Show how queen victoria entertains I 1 need mot not tell you how simple plain balti and perfectly english and womanly woman are the habits and tastes of the ati en the prince or of wales wale socially poci sou fou lally ally is nothing more than a itch sporting pleasure lov ill lil ing C squire the style of entertainment at the palace for example is quite like that you would receive at the house of the duke of sutherland or the duke of westminster nay I 1 have even heard the complaint hinted that when the queen entertains officials at dinner the viands are not as various or as aswell well weli served as at any ordinary aristocratic gentleman house the queen certainly sets an example of economy to her upper class subject when she comes to london for the early parliamentary season her favorite method of dispensing hospitality pita lity is to give garden parties and 1 breakfasts in buckingham palace gardens or in the private garden of windsor castle invitations to these are of course much sought for because they tiley are the most select there you come directly in contact with royalty and see it more nearly and familiarly than ii 1 you lined dined with the queen in the castle when you are conducted to the garden by one of the scarlet fl of majesty said flunky is about the only visible hint there is of its being a royal party you see pretty tents and canvas pavilions disposed here and there under the oaks on the velvety lawn or by the side of the pretty miniature lake if this is in tilo iho buckingham palace garden M i idich i ell eli is in the very centre or of fashionable we t end london the moment 3 ou on have passed behind the bl bih high h wall which shuts it out from st james park on one side and gros Groi grosvenor venor place on the other you would never guess that you were in in the midst of the city the surroundings roun dings sare are more exquisitely arid and most illusorily rural you see a number of gentlemen and ladies elegantly dressed standing about in n groups or partaking or of the by no means sumptuous far fare which is being served without ceremony in the tile tents the scene is cheerful elegant bon ton easy and unrestrained you catch a glimpse of the queen dressed in black with here and there a relief in rich white lace but with no suspicion of tinsel or gaudiness about her a plain lady of substantial proportions proportion sj in the prime of ilfe ille the center of a respectful but by no means awed or abashed circle receiving those whom she recognizes with a slight smi smile leand and a pleasant word and the presentation resen tation of those whom she K does es not know with a slight bow there are faces here familiar to you in the windows of the print shops 7 noblemen statesmen ministers ambassadors leaders of society and court fashion but there is little or no pretension of manner or carriage you are surprised above all at the simplicity icicy the elegant commonplace of the whole thing you may eay jostle wales or tile the russian ambassador or the lord chief ilief justice without being befth 0 in the least last aware of tho tile fact the gentleman who seeing you are a stranger asks you if you will not have a sandwich and cup of coffee may be a fashionable artist or a provincial mayor and may be the duke of if perchance you have been at a jete cham petre at some great country house say at chatsworth or belvoir you say to yourself that this differs in no striking respect from it unless indeed it differs by its lesser brilliancy and its more suggestive simplicity And this is the striking characteristic of modern english royal life there is isa a great change even from gentleman georges time that padded and painted old dandy never appeared as a host without being bedizened bedizen ed with stars and laces to basure be sure therease there ther eare are nowadays grand occasions like drawing rooms levees openings of parliament thanksgiving pageants in st pauls paulb and so on when majesty assumes all tho trappings and insignia of its rank but these are the rare exceptions rarer to royalty than our own birthday birth day and patriotic anniversaries ver saries to the ordinary routine of royal life jondon correspondence bosten boston post |