186 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XVII 



to the crown prince standing at his side, to whom I gave 

 the President s best wishes. Then came, in the chapel of 

 the palace, an impressive religious service, the address by 

 Dr. Dryander being eloquent, and the music, by the cathe 

 dral choir and, at times, by a great military orchestra, 

 both far above us in the dome, beautiful. At its close 

 the crown prince came forward, stood before the altar, 

 where I had seen his parents married twenty years 

 before, and the oath of allegiance, which was quite long, 

 having been read to him by the colonel of his regiment, he 

 repeated it, word for word, and made his solemn pledge, 

 lifting one hand and grasping the imperial standard with 

 the other. Then, after receiving affectionate embraces 

 from his father and mother, he was congratulated by the 

 sovereigns and royal personages. The ambassadors and 

 ministers having been then received by the Emperor and 

 Empress, the young prince came along the line and spoke 

 to each of us in a very unaffected and manly way. He was 

 at that time somewhat taller than his father, with an in 

 telligent and pleasant face, and is likely, I should say, 

 to do well in his great position, though not possessing, 

 probably, anything like his father s varied gifts and 

 graces. 



In the evening came a dinner in the White Hall of the 

 palace to several hundred guests, including the Emperor 

 of Austria-Hungary, the King of Saxony, and other visit 

 ing personages, with the heads of the diplomatic missions, 

 and the leading personages of the empire; and near the 

 close of it the Emperor William arose and made an ex 

 cellent speech, to all appearance extemporaneous. The 

 answer by the Emperor of Austria-Hungary was read by 

 him, and was sensible and appropriate. 



That this visit did much to strengthen the ties which 

 bind the two monarchies was shown not merely by hur 

 rahs in the streets and dithyrambic utterances in the news 

 papers, but by a mass of other testimony. One curious 

 thing was the great care everywhere taken in the decora 

 tions to honor the crown and flag of Hungary equally with 



