The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-12-12

EUGENE MARIE DE GUzMAN, Countess of Tebo
and Empress of France, at the age of thirty-four,
and in the full bloom of womanv beauty, already
begins to grow weary of the rigid formalities Of
an Imperial Court, of the splendors of Royalty
and of those stately progresses, which, as con.
sort of the foremost man in all Europe she has
recently been making through Algeria and the
Franco-lalian provinces of Nice and Savoy. The
high spirit for which she was distinguished on her
first appearance in the salons of Paris in 1857 the
pretty disdain with which she refused to conform
to the petty conventonalites of fashionable So
ciety, and the gaiety of disposition that gave an
additional charm TO her woudrous lovelpess
have departed from her. Possessed of all the ac.
complishmenrs that befit her to fill worthily the
imperial station to which she has been elevated;
graceful in her department, and with manners so
attractive as TO win the affection of all classes of
people, she is also reputed to be a liberal aims
giver and generous and unselfsh friend but of
nature too sensitive and impossible, and perhaps
100 ingenious, to be able to mask her feelings or
to subdue her apprehensions. These attributes so
essentially feminine constitute at once the source
OF her strength and of her weainess-of the popu-
fears with which she is impressed Women Of
such temperament pass easily from one extreme
to another. In some, "a youth of folly" subsidies
into IAN old age of cards" In others the change
is still more strongly marked, and rapid, and
mysterious. The very suddenness of the act of
transformation bewilders the imagination. The
woman who yesterday enjoyed life with a hearty
zest: who was the light and life of all circles in
which she moved; whose spirits were the most
Duoyant and irrepressible and whose laugh had
the merriest ring-all at once, and without any
visible premonitOn, forsakes the drawing roomand
the OPERA for the church and the confessional and
from the gayest of pleasure seekers becomes the
most rigid OF devotees. Such appears to be the
case, at this time, with the Empress EUGENE The
cares and exactions of Imperial State the troubles
of the Church to which she is ardenty attached:
the recent loss of her sister, the Duchess of Alba
all these things press heavily upon her, and. since
the death of her sister, have brought on a pro-
found religious melancholy, combined with hypo-
chondriacal symptoms. To those who suffer
under this frame Of mind, the courier is a much
more useful parsonage than The physician. Change
Oh scene, change of air, the hustle of travel, and
the quickening influence of novel associations
these are the remedies which have been found mos.
ehectual in such cases; and so the Empress has
been persuaded to give up her predictions for
mass and miserre and take brief tour. incog
""o, through some portions of Scotland. Why
more genial climate than that of Scotland was not
recommended by her advisers, seems TO have
puzzled the English journalists quite as much as
of her in,
"Isle,'' and the privacy which marked her en-
trance into and departure from London. Some
too, wondered why she should have undertaken
the journey at all; and for a moment, but for
moment only, scandal began, as usual, to connect
the name of the Emperor with that of the Countess
CAsTIGLIoNE. The English Court Journal was
among the first to state the impelling cause; and
the truth of that statement was speedily corrob-
GRATED from other sources. IF the fair naalae ina
g'1atre had gone 10 Italy, her appearance there
would have been ascribed to matters of State Pol
icy. In Spain she would scarcely have been well
come to the last of the Bourbon sovereigns, or to
the Oreanist party at that Court, which clusters
round the MoNTPENsIERs. The state of popular
feeling in Germany, as exhibited towards NApo
LEON ILL., scarcely admitted of her TRAVELLING in
tuat country WITHOUT running The risk OF being
subjected to annoyance. Switzerland is at issue
with France in relation to the once neurralized
districts of Savoy Where, then, could she 90 so
readily and with so perfect an assurance of cor
dial, yet respectful reception, as TO the old home
Of her ancestors, the KIRKPATRIcKs of Closeburn,
who emigrated from Scotland to Spain soon after
the expulsion of the STUART dynasty from the
throne of England? 1t may also be true that she
desired to consult an eminent physician of Edin
ourghi on the proper treatment to be pursued in
ner case Whether this be so or not, it is evident
tla' 'ne enthusiasm with which she was welcomed
by the ciiizens of The various towns through which
sne passed Oh her journey Northward; the cordial
desire expressed by the CITY Copncn Of Edin-
burgh that her sojourn in the Scottish con;to,
''mght conduce to her health and honn;aor, !,
and her subsequent visits to HOLLYWOOD ard Too,,
Levin Castle-the palace and the prison of M,nv
Queen of Scotts-and to Abbotsford and ,Io1ro.a
Abbey, have already produced a beneficial, efFao.
upon her spirits. Some surprise has been ex-
pressed that, on her arrival at London she did
not proceed at once to Windsor, or that some
official recognition Of her presence did not
take place. Respect for the mental depres.