that had been formed, and made their exit through another door. Each person, as he passed before the royal family, kneels and kisses their hands. The act of kneeling is regarded in the feudal countries as an acknowledgment of allegiance, and is, of course, not performed by foreigners of any rank,-least of all, by those who represent the governments of their respective countries. It is easy to conceive, therefore, what astonishment must have been created by the conduct of one of our ministers at St. Petersburgh, who insisted, notwithstanding the objections of the emperor, upon kneeling at his audience of reception.

After him followed the Austrian, Russian, Dutch, English, American, Prussian, Sardinian and Saxon ministers, and below them the chargés d' affairs, secretaries and attachès-making in the whole about thirty persons, arranged in their respective classes, according to the time of their arrival. As Madrid is not, in general, a very favorite residence, the succession of incumbents in these places is somewhat rapid, and a man rises in his class almost as rapidly as a clever boy at a country school. There was

at this time no French ambassador at Madrid, but the vacancy was shortly after filled by the appointment of the Marquis De Moustiers, a son of one of the earliest French ministers in the United States. The most prominent members of the diplomatic body were the English minister, Sir Frederick Lamb, a brother of Lord Melbourne, since created a peer himself, I forget by what title, - and the Russian minister M. d'Oubril, whose name is pretty well known in the diplomacy of Europe. The file of diplomatic agents occupied one side of the hall: the bottom opposite to the royal family and the other side was taken up by the principal military and civil functionaries of the kingdom. The secretary of state, or prime minister at this time was Don Manuel Gonzalez Salmon, who held the place ad interim for some time after the resignation of the Duke del Infantado. Calomarde, the minister of grace and justice, was, however, regarded as the real head of the government. In the mean time the adjoining rooms were filled by a crowd of other persons of inferior dignity. When the arrangement of the reception room was completed, the king and queen took their seats, the door at the bottom of the hall was opened, and the loyal subjects entered in procession in single file, passed round the hall immediately in front of the line

There seems to be little or no order in the arrangement of the persons who make up the procession on these occasions. It consists of the various officers in the different departments of the public service, political,

mingled together pell-mell, excepting that those of the highest rank, who are placed in the hall, come last. The confusion of costumes produced in this way, gives to the affair somewhat the effect of a masquerade. Monks of the several orders are liberally interspersed, and their dresses contrast singularly with the ordinary apparel of the rest of the company. After a file of chamberlains, in their blue coats, stiffly embroidered with gold, you will see, perhaps, a couple of capuchins with long beards, heads entirely shaved excepting a narrow ecliptic of hair running round them, and their flowing pepper-and-salt, woollen robes with hoods thrown back upon the shoulders. Then will follow some religious knights or military monks, like Bois Guilbert in the romance of Ivanhoe,- belonging to some one of the four military orders of this description, established in the kingdom, habited in full blue silk mantles, with large crosses fantastically wrought upon them in green, red, white or blue silk, according to the rule of each particular foundation. Next will follow, perhaps, three or four boys of eight or ten years old, sons of grandees, who are brought out in this way to give an early promise of their future loyalty. The little rogues appear to feel very consequential on the occasion, and go through the ceremony quite as well as the grown children around them. I remarked one of them, whose father, the Conde de Puebla, was standing near the king, and when he caught the eye of his son made a sign of recognition to him. The boy lifted up his hand and returned his father's salute in the Spanish manner, by moving his fingers backward and forward, but without departing, in the least, from the gravity that had doubtless been enjoined upon him, before he left home. When he reached the door where the procession passed out, his father

took him up in his arms and kissed him. After these scions of nobility, might be seen some of the withered branches of the same stock, in the persons of the officers of the invalid corps, who totter and limp along, with their white hair and weather-beaten cheeks, in a modest blue uniform faced with red. Next to these would appear a squad of brilliant young men in actual service,then fresh bevies of monks, black, white, blue or gray, according to their orders,with other miscellaneous characters. Navarete, one of the most distinguished literary men, and superintendant of the hydrographical section of the navy department, generally took his place in the procession, and Lopez, the painter, commonly appeared in a neat blue coat, embroidered with gold. The latter is a favorite with the king. I noticed on one of these occasions a bustling little man, who made his way along with a somewhat consequential air, but withal a rather downcast look, glancing obliquely towards the feet of the persons whom he passed. On enquiring who he was, I was told that he was the king's corn cutter. In these despotic countries, the least conspicuous employments become high dignities when exercised in the service of the master. At this time, the king's operative barber was one of the most important political characters in the country, and his apothecary another. Under a preceding Bourbon, the celebrated opera singer Farinelli, was formally placed at the head of the government as prime minister and secretary of state.

The number of the persons who present themselves on these occasions is various, sometimes amounting to more than a thousand, and at others to only two or three hundred. When the procession has gone through, the great household officers, and others who were stationed in the king's apartment, take their turn, until the room is cleared of all except the diplomatic body. One of the chamberlains, who brings up the rear, is instructed to take a note of the number of persons present, and mention it to the king, as he passes. The officers of the Swiss regiments then in the Spanish service, not being subjects, did not kiss the royal hand, but bowed stifly, and touched their tall military caps instead.

The hall being cleared of all but the royal family and the diplomatic body, the king left his place and made a tour round the circle, beginning with the nuncio, and saying a few words to each person, at least of the higher ranks. While he spoke to the nuncio, his two brothers the infantes, Don Carlos and Don Francisco, addressed themselves to the two next persons in the line, and thus preceded the king through the whole. The queen and princesses followed

in his majesty's wake. The conversation turned in general upon topics of very little importance, and principally the weather. "It is warm to-day.""It is cool for the season." "It froze last night three quarters of an inch thick."-" What fine weather these two or three days past!"-"Last. evening especially was most charming.". "I think I saw you on the Prado yesterday." -&c. &c. There was in general, a good degree of harmony in opinion among the members of the family upon these points, so that a person who had committed himself by assenting to the remark of one, was in no great danger of being obliged, in replying to another, to contradict himself, in order to avoid contradicting a royal personage, which is against etiquette. On the occasion to which I am now particularly alluding, I was apprehensive for a moment that something of the kind would occur. The morn

ing was cool for the season, and had been announced as such by the king and some other members of the family:- the persons addressed had of course confirmed the remark. But when it came to the turn of the infanta, Dona Louisa Carlotta, (wife of Don Francisco, and sister to the late regent Christina) who was the last in order, and who was, as Mrs. Malaprop has it, en famille, she approached the nuncio with a distinct and well articulated declaration that it was warm,-il fait chaud-I was a little curious to hear with what sort of grace his eminence, the cardinal, archbishop of Tyre, would, perhaps not for the first time in his life, blow hot and cold in the same breath. Luckily, however, the infanta,- suspecting, perhaps, from his manner that something was going wrong, subjoined with great presence of mind the gratifying words in this room,"dans cette chambre," a remark which was natural enough, after all that had come and gone, from chamberlains to corn-cutters, during the two preceding hours, and to which the most cautious diplomatist might safely assent at any season, without fear of exceeding his instructions, so that the nuncio's consistency was provided for without damage to his courtesy. When the king and the royal family had all gone round the circle, they made their bows very formally to the corps diplomatique and retired. corps then went out on the other side, and thus finished the Besamanos. It is but just to the family, and especially to the king, to say, that they performed their parts in these, to them, no doubt, somewhat tiresome ceremonies, with great good humor, and in a graceful and appropriate way.

The

I mentioned above that the amusements of Aranjuez were diversified by the proceedings incident to the birth of a member of the royal family. It is usual on these occasions with the reigning families of Eu

rope, at least those of the Bourbon race, to invite some of the most distinguished of their subjects and the diplomatic agents of foreign powers, to attend at the palace, so that they may see the infant immediately after its birth, and be able, if circumstances should ever render it necessary, to testify to his legitimacy. In ancient times, and even as lately as that of Maria Antoinette, queen of France, it was usual to invite the company into the bed-chamber, and according to the account of Madame Campan, such a number of persons were admitted to witness the birth of the last dauphin, that the queen was almost stifled for want of fresh air. At Madrid the company were stationed in an adjoining room, and the infant immediately after its birth was brought out, and exhibited to them by the king. On this occasion, the approaching event had been officially announced to the diplomatic agents on the 8th of May, by the secretary of state, and they had been invited to hold themselves in readiness to attend at the palace, when called on. On the 24th, at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, just as I was sitting down to dinner, one of the king's life-guards entered the room with the expected message. Perhaps the two moments in the course of the twenty-four hours, when it is least agreeable to be summoned out of the house, are those of sitting down to dinner, and getting into bed. The preceding year at about the same time, I had received a similar message just as I had finished undressing, and I then declined acting on the invitation. This time I was resolved to go, but determined first to secure my dinner, as it was altogether uncertain how soon the affair would terminate. I accordingly proceeded to make a rather hearty repast, and was just entering on a concluding custard, when a second life-guard presented himself, and insisted on delivering his message in person. I sent word to him that I had already received it, but this did not satisfy him; and I was obliged to leave the unfinished custard and go out to hear what he had to say. I thought at first that this renewed warning proved the urgency of the case, but found that the present messenger did not know that any other had been before him, and was too conscientious to take any body's word for it but mine. Having with some difficulty succeeded in getting rid of him, I was returning to the table, when the Saxon minister, Count de Bose, who lodged in the next room, came in to consult with me upon the question, whether it was proper for him to attend upon the occasion. He said that there were two objections to it, first, that he was in deep official mourning for the late king of Saxony, his master, and secondly, that not having yet received his new credentials, his public character

was temporarily suspended, and he was not in fact minister. We discussed these delicate points of etiquette at considerable length, until finally the Count, upon the urgent invitation which I gave him, with a view of bringing the conference to a close, to sit down to dinner with us, retired without coming to a determination. After his departure I returned to the custard with renewed appetite, and then proceeded to the strawberries, which the rich soil of Aranjuez affords in great perfection. In the mean time the Saxon minister had made up his mind to go, and sent me word that he should be glad to accompany me. I accordingly put on a clean, black coat, (the official uniform not being required in the country) and set off with him for the palace. In the arcade, that runs along one of the wings, we met the Chevalier de Sündt, and Prince Palazzało, the chargés d'affaires of Denmark and Naples, who were bound on the same errand; and we all pursued our way together to the apartment of the infante, Don Francisco. Upon reaching it, we were introduced into a handsome saloon of an octagon form, richly furnished, and hung with family portraits, where we found several persons already in attendance. Among these were the patriarch of the Indies,- the minister of grace and justice, Don Tadeo Calomarde, regarded as the ministerial leader of the so-called apostolic party,- the colonel of the life-guards, Count de Espana,

- the dukes of Infantado and San Carlos, who with the Count de Revillagigedo, formerly viceroy of Mexico, formed the deputation from the corps of the grandees, with others, to the number in the whole, of not less than forty or fifty. There were no ladies present at this time; but after a while the dutchess of Bedmar, Camarera mayor, or principal lady of the bed-chamber to the queen, came in and remained till the ceremony was over. The ancestor of this lady's husband, in his character of Spanish ambassador at Venice, was at the bottom of the conspiracy that forms the subject of Otway's play of Venice Preserved.

So large a party, consisting of persons in general intimately acquainted, and in the habit of seeing each other frequently, might have easily amused themselves together for several hours and have passed the evening as pleasantly at the palace, as at any of their respective houses. But after the first salutations were over, the uncertainty how long they should be detained, began to cast a gloom over their spirits, and as the time passed, their faces generally lengthened. Former cases of the same kind were recurred to, as precedents for conjecturing the proba ble result in the present instance. It was recollected, or at least asserted by some, that the company had been known to be

detained not less than three days and three nights in succession, and that they were not in such cases supplied with refreshment or even couches. Prince Palazzolo seized the opportunity to give an account of the courageous conduct of one of my predecessors on one of these occasions, which he had heard from Prince Cassaro, at the time ambassador from Naples at Madrid, and more recently minister of foreign affairs in his own country. I had also heard the story several times from the Prince, during his residence at Madrid, and once from the gentleman, who was the principal actor in the scene, but as it was to the purpose, and we had ample time before us, I was not sorry to listen to it again. The affair happened on the occasion of the birth of a daughter of the infanta, Donna Maria Francisco, a Portuguese princess, wife to the king's brother, Don Carlos, who always gave the court a great deal of trouble, as she seldom completed her work in less than forty-eight hours, and, in this particular case, employed seventy-two. The company stood it pretty well without sleep or refreshment of any kind for the first twenty-four, but as the second night was closing in they began to lose patience. Some in a fit of despair threw themselves at full length upon the floor; but the gentleman in question, more hardy than the rest, quietly took possession of two immense and magnificent stuffed chairs, which were placed in the Hall, where the assembly was held for the purpose of being used as seats or thrones by the king and queen upon public occasions. These he stationed in front of each other so that they composed together a tolerably comfortable couch, upon which, with his hat for a pillow, he established himself, and soon fell into a profound slumber. The rest looked on with astonisment and envy at this unprecedented appropriation of the throne of Spain and the Indies, and the fact was immediately reported by the master of ceremonies, to the king. His Majesty gave orders at once that couches should be brought in for the accommodation of the company, so that the affair took upon the whole a more fortunate turn than could reasonably have been expected.

While some were calling to mind these alarming precedents, others recollected with satisfaction that Donna Louisa Carlotta had been distinguished on former occasions of the same kind, by extraordinary despatch. Last year, when, as I said before, I had declined acting on the invitation, she did not give the assistants time to assemble: and there were only five of the foreign legations represented when the infant was exhibited. This was said to be a family trait. Her sister the Duchess of Berri, (whose portrait, with that of the Duke of Bordeaux was

hanging in the room) hardly gave any warning at all to her attendants of the approaching birth of that ill-starred prince, so that there was not so much as a nurse present at the time, and some skeptical souls are in doubt to this day whether he is a real Bourbon.

In such conversations, alternately cheerful and gloomy, the time passed slowly away, and sunset was now rapidly approaching. Don Tadeo Calomarde, threw open at this time, a large window that looked towards the west, from which we could survey the beautiful gardens that surround the palace, and the double lines of tall and shady trees that shoot off from it in all directions to a great distance. The sun was slowly sinking beyond them, sometimes hidden by the foliage, and at others displaying his gorgeous disk at the end of a long avenue and illuminating it throughout with a flood of golden glory. We all enjoyed the magnificent spectacle, but reflected with pain that it might not be so agreeable to witness it for the second or third time before we should separate.

Luckily these unpleasant apprehensions were not verified. Before the brilliant orb on which we were gazing had sunk below the horizon, a movement was heard at the door communicating with the adjoining room, which was presently thrown open, and the king appeared, dressed in a plain suit of black, and bearing in both hands a large silver waiter covered with a white cloth, upon which lay, like the fair Geraldine on her "couch of Ind," though in a more unsophisticated state, the young infanta who had just been added to the illustrious lineage of the Bourbons. The company immediately huddled up into a small and crowded semi-circle round the door where the king entered. His majesty, with a good deal of presence of mind, ordered the window to be closed, that the breath of heaven might not visit his delicate charge too roughly, and then with a glow of honest, patriarchal exultation upon his countenance, showed her about from one end of the semicircle to the other, repeatedly exclaiming "es una nina: "—it is a girl, - and nodding familiarly to such persons present as he chose to distinguish. The infanta conducted herself with as much decoruin as could well be expected from a person of so little experience, placed in so trying a situation. She observed a profound silence-managed her limbs with a good deal of grace, and gave promise in her appearance of becoming hereafter an ornament to her sire and family. A handsome and well dressed camarista, or lady of the bed-chamber accompanied the king and princess. His majesty went round the circle as rapidly as possible, and in something less than a minute had

retired with his niece and her attendant. The door was closed after them, and before sunset we were all out of the palace. The next court gazette announced that at nine minutes before seven o'clock P. M., on the 25th inst., her most serene highness, the Infanta Donna Louisa Carlotta, was happily delivered of "una robusta nina,". a healthy female child, who was baptized by the name of Josefa Fernanda Louisa, after her aunt, uncle, and mother. The court threw off their mourning for the king of Saxony, and went into gala dresses in honor of the joyful

event.

-

"So," as the poet has it, "passed that pageant." "Another came, to keep up the quotation, the next week, on the occasion of Saint Ferdinand's day, which during the reign of a king of that name is observed as the greatest festival in the year. It was celebrated at this time with more than usual pomp and splendor. On the preceding day at noon, the diplomatic ladies were received in private audience, and in the evening there was a general kissingmatch for the ladies of the country, followed by an exhibition of fire works, including a fire balloon, which went off and took its place among the stars with a very pretty effect. The day itself was distinguished by another regular besamanos, held at twelve o'clock, for the gentlemen of the country, at which the diplomatic gentlemen assisted in the manner described above. After this was over the company adjourned to the gardens, where the fountains were made to play in honor of the occasion. They are very pretty, though far inferior to those of Saint Ildefonso. After traversing the gar dens in various directions the royal family embarked in a splendid barge for a short excursion on the Tagus, and the company returned to their respective homes. In the evening there was another exhibition of fire works, which terminated the whole affair. Not less than from fifteen to twenty thousand persons were assembled from all the neighborhood to witness these festivities, and crowded into a village, which, in the absence of the court, does not contain fifteen hundred.

Two years after, in the spring of 1829, I visited this retreat for the last time. The usual festivities were omitted on account of the death of the queen, which occurred during the residence of the court at Aranjucz. The fortunes of this princess afford another striking illustration of the vanity of the popular delusion-if, after all that has passed within the last half century, such a delusion can still be supposed to exist even among the least informed of the people, which connects the idea of happiness with high rank aud official dignity. She was a daughter of the royal house of Saxony,

which remained Catholic when the kingdom became Protestant, and which, consequently, forms its matrimonial alliances chiefly with the Catholic sovereigns of the south of Europe. She had an agreeable person and a natural quickness of intellect, which had also been carefully cultivated, the royal family of Saxony having been of late distinguished by a decided taste for literary pursuits. At the age of sixteen she was betrothed to the king of Spain, and in the year 1819, proceeded to that country to meet her destined husband. In the first freshness of youth and beauty, with a fine taste and a highly cultivated mind,— placed by fortune on the pinnacle of earthly greatness, she must have appeared to the world very much as Maria Antoinette appeared in her day to the poetic eye of Burke-one of the most delightful visions that ever graced "our visible diurnal sphere," while the spotless purity of her life and a somewhat pensive cast of character, gave her an additional charm, in which the unfortunate queen of France was deficient. Spain was at that time, to all outward appearance, perfectly tranquil under the sway of her restored king. But within a few weeks after the young queen's arrival, the revolutionary movement which had been for two or three years past secretly in preparation, broke out suddenly at Cadiz on the first of January, 1820, among the troops intended for America, and spread so rapidly through the kingdom that the king was compelled, as early as the beginning of March, to accept the constitution. From that time to the present day the royal family have been passing through a series of perpetual vicisitudes, one day clothed with absolute power the next, deprived of every thing but the name of royalty, and at times, virtually of personal liberty.- Often in actual danger-always in the midst of agitation, and filled with apprehensions for the future. This long continued state of uneasiness naturally produced on the sensitive mind of the young queen a strong impression, which assumed the form of a sort of religious melancholy. She took no interest in the amusements suited to her age, or in the great affairs in which her own existence was so deeply involved; and being deprived, by not having children, of the natural occupation of a wife and mother, she passed a joyless and solitary life in the interior of the palace, almost wholly employed in religious exercises of a formal and ascetic character. On public occasions she went through the usual ceremonial with the most evident indifference, not to use a stronger term, and when it was over returned with eagerness to her habitual seclusion. Her health was gradually affected by this course of life, and the severity with which