“The Château La Grange does not, however, want other points of interest.... Founded by Louis Le Gros, and occupied by the Princes of Lorraine, the mark of a cannon-ball is still visible in one of its towers, which penetrated the masonry, when attacked by Maréchal Turenne. Here in the plain, but spacious, _salon-à-manger_, the peasantry of the neighborhood and the domestics of the castle assemble every Sunday evening in winter to dance to the violin of the _concierge_, and are regaled with cakes and _eau sucrée_. The general is usually, and his family are always, present at these rustic balls. The young people occasionally dance among the tenantry, and set the example of the new steps, freshly imported by their Paris dancing-master. “In the summer this patriarchal reunion takes place in the park, where a space is cleared for the purpose, shaded by the lofty trees which encircle it. A thousand times, in contemplating La Fayette, in the midst of his charming family, the last years of the life of the Chancellor de l’Hopital recurred to me, ... he whom the _naïve_ Brantome likens to Cato! and who, loving liberty as he hated faction, retired from a court unworthy of his virtues, to his little domain of Vignay, which he cultivated himself.” In 1819 La Fayette was again chosen a member of the Chamber of Deputies. His many stirring and eloquent speeches in favor of liberty, and his fearless denunciations of despotic tyranny, aroused the fear and hatred of Louis XVIII. In 1823 the king ordered his solicitor-general to accuse La Fayette of treason. The charge was made publicly in the Chamber of Deputies, and for a moment was received with profound silence. Then La Fayette slowly rose from his seat, and with calm and commanding dignity took his stand upon the tribune. With folded arms he surveyed the assembly with unquailing eye; and then he spoke: “In spite of my habitual indifference to party accusations and animosities, I still think myself bound to say a single word upon this occasion. During the whole course of a life entirely devoted to liberty, I have constantly been an object of attack to the enemies of that cause; under whatever form, despotic, aristocratic, or anarchic, they have endeavored to combat it. I do not complain, then, because I observe some affectation in the use of the word ‘proved,’ which the solicitor-general has employed against me; but I join my honored friends in demanding a public inquiry, within the walls of this chamber, and in the face of the nation. Then, I and my adversaries, to whatever rank they belong, may declare, without reserve, all that we have mutually had to reproach each other with for the last thirty years.” His accusers recoiled from such a daring, and to them condemnatory, challenge, and La Fayette was acquitted; but the government, by intrigues and bribery, defeated his re-election.