and being now enclosed by a barn, is let to some peasants as a drying house for tobacco. Strangers are suffered to take away specimens; nor, for a considerable time, was government sensible of the value of these antiquities.

This Mosaic, which was the floor of an ancient bath, is sixty feet long and forty broad. The general form is perfect; and, though several parts are broken and lost, yet the configuration of the whole may easily be traced.

From thence they were conducted to the ruins of an ancient amphitheatre, within the walls of the bailiff's garden. The general form and size of this building are tolerably perfect, as also parts of the enclosing brick walls. The diameter of the arena is about eighty yards. Under a tower, partly built of Roman materials, is a cell, in which the animals were probably let loose. On the outside are still to be seen the remains of five dens; and the walls appear to have been originally adorned with sculpture.

Not far from the amphitheatre stands a large column of white marble, about fifty feet high, composed of large masses, closely joined together without cement; and near it lies a considerable fragment of defaced sculpture, which seemed once to have formed part of the portal belonging to a magnificent temple.

As they walked through the town, they remarked several other masses of cornice, ornamented with sea-horses and urns, and some mar ble columns, of beautiful proportions.

About a mile from Avenches, where the late Lord Northampton long resided, and where he died, is the village of Coppet. Near this last

are the remains of a small aqeduct, which has been traced to the east side of the town. Other aqueducts, or a continuation of this, are to be seen in different directions, even to the distance of four leagues.

Friburgh, the next place which falls under our author's description, enjoys one of the most beautiful, and, certainly, one of the most picturesque situations in Switzerland. It stands partly in a small plain, partly on bold acclivities, on a ridge of rugged rocks, half encircled by the Sane; and is so wholly hid by the circumjacent hills, that the view of the whole town bursts at once on the eye from the impending eminence.

The fortifications enclose a circumference of about four miles, within which space is a singular mixture of houses, rocks, thickets and meadows, varying instantly from wild to agreeable, from the din of men, to the solitude of retirement.

On all sides, the descent to the town is extremely steep; and in one place, the streets even pass over the roofs of the houses. Many of the edifices are raised like the seats of an amphitheatre; and many overhang the edge of the precipice in such a manner, as would turn a weak head giddy to look. down.

From the Pont Neuf, however, is the most extraordinary point of view. From hence, part of the town appears almost inaccessible. Those who are fond of the wild and romantic, will not forget to visit the Moulin de la Motte, and the Valley of Goteron. The Moulin is a miller's dwelling, hollowed in the midst of an impending rock, and near it issues a small torrent, which, after turning the mill, falls into the Sane..

The Valley of Goteron, which lies on the northwest of the town, is extremely narrow, and bounded by high and overhanging rocks of sand stone. This valley contains several mills, an iron foundery, and a cotton manufactory.

Among the few buildings worthy of particular notice, in Friburgh, are the cathedral and the town house. The former is an ancient Gothic edifice, erected in the fourteenth century; the town-house once composed part of the palace belonging to the dukes of Zeeringen, in the principal court of which is a lime tree, which, according to tradition, was planted on the day that the battle of Morat was fought, as an emblem of Swiss liberty.

The state of society at Friburgh is extremely agreeable. The gentry are frank and hospitable, and blend French politeness with great simplicity of manners. Dinner is usually served at twelve, and supper at eight. Mr. Coxe says, he never met with a more cordial reception in any town of Switzerland than in this.

This canton is entirely Catholic, and its population amounts to between fifty and sixty thousand souls. The sovereign power resides in the great council of two hundred, including the senate of twenty-four

The only persons capable of being members of this sovereign council, or of enjoying any share in the government, are the secret burghers, or a certain number of families, divided into four. bannietes, or tribes. They are called secret burghers, in order to dis-inguish them from the other artisans belonging to the town, or the adjoining district. Thelatter enjoy the right of ap

pointing the advoyers from a certain number of candidates, and of annually confirming the said magistrates, but the supreme authority rests absolutely in the council, supplied by a limited number of patrician families; consequently, the government is, in the strictest sense, aristocratical*.

In their route from hence to Berne, they made a small circuit, to the village of Neuneck, in order to see a hermitage about a mile from Friburgh, which has been highly extolled by travellers, on account of its singularity. It is formed in the solid rock; and its chief curiosity consists in its being the work of two men, who thus spent a great part of their time in laborious idleness.

The situation of this hermitage is beautiful. The rock in which it is cut overhangs the Sane It consists of several apartments, hewed in the heart of the mountain. One room is ninety feet long and twenty broad: the spire of the chapel, if it may be so called, is eighty feet high, and the chimney of the kitchen ninety. The present hermit is a German, and with him lives an old soldier.

The entrance into Berne strikes a traveller with its singular neatness and beauty. The principal streets are broad and long, and gently winding. The houses are mostly uniform, built of a greyish stone, upon arcades. Through the middle of the street runs a lively stream of the clearest

Since Mr. Coxe first published his letters on Switzerland, the government of Friburgh has undergone very important alterations; and many grievances, which the popular party laboured under, are redressed.

water in a stone channel, while several fountains are not less beneficial than ornamental.

The river Aar almost surrounds Berne, winding its course over a rocky bed, in a deep channel. The Gothic cathedral stands upon a platform, raised at a great expence, and commands a most extensive view. The adjacent country is richly cultivated, and agreeably diversified with hills, lawns, wood, and water. The river flows

rapidly below, and an abrupt chain of rugged and snow-clad Alps bounds the distant horizon.

According to the native historians, Berne was built by Berchtold V. duke of Zeeringen, and was from its foundation an imperial city. In the year 1353, it acceded to the Helvetic confederacy, and possessed such power at that time, as to obtain the second rank among the Swiss cantons. Its domains now form nearly a third of Switzerland, and about a fourth of the actual population,, It contains about one hundred and seventy thousand souls, exclusive of eleven thousand in the capital. The reformed religion was early embraced, and permanently established here.

This canton is divided into two great parts: the Pays de Vaud and the German district; each of which has its treasurer and chamber of appeal, resident in the capital.

At Berne, society is extremely agreeable, and foreigners are received with abundant ease and politeness. The sexes mix in social intercourse, and dancing is a frequent amusement. There is a public ball once a fortnight; and, in winter, scarcely an evening passes without a private one.

These diversions commence as early as five in the afternoon, on account of a standing order