The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-14 00:00:00

The k'rince and Princess of Wales in

Sweden.

(Front the Times' Special Correspondent.)
ELSINORE, Sunday Evening, Oct. 9.
About 12 o'clock today his Royal Highness the
Prince Oscar of Sweden, accompanied' by the Prin..
ccss Sophia, his wife, a lady in waiting, and two
members of his own suite, crossed from the Swedish
coast to Elsinore with a view of paying a visit to
the Royal family assembled at Fredensborg. Since
Thursday last, when he landed from the Royal
yacht Osborne, Prince Oscar has been staying with
his family in Scania. The Princess Sophia was not
in Stockholm at the time of the visit by the mem-
bers of the English Royal party, and hence no doubt
to some extent the motive for the present trip to
Denmark, From Helsingborg, the Swedish to
Hul-
singor—as we call it, Elsinore—the Danish port
opposite, the distance is almost as trifling as the
difference in spelling. A narrow channel of three or
four miles divides the two countries, and the pretty
little packet steamer Ophelia, alive with Swedish
and Danish flags, carried the illustrious visitors
across these straits, on which there was not a ripple,
in a very few minutes, Three royal carriages, with
one of the principal officers of .the Danish household,
were waiting at the point of disembarkation to con-
vey the party to Fredensborg, and the numerous
gathering at the pierhead and along the jetty re-
ceived their Royal Highnesses with much respect
and cordiality. In one point of view, if in no other,
it was well the Crown Princess of Sweden undertook
the fatigue of this journey. Hers is one of those
beaming, intelligent, amiable faces where the charm
comes from within, and where beauty is concen-
trated in the expression. This expression is precisely
what the photographers have never succeeded in
transferring to paper, and yet without it a likeness
is the landscape without sunshine, a statue and not
the living figure. At Fredensborg on the arrival
of their Royal Highnesses there was a constellation
of heirs to European thrones such as rarely gathers
under a single roof. No less than four heirs apparent
or heirs presumptive were brought together here—
namely, those of England, Russia, Sweden, and
Denmark itself. Of that number three either are,
or speedily will be, members of the family of the
King of Denmark, whose eldest son, moreover,
occupies the throne of Greece. The branch of
Schleswig Holstein-SonderburgsGlucksburg may be
new among the reigning dynasties of Europe, and
for the time plunged in efftictiag circumstances, but
" Felix Austria" herself has not contracted alliances
more brilliant or of greater ultimate promise. A
passage from the Psalms of this day, as read in the
course of the English service, must have seemed to
those who knew of the gathering at Fredensborg to
possess an application that a Royal preacher might
have turned to account—" Instead of thy fathers
thou shalt have children, whom thou mayest make
princes in all lands." Pa. 45, v. 17.
About half-past 6 o'clock Prince Oscar, having
paid his visit to the Castle of Fredensborg, returned
to Elsinore, and was received by the principal
authorities of the town and by a guard of honour of
the 15th Regiment, one which particularly distin-
guished itself during the late war. The Prince, ac-
companied by the Princess Sophia and the members
of his suite, alighted from the Royal carriages at
the end of the quay, and, preceded by two torch-
bearers, walked in the direction of the Royal yacht
Osborne, the Crown Princess of S weden having ex-
pressed a desire to see the interior of the vessel in
which her hasband travelled from Gottenburg with
the members of the English Royal family. Captain
Bower, R.N., apprised of this intention, caused
the gangway to be lighted up with large ships'
lanterns, and burnt blae lights over the side,
thereby illuminating the whole of the quay, and,
so to speak, extinguishing the light of the torches,
which before had looked very picturesque, ad-
vancing through the darkness at the head of the
miniature procession. As the steamer Ophelia
was to leave almost immediately for Hslsing-
borg, there was not time for more than a hasty
look round the yacht, but the Princess seemed much
gratified at ail that was shown her, and conversed
in excellent English with the principal officers. As
the RoTil party were on the point of taking their
departure, Prince Oscar was requested to add to his
former kindness in Stockholm by " giving a look
back at them as he rounded the point of the pier,"
an invitation with which he readily undertook to
comply. The Royal carriages conveyed the illus-
trious Swedish visitors from the side of the harbour
nearest the Osborne to the opposite extremity,where
the Ophelia lay, and here they were received as they
went on board with presented arms by the guard of
honour, the band performing some Swedish national
airs. Moat of the officers in command appeared to
be known to Prince o:car, who stopped and spoke
to them before following the Princess and her at.
tendants oa board. Oa turning round to do so he
in turn received the respectful salutations of the by-
standers. When the presence of the silver-laced cap
and towering plume of the running footman upon
the deck of the steamer announced that the Royal
lady in whose service he was had taken up the posi-
tion she desired to occupy during the passage across
to Helsiagborg, the steamer put out to sea, and in
rounding the pier at the mouth of the harbour was
very cordially cheered, Prince Oscar, from his
known sympathies with the Scandinavian cause,
being very popular with a large proportion of the
people of Danmark. At the same momenta volley
of rockets from the Osborne startled the whole
assembly, who were not expecting anything of the
kind, and simultaneously with their descent the
outline of the yacht's side and paddleboxes became
studded with blue lights. The night was by no
means clear, and this dazzling line of fire and the
lights in the cabin windows, reflected in the still
water of the harbour, glowed and glittered like double
lines of brilliants. Half the beauty of the illumi-
nation lay in its suddenness and in the fact that no
one had known of any preparations. The pier oppo-
site the yacht was black with people who came to
witness the embarkation merely, and among them
the gratified murmur of " Smu k, smuk," the popular
expression as to anything beautiful or the sight of
Which gives pleasure, showed how well a lively na-
tion appreciated this parting compliment paid by
the English to the head of the Swedish navy, and
probably one of the most active thinkers in all Scan-
dinavia. It is not etiquette in the English service to
salute after dark, and the guns of the Aurora were
consequently silent, but those of Kronborg Castle, as
if they had only been waiting for the signal from the
Osborne, flashed and boomed out grancq over the
tranquil sea. The lights on board the yacht con-
tinued to burn till the salute from the fort was
ended, and then, with a parting flight of rockets
which fell crackling and sparkling in all directions,
the line of fire disappeared as suddenly as it had
been kindled, and all was darkness and tranquillity
in the harbour of Elsinore.
Hunt-dinners are always among the most pleasant
reunions, and yesterday's was no exception to the
rule. There is something in the enjoyment in com-
mon of the pursuit of the chase which predisposes
men to pass their time agreeably together, and when
there is anything like a traditional observance tacked
on to the proper business of the meeting—some cus-
tom, or even, it may be, some extravagance, which
has about it the flavour of centuries—additional
zest is given to the pursuits in which they all en-
gage. In Denmark there is an observance upon
which it would be easy to moralise in the spirit of
Bacon's " Wisdom of the Ancients," with a view of
showing how profoundly the men of former times
were impressed with the necessity of giving to high
.
and low a joint interest in the manly occupation of
the chase, of checking the waste of ammuni-
tion, and of promoting the skilful use of fire..
arms- The fact, however, probably is that it was
invented originally as a clever joke, and has been
handed down
as a humorous game of forfeits.
The
process
cons yste in the administration of a rude
kind of forest law among the hunters themselves.
Immediately after dinner
everyone who has taken
part in the day'
Chasse is calledand upon to answer truly
as to his proceedings
what judged according to his
performances, be these
.they may. The func-
tionary, who is called Peacarrel' begins with the
personages highest in rank at table. How
shots has been fired during the day ? So many.
What results were achieved by the shots as shown
by the contents of this bag ? So many hares, so
many foxes, so many stags, as the case may bee