The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 1, July 1843Various
General
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 1, July 1843
Various
Periodicals
GOSSIP FROM AN AMERICAN LADY IN PARIS.--We derive the subjoined
pleasant gossip from a young and gifted American lady, at present
resident in the French metropolis. We hope to be similarly favored,
whenever our fair correspondent shall find leisure from the demands
of society to transcribe her fresh 'jottings-down' for our pages:
'WE went to the Hotel des Invalides this morning to see the plans
in relief of the fortified towns of France. They are exhibited to
the public only during one month in the year. The plans of those
cities I have visited interested me particularly. They are so
minute that Miss L----, who accompanied us, had no difficulty in
finding the country-house near Toulon where she spent some months
last year. I was much struck by the plan of Embrun, in Dauphiny,
that little town celebrated in both history and romance by the
pilgrimages so frequently made to it by devout Catholics. It is
strongly fortified and built on a rock of semi-circular form, which
rises so perpendicularly on one side from the meadows which lie
below, that one would suppose it must have been hewn away by the
hand of man. I was much interested, too, by the plan of Mont St.
Michel, in Normandy, the celebrated prison, built on a rock, which
the tide separates twice a day from the main land, and where the
political prisoners condemned after the _émeuté_, in May, 1839, are
confined. We were looking at the plan of a fort, on the pedestal
of which the name had not been labelled as on the others, when a
soldier standing near informed us it was that of Ham, where the
nephew of NAPOLEON is now a prisoner. It is in Picardy, which I am
told is the most arid and unfruitful province in France. It is built
around a quadrangular court, or I should rather say there are three
buildings and a terrace which form a hollow square. The prince, who
is said to be a remarkably good horseman, is allowed to ride on
this terrace, which is not shaded by trees; indeed, if this plan
be correct, which I suppose it must be, as it has just been made,
there is but one tree within the precincts of the fortress.... In
the evening, my friend, Madame D---- took me to the house of the
Polish Princess CZARTORYSKI. Prince ADAM CZARTORYSKI is from his
birth, his wealth, and his character, one of the most illustrious of
the Polish refugees. His life has been checkered by every extreme of
good or ill. In early youth, he served in the army of the republic
of Poland. He was at one time the captive of CATHERINE II., and in
1831 was at the head of the provisional government of Poland. After
the total defeat of the Polish army, Prince and Princess CZARTORYSKI
with some difficulty made their escape, with their three children,
the youngest of whom was not a year old. The Princess had not even a
change of linen with her, and no time to collect her jewels, which
were brought to her after she had reached the Austrian frontier, by
a soldier, whom she had never seen before, and who refused to tell
his name.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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