aulets were stationed at intervals along the
leading thoroughfares to preserve order.

The scene inside the gates was wonderfully imposing. Nothing could be
more fanciful. In every aspect it presented some striking combination
of natural and artificial beauties, admirably calculated to fascinate
the imagination. I have a vague recollection of shady and undulating
walks, winding over sweeping lawns dotted with masses of flowers and
copses of shrubbery, and overhung by wide-spreading trees, sometimes
gradually rising over gentle acclivities or points of rock overhung
with moss and fern. Rustic cottages, half hidden by the luxuriant
foliage, crowned each prominent eminence, and little by-ways branched
off into cool, umbrageous recesses, where caves, glittering with
sea-shells and illuminated stalactites, invited the wayfarer to linger
a while and rest. Far down in deep glens and grottoes were retired
nooks, where lovers, hidden from the busy throng, might mingle their
vows to the harmony of falling waters; where the very flowers seemed
whispering love to each other, and the lights and shadows fell, by
some intuitive sense of fitness, into the form of bridal wreaths.
Marble statues representing the Graces, winged Mercuries and Cupids,
are so cunningly displayed in relief against the green banks of
foliage that they seem the natural inhabitants of the place.
Snow-spirits, too, with outspread wings, hover in the air, as if to
waft cooling zephyrs through the soft summer night. In the open spaces
fountains dash their sparkling waters high into the moonlight,
spreading a mystic spray over the sward. Through vistas of shrubbery
gleam the bright waters of a lake, on the far side of which the
embattled towers of a castle rise in bold relief over the intervening
groups of trees.

On an elevated plateau, near the centre of the garden, stands a series
of Asiatic temples and pagodas, in which the chief entertainments are
held. The approaching avenues are illuminated with many-colored lights
suspended from the branches of the trees, and wind under triumphal
archways, festooned with flowers. The theatres present open fronts,
and abound in all the tinsel of the stage, both inside and out. The
grounds are crowded to their utmost capacity with the rank and fashion
of the city, in all the glory of jeweled head-dresses and decorations
of order. Festoons of variegated lights swing from the trees over the
audience, and painted figures of dra