FRANCE.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 636, 19 May 1852, Page 3

FRANCE.

(From the "Spcct.itoi," .T.muaiy i ) The honours p lid to a king anointed on the day of bis coionntion weie paid to Louis Napoleon Bonapaite. on Thuisday morning to inaugurate his acceptance of the ten yeais 1 Presidency, which the French people have calLd him to. The picluiesque desenpt'on of die conespondent of the Times makes dear Ihe theatrical and more than loynl character of the spectacle. " No one that witnessed the scene of this dny can ever forget it. Fiom the fiii^e; ot the cannon at the Invalides — seventy signals, ten for each million — at ten in the morn ng. to the tiiutnphant passage of the President from the church of Notre Dame to the place of the Tuileries, hemmed in the whole way between two forests of militaiy, the multitude outside cheering and shou ing ' Vive Napoleon !' the spectacle was vast, imposing, and magnificent." The Piesident arrived at tho great portal at noon, General Magnam only shaiing Ins cainnge: and it was noted that he had, for the first lime on a public occ< s on, discirded the uniform of the National Guard, nn adopted the purely militaiy costume ola Hurenaut-gcn-eral in the army. Some of the accounts say thai the acclamations as he alhghled were few and faint. The Arc.hbish.op of Paris met him at the poich, and tendered to him the relic of '.he true cross, in its costly casket, o which the cathedral officials boast the custody. Louis Napoleon kissed the lclic with acted jeverence, and took his pluce in the procession to the altar. The seated spectators rose; "and all, even the militaiy, stood uncoveitd, during his passage from the giand entrance to the chair of stale. As he walked up to his place, the orchestra performed the mil eh and ♦ Vivat in je ernum,' by Lesueiur, a quaint and pompous strain flic band was like one instiumcnt, so peifcct was its piecision, and so marked and decided its arcent. The Ie Deuin, which Lesueur (the Empeior Napoleon'b Maitie de Chapelle) composed for the battle of Austerlitz, and which was afterwards performed in celebration Df the taking of Algiers, was the capital moiceau, and displayed the strength and number of the executants in the highest advantage.'' " The coup d'eeil presented on enfeiing the catheIral of Notre Dame was somewhat deteriorated by the effect of a dense fog, which, throwing a veil of mist )ver all that passed outside, penetrated to the innermost recesses of the building, and mocked the dazzling Diilliancy of neaily a thousand wax lights, snspended in :lusters fiom the roof. In the couise of a short time, lowever when the chant d'appel of the tambouis, ac3t»mpanied by the cries of * Vive Napoleon,' which re/ci berated fiom without, and were re-echoed thiough ;he lofty nave and aisles, announced the anival of the President, this had paitially died away, and a better jppoitunity was affotded of appreciating the splendour )f the scene which stretched in gorgeous hues and glitwing disarray beiore the astonished sight. The /illari of the great nave, adorned with purple-coloured manners, sprinkled with stars of gold — the velvet Iraperies and enormous garlands of foliage and flowers, vhich coveied and fell from the galler cs — the lichly lecorated fbgs, cirrying the arms and names of the jluef cities of the emphe— the columns of the sauctu iry, coveied fiom base to capital with silk brocade of nimsou and gold— the altar in the choir, with its rich Hid gaudy ornaments— the benches for tho authorities md the constituted bodies, and the galleries on either side, crowded with persons engrandetenue — theoretics* ra of 500 executants, vocal and instrumental, disposed n the galleries at the extremity of the choir— and the jrincipal feattuc of ill, the lofty dais, with hangings of srimson and gold doubled with win c, mu mounting the istrade, which faced the altar and supported the seigf 1 honneur, wheieon sat Louis Napoleon with his pneDieu, the Archbishop of Paiis (who officiated in thp service) to his right, and the attendant bishops to his eft, — these, and other objects too numerous to specify, ill glittering in the light of the countless wax candles, vhich pained the eye to look upon, gave to the ancient cathedral, one of the architectural gloiies of Pan's »nd ;he world, a strange and fantastic aspect, which made t difficult to believe oneself in a place of worship. Ihe general effect, indeed was quite as theatrical as it ivas brilliant. It was neveitheles^ a surprising and intoxicating epectacle." ''Theseivice concluded with the ' Domine Salvam,' thus woided— ' Domine salvam Fac Rempublicam — salvumfac Napoleanem et exaudi nos in die gui invocaveiimus.'" " Outside the cathedral, the sight was, in its way, quite as imposing as that which T have endeavouied to describe in the interior. The whole surface of the Place ilu I'arvis was covered with military, who left just space enough for the carriages to pass from ihe great door,— fiom which the President, and all those who had seats in the nave, made their exit, — and pioceeded towaids tlie quays. As soon as the carriages had left, there wat a general rush ot the people to enter the cathedral . which they wjre allowed to do by the troops, as dming tho seivice, none weie pei milled to enter without tickets from the bureau of the Intel lor. The civility of the troops and their officers was remaikable, and their rreneialdepoilment denoted an unusual state of exhilatation." From Notre Dame the President went direct to the TuHeries. The reception of the authorities then took place. After the reception, the President gave a banquet of 400 covers, at which weie piesent the Ministers, the Diplomatic corps, the members of the Consultative Commission, the Prefects of the Seine and of Police, the new Municipal Council of Pans, General Lcewestine, and the Colonels of the National Guard ; and last, not least, General Magnam, and the leading officers of the army of Paris. The number 400 is another set vile imitation of the number of guests invited by the '* oncle" to celebiate h'n> instalment as First Consul. The Mamteur of yesterday announces tbat tlie Palace of the Tiuleiies will in future be the official residence of the President of the Republic