alks, and gardens, which cover several miles.

The orangery is a beautiful specimen of tuscan architecture, designed by
le Maitre, and finished by Mansart. It is filled with lofty orange trees
in full bearing; many of which, in their tubs, measure from twenty to
thirty feet high. Amongst them is an orange tree which is upwards of
four hundred years old. The cascades, fountains, and jets d'eau, are too
numerous to admit of minute description. They are all very fine, and are
supplied by prodigious engines across the Seine, at Marli, about three
miles distant. The Trianon is a little marble palace, of much beauty,
and embellished with the richest decoration.

It stands at the end of the great lake, in front of the palace; and was,
by its late royal owners, considered as a summer house to the gardens of
Versailles. The whole of this vast building and its grounds, were
improved and beautified by Lewis XIVth, for the well known purpose of
impressing his subjects, and particularly his courtiers, with the
highest opinion of his greatness, and the lowest of their comparative
littleness. Amongst the lords of his court he easily effected his
wishes, by accommodating them in a manner unsuitable to their dignity.

[Illustration: _Ruins of the Queen's Farm-house in the Petit Trianon._]

After being astonished at such a display of gorgeous magnificence, I
approached, with increased delight, the enchanting little palace and
grounds of the late queen, distant from Versailles about two miles,
called the Petit Trianon, to which she very justly gave the appellation
of her "little Palace of Taste." Here, fatigued with the splendours of
royalty, she threw aside all its appearances, and gave herself up to the
elegant pleasures of rural life. It is a princely establishment in
miniature. It consists of a small palace, a chapel, an opera house, out
offices and stables, a little park, and pleasure grounds; the latter of
which are still charming, although the fascinating eye, and tasteful
hand of their lovely but too volatile mistress, no longer pervade,
cherish and direct their growth and beauty. By that reverse of fortune,
which the revolution has familiarized, the Petit Trianon is let out by
the government to a restaurateur. All the rooms but one in this house
were preoccupied, on the day of our visit, in consequence of which we
were obliged to dine in the former little bed room of the queen, where,
like the idalian goddess, she used to sleep