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Article A MARRIAGE IN THE GRESSONS IN 1792. Page 1 of 4 →
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A Marriage In The Gressons In 1792.
A MARRIAGE IN THE GRESSONS IN 1792 .
BY AN OLD TRAVELLER . If ere thou seest a hoary sage , Appear unmindful of his age . Pondering with a sparkling eye , Yet not observing thou art nigh , Be sure his thoug hts like a silex strike , 'Gainst themes that are cold and iron like . And the sparkles that falW-are moments stole From times impressed on his very soul . Fl-OM A BTOAY ALBUM .
READER , hast thou ever been in Switzerland , that land of wddness , ancl of beauty , where the Creator hath declared himself m the mightiest of his works ; where the giant Alps , crowned with eternal snenys , stand a threatening barrier between the sunny plains of Italy , and their ungemal nei"hbours ,-their high peaks o ' erhanging in frowning majesty the rough ancf dangerous paths by which the awe struck traveller is enabled , after long toil and difficulty , to gain their rugged frontier . 1792 devotedmyself to the task of
In the September of the year , I , exploring the romantic and picturesque canton of the Gressons ; then a task of slight enterprise , now when Bond Street migrates annually to Switzerland , and runaway debtors run the risk of being dunned in the Coliseum , or the ruins of Pompei , by their London creditors , such an undertaking would be esteemed merely as a trip of pleasure , such is the result of modern improvement . I had breakfasted at the small town of back proceetling road
Coire , and with my knapsack on my was on my to Tusis , a lovely village situated at the foot of the Via Mala , one of the most magnificent mountain-passes in Europe . I had reached the village of Rucheneau , and was standing on the bridge viewing the junction of the Hinter and Vorder Rhine whose waters here unite in one deep rolling stream , when the sound of many voices behind me disturbed my reverie , they were a party of young farmers of the better class , and were speaking in the Italian patois ot the
As they approached , every hat was doffed to me with that frank civility which in the more remote districts is still the characteristic of the Swiss ; finding that our roads were the same , I freely accepted their invitation to join the party , and , by the assistance of my Latin and Italian contrived to make myself pretty well understood . At first , their iests were lost upon me , but I soon discovered that the object of them was a young man who bad been detected purchasing wedding presents by his companions , and who at last compromised himself by confessing that in four days his marriage with Lissette , one of the prettiest girls in the villaae . was to take place . I used the word compromise because by
the custom of the Gressons , a fellow who is known to be on the eve ot resigning his bachelor life , is subjected to the jokes and practical tricks of his companions , who thus take as it were their farewell of him . _ Hitherto the amusement of the party had been kept withm rational bounds , the presence of a stranger restrained , perhaps in some degree , their exuberance of spirits , added to which it was evident that the young man was much esteemed among them . We were within two miles ot
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Marriage In The Gressons In 1792.
A MARRIAGE IN THE GRESSONS IN 1792 .
BY AN OLD TRAVELLER . If ere thou seest a hoary sage , Appear unmindful of his age . Pondering with a sparkling eye , Yet not observing thou art nigh , Be sure his thoug hts like a silex strike , 'Gainst themes that are cold and iron like . And the sparkles that falW-are moments stole From times impressed on his very soul . Fl-OM A BTOAY ALBUM .
READER , hast thou ever been in Switzerland , that land of wddness , ancl of beauty , where the Creator hath declared himself m the mightiest of his works ; where the giant Alps , crowned with eternal snenys , stand a threatening barrier between the sunny plains of Italy , and their ungemal nei"hbours ,-their high peaks o ' erhanging in frowning majesty the rough ancf dangerous paths by which the awe struck traveller is enabled , after long toil and difficulty , to gain their rugged frontier . 1792 devotedmyself to the task of
In the September of the year , I , exploring the romantic and picturesque canton of the Gressons ; then a task of slight enterprise , now when Bond Street migrates annually to Switzerland , and runaway debtors run the risk of being dunned in the Coliseum , or the ruins of Pompei , by their London creditors , such an undertaking would be esteemed merely as a trip of pleasure , such is the result of modern improvement . I had breakfasted at the small town of back proceetling road
Coire , and with my knapsack on my was on my to Tusis , a lovely village situated at the foot of the Via Mala , one of the most magnificent mountain-passes in Europe . I had reached the village of Rucheneau , and was standing on the bridge viewing the junction of the Hinter and Vorder Rhine whose waters here unite in one deep rolling stream , when the sound of many voices behind me disturbed my reverie , they were a party of young farmers of the better class , and were speaking in the Italian patois ot the
As they approached , every hat was doffed to me with that frank civility which in the more remote districts is still the characteristic of the Swiss ; finding that our roads were the same , I freely accepted their invitation to join the party , and , by the assistance of my Latin and Italian contrived to make myself pretty well understood . At first , their iests were lost upon me , but I soon discovered that the object of them was a young man who bad been detected purchasing wedding presents by his companions , and who at last compromised himself by confessing that in four days his marriage with Lissette , one of the prettiest girls in the villaae . was to take place . I used the word compromise because by
the custom of the Gressons , a fellow who is known to be on the eve ot resigning his bachelor life , is subjected to the jokes and practical tricks of his companions , who thus take as it were their farewell of him . _ Hitherto the amusement of the party had been kept withm rational bounds , the presence of a stranger restrained , perhaps in some degree , their exuberance of spirits , added to which it was evident that the young man was much esteemed among them . We were within two miles ot