BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
89 
singing festival. The choruses were admirably sung, notably 
by the societies from the village of Diesbachp the men tak¬ 
ing part were from all the village classes. Their faces were 
earnest; many looked intelligent; but a serious expression 
hardened by toil had sapped the life of inspiration. It was 
as if the soul’s spontaneity had been crushed by labor. It was 
an affecting sight to see this number (400) from all these lit¬ 
tle far-away mountain villages, giving themselves up to the 
influences of music. I felt my heart going out to humanity 
in sympathy and with ardor. The thought again returned, 
when all the promises or creeds are found void, and human¬ 
ity is left alone without perhaps even the possibility of attain¬ 
ing religion’s ideals, what utter misery and despair! Cannot 
those who have already passed through religious and many 
other silenced ideals do something to lessen the anguish of 
their poor, bleeding hearts ? Yes, it is a noble ideal to do some¬ 
thing to assist this coming pang. The inscriptions on the vil¬ 
lage tomb tablets, assuring the toilers on earth that the poor 
soul is safe in heaven’s peace, stand like mocking forms.” 
Two days later she went up the Sernfthal to Elms. She says: 
“A beautiful, clear day; drive romantic; village inn (Elmer’s) 
very clean and so situated as to get a good view of Martin’s 
Loch — a round hole in the Tschingelhörner, through which 
the sun shines only twice a year on the village church spire. 
It is a wild region, hemmed in by snow mountains, with 
their saw-edged rugged piles of stone. The spirit of the ter¬ 
rible landslide of 1881 hung around the spot. Under some 
circumstances, how profitable would the spot and scenery have 
proved for inspiration, the valley of approach passing through 
Engi and Matt, sombre at times, again opening out to the 
sunshine, with green fields spreading before the eyes, all in¬ 
viting to meditation; but alas — the soul-communion with 
nature was disturbed by inharmonic influences. The breeze 
blew strong from the west, and brought messages, interrupted, 
but none the less real, from those that never fail to inspire. 
The excursion, from the negative thoughts, longings for more 
complete companionship, and the reflections on the disaster 
of ’81, was still a profitable one.” 
