Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-03-25
Lake Geneva.
Translated from the French,l


know not if there exists place richer
in souvenirs than Lake Geneva. / am
aware that the lovers of antiquity fall into
ecstacies over the remains of certain old
Greek or Egyptian temples; that sight of
the ParthenOn or of the Capitol causes
great and salutary thoughts to arise; but
tell me if the most profound disgust for
humanity does not exceed them? The
history of the Grecian people recalls a
multitude of great actors. but what crimes
have soiled the pag>s! Rome has had her
Titus and her Trajans, l know +; hut, also,
how many Neros aud Caligulas! Besides.
into what places must one go to see these
souvenirs OF fancient timesi The Campagna
of Rome has its POntine marsh, and more
of uncultivateu than of cultivated fields;
Greece, deprived of her flowers and forests,
is covered with burning sands; while
Egypt, whose history is scarcely known,
has her monuments, but not Souvenirs
One will perhaps reproach those who are
attached to Lake Geneva with being too
modern; but they at least recall ideas of
patriotism and liberty, and these ideas have
also their poetry and their grandeur. These
fields are covered with rich harvests; these
hillocks with vines and orchards; the viii
lagos, situated near each other, are peopled
with free and happy citizens; the air
which one breathes here, is that which
William Tell breathed; these mountains
are those of Helvetia, who broke the yoke
of Austria; this boat which conveys you is
itself under the protection of a great name,
that of Winkelreid, who plunged the spear
of the stranger within his side to make an
opening into the enemy'S ranks, and to
give his own great example.
The country which you coast along is
Wand, whose motto is g Liberty and COun-
try;" that which is before your is Geneva.
who sapped the power of Popes, and knew
how to resist all kinds of oppression; happy
if in these glorious annals, one Oftener saw
tolerance in action than preached in words.
Here are Clarens and Veyay, who owe their
celebrity to the most eloquent of writer's,
(J.J. Rousseau) Lausanne, whose presses
immortaized a multitude of generous
thoughts which France adopted, in blam-
ing the rigors of which the great men who
produced them were victims. There rises
Coppet, where an illustriouS family (that of
Necker) became extinct; Diojati, where
dwelt phillhellenic poet Lord Byron),
before going to seek in Greece death,
which alone would have been sufficient for
his renown. Here is the castle which re-
calls the name of Tronchin Ga celebrated
physician), and there is the one in which
De Saussere lived. What, then, is wanting
to these places to excite the most powerful
interest? Do they not present multitude
of contrasts, sources of thoughts that are
grave and profound? ? Ft udal remains still
rise far in the distance upon this land of
liberty; witness ChillOn, which was for
six years the prison of Francis Downward,
the defender of Genevan liberty; Chate-
land. NyOn, and the town of Hermance,
which have successively served oppressors
and the oppressed. To this contrast,
drawn from monuments in ruin, is to be
added that which results from the differ
ence in the forms of government, and this
striking contrast is neither less curious nor
less instructive.
What great names these famous shores
recall to memOryi How many illustrious
men have come hither to seek peace!
Necker, who, alter having been minister,
bore up so worthily under his disgrace;
VOltaire, the universal genius, who was
the friend of great King without ceasing
to preserve his independence and his liber-
ty; John James Rousseau, who immortal
lied all the places where he was pleased to
locate his heroes, those imaginary beings
whore calamities draw from US such true
tears; Madame de Stael, who wrote with
all the force of thought of man of genius
and all the delicacy of woman of sense;
Byron, the sublime poet, and the first OF his
age; Gibbon, Kemble, and so many others
who found upon its hospitable shores that
sweet tranquility which fortune refuses to
merit or to grandeur! No, the beautiful
Lake Geneva has nothing to envy in Lake
Como, in the shores of the MinicO, in
smiling Tivoli; has it not as grand
souvenirs, nature more strong and vigor-
Gus, the Jura with its rounded tops, and
the Alps, whose brow is covered with eter-
nal SHOWS?