The Express.
London, England, 1861-10-24 00:00:00

CORONATION

THE KING OF PRUSSIA.

(nom ous =cur. comerommorr.)

BERLIN, BONDAT, OCT. M.

•
I sin not sorry to find myself back again in
Berlin, looking out on the lazy Spree, with the
royal Palace in the distance, and between it and
me hundreds of workmen preparing the " Unter
den Linden" for the feetivitiew of to-morrow. Taking
advantage of the off day, I shall endeavour to clear
off my account with Konigsberg, by shortly describ-
ing the second ball which took place on the night
preceding coronation day. As it did not terminate
until half-peat twelve on Thursday night, and as I
was obliged to be at the Schloss Kirehe at eight in
the morning, I trust I shall be excused for defer-
ring until now an account of what, after all, was a
matter of only secondary importance.
As the first ball was that of the States of the
Province? so the second was the entertainment of
the Konigsberg municipality, and I must say it
was, on the whole, a much pleasanter entertain-
ment than the first. The building in which it took
place is a very old one, looking uncommonly like a
slice off the Guidhall suite in London, although it
could not compare with the latter in splendour of
decoration. There were no statues, no pictures—
in short, there was no Bunning in Konigsberg to
furbish up the civic glories and make a Guildhall
9th of November a wonder of spun glass and
blazing gas, of red, and white, and blue, with lots
of green and all the et cetera, the details of which
take precedence of the annual feasts in the reports
of the 10th of November.

The Koni,gabergers have certainly not much taste
for display, their municipal palace being on this
occasion quite innocent of decoration. But the cor-
poration was there in a body, and the members
looked like corporates every inch—as rosy, as
rotund, as important, as anxious to be in the front
of every-thing, and as difficult to keep within the
strict bounds .4 etiquette when anything imperial,
or royal, or eveu " serene," was in sight.
The King and court came shortly after eight
o'clock, and were ushered into the ball-room by a
score of bowing aldermen, who seemed to find the
prescribed hackstep a feat of almost as much peril
as one would imagine Blondin's first essay on his
great rope. Thu company crowded in and stared
pretty much as "nobody " crowds and stares at
somebody " everywhere else. The Kiug, I am
hAPPY to say, looked as if his week's work had not
much exhausted him ; but the Queen was pale--
very pale. I believe it is nothing but her Majesty's
spirit that triumphs over her ill-health in getting
through this never-ending business. The Crown
Priucess was much admired, and many said as she
passed along, " What a nice little Empress of Ger-
many she would make." Her royal higbuesa is
extremely popular at Konigsberg, and nothing
could be more affectionately loyal than the deport-
ment of the whole people towards her.
I have observed that whilst Lord Clarendon and
the other ambassadors follow in the King's train on
these occasions, the Duke of Magenta comes always
late and alone, as if he considered it bin rdk
to be "a star," and " dwell apart." Being
on this occasion very close to his Excel-
lency, I could perceive that his face bears rather
a mild expression, and that his features are
a sort of water-colour copy of Sir Fenwick Williams,
the hero of Kars. A very distinguished looking
pair were the Piedmontese Ambassador and his
aide, the Marquis Pallavicini, the latter a man of
gigantic stature and noble presence. Indeed, I
must say that, taken altogether, all the ambassadors
looked better than the French, notwithstanding the
immense efforts made by the latter to create a spe-
cial sensation. I have already noticed the favour-
• impression created by the dignified presence
and gentlemanly bearing of Lord Clarendon, and
in lesser degree the other ambassadors looked as
if they bad been selected to do credit to their
respective countries. The Magenta affair, alone,
has been • failure, and it is now alleged abe dis-
covered that the cheering which awaited the duke
at only a few of the earlier stations down the line
was given by Poles, and in obedience to a command
from some central committee in Paris. It certainly
has given great umbrage in the highest quarters, as
it is not unreasonably thought that in Konigsberg,
and on the occasion of the coronation, everything
in the shape of ovation is exclusively the property
of the King and Queen.

As on the previous evening, the royal party were
escorted to a dais, where in chairs of state they
patiently witnessed a series of the living pictures
which are so popular in Germany. We had an em-
blematic representation of the rise and growth of
the Prussian monarchy, each stage being imperson-
ated by a lady, the wife or daughter of a burgher,
who sat in her large gilt frame with most creditable
immobility. Then there was the founding of
Konigsberg typified by appropriate emblems ; and,
garnishing all this, we bad the choral singing of
the Musical Society of the town—a moat stentorian
and effective performance. These musical amateurs
were most persevering in their loyalty ; for, not
satisfied with singing up and down the curtain: in
the tableaux limns, they followed the King to the
supper room, and were all night quite as demon-
strative as the band of the Surrey Militia at the
London Tavern.

The supper room was a large municipal looking
chamber, well lighted, but without any decoration,
save portraits of the Kings of Prussia, which de-
corated the upper end. The tables were well fur-
nished;but the chairs were modest cane, even for the
King and Queen, the " Idertsogs" and the " Grafs."
Whilst all these royal and noble lions were feeding,
the general company looked on from the bottom,
the corporators being, as I found, satisfied with a
much less prominent position than our own on
similar great occasions.

Amongst the spectators thus employed in wit-
nessing the pertornaiice at the table I recognised
Lord Dudley, who seemed very much amused at
the vigour and earnestness of the principal per-
formers. After supper every one adjourned to the
ball-room, but so great was the crowd that dancing
was wholly out of the question. The room was all
ablaze with uniforms and official costumes of every
kind, and the ladies were more numerous, better
dressed, and as a rule much handsomer than the
higher born dames of the previous evening. Our
principal amusement for some time was hustling
each other and endeavouring to catch a glimpse of
the royal platform, and when we did we saw the
distinguished occupants sitting just as tranquilly
as we had left them an hour before, whilst the hind
I thundered forth the Prussian Hymn, or the "
a Prussian," of which nobody in Konigsberg seems
ever to get tired. At last the glad tidings came
that the buffets were thrown open, and here the I
superiority of municipal over all other hospitality
became at once apparent. There was in a moment
a perfect deluge of raw beef sandwiches to be seen
running all over the room, grasped in the
hands of eager aldermen. Plates of oysters I
of a peculiarly fine gamey odour knocked
against your nose which ever way you turned, and
if you stopped a moment you could see thst the
bearer had a spoon in the other hand, witia which
he perpetually delved into the hollow shell, and
brought forth for swallowing purposes o,e fragrant
mollusk. I could understand in a moment why
George I. liked Brentford beyond ar.l other places
in England, for I could fancy frorj the pervading
odour that I was in Brentford at ',hat moment. The
wine hassle began in a mild way, by every one
swallowing off as many glasses, as he could by any
means lay hands on, but no power of " Kellner"
could fill the glum; fast -enough for the corporation
of Konigsberg.
rapidity of lightning
gtr ,thclftred the docks with the
of e
a
t
a
b
l
e
s anddrinkabies,
then vociferously ise.ied for more, and at last carried
' bottles and diable:bodily off, and improvind a min

(Stamped, ld. Additional.)

of interesting pic-nice in various corners of the
room. All your special correspondent could at
first lay hold of was a roll of bread of the most
infinitesimal dimensions, but by holding it up Ll.. I a
sort of mute appeal to such burghers as seemed to
have the organ of benevolence most promi-
nently developed, he at last succeeded in pro-
curing quite au abundance of the good things
of which there really was profusion? as
could easily be seen the moment that municipal
voracity had been in some slight degree appeased.
This battle of the knives and forks and bottles,
this excavation of aromatic oysters, this series of
pic-nics in the corners of the room lasted from ten
to twelve o'clock, when it was announced that the
royal party were about to depart, and every one
rushed to the entrance? some grasping a yet un- I
finished bottle, others still masticating the delicate
raw beef, and a third section yet employed in
fishy excavations. They all, however, forma room
enough to get out one parting cheer for the King,
and when he went they finished their suppers and
then went away also, the dancing, like the part of
Hamlet, being omitted by particular desire.

It was a fine jolly bustling scene, the people en-
joyed themselves heartily, the King was most nun-
descending and friendly, and the burghers fully
vindicated the reputation of their order all over the
world, by treating the consumption of good things
as the noblest of all human occupations. If their
appetites were good their sympathies were cosmo-
politan. They wished the stranger to eat as hear-
tily as themselves, and once their hearts had been
touched by the destitute appearance of his sugges-
tive little roll, they poured upon him the fatness of
the land, an attention of which ho sought to show
himself worthy by a masticating performance only
less vigorous than their own.
I cannot take leave of old Konigsberg without
putting on record my sense of the cordial and
friendly treatment I received from all ranks of its
manly, burly, honest inhabitants. After the first
great raid of the lodging-housekeepers and inn-
landlords I found every one else most liberal, hos-
pitable, and obliging. The high officials were
most prompt and polite in furnishing tickets for
everything that was to be seen, and the police took
the greatest trouble in supplying the stranger's
deficiencies in knowledge of the intricate old place.
To the president of that efficient body, M. Mey-
rach—orthography given with reserve—l am in-
debted for much polite attention ; but, indeed,
everyone vied with his neighbour in endeavouring
to produce a favourable impression on the minds of
the visitors. I trust that Mr. Simon, the eminent
banker, will not think I take too great a liberty in
recording my sense of the valuable assistance he
rendered me in all cases of difficulty ; nor that Mr.
Campbell, our highly popular consul at Memel,
will be angry if I state of what great advantage to
me was his accidental presence in Konigsberg.
The King is expected in Berlin to-night, after a
flying visit to Dantzig and Bromberg, to which
places I was afraid to follow his Majesty lest it
should interfere with my reaching Berlin in time
for the public entry. Iu Prussia everything must
give way to royal special trains, and as the service
is, under ordinary circumstances, not half equal to
the demand, I should have run a great chance of
being left behind at Bromberg, whilst the royal
procession which I hope to describe was entering
Berlin. His Majesty has been giving audiences
most freely during his sojourn in Konigsberg ;
amongst others, to Mr. Hancock, the jeweller, of
London, to whom he gave a gratifying evidence of
his royal appreciation of British art by buying
largely of the precious wares in which Mr. Han-
calk deals.

[TWOPENCE