Star.
London, England, 1822-08-23 00:00:00

THE DRAWING-ROOM.

This being the only time during a century and a
half, at the least, when the daughters of Scotia have
had the flattering opportunity of flaunting their
trains, flourishing their plumes, bowing in the pre-
sence of his MAJESTY, and, finally, giving their
cheeks to the glory and honour of the Royal
basial salutation, and certainly the only time when a
native Royal Drawing-Room has been held in Scot-
land, since she had either much wealth or popula-
tion to display, it is not to be wondered at that it
produced con esponding anxiety among the fair. A
random female here and there may no doubt have
been in the Royal presence, and there may be one or
two cheeks which have before been made happy by
the Royal impress ; but the greater, by far the greater
part of the roses and lilies of Scotland were, up to
this happy 21st .of August, 1822, in virgin, but
pitiable ignorance of so much honour. Is it to be
wondered then, that the preparations of this event-
ful day had their sources remote in the past, and the
hopes of the fair ones groped their way far into the
future; and if they had not made themselves gay upon
the occasion, it would have been alien alike to the
honour of their country, and the disposition of their
sex. Morning, noon, and night have, accordingly,
been spent at the mirror, and many a projection-has
been squeezed, and furrow smoothed, in order that
" for Scotland's glory" and their own, they might,
appear splendid in the presence of the KING and his
Nobles, and their own. admirers. AU this is most
laudable ; and as the fair ones literally frighted the
reign of " old night," we may forgive them although
they have been somewhat inviting to that of chaos—.
whose doings cannot be better expressed than in the
words of an ingenious correspondent
"If the Levee of Saturday and the Court of pow

day occasioned a muster of cocked hats and stuffed
perukes, and wonderously deformed and depressed
bonneting—if the Reverend and Learned Bodies"
who were introduced were compelled to sound the
note of preparation in the ears of their barbers and
hair-dressers immediately after the ordinary discus-
sion of rolls and butter, the Drawing Room of this
morning has arisen as much in bustle and prepara..
torratrangement—above said Levees and Court—Rs
Arthur's Seat does above the Royal Palace, or the
kilt of a true Celt above his knee. It is not possible
for any one who is removed out of the vortex, to
imagine or figure out the sensation amongst the fair
creation, from the titled dame down to the Bailie's,
and even the Burgher's wife, which the long antici-
pated Drawing Room has occasioned. Reports have
been in circulation, for days, of the most distressing
import. At one time the KING was said to have re-
solved against all 44 Basial" salutation whatever; at
another time the brow only, or the cheek, or the hair,
was reported as destined- to meet the Royal lips ; and
even down to the evening of yesterday very serious
doubts existed upon this most distressingly agitating
q4estion. Ladies, from the Dowager down to Miss
u her teens, have been practising, during the whole
r?f last night, smiles, smirks, attitudes, and inviting
simplicities. Table-cloths, and every species of sheet-
ing, have been in a state of eager requisition, and
have been suspended by pin and hook to tails where
long and courtly trains were destined so soon to hang.
[lad one enjoyed the Asmodsesm privilege of unroof-
ing Edina last night, what a world of wonders and
novelty had met their view ! Passages and door-
ways crowded, at the dead of night, with mermaid
figures sailing half naked, and with a comet projec•
tion of train, from room to room, and from sopha
to sopha, and from chair to chair, eyeing all along
in sidelong anxiety the full-length mirrors, and almost
twisting into cramp and convulsion every nerve and
4new of the neck. Again ; in more peaceful atti-
tudes and guise, one might have contemplated the
sitting maiden upon, and over and around whose
polidred brow the scissors of the barber were travel.
ing in rapid and noisy activity—looking for all the
world like 'Patience on a monument, smiling;' and
then, at no great distance, the finished head—erect
—motionless—gracefully attitudized—fixed down
into an arm chair, there .to remain till the full ac-
complishment of bodily decoration in the morning.
—lt is absolutely true, that as against the City feast,
preparations of plates and pottingers have been making
for days and weeks, so, in reference to this day's
Drawing Room, have many fair forms been in a state
of progressive decoration for many days past. Barbers
have become meteors, and fly with the rapidity of
lightning from street to street, and from door to door.
The whole female population seems to be positi, ely
and negatively changed, whilst the hair-dresser, like
the electric spark, flashes and darts—alternates be-
tween them. And, after all, what is the end of all
this—a coach—a scold to the coachman—a careful
alighting at the Palace door—a jostle—a bustle--a
squeeze— perspiration—discomposition—a start—.t
stumble—and a head-ache for days to come—...ad
so ends this strange eventful history r"
The lowering of the morning rather disconcertel
the anxious Public, who, however, began their move-
ments towards the Palace at an early hour, and de-
spite of the drizzling rain which continued during
the day, had a very gay appearance. The leading

costume was white's-a-61i, with spangled under robe,
and plumes of white feathers. There were few cr
no national badges, and we remarked only one or
two Ladies in tartan. A good many wore blue, and
a few green and yellow, with their characteristic fea-
tures expressing intelligence rather than beauty, and
the elderly ones having, according to the almost uni-
versal appearance of Scotswomen, the two curves
edging in their mouths, as in a parenthesis; the
daughters of Caledonia certainly had a respectable
and interesting appearance. Their demeanour was
highly characteristic, when, even to demureness, they
moved toward the State apartments without a move-
ment of the eyes, or a smile on the countenance; and we
doubt not but the Ktrzu was as much struck by their
characteristic modesty, as he had been by the sober,
yet sincere loyalty of the people. The KING arrived
about half-past two, not in the Highland garb, as was
anticipated, but in a Field-Marshal's uniform; and
long after his arrival, the file of carriages and hack-
ney-coaches, waiting to discharge their fair burdens,
extended far without the precincts of the Palace.—
The throng of spectators was greater than at the
Levee or Court, but whether from the KING, or the
attire and beauty of the Ladies, is a problem of which
we shall not attempt the solution.
The Drawing Room was attended by the principal
Nobility and Gentry who had attended the Levee;
and we should suppose that the whole number pre-
sent might be from 2500 to 3000.