Fredrika Bremer

“ Our journey is beautiful; the valley infinitely picturesque. Both on the right hand, and on the left, shine out glaciers and cascades, from the woods and the mountains; amongst the former, the glacier Balferni stands out like a giant. It was not till dark that we arrived at St. Nicholas, where we obtained good quarters. The next morning looked likely for rain; nevertheless, we are up early, and when we come abroad, behold! yonder gleam forth the eternal mountains,—the snow-clad summits of Monte Rosa, in clear sunshine, directly before us, at the end of the long valley. ”

“ Lausanne, June 19th.—Are there here Alps, a lake, enchanting shores, and a sunny life upon them? I see nothing but a thick fog. Lausanne “la jolie” has lain wrapped for the last three days in a dripping mantle of rain, which vails her and every thing in cloud and darkness. It is also as cold as with us in Sweden during October, and my little room, very charming in fine weather, is as gloomy as a cellar when the sun is hidden in cloud, and such a cloud! I believe that I never saw one so dense before. Soul and body seem as it were to shrink together in its cheerless surroundings. ”

“ This beautiful carpet of turf, these trees, this lovely pyramid, the Mythen Stone on the shore, this enchanting lake, with its garland wood and mountain, this image of Swiss scenery, and this memory,—are they not sufficient? And if people will still have any thing more, then nature and the popular poetical belief united, have provided it in the three springs from the crystalline waters of which people drink to the honor of the heroes of freedom, and which, it is said, sprung up in their footsteps. ”

“ The Carnival rested itself; no masks were to be seen; but half of Rome drove in procession up to Monte Pincio, and circled round its green, peaceful grounds, where the fountains played, the roses shone out and diffused their fragrance. Jenny and I wandered along the banks of the Tiber, beyond the Porta del Popolo, one of the most agreeable promenades which I have yet discovered near Rome; for one can there be as solitary as in the country, walk down by the river, and along the other side amongst gardens, enjoying the while, as grand and extensive views as if there were no city near. ”

“ I wished that I could bring the fallen women of the saloons of Prado and Valentino to this madonna, that they might fall down before her as repentant Magdalenes. I wished that all human beings could see this picture, and beholding it, comprehend how the highest purity and love lead to a happiness so great that no human heart on earth can comprehend, no tongue can express it. This picture of the Virgin breathes life, beauty, bliss. One seems to see the crimson of the cheek grow pale before the light of heaven, as the flush of morning pales before that of the sun. ”

“ Do they not praise Italy as the soil of the olive and the orange? and for that beautiful sky, those handsome women, those pleasant airs! It is for these alone that they love her, that they praise her. Oh shame! when they, wearied with their grave thoughts, come to sun themselves there, as in a garden, a public square, open to whosoever will. They praise, also, our genius—our lively, flexible, manifold genius—and in this they are right. ”

“ It is like a magical scene, especially when, from the gloomy stalactite vault, one emerges upon the little lake on the summit of the mountain, and the view expands over the infinite, glorious blue sea! It is an astonishment of the highest species of beauty. Bare flowers and trees, seats of porcelain, all kinds of ornamental curiosities, scattered about in the walks and groves, are lesser surprises, which are everywhere to be met with; also jets of water which unexpectedly besprinkle the wandering stranger. There are two temples of dazzingly white marble, which are of striking beauty. ”

“ A life of prayer without work, is no longer, and ought not to be, the ideal of a life of piety; but the image of Santa Rosalia breathes forth a peace and a joy, which, once seen or felt, leave behind a light in the soul, like the assurance of an inner life, an inner joy, which the storms and mists of life cannot reach. An abundant spring of the freshest water bubbles up in the grotto of Santa Rosalia, has there its spring, and supplies the people throughout the whole neighborhood with an invaluable refreshment. ”

“ For, higher up, immense masses of snow crush down the life of nature, and the ice of many thousand years clothes the Jungfrau, Finsterhorn, Wetterhorn and Shoukhorn, the lonely pyramids of this Alpine chain. The clear waters of the Aar rush forth from beneath a vault of ice. To a great distance, as far as the eye can penetrate, all is ice; immense crystals glitter in the depths; seldom is a chamois seen to speed through the icy desert; seldom a lammer-geir circles over these crags; man has made a few tracks, but for the extent of many, many miles, not a foot-trace can be discerned. ”

“ We went into the Cathedral, the most beautiful which I have yet seen in Italy. The choir resembles a sacred grove of lofty columns, under the arch of which it is good to wander, to sit, to think, and to elevate the mind. In whatever direction one looks one sees beautiful or significant objects. The whole church is a poem; the stones speak and blossom forth. I have never felt in any Catholic churches the sublimity of their symbolism so much as in this. ”

“ The first lake which stood out, blue and bright, was the little mountain-lake, Egeri, the lake of Lucerne, Zug, Sarnen, and others. By degrees, the whole region was unvailed, and it was an enchanting scene. But now, lying there in its whole extent, in the full blaze of daylight, the beautiful, affluent earth, it was no longer remarkable for the attractiveness of its beauty. Every object seemed so miserably small, and human beings as mere nothings. The landscape lay there, immovable and lifeless, like a map. ”

“ See the cloudlets yonder, below the mountains, how they melt away before the sun, which absorbs them, changes them into blue ether—or into fertilizing springs and rivers! Thus human sufferings and errors.—Ah! that which makes life so dark, and the heart so heavy, thus sink they into the deep; thus are they dissolved by the sun of the Divine Goodness. Have confidence in the sun! Sing, sing, O heart, and praise its power, as do the Alpine heights, the clouds and the verdant, ever youthful earth! ”

“ And above all this earthly scene, with its ruins and gardens, palaces, temples, villas, meadows, and hills, now beams the brightest of vernal heavens, now flames the brilliant sun of Italy. Below my window shines forth the rock foundation; the garden, with its roses and lilies, whilst tame doves come flying to my balcony, and this air, this freshness, freedom and peace, morning, noon, and night—there are almost too many good things!
I awake in the night with a joyous longing for the day ”

“ He does not see the small lamp which burns beneath his feet, the little light which shines in darkness, and which will overcome it. His glance is steadfastly fixed alone upon the goal. It may be light, or it may be dark around him on earth, he looks and he aims merely at that! “Go thou and do likewise!” the glorious figure seems to say to the beholder. In the crypt of life, in the darkness of the world, under all those experiences which gloom the soul and the mind, never become weary of following the footsteps of the saint, never forsake the testifying of doctrine and of his life! ”

“ I have faith in the eternal power of life, have faith in the ascending metamorphosis, of which the Roman monuments preach. And as certain flowers, beloved by the sun, develop a metamorphosis, more than the others, so ought this soil, warm with the life of beauty and the blood of martyrs, become a sun-flower, which shall represent the transfiguration of the Christian church into a holy and glorious kingdom of God. ”

“ The 18th.—Although the sun may be a rare guest in Rossinières valley, and seldom gives us its heart-cheering beams two days in succession, yet has it now afforded us, one day after another of indescribable beauty, when the wind has blown warm and yet fresh at the same time, the air been light, and when the whole of our little valley with its smaragdus-green pasture-fields and its fragrant hay-harvest, has been like a little abode of comfort and health. ”

“ We have visited Montreal, a glorious morning drive, with such views from the resting places and the marble fountains, and such perfume from the blossoming groves! The church and convent of Montreal are noble monuments of the age when the new life gave inspiration to architecture, which devoted its best powers to the service of the church, that by symbolic imagery it might express and perpetuate for thousands of generations the thoughts of eternal life. ”

“ The long, calm journey across the Campagna—that desert in which Rome lies like a gigantic monument—was to me the greatest pleasure of this excursion. You see on all sides, along the immense, waving grass-covered plain, lying between Rome and the mountain barrier-line of the horizon, nothing but herds of cattle grazing, ruins and tombs, aqueducts, some solitary ruined towers, and here and there, a little farm. The wind travels over the plain, which no tree, nor rock, nor town diversifies. ”

“ Is it not under the shelter of this tree of freedom that so many excellent educational institutions have sprung up and daily increase for the younger generation, so many beautiful asylums for the aged, and for those who have suffered shipwreck in life? Is it not in its shelter that every home, and every private individual has the opportunity of enjoying independence of conscience and the noblest culture? ”

“ Religion is a severe combat; the human heart is cold toward the divine word; here and there the faith is trodden down. For this reason the church must become free, and that through its head; through the foremost in Christianity, through the sun of faith, the Pope. The Pope sits in the place of God; he rules his kingdom on earth. Without the Pope there exists no realm; it crumbles away, it becomes a staggering vessel, and is shivered to pieces. As the affairs of the world are the business of the Emperor, so are the affairs of God the business of the Pope. ”

“ I have no words to describe the spectacle which was presented to my gaze, whilst cloud and mist disappeared before the lightning beams of the sun, which seemed to overcome them. The clear blue heaven arched itself all the more freely over the shining Alpine peaks and ice-fields; and these stood forth all the clearer in dazzling grandeur and splendor, as we accomplished the last steep mountain ascent, called “Majenwand,” from the beautiful verdure and the multitude of flowers fostered by the warmth of the sun and the moisture of earth produced by the Gletscher. ”