St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1905-07-05

| ing acquaintance with some famou
men. His notes refer to Marshal Berth
Ter, an esteemed friend of Ottos, and t.
: Marshal Massena, who passed through
the city, with his staff, in January, 1907
recalled by Napoleon from Italy after thu
battle of Eylau. They also afford us E
glimpse OF a pleasant audience he hac
with Macmillan, the king of Bavaria
The King assured him that he had read
1.-THE Letters from an American Farmer,
both in the English and French versions
This interview was followed by an invi.
tation to dinner, which Saint John des
cribes with much interest. This king, it
will be remembered, was the father OF
that Princess OF Bavaria, who became
the wife of Eugene Beauharnais, the son
OF the Empress Josephine, before her mar
rage to Napoleon.
The idlers in society, of which there
were many at Munich at that time, the
disconnected of many nationalites, Rus
sian, Austrian, and Prussian, as we'll as
Bavarian, excited the great disdain of
Saint John. Gaming was the principal
occupation of these misguided people,
from morning to midday, and from five
O'Clock until far into the night, and their
losses were often considerable. 1t was
the society ofpeople in the learned pro-
LESSONS that Saint John most esteemed,
and the frequent dinners given by M.
Otto brought them together in the hap
piest intimacy. This coterie included
Jacob, president ofthe Munich Academy,
"the clearest, most amiable, and the
most intelligent metaphysician in Eu-
rope; M. Manlich, a distinguished
painter of the day; M. Seyfer, royal
astronomer, and others. Saint John
was favored with some details, by these
friends, OF mechanical devices of new in
vention, OF which he had made some
plans, or reduced models, and forwarded
them with descriptions to Paris. He ad.
mired the aptitude of the Bavarians for
the arts. "There is here" he said, ian
endowment of talent which only needs
encouragement to be highly productive.
l have taken the liberty to speak of 1t to
the king every time could with propriety
bring up the subject" Always faithful
to the opinions OF Franklin he combatted
the prejudices still existing in Bavaria
against the use of lightning rods.
The year of 1909 saw again the clouds
OF war lowering over Germany, and Ba-
varia was threatened with active hostili-
ties. Austria declared war, and her
armies crossed the frontier. nj. Otto
sent away his wife and daughter, his
father-in-law, Saint John, going with
them. En- route, the latter wrote to his
son Louis, "The Emperor to whom Otto
has sent the Austrian declaration OF war
is on his way to Strasburg, whence he
will 60 to Donauwerth, where Otto will
see him and give him all the Information
he possesses"
Returned to France, In the month of
August, 1909, he was installed at Sar-
celles, a few miles from Paris on the great
northern road. M. Otto had acquired
there charming house In that delight
full valley Of Montmorency, so dear to
disciples OF great man, Jean Jacques
Rosseau. Sarcelles is not far from San
nois, and Saint John could not long de-
lay visit to his old and much esteemed
friend, the Countess dHoudetot, who
had been so kind to him and his sons In
the years gone by. She was then nearly
eighty years old. This ladys circle of
acquaintance had included most of the
great men of the age, and LAFAYETTE.
Jefferson, and Franklin were of this mum.
Der.
Lying out in the plain beyond st.
Denis and Eplnay, north of Paris, lie a
number of towns of historic interest. We
can see them all from the hill back of
Sannos, or better yet from the famed
S~AA''N~ VI AaohSAiOlSuSyI anu tueTe also
we may look upon one of the loveliest
landscapes in all Europe. In the southern
background we see those prominent
features OF the great city, Montmartre,
the Arch of Triumph, and the great
domes above the tomb of Napoleon, and
the Pantheon. Across the river to the
right of the Bots de Boulogue, is Mont
Valeren, and at its base, hidden by a
long spur running out to the west, is
Malmaison. Nearly southwest lies San
German. the birthplace of master
builder and great king, Louis the 14th.
To the right of the long terrace in front
OF San German is the Chateau du Val,
where our friend Saint John was a
frequent guest on his first visit to France.
Midway in the plain beyond Argenteuil
stands the Chateau du Marais, the home
of Mirabeau during the opening scenes
of the Revolution. This chateau was
built by Lemaitre, whose niece married
M. de Live La Briche, the brother of the
Countess d'Houdetot. To this house.
hold also, Saint John had been introduced
by his good friend the Countess. Nearly
west of Montmorency lies the village Of
Sannois, and farther to the right.