Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1872-03-21
MOE, FRANCE, }
Feb. 19, 1872. ,

| sell ana asked liberty 10 introduce tnem
to Ned and Ella These ceremonies
being completed and our vacant seat Oc-
cupied by an English clergyman, Mr..
Boviff, our horses moved off at a
round pace improving a half-mile level
which brought us to the foot of an hour
and a half ascent. Our companion
proved very pleasant and we were very
thankful he did not feel called upon to
talk nonsense to us The COrnichc
road leaving the valley of the Paglone
asCended the side of one Of the spurs of
the Esbutles, winding inand out among
the olives, atfOrding us peeps of Nice
and the country below as it rounded
some sharp prOmentOry. As far mp the
| side of the hill as we could see, the ter
races walled up to prevent the soil being
carried away bodily, rose one above anO-
ther. All were green with the growing
grain, wheat principally, blue anemOncs.
tulips and marigolds, played hide and
seek as the wind moved lightly over
them. concealing some, revealing
others. The grain must have been SOW
ed last fall. nature scattering flowers
not weeds. She is very partial old W0-
man and has spoiled her children here by
overtiowingsliberality. Our carriages are
beseiged the moment, the ascent begins
by darkeyed boys and girls flower laden,
/ which they are WillingtO dispose for one
/ SOU Desperate are our efforts to make
/ them comprehend that their alb
sence would be more agreeable than
their presence, but they don't under
/ stand decent French or at least forgotten
what IN means, since they bcsicgcd the
/ last unfOrtunatts | used English and
2 I,nI l,,la
/ shook my head vigorously. and at last
appealed to the Coache, Presto. They
! vanished but fell with rcdoublcd vigor
/ upon four innocent, distressed ladies,
/ who mt last bought them off. THESE
| ever present guardians Of continental
/ iOurneyings watched over us tcuderlv
through all the days danger Now We
| have left the olive groves and their at
tendant patches of wheat and follow
/ the road hewn out of the rugged face
of the mountains, on the one side, depths
/ into which our startled horse might hurl
us on the other, bold, barefaced rocks
! piled one above another till YOU wonder
| how much higher their audacity will
take them. The orange and lemon gar
| dens below us, each jealously separated
from the other by high stone walls,
form an immense cheCkcrbOard around
which neighboring hills have seated
themselves for friendly game. Tn"
murmur of n torrent settling their dis
puteS, barely reaches your ear, and 81
lenCe is our guest. As we mount alittlC
| higher, broken ridges of snow-crested
ranges slowly rise above their fellows.
pure white. The contrast dressed the
lower hills in gayer COlOrs, and the sea
responded with a more brilliant hue. if
possible, than it had worn before. So /
thought. does the man who lives nearer
heaven than his fellows, brighten and
cheer their lives by a silent something
VIZ call influence? People in the other
carriages were talking and laughing, ap-
par2ntly ObliviOus of the treasures nature
was unfolding before uq. | could not
feel light-hcarted, and yet | was not sad.
How | longed to give the use of my eyes
to the dear ones at home that they might
reycl in the marvellous manifestations Of
His power and goodness, because they
arp so rcpete with pleasure and strength
to His children
We have rather wandered from our
friends, and they have in the meantime
arrived at Turbia. Everybody is in a
furOr about their luncheOn-baskets, and
our poor Captain General is worried 10
death with calls here and there, and no
where in particular. We have drove
two hours. our appetites are sharp and
demand immediate attention. The place
selected for our table the wind makes
too cold for invalids The Captain
General and his coadjutor rush about
with the hope of finding a more
protected spot, and we are at last or
dered to marshal ourselves on historic
ground. On this very spot, where the
flower of Nice is making such successful
onslaughts upon edibio's inviting at
tack, Caesar fought, bled, died, the
Gauls. not himself. We initiate the
great Roman and soon the skeletons of
our fallen foes streW the ground, Chick
ems, etc.) One noticeable thing about
the lunch provided was the lack of nice
cake, there being only two kinds On
the other hand a superabundance of |
every kind of meat, baked, boiled, pot |
ted and COnCOctCd into pies of unknown
name to me, at least Wine flowed free |
ly, and, before the feast was over, some |
young ladies and gentlemen exhibited |
considerable lightness of soul aud ap- |
plauded yOcifOrOusly few tOasts that |
did not carry me away with their bril- |
liancy. In point of behavior, to say |
nothing of beauty, similar gatherings in
old Vermont would compare fayOrably. |
The Casino OF Monte Carlo, directly |
beneath us, was one of the topics of dis |
Cussion, and | heard one young lady re-
mark, 'Her luck was always poor, and |
and another, ''she was sorry she had |
not tried hers yet" Oh, how many !
people roll up their consciences and |
pack them away in the lumber room as
enCumbranCes to travellers
The wall which we had chosen to pro-
tect ourselves from the wind was
brimmed with all the fat, dirty beggars
Turbia possessed not a small portion of
her population. They were all over us,
and their name was legion,
sticking closer than our shadows, for
that does leave when a cloud obscures
the sun. But they? No, never does
passing cloud obscure the sun of their
presence. We walked through the vii
lage to catch glimpse of the abiding
places of these poor miseable creatures.
My heart ached as | looked into their
faces, searching for something human,
but there was no response to "A kindly
look except sometimes among the chill
dren. Some had pretty features, nearly
all dark glorious eyes, undimmed yet by
want and untarnished by the fires that
vice and passion would soon light. The
dismal holes, from which they crawled
in the daytime, are past description.
A room which no light enters except
through a break in the walls, which
serve as door, utterly destitute of fur
niture, black, greasy, filthy and over
flowing with vermin. Alleys branch in
all directions, SO narrow that you can
,,k l.
center. The accumulated filth of the
closely packed inhabitants, at every
rain, flows sluggishly down these
alleys, the pavement slanting slightly
from either side, you feel when entering