Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1907-06-26
PRESENTED AT COURT.
Experience Of an American at
an English Royal Levee.
A RAPID TRANSIT FUNCTION.

We Was In and Through and Out Be-
fore He Really Realized What Had
Happened-The Way His Difficulty
About q Costume Was Overcome.
A six foot American who had Sc
cured command" to one of the Eng
fish royal leyees recently found him.
self In a pretty predicament.
On his notification paper was the
hint that levee dress was indispensa-
BILE. In the guileless innocence OF his
democratic soul the American took this
to mean that frock coat and shiny
shoes would be called for.
He was In the act. of looking over his
best outfit of that nature when more
experienced friend called and caught
him In the act The friend made haste
to inform the misguided Yankee that
leyee dress involved silk stockings,
ruffied sleeves, black sword and other
items.
CONSERVATION ensued. 1t continued
to ensue when owing to his height and
girth no borrowable suit was discov-
cred and no tailor could be found who
would make one before the next after
noon. AT last a stage levee dress was
rented from His Majesty's theater,
where 1t had done duty In THE Last
of the Dandies."
After the levee was over the Amerl-
can confessed that he hardly knew
what had happened. When he reached
the palace he was first surrounded by
the yeomen of the guard, who started
him upstairs with great dispatch. In
the course OF his progress upstairs the
yeomen disappeared, and he found
himself in a lane of tin plated life
guardsmen.
Again the scene changed, says Town
and Country, and there was lane OF
royal footmen and next q large room
filed to overlooking with admirals,
generals, diplomats, peers, chamber
lains, soldiers and sailors OF all de-
grees of commissioned rank and
great host of men attired like himself
In levee dress. One by one they were
singled out and ushered into the royal
presence In the adjoining room, where
stood the king surrounded by his suit.
The work of presentation was so
rapid that the American found himself
out and in another room before ne
knew what had happened. His over
lit, hna In
rapid, mysterious fashion, and the
next thing he knew he was outside In
the courtyard. But he was actually
presented" and Is now forever Hof
fahig. or eligible for presentation at
any court In the world, provided he be
HAYES himself.
All this was preliminary to the pres
entatlon of the mans wife and daugh-
ter at the drawing room. Men are pre-
scented at the kings levees, and the
women undergo the same ordeal at the
courts or drawing rooms, which are
by far the more imposing functions. 1t
is probably no exaggeration to say that
every time Il drawing room Is held
100000 is spent by the people who go
to court.
None but very old habitue OF the
court-and then she is never below the
rank of n cOuntess-wOuld dream or
appearing at court In costume that
she had worn there before. The Item
of flowers alone is one of vast 1mpor'
lance. If 1t were not for the drawing
rooms the large florists could not exist.
Every woman who Is presented goes
armed with a bouquet, whose value Is
at least pound, and some OF them are
worth ten times that sum. Then there
are the bookmakers and the hOsiers anu
the milliners 10 consider, to say nothing
of the people who lend carriages.
Suppose there are at low estimate
800 people on the presentation list. Of
these every mothers daughter has her.
self photographed In her court cos
tune. and London court photographers
are notorious for their stiff prices.
st. James park on the night OF
drawing room Is filed with London
ers who wander up and down the dou-
BILE line of carriages stalled In the mall
peering Into the windows and CRITICS
ing the costumes of the matrons anu
their debutante daughters. 1t Is q
legitimate privilege of the populace 10
consider those waiting for presentation
as objects of interest, and there the
latter have to sit, some OF them over
an hour, subjected to the gaze OF Lon
don's citizens. You see half dozen
shopgirls fiatteIhng their noses against
the window of a motor brOugham ana
carrying Oh rapid fire conversation
about the dress of milady and her
daughter inside.
Amt she beootiful. Mary Ann" or
"Wot do you think of this UNI Oh don't
like 'er gown at all"
All this has to be borne with Spar
tan fortitude so long as there Is no
rowdylsm; but, strange to say, there
never Is.
A good many people starve them
selves for months so that they AM
their offspring may have the money to
enable them to 80 to court. There are
many half pay colonies who live In
the country whose one object Is to
come up for drawing room.
Generally they have influential and
wealthy friends who make 1t easy for
them In the matter of lodging In town
and lend them their horses, carriages
and footmen; otherwise It would be Inn
possible for them to go. There seems
to be a tradition that II mans daugh-
| ter has not been presented at court
| her WY to a successful marriage Will
not be so smooth. That Of course Is q
faliacy, but the tradition never dies.
and so people stint themselves and en-
dure endTes sacrifices that they may
nut the hal mark on themselves and
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