LETTER XC.
Vienna.
In your last, you show such a passion for anecdote, and seem so desirous of my insisting on manners and characters, that I fear you will not be pleased with my last long epistle upon a subject entirely remote from what you demand. But you must remember that you were warned from the beginning of this correspondence, that I would retain the privilege of digressing as often as I pleased, and that my letters should frequently treat of what I thought, as well as what I saw. However, this shall consist entirely of sights.
The first I shall mention was exhibited soon after our arrival at Vienna. This was the feast of St. Stephen, at which the Emperor dined in public with the knights.
He was at the head of the table; his brother and brother-in-law next him, and the other knights sat according to seniority. The Arch-duchesses, with some of the principal ladies of the court, were at a balcony within the hall to see this ceremony.—The Emperor and all the knights were dressed in the robes of the order. The Hungarian guards, with their sabres drawn, surrounded the table.
The honour of serving the Emperor at this solemnity belongs entirely to the Hungarians. When he called for drink, a Hungarian nobleman poured a little of the wine into a cup and tasted it; he afterwards filled another, which he presented with one knee touching the ground. The Emperor often smiled upon this nobleman as he went through the ceremony, and seemed to indicate by the whole of his behaviour, that he considered such submissive bendings of one man to another, as greatly misplaced, and that he suffered this mummery merely in compliance with ancient custom.
There was great crowding to see this feast, and it was not without difficulty I got admission; though, after all, there was nothing to be seen but some well-dressed men, who ate an exceeding good dinner with tolerable appetite.
Since the feast of St. Stephen, we have been witnesses to the annual ceremony in commemoration of the defeat of the Turkish army, and the raising the siege of Vienna by John Sobieski king of Poland. The Imperial family and the principal nobility of both sexes walked in solemn procession, and heard mass at the church of St. Stephen on this occasion. In the middle of the street, leading from the palace to the church, a platform was raised, upon which the company, who formed the procession, walked.—The streets were lined with the Imperial guards, and the windows and tops of the houses were crowded with spectators.—The D—— of H—— and I found a very good situation at a window with the Venetian ambassador.