2-969-934 - /Heritage Images

Illumination of the Bourse, at Paris, in Honour of the Birth of the Prince Imperial, 1856. 'The illuminations on Sunday night were the most general that have been seen in Paris for years. Not only were all the public offices, theatres, ministries, &c., brilliantly lit up, but private houses almost everywhere hung out many coloured lanterns. Those of the Bourse shone forth conspicuously, and were the more remarked because the Bourse had never illuminated on any of the many recent occasions of public rejoicing. The decoration...consisted of a triumphal arch, surmounted by an Imperial crown. On the frieze was the inscription, in coloured lamps, "The Agens de Change to the Imperial Prince." The arch was united by garlands of flowers and evergreens to four pyramids, surmounted with stars, ornamented with the national flag, and bearing the inscriptions, "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'lmperatrice!".' From "Illustrated London News", 1856.