The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-05-19
BEAUTIFUL HOME
OF FAIR PEACE
nv LUoIEN JULIEN wALKHR.

Tt Is doubtful IL there be upon this planet
calmer, more peaceful, more beautiful.
or more enhancing sylvan retreat of great
ness and luxury than the world-famous
House in The Wood at The Hague, where
assembled yesterday the conference Of
Peace called into existence by the mighty
hand of the Great White Tsar.
This Palace Beautiful of the wondrous
land of the dreamy fields and wide plains
of flowers has no counterpart in any wood
that decks the earth IN it's noblest orna-
ments. There are many palaces vastly
more splendid in their dimensions and the
material of their construction. This wood
land home of the young virgin queen
WiIhelmina, is what Is called stucco, is
three stories in height. and perhaps three
hundred feet in frontage. Its color is a
dull shade of cream. Low marble steps of
great breadth lead to the state entrance.
There are two smaller or private doorways
in the front. There are no blinds to the
windows. The shades are of that half
creamy white noticeable in all palaces and
great houses abroad. A space at the front
a hundred feet wide is carved with pebbles
from the seashore, and after the pebbles
laved by the pleasant waters of the river
Lee"
Inside the majestic portals, from the
very threshold, one walks among and gazes
lingeringiy upon the priceless accumula-
tons of centuries of lsingship and civiliza-
ton. There are gold tables inlaid with
richest pearls, worth an emperor's ransom.
There are carpets and rugs, each in a few
instances representing the labor of a hun
dred skilled hands for full five hundred
days. Settles, divans, lounges, stools, each
SO rich as to represent a fortune. Upon
the walls paintings familiar to all the art
world because of their unexampled great
ness
Through corridor after corridor and
chamber after chamber, one wanders In a
very maze Of beauty and splendor. Rarest
gifts Orient and Occident, and all lands.
are there, inanimate but wondrous wit
nesses to the glory of kings through ages
of Iustre in the bright light of an ancient
throne.
Two smaller chambers had for me the
deepest historic and romantic interest on
that soft summers day when golden coin
dropped into the palm of a beautiful maid.
white-aproned white-capped and laughing,
opened to me doors forbidden to the pro-
fame footsteps Of the stranger. The little
queens private sitting room, wherein have
sat and wept the queens of Holland for
generations, is surprisingly bright and
luxurious, and withal having a very do
nestle, home-like appearance. The table
from which the afternoon tea is served
observed to be of gold and ivory. 1t had
served its purpose. for more than a hum
dred years, the maid told me. Hence it
was used by Queen Hortense, daughter of
Josephine, empress of the French. Hor-
tense came thither with her king, Louis
Bonaparte, in the dawn of this century, and
there for time the unhappy woman lived
through the dull days of courtly great
ness. Memory of the story Of that storm
tossed soul cast upon me a nameless
spell, deepened infinitely WHEN the maid,
touching my arm timidly, led me through
o. doorway directly into the royal bed cham
Der wherein Hortense nurtured him who
in the aftertime filed SO splendid a space in
the worlds imperial greatness as Napoleon
III, emperor of the French. The chamber
remains very much as it was when the
weight of a crown rested the wretched
Quitting this chamber and re-entering the
sitting apartment, l saw upon the wall to
the left the famous portrait of John La
throp Motley American diplomat and his
torian, which was painted for one of the
queens Of Holland.
The great hall of the palace, wherein the
peace conference will hold its meetings,
Is one of the most superb apartments in
Europe. The frescoing, done by many of
the most brilliant of all the Dutch painters,
is as splendid as any achievement In art
outside of Italy. In it's entirety the hall is
superb beyond even an artists dream.
The splendid avenue through the wood
two miles to the city is the finest prob
ably in the world. And there is no capitol
in any land that possesses so dreamy and
romantic charm as bright, clean, beuti-
full The Hague!
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