Villa of M. Berthoud. j[39 



Epinal, is the rock on which is scattered the remains of the 

 ancient castle. The castle of Epinal was a place of ereat 

 strength, till it underwent a siege, in the time of Louis XIV. 

 when it was taken, blown up, and has since remained in ruins. 

 Some of these masses are very large and entire, while others 

 are shattered by perpendicular rents ; and, leaning to one 

 side, remain monuments of the tremendous force of gun- 

 powder. It appears that the cannon balls made use of in the 

 siege were partly formed of granite ; as numbers of these, as 

 well as of iron balls, are constantly dug up by the gardeners. 

 The great inequality of the surface, and the various forms of 

 the masses of rock round these ruins, with the distant amphi- 

 theatre of wooded hills and mountains on three sides, and the 

 valley of the Moselle on the east, seen from them, constitute 

 by far the finest part of the scenery. In our notes made on 

 the spot in October, 1828, we find noticed two stupendous 

 piers of the drawbridge, one rent from top to bottom, a height 

 of nearly 100 ft., and leaning towards the other; immense 

 masses of rock, beautifully varied with creepers, and- more 

 especially with the Ampelopsis i^ederacea; birch trees, larch, 

 firs, and Scotch pines, protruding from crevices of the ruin 

 and of the rock ; a cleft or ravine with steep rocky sides, 

 planted with larches, and having a Swiss air ; a tunnel through 

 the rock, of several yards in length, forming part of the road, 

 and displaying a very striking view of the Moselle and its 

 vale, from one end, and of one of the highest of the moun- 

 tains of the Vosges on the other ; and the imitation of natural 

 woods, by planting very young trees among the older ones, 

 always of the same sort in one place, so as very successfully 

 to imitate the spruce fir forests of Prussia, the pine and birch 

 forests of Sweden, and the larch and silver fir scenery of the 

 Alps. The grand and savage character of the mountain 

 scenery, on the one hand, as contrasted with the buildings 

 and bustle of the town, and the vale of the Moselle, with its 

 meadows and vineyards, on the other, add greatly to the 

 charm of M. Doublat's grounds in our eyes ; though, if the 

 demesne belonged to an aristocratic Briton, die town would be 

 deemed a nuisance, and the great object of all his efforts would 

 be to plant it out from the view. So far is M. Doublat from 

 entertaining any opinion of this kind, that his grounds are 

 thrown open every Sunday to the whole town of Epinal ; and 

 at all times they are open to strangers. 



The Villa, at Chantilly, of the late M. Berthoud, architect to 

 the government in the time of the consulship, contains upwards 

 of 100 acres, and has been laid out in the natural manner 

 with extraordinary care. The surrlice consists of a hill or 



