gardens, gay with parterres of flowers, and
shaded by noble trees, not only those belonging to the house itself,
but those of other adjoining dwellings of the same character--one looked
over park-like grounds covering some acres. The hotel itself, standing
on the street, was old, and built on a grand scale; it had been the home
of a French ducal family in the time of Louis XIV. The rooms on the two
lower floors were imposing and spacious; with ceilings of great height,
gilded wainscoting and various quaint little medallion pictures of
shepherds and shepherdesses, and other fancies of the time of Madame de
Sevigne. Those little shepherds were supposed to have looked down upon
_la mere beaute_, and upon _la plus jolie fille de France_ as she danced
her incomparable minuets. Those grand saloons were now devoted to the
humble service of a school for young ladies. But on the third floor,
to which one ascended by a fine stone stairway, broad and easy,
with elaborate iron railings, there was a more simple set of rooms,
comfortably furnished, where the American family were pleasantly
provided for, in a home of their own. Unwilling to separate from his
children, who were placed at the school, the traveller adopted this plan
that he might be near them. One of the rooms, overlooking the garden,
and opening on a small terrace, became his study. He was soon at work.
In his writing-desk lay some chapters of a new novel. The MS. had
crossed the ocean with him, though but little had been added to its
pages during the wanderings of the English and French journeys."

When, some months later, the story appeared, its effect was immediate on
both sides the Atlantic. It is worth note that during his French visit
Cooper met Sir Walter Scott. Cooper was born at Burlington, New Jersey,
15th Sept., 1789, and died at Cooperstown, New York (which took its name
from his father), 14th Sept., 1851.

The following is his literary record:

Precaution, 1820; The Spy, 1821; The Pioneers, 1823; The Pilot,
1823; Lionel Lincoln, or the Leaguer of Boston, 1825; The Last of the
Mohicans, 1826; The Prairie, 1827; The Red Rover, 1828; Notions of the
Americans, 1828; The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish, 1829; The Water-witch,
1830; The Bravo, 1831; The Heidenmauer, or the Benedictines, 1832; The
Headsman, 1833; A Letter to his Countrymen, 1834; The Monikins, 1835;
Sketches of Switzerland, 1836; Gleanings in Europe: 1837; (England)
1837; (Italy) 1838; The American Demo