Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-04-24
JULIA MAGRBEs&R DRAWS A CssAEM-
ENG PORTRAIT.

"If ! were asked to say whom l consid-
cred the most odious, vulgar and obnoxious
woman of contemporary times should
without hesitation, name Amelie Rives. "
II was Mrs. Chanler herself who uttered
these words, in tones of the strongest con-
viction, and they were prompted by news
paper paragraph which, In an unwary mo-
ment. she had chanced to read. As rule
she reads no newspa GERS, and has therefore
seen only very smaIl proportion of the
notices of her which have recently flooded
the press. Indeed, SO numerous have these
been that am rel1c to add another to
the list aud culy ind uced to do SO by the
hope that the public, which has listened to
SO much that is ahso iuteiy false and with
out authority OF any kind, will give audi
enoe, on the other hand, to the voice of an
intimate personal frisnd.
/ shonld prefer TO avoid this declaration
here, since IT may iu7e an appearance OF
partisanship, but it .seems the only way OF
presenting the matter in such guise as to
lay some claim to credeDce after the mon
strous misst tatements aud fabrications a.
ready published anonymously.
Annette Rives' life at her old Virginia
home, Castle Hill, is so far out of the
world, SO quiet, so secluded, that it has
been impossible for the papers to gain much
knowledge of her, and therefore, as her lit,
erary success has made her an object of in
terest to the public, The demand for iGfOr-
nation concerning her has beer supplied
by the most absolutely foundationless
stories that sensatio. al Imagination could
supply.
It would be impossible, as we'll as use
less, to enumerate tbem-the digitated
shoes, the hair festooDed under thechin, the
visitor received at midnight in a brilliantly
lighted tent on the lawn, the dispensing OF
Christmar present to the negroes from an
OK cart, the playing he part of Elaine in a
boat on the New Eogland coast "a place
she had never seem, her purported engage
ment and definitely arranged marriage to a
Bostonisn (whose name even she had never
heard), and worst of all the shocking and
sensational stories Of her confirmation
these are but few EFF the current reports
about Amelie Rises, not one of which has
the shadow of foundation except the fact
that she was confirmed. A simpler or more
solemn ceremony could scarcely be imagin
ed. 1t took place at home, only because
Miss Rives was too i'll to go to church, and
she was dressed 10 white because she
thought it usual and appropriate for such a
service. These two facts are the only
parts Of the story, as current, that are not
fabricat ions.
But il. is not the purpose of this briei
notice tt, attempt the useless task of 1efut
ing thes innumerable falsehoods. By the
time it is published its subject will have
sailed " 18th her husband for Europe, anG
mine W ould be grateful work indeed if
succeeded in presenting her to the minds
of her countrymen in little fairer light al
the moment of her leaving America for 6
prolonged absence.
now SHE LOOKS AND DRESSES.
A stranger meeting Amelie Rives would
probably be impressed first by her girlish
ness and next by her ack of self conscious
ness Gt seems proper here to ignore ths
matter of her personal appearance, though
it takes an effort to do iD, then a certain
shyness or reserve, which might easily pass
for coldness, would be apparent, aud unless
he were SO fortunate rs to stir the quict
fire of her sympathy by an appeal to he
ardent goodness of heart or so clever as &
beguile her into earnest talk IN some sub
ject of deep interest to her, be might lesgi
her presence without having fouod her diff
ferent from other well born, we'll bret
Southern girls. If he expected her to d.
any eccentric or bizarre things, such a