Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 8, No. 50, December, 1861 | Page 9

to
trace a resemblance between us. I say indulged; for he often, down to
the last time that I ever saw him, came back to this subject, and seemed
to take a peculiar pleasure in it. He had been warmly attached to
General Greene, and the attachment which both of them bore to
Washington served to strengthen their attachment to each other. This
portrait, a copy from Peale, had been one of the fruits of his last visit to
the United States, and hung, with those of some other personal
friends,--great men all of them,--on the drawing-room wall. His
Washington was a bronze from Houdon's bust, and stood opposite the
mantel-piece on a marble pedestal. Conversation and music filled up
the rest of the evening, and before I withdrew for the night it had been
arranged that I should begin my French the next morning, with one of
the young ladies for teacher. And thus ended my first day at La Grange.
EVERY-DAY LIFE AT LA GRANGE.
The daily life at La Grange was necessarily systematic. The General's
position compelled him to see a great deal of company and exposed
him to constant interruptions. He kept a kind of open table, at which
part of the faces seemed to be changing every day. Then there were his
own children, with claims upon his attention which he was not disposed
to deny, and a large family of grandchildren to educate, upon all of
whose minds he wished to leave personal impressions of their
intercourse with him which should make them feel how much he loved
and cherished them all. Fortunately, the size of the castle made it easy
to keep the family rooms distant from the rooms of the guests; and a
judicious division of time enabled him to preserve a degree of freedom
in the midst of constraint, which, though the rule in Europe, American
hosts in town or country have very little conception of.
Every one rose at his own hour, and was master of his time till eleven.
If he wanted an early breakfast, he could have a cup of coffee or
chocolate or milk in his room for the asking. But the family
breakfast-hour was at eleven, a true French breakfast, and attended with
all the forms of dinner except in dress. The castle-bell was rung; the
household collected in the parlor; and all descended in one order to the
dining-room. It was pleasant to see this morning gathering. The
General was almost always among the first to come in and take his
stand by the fireplace, with a cordial greeting for each guest in turn. As

his grandchildren entered, they went up to offer their morning
salutations to him first of all, and there was the paternal kiss on the
forehead and a pleasant word for each. His son and daughters generally
saw him in his own room before they came down.
Breakfast was a cheerful meal, served in courses like dinner, and
seasoned with conversation, in which every one was free to take a part
or listen, as he felt disposed. There was no hurry, no confusion about it;
all sat down and rose at the same time; and as every one that worked at
all had evidently done part of his day's work before he came to table,
all came with good appetites. Then came the family walk, all starting
out in a group, but always sure to break up into smaller groups as they
went on: the natural law of affinities never failing to make itself felt,
and they who found most pleasure in each other's society generally
ending their walk together. Sometimes the General would come a little
way with us, but soon turned off to the farm, or dropped behind and
went back to his books and letters. An hour in the grounds passed
quickly,--too quickly, I often used to think; and then, unless, as
occasionally happened, there was an excursion on foot which all were
to take part in, the members of the family withdrew to their own
apartments, and the guests were left free to fill up the time till dinner as
they chose. With books, papers, and visits from room to room, or strolls
about the grounds, the hours never lagged; and much as one day
seemed like another, there was always something of its own to
remember it by. Of course, this regularity was not the result of chance.
Behind the visible curtain was the invisible spirit guiding and directing
all. It was no easy task to provide abundantly, and yet judiciously, for a
family always large, but which might at any moment be almost doubled
without an hour's notice. The farm, as I have already said, furnished a
full proportion of the daily supplies, and the General