Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-08-12

| point lace, more horses, more black
boys to bring her chocolate; and L
fancy even that the Contessa van Bien-
lschlagt-she had been a milliner's girl
Ia the Graben-was in the pay of Lord
%, and secretly advocating his
cause. i know that Monsieur Fessems-
thieu and La Ciccarina, the Contessa' s
maid, we're on extremely friendly
terms, and that La Ciccarina made her
appearance one festd day in a brand
new fame-colored taffety sack, and a
necklace and earrings of gsrnets en-
suite; while Lord O--'s pet monkey,
one of his Dutch pugs, and am afraid
several rouleaux of gold ducats, had
somehow found their way to the Con-
tessa Won Beinschlagt's apartments in
the Villa Fagotina. The Contesss had
no patience with his Serene Highness
for refusing the money. She told him
plainly, and to his wig, that he was an
ess. Have you no Italian astutenessf'
she inquired bitterly. Did your
Machiavelli write for nothing? Are
here no brnUi left in Tuscany? What
is easier than TO sell the statue to this
lord of beef and brandy. and then have
him quietly stabbed as he journeys to-
wards Leghorn with his purchase OF
course you will have clause inserted
in the contract, that in case of my
lords death the statue reverts TO you.
Capital advice; and this is the way In
which We are generally served when
we bribe people to advocate our inter
ests. The Grand Duke, however, was
an honorable potentate, and would
have stopped TO no such black business
as that suggested by the unscruplous
little Beinschlagt. She went to Eng
land subsequently, and ruined Sir Sam
som Aminadab, the great Hebrew
stock-iobber.
| Strange to relate, while the Grand
Duke Cosmo was thus stubbornly re-
fusing to lend his ear TO the charmers,
! charmed they never so wisely, he was
| himself the victim of an art-craZe in de-
gree as violent as that from which Lord
O. was suffering. That noble
man was accustomed to wear an
onXy-cameo ring, pietrd durd
most exquisItely incised with a figure
of Cupid; and this ring the sovereign
of Tuscany coveted almost as violently
as the English nobleman longed for
the Venus de- Medici. One morning
the Duke, Lord O., and the Mar
cheese Malespina, high chamb erlain of
the court we're in the gallery of the
Pitt together; aud the conversation,
as usual, ran on the Venus and Milor-
dos unacceptable offer forit. Sudden
ly Lord O. seemed, by the express
sion of lis countenance, to have ar
rived at some decisive resolution. He
folded his arms, drew back step,
mado deep reverence to the Grand
Duke, and said:
'HIghness, ] see your determination
is uushakable. l am vaIquished, |
abnn on the game; but l will not retire
from the field without honor. Ipledge
You nv word that | will never again
pledge my mercenary proposals on you
if your highness will grant me one
favor
1T is granted before it is asked, my
lord. You have but to mention it to
obtain it.
Il do not, Lord O. pursued with
deliberatiou, wish to rob your High
ness OF your chef-d'0UUre; nay. as
leave Florence tomorrow morning it,
is probable that | shall never see her
lagain. That which | solicit Is the per-
mission to marry the Venus de Me-
dici
Marry herr the Grand Duke re-
peated, with look of blank astonish-
ment.
Marry herr eJaculsted the Marchese
Alalespina, thinking that the Mllordo
Inglese was going mad.
'Ay, marry her, reiterated the Earl
of O..
Well, returned the Grand Duke,
laughing, you can if she will let you;
but unless there is any truth in the
fable of Pygmalion, 1 don't see how
matrimony with marble statue, under
the circumstances, Is practicable
j can assure your highness, went
on Lord O., that the act is perfect
ly feasible, If you Will allow me to per-
form il in the manner customary to my
own country.
lpIIed, quite convinced by this time that
the Gran Milordo had taken leave of
his senses.
The Earl of O. looked tixedly at
the prince, stepped forward, drew from
his finger the famous onyx ring with
the cameo of Cupid, and bending low
before the statue, cried In a voice
trembling with affection:
with this body thee worship, with
this ring ! thee we'd and as he pro-
| Illt lhEb NOIu Hb Dlhttu IIt
ring on the third finger of egoddess's s
left hand. Then, with look of bound
less love for the statue, and another
profound inclination towards the
Grand Duke CosmO, he quilted the
presence.
The Cengs de- Msdici ,OaS mar
ried.
The GiorpaIe Eacyclopedico goes
on to say, that it is well known that
one Of the fingers on the left hand OF
the Venue de- Medici has been sup
piled by n modern artist, and accounts
for tins circumstance by the staten ent,
that after the departure of the Earl of
% Che left Florence on the day
following his marriage, and never re-
turned , the ring was So firmly Jammed
on AphrodIte's finger that it was I'M
Ipossible to remove it. The GiOTHdLe
farther asserts that the ringed finger
remained intact until the eve of the re-
ImovaI of the Venus de- Medici to Paris,
by order of Napoleon, after the revolu-
tiOnarv wars: when some enthusiastic
FlOIentlne managed to slip in to the
Tribune jealously guarded as 1t was
by French troops, and TO break off the
lgemmed digit: thus It was in an un-
married condition, so far as outward
lsymbolism went, that the Venus ar
rived at the Louvre. new finger
was found for her; but what became of
the one carved by Praxiteles was never
Known. As regards the ring, a gem
answering to its description, and ap-
pended to a tiny gold chain, is still to
be seen in the Gabinetto di Cristallo IN
the Pitt; but none of these accounts
tally, first, with the ascertained fact
that both hands of tine Venus are
modern, or at least of date long pos
terror to the time of Praxiteles.
The street IA lways of Paris are under
the Government control and the rules
for their guidance are very strict.
Oniy four passengers are allowed to
! sianl In the L.ck MAI firm and fhay