St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1869-09-24
Letter from oCit=eri0n6.


DEAR C.EDoSIAN am in Swift
erland. 1t would have been tedious &c
follow me in my wanderingS. 1t would
be 50 now. Amid such overwhelming
grandeur too one almost ought 10 be 81
lent What Switzerland i, one who
would know must see. The scribbleI'
must at the outset despair of saying any
thing worthily. Yet the desire that oih-
ers may, in some poor may, share ones
Joy in this LAND OF delight" Is at least
unseltish
From Heidelberg 10 Basel, just within
the northwestern border, thence east aIong
the northern frontier to Schilthausen,
near which one sees the noted Rhinc-talls
ii small Observation-Disclosures 20 Constance
near the Bodcn sea. or lake OF Constance,
up this lake 10 RomanShorn, across the
country to Zurich, on the lake OF that
name, with AN excursion upon the lake,
and thence across 10 Luccrnc--tLis IS my
route, if any one would know. Some OF
tic towns along this route date back 10 the
time of the Romans, and still bear corrupt
cd Roman names. Thus Basel is Ba.ite;..
Constance Is CUnstantia. Zurich is Turi-
cum. One finds also many memorials OF
the later history of this gallant little Re
public Yet they will not detaiu one
long, and with them | will detain no one
now. \ grauder, yet unwritten history
OF Switzerland lies here in this unuttera-
bic majesty OF nature.
At Lucerne | first lind myself truly in
Switzerland. ''Nne Naples and die"
goes the saying. 1t Is better if possible
to postpone it TO Lucerne. Constance has
perhaps more historic interest. Tin, was
the initial point OF the Reformation in
Switzerland The couucil-huuse where
lIus- and Jerome were condemned the
spot Just outside the town, marked by Il
rude heap ot stones, surmountcd 10y Il
huge rock. with their names and date Of
death, without mention ct the manner Of
il, inscribed, where they were martyrcd !;
! thc town ol the oh cloIStcr, where lldss
was confined, the house where he tran
>icntly dwelt, markell by his ciiigy, with
some written sad old German
words. rocordiuL-in tho ijLure Of Il bird
winch sought place Ul refuge, and found
only 4 snarc--the traachcry that hal en-
shared him :-rhc-c more perhaps than
the attractions Of nature, will interest one
in Constance; although ii there were on
ly Constance III Switzerland, one might
well 90 far to see it.
Zurich j, fsupcrbly situated. The
scenery ;long the Ike i soft and genial.
The outlook from the heights thanking the
town diScioses Il landscape sufficiently
picturesque, with Il touch Of severity
| from the distant snow-pcaks of Glarus in
| the background. Ii is town Of ,;trel
industry and of wealth. Geneva, as eg-
| erybody knows, Is the centre Of Swiss
culture and learning. | have not yet
seen ii, nor lnterlaken, nor Bern, nor
lausanne All these have their special
points of interest and attraction. And
indeed enough of such centres of interest
are not far to seek. But fancy Lucernc
with its surroundings to be the peerless
among them.
The town itself is of no especial inter-
est. The memorial Lion. after nolel
| by Thorwaldscn, is the only art-work Of
interest This however is enough to ,lig-
nifty it. Ii is i'll honor of Il Swiss. guard
that was maSsacred in Paris during the
French Revolution. 1t j, the figure Of a
dy!ng lion OF colossal proportions chiseled
i'll relief from the face of high rock-clifI'
Just on the eastern border of the town. lie
is spierced with the fatal shaft The
life-stream Is going out. lie gasps
in the extremity of death. Near him lie
the guardsman's spear and battle-ax, and
beneath him the shield of France on
which appears the feur-dc-lis of the house
Of Capet, OF which Louis XVI was the
last sad representative. He is defending
this shield TO the last. Thus those brave
'lIelvetii," to whose Fidelity and val
orr this memorial is dedicated, defended
the royal cause against the Revolutionists.
"failing not in their oath of fidelity,
and died ''Jortissi01e oa9naaeS." Alto
2e;hlr think il the ran est monument
nae seen III --IIope.
But II = rot - much VIVA. one sees n.
I-'eeIAe T. IRON. ii, that give. Ii such an
interest. Il l.es at the head of the lake,