the games was a
machine resembling an English round-a-bout, with wooden horses for the
players, each of whom was furnished with a foil, with which he strove to
seize the greatest number of rings from the centre; this was, indeed, a
chivalrous exhibition. Stilt-walkers, mountebank families, and jugglers,
"chequered in bulk and brains," lent their aid to amuse the crowd; and,
occasionally, two or three fellows contrived to enact scenes from plays,
and with their vulgar wit to merit the applause of their audience.
Portable clock-work exhibitions swarmed, and mummeries or mysteries,
representing the Life and Death of our Saviour and the blessed Virgin,
appeared to be ritual accompaniments of the day, and represented each
stage of the holy lives. The bearers of the latter machinery enlivened
their exhibitions with a grinding organ, which they accompanied with
appropriate ditties or carols. Crosses and other religious emblems were
hung about the theatrical boxes or shows, which, with their
representations, could only be compared with the nursery toys of Noah's
ark, with which most of us have been amused. Accordingly, here were
models of Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Mount Calvary, in the characteristic
accuracy of biblical topography, and from the zeal of the spectators,
the ingenuity of the inventors was unsparingly rewarded.

I turned from these sights to the natural beauties of the park, which,
aided by the happy inequalities of the ground, (which French artists
imagined would be such an obstacle to its perfection,) possesses far
more variety than is usually found in the pleasure-grounds of France.
The original plantation of the park was the work of La Notre, who, it
will be recollected, planned the garden of Versailles; but St. Cloud is
considered his _chef-d'oeuvre_, and proves, that with the few natural
advantages which it afforded him, he was enabled to effect more here
than millions have accomplished at Versailles--where art is fairly
overmatched with her own wasteful and ridiculous excess. This alone
ought to make the French blush for that monument of royal folly.

The situation of the chateau is its greatest attraction. It possesses a
fine view of Paris, which is indeed a splendid item in the prospect of
the princely occupants; and the sight of the capital may, perhaps, be a
pleasant relief to the natural seclusion of the palace.

One of the most remarkable objects in the park is a kind of square
tower, surmounted with