FORTUNE-TELLING IN PARIS.

Timaru Herald, Volume II, Issue 63, 29 July 1865, Page 7

FORTUNE-TELLING IN PARIS.

{From the Correspondent of the Nelson Examiner] I think I must detail to you some of the strange anecdotes that are now current about the favourite fortune-teller who figured m my last : — A still more curious result of the vaticinations of the augur of Rue Blanche, is the recent marriage of a British functionary of the highest diplomatic rank, who must here be nameless. But I must begin the story at the right 6nd by saying that a widow lady, English, of good family, but exceeding poor, so much so that she was sadly puzzled how to bring up her nine fatherless children, only kept from actual want by frequent help from her own relatives, was staying m this city, not many hundred years ago, on her way to Naples, where .she had been invited by a married sister to spend the winter. Mrs. L with her nine children (for the wealthy sister had begged her to bring them all with her) was feeling rather depressed and anxious m view of her pecuniary troubles ; and vainly longing for some practicable opening that should give her a chance of making herself in-, dependent of the kindness of her relations. One day she chanced to hear some friends discussing the powers of Edmond, some declaring the famous fortune-teller to be a "humbug," while others maintained that he really possessed the gift of second sight. " I will go and consult him," said Mrs. L - -- , to herself ; "if he should predict anything fortunate for me, it would be a positive pleasure to hear him say it, even if nothing came of it ; and, at all events, such a visit would be very amusing." A day or two afterwards, Mrs. L carried out her intentions of visiting the sorcerer. The latter (as I learn from intimate friends of the lady, from whom I have the story), after greatly exciting Mrs. L 's curiosity, and astonishing her by the perfect correctness with which he described her past life and her present position, went on to speak of her future.

"Keep up your courage," said the velvetTobed oracle, " your troubles and anxieties will soon T>e brought to an end, by a most brilliant and happy marriage. And you will receive on your wedding-day the best piece of news you ever received m your life."

"My necromancer has certainly given me most generous measure for my five francs," she would say, with a fresh burst of laughter, after detailing the extravagant promises of the fortuneteller.

After passing a week m Paris, Mrs, L and her young family resumed their journey, and arrived safely at Naples, where they were affectionately received by the rich and liberalminded sister, and installed by her m a wing of the vast old £la£zo which she had taken for the winter, and which might have quartered half-a--dozen 'other families.

Soon after she reached -Naples, Mrs. L was walking with her youngest little girl along the Marinella, that crowded Voad on the edge of the bay which leads to the railway station, and along which all, the eataWes and drinkables •columned m Naples are conveyed m carfcf% and piled upon the backs of mules -a pandemonium of vehicles, animals, porters, and public, all rushing, singing, screaming, joking, and swearing to their utmost. As Mrs. L walked along, greatly diverted by the animation and movement of the scene, her little daughter, attracted by the sight of a pretty white goat, suddenly let go her hand, and darted out into the middle of the road. Completely surrounded by carts and cabs, all driving at the furious speed peculiar to Naples, the child seemed doomed to instant destruction; when, at the same moment, and before the terrified mother had had time to spring after the child, the latter was seized by a tall man, who had darted into the road a moment afterwards, caught up the little creature m his arms, and deposited her beside Mrs. L ,m far less time than it has taken me to record the deed.

The tall man who had so unexpectedly appeared on the scene, was no other that Sir , the representative of Queen Victoria at an Eastern Court, who had just landed from one of the steamers, and who, not speaking Italian, was delighted to have met a countrywoman, and at once followed up the acquaintance so auspiciously commenced, by narrating the extortions practised upon him by the boatmen and facckini, and begging her to tell him to which hotel he had better betake himself.

Mrs. L thereupon gave the names of the best hotels, and the gentleman took his leave of her, having, of course, received the grateful acknowledgments of Mrs. L for the siguai service he had rendered her.

Next evening, Mr& L was at a party, and again met the tall Englishman, whose name and position she then learned for the first time. The latter, who had formed a very favourable opinion of the lady from their brief interview on the Marinella, testified much pleasure at meeting her again, devoted himself to her during the evening, requested permission to visit her at her residence, and was so much charmed with her good looks, lively temper, and agreeable manners, that he offered her his liana after a very brief delay. The lady, though much flattered hy his proposition, and greatly prepossessed m his favour, could not believe that she was not dreaming. **You do not know that I am forty-three years old, that I have nine children, and that I am entirely without fortune," said the lady, when Sir had " popped the question." *' I care not how old you may be," replied the Minister ; ** you are a most charming woman, and that is quite enough for me. As for money I am equally Indifferent on that point, for I have plenty. And as to the nine children, all I can say is the more the merrier, for I am so weary of living alone at with only the awarthy faces ofits people to look at, that I shall esteem myself the most fortunate oJLmen if I can at once surround myself with p wife and a family." The affair thus happily settled, Sir whose conge" was nearly ended, anil who was impatient to get through with the .'marriage formalities, finding then there was j^o British Consul at

Naples, proposed to Mrs. L to go to Turin, m order that the marriage might take place under the auspices of Sir James Hudson, who is an old and intimate friend of his. On reaching Turin, they found to their great annoyance that Sir James was at his villa at Lake Maggiore, "Let us go off at once to Vienna, and be married there J" said Sir ■, and accordingly to Vienna they went, and were duly married there, at the British Embassy. Scarcely had the knot been tied, when, as the bridal party was leaving the Embassy, a telegram was received by the bridegroom, from an eminent legal linn m London, summoning him thither with all possible speed, and informing him that, through the doath of a distant relative, he had fallen heir to an immense estate.

Thus, as I learn from persons intimately connected with the lady, every part of the strange prediction has come true.

Romance of the Divorce Court. — The particulars of an extraordinary case m connection with the Divorce Court have reached me, \Vhieh, although reading like a romance, are, nevertheless, strictly true. Foi obvious reasons I shall not mention names. The facts, are, however, as follows :— Not long after the late Sir C. Cresswell was installed as Judge Ordinary, an officer m her Majesty'y service, whom I shall describe as Mr. A., sued for and obtained a divorce from his wife on the usual grounds. The co-correspondent m the case, also au officer m the army, whom I shall call Mr. 8., made the lady all the reparation m his power, and married her. She was subsequently received m society m India, where her antecedents were not too critically examined, but m three years afterwards Mr. B. died, and she was left a widow. Having no longer any tie m India, she returned to England, whither she had been preceded by Mr. A. and his three little children. Having taken up her residence m a fashionable town m a midland county, celebrated for the curative propeity of its waters, Mrs. B. soon obtained admission to good society as the widow of a British officer, and a very beautiful and attractive woman to boot. Here, after an interval Of nearly two years, she again encountered Mr. A., and the result is that they have again married. The children of Mr. A. have "not recognised their mother, and all they know is that " papa married a widow." Beat this m a sensation novel if you can. The circumstances of this extraordinary case are related with critical accuracy, and were I to give the real initials of the parties they could be easily identified. They afford, perhaps, the only illustration on record of the ruling passion strong m divorce.— Correspondent of the Belfast Neiva Letter.

Statesmen m Times of Transition. — In times of transition, when a choice must be made between a glorious past and an unknown future, the rock is, that bold and unscrupulous men alone thrust themselves forward; others, more timid and the slaves of prejudices, remain m the shade, or offer some obstacle to the movement which hurries away society into new ways. It is always a great evil for a country, a prey to agitations, when the party of the honest, or that of the good, as Cicero calls them, do n »t embrace the new ideas, to direct by moderating them. Hence profound divisions. On the one side, unknown men often take possession of the good or bad passions of the Crowd; on the other, honorable men, immoveable or morose, oppose all progress, and by their obstinate resistance excite legitimate impatience and lamentable violence. The opposition of these last has tin* double inconvenience of leaving the way clear to those who are less worthy than themselves, and of throwing doubts into the minds of that floating mass which judges parties much more by the honorableness of men than by the value of ideas. . . . To constitute his party, it is true, he had recourse to agents but little estimated ; the best architect can build only with the materials under his hand ; but his constant endeavor was to associate to himself the most trustworthy men, and he spared no effort to gain by turns Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Servilius, Csapio, Q. Fufius Calenus, Serv. Sulpicius, and many others. In moments of transition, when the old system is at an end, and the new not yet established, the greatest difficulty consists not m overcoming the obstacles which are m the way of the advent of a reyhne demanded by the country, but to establish the latter solidly, by establishing it upon the concurrence of honorable men penetrated with the new ideas, and steady m their principles. —Napoleon's Casur, A Foggy Day m London. — It was a foggy day m London, and the fog was heavy and dark. Animate London, with smarting eyes and irritated lungs, was blinking, wheezing, and choking ; inanimate London was a sooty spectre, divided m purpose between being visible and invisible, and so being wholly neither. Gaslights flared m the shops with a ha&gaftl and unblest air, as knowing themselves to be night creatures that had no business abroad under the sun ; while the sun itself, when it was for a few moments dimly indicated through circling eddies of fog, showed as if it had gone out and were collapsing flat and cold. Even m the surrounding country it was a foggy day, but there the fog was grey, whereas m London it was, at about the boundary line dark yellow, and a little within it brown, and then browner, and then browner, until at the heart of the city— which call Saint Mary Axe— it was rusty black. From any point of the high ridge of land northwaul, it might have been discerned that the loftiest buildings made an occasional struggle to get their heads above the foggy sea, and especially that the great dome of St. Paul's seemed to die hard; but this was not perceivable m the streets at their feet, where the whole metropolis was a heap of vapour charged with muffied sound of wheels, and enforcing a gigantic catarrh. —Our Mutual Friend.

How Mozart won his Wager. — The following anecdote is related m the Manolresdun Mitsiden :— "Mozart and Haydn being at a party, the former laid a wager of six bottles of champagne with the latter, that he would not play at sight a piece of music which he (Mozart) would compose, fJadyn accepted the challenge,

and Mozart speedily wrote down a few notes, autl presented them to Haydn, who, having played a prelude, exclaimed * How do you think 1 can play that ? My hands are at each extremity of the piano, and there is at the same time a note m the middle.' '.Does that .stop you?' said Mozart, * Well, you shall see. ' On coming to the difficult passage, Mozart, without stopping, struck the note m the middle of the piano with his nose, and everyone burst out laughing. What made the act more ridiculous was tha: Haydn had a flat nose, while Mozart's was a long one. Haydn therefore paid for the smallncss of his nasal protuberance six bottles of champagne." The Queensland Th»£s thus repDrts an adVenture which has befallen an eccentric character well known m this colony : — "A person named Henry Jtrrold, cliiiming to be a brother of the late Douglas Jerrold^ m travelling fronz Air. O'ConnelFs station, Durnndur, to Maryborough, missed the track, and was lost among the mountains from the 28th April until the 19th May. He was, during that period, without food, blankets, or even matches, and subsisted merely upon grass, leaves, and water. He was found by stmie men employed upon Kilcoy station, aud taken there, and is now recovering strength, through the kindness and constant attention of Capt. and Mh. Talbot." It is said that Mr. Lincoln was a boliever m dreams, and that he actually, on the morning of his assassination, related to the Cabinet his conviction that a great national event was about to happen, as he had throughout the four years' war always dreamt the night prior to an event of great importance the same dream — namely, that he saw a vessel rapidly sailing by ! A Parliamentary paper jii3t issued shows that the relatives of the following officers, killed m New Zealand, have received compensation, viz. : —£711 to the Rev. P. R. A. Glover, father of Captain K. C. Glover ; £457 to the same gentleman, on account of his son, Captain F. G. E. Glove.r ; £251 to the father of Lieutenant W. L. Murphy; and £1144 to the father of Captain J. S. Phelps.