The fete of the King of the French, on the
occasion of his birthday, on the 1st current, was celebrated on Saturday and Sunday ; and the baptism of the King's grandson, the Count of Paris, which was performed on Sunday, gave additional solemnity to the occasion. On Saturday, the King received deputations with loyal addresses from the two Chambers of Parliament, all the great bodies of state, the National Guard, and the Army. Alluding, in the address from the Chamber of Peers, to the title which Napoleon gave his son, "King of Rome," Baron Pasquier said
" There was a time when the Genius of Victory and Conquests, having to decide on the name which should be given to the son that was to inherit its sceptre, threw, so to speak, as a defiance to the world that name of which it had made choice. Your enlightened and pacificatory genius has been desirous, by the title of Comte de Paris—by this title which sums up within itself an entire civilization—to remind your grandson of what a degree of splendour, • riches, and power, a people may raise itself to by the cultivation of letters and sciences, by the cultivation of all the arts which peace favours, and by which she is embellished. But you also wished that this name, around which so many great recollections are grouped, should be for him an admonition and pledge never to cease being worthy of that fine country of which Paris is proud In being the heart and the head."
To this passage Louis Philippe replied
" I have given to my grandson the title of Comte de Paris; it is with the intent of attaching him more closely to this great city, which is, as you say, both the heart and the head of France. It is to give him deeper root in the country and to trace out for him, from the beginning, the duties he will have to fulfil in the career which ties before him. I have bad the happiness of insuring to France, for nearly eleven years, the advantages which are founded on peace. Your assistance will facilitate the maintenance of this state of things, in which France finds the best guarantee for public liberty, and the surest means of resisting those illusions of the spirit of conquest, which too often cast nations into an abyss of evil."
On Sunday, the King repaired with his family and other royal personages to the Cathedral of Notre Dame ; where he was received with an address from the Archbishop at the head of his clergy. The royal party and the clergy went in procession up the aisle to the seat prepared for them, the organ pealing a march. On the right of the King, were the King of the Belgians, the Duke of °Hers, the Prince de Joinville, the Duke de Montpensier, and Duke Alexander of Wurtemburg ; and on his left were the Queen, the Queen of the Belgians, the Dutchess of Orleans, the Dutchess of Nemours, Princess Clementine, Madame Adelaide, and the Grand Dutchess of Mecklenburg. Mass was said, and the little Prince was then christened. The act of christening was signed by the King and other members of the Royal Family ; after which, the Archbishop and all the clergy in procession conducted their Majesties to the grand entrance. The Ministers, the Chancellor of France, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, the Vice-President of the two Chambers, the Marshals, and others, also signed the act of baptism after the departure of the Royal people. The King and the Royal Family returned to the Tuileries at one o'clock, amid salvos of artillery.
There the Municipality of Paris attended to present the young Prince with a splendid sword. The child, who is two years and eight months old, was delighted with the kingly toy, and repeatedly exclaimed " Merci." The King made him give his hand to the Prefect, in token of his "giving it to the whole city of Paris." In the address delivered to the King by Count Rambuteau, the Prefect, the Corporation grows poetical " The ceremony at which we were present a few minutes since, has left a profound impression in our.hearts. What a grand spectacle in that Cathedral! The King, the chief of a dynasty, who has saved this country from so many evils, and has done it so much good—the fine family, in which every virtue is taught and transmitted by example—the Prince, on whose brow valour sits radiant over precocious sagacity—the young mother, whose noble, penetrating, and gracious looks reveal the destiny for which Providence has gifted her—the royal infant, bending his young head under celestial grace—all this, Sire, was holy and beautiful!"
In his reply, the King looked forward to generations of peace
" I accept for my grandson the sword, presented to him by the Municipal body in the name ot the city of Paris. May God grant that he may never have occasion to employ it ; but if he should be forced to draw it from the scabbard, it will only be in a good cause—to defend the honour of France and the independence of the nation. I have every reason to hope' and to this end. I labour; that the reign of my grandson will not be disturbed by war, and that he will reap the more delightful glory of preserving the repose and prosperity of France."
According to the Ministerial papers, the King was received with loyal acclaruations in his progress to and from the Cathedral ; but the Commerce represents him as dodging his lieges in a very mistrustful manner " Every precaution had been taken to place Royalty beyond the reach of all popular acclamation. The King's carriage, drawn by two horses only, left the fuileries by the guichet ' of the Pont Royal, preceded and followed by bodies of cavalry ; the Prefect of Police riding at the head of the procession, which followed the quay as far as the Pont du Caroussel, and then suddenly crossing that bridge, proceeded along the deserted quays of the left bank, (the curious having all congregated on the other side of the river,) whilst detachments of
....
soldiers intercepted all communication over the intermediate bridges. The cortege, which drove along the whole line at a rap erived at NotreDame by the bridge of St. Michel and the new market. After the religious ceremony was over, the city sergeants, in order to deceive the crowd, cleared a passage from the church along the Quay aux Fleurs, towards which there was immediately a universal rush. But, instead of taking that direction, the cortege advanced by the Quays of the Morgue and des Orfevres, crossed the Pont Neuf, and thence returned to the Palace by the road it had followed on its way to the church. The itineraire of the procession was kept a profound secret, and was known only to the Prefect of Police. This functionary refused in the morning to disclose it to M. Duchatel, the Miiiister of the Interior; saying that the King himself did not know it, and that being personally responsible for his Majesty's safety, he would not expose it, to be compromised by an indiscretion."
The fete, was celebrated by an extensive amnesty : 520 soldiers under sentence of courts-martial and 156 convicts benefited by the Royal clemency, besides 31 convicts whose sentences were commuted.
'The friends of Louis Philippe have made a discovery, which, they say, does away with the bad effect of the late verdict of the jury acquitting the editor of the France. They have found out that one of the pretended letters of Louis Philippe, possessed and published by the Cotemporaine, is to be found verbatim in a work of M. Sarrans, published in 1834, where it is given as a speech made by Louis Philippe to Lord Stuart.
A dvices have been received from Madrid to the 28th. The debate on the Regency question had commenced in both Chambers of the Cortes. Considerable sensation was made by Senor Gomez Becerra, one of the great partisans of the triple Regency, having made a speech in favour of the single Regency. The French papers of Thursday say, that the Porte has agreed to modify the hatti-seheriff conceding to Mehemet Ali the succession in line direct, and the nomination of all commands in the fleet and army.
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