h row,
and to express his conviction that there could be no improvement till
the community could choose their own pastor, and it should only be for
five years. No wonder then that the ultramontane party spoke of his
death in their papers as by the finger of God, for the edification of
the good, and as a warning to the godless. The Grencheners answered the
fleeting curse of the pious press by an enduring inscription on stone.
In the village, by the side of the high road, in a place that every
traveller who goes along the road must remark, there is a simple
memorial stone. The inscription says that it is dedicated to the memory
of the common councillor Girard, who was loved and esteemed by his
fellow citizens, who laboured and met his death in the cause of
liberty, justice, and enlightenment. He was a good neighbour to me, and
a powerful support: my wife gazed at him with astonishment when he took
her Italian iron out of the fire with his bare hand, and placed it in
the iron stand.

"An _esprit de corps_ in a good sense soon arose among the scholars;
they felt themselves a distinguished corporate body. I made expeditions
with them; amongst others, to Neuenberg, where the curiosities of the
town, especially the rich collection of natural history, were shown to
them with praiseworthy willingness. Another time we accepted the
friendly invitation of a teacher at Solothurn to see a series of
physical experiments. To the capital of the country the boys would not
go on foot, but drove, as proud Grencheners, in a carriage decked with
foliage, drawn by stately horses. In the lecture-room their demeanour
was quiet, and they showed attention and intelligence, and they could
see there much that, from want of proper appliances, I could only
describe to them. The school was the focus of their life, the place
where they collected on all great occasions. When one night the
alarm-bell sounded, announcing a fire in the neighbouring village of
Bettlach, they all came unsummoned to me; we put ourselves in order,
and hastened with rapid steps to the spot where the fire was; we formed
a rank to the nearest brook, and received our share in the praise and
parting thanks of the pastor, for, when the fixe was extinguished, the
clergyman delivered a speech of thanks to the neighbours who had come
to help. I became the confidant of the cleverer ones in many features
of their inward development. The boy who had come forward as advocate
for his fathe