A RIDE IN THE ENVIRONS.
One morning, a day or two after our party arrived at Geneva, Mr. Holiday
told Rollo, as they were sitting at their round breakfast table, at one
of the windows looking out upon the lake, that he had planned a ride for
that day; and he said that Rollo, if he wished, might go too.
"Well, sir," said Rollo; "only I think I should like better to go and
take a sail."
"I believe boys generally like to sail better than to ride," said Mr.
Holiday; "but the places that we are going to are where we cannot reach
them in a boat. However, I will make you an offer. We are going to ride
in a carriage to-day, and we should like very much to have you go with
us. Now, if you will go with us on this ride, I will go and take you out
on the lake to sail some other day."
"Well, sir," said Rollo, joyfully. "But how far will you take me?"
"As far as you wish to go," said Mr. Holiday.
"O, father!" said Rollo; "I should wish to go to the very farthest end
of the lake."
"Well," said his father, "I will take you there."
It must not at all be supposed from this conversation that Mr. Holiday
considered it necessary to make a bargain with his boy, to induce him to
go any where or to do any thing that he desired. He put the case in this
way to amuse Rollo, and to interest him more in proposed expeditions.
"There are three distinguished personages," said Mr. Holiday, "whose
names and histories are intimately associated with Geneva, because they
all lived in Geneva, or in the environs of it. These three persons are
Madame de Stael, John Calvin, and Voltaire. I will tell you something
about them on the way. As soon as you have finished your breakfast you
may go and engage a carriage for us. Get a carriage with two horses, and
have it ready at half past ten."
Rollo was always much pleased with such a commission as this. He engaged
a very pretty carriage, with two elegant black horses. The carriage had
a top which could be put up or down at pleasure. Rollo had it put down;
for, though it was a pleasant day, there were clouds enough in the sky
to make it pretty shady.
There was a front seat in the carriage, where Rollo might sit if he
chose; but he preferred riding outside with the postilion.
"And then," said Rollo to his father, "if there are any directions to be
given to the postilion, or if you have any questions for me to ask, I
can speak to him more conveniently."
"Is that the true reason why you wish to ride there?" asked his father.
"Why, no, father," said Rollo. "The true reason is, that I can see
better."
"They are both very good reasons," said Mr. Holiday. "Then, besides,
when you get tired of riding there you can come inside."
Accordingly, when the carriage came to the door, Rollo, after seeing his
father and mother safely seated inside, mounted on the top with the
postilion, and so they rode away.
They repassed the bridge by which they had entered Geneva, and then
turned to the right by a road which led along the margin of the lake, at
a little distance from the shore.
The road was very smooth and hard, and the country was beautiful.
Sometimes the road was bordered on each side by high walls, which formed
the enclosures of gardens or pleasure grounds. Sometimes it was open,
and afforded most enchanting views of the lake and of the ranges of
mountains beyond. But what chiefly amused and occupied Rollo's mind was
the novelties which he observed in the form and structure of every thing
he saw by the wayside. Such queer-looking carts and wheelbarrows, such
odd dresses, such groups of children at play, such gates, such
farmyards, such pumps and fountains by the roadside--every thing,
indeed, was new and strange.
After the party had been riding about an hour and a half, they passed
through a village which consisted, like those which Rollo had seen on
the road from Lyons, of compact rows of old and quaint-looking stone
houses, close to the roadside. The postilion stopped at this village to
give the horses a little drink.
"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "I wish you would get down, and come
inside a little while."
Rollo obeyed; and when the carriage began to go on again, his father
addressed him as follows:
"We are going to see the residence of Madame de Stael. She was one of
the most celebrated ladies that ever lived. She was distinguished as an
authoress. You don't know any thing about her now, and I suppose you
don't care much about her."
"No, sir," said Rollo; "I do not."
"But then," continued his father, "in a few years more you will very
probably read some of her writings; and at any rate you will often hear
of them. One of the most celebrated of her works is a tale called
Corinne."
"Ah, yes," said Rollo; "I have heard of Corinne. The first class in
French studied it at school."
"Very likely," said Mr. Holiday. "It is a very good text book for
studying French. At any rate it is a famous book, and Madame de Stael is
a very celebrated author. She was a lady, too, while she lived, of great
personal distinction. Her rank and position in society were very
exalted. She associated with kings and princes, and was closely
connected with many of the great political transactions of the day in
which she lived. This, of course, added greatly to her renown.
"Her father was a very distinguished man, too. His name was Monsieur
Necker. He was a great statesman and financier. The King of France got
his money affairs in the greatest confusion and difficulty, and he
appointed Monsieur Necker his minister of finance, to try to put them in
order."
"And did he succeed?" asked Rollo.
"No," said Mr. Holiday; "it was too late. The disorder was hopeless, and
it ended in the great French revolution. But Necker became a very
celebrated character in history. We are going to see the chateau where
he lived. We shall see the room where his daughter wrote Corinne. I
wish you to observe carefully all that you see, and remember it.
Hereafter, when you come to read the history of France and the writings
of Madame de Stael, you will look back with great pleasure to the visit
you made when a boy to the chateau of Necker, near Geneva."
"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "I will."
A short time after this the carriage stopped in a shady place under some
trees, near the entrance to a village. The postilion descended and
opened the carriage door, and then pointed up an avenue of trees, which
he said led to the chateau. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday got out of the carriage
and walked up the avenue. Rollo followed them.
They came at length to the chateau. There was a large portal, closed by
an iron gate. On one side of the portal was a lodge. A porter came out
of the lodge, and Mr. Holiday asked him if they could see the chateau.
He answered very politely that they could; and immediately opening the
iron gate, he ushered the whole party into the court yard.
The court yard was a very pleasant place. It was surrounded on three
sides by the buildings of the chateau, which were quite imposing in
their character, like a palace. The fourth side was formed by a handsome
wall, with a large ornamented gateway in the centre of it, leading into
a garden.
The entrance to the chateau was at a large door in the middle of one
side of the yard. The porter ascended the steps, and rang the bell. He
said to Mr. Holiday that some one would come to conduct the party over
the chateau, and then went back to his lodge.
Presently a well-dressed man came to the door. He received the party in
a very polite and friendly manner, and invited them in.
The first apartment that they entered was a hall. The hall was very
large, and was finished and furnished like a room, with chairs, sofas,
and a great fireplace. On one side was a broad stone staircase,
ornamented with a massive balustrade. The concierge led the way up this
staircase to a sort of gallery on the second story. From this gallery a
door opened, leading to the suite of apartments which Monsieur Necker
and his distinguished daughter had occupied.
The rooms were constructed and arranged in the style common in French
palaces. They were situated in the line of building which formed the
front of the chateau; and on the front side of each of them were windows
looking out upon the lake. Of course these windows formed the range of
windows in the second story of the principal front of the edifice.
On the back side of each of these rooms was a door communicating with
the gallery behind them, or with some subordinate apartments depending
upon them.
Besides these doors, there were others which connected the different
apartments of the suite with each other. These doors were all in a line,
and they were near the side of the room where the windows were which
looked out upon the lake. Thus one could pass through the whole suite of
apartments by walking along from one to another through these doors,
passing thus just in front of the range of windows.
The rooms were all beautifully furnished in the French style. There were
richly carved cabinets and book cases, and splendid mirrors, and sofas
and chairs, and paintings and statues. One room was the library. Another
was a bedroom. In one there were several portraits on the wall. Mr. and
Mrs. Holiday seemed particularly interested in examining these
portraits. One represented Madame de Stael herself; another, her father,
Monsieur Necker; a third, her mother, Madame Necker. Besides these,
there were some others of the family.
Rollo looked at all these portraits, as his father requested him to do;
but he was more interested in two other objects which stood on a table
in the same room. These objects were two little figures, one
representing a horse and the other a lamb. These figures were under a
glass. The horse was about a foot long, and the lamb about six inches.
The horse was of a very pretty form, and was covered with hair, like a
living animal. The lamb in the same manner was covered with wool.
Indeed, they were both in all respects models of the animals they
represented in miniature.
Rollo asked the concierge what they were.
"Ah," said he, "those are models of a favorite horse and a favorite lamb
that belonged to Monsieur Necker. When they died he was very sorry; and
he had these models of them made, to perpetuate the memory of them."
After this, in other rooms, the party were shown the table at which
Madame de Stael sat in writing Corinne, and the inkstand that she used;
and when they went down stairs, the concierge showed them into a large
hall, which was situated directly below the rooms they had been
visiting, where he said Madame de Stael used to have her dramas
performed from time to time before an audience of friends and visitors
from the neighborhood.
At length the concierge conducted the party to the door where they had
come in. There Mr. Holiday, after giving him a franc, thanked him for
his politeness, and bade him good bye. The party took a little walk in
the garden, and then returned to the carriage and rode away.
The bodies of Monsieur Necker and of his daughter lie buried in a little
grove of trees near the house. The party saw the grove, but visitors are
not allowed to go to the graves.
On leaving the chateau, the carriage turned off from the lake, and took
a road that led back more into the interior.
"What are we going to see next, father?" said Rollo.
"We are going to see the house where the famous philosopher, Voltaire,
lived," replied Mr. Holiday; "though on the way we are going to see a
fountain and cascade."
"Is there any thing very remarkable about the fountain?" asked Rollo.
"I don't know," said Mr. Holiday; "only it is mentioned in the guide
books as worth being visited."
So the carriage drove on through a very beautiful country, with fields,
and gardens, and country seats, and ancient chateaux bordering the way.
From time to time, Rollo, on looking back, obtained splendid views of
the lake behind him, and of the gently-sloping and highly-cultivated
shore on the opposite side, with the snowy range of the Alps beyond,
shining in the sun.
At length they arrived at a village, and stopped before an inn. The
postilion said that they were to stop there with the carriage, and go to
the fountain on foot.
"I will call some one to show you the way," said he.
So he went to one of the houses across the street, and called a woman of
the village, and she said that she would go to the school and call her
boy.
"But it is a pity," said Mr. Holiday, "to take the boy away from his
school."
"O, no," said the woman; "that is nothing at all."
So she ran along the street of the village until she came to the school
house, and presently she returned with the boy. He had a book in his
hand. Rollo looked at the book, and found that it was a grammar. The
covers of it were worn, and the leaves tumbled, and the beginning and
end of it were filled with names scribbled on the blank pages, and rude
drawings, which made it look exactly like the school books of idle boys,
as Rollo had often seen them in America.
Rollo gave back the book to the boy, and the boy gave it to his mother,
and then he began walking along the road, to show the party the way to
the fountain.
He led them out of the village, and along the pleasant road, until at
length they came to a place where there was an open gateway, through
which they could see the beautiful grounds of a large country house,
which appeared like a hotel. There were ladies and gentlemen walking
about the grounds, along the margin of a large stream of water, or
sitting in groups under the trees.
"What place is that?" said Rollo to the boy.
"It is a place of baths," said the boy.
Rollo wished to go in there and see the grounds; but the boy walked on,
and so Rollo followed him. After a time the guide turned off into a
field, and there took a path which led down toward a wood, where they
could hear water running. When they came into the wood they saw the
water. It was a large stream, large enough for a mill stream, and it ran
foaming and tumbling down over its rocky bed in a very picturesque
manner.
The walk led along the bank of the stream, under the trees. It was a
wide and very pleasant walk, and was well gravelled. Here and there
there were little seats, too, at pretty places formed by the windings of
the glen.
After walking along a little way, and not coming to any thing more, Mrs.
Holiday began to be tired.
"I wonder," said she, "if there is any thing remarkable to see at the
end of this path."
"I'll ask the boy," said Rollo.
"Boy," he added, speaking to the little guide, "what is there to see up
here?"
"It is this," said the boy, pointing to the brook.
"Isn't there any thing else besides this stream?" asked Rollo.
"No," said the boy.
"He says there is not any thing else," said Rollo to his mother; "and so
I don't believe it is worth while to go any farther. We have seen this
brook enough, and you will get very tired."
Mrs. Holiday sat down upon a green bench that happened to be near, at a
turn of the stream, in order to take time to consider the question.
Mr. Holiday sat down beside her.
"We will wait here, Rollo, while you go on with the boy, and see what
you can find. I think there must be something or other remarkable, for
they would not make so good a path as this to lead to nothing at all.
You may go on with the boy, and see what it comes to, and then you can
come back and tell us."
Rollo liked this plan very much, and so he and the boy walked on.
In about five minutes Mr. Holiday heard Rollo calling to him.
"FA-THER! FA-THER!" said he.
"_Well_," said Mr. Holiday, "_I hear_."
"Come up here," said Rollo, calling out again. "It is a very curious
place indeed."
So Mr. and Mrs. Holiday rose, and after following the path a short
distance farther through the wood, they came to where Rollo was. They
found, to their astonishment, that there the brook which they had been
following so long came to a sudden end, or rather to a sudden beginning;
for the whole volume of water that composed it was seen here to come
boiling up out of the ground in a sort of shallow basin, which was
formed on the hill side at the head of the glen.
The place was very secluded, but it was very beautiful. It was shaded
with trees, which overhung the paths, and the basin, and the various
channels of water which flowed from it and around it. The water boiled
up very copiously from between the stones that had been set up to form
the margin of the basin, and also among the sands which formed the
bottom of it. The walk was conducted all around this singular fountain;
and it passed across the outlet, where the stream flowed away from it,
over a neat little stone dike, which formed the edge of the basin on the
lower side.
Rollo led the way to the middle of this dike, and his father and mother
followed. They stood there for some time, looking down into the basin
to see the water boil up from between the stones and among the sands.
"This is a very curious place indeed," said Mrs. Holiday.
"It certainly is," said Mr. Holiday.
"Well, father," said Rollo, after gazing for some time into the bubbling
and boiling fountain, "where does all this water come from? What makes
it come up out of the ground?"
"Why, the truth is," said Mr. Holiday, "though it seems to come _up_, it
really comes _down_.
"Do you see all this mountain up here?" he added. So saying he pointed
to the land which seemed to rise to a great height above the head of the
glen.
"Yes, sir," said Rollo.
"Well, this mountain," continued Mr. Holiday, "is full of water. All
mountains are full of water, for it rains on the summits and sides of
them almost continually, and this keeps them always full. Generally this
water drains off down into the valleys, through the beds of sand and
gravel that lie in the heart of the mountain, and so is not particularly
observed. Sometimes it breaks out in small springs, at various places on
the mountain sides; and sometimes the shape of the rocks and openings in
the mountain are such as to collect a great quantity of it in one
place, where it breaks out into the open ground altogether, as it does
here. There are a great many such fountains in Switzerland."
"Are there any larger than this?" asked Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. Holiday, "ten times as large. Sometimes the water forms
quite a little river almost immediately after it comes out of the
ground."
"I should like to see them," said Rollo.
"Very likely you will see some of them," said his father.
"But then, father," said Rollo, "if this water all comes from the rain,
I should think that when it stops raining on the mountain above, then or
soon afterwards the water would stop boiling up here."
"No," said his father; "the mountain is so large, and the immense beds
of sand, gravel, and rock which it contains hold so much water, that
before all that has fallen in one rain has time to get drained away,
another rain comes, and so there is a perpetual supply, especially for
such fountains as come from channels that reach far into the mountain."
After rambling about this spot for some time, the party returned down
the path; but instead of going back into the road again by the way they
came, the boy led them through a gate into the grounds of the hotel
which they had seen in coming.
The grounds were very beautiful, being shaded with trees, and full of
walks; and the stream which came down the glen spread itself out in
various directions all over them, filling a great number of channels and
basins which had been opened here and there, and were seen in every
direction among the trees and foliage. The water flowed very swiftly
along from one of these basins to another, sometimes in a continuous
torrent, and sometimes by a series of cascades and waterfalls; and in
the bottoms of all the little ponds the water was seen boiling up in the
clean gray sand, just as it had done in the fountain up the glen.
There were walks every where along the banks of these streams, and
little bridges leading across them. There were seats, too, and bowers,
and a great many other pretty places. At one spot under a tree was a
large white swan, or rather a sculptured image of one, sitting on a
marble stone, and pouring out a constant stream of clear cold water from
his mouth. Underneath, on a little marble slab, was a tumbler, placed
there to enable people to take a drink. Rollo stopped to take a drink;
but instead of using the tumbler, he caught the water in a drinking cup
which he had bought in Scotland, and which he always carried in his
pocket.
After rambling about these grounds for some time, the party went back
through the yard of the hotel to the village. There they dismissed the
boy. Mr. Holiday gave him half a franc for guiding them. Then they got
into their carriage again, and rode on.
In about an hour they came to a little village named Ferney, near which
was the chateau that was formerly the residence of the celebrated
philosopher Voltaire. The carriage stopped under some ancient trees, and
Mr. and Mrs. Holiday and Rollo got out and walked up an avenue. At the
head of the avenue they came to a gate which led into the grounds of the
chateau.
There was a bell cord hanging by this gate, and a placard up, requesting
visitors to ring the bell, and not to enter the grounds until the
domestic should come to guide them.
"Shall I ring, father?" said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. Holiday; "ring away."
So Rollo pulled the bell rope, and very soon a domestic came. He
received the company very politely, and invited them to follow him.
Mr. and Mrs. Holiday and Rollo accordingly followed him into the yard.
The domestic led them round to the front of the house, which was turned
away from the road. The front faced a beautiful lawn, ornamented with
walks and trees. In one place there was a table under the trees, with
seats around it, as if the family were accustomed sometimes to take
their tea there. From this lawn there was a beautiful view of the lake
and of the mountains beyond.
The domestic led them into the house, and showed them the two rooms in
it which contained most of the memorials of Voltaire. The most
remarkable of these memorials was a marble monument which stood on one
side of the room, and which Rollo said looked like an ornamental stove,
that contained Voltaire's _heart_. His body was buried in Paris, but his
heart was deposited in this sepulchral urn.
Besides this there were a number of pictures in the room, which had been
placed there by Voltaire. Some of them had been given to him by the
emperors and kings that he had been acquainted with.
Rollo, however, did not take much interest in any of these things. The
singular appearance of the room and of the furniture interested him in
some degree by its novelty, but in other respects he was very little
amused by what he saw. He was glad when the visit to the house was over,
and he came out again upon the lawn.
From the lawn there was a very splendid view. There was a broad and very
fertile slope of land extending for several miles down to the shore of
the lake. Beyond it was seen the blue expanse of the water, and still
farther another magnificent slope of fertile and richly-cultivated land,
which extended back beyond the lake to the foot of the mountains. A
lofty range of snow-clad summits rose in the distance, the towering
summit of Mont Blanc reposing like a monarch in the midst of them.
There was a curious covered walk along on one side of this lawn. It was
a walk covered with foliage. It was walled in on the sides, too, as well
as covered above with the foliage. Two hedges had been planted, one on
each side; and as they had grown, the leaves and branches had been
trimmed off straight and smooth like a wall. Then the tops had been
trained to meet overhead, and the foliage had been trimmed square and
flat on the upper side, and in an arch on the under side. So dense was
the growth of the leaves and branches that the whole alley was closely
and completely enclosed, so that it would not have been possible to look
out of it at all, had it not been that a row of square openings like
windows had been made on the side towards the lake. Any one could look
out and view the scenery through these openings as he walked along.
Voltaire used to compose his works in this alley, it was said. He would
walk up and down, and dictate as he walked to his amanuensis, who sat
near at hand with pen and ink to write down the philosopher's words.
After this the domestic conducted the party through a wood, and showed
them a tree which Voltaire had planted. It was now a tree of great size,
and apparently far advanced in age.
Rollo took very little interest in this tree, and even his father and
mother did not appear to pay much attention to it. It seemed, however,
that other visitors had not felt the same indifference to it, for those
who had come to see it had picked off and cut off so many pieces of bark
to carry away as relics that the tree, on one side had become entirely
excoriated, and there was danger that in the end the poor sufferer from
these depredations would be killed. In order to protect it, therefore,
from any further injury, the proprietor had surrounded it with a little
circular paling, so that now nobody could come near enough to touch the
tree.
Rollo was glad when the visit to this place was ended; so he ran on
before his father and mother in going out, and was on his seat by the
side of the postilion long before they came to the carriage.
Ferney, though so near to Geneva, is within the confines of France, and
the carriage passed the line between the two countries in going home.
There was a little custom house and two or three armed policemen at the
frontier; but the party of travellers were not molested, and so in due
time they arrived safely home.