Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 14 July 1888, page 54


FOREIGN NOTES.

The wedding of Prince Henry of Germany and Princess Irene of Hesse (daughter of the late Princess Alice) took place at Charlottenburg on the 24th May. The Emperor Frederick,

who had passed a good night, said on tho morning of the wedding to his physicians, "I most be in good spirits to-day and forget all about my illness ;" and he was as good as his word. The procession of carriages bearing the guests from Berlin occupied over an hour in pairing, the Prince of Wales was cordially greeted by the crowd, and of all the bursts of cheering the longest and loudebt wm that which hailed the appearance of the fonr laughing, prattling, fair-haired little boys of the Crown Prince William, the eldest of whom (the present Crown Prince) thoufrh only six years old, already returns the salute of his future subjects with the grave dignity of a hoary general. The civil oeremony, whoh was very brief, took placet n the Blue Saloon, the bride having first had the splendid princely Prussian orowu plaoed upon her brow by her loving aunt, the Empress Victoria. The bride and bridegroom then proceeded to the Schloss Chapel, followed by the household officers and about twenty-two couples of wedding guests. The chapel, a very small building in the rococo style, erected in 1708, seats only forty persons, so, although all seats were removed and every-body stood, most of the people invited had to look on from an adjoining room. On either side of the altar, upon which stood a crucifix and two lighted candles, the recesses in the wall were filled with roses of various hues peeping out from a mass of foliage. Just before Dr. Kögel began the services (Lutheran) the Emperor Frederick entered by a side door, wearing the full dress uniform of a general with a riband of the Garter and his Hessian Order. He first approached his mother, kissed her, and then took his seat beside the Empress Victoria. The clergyman's address was short and to the point, a chorale by Sir Arthur Sullivan, chosen by the Empress, was sung, and then the bride and bridegroom exchanged rings, according to the German custom. Benediction, prayer, and tuneful praise over, their Majesties embraced the wedded pair and formed the centre of such a scene of family emotion as touched all who witnessed it. The Prince and Princess went up to the aged Empress Augusta and kissed her affectionately and the Empress Victoria embraced her niece—now her daughter-in-law—warmly, and was visiblv affected. The Emperor kissed her also with much affection but when his son drew near he placed his arms round him, kissed him on both cheeks and on his forehead, and then held his hand on his head, retaining him long in a close embrace. Then after greetings from the Prince of Wales and other relatives the company with-drew from the chapel amid the strains of the Hallelujah Chorus. Paris Figaro gives the following amusing anecdotes of Prince Henry's irreverent turn of mind when a boy:—The Prince was informed one morning by an attendant that the storks had brought him a little sister in the nighttime. "Could you believe," he remarked with a a mischievous smile, " that papa, to make it easier for me to believe that, took the trouble to come in at night and open that window which the storks always fly past?" "So? —You will perhaps tell me then how your sister got here?" asked the attendant, who must have been dreadfully shocked by such scepticism in high places, as all Gorman children believe; firmly in the stork version. " I know nothing about that," replied the young freethinker "but I don't believe one word of the stork story." The Prince in reading a certain history with his tutor came to a passage in which some royal lady was described as being "endowed

with the beauty, grace, sweetness, dignity, and talent, characteristic of those of her birth and station." The young scamp looked up from his book and exclaimed with a laugh, " He hasn't seen many queens or he would never write about them like that!" The late Emperor Frederick of Germany directed that in the services of the Lutheran Church he should be prayed for, not in the old form, as "His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor Frederick," but as "Thy servant Frederick, the Emperor." The Pope has intimated to the Emperor of Brazil that he intends to present the Golden Rose to the Crown Prinoess in token of his ap-proval of the perseverance and firmness she has shown in the matter of negro emancipation. This princess, who is the Emperor's daughter and heir to his throne, is a religious woman and tries to tame her pride by exercises of humility. One of these lies in cleaning churches with mop and broom as if she were one of her father's meanest subjects." Among the many journalists present during the recent celebrations at Bologna University was Mme. Jessie White Mario, of Garibaldian fame. Having finished her labours as the biographer of the makers of New Italy— Mazzini, Garibaldi, and Bertani—Mme. Mario has returned to her old profession of journalist. It has been arranged to hold a Women's Congress at Copenhagen on 14th and 16th July. The subjeots to be discussed aba:—The right of women to vote, the movement on behalf of peane made by women, the position of working women, the weduoation, &c, of boys and girls in the same schools. Pundita Ramabai has already secured about £10,000 towards her fund for establishing a school in India for Hindoo widows. The Queen Regent of Spain is resolutely striving to render the management of t the royal household more economical than it ha* hitherto been. Her Majesty has already abolished the poet of manager of the palaces and has reduced the staff of chamberlains. Quoen Margherita of Italy is making a oolleotion of pearls, with a view to their adorning some day, she says, the wedding-dress of her son's bride. She keeps them in her jewelcase in an embossed silver casket, with a hole in the top through which her Majesty drops the pearl*. The Cairo Home for Freed Women Slaves is under the patronage of Queen Victoria, who has made a donation to it. It provides a refuge for women slavos who obtain' their freedom through application to the Slave Trade Department, and without its aid these poor waifs would inevitably sink into the depths of misery. A number of ladies in Paris are establishing a scientific review, La Revue Seientifique des Femmet (Women's Scientific Review). Mme. Renoz, a Belgian, is tho editress, and a lady who is physiotan to the Sultan's seraglio is one of the corresponding members.