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as to the land, and of wretchedness as to the people. On all sides the distance is closed by frowning summits. Before you to the right is the Dent-de-Morcles, and to your left, the Dent-de-Midi. Behind you in the direc tion of Martigny, rise immense chains above chains of snow-covered mountains. And now, around the vehicle in which you travel, behold, taking advantage of the momentary stoppage made for the satisfaction of your curiosity, a miserable train of ghastly, goitrous persons, chiefly females, not unmixed with indications of the most deplorable state of cretinism, and can you have the heart to refuse to such unfortunate beings a large handful of sous for charity?

At six o'clock, we reached Saint Maurice. Here the two boundaries of the country draw to a point; and when the gates, beyond the fine stone bridge over the Rhone,* are closed, the northern extremity of the Lower Valais is shut out from the Canton-de-Vaud.-The situation of Saint Maurice is most extraordinary-not to say frightful.

"The wild rocks shap'd as they had turrets been

"In mockery of man's art,"

literally overhang, and seem ready to crush, the poor little town.. At a vast height in the line of those to the left, we noticed what they told us was a Hermitage and

"It is 200 feet long and a single arch; in the middle is a little chapel. The construction of this bridge is ascribed to Julius Cæsar."-Ebel.-“The ancient appellation of the town was Agaunum: it takes that of St. Maurice from an Abbey, erected in the beginning of the sixth century, by Sigismond, King of Burgundy, in honour of the famous Theban legion recorded to have been massacred near this place by order of the Emperor Maximin, for not renouncing Christianity."-Coxe.

Chapel, excavated in the very wall of the towering precipice: as if it were not sufficient that the prospect teems with appalling wonders, new horrors must be created by the misapplication of human labour, to promote the cause of superstition and increase the fame of ascetics. But adieu, for a while, to the predominance of that ecclesiastical system, which encourages such absurdities. We now enter a PROTESTANT Canton.

A change ensues in the appearance of the country almost immediately on our extrication from the tremendous defile of Saint Maurice. We find ourselves still indeed surrounded by "steepy mountains," but the roads improve, the scenery becomes more varied, the landscape more pleasing, and the inhabitants appear more comfortable. We arrived in the village of Bex at seven o'clock in the evening, and passed the night at the Union Inn.

It is thus then that we have finally quitted Savoy and the Valais, to neither of which belong the advantages of a country which one would choose for a permanent residence; but through both which the stranger passes with an intense gaze of interest, astonishment, admiration, and awe. They are indeed regions, where, as in a vast theatre, Nature loves to wear the most dreadful forms of gigantic wildness, and where Man no less delights in venturously seizing upon her scanty gifts and in undauntedly braving her collected terrors. Rousseau himself, treating on this subject, suppresses for once the airy wing of his imagination; and confides in the superior power of simple truth, to describe the incidents of a journey among the Alps.-"Tantôt d'immenses roches (says this elegant writer) pendoient en ruines au dessus de ma tête. Tantôt

de hautes & bruyantes cascades m'inondoient de leur épais brouillard. Tantôt un torrent éternel ouvroit à mes côtés un abîme dont les yeux n'osoient sonder la profondeur. Quelquefois je me perdois dans l'obscurité d'un bois touffu. Quelquefois en sortant d'un gouffre, une agréable prairie rejouissoit tout-à-coup mes regards. Un mélange étonnant de la nature sauvage & de la nature cultivée, montroit par-tout la main des hommes, où l'on eût cru qu'ils n'avoient jamais pénétré: à côté d'une caverne on trouvoit des maisons; on voyoit des pampres secs où l'on n'eût cherché que des ronces, des vignes dans des terres éboulées, d'excellens fruits sur des rochers, & des champs dans les précipices.-Ce n'étoit pas seulement le travail des hommes qui rendoit ces pays étranges si bizarrement contrastés; la nature sembloit encore prendre plaisir à s'y mettre en opposition avec elle-même, tant on la trouvoit différente en un même lieu sous divers aspects. Au levant les fleurs du printems, au midi les fruits de l'automne, au nord les glaces de l'hiver: elle réunissoit toutes les saisons dans le même instant, tous les climats dans le même lieu, des terrains contraires sur le même sol, & formoit l'accord inconnu par-tout ailleurs des productions des plaines & de celles des Alpes."*-Precisely in such a country have we been travelling.

* Nouvelle Heloise.-Lettre xxiii.

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Canton of Vaud Bex-St. Tryphon—Aigle-Villeneuve-Lake of Geneva-Castle of Chillon-Montreux-Clarens-Vevay-Protestant Worship La-Vaux Villages-Lausanne-Morges-Rolle La Côte-The Paragrèles-Nion-Coppet-Ferney-Voltaire →Geneva.

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A Grey morning dawned promisingly upon us, as we

drove from the door of "the Union," where we had experienced all the comforts and enjoyed all the luxuries, (at a moiety of the expense) of an English Inn. This village is much visited by strangers on account of the saltpits about a mile from it, at a place called Bevieux, which are described as well worthy of inspection. I can speak of Bex simply in reference to its excellent Hotel, its neat Protestant Church, and its exceedingly pleasant situation.

Thence a tract of country presents itself, which, in spite of the marshy banks of the great river that runs through it, is decidedly preferable to either Savoy or the Valais. The road is a fine one; not broad as in France, yet smooth and well made; fenced in by hedges or neat walls of stone. On each side the widening valley of the Rhone appears neatly cultivated, extremely fertile, and richly wooded. Hills of moderate height and covered with verdure form the first lines of enclosure to the

prospect. Beyond these home-barriers, as we pursue a meandering course, the superior chains of the Chablais and of Switzerland alternately encounter our regards, exhibiting the greatest diversity of conformation that can possibly be conceived: cones, pyramids, needles, platforms, and craggy points, convex and concave shapes, in endless succession and variety.

And now the sun tinctures the sides of the more distant masses on the Savoy side with purple hues, whilst their snowy tops are clothed in a splendid raiment of roseate light. As constant early risers hitherto in our journey, we could with Shakspeare say,

"Full many a glorious morning have we seen
"Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye,
"Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
"Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchymy:"

And as truly could we add that none surpassing this had shone, before our eyes, on the inexpressible grandeurs and enchanting beauties so marvellously combined within the compass of a few hours' ride.

In the midst of a spacious plain, producing abundant crops of corn and hemp, is a lofty, insulated, and extensive knowl of rock covered with trees, and crowned with the remains of the castle of St. Tryphon: near it is a village of the same appellation. These objects, seen to our left hand, are highly romantic; and their effect would be still more forcible but for the circumjacent mountains, which, if the expression may be used, still thrust themselves invidiously into the comparison,

Beyond the little town of Aigle, the valley continues to increase in breadth; and the lake of Geneva opens

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