Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1925-12-23


found it very pleasant to live In a
country where rulers borrow your car
riage to come to dine with you" John
Knox, the Scotch reformer, described
this, his city of refuge, as "the place
where | fear nor ashame to say is the
most perfect school of Christ that ever
was on the earth since the days of the
Apostles" Byron and Shelley spent
the fruitful summer of 1916 in adjoin-
ing villas in the outskirts.
Such are the people of Geneva's
past-some gay, but most grave-with
whom we can promenade arm In arm
in phantom procession through the
beautiful Jardin Anglais; along quays
from which we glimpse the cleaning
radiance Of Mont Blanc; beneath the
magnificent monument erected to the
memory of Duke Charles of Bruins
wick, who bequeathed 100000
francs to the city he loved so we'll
through the narrow, steplike streets
of the old town up to the Eleventh
century cathedral.
FOUNDED by a Trojan"
1t is poor European city that cam
not trace its origin back to the age
Of myth and mythology. It took
Geneva a long time to extend its fam
lily tree to Hellenic days, but tradl-
tionists now declare that four CEN
turtles ago there was discovered in
the castle of Chillon a document
which makes the lake city contender
with Rome for antiquity.
1t will be remembered that the
Eternal City was founded by the de-
scendants of Aeneas and his followers,
who escaped from the Greeks after
the fall of Troy. Geneva, which I'M
der Calvin's regime was to acquire
the appellation the protestant
Rome" likewise turns to Troy for it's
traditional founder-Lemanus, son of
Paris, whose abduction of the fair
Helen from the palace of Menelaus
brought on the Trojan war. And, to
prove their case, Genevan guide-books
point to their lake, Leman (from the
old Latin name for Lake Geneva, re-
vived in the Eighteenth century,,
named in honor of their mythical
progenitor
Leaving the realm of fiction and
tradition, the settlement at the south
western extremity of the Alpine lake
remained under the domination of
Rome from the time of Caesar until
the breakup of the empire. In that
period of five centuries it was twice
razed-once by the Ostrogoths and
once by Attila and his Huns. In 800,
| together with the rest of the territory
now embraced in Switzerland, it was
an integral part of Charlemagne's
dominions. Then for six centuries the
city's history presents no points of
compelling interest, the chief events
being a succession of struggles be-
tween the prince-bishops and the
counts of Genevois and Savoy for as
cendancy.
]. Calvin's Adopted Home.
John Calvin, with whose name that
of Geneva always will be associated,
was native of Picardy in France and
adopted Geneva as his home when
about thirty years old. He was soon
driven from the city, but upon his
recall a few years later he laid the
foundation for a government which
in its rigorous supervision of the pri-
vate lives of the people has seldom,
If ever, been equaled. Geneva be-
came known as the City of Calvin as
well as the Protestant Rome Every
act of the individual was under the
scrutiny of the council, of which CAL
vim was the moving spirit.
The austerity of the Calvin code
presents many amusing phases to the
modern reader. For example, a hair
dresser was imprisoned because he
made one of his clients too beautiful.
Any man who swore without neces-
sity" was required to take off his hat,
"kneel down in the place of his Of
Tense, clasp his hands, and kiss the
earth" The wearing of silk or en-
broidered hose was prohibited; like
wise the adornment of ones person
with chains of silver or gold, and eat
ing or drinking in taverns outside of
the city. Host and hostess were en-
joined to warn their guests to be in
their own lodgings latter the trumpet
sound to the watch or the ringing of
the bell' (nine o'clock at night.