The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1869-07-07

toE hxe nerves anu OFoOa nhuuiS5s
as One of society's Queens. 8
The Washington correspondent
Of the Cincinnati Commercial
writes:
A beautiful woman Is i besnti
fnl memory. Let her bury her
self in q nunnery, and we Will gos
alp about her still she is dead, il
we can only catch a glimpse of her.
cap and veil through the grating.
Sitting the other night in the
theatre, there was pointed ont to
me for the first time the, once ia.
nous and fashionable Adele Doug
las. the woman about whose beau
ties and graces the young ladies of
every city in the country beard
and talked; around whom, ten
years ago, polite society here cir
cled like an eddy. As I looked
toward the seat indicated by
q friend, / saw a woman dressed in
plain black, with a Roman matron
cast of face and head. still fine and
graceful-looking, with the full ten
years upon her celebrated beauty,
and suggesting. it only as faded
ribbon calls up a forgotten ro-
nance or a by. gone fashion. Not
observed more than the ordinary,
she sat there quietly, looking not
beyond the face of her husband for
the looks and smiles that in the old
time made her eyes the centre If
every assembly. The contrast of
the picture with the one in memo
ry recalle1 ! her rOmance-as real
and vivid a one as tho best out of
George Sand. .. ..
Your lady readers oftwenty-five
remember the name of her family
well enough. 1t was that of Cuts,
an old Southern stock here, that
! by the rule and grace of chivalry
was accounted good, though none
OF its members ever grew to much
wealth or prominence, and Adele's
father held for his lifetime moth
ing more than respectable posi-
tion in a government department
here. Her mothers family was
poor, and ran back for genera.
ii IN or two in the district. So the
daughters fortune, as the Spanish
say, was The dover Of beauty, and
not much besides. But this she
improved with grace and manners
and a tolerable education at the
Catholic Seminary in Georgetown,
and came out upon society here a
commanding courily. aired, con-
quering belle--the rarest thing ev.
er happens to girls born in Wash.
ington. She starred a year or two
as che was. Then, when hearts
enough had melted, and knees had
gone down like stubble before her
stateliness, the elegant and power
full Douglas bent too, ard she lifted
him up with her hand. The {" Little
aiant !" was the pet and the lion OF
the Senate, q prince in wealth and
power, and she was Of blood royal
by the gift of beauty. i.
| 1t was q coalition that Washing.
ton " High Lite " could not resist
so Adele Cuts became the elegant
Mrs. Douglas, the Douglas, the
| queen segnaate of society, the
glass OF fashion into which the
polite world locked for its
manners. Donglas and Breck
inridge, who qnarrelled during
their last days in the Senate, were
Damon and Pythias then, and
built side by side for their resi-
dences the splendid row Of build
ings in this city, since more famous
for the residence OF Grant, and
now Of Sherman. Mrs. Donglas
give her receptions there. To bs
admitted tO them was to be in com
pany ; to be secluded was not tG
be known. A waive of her dain
ty fan in those days might bav,
Condemned you from tile ton u
effectually as the patrician. Ro
man ladies turned the gladiator t.
death by their thnulbs. The queer
Of" Douglas Row !" made no pre-
tentioDs to wisdom or brilliahcy
but senators and foreign minister
have scarcely found since in th,
, gay capital q reception room o
graceful and attractive as hers
: She received everybody there, an,
! never . breath Of scandal blew ov
} or ber fair reputation. She wa
|. enviable. When she lay sick Il
, ! her luxurious home, the town va