The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-12-03
MY SUMMER.
Amid Royal Palaces-An Interesting
Sketch by Mrs. T. De W. Talmage.
THE SHOW ROOMS BEJEWELED,
R,chly Upholstered and Embarked
with Lustrous Statuary-Breakfast
Room of King oscar-simplicity Of
tho Lives Of Some Monarchs.
pr Mrs. 7. DE W,tt Talmage.

downright, 1860. The Christian Herald,
New York;
No sooner had I stepped ashore from
the Oceanic than the question was ask
ed me for publications: you have had
abundant opportunity this summer OF
studying royalty, In Europe. What do
you think OF 1t in comparison with re-
nublican Simplicity" As this question
has come to me the third time, I pro-
coded to answer it.though somewhat re-
luC;antly.
Yes, we have had an opportunity Of
seeing the inside Of palaces, and COM
muning with. princely and imperial
households, such as has seldom been
granted to persons unofficial. The pub
lIcaton OF my husbands sermons In all
the languages OF Europe for many
years, seemed to open every door we
might wish TO enter. And the first re-
mark I desire to make, in reply to the
question as to the, contrast between re-
publican simplicity and royal manners,
is that there is no contrast at all. The
higher in station the more unpretending
the parsonage. 1t is the people who are
afraid OF losing their place. or who are
struggling for something higher, that
take on airs. The higher the prince or
princess, the emperor or empress, the
more unconventional. Republican sim
plicity is no more marked than royal
simplicity.
While the SHOW rooms" OF palaces
may be bejeweled, and richly uphol-
stored, and embarked with lustrous
statuary. and aSlow with masterpieces
OF painting. the living rooms" of Euro
pean potentates are for the most part
as plain as the rooms of people ordinar-
fly prosperous. While the tourist, cata-
logue in hand, is permitted to pass
through sleeping apartments which
were once occupied by some Marie An
toinette. or Napoleon, or Maria Teresa,
and the pillows Of the couch and the
canopy are ablaze with splendor. for the
most part the sleeping apartments are
as unpretendlng as hundred homes in
The same city OF Berlin. or Vienna, or
81. Petersburg. or Copenhagen. While
the banquet OF king or queen might
easily swamp what we would call many
thousands of dollars, and the CLEAN of
the chalice, and the flash of the plate
nre something to be remembered for u
lifetime, the ordinary breakfast or
luncheon or dinner of a palace Is Us
plain as ordinary cutlery, and table
cloth, and ice-pitcher can make 1t. The
breakfast room ut Stockholm, where
King Oscar and his queen sit, morn
ing after morning. is probably as sim
pie as the breakfast room of many of
those who read this Sketch When
Emperor Francis Joseph invites any
one to dine with him at Vienna, he
sometimes apologies for the plainness
Of the meal. Mr.. Gladstone, who was in
some respects king. called the repast
to which he invited my husband at Ha-
warden "a few snacks."
The pomp OF royalty is seen on great
occasions. but no persons, however
highly born. can always walk on stills.
The vast expense of princely and i'm
perial households Is in the support OF
official attendants, who must be ready
TO respond at the first call, though that
call may not come more than once n
year or once In FIVE years. Hundreds
Of horses must be ready. though some
Of them may never be harnessed for
service except at 4 royal marriage, n
coronation. or an imperial obsequy, and
those occasions are; very far apart.
The conversation of these people is
surprisingly familiar. The empress of
Russia, without any hesitation. express
ed to me the preference she had for the
Chinese above the Japanese. She said:
The Japanese may pretend to be
friendly. but they stab you In the dark"
She cannot forget that when Nicholas,
now her husband. was travelling In ia
pan, he received 4 ruflian stroke that
ielled him senseless, and that now,
when the emperor Is excited or over
worked. that Japanese wound uf many
years ago still dIsturbs him.
The crown prince of Denmark. In
style and language that we are familiar
with in our own homes. said to It's:
Come. let me show you into my den,'
and then took US through his study.
Anu the crown princess said to me:
Come. let me show you through my
garden. You will find It rs quiet as
though It were many miles from hui
man habitatlont though only five miles
from Copenhagen" With that Sim
pIlcity the dowager empress OF Russia
showed us her pictures and asked US
about where we had been, and invited
Us to come again on the morrow. Sim
rIicity rcIgns In all the high places we
were permitted to VISIT.
but one must go abroad In order to
tuliy appreciate. home life In America.
Ihere are more happy people in our
country than In any other land. Great
palaces and royal families, however
Find and benevolent and exemplary.
imply n multitude of people with not
enough to eat or wear or shelter them.
had rather live ten years In America
'lah thirty In any other country. While
uere Is no contrast between republican
simplicity and royal manners, there Is n
contrast, wide and awful, between our
conntry-where every healthy and In
uuStrions man can make n comfortable
''''ng-and monarchial lands. where
POVERTY ia ihn corurnop tnborItopc, n,