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Rev. H. S. de Cerjat; M. A. de Cerjat; Count Albert Crotti de Costigiole; M. Chessex, of Montreux; M. Chaudet; M. Jules Cuénod; Colonel Victor Cérésole, former President of the Swiss Confederation; M. Paul Cérésole, Swiss Consul at Venice; Mme. Delessert; M. Dumont, former Librarian at Lausanne; M. Dulon, of Vevey; M. Desnoiresterres; Count Duparc-locMaria; M. Maurice Doxat; Earl of Devon; M. d'Erlach; Count Amadeus de Foras; Dr. A. von Gonzenbach; M. Gaulis; Abbé Gremaud; the Duke de Gramont; Colonel Paul Grand; M. F. Grand d'Hauteville; Marquis de Gabriac; M. Charles d'Ivernois, of Corcelettes; M. Charles Laurent; M. Paul Lacroix; Mlle. Levade; Marquis of Londonderry; M. Albert de Montet; Count Frederick de Mülinen; M. Hartmann de Mülinen; Dr. Marcel; M. Masson; M. and Mme. Marquis; Countess de Montravelle; Marquis de Maffei; Duke of Marlborough; M. A. Morel-Fatio; M. Armand de Mestral; Mme. Olivier; M. Jules F. Piccard; Mme. Puenzieux; Dr. John Percy, F.R.S.; Colonel de la Rottaz; M. Rodt, of Montreux; M. Ruchonnet; M. Edouard Secretan; M. Charles de Steiguer; M. de Sturler; Earl of St. Germans; Earl of Sheffield; Mme. de Senarclens; Mlles. Schöll; M. de Tavel, ex-syndic of Rolle; Lord Talbot de Malahide; M. Jules Vüy; Professor Vuilleumier; M. Jacques Vallotton; M. Vulliemin; Major Frederick de Watteville; Sir Watkin and Lady Williams-Wynn; M. Wirz.

I have had constant occasion to quote the important local works of Messrs. Blanchet, Doyen Bridel, Ernest Chavannes, Baron Louis de Charrière, Alexandre Daguet, Gaullieur, Gindroz, Baron Frederick de Gingins, Dr. Levade, Martignier and de Crousaz, de Montet, Count de Mülinen, Count Amadeus de Foras, Colonel Mandroz, Juste Olivier, Pellis, Eugène Rambert, Vulliemin, Verdeil, Alexandre Vinet, and the volumes of the Société d'Histoire de la Suisse romande.

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2. PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR, THE LATE GENERAL MEREDITH READ

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3. LA GROTTE, GIBBON'S RESIDENCE, AND CLAVEL DE BRENLES' HOUSE, LAUSANNE

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4. ANCIENT LAUSANNE, LA GROTTE, AND THE CHURCH OF

ST. FRANCIS ON THE EXTREME RIGHT

5. THE APOSTLES' GATE, LAUSANNE CATHEDRÁL

Frontispiece

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11. CHÂTEAU AT LAUSANNE, WITH GATE AND CHURCH OF ST. MAIRE, DEMOLISHED IN 1890

12. HÔTEL DE VILLE, LAUSANNE

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13. PLACE DE LA PALUD, LAUSANNE, IN GIBBON'S DAY

14. COURT OF THE DE POLIER, NOW THE DE LOŸS, MANSION, RUE DE BOURG, LAUSANNE

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HISTORIC STUDIES

IN

VAUD, BERNE, AND SAVOY

CHAPTER I

THE story of a house! Its origin so long ago, when Normans were settling their English conquests, and Crusaders battling for the Holy Sepulchre; when one half of the world was unconscious of the other, and the American Continent still slumbered in the womb of History. The story of a house! Its romances, its vicissitudes, its incongruous occupants-monks, atheists, Calvinists, soldiers, historians, jurists, men of war, men of God, men of pleasure, fair matrons and beautiful maidens its fireside, the generations who there first saw the light, who laboured, feasted, danced, loved, prayed, slept, and died in it, the great thoughts and works born in it: these make the opening chapters of my theme.

La Grotte, where Gibbon dwelt during the last ten years of his life, is an ancient and spacious mansion situated behind the Church of St. Francis at Lausanne.' Its interesting history and characteristics, hitherto unnoticed, merit description.

The pictures in this work present views of its exterior and interior; but from the exceptional position and construction of this fine old house they necessarily fail to present a

1 Written in 1879. It is, alas, necessary now to speak of it in the past tense, the property having been acquired by the Swiss authorities as a site for a Post Office; La Grotte, as well as the house of Clavel de Brenles and the mansion of Polier de St. Germain, have been demolished, and only exist now in the photographs made under my direction in 1879 and in 1895.

VOL. I.

B

comprehensive view of its picturesque unities. It is a subject requiring artistic treatment. It is impossible to approach it abruptly, and get at once on its best side with the prosaic camera. It must be wooed by divers ingenious means. It must be studied in profile, three-quarters, and full face. One must be content to wander in its gardens and shrubberies, to climb a wall, or even ascend to the summit of a neighbouring building, in order to gain a conception of its quaint proportions.

One is especially struck by the form and height of its steep roof, which recalls the tall pointed hat of our ancestors. This feature carries the imagination back to past ages, and creates a desire to interrogate the spot covered by such a structure. But research is needed to realise the fact that this reversed exclamation-point covers a cluster of rare historical memories, which have been accumulating for more than seven hundred years.

Gibbon's old home crowns a magnificent terrace, commands an unrivalled view of Lake Leman, and stretches its length along the edge of a plateau which includes the Church and the Square of St. Francis. It has rambled on from one generation to another, until at last it occupies a space that would astonish the old monks who laid its foundations. Like some interesting characters whom we have all encountered, it has a certain dignified secretiveness. It turns, for instance, a cold shoulder to the public and to the street-its offices and vestibules being on that side-and reveals merely one high storey with lofty apex. The generous proportions of the entrance, surmounted by heraldic bearings, almost obliterated, are the only inducements to inspect its hospitable and friendly possibilities. But, passing the portal and its antechamber, we find ourselves in cheerful and ample living-rooms, whose doors and windows open widely to the balmy southern sunshine. We may descend to the floor bordering Gibbon's terrace, and from the outside discover three ranges of apartments, one above the other the last being the servants' abode under the conical eaves each made up of several distinct suites. One may thus understand the impression of extent and bewildering arrangement made by La Grotte on a new-comer. Its internal

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