Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-08-22
THE BEAUTY OF RogpEAUX.

A WAyS;DE SKETCH.
Some years ago, during few days So
iourn at Bordeaux, en- route to Madrid, it
befell me to miss the weekly packet that
leaves that port for Barcelona. The cap
ital of the Court de Chambord's duke
dom contains few architectural marvels,
save the theatre, unique among the opcr-
attic editices of Paris, and scarcely rivallcd
in vastncss and magnificence by the costly
temples of Naples and Lombardy. 1t
was at the era of the famous Spanish
marriagc gcs-that time prolific of protocols
worthy of Utrecht and Amicns, and di-
plomatic intrigues which might have
shamcd the courts of the Sforzas and
and Borgias of pontifical inEamy-that,
seated in the crimson-velvcted stalls of
the opera-housc, in company with a
friend attached to the press of Vendee of
the south, learned the details of local
hisioyiette which may not be without in
terest to the reader.
"You scc," said my friend, THAT bur-
nisned box on Jour right near the stage;
it is memorable to local annals as the
grand focus, in former times, which at
tracted the l0rgncrcs of all our hcbifues.
The cynosurc Of ali eyes was Adelinc dc
RoSicrc, daughter of our merchant-prince
in the Rue de Provence. Were | to de-
scribe her as she nightly shone, the ac-
knowlcdgcd belle Of Bordeaux, you might
accuse he, in your English hatred of
shop of an oral 'feuilleton Though,
truth to say, no praise of mine or of my
tribe could render benetitting homage 10
her charms. What ewes and ,Juno-like
hauteur had that poor Adelinc, as she
famed herself with languid majesty OF
pose, amid the silent homage of the saile,
and cnvlons PRIME do@nc groancd as all
their facinationS failed to rivet admiration
in the presence of the merchants daugh-
ter. Your great poet has declared that
'the course of true love never yet pursued
its eduablc flow is it not so? And |
perceive f'rm your smile that You already
anticipate hapless loye-talc of two noble
hearts, worthy of being enshrired in song
by our living Jasrnin, or the troubadours
of old. But wait
'I have told you,' continued nv com
panion, when mOmentary lull of the
vocal and orchestral tempest enabled hiul
to continue, that the heircSs Of Nj. de
Rosiere was beautiful: and by reason
thereof, as well as by the largencSs of her
dowry, you will not be surprised to hear
that she numbered many admirers in her
train-young and old bachelors, whether
votarics of Venus or Plu:us. In my
Young days | CHANGED to win some dis
tinction in her praise; for my dythram-
bics of the belle of Bordeaux were trans
ferred from the local Messoccr to the
journals of Paris. The most favored of
her followers was one OF those noble euli-
grcs, whcrewith Bordeaux. and indeed
all the sea ports OF southern France,
abund. Your English mil5Hs and
thrittlesS mtiii0iycs, and younger sons.
cAilcd by circumstances from their island
home across the channel, vcgctatc, with
lew exceptions, at llavrc and Boulogne.
The victims of Russian and Austrian des
potism mot to mention the Spanish NAL
contents, progressistas or absolutists,l J
flock in body to the shores of the Med
iterranean, where ice and snow arc seldom
seen: and cigars, and ruby wine, and
fruit are cheap. have seen in these
stalls Russian princes in disgrace for
freaks of cruelty to Muscovitc serfs :;
Italian revolutionary ch'ettains, upon
whose heads millions of Viennese ilorins
were set; Austrian counts, beneath Kai-
ser-couds for mesdlliances: Suanish Pro-
testants few, and patriot-poets of Berlin
and Prague a score-seemingly oblivious
of their woes in the enjoyment of the
mimic scene before us.
Little was known of Adclinc's lover,
the Count Sal ski, save that, although an
exile for Sarmation devotedneSs, he man
aged to live in elegant style. Young and
handsome, he dressed and rode well: and,
like his fellow Sclaves of every degree in
the social scale, was singularly accom-
plished, had an ingenius turn, and spoke
half a dozen languages with the facility
and precision of MezZotanti. NJ. de
Rosiere had himself risen to opulencc and
civic status from a condition ofindigence:
and as a son of the days of BaTas and
the Directory, the political liberalism
of Count Sanski hardly constituted an
obstacle for the counts intimacy with
the daughter of the former steward Of q
Provcncal noble, who had amassed his
first wealth on the ruin of his patron
After all, my friend. a title Is 4 title; and
it may be that the rich parrenue. secretly
chafed at the Sights he had received, on
account of his republican antecedents,
from the gentry of the Legitimist pro-
vince, was not averse to an alliance
which combined ancient nobility with ac-