Pencillings by the Way: Written During Some Years of Residence and Travel in EuropeWillis, Nathaniel Parker
General
Pencillings by the Way: Written During Some Years of Residence and Travel in Europe
Willis, Nathaniel Parker
Europe -- Description and travel
After being sufficiently astonished with long rooms, frescoes, and
guardsmen apparently seven or eight feet high, (the tallest men I ever
saw, standing with halberds at the doors), we were introduced into the
_Salle du Tróne_--a large hall lined with crimson velvet throughout,
with the throne in the centre of one of the sides. Some half dozen
gentlemen were standing about the fire, conversing very familiarly,
among whom was the British ambassador, Lord Grenville, and the
Brazilian minister, both of whom I had met before. The king was not
there. The Swedish minister, a noble-looking man, with snow-white
hair, was the only other official person present, each of the
ministers having come to present one or two of his countrymen. The
king entered in a few moments, in the simple uniform of the line, and
joined the group at the fire, with the most familiar and cordial
politeness; each minister presenting his countrymen as occasion
offered, certainly with far less ceremony than one sees at most
dinner-parties in America. After talking a few minutes with Lord
Grenville, inquiring the progress of the cholera, he turned to Mr.
Rives, and we were presented. We stood in a little circle round him,
and he conversed with us about America for ten or fifteen minutes. He
inquired from what States we came, and said he had been as far west as
Nashville, Tennessee, and had often slept in the woods, quite as
soundly as he ever did in more luxurious quarters. He begged pardon of
Mr. Carr, who was from South Carolina, for saying that he had found
the southern taverns not particularly good. He preferred the north.
All this time I was looking out for some accent in the "king's
English." He speaks the language with all the careless correctness and
fluency of a vernacular tongue. We were all surprised at it. It is
_American_ English, however. He has not a particle of the cockney
drawl, half Irish and half Scotch, with which many Englishmen speak.
He must be the most cosmopolite king that ever reigned. He even said
he had been at Tangiers, the place of Mr. Carr's consulate. After some
pleasant compliments to our country, he passed to the Brazilian
minister, who stood on the other side, leaving us delighted with his
manner; and, probably, in spite of our independence, much more
inclined than before to look indulgently upon his politics. The queen
had entered, meantime, with the king's sister, Lady Adelaide, and one
or two of the ladies of honor; and, after saying something courteous
to all, in her own language, and assuring _us_ that his majesty was
very fond of America, the royal group bowed out, and left us once more
to ourselves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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