EUROPEAN MOSAIC. CHAPTER I. LUCERNE AND THE RIGHI. LUCERNE is a small town of about ten thousand inhabitants, and is more beautifully situated than any other in Switzerland. It lies on the shore of the largest and grandest of the Swiss lakes, while on one side the serrated outline of Mount Pilatus, rising clearly against the sky, is strongly contrasted with the verdant slopes of the Righi on the other. In the distance, across the lake, are long ranges of snow-covered mountains. Behind the town the old towers and walls of its earlier history yet remain. From its situation in the midst of scenery so varied and enchanting, Lucerne should be the source of every enlightenment and liberal influence. But the beauty and grandeur of nature alone never elevate the mind of man. Therefore it is not so strange as it would otherwise be, that Lucerne is merely a fossil remnant of the past, with little more animation than one finds within the walls EUROPEAN MOSAIC. BY HOWARD PAYSON ARNOLD. "Below was all mosaic choicely planned With cycles of the human tale Of this wide world." BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY. |