This singular man is often employed ten or twelve hours a day at his profession. Our author consulted him out of curiosity, and was told that he had no occasion for any thing, but to eat and drink well, to dance, to be merry, and take moderate exercise*.

sants.

It being Langenau fair, when Mr. Coxe was here, the village was quite crowded with peaGreat numbers of the men wore long beards, and many covered their heads with straw hats, extremely broad, which gave them a very grotesque appearance. Their dress was chiefly a coarse brown cloth jacket, without sleeves, with large puffed breeches of ticking. The women, who are remarkably handsome, wore their hair plaited behind in tresses, with the riband hanging down below the waist; a flat, plain, straw hat; a red or brown cloth jacket, without sleeves; a black or blue petticoat, bordered with red, scarcely reaching below the knees; and red stockings with black clocks. Their shifts were of very fine linen, and fastened close round the neck by a black collar, with red ornaments. The better sort wore silver chains between the shoulders, brought under each arm, and fastened beneath the bosom.

Taking leave of the hospitable Dr. Schuppach, Mr. Coxe set out from Langenau, in order to proceed to Avignon, on a visit to the Abbe de Sade, author of the Life of Petrarch. A sen

This celebrated empiric died in 1781, leaving ten thousand pounds, acquired by his practice, which sum he divided among his family in just and equitable proportions.

ator of Soleure offered him a place in his carriage as far as Berne, which he thankfully accepted, and profited by this casual interview with an intelligent and worthy man.

Next day he repassed through Morat and Avenches, and slept at Payerne, a town in the canton of Berne. On the bridge over the Broye, at this place, is an ancient Roman inscription, which, as our author was attempting to decypher, a plain looking man accosted him, and observed, that he had often tried to make out the inscription, but without success. "Give me a page of plain Latin," said he, " and I will translate it from beginning to end; but for these N's I's and O's, I can't know what to make of them."

His next stage was Monden, a handsome town, and the principal burgh of a bailliage of the same name, and formerly the capital of that part of the Pays de Vaud, which belonged to Savoy.

He then re-entered the territory of Geneva; but as that town and republic have already been described, we shall conclude this part of our ingenious traveller's labours, with some farther observations on Switzerland in general.

No part of Europe contains, within the same compass, so many independent commonwealths, and such a variety of governments as this romantic and delightful track; yet with such wisdom was the Helvetic union composed, and so little have the Swiss been actuated by views of conquest, that since the complete establishment of their general confederacy, they have seldom waged war with a foreign enemy, and have been.

harassed by few civil commotions. Perhaps their long-enjoyed tranquillity is unique in the history of republics.

The happiness, however, of long uninterupted peace, has neither broken the spirit nor enervated the arm of the Swiss. The youth are diligently trained to martial exercises, and a considerable number of well-disciplined troops are always employed in foreign service; while the whole mass of the people are enrolled in the militia, and regularly exercised. By these means they are capable of collecting a very respectable body of forces, which would prove a formidable barrier against an invading enemy. Thus, while most other states of Europe are tending towards a military government, Switzerland, without any standing armies, is more secure from invasion than any other European power.

The felicity, however, of this country, does not consist merely in an exemption from the miseries and burden of war; but in the general happiness and content of the people. For whether

the

government is aristocratical, democratical, or mixed, a spirit of liberty pervades and actuates the several constitutions; and the property of the subject is guarded against every species of violation.

There is certainly, however, a considerable defect in the criminal jurisprudence of the country; for though the Caroline code forms the basis of the penal laws, too much latitude is allowed to the respective judges; who are less governed by any written law, than by the common principles of equity.

The prisons now begin to be under excellent regulations; but that disgrace to sense and reason, the trial by torture, is not yet universally exploded. It is, however, wearing out by degrees; in some states it is abolished by express laws; and in none do the magistrates defend its practice, though it is not formally abandoned.

Learning is more generally diffused among the Protestant, than the Catholic states; but in both, a man of letters will find abundant opportunities of gratifying his researches, and improving his knowledge. To the natural philosopher, Switzerland will afford an inexhaustible source of information and entertainment, as well from the great variety of physical curiosities, so plentifully spread over the country, as from the number of persons eminently skilled in that branch of science. Indeed, in every town, and almost every village, the curious traveller will meet with collections worthy of his attention.

With respect to agriculture, there are few countries where the effects of persevering industry, are more conspicuous. A traveller cannot pass the immense chains of hills and mountains, which intersect this country, without being delighted to find cultivation carried on, where nature seems almost to have denied access. Woods clothe the most barren spots, and corn waves where it is scarcely possible for the plough to reach.

Thus having visited and described the Swiss cantons, our author, in his return from Italy, was anxious to render his tour more complete, by including the country of the Grisons. According

ly, leaving Milan, in July 1779, he proceeded to Como, the birth-place of Fliny the younger, of which honour the natives are justly proud; and therefore they have placed his statue in a niche, on the outside of the church, with an inscription bearing date in 1499.

Como is pleasantly situated in a narrow vale, inclosed by fertile hills, on the southern extremity of the lake of the same name. It is surrounded by a wall strengthened with towers, and backed by a conical eminence, on which stands the ruins of an ancient castle. The houses are neatly built of stone, and the cathedral is a handsome edifice, of white marble, dug from the neighbouring quarries.

From Como he made an excursion to Mendrisio, one of the Italian bailliages belonging to the Swiss cantons. These bailliages, of which Men drisio and Balerna is one of the smallest, were formerly part of the Milanese, and were ceded to the cantons by Maximilian Sforza, who was raised to the ducal throne by the Swiss, after they had expelled the troops of Louis XII. and taken possession of the duchy.

The inhabitants enjoy considerable privileges, civil, ecclesiastical, and commercial. The district is extremely fertile in vines, corn, and pasturage, and yields a great quantity of excellent silk.

On his return to Como, he embarked on the lake, the banks of which are richly wooded, and studded with villages and country seats.

After an hour's rowing, they came to Plinania, remarkable for a singular fountain, mentioned by Pliny. It bursts from a rock, close to a villa belonging to a Milanese nobleman, and falls in natural cascades into the lake.