198 LETTER FROM BRITTANY. 



though a cursory glance at the verdant carpet, decked with innumer- 

 able roseate gems, contrast strangely with the sterility of the Scottish 

 wilds. The masses of rock which predominate here are perfectly in 

 unison with the scenery : they divide themselves into enormous 

 blocks, which, viewed in every position, present new beauties. Often 

 are their summits concealed by flowering shrubs, while their bases are 

 only discovered by the rushing of the river over those masses which 

 have been hurled from the height above ; and the roar of these waters 

 alone interrupts the stillness of their solitude. 



It is, however, in La Garenne, the seat of the late celebrated sculp- 

 tor, Mons. Le Motte, that the traveller will derive the highest grtifi- 

 cation. To approach it, the bridge of the town, and of that dedicated 

 to St. Anthony, must be crossed, whence the conjunction of the 

 rivers is discernible. A grove rises on the right bank which is 

 crowned by a temple consecrated to Friendship, and which is intro- 

 duced into the accompanying view. The hospital is also visible with 

 its fertile garden forming a peninsula which the Sevre has left un- 

 disturbed; and the path, with some slight curves, follows the course 

 of the river, which here almost stagnates, and its great depth impresses 

 the beholder with awe : the very trees seem influenced by the tran- 

 quillity of their situation, the oaks let fall their huge branches into 

 the river and appear to borrow the drooping elegance of the weeping- 

 willow. On a massive block, close to the river's side, in a circle of 

 rocks, are cut the appropriate verses which Jean Jaques Rousseau 

 wrote on Ermenonville. 



" O limpide riviere ! O riviere cherie ! 

 Puisse la sotte vanite 



Ne jamais dedaigner ta rive humble et fleurie ; 

 Que ton simple sentier ne soit point frequente 



Par aucuns tourmens de la vie; 



Tels que 1'ambition, 1'envie, 



I/ avarice, et le faussete 

 Un bocage si frais, un sejour si tranquille, 

 Aux tendres sentimens doit seul servir d'asile ; 

 Ces rameaux amoureux, entrelaces expres, 

 Aux muses, aux amours, ofFrent leur voile epais, 



Et ce cristai d'une onde pure, 



A jamais ne doit reflechir, 



Que les graces de la nature, 



Et les images du plaisir. 



Following a winding path, a gently rising slope leads to a natural 

 grotto. It is here that the mind dwells most on Heloise, to whom, 

 with great propriety, it is dedicated ; and the lines which are in- 

 scribed on its side happily express the ideas which present them- 

 selves : 



" Heloise peut-etre erra sur ce rivage, 



Quand aux yeux des jaloux derobant son sejour, 



Dans les murs du Pallet elle vint mettre an jour 



Un fils, cher et malheureux gage 



De ses plaisirs furtifs furtifs et de son tendre amour. 



Peut-etre, en ce reduit sauvage, 



Seule, plus d'une fois, elle vint soupirer, 



Et gouter librement la douceur de pleurer ; 



