Rousseau y^ 



do not recollect having been touched on by others. It consists 

 of three distinct water scenes ; or of two lakes and a river. We 

 were first shown that which is so famous for the small isle of 

 poplars, in which reposes all that was mortal of that extraordin- 

 ary and inimitable writer. This scene is as well imagined and 

 as well executed as could be wished. The water is between forty 

 and fifty acres; hills rise from it on both sides, and it is suffici- 

 ently closed in by tall wood at both ends to render it sequestered. 

 The remains of departed genius stamp a melancholy idea, from 

 which decoration would depart too much, and accordingly 

 there is little. We viewed the scene in a still evening. The 

 dechning sun threw a lengthened shade on the lake, and silence 

 seemed to repose on its unruffled bosom; as some poet says, 

 I forget who. The worthies to whom the temple of philosophers 

 is dedicated, and whose names are marked on the columns, are 

 Kewton, Lucem. — Descartes, Nil in rebus inane. — Voltaire, 

 Ridiculum. — Rousseau, Naturam.—Andi on another unfinished 

 column, Quis hoc perficiet ? The other lake is larger; it nearly 

 fills the bottom of the vale, around which are some rough, rocky, 

 wild, and barren sand hills ; either broken or spread with heath ; 

 in some places wooded, and in others scattered thinly with juni- 

 pers. The character of the scene is that of wild and undecorated 

 nature, in which the hand of art was meant to be concealed as 

 much as was consistent with ease of access. The last scene 

 is that of a river which is made to wind through a lawn, receding 

 from the house, and broken by wood : the ground is not fortunate; 

 it is too dead a fiat, and nowhere viewed to much advantage. 



From Ermenonville we went, the morning after,_tD.Bra_sseuse, 

 the seat of Madame du Pont, sister of the Duchess of Liancourt. 

 What was my surprise at finding this viscountess a grearfafmer 1 

 A French lad}', young enough to enjoy all the pleasuresof^Paris, 

 living in the country and minding her farm, was an unlookcH- 

 for spectacle. She has probably more lucerne than any other 

 person in Europe — 250 arpents. She gave me, in a most 

 unaffected and agreeable manner, both lucerne and dairy intelli- 

 gence; but of that more elsewhere. Returned to Liancourt by 

 Pont,^ where there is a handsome bridge of three arches, the 

 construction uncommon, each pier consisting of four pillars, 

 with a towing-path under one of the arches for the barge-horses, 

 the river being navigable. 



Amongst the morning amusements I partook at Liancourt was 

 la chasse. In deer shooting, the sportsmen place themselves 



1 Pont Ste. Maxence. 



