ADVERTISEMENT ΤΟ "THE LITTLE MOMIERE." THE little Momiere, having been written by the express desire of certain pious ladies of Geneva, and actually commenced in that place, it is hoped that it will be found to be a correct representation of the manners of the little territory, and a faithful picture of that singular custom by which the daughters of the higher classes of Genevese are thus early deprived of the blessings and privileges which children in other Christian countries derive from the leisure of the Lord's Day. THE LITTLE MOMIERE. PAULINE and Sophie were the daughters of a merchant of Geneva,—a man of the first consideration in the city towards the end of the last century; but as it does not suit the collector of these memoirs to mention a name which may be too well known, I shall drop the real name of this gentleman, and adopt another in its stead. The name I have chosen is that of De Levrat. Monsieur Levrat had a town-house on the promenade de la Traille, which is in the most elevated part of the city, and a campagne or country-house beyond the Port de Rive, on the road to the Saleves. Pauline de Levrat was some years older than her sister Sophie, the latter of whom was so unfortunate as to lose her mother on the very day that her eyes opened on this world of pain and sorrow; in consequence of which she was intrusted to the charge of a servant of the family, one who had married from the family some years before, and who had just had an infant, and was well able to impart the nourishment so necessary for infants to another child as well as her own. Thus, an affectionate foster-mother was, by the kind arrangements of Providence, prepared for the bereaved infant, and, as will be seen, a further advantage accrued to little Sophie than what first appeared to those who only looked to present things. The house of Janet Keller may still be seen by those who are curious in such matters, on the border of that triangular green, shaded with three rows of chestnuts, called by distinction Pré l'Eveque, or the Bishop's Meadow, from having formerly made part of a domain, possessed in this quarter by the bishops of Geneva, and where, indeed, still appears a mansion, standing within a walled garden, which was the bishop's palace. Although the exterior of this mansion has undergone so complete a metamorphosis that its ancient destination would not be easily supposed, nevertheless, a grove of very ancient chestnut-trees cast a solemn shade upon one part of the domain, and give an air of distinction to the whole place. The house in which Janet Keller dwelt was, however, from its situation, particularly convenient for Monsieur Levrat, or his eldest daughter with her governess (a personage denominated la Bonne on the Continent), to call upon the little nursling as they passed from the town to the country-house. Though it should be remarked, that the father's carriage was seen much oftener at the door of the nurse than that which was appropriated to the use of Mademoiselle Pauline. But in speaking of the quarter called Pré l'Eveque, I cannot say whether it had then deserved that which has been since said of it, that it is a principal resort of those who adhere more closely than the national church of Geneva at present does to the opinions of the old reformers. At present, however, the followers of the reformers have a chapel close to the palace of the ancient bishops; and it has happened to me more than once to hear their notes of the purest, most simple, and pathetic harmony, arising in the stillness of evening from beneath the humble roof under which these persons assemble to perform their acts of praise and prayer, as I have been passing along under the high walls which encompass the ancient seat of the bishop; but the people of this country have an intuitive taste for music, and in no place which I have ever visited have I been so thoroughly satisfied as I have been in this with the fashion of their sacred music. But I am departing from my subject, and as I was saying before, I know not how long it is since those who by derision are called Momiers in Geneva, have erected one of their chapels in this place, and, as it were, collected themselves in this quarter; but this I know, that under the simple roof of Janet Keller, so far back as the infancy of Sophie, there was not unseldom a reunion of persons, who made the Holy Scriptures the foundation of their hopes in death, and of their consolation through all the trials of this eventful life. Janet, like |