The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-19 00:00:00

THE VISITORS AT NICE.

A correspondent at Nice writes :—" The King
of Wurtemberg, the Grand Duchess Olga, and
the Grand Duke Constantine are expected
shortly. The Grand Duchess Catherine and her
Consort Prince George of Mecklenburg are living
here in a very retired manner. It is scarcely
necessary to say that the consequence of these
movements is the presence of a great number of
Russian families in Nice. In fact, so strong is the
Muscovite ele.ment here, that generals could be
found in sufficient number to command all the
armies of Europe, while the diplomatists out of place
and councillors of State would suffice to organise
any number of conferences. As for Russian princes
and princesses, they form an army in themselves,
having for leaders the families of Soukosanetti,
Mourawieff, Orousoff, Scripitzin, Barclay de Tolly,
and Baggawood. The general of the latter name,
who is the indirect representative of the Odessa
Steam Navigation Company, has just been offered
the choice between senator and member of the mili-
tary council, in return for the part he took in the
Villafranca negotiations. Several great German fa-
milies have also arrived here for the season ; at their
head is Count Thun, the Austrian diplomatist, who
is accompanied by a suite of twenty-one persons.
Another diplomatist, Rustem Bey, Turkish Minis-
ter at the Court of Turin, has also taken up his
quarters here for the winter. The English element
is strong in ladies and children, but singularly
weak in male representatives. The Countess
of Seafield, Countess Dysart, Ladies H. Ben-
tinck, Cochrane, Frances Knox, Molesworth,
Gilbert East, &c., are amongst the English re-
sidents. Prince Bibesco and other well-known
boyards have also engaged villas for the season.
The French colony is numerically strong ; of
course, everybody is at the least a count or coun-
tess. The most interesting member of this colony
is the wife of Baron Vigier, the formerly incom-
parable Cruvelli. The same inscrutable law which
raises every travelling Frenchman to the rank of
count or viscount, rules in a milder degree over
the Italian members of the foreign society of Nice,'
they are one and all chevaliers. The limited
number of English gentlemen in Nice is doubtless
to be attributed to the intense dulness of the place,
and to the impossibility of passing a day without
suffering more or less ennui. The natives appear
to have no idea that the foreigners, who bring
prosperity to the town, require a little entertain•
tent and distraction. The inhabitants of Pisa
also failed to comprehend the necessity of reliev-
ing the normal dulness of their town, consequently
Pisa has gone to the dogs. No attempt is made
by the Nice people to amuse the foreign visitor ;
for the opera cannot be seriously regarded as an
entertainment ; it is visited on first representations
and then abandoned. Moreover, the majority of
visitors abstain from facing the night air. Since
the natives will not attempt to afford the
visitor the means of passing an•hour or two in an
agreeable manner, the task—which, if well un-
derstood, might be turned into a source of consi-
derable profit—has devolved on strangers to the
place. Now, let me see how I can pass this after-
noon, when tired of bending over the newspapers
On consulting a local journal, which, by-the-by'
has just .commenced discussing that very lively,
question of the Jew boy: of Bologna, I ascertain
that two French musicians of more or less legiti-
mate merit, are giving a series of chamber con-
certs. There is nothing peculiarly novel or
attractive in this performance, and with the most
charitable of dispositions, it is difficult to regard a
fourth-rate concert in the light of an amusement..
On prosecuting my researches in the advertisement
page, I discover that two other French musicians
are giving a series of matinees musicales. That
The certainly will not suit. list of amusements'
,
closes here ; for a course of lectures on homoeo-
pathy, delivered by M. A. Berryer, ex-secretary of
the Docks Napoleon Company, can scarcely be con-
sidered entertaining. I may as well notice a commu-
nication, purporting to be addressed fromVillafranca
to the Gazette du Midi of Marseilles of 7th, which
may be copied into your Paris contemporaries. It is
stated in this communication that 24 vessels are in
the port of Villefranche, comprising Russian Go.
vernment vessels awaiting the orders of High Ad-
miral Constantine.' The truth is this—there are
three mercantile vessels at present in Villefranche,
not one of which carries the Russian flag. The
correspondent closes with the following astounding
piece of impudence This port is separated from
the capital (Nice!) by a mountain crowned
with a fort dent le Gouvernement Imperial de
Busse fera quelque chose; The Prince of Mo-
naco, Charles 111., has arrived, in his dominions,
and has since been followed by. the Dowager
Princess and the Princess Florestine—a good
name, by the by, for novel writers. The reigning
princess will not grace the rather restricted Court
circles, for incompatibility of emper prevails
amongst sovereigns as well as commoners. The
princess is 'of the Belgian de Merode family, and
she brought to the Monaco treasury a dowry of
three millions of francs.. A judicial case which
had excited some interest on this coast has just
been heard at Genoa. A cure of Issoverdi, near
that city, taking umbrage at the gay dresses worn
by some of his fair parishioners, launched out in
the pulpit into a furious denunciation of vanity;
but, instead of questioning the taste of the parties,
he questioned their virtue. Great indignation was