3 JANUARY 1852, Page 13

POSTSCRIPT.

SATURDAY. The honours paid to a king anointed on the day of his coronation were mild to Louis Napoleon Bonaparte on Thursday morning, to inaugurate his 'acceptance of the ten-years Presidency which the French people have tailed him to. The picturesque description of the correspondent of the pees makes clear the theatrical and more than royal character of the spec-

tacle.

" No one that witnessed the scene of this day can ever forget it. From the firing of the cannon at the Invalides—seventy signals, ten for each mil- lion—at ten in the morning, to the triumphant passage of the President from the church of Notre Dame to the palace of the Tuileries, hemmed in the whole way between two forests of military, the multitude outside cheer- ing and shouting eVive Napoleon!' the spectacle was vast, imposing, and magnificent."

The President arrived at the great portal at noon ; General Magnan only sharing his carriage ; and it was noted that be had, for the first time on a public occasion, discarded the uniform of the National Guard, and adopted

the purely military costume of a lieutenant-general in the Army. Some of the accounts say that the acclamations as he alighted were few and faint. The Archbishop of Paris met him at the porch, and tendered to him the relic of the true cross, in its costly casket, of which the Cathedral officials boast the custody. Louis Napoleon kissed the relic with acted reverence, and took

his place in the procession to the altar. The seated spectators rose • " and all, even the military, stood uncovered, during his passage from the grand entrance to the chair of state. As he walked up to his place, the orchestra performed the march and Vivat in mternum ' by Lesueur, a quaint and pompous strain. The band was like one instrument, so perfect was its precision, and

so marked and decided its accent. The Te Deum, which Lesueur (the Em- peror Napoleon's Maitre de Chapelle) composed for the battle of Austerlitz,

and which was afterwards performed in celebration of the taking of Algiers, was the capital morceau, and displayed the strength and number of the exe- cutants to the highest advantage."

"The coup d'ceil presented on entering the Cathedral of N6tre Dame was somewhat deteriorated by the effect of a dense fog, which, throwing a veil of

mist over all that passed outside, penetrated to the innermost recesses of the building, and mocked the dazzling brilliancy of nearly a thousand wax- lights, suspended in clusters from the roof. In the course of a short time, however, when the chant d'appel of the tambours, accompanied by the cries of Vivo Napoleon,' which reverberated from without, and were reechoed through the lofty nave and aisles, announced the arrival of

the President, this had partially, died away, and a better opportunity was afforded of appreciating the splendour of the scene which stretched in gorgeous hues and glittering disarray before the astonished sight. The

pillars of the great nave, adorned with purple-coloured banners, sprinkled with stars of gold—the velvet draperies and enormous garlands of foliage and flowers, which covered and fell from the galleries—the richly de- corated flags, carrying the arms and names of the chief cities of the empire —the columns of the sanctuary, covered from base to capital with silk brocade of crimson and gold—the altar in the choir, with its rich and gaudy ornaments —the benches for the authorities and the constituted bodies, and the galleries on either side, crowded with persons en grande tenue—the orchestra of 600 executants, vocal and instrumental, disposed in the galleries at the extremity of the choir—and, the principal feature of all, the lofty dais, with hangings of crimson and gold doubled with white, surmounting the estrade, which faced the altar and supported the siege d'honneur, whereon sat Louis Na- poleon with his pne-Dieu, the Archbishop of Paris (who officiated in the service) to his right, and the attendant bishops to his left,—these, and other objects too numerous to specify, all glittering in the light of the countless wax candles, which pained the eye to look upon, gave to the ancient cathedral, one of the architectural glories of Paris and the world, a strange and fantastic aspect, which made it difficult to believe oneself in a place of

worship. The general effect, indeed, was quite as theatrical as it was bril- liant. It was, nevertheless, a surprising and intoxicating spectacle." " The service concluded with the Demme Salaam,' thus worded—'Domine sal- vam fate Rempublicam—sakum fee Napoleonem, et exaudi nos in die qua in- vocaverimus. "

" Outside the cathedral, the sight was, in its way, quite as imposing as that which I have endeavoured to describe in the interior. The whole sur-

face of the Place du Parvis was covered with military, who left just space

enough for the carriages to pass from the great door,—from which the Pre- sident, and all those who had seats in the nave, made their exit,—and proceeded towards the quays. As soon as the carriages had left, there was a general rush of the people to enter the cathedral ; which they were allowed to do by the troops, as during the service, none were per- mitted to enter without tickets from the bureau of the Interior. The civil- ity of the troops and their officers was remarkable, and their general de- portment denoted an unusual state of exhilaration."

From Notre Dame the President went direct to the Tuileries. The reception of the authorities then took place. After the reception, the President gave a banquet of 400 covers, at which were present the Mi- nisters, the Diplomatic Corps, the members of the Consultative Commis- sion, the Prefects of the Seine and of Police, the new Municipal Council of Paris, General Lcewestine, and the Colonels of the National Guard ; and last, not least, General Magnan, and the leading officers of the army of Paris. [The number 400 is another servile imitation of the number of guests invited by the " oncle " to celebrate his instalment as First Consul.] The Noniteur of yesterday announces that the Palace of the Tuileries will in future be the official residence of the President of the Republic.

A supplement of the Corfis Gazette of the 22d December has a notifica- tion from the Lord High Commissioner, containing a decree of her Bri- tannic Majesty, by which the Ionian Parliament is dissolved.