Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1860-03-22

| in arm, but the Empress little distance to
the left of the Emperor.
The Prince Imperial vas not of the party,
the little fellow having probably received his
supper and been duly sent to bed The other
members of the imperial family stood in
group near the end Of the room; where they
entered while the presentation was in proSfess.
| 1t is. sometimes the case that their Majesties
| address few words to some among the pre-
! sented party, but on this occasion neither of
them spoke, and in five minutes they had gone
entirely round, and then, preceded by the
| chamberlaihsi they again passed by US and
going through an ante-room, went into the
magnificent Sale des Marechaux" where
the ball was to be opsred We immediately
followed the cortege, and although the rooms
were crowded to such an extent that there
seemed scarcely a standing place, by dint of
following closely upon the heels Of the impc,
rial party, and a little pushing and consider
able perseverance, managed to effect what
desired-got place where could see the ball
open by the Emperor and Empress.
In the centre of the Sale des Mare
chaux" was a little vacant space, about TWEEN.
ty feet square, surrounded by seats, which on
three sides were filled with ladies in magnii-
cent costumes, and sparkling with jewels and
4 redolent of perfume, aud red with excitement
/ or. perhaps, with rouge. On the side of this
space opposite the entrance, was raised plat
| form, with seats upon it for the imperial fam
lily, and the space in front was appropriated to
the dancers Seating themselves for mo-
ment, the party rose and took their places for
the imperial iuadrille, the Emperor dancing
with the Princess Clotilee, with the Prince
Napoleon and the Empress for theft tts-Q-ris.
The Princess MatLilde danced with Russian
noGIeman and after the quadriIle-during
which, of course, all eyes were fixed upon the
imperial party-they seated themselves ON the
platform before mentioned The quadrille
was not dawdled" " through with, as seems to
be the fashion in these days, but danced with
good deal of energy, the Empress entering
apparently into the spirit of it very heartily,
and dancing very gracefully while the En-
peror was neither so gay nor so graceful,
How a man with such weight as he has on
his shoulders can eau dance at all, | must. con-
feSS | cannot understand. .
In seating themselves, the imperial family
were arranged in the following ORDER: On
the extreme right was the Prince Napoleon,
lin the absence of the Prince Imperial and
Prince Jerome, the most immediate to the
throne,') on his left the Emperor; next to
him the Empress then the Princess Clotilde,
the Princess Ma:hilde, the cousin of the EN-
peror and sister Of the Prince Napoleon, on
the extreme left Behind them sat the ladies
of. the Conrt and the dunes dh0Rncur of tie
Empress and the Two PrnceSSes. The I'm
press was dress ID very neatly and simply, with
a pink robe of light thin tissue, trimmed
with red roses, which she also wore IN the
wreath upon her brow. She had on a mag
nifcent necklace of diamonds, aud the usual
quantity of crinone. Although | had often
seen her before, | never had so good an op-
portunity of examining her fair face and bril-
liant eyes as now She is really very beau.i-
Ful-bcautiful NOW, even though she looks
somewhat care-worn and more thoughtful than
she should to show her fne fnatares to the
best advantage. She appeared very arlla5,e
during the entire eFening. sometimes chatting
with the Emperor apparently upon some
trivial matters suggested by the occasion, and
turning occasionally to some one Of her ladies
of honur or the Princess Clotde, and drop
ping a word or two and laughing. She did
not leave her place after the first quadrille
until the imperial party went to supper.
The Emperor was dressed in the costume of
General of Division of the French Army
with the exception Of the boots, wearing silk
stockings and pumps instead. One gets an
entirely different idea Of his appearance by
seeing him on foot from the cne obtained of
him while driving or mounted. He has a long
body, but short and stumpy" legs, SO that in
walking he has an awkward air, while in ri
ding he is very graceful. lie walks, too. with
his body bent slightly forward, and his head
inclined little over his right shoulder, which
combination of defects makes him look par
ticulary ungracefuI His face wears the same
sphynx.ke, unreadable expression, for which
he has always been noted his eyes, apparent
" half closed, are nevertheless actively en-
ployed in looking about him, and his forehead
exhibits an immense developement of what
the phrenologists call =" the perceptve faculty"
In conyersing, however, with those about him,
be wore smile that was really amiable /; and
take him altogether, must confess the near
view of him put me more than ever into the
condition which an IriSbman would describe
as bothered entirely" l stood and watched
him for more than an hour as be moved slow
" and awkwardly between the dancers about
the square in which the imperial party were
fenced off from the crowd, trying to convince
myself that the little, dumpy half-asleep look
ing man was the one who, after years of wan
derlng and care, placeo hllhSe'l at the neau Vi
this great nation-the man who had queted
discomfort and made himself the most popular
sovereign France ever had the man who had
recently returned from the bloody battlefield
Of Soferino the man who had just given to
the people over whom he rules new and lib
eral commercial policy who had, in defense
of Italian freedom, flung his gauntlet down
before the visible head of Ghrstendom the
man who, to day, rules Europe, and whom op-
pressed nationalities, with uplifted hands aud
tearfnl eyes, but with hope-lighted faces, i'm