Year: 1874

In the spriog Of 1868, 11ound myself q


Juvenile "pensionaire in q young ladie,


boarding school in Geneva. Switzerland


in the heart of Europe, without kth Oh


kin, in the Eastern Hemisphere. My sor


rows wore however so brief, my tears 81


transient as only to set off with greater dis


tinctness, the broad spaces filled with


tenderest love and kindly care from al.


mostevery one-and hours marked with
the sights Of grandeur and sublmity which


attended my foot steps in the Old World


1t is these occasional incidents and i'm


pressions, that propose from tine to time


to jot dow n for your interesting Journal, if


they shall be thought worthy, and you


will take them as occasion offers and the


spirit moves.


And what shall say of my sweet Swiss


home, and beautiful Geneva, that quaint
old calvanistic city. Nesting on the shores
Of Lemans' blue waters and Graded as it


were, between the grand snow clad Alps
on one side and the gentle Jura On the
other Our little home too, was very fair.
the large garden filled with rare and beau
tlful flowers, and shady grove of fir and
pine intercepted by a brooklet that chat


ted and gurgled. the live long day. 1t
was on its mossy banks, that we always
made the best compositions and memo
rised most easily the difficult selections
| from Cornielle and Racine. 1t was here
that the nightingale, sweet poet of the
wood, soft minstrel of the early year, spent
i ts melody in May, the first and only one
| over heard, here too that. the glow worm


sparkled. A little rustic bridge and gate
neighboring estate; but we never cared to
explore beyond, our little Eden was world
enough for us, and we were left to chat or
dream. here, until the falling of twilight
dews admonish ed us to leave this shady
retreat. The evenings were passed in
pleasant converse, music or reading aloud


often games of varioms kinds. Each sea
son was possessed of its peculiar charm
Spring was hailed with untold delight as
! the harbinger of pleasant rambles in the
valley aud picnics on the mountains. We
started at seven in the morning with our
botanical boxes aud sketch books, never
thinking of turning eteps homeward till
long after the setting of the SUM How
we did revel in the cool exhilerating noun
tain air; the jolly donkey ride, with an oc-
casional capsize by way of variety, for be
it known that these gentle beasts of bur-
den do someti mes get obstreperous. The
fall however. was never a very mighty
one, and rather lent to our amusement.


The second summer mouth was spent on
the Alps. Those were bright sunny days
nevereso be forgotten. With health, joyful
heart, fine weather and glorions scenery,
is there any virtue in being happy @ We
dwelt in a rustic chalet, perched as it
we re on shelf of the mou,etain. Before
us arose the beautiful "Dent du Midi" al
M ost eleven thousand feet high; its snowy
peaks caught the first beams of the rising
sun. To the West our eye lighted upon
the grand Glacier du Trieut." We would
watch the sunbeams play with the stream
let, that wound like silver thread through
the valley below; the soft vAperous clouds
that floated about in fantastic forms, like
silver winged insects looming up from the
vale below, to join the cliffs Of clouds
above and finally drifting away to melt in
the SUNSHINE. Evening was charming too,
this season of rest and suspension from all
labor being peculiarly charmi & among the
mountains. How sweet is the sound Of
the lowing herd, the twtter of birds seek
ing their leafy homes, the song of the mer-
ry berger or shepherd, and the gossip of the
rosy checked paysannes lingering around
the village fountain which supplies water
for the entire community. l can never
forget the exquisite effect of a perfect sun
set there, lighting up with halo of glory
those soltudes of snow and ice First the
light is mellow gold, then it changes to
silvery lilac, if l may so express it, aud f.
nally melts into ashy grey and dies away.
Then the evening breeze would play with
the pines, sometimes the sound would be
to me like stiffled sighs OF the mournful
beating of the surf on the sea shore. As
the evening drifted into night, no sound
broke the silence Save the foamng-ever
rushing torrent, that fretted and leapt
through the craggy gorge. When the
moon was full, the scene was more akin to
my conception OF q world divine than any
thing have ever Seen We often made
delightful jaunts to the adjacent noun
tains or valleys. We arose to see the sun
rise, grand sight it was too. Then old
Pierre. our good cicerone would bring up
the rear with surplus wrappings. This
old Pierre was very nice man so the vii
lage thought, he knew every neak. hill |