ENGLAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 291, 15 August 1855, Page 4

ENGLAND.

''• the imperial visit to the city. Departure from Windsor, and Arrival at the Goildhall. —At an early hour the Hon. Mr. Dutton, —Hutchins, Esq., M.P., Mr. Sergeant. Gazelle, Captain Johnson, —Lacy, Esq., directors of the South Western Railway Company, with Mr. Cromhie, the secretary, proceeded to Windsor, to receive her Gracious Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Albeit, and their Imperial visitors. The royal party arrived at the station at Windsor shortly after 11 o'clock, and met from a large assemblage a greeting of the most enthusiastic description. Their Majesties having been received by the above-mentioned director?, and Mr. Crombie, the secretary, proceeded to the state carriage, amidst renewed cheering from the privileged few who had the extreme good fortune to obtain tickets of admission from the directors. The engine was conducted by Mr. Beattie, the Locomotive Superintendent, and —Hutchinson, Esq., M.P., chairman of the Locomotive Committee; and Mr. Scott, the traffic manager, was also on the engine. Exactly at five minutes to twelve o'clock the royal train arrived at the station at Vauxhall,where then-Majesties and suite alighted, and were received by N. J. Chaplain, Esq., the chairman, the Count Eyre, and several other directors and officials. The royal station presented a csup d'ceil of the most simple yet magnificent character, the tastefully arranged grounds surrounding- the station materially heightening the effect. The capitals of the pillars supporting the roof of the corridor or sta~ tion were decorated with a profusion of laurel, with the flags of France and England beneath. At the end of the corridor was erected a platform, with seats covered with crimson cloth, which were filled with elegantly attired ladies. Their Majesties having acknowledged the attentions of the chairman and officials, proceeded to the royal carriages, which, on emerging from the gates, were received by a vast concourse of persons with a hearty and enthusiastic burst of cheering. Similar demonstrations attended the progress over Vauxhall Bridge, &c, to Buckingham Palace. A guard of honour, consisting of 100 of the Foot Guards, was in attendance, with the band of the Scotch Fusiliers. The escort consisted of a troop of the Life Guards. The royal carriages proceeded over Vauxhall Bridge to Buckingham Palace, where an immense and enthusiastic crowd had assembled. Along the line of route from Buckingham Palace to Guildhall, flags of various sizes, ages, and colours, were hung out, and at every window a cluster of heads were seen. The police had no difficulty in keeping order in the streets, although fe the crowds were great, and the Emperor nearly an hour after the appointed time. The moments, however, were getting very tedious when the imperial visitors came. The uniform of the Guards heralding the ap' proach was a welcome sight. When the lon"----expected carriage passed, it became evident that erroneous ideas of the whole proceeding had been entertained by the crowd. At many spots the people would not believe that their Majesties had arrived long after the wheels had rolled by. Open carriages, brilliantly dressed ladies, a smiling Empress, and a long glittering display of equipages were looked for": and the disappointment, when it was found that all there was to see had been shut up in the Sheriff's^ carriage, so soon out of sight, was great. The people in the front rank recognised the distinguished occupants, and cheered : but by vast numbers, especially to those in doors, the Emperor's presence was not even suspected. His Imperial Majesty looked in excellent spirits, and bowed repeatedly from ' the window of the carriage. The Empress,

we are fglad to say, appeared to have q u j te recovered from the fatigue of the last few days The reception at Guildhall, shortly before three o'clock, formed a scene of an extraordinary character. All that wealth and loyalty can effect in the shape of decoration was lavishly expended, and with this was an enthusiasm seldom witnessed among1 the people. SPEECH OP THE EMPEROTt NAPOLEON AT" THE GUILDHAit/. The Recorder having presented the address of the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of London. The Emperor replied. He said he felt more gratified than he could express for the kindly reception he had experienced since his arrival in this country and towards her Majesty, the Queen of England, for enabling him to pay a visit to the country under such favourable circumstances to both nations. He felt the highest pleasure in receiving expressions of respect from such a body as the Lord Mayor and corporation of the city of London, a city which possessed all the necessary [resources either for peace or war. Flattering as were the sentiments which had been expressed, he received them cordially, because he knew they were addressed not so much to himself personally as to the French nation, of which he was on that occasion the interpreter. The interests of the two countries were everywhere identical. Those remarks were addressed to an army and navy which had been engaged in a united companionship of danger and gallantry, and also addressed to the Government, both of which, he trusted, were based on truth, moderation and justice. (Loud cheers.) For himself he had never disguised the sentiments he felt towards England and the English people, and since he had been on the throne of France he had never changed those opinions which, while he was an exile he hud always avowed. (Loud cheers.) He believed moreover, that those sentiments were in complete accordance with those which were held by the nation which had chosen him as its ruler; indeed, England and France were united in all the great questions of politics and of human progress which at present agitated the world from the shores of the East to the Mediterranean, and from the Black sea to the Baltic. Tl.ey had at heart one cause, and were determined upon pursuing one end. (Loud cheers.) It was by no pitiful rivalries that the union of the two nations could he dissevered, and while they followed the dictates of common sense they would be sure of the future. The Corporation of the city of London were right in supposing that his presence amongst them was a grand convincing proof, if any were wanting:, that the war should be pursued with vigour— at all events until the allied nations succeeded in obtaining an honourable peace. If they persevered in the war there could be no doubt of a successful result, for the soldiers and sailors of both nations were men of tried valour, and were united in determining to secure the honor of both countries. In their generous and enlightened ideas lay their superiority. He was deeply grateful to the corporation for the kind and affectionate expressions which had been used towards the Empress. The cordial manner in which she had been received would never be effaced from her memory. Throughout the whole of France, of which he was the representative, he knew that there was one feeling of affectionate gratitude for the cordiality which had been shown to himself and the Empress. They would take back with them to France a lasting sense of their kindness, which would be appreciated not only by themselves, but by the whole of their fellow countrymen. The Emperov delivered this speech in a loud, clear voice, audible in every part of the hall. Their Majesties afterwards returned to the palace, and were again greeted with loud cheering as they passed along the streets.

Great Storm.—Dublin, Tuesday.—Dublin has been visited during; the last fortyeijrht hours by a gale of wind, which for violence has scarcely ever been exceeded in the depth of midwinter. Yesterday the storm was accompanied by heavyjjsliowers of hail, causingl considerable damage to glass on skylights and other places exposed to its full force. The wind blew north north-west, and the cold was almost intolerable. An Under-Secuetary fub the Colonies. —The vacant. Under Secretaryship of the Colonial Department, which necessarily remained open until the bill for regulating the number ot Secretaries of State and Uiider-Secretaries be-

came law, has been confided to Mr. John Ball, M.P. for Carlow. Mr. Ball is now in Ireland, but returns on Thursday to assume the duties of his new affairs.— Globe. The Know Nothing Policy.—A correspondent of the Times says, in reference to Mr. Ball's appointment as Under-Secretary for the Colonies :—Lord Pahnerston has at last completed his Government by the appointment of Mr. John Ball, M.P., for Carlow, as UnderSecretory of the Colonial Department. The selection is highly respectable as far as Mr. Ball's character and abilities are concerned ; but up to the moment of his appointment he has never been in any way connected with colonial affairs, had never shown any disposition to interest himself in them, and had never opened his mouth in a colonial debate. Probably the same know-nothing policy which so obstinately excludes Sir Win. Moles worth from Downing Street, and tethers him in the Woods and Forests of the Crown, lias assisted Lord Palmerston in discovering in Mr. Ball a virgin mind to hand over to the experienced tuition of Messrs. Herman Merrivale and Frederick Elliot. A little beforj seven o'clock this evening (Thursday, April 19th), a French refugee was arrested for attempting to throw a letter into the Emperor's carnage, and otherwise offering violence. He was lodged in jail, but nothing in reference to the case had transpired up to the closing of the despatch. Sir John Burgoyne returned to London on Sunday, and dined at Windsor Castle on Tuesday. Mr. Roebuck's Committee is still sitting. The Oommissariat Department is greatly exposed for their official blunders. On the 18th, the funds in London, on receipt of news from Sebastopol, became depressed. They fell to 90 1-8. The news from Vienna was not satisfactory. The Chancellor of the Exchequer intends contracting a loan of £16,000,000. Rothschild's list comprises the leading capitalists for the loan. The'colonial wool sales would commence on the 10th May. 35,000 bales had arrived. The Times, in a leading article, says its news of the progress of the negotiations atcVienna is undoubtedly, discouraging. The hopes of the restoration of peace entertained in some quarters being likely to prove wholly illusory, and the acceptance of the four points by the court of St. Petersburgh turns out to be, as the Times had always suspected, a mere artifice to dissolve, if possible, the powerful coalition arrayed against the Russian empire. The strictest secrecy has been faithfully preserved by the members of the Conference ; but it has not been concealed that the third point, as interpreted at the first meeting of the Conference, is rejected by Russia, although the nature of the latter's counter propositions is not known. It appears, also, that the conduct of Austria towards the belligerent powers has became more dubious in this emergency, and that the question of peace and war upon the most extended scale holds in suspense the balance of power in Europe. The Times trusts that the French Emperor's visit will lead to still greater firmness of purpose in the proceedings of the Allies, and that, if the Conference of Vienna has failed to achieve the work of peace, that of London will prove effective for the prosecution of war. After dwelling at considerable length on the position of Austria, the article concludes as follows :—" The one thought which has restored to Austria her ascend.sncy throughout Germany—that is, over the German people—is the hope that the Emperor Francis Joseph has a policy and will of his own, and of all the discouraging results of the Vienna Conference, the most fatal would be the discovery that the firmness and independence! of this young isovereign are undermined or destroyed."