A ROYAL FETE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6811, 15 September 1883, Page 2 (Supplement)

A ROYAL FETE.

■A ROYAL fete was held at the International Fisheries Exhibition on July 18, in aid of the scheme suggested by the Crown Princess of Prussia for greeting and endowing an English church in Berlin. It was a still clear evening, the moon was out, and the" well-knonn I Italian carden had, as if by magic, be' n | translated into fairyland. For a back-ground there was the brightly illuminate d conservatory, not coarsely lit with gas, but softly coloured with the pale blue electric light; each pathway and flower-bed were picked out with coloured limps ; fountains of water plashed over prismatic rocks ; ou miniature lakes, starred with colour, tiny boats wMi illuminated sails moved softly in the still and breathless eveuing. Music was not wanting to add enchantment to the scene, for from sundry kiosques at intervals might have beenheard valse music and well-subdueil melody. It was here, in these illumiimted gardens, that the fun of a pretty fancy fiir had been arranged. At the end of one terrace was a theatre for dramatic performances; at the end of another was a second tent for songs, recitati jus, and conjuring. Magicians' corners and wizards' cells might have been discovered by the curious | in secluded portions of the grounds ; but, so refined and beautiful was toe developed scene, ' that no noife of fairyland was allowed to interfere with a picture so complete and charmiDg. The visitors were in modern dress, and the coloured lamps flayed upon ladies' mantles and innumerable white ties and waistcoats; but not a suggestion of vulgarity or noise ever at any time of the evening broke the terenity of poihaps tb-< prettiest se-ne that has ever been presented to the sight-seeing Londoner. Let it not be imagined, however, that the illuminated gardens, with their Wattcau-like suggestion and fairy glamour, ccntaiucd all that wai interesting and pretty iu this memorable ete. Scarcely second in importance to the lamplit gardens were the innumerable arcades of the Fisheries Exhibition, on this occasion devoted to the pretty bargaining of a Fancy Fair. Scarcely bad t!ie clcck nine, and the fete been declared oyen, when iheir Royal Highnesses tho fringe and Princess of Wales, accompanied by Sir Phillip Cuncliffe Owen, the lion. secretary, Sir Frederiik Leighton, the Hon. Oliver Monta t u, and a specially selected party, prepared to go the rounds of the fashionable show. 1 lie first visit was to one of the most attractive of the many diversions. In the of the electric-lighted avenue Lady Dufferin, with a body guard of the very pretties: ladies that could be well-selected, was presiding over a fhhing-pond. It was a curious pond, indeed, for it contained no' Water, but iu the tank hai been heaped up boxes of bonbons, fans, and tovs of every description, artfully concealed in coverings of coloured paper, 'io secure a prize it was necessary to borrow a ribbon-decorated rod from oue of the attendant nymphs, and then to angle with what skill suggested itself. The friuce of Wales soon proved himself an expert angler, and in a very short space of time managed to load the willing arms of Sir Philip Cuucliffe Owen with the presents he had secured. Most of the Royal party in turn tried their luck at the fishing-pond of Lady Dufferiu, and thry suffered no inconvenience whatever from the crowd, who watched with great interest the pretty game. Calls were next made at the refreshment counter, where the Duke and Duchess of Connaught were actively employed until they weresunimoued away to the Chinese Pavilion in another part of the grounds. The whole of the arcade was brilliantly illuminated, and contained flower-stalls heavily scented with roses, gardenias, and white lillies, photograph and picture stalls, tables for decorative objects and bric-a-brac, and seductive counters for the sale, at goodly prices, of American drinks and ices. Over these presided Lady Ampthill, the Dtuhess of Manchester, and the Lady Mayoress, but there was in reality 110 prettier or more varied counter than that in principal charge of Lady Waterlow, who was assisted by some charming American young ladies, prominent amongst whom were the daaghters of the Hon. J. Bigelon - , who, with their fair companions, wore the American colour as shoulder-knots. Having exhausted the innumerable varieties of the fancy fair, thronged with purchasers throughout the evening, the Royal party, with the greatest good-nature, repaired at once to the miniature theatre, where had been announced an eccentric comedy in a few fitful spasms by the popular Mr. Frank C. Burnand, but unfortunately the genial and industrious editor of Punch was unable through illness to carry out his laudable intention. So Mr. Beerbohm Tree gallantly came to the rescue, and, with his clever wife and the versatile Mr. Colnaghi, ran through a thoroughly little play, called "Six and Eightpence." There were other entertainments givea in the course of the evening. Mr. and Mrs. Beerbohm Tree appeared in a version of Le Postcriptum, called " A Woman's Reason and Professor Holmes not only exhibited a green dog, but swallowed a brick from the Great Wall of China. On the other side of the lamp-lit terrace was still another theatre devoted to more miscellaneous art, close to the East Pavilion, where Lady Brassey presided, and drew crowds of purchasers. Not far from the Eastern Pavillion was certainly the attractive rendezvous iu the grounds. This was none other than the tea kio«k in the Chinese gallery thit had for its moving spirits the Marchioness Tseng, Lady Hart, and Mrs. James Duncan Campbell, aud was subsequently attended by the Duke aud Duchess of Connaught, the Princa and Princess Christian, and the Duchess of Teck, who were not merely ornamental but consistently active. This pleasant beverage of the true Chinesa character smelt so gratefully as it was being handed about by Asiatic and European attendants, some in costume and some in mufti, that there waa a decided run on the "cup that cheers, but not inebriates." The climax of all that was fantastic and picturesque came at a later p- riod af the evening, when the entire grounds, bo charmingly illuminated by Mr. James Pain, were suddenly lit up with coloured fireß in the orthodox fas'uion, and then it was that the enthusiasm of the visitors could no longer be restrained.

The World, a London society journal, has the following The fate on sVednesday night at the Fisheries has already been described a hundred times. It was rumoured that a command had been received from Windsor to the effect thai certain illustrious persons should not take an active part in selling at the stalls; but that it had no foundation was proved by the events of the evening, and Bayßwater was consequently gratified in familiar bargainings witti royalty. "Ain't it jolly to have a royal waiter!" was one remark made in the Chinese tea-tent in the hearing of royalty. On the whole, however, the crowds who mobbed the royal and Doble saleswomen were tolerably well-behaved, and no worse accident happened than Lady Clarendon fainting from the heat and the pressure. Most of the ladies wore high morning gowns ; but a few came from dinner in evening dress, while one or two were illadvised euough to wear their diamonds. The illuminated gardens suggested a glorified Cremorne, and in the conservatory the electric light was much better behaved on the whole than at the ill-starred Jamrach's ball in the same place a year ago, as it only went out once. There was one unanimous feeling prevalent—that it was a shame and a blunder and anything else that was undesirable for the proceeds of so great a buccess to be devoted to the English church in Berlin, the existence of which was news to ninety-nine out of a hundred of the people present; but this sentiment did not prevent the " VVatch by the Rhino" being encored when played by the great German band. "lam unfortunately but too well aware," writes a correspondent, " that the average specimen of the English middle class, especially the well to-do portion, exhibits at times a vulgarity and a lack of breeding bordering—l uee the word advisedly—on brutality. But I never felt more ashamed of or indignant at my fellowcountrymen and women than I did at the Fisheries Fete last Wednesday. The way the well-dressed vulgariana forced themselves to the front, to stare at the Princess of Wales and the ladies at the flower-stall in the conservatory, exceeded anything 1 could have conceived possible. Audible remarks, pointings of fingers at well-known faces, a stony stareif courteously asked to buy something, an attempt at something like vulgar chaff—this was what Lady Dudley, Lady Charles Keresford, Lady Gladys Lonsdale, and others had to put up with. Occasionally a lady or gentleman, was allowed to approach tbe stall; but as a rule tbe front position was held by a crowd who came determined to have their ten-shillings'-worth of staring, but nothing else. Lord Clonmell did gallant service in preventing too great a pressure on the ladies ■who ward attempting to sell, and so did Lord Edward Somerset and other gentlemen; but it •vas a sorry sight."