a half, they passed
through a village which consisted, like those which Rollo had seen on
the road from Lyons, of compact rows of old and quaint-looking stone
houses, close to the roadside. The postilion stopped at this village to
give the horses a little drink.

"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "I wish you would get down, and come
inside a little while."

Rollo obeyed; and when the carriage began to go on again, his father
addressed him as follows:

"We are going to see the residence of Madame de Stael. She was one of
the most celebrated ladies that ever lived. She was distinguished as an
authoress. You don't know any thing about her now, and I suppose you
don't care much about her."

"No, sir," said Rollo; "I do not."

"But then," continued his father, "in a few years more you will very
probably read some of her writings; and at any rate you will often hear
of them. One of the most celebrated of her works is a tale called
Corinne."

"Ah, yes," said Rollo; "I have heard of Corinne. The first class in
French studied it at school."

"Very likely," said Mr. Holiday. "It is a very good text book for
studying French. At any rate it is a famous book, and Madame de Stael is
a very celebrated author. She was a lady, too, while she lived, of great
personal distinction. Her rank and position in society were very
exalted. She associated with kings and princes, and was closely
connected with many of the great political transactions of the day in
which she lived. This, of course, added greatly to her renown.

"Her father was a very distinguished man, too. His name was Monsieur
Necker. He was a great statesman and financier. The King of France got
his money affairs in the greatest confusion and difficulty, and he
appointed Monsieur Necker his minister of finance, to try to put them in
order."

"And did he succeed?" asked Rollo.

"No," said Mr. Holiday; "it was too late. The disorder was hopeless, and
it ended in the great French revolution. But Necker became a very
celebrated character in history. We are going to see the chateau where
he lived. We shall see the room where his daughter wrote Corinne. I
wish you to observe carefully all that you see, and remember it.
Hereafter, when you come to read the history of France and the writings
of Madame de Stael, you will look back with great pleasure to the visit
you made when a boy to the chateau of Necker, near Geneva."

"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "I will."

A short time af