The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1896-02-22
PRINCESS METTERNICH.
She Copied the Manners of the Music
Halls.

h Copied the Manners of the Music
Halls.
In the Princess Metternich was an
inexpl!cable mixture of innate high
breeding and acquired tastes Of lower
degree. When she appeared in society,
at her very entrance there could be
no mistake; from head to foot she was
the high-born lady - the "grande
dame" Yet she had an extraordinary
inclination for walking on the edges
of moral quagmires, and peeping into
them, with n proud conviction hat her
foot could never slip. There are sto-
ries of her ~imprudent adventures: but
she escaped unsCathed. and had no
other motive in seeking them than
Curiosity-foolish, morbid curiosity
as to Tcoplc and matters which should
never have been ever mentioned in her
presence. She acted with a degree of
rashncss and folly which would have
ruined most oUIcn Yet no n ever
really attacked her r"putation; all al
lowed that, according 10 the expression
OF a lady of the court, she had never
crossed the Rubicon."
Notwithstanding all her folIics. tho
Princess Mettcrnich was far from be,
ing silly; on the contrary. She had on
siderable wit and great sharpness of
repartec. AS she did not cav" for any
thing she said. her rctOrts were often
very clever and amusing. but too free
to be easily repeated. She delighted
in singing songs from music halls and
inferior theaters. Naughty rs she was,
she invited TO her dinner table a singer.
Of e%quivocal celebrity at that time,
whom no one else would have Jared
to receive; and even took lessonsfrom
her. so as to sing her songs will duly
pointed emphasis.
The mischief done by the eNmple
of Princess Metternich is Undesirable.
She threw down the barrier which hitn
erto had separated respectable women
from those who were not, aud I'd the
way to n liberty of speech and liberty
of action which were unknown lefore.
She was much attached to her husband,
and, in essentials, was n good wife;
others less ~fayorably situated my not
lANC tSIG JCh dS liz tlu lIOiIl TIC IdL-
uTpl consequences of looking tooclose-
ly over the frontier of the Dehtable
Land. 1t is not unlikely that he ex-
cessivo pride OF the Princess Aetter-
Mich may have led her to imagie that
in Paris she might do anything with
out compromising her dignity For
instance. she vas intimate within lady
who. although received everywhere in
Partisan society. did not sePmto be
sufficiently her equal in rank to kcome
her friend. To a remark on tn SUBJ
ject she carelessly answered: "Oh,
it is all very well here; of cOrse l
could not see her in Vienna"
She is reported to have made more
impertinent speech while On a isit at
Compiegne. The short. loOed-up
skirts were just beginning to beVvorn;
the empress had Lot yet adopte' them,
and the Princess Metternich hid been
d Iging her to do so. against the,pinion
OF her ladies'. When the emprss left
tile room one of the ladies inyaiting
said to the princess: "Woull gu give
the same advice TO your emprss?"
"Oh, no." replied the princes; but
the case is quite Observation-Disclosures
Elizabeth is a real empress"
l have no positive informalo as to
the absolute reliability of tbs report;
but it is not unlike the style I Princess
Metternich, and was currntly re-
peated.
On another occasion at tompiegne,
in the presence of the emress, on a
rainy day which had bright soma
dullness into the circle. Process Met
ternich, by way of diversiC, suddenly
seized one of the ladies i waiting,
tripped her up in schooDoy fashion
and laid her fiat on herback, pros
trate on the floor. This ws told to me
by an eyewitness of the Gene, which
shocked everyone present, nd the more
sc because the victim chosn (Comtesse
de NJ was ~particulrly ladylike,
quiet and neutrality-suspicious. L. Bick-
nall in Tap4urv