The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-12-17
MY SUMNER AMID
ROYAL PALACES
By Mrs. T. De Witt Talmage.


IN from the Oceanic than the ques-
ton was asked me for publica-
ton: You have had abundant oppor-
tunity this summer OF studying royal
ty in Europe. What do you think Of
it in comparison with Republican
simplicity" AS this question has
come to me the third time, l proceed
to answer it, though somewhat reluct-
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 beer
granted to persons unofficial. The
publication 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 remark l desire to make, in
reply to the question as to the contrast
between republican simplicity and
royal manners, is that there is no con-
trast 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 OF princess the
emperor or empress, the more uncon-
ventional Republican simplicity is no
more marked than royal simplicity.
While the "show-roofs'' of palaces
may be bejeweled, and richly uphol-
stored, and embarked with lustrous
statuary, and aglow with masterpieces
Of painting, the living rooms. of Eu-
ropean potentates are for the most
part as plain as the rooms OF people
ordinarily prosperous. While the
tourist. catalogue in hand, is permit
ted to pass through sleeping apart
ments which were once occupied by
some Marie .Antoinette, 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 unpretend-
ing as a hundred homes in the sam.
city of Berlin, or Vienna, or ST. Pc
tersburg, or Copenhagen. While the
banquet of king Or queen might cas-
lily swamp what We would call many
thousands of dollars, and the CLEAN o.
the chalice and the flash of the plate
are something to be remembered fol
a lifetime, the ordinary breakfast OF
luncheon or dinner of palace is a:
cloth, and ice-pitcher can make it. TIL,
King Oscar and his queen sit, morning
after morning, is probably as Simple
as the breakfast-room of many o
those who read this sketch. WheI
Emperor Francis Joseph invites an,
one to dine with him at Vienna, h
sometimes apologies for the plainnes
of the meal. Mr.. Gladstone, who wa
in some respects king, called the re
past to which he invited my HUSBAND
at Hawarden "a few snacks."
The pomp of royalty is seen OIL
great occasions, but no persons, how
ever highly born, can always walk OF
stills. The vast expense of princel.
and imperial households is in the sup
port of official attendants, who mus
be ready TO respond at the first call
though that call may not come NOR
than once year, or oEce in five years
Hundreds of horses must be ready
though some of them may never b
harnessed for service except at
royal marriage, a coronation, or an i'm
perial obsequy, and those occasion
are very far apart.
The conversation of these people
surprisingly familiar. The Empress O
Russia, without any hesitation, ex
pressed to me the preference she ha
for the Chinese above the japanese
She said: THE japanese may preten
TO be friendly, but they stab you in tn
dark" She cannot forget that whe
Nicholas, now her husband, was trav
cling in Japan, he received a ruffia
stroke that felled him senseless. an
that now, when the Emperor is ey
cited or overworked, that Japanes
wound of many years ago still dis
turbs him.
The Crown Prince of Denmark, i
style and language that we are famil
lar with in our own homes. said to us
Come, let nc show you into my den.
and then took us through his study
And the Crown Princess said to me
Come, let me show you my garden
You will find it as quiet as though
were many miles from human ,habita
ton, though only five miles from CO
penhagen." With what simplicity tn
Dowager Empress of Russia shove
us her pictures and asked us abou
where we had been, and invited u
to come again on the morrow. Sim
E
we were permitted to visit
But one must go abroad in order t
fully appreciate home life in Americ;
There are more happy people in on
country than in any other land. Grea
palaces and royal families, howeve
kind and benevolent and exemplar,
imply multitude of people with nc
enough to eat or wear or shelter then
had rather live ten years in Americ
than thirty in any other countr,
While there is no contrast betwee
republican simplicity and royal mar
7 ners, there is a contrast, wide an
n aWfui, between our countrywide
every healthy and Industrious man ca
make a comfortable iving-and nor
archial lands, where poverty is til
common inheritance of the peopl
mus much have / learned from m