Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-04-26
MILDRED RUsSELL's LETTER.
KILLING THE TINE IN NICE.

p,s,spsuissed Visitors unostentssiens hos.
.uy-Tns Russian Church and It's Cereu,e.
ptss-A Hind Beraar-fsshien Fabrics.
fspeciai correspondence OF the Dispatch.l
HOTEL DE NICE,
NICE, April /, 1885.
We have migrated from the edge Of
the water up TO the higher part of the
town. and might almost believe we had
been transported back TO Germany, as
most Of the guests and the hotel staff
are German. Good-tempcred, broad
Teutonic faces meet us at every turn,
and an air Of happy contentment beams
over every one. The hotel is on the
side of hill, and has large garden
back and front, with walls covered
with blooming heliotrope, hedges OF
difierent-colored roses, and arbors OF
matted ivy, and the guests sun them
selves and revcl in the pure air all day,
and listen TO the music morning and
evening, much in the same way as they
do al home. We have come across many
people well known 10 US by sight. for
the King and Queen Of Wdrtemberg,
whom we saw so much at Stuttgart last
autumn, are in the Chateau dc Cara
bacel. next door, and their guests--the
Duchess Vera, the Processes Olga
and ESQ, some Of their suite, and one
or two Americans on friendly footing
with the court--are scattered through
the hotel and dependence. They all
lead q quiet, simple life, and drive and
walk about without ostentation. The
King often takes an early constitutional
in the grounds Of the hotel. The little
Princesses, dressed in unassuming
costumes, play lawn-tennis or 60 into
the lower part of the town for shopping,
attended only by maid, and Prince
John, Of Hohenlohe- Bartenstein, alter
mates between table d'h0te and royal
villa, and makes friends with any one
who can speak his language.
THE RUSSIAN CHAPEL.
Nice is highly appreciated by the
Russians and Germans, both nationals
ties breaking the severity Of their long
winter by coming here in troops. The
Russian church, or rather chapel, which
is steadily attended by all classes, is In
the shape Of Greek cross, and has
Russian dome over the intersection of
the cross, through which the greater
part of the light is obtained. The door
of entrance is at the foot of one member
of the cross, and in the arm opposite to
tits the altar, hidden by a lOng-panelled
screen painted on gold background,
with subjects of scriptural characters,
and which imparts look Of byzantine
art to it. The centre panel is formed
of folding doors, and these are
opened at different periods OF the
service and display the square altar and
officiating priest, while the doors at
each end of the screen are used for the
attendants to pass through. The choir
of men, who chant most Of the service,
the people responding very little, sing
well without any instrumental musical
accompaniment, and are placed behind
the screen. They are invisible from
the body of the church, and by this ar
rangement create a decided air of mys-
terry and solemnity. Most of the con-
gregation stand during the service, SER
mon included. They cross themselves
frequently and continuously, and occa-
siOnally kneel down, some Of them even
going so far as to PROSTATE them
selves to the ground. The wide
space between the entrance-arm
and the screen and reaching to
the ends Of the two other members of
the cross was comparatively empty on
Sunday, and only contained the Queen
of Wurtemberg twho is a Russian prin-
cess by birth and sister of the late En-
peror, one of her suite, and few other
ladies of rank. The rest of the con-
gregation remained in the space near
the entrance, and this part at last be-
came so packed that one of the officials
permitted the people to move towards
the vacant spot in the centre.
CEREMONIES.
One gentleman took charge OF tray
laden with little cottage loaves of bread, |
and was accosted by many of the con-
gregation as they arrived and presented
with money, and then an attendant car
RED the money and one or more lOaves !
OF bread through one of the doors in
the end panels of the screen. Some
times tapers were added, and in that
case they were lighted and placed be-
fore one Of the pictures of the saints.
A lady standing close to me asked me
in French what language the service
was in, and replied, " In Russian"
She immediately said ''Oh, dear, no
| am Russian, and that is not Russian"
So she asked some one else, and it
turned out TO be "Sclaye y" and shortly
afterwards the lady said to me " Now
it is Russian" | was unable to
discover why the service should
be in the "Sclayc" language,
nor could make out word
of it, though it was easy to tell
from the frequent repetition of the same
sentences and the expression of the
voices of the choir that a penitential
litany was being sung. When the SER
vice was nearly concluded the ofiicia-
iHE IiltHts NuO' rs Ncll hS MS ahSlS- |
tant, was dressed in handsome vest
ment Of gold tissue, walked up to the
Queen and presented the cross to her,
and she, after having knelt-down, kissed
it. Considering the small size Of the
chapel and the limited congregation,
the ritual of the service seemed to me
more elaborate than that of the Roman
Catholic Church, though in doctrine aud
the marriage Of the clergy it is nearer
akin to the Episcopal.
FRIENDLY RELATIONS.
In Nice, as at other watering places,
the visitors become intimate acquaint-
anceS for time, and on the prone
nades, among the groups listening to
the music, in fact anywhere and every
where, sets Of them have one common
topic Of conversation, and confide their
achievements and the amount OF their !
gains at Monte Carlo to each other; for, ]
strange to say, they all gain in the end, ]
though they may lose large sums occa- c
Sicnally in the Observation-Disclosures is, I