A ROYAL CHRISTMAS TREEBERLIN, 1847

AMONG our Berlin acquaintances whom daily association transformed into friends was Hermina, eldest daughter of Field Marshal von Boyen, who as Blucher’s aid at Waterloo had greatly distinguished himself. Fraulein von Boyen, who was beautiful, tactful and accomplished, was one of the Ladies-in-waiting on the Princess of Prussia, and enjoyed in an exalted degree her royal mistress’ esteem and confidence. Knowing we had never participated in a Christmas Tree Celebration and would consider doing so an inestimable privilege, she offered to obtain for us an invitation to the Christmas Eve festival at the palace of H. R. H. the Prince of Prussia. Hence when a liveried courier delivered at the American Legation an envelope bearing the royal crest we were not surprised, thoughimmeasurably delighted. The invitation read: “H. R. H. Crown Princess of Prussia requests the presence of Misses Mary and Rachel and Master John Donelson at the palace of H. R. H. Prince of Prussia, December 24, 1847, at three o’clockP. M.—R. S. V. P.” Little republicans though we were, with democratic ideas of social equality, we were much elated at the prospect of witnessing a function affording a glimpse of the inner relations of royal circles.

The best season to observe those domestic customs, associated with German life and so influential in moulding German character, is Christmas; the best place is the parental roof, and nothing so eloquently illustrates the simple faith, the honest trust, the love and sympathy, which make German homes such centers of peace and content, as the family Christmas tree.

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Every soldier in camp or barracks, every sailor on shore or in harbor, all employés of stores or factories, in private or public bureaus, that can be spared, are granted furloughs, to be spent with the old folks at home. Gift-making becomes epidemic, all yielding to the infection. Generally, immediately after the holidays the females of the household begin preparing gifts for the next Christmas, which include, besides dainty knick-knacks, exquisite embroideriesand costly keepsakes, useful, serviceable articles, such as flannels, shoes, stockings, underwear, house linen, wraps and head-gear. Many touching legends illustrate the kindly sentiments inspired by the occasion.

A little girl whose mother, a poor widow, had told her not to expect any presents, borrowed pencil and paper, and writing the following letter, addressed “Holy Child, care of God The Father,” dropped it in the City Post-Office: “Dear Jesus: Mamma says we are too poor to celebrate your birth-night, but remembering that you were cradled in a manger and once were poor and lowly, I ask you to have pity on me. I want, oh, so much, dear Lord! a new dress, a red rosette for my Sunday hat, and some shoes—wooden ones will do. Gretchen, No. 10, 5th floor, Poverty Row.” Her mother took her after dinner to visit the shops and street bazaars, saying: “Seeing pretty things is almost as nice as having them.” Imagine Gretchen’s surprise on returning home to find a small tree, trimmed and ready to light, in their garret, and beneath it, in addition to the things she had mentioned, a shawl for her mother and a package of cakes and nuts.

The lover of Roschen, a royal kitchen maid, had been convicted of larceny and imprisoned. Her master, a liberal, kind-hearted prince, ordered hissteward to distribute, as usual on Christmas, slips of paper to the under-maids with directions to write thereon the gifts they preferred. On Roschen’s slip was written: “Most gracious highness: I appeal through you to God for poor Hans, who, though he stole, is a fine fellow and very dear to me. That money was stolen to buy our wedding ring. Pardon him this once and I guarantee he’ll lead henceforth an honest life.” On the servants’ tree was a box for Roschen enclosing Hans’ pardon and money to buy wedding suits for each.

Louise, Queen of Prussia, and her Sons Frederic William and William

As Frederic William the Fourth was childless, his brother William was declared heir presumptive and known as Prince of Prussia. Cultured, refined, with Herculean strength and Apollo-like grace and beauty, he was the beau ideal of royalty, adored by nobles and burghers. Forming an early attachment for one of his mother’s maids of honor, he insisted for many years—the affection being mutual—on marrying her, but when the succession devolved on him he manfully sacrificed individual feeling to dynastic interests and contracted an alliance with Augusta, Princess of Saxe Weimar. Though both understood that personal preference played no part in their union, the most critical court gossip could find nothing to condemn in their conjugal relations; she, like Cæsar’s wife, above suspicion, yielding him wifely obedience;he, like Bayard,sans peur et sans reproche, uniformly tender and attentive. She was tall, stately, with regular features, cold, haughty manner, every look and gesture suggesting ancestral pride and conscious superiority, yet withal capable of warm attachments and loyal to friends once tried. Devoted to art and literature, she was the friend and patron of artists and scholars, and even when long past middle life still devoted her mornings to study. They had two children, a son named for the great Frederic and a daughter named for that adored Queen Louisa, whose heroism in the Napoleonic struggle had won world-wide recognition and admiration. The former, known in after years as Frederic the Noble, Emperor of Germany, was a wilful, intractable boy, represented in an unamiable light in many familiar anecdotes, yet his career adorns the brightest page in his country’s history. The Prince was devoted to these children, superintending their physical, mental and spiritual development, instilling in their minds correct principles and noble aims, and fitting them by study, discipline and example for their destined high stations. He was standing with Louischen in his arms one morning watching a military procession, when she, excited by the music, sprang through an open window to the street below. Rushing frantically down stairs he was relieved to find her in the armsof a street urchin who, standing beneath the window, caught her as she fell. Of course the boy’s fortune was made. The Prince, clasping his darling to his breast, handed his watch and chain to her rescuer, and, taking his name and address, volunteered his protection. They were riding together in after years in Unter-den-Linden, he German Emperor, she Grand Duchess of Baden, when Hoedel made his dastardly attempt to assassinate his sovereign, and he springing forward to shield his child, accomplished thereby his own deliverance. When Nobiling a few months afterward, and near the same spot, fired at and severely wounded his master, the Emperor’s first words on recovering from the shock were: “Thank God, dear Louischen was not along to-day!”

The Prince’s palace was built during the Great Frederic’s reign, and it is recorded that when the architect applied for a design the King, who was out of humor, said, pointing to a mahogany bureau with a zigzag front standing near: “Model it after that, adding as little architectural frippery as possible.” In front stands Rauch’s famous statue of the great ruler, nearby is the Alter Schloss, city residence of Prussian monarchs, the new Opera House, and many handsome public buildings.

Christmas Eve, 1847, though bitter cold, was bright and sunny, the air clear and crisp was musicalwith sleigh bells, and the streets, though ice bound, were gay with rejoicing crowds evidently imbued with holiday influences. Directly after breakfast we went to the Thiergarten Lake to witness the delightful entertainment given there daily by Berlin’s far-famed Skating Club. The lake, large, smooth, solid, mirroring a translucent sky, seemed with its banks lined with brilliantly costumed spectators, to suggest and invite winter sport. A military band, sheltered in a warm enclosure, played a succession of inspiring airs, trained voices often joining in and enthusing both onlookers and performers. The skaters executing many picturesque movements, artistic pantomimes, exciting games, and dancing polkas, mazurkas, cotillions, waltzes, were reputed the most skilful in the world. Meyerbeer, who was a frequent visitor, is said to have conceived there the beautiful skating scene in the operaLe Prophetehe was then composing. The costumes of the skaters were tasteful and appropriate, the girls wearing short, narrow, heavy cloth skirts, with tight fitting bodices, snug hoods or hats, and a profusion of bright bows, rosettes and scarfs. The men were mostly in uniform, their gay sashes, brilliant orders and decorations enhancing the charm of their lithe, graceful figures. There were no accidents, no untoward occurrences, and the glorious morning proveda delightful prelude to an unforgetable evening. Fraulein von Boyen had given us minute directions as to our costumes and the prescribed etiquette, saying: “Dress simply and inexpensively, be careful never to turn your backs on royal personages, never address remarks or questions to them, allowing them the initiative in conversation.”

Promptly at three o’clock we alighted at the palaceporte cochere, and ascending the marble steps, at the top and bottom of which stood armed sentinels, were received by liveried ushers and conducted through the beautiful hall and up the flower-lined stairs to the state drawing rooms where a lady-in-waiting met us and accompanied us through a number of superbly-furnished, beautifully-decorated rooms to thesalle de musique, where Fraulein von Boyen welcomed us, and, escorting us to the centre of thesalle, presented us to Her Royal Highness, the Crown Princess.

Thesalle, large and spacious,—tessellated floor, frescoed ceiling, walls hung with mirrors and pictures, exquisite bronzes and statues alternating with palms, ferns and flowering plants,—had at its extreme end a flower-trimmed stage, the lowered curtain of which suggested a dramatic performance. Rows of handsomely-cushioned arm chairs were in front of the stage, and just beyond them stood the Crown Princess,surrounded by her royal cousins, children of her father’s brothers. Among her guests were Lady Rose, daughter of Lord Westmoreland, English Ambassador, some other youthful members of the Diplomatic Corps and about forty or fifty maids and youths, children of personal attendants of the Princess.

The Crown Princess, then entering her teens, received us without hesitation or timidity, and we marveled at her self-possession and familiarity with court etiquette; though modest and gentle, there was a notable absence of self-assertion. Dressed in a blue challis trimmed with swan’s down, her only ornament was a gold chain around her bare neck from which hung a medallion miniature of her grandmother, said to be her father’s Christmas present. Fair, with blue eyes, light brown hair worn simply plaited down her back, she was a perfect type of happy, innocent girlhood, her plump, rounded proportions bespeaking health and strength, her bright, expressive face beaming with hope and content. The girls were dressed in bright woolens, bare necks and arms without ornaments; the youths wore the uniforms of the regiments in which they were enrolled as cadets. The Crown Prince, who stood near his sister and gracefully assisted her, wore the uniform of the Royal Guards, in which he already held acommand. Tall, slender, rather good looking, he impressed us as being dignified and refined, though grave and reserved. There was some stir when the King and Queen, followed by the Prince and Princess, entered unannounced. The Crown Princess, stepping forward, greeted them cordially, then taking first the Queen’s, then her mother’s, then the King’s, hands, kissed them respectively. She then took her father’s, but folding her in his arms he kissed her tenderly on the brow. Everybody smiled—a touch of nature makes the whole world akin.

The King and Queen, though plain and unattractive in person and manner, were kind, charitable, devoted to each other, conscientious in the discharge of their public duties and universally popular. They moved unceremoniously about thesalle, chatting pleasantly with their niece’s guests and seemingly finding the scene enjoyable. My brother said next day: “At first disappointed, I was glad the King and Queen did not wear their crowns, for if they had they would not have talked so freely with us.” After the arrival of some other royal personages, followed by a number of gorgeously-uniformed officers and some handsomely-dressed maids of honor, attendants on the Queen and Princess, the ladies-in-waiting distributed the programmes, gilt-engraved, embossed cards, and escorting the Queen and Princess to the front chairs, assigned us to those in the rear.

The Old Sans Souci Mill

The programme read:

PANORAMIC PRELUDE.FIRST PART.Scenes from the Story of the Nativity.1stScene.—Annunciation: Hail Mary! Blessed art thou among women!2ndScene.—Adoration of the Magi: We hail Thee, King Of the Jews.3rdScene.—The Flight into Egypt: Arise, take the young Child, flee into Egypt, and be there until I bring thee word.4thScene.—Transfiguration: This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.SECOND PART.Scenes from Prussian History.1stScene.—Economy and Industry kingly attributes: King Frederic noticing a crowd watching a shop-window picture, depicting a shabbily-dressed old man, afac simileof himself, who, holding a coffee-mill, turned the handle with one hand and with the other caught the falling coffee grains, ordered the picture to be lowered so his subjects could see, without craning their necks, what a thrifty king they had.2ndScene.—In Prussia Justice outranks Power: An unsightly old mill obscuring the view from Sans Souci, King Frederic determined to buy and remove it. The miller, however, refusing to sell, the agent said: “Don’t choose to sell, indeed! You forget His Majesty can seize your mill and clap you in jail.” “Not,” said the miller, “while we have the Kammer-gericht here in Berlin.” The King, hearing the agent’s report, said: “The miller is right; here in Prussia Justice outranks Power.”3rdScene.—Honor to whom honor is due: Queen Louisa, as patriotic as gracious, visited the Prussian camp after the battle of Yena, and with her own hands bestowed the order of the Black Eagle on those heroes most conspicuous in defense of King and Fatherland.

PANORAMIC PRELUDE.

FIRST PART.

Scenes from the Story of the Nativity.

1stScene.—Annunciation: Hail Mary! Blessed art thou among women!2ndScene.—Adoration of the Magi: We hail Thee, King Of the Jews.3rdScene.—The Flight into Egypt: Arise, take the young Child, flee into Egypt, and be there until I bring thee word.4thScene.—Transfiguration: This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.

1stScene.—Annunciation: Hail Mary! Blessed art thou among women!

2ndScene.—Adoration of the Magi: We hail Thee, King Of the Jews.

3rdScene.—The Flight into Egypt: Arise, take the young Child, flee into Egypt, and be there until I bring thee word.

4thScene.—Transfiguration: This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.

SECOND PART.

Scenes from Prussian History.

1stScene.—Economy and Industry kingly attributes: King Frederic noticing a crowd watching a shop-window picture, depicting a shabbily-dressed old man, afac simileof himself, who, holding a coffee-mill, turned the handle with one hand and with the other caught the falling coffee grains, ordered the picture to be lowered so his subjects could see, without craning their necks, what a thrifty king they had.2ndScene.—In Prussia Justice outranks Power: An unsightly old mill obscuring the view from Sans Souci, King Frederic determined to buy and remove it. The miller, however, refusing to sell, the agent said: “Don’t choose to sell, indeed! You forget His Majesty can seize your mill and clap you in jail.” “Not,” said the miller, “while we have the Kammer-gericht here in Berlin.” The King, hearing the agent’s report, said: “The miller is right; here in Prussia Justice outranks Power.”3rdScene.—Honor to whom honor is due: Queen Louisa, as patriotic as gracious, visited the Prussian camp after the battle of Yena, and with her own hands bestowed the order of the Black Eagle on those heroes most conspicuous in defense of King and Fatherland.

2ndScene.—In Prussia Justice outranks Power: An unsightly old mill obscuring the view from Sans Souci, King Frederic determined to buy and remove it. The miller, however, refusing to sell, the agent said: “Don’t choose to sell, indeed! You forget His Majesty can seize your mill and clap you in jail.” “Not,” said the miller, “while we have the Kammer-gericht here in Berlin.” The King, hearing the agent’s report, said: “The miller is right; here in Prussia Justice outranks Power.”

3rdScene.—Honor to whom honor is due: Queen Louisa, as patriotic as gracious, visited the Prussian camp after the battle of Yena, and with her own hands bestowed the order of the Black Eagle on those heroes most conspicuous in defense of King and Fatherland.

William I., Emperor of Germany

An invisible choir chanted to piano accompaniment during the first part of the program some sacred anthems; during the first two scenes of the second part, the “Prussian Battle Hymn,” and during the last scene, “God Save the Queen,” adding greatly to the scenic effect. After the curtain fell there was an interval of lively, friendly conversation, everybody commenting on the Panoramic Prelude and pronouncing it excellent, unique, inimitable. We were told that the Crown Princess, consulting with her governess, had herself selected the scenes, whichwere copies of well-known pictures in the Berlin Art Gallery, and managed their arrangement, declining the proffered services of some professional decorators. It was edifying to note the ill-concealed delight of the royal parents at the success of their daughter’s undertaking, every feature and action bespeaking that parental pride which, in prince or peasant, nabob or pauper, is more becoming than any human adornment.

About half-past four o’clock a heavy portiere quietly opening displayed in an adjoining room a large, brilliantly-lighted, artistically-trimmed tree, its top almost reaching the ceiling, its outspreading branches nearly filling the room. A murmur of delight was heard, and surely no Hesperian garden or enchanted forest ever showed a braver specimen. The King and Queen and royal personages led the way, and, merrily trooping in, almost too eager for a nearer view to mind our P’s and Q’s, we flitted to and fro around the tree. The decorations, consisting of golden fruit, paper flowers and wreathes, stuffed birds and animals, with bon-bons, confections and ornaments, spangled, tinseled, frosted, of every conceivable hue and design, were crowned by a glittering star. Here beneath a tuft of foliage would be a bright-plumaged bird with outstretched wings, just beyond a squinting owl so life-like weshrank from its expected screech; perched on this bough would be a frog or lizard; on that one a squirrel, and above would crouch a glossy leopard. Beneath the tree on soft green moss were piled the presents—presents for guests, friends, attendants, young and old; generally for the girls, work-baskets, needle-cases and toilet dainties; for the boys, knives, pocket-books, fishing and hunting implements. My present was a small dressing-case, my sister’s a silk reticule, my brother’s a hunter’s horn.

The Crown Princess was, of course, generously remembered, and seemed much pleased with our offering, an Indian basket curiously wrought with shells, bird feathers and sweet grasses and containing a pair of moccasins and a watch-case, all made by Indians of Northern New York. Neither her presents to members of the royal household nor theirs to her were displayed.

Old Baron Humboldt, who was the best-known and most popular member of Berlin society, often called the courtenfant gâté(spoiled child), acted as Kris Kringle, and played the rôle to perfection, the King and Prince of Prussia serving as his aides and leading in the merriment his happy jokes excited. The bon-bons and fancy confections on the tree were divided among us and promptly disposed of, though the other decorations were undisturbed, thetree being intended, presumably, for use on another occasion. After the presents had been distributed the Baron, turning to the Crown Princess, said with mock humility: “Having accomplished my task, I await further orders from Your Royal Highness.” “And I,” said she, handing him a box containing a gold pen, “order you, honored Baron, to reserve this pen for the sonnets and madrigals to be henceforth indited to your lady-loves.” These words, the Baron being a confirmed old bachelor, never having been known in all his life to express a preference for any woman, caused a general titter.

We were invited to partake of a collation in the state dining-room—bouillon,eau sucree, cold meats, salads, ices, cakes and divers confections. The King, Queen and royal personages occupied tables at the upper end of the room and enjoyed probably a more elaboratemenu, with Champagne and Johannisberg; we were at tables lower down, the Crown Princess, her brother and royal cousins being at one in our midst. The hilarity usual when young people, always hungry, enjoy appetizing eatables prevailed.

At the close of the repast the King, Queen and other royalties rose and passed down the room, bowing right and left. The Crown Princess then rose, and, stopping at each table, smilingly bade herguests good-night. Guided by Fraulein von Boyen and the ladies-in-waiting we then returned to theSalle de Musique, where, superintending the donning of our wraps and being sure that our attendant footmen were on hand, they received our adieux. By half-past seven we were back at home, having enjoyed an entertainment which, though formal and ceremonious, punctilious etiquette being observed, was free from stiffness or constraint and devoid of anything that could offend republican pride. Though the marks setting apart those of royal blood were unmistakable, what refined courtesy, what kindly grace characterized their intercourse with their unroyal associates! There were no suggestions of thenouveaux richesor parvenue autocrats, everything betokening generations of culture and refinement, ancestral dignity, inherited power and withal a simplicity and modesty characteristic of self-respecting superiority. The costumes of the Queen and Princesses were elegant and tasteful, their superb satins, velvets, brocades, their sparkling jewels, becoming them as the appropriate setting of rare gems. And those brave, lordly men! so chivalric and gentle, so noble and courteous. How appropriate seemed their orders and decorations. Truly the bravest are the tenderest!

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