, 1861-03-02
Imperial Skating In parfs.

-
lady correspondent Of the Aae.a-C CaeeE
f'Fsss, In recent letter from Paris, gives the
following description of skating party to
which she WIS invited:
skntng Is I'll the rage, you know, in Eu-
rope, and the PaTisians hare used If, as they do
everything, ia the most charming manner.
Inc winter Is very favorable, having been 30
very cold. The party had an inyftation to
Was on, little artificial lake, made over a
meadow in the midst Of a wood, md al In
closed, 80 that cards Of invitation were iesued.
Through the courtesy Of Mr.. Faulkner, our
Minister, We were all invited When We a.
I1sed On the gronnd-what blunder mean
tne lce-fhe scene presented is quite beFond
my powers oi description The tall trees sur
rounding the lake stood each one like rigan-
TIC candelah1a, sholding its hundreds of many-
Tinted lights. Stands upon the Ice were erect
ed, aud shone gorgeous in eol3red flame Fire
#orks On every side made the ice glitter, while
exquisite music made Of the whole q fairy
scene.
nAstened On With my skates, for had net
learned the art for nothing. For, you must
kroW, that although the ics was covered with
people, good skaters we're rare. Skating Ia not
thing that comes by inspiration, as you and
I, recollectipg our sore bones, can well testifv
an expert Slater created sensation, especial
y Mdy- can skate, and on this occasion
was proud OF my accomplishments I darted
otf, feeling perfectly at home, and shot swirl
along, around and through the groups Of a.
toni5hed people, followed BY poor -, who
was not quite SO easy on runners.
had not been long at this before yas
joined BY an ugly little fellow with y hig nose
and huge moustache, waxod into 1wo hnTs
mat actually made him look hideous. Reaides
thls he skated aWkWardly, with a conerit IN y
that made him anything but fascinating. The
iaaiia aannsr N which ne s6ated by my side and
looked a. Ind expressed his edI1iration OF nv
skating, made me think him imprrt{uent
looked around, and to my wonder. nv comnan-
ion had hla cap of with an humble deferential
expression In his face, really laughable I IA
not laugh, however, Tor he came close tn ne
and said ln au uadertone t'that's tie Emnes
roF." VIII you believe it, had been gucn ;,
goose Is to suppose that all the attention orI
admiration exhibited On every side was due to
my graceful performances. The fact was nv
might have taken all this to hin.
toes a better look Mt this renovned rar-
soaagc, and was struck with his gery .41n,TEa-
ole appearance fou will laugh g. ue. am
sAIe, ou5 thas 'mpro1nptn companion Of mine
appeared to me, after I came to know h;1n
better, one OF the most striking men i ear
saw. You rem5m;.er how handsome va con-
sideFed young Booth in "Richard fhe ThirJ'f y
- Tlth his crooked legs and bumped back. Il
[he same way think the E:nneror handsome
= = e'v. Me eAPsAa tnis, put yon will understand
T. T. ms discovery ruined my skating. I was
really + embarrassed, and in trying to overcome
u. nom made matters worse. In attempting to run
alopna nc "sledse' with lady in it, T caught
ng loot In the side Of it, and fell over on fhe
, ee, spraintng my ankle, and getting a jolt
aaaE asm ! thought had killed me- The Emperor
'aledge" stepped lastly = out and assisted me
% rise; could not stand and indeed nearly
alnteq from the excessive pain was suffer
ng; / was helped into this sIedge, too div
md u to know what was going Oh, although i
heard many Kind c1clamations from the crowd
lronnd me. learned afterwards that the lady
1ho offered her assistance was the Empress.
md suppose I ought to suffer this pain aud
ut home cheerlully after having
aad the honor Of skating with the Emperor
nd d, being assisted by the Empress.
The only solrow I have is, that did not ,,et
peter look at the Empress herself. / Am
old mat on this occasion she appeared post
lVeiy radiant in blue pelisse trimmed with
rmlne, and most bewitching blue velvet cap |
nclrcled BY white plume.