The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-02-17
For the TARnRR AED NscHAsbs.
OLD WORLD SCENES.
A Southern Lady at the Saxon
Court.

SALISBURY, \. c., Feb. 7th, 1881.
! have just received letter from a
| friend In Europe, who has, IN many re-
| spects. exceptional advantages for see
ing something OF very high circles, and
thinking that your readers might be
interested by description OF two great
court feSti sities, [ send you her de-
dated. ''Dresdrn, Jan. i7th, and at
ter some preliminaries the writer
says:
'.On the 18th of December | left
Paris, laden with ineIy from Worth
and Roland, for there was question of
our being presented at court, and we
,Cere, on the lst of January, and We
have siLce, Ton the l2th,) been to the
/ first court ball. Small as is this court
of Saxony, there is not one In Europe
not even Vienna-where they are so
tenacious Of old usages, and which is
50 eminently conservative. The royal
family are tO'H ce qu' IL ga &c ptus Gath
0hque, yet the country is Lutheran
that is, they have very little religion,
as far as | can hear, are devoted to the
King and especially to the Queen, who
is the last descendant o! Gustayus NaSa
and looks as if she belonged to that
brave and royal line. From her Swed-
ish ancestors she has large for
tune, which gives all to feed the
poor" and the finest diamonds and
pearls in Europe Those diamonds we
were 50 fortunate as to see on the late
occasions. We went to our audience
at seven o'clock. Everything is early
in thi. old Saxon Land The palace
dates from the time of that Augusta.
the Strong, of Poland, who united
Saxony and Poland, and 1t is filled with
AL the objects of art, jewels and geld
plate, which made him the richest
sovereign in Europe. These are gen
orally dcposi ed in museum of anti
quities, called the Green Vaults. /" but
the plate is taken out for the royal
lined with servants in drab and silver
(thc royal livery and on each side of
the long corridor, through which We
passed, were stationed the royal guard
THE Queens Own"-in blue and
silver, every man of which must have
his sixteen quarterings, t.rt be rich
enough to support these pretension..
Beyond these were the pages youths
of noble families-waiting to bear the
trains of the royal ladies. The pages
were in the old costume of a hundred
years back-scarlet coats, blue shoul-
der knots, white satin short trousers,
large red rosettes on the shoes, lace
shirt, cravat and ruffles, and powdered
hair. We were received by the Grand
Chamberlain, the Court Marshal and
hosts of dignitaries in gold lace and
decorations and ladies of the court in
long trains, and after talking with these
awhile, were taken into the room,
Chung in yellow satin, with door. and
windows framed in white marble, where
the audience was to take place. Our
names we're announced by the Grand
Chamberlain and we took our places
gentlemen (chiefy officers on one side,
ladies on the other, each nationality
preceded by its Ambassador We
,chO had none, were proceeded by
the Russian Ambassadress, lovely
woman in her picturesque national cos
tune. The Queen entered first, at
tended by a lady IN waiting, page car
rying her train. The King followed,
with his aide de-camp. Tnen came the
Princess George Of the Kings
brother, Princess of the house of
Braganza, daughter of the King of
Portugal-a tall, handsome blonde
After her came Prince George, with
his aide, and then their daughter of
eighteen. the Princess Mathilde. These
ladies all o had their lady in waiting and
their page and: a / these roy person
ages walked round the circle speaking
to every one-in French, German or
/ English, as the case called for. The
| Queen has such sweet, pretty, shy
way-has fine countenance beaming
with goodness and they were all u ost
gracious and graceful. The King re-
minded me of our dear General Lee
inst so soldierly and playful, while SO
dignifed and elegant. When the royal
party retired we went into large room
filled with guests, when We had ample
opportunity to examine the fine uni
| form and decorations of the men and
| the toilettes and jewels of the ladies
Presently the crowd made way every
erybody courtseyed and bowed and the
royal party passed through with their
suite, going to the card room speaking
| to every one en- rOute-the Queen giving
her hand to the Saxon ladies, who kiss
ed it, but only making pretty curtsey
to Us foreigners.
The card room is the throne room,
where at each of five tables sit one of
the royal family-the tables being made
up frsm the Ambassadors and Gran
deas. Before them the company pass
in review. plaking low reverence at
each table, which is graciously return
ed. At the first table was the young
Princess, her gentleman and lady in
waiting and her page standing behind
bher--at the second sat the Princess
George the Prince. The King
and the Queen had their tables before
| the throne.
After We had made these salutations,
we fed ANONYMOUSLY to the supper
room, passing many fine old rooms,
with the great, old fashioned chimneys
blazing with wood There were ten
rooms open in all, and en- suite. The
supper was served on gold plate and
odd SAKE We partook of the ia
nous iced coffee, which is a royal
specially here, and | found a seat for
the first time in an adjoining room
flied with palms, when | saw the fine
fneonle mass, and rested my poor feet