The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1859-04-21
The Emperor Napoleon and his Son

A Paris correspondent of the the n. u
Express give the following account OF the
appearance of Louis Napoleon and his son,
at the review of the Imperial Guards COM
posed of $4,000 of the elite of the army, in
the Champ de Mars, on Sunday, March 22d.
The concourse of people was immense, bnt
the most perfect order prevailed. The day
was clear, and made glorious ny the mag
nificent display and brilliant and genial
sunshine:
1t was nearly two o'clock before the beat
ing of drums and sounding OF trumpets at
length announced the approach OF the En-
peror, who rode into the field from the ave-
nue. Nothe Piquet. His Majesty wore the
uniform of General of Division, and was
accompanied on his right by the Prince Je-
rJme, land onIhis left by the Prince Napoleon.
Among the staff of the Emperor were Mar
shals Magnan and Valiant, Admiral Hame-
lin, Minister Of Marine, several generals,
who distinguished themselves in the Crimea,
aud numerous other officers, both French
and foreign The Empress in an open car
riage drawn by four horses, followed at n
short distance, accompanied by one of her
ladies of honor and her son, the Prince I'M
perial. This little child, in whom so many
hopes are centered, destined perhaps to be
realized or crushed by a mere breath OF the
popular will, has just completed his third
year, and is aS bright and intelligent a boy
any of us ever saw He seemed, too,
to be quite alive to the scene around HIM, IN
which, indeed, he played no Insignificant
part. The little fellow was dressed in the
uniform of q grenader; white breast piece,
blue coat red cotton epaulettes, and tall
shake, all complete. You may remember
that, shortly after his birth, the heir to the
throne was formally inscribed upon the rolls
of the lst grenadiers. Since that epoch he
has risen to the rank of corporal, the Slashes
upon his sleeves indicating promotion to
that grade. There is an adroitneSs and tact
in all this seeming nonsense, which shows
that the Emperor thoroughly understands
his army and people.
The appearance of the baby prince in
this attire was hailed with tremendous
shouts from the troops, whose satisfaction
appeared to be still more enthusiastic when
the Empress left the carriage, taking her
station on the balcony of the Ecole Mill
taire, and the young prince was driven alone
slowly through the ranks, saluting the men
as he passed with all the gravity and pre-
cision of a much more experienced trooper.
Upon people like the French, all this could
scarcely fail to produce great effect after
wards heightened by the Emperor himself,
when, after having ridden over the field, he
approached the little knot of soldiers who
were TO be decorated, gave to each his cross
or medal, accompanied by no hand-kissing,
but a cordial shake-a proceeding calculated
to ingratiate him a thousand fold more in
the estimation of his army than any gracious
act of condescension which less demo-
cratic sovereign would have been likely to
have adopted. The word democratic
may seem anomalous in this connection, but
| use it advisedly, fo- Napoleon iii is true
democrat, though no republican.
The review of Sunday terminated with
the filing off of the troops, after which the
Emperor left the field, followed by his staff
Upon nearing the bridge of Jena, he order
ed the sentinels to fall back, and permitted
the people to approach. He was instantly
surrounded by the multitude, all of whom
demonstrated the ivelest marks Of affection
and sympathy for him. 1t will probably be
admitted that few of the soyere:gns of Eu-
rope would hazard such an experiment rs
this or with such II gratifying result. But
Napoleon Ill is one of the few men who, in
reaching the pinnacle of material power,
never forgets his mastery of human nature,
nor his knowledge OF its springs.