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ROLLO IN GENEVA,
BY
JACOB ABBOTT.
NEW YORK:
SHELDON & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS,
498 & 500 BROADWAY.
1867.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858,
by JACOB ABBOTT,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of
Massachusetts.
[Illustration: THE CASTLE OF CHILLON.]
[Illustration: ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE.
SHELDON & CO.,
PUBLISHERS, N. Y.]
ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE.
ORDER OF THE VOLUMES.
ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC.
ROLLO IN PARIS.
ROLLO IN SWITZERLAND.
ROLLO IN LONDON.
ROLLO ON THE RHINE.
ROLLO IN SCOTLAND.
ROLLO IN GENEVA.
ROLLO IN HOLLAND.
ROLLO IN NAPLES.
ROLLO IN ROME.
PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY.
ROLLO; twelve years of age.
MR. and MRS. HOLIDAY; Rollo's father and mother, travelling in Europe.
THANNY; Rollo's younger brother.
JANE; Rollo's cousin, adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Holiday.
MR. GEORGE; a young gentleman, Rollo's uncle.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--THE FAME OF GENEVA, 11
II.--PLANNING, 24
III.--THE RIDE TO GENEVA, 35
IV.--THE TOWN, 55
V.--THE HOTEL, 64
VI.--A RIDE IN THE ENVIRONS, 71
VII.--THE JUNCTION OF THE ARVE, 93
VIII.--SEEING MONT BLANC GO OUT, 108
IX.--A LAW QUESTION, 122
X.--AN EXCURSION ON THE LAKE, 134
XI.--VILLENEUVE, 148
XII.--THE CASTLE OF CHILLON, 155
XIII.--PLAN FORMED, 171
XIV.--WALK TO AIGLE, 179
XV.--THE JEWELRY, 197
XVI.--A FORTUNATE ACCIDENT, 209
ENGRAVINGS.
PAGE
THE CASTLE OF CHILLON, (Frontispiece.)
THE GREAT NET, 30
GOING THROUGH THE VILLAGE, 46
VIEW OF GENEVA, 58
THE WATER WHEEL, 100
FISHING, 104
GOING TO TAKE A SAIL, 132
THE DUNGEONS OF CHILLON, 161
THE BASKET RIDE, 185
SHOPPING AT GENEVA, 203
ROLLO IN GENEVA.
CHAPTER I.
THE FAME OF GENEVA.
Geneva is one of the most remarkable and most celebrated cities in
Europe. It derives its celebrity, however, not so much from its size, or
from the magnificence of its edifices, as from the peculiar beauty of
its situation, and from the circumstances of its history.
Geneva is situated upon the confines of France, Switzerland, and
Sardinia, at the outlet of the Lake of Geneva, which is perhaps the most
beautiful, and certainly the most celebrated, lake in Switzerland. It is
shaped like a crescent,--that is, like the new moon, or rather like the
moon after it is about four or five days old. The lower end of the
lake--that is, the end where Geneva is situated--lies in a comparatively
open country, though vast ranges of lofty mountains, some of them
covered with perpetual snow, are to be seen in the distance all around.
All the country near, however, at this end of the lake, is gently
undulating, and it is extremely fertile and beautiful. There are a great
many elegant country seats along the shore of the lake, and on the banks
of the River Rhone, which flows out of it. The waters of the lake at
this end, and of the river which issues from it, are very clear, and of
a deep and beautiful blue color. This blue color is so remarkable that
it attracts the attention of every one who looks down into it from a
bridge or from a boat, and there have been a great many suppositions and
speculations made in respect to the cause of it; but I believe that,
after all, nobody has yet been able to find out what the cause is.
The city of Geneva is situated exactly at the lower end of the lake,
that is, at the western end; and the River Rhone, in coming out of the
lake, flows directly through the town.
The lake is about fifty miles long, and the eastern end of it runs far
in among the mountains. These mountains are very dark and sombre, and
their sides rise so precipitously from the margin of the water that in
many places there is scarcely room for a road along the shore. Indeed,
you go generally to that end of the lake in a steamer; and as you
advance, the mountains seem to shut you in completely at the end of the
lake. But when you get near to the end, you see a narrow valley opening
before you, with high mountains on either hand, and the River Rhone
flowing very swiftly between green and beautiful banks in the middle of
it. Besides the river, there is a magnificent road to be seen running
along this valley. This is the great high road leading from France into
Italy; and it has been known and travelled as such ever since the days
of the old Romans.
The River Rhone, where it flows into the lake at the eastern end of it,
is very thick and turbid, being formed from torrents coming down the
mountain sides, or from muddy streams derived from the melting of the
glaciers. At the western end, on the other hand, where it issues from
the lake, the water is beautifully pellucid and clear. The reason of
this is, that during its slow passage through the lake it has had time
to settle. The impurities which the torrents bring down into it from the
mountains all subside to the bottom of the lake, and are left there, and
thus the water comes out at the lower end quite clear. The lake itself,
however, is of course gradually filling up by means of this process.
There are several large and handsome houses on the northern shore of
the lake; but Geneva, at the western end of it, entirely surpasses them
all.
Geneva is, however, after all, a comparatively small town. It contains
only thirty or forty thousand inhabitants. It would take ten Genevas to
make a New York, and nearly a hundred to make a Paris or London.
Why, then, since Geneva is comparatively so small, is it so celebrated?
Almost every person who goes to Europe visits Geneva, and talks of
Geneva when he comes back; while there are multitudes of other cities
and towns, many times as large in extent and population, that he never
thinks of or speaks of at all.
There are several reasons for this.
1. The first reason is, that this town stands on the great high road
leading from England and France into Italy. Of course it comes naturally
in the way of all travellers making the grand tour. It is true that at
the present day, since steam has been introduced upon the Mediterranean,
a very large proportion of travellers, instead of passing through
Switzerland, go down the Rhone to Marseilles, and embark there. But
before the introduction of steam, for many ages, the way by Geneva was
almost the only way to Italy; and the city acquired great celebrity
through the accounts of tourists and travellers who visited it on their
journeys.
2. The second reason is, that Geneva is a convenient and agreeable point
for entering Switzerland, and for making excursions among the Alps.
There are two great avenues into Switzerland from France and
Germany--one by way of Geneva, and the other by way of Basle. By the way
of Basle we go to the Jungfrau and the Oberland Alps which lie around
that mountain, and to the beautiful lakes of Zurich and of Lucerne. All
these lie in the eastern part of the Alpine region. By the way of Geneva
we go to the valley of Chamouni and Mont Blanc, and visit the vast
glaciers and the stupendous mountain scenery that lie around this great
monarch of the Alps.
There is a great question among travellers which of these two Alpine
regions is the most grand. Some prefer the mountains about Mont Blanc,
which are called the Alps of Savoy. Others like better those about the
Jungfrau, which are called the Oberland Alps. The scenery and the
objects of interest are very different in the two localities; and it
seems to me that any difference which travellers may observe in the
grandeur of the emotions which they severally produce upon the mind must
be due to the peculiar circumstances or moods of mind in which they are
visited. It is true you can get nearer to the Jungfrau than you can to
Mont Blanc, and so can obtain a more impressive view of his icy and
rocky sides and glittering summit. But then, on the other hand, Mont
Blanc is really the highest peak, and is looked upon as the great
monarch of them all.
And here, as the name of Mont Blanc will of course often appear in this
volume, I have a word or two to say in respect to the proper
pronunciation of it in America; for the proper mode of pronouncing the
name of any place is not fixed, as many persons think, but varies with
the language which you are using in speaking of it. Thus the name of the
capital of France, when we are in France, and speaking French, is
pronounced _Par-ree_; but when we are in England and America, and are
speaking English, we universally pronounce it _Par-is_. It is so with
almost all names of places. They change the pronunciation, and often the
mode of spelling, according to the analogy of the language used by the
person speaking of them.
Many persons suppose that in order correctly to pronounce the name of
any place we must pronounce it as the people do who live in and around
the place. But this is not so. The rule, on the other hand, is, that we
must pronounce it as the people do who live in and around the place _the
language of which we are speaking_. Thus the people of France call their
capital _Par-ree_; those of Spain call theirs something like
this,--_Madhreedth_; the Italians pronounce theirs _Roma_; but we, in
talking English, say simply, _Paris_, _Madrid_, and _Rome_; in other
words, when we are talking English, we _talk English throughout_, using
English words for names of things, and English pronunciation for names
of places, in all cases where there is an English pronunciation
established,--as there is in respect to all the rivers, towns,
mountains, and other localities on the globe that are well known and
often spoken of in the English world.
Mont Blanc is one of these. Like the word _Paris_ it has its French
pronunciation for the French, and its English pronunciation for the
English; and its English pronunciation is as if it were spelled Mount
Blank or Mont Blank. Under this name it has been known and spoken of
familiarly all over England and America for centuries; and this, it
seems to me, is the proper name to give it when we are speaking English.
Its French pronunciation is very different. It is one which none but a
practical French scholar can possibly imitate, except in a very awkward
manner. Those who have visited France and Switzerland, and have been
accustomed to the French sound, often give the word the French
pronunciation; but it is not at all necessary to do so. The word, like
_Paris_, has its own established English sound; and if it is not
pedantry to attempt to give it the French sound when speaking English,
it certainly is not a mispronunciation to give it the English one.
Indeed, to require the French pronunciation of the word from English
speakers would be in effect to banish it almost altogether from
conversation; for among the ten millions, more or less, in England or
America, who speak English well, there is probably not one in a thousand
that can possibly give the word its true French pronunciation.
In reading this book, therefore, and in speaking of the great Swiss
mountain, you are perfectly safe in giving it its plain English sound,
as if it were written Mont Blank; and remember the principle, as
applicable to all other similar cases. Wherever a foreign name has
become so familiar to the English world as to have obtained an
established English pronunciation, in speaking English we give it that
pronunciation, without any regard to the usage of the people who live on
the spot.
But now I must return to Geneva, and give some further account of the
reasons why it has been so celebrated.
3. The third reason why Geneva has acquired so much celebrity among
mankind is the great number of learned and distinguished philosophers
and scholars that have from time to time lived there. Switzerland is a
republic, and the canton of Geneva is Protestant; and thus the place has
served as a sort of resort and refuge for all the most distinguished
foes both of spiritual and political tyranny that have risen up in
Europe at intervals during the last five hundred years. Geneva was
indeed one of the chief centres of the Reformation; and almost all the
great reformers visited it and wrote about it, and thus made all the
world familiar with it, during the exciting times in which they lived.
Besides this, Geneva has been made the residence and home of a great
many moral and political writers within the last one or two centuries;
for the country, being republican, is much more open and free than most
of the other countries of Europe. Men who have incurred the displeasure
of their own governments by their writings or their acts find a safe
asylum in Geneva, where they can think and say what they please. All
this has tended very strongly to attract the attention of mankind to
Geneva, as to a sort of luminous point in respect to moral and
political science, from which light radiates to every part of the
civilized world.
4. There is one more reason, very different from the preceding, which
tends to make Geneva famous, and to draw travellers to visit it at the
present day; and that is, it is a great manufacturing place for watches
and jewelry--one of the greatest, indeed, in the world. Travellers, in
making the tour of Europe,--and American travellers in
particular,--always wish to bring home with them a great number and
variety of purchases; and the things that they buy they very naturally
desire to buy at the places where they are made. It is not merely that
they hope to get them better and cheaper there, but it is a pleasant
thought to be associated always afterwards with any object of use or
luxury that we possess, that we bought it ourselves at the place of its
original manufacture. Thus the gentlemen who travel in Europe like to
bring home a fowling-piece from Birmingham, a telescope from London, or
a painting from Italy; and the ladies, in planning their tour, wish it
to include Brussels or Valenciennes for laces, and Geneva for a watch.
Thus, for one reason or another, immense numbers of people go every year
to Geneva, in the course of the tour they make in Europe, either for
business or pleasure. It is estimated that the number of these visitors
annually is not less than thirty thousand; and the chief streets and
quays of the town are marked almost as strikingly by the conspicuousness
and splendor of the hotels as Broadway in New York.
The place of departure in France for Geneva is Lyons. If you look upon
the map you will see the situation of Lyons on the River Rhone, almost
opposite to Geneva. There is a railroad from Paris to Lyons, and so on
down the Rhone to Marseilles. But from Lyons up to Geneva--which is
likewise situated on the Rhone, at the place where it issues from the
Lake of Geneva--there was no railroad at the time of Rollo's visit,
though there was one in the process of construction. The party were
obliged to travel by _diligence_ on that part of the journey. The
diligence is the French stage coach. The diligence leaves Lyons in the
evening, and travels all night. As Mr. Holiday arrived at Lyons the
evening before, Rollo had the whole of the day to walk about the town
before setting out for his evening ride. His father gave him leave to go
out alone, and ramble where he pleased.
"The most curious places," said his father, "are on the other side of
the river, where the silk weavers live. Notice what bridge you go over,
so that you will know it again, and then if you get lost on the other
side it will be no matter. All you will have to do is to keep coming
down hill till you reach the river, and then look up and down till you
see the bridge where you went over. That will bring you home. And be
sure to be at home by five o'clock. We are going to have dinner at half
past five."
"Then won't it be in season," asked Rollo, "if I am at home by half past
five?"
"In season for what?" asked his father.
"Why, to save my dinner," said Rollo.
"Yes," said his father; "it might be in season to save your dinner, but
that is not what I am planning to save. I have no particular uneasiness
about your dinner."
"Why, father!" said Rollo, surprised.
"I have no wish to have you go hungry," replied his father; "but then if
by any chance you happened to be late at dinner, it would be of no great
consequence, for you could buy something, and eat it in the diligence by
the way. So I was not planning to save your dinner."
"Then what were you planning to save, father?" asked Rollo.
"My own and mother's quiet of mind," replied Mr. Holiday, "especially
mother's. If five minutes of the dinner hour were to come and you
should not appear, she would begin to be uneasy; and indeed so should
I. In such cases as this, children ought always to come before the time
when their parents would begin to feel any uneasiness respecting them."
Rollo saw at once the correctness of this principle, and he secretly
resolved that he would be at home a quarter before five.