The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1825-10-17

published.
In the year 1859. Madame dc Cen
lis visited Spa. along with the Duke
aud Duchess of Orleans. aud IA
m0ngst her remarks concerning the
place and its visitors. the following
enlogium upon Spanish lady, for
her cogjngdt atecti M. merits quotati-
on, as Illustrating the manners ot
the age
" We saw bcsiles.at Spa. young
and charming Spanish lady, The
Countess Of scchtcreu. married to Il
man who might have been her father,
but whom she really loved, as she
proved by the attention she paid him,
and by her spotless behaviour; she
was at once clever, ingenious, pretty
and iine woman. At Spa she oc-
casloned manyunhappy attachments;
among others, the Duke of D
young and handsome noblcman Of the
court of France, became desperate
| " in love with her. As it was al
ways very difficult to approach her
ear, she remaining constantly near
the count. he tn ought he had found Il
favorable moment one morning at
the breakfast at VauXhall, as Ma
dame dc Rcchtereu was not on that
occasion seated by her husband.
The Duke and several other gentle
men, who had the gallantry To serve
the ladies, had not sat down To table,
and his grace placed himself behind
Madame dc Rcchtcren he entered
into conversation with her, but in an
under tone aud leaning over her, lie
whispered in her ear, i'll a low voice,
Il formal declaration of lovc.--Ma-
dame dc Rechtereu, after listening
quietIy to what he was saying, made
this reply My Lord Duke, do
not understand French very well, 50
that have not cWnprehcnded a word
of what you have been saying; hut
my friend there, $50 she always styl-
ed her husband Is much better ac-
guaitcd with it than / &; so and tell
him all these pretty things, and he
will eXplnin them all To me very
clearly The duke instead Of fol-
lowing this advice, withdrew precipi-
lately, with visible air Of vexation.
The piQuanI answer of madame dc
ReChtereu made every one comprc-
bend what the duke had revealed to
her with an air of So much mystic
ry."
Notwithstanding the boastcd Gle
ganCc OF French society previous to
the rev olutlon. there Wcrs numerous
strange examples Of fa.qehood, peril
dy, and even Of mean habits that we
could scarce have given credit to,
were they not related by SO devout
=. Iauditoi tempnris acti" as Ma
dame de Gcnlis. OF meanncss we
Give the following specimen
"Ihc remarks OF, society in AIDE
lie ct Theodore raised me many enc
mics, because they were true, piquant
and without exaggeration.-AIl the
parilcnses were furious against me
this fashion was SO prevalent then,
that must explain the practice
The ladies were in the habit Of ask
ing all the gentlemen OF their az
quaintance for their old epaulcttes,
their gold-laCe sword-knols, or the
lace on their coats. &c. which are
thus taken from the servants, and
which the ladies then UNFINISHED
that is to say, they separated the
gold from the silk, to sell the former
afterwards for their own profit. Be
sides, they received as presents, on
New Years day, bobbins of tinseil,
or little articles covered with gold,
which they UNFINISHED and sold. In
general, an able untwister might
gain at this singular trade, one hun
dred louis a-year - i" | have seen
| Madame de Bontllers receive from
the Duke of l.auzun a false harp,
made of gold fringe, which cost near
" thousand francs. All this was
untwistcd, to be sold at half price
it would have been much less eXpcn-
siye to the giycr, and less trouble
some to the receiver, to have got the
money at once " My remarks
upon the fashion Of untwistlnS, III
.1deLe ct Theodore, forever put an end
o this disgracctul practice aud
there was never afterwards an IN
stance OF woman who yentnred to
ask man for gold lace 10 untwist.
Adele ct Theodore continued also
to put out Of fashion all sentimental
atiectation. and the range fur MA