362 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT DE SAUSSURE 



of his skill by the stories he tells of the number of beasts he has cured 

 that should I fall ill which, please God, may not happen I should 

 send for him sooner than for Dr. Odier ! ' 



On another day, after saying they get no Paris newspapers, she 

 sends her Gazette de Conches : 



' The Court has gone into deep crape mourning for the noble Bull. 

 The Queen of Conches has been the more affected since the Grand 

 Medecin of Carouge had promised his recovery. There is a gala dinner 

 to-day. Mme. Hubert and Mme. Necker and all the princes of the 

 blood. Mme. de Saussure is very pleased to offer this fete before the 

 return of her dear Seigneur, for it would have bored him. The dogs 

 Loup and Le Bleu send their greeting.' 



Loup was de Saussure's companion on at least one of his tours. 



And so on, through pages of local gossip and affectionate out- 

 pourings, with several pleasant allusions to de Saussure having 

 in some remote Alpine village been taken for Rousseau (who had 

 been dead fourteen years). There is no reference in the letters of 

 this date to the loss of fortune caused by the troubles in France, 

 which was, no doubt, the reason why Madame de Saussure had 

 gone to Conches instead of Gtenthod for the summer. But we 

 learn that at this time de Saussure borrowed from Necker thirty 

 thousand li vres . The debt was after his death released by Madame 

 de Stael, as Necker 's heir, transferring the security to her cousin, 

 Madame Necker-de Saussure. 



Shortly after de Saussure's return, we find the Marquis de 

 Grouchy (a name Waterloo makeg familiar to English readers) 

 writing to thank de Saussure for a copy of his Voyages, and for 

 the pleasure he has had from a visit to Chamonix. Grouchy was 

 a brother-in-law of de Saussure's friend, Condorcet, and his wife 

 had literary tastes. On his return he offered de Saussure in 

 exchange some geological specimens. 



In the autumn of 1792 the popular party was again turbulent 

 and little disposed to accept the settlement of the previous year, 

 while the Government, alarmed of enemies both without and 

 within the gates, could think of nothing better than to invite a 

 Bernese garrison to protect it. With the chief of the Mediating 

 Powers, France, no longer on their side, this was an act of suicidal 

 folly. The Convention naturally replied by threatening, unless 



