The New York Herald Newspaper, July 9, 1873, Page 3

Persia’s Potentate Being “Im- pressed” by John Bull. MARK TWAIN TAKES ANOTHER CONTRACT. ‘Correcting Mistaken Notions About Royal Visits. TOE BALL AT GUILDMALL, How the Guests Were ‘Corraled” in ’ Herds of Respectability. A. SIDE-SHOW OF THE SHAH. Mark Gets a Ticket and Describes What. He Sees and Hears. “COD SAVE THE QUEEN” IN FRAGMENTS Three-Quarters of a Minute to Look at the Opera House. UND YATES TELLS THE STORY. Royal, Noble and SRopkeeping Notabilities at the 5 Great “Hop.” THE SHAH SCORNS SALTATION. A Royal Party Doing a Quadrille for His Benefit. Edmund Gets a SideShow Ticket and Gives His Experience. THE PORTSMOUTH NAVAL POP-OFF. Mysteries of the Maindeck and Turret Ship Wardrooms. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The Hunger of the Shah Spoils One “Devastation” Review. ItProduces Another Among Edibles. TEE STORY ACCORDING TO MARK. Lonpon, June 21, 1873, After delivering the Shab at the gates of that ‘unsightly pile of dreary grandeur known as Buck- ingham Palace I cast all responsibility for him astde, for the time being, and experienced a sense ©! relief and likewise an honest pride in my suc- cess such as no man can feel who lias not had a hab at nurse (so to speak) for three days. A CARPET STORY. Tt fe said by those who ought to know that when Buckingham Palace was being fitted up asa home for the Shah one of the chief rooms was adorned with a rich carpet which had been designed and manutactured especially to charm the eye of His Majesty. The story goes on to say that a couple of the Persian suite came heres Week ago to see that ail things were in readiness and nothing overiooked, and that when they reached that particular room and glanced at tie lovely combination of green figures and white ones im that carpet they gathered their robes carefully up about their kuees and then went elaborately tiptoeing about the floor with the aspect and anxievy of a couple of cats nunting for dry ground in a wet country, and they stepped only on the White figures and almost tainted whenever they came near touching @ green one. that the explanation is that these visiting Per- sians are ali Mohammedans, and green being a olor sacred to the descendants of the Prophet, and none of these people being so descended, it ‘would be dreadiul profanation for them to DEFILE THE HOLY COLOR with their feet. And the general result of it atl ‘Was that that carpet had to be taken up, and is a ead loss. Man is a singular sort of human being, after all, and his religion does not always adorn him, Now, our religion is tae right one, and has fewer odd and striking features than any other; and yet my ancestors used to roast Catholics and witches and warm their hands by the fire; but they would have blanched with horror at the bare thought of breaking tne Saboath. And here is a Persian monarch, who never sees any impropriety in chopping @ subject’s head off for the mere mis- demeanor of calling him too early for breakfast, and yet would be consumed with pious remorse if his unheeding 100% were to chance to step upon enything 80 GREEN AS YOU OR I, MY READER. Ortental peoples say that women have no souls to save, and, almost without my memory, many Ameri- can Protestants said the same of babies. I thought there was a wide guif between the Persians and Ourselves, but 1 begin to feei that they are really our brothers after all. A FRIENDLY CALL UPON THE QUEEN. After a day’s rest the Shan went to Windsor Cas- tle and called on the Queen. What that suggests to the reader's mind 1s this :—That the Shah took a and satchel and an umorelia, calleda cab and said he wanted to go to the Paddington station; that ‘when he arrived there the driver charged him six- pence too much, and he paid it rather than have trouble; that he tried now to buy a ticket, and was answered by & ticket selleras surly asa hotel clerk that he was not selling tickets for that train yet; that he finally got his ticket, and was beguiled of his satchel by @ railway porter at once, who put it into a first class carriage and got a sixpence, which ‘the company forbids him to receive ; that presently when the guari (or comductor) of the train came siong the Shah slipped s shilling into this hand and said he wanted to smoke, ‘and straightway the guard signified that it was all right; that when the Shah arrived at Windsor Cas- ‘tle he rung she bell and when the girl came to the ASKED MERIF THE QUERY WAS AT TOME, It is said | 8 z § Was the pictare which would 2 and \acing front; there was braying of music and dooming of cannon. Al! that fuss, im sober troth, over & mere od-hand eal what it woul) have been if he bad brought another shirt and Was going to stay a month, AT THE GUILDHALL. Traly, Tam like © eufecete with astonishment At the things that are going on around me here. Tt ts all od Dut last night's work travscends anything lever it how can I word it? getatit. But to say itin a word—and i wa true one, too. as hundreds and handreds of people will testafy—ias! night the Corporation of the OMty of London, with a simplictty and ignorance which almost rise to sublimity, actually gave a ball to a Shah who does not dance, If 1 would allow my- self to laugh at acracl mistake, this would start me. It is the oddest thing that has happened since of London are simply great and opulent mer- chants, and cannot be expected to know much about the ways of high life—but then they could have asked some of us who have been with the Sha! The ball was a marvel in its way. The historical Guildhall! was a scene of great magnificence. There was a high dais at one end, on which were three state chairs under @ sumptnous canopy; upon the middie one sat the Shab, who was almost ‘A CHICAGO CONFLAGRATION OF PRECIOUS STONES and gold bullion lace. Among other gems upon his breast were a number of emeralds of mar- vellous s:ze, and trom a loop hung an historical diamond of great size and wonderful beauty. On the right of the Shan sat.the Princess of Wales, and on his ieft the wiie of the Crown Prince of Russia, Grouped about the three stood @ full jury of minor princes, princesses and ambassadors hailing from many countries. THE TWO CORRALS, The immense hal! was divided in the middle by a Ted rope, The Shxh’s division was sacred to blue biood, and there was breathing room there; but the other corral was but a crush of struggling and perspiring hamaatty, The place was briliiant with gas and Was a rare spectacie in the matter of spien- did costuwesand rich coloring. The lofty stained gluss windows, pictared with celebrated episodes in the nistory-oi the ancient city, were lighted from the ontsideand one may imagine the beauty of the effect. The great giants, Gog and Magog (whose origin and hiatory, curiously enough, are unknown even to tradition), looked down irom the lofty gal- Jery, but made no observation. Down the long sides of the hall, with but brief spaces between, were imposing groups of merbie statuary; and, contrasted with the masses of ite and color about them, tuey made a picturesque effect. The groups were statues (in various atti- tudes) ofthe Duke of Wellington. Ido not say this knowingly, but only supposingly; but I never have.seem & statue in England yet tnat represented anybody but the Duke of Wellington, and, as tor the streets and terraces and courts and squares that are named after him or after selections from his 797 titles, they are simply beyond the grasp of arithmetic. This reminds me that, having named everything after Wellington that there was left to name in England (even down to Wellington boots), our British brothers, still unsatisfied, still op- pressed with uncontainable adulation, blandly crossed over and named OUR CALIFORNIAN BIG TREES WELLINGTON, and put itin Latm at that. They did that, calmly ignoring the fact that we, the discoverers and own- ers of the trees, had long ago named them after a larger man, However, if the ghost of Wellington enjoys such a proceeding, possibly the gnost of Washington will not greatly trouble itself about the matter. But what really disturbs me is, that, while Wellington is justly still m tne fashion here, Washington is fading out of fashion with us. It is not a good sign. The idols we have raised in his stead are not to our honor. THE LONDON FRENZY ILLUSTRATED BY £., & AND D, Some little dancing was done in the sacred cor- ral in front of the Shah by grandees belonging mainty to “grace-of-God” families, but he himself never agitated a foot, The several thousand commoner people on the other side of the rope | could not danve, any more than sardines in @ pox. Chances to view the Guildhali spectacle were so hungered for that people offered £5 for the privi- lege of standing three minutes in the musicians’ gallery and were refused. I cannot convey to you an idea of the inordinate desire which prevails here to see the Shah better than by remarking that speculators who held four-seat opera boxes at Covent Garden Theatre to-night were able to get $250 for for them. Had all the seats been sold at auction the opera this evening would have produced not less than one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars in gold! Iam below the figures rather than above them. The greatest house (for money) that America ever saw was gathered together upon the occasion of Jenny Lind’s first concert at Castle Garden. The seats were sold at auction and produced something over twenty thousand dollars, Iam by no means trying to describe the Guild- hall affair of last night. Such a crash of titled swells; such a bewildering array of jewelled uni- forms and brilliant feminine costumes; such solemn and awful reception ceremonies in the library; such grim and stately municipal addresses and Persian replies; such imposing processional pageantry later on; such depressing c@ancing be- fore the apathetic Shah; such ornate tables and imperial good cheer at the banquet—it mak body tired to merely think of trying to put ali that on paper. Perhaps you, sir, will be geod enough to imagine it, and thus save one who respects you and honors you five columns of solid writing. THE LUNATIC ASYLUM 18 BLESSED WITH A GLIMPSE. As regards the momentous occasion of the opera, this evening, I found myself in a grievous predica- ment for a republican. The tickets were all sold long ago, so I must either go as a member of the royal jamily or not at all. After @ good deal of re- flection it seemed best not to mix up with that class lest @ political significance might be put upon it, Buta queer arrangement had been de- vised whereby I might have a glimpse of the show, and I took advantage of that, There is an immense barniike glass house attached to the rear of the theatre, and that was fitted up with seats, carpets, Mirrors, gas, columns, flowers, gariands and a meagre row of shrubs strung down the sides on bracketa—to create an imposing forest effect, lsuppose. The place would seat ten or twelve hundred people. All buta hundred paid a dollar and a quarter @ seat—for what? To look @t the Shah three quarters of a minute, while he walked through to enter the theatre. The remain- ing hundred paid $11 4 seat for the same privilege, with the added Juxury of rushing on tne stage and giancing a: the opera @ndience for one single minute afterwards, while ail gone mad, I do believe. ndred five- shilling lunatics and a hundred inea mani- sca, The Hexap purchased a ticket and created the one of the latter, along with two of three more of the staff. Our cab was about No. 17,342 in the string that worked its slow way through London and past the theatre. The Shah was not to come till nine clock, and yet we had to be at the theatre by nalf- ast six, or we would not get into the glass house atall, they said. We were there on time, and seated in a small gallery which overlooked a very brilliantly dressed throng of people. Every seat was occupied, We sat there two hours and a half gazing and meiting. The wide, red-carpeted central aisle below offered good dis- play ground Jor oMcials in fine uniforms, and they Made good use of it. ROYALTY ARRIVES. By and by @ band in showy uniforms came in and stood opposite the entrance. At the end of a tedious interval of waitung trumpets sounded out- | side, there was some shouting, the band played half of “God Save the Queen,” and then the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and a dozen gorgeous Persan oMetals entered. After a little the young Prinee Arthur came, in a blue uniform, with & whole broadside of gold and silver medals on his breast—ior good behavior, punctuality, accurate *pelling, penmanship, &c., 1 suppose, but I could not see the inscriptions. The band gove bim some bare of “God Save the Queen,” too, while he stood under us talking, with altogether unroyal animation, with the Persians— the crowd of people staring hungrily at him the white—country cousins, may be, who will go home and say, “I was as close to him as I am to that chair this minute," ‘Then came the Dake of Teck and the Princess Mary, and the band God-Save-the-Queen’d them aio, Now came the Prince of Wales and the Rus- sian Czarina—the royal anthem again, with an extra blast at the end of it, After them came @ young, handsome, mighty giant, in showy uniform, tus breast covered with glittering orders, and a general's chapeau, with a fowing white plume, in bis hand—the heir to the tarone of all the Russias, ‘The band greeted bim with the Russian national anthem, and played it clear through. And they 4id right; for perhaps it is wot risking too much to say Chat this the only national air in existence ‘that &@ really worthy of a great pation. And at last came the long expected millenium himeell, His Imperial Majesty the Shah, with the charming Princess of Wales on his arm. He had ail bis jewels on, and bis diamond shaving brush in his hat front. be shone like a window with the westering sun on it, War THE ASYLUM SAW, ‘The small space below us was full now—it could accommodate no mere ty. The august pro- cession flied down the aisie in double rank, the ‘Shah and the Princess of Wales in the lead, and cheers broke forth and a waving of handkerchiefs Qs the Princess passed—ail said this demonstra- tion was meant for her. As the procession disap- peared though qe fartner door, the hundred eleven-dollar maniacs rusted vhrough a small aperture, then through an ante room, and gathered im a foes on the stage, the chorus striking up “God save the Queen” at (he aame moment, We stood in a mighty band-box, or a Roman coliseum, wi sea of taccs stretching far away over the ground floor, and above them rose five curving tiers of gaudy humanity, the dizzy upper ter in the tar dustance rising sharply up against the roof, ikea flower garden trying to hold an ear:hquaze down and not succeeding. It was a magnificent spectacie, and what with the roaring of the chorus, the waving of bandkerchie(s, the cheering of the people, the blazing gas and tne ‘ewiul epiendor of the long fie oi royalty, standing breast to breast in the. royal box, it was wonder- fully exhilarating, not to say exciting. The chorus sang only three-quarters of amin- uc one stamza—and down came the bage cur- tain and shut out the tairy land. And then all those eleven-dollar people hunted their way out again. A MATION DEMENTED, Weare certainly gone mad. We scarcely look at the young Colossus who is to reign over 70,000,000 of people and the mightiest empire in extent which existe to-day. We have no eyes but for this sp.endid barbarian, who is lord over aiew deserts and a modest ten million of ragamamns— &man who has never done anything to win our gratitude or excite our admiration, except that ne managed to starve a millon of his subjects to death in twelve months, Ii he had starved the restl suppose we would set up a monument to him now. The London theatres are almost absolutely empty these nights. Nobody goes hardiy. managers are being ruined, The streets ior mil are crammed with people waiting whoie long hours fora chance glimpse of the Shah, I never saw any man ‘draw’ like this one, A LBCrURE rRosRor, Is there any truth in the report that your bu- reaux are trying to get the Shah to go over there and lecture’ He could get $100,000 4 night here and choose his own subject, 1 know a showman who has got a pill that be- longed to him, and which forsome reason ne did not take, That showman will not take any money for that pill, He is going to travel with it, And Jet me tell you he wall get more engagements than he can Gill in a year, MARK TWAIN. ‘THE STORY ACCORDING TO EDMUND. Atthe Guildhall-The Ball Reom—The Approaches=The Notabilitics—The First Set—How the Shah Looked and When — He Retired. Loxpow, June 21, 1878, ‘The card of invitation which | received from * the | Lord Mayor and Corporation of the City of London | to meet His Majesty the Shab of Persia,” if i re. sembled Mercutio's wound in being neither “as deep ureh door,” was still the most | ortentious document whicn |, with teler- ably long experience in festivity, have ever seen. It seemed to me to be about (hree feet square, and though 1° waa immensely admired in ite elaborate which it bore to the effect that it “ sented to the sttendaat on entering.” deuce was l to carry it? It would go mto no Mortal poceet, and one could scarcely hire a boy to carry It before one! Pinally I hit upon the potable expedient of sticking it up beside me im the Han fom cab, and thus mot merely did I convey it im safety, but the sight Of it acted as @ Kind of pase port with the city policemen, by whom, ever and anon, My passage was challenged. The ordinary tramc of Fleet street had been stopped at five o'clock, Carts and omnibusses had been into bylames, and no carriages bot those occupants were provided with invitations Guildhall were aliowed to circulate, The Shah was not expected to reach the city til nine—for he had had @ long and fatiguing day at Windsor i bie reception by the Queen—and it was mow only cil seven; but already, far away from our destination, | there was a block in the long line of carriages, and my Hansom was brought to a standstill. Now was THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CROWD, which, ten deep, lined the sidewalks, to indulge their propensity for cha and badinage. If you give them this license there i no mob in any country which I have visited so easily managed as an English one. They don't like being “dragooned.” They are not, on the whole, favorable to the presence of soldiers save upon rare occasions; but they submit with wilh cheerful alacrity to the directions of the police, and keep their bodies in sabjection so jong as they are allowed free use of their tongues, doubtless peeresses in their own right, sitting in the middie of thetr swinging family + guarded by two footmen perched behind, were in- decorously addressed by the crowd as “oid girls,” ola 0 “ror rummn wias stRaiaur,”’ and in allusion to the blooming freshness of their complexion were compelled to listen to insinua- ttons that they had “put too much on.” Gallant were the cheras sung ‘God Save tne Queen!” We are | of ‘Goand get your haircut,” For myselfs par- The | ticular form of address was reserved. Lord Brougham, whe: heard Lord Campbell was writing the lives of the Chancellors, remar! “That he bad added a new terror to death.” The ‘Tichborne trial has added a new terror to those ‘who, no longer possessing sylph-like proportions, have occasion to run the gauntlet of a London crowd, ANOTHRR CLATWANT. My kind friends on the other side of the water will remember that there is about me ac rtain manly dignity of fgure, and wili consequently not be surprised that as soon as my cab came toa standstill and 1 was observed reclining in it plc. idly smoking my postprandial cigar, | was hailed with shouts of “Hallo! here 1s Sir Roger; that some of them “wished me luck” and others asked me where I had le(t the ‘sealed packet ;” that some inguired whether I was on my way to Wupping, and that others wished to know at what price per pound I was now selling mutton; in fact that I had to undergo a whole running fire of chat, waich I bore with that sweet equanimity which {sa part of my nature, occasionally hurling a few Parthian shots after my assailants, By the time we had struggled up to the top of Ludgate Hill had had enough of the slow progress, and determined to make my way on teot. Nourri dans le sérait jen connats les détours, and I had been for too many years in the habit of haunting the neighborhood of St. Paul’s churchyard not to know a short cut by the back of the Post OMce which would take me to Guildhall. The large Square in front of the noble old building was lined, with an escort of cavalry, and behind them the Britigh public was packed thick as bees in a hive; but among my qualities is the somewhat question- able one of being “known to the poiice,” and this aAcquaintanceship, with the aid of my invitation ticket, procured me tolerably easy passage through the mob, and entrance by the side door into the renowned old building. For more than four hun- dred and fiity years THE GUILDHALL has been the scene oi events of more or less im- portance tn English history, and nearly two hun- dred years ago it seems to have acquired that reputation for gastronomical indulgence for which it i8 principally known in the present day. For in October, 1663, quaint, gallant, gossiping old Pepys records in his diary:—“To Guildhall, and up and down to see the tables, where under every salt there was a bill of fare, and at the end of the table the persons proper for the table. I sat at the Mer- chant Strangers’ table, where were ten good dishes to a mess, with plenty of wine ol all sorts.” The side door through which I entered is immediately under the gallery, on the other side of which are placed the enormous wooden figures of the giants Gog and Magog, so that I had a splendid view of the hail from end to end, and the sight was certainly magnificent. The old hall was blazing with gas, covered with admirably executed decorations and radiant witn every variety of femaie beauty and gorgeous attire, All those who possessed the right to wear uniform or court dress had been enjoined to don them. To and fro through the crowd wandered the hosts of the evening; the civic tunctionaries, in their gold chains and gowns, the stewards, to whom the ar- rangement of the dances is confided (for dancing is a part of the evening’s programme, and yonder Magnificent gilt throne, raised on a high veivet Gats, is the spot from which the Shah is to watch the Terpsichorean evolutions), with their wands of oMce in their hands, make the necessary prep- rations, and an ever increasing, gayly dressed, laughing, chattering, whispering, perfumed crowd goes surging to and fro through the old hall. Look- ing at the beauty of the women and the highbred appearance of the men you would scarcely tuagine that these are, comparatively speaking, THE LOWER ORDERS Of those invited, fur the eréme dela créme is gather- ing together, not here, but in the library, where it will await the Snah’s arrival. To get into this library is a thing to be desired, but it seems almost an impossibility. Two policemen guard the door; they are courteous but firm. I have no special card and consequently cannot pass them by. Just as I am about to retire arrives a jolly, genial old gentieman in a purple velvet cloak, | with a gold chain round his neck, his white whiskers and hair carefully brushed, his rubicund tace beaming with good humor and turtle and port wine. “What, you here!” he safs to me in a jolly unctuous voice, “How are you?” Frell him that 1am very well; I do not tell him that I have not the faintest idea who he is, “You recollect,” he continued, “you sat next to | Me last year at the dinner of the Leather Stocking Makers’ Company, when you made that speech and told that story? Totten laugh now when I think of it, Wantto get in here? Certainly, Pass this gentleman.” And at his potent word the police- men withdraw their opposition and I enter THE LIBRARY. Yes, this is unquestionabiy the place for observa- tion within the whole building. Here the prettiest women are gathered together, all seated in a long, unbroken line, Here, standing about among them, and whispering pleasant nothings, are men whose name and fame a@re world wide. On an- other occasion one might like to poke about in the Mbrary itself, to take down some of the | rare books, to look through the large coliection of early printed plays and pageants connected with the city; to examine in its appropriate giasscase Shacepeare’s own signature attached to a deed of conveyance, bought at @ public sale by the Cor- poration of London; but at present we have enough to 40 tn looking at what Lady Mary Wort- ley Montague called “the humans” and watching thew Movements, The short, stout individual, who stands @t the doorand roars forth in sonorwus | tones the wame and title of each incoming visitor, is Mr. Harker, THE CITY TOAsTMASTER, end powerful as are his iangs they will scarcely jest bim through the evening unicss be modifies the tone Of trumph with which he has just an- nouneed “The Right Honorable Mr. Giaastone and Mrs, Gladstone.” The Premier looks haggard and wore a8 asuai, his thin, sallow cheeks, lank hair and tight pursed mouth giving him the air of a Gwoontented dissenting minster, on whom the Court costume site with absurd incongruity. jhe genial jooking man, with «a biaz- and the top butten of his waistcoat, is Eari spencer, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireiaud, What con be have to say to the big, heavy man with com he is im converse ?—the man with the big Mongolian skull; the half closed, sieepy eye; the sallow cheeks; (\¢ coarse, mean, common fea- tures—what can there be in common between j them’ One cannot imagine, for Lora Spencer is a gen jeman, aod his interiocutor is—Mr. Ayrton. _ Look Bow @t amother tail and portiy gentieman, vending, WIth Somewhat affected grace, over the chaar of the lady with whom he is conversing, and | mark Gim Well, jor he is a character in Boglit cai fe. Not Mr. Surrogate Hutcaings if has more smerosial curl, pot Mr. A. T. Stewart or Commodore Vandervilt bas much more moury, for | ths ts Karl Dadiey, who has never taken any part in political Ife or to aay Of the stirring questions of the day, but who is notabie for his eccentricity, hus Wealth apd the veaety of his wife. | TH LORD MAYOR AND THE LADY MAvORESS : i i ; aud grand expanse of chest, is Mr, Wagg Hunt, who was & prominest member oi Mr. ' Cabinet. His “equare-turned joints and strength of limb" seem to make even less the slight proportions of the Asietic who stands next to him and estate in Norfolk and being as keen sportsman ‘and as g004 & shot as the best of us. in tee onene of the room, on tract attention and at the same time inculcate respect; @ very short stout and broadiy built, with an enormous nead, bald on the cramium, and with long tron gray hair waving down over his shoulders, the brightness of whose « yes can be seen even through his spectacies, and aa enormous amount of play and humor and taney lorking in the mobile muscles of his mouth, This is Mr. Seuda- more, the Second Secretary of the Post oMee, the mi who induced the government to undertake the purchase of the telegraphs, and under whose direction they have been marvellously amplifed and improved; a man of | extraordinary powers of organ zation and oficial aptivade, joined with the pleasantest fancy and the brightest wit; aman who, in his early days, has Written magazine papers and steries without end, who has contributed some 0: the oeatest and most humorous verses to be found in the pages of Punch, and who, with the exception of Dickens, is the best after dinner orator Lever heard in my life. The telegraph apparatus against which he leans 1s in DIRECT COMMUNICATION WITH TRURRAN, and already the Minister left by the Shah in charge of his capital is roused up—it is three o'clock ia the morning with him— o read the address of con- gratuiation which the city is about to offer its guest, and which has been sent nearly four thousand miles over the wire. Near to Mr. Scudamore stands his chief, the Postmaster General, Mr. Man- sell, @ man with @ soit, shaven face, @ stealthy not been id'e, He isa man whose mind is larly fertile in resources, and he at this was the one chance of the season for money. There is an appanage to the Covent den Opera House called “*-SUR FLORAL HALL, ‘an immense kind of conservatory, which, at time ef its erection, was intended as a place whieh concerts should be held or as a foyer, to elegantly decorated with flowers and used as a | promenade im the enér’actes of the operas | Neither of these purposes, however, has it ful | Sir sules Benedict and other leading artists, | can calculate upon an enormous audience, hol | their concerts there, but the space is far too great both for the ordinary musical professor and ‘ | the number of clients on whom he could calculate, | and as tor the foyer and promenade the English’ | people do not seem to understand that sort of thing, and the Fioral Hall ig consequently bat seldom put into are As the hall was @ door of en under the piazza in Covent Garden, through which! it would be convenient for the royal procession pasa, Mr. Gye conceived the brilliant idea of fite tng up the Ploral Hail with balconies and seats, be filled by such of the public as might wish to catch a deeting glimpse of his Persian Majesty at the small cost of tea shillings. Nor did the clever’ manager mistake the taste of the gullible Britisty public, Two days after the announcement ap< peared im the paper every seat was taken, and glance and a general Jesuitical aspect, and near him, a tall, pompous, bald-headed person, “empty and fine,” as Mr, Browning has it—consequeutial, fussy and tnane in the highest degree. This ts Vis- count Sydney, the Lord Chamberlain, the man who ordered THE BALLET GIRLS TO LENGTHEN THEIR SKIRTS, and who, in his character of censor of our plays, forbids “Patrie’’ and only just permits “ Frou- Frou,” while he licenses the grosses; indecencies of the Palais Royal. He moves now, as do all the Test, at the sound of the blare of trampets which announces the approach of the Shah. The Lord Mayor and the Corporation have long since bustled away to the ancient porch of the Hall to welcome their visitors, and to the sound of martial music the procession enters. FIRST COMERS THE SHAH, leading the Princess of Wales, I have already de- scribed the Persian nfonarch as I siw him at the Brussels Railway station on the occasion of his de- parture, and there is nothing to add to that de- scription, He is still dressed in the black tunic, this time covered with a dark green riband across his breast, bordered by rows of priceless jewels, His bands of diamonds he has left at nome, but re- tains bis jewelled scimitar and his black pointed cap, within it,on this occasion, the ‘Sea of Light,” @ diamond which Mr. Moses Isaacs would exactly appreciate and envy. The solemnity of his face is rather detracted from by the pair of gold spectacles, which give him @ somewhat comic appearance; and by his side walks the Princess of Wales, perbaps, strictly speaking, not the loveliest, but with her tall, grace- fal figure, her sweet, earnest face and her thoroughly high-bred air, certainly the most at- tractive woman in our land. She has her hair rather tightly knotted in a coronet on the top of her head, thus let us hope setting the fashion jor the abolition of those enormous, hideous chignons, which so disfigare our English women, and she is dressed in THE QUIETEST AND MOST PERFECT TASTE, in blue and white satin, ornamented with diamonds, Led by the Shah and the Princess, the procession, composed of royalties and otier nota- bilities advances to the dais, and atter the great creatures have seated themselves on their golden chairs, the one notable and imposs.bie to be avoided English aMiction—the presentation of an address. The Corporation gathering themseives in front of their visitors, a dried, withered up chip of @ little man, who is Sir Thomas Chambers, the Deputy Recorder of London, in a hard, grating voice proceeds to read out a prepos- terous composition of complimentary jargon. ‘This is translated by the interpreter into Persian and Teplied to in a few short and decisive sentences by the Shah, which sentences are again transiated into English by Sir Henry Rawlinson, of whom I have already made mention. Then occurs another never failing civic institution on such occasions— the presentation to the visitor o1 the freedom of the city, of which he will no doubt make a great deal of use, The casket in which this ducument was enclosed was, however, very handsome, being a huge gold box, enameiled on all sides and sup- ported on cach corner by a kneeling camel, THE FIRST QUADRILLE, Time Was getting on, and it the King of Kings was to be introduced toany more of the customs of the West the ceremonies must begin at once. So evidently the Princess thought. After a look arouna she gave the signa) for retiring to the body of the hall, where, after the Shah bad taken up his position, a quadriiie was commenced, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Lord and Lady Mayoress, the Czarowitch and the Princess Dagmar and the Duke and Duchess of Teck being among the dancers, Settling his spectacles firmiy on his nose, the Eastern potentate reclined com- fortably back on his seat and watched the per- formance with hati shuceyes. What, | wondered, as I gazed at him, were his thougits as he looked onatit? Did they go back to bis native land and the last Terpsichorean evolutions he had witnessed there ? There the harem’s inmates smile, Maids trom the West with sun bright hair; rom the gardens of Lie Nie, Deitvate as the roses there, Daughters of love (rom Cyprus’ rocks, With Parthian diamonds in their locks. Light Peri turms, such .s there are On the gold meads o1 andahar, And they betore whose sleepy eves, In ‘heir own bright Kathaim bowers, Sparkle such rainbow butterdies at they might fancy the rich flowers That round them in the sun lay sighing ‘Then been by magic all set flying. Or was he thinking that he bad had a very long day, that he was extremely tired and wouid like to go to bed? Probably the latter, for, after witnessing one or two dances, the Shah intimated his desire for sup- per, and, after taking a very silght refresament, retired from the Guildhall about midnight. EDMUND YATES, At the Opera—The Floral Hali—A Man- ager’s Shrowdness—A Magnificent House—Effect of “God ‘e the Queen” on Americans. Lonpon, June 22, 1873. Astate visit to the opera is one of the regular dishes which we ‘set before the King,” Emperor, Sultan or Shah who may come to visit us. That such an entertainment would be provided for our royal guest was a matter of no doubt—the only question was when it should take place, and this was a question of far greater interest to Mr. Gye, the impresario of Covent Garden, than to the general public. For ifs subscription night were fixed upon the regular holders of stalls and boxes would put them up for sale and receive the pro- ceeds, whereas on & non-subscription night the price of the whole nouse and every corner of it would go into Mr. Gye’s pocket. As it happened & subscription night was se- lected—Saturday, the ist of June, On hearing the decision Mr. Gye was in despair. He rushed to the Lord Chamberlain's ofice; he pro- tested and implored, but all in vain, The Shah must go to the opera, and no other night could be found for him, Straightway those lucky people who were ansual renters of boxes and stalls either congratulated themselves on their easy chance of seeing His Persian Majesty or sent off to the various “librarians” and tostructed them TO DISPOSE OF THEIR PROPERTY for that tat the highest possible price, And the prices te be obtained were something extraor- ! They were quoted like transactions on the Exchange. Nothing was thought of giving fifty guineas for # box, even though it were on the third tier, and orchestra stalls “ruled” at ten guineas. Young men in clubs and in city establishments made up sw stakes and raffles, the prize in which Was a 5 im Covent Garden on the night of the Shah's visit, and it is expected that when paterfamiliss looks into the household bilis of last week he will find an extraordinary rise in the price of provisions, which was, oddly enough, exactly concurrent with the appearance of various new articles of dress on his wife and daughters, Meanwhile Mr. Gye had. then Mr, Gye improved upon the original plan bz, building an additional gallery in a better situation,- admission into which was to be purchased at the rate of two guineas @ seat, the holders of tickets’ having the privilege of going on to the stage alte: the procession had passed through, and joining the National Anthem. be ONE OF THESE TICKETS FELL TO MY LOT, ~ and before seven o'clock on Saturday night I foun® myself stepping into the Fioral Hall. There 18 no denying that the piace looked very pretty. ‘Ne architecture, with its arched glase roof, supported with tron columns, is light end airy, and the whole of the interior, fresh cleaned and painted, had been very prettily decorated with hanging wreaths and baskets and other floral tributes, A very broad pathway down the centre of the hail was marked off by golden standards placed here and there, from which ran along 8 re@ aiik cord, and on either side, bebind each of these light barriers, were ten rows of chairsy which were already becoming filed wittt ladies and gentlemen, in full evening dress. There were also three raised galleries—one at either end of the hall and one on the left hand side—into which the intended occupants were pouring, Im front of the gilt standards on the floor, and form« ing a kind of guard of honor, stood, at marked dis« tances, on either aide, four of the old yeomen of the guard— “BERFEATERS,” as they are commonty called—whom America® friends will recollect having seen on their visit tq the Tower of London. ‘There they stood in bint | quaint, old-fashioned costumes of scarlet tunic, striped with black; velvet porringer cap, ornay mented with pansies; trunk hose, scarlet stockings and slashed velvet shoes, Each man, too, bore ial his hand a pike or halbert, such as you may see im the Tower Armory, but which has not been in use for cenvuries, j The courteous and gentlemanly attendant t@ whom I showed my two biue tickets murmured the word “tribune.” I was on the point of replying, “No, HERALD,” when I cast my eyes in the direc! tion he was pointing and saw tat the western. most gallery had on it a printed placard, bearing appropriated to me and began to muse and spect. late. I wonder how many of this gallant and beau. tiful company, fiounced and furhelov/edy radiant with ribbons and gorgeous with gems, gold isced and epaulette * wearmgy some glowing with naturaily rade health or rouge: and crimson; some, on the other hand, tempering down their color by ‘“poudre de riz, préparé aw dismuth dite veloutine.” How many of these peo-, ple—who must all be, so to speak, wealthy and many of them enormously rich, respectable, steady- going, church-frequenting people—how many off them have a notion of the villany and vice, the poverty and misery, surrounding the immediate’ neighborhood in which they are quietly seated f Within 200 yards from the Floral Hall is Charles street, Drury lane, A FOUL, NARROW, PESTIFEROUS ALLEY, the abode of the most lawless, most desperate thieves and roughs in London. Drury lane itself is bad enough, but Charles street is worse—a cole lection of marine stores, rag shops and chandlers? and fried fish warehouses; low, boarded, doorless doorways, leading to black, rotten staircases or to tainted back yards, where corruption sits on the water butt and fever lives in the dust bin; with shattered windows, the majority of them open, With a sort of desperate resolve on the part of the | wretched inmates to clutch at some wandering fragment of light and air. This is Charlea street. A policeman stands ever at its end to warn the innocent wayfarer from passing down it. The policeman does not go down it, himsell, save in company with a brother constable and with a full knowledge that there Js a patrot ready within call, {saw many of the denizens of Charles street mixing up with and fo: ming compo~ nent parts of the crowd outside the Floral Hall to- night. I have been through tne Five Points and have sat on the bench with Judge Dowling when he has had some very unsavory cases before him; but for thorough vice and bestial blackguardism expressed in physiognomy, in action and in word, I,do not think you have anything in New York to equal Charies street. If @ chosen band of ite inhabitants could but cir~ cumvent the police and get inside the lines and make @ raid upon the Shah and his fol- lowers, what a high old time of it they would have! Picking pockets is a bad trade now, and burglary is scarcely worth undertaking. Robbery from she person, especially when the person is elderly, is a tolerably safe game; but when accompanied with violence its punishment is the lash, and tt is the lash that your Charles street denizen dreads more than anything eise. So they go on living @ wretched kind of life, for thieving is very hard work, and they have to pay cent per cent for alt their wretched, dishonest earnings. We are in the habit of making from time to time a loud and bila- tant protest against “Amerieantzing” our institu. tions; but would it not be better 1f we were to AMERICANIZE OUR PAUPER CHILDREN to the extent of educating them, so that they would not be brought up in vice and ignorance and leit to beg or steal for their livelihood? Would it not be better? “And how are you this evening?” The voice of my friend and colleague Mark Twain is in my ear, his kigdiy touch is on my shoulder, and my day dream about Charles street and its denizens van- ishes at once. While Ihave been musing the central space hag become dotted over, here and there, with anxious figures awaiting the arrival of the guest of the evening. The bald-headed, gray-hatred, good look- ing man dressed in black velvet coat and waist- coat, knee breeches, silk stockings, and with asteel- hilted sword by hie side, is Mr. Gye, the director of the Italian Opera. He must have been a long tine in the service of the pubitc, for it 18 nearly forty years since, in the first number of Bentley's Miscel~ lany, Was published Tom Ingoldsby’s poem of the “Monster Balloon,” in which I find a verse begin~ ning— And he has had various ups aud downs of fore tune, but he looks well and pleased and gentle-) manly, and is generally popaolar with his sub acribers, There, gray-haired and slightly stoop ing, and with a wonderfully pleasant face, is the Honorable Spencer Ponsonby, the real wire-puller: at the Chamberiain’s office, and manager of mate. ters for which the idiotic Lord Sydney gets kudos; and there, too, in the same service, ara Lord Otho Fitzgerald and Mr, Alired Montgomery,, oungest of elderly gentlemen, The band of ther Brensater Guards 194 RoW taken up its position, ‘and the time has long passed at which the Shah’a. arrival was expeeted. The Shah’s unpunctuality) 1s becoming & nuisance to aur practical, business~ like nation, and We Are hawtmar~~*> = distant oheering carriage, and on bana plays 8 fo in large letters the word “tribune.” I took the seat , a