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often, when observing it, I have indulged
myself in speculating how far the happiness
of the chemical philosopher had been increased
or lessened, by exchanging his native
retirement for the bustle, honours, and
anxieties of public life. It is generally
supposed, that these are a sure specific
against" the attacks of eiinui; but the fate
of young Bertholet, the son of the philosopher,
may teach us that this is not always
the case.
Mr. B. jun. was a young man of superior
talents, and his friends entertained high expectations
of his future success ; but neither
the rank to which his father had attained,
his own brilliant prospects, nor the literary
society and the amusements of Paris, could
secure him from ennui, and a weariness of
life, which at last became insupportable.
He locked himself up in a small room,
and closing all the apertures and crevices,
he lighted a brasier of charcoal, and seated
himself before a table, on which he had laid
a second watch, with pen, ink, and paper.
He then noted down with exactness the
hour when the charcoal was lighted, the
first sensations produced, and the progress
of delirium, till the writing became confused
and illegible, and he was found dead
upon the floor.
About two miles north of Talloires,
stands Château Menthon, on an eminence
which commands a fine view of both ends
of the lake. We took a boat and rowed to
the landing-place nearest the village of Menthon.
In crossing a meadow, we passed
by some ruins, said to be the remains of
ancient Boman baths. There is a spring
of mineral water, containing sulphur and
sulphuretted hydrogen : it is used by the
inhabitants for the cure of scrophulous
complaints and glandular obstructions. The
ascent from the village of Menthon to the
castle is steep : the slopes are covered with
vineyards and gardens. The castle is a
lofty irregular building in the Norman
style, with massive gates and portcullis ;
but part of the front is of a more modern
date. The rooms are hung with tapestry,
and the furniture is said to be coëval with
the castle ; but, though very antique, this
must evidently be a mistake. There is
nothing in the château to excite any particular
interest, excepting the circumstance
of its having been the birth-place of
St. Bernard, one of the most extraordinary
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