THE ENGLISH LANDSCAPE SCHOOL 301 



The head gardener by this time was Claude Richard, who had succeeded his 

 father and greatly delighted the Queen by his abundant cultivation of flowers. 



The building of the hamlet was the last flight of Marie Antoinette's 

 imagination. It is still kept up as one of the most curious of the attractions 

 of Versailles. The two groups of cottages were formerly occupied by several 

 rustic households, who carried out real farming operations on the spot. The 

 farm stands a little aloof from the other buildings. It was famous for its 

 herd of Swiss sheep, and there was also an excellent dairy, where the Queen 

 amused herself and her friends by making butter and cheese under the direc- 

 tion of the farmer's wife. A mill, manor house, grange and boudoir com- 

 pleted the bijou village, which was finished and in full swing by 1784; 

 Mique wanted to enlarge the scheme, and proposed the addition of a " Tem- 

 ple of the Muses," but the Queen would not give her consent, and built the 

 Tour de Marlborough instead. 



Though not the first in France, the Trianon garden soon became the 

 model of the Anglo-Chinese style, and no money was spared to adorn it with 

 everything that was charming and novel. For several years the Queen led 

 a simple life here with a few companions, amusing herself by occasionally 

 giving small receptions to the King and his courtiers. 



In 1763 the estate of Ermenonville was acquired by the Marquis de 

 Girardin, large sums were spent on laying it out, and after Trianon it became 

 the most famous landscape garden in France. In 1778 Rousseau, being 

 obliged to quit Paris, was invited to take up his residence here, but only 

 enjoyed two months of the quiet rest before he died. His body was em- 

 balmed and buried by moonlight on the He des Peupliers, and the spot soon 

 became a popular shrine. An account of this place was written by Girardin 

 himself in 1775 and translated into English. Among other objects of inter- 

 est in the grounds were Rousseau's cottage, a garden in ruins, and a cascade. 

 Girardin had travelled much in England and drew his ideas from the English 

 garden designers. He professes, however, that his object is " neither to 

 create English gardens, nor Chinese gardens, and less to divide his grounds 

 into pleasure grounds and parks than to produce interesting landscapes." 

 He was assisted by J. B. Morel, the " Kent " of France, who afterwards pub- 

 lished the Theorie des Jar dins, and probably also by his guest, Rousseau. 

 Girardin kept a band of musicians, who constantly perambulated the grounds, 

 playing sometimes in the woods and at other times on the waters, and in 



