Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1877-07-09
The Princess OF Roumania.

The Princess OF Roumania.
Rustchuk Correspondence OF the New York Times
| had a long audience yesterday
with her Highness the Princess Eliza
beth of Roumania, nee Princess Of
WED, and here again | must remark
upon the exquisite courtesy and utter
absence of pretension which char
~acterizes this family. Parvenus as a
rule-I take the world in it real sense
as meaning some n who has arrived
at success where he had no right to
except it-are generally uppish and
try to make you feel their import
ance. Here there is nothing OF the
kind; they both are simple and unai-
fected. There was no chamberlain or
equerry to sit upon me W tn his con-
descension; a servant showed me up
one flight Of stairs, ana down another
and through a gallery hung with en-
cravings Of German aud Italian cathe-
drals, into a bright d~rawingroom
furnished in crimson silk. A dozen
good modern paintings hung on the
walls above low etageres filled with
choice selections OF French, English,
and German books, among which
were Shakespeare and Longfellow III
the original, and a collection Of the
Tauchni,z editors of modern novels.
Some choice Drezden china stood at
one end OF the room, and at the other,
on a m~alachite pedestal, the bust in
marble of the only child OF the sover-
eign, a sweet little thing, who died of
Group about two years ago. A
statue of the same infant in a reclin
ing position was in a recess. | was
not kept long in waiting before an
other servant opened the door and
announced me by name, just as would
have been done at an ordinary visit.
Princess Elizabeth met me with a
pleasant smile, saying that her hus-
band had already spoken of me to her,
and that she was delighted to make
the acquaintance of an American. She
had heard so much of my country and
SO admired it's institutions, "for you
must know" she added, "that l am
a thorough republican" The princess
is about SO years of age, rather tall,
with a slight tendency to e%mbonpoint,
her face, without being regularly
beautiful, has a wonderful charm ofex-
pressiveness, and her n is calcu-
lated to put a stranger Immediately
at his ease. Blonde, of course, with
blue eyes, a fair complexion, and eX-
quisite teeth, there were moments
during our conversation when she
might have been called an exceedingly
pretty The was dressed in
a plain yellowish pique gown, which
was more than simple, SO that there
nothing to set off her advantages or
conceal her defects. Her hand and
arm might be taken as models. We
talked almost exclusively in English,
which she prefers to any other lang
uage, and this I can readily under
stand, as | have met few Americans
or English who speak it with as much
purity and elegance. Of foreign ac-
cent there was o the slightest trace.
The room was filled with plaln but
elegant furniture, the walls was cov-
cred with pictures, and the windows
ornamented with bird cages and
plants; everything indeed marked
the refinement and article taste Of the
thoroughbred lady whose object it
was to make you feel entirely at home.
One ornament had forgotten to men
tion-an immense cylindrical pro
%jectile, a 2O-inch shell, which, as the
Turks had neglected to load it, had
not done much damage. This bore
an inscription to the effect that it was
the first discharged from the Osmanli
batteries against Isbraila, and there
fore the opening invitation a la danse.
1t was an unusual ornament for a
lady's drawing-room, but as a present
from the Grand Duke, and as a har-
binger of Roumanian independence,
it will be cherished through all time,
as well be another-all in fragments
standing on a velvet cushion, which
was pointed GU to me as being the
one which had exploded by the Prin-
ce's side during his last weeks visit
} to Kalafat. My audience lasted near
ly three quarters Of an hour, and ! left
with the conviction that | had never
met a more fascinating woman, and
that the Roumanians are an uncom
monty lucky people TO have made
such a choice of soverigns. As | was
bowling my way out, the door opened
and the demoiselle d%'honneur Mdlle.
Zoe Rosetti, entered. | wish that !
could do justice here, but no pen save
a poets can, and SO IL sober prose
will write that | looked upon the most
beautiful creature whom | have ever
met, the realization in flesh and blood
/. of Byron's portrait of the Bride O
Abydos" in the costume Of a lady oil
the last quarter Of the nineteenth
e e century. 1t is a mans duty to pay