The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-10-21
Royal Marriages..

The marriages of royal pcrsonamcs arr
the most prosaic affairs. When an English
princess arrives Mt the marriagcabc are
| Queen Victoria says to Mr.. Gladstone o.
Lord Bcaconslicld, as the case may he, ''B,
the by, how is the German Prince market
just now2" The prime minister replies
That ''it is rather ovcrstockcd as usual. and
that good fair article of duke or archdukt
can he had right reasonably" Whercupon
he Is ordered to make out list Of mar.
riageablc Germans of royal or, at least
noble birth, and to send ii up to the palace
the next time the messenger boy has oc-
casion to pass that way. When the list ar
rlves' her majesty runs it over and tries to
select name, but uniformly fails-one
German name being about as lnattraclivc
as another. The result is that she finally
| writes to the British ambassador at Berlin
TO send her | (onc) marriagcahIc German
prince, and charge freight and expenses to
the contingent fund. In due time the Ger
| man arrives and is delivered at the palace
door If he is fat prince there is gencr-
ally an attempt made on the part of the
queen TO have the cXprcssman bring him ND
TO the sccond-story back bedroom; but
hitherto the cXprcssman has stoutly rcfus-
Ell, asserting that his duty was done when
front door. In the course OF, the evening
the queen informs her daughter that hus,
baud Tor her has arrived from Germany.
and that she is to marry him that dalf
week, to which the dutiful daughter replies,
Just rs you please, M, " and, hey yond cx-
pressing faint hope that the husband is
good tempered, bctrays no further nlcrcs!
III the subject. When the wedding day
arrives, the marriage takes place in due and
proper style, and the ncwly-wctltlcd pair
then begin to form an acquaintance. In
other royal families the same systems pre-
walls, with the exception that husbands or
wives may be sought outside offhc German
market. Occasionally n king draws prize
IN TINS matrimonial lottery, as did King
umberto when he married the most bcauti-
fll woman in Italy; but, a8 a rule, undc-
sirablc pHnccsscs with irregular noses arc
served out to regular continental husbands
whether Alfonso has secured a desirable
wife or not remains to be seem IF the
Archduchcss Marie Christine should turn
out to be nice girl; it would, however be
mere matter of luck. So far as Alfonso
IS concerned, he has not been allowed the
least liberty of choice, but has had to
accept the princess, whom his cabinet
thought proper to select. And vet the
young man is decidedly more fortunate
than most persons, Ills first wife was q
Spanish girl, and he was actually allowed
some little liberty Of courtship She was
The daughter of old Duke Montpcnslcr, who.
having for many years followed the pro-
fcsslon OF prctcnder to the Spanish throne.
agreed to go out of business on condition
That his daughter should marry the king.
Montpensicr was therefore very friendly to
his intended son-in-law, and gave him every
sGay nht htssdfrRt Snd 81 1'fSaS IL o ,Sf
back parlor, and at 8. 80 the old gentleman
always went to bed, with discretion
which II could be wished that all fathers
would initiate. Moreover, Alfonso and
Mercedes were allowed to take moonlight
walks, and it is even said that they once
swung together Oh the front gate. Still,
the young king was made to feel the bur-
den of his rank. lIc was never allowed to
go counting without the company Of two
cabinet ministers and squadron of dra-
goons. 1t was all very well for Montpcn-
sler to 60 to bed af $50, but it availcd
little so long as the two cabinet ministers
pcrsstently sat in the back parlor. Per-
haps they were humane men, and occasionly
heard supposititious cat III the dining
room, whittier they wcntin pretended search
of her, but it is more probable that they
strictly performed their dnty, and sat in
the back parlor with invariablc and mad
dcning pcrsistcncy. Then, too, the ro-
nance cf :. moonlight walk must have been
seriously marrcd by the ten dragons that
rode clanking IN front of the lovers, and the
ten more that came gathering behind them.
AS for the front gate exploit, it must have
been large gate that held king, princess
and two cabinet ministers, and in the cir
cumstance VIC can but regard the gat ate-swing-
ing as prosaic failure