German flowers, acaules, stockgillies, anemones, primroses, and has beyond the Zwieback lawns and foliage. When I come into it in the morning for breakfast, I find it full of light and sweet air, which are novelties to those whose spring and winter have been passed in town lodgings. It is sufficiently retired, and yet within easy call of people whom I see passing in the street which divides my flower-plots from the Kurhaus gardens; some of whom, more sociable than the rest, look in at my windows for a word or two, but do not stop to pay me a visit. I try to fill my mornings with reading or writing, and thus give the day a little substance and character. I have come on here from Switzerland, where it has been hot. I stayed with H———— at his villa on the Lake of Ge neva. H's house is suited to hot weather. The lawn comes down to the edge of the lake, with the colors of which the large basins of carnations make a pleasant contrast. The dining-room is upon a level with the lawn, and opens directly on it. Its mosaic floor, of intricate pattern, and the marble columns match well with the blue water. It is rather like a house a Roman gentleman should have had on the banks of Como. H— let me breakfast in a small room on the upper floor, which had no columns, it is true, but which had some books, and which looked out on the lake, with whose pervading azure the room seemed to be filled. I sat in the midst of this azure and read, usually from some volumes of the Queen Anne essayists I found there, and had a very good breakfast of cutlets, fruit, and red wine. There were no women about, nothing to affect the shade, the silence, and the liberty of the house, except the voice of Gustave when he said: "Monsieur est servi." On the day I left I said to H: "My dear fellow, I have been very well treated here. You have given me a horse to ride over these hills in the morning, and a boat to sail on the lake in the afternoon. How I have enjoyed this breakfast-room! Your permeating azure has taken possession of my being. I have been allowed as much of my own society as I liked. With the exception of giving me your soothing company at dinner, you have kept yourself out of the way. And all this for the twenty francs which I shall give to Gustave! It is the cheapest and best thing I have seen on my journey." H's dinners were excellent. There were two or three snow-peaks in sight. I may not admire Swiss scenery profoundly, but I agree that these peaks are good things to have over your shoulder if you are dining rather well. They have the effect of a pretty label on a bottle of German wine. (That snow gorge between the aiguilles of Léchaud and Charmoz would make such a capital champagne-cooler!) But I have no respect for them not the slightest. The fact that Switzerland is such a place for holiday-makers has given its scenery a kind of frivolity. It was a lovely day when I came in the steamer through the Lake of Thun. The boat was crowded with sightseers, and Switzerland was determined they should not be disappointed; for there on our right were the white peaks dec |