The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-13
TIE EMPEROR OF CHINA.

Two monarchs came,
The very first in European fame:
One was the Prussian William, gray and
tall;
The other, Alexander,
The Russian Czar, himself not very small
The man who tried to initiate Leander,
And swim the Hellespont-without the drown
ing
And yet will dot, in spite of Englands frown-
ing.
Well, these two monarchs greatly liked each
other;
They called each other brother;
They wandered through the streets and ave-
nues,
And smaller TUeS,
And boulevards, and Champ de Mars,
Without single aide-de-camp or servant,
OF every little whim to be observant
Alone, and quite unknown
In short, incog.
Que sdSs.je what they sought? Perhaps twas
Peculiar prog, the taste ofIfrog,
Or steak of horse,
To know what sort of meats the French
would feed on,
When William should come back with armed
little plan, perhaps, they then agreed on;
Perhaps to study
The natural history of man-and woman
CA science very human),
And see grisettes, the ruddy,
In pretty little caps,
Which they don't doff, on dit, when taking
maps.
So it fell out, one day,
The monarchs had been asked by Nap to dine,
To taste imperial wine,
Entirely sans fdc0n, no sort of party,
But just to eat and drink, and have hearty
Laugh at the worlds expense-a royal time;
Surely, that's no great crime,
For kings and emperors must be very seri-
GUS
They must not laugh in public, nor appear
Otherwise than imperial and imperious,
That other folks will think that they are
And pry into their titles now and then.
Well, on this day, when they were asked to
dine,
And to do SO "did seriously incline,"
They found themselves far distant from the
spot
The streets quite dusty, and the weather
When, looking at his watch, the king cried
OUT
"Why, what are we about?
We dine at seven, and now tbs half past six;
We're surely in a fix!
Here are we now a mile across the Seine
About the Latin Quarter,
While in the Tuileries the best champagne
Is in iced water"
Sand then besides far worse betides,'
Said Alexander-'we don't know the way.
And not carriage or a cabriolet,
Qstatre places on deug, appears in sight.
Was ever such phght?"
''No matter" said King William; '1et us try
To learn the way from some kind passer-by."
And so, accosting good-looking man,
He said, Monsieur, pray tell me, If you
." can
And if you please
The nearest way to reach the Tuileries."
"MdSS ceTtdSnen1ent t'-the Frenchman bowed
quite double
81 can with little tronble;
go myself to dine at Les Trois Freres,
And pass the palace on my journey there;
So 60 with me-" And, thanking him, they
Conductor Heaven sent
By cross-streets and short cuts the nearest
way,
Until at length they came upon the qIai.
Thus, travelling fast and far,
They crossed the river by the Pont des Arts,
And stood before the palace-portal wide;
And then their guide,
Waving his hand with graceful courtesy,
Outspoke:- MeSSieuTS, 00ici
Les IUiteTieS;' and now, if may ask,
As guiding you has been pleasant task,
And as you seem to Paris come from far,
Pray tell me who you are"
The Emperor raised his hat and bowed,
AS if to say, ''You do me proud"
And said-'I amt the Emperor of Russia sir! "
The King raised his,
And, with unaltered phiz,
Replied:-'And the King of Prussia, sir!"
And here, no doubt, the matter would have
ended,
But that the kind Partisan seemed offended
At what to him was discourteous joke
Then Alexander spoke:
''Pray tell us too your name, the name of one
Who for our sakes this courteous deed has
DONE"
The Frenchman took his hat entirely Off
And, with shrug that had spice Of scof,
Shaking his head, he simply said:
''I am the Emperor of China, sirs
How strangely it occurs
That sEun great men should, now and then,
Each other meet in Paris, as we do
Too emperors and German king-par6Leu
Par6leu! MeSsieursW Adieu !!T
And, bowing low, he left them lost in wonder,
And then to fear that they had made q
blunder;
But, when at last they saw his true intent,
The king said, "Sapperment!"
And Alexander swore Russian oath,
Quite strong enough for both.
Then each laughed roaringly, and held hi
side;
They laughed until they cried,
And thus were hardly able
To tell the story at Napoleon's table.
They had a jolly time, and many toasts-
''The Fair, "La France" and ''their impe
rial hosts