Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. I.djvu/146

162 extremely well executed, representing her at her spinning-wheel; and his life has, since then, been empty and overshadowed,—so he said, with an expression which showed how deeply he felt it to be so. He now lived merely in his collections of old memories.

There is a good and a bad conservatism. The former is a golden thread which links us to the past and makes us more thoroughly understand the present and the future; the latter is a block of wood which stands where it stands, understands in fact nothing, and goes no further.

We walked along the shore of Lake Lowertz. Rossberg, with its riven summit and gloomy tradition, lay just opposite. M. Kid related to us various incidents of the terrible occurrence when the summit of Rossberg was hurled down over the valley of Goldau and buried the villages of Goldau, Bussingen, and Kothen, together with four hundred and fifty-seven human beings. Amongst these was a wedding procession. It was the 22d of September, 1806, and the summer had been rainy. Early in the morning of the unfortunate day, dull, cracking sounds were heard in the mountain. Its fall occurred in a moment. Large herds of cattle had already taken flight. Many hundreds of animals, both large and small, together with human beings, were buried under the mountain rains. Of these only two hundred were saved. There still lies the formerly fertile and rich valley buried under a mass of earth and rocks, presenting a very effective sermon to the worshipers of Nature, who see in nature nothing but harmony and the highest revelation of the Creator's wisdom and goodness.