A QUEEN'S DRAWING ROOM

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1712, 16 June 1884, Page 2

A QUEEN'S DRAWING ROOM

London Truth has tlie following •- " There is probably no capital in. the world vvhero the custom of paying re-' apect to the titled representative of a Court system is carried on under circumstances of such aggravating cruelty, A London Drawing-room in the reign of Queen Victoria is, when carefully considered, as'. discreditable and inhuman a spectacle as can be conceived, and, though' the evils, attendant to the institution have been,pointed out over and over' again, though ■ they must be perfectly familiar to the Court authorities, and to the Court advisers, and to tho Poloniiis of the period, yet things go on in the samo stereotyped jog-trot system; and no steps whatever are taken to protect loyal subjects trom the discourtesies and many insults to which'they are subjected. • With, scant consideration for: comfort, or. even decency, the principal Drawing-rooms of the season are fixed at a time of year when the weather is most treacherous, and those who attend them are com. pelled to appear ina costume quite out of character with a ceremony that is to take place daylight, .Take the case of. a delicate: young giii-or, indeed, of any ordinary fragile beauty who desires to pay her respects to Her Majesty or tie chosen representative of Her Majesty, at one of the first London ' Drawing-rooms.;;: It is March weather —the fiercest, most, uncanny;: and treacherous season of the year. ] "In this weather women,. accustomed to cloak and clothe themselves in wraps and furs whenever'they take their drives abroad or face the piercing atmosphere, are compelled to bare; their necks and shoulders, to strip thomof their apparal after the fashion of their prototype, Godiva, and for weary hours expose themselves to the gaze of all the rascally Peeping Toms' who choose to congregate in the Park and indulge in impertinences that disgrace the name of men and Englishmen. Few know who have not experienced it, the. bitter insults to which modest women are subjected on their way from home to attend a Court or Drawing-room at Buckingham Palace; As there is little organisation of the traffic, and there is sure to be a dead-block at some point or other on the Park, the shivering, women (uV constantly exposed to the curious gaje of these sightseers. Such a mob as this is no respecter of persons. We have lew sights in London, and the appetizing one of women, young andold/dressed up in the daytime-in the most unbecoming and uncomfortable of all costumes is not to be resisted. The riff-raff go up to tho carriage doors and freely offer their comments. Modeit ears are shocked by words of indecency and profanity. Arrived at tho palace, the fair courtiers, receive but a cold welcome. So far they have braved east winds, dust, and a London mob to find the dread chill 0 f a half* warmed mansion, ft n'<J to tread the silence of deserted halls, Here at Court, without artificial light of any kind, without warmth, and without appropriate color, they are compelled to unbare their -beauty in a cruel and uncompromising fashion. If any ordinary woman of society cannot receive the male gaze in her tea room without pink shades and rose.qo|(pd blinds, think, of tho appalling, trial for hep whon she stalks icy corridors in the fullglareofa spring sun and in a dress tljat would bo considered out of place at an ordinary ball, The Court, besides being cruel, is inhospitable. If women feel faint, op m atteoked-by a suddon paralysis or nervousness, they can, after making a fuss from which most women would shrink, obtain from a Court official, n restorative in the shape of sherry, or tho more consoling brandy. But tons!? for such temporary assistance V to, call down the sneers of the stronger sisters,"