usehold. Then the
Queen, accompanied by the royal children, in an open daumont. The
cheering for the Queen was full-throated and with no sign of doubt,
because of her Bavarian birth and upbringing--she is looked on as a
Belgian Queen and nothing else.

After the Queen came a carriage or two with members of the royal family
and the Court. Finally the King on horseback. He was in the field
uniform of a lieutenant-general, with no decorations and none of the
ceremonial trappings usual on such occasions as a speech from the
Throne. He was followed by a few members of his staff who also looked as
though they were meant more for business than for dress parade.

As the King drew rein and dismounted, the cheering burst forth with
twice its former volume; and, in a frantic demonstration of loyalty,
hats and sticks were thrown into the air. Two bands played on manfully,
but we could hear only an occasional discord.

Just as the King started into the building an usher came out, touched me
on the arm and said something, beckoning me to come inside. One of the
galleries had been locked by mistake but had now been opened, and Webber
and I were rewarded for our modesty by being given the whole thing to
ourselves. In a few minutes the Bolivian Charge came in and joined us.
Our places were not ten feet from the Throne, and we could not have been
better placed.

The Queen came in quietly from one side and took a throne to the left of
the tribune, after acknowledging a roaring welcome from the members of
the two Houses. When the cheering had subsided, the King walked in
alone from the right, bowed gravely to the assembly and walked quickly
to the dais above and behind the tribune. With a business-like gesture
he tossed his cap on to the ledge before him and threw his white cotton
gloves into it--then drew out his speech and read it. At first his voice
was not very steady but he soon controlled it and read the speech to the
end in a voice that was vibrating with emotion but without any oratory
or heroics. He went straight to the vital need for union between all
factions and all parties, between the French, Flemish, and Walloon
races, between Catholics, Liberals, and Socialists in a determined
resistance to the attack upon Belgian independence. The House could
contain itself for only a few minutes at a time, and as every point was
driven home they burst into frantic cheering. When the King, addressing
himself directly to the members of