Wanderings in France and Switzerland

Front matter

WANDERINGS l.V FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND. BY THE BEV. FERGUS FERGUSON,, M.A, GLASGOW, Author of " Sacred Scenes in Egypt and the Holy Land," "Sacred and Continental Scenes," &c, &c. LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK, 62 PATEENOSTEB BOW. EDINBURGH: JOHN MENZIES & CO., 2 HANOVER STREET. GLASGOW : THOMAS ADAMSON, 165 COWCADDENS STREET. 1869. GLASGOW : H. NISBET, PRINTER, TRONGATE. DEDICATORY NOTE. TO THE Rev. FERGUS FERGUSON, Sen., Aberdeen, THE AUTHOR'S FATHER, THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED WITH GRATITUDE AND AFFECTION. PREFATORY NOTE. The circumstances in which the journey Avas undertaken, in the autumn of 1863, of which the following volume contains a detailed account, are sufficiently explained in the commencement of the first chapter. I offer no apology for publishing my impressions concerning countries which have been so frequently A'isited ; because different men have different ways of describing the same scenes, and every author has his own circle of friends and acquaintances, which he can specially influence.

I have endeavoured, as in my two volumes of travel in the East, to intersperse, illustratively, spiritual reflections by the way, in humble imitation of the Great Teacher, who, in the days of His flesh, often spake unto the people in parables. I beg leave to commend the work to His gracious blessing and regard. F. F. Glasgow, November, 1868. CONTENTS. PAGE Dedicatory Note, ........ 3 Prefatory Note, --------- 5 Chapter I. From Glasgow to Paris, -------- 9 Chapter II. A Sabbath in Paris, 20 Chapter III. A Ride round Paris, ........ 35 Chapter IV. Versailles, ---------- 49 Chapter V. The Louvre and Notre-Dame, ------- 60 Chapter VI. The Sorbonne and the Pantheon, ------ 70 Chapter VII. Paris to Neufchatel, -------- 82 Chapter VIII. Neufchatel to Berne, ........ 94 Chapter IX. Berne, ....----- - 105 Chapter X. Berne to Interlaken, .---,---- 120 Chapter XI.

The Jungfrau, --------- 137 Chapter XII. The Jungfrau, --------- 152 Chapter XIII. Interlaken to Freyburg, -------- CONTENTS. PAGE Chapter XIII. Freyburg to Geneva, ...-..-. 173 Chapter XIV. Geneva, .......... 183 Chapter XV. Geneva, .......... 193 Chapter XVI. Geneva to Paris, ......... 204 Chapter XVII. Paris to Greenock, ........

Chapter I

■from (Slasgoto ter ||aris. Holyrood Palace — The Channel Fleet — May Island — Newcastle — London — Three Routes to Paris — Newhaven — Crossing the Channel — Dieppe — John Knox — The Seine — Rouen. Having failed someAvhat in health shortly after my tour in the East (the particulars of which I haA*e ventured to lay before the public in tivo goodly volumes, as some may think, with OA*er-much garrulity), I gladly accepted an invitation to become the guest, for a short time, of an American family who were residing in Paris till the sanguinary civil Avar would end. I had made their acquaintance during the preceding year at Cairo, and had travelled Avith them through Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Greece, — bidding them farewell at a hotel door in one of the principal .streets in Vienna. It was on a beautiful summer's night that I set off for London by the North British line of railway.

"We passed Holyrood Palace about 10 p.m., lying deep in the shadow of the adjoining hills. Its venerable walls seemed to speak of other days, when Mary and Darnley had Avalked that very ground, just on such an August evening, long, long ago. As we glided near the shore of the Frith of Forth, Ave saw in the dim twilight the noble men-of-war of the Channel Fleet, which were anchored near Inchkeith — these "wooden walls" that guard our much-loA'ed isle. When Ave reached the neighbourhood of Dunbar we could distinctly see the light on the May Island, off "the east neuk of Fife." I peered very earnestly into the gloom beyond it in quest of the classic beacon on the Bell Kock, Avhich, when a boy, I had often beheld from the heights of Aberbrothock, and round which the genius of Southey has thrown the enchantment of his song.

Further on our journey, however — when we had passed the old Avails of Berwick — I Avas able to point out clearly to my felloAv-travellers the light on Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, round which the halo, not of poetic genius, but of self-sacrificing daring and devotion, Avas cast by Grace Darling, the deceased yet immortal heroine of the " Forf ar shire." The luminous clock of Newcastle Avas near the stroke of 1 a.m. when the train drew up right in front of it. I felt it to be a solemn thing to make a sudden transition, at the dead hour of night, from the open and houseless moorland of the Borders into the heart of a great town, whose myriads of inhabitants were, for the most part, fast asleep. "We passed near the teeming houses, Avhose AvindoAvs were shut and darkened, save Avhere, here and there, some night lamp was burning.

Perhaps in these the sick were tossing restlessly, or the dying yielding up their last breath, or, sadder still, the drunken holding their intemperate carousal. I felt aAved by the value of immortal souls, as Ave journeyed through the midst of them, in all their slumbering unconsciousness. One dear Christian friend, I kneAV, would have been happy to see me, and would have grasped my hand in cordial welcome, had I presented myself at his door. My heart went out to him as Ave tarried at the toAvn, and gravitated towards him and his family in Christian affection. But duty called elsewhere. Still, with some sadness of spirit, I sped away from his neighbourhood, like Evangeline Avhen she sailed near to Gabriel, and he knew not of her nearness ! "Why should I continue my account of so common and prosaic a thing as a journey to London?

I will drop the prose and try the variety of verse, doggerel though it be : — At dewy eve We took our leave Of lofty Arthur's Seat,— By fading light Had scarce a sight Of Britain's Channel Fleet. Lo ! far away, Upon the May A friendly beacon gleams : And o'er the wave, Where maiden brave Answered the sailors' screams ! The full moon shone, At stroke of one, On Tyne's refulgent flood: At dawn of day, York's Minster gray Beside her ramparts stood. We crossed at ten The famous sea Round Cromwell's Huntingdon ; And heard the roar, Like sea on shore, Of London life, at noon. There are three routes by which the traveller may make his way from London to Paris. First of all, he may strike eastward along the Kent railway to Dover, and cross to Calais — an easy sea passage of only 22 miles. Or he may diverge a little further to the south, and catch another expeditious ferry that plies between Folkestone and Boulogne — a distance of 29 miles.

Or, thirdly, he may proceed due south to Newhaven (a few miles east of Brighton) and cross to Dieppe — a voyage of some six hours even in the expeditious steamers on the station. This last was the route which had been SAVITZERLAND. planned for myself and the lady and gentleman of my o-wn church who accompanied me to the French metropolis. Leaving London early next morning, we found a great crowd at the Newhaven pier when we reached it about 9 a.m. ; for it was the season of excursions, and Mr Cook's cheap trips had drawn to that rendezvous quite a crowd of bewildered travellers. First one steamer of the fleet was filled, and still the mass of expectant voyagers seemed to be but little diminished. "We were fortunate enough to succeed in forcing our way into the second vessel, which bore the honoured name of " Alexandra," the Princess of "Wales, (whom may God bless and raise from the sick bed on which she lies while I Avrite these lines, and spare to wear, for many a day, the croAvn of Britain, conjointly *with the husband of her youth!)

The steamer which had been filled first was not very far ahead when we got clear of the harbour of Newhaven, and we hoped that we might overtake her and pass her in triumph ; but in this hope we were disappointed, for she soon got out of sight altogether, and we " saw her no more " till we found her calmly anchored in the harbour of Dieppe. Thus, methinks, shall the Christian, when he passes from his last struggle into the heavenly haven, find his neighbour or friend who had got before him in the race, securely anchored in the glassy stillness, and already familiarised with the glory and the gladness of the land. At first the passengers were all deeply interested in the "white cliffs of Albion," which certainly stand out very prominently on the coast of Sussex. But gradually the gale stiffened and the pale sickened ; and the attention of the voyagers was drawn away from what they saw, by the more absorbing interest of what they felt.

Great amusement was evidently furnished at the steerage end by the spray of the billows which dashed over the boat; and some of the more adventurous who tried to play "hide and seek" with Neptune, were thoroughly drenched by some of the saltwater sheets which he sullenly threw over them. For myself, happily free from the *widely-prevalent nausea, I could not but moralise on that diver sity of constitution and bodily condition which, while it lays some voyagers prostrate if but a gentle breeze arise, allows others to out ride in comfort the fiercest storm. Do we not find a moral parallel to it in that fortitude Avith which some people bear the trials by which others are completely unmanned and overcome, and even in that God-given valour with which some Christian pilgrims resist the temptations before which others, in the hour of weakness, fall?

During the voyage I observed that a lady looked frequently at me, as if she kneAV me. I returned the astonished stare of dim, partial, undefined recognition. "We had seen one another some where, but could neither of us make out where. So, after a common attempt at what a mental philosopher would call " voluntary recollection," we, as if with mutual consent, gave the thing np as a bad job! A subsequent attempt, but in very different circumstances, was more successful, as a future chapter shall show. About 2 p.m. Ave found that we were approaching the gay and smiling shores of France. For some time they who were possessed of telescopes and opera glasses had been looking eagerly out towards the land, which was already dimly visible. Some could see the spires of churches, and others could see swiftly-revoh*ing wind mills.

It was an affecting thing to draw near to a great continent, on which during past centuries and millenniums the tide of life had flowed steadily onwards, as in our island home — to a country whose history had been bound up inseparably with our own, either as a friendly or hostile power — from whose shores the Norman Conqueror had crossed the very channel we had traversed, and had fought decisively at the field of Hastings, quite near the haven from which we had sailed — -a country which once had been an appanage of the English crown, but which, in more recent times, arrayed against us, had found it vain to have laid the rest of Europe at its feet, so long as sea-girt, God-girt Britain held out in unyielding and almost solitary defiance ! — a country -with laws, government, popular tastes, and religion different from our own, but now happily united to us by the prudent alliance of Napoleon the Third, as well as by the commercial treaty of Bichard Cobden, a still more honoured and immortal name!

As the houses and the people grew more distinct, I became thrilled with the thought that our "Father in heaven" is truly a great Father — that he is "no respecter of persons" — that an intervening channel makes no difference as to his gracious and paternal regards — that "he has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth"-— and that he knows with perfect accuracy all the joys and sorrows, the hearts and histories of the millions of human-kind. A minister Avith a large congregation, or a physician Avith a large practice, knows many a tale of sorrow and many a confidential secret; yet how limited is then* circle, and how superficial is their information! But God knows thoroughly all the hearts aud lives of the millions of London (Avhat a compass of acquaintanceship even that must be!) — of Britain, of France, of Europe, of the world, of the universe !

And he cares for all, and loves all. How great a God ! How good a God ! Let us daily trust him, then, and make known to him confidingly the desires of our hearts. Such were my thoughts as I approached once more the shores of France, and saw its inhabitants with their peculiar dresses, and heard their peculiar speech, — all having little histories, and mo*ving in little worlds, of their own. Dieppe contains a population of 18,000, and is celebrated throughout France, not only because it is one of the chief ports for communication with England, but because it is the nearest sea bathing establishment to Paris, which is distant about 125 miles. Its baths, as at the other sea and mineral bathing places in France, are under the superintendence of a physician-inspector. The tovro itself is neat ; the principal street (Grand Bue), which runs through to the port, contains the best hotels, and in the season has a cheer ful and animated appearance.

As we sailed into the harbour Ave found it to be very spacious and deep. "We steamed for about a quarter of a mile between lofty quays before we came to the landing-place, — the citadel and picturesque castle looking down upon us from a commanding elevation. One object alone was sufficient to let us know that we were not in Britain, but in a Catholic country : I refer to a very large model of Christ upon the Cross, which we saw hanging upon the side of the harbour as we entered in. Very likely the supersti tious hope led to its erection, that it might act as a charm against dreadful storms and the shipAvreck of the mariner. Dieppe is frequently mentioned in the lives of those religious reformers who were compelled to flee to the continent for shelter in the days both of Papal and Episcopalian persecution.

Thus the name of the toAvn frequently occurs in the life of John Knox, to Avhom, under God, we owe so much, as the great Scotchman who was raised up to deliver our land from the thraldom, of Popery, and lay the foundation not only of Scottish, but even of British freedom. "We read, for example, that, to elude the pursuit of Queen Mary of England and her Government, " he procured a vessel which landed him safely at Dieppe, a port of Normandy, in France, on the 28th of January, 1554. No sooner did he reach a foreign shore than he began to regret the course which he had been induced to take. "When he thought upon his fellow-creatures whom he had left behind him immured in dungeons, and the people lately under his charge, now scattered abroad as sheep without a shepherd, he felt an indescribable pang, and an almost irresistible desire to return and share in their hazardous but honourable conduct.

On the last day of Fibruary, 1554, he set out from Dieppe, like the Hebrew patriarchs of old, ' not knowing whither he went,' and, ' committing his way to God,' travelled through France and came to Switzerland. In the beginning of May he returned to Dieppe, to receive information from England — a journey which he repeated at intervals, so long as he remained on the continent. But it is likely that his friends, in their letters, dissuaded him from it; and, after cool consideration, he resolved to postpone an attempt by which he must have risked his life, -without the prospect of doing any good." Again and again does Dr M'Crie tell us of his hero's frequent embarkation and disembarkation at Dieppe. On one occasion (in 1558), after having been for two years pastor of the English Church at Geneva, Knox came down to the port, expecting to cross to England, but being disappointed in getting letters from his friends, he did not set sail, but returned to Geneva again — a distance of between 600 and 700 miles !

He has been blamed for his irresolution at this juncture ; but the times were distracting, and patience was better than rashness. "We can fancy him wandering thoughtfully on the crags, and looking wistfully across the sea to his beloved Britain. But next year he boldly invaded the land with "the SAVord of the Lord and of Gideon." "He sailed from Dieppe on the 22d of April, and landed safely at Leith on 2d of May, 1559." More potent far was that landing of the unarmed minister than the expedition of many a bannered army. That was the visit that decided the downfall of the Papacy. Things were ripe now for action, and with herculean might did the gigantic reaper Avield the gospel scythe on the yellow grain. The cry " John Knox is come," " John Knox is come," sounded through the land, first as a tocsin of alarm, and then as a death-knell to both superstition and tyranny.

Priest and prince alike grew pale when they heard that Scottish soil at length was trodden by the valiant presbyter. And he rested not till he had secured for us both Protestant rulers and a Protestant religion. * Our sight-seeing in Dieppe extended only to a walk (through certainly one of the principal streets) from the harbour to the railway station. The cause of this haste was twofold — first, a desire to secure our places in the train, and secondly, to get the inner man, in which the voyage had left a vacuum, refitted at the spacious and elegant restaurant which we understood to be there. Arrived at the imposing Buffet, we found first one and then another immense salon literally croAvded Avith famishing and rapacious excursionists. The beAvildered gorgons were doing their best to satisfy the clamorous guests; and we at length succeeded in getting both a corner and some crumbs at a table.

As our lot had been to get the second steamer at Newhaven, so now it was to get the second train at Dieppe. But we had no reason to regret this continued posteriority. For although the train in front had not left more than ten minutes before us, it happily kept well ahead. We had no wish to pass it as we had Avished to pass the steamer, — like which, also, we luckily " saw it no more." The ride was truly delightful. The afternoon was lovely; and we rattled on Avith few stoppages, and at a really amazing rate of velocity, through a rich variety of scenery. At first this consisted of umbrageous woods, noble mansions, solitary farms, and land under tillage, whose harvests were much farther advanced than those which we had left behind us at home. But when, after about an hour's journey, we struck upon the river Seine, what a fruitful source of additional delight !

We had constantly-recurring glimpses of its resplendent waters every here and there during our whole ride to Paris, after getting our first view of it. The river floAvs into the sea at Harfleur, several leagues south of Dieppe. Even hundreds of miles above its embouchure it is navigable, and is about half a mile wide. I had seen the Bhone, though only by moonlight ; I had Avandered on the banks of the Nile ; I had caught glimpses of the Danube ; and had sailed for two days and a night on the Bhine ; but there was something in the sunny Seine on this glorious Saturday afternoon that carried the palm easily away from them all. We saw the cattle drinking in its pellucid waters. "We saw SAVITZERLAND. great rafts of wood floating down to Bouen, guided by the taciturn bargemen, Avith their great propelling poles.

Here and there lovely islands parted the rippling waters in twain ; while now the queenly stream flowed past rich meadows whose pastures extended to its banks; and anon shady trees covered them, which were reflected in the limpid flood. Many a lovely picture of rural life did we behold as we flew along, and much did I wonder what might be the joys and sorrows of those who dwelt in the sequestered spots ; but I took comfort in the thought that the great Father above kneAV them all, and cared for them all. I have travelled all the three routes to Paris now; and I would recommend all who can stand the sea voyage most decidedly to take the Dieppe line, — chiefly for the sake of seeing the -windings of the Seine. Indeed, they should both go and come by that route, instead of caring to cast a glance at Calais or Boulogne, and by all means endeavour to tarry a day at Rouen.

Unfortunately I had only a glimpse of Bouen ; but it was a very lovely one, and one never to be forgotten. It was just when we first came in sight of the Seine that the great city, with a hundred thousand inhabitants, was suddenly revealed upon its banks. It was " A moment seen, then gone for ever," as our engine flew relentlessly on. But I keep indelibly imprinted in my memory that hurried vieAV of the great quays flanking the broad river, and the spires of the numerous churches, — and doubt less among the rest the iron spire of its cathedral, which is said to have been founded as early as a.d. 260. John Knox toiled in the galleys there. Blaise Pascal, both mathematician and divine, dAvelt there. William the Conqueror held his Norman court there before invading England. And there Joan of Arc, the inspired Maid of Orleans, was burnt to death ; and there her monument stands in the market-place, Avhich is for that reason called Place de la Pucelle, the Square of the Maid.

Instead of being burned to death as a rebel, without doubt she should have been treated by her enemies, when they got her into their power, rather as a heated enthusiast, or what modern mesmerism would call a clairvoyante, who fancied her self to be in communion with angelic visitants. About half-past 7 p.m. the train began to pass through the forest of St Germain, from which circumstance we knew that we were approaching Paris. "We shortly afterwards came in sight of the heights of Montmartre, and at length reached the great and beautiful metropolis. But I must defer till next chapter the account of my reception there. SWITZERLAND.

Chapter II

% Sabbaifr in saris. Arrival in Paris — Champs Elysees— An Aristocratic Square — The Concierge — A kind Welcome— Reminiscences of Travel — The French Protestant Churches — A Christian Family — A double disappointment — The Church of the Embassy — A Protestant Sister of Mercy — Her " Spiritual Song" — Evening Service — Dr Malan's Hymn — "Waiting on the Lord." When we arrived at Paris, I bade my church-friends from Glasgow adieu, as they intended to proceed to their own hotel, and set off by myself in quest of my former fellow travellers. The coachman whom I hired had no difficulty at all in understanding the locality of their residence, as they occupied very fashionable chambers in the magnificent Avenue called Champs Elysees. How happy the French are in the names which they select ! What more euphonious or suggestive appellation could have been given to the grand gardened promenade which Maria de Medicis was the first to plan in 1616, than this — The Elysian Fields — thus recalling the happy abodes conceived by heathen fancy for the pious and the good !

On the occasion of my former visit to Paris, having come by the Calais line, I entered the city at a different point. The terminus of the Dieppe line, I found, was not very far distant from the quarters which I sought. Whenever I passed the Church of the Madeleine, and traversed the beautiful square called Place de la Concorde, I entered the broad expanse of the arboriferous Champs Elysees, and knew that my day's journey had reached its end. "When I actually reached my destination, and was left with my luggage at the address which had been given me, I was at once made aware of a peculiarity both of Parisian architecture and Parisian house-keeping. In our West End residences the houses, whether self-contained or in flats, generally front the streets. But imagine a great square, or court, of first-class tenements, built after the fashion of some of our gigantic Glasgow warehouses, — those fronting the promenade outside, perhaps a little better than the others, and a little higher in their rental ; but those within the court, either flanking you, or facing you, on entering it, also quite superior and handsomely furnished residences.

I was interested and encouraged, too, to find that this part of Paris kept our Scottish cities in countenance in one particular, namely, that these admirable dwellings were really all in flats. The peculiarity of house-keeping to which I refer was this, that a concierge, or porter, sat sentry within the gate which led into this genteel court-yard. Sometimes the gate is open by day, and sometimes it is shut ; but a gentle pull of the bell successfully unlocks the goodly portal, whose leaves, as if moved magically, slowly and noiselessly fall back on brazen rollers. At a certain hour of the night the gate is yet more securely shut ; but the porter, or his substitute, sits in the passage, with his night-lamp dimly burning, till an early hour, that he may be ready to obey the summons of any belated resident.

He lives with his family in a little house in that lobby, and generally gets a civil word from the ladies and gentlemen who pass out and in. The hotels in Paris, I may remark, are generally kept on this principle, — the key of each traveller's room, having the number attached, being left Avith the concierge when its occupant goes abroad. There is in the system a striking union of prison and palace life. When I asked the porter for the residence of my friends, he answered me by pointing through the court, indicating that they lived in the pile of buildings which rose up before me. I confess SAVITZERLAND. that my heart palpitated with eager interest as I climbed the polished Avooden stair and applied my hand to the neat little bell, which did not need to be pulled, but only to be pressed. My reader will agree with me in the reflection, that Ave really do not know our acquaintances till we have seen them in their OAvn dwellings.

A man always reveals to some extent his own taste and character by the style and appearance of his home. The toAvn and country residences of my friends lay far away across the Atlantic, — the one near the mouth of the mighty Mississippi, and the other on one of the spacious reaches of the Hudson, between New York and Albany ; but even in their temporary quarters at Paris I found comfort and refinement harmoniously combined. Then the Avelcome which I received was manifestly genuine, and all the more acceptable that my arrival was wholly unexpected, — the letter which I had sent from Scotland to herald my coming, having miscarried by the way.

We had many grand and solemn reminiscences to recall — how we had stood together on the shore of the sombre Dead Sea — how we had caught, at the same hour, our first glimpse of Jerusalem, "which killed the prophets," — Iioav we had knelt with Greeks and Armenians in the supposed tomb of Jesus at Jerusalem — how we had forgotten the stifling odours of the ever-burning lamps in the grotto of Bethlehem in the overpowering thought that there the Bedeemer of the world Avas born — how Ave had visited quiet Bethany on the same quiet Sabbath afternoon — how we had sailed together on the deserted Sea of Galilee — had encamped at Carmel — had admired and almost trembled at the fulfilment of prophecy, as we beheld in the harbour of Tyre her prostrate pillars, far do*wn in the clear, blue waters — had caught, at the same moment, from the brow of the hill, the never-to-be-forgotten first sight of gray Damascus, begirt Avith emerald green — had sailed past the once privileged prison of Patmos to muse in the streets of Smyrna and sigh at the ruins of Ephesus — and had stood, side by side, on that very Mars Hill Avhere Paul, long ago, proclaimed both the fatherly and judicial character of the "Unknown God !"

Besides these storied scenes, there were many laughter-proA-oking incidents of travel to repeat and pleasant sallies of the Avay-side, Avhich made the hours of this Saturday evening flit unnoticed by. It was pleasant, too, in Catholic Paris, to close our agreeable intercourse by family prayers in the English language as at home. On the Sabbath forenoon my friends went to worship in the French Protestant Church of which they were members, and whose pastor, Bev. Mr Fisch, is well knoAvn in this country through the frequent visits he has paid to it at the time of the General Assem blies. While he was the chief and acknowledged minister, they also enjoyed the services of the other four or frv*e evangelical Protestant clergymen of the city, in a kind of rotation similar to that which is observed among the preachers of a Wesleyan circuit.