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OUR FRENCH CORRESPONDENT. 121
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
,..: ¦ . I ' • ¦ — -?— ¦ Paris, March 19...
liotel In the Rue _Barbet for a fete dramaiique . The request was no sooner made than granted ; and tickets of admission made out and
disposed of with such astonishing rapidity , that , although they sold to gentlemen , or to ladies desiring a reserved seat , for twenty-five
francs , and to all ladies choosing a more uncomfortable or less conspicuous place fifteen francsit was judged necessary to have three
, representations in the course of the same week . The scenic arrangements were confided to the Prince de Beauvais ; and the distribution of
_r 6 les \> o a sister of General Goyon and Prince Albert de Broglie . Under their auspices , Princesses , Countesses , and the reigning belles of the
Quartier St . Germains were transformed into grisettes , dairymaids , confidants , or af & icted heroines , and a vast salon on the
groundfioor , generally used as a reception-room , into a salle de spectacle . This room is usually called la grande nef 9 on account of its vaulted
ceiling and great painted window of stained glass resembling the window of a Cathedral . A curtain of blue velvetand a line of
, reflectors partly concealed under a grove of flowers , separated the stage from three or four rows of fauteidls covered with blue
embroidered velvet ; they were reserved for the ladies who had paid the twenty-five francs a piece . A temporary gallery ran behind
this parterre , which was resplendent with the bouquets , diamonds , and precious stones of its occupants . In the gallery , the ladies who
did not contribute more than fifteen francs sat on tabourets or forms , while the gentlemen stood behind—no matter what sum they
might have given at the door . They also were placed upon a spiral Gothic staircasewhich connects the grand salon of Madame
, MayendorfF ' s rez de Chaussee with a billiard-room above , which was for the occasion converted into a refreshment-room , where ices were
sold for ten francs each . The plays selected for the first evening were three short comedies . The precedence was given to & Ermitage , _Tby
Octave Feuillet ; Tine Distraction , by Jules Barbier , succeeded ; and _ISHonneur est satisfaitby Alexandra Dumaswas the third . The
actors and actresses , althoug _, h amateurs , played , their parts with as much cleverness and vivacity as the same rdles are acted by M .
Samson , or Mdlle . Brohan of the TMdtre _JFrangais . Among them were the Princess of Beauvais , the Duchess of Istria , the Countess
de Lowenthal _, Baroness Assailly , a magnificent beauty of the Creole typethe Marquis de CalviereCount LawcestineCount Henri de
Pleurien " , , ital M . . ' de The Montesquieu orchestra , , was and directed several b other Prince , celebrities _Poniatowsld of the ;
and gay the cap chorus , composed of the children who y sing in the Russian churchunder the direction of that genius in the art of imparting
musical , instruction , M . Arraand Cheve . The series of theatrical representations in the Hotel Mayendorff commenced on a Sunday
evening ; the lady who got them up probably thinking , that " the better the day the "better the deed . " The second was on the night
of the following Tuesday . It commenced at nine o ' clock , and did not terminate till half-past twelve ; and the number _demanding
voi ,. ix . k
Our French Correspondent. 121
OUR FRENCH CORRESPONDENT . 121
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1862, page 121, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041862/page/49/
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