the Chateau, instead of the farm-yard. The latter is so tame, as to play about the parlour, and climb up into the General's lap.

At 5 o'clock, the bell called us to dinner, which was bountiful, and served up without any formal parade. Among the peculiar dishes, were lentiles, much resembling boiled peas; and a rich kind of pastry, such as we had not found in the infinite assortment of a Paris table. A dessert of apples, pears, and dry fruits, with three or four varieties of wine, including champagne, crowned the festivities of the board. The General entertains no doubt, that the grape from which the latter is made would flourish in some parts of the United States; but whether the wine could be produced is more problematical, as it is confined to one province in France, and depends much on a peculiar quality of the soil. It is however my intention to send home slips of the vine, by way of experiment.

On retiring to the drawing-room, a large folio volume, bound with red morocco, and richly gilt, was found lying upon the table. It was presented to the General just before he sailed from Washington; and contains a transcript of all the addresses to him by the authorities of New-York. The specimens of ornamental penmanship are certainly elegant, and have excited general admiration at the Chateau. By its side was a voluminous portfolio, containing portraits and autographs of public personages in France since the commencement of the revolution-both brought out for our amusement.

After tea the ladies favoured us with a great variety of songs and music upon the piano, which they play with much taste and skill. One of the number, finding that her voice and execution could contribute to the enjoyments of the social circle, and forgetting herself in endeavouring to add to the common stock of pleasure, continued to sit at the piano, till she was solicited to leave it, instead of the ordinary request to remain longer. This mark of politeness was so peculiar, that it appeared to me worthy of record and imitation. Among the musical pieces, was one or two composed in the United States, during the General's visit.

At 9 o'clock in the evening, we manifested an intention to return to Rosé that night, and set out for Paris next morning, desirous that if the hospitality of the family were not already exhausted by a visit, which seemed too long for strangers who had no other claim than simply that of being Americans, a share of it might be reserved for others, upon the republican principle of equality. But at La Grange, feelings of generosity and kindness towards even the humblest citizens of the United States know no bounds. Favour after favour descends spontaneously upon the visitant like the dew; and in view of the pa

ternal affection manifested on this occasion, our country might address to its illustrious benefactor the forcible apostrophe—“ inasmuch as thou hast done it unto the least of these my children, thou hast done it unto me." Pretexts as plausible as genuine hospitality requires, were urged with a politeness that could not be resisted, and the result was a happy prolongation of our visit.

After breakfast on the following morning, the General conducted us to his Library, which is on the third floor, in one corner of the Chateau. The windows, which in summer are shaded by a copse of trees lifting their aged branches from below, look in two directions and command a view of a rural domain, such as Cincinnatus or Washington would have enjoyed, and such as its own proprietor would not exchange for an empire. In the ante-chamber, and the apartment itself are several likenesses of his friends, transatlantic as well as European; and in several neat cases, on which the utmost care has been bestowed, are deposited all the little presents he has received from our countrymen, from the sacred memorials of his beloved Washington, down to the humblest pledges of gratitude and esteem collected in his late tour. The whole makes an extensive museum, which is guarded with more vigilance, and is shown by the family with more delight, than would apparently be felt in exhibiting the costliest collection of diamonds. All the articles were taken out of their places for our inspection; and the history of them detailed with a familiarity, which proved how much they are valued. One of the most conspicuous of these memorials is a beautiful model of the water-works at Philadelphia, which the General took to pieces, to point out the ingenuity of its construction.

The library itself contains about two thousand volumes of well selected books. A large proportion of these were presented by his friends. One compartment is filled entirely with American works, containing a majority of our best publications. Additions are daily making to the collection, by the attentions of his correspondents. The Phi Beta Kappa Oration of Mr. Everett, and the Address of Mr. Webster before the Bunker Hill Association are cherished among the choicest treasures. It was a curious incident, that I should here recognize the copy of the Columbiad, which had been brought to me at New-York a year previous, for examination as a specimen of splendid binding, before it was presented to La Fayette.

Having passed an hour or two in the library, and glanced at its interesting contents, we took another long walk with the ladies over the farm, pursuing a different route from what had been taken on the preceding day, and treading many a bypath in a long circuit through the

wood-lands. A keen December air imparted an additional tinge to complexions naturally rosy; and to the eye of a poet, some of our fair companions, in their rambles through tangled copses and groves of oak, might have appeared like Dryads. In the course of this promenade, one of the daughters of General La Fayette gave me a circumstantial account of his imprisonment at Olmutz, and of the sufferings both of himself and family. The story is long, and its leading incidents would not be new to any of my readers. One little anecdote, however, which gave relief to the tragic tale, so much amused me, that I cannot forbear to repeat it. In their flight through Austria, the female part of the family were obliged to assume the guise of English travellers, in order to elude the vigilance of their enemies. As they had some knowledge of the language, to which was added a similarity of national dress, they succeeded tolerably well among strangers. At length they were thrown in contact with an English waiting-maid, who had emigrated to the continent some years before. Serious fears of detection were here apprehended. But the poor girl entertaining no doubt, that the ladies were really English, although she found difficulty in understanding them; and as they were supposed to have left her native country at a much later period than herself, she came to the melancholy conclusion, that by a long residence abroad, she had lost her mother tongue!

In the midst of walks, conversations, and enjoyments like these, the hour of dinner again came round. By this time, our places at table had been as perfectly learned, as if we had become permanent inmates of the Chateau. Another evening of music and social pleasure was added to the sum of our happiness. At 8 or 9 o'clock, an intention was again signified to go to Rosé, in readiness for the Diligence the next morning. But "it would be madness to go to the hotel that night, where the accommodations were not good; besides, it was snowing, and the weather was unpleasant: a servant should be sent to engage places for us, and it would be easy to reach the village by 8 o'clock, the hour for the departure of the coach on the following day." In vain were any suggestions opposed to these kind persuasions and at 10 o'clock, we retired for the third night to the chambers of the Chateau.

The next morning at 7, we found both the General and his son in the drawing-room before us, with coffee upon the table, and his own coach at the door, in readiness to take us to Rosé. In a few minutes more, a cordial grasp of the hand and the parting benediction of the patriarch, produced a state of feeling, which on our part admitted of few words; and we left La Grange with a full conviction, that if there

is a paradise on earth, it must be found in the domestic, unsophisticated and innocent delights of such a family, and if unalloyed happiness be the portion of any mortal, it must consist in the luxury of such feelings, and in the practice of such virtues, as are possessed by General La Fayette.*

* In justification of the foregoing sketch, it may not be improper to remark, that my sole object was to present a domestic picture of La Grange. The events in the military and political life of General La Fayette-his character as a soldier, a statesman, and a philanthropist—his public services and private virtues, are so universally known through the medium of books of history, biography, and travels, that I have studiously avoided an allusion to any of these topics, on which nothing new could have been advanced, or presented to my readers in a more acceptable form, than may be found in the writings of others. Such a picture of domestic life as I have attempted to draw, must necessarily be made up of little items and incidents, which in some instances may seem trifling and unfit to meet the public eye. But it is enough for me to know, that a sketch of objects, which I supposed would be interesting to the people of the United States, has not forfeited the friendship of the best of men and the most estimable of families; while it has had the good fortune generally to meet the approbation of the American public.

LETTER XXXIX.

PARIS CONTINUED-PANTHEON-LAW SCHOOL-OBSERVATORY-AMERICANS IN PARIS-STYLE OF FRENCH DINNERS-CHURCH OF ST. SULPICE-SCHOOL OF MEDICINE--ANATOMICAL MUSEUM--NATIONAL INSTITUTE-GREAT MEN--PHILOSOPHICAL, CHEMICAL, AND MEDICAL

LECTURES.

January, 1826.

SEVERAL calls were made at the Pantheon, now the church of St. Genevieve, which presents a noble front, surmounted by a dome little inferior in grandeur, and fully equal in the beauty of its proportions to that of St. Paul's at London. A lofty porch, 1.12 feet in length, and supported by twenty-two Corinthian columns, each fifty-eight feet in height, and five feet and a half in diameter, form the entrance. The dimensions of the church are 337 feet by 253, in the form of a cross. Long ranges of 130 Corinthian columns support the galleries of the interior r; and the dome rests on a rotunda of fifty-two additional pillars, each fifty-four feet in height, the whole forming a specimen of architectural magnificence seldom surpassed. Some innovations have been made upon the simplicity of the dome, by the necessity of giving it a firmer support, and an attempt to conceal the alterations by splendid gildings and paintings. This edifice was designed as a temple dedicated exclusively to the great men of France, where their ashes were to be deposited in a gallery of vaults below, and their names recorded as a testimonial of public gratitude for their services. As the religious edifices of Paris were already sufficiently numerous for the accommodation of all the piety discoverable among the ecclesiastics, and the design of this building was unique, it is to be regretted, that its original character has been changed. The priests have manifested such a hostility to the plan, as to disturb the ashes of the dead, and to remove the remains of Voltaire and Rosseau to an obscure vault.*

*In November, 1826, I paid another visit to this church, in company with the author of the Spy, on the great festival of Toussaint, when the aisles were thronged with votaries, clouds of incense rose from the altars, and the chorus of a thousand voices was reverberated from the dome. It was rather an impressive spectacle; though the Pantheon, both in external grandeur and the splendour of its internal decorations falls infinitely short of St. Peter's at Rome, to which it has by some been likened. All temples made with hands must suffer by a comparison with the glories of the Vatican.