Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-09-19
A ROYAL C0URTSHIP.
Gossip About the Approaching Mar
riage of the kiug of Spain...The
Oueen's Personal Attractions,

A Paris letter says: The Spanlards
will soon have the qualification of hav-
ing another young and very beautiful
queen. A diplomat of eminence tells
me that the match between their king
and the Archduchess Christina is as
good as settled. The young lady holds
out little both from pique ard inter
es.. Mercedes was preferred to her by
Alphonso, who had known her very
we'll whilea student at Vienna, and the
settlement his ministers propose to
make on her is not so advantageous as
the royal house of Austria would de-
sire. Hence the postponement of any
final arrangement until a meeting be-
tween the king and archduchess has
taken place. The Spanish monarchs
heart is easily drawn to amorousness;
and when he is in love he allows no OBJ.
stacle to stand in the way of his pas
sion. 1t was deemed in the highest de-
gree probable that he would be subju-
gated hy the charms of the princess
who is offered to him as consort, in
which case he would override the
economical proposals Of his advisers.
The Archduchess Christina, who has by
this time received at Arcachon visit
from Alphonso, is tall and elegantly
formed. She is bold and very grace
full horsewoman, an excellent musician,
speaks many foreign languages, and
has fine flow of animal spirits. Her
mother is a sister of the queen Of the
Belgians, and was brought up in Hun
gary pretty much rs though she had
been a young archduke. There is
something of the holden in her daugh-
from the Archduke Charles, the mill
tary competitor of the first Napoleon.
Queen Isabella, to facilitate this match,
which she favored in the early part of
her sons reign, has offered to transfer
to his future consort the Jewels remain
ing in her possession. They are of very
great value, and should the illustrious
pair be elected from Spain by a revo-
luton, would suffice to maintain them
with dignity.
The wedding festivities, shauld no
slip occur between the cup of matri-
monial happiness and the kings lip,
will take place at Barcelona. That city
is hotbed of republican agitation, and
it is felt polite to conciliate il and to
gain by tlattery and courtly flyors the
wealthy manufacturers and merchants
who affect advanced liberalism. Besides,
the recollection OF Mercedes, her brief
happiness and of the undying attach
lnent vowed to her by her young hus-
band, is still fresh 1T Madrid. The pop
ulation there took a fancy to their dark
eyed little Spanish queen She was Il
born inflnta, loved TO wear the man
tila, and looked her best in it. Her
name was thought to he Of good
auguary, and her death took place
under peculiar circumstances. There
was a suspicion abroad, which has not
been dlspelled, that She fell a victim to
poison, and that the poisoner was an
lsabellist. The exqueen, it ls known,
WAS bitterly hostile to the marriage of
her son and Don Antonio's daughter,
and actively promoted u match with the
Austrian archduchess. The latter prin-
cess, it is to be apprehended, would suf
fer IN the popular estimation by com
parison with Mercedes, on her wedding
day, and it is felt that the legend of the
deceased queen consort might predis-
pose against her the unreilecting peo-
pile of Madrid. She is not therefore to
accept the crown matrimonial III the
Church of the Atocha bat in that of st.
Eulalio, of Barcelona, and to drive in
pomp through the streets ofthe Spanish
Liverpool. 1t isl pity that she bears
the name Of CIR stina, which beyond
the Pyreuees is associated with mean,
grasping seliishness, low intrigue, con
tempt Of public duties, spurious LIBERAL
ISM, barrack government, and the vile
affair Of the Spanish marriages. There
| is in mn uneducated nation good
deal of power 10 irritate or to charm III
a name. Queen Isabella was alive TO
this fact when She called the princess
of Austria after herself and the pa
troness of Christopher Columbus, her
son after the legendary king, Alphon8o,
and her daughters Pillar, Paz and
Eualie, after two madonnas and saint
held in the most profound veneration
III the Carlist provinces.
Arcachon, where the king and coming
| queen Of Spain are 10 spend brief
period of courtship, is u mushroom
/ town run up by the brothers Pereire
aud other spectators some eighteen or
! twenty years ago, among pine woods
and sand hills on il sheltered saltwater
lake or hay, in the Gulf of Gascony.
The mir there is aromatized by the
balsamic emanations from the pine
trees, is hot, dry and very exciting.
Lymphatic children, or young people
going there, find their faculties notably
stimulated. This atmospheric condition
will be the disadvantage of the Spanish
exchequer, we may assume. Though
certainly not more than score OF years
III existence, Arcachon has already an
old, wriukled face. II is q town Of
fancy villas, constructed ofthe flimsiest
materials and the most fantastic style
Of architecture, without the merit
almost anywhere Of being original.
There is y strong flavor of that piece Of
cockney Orientalsm, the Brighton
pavilion, ii this south-ol-Francc sani-
larum. Cardboard limitations vi In
dian pagodas, of Persian and Turkish
kiosks, Of Chinese joss.houses are
spread about for several miles on the
s,,,J a,I aa1b 1f tIaSn aIiIipna ap1S