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Show A DAY WITH THE MIKADO. An Englishman at an Imperial Imper-ial Garden Party. CHRYSANTHEMUMS AMD FRENCH DRESSES How the August Personage Couducts Himself, Tbr gxrdeti p.trty of the euiperor i heli' on or about the V'th of every Novemt-rr n the npucious lenie--iie-i of one of the royii! palaees at Asakusa. It is thft festival ol the chrysani heiuttui, whieb brings with i ho happy nn iuuovalie.ti. for at t his time ol year lh (lower par excelienee ol Jitjmu, I h-national h-national Kiku. fs everywhere in glowiu- imi gloriouti hlotmi, and the ostensible rea- i stn for tin ir'atlierinc iu the Asakusa l'alaof i ganiens ts therefore to view the innumerable innumer-able and splendid specimens of this ajtec-ial plant of Nipjioii whieb the nkillful gurxleu-ers gurxleu-ers of tlie court have reared during ibe year pjut. K very where are chrysanthemum shows anJ ehrysanthemum parties, aud while pri-1 pri-1 vale ganlens are embellished with choice displays in all ports of colors the hillsides and lanes are also full of the more mode.st and quiet wild bloomsof the same imperial plant, which i;row8 everywhere, ami ia 1 everywhere, even iu the simplest spocl-j spocl-j mens, bright and pretty. Of etiurse the imperial gardener showed . Bamples of the Kiku which were well worth the study and admiration of all florists and botanists if attention could have been devoted to them. There is nothing to Ik-seen Ik-seen at your Temple Gardens or at any other center of the cultivation of the "golden "gold-en bloom" in England to compare with the really marvelous developments of the Kiku I under Japanese hands. I ClIHVtANTHEMirMS. Ranging through an endless Dnmneror colors, and displaying all forms aud fashions fash-ions of structure, the beautiful plant shows in one place a cluster of close and compact stars of varying hues, in all the tones and , tints of white, yellow, russet, amber, pur-I pur-I pie and cream, aud hi another fantastic and disheveled yet wildly symmetrical I blooms, the petals Hung abroad from tb8 ! corolla in beautiful profusion of scattered j loveliness anil glory, some as if of shot I silk or satin, some revealing a Boler lin- ing splendidly contrasted with the brilliant brill-iant upper surface, some in tangled delicacies deli-cacies of one and the same rich tint. We are grouped all together, with our backs to the beauties of the parterre, in a mass of some 600 or 600 people who have been honored with the great square cards of invitation to this high function. Tim royal card, printed in gold, enjoins all alike to wear frock coats ("frokko cotto") and silk hats, and thus we all look more or less alike diplomats, generals, naval ofll cers, minstrels and private persons diver-silied diver-silied only by the Corean ollicials In long robes of white and Puritan huts with amber am-ber strings and the ever graceful costu me of some Japanese ladies present who have proved faithful even against court fashion to kimono and obi. The throng suddenly sudden-ly falls to "Attention," for the strains of the national anthem of Dal Nippon sounds from the gayly garbed band. "The Ktn-peror Ktn-peror is Coming." niS M A.I EST V WALKS. His imperial majesty comes lirst and alone. I have often seen him, and always find the same difficulty in analyzing my own impressions, or conveying them, as to that impassive, reserved, changeless, dark, far removed countenance. I have seen it oil day long in tho smoke of the mimic battles at Nagoya, and all night long in the festal halls at the Shiro, and at receptions and court ceremonies; but I never witnessed the slightest alteration of its fixed im- 1 mobile features. Only a flatterer pQuld call the proud, cold face handsome, and only an enemy or a soshi would, I think, style it austere constraint con-straint and lofty discontent ill looking, One would say this Is a mikado of the past, who Is obliged to belong to and to bow before be-fore the too prevailing present, but who nevertheless keepn his secret sou) apart in i the stern and great society of bis ancestors, and "with the fur off company of antiqae Shinto gods." He walks between us alone, his arm too sacred, too separate, to be taken in public even by the empress, who comes behind, a small, exquisitely graceful lady dressed in a mauve satin toilet qf Parisian style, and mauve bonnet, with parasol to match, all borne with the utmost charm and becom-bigness; becom-bigness; behind her imperial majesty, also passing singly, a Ixsvy of ladies of the court, all but one in European dress, and following the ladies the gentlemen of the palace in black frock coats and tall hats. the mikado's costche. His majesiy wears the undress uniform of a general cherry colored trimmers and black frogged coat braided with gold lace, and on the small, close cut brows a kBpl of scarlet with gold band. His bow iu recognition recog-nition of all our bare and beaded heads is the slightest possible inclination which rigid muscles can make, yet withal accompanied accom-panied by a glance kindly, benign and full of evident good will, for his lips almost smile, his eyes arc alert aud lighted, his air is, one might almost dare to say, genial, ge-nial, and these nods of the Japanese Jovo must bo measured by loyalty with a micrometer. mi-crometer. Moreover, when we pass into the refreshment refresh-ment tent and the emperor and empress take their scats the etiquette observed around is by uo means stiff. We may approach ap-proach the royal table and speak with frieods there sitting close to the majesty of Japan. Nay, when champagne has been quaffed and mayonnaise of lobster or chicken tasted, the emperor endures very humanly to have persouage after personage person-age presented to him, and addresses to some of them to the writer of these notes among many that were more worthy some gracious and friendly words in the soft Japanese, which he always speaks. The ladies of the court and the gentlemen mingle meanwhile with the throng and chat, sans ceremonie, with Men-is. The royal pair depart as they came, the empress following tlie emperor, the plaintive plaint-ive strains of tho national hymn again lie-ing lie-ing beard, and we saunter out of the gardens. gar-dens. Kdwin Arnold In London Telegraph. Tele-graph. . |