:i- y.'0
mC-
:\ y'V' ■'■'<
e^^iL
THE LAKE OF GENEVA
. :^i..Ji
A FOUNTAIN IN NYON
The Lake of Geneva
By f'^
Sir FREDERICK TREVES, Bart.
G.C.V.O., G.B., LL.D., Sergeant-Surgeon to His Majesty the King
AittJwr of " The Other Side of the Lantern," " The Cradle of the Deep," " The
Country of the Ring and the Book," "High-ways and By-ways of Dorset,"
"The Riviera of the Cor niche Road," etc. etc.
With a Map and lOo Illuslrations from Photographs by the Author
GASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD
London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
1922
^^.\
Preface
APPARENTLY no book in English deals— from the
/ \ point of view of the present-day traveller — with
the Lake of Geneva as a whole. One work will
concern itself with the Swiss side and another with the
shores of Savoy, the two countries being regarded as
unassimilable. Modern facilities in travelling have made
the two shores one, and, moreover, the history of the
district can hardly be appreciated unless it be considered
as a whole.
I have included two places — Abondance and Gruyeres
— which are not on Lac Leman because few who come
to the Lake fail to visit these ancient tovnis, since it is
from the Lake that they are both most conveniently
reached.
I am indebted to the management of the Etablisse-
ment des Bains at Evian for access to a library of over
two hundred volumes dealing exclusively with the Lake
and with Savoy. Extensive use has been made of the
admirable Dictionnaire Historique du Canton de Vaud,
the publication of which has just been completed.
FREDERICK TREVES.
Vevey, February, 1922.
516876
V
Contents
1. The Lake of Geneva
2. Geneva : A General View ....
3. Geneva : The Old Streets ....
4. Geneva : The Old Buildings and the Alleys
5. The Escalade . .
A, FROM GENEVA TO THE DRANSE
6. Hermance and Yvoire
7. The Tragedy of Beauregard
8. Thonon ....
9. Round about Thonon
10. Ripaille ....
11. Two Legends of Ripaille .
B. FROM THE DRANSE TO THE RHONE
12. A Deserted Spa .
13. EVIAN .....
14. The Fete-Dieu .
15. Victor Amadeus II and Evian
16. The Real Country
17. How Marie Aimee met Seven Angels in the
Guise of Mendicants
18. The Castle of St. Paul
19. The Great Stone and the Haunted Lake
20. The Holly of the Talking Cats
21. The Abbey of Abondance .
22. From Evian to Bouveret .
23. Meillerie and its Love Story .
vii
1
6
16
22
29
39
48
54
61
09
78
83
88
97
100
106
111
114
118
123
129
135
139
Contents
24. John Evelyn at Bouveret
25. Across the Rhone .....
C. FROM THE RHONE TO LAUSANNE
26. The Three Towns
27. Chillon .....
28. The Prisoner of Chillon .
29. Barbille of Chatelard
30. Vevey
31. La Tour de Peilz
32. The Escapade of Madame de Warens
33. Blonay Castle ....
34. Gruyeres .....
35. On the Road to Lausanne
36. A Chapel in a Grocer's Shop
37. LUTRY . . . .
38. Lausanne .....
39. Gibbon at Lausanne .
40. OUCHY .....
PAGE
147
152
165
173
179
184
189
197
200
209
215
224
230
236
241
252
263
D. FROM LAUSANNE TO GENEVA
41. St. Sulpice and Morges ..... 269
42. St. Prex and a Man of Weight . . . 279
43. RoLLE 283
44. Nyon 289
45. Madame de Stael ...... 297
46. CoppET AND its Chateau ..... 308
47. The Home of Susanna Curchod . . . 315
48. The Town that is not a Town . . . .319
49. Voltaire at Ferney ...... 324
Index 333
vni
List of Illustrations
A Fountain in Nyon
•
•
Frontispiece
FACIN
O PAQB
Geneva from the Lake ......
6
Geneva : The Last of the Penthouses .
10
Geneva : Monument to the Reformatio
n
14
Geneva : Rue Calvin
18
Geneva : Bourg de Four
20
Geneva : Tour Baudet
24
Geneva : Scene of the Escalade .
30
Hermance, from the Lake .
40
Hermance .....
40
Yvoire (Castle on Right)
42
A Gate of Yvoire
44
Street in Yvoire .
44
Yvoire : The Church
46
Beauregard
50
Thonon ....
54
Thonon : St. Francis' Shop
58
Rives below Thonon .
58
The Castle of Allinges
62
The Chapel of Allinges
64
Concise ....
64
The Dranse
66
The Old Bridge over the Dranse
68
Ripaille : The Entrance
.
70
IX
List of Illustrations
FACIl
s:g page
The Chateau of Ripaille
74
Ripaille : The Nut Tower .
78
Amphion ....
86
Amphion : The Deserted Spa
86
Evian ....
92
Evian : One of the Towers .
92
Evian Church
98
How Vmes are Grown in Savoy-
. 106
Marie Aimee's Shrine .
112
The Great Stone
. 120
Dent d'Oche ....
120
Maxilly Castle ....
124
Abondance : The Cloisters .
130
Abondance : The Door of the Virgin .
130
Petite Rive : A Tj^pical Lake-side Village
136
Meillerie .......
142
Tower at Porte du Sex
152
Chessel Church ......
152
Noville .......
154
Villeneuve : The Bouvier House .
160
Villeneuve : The Tower ....
160
Sea-gulls on the Lake ....
168
Chillon from the Lake ....
174
Chillon
174
A Courtyard in Chillon ....
176
The Great Hall, Chillon ....
176
The Pillar in the Torture Chamber, Chillon .
178
The Castle of Chatelard ....
186
Vevey .......
190
A Street in Vevey .....
194
X
List of Illustrations
FACING
PAGE
Chateau de la Tour de Peilz, from the Harbour .
196
Chateau de la Tour de Peilz .....
198
Blonay Castle ........
210
Blonay Castle : The Main Gate .....
212
St. Saphorin : The Entry ......
224
Glerolles, showing a Background of Vineyards
224
Cully : A Door of 1598
232
Cully : A Mediaeval Bench dug out from Tree Trunk
232
Lutry .........
236
Lutry : The Church Door ......
236
Lutry : The Castle and Town Wall ....
238
Lutry : The Castle Door ......
240
Lutry : The Stone Hand ......
240
Lausanne .........
242
Lausanne : Fountain and Town Hall ....
244
Lausanne : The Market Stairs .....
246
Lausanne : The Wooden House . . .
246
Lausanne : Tower of Bishop's Palace ....
248
Lausanne : The Chateau ......
248
Lausanne : The House in which Gibbon Lodged .
256
Stone showing Leagues ......
270
270
Morges .........
272
The Castle of Morges .......
276
Vufflens .........
276
St. Prex
280
St. Prex : The Town Gate
280
Rolle
284
The Castle of Rolle
286
Rolle
286
XI
List of Illustrations
The Tower of Aubonne
Aubonne : Entrance to the Chateau
Nyon. .....
Nyon : Rue de la Flechere
Nyon : The Writing on the Wall
Madame de Stael
Coppet : The Chateau
Coppet : The Church .
Coppet : The Main Street .
Coppet : The Entrance to the Chateau
Coppet : Where Madame de Stael is Buried
Crassier : The Church and Gendarmerie
Grassier : The Home of Susanna Curchod
Versoix ......
Old Shops in Ferney ....
Voltaire's House, Ferney
Map
FACING PAGE
. 288
. 288
. 290
. 294
. 294
. 302
. 308
. 310
. 312
. 314
. 314
. 316
. 318
. 320
. 328
. 328
. 332
xu
THE LAKE OF GENEVA
THE LAKE OF GENEVA
THE concise facts about the Lake of Geneva are
these : It is the Lac Leman of the French. It is
the largest of the lakes. It stands at a height of
1,220 feet above the level of the sea, and its waters are
blue. It is bounded by Savoy on the one side and by
Switzerland on the other. The Rhone runs through it
from end to end. It is subject to a strange undulatory
wave called a seiche, which passes across it like a shudder,
or as if the side of the cup in which the Lake is lodged
had been hghtly struck.
The vast dimensions of the Lake can best be realized
by imagining it empty of its water. It would then
appear as a barren valley of rock 45 miles long and
8j miles broad at its widest point. It would take the
form of a vast, terrific canyon, with sides of clammy and
cadaverous stone and with a depth so profound that its
bottom would be almost in twilight, since at its deepest
it sinks no less than 1,095 feet.
At one end of the valley the Rhone would pour in
as an icy waterfall ; while at the other end — like a card-
The Lake of Geneva
board toy on the top of a bank — would be the city of
Geneva. The bottom of the valley would be covered
with the clay-coloured mud brought down by the river,
and here, one may imagine, would be writhing and
plunging those fearsome reptiles that belong to the
Legends of the Lake. There would be strange heaps
of wreckage amid the silvery acres of dead fish, and,
perhaps, on a ledge of rock in the valley's side a lonely
skeleton with a rope and stone still dangling from its
neck ; for executions by drowning were once common
in these waters.
Far more important than its topographical features
are the conflicts of thought and of national ideals of
which the Lake has been the scene. On the south
shores of Leman the feudal form of government pre-
vailed. Here the castle and the baron dominated the
land ; the peasants were serfs, and those in higher
place but obsequious servants. In early days Savoy was
broken up into little seigneuries, which held their own
with such strength as they could command. Then came
Humbert of the White Hands, who banded the inde-
pendent, feudal lords into one united body and so
established the State of Savoy, of which he — as Count
— became the autocratic ruler. Savoy rose to be a
power, not through the merit of its princes, but by the
circumstance that France never ceased in her attempts
to gain possession of it. It was the greed and aggression
of France that made Savoy whole, that kept it united
and kept it strong. But whether under one lord or under
many, it remained the land where men had few rights
but those of obedience.
On the other side of the Lake the contrary condition
I
The Lake of Geneva
held sway. The people were bent upon acquiring liberty
and the control of their own destinies. So long as they
were subject to rule they never ceased to clamour for
more freedom. Little by little their demands were
granted until, with increasing confidence, they grew
bold, threw off the yoke of their overlords and estab-
lished the first republics in modern Europe. Thus on
one side of the water was an enlightened democracy,
while on the other was a dull feudalism.
The waters of the Lake that divided the RoyaUst
from the Republican were destined, in time, to separate
two antagonistic phases of religious thought. When
the Reformation blazed forth, the north shores of Lac
Leman became the advanced line of Protestantism and
the bulwark behind which its forces gathered. Across
the water were the entrenchments of Rome. These
upholders of adverse faiths glared at one another across
the blue until, in a memorable year, the army of the
Reformation crossed the barrier, invaded the Roman
lines, swept over Chablais^ and converted it to Protest-
antism. The victory was only for a while, since under
the leadership of St. Francis of Sales the Catholic Church
succeeded in regaining the ground that it had lost and
that it has never since surrendered.
But this is not all, for the Lake was to witness
another profound movement which served further to
divide the minds of men — Voltairism came into being.
Voltairism, Lord Morley claims to stand out as " one of
the great decisive movements in the European advance,
like the Revival of Learning, or the Reformation."
*' We may think," he adds, "of Voltairism in France
1 Chablais is that province of Savoy which borders on the Lake.
3
The Lake of Geneva
somewhat as we think of CathoUcism or the Renaissance
or Calvinism. It was one of the cardinal liberations of
the growing race, one of the emphatic manifestations of
some portion of the minds of men, which an immediately
foregoing system and creed had either ignored or out-
raged."^ Voltaire lived at Ferney — a few miles from
Geneva — for some twenty years, during which time he
never failed to spread abroad the views with which his
name is associated.
In present aspect the two shores of Lac Leman differ
very much when seen from the water. On the Savoy side
is a luxuriant land, w^ayward and unsophisticated, a land
without walls or hedges where things seem to grow as
they will with little method or restraint. The north
shore, on the other hand, is meticulously tilled. Its
slope, from Vevey almost to Nyon, is covered with vine-
yards patterned out by formal lines and made to look
stiff and artificial. In the spring the northern bank of
the Lake for many miles is a cinnamon-brown and as
monotonous in hue as a ploughed field. When the vine
leaves appear the slope becomes a hesitating green and
then a bolder green which, as the autumn wanes, fades
into tints of yellow or ruddy brown. Thus it is that
the more pleasing view of the Lake is gained from the
northern side, for it affords a view across the water of
a coast that is always green and that has, moreover, as
a glorious background, a range of mountains capped with
snow.
Many times and by many pens has the Lake been
described. The descriptions are monotonous, for they
are all in terms of "blue" and are indeed little more
1 " Voltaire," by John Morley. London, 1897.
4
The Lake of Geneva
than rhapsodies in blue. Ruskin exults in the glories
of this tint with such thoroughness that he leaves the
subject almost exhausted, for he speaks of "the ever-
answering glow of unearthly aquamarine, ultramarine,
violet-blue, gentian-blue, peacock-blue, river-of-paradise-
blue, glass of a painted window melted in the sun."
It is unquestionable that the Lake is often blue ; but
it is always a delicate and timid blue, very unlike the
bold assertive blue of the Mediterranean. It is, more-
over, a tint that ever varies, that changes with each
hour of the day, for the surface of the Lake is sensitive,
sympathetic and full of moods. It may fade into grey,
the grey of the pearl if the sun be on it, the grey of
the smoke of burning wood if it be in the shadow of a
cloud. There are days when it is almost jade-green.
There are evenings when it is streaked with lilac, with
coral-pink or with rose-red. There are, moreover, occa-
sions, it must be said, when " the river-of-paradise-blue "
is replaced by a colour so commonplace as that of an
old pewter plate. The surface of the Lake has been
compared to a mirror, but it is seldom so hard or so
artificial as to justify that comparison. It may on a
sunless day resemble a sheet of blue Damascus steel, or
when the mist is gathering it may have the appearance
of sullen ice, but of the Lake as a sitting-room mirror
few can have knowledge.
For convenience of description the Lake in the
following account is divided into four sections :
A. From Geneva to the Dranse.
B. From the Dranse to the Rhone.
C. From the Rhone to Lausanne.
D. From Lausanne to Geneva.
5
II
GENEVA : A GENERAL VIEW
GENEVA, when seen for the first time, should be
seen from the Lake. To arrive at the railway
station and be conveyed through featureless
streets in an hotel omnibus is merely to gain an impres-
sion of a town that may be any towTi, may be Lyons
or Marseilles or such other city as has the names of its
streets inscribed in French.
The visitor would expect to find something very
distinctive about Geneva, if he be one of those who hold
that human characteristics are influenced or determined
by environment. He would insist that there must be
something unusual about the aspect, position or sur-
roundings of Geneva to account for its history and its
pronounced individuahty. What is there in the topo-
graphy of the place that can explain its ponderous
gravity, its love of learning, its hatred of the trivial, its
passion for reform, and its general dourness?
Geneva seems never to have had a childhood, much
less a frivolous youth. It has always appeared to be old
and solemn beyond its years. From its earliest days it
clamoured for liberty at the time when its neighbours
were quite content with their dukes and their kings.
While other towns had their tournaments and courts of
love, Geneva was poring over its books. While the
girl of Savoy was slyly dropping rose leaves on a trouba-
6
Geneva: A General View
dour, the maiden of Geneva was sitting at the feet of
a droning preacher. While its gates were closed to the
jester and the mountebank, they were open to the fanatic
and the crank; for Geneva was ever a sanctuary to the
man with a grievance, to the honest rebel and to all who
were oppressed. There has passed along the streets of
this city as strange a company of men as ever haunted
the shades of Dante's Purgatorio, wild-eyed men who
went by shaking their fists at a world of wrong, men
too who were aflame with the spirit of destruction and
the breaking up of laws, as w^ell as smiling men who, as
they passed, muttered to themselves of a new heaven
and a new earth.
What mark has all this emotion left upon Geneva,
or what is there about the disposition of the town that
can explain its exceptional temperament? The answer
is : There is nothing.
Approached from the Lake, Geneva appears as a
brilliant city at the end of an avenue of shining water
bounded by green banks. Here the Lake terminates
and here the city shuts in the scene, as if the sheet of
w^ater were a stage. The houses are drawn across from
shore to shore like a dam. They form an unbroken wall
and yet at some point the Rhone must be breaking
through to make its escape to the sea ; but of any such
gap there is no sign. About the place is a sense of
finality, a sense of having come to the end of things, for
over the tops of the houses that close the Lake there is
nothing to be seen but the sky. The dam might be built
on the brink of the world and beyond it there may be
nothing but space into which the Rhone drops like a
waterfall.
7
The Lake of Geneva
On nearer approach the brilliancy of Geneva becomes
more evident. The houses are lofty and bravely coloured
and present a wide front of thousands of windows
and thousands of sun-blinds. There is nothing to suggest
academic solemnity or puritanical gloom. On a hillock
to the left are the towers and spire of a church, but
beyond this Geneva would appear to be composed of gay
and magnificent hotels. In the matter of cheerfulness
and worldliness it may be an inland Nice or a lake-side
Monte Carlo.
A fuller acquaintance with Calvin's home shows it to
be a fine ambitious city, beautifully ordered and modern
in every particle of its being. Geneva, like Lausanne,
has long carried on a crusade against all that is old within
its boundaries. Old Geneva has practically vanished,
except in a few; by-ways and corners; while in its place
is a reformed city which is evidently determined never
to put new wine into old bottles.
That Geneva is still a place of refuge may be gathered
from the fact that, although the population of the
Canton is 151,000, only 50,000 of this number are
Genevese, while 39,000 are Swiss of other Cantons and
no fewer than 62,000 are foreigners.
The passing away of old Geneva is to be deplored,
as it was a town of peculiar fascination. Ruskin speaks
of it as "the most lovely spot, and the most notable,
without any possible doubt, of the European universe,"
as "a bird's nest of a place, the centre of reHgious
and social thought and of physical beauty to all hving
Europe."^ Happily very many prints and old accounts
exist of Geneva as it was, so that it is possible to
1 " Praeterita."
8
Geneva : A General View
reconstruct, in imagination, the city of ancient days.^
It consisted of two parts joined by a bridge over the
Rhone. The part on the north side — the Quartier St.
Gervais — was small and occupied a very low hillock ;
while the south part — the Quartier St. Pierre — was large
and covered a dome-shaped hill of some height. Both
parts of the town were surrounded by a wall and a moat.
The wall was made formidable by many towers and
pierced by many gates. Of the moat, the gates and
the towers all traces have disappeared, but of the ancient
walls there are still some meagre relics to be seen, as
in the Rue d' Italic and the Rue de Beauregard.
Mediaeval Geneva was a small place. The confines of
the south town may be indicated at the present day by
the lake-side, the Rue d'ltalie, the Rue des Casemates,
the foot of the Rue de la Croix Rouge and the Corra-
terie ; and the boundaries of the smaller town by the
quay, by the Rue des Terreaux du Temple, the Cornavin
and the Rue de Chantepoulet.
Inside the Quartier St. Pierre there are feeble traces
of even an older town, the almost forgotten Burgundian
to\Mi, for after the passing away of the Romans Geneva
became, in 443, the capital of the Kingdom of Burgundy.
Gondebaud, the most famous and most disreputable of
the early Burgundian kings, built a castle in Geneva in
the Bourg-de-Four and surrounded the town with a wall.
About 534 the Franks possessed the place, but at the
end of the ninth century it was annexed by the new
1 " Voyage pittoresque en Suisse," par £mile Begin. Paris, 1852. " Swit-
zerland," by Wm. Beattie. London, 1834. " Les Actes et Gestes Merveilleux
de la Cite de Geneve," par A. Fromment (written in 1550). Geneva, 1854.
" Le Tour du L^man," par A. de Bougy. Paris, 1846. " Beaut^s de I'Histoire
de la Savoie et de Geneve," par P. Nougaret. Paris, 1818. " L'Ancienne
Geneve," par J. Mayor. Geneva, 1896.
9
The Lake of Geneva
Burgundian kingdom under Rodolfe I. In 1038 — on
the death of Rodolfe III — it passed into the possession
of the German Empire, and thus is explained how the
Imperial eagle on a yellow ground became a part of
the arms of the city. The wall that enclosed the old
Burgundian town ran to the east of the Cathedral and
the Bourg-de-Four, followed on the north the line of
the Rue Calvin, and extended towards the Rhone as far
as the Tour de Boel. Fragments of this old wall appear
in the Rue du Manege, Rue de Bemont, the alleys of
the Rue de la Pelisserie and the north face of the Rue
Calvin.
The bridge was a remarkable feature of Geneva. It
was interrupted by an island, as it is to this day. It was
of wood, and was crowded with wooden houses which
hung perilously over the Rhone. They did more than
this. They waded out into the river on piles, some
venturing as far as a hundred feet. They formed a
curious medley of taverns and private houses, of shops
and primitive factories, for in certain of the dwellings
there was a water-wheel whirling under the ground floor.
The houses were all gaily decorated, and the roadway
was made brilliant by swinging shop-signs and the sign-
boards of inns, with perhaps, now and then, the coat of
arms of a noble resident. As the structure was of wood,
it is no wonder that, on a certain day in 1670, the bridge
and all that was on it was burned to the water's edge.
About a century ago Geneva was the delight of
everyone who had eyes to see. There was no city like
it, old travellers were wont to assert. Shelley was about
the only visitor of note who could find " nothing in it
that can repay you the trouble of walking over its rough
lO
GENENA: THE LAST OF THE PENTHOUSES
Geneva: A General View
stones."^ He complained, too, that the gates were
closed at 10 p.m. (The chief gates were demolished in
1831.) To Ruskin it was always " the dear old decrepit
town." He describes it, in his " Praeterita," as "a
little town, composed of a cluster of watermills, a street
of penthouses, two wooden bridges, two dozen of stone
houses on a little hill, and three or four perpendicular
lanes up and down the hill." He found, however,
another bridge over the moat. It was " the delicatest
of fihform suspension bridges," he says, " strong enough
it looked to carry a couple of lovers over in safety, or a
nursemaid and children, but nothing heavier."
Old prints and drawings (such as those of Henri
Silvestre) show what an exceedingly picturesque place
it was, with its untidy river banks, its piratical-looking
lanes, its tumbledown mills, its ancient dwellings with
their great overshadowing roofs and wooden balconies,
while the river-side houses hung over the water like a
line of old clothes clinging to pegs.
Perhaps the most striking and unique feature of
Geneva in those days were the penthouses. They stood
high up under the eaves of the dwelling, where they
formed part of the fifth story. They were supported on
immensely tall square pillars of wood which sprang from
the street. They sheltered the houses from sun and rain.
There is only one penthouse left in Geneva. It is in the
Rue de la Cite (No. 5). It consists of one towering
square pillar which supports a room on the fifth stor>\
The little room, which has two windows, looks like a
dovecote on a pole. I can imagine it occupied by a boy
who had faith in the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.
» " JDstory of a Six Weeks' Tour." London, 1817.
II
The Lake of Geneva
Those who are unmoved by new municipal buildings,
palatial hotels and super-modern shops will find the most
interesting part of Geneva in the Musee d'Art et
Histoire, where will be seen, among a superb collection
of old prints, two large models of the town as it
appeared in 1815 and 1850 respectively. In the same
museum also are deposited innumerable relics which have
come down from the days of the lake-dweller and the
Roman occupation to the sober times of the nineteenth
century. Here mil be seen a prehistoric boat and its
paddles, old furniture, old ceilings, old tavern signs, old
ironwork, as well as a medley of little things that recall
the intimate life of the serious city. Notable in the
collection are two street doors, one a splendid piece of
woodwork of the sixteenth century from the Rue de la
Pelisserie, and another from the Rue Calvin which is
covered with the burnt-in stamps of various revolutionary
clubs. Among these writings in red-hot iron are a heart
enclosing the word " constant," the cap of liberty on a
staff with the doubtfully sincere word "pax," the
frequently recurring design of two fish, and many
monograms and initials.
One feature in Geneva that curiously impresses the
visitor is the sight of the Rhone rushing through the
town. There is some inscrutable magic in this spectacle,
for I have watched a perspiring tourist tearing along the
quay with guide-book in hand and with evidently not a
moment to spare. I have seen him cast a glance over
the parapet at the Rhone and suddenly stop, to forget
his haste, and possibly his lunch, and to gaze on the
river with the absorption of a mesmerized man. It is
difficult to say what constitutes the fascination of this
12
Geneva: A General View
amazing stream. It is an effect compounded of many
things, of the terrific speed at which the tide whirls
by, of its haunting colour — a spectral blue — and of its
gigantic volume, for it seems as if this outrush must
empty the Lake in a day.
The sight of the Rhone at Geneva made a great
impression upon Ruskin, who explains its enchantment
in the following fine passage :
" For all other rivers there is a surface, and an underneath,
and a vaguely displeasing idea of the bottom. But the Rhone
flows like one lambent jewel ; its surface is nowhere, its ethereal
self is everywhere, the iridescent rush and translucent strength
of it blue to the shore, and radiant to the depth. Fifteen feet
thick, of not flowing, but flying water; not water, neither, —
melted glacier, rather, one should call it ; the force of the ice
is with it, and the wreathing of the clouds, the gladness of the
sky, and the continuance of Time. Waves of clear sea are,
indeed, lovely to watch, but they are always coming or gone,
never in any taken shape to be seen for a second. But here
was one mighty wave that was always itself, and every fluted
swirl of it, constant as the wreathing of a shell . . . the
never-pausing plunge, and never-fading flash, and never-
hushing whisper."
In the place of the two bridges of Ruskin's time there
are now seven. They are all temperately ugly. In the
middle of the river, as it leaves the Lake, is a pleasant
little island called, in old days, the He des Bergues, or
Isle of Barges. It is shaded by trees and forms a cool
retreat from the whirl of traffic and the buzz of life along
the quays. It is occupied by an unpretentious cafe and
a pretentious statue of Rousseau, by reason of which it
is called Rousseau's Island. It brings those who come
here in very intimate association with the wonder of the
'3
The Lake of Geneva
river; since, but for the lack of moveijient, it might be
a raft anchored in the torrent.
It is, moreover, a place frequented by sea-gulls.
These birds are an agreeable feature in the life of the
Lake. Their migration every year is a matter of
mystery. They go ; but no one knows whither, for the
nursery of the race is still a secret place. The birds
are becoming demoralized. Their proper occupation is
fishing ; but now that the tourists have taken to feeding
them with bread they have neglected that industry.
Instead of following the fish in the Lake, they prefer
to follow the steamers, to haunt the quays and to subsist
on the unemployment dole which is so lavishly bestowed.
They ^vill soon become, like the pigeons of Venice, a
company of tourist-supported idlers.
If the average visitor were advised that there is, in
a public park in Geneva, a new and recently erected
monument to the Reformation he would probably
express gratitude for the warning and add that there
were already enough recent memorials in England and
France to satisfy the most morbid craving. Yet this is
a monument so remarkable and so impressive that it is
worth a pilgrimage to see it.
It consists of a long stone wall of great height. At
the bottom of the wall runs a stream, clear as crystal,
in a channel of stone. There are lilies in flower in the
stream. Above the wall rises the old city of Geneva.
In the centre of the wall stand erect four gigantic
figures of men. They are the four leaders of the
Reformation — Farel, Calvin, Beze and Knox. They are
solemn enough and grim enough ; while their immense
proportions give them the aspect of superhuman strength.
14
* "i :
Geneva: A General View
They stand, side by side, \\ath their backs to the wall.
It is, however, no mere wall ; for behind it is the curtain
of the ancient bulwarks, that wall of 1543 which kept
safe the town. It is the wall that faces Rome.
Along the vast screen are other figures, smaller
and, by comparison, less significant. Among them are
Cromwell, the courtly Coligny and plain, honest Robert
Williams. There are also bas-reliefs depicting various
scenes in the development of the Reformation between
the years 1536 and 1602. All these are of interest, but
they do not disturb the impression made by the four
stern-faced men who stand with their backs to the wall
that faces Rome.
15
Ill
GENEVA : THE OLD STREETS
THE heart of Geneva is L'lle, a little island on
the Rhone, where the old bridge crossed between
the two quartiers of the town. There was a bridge
here before the days of Christ, for Julius Csesar found
it stemming the river when he came to this part in
B.C. 58. On the south of the Rhone at that date were
vague people called the Allobroges, and 'on the north
the equally vague Helvetes. Caesar had already dealt
with the Allobroges, but the Helvetes were giving
trouble, were apt to swarm over the bridge and were
indeed making themselves exceedingly offensive ; so the
Roman general caused the bridge to be broken down
and thus stopped their activities. This transaction is
recorded on a stone in the w^all of the modern tower
which now stands on the island. This tower, which is
pleasing enough for a structure that has no reason for
being a tower, occupies the site of a very old castle or
keep which came to be, at one time, the Bastille of
Geneva. Here was confined the heroic patriot Berthelier,
and at the foot of the tower he was beheaded. This was
in 1519, as a very theatrical statue calls to mind.
The bridge opens upon the Place Bel Air, which was
at one time known as the Square of the Three Kings
from a tavern of that name. Professor Doumergue
i6
Geneva: The Old Streets
states that in this spot the punishment of the pillory
was administered as late as 1811.^
The Low Town is represented by a series of parallel
streets which run east and west in a line with the quay.
These streets were once the most picturesque in Geneva,
for here were the penthouses. They have now been
entirely rebuilt and are devoted to rows of ambitious
shops. Even the quaint old alleys which, only a few
years ago, crept between the Rue du Marche or Rue de
la Croix d'Or and the Rue du Rhone have vanished or
have been robbed of any interest.
The Fusterie, the Molard and the Place de Longe-
malle — now busy squares — were once inlets from the
Lake where ships discharged their cargoes. At the Lake
end of the Molard was a tower which (very much
renovated) still remains. From the iron rod on the
summit of its roof dangles a small key, a quite ordinary
front door or cupboard key. This is still the subject of
some surmise. Professor Doumergue thus comments on
it : " The key may be that of the Rive Gate sent to the
Duke of Savoy in 1602, concealed in a turkey, by a
traitor." 2 A key, it might be added, forms a part of
, the arms of Geneva, but it is a large key, appropriate to
a castle keep, and not to a china closet.
The High Town is reached by steep streets which all
inevitably lead to the Town Hall, the Cathedral and the
Bourg-de-Four. Of these streets the Rue de la Cite has
probably seen more of the past Hfe of Genevia than has
any other. At the bottom of the street is the fountain
of the Escalade, erected in 1857. It is a pleasant-look-
1 " Geneva Past and Present." Geneva. (No date. A most excellent
guide-book, marred only bv the lack of an index.) ' Op. cit., page 21.
c 17
The Lake of Geneva
ing monument of stone, alive with little bronze figures
which are very busy in making vivid the tale they have
to tell. It is placed where it is because on the night
of December 11, 1G02, when the attempt to seize
the city was made, this small street was in the very
thick of it.
Near the fountain is the sole remaining penthouse
in Geneva, of which mention has been already made
(page 11). In the alley No. 18 is a fine example of
the old balconied house. The building has four stories
above the ground floor. Each of these is provided with
a deep and spacious wooden balcony with wxU-turned
railings. The four balconies are one above the other and
represent the entries to as many different residences.
In another alley (No. 19) is a good specimen of the tall
staircase tower which is so common in old Genevese
dwellings. In the Place du Grand Mezel, higher up the
street, Bonivard lived after his release from the prison
of Chillon. It is now a httle Place of superior private
houses.
Near the top of the hill the Rue de la Cite changes
its name to the Grande Rue. No. 40 in this street was
the birthplace — as a tablet declares — of Jean Jacques
Rousseau (June 28, 1712). The ancient house is replaced
by a quite new building, belonging, appropriately enough,
to a company of printers. About this point the Rue de
la Pelisse rie stumbles up into the Grande Rue. It is a
narrow, dingy street of poor but picturesque houses,
many of which are of some age. It is so steep a street
that at the bottom it has recourse to a flight of steps in
order to accomplish the ascent. At No. 11 is a doleful
alley. It ends in a court that is mysterious and mean
i8
■^^•mumJ^
(iENEV'A : RUE CA1.\ IN
1 : .'J
Geneva: The Old Streets
and suggestive of a trap. Here the visitor is brought
suddenly face to face .with a mass of mouldy masonry.
This is a part of the old Burgundian wall very dramatic-
ally presenting itself. Near the top of the Rue de la
Pelisserie is a large private house (No. 18). It is the
best house in the street, possesses four stories, has a
quite dignified entrance and the aspect of being well-to-
do. It is not old, nor has it a claim to any architectural
beauty, but it was here that George Eliot stayed from
October, 1849, to March, 1850. She lodged with a
family named Durade, the husband being an artist. She
had a bed-sitting-room, took her meals with the Durades
and paid for this lodging and board 150 francs a month,
including light. She was the only lodger. She hired
a piano. Lunch was at 12.30, dinner at 4 and tea
at 8.1
Turning out of this street is the Rue Calvin, a sober,
narrow street which is making its way to the Cathedral.
It ends in a tiny square where are a fountain and a
tree and where people come to rest ; for it is as quiet as
a convent courtyard. In a house (No. 11), near to this
little square, Calvin lived. It is needless to say that the
house has been pulled down.^ It is represented now by
a glaring new building which announces itself as the
office of the Board of Health and offers to test milk
and other articles of consumption as well as to inspect
weights and measures. It is remarkable that no memorial
of Calvin exists, if exception be made of the question-
able chair in the Cathedral — " not a room, not a piece of
furniture," writes Doumergue, " not even a gravestone."
1 " George Eliot's Life," by J. W. Cross, London, 1885.
* It was demolished in 1706.
19
,; The Lake of Geneva
In the Rue du Puits St. Pierre, leading out of the
Rue Calvin, is the famous Tavel house (No. 6). This
is one of the most perfect of the old city houses. It is
a square, solid building, supported at one corner by a
round tower with a conical roof. The windows have
been modernized, although their original outlines are
still evident ; but there is one little slit of a window with
a pointed arch which seems to have been overlooked.
There is a series of very curious heads projecting from
the wall of the house, which has besides a fine courtyard
with a winding stair and some admirable ironwork in
the forms of a fanlight and a balcony.
Before the Rue de la Cite finally reaches the Bourg-
de-Four it changes its name for the second time and
becomes the Rue de I'Hotel de Ville. In this street
(No. 8) is the Turrettini house, which claims, with the
Tavel house, to be one of the few remaining specimens
of the great houses of Geneva. It dates from 1620.
The Turrettini were Italians who came to Geneva as
Protestant refugees and who, in their new home, raised
themselves to positions of dignity and repute. The house
is built of stone in the classical style and is impressive
by its fine proportions and its great simplicity.
Two other streets of interest clamber up from the
Low Town to that common meeting-place, the Bourg-
de-Four. They are the Rue Verdaine and the Rue de
la Fontaine. At No. 15 Rue Verdaine, Henri Amiel
passed the closing days of his life. He w^as that strange,
lonely and melancholy man who poured forth the dreari-
ness of his soul in the Journal Intime.^ It is a morbid,
egotistical and unwholesome work which would have
1 " Amiel's Journal." Translated by Mrs. Humphry Ward. London, 1889.
20
GENEVA : BOURG DE FOUR
Geneva: The Old Streets
been better left where it was found — locked up in a
box. The house, which has not the merit of age, is now
a warehouse. It looks towards the Cathedral (which
stands above it) and faces that remarkable passage, the
Degres de Poule or Hen Steps. The Hen Steps are
entered through a rounded archway and mount up to
the Cathedral. The steps, which form a stair as steep
as a ladder, pass underneath some ancient buildings
which were formerly stables and granaries. The Hen
Steps date from 1554.
At No. 32 Rue de la Fontaine is an old entry with
a rounded arch that leads into an alley. The arch pierces
the fragment of a wall as ancient as the doorway. The
guide-book states that this wall belonged to the palace
of the Bishop and that by this exit Pierre de la Baume,
the last Bishop of Geneva, quitted the city on July 14,
1533.
The Bourg-de-Four is an irregularly shaped place
on the summit of the town, surrounded by equally
irregularly shaped houses. It has a modest fountain, is
shaded by some old trees and is altogether an agreeable
and picturesque part of the city. Here stood the ancient
Burgundian castle which w^as destroyed by the Count of
Savoy in 1320. The Bourg was for centuries the social
and business centre of Geneva, and a very pleasant rally-
ing point it must have been. It was the place where the
fairs were held and where the chief inns were located.
There are still some of the old inscriptions remaining,
such as the Pomme d'Or 1734, and some old signs, such
as that of the Sea Shell and the Black Horse. From
the last-named it would appear that it offered " bon
logis *' as long ago as 1563.
21
IV
GENEVA : THE OLD BUILDINGS AND THE ALLEYS
THE To\vn Hall, near to the Bourg-de-Four,
possesses considerable interest. Its history is very
fully recorded in Professor Doumergue's work.
Externally the building offers little attraction. It looks
comparatively modern and presents the features of the
municipal offices of any large provincial town. It has,
however, an entry — built in 1617 — of greater dignity
than the average municipal office attains ; while all along
its front is a stone bench fit for Roman senators to sit
on. In the wall to the left of the main entrance is a
bronze tablet set up in 1892 to record a certain political
achievement. It is in itself of no moment, but it
replaced a tablet erected in 1558 in honour of the
Reformation. This bronze is now in the north aisle of
the Cathedral. In front of the tablet stood the pillory,
and here too was a raised seat from which, as late as
1829, criminal sentences were read out.
On a certain day in June, 1762, the road at the
foot of the tablet was the scene of a curious ceremony.
A fairly brisk fire of faggots was burning in the street,
and around it, but at a careful distance, was a crowd
of people whose expressions denoted var>^ng shades of
indignation or disgust. In the centre of the circle was
a man in a dismal costume who was busy tearing up
books and thromng them on the fire. The man was the
22
Geneva: The Old Buildings
common hangman and the books were the works of
J. J. Rousseau.
At the back of the Town Hall is the Baudet Tower,
one of the oldest buildings in the city, for it dates from
1455. It is a small, low, square tower of great charm
and obviously of great age. The authorities of Geneva
have done their best to make it look new, but only with
indifferent success. Even the upper story, which was
transformed in 1894, fails to spoil it.
In the comer of the picturesque court of the Town
Hall is a fine Renaissance doorway bearing the date
1556. It opens upon the famous paved slope. This
slope, which is unique in Europe, makes its way by a
series of sharp turns to the top of the building — to the
third floor, in fact. It has a vaulted roof, is paved with
small cobblestones and is lit through a series of arches
which open upon the courtyard. In order to realize this
remarkable stairless stair one should imagine the syndic
and his wife returning late in the evening from a ride
in the country. They reach the Town Hall and, with-
out dismounting, ride up side by side to the very door
of their bedroom, where they alight from their horses.
The one gracious room in the Town Hall is the State
Council Chamber, which dates from the 15th century.
It is small and in spite of its modern windows realizes
very fitly the solemn room where Calvin imposed his
will and pronounced before the awed council his edicts.
The ceiling is a reproduction of that of the 16th century,
while the panelling has been removed to the Museum
and replaced by a commendable imitation. Round the
walls are certain frescoes which were only laid bare
during alterations made in 1901. They deal with Justice
23
The Lake of Geneva
and depict the perfeet judge as a gentleman with his
hands cut off to show that he cannot — even if he would
— accept a bribe. In this room also are syndics' staffs
dating as far back as 1450.
The Grand Council Chamber is comparatively
modern, while the very ornate Alabama Hall is only of
interest from the facts that the Red Cross Society was
founded here in 1864 and that within its walls in 1872
the AJahama claim was settled.
Opposite the Hotel de Ville is the old market hall
of 1415. It has been many times restored but is still,
with its gaudily painted shutters, an impressive building.
The open ground floor where the market was held is now
void, while the upper part of the hall is (or was) the
city armoury.
Behind the Town Hall is the famous Promenade of
La Treille. It is the oldest public walk in the city and,
being placed on the ramparts, provides a magnificent
view of the country to the south of Geneva. It is here
that that poor solitarj'^ creature Ami el, the unsuccessful
professor, was wont to pace to and fro pondering over
the misery of life and inventing fresh expressions of
melancholy for insertion in his diary. La Treille takes
its origin from the early part of the 16th century. It
has been frequently repaired and remade, as the dates
(1557 to 1713) on the supporting wall serve to show. It
is planted in all its length with chestnut trees, w^hich
make it the most pleasant and best shaded walk in
Geneva. Not the least noticeable feature of the terrace
is the bench w^hich runs from one end of the parade to
the other, for it claims the curious distinction of being
the longest bench in the world.
24
GENE\ A : TOUR BAIDF.T
Geneva : The Old Buildings
The Cathedral of St. Peter on the summit of the
town is probably as well known to European travellers
as St. Peter's at Rome or St. Paul's in London. Its
two square towers and its graceful steeple form the
landmarks of Geneva for miles around. The first church
upon this site is credited with the date 1034. The
present building had its origin in the 12th and 13th
centuries and provides an illustration of the transition
from the Romanesque to the Gothic styles. The very
beautiful Gothic chapel of the Maccabees was constructed
in 1406 and refashioned in 1878. The whole Cathedral
has been much restored and affords an instance of the
remarkable power the Genevese possess of making the
most ancient building look new. The Corinthian portico
which would do credit to a provincial corn exchange was
added in 1759 to the permanent disfigurement of an
otherwise consistent building. In the Cathedral is a
plain chair " which it is supposed that Calvin employed
in his pulpit."
There are two other old churches in this part of
Geneva — the Madeleine and St. Germain. The Made-
leine, in the queer ill-shapen Place of that name, dates
from the early part of the 12th century ; but was rebuilt
in 1446 and in 1611 and very violently restored in recent
years. Its gallant old tower (plastered over to make it
appear new) has very ancient round-arched windows.
The rest of the building is Gothic and is so '* done up "
that it may have been built in the present century. The
church of St. Germain is almost as old as the Madeleine.
It is much hemmed in by mean buildings. Its one fine
feature is its venerable square tower which has happily
escaped the restorer. The rest of the edifice has, however,
25
The Lake of Geneva
suffered severely at his hands. It is a church with a
'•past," for it has been in turn a butcher's shop, a
Flemish chapel and an artillery barracks.
Close to the Cathedral is the Auditoire. It has been
a church since 1213, except for an interval in the 16th
century when it was a smithy. It was at one time a
chapel for the Enghsh residents in Geneva. In the
Auditoire Calvin delivered his famous lectures. On the
wall is a tablet which states that John Knox, " pastor
of the EngHsh residents and citizen of Geneva," preached
in the chapel during the years 1555-7. The building,
however, is so entirely modern in appearance that the
announcement makes no impression, for it is impossible
to associate this very present-day building with the 16th
century and the great Scots reformer.
The St. Gervais quarter of Geneva, to the north of
the Rhone, presents little that is of interest. The old
quartieVf surrounded by its walls and towers, occupied
a very gentle slope, the summit of which is represented
by the top of the Rue Cornavin. Here stood — at the
end of a bridge crossing the moat — one of the main
gates of Geneva. It was by this gate that most travellers
entered the town, and as the railway station is situated
here it happens that they still enter by the same point.
As the southern town has its church of St. Peter's, so
this di\'ision of Geneva has its church of St. Gervais.
This church dates from the middle of the 15th
century. It has a fine tower with Romanesque windows.
On the south face of the tower are the arms of the
bishop, Franpois de Mies, and the date 1435. The rest
of the church adopts the Gothic arch, is built largely of
brick, and presents, under the margin of the roof, a
26
Geneva : The Alleys
cornice of modillons of the 15th century. The whole
building has, however, been so thoroughly restored as
to be of small interest and, being a Protestant church,
is kept locked. On the outer wall of the church is a
tablet giving the names of those citizens of Geneva —
seventeen in all — who were killed during the Escalade
of 1602.
The Rue du Temple, by the side of the church, con-
tains many old houses of the humbler type. One house
(No. 15, for example) retains its fine ogee windows and
the pointed arch of its old doorway. The street as a
whole is, indeed, one of the least modernized in Geneva.
The alleys of old Geneva are fast disappearing, and
with them will vanish a characteristic and intimate
feature of the ancient city. There are certain alleys in
the southern town which are worth exploring. The
Passage des Barrieres, near the Madeleine, with its steep
stairs and its suspicious twists and turns, is certainly
picturesque; w^hile the alley that leads from No. 24 Rue
Verdaine to the Rue de la Fontaine conveys a sense
almost of alarm. A narrow subway, like a working in
a mine, leads to a flight of stone stairs. At the bottom
of the stairs the alley skirts the base of a round tower
which looks into a dank yard. Then follow a dark tunnel
and finally, with some relief, the daylight of another
street.
The most uncanny alleys, however, are on the other
side of the Rhone. Notable are those that lead from the
Rue du Temple to the bank of the stream, together with
a few" that slink out of the Rue Cornavin. They recall
to mind every horrible story that is concerned with the
darker life of a mediaeval town. Here is the narrow
27
The Lake of Geneva
entry that one armed man could hold against a score.
Here is the doorway, deep sunken in shadow, where the
assassin with the cloak w^ould wait, and there the steps
that lead to the suspicious half-open door. There are
square vents in walls, each guarded by an iron grille,
that let the light into no one knows what chambers of
horror. There is the courtyard, green with mould and
dark as a pit, that is made a haunted place by reason
of the dust-covered ^\dndows which spy into it story
above story. These by-\vays are deserted. They are
not places to linger in, for there is an atmosphere of
uneasiness about them which persists until the sunlight
and the open air are once more reached. It needs but
little fancy to people them wdth a hundred terrors, to
imagine oneself chased dow^n these nightmare lanes and
to find no way of escape, to detect footsteps creeping
round the corner, to see a white face at one of the dread-
ful windows, or to have the silence of a hollow courtyard
rent by a heart-chilling shriek.
28
V
THE ESCALADE
ONE of the most dramatic events in the history
of Geneva was the treacherous attempt to take
the town on December 11, 1602 — an adventure
known as the Escalade. It failed ; and the people of
Geneva still continue to rejoice in their victory as each
December comes round. No visitor can be long in
Geneva without being reminded, by monument, tablet
or relics, of the Escalade. The aggressor was the Duke
of Savoy. Savoy never for long relaxed its efforts to
seize the city, for it was obsessed by the ambition.
In 1602 Geneva and Savoy were at peace. Indeed in
the early part of that year some notables of Savoy had
visited the city in order to discuss certain matters of
common interest. They were smiling and conciliatory
gentlemen who made themselves most agreeable and who
yielded to Geneva's demands with great bonhomie.
They admired the city and were especially interested in
the walls. The Genevese felt this to be a compliment,
for they were very proud of their walls. That a Savoyard
should be found at night measuring the height of the
wall with a stone attached to a string was regarded as
the act of an enthusiast. Spring, summer and autumn
went by, but nothing was heard of Savoy except kindly
greetings, and yet the Duke, unable to take Geneva
by force, had resolved to sneak into the city at night
and massacre the inhabitants.
29
The Lake of Geneva
This unheroic enterprise was planned for the darkest
night of the year — December 11, which in the calendar
of to-day would be December 21. An army was to lie
in wait in the outskirts of Geneva while a picked body
of 300 men were to creep into the town by scaling the
walls. The leader of the scaling party was Brunaulieu,
who knew the city wxll and hated it still better. His
company was worthily equipped. Their helmets and
breastplates were blackened so as to be less easily seen.
They were provided with dark lanterns, with hammers
to smash in doors, huge pincers to cut chains, petards
and a horrible kind of two-pronged fork on a long pole.
Laden on mules were ladders in sections which could
be lengthened or shortened at will. These ladders were
spiked at the foot for firmer holding, while at the top
they were covered with felt to muffle sound. Other
mules carried hurdles and faggots to be laid in the moat,
which was now at its lowest.
Before the Porte Neuve was closed for the night a
panting countryman hurried in to announce that he had
seen troops advancing towards Geneva. He w^as curtly
told in reply that he was dreaming and was advised to
drink less wine. A little later a cavalier passed through
the gate and repeated the news, adding that the men
were of Savoy. Whereupon the officer of the guard,
pointing to the great wall rising from the moat, asked
sarcastically, "Are these Savoyards birds that they can
fly over walls and ditches ? ' '
The plan of attack will be understood by reference
to the sketch opposite this page. One party was to
climb over the wall of the Corraterie, seize the Porte de
la Monnaie, on the one hand, and the city side of the
30
b
-^
i
\i
UJ
^/^
3
s
_i
tT^
<
S^
'L>
4^
t/)
*»J
'Jr
Q
u
E
H
o 5
T <o (^ i- i u_ v^- X
The Escalade
Porte Neuve on the other. A body of men hidden out-
side the Porte Neuve were to rush that gate as soon as
the signal was given that the advanced party had
accomphshed its objects. The attack was timed for 4 a.m.
A httle after midnight the men with the ladders
crept across the Plainpalais towards the wall. It was
nervous work, for it was pitch-dark and cold. The least
noise alarmed them, even the stumbling of a mule or a
gust of wind among the reeds. Once a hare darted across
the line and so terrified the men in the van that they
stopped to cross themselves and, with chattering teeth,
to mutter a prayer. When the moat was reached a
flock of wild duck was disturbed and dashed into the
darkness with great quacking and flapping of wings.
The guard at the Monnaie heard the flutter of these
ducks, but merely remarked sleepily, " That otter is
busy again."
It may here be explained that the Corraterie (now
the street of that name) was a rough level space between
the town and the wall. The town was at this point
represented by the backs of the houses that — on the
other side — looked into the Rue de la Cite. There were
here three gates, the Monnaie, the Tertasse and the
Treille, the positions of which are still easily identified.
There were certain alleys that opened at one end into
the street and at the other into the Corraterie, as they
do to this day. The site of the Bastion d'Oie is now
occupied by the Rath Museum; the Porte Neuve stood
on the town side of the present Place Neuve, while the
wall beyond it was that against which the new monument
to the Reformation is erected.
The ladders were put in place ^vith much whispering
The Lake of Geneva
and trepidation, but little eagerness was shown in making
the ascent. At the foot of the ladder stood a lean Scots
Jesuit, named Alexander Hume, who exhorted those
who were about to mount, giving to each a piece of
paper with a text on it which would preserve the holder
from shot, steel and sudden death. Hume, with a little
ill-timed imagery, told the hesitating soldiers that the
ladders were steps to Heaven. This was not reassuring,
as the men did not wish to go to Heaven at that par-
ticular moment and, moreover, preferred some other
route than the ladder. However, they crept up shiver-
ing and, climbing over the wall, hid under the parapet.
When about 200 had taken this unsteady road to
Paradise a soldier at the Monnaie Gate, hearing a noise
in the direction of the moat, warned his corporal, one
Francois Bousezel. The two started off with a lantern
towards the ramparts, calling out, at each nervous step,
" Qwi vive?^^ They had not gone far into the black
night when the corporal was felled by an invisible halberd
which crashed upon him in the dark. He dropped dead
— the first victim of the Escalade. He was a velvet
merchant and lived in the Bourg-de-Four in that house
which now bears, as a sign, a sea shell. His companion
incontinently fired off his harquebus and fled back to the
gate screaming " AJarme! alarme! Aux armesl " This
was at 2.30 a.m.
The guard at the Monnaie were aroused and a
drummer boy, beating his drum, hurried into the town
sending a thrill of panic through each silent street as
he panted up to the Hotel de Ville. The Rue de la Cite
was soon in commotion. Windows were thrown open,
and every nightcapped head that popped out yelled the
32
The Escalade
same cry into the empty lane : " In Heaven's name what
is the matter? " Bolts were shot back, doors were
thrown open, and men, half-dressed and with any odd
weapon in their hands — a pike, a sword, a shovel or
a pick — rushed into the street. Dogs barked, women
screamed, lights appeared at every window, while the
flare of torches cast fantastic shadows upon the balconied
houses. In a moment, above the hubbub in the street,
came a sound, deep, hollow and ominous, the clang of
the great bell. La Clemence, tolling the alarm.
The guard at the Porte de la Monnaie was soon driven
back (they were only six in all), and the Savoyards rushed
into the little Place de Notre-Dame du Pont crying
" Ffue Savoie!^^ This was a small triangular space —
indicated by the present Escalade fountain — between
three gates, the Monnaie opening on to the Corraterie,
the City Gate at the bottom of the Rue de la Cite, and
the Rhone Gate that led into the square now called the
Place Bel Air. Between the two gates last named, and
facing the Monnaie Gate, was a small low house that had
once been the Mint. It is shown in old prints^ as a
house of two stories only. Here lived Mere Royaume,
a woman of 60, who became the heroine of the Escalade.
The little place was crowded with the Savoyards, and
no doubt from every window some article was hurled
down upon them with curses, if only it were an old
boot, a chair or a log of wood. Mere Royaume did
better. She dropped out of her window a heavy iron
pot or marmite — as much as she could lift. It fell upon
the head of a soldier of Savoy and killed him. This first
» " Histoire Populaire du Canton de Geneve." Geneva, 1905, page 57. The
Monnaie Gate was destroyed in 1831.
D 33
The Lake of Geneva
enemy casualty seems to have heartened the Genevese,
for they poured into the place with a roar hke thunder
and drove the invaders back through the Monnaie Gate
into the Corraterie.
There was a house (No. 8) in the Rue de la Cite that
belonged to Julien Piaget. It was entered by an alley
leading from the street to the Corraterie. The door on
the street side was locked, but the other door was open.
Here the Savoyards made an entry, but were met by
the Piagets' servant, one Abraham de Batista, who,
armed with a sword, gallantly held the passage. Dame
Piaget — a lady of resource — was alone in the house.
She first of all barricaded the front door which opened
into the alley and then threw into the street the key
of the locked entry to the alley, so that the Genevese
were able to enter. They found Batista dead at the
alley end, and, stepping over his body, fell on the
Savoyards and drove them back to the Corraterie.
Like encounters took place all along the line. At
the Tertasse Gate a sortie was made, led by Jean Canal,
the syndic, a man of 63. He rushed ahead of his party
armed only with a sword, but was at once cut down,
while by his side was killed Bogueret, the architect of
the Hotel de Ville. Their deaths were avenged ; for the
Genevese fell upon the intruders with such violence that
they drove them down the hill to the Porte Neuve.
While all this confused street fighting was in progress
Brunaulieu was making a fierce attack on the Porte
Neuve. The twenty Genevese who composed the guard
were soon dislodged and fled in disorder up to the Porte
de la Treille. That gate gained, they shvit and bolted
the iron-studded door behind them and ' ' hoped for the
34
The Escalade
day." The Savoyards pursued them up the slope, yell-
ing, so far as their breath would allow, " Ville gagneel
Ville gagnee I " They found the door too stout for even
a dozen hammers, so a cry was raised for Picot, the
famous petardier, to come and blow it up. Picot came,
planted his petard, and was about to light it when the
portcullis fell with a fearful thud, cmshing Picot to the
ground beneath its iron heel. There he lay with the
petard by his side and the fuse still aglow in his dead
hand. A young soldier named Isaac Mercier, seeing
the danger, had quietly mounted on to the roof of the
gate and had set free the chain of the portcullis. By
his wit the town was saved.
While the Savoyards, with heated talk, were debating
what next they should do a sound fell on their ears that
struck them suddenly silent with their mouths agape.
It was the boom of a cannon. An ingenious gunner
had fired a culverin from the Bastion d'Oie along the
wall with such good purpose that the ladders were
swept down and fell into the moat. The retreat of the
Savoyards was thus cut off. The men of Geneva, pour-
ing out of the Tertasse and Monnaie Gates, fell upon
them with shouts of victory. The women threw lighted
straw out of the windows that opened on the Corraterie
and so made the slope blaze like the day and the crowd
of men glow like goblins in the glare of a furnace.
The Savoyards gave way. Some escaped by the
Porte Neuve ; some jumped over the wall and were
drowned in the moat; others surrendered and others
were killed. By 5.30 a.m. all was over and Geneva was
safe. In this gallant defence Geneva lost 17 killed ; but
of the enemy 54 were dead — including Brunaulieu, their
35
The Lake of Geneva
leader — while 13 were taken prisoners. The 13 were
hanged on the Bastion d'Oie next day at two o'clock
in the afternoon. Thus ended the Escalade.
In the Geneva Museum are the relics of this stirring
adventure, and very interesting they prove to be. There
are the very ladders that were placed against the wall,
the helmets and cuirasses worn by the scaling party,
their arms, the hammers and hatchets that they carried,
the dark lanterns, the horrible two-pronged forks and the
petards like massive gallon pots with handles. Here also
are the helmet worn by the petardier Picot (it weighs
nearly 25 lbs.) and the culverin that shot down the
ladders. This notable piece of ordnance is about eight
feet long, has a muzzle aperture of one and a half inches
and is a breech-loader. In a separate case is Brunaulieu's
very ornate sword, but Madame Royaume's cooking-pot
is not to be found among the exhibits.
Many portraits no doubt exist of those who did great
things on the immortal night of the Escalade, but I
know only two of them. The one is of the Duke, the
other is of Mere Royaume. Madame Royaume's portrait
is a head carved in stone over the portal of a quite
modern building. The house stands on the site of a
tower near the Monnaie Gate which was in the thick of
the fighting and which was called, in after years, the
Escalade Tower. It was ruthlessly pulled dow^n in 1903.
Madame Royaume's head is that of an elderly lady in a
nightcap. A look of contentment beams on her deter-
mined face as if there still was ringing in her ears the
comforting sound of an iron pot coming in contact with
an alien skull.
36
FROM GENEVA TO THE DRANSE
VI
HERMANCE AND YVOIRE
THE shores of the Lake from Geneva to the mouth
of the Dranse are comparatively low. They form
a somewhat steep bank behind Cologny, but farther
east assume a gentler slope and, here and there, sink
almost to a flat. The great mountains are far away and
invisible from the steamer. Certain isolated hills, how-
ever, springing from the plain, follow the coast line.
These are Les Voirons running from the level of Geneva
to Corsier, the Mont de Boisy between Hermance and
Yvoire and the sharp ridge of AUinges, with its ruins,
2 J miles beyond Thonon.
The shores, all the way, belong to a luxuriant
country which will remind an Englishman of Dorset or
Devon or the banks of the upper Thames. There are
no formal vineyards to mar the country by mathematical
plots and formal lines. The vines are grown upon the
branches of dead trees, are irregularly disposed and form
a picturesque feature in the landscape. If the country
has any distinctive character it is that bestowed upon it
by the number of Lombardy poplars which are ranged,
in companies and in sentinel-like ranks, along this
beautifid green shelf.
Cologny is a suburb of Geneva, a suburb of fine
villas and formal gardens marked by every evidence of
39
The Lake of Geneva
comfort and wealth. It was here, in the Villa Diodati,
that liyron stayed; but as villas change in a hundred
years it is well to turn to a contemporary print to see
what manner of house it was in 1816. The plate shows
a plain cottage-like building on a terrace facing the
Lake. It possesses two stories with three windows on
each floor, but it hardly attains to the ornate standard
of the Cologny of the present day.
Bellerive is another village de luxe. There was an
abbey here which was founded in the 12th century and
was destroyed by the Genevese in 1536. The pinnacle
of the altar of this abbey is preserved in the Geneva
Museum. It takes the curious form of a tower by the
side of which stands a lady crowned who is almost as
tall as the tower itself. At Bellerive in 1667 the Duke
of Savoy established a port and citadel in order to
encourage and protect the trade of Geneva. The present
attitude of Bellerive would seem to protest against the
absurdity of this project, for, like its neighbour La
Belotte, Bellerive is given up to mere enjoyment, to
boating and sailing, to lolling in hammocks and
spraw^ling upon lawns. As for commerce, it might go
hang.
Of some other stopping places on this shore there is
little to be said. Corsier, Anieres, Coudree-Sciez and
Anthy-Sechex are scarcely more than names associated
with a tiny pier, a cafe in a meadow, a bored douanier
and a road coming down from the hinterland from
villages which are out of sight and from crossways w^here
a farm track or a lane stumbles into the route to the
Lake. In the shade by the pier there may be a gig
which has brought some country folk to the steamer
40
HERMANCE, FROM THE LAKE
HERMANCE
Hermance and Yvoire
or an ox-wagon waiting for stores from Geneva. At
Coudree-Sciez conditions are quite elemental. Here are
merely a row of poplars, a landing stage, a hut and a
road which skips coquettishly out of sight. Beyond these
suggestions of human life there is nothing to dispel the
idea that the country is deserted. Anyone who left
the steamer here would apparently have to wander far
before he came in touch with his kind.
The places of less indistinctness in this section of the
Lake are Hermance, Nernier, Yvoire and Beauregard
and, near the Dranse, the town of Thonon. Hermance
is a frontier village by the boundary which divides
France from Switzerland. The place itself is Swiss.
The frontier is not formidable. It consists of a tiny
rivulet in a guUey of trees. In the summer-time a
mouse could cross over from Switzerland to France with-
out swimming, or a lady could make the passage with
the assurance that the water would not cover the heel of
a fashionable shoe.
If those who visit the Lake were asked to indicate
the prettiest village on its shores, I think that the
majority would name Hermance. It is old-fashioned
and unspoiled. It will call to mind the little riverside
village of England as it was fifty years ago, before the
day of the irreverent Bank Holiday and the yelling
charabanc.
There is little need to describe it. It is just
a pretty village. Seen from the Lake it seems to be
buried in a wood, so girt about is it by trees. Above
the mass of green stand up a mediaeval tower, the
bronze-coloured steeple of a church and the brown roofs
of an ancient house or two. There is a child-like place
41
The Lake of Geneva
by the water's edge made to look grown-up by a few
clipped plane trees and some benches for the village
gossips.
The road is wide and without a pavement. The
cottages are covered with wistaria or clematis. Along
the outside gallery of the house is trained a vine and
over the grey wall a pear tree lolls. On a strip of grass
by the wayside fishing nets are drying. Here a flower gar-
den makes a sudden blaze of colour like a burst of music ;
while across the way is a farmyard in agreeable disorder.
There are yet other things in the village — an old
stone cross in the shadow of a tree, a splashing fountain,
a cafe half -hidden by oleanders in tubs and, that delight
of every village, the bewildered general shop with its
confusing smells. A breeze from the Lake, idling down
the street, brings with it the consciousness of an unseen
stretch of water together with the perfume of roses, the
smell of burning wood in a kitchen and the odour of
roasting coffee from the courtyard of the inn.
The town was founded in 1025 by Hermengarde,
Queen of Burgundy, and it is from this lady that it
derives its name. Later, the Lords of Faucigny fortified
the place, surrounded it with walls and with a moat, and
built the castle of which one fine tower still remains
intact. Here in the 13th century the fair Beatrice of
Faucigny held her court, took the town under her care
and — about the year 1290 — established and endowed the
church.
The town was attacked and despoiled by the Bernese
in 1536 and again in 1589. On the latter occasion
Hermance very rashly resisted ; with the result that the
Bernese practically destroyed the place, pulling down the
42
• •'!
Hermance and Yvoire
walls, demolishing the church and leaving only the great
tower of the castle standing, since that was beyond their
power to destroy. As the more adventurous spirits in
Hermance had the habit of pouncing upon Genevese
boats and were, in fact, no better than pirates, the port
was filled up and the once thriving town and fortress
were reduced to a mere fishing village and, uninten-
tionally, to a place of much fascination.
The tower stands upon a hillock just above the
village. It is round, is of immense size and has recently
(1913-14) been restored with great consideration. It was
built in the 13th century and provides as vivid an idea
of the donjon of old days as any tower in Savoy. The
present church appears to have been erected in 1637,
some years after the disastrous visit of the Bernese. It
is a fine building, the decoration of which is effective
and in exceptional taste ; but it has been so ruthlessly
restored as to obliterate the interest that it must once
have possessed. By the side of the church is the Chapel
of St. Catherine, now mutilated beyond recovery. It
is a good specimen of the architecture of the 15th century
and is fully described by J. Mayor in his well illustrated
work.^
Nernier is a modest village or little town that has
seen better days, but is still a pleasant place by reason
of the many queer old houses that are to be found in its
almost silent streets or springing from the water's edge.
It has an ancient church with a somewhat remarkable
stone steeple. The chateau that once belonged to
Godefroy de Bouillon, the crusader, is now represented
by a modern building. It is curious how persistently
1 " L'ancienne Gen4ve." Geneva, 1896.
43
The Lake of Geneva
isolated little incidents cling to certain places until they
comprise almost its sole store of history. The incident
always recorded about Nernier is to the effect that
Lamartine, the poet, stayed here in 1815, that he lived
in the house of a boatman named Favre at the charge of
20 sous a day *' nourriture compriSf^^ and that he always
spoke of these days as the happiest of his life. He seems
to have been looked after by the boatman's very kindly
daughter — a young w^oman of 25 — who fed the poet on
eggs, milk and cheese to his complete comfort.
From its history Nernier is shown to have been a
place of some account even in Roman days. It once
had a castle of its own, stout walls and a couple of gates,
and was happy in that it w^as possessed by the beautiful
Beatrice of Faucigny. Among the illustrious persons
who have been Lords of Nernier was (in 1433) Nicod de
Menthon, an ambassador to England.^ The church is
mentioned in a papal bull of the year 1250. It was a
dependency of the great abbey of Filly near by, of the
ruins of which only the faintest traces now exist.
Yvoire stands at the entrance to the Petit Lac,
where the wider expanse of water suddenly narrows.
The distance from Yvoire to the point of Promenthoux,
on the opposite shore, is hardly three miles. Yvoire
was thus in old days the Gibraltar of the Lake. A great
many visitors, and among them many artists, come to
Yvoire every year, and the inhabitants never cease to
w^onder why they come, for the place is no other than
a small village and a poor one. The residents would
probably say that if the stranger wished to see the glories
* " M^moires et documents de TAcad^mie Chablaisienne," Tome xii. Thonon
1898.
44
A GATE OF YVOIRE
SIKHET IN 1VOIKK
Hermance and Yvoire
of the Lake he should go to Montreux, where everjrthing
is new, where the latest fashions are in vogue and where
the whole place appears to be bursting with the good
things of life.
Yvoire, poor as it is, has yet a little of that wealth
which is beyond the dream of avarice and which money
bags cannot purchase. It is a little fortified mediaeval
town which has still around it its ancient walls and is
still entered by its ancient gates. Its castle still seems
to be keeping watch over the strait, while there is a
tower in Yvoire that in height and strength is formidable
still and only needs its portcullis to be brought back to
become again an entry hard to force. Moreover the
family who, as Lords of Yvoire, held the castle 260 years
ago, hold it still.
The original walls of Yvoire were built in the 14th
century and have been many times strengthened and
restored. The town gates, with their pointed arches,
belong probably to the 16th century, while the age of
the founding of the castle would go back to a period
before even the walls were made. A Pierre of Yvoire
figures in the records of 1264 as giving certain woodland
rights to the convent of Filly ; while in 1289 Antelme
d'Yvoire is found doing homage — and no doubt very
agreeable homage — to the fair Beatrice of Faucigny.
Yvoire was a place that bred stout warriors and bold
sailormen. Its boys played at soldiers as soon as they
could go alone. The young women could handle a boat
as deftly as a man. The mother would leave her baby
to carry powder kegs to the battlements; while the
housewife would stay her cooking to boil water to be
poured on any who dared assail the gate. If accounts
45
The Lake of Geneva
be true, Yvoire was at one time a nest of pirates and the
terror of the Lake. When a merchant craft on its way
to the Rhone sighted a covey of boats pulling out from
the town all hope was lost, unless a delivering wind swept
down from the east; for the rhythm of the oars of the
boats of Yvoire was as ominous a sound as the tramp
of marching men.
Yvoire, it appears, has many times changed hands.
In 1366 it was sold by the Count of Savoy to Antelme
de Miolans. In 1402 it passed by marriage to the
Ravoree family, and in 1494 was sold to Georges
d'Antioche, and later (in 1634) to Antoine Former.^
Finally, in 1655, it came into the possession of the
famous family of Bouvier, and it is that family which
holds it now.
A Ferdinand Bouvier was Lieutenant Governor of
Chillon in 1588 {see Chapter xxv). His brother, Jehan
Bouvier, was the redoubtable Jehan of the Iron Arm.
This hardy but rather mythical warrior had lost a hand
in battle and had replaced it by an arm of iron. It
would seem that he was one of the defenders of the
castle of Yvoire in 1600, many years before that fortress
passed into the hands of his family. Jehan of the Iron
Arm is the subject of a famous romance^ in which he
is described as Jean d' Yvoire, but the title is unfounded,
as the chateau did not come into the possession of the
Bouviers in his lifetime.
The two gate towers of Yvoire are on the south or
land side of the town. In ancient days they bid defiance
to all on the high road who w^ould dare to enter unasked,
1 " M^moires, etc., de 1' Academic Chablaisienne," loc. cit.
* " Jean d' Yvoire au Bras de Fer," par J. Fazy. Paris, 1840.
46
VVOIRE : THE CHURCH
Hermance and Yvoire
but now on each mediaeval postern is merely a gentle
warning to the effect that motor cars are not allowed
within the walls. Between the two gateways runs the
ancient wall of the town with its battlements still in
evidence. At the foot of the wall is the moat, which is
now devoted to the culture of potatoes.
There is nothing in Yvoire that could be called a
street. Its lanes are narrow, loose and very confused.
They are also very dirty. The houses are of a humble,
despondent type, are old and decrepit, and therefore
picturesque. Their general untidiness is excessive and
they are patched and re-patched like an old shoe. The
church has been modernized, has a flat ceiling, square
\\dndows and walls covered monotonously with plaster.
The copper-coloured steeple, however, is charming and
makes an attractive object when Yvoire is viewed from
the Lake. That the church has been "done up" in
recent years is evident, since Read, writing in 1897,
speaks of it as "an old church lit by loopholes."
The chateau rises from the water's edge. It is a
square, simple and solid block of masonry with a flat
roof and with windows which belong to various periods,
for some are pointed and some are square. At the four
corners of the building are the remains of round turrets.
Upon the land side of the chateau are a square tower
with a pointed roof and the remains of a moat. There
are no battlements and no gun emplacements ; but, on
the other hand, ivy and climbing roses give an air of
much gentleness to the hardy old fortress. There are
certain gardens in the ancient town and many trees,
which very graciously and charitably temper its poverty
and bestow some comfort upon its extreme old age.
47
VII
THE TRAGEDY OF BEAUREGARD
THE stranger who wanders in the district between
Hermance and Nernier will be struck by the
persistence and apparent pride with which all
signposts point the way to the Port of Tougues. It
may be true that " all roads lead to Rome," but
certainly in this area they all lead to the Port of
Tougues. There would seem to be no possibility of
escaping this haven ; for to the undecided there is no
alternative between the Port of Tougues, on the one
hand, and the rest of the universe on the other.
In approaching this much proclaimed place one
expects to come upon a wharf of stone where cranes
are wheezing laboriously, where there are bales of mer-
chandise and lusty men rolling barrels to and fro. There
should be also ropes and anchors and ships in that
deshabille which they assume when lying in port.
Such impressions will not be realized, for Tougues,
when reached, is found to be represented by a clump of
poplars in a silent field, from the edge of which a very
fragile pier ventures out into the Lake. There is no
sign of human life and the road stops abruptly at the
beach, as if overcome by the shock of a cruel disillusion.
Among the shadows on one side of the road is a cafe,
in front of which are a few tables and chairs. On the
48
The Tragedy of Beauregard
other side is a dwelling house vaguely defined. The
commerce of the place is represented by a heap of stones
for the mending of roads. Such is the Port of Tongues
to which the signposts point with such assurance.
The real interest of the Port of Tongues is vicarious
and depends upon the fact that it adjoins the famous
Chateau of Beauregard and is, indeed, on the edge of
the wood in which that castle lies. Beauregard stands
in a clearing open to the Lake, where it occupies the
crest of a green slope that rises gently from the beach.
It is a very ancient place, for it was a stronghold as long
ago as 1326, and its square tower, with walls three metres
thick, is believed to belong to that period. It has been
much added to and more than once rebuilt, notably in
the 15th century, as is suggested by the date 1573 on
the tower of the chateau.^ Until the 16th century
Beauregard was held by the family of de Bailey son.
It then belonged to the Allinges, and finally to the
illustrious house of de Costa, in which family it still
remains.
The most famous member of this family was the
Marquis Henri Costa de Beauregard, who occupied the
chateau in the latter end of the 18th century and w^as
one of the victims of the French Revolution. He kept
a diary, and his memoirs, translated and edited by
Charlotte M. Yonge, provide a remarkably graphic
picture of the sufferings of a noble family during the
time of the Terror. ^
The marquis married in 1777, and was with his wife
and family at Beauregard when the Revolution burst
» " M^moires, etc., de I'Acad^mie Chablaisienne," Tome xii. Thonon, 1898.
* " A Man of Other Days." London, 1877.
E 49
The Lake of Geneva
forth. The shrieking hordes who were to wipe out the
old regime and remake the world fell upon Beauregard
in 1792. The marquise and her children fled to Lausanne
across the water. The marquis and his favourite son
Eugene joined the residue of the loyal army then hold-
ing out precariously in the mountains. He distinguished
himself as an officer, so far as distinction w^as possible
in an army whose deeds were doomed to be inglorious
and whose inevitable fate was to fail.
His great delight was in his son. In all his letters
Eugene was the one bright figure among a gloomy com-
pany, and to have him with him was the solace of his life.
With the marquis also was his old servant Comte who,
although paid no wages and subjected to all the miseries
of a hopeless campaign, declined to leave his master or
to abate any detail of his service. On one terrible
morning Eugene was killed in an unprofitable skirmish,
and the grief of the poor father was pitiable to witness.
It was a sorrow that never ceased to cloud his days. In
the meantime the marquise and her children w^ere living
in Lausanne in " frightful poverty " which she bore with
great courage, for she was — as her letters show — a very
gallant lady. She thus describes the wretched lodging
in Lausanne : " The children and I live in a room v^dth
a red tile floor, faded curtains, three horse-hair chairs,
an old white stove and the little table upon which I write
to you. . . . What does that signify? And yet, Henri,
I have under my window a poor little rose tree that has
sprung up by chance among the nettles, like your image
among my tears." She does not add — as she might
have done — that her life was a constant fight against
starvation.
50
BEAUREGARD
The Tragedy of Beauregard
In 1796, after four years of misery, the marquis was
free to join his wife at Lausanne. He came accompanied
by the faithful Comte. The journey from Turin to
Lausanne by the St. Bernard Pass occupied twelve days.
They reached the gates of Lausanne towards evening.
ITie marquis found his wife and children waiting for him
in the road. The meeting was most pathetic for, besides
the death of their boy, so much that was terrible had
happened since they parted at Beauregard. He hardly
knew her. He simply saw, standing outside the gate, a
lady in black who was as pale as death and who, as he
approached, cried "Henri! Henri! " and threw herself
into his arms. " When they came to themselves they
looked at one another like strangers. She was an old
woman with wrinkles and grey hair. He was bent and
would have been taken for an old man."
The first intent of the marquis when he had settled
at Lausanne was to visit his old home at Beauregard, if
he could elude the minions of the Republic. He knew
that the chateau had been pillaged from cellar to attic
and partially wrecked, that a portion had been burned
and that it was tenantless. He started one morning in
a sailing-boat, taking with him an old friend and his
servant Comte. They met with a contrary wind, so that
it was not until nearly sundown that they reached the
chateau.
They landed on the beach and walked up the familiar
path to the house. The house was silent and evidently
deserted. The rosy light of the setting sun fell full
upon it, showing the black streaks left by smoke and
flame, the gaping windows and the half -charred shutters
hanging from the walls. In the once trim courtyard
51
The Lake of Geneva
were masses of burnt wood, fragments of shattered
furniture, rags that were once fine curtains, begrimed
bits of clothing, tiles and heaps of broken glass.
The door was open, for it had been battered in. The
marquis entered with a shudder and .walked from room
to room, stumbling over collections of rubbish and of
fallen plaster. The memories that the place recalled
were the memories of a lifetime, but they were all so
marred as to become a mockery. Treasure after treasure
was missing. In the place of his wife's portrait was a
dark square on the wall. Sacred cupboards had been
ransacked and everywhere were ruin, defilement and
outrage. " This was her room," the marquis muttered
as he passed along the corridor, "and this was mine."
One room he would not enter, but he asked Comte to
go into it alone. It was the room of his dead son
Eugene.
As the three were leaving the chateau in the
uncertain light they were startled by a voice that issued
from the depths of the building. It was an unearthly
voice that screamed ' ' Off with you ! Off with you ! I
am master here. Oh ! what a fire it was when they
burned it down." They all recognized the voice as that
of a poor idiot boy named Jacques whom the marquise
had looked after and provided for. He apparently had
alone clung to the desolate building, which he haunted
like a demented spirit.
The three made their way to the boat and pushed
off. They lingered for a moment before hoisting the
sail, in order to look once again at the old house which
was now but a black shadow among the trees. As they
looked, standing up in the boat bare-headed, there rang
52
The Tragedy of Beauregard
out in the silence of the dusk the voice of the idiot
boy shrieking the " Marseillaise." Such was the home-
coming of the noble Marquis of Beauregard.
When the Terror had passed away the marquis and
his family were able to return to Beauregard. The old
chateau was restored, and under its roof he and his
devoted wife ended their days in peace.
The chateau, as already stated, is on a green slope
open to the Lake. On all other sides it is surrounded
by trees. That part of the building which faces the
water is plain and stolid and as glum as the back of an
institution. It is of three stories, all of which are pro-
vided with square windows. Its walls, of a ruddy grey,
are covered with ivy. The entrance to the house is on
the east side, where is a comfortable courtyard between
two segments of the building. The block to the left is
made up of the old donjon, a huge, low square tower
surmounted by a conical roof of most amazing height.
Indeed, viewing the structure as a whole, there would
appear to be almost as much roof as tower. The main
building is made picturesque by a series of oval windows
below the eaves, such as were common in French man-
sions about the end of the 18th century. The west side
of the house, with its small projecting tower looking out
upon a little formal garden, is the most intimate and
homely part of the chateau. The beach where the
marquis landed is very pretty. It is a shelf of grey
pebbles shaded by trees, and among the trees is the small
path that he followed up to the house.
53
VIII
THONON
THONON, once the capital of Chablais, a fortress
and the residence of princes, is now a place of
small account. Its chief characteristics are
negative. It possesses neither "sights" nor present
interests. It is simply a provincial town that has seen
better days and that has sought, in its old age, the quiet
of obscurity. The Romans thought well of the spot,
since they planted a town here. The Burgundians also
were attracted by it, for, in the course of their violent
lives, they made of Thonon a kind of robbers' castle or
marauding outpost. But before even the Romans came
or the Burgundians carried red riot through the land
there was a lake village by the shore, built on a forest
of piles by a nameless people.
The surroundings of Thonon explain how it came to
be chosen as an abode of men. Here is a raised plateau
that sweeps inland for miles till it comes to the foot of
the guardian hills — the Mont d'Armonnaz and the Bois
de la Comte. Towards the Lake it ends in a green bank
which slopes suddenly to the beach. It must always have
seemed that this edge of the plain, this crest of the bank,
was a fitting place whereon to build a town. Here
Thonon stands. On the east of the plateau is the
majestic gorge of the Dranse; while on the west the
plain stretches towards Geneva, becoming narrowed as
54
Thonon
it goes by the massif of Les Voirons and of Mont Saleve.
The whole plateau is magnificent, for it is luxuriantly
green. The far hills, with their vast precipices, are
capped with snow; while in the centre of the plain, on
an isolated ridge, stand — clear-cut against the sky — the
romantic ruins of Allinges. The view of this fair country,
as approached from the west by the white road from
Excenevex is, I think, one of the most appealing of its
kind on the Lake, especially as in the foreground there
glistens the blue bay of Coudree.
Thonon is not a " season place," although it has its
waters and its baths and is, indeed, proclaimed at the
railway station to be " Thonon les Bains." It is one
of those comfortable, contented towns that is busy all
the year round with its own little affairs and does not
encourage the stranger to intermeddle with its joys.
Thonon was from early years a fortified town. Its
great walls and towers were built about the year 1290,
and at the same period the castle was constructed. The
castle became the residence of the Counts and Dukes
of Savoy, and on that account Thonon became the most
important place in Chablais. A plate of the castle as
it was in 1540 ^ shows a vast and imposing building on
the brink of the plateau with a square donjon in the
centre and a round tower at each bend of the wall. The
castle, after violent changes of fortune, was taken by
the French and Swiss in 1589, and was finally pulled
down in 1626 after having been nearly destroyed by
fire. There were five gates to Thonon,^ but of these
1 " Memoires et Documents de 1' Academic Chablaisienne." Tome xxvi.
1913.
■ Map of 1682 in " Histoire de Thonon," par L, E. Piccard. Tome 1. Annecy,
1882.
55
The Lake of Geneva
and of the ancient walls no trace remains. The wall on
the east followed the Rue des Granges and that on the
west the present Boulevard Carnot. From this dis-
position it will be seen that the old town was small and
its confines very limited.
Thonon, owing to its strategic position near the
banks of the Dranse and to its importance as a seat of
the ruling prince, figures prominently in the wars of the
Middle Ages, sometimes with credit, sometimes without.
It was swayed on occasion by this faction and on occasion
by that. The attitude of the inhabitants in the presence
of acute political movements was not always marked by
a sense of proportion nor did it always express itself
logically or with dignity. In this respect Thonon was
not peculiar.
For example, at the time of the French Revolution,
the spirit that prompted that upheaval spread to Savoy
in the form of a blind revolt against all constituted
authority and anything that implied control. The
patriots of Thonon, after due discussion, concluded that
they could best express their approval of the policy of
the time by liberating the town drunkard who had been
sent to prison by the arbitrary governor.^ So they
attacked the gaol door with bludgeons and hammers,
battered it in, and scuttled down the corridor to find the
oppressed winebibber. They found him ; smacked him
on the back ; led him forth noisily into the street and
proceeded to carry him round the town with shouts of
triumph.
Surely there was never in the world such an emblem
1 " Memoirs of the Marquis de Beauregard." Edited by Charlotte M. Yonge,
London, 1877. Vol. I, page 127.
56
Thonon
of liberty, of fraternity and of the heaven-born equahty
of man as this trembUng drunkard, clinging with nervous
hands to the arms of a tavern chair, with terror sweat-
ing from his bloated face as he rocked to and fro on
the shoulders of an eddying mob, like a piece of wreckage
in a torrent. They carried him round Thonon for the
immoderate period of four hours, stopping, no doubt, for
refreshment at various wine shops in their progress. At
the end of the fourth hour the drunkard became so limp
that he was of no further use as an emblem, for an
emblem must be erect like a knight's pennon and not
a thing like a sack of meat.
The site of the castle is the present Place du Chateau,
an open square on the edge of the bank, shaded by many
trees and affording a most gracious view. Just to the
east of the place stood the convent of the Capuchins,
built in 1602, but now indicated only by some remains
embodied in the house which occupies its site. There
were four other convents in Thonon, of which that of
the Minimes alone calls for notice. It was founded in
1636 by Albert Eugene de Geneve, Marquis de Lullin,
and is now the hospital of the town. It is a fine
Renaissance building, the windows of which are orna-
mented by elaborate stonework. The cloister that
surrounds the court-yard is worthy of a palace. In the
wall of the colonnade is a stone with the inscription,
" Icy gist Gaspard de Geneve, Marquis de Lullin," and
the date June, 1619.
In the Rue Chante-Coq — now but a mean street —
is a 16th century house, with a handsome stone doorway
and elegant windows, that was once the residence of the
Guillet-Monthoux family. No. 17 in the same street
57
The Lake of Geneva
was the house of a syndic of Thonon — one Pierre
Fornier — who was converted by St. Francis and who
entertained the great preacher within these walls. The
Hotel de Ville, a quite worthy building, stands in an
old-world square that is pleasant to come upon, for it
recalls the scenery of an 18th century romance. In the
square is a curious stone fountain in the form of a
column of unusual type. It is reputed to date from the
13th century, but has obviously been much renovated
since that time.
The church is not commendable. Its facade is mean
and otherwise expressionless, its interior irritating by
reason of much restless and trashy ornamentation in the
taste of two centuries ago. There is an old font by
the entry which was used by St. Francis, and also a
handsome organ-loft of wood and a pulpit with carved
panels of much merit. From this pulpit St. Francis
preached during his turbulent mission in Chablais. One
interesting feature of the church is the crypt. It is
entered with some difficulty (and with the aid of a
candle) through a trap-door under the pulpit. The crypt
has a cove roof supported by low columns and rounded
arches. The capitals of the pillars are remarkable by
their eccentricity. The structure is accredited to the
11th century, although some assign to it an earlier
date. The place is filled with rubbish and is in woeful
disrepair.
Opposite the church is a quaint httle old house with
an overhanging roof and on the ground floor a shop of
the mediaeval type in the shadow of an arch. It is
occupied by a fumiste and maker of stoves. As the
place is dark and cave-like and filled with strange things
58
THONON : ST. FRANCIS S SHOP
i
f
^^^K ^^^^^^^Bi "* ^^^Hil
Lgij'^^pW
n
' ?Df. i
nil-'i^B
^
^Hj'A
RIVES BELOW THONON
Thonon
in metal it could pass for the shop of an alchemist or
a maker of coats of mail. On one of the shutters of the
shop is fastened a cross of iron. It was in this shop
that St. Francis took refuge from the violence of the
Protestant mob, after preaching in the church of
Thonon, and the cross of iron serves to keep in memory
his timely deliverance.^
Near the foot of the bank upon which Thonon stands
is the village of Rives. That it is a fishing village would
be evident in the dark. It is made up of little old houses
with outside stairs, wooden galleries and overhanging
roofs. The life of the place appears to be carried on in
the balconies or in the road, and the inhabitants to be
mostly children. The road is steep, and at the top of
the village is a stone basin for running water whence
the supplies of the place are drawn. Any who would
realize the village home of Jack and Jill, the kind of hill
they climbed and the source at which they filled their
pails should come to Rives. There is nothing lacking
to complete the scene of that never-to-be-forgotten
disaster.
At the bottom of the village, by the water's edge,
is an immense, stolid building with white walls and
ancient windows, many of which are closed by bricks.
It is a sour-looking old place which seems to resent the
indignity of being now used as a storehouse for plaster.
On the roadside is a low, square tower looking as surly
as a long neglected tower can look. There is another
tower, smaller and less depressed in aspect, on the Lake
front. This is the Chateau de Montjoux-St. Bernard.
It belonged in 1405 to the noble family of Greysier,
» " M^molrcB, etc., de I'Acad^mle Chablaisienne." Tomt xix, page 168.
59
The Lake of Geneva
and then to the lords of Ravoree, who ceded it in the
16th century to the monastery of Montjoux founded by
St. Bernard of Menthon. It was burnt in 1557 and
attacked and damaged during the Bernese invasion of
1591. It remained, however, in possession of the monks
until the Revolution of 1793, when it was seized and
sold as national property to the family of Favre of
Thonon. Since that date its downfall appears to have
been rapid.
From old prints it may be gathered that it has
changed little in its general aspect, except that it once
had a court-yard which reached to the water's edge and,
on the west, a small chapel with a bell gable. Of neither
court-yard nor chapel does any trace remain; while the
construction of the harbour has altered the aspect of the
little cove upon the margin of which the chateau stood.
The large tower by the road was called the Tour des
Langues because in old days the monks demanded from
the inhabitants the tongue of every beast slaughtered in
Rives. This was a very moderate tax, for in England
at the present day they would have taken half of the
entire animal.
6()
IX
ROUND ABOUT THONON
OUT of the plain behind Thonon there arises
suddenly a lofty ridge with a sharp edge like
that of a chipped flint. On the jagged summit
stand the ruins of Allinges — the most romantically
placed ruins to be found along the Lake shore. The
walls of the great keep can be seen for miles both from
the water and the land. The castle would seem to realize
that spectral chateau on a bleak cliff that figures in
Gustave Dore's pictures and that belongs to the world
of myths and legends.
Allinges is made up of two castles, each on a separate
peak, together with an ancient chapel. The earlier
castle — the Chateau Vieux — is on the eastern extremity
of the ridge ; the less ancient — the Chateau Neuf — is on
its western point, w^here is also the chapel. In the gap
between the two peaks was the long extinct village of
old Allinges.
The older castle and the village were founded by the
Burgundians in the 5th century.^ They held it for a
hundred years, when they were driven out by the
Franks, who, fighting all the while, remained masters
of AlHnges until 879. No traces of the works of these
periods remain. In 888 the new Burgundian Kingdom
1 " CEuvres historiques de M. I'Abbe Gonthier." Thonon, 1901. Tome i.
6l
The Lake of Geneva
was constituted by Rodolfe I. He seized AUinges, and
his son, Rodolfe II (912-937), rebuilt the Chateau Vieux,
added, at a later period, the Chateau Neuf and recon-
structed the village between the two hills. A few relics
of these Burgundian castles are said to be discoverable.
It will be understood how^ it has come about that an
edifice erected a thousand years ago is still described as
** new." The Burgundians held on to AUinges until the
dynasty came to an end in the days of the last king,
Rodolfe III.
In or about 1073 the stronghold fell into the posses-
sion of the rich and powerful family of AUinges (hence
the name of the place), who held it for some 200 years.
In the 13th century the I^ords of Faucigny^ were
masters of the hill, and a little later it passed into the
hands of the Counts of Savoy. The history of this
fortress — the most formidable in the country — involves a
turbulent story which is far too long to follow. It .was
the scene of frequent alarms and periodic fighting, was
many times besieged and many times changed masters.
There was a period when the so-called old castle
belonged to one baron and the new to another and when
the two kept up a constant fight at dangerously close
quarters. In 1536 the Swiss took the place and the
banner of Berne was hoisted on the height with a cheer
that could be heard at Thonon. In 1567 AUinges once
more belonged to Savoy, but in December, 1600, it was
besieged by the French, on which occasion the garrison
surrendered and were allowed to march forth with drums
beating and with all the honours of war. Once more
1 One of the three provinces of Haute Savole, the others being Genevois
and Chablais.
62
Round About Thonon
Allinges returned to the Dukes of Savoy ; when in 1703
Victor Amadeus II — he whose story is told in Chapter
XV — finding himself confronted by a new war with
France and fearing that Allinges .would be hard to hold,
dismantled the castles, blew them up and left them in
the ruin in which they are found to this day.
Before their destruction there was little distinction
in the matter of age between the one castle and the
other. An old plate conveys a good idea of the double
fortress as it appeared in 1682.^ It shows a castle on
either hill, both complete and both pertaining to the
same period. They are very strongly fortified and are
surrounded by a high machicolated wall with square
towers at intervals in its circuit and with heavy outworks
on the side of approach. From the centre of the
Chateau Vieux rises a lofty keep, the remains of which
form the most prominent feature in the ruins as they
now appear.
Rodolfe II when he built the Chateau Neuf built
also, on the same part of the hill, the little chapel which
is still standing undisfigured and, indeed, but little
changed. This 11th century chapel is one of the oldest
in Savoy and has naturally been made a national monu-
ment. It is very plain, very small and very dark owing,
to the fact that the windows which light it are little
more than slits deep sunk in the wall. It has a plain
cove roof and the chancel is represented merely by an
alcove or shallow apse. The walls of the recess are
decorated by frescoes accredited to the 13th century, the
subject being the Benediction of Christ. Above the roof
is a demi-tour for the bell. Attached to the chapel is a
' " GEuvres historlques de M. I'Abb^ Gonthler." Thonon, 1901, Tome i.
63
The Lake of Geneva
monastic building, with a round-arched arcade, which
rather swamps the tiny church.
A memorable day in the history of. the chapel was
September 14, 1594. On that day two strangers, simply
clad and without baggage, came on foot to the draw-
bridge of the castle of AUinges. One of them, a youth
of 27, with a very gentle face, was Francis, son of
the Count de Sales. ^ The other was his cousin, Louis
de Sales. They were both priests, although not dressed
in the garb of their order. They brought letters to the
governor of the castle, from the Duke of Savoy and others,
begging that Allinges would help in the work for the
reconversion of Chablais. It was on this ridge that the
mission began, for on the next morning St. Francis
celebrated his first Mass in the little chapel. By 1598
or 1600 nearly the whole of Chablais had returned to the
Catholic faith.
In approaching Allinges from Thonon it appears at
first incredible that buildings could ever be erected where
the ruins stand, for the ridge on the side towards the
town is a rank precipice. It remains, however, to be
discovered that there is an approach on the south side.
The path leads through a stone gateway and by various
outworks to the hill on which the chapel stands. The
remains of the Chateau Neuf lie scattered among orchards
and plots of grass where sheep are feeding. To the east
is the mighty donjon of the Chateau Vieux, a mass so
stupendous and so soUd as to defy destruction. The
ruins cover an immense area. Besides the walls there
are the remains of towers, of bastions, of posterns and
1 St. Francis was born at the Chateau of Sales, near Annecy, in 1567, and
died at Lyons in 1622 in the gardener's cell of the Monastery of the Visitation.
64
.V— -•
Round About Thonon
of covered ways, some green with ivy, some bare as a
bleached bone. In the cleft of the rock between the two
main hills the old town hid. During centuries of war
it must have been as uneasy a dwelling as a robin's nest
in a gun casemate. Where it cowered there is now a
w^ood, in the quiet depths of which its very stones are
as completely lost as are its troubles.
Just outside Thonon, near the Evian road, is the tiny
hamlet of Concise. It is a place of no mean standing,
for in 1093 it possessed a hospital, a castle and a priory
of Augustins ; while in 1250 it figures in a bull of Pope
Innocent IV. ^ Concise is worth turning aside for a
moment to see on account of its fascinating little church.
This church is of great age, is the size of a small cottage
and has a steeple with a quite ridiculous window in it.
Within is a nave, with a flat ceiling like that of a room,
and a choir with a faintly pointed roof. A minute
chapel has been built out on one side, while over the
entrance is a gallery with a kind of nursery rail. A more
charming specimen of the little village church would be
difficult to find.
At Concise and on the brink of the steep bank which
looks down upon the beach stood the Tower of La
Fl^chere. When the French and the Swiss invaded
Chablais in 1589 they laid siege to the castle of Thonon.
The castle had a large garrison and was believed to be
impregnable ; but either from treachery or from cowardice
the commandant surrendered before the assault was even
commenced. Thonon having been disposed of, the vic-
torious army marched on to La Flechere. As this
1 " R^geste Genevois avant I'Annee, 1312." Geneva, 1866. " Haute
Savoie," par A. Raverat. Lyons, 1872.
F 65
The Lake of Geneva
insignificant place had a garrison of only 18 men it was
assumed that it would surrender even more promptly
than Thonon. To the indignation of the Swiss leader
the captain of the tower declined to yield and, further-
more, was not only defiant but inclined to be rude. The
tower was surrounded by a host strong enough to capture
a place four times its size; but it proved not easy to
take and, owing to the lack of artillery, it began to be
a question if it could be taken in any reasonable time.
The Swiss general was furious and swore he would
hang the whole of the eighteen before dinner as a lesson
to the rest of Savoy. But the dinner hour came and
passed and the captain of the tower was still jeering
from the battlements. The next step was to burn the
gallant men out of their stronghold, and to effect this
the adjacent buildings were set on fire. The tower
became enveloped in flames and it was soon evident to
the garrison of La Flechere that there was nothing for
it but to rush out of the building and surrender. This
they did.
The whole of the eighteen were not hanged ; but six
of the number were selected for this particular treat-
ment. It so happened that on the face of the tower
was a projecting beam which would serve as an excellent
gallows. The six were led out and lined up under the
beam with their backs to the tower, just about the time
of the setting of the sun. A difficulty arose as to an
executioner. Whereupon one of the six, a corporal — in
order to save his own neck — offered to hang his five old
comrades. He hanged them one after the other, but
asked the pardon of each in turn before the fatal moment
came. The fifth and last man refused his pardon. The
66
' • e • ♦ » *' * 4
Round About Thonon
corporal, however, put the rope round his neck and
pushed him off the ladder as he had done with the rest
of his late friends. As he was about to descend, pleased
with his own happy escape, a ball from a Swiss musket
passed through his breast.
In old prints La Flechere is represented as a small,
square building with a tower on either side of it and
around it a battlemented wall.^ As years went by the
tower fell into decay and a Capuchin convent was built
on its ruins. The convent, as it now appears, is a
rambling building with square towers and with little
about it that is of interest except the old garden in
which it stands.
Between Concise and the river is the Chateau of
Thuyset. It is a small chateau, but one of the most
charming on account of its picturesque features and the
care with which it has been preserved. It is old, for it
was built in 1490 by the Allinges. After passing through
other hands it was occupied in 1673 by the Lucinges,
and finally, in 1688, came into the possession of the
distinguished family of de Foras, to whom it still belongs.
The building is square, has a very lofty roof with dormer
windows, and is supported by two graceful towers, the
survivors of the four towers with which the chateau was
originally provided.
The River Dranse, where crossed by the Evian road,
is a dull river. There is more bed than river, for
in the summer the stream is so small as to be almost,
lost in the intolerable desert of ash-grey stones. The
Dranse comes down from the mountains through a most
beautiful rocky gorge, some miles in length, which is
1 " Groot Stedcboek, van Piemont en van Savoye." The Hague, 1725,
67
The Lake of Geneva
luueh frequented by tourists in charabancs, who seem to
be curiously fascinated by the very name of "gorge."
On either bank of the river will be seen the remains of
the old bridge of the Middle Ages. This bridge was con-
structed in the 15th century, was no less than 656 feet
long, and carried in its course some 29 arches. It was
blown up in 1814 during the war that was raging at that
period. The bed of the river has been very much
narrowed in modern times by the construction of an
embankment, with the result that the greater part of
the mediaeval bridge is now on dry land. Its roadway
is narrow, being about 10 feet wide, and is protected on
each side by a wall which is rapidly tumbling away.
The road would serve still for the packhorse and the
litter, but not for the blustering motor lorry or the
charabanc.
68
en
Z
<
as
Q
U
OS
>
o
o
Q
2
33
Q
o
H
X
RIPAILLE
ON the level promontory which lies between the
Dranse river and the Bay of Thonon stands the
famous Chateau of Ripaille surrounded by a
gloomy wood. A full history of Ripaille, of the great
people who dwelt there and of the strange things they
did, is furnished by M. Bruchet in a fine volume of some
600 pages.^
Ripaille owes its origin to a remarkable woman,
Bonne de Bourbon, wife of Amadeus VI of Savoy.
Amadeus was a semi-mythical being who might have sat
at the Round Table of King Arthur by the side of
Launcelot of the Lake. He w^as generally known as the
' ' Green Count ' ' by reason of the colours he wore at a
certain tournament. To judge from her portrait the
Lady Bonne was small and slight, veiy pretty and very
pert. She had large blue eyes and her fair hair was
arranged in two heavy plaits, one on either side of her
face. Her head-dress was a little flat cap that looked
like a wreath, and her general aspect that of a very
forward schoolgirl of fifteen. Although she was so small
and although she wore her hair in plaits, she was a
masterful lady. She managed her adventurous husband,
her son, her daughter-in-law and everything and every-
body about her.
1 " Le Chateau de Ripaille," par Max Bruchet. Paris, 1907.
69
The Lake of Geneva
She had a love of the country. She hated walls and
battlements, drawbridges and moats. She found the
sombre castles in which she lived so many prisons, and
thus it was that she came to the Forest of Ripaille,
where she built a wooden house as a kind of hunting
lodge. She began it in 1371, but did not enter into
possession until six years later because she was short of
money. As the funds of the family improved she added
to Ripaille, for she was never still and never without a
scheme in her head. In 1384 she made great additions.
Being a good housewife, she built a spacious kitchen and
provided a cellar worthy of it. Being of a religious mind,
she erected a wooden chapel, and then — and this is very
characteristic of her — put up a dovecot. Still she went
on adding building after building, just as she wanted
them, until the place must have looked like an encamp-
ment of huts and booths at a fair; for when she had
finished Ripaille could accommodate 300 persons and 200
horses.
Now this fascinating and determined lady who hated
walls yielded at last to the womanly weakness of vanity
and — out of what must be called mere swagger — built a
tower in front of the entrance. This was the beginning
of the great Chateau of Ripaille.
In 1383 the Green Count died, and his son, Amadeus
VII, reigned in his stead. Bonne the Imperious ruled
over the new count as she had ruled over his father.
She now came to be known — in spite of her little
stature — as Madame la Grande to distinguish her from
her daughter-in-law, the new countess, who went
humbly by the name of Madame la Jeune. Bonne's son
Amadeus, who was born in 1360, was called the " Red
70
Ripaille
Count," because in some friendly combats with English
knights he had become so covered with British blood as
to merit the title named. No hint is given as to the
depth of tint he might have attained had the combats
been unfriendly.
The Red Count was involved in what Bmchet calls
" The Drama of Ripaille." This drama is a most curious
medley ; for it involves, as essential factors, a prince, a
quack doctor, a wild boar and a suspected hair- wash.
In the Forest of Lonnes, which lies between Thonon and
Allinges, there was a devil-possessed wild boar which,
by the violence of its disposition and the intemperance
of its actions, became a terror to the country and, in
after years, the subject of a popular romance.^ The
boar, having resisted both prayers and exorcisms, was
approached by a body of hunters under the leadership
of the Red Count. This was in the summer of 1391.
The boar was killed by one of the escort, but the count,
in the course of the hunt, was thrown against a tree
and injured in the shoulder, according to one authority,
in the leg according to another. He was taken to a
farm in the forest called La Chavanne and was later
carried to Ripaille.
It may be said, by the way, that the Forest of
Lonnes, although much reduced in size, is still a glory
of the country and that there is still a farmhouse at La
Chavanne. It is a lonely old house covered with wistaria
and made picturesque by an outside gallery of wood,
and a great grey roof in which are very quaint dormer
windows. Over one door is a quotation from Virgil and
over the other some lines from Horace. The windows
1 " Le Sanglier de la For6t de Lonnes," par J. Replat. Annccy, 1840.
71
The Lake of Geneva
have little panes of glass and are flanked by antique
sun-shutters. The house is surrounded by very old farm
buildings and shaded by three great chestnut trees. The
whole place is charming and as beautiful a picture of old
Savoy as could be imagined.
Just before the time of the accident to Amadeus a
doctor named Grandville had wormed his way into the
Court. He was a charlatan of the ripest type and a liar
of exceptional gifts. His cunning was so subtle and his
blandishments so soft that even the Lady Bonne — clever
as she was — was deceived and allowed him to prescribe
for her, but happily without ill effect.
The count, when laid up by his injury, sent for
Grandville. The smiling, insidious scoundrel came to
Ripaille and brought with him so many medicines,
ointments and electuaries that it needed two packhorses
to carry them. Bruchet gives a list of these preparations,
the very perusal of which is enough to promote an illness
in the imaginative. Now when Grandville reached
Ripaille and stepped, like a dancing master, into the
sick room, unctuously rubbing his hands, the count made
no complaint about his injury, but expressed his alarm
at certain symptoms of old age that had beset him, viz.
weakness, pallor and baldness. The count was then
only thirty-one.
Grandville — with his sleeves tucked up — set to work
on the bald head as the most tangible of the symptoms.
He started with a wash which not only caused great
pain to the prince, but burnt the hands of the barber
who applied it. Not a hair responded. He then shaved
the head in order that the next wash might penetrate
to what are known to the laity as " the pores." This
72
Ripaille
wash smelt so horribly that both the patient and the
barber had to hold their noses. Then came three other
washes of varying degrees of offensiveness. Still there
was no sign of a single hair. 'J'hen the expert rubbed
the scalp with such vigour that it became red " comme
ensanglante.'' Still no hair. Finally a very hot plaster
was applied, to be worn four days and to be followed by
other plasters and other washes. Still no hair ventured
to show itself, although one would have thought that
the treatment could produce a growth of hair on the
head of a statue.
In addition to the local treatment Grandville gave
the count medicines and pills. The pills were very large
and black and horrible to the taste. However, the count
took them. He only rebelled when he was offered a
draught of " Extract of Unicorn," because his friends
considered that preparations made from that animal were
apt to be unreliable and too dangerous to be employed
on a reigning prince.
The poor count, who had swallowed enough medicine
to start a dispensary, became weaker and weaker; until,
towards the end of October, it was evident that he was
dying. Grandville was dismissed and the regular Court
physicians called in. They declared that Amadeus had
been poisoned by the quack ; while certain courtiers were
quick to add that the assassination was prompted by a
noble named Othon de Grandson of Aubonne, who was
hostile to the prince. Amid the hideous hubbub that
followed, amid the clamour of charges and counter-
charges, of venomous hints and bold lying, Amadeus, the
Red Count, passed out of the world. The date of his
death was November 2, 1391.
73
The Lake of Geneva
The party with the loudest voice declared that the
prince had been poisoned, while the partisans of Grand-
son and indirectly of Grandville asserted that he had
died of the effects of the accident at the boar hunt.
From the ample documents furnished by M. Bruchet
I am disposed to think that the death of the count was
due to neither of these caiises, but rather to a certain
blood disorder prevalent at that age.
Grandville fled, was arrested but escaped, and was
again captured. He died comfortably in prison in 1395.
Grandson was imprisoned in the Castle of Chillon, and
although subsequently released, his estates of Aubonne
and of Coppet were confiscated. He was killed in a
duel in 1397. Poor Bonne — the lady of the dovecot
and the hair plaits, was — although quite innocent —
involved in the poHtical troubles that followed her son's
death, and was obliged to leave Savoy. She died in
exile in the year 1402.
Amadeus VIII, who succeeded his father, the Red
Count, was a man of learning w^ho was deeply devoted
to religion. He entirely altered the aspect and character
of Ripaille. In 1410 he established there a priory and
chapel to St. Maurice and then set to work to build a
castle for himself with fitting fortifications. Bonne's
disorderly collection of buildings was swept away, all but
her *' great tower by the old gate." In the course of
his building he added other round towers, making seven
in all, constructed a deep moat, erected a drawbridge
and laid out the great courtyard. This work he seems
to have completed in 1434, in which year he founded at
Bipaille the Order of St. Maurice. The first tower to
the right of the entrance into the courtyard was reserved
74
mi
%"*
m-
mjr--
"3, , :
^ < '.•.. • . • • •
n
■4k''' .'«•••
1^
f^' .."-■■■'
•|A'.
Ripaille
for the doyen of the knights of St. Maurice. It was
later known as the Tower of Pope Fehx, for in 1439
Amadeus was elected Pope under the title of Felix V.
This tower still stands.
Amadeus resigned the papacy and abdicated as duke
in 1449,^ was made Bishop of Geneva, and died in that
city in 1451. He was buried at Ripaille. When the
Bernese invaded Chablais in 1536 Ripaille was taken,
the monastery was scattered, the tomb of the duke was
broken up and the church turned into a stable. Later
" a gentleman of Evian " collected the duke's bones
and, taking them to Turin, deposited them, in 1576, in
the Cathedral of St. Jean.
In 1589, when the Swiss again invaded Chablais,
Thonon capitulated without a struggle, but Ripaille,
with its garrison of 600 men, resisted. After a siege
of only 48 hours the castle was taken, was looted with
great thoroughness and was then set on fire. It burned
for two days and was almost wholly destroyed, four only
of the seven towers surviving. These four towers remain
to this day. Later, when Ripaille once more came into
the possession of Savoy, a Carthusian monastery was
established here and appropriate buildings erected
upon the site of the old ruins. In 1762 a church was
added to the monastery. Ripaille remained with the
Carthusians until the French Revolution in 1793, when
the monastery was broken up and the buildings allowed
to decay. In 1809 the chateau was purchased by Pierre
Louis Dupas, the famous French general. He was a
native of Evian — having been born in a house opposite
the church — and lived at Ripaille until his death in
1 He was the first count to assume the title of Duke of Savoy.
75
The Lake of Geneva
1823.^ It remained in the family of Dupas until 1892,
when it passed into the possession of the father of the
present owners.
A picture of Ripaille as it appeared in 1866 is given
in Wey's volume of lithographs.^ It shows a mass of
houses of various periods and of quite humble pretence.
In the centre is the church of 1762, an ungainly building
with a facade of pilasters in grey marble surmounted
by the cross of Savoy. The four towers are to be seen,
but the main building is entirely without interest or
architectural character.
Thanks to the kindness of M. Paravicini I had an
opportunity of seeing the chateau of to-day. It is a
new building, sumptuously constructed and adorned, and
is, with little doubt, the finest of the various chateaux
that have been erected on this site. Certain it is that
Ripaille has never stood in the midst of so glorious a
garden. The four ancient towers of Amadeus, with
their machicolations and their pointed roofs, are incor-
porated in the modern building. The church of 1762
has been pulled down. The moat has been turned into a
rose garden and the great courtyard thrown open as it
was in old days. Traces of the three towers that com-
pleted the total of seven are still visible, as are also some
fragments of the ancient walls together with certain
stone entries.
On the other side of the courtyard is the old
monastery, a low building consisting of a central block
and two wings. It is covered by a fine wide-stretching
roof and evidently has been but little altered. It dates
1 " G^neraux Savoyards," par A. Anthonioz. Geneva, 1912.
* " La Haute Savoie," par Francis Wey. Paris, 1866.
76
Ripaille
from the end of the 16th century. In the outer wall,
and at about three feet from the ground, certain cow-
horns project at intervals from the masonry. They are
supposed to have been worked in among the stones by
the monks to keep off the devil, and, although they are
now much decayed, they are no doubt still as efficient
as they have ever been. There are some fine stone door-
ways in the monastery and some handsome old windows.
The ancient corridors and the monks' cells are still
retained.
The most charming feature of this building, however,
is the monks' kitchen. It has been left untouched and
is as solemn and as full of shadows as a great cave. The
vaulted roof is black with the smoke of centuries. The
enormous fireplace still parades the hook, the chain and
the mighty pot which were essential parts of the Gar-
gantuan cuisine of the time. The uncouth implements
for preparing food by the hundredweight would make a
modern dyspeptic shudder. On the walls hang mighty
ladles and tongs and forks that would lift a carcass.
The bins for flour, the tubs, the tankards for wine, the
cruse for oil, the bellows, the meat-hooks, the heaps of
logs and the font-like trough for the water suggest the
kitchen of a giant and his himgry family ; while the
massive stone floor would bear the weight of a traction
engine or of a cook of that tonnage.
The kitchen stands triumphantly for surfeit and
plenty, for the mighty appetite and the fat of the land.
What a picture it conjures up of the roaring supper
table and the rows of burly figures on the benches, the
heavy jowl and the tireless jaw, the slobbering mouth
and the heaving Falstaffian paunch !
77
XI
TWO LEGENDS OF RIPAILLE
IN the park of Ripaille and by the water's edge is
the Tour du Noyer. Being visible from the passing
steamer and being of peculiar appearance it excites
the interest of the lake-side tourist. It is an old round
tower of two stories covered with ivy. The windows and
the door are square. It was probably once a watch-
tower as well as a pharos to guide ships round the cape.
The tower is roofless, and the curious feature about it
is that a great walnut tree grows from its interior and,
mounting high above its summit, shades it like an
umbrella. To this unusual circumstance the tower owes
its name.
The Legend of the Nut Tower is as follows. A boat-
man was rowing a stranger across the Lake to Ripaille.
The stranger — a very silent man — had with him a box
which it was plain to see contained treasure. The boat-
man very naturally threw his fare into the Lake and
drowned him. He landed chuckling on the beach and
carried the box into the tower, where, after gloating
over its contents for a while, he disposed himself to
sleep. He was awakened from his dream of showers of
gold by no less a person than the Devil.
The Devil informed him, as he sat shivering on the
ground, that he himself was the stranger with the box
78
RIPAILLE : THE NUT TOW ER
Two Legends ot Ripaille
and that he had adopted this disguise in order to
encourage the dehghtful crime of murder. He further
informed his late boating companion that he proposed
to kill him and to bury him in the tower and that from
his wretched body would grow a walnut tree as from
a seed. The boatman, who was no gardener, expressed
little interest in this novel method of tree-culture and
remained unconcerned when the Devil added a further
botanical fact to the effect that for one hour once a
year the nuts on the tree would be changed to diamonds.
It is a matter of regret with local speculators that no
one has as yet hit upon the exact hour when the
jewellery is in bloom. My visit to the tower was
equally ill-timed, for I certainly missed the advantageous
moment.
Before the Devil proceeded to operate upon the
boatman, who was dodging about in the tower like a
rat in a pit, he became facetious and indulged in a
pleasing pun upon the words noyer and noye, which
humour, no doubt, the boatman was too worried to
enjoy.
In the courtyard of the chateau and opposite to the
Tower of Felix V was a spot where, in winter, the snow
was apt to collect and to linger after the rest of the
yard had ceased to be white. It was a son of General
Dupas who was especially impressed by the phenomenon
which he had frequently noticed. There was a tradition
that a well existed at this spot and that into it a young
monk, who had committed a hideous crime, had been
thrown alive. It was believed that on this account the
snow was reluctant to melt, so that, once now and
then, a pall of white might be laid o\er the body of the
79
The Lake of Geneva
unhappy man. There was evidence that a well existed
in the courtyard in 1434. Excavations were made in
1903, and at the spot where the snow had always tarried
the relics of a well were discovered. Among the mass
of earth and stones and other debris that filled it was
found the skeleton of a young man so disposed as to
suggest that the body had been thrown headlong into
the pit.
By the side of the bones were a pocket knife of a
very ancient type, a chaplet of beads and, as a pendant
to the same, a tiny human skull in ivory — a me^nento
mori. These are precisely such things as are likely to
be found in the pocket of a monk. I have seen these
relics and cannot rid my mind of the belief that there
is some truth in the tale they appear to tell.
8c
— B —
FROM THE DRANSE TO THE RHONE
8i
XII
A DESERTED SPA
THE most picturesque and most impressive part of
the Lake shore is that which Ues between the
River Dranse and the Rhone. After the Dranse
and its melancholy flat are passed the coastline becomes
gradually higher and higher, forming a huge green bank
some nine miles long which, before it ends, attains at
Thollon to no less than 1,800 feet above the level of the
Lake. Looked at from below this heaving slope is like
the back of a great green wave as it would appear to a
swimmer in the trough behind it. It seems as if, at its
summit, it must be curling over to break at the foot of
the mountains which are still some miles away. These
mountains are dominated by the grey peak of Dent
d'Oche, which, until the summer comes, is covered with
snow.
The bank is brilliant with every shade of green, from
the holly-green of the thicket of firs to the lettuce-green
of the rising corn, a bank of meadows and woods, of
cherry orchards and of chestnut groves, with, here and
there, a hamlet with its pointed spire and, here and
there, a white-walled villa, a garden of many colours,
or the brown roofs of an ancient farm. About Thollon,
83
The Lake of Geneva
above Meillerie, the bank and the mountains meet, and
from Meillerie eastwards the shore of the Lake is one
gigantic precipice, cleft, more than once, from summit
to foot by a fierce ravine and, in the rest of its length,
a rampart half pine-forest and half cliff. At the end
of the Lake it forms a flank of that stupendous portal
through which the Rhone sweeps out into the open.
The first place met with, after the Dranse is crossed,
is the village of Amphion. It is a shy, old-fashioned
hamlet lying curled up at the foot of a hill. It is some
w'ay from the shore and the hustling high road. Since
that road was made and since the steamers came Amphion
would appear to have drawn a cloak over its head and
to have dropped out of the scheme of things. It is a
sun-browned place with an unassuming prettiness of its
own and has probably changed but little during the last
two hundred years. By the pier and at some distance
from the old village is the modern Amphion, where are
the cafe, the restaurant and the postcard shop wdthout
which the tourist would find the world a place devoid
of purpose.
About a mile from Amphion along the Evian road
is a spring. It is not easy to find and, when found, is
not difficult to forget, and yet there was a time when
its w^aters were the most famous in Savoy, a time when
the Spa of Amphion was the resort of the ' ' smart set ' '
of the day and of all who (w^ell or ill) wished to be
regarded as people of quality. This was long before the
waters of Evian were discovered. Now the Amphion
spring is about three miles from Thonon and one and
a half miles from Evian, and as there w^as no accommo-
dation for visitors at Amphion village those who would
84
A Deserted Spa
take the waters had to stay at one or other of the towns
named. Evian being the nearer was the better patronized.
It was in the 18th century that the spa at Amphion
reached the summit of its glory. It was then imperative
that all those who claimed to be " in society " should
repair once a year to Amphion. The Amphion spring
is chalybeate, and its medicinal value depends — as does
the value of other spa waters — largely upon the faith
of the visitor, the dictates of fashion and the docility
of the doctor.
A very curious little book was written in 1697 on
the subject of the Amphion spring.^ It is a cheerful,
chatty and discursive work enlivened with verses. It
professes to give an analysis of the water and a report
as to its healing powers ; but it wanders off into a history
of Chablais from the days of the Romans and an account
of Evian from its very infancy. The analysis is not
profound and is, indeed, almost pathetic in its innocence.
It was accomplished by dropping powdered oak-apples
into the water and noting the change of colour and in
emphasizing the fact that the addition of certain potent
chemicals caused no ^^ fermentation/^
From the physician's report it appears that the
spring had a wide range of usefulness. It could purify
the blood — whatever that may mean — it could cure boils
and asthma, sciatica and sleeplessness, gout and goitre,
as well as tremhlements and herezipere. It also seems
to have been a remedy for laziness. For example, le
sieur Pomel of Evian, who for twenty years could not go
out of the town except on a horse, regained the use of
his feet after drinking the water for fifteen days. Then,
1 " Mercure Acatique," par Pcre Bernard, Gardien d'Evian, 1697.
85
The Lake of Geneva
again, a lady of Margensel who had long been unable to
go to church managed to walk there after eighteen days
of water drinking. Her case was evidently a little more
obstinate than that of sieur Pomel. Some of the cures
were very quick. Thus Michel Bassay, who had been
blind for five years, recovered his sight in fifteen days. A
woman of Divonne, aged 30, who had been paralysed
for nearly eighteen years, in all but her tongue and her
arms, was able to walk in the regulation fortnight. A
little undue, and possibly unkind, emphasis is laid upon
the fact that her tongue was never paralysed during this
trying illness.
Amphion spa in the season was a place of great
activity and display and was thronged by a gaily-dressed
and pleasure-seeking company. There was a regular
service of public vehicles from Thonon, on the one side,
and from Evian on the other. Crowds came in private
carriages ; a great number in boats, while those who
considered a walk of a mile and a half to be part of the
" cure " gave animation to the Evian road with their
bright frocks and many-tinted parasols and their lively
chatter. The pump-room was by the beach. It was a low
building with a colonnade of white pillars. On the Lake
side was a terrace and on the land side a lawn. There
now stands in its place a modern hotel with the facade
of which, however, the old white colonnade is blended.
An ancient print shows the spa as it was in the days
of its triumph. The garden is buzzing with men and
women dressed in the latest fashion of the time. They
walk to and fro, simper and bow, take off their hats,
kiss finger tips, spread themselves upon benches or gossip
together in groups, snuff-box in hand. In the road is
86
AMPHION
AMPHION : THE DESERTED SPA
A Deserted Spa
a crowd of carriages and coaches, of cabriolets and gigs,
together with a lounging company of coachmen and foot-
men, of postilions and maids. For colour and vivacity
it may be a parade in Bath, in the days of Beau Nash.
The spa is now without honour even in its own
country. An obscure lane, overgrown with weeds, slinks
down to the water's edge. There, under the shadow of
a great chestnut tree, are the once famous spring and
its pavilion. The pavilion is a small octagonal building
of red brick and plaster with eight round arches. It has
a pointed roof covered with gold-green moss. Within
two streams of water from metal pipes drop, with a
pretty tinkle, into a stone basin. Thence the water
overflows on to the ground and, escaping by the door-
way, runs down to the beach, staining the pebbles as
it goes with the tint of rust.
On the wall over the spring are inscribed these words
— Aquse Mese Prosunt Homnihus Infirmis Omnium
Nationum.^ It will be noticed that the initial letters
spell the word " Amphion." The pavilion was built by
Victor Amadeus II, he whose history is recorded in
Chapter xv.
The poor little pavilion, forgotten by the world, is
a picture of utter desolation and neglect. But for the
babble of its waters, which has never ceased, night or
day, for over two hundred years, it is as still as an empty
chapel, and yet there was a time when there fluttered
around it a throng as brightly coloured as a cloud of
butterflies and when white arms and jewelled hands
would be thrust through its arches to receive a cup of
the water that was to cure all ills.
1 My waters are for the good ol the sick of all nations.
87
XJII
EVIAN
EVIAN is one of the most popular towns on the
Lake. It is a pretty place, quiet and old-
fashioned ; its waters and baths have a high
repute ; its hotels are among the best in France, and its
summer climate is perfect. Its position on the Lake
makes it a convenient centre for visitors, while among
its greatest attractions is the enchanting country with
which it is surrounded.
Evian is small and has been little spoiled by its
popularity, which it accepts with composure. It consists
of one narrow main street, sundry lanes and a market
square. By the Lake promenade are the Etablissement
des Bains and the Casino, while behind the town on
the slope of the hill are the great hotels and the fashion-
able villas. Here is a simple old country town with a
rustic market-place, where butter and eggs are sold,
surrounded by very advanced buildings of great magnifi-
cence, and here is a High Street where the limousine
from Paris, with its liveried servants, is held up by a
primitive wagon drawn by two oxen and guided by
a man of the 17th century. The association is as
anomalous as would be the picture of a peasant in
homespun, with a rake on his shoulder, sitting in a
salon surrounded by a gorgeously apparelled company.
88
Evian
Evian is a " season place," and in the height of the
summer is crowded, is agreeably restless and very smart.
The Rue Nationale becomes then a miniature Bond
Street, for there are shops from Paris and Aix and Nice
to dazzle the eye. As the pavement is so narrow that
it will only admit of one person at a time, the haigneurs
walk in the road. Beneath the avenue of clipped plane
trees which shade the promenade there is always a
rustling company, bright with all the colours of the
setting sun.
When the season is over Evian becomes once again
a drowsy, self-absorbed provincial town. The High
Street may be absolutely deserted from end to end.
The hotels are closed and the brilliant shops are shuttered
up. The steamboats cease to call, while the cabs, the
motors, the charabancs and the pleasure boats vanish as
if by the stroke of a magician. The place becomes
suddenly empty, suddenly quiet, like a ballroom awed
by a sudden death. There is nothing to recall the gala
days but the flaming posters still hot on the walls, while
down the desolate High Street a yoke of oxen can
lounge with an air of contemptuous boredom.
Evian is a venerable town, for it figures in the
mediaeval wars and, even before those days, there was
some kind of Roman settlement in the place. Its history
is neither distinctive nor particularly interesting, since
it differs so little from that of other ancient towns of its
kind. It was periodically besieged. It was periodically
pillaged. It was on occasion burnt down and on occasion
decimated by the plague. It received benefactions from
this gracious lady or that great lord, was visited by
princes and witnessed in its streets, from time to time,
89
The Lake of Geneva
scenes of riot and brawling when the people, pouring
out of the taverns, clamoured for more liberty or the
redress of wrong. If particular names and dates are
supplied a historj' such as this would provide the salient
features in the story of a long series of ancient
tow^ns.^
In its j^oung days Evian must have been very
picturesque. It was surrounded by a wall and a moat
and was entered by five gates. In the circuit of the wall
were twehe towers, very lofty and defiant. There were
two churches, two great convents and a chateau. A
stream. La Gruz, ran through the centre of the town,
dividing it into two parts and incidentally turning a mill-
wheel on its way. To the wTst of the stream was the
parish or hourg of St. Mary, with its church still stand-
ing ; while to the east was the hourg of La Touviere, with
its church of St. Catherine. This church, which stood
on the spot now occupied by the Buvette Cachat, was
dismantled in the Re\olution and later fell into ruins. ^
The walls and fortifications were built by Amadeus V
in 1322. The chief tow'ers belonged to certain strong-
holds. The more ancient of these was the castle of
Peter of Savoy, built in 1237. It had four towers, and
occupied the site of the present Hotel de France on the
south side of the main street. It is described in old
books as the Chateau du Souverain and is depicted as
being in a more or less ruinous condition. The second
castle — known as the Gribaldi Chateau — was built in
^ A History of the Town by Noble Francois Prevost, written in 1G23, and
reproduced in Tome v. of the " Memoires de I'Academie Chablaisienne," 1891 ;
also " Les Archives d'Evlan avant 1790," par C. A. Bouchet.
* " Au Pays Eviannals," par Alexis Bachellerie. Evian, 1909.
90
Evian
1569, and stood where is now the modern Hotel de
Ville.i
Of the encircHng wall and its five gates no trace
remains ; but of the round towers four are still to be
seen. They have lost in stature and in dignity, have
ceased to be menacing or martial and have become
tamely domesticated as parts of modest dwellings. The
guard-room has possibly become a fowl-house and the
turret of the sentry a bedroom for a child. Two stand
timidly behind the Hotel de Ville, another is hidden by
the Hotel de France, while a fourth, very shrunken by
the weight of years, clings to the spot where was once
the Thonon Gate. Here, like a blind halberdier, it
seems to be still watching the western road.
The two convents — much modernized — occupy their
ancient sites. The Convent of St. Claire, on the west,
is close to the parish church ; while that of the Corde-
liers (now the Pensionnat St. Joseph) is on the east of
the town, where its ancient walled garden confronts the
Tourists' Office and the holiday-makers' pier.
The church of St. Mary is the predominant feature
of Evian and its most distinguished building. It dates
from the 13th and 14th centuries. The tower is mag-
nificent, being unusually lofty and of great size. It has
huge belfry windows with round arches, and is sur-
mounted by a balustrade and a glittering steeple which
was erected in 1793 in place of an older structure which
had been destroyed. At the foot of the tower is an
early Gothic window. Compared to the tower, the
church is mean. It has a nave and two aisles, the vaulted
> " Historic Studies in Vaud, Berne, and Savoy," by Meredltli Read. Vol. 2,
page 7. London, 1897.
91
The Lake of Geneva
roofs of which are very cunningly painted to represent
carved stone. By the side of the chancel is the little
Chapel of Notre-Dame de Graces. Above its altar are
figures of the Virgin and Child canned in wood and
brightly painted. The work bears the date 1493. Both
figures are nearly life size and, although a little archaic,
are very charming. It will be noticed that the infant
Christ holds in His hand a bird with a black head.
This carving has a curious history. Louise, daughter
of Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, married Hiigues de
Chalons, the last Lord of Orbe. Being left a widow
at the age of 30, she entered the convent of the Clarisses
at Orbe.^ Her novitiate ended in Jvme, 1493. To
commemorate that event she presented to the convent
the figure of the Madonna above described. The small
bird with the black head, held in the hand of the infant
Christ, represents herself. She died in 1503. In 1554
the nuns were driven from Orbe and sought refuge at
Evian. They carried the figure of the Madonna with
them. They set sail from Ouchy on March 20th, 1555,
in favourable weather. Midway across the Lake they
were overtaken by a storm and the ship was nearly lost.
To lighten the vessel some of the cargo was thrown
overboard, and among the articles cast away in the
confusion was the sacred image. The nuns landed safely
at Evian as the sun died down.
That same day, in the evening, a fisherman of
Meillerie noticed a shining object on the lake. He
approached it and saw to his amazement the face of the
Madonna — very vivid and very lifelike — appearing above
1 Orbe is in Vaud, between Lausanne and the Lake of Neuchatel. The convent
is now an inn.
92
EVIAN
EVIAN: ONE OF THE TOWERS
Evian
the surface of the deep. Around the face was a halo
of gold over which the water rippled. What appeared
in the dim light to be a miraculous vision proved to be
the figure from the convent at Orbe. It was recovered
and restored to the nuns, who, in gratitude for their
deliverance, gave it to the church at Evian, in the little
chapel of which it has remained for, now, over 300
years.^
The chateau at Evian, generally spoken of as the
de Blonay Castle, occupied the site upon which the
present Casino stands. It appears in a print of 1725 as
a square block of uninteresting and featureless buildings
with a fine garden reaching down to the edge of the
Lake.'' It was originally the Castle of Grillie which in
1474 belonged to the Bonivards, of which family the
Prisoner of Chillon was a member. In 1565 it was sold
to Jacques Dunant, and finally came to the de Blonay s
in 1676.^ The de Blonays occupied the chateau for 200
years until 1878, when it became the property of the
town of Evian under the will of Ennemond de Blonay,
the last of this branch of the family. It was pulled down
and the Casino built in its place.
There was another chateau at Evian, the Chateau
de Fonbonne. It w^as founded in the 14th century by
Amadeus V and was, for a time, an occasional residence
of the Counts of Savoy. It became later the house of
Baron de Montfaucon and, in turn, of other nobles.
Towards the end of the 16th century it was more or less
completely destroyed by the Bernese and the French.
1 " Notre-Dame de Graces." Anon. Evian, 1893.
» "Groot Stedeboek van Piemont en van Savoye." The Hague, 1725.
' Read, op, cit., Vol. 2, page 7.
93
The Lake of Geneva
It appears in old drawings as a large massive house with
a tower, enclosed within high walls. The present build-
ing is modern and has been converted into an hotel.
Conspicuous in Evian as in other Lake towns is the
Jardin Anglais. It is a little thicket of trees by the
water's edge intersected by paths. Why this pleasant
spot is called " the English Garden " is unknown, for
certainly no garden in England could possibly have
inspired it. Indeed, if introduced into England it
would assuredly be called " the Foreign Garden " on
account of its unfamiliar appearance.
The now far-famed waters of Evian were discovered
in 1790, and within a few years — as was inevitable — the
town became a spa and changed its name from Evian to
Evian les Bains. The acquiring of this title and dignity
was attended by some loss of charm; for Evian, the
cheery, Lake-side town, where people thronged to take
the waters of Amphion, became gravely altered when it
had waters of its own. Before the springs were disco\'ered
it w^as as rural and as artless a place as Coppet. It had
neither harbour nor pier. Those who came by boat
landed on the beach. There was no promenade with
its stiff row of trees like a file of drilled men. Gardens
came down to the water's edge. From the garden
steps women could dip their buckets in the Lake and
over the wall the boys could fish. There were then still
traces of the fortifications and the gates and even of
the moat. The de Blonay chateau stood by the church,
while in the High Street were many old buildings, none
the less picturesque because they were lapsing into ruin.
Now scarcely an ancient house remains. One, how-
ever, is to be noted in the Rue de I'Eghse (No. 1). It
94
Evian
was the town house of some noble family. The entry
has a shouldered arch, and it and the large mullioned
windows speak regretfully of better days. There is a
fine, masterful-looking old house on the south side of
the main street near the site of the Thonon Gate.
As it is shown in old prints, so — with but little change
— does it appear now. This was the great inn, the
Cheval Blanc, which was, no doubt, a bustling place
during the Amphion season. According to Read the
inn was the scene of a quarrel that, just before the
French Revolution, caused much stir in the town. It
concerned a Dunant (one of the family who once owned
the Chateau of Evian) and a physician. The physician,
forgetful of the suave manners of his profession, kicked
his slipper into the face of the gentleman named. This
very marked expression of contempt led to a duel, which
was fought out at the back of the inn, in a place called
" behind the moat." Dunant was killed, and the
practitioner, who had so suddenly exchanged the lancet
for the sword, was compelled to flee, for there was an
impression abroad that he had provoked the duel in order
that he might kill Dunant.
As to the aspect of the natives of Evian there have
been curious differences of opinion. Shelley, writing in
1816,^ remarks " the appearance of the inhabitants of
Evian is more wretched, diseased and poor than I ever
recollect to have seen " ; whereas Wey, writing in 18(56,
speaks of the beauty of the young women of Evian and
the charm of their little round bonnets. It is possible
that when Shelley landed he met the inmates of the
1 " Plistory of a Six Weeks' Tour." London, 1817.
' " La Haute Savoie," par Tiancis Wey. Paris, 1866,
95
The Lake of Geneva
hospital taking the air as a measure of treatment, and
mistook them for the normal inhabitants, since ruddier
and more stalwart folk than the people of Evian could
not well be found. As for the little round bonnets, I
am afraid they have gone, and possibly the pretty faces
have faded with them. Now and then one meets with
an aged woman wearing one of these coquettish round
caps, and it would be kindly to assume that fifty-five
years ago, when Wey visited Evian, the wrinkled face
was one of those he thought so comely.
c;6
XIV
THE FETE-DIEU
THE people of Evian are to be seen at their best
on the occasion of the Fete-Dieu, which is held
on the Sunday after Corpus Christi, that is to say
about the beginning of June. The whole street is then
lined on either side with young fir trees, which would be
Christmas trees to English eyes. They give to the road
the aspect of a way through a wood. On the pavement
in front of every house are masses of flowers, and it is
to be noted that they are wild flowers. Some are in
baskets, some in pots, some are in untidy bundles just
as the children picked them. Here and there the
threshold is strewn with flower petals. Here and there
a little table, covered with a white cloth, is placed before
the house, and on it stands a vase of wild flowers ; or,
failing a table, there will be a chair. Even the poorest
cottage makes some display, if only it be a bunch of
gentian in a jam-pot or in a tin covered with white
paper. There are no tawdry artificial decorations.
Young trees from the mountain-side and blossoms from
the meadow alone grace the Fete-Dieu.
At either end of the town — in the market-place, on
the one hand, and beyond the convent on the other —
an elaborate altar is erected. A religious procession is
formed which visits in turn the two altars. In the main
H 97
The Lake of Geneva
street, through which the procession moves, certain
religious groups are posed to represent Scripture charac-
ters. The tableaux are arranged and the holy people
are personified by the humbler folk of the town. The
realization of each character is founded upon some
famihar picture or statue in a church and is carried out
with pious simplicity. The people themselves make the
garments and fashion the accessories, the haloes, the
wings, the w^igs, the beards and the different sacred
emblems.
In the Fete-Dieu of 1921 the tableaux w^ere as
follows. In a space before a cafe, made available by
clearing away the round tables and the chairs, w^as a
group composed of the Virgin Mary, Christ, St. Peter,
John the Baptist and other saints. It was quite impres-
sive because it was so natural. The Madonna was a very
pretty, sad-faced woman who made an adorable figure
and was regarded by the passers-by with a reverence
that dispelled mere curiosity. St. Peter, with his key,
lost some dignity by nodding to his friends in the street.
He had, moreover, a jovial face which no subtlety could
make serious. John the Baptist, on the other hand, was
a convincing figure. He really looked as if he cried in
the wilderness and as if " his meat was locusts and wild
honey," for he w^as so very lean. The baby in the
cradle w^as not a success. He would put his toes in his
mouth, and when rebuked became violent. He was
bribed to be quiet by a gift of flowers; but he hurled
them from him with what, in a grown-up man, would
have been, without doubt, regrettable language.
Another group, by the corner of a lane, was com-
posed of women at a well. A third group in the street
98
EVIAN CHURCH
The Fate-Dieu
was made up of angels in blue. They were on a rough
pedestal covered with brown paper to resemble rock.
They were young girls, and they formed an exceedingly
effective picture. The angel on the summit of the rock
had been drilled to keep her hands crossed over her chest
and her eyes turned to heaven. The hands remained
unmoved, but when the schoolgirls came by in the pro-
cession the eyes faltered and drooped gently to the
street, for I am sure that the school was her school.
At the foot of this group of angels was a number
of very tiny cherubim with bare arms and legs and with
a great scarcity of clothing. They had little wings which
would not have lifted a kitten, and they held aloft
flowers in their very chubby hands. After a while, how-
ever, the hands dropped and the flowers were forgotten.
Some sat down, some clung to the robes of grown-up
angels, while one curled herself up, to the damage of
her wings, and putting her thumb in her mouth com-
posed herself to rest. Before the procession came by
the parts they had to play had left their thoughts, and
the tableau — so far as they were concerned — consisted
of a number of half-naked cherubim tumbling about on
the ground in drowsy disorder.
As a religious display the Fete-Dieu at Evian is
most impressive. It is carried out with solemnity and
reverence. It is evidently an expression of frank and
genuine devotion and is, above all, made admirable by
its simplicity, for it is a pageant of the rehgion of a
child.
99
XV
VICTOR AMyS.DEUS II AND EVIAN
ON a certain May morning in 1684 the village of
Les Echelles was the scene of a sudden and
breathless excitement. A very distinguished
company had arrived by the Lyons road and had drawn
up, with much commotion, at the inn. It was a large
party of lords and ladies, all gorgeously dressed and
attended by a retinue of servants of no ordinary type.
It was a curious party, inasmuch as the most important
person in the cavalcade was a small girl of fifteen, who
was the object of great attention. The villagers crowded
round the inn to get a peep at her. She was a vivacious
little maid with a smiling face and roguish eyes. Her
head was a mass of curls held in place by bands of silver
beads. Her dress was that of a woman of thirty, for
her gown was long enough to hide her feet, while the
stomacher, stiff and heavily embroidered, reached to a
point below her waist. ^
The arrival of travellers was no uncommon thing,
because the town was not only on the high road between
Paris and Chambery, but it stood on the frontier that
divided the two great states of France and Savoy.
The party that had so fluttered the town took break-
fast in an upper room of the inn, the windows of which
* " The Romance of Savoy," by the Marchesa Vitelleschi 2 Vols. London,
1905.
100
Victor Amadeus II and iEvmn
looked out upon the street. As it was the month of
May there is httle doubt that the windows were thrown
open. The meal had not been long in progress when
the sound of drums and fifes was heard in the direction
of the Chambery road. The crowd before the inn became
excited and commenced to cheer and to wave their caps.
The little lady at the head of the table immediately
jumped up, in spite of the anxious protests of her friends,
and rushed to the window. She saw coming down the
street a young man of eighteen, superbly clad and very
pleasant to look upon. He was riding at the head of
a gallant company of archers and musketeers whose
tramp could be heard above the rattle of the drums.
The little lady scanned the young man very intently,
and then, heedless of the upraised hands and horrified
looks of all at the table, rushed out of the room and
down the stairs into the street, where she leaped into
the arms of the gorgeous lad, who had just then halted
at the tavern door.
The lords and ladies, looking down from the windows,
were shocked and scandalized by this spectacle, but the
crowd approved of it, for they raised a shout that made
the horses rear, and that shout they repeated with greater
fervour when the youth lifted the lady to his saddle and
kissed her.
The boy and girl were husband and wife. They had
been married three weeks, but they had never met before
nor had they even seen one another; for they had been
married by proxy. The youth was Victor Amadeus,
Duke of Savoy; the girl was Anna Maria, the grand-
daughter of Charles the First of England.
It had been arranged that the meeting of the two
lOI
The Lake of Geneva
at the frontier should be conducted with elaborate
etiquette. 'Indeed the ceremony of the meeting had
been rehearsed over and over again ; but when the
moment came little Anna Maria with the curly head
could not restrain her curiosity, for she must see what
her husband was like, and when she saw him she could
not restrain the impulse of her heart, for she felt she
must kiss him. And so the courtly ceremonial that had
been so laboriously planned came to nothing ; for no
spectacle can be less ceremonious than that of a girl
jumping into the arms of a becoming youth.
After the necessary presentations had been made the
bride and bridegroom, with their suite, started for
Chambery. The duchess was carried in a Sedan chair
as the road was rough, while the duke rode by her side.
Now and again the restless lady would get out of the
chair, and then the two would walk together, talking
shyly with many pauses, or would linger behind to pick
flowers while the cavalcade moved on.
When they reached Chambery it was almost dark,
but the streets were crowded and ablaze with the waving
light of a hundred torches; ^olleys of guns were fired
from the castle, while there was not a window that was
not illuminated and fluttering with flags. The boy and
girl made their way through a cheering mob of loyal
folk to Sainte Chapelle to receive the archbishop's bless-
ing. After the Benediction the two walked alone to
the gate of the palace, he leading her by the hand.
To realize to its full the importance of the new
duchess it is necessary to mention that when Queen
Anne died, in 1714, Lord Mar assured the Government
of Savoy that if any vmtoward event haippened to the
102
Victor Amadeus II and Evian
Chevalier de St. Georges the Stuart party and the
troops under their command had received orders to
proclaim Anna Maria Queen of England.^
The duke and duchess became somewhat intimately
associated with Evian, for the family often repaired there
in order to take the waters of Amphion. During their
visits they resided at the Chateau de Blonay in Evian,
near by the church of St. Mary. It was in the church
of St. Mary that Victor Amadeus became involved in
the dramatic scene that marked his meeting with the
emotional Madame de Warens, as is detailed in Chapter
XXXII, and it was with Evian that the closing tragedy
of his own eventful life was concerned (page 104). It
>vas he, too, who built the pavilion over the spring at
Amphion and made that little spa, for a while, the most
fashionable in Savoy and incidentally filled Evian with
persons of quality (page 87).
Anna Maria proved herself to be — in the course of
years — a very admirable woman, wise, amiable and above
reproach, a perfect wife as well as a noble and dignified
princess. She died in 1728.
After her death the House of Savoy, that she had
so gallantly helped to maintain, fell for the moment
into grave disorder. The duke, although only sixty-two,
had become a prematurely old man, feeble in health and
worn out by the hardships of his many campaigns. lie
fell an easy prey to a certain scheming countess who was
resolved to become the Duchess of Savoy. The two
were secretly married in the duke's study at Turin in
the presence only of a clerk and a valet. This was two
years after the death of Anna Maria.
^ " Marchesa Vitelleschi," op. cit. "^
103
The Lake of Geneva
A month after his second marriage the duke abdicated
in favour of his only son Charles Emmanuel. He took
this step without the knowledge of his ambitious and
masterful wife. He had a longing to return to Cham-
bery, and to Chambery he went for the second time
as a bridegroom. He arrived just after dusk, as in the
happy year when he came as a lad, and went direct to
Sainte Chapelle, precisely as he had done forty-six years
before. But there was now no cheering crowd in the
street, no flare of torches, no salvoes of artillery and,
most poignant of all, no bride to lead by the hand. He
came alone ; no one met him ; no one knew of his return ;
he made his way to the chapel through deserted streets ;
he entered and prayed alone, and alone he walked from
the chapel to the palace gate. He was acting over again
the sunniest moment of his life, but it was under a
cloud of brooding tragedy and assumed the form of a
self-tormenting penance.
The final act of the drama opened at Evian. The
new duke, Charles Emmanuel, had gone there to take
the .waters. While at Evian he was made aware of the
astounding news that his father, under the influence of
his pernicious wife, had revoked his act of abdication
and was on his way to Turin to resume the throne. The
young duke left Evian as the panting messenger finished
his tale and went post haste to Turin. His father and
he arrived there within a few hours of one another. The
turmoil, the confusion, the angry interviews, the plots
and counter-plots that followed may be imagined.
In the end — and the end was sad enough — the ill-
advised Charles Emmanuel gave the order for his father's
arrest, and the feeble, shattered old duke was pulled
104
Victor Amadeus II and Evian
from his bed at two in the morning and carried by force
to Rivoh, where he was kept a close prisoner. Here he
died some twelve months later, just forty-eight years
after the meeting with the little duchess on that
wonderful morning at Les Echelles.
The second wife — the scheming lady who dragged a
helpless man to ruin to serve her own ends — lived in
comfort to the age of ninety.
105
XVI
THE REAL COUNTRY
TO the dweller in towns there is a distinction
between the country and the "real country."
With the indiscriminate country he is prepared
to be, in some way, satisfied, simply because it is not
the town; but when the weariness of the city is heavy
upon him it is for the real country that he longs. It
means to him a quiet place, green and dappled with the
sun, that is far behind the battle line of life with its
clamour of arms and its crush of men. It means a
return, in spirit at least, to the pastoral age of the w^orld
where, in the place of the factory with its trail of smoke,
are the uplands and the sheep.
It needs but little to arouse this longing for the natural
and the unspoiled. It may be a glimpse of blue sky
above the trench-like walls of the street, or a bunch of
primroses in a flower-seller's basket, or so primitive a
figure as a man with a scythe in a public park.
The country for some twenty miles round a great
city like London brings little contentment. It is con-
taminated by the herding of men and the trample of
their restless feet. Highways traverse it in unfeeling
lines ; the villages have lost their simplicity and have
become pinchbeck towns; the hedges are emaciated and
grey with dust ; the common is as bare as a w^orn-out
1 06
o
a:
o
en
<
z
o
The Real Country
carpet, and shreds of advertisements hang, like bits of
skin, from the meadow fence.
Go further afield, even travel for a day, and the real
country is still hard to find. There are open downs, it
is true, wide heaths, footpaths by the cliff, leafy lanes
and the banks of streams, but the traces of man and his
doings are not readily escaped, for even in the remotest
glen the paper bag and broken bottle of the picnic party
will be come upon.
It is but Httle exaggeration to say that there is no
" real country " in England. Tramp from the great
centre until you come to the sea and the country is still
suburban. The land is trim. It has lost its naivete and
has become artificial. It is parcelled out like a surveyor's
plan, ruled and lined like an allotment garden. The
heart of the country is shut away and is guarded as
shrewdly as the cloister of a nun. On all sides there are
hedges and railings and barbed wire. Everything is
enclosed in a pen. The orchard can be seen over a wall
bristling with broken glass, while the wood is railed about
and proclaims upon every side that the trespasser will
be prosecuted. In England, indeed, the way of the
trespasser is hard.
In Savoy, on the other hand, the real country is to
be found, and nowhere more generously than by the
south shores of the Lake. There, at least, it is not far
to seek, for it comes, in all its artlessness, to the very
walls of the town. The country itself is luxuriant. It
is a land " flowing with milk and honey." It is, more-
over, beautiful in its landscape, in its valleys and hills,
its vast woods, its slopes green with trees, its river
gorges and its flower-bedecked meadows.
I or
The Lake of Geneva
Around Evian it is possibly at its best. Here is the
heart of the country open and making welcome. There
are no hedges, no gates, no fences. The stranger may
wander where he will. There are highways and mule
tracks, but the common means of going to and fro is
by the footpath, a footpath as narrow as an Indian
trail. It leads through clover fields and fields of corn,
through vineyards and through meadows knee-deep in
grass. It makes its way unhindered across the apple
orchard and the cherry grove, for there is no coniining
wall. The blossoms drop on the head of the passer-by,
the apples fall at his feet.
The path leads through gardens with as much assur-
ance as if the garden were one's own. It traverses a
wood where, by many devious ways, it may wander for
miles. It passes through the farmyard and among all
its intimate medley of homely things, by the water
trough made from the trunk of a tree, the stack of
winter wood, the plough, the wine barrels, the lantern
hanging from a nail, the stepping-stones across the
brook. The house itself is one of the joys of the open
path. It will be of brown wood covered often by
clematis or wistaria. Under the great eaves runs a long
gallery made bright by a few scarlet geraniums and
reached by an outside stair. Beneath are the cow-house,
the pen for fowls and the shed where hang the yokes for
the oxen, the haymakers' tools, the scythes, the baskets
for the grapes.
He who follows the path will see, as the year moves
on, every phase of the life of the country, and see it with
a freedom and intimacy that he shares with the country-
man himself. He will see the ploughing of the land
io8
The Real Country
with oxen, the haymaking, the cherry and the apple
harvest, the gathering of the chestnuts, the making of
the cyder, the grape harvest and the pruning of the
vine. This open-heartedness of the country, this ad-
mission of the stranger into its famihar Ufe, is readily
explained. The land is possessed by small proprietors
who represent as fine, honest and industrious a people
as the world can boast of. There are no flocks and herds
to be penned in fields. The little company of sheep is
in charge of a languid boy who follows them about all
day, whistling as he goes. The cow is conducted to its
pasture by an aged woman or a girl who will knit as
she shuffles along with the cow-rope round her arm. Of
the man-hating bull that may make the open field a
place of terror there is no evidence.
Since there are no cattle to confine and since the
orchard-robber is unknown, hedges and fences are not
needed. The wood is free for all to wander in because
game preserving and its inevitable restraints are not
observed in this corner of France. More than this, a
respect for the fields and for the bounty of the land is
almost a religion with these simple folk. It is, indeed,
an idyllic country but httle removed from that imagined
land where shepherds played upon their pipes, where
fauns and dryads gambolled in the glen and where it
was a fitting thing "to sport with Amaryllis in the
shade."
The country is a paradise for birds, and I have hap-
pened upon no place where more singing birds are to be
heard than around Evian. It is unusual to meet in a
vast city-like hotel with people who mildly grumble that
their sleep has been disturbed by nightingales, but such
109
The Lake of Geneva
are to be met with here. In a small untidy museum at
Thonon is a collection of the birds that are to be found
on or about the Lake. The collection is astonishing and
claims to be complete. While it includes birds common
to Great Britain it embraces many that are not seen in
that island.
The glory of the flowers along the shores of the Lake
adds another enchantment to the country. Before the
hay is cut there is as brilliant a display of colour as will
be found in any Alpine meadow. There are fields purple
with meadow sage, yellow with the glorious globe-flower,
pink with sainfoin or blue with campanulas. There are
slopes of nodding columbines and banks so covered with
the small gentian as to seem to be enamelled with lapis
lazuli. Anemones of all tints, forget-me-nots in huge
masses, the mountain flax, the rock rose, the pansy, the
wild straw^berry and the w^ood geranium are among the
common flowers to be found in this delectable wild
garden. There are, besides, so many blossoms which are
unfamiliar that the idler may be busy, if only he will
ramble about wdth curiosity in his mind and a copy of
Hulme in his pocket.^
Lovers of Alpine flowers will understand the desire
that moved the closing moments in the life of Edmond
Boissier, the famous botanist. As he lay dying he was
asked if there was anything he wished. "Yes," he
said, " there is one thing I wish, to hold in my hand for
the last time a sprig of Alpine campanula." So it came
about that, as the shadows deepened and the world grew
dark, there stood clear before his eyes, in the last speck
of light that lingered, the lone figure of the bell-flower.
1 " Familiar Swiss Flowers." By F. E. Hulme. London, 1908.
no
XVII
now MARIE AIMEE MET SEVEN ANGELS IN THE
GUISE OF MENDICANTS
IN the kindly countiy that Hes between Evian and
St. Paul there is a little shy lane which seems to
beckon the stranger to follow^ it. It leads, by
enticing ways, to the border of a wood, to a lonely place
disturbed only by the songs of birds and the babble of
a stream. In this solitude will be found a small white
shrine enclosed by a railing. On the surface of a stone
panel, below a figure of the Virgin, are engraved these
lines :
" Here Marie Aimee de Blonay
Met Seven Angels m tlie guise of Mendicants.''^
There is nothing more ; no date, no emblem, no sign
that can add even a hint to the simple statement. Those
who come upon this shrine will be lost in conjecture, for
the little oratory is assuredly modern ; while the de
Blonays are the great family of the neighbourhood and
the woodland traversed is in their domain.^ The stranger
may wonder as he will, and yet any toddling child in the
countryside can tell the story of Marie Aimee ; while
the elder folk will recall the fact that before the oratoire
was built the spot was marked by a cross that had
crumbled into dust because it was so very old.
> The shrine was built in 1896. " Neuvecelle," par Edmond Rollin. Evian;
1910.
Ill
The Lake of Geneva
One of the de Blonay castles stood in the village of
St. Paul. Here Marie Aimee was born in December,
1590.^ She was called Aimee after Victor Amadeus I,
the then Duke of Savoy. Her father, the count, was a
deeply religious man and Marie followed in his footsteps.
She was educated at the Convent of St. Catherine at
Annecy, where she received instruction from St. Francis
de Sales and where she remained until she was eighteen
years of age. She then returned to St. Paul and began
to devote her life to religious works, to prayer and to the
care of the poor and the unhappy.
On a certain fair morning in May — it will be now
over 300 years ago — she was walking in this very glade
with her companion. At the spot on the road where
the shrine now stands she met seven poor men toiling up
through the wood. They were young but in lamentable
plight. They were ill and worn, wasted and in rags.
Three of them limped along painfully for they bore dire
wounds. Their wallets were empty and their faces drawn
by the pinch of hunger. They humbly begged alms of
the ladies. Marie at once took the leader by the hand
and, with tears in her eyes, invited him and his comrades
to come with her to the castle. It was a toilsome way,
since St. Paul w^as distant some two miles and every step
of the path was steep. Still it was the month of May
when the cowslips are still ablaze, when the wood sparkles
with anemones and when, as the road ascends, bank after
bank is blue with gentian. At St. Paul she fed them
and clothed them, dressed their wounds ^vith her own
hands, comforted them and brought a gleam of con-
tent into their weary eyes. As her father was away
^ She died in 1649, and was buried in the vault of the church at St. Paul.
112
MARIE AIMEE'S SHRINE
How Marie Aimee Met Seven Angels
she found tlicni lodgings in the village and left them
there to sleep.
On the following morning they came up to the
castle to take their leave. This parting between the
girl chatelaine of St. Paul and the seven travel-worn men
must have afforded an impressive picture. For a back-
ground was the wall of the great keep rising from the
shadows of the moat. In the vault of the gateway, under
the beams and chains of the drawbridge, stood the little
lady with clasped hands and with the sun full upon her.
Before her ranged the seven men so that their shadows
reached her feet. The song of a bird in a tree pink with
blossom alone broke the silence of the place.
One of the seven stepped forward to thank the lady
for her charity and for the sympathy she had shown them.
He spoke in the voice of one who was of noble birth.
He begged her to devote her heart to the Seven Spirits
who stand before the Throne of the Lamb, and added,
** They will ever bear you in remembrance and will ever
bless you and keep you and give you peace."
As he spoke a change passed over the faces of the
seven. The haggard features became beautiful and a
smile of infinite tenderness spread across the pallid lips.
The uncouth cap changed to a halo of gold, the poor,
tattered garments became pendent robes, bright as the
moon, while the wallets on their shoulders were trans-
formed into cloud-white wings.
Marie de Blonay, trembling with ecstasy, knelt on the
ground in the gateway and buried her face in her hands.
When she raised her eyes again to the sky the heavenly
visitors had vanished.
"3
XVIII
THE CASTLE OF ST. PAUL
ST. PAUL stands on the hillside over Evian, on a
ridge which is 1,500 feet above the level of the
Lake. From the shore it appears to be on the
sky line, for the higher ground beyond is cut off from
view. It is a place of great age and of still greater
dignity, since it was for centuries a stronghold of the
de Blonay family. Much of the history of this part of
Savoy centres around St. Paul and its ancient castle.
The place is now little more than a hamlet, happy in
the superb view it commands of the mountains on the
one side and of the Lake on the other. It is a scattered
settlement, very vague in its arrangement, since it has
no definite street nor the formal attributes of a con-
scientious village. It consists merely of houses dotted
about at wide intervals among hayfields and cherry
orchards. In the place of any plan there is only a
pleasant sense of irresponsibility and of doing as you
please, for the houses seem to be wandering about like
self-absorbed sheep in a pasture.
On an isolated green mound stands the church almost
hidden by trees. I was told that it was at the end of
the village, but the village has neither beginning nor
end, nor would one venture to say whether the church
was in the village or without it. It is not a beautiful
114
The Castle of St. Paul
church, for, although quite venerable, it has been restored
and rebuilt at unlovely periods. It boasts an immense
square tower which can be seen for miles, or even from
the other side of the Lake. The building has been
plastered within and without, and has the plain square
windows of a goods shed.
On the outer wall of the church, on its north side
and close to the tower, is a wide pointed archway sealed
with masonry. Along the edge of the arch a pretty
pattern has been painted, while the wall on either side
of the blocked entry shows traces of ancient fresco.
This is the entrance to the de Blonay vault, where
members of the family have been buried for many
centuries. Here lie the early counts and barons of
Blonay. Here rests that Marie Aimee de Blonay who
met seven angels in the garb of mendicants, and from
this vault escaped that lady of St; Paul who was buried
alive, as is recounted presently. Near to the church is
a convent and a fine old greyheaded preshytere.
The castle stood below^ the church and to the north
of it. It occupied a commanding position, being built
on the brink of the almost precipitous slope which drops,
like a curtain, from St. Paul to the w^ater's edge. It
was constructed by Aymon de Blonay in 1233, or
possibly earlier, was restored in 1665, and was allowed,
soon after that date, to fall into decay. ^ It consisted, as
the old drawings ^ show, of a great square building with
a round tower in the centre. This structure stood upon
a platform surrounded by a low battlemented wall, and
at each of its four corners was a little square towxr with
1 " Haute Savoie," par A. Raverat. Lyons, 1872.
* " Groot Stedeboek van Piemont en van Savoye." The Hague, 1725.
The Lake of Geneva
a conical roof. The entrance to the castle looked towards
the church. It can still be defined. From the eminence
on which the chateau stands it is said that no fewer than
seven of the dc Blonay castles could be seen, including
the famous chateau above Vevey.
Of the actual stronghold but little remains, for a
company of cherry trees have taken possession of the
place and grass has covered it as with a carpet. There
are still in view the great fosse or ditch, the base of a
central round tower, masses of half-buried masonry and,
on the east, a part of the enceinte wall with deep-cut
battlements. At the edge of the plateau is a little square
tow^er, ^\dth a round-arched window, very pitiable to see ;
for it is the last upstanding fragment of the proud old
house and the last of the four small towers already
named.
One day, towards the end of the 17th century,
Claudine, the young wife of the then Baron de Blonay,
had been buried in the family vault under the church of
St. Paul. On the night of her burial the half-demented
husband was sitting alone in the hall of the castle,
crushed with despair and in utter misery. His supper
stood on the table untouched, his face was hidden in
his hands, his whole frame shook with his sobbing.
There came a faint knock at the door. He jumped up
whispering to himself, "My God! It was just in that
w^ay she alwaj'^s tapped." As he turned the door opened,
and his wife, clad in a shroud, staggered into the room
and fell into his arms.
She had been in a trance that mimicked death and,
seemingly lifeless, had been carried to the church and
laid in the vault. The bricking-up of the vault was not
ii6
The Castle of St. Paul
complete or possibly not commenced. When night fell
a servant had crept into the entry for the purpose of
stealing a certain ring from the lady's finger. He found
her cold hand folded over a crucifix, seized it, and
attempted to remove the ring. But the ring would not
yield, so he drew out his knife and cut the finger off.
The pain of this savage woimd woke the sleeper from
her trance. With a gasp of horror she realized where
she was, felt her way out of the awful place, and with
unsteady steps stumbled down the path to the castle.
It would have been a fearsome sight — if any chanced to
see — the Lady of Blonay, in a shroud dabbled with blood,
walking with bare feet to the very castle she had that
morning left as a corpse.
The lady recovered and lived to have several children.
One of her sons was that Baron Louis de Blonay who
was equerry to Victor Amadeus II and who was present
with that prince when Madame de Warens made so
dramatic a scene in the church at Evian, as is detailed
in Chapter xxxii. Both he and his mother are interred
in the vault at St. Paul.
117
XIX
THE GREAT STONE AND THE HAUNTED LAKE
CLOSE to St. Paul are two objects which, in the
estimation of the people of the country, are of
more than local interest. They are the Great
Stone and the Haunted Lake. The Great Stone stands
by the side of the mule-path which mounts up from
Evian to St. Paul. It takes the form of an enormous
and very forbidding block of stone, smooth and almost
black, which stands by itself in a field. It is surrounded
by cherry trees and has implanted on its summit a lofty
wooden cross. Geologically it is what is known as an
"erratic."
The cross has been placed on the stone to avert
further trouble, for the story of the Pierregrosse is as
follows.^ In the spring of 1273 there were great festivi-
ties in progress at the Castle of Larringes to celebrate
the marriage of Jordane de Lucinges, the daughter of
the house. After the bride and bridegroom had
departed certain of the guests sat down to play at
cards. They were — to be exact — the host, the Lord of
Lucinges, the Marquis of AUinges-Coudree, the Baron
Amed de Blonay and M. de Billens, chatelain at Evian
for the Count of Savoy. They played for three days and
three nights without stopping. Candles were lit when
1 " Au Pays Eviannais," par Alexis Bachellerie, Evian, 1909,
ii8
The Great Stone and the Haunted Lake
the sun set and shutters were thrown open when the
dawn broke. Food and drink were kept on the table,
and these noble persons, blinking through alternating
phases of drunkenness and sobriety, continued to play
for the immoderate period above stated.
Amed de Blonay lost and lost. He lost until his
pockets were empty and until he had played away the
beautiful chestnut grove of Allaman, the Forest of
Lajoux, 10,000 cherry trees at Lugrin, the vines above
Maraiche and a hunting-box outside Vevey. Several
times during this protracted game his equerry had ridden
over from St. Paul to beg his master to return, as
the Lady de Blonay was immediately expecting her
confinement and very anxious for her husband to
come back.
On the evening of the third day Amed de Blonay,
having had enough of card-playing, started to ride home.
The night was dark ; an appropriate thunderstorm was
raging and he rode at a gallop. When near to St. Paul
his horse stumbled and nearly threw him. "May the
Devil come and take you! " hissed the count, who, at
that moment, was aware of a black-clad figure by his
side. " Yes," said the stranger to the astonished Amed,
*' I have come. I am Satan and no other. I can give
you back all you have lost and more and make you
besides the richest lord in the land if . . ." "If what? "
asked the count eagerly. " If you will bring me at
dawn, at this spot, the first creature born in your
chateau after your return." "Agreed!" said the
gambler.
When he reached the castle the child had not yet
seen the light. Amed, sunk deep in his chair, sat in the
119
The Lake of Geneva
great hall waiting with an air of the deepest gloom. The
bailiff entered to report to his lord such domestic events
as had happened in his absence. The count paid little
heed to this chatter, remaining sullen and silent ; but
on the mention of one occurrence he suddenly brightened,
slapped his thigh and broke out into a roar of derisive
laughter. The bailiff, having finished his report, with-
drew in amazement, and scarcely had he left when the
birth of the j^oung de Blonay was announced.
Just before sunrise the count left the castle carrying
under his cloak a bundle containing something soft. He
reached the appointed place and saw, silhouetted against
the faint light of the dawn, the black figure of the Devil,
and by his side an enormous block of gold so bright as
to be almost luminous. " Have you carried out our
compact. Sir Count? " asked the Devil. " I have. Sir
Satan," replied de Blonay, " and I hope you will like
it." At the same moment he let loose from his cloak
a newly-born pig. The Devil stamped and raged with
fury. The little pig slunk back to the castle. The
count smiled and placed his hand on the boulder of gold
with an air of ownership. Whereupon the Devil, aiming
a kick at the passing pig, struck the mass with his fist,
with the result that the yellow glow faded from it and
the great block changed into mere dull stone.
Here the story ends. The conclusion was not satis-
factory to either party. The Devil vanished ; the count,
in reflective mood, followed the pig to the castle, and
the rock remains as it appears to-day. To prevent a
repetition of such unholy bargaining the pious folk of
St. Paul erected a cross on the summit of the stone.
It is a childish narrative, but the people who evolved it
120
THE GREAT STONE
DENT D'OCHE
•I > • V ar »
The Great Stone and the Haunted Lake
are child-like and are apt to express their imagination
in terms of the farmyard.
About 1^ miles beyond St. Paul, in the direction of
Bernex, is a place called La Gotetta, where is a calvaire
with a modern chapel and the Stations of the Cross.
The place is favoured by tourists on account of the
imposing view it affords of the Dent d'Oche and of the
valley w^hich lies at its feet. Within sight of the chapel
are two little lakes in a wood which are famous for their
water lilies, their crayfish and their ablettes. The larger
of these ponds, called La Beunaz, was at one time
haunted by a dwarf of very high principles. He is said
to have been just two feet in height, but in erudition
he was a giant.
A farmer living near the lake had had great mis-
fortunes and had, indeed, fallen upon such evil days
that he had resolved to drown himself. He approached
the lake for this purpose, deposited his hat and coat on
the bank, together with the few sous in his pocket, and
placed on the heap the customary letter to his wife. As
he stepped back a pace or two to take the final leap, a
voice from the pool called out "Don't do it ! " The
farmer recognized the voice as that of the dwarf. The
dwarf then proceeded to give the farmer advice as to the
care of his land and furnished him with what would be
called " tips " in farm management. The farmer resolved
to postpone his suicide and to try the reforms suggested ;
so he picked up his coat and hat, threw the letter into
the lake and walked home.
So successful were the dwarf's proposals that the
farm flourished and there followed very promptly a period
of great good fortune. As Christmas drew near, the
121
The Lake of Geneva
farmer's wife — a kiudly soul — felt that some recognition
of the dwarf's good services should be attempted. So
she made him a little suit of clothes, a jacket, a pair of
very small breeches, some doll-like stockings and two tiny
morocco shoes. The present was even more incongruous
than Christmas presents usually are, since it was designed
for a being who lived at the bottom of a lake.
Still, at Christmas Eve these pathetically ridiculous
garments were spread, with fond care, by the water's
edge, and the farmer, not to be behind his wife in
generosity, stuffed some gold coins into the pocket of
the absurd breeches. Next morning husband and wife
went dow^n smiling to the lake to see what had become
of their egregious present. They were horrified to find
the clothes torn into rags and the coins scattered along
the bank ; while a reproving voice rose from the deep,
uttering these words: "Do good for good's sake and
not for recompense." With this cutting rebuff ringing
in their ears the two sorry imitators of Santa Claus crept
home, with downcast heads and a few ridiculous rags in
their hands.
122
XX
THE HOLLY OF THE TALKING CATS
BELOW St. Paul and towards the foot of the slope
are three other castles (viz. those of Blonay,
Allaman and Maxilly) which belong, or have
belonged, to the famous family of de Blonay. The most
important of these historically is the Chateau de Blonay,
which stands near to the water's edge and is a conspicuous
object to all who pass by on the Lake. This castle is
believed to be the oldest of the de Blonay possessions and
to be, indeed, the cradle of the race. It carries the mind
back far, since Meredith Read states that ' ' the house of
de Blonay has maintained an uninterrupted male descent
to the present day for nearly a thousand years." ^
The chateau is at Tour Ronde, between Evian and
Meillerie. It dates from the 11th century when it formed
a primitive lake-side fortress. Later it is depicted in old
prints as a mediaeval stronghold within high walls, with
a central keep supported by lofty towers and surrounded
by a moat. The chateau has been rebuilt in recent years
in a style without either character or charm. It is now
merely a large ambitious house \\dth a faint pretence to
be feudal. Two old towers remain, but with facings so
modern that they could be compared to a couple of
harquebusiers in frock coats. There are still a moat with
^ " Historic Studies in Vaud," etc., vol. i., page 469. London, 1897.
123
The Lake of Geneva
a bridge over it and some curious windows fashioned like
keyholes.
By the roadside is a little chapel to St. Andrew. It
marks the spot \vhere Antoine de Beaufort, governor of
the Castle of Chillon, landed in 1536 when he fled to
avoid capture by the Bernese who had attacked his castle
and had wrested it from the hands of Savoy. It marks
also another landing which took place on the same day
under conditions suspicious of exaggeration. One of the
de Blonays was at Chillon when the castle fell. Being
loj^al to Savoy and determined to escape the hated Swiss,
he mounted his horse and in full armour swam across the
Lake to Tour Ronde, a distance of over eleven miles.
To dispel any doubt as to this performance the natives
point to an iron spring by the chapel as a proof that de
Blonay did swim the Lake as affirmed, for in struggling
ashore the horse, it appears, lost a shoe against a rock
and from the rock gushed forth a spring of iron water
which is running to this day. The chapel — the walls of
which are very old — is, in fact, built on a mass of
rock by the water's edge, and it is curious that the iron
spring issues through an aperture from the solid, un-
fissured stone.
The Chateau d'Allaman lies behind Blonay, higher
up the hill among the orchards. It is a large, rambling
building which has suffered much from restorations and
additions of various dates. It still presents, however, in
the patchwork mass the old stolid " strong house," square
and plain, with a round, ivy-covered tower by its side.
A lithograph of about the year 1845 shows the castle as
it w'as before the wings were added. It was then dilapi-
dated, it is true, and although surrounded by all the
124
MAXILLY CASTLE
The Holly of the Talking Gats
squalor of a farmyard had yet a dignity which is now a
little lacking.^
The Castle of Maxilly stands in ruins near by the
village of Maxilly. On the fringe of the domain is the
bois de Bedford, a fine wood of chestnut trees, named
after the Duke of Bedford as a souvenir of the fetes
champetres given by him when he occupied the Chateau
de Fonbonne at Evian while taking the Amphion waters.
The position of the castle is romantic in the extreme, for
its gaunt, grey walls rise from the brink of a deep ravine
whose sides are dark with trees and in whose depths winds
a stream that ever mutters mysteriously. This ravine is
full of suspicious shadows, even at high noon ; while at
night, when an owl sails hooting down the cleft, it must
be a place of dread.
The ruins are encompassed about by brushwood and
almost hidden by trees. Such walls as remain are very
high, are pierced by windows which, before the wood
grew up, looked out upon the Lake and by doors which
once opened into rooms but now into nothingness. In
the best preserved part of the castle is the hall, in which
is the great fireplace. The hearth is no less than 15 feet
in width and is spanned by an arch, on the central stone
of which is carved the de Blonay arms. Many a jovial
company must have gathered round this fireplace with
the glow of the burning logs on their faces ; and sad
must have been the day when the fire died out among
the ashes for the last time. From the hall a stone stair
leads up to a fragment of a room in which is a handsome
cheminee decorated with plaster work, as well as with
1 " Chateaux, Manoirs et Monast^res des Environs de Geneve," par J. Lanz.
Geneva.
125
The Lake of Geneva
paintings of birds and of a figure claimed to be that of
Bacchus.^
The main gate of the castle still stands in the form
of a fine rounded arch, which opens into the courtyard
by the great hall. Just outside the gate is the Holly
of the Talking Cats. It is an immense tree, the trunk
of .which is said to be 6 feet in girth and the height
attained to be 40 feet. Whatever may be its exact
dimensions, it is the largest holly tree I have chanced
to meet with.
The legend of The Talking Cats is a little elusive.
Francis Wey in his great work ^ says that he found the
legend so complicated and tangled that he failed to make
anything out of it after reading it no fewer than four
times. I have gone a step further and have perused
some four or five separate versions of the legend. They
all vary ; but out of the melange it is possible to extract
a composite narrative with the following features.
Maxilly came into the possession of the de Blonay
family by marriage in the 13th century. The Lady
Alix of Maxilly, who is concerned in the story, had two
lovers, Raoul de Blonay and Robert d'Arbigny. One
was virtuous, the other was not. It became evident, in
course of time, that the lady's heart inclined towards
de Blonay and that it was at his voice her face ever
brightened. Robert d'Arbigny, on observing this
preference, became filled with rage and foamed at the
mouth. Maddened by jealousy, he resolved to rid the
earth of his rival. He w^as disincUned to attempt this
1 A sketch of the old chateau is given in " Groot Stedeboek van Piemont en
van Savoye." Tome ii. The Hague, 1725.
* " La Haute Savoie," par Francis Wey. Paris, 1866.
126
The Holly of the Talking Cats
himself because, in the first place, he was afraid of
Raoul and, secondly, he doubted if he would commend
himself to the lady when he appeared in the guise of a
murderer.
Now, some miles west of Maxilly is a place called
Feternes, where was a grotto occupied by three fairies.
They were not good fairies, but were, on the contrary,
conspicuously offensive both in their persons and in their
habits. In the grotto they kept treasure. They also
kept cats. These were not ordinary cats that sleep curled
up on hearthrugs ; but were animals terrible of aspect,
being very large, with claws as big as scythes and with
eyes that almost blinded those who gazed upon them.
These lavishly endowed creatures were charged with
guarding the treasure, and it was these very super-cats
that Robert engaged to compass the death of Raoul.
The animals were apparently ordered to attack de
Blonay as he was about to enter the Castle of Maxilly.
They, indeed, flew upon him just outside the gate, at
the very spot where the holly tree now grows. The
fight w^as terrific and the noise made by the beasts ear-
piercing, since cats are very shrill when fighting. Raoul's
doublet was torn by the fearful claws ; but he not only
kept the cats at bay, but finally drove them before him
with his flashing sword. As the cats retreated they
called out " Robert is dead."
After the hideous combat was over de Blonay entered
the castle. There, sitting in the great hall, was the lady
shrivelled with terror and with her two hands clutching
her hair. On her lap was a white cat. When the cat
saw de Blonay it cried out " Robert is dead," and,
having delivered itself of this information, jumped
127
The Lake of Geneva
through the window, as cats will. Later on the dead
body of Robert was found by the postern.
Here the narrative comes to a sudden end. In order
to complete the story and to pro\'ide an appropriate
moral, I would venture to suggest that the cats mis-
took Robert for Raoul, and so unwittingly brought
retribution upon the wicked and upon the virtuous
peace.
Now, since this knowledge came to me, whenever I
meet a white cat in a lonely place and when the cat
stops and begins to open its mouth, I am always afraid
that it will squeal out, " Robert is dead."
128
XXI
THE ABBEY OF ABONDANCE
HIGH up among the hills over Evian, at an
altitude of 3,050 feet, is a valley called the
Valley of Abondance. The valley is deep and
very green and so rich in pasture that its name befits
it well. A stream of water, clear as crystal, runs through
the valley, while by its side is a long white road which
leads from this solitude to the outer world. The sides
of the valley are steep and are made almost black by
a crowd of pine trees which stand erect on the slopes,
like a dark, impassive company of monks with pointed
cowls looking down upon their old abbey by the stream.
The village of Abondance is small, comfortable and
very ancient. Its houses, with their brown overhanging
roofs and long balconies, are most picturesque, while
across the river is thrown a fascinating wooden bridge
roofed over with mouse-grey shingles and covered in on
both sides to protect it from the snow. Its timbers are
ashen with age ; it is dark as a cavern ; while the echoes
that issue from it when an ox-wagon lumbers through,
or when a troop of boys clatters down from the school,
almost drown the ceaseless clamour of the brook.
The church and the monastery are a little way up
the hill-side, and command both the village and its
bridge. The origin of the monastery is obscure. The
legend that it was founded by St. Colomban in the
J 129
The Lake of Geneva
6th century appears to be unsupported by evidence.^
What is undoubted is that in the 10th century the
monks of the monastery of St. Maurice-en-Valais were so
harassed by the Saracens that they sought refuge in the
far away Valley of Abondance. Here, on land granted
by Guy of Feternes, they founded in 1043 a priory and,
later, an abbey. The first abbot was one Rodolphe, who
was supreme between the years 1144-1153.^
The village itself was already long established, having
had its origin as a small colony planted by the Bur-
gundians in the 5th or 6th century. As the valley was
difficult of access and far removed from any masterful
highway, it remained isolated and undisturbed — so
isolated, indeed, as to justify the claim that the natives
of Abondance are Burgundians still ; for those who are
learned in these things affirm that the villagers even now
present the features and characteristics of that ancient
people. Their exceptional stature, their blue eyes, fine
complexion and fair hair are the points insisted on. It
is claimed, moreover, that the cattle of the valley are
peculiar and have traits which are especially their own.
As time went on this remote offshoot from Burgundy
became a sturdy place, very independent and sure of
itself ; for, while principalities and powers were hectoring
in the world around, Abondance constituted itself a kind
of republic and remained aloof as probably the tiniest
independent state of its time. The abbey became a great
ecclesiastical power. It extended its confines, acquired
wealth and lands, so that at one time it held jurisdiction
1 " L'Abbaye et la Valine d' Abondance," par J. Mercier. Annecy, 1885.
2 " Abondance," par L. E. Picard. " M^moires et Documents de TAcaddmie
Chablaisienne." Tome xviii. Thonon, 1904.
130
ABONDANCE: THE CLOISTERS
ABONDANCE: THE DOOR OF THE VIRGIN
The Abbey of Abondance
over no fewer than 18 parishes and 22 priories. The
abbey and the repubUc were not always at peace with
one another. There were troubles, but possibly not a
few of them were settled between the abbot and the
Burgundian president over a mug of mulled claret in the
abbot's very comfortable parlour. After a period of
great glory the abbey fell into decay, became involved
at the end in the Revolution of 1792, and was sold as
national property a few years later.
The church, which is one of the most beautiful in
Savoy, dates from at least the 13th century. It has been
damaged more than once by fire and has suffered hardly
less from neglect. Its quaint, effeminate steeple is but
200 years old, while its entry is still more recent, for the
building was finally restored in 1894. As an example of
its period it is now classed as a national monument. It
consists of a nave and two transepts, and is very lofty
throughout. Its simplicity, its elegance and its fine
proportions are the chief attributes of the building. The
vault of the choir is ogival. The columns are round and
have primitive and curious capitals. As a whole it well
illustrates the transition from the rounded to the pointed
arch. In the arcades of the choir are certain painted
statues on wood, which form the only jarring feature in
this otherwise exquisite chapel.
The abbot's chair, accredited to the 14th and 15th
centuries, is a beautiful specimen of wood-carving. It
is surmounted by a Gothic canopy on which are little
figures of the Apostles. These are claimed to be the
work of the 15th century. A more archaic carving
(ascribed to a century earlier) is on the right side of the
chair. It represents three angels singing and holding a
131
The Lake of Geneva
book between them. They are evidently earnest and
full of song and are yet unreasonably ugly. They have
the mouths of negroes, or, as a French writer prefers,
the mouths of frogs. The carving on the left side of the
chair depicts a scene in hell. The 15th century stalls
display much interesting detail, notably in the heads of
men and women showing the garb of the time.
The monastery is represented by a vast expressionless
building close to the church. It is the survivor of various
fires, that of 1728 having been the most disastrous. It
is now put to many purposes, is a w^andering, miscel-
laneous structure, une sorte de phalanstere as one .writer
expresses it. It is, in the first place, the mairie of
Abondance. It contains both the boys' and the girls'
schools, provides, along its echoing corridors, a residence
for the clergy and for other less definite people, while
its fine refectory has been converted into a justice room.
The entrance opens upon a vaulted hall with, in the
centre, a single column. On one side of the hall is a
large stone trough or lavaho, while on the other side
are the outlines of an ample fireplace. This was the
chauffoir, where the monks warmed themselves after the
offices of the night or early morning.
A gorgeous valley full of flowers, an ancient church,
a rambling monastery, Burgundian villagers and peculiar
cows do not, howTver, exhaust the attractions of Abon-
dance.
The great glory of the valley is the abbey cloister. It
adjoins the church, w^as almost ruined in the fire of 1728,
but has now^ been sympathetically restored. It forms a
square and had originally four galleries or corridors, but
that on the north side is now wanting. The cloister,
132
The Abbey of Abondance
maimed as it is, still remains a structure of supreme
beauty. It seems to be shut off from the world, for
above its walls there is only the blue of heaven. In the
centre, as a patch of green, is a square lawn. It is
enclosed by a grey colonnade of Gothic arches, delicate
and dainty as lace-work and as fragile looking. Within
the screen of pillars and stone tracery there runs on each
side a vaulted passage, the walls of which glow with the
colours of old frescoes.
The place is silent and deserted, save that on the
cloister roof some pigeons are preening their wings in
the sun. Never could the magic effect of light and shade
be more beautiful to see. Here the shadow of a column
and its arch falls across the paved footway, and here a
gleam of light illumines a patch of red and blue among
the paintings on the walls. The cloister is, indeed, a
place of serene delight, solemn as a strain of old church
music, beautiful as an illuminated missal, pathetic as a
memory of the dead.
The cloister was built by the Abbot Jean between
the years 1331 and 1354, and the frescoes are believed
to date from about the same period. They illustrate
scenes in the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Among
them are the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Flight into
Egypt, Christ disputing with the Doctors, and the
Marriage Feast at Cana. Deonna and Renard^ give
drawings of the frescoes before they were restored, and
it will be seen that they are in no way spoiled.
The interest of these remarkable wall-paintings is
largely due to the fact that they represent the people and
the country of the period in which they were designed.
* " L'Abbaye d' Abondance." Geneva, 1912.
133
The Lake of Geneva
There are, for example, the curious houses, a street,
glimpses of landscape and the dress of men and women
of various stations in life. In the fresco of the Feast at
Cana we see the table laid, the dishes (mostly of fowls),
the knives (but not the forks), the ewers and cups, the
salt-cellars and, generally, the table manners of the time.
It may be noticed, by the way, that the men dined in
their hats and that all, apparently, ate with their fingers.
On one side is the kitchen, with a pot hanging before
the fire and a lavish supply of hams and sausages in the
background. On the other side is a servant bringing in
the water that is to be turned into wine. In the Nativity
fresco are the stable and manger of the 14th century, a
scene which differs strangely from the gaudily decorated
cavern shown in Bethlehem at the present day. There
is also a mill which is difficult to associate with Palestine.
The key-stones of the cloister vault are decorated by
ingenious medallions showing the signs of the Zodiac
and the months of the year. At the church end of the
cloister is the famous Door of the Virgin. It presents
a shouldered arch with above it a tympanum in which
is carved the Virgin seated with the Child in her lap.
Two angels kneel before her, while two others place a
crown upon her head. On either side of the entry is
a large female statue. The one on the left represents
the Synagogue or Old Testament, the one on the right
the Church or New Law. Both are crowned, but the
figure of the Synagogue is blindfolded. Deonna and
Renard give, in the work previously mentioned, a
drawing of a more recent statue of the Synagogue at
Strasbourg in which the eyes also are blindfolded but
the head uncrowned.
134
XXII
FROM EVIAN TO BOUVERET
THE general aspect of the Lake shore between
Evian and the Rhone valley has been already
alluded to (page 83). A high road follows the
water's edge all the way. The first three villages met
with — Grande Rive, Petite Rive and Tour Ronde — are
of no particular concern, although Petite Rive may serve
as a typical example of a lake-side village, where every
man is half fisherman and half tiller of the soil. Tour
Ronde derives any importance it may possess from its
association with the Chateau de Blonay (page 123) and
its title from a round tower built here by the Counts
of Savoy for the defence of the coast. Of the tower
only the name survives, for it was destroyed in the
Revolution of 1789. In an old print by C. Hackert,
dated 1783, it appears as a low, round blockhouse with
loopholes, and is neither formidable nor picturesque.
Within a few kilometres of Tour Ronde is Meillerie,
which is dealt with in the chapter which follows, while
some two miles beyond Meillerie is Bret.
Bret is a little, cringing, begrimed hamlet placed at
the very foot of gorgeous and majestic hills, like a door-
mat at the threshold of a palace. It stands some way
above the shore, shivering in the shade, for it is only
during the rare days of summer that a ray of sun falls
upon it. How it came to pass that human beings ever
135
The Lake of Geneva
settled in this spot must remain one of the mysteries
of the Lake. The inhabitants have shown persistence in
cHnging to their homes, for in 1584 the village was swept
away by a landslip, on which occasion 122 people lost
their Hves. It is picturesque because it is so old, so dis-
ordered, so careless. It is just an untidy heap of odd
dwellings, disposed with no more method than would
ensue if the whole place — houses, lanes and courtyards —
had been tumbled out of a cart at the bottom of the
hill.
In olden days the w^ay by the Lake jvas so narrow
that it was known as the Pass of Bret. According to
Bouchet the most ancient of the archives of Evian is
concerned with the w^oods of Bret. That document,
bearing the date 1296, contains an order from Count
Amadeus forbidding the pasturage of goats in these
woods. It further appears that Count Pierre, who
preceded this Amadeus, had granted the woods of Bret
to the town of Evian as a reward for services its men
had rendered in the w^ars with the Valaisians in 1235.
St. Gingolph, viewed from a passing steamer, is,
without doubt, the most beautifully placed town on the
Lake, since it has for its background the grandest tract
of scenery that the shore provides. It is around St.
Gingolph that the mountains come nearest to the water's
edge and reach to their greatest height. At their base
lies the town, like some ornament in pearl and grey on
the hem of a drooping curtain of green.
Behind the tow-n a gorge, shrouded with trees,
descends with many mysterious windings. This is the
Vallon de Novel. The mountain to the east of it (the
Grammont) rises to a point 5,900 feet above the surface
136
From Evian to Bouveret
of the Lake, while that to the west (the Blanchard)
cUmbs to 3,400 feet. About the lower ranges of these
hills are homely trees, while above them rise, in ever-
mounting tiers, the sombre pines — until they reach a
wall of precipices slashed with snow and rounded by the
blue of heaven. The ravine is ominous, for as it turns
out of sight, far up the steep, there is a sense that it
must open into some dreadful place among the hills.
Down this gorge tumbles the torrent of the
Morge, which, hurrying headlong through the town,
falls boisterously into the Lake. The torrent and the
Vallon de Novel mark the frontier between Switzerland
and France. They divide St. Gingolph into two parts
— one Swiss, one French — with between them only the
bond of a small stone bridge. No frontier could be less
formidable nor less appropriate to the grave business of
the scrutiny of passports and the rummaging of bags.
One would expect to come upon a tower or a spiked
gate ; but in their place are only two deferential cafes.
Those who w^ould retain an impression of the beauty
of St. Gingolph should view it only from the Lake or
from Vevey across the w^ater. The nearer the town is
approached the less attractive does it become, so that by
the time its streets are entered it has dwindled to a quite
plain and ordinary place. According to the guide books
the two parts of St. Gingolph display, in strong con-
trast, the characteristics of the French on the one side
and of the Swiss on the other. This is not, however,
apparent ; for the two nations would appear, at this point,
to have "pooled" both their virtues and their failings
and to have produced thereby a town which in social tint
is merely nondescript and drab.
137
The Lake of Geneva
St. Gingolph, in the Middle Ages, is said to have
been a sober town without ambition or pretence and to
have been for long under the fatherly control of the
Abbey of Abondance. In the Swiss quarter is a little
chapel of much charm which dates from the year 1537.
In front of it is an arcade of rounded arches, supported
by pillars with capitals of a mildly classic type. Near by
are an old archway and an entry which was once the
portal of a convent. In the hall of the gendarmerie is
a door with an ogival arch bearing the date 1588. Beyond
these relics there is little of interest in either section of
the double town.
About a couple of miles from St. Gingolph is
Bouveret, The situation of Bouveret is scarcely less
beautiful than that of St. Gingolph. The town stands
on a densely wooded cape at the very opening of the
Rhone valley, and has for a background those imperious
mountains which give such grandeur to the scenery of
this extremity of the Lake.
The town itself is of no interest. Almost all traces
of the old village have vanished, for Bouveret has become
a favourite tourist resort and space has had to be found
for the cafes, restaurants, hotels, shops and pensions
that represent the price a town has to pay for popularity
of this kind.
The adventure which befell John Evelyn at Bouveret
is dealt with in Chapter xxiv.
138
XXIII
MEILLERIE AND ITS LOVE STORY
MEILLERIE is a little fishing village, brown
and sunburnt, which squats on a pebbly beach
with its feet in the water. It is old ; it is not
clean ; it is artistically untidy. Its situation is superb,
for it lies at the foot of a steep mountain-slope covered
with trees as if with velvet. Between the green of the
hill and the blue of the Lake it appears as a brown patch
edged with grey — the brown being the housetops, the
grey the beach. So narrow is the ledge between the
mountain wall and the shore that, in olden days, there
was no lake-side road at this point, but only a path for
the pack-horse.
Huge rocks came down to the water's edge in tumbled
masses at a promontory just to the east of the village.
These were the " rocks of Meillerie " made famous by
Rousseau and by the unequal efforts of many draughts-
men and painters. The rocks have disappeared. The
quarryman, who is no respecter of landscape, has carried
them away, while a wide road has taken the place of the
ancient mule-path. This road, running from Evian to
St. Gingolph, was constructed about the years 1800-6 to
supplement the great highway which was then sweeping
across the Simplon Pass.
Meillerie is divided into two parts, the old village and
139
The Lake of Geneva
the new. The new dates from the time of the building
of the road, and is made up of commonplace houses
which are ranged along the route with decorous dullness.
The older village lies below, as close to the beach as it
can creep, so that the new Meillerie looks down upon
its very roofs. It consists of one narrow, unsteady lane,
dark and not free from smell, that represents the high
street of centuries ago. The houses, with their over-
hanging roofs, their wooden balconies, their outside
stairs, their dormer windows and incongruous doors, are
effective from an artist's point of view, but would be
distasteful to a sanitary inspector. They are advanced in
years, for the dates over the doors show that they belong,
for the most part, to the commencement of the 18th
century. The fronts of the houses are in the lane ; the
backs are on the Lake, and are hung about with fishing
nets, have boats made fast to their door-posts and ropes
and fish-traps clinging to their walls or lumbering their
galleries.
Above the door of one house is a stone upon which
is carved a crown, together with the words, "A la
Couronne. Bon Logis. 1737. P.V." This was, no
doubt, the chief inn of Meillerie two centuries ago. The
crown is above suspicion, but the " bon logis " may be
a matter for divided views. One old house on the beach
has inscribed on stone above the entrance, '* I. Sache.
Notere. 1762." So it is evident that at least one
member of a learned profession lived in this amphibious
town in times gone by.
High above the village is the old church with a fine
square tower of the 13th century, in which are two
quaint little windows of that period. The choir is old
140
Meillerie and its Love Story
and belongs to the early days of the pointed arch, while
the body of the church is comparatively modern. Hound
the church, which was formerly a priory of the Great
St. Bernard, is a cluster of semi-ecclesiastical buildings
with Gothic entries.
There is nothing romantic about Meillerie, unless it
be its situation and its sweet-sounding name, and yet
there has been a time when Meillerie was flooded by the
limelight of romance, was a place of rapture to many
and a Mecca for the passionate pilgrim. It w^as thus
endowed because it came, together wdth Clarens, into
the scenery of Rousseau's famous story, " Julie ou la
Nouvelle Heloise." This book was published in 1761,
had an immense vogue and was read all over Europe. It
reflected the sentiment of the day, to w^hich it gave
glowing and indeed brilliant expression.
The ideal attitude affected by the youth of the time
was that of sorrow. Melancholia was a cult. It was the
doom of the hero of Rousseau's tale to be shut out of
Paradise. A hectic passion that could never be gratified
and a cloud of oppression were his lot. Between him and
the adored one stretched an abyss of despair. Into that
abyss they w^ept and across it they exchanged sobs and
hysterical moanings.
The youth and the lady were regarded with acute pity
by those who read their story, while the more miserable
they w^ere the more they w^re adored. Red-eyed women,
throbbing with sympathy, and would-be-unhappy youths
came to Meillerie as to a shrine of burning hearts or a
morgue of dead aspirations. They picked forget-me-nots
from among the rocks of Meillerie and pressed them
between the leaves of cherished books. They gathered
141
The Lake of Geneva
rose leaves at Clarens and " bathed them with tears,"
for to bathe things with tears was an emotional habit
of the time.
" Julie " is a notable book, full of fine passages and
idyllic pictures. It is a book that embraces a wide
range of human emotions ; although it displays a passion
that is often a little falsetto in tone and a morality so
facile that the book has been denounced as "a real
danger to women and young men."^ It is, moreover,
marred by its diffuseness, by its quite unendurable length
and by the cumbrous form it takes, for the tale is told
in a series of letters, one of which may alone cover twenty
pages.
For the sake of those who may have forgotten the
story — and for the relief of the many who may lack the
patience to read it — I append a brief precis of the doleful
tale, since Meillerie is a place of no interest whatever
apart from Julie.
Julie, the heroine, w^as the only daughter of noble
parents. The family resided at Clarens. The mother
was an ineffectual and negative lady, but the father was
proud and violent and typical of that variety of parent
known on the stage as the " heavy father." The hero,
Saint-Preux, was of humble origin but well educated.
When the story opens he was giving lessons to Julie
as a casual tutor, with the approval of the tepid mother
but without the knowledge of her husband. The teacher
and his pupil fell in love with one another. The father,
when he found that Saint-Preux was taking no payment
for his instruction, forbade his services unless he accepted
an appropriate salary. Saint-Preux declined to take
* " Le L^man," par Bailly de Lalonde. Tome i, page 349. Paris, 1842.
142
OS
S
Meillerie and its Love Story
money for improving his Julie's mind and was, therefore,
told somewhat curtly to go.
The lovers could now only come together in secret,
their chief place of meeting being a little shrubbery
or thicket which came to be known as the Bosquet de
Julie. Vandal builders have passed over this hallowed
spot like a swarm of locusts, so that the hosquet has
vanished and in its place are shops, garages and gas-
works.
Julie felt the new position difficult, for her conscience
was tender. She therefore banished Saint-Preux to
Meillerie. Here he raved and w^ept. He longed, he
said, to die at her feet, his brain reeled, his heart was
torn to pieces, while his agony consumed him like a fire.
He threatened to end it all by suicide, for he wrote,
" the rock is sheer, the lake is fathomless and I am in
despair.'*
He probably lodged at La Couronne, the inn in the
dismal lane. He would sit on the rocks of Meillerie
and gaze at Clarens until he ,was nearly demented.
With a spy-glass the cure lent him he could make out
Julie's house and the garden in which she walked. He
frequented a grotto where he could sigh in solitude.
The grotto is said to have been swept away by the
quarryman, but there is no evidence that it ever existed.
Julie sank into an appropriate state of nervous
prostration and became so ill that Clara, a sympathetic
cousin, secretly begged the lover to return. He did.
After an explosion of rapture he proposed elopement.
Julie declined, pleading her duty to her parents.
Saint-Preux again went into banishment. About
this time an English peer (cautiously called '* Lord
143
The Lake of Geneva
B ") entered upon the scene. This nobleman, when
intoxicated, made remarks about Julie that Saint-Preux
considered insulting. Saint-Preux struck him, and was,
in due course, challenged to a duel. Julie intervened
in a very charming and diplomatic letter. The peer
apologized and became the lovers' dearest friend, prac-
tically adopted Saint-Preux and provided him with an
income for life.
Lord B, then, with great daring, interviewed Julie's
father and begged that tyrant to allow Saint-Preux to
marry his daughter, as the youth was now possessed of
suitable means. The father, spluttering with rage,
refused to contemplate a proposal so wounding to his
pride of race. The English peer then took the lover
away so that his mind might be diverted by the
vicissitudes of travel. This involved endless letters of
description dealing with familiar spots and many weary
dissertations upon most things under the sun.
Now, on a sudden, an event happened in the quiet
home at Clarens which had the effect of a thunder-clap.
Saint-Preux's letters to Julie were discovered by the
easily inflamed father. There followed a cyclone of
violent denunciations, of harsh sayings, of weeping and
wringing of hands, of sobbing in locked rooms. In the
hush after the storm the terrified Julie found herself
compelled to many a Mons. Wolmer, who was " nearly
fifty" and, at the same time, dull, plain and prosaic.
Julie had two children and claimed to be, in time,
not unhappy. She, however, continued her correspon-
dence with Saint-Preux. Mons. Wolmer was a man of
eccentric mind and unusual views, for when he learned
the story of his wife and her lover he promptly invited
144
Meillerie and its Love Story
Saint-Preux to come and stay with them. Saint-Preux,
of course, came. The meeting with his JuHe was moving
beyond expression, although it must have been tempered
somewhat by the ponderous presence of Mons. Wolmer.
Saint-Preux continued to live with this exceptional
couple for an indefinite period. The conduct of the two
lovers was beyond reproach, for Julie was immaculate.
Saint-Preux became the tutor to the children of his dear,
and there fell upon this strange household such peace
as may be found among the ashes of a smouldering fire.
At the end Julie dies. Sad to say, she is long in
dying, and her farewell utterances exceed in length any
which literature has hitherto given to the world. She
leaves behind her a letter for Saint-Preux telling him
that her love has never wavered and that to the end she
was his and his alone. With this letter — the sweetest
and most pathetic of them all — the story closes.
In the year 1816, in the month of June, Byron
and Shelley came to Meillerie, drawn there solely by
adoration of Julie. Shelley considered the poor village
"enchanted ground," for it had been the place of exile
of Saint-Preux.^ They sailed down from Montalegre,
which is close to Cologny, a suburb of Geneva. They
w^ere both Aery earnest young men, both a little touched
by the miasma of melancholy and both spellbound by
the story of Saint-Preux and his beloved. They, no
doubt, recited passages of the book as they sailed along,
for with " the divine beauty of Rousseau's imagination "
they were both infatuated. Byron at the time was
twenty-eight and Shelley twenty-four.
Near Meillerie they were overtaken by a sudden squall
1 " History of a Six Weeks' Tour." London, 1817.
K 145
The Lake of Geneva
which nearly rent the sail from the ship and drove it
half under water, so that they were in great danger of
being swamped. Byron was a fine swimmer. He threw
off his coat and, standing with his legs apart on the
rolling deck, was prepared to do heroic deeds. Shelley
was not so prepared. He was no swimmer. He felt
that death was upon him, but his greater fear was that
his friend, in his determination to save him, would lose
his own life. He therefore clung to the seat with both
hands, determined that he would sink with the vessel.
He also had removed his coat, and one may assume that
from its pocket protruded the j^ellow cover of the book
that had lured them to apparent death.
Nothing tragical followed, for the vessel was blown
into the harbour of St. Gingolph, and the two poets
stepped ashore with their dripping coats on their arms.
The episode had some fascination for them, since it was
at this very spot and in a gale of like temper that Julie
and Saint-Preux were nearly wrecked in an excursion
they took on just such a summer's day.
Later the two dreamers sailed to Clarens and walked
with bared heads in the sacred bosquet. Here they
picked flowers, which they imagined Julie had herself
planted, and scattered the petals to the breeze, so that
they might be wafted to the adored one, for they felt
that her spirit still ho^•ered in the well-remembered
grove.
146
XXIV
JOHN EVELYN AT BOUVERET
JOHN EVELYN, aged 26, the squire of Wootton,
was in 1646 at Milan, which he considered '' a
sweate place." He was proposing to cross the
mountains to Geneva. With him were certain friends
and, among them, a Captain Wray, who provided what
playwrights call " comic relief " in a somewhat dramatic
company. Wray is described as "a good drinking
gentleman ' ' who had recently bought a pretty nag from
an innkeeper for eight pistoles.^ He had the unfortunate
habit, both when drunk and sober, of firing off his gun
if he was the subject of any exceptional emotion. He
also had with him a dog jvhich he had brought from
England and which he claimed to be a water spaniel, but
which Evelyn affirmed was only " a huge, filthy cur."
At Milan they were invited to dine at a palace by
a total stranger who had picked them up in the street.
This incautious man described himself as a " Scots colonel
who had an honourable command in the citty." After
dinner the colonel was anxious to display his horses, so
the party adjourned to the stables. The colonel mounted
a horse in order to show off its paces, but unfortunately
the gallant officer " was a little spirited with wine," so
spirited, indeed, that he was thrown, was badly injured,
^ A pistole was worth 16s. 2d.
The Lake of Geneva
and died next day. Evelyn, who had already been chased
down the streets as a spy when he was found peeping
into a house to see "the tapissries," thought that the
sooner they left Milan the better. So they hurried off
in the morning.
Having crossed the Lago Maggiore in a boat, they
reached the foot of the Alps and proceeded to climb up
to the Simplon Pass. There was, in those days, no
road over the pass, but merely a track. The month >vas
September and the weather bad. They could only get
mules to ride, w^hile Wray's pretty nag carried the
luggage.
The journey was unpleasant in the extreme. Evelyn
loathed a mountainous country. He hated " the strange
horrid and fearfull craggs and tracts onely inhabited by
beares, wolves and wild goates." He hated the terrible
roaring of waterfalls and the bridges composed only of
a felled tree over " cataracts of stupendious depth." He
hated the people for ' ' having monstrous gullets or W' enns
of fleshe growing to their throats, some of which were
as big as an hundredpound bag of silver." He disliked
their " puffing dress, furrs and barbarous language " and
was, above all, disgusted with the "very infamous
wretched lodging ' ' that they provided, for in one place
he lay on a bed stuffed with leaves "that crackled and
did so prick his skin thro' the tick that he could not
sleepe."
Near the Simplon Wray's " filthy cur " chased a
herd of goats down the rocks into a river. The villagers
declared that one was killed in this stampede, and
demanded "mony." Wray, under the influence of
emotion, fired off his gun ; the party spurred their mules
148
John Evelyn at Bouveret
and tried to bolt. They were stopped by the enraged
villagers, were dragged off their saddles, deprived of
their arms and hustled into the room of an inn, where,
in due course, " a score of grim Swisse " (the elders of
the place) condemned them to pay a pistole for the goat
and ten more for attempting to ride away.
They came upon much snow; managed to cross the
pass and began to descend. Here Wray's horse slipped
over a precipice and, rolling down the slope, landed on
a bank of loose snow. Wray was so moved by this
behaviour of his horse that he was about to fire at it —
according to his habit when deeply stirred — but was
restrained by his friends. He contented himself with
hurling stones at the horse, with the result that the
aggrieved animal began to plunge, fell over another
precipice and rolled so far down the slope that it took
the travellers two miles by the path to reach it. They
found "the pretty nag" unnerved and benumbed, but
otherwise unhurt.
Finally, after wading through what Evelyn calls an
ocean of snow, they reached Brigue. Here they found
that " almost every doore had nail'd on the outside a
beare's, wolfe's or foxe's head and divers of them all
three : a savage kind of sight." They had now only to
follow the Rhone to the Lake of Geneva. They still
met with adventures, but of a minor type. Evelyn was
rejoiced to be out of a country *' so melancholy and
troublesome " ; but he continued to find the mountains
" horrid " and hated the people, because he found them
" very clownish and rustically clad after a very odd
fashion, for y® most part in blew cloth, very whole and
warme."
149
The Lake of Geneva
In a few days they reached Bouveret, arriving in
the evening, travel-stained and worn. Evelyn made for
the inn, where he demanded a room, explaining that he
was so exhausted he must go to bed immediately. The
landlad}'^ regretted that there was not a vacant chamber
in the house. This w^ould not do for the masterful squire
of Wootton. He would have a room, and that at once.
One can imagine him pounding upstairs and stamping
along the corridor, smacking his leg with his riding whip
and demanding at each door who occupied this room
or that.
One chamber, the landlady said, was occupied by
her daughter, who was in bed. This was enough for
the squire. The daughter must be turned out and sleep
elsewhere, as he was so fatigued that he must lie down
at once. The good woman expostulated, became voluble
and excited, shrugged her shoulders, waved her head to
and fro and stretched her hands out with the palms to
heaven. It is probable that Evelyn understood but little
of her patois. He seems, however, to have caught some-
thing about changing the sheets. Changing the sheets!
Bah ! He would have no changing of sheets ! Turn
the girl out, and he would jump into bed at once, as
he was almost too tired to stand.
The girl was turned out. Evelyn seized the room
and, throwing off his clothes, jumped into bed. He
found the bed warm. In fact, he found it very warm,
for the girl had smallpox and had been in a high state
of fever.
Next day Evelyn and his friends hired a *' bark "
and sailed to Geneva. It will be no matter of surprise
that soon after his arrival at that city he was down with
150
John Evelyn at Bouveret
the smallpox. He felt so ill that he thought his very
eyes would drop out. It was a trying illness, for he
was nursed by a Swiss matron whose " monstrous
throat" filled him with alarm whenever he awakened
from a troubled sleep and saw this dreadful woman with
the bulging neck hanging over him.
He was in bed fifteen days and confined to his room
for five weeks. The illness was expensive, for he had to
pay 45 gold pistoles to the keeper of the inn and
5 pistoles to his doctor. He gives a good description of
Geneva as he saw it, and was much heartened when he
was well enough to sally forth and play a game at
"mall." He says "this towne is not celebrated for
beautifull women," and yet the susceptible Captain
Wray fell in love with one of them and was so mightily
enamoured that he was unable to discuss any plan for
their future journey, nor even to think upon it.
Ultimately they all went down by boat to Lyons.
From there they appear to have struck across country
to Orleans. At Orleans, Wray, whom Evelyn speaks of
as " our mad captaine," was left behind. It may be
surmised that Wray, when he saw his friends pass out
of sight, was so overcome by his feelings that he again
let off his gun.
It is to be regretted that Captain Wray kept no
diary, for he was a man of sentiment and of varied
attainments who appeared to attract adventure. The
amorous Wray, with his nag, his unruly dog, his passion
for gun-firing and his love of drink, must surely, on his
way back to England, have met with incidents which
would have been worth recording.
151
XXV
ACROSS THE RHONE
JUST as the western end of the Lake at Geneva
appears to be closed by a dam or barrier of houses,
so does the Lake on the east appear to be brought
to an end against a barrier of trees. In neither case
does there seem — at first sight — to be a gap through
which the Rhone could either enter or escape. It is not
until Bouveret is left behind and the steamer is making
its way to the opposite shore that the Rhone can be
seen to dart out of the thicket in which it has been
hiding and make for the open. Its waters are turbid,
tired-looking and the colour of potter's clay. They
blunder into the Lake, where they form an eddy of
dirty water in a pool that is clean.
There is no romance about the entry ; no suggestion
of the far-off glacier melting in the sun ; no idea of
welcome. There is simply a sense of an intrusion and
a regret that the water is so thick and so unpleasing.
The Lake seems to feel this, for although the two join,
as they must, they do not mix. They keep apart. A
hard line separates the clear blue from the muddy grey.
The river seems to feel it too, for, after its first fouling
of the Lake, it disappears as if it dived to the bottom
out of shame.
There is no view of the Rhone Valley more delectable
than that from the Lake, as the steamer crosses from
152
TOWER AT PORTE DU SEX
GHESSEL CHURCH
Across the Rhone
shore to shore. The valley is long and wide ; its walls
are the flanks of mountains; its floor is a " level mead,"
dotted >vith trees and as green as the Lake is blue.
There is no sign of a river, of a road, nor of any work
of man. As the valley makes its way into the unknown
the light that fills it becomes whiter, the colours fade,
all outlines cease to be distinct and it ends in a mist
above which rise lilac-tinted peaks capped with snow.
Not far beyond Bouveret and in the floor of the
valley is the Pont du Sex — the last bridge over the
Rhone before it reaches the Lake. Guide book after
guide book has burst into rapture over this bridge, a
venerable, wooden bridge which was roofed over from
end to end. It has been described as the most picturesque
object on the Lake, has been spoken of as " poetical "
and declared to be "a wonder." It was built in 1839
by a carpenter from Martigny named Roulier, with the
help of his son-in-law. Before these two self-sufficing
carpenters built the bridge the Rhone was only to be
crossed by a ferry-boat from Chessel. The old bridge
was replaced in 1905 by one of iron, a bridge so ugly
as to be really heroic. This latter work can claim to be
a wonder — a wonder of f rightfulness. If there be per-
fection in ugliness, this mass of dreadful iron has reached
a point beyond which imagination cannot aspire. It
had to come. It fulfils the functions of a bridge ; it is
strong ; it is safe. The dear old, delightful bridge was
none of these things. It was merely beautiful. It
shook in the wind ; it bent to the flood. It could carry
a company of pattering goats, but the ox- wagon made it
afraid and the motor car caused it to shake and tremble
like a very old man.
153
The Lake of Geneva
By the bridge is an ancient gateway, the Porte du
Sex. On one side of It is a precipice, and on the other
is a tower as steep. The tower bears the date 1G76.
Behind it is a surly and determined-looking building,
with windows heavily grilled with iron and with shutters
painted in the brave colours of the canton. This chdteaii-
jort was built in 1597 to command the entrance into the
Rhone valley. It was rebuilt in 1676, as the date on
the tower confirms, and was for long the residence of
the chatelain of Bouveret. The building was much
damaged by the inundation of 1902, when the whole
floor of the valley w^as under water as far up as Vouvry,
which is a kilometre above the Porte du Sex.
Across the bridge the road leads through a flat and
luxuriant country where are many trees and fields which
sing of the goodness of the land. Then comes the little
hamlet of Chessel, a perfect realization of the hamlet
of the simple life. It has an ancient church as small as
itself. Its stone steeple is anterior to the 16th century.
The church — restored in 1777 — is the type of church
that a child would build with a box of bricks, for it has
the tower and the steeple that the toy-maker supplies.
It may be inappropriate to apply the term " comical "
to a place of worship, but Chessel church is comical, just
as a young puppy is comical. It is so immature and so
assuredly a church in its babyhood. It has a little vaulted
choir, a tiny pulpit and a small recess that would be a
side chapel if it were not used to store wood for the
stove. Moreover, the church stands in an orchard, and
when seen through a cloud of pink and white blossoms
is a picture of simplicity.
Beyond Chessel and still in the Rhone Valley is the
154
NOVILLE
Across the Rhone
village of Noville. It would probably call itself a town,
for it has a Maison de Ville where serious documents of
State are pasted on the wall. Noville is untroubled by
the world, is away from the beaten track and the tourist
knows it not. It is unspoiled and is a village that belongs
to the " real " country. It has many chamiing houses;
some with wide wooden balconies piled the one above
the other, some with inviting outside stairs, as well as
cottages which are almost buried in climbing roses and
are as bright with flowers as a church door on a wedding
day. The place is a mixture of a farmyard and a village.
The cow-shed opens its pungent doors by the side of
the shop, while the manure heap and the stack of winter
wood find prominent places in the main street.
The pride of Noville is its ancient church, which is
mentioned as long ago as 1177 in a bull of Pope
Alexander III. The square ivy-covered tower is sur-
mounted by a curious stone steeple which only an
architect could fitly describe. The church has been
inteUigently restored. The Swiss habit of smothering
anything antique with plaster has been abandoned. The
walls show the bare stone, while every structure of
interest — Romanesque or Gothic — appears to have been
piously preseiTcd. The side chapel belongs to the 15th
century, while the choir shows traces of paintings of a
century earlier.
By the side of the church is a beautiful old house of
such charm that it is worth a journey to Noville to see
it. It has a glorious roof, double ogee windows with
transoms and shutters painted in bold stripes of white
and green. It would belong, apparently, to the late
16th century.
155
The Lake of Geneva
Probably there are very few who will be concerned
to know that at Noville in the year 107 B.C. the Helvetes
the tiresome people who would persist in crossing the
Geneva bridge— defeated the Romans in masterly fashion
and killed the consul and also his nephew.
The road across the Rhone Valley ends at Villeneuve,
which is on the Lake side, has a pier and is the terminus
of the tram-line from Vevey. It is curious that a place
called the New Town should be one of the oldest towns
on the Lake. It was a very important Roman settle-
ment, and during the Middle Ages was a to\\Ti of
consequence. The early traveller may never have heard
of Geneva or Lausanne, but he knew Villeneuve. Ville-
neuve stood on the road between Italy and Gaul, for
the one available pass across the mountains was, at that
time, the Great St. Bernard. It not only stood on the
road ; it held it as an outpost of Chillon.
A vast company of people passed through Villeneuve
— merchants and pedlars, minstrels and men-at-arms,
pilgrims on their way to Rome, people who were seeking
a new world and others who were fleeing from an old.
Villeneuve exacted a toll from all who passed through
its gates. In 1286 in 213 days the collector of dues
dealt with 2,211 bales of French and Lombard cloth,
1,448 bundles of wool and hides, 2,568 loads of salt and
810 packs of merchandise.^ The tolls collected in 1279
amounted to 345 livres, which is calculated to represent,
in the coinage of to-day, half a million francs.^ Ville-
neuve, moreover, had much to sell, not a little to buy,
^ " Autour du Lac Leman," par Guillaume Fatio. Geneva, 1902.
» " Dictionnaire Historique du Canton de Vaud." Tome il, p. 789. Lausanne,
1921.
Across the Rhone
and vast amounts of money to change. Its one long
street was thronged the week through; its .warehouses
were packed ; its shops and its booths were the wonder
of all who found their way into this Vanity Fair. A
vast number of Jews and Lombards were attracted to
the town by its prosperous trade. They were not well
received by the people. In 1348, when the " Black
Death " was raging, the Jews of Villeneuve were
accused of poisoning the wells between Clarens and
Vevey. They were arrested and imprisoned at Chillon,
were tortured and confessed. The people of Villeneuve
were so infuriated that they burst into the castle, dragged
the Jews out and burnt them alive in the road.
Owing to many causes Villeneuve began to decline
towards the end of the 14th century. Fewer and fewer
travellers passed along the road, the Customs receipts
dwindled in proportion, and the once crowded market-
place became quieter and at last almost still.
In 1236 the pious Aymon, fourth son of Thomas,
Count of Savoy, founded in the town the Hospital of
St. Mary for the relief and comfort of all pilgrims who
passed along the road as well as of the sick who might
fall by the way. Aymon himself was stricken with
disease, and this hospital was his offering of gratitude
to Heaven for such years of life as he was spared. It
is said that there were times when as many as 600 loaves
were given out in a day and when there were no fewer
than one hundred sick persons within the hospital walls.
The Hostel of St. Mary had a large staff of priest-
physicians and, for long after Aymon 's death, was fitly
maintained by the house of Savoy as well as by money
collected from wealthy travellers and grateful patients.
IS7
The Lake of Geneva
In later years the hospital ceased to be of service, but
it was not given up without a struggle. There were
few, if any, patients, it is true, but there were still
large funds to treat. So the place became — as one author
terms it — une retraite de consolation for the hospitalier
and his friends. Thus in 1G59 the controller of the
empty hospital enjoyed a pension of 400 silver florins;
his wife came in for 125 florins and the baker for 112;
while the woman cook drew 40 florins, together with
4 barrels of corn, 4 " chars " of white wine and 2 of
red.^ Villeneuve had ample leisure to enjoy this scandal.
Old Villeneuve must have been a \'ery picturesque
spot. It was surrounded by a wall and possessed three
gates. An old drawing depicting one of these gates
shows what a sturdy and trim j)lace it was in the days
of its glory. 2 At that entrance to the town which looks
towards Chillon w^ere a great square tower, a chapel to
the Virgin and the Hospital of St. Mary already named.
These were all built by Aymon about the year 1236.
The tow^r, with the chapel at its foot, stood on one
side of the road, the hospital on the other. The hospital
has been entirely swept away and a school built in its
place. The tower — a square solid block — still stands.
The lower part is old and with little doubt dates from
Aymon 's time, but the upper part, with its faintly
pointed arches, is more recent, although still some
centuries old. The chapel, which will have been more
than once rebuilt, has been converted into the Maison
de VilJe. It bears over the door the arms of the town
and the dates 1236-1876, the latter being the year of
» " Dictionnalre Historique de Vaud." Tome ii, 1921.
* " Hlstolre du Canton de Vaud," par P. Maillefer, p. 455. Lausanne, 1903.
158
Across the Rhone
its final restoration. Within will be seen a fine Gothic
vault, which forms the roof of a school, on the one side,
and of offices on the other. These buildings are by the
side of the railway station through which will thunder
the Simplon express that now, in a flash, carries through
Villeneuve travellers who, in old days, toiled through the
town on foot, in litters, on horses or on mules.
As to the Villeneuve of the present time it is needless
to say that it shows no traces of its former splendour.
It has gone to the other extreme, and is now without
a bustling traffic, without anything that could be called
business and very nearly without life. A promenade
runs along the Lake shore. It is lined with the usual
clipped planes and also with a superb row of standard
roses. The town is composed of the " one long street "
through which the pilgrims tramped and down which
the tram-car now rattles. There are a few houses bear-
ing such dates as 1580 and 1596, but beyond these figures
they show small evidences of antiquity. The town itself
is drab, low-spirited and purposeless, and apparently
stupefied by centuries of utter dullness and by the con-
viction that it has no longer any place in the world.
It can claim one charm — the view that it affords of
the take and its great mountains and of the magic valley
of the Rhone. The church of St. Paul (said to have
been founded in 1106) is even more uninteresting and
more dreary than the town. The present building dates
from the 15th and 16th centuries, affects the Gothic style,
has a tower which might have some attraction were it
not smothered in plaster, and a church which — as Read
mildly puts it — is '"' sadly disfigured."
The great house of Villeneuve was that occupied by
159
The Lake of Geneva
the distinguished Bouvier family. It stood near the town
gate and was (and is indeed still) the last house on the
right on the road to Aigle. It was practically destroyed
by the fire of May 4, 1409, which threatened to make
of the town a heap of ruins. In Head's time it consisted
of two parts, of a large house and a smaller one, with
a tower the height of which had been reduced. It had
then a fine stone doorway and narrow grated windows,
and above all a cellar which Read was — for a special
reason — delighted to find intact.
The house has been recently modernized, but the
general features (of the large house and the small and
the low tower) have been preserved. The stone doorway
has vanished and with it probably the cellar. The story
of the house, as told by Read, is as follows.^
In 1588 Charles Emmanuel of Savoy determined to
possess himself once more of the Pays de Vaud. He
collected an army of some 5,000 men at Ripaille, together
with appropriate artillery, and ships to carry his forces
across the Lake. He expected a good deal from the
army, but still more from treachery on the part of certain
notables of Lausanne, for a feature in the programme
w^as to be a rising in that city on behalf of Savoy.
The chief conspirator in Lausanne was D'Aux, the
burgomaster. He w^as in the habit of sailing over to
Evian to discuss this precious plot with his Savoy friends.
Another prominent traitor was his nephew, Ferdinand
Bouvier, of Villeneuve. He was the lieutenant governor
of the Castle of Chillon and at the same time warden of
the hospital at Villeneuve. He was a man in the prime
of life, being thirty-five.
* " Historic Studies in Vaud, Berne and Savoj', ' by M. Read. London, 1897.
i6o
'fi
Across the Rhone
The landing of the duke's army and the rising in
Lausanne were arranged for a certain day in December.
But no fleet came in sight and the sleepy streets of
Lausanne were disturbed by nothing more sensational
than a dog fight. Two things had happened. A severe
gale had prevented the duke's ships from leaving Ripaille
and the plot had leaked out. The latter fact was due
to the practice — still in vogue — of one friend confiding
to another the details of the affair '* in the strictest
confidence." It was passed on, in this way, from mouth
to mouth until it came to the knowledge of the Bailiff
of Lausanne. D'Aux was warned, also in the strictest
confidence, that "things were coming out." So he
bolted to St. Sulpice, where he obtained a boat that
carried him to Evian.
The information reached the Bailiff of Lausanne in
the following manner. The bailiff was dining with
Ferdinand Bouvier at the Castle of Chillon. They were
boon companions and firm friends. The dinner was, no
doubt, excellent and the wine of the best. It was a
jovial evening, the conversation was genial, and any
boatman rowing by the castle wall would hear the
laughter that re-echoed across the table.
As the two — a little red in the face, perhaps — leaned
back in their chairs to enjoy the last flagon of wine a
messenger entered with a letter for the bailiff. Annoyed
at the interruption he opened the letter petulantly, and
as he read his face became graver and graver. Looking
across to his ruddy companion, he said, " My friend, it
pains me to the heart, but I have orders to arrest you."
Bouvier, suddenly become pale, could only say stiffly,
"You must obey orders. I am at your disposal; but
L i6i
The Lake of Geneva
allow me to go to Villeneuve under any guard you like
so that I may put my affairs in order."
The bailiff consented, but the two spoke no more.
One can imagine the silent room, Bouvier still sitting
at the table with bent head, cowed and shamed, and hisi
guest standing by the window and muttering over and
over again, " Ferdinand a traitor! '*
Bouvier and his guard marched to his house at
Villeneuve. On arriving there he suggested that the men
would like some refreshment and directed them to the
cellar, telling his servant, no doubt, to see that they had
plenty and that they had it strong. They found it so
unlike the barrack wine that, in a while, they were all
too drunk to have thought of either their mission or their
charge. In the meantime the Governor of Chillon slipped
out of the garden door and, fleeing through the night,
reached Savoy in safety.
He left his wife, Marie du Crest, behind — an excellent
lady to whom he had been married eight years. She was
arrested, taken to Chillon, and put to the torture. By
a rope attached to her wrists she was hoisted up the
pillar which stood in the centre of the torture chamber
while red-hot irons were applied to her feet. It was a
terrible ordeal, but the gallant woman kept her teeth
clenched and refused to betray the man who had left her
to her fate. As nothing would induce her to speak, she
was released, and returned with her poor charred feet
to the now desolate house at Villeneuve.
Of all those who took part in this sorry drama, the
only one who stands out as an heroic figure, among the
company of traitors and cowards, is the brave and loyal
Marie du Crest, who could be faithful unto death.
162
— c-
FROM THE RHONE TO LAUSANNE
XXVI
THE THREE TOWNS
THE Rhone Valley occupies the whole of the
eastern extremity of the Lake, being bounded on
either side by masterful mountains which form
the walls of the stupendous outlet. One flank of these
mountains is continued along the Swiss or northern
shore, rising (as on the opposite coast) directly from the
water's edge, but providing ground enough at their foot
to accommodate the united towns of Territet, Montreux
and Clarens. On one of the promontories which stand
out from the mountain-side is Glion, and above it the
vast white hotel of Caux ; while between Territet and
Villeneuve are the heights of Rochers de Naye, which
attain an altitude of 6,710 feet above the sea level. At
Clarens the hills drop away and there opens up a wide
valley sloping gently to the Lake. It is triangular in
outline, with its base on the shore, where are Vevey and
La Tour de Peilz; while on one flank are the Pleiades
and on the other Mont Pelerin. Far up on the floor of
this broad gap in the hills is the famous Castle of
Blonay.
Between Vevey and Lausanne the coast is uninterest-
ing and forms, indeed, the dullest part of the Lake
shore. It is represented by a range of low hills which
is covered with vineyards, planned in stiff, monotonous
165
The Lake of Geneva
squares and rows. As Lausanne is approached the trees,
the fields and a freer, kindUer country appear again, so
that the lake-side ceases to be a tedious bank of chess-
board patterns and cubist sketches. For some reason —
based probably upon early Biblical teaching — there is an
impression that a vineyard should be beautiful. It may
have been so in the days of the Song of Solomon, but
now, what with staking and weeding, pruning to the
ground and spraying with sulphate of copper, a modern
vineyard (except for a week or so in the autumn) affords
but an uninspiring spectacle. Gazing upon this bank,
ruled and lined like an exercise book, one fails to
appreciate the rapturous declaration, " My beloved is
unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of
En-gedi."
The Three Towns are very happy in their position in
the great scene. Between the blue of the Lake and the
blue of the sky there rise the mountains just named.
They are, at this point, from 2,000 to 3,000 feet high.
This range is no mere bank. Its variety is infinite, for
it is thrown into folds by many a gorge and jagged by
many a peak. It is green with every variant of that
colour, since between the forests of holly-green firs are
patches of steep down of the tint of a geranium leaf and
as smooth. The mountain where it meets the Lake is
fashioned into bays and capes most beautiful to see, and
here the trees come down to the very pebbles of the
beach.
It is along the strand of these blue coves that the
Three Towns cluster. Viewed from across the water they
appear as a line of bright colour, a very broken line
fashioned out of tints of white and pink, of yellow, and
i66
The Three Towns
faint blue, and punctuated by a thousand dots, which
are windows, and capped by splashes of brown, which are
roofs. All these details are reflected in the Lake with
undiminished brilliance. The line is broken, here and
there, by a clump of trees in a garden, by the spire of
a church, by tall poplars, by a white balustrade and by
many a ghnt of sun on glass. So broad is the Lake and
so towering are the hills that these far-famed places, with
their thousands of inhabitants, seem, at a distance, little
more than a row of bright and shapely stones.
The Three Towns, in their combined attractions, form
the most popular resort in this part of Switzerland.
Their popularity is easy to understand. They command
the finest view that the Lake affords. They face south.
They are protected by the great hills from the north
wind — the cynical and uncharitable hise. They know
not the fog. They are, above all, very modern and
furnish every comfort that the most fastidious can desire.
They toil not, neither do they spin ; but exist only to
afford joy to the visitor. The visitor is, indeed, their
sole commodity, their sole export and import and the
object of their being.
The welfare of the Three Towns depends upon the
stranger within their gates. It is amazing what that
individual requires. His needs are made manifest by
the multitude of shops and by their complex variety, by
food collected from all quarters of the earth, by theatres
and casinos, by steamers to carrj^ him on the water as
well as by electric or funicular railways to drag him to
the tops of mountains in order that he may enjoy a view.
All this he wants to secure an appropriate delight in
living. Yet the first visitors who came to Montreux —
167
The Lake of Geneva
the men of the Bronze Age — needed so little and could
do so much tor themselves. Given food, fire and a
strong axe, they were probably as happy as the most
favoured in the Three Towns arc to-day. The machinery
of happiness has become, in fact, extremely complicated,
and the things that the pampered " cannot do without "
are as the sands of the sea in multitude. Yet with this
intricate machine and these things that cannot be denied
the Three Towns deal with composure and success, and
so the world speaks w^ell of them.
The Towns are still in their youth, the least mature
being Territet, which has sprung up, like a crop of
brightly-tinted mushrooms, on a bank by the Lake-side.
Old prints show Territet as a stretch of green meadow-
land with a cottage or two, some trees and an enticing
footpath. Montreux, a town of over 22,000 inhabitants,
is older. The name implies a district rather than a
town, for in ancient times Montreux was a collection of
hamlets scattered about the foot of the hills. It is only
of recent years that the houses have spread down to the
margin of the Lake. A print of 1823 ^ shows this bustling
and brilliant town as a mere village with a church perched
high up on the slope. The domain belonged in the 11th
century to the Bishops of Sion and then, in the 14th
century, it was possessed by Savoy. The Count of Savoy
required at that time from the cure an annual dole of
four pounds of wax to be used for his comfort w^hen he
came to Chillon. As some abatement to this tax the
cure was allowed to fish in the Lake in Lent.
The origin of the old church of Montreux is lost in
the mists of the past, but it emerges with the dignity
' " Voyage pittoresque autour du Lac de Geneve." Paris, 1823.
i68
SEA-GULLS ON THE LAKE
#
The Three Towns
of a parish church in 12*.?8. It was dedicated to St.
Vincent, the patron of vine dressers, and was placed by
the terraces of vines, where it became a sanctuary for
those who worked among the grapes. The church was
built in its present form in 1507. It stands in the
quarter called Les Planches, and was at one time reached
by the slothful by means of a funicular railway, now
extinct.
The growth of Montreux has been rapid. In 1815
it could boast only of a few rustic inns. In 1835 the
first 'pension appeared — the Pension Visinand — at Sales,
now an insignificant suburb of the modern town. Then
followed very timidly some small hotels. One hotel,
*' The Swan," boasted of no fewer than 30 beds. In
1850 the population (which had been 2,833 in 1831) rose
to 3,181, and Montreux had then eight hotels or pensions ,
with a complement, between them, of 250 beds. The
Dictionnaire Historique, from which these particulars are
obtained, states that in 1854 the cost of living en pension
at Montreux w^as three francs a day. This will fill the
modern grandchild with envy and call forth regretful
comments upon the good old days. It should be remem-
bered that the three francs included the privilege of
going to bed with a solitary candle, of washing in a small
bowl of cold water and the use of a bedroom without a
carpet.
Those who would see something of old Montreux
should visit the suburbs of Les Planches and Sales. They
stand high up in the shadow of the mountain, and w^ere
once villages with nothing between them and the Lake
but vineyards and green fields. Now the new town has
chmbed up to them, has infected them with some
169
The Lake of Geneva
modernity and, but for the protecting hill, would have
elbowed them off the ledge to which they cling.
These two little quarters of Montreux have, however,
still some independence and show even now some of
their old quality. They are separated from one another
by the Gorge du Chauderon, a narrow but deep cleft
in the rock, at the bottom of which a stream tumbles
headlong, showing flashes of silver through a cloud of
trees. Les Planches has its village fountain bearing the
date 1754, its old-world cafe with a hanging sign, and
many ancient and picturesque houses which go back to
such years as 1583 and 1620. One of them has quite a
fine round tower, with a pointed roof and some 17th
century windows. SCdes is a little less interesting, but
its ways are narrow and steep and, indeed, there is a
long winding stone stair which climbs from the foot of
the town to its summit as if the place j\Tre a tenement
house.
The old church of Montreux is just above Les
Planches. It stands alone on a ledge of rock. Behind
it is the precipice of Glion, which projects from the
mountain-side like a gigantic altar. In front of the
church is a delightful terrace shaded by trees. Beyond
the terrace wall an abrupt declivity drops headlong to
the fashionable town, where are the new houses, the great
hotels, the kursaal, the tramways and, beyond them all,
the everlasting Lake.
The church is superb and of great interest. It has
been religiously preserved, is of grey stone, possesses a
lofty square tower and spire, and has a belfry lit by
Gothic windows. On either side of the nave are immense
round pillars of oyster-grey stone. They are without
170
The Three Towns
capitals and form the bases for four round arches. The
arches, in turn, support a beautiful vaulted roof. The
spandrels between the ribs are painted, and the whole
effect is one of great charm. The choir, with its Gothic
windows, is more modern, but the body of the church
remains practically as it was in 1509.
At the end of the terrace and close to the church door
is a curious stone building, small and square, with narrow
Romanesque windows and a quite commonplace roof.
Its interior will afford a surprise. It reveals an exquisite
httle chapel with a groined roof, the ribs of which radiate
from a single round pillar in the centre of the chamber.
In architectural detail the chapel follows precisely the
lines of the nave of the church, and there is no doubt
but that the two were built about the same period (1509).
This little building was once the cemetery chapel. Here
the bones of the dead were deposited and here, in 1522,
the celebration of the Mass was authorized. It is now
a salle des catechumenes or Sunday school. This church
and its chapel are without question the most beautiful
objects in the whole of Montreux.
Clarens was made famous by J. J. Rousseau, for it
was the home of the much-enduring Julie. A French
author,^ writing in 1846, remarks, " The greater number
of the English who make gibberish of our language
come here attracted by the memory of Rousseau." That
fascination no longer has power and the command of
the French tongue has, at the same time, improved.
Clarens, although now so very modern, is an old village
which can boast of the fact that Roman remains have
been found in its vicinity. It was in the domain of the
^ " Le Tour du Leman," par A. de Bougy. Paris, 184G.
171
The Lake of Geneva
Lords of Chatelard and, some time in the 14th century,
was granted the privilege of possessing a mayor. Byron
resided in Clarens in 1816, which fact is still kept
prominently in mind. About the middle of the 18th
centuiy' Clarens awoke, cast off its ancient garments,
and appeared jauntily in the fashionable raiment of the
day.
Above the town of Clarens is the cemetery, one of
the most beautiful on the coast. It stands at the foot
of the hill upon which is reared the Castle of Chatelard.
The terrace in front of it commands a memorable view
of Montreux. In this secluded place is the tomb of
Henri Frederic Amiel, the author of the melancholy
" Journal Intime." He died in 1881 at the age of sixty
(page 20). It is a disconsolate looking memorial in the
form of a shrunken pyramid of grey stone with panels
of chilly slate. It is shaded by an unhappy yew tree,
while the grave at its foot is buried under a shroud of
irreverent ivy.
172
XXVII
CHILLON
«
CHILLON is probably the best preserved mediaeval
castle in Europe. It is certainly the best known
and assuredly, of all buildings in the .world, is the
one which has been the most persistently photographed,
painted and sketched. It must be familiar to thousands
who have never set foot in Switzerland. Its position is
exceptionally picturesque. The castle of romance is
generally perched on the summit of a crag. Here is a
castle at the foot of a hill, with its foundations in a
lake. Chillon stands on a small island of rock which is
approached from the mainland by a bridge. The Lake,
as it flows between the islet and the land, forms a natural
moat.
In front of the castle is a stretch of bright water,
while behind it is a steep mountain covered with trees
from base to summit. So immense is the hill at whose
foot it lies that the castle is completely dwarfed and
indeed, when seen three miles away, might be but a
block of carved ivory set on a sheet of enamel backed
by a cushion of dark green. What adds to the charm
of the position is the fact that the castle stands entirely
alone. There is no building — ancient or modern — to mar
its particular features or to distract the eye from its
gem-Hke isolation.
173
The Lake of Geneva
Viewed from near at hand Chillon satisfies the
imagination. It reahzes to the full the feudal castle of
old days, its arrogant display, its hardihood, its brutality,
its elemental outlook upon life. Here are all the details
that befit the scene of a mediaeval romance and that
furnish a background for those thrilling incidents which
may happen within castle walls. Here stood the draw-
bridge by the ominous entry ; here are the low-pitched,
cavernous guard-room, with its great fireplace, and the
sun-lit courtyards where the pages played at knuckle-
bones and where the maids, as they passed, lingered to
laugh with them. Here, too, are the turrets where the
sentries watched, the great keep into which the country
folk, half-clad and half-crazed, were hurried when the
Terror was upon them, as w^ll as the dungeons made
horrible by moans and the clank of chains. Looking
out upon the Lake are the great hall w^hose timbers have
re-echoed the sounds of revelry and the shouts of armed
men, the justice room, the torture chamber and the little
balcony where the ladies fed the pigeons. There is no
detail lacking. There are even the secret stairs cut in
the walls, so essential in romance, and the postern by
the water's edge which was a way of escape when all hope
was lost.
There has been a stronghold at Chillon from very
early days, because it held the ancient road which, at this
point, was but a pass between the mountain-side and
the Lake. It was not until the 18th century that the
highway was widened by the cutting away of the cliff.
Chillon, once the property of the Bishops of Sion, came
into the possession of Savoy in the 12th century. It was
the famous Count Pierre of Savoy who may be regarded
174
CHILLON FROM THE LAKE
CHILLON
Chillon
as the builder of the castle. This turbulent and ever-
restless man lived between the years 1203 and 1268.
Chillon remained in the hands of Savoy until the fortress
was taken by the Bernese in 1536. The last chatelain
who held the castle for Savoy was Antoine de Beaufort.
In January, 1798, the people of Vevey and Montreux
seized Chillon and so freed it from the dominion of
Berne.
Since the time of Count Pierre the castle has been,
of necessity, many times remodelled or enlarged, and
thus it is that it shows the work of many and varied
years. The building, in its general features, belongs to
a period that ranges from the early part of the 13th
century to the end of the 16th.
To describe Chillon would be as complex a work as
the description of the contents of an antiquary's shop.
The building has been most skilfully restored, the
arrangements made for the visitor are perfect, while the
little leaflet giving the main features of the castle is a
model of what a guide should be. The land side of the
castle is commanded by three round towers which rise
from the moat, are crowned by machicolations and
pierced by many loopholes. In the central tower is a
curiously ill-omened dungeon. On a line with these
three defences is a square tower of the 13th and 14th
centuries which guards the entry. In the centre of the
whole mass of buildings and dominating them all is the
keep, a plain, uncompromising structure of great height
which is believed to date from the beginning of the
11th century.
The Lake side of the castle is represented by a
rectangular block of buildings in the walls of which are
175
The Lake of Geneva
many beautiful windows. Here is the Great Hall, a
magnificent apartment .with tour Gothic windows and a
15th century ceiling, which is supported by massive
columns of chestnut wood with finely carved capitals.
Another notable apartment is the Justice Room, with a
ceiling of sunken squares supported by pillars of dark
grey marble. Leading from it is "Room No. 15," the
most dreaded room in the castle, for it was transformed
into a Torture Chamber in the 17th century. It is, in
point of fact, a bright and cheerful room and the one
that, of all the apartments in the chateau, would be
selected for a bedroom. It has a pretty 18th century
window which looks over the Lake towards the setting
sun. This view of the placid w^ater, with its fisher-boats
and its sea gulls and the open country on either side of
it, must have given the first pang of pain to those who
were led into this fearsome place. The w^alls are decorated
in squares of brick-red and grey. The ceiling, upon w^hich
the eyes of the man on the rack must have rested, is as
merrily painted in green, white and scarlet as a child's
toy-box. It may, indeed, be a nursery ceiling.
The most horrible object in the room is a tall, lean
pillar which drops from the ceiling like the body of a
snake. It was by ropes attached to this pillar that the
victims of "Justice" were hoisted up while hot irons
were applied to their feet. The base of the pillar is
browned and much worn away. The imaginative affirm
that it has been charred and that it w^as charred by red-
hot irons. The pillar has a still more horrid feature.
It is rudely painted, but at the lower part the paint has
been scratched away, and the idea cannot be avoided
that it has been scratched off by the finger nails of the
176
A COURTYARD IN CHILLON
THE GREAT HALL. CHILLON
Ghillon
tortured. The most loathsome period in the history of
this room must belong to the time when witches were
hunted out and were dragged from their villages to
Chillon to be tortured before they were thrown into the
Lake. One can imagine some harmless old crone, tooth-
less and grey-headed (a scold with a bitter tongue it
may be) swinging with ghastly contortions from the
pillar and filling the stone chamber with her ear-piercing
shrieks. Early in the 19th century, writes Read, an
ancient chest in the Torture Chamber was examined. It
was found to be filled with musty, time-stained docu-
ments which, in the course of years, had been depleted
for the making of cartridges and the lighting of fires.
In pleasant contrast to " Room No. 15 " is the
exquisite little Chapel of St. George. It has a beauti-
fully decorated Gothic roof and four very modest lancet
windows. It was built in the middle of the 13th century,
" to which epoch," says the leaflet, " belong the arches,
bays and some of the paintings."
There are many other rooms in this rambling place,
such as the Duke's bedroom, with its immense fireplace
and blood-red walls, and the Duke's parlour or " retreat."
There are, moreover, hollow-sounding corridors, unex-
pected stairs, quaint courtyards, sudden loopholes that
seem to jump out at the passer-by, heavily barred
windows and, on the summit of the walls, the fascinating
galleries of the patrol.
Very many people have an acute — if morbid — taste
for dungeons. To creep down dark steps into an
undoubted oubliette is evidently one of the greatest joys
that the visitor to Chillon experiences. The dungeons
at Chillon are most satisfying to those who have this
M 177
The Lake of Geneva
appetite. They are hollowed out under the main build-
ing, were constructed between the years 1254 and 1264,
and are just above the level of the Lake. They consist
of a series of communicating vaults where will be seen
the condemned cell, the execution chamber with the beam
of the gallows, as well as hollow places which even a
modest imagination can people with wild-eyed, crouching
wretches, hugging their rags.
At the end is the main dungeon where Bonivard,
the prisoner of Chillon, was confined. It is long, narrow
and grey, and to a large extent cut out of the rock.
The floor also is of rock. It has a fine vaulted roof
supported by round columns. To the base of one of
these pillars Bonivard was chained. The light is admitted
through narrow, vertical slits which open into round-
arched embrasures. The place is more like the crj^pt of
a church than the deepest depth of a prison. Compared
with the black, stifling, rat-infested dungeons of mediaeval
tales, with their mouldy walls dripping moisture and
their cruelly pinched space, this dungeon of Bonivard is
quite an oubliette de luxe. It is lofty, dry, well lit and
well ventilated, cool in summer and by no means chilly
in December. The light is good enough to read by,
while those who could clamber into the window recess
w^ould obtain a view such as no modern prison could
provide. The one sad note about the place is the sound
of the water rippling against the base of the rock, a
sound that is half sympathetic, half mocking, at one time
caressing and at another maddening with despair.
178
THE PILLAR IN THE TORTURE CHAMBER, CHILLON
^e^
XXVIII
THE PRISONER OF CHILLON
BONIVARD, the Prisoner of Chillon, has two
personalities. There are the Bonivard of fact and
the Bonivard of fiction. The two men are totally
unlike. One is not even the shadow of the other. For
the Bonivard of fiction Byron is in large measure respon-
sible, since his famous poem has made this much pitied
prisoner known the world over. Byron, in a note to the
poem, confesses that "he was not sufficiently aware of
the history of Bonivard ' ' when he penned the lines at the
inn in Ouchy. The Bonivard of the poem is represented
as a martyr to his religion, as a pious man who was
thrown into a dungeon because he fought ' ' for the God
his foes denied " and because he was prepared to suffer
death " for tenets he would not forsake." The Bonivard
of fact did not owe his imprisonment to any tenets nor
to any matter of faith. His religious views were never
in question. He was confined in Chillon by the officers
of Savoy because he was a fighting man they feared,
because he was a danger to the State and because he had
hunted down natives of Savoy and killed them whenever
the occasion offered. He had, indeed, maintained for
long a vendetta against Savoy, had fought Savoy tooth
and nail, and, therefore, when he was captured by the
enemy he was very reasonably immured in a prison.
179
The Lake of Geneva
Bonivard was a learned man according to the standard
of the time, was of good family, was daring and fearless,
a gallant soldier and, above all, a staunch patriot. He
had two grounds for his hostility towards Savoy. In
the first place, Savoy was the avowed enemy of Geneva
and had proved herself to be an enemy who was both
treacherous and relentless, while, in the second place,
Bonivard had a grave personal grievance against the state
he harassed.
This was obviously not the devout man about whom
Byron wrote with so much sympathy and with such fine
pathos ; nor was this the man who is figured in a modern
painting placed in the guard-room of the Castle of
Chillon. This picture has for its scene the familiar
dungeon. Seated on the floor with his back to a column
is a dignified man with a calm and benevolent counten-
ance. He is handsomely dressed in semi-academical
attire. He is spotlessly clean; his moustache and beard
are neatly trimmed. It only seems a pity that a man
so elegantly clad should be sitting on the ground. By
his side are the conventional heap of straw and pitcher
of water which are inevitable in prison scenes. Attached
to him, in such a w^ay as not to disturb his carefully
arranged robes, is a chain of such size that it would hold
an elephant. This is the Bonivard of the poet, a noble
figure, but not " the prisoner of Chillon."
The real Bonivard, on the other hand, would be
represented by a fierce looking man with wild and
frowsy hair, unshaven and unwashed, clad in an unclean
shirt, in ragged breeches and still more ragged hose.
Possibly by his side w^ould be some fragment of paper,
for Bonivard appears to have spent his solitary days in
1 80
The Prisoner of Ghillon
writing verses which were not too serious, being, in fact,
merely ''trifling fancies and ballads."
Bonivard was born at Seyssel, near Bellegarde, in
1493. When he was 17 he succeeded his uncle as prior
of St. Victor. The monastery was in Geneva, standing
on the site now occupied by the Russian church. The
office was a well-paid sinecure. Bonivard never took
holy orders, but was concerned with the monastery solely
as a layman. He seems to have been a cheery, light-
hearted lad who, with a cock's feather in his cap and a
sword by his side, swaggered about Geneva as one of the
rollicking company who were going to beard Savoy. So
troublesome did these gay conspirators become that in
1519 — when Bonivard w^as 26 — the Duke of Savoy took
serious steps to put an end to their many acts of
aggression. The result was that Bonivard had to fly
disguised as a monk, was captured and imprisoned by
the duke for two years in the Castle of Grolee.
The revenues of the monastery of St. Victor were
largely derived from lands in Savoy, and thus it was that
Bonivard, on his release, found himself robbed of a good
deal of his estate. He then, aided by a few hired men,
began a guerrilla war of his own against Savoy. He had
serious reverses and ran deadly risks, but still he held
on, impelled by his dashing and adventurous spirit.
Nothing dismayed him ; nothing damped his ardour. He
would fight Savoy so long as he had breath in his
body, and if none stood with him he would fight alone.
Bonivard and his raids became a terror to the Savoyards.
He kept the country around Geneva in a condition of
alarm. Although a price was placed upon his head, his
craft and courage saved him from arrest.
i8i
The Lake of Geneva
In 1530 Bonivard (then 37), went to Seyssel to see
his mother. On the return journey through Vaud he
was betrayed, was captured in a wood above Lausanne,
and brought in triumph to Chillon. For the first two
years in the fortress he seems to have been well treated
and to have occupied a room near to that of the
governor; but at the end of this time, either on account
of his own misconduct or by order of the duke, he was
transferred to the dvmgeon and chained to one of its
pillars.
On March 28th, in the memorable year 1536, Chillon
was taken by the Bernese and Bonivard was set free.
He returned to Geneva a poor man. He was granted
a small pension and was commissioned by the authorities
to write a history of the city. This he did ; but the
work was written in so racy a style that the punctilious
Calvin declined to sanction its publication. The work
apparently did not see the light until 1831.
Bonivard, the chastened dare-devil, found Geneva
under the rule of Calvin a dour and melancholy city.
He was not infrequently in trouble. He was charged
by the Town Council on one occasion with playing back-
gammon and with absenting himself from church and,
at another time, on account of some impropriety with
a serving maid.
Bonivard's chief troubles, however, were matrimonial.
He had four wives after his release from prison.^ The
first one — a very worthy lady — died in 1543. The
second was an elderly person who had already had two
husbands. This lady he beat. He was charged before
^"Lake Geneva and Its Literary Landmarks," by F. Gribble. London,
1901.
182
The Prisoner of Ghillon
the Council for this treatment of his wife; but the
Council dismissed the charge on the ground that Madame
Bonivard well deserved the beating she got. In fact, it
was the wife who was reprimanded by the bench, and
not the husband with the stick. The lady, what with
being beaten at home and being reprimanded abroad,
seems to have taken a dislike to Geneva, for she fled
from the city and the unsympathetic eyes of the world.
The third wife, Pernette Mazue, was a widow. She
appears to have been negative and inconspicuous and to
have escaped the tongue of gossip. The fourth wife,
Catharine de Courtavone, was exceptional and a very
disturbing person in the house of an aged scholar. She
was a runaway nun, young and pretty. Bonivard had
given her shelter out of kindness. The Council, hear-
ing of this charitable act, regarded it as a scandal and
ordered Bonivard to marry the young person. The nun
was not enthusiastic about the match, while Bonivard
was so opposed to it that he implored to be let off,
pleading his age (he was then 69) and his infirmities.
The Court insisted that the scandal could only be
repaired by matrimony, so, amid sighs and groans, the
marriage took place. The end was a tragedy. Three
years after the w^edding the wife was accused of immoral
conduct with an unfrocked priest. The aged Bonivard
himself did not charge her and, indeed, pleaded for her
and gave evidence on her behalf. The sentence passed
by puritan Geneva was terrible. The ex-priest was
beheaded and the runaway nun was sewn up in a sack
and thrown into the Rhone.
Bonivard died in 1570 at the age of seventy-seven.
183
XXIX
BARBILLE OF CHATELARD
BEHIND Clarens, on a round and very prominent
hillock covered with vines, rises the Castle of
Chatelard. Its position is commanding and its
isolation impressive, for it stands alone, like a sentinel,
in the vast opening of the valley. The chateau consists
of a massive square building of stone capped by a
high-pitched roof. A line of machicolations crowns the
biscuit-yellow walls, the upper portions of which are of
brick, as in the Chateau of Lausanne, to which Chatelard
bears a close resemblance. The windows are few and
have been modernized on the lines of the 18th century.
The general impression conveyed by the castle is that
of stern simplicity, self-confidence and immense strength.
By the side of the keep is a small square tower which
looks as if it had budded off from the parent building
and would grow up like it in the course of time. On
the north side is a low and more modern house with a
round tower at its north-west corner. The outworks
which once protected the castle on the hill-side have
vanished, together with the enceinte w^all. A trace of
this wall, however, survives, together with (on the north
side) the base of a tower and the head of a stair which
is reputed to have once led to a subterranean passage of
much mystery. The chateau has in recent years been
184
Barbille of Ghatelard
very judiciously restored by M. Marquis-Du-Bochet, in
whose family it still remains. At the foot of the castle
hill is the hamlet of Tavel. The name is significant, as
will appear in the account which follows.
Chatelard was in its earliest days a very great
possession. The domain extended from Vevey to Chillon.
Some memory of its vastness still clings to it, for the
present commune of Chatelard includes no fewer than
32 villages and hamlets as well as the town of Clarens.
The territory, which was originally held by the Abbey
of St. Maurice, came into the hands of the Bishops of
Sion about the commencement of the 11th century.
The history of Chatelard — a turbulent and very complex
story — is admirably set forth in the Dictionnaire His-
torique. It is a story of gradual disintegration, of a
loss of lands here and of a loss of rights there, of many
successive owners and of quarrels and fighting. It is a
story with many odd details bearing upon the eternally
thorny subject of taxation. For example, the people in
1355 are found to be complaining of certain aides which
had to be forthcoming on three special occasions. First,
when the lord became a chevalier ; secondly, when he
made a journey across the sea, and, thirdly, when one
of his daughters married. This is interesting as an early
protest against compulsion in the matter (1) of subscrib-
ing to a testimonial, (2) of paying another person's
travelling expenses and (3) of giving wedding presents to
exalted people you do not like.
In the 13th century the Montreux portion of the
domain was acquired by the Count of Savoy and the
much curtailed estate of Chatelard came into the hands
of the family of La Sarra. The chateau was built in
i85
The Lake of Geneva
1440 as a stronghold and place of refuge by Jean de
Gingins. He founded the barony of Chatelard, which
carried with it the prerogatives of an autocratic prince.
The chateau w^as taken and sacked by the Germans in
1476, but was repaired in 1502 by Franyois de Gingins.
It then passed through the hands of many holders, among
whom are the Allinges of Coudree, of which house
mention is made in Chapter ix. In 1596 Chatelard w^as
sold to Gabriel de Blonay, and in this family it remained
until the end of the 17th century, when the heiress,
Fran^oise de Blonay, married Etienne de Tavel, ba?i-
neret ^ of Vevey, and so made the de Tavels lords of
Chatelard.
The wedding .was romantic, not in itself, but by
reason of the fact that it led to a de Tavel becoming
master of Chatelard, and in this way it served to show
how discreet and judicial are the adjustments brought
about by the Hand of Fate.
Some fifty years earlier Barbille Nicolaide de Blonay,
the beautiful daughter of the Lord of Chatelard, became
betrothed to a de Tavel. The youth went away to the
wars and was absent for so unreasonable a period that a
certain Jean de Blonay (Lord of Bernex in Savoy and a
remote relative of the lady) took the opportunity of
making love to her. He succeeded well, so wtU that
the two became ardently attached. Barbille 's father,
very properly, declined to consent to their marriage or,
indeed, even to sanction their acquaintance. Thereupon
Jean of Bernex hid, one winter's day, among the trees
^ The title is derived from banniire, and signified originally a standard-bearer
in war. Later the " bannerets " assumed the honour of knighthood, and were
known as chevaliers bannerets or leaders of feudal troops. In the 17th century
the title was purely honorary.
i86
THE CASTLE OF CHATELARD
Barbille of Chatelard
by Chatelard, abducted the lady according to the methods
of the time, and carried her off to Savoy, where they
were married on January 9th, 1642.^ All this was in
accord with the tradition and the procedure of mediaeval
courtship.
In due course young de Tavel returned from his
protracted service at the front. He, no doubt, hurried
breathlessly up the steep hill of Chatelard, in front of
his men, clasping in his hot hand some rare present for
his bride that was to be. At the entry there w^as no
Barbille to welcome him with open arms, but only the
old Lord of Chatelard, stuttering and vague, who blurted
out in gasps that his misguided daughter had bolted off
with another man and had incontinently married the
same.
The returned warrior naturally became very violent,
stormed and stamped and " said things " about the
thieving Jean of Bernex. The family of the missing
lady joined heartily in the clamour he made. The result
was that between the houses of Chatelard and of Bernex
there arose what — in modern parlance — would be called
" a fearful row." So fearful was it that the dispute was
referred, in heated terms, to the judgment of the King
of France and the Duke of Savoy. As Jean and his
abducted bride lived on the French side of the Lake, it
is no matter of surprise that the two potentates decided
in favour of the young couple and apparently considered
that Jean was justified in running off with the lady.
This decision did not satisfy the de Blonays, who
brought the matter before Their Excellencies of Berne.
As Chatelard was on the Swiss shore of the Lake it is,
' Read. Op. cit.
187
The Lake of Geneva
again, no matter of surprise that Berne sided with
Barbille's bereaved parent and with the distracted young
man who had just returned from the wars. Berne, with
great sternness, at once ordered Jean to report himself
at Chillon.
Jean, safe in Savoy, merely laughed at this order,
but Their Excellencies, who considered it no laughing
matter, proceeded to pass sentence in default. The
sentence was in these terms. The damsel must be at
once returned to Chatelard as if she were a bundle of
stolen goods. Jean must pay to de Tavel 350 double
louis in compensation for the loss of his bride and for
the laceration of his heart, while the old Lord of Chate-
lard was to be reprimanded for his negligence in
allowing so pretty a girl as Barbille to bolt out of the
castle on a winter's night. FaiUng compliance with
these terms, Jean w^as to be arrested.
But Jean was safe in Savoy. The silly folk of Berne
amused him. He supposed they could not realize how
ridiculous they w^ere. Anyhow, he defied arrest, declined
to pay a single louis to de Tavel or to anyone else and,
above all, declined to surrender his loyal and well-beloved
Barbille.
So nothing came of all these strong and imposing
actions. The storm died down, the sky was blue once
more, and possibly — when the summer came — Jean and
Barbille would climb the hill above Bernex and, looking
across the water at the old Castle of Chatelard, w^ould
regard it as the scene of the most fortunate moment in
their lives.
1 88
XXX
VEVEY
" "^ TEVAI is a town more beautiful in its simplicity
%/ than any I have ever seen." Thus wrote
^ Shelley in the year 1816. And even now,
after the passage of a hundred years, the same can be
said with assurance of the venerable town. By the side
of its gorgeous neighbours, Lausanne and Montreux,
Vevey retains a simplicity and modesty which is, by
comparison, very becoming. It does not profess to be
beautiful nor to be brilliant, but it claims to be comfort-
able, and in that purpose it succeeds. It is matronly
rather than modish. Its outlook upon life is that of the
sober middle-aged. If it lacks the boisterous enthusiasm
of youth, it lacks also the listlessness of advancing years.
It is what H. G. Wells would call " a nutritious town."
It is much in favour with the English, who are attracted
to the place because it is homely and steady, not puffed
up nor given to vanity, and is possessed, moreover, of a
climate that is agreeable and reasonable the whole year
round.
Vevey is large, having a population of 13,644, but
then it has always been a place of importance because
it stands upon the highway that led from Italy into
Gaul. The Romans, who were no mean judges in the
selecting of sites, had a settlement at Vevey. It occupied
189
The Lake of Geneva
the ca!>tern end of the present town, jsUinding iihove the
Rue dii Simplon and therefore some Httle way from the
Lake. The Burguudians, too, made much of the place,
for the hist of the kings of Burgundy had a palace
here and, moreover, a Burgundian cemetery has been
unearthed in the precincts of the town.
Vevey has seen in its time a great deal of trouble,
and that is, perhaps, why it is now so subdued and
serious. It stood on the boundary between two disputing
powers, like a miniature Belgium, and was, therefore,
the scene of violent collisions and disturbance. It was
besieged or pillaged or burnt with some regularity.
Consistent fighting betw^een orthodox and properly con-
stituted combatants it could tolerate, but it was liable to
attacks from irregular bodies, made up of outcasts and
scoundrels, who were very trying. For instance, in 1444
Vevey was laid >vaste by a most pernicious company of
freebooters who called themselves Ecorcheurs or flayers.
Attacks delivered by ordinary, nicely drilled soldiers
were bad enough, but an onslaught by men who made
a profession of flaying people alive was horrible to a
degree.
As certain children have diseases worse than others,
so Vevey seems to have suffered all its misfortunes in an
exaggerated form. If it had the plague, it had it very
badly, and if it .was flooded, it was flooded beyond all
reason. If it was set alight, it burned like a bonfire,
as was the case in the conflagration of 1688, when 230
houses w^re reduced to ashes.
Vevey has had, in succession, a number of overlords
and has experienced a change of ownership w^hich must
have been most unsettling. In the 11th century the
190
Vevey
Bishop of Sion possessed one part of Vevey and the
Bishop of Lausanne the other, an anxious position, for
bishops in those days were among the most grasping and
cantankerous of men. The Counts of Savoy at one time
forced themselves on the place, being very pushing land-
grabbers, while at other periods the seigneur was the
Lord of Blonay or the Lord of Oron or some other
potentate. The lords of Blonay in the 13th and 14th
centuries had, in fact, two seigniorial houses in Vevey.
One — known always as the chateau — was very strong,
had a high square donjon with heavy walls. It stood on
the edge of the Lake on the spot now occupied by the
Hotel des Trois Couronnes. Its position serves to
explain the name of the adjacent street — the Rue du
Chateau.
A still more involved period was reached when Vevey
was divided into a number of separate hourgs, subject to
different lords. It then resembled a building made up
of self-contained flats let to quarrelsome tenants. Each
hourg had its castle, its walls and gates, its drawbridge
and its moat. Each also had its chapel and its bake-
house. Of such chapels Read names seven. Remains
of certain of the chateaux survived even into the 18th
century, at which time the boundaries of the old
*' quarters " were still indicated on the maps.
Vevey in the days of the old hourgs must have been
the most picturesque town on the Lake. From the water
sprang a line of walls and towers, with here and there
a water gate or a little quay for boats. Within the
enceinte rose the square keep of this lord or that, with
around it many a turret and many a spire and many a
gabled roof. The lanes, narrow and dark, would pass
191
The Lake of Geneva
between high walls and by weedy moats, by bastions and
drawbridges with their beams and chains. There would
be a garden or two, some simple shops with swinging
signs, a cluster of fisher huts and benches where old men
sat to gossip. The streets would be made bright, now
and then, by the banners of knights and the gleam of
their armour, by the gay jackets of the bowmen and the
more gaudy liveries of the squires. Here and there, in
the crowd, would be a monk in a brown frock, a court
jester giggling at the maids, a singer >\ith a lute or a
boatman laden with oar and net. The quiet of the lane
would be broken by the sound of chapel bells, by a chant
sung in a convent, by revellers in a tavern or by a
trumpet call from the vault of a guard-room.
In the 16th century, or before, Vevey was surrounded
by ramparts and possessed eight gates. The walls were
levelled as the town grew up, so that the last of the old
defences disappeared in the 18th century. One gate,
that known as the Villeneuve Gate, seems to have clung
to its old position until as late as 1803, when the pickaxe
and crowbar of some town improvement committee laid
it low\
The houses of Vevey, although old at heart, have all
been modernized, and so have lost their picturesqueness.
It is of little interest to stand before a quite modern
building with plate-glass ^\dndows and be told that it
was once a palace of the kings of Burgundy, or to con-
template a church that might have been built a year ago
and be assured that it occupies the site of a convent of
St. Claire which was founded in 1422. One of the few
old reUcs in Vevey is the statue reputed to be that of
its patron saint, St. Martin. The saint stands on a
192
Vevey
column, at the foot of which is a tinkhng fountain. He
is depicted in the guise of a Roman warrior. The ferocity
of his features has been toned down by wind and rain,
while the sun has tanned him, from helmet to buskin,
an unpretentious yellow. As the protector of the city
he is hardly more impressive than Han Andersen's Little
Tin Soldier.
The house that was occupied by Edmund Ludlow,
one of the judges of Charles I, has been long pulled
down and its site covered by the Hotel du Lac. Three
of the so-called regicides came to Vevey, namely, Ludlow,
Lisle (who signed the death w^arrant) and Broughton
(who read the sentence of death). As Charles II was
known to have sent emissaries throughout Europe to
hunt down the murderers of his father and to compass
their deaths, these three fugitives passed a life of great
uneasiness. They were welcomed by the people of
Vevey with effusion and were given a public reception
as well as a present of wine. A tablet on the wall of
the Hotel du Lac speaks of Ludlow as " the defender
of the liberties of his country " and states that he had
lived at Vevey " with the sympathy of the inhabitants "
from 1662 to 1693. Lisle did not feel comfortable at
Vevey, so he moved to Lausanne, where he was promptly
assassinated, being shot through the back in August,
1664.
The care of Ludlow gave the authorities of Vevey
considerable concern. His house was fortified and
guarded. Every boat that approached the beach was
viewed with suspicion. Every tramp who lurched into
the town was seized and overhauled with a thoroughness
which was exhausting and painful to him. Innocent
N 193
The Lake of Geneva
tourists who with curious eves strolled gaping through
the streets were dogged by soft-footed men and peeped
at from behind corners and from dark entries. As for
the " doubtful character," he was hunted like a mad
dog, and was glad enough to find himself, bruised and
breathless, in the hospitable dust of the high road.
Ludlow's chamber was provided with a bell at the
sound of which all citizens were ordered to arm and rush
to the Englishman's house, seizing on the way any
strangers they might chance to meet. Ludlow lived in
such a state of persistent unrest that he must have
suffered from what modern physicians call " anxiety
neurosis." Gribble gives a very striking picture of his
home life, in which he describes " Lieutenant General
Edmund Ludlow anxiously searching the horizon, with
one hand screening his eyes and the other gripping the
bell-rope.'* ^ Both Ludlow and Broughton are buried at
St. Martin's, Vevey, where a tablet has been erected to
their memory.
The fine church of St. Martin, standing as it does
on high ground above the town, forms the landmark of
Vevey. Its great square tower, capped by four little
turrets, can be seen for miles and from both sides of
the Lake. The church is said to date from the 12th
century, but was rebuilt in its present form three
centuries later. Restorations and a liberal coating of
cement have robbed it of much of its interest, but the
grand old tower has happily escaped the hand of the
spoiler.
Vevey possesses pleasant public gardens, a fine
parade, a picturesque clock tower and a vast market
» Op. cit., p. 157.
194
/I
A STREET IN VEVEY
Vevey
square. In this Place du Marche are the house of
Madame de Warens as well as the hotel, La Clef, where
Rousseau stayed in 1730. The lower part of the latter
building is occupied by modern shops, but the upper part
has probably been but little changed in the last two
hundred years.
Those in search of the picturesque should visit Corsie .
Corsier is virtually a suburb of Vevey, but it would
repudiate such association, for Corsier, although now
only a village, has held a high place in the land and can
boast of a history almost as distinguished as that of its
more imposing neighbour. It has a wonderful church.
The outside of the building is deplorable, presenting
merely a cube of recent plaster pierced by modern and
anomalous windows. The church within is low, plain,
severe and most impressive, having the appearance rather
of a crypt than of a church. It presents a nave and
aisles built up of massive round arches supported upon
heavy square pillars of immense size. Its age is obviously
very great.
The choir is less ancient, for it pertains to the 15th
century. It is in the Gothic style and has a fine vaulted
roof. On this roof are some very remarkable paintings,
belonging to the century just named. These archaic
pictures represent the angel of St. Matthew, the lion of
St. Mark, the bull of St. Luke and the eagle of St.
John. The designs were brought to light when a coat-
ing of whitewash was removed from the vault in 1889.
On the wall of the choir are the figures of angels in
fresco, each holding a cross surrounded by a circle. The
church, it is needless to say, has been made a national
monument.
195
The Lake of Geneva
The village is full of old houses of much charm.
Opposite to the church is a fine house — now a cafe —
bearing the date 1592. It has a deep-sunk entry made
up of a series of diminishing round arches which follow
a descending stair. On the stone framework of the
windows are carved a number of quaint and grotesque
heads. The whole building is a pleasing specimen of
its period as well as a worthy companion of the church,
which was already very old when the house was built.
196
a:
D
O
sa
en
<
X
X
H
O
as
N
a
w
Q
oi
O
H
a
a
D
a
XXXI
LA TOUR DE PEILZ
ADJOINING Vevey and now practically absorbed
by it is the little town of La Tour de Peilz,
^ once a fortified place whose castle or tower was
a famous stronghold. The word Peilz, although pro-
nounced "paix," has nothing to do with peace. In
the Dictionnaire Historique it is surmised that it is
derived from the Roman gentilice " Pellius." The
name in 1453 was Tour de Peil.
La Tour is a very old domain that belonged to the
Bishops of Sion in the 12th century and was acquired
by Count Pierre of Savoy by purchase in 1255. The
chateau dates from this period. Amadeus V, Count of
Savoy, known in history as Le Grand, made his residence
at the tower in the latter years of the 13th century. It
was even then a fortified town with three gates.
La Tour de Peilz was one of the three great castles
of the district, the others being Blonay and Chatelard.
It has had a distinguished and stirring history. The
Dictionnaire Historique gives a list of its chatelains from
1288 to 1536. These noblemen possessed at one time a
wide jurisdiction which, between the years 1314 and
1370, included even the town of Vevey. The more
important documents relating to La Tour have been
made public by M. Naef in an interesting volume.^
1 " La Tour de Peilz." Lausanne, 1892.
' 197
The Lake of Geneva
The gravest period in the history of the Tower was
in 1476, when it was besieged by the Bernese and
defended by the lord of Chatelard. Its fortifications
being in poor condition, the stronghold fell after a
spirited defence and was submitted to the flames. The
people of the place were massacred with such brutal
thoroughness that only eight escaped, and these either
plunged into the Lake or got away in boats.
The chateau at this period had three towers, a round
tower at either end (east and west) and a square tower
about the centre. As a result of the siege only one
tower — that on the east — was habitable, and even it was
roofless. It was used for a long time as a prison, and
within its walls the doors of the cells are still to be seen.
In 1749 the castle was rebuilt. The two round towers
were repaired, and these remain to this day. The
square tower was pulled down, while the house that now
exists was built on a portion of its site. At the same
time the terrace by the Lake was constructed. The
chateau of to-day forms a prominent and attractive
feature of the Lake. It is occupied by Sir Horace and
Lady Pinching, Lady Pinching being the representative
of the old and distinguished Swiss family in whose
possession the Tower has long remained. The chateau
consists of a solid square building, with modernized
windows, extending between the two old round towers,
the one to tEe east being still without a roof. Both have
been very carefully preserved. On the terrace in front
of the house are stalwart Lombardy poplars, while
behind is the moat, which has been incorporated in the
beautiful garden of the place. By the side of the castle
is the harbour, full of fishing boats and of craft with
198
CHATEAU DE LA TOUR DE PEILZ
La Tour de Peilz
great swallow-wing sails. It affords as charming a picture
of a small freshwater haven as could be imagined.
The church of La Tour, built in 1794, occupies the
site of the 13th century chapel of St. Theodule. The
building itself is of no interest, but the choir, which is
very small and out of proportion to the nave, is believed
to be a part of the ancient chapel. It has a faintly
pointed roof, while the vault of the nave is round. This
poor little apse has been so smothered with plaster,
according to the custom of the country, that all traces
of age or of architectural detail have been lost. The
tower of the church, with its ingenious stone steeple,
stands over the only surviving gate of La Tour. This
gate, which is said to date from the second half of the
13th century, has been restored with such vigour that it
might have been built within the memory of a child
of thirteen.
On one side of the gate, in the Place des Anciens
Fosses, is a portion of the old wall of the town. It has
happily escaped " doing up," is beautiful with ivy and
is a precious relic of the gallant little hourg.
i(j9
XXXII
THE ESCAPADE OF MADAME DE WARENS
AGREx\T deal has been written about Madame de
Warens.^ And yet, but for her association with
^ Rousseau and the pretty, if hazardous, story
which cUngs around Les Charmettes, she would have
remained unknown to the world except, perhaps, for a
certain dramatic episode that took place in the church
of St. Mary at Evian.
The most moving adventure in this lady's life was
her running away from her husband at Vevey. It was
not a creditable enterprise, being, in fact, disgraceful
from beginning to end ; but it was carried through with
such coolness, verve and ingenuity as to be a notable
feat. When a woman, lacking in means, leaves her
husband's home, alone and without the romantic
embellishments of an elopement, the event is apt to be
a little squalid and drab. It conjures up in the mind
the picture of a pallid woman, sniffing hysterically and
creeping on tiptoe out of a chilly house in the early
hours of the morning, before the world is awake and
when no one feels too cheerful. Then follow a dis-
tracted journey, a lukewarm reception at the house of
an astonished friend and finally much discomfort due to
remorse, to a scarcity of underclothing and a superfluity
* Read's account (" Historic Studies in Vaud," etc.) is one of the most detailed.
200
The Escapade of Madame de Warens
of advice. And yet, in most cases, the poor woman has
some justification for her act.
Now, Madame de Warens had no means of her own
and no justification for her conduct, and yet she carried
out her coup .without the least squalor, without any
scarcity of clothing, without remorse and without the
tiresome importunities of moralizing friends. She,
indeed, absconded in great comfort and accomplished
with flair what may be termed a running-away de luxe.
The details of the adventure are as follows.
Franyoise Louise de la Tour, the daughter of a
family of position, was born at Vevey in March, 1699.
She married on September 22nd, 1713, Sebastian de
Loys, son of the seigneur of Warens. He was twenty-
five at the time and she fourteen. She was married from
school, and the bridegroom on the occasion paid her
debts, which — for a child — were not negligible. As a
schoolgirl she must have been rather alarming, for she
was far in advance of her times. She was precocious
and wrote letters which, for solemnity and precision of
language, would have done credit to a woman of sixty.
The young couple settled in Vevey, in a house still
standing in the Place du Marche, where Madame de
Warens — aged 14 — set at once to work to " have a good
time." She succeeded. She was fond of pleasure, of
change, of excitement and of cheerful society. Her time
was soon occupied with parties and picnics, with recep-
tions, with excursions on the Lake and javmts in the
woods. She had a little country house, called Le Basset,
just above Clarens, and there in the summer many weeks
were spent.
As her husband's income was limited, Frangoise
201
The Lake of Geneva
Louise began to find herself with inadequate funds for
her pleasures. She began to find life dull and to be
haunted by the spectre of boredom. She had little to
do in her home, for she had no children. In order
to make money the ingenious lady started a stocking
factory at Vevey to produce silk stockings. Unfortun-
ately the people of Vaud did not wear silk stockings, so
the business did not prosper.
Now^ comes the year 1726. The lady was then twenty-
seven. She was of middle height, round and plump, with
fair hair, blue eyes, a dimpled chin and a very pretty
mouth. That she was fascinating, vivacious, emotional
and impulsive may be gathered. The husband at this
time was thirty-eight. He was a poor creature, dull,
stolid and matter-of-fact, who did his duty according to
his lights, was unsuspecting and, above all, a ponderous
bore. He could claim — as he did claim — that he w^as
eminently respectable, but he was the last husband who
would ever have satisfied Mademoiselle de la Tour. It
must, at the same time, be remembered that a rigid form
of Protestantism ruled in Vaud at this period and that
it failed to give full scope to Madame de Warens'
conception of the '* joy of living."
The scheme that she concocted in her busy brain
was on no petty lines. She was to be rid of Vevey, of
her stupid husband, of her dour friends, of her debts
and her bankrupt stocking factory. She w^as to have
freedom, money, a complete change, every w^orldly
comfort and a good social position. It was an ambitious,
programme, but the lady — incredible as it may seem —
carried it through to the letter.
In the autumn of 1725 she started on an exploring
202
The Escapade of Madame de Warens
expedition. She went to Aix "on account of some
pains " and visited, in the course of her quest, Geneva,
Chambery and other places. Savoy pleased her ; so that,
after due investigation, it was to Savoy that she resolved
to come. In the summer of 1726 she persuaded a
doctor to advise her to take the waters at Evian for the
relief of the same " pains." Her dolt of a husband, of
course, agreed. She got together some money, ordered
a brigantine for her journey and proceeded to put her
luggage on board. The landing place was close to the
house. M. de Warens, in a letter, says *' she always
took with her a great deal of luggage." Certainly on
this occasion she did. She took all her clothes to the
last ribbon and all her jewellery. She also took the
entire contents of the plate closet, leaving for her
husband's use some old spoons and forks and an antique
salt-cellar. She took all the kitchen utensils she could,
all the best linen and coverlets and even the mattresses,
together with odd pieces of furniture. Her husband was,
of course, ignorant of this compendious outfit, which was
certainly excessive for a three weeks' stay at a spa.
He was out for the day when she was busy with her
packing and also out for supper the same evening.
When he returned he found her shut up in her room
and still packing. She advised him (through the locked
door) to go to bed. At the unreasonable hour of 2 a.m.
she knocked him up to say good-bye. Being a dutiful
husband, he accompanied her to the boat in his dressing-
gown. She took her own maid with her. On parting
she solemnly handed to her husband — as every good
housewife should do — the key of the plate closet, which
she said she had carefully locked. She did not inform
203
The Lake of Geneva
him that she had carefully emptied it before she turned
the key. He, no doubt, expressed a kindly hope that
her " pains " would be mitigated by the taking of the
waters. The amazing lady set sail for Evian on the
morning of July 13th, 1726, with a smile of supreme
satisfaction on her face.
M. de Warens, still deluded and still dutiful, went
over to Evian to see his lady on August 4th. She was
most agreeable, but at once asked him to send her a
certain ' ' beautiful cane with a golden head ' ' for her
use in walking when she went to the spa. She begged
him also to forward Bayle's ''Historical and Critical
Dictionary " in five volumes. She was not taking the
waters nor was she reading dictionaries, but both the
cane and the books meant money, and she was deter-
mined to get all she could. She seems to have had just
one twinge of conscience at the last, for when she bade
the silly man adieu she said, with a sigh, " My poor
husband, what will become of you? " He left Evian the
same day. On reaching Vevey de Warens the deluded
sent her his gold-headed cane and the learned volumes
by a special messenger. Had he stayed in Evian a little
longer he might have heard a great deal, for much had
happened between the time of her departure from
Vevey and his dutiful visit.
Madame de Warens was aware that to live in comfort
in Savoy she must become a Catholic and, further, she
was aware that she must get money. Now a convert
in Savoy was at that moment an asset of importance,
and if the convert chanced to be the wife of a nobleman
in Protestant Vaud a person of great spiritual value.
Franyoise, therefore, had resolved to join the Church
204
The Escapade of Madame de Warens
of Rome, and the next thing was to make money out
of her conversion. She had aheady a plan worked out
in her busy brain. The fact that she left Vevey on
July 13th was not an accident, for she knew that on
July 14th the Duke of Savoy (Victor Amadeus II)
would be at Evian, and would attend the parish church
in company with the bishop. Here was her chance.
She went to the church of St. Mary and took her place
just inside the door.
What followed may be given in the words of M. de
Conzie, who was a member of the duke's suite. The
duke was staying at the de Blonay chateau at Evian
with the son of that Madame de Blonay who had been
buried alive at St. Paul, as has been recorded in
Chapter xviii. M. de Conzie writes :
*' The Prince went to Mass in the parochial church accom-
panied simply by some seigneurs of his court, among whom
was the Bishop of Annecy. Scarcely had the duke entered the
church when Madame de Warens seized the prelate by his cassock
and threw herself at his feet, saying ' In manus tuas, Domine,
commendo spiritum meum.' The bishop stopped, and aiding
her to rise, talked five or six minutes with this young penitent,
who from thence went directly to the lodgings of the prelate ;
and as soon as Mass was finished he joined her there." ^
The result of this carefully-planned dramatic per-
formance was a presentation to the duke, a pension of
1,000 livres a year from that prince and an additional
income of 1,000 livres a year from the Bishops of
Annecy and Maurienne.^ The fortunes of Franyoise
Louise — aged 27 — were made.
1 Quoted by Read, op. cit.
* The joint sum would be equivalent to about £80 per annum, a goodly
income in those times.
205
The Lake of Geneva
There was just one thing more. She was to go to
a convent at Annecy and she wanted to leave Evian in
style. So she told a dire story of a possible pursuit by
infuriated relatives, and was therefore conducted to
Annecy by an armed escort provided by the duke. The
lady seems to have started for Annecy just after the
visit of her husband on August 4th.
The messenger whom M. de Warens had sent to
Evian with the gold cane and the dictionary came
back on August 7th and, meeting his master in the
road, bluntly exclaimed, " Monsieur, you have no
more a wife ! She left Evian this morning to follow
the duke to Turin." The information was not quite
exact, but it was enough for de Warens, who at
once bolted home and rushed up to the plate closet.
He found it empty. He then threw open his wife's
wardrobes. They also were empty but for a few rags.
He immediately took horse and galloped to Geneva,
not to regain his wife, but in the hope of retrieving
some of his stolen property. He failed totally.
In a little w^hile he received a nice chatty letter
from the astounding lady, written from Annecy, giving
all her news and suggesting that he should become a
Catholic and should pay her a visit in her new home.
He went to see her as she proposed. She took care
that the interview was well staged. He saw her in bed.
She wept picturesquely and begged very prettily to be
forgiven. He stayed at the inn, but they had breakfast
and dinner together. She talked mostly about religion,
but he had not come to Annecy to discuss points of
doctrine, but to discuss the stocking factory, because,
as she had become a Catholic, her property in Vevey
2Q6
The Escapade of Madame de Warens
(such as it was) would be sequestrated to the State. She
signed such documents as he wished, with the result that
in due course the bankrupt factory became his own.
He was throughout this crisis a great deal more anxious
to save something out of the wreck than to secure
possession of this fluttering, theatrical young woman.
He writes in a letter to a friend : "As I quitted her
she was seized with a sort of faintness which was so
short that it convinced me she was a veritable
comedian."
She had just a few moments of uneasiness, however,
for long after the Evian exploit she wrote to M. de
Conzie :
*' My dear friend, will you believe me when I tell you that
for two years after my abjuration of Protestantism I never went
to bed without feeling a kind of goose flesh all over my body,
resulting from the perplexity into which I was phuiged."
A divorce for "malicious desertion" was declared
on February 24th, 1727.^
In 1728 Madame de Warens met with Rousseau,
then a lad of sixteen. About 1736 she took the pretty
house, Les Charmettes, just outside Chambery. The
poor lady died in the town of Chambery, in destitution
and obscurity, at the age of sixty-three. Her place of
burial is unknown. Her husband predeceased her by
eight years. Rousseau's treatment of this kind-hearted
if erring woman was such as to justify the opinion that
"in the long range of historical personages whom the
centuries present to us there is perhaps no more repulsive
figure than that of J. J. Rousseau as a human being.
^ " Madame de Warens " (Mitnoires, elc, de la Suisse Romande); par A. de
Montet Tome iii. 1890.
207
The Lake of Geneva
He is absolutely disgusting." ^ The only plea that could
be urged on his behalf is that he was undoubtedly of
unsound mind.
The house that Madame de Warens occupied in
Vevey is in the north-east corner of the Place du Marche
and is now known as the Maison Nicole. It is rather
hidden from view by a row of new shops. It is a pretty
house of two stories, has a fine roof and is composed of
a central part with a wing on either side. The windows
are modern. The entrance is approached by a double
flight of steps, and down these very steps the smiling
lady, with her pockets stuffed with household loot, must
have tripped when she was on her way to the boat and
was leaving Vevey for ever. Her country house, Le
Basset, was demolished in 1889. Photographs of it
show a small rustic house among the vineyards, very
simple, but made attractive by quaint windows and a
long covered balcony on the upper floor.
iRead. Op, cit, vol. 2, p. 116.
208
XXXIIl
BLONAY CASTLE
ABROAD valley, breaking its way through the
far hills, rolls down to the Lake at Vevey. High
^ up on the floor of this league-wide slope stands
the Castle of Blonay. Its position is superb. It stands
alone on an isolated mound, the one dominant feature of
the landscape. So it has stood for over seven hundred
years. It is surrounded by a green, contented country
of homely meadows and slumbering, shadowy woods.
Towering above it are the massive heights of Les
Pleiades, which form the eastern wall of the valley.
The castle realizes to the full the romance with which
it has been surrounded for so many centuries. It is
most impressive when viewed from the lower stretches
of the valley on a grey day — a November afternoon, let
it be, about the time of the setting of the sun. The
castle then stands up against the background of mist as
a thing of enchantment. Its height appears enormous.
It is white and spectral -looking, a vast mysterious
presence rather than a fabric of solid stone.
As a writer in the Dictionnaire Historique says, the
family of Blonay is "one of the most important and
probably the most ancient in the Pays de Vaud." In
these days of change it is impossible to contemplate
without a sense of awe a house which has been in the
o 209
The Lake of Geneva
occupation of one family for seven hundred years, and
is still held by the descendants of that Othon de Blonay
who led his rough men-at-arms into this quiet valley
about the year 1000. There was just one break in the
centuries, when Blonay and its castle were ceded in
1752 to Rodolphe de Graffenried ; but the domain
returned again to the ancient family in 1806.
The history of the Blonays provides a moving and
picturesque story. Among the lords of the castle have
been heroic men whose deeds are almost mythical.
Crusaders bearing the banner of the Cross, men who
have fought beyond the seas, knights whose lances have
gained glory in the lists, grey-headed men of affairs and
young bloods who have made the country ring with
their gallantries. Still throughout the ages their
trenchant motto has been upheld — *' Purs comme VOr,
jyrompts comme VEclair,^^
Many must have been the revels within the walls
of Blonay, many the feasts and many the bridal gather-
ings. One trivial record throws a pretty light on some
of the doings at the chateau. It appears that in the
16th century there was a tournament at the Court of
Savoy between bachelors and married men. Simon de
Blonay, as champion of the married, beat the Sieur of
Corsant, who carried the pennon of the bachelors. As
the result of his defeat the Lord of Corsant had need to
go to Blonay to cry mercy of the Dame de Blonay.
The lady was more than merciful, for the defeated
champion was lavishly entertained and made much of.
Among the company there chanced to be the beautiful
Yolande de la Villette. By her bright eyes de Corsant
was once more vanquished and brought helpless to the
210
BLONAY CASTLE
.>»«>*»»*« •»»«•'
Blonay Castle
ground. Once again he cried mercy and with such
effect that Yolande became the chatelaine of Corsant,
while the bachelors lost a gallant member of their
company.
The castle was built in 1175 by Pierre de Blonay,
from which time dates the great central tower or keep,
which is still the prominent feature of the chateau.
Blonay has of necessity undergone many changes in the
course of its long life. It has been remodelled and
added to from time to time, and yet it is claimed that
it retains to the present day its original outline. The
most extensive changes in the building appear to have
been carried out in the 15th century as a natural result
of the introduction of firearms. It was originally flanked
by four towers, of which now only two remain.
The Chateau of Blonay is less impressive when
viewed near at hand. It stands, as already stated, on
a very steep isolated mound covered with grass. It
takes the form of an immense rectangular building with
modernized windows. It is ashen- white in colour and
is surmounted by a chestnut-brown roof. In general
appearance it has the aspect of a vast, rambling, scarcely
habitable place, very old, very desolate looking and
chilled, it would seem, to its inmost walls by the winters
and bleak winds of centuries. In the centre is the great
keep, a square, stolid mass, still very sturdy in spite of
its burden of years. It has a high-pitched roof covered
with slate-coloured tiles, while just below the eaves is
a series of rectangular embrasures which date from the
15th century. The building on the steeper side (that
facing the Lake) is supported by three immense but-
tresses. High up on the w^all on the east flank is a
211
The Lake of Geneva
very beautiful little turret, Avith a machicolated gallery,
perched up near the roof like a dovecot.
The entrance is gloomy. The main gate, with its
rounded arch of the 16th century and its heavy sullen
door, is surmounted by a gallery with machicolations,
and has by its side windows barred with forbidding iron.
Within is a 15th century chapel which has been con-
verted into a muniment-room. It still retains its altar
and its benitier, and is still lit by a window which bears
the date 1577.
Almost at the foot of Blonay is the pleasant village
of La Chi^saz with its rare old church — rare not because
its annals go back to 1228, nor because it has been
restored with exceptional skill, but rare on account of
its remarkable ceiling and the fact that it possesses two
perfectly distinct choirs. The beautiful square tower of
the church was erected in 1523, while the main walls of
the building belong to the 14th century. The interior
presents a spacious nave without aisles. The roof is
of painted wood. It takes the form of a wide vault
shaped like the hull of a vast ship inverted. It is, more-
over, ribbed longitudinally in a manner which strongly
suggests the planks of a ship. The summit of the arch
might be the keel as it would appear from the inside.
Furthermore, there hang from this dome certain
lanterns which curiously resemble the stern lights of
ancient ships. The comparison goes no farther, for the
whole arch is painted a deep blue to represent the vault
of heaven and is spangled, from horizon to zenith, with
stars. It is the sky of a night in summer and, indeed,
the worshipper on such an evening might imagine the
church to be roofless and that he sat beneath the
212
BLONAY CASTLE : THE MAIN GATE
'^yi V
Blonay Castle
stars and could feel the breeze sweeping up from
the Lake.
The two choirs are side by side but are separated by
a very massive wall. Through the thickness of the
masonry a passage has been cut which leads from one
choir to the other. They both belong to the 13th
century. The south choir contained, in ancient days,
the high altar. It has three lancet windows arranged
in a pyramid and is — taken as a whole — a perfect
specimen of its period. Here lie buried members of
the Cojonay family, as is recorded on a stone bearing
their blazon of the three birds. The north choir is of the
same date, but its two large pointed lights w^re intro-
duced in the 16th century. On the north wall is a very
beautiful httle 14th century window of particular charm.
This choir was a chapel of St. George, which was
founded by Aymmonet de Blonay and his wife. Mar-
guerite d'Oron, about the middle of the 14th century.
It must be to this pious couple that we owe the exquisite
little window in the chapel wall. Marguerite deserted
Blonay, for after the death of Aymmonet she had two
other husbands, the third being Jean, Count of Gruyere,
who seems to have persuaded her to transfer her share
of the domain to Amadeus VI of Savoy. On the vault
of this choir is still to be seen, in faint colour, the
golden lion of the great house of Blonay.
The village of La Chiesaz is made up of ancient
houses, some of which are so curious that it would seem
as if they had been designed for the sole purpose of
being picturesque. The outer walls of many of the
cottages display designs in black and white, illustrating
village scenes and depicting village characters. Some of
213
The Lake of Geneva
the figures are life-size, some are smaller. All are
realistic and delightful in their vivacity and good spirits.
They are the work of M. Beguin, an artist of note who
was a native of La Chiesaz. They appear to have been
painted about thirty-five years ago. The practice of using
the outside walls of houses as leaves of a sketch-book is
probably only to be observed at La Chiesaz. The result
is so remarkable that the village is generally known as
Le Village illustre.
9H
XXXIV
GRUYERES
IT will be remembered that when Counsellor Knapp
put on the Goloshes of Fortune, in mistake for his
own, he found himself (as Hans Andersen tells us)
carried back three hundred years and stumbling through
a town which was strange and unreal. Now, without
the help of magic shoes, there is to be found, among
the hills of Fribourg, a town which is curious and
improbable and which will carry those who come to it —
be they counsellors or common men — far back into the
past. The name of the town is Gruyeres.^ It is a
remote, shy place which would fain be left in peace.
Its people are almost as isolated as are dwellers on an
island and still speak, among themselves, a Romanic
dialect called Gruerien.
The scene amidst which the town is set is such as
best becomes it. It lies in a country of its own which
was once a little kingdom, independent, self-contained
and strong. Of this country of Gruyere it was the
capital, while jvithin its walls was the court of its
autocratic prince. It was precisely such a country, such
a town and such a prince as figure in the simplest fairy
tale. To realize the landscape it is necessary to conceive
a wide plain of meadow land, as green as the sky is blue,
1 It is reached most readily from Vevey or Montreux by electric railway.
215
The Lake of Geneva
a plain which is traversed by a stream, is dotted by a
cottage or two and occupied by many cows. Around this
arena — as if it were the wall of a vast colosseum — is a
circle of mountains which enclose it and hide it from
the .world.
In the expanse itself is a solitary hill, long, narrow
and steep and shaped like a whale. On the summit of
this hill is the town. Seen from afar it is a compact,
clean-cut little place, so raised above the plain as to
overlook it from end to end. It seems at first to be
merely a pack of white w^alls on the top of a green bank.
The walls have dots for window^s, and for roofs a litter
— it would seem — of brown autumn leaves dropped by
the wind.
The town is surrounded by a prim wall, within
which the houses are herded like white sheep in a
pen. This wall has battlements on its crest, and at its
foot a gate which appears as a black gap from which
a grey path trails do\vn the slope. On the highest point
of the hill is a massive castle of great age, crowned by
a high-pitched roof and flanked by a round tower. Near
by the chateau can be seen the spire of a church.
Gruyeres, even when viewed from a distance, is more
like a town in a story-book than a place to be found in
a telephone directory.
It becomes almost a question how a town so distinctive
should be most fitly approached. To walk up the hill,
staff in hand, would clearly be appropriate. It would
be proper also to ride up, provided that the lady — if
there be a lady — rode pillion. As to vehicles, a cabriolet
or a one-horse chaise would appear to be in keeping, but
to visit Gruyeres in a motor car would be an outrage.
216
Gruyeres
One might as well burst into the Garden of Eden on
an aeroplane.
As the proposed one-horse chaise crawls up to the
town there is nothing to be seen that is noteworthy,
nothing but the white road and a hill-side covered
with grass. On reaching the summit the chaise will
stop, the traveller will alight, and will find himself
suddenly in the midst of Gruyeres. The town is
revealed so abruptly that the hill road might have
opened upon the stage of a theatre with a set scene
showing a street in an vmusual to^vll. In front of the
traveller is an open space with houses crowding on
either side of it. It is a space of modest size and yet
it reaches from one end of the town to the other, for
Gruyeres is very small, so small that the whole of it
is seen at a glance. The place is paved with cobble-
stones, between which much grass is growing. It is
called simply " The Street," for there is no other street
in the town. Yet it is not exactly a street. It has
no pavement and no apparent outlet. Moreover, it is
not level as most streets are. In fact, it slopes down
at once to a dip where are a fountain and women wash-
ing clothes. It then mounts up, as if from a river-bed,
and comes to an end before a figure of Christ on the
Cross. The figure is life-size, is brilliantly painted, and
is sheltered by a penthouse which throws a solemn
shadow across the face. Beyond the Cross, on one
side, is a little company of houses which appear to be
elbowing one another and peeping over one another's
shoulders in their effort to look down The Street ; while,
on the other side, is a path which leads to the castle.
Beyond the castle and the inquisitive houses are the sky
217
The Lake of Geneva
and a distant mountain capped with snow. Thus it is
that The Street represents the beginning and the end
of Gruyeres. In fact, it is Gruyeres.
The view of the castle from the entry to Gruyeres
is enchanting. There is Uttle more than the round
tower to be seen, but it is so burly, so like a great giant
and yet so very old and kindly-looking that the little
town lies at its feet with the contentment of a dog.
Owing to the oddness of the houses that form The Street
and to the general unreality of the place it would be no
surprise if one suddenly heard (as did Counsellor Knapp
in his own queer city) the sound of drums and fifes and
saw coming down the lane from the castle a troop of
drummers beating their drums, followed by a body of
men-at-arms with crossbows and spears, and then, on a
large horse, a prince in armour with a plume in his
helmet, attended by pages upon whose slashed doublets
was embroidered in silver the wide-winged crane or
Grue — the emblem of Gruyeres.
Those who wear the Goloshes of Fortune would see
that procession without doubt and stranger things
besides ; but to those who are normally shod there is
still " La Rue," which is assuredly strange enough. It
is a quiet street because, but for the women washing
at the spring and two boys who are trickling marbles
between the cobble-stones, there are few signs of life. A
red-faced girl is chasing some fowls out of a mediaeval
cellar; but the excitement is only momentary. An old
woman is seated on a bench in the sun busy with her
knitting, while on another bench two aged men are
reading from the same new^spaper, the date of .which
journal one would suppose to be about 1621.
218
Gruyeres
The houses are not only old but curious. Many have
fine ogee windows as well as handsome stone doorways.
Over the round arches of these entries will be such dates
as 1543, 1591 or 1594, together with a piece of carving
which as often as not takes the form of the strutting
Grue. There is an ancient house with a mediaeval shop.
The shop is just a rounded arch closed by the original
three-fold shutter and provided with a stone slab for the
counter. The house has windows which would not
demean an old-world manor house. There is an inn,
too, called the " Fleur de Lys." It is a comfortable
inn but rather modern, being, indeed, almost an upstart
in the place, since it is not yet three hundred years old,
as the date (1653) over the door attests. Gargoyles
seem to have been, at one time, fashionable in Gruyeres,
as was also the custom of decorating a house with
fantastic carving, the work apparently of light-hearted
men who worked for the fun of the thing and were fond
of making jokes in stone.
The most delightful house in Gruyeres is known as
'' La Chalamala." It stands in La Rue, there being no
other place for it. It is small, possessing two stories
and a garret. The door is approached by a flight of
white steps which are picturesquely askew. It is just
such a door as would be found in a 14th centuiy con-
vent. The windows, however, are the glory of the
house. The stone framework of each is wondrously and
profusely carved with great cunning and invention.
There is an overhanging roof with a water-pipe which
ends in a dragon's head. The head is very fierce, is
rather violent in colour, has teeth like a saw and a
gaping mouth that is alarmingly red. From the lips of
219
The Lake of Geneva
the reptile the water pours down upon the cobblestones
when rain falls in Gruyeres.
The name of the house is of interest. Gerard
Chalamala >vas a jester at the Court of the Count of
Gruyere. All that is known about him is contained in
his last will and testament, which he signed on the
25th day of May in the year 1349. The document is
preserved among the archives of the town. M. Diricq,
in his charming little history of Gruyeres ^ reproduces
it word for word, merely changing the Latin of the
text into modern French. A will gives little scope for
the display of humour, so it is impossible, from this
ancient writing, to form any idea of Chalamala's gifts
as a comedian. From the document, however, many
things are to be learned. In the first place it is clear
that the jester was rich and, in the second place, that
he was deeply religious. He left legacies to various
pious institutions, including one cow to La Chartreuse
of Oron and another cow to the Abbey of Marsens. It
is to be gathered from this testament that Chalamala
was of a serious and melancholic disposition, as are so
many professional humorists. Furthermore, it appears
that he belonged to a family of jesters, for his brother
Michel is described as a mime, wMe his daughter
Jordane was married to a "fool."
When this family party of funny men gathered
together at Christmas the meeting must have been
depressing and restrained, since they must have shunned
the talking of " shop," have avoided clowning and
thrown aside all apeing of the professional manner.
1 " Gruyeres en Gruyere," par Edouard Diricq. Lausanne, 1921. With a
beautiful water-colour of La Rue by Colonel Goff.
220
Gruy^res
One can imagine Jordane, the daughter, imploring her
husband Girard not to try to be tunny at the dinner
table and to keep his hands off the sausages and such-
hke tempting missiles. The testator mentions his house,
but it is impossible to identify it with the dainty,
fantastic little building which now goes by his name.
The only comic feature about the dwelling is the dragon-
headed water-pipe which pours down water on the head
of the passer-by.
Opposite this house and by the side of The Street is
a most extraordinary object. It consists of a huge
block, bench or table of solid stone. In this stone,
chiselled out of the very rock, are five deep round basins.
They differ in size and capacity. At the bottom of
each is a round vent which opens upon the side of the
wall above which the block is placed. These cavities
suggest rock-hewn wash-hand basins of great depth, but
it is hard to understand why one is so large and one so
small, unless the latter be intended for a child. A
wearer of Counsellor Knapp's goloshes might consider
that they belonged to some colossal game of bagatelle
played by giants or to some still more unearthly game
of chance. They are, however, nothing of the kind.
They are the ancient Mesures in which the peasants
measured their corn on market days. When the rock
basin was filled the buyer drew off the grain in a sack
through the vent on the face of the wall. Even to-day
this method of transacting business would appear to
have some practical merit.
Photographs give no effective idea of the beauty of
Gruyeres. They should, indeed, be avoided, as convey-
ing an inadequate impression of the place, since one
221
The^Lake of Geneva
great charm of La Rue is its wonderful colouring. The
houses are mostly white or a hazy blue. The overhang-
ing roofs, which cast such quaint shadows on the walls,
are a ruddy brown. The roadway blends the lilac-grey
of the cobble-stones with the green of grass, and will be
lit by a spark of brighter colour as a woman with a
red cape crosses in the sun. On almost every window-sill
is a box of scarlet geraniums, while creepers and climb-
ing roses find a place on many a stretch of ancient
masonry. Sun-shutters are en regie in Gruyeres, and
are lavish in their colouring. At a point or two in the
street are dark green fir trees or an aromatic pile of
winter wood, the logs of which are russet or biscuit-
yellow or silver-grey. In front of almost every house
is a bright green bench behind a row of shrubs in pots
or a bank of flowers. This bench so enclosed forms the
open-air sitting-room of the home, for here the gossips
gather while the children play, and here the man from
the fields smokes his caporal after his work is done. All
that is needed to complete the magic of the place is the
sound of a spinning-wheel.
The castle dates from the 11th century, but has been
more than once rebuilt. In its general features it must
look to-day very much as it has looked for the last four
hundred years. The church is of little interest. It has
been restored on the lines of a church in a new industrial
suburb. It is all that Gruyeres is not.
The town wall has much attraction, especially for
boys playing at soldiers. It has an ineffectual tower
here and there and boasts of battlements, each gap in
which gives a little framed picture of the glorious green
country around. The patrol path on its summit is pro-
222
Gruyeres
tected by a running roof which shielded the city guard
from the sun in summer and from the snow in winter.
This much-trodden path is so Httle changed that, when
the shadow of the evening falls, it is easy to picture the
last of the old night watchmen disappearing round the
corner with his heavy cloak, his lantern and his pike.
The gates of the town have, like all old gates in
walled places, a fine air of romance about them. The
chief gate is the Porte du Belluard. It was the state
entry into Gruyeres. It has a pointed arch, over which
is a small mysterious gallery with one tiny window to
watch the road and a line of machicolations with which
to terrify the intruder. Over the entry is a painting in
brave colours in which great justice is done to the
strutting Grue. Through this gate must have poured
many a brilliant and beribboned cavalcade when the
count went forth to the wars or when he was making
a visit in state to the Castle of Blonay or the city of
Aubonne.
There is another gate which has quite a different
attraction. It was a sally port or little used postern,
a way of escape which would be called in the theatre
world "an emergency exit." It is a mere hole in the
town wall, wide enough to allow a cow to pass. It leads
out directly upon the grass slope of the hill, so that it
is just one step from the inside of the town to the green
and quiet country'. One can imagine the melancholy
Chalamala stealing out of this gate alone to sit on the
hill-side, where — disturbed only by the tinkle of the
cow-bells — he could invent fresh funniments to be
retailed while the count sat at supper, or practise fresh
grimaces before a little piece of looking-glass.
223
XXXV
ON THE ROAD TO LAUSANNE
A WHITE level road, hot and dazzling in the
summer, runs from Vevey to Lausanne, a
distance of 12 J miles. It has on one side the
Lake and on the other the vineyards, with here and
there a garden of roses, a villa or a little town. The
first place met with on the way is the fascinating village
of St. Saphorin. It is small, since it can number only
400 inhabitants, and yet it has been a place of import-
ance in its day, for the Romans had some kind of station
here, while in mediaeval times St. Saphorin was of good
repute and held itself in no small esteem. It has been
the seat of a noble family, for there is a record of a
knight with the musical name of Guy de St. Saphorin
as far back as the year 1137. The '' Court General "
of St. Saphorin drawn up in 1424 mentions a mayor
and other officials, while frequent allusion is made to
the aristocratic Chateau of Glerolles with which St.
Saphorin was honourably associated.
The little town, although not entirely fortified, was
a hourg fenne; that is to say, it had a wall on its more
exposed front, where it faced the Lake, while on the
other side it trusted to the cliff against which it stands.
There were two gates to the tiny place, one on the
west and one on the east. The old narrow road from
224
ST. SAPHORIN: THE ENTRY
lamasyoHBiiiiiBBBi
GLEROLLES. SHOWING A BACKGROUND OF VINEYARDS
• • ♦ '* «\
On the Road to Lausanne
Lausanne crept in at the west gate, climbed up to the
church and then dropped down again to the eastern gate,
as if it were a passage over the hump of a camel. The
road — the old road — follows perversely the same course
still.
St. Saphorin viewed from the Lake is a very pert
place. Piled up on the side of a cliff it looks like a
clump of creepers, with great brown leaves, climbing up
the face of a rock. It should be entered from the
Vevey side, not by the new road, which is commonplace,
but by the old. This old road is narrow and steep and
has other peculiarities. It passes by a pointed archway
through the ancient wall of the town, a wall of which
a considerable portion still exists. The road, as it mounts
upwards, creeps under two other archways. By the side
of the first of these is a house with fine ogee windows,
while by the side of the other is the stump of a
pentagonal tower with its original loopholes. St.
Saphorin, therefore, was guarded well.
The place J or piazza, or central square of St.
Saphorin, to which the road leads, is a very curious
and pretty place. It is about the size of a modest
drawing-room and is shaded by two fine trees, a Lom-
bardy poplar and a chestnut, which are almost too large
for the diminutive plot. On one side is the church,
and opposite to it is '' The Wave " inn, an old house
with a beautiful hanging sign showing a three-masted
ship in full sail. On the third side of the place a flight
of stone steps leads up to an arcade under a house. The
arches of the arcade form a kind of gallery which looks
down into the square as a theatre box may look down
upon a stage. In the arcade is a swing for the village
p 225
The Lake of Geneva
children, while out of it leads a tempting path which,
skirting the \ery roof of the church, winds uphill among
the vines. The whole setting suggests a scene in a rustic
opera.
The village itself is picturesque, with its alleys, its
dark passages and its curious houses. One house bears
the date 1612, another has a fine loggia of stone, while
many have balconies and outside stairs w^hich give the
place much attraction.
The church is famous. It dates from the 15th
century, and occupies the site of an edifice of even
greater age. It has a grand square tower and presents
within a fine Gothic roof and a gracious choir. Its
chief treasure is a stained-glass window given by Bishop
Sebastien de Montfalcon in 1530, in which the bishop
is shown on his knees before the Virgin and St.
Saphorin. A writer in the Dictionnaire Historiqiie con-
siders this window to be one of the finest in the whole
of Vaud. Placed in the church for safe keeping are an
inscribed stone of the Roman period in the form of an
altar, found in the village, together with a Roman mile-
stone, of the time of the Emperor Claudius, from the
high road by GleroUes.
In a wall in the square at the top of the hill is a
curious tablet of stone dated 1812. Carved upon it in
prominent letters is a notice to carters that they must
not descend the hill without putting a drag or shoe on
the wheel and, further, must not allow timber to trail
behind the cart. One would imagine that no carter,
even if exhilarated by a "joy ride,'* would need this
very obvious advice. As, however, the wagoner in
1812 was probably imable to read, the warning is
226
On the Road to Lausanne
graphically conveyed to him in the form of a cart-
wheel carved in stone to which is attached a most
conspicuous drag.
A little way beyond St. Saphorin is the old Chateau
of Glerolles. It is placed on the very edge of the Lake
and, indeed, stands on a rock which was once an island,
like that of Chillon; but the making of the railway
has now united it to the mainland. The origin of the
chateau is obscure. It comes into the light of history
in the second half of the 13th century as a possession
of the bishops of Lausanne. It seems from the earliest
times to have been dignified by a lofty square tower
of the type of the tower at Ouchy. The chatelain of
Glerolles was appointed, until 1536, by the bishops and
was endowed >vith considerable power, which he shared
with an avou6 or legal representative of Lausanne. The
Dictionnaire Historique gives a list of the chatelains of
Glerolles from 1312 to 1798. The most important part
of the chateau — as it now appears — was the work of the
last bishops of Lausanne, and notably of Aymon de
Montfalcon, or Montfaucon, who held the see between
the years 1491 and 1517. Glerolles w^as then a small
fortress, and made itself obnoxious by the exacting of
tolls from those who passed along the highway. On the
west side of the building are still to be seen five coats
of arms at different levels belonging to Bishop Aymon
and to families with which he was allied. On the south
face of the chateau (between the west block and the
donjon) are six other coats of arms, also of the Mont-
falcons. These relate, it is surmised, to Sebastien de
Montfalcon, the last of the bishops of Lausanne.
Sebastien, when he fled from the city under the
227
The Lake of Geneva
circumstances detailed in Chapter xxxviii, took refuge
in Glerolles.
In 1803 Glerolles was sold, its glory faded, the aspect
of romance died from its walls and it became a dull and
uninteresting place, not due to attempts at restoration,
but to attempts to convert it into a modern dwelling
house. The Dictionnaire Historique says that the
donjon of the chateau once contained on the first floor
a chest of wood strengthened with plates of iron and
furnished with a little wicket closed by bars. This went
by the name of "the witches' cage."
Glerolles at the present day is a large rambling,
disorderly building, half modern and half ancient, and
so vague that it is neither a chateau, on the one hand,
nor a dwelling house, on the other. It looks as if
portions of a mediaeval castle had been fused, in a
muddled mass, with a farmhouse and a block or tw^o of
suburban flats. At the entry — on the side of the road
— is a round tower which, no doubt, once commanded
the drawbridge. Behind it is the lower part of the great
square donjon or keep. This was, until recent times, a
most commanding tower, as is evident from old prints,^
where it is shown in its full grandeur with a steep,
pointed roof and a row of sentry windows under the
eaves. It appears that the new owners of the donjon,
finding that its vast body cast an objectionable shadow
on the vines across the road, pulled the old keep down
to what may be called a proper agricultural level. It
is now a most sorry object, but has just one memory
left of its ancient glory in the form of a very dainty
little window that looks across the Lake.
1 " Histolre du Canton de Vaud," par P. Maillefer. Lausanne, 1903. p. 183.
228
On the Road to Lausanne
The mass of the building has been modernized,
although here and there an ancient window is visible,
together with traces of handsome stonework. In the
courtyard, which has still some element of dignity, will
be seen the coats of arms which have been already
described. The interior of the building was practically
gutted and " brought up to date " some twenty or thirty
years ago.
High up on the hill-side above Glerolles and very
conspicuous to those who pass by on the Lake is the
Tower of Marsens. It dominates the famous vineyards
of Dezaley. It takes the form of a huge square tower
surmounted by fragments of its old battlements and
pierced by certain transomed windows which would
belong probably to the 17th century. It has older
windows, some with the original round arch and some
of the type known as ogee. It dates from about the
year 1140, and is supposed to have been built, as a
maison forte, by that Bishop Landri de Durnes who
erected the first Castle of Ouchy. Its history is unevent-
ful and is much concerned throughout with the fact
that it possessed a winepress. It has had \ery many
owners, from a Lord of Gruyere, on the one hand, to
an apothecary of Fribourg, on the other.
229
XXXVI
A CHAPEL IN A GROCER 's SHOP
GULLY, midway between Vevey and Lausanne, is
a little town of 1,100 inhabitants. It can look
back very far into the past, for there was a time
when the lounger on the beach of Cully would have
seen in the bay a lake village, an amphibious camp
made up of thatched roofs and huts on a submerged
field of piles. Later on the idler would have seen
Roman legionaries and Roman merchants halting by
the road, since Cully seems to have been a posting
station or wayside caravanserai of some significance.
Cully, from its earliest days, has been devoted to
the making of wine. It has probably made wine ever
since wine-making was known in Europe. It makes
wine still and makes it well and, indeed, does nothing
else. Grapes and the winepress are the symbols of its
being, the subject of its thoughts and the mark of its
ambition. A bunch of grapes on a branch constitutes
the ancient arms of Cully. They are grapes, it may be
noticed, of such size and quality that they would seem
to proclaim to the world, " These are the grapes of
Cully." Someone, inspired by a sense of the fitness of
things, has surmised that there was once a temple to
Bacchus at Cully, but unfortunately the suggestion is
unfounded. There are, however, other memorials which
230
A Chapel in a Grocer's Shop
may prove as significant. One day in the year 1882 a
man digging in a vineyard by Cully unearthed a httle
bronze statuette of a Bacchante. It would seem to tell
the story of a Roman wine-grower whose admiration of
Bacchus was such that he kept this figure in his house.
When the barbarians .were seen to be swarming over
the hills above Cully one can imagine him taking the
image from its niche and hiding it among his vines. One
must further suppose that he was killed or made prisoner,
since certain it is that he never came back to claim the
figure he cherished. So for nearly two thousand years
a votary of Bacchus lay hid in the vineyards of Cully.
The records of Cully go back to the 10th century.
It once belonged to the bishops, who did little but
quarrel about their claims since the town was in the
ecclesiastical parish of Villette. It seems to have been
only feebly fortified, but possessed in 1577 both a car can
and a virolet. The former was a collar for the neck of
criminals exposed to public view, and the latter a cage
in which they were confined for convenient exhibition,
to the delight, no doubt, of the boys of the place. ^
Cully is an interesting spot in many ways. It has,
in the first place, the most picturesque promenade on
the Lake, a wide, leisurely promenade dignified by a
row of fine old Lombardy poplars. On this parade is a
monument to Major Davel, who was a bourgeois of
Cully. The gallant Davel raised the standard of rebellion
in 1723 with the forlorn hope of ridding Vaud of the
dominion of Berne. He failed, and was executed at
Vidy, near Lausanne, on April 24th, 1723.
A still more charming feature of this unpretentious
1 Carcans of various types are to be seen in the Vevey Museum,
231
The Lake of Geneva
town is displayed by the number of old houses that it
contains, and especially by their beautiful doorways.
Close to the church is an old building called the Sordet
House. It, being very antique, is smothered wath
stucco, according to the Sw^iss custom. Its main feature
is a square tow^er, on one angle of which — almost buried
in plaster — is a fine Gothic niche. The doorway in the
base of the tower is of handsomely carved stone, and
bears the inscription, " 1521. A.S." The letters are
the initials of Aime Sordet. The door opens upon a
wdde stone stair, the walls of which are ornamented at
intervals with elaborate and curious pieces of carving,
representing heads, coats of arms, reptiles and a man
playing the bagpipes. The arms of the Sordet family,
it may be noted, were a serpent with a gold crown. On
the south wall of the house, which looks into a quaint
courtyard, is an escutcheon, with on it a figure, helmet
and lambrequin carved in stone. The house is now
divided into poor tenements.
In the courtyard is a remarkable mediaeval bench
fashioned, or rather dug out, from the trunk of a tree,
for it is in one solid piece. Wood can show its age in
manj^ ways. It may become black ; it may become
grey; it may be friable, riddled with worm-holes and
covered with snuff-coloured dust. This bench is, how-
ever, as hard as a stone, as sunburnt as a summer
fisherman and free from evidences of decay. Age shows
itself in the extraordinary degree in which it is wrinkled.
No shrivelled-up centenarian could show wrinkles so
intricate nor furrows so deep.
The Sordets were great people in Cully in the 16th
century, and by reason of holding the seigneurie of
232
CULLY: A DOOR OF 1598
CULLY: A MEDIyiiVAL BENCH DUG OUT FROM A TREE TRUNK
A Chapel in a Grocer's Shop
Ropraz (near Mezieres, north-east of Lausanne) had the
status of noblemen. Aime Sordet was one of the repre-
sentatives, on the side of the Reformers, chosen to take
part in the famous Rehgious Conference held at Lausanne
in October, 1536.
There is another beautifully carved doorway in
the town, bearing on the lintel the inscription, "1520.
A. lESVS MARIA, s.," the first and last letters being
the initials of the same Aime Sordet. Among other
notable stone entries in the town may be mentioned
one with the date 1525 and the Sacred Heart in stone,
another with the year 1598 over a round arch very
curiously ornamented, and a third of much dignity
marked by the date 1684. One humble doorway — a
simple square entry of stone — must not be overlooked.
It is crowned by a little head, the head of a nun with
a pretty face and a most becoming coif. Her story
would be interesting to know, for she must have been,
at one time, the beauty of Cully.
The interiors of certain of the ancient houses in the
town have changed but little during the last three or
four hundred years. There are still to be seen the worn
stone stair, the great carved beams in the ceiling, the
16th century windows and the doorway that would seem
to pertain to a convent cell rather than to a modern
kitchen.
There is a fountain in the centre of Cully, the stone
basin of which bears the date 1643. It is surmounted
by an ancient column on which is a figure still more
ancient. This figure is evidently human and probably
female. It is claimed to be a statue of Justice, but it
is so corroded and battered that it has become as feature-
233
The Lake of Geneva
less as a nursery doll after j^ears of service in a household
where there are boys.
There was, by the way, a fountain or spring on the
outskirts of the town that had the reputation of being
able to drive away evil spirits. But this water supply
was discouraged by the mediaeval priests, as it appeared
to encroach upon their special clerical functions and to
be, indeed, competitive.
The church is new, having been rebuilt in 1866. The
fine square towxr, with its pointed windows, has remained
untouched, while in its belfry are two bells which were
cast in 1516 and 1563 respectively.
There is a small 16th century chapel in Cully which
should not be passed by, as it is in many ways peculiar.
It is not obtrusive and, indeed, is difficult to discover,
for it is not to be found in any street or any square,
nor, in fact, in any lane or passage. Access to it is not
to be sought through the intervention of any cure, pastor
or sacristan. It is approached in the following manner.
In the main thoroughfare of Cully is a large and
prosperous grocer's shop, as modern as plate-glass
windows and beribboned chocolate boxes can make it.
The visitor enters the grocer's shop and, after appro-
priate inquiries, passes behind the counter to a small
passage filled, almost to the point of bursting, with
groceries in bulk. In a gap between the boxes and tins
is a mediaeval doorway in stone delicately carved. This
is the entry to the chapel. It leads into a very dim
room, the stagnant air of w^hich is laden with the smell
peculiar to a grocer's shop — a sickly, almost medicinal,
smell compounded of coffee and soap, of vinegar and
cloves, of oranges and sawdust. It is occupied from
234
A Chapel in a Grocer's Shop
floor to ceiling with bags of rice, biscuit tins, boxes of
starch, boxes of candles, pickle-jars, jam-pots, stove
polish and brooms. This is the interior of the chapel,
although no ecclesiastical feature of any kind is as yet
evident.
But there is a ladder in view which leads through a
trap-door in the wooden ceiling. The visitor mounts the
ladder and, crawling out into a kind of loft still encum-
bered with groceries, finds himself under a beautiful
Gothic vault — the vault of the chapel itself. It is a
groined roof of the 16th century, the ribs of which meet
at a central key-stone whereon are carved the bunch of
grapes — the arms of Cully. The spaces between the ribs
are filled Avith a painted design of great beauty. The
work is so like that in the nave of the church at Lutry
that it can hardly be other than the work of the same
artist. This little chapel is lit by a Gothic window, and
although its hght is not actually hidden under a bushel,
it is dimmed by a baldachin of grocer's sundries.
235
XXXVII
LUTRY
BETWEEN Cully and Lutry is the remarkable
church of Villette. It is so close to the Lake
as to be a prominent object from the passing
steamer. It stands alone and apart from the village.
Villette, now a little settlement of some 300 people, was
once a place of great importance. The parish of Villette
covered a very large area and included the town of
Cully with no fewer than six communes. The church of
Villette is first mentioned in the year 1134. It has been
more than once rebuilt, but still retains many of its
early characters. The choir is a curious, low, vault-like
structure, with smooth walls as simple as the interior of
a cave. The steeple, however, is the more remarkable
feature of the church. It is a sharp-pointed steeple of
stone mounted upon a square tower. Where the tower
and the steeple meet are a number of little pointed
niches of an unusual type, while in the tower itself are
some large trefoil windows of great beauty. The church
deserves a little better care than it appears to receive.
Just before Lutry is reached there will be seen on
the hill-side a small but curious white tower known as
the Tower of Bertholo. It is low, smooth-walled and
semicircular, and is attached to the back of a quite
bright villa. It looks rather like an old white shell on
the back of a youthful snail. The tower has its ancient
236
Pi
H
LUTRY : THE CHURCH DOOR
Lutry
battlements and its mediaeval loopholes. It has not
suffered from restoration. It, at one time, had a fine
conical roof, which was pulled down in the middle of the
19th century from motives of economy. The Tour de
Bertholo is the remains of a castle built by Berthold
de Neuchatel, Bishop of Lausanne. He held office
between the years 1212 and 1220. It was erected with
the intent of affording an advanced post for the defence
of Lutry. One family at least of the mayors of Lutry
occupied this castle during the 14th century.
Lutry, a town of 2,560 inhabitants, is near to
Lausanne, with which it is connected by a tramway.
It is a grey and sober place, with narrow and moody-
looking streets and a general aspect of unemotional old
age. Like Cully, it has some memory of Roman days
and can boast that it was at one time an important
Burgundian town. Its chief attraction is its church,
which was originally the church of the Priory of St.
Martin, which priory was founded early in the 11th
century. The church, on its present site, w^as built in
1228. The bishops of Lausanne regarded Lutry as one
of their choicest possessions and looked after the town
and the rich lands around it with a care that was a little
too paternal. In the 11th century they appointed an
officier feodal to protect their interests. He had the
title of mayor, but possessed far wider judiciary and
administrative powers than is associated with that title
in England. The office became hereditary, and the
family, having taken the name of Mayor de Lutry,
developed into rather arrogant and domineering people.
One thing, however, they did : they looked after the
church.
237
The Lake of Geneva
The church was many times rebuilt, notably in 1344,
after its destruction by fire, and again in 1569. During
the restoration of the church in 1908 traces of a 12th
and 13th century building were brought to light. The
church is an exceptionally beautiful structure. The
main door, with a round arch, was erected in 1570. It
presents a tympanum of delicately carved stone sup-
ported by four pillars. The carving would seem to be
the work of a man who loved carving for its own sake
and could not resist the temptation of adding a little
here and elaborating a little there, until he had produced
the door of his heart's desire. Above the entry is a fine
Gothic window.
The interior of the church is Gothic. Its most
exquisite feature is the choir, with its three little rose
windows. The whole of the groined roof of the church
is painted, and presents as gracious a specimen of church
mural decoration as will be found anywhere in the
country. The design suggests an Italian origin. It is
intricate and harmonious and produces a general effect
of great charm. The work belongs to the 16th century.
There is a lady chapel, marked off by a unique stone
partition in which are three windows. The central one,
over a square entry, is in a simple Gothic style, but
the two side windows are of so quaint a type that none
but an expert could pass judgment upon them. On the
wall of this partition is an ancient and most attractive
painting of the Madonna. Some of the old stalls in the
church show the bear of Berne.
Lutry was fortified and surrounded by a wall in 1220.
There were four gates in the enceinte, while the wall
was protected at intervals by round towers. One of
238
LUTRY : THE CASTLE AND TOWN WALL
Lutry
these towers still survives on the west side of the town.
It shows the old sentry windows and the narrow loop-
holes, but it is in lamentable repair and has been much
mutilated. On the top of it has been clapped a modern
roof, which makes it almost ridiculous.
The castle is to the east of the town. It has a superb
entry in the form of a wide round arch, over which is
a gallery with heavy machicolations and on either side
a turret. The upper part of this magnificent work has
been destroyed. The gateway dates from the commence-
ment of the 17th century. The arms above the archway
are those of Crousaz de Corsy and Cerjat, and recall the
marriage of Francois Crousaz with Judith de Cerjat in
March, 1023. It was at this period that the castle was
acquired by the Crousaz family, as the Dictionnaire
Historique affirms. The castle, on something like its
present lines, is said to have been built in the 16th
century upon the site of a chateau of an earlier period.
Over a door in the inner court are the arms of Berne
and the date 1551. As it appears to-day it is a fine and
picturesque building, modernized to some extent, but
still presenting its magnificent roof and its two old
square towers. One of these is a part of the chateau
itself, while the other — the smaller of the two — is
detached and represents a defensive outpost. The
interior of the building is said to contain some fine
deeply panelled ceilings (plafonds a caissons).
By the castle are traces of the city wall, upon the
summit of which the castle stood. The road by the side
of this wall (shown in the photograph) follows the course
of the old moat.
On the outskirts, on the way to Vevey, there is to
239
The Lake of Geneva
be seen in a wall an odd thing — a stone road-sign. It
takes the form of a slab of stone on which is carved in
relief a hand and arm, together with the date 1736 and
a notification to the effect that the hand points out the
road to Vevey. The hand has the anatomical simplicity
of the hand on an Egyptian or Assyrian monument, but
it serves its purpose ; it clearly shows the road and has,
besides, a friendly and human look about it which is
lacking in the modern curt and peremptoiy arrow.
A little above Lutry is the village of Corsy. It is a
place of no present interest, but was made famous by
the memorable Jugement de Dieu in the year 908.
Boson, the Bishop of Lausanne, laid claim to the forest
of Jorat. His claim was disputed, and the matter was
left to be decided by the Judgment of God. The king
allowed the bishop to sustain his right by " proof of the
hot iron." One of the bishop's servants, a man named
Arnulphe, was chosen for the test. A red-hot iron was
applied to his hand, and it was agreed that if the
imprint of the iron was still visible on the third day
following the operation the bishop would lose the forest.
The hand was bound up in linen and the dressing sealed
with the signet of the king. On the third day — amid
tense excitement — the bandage was removed at this very
village of Corsy, where the king was holding his assizes.
No trace of the burn was visible, and so the forest became
the freehold property of the bishop.^
This curious but venturesome procedure, which
involved a combination of Divine agency, some sensa-
tional surgery and the dry legal process of conveyancing,
has very reasonably fallen into disuse.
1 " Dictionnaire Historique de Vaud."
240
LUTRY! THE CASTLE DOOR
LUTRY: THE STONE HAND
XXXVIIl
LAUSANNE
IAUSANNE, the capital of the Canton of Vaud, is
the smaller of the two cities of the Lake. It
stands on a green slope which glides, in leisurely
fashion, from the wood which crowns its summit to the
beach at its foot. The town is far up on this slope, being
about a mile and a quarter above the port of Ouchy.
Seen from the Lake, it is so discursive a city that no
one could venture to define its outlines. Its houses are
scattered in all directions, among trees and lawns,
gardens and green fields. It is as if a drop of stone-
coloured paint, faUing from a height, had been spattered
over a green cloth. It seems to be composed entirely
of suburbs. If Chislehurst were given a cathedral and
transferred to a lake-side it might pass muster for
Lausanne, since there is nothing to suggest that this
city of Vaud is so serious as it is or that it possesses
07,000 inhabitants.
Lausanne when seen from a distance and Lausanne
when viewed from within are two towns which are
totally unlike. A more deceptive place does not exist.
From afar Lausanne seems to occupy a hill-side as
smooth as a cushion. There is nothing to suggest that
it contains streets, much less railway stations, tramhnes
and shops. When, on the other hand, the place is
Q 241
The Lake of Geneva
entered it is found to be as irregular and tumbled a
town as could be imagined, a place built in detachments
without a plan, a labyrinth of streets, of green terraces
and gardens, of slums and many-arched bridges all joined
up with a " central square " which is neither square nor
central. To this very disorder the town owes much of
its attraction, for the agreeable medley is due to the fact
that Lausanne is located, not on an even slope, but on
three abrupt hills separated by deep valleys. Were it
not that these valleys are crossed by a series of bridges,
life in Lausanne would consist in climbing up hill and
in walking down again. Moreover, Alfred de Bougy,
writing in 1846, says that owing to the hills and the
villainous paving, Lausanne was, in his day, practically
inaccessible to carriages.^
The hills are round and are disposed in a triangle,
like the balls of a pawnbroker's sign. They are the
Cite, the Bourg and St. Laurent. On the Cite, or
predominant hill, are the castle and the cathedral. This
mound is, and always has been, the high place of the
town and the stronghold of its government. The Bourg
was possessed by the nobles, by the merchants and by
the great inns. St. Laurent was a suburb occupied by
a church and certain defence works. The poorer folk
lived in the gutters between the hills. In one of these
flowed the Flon and in the other the Louve. Their
channels met at the Grand Pont ; but, within the actual
compass of tlie town, both streams have now disappeared
from view.
From ancient prints ^ it can be seen that old Lausanne
1 " Le Tour du Leinan," par A. de Bougy. Paris, 1846.
« " Itinera Alpina," par J. J. Scheuchzeri. Ludq. Bat., 1723. Tome il, p. 49Pi
342
LAUSANNE
Lausanne
.was a very romantic looking town. Its three hills were
crowned with castle and spire, with turrets and high-
soaring roofs; while around it ran a zigzag wall pierced
by gates and surmounted by many towers. The dwellings
that made up the mass of the city were of dark wood
with lofty gables. They huddled in the valleys like a
drift of autumn leaves in a gully. Of the fortifications,
no trace remains with the exception of one tower, the
Tour de I'Ale, which stands near the Place du Chauderon
on the St. Laurent hill. It is a high round tower of
the days of the musketeers, which finds itself now very
inappropriately placed in a modest street of private
houses.
Modem Lausanne is, in spite of its uneasy site, an
imposing city, spick and span and well-to-do. It has
many fine public buildings, but they are nearly all new,
for so strong has been the passion for " improvements "
that old Lausanne has almost passed away, while in its
place is a city which might have been built within the
memory of living men.
On the summit of the Cite hill, and therefore on the
highest point of the town, stands the chateau. It has
been admirably restored and is a perfect monument of
its kind. It stands alone — a square, grey mass of heavy
masonry, pierced by a few small windows and surmounted
by a steep, russet-coloured roof. Between the roof and
a line of machicolations the castle wall is of pale red
brick, while at each corner of the building is a turret
also made of brick. The whole castle is a realization of
solidity, of simplicity and of terrific strength. It was
erected within the period 1397-1431. The Cite was then
well fortified and was surrounded by a wall.
243
The Lake of Geneva
One of the most memorable years in the history of
the chateau was the year 153G. For some three centuries
before this date Lausanne, together with the whole
Swiss shore of the Lake, belonged to Savoy. The rule
of Savoy was indulgent and was committed to the hands
of the bishops of Lausanne, who lived with the splendour
and dignity of princes on the Cite hill. The whole
country was, of course. Catholic. The Reformation,
which had already begun, spread rapidly to Berne. In
Berne it assumed a bellicose form, for the Bernese were
earnest and determined men who regarded as enemies
those who held opinions that differed from their own.
They approached Lausanne with an army under General
Nsegueli on March 31st, 1536. They entered the town
without difficulty. Indeed, the people, who were them-
selves mostly reformers, welcomed their coming.
The first object of the Bernese was to seize the person
of the bishop. His name was Sebastien de Montfalcon.
He was sitting in his room in the castle very ill at ease,
for while he hurried to and fro stuffing things into his
pockets he was compelled, at every moment, to take a
look through the windows at the hot, excited men who
were swarming up the hill. The castle was readily taken,
and the leading Bernese, dashing up the stair, broke
into the bishop's chamber with a shout. They found
it empty. Now% concealed behind a great seat or desk
was a secret passage which led by means of a stair in
the thickness of the castle wall to the Chemin Neuf at
the foot of the hill.^ The bishop had taken advantage
of this passage and had escaped. He fled, as has been
already noted, to Glerolles.
1 " Delices de la Suisse," par Blancbet. Basle, 1764.
244
LAUSANNE : FOUNTAIN AND TOWN HALL
Lausanne
The identical chamber he left is still to be seen. It
is on the first floor of the castle, and is a small, low-
pitched, comfortable room with two windows and a
hospitable fireplace. The ceiling is elaborately decorated,
while carved on the chimney-piece are the arms of Mont-
falcon and the motto, " <Si qua fata sinant/^ The
embrasures of the windows serve to show the enormous
thickness of the walls. The secret door is no longer to
be seen, although Read,^ writing in 1897, speaks as if
the passage was in evidence at that date. The attendant
who shows the room indicates the position of the hiding-
place, and by thumping on the wall elicits, in response,
a hollow and emotional sound which is quite convincing.
The long corridors of the chateau are impressive, as is
also the main entry, but the site of the drawbridge is
occupied — for the time being — by a small modern
building.
On the Cite hill stands also the famous Cathedral of
Notre-Dame, built between the years 1235 and 1275,
and so fully restored at the end of the last century (from
the plans of Viollet-le-Duc) that it appears almost a new
building. The fine Gothic tower and the exquisite steeple
form the actual pinnacles of Lausanne. The Apostles'
Porch, the great ^ose-^vindow, the carved stalls of the
15th century and the wall paintings of the same period
are too well known to need description. No one can
fail to be impressed by the main entry, with its huge
flamboyant window, its statues of saintly men, its elabor-
ate ornamentation and its old brown doors with their
very ancient lions' heads in bronze.
The church, being Protestant, is very bare, bare save
1 Op. cit.
245
The Lake of Geneva
for the scattered seats and the pulpit, and devoid of all
colour except such as streams through the crimsons and
blues that fill the tracerj'^ of the rose-window. There is
no altar ; but the place it occupied in the choir is marked
by two curious impressions in the stone floor. They are
just such depressions as the knee of a kneeling man
would make on soft sand. They correspond to either side
of the altar and are assumed to have been worn by the
knees of worshippers clad in armour. If that be so, they
must represent the obeisance of many thousands of men
in mail through a vast procession of years.
This cathedral was the scene of the famous Disputa-
tion held on July 5th, 1536, in which Farel, Calvin and
Viret took part, with the result that Vaud separated
from the Romish Church and the episcopal see was
removed to Fribourg.
The Bernese, having scared the bishop from his
castle, dealt in effective fashion wdth the treasures in the
church. Aided by the people, they broke up the altar
with hammers, tore dowTi the sacred images and left
them, headless and armless, amid the dust of the floor,
put their feet through precious paintings and stripped
from the walls the hangings of fine silk. In the nave
they heaped up a pile of loot of such brilliancy that it
needed no beam from the stained-glass window to give
it radiance ; for here were crucifixes and candlesticks of
sparkling metal, ewers and patens of gold, reliquaries
flashing with gems, a chalice that shone like the moon,
statuettes of silver and vases of polished brass. The men
of Berne kept a firm hold upon Lausanne and estab-
lished in the castle a hailli or governor, who ruled the
con^erted city \vith a rod of iron.
246
* 5*
Lausanne
In addition to the chateau on the Cite was an
episcopal palace. This seems to have been in existence
as late as 1705. It was subsequently pulled down to
make room for the chestnut terrace which is one of the
delights of Lausanne. One tower of this palace remains.
It still looks dow^n, with an assumption of superiority,
upon the town it once kept in awe, although it has now
become, very meekly, a part of a most interesting
museum.
The fine mansions on the Cite have all vanished, but
behind the cathedral, in the Rue Cite Derriere, there
are yet some old houses of modest pretence — such as
No. 23 — which are of interest. It was in this street
that Gibbon lodged when he first came to Lausanne.
The hill of tlie Bourg was also fortified and surrounded
by a wall. Between it and the hill of the Cite flowed
the Flon, the course of which is marked by the present
Rue Centrale. The Bourg and the Cite were by no
means always at peace in the early days. They were,
indeed, for years the most quarrelsome of neighbours
and flew at one another across the Flon on occasion
with much beating of drums, much shrieking of women
from the walls and much shaking of fists. For example,
in 1240 there were two competitors for the episcopal
chair of Lausanne. The Bourg sided with Jean de
Cossonay, the Cite with Phillippe de Savoie. Although
the question was one merely of Church government, the
men of the two hills fought with such intemperance
that there were no fewer than 300 casualties. Fighting
was a chronic condition around most fortified towns, and
Lausanne was no exception. The cause of the fighting
was often obscure and as often trivial. One reads that
247
The Lake of Geneva
in a certain bloody encounter without the walls in 1476
an Enghsh knight was killed. His skull was found long
after in a cemetery of Lausanne with a rose noble fixed
between the teeth. ^
The Bourg, as already stated, was occupied by the
nobles. Its main street, the Rue de Bourg — a steep
and narrow way — is the main street still. Read gives
a list of the distinguished families who once lived there
and also of the great inns, such as the " Golden Lion,"
the " Angel " and the " Bear," that found a place on
this hill. At the foot of the street is a modernized
business house with a corner turret. The corbel which
supports the turret has carved on it, in archaic fashion,
the head of a man with a heavy moustache and the
words, "a toy mon dieu mon coeur monte." This
house, before the Reformation, belonged to the Bishop
of Lausanne. It came, about 1550, into the possession
of the Deyverdun family. One of the Deyverduns
was the intimate friend of Gibbon when he lived in
Lausanne. In front of the house and at the foot of
the hill country women come with baskets of flowers,
as has been the custom for centuries past ; so the man
with the moustache is still cheered by the sight of a
bank of daffodils and violets, of iris and anemones,
of roses and mimosa, and at the grateful sight his stone
lips may still mutter the words which are written at the
base of the turret.
The citizens of the Rue de Bourg had curious respon-
sibilities in the matter of the administration of justice,
for they formed a kind of jury of experts who were liable
to be called upon in legal emergencies. " They were
1 A gold coin of the time of Edward IV. of the nominal value of ten shillings.
248
Hi^
Lausanne
required," says Vulliemin, *' at the first summons, even
if at table, glass in hand, or occupied in measuring cloth,
to leave everything and, running to range themselves
around the bailiff or the bishop, to give their advice as
people versed in the customs of the city. As a recom-
pense they were free from ' lauds ' and alone had the
right to place benches before their houses for the disposal
of their wares." ^
On the Bourg, in the Place St. Francois, is the
church of St. Francis. It dates from the 15th century,
but it has — like every other old edifice in Lausanne —
been so restored that it appears to be quite a new build-
ing. It is composed only of a nave and choir, is a
church of great dignity, grand in its proportions and
most simple in its decoration. Leading from the Place
St. Francois is Rue du Grand Chene. At No. 6 in this
street Voltaire lived in 1757, but, it is needless to say,
the cyclone of " improvements " has swept the house
out of existence.
In the valley between the Cite and the Bourg is the
curious Place de la Palud. It was in ancient days the
business centre of the town as well as its market-place.
It retains its activity still, and on prescribed days is as
packed with country-folk and their baskets, panniers, carts
and stalls as its narrow confines will allow. There is a
fountain in the Place, surmounted by the figure of an
oddly-shaped woman, clumsily clad, who realized in 1585
the popular conception of Justice. Here also is the
Hotel de Ville, with its great motherly roof, its gaily
painted clock-tower and its superb facade. It was
founded in 1454, but the present structure dates from
» Quoted by Read, op. cit., vol. I, p. 43.
249
The Lake of Geneva
1674. Having in view the grand new public edifices of
Lausanne, it would, no doubt, be rank heresy to suggest
that this town hall is by far the handsomest building of
its kind in the city.
Where the Rue St. Laurent joints the Palud stood
the de Loys house, notable as the birthplace of M. de
Loys de Warens, whose fame depends solely upon the
fact that he was the indistinct husband of the flamboyant
Madame de Warens. Read gives a picture of the house
as it was in his time. It was a dwelling of infinite charm,
with its courtyard, its fine front, its stair, with the date
1650, and its great roof where, amid the black tiles, were
two lovers' knots and a red ace of diamonds. The house
and the garden have, of course, been cleared away, to be
replaced by premises which, in their unblushing plainness,
are almost pathetic.
Leading from the Palud to the terrace by the
cathedral are the Market Stairs. In a simple way they
form one of the most picturesque features in the city
and are designated as one of its historical monuments.
The stairway is of old grey wood and is very steep. It
is co^'ered, in all its length, by a roof of red tiles held
up by wooden pillars. It is very shady, very full of
echoes, very old and a stair of some mystery, for one
wonders where it will end. It ends delightfullj^ and
appropriately by opening on the terrace, beneath one of
the most curious little houses ever conceived in a story-
book. The house is of wood, is supported upon wooden
columns (like a balcony) and is shaded by a chestnut tree.
In the place of windows it has shutters or jalousies, which
are prettily arranged. It is rather a gallery than a
dwelling, rather a summer-house than a sitting-room,
250
Lausanne
and yet it has, in a childish way, an official api^earance,
a faint suggestion of a mayor and corporation. It is
apparently entered by an ancient door on the stairway
which does not seem to have been opened for a century.
In the museum near by is a print, dated 1678, in which
this little house, or an ancestor of it, is depicted very,
much as it is to-day. A man, whom I imagined to be
unreliable, told me that it was the place from which
proclamations were read to the people. If this be true
the people would hardly take the message gravely, for
the little house is so fantastic, so like a dwelling out of
Hans Andersen's fairy tales, that it could never be the
scene of anything really serious.
To the day-dreamer I would commend this spot
above all in Lausanne. The place is always quiet,
always drowsy, always in the twilight of the trees. It
is cool, for a breeze from the Lake will steal up here
when it will wander nowhere else. There are many
benches to choose from, so the dreamer can sit and gaze
at the little house and people it with whom he will.
251
XXXIX
GIBBON AT LAUSANNE
THE best remembered scenes in the life of Edward
Gibbon have for a background the city of Lausanne.
No reader of his immortal " Memoirs " can fail to
be interested in visiting the places that figure in the story
he has to tell. The Lausanne of Gibbon's time has
almost passed away, but there are still the Rue de Bourg,
the chateau, the Place de la Palud and the Market Stairs,
.while the house in which Gibbon lodged when he first
came to the city is still standing.
In the year 1752 Gibbon, then only 15 years of age,
was loafing aimlessly about the streets of Oxford as a
gentleman commoner of Magdalen College. He was a
pitiable object. He was the only surviving child of his
parents. His mother had died when he was ten. His
father neglected him, so his bringing up fell casually
into the hands of his aunt, Catherine Porten, who was
a very lovable lady. He had a wretched childhood, while
of the happiness of boyish years he knew nothing. His
education had been of the scantiest. Above all, he had
been delicate and had suffered much at the doctor's
hands. He very early came to the conclusion that he
was doomed to be " an illiterate cripple."
At Oxford he did nothing, was taught nothing and
was left entirely to his own devices. He regarded the
252
Gibbon at Lausanne
time he spent at Magdalen as "the most idle and
unprofitable of his whole life." While at Oxford, and
when 16 years of age, he became a Catholic. This con-
version was the result, not of personal influence, but of
the reading of Catholic books. He states that he had
not even conversed with a priest. His father, when
dutifully informed of this change of faith, became violent,
as was his habit in the face of any untoward event,
threatened to disinherit the boy and bundled him off, at
a few days' notice, to Lausanne, then the most strictly
Protestant town in Europe. At Lausanne he was to be
under the charge of a Calvinist minister named Pavilliard.
Having regard to the father's ignorance of Lausanne
and the fact that he — in the main — wished to punish
the lad, he did better than he knew.
Young Gibbon left for Lausanne in the care of a
Swiss gentleman. The two started from London on
June 19th, 1753, crossed from Dover to Calais and,
although they travelled " post haste all the way " and
with the utmost expedition, did not reach Lausanne
until June 30th.
M. Pavilliard lived in the Rue Cite Derriere No. 17,
and here young Gibbon lodged. The street is one of the
few streets in the old quarter of Lausanne w^iich have
undergone but little change. It is a quiet street of
private houses of the humbler type, is situated just
behind the cathedral and is, indeed, between the
cathedral and the chateau. The building is practically
unaltered. It is an unpretentious house with two
stories and an entry under a round stone arch. The
windows are framed in stone after the manner of the
18th century. The right side of the house has been
253
The Lake of Geneva
modified, so far as the ground floor is concerned, and
is now occupied by a small Poste de Police; but the
greater part of the building is probably as it was in
Gibbon's time, so that it only remains to speculate as
to which of the heavily-shuttered windows was that of
the room he occupied.
Gibbon was fortunate in his host. M. Pavilliard was
a man of education and of great capacity as a teacher.
He was kind-hearted, sympathetic, moderate in his
religious views and, above all, tactful. There grew up
between the Calvinist minister and the young Catholic
a very hearty friendship. The pastor's influence soon
began to take effect, so soon, indeed, that within
eighteen months of his arrival at Lausanne Gibbon
returned to the faith of his fathers, and on Christmas
Day, 1754, received the Communion in a Protestant
church.
The lad at first found life in the Rue Cite Derriere
verj^ disagreeable. He had no friends; he had very
little pocket money; he was not allowed a personal
servant; he could play no games. He deplored his
unfitness for bodily exercise and had to become recon-
ciled to a sedentary life. He read enormously, and very
soon acquired a thorough knowledge of French. He
could not endure Madame Pavilliard. He speaks of her
" uncleanly avarice " and says that under her roof he
was almost starved with cold and hunger, and recalls,
with disgust, her " coarse and homely table." It was
certainly a great change from the easy, idle life at
Oxford, where he did as he pleased, had unbounded
liberty and lived as gentlemen commoners were expected
to live. Here at Lausanne were the discipline of a
254
Gibbon at Lausanne
Calvinist minister's house, regular hours, possibly rather
tedious family prayers and the sour face of Madame
Pavilliard gazing at him across the bare table.
Things, however, improved in time. The Pavilliards
moved to another house (long since demolished), a
pleasant tour through Switzerland was undertaken and
young Gibbon began to make friends. His one par-
ticular friend was George Deyverdun, with whom, at a
later period, he shared a house in Lausanne and with
whom he remained on terms of affection until
Deyverdun 's death in 1789.
He met also another friend — a lady — who was
destined to play an emotional part in his otherwise
rather drab existence. She was a Mademoiselle Susanna
Curchod, who became a famous personage in the literary
and social annals of the Lake of Geneva. Susanna was
the daughter of the Protestant minister of Grassier, a
little village on the French border which is described in
Chapter xlvii. " Her fortune was humble," writes
Gibbon, " but her family was respectable," and she had
been exceptionally well educated by her father. She
came to Lausanne on a visit to some relatives, and here
Gibbon met her. The momentous meeting was in June,
1757, when Gibbon was twenty and the pastor's daughter
eighteen.
The future historian was not heroic in appearance.
He is described as a thin, pale little figure \Ndth a large
head covered with red hair and a nose that a heartless
French writer, in later years, compared to a potato.
Susanna was pleasant to look upon, had a refined,
intelligent face and delicate features. She would be
described as elegant, or, in the language of the day,
»55
The Lake of Geneva
"genteel." Her primness was a pronounced character-
istic. One writer, quoted by Gribble,^ says, " God,
before creating her, must have soaked her, inside and
out, with starch." In spite of her primness she was a
most amiable woman of whom everyone thought well
and spoke kindly. Her portraits do not justify the claim
that she was beautiful and fail to confirm the opinion
of Gibbon that " Nature had endowed her with a beauty
which would soften a tyrant and inflame an anchorite."
The two young people became engaged. He visited
her at her home in Grassier, as is recorded in Chapter
XLVii, and there is no reason to doubt that the engage-
ment was approved by the lady's parents. This was in
the autumn of 1757. There were love letters, of course,
WTitten in the manner of the time. To-day they read
rather like exercises in prose, perfect in style, but lack-
ing the warmth of life, artificial and extravagant and
as Httle like the love-song of a bird as a concert
performance on a flute.
Gibbon was recalled to England in April of the
following year (1758). He announced his engagement
to his father, who again became violent, refused his con-
sent and let his son understand that if he persisted in
his folly he w^ould find himself " destitute and helpless."
Mr. Gibbon, senior, wishing to be unpleasant, alluded to
Mademoiselle Curchod as a " foreigner," which was then
a term of reproach that implied inferiority and suggested
a proneness to indefinite delinquencies.
Young Gibbon reached England in May, but it
was not imtil August that he wrote to Mademoiselle
Curchod to break off the engagement. The letter which
1 " Madame de Stael and her Lovers." London, 1907,
256
LAUSANNE : THE HOUSE IN WHICH GIBBON LODGED
Gibbon at Lausanne
announced this breach of promise has been quoted so
often that to many it is the only specimen of Gibbon's
writings with which they are famiUar. As a hterary
production it is perfect. As a model of a letter, which
of all letters in the world must be the most difficult to
write, it is a finished work. Epistles of this type are
often rudely exposed to the public gaze, but their literary
feebleness can only be appreciated by comparing them
with Gibbon's little masterpiece.
Mademoiselle Curchod was, of course, hurt ; but she
remained dignified, for her primness saved her from
being dramatic. In 1760 the minister of Grassier died,
and his stipend died with him. " His daughter," writes
Gibbon, " retired to Geneva, where, by teaching young
ladies, she earned a hard subsistence for herself and her
mother." Susanna appears, a little later, to have become
companion to a Madame Vermenoux, a wealthy wddow
who lived in Geneva but frequently visited Paris.
Necker, the rising banker, had long wooed Madame
Vermenoux and had, indeed, proposed to her; but she
had declined his offer, hoping to meet with a more
aristocratic suitor. On her return to Paris with her
young companion she found that Necker had not only
continued to rise, but had attained a position of promi-
nence and was likely to become the counsellor of kings.
The widow at once determined that her persistent lover
had now risen so far as to approach her conception of
an aristocratic suitor, and resolved to accept his proposal
when next it was tendered. It was, however, never
offered, for w^hen Necker saw the widow's charming
companion he at once fell in love with her, promptly
proposed and was primly accepted. The marriage took
R 257
The Lake of Geneva
place in 1764, and the event is said to have caused the
widow " acute suffering." So the minister's daughter
from the humble village of Grassier became Madame
Necker, destined to be famous as the chatelaine of
Coppet and the mother of the illustrious Madame de
Stael.
Gibbon returned to Lausanne in May, 1763, and
remained there eleven months. He felt that he could
not again face Madame Pavilliard and her parsimonious
fare, so he became a boarder in the " elegant house " of
a M. De Mesery. Here he lived in great comfort, and
records with satisfaction that the food was plentiful and
the boarders " select." The position in Lausanne of
the " elegant house " has, unfortunately, never been
traced.
It was during this period of his stay in Lausanne
that Gibbon tells of his favourite society. La Societe du
Printemps. He says it was ** a singular institution."
Considering that it flourished in a puritan city imbued
\\ith the rigorous teachings of Calvin it certainly was
peculiar.
" It consisted of fifteen or twenty young unmarried ladies,
of genteel, though not of the very first families ; the eldest
perhaps about twenty, all agreeable, several handsome, and
two or three of exquisite beauty. At each other's houses they
assembled almost every day, without the control, or even the
presence, of a mother or an aunt ; they were trusted to their
own prudence, among a crowd of young men of every nation
in Europe. They laughed, they sung, they danced, they played
at cards, they acted comedies ; but in the midst of this careless
gaiety, they respected themselves and were respected by the
men.'
" 1
1 " Memoirs of Mv Life," by Edward Gibbon, p. 156.
258
Gibbon at Lausanne
About 1758 Gibbon met Voltaire who had at that
time a house in Lausanne. Gibbon was then twenty-
one and the French philosopher sixty-four. The two
did not take at all kindly to one another. To Voltaire
the future historian was merely " a fat-faced youth
called Gibbon," while to Gibbon the Frenchman was
a not too pleasant and much over-rated playwright.
Although Gibbon paid more than one visit to Ferney
(the last in 1763), the two writers never became more
than formal acquaintances.
In 1765 Gibbon was in Paris, on which occasion he
called upon Madame Necker, who received him very
graciously. The meeting was, no doubt, a little trying,
but they were both astute enough to make it as free
from embarrassment as was possible. The two, who had
once been lovers, became devoted friends and corre-
sponded with one another, in the warmest but most dis-
creet terms, for the remainder of their lives. Madame
Necker was attracted to Gibbon by his great intellectual
abilities, while he never ceased his admiration of her fine
qualities as a woman. It was a platonic attachment, if
ever there was one, and if some element of romance
occasionally crept in it gave to the friendship a certain
picturesqueness. Gibbon visited the Neckers not only
in Paris but also at Coppet. Mention is made of one such
visit to Coppet in 1790. At that time Madame de Stael,
who was at the chateau, was twenty-four, but as Gibbon
fails to allude to the whirlwind lady she probably merely
frightened him. Madame Necker 's last letter to Gibbon
is dated June 15th, 1792. He died in January, 1794,
and she in the May that followed.
Between 1758 and 1783 Gibbon was in England,
259
The Lake of Geneva
except during a tour in Italy in 1764-5 and a visit to
Paris in 1777. In England he did strange and improb-
able things. He joined the army in the diluted form of
the militia, became a major and indeed a lieutenant-
colonel, and rode about on a horse. Further than that he
became a member of Parliament, in which office he filled
"the humble station of a mute." He went even more
widely astray, for he was appointed a Lord Commissioner
of Trade and Plantations, he having no knowledge of
either trade or trees. In this dignified position he
"enjoyed," as he says, "many days and weeks of
repose."
His father having died in 1770, he was now possessed
of ample means, and in September, 1783, he returned to
his beloved Lausanne. He took up his abode with his
friend George Deyverdun, who owned a house in Lau-
sanne called " La Grotte." Gibbon undertook the expense
of the house, and here he hoped to end his days. La Grotte
was very beautifully situated. It stood on the brink of the
hill in front of the church of St. Frangois, was open to
the south and commanded a superb view of the Lake and
of the mountains of Savoy. It was surrounded by a
garden of four acres in which was a summer-house. Here
Gibbon wrote, and here, in 1787, he completed his great
work, "The DecHne and Fall of the Roman Empire."
Read has given an interesting history of La Grotte,
from which it appears that it was originally a part of the
Convent of St. Francois and was, as such, occupied by
vaults where muniments and treasures were stored. A
photograph shows a house of no great interest and evi-
dently of no great age. It had a very lofty and steep
roof. On the road front there was but one story, while
260
Gibbon at Lausanne
on the southern side — owing to the slope of the ground
— there were three. In general terms it would be
described as an unpretentious suburban villa.
La Grotte has long since been pulled down, and on
its site and on a part of its garden has been erected the
Post Office, the most prominent building in Lausanne.
An hotel, called the Hotel Gibbon, came to occupy the
western end of the grounds, so that the garden of the
hotel represented all that was left of the garden that
Gibbon loved.
So long as La Grotte stood it was visited every year
by a horde of sightseers and admirers or pseudo-admirers
of Gibbon. Between the years 1802 and 1831 the house
was occupied by an old lady named Madame Grenier.
She has left it on record that for nearly a generation the
pilgrimage of visitors was continuous. They came to see
the historic summer-house and to take away a piece of
it as a memento. " As every English visitor cut away
a portion, the summer-house gradually disappeared from
Lausanne and was distributed in fragments through
Great Britain. Bit by bit the owners renewed it, but
eventually not a morsel of the original w^as left."^ A
totally new summer-house was built, but that also was
hacked away by the penknives of enthusiastic tourists.
It is apparent that a proportion of these relic-hunters
had but a vague knowledge of the hero they worshipped.
Two items of information confirm this impression. " A
time came," as Mr. Hill states in his appendix, " when
the guides began to point out the venerable Madame
Grenier, if she chanced to be in the garden, as Gibbon's
widow"; and further, in Notes and Queries the folio w-
1 Appendix No, 51 of G. Birkbeck Hill's edition of the Memoirs.
261
The Lake of Geneva
ing conversation (overheard at the Hotel Gibbon) is
recorded :
She : " Whose portrait is that? "
He : " Gibbon, after whom the hotel is named."
She : " But who was Gibbon? "
He : *' One of the EngUsh Royal Family."
The Hotel Gibbon >vas pulled down in the summer
of 1921. During the process — .which I witnessed — the
garden was turned into a white desert of plaster, bricks
and stones, a desert of mounds like a white sand dune,
dimmed by a cloud of dust. Out of this waste rose
three little trees, young, eager and rustling with life.
They will by this time have vanished; but while they
lived they had a pathetic interest, for they were the very
last green things that grew in Gibbon's garden.
262
XL
OUCHY
OUCHY is the port of Lausanne, a pleasant and
pretty suburb and a favourite resort of tourists,
since for all who travel by steamer Ouchy is
the Charing Cross of the Lake. It is well wooded,
has a garden promenade, a little harbour occupied by
sailing boats and swans and some of the best hotels in
the canton.
But a little while ago Ouchy was a mere fishing
village. It is described in the middle of the 19th century
as a neglected place whose narrow lanes were often deep
in mud and whose houses were doddering with decay.
To the east of the village were the old Holies de la Ville
in a state of impecunious ruin. Passengers who arrived
by steamer had to be taken ashore in small, flat-bottomed
boats, for there was no pier to accommodate a vessel of
any size.
It was not until 1858 that Ouchy woke from its
mediaeval slumber, opened its rheumy eyes, stretched
its cramped Umbs, and cast off its time-worn rags. The
transformation was remarkable. In 1859 the Hotel
Beau Rivage was founded, while, about the same time,
a landing pier worthy of the port of Lausanne rose from
the Lake. Ouchy had always been a port. It had even
a service of ships; for as long ago as 1760 a barque
263
The Lake of Geneva
sailed on every Monday for Vevey and on every Tuesday
for Geneva. So Mondays and Tuesdays were busy days
on the beach of Ouchy.
In very early days a castle was built at Ouchy to
protect the port by Bishop Landri de Durnes, but it
seems to have been soon destroyed by marauders from
Savoy. It was replaced by a far more massive building
by Bishop Roger between the years 1178 and 1212.^ It
had a great square donjon with a fine building at its foot
and was surrounded by a moat and by a wall upon which
two round towers were planted. Here the bishops lived.
Here they had their own chapel and here they held im-
portant conferences. They looked after the port and
especially after the harbour dues and did a good business
as transport agents. They w^ere never short of fish, for
it was ordained that every boatman, when he w^ent
a-fishing, must make — on each occasion — a cast of the
net for the bishop. If it rested with the fisherman to
determine, after the event, which was the bishop's par-
ticular catch the impost was probably not exacting.
After the bishops were driven out in 1536 the castle fell
into decay. Old prints show it in progressive stages of
decrepitude, but also show that the donjon tower still
held its great head aloft, through century after century,
although the castle was put to all kinds of mean ends.
It became a custom-house and even a depot for salt,
finally degenerating into a shapeless block of derelict
buildings.
The fortifications were destroyed towards the end of
the 17th century. The castle stood close to the edge of
the Lake so that the water reached to the wall with
1 " Dictionnaire Historique de Vaud."
264
Ouchy
which the old stronghold was surrounded. The land that
now lies in front of the chateau and which embraces
the piers and the public garden has been reclaimed from
the Lake in recent years. The site of the chateau is
now occupied by a modern hotel with which the tower —
restored out of all recognition — is incorporated. In its
lower part the ancient walls are still to be seen, but as
it ascends it changes from the donjon keep of feudal
times to an up-to-date hotel of the 20th century with
results which may be imagined.
Byron and Shelley were detained at Ouchy by heavy
rain for two days when returning from their visit to
Meillerie (page 145). This was in June, 1816. They
stayed at an inn which is referred to as "a small inn in
the village of Ouchy." It was here that Byron wrote
" The Prisoner of Chillon." The inn was called at the
time " L'Ancre," but it is now the Hotel d'Angleterre.
From prints of about the year 1816 it would appear that
the inn has not greatly altered. It has been enlarged and
has lost the double flight of steps by which the entry was
approached. By the side of the hotel is a cluster of old
houses which have changed but little since Byron's time
and which the poet would no doubt recognize if he visited
the Ouchy of to-day.
Between Ouchy and Lausanne is a green hill called
Montriond. The north slope is wooded and transformed
into a public garden, but the south side, that turns
towards the Lake, is still a smooth slope covered with
grass which probably looks as it looked a thousand years
ago. On this green mound there assembled in the year
1036 a great company of barons, bishops and knights
from France, from Savoy and from the country round.
265
The Lake of Geneva
On the top of the hill stood a venerable prelate, Bishop
Hugues of Lausanne, to whose earnest utterances the
company listened with attention. To his appeal they
yielded so that before the assembly dispersed there was
proclaimed from the summit of this green hill the Treve
de Dieu or Truce of God.
Those who bound themselves to observe the Truce
were committed to the following conditions. The church,
the villager, the serf and the inoffensive merchant were
not to be molested. Fighting and feuds were to cease
each week from Wednesday night until Monday morning,
and a like peace was to be observed during Church
festivals as well as during the days of Advent and Lent.
M. Maillefer^ points out that these restrictions involved
240 days of inactivity, leaving only 125 days in the rest
of the year for the business of fighting, of castle-storming
and the raiding of towns. It is no matter of surprise —
as the author remarks — that a time soon came when
these limitations were " not strictly observed."
1 " Histoire du Canton de Vaud." Lausanne, 1903, p. 122,
266
— D-
FROM LAUSANNE TO GENEVA
XLI
ST. SULPICE AND MORGES
THE shore of the Lake between Lausanne and
Geneva is low, being little more than the sloping
bank by a river's side. It is wooded all the way,
and here and there, as if to emphasize its charm, a
Lombardy poplar stands erect, like a note of exclama-
tion. The rising ground behind the Lake margin, as far
as Nyon, is devoted to the cultivation of the vine, for
this is the great wine-growing district of La Cote.
Apart from the vineyards, it is a simple pastoral country
which is to be seen at its best behind Nyon, where amid
" green haunts and deep inquiring lanes " are villages of
serene delight.
There are low hills in the immediate background,
the most conspicuous being La Cote, which starts at St.
Prex. On the summit of this hill, near Rolle, is the
Signal de Bougy, from which it is possible to see the
Lake from end to end, as well as the range of Mont
Blanc, some 47 miles distant. About half-way up the
Lake the Jura Mountains come into view, sloping
obliquely from the north, as if making for Geneva.
As that city is approached the country becomes more
269
The Lake of Geneva
leisurely, more pleasure-loving, with more villas than
farms, more gardens than tilled fields, until at last it
lapses idly into a luxuriant suburb with not a few of
the river-side features of Mario w or Henley-on-Thames.
Six kilometres from Ouchy by the Geneva road is
the hamlet of St. Sulpice. The only objects of interest
on the way are a stone which records the distances, not
in kilometres, but in leagues, and, at Vidy, a chapel
which is now little more than a barn with a bell gable
and a Gothic door. It once was part of the hospital, La
Maladiere, to which, in the Middle Ages, lepers and
victims of the plague were sent.
St. Sulpice is a trivial hamlet on a high bank, with
just a cafe, a shop or so and a school. At the foot of
the bank, by the edge of the Lake, is the famous church.
It stands on a little green flat in company with a few
chestnut trees, some poplars, two or three benches and a
pier. As a specimen of an early church it is the most
interesting ecclesiastical building on the Lake. It has
been restored with skill and affords a vivid realization of
the abbey church of its time.
The date of the foundation of the Priory of St.
Sulpice is unknown, but the church itself dates from the
commencement of the 12th century. It has remained
practically unchanged in all these years. Unimportant
alterations were made in the 15th century and in the
year 1673. A tablet inside the church shows precisely
what and where these alterations are, the most notable
being the Gothic window of the central apse. The
restorations occupied the years 1895-1903. A reference
to old prints shows how piously these repairs have been
carried out.
270
St. Sulpice and Merges
The church has a central square tower in a style that
would in England be called the Norman. On the east
or Lake side is a rounded apse with a very small
additional apse on either side of it, each with a single
slit-like window. The church within has a cove roof,
uniform from end to end. The walls are painted in the
style of the period, while in the dome of the central
apse are old frescoes (restored) of Christ and the Four
Evangelists.
The next place of any note beyond St. Sulpice is
Merges. It lies on a shallow bay with almost level
shores. Although the present town cannot claim to be
of extreme age, yet some 7,000 years ago Morges was
one of the most favoured abodes of man in this region,
for here was the largest of the prehistoric lake villages.
Lake dwellings are known to have existed at Thonon,
Yvoire, Excenevex, Nernier, Hermance, Coppet, Rolle,
St. Prex and Nyon, but the settlement at Morges seems
to have been the most important of them all and,
in its way, the metropolis. There appear to have
been three villages, the largest of which was opposite
to the present town. It was 1,312 feet long, from
130 to 300 feet wide and was surrounded by water
which is now from 9 to 16 feet in depth. ^ Towards the
end of the severe drought in the winter of 1920-21 the
piles upon which the village of Morges were built
appeared above the surface o\ving to the low level of the
Lake. These ancient structures came up into the air and
the light of day like the astonished dead rising from the
deep. Had they been endowed with eyes to see there
would have been much to wonder at, for the Lake
* " Dictionnaire Historique de Vaud."
271
The Lake of Geneva
steamers swept by them in the day and at night the
electric Hghts of Morges flashed on the water that rippled
round them. In the Geneva Museum, besides many
relics of the lake-dwellers, is a boat dug out of the trunk
of a tree that came from the village of Morges.
Morges is a delightful town, very placid and — as it
would seem — very well content. Along the Lake front
is a formal promenade lined with trees. It is bordered
by walled gardens which belong to the houses of the town.
The backs of these houses are more picturesque than the
fronts, which face the street, for the backs of no two
houses are alike nor are any two on the same level. They
are alike in this, that they all have chestnut-coloured
roofs. From the promenade can be obtained, on occa-
sion, a view of Mont Blanc. The people of Morges
appear to regard this view as a municipal propertj^ and
one that gives the town a claim to be illustrious.
The town consists of two fine wide streets — the
Grande Rue and the Rue du Lac — which run parallel
with one another and with the margin of the Lake.
They are very decorous streets, trim and clean, and
made bright, here and there, by modest fountains
around which flowers are planted and where pigeons
delight to strut.
At one end of the town is a large modern church in
the Classic style (built 1772-6) with a steeple that shines
in the sun like polished bronze. At the other end is the
chateau, used since the closing years of the 18th century
as an arsenal. It is a vast, square building with a round
tower at each corner capped by a " pepper-pot " roof.
Many of the old windows are retained, while the main
door is engaging, for it takes the form of a narrow entry
272
lU'K'
St. Sulpice and Merges
that opens upon a steep and mysterious stair and is
protected overhead by a little machicolated gallery.
The castle was built by Peter of Savoy towards the
end of the 13th century, and is a splendid specimen of
its period. It was originally surrounded, on at least two
sides, by water, while the largest of the four round
towers (that nearest the town) was the keep or place of
last refuge. The Counts and Dukes of Savoy have
resided here on occasion, but then they — like Queen
Elizabeth — seem to have stayed, some time or another,
at every building of any note in the country. In 1420
Amadeus VIII came with his wife and family to the
Castle of Morges to escape the plague, and in order to
render themselves more secure the duke had the town
isolated. Morges has, of course, in common with all
other fortified towns, been duly besieged, taken or burnt,
and in these violent events the chateau has always played
a leading part.
The castle, being very old, has, according to the
custom of the Swiss, been smothered all over with
plaster. In spite of this disfigurement it still retains
much of its ancient dignity. One affront, however,
brings it almost to the verge of the ridiculous. High up
on the frowning feudal tower that formed the keep,
where bowmen and harquebusiers kept watch, a huge
clock-face has been plastered on the stone, just such a
clock-face as would befit the front of a motor garage.
By the chateau is the harbour. It was constructed in
1680, and as it was first laid down so is it now. It
consists of two stone moles with, at the end of each, a
rather pert little tower. Between the two towers, in
ancient days, a chain was stretched to protect the haven.
s 273
The Lake of Geneva
The two towers are still in place and are still looking
very alert, but the chain has gone and with it the
pirates.
Morges was once the Portsmouth of the Lake and
the seat of its navy, for in 1689, when Vaud was menaced
by the Duke of Savoy, a fleet of men-of-war was built
at Morges. It consisted of two " barks," each 70 feet
long, with 24 rowers, 3 cannon, a battery of harquebuses
and a hold to accommodate 400 soldiers. The number
of the men has probably grown to 400 with the growth
of years, and may possibly have started with the more
reasonable complement of forty.
What the mediaeval town looked like may be gathered
from the Passage de la Voute, which burrows, in quite
the mediaeval way, under some old houses ; while the
Rue Neuve — possibly the oldest street in the place — is a
lane of long ago, for it is dark and clammy and so narrow
that it would admit nothing with a greater beam than a
laden pack-horse. The Rue des Fosses serves to indicate
the line of the ancient walls. There are some old houses
in Morges which show no little pretence, for there was
a time when the town was a favourite resort for the
wealthy people of Lausanne.
The Hotel de Ville is a fine old building with a
pentagonal tower in which is a winding stair and with
a very handsome entry bearing the date 1680. On the
face of the tower hangs the alarm bell. Projecting from
an angle of the Town Hall, at the level of the first
floor, is a very old stone figure of Justice. It takes the
from of a loose, silly-looking young woman who is very
immodestly clad and who holds negligently in her hand
a pair of metal scales which wave in the wind. She is
274
St. Sulpice and Merges
not an imposing figure and would, indeed, appear to be
better fitted for a reformatory than for a palace of
justice.
One of the most interesting things in Morges is
the old house. No. 54, Grande Rue, known as " La
Laiterie." The interior has been admirably restored by
the owner, a learned antiquary, and the rooms filled with
his fine collection of old furniture. The house consists
of two parts, that on the street dating from the 15th
century and that at the back from a century later.
Between the two is a courtyard in which are three
beautiful stone galleries which rise one above the other.
Each is supported upon pillars and rounded arches, and
each has a stone balustrade. The structure bears the arms
of the Blanchenay family and the date 1670.
The front of the house, looking on the street, has
been modernized and spoiled beyond recovery, but the
fagade of the other house, that looks into the court, is
little altered and its old windows are still charming.
Three of the original wooden ceilings have been pre-
served. They are all notable, but one belonging to the
16th century is magnificent and is worth a journey to
Morges to see. It is fashioned in the form of sunken
squares enclosed by immense beams. The design is
carried out with a boldness and an arrogance very
expressive of mediaeval ideas. There are many small
rooms, which are panelled, have friendly-looking cup-
boards, and curious little paintings over the doors. They,
with the rest of the house, enable one to realize the
home of the gentleman of Morges as he and his
family lived some hundreds of years ago. The furniture
belongs to many periods and is derived from many
275
The Lake of Geneva
sources. Much of it is accredited to the 16th century
and a great deal to the days of Louis XIV and Louis
Quinze.
In its general aspect Morges is most attractive. It
is throughout a grey town, so uniformly grey that it
seems to be coated with dust or to be viewed through a
mist. Beneath its pallor there is just a hint, here and
there, of a colour that may have been bright long years
ago, for in the almost universal grey there may be traces
of a faint green on a shutter, of an almost vanished pink
on a house front, or of a primrose that might once have
been brown. Thus it is that its streets have about them
the suggestion of a very faded brocade.
One old book speaks of Morges as "a cultured
town," but it would now be described rather as
' ' genteel ' ' and as presenting a respectability so pro-
nounced and prim as to be almost oppressive. It has the
aspect of an early Victorian town, a Jane Austen town,
that would pride itself on being "select," where the
proprieties are observed and where deference should still
be paid to " persons of quality."
There is one anomaly which is as difficult to appreciate
as the garage clock on the feudal tower. Morges has a
casino. How it found its way into the town is beyond
understanding. It is an admirable casino, but it seems
as out of place as a loud-voiced buccaneer at a vicarage
drawing-room tea party.
Close to Morges is the amazing Chateau of Vufflens.
It is the largest castle on the Lake, the loftiest, the
most imposing. It is a building of that type and size
.which is generally spoken of as "a pile." It is a land-
mark in the country for miles around, and even when
276
THE CASTLE OF MORGES
VUFFLENS
St. Sulpice and Morges
viewed from across the water is impressive by its sheer
immensity. Seen at a distance, when the sun shines on
it, it is entirely white, as white as if it were made of
marble and, curiously enough, it then appears to be new
and a work of yesterday.
There was a castle at Vufflens as long ago as the
12th century, and the first seigneur of whom any record
exists is the Chevalier Pierre de Vufflens, in the year
1160. Some vestiges of the early stronghold or of a
chateau of the 13th or 14th century have been discovered.
The castle was at first a freehold, but was subsequently
placed for greater security under the protection of the
bishops of Lausanne. The lords of Vufflens held it
until the middle of the 13th century, when it passed by
marriage to Richard de Duin. About the close of the
following century it was possessed by the illustrious
family of Colombier, who held it to the middle of the
16th century. The present castle was built by a Colom-
bier in the 15th century, and it is assumed that the
architect was an Itahan. Vufflens was bought by
Francois de Senarclens in 1641, and was in the holding
of that great family until recent years. The last of the
race, Henri de Senarclens, died in 1858. The Senarclens
arms still surmount the main entry.
Vufflens stands on a small green hill in a land of
many vineyards. At its foot the little village cringes like
a frightened dog. What especially strikes the visitor,
when wonder at the vast proportions of the place has
lessened, is its aspect of extreme old age and the remark-
able fact that it is built wholly of brick, of a small white
brick. By an ingenious disposal of the brick beautiful
and delicate ornamentation is introduced in the walls,
277
The Lake of Geneva
and where, in a few places, red brick is blended with the
white, the effect is exquisite.
The predominant feature of the castle is a gigantic
square tower, 190 feet high, capped by a cone-shaped
roof. Beneath the eaves of the roof is a row of \vindows,
black and hollow, which light the gallery where the
sentries kept their watch. Then below the gallery, as
the chief ornament of the tower, is a series of machico-
lations of an unusual and most picturesque type. At
the foot of the great keep are four smaller towers, also
square and designed upon like lines. At a little distance
from the donjon is a low square castle or memoir with
a round turret at each angle and with modernized
windows on its lower floors. It is connected with the
main building by a long gallery and a subterranean
passage. In this lesser chateau the owner lives, or
rather lived, for the castle is at present unoccupied and
is, indeed, for sale. The castle appears to have been
restored for the last time in 1860.
278
• XLII
ST. PREX AND A MAN OF WEIGHT
A LITTLE way beyond Morges is St. Prex. St.
Prex is said to have come by its name in rather
^ a curious manner. St. Prothais, the Bishop of
Avenches, who flourished in the early part of the 6th
century, seeing his town in process of being destroyed
by the Germans, sought peace in a soHtude at the foot
of the Jura Mountains. On his death his body was
buried at a place called Biere,^ but the Bishop of
Lausanne, holding the saint in great veneration, resolved
that his remains should be deposited in the cathedral of
that city. The body was therefore dug up and carried
by the clergy with great ceremony to the shores of the
Lake.
The funeral procession was an imposing one, for there
was a brave display of banners, while the company, as
they marched along, chanted psalms and hymns. In due
course they arrived at a little Lake town then called
Basuges. On approaching this spot it was noticed that
the bearers of the coffin began to stagger under their
burden. The coffin had, in fact, suddenly become
heavier. It became, indeed, more and more weighty
with each step. The procession halted, additional bearers
1 Some six miles due north of Rolle.
279
The Lake of Geneva
put their shoulders under the bier, the singing ceased;
but the coffin became heavier and yet heavier, until at
last it had to be lowered to the ground. When on the
ground it was discovered that no body of men could
lift it.
It was evident that the dead bishop had an aversion
to be moved any farther and was determined to stay
where he was. Thus it came to pass that at Basuges he
was buried and the place came to be known as St.
Prex, which, by some ingenuity, is considered to be an
improved version of St. Prothais.
The obstinacy of the bishop did not diminish with
the passage of years, for in 1400 he was again dug up
and the attempt made to continue the interrupted
journey to Lausanne. But the bishop was as determined
as ever not to go to that city, for the coffin was found
to have actually gained in weight in the intervening 800
years. So at St. Prex he remained, as he evidently
.wished.
Basuges, it should be mentioned, was almost
destroyed by an inundation in 563, and on such part of
it as remained high and dry the St. Prex of the present
time was built. ^ The little town, standing as it does on
a point of land, was fortified by Boniface, Bishop of
Lausanne, in 1234, and became a very sturdy and inde-
pendent place. It needed a stout tower and strong walls
to protect it from the pirates of Thonon, to whom the
periodic raiding of St. Prex appears to have been a
popular diversion. It would seem that, besides its walls
and its towers, it possessed — in the days of its glory — a
court of justice, a cowhouse, a bakehouse and a chapel.
1 " Le L6man," par Bailly de Lalonde. Tome i, p. 166. Paris, 1842.
280
ST. PREX
ST. PREX: THE TOWN GATE
St. Prex and a Man of Weight
It also possessed a mayor, for it is on record that the
first mayor of St. Prex died in 1200.^
St. Prex occupies a well-wooded promontory which
projects so far into the Lake that at a distance the place
appears to be afloat. Above the trees can be seen the
top of the old tower and the spire of the church. It
is now a very small, subdued and inoffensive village,
apparently half emptied of its people and given over to
the lodging of cattle, for the smell of the co washed per-
vades St. Prex from end to end. It boasts of a little
parade, with a few trees and a bench or two. Of the
old walls but a few traces remain, but the town gate
and the ancient tower still stand. The tower is near
the Lake edge, is square, lofty and pierced by fine
Romanesque windows and by a few loopholes. Of the
age of the tower nothing definite is known, except that
it is " very old." It seems now to fill no pubHc function,
since it has attached itself in a very friendly >vay to a
block of modern buildings. So close is the attachment
that the old and the new seem to be standing arm in
arm. Most of the houses of the to.wn belong to the 16th
and 17th centuries.
The town gate has a pointed arch, over which rises
a picturesque clock tower with a gaily painted clock.
The ancient house by the gate is now the Maison de
Ville, as certain public documents pasted on the wall
attest. The gate opens into a wide and cheery High
Street where are the village shops. The rest of the town
is occupied by bewildered lanes which are as tangled as
a bundle of string.
1 Guillaume Fatio, op. cit. The mayor in the middle ages was usually the
agent or bailifl of the bishop and a minor magistrate.
281
The Lake of Geneva
The church is on a slight hill outside the town. It
occupies the site of a church of the 12th century, some
of the foundations of which have been brought to light.
It is a large plain building with a handsome square tower,
the round-arched windows of which are obviously very
old. On the summit of the tower is a pointed spire
covered with brilliant little tiles. The main door at the
foot of the tower is in the Classic style and bears the
date 1663. There are certain old windows in the body
of the church, notably one of the early English type and
another with an ogee arch. Both are bricked up. In the
wall by these windows some pieces of carved stone have
been inserted. One, representing leaves and an ear of
corn, has on it the date 1503, while the other piece
appears to be Roman, for the Romans had a settlement
of some note on this point of land. The windows w^hich
light the church are Romanesque, and great age must
attach to the heavy buttresses which support the walls.
The choir is decorated by beautiful Romanesque arcades.
The body of the church has been restored, for a woodcut
of 1844 shows it as being little more than a barn.^
1 " Le Tour du L^man," par A. de Bougy. Paris, 1846
282
XLIII
ROLLE
ROLLE is a curiously attractive town, being, as
one writer sympathetically says, " U7ie honnete
■ petite ville.'' It is very like Morges but Morges
in miniature. It bears as close a family likeness to
Morges as if that town were its parent. Morges has two
wide, straight streets ; Rolle has one. Morges has four
thousand inhabitants ; Rolle has two thousand. Morges
has an ancient castle at one end of the town, and so
has Rolle. Morges has a casino, and Rolle, not to be
outdone, has an island of its o^vn. This island, by the
way, adds much charm to the place. It is an artificial
island constructed in 1839. It is now^ covered with trees
and is " adorned," as the guide books say, with an
obelisk in honour of De la Harpe, who was a native of
the town.
The long broad street of Rolle would pass for the
Grande Rue of an 18th century town, if only its shops
were a little toned down and a little less lavish in plate
glass. In a fine house. No. 5, Cesar de la Harpe was
born. A tablet attached to the building describes him
as the " Fondateur de la Liberie Vaudoise,^^ and gives
his birth and death as 1754 and 1838. There is also in
the Grande Rue a round-arched gateway with a little
square tower over it furnished with machicolations and
283
The Lake of Geneva
with double ogee windows. It bears the insigne of the
double cross and was evidently at one time the gate-
house of some mansion of distinction.
At the end of the street is the castle, a low, long
building with a fine square tower at either end and a
water-tower standing in the Lake, but connected to the
main building by a gallery. It is a fine specimen of feudal
architecture and can claim a venerable past, for in 1291
the Count of Savoy had a castle at Rolle. The oldest
part of the present building belongs to this period. The
lords of Mont were from an early date the holders of the
stronghold. Among them was Amedee de Viry, who
in 1476 repaired the building and added a great round
tower on the north-west side which still goes by his
name. This is the Amedee who erected the little church
at Coppet. At Mont, which stands about a mile and a
half above Rolle, there can still be seen on an eminence
some remains of the old feudal donjon of the barons of
that place. The castle was much damaged by fire in
1530 and was finally modernized in the 19th century.
The body of the castle forms a triangle, consists of
one floor only, and is now occupied by municipal offices,
a school, and a museum which appears to be never open
when a visit is projected. Over the main entry are carved,
with great display, the arms of Hieronymus Steiger.
In 1588 Jean Steiger bought the seigneuries of Mont
and Rolle. He was followed by many members of his
family, during whose tenancy the castle was restored, was
much modified and given its present outlines. By the
side of the entry is a pretty Gothic window which seems
to have lost its way in this otherwise severe building. In
the upper ^sdndows of the castle are curious iron grilles
284
Rolle
of exceptional and extravagant fierceness. They look
like the distorted branches of some horrible iron thorn
bush, and appear to be enraged, but what purpose they
serve beyond that of mere f rightfulness it is hard to say.
On the land side of the castle to the north-west is an
immense round tower standing alone. It has a fine
pointed roof. If it has a door it is hidden. Save for a
few loopholes its walls are blank, and as to windows it
has none. A more dumb, inhospitable and uncivil
building could not be conceived. This is the Viry Tower
already alluded to. It is at present used as a prison, and
no building in the world could appear more like one.
From the Lake it is that Rolle looks its best, for its
gardens come down to the water's edge just as they do
at Coppet. There is no stiff promenade, but only a line
of garden walls, and behind the gardens a row of unsteady
old houses. Each garden has its summer-house and its
little landing stage with usually a boat made fast to it,
while the backs of the houses, which look towards the
Lake, are so fantastically irregular and so beautiful with
their red-brown roofs, their balconies and their climbing
roses, that Rolle must ever be a place of pleasant memory.
About the second half of the 18th century Rolle
was an exceedingly fashionable town which w^as much
patronized by the "smart set" of the time. It was a
spa. It had baths. It had a sulphur spring like that of
Harrogate and also a stream that gave forth iron. The
spring was situated at the end of the town on the way
to Lausanne. All kinds of great people came to Rolle
for the " cure," and among them no less a person than
that wizened old cynic, Voltaire.
Behind Rolle there stretches a glorious green country
285
The Lake of Geneva
which ends at the foot of the tree-capped hill La Cote.
It is dotted by many villages, each with its little church.
They look inviting at a distance, but certain of them lose
much of their charm when viewed from the actual street.
In Allaman, which stands not far from the Lake, is
the vast Chateau des Menthon. It has been much
restored and now follow^s the general lines of the great
mansion of the 18th century. Its towers are no doubt
older and its moat more ancient still. It is said
that Voltaire w^ished at one time to purchase this castle,
but their Excellencies of Berne declined the offer on
the extraordinary ground that Voltaire w^as a Roman
Catholic. There is a little old church in the village with
a square tower and a pointed spire. In front of it and
shading it is a fine and venerable tree. It is from just
such a church that the curfew tolled ** the knell of
parting day " in Gray's " Elegy."
Higher up the slope, on a natural terrace, is the
ancient and picturesque town of Aubonne. It is made
a conspicuous object in the landscape by reason of its
very tall white tower capped with red, which stands up
above the town like a gaunt lighthouse. Aubonne w^as a
Roman town of some consequence, and later a stronghold
of the Burgundians and of the House of Savoy. In after
days its history was one of violence and misfortune and
of the pride that goeth before a fall, for it seems to have
been fated that every family who held Aubonne must
needs come in time to some kind of tragic end. The story
of the town has been ably written by Duquesne,^ but it
is too long and too involved to be attempted in this place.
Among the great lords of Aubonne in the days of
^ " Aubonne k travers les figes," par M. le pasteur Duquesne. Morges, 1908.
286
o
b
o
a
J
H
en
<
U
H
ROLLE
RoUe
Savoy was that Othon de Grandson who was suspected
of compassing the death of Amadeus VII at Ripaille,
as has been recounted in Chapter x. Before this
mysterious event he had become famous as a soldier and
had fought with distinction in the EngHsh army.
Aubonne was taken by the Bernese in 1.53G, and
some hundred years later (viz. in 1620) the seigneurie of
the town was sold to a certain Theodore Turquet de
Mayerne. This man (born at Mayerne, near Geneva,
in 1573) was a doctor who practised in Paris. He was
a learned, ingenious and enlightened physician who was
far in advance of his times. In his day no medicines
were considered to be fit for the use of man unless they
were derived from the animal or vegetable kingdom.
Mayerne, who was skilled in chemistry, boldly defended
the use of chemical remedies in disease. He was the
first to employ calomel as a drug, and introduced the
famous lotion known as " Black wash." For these
heresies he was condemned as a quack by the College of
Physicians of Paris ; doctors were forbidden to meet him
in consultation, puns were made on his name (tiirquety
a mongrel) and, although by far the most able physician
of his time, he was practically banished from the city.
He was neither a quack nor a mongrel, but a physician
of exceptional ability and a man who inspired respect
by his uprightness, his independence and his frank
honesty. In Paris he happened to have cured an English
peer who took the discredited doctor with him to England
and presented him to the king. His supreme merit was
soon recognized. He was granted the M.D. of Oxford
in 160G, was made physician to James I in 1611, and was
later physician-in-ordinary to Charles I and his queen.
287
The Lake of Geneva
He greatly pleased the august lady by inventing some
exceptional cosmetics for her use. He was knighted in
1624. He sold the seigneurie of Aubonne in 1650 and
ended his days in retirement in Chelsea. Here he
died in 1655 and was buried in the church of St. Martin-
in-the-Fields. It is through these two notables that
Aubonne becomes associated, in curious ways, with
England and with London.
The chateau, raised aloft upon high walls, crowns the
summit of the town. It dates from the 13th century,
but the only relic of the ancient building is the plain
white donjon tower by which Aubonne is known on the
Lake. There was another tower like it at one time, but
it vanished in 1837, partly from the effect of time and
partly from the far more ruinous effect of "improve-
ments." The present castle — used for municipal offices
— belongs to the 17th and 18th centuries, has a beautiful
gateway and a fine courtyard surrounded by an arcade
of Classic pillars.
Among the quaint and picturesque ways of Aubonne
.will be found a fine market-house, raised upon columns,
and an ancient church founded in 1306. The latter poor
building has been so renovated and improved from time
to time that it is now much deformed and is a mere
hunchback and cripple of a church. So much of the old
material has been preser\^ed that it presents a pathetic
medley of a dozen periods and a patchwork of all sorts
of architectural curiosities. The next time it is restored
it is to be hoped that it will be put out of its misery, and
that the venerable pillars and oddly carv^ed stones and
corbels will be given a home in some kindly museum, for
as a place of worship it is a mere travesty.
288
THE TOWER OF AUBONNE
AUBONNE: ENTRANCE TO THE CHATEAU
5' J .• :
XLIV
NYON
NO town viewed from the Lake is more romantic
looking than old Nyon. It appears as a medley
of weather-worn houses piled up on a mound, on
the summit of which is a fine mediaeval castle, grey as a
ghost. A study of ancient prints serves to show that
Nyon has changed but little during the last few centuries.
It has developed, it is true, a philandering promenade
and some timid suburbs ; but it is still the firm-knit,
truculent old town on the hill that bawled defiance across
the Lake.
It is a very ancient place, for it was founded by the
Romans about 46 B.C. and was a town of some magni-
ficence in its time, as is attested by the remains that
have been discovered of noble buildings and an imposing
temple. Its water was brought by means of an aqueduct
from Divonne, which is nearly six miles distant, while
in the bay of Promenthoux was a Roman military en-
campment and a harbour to serve it.
During the 2nd and 3rd centuries barbarian hordes
swept over the town, leaving it blood-spattered, charred
and dishonoured, so that when the Burgundians came in
443 Nyon was but a heap of desolate ruins. It is believed
to have remained in this condition for some 600 years. ^
1 " Nyon k travers les Slides," par Th. Wellauer. Geneva, 1901.
T 289
The Lake of Geneva
There it stood, century after eentury, a haunted mound
shunned by man, a plaee of awe whose hidden ways
were a refuge for wild beasts, a tumulus of bleached bones.
Here, among the undergrowth on the hill-top were the
broken pillars of a temple, the flagged pavement of a
forum, the curved stone bench of a garden, the basin of
a fountain, the walls that marked a street.
It was not until the end of the 11th century — in
1096 some records say — that life came again to this long
silent hill and men began to make their homes among
the pitiable ruins. The little hesitating town belonged
at first to the Archbishop of Besanyon and was assigned
in 1130 — for purposes of easier administration — to
Humbert de Cossonay, lord of Prangins. About 1293
it passed into the possession of Savoy, grew straightway
in stature and in strength, and became one of the prin-
cipal towns in Vaud. In 1416 it could boast of 800
inhabitants. In January, 1536, it was taken without
resistance by the Bernese, in whose masterful hands it
remained until 1798, when Vaud declared its independ-
ence and when over the tower of Nyon was hoisted La
cocarde verte.
The age of the castle of Nyon is uncertain. Although
first heard of in 1289, it can only claim to have been
built, on lines like the present, during the occupation of
Savoy. After the Bernese took Nyon they reconstructed
the castle in the years 1572-7, and it is this castle that
crowns the hill to-day. Three of the round towers M.
Wellauer believes belong to the 13th century and to
Savoy, but the body of the building dates — as already
stated — from the close of the 16th century.
The castle is singularly well preserved. It consists of
290
Nyon
a massive square block of grey stone with, at each corner,
a round tower capped by a conical roof. There is on one
side of the chateau a fifth tower, square and of great size,
which is furnished with machicolations. It contains the
main stair and the belfry. The central building has a
high-pitched roof of chestnut-brown tiles which is im-
pressive by its great size. Unfortunately the windows
have been modernized and provided with sun-blinds and
flower-boxes such as would become a well-to-do boarding-
house. The structure is now occupied by municipal
offices and by a prison.
The entry to the castle yard is through a round-arched
gateway over which are carved coats of arms and the date
1572. The chief arms are those of Zehender, the bailiff
of the time. The details are almost obliterated, but it
is still possible to decipher on the stone a figure that
might pass for the bear of Berne. The shield is sup-
ported by two utterly ridiculous lions, standing erect
and as crude as a couple of nursery toys. A drawing of
the castle in the museum shows that as late as 1744
there was a ditch on the land side which was crossed
by a drawbridge and protected by a picturesque guard-
house.
The castle was the official residence of the hailli.
Most notable among these representatives of Berne was
the genial Victor de Bonstetten, the friend of Madame
de Stael. A portrait of this charming old gentleman
(who Hved between the years 1745 and 1832) is to be
found in the Castle Museum. One night during the
Terror a servant summoned Bonstetten to come to a man
who was hiding in the garden. The good-natured hailli
.went at once and found a wild-looking man in rags who
291
The Lake of Geneva
exclaimed, " I am Carnot. I die of hunger. Give me
shelter for the night." Bonstetten covered his tatters
with his own cloak, took him in, fed him and lodged him
in his own bed. The next day Camot was able to proceed
on his way. He never forgot his kindly host, for when
he became minister he invited Bonstetten to Paris and
presented him to Napoleon, who was then First Consul.
General Lazare Carnot — it will be remembered — was for
two years president of the Directoire, but in 1797 was
forced to flee from Paris. He returned to that city in
1799.
Nyon in the days of its glory was a walled town with
three gates. The castle stood at an angle of the enceinte.
The old wall on the Lake side of the town still exists,
although it has been much reduced in height. At its foot
runs the beautiful Promenade des Marronniers, shaded
by trees and commanding a fine view of the Lake and of
the range of Mont Blanc. In the course of the wall is
the base of the large round bastion which figures in the
old drawings of Nyon.
The Promenade ends at the only remaining gate of
the town — the Porte Notre-Dame. It is a gateway with
a rounded arch built out of stones from the Roman ruins.
From this point the wall followed the Promenade du
Jura as far as the Place Bel Air, where stood the Porte
St. Martin. This gate has long since been demolis^hed,
but until quite recently there was on the roof of a forge
near by (now pulled down) the watch-tower of the guard
of this quarter of the town. From the St. Martin Gate
the wall ran in a bold sweep round the Place Bel Air,
.where a considerable section of it (some 14 feet high)
can still be seen on the side opposite to the new post
292
Nyon
office. Where the Place Bel Air meets the Rue St. Jean
was the third gate, the Porte St. Jean. From this point
the wall (the base of which still exists) passed direct to
the castle by the Rue des Moulins. These walls are
believed to date from the 14th century.
At the foot of the castle mound and near to the
margin of the Lake is a venerable tower called the Tour
Jules-Cesar. It is reached by a steep, old-fashioned alley
— the Rue de la Poterne. The tower is square, is
possessed of four stories and is capped by a cone-shaped
roof. It is now occupied by poor tenements. The base
of the tower, built of large blocks of stone, is Roman,
the upper part (much modified) belongs to the Middle
Ages. High up on that wall of the tower which faces
the Lake is the figure of a man in stone, but so weather-
worn is it that its identity is lost. It may be taken to
represent the Unknown Warrior of Nyon's fighting days.
When the fortifications of Nyon were built the tower
became of comparatively little importance, for in 1398 it
is on record that it was granted to a meritorious citizen,
in recognition of his services, on the annual payment of
a partridge, that bird apparently occup5dng at the time
the legal position of the more modern pepper-corn.^
Not far from Caesar's Tower is an old statue which
represents another Unknown Warrior. It is the figure
of a man in armour with a very gallant plume in his
helmet and a halberd in his hand. As a work of art it
is archaic. Below the pedestal on which the figure stands
is a stone fountain bearing the date 1763, but it is evident
that the statue is some centuries older. The warrior holds
in his left hand a shield or scroll bearing the silver fish of
•
1 " Dictionnaire Historique de Vaud."
293
The Lake of Geneva
Nyon and the date 1096 — the year of the reputed resur-
rection of the town. Testuz^ states that his armour and
equipment belong to the period of Henri IV (1553-89).
Nothing is known as to the identity of this cavaUer.
He is, however, much admired by the inhabitants and is
affectionately known as " Maitre Jacques."
The streets of Nyon — now a town of 5,000 inhabitants
— are full of interest and contain many old houses, in the
walls of some of which are fragments of curious carving.
It also is made beautiful by many gardens and there is,
indeed, one street, the Rue des Jardins, which has
nothing but gardens on either side of it. The chief
gardens in this street belong to a large and ancient
mansion which stands by the south side of the chateau
on the site of old convent buildings.
The street known as the Rue du Vieux-Marche is
supposed to traverse the Roman forum, since so many
Roman remains have been found in its vicinity. In the
picturesque Rue du Marche certain buildings are raised
upon arches so as to form a long arcade full of deep
shadows. One of these buildings is the fine old Town
Hall bearing the date 1636 and flanked by a square tower
which would seem to be older still. Let into one of the
buttresses of the Town Hall is a large slab of Roman
carved stone. Opposite to the Town Hall is one of the
many beautiful fountains of Nyon. At the end of the
arcades is the Tour de la Flechere. It is a square tower,
much mutilated and much plastered over, but it retains
its fine stone doorway over the lintel of which, in bold
carving, are the arms of the families Des Champs-
Aubonne and the date 1597. This was the mansion of
1 " Nyon ct ses Environs," par Aug. Testuz (I'Europe illustrie). No date.
294
NYON: RUE DE L4 FLECHERE
NYON: THE WRITlNp.ON; Ttjig. WA1;U. ;'. : ;
Nyon
a noble and it stands in what was once the aristocratic
quarter of the town.
Behind and below the present post office is the old
corn mill of the baiUis of Berne. It is built on the mill
course of the Asse, and its wheel still tumbles round and
round. It bears on the beams \vhich face the street the
date 1C21 and the initials m.i.b. — i.o.d.m.
The national church of Nyon was built on its present
lines in 1474. It has been many times restored — to its
disadvantage. The lower parts of the walls are con-
structed of stones from the Roman ruins. The spire fell
down at the end of the 18th century and has not been
replaced. The nave is Gothic. At the east end are two
vers' tine Romanesque windows of a most unusual type.
On the outer wall at this part are two venerable carved
stones, one showing the sun and the letters I.H.S., and
the other the arms of Savoy.
Near the church, in the Rue du Prieure and in the
wall of a modest house, is set an inscribed stone. The
inscription it bears is shown in the photograph facing
page 294. This remarkable Writing on the Wall may
be translated as follows :
" In 1573 a cupa of corn cost 15 florins
and a setier of wine 13 florins.'*
It is impossible to give in modern terms the equivalent
value of these measures, as both they and the florin were
subject to local variations very difficult to gauge with any
accuracy. The stone expresses the high w^ater mark
attained by the cost of living in 1573. This was the
result of oppressive taxation, for, by the so-called Con-
vention of Lausanne of 1564, it was stipulated that the
295
The Lake of Geneva
Bernese should pay to Savoy an indemnity of 80,000
gold crowns, and it was further resolved that this money
should be a charge on the Pays de Vaud.^ Moreover,
the rebuilding of the castle of Nyon was commenced in
1572, and it may be assumed that the people of Nyon
were called upon to contribute to this costly undertaking.
The interest in after years of this Writing on the
Wall may be judged by imagining the significance of a
stone let into the wall of a house on Ludgate Hill with
the inscription :
" In 1920 a loaf of bread cost l/4j
and a bottle of whisky 12/6.'*
1 " Histoire du Canton de Vaud," par P, Maillefer. Lausanne, 1903, p. 254.
296
XLV
MADAME DE STAEL
THERE is no place on the Lake more fascinating
than Coppet — little, old-fashioned Coppet — with
its grey chateau and its memories of Madame de
Stael. Places of historic or sentimental interest are apt
to be marred by the callousness of change and the
intrusion of unsympathetic detail, but here at the chateau
nothing has altered. It is as it was a hundred years ago.
There is no jarring element, nothing to disturb the
memory of the past and the perfection of the picture it
conjures up.
It is possible, without an effort, to reconstruct the
romance of the faded house and the scenes that it
witnessed — scenes that belong to a picturesque period in
the history of France and to a very remarkable company
of dramatis personae. It is possible to realize the presence
of its radiant chatelaine, to see the beautiful Madame
Recamier, Benjamin Constant, " with his red hair, his
pale blue eyes and his gawky German-student appear-
ance " ^; Madame de Kriidner, who " talked of nothing
but heaven and hell"; Count de Sabran, who was so
small that he was nearly buried in his helmet when he
played Pyrrhus ; Werner, the tragic poet " with his nose
full of tobacco " and his bad French, and dear old Bon-
stetten, philosopher and gossip, who never outgrew his
1 " Madame de Stael," by A. Stevens, London, 1881.
297
The Lake of Geneva
youth and never ceased his admiration of Frederika Brun.
So whole-heartedly does the chateau with its rambling
garden belong, even now, to the 18th century that folk
in the attire of to-day — golf caps and tweed suits — seem
grossly out of place in its precincts. Among its salons
and its solemn walks should be ladies in turbans and
plumes and in dresses with the waist just under the
arms ; while the men should wear wigs or long hair, full-
skirted coats, with a soft cravat at the neck and frills
at the wrist, breeches and bright stockings.
Very many books have been written on the subject
of Madame de Stael and her times, but it may be con-
venient to some — standing, as it w^ere, in the courtyard
at Coppet — to give a brief resume of her animated career.
Anne Louise, Baronne de Stael Holstein, was born in
Paris in 1766, and died in that city in 1817. Her father
was Jacques Necker, a wealthy Parisian banker and
Minister of Finance to Louis XVI. ^ A native of Geneva
and a Protestant, he w^as a remarkable man with a still
more remarkable appearance. His bust in the Museum
at Geneva shows a head so strangely shaped as fully to
justify his wife's assertion that "his features resemble
those of no one else." The strange characteristics of his
face are a pointed retreating forehead of immoderate
height and a pointed chin of equally immoderate length.
Madame 's mother was Susanna Curchod,^ the daughter
of the Protestant pastor of Grassier, a village on the
frontier of France and some five or six miles from
1 Born 1732. Died at Coppet 1804. The blazing jade-green uniform that
he wore at the meeting of the States General at the commencement of the French
Revolution is in the Geneva Museum.
* Born 1739. Married 1764 Died at Coppet 1794.
298
Madame de Stael
Coppet. Having been left with little means at her
father's death, she had to work for her living, and so
became a governess. Before she met Necker she was
beloved by Gibbon, the historian, as has been already
told (page 255). She was amiable and well educated,
prim and a little narrow in her views. In the presence
of her brilliant husband and her daughter she became
inconspicuous — the shadow of a gentle lady moving in a
quiet background. A friend once said of her, " She is
rigid and frigid but good and has no taste in dress."
Petted and tenderly cared for, she remained the prim
little governess to the end. She was devoted to her over-
powering husband. In a letter she wrote — to be opened
by him after her death — she says, ** I believe my spirit
will still watch over you, and that, in the bosom of God,
I shall still enjoy your tenderness for me."
Anne Louise, educated by her mother with finicking
care, developed with a rapidity that frightened that
demure lady. At the age of twelve she wrote a drama
which, as a literary work, was probably not equal to
" The Young Visiters." At fifteen " she had mastered
some of the profoundest works of French literature,"^
and at the same age she wrote a precis of Montesquieu's
" Spirit of Laws." For a bouncing girl with an intense
capacity for pleasure this may seem a dour employment,
but her life was always made up of strong contrasts.
From this period to the end of her days she wrote
without ceasing, romances, poems, plays, philosophical
treatises, criticisms, as well as a cyclopaedic work on
Germany. Her writings, collected after her death, filled
eighteen volumes.
^ Stevens, op. cit.
299
The Lake of Geneva
She being richly endowed, her father was in a position
to select for her a husband. The husband must needs be
moderately young, of good family and position, must
agree not to separate the bride from her parents and,
above all, be a Protestant. Such a man was not readily
to be found in Catholic France ; so finally Eric Baron de
Stael Holstein was chosen as the most fitting. He was
37 years of age, a Swede, and the Swedish Ambassador
in Paris. The marriage, which was not a love match
but a manage de convenance arranged by the father,
took place in 1786. Three children were the result of
this union, two boys and a girl.^ After the birth of the
third child Madame de Stael obtained a separation from
her husband on the ostensible grounds of his recklessness
in the matter of money. He died in 1802. When he
was ill the kind-hearted lady went to see him and hoped
to bring him to Coppet, but he died on the way at
Poligny of an apoplectic stroke.
The attraction exercised by Madame de Stael was
remarkable. Her salon, whether in Paris or at Coppet,
in London or at Weimar, was crowded with men and
women who were anxious to talk to her, to discuss ^vith
her or merely to see her and take her hand. It was
the charm of the woman herself that brought the world
to her feet and not wholly her reputation as a writer. It
began when she was only twenty. It lasted to the end
of her life. She gathered together more who were illus-
trious in literature, science and art than a learned society
could pretend to embrace or a princely court could
attempt to honour. There was scarcely a person of
» Augustus, born 1790, died at Coppet 1827. Albert, born 1793, killed in a
duel 1813, and Albertine born 1797, married the Due de Broglie 1816, died 1838.
300
Madame de Stael
eminence in Europe whom she had not met. She had
chatted with Marie Antoinette at the Trianon. She had
talked (but much less pleasantly) with Napoleon. She
had argued with Chateaubriand. She had exchanged
views with Goethe. It is notable that her attractiveness
appealed to women as well as to men, and that a large
number of her intimate friends were of her own sex.
She was in Paris during the outbreak of the French
Revolution and witnessed the horrors of 1791 — the down-
fall of the monarchy, the attack on the Tuileries, the
massacre of prisoners, the setting up of the guillotine.
She was entirely fearless and never, in the most trying
moment, did her gallant heart fail her. In September,
1792, she had to flee from the terror-stricken city. She
was alone, for her husband was in Holland, and she was
expecting in a few months' time the birth of her second
child.
She had sheltered, at the risk of her life, several
people who were fleeing from the Tribunal. M. de
Narbonne — once Minister of War — was hiding in her
house when a horrified domestic hurried back to her
mistress to say that a paper posted on a wall declared
M. de Narbonne to be one of the proscribed. In a little
while the ruffians of the Revolution entered the house
to search for refugees. She met them with dignity,
rebuked them for their intrusion and finally, " with death
in her heart," treated them with pleasantries — chaffed
them, in fact — and, leading them to the door, bowed
them out smiling and submissive.
She disliked Napoleon and he disliked her and was,
moreover, frightened of her. The two were, in certain
characteristics, a little too much alike ever to be friends.
301
The Lake of Geneva
His vanity annoyed her. She was piqued by the fact
that he utterly ignored her personal attractions. He
considered her ugly. She admired his abilities, but
hated his ideas of liberty and distrusted his ambitions.
She considered him a usurper, for in politics she was a
"constitutional republican." She had "a difficulty of
breathing in his presence," but stood up to him with
unflinching eyes and sturdy courage. " When about to
meet him," she says, " I wrote down a number of tart
and poignant replies to what he might have to say, had
he chosen to insult me." He never insulted her, because
he was afraid to do so. He once said " she carries a
quiver full of arrows that would hit a man were he seated
on a rainbow." ^
Her influence in anti-Napoleonic circles became so
great that in 1803 the jealous autocrat banished her from
Paris and later from France. She was thus exiled from
her beloved city for ten years. She travelled a great
deal, visiting Italy, Berlin, Vienna, Russia and Sweden.
She was twice in England, once, in 1793, when she
stayed at the charming village of Mickleham in Surrey,
and on the second occasion, in 1813, when she made her
home at 30, Argyll Place, Regent Street, where she
held a court worthy of a queen. Although she was so
much at Coppet, she had little liking for a country life.
It was Paris she adored. When a friend at Coppet was
pointing out to her the glories of the mountains and the
Lake her only answer was, '* Show me the Rue du Bac."
In 1811 Madame de Stael married a young French
cavalry officer named Rocca.^ She was then forty-five
1 Stevens, op. cil.
- By birth a Swiss, his family being Italian refugees in Geneva.
302
MADAME DE STAEL
From the painting by Mme. Vig^e Le Brun in the Geneva Museum
{From a copyright />/iotogra/>/i supplied hy the Museum)
Madame de Staei
years old, while Rocca was twenty-three. The marriage
was secret and was kept a secret until after her death.
Although there was a difference of over twenty years in
their ages, he was apparently as devoted to her as she to
him. Rocca had been wounded in the war, was lame and
in very delicate health. He was, however, a lovable if
somewhat impetuous youth with " a most magnificent
head." There was one child of the union, a boy. The
child was left with a doctor in the remote village of
Longirod, in the mountains, some five miles above
Rolle. Here he was brought up under a false name and
described as the son of American parents. This treat-
ment of her youngest child is one of the least creditable
features in Madame de Stael's career. Rocca only
survived his wife some six months.
Many estimates of Madame de Stael have been given
to the world. They are, for the most part, based upon
her attainments as an author. Possibly after the lapse
of a century critics would be unprepared to bestow
upon her works the extravagant praise that they received
during her lifetime. Possibly her " Corinne " would
not now be regarded as "an immortal monument," ^ nor
would all allow that her *' Allemagne " '' inaugurated a
new era in literature." Still, she was undoubtedly an
accomplished writer, although her works are — in the
opinion of many — superficial, flimsy and unnatural.
Those who may not agree that " she was the most
remarkable woman that Europe has produced ' ' ^ will
perhaps endorse — if with some reserve — the opinion of
Macaulay, that '* she was certainly the greatest woman
I Saint-Beuve.
' Galifle quoted by Stevens, op. cil.
303
The Lake of Geneva
of her time." It was a woman who spoke of her as *' a
most celestial creature " ^ ; it was a man ^ who said that
" she was probably the most remarkable person in
conversation that ever lived."
As a conversationalist she was brilliant, eloquent,
quick in repartee, ready in wit, yet conciliatory and
"fond and caressing to all." Benjamin Constant, who
knew her better than most and who was, indeed, to her
"more than friend," declared that her two most pre-
dominant qualities were affection and pity. She was
sympathetic to a fault, was never bitter and knew
nothing of envy, hatred or malice. She deplored her
natural restlessness. She was never still. Her activity
was unbounded and almost a disease, so that there is
little exaggeration in those who said that her life was a
rush and a whirlwind.
Vain she assuredly was and no doubt, as Constant
says, " in too great a hurry to put herself forward." It
was her passion, at any cost, to be always in the limelight.
She was eager for affection. She wished people to like
her, and it was only her inexorable good sense that kept
these traits within reasonable bounds. It will be no
matter of surprise that she knew little of " nerves,"
although many of her passages with Benjamin Constant
were marked by theatrical or hysterical outbursts. It will
be somewhat unexpected to learn that she was a sound
woman of business and an excellent manager of a house-
hold. She had, indeed, a contempt for those who assume
that the position of a woman of genius is incompatible
with that of a good housekeeper.
Being warm-hearted, passionate, sensual and readily
1 Mile. Huber. » Ticknor.
304
Madame de Stael
swayed by sentiment, it was inevitable that her days
could not pass without the interruption of a love affair
or so. There were, indeed, a great many of such affairs.
With this phase of her life Col. Haggard deals in an
interesting volume wherein he shows Madame de Stael
in a light which — even allowing for the easy morals of
the time and for possible misrepresentation — is certainly
deplorable.^ Sincere as was her attachment to Benjamin
Constant, fervid and ephemeral as might have been her
love for Rocca, it remains clear that the deepest devotion
of her life was for her father. One Httle episode will
illustrate this. When in May, 1812 (eight years after her
father's death), she commenced her flight from Coppet
to escape the persecution of Napoleon, she thus records
her last moments in the old house.
" Many times during this anxiety I invoked the memory
of my father. I went to his study where his arm-chair, his
table and his papers were still in their old places ; I kissed each
cherished trace of him. I took his cloak that, till then, I had
ordered to be left on his chair, and bore it away with me, that
I might wrap myself in it at any moment in which death might
approach me." ^
At Coppet Madame de Stael kept practically open
house, entertaining everj'-one who had any claim to
eminence in letters* Coppet became, indeed, a sort of
court and the intellectual rendezvous of Europe. Its
chatelaine left her company free all the morning, but in
the evening they united and then began a conversazione
which was probably without an equal of its kind. Every
1" Madame de Stael, her Trials and Triumphs," by Lt.-0)1. Andrew
Haggard. London, 1922. See also, " Madame de Stael and her Lovers," by
Francis Gribble. LoHdon, 1907,
* Stevens, op. cit,
u 305
The Lake of Geneva
day a domestic placed on the table by the side of her
mistress's plate a little green branch. This she carried
with her as a kind of baton when she entered the salon
and with the flourish of it she punctuated her conversa-
tion. Those who gathered around her talked of literature
and the arts, recited poems, read passages from the works
they had each in hand, criticized every author of pretence,
acted plays and often did not separate until the early
hours of the morning.
The conversation was, no doubt, from a modern point
of view stilted, artificial and extravagant. The great
aim of all was to be brilliant and sparkling. It was
appropriate to speak of a lady as a goddess and to treat
her as such, to break forth into uncontrolled rapture or
to exhibit " transports of dehght." It is no matter of
wonder that these evenings were sometimes tiring, when
everyone was posturing on a tight-rope and trying to
outdo one another in feats of wit. There were head-
aching evenings also, as must have been the case when
a learned man who denied the personality of Moses
insisted on giving an analysis — chapter by chapter — of
the writings ascribed to that patriarch. It is no wonder
that jovial old Bonstetten should write, *' I returned
yesterday from Coppet. I feel fatigued as by a surfeit
of intellect. I am half dead," or that Byron, who envied
the cleverness of a lady with whom he could not compete,
should say — with some show- of temper — '' Her society
is overwhelming — an avalanche that buries one in glitter-
ing nonsense, all snow and sophistry. She talks folios."
In appearance Madame de Stael was plain and (unlike
most plain women) she was fully conscious of the fact.
She would sacrifice her talents and her fame, she said,
306
Madame de Stael
to be as beautiful as Juliette Recamier, her friend and
the most lovely woman of her time. Madame de Stael
,was a brunette, with black hair and large dark eyes,
which all who met her declared to be magnetic and
magnificent. Of her various portraits the one that is
probably most true to her is that painted at Coppet by
Madame le Brun in 1809, when the authoress was forty-
three.^ It is a little marred by its setting, for Madame
de Stael is shown perched on a rock in an open, windy
country, bare-headed and with a lyre in her hand. She is
assuming the character of Corinne, the heroine of her
famous romance. The face is that of a woman brimming
over with health and vivacity, an intelligent rather than
an intellectual face, a face certainly sensuous and animal,
but keen, alert, clever and supremely amiable. " To aid
the expression," Madame le Brun writes, " I entreated
her to recite tragic verses while I painted," but the face
is so full of good humour and, indeed, of roguishness
that the effect of the tragic verses would appear to have
been lost.
Her last illness was short and her last moments
happily free from distress, for she died in her sleep.
^ It is now in the IMuseum of Geneva.
307
XLVI
COPPET AND ITS CHATEAU
VERY charming is the small town of Coppet when
viewed from the Lake. It is a homely, comfort-
able looking place which has changed so little that
it is to-day much as it was a hundred years ago. It
appears as a cluster of old, brown-roofed houses, on a
slope, surrounded and shut in by a circle of trees. It
has happily escaped " improvements," and even the tiny
church has not been restored. There is no formal
promenade by the Lake, no row of planes clipped to
pattern and scarcely a modern dwelling to spoil the
impression of an eighteenth century town.
The houses stand a little way back from the shore so
that their gardens may come down to the Lake. Thus
it is that the whole of the ' ' front ' ' at Coppet is made
up of gardens which are a blaze of colour all the summer
through. The garden walls are centuries old. They rise
direct from the water, and over them may hang a tress of
scarlet geranium, a tangle of clematis or, in the autumn,
a pendent scarf of purple convolvulus. When the Lake
is smooth — as it so often is — these flowers and the grey
wall they cling to are reflected in the water as clearly
as if on glass. Some of the taller plants, the hollyhocks
and the delphiniums, seem to be looking over the wall
at their reflections in the water.
Each garden has a humble water-gate, with steps
308
>' tl: »* t a" t ' i* ••*.
Coppet and its Chateau
leading to the Lake. Here the housewife dips her
watering-can, making on the poHshed surface a circle of
ripples which change the reflections of the flowers into
prismatic waves of yellow, red and blue. Here, too, the
small boy sails his boat and here the lovers lean over the
wall and talk. Close to the water's edge is the tiny
church, with its beautiful east window of flamboyant
Gothic and its aspect of great age. On the summit of
the town and looking do\vn upon the cluster of brown
roofs is the pale, grey chateau. It seems to mother the
place like a grey hen watching over a brood of brown-
speckled chickens.
The town, which can number only 570 inhabitants,
consists of one long street, a lane or two and a road of
some quality which climbs up to the chateau. The houses
are nondescript and irregular. Each has its own particu-
lar character, for there is no uniformity of style in Coppet.
The dwellings form fine arcades, as in some Italian towns,
along the sides of the street, while in the shadows of
their heavy arches are curious, shy little shops. There
are many dim alleys, too, a fountain, and a 16th century
house with a vaulted entry in w^hich is exposed an ancient
column. A gallant coat of arms stands over the gateway,
while a tower and balcony still look down into what was
once a stately court-yard. The tower served to defend
the approach from the Lake. The house belonged to the
fief of Mezieres and the arms are those of Quisard, lord
of Crans,^ combined with the arms of another family.
The town had originally two walls which descended in
fan fashion from the chateau to the Lake. In these
walls were four gates.
1 Crans is about midway between Nyon and Coppet,
309
The Lake of Geneva
The church, as already stated, is very small and
very old. It is built of rough stone and is held up by
ponderous buttresses, since it seems unsteady. At the
end that looks on the street is a bell-tower with a steeple
bright wuth ruddy tiles, and a Gothic door much out of
shape and apparently never used. The glory of the little
building, however, is the east window, which turns
towards the Lake and which seems almost too ornate
for so simple a place. The church was built about 1500
by Amedee de Viry and was originally attached to a
Dominican convent.
Inside it is very bare and, indeed, much neglected.
It presents only a nave with a vaulted roof and two
empty side-chapels. The main feature of the blank
interior is an arrogant, black stove of great height, which
stands in the centre of the church and dwarfs everything
around it. To make itself more obtrusive it parades a
prodigious stove-pipe, which is carried boldly across the
nave from side to side. Against the wall are two rows
of monks' benches, the seats of which are uncouthly
carved with heads and shells, fishes and frogs, monkeys
and wine-bottles. Some bear the arms of the founder,
Amedee de Viry. Curiously enough, on the upper part
of certain stalls are cut, in high relief, the rose, the
thistle and the shamrock. Another anomaly in this
barn-like place is a very handsome white marble vase on
a black pedestal. It was erected — the inscription states
— by Madame Necker in memory of her parents. From
this it appears that her mother was Magdelaine d 'Albert
and that she was born at Montelimart.
The chateau is on the summit of the town. It is a
low building that forms three sides of a square and is
310
X
u
ai
D
X
u
u:
X
H
Coppet and its Chateau
a beautiful model of the French country house. The
seigneurie of Coppet has been held by many illustrious
nobles, among whom was that Othon de Grandson of
Aubonne who was involved in the drama of Ripaille
(Chapter x). The chateau was sold to Amedee de Viry,
lord of Rolle, in 1484. It was he who built the church.
He appears to have died in 1518. The barony of Coppet
dates from 1484.
The date and origin of the original castle of Coppet
are unknown. M. V. von Berchem^ asserts that there
is no authority for the statement that it was founded by
Pierre of Savoy in 1257. That a castle did exist at
Coppet in the 13th century would seem to be undoubted.
In 1660 it appears as a chateau fort, with a square keep,
three round towers, a moat and a drawbridge. Having
become ruinous, it was pulled down (all but one tower)
in 1665 and was converted into a inaison oiiverte or
country mansion.
It was purchased in 1767 by Gaspard de Smeth, of
Frankfort, a merchant of Leghorn. He reconstructed it
in its present form. His arms and those of his wife,
Ursule Kunkler, still surmount the central court. He
died in 1771, and is buried in the church of Coppet.
The chateau was purchased by Necker in 1784, who
made certain alterations and carried out the existing
internal decorations. It is now the property of Comte
d'Haussonville (great grandson of Madame de Stael
through her daughter, the Duchesse de Broglie), who
very generously allows visitors to see the house on certain
days of the week.
An arched way under the chateau leads to a court-
1 " Dictionnaire Historique du Canton de Vaud. "
3"
The Lake of Geneva
yard, one side of which is open to the garden. The
charm of the place is that it is practically unchanged
since the days of its illustrious chatelaine. The rooms
are almost as she left them. The furniture is the same,
so that little is lacking to complete the conception of
Coppet as it was in the days of its glory. Three rooms
are shown on the ground floor, the grande salle (now
the library), where the plays were acted and the recita-
tions given. Among the old-world furniture is the piano
upon which Madame de Stael used to play. The next
room is that lady's bedroom. The bed is upholstered
in red and white, and has a great canopy above it crowned
by figures in gilt. Here are her turbans. They are
mostly yellow or of the pattern known as that of the
Paisley shawl. Here are her furniture, her writing table,
her arm-chair and portraits of herself, her mother and
her last child, Alphonse de Rocca (born 1812), a pretty
but delicate-looking boy of about five or six with his
mother's wonderful eyes.
The next room is the bed chamber of Madame
Recamier. It is a little room with a simple bed in the
corner, draped in faint green and with a canopy over
it fixed to the panel. The .walls are covered wdth a
hand-painted Chinese paper, and the furniture is very
dainty, as was befitting to the lady of the room. These
two chambers must be regarded as museum rooms, for
they could hardly be the actual apartments in which the
ladies slept. The three rooms just named all look across
the Lake.
A wide stone stair leads to the upper floor. It is a
haunted stair crowded by the shades of the brilHant folk
who once paced up and down its now silent steps. One
312
i '
COPPET : THE MAIN STREET
Coppet and its Chateau
can imagine Benjamin Constant among them, now,
bolting up radiant with delight and now crawling \ip
with hangdog looks and that despondency which he so
vividly describes in his Journal.
On the upper floor are two apartments which both
open upon a balcony facing the Lake. The salon is a
beautiful room, but much smaller than one would have
expected. It is upholstered in red and write. Here
Madame de Stael, waving her green branch, walked to
and fro among her distinguished friends and amid a babel
of chatter. All the furniture, including her own especial
sofa, is the furniture of the time. The other room, the
petit salon or music room, is small, contains many
portraits (including one of Baron de Stael, the husband,
and one of Madame Necker in an attire which justifies
her reputation for being stiff), a piano and some of the
properties — swords, pistols and daggers — used in the
plays. The general colour effect is that of red and
white.
The garden is a wild garden of great fascination.
Before the house spreads a meadow, in the centre of
which is a fish-pond and at the end a wood. On either
side are trees and meditative walks, with, in one of the
thickets, a small stream which, after passing under a
rustic bridge or two, tumbles out of sight. The garden
has been well called "the love-making garden." It is
so secluded, so full of kindly shade, so tempting a place
to meet in, so sympathetic, so beautiful as a scene with
which to associate the fondest of memories. Absent-
minded paths wander among the trees. The shadows of
the trunks make bars across them ; the sun dapples them
with gold. There are stone benches, too, by the way,
3^3
The Lake of Geneva
should the hidy be tired, as well as hidden places where
the most tearful parting would be both unseen and
unheard.
Some distance from the house and the love-making
garden is another wood, a dark, sombre wood, very
unlike that by the chateau, for it is sacred to the dead.
It lies apart on the other side of the road, with beyond
it the open country. It is a solemn-looking mass of
trees, its shade is very dense and it is surrounded on
all sides by a lofty wall. In the centre of the thicket
— we are told — is a low building whose entry is closed
with stone. No one can see it, very few have ever seen
it, for none are allowed to pass through the gate in the
guardian wall.
In this little sepulchre lie the bodies of three — the
master of Coppet, his wife and their only child. It is
a strange burying place. Here in the depths of a dank
thicket, whose gloom the sun can hardly pierce, and
whose tangled ways are untrodden by the foot of man,
lie Necker, the Minister of Finance to Louis XVI,
Susanna Curchod, the beloved of Gibbon, and that
brilliant, passionate and ever restless woman Madame
de Stael — now three skeletons in a solitude.
314
^.
vm ^
jj^BT'
4,V
'i
U
Q
S
Q
u
a
X
XLVII
THE HOME OF SUSANNA CURCHOD
GRASSIER, where Susanna Ciirchod was born and
where she spent the early years of her life, is
5 or 6 miles from Coppet and 3f miles beyond
Nyon. It is from the latter town that it is the more
conveniently reached. Grassier lies on the border of
France ; indeed, the little stream that marks the frontier
runs through its midst. The greater part of the village
is on the Swiss side, and it is here that the church
and the parsonage are placed. It will be remembered
that Susanna Curchod's father was the pastor of Grassier
and that the church was — with the rest of Vaud —
Protestant. M. Gurchod held the office of pastor between
the years 1729 and 1760.
Grassier is small, for its population does not number
200. It lies in the midst of a green pastoral country
at the foot of the Jura Mountains. It is as rural a spot
as could be imagined, where the things that matter are
butter and cows, the prospects of the hay and the laying
of hens. It is a pretty village, trim and clean, with
many comely old houses and delightful gardens. What
is especially charming about it is the fact that it has
remained unchanged and unspoiled. It is still the old-
world village that the parson's daughter knew, and along
whose single street she must have so often walked, dream-
ing of her future. The little lady was always very prim,
315
The Lake of Geneva
and it is noteworthy that a persisting feature of the village
is its old-maidish primness.
So far as history goes the village is very old, for
there were lords of Grassier as long ago as the 12th
century. It has passed through many hands, while it is
interesting to find that in 1384< Bonne of Bourbon,
Countess of Savoy, and her son, Amadeus VII, granted
"the house of Grassier" to their maHre d' hotel, one
Etienne Guerric. This is the Lady Bonne whose story
is told in Ghapter x.
The church is of great age. Indeed, there has been
a church on the present site since the 13th century.
The building that now stands has been " restored " with
unexampled violence. The old square tower, with its
spire, has been preserved, while the body of the church
has been modernized ; that is to say, made to look as
little like a church (and particularly an old church) as
possible. In 1878 the stalls, the panelling and other
ancient works in wood were torn out and used for fuel.
The interior of the building is as bare as the destroyer
could leave it, so that it falls short even of the dignity
of the meeting-room at a workman's club. In further
restorations of an equally hearty character carried out in
1911 traces of walls and vaults of a very ancient church
jvere discovered.
Opposite the church is a beautiful old house with, in
front of it, a tiny walled garden encompassing a solitary
apple tree. It is a long, low house of two stories with a
brown-red, wxather-beaten roof and six windows on the
upper floor. This is the parsonage, the house in which.
Susanna Gurchod was born in the year 1739. It affords
a satisfying picture of the village pastor's home. The
316
The Home of Susanna Gurchod
garden wall is covered with ivy and the front of the house
with jasmine, while the window-shutters throughout are
painted with the canton colours — broad stripes of white
and green. The house has undergone no notable change,
since the Curchod family left it.
The wife of the present pastor was so very kind as
to allow us to see the sitting-room of the house. It is
on the ground floor, and is a low-pitched room, the
windows of which look into the tiny garden. But for
the furniture this room is to-day precisely as it was in
the time of the future Madame Necker. It brings vividly
to mind the daring flight that the prim young woman
took when she spread her wings at Grassier to sail out
into the fashionable world. What contrast could be
more extreme than that between this quiet jasmine-
scented parlour and the Necker salon in Paris, brilliant
with gilt and satin and the glare of a hundred lights,
buzzing with courtly talk and made wonderful by the
costumes of the beauties and the dandies of the day !
It is interesting to recall the fact that Edward
Gibbon, in the course of his love-making, came to
Grassier to see his beautiful Susanna. As has been
recorded in Ghapter xxxix, the two met in Lausanne
in June, 1757. In August of that year Gibbon came to
Grassier and remained two days. He seems to have
" looked in when passing " in October, while in Novem-
ber he stayed at the parsonage for nearly a week. The
two must have sat in this identical parlour often enough
— the awkward English youth with the big head and the
prim and most decorous lady. They probably sat in the
window, where, holding her hand, he would pour forth
appropriate adoration in his recently acquired French.
317
The Lake of Geneva
Madame Necker, when she became a person of wealth
and position, was very kind to her poor relations in Vaud.
She was also a little frightened of them. Fear came
upon her in this wise. A certain cousin " Toton," who
very probably lived in a cottage at Grassier, wrote to the
great lady and expressed a cousinly desire to pay her a
visit in Paris. This produced a panic which found expres-
sion in a letter written by Madame Necker to a friend.
In this rather too candid epistle the translated parson's
daughter thus sets forth her views.
" Could I have the audacity," she asks, " to make her change
her name or disavow my relationship to her ? Even if I were
willing to do so, would my husband and my servants keep my
secret ? On the other hand, how could I introduce her as my
relation in a house frequented by persons of all ranks in society,
and in which, to be appropriately dressed, she would have to
spend at least a thousand French crowns a year ? To say
nothing of her manners, her way of speaking and a thousand
other trifles which, without detracting from her real merit,
would make the most unfortunate impression in a country in
which people judge by appearances." ^
Immediately behind the Curchod house is an inn
called "The Inn of the White Goose." A sign-board
painted just one hundred years ago hangs over the road
from a corner of the building. On it, in fitting colours,
is the figure of a white goose and the words, ^^ Logis a
Pied et a ChevaV Above the goose is inscribed " Mon
Oie paye tout,^^ which evidently embodies an ingenious
play upon the word monnaie.^ So there were wits, it
seems, in Grassier in old days and in more houses than
one.
1 Gribble. Op. cil., page 24.
* Spelt and pronounced monnoie in the 17th Century.
318
XLVIII
THE TOWN THAT IS NOT A TOWN
THE country between Coppet and Versoix,
traversed by the Geneva road, is very pretty,
very homely and as radiant with the joy of hving
as any good-hearted, sunny land can be. Versoix is,
however, a perplexity. There are two Versoix — Versoix
la Ville and Versoix le Bourg. There is a further
complication inasmuch as the latter was formerly
distinguished as Versoix le Village.
Now a tram-line runs from Geneva to Versoix. It
passes through le Bourg, and some way farther on stops
at la Ville, where the line abruptly terminates. The
traveller, coming from Geneva, will have to decide
whether he will stop at Versoix le Bourg or will go on
to la Ville, because the conductor is sure to ask him.
If he resolves to go to Versoix la Ville he will find
himself deposited, not in a town, but in the country.
He will, in fact, be put down on a white high road with
fields on one side and the thickly wooded grounds of a
mansion on the other. He will see no street, no
church, no cafe and, indeed, no house. It is as if a
Londoner wishing to go to Richmond found himself
deposited in the middle of Richmond Park. Whatever
Versoix la Ville may be, it is quite evident that it is not
a town nor even a suburb.
The stranded visitor probably takes the returning
319
The Lake of Geneva
tram and alights at Versoix le Bourg. He here finds
himself in a town, an undoubted town, with a railway
station, a pier, a grocer's shop and a police station.
There is no possibility of mistaking it. It is a town.
The other place is not.
It is a town that looks its best from the Lake, for
the houses come down to the water's edge in leisurely
fashion and lean over the wall like idle men. There is
a modest promenade shaded by plane trees, and, in its
general bearing, the place may be a fragment of old
Chelsea in its unpretentious days. It is indeed a suburb
of Geneva where town folk come on high days and
holidays for boating and for a day in the country. It
presents no more interest than such a suburb may be
expected to afford. On one large house is a tablet which
states that on its site in the 13th century stood the
Chateau of Versoix. An old print ^ of the 16th century
shows the little town as completely surrounded by a
wall and as having in its centre the selfsame chateau in
the form of a lofty round tower. This drawing depicts
Versoix at an unhappy moment of its career. It shows
it in process of being besieged and — worse than that —
displays the enemy, like a swarm of ants, pouring into
the town.
This, however, does not explain the bold-faced
imposture of Versoix la Ville. The title is not a jest,
but rather a term of derision. In 1766 Geneva and
France were at loggerheads. The grounds of the dispute
are immaterial. A "Plan of Mediation," proposed by
France, was presented to Geneva in December, 1766,
1 " Histoire populaire du Canton de Geneve," par H. Denkinger-Rod.
Geneva, 1905. Page 209.
320
><
o
>
The Town That is Not a Town
and was uncoiithly rejected. France in revenge resolved
to blockade the city, and at once closed the frontier
which separated the canton from the greater state.
This action — from the French point of view — was not
quite a success. Geneva had an exit through Savoy and
could still reach Lyons, the great mart with which she
was so intimately concerned. France, on the other
hand, where it bordered on Geneva, was seriously
inconvenienced, since the supplies of the district were
largely drawn from that city.
Voltaire, who was busy with his colony at Ferney,
found himself in great straits and declared that his
people were in risk of being starved. On February 10th,
1767, he wrote to the French Ambassador in Switzerland
suggesting that, to punish Geneva, a port should be
established at Versoix, and that to the new port the
vast trade of Lyons should be diverted. The scheme,
if successful, would go far to ruin Geneva.
The Due de Choiseul at once gave the proposal his
hearty support. In the summer of 1767 the plans for
Versoix la Ville were completed and the construction of
the new road that would lead to Lyons was commenced.
The first thing demanded at Versoix was the port. It
was to be called "Port Choiseul." By May, 1768,
some 2,000 men were employed in the construction of
this harbour which was to rival that of Geneva. The
port was to be square in outline and was to present, on
either side of the entrance, a low square tower. A
detailed plan of Port Choiseul is given in M. Jean
Ferrier's interesting work on Versoix.^ The construc-
1 " Le Due de Choiseul, Voltaire et la Crdation de Versoix-Ia-Ville, 1766-
1777." Geneva, 1922.
V 321
The Lake of Geneva
tion was so rapidly advanced that the moles were very
nearly completed. The great drought of 1920-21 caused
the Lake to sink to a degree almost unprecedented,
with the result that the harbour works of 1768 came
into full view. A photograph in M. Ferrier's book
shows the once submerged harbour as it appeared in
1921. The moles — constructed of stonework supported
by piles — are so complete that it was possible to walk
from one end of the harbour wall to the other.
With the town little progress was made. It was
plotted out on the ground behind the port, and, from
the plan given by M. Ferrier, it would have been, if
completed, a town of no little magnificence. It was
hexagonal in outhne and surrounded by a wall. It was
to contain a custom-house and many warehouses, an
hotel de ville, a hospital, bridges and canals, an obelisk,
fountains and fine boulevards. Through the centre of
the town ran the present highway, passing in its progress
across a spacious Rond Point. The streets were arranged
on rectangular lines, as in a new American city, and
were dignified by such names as the Rue Choiseul, the
Place Roy ale, the Avenue Richelieu, etc. The actual
building operations did not advance beyond a few huts
for the workmen, a stone house for the officials and a
canteen.
In 1770 the great Minister Choiseul fell from grace,
and with his disappearance the phantom town vanished.
The area is now occupied by a few Lake-side mansions
with wide-extending grounds. A fine cedar marks the
entry into the invisible city. There is no indication of
a quay, since the gardens reach to the water's edge.
The would-be streets are now lawns and thickets. A
322
The Town That is Not a Town
wooded lane or two, running straight to the Lake, may
possibly indicate the position of some ambitious Rue
Centrale or Rue de la Paix. There is still, however,
the Rond Point. It is marked out by a circle of stone
posts which, no doubt, in the city of Choiseul, would
have been connected by massive chains gracefully looped.
With a wish to be helpful to the tourist, I would
suggest that if he wants to go to the Town of Versoix
he should not go to Versoix the Town.
323
XLIX
VOLTAIRE AT FERNEY
BETWEEN Versoix and Geneva there is one place
where the steamer stops. It is called Belle vue,
and is worthy of its name, but is of no other
interest, being merely a pretty villa-suburb of Geneva.
Less than two miles inland from Bellevue, however, and
invisible from the Lake, is the world-famed village of
Ferney. Ferney lies in the plain which stretches from
the foot of the Jura Mountains to the Lake. It is in
France ; just in France, for it is but a little way beyond
the frontier. It is 3 J miles from Geneva, with which
it is connected by a tramway and by a shady road
through cornfields, vineyards and other pleasant places.
Voltaire, wearied by many wanderings and soured by
the experience of many homes, settled down at Ferney
in 1758 when he was 64 years of age. At Ferney he
spent the remainder of his days, a period of no less
than twenty years. The property was bought in the
name of his niece and housekeeper, Madame Denis, who
was also his heiress. Ferney at the time was a wretched
hamlet occupied by forty or fifty equally wretched in-
habitants who were " devoured by poverty, scurvy and
tax gatherers." ^ The state of the peasantry in France at
this period was indeed deplorable. They lived in hovels
I " Life of Voltaire," by S. G. Tallentyre. Vol. II, page 78.
324
Voltaire at Ferney
scarcely fit for cattle ; three-fourths of what they earned
was seized as taxes ; there was a heavy duty upon salt,
and the chief means of sustenance was black bread.
They were crushed by the tyranny of their masters,
were forbidden to fence their lands lest my lord's hunt-
ing should be hindered, to manure their crops lest the
flavour of my lord's game should be spoiled, and to weed
their vineyards lest the partridges should be disturbed.
For the hungry folk of Ferney Voltaire changed to
summer the winter of their discontent. Before ten years
had passed he had built a fine village with homes for
some hundreds of inhabitants, among whom there was
not a poor person. He obtained a reduction of taxes,
re-acquired rights of which the villagers had been
robbed, set up a school, provided a doctor and secured
work for everyone on his domain. He well merited the
title of the "Patriarch of Ferney " and the blessings of
all who came within the range of his benevolence.
The chateau at Ferney was old and ruinous,
picturesque no doubt, but impossible as a place to
live in. It was entered through two towers connected
by a drawbridge according to the plan of a maison
forte of mediaeval times. Voltaire pulled it down and
built in its place the chateau which now stands. He
w^as his own architect and, being ignorant of that art,
wisely followed the lines of the country mansion of his
day. The result is a plain, comfortable house which,
as Tallentyre says, has " no architectural merit except
that its ugliness is simple." The house contained
fourteen bedrooms, and such was the hospitality of the
patriarch that they w^ere never for long unoccupied.
Inconveniently near the house was a tumble-down old
325
The Lake of Geneva
church, which, in spite of the violent protests of the
priest, was got rid of in 1761. Voltaire, in the same
year, built a church to take its place, but erected it at
a point farther removed from the chateau. On it he
caused to be inscribed the words, " Deo erexit Voltaire."
He explained this inscription by saying that the church
was the only one in the world erected to God alone and
not to a saint.
He laid out a garden by the chateau on the lines of
gardens that in the course of his wanderings had pleased
him, planted innumerable trees, put all the land under
vigorous cultivation and erected immense farm buildings
which, to this day, fill the passer-by with admiration.
The change accomplished in Ferney by this remarkable
man was little less than miraculous, for in the place of
a rotting hamlet and a ruined castle buried in a desert
of brambles and weeds he produced a trim, bustling,
well-to-do little town, together with as prosperous a
farm as was to be found in the countryside.
Under the roof of the new chateau of Ferney was
gathered one of the strangest households in the annals
of domestic life. In the first place the master of the
house presented an unusual and arresting figure, comic
to some degree, yet to some degree alarming. A quaint,
emaciated man whose skin was drawn over his cheek
bones like parchment, who had a high, narrow forehead,
bare as a skull, a determined mouth that was a mere
slit, as if the toothless jaws had snapped together like
a trap, while in this death's head were two large, rest-
less eyes as bright and as keen as those of a hawk. It
was with some reason that he w^as called " the famous
old skeleton " and " the old owl of Ferney."
326
Voltaire at Ferney
His garb, too, was very odd. At the time when he
bought Ferney he is described as appearing " in a long
peHsse, a black velvet cap, and a peruke which covered
almost all his face except the nose and chin, which by now
nearly met." ^ He would be seen working in his garden
in old grey shoes and stockings, a long vest to his knees,
the same black velvet cap and the huge drooping peruke
which hung from his head like a spaniel's ears. He was
the sort of object in the street that set children scream-
ing and that dogs barked at. He knew he was peculiar,
and would ask, when people came to see him, " Have
they come to see the rhinoceros? " When he went
abroad he affected an antique type of carriage which was
painted a bright blue, was speckled with gold stars and
was drawn by four horses.
Another person in this strange menage was Madame
Denis, Voltaire's niece and housekeeper. She was a
widow and, at the time of the purchase of Ferney, was
48 years of age. She was tiresome, extravagant, idle
and utterly incompetent. She w^as under the impression
that she possessed literary gifts and personal attractions.
Instead of managing the house, she devoted her time to
writing preposterous plays or to inditing amorous letters
to imagined admirers. She was short and fat and well
described as "Madame Roundabout." Among her
minor accomplishments, she squinted. The brilliant,
epigrammatic Madame d'Epinay speaks of her as
" entirely comic, ugly but good-natured, and a liar
simply from habit." Besides muddling everything she
did, she bullied her uncle, who found that the house
could only be cleaned and put in order when she was
1 Tallentyre. Op. cit. Vol. II, page 69.
The Lake of Geneva
away. After Voltaire's death she married again, at the
ripe age of G9, and it is reported — to show the dis-
crimination of justice — that her husband bulHcd her as
she had bulHed her uncle.
How the house was managed under this feckless
playwright is a mystery, for it was more like an hotel
than a private dwelling. There were no fewer than sixty
or seventy persons about the place, including the five
servants who waited at table. Visitors called almost
every day. If they were strangers, Voltaire would send
down a message that he was dying, and if they came
again w^ould excuse himself on the ground that he was
still dying. Those who came to sup stayed the night,
for there was no inn in Ferney. Those who came on a
visit of a few days were apt to stay for weeks or even
for months. One relative — who was paralysed — remained
at Ferney ten years, until, in fact, he died. At two
different periods there was an adopted daughter
living in the chateau in addition to this ever-changing
company.
The second of these casual daughters was a very
pretty young woman who ran about the house and in
and out of the garden, singing and laughing the day
through. She was clever and gentle and possessed of as
sweet a disposition as woman ever had. Voltaire adored
her, while her affection for him was the solace of his
declining days. She came to Ferney in 1776. Voltaire
called her Belle-et-Bonne, but her real name was
Mademoiselle Reine Philibert de Varicourt. She
belonged to a noble family, was penniless and destined
for a convent. Voltaire came across her as a total
stranger. He picked her up as he would have picked
328
a
^.
\'
X
'J jA \
U)
''\a3
b
i^
Z
W-
M
CU
O
£
Voltaire at Ferney
up a stray kitten, took her to Ferney and devoted him-
self to making her happy. She was married to the
Marquis de Villette in 1777 in the Ferney chapel ; but
she never deserted the old patriarch who had brought
joy into her life. She was with him when he died, and
after his death devoted herself to the glorification of his
memory.
Belle-et-Bonne at Ferney is a picture to linger over,
the picture of a pretty, light-hearted girl taking charge
of a cynical, violent old man who was always fighting
with someone and who was to so many an object of
terror or of hate. She arranged his papers, soothed him
when he was irritable, joked at his bitter and sardonic
thrusts and treated him, in a motherly way, as a great
petulant baby. A stranger picture still would be pre-
sented by the salon at Ferney on a summer's morning,
when Voltaire, in his long-skirted coat and dangling
peruke, would be seen — at the age of 83 — teaching the
laughter-shaken Belle-et-Bonne how to dance.
The household at Ferney cannot be completed with-
out mention of the fat Swiss servant Barbara. She was
the comedian of the group, the comic servant out of a
French farce, the licensed jester in an otherwise solemn
establishment. Voltaire was delighted with her, appre-
ciated her humour and called her his Bonne-Baba. She,
on the other hand, told her master, in her comic way,
some home truths, and especially ridiculed the idea that
he had any common sense. Once when he had made
himself ill by an indiscretion in diet she laughed in his
rueful face and said, " With all your cleverness you are
sillier than your own turkeys."
Voltaire's industry and versatility were amazing. lie
329
The Lake of Geneva
was probably the most \oluminous writer who ever lived.
Although he did not rise until 11, he did a great deal
of his work in bed, for he slept but little. In his room
were five desks devoted to the separate subjects ^vith
which he was at the moment engaged. One would be
given up to a drama, another to a poem, a third to a
skittish letter to a lady or a kindly note to someone in
distress, while the fourth would display the material for
a biting criticism which would wound an opponent like
the thrust of a rapier.
Although born and brought up in a city, Voltaire
taught himself farming, made his land pay, and became
a typical squire and prosperous country gentleman. One
can imagine him taking a sample of his own wheat out
of a deep pocket and pouring the grain from one skinny
hand to the other as he haggled with the miller over the
price, or prodding a sheep sarcastically with his stick as
he disputed its value with the dealer. He kept bees —
had, indeed, four to five hundred hives — cultivated silk-
worms, bred horses and had a barn for fifty cows.
When the serious civic troubles in Geneva drove a
body of artisans out of the town, he offered a sanctuary
to some fifty malcontent watchmakers, advanced them
money, found them material and provided them with
houses. The colony fiourished, so that in 1773 Voltaire,
poet, critic and dramatist, sold no fewer than 4,000
watches at a profit, thanks to bis energy and his per-
sistent touting for orders. Having a store of raw silk,
he started silk weaving, and — like Madame de Warens
— began with the making of silk stockings. He sent
the first pair to the Duchesse de Choiseul with a pretty
compliment as to the size of her foot. This enterprise
Voltaire at Ferney
also flourished, while the colony added to its industries,
in course of time, the making oJ; lace and of linen.
After Voltaire's death in 1778— at the age of 84—
Madame Roundabout inherited Ferney. She promptly
sold it. It was occupied for some time by Belle-et-Bonne
and her husband, and when, finally, the property was
disposed of, all relics of Voltaire were scattered to the
winds, including even the Chinese wall-paper of his
especial room.
Ferney at the present day is a pretty little village,
very quiet, but rather uathout purpose, for every trace
of Voltaire's busy colony has disappeared. It consists
of one long street, through which the tramway runs,
and of one or two side-streets. The main street has
been modernized, but not unpleasantly ; while in one of
the by-streets can be seen a part of Ferney as Voltaire
left it. The houses here are simple and of two stories,
are all alike, are all grey and uniformly faded-looking.
The ground floor of each is occupied by a large round
arch beneath w^hich was the shop or the workroom. All
now are closed and the small lane is very quiet. It calls
to mind some of the humbler by-w^ays of Versailles, and
is so unlike the ordinary village street as to give to
Ferney a quite distinctive character.
Under a large plane tree in the village are a fountain
and a bust of Voltaire, while in the main road stands a
very pleasing statue of the Patriarch of Ferney in out-
door dress. It is so lifelike that if the figure could step
down from its pedestal one would see in the street the
curious old gentleman, thin and bent but very eager in
his glance, taking a walk through the village he had
made.
331
The Lake of Geneva
The chateau is a little outside Ferney and on higher
ground. It is a simple, homely-looking house of two
main stories, built in a faintly classical style, roofed with
slate, and presenting throughout a uniform tint of
grey, for even the sun-shutters are grey. It is, indeed,
nothing more than the house of a well-to-do gentleman
farmer who had chosen to live among his cornfields and
his vineyards. In front of the house is a tall iron rail-
ing, and just within the railing is the church, with its
prominent inscription, " Deo erexit Voltaire." It is a
little stone building with round-arched windows and
door. Its charming simplicity is spoiled by a vulgar
clock tower, which is evidently an addition of more
modern and less considerate days. It appears to be used
merely as a storeroom.
The grounds around the chateau are small and simple,
are well wooded and are enclosed within a high wall.
There is no pretence to a park, for the house is simply
a house on a farm. The country around, but for a
vineyard or two, is singularly English, and, indeed, if
the vines were replaced by hop-fields it would be a
part of Kent. The view from the chateau is singularly
beautiful, for to the north are the Jura Mountains and
the brilliant plain stretched out at their feet ; w^hile on
the south are the Lake, the hills of Savoy and the
dazzling range of Mont Blanc.
Walking one silent afternoon beneath the wall which
guards the grounds of Ferney, I heard a burst of girlish
laughter ring out from the terrace of the house. It
maj'^ have come from the lips of some merry serving-
maid, but I prefer to think that it was an echo of the
long dead laughter of the radiant Belle-et-Bonne.
332
Meziei
INDEX
" A Man of Other Days," by Char-
lotte M. Yonge, 49
" Abondancc," by L. E. Picard, 130
Abondance, Abbey of, 130 et scq.
and St. Gingolph, 138
frescoes in cloister of, 133, 134
Abondance, Burgundians at, 130
Church and Monastery of, 129, 131,
132
Republic of, 130
Valley of, 129
wooden bridge at, 129
Alabama, arbitration at Geneva, 24
Alexander III, Pope, and Noville, 155
Alix of Maxilly, Lady, story of, 126-
128
Allaman, ChMeau des Menthon, at, 286
Allaman Castle, near St. Paul, 123, 124
" Allemagne," by Madame de Stael,
303
AUinges, castles of, 61-5
11th century chapel at, 63, 64
ridge of, 39, 64
ruins of, 55, 61
Allinges, the, Chateau of Beauregard
and, 49
Chateau of Chatelard and, 186
Chateau of Thuyset and, 67
Allobroges, Caesar and, 16
Amadeus V (Le Grand), and Chateau
de Fonbonne, 93
and Evian, 90
La Tour de Pcilz and, 197
Amadeus VI (the " Green Count "),
69, 70, 213
Amadeus VII (the "Red Count"), 70,
287
and Grassier, 316
death of, 73
fight with the wild boar of Lonnes,
71
Grandville and, 72, 73
Amadous VIII and Morgcs Castle,
273
as Bishop of Geneva, 75
at Ripaille, 74
death of, 75
elected Pope (Felix V), 75
first Duke of Savoy, 75
re-interment at Turin of, 75
Amiel, Henri, at Geneva, 20, 24
" Journal Intime,' 172
" Amiel's Journal," translated by Mrs.
Humphry Ward, 20
Amphion, 84 et seq.
spa of, 84, 85
Victor Amadeus II and his duchess
at, 103
Ani^res, 40
Anna Maria, as heir to English throne,
103
death of, 103
meeting of, with Victor Amadeus II,
100 et seq.
Annecy, Mme. de Warens at, 206
Antelme de Miolans, 46
Antelme d'Yvoire, and Beatrice of
Fauci gny, 45
Anthonioz, A., " Gcneraux Savoyards "
by, 76
Anthy-Sechex, 40
" Au Pays Eviannais," by Alexis
Bachellerie, 90, 118
Aubonne, Chaleau of, 288
history of, 286
" Aubonne a travers les Ages,"
by M. Ic Pasteur Duqucsne,
286
" Autour du Lac Ldman," by Guil-
laume Fatio, 156, 281
Aymon, Count of Savoy, Villcneuvc,
157
founds hospital of St. Mary Ville-
ncuve, 157
333
INDEX
" A Man of Other Days," by Char-
lotte M. Yonge, 49
" Abondancc," by L. E. Picard, 130
Abondance, Abbey of, 130 d scq.
and St, Gingolph, 138
frescoes in cloister of, 133, 134
Abondance, Burgundians at, 130
Church and Monastery of, 129, 131,
132
Republic of, 130
Valley of, 129
wooden bridge at, 129
Alabama, arbitration at Geneva, 24
Alexander III, Pope, and Noville, 155
Alix of Maxilly, Lady, story of, 126-
128
Allaman, Chateau des Menthon, at, 28G
Allaman Castle, near St. Paul, 123, 124
" Allemagne," by Madame de Stael,
303
Allinges, castles of, 61-5
11th century chapel at, 63, 64
ridge of, 39, 64
ruins of, 55, 61
Allinges, the. Chateau of Beauregard
and, 49
Chateau of Chatelard and, 186
Chateau of Thuyset and, 67
Allobroges, Csesar and, 16
Amadeus V (Le Grand), and Chateau
dc Fonbonne, 93
and Evian, 90
La Tour de Pcilz and, 197
Amadeus VI (the " Green Count "),
69, 70, 213
Amadeus VII (the "Red Count"), 70,
287
and Grassier, 316
death of, 73
fight with the wild boar of Lonnes,
71
Grandville and, 72, 73
Amadous VIII and Morgcs Castle,
273
as Bishop of Geneva, 75
at Ripaille, 74
death of, 75
elected Pope (Felix V), 75
first Duke of Savoy, 75
re-interment at Turin of, 75
Amiel, Henri, at Geneva, 20, 24
" Journal Intime,' 172
" Amiel's Journal," translated by Mrs.
Humphry Ward, 20
Amphion, 84 et seq.
spa of, 84, 85
Victor Amadeus II and his duchess
at, 103
Ani^res, 40
Anna Maria, as heir to English throne,
103
death of, 103
meeting of, with Victor Amadeus II,
100 et seq.
Annecy, Mme. de Warens at, 206
Antehne de Miolans, 46
Antclme d'Yvoire, and Beatrice of
Faucigny, 45
Anthonioz, A., " Generaux Savoyards "
by, 76
Anthy-Sechex, 40
" Au Pays Eviannais," by Alexis
Bachelleric, 90, 118
Aubonnc, Chateau of, 288
history of, 286
" Aubonne a travers les Sges,"
by M. le Pasteur Duquesne,
286
" Autour du Lac Leman," by Guil-
laume Fatio, 156, 281
Aymon, Count of Savoy, Villeneuve,
157
founds hospital of St. Mary Ville-
neuve, 157
333
Index
B
Bachellerie, Alexis, " Au Pays
Evlannais," 90, 118
Bailly de Lalonde, " Le Leman," 142,
280
Balleyson, de, family of, and Chateau
of Beauregard, 49
Banneret, origin of title of, 186 (foot-
note)
Barbille of Chatelard, 184 el seq.
" Bastille of Geneva," 16
Basuges, St. Prothais, and, 279, 280
Batista, Abraham de, and the Esca-
lade, 34
Beatrice, of Faucigny and Hermance,
42
and Nernier Castle, 44
Antelme d'Yvoire and, 45
Beattie, William, " Switzerland," 9
Beaufort, Antoine de, 124
and Chillon, 175
Beauregard, 41
Chateau of, 49, 53
the Terror and, 50
tragedy of, 48 et seq.
" Beautes de I'Histoire de la Savoie
et de Geneve," by P. Nougaret, 9
Bedford, Duke of, and IMaxilly, 125
Begin, ^mile, " Voyage pittorcsque en
Suisse," 9
Belle-et-Bonne (see Varicourt, Made-
moiselle)
Bellerive, Abbey of, 40
Duke of Savoy and, 40
Berchem, M. V. von, " Dictionnaire
Historique du Canton de Vaud,"
311
Bernard, P^re, " Mercure Acatique,"
by, 85
Bernese, and Allinges, 62
and Chillon, 175, 182
and Monastery of Montjoux, 60
at Lausanne, 244, 246
attack and destroy Hermance, 43
capture of Aubonne by, 67, 287
capture of Ripaille by, 75
La Tour du Peilz and, 198
Nyon and, 290
Reformation and, 244
Bernex, Jean of, story of, 186, 187
Bcrthelier, execution of, 16
Bcrthold de Neuchiitcl and Tour de
Bcrtholo, 237
Bertholo, Tower of, 236
Besanfon, Archbishop of, and Nyon,
290
Bcze, statue of, in Geneva, 14
" Black Death " at Villeneuve, 157
Blanchard, the, 137
Blanchet, " Delices de la Suisse," 244
Blonay, de, Amcd, story of, 118 el seq.
Aymon and Castle of St. Paul,
115
Aymonnet and Chapel of St. George
at Chiesaz, 213
Barbille Nicolaide (see Barbille of
Chatelard)
Baron Louis, 117
Claudine, burial aUve of, 116, 117
Franfoise, marriage of, to Etienne
de Tavel, 186
Gabriel and Chatelard, 186
Jean de (Lord of Bernex), 186
Marie Aimee and the seven angels,
111 ; burial place of, 115
Pierre, builder of the chateau, 211
Raoul, and Lady Alix of Maxilly,
126-8
Simon as " Champion rrf the Mar-
ried," 210
vault of, at St. Paul, 115
Blonay, de, Cliateau of, at Evian, 93 ;
Victor Amadeus II at, 103
at St. Paul, 114 et seq., 123
at Tour Ronde, 123, 135
at Vevcy, 165, 191, 209 ; history of,
210 el seq.
Bogueret, death of, in the Escalade, 34
Bois de Bedford, Maxilly, 125
Bois de la Comte, 54
Boissier, Edmund, dying wish of, 110
Boniface, Bishop, of Lausanne and
St. Prex, 280
Bonivard (Prisoner of Chillon), 18, 93,
179 et seq.
dungeon of, in Chillon, 178
Bonivards, the, and the Castle of
Grillie, 93
" Bonne-Baba," Voltaire and, 329
334
Index
Bonne dc Bourbon (Madame la
Grande), and Grassier, 316
and Ripaille, 69 et seq.
death of, 74
Bonstcttcn, Victor dc, and Madame
de Stael, 306
at Coppet, 297
at Nyon, 291, 292
Boson, Bishop of Lausanne, and Jiigc-
menl de Dicii, 240
Bosquet de Julie, Clarcns, 143, 146
Bouchet, C. A., " Les Archives d'Evian
avant, 1790," 90, 136
Bougy, A. de, " Le Tour du Leman," 9,
171, 242, 282
Bouveret, 138, 152, 154
John Evelyn at, 138, 147 et seq.
Bouvier family, and Yvoire, 46
house of, at Villeneuve, 159, 160
Bouvier, Ferdinand, Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor of Chillon, 40
treachery of, 160, 161
Bouvier, Jehan (" Jehan of the Iron
Arm "), 46
Bret, 135, 136
pass of, 136
woods of, 136
Broglie, Duchesse de, 300 (see footnote)
311
Broughton, at Vevey, 193, 194
Bruchet, Max, " Le Chateau de
Ripaille," by, 69, 71, 72, 74
Brun, Madame le, portrait of Madame
de Stael by, 307
Brunaulieu, and the Escalade, 30, 34,
35
Burgundians and Alhnges, 61
at Abondance, 130
at Aubonne, 286
at Geneva, 9
at Nyon, 289
at Thonon, 54
at Vevey, 190
Burgundy, Geneva as capital of King-
dom of, 9
Byron, Lord, and Madame de Stael,
306
and " Prisoner of Chillon," 179, 180
at Clarens, 146, 172
at Mejllcrie, 145
Byron Lord, {continued)
at Ouchy, 265
at St. Gingolph, 146
at Villa Diodati, Cologny, 40
Calvin, at Disputation of Lausanne,
246
Bonivard and, 182
house of, at Geneva, 19
in State Council Chamber at Geneva,
23
lectures of, in the Auditoire, 26
statue of, in Geneva, 14
supposed chair of, Geneva Cathedral,
25
Canal, Jean, and the Escalade, 34
Carnot, General Lazare, at Nyon,
292
Chablais, conversion of, 3
St. Francis and, 64
Chalamala, Gerard, story of, 220
Chambery, Victor Amadeus II and
Anna Maria at, 102
Charles Emmanuel, of Savoy, at Lau-
sanne, 160, 161
" Chateaux, Manoirs et Monast^res des
Environs de Geneve," by J. Lanz,
125
Chatelard, Castle of, 184 et seq.
Chessel, 154
Chillon Castle, Bonivard's dungeon in,
178
capture of, by Bernese, 182
dungeons in, 177, 178
Ferdinand Bouvier, Governor of, 46,
160, 161
history of, 173 et seq.
Jews of Villeneuve in, 157
" Room No. 15," 176, 177
torture chamber in, 177
torture of Marie du Crest at, 162
witches tortured in, 177
Chillon, Prisoner of, 18, 93, 178, 179
et seq.
Choiseul, Due de, and Versoix la Ville,
321
335
Index
Clarcns, 165
Byron at, 172
Madame dc Warcns' house, " Lc
Basset," at, 201, 208
Rousseau and, 141, 143, 171
tomb of Aniicl at, 172
Coligny, on Reformation memorial at
Geneva, 15
Cologny, 39
Villa Diodati, Byron at, 40
Colombier, and Castle of VufTIens, 277
Concise, Church of, 65
Constant, Benjamin, at Coppet, 297,
313
on Madame dc Stae], 304
Conzie, M. de, and Madame dc Warens,
205, 207
Coppet, Amedee de Viry and church
of, 284, 310
Benjamin Constant at, 297, 305, 313
chateau of, 308 d seq.
church of, 310
Count de Sabran at, 297
Gibbon at, 259
Madame de Stael at, 297, 312
Madame Recamier at, 297, 312
town of, 308 et seq.
Victor Bonstetten at, 297
Werner at, 297
" Corinne," by Madame de Stael, 303
Corsant, Sieur de, Champion of the
Bachelors, 210, 211
Corsier, 40, 195
Corsy, 240
Cossonay, Humbert de, and Nyon, 290
Costa de Beauregard, Marquis Henri,
and Chateau of Beauregard, 49
at Lausanne, 51
Eugene, death of, 50
Coudree, Bay of, 55
Coudree-Sciez, 40, 41
Courtavone, Catharine de, Bonivard
and, 183
Crans, 309
Grassier, church of, 316
description of, 315 et seq.
Gibbon at, 317
" Inn of the White Goose," 318
Susanna Curchod's home at, 256,
257, 315 el seq.
Crest, Marie du, torture of, 162
Cromwell, on Reformation memorial
at Geneva, 15
Cross, J. W., " George Eliot's Life,"
19
Crousaz, Fran9ois, and Castle of Lutry,
239
Cully, 230 et seq.
Curchod, M. Pastor of Grassier, 315
Curchod, Susanna, 255, 256
and Madame Vermenoux, 257
career of, 298, 299
Gibbon's engagement to, 256, 299
home of, 315 ct seq.
marriage of, willi Ncclicr, 257, 258
Necker and, 257
D'Albert, Magdelaine, monument
to, at Coppet, 310
d'Arbigny, Robert, and Lady Alix of
Maxilly, 126-8
D'Aux, Burgomaster of Lucerne, story
of, 160, 161
Davel, Major, monument to, at Cully,
231
" Dclices de la Suisse," by Blanchet,
244
Denis, Madame (" Madame Round-
about "), and Voltaire, 324, 327
inherits Ferney, 331
Denkinger-Rod, H., " Histoire popu-
laire du Canton de Geneve, 320
Dent d'Oche, 83, 121
Deonna and Renard, " L'Abbaye
d'Abondance," 133
d'Epinay, Madame, on Madame Denis,
327
Deyverdun, George, and Gibbon, 248,
255, 260
Dczaley, vineyards of, 229
d'Haussonville, Comte, and Coppet,
311
" Dictionnairc Historique du Canton
de Vaud," 156, 158, 169, 185, 197,
209, 227, 228, 239, 240, 264, 271,
293, 311
33^
Index
Diricq, Edouard, " Gruy^res en Gru-
y6re," 220
d'Oron, Marguerite, and Chapel of St.
George, Chidsaz, 213
Doumergue, Professor, 16, 17, 19,
22
Dranse, the, bridge over, 68
gorge of, 54, 67
Duin, Richard de, and Castle of
Vufflens, 277
Dunant, Jacques, and Castle of Grillie,
93,95
Dupas, General, purchase of Chateau of
Ripaille by, 75
Duquesne, M. le pasteur, " Aubonne
a travers les figes," by, 286
Durnes, Bishop Landri de, and Ouchy
Castle, 264
Eliot, George, at Geneva, 19
Escalade, of Geneva, 18, 29 et seq.
fountain of, 18, 33
memorial of, in St. Gervais Church,
27
relics of, 36
Excenevex, 55
Evelyn, John, at Bouveret, 147
et seq.
at Geneva, 150, 151
at Milan, 147
Evian, 88 et seq.
and Amphion Spa, 84, 85
Bourg la Touviire, 90
Bourg St. Mary, 90
Castle of Peter of Savoy, 90
Chateau de Fonboune, 93, 125
Chateau of, 93
Church of St. Mary, 91, 103
Convent of St. Claire, 91
Convent of the Cordeliers, 91
discovery of spring at, 94
Gribalbi Chateau, 90
history of, 89 et seq.
H6tel de Ville, 90, 91
Jardin Anglais at, 94
Madame de Warens at, 203, 204
Evian (continued)
Rue de I'Eglise, 94
Rue Natlonale, 89
the Cheval Blanc, 95
the country round, 108
the F6te-Dieu, 97 et seq.
Victor Amadeus II at, 100 et seq.
woods of Bret granted to, 136
Familiar Swiss Flowers," by F. E.
Hulme, 110
Farel, and the Disputation at Lausanne,
246
statue of, in Geneva, 14
Fatio, Guillaume, " Autour du Lac
L^man," 156, 281
Faucigny, Lords of, and Allinges, 62
and Hermance, 42
Favre family, of Thonon, and monas-
tery of Montjoux, 60
Fazy, J., " Jean d'Yvoire au Bras de
Fer," 46
Felix v.. Pope (see Amadeus VII)
tower of, at Ripaille, 79
Ferney, bust of Voltaire at, 331
Chateau of, 325, 326, 332
Gibbon at, 259
" Madame Roundabout " inherits,
331
Voltaire at, 4, 324 el seq.
Voltaire's Colony at, 330
Ferrier, Jean, " Le Due de Choiseul,
Voltaire et la Creation de Ver-
soix-la-Ville, 1766-1777," by 321
Ffite-Dieu, the, at Evian, 97 et seq.
Fdternes, fairy grotto at, 127
Filly, Abbey of, 44, 45
Fonbonne, Chateau de, 93, 125
Foras, de, familj% and Chateau of
Thuyset, 67
Fornier, Antoine, and Yvoire, 46
Fornier, Pierre, and St. Francis, 58
Franks, and Alhnges, 61
at Geneva, 9
Fromment, A., " Les Actos et Gestes
Merveilleux de la Cit6 de Geneve,"
by, 9
W
337
Index
Galiffe, on Madame de Stael, 303
" G^ndraux Savoyards," by A. An-
thonioz, 76
Geneva, Alabama settlement at, 21
alleys of, 27
appearance of, 7, 8
as capital of Burgundian Kingdom, 9
Auditoire, the, 26
Bastille of, 16
Berthelier, statue at, 16
Beze, statue at, 14
Bourg-de-Four, 9, 10, 17, 20, 21, 22
Calvin and, 19, 182
Cathedral of, 17, 19, 21, 22, 25
character of, 6 el seq.
Church of St. Germain, 25
Corraterie, the, 33, 34, 35
Escalade, the, 29 el seq.
Escalade Tower, 36
Evelyn and Wray at, 150, 151
fountain of the Escalade, 18, 33
Franks at, 9
frescoes in Town Hall, 23, 24
Fusterie, the, 17
George Eliot at, 19
German Empire and, 10
Grande Rue, 18
Hen Steps (D^gres de Poule), 21
High Town, 17
He des Bergues, 13
Julius Ctesar at, 16
Knox statue in, 14
L'lle, 16
Low Town, 16
Madeleine, the, 25
Molard, the, 17
Monnaie Gate, 33, 34, 35, 36
Musee d'Art et Histoire, 12, 36
Old Bridge, 10
Passage des Barri^res, 27
penthouses at, 11, 17, 18
Place Bel Air, 16, 33
Place de Longemalle, 17
Place de Notre-Dame du Pont, 33
Place du Grand Mezel, 18
Porte de la Treille, 34
Porte Neuve, 34, 35
promenade of La Trcillc, 24
Geneva (continued)
Quartier St. Pierre, 9
Rath Museum, 31
Red Cross Society founded at, 24
Refonnatlon monument in, 14
Rousseau's birthplace in, 18
Rousseau's Island, 13
Rousseau's works burnt at, 23
Rue Calvin, 10, 12, 19
Rue de Beauregard, 9
Rue d' Italic, 9
Rue de la Cite, 11, 17, 18, 20, 32, 34
Rue dc la Fontaine, 20, 21
Rue de I'Hdtel du Villc, 20
Rue de la PeUsserie, 18, 19
Rue du Puits St. Pierre, 20
Rue du Temple, 27
Rue Verdaine, 20
Ruskin on, 8, 11
St. Gcrvais Quartier. 26
Shelley at, 10, 11
Tavel house, 20
Tertasse Gate, 34, 35
the Rhone at, 12, 13
Town Hall, 17, 22, 23
Turrettini house, 20
Walls of, 9, 10
Geneva, Lake of, birds of, 109
colour of, 5
dimensions of, 1
entry of the Rhone to, 152
flora of, 110
Lake-dwellers of, 12
Petit Lac, the, 44
road from Vevey to Lausanne by, 224
sea-gulls on, 14
shore between Evlan and Rhone
valley, 135
shore between Lausanne and Geneva,
269
shore between the Dranse and the
Rhone, 83
shore between Vevey and Lausanne,
165
shores from Geneva to the Dranse. 39
topographical features of, 2, 3
Geneva Museum, 12
altar of Bellerive Abbey in, 40
bust and uniform of Necker in, 298
Madame de Stael's portrait in, 307
338
Index
Geneva Museum (continued)
relics of Escalade in, 36
relics of lake-dwellers in, 272
" George Eliot's Life," by J. W. Cross,
19
Georges d'AntiocIie and Yvoirc, 46
Germans and Geneva, 10
Gibbon and George Deyverdun, 2-18,
255
and Madame de Stael, 259
and Mdlle. Curcliod, 255, 256, 299,317
at Grassier, 256
at " La Grotte," 260
at Lausanne, 247, 252 et scq., 258
death of, 259
meeting with Voltaire, 259
" Memoirs of My Life," by, 258
strange career of, 26U
" The Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire," by, 260
' Gibraltar of the Lake " (Yvoire), 44
Gingins, Francois de, and Chatelard,
186
Gingins, Jean de, and Barony of
Chatelard, 186
Glerolles, Chateau of, 224, 227
Glion, 165, 170
Godefroy de Bouillon, and Chateau of
Nernier, 43, 44
Gondebaud, Castle of, at Geneva, 9
Gorge du Chauderon, 170
Grammont, the, 136
Grande Rive, 135
Grandson, 0th on de, and Castle of
Coppet, 311
Lord of Aubonne, 286
and the " Red Count," 73, 74
Grandvilie, and the " Red Count," 72
arrest and death of, 74
" Great Stone, The," story of, 118
" Green Count," the (see Amadeus VI)
Grenier, Madame, and " La Grotte,"
261
Greysier family, and Chateau de Mont-
joux-St. Bernard, 59
Gribaldi Chateau, Evian, 90
Gribble, F., " Lake Geneva and its
Literary Landmarks," 182, 194
" Madame de Stael and Her Lovers,"
256, 305, 318
Grolee, Castle of, Bonivard imprisoned
in, 181
" Groot Stedeboek van Piemont en
van Savoye," 67, 93, 115, 126
Gruerric, Etienne, and Crassier, 316
Gruyere, Jean, Count of, 213
Gruyeres, 215 et seq.
" Gruyeres en Gruyere," by Edouard
Diricq, 220
Guillet-Monthoux, family, at Thonon,
57
Guy of Fetcrnes, and Priory of Abond-
auce, 130
H
Haggard, Lt.-Col. Andrew, " Madame
de Stael, Her Trials and Tri-
umphs," by, 305
Harpe, Cesar de la, birthplace of, 283
obelisk to, at Rolle, 283
Haunted lake, the, of La Gotetla, 121,
122
Haute Savoie, provinces of, 62 (foot-
note)
" Haute Savoie," by A. Raverat, 65,
115
Helvetes, the, Juhus Csesar and,
16
Helvetians, defeat Romans at Novillc,
156
Hermance, 41, 42, 43
Chapel of St. Catherine at, 43
tower of, 43
Hermengarde, Queen of Burgundy and
Hermance, 42
Hill, G. Birkbeck, edition of Gibbon's
Memoirs by, 261
" Histoire de Thonon," by L. E. Plc-
card, 55
' Histoire du Canton de Vaud," by P.
Maillefer, 158, 228, 266, 296
" Histoire populaire du Canton de
ndve," by H. Denkinger-Rod,
320
" Historic Studies in Vaud, Berne, and
Savoy," by Meredith Read, 47,
91, 95, 123, 159, 160, 177, 191,
200, 208, 245, 249, 250, 260
339
Index
' History of a Six- Weeks* Tour," by
Slielley, 11, 95, 145
" History of Evian," by Noble F.
Prevost, 90
Holly of the Talking Cats, legend
of, 126-8
Huber, Mdlle., on Madame de Stael, 304
Hugues, Bishop, of Lausanne, 266
Hiigues de Ghilons, and Louise of
Savoy, 92
Hulme, F. E., " Familiar Swiss
Flowers," by, 110
Humbert of the White Hands, 2
Hume, Alexander, and Escalade, 32
I
Ile des Bergues, 13
" Itinera Alpine," by J. J. Scheuch-
zeri, 242
Jean de Cossonay and the Bishopric
of Lausanne, 247
" Jean d'Yvoire au Bras de Fer," by
J, Fazy, 46
Jehan of the Iron Arm {see Bouvier,
Jehan)
Jews of ViUeneuve, arrested and tor-
tured, 157
Jordane de Lucinges, story of, 118
" Journal Inlime," by Henri Amiel, 20,
172
Jugement de Dieu, 240
•' Julie ou la Nouvelle Heloi'se," by
J. J. Rousseau, 141, 142, 171
Julius Caesar, at Geneva, 16
K
Knox, John, statue of, in Geneva, 14
in Geneva, 26
KrQdner, Madame de, at Coppet, 297
"L'Abbaye d'Abondance," by
Deonna and Renard, 133
" L'Abbaye et la Valine d'Abondance,''
by J. Mercier, 130
" L'Ancienne Geneve," by J. Mayor, 9,
43
La Belotte, 40
La Chavanne, the " Red Count " at,
71
La Chi^saz, 212, 213, 214
La Cote, vineyards of, 269
hill of, 286
La Flechere, tower of, 65
siege of, 66
convent at, 67
r^a Gotetta, haunted lake at, 121
" La Grotte," Gibbon at, 260
pilgrims at, 261
La Gruz, of Evian, 90
" La Haute Savoie," by Francis Wey,
76, 95, 126
La Maladi^re, Leper and plague hos-
pital, 270
La'^Sarra, and Chatelard, 185
La SociHe du Printemps of Lausanne,
258
La Tour de Peilz, 165, 197
Lake-dwellings on Lake Geneva, 12,
271
" Lake Geneva and its Literary Land-
marks," by F. Cribble, 182,
194
Lamartine, at Nernier, 44
Landri de Durnes, Bishop, and Tower
of Marsens, 229
Lanz, J., " Chateaux, Manoirs et
monast^res des Environs de
Geneve," by, 125 '■
Larringes, Castle of, 118
Lausanne, appearance of, 241,
242
Bourg, the, 242, 247, 248
Cathedral de Notre Dame, 245
Charles Emmanuel of Savoy at, 160,
161
Chateau of, 243
Church of St. Francis, 249
Cit6, the, 242, 243
340
Index
Lausanne {conliniied)
Convention of, 295
Disputation at, 246
Episcopal Palace at, 217, 248
Gibbon at, 247, 252 el seq.
H6tel de Ville, 249
Hdtel Gibbon, 261, 262
La Sociele da Prinlemps, 258
Market Stairs, 250
Marquise Costa de Beauregard,
50
Place de la Palud, 249
Reformation at, 244
Rue de Bourg, 248
Rue du Grand Chene, 249
St. Laurent, 242
Tour de I'Ale, 243
Voltaire's house at, 249
Le Basset, Madame de Warens' house,
201, 208
" Le Chateau de Ripaille," by Max
Bruchet, 69
" Le Due de Choiseul, Voltaire et la
Creation de Versoix-la- Ville, 1766-
1777," by Jean Ferrier, 321
" Le Leman," by Bailly de Lalonde,
142, 280
" Le Sanglier de la Foret de Lonnes,"
by J. Replat, 71
" Le Tour du Leman," by A. de
Bougy, 9, 171, 242, 282
" Le Village illuslre," 214
" Les Actes et Gestes Merveilleux de
la Cite de Geneve," by A. From-
ment, 9
" Les Archives d'Evian avant, 1790,"
by C. A. Bouchet, 90, 136
Les Charmettes, Madame de Warens
at, 200, 207
Les Echelles, Anna Maria and, 100 et
seq.
Victor Amadeus II and, 100 el seq.
Les Planches, 169, 170
Les Voirons, 39, 55
" Life of Voltaire," by S. G Tallentyre,
324, 325, 327
Lisle at Vevey, 193
Lonnes, Forest of, legend of the " Red
Count " and, 71
Louis de Sales, 64
W*
Louise of Savoy and Notre-Dame des
Graces at Evian, 92
Loys, Sebastian de, and Madame de
Warens, 201
birthplace of, at Lausanne, 250
Lucinges, the, and Chdteau of Thuy-
set, 67
Jordane de, 118
Ludlow, Lt.-General Edmund, house
of, at Vevey, 193
Lullin, Albert Eugene de Gendve, Mar-
quis de, and convent at Thonon,
57
Lutry, 236 el seq.
Castle of, 239
M
Macaulay, on Madame de Stael, 303
" Madame de Stael," by A. Stevens,
297, 302
" Madame de Stael and Her Lovers,"
by F. Gribble, 256, 305, 318
" Madame de Stael, Her Trials and
Triumphs," by Lt.-Col. Andrew
Haggard, 305
" Madame de Warens," by A. de
Montet, 207
" Madame Roundabout " (see Denis,
Madame)
Magdalen College, Oxford, Gibbon at,
252, 253
Maillefer, P., " Histoire du Canton de
Vaud," by, 158, 228, 266, 296
Marsens, Tower of, 229
Maxilly, Castle of, 123, 125
bois de Bedford at, 125
" Holly of the Talking Cats," and,
126-8
Mayor, J., " L'Ancienne Geni^ve," 9,
43
Mazue, Pernette, Bonivard and, 183
Meillerie, 84, 135, 139
Bosquet de Julie, 143, 146
Byron and Shelley at, 145
church of, 140
La Couronne, Inn at, 143
Love story of, 139 et seq.
34'
Index
Meilleric (continued)
Rocks of, 139
" Mdmoires et Documents de I'Aca-
ddniie Chablaisienne," 44, 46, 49,
55, 59, 90, 130
" Memoirs of My Life," by Edward
Gibbon, 258
" Memoirs of tlie Marquis de Beau-
regard," by CIiarlotteM. Yonge, 56
Menthon, Cliateau des, Voltaire and,
286
Mercier, I., " L'Abbaye et la Vallee
d'Abondance," 130
Mercier, Isaac, and the Escalade, 35
" Mercure Acatique," by Pere Bernard,
85
Mesery, M. de. Gibbon's association
with, 258
Milan, John Evelyn at, 147
Mont Blanc, view of, from Ferney, 332
view of, from Morges, 272
view of, from Nyon, 292
view of, from Signal de Bougy, 269
Mont, Castle of, 284
Mont Pelerin, 165
Mont Saleve, 55
IMontet, A. de, " Madame de Warens,"
207
Mont d'Armonnaz, 54
Mont de Boisy, 39
Montfalcon, Aymon de, and Chateau
of Glerolles, 227
Montfalcon, Bishop Sebastien de, at
Glerolles, 227, 228
attack on, 244
window of, at St. Saphorin, 226
Montfaucon, Baron de, and Chateau
de Fonbonne, 93
Montjoux, monastery of, 60
Montjoux-St. Bernard, Chateau de, 59
Montreux, 45, 165, 168
Gorge du Chauderon at, 170
growth of, 169
old church of, 169, 170, 171
Montriond, hill of, 265
Morge, the, 137
Morges, Castle of, 273
Church of, 272
compared with Rolle, 283
Grande Rue, 272
Morges (continued)
Harbour of, 273
H6tel de Ville, 274
" La Laitcrie," 275
lake-dwellings at, 271
Passage de la Vottte, 274
Rue des Fosses, 274
Rue du Lac, 272
Morley, John, " Voltaire," 4
Morley, Lord, on Voltairism, 3, 4
" Musce d'Art et Histoire," 12
N
Naef, M., " La Tour de Peilz," 197
Naegueli, General, at Lausanne, 244
Napoleon, Madame de Stael and, 300,
301, 305
Narbonne, M. de, Madame de Stael
and, 301
Necker, Jacques, and Castle of Coppet,
311
Necker, Madame, and Cousin " Toton,"
318
and Madame Vermenoux, 257, 298
and Susanna Curchod, 257, 258
burial place of, 314
Gibbon meets, in Paris, 259
monument to parents of, 310
mother of Madame de Stael, 258
portrait of, at Coppet, 313
Nernier, 41
Beatrice of Faucigny and, 44
chateau and church at, 43
Lamartine at, 44
" Neuvecelle," by Edmond Rollin, 111
Nicod de Menthon, and Nernier, 44
" Notre-Dame de Graces," 92
Nougaret, P., " Beautes de I'Histoire
de la Savoie et de Geneve," by, 9
Noville, 155
Nut Tower, legend of (see Tour du
Noyer)
" Nyon k travers les Si^cles," by Th.
Wellauer, 289, 290
" Nyon et ses Environs," by Aug.
Testuz, 294
Nyon, 289 et seq.
Burgundians at, 289
342
Index
Nyon (continued)
castle of, 290, 292
church of, 295
" Maitre Jacques " at, 294
Porte Notre Dame, 292
Porte St. Jean, 293
Porte St. Martin, 292
Promenade des Marronniers, 292
Romans at, 289, 294
Rue des Jardins, 294
Rue du Marche, 294
Tour de la Flech(ire, 294
Tour Jules Cesar, 293
" Writing on the WaU " at, 295
" CEuvREs historiques de M. I'Abb^
Gonthier," 61, 63
Orbe, Convent of the Clarisses at, 92
Ouchy, 263 et seq.
Byron and Shelley at, 264
castle of, 264
H6tel d'Angleterre, 265
Hfltel Beau Rivage, 263
Paravicini, M., and Chateau of
Ripaille, 76
Pavilliard, M., Gibbon and, 253, 254,
255
Penthouses at Geneva, 11, 17, 18
Petit Lac, the, 44
Petit Rive, 135
Phillipe de Savoie, and Bishopric of
Lausanne, 247
Piaget, Juhen, house of, 34
Picard, L. E., " Abondance," 130
" Histoire de Thonon," 55
Picot, the Pelardier, and the Escalade,
35, 36
Pierre, Count of Savoy, and Castle of
Coppet, 311
and Chillon Castle, 174, 175
and Morges, 273
and woods of Bret, 136
Pierre, Count of Savoy {continued)
La Tour de Peilz and, 197
Pierre de la Baunie, last Bishop of
Geneva, 21
Pierre de Vudlens, Chevalier, Castle of
Vuniens and, 277
Pierre of Yvoire, 45
" Pierregrosse," the {see " Great
Stone ")
Pinching, Sir Horace, and La Tour de
Peilz, 198
Pleiades, Les, 165, 209
" Port Choiseul," 321
Pont du Sex, 153
Port of Tougues, 48, 49
Porte du Sex, 154
" Prseterita," by Ruskin, 8, 11
Prevost, Noble F., " History of
Evian," 90
Promenthoux, bay of, Roman camp
on, 289
Promenthoux, point of, 44
QuARTiER St. Pierre, Geneva, 9
Quisard, Lord of Crans, 309
Raverat, a., " Haute Savoie," by,
65, 115
Ravoree, and Chateau de Montjoux-
St. Bernard, 60
family and Yvoire, 46
Read, Meredith, " Historic Studies in
Vaud, Berne, and Savoy," 47, 91,
95, 123, 159, 160, 177, 191, 200,
208, 245, 249, 250, 260
Recamicr, Madame, at C-oppct, 297
beauty of, 307
bedchamber of, at Coppet, 312
" Red Count," the (see Amadeus VH),
70
Red Cross Society, foundation of, 24
Reformation, the, at Lausanne, 244
memorial in Geneva Cathedral, 23
monument to, in Geneva, 14, 30
343
Index
" R^geste Genevois avant I'Ann^e,
1312," 65
Renard {see Deonna and Renard)
Replat, J., " Le Sanglier de la Foret
de Lonnes," by, 71
Rhone, the, 1, 7, 12, 13, 152, 153
bridges of, 13
entry of, to the lake, 152
last bridge over, 153
Ruskin on, 13
Rhone Valley, 152, 105
Ripaille, captured by Bernese, 75
Carthusian monastery at, 75, 76, 77
Charles Emmanuel of Savoy at, 160,
161
chateau of, 69 el seq., 76, 77
church of, 76
General Dupas purchases Chateau
of, 75
legends of, 78 et seq.
Priory and Chapel of St. Maurice at,
74
" The Drama " of, 71
Tour du Noyer at, 78
Tower of Pope Felix V at, 75, 79
Rives, 59
Rocca, marriage with Madame de
Stael, 302, 303
Rochers de Naye, 165
Rodolfe I, 10, 62
Rodolfe II, 10, 62, 63
Rodolfe III, 62
Rodolphe, first Abbot of Abondance,
130
Roger, Bishop, and Ouchy Castle, 264
RoUe, 269, 283 et seq.
compared with Morge, 283
medicinal spring at, 285
Voltaire at, 285
Rollin, Edmond, " Neuvecelle," 111
Romans, at Aubonne, 286
at Nyon, 289, 294
at St. Prex, 282
at St. Saphorin, 224
at Thonon, 54
at Vevey, 189
at Villeneuve, 156
defeat of, at Noville, 156
Rousseau, J. J., and Clarens, 171
and Madame de Warens, 200, 207
Rousseau, J. J. (continued)
and "rocks of Meillerie,'' 139
at Vevey, 195
birthplace of, 18
" Julie ou la nouvelle Ileloise " and,
141, 142
statue of, at Geneva, 13
Royaume, Mere, heroine of the Esca-
lade, 33, 36
Ruskin, on Geneva, 8, 11
" Pr.-eterita," by, 8, 11
on Lake Geneva, 5
on the Rhone, 13
Sabran, Count de, at Coppet, 297
St. Andrew, Chapel of, Tour Ronde,
124
St. Bernard of Menthon, 60
Saint-Beuve, on Madame de Stael's
" Corinne," 303
St. Catherine, Chapel of, at Hermance,
43
St. Colomban, and monastery of
Abondance, 129
St. Francis of Sales, 3
at Allinges, 64
at Thonon, 58
Marie Aimee and, 112
St. Gingolph, 136, 137, 138
Shelley and Byron at, 146
St. Maurice-en- Valais, Chatelard and,
185
monastery of, 130
St. Maurice, Priory and Chapel of, at
Ripaille, 74
the Order of, 74
St. Paul, castle of, 114 et seq., 123
church of, 114, 115
Marie Aimee and the Angels at, 112
St. Prex, 269
church of, 282
legend of St. Prothais and, 279 et seq.
Maison de Ville at, 281
Romans at, 282
walls of, 281
St. Prothais, Bishop of Avenches, 279
et seq.
344
Index
St. Saphorin, 224, 225
St. Sulpice, 270, 271
S41es, 169, 170
Saracens, and monastery of St. Mau-
rice-en- Valais, 130
Savoy, the " real " country, 106
et seq.
Savoy, Counts of, 2, 75 (footnote)
and Allinges, 62
and Chatelard, 185
and Evian, 93
and Morges Castle, 273
and Rolle Castle, 284
and Thonon, 55
and Tour Ronde, 135
and Yvoire, 46
Savoy, Duke of, and Bellerive, 40
and Lausanne, 244
and the Escalade, 29
Bonivard and, 181
Scheuchzeri, J. J., " Itinera Alpine,"
242
Sea-gulls on Lake Geneva, 14
Seiche, the, 1
Senarclens, Francois de, and Castle of
Vufflens, 277
Henri de, 277
" Seven Angels," the, legend of, 111
et seq.
Shelley, and Vevey, 189
at Clarens, 146
at Evian, 95
at Geneva, 10, 11
at Meillerie, 145
at Ouchy, 265
at St. Gingolph, 146
" History of a Six Weeks' Tour," 11,
95, 145
Signal de Bougy, 269
Simplon Pass, Evelyn and Wrav at,
148
road to, 139
Sion, Bishops of, and Chatelard,
185
and Chillon, 174
and Montreux, 168
and Vevey, 191
at La Tour de Peilz, 197
Smeth, Gaspard de, and Castle of
Coppet, 311
Sordet, Aim^, House of, at Cully, 232,
233
Stael, Madame de, and Coppet, 297 e
seq., 312
and Gibbon, 259
and her father, 305
appearance of, 307
Benjamin Constant and, 305,
313
Bonstetten and, 306
burial place of, 314
Byron and, 306
career of, 298 cl seq.
children of, 300 (footnote)
" Corinne," by, 303
marriage \Tith de Stael, 300
marriage with Rocca, 302
M. de Narbonne and, 301
Napoleon and, 300, 301, 305
parents of, 298
portraits of, 307
works of, 303
Stael-Holstein, Eric, Baron de, mar-
riage of, 300
portrait of, at Coppet, 313
Steiger, Hieronymus, arms of, on Rolle
Castle, 284
Jean, and Rolle, 284
Stevens, A., " Madame de Stael," by,
297, 302
" Switzerland," by William Beattie, 9
Tallentyre, S. G., " Life of Vol-
taire," 324, 325, 327
Tavel, Etienne de, marriage of, with
Franfois de Blonay, 186
Territet, 165, 168
Testuz, Aug., " Nyon et ses Environs,"
294
" The Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire," by Gibbon, 260
" The Romance of Savoy," by Mar-
chesa Vitclleschi, 100
Thollon, 83
Thonon (Thonon les Bains), 39, 41, 54
et seq.
345
Index
Tliouon (Thonon les }3aius) (continued)
capture of Castle of, 65
church of, 58
history of, 55
Ildtel de Ville, 58
Miniines Convent at, 57
museum at, 110
Place du Chateau, 57
Rue Chanle-Coq, 57
St. Francis at, 58, 59
Three Towns, the, 165 el seq.
Thuyset, Chateau of, 67
Ticknor, on Madame de Stael, 304
Tour, Fran^oise Louise de la (sec
Warens, Madame de)
Tour de la Flechere, at Xyon, 294
Tour des Langues, Rives, 60
Tour du Noyer, Ripaille, legend of, 78
el seq.
Tour Jules Cesar, Xyon, 293
Tour Ronde, 135
Blonay Castle at, 123
Treve de Dieii, 265
Turin, re-intermenl of Pope Felix Y
at, 75
Turquet, Theodore, dc Mayerne of
Aubonne, story of, 287, 288
Turrettini, the, at Geneva, 20
Vallox de Novel, 136, 137
Varicourt, Mademoiselle, Reine Phili-
bert de (" Belle-et-Bonne "), and
Ferney, 328, 331
marriage of, 329
Vermenoux, Madame, and Susanna
Curchod, 257
Versoix, Chateau of, 320
Versoix-la- Ville, 319 el seq.
Versoix le Bourg, 319 e/ seq.
Vevey, Boiirgs of, 191
Chateau of, 191
Church of St. Martin at, 194
Convent of St. Claire, 192
De Blonay, Chateau at, 116
history of, 189 cl seq.
Hdtel du Lac, 193
Lisle, Ludlow, and Broughton at,
193, 194
\'evey (conlinued)
Madame dc Warens' house at, 195
201, 208
museum at, Carcans in, 231
Place du Marche, 195
Rousseau at, 195
Shelley at, 189
statue of St. Martin at, 192
Villeneuve, Gale of, 192
Victor Amadeus II, abdication of, 104
and Evian, 100 (7 seq.
and Madame de Warens, 103, 117,
205
death of, 105
dismantles Allinges Castle, 63
pavilion at Amphion built by, 87,
103
second marriage of, 103
Villeneuve, 156-60
" Black Death " at, 157
Bouvier House at, 159, 162
Church of St. Paul at, 159
gates of, 158
hospital of St. Mary, 157
Villette, Church of, 236
Vineyards, 4, 39, 166
of Dezaley, 229
of La Cote, 269
Viret, at Disputation of Lausanne,
246
Viry, Amedee de, 284
and Chateau of Coppet, 311
and Church of Coppet, 310
Viry Tower, 284, 285
ViteUeschi, Marchesa, " The Romance
of Savoy," by, 100, 103
Voltaire and Bonne-Baba, 329
and Mile, du Varicourt, 328, 331
and Versoix, 321
as " Patriarch of Ferney," 325
at Ferney, 4, 324 el seq.
at Rolle, 285
Chateau des Menthon and, 286
Gibbon and, 259
house of, at Lausanne, 249
Madame Denis and, 324, 327
" Voltaire," by John Morley, 4
"Voltaire, Life of," by S. G. Tallen-
tyre, 324, 325, 327
Voltairism, 3, 4
346
Index
" Voyage piltoresque autour du Lac
cle Geneve," 168
" Voyage piltoresque en Suisse," by
Emile-Bcgin, 9
Vuniens, Chaleau of, 276
W
Ward, Mrs. Humphry, " Amiel's
Journal," 20
Warens, iMadame de, and Victor
Amadeus II, 103, 117, 205
escapade of, 200 el seq., 250
house of, at Vevey, 195, 201, 208
Wellauer, Th., " Nyon fi travers les
Si^cles," by, 289, 290
Werner at Coppet, 297
Wey, Francis, " La Haute Savoie," by,
76, 95, 120
Williams, Robert, on Reformation
monument at Geneva, 15
Witches, torture of, in Chillon
177
Wray, Captain, tour of, with Evelyn,
147 el seq.
YOLAXDE DE LA ViLLETTE, and SieUT
de Corsant, 211
Yonge, Charlotte M., " A Man of
Other Days," 49, 56
Y voire, 41
castle and walls of, 45
chateau of, 47
church of, 47
history of, 46
" The Gibraltar of the Lake," 44
347
Printed in England by
Cassell & Company, Limited,
London, E.C.4.
F. 25. 322
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY
Return to desk from which borrowed.
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
2^0eo'49SS/\
REC'D UD
JUN 14 I960
1 I90ct'58BP
RfclC D uO
OCT ^ti^iS
1 v.^^^^^^
iS^'^T-'/^n' ■?
\
21-100m-9,'48(B399sl6)476
YD 09444
516876
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
!?.!?:
IP PiP
mimm
'V mm
?.v' I'
mm
im^\
iliiii
iilfiPI
M i i !--ili