Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-05-04
QUEENS DRAWING-EOou.
How the Patriotic English are Pre-
sented at COurt-A Painful but Nee.
cssary Ceremony.


cssary Ceremony.
If any dlliyent student Uf the works o,
Nathaniel Hawthorne and NJ. Taine haG
strolled through st. Jnmes's Park, he
would possibly have conceived Il higher
opinion than heretofore Of those eminent
writers us judges Of feminine beauty.
They said some hard things Of English
DANES and damseis. but according to the
i'on,lon D'iW Nc"@, they would have
been mainly justified ON the occasion of
the Queens Drawing-Room OF this pres
ent lnclemcnt season of 1883. Never.
perhaps, did England, Home and Beau
ty' appear to less advantage. The day
began badly Hail, snow, and wind ush-
cred i'll the long carly hours 10 be devoted
TO the last determined struggle with the
lressmakcr and that more protracted tor
mcnt 10 be undergone at the hands of the
hairdresser. There was IL regulation not
long since duly laid down, made and pro-
vided either by the hairdresscrs or other
ers worn at the Queens Drawing Rooms
should project certain number OF ruches
above the head. This stern rule was
formed, moi that lady when presented at
court should look as much like Pocahon-
quencc Of the art displayed in dissimula-
ting the plume altogether, i'll making it
tumble ON to the shoulder or curl round
the neck on vanish entirely from the head
in order to run down the back.
The vagrant plumes were sternly re-
called from the spots in which they had
furtively nestled for two or three seasons,
and it was decreed that certain eleva.
flor al. ! l.. I
in order that the requirements of Court
Dress regulations might be complied with
in spirit us well as in letter. 1t was not n
bad regn alton, for it was easy for the
Court Censor to put n lady under stand
ard and test by actual measurement
whether her plume rose to the height de-
manded by regulation. This aud the
pinning and unpinning of lappets involve
neither diiflculty nor discussion, like that
burning question Of bodices and trains
the quantity which ought to be off the
pettlcoat and on the train or court mantle
so often sought to be eyaded by high
shouldered bodices and heart-shaped cor
sages.
The Crowd
gathered round Buckingham Palace was
OF robust kind I; no other could have
endured the cutting blast or the dust.
whirlwinds for more than five minutes
without accumuating enough disease to
last till the harvest moon. So the re-
marks were mainly not ill.natured. As
the carriages stood ranged in line one
cynic in rough coat SAID to an equally
warm-clad friend. "Not one blessed good
looking young woman among the lot. "
Here was criticism MS sweeping as the
wind but truth compels the admission
that the cynic III the comfortable coat was
in the right, Ranged in no very long
queue, for the attendance was scunt, the
ladies' about to take part in the important
ceremonial looked by no means bonny.
They were scli-possessed, of course, and
needed the curious eyes which stared
from without not whit. But there was
no manner Of doubt that they were not
comfortably warm. They had wraps.
gorgeous sOHics dc bal galore, and foot
warmers. 1t is to be hoped they had had
their lunchcon-that meal important to
womanlind but it is to he feared they
had not, for they lacked color, and gene
rally justified the cynic s remark.
One fact, however, was very conspicu-
ous. English beauties It's represented on
this occasion were very pale, and If one
OF those stern satirists who lift up their
voices against "raddled dowagers" had
been present, he would have acknowl-
edged that IL touch of "haresfoot" would
have done all the company good. They
were very pale. The juvenile presentees
the very young ladies' on promotion
displayed no sign Of that roses-and lilies,
or, ms 1t is now called, Strawberries and
cream complexion for which they are lust
ly famed even in the country of M. Taine.
They were sadly and sickly white, looked
already fatigued, and with very little of
the charm of youthiulness upon them.
The simple truth is that the diabolical
wind went through the carriages as if
they had been sieves, and that no auanti-
ty of foot-warmers will con pensate for an
icyhurricane.
Magnificent bouquets of flowers made
up, however, for any lack of color within
the carriages. Lilies Of the valley, yellow
roses, and Lenten lilies appeared in the
most favor, although one bouquet of su-