whole scene
was worthy of fairy land. The weather was mag-
nificent. The crowds which collected to see the fire-
works and illuminations were immense ; but owing
to the admirable arrangements made by the autho-
rities, no accident and no confusion occurred

STATISTICS OF FRANCE.

The " Statistics of France," an important and
voluminous work, published a few days since by
the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, con-
tains some interesting details respecting the move-
mentwhich 18,155
of the population in the years 1855, 1856,
the Seine • 70 153 in
and 1857. It appears that the number of mar-
l:2o2 in the rural
were in the department of
districts. The tables show that marriages are
p.oportionably more numerous in large towns
than in the country ; and the number of mar-
riages, instead of decreasing, as some persons
suppose, is gradually i
that 14 per cent.o creasing. It also appears
f widowers marry again, and
only 7 per cent.
of the widows. Second mar-
riages are also more frequent in towns than in the
country. In the department of the Seine one
out of every eleven women marries a second time,
in the rural districts one out of thirteen. The dis-
proportion of age between married persons is
much greater in the Seine than in the rural dis-
tricts. This has given rise to an interesting ob-
servation relative to the proportion between the
sexes. The returns of births show that the ptr ro-
portion of male children is greater in the y
than in towns, for the years 1853-57. If this
difference should continue to manifest itself with
the same regularity it would seem to show that
the greater number of boys are born of parents
whose ages are nearly the same. In 1856 the
average duration of wedded life ;in France was
twenty-five years ; in 1836, it was only twenty-
three years and 2 months, and all the intermediate
years show a slight increase. One-third Of the
men, and about half of the women yearly marri •
ed
are unable to sign their names. In the S •
eine, how-
ever, only one man in nineteen, and one woman in,
six are unable to write ; the populations
of pro-
vincial towns hold an intermediate posi •
tion between
the Seine and the rural populations. The propor-
tion of children born out of
wedlock and legitimated
by the subsequent marriage of their parents is much
greater in the Seine than
in provincial towns, and
smallest of all in the rural districts.

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FALL OF A BRIDGE ON THE CHESHIRE MID.
LAND RAlLWAY.—Yesterday, a little before four o'clock in
the afternoon, the bridge which was in course of construc-
tion over the river Bollin (about a mile from the Bowden
Station, on the Cheshire Midland Railway) fell in with a
fearful crash. The debris entirely blocked up the water-
way of the river. It appears that the centres supporting
the arch had been " struck" or " eased" some days
since, and the contractors were locking up the arch of the
bridge on the north side of the river with earth, whilst on
the opposite or southern side some 12 or 14 feet of filling
still remained to be done before reaching the crown of the
arch. This is understood to be the cause of accident—filling
up one side of the bridge before the other. Four persons
only, out of about 30, happened to be on the bridge at the
time of the accident, all of whom were precipitated some 30
feet among broken centres and thousands of bricks. These
four persons were more or less injured, but only one
seriously. The damage done will amount to several hun-
dred pounds, and the progress of the works at the Bowden
end of the line will be slightly delayed in conf.equeuce °f
the accident.