National Republican., 1883-08-16
Tho French Capital AgOg at a Real Queen
Who She is and Where She Lives.
Christine Of Spain Pays Paris a Fly
ing Visit.
The Things They Did 10 Entertain Her at Versailles
and Elsewhere
Her Majesty's Appenrnnce-Notes OF the
Opera and the Theatcrs.
Special Letter.

Marie Christine, Spain's regina, is pretty
little woman with a very Austrian look and
decided will of her own. When she an
nounced her intention of quitting the realm
on u visit home, to tho baths, or something
similar, the king yielded. Wiseacres know
the why and wherefore, and tho busy tongue
of scandal wagged numerically.
1t was said that Alfonso XII had found
other smiles agreeable, and that since he had
taken his second spouse the charms of even
third divinity had caused his heart TO beat
most fercely. These rumors have now all
been set at rest. No one believes them. |
never did, and merely repeated them so that
there could be no mistake as to what had
been said.
Ono fine day the queen set forth, taking her
two babies II permit myself to call them
babies because they are babies), and after n
pleasant sojourn at Marienbad, her majesty
arrived in Paris with the two royal infants,
all in good health and fine spirits.
The personnel of the embassy Spanish, of
course) met her majesty at the station. All
of the distinguished of the colony wore on tho
platform, aud the august lady had welcome
and smile for all. She is very much liked,
and not at all disapproved of because she has
o will of her own.
There has been some attention paid the
lady. President Grevy called ut the embassy,
where the queen is stopping, and his
visit lasted five minutes; quite long enough,
l should think. Yesterday her majesty paid
q visit to Versailles. Is it strange that Marie
Antoinette, petite mere" wished to see the
palace where her fated ancestors used to
reign? The royal party left Paris at 2
o'clock, the Duke and Ouch ess of Fernan-
Nunez and the Duchess dc Medina-Sidonia
occupying the carriage of her majesty. They
were received at the palace by colonel con =
servative, and the fair Austrian spent the
whole of the afternoon going over the pal
ace and walking in the gardens.
OF course you know Versailles? The big"
and Little Trianon," the orangerv, aud the
superb structure known as the palace of
Versailles" the Grand Trianon, where Nine.
de Maritenon smiled upon her royal lover;
the Petit Trianon, where Madame. du Barry
performed a similar ohiCe; the small Swiss
cottage, where Marie Antoinette used to 60
to drink milk; and SO on. And in short, if
you know Versailles you will remember these
things with the thousand details which go
toward making this small city one of the
most interesting in the world.
Well Queen Marie Christine walked
through the orangery. She looked at every
thing, she inhaled the odor of the myriads of
flowers, but no one dreamed of Offering her
one. l presume her thoughts were farther
away than the immediate present-away with
q fairer blossom which once came to blend its
perfume with the roses and lilies of France !;
with fairer flower given by her country to
this ungrateful one who so little knew how
to cherish it; of the fairest flower whose
head was ever offered to the people of France
broken from its stem, spurned by the guillo-
tine, dying in ignominious misery, yet per-
fuming history's page with one clean odor
from out that awful pestilence, 81 the reign of
terror"
So Marie Christine thought of her ances-
tors. She looked at the little table where she
used to sit; she got into her sedan chair she
passed through the little cottage where she
had-did some one say-"made butter?" 1t
may be true and it may be poetic, SO we will
say "where she had made butter" Then she
returned again to the sleeping room of the
fair martyr.
This chamber is especially interesting.
Three Maries have occupied it-Marie Te-
resa, queen of Louis XIV; Marie Leezinsca,
Louis &Vth's consort, and lastly the unfor-
tunate Marie Antoinette, with her no less
wretched husband, Louis XVI. 1t was in
this room the Duchess d dAngouleme was born
and here on the night of October 8, 1879, that
her royal mother was sleeping when the mob
burst into the palace.
You may divine that Queen Christine was
bit saddened by her visit, still she took a
mournful pleasure in looking at every souve-
nir,and that with the most profound attention
She even went to the stables and looked at
the state coaches, now faded and.unused-
dead, tarnshed debris Of the vanished past
The queen came back to Paris in silence.
She dined at the embassy with select COM
pany, and mt o'clock her majesty was en-
route for Spain pleased with her holiday
even queens need holidays-pleased with
Paris, yet still more pleased to return home
She will see her mama-in-law, eX-Queen
Isabella, who is at present enjoying tho de-
lights of her native land after SO long an exile.
Count de Sanaf, one of the chamberlains at
1sabella's palace in Paris, had been daily on
duty with Marie Christine. He is n most
amiable man, and, like most Spaniards, is
frankness itself. They always say everything
they think He (the COUNT was delegated to
accompany her ex-majesty to Spain. He once
said
"He took her to Spain for five months.
Nom Dieu with his Spanish hard sounding
OF the consonant) the king wills it. She is
too good, Queen Isabella She spends too
much money. She gives away everything; and
also what she does not spend she gives away.
And what money she gets she spends, and
what she cannot spend she runs into debt
fOr-only SO she gets it," Ut dimly dawned
upon me just then that things were rather
complicated.) but ii comes to the same thing.
The Queen Isabella is too good and-and now
she must leave Paris for time. She is as
innocent and naive US a child, and with all
that manages to never have son, so she must
now retrench and live in palace in Spain"
Not very hard lines | wouldn't mind a
palace in Spain myself
Count Sanaf is faithful servant to the
house of Bourbon. He is very fond of
Americans, and many is the invitation that
he has ordered sent to my compatriots from
Hotel Basilewski, Isabella's palace, in Avenue
Roi dc Rome. Every season he goes to AK.
les Bains, whore he makes himself very
agreeable and washes out imaginary lumba-
goes in the famous baths. Nice people, those
Spaniards-as race, not meddling as in
diyiduals quite charming.
The arrangements for the Italian opera
season are quite completed Massonets grand
new opera, "Herodlade," will be given, with
Mime. Fides Devries as Salomi. This is the
greatest triumph of all to have engaged
Devries. She sang at the Grand Opera inn
mediately after Nilsson being the only one
have ever heard who came next to that great
artist as "Ophelia," She is a Belgian, and
ON marrying NJ. Adler one Of the first French
dentists in Paris, she retired from the stage.
Iu vain did all managers try to re-engage her.
Young, fair, and charming, she Withdrew from
public life at the very moment when she was
most needed
She is one Of tho finest singers | ever heard,
Her voice has only one disagreeuble quality
a tremulo, or "chervotte" as they say here, but
which IS not always prominent She is slen-
der, tall, graceful, not unlike Ellen Terry in
physique, u perfect musician, and possessing
decided dramatic talent. She has positively
decided to return to the stage, but Italian, not
French, opera is her choice.
This is the cast for " Herodiado," which
looks very splendid. 1t will be performed in