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    October 1/ 1853.] THE LEADER. Ml

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    CONTINENTAL NOTES. The Moniteur of Tuesd...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Letters From Paris. [Fllom Our Own Corre...

    ¦ withal to stop their mouths . One has only to get once behind the scenes , and the whole mechanism of the enthusiasm of deputations is discovered at affiance . Everything resembling independence is absent : neither rank , nor position , nor fortune is to be seen , neither public nor social distinction takes part in the enthusiasm : nothing that has a spark of honesty or spirit shows its face : there is curiosity , and a crowd of gaping sight-seers , and staring snobs , and there is your whole mise en scene I ;

    On the other hand , every form and colour of dependence or servility , whether by force of want , a > r employment , or official position , is mercilessly dragged along to swell the triumph of the conquering car in this grand Imperial Comedy , as on the stage the same supernumeraries sppear and peappear in succession from different sides : it is , in abort , a system of cruel corvees ( contributions in

    forced labour ) , against which the public functionaries secretly protest without for a moment daring openly to explain . To give you but one instance of this system of imposition , it will suffice to assure you that the Principals of eighteen Colleges in the Departement du Nord were compelled to present themselves at Lille en corps , and in official costume , after having been forced ( notably those of Douai and Valenciennes ) to figure separately at the head

    of their own Professors . In a word , the reception in the North must be pronounced cold . With the exception ^ of the Decembrists engaged to run before the imperial carriage , there was not a single acclamation . ( I ought also to except perhaps your countrymen at Boulogne . ) Only the Empress , by her charms and winning smiles , awakened a sentiment of sympathy . To her graceful bows the women replied by salutatheir

    tions , but the men did not even uncover heads . I have no details as yet of the reception at Boulogne where Bonaparte was almost shy of appearing , from a sense of modesty in the man who played that silly prank with the tame eagle in the month of August 1840 . I am assured , however , that it has been the anxious desire of the inhabitants of Boulogne to make amends iu 1853 for their rudeness in 1840 , and to cause Napoleon III . to forget that they ever fired upon Louis Bonaparte as they would at a dog .

    At Boulogne , too . it was the intention of the Emperor to review the Channel spuadron , but this will have been prevented by the tempestuous weather . After the glorious victories on land he has won at Satory , he was naturally easier to carry off a little harmless triumph at sea . I only wish him more success , in his capacity of admiral , than he appears to have had , at Dieppe , in the

    character of a sea captain . Did he not , at Dieppe , a ter having dined , —too well dined , I fear , —take it into his head to steam the Heine Hortense into harbour ? In vain the master assured him that the tide waa ebbing rapidly , and that , in a few jninutes , tho yacht would not have water enough to cross the bar . Bonaparte , like a true Dutchman , persisted in carrying out his orders . Into pore he went , and broke the screw .

    The general situation of the country is still the same . The funds have been falling again ; that movement , however , appears to be a general one , and , at London , you are not in a more satisfactory condition than we are in Paris . It is now definitively ascertained that Austria goes over , bag- and baggage , to the Czar . The Cabinet of Vienna has avowed this determination , in positive terms , to M . de Bourqueney , our Ambassador at Vienna . War then , save at tho cost of fatal humiliations , is inevitable , now . You will , I am sure , do me tho justice to acknowledge that , in the month of May last , I informed you of the great efForvoscenco in the Mussulman population , an offervescenco which diplomatists and journals , alike , were slow to take into account .: and there was the ruinous mistake .

    It now appears that this effervescence has been the active cause of tho turn affairs arc now taking in tho East . A new plan of campaign is said to have been adopted by the Russians , landing that a formidable army , of more than 140 , 000 men , bars their passage of tho Danube , it is surmised that they are ' resolved to remain in Wallachia and on the defensive , and so to tempt the Turks out of their present formidable position at Schumla , and at tho foot of the Balkan , and decoy them across tho Danube into the marshes of Wallachia . If this plan really exists , it would completely outwit tho Bchemes , whatever they may be , of Franco and England . In vain the combined fleets might go unO . burn Odosaa and ^ olnvstopol ; tho Turkish

    army , drawn across the Danube , would be infallibly beaten , and thenceforth there would be no obstacle in the march of the Russians to the very walls of Constantinople . What the two Powers have to insist upon now is , that the Turkish forces shall rest upon the defensive , and wait for the Russians rather than go to look for them . The Russians are continuing their preparations with unrelaxing activity . Letters from Volhynia and Podolia state that the recruiting in the southern provinces of Empire is carried on with

    a seventy unknown hitherto . Instead of a levy of three men in every thousand , the rate of conscription in time of peace , or even of seven nien in a thousand , the regular levy in time of war , ten men per thousand are now being levied . Parents are made responsible for their children —a fact unprecedented . The recruits hide themselves , and the agents of the government lay hold of children of six , seven , and eight years of age , whom they detain as hostages till the brothers join their corps . It is stated , that these unheard-of cruelties have created a low ferer of discontent

    throughout those provinces . Tlie news of the entry of the fleets , or rather of the vanguard of the fleets , into the Golden Horn was received in Paris with satisfaction . It looked like an end at last to the shilly-shallying of the last 'few months—tne stick-in-the-mud policy of imbecile intriguers . En attendant , our journals , including the Oon-Stitutionnel , have been treated to a few " warnings . " This is no doubt a specimen of that "work of reparation ' with regard to the press which that farceur Persigny recently announced . The shuttings of cafes and wine-shops continue , and the imprisonments and internements increase in number and in severity . S .

    October 1/ 1853.] The Leader. Ml

    October 1 / 1853 . ] THE LEADER . Ml

    Continental Notes. The Moniteur Of Tuesd...

    CONTINENTAL NOTES . The Moniteur of Tuesday announced in the following terras tie entrance of part of the English and French squadrons into the Sea of Marmora : —¦ " Thelast news from Constantinople informs us that on the application of the Ambassadors of France and England , in accord with the Ottoman Government , two French and two English frigates have passed the Dardanelles , and anchored in front of Constantinople . " The tone of the official and semi-official organs of the French government indicates a division in tho councils . Tho Pays contained an article suggesting tho abandonment of Turkey : this was replied to by tho Conxtitulionnel affirming that tho last noto of Russia and the withdrawal of Austria imposed upon tho Western Powers new duties . Tho Emperor and Empress have been pursuing their progress through tho Northern Departments , " amidst universal acclamations . " The weather has not been very favourable , but the shows have been regardless of expense , the official addresses overflowing with adulation , and tho entertainments surpassingly magnificent . The Emperor ' s un-o / Iicial reception has been equivocally respectful : tho Empress has charmed all beholders with her conquering smiles . Tho following has been tho route of tho Imperial progress . On Thursday at noon the Emperor and Empress loft St . Cloud . They arrived at Arras that evening . On Friday morning thoy continued their journey to Douai , Valenciennes , and Lille . The 1 ' rinco de Chimay , deputed by tho King of tho Belgians to compliment the Emperor , was at the latter city .

    At Lillo , on Saturday , there was a review of tho troops stationed thoro . Tho Emperor and Empress then inspected tho great industrial establishments at Koubuix and Tourcoing . On Sunday they inspected tho camp at Hcll ' aut , and worn received with : i salutu of 101 guns . Tho officers sent over to roprosont England consisted of Major-lien , tho Earl of Lucun and his nidos-de-ciun ]) , tho Marquis of Worcester and Lord llinghtun , Colonel Jones , of tho Itoyul Engineers , und Colonel Fox Strungways , of tbo Itoyal Horse Artillery . Nothing could exceed tho amount of attention which those oifieor . s received from tho Emperor and Empress . Tho review lasted three hours , uftor which tho Emperor proceeded to St . Oiiuir , which was illuminated . A grand ball afterwards Ux / k place ; tho gttnrl of Lucan duncing with tho

    Empress . On Monday afternoon tho Imperial party arrived at Calais . They worn received by the authorities , the clergy , u deputation of young ludiot * , and the young workwomen of Cnluis . Tho Kmporor and Empress occupied tho whole of the Hotel Dossiii , which hud been beautifully r <> - decorutiid for the occasion , and in tho afternoon held a reception , which occupied Heine three quarters of im hour . At nine o'clock tlio Kinpiirer and Empress attended a grand ball at the Vhillmrinonie-rooms , given by the city of Calais . On Tuosday at elevisn thoy set out for itoulugno in u plain travelling carriage , a ntroug guard of cuvulry heading tho Imperial purly , »» d tho roar being brought up by hussars and a troop of lior . se nrtillery . The suite occupied eleven

    carriages . A . salute of 101 guim announced the departure of the' Emperor . At : hnlf-pnst . three they entered Boulogne by the Calais gulo . The fust visit was to I ho Napoleon column , erected iu 1 N 01 at tho time of the threatened invasion of England . Here n number of veterans of U ,,, Umpire were drawn up in line . After inspecting the column and the troopH , the Emperor and Empress drove through the principal stroeto of the town . At half-pant nix o ' clock thoy returned to the wm « - [» r « lecture , where a party of about n « xty of the military and civil authorities were entertained by the Emperor i « t dinner , a military band being ntationed before * the houso . Jn tl" > evening there was a general illumination : ( I b « U wt tho thoutro given to tho Emperor by tho

    municipality ; at which the Emperor danced the first quadrille with the mayoress , and the Empress with the mayor , but gave it up in despair after the third figure , on account of the orchestra not keeping time : and a gratis ball on the open ground of the Tintelleries , which was gracefully illuminated . This 'national'ball- was kept up with great spirit till long after midnight . At the ball in the theatre some enthusiastic representatives of that peculiar Britannia metal which we call " snobbism , " and which is always in abundance at Boulogne , distinguished themselves by " truly British cheers" for the Emperor and Empress .

    The next morning , soon after ten o ' clock , the Emperor and suite proceeded to visit the Docks and the new sluicebridge ; and at a quarter past one started in a special train by the Northern Railway for Amiens . Wine , bread , meat , and clothing were distributed to the poor in honour of the visit ; and the troops received rations of wine "to drink the health of the Emperor and Empress . " The admirers of Louis Napoleon speak of his reception at Boulogne as the most enthusiastic he has yet met with . This may be accounted for by the preponderance of English , whom the Emperor loses no opportunity of converting . It would have seemed a startling contrast to any man less impassible than Louis Napoleon , the reception in 1853 and that in 1840 when he waa conducted up the street in custody , and dripping wet , between two serjenis de ville !

    The bells of the churches rang out peals at all the stations between Boulogne and Abbeville , flags were exhibited , and " the rural population" were assembled . The Emperor and Empress , on their arrival at Abbeville , were received by the authorities , who conducted them into the town , which contains many quaint specimens of domestic architecture . The Emperor and Empress ( says the correspondent of the Times ) have seen during the last week triumphal arches enough to span the Chafmel , tricoloured flags sufficient to cover the prairies of the Western States , and festoons of evergreens enough to extend from Havre to New York . Abbeville did its part in these stereotyped ebullitions of loyalty infinitely diversified by French taste ; and , after visiting the principal streets and the cathedral , their Majesties returned to the railway station , and the special train proceeded to Amiens , where it arrived about five o ' clock .

    The railway station at Amiens was decorated with exquisite taste . The Mayor made an address to their Majesties , and presented the Emperor with the keys of the city . The Emperor and Empress , escorted by a detachment of the 2 nd Hussars and by the National Guard , then proceeded to the Hotel de Ville , where the trea t y of the Peace of Amiens was signed in 1802 . In the evening their Majesties attended a grand ball , given by the municipality . The public edifices and many private houses were brilliantly illuminated , and the streets , densely crowded . On Thursday morning the Emperor and Empress attended mass at the cathedral , admitted to be one of the finest Gothic edifices in Europe . The Emperor and Empress afterwards took their departure for Paris .

    The Minister of Marine joined the Emperor at Dunkirk , and was to accompany him throughout tho remainder of his tour . On account of the storm in the channel the ocean squadron was not able to make Dunkirk , but remained at anchor at Dunes . It was ordered to go to Boulogne , to be inspected by the Emperor there . The same flowery correspondent of the Palrie , who described the " delirious enthusiasm" of tho Emporor ' s reception at Dieppe , says that on the arrival of their Majesties at Calais an " immense number''of Englishmen at the Railway station , " almost all in uniform , " cried out lustily in English — " Long lite and happy reign to Napoleon the Third ! ( iod bless the Empress ! Hurrah for tho great Emperor ! & c . "

    As a specimen of the alliance between the church and tho state in France , let us take tho address of the Bishop of Arras , ono of the acutest ecclesiastics iu France , to the Emperor . If Nicholas is protector of Christianity in the East of Europe , Louis Napoleon is his rival in that capacity in tho West . " Other men will net be wanting , Sire , to laud the siipercniineut qualifications which adorn tho august person of your Majesty ; that serenity of soul which nothing shakes , that power of will which triumphs over all , that sure foresight which seizes always tho truth ; finally , that

    wondrous superiority beforo which nil obstacles yiold , and all pretensions vanish . Wo whose thoughts should be above this world , because our kingdom is net of it—we have other homago to ofler * you . There is something in your Majesty superior to all the gifts of nature ; it in the mission which you have received from heaven . The more tho inwurd thought of faith reflects upon all you have « lono with so much prompitude and facility , tho more convinced it becomes that you have not acted singly . God in with you , Sire , und that is your chief alory . ''

    TIIK TWO KMVKROUB AT Ot . MUTZ . The military , diplomatic , and imperiid congress was initiated at Olmiitz , by tho arrival of tho C / . ar on the evening of the 2-lth iust ., at six o'clock . The Emperor of Austria hud gone to meet him as far as 1 ' rerau . The town was illuminated , as't . ho two courts , attended by a host , of Jollieers , escorted the imperial cortege into the town . In front of tho palace stood the ujuiird of honour ' composed of the medal-bearing veterans of the Austrian regiment of the Emperor Nicholas ; and hero ( writes the correspondent of the Times ) took place one of those nc ' tti of fraternization which the Emperor of Itussiaf employs with such consummate tact , with a view to producing u favourable impression on th <> Austrian * . When th <> < ir » t bars of the

    Horonado were got through , the Emperor Nioliolas placed himself at the head of the guard of honour , and an ho inarched past , saluted the Emperor of Austria in the capacity of a comrade of the veterans and a holder of a regimental command under the novtiroign of Austria . Loud applause followed from the spue later * as the Emperors publicly kimuA each ether , and then the court dinner followed , the two emperors spending the evening together in undisturbed privacy , tho Prince of 1 ' iusnia and most of the general !* having gone to the theatre . Tho W ^ VV " tno lir ! lt R """! field-day ; < lfi , 700 men , with 12 H guns , encamped on the ftront plain , two miles from the town , were disposed for " divine Horvico , " uiul pwrudo »» fltorwaril » . At mid-day tho wi'iUlicr , which Juul

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 1, 1853, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01101853/page/5/