Those who have the honor of dining at Windsor are shown after dinner into a long gallery where there are no seats, and perforce they stand till Her Majesty is ready to retire. Then I have seen two duchesses approach and throw a shawl across the shoulders of the Queen, literally acting as mistresses of the robes.

Yet the countesses and duchesses are seldom willing to surrender their posts. There seems a fascination about the life, in spite of its irksomeness. Many of the same lords and ladies have been in attendance on the Queen for years, and some of them certainly entertain a profound affection for Her Majesty. Indeed, although at drawing-rooms and on the rare occasions when the Queen is seen in public her demeanor is reserved and her expression almost stern, all this is changed with individuals. The plain and stout lady, rather dowdily dressed, becomes gracious and winning in the last degree. Her whole face is lighted with the desire to please and the certainty that she succeeds. There is something more than suave or urbane in both smile and bearing, something not exactly of condescension, for the consciousness of superiority is necessary for this, and it is the consciousness only of her grandeur, not of your inferiority, that she feels and makes you feel-a triumph of manner worthy of the greatest of actresses, or of a queen.

I can speak without prejudice or partiality, for the only opportunity I have had of conversing with Her Majesty was when I thought I had been treated with discourtesy; but even then the sweetness of her behavior overcame my soreness and subdued my not unnatural resentment. Her first utterance was to thank me for a book I had sent her seven years before, and which had been acknowledged at the time, and every syllable she spoke was intended to give me pleasure. The acts of the Queen may sometimes seem ungracious, her action, never, I am told.

I was once strongly reminded of the great geniuses of the stage by the mien and deportment of the Majesty of England. It was at the opening of the Albert Hall. The building was crowded to its utmost, and the Queen walked down the vast amphitheatre to what may be called the stage, preceded and followed by great dignitaries and accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Wales. When she turned to face the multitude eight thousand people were standing in her honor, and the cheers were deafening. And then there came across her features an expression which it is hardly possible to describe; her face fairly shone with gratification at the loyalty of her people and motherly affection for them in return. She courtesied again and again, lower and lower, exactly like a great actress playing a queen who had been called out to receive the

plaudits of her audience. But of all the famous mistresses of the stage that I have seen, the women of genius who enraptured nations, none ever surpassed in grace or dignity, at the proudest moments of her mimicry, this real sovereign acknowledging absolute homage.

II.

AT COURT.

THE intercourse of a British subject of the upper classes with the sovereign usually begins with a presentation at court; but there are still houses where the Queen visits personally an old or invalid friend, and the children may thus be earlier brought into the presence of royalty. After the Thanksgiving for the recovery of the Prince of Wales there was much unfavorable comment because Her Majesty had appeared at Saint Paul's in bonnet and shawl, although peers and members of the House of Commons were compelled to wear levee dress. Former sovereigns on similar occasions had worn their robes and crowns, and the loyal throng had been greatly disappointed at not beholding their Queen in "all her proud attire." The next day Her Majesty paid a visit to the mother of a duke who had been unable to leave her couch for years. Notice as usual was given in advance, the house was prepared, the red carpet laid, the gentlemen of the family were in evening dress, and the Queen was received with the proper etiquette. During

her stay she was petting a little boy some five or six years old, when the urchin, who had heard the talk about Saint Paul's, cried out, to the horror of the family: "Are you the Queen? Why didn't you wear your crown?" But only the scions of illustrious houses enjoy such opportunities of direct and early communication with royalty. Young ladies of quality are usually presented to Her Majesty upon their entrance into society, and the men as they emerge from hobble-de-hoy-hood or the university.

The first day I spent in London I went to a levee. It was held by the Prince of Wales, and only men attended. I was then a Secretary of Legation, so that I had what are called the entrées, and enjoyed peculiar opportunities for watching the spectacle. The Prince was standing with his attendants in the throne-room when the diplomatists entered in the order of their rank, and those of the same rank according to the seniority of their standing at the English court. This point of precedence was thought of sufficient importance to be established at the Congress of Vienna, and the representatives of the United States conform to the rule. Each ambassador or minister is followed by the members of his embassy or legation, who have no place of their own; they are simply the suite of their chief.

The Prince was at the head of the room facing

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