Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-11-24

ut our feet. lay the land over which we
had passed, while the lake, upon whose
waters we had sailed in the early morning.
nestled ut the base of the mountain. and
seemed so near ut h"nd that | noticed some
English lads endelvoring to throw stones
into it.
Crowds Of visitors We're upon the summit
enjoyin" the unrivalled prospect, the great
Il part Of whom seemed to be making free
use of my own language, and. us the trains
were constantly bringing fresh throngS,
Judged that the two fine hotels only = few
PAGES away were in no lack of guests.
Trmpting as was the thought of seeing the
sun rise from behind the snowwhte Alps.
we felt that or time would not admit OF
our remaining, and accordingly in the mid
die Of the afternoon we began the descent
upon the opposite side, and after two or
three hours reached .he small but pic,ur
r.arIp viila~e of WargiS. and took the boat
for Iuccrne.
There are three railways connected with
the Rigi. al built within the past five
wears. and in imitation of similar works in
our own land. Besides the two lines built
on either side of the mountain there is a
third which runs alon. the summit from
one peal, to another. so that, both while
ascending ami descending, there We're
train, "above and below ansl around uS.
toil:ng up from the valley, or creeping
aIonr tie heights far above, and then van
ishing from view, or pcrchanrc passing 10y
on their WAY to the station below. The
ru>l. of visitors on the day we made the
ascent uppearcd to he unusually grcat,as we
counted in The space of IN hour four of these
small trains on their way to the summit.
/ This was the work simply of one of these
Iines.
Lucernc has been called the Saratoga Of
the Alps. and ycl though it contains some
fine buildings. and is beautifully situated
it the foot of the lake bearing the same
name. | -hould be 10th TO cOncrde it that
distinction. Besides the celebrated organ
performance for which one of the churches
is no ed. the principal attraction Is the by
inr Lion. Ii is the work of the great Dan
i>h sculptor. Thorvallsen. and is to the
memory of the officers and soldiers of the
Swiss Guard. who fell in the defence OF
the Tuileries in August, 1872. The lion,
twenty eight feet in length, and hewn out
of the natural sandstone rock, is reprcsent-
ed a> reclining in Il grotto, transtXed by a
broken lance. and sheltering the Bourbon
lily with its paw. The work is truly I'M
prc-.ivc. and bears unm>takable evidence
of being wrought by 4 masterhand.
As we to k the boat at Lucernc and
launched out into the waters of that charm
mountains ri>c something of the spirit o
those old tales seemed to hover around us
. I1nl we began to feel, even without the
! assistance of any written page. that We
= were in the land of the historic or-mus
y / write it?-of the legendary Tell. These
= Grand and beautiful shores. past which We
glidcd, possessed 4 peculiar charm, i"
here five or ~iX centuries ago Tells Bray
IN III, sheltered valley the men Of Rut|
met hv NIGHT, and ,wcre by all that WI
dear 10 them to ril themselves of the tvr
amy of their oppre->or or perish III tn
att.u,t: Nerc at that point of rocks Tel
.uran.t from the boat and escaped his cal
T.: br this uvcrhtn-iug cliff the her
X stood when h. sent the arrow into tn
II heart of the tvrlut GrssIcr. This groun
II is I'LL his. and ha, been doubly consecr'tr
l' TO him br the Poet of Tell the Gcl
d man Schiller. I;ut the Luke Of the foH
i Forest CantunS. aside from these assocl;
II ton, /, full of interest. Nowhere doe
II the eve rest nron Il more perfect !and~cal
70 than while passing over these waters fro
i I.ucrrnr 20 Fluricn Earth, SKY, water
/ All unite TO form a picture most bcauili'
!" in il, setting. and abiding III lis imprc
70 on the mind. Bat this delightful rr=i'
must lie left behind, and We pas o1'
% the Gl-tv rolI from Iluclcn AMI are soc
- A,tlolf. the traditional scene Of the e
'e nIoit, Of Tell \ colossal statue, in plI
II ter. occupit, tn, spot whence Tell is 81
y (, have aimed at the apple on the head
OF hi, boy: and about i hndrcd and tif
n p.c,.> away i~ shown the place where Il
&C. box stood. On. OF Two miles from til
~ vjlii~c, in a secluded valley. thr trtdltlo
- Al ste .r he house. where this rr?ut'
! libpr;.,or Of Switzerland lived, is now 9
- .,ip:cd bv a small chapel, While paSslr
)" Ihrou"h the streets OF Aitd0rf we we
= io;np,! hv a citizen Of the place, and ask
rs him whether the people believed IN lei
IL He replied that Of late years some write
had been cndeavorin@ TO Show that /
p whole story was simply fiction. bat III
W this opinion did not find much favor amo1
ne The, l.ople. * for himself he heiev
ed that i; WAS in-t as likely to be rclial
Iiy history ~ fiction
II. From this town oar WY for 4 dlstan
IN Of thirty miles led up through the vail
N OF tn. Rcu-S, which was never devoid
OF interest and a certain points OF the ro'
w. WAS truly wild ana impressive. This "
'"t historic ground for here i'll 1893, shut III
tf- the prccipl,ons walls of rock Napoie
lie ~aincl a victory over tie -Au>trians,
"a was hilnsc defeated u little later Il
driven bacl, by the Russians. The Re'
ny which laShcd Itself to foam. aS 1t cal
oil Ir.Djur down the rocks, had TO be eros
lrd by numerous bridges, and ut one OF the
Ict called Devils Fridge. the spray helped
tile f, m a bright AMI quite perfect ralnoo
W. Here, rs elsewhere III these high latltud
The the lev breath that greeted us. as
lVr crossed the streams, was very retresll'
ide Through this valley, or rather gorge
eW the mountain. hundreds of workmcn W
to employed upon the new railroad whlcl
'nd to pas. through the St Gottllard Tunn
10 We passed by the mouth of this tunl