2 AUGUST 1851, Page 2

The incident in preparation for the ensuing week is of

a more peaceful and pleasant character. Determined not to be outdone in the glories of the Exposition, Paris takes its turn with London and Liverpool in feasting the Commissioners, British and Foreign. The festival is to last for several days ; to be splendid, profuse, and on a gigantic scale. It is not only the vicinity of France that enables her to exchange these amenities with England : a real understanding grows up between the two nations—the germ, may We hope, of a national alliance not yet witnessed in the history of the world ?—one, however, which Belgium and Holland might soon join • and perhaps some other countries, if we should all of us ac- quire governments that would be sincere.