The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-22 00:00:00

THE PRINCE OF WALES AT MOSCOW.

A letter from Moscow of the 15th says :—" The
Prince of Wales left St. Petersburg by express train, night
and day's wolf hunting at Gatschina, at 9 o'clock at night,
and arrived hero at 1 o'clock. An immense crowd had
collected at the station, and lined the streets through
which he passed to the kremlin. Immediately on his ar-
rival at the palace he began to visit the curiosities of the
place, accompanied by his suite, and for some four hours
they were constantly on foot inspecting the wonders of
that extraordinary building. Very glad I believe they all
were when they had time to take a few minutes' rest
before dinner. There was a banquet at the Kremlin
at ti o'clock, and at half-past ti the royal princes,
in comp diy with the Governor of Moscow, Prince
Dolgorouki, visited the theatre. It was known before-
hand that the Prince would probably be there ; and the
enoimous opera house was crawmed in consequence. Next
to the Scala at Milan, the Dresden Theatre, and Covent
Garden, I should say that the Moscow Theatre was the
handsomest I have ever seen ; the stage, I believe, is one
of the largest in the world. There are no private boxes
except those close to the stage ; and the effect of the im-
mense tiers tilled, row after row, with handsomely-dressed
women, sparkling in diamonds, and with officers in
gorgeous uniforms, is brilliant in the extreme. As
the Prince's visit to Moscow is not a state affair,
the imperial box in the centre of the him,* was
not occupied by the royal gaiters. The Prince
sat in the corner of the stage box, somewhat bidden
by the curtains, with the Crown Prince of Denmark, the
Prince of Saxe-Weimar, and the Governor-General on his
left ; and it was some time before he was recognised by
the public, who kept constantly looking towards the im-
perial box in toe Lope of seeing bis royal highness enter
the theatre. I;ut when the curtain dropped on the first
act of the opera a rumour ran through the house, and
every lace in the whole buoding was turned upon the
stage-box where the royal visitors were seated. Even to
one so inured to being stared at as the Prince, it must, I
think, be trying to know that some thousands of opera-
glaases ale turned full upon you, and that their owners
are all commenting on your personal appearance.
The Prince, however, bore the ordeal with great
equanimity ' • and looked, indeed, unusually well as he
stood up in Hussar uniform, leaning on the hilt of his
sword. Then there was a tremendous shout from the
audience, and calls for something or other in language that
to me was unintelligible. The musicians had le.t the
orchestra, but at last the shouts became s, loud that the
Governor mine forward and waved his hand ; then the
musicians returned, and played the Russian national
anthem, the whole audience standing up. When that vas
over, there was a cry of ' God save the Queen,' of which
the only two intelligible words wero • God' and Kin ;'
and the baud, in answer to the Governor's signal,
obeyed the calL At the conclusion there was another
burst of applause, and the Prince came to the front of the
box, and bowed repeatedly in answer to the cheering. The
Danish national hymn was played next, and was acknow-
ledged in like manner by the Crown Prince of Denmark.
flat the audience were not satisfied, and insisted on a re-
petition of 'God save the Qtven ' and the Russian anthem.
At the close of the last the Prince again advanced,
and clapped his hands, to the great delight of the
Kus-
siam. There was again a demand for an encore, but the
royal party quitted the box, and the excitement subsided.
The opera was indifferent, the ballet, as usual, splendid
but the real attraction was the Pique of Wales ; and
nobody had eyes for the performance."