National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-03-12


The Rome correspondent Of the London Times
writes 1.-THE great feature Of this carnlVals fes-
tiVities has been the splendid costume ball ct
the PalaEZa GaetanL. In issuing their invita-
lions the Prince and Princess Teano made 1t dis
tinctly understood that 1t was not to be either o
mere mask or fancy ball; that costume in the
fullest acceptance Of the word was de rfgueur,
and that no guests would be welcome IN any
official dress worn in the present day. No dep
uty lieutenant's red coats, with cooked hats and
feathers; no volunteer uniforms, not even that Of
q field marshal, covered with stars and ribbons,
nor Of q cardinaI-ther eminences were by no
means averse from balls in days not long past
even II he came in all his gorgeous wealth of
scarlet silk. would qualify the wearers to enter
the Princess draWing-rOom without committing
an objectionable breach Of good manners. 1 do
not mean TO say that all this was made public In
as many sentences, but you know how things get
about, and three legible words at the corner Of
the card did the rest.
at became soon known, in the same little bird
fashion, that the period TO be strictly regIe was
that commencing from the opening of the sixteenth
VaDdyke's portraits. A period rich enough in
materials and in historic personages to represent
time when the Papacy played an unusually in
pOrtant part and modern Italy held her most dis
tinguished position in the history Of the world;
when Leo X, Paul III, Plus Y, and the great Six
tbs wore the tiara; when the Medicls ruled at
Florence; when the thrones Of France, England
and Scotland were occupied bv Henri II aud
Charles TX, Elizabeth and Mary Stuart; when
the great religious changes aud troubles divided
the populations Of Europe and the massacre OF st.
Bartholomew deluged the streets of Paris with
blood. There is no city in Europe which affords
the same advantages iron every point Of view for
doing justice to this period Of history in the man
ner intended; the greater number OF the illustri-
Gus families still existing had ancestors who
played more or less important parts in the scenes
Of those days. whose portraits exist and whose
characters could be assumed by the living repre-
sentatives.
Marchese Calabrini, and Others had instructed
MOneta here in Rome to construct them costly
costumes; that Aseoh, the skilled costumer of the
Apollo, had been called in consultation by men,
bers Of the Colonna and other princely families
This presaged the necessity Of going to some
was said for the few, but not likely to be under
taken by the many. It was fOretold that the
Princess TeaDo would not succeed in filling her
rooms, and that she would be obliged to give
way, II not to the extent Of admitting the hideous
black coat Of modern days, at least to permitting
the scarcely less hideous court dress Of the nine
obliged to yield, and had only themselves to
thank for being driven to straits to complete
their costumes, and, in few cases. left out in the
cold altogether.
"Many Of the costumes were absolute works of
art, executed with consummate skill, aided by
correct study. One walked, as It were, in living
picture gallery, in which people Of the present
day represented persOnsges Of the past with an
exactness leaving but little Of their own indiVid-
Teano that the company was received, but by her
husbands ancestress, the scarcely more beautiful
Giovannella Gaetani, the mother Of the Farnese
Pope, Paul III, and by her side, beBring a shad-
owy resemblance to Onorato Gaetani, Prince of
Teano, stood Philip II, King Of Spain. Near by
was Caesar Borgia, with Louis II and Henry III,
Of France, and near the latter three Catholic gen.
tlemen in black, with white crosses, double
barred, on their caps, friends and instruments Of
Charles TX, though there was no Huguenot blood
visible on their hands; one Of these was D. EDi-
nay ST. Luc, bearing certain likeness to D'Epi-
nay, the sculptor.
IA little before midnight the host and hostess
IN tha nj IN ha
and Princess OF PiedmOnt-Prince Humbert and
the Princess Margherita-and returned, Philip IL
leading along the alley formed through the crowd
lady Of most gracious presence, who, from the
style Of her richly, jeWeled costume, must have
been OF noble Florentine birth, and the beautiful
Giovannella Gaetani leaning on the arm OF
Charles Emanuel !, the celebrated Conte Verde.
These personages Of the past swept on into the
empty ballroom, the band playing an air I'M
known to me, but which, from its character,
conceive to have been an ancient anthem OF the
Savoy family, and then Charles Emmanuel !,
with the two illustrious ladies, took up position
at the further end, while the crowd Of celebrities
Of years gone by passed two by two, snluted
them, and went on into the next room. After
rapidly nlled and dancing commenced The first
quadrille was exclusively formed by those wear
ing Henry II and Vandyke costumes, and was
opened by the Princess Margherlta and Prince
Teano, with opposite them the Princess Teano
and Signor Visconte Nenosta, dressed as o noble
Lombard OF the same period. As the quadrllle
ended slight sensation was evident, way was
the right or the LEFT, Marie de Medici, 1.-THE
Duchess dl Sarno,) attended by . number Of the
ladies and gentlemen Of her court. Alter this
the dancing became general"