A Tour Through France, Switzerland and Belgium in 1814

Chap. X

Having left Geneva so soon after my arrival there, I had not of course sufficient time to speak sufficiently of a city so peculiarly interesting on many accounts. The journal of a traveller is not however the place to look for long statements of the revolutions, wars, and sieges of the cities which he visits; but still there are very few tourists who have omitted to swell their pages with details more properly the province of the historian, and, from the unconnected manner in which they are generally introduced, not calculated to give any very accurate idea of the history of the place. I shall not therefore attempt to mention the various revolutions which have at different times disturbed the city of Geneva; and shall only remark, that it was formerly annexed to the German empire, and that its bishops, like those of Lausanne, having taken advantage of the precarious authority of some of the emperors, succeeded in uniting to the spiritual jurisdiction most of the temporal authority of the state, and lost both together at the introduction of the reformation in 1585. The citizens, to defend themselves from the powerful pretensions of the Dukes of Savoy, concluded, in 1584, a perpetual alliance with the cantons of Zurich and Berne (the most powerful of the reformed cantons), by which alliance this republic became a part of the Swiss confederacy, and continued so to be until forced to unite itself to France, by the revolutionary government of that country. It has again recovered its independence; and the general wish is that Geneva may be declared a canton of Switzerland (this has, since I left Geneva, actually taken place, and the event was celebrated with the utmost enthusiasm by its inhabitants). Their present government is not absolutely arranged, and seems but little varied from that democratic form which anciently prevailed (the merits of which have given rise to much discussion), and by which all power is finally vested in the general or sovereign council, composed of all the citizens of Geneva who have attained their majority, there being a few particular exemptions. All citizens are equally eligible to the public employments of the state, of which, however, the emoluments are so scanty, as only to make them objects of honourable ambition.

By the laws of Geneva, a father can never dispose of more than half his estate, according to his inclination; the other half must be divided equally amongst his children. Those citizens who do not discharge the debts of their father after his decease, are excluded from holding any public situations; as also, if they omit to pay debts which they have themselves contracted. There are still subsisting many sumptuary laws, which appear useful, to exclude the introduction of too great a degree of luxury, which is generally so fatal to the liberty of a people.

There is a theatre at Geneva, which I have heard was first projected by M. d’Alembert, but the magistrates endeavour to prevent as much as possible the frequency of theatrical entertainments; and, during my stay at Geneva (between three and four weeks), I think the theatre was open but twice for plays, and once for a concert.

The town-house is a large and ancient building, and devoid of regularity. It is chiefly worthy of mention, from the ascent to the upper apartments, being by an inclined plane, sufficiently spacious to admit a carriage to drive up to them. Here are the apartments of the senate, the councils of government, officers of justice, &c. Here I left my passports and received, in return, a permission to reside in the city, which must be renewed every fortnight. The passport is returned upon the final departure of its owner.

I now found it easy to provide myself with a lodging (as, without the authority of the state, no citizen can receive strangers into his house) on reasonable terms, for three weeks. My apartment commanded a handsome prospect of the lake from one of the windows. I, however, occasionally dined at the hotel where I had first lodged (the Balances d’Or). I here found sometimes pleasant society at the Table d’Hote. The hour of dinner was about a quarter past one o’clock, and the table was plentifully supplied, much in the order I before mentioned, in speaking of the French dinners. I observed that excellent vegetable, the potatoe, was here in great estimation, at the tables both of the higher and inferior classes; and, except in Italy, I understand its value is duly appreciated in the principal parts of Europe. I now proceed, according to my promise, to speak more of Geneva, having been for some time domesticated there.

The city is regularly fortified; but, according to the modern system of warfare, it would not probably make any efficient resistance; yet although its fortifications may not be sufficient to secure it during a siege, they are not entirely devoid of utility: they would prevent the city’s being suddenly occupied by an enemy, and thus afford time for the conclusion of a regular capitulation. Situated as the city is, between France and Sardinia, and divided from the rest of Switzerland, it must be granted, that the government acts wisely in preserving its fortifications. Indeed, their utility was fully exemplified during the eventful period of last spring, when the allied troops, after having for some days occupied the city, were suddenly called away, and the inhabitants were menaced by a force of 3,000 Frenchmen, who demanded admission. This was refused them; and happily, the return of the allied forces in a few days, saved Geneva from the melancholy effects which must have ensued from the irruption of the French, who were greatly exasperated that the city did not at first oppose the entrance of the Allies. The ramparts form the principal promenade of the Genevese; and from some of them (particularly from the Place St. Antoine, which commands the lake, and is well planted) the views are very striking over a highly cultivated valley, enclosed by some of the most lofty mountains in Europe. Detachments of the allied forces remained a very considerable time at Geneva, and at one period the Republic had to defray a daily expence of not less 40,000 francs.

But what seems to be most regretted by the Genevese, is the destruction by those troops, of several avenues of trees, which had for many years lined one of the roads near the city, and formed one of their favourite walks. The Austrians, in their impatience to obtain fuel, could not be persuaded to spare them, and the inhabitants now avoid a walk which they once delighted in.

I have not, however, heard many complaints at the sums expended for the maintenance of the allied troops, as they have relieved Geneva from the yoke of France, under which their trade (which alone had raised their city to such celebrity) was nearly annihilated.

I obtained some information on this subject, from a person of whom I inquired my way to the hamlet of the Petit Sacconnex, near Geneva, where is the best view of Mont Blanc. Seeing I was a stranger, he was very civil; but he was delighted when he discovered of what country I was, and spoke of England with enthusiasm, as it was to her perseverance that his country, in common with most of Europe, was indebted for the late glorious change in the state of their affairs. He informed me, that before the union of Geneva to France, he had been in good business as a watchmaker (the great occupation of the Genevese) but, like numberless others, was thrown out of employment. Many emigrated, some worked as day labourers, others were forced into the army, and he, being very old, maintained himself with difficulty by setting up a small school.

I found my conductor an extremely well informed man, as indeed are most of the tradespeople of Geneva. The higher circles are remarkable for that freedom, blended with politeness, which places society on its most natural basis, as I had frequent occasion to remark during my stay at Geneva. I must not omit to mention the pleasure I experienced from the fête de navigation (to which I was invited by the kindness of a gentleman, to whom I had been introduced) which is one of the most splendid at Geneva; and the scene of the lake, covered with boats of various sizes, filled with elegant females (and I have seen few places that can boast of a greater proportion,) prevented my reflections on the more distant scene which its shores presented, and which, under different circumstances, would not have passed unnoticed. After having spent some time on the water, the company repaired to the Hall of Navigation, near the village of Secheron, where a handsome entertainment was provided. The evening concluded with a brilliant display of fire-works, and the Lake was again enlivened by the boats carrying back the company to the city. I observed amongst the company an English Admiral, who attended this fête in his uniform. The Genevese lamented that so handsome a dress should be disfigured by the small hat he wore, and it was indeed small compared with those of their officers. The peasants here wear larger hats than any I saw in France, probably to shade them from the sun; but in any climate, I do not think an English labourer would feel at his ease with such a vast edifice on his head. The bonnets worn by the inhabitants of parts of Savoy and Vaud, are not very dissimilar in shape from some I have seen in Wales; they are of straw, and are commonly ornamented with black ribbon.

I shall here insert an epigram composed in 1602, by a Prince of Hesse, who, at his departure, presented the city with 10,000 crowns.

Quisquis amat vitam, sobriam, castamque tueri,

Perpetuò esto illi casta Geneva domus:

Quisquis amat vitani hanc bene vivere, virere et illam,

Illi iterum fuerit casta Geneva domus.

Illic iuvenies, quidquid, conducit utrique:

Relligio hic sana est, aura, ager, atque lucus.

Amongst the various objects which are pointed out as deserving the attention of a stranger, is the house in which the celebrated J.J. Rousseau was born, in the year 1712. The circumstance is recorded by an inscription over the door. His father was a watchmaker, and his house was small and obscurely situated.

Rousseau was perhaps the most eloquent and fascinating of all the sceptical writers of the last century; and probably the only one amongst them who established a system of his own, if indeed his eccentricities can be so called. His character exhibited a strange mixture of pride, which made him perpetually anxious to be of public notoriety, and of an unsociable temper, which often made him retire in disgust with the world, and treat (without any rational cause, that has been assigned) those who were most his friends, as if he considered them to be his bitterest enemies. He was far more jealous of the reputation obtained by his contemporaries, than delighted with the approbation he personally received. Considered as a philosopher, he was paradoxical; as a moralist, dangerous and licentious; as a parent, unnaturally abandoning his offspring; as a friend, suspicious and ungrateful. As pride was the ruling passion of Rousseau, so was vanity beyond dispute the grand characteristic of Voltaire, (the proximity of Fernay may excuse my here comparing him with Rousseau,) and this passion induced him to pervert transcendent talents to the most pernicious and fatal purposes.

The hostility of Voltaire to the Christian dispensation has been compared to the enmity rather of a rival than of a philosopher. He is thought to have wished its overthrow, not so much because he entertained any solid objections to its sublime theories, or had real doubts as to the miracles by which it is attested; as because his vanity led him to think, that if he once could persuade men to the abolition of Christianity, he might himself become the founder of a new system of moral indulgence. The Abbé Raynal, in 1791; already repented of the philosophic principles, which he had so sedulously inculcated, and expressed his conviction, that the consequence of the theories then so finely fancied, would be a general pillage, for that their authors wanted experience, to reduce their speculations to a practical system. The Abbé was right in this last expectation, and from the French Revolution, so destructive in most respects, there has at least resulted this advantage; it has furnished the most satisfactory comment upon the grand experiment of the philosophers, and proved most folly that it is religion alone that possesses authority to silence the clamours of interest, to control the passions, and to fetter the ambition of mankind. The same year (1778) is memorable for the deaths both of Voltaire and Rousseau; the first is represented as exhibiting on his death bed the most melancholy spectacle of horror and remorse that can be possibly conceived; the latter is thought to have committed suicide at Ermenonville, where he found an asylum, after having been banished successively from many states. This opinion is founded chiefly on the authority of Madame de Staël; it is related, that he rose in the morning in perfect health, and returned after his usual walk; that soon after, he desired his wife to open the window, that he might, as he expressed it, contemplate nature for the last time and that being presently taken ill, he refused to receive any assistance, and died in a few hours.

Those who have seen both those celebrated characters (who long attracted persons from all parts of Europe to this country) have remarked, that Voltaire at first sight was acknowledged to be a man of genius; but that Rousseau was only suspected of possessing superior abilities.

I have perhaps said too much on this subject, into which I have been led insensibly, by reflecting on what I had read of these philosophers, and shall therefore conclude with inserting the remark of a Savoyard peasant, who, according to M. Lantier, being asked his opinion of them, answered, “I think that Voltaire has done a great deal of mischief in the age in which he lived; and that Rousseau will not do less to posterity.”

The college of Geneva and its library are generally pointed out to strangers as worthy of a visit; for the Genevese are no less celebrated for their proficiency in literature, than for their commercial industry. The college consists of nine classes, and owes its foundation to the celebrated Calvin, who was born at Nyon, where his father was a cooper. He first arrived at Geneva in 1536, was exiled in 1538, and recalled finally in 1541; he became the legislator as well as the religious reformer of the state. He is still the great hero of the Genevese, who believe him to be innocent of the death of Michael Servet, which has in the general opinion cast such disgrace on his memory. He did not affect to deny the great perversity of his temper, which is indeed exhibited by many of his actions, so forcibly as not to admit of concealment. His writings, in 44 volumes, containing 2023 sermons, and his portrait, are preserved in the college, library, which contains about 50,000 volumes, besides 200 manuscripts, some of which are of great value. This library was originally founded by Bonnival, prior of St. Victor, and is open from one till three o’clock every Tuesday. Two secretaries are then engaged, under the inspection of the librarian, in taking lists of the books which are borrowed or returned. The hydraulic machine on the Rhone, which supplies the city with water, although it is less complicated than that at Marli, is not less ingenious, and is certainly of greater utility. The wheel is twenty-four feet in diameter, and raises about 500 pints a minute at all seasons (being preserved from the effects of frost) to two reservoirs, one seventy, the other 126 feet above the level of the river. The first supplies the fountains and houses in the lower part of the town, and the second those in the more elevated situations. The water of the Rhone, although transparently clear, is hard and unpleasant to drink.

In enumerating the public establishments of Geneva, I must not omit to mention the Society for the Advancement of the Arts, which was originally projected by M. Faizan, an eminent watch-maker; its first meetings were held at M. de Saussure’s house. This society is now so considerable as to be under the direction of government, and its meetings are held in the town-hall, where subjects connected with agriculture and the useful arts are discussed, and prizes distributed, as well to the school of drawing (which is on a most respectable footing) as to all, who distinguish themselves, either by inventions of utility, or by noble or humane actions.

Another excellent establishment here, is the Chambre des Blés, or magazine of corn; this is a large and handsome building, and always contains an ample supply of good wheat. The direction of this establishment is immediately in the government, and its managers are selected from the different councils. The benefits arising from abundant seasons, cover the expences occasioned by years of scarcity. The bakers being obliged to buy here whatever quantity of corn they may require, and at an uniform price it follows that the price of bread always continues the same, and that price is fixed by the grand council. The managers of this store, to prevent the bakers from making bread of an inferior quality, have established a shop in each quarter of the city; and the bakers, to ensure a ready sale, are obliged to make their bread of equal quality with that which could be procured at the shops of the managers of this establishment. The churches of Geneva are not distinguished by any architectural beauties, if we except the portico of the cathedral, which is constructed of rough marble, said to be copied after that of the Rotunda at Rome; it is considered equal to that of St. Genevieve at Paris, but I cannot subscribe to that opinion.

The Calvinistic tenets (which are those of the state) are most generally adopted at Geneva; but the Lutherans, the Germans of the Confession of Augsburg, and the Roman Catholics, have each a church. The ministers are appointed by the Government, and care is taken that the Roman Catholic minister be subject to a Swiss Bishoprick. In the Calvinistic churches, the hours of divine service are nine in the morning and two in the afternoon. The service consists in the reading the commandments, a few prayers, a chapter in the Bible, and the sermon; and concludes with a psalm or hymn, accompanied by the organ; the whole service generally occupies an hour. The Sunday is principally distinguished by the sermon, the rest of the week being allotted for reading the Scriptures.—A stranger is much surprised at seeing many persons wear their hats during the sermon, a custom which indicates a want of respect to the place that cannot be excused, however inferior the compositions of a preacher may be to the rest of the service. There is one thing to be noticed here as worthy of imitation: no burials are allowed within the city. At Paris also, most of the burial places near the churches have been removed to the catacombs, a change which has tended greatly to purify the air of the city. There is a box at each door of the churches here, and as the congregation retire after divine service, a person is stationed near it, to desire them to remember the poor. These collections must be liberal, as few places are so free from beggars as Geneva.