Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1873-10-04
MADRID.
The City and its Parks.

The City and its Parks.
The climate OF Madrid is such that
il has become a household word all
over Europe. "As hot as Madrid"
AS cold as Madrid" Alexandra Du-
mas says in his "Esquisses d'Espagne::"
For the meanest climate on earth,
recommend me to Madrid" and Al
phonce de Lamartine speaks of the
"horrors of Madrilene heat and the
distressing chills of Ma0rilene cold.
Nevertheless, You must not talk to
true childof Madrid about all this. For,
if ever people passionately loved their
native city, it is the Madrilenos. The
Napolitans invite strangers to see their
incOmparably beautiful city, and then
die: the Viennese talk and sing about
there being but one imperial city, and
that the one on the banks of the beauti-
full blue Danube. The Russians say
that Moscow is holy, and that st. Pc
tersburg is the city of palaces. The
Swede calls his Stockholm the Venice
of the north, and the Germans point
with the greatest pride to the magnifi-
cent city of Berlin. The Saxons may
we'll boast of their beautiful city of Dres-
den, which is, as they call it, the second
home of all Americans. But what is all
this in comparison with the extravsgant
praises bestowed by the people of Ma
drid upon their beloved city? Accord
ing to them, who has ever seen q more
magnificent metropolis than theirs?
Who has ever feasted his eyes on more
magnificent marble palace than the Al
cazar? Who has ever seen finer galle-
ries than those of the museum? Who
has ever sauntered up and down more
splendid avenue than the Puerta del
Sol? Who, finally, has ever recreated
himself better in any public garden
than in the parks of Madrid? Yes, the
parks of Madrid. There are three of
these public walks, the famous Prado,
nearly two miles in length, from north
to south, on the eastern outskirts of the
city, with superb and regular rows of
trees and several fountains of surpass-
ing beauty the Pasos de las Delicias,
along the banks of the Manzanares, on
the west side of the city, and the Buen
Retro gardens TO the east, beyond the
Prado. Without these three gardens,
it is safe to assert, life in Madrid would
almost he intolerable; and none of the
monarchs of the unfortunate Iberian
peninsula not even those who seemed to
take a special delight in depressing
their people, ever ventured to interfere
with the inhabitants of Madrid enjoy
ing themselves in their peculiar manner
in these three public resorts. But these
gardens you must never visit in the day
time. Then everything looks deserted,
the trees and plants hang their leaves
under the depressing influence Of pitt
less sun the very grass on the lawns
looks yellow and dropping, and in the
ponds the water, receding as it is al
ways, is covered with a green film, in
dicative of sluggishness and dBgnatiOn.
Pedestrians you do not meeo a1ywhere !;
only now and then a lazy waiter lOlling
in front of a restaurant, whom you must
call five times before he will answer you
with 81, SenOr!" At the end of a
fifteen minutes walk, you will ask your.
self in surprise, "Is this the famous
Prado?" He who would dare to CON-
pare it with the Partisan Bois de Bou-
logne, with Hyde Park in London, the
Prater in Vienna, or the Thiergarten in
Berlin, would absolutely appear to you
an idiot. But wait until the bells of
the innumerable churches of Madrid
have ruug their vespers, and wait until
the fiery sun has sunk behind the bleak
crests of the Sierra Guadarama, and
until the myriads of stars, with wonder
full clearness, sparkle in the deep-blue
southern sky, wait until then, and you
will find q new, a most enchanting and
fascinating life in the Prado. The balmy
Right air seems to infuse fresh vitality
into the sluggish blood of the hidalgos.
They hasten to their beloved park, and
lou9 before 9 O'Clock it is thronged with
the beauty and fashion Of the capital.
Poets have often sung of the charms OF
the fair daughters of Madrid. If you
want to admire them in all their sur
passing grace, if you want to bask your
ewes in the dark depths of orbs lustrous
and unfathomable, and srched with
MAGNIFICENT brows, Just saunter through
those alleys of the Prado, and look and
listen, such sylph-like forms, such
faultless contours, such sweet accents
of one of the noblest tongues that Pro
yideuce has given to mankind! But do
not believe that only the aristocracy OF
Madrid is to be found of evenings IN
the dark, delightful recesses OF the
Prado. The plebeians are there like
wise, and the beautiful and character
istic costumes of the working girls, who
still adhere &c TIE mantilla and the
rebozo, lend q spec;Af charm 50 the ami.
mated scene, e1, o the delights OF
the gre ~ No city In the world
!. II No ate of water than Madrid
Z ,anl bnres of catching and sail
nOun 10 the Madrilenos. 1t
=. pirror.liks surface of the
- lado that they -