The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-02-02 00:00:00

THE SPANISH MARRIAGE.

The Correspondent of The Times, writing from Madrid on
Saturday, gives the followinz description of a grand gala
piece which was performed at the theatre in honour of the
Royal Marriage :

"I never saw a more magnificent hall or ?, more
striking spectacle From nine o'clock in the
evening the Hall was crowded from the stalls to the
fourth gallery, the front boxes being filled with all
that Madrid contains of noble, elegant, beautiful,
and young. Every box contained at least four
ladies, mostly in light-coloured robes, in the first
rank ; behind them, covered with gold and brilliant
decorations, the manifold uniforms of all that
Madrid and a great part of Spain furnishes of
Generals and civil and political officials. But what
gave the Hall its peculiar aspect was the parterre
covered with fauteuils. Here the mingled magnifi-
cence exceeded in picturesque and elegant variety
everything imaginable. In these fauteuils alternated
beautiful Madril ewe, black coats, and uniforms. The
ladies seated in the faufeuils all wore the pretty white
mantilla, falling from over their dark or blonde hair,
and fastened with diamond pins, covering them like
a spring mist. The parterre, usually so dark and
monotonous, was here as picturesque and warmly
coloured as an Oriental carpet. There the beautiful
and majestic Duchess of 06suna, in a white robe, the
Order of Marie Louise slung over her shoulder, and
diamonds sparkling in her black hair; the Duchess of
Huescar in a sky-blue dress, wearing a necklace
of ten rows of magnificent pearls, and a ducal diadem;
the Marchioness of Alcanises, the Duchess of Sesto,
still the same whom all Paris used to call the beau-
tiful Duchesse de Morny ; the Marchioness of Molins,
the Duchess of Fernan Nunez, the Marchioness of
Belmar, the Duchess of Santa Cruz, the Countess of
Fernandsive, and a hundrea others whose name Spain
repeats with pride and admiration, looking about
them and regarded with curiosity, formed round the
Royal Lodge the most beautiful and seductive circle a
romantic imagination could devise.
At 9.20 o'clock the King and Queen appeared in the
front of the Grand Lodge, in the centre of the second
row of boxes. The King still wears the costume of
Captain-General. He preserves his young, sympa-
thetip, open, and happy physiognomy. The Queen, in
a white robe, wearing a light circle of diamonds on her
brow, a collar of diamonds round her neck, raidiant
with youth, gently smiling, her beautiful black
eyes sparkling with happy emotion is stand-
ing. The orchestra plays the At archa Reale,
the whole Hall turns towards the Royal couple, and
a unanimous burst of Viva le Rey / Viva la Reine t
escapes from the admiring spectators. The King
sits down. On his left is the Queen, and on his
right the Princess of the Asturias, Countess of
Girgenti. On the Queen's side are the King, Don
Francis of Assisi, the Duchesse de Montpensier, the
Cointes6 de Paris, Princess Christina; on the side of
the Princess of the Asturias the Infantas Eulalie, Paz,
and Pilar ; standing behind the Princess Christina, the
Comte de Paris, always mild, modest, and sym-
pathie ; and at his side the Due de Montpensier, the
Chamberlains, and the Grandees of Spain, among
whom appears the happy physiognomy of the Marquis
of Molius, whom an order at the last moment has
enabled to be present after all at the marriage, and whose
unexpected appearance at the At,ocha church produced
quite a sensation.
At this moment the curtain rises, the stage is
crowded with performers to the number of about 500,
who sing a hymn in honour of the Royal marriage, of
which Gaillar, the tenor, and Leon, of the Opera, exe-
cutes the solos. The King, who is talking affectionately
with the Queen, forgets to applaud, and as etiquette
forbids applauding before him, the curtain falls in
silence. It soon rises again, for the opera of Seilor
Arieta, the Director of Conservatorium of Madrid,
is to be performed on this occasion for the first
time. . . . . From time to time the spectators
listen to and applaud TambErlik, the favourite singer
of the Madrilene. Then the King rises, a last cheer is
raised, and the curtain falls. The beautiful ladies re-
sume their mantillas, cover their shoulders, and hide
their diamonds, and their eyes, to protect themselves
against the always watchful enemy of whom people
say here, "Faithless wind which, indeed, takes men
by treachery and effaces them in 48 hours from the
number of the living," and of which one cannot help
talking incessantly after having passed ever so short a
sime in this lively Capital."