The Press. — London, England, 1856-09-27 00:00:00

932 fume and braziers of incense, preceded the royal procession; —bow after marriage the royal party seat themselves at whist tables and play a " make believe" game, for the courtiers to pass through the chamber and make obeisance, till supper is an nounced, for which everybody no doubt is well pre pared ;—how at supper distinguished generals cut up the side dishes, and some great nobles carve the chicken and tongue, while other great nobles assist Royalty to soup ;—how all the courtiers stand by with watery palates and a sensation of appetite alfecting the epiglottis, till another great noble offers Royalty a bowl of wine, when the King upstanding proposes the health of bride and bridegroom amidst a flourish of trumpets, anal the immediate " fall to" of hungry couriers, for it is a signal that those who stand may sup, not sit ;—and how, after supper, and cham• pagne, and healths, and flourishes of trumpets, king, queen, and princesses accomplish, in turn, a Polo naise with the bride and bridegroom ; and how, at length, the new married couple retire into private life, and the " bride's garter " is scrambled for by ambitious courtiers ! All this, and more, occurred at the marriage last Saturday of the Princess Louisa of Prussia with the Grand Duke of Baden. The marriage was fixed for seven p.m. The bride had arrived at the Royal Schloss, where special dressing rooms were fitted up for her: As the time drew on towards seven o'clock the various members of the royal family assembled in the apartments of King Frederic I. of Prussia, anti received there the bride as she issued from her dressing-rooms, and the bridegroom, too, who joined them there. It is here and at this time that the boddice of the bridal dress, which has been brought from the State jewel-office, studded with diamonds, is brought by an offiver and two privates of the Garde de Corps and officers of the household, into the outer chamber, where the high officers of Court are assembled, and there delivered into the hands of the royal family. Together with these bodice jewels is delivered in at the same time the crown, which all princesses of Prussia wear at their wedding; it is circular in form, and consists apparently of a hoop tilled in with crimson velvet, and surmounted by two loops of brilliants, intersecting each other at right angles in the centre, where they sup port a small cross of the same precious stones; as it is only about five inches in diameter it forms rather a pretty ornament for the head, and looks by no means cumber• same to the wearer. The etiquette of Court toilette re quires, as I am told, that on these occasions the bridal princess must wear ringlets dropping behind from oat of the crown, and with this fashion the Princess Louisa com plied this evening ; nor was a miniature myrtle wreath omitted, but instead of being entwined around the coronet, w`lich would have been much prettier, it was fastened ou to the back hair.—Times Berlin cor. So soon as the procession was formed the King gave the signal, and, preceded by the lacqueys with perfume and incense, entered the picture gallery, en route to the chapel. Some 2,000 persons were 0 'leered in the gallery. Chamberlains and pages led the way : At an interval of a few paces came the bridal couple. The bridegroom wore the uniform of a Baden General, which r...sembles that of the Prussian, in being of the s one kind of blue; his was, however, more richly trimmed strAli gold lace than the Prussian, and from his left shoulder to the ri !lit hin there hung the yellow scarf of the Order of the Black Eagle. (The Prussian Order and the. Baden Order of Fidelity were the only orders the ribands of which were allowed to be worn outside and prominently.) Of the bride 1 have nothing to add to the remarks if made tmy letter of this morning. Of the splendour of the State diamonds and the richness of the robe of drop d'artient I have nothing to say, from having remarked nothing of them ; and I believe many years will pass over h-r head before any man in the presence of the youthful Grand lli.cheaa of Baden will have an eye at all for her d .esta. The King then came, leading the Princess of Prussia. The King looked healthier and younger than he his any time since 1848, and his manner was the most natural and unaffected of all those present. In the anitenanee of the Princess of Prussia was to be read the mother's conscious pride at the splendid ceremonial In honour of this match of affection, which has been brmed by her only daughter. Passing over the General aid Fltigel Adjutants who followed the King, flanked by the Minister of the Royal House and the Ladies of Honour who bore the train of the Princess, the mother of the bride then came next, the Prince of Prussia leading the Qieen. Of the Prince one could well fancy that the feel in; uppermost in his mind was that he was about to give away his daughter, as was evidenced in a alight shade of sadness on his countenance; the Queen, on the contrary, was unusually radiant and affable, apparently gratified by the affectionately respectful salutations of the thick•set rows of her female subjects she was passing through, and in spite of the slight defect in her gait she moved as thnu'gh she knew she was Queen, and at that moment a happy one. • the ceremony of marriage was soon performed ; the rings, according to German custom, were ex changed, a blessing was given, and the roar of a royal salute signified the great fact to the loyal Ber -I.ners. The royal party retired for a short time to a private apartment to receive congratulations : After leaving the chamber of private congratulations the ro)al party proceeded to the NN hite Saloon to receive the congratulations of the. Court, the arrangements for which are very peculiar, and carry one back to the times and ciustmus of Louis XIV., or of Friedrich Wilhelm 1., who was as fund of Court ceremony as the French monarch THE PRESS. himself. The King and Queen took their places with the bridal couple at a card table, placed on the dais beneath the canopy that usually overhangs the throne; the various members of the august party seated themselves at similar tallies placed in a line running from both sides of the dais, and were supposed, according to the theory of Court etiquette, to be at once immersed in the mysteries of long and short whist and Boston. While so engaged, the various members of the Court file before the royal table and perform their reverence. As soon, however, as supper is announced the King breaks off this unsatisfac• tory pastime, and the procession returns to the Hitter Seal to sup. Then came supper with much ceremony and little satisfaction, after which the royal party retired to the White Saloon, where the torch dance took place:— At a signal from the King the Lord High Marshal ap proaches the young couple and requests them to open the dance, which they do by walking a Polonaise, preceded by the twelve Ministers of State, each holding a taper of white wax in his hand. After performing one tour of the saloon, which is of very considerable extent, the procession stops before the dais, and the newly-married Princess invites the King to dance, with which he complies, and accomplishes a turn with considerable grace and gallantry, being all the time preceded, as before, by the Ministers of State with their wax tapers. This Polonaise the Princess re peats with every one of the princes present, ending with a Prince of Holstein•Augustenburg, and when these evolu tions are at end the prince bridegroom commences his performances by requesting the hand of the Queen, and dancing with every prircess in turn, so that he ended with the Princess Liegnitz, the widow of the lute King. Thus did these unfortunate Ministers perform the round of the White Saloon full seventeen times, carrying their white tapers - 1W exertion about equal to a good morning's shoot ing, only nut so wholesome. Two of the Ministers on this occasion excused themselves ou the score of ill health, and their places were filled up by the two eldest Privy Coun cillors. When the terpsichorean efforts of the Ministers of State and the royal family and guests are at an end the former precede the latter in procession to the doors of the saloon, when they make over their tapers to the pages in waiting, who continue to carry them in advance of the royal procession up to the apartments of the Queen, where they extinguish them at the door as the procession passes in. At this point it is regarded in the theory of the Court etiquette as though the newly-married couple have retired into private with their family. The crown is removed from the bride's head; she changes her dress, so that the body, with the jewels, can be returned to the State jewel office under escort; and after the lapse of a short time the bride's first lady-in-waiting appears at the door of their pri vate apartments, are! distributes the bride's garter to the waiting cavaliers, who scramble and scuffle fur the honour of possessing a portion. This remnant of the custom of a coarser age is managed in a very inoffensive manner ; • blue ribaud fringed with silver lace, and having the initials and coronet of the bride embroidered in silver, is prepared in advance, and carried by the lady-in-waiting in her pocket, together with a pair of scissors. At the critical moment she draws this riband from her pocket, holds it for an instant or two against the bride's robe to identify it with her, and then cuts it off in lengths, which are act-ambled for. This forms the close of the publio ceremonial connected with the marriage of a Prussian princess. BELGIAN FREE TRADE CONGRESS. THE congress was formally inaugurated on Monday, under the presidency of M. Brouckere, Burgomaster of Brussels. At a previous meeting held on Saturday, M. Con VAN DER MAEREN in a speech of some length thanked the foreign delegates for their presence on that occasion : He bade them welcome in the name of prosperous Belgium. Their 'resent congress was widely different from that of 1847. We had advanced. Holland had abolished her navigation laws, and in England the oppo- sition of the protectionists to an established law had ceased. France bad modified her tariff, and was Cant to erase the word " prohibition " from it ; and Sardinia, Spain, Ger many, Portugal, Sweden, &c., had liberalised their customs does. Something had been done, it must he confessed, in Belgium ; but a coalition of interested men bad prevailed to retard the application of the goad intentions of the Government. Still the principle of free trade, or of a re duction of duties, had beeu allowed; the method of reduc tion was alone the question. Strict limits were laid down to confine the speakers within either of the two following questions :- Ist. What were the artificial or natnralobstacles opposed to the extension of the commercial relations of the country to which you belong? 2nd. What were the practical meats proposed or to be proposed in each country to remove or diminish the obstacles which impede the extension of cora inercial relations with other nations ? The speakers, however, had each prepared his speech, and were not to be deterred from delivering it by arbitrary limits. The worthy presidential burgo master made every effort he could, but in vain, to compel the delegates to confine their observations to the question before the congress, and not to go into irrelevant details. The Swiss delegate, M. CHERBULIEZ ' wore out his audience so much that th e y h a il e d his peroration will' uproarious applause, while Mr. WINKWORTH'S translation was absolutely called to order for diverg• ing so freely from the question. Delegates from Spain, Sardinia, Berlin, Brussels, and Paris severally addressed the meeting, pointing ►SATURDAY, out the advance of their several countries in the path of free trade. M. GARNIER (Paris) said : A project had been submitted to the Corps Legislatif for the removal of all prohibitory duties; and, without being too sanguine, it was to be hoped that that body would be induced by the example, influence, and experience of Eng. land to make a movement in the right direction. The advocates of free trade were steadily increasing in France. The entire press regarded it favorably, the manufacturing and commercial classes were awakening to its advantages, and oven the agricultural interest, ever slow to recognise what really tended to their benefit, were beginning to look upon it with diminished distrust. Mr. OLIVEIR.t spoke in favour of a reduction of the wine duties. Mr. H. BORN (publisher, London) expounded his views to the conference on tho subject of an inter. national book post, based on principles analogous► to the system recently introduced into England. The discuss►ons were continued on Tuesday and Wednesday, when the establiAment of an inter• national customs reform association, with a central office in Brussels, was proposed and unanimously carried. The proposition for the establishment of tri bunals of commerce, uniformity of weights and mea. sures, and money, as well as letters of credit and postage, after some discussion, was referred to the new international league just founded. The next proposition was from the authorities of Antwerp, and was to the effect that what remained of the colonial system should be abolished. The third proposition was to the effect that "the congress desired that all duties on rivers running from one country into another, and straits separating them, should be abolished." Carried, with one dis sentient voice. The fourth proposition, suggested by M. Couv mutt, was to the effect that the passport system should be modified, and the compulsory visas for various nations be abolished. This proposition was carried unanimously. The fifth proposition ran thus :—" That declara tions on the importation add exportation of merchan dise should be simplified, and made uniform fur all nations." Carried unanimously. M. TILLIERE brought up the report of the section on the teaching of political economy. The section appealed to the delegates to pledge themselves to use their influence to get tbo elements of political economy introduced as part of popular education in their respective countries, and to recommend the prepare. Lion of teachers for this purpose. The Spanish delegate reminded the congress that in the ten universities of his country this science was taught. The resolution of the committee was carried unanimotudy. Mr. EwART, M.P., them moved, in a complimen tary speech, an address of congratulation to the King on the 26th anniversary of the national inde pendence. He begged to assure them that his Ma jesty was highly esteemed in England. Carried unanimously. It was then arranged that a fourth and final sitting of the congress be held on Thursday. A STATEMENT that the late Earl of Shrewsbury left a will devising his estates for charitable pur poses, to the sole disposition of the late John Sad leir, is not correct. The noble deceased, it is un derstood, did make a will, leaving his property in trust for strictly Roman Catholic charitable and educational objects, but the trustees included several noblemen and gentlemen, as well as Mr. John Sadleir. SET A TRAP—NOT ♦ THIEF---TO CATCH ♦ TRIM is the maxim of a Times correspondent who lives "midway between the city camp of the swell-mob men and the field of their nocturnal operations at Notting-hill." After pointing out the uncertainty and awkwardness of the revolver or pistol, the writer says :-- I know the highways and byways of my own house. I know where the plate-chest is deposited. I know better than my swell intruder the vulnerable points of the place, and there I plant my " trap." My trap has a good grip- It holds its customer hard, but does not hurt unless he attempts to get off—then it squeezes him more and more, and won't let him go anyhow. It hooks him above the knee. True, he will give tongue a little, and then I descend slowly and carelessly towards him. I know my bird is bagged. As to his making off with the trap, may as well march off with the rock of Sisyphus. He is fixture for the time. When my servant goes out in the afternoon for beer or any other necessary, I tell him to leave the ltull•door ajar, close the cross baize door, fix my trap, and catch my customer as he handles the coats, hats, and cloaks in the passage, and, on my servant's return, all is right without any trouble or confusion. I then strip him of his long black lucks and his moustache, trundle him with the trap into the wheelbarrow, and have him carted along to the next police-station. I average the weight to spring my trap at eight stone and no less. The poking of a stick is useless.