Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. I.djvu/277

Rh ever heard speak of Mont Blanc? In that case, thou hast heard that it is a snow-covered mountain of Savoy, near fifteen thousand feet high, and thou hast in spirit, if thou hast not seen Mont Blanc in reality, beheld an icy giant raise his crown towards the stars. But from Geneva and the district around, from which the most beautiful view of the giant-mountain is obtained, it seems merely like an immense snow-hill, with many terraces. Its mass, its dazzling whiteness, its soft, rounded form, rivets the glance with an imposing power, which has, at the same time, a something tranquilizing and agreeable in it, especially when, in an evening, the giant is tinted by the light of the descending sun. The beautiful profile of Napoleon, which is seen portrayed in the highest outline of the mountain, and which it is impossible to avoid seeing, when you have once become aware of it, adds also to the grandeur of its physiognomy. From the Quai-Mont-Blanc, and from Rousseau's Island, one sees it, together with the whole chain of the Savoy Alps, very perfectly.

I spent yesterday afternoon and evening on Rousseau's Island, sitting in and wandering about the lovely groves around his statue, contemplating the Alps. They stood out splendidly, in the golden sunset, especially Napoleon's image, which was latest illumined by its beams. They seemed to me to shine, with the peace of God, upon the hero.