| Citation |
NYM(L.780.025
14 Jul 1780:212 (46)
From the Whitehall Evening Post. Anecdotes of the Imperial
Family and Court. . . [in second anecdote] The ceremony
would have been too fatiguing for the Empress:--She
therefore did not attend:--The Emperor, the Arch-Dukes and
Dutchesses, with all the nobility, did. A prodigious train
of bishops, priests, and monks followed; and a numerous band
of musick played as they went along. . . [2 paragraphs
follow] But the same evening there was a grand masquerade at
Schonburn, which was more generally amusing. . . [details of
the decoration of Schonbrun and the fare offered in various
rooms, followed by] At the end of the large dining-room,
there was a raised seat for the Empress, and some ladies who
attended her. Here a grand ballet was danced by the Arch-
Duke, the Arch-Duchesses, the Princess of Modena, and some
of the chief nobility, to the number of twenty-four. The
dancers, both male and female, were dressed in white silk,
flounced with pink coloured ribbands, and enriched with a
vast profusion of diamonds. The ballet was performed three
times at proper intervals. Those who had seen it once,
passed into the gallery, and other apartments, giving way to
the new set of spectators. . . [7 lines follow describing
the garden] TheEmperor mixed with the company without
ceremony or distinction,taking no part himself but as a
spectator. He was conversing in the middle of the hall, in
the most familiar manner, with an English gentleman, without
observing that the third ballet was going to be danced, when
the master of the ceremonies whispered him in the ear. . .
and immediately walked into another room, to give place to
others who had not seen the dance.
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