The age-herald., 1897-10-24
Difficulty of Leaving the Queens
 Presence.
OBSERvANCES OF SUNDAY
Victoria Is in Favor Of Keeping Sunday in the Old English Way Slightly Modified
 Prince of Wales Gsit Church.
Is'. ress't.iaFf
From the New Yorka rrlhnne..

queen NfctOfla ana oIner EufopSah SoN- | ereig1ls. ssrf .s.ir > HsS
 Let any one try to oawalk backward | along the full length of a big hall, bow
 ing every few steps never looking back
 ward, and yet keeping in the proper direction. and he will see. how difficult
 it is to preserve either ones dignity or
 ones bearings; and very often the walk | ing backwards has to be done. not merely i on the level, but also up and down steps and stairs. which is still more arduous, | and requires an immense amount of l practice.
 On one of the rare. occasions on which Queen Victoria presided at the opening
 of parliament she was attended by the
 Duke of Argyll who, doing duty for the
 nonce as Lord High Steward of the l Realm, carried the crown on a velvet | cushion. At the conclusion of the cere-
 naony. during which he had occupied l place on the dais of the throne in the house of lords, he proceeded to move | backwards from the presence of her | majesty eH asf 1e 5l.Hy He forgot, however, tGleasteps of the | dais, and when he reached the edge of
 the dais, he fell backyard. all huddled up in his long and heavy ermfne-barred, | red peers robes. from the folds of which | he was extrieated with great difficulty. 1 The crown shared in the. mlshap, for it 1 rolled from it's cushion to the ground,
 and number of stones dropped out. | The queen, whose face showed more | concern than amusement, although the | gravity of those about her was sorely | taxed, spoke a few kindly words ex- | pressing her hope that the duke was not | hurt, and begging him. not to be trou- 1 bled about the affair." and then swept out | with her cortege. .s~e sr |. No sooner had she left the gilded | chamber, however than those present, l comprising ambassadors, great officers l of state, peers and peerssses of the | realm. prelates and judges, were re- | quested by the officials of the house of 1 lords not to stir from their seats, or to 1 approach the throne until the stones which had dropped from the crown had | been collected.
 Of courss. the object of this precauton
 was to prevent the gems from being l injured by being trodden on, But it | sounded for moment as if the officials | entertained apprehensions lest some i'm | pecunious peer or shady diplomat should | take advantage of the clumsiness of the | Duke of Argyll to pocket crown jewel. Sometimes this walking backwards | gives rise to rather pretty and even | pathetic devices on the part of those who esire to avoid accident Thus re- l call the case of a relative, who, on re- | turn from active service, was summoned | with several brother officers to Buclxing- l ham palace to receive from the hands
 of the sovereign the Order of the | Bath.
 | He had lost his right leg so near to
 the hip joint that there were no means | of wearing an artificial limb, and he
 was consequently dependent upon | crutches.
 | When he entered the royal presence it | was noticed that he held, fastened ap- | parently to the hand rest of either crutch, a couple of lovely bouquets. A | third of the distance up the long room l he stopped, made the regulation bow as
 best he could, and dropped one of the l punches of flowers to the floor. Then | he made his way up to the queen, ten- dered her the other bouquet. which she l graciously accepted, received his Order l of the Bath, which she herself fastened, | to his uniform with many kindly word,
 and then he proceeded to withdraw from | her presence.
 If ever there was case in which the 1 walking backward might have bsen dis l pensed with, it was there, and the faces l of the queen and of those around her 1 betrayed signs of anxiety lest some mis- l hap should overtake the colonel. He, | however, DdCkeQ away, ulSpldylnS some | hesitation until he reached that part
 of the room where he had purposely left | the first bouquet on the ground. That gave him his bearings. He knew | where h. was then, and leaving the flow | CTS there he reached the door in safety,
 the queen kindly nodding and waving her | hand to him in appreciation of his some | what arduous act of homage.
 The qusen is in favor of keeping Sun
 day in the good old English way, slightly
 modified. Her majesty cannot endure to I miss service at one of the royal chapels, | or at Craigie church, in Scotland, where l her sweet voice may be heard joining l in the hymns of which '9rhy will be l done" and Rock of Ages are her fa-
 vorites. No personal reference to her l majesty is permitted in the sermon. The 1 clergyman, when her jesty is in Scot | land, is always a Presbyterian and in-
 variably receives $50 for officiating on l Sunday morning.
 | The rest of the day ts spent by the 1 queen in tha perusal of sermons and good | books, and only in the morning her ma | jesty allows herself drive in her pony
 carriage.
 The Prince of Wales. when on the con | tinent, does as the Romans do, and go=s
 to the theater on Sunday, when per
 formance of interest is being given. At
 Sandrngham he is a regular attendant | at church. Like the qu=en, he is fond
 of hymns, Onward, Christian Soldiers"
 being his favorite.
 Until the accession of the present Ger
 man emperor, Sunday was the gayest
 day of all the season at the Bsrlin court | The empress, however, has influenced her
 husband to take an active part in se-
 curing the enactment of laws forbid
 ding work on Sunday. No minister is
 allow5d to preach to their majesties a
 moment longer than fifteen minutes and
 he is also forbidden to stare" at the
 roya lparty. sip H.
 Queen Victoria has been a consistent
 patron of the stage from the year of
 her accession, and has shown most
 catholic taste, ranging from Van Am
 burgh and his performing lions at Drury
 Lane, up to the great personators Of
 Shakespearean characters, from Kean
 and Macready to those of today. Her
 majesty intends to have several musical
 and dramlatic entertainms nts at Wind
 sor this winter, Including the Marquis
 of Lorne's romantic opera. "Diarmid" !"
 which is based upon an old Gaelic le- gend. l,l ae
 | tv.~ nEcrA. fod,aNra xr,1,ora r;Ixar