BÂLE, _October 10, 1850_.
I have wanted for a long time to write to you, and do not know how it
happens that I have been so tardy. In the first place, I have been in
places so wild and solitary that the post probably never penetrates
them. In the next place, I have had so much gymnastics to do in order to
visit the Gothic castles of the Vosges that when evening came I did not
have the strength to hold a pen. The weather, which was horrible when I
left, became fine for my Alsatian trip, and I have enjoyed thoroughly
the mountains, the forests, and an atmosphere which has never been
vitiated by coal-smoke, nor vibrated to the tones of the chorus of the
_Girondins_. I experienced the most intense pleasure during my visit to
these desolate spots, and wondered how one could be content to live
elsewhere. The woods are still green, and are redolent of the delicious
odours that recall our walks.
I am at last here in a model Republican country, where there are neither
customs officers nor policemen, and where the beds are long enough to
lie on, a comfort unknown in Alsace. I am resting here for a day.
To-morrow I shall visit the Cathedral of Freibourg, and I shall then go
immediately to determine whether the statues there are as beautiful as
those of Irwin de Steinbach at Strasburg. I shall leave Strasburg the
12th, and shall be in Paris on the 14th. I hope you will be there. ‘Tis
needless to tell you how pleased I shall be to see you; but that will
not deter you from going away if you feel inclined.
Good-bye. Indolent as you are, you must be pleased that I am writing to
you so late, since you will not be put to the necessity of replying.