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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-25 12:47:49 -0800 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-25 12:47:49 -0800 |
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margin-bottom: 0.5em; } - .c031 { margin-top: .5em; } - body {width:80%; margin:auto; line-height: 130%; } - h1 {font-size: 2.00em; text-align: center; } - h2 {font-size: 1.50em; text-align: center; } - .box1 {border-style: double; border-width:10px; padding:1em; - margin: 2em 10% 2em 10% } - .tnbox {background-color:#E3E4FA;border:1px solid silver;padding: 0.5em; - margin:2em 10% 0 10%; } - .fn {font-size: 0.85em; line-height: 125%; } - .blackletter {font-family: "Old English Text MT", Gothic, serif; } - </style> - </head> - <body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of A month in Switzerland, by Foster Barham Zincke</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: A month in Switzerland</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Foster Barham Zincke</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 8, 2023 [eBook #69990]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Susan Skinner, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MONTH IN SWITZERLAND ***</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div> - <h1 class='c001'>A MONTH<br /> <br /><span class='small'>IN</span><br /> <br /><em class='gesperrt'>SWITZERLAND</em></h1> -</div> -<p class='c002'> </p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='box1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>By the same Author,</div> - <div class='c000'>Demy 8vo. 14<i>s.</i></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='c004'>EGYPT OF THE PHARAOHS AND</span></div> - <div><span class='c004'>OF THE KEDIVÉ.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c005' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><i>SELECTION from NOTICES by the PRESS.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Spectator.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>‘We have in this volume a thoughtful, almost exhaustive, treatment of -a subject too often handled by mere <i>dilettante</i> writers, who dismiss as -unworthy of notice the problems with which they are unable to cope.... -We heartily commend Mr. Zincke’s delightful book as a fresh pleasure to -the thoughtful reader.’</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Literary Churchman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>‘A more independent and original volume of Egyptian travel than at this -time of day we should have thought possible. Mr. Zincke has a quickness -of eye, a vigour of judgment, and a raciness of style which place him far -above the ordinary run of travellers.... Readers will lose much if they -do not make some acquaintance with this truly remarkable volume.’</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Guardian.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>‘Each chapter takes some one topic, treats it in sharp piquant style, and -generally throws some new light upon it, or makes it reflect some new light -upon something else. If these bright and sparkling pages are taken as -containing suggestions to be worked out for oneself and accepted or rejected -in the light of more mature knowledge, they will be found full of value.’</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Saturday Review.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>‘Mr. Zincke speaks like a man of rare powers of perception, with an -intense love of nature in her various moods, and an intellectual sympathy -broad and deep as the truth itself.’</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Westminster Review.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>‘A very pleasant and interesting book.... Mr. Zincke tells his readers -exactly such facts as they would wish to know. The style is captivating.’</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Examiner.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>‘A series of brilliant and suggestive essays.’</p> - -<hr class='c007' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='c008'>SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 Waterloo Place.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='c010'>A MONTH IN SWITZERLAND</span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='small'>BY</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='c011'>F. BARHAM ZINCKE</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='xsmall'>VICAR OF WHERSTEAD</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='xsmall'>CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY TO THE QUEEN</span></div> - <div class='c003'>──────────</div> - <div>Deo Opt. Max.</div> - <div>──────────</div> - <div class='c003'><span class='c012'>LONDON</span></div> - <div><span class='c012'>SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE</span></div> - <div><span class='c012'>1873</span></div> - <div class='c000'><i>All rights reserved</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_v'>v</span> - <h2 class='c013'>PREFACE</h2> -</div> -<p class='c014'><span class='sc'>The legitimate use</span> of a Preface, like that of a -Prologue, is merely to give explanations that will be -necessary, and to save from expectations that would -be delusive. I will, therefore, at once say to those -who may have read my ‘Egypt of the Pharaohs and -of the Kedivé,’ that this little book belongs to the -same family. The cast of thought and the aims of -the two are kindred, and both endeavour to do their -work by similar methods. They are, alike, efforts to -attain to a right reading, and a right interpretation -of nature, and of man. The differences between -them are, perhaps, such as must result from the -differences in the matter itself they had, respectively, -to take account of. The field, in which the younger -sister here makes some studies, is small in extent; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_vi'>vi</span>its physical conditions, too, are those of our own part -of the world, and its human issues those of our own -times. It ought, therefore, to be looked at from very -near points of view, and to be exhibited in pictures -of much detail and minuteness. The field, however, -which the elder sister surveyed, was wide in area, and -rich with scenes of singularly varied character. Its -place, indeed, in the panorama of nature possesses an -interest which is exclusively its own; and its history -includes a chapter in the construction of thought and -of society, of which—while again its own with almost -equal exclusiveness—the right appreciation is necessary -for the right understanding of some contemporary -and subsequent chapters in general history, -and not least of the one that is at this day unfolding -itself, with ourselves for the actors, we being, also, at -the same time, the material dealt with, and fashioned. -So it presented itself to my own mind, and so I -attempted to set it before the reader’s mind.</p> -<p class='c006'>To those, however, who are unacquainted with the -book I have just referred to in explanation of the -character and aims of its successor, I would describe -the impulse under which both of them were written -in the familiar words, ‘My heart was hot within me; -and, while I was thus musing, the fire kindled, and at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_vii'>vii</span>the last I spake with my tongue.’ I had been much -stirred by a month spent among the Swiss mountains, -not only by what might have been their effect upon -me had I been alone, but also by what I had seen of -their effect upon others—to one of whom, a child who -was with me throughout the excursion (if mention of -so small a matter, as it may appear to some, can be -allowed), a little space has been given in the following -pages; and this it was that first made me wish to fix -in words the scenes I had passed through, the impressions -I had received from them, and the thoughts -that had grown out of them. But how unlike was -the landscape, and those who peopled it, to what had -come before the eye, and the mind’s eye, in Egypt! -Instead of the long life-giving river and the broad -life-repelling desert, both so replete with history, the -import of which is not yet dead, as well as with -natural phenomena of an unwonted character to eyes -familiarised with the aspects of our little sea-girt -sanctuary, as we fondly deem it, Switzerland offered -for contemplation, in the order of nature, the ice and -snow world of its cloud-piercing mountains; and, in -the order of what is of existing human concern, -unflagging industry, patient frugality, intelligently-adapted -education, a natural form of land-tenure, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_viii'>viii</span>popular government; and invited the spectator of its -scenery, as well as of the social and intellectual -fermentation of portions of its people, in strong -contrast to the immobility of other portions, to -meditate on some of the new elements, which modern -knowledge, and modern conditions of society, may -have contributed for the enlargement and rectification -of some of our religious ideas, inclusive, and, perhaps, -above all, of our idea of God; for these ideas have at -every epoch of man’s history been, more or less, -modified by contemporary knowledge, and the contemporary -conditions of society. These were the -materials for thought Switzerland supplied. Upon -all of those, however, which belong to the order of -human concern, Egypt, too, in its sense and fashion, -had had something to tell us.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c006'>As to the form and colouring of the work, I could -have wished that there had been, throughout, submitted -to the reader’s attention nothing but the -scenes described, and the thoughts they gave rise to, -without any suggestion, had that been possible, of -the writer’s personality. In a work of this kind a -vain wish: for in all books, those only excepted that -are simply scientific, and in the highest degree in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span>those that deal with matter, in which human interests -preponderate, the personality of the writer must be -seen in everything he writes. All that he describes -is described as he saw and observed it. Others -would have observed things differently. So, too, -with what he thought about them; it must be different -from what others would have thought. A -book of this kind must, therefore, be, to a great -extent, a fragment of autobiography, in which, for the -time, the inner is seen in its immediate relation to the -external life of the author. It gives what he felt and -thought; his leanings, and likings, and wishes; his -readings of the past and of the present; and his -mental moorings. This—and especially is it so on a -subject with which everyone is familiar, though it may -be one that can never be worn out—is all he properly -has to say. And his having something of this kind -to say, is his only justification for saying anything at -all. The expectation, too, of finding that he has -treated matters a little in this way is, in no small -degree, what induces people to give a hearing to -what he says. They take up his book just because -they have reason for supposing that he has regarded -things from his own point of view, and so seen them -from a side, and in a light, and in relations to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_x'>x</span>connected subjects, somewhat different from those in -which other people, themselves included, may have -seen them; and that he has, therefore, taken into his -considerations and estimates some particulars they -must have omitted in theirs. Whether his ideas are -to the purpose, whether they will hold water, whether -they will work, the reader will decide for himself. -But in whatever way these questions may be answered, -one particular, at all events, is certain, a book of this -kind must be worthless, if it is not in some sort autobiographical; -while, if it is, it may, possibly, be worth -looking over. On no occasion, therefore, have I hesitated -to set down just what I thought and felt, being -quite sure that this is what every reasonable reader -wishes every writer to do.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c006'>One more preliminary note. I was accompanied -by my wife and stepson, the little boy just now mentioned, -who was between nine and ten years of age. -Switzerland was not new ground to any one of -the three. Occasionally a carriage was used. When -that was not done I always walked. My wife was on -foot for about half the distance travelled over. The -little boy, when a carriage was not used, almost -always rode. I give these particulars in order that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xi'>xi</span>any family party, that might be disposed to extract -from the following pages a route for a single excursion, -might understand what they could do, and in what -time and way it could be done. The August and -September of the excursion were those of last year, -1872.</p> - -<div class='c016'>F. B. Z.</div> - -<p class='c006'><span class='sc'>Wherstead Vicarage</span>:</p> -<p class='c017'><i>January 16, 1873</i>.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_xiii'>xiii</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER I.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'> </td> - <td class='c019'><span class='xsmall'>PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>To Zermatt</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER II.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>The Riffel—The Gorner Grat—Sunday—Zermatt—Schwartz See—Mountaineering</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_11'>11</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER III.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>Walk back to St. Niklaus—Agriculture—Life—Religion in the Valley</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_21'>21</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER IV.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><span class='fss'>I.</span> <i>Peasant-proprietorship in the Valley</i>—<span class='fss'>II.</span> <i>Landlordism</i>—<span class='fss'>III.</span> <i>The Era of Capital</i>—<span class='fss'>IV.</span> <i>Obstructions to the free Interaction of Capital and Land—Their Effects and probable Removal</i>—<span class='fss'>V.</span> <i>Co-operative Farming not a Step forward</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_28'>28</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_xiv'>xiv</span>CHAPTER V.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>Walk to Saas im Grund—Fee, and its Glacier—The Mattmark See</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_113'>113</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER VI.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>Walk over Monte Moro to Macugnaga, Ponte Grande, and Domo d’Ossola</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_122'>122</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER VII.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>Walk over the Simplon</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_131'>131</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER VIII.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>Brieg—Upper Rhone Valley by</i> Char <i>to the Rhone Glacier—Hôtel du Glacier du Rhône</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_140'>140</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER IX.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>Walk over the Grimsel, by the Aar Valley, Helle Platte, and the Falls of Handeck, to Meiringen</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_149'>149</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER X.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'>Char <i>to Interlaken—Walk over the Wengern Alp to Grindelwald</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_155'>155</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER XI.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>Interlaken</i>—Char <i>up the Valley of the Kander—Walk over the Gemmi, sleeping at Schwarenbach</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_163'>163</a></td> - </tr> -</table> -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_xv'>xv</span></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER XII.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>Leukabad—Aigle</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_172'>172</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER XIII.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>The Drama of the Mountains</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_184'>184</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER XIV.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>On Swiss Hotels</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_194'>194</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER XV.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>Berne—Swiss Fountains—Zurich—Museum of Relics from ancient Lake-villages—Baur</i> en ville—<i>Récolte des Voyageurs—C’est un pauvre Pays</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_205'>205</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER XVI.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>A Remark on Swiss Education</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_218'>218</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER XVII.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>Elsass—Lothringen—Metz—Gravelotte—Mother of the Curé of Ste. Marie aux Chênes—Waterloo</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_230'>230</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>CHAPTER XVIII.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>How the Observation and Knowledge of Nature, and the Conditions of Society, affect Religion and Theology—An instructive Parallelism—Conclusion</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_250'>250</a></td> - </tr> -</table> -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c018'><i>INDEX</i></td> - <td class='c019'><a href='#Page_265'>265</a></td> - </tr> -</table> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span><span class='c008'>A MONTH IN SWITZERLAND</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER I.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>TO ZERMATT</span></h2> -</div> -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What blessings Thy free bounty gives</div> - <div class='line in4'>Let me not cast away;</div> - <div class='line'>For God is paid when man receives:</div> - <div class='line in4'>T’ enjoy is to obey.—<span class='sc'>Pope.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c002'><i>August 26.</i>—We left London at 8.45 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span>, and -reached Paris the next morning at 7 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span> We found -the Capua of the modern world looking much as it used -to look in the days that preceded the siege and the -Commune. The shops were decked, and the streets -were peopled, much in the old style. If, as we are -told, frivolity, somewhat tinctured with, or, at all -events, tolerant of, vice, together with want of solidity -and dignity of character, are as conspicuous as of -yore in the Parisian, we may reply that if they were -there before, they must be there still; for a people, -can no more change on a sudden the complexion of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>their thoughts and feelings than they can the complexion -of their faces. These matters are in the -grain, and are traditional and hereditary. The -severity of taxation France will have to submit to -may, when it shall have made itself felt, have some -sobering effect, whereas the bribery and corruption of -the Imperial <i>régime</i> only acted in the contrary direction. -But time is needed for enabling this to become -a cause of change; and much may arise, at any -moment, in the volcanic soil of France, to disturb -its action. All that we can observe at present is, -that the people seem still quite unconscious of the -causes of their great catastrophe. Their talk, when -it refers to late events, is of treason and of revenge; -as if they had been betrayed by anything but their -own ignorance, arrogance, and corruption; and as if -revenge, to be secured, had only to be desired. In -such talk, if it indicates what is really thought and -felt, there is scant ground for hope.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>August 27.</i>—We left Paris this evening at eight -o’clock, taking the route of Dijon and Pontarlier. -The sun was up when we reached Switzerland at -Verrieres. There was no gradation in the scenery: -as soon as we were on Swiss ground it became Swiss -in character—mountainous and rocky, with irrigated -meadows of matchless green in the valley. We were -sure that the good people in the <i>châlets</i> below could -not be otherwise than satisfied with the price they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>were getting for their cheese; for its quantity, and perhaps -quality, we were equally sure that the greenness -of their meadows was a sufficient guarantee. By the -wayside we saw women with baskets full of wormwood, -for making absinthe which will be drunk in Paris.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We breakfasted at Lausanne, and dined and slept -at Vevey. We had thus got to Switzerland, practically, -in no time at all, and without any fatigue, for we -had been on the way only at night, and both nights -we had managed to get sleep enough.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We had come, as it were, on the magical bit of -carpet of Eastern imagination; which must have -been meant for a foreshadowing of that great -magician, the locomotive, suggested by a yearning -for the annihilation of long journeys, without roads, -and with no conveyance better than a camel: though -a friend of mine, whose fancy ranges freely and widely -through things in heaven above, and on earth below, -tells me he believes that that bit of carpet was a dim -reminiscence of a very advanced state of things in an -old by-gone world, out of some fragments of the -wreck of which the existing order of things has slowly -grown.</p> - -<p class='c006'>My last hours in London had been spent in dining -at the club, with a friend, who is one of our greatest -authorities on sanitary, educational, and social questions; -and our talk had been on such subjects. It is -well to pass as directly as possible, and without tarrying -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>by the way, from London and Paris, where man, -his works, and interests are everything, to Switzerland, -where nature is so impressive. The completeness of -the contrast heightens the interest felt in each.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Those who give themselves the trouble, and do you -the honour, of looking through what you have written, -become, in some degree, entitled to know all about -the matter. They are in a sort partners in the concern. -I will therefore at once communicate to all the -members of the firm that I did not go on this little -expedition because I felt any of that desire for change -by which, in these days, all the world appears to -be driven in Jehu-fashion. I have never felt any -necessity for this modern nostrum. I do not find -that either body or mind wears out because I remain -in one place more than twelve months together. I -am a great admirer of White of Selborne; and I hope -our present Lord Chancellor’s new title will lead -many people to ask what Selborne is famous for; -which perhaps may be the means of bringing more -of us to become acquainted with a book which gives -so charming a picture of a most charming mind that -it may be read with most soothing delight a score of -times in one’s life (one never tires of a good picture); -and which teaches for these days the very useful -lesson of how much there is to observe, and interest, -and to educate a mind, and to give employment to it, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>for a whole life, within the boundaries of one’s own -parish, provided only it be a rural one.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is true that I have been in every county of England, -and in most counties of Scotland, Ireland, and -Wales; and some general acquaintance with his own -country—which is undoubtedly the most interesting -country in the world—ought to an Englishman, if -only for the purpose of subsequent comparison, to be -the first acquisition of travel; and also that I have -made some long journeys beyond the four seas, -having set foot on each of the four continents; but I -can hardly tell how on any one occasion it happened -that I went. It certainly never was from any wish -for change. It was only from taking things as they -came. And so it was with this little excursion. It -was not in the least my idea, nor was it at all of my -planning. My wife wished to spend the winter in a -more genial climate than that of East Anglia; and it -was thought desirable that her little boy should go to a -Swiss school, for, at all events, a part of the year, -until he should be old enough for an English public -school. And so, having been invited to go, I went. -My part of the business, with the single exception of -a little episode we shall come to in its place, was to -be ready to start and to stop when required, and to -eat what was set before me; in short, to take the -goods a present providence purveyed. I recollect a -weather-beaten blue-jacket once telling me—on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>roof of the York mail, so all that may be changed -now—that the charm of a sailor’s life was that he had -only to do what he was told, and nothing at all to -think about. Of this perhaps obsolete nautical kind -of happiness, we housekeeping, business-bound landsmen -cannot have much; but a month of such travel -comes very near it. And if a man really does want -change for the body, together with rest for the mind, -here he has them both in perfection. What a delightful -oasis would many find such a month in their ordinary -lives of inadequately discharged, and too inadequately -appreciated, responsibility! This little confidence -will, perhaps, while we are starting, convey to the -reader a sense of the unreserved and friendly terms -on which, I hope, we shall travel together. I regret -that, from the nature of the case, in these confidences -all the reciprocity must be on one side.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>August 29.</i>—Left Vevey by an early train for -Sierre. The line passes by Montreux, Villeneuve -(where it leaves the eastern extremity of the lake of -Geneva), Aigle, Bex, St. Maurice, Martigny, and -Sion. At Sierre we took the diligence for Visp. -This part of the valley of the Rhone is a long delta, -which in the lapse of ages has been formed by the -<i>débris</i> brought down by the Rhone, and the lateral -torrents from the mountains. Much of it is swampy, -and full of reeds. Some of this, one cannot but suppose, -might be made good serviceable land by cutting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>channels for the water, and raising the surface of the -land with the materials thus gained. Indian corn -grows here very luxuriantly. It is a large variety; -some of the stems had three cobs. This, the potatoes, -and the tobacco—of which, or, at all events, of the -smoke of which, we saw much—in thought connected -the scene before us with the New World.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Between Sierre and Visp there are a great many -large mounds in the valley. The side of these mounds -which looks up the valley is always rounded. The -face which looks down the valley, is sometimes rocky -and precipitous. This difference must be the effect of -former glacier action, at a time when the whole valley, -down to Geneva, was the bed of a glacier, which planed -off and rounded only that side of the mound against -which it moved and worked. Above Visp the land -is very poor, consisting chiefly of cretaceous detrital -matter. This is covered with a pine forest, a great -part of which is composed of Scotch fir, the old ones -being frequently decorated with tufts of mistletoe.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Geologists are now pretty well agreed that the -lake of Geneva itself was excavated by this old glacier. -Its power, at all events, was adequate to the -task. It was 100 miles long, and near 4,000 feet in -thickness at the head of the lake, as can now be seen -by the striated markings it left on the overhanging -mountains. It acted both as a rasp—its under side -being set with teeth, formed of the rocks it had picked -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>up on its way, or which had fallen into it through its -crevasses; and also as a scoop, pushing before it all -that it could thrust out of its way. And what could -not such a tool rasp away and scoop out, at a point -where its rasping and scooping were brought into play, -as it slid along, thicker than Snowdon is high above -the sea, and impelled by the pressure of the 100 -miles of descending glacier behind, that then filled -the whole broad valley up to and beyond Oberwald? -It was wasting away as it approached the site of the -modern city, where it must have quite come to an -end; for the lake here shoals to nothing; there could, -therefore, have, then, been no more rasping and -scooping. At the head of the lake, where the glacier-tool -was tilted into the position for rasping and -scooping vigorously, the water, notwithstanding subsequent -detrital depositions, is 900 feet deep.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At Visp my wife and the little boy got on horseback. -Another horse was engaged for the baggage. I proceeded -on foot. Our destination was Zermatt. We -got underway at 2 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span>, and reached St. Niklaus at -5.45; about twelve miles of easy walking. The situation -of this place is good, for the valley is here narrow, -and the mountains, particularly on the western side, -rise abruptly. The inn also is good. I note this -from a sense of justice, deepened by a sense of -gratitude; because here an effort, rare in Swiss -hotels, has been made to exclude stenches from the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>house; the plan adopted being that of a kind of external -Amy Robsart gallery. From Visp to St. Niklaus -the road is passable only for horses.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>August 30.</i>—My wife and the little boy took a <i>char</i> -for Zermatt, which also carried the baggage. I was -on foot. The distance is about fourteen or fifteen -miles, slightly up hill all the way. The road is good -and smooth. I must now begin to mention the conspicuous -objects seen by the way. At Randa, in the -Bies Glacier, which is that of the Weisshorn, we saw -our first ice. This glacier descends so precipitously -from the mountains, on the right of the road, that you -can hardly understand how its enormous weight is -supported. There are, however, on record some instances -of its having fallen; and it is also on record -that on one of these occasions the blast of wind caused -by the fall of such a mass, was so great as to launch -the timbers of houses it overthrew to the distance of -a mile; but I would not back the truth of the record.</p> - -<p class='c006'>After an early dinner at Zermatt, my wife and myself -walked to the foot of the Gorner Glacier, to see the -exit from it of the Visp. It issues from a most regularly -arched aperture. This is the glacier that descends -from the northern and western sides of Monte -Rosa, the sides of the Breithorn, and one side of the -mighty Matterhorn.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We found the hotels at Zermatt overcrowded. -This is a great rendezvous for those who do peaks -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>and passes. In the evening, particularly if it is cold -enough for a fire, the social cigar brings many of -them together in the smoking-room. Among these, -at the time we were there, was the hero of the season. -He is a strong, wiry man, full of quiet determination. -He was then doing, so ran the talk of the hotel, a -mountain a day, and each in a shorter time than it -had ever been done in before. To-morrow he is to -climb the Matterhorn in continuous ascent from -this place, in which fashion I understand no one has -yet attempted it.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER II.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>THE RIFFEL—THE GORNER GRAT—SUNDAY—ZERMATT—SCHWARTZ SEE—MOUNTAINEERING</span></h2> -</div> -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Not vainly did the early Persian make</div> - <div class='line'>His altar the high places, and the peak</div> - <div class='line'>Of earth-o’ergazing mountains; and thus take</div> - <div class='line'>A fit and unwalled temple, there to seek</div> - <div class='line'>The Spirit, in whose honour shrines are weak,</div> - <div class='line'>Uprear’d of human hands.—<span class='sc'>Byron.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c002'><i>August 31.</i>—After breakfast my wife and I walked -up to the Riffel Hotel. It is rather more than 3,000 -feet above Zermatt. The little man rode. We were -two hours and a half in doing it. It would be a stiff -bit for beginners. The upper part of the forest, on -the mountain-side, consists of Pinus Cembra. This is -far from being either a lofty or a spreading tree. The -lower branches extend but little beyond the upper -ones. There is a good deal of reddish-brown in the -bark. In this respect, as well as in the colour of its -foliage, and in its form, it contrasts well with the larch -and the spruce, though of course not so well with the -Scotch fir. I heard that its timber is very lasting. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>The views, from the forest, of the Gorner glacier, and, -when you are beyond the forest, of some of the -neighbouring mountains, and of the valley of Zermatt, -are good.</p> - -<p class='c006'>After luncheon at the Riffel Hotel, we walked to -the summit of the Gorner Grat. Here you have what -is said to be the finest Alpine view in Europe. You -are standing on a central eminence of rock in, as far -as you can see, a surrounding world of ice and snow. -On the left is the Cima di Jazi, which you are told -commands a good view into Italy. Just before you, -as you look across the glacier, which lies in a deep -broad ravine at your feet, rise the jagged summits of -Monte Rosa with, at this season, much of the black -rock showing through their caps and robes of snow. -Next the Lyskamm, somewhat in the background; -then Castor and Pollux, immaculate snow without -protruding rock; next the Breithorn, then the naked -gneiss of the Matterhorn, a prince among peaks, -too precipitous for snow to rest on in the late summer, -looking like a Titanic Lycian tomb, such as you may -see in the plates of ‘Fellowes’s Asia Minor,’ placed on -the top of a Titanic rectangular shaft of rock, five -thousand feet high. Beyond, and completing the circle -of the panorama, come the Dent Blanche, the Gabelhorn, -the Rothhorn, the Weisshorn, over the valley -of Zermatt, the Ober Rothhorn, and the Allaleinhorn, -which brings your eye round again to the Cima di -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>Jazi. What a scene! what grandeur for the eye! -what forces and masses beneath for the thought! -Here is the complement to Johnson’s Charing Cross -and the East Anglican turnip-field. Both pleasant -sights in their respective classes, but not enough of all -that this world has to show.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The little boy in the morning, during our ascent of -the Riffel, had not been able, when he dismounted, to -take a dozen steps without resting, as it appeared -both from having outgrown his strength, and from -some difficulty in breathing; but in the afternoon -he skipped up to the top of the Gorner Grat, an hour -and a half, and ran down again, just as if he had been -bred on the mountains. It was difficult to keep him -on the path, and from the edges of the precipices. -He was at the top some minutes before any of us—we -were a large party, for several parties had drawn -together in the ascent. I heard a lady exclaim, -‘There is the blue boy again’ (that was the colour of -his blouse). ‘He has beaten us all.’ Never was -there such a difference before between a morning -and an afternoon.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As we descended the Gorner Grat a scud of snow -passed by. The antithesis, common in the mountains, -of gloom to sunshine, and of cold to warmth, was as -complete as it was sudden. In a few minutes it was -bright and warm again.</p> - -<p class='c006'>While we were at the hotel two American lads -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>came up with their guides, and, after a rest of ten -minutes, started for some pass. They had nothing -on but coarse grey woollen pants, shirts of the same -without collars, and boots very heavily nailed, or -rather spiked. They were not more than seventeen -years old, if so much.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Riffelberg abounds in beautiful flowers; Gentians, -Sedums, and Saxifrages reach almost to the top -of the Gorner Grat. As might be expected at such a -height, none rise, at their best, more than an inch -or two above the ground. Gorgeous lilies and lovely -roses would be as much out of keeping, as impossible, -here. Such objects belong to the sensuous valley.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>September 1.</i>—There was a sharp frost this morning, -but the sun was bright and warm all day. So warm -was it at ten o’clock, that people were glad to sit -about on the grass, some preferring the shade of the -rocks. It was Sunday, and I was requested to -conduct divine service. The reading saloon was prepared -for the purpose. I shortened the service by -omitting the first lesson, the <i>Te Deum</i>, and the Litany. -Before commencing, I announced to the congregation -that I should do this, giving as my reason that the -room did not belong exclusively to us, and therefore -that it was better to act upon our knowledge of this, -than to be reminded of it afterwards by those who -had withdrawn that we might hold our service. I -had been called upon to conduct the service only a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>few minutes before it commenced, and as I had no -memoranda for sermons with me, I took for my text -the scene around us, and spoke of the effects such -scenes, and the contemplation of nature generally, -appear to have on men’s minds. The knowledge -men now have of the solar system, and of the sidereal -universe, does not prevent the heavens from discoursing -to us as eloquently as they did to the Psalmist. -Intelligible law is grander and more satisfactory for -thought to rest upon than vague impressions of -glorious power. So with the great and deep sea -also, now that we know something about the place it -occupies in the economy of this terrestrial system. It -is the same with the everlasting mountains, since we -have come to know something about the way in which -they were formed and elevated, and how the valleys -were cut out. Man is the child of Nature, in whose -bosom he is brought up. It is true that there are -some who cannot see that it is his duty and his happiness -to acquaint himself with nature; but no one -who had made any progress in the study of nature, -ever thought lightly of what he had attained to. And -this is true of the knowledge, not only of the grander -objects of nature, such as the starry firmament and -the great and deep sea, but equally of the most inconspicuous, -and, as they appear to our senses, the -most insignificant objects in nature. It is not more -true of the eternal mountains than of the particles of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>moss that hide themselves in the crevices of the rock, -or the lichen that stains its face, &c., &c.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the afternoon we walked back to Zermatt.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Though every effort was being made at Zermatt to -prevent people from going up to the Riffel without -tickets assuring them of accommodation at the Riffel -Hotel, still, so many, in their impatience, set this regulation -at defiance, and went up on the chance that they -would be allowed six feet by three somewhere, that -night after night, as we were told, the authorities were -obliged—perhaps it was a necessity which was accepted -not unwillingly—to convert the bureau, the -<i>salle-à-manger</i>, and the reading-room, into dormitories. -At all events, we were turned out of the reading-room -before ten o’clock to make way for a pile of mattresses -we found at the door, ready to be substituted for the -chairs and tables we had been using. To be berthed -in this way is far from pleasant; but it is not worse -than spending the night in the crowded cabin of a -small steamer, or in the hermetically-closed compartment -of a railway carriage, with five other promiscuous -bodies.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>September 2.</i>—Started this morning for the Schwartz -See and Hornli. We were all mounted—it was the -only time I was during the excursion. In ascending -the mountain, when we were above the pine-wood, -and so in a place where there was no protection, and -where the zig-zags were short and precipitous, both -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>the hind legs of the little boy’s horse slipped off the -path. The animal was so old, and worn-out, and -dead-beaten with its daily drudgery, that it had -appeared to us not to care, hardly to know, whether -it was dead or alive. But now it made an effort to -recover itself, with the power or disposition for making -which we should not, beforehand, have credited it. -Perhaps the centre of gravity in the poor brute was -never actually outside the path. I was close behind, -and saw the slip and scramble. It was an affair of a few -seconds, but it made one feel badly for more minutes.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At the Schwartz See, we sent the horses to the -foot of the Zmutt glacier, and began the ascent of -the Hornli. In about a quarter of an hour we made -the discovery that the blue boy was not man enough -for the Hornli. I do not know, however, that we -should have seen much more if we had gone to the -top. We were close to the mighty Matterhorn, of -which the Hornli is a buttress, and at our feet was the -great Gorner glacier. These were the two great -objects, and neither of them would have been seen so -well had we been higher up. In returning we went -by the way of the Zmutt glacier, a wild scene of -Alpine desolation. There is much variety, and much -that interests in this excursion; the cultivated valley, -the junction of the Findelen and the Zmutt with the -Visp, the wooded and then the naked mountain, the -two great glaciers, the sedgy, flowery turf above -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>the wood, the little black tarn, the bare rock of the -Hornli, and, over all, the shaft of the Matterhorn. -On the ridge above the Schwartz See we found a -handsome blue pansy. Somewhere else I saw a yellow -one of almost equal size.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Our guide, Victor Furrer, speaks English well. -He wished to come to England for the seven winter -months, thinking that he could take the place of -under-gardener or stableman in a gentleman’s house, -or that of porter in a London hotel. Swiss education -disposes the people to look for openings for advancing -themselves in life beyond the narrow limits of -their own country, and qualifies them for entering -them.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The number of peak-climbers and pass-men assembled -at Zermatt had increased during our short -absence. Among the latter was an Irish judge, who -did the St. Theodule. The law was in great force -here, as was also the Church. The gentleman who -had attempted the Matterhorn on Saturday, had been -driven off by the weather. Though fine down here, -it had been windy, wet, and frosty up there; and to -such a degree that the face of this Alpine pier, for it -is more of that than of a mountain, had become -glazed with a film of ice. To-day he again attempted -it from this place; and, the weather having been all -that could be desired, he had gone, and climbed, and -conquered. He found the air so calm on the summit -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>that he had no occasion to protect the match with -which he lighted his cigar; and, if he had had a -candle, he would have left it lighted for the people at -the Riffel to look at through their telescopes.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Notwithstanding the argument which may be -founded on the graves (one a cenotaph) of the four -Englishmen in the God’s acre of the Catholic church of -Zermatt, one cannot but sympathise with the triumph, -and applaud the pluck and endurance of our mountaineering -countrymen. It must be satisfactory, very -satisfactory indeed, for a man to find that he has such -undeniable evidence that he is sound in wind and limb, -and, too, with a heart and head to match; and that he -can go anywhere and do anything, for which these by -no means insignificant qualifications are indispensable. -Mountaineering, in its motives, to a great extent resembles -hunting, and, where there is a difference, the -difference is, I think, to its advantage. It is more -varied, more continuously exciting, more appreciated -by those who do not participate in it, and, which is a -great point, more entirely personal, for your horse -does not share the credit with you. Shooting and -fishing can bear no comparison with it. The pluck, -endurance, and manliness it requires are not needed -by them. It is also a great merit that it is within -the reach of those who have not been born to hunting, -fishing, and shooting, and will never have the means -of paying for them. All these pursuits have each -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>its own literature; and, as the general public appears -to take most interest in that of the mountaineers, there -is in this, as far as it goes, reason for supposing that -the pursuit itself is of all of them the most rational -and stirring.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Alpinism is also a natural and healthy protest in -some, whose minds and bodies are young and vigorous, -against the dull drawing-room routine of modern -luxury; and in others against the equally dull desk-drudgery -of semi-intellectual work, to which so many -are tied down in this era of great cities. It is for a -time a thorough escape from it. It is the best form -of athleticism, which has its roots in the same causes; -and it is, besides, a great deal which athleticism is -not.</p> - -<p class='c006'>To a bystander there is something amusing in -the quiet earnestness with which a peak-climber discusses -the possibilities of an ascent he is contemplating. -I was with two this afternoon who were -about to attempt a mountain by a side on which it -had not yet been scaled. The difficulty was what -had hitherto been regarded as pretty much of a sheer -precipice of some hundreds of feet. One of the two, -however, had examined it carefully with his glass, and -had come to think that there was roughness enough on -its face for their purpose. The guides who were present -were of the opposite opinion. That it had never been -ascended on that side, but might perhaps prove not -unascendable, was the attraction.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER III.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>WALK BACK TO ST. NIKLAUS—AGRICULTURE—LIFE—RELIGION IN THE VALLEY</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whate’er men do, or wish, or fear; their griefs</div> - <div class='line'>Distractions, joys.—<span class='sc'>Juvenal.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c002'><i>September 3.</i>—Left Zermatt at 2 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span> on foot. -Walked briskly, but did not get to St. Niklaus till -near 6 o’clock. All the way down hill. In coming -up was only a quarter of an hour longer; this I can’t -understand. A very warm day. Those who went in -chars, as did my wife and the blue boy, appeared to -suffer more from the heat than I did who was walking.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In my four hours’ walk, having been so lately over -the same ground, I paid attention to the methods -and results of cultivation, and endeavoured to make -out something of the life of the inhabitants of the -valley. As to the former, it appeared that all the -cultivated land had been reclaimed by a slow and -laborious process. The original condition of mountain -valley land is to be more or less covered with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>rocks and stones, with some soil beneath and between. -Sometimes the whole surface is completely -covered with rocky <i>débris</i>, which has been brought -down, like avalanches, on the occurrence of unusually -copious torrent floods, which were, in fact, avalanches -of water and of mountain shingle commingled. The -first step in the work of reclamation is to get rid of -the stones. This is either done by removing them -to a distance, or piling them up in heaps, or burying -them on the spot. One of these methods will be best -in one place, and another in another. All the soil -that can be procured—sometimes there is enough of -it on the surface, sometimes it has to be mined for in -a stratum beneath the upper stratum of fragments of -rock—is then levelled. Of this land, thus laboriously -made, all that can be irrigated by lateral canals -brought from the Visp, or diverted from the mountain -torrents, is laid down to pasture. Canals of this kind -may often be seen some miles in length. These irrigated -pastures are always cut twice, or, where the -land is deep and good, three times a-year. The turf -is not always composed mainly of different kinds of -grass. Sometimes it contains more dandelion than -grass, a great abundance of autumn crocus, of a kind of -geranium with a purple flower as large as a florin, and -of other herbaceous plants. Where there is much dandelion -the hay, while making, has a sickly smell, but -when fully made its scent is generally good. The reclaimed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>land, which cannot be irrigated, is used for -rye, wheat, barley, and potatoes. A well-to-do -family has two or three patches, about a third of an -acre each, of this grain land. They will have also two -or three cows. The mountain forest, and the mountain -pastures are held in common for the equal use -and benefit of all the inhabitants of the village.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As to the people themselves, the most prominent -facts are that they all work hard, and that their hard -work does not give them more than a bare sufficiency for -the most necessary wants. I suppose that nowhere -else in the civilised world is there so little buying and -selling, and so little interchange of commodities, as in -a Swiss Alpine valley. The rule is for every family -to be self-contained, as far as this is possible, in all -things, and to produce for itself everything it can of -what it will require in the twelve months. Their -cows supply them with milk and cheese; the surplus -of the latter being the medium through which they -procure from the outside world what they cannot -produce for themselves: but that does not come to -much. It is interesting to see their sheaves of corn -stored away in the galleries beneath the projecting -eaves of their houses, and their haricots strung up in -the sun to dry. This makes you think how carefully -these provisions will be used in the winter and spring. -And you see the flax and the hemp, of which they -grow a great deal, spread out on the grass, to prepare -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>it for scutching; from which, and from the wool of the -small flocks of the neighbourhood, they make at home -much of the materials for their clothes. From their -apples, of which they grow great quantities, they -make a kind of brandy. Their lives are a never-failing -discipline, notwithstanding the brandy, of industry, -patience, and forethought. In imagination -you enter the <i>châlet</i>, and sympathise with the cares, -the troubles, the frugality, the modest enjoyments of -its inmates. The result of all does not go much beyond -daily bread. You hope that the harvest has been -good, and that the cows are doing well. The boys -you have seen are sturdy little fellows. You hope -that the girls will not be goitred, and that the sturdy -little fellows will in time make them good husbands. -They, you are sure, will make industrious, frugal, -uncomplaining wives.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We heard at Zermatt, and our guide told us that -what we had heard was true, that the inhabitants of -the valley pass some of their time in winter in playing -at cards; the stake they play for being each other’s -prayers. Those who lose are bound by the rules of -the game to go to the village church the following -morning, and there pray for the souls of those who -win. The priest also is supposed to have an advantage -in this practice, as it gives him a larger congregation.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Religion—the reader will decide for himself whether -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>or no what has just been mentioned promotes it—holds -a large place in the life of these Alpine -valleys. The priest is the great man of the village, -and has great power. The influx of travellers has a -tendency to lessen this power, for it enriches innkeepers -and guides, and so renders them independent. -Formerly the village church was the only conspicuous -building; the only one that rose above the low level -of the <i>châlets</i>. This symbolised the relation of its -minister to the inhabitants of the <i>châlets</i>. Now the -church is dwarfed in comparison with the contiguous -hotel. Changes in the world outside have caused a -new power to spring up, and take its place in the -scene. Be this, however, as it may, one cannot but -see that the services and <i>fêtes</i> of the Church, supply -the hard monotonous lives of the people with -some ideas and interest. Even the authority the -Church claims, while it has a tendency to overpower, -has also a tendency to stir their minds a little. The -prominence of the material fabric of the church in -the village led me to reflect on what would be the -result in the minds of the people if it were otherwise. -In that case they would probably lose the idea of -union with other times, and with the great outside -world, and the little elevation of thought and feeling -beyond the round of their low daily cares, which that -idea brings with it. The Church may to them be an -intellectual tyranny, and much that it teaches may -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>be debasing and false, still it appears to have some -counterbalancing advantages. Our system may have -more of truth and of manliness, but it would, at present, -be unintelligible to them, or if intelligible, repulsive. -Their system, however, is one which, under -the circumstances of the times, cannot last. It is -even now on the road to the limbo of things that -have had their day. In Catholic countries, as far as -the educated classes and the inhabitants of all the -large cities are concerned, its power is gone, or still -more than that, it is actively disliked. This settles -the question. The time will arrive when, as knowledge -and light spread, the village people will come -round to the way of thinking of the educated classes -and of the inhabitants of the cities. In this matter -history is repeating itself. At its first establishment -Christianity spread from the cities to the pagans, that -is to the inhabitants of the villages. And so will it -be again, at the rehabilitation of religion in those -countries that are now forsaking Romanism. A revised -and enlarged organisation of knowledge must -be first accepted by those who can think and judge. -It is then passed on to those who cannot.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Such valleys as this of Zermatt have hitherto -offered no opportunities to any portion of their inhabitants -to emerge from a low condition of life. Little -that could elevate or embellish life was within their -reach. The only property has been land, and that, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>from the working of inevitable natural causes, has -been divided into very small holdings. This has -kept every family poor. Railways, which connect -them with the world, the influx of travellers, in many -places a better harvest than that of their fields, the -advance of the rest of the world around them, and -the capacity there is in their streams for moving -machinery, may be now opening new careers to many. -It is unreasonable to regret the advent of such a -change, for it has more than a material side; it -must bring with it, morally and intellectually, a higher -and richer life. It implies expansion of mind, and -moral growth—new fields of thought, and of duty.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER IV.</h2> -</div> -<p class='c022'>I. PEASANT-PROPRIETORSHIP IN THE VALLEY. II. LANDLORDISM. -III. THE ERA OF CAPITAL. IV. OBSTRUCTIONS -TO THE FREE INTERACTION OF CAPITAL AND LAND—THEIR -EFFECTS, AND PROBABLE REMOVAL. V. CO-OPERATIVE -FARMING NOT A STEP FORWARDS</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div>But what said Jaques?</div> - <div>Did he not moralise the spectacle?—<span class='sc'>Shakespeare.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c023'>This chapter is to be a disquisition, after the manner -of the philosophers, at all events, in its length, on -peasant-proprietorship as now existing in the valley of -Zermatt, or rather of the Visp; and on alternative -systems. I do not invite anyone to read it, indeed, -I at once announce its contents and its length, for the -very purpose of inducing those who have no liking for -disquisitions in general, or for disquisitions on such -subjects, to skip it, and to proceed to the next -chapter, where they will find the continuation of the -narrative of our little excursion. My primary object -in writing it was to ascertain, through the test of -black and white, whether what I had been led to -think upon these matters possessed sufficient coherence. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>I now, with the diffidence one must feel who -ventures upon such ground, submit it to the judgment -of those who take some interest in questions of this -kind.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Bearing in mind that the subject is not a lively -one, I will endeavour so to put what I have to say as -that not much effort may be required to understand -my meaning. From all effort, however, I cannot -exempt the reader of the chapter, should it find one; -for he will have, as he goes along, to determine for -himself whether the facts alleged are the facts of the -case, whether any material ones have been overlooked, -and whether the inferences are drawn from the facts -legitimately. He will not be in a position to allow -what is presented to him to pass unquestioned; for -he will be, himself, the counsel on the other side, as -well as the jury.</p> -<hr class='c015' /> -<p class='c006'>I. The figures I am about to use do not pretend to -accuracy, or even to any close approximation to -accuracy. Some figures, but what figures is of no -great consequence, are necessary for the form of the -argument, and for rendering it intelligible. If they -possessed the most precise accuracy that would not -at all strengthen it. Those I employ, I retain merely -because they were the symbols with which, in my two -walks through the valley, I endeavoured to work out -the inquiry.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>Suppose, then, that the valley of the Visp contains -4,000 acres of irrigated meadow and of corn and -garden ground; and that each family is composed of -husband and wife, and of not quite four children. -The average here in England is, I believe, four-and-a-half -children to a marriage. Marriages, probably, -take place at a later period of life in the valley than -in this country, and, therefore, the average number of -children there will be smaller. Let, then, the grandfathers -and grandmothers who may be living, and the -unmarried people there may be, bring up the average -of each family to six souls.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We will now suppose that the husband will require -a pound and a half of bread a day, that will be about -nine bushels of wheat a-year; and that the wife and -children will require each a pound a day; that will be -about thirty bushels more, or thirty-nine bushels in all. -From what I saw of the land in the valley I suppose -that it will not produce more than twenty-six bushels -an acre. Whether its produce be wheat, or rye, or -barley, will make no difference to the argument. An -acre and a half will then be necessary for the amount -of bread-stuff that will be required for each family.</p> - -<p class='c006'>A family, we will take a well-to-do one, will also -require three cows. Deducting the time the cows are -on the common pasture on the mountains, each cow -will require, for the rest of the year, two tons of hay. -That may be the produce of one acre of their grassland, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>for some of it is cut three times a-year, but -most of it only twice, the second and third crops -being light.</p> - -<p class='c006'>They will not want for their own consumption the -whole of the produce of the three cows. A surplus, -however, of this produce is necessary, because it is -from that that they will have the means for purchasing -the shoes, the tools and implements, and whatever -else they absolutely need, but cannot produce themselves. -The cows will then require three acres.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But we will suppose that by the use of straw, and -by other economies in the keep of their cows, they -manage to reduce the quantity of hay that would -otherwise be consumed. This will set free a little of -their land for flax, hemp, haricots, cabbages, potatoes, -&c. The three last will go some way towards lessening -the quantity of bread-stuff they will require. We -may, therefore, set down the breadth of cultivated -land needed for the maintenance, according to their -way of living, of our family of six souls, at four -acres.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The 4,000 acres will thus maintain 1,000 families. -This will give our valley a population of 6,000 souls.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Here, perhaps, the rigid economist would stop. It -would be enough for him to have ascertained the -laws which regulate, under observed circumstances, -the production and the distribution of wealth. But -as neither the writer nor the readers of these pages -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>are rigid economists, we will, using these facts only -as a starting point, proceed to ulterior considerations. -The question, indeed, which most interests us is not -one of pure economy, but one which, though dependent -on economical conditions, is in itself moral and -intellectual; and, therefore, we go on to ask what -kind of life, what kind of men and women, does this -state of things produce?</p> - -<p class='c006'>In such a population, the elements of life are so -simple, so uniform, and so much on the surface, that -there will be no difficulty in getting at the answers to -our questions. There is not a single family that has -the leisure needed for mental cultivation, or for any -approximation to the embellishments of life. They each -have just the amount of land which will enable them, -with incessant labour, and much care and forethought, -to keep themselves above absolute want. Subdivision -might, possibly, in some cases be carried a little -further, but things would then only become worse. -Towards this there is always a tendency. But, for -reasons we shall come to presently, there is no tendency -at all in the other direction. Intellectual life, -therefore, is impossible in the valley. The conditions -requisite for it are completely absent.</p> - -<p class='c006'>With the moral life, however, it is very far from -being so. Of moral educators, one of the most -efficient is the possession of property; the kind of -education it gives being, of course, dependent on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>amount and kind of property. For instance: the -simplicity and gentility of a large fortune in three per -cent. consols educates its possessor. It does not teach -him forethought, industry, or self-denial. He may be -improvident, idle, self-indulgent, and still his means of -living may not be thereby diminished; nor will anything -he can do improve them. Nor, furthermore, will the -management of his property bring him into such relations -with his fellow men, that, at every step and -turn, he has to consider their wants and rights, and to -balance them against his own. Nor will anything -connected with his property teach him the instability -of human affairs, for his is just the only human -possession that is exempt from all risks and changes. -Now the non-teaching of these moral qualities is an -education, the outcome of which is likely to be a -refined selfishness. An equal fortune derived from -commerce, trade, or manufactures, teaches other -lessons, almost we may say lessons of the very -opposite kind. He, whose position depends on buying -and selling, and producing, and on the human agencies -he must make use of, on new discoveries, and on a -variety of natural occurrences, will estimate life and -his fellow men very differently from his neighbour, -who has nothing at all to do except receiving, and -spending his dividends. We are taking no account -of individual character, and of the thousand circumstances -and accidents, which may overrule, in any -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>particular case, the natural teaching of either of these -two kinds of property: we are only speaking generally; -and are taking them as illustrations, with which -we are all familiar, of a character-forming power every -kind of property possesses.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Looking, then, at the property possessed by these -Visp-side families in the same way, we can readily -understand the moral effect it will have upon them. -It will enforce what it teaches with irresistible power, -because it will be acting on every member of the -community in precisely the same way, throughout -every day of the lives of all of them, generation after -generation. Such teaching there is no possibility of -withstanding. And what it teaches in this undeniable -fashion,—undeniable because the virtues taught are -to them the very conditions of existence,—are very far -from being small moralities, for they are industry, -prudence, patience, frugality, honesty.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Without industry their little plots of land could -not support them; not the industry of the Irishman, in -the days before the potato-famine, who set his potatoes -in the spring, and took them up in the autumn, without -finding much to do for the rest of the year; but -an industry which must be exercised, sometimes -under very adverse circumstances, throughout the -whole twelve months. Every square yard of every -part of their land represents so much hard labour, for -nowhere has land been so hard to win. This fact is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>always before their eyes, and is in itself always a -lesson to them. And this hard-won land, reminding -them of the industry of those who were before them, -has still, always, to be protected against the ravages -of winter storms, and its irrigation kept in order. -And every hard-won square yard must be turned to -the best account. And all must labour in doing this. -Their cows, too, require as much attention as their -families. For them they must toil unremittingly in -their short summer: they must follow them up into -the mountains, and they must collect and store up -for them the provender they will need in the long -winter. And they must be industrious not only -in the field, but equally in the house. They cannot -afford to buy, and, therefore, everything, that can be, -must be done, and made, at home. They cannot -allow any portion of their time, or any capacity their -land has for producing anything useful, to run to -waste. There can be no fallows, of any kind, here.</p> - -<p class='c006'>With their long winters and scanty means, frugality, -prudence, forethought, are all as necessary as -industry. These are the indispensable conditions for -eking out the consumption of the modest store of -necessaries their life-long industry provides. If they -were as wasteful, as careless, as improvident as our -wages-supported poor, the ibex and chamois might -soon return to the valley.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is these necessity-imposed virtues which save -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>the valley on the one hand from depopulation, and -on the other from becoming overpeopled. Our labourers, -and artisans, and operatives, who depend on -wages, as soon as they have got wages enough to -support a wife, marry. The general, almost the universal, -rule with them is to marry young. The young -men and maidens on Visp-side, not being dependent -on wages, but on having a little bit of land, sufficient to -support life, do not marry till they have come into -possession of this little bit of land. Early marriages, -therefore, are not the rule with them. The discipline -of life, such as it is in the valley, has taught them—and -a very valuable lesson it is—to bide their time.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another virtue, which comes naturally to them, is -honesty. The honesty of the valley appears to an -Englishman unaccountable, Arcadian, fabulous. The -ripe apples and the ripe plums hang over the road -without a fence, for land is too precious for fences, -and within reach of the hand of the passer-by; but -no hand is reached out to touch them. Why is such -forbearance unimaginable here? The reason is that, -where only a few possess, the many not having the -instincts of property, come to regard the property of -the few as, to some extent, fair game for them. It is -their only chance—their only hunting-ground. This -is a way in which, without sanctioning a law which -will act prejudicially to themselves, they can secure -their share of the plums and apples nature provides. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>But, when all have property, each sees that the condition -on which his own plums and apples will be -respected is that he should himself respect the plums -and apples of other people. This idea is at work in -everybody’s mind. The children take to the idea, -and to the practice of it, as naturally as they did to -their mother’s milk. Honesty becomes an element -of the general morality. It is in the air, which all -must breathe.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Here then is a picture that is most charming. -How cruelly hard has Nature been! Look at the -cold, heartless mountains. Look upon their ice and -storm-engendering heights. See how the little valley -below lies at their mercy. Consider how, year by -year, they fight against its being extorted from their -dominion. Yet the feeble community in the valley, -by their stout hearts and virtuous lives, continue -to make it smile on the frowning mountains. How -pleasing to the eye and to the thought, is the -sight! And what enhances the charm it possesses is -the sense of its thorough naturalness. There is -nothing artificial about it; and so there is nothing -that can to the people themselves suggest discontent. -Their condition, in every particular, is the direct result -of the unobstructed working of natural causes, -such as they exist in man himself, and in environing -circumstances. Whatever may be its drawbacks, or -insufficiencies, they can in no way be traced to human -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>legislation. How unwilling are we to contrast with -this charming scene—but this is just what we have to -do—the destitution, the squalor, and the vice, not -of our great cities only, but even of our Visp-sides.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But, first, we will endeavour, by the light of the -ideas we outside people have on these subjects, to -complete our estimate of the worth of the state of -things we are contemplating; of this oasis, the sight -of which is so refreshing to those whose lot it is to be -familiar with, and to dwell in, the hard wilderness of -the world.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Its virtues are, doubtless, very pleasing to contemplate; -but they are not of quite the highest order. -The industry before us is very honourable. The -mind dwells on the sight of it with satisfaction. But, -as it only issues in the barest subsistence, the observation -of this somewhat clouds our satisfaction. There -are, too, higher forms of industry of which nothing can -be known here—the industry of those who live laborious -days, and scorn delights, from the desire to improve -man’s estate, to extort the secrets of nature for -his benefit, to clear away obstacles which are hindering -men from seeing the truth, to add to the -intellectual wealth of the race, to smoothe the path of -virtue, and make virtue itself appear more attractive. -Such industry is more honourable, and more blessed -both to him who labours and to those who participate -in the fruits of his labour. And such prudence, frugality, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>and forethought as are practised in the valley -are very honourable, and the mind dwells on the -sight of them, too, with satisfaction. But he who -belongs to the outside world will here again be disposed -to repeat the observation just made. It is true -that that man’s understanding and heart must be out -of harmony with the conditions of this life, and therefore -repulsive to us, who does not gather up the fragments -that nothing be lost, but when this is done only -for self, and those who are to us as ourselves, though -so done unavoidably through the necessity of the -case, it is somewhat chilling and hardening. And it -is not satisfactory that so much thought and care -should be expended only upon the best use of the -means of life—those means, too, being sadly restricted; -for a higher application of these virtues would be to -the best use of life itself. And so, again, with respect -to their honesty. This is a virtue that is as rare as -honourable; and the mind dwells on the sight of it -with proportionate satisfaction. But its application -to plums and apples is only its beginning. It has -far loftier and more arduous, and more highly rewarded -forms. It may be acted on under difficulties, -and applied to matters, not dreamt of in the valley. -It may rise into the form of social and political -justice, in which form it prompts a man to consider -the rights of others, especially of the most helpless -and depressed, and even of the vicious, as well as his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>own; and not to use his own advantages and power -in such a way as to hurt or hinder them: but, rather, -to consider that it is due to their unhappy circumstances -and weakness, that he should so use his power, -and good fortune, as to contribute to the redress of -the evils of their ill fortune.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Attractive, then, as is the contemplation of the -moral life of the inhabitants of the valley, it is not -in every respect satisfactory. A higher level may be -attained. After all, it is the moral life rather of an -ant-hill, or of a bee-hive, than of this rich and complex -world to which we belong. And even if it were somewhat -more elevated than it is, still there would remain -some who would be unable to accept it, as worthy of -being retained without prospect of change or improvement; -and their reason would be, that man does not -live by, or for, morality only. The worthy exercise -of the intellectual powers is necessary for their idea -of the complete man; and here everything of this -kind is found to be sorely deficient. On the whole, -then, in respect of each of the three ingredients of -human well-being, a thoroughly equipped life, intellectual -activity, and the highest form of virtue, we -feel that something better,—with respect, indeed, to the -two first something very much better,—is attainable, -than what exists in the charming oasis before us.</p> -<hr class='c015' /> -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>II. I now invite the reader to proceed with me -to the consideration of how different economical conditions, -such as our experience enables us to imagine, -would modify the state of things we have been contemplating. -For instance, suppose Visp-side were in -Scotland or England, then its 4,000 acres might, and -it is not unlikely that they would, be only a part of -the estate of some great landlord. Let us endeavour -to make out the effects this would have on its inhabitants.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The most obvious result would be that the population -would be diminished by more than a half. -At present the produce of the valley, with no very -considerable deductions, is consumed in the valley. -What is produced is what is required for supplying -its large population with the first wants of life. But -this will no longer be the case. The land will be let. -We will suppose that this change has been completely -effected; and that its irrigated meadows, with the -contiguous little plots of corn-land, have been formed -into farms, and that all is now treated in the way -those who rent them find it pays best to manage -them. We will suppose they have to pay a rent of -30s. an acre. The rent of the valley will then be -6,000<i>l.</i> a-year. How will this sum be made up? -Cheese, of course, will be the main means. The -young bullocks and the old cows will come next. -We will take little credit for corn or potatoes, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>because it is evident that not nearly so much of them -will be grown as was done under the old system; for -much of the mountain corn-land will not pay now for -cultivation with hired labour.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The economist, pure and simple, may say that -this is all right. The course of events must be submitted -to. Whatever they dictate is best; and best -as it is. Interference with natural laws is always -bad. The cheese and the cattle will sell for as much -as they are worth. The sovereigns they will fetch -are worth as much as the produce. There will be no -diminution of wealth. But, however, it has to be -proved that the new system is unavoidable in the -sense of being either a natural step in the unobstructed -course of human affairs, or, as some would tell -us, the natural consummation of their long course, -now at last happily effected. Perhaps it may be -possible to show that there has been serious interference -with their natural evolution; so serious as -greatly to affect their character. And, if so, then the -question of whether or no there has been any loss of -value does not arise, for the antecedent question may -render its discussion unnecessary. Be, however, these -matters as they may, they do not cover all the ground -we are desirous of investigating. We are thinking -not of exchangeable wealth only, but also of men -and women; and they, perhaps, may be regarded as -wealth in its highest form; a kind of wealth, in which, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>if the men and women are not corrupt or counterfeit, -but good and true, all may to some extent participate, -and be the better for.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Under the system we are now considering, it jars -against a sense of something or other in the minds of -many, to see so much of the results of the labour of -the people of the valley passing away from them, -never to return in any form or degree. As far as -they are concerned it is a tribute they are paying to -the man who owns the land of the valley. And -whether it be, year by year, paid to him, or whether -all this cheese and all these cattle be every year on a -stated day collected and burnt at the mouth of the -valley; or the price, for which they may have been -sold, thrown into the mid-ocean, would make no -difference to them. They will get no advantage -from it at all, for it is evident that a man who has an -income of at least 6,000<i>l.</i> a-year will never live in the -Valley of the Visp. He will, perhaps, have his -mansion on the bank of the Lake of Geneva; or -perhaps at Paris: at all events, it will be somewhere -at a distance. The case of so many bales of calico -being sent out of Manchester, to all parts of the -world, is not similar. They are sent out for the very -purpose of coming back again in the form of what -will not only support those who produce them, but -will also, if trade be good, increase the fund that -supports the trade, that is to say, will increase the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>number of those who in various ways are supported -by the trade: hence the growth of Manchester. Nor is -it the same thing as so many quarters of corn being -sent from America to this country, for in that case -also the price of the corn returns to the hands of -those who grew it. Their corn-fields have produced -for them, only in a roundabout fashion, a golden harvest; -and they have, themselves, the consumption of -this harvest, precisely in the same way as the now -existing Visp-side population have the direct consumption -of the produce of their little plots of land. -Some, of course, of the price of the cheese and cattle -sent away will enable the farmers to live and to pay -their labourers; but none of the 6,000<i>l.</i> a-year will -come back in any form.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But the point now actually before us is the effect -this change will produce on the amount of population. -In order that the land might be let profitably, -it was necessary to clear it of its old proprietors, for -they could pay no rent at all. Their little estates were -barely sufficient, with the most unremitting labour, -and the most careful frugality, to support life. The -valley has now been formed into cheese-farms; and -we will suppose that for keeping up the irrigation, -cutting the grass, tending the cows in summer on the -mountains, and during the winter doing everything -for them, and for cultivating whatever amount of land -is still cropped with corn and potatoes, five men are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>wanted for a hundred acres. This will give for the -4,000 acres 200 men. Let each man, as before, represent -a family of six souls. Here, for the labourers -and their families, will be a population of 1,200. We -will also suppose that, under the circumstances of the -valley, the average size of the farms is not more than -fifty acres. This will give eighty farmers. If their -households average eight souls, we have 640 more. -These, and the labourers, will not, as was formerly -done, under the old order of things, by every family, -produce themselves pretty nearly all that is necessary -for their households. It will not be so, because the -farmers, who must also attend to their farms, will -require many things that none required before; and -because the labourers, having to give all their time -and strength for wages, will be obliged to buy almost -all that they will require. This will necessitate the -introduction into the valley of a considerable number -of tradesmen. We will suppose a hamlet every five -miles, in which, besides farmers and labourers, will -reside eight tradesmen and petty shopkeepers. That -is five hamlets, and forty tradesmen and shopkeepers. -These, with six to a family, will add 240 to the population. -These different contributories, then, will raise -the total to 2,080. As the distances will remain what -they were, and as there will be more stir and ambition -among a population of farmers and shopkeepers, -than there was formerly among the peasant proprietors, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>we will take the number of school-teachers as -much the same under either system. The reduction -of the population to one-third of its former amount -will somewhat reduce the number of priests; but as -thought will now be more active, and, therefore, more -varied, this reduction will be counterbalanced by an -increase in the number of prophets.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The next step in our inquiry is, how will this -revolution affect the character of the population of -the valley? We have seen that under the old system -their whole character was the direct result of the fact -that everyone was either the actual, or the prospective, -possessor of a small plot of land, just enough to sustain -the life of a family. That was the root out of -which their lives grew; and their industry, frugality, -forethought, patience, and honesty were the fruits -such lives as theirs produced. That root is now dead. -The conditions of life are different; and with different -conditions have come corresponding differences of -character. For instance, we all know that those who -labour primarily for others, that others may make -the profit that will accrue from their labour, are not so -industrious as those who labour entirely for themselves. -Nor will they have the same forethought, -because their dependence is on wages, and wages -require no forethought. Formerly forethought was a -condition of existence. They are also now in a school -which is a bad one for frugality and patience, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>which is very far from being a good one for honesty. -These, however, are still the main constituents of -morality, for in them there can be no change, because -morality is the regulative order of the family and of -society: and now, with respect to all of these points, -among the mass of the population, there is, necessarily -a deterioration. Nor is petty trade, at least so -says the experience of mankind, favourable to morality. -As to those who hire the land, we will suppose that -the more varied relations, than any which existed -under the old system, into which they have been -brought with their neighbours, and with the world outside -the valley, have in some cases had an elevating -and improving effect. The moral influences, however, -of occupations of this kind are far from being universally -good, because those who live by the labour -of others, will in many cases be of opinion, that their -own interests are antagonistic to the interests of those -they employ in such a sense, that it is to their advantage -to pay low wages, which means to lessen the -comforts, and even the supply of necessaries, to those -by whose labour they live. This may be an unavoidable -incident of the relation in which the two -stand towards each other, but it is not conducive to -the result we are now wishing to find.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The intellectual gains and losses are harder to -estimate. As to the labourers, one cannot believe -that a body of men that has been lowered morally -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>has been raised intellectually. Among the tradesmen -class there will be some who will have more -favourable opportunities for rising into a higher intellectual -life than any had among the old peasant-proprietors. -And among the small occupiers of land, -for the farms only average fifty acres, these chances -will, perhaps, be still greater. But all this will not -come to much. The great question here is about the -one family, for whose benefit mainly, almost, indeed, -exclusively, the whole of the change has been brought -about. This family now stands for 4,000 of the old -inhabitants of the valley. One of the greatest of all -possible revolutions has been carried out in its favour, -for it is a revolution that has swept away the greater -part of the population, and completely altered the -material, moral, and intellectual life of all that remained. -We will, however, suppose that they are -everything that can be expected of a family so -favourably circumstanced. That their morality is -pure and elevated. That, intellectually, they are refined -and cultivated. That they promote art. That -science is at times their debtor. That among its members -have been men who have advanced the thought -of their day, and have made additions to the common -fund of intellectual wealth; and others who have done -their country good service in peace and in war.</p> - -<p class='c006'>When I say that this family stands in the place -of the 4,000 who have disappeared from the valley, I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>limit the observation to the valley, for I do not mean that -the population of the world has been diminished to that -extent to make space for them, because the cheese -and cattle sent out of the valley for their 6,000<i>l.</i> -a-year, will contribute to the support elsewhere of a -great many people who must work, and so live, in -order that they may be able to purchase them.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But to return; those who were not satisfied with -the original Arcadian state of things, we may be -sure will not be satisfied with that which we are now -imagining has taken its place. For nothing will -satisfy them, if there must be a change, except some -such condition of things as will work as favourably -both for morality, and for intellect, as that did for -morality alone; and which will, at the same time, -provide, generally, a better supplied material life than -that did.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We have now endeavoured, first, to analyze the -land-system of the valley, such as it presents itself to -the eye of a contemplative pedestrian; and which may -be regarded as the natural working out of proprietorship -in land, when it is the sole means of supporting -life. We then proceeded to compare with this a system -we wot of, carried out to its full-blown development. -This second system is what people refer to when they -talk of English landlordism. These two forms, however, -of the distribution and tenure of land are very -far from exhausting all that have existed, and that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>do and that might exist. Distribution and tenure are -capable of assuming many other forms; and some of -these must be considered before we can hope to arrive -at anything like a right and serviceable understanding -of the matter.</p> -<hr class='c015' /> -<p class='c006'>III. The distinguishing feature of the economical -conditions of the present day, and of other conditions -as far as they depend on those that are economical, -is the existence of capital in the forms and proportions -it has now assumed. This has modified, and is -modifying, the life of all civilised communities. It is -this that has built our great cities, that is peopling -the new world, that has liberated the serfs of the -Russian Empire. It leavens all we do, or say, or -think. We are what we are, because of it. The -tenure and distribution of land, next to capital itself, -the most generally used and diffused of all property, -originally the only, and till recently the chief, property, -cannot escape the influence of this all-pervading -and omnipotent agent of change, which everywhere -cuts a channel for itself, and finds the means for -rising, sooner or later, to its own level. In some -places it has affected land in a fashion more or less -in accordance with its natural action; in other places -in a fashion which has resulted more or less from -artificial restrictions: but in some fashion or other it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>affects it everywhere; as it does all man’s belongings, -and the whole tenor and complexion of human life.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Land, then, was the sole primeval means of supporting -life. Over large areas of the earth’s surface -it is so still. It was so in Homeric Greece—at that -time the most advanced part of Europe—though we -can trace in its then condition a certain indefinite -nebulous capacity for the development of capital, the -higher means of supporting life; and which capacity -afterwards assumed its true form and action among -the Ionians and other Asiatic Greeks, but above all -at Athens: which accounts for the differences between -it and Sparta: for it was the existence and employment -of capital which made it the nurse and the -holy city of intellect; while it was the contempt and -the legislative suppression of capital which kept the -Lacedæmonians, except so far as they were affected -by the general influences of Greek thought, in the -condition of a clan of splendid savages. And what -obtained all but absolutely in Homeric Greece, -obtained at that time, as far as we know, quite absolutely -over all the rest of Europe. In the early ages of -Roman history, Rome was a city of landowners; that -is, of landowners living a city life. To understand this -fact is to understand its early, and much of its subsequent -history. It was so, also, with the neighbouring -cities, in the conquest and absorption of which the -first centuries of its historic existence were spent: -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>they were cities of landowners. As we walk about -the streets of disinterred Pompeii, we see that in this -pleasure-city, even down to the late date of its catastrophe, -it was very much so, although the capital of -the plundered world had, at that time, for several -generations, been flowing, through many channels, -into Italy. That specimen city, as we may call it, -of imperial Italy, appears to have been laid up in its -envelope of ashes, preserved like an anatomical preparation, -for the very purpose of enabling us to understand -this luciferous fact.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I need not go on tracing out the subsequent history -of land and capital, which would lead, again, to -a comparison of the splendid savagery of feudal landowners -with the revival of culture in the capital-supported -trading communities of the Dark Ages; and -their interaction upon each other: but will pass at -once to ourselves. It is very possible now, at all -events it is conceivable under the present state of -things, that in a large English city—it is more or less -so with almost all our cities—there may not be a -single owner of agricultural land in its whole population: -for I now, as I do throughout this chapter, -distinguish land held for agricultural purposes from -that which is held merely for residential, or commercial -purposes. Here, then, is a difference so great -that it takes much time and thought to comprehend -its extent, its completeness, and its consequences. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>It belongs to a totally different stage of economical, -and of social development; as complete as the difference -between a caterpillar and a butterfly. The -solid strength, the slow movements, the monotonous -existence of the former represent the era of land. The -nimbleness (capital is of no country), the beauty, the -variety of life, but withal the want of solidity of the -latter represent the era of capital. It is the wise -combination, and harmonious interaction, of the two, -which would, and which are destined to, cancel the -disadvantages, and secure the advantages of each.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The revolution, that has been effected, is mighty -and all-pervading. But because it has not been -carried out by invading hosts, ravaged provinces, -blazing cities, and bloody battle-fields, it is difficult to -bring home to the general understanding that there -has been any revolution at all. At its commencement -it found those who owned the land of the -country, not merely the most powerful order in the -state, but quite supreme. It gradually introduced -another order of men, those who own capital; and -has ended by making them at length the most powerful; -and so much so that now, whenever they choose -to assert their power, they are supreme. Of course -there ought not to be any antagonism between the two; -but as there is unfortunately, and quite unnecessarily, -an artificially created antagonism, there must be collisions -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>and conflicts; in which, however, the supremacy -must always eventually rest with the strongest.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The progress of this revolution ought to be seen -a little in detail. Not an acre can be added to the -land of the country, but to the capital of the country, -already several times as much in value as the whole -of the land, and supporting a greater number of lives, -there is added a sum of two millions and a half of -pounds sterling every Saturday night. We will note -a few of the steps in the growth of capital. The year -1550 is very far from the date of the recognised appearance -of capital in this country: it was even observed -that in the previous century there had been -an unexampled extension of commerce; but there -are good reasons for supposing that the whole of the -accumulated capital of the country at that time was -less than one year’s purchase of the land. The land, -at all events, was worth a great many times as much -as all the capital amounted to.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In 1690 the purchase of an estate, of the value of -100,000<i>l.</i>, was the wonder of the day.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the next fifty years bankers were the chief, or -only, large purchasers.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the following half-century the Indians came -home, and were added to the class.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Then, in the last half of the last century, came the -manufacturers.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And now the most prominent capitalists, who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>become large purchasers of land, are the coal-owners, -and the owners of iron-works, who, however, are accompanied -by a cloud of contractors, engineers, merchants, -brewers, Stock Exchange speculators, Australians, -and even tradesmen, among whom bankers -and manufacturers still hold their ground. Of course -all of these classes who might, do not, become purchasers -of agricultural estates; but those who do, show -us in what direction we are to look for the great -money-lords of the day. And if they are so many—there -probably are at this time in Newcastle alone, -in consequence, just now, of the prosperity of the -iron and coal trades, five and twenty houses making, -each, its 100,000<i>l.</i> a-year, how many must be the rank -and file of the army of capital. The ratio then of capital -to land has been completely inverted. At this -moment there is disposable capital enough in the -country to buy, at its present enhanced price, all the -land of the country, three times over. And this stock -of capital goes on increasing at the rate of 150,000,000<i>l.</i> -a-year.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the political order, we are indebted to capital -for Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Gladstone, and for their -policy; and we may suppose that the policy which -capital may dictate will, henceforth, be the policy of -every Government that will administer the affairs of -this country. The land and the proletariat will never -combine for the purpose of attempting to make it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>otherwise: for it will never be their interest to do so. -Capital is both aristocratic and democratic in the best -sense of each of these words. It is the cement, and -the mainspring of modern societies, and, also, the -ladder within them, without which there would be no -rising from low to high positions.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And now let us go back to Visp-side, bearing in -mind the ideas we have been working out. We will, -then, suppose that by trade, and commerce, and manufactures, -which are both the children and the parents -of capital, other means for supporting life have become -abundant in the valley. It is easy to make -out what will be the effect of this on the dimensions -of the, at present, diminutive properties of its one -thousand families. Land will present itself to the -minds of all as what it has really become; that is to -say, as only one means among many for the support -of life: the many others being the various forms in -which capital works. The present subdivision, therefore, -of the land will no longer be regarded as an -obvious and undeniable necessity. It has, indeed, -become only a secondary, and inferior means for supporting -life. Those engaged in trade and commerce, -it will be manifest, are many of them living much -better lives than the petty proprietors. The old ideas -and practices, then, with respect to land will melt -away, and be utterly dissolved. The necessity for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>maintaining them has ceased; and they will cease to -be maintained.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At the same time those who have acquired capital -by trade, and commerce, and manufactures, will be -desirous of investing some of it, perhaps a surplus -their business may not require, in land, which must -always continue to be the safest, and in some other -respects the most desirable form of property. And -many of those who have come to wish to retire from -the labours and anxieties of business, will have the -same desire. So, too, will some who are disposed to -prefer agriculture to other kinds of industry; and -who are, therefore, desirous of becoming possessed of -sufficient land for their purpose, that they may apply -to it their capital and intelligence, using it as the raw -material of the manufacture towards which they are -most attracted. Some will merely want a pleasant -situation for a home for their families; some a little -land around such a home to give them a little -pleasant occupation. There will, we will suppose, be -no artificial, as there are no natural, obstacles to all -of these people buying what they have the means for -buying, and the wish to buy; and using what they -buy as they please. The properties thus formed will, -many of them, be large, in proportion to the amount -of surplus capital many will come to possess. But -what will be remarkable, in this respect, will be, while -the number of landed properties will be very considerable, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>the variety of their dimensions, which will -be proportionate to the endlessly varying means of -the multitudes, who in an era of capital will be -desirous of investing in land, and the variety of uses -to which they will be put in accordance with the -varying wants and tastes of their owners.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And in these properties, whether great, or small, -there will be incessantly at work two directly opposite -tendencies. One in the direction of enlargement -by inheritance, by marriage, and by larger increases -of surplus capital, and of capital retiring from business. -The other in the direction of subdivision, -through the necessities, or the wishes, of their holders. -These necessities may have arisen from the vicissitudes -of business, the occurrences of life, and the -extravagances and vices of their holders from time -to time. Or the descendant of a purchaser may wish -to capitalise his land, and take the capital back to -business; or to place it in some investment more -profitable than land. But, at all events, there will -be no escaping from the natural, ever-felt, imperious -obligation proprietors of land, like all other men, -will be under, of providing for their widows and -children. This will keep every estate in the condition -of liability to subdivision; and must, at intervals, -subdivide it. All these may be regarded as natural -conditions. They are self-acting, and never-failing; -and that they should lead to their natural issue, that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>is to the subdivision of landed estates, is in accordance -with good instincts, in no way demoralising, and in -every way healthy. Their free action exactly accommodates -things to the requirements both of individuals -and of the times.</p> - -<p class='c006'>What we are now contemplating is the state of -things which will be brought about when the natural -action of capital, and the natural action of landed -property, have been left to take their own unimpeded -course in the valley: for it is to the actual and the -possible conditions of Continental Visp-sides, viewed -in connection with the actual and the possible conditions -of Continental cities, rather than to the broad -acres and busy cities of wealthy England, that what -I am now saying belongs, notwithstanding the appearance, -which is unavoidable, of a constant reference to -ourselves. Their case is not quite identical with ours, -either in their existing conditions, or their future -possibilities, as will be seen in due time and place, -when we come to the distinct, and separate, consideration -of our own case. Surplus capital, then, -and capital withdrawn from business, will always be -seeking investment: and as the land of a country is -the natural reservoir for a large proportion of all -such capital; and as every acre of land is, on our -supposition, saleable, as much so as a sack of wheat, -or a horse, though at the moment the owner may not -be tempted by the price that would be offered for it; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>and as much of the land everywhere is always actually -in the market, and on sale; the habit of looking to -land as the safest both of temporary and of final investments, -will become pretty general amongst all classes -of people engaged in business. And amongst the -holders of land, those who may wish to woo fortune -by going into business, and to increase their incomes -by investing the price of their land in some good -security, will have nothing to withhold them from -disposing of it. Estates, that are now in process of -formation, will inevitably, when children have to be -provided for, or upon the occurrence of any of those -other causes we have already referred to, sooner or -later enter upon the reverse process of subdivision. -The great points to be kept in mind are that every -acre, though it may not be actually in the market, is -yet, at the will of its owner, marketable; and that, -whatever may be the will of its present holder, must, -sooner or later, come on the market; and that capital, -availing itself of these facilities, naturally takes the -direction of the land—in the long run, and to the -majority of mankind, the most desirable of all investments; -and that this maintains at a high figure -the number of proprietors, that class which it is for -the interest of the country should be as large as -possible: it is obvious that this class will be large, in -the era of capital, in every country where the land -is within the reach of every man who has capital, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>exactly in proportion to the amount of capital he is -desirous of investing in it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This state of things appears to have some advantages. -These may be summed up in the general -remark that it is in complete conformity with the wants -and conditions of an era of capital, such as that in -which we live. Let us, however, endeavour to resolve -this general remark into its constituent elements. -As land is the most attractive of human possessions, -the one possession which gives a man a place of his -own to stand on in this world, it ought naturally to -attract to itself much of the surplus capital of the day, -and of capital that is being withdrawn from business. -In the state of things, we have been just considering, -there is no hindrance to the operation of -this tendency. This flow of capital towards the land -will make it far more productive than it ever has been -under any other system. For capital is nothing in -the world but bottled-up labour, reconvertible, at the -will of the holder, into actual labour, and the implements -and materials and products of labour; and this -system secures the advantage that the proprietors -shall generally be men who have much capital in -proportion to their land; and much of this capital -will, of course, be applied to it. More land will be -reclaimed, more rocks blasted and buried; irrigating -canals and cultivation will be carried higher up the -sides of the mountains; and more costly means of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>cultivation applied than are possible under either the -peasant-proprietor system, or the large estate system. -And this may be a state of things which will not dissatisfy -the economist.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is a state of things which the modern statesman, -also, ought to regard with approval; because the -possession of land has always, everywhere, been the -conservative element in human societies; and the -wide diffusion of the proprietorship of land is the only -effectual means by which the statesman of the present -day can hope to balance, and neutralise, the disturbing -action of the large aggregations of population -capital has called into being in the great commercial, -and manufacturing cities of this era of capital. It -ought to be a pleasing, and reassuring sight to him to -behold streams of capital and of proprietors constantly -flowing off from them towards the land: for in these -streams he knows that power is being drawn off from -those terrible centres of possible disturbance, which -cause him so much anxiety; and that what is thus -drawn off from them is being added to the conservative -elements of society. So that if the order of -society, or any valuable, but, at the moment, misunderstood, -institution—misunderstood because things -are in an unnatural state—should have to sustain a -shock, there would be less power on the side of those -who might originate it, and more on the side of those -who would have to bear the brunt of it—a state of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>things which would, probably, prevent the shock from -ever occurring. Whereas to array on one side the -land of a country held by a handful of proprietors -against on the other side numbers and capital, is both -to invite the shock, and at the same time to forbid -the existence of the natural means for resisting it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Many great cities are terrible centres of possible -disturbance, just because there are artificial barriers -which keep asunder the land and its inhabitants on -one side, and the cities with their capital and population -on the other side. If things were so that streams -of those who had had the energy and intelligence -requisite for success, and had succeeded, were constantly -flowing off from the cities to the land; and back-currents -of those, who were desirous of seeking fortune, -flowing into the towns from the country; and this is -what ought to be the state of things in an era of -capital; there would be less opposition of interests and -sentiments between the town and the country: they -would together form more of an homogeneous system. -If the town populations could be brought into some -kind of connection with the land, they would then, so -far, have given hostages, a material guarantee, to -social peace, and order.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Neither will they be dissatisfied who are desirous -of seeing property so distributed as to favour as much -as possible the moral and intellectual condition of the -community. Property will everywhere be diffused; and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>never being encumbered more than very temporarily, -that is never beyond the life of the encumbered holder, -for on our supposition it will always pass from hand -to hand perfectly unencumbered in every way, its -numerous holders in every locality will be in a position -to do, and to support, whatever need be done, -and supported. Take the instance of the support of -religion. It would be mischievous under the previously -considered system to disestablish a national -Church, because as all the surplus produce of the -valley, in the form of a rent of 6,000<i>l.</i> a-year, is sent -out of the valley, there is nothing left in the hands of -the population, such as we imagined it had become, -to support religion, except in the humblest, that is in -a thoroughly unworthy, form. And here we cannot -but think about ourselves; and our doing so will contribute -somewhat towards bringing us to a better -understanding of this particular point. As things -now are in this country the portion of the rent which -is retained in every parish for the maintenance of -religion is in multitudes of cases the only part of the -rent that is retained, and spent, on the spot, among -those whose labour produces it. No one will deny -that this is in many ways an advantage to them. To -instance one advantage, it is often the cause of the -existence of needed institutions, as was lately seen -most conspicuously in the part the clergy took in the -establishment and maintenance of schools, which was -an undeniable benefit to their poor neighbours, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>to the country, though at the same time something -besides and beyond what they were bound to do for -the maintenance of the knowledge and of the services -of religion. In many places, too, it is the only part -of the rent which supports in the locality a man of -education and refinement; a social and political advantage -which cannot be denied, or overlooked. And -this appropriation of a small portion of the rent -has largely benefited literature, and to some extent -science. It also gives us a large number of families, -who far outnumber those supported by the great -bulk of the rent of the country, and are in a very -favourable position for bestowing on their sons the -best attainable education, carefully supervised. To -them we owe multitudes of those who are at all times -doing the country, at home and abroad, good service. -We may, at the present moment, take as instances -the Lord Chancellor and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, -both of whom were brought up in rural -parsonages. Surely it would be a local and a national -benefit if more of the rent of the land were somewhat -similarly conditioned. And perhaps the greater part of -it would be under the system we are now considering. -And in addition to this much other property in the -form of capital, belonging to such owners of the land, -would be brought into each locality, some of which -would be sunk in the land, and some retained in -securities paying interest and dividends, which would -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>be spent on the spot. Under such a state of things -there would be abundance of local means for the -voluntary support of all needed institutions, and of -religion among the rest; and a national establishment -would then cease to be the necessity it is now. At all -events, should the national provision for the maintenance -of religion, which is incidentally a provision, and -as things now are very usefully so, for spending a -small part of the rent of each parish, often a very -small part indeed, in the parish itself, be cancelled, -the aspect of things in many places, and the consequences, -would be such as to bring many, who are -pretty well satisfied with things as they are without -thinking why, to join in the cry for free trade in -land.</p> -<hr class='c015' /> -<p class='c006'>IV. We have been considering three conditions -under which the land of the valley may be held; -first, that of a thoroughly carried-out system of -peasant-proprietorship, which is the natural consummation -of things when land is the only means of -supporting life, or so nearly the only means that other -means disturb its action so little that they need not -be considered; and which is the cause of its being -divided down to the lowest point at which it is capable -of supporting life: we then passed to the opposite -extreme, to which the name of landlordism has been -given; and we came at last to that which would -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>result, and in places has more or less resulted, from -the free interaction of land and capital, in this era of -capital. We still have to consider how it has been -brought about that, in this era of capital, the free -interaction of the two, in this country hardly exists -at all; what it is that here hinders its existence; and -so gives rise to the two abnormal, but closely connected, -phenomena, that land is held only in very -large aggregations, and that capital is driven away -from the proprietorship of land, except in these large -aggregations, to seek imaginary investment at home -in never-ending bubble schemes, the manufacture of -which is as much a trade as that of calico, or sent -abroad to be sunk in impossible Honduras railways, -the shares of non-existent Californian mines, and the -bonds of hardly more existent states.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This, as it is an unnatural state of things, can have -been brought about only by the disturbing action of -law. What, then, we have to consider now is, how -law has stepped in, and hindered the existence of the -state of things which the circumstances of the times -demand, and which, therefore, would be their natural -and normal condition; and, as it seems, would be -fraught with so many and such great advantages to -individuals and to the country. The general sense of -uneasiness, these questions have given rise to throughout -society, indicate that in this matter there is something -constitutionally wrong.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>When I was in the United States in 1867-1868, -I was frequently asked how the people of England -could tolerate a system—the questioner always supposed -that such a result could only be brought about -by law—that gave the land of the country to a -handful of the population? I always replied ‘that it -was a natural consequence of our great wealth. A -banker, an Australian, a contractor, a merchant or -manufacturer, a coal or iron owner, made his million -of money, and as he could live very well on 25,000<i>l.</i> -a-year, he sunk it in land for the sake of the security -the land offered, and because, moreover, its possession -gave certain social and political advantages. That it -was the competition of these millionaires, who were -willing to pay for something beyond the productive -powers of the land, that kept small purchasers out -of the market, and also induced small holders to sell.’ -I gave this answer because I wished to avoid a long -explanation, involving probably a great deal of argument; -and I had not crossed the Atlantic to give, but -to receive, information.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I knew at the time that my answer was only a -partial one; that it omitted some very important -elements of the question; and, therefore, was worth -very little, except for the purpose in view at the -moment.</p> - -<p class='c006'>For instance; it rested on the assumption that the -interest of money is now so high in this country that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>under no circumstances—I admit that it is so under -existing circumstances—would people hold small -amounts of land, say a thousand acres, because they -could get a better income by selling the land, and -investing the proceeds otherwise; and that none can -afford to buy land, except those who can afford to -buy so much that the moderate interest of the purchase -will still in its amount be sufficient for all their -wants. It is acknowledged that at present it is so. -The whole question, then, turns on the point of what -causes it to be so? Is it unavoidable and natural? -If so, then it is all right as it is; and the subject is -withdrawn from the category of useful discussions.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I, however, for one, am disposed to think that it is -neither unavoidable nor natural. There is not such -a great difference between the interest of money in -France and in England, as to make the great bulk of -the people of France desire, above all things, land, -and the great bulk of the people of England quite -indifferent about it, and even the few who have it in -moderate extents desirous of getting rid of it. And, -again, in the United States the interest of money is -higher than it is here, and yet the ownership of land -is regarded as the support, and its cultivation as the -natural employment of, I suppose, four-fifths of the -whole white population. To us, who look across the -Atlantic, the cities appear to be America. But this -is an optical illusion. The United States are as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>large as the whole of Europe, and the cities, though -centres of extraordinary activity, are few and far -between. Its vast occupied area maintains an agricultural -population; and its agriculture is carried on -upon so grand a scale that, when the eye is directed -to it, everything else is utterly lost to view. The -towns are nothing in a scene which takes in fifteen -hundred miles of farm-houses from New York to -Omaha, which begin again in the Great Salt Lake -Valley, and again on the slopes of the Sierra-Nevada, -reaching to the shore of the Pacific.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The cause, then, why what does take place in France, -and in the United States, does not take place here, -must be sought for in something peculiar to ourselves. -And our English peculiarity I believe to be this, -that here the dominant and regulative fact bearing -on the distribution of land is, that it is not distributable; -in plain English, that it is not saleable. This -is brought about by the law which allows estates to -be settled, that is to be taken out of the market and -practically to be rendered unsaleable. This being the -general fact with respect to land, the millions connected -with its cultivation, seeing no opening for their -ever becoming possessed of an acre of it, do not save -for this purpose, and have their thoughts turned in -other directions, that is to say, to the towns, to trade, -or to emigration. And the rest of the population, -being met by the same obstacle, have their thoughts -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>with respect to land, and the investment in it of their -capital, equally shaped and coloured by the existence -of that obstacle. That which is the dominant fact -brings about what is the general feeling and practice. -Where is the rural district in which, from the general -condition of things, it could become a general practice -among the population to work, and deny themselves, -in order to acquire some property in the land? Unsaleability -is the general rule, and so this motive, and -everything that would be connected with it, and grow -out of it, has no existence. The same cause acts even -in a higher degree on the rest of the population, -because their thoughts are not, from the circumstances -and character of their lives, so naturally directed towards -the land. It would be just the reverse if every -acre, everywhere, were always saleable: of course not -always on sale, but always saleable at the will of its -owner.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Speaking generally, we are in the unique and -anomalous position of a nation which has no class of -proprietors of small, and moderate-sized estates, cultivating -their own land. If circumstances were at all -favourable to the maintenance amongst us of such a -class, I believe it would be maintained, and would go -on increasing. What is the case is, that circumstances -adverse to it, and even destructive of it, have been -created artificially. By the power of settling estates, -large settled estates have everywhere been called into -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>existence. Thenceforth the fight in each neighbourhood -is between large settled estates and small properties. -The large settled estates are endowed, -practically, with perpetuity, and they have within -themselves great powers of purchasing, that is of -extension; for their owners are already wealthy, and -have, also, the power of discounting, for the purpose -of making purchases, the future increase in value of -their estates; and they always have a strong motive -for making such purchases. The small properties, as -things now are, have very little of the element of -perpetuity; generally no self-contained power of -extension by purchase; and their proprietors have no -special motives for attempting to extend them. The -absorption, then, of the small properties is inevitable; -and has been, indeed, almost entirely effected already. -Our system creates the large estates, and endows -them with the power of swallowing up the small ones; -and so year by year takes the land, more and more, -out of the market: the general result being that at -last we have come to have only a handful of very -wealthy rent-receiving proprietors, and few cultivating -proprietors; and that the thoughts, the prospects, -and the capital of the richest nation in the world are -all pretty completely turned away from the land.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We said that our system was not either unavoidable -or natural. We ought, therefore, to show how it -could have been avoided. We partially did this when -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>we pointed out its causes. Let us, however, endeavour -now to find for ourselves a distinct answer to -the question, In what way could its growth and -establishment have been prevented? I need not -repeat its peculiarities: they have just been referred -to. Suppose, then, a century ago, the Legislature -had come to be of opinion that it was contrary to -public policy that an existing generation should have -its hands tied, in dealing with the land of the country, -by the necessities, or the personal and family ambitions, -or the ideas, of preceding generations; and -that public policy required that the land of the -country should pass from hand to hand perfectly free, -each successive holder having an absolute interest in -it; receiving, and transmitting it, quite unencumbered, -precisely in the same way as a sovereign passes from -hand to hand. And that, therefore, it had been -enacted, with the view of securing these conditions, -that land should not be charged in any way; that it -should not be encumbered with any uses, or settlements -of any kind; and that there should be no -power of mortgaging it beyond the life, or tenancy, -of the mortgagor. Such an enactment, it is obvious, -would have rendered the existence of the present -system impossible. It would have had this effect, -because no one having had the power of encumbering -land in favour of his widow and younger children, -those whose property was only land, would have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>been obliged to provide for their widows and younger -children by bequeathing to them certain portions of -the land itself. This would have subdivided the -large estates. It, also, would have secured to every -owner the power of at any time selling his land, if -for any reason he were desirous of so dealing with it. -It is, then, presumably, the permission of the very -opposite to that which would have prevented the -present state of things from existing, that has given -it existence.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We have been speaking of what might have been -done. Let us look at something that has been done. -The course of recent legislation upon this subject is -very instructive; and, as far as it goes, is confirmatory -of what we have been saying as to both the -cause, and the remedy, of existing evils. We often -hear remarks made upon the mischievous consequences -of land being held in mortmain. But the fact is, that -in this country there is no such thing as land held in -mortmain. The Legislature has seen the ill effects of -its being so held, and, by a series of Acts, all having -the same object, has released what was so held. The -estates vested in the Ecclesiastical Commission were -made saleable in 1843; the episcopal and capitular -estates in 1851; the estates of all other ecclesiastical -corporations in 1860; of universities and colleges -in 1858. The estates of schools and charities, and of -municipal bodies, are now in the same state. By this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>series of enactments the Legislature has, I believe, -completely abolished the holding of land in mortmain. -It could not, we may be sure, have done -otherwise. There was among all enlightened people -an overwhelmingly preponderant perception of what -ought to be done; and it was comparatively easy to -deal with that portion of the land of the country to -which these enactments apply. The ground they -took was not that the corporate estates had a worse -body of tenants, or were worse cultivated than settled -estates, for that was not the case, but that it was an -evil that land should not be saleable; and so some, -that was not saleable before, was made saleable.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And now let us see how these Acts have worked. -There have been instances in which incumbents of -parishes have sold their glebes, and colleges some of -their estates. But who have been the purchasers of -these glebes and college estates? As far as I can hear, -in every instance the purchasers have been large landed -proprietors. And they did no wrong in buying them. -Reader, had you and I been in their places we should -have done just what they did. The result, however, -has been that the large estates have become larger; -that is to say, the amount of land that was, through -settlements, practically unsaleable, is now greater than -it was before; and that through legislation which -had for its aim to make land saleable. The present -system was so widely established, so powerful, and so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>ready and so able to avail itself of every opportunity, -that there was no possibility of its being otherwise. -The fate, then, of that portion of the previously -mortmain-held land that has been sold, shows how -our existing system works; and enables us to see by -an instance, which, though not great in amount, is yet -distinct and palpable, the tendency in our large -settled estates to continue growing, and by so doing -to diminish the amount of saleable land in the country. -If, instead of being misled by names, we look at facts, -the true mortmain-held land of this country is the -settled estates.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The corporate lands are, probably, worth somewhere -about 30,000,000<i>l.</i> An idea is afloat that there -will be a proposal to sell these, and to capitalise the -price. But one can hardly suppose that many, except -‘adjacent’ proprietors, will be found to support the -scheme, after people have seen what has become of -such portions of these lands as have already been sold -under the recent Acts just referred to; and when they -remember that the discharge of certain duties is -attached to the revenues of these corporate and endowment -estates. And if these duties are not always -discharged satisfactorily, that is a matter which better -superintendence might set right. At all events, it is -better for the public that they should get out of these -estates something, than that they should get nothing. -If the public desire that it should be so, the Legislature, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>we may be sure, will be ready enough to see -that all endowments are turned to good account.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We frequently hear the remark, and it is made as -if it explained the existence and the character of our -present system, that feudalism still flourishes in this -country. This is very wide indeed of the mark. -There are many, we may be sure, who would be disposed -to think that it would be of advantage if something -like the division of land of the feudal times still -obtained amongst us. The records of the Exchequer -give the number of knights’ fees at 60,215. Let that, -however, be as it may, our system is as unlike that of -feudalism as anything can be. It belongs in its whole -character to the era of capital, but in the form a -land-system must assume; and this is its distinguishing -feature, when the flow of capital to the land has -been so interfered with as practically to prohibit its -investment in land, except by very rich people, in -very large amounts; that is to say, by people who -already have a great deal of land, or who have a -great deal of capital. This is an artificial state of -things belonging to the era of capital. The natural -state of things in the era of capital would be the direct -opposite: for that would issue in there being a multitude -of owners of estates, purchased and used for all -manner of purposes; and to all the land being -marketable; and, indeed, to a considerable portion -of it, everywhere, being at any time in the market. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>Both of these states, the artificial and the natural -one, are equally possible in the era of capital. The -first is brought about, when, as I have pointed out, -the action of the law favours perpetuity, unsaleability, -and agglomeration. The latter, when all the land is -saleable; and everyone who has capital, no matter -whether much or little, is able to buy. There is no -feudalism in either of these two states of things. The -former is a factitious kind of capitalism.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It may sound paradoxical, after what has been -said, to announce that the change suggested in our -present system would have the effect of raising the -price of land: I am, however, of opinion that it would -have this paradoxical effect; because, though it would -largely increase the supply, it would in a still greater -degree increase the demand for, and the uses of land. -It would make all who have capital possible purchasers, -and would be an inducement to many, particularly -among those whose work is on the land, to save -capital in order that they might become purchasers. -It would bring into play and activity a great variety -of motives for purchasing. For instance; we should -then see joint-stock companies buying land which -offers no particular advantages for residence, for the -single purpose of manufacturing food out of it. They -would pour capital into it in such amounts as only -proprietors, who were also joint-stock companies, -could. They would drain, mix soils, employ steam -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>machinery for cultivation, for preparing artificial -manures, and for cutting, crushing, and cooking food -for cattle; they would build beet-sugar factories, or -whatever else would pay when done well, and on a -large scale. Other districts adapted to small properties, -if such there be, we should see falling into the -hands of small proprietors. Others again, which from -their salubrity, or beauty, or local proximity to large -towns, were adapted for residential purposes, we -should see turned to this account: so that in places -where now there may be one, or perhaps not one, -resident proprietor, there would be a hundred, or a -thousand. In these days of railways and capital all -this is natural: and as it is natural it is what would be -best for us. I cannot see anything bad in such a state -of things; and I think it is what will be brought about -eventually. If it had existed during the last fifty -years, probably a large portion of the 1,000,000,000<i>l.</i> -of capital that have been sent out of the country, -would have been kept at home. If there were perfect -freedom in dealing with the land, in this rich and -populous country, the price of agricultural land would -rise to a higher price than it has attained in Switzerland, -Belgium, and parts of France, where it has long -been selling for more than it sells for here. If a joint-stock -company were to demonstrate that 25<i>l.</i> of -capital per acre applied to the cultivation of 1,000 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>acres was a profitable speculation, would that have -any tendency to lower the value of land?</p> - -<p class='c006'>I believe that some of us will live to see the joint-stock -principle introduced into farming, or rather -applied to the ownership and cultivation of the land. -My reason for believing this is, that it has been found to -answer in everything else; and that I can see no other -way in which capital, to the amount required in these -days, can be applied to the land; and that I can see -in the nature of the case no reason why it should not -be so applied to the land. I take it for granted that, -at this moment, land can be cultivated more productively, -and more economically, comparing the amount -of produce with the cost of producing it, in farms of -about 1,000 acres each, cultivated highly, and by -steam machinery, than in any other fashion. If it -be so, then the system must force its way to general -adoption; and to the looker-on, practically, no question -remains uncertain but that of time. If he is -satisfied that it is the natural system in the era of -capital, he knows that, sooner or later, it must come. -One of its pre-requisites, which it will take time to -bring about, is, that the land should be owned by -those who cultivate it; probably, in each case, by -a firm. Whether the firm consist of three or four -partners, or of three or four dozen shareholders, will -make no difference. On no other conditions will the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>costly plant be provided, or the inducement in the -way of profits be sufficient.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The past history of agriculture will here help us -in our attempt to understand its future. The aboriginal -agricultural implement was, as we all know, -a burnt stick—a broken branch, with its point -hardened in the fire. That was in the stone era, -and so the forest could not be felled. Only here and -there a small plot could be cultivated with such an -implement. The rest of the land, that is to say -almost the whole of it, was a game preserve for wild -animals, deer, wild cattle, wild hogs, &c. After nobody -knows how many ages of this style of farming, -and of utilising the land, came the discovery of metals. -An iron hoe was then regarded as a more wonderful -machine than a steam-plough is now. It was beyond -the means of any individual, except perhaps here and -there a great chief. Villages may have clubbed together -the few articles they had of exchangeable value, -that is to say became a joint-stock company, to secure -the possession of one of these marvellous implements. -Whatever the land had yielded to the tillage of the -burnt stick, and through the game preserves, it now -yielded a great deal more. The game preserves still -continued: but with respect to animal food also there -had been a little advance, for domestic animals now -began to appear in the village. One advance always -draws on others. But the domestic animals were at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>first kept only in small numbers, for they wandered -over large expanses of land, almost exclusively forest; -the game still remaining the more important of the -two. This was the second stage. But as time goes on -iron, and the domestic animals, become more abundant; -and an ox, or so many ox-hides, can be exchanged -for a hoe. It is now possible to get so much -more food out of the land, that one man can raise -enough for the support of two. This immediately -leads to slavery, which always makes its appearance -in rude societies as soon as they have reached the -point at which one man can produce more food than -is sufficient for himself. This advances agriculture -some steps further. Cattle become abundant; labour -is abundant; and a sufficiency of iron is procurable. -The forest is, therefore, taken in hand, and fields, that -is spaces where the trees have been felled, are formed. -And now the plough appears on the scene, and -civilised society is fairly under weigh. Cultivation -continues to extend, and with cultivation pasturage. -The forest gradually disappears, and domestic animals -entirely take the place of wild game, except for -purposes of amusement and luxury. And so on up -to the system with which we are all familiar. Every -discovery advanced matters a step, and made the -land more productive. As, for instance, the introduction -of artificial grasses and roots, for our ancestors -in the autumn used to kill and salt the beef and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>mutton they would require for the winter and spring. -Then came a better supply of manures, and the two -together rendered the abandonment of fallows possible. -The land has all along been a constant quantity. -It, from the beginning, has been the same. -But its produce has from the first been increasing -through never-ceasing advances in the means and -methods of cultivating it and of turning it to account.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And now another advance is in sight, that of -cultivation by steam. This implies a great deal. In -each stage there grew out of the nature of things, as -they then were, a certain definite proportion between -the means used and the amount of land cultivated as -one concern. In the burnt stick era the little cultivated -plots might have shown in the forest as the -stars do in the field of heaven. In the hoe-period -they were multiplied and enlarged as the stars appear -to us through a telescope. Then we had peasant -proprietors, and small tenants. The number and -size of the luminous, that is, of the cultivated, plots -were increasing, as means and appliances increased -and improved. And now we suppose that a farm -ought properly to be of 400 or 500 acres in extent. -This means that the instruments of production and our -organisation have advanced very greatly. So must it -be with steam cultivation: each concern must be on -a large scale. I have supposed that not less than 1,000 -acres will be necessary for turning to good account -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>the machinery that will be required for tilling the -soil, and gathering in the crops, and preparing them -for market, for preparing food for the stock, and for -making artificial manures, &c. No existing buildings -will be of any use. Everything will have to be constructed -for the purposes required. Land, therefore, -that has to be cultivated in this way must be regarded -as quite unprovided with the necessary plant, -as much so as a thousand acres of the prairie of -Colorado, or of the Pampas of La Plata. And as -nobody will invest all this costly fixed plant on other -people’s land, the land must be owned by those who -are to cultivate it in this way. But the purchasing, -the providing with such plant, and the so cultivating -a thousand acres will require not less than 75,000<i>l.</i> -This, at present at all events, is quite beyond a -farmer’s means. It can, therefore, speaking generally, -only be done by firms or companies. If it will pay, they -will do it. Lord Derby tells us the land ought to yield -twice as much as it does now. We may, I suppose, set -the present gross produce of good average land fairly -farmed at 10<i>l.</i> an acre. If land highly cultivated by -steam, and with the liberal application of capital we -are supposing, would advance its produce to only half -of Lord Derby’s supposed possible increase, the gross -yield would be 15<i>l.</i> an acre. And this might give, after -allowing one-third for working expenses, deterioration, -and insurance, 13⅓<i>l.</i> per cent. on the investment; but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>we will put the working at half, which will leave a profit -of 10 per cent. If this could be done, then the streams -of English capital that are perennially flowing off into -all countries would be profitably diverted to the cultivation -and enrichment of our own land; and no small -portion of the other millions we are year by year -paying the foreigner for food, might be paid to food-manufacturers -of our own, and so saved to the country.</p> - -<p class='c006'>France produces at home its own sugar; and, -besides, sends to us 60,000 tons a-year. We do -not manufacture sugar at home, because an English -tenant would not spend 8,000<i>l.</i>, if he had it, in -erecting a sugar factory on another man’s land; but -such firms of proprietors could, and probably would, -on their own.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Capital swept away the peasant proprietor. It -has almost swept away the 50-acre tenant. And it -will sweep away the 250-acre tenant. But it offers -to all better careers than those it closes against them. -The system it is bringing upon us will employ more -hands, and will require them all to be better men, and -will pay them all better, both for their work and for -their capital. Under it there will be openings everywhere -for everyone to become what he is fit to -become. This will be a premium on education; and -it will do more to suppress drunkenness in the rural -districts than any conceivable licensing, or permissive, -or prohibitory Acts.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>I do not know what, under such a state of things, -will become of our old friend, who was also the friend -of our forefathers—the agricultural pauper. On a -farm of a thousand acres, carried on in the fashion we -have been supposing, there would be no place for -him. Upon its area there would not be a man who -was not wanted. And all who were wanted would -be well paid and well housed. There would be -engine-men, and stock tenders, and horsemen, and -labourers, more in number perhaps than the hands -now employed on the same space, but all would be -better off, and would be better men. In order, however, -that this may be brought about, capital must -be allowed free access to the land, that is to say, -the land must be set free.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The argument from the picturesque will not arrest -the course of events. Never was the country so -picturesque as when there was no cultivation at all, -and the noble savage pursued his wild game through -the primæval forest over hill and dale. The little -hoed plots of a succeeding epoch were a great encroachment -on the picturesque. The fields that came -in with the plough carried the disfigurement still -further. Our hedges and copses, under the existing -system, are rapidly disappearing. But the human -interest in the scene has always been increasing: and -it will culminate when the steam-engine shall have -brought in a system under which those who do the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>very lowest forms of labour then required will be -better fed, and housed, and clothed, and paid, because -it will be a system that will not admit of bad work, -than was possible under previous systems, which did -not depend for their success on the intelligence of the -labourer, and the accuracy and excellence of his -work.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Such a system would carry out to their logical and -ultimate consummation the free interaction of capital -and agricultural land. All such land, the implements, -and whole plant employed in its cultivation, and -even the labour, skill, and intelligence of its cultivators, -would be represented by dividend-receiving, 10<i>l.</i>, 5<i>l.</i>, or -1<i>l.</i> share certificates, transferable merely by the double -endorsement of the seller and of the buyer. The old -certificate, thus endorsed, would be presented to the -manager, if necessary by post; and a new certificate -would be issued to the new holder. These -certificates would circulate almost as freely as money; -but as it would be a kind of money that would carry -a dividend at the rate of capital employed in safe -ventures, say four-and-a-half or five per cent., with a -prospect of improvement, wherein it would differ -from the low interest of Exchequer bills, the holding -of such certificates would be the most attractive kind -of savings’ bank to the poor, and to all. The great -difficulty in the way of saving in the case of the poor, -and of all who are unacquainted with business, is to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>find suitable, and safe, investments. That difficulty -would be removed; and they would be enabled to -participate, according to their means, as easily, and -on the same footing, as the richest and the best informed, -in the wealth and property of the country. -Any labourer on any joint-stock farm, or elsewhere, -any artisan, any servant girl, any poor governess, who -might save a few pounds, might invest them in a -share or two; and the increment, whether earned or -unearned, in the value of land, and of its produce, -would go to them proportionally with the wealthiest. -Everyone would, in this way, have opened to him an -avenue for participating, to any amount possible to -him, in the possession of the land everywhere. A -large proportion of the population would thus become -interested in the development of its resources, and so -in the prosperity of the country, and in the order and -stability of society. The land would, in a sense, -become mobilised; and the possession of it rendered -capable of universal diffusion. Any one of the present -owners, who might come to wish that any portion of -his land might be held, and used, in this fashion, -might receive, if he chose to be so paid, as many -shares in each concern formed out of it, as would equal -the value of land he might make over to it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>If the possibility of such a system could be demonstrated, -the existing owners of land might be the -first to wish to see it carried out. The following -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>figures will show why. Suppose a thousand acres of -agricultural land is letting at what is about the average -rent of such land, that is at about 30<i>s.</i> an acre, the -landlord will be receiving for it 1,500<i>l.</i> a-year, subject -to some not inconsiderable deductions. But if this -same land were sold to a cultivating firm at 50<i>l.</i> an -acre, the price being received in shares, and the concern -were to pay to original shareholders 10 per cent. -the rent of 1,500<i>l.</i>, subject to deductions, would have -become a dividend of 5,000<i>l.</i> subject to no deductions. -But we will suppose only 3,000<i>l.</i>, for that will be -double the present rent, and so quite sufficient for -our argument.</p> - -<p class='c006'>So far as the system might be adopted would -ownership of the land of the old kind cease, and in -its place be substituted, in convenient amounts, -dividend-receiving, easily transferable, and freely circulating -capital stock certificates, within everybody’s -reach, secured upon definite portions of the agricultural -land of the country, representing its present -value, and participating in its future advances in -value. Such certificates would, also, offer an improving -security for trust funds of all kinds, and for -endowments.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The combination of what I have observed, during -a life in the country, of the requirements of land, and -of the condition and wants of the poor, with my -experience of the duties of a trustee (which have devolved -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>upon me to, perhaps, an unusually great extent), -suggested to me the ideas I have just been endeavouring -to present to the reader. If they are practicable -they may contribute to the solution of existing difficulties -of several kinds. I am aware that they cannot -do this, because in that case they would be quite -visionary, if they are not in harmony with the natural -requirements and conditions of the era of capital. -That they would have been impracticable in other -times does not prove that they would be impracticable -now.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But we have been enticed off the main line of our -discussion to a by-path, which was offering a very -interesting view into the future. We must now return -to the point we had before reached, which was that of -the popular misconceptions that are held with respect -to our existing system. There are, then, again, others -who suppose that its salient peculiarities may be explained -by a reference to what is frequently spoken -of as ‘The Law of Primogeniture.’ We have, however, -in this country no law of primogeniture in any -sense that can be intended in such a reference. There -is no body of rights attaching by law to the eldest -son. The extent of what may be regarded as law in -this matter is the right of the eldest son of a peer to -succeed to his father’s peerage; and of the eldest sons -of those who have hereditary titles to succeed to their -father’s titles. The power of entailing landed property -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>only acts in favour of the system of primogeniture, -because the holders of landed property themselves -choose to work it in this direction; for it -might be used equally in favour of equal partition. -There is then no law of primogeniture in the sense -supposed. A man who buys land, or in any way -comes to have the absolute disposal of it, as the -word absolute implies, may dispose of it as he pleases. -He may, if such should be his wish, leave it all to his -youngest child, or in equal partition amongst all his -children. Only, should he die intestate, the law will -deal with his land (but we have just been told that -this is to be altered) in the way in which, looking at -the conduct in this matter of English landlords -generally, it may be supposed the man himself would -have dealt with it had he made a will. Possibly he -may not have made a will because he knew that the -law would so dispose of it. The law in the few exceptional -cases of this kind that arise from time to -time, recognises, and acts on, the state of opinion -and sentiment which has grown out of the power, it -had itself given, of charging and encumbering land—a -power which probably had no very glaring economical -evils and inconveniences in an age when the -population of the country was only a third of what -it is at present, and when capital was only in an embryonic -condition, and when, too, perhaps the political -system this power upheld appeared to be necessary.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>It is not, then, any law of primogeniture which has -brought about our present land-system, but certain -powers, conferred by law, which have suggested to -people the desirability of acting on, and enabled -them to act on, the voluntarily adopted principle of -primogeniture; that is to say the power of charging -and encumbering their estates. And, now that the -era of capital is upon us, it is not improbable that the -policy of continuing this power will be debated, for at -such a time it has some very obvious evils and inconveniences. -I do not mean that it will be reconsidered -by the legislature before many years have -elapsed, or in the first instance; for in a matter of -this kind the legislature can do nothing but give -form and sanction to what the circumstances of the -times have already settled. If it shall be generally -felt that the ill consequences of the exercise of this -power overbalance its advantages, we may suppose -that it will be withdrawn. This is not a question -that will be much affected by any amount of speaking -or writing, if that be all. If the facts of the matter -are of themselves not felt as evils and inconveniences, -no amount of speaking or of writing will bring -people so to regard them. But should they come to -be so felt, the people of this country will be desirous -of dealing with them as all men, always and everywhere, -have dealt with such matters, when they were -seen to admit of removal. But however that may -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>be, it is not a law of primogeniture, but certain law-conferred -powers, enabling people to act on the -principle of primogeniture, which are the cause of -the existing state of things in this matter.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the discussion of this subject, which ramifies -in many directions, for it has moral and social, as well -as economical, political, and constitutional bearings, -many questions will be propounded, and will have to -be considered: such, for instance, as whether, in these -several respects, a comparatively small number of large -landowners is better, in this era of capital, and of -large cities, than a large number of landowners, -holding estates varying in dimensions, according to -the amounts of capital people would, from a variety -of motives, be desirous of investing in land, were all -the land of the country free and marketable; or, in -other words, whether, in such times, the artificial condition -of things we have been considering is safer -than, and preferable to, the natural condition? The -share-certificates, I just now spoke about, would make -it free and marketable to the greatest imaginable -degree.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It will also be asked whether it is fair to the -land-owner, and, all things considered, advantageous -to the community, that he should be obliged to provide -for his widow and younger children either by -saving the means for making such provision from his -income, or by leaving to them, absolutely, what portions -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>of his landed property he may think fit? Those -same share-certificates would supply an easy, inexpensive, -and safe method of providing for widows -and younger children.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another question will be whether in this era of -capital, which means that there will always be some -large capitalists as well as many small ones, the -liberation of the land would really lead to the extinction -of large estates? Largeness is a word of -comparative signification. Of course there would be -few such large estates as there are now, because that -is the result of growth through many generations -under the very peculiar circumstances we have been -referring to: but if the interchange of land and -capital were perfectly free there would be everywhere -many considerable estates, though the general order -of things might be estates of moderate size, descending -to holdings of small extent, which might be the -most numerous of all; or such holdings might not be -very numerous: for in matters of this kind there is -always much that is unforeseen. One point, however, -may, I think, be held to be certain: we shall -never, in this country, see anything approximating to -peasant proprietorship. That is simply inconceivable -in the era of capital. Both the land and the man -can be turned, now, to better account. Its advocates -are either ignorant demagogues, or members of that -harmless class who, having their eyes in the back of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>their heads, can only see, and wish for, what has -passed away. If we ever come to have share-estates, -such as I have endeavoured to describe, they will, -probably, average, as I said, about 1,000 acres each.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It will, perhaps, also, be suggested that there may -be some mixed method of proceeding, which, while -respecting existing arrangements, would, at the same -time, largely increase the number of proprietors; as, -for instance, to deal with the rents of endowments -compulsorily, and with those of the owners of land -at their option, just as the tithe was dealt with; that -is to say, to convert the rent into a permanent charge -upon the land; and then to sell the land, subject to -this rent-charge, the yearly value of which would be -ascertained, as is done in the case of the tithe commutation -rent-charge, by reference to certain averages -of the price of the different kinds of grain cultivated -in this country. The immediate gain to corporations, -and trustees, and to proprietors who might be disposed -to sell, would be considerable, for they would -continue to get their present rents, without deductions, -and would, besides, be able to sell the proprietary -right in the land, and its capacity for future increase -in value, for whatever they would fetch in the market. -This would suit the share-system, for the land might -then be bought with or without the rent, as it might -happen in each case.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Our opinions on any question are very much influenced -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>by our observation of the direction things -are taking. Now, with respect to our existing land-system, -all changes in matters connected with, or -bearing upon, it, and which appear to be either -imminent, or possible, are likely to take only the -direction of what will be unfavourable to its maintenance. -For instance, if it be decided that endowments, -now consisting of land, should be capitalised, in order -that more land may be brought into the market, the -line of argument, that triumphed against them, will -be equally available against our existing land-system. -And, furthermore, if the lands belonging to charities, -institutions, and corporations be sold, it is evident -that, as things now are, they will, for the most part, be -bought up by the owners of large contiguous estates; -so that, in fact, the remedy attempted will only make -the evil it was intended to remedy, more glaring: the -great estates will have become greater. The fate of -the corporate estates, thus compulsorily sold, will be -that of the thousands of small properties the large -estates have of late years swallowed up. Everybody -knows that many houses of the gentry of former times -are now farm-houses on every large estate. It cannot -be otherwise, for this is how a large estate is -formed. All the smaller estates in the neighbourhood, -just like the meteoric bodies which come at last -to be overpowered by the attraction of our planet, -must, as things are now, gravitate towards it: their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>end is, sooner or later, generally the former, to fall -into it. So, if the estates of the endowments are -sold, will it be with them. It has been so with those -that have been already sold.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Again, if the Church be disestablished and disendowed, -a certain proportion of the rent of each -parish in the country, pretty generally more or less -increased by private income, will cease to be spent -within the parish. What is so spent at present, as far -as it goes, and to a great extent in many cases, lessens -the hard and repellent features of the absenteeism -of the owners of the land in those parishes. Disendowment, -therefore, will make the evils and inconveniences -of the present system, whatever they may be, more felt, -and more conspicuous; and a better mark, as they will -then stand clear of all shelter, for adverse comment.</p> - -<p class='c006'>So, too, if the agricultural land of this country -should continue, and there is no reason for supposing -the contrary, to fall, year by year, into fewer hands, the -strength of those who will have to defend the system -will be diminishing at the very time that wealth, -intelligence, numbers, union, and every element of -power, are increasing on the side of those who cannot -see that they have any interest in maintaining it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>If the recent Education Act have the intended -effect of educating the millions who have no landed -property, the most coveted of all human possessions, -will they find anything in the existing system that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>will commend it to their favour? Will they not -rather be in favour of a system, which would make -every acre of land in the country marketable?</p> - -<p class='c006'>If people should come to think that the reason -why France, notwithstanding the abject condition of -a large proportion of its peasant-proprietors, and -without our stupendous prosperity in manufactures -and commerce, has become so rich, is that it keeps its -savings at home, because the land of the country is -marketable, while we, every year, scatter tens of millions -of pounds of our savings all over the earth to be utterly -lost, because they cannot be invested at home in the -land of the country, the natural reservoir, or savings’ -bank, of the surplus capital of a country, as well as the -best field for its employment, will they not go on to wish -that the land here, too, could be made marketable?</p> - -<p class='c006'>If population and capital go on increasing, may -we not anticipate that this will engender a desire—for -in these days of railways and telegraphs it is much -the same where a man lives—that the agricultural -land of the country should be brought into the state -of divisibility and marketableness, into which some -of the land in the neighbourhood of our great cities -has been brought through the pressure of circumstances? -This pressure may extend, and be felt -with respect to the land of the whole country.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In an era, too, when popular principles so thoroughly -pervade society as to influence all our legislation, is -it probable that a system which is the reverse of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>popular will commend itself to general acceptance? -It is also on the cards now that manual labour may -become so costly as to necessitate, if a great deal of -land is not to go out of cultivation, the substitution of -machinery to such an extent as will be done, generally, -only by those who own the land.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The whole stream of tendency, then, both in what -is now occurring, and in what is likely to occur in no -remote future, seems setting strongly in a direction -which cannot be regarded as favourable to the maintenance -of our present land-system. And the observation -of this will, sooner or later, consciously or -unconsciously, very much modify opinion on the -subject; for in human affairs, just as with respect to -the operations of Nature, we are disposed to acquiesce -in what we have come to understand is inevitable.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But we have for some time lost sight of the Valley -of the Visp, though not of its imaginary sole Proprietor. -He has all along been before us. What we have been -considering was how, in this era of capital, he came -to be its sole proprietor, what are the action and effects -of those artificial conditions which placed him in this -position, and what are the chances of the maintenance -of these artificial conditions.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Things move fast in these days: but few people -expect that any change will take place in his time. -He will continue in the position of social eminence, -and of political power, he now occupies. He will -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>go on hoping to leave after him a line of descendants -occupying the same, or even a greater, position. This -will be the dominant motive in his mind. If any land -is to be bought in his neighbourhood, there will still -be a likelihood that he will become the purchaser of -it. It has always been so, since the estate became -the predominant one in those parts. And that it -should be so is now regarded almost as a law of -nature; as something quite inevitable; so that no -one need enquire whether it is beneficent in its action, -or otherwise. If he have not cash in hand to pay for -the new purchase, he will mortgage his property to -the amount of the price. In this era of capital the -value of land goes on increasing, and so the mortgage -will in time be paid off by the estate itself. In this -way, in these times, every large estate has within -itself, even without Austrian marriages,<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c024'><sup>[1]</sup></a> a progress-generated -power of absorption and growth. Without -lessening the area of the estate, he will provide for -those who are dependent on him by charging it with -the payment of whatever he may please to leave -them: so that while no very apparent injustice will -be done to them, the position of the single representative -of the family will not be affected, for he will -still appear before the world as the owner of the whole -estate. He will also hope that, from time to time, -the representatives of the family will, by making purchases -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>in the way in which he has, and by the introduction -of great heiresses into the family, increase the -extent of the estate.</p> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c023'><span class='label'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. </span>Bella gerant alii. Tu felix Austria nube: - Nam, quæ Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Venus.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c006'>At times, when he hears how demagogues are -raving about the nationalisation of the land, and the -tyranny of capital; and when he visits the valley, -and sees the condition of many, indeed of all the -people on the estate, he may feel that he is in a somewhat -invidious position. But he will feel also that no -one is to blame: his progenitors could not well have -acted otherwise than as they did; nor could he well -act otherwise than as he is acting, and will act. And -those who are discussing the matter, sometimes with -the tone of men who are suffering a wrong, would, we -may be sure, not act otherwise, under the circumstances, -themselves.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Suppose, however, that for the restricted and artificial -action of capital, which has brought this state of -things about, its natural action has been substituted: -what will be the effect on the hopes, and on the family, -of the proprietor of our valley? We may venture to -predict that the natural order of things will give him -a securer chance of realising his hopes in their best -sense. His family will start, in the race of life, in -possession of the whole of the land of the valley. For -them this will be no bad start. The land of the -valley will bear division for several generations without -reducing the members of the family to a bad -position, even if none of them should do anything at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>all to improve their position. But this, judging by -the ordinary principles of human nature, we may be -sure, speaking generally, will not be the case. Two -centuries hence, it will be their own fault, if, instead -of the family being really only one man, they have -not become a clan in the valley: a clan possessed of -more social importance, and of more political influence, -than could attach to a family represented by -a single member. Some will have become invigorated -by the inducements to exertion that will have -come home to them, and by the wholesome consciousness -in each that he is somewhat dependent on himself -for maintaining and improving his position. -Whatever efforts to advance themselves they may -come to make, will not be made under unfavourable -circumstances. None of them will have occasion to -feel, as perhaps some of their ancestors at times had, -that they are in an invidious position; and none -will regard them with feelings that, if not ‘somewhat -leavened with a sense of injustice,’ do yet arise from -a suspicion that things are not quite as they ought -to be, through there having been some kind of interference -with their natural course. Is not this a -nobler, a more patriotic, a more human, and in every -way a better prospect than that which is now feeding -the somewhat misdirected paternal ambition of the -present proprietor? Would it not be a better anticipation -of the fortunes of his family, to think of them -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>as a numerous body of proprietors, occupying a -good position, through the natural action of the circumstances -and conditions of the times, than to look -forward to the uncertain character and uncertain -position of a single member of his family, who will be -maintained, if maintained, by conditions, on the permanency -of which no dependence can be placed, -because they are at discord with the needs and circumstances -of the times?</p> - -<p class='c006'>Land now no longer rules. Capital is king. -Capital it is that does everything now; that even, but -under abnormal and artificial conditions, aggregates -our large estates. Under this dynasty the advantages -the land is capable of conferring on man are not withdrawn, -but much increased both in degree and in -variety; and everything desirable, the land not excepted, -becomes, in a manner and degree inconceivable -in all foregone times, the reward of personal exertion -and worth. This is what distinguishes this dynasty -from those that have preceded it. If it be the true -king, it will prove its legitimacy, by removing all artificial -barriers to the development and exercise of its -beneficent powers. If it cannot do this, it is a -bastard dynasty, and will be dethroned.</p> -<hr class='c015' /> -<p class='c006'>V. But I have not yet exhausted all the possible -forms in which land may be held. Their name is -legion. Every country, and every condition of society, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>has had, has now, and will have, its own. I say -nothing of the serf-system: that among civilised -nations has gone for ever. So has the system of -village communities. The co-operative system, however, -has believers, and, it appears possible, may have -a trial. But I, for one, because I believe in capital, -and in the individual, have no belief in this kind of -co-operation, as a general system, either in manufactures -and commerce, or, and that least of all, in -agriculture: and, with respect to the latter, whether -the co-operators be renters, or owners. Ownership -would make no difference at all beyond the power -owners would possess of mortgaging their land; -and this, as it is a resource that would very soon be -exhausted, need not be considered here. The only -practical difference would be, that co-operative renters -would require a larger extent of land to live from -than co-operative owners, whose land was unmortgaged. -If the system of co-operation were general, competition, -and the increase of population that would have -to be provided for, and which would lead either to -subdivision, or to an increase of co-operators upon -each farm, would inevitably bring the style of living -down to a point at which it would be no better than -it is now in the Visp Valley. And this is so low a -condition of life, both materially and intellectually, -that most people are of opinion that it is not worth -while to go in for its maintenance, or even, perhaps, -to regret its disappearance.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>A population of co-operators sunk to this depth, -and they could not but sink to it, would, like the old -Irish potatovors, or the French petty proprietors, be -in a state of chronic wretchedness and degradation: -this, in bad seasons, amounts to a state of starvation. -If the individual Irish potatovor could not, and the -individual French petty proprietor, in whom the parsimonious -disposition of his race is exaggerated, rarely -can, save, because bad seasons oblige him to mortgage -his little plot of land, from which he can hardly -extract a living in good seasons, we may be sure that -neither would, nor could, such co-operators. I am -disposed to prefer the present condition of our agricultural -labourers, the most feeble class amongst us. -At all events, they have more than one buffer between -themselves and bad seasons. First there is the -reservoir of capital possessed by the farmer. This is, -to the extent of wages, generally, sufficient. In consequence -of its existence bad seasons make little or no -difference to hired labourers. But under the co-operative -system there would be no farmers, but only co-operators, -just able to get along in ordinary seasons. -Our labourers have, also, a second buffer, which is -often of some use to them, in their wealthy neighbours. -But under the co-operative system there would probably -be no wealthy neighbours. They possess, too, -a third buffer in the State, which comes in, in the -last resort, to rescue them from the extreme consequences -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>of every kind of calamity. But under a -system of peasant co-operators there could hardly be -anything resembling our poor-law; for the rationale of -that is, that the people who cultivate the soil of the -country, are themselves devoid of all property. These -three buffers, then, would all have disappeared; and -nothing, as far as we can see, would arise, or could be -created, to take their place. Such co-operators -would be only co-operative peasant-proprietors: which -is an absurdity.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another sufficient objection to this system is, that -this is the era of capital, and that such a system -would most effectually prohibit the outflow of capital -to the land. Capital could no more be invested in -the ownings of a wretched population of co-operators, -than it could be in the plots of Irish potatovors, or of -French petty proprietors.</p> -<hr class='c015' /> -<p class='c006'>The conclusion, then, to which my moralising on -the spectacle of the Valley of the Visp brought me -was, that it belongs to a state of things, which, even -in such secluded retreats, will not be able to linger on -much longer: at all events, that it is not desirable -that it should. We live under the dominion of -capital, that is to say, of property other than land, or -rather, perhaps, of an accumulated, and still accumulating, -interest or dividend-bearing essence of all -property (which is labour stored up in some material), -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>reconvertible at will, for productive purposes, into -land, labour, or anything men have of exchangeable -value. This mighty essence of all property is within -the reach of us all, in proportion to our respective -opportunities and abilities, and the efforts to gain -possession of it we choose to make. But though -within the reach of all, it is the mightiest of all magicians; -and it is evident that it must modify both the -possession, the distribution, and the use of land, as -well as everything else with which we have to do. In -this there is nothing to be regretted. On the contrary, -we ought all of us to congratulate ourselves on the -advent of such an era: for it means that our resources -for living, and for living well, in respect of all -the requirements of human happiness, have been -thereby vastly enlarged, and with a power of indefinite -enlargement, irrespective of the area of the country. -It means, too, that careers have been thereby -opened to all, in ways which would have been inconceivable -when land supplied the only resource -for living; for that now every moral and intellectual -endowment, every form of labour, and every aptitude -can be turned to account. Even land can be made -productive of greater benefits to us than we were -wont to derive from it, for capital is showing that it -has economical, and other, capacities for improving -man’s estate, undreamt of by its old cultivators.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Popular language, which is the expression of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>popular ideas, on this subject is adequate. It gives -correctly the philosophy of the matter. What is -wanted is that it should be clearly and generally -understood, and used with accuracy. Money has -both an intrinsic value as the representative of so -much labour expended in the acquisition of the -precious metals, and a conventional use as a metallic -certificate, entitling its holder to exchange it against -anything else in the world anyone has to part with, -that costs in its production an equal amount of labour, -there being at the time no abnormal disturbance -of the ratio of supply and demand. In the latter -respect it matters not whether the certificate is on -gold or paper: for the paper represents gold, or equal -value. When earned, or otherwise acquired, by a -kitchen-maid, a speculator, or a prime-minister, it -may be used in any one of three ways. First, it may -be spent. Secondly, it may be hoarded. Thirdly, it -may be used as capital. By spending is meant using -money for the acquisition of what perishes in the use; -when it passes into another man’s hands who again -has the option of using it in any one of the three -ways. It is evident that a man may spend money -for clothing, food, and other necessary purposes, in -order to live, and to enable him to do his work in -life well, whatever it may be: it is then spent well, -and in a sense productively. Or he may spend it -on vice, or ostentation, or hurtful pleasures: it is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>then spent ill. By hoarding is meant putting it away -unproductively for future use. This was originally the -only alternative to spending. The money stored -away in the treasuries of the old Pharaohs was an -instance of this unproductive suspension of use. This -is still the practice, everywhere, among rude and ignorant -people: it is the hibernation of money; its -active uses are put in abeyance. As capital it may -be used in two ways. It may either be invested, -or employed. Investing it means placing it in securities -that do not require management, as, for instance, -consols, mortgages, the rent of land, &c.; the correlative -of which is interest. Employing it means -placing it in reproductive industries, as, for instance, -in agriculture, manufactures, trade, commerce, &c., -which require management, and the correlative of -which is profit. This when divided among shareholders, -who manage the concern jointly, or by a -selection from their body, becomes dividend. This -is the highest form of economical organisation. It -gives to all, in their respective proportions, however -small those proportions may be, the power of -employing capital; and to all who have the ability -and integrity, the chance of rising to its management. -It is the full development of the era of capital. It -is the stage we have now reached. It enables the -kitchen-maid, and everybody, to participate in the -highest advantages of capital. I think we shall see it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>employed in this way in the cultivation and proprietorship -of the land. If so, then, I think the poor and -ignorant will have brought home to them a very -strong motive for saving, because they will have constantly -before their eyes a safe and profitable means -of employing their savings. They, too, may thus -become capitalists of the best kind.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Two pregnant errors, however, there appear to be, -which it will be necessary for us to avoid, especially, in -order that, as respects the land, we may secure the natural -conditions and natural advantages of our era of capital. -One is the error of making people’s wills for them directly, -in the way done in France. This breaks up the -land of a country into properties smaller than they would -become under the natural circumstances of the times: -thus condemning, through legislation, a large part of -the population, deluded by the fallacious disguise of -proprietorship, to life-long misery. The other error -is that of making people’s wills for them indirectly, -in the way done in some other countries. This has -the opposite effect of agglomerating the land of the -country into estates larger than they would become -under the natural circumstances of the times, and of -reducing the number of proprietors of agricultural land -almost to the vanishing point. The first method both -increases the number of wretched, degraded, and almost -useless proprietors, and diminishes the size of the -properties, to a highly mischievous degree. The latter -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>just in proportion as it increases the size of the estates -diminishes the number of proprietors. Both limit the -variety of uses to which the land may be put. Both -introduce causes of political action at variance with -the natural conditions of the times. Every system -has some advantages: but whatever may be the -advantages of the latter, it is, at all events, an interference -with the natural rights of each generation, -and with the natural course of things; for it prevents -the ownership, and the uses, of the land of the country -adjusting themselves to the circumstances and the -requirements of the times; and hinders the application, -to its culture, of that combination of knowledge, -energy, and capital, which is manifestly within reach, -and has become requisite for developing its productiveness -to the degree acknowledged to be possible -now, but which cannot be secured under our present -landlord-and-tenant system. If, however, this be a -serious evil, it is, for reasons already given, one of -that class of evils which engender their own remedy.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Many are of opinion that landlordism was all -along at the bottom of the evils of Ireland. Landlordism -is probably the cause of the Liberalism of -Scotch constituencies. If so, what is there to prevent -the same cause having, eventually, somewhat similar -effects in England? And, if so, then, what next? -If, however, the law, instead of interfering with the -natural course of things, by indirectly making people’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>wills for them, would take care that the land of the -country should pass from generation to generation, -and from hand to hand, free from every kind of -encumbrance, and so be all, at all times, at the will -of the holder, marketable, a question, which is now -causing much anxiety, because it may, before long, -give much trouble, would probably die away, and be -no more heard of; nor, probably, should we hear any -more of the antagonisms, with which we are all now -so familiar, between the town and the country. One -step, at least, would have been taken towards making -us one people.</p> -<hr class='c015' /> -<p class='c006'>The stimulus new scenes apply to the mind, more -particularly when its owner is passing through them -on foot, and alone, accounts for the foregoing chapter. -But its having been thought out under such circumstances -by A is no reason for its being read by B, -who is neither on foot, nor, probably, alone; and the -only scene before whom is, doubtless, the not unfamiliar -one of his own fireside; one which, perhaps, -has never invited, and may, too, be quite unfitted for, -either the debate, or the rumination, of such discussions. -Still, as it was suggested by, and constructed -in the mind during, the tramp I am recording, and -was so one of its incidents, I set it down here in its -place.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER V.<br /> <br /><span class='c025'>WALK TO SAAS IM GRUND—FEE, AND ITS GLACIER—THE MATTMARK SEE</span></h2> -</div> -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>Nature never did betray</div> - <div class='line'>The heart that loved her. ’Tis her privilege</div> - <div class='line'>Through all the years of this our life to lead</div> - <div class='line'>From joy to joy: for she can so inform</div> - <div class='line'>The mind that is within us, so impress</div> - <div class='line'>With quietness and beauty, and so feed</div> - <div class='line'>With lofty thoughts.—<span class='sc'>Wordsworth.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c002'><i>September 4.</i>—Started at 6 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span> My wife and -myself on foot, the little boy on horseback. We -walked down the Zermatt valley to Stalden; and -then, turning to the right, ascended the Saas valley. -The latter being narrower—so narrow as to bring the -opposite mountains very near to you—makes the -scenery often more striking than that of the parallel, -and wider, valley you have just left. Sometimes the -mountain sides are so precipitous, quite down to the -torrent, which tumbles, and brawls, along the rocky -bottom, that no space is presented even for a cherry -or apple-tree. For a great part of the way there is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>no valley, but only a fissure between the two mountain -ranges; and nothing can establish itself in the rifts, -and almost on the surface of the rocks, but the larch.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We stopped at a small roadside inn, about an -hour and a half from Saas, for luncheon. A German -professor and his wife came in for the same purpose. -He was a tall, gaunt, study-worn man; she a tough, -determined little woman. He recommended Heidelberg -(it was not his university) both as a winter residence, -and as a place of education. The pair appeared -to be, like their country-people generally, honest, -earnest, and simple-minded, and in the habit of making -the most of their small means without complaining. -They were carrying very little besides themselves. -We reached Saas im Grund at 12.30. We had been -on our legs for six hours. The reason why walking -on the level takes more out of one than climbing for -an equal number of hours, is not merely that in -walking the effort is always the same, but that it is at -the same time rapid and continuous; whereas in -climbing it is not only varied, sometimes up and -sometimes down, but is also deliberate, and often interrupted -for a moment or two, while you are looking -where to set your foot.</p> - -<p class='c006'>A guide, who was on his way to Saas, overtook -us soon after we had left St. Niklaus, and asked permission -to accompany our party. He had lately -made his first attempt to ascend the Matterhorn. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>He had not got to the top, but his having failed to -do so was no fault of his. He could speak a little -French, and was a good-natured, talkative fellow.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At Saas we put up at Zurbriggen’s Hotel. We -found the house clean, the people obliging, the charges -moderate, and the aspect of things quite unlike—all -the difference being on the right side—that of the -large Swiss caravansary.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The contrast between Saas and Zermatt is very -great. At Zermatt the valley ends, with great emphasis, -in a grand amphitheatre of mountains and -snowy peaks. At Saas it seems suddenly brought to -a close without any objects of interest to look upon. -With the mind full of Zermatt, Saas appears but a -lame and impotent conclusion. The village, however, -is very far indeed from being at the head of the valley. -That is to be found at the Monte Moro, five hours -further on; and, as it includes the Allalein glacier, -the grand scenery of the Mattmark See, and of the -Monte Moro itself, it has enough to satisfy even great -expectations; such as one has, of course, coming -from Zermatt.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>September 5.</i>—Went to the Fee glacier with the -guide who had joined company with us yesterday. -My wife and I walked. The blue boy rode. The -path from the village lies across the stream, and up -the hill on the west side of the valley. This brings -you to a mountain-surrounded expanse of greenest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>grass, in which lies the village of Fee. The substantial -character of the <i>châlets</i>, and their tidy air, -imply that the inhabitants of the place are pretty -well off. At the western extremity of the reclaimed -and irrigated meadow is the great Fee glacier. The -mounds and ridges of <i>débris</i> the glacier has brought -down are very considerable. I mean the mounds -and ridges that are still naked; for, of course, all that -now forms the cultivated valley must equally, only at -remoter dates, have been brought down by the same -agency. The only difference between the two is that -time, and man, have levelled the latter, and enabled -it to clothe itself in a vestment of luxuriant grass. -This grass it is that has built and peopled the village. -In this way human thought and feeling, or rather the -multiplication of the thinking and feeling organism, -man, is the direct result of the storms, and frosts, that -have shattered, and riven, the mountain peaks above; -and of the glacier which has transported the fragments -to the sheltered valley, where they could be -turned to human account; and, in the act of transporting -them, so ground and comminuted their constituent -particles as to render them capable of maintaining -a rich vegetation; and which same glacier is, -at this moment, engaged in supplying the irrigating -streams, the stimulant of the richness of the vegetation.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The upper part of the naked <i>débris</i> overlays large -masses of ice. This is very uneven, and full of depressions -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>and cracks, the sides of which are, generally, -covered with loose stones, but, sometimes, only with a -thin film of mud. A fall upon this combination of -ice, pebbles, and slush is the easily attained consequence -of inattention to what you are about, and -where you are going, while crossing such ground. We -had a walk on the glacier; and then, having taken in -a fresh supply of materials for keeping up the steam, -at a station on one of the <i>moraine</i> ridges, which gave -us a good view of the contiguous glacier, the overhanging -mountains, and the green valley, we returned -to Saas in the afternoon.</p> - -<p class='c006'>After dinner I started with our guide—his communicativeness -during the two days he had been with -us had made us feel as if he were an old acquaintance—for -a walk over the Monte Moro, down the Val -Anzasca, and over the Simplon, to Brieg. I also took -a porter with me, who was to carry my <i>sac</i> as far as -Macugnaga, from which place the guide was to take -charge of it. He would not undertake to carry it where -he was known as a guide, for that, he affirmed, would be -losing caste. My wrappers I sent from Saas to Brieg -by post. The charge was a franc and a half for a -great coat and shawl. The latter, of fine wool, four -yards in length, and two in width, is less than half -the weight of an ordinary travelling rug, and more -than twice as serviceable. My portmanteau I had -already despatched from Zermatt for Brieg by the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>same common carriers. The facilities of the Swiss -post-office for the conveyance of baggage—we found -them very convenient—result from the department -having absorbed all the diligences. It has thus -become the carrier not only of letters, but equally of -travellers, and of parcels of all kinds. In fact it -seems that in Switzerland you may post anything -short of a house. Mistakes appear to be made very -seldom; and when they are made you have a responsible -office to deal with, whose interest it is to -set them right. At Saas the post-master was also -the chemist, the doctor, the alpenstock-maker, &c. -&c. of the place. Where there are but few people -there must be many employments which will not -occupy the whole of a man’s time, or, singly, support -him.</p> - -<p class='c006'>My wife and the little boy accompanied me half -of the way to the Mattmark See. Our plan was that -they should return to Saas, and on the third day -meet me again at Brieg. Soon after they left me I -met two well-grown, clean-limbed Englishmen—it is -always a pleasure to meet such specimens of one’s -countrymen—with whom I had a little conversation. -I asked them what snow there was on the pass which -they had just come over. They told me they had -crossed seven snow-fields. The next morning I found -only four, and of these two small enough. They -could have had no wish to misrepresent; but so fallible -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>is human testimony; and nowhere more so than in -Switzerland, where you never find two eye-witnesses -giving the same account of the same thing. It is -possible, however, that they may have made some -<i>détour</i> in crossing, and, illogically, answered a question -different from the one put to them.</p> - -<p class='c006'>When the path reaches the Allalein glacier the -scenery becomes grand. You are again on the -visible confines of the ice-and-snow world. On the -left side of the glacier you ascend a stiffish mountain. -This brings you to the Mattmark See. The path -is a little above, and the whole length of, its eastern -side. It is carried on a level line along a very rocky -descent, a few yards above the water. The humble -plants in the narrow rocky strip between the path and -the lake were charmingly full of colour, for at this -time the leaves of many of them were assuming their -rich autumnal tints. At the foot of this narrow -strip of shattered rocks, interspersed with highly -coloured vegetation, was the unruffled water, looking -like polished steel, dark, hard, smooth, and cold. -Beyond the water, and rising precipitously from it, -towered the rugged, slaty-coloured mountains, capped -with white, and streaked in their ravines with snow-drifts -and glaciers.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At the further end of the lake stands the Mattmark -Inn, exactly where it ought to stand. Further -back, you would be disturbed by the feeling that you -<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>had not yet seen everything, and so were forming an -imperfect conception of the scene. Further on, the -scene would, by comparison, be dull. Higher up, the -opposite mountain would not look so overpowering, -and you would lose the mighty masses of fallen -rock, as big as houses, which are close to the inn; -and you might also lose the water, which is the distinguishing -feature of the scene. As to the inn itself, -so far away in the mountains you cannot expect anything -very extensive either in the way of structure -or of <i>cuisine</i>. But you will get here, which is worlds -better, a clean house, very obliging people, and all -that they can offer for your entertainment—of course -without much variety—good of its kind. If you go -to Switzerland for what is peculiar to Switzerland, -these are the places you should look out for. Large -hotels, full of loiterers, among whom there may be -perhaps a French count, or even a Russian Prince, -may be found elsewhere than in Switzerland, should -you think them worth finding. But the very advantage -of the Mattmark See Inn, and of other mountain -inns like it, is that you will see in them none of -this kind of people, while you will have plenty of the -grandest mountain scenery, and plenty of mountain -work, if that is what you have come for, all around -you. From the great hotels you may see the outline -of the mountains; but that is a very different -thing from being in the midst of the mountains themselves; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>in the very society and company of the -mountains; so that you look at each other face to -face, and can make out all their features, and all the -components, and the whole colouring, of every -feature.</p> - -<p class='c006'>From Saas to the Mattmark See Hotel is three -hours and a half. Before turning in I ordered coffee -at 3.50 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span>, and told the guide and porter to be -ready for a start at 4 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span></p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER VI.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>OVER MONTE MORO BY MACUGNAGA TO PONTE GRANDE, AND DOMO D’OSSOLA</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Creation’s heir, the world, the world is mine.—<span class='sc'>Goldsmith.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c002'><i>September 6.</i>—At 3.50 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span> coffee was ready, but -was told that it was not so with the guide and porter. -On looking them up, I found them both in bed, and -asleep. I was not quite unprepared for this, from -something I had been told at Saas about the way in -which my friend sometimes spent his evenings. But, -having taken a kind of liking to him, I had replied -that this would make no difference to me, so long as -he was all right during the day. About that I was -assured that I need entertain no doubt. The delay, -however, caused on this occasion, by his inability to -wake of himself at the appointed time, did not, as it -happened, amount to much. After a gentle ascent of, -if I recollect rightly, about forty minutes, and somewhat -beyond the Distel <i>châlets</i>, we came to the first -snow. It might have been a quarter of a mile across. -With nails in your boots, and an alpenstock in your -<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>hand, this is almost as easy to walk upon as the path -that brings you to it, only, of course, that you cannot -walk upon it quite so quickly. Beyond this, the -ascent is somewhat stiff up to the summit. Sometimes -it is on a ledge of gneiss, with a deep precipice -down to the glacier-ravine on your left hand. Another -snow-field also has to be crossed here, which lies at -an angle of, perhaps, 25° or 30°. The summit of the -pass is like a small crater a few yards across. Here -my friend, who had been as brisk and talkative as -heretofore since we started, called a halt for breakfast. -The cold meat and bread were certainly of the driest, -and that perhaps encouraged him in the idea that not -they, but the liquid with which they were washed -down, was the essential part of the repast. Young -Andermatten, a name well known in these parts, was -now carrying my <i>sac</i>. He had met us between the -two snow-fields we had passed, and as my porter -had some reason for wishing to return to Saas, he had -undertaken to supply his place to Macugnaga.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As soon as you leave the summit you begin to -descend a ledge of very smooth gneiss, about six or -eight feet wide. On your left is a precipice; on -your right a broken wall of rock. You go down this -for about a hundred yards, and then get off it by a -few projecting steps, which have been fixed in the -face of the rock. This takes you on to some snow -lying at a sharp incline. It would not do to slip on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>this ledge of gneiss; and, at first, not being used to -such paths, that is to say if it is your first pass, you -think you must slip. But you take heart when you -see your guide walking down it much the same as if -he were walking on London pavement. He turns -round to see what you are about, and to offer assistance; -but that you cannot accept. Still you are -glad when it is done. The descent to Macugnaga is, -throughout, rough and steep. Ascending it, and with -the sun on your back—it faces the south—must be -hard work. If it had been a Swiss mountain there -would, long ago, have been a good horse-path made -to the top.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This is an old and easy pass. Ordinary lungs, -ankles, and head, are all that it wants. It was known -to, and used by, the Romans. It was for some time -occupied by the Saracens, who left their name upon -it, as they did names of their own on several peaks -and places around it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As you trudge over the mountain, in the fresh -morning air, accompanied by your guide and porter, -and with your attention quickened to receive the impressions -of the grandeur around you, which you know -will hold a place among the most valued and abiding -of your mental possessions, you feel as if you were -really one of the lords of creation. This feeling -would be a wee bit marred, if the eternal mountain -had been presumptuously appropriated by some -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>mortal molecule, for then you might be troubled with -apprehensions of disturbing, or of being thought -likely to disturb, his ibexes and chamois.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I made the Monte Rosa Hotel at Macugnaga at -8.30; that is to say, in four hours from the Mattmark -See, excluding the twenty minutes’ halt in the little -crateriform chamber on the top of the Moro. I now -had a breakfast, which, by the grace of ‘mine host,’ -bore a close resemblance to a dinner, for it consisted -of a long succession of dishes. This did not come -amiss to one who, having been up some time before -the sun, had an appetite that took a deal of killing; -and ‘mine host’ had also the grace to charge modestly -for what he purveyed bountifully. I found that the -inn of the Mattmark See was an off-hand house of -his, under the management of his wife. He is besides -by profession a guide. He must, therefore, be doubly -disposed to regard with favour and sympathy those -who do the Monte Moro. I found here a London -member of the faculty, who was making Macugnaga -his head-quarters for a part of his holiday; and his -fuller experiences of the house, and landlord, were all -on the right side. The balcony of the hotel commands -the best possible view of the upper ten -thousand feet of Monte Rosa: its subterranean foundations—the -remaining third of its height—are spread -out beneath you. You are just at a good distance for -taking in the whole of the visible structure—the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>height, the form, the ravines, the glacier, and the contiguous -peaks, with the head of the valley for the -foreground. It is a grand, varied, complete, impressive -sight.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At 1 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span> left the Monte Rosa Hotel for Ponte -Grande. The guide, who was now also porter, -shouldered my <i>sac</i> with a jaunty air, and we started -at a good pace. My new acquaintance of the hotel -joined company for the first mile and a half. At -parting we hoped that we should meet again at the -Athenæum. At this point you leave the path on -<i>terra firma</i>, and take to a path, laid on a wooden -platform, strewn with sand, which overhangs the -brawling Anza. This platform road is curious, and -well worth seeing. In some places it is supported -by lofty pine poles, which must be fifty or sixty feet -high. You hardly understand how support can be -found for it in the sheer chasms it occasionally has -to be carried along. I have somewhere read that the -old Roman road along the bank of the Danube was in -places constructed in this fashion, and that the holes -cut in the rock, for the bearings of the king-posts -and struts, are still visible. This of the Anza is very -much out of repair. In some places there are gaps -you must step, or jump, over. In others it has been -entirely destroyed, and you must make a little <i>détour</i> -to recover it. For a mile or two, or more, above -Ceppo Morelli you quit it altogether, and take to a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>rocky mule path, which might easily enough be very -considerably improved. At Ceppo Morelli is a bridge -of one long, slender, much-elevated arch, somewhat -in the form a loop caterpillar assumes in walking. -Here you return to the left bank; and the carriage -road of the Val Anzasca commences. Hitherto we -had been walking at a good pace for a rough path; -but now the road, having become smooth, invited us -to quicken our pace to near four miles an hour. The -guide, who had already called two halts, now called -them at shorter intervals. He was evidently breaking -down. Still he was unwilling to lessen speed. We -reached Ponte Grande in a little over four hours. -Here is what appeared to be a fairly good hotel. -Just before I turned in, the waitress came to inform -me that my guide had ordered a carriage, in my -name, for the next day. She suspected that all was -not right. I asked her to have the carriage counter-ordered, -as he was under contract to walk with me -over the Simplon to Brieg; and to tell him that I -should be off at five o’clock in the morning.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>September 7.</i>—Found that the guide’s feet were so -swollen that he was quite incapable of going any -further. The way, I suppose, in which I had understood -that he sometimes spent his evenings had been -a bad preparation for continuous hard walking, in a -valley with very little air, commanded all day by an -unclouded sun, and with a dozen, or more, pounds on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>his back. I was now obliged to leave my <i>sac</i>, with -instructions that it should be sent on to Domo -D’Ossola by diligence; and then started alone. To -Pié de Muléra (7½ miles) there is an excellent carriage -road. So far you are on the mountain side. From -thence to Domo D’Ossola (about 7 miles more) the -road is generally on the flat. There was a perfectly -clear sky, and no air was stirring; and so I found the -latter part of my morning’s tramp very warm. Under -such conditions one might expect even a water-drinker’s -feet to swell.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I was in Domo D’Ossola at 12 o’clock. Having -breakfasted leisurely and looked over the newspapers -in the reading-room of the hotel, I was ready for -another ten or twelve miles; and should have done -this in the evening had I not thought it better to -wait for my <i>sac</i>. As it was, I spent the afternoon -and night at Domo. As I care little for towns, particularly -third or fourth-rate ones, and have seen -enough of churches and hôtels de ville, this was an -unprofitable waste of time. I amused myself as well -as I could with the arrival and departure of the diligences, -and with the Italian aspect of things. The -hotel was cheerless and lifeless. As soon as a diligence -left, everyone about the place suddenly became -invisible, just as if they had all sunk into the ground, -or melted away into the air. Still, it may be the least -unlively house, as things go, in a place so dismally -doleful.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>To go back then to the valley of the Anza. As -soon as you enter it at Macugnaga you see that you -are among a more sprightly and joyous people; and -are struck with the contrasts between them and the -homely Swiss on the other side of the mountains. -They are better dressed, and with more attention to -effect; particularly the women with their white linen -smocks, showing very white beneath the dark jacket, -not untouched with colour—this is worn open and -sleeveless; and with their more gaudily-coloured kerchiefs -on their heads. The dress of the fairer part -of creation in Switzerland is somewhat sombre. They -make little use of colour, and appear to be attracted -most by what will wear best; and, if it may be -written, will require least washing. The women in -this valley have good eyes. They are not unaware -of the advantage, and use them accordingly. Their -complexion, too, is clear. That of the Swiss is, -generally, somewhat cloudy. Their bearing and air -are those of people who are of opinion that the best -use of life is to enjoy it. The Swiss seem to regard -life as if they were a little oppressed by its cares and -labours. Perhaps the conditions of existence on their -side of the mountains are so hard, that the people -must take things seriously. One respects their laborious -industry. There is a kind of manliness in their -never-ending struggle against the niggardliness and -severity of nature. This, and their forethought, one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>applauds, only regretting that so much toil should -secure so little enjoyment; and should have such -humble issues. There is something that pleases, and -attracts, in the smiles, and in the greater sense of -enjoyment, of the light-hearted Italian.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the upper part of this valley German is still -spoken. Here also it is observable that not nearly so -much has been done, as on the Swiss side, to reclaim -and irrigate the land. You wish to know whether -this is at all attributable to a difference in the distribution -and tenure of landed property. You pass -several mines: some of gold. The abundance and -size of the chesnut-trees are a new feature. You -contrast their freely-spreading branches and noble -foliage with the formal and gloomy pines, of whose -society you have lately had much.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER VII.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>THE SIMPLON</span></h2> -</div> -<p class='c026'>Julius Cæsar also left behind him a treatise in two books on Analogy -(<i>a department of grammar</i>); which he composed while crossing the -Alps.—<span class='sc'>Suetonius.</span></p> - -<p class='c002'><i>September 8.</i>—Last night I had told the head-waiter -that I must be off at 5 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span>, and he had replied -that it was impossible: that at that hour no one in -the hotel would be up; that coffee could not be prepared -before six. I, however, gained my point by -asking him to set the coffee for me overnight; telling -him that I would take it in the morning cold. This -proposal appeared to him so uncivilised, that he was -confounded by its enormity, and offered no further -resistance. I then paid the bill; and was off this -morning at the desired time.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As my <i>sac</i> had not arrived from Ponte Grande, I -left written instructions that, when it turned up—it was -due last evening—it should be sent on to Brieg. -Thus I had gained nothing by the afternoon I had -lost. At Ponte Grande, on the morning after the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>break-down of my own porter-guide, it was evident -that the master of the hotel had conceived the very -natural idea of persuading me to take one of his -people in that double capacity, or, that failing, to take -a carriage. In resentment of this, I had contented -myself with putting into my pocket what I should -want most during the two following days; and had -left the bag, and the rest of what was in it, to chance. -I now saw the absurdity of what I had done; for -why, in such a matter, should I have taken into consideration, -the landlord’s scheming, or anything in the -world, except my own convenience? My bag, as -might have been expected, did not turn up at Brieg. -This made me still more conscious of my absurdity. -Eventually, however, by the aid of the telegraph and -post-office, I recovered it at Interlaken. This I felt I -had not deserved.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As you begin to ascend the Simplon, perhaps you -will be thinking—at all events you have read remarks -of the kind often enough to be reminded of them now—that -its road is a line of masonry, carried for forty-four -miles over mountains, and through storm and -avalanche-swept ravines; that it is one of the mighty -works by which man has triumphed over a great obstacle, -which nature had placed in his path; that it was -constructed for purposes of war and rapine, and for -the aggrandizement of an individual, but is now used -for the purposes of peace, and for the friendly intercourse -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>of nations; and that the barrier, which it has -practically removed, had its use in those times when -it was shielding nascent civilisation from northern barbarism. -If so, you will not altogether regret that you -are on foot, and alone. This will give you an opportunity -for conferring, without irrelevant interruptions, -with the <i>genius loci</i>, and allow the trains of thought it -brings you to unfold themselves, as they will, in your -mind: and so, probably, you will feel no want of a -<i>vehiculum</i>, either literally, or in the metaphorical sense, -in which the proverb says the <i>bonus amicus</i> is a substitute -for it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This day’s walk was very diversified. It began -with level ground; some of it productive, and well -cultivated; some covered with the coarse shingle the -torrent stream, which passes through it, has brought -down from the mountains. The ascent then commenced -through a region of chestnuts and trellised -vines. After that came the zone of pines, sometimes -lost, and again recovered. At last the scene was -compounded of the naked mountain side, the savage -ravine, and the blustering torrent, overtopped with -rugged crags; these at times capped with snow, and -with glaciers between. But even to the summit, as -you follow the road, all is not desolation; for wherever -the soil, formed by the weathering of the rock, could -be retained, your eye will rest on some little expanse -of green turf; or, if the situation be too exposed, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>the soil too poor and shallow for turf, it will be clad -in the sober mantle of humble Alpine plants.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As I walked along I often noticed how the surface -of the fragments of rock lying in the torrent, and -their side looking up the stream, were being worn -away; while the side looking down, and its upper -angle, remained quite unworn. This teaches how the -solid rock itself, at the bottom of the torrent, that is -to say how its channel, is always being abraded; -which means being lowered. While this is going on -below, the frosts, and storms, and earthquakes are, at -the same time, bringing down the rocks from above. -This accounts for the top of the valley, vertically, -being very much wider than the bottom. If there -had been no frosts, and storms, and earthquakes, the -torrent would now be running in a perfectly perpendicular-sided -trough, of the same depth as the existing -valley—but, then, there would be no valley, only a -trough. The valley is wider at the top than at the -bottom, because the widening action of frost, storms, -and earthquakes has been going on at the top for -tens of thousands of years; while it has been going on -lower down, with very much less force, only for some -hundreds of years. You observe the contrast between -the calm majesty of the everlasting mountains and -the brawling impatience of the insignificant torrent. -The torrent, however, has already set its mark on the -mountains; and you see is surely, though slowly, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>having the best of it. It works, and works incessantly -day and night; winter and summer; fair weather and -foul. Everything that occurs aids it. The mountain -merely stands still to be kicked to death by grass-hoppers. -But the end of the conflict will be their -mutual destruction. The torrent will so far carry -away the mountain, that the mountain will no longer -be able to feed the torrent. Probably, in the ages -preceding the torrent, a glacier, availing itself of -some aboriginal facilities in the lay of the ground, -commenced the work of excavation, which its successor, -the torrent, took up, and has since continued -in the line thus prepared for it.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>La belle horreur</i> of the gorge of Gondo, its sheer, -adamantine, mountain-high precipices, its terrific -chasms, its overhanging rocks, its raging torrent, its -rugged peaks against the sky, make it the great -sight of the ascent. Two bits interested me especially -at the moment, and have impressed themselves on my -mind more distinctly than the rest. The first was the -Fall of the Frosinone. Crashing and roaring, it leaps -down from the mountain, a dozen yards or so from -the road, under which it passes, beneath a most -audaciously conceived and executed bridge, and, immediately, -on your left, rushes into the torrent of the -Gorge. The road, at once, enters the long tunnel of -the Gondo, upon which the bridge abuts. Here is an -unparalleled combination of extraordinary and stirring -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>objects. The other is a cascade, a little way off, of a -character, in every particular, the opposite of that of -the Fall of the Frosinone. It is on the other side of -the Gorge. Here there is no ruggedness in the rock. -The cleavage of nature has left it, from top to -bottom, with a polished surface. Over this almost -perpendicular face of the mountain the water glides -down so smoothly and so noiselessly that, at night, -you would pass it without being aware of the existence -of the cascade. The water is as smooth as the -rock, and so transparent that you everywhere see the -rock through it. It is only, everywhere, equally -marked with a delicate network of lines, and bars, -of white foam. The effect is precisely that of an -endless broad band of lace, rapidly and everlastingly, -drawn down the side of the mountain.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The day was bright and warm; and the walk, -being all the while against the collar, brought one -into the category of thirsty souls. I must have drunk, -I believe, twenty times at the little runnels that -crossed the road. However heated you may be, and -however cold the water, no bad consequences appear -to ensue. At 12.30 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span> I got to the village of -Simplon. Here I breakfasted, or dined, for under the -circumstances the meal was as much breakfast as -dinner; or, rather, it was both in one. As I was -now just twenty-two miles from Domo D’Ossola, -that is just half way to Brieg, I had thought of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>sleeping here. Finding the house, however, in possession -of a company of strolling Italian players, whose -noise and childishness were insufferable, I left the -hotel—uninviting enough of itself from the slovenly, -dirty look of everything about it; and made for the -Hospice, five miles further on. I found it in a -sheltered, green depression, on the very summit of -the pass. It is a large rectangular massive building, -well able to set at defiance even an Alpine winter -storm. As it has no stabling, it takes in only those -who come on foot.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Brother, who showed me to my berth, was very -young and very good-natured. He brought to me in -my room all that I wanted, instead of obliging me -to go to the refectory for my supper, where, as it -happened, I should have met again the Italian players -I had run away from some hours before; for they -had followed me on to the Hospice. I might have -guessed that they would not have stayed at the inn. -Perhaps my alpenstock, and very dusty feet, had -some weight with the good man.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>September 9.</i>—Was up, and out of my room at 5 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span> -Found no one stirring in the Hospice but a lad and a -girl. Both appeared to be about fourteen years of -age. For an early traveller to begin the day with, -there was plenty of coffee and milk, and of bread -and butter, in my room; the remains of the bountiful -refection of yesterday evening. On my asking the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>young people where I was to find some one to whom -I might make an acknowledgment for the hospitality -I had received, I was told that it was the custom for -the visitors to make their offerings in the chapel, -putting them in a basin which was shown me behind -the door. I left them in the chapel, discussing the -amount I had deposited. Having complied with this -ceremony, I started for Brieg. As the road was good, -and the whole of it downhill, I walked at a good -pace, and had completed the sixteen miles at 9.15. -There is a short cut by which you may be saved the -long <i>détour</i> by Berisal, and lessen the distance, as -the books say, though I do not believe the books upon -this point, to the amount of five miles. I did not look -for this short cut, for fear that my attempting to take it -might issue in a loss of time. When you don’t know -the country, the short cut often proves the longest -way.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Soon after commencing the descent you come to -the galleries, partly excavated in the rock, and partly -formed of very massive masonry, through which the -road is carried along the flank of the Monte Leone, -and across the gorge of Schalbet. These galleries, -as well as the Houses of Refuge and the Hospice, -shelter the traveller from the storms and avalanches, -which are frequent in this part of the pass. The -great Kaltenwasser glacier of Monte Leone hangs -over them; and the torrent from it slips over the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>roof of one of the galleries. To find yourself in this -way beneath an Alpine torrent, and to look into it, as -it dashes by, through an opening in the side of the -galleries, will give to some a new sensation. This is -the head-water of the Saltine, which joins the Rhone -at Brieg. As you pass along this part of the road -you have before you the terrific forces, and savagery, -of Alpine nature; but you reflect that civilised man -has been able, if not to overcome them, yet at all -events to protect himself from them. You think -that it is something to be a man; or, with less of -personal feeling, that civilisation has endowed him -with much power. These scenes stir the mind. They -enlarge thought, and strengthen will. Below Berisal -the torrent of the Gauter, an affluent of the Saltine, -is crossed by a massive stone bridge. This is so -lofty that it appears a light and airy structure; still it -possesses what it requires, a great deal of strength, to -enable it to resist the blasts created by the falling -avalanches, which are frequent in this neighbourhood. -You are surprised at coming so soon in sight of Brieg, -and of the valley of the Rhone. You see that you -have now completely surmounted the great barrier -nature interposed between her darling Italy, where -you were yesterday morning, and the hardy North, of -which you rejoice to be a child. Perhaps you will -think that it was not ill done that you crossed it on -foot.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>BRIEG—THROUGH THE UPPER RHONE VALLEY BY <i>CHAR</i> TO THE RHONE GLACIER—HÔTEL DU GLACIER DU RHÔNE</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Happy the man whose wish and care</div> - <div class='line in2'>A few paternal acres bound;</div> - <div class='line'>Content to breathe his native air</div> - <div class='line in14'>On his own ground.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Whose flocks supply him with attire;</div> - <div class='line'>Whose trees in summer yield him shade,</div> - <div class='line in14'>In winter fire.—<span class='sc'>Pope.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c027'><span class='sc'>My</span> first hour at Brieg was spent in finding the single -barber of the place. He was an idle fellow; and, -having it all his own way, was, as it appeared, in the -habit of devoting his mornings to society and amusement. -His evenings, also, we may suppose, were not -allowed, like his business, to run entirely to waste. -At last by despatching three little boys, in different -directions, to search for him, the finder to be rewarded -with half a franc, I succeeded in bringing him -back to his razors: mine were in the <i>sac</i> I had lost -sight of through having lost sight of self. I had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>breakfasted; had had a little talk with two or three -people in the hotel; had looked over the place—no -great labour, but the conclusion to which the inspection -brought me was that things appear to be better -organised in it, and life to be pitched at a higher level, -than in places of equal smallness amongst ourselves; -had traced the Saltine down to its junction with the -Rhone; had had some talk with a woman who was -regulating the irrigation of a meadow; and had, -having thus exhausted everything local, just retired to -my room with a cigar and a book, when the blue boy -burst open the door to report himself, like the armies -of the old Romans, before he had been expected. -When I had left Saas, the calculation had been that -my wife and he would not reach Brieg till the evening -of this day; and that that might also be the time of -my own arrival. We were both before our time. In -such calculations, however, it is wise to allow some -margin for ‘the unforeseen,’ and for the imperfections -and uncertainties of the human machine. As it -happened, had I not lost an afternoon at Domo -D’Ossola—I shall for the future in all such deliberations, -instinctively, eliminate irrelevant matter—I -should have slept in Brieg last night; though, indeed, -under the circumstances, there would have been in -that no particular gain.</p> -<p class='c006'>During my absence my wife, and the little man, -had made two excursions; one to the Trift glacier -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>with young Andermatten for guide—the youth who -in the first hours of the same day had carried my sac -into Macugnaga, and had then forthwith returned -to Saas; and the other, without a guide, to the -Mattmark See. Knowing that their thoughts were -turned in this direction, I had sent them a note -from the Mattmark See, pencilled on the night of -the 5th, begging them not to attempt it, as the road -was quite too rough and steep, in the latter part, for -a child who had shown no great capacity for mountaineering. -They did not get my note till they were -on the way. My prudence, however, was no match -for their enterprise. They managed to get to the -Mattmark See Hotel; and, after dinner, to return -the same evening to Saas. As the little man was not -ten years old, I accept the seven hours they were on -foot as an augury of future endurance. I had almost -thought, but I ought to have known better, that my -note would have deterred them from going; and so, -as I tramped along to Ponte Grande, I had not -pictured them to myself, as now I did, toiling up the -open mountain, and trudging along the lonely shore -of the dark Mattmark See, in the very centre of the -Alpine world, without another breathing thing in sight.</p> - -<p class='c006'>On the morning of this day (the 9th) my wife had -walked from Saas to Visp, fourteen miles. The little -boy had ridden. From Visp to Brieg they had come -on in the diligence.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span><i>September 10.</i>—As it was thirty miles of, we may -call it, high road, and that not particularly interesting, -from Brieg to the Rhone glacier, for which we were -bound, we took a <i>voiture</i> for the day. It was a three-horse -affair. The driver was an ill-conditioned fellow; -but not without some redeeming qualities, for he was -the only one of his kind we met with throughout our -excursion; and in the afternoon, when <i>bonne main</i> had -become the uppermost thought in what mind he had, -he showed some capacity for the rudiments of civilisation. -At Viesch he insisted on stopping for two -hours; two hours that were an age, as there was nothing -to see there, and nothing that we could do, -having just breakfasted at Brieg. It was an aggravation -to see at least a dozen one-horse vehicles pass by -without one of them halting. At Munster we stopped -again, for an hour and a half: but that was for -dinner.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This was the first time I had been on wheels since -getting upon my own legs at Visp, on August 29. If -we had had time enough, it would have been better -to have walked this morning to the Belle Alp, giving -to it one day; then on to the Eggishorn, for the great -Aletsch glacier; two days more: and thus reaching -the Rhone glacier on the fourth day. But as we -could hardly have spared the time for this, we were -satisfied with what we did. To refuse to take a -carriage on a carriage road, when much time is saved -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>by taking it, and every object along the road can be -seen as well from a carriage as on foot, is the pedantry -of pedestrianism, which sacrifices the substance of -one’s object for useless consistency.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the upper part of the Rhone valley there are -considerable expanses of good grass land, particularly -about Munster; and the villages are numerous, -and close together. Each of these villages, as seen -from a little distance, is a cluster of <i>châlets</i>, without -any visible internal spaces, and without any apparent -differences in their dimensions, or structure. They -have no suburbs; there is no shading off; the bright -green meadow is not gradually lost in the dark brown -village. The houses do not gradually thin out in the -fields. There are no fields; no detached houses. -There is nothing but the expanse of grass, and these -clusters of <i>châlets</i>, each like a piece of honeycomb laid -upon it; and as distinct from each other as so many -communities of bees. Each village looks as if it were -something that had dropped from heaven upon the -grass; or like a compact, homogeneous excrescence -upon the grass—a kind of Brobdingnagian fungus. -There is, however, one exception to the general uniformity -of the excrescence, and that is the church tower. -It stands above the rest, just as its shaft would, if the -Brobdingnagian fungus were turned upside down.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Here you have, apparently without disturbing elements, -as perfect a picture, as could now be seen, of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>the old rationale of religion; that it is a power among -men, equally above all, interpreting to all their moral -nature, and proclaiming the interpretation to all with -an authoritative voice; and obliging all, by its constant -authoritative iteration, to receive the proclamation; -and to allow its reception to form within themselves, -even if they were such as by nature would have been -without conscience, the ideas and sentiments requisite -for society. You see that this Arcadian application -of the function of religion may have been completely, -and undisturbedly realised, in times past, in such -isolated and self-contained villages; and that you are -at the moment looking upon one in which it is still -being realised to some extent. But you, who belong -to the outside world, and know it, too; its large cities, -its wealth, its poverty, its estranged classes, its mental -activity, its social and controversial battle-shouts, its -pæans of short-lived triumph, its cries of agonising -defeat, its individualism, are aware that the day for -such an exhibition of religion is gone by. Your -religion, if you are religious, will be in the form, and -after the kind, needed now in that outside world. It -will have stronger roots, that seek their nutriment at -greater distances; a firmer knit stem, such as a tree -will have that has grown up in the open, exposed to -many gales; and more wide-spreading branches, such -as those far-travelling roots, and that firm-knit stem, -can alone support. And this will enable you to understand, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>and, if you do understand, will save you from -despising, the religion of the Alpine village before -you: for you will find that it is the same as your own, -only in embryo.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At Oberwald, three and a half miles from the -Rhone glacier, the road leaves the grassy valley, and -begins to ascend the zig-zags on the mountain-side. -We here found the inclination to leave the carriage, -and walk, irresistible. This road, which is carried -over the Furca Pass to Andermatt, is a grand achievement, -for which the country, and those who travel in -it, have to thank the modern, more centralised and -democratised government. To it also their thanks are -due for the new coinage, the most simple in the world, -whereas the old cantonal coinages it superseded were -the most confusing, and the worst; for the postal arrangements, -which are very good; for the telegraph; -and even for the railways. And, furthermore it must be -credited with many advances, and improvements, that -have been made in the Swiss system of education.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Rhone glacier is a broad and grand river of -ice. As it descends from the mountains on a rapid -incline you see a great deal of it from below, and are -disposed to regard it as worthy to be the parent of a -great historic river. The Rhone, however, itself issues -from it, at present, in a very feeble and disappointing -fashion. It slips out from beneath the ice so quietly, -and inconspicuously, that you might pass by it, as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>doubtless many do, without observing it. It steals off, -as if it were ashamed of its parentage; of which, -rather, it might well be proud.</p> - -<p class='c006'>A word about the Hôtel du Glacier du Rhône. -It has plenty of pretension; but I never passed a -night in a house I was so glad to leave in the morning. -Nowhere did one ever meet with such a plague of -flies, flies so swarming, and so persecuting; and nowhere -did one ever meet with such revolting stenches. -What produces the stenches is what produces the -flies; that is want of drainage, and the non-removal -of unclean accumulations. At first, on account of the -stench which pervaded the gallery—it was that of the -first and chief floor, I refused to take the room I was -shown to; and only, after a time, consented on the -assurance that this matter could, and should be set -right. This assurance was utterly fallacious; for, -though I kept my window wide open, from the time I -entered the room till I left it, I soon sickened, and -was afflicted with uninterrupted nausea throughout the -whole night. Want of proper drainage, the cause of -these horrors, is very common in Swiss hotels. Their -pretentious character, which, with many thoughtless -people, atones for much, ought, on the contrary, to -intensify one’s sense of such shameful neglect. The -larger the house is the larger are the gains of the -landlord, and the greater is the number of people exposed -to the mischief. I do not at all join in the cry -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>against the rise in the charges of the monster hotels -of Southern Switzerland. Landlords, like other people, -have a right to charge what they can get, when the -commodity they deal in is much in demand. But, as -their charges are certainly remunerative, there can be -no reason for forbearing to denounce manifest and disgraceful -disregard of necessary sanitary arrangements. -I heard the next morning from one, who spoke from -that day’s personal experience, that matters were no -better at the neighbouring hotel of the Grimsel Hospice. -Strange is it that man should be so careless -about poisoning the very air nature has made so -pure!</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER IX.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>WALK OVER THE GRIMSEL BY THE AAR VALLEY, HELLE PLATTE, FALLS OF HANDECK, TO MEIRINGEN</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>These are Thy glorious works, Parent of good;</div> - <div class='line'>Almighty, Thine this universal frame,</div> - <div class='line'>Thus wondrous fair; Thyself how wondrous, then!</div> - <div class='line'>Unspeakable, Who sitt’st above the heavens</div> - <div class='line'>To us invisible, or dimly seen</div> - <div class='line'>In these Thy lowest works.—<span class='sc'>Milton.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c002'><i>September 11.</i>—We were off at 6 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span> for a long -day over the Grimsel Pass to Meiringen. As usual, -my wife and I on foot, and the little man on horseback. -You begin the ascent of the mountain immediately -from the hotel. It is stiff walking all the way -to the top, which is reached in about an hour. The -height above the sea is somewhat more than 7,000 -feet. On the side of the mountain the most conspicuous -plant is the Rhododendron, the rose of the -Alps. On the summit of the pass is a dark tarn. -The mephitic Hospice, about three fourths of a mile -off, is 700 feet below. Soon after you begin the descent -you come upon indications of former glacier action in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>polished slabs of gneiss all around you. On your -right is a rugged glacier, among still more rugged -pinnacles of rock. Before you and to the left, is a -world of snowy mountains, of which you catch some -glimpses. After a few yards of descent from the -Hospice the path strikes the Aar, fresh from its exit -from the upper and lower Aar glaciers. It then turns -to the right along the margin of the torrent: the -torrent and the path passing side by side through a -narrow defile, overtopped, right and left, with precipitous -mountains. After a time the path leaves the -margin of the torrent, having first been carried over -it by a narrow stone bridge. Everywhere you find -indications of the great height to which the glaciers -reached in some remote epoch. Among these are -several instances of deep horizontal lines, graven along -the apparently perpendicular face of the mountain, at -a height of even 2,000 feet above the valley. In a -place called <i>Helle Platte</i>, or the Open Plain, the path -is carried over what was formerly the bed of the -glacier; the gneiss still retaining the polish that was -given to its surface so many millenniums ago. This -extends for about a quarter of a mile, the interstices, -between the mighty slabs of gneiss being filled with -fringes and patches of stunted Rhododendrons, and of -the Pinus Pumilio, a spreading dwarf pine, that does not -reach more than three or four feet from the ground; -but which, notwithstanding its diminutive size, conveys -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>to you, far more impressively than its lofty congeners, -the idea of great age. This scene surrounded -by naked mountain masses, as rugged as adamantine, -stirs the mind deeply. The effect culminates as you -pass the bridge, beneath which the torrent of the Aar -roars and dashes along its rock-impeded channel. No -animal life is seen, with the one exception of a multitude -of butterflies, glancing to and fro in the clear -warm sunshine, like winged flowers. Your thought -is interested by the contrast between their feeble fragile -beauty and the force and savagery of surrounding -nature.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The way in which I saw that the Aar had cut -its channel through the gneiss suggested to me the -inquiry, whether what had enabled it to do this was -not the fact that the pebbles and broken rock the -torrent brought down were gneiss, so that it was gneiss -which it had to dash against the sides and bottom of -its channel. Perhaps torrent-borne fragments of gneiss -may widen and deepen a gneiss channel as effectually -as fragments of lime-stone may a lime-stone channel.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At eleven miles from the Rhone glacier you -reach Handeck: a small expanse of greenest Alpine -meadow, intermixed with pine-forest, and surrounded -with dark craggy mountains. Here we called a halt -for luncheon, and a cigar. It was a bright, airy day; -one to be for ever remembered. Many travellers -came and went; some facing up, some down the pass. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>Fortunately this charming spot has not yet been disfigured -by a staring stone hotel. The suave landlord, -and expectant porter, have not yet invaded it. But -I am afraid that they cannot be far off. At all events -for the present, may it long remain so! you have the -wooden <i>châlet</i>, with its low panelled reception room, -innocent of gilding and of paint; the green rock-strewn -turf coming up to the door; and the bench -along the wall outside. You can here get a mutton-chop -that has not been first passed through a bath to -make <i>potage</i> for yesterday’s visitors, and then, for you, -had its impoverishment thinly disguised by having -been dipped into a nondescript <i>sauce piquante</i>.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This charming halting-place is enriched with far -the best waterfall in Switzerland—the Fall of the -Handeck. The Staubbach, Byron’s magniloquence -nevertheless, and the rest of them, are only overflows -of house-gutters. There, where they are, just at the -first stage of the watershed of Europe, they can be -accepted as being very much what they ought to be; -but one cannot be impressed with them as waterfalls. -Here, however, is something of quite a different kind: -not so much from the volume of the falling water, as -from its character, and the point of view from which -it is seen. Two or three hundred yards below the -<i>châlet</i> the Aar is chafing along its clean rock-channel, -strewn with boulders as large as houses; on a sudden -it takes a leap, of about two hundred feet, into a dark, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>appalling, iron-bound chasm. Precisely at the point, -where it takes this leap, the Handeck, coming blustering -down on the left, at a right angle to the Aar, -takes the same leap. The two cataracts are mingled -together, midway in the chasm. A wooden bridge -has been thrown over the falls. You stand upon this, -and see the hurrying torrents dashing themselves into -the deep chasm below you. You are half stunned by -their angry roar. You observe that they have no power -to undermine, and wear away, the granite against -which they are dashing, and breaking themselves. -The frail bridge vibrates under your feet. Fortunately -you are looking down the fall instead of up, and this, -by engendering an irrational sense of the possibility -of your slipping into it, heightens the effect. For -some hours about midday—we were there at that -time—it is crowned with the prismatic bow.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Here my wife took a horse for the rest of the day, -being too ill of the Hôtel du Glacier du Rhône to walk -any further. After some miles the savage character -of the scenery began to relent. This mitigation went -on increasing, till at last we found ourselves crossing -the emerald meadows of Guttanen—a village of <i>châlets</i>. -Next came the little town of Imhof. Here an hotel, -and a brewery, a good road, and the slackened pace -of the Aar made it evident that we were out of the -mountains; and the plain at Meiringen was soon -reached. This was a walk of about twenty-six miles. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>As all the hard work came in the first hour, it was a -very much easier day than the twenty-seven miles up -the southern side of the Simplon.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As we were in Meiringen by 4.20 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span>, there was -time for a walk up the hill, close to the hotel, to see -the Falls of the Reichenbach. I was glad to find the -little man ready to accompany me, for he had been -so silent all day that I had been thinking he was -fatigued, or not well. When we had got some way -up the hill we met a Frenchman coming down, who -told us that a toll would soon be levied upon us; his -comment upon the fact being that we should have to -pay for looking at the mountains, if it could in any -way be managed. Regarding this toll as a piece of extortion, -and not at all caring to see the fall, we returned -to the hotel. If I had thought it really worth going -to see, I should, acting on the wisdom I had purchased -at Ponte Grande, have eliminated from consideration, -though perhaps with a growl, the meanness -and rapacity of the demand, as irrelevant matter, -and have gone on; but it was getting late, and we -thought we had seen enough of the fall from the road -as we were entering Meiringen.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER X.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'><i>CHAR</i> TO INTERLAKEN—WALK OVER THE WENGERN ALP TO GRINDELWALD</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I love not man the less, but nature more</div> - <div class='line'>From these our interviews.—<span class='sc'>Byron.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c002'><i>September 12.</i>—This morning we went by <i>char</i> from -Meiringen to Interlaken, along the northern side of the -Lake of Brienz. Again, if we had had time, it would -have been better to have walked along the southern -side, putting up for the night at Giesbach. While -stopping at the town of Brienz to bait the horse, we -visited some of the wood-carving shops, in one of -which we found a school for indoctrinating children -in the mysteries, not of the three R’s, but of this -trade, which is the great industry of the place: everybody -here being engaged in it. The three main -staples of Southern Switzerland are this wood-carving, -cheese-making, and hotel-keeping. With the latter -we must connect the dependent employments of the -guides and porters, and of those who let out horses -and carriages. I know not how much of the cheese -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>is sent out of the country in exchange for foreign commodities, -but pretty nearly the whole of the carved -wood, and of the hotel accommodation, is exchanged -for foreign cash.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This morning I witnessed the following scene. A -practical man—I took him for one, who had struck -oil—was leaving the hotel. A porter, assuming an -expectant air, takes up a position at the door of the -hotel. The practical man addresses him in a firm -tone, ‘Now, sir, tell me everything, you have done -for me beyond your duty to the hotel.’ A look of -blankness comes over the porter’s face, and he steps -aside. The practical man, with the look of one who -has discharged a lofty duty, steps into his carriage. I -do not record this for imitation.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Interlaken, which we reached early in the day, is a -town of hotels and <i>pensions</i>. We were at The Jungfrau, -which commands an excellent view of the famous -mountain from which it takes its name. The view -from this point is much improved by its comprising -two intermediate distances in two ranges of hills, -which do not at all interfere with the dominant -object, but rather set off to advantage its snowy -summits and flanks. The Jungfraublick, a large new -hotel, on a spur of the nearest hill, is better situated, -for it is out of the town; and, being elevated above -the lakes, commands several good views. The majority -of the visitors at our hotel were Germans: -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>quiet, earnest, and methodical, they appeared to be -regarding travelling, sight-seeing, and life itself, scientifically.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Interlaken, being situated on low ground, between -two high ranges of mountains, at no great distance -from each other, is, on a quiet sunny day, a very oven -for heat. It has, however, in its main street some -very umbrageous lofty walnut-trees. They are the -survivors of what was once, and not many years ago, -a grand unbroken avenue.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>September 13.</i>—Started early in a carriage for -Lauterbrunnen, where we left it, with orders that it -should be taken round to Grindelwald, there to be -ready for us the next morning. At Lauterbrunnen -we put the blue boy on horseback, and began the -ascent of the Wengern Alp. People go up this mountain -for the purpose of getting the most accessible, -nearest, and best view of the Jungfrau, Mönch, and -Eiger. As you turn to the left to ascend the mountain, -you regret that you are not going up the valley, -which you see would lead you up among glaciers and -snowy peaks; or that you are not taking the path to -the right, which you see would carry you over, and -above the Staubbach, and you know would give you -grand views of the snow-world. The path you are -taking you take in faith, for it does not, from what is -in sight, give any indications of what is in store for -you; before, however, the day is done, you will have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>reason enough for being satisfied with the choice you -had made; or which, perhaps, had been made for you.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At first the ascent is very stiff, and a good test of -lungs and legs. This lasts for about an hour. Then -comes a reach of easy work among upland meadows -and forest. The work, however, again stiffens; but -one is cheered by the nearness of the Jungfrau, and, -occasionally, by the thunder of an avalanche, falling -from its sides. You are now above the forest, and on -the coarse sedgy turf; and, if you please, you may -sit down, and light your cigar, giving as your reason, -that you wish to contemplate the view, and listen to -the avalanches. It would, however, be better to go -on at once to the hotel, which is not far off. This -was what we were virtuous enough to do. The ascent -occupied a little under four hours. We had luncheon -at the hotel. It is on the edge of the ravine, on the -opposite side of which rises, almost perpendicularly, -the mighty Jungfrau. Though it must be two miles -off, it seems so near that you fancy you might almost -touch it with your hand. The dark, slate-coloured -rock, and the snow, are in excellent contrast. The -vast chasm below you, and the cold, hard, silent cliffs -before you, the silence frequently broken on bright, -warm days—and the day we were there was as bright -and warm as could be—by the reverberation of the -falling avalanches—there are no small, or insignificant -objects in sight to mar the effect—are the elements of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>an Alpine scene you are glad to think you will carry -away impressed on your memory. You are now content -that the path on the right, up to Mürren, has been -left for another day. As you watch the avalanches -gliding down the ravines, and shot over the precipices, -in streams of white dust, for the first fall or two shiver -them into minute fragments, you are puzzled to know -what it is that makes the thunder—what the noise is -all about, the process being so smooth and regular.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We allowed ourselves an hour and a half for mental -photography and for luncheon—mine was a basin -of rice-water, for I had not yet recovered from the -Hôtel du Glacier du Rhône. We then again took up -our staves, and set our faces towards Grindelwald. -In half an hour from our inn, we came to a second, -on the summit of the Col. The descent immediately -commences. This is not nearly so steep as the ascent -we had just accomplished. It requires three hours. -The path passes through the forest of death-struck -pines Byron mentions in his journal. Not many remain. -Of these some are quite, some are almost dead. -It was composed of the Pinus Cembra. The malady -which is destroying it may perhaps have been engendered -by a local change of climate; or some other -circumstance may have prevented the young plants -from establishing themselves; as, for instance, want -of shelter, from too much of the forest having been -cut at the same time. I mention this because I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>observed in exposed situations in the Rocky Mountains—it -was so above Nevada City, on the road to Georgetown—wherever -the forest had been entirely cleared -away, the young pines came up in myriads, but all -died off, either withered by the droughts of summer, -or by the bleak winds of winter: of course neither of -these causes could have afflicted the tender nurselings, -had the old forest been standing.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The descent, like that to Virgil’s Avernus, is easy, -but, unlike that into the Vale of Years, has a charming -prospect; for the valley of Grindelwald, with its -meadows, corn-fields, and <i>châlets</i>, is all spread out -before you, like a map. It is a sight which awakens -thought and touches the heart. You see that a good -breadth of land has been reclaimed, where nature was -so hard and adverse. How much labour has been -expended in burying the stones, and bringing the soil -to the surface, and in irrigating those many, now -bright, smooth meadows! How much thought and -care is, day by day, bestowed on every little plot of -that corn and garden ground, in the hope of getting -a sufficiency of the many things that will be needed -in the long winter! How much talk is there, every -evening, in every household, about the way in -which things are going on, and about what has to -be done! A shoulder-basket must now be made -for little Victor, and little tasks must be found for -him, proportioned to his little strength, that he -may, betimes, learn to labour; and something must -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>be found, too, for the old grandame to do, that she -may not come to feel that she is only burdensome. -Some garden or dairy product, a little better than -common, they may have in their humble stores, must -be reserved for the <i>fête</i>, now not far off. Wilhelm, -who many a mother in the valley wishes may be her -son-in-law, and who of late has been more thoughtful -than was his wont, hearing the <i>fête</i> mentioned, is reminded -of the <i>edelweiss</i> he had gone in search of, and -found on the Eiger, that he may have its tell-tale -flower, on that day when all hearts will be glad and -open, to offer to Adeline. I suppose the fat Vale of -Aylesbury, where purple and fine linen are not wanting, -and there is sumptuous fare every day, has its -poetry; but so, also, has the hard-won valley of -Grindelwald, where home-spun is not unknown, and -every man eats the bread of carefulness.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We put up at the Aigle, a new hotel, with three -or four <i>dépendances</i>, at the further end of the village. -Grindelwald is not of the compact order of Swiss -villages; indeed, it is almost a town; at all events, it -is lighted with gas. It straggles along the main road -for about three quarters of a mile; to those coming -from Lauterbrunnen all uphill. It abounds in hotels. -After a hard day—not the Wengern Alp, but the -Hôtel du Glacier du Rhône, had made it hard—it -appeared a gratuitous, almost a cruel, infliction to -have to pass so many doors that stood open invitingly, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>with more than usual persuasiveness, and to trudge -on, and up, in the hope of reaching the end of the -place, which, under the circumstances, seemed like -the Irishman’s bit of string, which had had its end -cut off. But to those who will persevere, even the -street of Grindelwald will be found to have an end; -and one, too, that is worth finding, for it brings you -to a pleasantly situated, and well-kept inn, where you -can get a chicken that has not been detained in the -bath an unconscionable time. What has been disagreeable -in travelling we soon forget, but my recollections -of the Aigle of Grindelwald remain.</p> - -<p class='c006'>There are, as I just said, many hotels in the place; -but as there are also six thousand cows in the valley, -not travellers, but cheese must be its main reliance. -It has another industry in ice, which is cut in blocks -out of the glacier, and sent as far even as Paris. The -price returned for this is one of the rills of the stream -of wealth, which railways are pouring into Switzerland, -or enabling it to collect for the outside world. -Two great glaciers come down into the village from -the two sides of the Mettenberg, which here has -the Eiger on its right, and the Wetterhorn on its left.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We had been on the tramp to-day, excluding the -halt for luncheon, eight hours. With the exception -of not more than five minutes on the little man’s -horse, my wife did the whole of it on foot, stepping -out briskly even to the long-sought end of Grindelwald.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XI.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>INTERLAKEN AGAIN—CHAR UP THE VALLEY OF THE KANDER—WALK OVER THE GEMMI, SLEEPING AT SCHWARENBACH</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>—rather—</div> - <div class='line'>To see the wonders of the world abroad</div> - <div class='line'>Than, living dully sluggardized at home,</div> - <div class='line'>Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness.—<span class='sc'>Shakespeare.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c002'><i>September 14.</i>—Returned early in our <i>voiture</i> to -Interlaken. From the tramping point of view, the -right thing to have done in the afternoon would have -been to have ascended one of the ranges of mountains, -which shut in Interlaken on the right and left. -But it was fair that the little man should have his -turn, and his heart was all for the railway, the -steamer, and the Lake of Thun: and so we went by -rail, and boat, to Thun and back. The railway, with its -smart carriages, some of them two stories high, is only a -mile or two in length, from Interlaken to its port on -the lake, and is a mere toy. As to the sail on the lake, -it supplies enough for the eye to feed upon. The -chief objects on the south side are the Niesen and -the Stockhorn; the two mountains which form the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>porch of the valley of the Kander, up which lies the -road to the Gemmi. The boat was very crowded -with people who were going northward; the greater -part of them to Berne, the rail for which commences -at Thun. About Thun what interests one most at -this season, as things are seen from the water, are -the gardens of some of the houses on the edge of the -lake. The little man, from familiarity with threshing -machines and agricultural implements, has a strong -turn for machinery; hence the attraction for him of -the railway and steamboat. On board the latter he -poked about, looking into everything, as if he were -taking the opportunity to inspect some of his own -property.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This was a day, which, to its end, was given up to -the young gentleman, for in the evening he would -have us go to the Cursaal to see a display of fireworks. -They were pretty good. The best thing was the -illumination of a copious jet of water, which was -thrown up to the height of about a hundred feet, and -fell very much broken and dispersed; the upward rush, -and the falling drops, reflecting a powerful red light, -which, screened to the spectators, was burnt in front -of the fountain. The shrubberies, and trees, all about, -were at times illuminated, successively, with red, blue, -and white lights: this was meant to be weird and -spectral.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>September 15.</i>—It was Sunday. We went twice to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>the English service. On both occasions the preacher -was extemporary. He was fluent and imaginative. -Fluency, and imaginative power (I say this without -intending a reference to the sermons we heard this -day), if entirely trusted to at the moment of speaking, -and not kept under the control of previously -matured thought, will generally run away with a -preacher, and lead him into making inconsequential, -and unguarded statements. And if he is, besides, a -man of some miscellaneous reading, it is not improbable -that much of it will be presented to his audience -in an undigested form, and not unfrequently rather -incongruously. In short, all that he says is likely to -be what Shakespeare calls unproportioned speaking.</p> - -<p class='c006'>While we were at Interlaken, the moon was approaching -the full. Both evenings we watched it -passing over the peaks of the Jungfrau. The snow, -however, had none of the deadly white, I had expected -it would have had when seen by moonlight. But the -moon was beyond the mountain, and so almost all -the snow on our side was in the shade.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>September 16.</i>—Were to have started at 6 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span> for -the Valley of the Kander, on our way to the Gemmi: -through the dilatoriness, however, of the <i>voiturier</i> we -had some difficulty in getting off by 6.25. And this -was not his only lapse; for, an hour after a forty -minutes’ halt for breakfast, he insisted on halting -again, for two hours more, at a roadside inn, where -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>he, and his horse, were baited; both probably at our -expense, for he had brought nothing with him for -either. As these stoppages are, sometimes, not so -much needed for the horse, as the result of arrangements -between innkeepers and drivers, which become -profitable to them through what is extracted from -you, it would, perhaps, not be a bad plan to make it -understood beforehand, that your payments will, to -some extent, depend on the time at which the driver -may bring you to your destination.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The road is, at first, along the lake. At the place, -where it makes an angle, and turns its back upon the -lake, we breakfasted. The inn looks upon the lake. -The house itself is not bad; but what is best about it -is the feeling it gives rise to that you have escaped -from the crowding, the bad smells (the Jungfrau was -free from these), and the pretensions, of a monster -hotel, where everything is in disagreeable contrast to -surrounding nature; the effects of life in the former -at every turn counteracting and marring the effects of -the latter.</p> - -<p class='c006'>A geologist should follow the new channel by which -the Kander 150 years ago was taken into the lake. He -will be interested by an inspection of the large delta, -at the mouth of its new outlet, formed by the vast -amount of <i>débris</i> the torrent-stream has since brought -down. Formerly it ran parallel to the lake; and -joined the Aar below it, in this part of its course -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>keeping a great deal of land in a marshy condition. -All this has now been reclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The scenery of the valley is interesting. From -Frutigen—it was here that our two hours’ halt had been -called—to Kandersteg, at the foot of the Gemmi, is -eight miles. The last half of this my wife and I -walked.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At Kandersteg we dined; and having placed the -little man, and the baggage, on horses, we began the -ascent at 3.30. The road is in excellent repair. For -the first hour and a half it is stiff walking through a -pine forest. The views of the valley of the Kander, -and of the mountains, are good. The road is then, for -some distance, taken horizontally along the side of -the mountain, again through the pine forest. Between -the clean stems of the trees you look down, on your -left, into the barren, and truly Alpine, Valley of -Gasteren. At first it is a rocky gorge; and then it -opens into an expanse of level, pale grey sand, and -small shingle, through which you can make out, from -above, the glacier stream passing in several small -channels. The forest is succeeded by an open level -of poor mountain pasture and rocky ground. On -the left of this are the peaks of the Altels, and of the -Rinderhorn, with snow-fields and glacier. You then -begin to ascend again through a scene that is the -very grandeur of desolation. There is no vegetation; -nothing that has life. It appears as if the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>mighty fragments of dark rock, with which the whole -is covered, had been rained down from heaven in its -wrath, and had completely buried out of sight everything -that might once have struggled up here for life, -and even whatever could have supported life. This -mountain in ruins, this wrack of rocks, brings you to -the Schwarenbach inn. It stands on the edge of a -crateriform depression, in what appears at the time, -and from the spot, to be the summit of the mountain. -This depression terminates, on the right, in a grand -mountain amphitheatre.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The inn is precisely what it ought to be; small, -without any pretension, and without any artificial -<i>entourage</i>. The people, too, who keep it are most -ready, and obliging. This is just the sort of place -one would like to make one’s head-quarters, for a -few days, for excursions from it among the surrounding -summits, and for familiarising oneself with the -spirit of the mountains.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>September 17.</i>—Started a little after 5 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span>, that -we might see the sun rise from the summit of the -pass. Overnight I had been roused out of my first -sleep by a loud, hurried knocking against the thin -partition, that separated my room from my wife’s, -accompanied by repeated calls to get up at once. I -lighted a match, and looked at my watch. It was -just 11 o’clock. At 4.30 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span> the knocking was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>again heard: but this time it came from the opposite -side of the partition.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The morning was very cold. The blue boy, and -the luggage, were on horseback; my wife, and I, on -foot. The ascent continued for about two miles -further. For the first mile the path takes you by -two or three more crater-like depressions, similar to -the one on the edge of which the inn stands. You -then come to a dark mountain lake, fed by the glacier -of the Wildstrubel, at the southern end of it. It is -another scene of awful desolation. You are surprised -at observing that the detrital matter, neither of -the glacier, nor of the environing mountains, has in -the least degree diminished the size of the lake. It -seems to-day to be just the same, in size and form, -that it must have been thousands of years ago. The -crest of the ridge is reached a little beyond the lake. -The sight that here bursts upon you is grand indeed. -The eye passes over the valley of the Rhone—that, -however, is not yet visible—and rests on the long -series of snowy peaks, which you know are the finials -of the barrier ridges that separate Switzerland from -Italy—the Michabel, the Weisshorn, the Matterhorn, -the Dent d’Heréns, the Dent Blanche. On this -morning they all stood clear of cloud. While close, -on our left, just to show us how near we were to losing -the view, a dense mist was streaming over the mountains, -like a turbid, aerial river, flowing uphill -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>Nothing could be grander; the rocky peaks around -us, the snowy peaks before us, and the river of cloud -rolling by us. We had reached the right point at the -right moment.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Having impressed the view on our minds, as ‘a -possession for ever,’ we began the descent. The little -man got off his horse, for the descent can only be -made on foot; at all events it always has been, since -the fatal accident, caused by the stumbling of her -horse, which here befell the Comtesse d’Arlincourt in -1861. The luggage, too, was now readjusted, and -more tightly braced up on the baggage horse.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Among those who keep to beaten paths the descent -of the Gemmi is the crowning glory of their excursion. -This it is that awakens within them most the sensations -of awe and wonder. And there is much to justify these -feelings. As you come down the pass, you cannot -but be surprised at the boldness, ingenuity, and -perseverance of those who projected, and made it. -And, perhaps, your surprise will be heightened when, -on getting to the bottom, and looking up at the sheer -precipice of some thousands of feet of hard rock, you -find that you are unable to make out a trace of the -path you have just been descending. A fissure in the -perpendicular face of the mountain just made it conceivable -that a series of zig-zags might be carried up -to the top. And this was what the engineer attempted, -and succeeded in doing. Originally, many of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>zig-zags were nothing more than grooves in the face -of the rock, just sufficient to give foothold to a pedestrian. -During the last century, however, they -have been widened into grooves that admit, with -perfect safety, the passage of a packhorse with his -burden. The external wall of a house may be ascended -by a staircase applied to it; and so may the -perpendicular face of a mountain, two or three -thousand feet high. And it will come to the same -thing if the staircase is, in some places, let into the -face either of the house, or of the mountain wall. The -motive of the formation of the pass was to save a -<i>détour</i> of some days in getting from the neighbourhood -of Thun and Interlaken to the Valais. I suppose -it was worth making as a saving of time and -labour. But, be that as it may, it impresses itself on -the mind as a never-to-be-forgotten passage of one’s -Alpine travel. The blue boy skipped down it, like a -chamois, far in advance of everybody; a guide, of -course, being with him. My wife insisted on going -down at the head of the rest of the party, on the plea -that she was incapable of going behind. I took the -position assigned me, with a little hug of myself at -the conceit, the benefit of which, however, at the time -I kept to myself, that those, who can go as well behind -as before, must be twice as clever as those who -can go before only.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XII.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>LEUKABAD—AIGLE</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The life of man is as the life of leaves,</div> - <div class='line'>Which, green to-day, to-morrow sears, and then</div> - <div class='line'>Another race unfolds itself to run</div> - <div class='line'>Again the course of growth and of decay:</div> - <div class='line'>So waxes, and so wanes the race of man.—<span class='sc'>Homer.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c027'><span class='sc'>At</span> a little after 8 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span> we entered Leukabad, having -been out three hours from Schwarenbach. I was content -that both our <i>personnel</i> and our <i>matériel</i> were -safe, plus the ineffaceable impression on our minds of -the pass itself.</p> -<p class='c006'>Having breakfasted—it is pleasant to have lived -so much before breakfast—we sallied forth to look at -the town and the baths. There are several hotels in -the place, and they were all pretty well tenanted. -Still the aspect of things was not lively. There was -none of the stir you observe among the Alpine people -at such places as Chamouni and Zermatt; nor was -there any of the obtrusive bigness, and of the staring -newness of the hotels almost everywhere, which give -<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>you to understand very clearly that, at all events, a -great deal of business is being done. Here nothing -was new, and everything was faded. The names -over the hotels and shops had been there many a day; -and the hotels and shops themselves made one think -of a dead forest covered with lichens and moss, the -lichens and moss being at least half dead also. -People moved about so noiselessly that you looked to -see if their feet were muffled; saying nothing to each -other, and having nothing to say. The place was as -dumb as it was faded. We saw an old man washing -old bottles, of a by-gone form, at an old fountain, into -and out of which the water was feebly dribbling, as if -it had nearly done coming and had nowhere to go. He -was the only person we saw doing anything, and he -did it as if he thought there was no use in doing it. -Those who were taking the baths were oppressed with -a consciousness that they were getting no good from -them; and that they were doing it only because -something must be attempted. Their despondency -had an air of obstinacy that would not be comforted, -deep and silent; like that of people who have just -found out that the foundations on which they have -long been building great expectations, are all a -delusion,—either a figment of their own, or a tradition -from times when such things were not understood—and -who have not yet come to think that the world -may still have something else for them to turn to. At -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>12 o’clock the <i>voiturier</i> we had engaged to take us to -Sierre, came up to the door of the hotel, with his -worm-eaten vehicle and his worn-out horses. But he -came in so mute and spectral a fashion—anywhere -else he would have announced himself with a little -final flourish and crack of his whip—that we were not -for some time aware of his arrival. It was a relief -when he lighted his cigar, for that was the first indication -of life we had seen in the place.</p> - -<p class='c006'>On the road to Sierre we passed through dust -enough to bury Leukabad—a ceremony which it -would be as well should not be deferred any longer. -And, if Sierre had been put on the top of it, there -would still have been some to spare.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This dusty drive enhanced the pleasantness of -recalling our late mountain walks. We had now completed -the circuit of the great ice-field of the Bernese -Oberland, which is more than 100 square miles in -extent, and is supposed to be the largest in Europe. -Its boundaries, all of which we had traced, are the -Valais, the Grimsel, the Valley of the Aar, and the -Gemmi. We had had a near or more distant view of -all its chief snowy peaks, but had nowhere crossed -any part of the snow-field itself. That, perhaps, may -be the work of another day, when the blue boy will -be old enough, and the rest of the party not yet too -old, for such work; for those who are not up to -Peaks, either of the first or second class, may still -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>graduate as Pass-men by crossing the ice-fields between -the Peaks.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another possible arrangement for the work of -the two last days would have been to have ascended -the Niesen, at the foot of which we had passed yesterday -morning. This would have obliged us to have -slept at Kandersteg instead of, as we did, at the top -of the Gemmi. The ascent of the Niesen, even for -such a party as was ours, would have been easy -enough; and the views from it are said to be very -good. In that case, however, we should have had to -do the Gemmi at one stretch. Our loss would have -been sleeping at Kandersteg, and not at the Schwarenbach, -and the abandonment of our chance of a good -sunrise from the summit of the Pass; though that was -a chance which, as it happened, was worth nothing to -us; for, in such perfectly fine, and singularly clear -weather as we had, the sun rises and sets without -those glories of colour which require haze and clouds -for their reflection.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As to weather, which is the first, the second, and -the third requisite in such an expedition, we had -scarcely seen a cloud during our three weeks’ tramp. -Up to the day before I got on my legs at Visp it had -been an unusually wet and cold season. During the -night I was at the Simplon Hospice it rained a little. -That was the only shower that fell, where I was, during -the whole time we were out. The quarter of an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>hour’s snow on the Riffel was merely the passage of a -stray bit of mountain scud. The sun, throughout, had -shone so brightly that some of its brightness had been -reflected from the world outside upon the world within. -Almost every party of travellers in Switzerland, -this year, we met with had a very different account to -give of the weather they had encountered. When -good luck is pleased to come, it must fall to some one; -and this year it fell to us.</p> - -<p class='c006'>So ended the second act of our little family excursion. -The scene of the first had been the Valleys -of Zermatt and Saas, with my intercalated tramp over -the Monte Moro, through the Val Anzasca, and over -the Simplon. I can, with a safe conscience, recommend -the precise route we took to any family party, -constituted at all as ours was. The time occupied, -from first to last, was exactly three weeks; and three -weeks they were, which we look back upon as well -spent. It had no difficulties, and enough of interest -and variety. As to the cost, I can give no details or -items, for I keep no accounts, and never have. But, -speaking in the gross, I believe it cost somewhat less -than thirty shillings a head a day. Doubtless, it may -be done for less. The best rule in such matters, of -course, is, if you can afford it, to have what you want, -and what will make a pleasure pleasant. As to -equipment, what you need actually carry along with -you is so little, that the statement of it would appear -<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>to people at home ridiculous. But, then, you can -send on by the Post from place to place not only your -heavy luggage, but such articles as your hat, if you are -youthful, or old-fashioned enough to take a hat with -you, and your spare pair of walking boots, and every -thing else you may wish to have occasionally.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And here I have a suggestion to throw out, which -occurred to me while I was on the tramp. What put -it into my head was the incongruity of hotel life with -excursions amid such scenes. In the Rocky Mountains -the great enjoyment of the year is camping out -in the fine season. In Syria and in India people -travel with their tents. Why should we not camp out, -and travel with our tents, in July and August in -Switzerland; and so break loose altogether from the -hotels? One mule, or horse, would carry the tent and -all the tent furniture. If sometimes, but such a necessity -would seldom arise, you had to pitch your tent -on damp grass land, no inconvenience, I believe, would -ensue. I have slept on a damp meadow under a -tent on a bare plank, and was none the worse for it. -And with the addition of a little hay, or straw, upon -the plank, and upon that a waterproof sheet, you -would have a luxurious bed for one who had walked -five-and-twenty miles, and had not been under a roof -during the day. The tent-mule might carry three -light planks, each six feet long; for I will suppose -that the party consists of two travellers, and a guide -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>who also acts as muleteer. A saucepan, kettle, -gridiron, and a few stores, to be renewed as required, -would be necessary. Were the weather to prove unaccommodating -there would always be the hotels at -hand to take refuge in. A month of such campaigning -would be very independent; and, I believe, very -healthful and enjoyable.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At Sierre we took the rail for Aigle. There were -a great many tedious delays on the way: one at -almost every station. But to complain would be -unreasonable, for, of course, the natives like to get as -much as they can for the fares they have paid; and -the lower the fare the greater the gain, if they get -much of the rail for it. It was near 6 o’clock when -we reached Aigle, where we intended to set up our -head-quarters for some days, while looking out for a -winter residence for my wife and the little man.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The night was still, and clear. In that unpolluted -atmosphere, and among the mountains, the bright, -soft, gleaming of the moon—it was now a little beyond -the full—as it brings out the silvered peaks, and seems -to darken the ravines, casts, as old Homer<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c024'><sup>[2]</sup></a> noted -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>long ago, a pleasing spell over you; and you become -indisposed to mar the silence of nature with -a word. The spell, however, on this occasion was -somewhat broken by the disturbing effect of continuous -lightning, in the direction of the head of the -valley, though the horizon was undimmed, throughout -its whole circumference, by so much as a trace of -haziness.</p> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c023'><span class='label'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. </span></p> -<div class='lg-container-b c028'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>As when in heaven the stars</div> - <div class='line'>Are shining round about the lustrous moon,</div> - <div class='line'>Exceeding bright; and all the air is still;</div> - <div class='line'>And every jutting peak, and beacon point</div> - <div class='line'>Stands clear, e’en to the wooded slopes below;</div> - <div class='line'>And the whole field of ether, opened out</div> - <div class='line'>Unfathomable, shows each particular star;</div> - <div class='line'>And at the sight the shepherd to his heart</div> - <div class='line'>Is fill’d with gladness.—<span class='sc'>Iliad</span> viii. 551.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c002'>I have essayed a rendering of this famous simile, not because I hope -to succeed where so many are supposed to have failed, but because, as -may be believed of a country parsonage, I have not a single translation -of it at hand. It may be objected to the one I am driven to offer that -the unfathomableness of the field of ether is a modern idea; and that -Homer meant immensity in the direction, not of the profundity of the -celestial space, but in the direction of its expansion. Our idea, however, -embraces the whole of Homer’s, and goes beyond it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The double mention of the stars is hardly tautological; for the first -mention of them is an indispensable stroke in the sketch, which was -intended to convey to our minds the idea of a fine bright night; while -the shining of so many particular stars in the immeasurable field of -heaven is the point of the simile. As many as are the stars visible in -such a sky, so many were the camp fires of the Trojan bivouac on the -broad plain.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Of this witching power of the moon all people -appear to be conscious. But how does it come to act -upon us in this way? Many, doubtless, have tried to -analyze, and get to the bottom of the feeling. I -would suggest that the effect is produced by an -unconscious comparison of the moon with the sun; -and, then, by an unconscious inference drawn from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>the comparison. The sun is the lord of our waking -hours, and, as respects the moon, is our standard of -comparison. Whatever we think of we must think of -in reference to something else, that something else -being the leading and most familiar object of the -class the thing, at the moment thought about, belongs -to, except it be the leading object itself, when -the reverse reference is made. When, then, we look -at the moon, there is a reference in the mind to the -ideas and feelings, the results of our experience, we -have about the sun. We may not be aware of this, -but it is so, and cannot be otherwise. The sun is -what gives us our conception of a large luminous body, -apparently moving, majestically, round our earth. -Having, then, made this comparison unconsciously—if -it were done consciously there would be no spell, or -witchery—we note the differences. The light is not -the same. It does not penetrate to the recesses of -objects. It does not give clear definition. It does -not enable us to make out surfaces at a distance. It is -not dazzling. It does not enable the beholder to distinguish -colours. There is something spectral about it. -But, above all, it is light unaccompanied by warmth. -The substratum of our thought, as we look at the -moon, is the sun: yet everything is different. The -inference, again unconsciously arrived at, is that of -the wondrous variety, combined with unspeakable -magnitude, and other deeply affecting particulars, in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>these the greatest works, as they strike us at the -moment, of the dimly-apprehended mystery of the -universe. These half-formed thoughts, and their corresponding -emotions, are brought home, not so much -by the sun, because we are too familiar with it, and the -objects we compare it with unconsciously are of inferior -grandeur, as they are by the moon, that is, by the contemplation -of it on a bright clear night. The moon -stands far above all natural objects, indeed, it stands -almost alone, in possessing the means for producing, in -the way I have supposed, on all minds the effect we -are endeavouring to understand. And the effect is -deepened by the character of the hour. It is night. -All is still. There is nothing to distract attention; -nothing to dissipate the effect.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It will help us here, if we see that it is, in part, the -same reason, which impels the dog to bay the moon. -With him, as with ourselves, the standard of comparison -is the sun. The light of the full moon invites -him to look out from his kennel. He sees, as he -thinks, the sun in heaven. The sun has ever been to -him the source of warmth as well as of light. He has -come to connect the idea of light emanating from a -great luminary in heaven with that of warmth. But -this sun, he is looking at now, does not give him any -warmth. It even appears to strike him with a chill. -The light, too, which it emits has differences, which -are very perceptible, but unwonted, and unintelligible. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>It does not enable him to make out familiar objects in -the way in which light ought. His nerves are affected -by these differences and disappointments. His agitation -increases. In the still night there is nothing to -divert his thoughts. It becomes insupportable. He -gives unconscious expression to his agitation. He -bays the moon. It is an expression of deep distress.</p> - -<p class='c006'>These feelings of the dog may also in some respects -be compared to the feelings that used to come -over all mankind, and still come over the savage, and -other untutored people, at the contemplation of an -eclipse.</p> - -<p class='c006'><i>September 18.</i>—The lightning of last night was -not an empty threat, for this morning dense masses of -cloud were rolling down the valley, and there was -much rain. We had been talking of going up the -<i>Dent du Midi</i>; but, as it was, we could not get out -till late in the afternoon, and then it still continued -to be showery. We managed, however, to see one of -the factories for parquetry floors, of which there are -several here. Their work is beautifully executed, and -very cheap. It is sent all over the world. We saw -some orders that had just been executed for Egypt, -and for the United States.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The contrast between Aigle and Leukabad is complete. -Here everything is new, and neat, and bright. -Opposite to us, across the road—we were quite new -ourselves—was a house, in its trim grounds, as new, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>neat, and bright as freshly wrought stone, and fresh -paint could make it. There was not a weather-stain -upon it. At the bottom of our garden were a party of -jabbering Italian masons running up what was to be -a large <i>pension</i>. But the most conspicuous of the new -things in Aigle was a grand hotel, a little way off, nearer -the mountains: so new that the grounds were not yet -laid out. And so it was with almost everything in -this flourishing little place, which has secured its full -share in the rapidly-growing prosperity of the country. -Its attractions are that it has a dry soil; a warm, -sunny situation; and cheerful views. The baths of -Leukabad cannot keep it alive. The sunshine of Aigle -gives it life. If the decay of Leukabad, and the prosperity -of Aigle at all show that people now endeavour -to retain health by natural means, whereas the plan -formerly was to let it go, and then endeavour to recover -it by very doubtful means, we may deem the -world has, in this particular, grown somewhat wiser -than it was of yore; and so far, to go back once -more to our old friend, Homer, we may boast that -we are better than our fathers.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>THE DRAMA OF THE MOUNTAINS</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Non canimus surdis.—<span class='sc'>Virgil.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c027'>I will here give two or three pages to the blue boy. -He is not at all aware that I am about to put him into -print. The reader, I trust, will think that the betrayal -of confidence involved in my doing so is not altogether -unjustifiable. I mentioned that on the day we crossed -the Grimsel, from the Rhone Glacier to Meiringen, he -was unusually silent. He afterwards told me that he -had then been engaged in composing a drama, which -was to be entitled ‘The Drama of the Mountains,’ in -which the most conspicuous mountains he had seen—he -had in 1870 made the acquaintance of M. Blanc—were -to be the <i>Dramatis Personæ</i>. Nothing more was -said on the subject then, or afterwards. We have -infantine productions of Dr. Johnson, Pope, the late -Professor Conington, and of others. I now offer the -following drama, as an addition to this kind of literature. -I can vouch for its entire authenticity and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>genuineness. It shall be printed from the blue boy’s -own MS. The whole composition was arranged in -his mind, some days before it was put upon paper, -without a hint or suggestion from anybody, and subsequently -not a word was corrected, nor even a point -in the stopping altered. It could not have been more -entirely his own had he been the only soul in Switzerland -at the time it was composed. He was alone, too, -at the time it was put upon paper. On the first day -we were at Aigle—I have just mentioned that it was -a wet day—I found him writing it <i>currente calamo</i>; -and on hearing what he was about, I immediately left -the room.</p> -<p class='c006'>I must premise that last summer I had read to him -Shakespeare’s Julius Cæsar (he was then translating -Cæsar’s Commentaries), and the Midsummer Night’s -Dream. On each of which occasions he immediately -afterwards produced a drama of his own; one in the -high classical style founded on Roman history, the -other in the style of Bottom’s interlude. His having -had those two plays read to him is the extent of his -acquaintance with dramatic literature.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Those who may happen to have no personal acquaintance -with his <i>dramatis personæ</i>, will allow a -word or two on the appropriateness of the parts -imagined for them. Blanc, of course, is Emperor in -his own, the old, right: from his shoulders and upwards -he is higher than any of his people. So with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>Rosa: she has the same fitness for being Empress. -Weishorn and Jungfrau are, beyond controversy, -worthy of being, as the order of nature has made -them, Prince and Princess Imperial. Cervin (the -blue boy thinks in French, and so he calls Matterhorn -by his French name), by reason of his signal and conspicuous -uprightness, is the best of Prime Ministers. -Schreckhorn’s name and character fit him for the -Ministry of Police, and prepare us for his horrible -treason. Simplon has conferred on him the place of -the Emperor’s Messenger, on account of his services -to the world in supporting the most serviceable of the -great passes into Italy. We are not surprised at finding -Silberhorn acting as Chancellor of the Exchequer. -Mönch appropriately counsels peace. Finsteraarhorn, -it will be observed, is taunted with hardly daring to -show his face: a sarcastic allusion to the difficulty -there is of getting a view of this mountain.</p> - -<p class='c006'>That the Empire of the Mountains was transferred -to the Potentate of the Himalaya, was intended not -only as an illustration of the bad policy of calling in -to our assistance one stronger than ourselves—the -mistake the horse made when he entered into a -league with man to drive the stag from the contested -pasture—but, also, as an application, and this was the -main idea, of the broad simple principle of <i>detur -digniori</i>.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span><i>THE DRAMA OF THE MOUNTAINS.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c029' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class="blackletter">Dramatis Personæ</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c028'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Blanc</span>, <i>emperor of the Alps</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Rosa</span>, <i>his wife</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Cervin</span>, <i>his prime-minister</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Jungfrau</span>, <i>his daughter</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Weishorn</span>, <i>his son</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Finsteraarhorn</span>, <i>Jungfrau’s husband</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Mönch</span>, <i>the priest</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Schreckhorn</span>, <i>the police-agent</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Simplon</span>, <i>messenger of the Alps</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Silberhorn</span>, <i>treasurer</i>.</div> - <div class='line in7'>────</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Chimoulari</span>, <i>king of the Himalaya</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Dwalagiri</span>, <i>his prime-minister</i>.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Everest</span>, <i>his son</i>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span><span class="blackletter">Prologue</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c030'>The empire of the Alps consists of a large number of European -mountains, who think themselves the highest in the world; but it is not -so, for the kingdom of the Himalaya is still higher and wiser. In the -empire of the Alps, there had been internal disturbances between Blanc, -the emperor, and Schreckhorn, the police-agent, in which Schreckhorn -had mostly had the advantage and had shut the others up in a prison. -But they escaped and applied to Chimoulari, king of the Himalaya, to -help them, which he accordingly did, and defeated Schreckhorn. -Chimoulari then received the empire of the Alps, and was then emperor -of all the mountains in the world.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>ACT I.</div> - <div class='c009'><span class='sc'>Scene I.</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='sc'>Blanc’s</span> <i>Palace</i>.</div> - <div class='c000'>(<i>Enter</i> <span class='sc'>Blanc</span>, <span class='sc'>Cervin</span>, <span class='sc'>Weishorn</span>, <span class='sc'>Jungfrau</span>, <span class='sc'>Rosa</span>, <span class='sc'>Finsteraarhorn</span>,</div> - <div><span class='sc'>Mönch</span>.)</div> - <div class='c000'><span class='xsmall'>BLANC.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Are we all met?</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>WEISHORN</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Yes, we are; we must not speak too loud, for Schreckhorn -is outside the door.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>CERVIN</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Schreckhorn outside the door! impossible!</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>FINSTERAARHORN</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Fear nothing.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>CERVIN</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Finster, really, this is too bad: you wish to have us all -in the lockup; yes, you who hardly dare to show your -face!</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>ROSA</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Blanc, my husband, please send Finster out.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>JUNGFRAU</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Blanc, don’t, don’t.—Rosa, what do you mean; do you -wish to deliver Finster into the hands of Schreckhorn?</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>MÖNCH</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Peace! peace! (<i>Exeunt omnes.</i>)</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>(<i>Enter</i> <span class='sc'>Schreckhorn</span> <i>and</i> <span class='sc'>Silberhorn</span>.)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span><span class='xsmall'>SCHRECKHORN</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Silberhorn, pay me your debts.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>SILBERHORN</span>.</div> - <div class='c000'>Please, my lord.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>SCHRECKHORN</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Please is nothing to me; pay!</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>SILBERHORN</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Blanc, come and help me. (<i>Enter</i> <span class='sc'>Blanc</span>.)</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>SCHRECKHORN</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>I condemn you both to lose fifty feet of your height.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>BLANC</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Ah! (<i>Exeunt omnes</i>).</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div><span class='sc'>Scene II.</span></div> - <div class='c000'><i>The Same.</i></div> - <div class='c000'>(<i>Enter</i> <span class='sc'>Blanc</span> <i>and</i> <span class='sc'>Simplon</span>.)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>BLANC</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Would it not be better if you called in Chimoulari?</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>SIMPLON</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Yes, I will immediately. (<i>Exeunt duo.</i>)</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div><span class='sc'>Scene III.</span></div> - <div class='c000'><i>The Same.</i></div> - <div class='c000'>(<i>Enter</i> <span class='sc'>Blanc</span>, <span class='sc'>Chimoulari</span>, <span class='sc'>Dwalagiri</span>, <i>and</i> <span class='sc'>Everest</span>.)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>CHIMOULARI</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Blanc, what do you want?</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>BLANC</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>To make war against Schreckhorn.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span><span class='xsmall'>DWALAGIRI</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>That is very easy.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>EVEREST</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>I will be general. (<i>Exeunt.</i>)</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div><span class='sc'>Scene IV.</span></div> - <div class='c000'><i>The Same.</i></div> - <div class='c000'>(<i>Enter</i> <span class='sc'>Schreckhorn</span> <i>and</i> <span class='sc'>Everest</span>.)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>EVEREST</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Down with Thee.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>SCHRECKHORN</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>I will bring thee to nothing!</p> - -<p class='c006'>(<span class='sc'>Everest</span> <i>knocks down</i> <span class='sc'>Schreckhorn</span>, <i>kills -him, and goes out</i>.)</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c009'> - <div><span class='sc'>Scene V.</span></div> - <div class='c000'><i>The Same.</i></div> - <div class='c000'>(<i>Enter</i> <span class='sc'>Blanc</span>, <span class='sc'>Chimoulari</span>, <i>and</i> <span class='sc'>Everest</span>.)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>EVEREST</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>I have killed Schreckhorn.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>CHIMOULARI</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Now, Blanc, give me the Empire of the Alps.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>BLANC</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Must I yield it? yes, I suppose.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>(<span class='sc'>Everest</span> <i>and</i> <span class='sc'>Blanc</span> <i>exeunt</i>.)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>CHIMOULARI</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Now am I monarch of all around me! let me rejoice.</p> -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>I do not give this little drama as a wonderful -work for a child of between nine and ten, but to show -what I think any child of average powers might do, -spontaneously and with pleasure, if only parents and -teachers could be brought to understand that the area -of their teaching should be expanded to its natural -limits, that is to the history of man, and to a general -acquaintance with our earth. The proper starting -point for the former is the history, in its widest sense, -of the towns and localities with which the child is -familiar; and for the latter the natural objects, mountains, -rivers, valleys, plains, vegetation, animal life, -meteorology, &c., of the same localities. The teacher -should then pass on, in both these departments, from -what has been understood, because it has been seen, to -what will be understood, though not seen, because it -differs in certain particulars, that can be explained, -from what is already understood. So much for the -area: and an equally great change must be brought -about in the manner of teaching. We must adopt the -natural method as well as the natural area; that is to -say, we must teach orally and conversationally. In -this way only can what is taught to a child be made -intelligible. And if it be not made intelligible it cannot -possibly interest. One step more: all about man -and nature, that has thus been taught orally and conversationally, -should always be subsequently repeated -in the child’s own words. This, among many other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>great advantages, cultivates as nothing else can, because, -again, in the natural way, both the power of -attention and the power of continuous extemporary -expression. Teaching by the book and by heart—well -so phrased, for the understanding has nothing -to do with it, and it takes all heart out of a child—has, -among others, this conspicuous evil, that at the cost -to the child of compulsory ignorance, and gratuitously-engendered -aversion to mental effort, it saves nothing, -except the necessity, in the teacher, of knowing anything -about what he professes to teach.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>ON SWISS HOTELS</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In this the antique, and well-noted face</div> - <div class='line'>Of plain old form is much disfigured.—<span class='sc'>Shakespeare.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c027'>For the word or two I have to say about the Swiss -monster hotels, I can make the one mentioned at -the close of the twelfth chapter my <i>point de départ</i> -with safety; for I never entered it, and only know -from what I saw outside, that it is fire-new, and as -monstrous as new. As you look at one of these -modern caravansaries, you are amused at thinking -how precisely everything in it is the facsimile of all -that you have seen in a score of others. The Swiss -believe, and act, too, on the belief, that they have -reduced hotel-keeping to an exact science; among -them, therefore, in this matter, there cannot be any -longer two opinions about the form of, or the way -of doing, any one thing whatsoever. Everywhere -the building itself appears arranged, externally and -internally, on the same plan. Of an hotel, as of a five-pound -note, there can be but one idea. In either case -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>any deviation from the archetypal paradigm would -disqualify the thing produced from being regarded as -that which it professes to be.</p> -<p class='c006'>As to life within the hotel, everywhere you have -the same breakfast: coffee, two kinds of bread (the -more solid kind almost always sticky and sour, the -flour having been made from imperfectly ripened and -imperfectly harvested grain), butter that is somewhat -insipid, and honey that will inevitably soil your -fingers, and perhaps trouble your interior. Exact -science has demonstrated, beyond controversy, that -precisely this breakfast, for every day in the three -hundred and sixty-five, hits with mathematical rigour -the point at which the wants and rights of the traveller—though, -indeed, he has no business himself to think -about his having any rights or wants at all—meet the -scientifically regarded economies of the innkeeper. -This unvarying breakfast is everywhere served to you -on the same unvarying china—always white, solid, -and heavy. Exact science informs us that if china -of this kind be used there is a smaller amount of -breakage, and that replacements are easy: and from -exact science there is no appeal. That you who have -to use it would prefer a little variety now and then has -nothing at all to do with the matter.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And then as to your dinner: it also is always the -same. As the dinner-bell reminds you of this, you -find that you are agitated by an involuntary shudder. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>Always, and everywhere, the same viands cooked in -the same fashion; and served, too, again on the same -white, solid, heavy china. There is the inevitable <i>filet -de bœuf</i>: more inevitable than the conscience of an evil -deed, for that does not rise up before you throughout -your whole life every day. One feels that one could -almost give a year’s income never to see or hear -mention made of this <i>filet de bœuf</i> any more. Then -come mutton and chicken, the latter always with -salad. Sometimes, however, one of the two latter is -replaced with veal. But the beef, the mutton, the -veal, and the chicken, before they were roasted or ragouted, -had been passed through the already-mentioned -bath, in order to make the <i>potage</i> with which you commenced -your repast. The mind, encouraged by the wilfulness -of the palate, refuses to form a conception of a -sirloin of beef, or of a leg of mutton, that had been -boiled before it was roasted; or of a beef-steak, or of a -mutton-chop, that had passed through the digester on -its way to the gridiron; or of a veal-cutlet that has had -its natural insipidity aggravated by this exhaustive -treatment. The regale concludes with, every day, -the same dried figs and the same raisins; or if it be -late enough in the season, with the same plums and -the same pears, so called, eked out by the same little -cakes and the same little biscuits. Swiss hotel science -repudiates entirely the ideas of roasted joints, and -almost entirely of puddings. As to the wine, it has -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>not, as might be expected, any exceptional merit; -and as to the varieties indicated on the <i>carte</i>, they -do not always correspond with the varieties of Nature: -for science has demonstrated that a variety of labels -constitute a variety of kinds.</p> - -<p class='c006'>You are pursued by this scientific sameness to -your bed-room; and are soon haunted in your dreams -with the idea that you are carrying about with you -everywhere your bed and your bed-room furniture. -As to the looking-glass, it is never on a dressing-table, -but always nailed to the wall; for the science -of Swiss hotel-keeping has discovered that the frame -for a glass of this kind is cheaper than what would be -required for one placed on a table; and that, besides, -there is a far less chance of the glass itself being -broken when it has become a fixture on the wall. -This, however, obliges you to encumber yourself with a -glass of your own; for a man cannot shave by a glass -that has not its back to the light. Not even in the lock -of your bed-room door is there a shadow of variation. -It is always of iron, for iron is cheaper than brass; and -always of the same form and size: they must all have -been made at the same factory. And this unfailing -black iron lock, always of the same size, is always -attached to the surface of the door instead of being -let into it. Your candlestick, too, is always the same—you -fall back again on the theory of a single factory—a -mere pedestal of brass with a glass cup at the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>top—I have, however, occasionally seen them without -this glass cup—to receive the overflowings of the -compo, which is often euphoniously described in the -bill as <i>bougie</i>. But possibly where the glass is now -wanting, it may, as exact science does not recognise -disturbing causes, have originally existed. The candle -again, in the unvarying candlestick, is always everywhere -the same, with a wick that is but little more -than a thread. The <i>rationale</i> of this tenuity of the wick -is that the compo may not be consumed too rapidly for -science. But then the least gust of air, or a careless -quick movement of the candle, extinguishes it. You -then have to relight it with a sulphurous lucifer, -always everywhere sulphurous.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As to the traveller himself, he soon comes to find -that he is not regarded as a thinking, feeling, and acting, -or in any way independent entity. He is not -supposed to have any likes or dislikes; any wants or -ways of his own: he is merely one of the constituent -molecules of an aggregated mass of inert, insentient -matter, which must be manipulated in a certain fixed -manner, which the discoveries of hotel science have -shown to be necessary in order to produce a certain -determinate result in the form of a certain amount of -profit. Or he may compare himself to one of the -milch-cows belonging to the hotel, which must have -that amount of attention bestowed upon it, that -amount of daily provender, and of that kind, and at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>night that berth and bedding, which at the least cost -will produce the greatest amount of milk. Finding -yourself treated in this way, merely as a unit in a -large herd, you become aware that you are losing your -sense of personal identity. How can you go on believing -that you are what Nature made you, or that you have -any special nature at all of your own, when, from being -constantly herded with a hundred other people, all -fed during the day, and provided for during the night, -in precisely the same fashion, everything is conspiring -to impress upon you the self-obliterating conviction -that you are exactly what all the rest are: -nothing more, nothing less, and nothing different?</p> - -<p class='c006'>Of your associate molecules, your fellow milch-cows, -in these monster hotels, the majority speak -your own language. Of these perhaps you will regard -with most sympathy and favour the mountain-climbers, -although you may yourself have ceased, as will probably -be the case, if you are on the shady side of -fifty, to look upon athletics, pure and simple, as the -object of life. Still these vigorous specimens of -youthful British humanity have set themselves something -to do, and are doing it; and it is something -that requires, at all events, enterprise and endurance. -Not many of them, however, are to be found in the -most aggravated form of the monster hotel, for that -belongs to the towns rather than to the mountains. -Another class is composed of those who do not climb, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>but are merely enthusiasts on the subject of mountain -scenery. Of these the most gushing are of the fairer -sex. With them, too, you can go as far as they go; -though not quite to the extent of applying the epithet -of ‘lovely’ to everything indiscriminately, even to -rugged peaks, and rivers of ice; nor of being consumed -by their uncontrollable desire to know, for a -few moments, the name of every peak and point that -happens to be in sight, and to arrive at this evanescent -knowledge by the process of questioning the -bystanders. You meet also multitudes of lawyers, -clergymen, schoolmasters, and literary men. These, -speaking generally, are the <i>élite</i> of the corresponding -classes you have at home. Another large item is -made up of men engaged in trade and business, from -London and the manufacturing districts. It is a very -good thing for them that they are able to leave their -counters, and counting-houses, and factories; and to -exchange, for a time, the murky atmosphere, and the -moil and toil of the routine of their ordinary lives for -the mountains. This makes you glad to see them -also.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Everybody knows that our Transatlantic cousins -will be met with everywhere in shoals, and nowhere -are these shoals greater than in Switzerland. Some -of those you fall in with will be New York shoddy-lords, -some will be Pennsylvanians who have struck oil, -some will be successful speculators in real estate in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>the neighbourhood of rising western cities. But if -you have known the American in his own country, -and in his own home, and are not dissatisfied with a -man, merely because he cannot pronounce the Shibboleths -of Eton and Oxford, you will be glad to make -the acquaintance of a large proportion of the Americans -you encounter. They are clear-headed and -hard-headed; men who hold their own ground, and -are, at the same time, sociable and friendly.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Germans come next in number to those who -speak our own tongue, they are quiet, honest, and -earnest; and have evidently come to Switzerland for -the purpose—there is no doubt about that—of constructing -in their minds a correct idea of the nucleus, -and central watershed, of Europe. But, as few of -us speak German, there is little intercourse between -them and English travellers.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Among the inmates of all these large hotels, -because it is in them that such wanderers find most -nearly what suits them, there remains a conspicuous -<i>residuum</i>, that of those who have nothing in the world -to do, and who, as thoroughly as if they were peak-and-pass-men, -do it. They belong to all countries: -Russia, France, England, and America supply each -its respective quota. They are, for the most part, -carefully, sometimes rather loudly got up: they have -not much else to attend to. And from this, perhaps -also from a little assumption in their manner, they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>contrive somewhat to obtrude themselves on the -general notice of the world in the hotel. They -belong to the class of failures, the <i>coups manqués</i>, of -civilised humanity. They are the waifs and strays of -modern society, with money enough, and often plenty -of it, to live out of their own country. Sometimes -with not enough left to live at home as they once -did. They have no sense of home, nor love of -country; but a sufficient sense of the duty men owe -to themselves. You sometimes hear them intimating, -as a reason for their voluntary expatriation, that -they do not quite like their own country, and countrymen—perhaps -no great proof of the demerit of -either, or of their own judgment. The largest portion -of the self-depreciators of this kind belong to the -English quota of the class.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The disciples of so exalted and serene a philosophy, -having got beyond home, and country, and -all inconveniently large ideas of duty, can have no -prejudices. Pet ideas, however, like the rest of the -world, they have; and the one they most pet is -expressed in our time-honoured, home-manufactured -phrase, though amongst ourselves its use is prompted -by the anxieties and fears of deep love, that ‘the -sun of England has set.’ This is quite intelligible -in a certain class of Frenchmen and Russians. The -wish, with them, was father to the thought. They, -as might have been expected, have become dazzled -<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>at the excess of light which radiates from our sun, -and can now only look at it through the green lens. -This old familiar phrase, coming from such oracular -lips (but the announcement as it comes from them is -history, not prophecy, for it is the announcement -of a <i>fait accompli</i>), is accepted, with thorough satisfaction, -by those of our countrymen who are disposed -to regard its promulgators with submissive admiration, -and are vainly endeavouring to form themselves -on their model. They are only too thankful for -any crumbs which fall from such tables. But be this -as it may, the business of these wanderers is to go -up and down, and to and fro, upon the earth. In -this respect their occupation resembles the description -the reprobate sprite gave of his. And he, too, -had lost the sense, if we may so put it, of home, -and country, and duty; and must also have had in -his eyes some tint of green. But they go only where -locomotion and life are easy; and where they may -expect to find the society of congenial sprites, who -will not ruffle them, will not be blind to their merits, -and will take them, occasionally, at the price they set -upon themselves.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It may, then, be placed on the credit side of the -account of these scientifically managed hotels, though, -at the time, one, being averse to entering them, and -not averse to leaving them, is not disposed to credit -them with much good, that they supply some materials -<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>for ‘the proper study of mankind.’ It was not, -however, for the purpose of obtaining facilities for the -prosecution of this study that you came to Switzerland: -perhaps, rather it was that you might lose sight of it -for a time.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XV.</h2> -</div> -<p class='c022'>BERNE—SWISS FOUNTAINS—ZURICH—MUSEUM OF RELICS -FROM ANCIENT LAKE-VILLAGES—BAUR EN VILLE—RÉCOLTE -DES VOYAGEURS—C’EST UN PAUVRE PAYS</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Beyond compare, of all things best</div> - <div class='line'>Is water.—<span class='sc'>Pindar.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c002'><i>September 19.</i>—We spent the day at Vevey. -Vineyards were everywhere along the sides of the -railway. It is pleasing to note the care with which -the vine, that peerless gift of Nature’s bounty to man, -is cultivated; how the land is terraced and fenced, -and how scrupulously clean it is kept. This indicates -the value of the land that is adapted to its growth, -and is in keeping with the character of the gift. Had -a swim in the lake. My first plunge into it was thirty-one -years ago, on returning to Geneva from a walking -expedition to Chamouni.</p> - -<p class='c006'>On the following day (dates are no longer needed, -for our excursion was now ended, and I was returning -home, on my own hook) I started for Zurich by way -of Berne. The country, as seen from the rails, looks -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>as if it were fertile, and carefully cultivated. The -three points in which, to the eye of a passer-by, their -agriculture appears to differ most from ours are, first, -the greater cleanness of the land. I know no farmers—of -course there are many exceptions, and notably -where there is steam-ploughing—who cultivate so -many weeds as the famous British farmer. Secondly, -their not giving to their land so much manure as we -do. One, however, may be mistaken on this point. And, -thirdly, in the absence of live stock from the fields. I -understood that the price of land is very high: the -figures given to me were higher than the price of -equally good agricultural land would come to here at -home.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Since I was last at Berne, it appeared to me that -a great deal had been done in the way of extension -and improvement. The place has the look of having -thriven much, and of still continuing to thrive. A -few years ago a neighbouring stream was diverted, -and made to flow through the heart of the city. It -supplies, in its new course, several copious public -fountains. These are sculptured and decorated, as if -the people loved the water, and wished to heighten -their pleasure at seeing, and welcoming, and using it. -One of the most pleasing sights in a Swiss town—it -is the same down to the smallest village—is this -abundance of good water with which it is supplied. -It is ever in sight, for every use of man and beast. In -<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>our English cities there was no want—the omission is -still far from having been set right—that was so conspicuously -neglected. And this, though an abundant -supply of good water is not only a first necessity of -life, but equally so of civilisation. The reasons of -our negligence, in a matter of so much importance, -are not far to seek. As the Swiss manage their -own affairs, their first care is to provide themselves -with what all need; and, evidently, the first thing of -this kind to be attended to is the water-supply. Their -system, too, of political, and, as respects the land, to -some extent, of possessive equality, has engendered a -sentiment of philanthropy; not of the charitable, or -condescending, kind, but a general desire in all to -attend to the rights, the wants, and the well-being of -all. It would be distressing to all alike to find that -any one had not as much water as he could require, -supplied to him in the handiest way, in which it -might be possible for the opportunities, and combined -resources of the community to effect this.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Different influences have been at work amongst -ourselves. The community has not managed its own -affairs in such a manner, and on such a footing, as -that the wants and interests of the humbler, and more -helpless, classes should be as much felt, and attended -to, as the wants and interests of the well-to-do classes, -and of those who are able to take care of themselves. -This has hindered the importance, or rather the necessity, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>of an abundant supply of water presenting itself, -generally, to men’s intelligence, and conscience, as -really one of the primal cares of the community. This -has not been one of the points which town councils, -and rate-payers (perhaps because they were rate-payers) -have seen in a proper light. There has been -something which has stood in the way of their seeing -it at all. Then there have been influential bodies in -every community, whose interests lay in an opposite -direction. I mean the water companies, and the -manufacturers, and retailers of intoxicating liquors. -You could hardly expect them to have seen very distinctly -that it was the duty, and the interest, of the -community to provide everywhere, and for everybody, -a visible, constant, gratuitous supply of fresh, running, -sparkling water. Nor, indeed, could the government -of the country be expected to be more sharp-sighted -in this matter than the local administrations; for it -had to collect an enormous revenue for the purpose of -enabling it to pay the interest of an enormous debt. -There was, therefore, something to indispose it, also, -to supply a want, the supply of which must inevitably -reduce the number of millions it was collecting, every -year, on the production and consumption of intoxicating -drinks. These are the reasons which have -issued in the fact, that water has been kept out of, or -not brought into, the sight of the inhabitants of our -English towns, and villages. It was not because -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>water could be supplied on easier terms in Switzerland -than in this country, because we find as much -attention paid to its abundant free supply in some -other continental countries, for instance in Italy, as in -Switzerland.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Everyone who will give the subject a little thought -will come to the conclusion, that it is this neglect -which is mainly answerable for some of the preventable -maladies, and for much of the drunkenness, -and so of the misery and crime, which afflicts -our working classes. The efforts that have been -made of late years to set up drinking-fountains in -London, and in many of our towns, is an indication -that in this supreme matter our eyes are beginning to -be opened. When they are completely opened, a -public, free, inexhaustible supply of the purest possible -water will be the first care of every community, great -and small; and drinking-fountains will, everywhere, -offer an alternative to the gin-palace and public-house, -and in winter as well as in summer.</p> - -<p class='c006'>To the reflecting mind, the overflowing sparkling -fountains of the Swiss towns are very pleasing -objects. So, too, to the natural eye, and ear, -are the brawling stream in every valley, and the -trickling rills on every hill-side. There is water, -water, everywhere; and every drop to drink. This -the pedestrian, at all events, will appreciate; and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>when the sun is bright, he will be thankful for it a -dozen times a day.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c006'>At Zurich I was much interested by the public -collection of objects, found at the bottom of the lake, -and on the site of the old lake-villages. Herodotus -mentions a powerful Thracian people, who dwelt in a -similarly constructed city on Lake Prasias. The -Irish and Scotch cranoges are also instances of ancient -structures of the same kind. To this day, in New -Guinea and Borneo, and in Africa, we find water-towns -still inhabited. In all these cases it was the -same necessity, that of providing against sudden -attacks from more powerful neighbours, that suggested -the idea. And if we may refer to the same class, -the lagoon-protected infancy of Venice, then the -Queen of the Adriatic, with her St. Mark’s, and her -palaces, owes her existence to the idea, from which -originated, in a very old past, the little wooden huts -of the Lake of Zurich.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The objects which have been recovered reveal the -habits, arts, conditions of life, and much of the internal -history of those who formed, and used them. About -the events of their external history, though much of -this can be pretty well imagined, of course they are -silent. Nor have they anything to tell us in reply to -the questions of who the people were, whence they -came, or what became of them? The information -they give us begins with the time when men, in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>central Europe, had not attained to a knowledge of -metals, and were using implements of bone and -stone for war, hunting, and domestic purposes. Abundance -of their stone tools have been found, and also of -specimens of the work done with them. For instance, -some of the series of piles, upon which the dwellings -were placed, and these piles are found by the hundred, -we see were hacked to the point, which was to fit them -for driving, with stone chisels and hatchets. And -then, in other series of piles, we pass on to the -era when stone had been superseded by bronze and -iron tools. It is very interesting to have thus before -us the actual tools, and the actual work done with -them, together with ocular demonstration of the way -in which, by the superiority of their work, the first -metal tools superseded their perfected predecessors of -stone.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Everything, one may almost say, has been preserved, -and, too, in a most wonderfully perfect state. -Besides the tools and weapons in great variety, there -are their nets and clothes, their pottery in jars and -cups, and utensils for many purposes, the bones of -the animals on which they feasted, the different kinds -of fruit they had gathered from the forest, and of -grain they had cultivated. In all these matters the -old lake-dwellers have bequeathed to us the means of -comparing notes with them. The bones that have -been found of the ox, the sheep, and the dog show -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>that the varieties of the respective species then kept -by the dwellers in this neighbourhood were not precisely -identical with any of their varieties now known. -They were, too, great hunters, and game was abundant -in the locality. Among the vast quantities of bones of -wild animals, that have been found, are those of the -wolf, the bear, the beaver, the wild boar, the stag, the -European bison (which still exists in the Forest of -Lithuania, and is the largest quadruped next after the -rhinoceros), and of the urus, the aboriginal wild ox of -Europe, which is now extinct.</p> - -<p class='c006'>They were also agriculturists. One of the kinds of -wheat they cultivated was what we call the Egyptian, or -Mummy Wheat. Some of the specimens of this could -not be more perfect had they been only just harvested. -It had several small ears ranged round a main central -ear, and from this reason sometimes goes by the name -of the hen-and-chickens wheat. It is interesting to -know that so distinctly marked a variety was being -cultivated at so remote a period, on the banks of the -Lake of Zurich, by these trans-Alpine barbarians, and -on the banks of the Nile, by the subjects of the early -Pharaohs, at the same time. Here is a kind of possible -connection between the builders of Karnac and -the builders of these pile-supported huts; and also a -point in the history of one of our Cereals, of the birth, -parentage, and education of all of which so little is -known. Two kinds of millet, and a six-rowed variety -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>of barley have also been found. These rude contributories -to the ancestry of the modern European -were at the same time collecting for food, from the -neighbouring forests, sloes, bullaces, wild cherries, -beech-mast, crab-apples, elder-berries, the hips of the -wild rose, raspberries, blackberries, and hazel-nuts; -for well-preserved remains of all these have been -found on the sites of the lake-villages. Some of the -specimens are supposed to show slight differences -from the same fruits now growing wild in the neighbourhood. -These differences, if they do really exist, -must, notwithstanding their slightness, indicate a long -lapse of time.</p> - -<p class='c006'>They also cultivated flax. Nets and lines made -from it, together with the very scales of the fish the -nets and lines caught, and the woven cloth, with the -very fringes that decorated the dresses into which it -had been formed, and even the weights used in -working the looms, are all here, to teach us how -widely spread, in very early times, were the most necessary -of the useful arts. There has, then, been no -solution in the continuity of man’s history. His wants -were from the first substantially the same as they are -at this day; and these wants were from the first -supplied by the same contrivances as at this day, with -the difference that, in every age, the contrivances were -raised to the level of the knowledge, and consequent -resources, of the times. The spinning-jenny, and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>power-loom, in a few large cities, are now doing for -millions what the wives and daughters of these old -lake-dwellers, seated in summer on the wooden platform -above the water, and in winter within the hut, -did for each separate family. The wants of what -appear to us as the primæval times, but which were -in fact very far from that, have been enlarged and -multiplied, in proportion as man’s means for meeting -them became improved and enlarged; and this kind -of growth in the old wants, consequent upon growth -in our means for supplying them, constitutes what is -generally meant by progress. And this material -progress it is, which makes possible moral and intellectual -progress, the glory, and privilege, and happiness -of man.</p> - -<p class='c006'>One cannot help comparing these relics of the old -lake-village with the copiously furnished stateliness of -its modern neighbour, the city of Zurich. You set -them, in thought, by the side of its handsome streets -of stone houses, its rich shops, its large factories, -especially of iron, in which labour is so skilfully organised, -and so scientifically directed, its university, -its general intelligence, its conscious efforts to cultivate, -and turn to account, that intelligence, its accumulated -wealth, its patriotism, its knowledge of, and -connection with, every part of the world. But varied, -complex, great, and interesting as all this is, still it is -only the step now at length reached, by the labour of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>many generations, in the true and natural development -of what was existing on the lake some thousands of -years ago. Society, such as it was, in those old -days, in the rude, wood-built, water-protected huts -was the embryo of society, such as it now is in the -proud, modern city. How natural, then, is the jealous -care with which it guards these old relics; for if they -do not speak to the Zurichers of their own actual -ancestors they show them what were the germs out -of which has grown their present condition.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c006'>I spoke of the large Swiss hotels exactly as they -impressed me. I found in them nothing that was -attractive to me. Why it was so I endeavoured to -explain. I must, however, here note that what I then -said is not applicable to Baur’s Hotel at Zurich. I -said as much to the manager on leaving, though I was -sure that he must often have received similar commendation -from others. The house is as well ordered -as you would wish to see your own home. The bedrooms -are of a good size, and well furnished. The -table is liberal. The <i>cuisine</i> good. A wholesome -Rhenish wine is supplied at dinner. The attendants -are clean and attentive. Everything you are likely -to want is provided; nor are there any traps set, or -any wish apparent that you should call, for extras. -For meals at irregular hours there is an excellent -<i>restaurant</i> in the house, distinct from the dining <i>salon</i>. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>This hotel, though large, has none of the cold, hard, -obtrusive air of its monster brethren. In short, things -are so managed that you feel that you are in a good, -comfortable hotel, and not in a large factory, where -bales of travellers, yourself a bale, are undergoing the -process, like truck-loads of brute material, of scientific -manipulation. I was at Baur <i>en ville</i>. Baur <i>au lac</i>, -at a distance of three or four minutes’ walk, is, I -suppose, managed in the same fashion, and is the -same kind of thing.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But how about the <i>note</i>? I suppose wages, and -the price of provisions, must be much the same in -Zurich as in other Swiss towns, but the <i>note</i> did not -lighten my purse as much as experience would have led -me to have expected. A man, then, even an innkeeper, -may sometimes be found, whose merits are obvious to -the world, but who enhances them—and this is true -virtue—by himself setting a low price upon them.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c006'>Hitherto the risings and settings of the sun had -been, as I mentioned, almost achromatic. I suppose on -account of the clearness of the atmosphere. But now -a great change had taken place; there had been falls -of rain, and even of snow, and the air had become full -of moisture, and there was much cloud; in consequence, -there were in the evenings some most glorious -atmospheric fields of colour. I keep in mind one of -these sunsets above the rest, because of the way in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>which it placed the murky, swart outline of the ridges -and peaks of the Jura in contrast with the usual -oranges and reds above, but which, though seen so -often, one never tires of looking at. It is almost -enough to condemn a country house, that the sunset -cannot be seen from it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I have another reason for recollecting this sunset. -I was with several persons at the moment who -were observing it together. Among these were two -Swiss gentlemen. But in the change of weather -which it indicated, they only saw a hint that this -year’s <i>récolte des voyageurs</i>, as they phrased it, was -drawing to a close: a true harvest, which costs -Switzerland little, and is got in with not unthrifty -husbandry, and which one is glad should benefit so -many, both among those who do the harvesting, and -among those who are harvested. A French gentleman, -however, who happened to be present, and had -been spending the summer on the banks of the Lake -of Geneva—it might be inferred that his recollections -of the way in which he had himself been harvested, -were not in all respects pleasant—turned to me with -the aside, <i>C’est un pauvre pays</i>.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> <br /><span class='c020'>A REMARK ON SWISS EDUCATION</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The proper study of mankind is man.—<span class='sc'>Pope.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c027'>It has long been my practice, wherever I find myself, -to inquire into the provisions made for education, -and into the modes of teaching adopted; and, also, by -observation, and talking to the people themselves, to -do what I can, as far as opportunities go, to collect -materials for enabling me to form an opinion on the -results and fruits of what has been done. I did this -wherever I was on this excursion; and as it was my -object in going to Zurich to see its Polytechnic University, -I will here give one of the conclusions I came -to on the subject of Swiss education.</p> -<p class='c006'>It was constructed by the Swiss to suit their own -wants. That it does admirably well. Such a system, -however, would be very far from suiting equally well -that large class amongst ourselves, who are destined for -either a public life, or for what may be called the semi-public -life of our men of property, and of a large proportion -of those whose special work is that of one of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>the learned professions: at all events, both law and -divinity, as practised in this country, have direct connections -with political life. The Swiss, however, are a -small, and a poor people, whose affairs are, in the -main, managed locally. They have no need of -trained statesmen; they have no <i>haute politique</i>. -Speaking generally, they are a nation of peasant-proprietors, -artisans, manufacturers, and tradesmen. At -present, in many parts of the country, the only tritons -among the minnows are the innkeepers. Manufactures, -which mean also commerce, are, here and there, -introducing a moneyed class; and the hundreds of -thousands of pounds, spent every year in the country, -by tens of thousands of travellers, are enriching bankers, -and, through many channels, many others. Now the -education such a people requires is one that will make -intelligent artisans, intelligent manufacturers, and intelligent -tradesmen; and which will give to that -portion of the population for whom work cannot be -found at home, sufficient intelligence to dispose them -to go into foreign countries; and will enable them, -when there, to take their bread out of the mouths of -the inhabitants of those countries. This is what the -Swiss system aims at doing. And wherever it is well -carried out,—of course this is done much better in -the Protestant than in the Catholic cantons,—it attains -its aim. In many of the Catholic cantons the people -are content to be as their fathers were: they do not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>see very distinctly the advantage of cultivating the -intelligence of their children; and it cannot be supposed -that the village priest will be very forward in -enlightening them on this point.</p> - -<p class='c006'>What the Swiss system, true to its object, sets -itself to teach is the languages that will be useful in -business, arithmetic, mathematics, the principles of -the useful arts, and the elements of the sciences. All -this is just what will enable the Swiss to get on in the -careers that will be open to them. They are an -intensely practical people; and these thoroughly -practical subjects they take care shall be taught -sufficiently for the purpose they have in view. They -have no idea of not getting their pennyworth for their -penny. Their philanthropy, and their love of home, -the unfailing and fruitful source of so many virtues, -make them desirous of giving every chance to their -children; and they are interested in, and proud of, -and spend their money on, their schools for their -children’s sake. All this is just as it should be. It is -a very good thing for them; and, as far as it goes, it -would be a very good thing for us, if we had the same -system at work here. It is exactly what is wanted -for nine-tenths of our population; and what they -must have if we are to keep our place in the world. -But when this shall have been done, if there is ever to -be a time when it will have been done, there will still -remain one-tenth of our population, a number equal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>to, or greater than, that of the whole Swiss nation, -which will be capable of receiving, and will need for -the life that will be before them, something different -from, and higher than, a Swiss education.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Swiss system is large and liberal for a tradesman; -it almost makes of him a gentleman. But for an -English gentleman it would be narrow and illiberal. -It would not properly qualify him for the careers that -are open to him, and for the life that is before him. -It is not the kind of culture that will produce statesmen, -jurists, divines, orators, poets, historians, literary -lay teachers, or philosophers. If, by the grace of -nature, an English boy had been intended for any -one of these vocations, to bring him up in the Swiss -fashion would be to rob him of his birthright: and the -more thoroughly the system had been applied to him, -the more complete would be the robbery, and the -greater the injustice and the injury.</p> - -<p class='c006'>An English gentleman has not been properly -qualified for what is his work in life, unless his education -has been such as to make him acquainted with -the history of man, and with what may be called the -sciences of humanity. By the sciences of humanity I -mean ethics, economics, polity, jurisprudence, the -history of opinion, the history of literature, dialectics, -oratory. An acquaintance with these is what, from -the first, should be kept in view. They should be -worked up to from the beginning of the process, for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>they are the crown and completion of the mental -training he will require. They are that training. And -this is just what our system, not from intelligent and -deliberate design, but from a happy accident, does in -some degree attempt. It provides for it in the study -of the history of Greece and Rome, two of the most -important and instructive developments of the history -of man; and, furthermore, in the direct study of some -of the above-mentioned sciences. I say it does this -not so much by intelligent design, as by a happy accident, -because that it is doing it at this day is merely -the result of our having retained the classical system -our forefathers established at a time when there was -nothing else to teach; and which they established -just because there was nothing else to teach then. -We may now, knowing what we want, and what -materials we have to work with, very much enlarge -and improve their system. We may advance from the -classics to general history and humanity; of course -still retaining the classics, which contain the most important -chapters in the history of the fortunes, of the -culture, and of the mind of man. And this, which is -just what we ought to do, is what, perhaps, we shall do, -when we come to understand what it is that gives it -its value, and makes it indispensable for us.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another capital defect in a system, such as that of -the Swiss, is that it does not cultivate, but rather -represses and deadens, the imagination. This is the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>instrument of the creative faculty in man, that in -which we make the nearest approach to, and which -gives to man in the form and degree possible for him, -the plastic power that is exhibited to us in the richness, -and diversity, of nature. It is this which makes a man -myriad-minded; which enables him to look at things -from all sides, and to see them in all lights; to regard -them as minds most unlike his own regard them; to -be in his single self all men to all things; it is what -gives insight; and the power of forming accurate and -distinct conceptions of things in the three forms of -what they actually are, of what they have been, and -of what, with reference to other conceptions that have -a bearing upon them, they ought to be. A man cannot -be a poet, an orator, an artist, hardly an inventor, -or discoverer, an historian, or a statesman, without the -exercise of this faculty. His rank in any one of these -fields of intellectual work will depend on the degree -to which it has been developed within him; and the -kind of discipline it is under. Our system, in a rough, -and haphazard, kind of a way, and again more by accident -than by intelligent, deliberate design, does something -for its cultivation, by the study of the poets and -orators of Greece and Rome; and by attempts -at poetical composition. This is good as far as -it goes; but insufficient for the great purpose. And -this insufficiency of the means we are employing is -aggravated, when they have to be applied under the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>direction of masters and tutors, who possibly, and -probably, too, have never given a thought to the nature -and purposes of the imaginative faculty; and, therefore, -are, of course, equally heedless of the right -methods of using the means, that happen to be in their -hands, for awakening, cultivating, and strengthening it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Its proper cultivation in these times should not be -confined to the poetry of the old world. That is valuable, -not merely on account of its perfectness of form, -but because it is one-sided, unchristian, and narrow. -It is the poetry of a small, highly privileged class, -when that small class was everything, and the bulk of -mankind nothing. It is not the poetry of humanity -broadly. The recognition of the humanity of all men -equally constitutes one essential difference between -the modern and the old world. And this limited, and -somewhat abnormal, humanity of the ancient poetry is, -furthermore, somewhat unconnected with a knowledge -of, and love for, nature—the <i>milieu</i> of man. All this -makes it very valuable as a study of a distinct development, -under peculiar circumstances, of the poetic -faculty. But it is insufficient. It is no substitute for -an acquaintance with the poetry of the modern world; -which, too, it should follow, and not precede. That is -the truer and more normal development. It has additional -roots, a wider range, a larger inspiration; it -takes cognizance of what is in man, irrespective of conditions, -or rather under every condition: and it also -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>consciously regards man and nature connectedly; -man’s internal nature, and nature external to man, are -to its apprehension correlated. Here, too, it has received -a new revelation.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And the attempt to turn a child’s mind in the -direction of nature, and to give him some general -acquaintance with nature, and with modern poetry, -would be invaluable for another reason: for not only -is this now necessary, as an indispensable part of -mental culture for all, being a part of the rightful -mental inheritance of those whose lot is cast in these -times, but because experience has taught us that there -are many minds, which have no aptitude for the -acquisition of languages, either from some congenital -defects, or, as is most probable, from some faults and -omissions of early teaching and associations—but -whatever may have been in their cases the cause is a -matter of no consequence now: the mischief exists, -and cannot be removed. Still, though deficient to -this extent, they may have no disinclination for the -study of nature: that, in the young, can hardly be -possible. Here, then, is something that will enable -them to live a not unworthy intellectual life. It is -necessary for all: as a part of complete culture for -those who are capable of complete culture; and, for -those who are not, as a sufficient culture.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c006'>The advocates of the continuance—to the extent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>and for the purposes I have indicated—of classical -study will labour under a great and unfair disadvantage, -as long as the classics shall be taught with -but slight perception, on the part of those who teach -them, of their bearing on the higher work of the day. -As long as the main object of our public schools shall -continue to be professedly linguistic, and that, too, in -a somewhat narrow, and shallow fashion; and their -tone, sometimes a little ostentatiously, at variance with -that of the world, and of the day, for the work of which -they ought to be a preparation (it was so with them -originally) so long will the advocacy of classical studies -be unfairly weighted with a sense of the justice of the -charge of unreality brought against them, as now -conducted. Whereas in the advocates of modern -knowledge as the object and instrument of education, -and in its teachers, there is none of this unreality, or -want of connexion with the thought, and with the -work, of the world that is stirring around us. We, -however, hold that it is a different department of -work and thought, to which the latter training mainly -and primarily applies. A public man need not, as -a public man, know anything of astronomy and -geology; though, of course, he is behind the age, and -his culture is incomplete, if he does not. Of all such -subjects he ought, as an educated man, to have a -general knowledge; and he will also be the better, as a -public man, for having it; but what is primarily and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>indispensably required of him is a knowledge of man, -and of all kinds of social phenomena in their whole -range; what they are, how they came to be what they -are, and how they affect man. Here his knowledge -should be full and precise: and a very valuable part -of this knowledge is contained in the literature of the -old world. He ought to have lived through those ages. -To have done so is a vast extension of experience of -the most useful kind. But he cannot have lived through -those times, unless he is familiar with the feelings and -thoughts, and actions of the men of those times, together -with the circumstances, and conditions, under -which they so thought, and felt, and acted. And he -cannot have this familiarity unless he has a knowledge -of the very words, in which they, themselves, expressed, -and described, those feelings, thoughts, and actions.</p> - -<p class='c006'>One word more. There is no knowledge so valuable -as that of what is knowledge; nor any intellectual -habit so valuable as that which disposes us in every -thing to require knowledge, and to separate that which -is knowledge from that which is not. Theoretically, -there is no reason why either the study of language, -or theology, should not be made a training for this -knowledge, and for this habit. But as this is a matter -of practice, as well as of theory, we must look at things -as they are, and see where what we want is actually -found, and what has in those cases produced it; -and where there has been a failure in producing it, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>and what has been in those cases the cause of this -failure. Who, then, are most conspicuous for knowing -in what knowledge consists, and for the habit of -requiring knowledge as a ground for thought and -action, and for being ever on the alert to separate -knowledge from its counterfeits? No one, I think, -would hesitate in replying, those who have had some -scientific training. And it is easy to see how scientific -training gives this knowledge, and this habit. It -makes no difference what the matter of the study be, -whether the stars, or the fungi; whether the physiology -of man, or of an earth-worm. The object is soon seen -to be truth; and the motive is soon felt to be the satisfaction -which truth gives to the mind, and the desire -to escape, in the practical order, from the wastefulness, -and the mischief of error. Whatever, therefore, -is necessary for the attainment of truth is submitted -to, or acquired, or eliminated, or avoided, in accordance -with the exigency of each case. In these pursuits men -learn to guard against appearances that they may not -be misled by them; to sift evidence; to distinguish -facts from supposed, or alleged, facts; to observe -patiently and closely; to suspend judgment; to distinguish -probability from certainty; to distinguish -different degrees of probability; to distinguish what -they know from what they wish; not to wish for anything -but ascertained and demonstrable truth; to -examine everything, and to hold fast only that which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>is demonstrably true; to guard against ambiguities in -words; to use words for photographing facts, and not -to make them a mist which obscures both the object of -inquiry, and the paths which lead to it. As a matter -of observation, and of fact, these are the habits of -mind, which the scientific study of any subject inculcates, -and makes natural to a man. They become his -second nature. Of course they ought to be the nature -of all educated people. And when a man’s mind has -been thus trained in the study, scientifically pursued, of -any one subject, he applies these habits to the consideration -of all other subjects, with which he may have to -do: to those, with which he is not familiar, he addresses -himself with the same ideas, and the same ways of -thinking, as he does to that, with which he is familiar. -He knows what knowledge is; and, while he can -suspend his judgment, he cannot be satisfied with -anything but knowledge. What he does not know -upon these subjects he knows that he does not know. -The study of language, and theology, if scientifically -taught, are doubtless capable of supplying this training, -but looking at our educated classes generally, and at -those who have had administered to them the greatest -amount of these two studies, it does not appear that -the desired effect has been produced. If, then, these -things are so, here is both something that should be -an object, and something that is a defect, as things -now are, in our higher education.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> -</div> -<p class='c022'>ELSASS—LOTHRINGEN—METZ—GRAVELOTTE—MOTHER OF THE CURÉ OF STE. MARIE AUX CHÊNES—WATERLOO.</p> -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>It is a just award</div> - <div class='line'>That they who take, should perish by, the sword.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c027'>I included Mulhouse, Colmar, Strasbourg, Bitche, -and Metz in my homeward journey. As I passed -along, the higher peaks of the Vosges were white -with recently fallen snow. It is not, however, the -forest-clad mountains, and their snow-capped summits -which interest most the thought of the traveller, as he -traverses this district, now, but the consequences of -that recent transference of power, of which the names -just written down remind him: the cotton industry of -Mulhouse and Colmar; the astonishing agricultural -wealth of the neighbourhood of Strasbourg, where the -land yields, side by side, in singular luxuriance the five -agricultural products, sugar-beet, hops, wine, tobacco, -and maize, which in Europe pay the best; the strategical -importance, and military strength, of Strasbourg, -Bitche, and Metz; the variety of the manufactures, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>of the agricultural resources, of the country round -Metz; and, more than all this wealth and strength, the -people themselves of these districts, who were the -manliest, the most industrious, and the most thriving -part of the population of France. One can, at present, -hardly estimate rightly the value of what has thus been -taken from France, and given, if the expression may be -allowed, to her natural enemy. Still it was France -herself that laid this incalculable stake upon the table: -her portion of the left bank of the Rhine against Prussia’s; -and insisted on the game being played. And the -chances were against her. She had acquired Strasbourg -by amazing treachery; and now the ignorance, -arrogance, and vice by which she was to lose it, were -equally amazing. And this war of 1870-71 was a -natural sequel of the wrongs the first Napoleon did to -Germany. That it was that had obliged the Germans -to devote themselves to military organisation, -and to understand the necessity of national -union; and which was hardening their will, and -nerving their arm. As to the French, one would be -glad to find that they were delivering themselves -from those causes in themselves, which led to their -great catastrophe. But the existing generation cannot -expect to see the day, when the rural population of -France will have attained to more enlightenment than -they have at present, and its city population to more -rational ideas of liberty, justice, and truth, than they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>have exhibited hitherto; for the lives of the former -are too hard, and the latter are too fanatical, to admit -of much immediate improvement in either.</p> -<p class='c006'>I stopped at Metz to see the battle-field of Gravelotte. -I went over it with two Englishmen, who had -come to Metz for the same purpose. We were provided -with maps, and plans, and narratives of the -great battle. It was a bright fine day. We started -at 8.30 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span>, and did not get back to Metz till 5 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span> -It requires, at least, six hours to go over the field, -including the hour you stop at Ste. Marie aux Chênes -for baiting your horses, and for luncheon.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The French ground was well chosen for a defensive -battle. It was along the ridge of the rising ground, -facing to the west, from St. Privat and Roncour on -their right, to the high ground opposite to, and behind -St. Hubert, on their left. St. Hubert was a farmhouse -in the depression. It had a walled garden. -This ground was about five miles in length. Early in -the day the Germans occupied only a part of the -ground in front of the French position, beginning at -Gravelotte, a little to the south-west of the French -left. At this time there was no enemy in front of the -French right. The ground here, rendered strong by -a line of detached farm-houses, woods, and villages, -was occupied by French outposts. From all these -they were driven, in succession, by the extension -of the German left. The strongest position here, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>and in it much hard fighting took place, was the -village of Ste. Marie aux Chênes. The Germans first -attacked the French left at St. Hubert. From this -they drove them out. One can hardly understand -how they managed to get possession of it, for the -French occupied the high ground all round it. To -march upon it was like marching into the bottom of -a bowl to attack a strong place in the bottom, commanded -by the enemy’s cannon from every part of -the rim. Having, however, established themselves -here, they advanced up the hill against the French -left. But, though they were repulsed, they were not -driven out of St. Hubert. In the evening, the Germans, -having established themselves along the front of the -French right, and having even somewhat outflanked it, -attacked them at St. Privat and Roncour. Here was -most desperate fighting; and one, while standing on -the ground, is surprised that any troops could have -faced what the Germans had to go through. Their -advance was made up a perfectly smooth, and open, -incline, three-quarters of a mile across, the whole of it -completely swept, and commanded by the French -cannon, mitrailleuse, and Chassepots, which we must -recollect killed some hundreds of yards further than -the needle-gun. A Saxon corps, that had been coming -up with forced marches, in the evening reached -this point, and went straight up the hill. In fourteen -minutes half its strength was <i>hors du combat</i>. There is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>a monument on the spot to those who fell here. The -whole field is full of German monuments, for wherever -their men fell, there they were buried; and there a -monument has since been raised to their memory. At -last the French right was driven off this ground, and -out of the strong village of St. Privat behind it. It -was now dark. The French were in no position, or -condition, to renew the fight the next day; and so, -during the night, they withdrew to Metz, leaving their -material behind. They had fought a defensive battle, -which suited neither the character of their troops, nor -the circumstances of their position.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At Ste. Marie aux Chênes, where we stopped an -hour for luncheon, we spent part of the time in walking -about the village, and looking at the traces of the -fight. It is a large village, every house of which has -thick rubble or stone walls. All the buildings in it -were occupied strongly by the French; and all were, -successively, carried. It was a from house-to-house -and hand-to-hand fight. We found all the doors, -window-shutters, and window-frames in the place, new, -because the old ones had been battered in, hacked to -pieces, and destroyed by the Germans, as they forced -their way into each house separately. No prisoners -were taken.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Among other spots we visited here was a little -enclosed space, where the Germans had buried their -dead. While we were looking at the grave of a young -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>Englishman of the name of Annesly—Von Annesly -he is called on the stone—who had fallen in the assault -on the village—he had attained to the rank of -lieutenant in the German service—an elderly peasant -woman approached; and, on finding that we were not -Germans, freely entered into conversation with us. -She soon told us that she was the mother of -the Curé of the village. She had been one among -the few inhabitants of the place, who, having taken -refuge in cellars, had remained in it during the -assault. She was very communicative, and invited -us to accompany her to her house, where she showed -us, with touching pride, their best tea service, and -the church ornaments, which are used on fête days. -The best room in the house had been appropriated -to their safe keeping, and exhibition. The china -service had been a present, what we should call a -testimonial, and was placed, <i>en évidence</i>, on a table -in the middle of the room. The church ornaments -were arranged on a large sofa. They consisted -of artificial flowers moulded in porcelain, with a -great deal of gilding. The good woman then took -us into the study; M. le Curé’s study, as she was -careful to tell us. She never referred to M. le Curé, -and her thoughts were never far from him, without a -smile of satisfied motherly emotion playing over her -face. Those were M. le Curé’s books. There were -about half-a-dozen. That was the table at which M. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>le Curé sometimes wrote. That garden, the outer -door of the study opened upon it, was a beautiful -garden, which M. le Curé worked in himself. M. le -Curé was now absent from home, for the purpose of -making a collection for the purchase of a figure of the -Virgin, to commemorate her goodness in having -miraculously saved the Church, when so much injury -had been done to every other building in the place: -but the church in the neighbouring village we saw had -been burnt during the assault upon it. The good -villagers had been very liberal in their contributions -for the purchase of the figure. The sum, however, -mentioned as their contributions, amounted only to a -few francs. Still it might have been much for them -to give, for they may not have been much in the -habit of giving. M. le Curé’s study, the scene of his -peaceful and sacred studies, had been made a hospital. -There, just where he always sits, a limb had been -amputated. Here, and there, on the floor wounded men -had died. The floor of M. le Curé’s study had been -stained with blood. One memento of that fearful day -had been preserved. It was a small hole in the door -through which a bullet had passed: but that was a -bullet that had hurt nobody. I shall never think of -the field of Gravelotte without a pleasing recollection -of the mother of the Curé of Ste. Marie aux Chênes. -She was a tall woman with what seemed a hard face, -but at every mention of M. le Curé, or of the Holy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>Virgin, it was lighted up, and softened. She wore a -faded cotton dress, and a weather-stained, coalscuttle-shaped -straw bonnet—her grandmother, perhaps, had -once been proud of it—but the reflection of her -simple, motherly, happy heart on her face, refined both -face and dress. The heart’s ease only was noticed.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Germans have done, and are doing, everything -that could be done, to restore to the people what -they lost during the war. They have, in these parts, -repaired every house and building that admitted of -repair; and completely rebuilt all that had been too -much injured for repair. They have thus given many -new lamps for very old ones. They have not yet rebuilt -the Church of St. Privat, because the people -themselves have not yet decided, whether they wish -the new one to be the facsimile of the old one, or a -larger structure, such as the increased population of -the modern village requires: the familiar opposition -between those who are afraid to acknowledge that the -world has made any advances, and those who see -nothing objectionable in advances, or in accommodating -themselves to them. Of the other injuries, the -people in these parts had sustained by the war, they -were asked to make an estimate themselves. Half of -their estimates was immediately paid to them; and -they were told that the remaining half would be paid, -after the 1st of October, on their having decided to -become German citizens. The inhabitants of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>villages round Metz had had their corn, and cattle, and -horses swept off by the French Commissariat. These -poor people the Germans fed during the siege with -provisions brought from Germany. I could not hear -in Metz, or in the neighbourhood, of a single instance -of a German soldier having been seen drunk, or that -any act of violence could be charged against them; -nor could I hear even of oppression or harshness of -any kind.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Metz, with its central arsenal, and its outer circle -of apparently impregnable hill fortresses, gives you -the idea of a place which nature had formed expressly -for this gunpowder era, intending that its owners -should fortify it, and use it as a rallying place for -defeated armies—the armies, not of a small, but of a -great nation; where they might in safety collect their -shattered fragments; and, having re-organised and -re-equipped themselves, might again take the field for -fresh efforts. In the days of bows and spears it could -not have had this value, which it may lose when our -present instruments of war shall have been superseded -by discoveries not yet dreamt of; but, although the -French were not able to turn the place to such an account, -still this seems to be one of the uses that may be -made of it by its possessors: besides being an impregnable -advanced post for the invasion of a neighbour.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Cathedral is far too short for its height. It -contains some windows of very good old stained glass. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>The only person I saw in it was an American. Shall -I say that we had both come to see it, just as we -might go to see some curious object in a museum? -I, at all events, accused myself of something of this -kind, for I had a consciousness of the discord between -such a purpose, and the history and character of the -structure. For however much it may now have the -appearance of a thing unused, and unloved, and from -which the soul has fled, yet was it built to satisfy a -want, in the religious order, which all men longed to -satisfy; and to give visible expression to a feeling, -which then stirred every heart. Not anything else, -not money, not power, could have built it; that is to -say, could have summoned into existence the sentiments, -of which the building is an embodiment.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But on this occasion its clustered columns, its -groined roof, its lofty aisles, its jewelled light, transported -my thoughts only to Mr. Spurgeon’s Tabernacle; -for I found myself endeavouring to understand and -measure the difference between the two: but the -endeavour brought me to see, under so much outward -diversity, only an inward identity. They are both -equally the result of the desire to form elevated and -right conceptions of God—the focal name in which all -elevated and right conceptions meet; and so to open -the heart and mind, as that these elevated and right -conceptions, which have been projected from them, -may react upon them. This is Religion, the Spiritual -<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>life, in their simplest expression, in their inner form. -In the ages of Faith, as they have been called, the -most effectual way of attaining the desired end was -through the eye; that is to say, the means, that could -then be used with most effect, was art, in architecture, -sculpture, painting, music. In the then state of the heart -and of the imagination these best stirred and attuned -them. Hence the Cathedral, and all that is implied -in it. In these days, not of the knowledge, or of the -conditions of life, or of the faith, of the old kinds, the -most effectual means, especially among the lower -strata of the middle class, is not art, which would have -no power over them, but such direct appeals to their -understandings and consciences, as will not be beyond -their capacities. Hence Mr. Spurgeon and his Tabernacle. -But the object is in both one and the same.</p> - -<p class='c006'>No sooner, however, had I come to this, which -seemed for a moment to be a conclusion, than my -thoughts entered the reverse process, and the identity -I had been contemplating was transformed into -diversity. The juxtaposition, in the mind’s eye, of -the Cathedral and of the Tabernacle suggested a difference, -if not in the elements of religion itself, yet, at -all events, in the modes through which different religious -systems have attempted to act on the world. -The Cathedral seemed to represent two modes: that -which may for convenience be called, using the word -in a good sense, the heathen mode; that is to say, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>culture, but in the form only of art; and the priestly, or -Judaical, mode, which means organization. Its grand -and beautiful structure grew out of the former, through -the aid of the latter. The Tabernacle represents a -totally different mode—the prophetical; and prophesying -is the principle of life, of growth, and of development -in religion. We see this throughout the history both -of the Old and of the New Dispensation. Romanism -has killed this vital principle; and is, therefore, as -good as, or worse than, dead; for it has a bad odour. -It is now all dead heathenism, and dead organization: -a gilt and gaily painted monstrous iron machine, -which can be set at work, but which has no heart. -This explains everything. This is the key that unlocks -its whole modern history. Its long ghastly list of -persecutions, its Inquisition, its St. Bartholemew’s, -its Infallible Monocracy, are all alike logically deducible -from the determination to live by other -means than that of prophesying; in fact, utterly to -suppress the one means of life, and to live, if such -a thing were possible, by those means only which -have not life in themselves. But Persecutions, Inquisitions, -St. Bartholemew’s, and Infallibility can be -of no avail: for prophesying has always and everywhere -been, and will always and everywhere be, the -life of religion; and, therefore, destructive, sooner or -later, of all cast-iron systems. With respect to the -Tabernacle, it is not so much that it has rejected the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>other two modes, as that it has no comprehension of -their nature and use. It never, therefore, has either -risen to the level of ordinary culture, or organized itself -as a religious system. It makes no appeal to the -former, and, Wesleyanism excepted, no use of the -latter. This explains why, though not devoid of life, -it is without form, and without attractive power for -refined minds. Christianity, it is evident, in its early -days depended entirely on prophesying. As it grew, -having at that time the living power of assimilating -what it needed, it borrowed organization from Judaism, -and culture and art from heathenism: but prophesying -must always be the distinctively Christian mode; so -long as Christianity addresses itself to what is in -man, that is, to his knowledge and moral consciousness.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Which, therefore, of these modes is the best is -an inquiry, which would be somewhat sterile, and -misleading; for each is good in its proper place, -and degree, and for its proper purpose; and under -some circumstances one, and under other circumstances -another, will inevitably be resorted to. It -would be more profitable to keep in mind that not -one is ever exempt in its use from error and perversion. -These, at every turn and step, will reappear, -as the unavoidable results of the imperfections of -those, in whose hands the administration of religion, -as of all human affairs, must rest: for they are but -men; and, Error and Perversion, you both have the -same name, and that name is Man. History, and experience, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>teach us that, in the long run, the most -efficient check to these errors and perversions, both -in those who minister, and in those who are ministered -to, is, as far as is possible in this world of necessarily -mixed motives, and defective knowledge, to be dead -unto self, and alive unto God, that is to the good -work one finds set before one. Herein is the true -apostolism: not for self, but for the end for which -one was sent—for an object, beyond self, distinctly -seen, and distinctly good. This in an individual is -almost, and in a body of men perhaps quite, impossible. -Still it is just what always has to be done by -‘the Church,’ which, in whatever sense we take the -word, will be a body of men; and by Mr. Spurgeon, -acting with those who believe in him; and, therefore, -whenever attempted, will only be done very imperfectly. -So it must be. But we see that, notwithstanding, -the world has advanced, and is advancing. In -‘the Church,’ and among the Spurgeons and their -respective people, and among others, who cannot be -quite correctly ranged under either of these categories, -there will always be some (generally a very small -minority; but these are not questions that can be -decided by counting hands) who have caught partial -glimpses of what ought to be said and done, and who -will set themselves the task, generally a very thankless -one, of making their partial glimpses known. One -thing, however, at all events is certain: it is safer to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>trust to the Spirit of the Prophet than to the culture -and organization of the Priest, if they must be had -separately: though, perhaps, their due combination, -might be best of all.</p> - -<p class='c006'>These were the thoughts which passed through -my mind, while I was in the Cathedral of Metz; for -the American, who came in just after I had entered -it, required but a very few minutes for ‘doing’ this -grand old monument of mediæval piety; and soon -left it to the twilight—the day was nearly run out—and -to my twilight meditations.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Hotel de l’Europe, the best in Metz, is not -good. The head-waiter—he was an Austrian—was -so imperious that I soon found it advisable, -whenever I had occasion to ask him a question, to -apologise for the trouble I was giving him. The -angular peg had been put into the round hole. -Nature had intended him for a German prince. -They charge here for a two-horse carriage to Gravelotte, -including the driver, two Napoleons. At this -rate they must get back, one would think, every week -the original cost of the rickety vehicle and half-starved -horses. There is, however, but little competition in -the matter of the imperious waiter, and none at all in -that of the costly carriage he provides for you.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At Metz, and I heard that it was so, generally, -throughout both the annexed provinces, a great many -people were desirous of selling their houses and land. -There was not, however, by any means an equal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>number of people who were desirous of purchasing. -This fewness of purchasers indicates the prevalence -of an opinion that the loss of these provinces is far -too great for France ever to acquiesce in; and that, -therefore, she will, on the first opportunity that may -offer, endeavour to recover them by the sword: in -which case they will become the theatre of war. It -is true that the course of events in the New World, -as well as in the Old, has taught the present generation, -very impressively, the lesson that what is expected -is seldom what happens; still, one may say, of -course with a strong feeling of the uncertainty of -human affairs, that there is nothing apparent, at present, -on the surface of things, to give rise to the supposition -that a second reference, on the part of the -French, to the arbitrament of the sword, would lead -to a different issue from that which the first had. -Empire is maintained, and retained, by the means by -which it was obtained; and there seems no probability -of Germany ever allowing herself to be caught napping; -or of her strength, energy, and determination -being sapped by national corruption. That is not a -consummation which the solid character of the people -renders at all likely. Even their rude climate, which, -to some extent, forbids a life of sensuous and vicious -self-indulgence, will, we may think, help them in the -future to maintain the character, which has always -distinguished them hitherto; it seems to make earnestness, -and mental hardihood, natural to them. One’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>thoughts on this subject would be very much modified, -if there were in France any symptoms, which -might lead one to hope that she was ‘coming to herself.’</p> - -<p class='c006'>On leaving Metz, by an early train, I had to form -one in a scene of crowding and confusion greater than -I had ever elsewhere encountered on that side of the -Channel, except a few days before at Strasbourg, where -it was as bad. We are often told that the advantage -of the foreign system of over-administration is that -everything of this kind is rendered impossible; but -here it was all in excess. Tickets for all classes were -issued by the same clerk, and for two trains at the same -time, for one was to start only a few minutes before -the other. Some people were pushing; some were in -a high state of excitement. There was no possibility -of forming a <i>queue</i>. I was told that this, and many -other things of the same kind, would be set right after -the 1st of October, on which day the Germans would -take all these matters into their own hands. Hitherto -they had interfered with the local administration as -little as possible. One consequence of this had -been that the existing authorities, whose reign was so -soon to expire, had not been very attentive to their -duties; perhaps they had not been very desirous of -keeping things straight; and the lower orders, availing -themselves of the license that had been permitted, -had become so insubordinate, that it had been found -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>difficult, in some cases impossible, to carry on the -operations of factories, in which many hands were -employed. But after the 1st of October there was to -be an end of all this: a German burgomaster was to -be appointed, and German order was to be maintained. -On that morning I wished that, as far as the station -at Metz was concerned, the change had already been -effected.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the neighbourhood of Luxembourg, I saw -several trains full of iron ore. From Luxembourg -to Namur the country is, generally, very poor. It -consists mainly of lime-stone hills, heaths, and woods -in which there is little or no good timber. Between -Namur and Brussels the country improves, agriculturally, -very much.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At Brussels I had some difficulty in getting a -bed; all the hotels being full of Belgian and English -volunteers, and of people who had come to see the -international shooting. There had just been a public -reception of volunteers, and everybody was in the -streets. I heard a burly tradesman, who was standing -at the door of his shop, shout at the top of his voice, -but the result did not correspond with the effort, as -one of our volunteers was passing, in the uniform of -a Scottish corps, ‘Shotland for ever’—the land, -doubtless, of good shots. Etymologists, consider this, -and be cautious.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The much-lauded Hotel de Ville I venture to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>think unsatisfactory. For so much ornamentation it -is deficient in size. Its chief external feature is the -multitude of figures upon it. The effect of this is -bad. One sees no reason why they should be there. -They are too small. They are indistinguishable -from each other, There is no action: merely rows of -figures. This was unavoidable in the position assigned -them, but its being unavoidable was no reason -for assigning them that position, nor does it at all -contribute towards rendering them pleasing objects.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Many of the volunteers made a night of it in -honour of their English visitors. Having been woke, -by their shouting and hurrahing in the streets, at one -o’clock in the morning, I was disposed to think such -demonstrations unbecoming in bearded warriors.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I went with a party of Englishmen, and some -Americans, to Waterloo. We were driven over the -old, straight, stone-paved, poplar-bordered road, by an -English whip, in an English four-horse stage-coach. -The road is just what it was, when Wellington passed -over it, from ‘the revelry at night’ for the great fight. -That part, however, of the Forest of Soignies, which -should be on the right of the road, has been destroyed, -to make way for the plough. What remains of the -forest, on the left, consists of tall, straight, unbranching -beech, with the surface of the ground, between -the trunks, clear and smooth. While we were at -Hougomont a violent thunderstorm, accompanied with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>heavy rain, drifted over the field. As the soil is a -tenacious clay, which becomes very slippery when -wet, this storm was most opportune, for it showed us -what kind of footing the contending hosts had on the -great day. Hougomont is still very much in the -condition in which it was left on the evening of -that day. What was burnt has not been rebuilt; and -what remained, has not been added to, or altered. The -loop-holes that were made in the garden wall are still -there. So also are the hedge, and ditch, on the outside -of the orchard. The only difference is that the whole -of the wood of Hougomont has gone the way of a -part of the Forest of Soignies. We have all of us -tried to understand Waterloo; but a visit to the field -itself will show that it is no more possible to understand, -fully and rightly, this than any other battle, -without ocular knowledge of the ground on which it -was fought. A comparison of the field of Waterloo -with that of Gravelotte will assist a civilian in estimating -the extent of the change in tactics, which -modern improvements in the weapons of war have -necessitated. He will see that the battle of June 18, -1815, belongs to an order of things that is obsolete -now. With the cannon, and rifles, of the present day, -it could not have been fought as it was; and would -not, probably, have been fought where it was.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span> - <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> -</div> -<p class='c022'>HOW THE OBSERVATION AND KNOWLEDGE OF NATURE, AND -THE CONDITIONS OF SOCIETY AFFECT RELIGION AND -THEOLOGY. AN INSTRUCTIVE PARALLELISM. CONCLUSION.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c021'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Consider the lilies of the field.—<i>Gospel of St. Matthew.</i></div> - <div class='line'>The powers that be are ordained of God.—<i>Epistle to the Romans.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c027'>It was 8 o’clock in the evening when I left Brussels. -At 6 o’clock the next morning I stepped upon the -platform of the Charing Cross Station. So ended, -after very nearly five weeks, my little excursion. In -the foregoing pages I have set down, not only what I -saw, which could not have had much novelty, but the -thoughts, also, as well about man as about nature, -which what I saw suggested to me; and these, too, may -not have much value. To some, however, everything -in nature is instructive and interesting, and so is -everything in man; or they seem to be so. But, in -order to secure this instruction and interest, I believe -that they must be viewed connectedly. The one is -properly intelligible only by the light that shines from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>the other. To regard either separately is to misunderstand -both. Nature is the field in which He, Whose -form no man hath seen at any time, reveals to us His -Creative Power, for the purpose that the intelligent -contemplation of the objects, He presents to our view, -should engender in us certain sentiments and ideas, -which have from the beginning, in the degree and -form possible at each epoch, underlaid religion. Our -fellow men are the field in which He reveals to us the -capacities and conditions; the strength, the weaknesses, -the workings, and the aspirations of moral -and of intellectual being, as conditioned in ourselves: -another, and perhaps a higher, revelation of Himself; -and the consciousness of which being in the individual -constitutes, as far as we know, in this visible -world of ours, the distinctive privilege of man; and -the exercise of which, under the sense of responsibility, -crowns the edifice of religion. The study of -both has been equally submitted to us, is equally our -duty, and is necessary for the completion of our -happiness. They are the correlated parts of a single -revelation, and of a single study. The man who -shuts his eyes to the one, or to the other, cannot -understand, at all events as fully as he might, either -that portion of the revelation at which he looks exclusively, -or himself, or Him, Who makes the revelation, -in the sense in which He has willed that each should -be understood.</p> -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>The products of our modern advanced methods of -agriculture bear the same kind of relation to the products -of the burnt stick (they could both support life, -but very differently), that the religious sentiments and -ideas produced by our knowledge of nature bear to -those which the ignorant observation of a few prominent -phenomena, as thunder and lightning, the power -of the wind and of the sun, the action of fire, life and -death, produced in the minds of the men of that remote -day. The mind of the inhabitants of this country, -precisely like the land of this country, was just -the same at that day as at this. The powers and -capacities of each are invariable. What varies, and -always in the direction of advance, is that which is -applied to the mind: as is the case also with respect -to the land. The knowledge of what produces the -thunder and lightning, of the laws that govern the -motions of the heavenly bodies, of what originates -and calms the wind, of the forces of nature, of the -structure of animals and plants, are so many instruments, -by which the constant quantity, the human -mind, is cultivated for greater productiveness. No -one dreams that we have approached the end of such -knowledge, any more than that our agriculture has -reached its last advance. The state of knowledge, -whatever it may be at any time (from that of our -rudest forefathers to our own), produces corresponding -ideas and sentiments. Its reception into the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>mind unfailingly generates those ideas and sentiments, -just as the application of any method of agriculture, -with the appliances that belong to it, gives the amount -and kind of produce from the land proper to that -method and to those appliances. As an instance -taken from a highly civilized people, the close observation -of the instincts of animals, and of the properties -of plants, offered to the leisure, accompanied by -some other favouring circumstances, of the ancient -Egyptians, but unaccompanied by any knowledge of -the laws, the forces, and the order of nature; that is -to say, their existing knowledge, together with the -existing limitations to that knowledge, led unavoidably -to the ideas and sentiments we find in them; -that is to say, to what was their religion, which combined -the worship of plants and animals, with belief -in a future life.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The other self-acting factor to that organization of -thought and sentiment, which is religion, is the observation -of what will perfect human society, and the -life of the individual, under the conditions of their -existence at the time. Certain things ought to be removed: -it is religion to remove them. Certain things -ought to be maintained: it is religion to maintain -them. Certain things ought to be established: it is -religion to establish them. Certain knowledge ought -to be propagated: it is religion to propagate it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now both these contributions to religion, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>knowledge of nature, which is inexhaustible, and the -conditions of human society, which are endlessly -multiform, are progressively variable quantities; religion, -therefore, the resultant of the combined action -of the two, must itself vary with them; that is to say, -must advance with them.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is a corollary to this, that from the day a religion -forms itself into a completed system, it becomes -a matured fruit; the perfected result of a train of -anterior and contemporary conditions, that have -long been working towards its production. Thenceforth -it is useful for a time just as a fruit may be. It -has, also, in itself, as a fruit has, the seed of a future -growth. But with that exception, though still -serviceable, it is dead, though organized, matter. A -certain concurrence of conditions, which can never be -repeated, because knowledge and society are ever advancing, -produced the fruit, which, like that of the -aloe, can only be produced once out of its own concurrence -of conditions. Man’s spiritual nature feeds -on that fruit, and is nourished by it, for a greater or -less number of generations. At last, for it must -come, a new concurrence of conditions arises, and a -new fruit is produced. The vital germ that was in the -old fruit, passed into the <i>milieu</i> of the new ideas and -sentiments, and a new growth commenced. Organization -then ensued, and in due time bore, as its fruit, -its own matured and perfected system. At the establishment -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>of Christianity, in the order of knowledge, -the perception of the absurdity of thousands of local -divinities, and, in the social and political order, the -establishment of an Universal Empire, which gave -rise to a sense of the brotherhood of mankind, combined -in demanding that the whole organization of -religious thought should be recast. Everyone can see -the part these two facts had in the construction, and -in bringing about the reception, of Christian ideas -and Christian morality. In these days we see that -social and political conditions are changing, though -we cannot so exactly define and describe in what that -change consists as we can that just referred to; but -we know that at the time of that change there was, -though it was distinctly felt, the same absence of -power to define and describe it distinctly. About the -recent advance, however, in knowledge there is no -want of distinctness: that is as palpable as it is, beyond -measure, greater than the advances of all former -times. It amounts almost to a revelation of the constitution -and order of nature. The ideas and sentiments -this new knowledge has given rise to are somewhat -different from, for instance they are grander and -give more satisfaction to thought than, the ideas and -sentiments that accompanied the knowledge, or rather -the ignorance, on the same subjects, of two, or of one, -thousand years back. This must have some effect on -the religion of Christendom, and the effect cannot but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>be elevating and improving. This knowledge cannot -possibly be bad, because it is only the attainment of -the ideas, which, on the theory both of religion and -of commonsense, were in the mind of the Creator before -they were embodied in nature; which were embodied -in nature, and were submitted to us, in order -that they might be attained to by us, for the sake of -the effect the knowledge would have upon our minds, -that is to say, ultimately on our religion.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This knowledge, it is notorious, is not estimated -in this way by many good men amongst us, they, -on the contrary, being disposed to regard it rather -with repugnance, horror, and consternation. The -reason is not far to seek. They have, probably, in all -such cases, received only a theological and literary -training. Now every theology, as is seen in the meaning -of the word, and as belongs to the nature of the -construction, contains an implicit assertion, both that -no new knowledge, which can have any good influence -on men’s thoughts, sentiments, and lives, can be attained, -subsequently to the date of its own formation; -and that the workings of human society will never lead -to advances beyond those, which had at that time been -reached. And literary training, in this country, has -hitherto meant a kind of <i>dilettante</i> acquaintance with -the literature of the ancient Greeks and Romans, regarded, -not as a chapter in the moral and intellectual -history of the race, but rather as supplying models for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>expression. No wonder, then, need be felt at finding -those, who are conversant only with what is dead, -scared at the phenomena of life. The wonder would -be if it were otherwise. But the same conditions, we -all know, act differently on differently constituted -minds: and this explains the opposite effect which -modern criticism has upon the minds of some of those -who have had only literary training. This criticism -they find opposed to some of the positions of the old -theology; and the effect of this discovery upon them -is that it makes them hostile to religion itself. As -well might Newton have felt horror at the idea of gravitation -because Ptolemy had believed in cycles and -epicycles. It is the preponderance of literary training -in them, also, that issues in this opposite result.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Religion is the organization of all that men know -both of outward nature and of man, for the purpose -of guiding life, of perfecting the individual and -society, and of feeding the mind and the heart with -the contemplation of the beauty and order of the -universe, inclusive of man and of God, that is to say, -of the conception we can form, at the time, of the All-originating, -All-ordering, and All-governing Power. -This is, ever has been, and ever will be Religion, unless -we should pass into a New Dispensation, at present -inconceivable, because it would require the recasting, -at all events, of man, if not of the external conditions -of his existence, that is, of the world also. But as long -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>as things continue as they have been, knowledge will -always advance religion; and religion will always conform -itself to knowledge. The essential difference -between one religion and another, from Fetishism up -to Christianity, is one of knowledge.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Before the construction of systematic theologies, -knowledge and religion were convertible terms. It -was so under the Old Dispensation; and so again in -the early days of Christianity. After their construction -the former term was modified. It had been -generic, it thenceforth became specific. The differentiating -limitation imposed upon it was that of this -particular theology, exclusive of all other theologies; -and, as it was a theology, this involved the exclusion -of the ideas of correction and enlargement.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Error and insufficiency must, from the nature of -the materials dealt with, after a time be found in -every theology. In this sense every Church has -erred, and could not but have erred. The mischief, -however, is not in this error and insufficiency, for they -are remediable. The progress of knowledge which -points out the error, often indeed creating it by the introduction -of additional data, supplies the means for -correcting it; and the advance in the conditions of -society, which creates the insufficiency, suggests the -means for correcting it, too. Nor, again, is the mischief -in the ignorance of the majority, for that can to -the extent required be removed. It is in the determination -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>of some, from whom better things might -have been expected, not to examine all things with -the intention of holding fast that which is true; but -to close their eyes and ears, as theologians, against all -that the educated world now knows, and all that the -uneducated masses are repelled by in what is now -presented to them as the Word of God. This determination -puts them in the position of being obliged -to support, and encourage, only those who address -themselves to the ignorance of the age, but not for the -purpose of removing it; and to oppose, and discourage, -those who address themselves to the knowledge of the -age, for the purpose of making it religious. We need -not repeat what we have been told will happen, when -the blind lead the blind.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The recollection of what has given to our political -constitution its orderly and peaceful development -might be of use here. It goes on accommodating -itself smoothly, and without convulsions, to the altering -conditions of society, because political parties -amongst us are not coincident with classes. Members -of the popular party are to be found in the highest -classes as well as in the lowest, and of the stationary -party in the lowest as well as in the highest. This is -what has here exorcized the demon of revolution. If -party lines had been drawn horizontally instead of -vertically, class would have been arrayed against -class; and, probably, ignorance and violence, supported -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>by numbers, would have made a clean sweep of our -institutions, and, to no small extent, of our civilization. -What has been advantageous in the political -order would be equally so in the religious. What -has saved us from a political, might, if adopted, -save us from a possible religious, crash. It is a -miserably short-sighted policy to endeavour to drive -from the camp of religion, or of the National Church, -those who have accepted the knowledge of our times, -and who have sympathies with the existing tendencies -or possibilities of society: so that on one side -shall be arrayed only those, who rest on what is old, -and on the other only those, who have no disposition -to reject what is new. Whereas the true bridge from -the present to the future can be constructed by -neither of these parties alone; but must be the work -of those, whose wish and effort are to combine, and to -harmonise, the new with the old. This appreciation -of what is needed, is, at all events, in accordance with -the meaning of the saying, to the authority of which -we must all defer, that ‘every scribe, who is instructed -unto the Kingdom of Heaven, will bring forth out of -his treasures things new as well as old.’ The course -taken by those, who lose sight of the guidance offered -them in this saying, can only bring them into a false -position.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is very instructive to observe how circumstances -analogous to those, which existed among the chosen -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>people, at the date of the promulgation of Christianity, -are, at this moment, amongst ourselves producing -analogous effects. We have lately heard those, who -are attempting to make the knowledge, men have -now been permitted to attain to, an element of religion, -which is what knowledge must always become -in the end, described as ‘maudlin sentimentalists.’ -Precisely the same expression, motivated by precisely -the same feelings, and ideas, might have been applied -with the same propriety, or impropriety, and with the -same certainty of disastrous recoil on those who used -it, to the teaching of the Divine Master Himself. He -appealed from the hard, narrow, rigid forms, in which -the old Law had been fossilized, to the sense men -had come to have of what was moral, and needed, and -to the knowledge they had come to have of what was -true, under the then advanced conditions of society -and of knowledge. The maintainers of the fossilized -Law were for binding heart and mind fast in the -fetters of dogmatic human traditions. He was for -setting mind and heart free by the reception of what -was broad and true; at once human and divine. That -alone was desirable, beneficent, and from God. It -blessed, strengthened, emancipated, and gave peace. -No authority, however venerable, could be pleaded -against it. No thrones, principalities, or powers, however -exalted, would be able to withstand it. There -was no fear or possibility of its being refuted: for it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>was nothing but the perception, and the practical recognition, -of existing knowledge, and of existing conditions. -Men, they might be many, might reject it, -but to their own detriment only. The facts would remain. -The rest, all whose eyes were open, or could -be opened, to perceive what was before their eyes, -would receive it as from God. The more it was set -in the broad light of day the better. It must be proclaimed -in the highways, and the market-places, and -in the Temple itself. If those who had received it -were to hold their peace, the stones would immediately -cry out. It was God’s Truth. It was God’s Word: -not because it was written, for as yet it was not written, -but because, as the Word of God ever had, and ever -would, come, it came from the pure heart, and the enlightened -understanding, and approved itself to those, -who had eyes to see, and ears to hear, and hearts to -understand. Let every one examine it. If in that -day had been known what is now known of man’s -history, and of nature, and of what is seen of the possibility -of raising men, throughout society, to a higher -moral and intellectual level than was heretofore attainable, -we may be sure that there would have been no -attempt to discredit such knowledge, and such aspirations; -and that they would have been urged as extending -our knowledge of God, and of His will; that -they would have been appealed to, and that men -would have been called upon to raise themselves to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>the level of what had become conceivable, and, conceivably, -attainable. At all events, the one great -point, the one paramount duty, was to proclaim what -was then seen to be true. To keep back nothing. To -care nothing for the consequences, in the way of what -it might overthrow; to be ready to spend and be -spent for the consequences, in the way of the good it -must produce. The requisite boldness would come to -its promulgators from feeling, that it was God’s work, -and that He was on their side. The issue could not -be doubtful. The Gates of Hell could not prevail -against the Truth. It was, notwithstanding its -‘maudlin sentimentality,’ mighty to the pulling down -of strongholds; and went forth conquering, and to -conquer. So will it do again. So will it do ever. -The parallelism is complete at every point. It is only -strange that it has not been seen, and dwelt upon, till -all have become familiar with it. The facts, the -situation, the ideas, the hopes and fears, are the same. -So, too, is the language needed to describe them, each -and all.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The thoughts, which this chapter outlines, were -often, as might be supposed, in my mind during the -little excursion described in the foregoing pages. -They are, as far as I can see, the logical and inevitable -conclusions of the acquaintance some have, such -as it may be, with history and with physical science; -and I suppose that travelling further along the same -<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>road would only enable them to see the object to -which it leads with more distinctness. In Switzerland -there is much both in the singularly varied mental condition -of the people themselves, and in the impressive -aspects of nature, to confirm them. The narrative, -though its form, in keeping with the particular purpose -in which it originated, is at times somewhat minute, -may yet, as things were, for the most part, seen and -regarded through the medium of ideas I have just -referred to, contribute a little to their illustration. It -was my wish, at all events, that my mind and heart -should be always open, unreservedly, to the teaching -of all that I saw, both of man and of nature; but still, -I trust, with that caution, and sense of responsibility, -that befit the formation of opinions, by which—for -one is conscious that they are the inner man, the true -self—one must stand, or fall, and in which one must -live, and die.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span> - <h2 class='c013'>INDEX.</h2> -</div> -<ul class='index c009'> - <li class='c031'>Aar, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>-<a href='#Page_2'>2</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Aigle, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Absenteeism, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Agriculture, capital improves, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>. - <ul> - <li>In the United States, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>.</li> - <li>Burnt stick and hoe eras, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li> - <li>Progress in size of farms, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>-<a href='#Page_85'>85</a>.</li> - <li>In Alsace, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>American lads mountaineering, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Americans in Switzerland, <a href='#Page_200'>200</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Animal worship, rationale of, in the ancient Egyptians, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Antithesis, an Alpine, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Anza, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Apostolism, true, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Armies of the Romans, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Art, place of, in religion, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Auroch, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Austrian marriages, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>. - <ul> - <li>Waiter, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Avalanches, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Blue boy, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>-<a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Bonus amicus pro vehiculo, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Breakfast at a monster hotel, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Bridge, from the present to the future, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Brieg, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Brienz, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Brussels, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>. - <ul> - <li>Hôtel de Ville, unsatisfactory, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>Bubble schemes why alluring, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Buffers, our labourers have three, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Butterflies, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Camping out, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Capital, power of, in modern societies, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>. - <ul> - <li>Revolution effected by, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.</li> - <li>Inversion of land and, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>.</li> - <li>Peel and Gladstone, due to, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>.</li> - <li>A ladder, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li> - <li>Era of, on Visp-side, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>-<a href='#Page_66'>66</a>.</li> - <li>Will improve agriculture, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li> - <li>Flow of, to the land will counterbalance cities, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li> - <li>Moral and intellectual effects, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>.</li> - <li>Increases size of agricultural concerns, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>.</li> - <li>Size of estates in era of, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</li> - <li>Is king, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>.</li> - <li>Essence of all property, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li> - <li>Uses of, discriminated, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Carpet, magical bit of, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Caterpillar, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Cathedral of Metz, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>-<a href='#Page_242'>242</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Ceppo Morelli, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Certificates of land-shares, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a></li> - <li class='c031'>C’est un pauvre pays, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Change, modern craving for, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Christianity, in what sense a recast of religious thought, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>. - <ul> - <li>A</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>modern parallel to the ground taken by first promulgators of, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>-<a href='#Page_263'>263</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Church, value of establishment, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>. - <ul> - <li>Effect of disestablishment, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Cities, land counterpoise to, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>; - <ul> - <li>and land, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Classics, place of, in English education, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>. - <ul> - <li>Unfairly weighted, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Colmar and Mulhouse, cotton industry of, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Continuity of human history, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Co-operation inapplicable to land, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>-<a href='#Page_106'>106</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Corporate estates, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Cost of Swiss travel, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Coups manqués of humanity, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Cranoges, Irish and Scotch, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Curé of Sainte Marie aux Chênes, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Danube, Roman road on the banks of the, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Dinner, last, in London, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>. - <ul> - <li>At Macugnaga, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.</li> - <li>At a monster hotel, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Disorder, temporary, permitted at Strasbourg and Metz, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Distel, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Dogs, why bay the moon, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Domo D’Ossola, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Drama of the Mountains, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>-<a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Drunkenness, how may be discouraged, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>. - <ul> - <li>Want of drink-water a cause of, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Dust, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Eclipse, feelings caused by, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Edelweiss, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Education, property is an, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>. - <ul> - <li>What would promote, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>.</li> - <li>Spread of, unfavourable to</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>existing land-system, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>. - <ul> - <li>Range and method of teaching, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>.</li> - <li>Swiss aims, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>-<a href='#Page_221'>221</a>.</li> - <li>How applicable, and how not, to us, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>-<a href='#Page_223'>223</a>.</li> - <li>Sciences of humanity needed, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>.</li> - <li>Imagination should be cultivated, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>.</li> - <li>Place of poetry in, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Eggishorn, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Elsass, agricultural wealth of, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Empire, how retained, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Enthusiastic ladies, <a href='#Page_200'>200</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Establishments, religious, useful under landlordism, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>. - <ul> - <li>Effect of disestablishment, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Etymology of field, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>. - <ul> - <li>Of Scotland, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Expected, what is, seldom happens, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Eyes in back of the head, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Fallows abandoned, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Falls of Frosinone, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>. - <ul> - <li>Another, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>.</li> - <li>Aar and Handeck, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>.</li> - <li>Staubbach, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>.</li> - <li>Reichenbach, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Fee, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Field, etymology of, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Feudalism, none in our landlordism, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Findelen, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Fireworks at Interlaken, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Flies, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Flowers, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a></li> - <li class='c031'>France, a cause of its wealth, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>. - <ul> - <li>Insisted on war, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>French petty proprietors, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Frosinone, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Fruit, religion is a, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Fungus, a Brobdingnagian, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Game, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Gasteren, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>Gauter, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Gemmi, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>-<a href='#Page_71'>71</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Geneva, Lake of, excavated by glacier, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Genius loci, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Geology of Rhone Valley, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>. - <ul> - <li>Of Alpine valleys, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>.</li> - <li>Of Delta of the Kander, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>German professor, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>. - <ul> - <li>Travellers, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>.</li> - <li>At Gravelotte, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a>-<a href='#Page_6'>6</a>.</li> - <li>At Metz, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>.</li> - <li>Conquests will be retained, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Glacier action, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>. - <ul> - <li>Bies, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.</li> - <li>Gorner, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.</li> - <li>Fee, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>.</li> - <li>Allalein, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li> - <li>Kaltenwasser, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>.</li> - <li>Rhone, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>.</li> - <li>Old Aar, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>.</li> - <li>Grindelwald, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Gladstone, the Right Hon. W. E., <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Gneiss, channel how cut in, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li> - <li class='c031'>God, the focal name, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Gondo, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Gorner Grat, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Government, modern Swiss, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Gravelotte, battle of, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a>-<a href='#Page_6'>6</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Grimsel, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Grindelwald, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Guide, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Guttanen, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Handeck, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Health, better to keep than to recover, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Helle Platte, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a></li> - <li class='c031'>History, continuity of, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Homer, a simile of his, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Honesty, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Hornli, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Hospice, Simplon, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>. - <ul> - <li>Grimsel, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Hotels, St. Niklaus, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>. - <ul> - <li>Riffel, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.</li> - <li>Saas, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>.</li> - <li>Mattmark See, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>.</li> - <li>Macugnaga, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.</li> - <li>Ponte Grande, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>.</li> - <li>Domo D’Ossola, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>.</li> - <li>Simplon, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>.</li> - <li><span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>Du Glacier du Rhone, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>.</li> - <li>Interlaken, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>.</li> - <li>Grindelwald, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>.</li> - <li>Schwarenbach, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.</li> - <li>Swiss monster hotels, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>-<a href='#Page_204'>204</a>.</li> - <li>Zurich, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</li> - <li>Metz, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Human interest of improved agriculture, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Humanity, sciences of, place in education, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Humility, true, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Ice sent from Grindelwald to Paris, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>. - <ul> - <li>Ice-field of Bernese Oberland, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Ignorance of the day, some address themselves to, but not for the purpose of removing it, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Imagination, place in education, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>. - <ul> - <li>How to be cultivated, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Imhof, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Industry, Swiss, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>-<a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Intellectual life among peasant proprietors, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>. - <ul> - <li>Under landlordism, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</li> - <li>Under capital, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Interlaken, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Investments for all, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Invidious position, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Italians compared to Swiss, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Jack of many trades, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Joint-stock cultivation of the land, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>-<a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Jungfrau, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>-<a href='#Page_8'>8</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Kander, Delta of the, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Kandersteg, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li> - <li class='c031'>King, capital is, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Kitchen-maids, acquisition and use of capital within reach of, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Knights’ fees, number of, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a></li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>Knowledge, what it is, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>. - <ul> - <li>Grammatical and theological studies obscure, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>.</li> - <li>Its effects on religion, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Lake-villages, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>-<a href='#Page_215'>215</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Land, reclamation, and cultivation of, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>. - <ul> - <li>In Greece and Rome, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>.</li> - <li>In feudal times, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.</li> - <li>Inversion of land and capital, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>.</li> - <li>Settlement of, prevents distribution, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>.</li> - <li>Joint-stock principle applicable to, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>.</li> - <li>Land mobilised, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>.</li> - <li>Increased value under joint-stock cultivation, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>.</li> - <li>Land and cities, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>.</li> - <li>Size of landed estates in era of capital, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</li> - <li>Might be sold subject to rent-charge, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li> - <li>Tendency of things with respect to; corporate estates, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li> - <li>Disestablishment, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li> - <li>Increasing size of estates, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li> - <li>Education, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li> - <li>Perception of cause of wealth of France, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>.</li> - <li>Increase in our population and wealth, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>.</li> - <li>Popular character of modern legislation, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li> - <li>Rise in cost of labour, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li> - <li>How two kinds of wills affect land, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li> - <li>Culture and price of, in Switzerland, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Landlordism, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>. - <ul> - <li>Political effects in Ireland and Scotland, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Landowners, advantage to, of joint-stock cultivation of the land, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>. - <ul> - <li>Diminishing numbers, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Lausanne, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Lauterbrunnen, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Leukabad, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>-<a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Life, who scared by phenomena of, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Literary and theological training, effects of, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Lords of creation, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a></li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>Lothringen, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Lowe, Right Hon. R., <a href='#Page_65'>65</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Luxembourg, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Macugnaga, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Magician, capital a, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Man, conditions antecedent to, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Matterhorn, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Mattmark See, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Meiringen, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Men and women highest form of wealth, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Methods of teaching, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Metz, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Money-lords, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Monte Leone, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Moon on the Jungfrau, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>. - <ul> - <li>Witchery of the, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>.</li> - <li>Why dogs bay, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Moral value of peasant-proprietorship, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>-<a href='#Page_40'>40</a>. - <ul> - <li>Under landlordism, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Morality, man lives not only by or for, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Moro, Monte, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Mortmain, history of abolition of, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>. - <ul> - <li>Its failure, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Mother of Curé of Ste. Marie aux Chênes, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Mountaineering, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Mountains seen face to face, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Munster, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Museum of Lake-Villages, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Myriad-minded, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Nature, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Nautical felicity, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a></li> - <li class='c031'>New world’s contributions to old, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Niesen, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Nonconformity, strength and weakness of, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a></li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>Oberwald, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Opinion, how stream of tendency affects, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Organisation, religious, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Ownership of land, proposed form of, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Paganism, modern, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Parallelism of the present religious situation and that at the promulgation of Christianity, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>-<a href='#Page_263'>263</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Paris, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Parquetry flooring, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Pauper, euthanasia of agricultural, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Peak-climbers and pass-men, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Peasant-proprietorship, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>-<a href='#Page_40'>40</a>. - <ul> - <li>Impossible here, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</li> - <li>French, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Pedestrianism, pedantry of, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Peel, Sir R., <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Personal worth, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Physical science teaches what truth is, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Picturesque will not stop advances, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Pié de Muléra, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Pinus Cembra, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, 159. Pumilio, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Platform road, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Poetry of Vale of Grindelwald, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>. - <ul> - <li>Classical and modern, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Pompeii, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Ponte Grande, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Poor-law, rationale of, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Population under peasant-proprietorship, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>. - <ul> - <li>Under landlordism, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Porter and practical man, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Possibilities, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Post-office, Swiss, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Potatovors, Irish, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Practical man and porter, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>Prasias, Lake, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Prayers played for, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Primogeniture, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Property, educational effects of, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Prophesying, place of, in religion, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Prospects of great proprietors, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Railways, delays on Swiss, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Récolte des voyageurs, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Reichenbach, falls of, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Religion, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>. - <ul> - <li>Its primitive and modern forms, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>.</li> - <li>Relation to art, organisation, and prophesying, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>.</li> - <li>Error and perversion in, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>.</li> - <li>Relation of the knowledge of nature and of man to, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>.</li> - <li>How affected by the conditions of society, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>.</li> - <li>Progressive, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>.</li> - <li>A parellelism, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>-<a href='#Page_263'>263</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Religious establishments, when useful, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Rent-charge, land might be sold subject to, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Responsibility in the formation of opinions, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Revolution, a great but bloodless, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Rhone, Delta of Upper, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>. - <ul> - <li>Source of, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Riffel, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Rocky mountains, young pines in, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>. - <ul> - <li>Camping out in, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Romanism, decay of, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>. - <ul> - <li>How uses art, organisation, and prophesying, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Saas, 113, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Sac, lost, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a></li> - <li class='c031'>St. Niklaus, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Ste. Marie aux Chênes, fight in, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>. - <ul> - <li>Mother of curé of, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>Saltine, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Saracens, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Savings’ bank for all, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Scene from Gorner Grat, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>. - <ul> - <li>Valley of Saas, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>.</li> - <li>Mattmark, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>.</li> - <li>Macugnaga, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.</li> - <li>Gemmi, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Schwartz See, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Scotland, a Belgian’s etymology of, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Selborne, White of, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>. - <ul> - <li>Lord, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Self, when to be considered, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>. - <ul> - <li>When not, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Sermon on the Riffel, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>. - <ul> - <li>Effect of fluency and imagination on, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Settlement of land prevents distribution, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>. - <ul> - <li>Action of settled estates, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li> - <li>How preventible, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Shawls, fine, better than rugs, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Simplon, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>-<a href='#Page_139'>139</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Size of estates in era of capital, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Slavery, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Society, conditions of, affect religion, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Sprite, the reprobate, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Spurgeon, Mr., <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Stalden, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Steam culture, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Stenches in hotels, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Stone age, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Strasbourg, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Sugar factories, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Sun, colourless risings, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>. - <ul> - <li>Of England has set, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>.</li> - <li>A good sunset, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Swiss life in a valley, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, 29, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>. - <ul> - <li>Compared with Italians, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>.</li> - <li>Monster hotels, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>-<a href='#Page_204'>204</a>.</li> - <li>Swiss sights suggestive, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Teaching, range and method of, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Technical University of Zurich, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a></li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>Tendency of events as respects land, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Tents, travelling with, in Switzerland, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Testimony, fallibility of, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Theology, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Thun, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Too soon but late at last, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Travel, order of, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Travellers in monster hotels, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>. - <ul> - <li>Swiss, classified, 199, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Trust-funds, investment proposed for, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Twice as clever, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a></li> - <li class='c031'>United States, answer to a question asked in the, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a> - <ul> - <li>Agriculture of, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Urus, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Val Anzasca, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Valleys, geology of Alpine, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>. - <ul> - <li>View of Grindelwald, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Venice, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Verrieres, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Villages of Upper Rhone Valley, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>. - <ul> - <li>Old Lake, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>-<a href='#Page_215'>215</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Vines and vineyards, <a href='#Page_205'>205</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Virgin, the Holy, at Ste. Marie aux Chênes, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Virtue, highest form of, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Visp, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>. - <ul> - <li>Life and religion in Valley of the, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>-<a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.</li> - <li>Thoughts about land suggested by the Valley of the, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>-<a href='#Page_112'>112</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Voiturier, boorish, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>. - <ul> - <li>Dilatory, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>.</li> - <li>Payment should depend on time, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Water-supply in Switzerland, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>-<a href='#Page_209'>209</a>. - <ul> - <li>In England, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>.</li> - <li>Would lessen drunkenness, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c031'>Waterloo, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a></li> - <li class='c031'><span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>Weather, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Well-being, constituents of, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Wengern Alp, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Wheat cultivated by Old Lake villagers, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li> - <li class='c031'>White of Selborne, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Widows and younger children provided for by landowners, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Wife, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Wildstrubel, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Will strengthened, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Wills, two errors with respect to, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Wine, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Wood-carving, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Zermatt, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Zmutt glacier, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - <li class='c031'>Zurich Museum of lake village antiquities, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>-<a href='#Page_215'>215</a>. - <ul> - <li>Modern city, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li>Technical University, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a></li> - </ul> - </li> -</ul> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='small'>LONDON: PRINTED BY</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>AND PARLIAMENT STREET</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><i>The Duty and Discipline of Extemporary</i></div> - <div><i>Preaching.</i></div> - <div class='c000'>SECOND EDITION.</div> - <div class='c000'>C. SCRIBNER & CO., NEW YORK.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><i>A Winter in the United States</i>:</div> - <div class='c000'><span class='small'>Being Table-Talk collected during a Tour through the late Southern</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>Confederation, the Far West, the Rocky Mountains, &c.</span></div> - <div class='c000'>JOHN MURRAY, LONDON.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><i>Egypt of the Pharaohs and of the Kedivé.</i></div> - <div class='c000'>SECOND EDITION. <span class='small'>[In the Press.</span></div> - <div class='c000'>SMITH, ELDER, & CO., LONDON.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c009' /> -</div> -<p class='c006'> </p> -<div class='tnbox'> - - <ul class='ul_1 c009'> - <li>Transcriber’s Notes: - <ul class='ul_2'> - <li>Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. - </li> - <li>Typographical errors were silently corrected. - </li> - <li>Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant - form was found in this book. - </li> - </ul> - </li> - </ul> - -</div> -<p class='c006'> </p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MONTH IN SWITZERLAND ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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