Arcis-sur-Aube

“ Made sub-prefect of Arcis-sur-Aube in 1815, through the influence of his kinswoman, Mme. de Cinq-Cygne. It was there that he met Mme. Severine Beauvisage. A mutual attachment resulted, and a daughter called Cecile-Renee was born of their intimacy. [The Member for Arcis.] In 1820 the Vicomte de Chargeboeuf removed to Sancerre where he knew Mme. de la Baudraye. She would probably have favored him, had he not been made prefect and left the city. [The Muse of the Department.]
CHARGEBOEUF (De) , secretary of attorney-general Granville at Paris in 1830; then a young man. ”

“ He resolved to go ahead without the British, and ordered Manoury to strike as had been planned.
[155] He fixed as an extreme limit for the movement of retreat, which was still going on, the line of Bray-sur-Seine, Nogent-sur-Seine, Arcis-sur-Aube, Vitry-le-François, and the region to the north of Bar-le-Duc. This line might be reached if the troops were compelled to go back so far. They would attack before reaching it, as soon as there was a possibility of bringing about an offensive disposition, permitting the co-operation of the whole of the French forces. ”

“ The Beauvisage residence, one of the best in Arcis, stands on the Place du Pont on a line with the rue Vide-Bourse, at the corner of the rue du Pont, which leads to the Place de l’Eglise. Though, like many provincial houses, without either court or garden, it produces a certain effect, in spite of its ornamentation in bad taste. The front door opens on the Place; the windows of the ground-floor look out on the street-side towards the post-house and inn, and command beyond the Place a rather picturesque view of the Aube, the navigation of which begins at the bridge. ”

“ GREVIN of Arcis, Aube, began life in the same way as his compatriot and intimate friend Malin de Gondreville. In 1787, he was second clerk to Maitre Bordin, attorney of the Chatelet, Paris. Returned to Champagne at the outbreak of the Revolution. There he received the successive protection of Danton, Bonaparte and Gondreville. By virtue of them he became an oracle to the Liberals, was enabled to marry Mlle. ”

“ The view was interspersed by green meadows, groves of poplar and white willow, and spires of village churches, which the Cossacs had yet spared. Many villages, ruined by the war, occupied the most romantic spots.
In the evening we arrived at Bar-sur-Aube, a beautiful town, placed at the opening of the vale where the hills terminate abruptly. We climbed the highest of these, but scarce had we reached the top, when a mist descended upon every thing, and the rain began to fall: we were wet through before we could reach our inn. ”

“ The principal produc tions are wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, and wine, of which last about one-half is exported. In minerals Aube is one of the poorest departments in France ; a few iron mines have been worked, but with insignificant results. Chalk and clay are abundant ; and there are also quarries of marble, lithographic stone, and building stone. The principal manufacture is hosiery; but the department also produces glass, earthenware, paper, sugar, and ropes, and has a large number of distilleries, tile-works, and dye-works, and an oil factory. ”

“ Aubagne (ō-ba ̇n-yė) , a town in France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône, with manufactures of cottons, pottery, cloth. Pop. 8800.
Aubaine, Droit d' (drwä dō-bān) . See Droit d'Aubaine.
Aube (ōb) , a north-eastern French department; area 2326 sq. miles; pop. 227,745. The surface is undulating, and watered by the Aube, &c. The N. and N.W. districts are bleak and infertile, the southern districts remarkably fertile. A large extent of ground is under forests and vineyards, and the soil is admirable for grain, pulse, and hemp. The chief manufactures are worsted and hosiery. ”

“ I am to look for a 'suspect' in this house."
"A 'suspect'?" whispered Aube, anxiously.
"Yes; conspirators who threaten the sacred person of the king."
"And you are looking for these people in my house?" asked Aube, apparently overwhelmed at the intelligence.
"Yes, they are said to live here; two acrobats, named Girdel and Fanfaro."
"Inspector, I am inconsolable; but I will not oppose you; do your duty," said Aube, with the mien of a man who gives a kingdom away.
Arthur and the landlord exchanged knowing looks as the inspector strode toward the door. Fanfaro must be in safety by this time. ”

“ I knew Auber from the year '42 or '43 until the day of his death. He and I were in Paris during the siege and the Commune; we saw one another frequently, and I am positive that the terrible misfortunes of his country shortened his life by at least ten years. For though at the beginning of the campaign he was close upon ninety, he scarcely looked a twelvemonth older than when I first knew him, nearly three decades before; that is, a very healthy and active old man, but still an old man. So much nonsense has been written (p. 153) about his perpetual youth, that it is well to correct the error. ”

“ He was a Member of the Institute, Commander of the Legion of Honor, and Cherubini's successor as Director of the Conservatory. He enjoyed perfect health up to the day of his death in 1871. Assiduous in his duties at the Conservatory, and active in his social relations, which took him into the most brilliant circles of an extended period, covering the reigns of Napoleon I., Charles X., Louis Philippe, and Napoleon III., he yet always found time to devote several hours a day to composition. Auber was a small, delicate man, yet distinguished in appearance, and noted for wit. ”

“ There is an east end, such as one hardly sees on so small a scale out of Auvergne. Here is the apse, the surrounding aisle, the apses again projecting from the aisle; and the varied outline is made yet more varied by a round turret of the same date and style thrown in among the apses. The general air is early, the work plain, the masonry simple; but the clerestory windows have pointed arches. We gaze with delight on an outline more thoroughly picturesque than we have seen for a long while, and which carries back our thoughts to a land of which all the memories are pleasing. ”

“ It is at full tide, and at evening hour, however, that the bay of St. Aubin’s is perfect to the eye; the setting sun is flinging the most gorgeous colours on the little slate rocks and the walls of the fort: the hue is gold, with a shadow of bronze, while the more distant walls of Elizabeth Castle are bronze with shadows of deep grey, a scene special for the eccentric brush of Turner.
ST. BRELADE’S BAY
From the brow over St. Aubin’s the view is splendid, overlooking the now poor, yet neat and secluded little village town, its petty haven, and its castle. ”

“ Aside from this outcome of his Berserker mood, Auber is a charming exponent of the grace, brightness, and piquancy of French society and civilization. If rarely deep, he is never dull, and no composer has given the world more elegant and graceful melodies of the kind which charm the drawing-room and furnish a good excuse for young-lady pianism. ”

“ But when I came to live at Auxerre, I saw that he spoke the truth. It is a large district, or bishopric, and the mountains, hills, and plains are covered with vines. There they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; but they send their wine by river to Paris, where they sell it nobly; and live and clothe themselves from the proceeds. Three times I went all about the district with one or another of the brothers: once with one who was preaching and affixing crosses for the Crusade of the French king (St. Louis) ”

“ William Abbe will be remembered as one of the most prominent of his day and generation in Linn county, for his kindness, his uprightness, his never wavering from the path of right. Whether amid the influences of the home circle or surrounded by the temptations of the mining camp, he was always the same sturdy, upright citizen, wanting to do right and helping his fellow men who were more unfortunate than himself. ”

“ Here, too, the country immediately environing Auvers and Méry is of the order made familiar by Daubigny and his school. French farmyards, stubble-thatched cottages, and all the rusticity which is so charming in nature draws continually group after group of artists from Paris to this particular spot at all seasons of the year. The homely side of country life has ever had a charm for city dwellers. Auvers is somewhat doubtfully stated as being the birthplace of François Villon—that prince of vagabonds. ”

“ I think it is strange that Auber does not let us hear from him. I fear his heart is broken, like the column.
The weather is heavenly. The two chestnut-trees in our front courtyard are in full flower; the few plants in the greenhouse are all putting out buds. Where shall we be when the buds become flowers?
Last year at this time it was the height of the giddiest of giddy seasons.
One can hardly believe it is the same Paris. ”

“ What was my delight at the Empress's tea this afternoon to see Auber, my dear old Auber! He had been invited for dinner, and had come with the artists who are to play to-night. He looked so well and young, in spite of his eighty-three years. Every one admires him and loves him. He is the essence of goodness, talent, and modesty. He is writing a new opera. Fancy writing an opera at eighty-three! ”

“ Auvergne, one of the most interesting, and hitherto almost the least known, of the old French provinces, offers two distinct and equally striking sides to the appreciative traveller: on the one hand, its remarkably individual church architecture, and on the other, the no less personal character of its landscape. ”

“ I have never seen Auber look so wretched and sad as he did to-day; I could hardly believe it was the same Auber I have always seen so gay and full of life and spirits.
I brought a tiny bunch of lilies of the valley, which Louis had gathered in the all-producing hothouse.
"Merci, merci," he said. "Les fleurs! C'est la vie parfumée." Waiting for the breakfast to be served, he showed us about in his apartment. In the salon, rather primly furnished, stood the grand piano. The bookshelves contained Cherubini's (his master) and his own operas, and his beloved Bach. ”

“ Auvergne′, an ancient province of France, united to the crown under Louis XIII. in 1610, embracing the deps. of Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal, and part of Haute-Loire, the highlands of which separate the basin of the Loire from that of the Garonne, and contain a hardy and industrious race of people descended from the original inhabitants of Gaul; they speak a strange dialect, and supply all the water-carriers and street-sweepers of Paris.
Auxerre′ (15) , an ancient city, capital of the dep. of Yonne, 90 m. SE. of Paris; has a fine cathedral in the Flamboyant style; drives a large trade in wine. ”

“ Auvergne.—The most northern of the freshwater groups is situated in the valley-plain of the Allier, which lies within the department of the Puy de Dome, being the tract which went formerly by the name of the Limagne d'Auvergne. It is inclosed by two parallel mountain ranges,—that of the Forèz, which divides the waters of the Loire and Allier, on the east; and that of the Monts Domes, which separates the Allier from the Sioule, on the west. ”

“ Auber is a true Parisian, adores his Paris, and never leaves it even during the summer, when Paris is insufferable. He comes very often to see me, and we play duets. He loves Bach, and we play Mendelssohn overtures and Haydn symphonies when we are through with Bach. Auber always takes the second piano, or, if a four-handed piece, he takes the base. ”

“ THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION at that time had no chapel in Berry Brow, but conducted prayer-meetings, and held a weekly class in a cottage somewhere in the village. Abe knew these humble, earnest people, and felt drawn towards them by strong sympathy; he was sure he could feel at home among them, and they would be of very great assistance to him in building up his Christian character. ”

“ For six hundred years it has stood there, part fortress and part manor-house and farm, a huge structure, built piecemeal through centuries, with many towers and battlements and thick stone walls long overgrown with moss. Before it lies the valley of the Allier and the great rugged mountains of Auvergne. Love of freedom is deeply rooted in the country round it, for the people of Auvergne have always been an independent, proud and fearless race.
In this old Château of Chavaniac there was born on September 6, 1757, the Marquis de Lafayette. ”

“ Aubin, a lovely village embosomed in trees; but on a nearer view we found the cottages roofless, the rafters black, and the walls dilapidated;—a few inhabitants remained. We asked for milk—they had none to give; all their cows had been taken by the Cossacs. We had still some leagues to travel that night, but we found that they were not post leagues, but the measurement of the inhabitants, and nearly double the distance. The road lay over a desart plain, and as night advanced we were often in danger of losing the track of wheels, which was our only guide. ”

“ We got out our maps and saw we were quite close to Neuve Chapelle, and as the Aubers Ridge—the great natural barrier to Lille—formed the obvious point to attack, we were not greatly surprised when a day or two after arriving at this peaceful little village we again took the route—this time toward Neuve Chapelle. We had heard the guns drumming along the Aubers Ridge all the day before during church parade service (May 9th) , and were, on the whole, rather disappointed when after a few miles' march we turned off the road into a farm near "le Cornet Malo" and lay there in the mud all day. ”