Guard, until they reached a house outside which a guard of honour was posted. "What house is that?" asked the Prince in the innocence of his heart. "That is the Palace," replied General Golesku with embarrassment. Prince Charles thought he had misunderstood him, and asked: "_Where_ is the Palace?" The General, still more embarrassed, pointed in silence to the one-storeyed building. At length the procession halted at the Metropolie, the Cathedral of Bucharest, where the venerable Metropolitan received the Prince and tendered him the Cross and Bible to kiss. After hearing the _Te Deum_, the Prince, with his suite, proceeded to the Chamber, which stands exactly opposite the Metropolie. Here he took the oath to keep the laws, maintain the rights, and preserve the integrity of Roumania.--"Jur de a pazi legile Romaniei, d'a mentine drepturile sale si integritateā teritoriului!"[8] Then, after replying in French to the address of the President of the Chamber, Prince Charles repaired with his suite to the Palace to refresh himself after the exertions of the day. The rooms, though small, proved to have been tastefully furnished by Parisian upholsterers during the government of Prince Kusa, but the view from the windows was primitive indeed; on the one side stood an insignificant guardhouse, whilst the other offered the national spectacle of a gipsy encampment with its herd of swine wallowing in the gutters of the main road--it could hardly be called a street. Such were the surroundings amongst which the adventurous Hohenzollern Prince commenced his new career! [8] Translation: "I swear to protect the laws of Roumania, to maintain her rights and the integrity of her soil." CHAPTER III STORM AND STRESS The first Roumanian Ministry under the new _régime_ was composed of members of all political parties, Conservatives and Liberals, Moldavians and Wallachians, Right, Centre, and Left. Lascar Catargui was appointed President of the Ministry, which, amongst others, included Joan Bratianu (Finance), Petre Mavrogheni (Foreign Affairs), General Prince[9] Jon Ghika (War), and Demeter Sturdza (Public Works). [9] All titles and privileges of the Roumanian nobility were abolished by law with the exception of the title of Bey-Sadé (Prince or "Fürst") granted to the sons of former Hospodars.