122 LECTURE ON SWITZERLAND. 



steep streets occupying the slope, are the houses and shops of the trades- 

 men, and on the hill are those of the more wealthy citizens, once the 

 Genevese aristocracy. The suburb on the opposite bank of the Ehoue is 

 joined by bridges to the old town, and rivals the hill-top, by its fine 

 houses. The town is surrounded by ramparts, once of use to resist ene- 

 mies and now affording pleasant promenades. These ramparts often 

 protected the town in times gone by, but did not prevent its occupation bj'" 

 the French in 1798, and must necessarily yield to any enemy which has 

 the means of bombarding the city. The conviction of their inutility has 

 led the liberal governments of Berne and Zurich to raze these ramparts 

 to the ground.* 



The anniversary of an unsuccessful attempt, by the Savoyards, in 1602? 

 to surprise the city, is still celebrated. Under cover of a dark night, and 

 by the use of scaling ladders painted black the better to conceal them, 

 a party of the enemy's i)ioneers had mounted the walls and penetrated 

 into the town, when they were discovered by the careless watch. The 

 citizens were surprised but not daunted, and issuing from their houses 

 with such arms as they could seize, fell ui)on the invaders. The first gun 

 fired from the ramparts carried away several of the scaling ladders, and 

 prevented succor. In the morning the people assembled in the venerable 

 church (^f St. Peter, when the pastor opened public worship by giving 

 oat the 124th Psalm; and since, on every 12th of December, the same 

 sounds arise from the voices of many worshipers : 



" If it bad not been tbe Lord wbo was on our side, now may Israel say : 



" If it bad not been tbe Lord wbo was on our side wben men rose up against us." 



The University of Geneva was founded by Calvin, in 15G4, and has 

 always enjoyed a high reputation. In order to connect it advantage- 

 ously with the grammar schools which i^repare its pupils, the auditories 

 have been provided, in which the character of the studies, the modes of 

 teaching, and the discipline are intermediate between those of the school 

 and of the university. Public instruction is under the control of the 

 council of state, but while the impress of the best minds in this intel- 

 lectual city is upon its higher institutions, the common schools are not, 

 nor can they soon be made, what they ought to be. Like most of their 

 fellow-republicans of the United States, the Genevese began their educa- 

 tional edifice at the top. They have yet to learn that parsimony in 

 education under a popular government is waste ; that unless instruction 

 be really public it is better left entirely in the hands of individuals ; 

 that it is in vain to move the waters and then to pretend to say to the 

 raised wave, thus far shalt thou go and no farther. The Genevese youth 

 of families in easy circumstances find means of the best education : do 

 they on this account effectively control those to whom the so-called re- 

 public gives less light ? Witness the frequent revolutions in this city, 

 and these not always without bloodshed. The government is founded 



* Tbe ramparts bere referred to have all been removed, and Geneva at tbe present 

 date (1871) presents no evidences of ever having been a fortified city. 



