Chateau de Radepojit. 649 



be otherwise. Nothing gratified us more than to hear of this 

 taste, and rigid exaction of duty, on the part of the master. 

 An easy master is not so bad as a whimsical or capricious one ; 

 but he is much worse than one who requires even a mihtary 

 exactness in the performance of duty. All servants, whether 

 of the public, like ourselves, or of individuals, like many of 

 our readers, are, from the nature of things, more or less 

 machines ; an easy master lets them rust and go out of order, 

 but a systematic one polishes the cogs and oils the gudgeons, 

 so as to increase their mechanical efficiency, prevent noise, 

 and accelerate motion. 



On the whole this place only requires an English-looking 

 house, to be a very successful imitation of the English man- 

 ner. The house servant who showed us round, a Ger- 

 man from Alsatia, who could not read, and who excused 

 himself by saying he did not understand the French letters, 

 said it Avas entirely laid out by his master, who had passed 

 some time in England. 



Thinking that the new village and the old one might in- 

 dicate the present and the former states of the habitations 

 of the poor in this part of France, and being on a walking 

 excursion, we entered some of the cottages in both villages. 

 The interior of the thatched mud structures was not so un- 

 comfortable as we expected. The total internal dimensions 

 might be 12 ft. by 20; there was one fire-place, large, open, 

 and raised about 6 in. from the floor, for burning wood ; a 

 boarded partition separated a space about 12 ft. by 6 or 8 ft., 

 which w^e had not an opportunity of looking into, further 

 than to see the corner of a box-bed without curtains ; this 

 partition was not higher than the side walls, and in one case 

 it was formed of a straw mat stretched on posts and rails ; 

 the common ceiling; to the whole interior seemed to be of 

 loose boards, and in one cottage there was no ceiling. The 

 furniture consisted of a large oak chest in every case, with a 

 table and some straw-bottomed chairs, a cupboard, a bench, 

 earthen pots, wooden plates, a distaff, bill-hook, reaping-hook, 

 spade, hoe, and a few other articles. 



In New Fleury, the dwelling houses are substantially built 

 of brick and stone, of ample dimensions, and two stories 

 high. On the ground floor are a large apartment with a fire- 

 place, and a smaller one entered from it without a fire-place. 

 Over these are two sleeping-rooms to which the ascent is by 

 a staircase which proceeds from the entrance door. 



Our next will commence with the gardens of Paris and its 

 environs. 



{To he contimted.) 



