336 LIFE AND EXPERIENCES CH. xm 



ing utterly at variance with the convenances which 

 usually govern the doings of a French jeune fille. 



The most interesting of all the fetes was on October 

 26th (the last day), when the whole of the members 

 visited the Chateau of Chantilly. This magnificent 

 chateau, the seat of the old Comtes de Conde, had 

 been restored by the Due d'Aumale, and the whole of 

 the buildings and parks adjoining, together with the 

 rare objects of art and vertu, valued at many millions 

 of francs, were made over by the Duke to the French 

 nation, under the sole care and management of the 

 Institut de France. A special train was placed at our 

 disposal, and a large number of four-in-hand char-a- 

 bancs met the train at the station, and, preceded by 

 outriders in the Duke's livery, took us through the woods 

 to the chateau, driving on our way through the enor- 

 mous stables where, it is recorded, the Comte de Conde 

 entertained the Czar Peter the Great at a banquet. 

 On reaching the chateau we went up the magnificent 

 white marble staircase, where we were received by the 

 old Duke, a martyr to rheumatic gout, seated in a bath- 

 chair. He cordially grasped our hands and most 

 graciously bade us welcome. A description of the art 

 treasures contained in these noble galleries is beyond 

 my powers, although I was able to appreciate their 

 beauty. The fact is certainly a remarkable one, that 

 the whole of these buildings and their contents were 

 handed over, not to any Government institution, but to 

 a society entirely formed of artists and men of science 

 and literature. This more than anything else, perhaps, 

 indicates the difference between the stability of our 

 English Constitution and that of our French neighbours, 

 which has undergone so many changes in the last 

 hundred years. 



