The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-10-13
Friday Morning, Oct. Is, 1855
49, -z- ----7---7zz--zz
IC0respoAdeneeo or the springfield Republican, I

fcOnssp0Adencser the sprinaa aeld RepaoIica,,.I !
az Gotha-Its Dmke andits Iuhabitants.aals
.taa4 ~ GOTTA, August, II, 1865.
In my last letter spoke of some of the dis
comforts of a closely packed German city,
whether large or small. In it, I alluded to the
contrast between the crowded houses of the city
proper and the narrow treeless streets, with the
broad avenues, the Scattered mansions, and
the abundant and fine trees which are met
with after emerging from the city. Fortune
has smiled upon me and given me home in
the most delightful quarter Of all, and the
duke of Saxe-CoEurg- -Gotha is my nearest
neighbor, his palace being just across the street
We do not see much OF this princely parsonage,
as he spends his summers at his Coburg es-
tate, where he is now entertaining his sis
ter-in7aW, Queen Victoria. Z Nothing IS more
remarkable in Duke Ernest, the elder brother
OF the late prince-consort off the English queen,
than the extreme simplicity with which he
lives. The house Of Coburg is SO distinguish
ed by its ancient lineage, it being an older
family than even the royal house OF Prussia,
that itcan afford to dispense with many ofFthe
aduncts which less firmly established claims
cannot dispense with. And this palace which
is directly opposite my window as I write, the
toss Of stone away, is not more pretending
than second class house in the suburbs Of
Boston or New York Nay, am not certain
that you have not in some of the stately and
costly mansions which have been erected with
in late years in Springfield, some in which re-
spect to- cost, style and size surpass the pal
ace OF Ernest. Indeed the duke never speaks
OF my palace" but smy house." and in all
things he manifests the same true dignity and
simplicity Of character He has his whfns,
however, one of which will tell YOU Of AS
you come up from the railroad station of
Nvfho fr4I In as+xr n.
mile away, the street leads by the llllcal pal
ace, and far therefrom massive stone build
ing, whose fine proportions, whose dignffed
look and whose elegant workmanship at once
attract attention. s4rrYfiFstr
Singularly, the Duke of Sake -Coburg- Gotha
is exceedingly unpopular in his own land.
though out Of it the most popular prince IN
Germany. 4 do not know why it is that peo-
pie shrug their shoulders here, in Gotha, when
they speak of him, without it is because he is
SO very simple and unpretending, so exact in
all his business transactions, and SO little in
clined to change Gotha from the intellectual
centre that it now is, to a merely fashionable
capital. The latter course would, undoubted-
ly, be very much in favor of the tradesmen
but it would destroy the character ofthe place.
Atpresent Gotha stands on little pedestal of
its OWL; I It is place Of much culture, and of
the most perfect independence in dress and
style of living. Unfortunately, coupled with
this, it is one -ot the centres of German ra- /
tionahsn.A This character it has borne for a |
hundred years, and the court preachers have
almost Invariably been distinguished leaders of
the anti-evangelical party. Still, with all this.
there are influential families here which are
strongly opposed to the rationalism of the
place-among them all the children of the
great publisher, Frederic Perthes, who, in the
latter years Of his life, lived in Gotha e e I
Almost all German buildings are brick with
succeed fronts; stone building is one of the
Farest Of objects. One leaps naturally to the
conclusion that this one Is the palace You
pass by the real palace without suspecting its !
uses; its bare simplicity not allowing the
thought to enter the mind that the brother of
Prince Albert, the Duke Of Coburg- Gotha,
calls that his winter home. A close Inspection
of the stone building reveals over the door
ways some exquistely carved alabaster horses
heads. Still not even this strong hint gives
suspicion of the uses of the place. INQUIRY.
however, soon sets the matter at rest, and you
learn that this prineely mansion, three or four
times as large on the ground as the palace, and )
proportionately splendid in every way, is the
ducal stable. Ernest is the Nimrod Of Euro
pean princes, and has as strong tendency to-
wards horses as the late king of Bavaria had
towards galleries Of art, or the late king of
Prussia for restoring cathedfals, tsN4EGl