Philip Augustus: or, the brothers in arms. The works / Rev. ... by the author. Vol. v.

  • George Payne Rainsford James
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Philip Augustus: or, the brothers in arms. The works / Rev. ... by the author. Vol. v. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    At the bottom of the cascade was a group of shepherds’ huts; and as it was impossible for the horses to proceed further, it was determined to leave the principal part of the attendants also there, to wait the return of the party from the chapel, which was, of course, to take place as soon as De Coucy had recovered from his bruises. Some difficulty occurred in carrying the litter over the steeper ])art of the mountain, but at length it was accomplished; and, skirting round part of a large ancient forest, the pilgrims came suddenly on the banks of that most beautiful and extraordinary effort of nature, the Lac Pavin. Beneath their eyes extended a vast sheet of water, the crystal pureness of which mocks all description, enclosed within a basin of verdure, whose sides, nearly a hundred and fifty feet in height, rise from the banks of the lake to the flatter ground above, with so precipitous an eleva- tion, that no footing, however firm, can there keep its hold. For the space of a league and a half, which the lake occupies, this beautiful green border, with very little variation in its height, may still be seen following the limpid line of the water, into which it dips itself, clear, and at once, without rush or ooze, or water plant of any description, to break the union of the soft turf and the pure wave. Towards the south and cast, however, extends, even now, an immense mass of dark and sombre wood, which, skirting down the precipitous bank, appears to contemplate its own majesty in the mirror of the lake. At the same time, all around, rise up a giant family of mountain peaks, which, each standing out, abriqit and single, in the sunny air, seem frowning on the traveller who invades their solitude. Here, in the days of Philip Augustus, stood a small chapel, dedicated to the Virgin, called Our Lady of St. Pavin; and many a miraculous cure is said to have been operated by the holy relics of the shrine, which caused ()ur Lady of St. Pavin to be the favourite saint of many of the chief families in France. By the side of the chapel was placed a congregation of small huts or cells, both for the accommodation of the various pilgrims who came to visit the shrine, and for the dwelling of three holy hermits, one of whom served the altar as a priest, while the other two retained the less distinct character of simide recluse^ bound by no vows but such as they chose to impose upon themselves.
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