LETTER XVII.

The Lake of Geneva-Jerome Bonaparte-Lausanne-GibbonHead of the Lake-Castle of Chillon-Rousseau-VevayQuadrennial fête-Edmund Ludlow-Bille-Freyburg-The Cathedral-Romanism-Liberty taken with Scripture-The Hermitage-The Suspension Bridge-Extraordinary Situation of Freyburg-Mixture of Languages-Alemanni, and Franks— Road to Bern-Costume-Bern-Its beauty-Cathedral— Bears-Arsenal-Public Buildings-Road to Soleure-Capuchin friars-Canton of Bern-Costume-Magnificent views of the Northern Chain-Last sight of the Alps.

MY DEAR FRIEND:-On leaving Geneva, we determined to pursue our course to Vevay, on the Lake; which is the most celebrated of all those that adorn the continent of Europe. It receives within its ample bed, the waters of forty streams, besides the Rhone. This, the most rapid of European rivers, disdaining, as it were, to mingle in the common reser

voir, urges its onward course through the vast expanse of about forty or fifty miles, marked by the blue colour, and the restlessness of its ever-flowing tide, which issues from the lake with a purer azure, and, at some distance below Geneva, meets the Arve, another turbulent child of glaciers. This stream is said to contain particles of gold. When suddenly increased by the thaw of the icy regions at the bases of Mont Blanc, the Arve sometimes swells the Rhone to such a degree, that it rolls back towards Geneva, resembling another Jordan, and still struggling to preserve the identity of its flood. A few leagues lower, this rapid torrent, like the gloomier waters of the fabled Styx, disappears under ground, beneath the chaotic ruin of neighbouring mountains; from which it again emerges, to water the plains of France, to the extent of five hundred miles.

If it could be imagined that, for one single summer, the eternal snows and ices of Savoy were exposed to such a sun as rises on Egypt, what might not be the consequence !-But the sun has his course, and the waters have their bounds; and so admirable a balance is maintained, between the evaporation and the supply of the lake of Geneva, that it rarely rises, at the utmost, more than six feet above its ordinary level, though it is so immediately connected with the innumerable and enormous storehouses of the Alpine gulfs of ice;

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which have only to be unlocked by a permanent change of temperature, in order to drown the whole valley of the Arve, from the Jura wall to the Savoy chain of Alps.

The form of the lake is a rude segment of a circle, of which the convex side is northward; the greatest breadth being about nine miles. It continually diminishes towards Villeneuve on the east, where it receives the Rhone; also towards Geneva, which is situate at its south-western point. On the Savoy side of this classic lake, are the Salève mountains, which overlook the city, to the height of about three thousand feet; and to the south-east, are seen various pyramids, heads, and needles, all surmounted by Mont Blanc, which, at the distance of fifty miles, was distinctly visible while we were at Geneva. The surfaces of the calcareous Salève mountains are bestrewed with huge isolated fragments of granite, the hieroglyphic memorials, as it were, of some vast, but unknown convulsion of nature, that would seem to have brought them, at some period, from the primitive Alps.

The sublime back-ground of the lake is graced and relieved by the smiling verdure, the human habitations, the vineyards, and the orchards, which border the waters; and by the grassy ridges which, in some parts, rise out of its bosom. The side of the Pays de Vaud, by its picturesque beauty, and

high cultivation, claims to be the garden of Switzerland: but on the morning when we were to view this scene from the lake, the rain fell heavily, and continued, more or less, during greater part of the forenoon; so that we lost much of the charms of this interesting region.

Notwithstanding the distance,-in calm weather, and a favourable light, Mont Blanc may be seen reflected from the bosom of the lake; but, now, the Savoy Alps, and even the Jura chain were wholly obliterated; and the white Salève mountains, to the south of Geneva, presented a singularly wild appearance, their surface being dimmed by mist, and by continually driving clouds. The city, with its towers, and lofty buildings, rose between the lake and these mountains, which formed, in the back-ground, a gloomy and magnificent kind of amphitheatre.

The rain did not prevent us from perceiving that we were passing between two coasts, which, in fine weather, must be enchantingly beautiful; each bank being adorned with elegant villas and lovely gardens. The Leman' steam-boat is fitted up with comfort and elegance; but our party found the motion of the vessel exceedingly disagreeable, as the water was extremely rough; so that this sail was much more like a sea-voyage, than that which we had experienced from London to Ostend; arising from our having to oppose the rapid torrent

of the Rhone, which now had a remarkably blue appearance.

In about three hours, the rain ceased, and the shining of the sun invited all to the deck; when it proved that we had no less distinguished a person on board than Jerome Bonaparte, once king of the ephemeral monarchy of Westphalia, which was formed by the great conqueror, out of HesseCassel, Hanover, Brunswick, and the Prussian territories west of the Elbe. Jerome is a thin man, of the middle size; and some of the voyagers were struck with the likeness of his profile to that given of his brother Napoleon, whom he has been thought much to resemble. He commanded a large division of the French army, at Waterloo, where he made the first charge against the allied forces; and he is said to have possessed greater military talents than any of Napoleon's other brothers. He has the appearance of an amiable man, and his reserved manner, and avoidance of the company on board, conveyed the impression of being rather the result of a consciousness that he was marked and observed, than of any aristocratic pride. His secretary accompanied him; and on leaving the vessel at Ouchy, the port of Lausanne, they both got into the same boat with the other passengers.

The wife of Jerome, the Princesse de Montfort, sister of the king of Würtemberg, elicited from