The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-21

| the contrast between those two suites OF
apartments-one with their somber gar
niture and CHASTITY memories, and the
! other bright simple and cheerful as the
| comfortably furnished rooms of a middle
| class English family, (which indeed, at
| first sight, they seem to be. And no Won
| der, for they were furnished by London
firm by express selection of the empress,
| in whom the Englishwoman is perhaps
more Communicating, indeed, as she is,
| the child of her mother-than either the
| Germany of her birth or the Russia of
! her adoption. Pink crockery, cretonne-
covered sofas, simple oak furniture,
| brightness, lightness and cheerfulness
! form the domestie> environment of the
present imperial couple of Russia, which
contrasts very strongly with the heavy
! and cumbrous ma gnificence of their pred
ecessors. And if you take peep into the
| emperors study you almost fancy it to be
the sanctum of private gentleman, with
| its trim cleanliness and order, its steel
engravings on the walls, its framed pho
tos of friends and favorites standing here
| and there, its brass-fendered fireplace and
its modern books and newspapers scatter
| L..
ure to the imperial pair than to retire
| from the brilliant but tireson2e functions
of which the gorgeous state saloons in the
Winter palace are the frequent scene dur
| ing the court season, to taste the delights
of simple domesticity in their own pr1-
| vate apartments.
Nowhere in all Europe is any monarch
housed so magni1cently as Nicholas IL
! in this winter palace of his, and yet 1t
has no attractions for him as a residence
with all it's somber and saddening memo
ries, in comparison with what may be
| called the summer palaces, In Wn1cn ne
prefers to spend his time far from the
madding crowd" of courtiers. No mon
arch moreover, has so many palaces III
the immediate neighborhood OF his cap
| italEpalaces that were built to suit the
! peculiar fancies and freaks of his pred
MISUNDERSTANDING, the favorite resort
of his father; Tsarskoe Selo-the erection
| of Catherine H. and Peterhof, as Its
name implies, the Versailles of modern
Russia,s immortal founder. But through
out the spacious grounds of each of these
country palaces there are scattered
great variety Of other minor chateaux
and chalets. Monrepos, Monplaisirs and
Sans-Soucis; and it is in these lesser
abodes of no bother that the imperial
couple of Russia prefer to hold their
+ rural court, aiming, as they DO, at lead
ing an English country life as far as that
is possible on the shores of the Gulf or
Kronstadt.
1t is at the small Alexander palace In
the grounds of Tsarskoe Selo, where this
kind of existence is most attainable. the
view from the terrace is very pretty with
| its spacious lake on which are floating
the miniature craft of all nations, while
the park is a curious mixture OF nature
| and art-a mosaic of white marble
bridges, statues and artificial ruins. Din
ner is frequently taken{in az quaint sum-
mer house without the, presence OF serv-
ants At the end of every course bell
is touched, and the entire circular table
descends through the floor into the Gull
mary regions beneath presently to re-
ascend freshly laden, in the manner of
the arabian Nights orr rather, Of
the confidence table, of Louis XIV,
which was adopted by Frederick the
Great at Potsdam, and so passed on to
the court of the great but dissolute
Catherine of Russia. This confidence Ia
ble'' was, of course, first deY1sed to balk
the curiosity of listening servants at a
time when they wereo richly bribed by
foreign diplomats to betray their mas
ter's secrets, but in the. case OF, the Rus
sian court, even if the old unscrupulous
practices still survived, this result would
: be obviated by the fact that English
which Is the mother tongue OF the en-
press-is generally spoken at the imperial
table. During the two previous reigns
French was all the mode at the court or
the czars+German being hated and
prohibited tongue. But now English bids
fair to usurp the sway OF the french,
and with it English habits and customs
of various kinds in the household of the
present emperor denote his prediction