Western Reserve chronicle and weekly transcript of the times. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1854-1855, 1855-01-17

] year dS usual al EulS, anu cOuSSq ueulI-
anecdotes were not wanting. 1t was easl
to amuse ones self there; young ladie
were in decided majority; all the Pa
risian ladies who were returning from
Wisebaden or going to Baden made
halt here, where fetes succeeded eacI
other without interruption. Apart from
this joyous throng, upoa the terrace which
borders the pretty river called the Lain
an elderly lady, evidently in i'll health
might be seen there two or three hour
every day, seated in the sunshine, anC
breathing the pure and balmy air of th'
mountains. This lady, whose physiog
nomy was exceedingly aristocratic, anC
whose sufferings excited great deal o
interest was called the Countess de
M. She was known to be very
wealthy, but a certain mystery hung
about her.
Among the Partisan sojourners, was q
gentleman, who for the last fifty years.
had been a great deal in fashionable soci,
ETY., NJ. de Bel, whose youth flourish.
ed somewhere about the year 1910, and
whose old age is adorned with all the
charms of talents, furnished with many
souvenirs. NJ. de Bel was struck
with the physiognomy of the Countess de
NJ. He thought she was an old ac.
qualntance, and, taking advantage of thai
facility authorized by the customs oi
watering places, he took the liberty of sa-
luting the Countess in a very respectful
manner, and asking her if she had never
lived in Paris.
4" Never ?'' she replied in a manner
which showed considerable embarrass-
ment.
The inquisitive gentleman did not make
another attempt, but he did not give up
as defeated. After searching all the re-
cesses of his memory, after revolving all
the incidents ofthe past, he met the souv-
enir of history which he at first resolved
to keep secret, but some days ago we
heard that the Countess de M, who
had just quilted Ems 70 return to one of
her chateaux, becoming more indisposed
during her homeward Journey, had been
obliged 10 stop at an inn by the roadside,
where she had bIeathed her last. Too
curious himself not to know how to SYM
pathize with the inquisitiveness of his fel-
low men and women, NJ. de Bel-rela-
ted to US the other evening, upon the ter
race overlooking the Lain, and upon the
very place where the Countess was wont
to sit, history,which is at the same time
a retrospective of Partisan society.
twas during the most brilliant days of
the Empire, at the period when Partisan
society, gathering the scattered remains
of the revolutionary shipwreck, reconsti-
tuted itself with the elements of the old
society commingled with the new glories
and the new fortunes. The past and the
present met upon the ground of fetes and
pleasures. The former souget to CON-
pensate themselves for long and cruel
trials; the latter were jealous and anxious
to display their new splendor. Both ri
vailed each other with enthusiasm, nerve,
and eclat. The fusion of the two aristoc-
racies, which the Emperor endeavored to
cement with intermarriages, was formed
in a less grave, and more extensive man.
ner, in the drawing rooms of the disiin-
guished foreigners who then aboundeG in
Paris. In the first rank was Count DEM
idoff, father of the Prince Auatole Demi-
1off, who married the Princess Iathide,
Cousin of Louis Napoleon, the Emperor
d lle TE6uCH, anu IIOin "IOLi she was
by ukase of the Car, his
gracious sovereign.
Count Demidoff possessed an immense
fortune, and il was to that fortune that he,
he grandson of simple gunsmith, owed
MS nobility, his title, and his position at
Court. His wealth, which he bequeathed
10 his two sons, principally consisted in
the working of Iron, copper, and gold
mines, situated in the Ural Mountains
-he mines were his property in fee simple.
"This has been bad year," said he
'ne day, my mines have brought me
IN only eight hundred thousand dollars"
La pOUre hOmnse! The average reve-
lue was between one million and one
million TWO hundred thousand dollars per
lnnum, without reckoning the returns
rom other estates belonging to this mag
liicent lord, which he had purchased
With his economies on the revenues from
he Ural Mountains. 1t must be said
Count Demidof' made excellent use of his
colossal fortune he founded useful es-
ablishnenis, he encouraged the arts, he
iept one of the most splendid and the
most agreeable houses in Paris. The
Countess aided him admirably to do the
lonors of the house she was a charming !
woman, and had very highly cultivated
mind.
In the intimate circle of friends of
)emidof's house, was young German
adv called the Baroness Won Schwickel,
Who was generally regarded as one of the
most elegant women in Paris. The Coun-
eSs was exceedingly attached to her, and
er friendship often manifested itself BY |