The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-25 00:00:00

A ROYAL MARRIAGE IN I 'RUSSIA.

BERLIN, ',SEPT. 20.

This evening at 7 o'clock the marrit, ..ge of the
Princess Louisa of Prussia with the Graa id Duke
of Baden took place, in the recently erecter i chapel
of the Royai Schloss, with all the pomp and core-
moi3y that th:s Court can put forth.
The proces:iion was opened by the officer of the
Court whom We should call the Lord High Steward
•nt Keller, a portly aristoci-atic
or Marshal, Cott
and of °Ace, with a costly jewel
man, bearing his w.
011amberlains, two and two, in
as a knob to it ;
dark blue Court drea,
•ses, barred horizontally witlr
and carrying three-cornered
gold lace down the cheut,
arabout feathers laid in hats, richly laced, with in,
be-
tween the overlying flaps; a number of pages, two
and two, rejoicing in scarlet
imerino jerkins, and
doublets trimmed with silver t.ace, white silk stock-
ings, and several ells of fine 6,ltiste round their
throats, as cravats, with long ends. The rear of this
preliminary column was brought up by the two
cavaliers appointed by the Kivg to be in waiting on
the bride. At an interval of a. few paces came the
bridal couple.
The Royal chapel, in which the wedding cere-
mony took place, was already occupied by the
Ministers of State, the high officers of Government,
the Generals of the army, and one or two repre-
sentatives of the naval force, the Corps Diploma -
tique, the foreigners of distinction (chiefly from
Baden), and as many officers o f the garrisons oe
Berlin, Potsdam, Charlottenburg, and Spandau am
could squeeze into the space. The east end, at
which the altar stands, was occupied by a full dis-
play of the clergy of the cathedral and the Royal
chaplains, and on their right (spectators' left)
the King and Queen took up their stand, and next
to them the parents of the bride ; while opposite
to them the rest of the Royal family, and in the
centre, alone, in front of the whole assembly, stood
the bridal couple, as is usua.!_ at the celebration of
matrimony in Germany. The symbolic act in this
rite, as performed here, consists .in the exchange of
rings, the officiating priest first receirhig from each
the ring they have worn since the betrothal, and,
after imploring a blessing on the union, putting it
on the third finger of the right hand of the other.
Immediately after the ceremony was over, the
Royal party withdrew to a private apartment to
interchange their congratulations, the Court offi—
cers remaining in the outer room, and the guests!,
who were assembled in the chapel withdrew to the
White Saloon. The Royal Chapel is a classic,
Grecian, octagonal building, with a Roman cu-
pola and Byzantine decorations ; its walls are
resplendent with polished marble of various
colours, fresco paintings of apostles, saints, and
martyrs on gilded ground, and enriched with ara-
besques and scriptural mottoes.
After leaving the chamber of private congratu-
lations the royal party proceeded to the White
Saloon to receive the congratulations of the Court,
the arrangements for which are very peculiar, and
carry one back to the times and customs of Louis
XIV., or of Friedrich Wilhelm 1., who was as fond
of court ceremony as the French monarch 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 tables placed in $
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 en-
gaged, the various members of the Court L'lle before
the Royal table and perform their reverence. -eke
soon, however, as supper is announced the Kil3g
breaks off this unsatisfactory pastime, and the pro-
cession returns to the Ritter Baal to sup. Here the.
bridal couple took the place of honour at the centre
of the table, with the King on the right of the brill&
and the Princess of Prussia beyond him, while the
Queen sat on the left of the bridegroom and the
Prince of Prussia beyond her, the remaining
princely persons according to their rank. In tqle
neighbouring apartments there were tables sprea a
for all the Court invited, at which the High
Chamberlain, the Minister President, the Com-
mander-in-Chief of the troops in the Mark, the-
High Dapifer, and the Commander of the Guard
did the honours ; the convivialities, however, were
suspended until the first course was concluded at
the Royal table, and the King had drunk to the.,
health of the bridal couple. Up to that time the
High Dapifer and the Royal Cupbearer, and many
others, had been occupied in waiting on the Royal
personages; two Lieutenant-Generals had the office
of carving at the Royal table, where the lackeys
first removed the plates as they were served,
brought them to their pages, who first handed
them to the next higher rank in the hierarchy of
gold lace, until eventually the highest officers
attained possession of the food that was destined
for the Royal palates, and conveyed it respectfully.
to its destination. After the King, as said.
above, had drunk to the health of the nev
married couple, and the band of a regiment of the ,
Guards had blown a flourish of trumpets, his Ma-
jesty gave his high officers of Court permission to
seat themselves at the tables that were awaiting
them, and where they had to useall despatch with
their knives and forks, seeing that they must all of
them range themselves again in due order to ac-
company the Royal party on its way from the
supper-room to the White Saloon again, where the
fackel-tanz, or torch dance, is then to be per-
formed.
BERLIN, Son. 22.
Yesterday being Sunday, the festivitieS at the
palace partook solely of the religious and .family
character due to the day and the occasion.