21 APRIL 1855, Page 3

gtott of f4t Captor of tYt Amy.

The imperial guests from France duly arrived at Dover on Monday, although not at the hour nor with the amount of display anticipated. The weather was remarkably fine ashore, but a heavy fog overhung the Channel ; and the war-ships, assembled in the Roads, were invisible even from the heights above the town. Prince Albert, who had arrived on Sunday night, went forth early on Monday morning, and surveyed the Works of the stupendous new pier. At nine o'clock he received the Mu- nicipality, who, accompanied by the Borough Members, presented an address of welcome and congratulation. The Prinoe replied-

" Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, I thank you sincerely for your address, and for your expressions of loyal and devoted attachment to the Queen. It is with peculiar satisfaction that I have embraced the present opportunity of again visiting a town which was the foremost to receive and welcome me on my first arrival in this country, and in which I was met on that occasion with a warmth and cordiality of reception which I shall never forget. While in common with you I deeply deplore the interruption of the peace which this country has so long enjoyed, I fully share in the satisfaction you express at the cordial and intimate alliance existing between this country and France in the prosecution of the just and necessary war in which we are engaged. I heartily concur with you in the hope that the visit of their Imperial Ma- jesties the Emperor and Empress of the French, whom I have come here to receive and welcome on their arrival, will tend to strengthen the friendly feeling between France and England, and cement a union between the two nations which cannot fail to conduce to the welfare and beat interests of both."

About half-past nine, it was known that the Emperor of the Frew& had left Calais in the screw war-steamer Pelican, with fine weather ; but the fog still hung if possible more heavily over the English coast. No- thing could be seen at Dover a hundred and fifty yards from the pier. Spectators went forth into the fog in boats and steamers, and disappeared from view ; and the war-fleet remained invisible. Detachments of seve- ral Militia regiments lined the road from the landing-stage to the Lord'

Warden Hotel ; and one of their bands beguiled the tedium of waiting with music, while attention was kept on the stretch by the ringing of bells and the firing of signal-guns. Soon after eleven, the fleet outside fired a royal salute, and Prince Albert and the French Ambassador hastened to the point of debarkation ; but the salute had been fired in mistake. At length the Pelican suddenly appeared through the fog, carrying the English flag at the fore, the French Imperial standard at the main, and a tricolor from a staff in the poop. In the after part of the vessel stood the Emperor and Empress, the Emperor in military uniform, the Empress in a straw bonnet and gray cloak over a tartan dress • and around them the distinguished persons forming. their suite. The Prince and Emperor exchanged salutations as soon as they saw each other ; the band played " Partant pour is Syrie " ; the troops presented arms ; and the crowd of people cheered. On landing, the Emperor shook bands with Prince Albert, bowed to Count Walewski, and spoke to the Mayor of Dover. Prince Albert, giving his arm to the Empress, conducted her to the Lord Warden Hotel, the Emperor walk- ing on one side. There they partook of luncheon. Then the Corpora-

Lion of Dover were admitted to present their address to the Emperor and Empress ; and the Emperor, speaking in English, replied- " I am exceedingly grateful that your Queen has allowed me to find such an occasion topay my respects to her, and to show my sentiments of esteem and sympathy for the English people. I hope that the two nations will be always united in peace and in war ; for I am convinced that it will be for the welfare of the whole world, and for their own prosperity. I am exceed- ingly grateful to you for the sentiments you have expressed towards myself and the Empress, and I hope you will be the interpreter of my sentiments and hers. o your countrymen. As the fog had rendered the passage of the Channel difficult, indeed dangerous, the Pelican bad been delayed an hour and a half beyond the time originally appointed; and hence the whole journey was so much later. Instead of starting at two, the train did not get under weigh un- til a quarter to three. In the interval the Empress had found time to change her gray cloak and straw bonnet for a black lace shawl and a drawn bonnet of blue silk. The journey to London by the South-Eastern Railway was performed at the rate of about fifty miles an hour. At the intermediate stations, crowds of persons had assembled, risking life and limb in some places to gratify curiosity. The party arrived at the Brick- layers' Arms station about five o'clock ; and here, saluted by the buzzes of a larger crowd, they entered the Queen's carriages, and, escorted by a squadron of Life Guards, proceeded to the Paddington sta- tion of the Great Western Railway ; passing along the Kent Road, the Westminster Road, over Westminster Bridge, along Parliament Street, up Whitehall, by Charing Cross, into Pall Mall, St. James's Street, Pic- cadilly, Hyde Park, on the North bank of the Serpentine, and thus dri- ving through the Victoria Gate and Eastbourne Terrace to the Great Western terminus. It may be said without exaggeration that the car- riages passed along the whole line through a lane of human beings drawn up many deep, beside those crowding every window and parapet ; Trafal- gar Square crowded with sight-seers, and Pall Mall, its well-garrisoned club-house windows making a striking display. Many flags of the allied nations waved from the houses. In the Park, lines of carriages and horsemen, two deep, stretching from Apeley House to the Victoria Gate, presented a still more brilliant picture. The cortege passed slowly by, so that nearly all present were able to see the principal actors in the pageant. Corresponding with the arrival at Westminster Bridge the Park guns fired a salute ; the band of the Royal Marines, mounted over the archway of the Admiralty, played "Pedant pour la Syrie" as the procession went by ; and at St. James's Palace a guard of honour turned out. It was six o'clock before the train started for Windsor, where ex- pectation had long been on the stretch, and nearly seven before it arrived. The showy preparations for welcome at Windsor were more extensive than elsewhere, and the Emperor drove to the Castle under two tri- umphal arches.

At the grand entrance to the Castle, the Queen received her guests in state; surrounded by her Ministers, Great Officers, and Yeomen of the Guard. Taking the arm of the Emperor, Prince Albert following with the Empress, she led the way to the Throne-room, and thence to the re- ception-room; where the ladies and gentlemen of the Household were presented to the Emperor and Empress. The banquet which followed was in St. George's Hall.

For Tuesday, a stag-hunt, the receiving of addresses, a review, and a grand dinner, were the prominent occupations chalked out at Windsor. But instead of joining the hunt at Salt Hill, the Emperor and Empress, accompanying their hosts, strolled on the Slopes, and visited the dairy and model farms. In the afternoon, the Mayor of Windsor, followed by the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs and Court of Lieutenancy of the City of London, and a deputation of merchants, bankers, and traders, presented addresses to the Emperor in the Reception-room. The review took place in the Great Park. The Emperor, Prince Albert, and the Duke of Cam- bridge, rode on to the ground ; while the Queen, the Empress, and the young Princes and Princesses, drove thither in open carriages. Vast numbers of persons lined the Long Walk and the greensward leading to the parade-ground; where a great number had posted themselves on two sides of the ground. The troops reviewed were a battery of Horse Artil- lery, the Second Life Guards, the Carbineers, and the Horse Guards Blue ; the whole under the command of Lord Cardigan. The evolutions occupied nearly two hours. The Queen with her distinguished party returned by: the Long Walk through a lane of spectators, greeted with much cheering. After the dinner in St. George's Hall, the Queen re- ceived a numerous evening-party.

The sole event of Wednesday was the Chapter of the Garter held at Windsor Castle, for the purpose of making the Emperor of the French a Knight, and investing him with the insignia of the Order. The well- known ceremony was performed. The Knights Companions, robing in the Guard Chamber, proceeded to the Reception-room. Meanwhile, the Queen and Prince Albert were conducted to the Throne-room by the Great Officers of State. The Queen occupied a chair of state at the head of the table, and on her right stood a second chair, but vacant. Then the Knights Companions were called by the Garter King of Arms, and in this order entered the Throne-room and took their seats at the table—the Marquis of Exeter, the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Duke of Buckingham, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Duke of Cleveland, Earl De Grey, the Marquis of Abercorn, the Marquis of Hertford, the Duke of Bedford, the Earl of Clarendon Earl Spencer, Earl Fitzwilliarn, the Duke of Northumberland, the Earl of Elleamere, the Earl of Aberdeen. On the right of the Queen stood the Prelate of the brier, on the left the 'Chancellor. When all were assembled, the ceremony began by the reading --of a new statute, by command of the Queen, dispensing with the existing statutes of the Order in so far as might be required for the purpose of en- abling the Emperor of the French to be ordained and declared a Knight of the Order. Then, by command of the Queen, the Emperor 'was conducted from his apartments to the Throne-room by Prince Albert and the Duke of Cambridge.

"The Queen and the Knights of the Garter received his Imperial Majesty standing ; and the Emperor, passing to the head of the table, took a seat in the chair of state on the right hand of her Majesty. The Queen announced to the Emperor of the French that his Imperial Majesty had been elected a Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. Garter King of Arms, kneeling, presented the garter to the Sovereign; and her Mejet.ty, assisted by his Royal Highness Prince Albert, buckled it on the left leg of the Em- peror, the Chancellor pronouncing the admonition. Garter King of Arms presented the Riband with the George; and the Queen put the same over the left shoulder of the Emperor, the Chancellor pronouncing the admonition.

The Queen then gave the accolade to the Emperor; his Imperial Ma- jeaty received the congratulations of his Royal Highress Prince Albert, his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, his Serene Highness the Prince of Leiningen, and each of the Knights Companions present. The Chapter being thus ended, the Knights Companions were again called over by Garter, and retired from the presence of the Sovereign with the usual reverences. Her Majesty accompanied the Emperor to his apartments, followed by the Em- press and Prince Albert, and attended by the ladies and gentlemen of the Royal suites. The Queen and Prince afterwards returned to their own rooms."

During the ceremony, the Empress and the Duchess of Cambridge sat near the throne. The young Princes and Princesses, and the suites of the Queen and the Emperor and Empress, were present.

The Emperor and Empress did not go out during the day.

In the evening the Queen gave a state dinner. After the banquet, Earl Spencer, the Lord Steward of her Majesty's Household,.gave, by command of !the Queen, the toast of " The Emperor and Empress of the French."

The visit of the Emperor and Empress to the City, and the splendid display at the Opera in the evening, raised the interest of Thursday's proceedings almost to the level of Monday's. It was known that the Queen and Prince Albert would accompany their guests from Windsor to Buckingham Palace and the train conveying the party reached the Nine Elms station soon after twelve o'clock. There the distinguished company only saw a well-dressed crowd; but once beyond the gates, their car- riages came upon the toil-stained population of Vauxhall, who thronged the footways and expressed their sentiments by cheering. The route lay across Vauxhall Bridge, in front of the Penitentiary, and so by the Houses of Parliament and Parliament Street up to the Horse Guards. Here also huzzaing crowds filled the pavement ; flags, stretching over the vast width of Whitehall, waved to and fro above the cortege, and the merry bells rang out as it passed along. Turning under the archway of the Horse Guards, the procession drove up the Mall to Buckingham Palace, through the ever present multitude, looking down from the houses of Carlton Terrace, swarming on the steps below the Duke of York's column, and massed on both sides of the Mall. From Buckingham Pa- lace, leaving behind the Queen and Prince Albert, the Emperor and Empress, in a close carriage, preceded by six carriages containing their attendants, set out at one o'clock for the City ; Life Guards escorting the carriage, and Carbineers, Blues, and Police, keeping the ground. The route lay down the Mall to Charing Cross, and so by the Strand, Fleet Street, Cheapside, the Poultry, and round the Bank by Lothbury and Gresham Street to the Guildhall. The progress was characterized by the same incidents as before,—a vast, orderly, and impressive accumulation of people, thronging the streets, looking from the windows and the house- tops, packed closely in positions of vantage, such as the base of the Nelson column, or the omnibuses caught in the streets and detained by the ta-es- sure ; a wealth of flags, tricolor, English royal standard and Union ]ack, which drooped over the roadways; cheering peals from the church-bells, and shouts from the multitude ; and over all a brilliant sun that made even London look gay. At the Admiralty, the band of the Royal Ma- rines was grouped among the flags that adorned the arched entrance-gate; and as the Emperor swept by they played "Partant pour is Syne,' —an air which the many bands in the streets took up in succession as the son of its composer, Queen Hortense of Holland, drove by. When he arrived at the Guildhall, about two o'clock, the Emperor had traversed a large space of London, through a multitude numbering perhaps above a million of souls.

The ancient Council Hall of the City had been gorgeously decorated for the occasion. Two chairs of state, covered with purple velvet, bearing the initials " N." and " E.," and surmounted by a purple velvet canopy, stood on a raised platform at the East end of the hall. On either side there were seats for the members of the Common Council ; while at the opposite end a sloping gallery stretched half-way along the hall ; 'and on either side of a wide vacant space in the centre were more seats, termi- nating in places appropriated to the Cabinet Ministers and the Diplomatic Body. The flags of England, France, and Turkey, were blended on the capitals of the columns on either side of the hall, draping portraits of the Emperor and our Queen ; and beneath the windows, devices, supported by the lion and the eagle, bore the names of Alma—Balaklava—Inkerman.

The company began to arrive early in the morning, and were amused by the band of the Blues. The Duke of Cambridge, the American, Greek, Austrian, Sardinian, Turkish, and other Ministers, [Prussia was not represented,] Lord Palmerston, Lord Clarendon, rd Panmure, Lord Harrowby, Lord Lansdowne, Sir George Grey, Sir Charles ilrood, Sir William Molesworth, the Duke of Argyll, Mr. Vernon Smith, and Sir Benjamin Hall, and the French gentlemen who are the guests of the Lord Mayor, successively arrived. Lastly, the Emperor and Empress entered the ball, and, while shouts of welcome burst from every side, walked up to the seats under the canopy. Count Walewski stood at the right of his Sovereign, and the suite grouped them- selves in the rear. The Emperor, dressed as a general of division, and wearing the insignia of the Garter and of the Legion of Honour, ;toad, while the Empress sat and talked with the Lady Mayoress. The Corpo- ration, coming up in due procession, presented their address; which the Recorder read with great distinctness.

"To his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French. "May it please your Majesty—We, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Com- mons of the city of London, in Common Council assembled, desire to offer to your Majesty our heartfelt congratulations on the arrival of your Majesty and the Empress of the French in this country as the guests of our Most Gra- cious Queen ; and, on behalf of our fellow citizens and ourselves, we humbly tender to your Majesties the warmest expression of our gratitude for the wel- come visit by which you have deigned to honour our city on this memorable day. e The attention of Europe and the world is already fixed on the attitude of dignity and united strength displayed by France and Great Britain in the present war ; and the coming of your Majesty, invited by our beloved Queen at such a time, will draw closer the bonds of mutual friendship and common interest so happily uniting the two countries. "The cordial alliance of two such mighty Powers, cemented and sealed by intimate and frank intercourse between their rulers, must sway the des- tunes of all, will abate the pride of our common enemies, increase the con- fidence of our allies, and give new vigour to our arms.

"By the wise policy of your Majesty's reign, all our ancient jealousies have been appeased, and the flags of France and England now mingle their colours alike in the Baltic and in the East. Ranged together in a righteous cause, braving like hardships, and shedding their blood side by side in vic- tory, the soldiery of our united armies and the seamen of our combined fleets have learnt to regard each other with the love of brave and generous

comrades, second only to the love they bear their respective countries; and, while such are the feelings, we rejoice that sentiments akin to these are growing daily and sinking deeply into the breasts of the people of these great and neighbouring nations.

"None can doubt that the allied forces thus animated, led in perfect harmony by commanders of tried skill and valour, and guided by united counsels at home, will achieve by arms the just and unambitious object of the present war ; unless, as we may hope, the efforts of assembled states- men shall yet avert the calamities of protracted warfare by the speedier ne- gotiation of an honourable and enduring peace. "This cordial reception, therefore, of the chosen and puissant Emperor of the French by the illustrious Sovereign who reigns over these realms and lives in the hearts of the British people, we regard as a type of a close and lasting friendship between the two nations, and the happiest augury of a returning time when, undisturbed in the onward course of civilization, the nations of Europe may again lay aside the sword, and resume their exalted rivalry in the works of beneficence alone. " We are earnestly anxious further to express to your Imperial Majesty the lively pleasure and respectful admiration with which we have seen you accompanied on this happy oace.ion by your illustrious Consort her Majesty

the Empress of the French. We tender to. your Majesty the expression of our confident hope that you may ever find in the affections of domestic life

the best solace and support which this world can afford under the cares and weight of the high destiny you are now fulfilling with such conspicuous power and moderation ; and we fervently pray that life and health may, by the blessing of Providence, be vouchsafed to your Majesties for many years to come."

After a short pause, the Emperor read, " in a firm distinct voice, though with a slightly foreign accent," the following reply. " My Lord Mayor—After the cordial reception I have experienced from the Queen, nothing could affect me more deeply than the sentiments towards the Empress and myself to which you, my Lord Mayor, have given expression on the part of the City of London, for the City of London represents the available resources which a world-wide commerce affords both for civilization and for war. Flattering as are your praises, I accept them, because they are addressed much more to France than to myself ; they are addressed to a nation whose interests are today everywhere identical with your own; they are addressed to an army and navy united to yours by an heroic companion- ship in danger and in glory ; they are addressed to the policy of the two Governments, which is based on truth, on moderation, and on justice. For myself, I have retained on the throne the same sen- timents of sympathy and esteem for the English people that I pro- fessed as an exile, while I enjoyed here the hospitality of your Queen ; and if I have acted in accordance with my convictions, it is that the interest

of the nation which has chosen me, no less than that of universal civiliza- tion, has made it a duty. Indeed, England and France are naturally united

on aU the great questions of politics and of human progress that agitate the world. From the shores of the Atlantic to those of the Mediterranean— from the Baltic to the Black Sea—from the desire to abolish slavery to our hopes for the amelioration of all the countries of Europe—I see in the moral as in the political world for our two nations but one course and one end. It is, then, only by unworthy considerations and pitiful rivalries that our union could be dissevered. If we follow the dictates of common sense alone, we shall be sure of the future. You are right in interpreting my presence among you as a fresh and convincing proof of my energetic cooperation in the prosecution of the war if we fail in obtaining an honourable peace. Should

we so fail, although our difficulties may be great, we may surely count on a successful result ; for not only are our soldiers and sailors of tned valour—

not only do our two countries possess within themselves unrivalled resources —but above all—and here lies their superiority—it is because they are in the van of all generous and enlightened ideas. The eyes of all who suffer instinctively turn to the West. Thus our two nations are even more power- ful from the opinions they represent than by the armies and fleets they have at their command. I am deeply grateful to your Queen for affording me this solemn opportunity of expressing to you my own sentiments and those of France, of which I am the interpreter. I thank you in my own name and in that of the Empress for the frank and hearty cordiality with which you have received us. We shall take back with us to France the lasting impression, made on minds thoroughly able to appreciate it, of the imposing spectacle which Englandpresents, where virtue on the throne directs the destinies of a country under the empire of a liberty without danger to its grandeur." The cheering, which burst out at several marked passages of the reply, was renewed at the close. Then followed the ceremonial presentations of various City notables; after which the Emperor and Empress descended from the dais, conversed with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, and with the Duke of Cambridge. Proceeding next to the Council Chamber, the whole party partook of a d5jefiner of the proportions of a dinner ; the Emperor and Empress sitting at the head of the table, having the Duke of Cambridge on their right and the Diplomatic Body on the left, the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress sitting at the opposite end of the table.

The guests of the City left the Guildhall at four o'clock, and returned by a different route to Buckingham Palace. In the Strand, they diverged

to the right, passed along the front of the National Gallery, proceeded up Regent Street, and by Piccadilly and Hyde Park, to the house of the French Ambassador at Albert Gate. There they remained some time ; and they arrived at Buckingham Palace about six o'clock.

- In the evening, after another grand dinner, the Queen, Prince Albert, the Emperor and Empress, accompanied by a numerous and distinguished suite, went in state to the Opera at Covent Garden Theatre. The house, brilliantly and lavishly decorated for the occasion, was filled by a company many of whom had paid enormous prices for their sittings. The state box, erected in the centre of the circle fronting the stage, had been en- larged by the absorption of several other boxes up to the second tier ; and the retiring-rooms behind, formed by a special appropriation of saloons and lobbies, were adorned with great magnificence. At an hour unusually

late for a state visit, between the first and second acts of Fidelio, the party from Buckingham Palace arrived; the Emperor leading in or rather led

by the Queen, the Empress led by Prince Albert. At their entrance, first " Pedant pour la Syrie," then " God save the Queen," greeted them. At the end of the third act the performance of these national airs was re-

peated, reversing the order ; and the rising of the curtain revealed, be- aides the performers, hundreds of ladies and gentlemen, in evening dress, who had paid highly for a sight of the House and its occupants from the stage.

Nightly illuminations, partial early in the week, more widely spread on Thursday, have not been wanting. Stars and crowns and various combinations of the initial letters " V—A" " N—E," either in gas or coloured lamps, wreaths of flowers, and in a few instances transpa- rencies, were the prevailing forms of the festival of light. The streets and places where they chiefly appeared were Charing Cross,' Pall Mall, St. James's Street, Piccadilly, the Haymarket, Regent Street, Prince's Street, Old Bond Street, Sackville Street, and Great Marlborough Street.

The Queen and the Emperor, Prince Albert and the Empress, yester- day paid the promised visit to the Crystal Palace. Again the sun shone brilliantly, and again the line of road was crowded with sympathizing gazers. The Court party reached the Palace at noon. The proceedings there consisted of a promenade round the building ; after which the party showed themselves from a balcony, constructed for the occasion, to a multitude assembled on the terrace. Then they took luncheon ; and afterwards returned along the building through an avenue of season- ticket-holders admitted in the interval. On their passage to the carriages they turned aside for a second look at the fountains. On the first trial the fountains would not play ; on the second they surpassed expectation. By four o'clock the party had returned to Buckingham Palace. Afterwards, the Emperor rode out with Prince Albert. In the even- ing the Queen gave a grand concert to which many of the privileged had been invited.