The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-01-27

preceding day The hour for the cere-
Enony was fx~d at hak-past ?. and few
minutes before this I Was driven u the
palace OF tia Neceszdzdes. where there
was an imcoeing display OF military.
alighted and passed between two fines Of
soldiers. up long eight es marble steps.
followed by an assache OF the legation.
who accompanied ne Until the upper
lan1lng and first ante-room was reached.
where he was requested to remain until
my return. An ofscial OF the kings
household then took me in charge and
conducted me TO . richly furnished room.
whore was soon joined By the minister
Of foreign affairs. the kings secretary
and several officers OF high raak. In blax-
ing court dr@& They soon left me. how
ever. to go to the king In the audience
chamber. their place being taken by the
pleasant Marquis de Pcmbal. Of whom I
have spoken The marquis described. in
very broken English and French. the
manner OF procedure upon entering the
august presence of his majesty. and we
soon received the signal to proceed.
From what have been told OF the
mysterious ceremonies attending the IN
duction OF candidates into certain secret
orders. fancy the preliminary steps must
be something IKE those attending my
presentation. Arrayed In "a gorgeous
uniform. and with q great stan OF ONCE.
the marquis marched by my side through
several rooms until finally q door swung
noiselessly open. and we were confronted
by semi-circle Of dignstaries In glitter
ing decorations. each seeming to out
shine the other. We bowed on our en-
trance. ostensibly to the king, but really
to everybody in the room. 1t being .im-
possible for a stranger to tell king from
courtier in the array OF richly arpareied
officials. As We approached the center Of
the semi-ctrcle, however, thu king stood
out from the rest. and. as We bowed
again. saluted Us in return.
AS I was leaving Washington CITY on
my way to Lisbon ! happened In the
White House at the hour for the presen-
tation Of the new Russian minister to the
president. The latter had been busy up
to the moment that Secretary Foster had
come in and announced that the Russian
dignitary was below waiting to be pre-
sented. Then, taking the secretary's
arm, the chief magistrate Of the great
republic walked down stairs. shook hands
with the minister. heard his few words Of
greeting. said q few words of welcome In
return, and walked back to work. The
secretary had said to me. Come down
and see how It's DONE" and 1t seemed
mighty. simple and informal. but when
that performance was contrasted with
the ceremonies of the court at Lisbon /
felt as u hadn't learned much in see
ing 1t.
1T Is the custom for q representative
who Is about TO be presented to put his
speech In writing and send copy thereof
through the foreign Office to the king
This Is merely to acquaint his majesty
with the subject matter and substance of
the address. in order that he may frame
a suitable reply. had. OF course. OBJ
served the usual form: nevertheless. upon
hating In front of the king I proceeded
to unroll my manuscript and read the
speech already In his hands. 1 think /
did this with due solemnity. although the
situation was enough to seriously
threaten ones gravity. When had fin
ished his majesty unrolled a similar paper
and proceeded TO read speech in Portu-
guese as near the length OF the one had
delivered as 1t was possible to make 1t.
He might have been grossly insulting
Uncle Sam in that speech. and should
have been none the wiser. but as mat
ter OF course the kings speech was ex-
celient In tone and spirit. and full of
friendly assurances and good wishes. as
learned the next day when I read the
translation. After shaking hands and
chatting few minutes on ordinary af-
fairs. I bowed myself out, the marquis
still by my side. and soon afterward left
the palace.
made two or three calls OF ceremony
on my RETURN to the legation and was an
hour or two IN reaching the Office. but
when I drew up at the entrance I was
surprised to see 1t surrounded with SOL
d.ers. alighted and passed between
them 20 the door, but as I did so the
leader OF each squad stepped forward and
handed me a sealed envelope. I passed
these over TO the venerable Vice consul
general inqulring what they meant and
what this military display below signified.
He smiled an aged and experienced smile
and told melt was the kings guard come
for their fees. their tips. or whatever one
cared to call them. and the letters were
simply consratulatory missives accom-
panying the demands for cash.
The spectacle is queer one to an
American. but does not seem TO surprise
the representatives. of other nationalities.
probably because this genteei manner of
asking aims is more common I'm Europe
than America. There were several let
tiers. each couched In a different form,
and coming from different detachment
or command. but the purport and object
OF all were the same. / give a transla-
ton OF one OF these letters. which is
sample OF ali:
Royal Palace OF the Necessidades, Lis
bon. Most Iilustrious Sir: The conrie-s
OF the royal cabinet IN the service OF his
majesty. the king, respectfully congratu-
late your exceilency on the honor OF hav-
Ing been received by the same august
peTsonage as American minister The said
oour.ers wish that your exceilency may
long enjoy the honorable post which you
are chosen 10 till.
JOSE BIAS GoNZAIlAES.
"'J0SE MARIA DA FONSEcA."
And Just below Is the following receipt
chaertully signed by the royal courier
who presented the letter:
Received 400 refs (about $3.50.
JOSE MARIA DA FONSEcx"
There were four or FIVE squads, so the
s'congratula,ioas" OF the ''couriers'' cost
me In the nelghhorhood OF $50: rather
dear. perhaps, bat Injuries like these
cannot be had for nothing