Early In The Morning Several Hundred Soldiers Were Drawn Up Before The Church, With An Excellent Band, Which Played A Number Of Lively Airs.

Between ten and eleven, the military and civil officers began gradually to arrive, the subordinate ones, as I was told, coming first.

On their entrance into the church, a brownish-red silk cloak, which concealed the whole of the uniform, was presented to each. Every time that another of a higher rank appeared, all those already in the church rose from their seats, and advancing towards the new comer as far as the church door, accompanied him respectfully to his place. The emperor and his wife arrived the last of all. The emperor is extremely young - not quite one and twenty - but six feet tall, and very corpulent; his features are those of the Hapsburg-Lothering family. The empress, a Neapolitan princess, is small and slim, and forms a strange contrast when standing beside the athletic figure of her husband.

High mass, which was listened to with great reverence by every one, began immediately after the entrance of the court, and after this was concluded the imperial pair proceeded to their carriage, presenting the crowd, who were waiting in the church, their hands to kiss as they went along. This mark of distinction was bestowed not only on the officers and officials of superior rank, but on every one who pressed forward to obtain it.

A second, and more brilliant festival occurred on the 19th of October; it was the emperor's birth-day, and was celebrated by high mass in the Imperial Chapel.

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