The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-09-05
Letter from MIR. Beecher.

DEAR FRIENDS IN THE OFFICE:-Did Il
teli you, in the hasty closing of one of my
nyng letters, how / wandered from the
notei at Strasberg to see the Cathedral by
.wt,,gnt! ,S;th s and how grandly it doomed up,
Win lts tower and open-work spire, four
nundred feet, and designed to be six hund-
req, highf know that nothing was said
OF the StorEs that stood upon the chimney
tops on every side, and 1--WE counted eight
rom the Ioot OF Gutenbergs statue) how
seriously ana solemnly they were standing
on one long leg, now and then passing q
feather through their bills to take ont anv
wrinkles occasioned by the indecorums of
day-frOllcs. So quiet We're thew far mn
against the sky, that, at first. we thoupht
them images of birds. But two nests. and
at one of them stork putting it's children
to bed, hearing them repeat bird hyms and
catechlsm, doubtless, assured us that they
were Veritable living things. The light
faded so fast that we could see Gutenberg,s
statue to but little advantage. Early the
next day, the weather glorious, we took
cars for Bale, en- route for Lucerne. The
fields were literally gardens. The land is
divided into such small holdings, and each
so carefully cultivated, that it was like a
prolonged ride through gardens all day
long. The people We're in the fields cutting
and curing hay and wheat. Men and wo-
men, boys and girls, and little children,
were out in the sun, leisurely at work or at
play. We waved our hands to them as we
we whirled past; some stared, some simply
smiled, and some gave us graceful wave
of their sickle, in polite response. Every
where the brilliant little flaming scarlet
poppy shOne out from among the grain
with charming effect. And still the sun
shone, and we rushed through the level
lands along the river Rhine to Bale. Hav-
ing one hour here, we snatched morsel
for the outward man, and made as much
speed as an old dilapidated horse and not
very radiant driver could attain, to see the
old, old, queer little red cathedral, with it's
two towers and spires, where Erasmus has
had that quiet, in full measure, that he so
loved while living as to sacrifice his con-
tyictions and to refuse to bear the burdens
of reform! A long Latin inscription tells
many things about him, more or less in
teresting. But it did not say, "Here lies a
| man who betrayed the Christ of his day,
brloed by the pleasures OF taste and rea-
son." Our painters are wont to represent
Judas as a swart, rugged fellow, though
nothing in the narrative would show that
his manners were not gentle and agreea-
BILE: Bnt the Judases of civilization are
elegant, lettered, refined, self-induIgent.- -
| They deny the cause of truth and justice, in
their day, like Peter, and betray it like
Judas. No silver crosses their palm for
| that express end; but a quiet living, an
undisturbed luxury Of scholarship, are the
| coins which pay such natures. We had no
time to see the cloisterS or visit the place
| where sleep the noble reformers, Gcolam-
padits, Grynaus, and Meyer. For it was
l,On4Ysky lash and thwack that we got our
rack-a- bones back to the depot in time to
catch thelcars to Iducerne.. And now hills
bASeE.to ssSApa graver proportions, and
kazy, and we could get but the dimmist
view. Yet therethey were! We had read
with avidity a thousand-and-one travels,
including the Alpine Club publications and
Prot. Tyndall's admirable account of his
explorations and results. And now that
Weyaere to see those glaciers and noun
tains, no longer in the dim light of imagin-
alton, but with open eye, face to face, l
grew silent. is4 Il III E-JA
At length came Lucerne. A less roman
tic place would have been attractive in so
splendid sunshine and weather. lls flfF'
II Wassix in the evening. We soon set
tied our. baggage at the Switzerhof. Our
right tNt. .<Pnat0s,un the left the Rigi, and
a1lr6und the horizon point and peak, so
many that the sky was notched, as when a
grove Of tir-trees lie against the heaven.-
krO-mOFrOw at noon we will ascend the
Rigi. The morrow came.
The part of the boat which belonged to
the water was good, but the passengers
part was poor. In short, it was English
fgood for water, but poor for men. A mixed
crowd was chattering in German, French,
and English. All were gay and expectant.
An hour or less brought us to Weggis.
where we took horses, being yet too green
for foot-work. In all, the long string num-
bered some thirty. If you would know the
charm OF that ride, the multitude of flow
ers, the out-looks upon the exquisite lake,
| the glimpses of distant mountains, the glo-
ry Of the sunlight, that, after all, has vaster
grandeur than the mountains themselves,
the marvel of rock-forms, you must come
hither and learn from experience.
| At length we reached the green summit,
and leaving the courier to arrange dOmes-
| tic matters witoin the large hotel that can
accommodate some 200 persons, we mount
| ed the topmost point, few rods distant,
and the earth lay beneath us, like dream
of paradise. Whichever way you turn,
some exquisite lake, set in green hills, like
| mirror set with emeralds, shone up its
greeting. The evening light gave to the
grass and leaves seen below just that pecu-
liar green that one sees in the pictures OF
the Dusseldorf School, and the green waters
| OF the lakes are not exaggerated in any OF
the pictures that have seen. The peculiar
charm of Mt. Rigi seems to me to consist
! in the harmonious blending of beauty and
su1Iimity. All below you seems so near
fields, villages, hamlets, chalets scattered
| on the hills wherever their SteepneSs Will
suffer handful of soil to hold fast against
rains. If you only look do,o1a, you marvel
at the universal cultivation. Turn from
these lower sights, and the scene changes.
| The mountains are not rounded and wood
ed, but huge, gaunt, multangular, cutting
the sky with sharp edges, with thin ridges,
with horns and needle-shaped points. The
lines are nearly all vertical. So many are
there, so far down in perspective do they
stretch, with snowy tops, that you insensi-
bly, imagine that you are gazing upon a
| hammered host, with heads white plumed
marching down to endless distances. And
the illusion is grandly augmented by the
forms of clouds, always mountainlike, but
among snow mountains, SO much like them
that you are amazed and confounded tc
see, beyond and above the highest terrene
hills, others so much vaster and higher
that you look to see some heavenly gate
open through these tremendous ramparts
and let through the light from the Great
Beyond!
Until he has felt it, no one can imagine
the sense Of solitariness produced by the
sight of snow lying in the clefts and high
valleys of the mountains. There is aregion
apart from all others. No beast roams
there no bird builds no man dwellS there.