Young Americans Abroad Part 15

BASLE.

DEAR CHARLEY:--

We took the cars from Strasburg in the afternoon for this place. The distance is eighty-six miles; and, owing to some twenty way stations, we were nearly five hours on the rail; but the beauty of the scenery reconciled us to a prolongation of the time usually spent on such a journey. The general route was over a flat country, with sundry bridges over small streams; but, off to our right, we were close to the Vosges Mountains, which kept us company nearly every mile of the journey. I suppose you know that Strasburg is very strongly fortified. We saw its works to great advantage when leaving the city by the train. We were much a.s.sisted in our knowledge of places on the mountains by a fine panoramic volume of engravings which we bought at Strasburg, and which really gives a capital idea of the entire scene of travel. I will just name the princ.i.p.al places that we pa.s.sed by and through, that you may trace on the map and read about them, for some are important towns. St.

Erstein is a place of four thousand inhabitants; Benfield is very pretty indeed; and close by is a fine-looking town, with a fine situation. We saw a n.o.ble spire off to our left. Schlestadt has ten thousand inhabitants, and is fortified. From it chimneys, we supposed it must be a manufacturing place. The view of the Vosges here is very imposing.

They are generally with rolling summits; and upon some eminence, jutting out, stands a castle. The Hoher Konigsberg is the largest castle of the range, and it was destroyed during the thirty years' war, in 1633. Here we saw fine vineyards. Colmar looks like a very prosperous place. Its manufactories make quite a show, and all around we saw well-built cotton factories; and the entire spot had a Rhode Island look. Dr. C. turned our attention to the village of Turckheim, about three miles off, where Marshal Turenne beat the Imperialists in 1675. Egnisheim and its three-towered castle is a small affair. Bolwiller is a perfect vineyard all around, and the wines of this region are excellent. Nothing, hardly, seems to be cultivated but the vine. Opposite to this place is the loftiest of the Vosges; and my panorama makes it four thousand seven hundred feet above the sea. Muhlhausen is a very active, busy-looking town, with a population of nearly thirty thousand. Here the fine cotton prints of France are fabricated. Much of the property is owned at Basle, we were afterwards told. This place has to obtain its cotton from Havre and Ma.r.s.eilles; and even coal has to come from a distance.

It was dark when we took an omnibus at the terminus; and, after riding over an old bridge, we were very soon established at a princely hotel known as the Trois Rois. This house is on the banks of the Rhine, and its windows command a very fine view. The historical reminiscences of Basle are interesting, and its position very commanding. Here the Rhine is bounded by the hills of the Black Forest and the Jura range.

Next morning we took a stroll to see the lay of the land; and we found ourselves on a terrace overlooking the Rhine, and forming a part of the cathedral ground. O, it was glorious to look at, Charley. There, stretched away on the other side, were the hills of the Black Forest, whose legends we have so often pored over. This terrace is finely-wooded with linden and chestnut-trees. We walked back to town, and called upon our consul, Mr. Burchardt, and found him very kind and friendly. He gave himself up to us for the entire day, and became our guide to all the objects of interest. He dined with us; and then we all went to his charming country-house, about one and a half miles from town, and took tea with his family. Our first object was the Cathedral. This is a red sandstone church, with two steeples, and was consecrated in 1019. The crypt, no doubt, is as ancient as this date. Here is the tomb of the empress, wife of Rudolph of Hapsburg. Here, too, we saw the tombstone of Erasmus, who died in 1536. In the cloisters, which are very n.o.ble, are the monuments of colampadius, Grynaeus and Myer, the reformers. This church is Protestant. It is plain, but venerable. In the chapter-house, which we visited, was held the Council of Basle, which lasted from 1436 to 1444. The room is just as it then appeared, and the very cus.h.i.+ons on the seats are still preserved. Our next visit was to the Holbein Gallery, where the largest collection of paintings by this master is to be seen. Here we saw the fragments of the Dance of Death, but which some say are of an earlier date than Holbein's day. I liked his portraits better than his other pieces. One sketch of Sir Thomas More's family is very fine. We also saw the library, and a large collection of Roman antiquities. The portraits are very fine at the library; and we saw those of Euler and Bernouilli, the mathematicians. At the university we saw the building, and received polite attentions from the librarian and Latin professor. We also saw the professor of chemistry, renowned for his discovery of gun cotton. The collection of MSS. is very large and rich; and we had the gratification to have in our hands the handwriting of several letters by Melancthon, Calvin, Luther, Erasmus, &c., &c. I think this is a good place to live in for purposes of study.

At Basle there is a large missionary seminary; and a great many of the best missionaries in India and Africa were educated here. We also visited the private reading-room of a club, and found a very good library there. On the table were several American papers--the New York Herald, Express, and the Boston Mercantile Journal. After dinner we took a carriage and repaired to St. Jacob, a quiet village, about one mile from Basle. Here we found a neat little church, and, at the junction of two roads, a Gothic cross, to commemorate the famous battle of St.

Jacob, in 1444, when sixteen hundred Swiss fought the French army under the dauphin for a whole day. The French were over sixteen thousand strong. Only ten Swiss escaped the slaughter. Lest you should think me at fault upon the numbers in this battle, I would say that I know Watteville calls the Swiss twelve hundred, and the French thirty thousand; but I quote from Swiss historians, who are deemed good authority. We went into the little tavern and drank some red wine, which goes by the name of Swiss blood. We then ascended an eminence commanding a fine view of the city, the river, and the Jura Mountains. At the summit we found a church; and the parsonage next to it looked very cosy and comfortable. The pastor's children were running about, and were very n.o.ble-looking boys. We learnt that while the stipend of the pastor was very small,--as is the case in Switzerland,--yet he was a man of wealth.

We were quite amused with the market day here. Droves of country people were in the streets--the women in country costume; and on the ground there were vast collections of crockery, which seemed one of the chief articles of traffic.

A charming drive, late in the afternoon, took us to the consul's hospitable abode; and there, with his lady, we had a thoroughly Yankee tea-time. In the evening we walked back to the city, crossing the old bridge.

Yours affectionately,

WELD.

Letter 45.

LAUSANNE.

DEAR CHARLEY:--

We left Basle on a bright morning, at six o'clock, having places in the _coupe_ of the diligence for Berne, a distance of seventy-six miles. We took this route in order to enjoy the remarkable scenery which marks the Moutiers Valley, which is the most romantic in the Jura Mountain range.

This journey entirely takes the palm, for enjoyment, of any in our tour; and I think I am more surprised and gratified than I was on the Rhine.

Certainly the prospect was more constantly grand and awe inspiring. We started with six horses,--three abreast,--and jogged on, at about six miles the hour, over as good roads as I ever travelled. They are, also, the cleanest you ever saw. All along, at intervals, we saw men with badges on their hats, who appeared to have charge of the highway. Every thing on the road is sc.r.a.ped up; and at every quarter of a mile, or less, there is at the wayside an enclosure for manure, into which every thing is turned. On all the line of travel in Switzerland, we were struck with the careful way in which heaps of manure are protected by large bands of corded hay, twisted around. Then, too, in the villages and towns we were all interested with the enormous stone troughs for watering cattle. Some of these appeared to me full twenty feet long, and two or three deep. On our way from Basle we pa.s.sed the battle ground of St. Jacob; and some way farther on we saw the battle field of Dornach, at which place the Swiss obtained a victory over the Austrians in 1499. A little before reaching Tavannes we ascended a hill, and came to a wonderful archway across the road--perhaps natural. On it is a Roman inscription. The arch is, I should think, nearly fifty feet high and fifteen feet in depth. We then went on to Bienne; and a pretty-looking place it is. We left it on our right, and our road was very hilly, really mountainous, and the air was sharp. As we walked for two or three miles to help the horses, we found the wild strawberries offered for sale very pleasant. We reached Berne late in the evening; and the entrance to the town, through a n.o.ble avenue of trees called the Engae, was very pleasant. We repaired to the Faucon, and enjoyed the repose of a long night.

Berne is a large town, with a population of nearly thirty thousand. It lies on the banks of the Aar, which goes almost round the city. The great elevation of the city--seventeen hundred feet above the sea--gives it quite an appearance on approaching it. Then the houses are all built upon arched pathways, and they form arcades, very much like the old city of Chester, in England. We noticed several watch towers, evidently very ancient; and one in the town, near our hotel, has a queer clock, which, like that at Strasburg, is mechanical. On striking, out comes a c.o.c.k and flaps away with his wings, and then little images appear, and bears pa.s.s by a puppet, seated on a throne. Bears seem to be the guardian angels of the place, and are the arms of the town. We were very much pleased with an extensive prospect of the Bernese Alps, from a terrace overhanging the rapid river. I cannot tell you how many peaks we saw covered with snow. Our panorama, purchased here, enumerates more than a dozen; and among these are the Wetterhorn, Stockhorn, and Jungfrau. We greatly enjoyed a fine sunset from this spot. The Cathedral is a n.o.ble structure, built between 1421 and 1573, and from designs by the son of the architect of the Cathedral at Strasburg. Some of the work here is exceedingly fine. The great entrance is very imposing, and has rich sculptures. Here, too, are some beautifully-painted windows--one describing the pope grinding the four evangelists in a mill, out of which comes wafers, is very curious. The organ is very fine, and the case one of the richest in Europe. It has four rows of keys and sixty-six stops. The font is of black granite, and has the date of 1525, which is three years previous to the church reformation in this canton.

It has some finely-sculptured images of the Trinity, Virgin Mary, and St. Vincent, the patron saint of the church. We were pointed out the communion table, of marble, which is an immense block, and before the reformation it was an altar at Lausanne. There are some fine monuments, having great antiquity.

In the choir we were delighted with the old prebendal stalls, over which were figures of Christ and his apostles, and on the opposite side prophets, all in carved wood. One of the prophets was a capital likeness of Luther.

As we were leaving this n.o.ble edifice, we met a minister coming in; he wore a short, black gown, and had a deep white ruff on his shoulders.

The library of the town embraces about forty-five thousand volumes--and well a.s.sorted, too. What a reproach it is to us that, excepting in Providence, hardly any small city has what can be called a library!

The Museum we could not examine. I spoke of bears: well, the town keeps several of these fellows at a place called the Barengraben.

Much did we long to take a trip into the Bernese Oberland, but it was not practicable; so we started for Lausanne by diligence, a distance of fifty-six miles, and were eleven hours on the way. We saw much fine scenery, but nothing that would compare with the Munster Thal or Valley of Moutiers, and which I think would pay any lover of nature to come from America to look at and travel through. The places we went through were Morat, famous for its battle in 1476; Avenches, the Roman Aventic.u.m; Payerne, &c. The last few miles were of great labor in ascent; and as it was pitch dark for some miles, I cannot tell much about what is said to be beautiful.

At Lausanne we went to the Hotel Gibbon, and a lovelier spot than the rear of this mansion eye never rested upon. Again we were weary, and found good beds very inviting.

Yours, &c.,

JAMES.

Letter 46.

LAUSANNE AND GENEVA.

DEAR CHARLEY:--

We are staying in one of the most romantic and beautiful spots that I ever had the pleasure to visit. The population is seventeen thousand, and on the increase. It is the favorite resort of the English; and no wonder, for here are displays of the glory and of the power of the Creator rarely to be seen. The town stands on a mount, and descends gradually to the lake. On every side are most precipitous ravines; and the streets are the most break-neck-looking highways I ever saw.

Putnam's Leap would be thought nothing of at Lausanne.

Our hotel overlooks Gibbon's garden, and we saw his trees and seat.

Here he composed his eloquent work on the Roman empire. His portrait is in the hotel dining-room. The prospect surpa.s.ses in richness all that I had fancied. Before us lie the Alps, with snowy tops; between us and these is the gla.s.sy lake, and on its waters we notice a regatta, the boats all adorned with flags and the crews with ribbons. There are, I should think, from fifty to seventy-five boats in sight. Up in the Alps there is a fire in the woods; and the volume of smoke and flas.h.i.+ng of flame form a fine addition to the scene.

The temperature of the climate is very favorable to health; and now, in June, it reminds us of our finest clear days at Newport.

On Sabbath morning we repaired to a charming little Episcopal church, near the lake; and the walk of a mile down hill was delightful. On both sides of the road were fine villas, and on the left one estate had its long wall defended by a hedge of roses in full bloom; such a hedge is rarely to be witnessed. We heard a prosy sermon from the old gentleman who has officiated there for some years. I noticed a lady and four sweet little girls who sat in the next pew to us, and was convinced that she was an English lady; and when we overtook her ascending the hill, on our return, I took the liberty to ask a question about the church. She very politely gave me the information, and a conversation commenced. She told me, as a stranger, what I ought to see; and when we were leaving her, she politely offered us an invitation to join her family in the evening, to take a walk to the mountain overhanging Lausanne, known as the Signal, and from whence, in olden time, the watch-fire used to be kindled when the cantons were called to arm for liberty, or danger was expected. This kindness we accepted; and when she gave me her address, I found I had to call at the Hotel de Ville. Well, at half past six, the lads and I repaired to the mansion, a very venerable pile, and we found that our kind friend was no less a personage than the wife of the syndic, or mayor of the city. We were most kindly received and introduced to his honor--a fine-looking, elderly gentleman, who spoke no English; but his family conversed generally in our language. We sallied forth, and took a walk up, up, up,--never will the boys forget that tramp; indeed, Charley, it was the hardest affair I ever went through; but after the ascent was achieved, the recompense was ample. Such a survey of lake, sh.o.r.e, Alps, city, villages, vineyards, cannot be enjoyed elsewhere. It was very cold in these upper regions; and as we descended, the shades of night were over us, and a beautiful moon made its appearance. When parting from our friends, they urged our joining them at seven o'clock to visit the Cathedral, with the mayor as our guide. I accepted the polite offer, but the boys were frightened at the thought of another ascent; for the minster is perched upon a cliff, and you ascend some hundreds of steps to reach the platform.

At seven we were on hand, and with the syndic and his sweet little girl we visited the finest Gothic pile in Switzerland, which was built in 1275, and consecrated by Gregory X. The form is that of the Latin cross.

Formerly it had two towers; but one was destroyed by lightning, in 1825.

Here are several fine monuments and tombs of interest; one an effigy in mail armor of Otho of Grandeson, and another of Pope Felix V., who resigned the papacy and became a monk, and a very beautiful one to the wife of Stratford Canning; the figures of which are eight in number, and two of them are by Canova; also the tomb of Bernard de Menthon, founder of the St. Bernard Hospice.

We returned to the Hotel de Ville and took breakfast with Madame Gadaud, for whom and her kind family we shall long cherish grateful recollections.

From Lausanne we took boat for Vevay. The port of Lausanne is the little village of Ouchy. I ought to tell you that John Philip Kemble, the great tragedian, is buried two miles from this place. We found the excursion on the lake very agreeable, and pa.s.sed many pretty villages on the left sh.o.r.e till we came to Vevay, a sweet little town, of five thousand inhabitants, and is embowered in vineyards. It is about one mile and a quarter from the foot of the Alps. Here we had a view of the Castle of Chillon, and Byron was on our tongues at once. My great object in coming here was to see St Martin's Church, for here are buried Ludlow, the regicide, and Broughton, who read the sentence of Charles I. Charles II.

could never get the Swiss to deliver these patriots into his hands. In the afternoon we took another boat and went to Geneva in about five hours, and stopped at Ouchy, Morges, Rolle, Nyon, and Coppet. At Morges is a fine old castle, in good condition. Nearly opposite Rolle we saw the h.o.a.ry head of Mont Blanc, towering above the giant brotherhood of Alpine heights. We did not see Lake Leman in a storm, and though certainly beautiful in its adjuncts, not more so than Lake Erie. At Coppet was the residence of Madame De Stael.

We reached Geneva in the evening at seven, and went to the Hotel L'Eou.

Here we were delighted to meet again with the Rev. Dr. Murray and Dr.

Chetwood, and also to find the Rev. Mr. Chickering and Rev. Mr. Jacobus, with his family, and other valued friends.

The approach to Geneva from the lake is very imposing; but I was less pleased with the town itself than I expected to be. Its position is very grand. Its history is every thing, however. The Cathedral Church of St.

Peter is a fine specimen of the Gothic of the eleventh century. The sounding board is the same under which Calvin preached.

The population is about forty thousand, including the suburbs, and thousands of tourists are every year residents for a few days. We had a pleasant morning at the Museum, where are some good pictures and many curiosities. In the library are Calvin's letters in MS., forty or fifty volumes of MS. sermons, &c. This same Calvin and this old town of Geneva have had much to do with our own blessed country; and we feel the agency of this man and this town in all our ten thousand joys and comforts.

I could not forget that here was the home of Merle D'Aubigne, the historian of the Protestant reformation, and that here, too, is the residence of the learned Gaussen, the author of Theopneusty, and of the venerable Caesar Malan. Calling upon this last-named gentleman, I was delighted to find that the Evangelical a.s.sociation of Geneva was in annual session. This is the great Protestant body with which the American Evangelical Union is in alliance, and for whose operations our friend Dr. Baird has awakened so lively an interest. I went to the church where the meeting was convened, and was introduced to Count George, a very pious Frenchman of fortune, who resides here and devotes himself to the cause of the Protestant religion. He is a Baptist, but is connected with the church which embraces several evangelical denominations. The count presided with great ability; he is a very elegant man, about thirty-four, I should imagine.

I had the pleasure to hear D'Aubigne give a report of his visit to Great Britain. He spoke for two hours. He is quite the orator, and had entire command of the audience, who wept and laughed as he proceeded. The historian is a very noticeable man, and strongly reminded us all of President Wayland, to whom his resemblance is very striking.

Dr. Murray made a few remarks on behalf of his brethren, and we were all invited to a _soiree_ at the a.s.sembly-rooms in the evening. Perhaps two hundred and fifty ladies and gentlemen were present. Several addresses and prayers were made. I was announced for an address, but came late on the list; and having no fancy to be translated by a man at my elbow, I quietly withdrew at the fitting time. I was much pleased with Professor Gaussen, who is a very accomplished gentleman. He looks about forty-five, but told me he was very much older.