The Litchfield County post., 1826-08-22

Lafayette.
Al 10 o'clock, which is uniformly the
hour for retiring at La Grange, we took
leave of the family for the night, and were
shown into our bed-chambers, after having
been notified, that the ringing of the Chat
eau bell would summon us to breakfast at
10 the next morning. Our apartments
were in the same style Of neatness and
comfort, as the sitting-rooms, with cheer
full wood fire blazing upon the hearth, and
carpets covering the polished oaken floor.
As is usual in French houses, furnished
with fewer conveniences than this, each
chamber had a bureau, or writing desk,
containing an ample supply of pen, ink,
and paper, together with the other appen-
dages for scribbling, all under lock and key.
The temptations of such comforts, the
whistling of the wind round the Gothic
turrets and antique windows of the Chat
eau, with the delights of the fire side reye-
RE on the events of the day, induced us to
protract our waking dreams to late hoQr.
In the morning grey headed servant,
who is almost as old as the master whom
he loves, and from whom he has imbibed
his kindness of heart, opened the door
gently, and performed his office of rekind-
ling the fire, with such studied quiet, as
would scarcely disturb the slumbers of a
sick. bed, We reached the drawing room
in season, to see the members of the hap
Ply family appear one after another, and
share the paternal kiss. Breakfast was
served up in large hall on the ground
floor, in the usual French style, with wine,
and coffee after the desert. The table was
crowned with abundance, without super
fluffy and circle of smiling faces would
have rendered less sumptuous repast a.
greeable. Among the rarer dishes was I
Kind of pie sent as delicacy to the Gen
.eral from some Of his friends at Strasbourg.
After breakfast was over, we walked out
in company with Washington Lafayette and
the whole group of ladies, to examine the
exterior of the Chateau, and the farm, of
which scarcely a glance had as yet been
obtained. La Grange was formerly for
titled baronial Castle; and, notwithstand-
ing the notifications it has undergone, IL
much Of its antique and feudal character
still remains. 1t was once surrounded by II
deep double moat, sections of which, I'LL
led with water, have been preserved, and
the residue filed UP either for the sake of =,
health or convenience. The ediice con- a
sists of centre, perhaps ashundred feet in q
length, with two wings of about the same e
and Joining it at right angles. q
From traces still visible, gallery evident i
ly extended across at the other extremity II
Of the wings, enclosing a quadrangular 1
courtyard, strongly defended, with only &
one entrance under alofty arch in the north,
ern walk, guarded by a portcullis. Il
The Chateau is three stories high, plain /
ly constructed of hard and dark colored r.
stone, rendered of deeper line by its q
age and long exposure to the cli-
mate. Two Gothic towers Of conical {
shape rise from the ends of each of the 4
wings, and form almost the only ornament. '
The approach is by winding avenue on
the Northern side, leading through a thick f
grove of evergreens and other trees, and r
under the arch already mentioned, around
which hang festoons of ivy, planted by the /
celebrated Charles James Fox, in one Of a
his visits to La Grange. The beautiful t
plant is as green as his memory, and man. br
ties nearly the whole facade Of the Chat t
eau. ltsluxuriant foliage shading the grey a
walls, the thick copse bordering the moat, "
and the four antique turrets, half conceal Ii
ed by the intervening branches, present a ii
view on this side seldom equalled in an n
airy, rural quiet, and transformations retire. In
nent. An artist from our country has ia
ken several very exact sketches of La o
Grange, plates Of which will hereafter be =
published.
AS the morning was bright and pleasant, '
though the ground, yet verdant, was cover-
ed with aaheayy boar frost, we made Cir !
cut OF mile or two over the farm, which /
rs one OF the largest as well as most COM
plete in France. 1t contains FIVE hundred
acres, lying in one body, in the form Of a :
circle, with the Chateau in the centre. !
Great pains have been taken to round it
on ~ this way. by exchanges of contiguous
territory. 1t IS divided, according to. the I,
most approved models, into suitable pro-
portions of tillage, pasture. and woodland.
with the minor compartments of gardens
and orchards. The General has planted +
three thousand apple trees, which are vet /
small but thrifty, opening inyistas all over
nus plantation. He is much engaged in
cultivation of fruit of the best kinds.
ne sou OF this large tract, tho perhaps
not remarkable for its natural fertility has
been highly improved by culture. and y;e ,I
wheat, with other agricultural prodnc,s -
abundance. 1t is finely wooded aS Al