II. CHAP. apparently feeble, with a pale countenance. He looked most advantageously when dressed in regimentals; and worst of all when he appeared in the effeminate gala suit which the late King had introduced into the Swedish Courta style of dress better suited to mountebanks or stage-players, than for the representatives of the warlike Goths! Royal Upon the 21st of November, the entertainments of the evening at the Opera House were given gratis by the King to the public. To gain admission, it was only necessary to go in full dress; and we were present upon that occasion. The coup d'œil, upon entering the theatre, was very brilliant. The boxes consisted of five tiers of seats; the ladies being ranged in the front rows. The stage was lighted by two large cut glass chandeliers, which were drawn up when the curtain rose. In the centre of the pit, upon a platform covered with green cloth, were placed two gilded chairs, for the reception of the King and Queen. Her Majesty being at this time in child-bed, the King alone made his appearance. Many of the State officers were stationed waiting for his arrival, when we entered the theatre. At each side of the entrance to the pit were placed the King's Guards, in pompous theatrical suits of blue cloth, with CHAP. II. Adven polished coats of mail, and enormous helmets surmounted by tall plumes; producing altogether the most grotesque effect, by combining somewhat of the manly chivalrous aspect of the warriors of antient days with the wretched effeminacy and scenic taste of the modern Court. It was enough to rouse the ghost of Gustavus Vasa, to view the heroes of Sweden in this deplorable disguise; wanting only their cheeks painted, to fit them for a booth at Bartholomew Fair. While we were thus intent upon the motley Evening's figures of the soldiers, a bustle in the orchestra, tures. and a general movement among the Guards, announced his Majesty's approach; who entered, followed by the Duchess of Sudermania, and several of his retinue, dressed in the absurd and fantastic manner which we have before alluded to, but strictly according to the regular costume of his Court; wearing, beneath a cloak, a jacket of yellow silk, and large yellow roses in his shoes: and, as if to afford the most striking contrast possible to his own appearance, and to render it still more ludicrous in the eyes of the spectators, he was followed by a gigantic attendant in complete armour, the enormous plumes of whose helmet, towering aloft, threatened to bury the diminutive and meagre figure of the King. The audience immediately rose, CHAP. but the utmost silence was observed. II. His Majesty, advancing towards the regal chair, was for some minutes engaged in bowing to all present; to the audience in general, and to all the foreign Ministers in particular. Then making, with his chapeau bras, a signal to the musicians in the orchestra, the band began to play; and he sate down. Between the acts of the opera, he was occupied chiefly in conversation with the Duchess his aunt, and the Russian Minister; and his marked attention to the latter was noticed by the generality of those present, who were interested in the politics of the day. Having been accustomed to see him before only in his regimentals, we hardly recognised him in his Court dress. When he sate down, he wrapped his silk cloak about him, thus giving to this part of his attire the appearance of a petticoat, beneath which peeped his coloured shoes set off with large yellow rosettes; so that his whole figure, truly feminine, might have been mistaken for a female. During this evening's entertainment, an adventure occurred which will afford a specimen of the national manners. Two Italian gentlemen, with whom we were intimately acquainted-Signor Acerbi, author of Travels in Sweden, Lapland, and Finland, and his young companion, Signor Bellotti-were seated II. in the box of the Prussian Minister. These CHAP. gentlemen, after the close of the first act of the opera, finding that no ladies had arrived to occupy the front seat, ventured, having first asked permission of the Minister to whom the box belonged, to place themselves in the front row, and thereby obtain a better view of the King and of the stage. They were habited in plain black suits, which, as it is well known, are often used abroad, by way of substitute for the full Court dress. It may be imagined what their disquiet was, in finding that they had no sooner seated themselves in their new places, than they were become an object of uneasiness to the royal party stationed in the pit. The Duchess of Sudermania was observed to regard them for some time with apparent agitation; and at length, speaking to the King, his Majesty was pleased to order that a corporal of the guard should be sent to remove them from their station. But the Director of the theatre, to whom this order was given, being well acquainted with them, went up, and represented to them his Majesty's disapprobation of their appearance in the front rank, without having on the full Court dress; desiring them, at the same time, not to retire from the theatre, but to sit backward, so as to escape further observa II. CHAP. tion from below. Some of the audience, wit nessing this transaction, thought proper to insinuate that his Majesty mistook the two Italian gentlemen for Englishmen—there being at this time a slight misunderstanding between our Court and that of Sweden, in consequence of the neglect which it was said his Britannie Majesty had shewn to a Letter written by the Swedish Sovereign respecting the capture of a Swedish convoy. This circumstance had rendered it difficult for our countrymen to obtain a presentation at the Swedish Court; as our Minister had ceased to make his appearance there, and had been omitted in the invitations recently sent to the different foreign Ministers. Whether there were any truth in the supposed intention of the young King and of his aunt, to offer this indignity with any feeling of hostility towards our countrymen, we did not give ourselves the trouble to inquire. The affair served to afford a momentary topic of conversation in the dif ferent circles: meanwhile, we experienced everywhere the same kindness and hospitality which we had invariably met with since our first arrival in the country. Little needs be said of the style of the performance at a Swedish opera. The singers and dancers are equally below mediocrity. The |