344 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT DE SAUSSURE 



the visit of one of my friends, and who, therefore, did not make me 

 desirous to form his acquaintance. The work of this savant has not 

 had in Switzerland as much success as in Germany ; not only is it 

 thought too diffuse, but also the accuracy of many of the observations 

 is questioned. In general, people are surprised that a disciple of 

 Bonnet, one who formerly supported the Repr6sentants, should not 

 only suddenly fight on the other side, but should have become one of 

 the most ardent Negatives.' 1 



De Saussure tells Bonnet that the German's bad temper was 

 produced by his not having been sufficiently lionised when he 

 visited Geneva. Consequently he had vented his vanity in abuse. 

 Bonnet writes : 



* He pushes it to the point of finding our landscapes insipid. The 

 Lake near Geneva has, he says, the air of an artificial pool, our country 

 estates are all on the same plan, two avenues which, in crossing, divide 

 the whole property, our manners hopeless from every point of view, our 

 wealthy class misers and pitiless to the poor. Our faces are all formed 

 on the same model forehead, prominent and narrow ; nose, sharp and 

 thin ; something pinched in all our figures, and a yellow complexion.' 



The amiable Bonnet, greatly hurt at this libel on his city and 

 his friends, suggested to our countryman, Archdeacon Coxe, that 

 he might insert a reply to it in the next edition of his very success- 

 ful Letters on Switzerland. Coxe, however, prudently answered 

 that as the object of his work was to give the result of his own 

 travels rather than to correct the misrepresentations of others, he 

 did not see his way to comply, at the same time assuring his corre- 

 spondent that his and de Saussure 's reputations stood in no need 

 of any foreign support. 



De Saussure was contented to bide his time ; but when, some 

 years later in 1788 Meiners, again at Geneva, asked to see his 

 geological collection, the German Professor was sharply informed 

 that for a libeller of Geneva there could be no admittance. 



Meiners seems to have made himself equally unpleasant on his 

 later visit to Berne, for Wyttenbach in a letter to de Gersdorf of 

 February 1791 refers to him in strong terms : 'Professor Meiners 

 by his clumsy arrogance has made himself generally obnoxious.' 2 



Count Gregoire de Razumouski is another of the small band of 



1 Brief e iiber die Schweiz, Christophe Meiners (Berlin, 1784). 



8 ' Stinkend ' is the word used (see Diibi's Wyttenbach und seine Freunde), 



