named Gower's and Simpson's Islands, but was far from imagining that they belonged to the Islands of Solomon, which he had fought fo long, and therefore gave himself no trouble to covered two small islands, which he I think I can with confidence affert that the Lands of the Arfacides, and Choifeul Bay, are parts of the Archipelago difcovered by Mendana; and, confequently, that the Iflands of Solomon are actually about 1850 Spanish leagues diftant from the coaft of Peru, and in the vicinity of New Guinea, as the early charts had indicated. examine them. Till our navigators fhall complete their discoveries in this interefting and little known portion of the globe, Extracts from a Picturesque Description of Switzerland: By the Marquis de Langle. BUBENDORFF, BASIL, AND ITS ENVI RONS. The Rhine runs through the middle of this place. It is at Bafil that the Rhine becomes a river-bebeautiful becomes noble PHYSICIANS extol the baths of comes Bubendorff: I myself think and perhaps, even fuperior to its reputation. that these baths are falutary, when one receives pleafure from ufing them. Cheerfulness may be accounted a Phyfician, on account of its excellence: it may be termed the efflorescence of the mind; and is as neceffary to it as the bloffoms and leaves are to trees and plants. Cheerfulness is a species of cofmetic-of virgin-milk, which wards off the ravages of age, and which preferves to the features, the fkin, and the complexion, an air of freshness and juvenility. Bafil has been fortified. Its ramparts are decayed, and they ftill allow them to decay. So much the better. Drawbridges, baftions, red coats, aud fierce cocked hats * infpire the mind with a certain degree of melancholy, tighten the breast, obftruct the perfpiration, and tint every idea that arifes with the colour of blood. The heart contracts itself, and occupies lefs fpace, on entering a fortified place. I love to fee ramparts nodding towards their fall -1 love open cities, drawbridges and baftions always portend misfortunes. In the circumference of a terrible long mile, Bafil contains no more than twelve thousand inhabitants, and yet it is termed a capital! its streets refemble a defert, and the grafs with which they are incumbered is a difgrace to the people. The neighbourhood of this place is delightful in the fummer, and more efpecially during the morning. It is in the morning that thofe fcenes ought always to be vifited; it is in the morning alone that they can be enjoyed; it is in the morning that nature is young is frefn ;-I had almost said, is a Virgin! At ten or eleven o'clock, at noon, the noise, the bustle, the rays of the fun, have already poł luted her; the flowers no longer emitting fweet odors, by this time begin to hang down their heads: the youthful hours of the day are vanished. How few are the pleasures of life! We murmur, complain, and do not enjoy even the little portion of them allotted to us. How delightful it is to contemplate the dawn of day! How *Des habits courts, de grands bonnets-has been thus familiarly translated. Trans. How pleafant to enjoy the fweet perfumes of the morning! To rife early is productive of one of the moft exquifite fenfations in life; and yet the Sun generally appears above the horizon, without finding any one to admire his glory. THE VIEW FROM THE VILLAGE OF WILD-TAVERNIER. Bur if in all the univerfe there is an enchanted fpot-a fpot in which mature most delights to fport, it is fure ly that in the midst of which Wild is erected. From this town, two miles diftant from Bafil, one may perceive every object in the univerfe that is worthy of admiration. From the win. dows of its little church, you may, with a fingle glance of your eye, view Lorraine, Alface, part of Switzerland, almost all the Marquifate of Baden, the Rhine, the Birs, the Bifeck, vallies, hills, a number of villages; in fine, a horizon fo adorned and so immenfe, that the most warm and picturefique imagination, can never be able to conceive fuch charming landfcapes, or fuch a joyous perfpective. What a pity that a gibbet, erected at about three thoufand paces from the place where I food, thould have deformed' this fuperb picture with its ghaftly fhadow! "How proud I fhould be," fays Cicero," how much glory fhould I not archieve, and how much my former affociates would envy me, if the gods were to decree, that my confaithip should become the epoch, when Rome was to fee the croffes, the wheels, the pillory, and the other fignals of exe. cution, which difgrace our public places, disappear from within its walls!" What would the Roman Ora tor have faid, if he had feen in the neighbourhood of Wild, a scaffold that stains and disfigures as it were, the richest and most ornamented spot on the whole furface of the globe Switzerland, in general, may be termed the country of fine profpects. After having for twenty years inha bited the moft delicious climates in Afia; after having inhaled all the perfumes of Timor, Aden and Surat; after having trampled under his feet, the turquoife, the emerald, and the opal;-after having been cloyed with the delicate fruits and exquifite fpices of the Moluccas, of the island of Ceylon, and of Arabia the Happy ;-attracted and feduced by the recoltection of the sweetness and variety of thefe feenes, Tavernier abandoned Perfia, left the Indies, bid adieu to the Indus and the Ganges, and returned to end his days in Switzerland. We are in great want of a general map of Switzerland:-We are in great want of a topographical defcrip. tion of an original-of an univerfal country-of a country, that in the fpace of feventy-five leagues, unites all the features-all the fituation's all the peculiarities all the varieties, fcattered up and down, from one pole to the other. Rocks, glacieres, torrents, rivers, lakes, caverns -Nature, in all her forms, is to be found in Switzerland-and Switzerland, if one may hazard the expreffion, contains the whole world in miniature. And for whom is this fuperb and mas gic gallery defigned? For whom are thefe grand and fublime pictures of na ture intended? forwhom this astonishing and rich creation ?For a cold, an infenfible, phlegmatic people--for a peo. ple who do not feel for any thing, who do not imagine any thing, who never weep, and who are never affected-for a people incapable of lively emotions and ftrong paffions--for a people who never were acquainted with the deli rium, the enthufiafm of poetry and of painting; nor the tranfports, the delights, the agrecableneffes, the furies, the frantic and the fiery accents of an impaffioned attachment. We fhall, no doubt, wait a long time for this chart, which we fo much ftand in need of. Besides, the difficulty of measuring a country intersected with chafms, mountains, and defiles, whoever whoever undertakes this talk, will alfo have to fubdue the fufpicious temper of the natives. The Swifs always look upon draughtsmen and furveyors, as fo many fpies in the pay of foreign countries. It has often happened that painters and other travellers have been ftopped in the midst of their labours, and have with great difficulty escaped from the punishment due to traitors. MANUFACTURES OF SWITZERLAND THE INHABITANTS DETEST AGRI CULTURE. THE Swifs carry on fuch an immenfe trade in printed callicoes and ribbands, that they may be faid to furnish half the world with top-knots, beaus, cloaks and petticoats. Sully, the minister of Henry IV. looked on thofe men as fools, who pretended to an uncommon fhare of intrepidity,by having doubled the Cape of Good Hope; 7 -Sully, who affigned to manufactures the last rank in political economy, who preferred the moit common fruit and pulfe to all the fcarce and coftly productions that the Indies could boast of, has advised the Swifs to abandon their looms, and betake themselves to the plough. For want of labourers, one half of their country remains uncultivated; they, however, defpife the earth, difdain its productions, and think that agriculture would dishonour them! From thence proceeds the neceffity of importing, at a great expence, from the Milanefe, from France, from Alface, from the circle cf Swabia, and the marquifate of Baden, corn, eatables, and provisions of all kinds, which the delicate hands of the inhabitants difdain to procure for themselves. From thence proceed those heaths, which feem to have no end-from thence thofe putrid and extenfive marthes (among others, that of Anet, n the canton of Berne) which, by Bb VOL. XIV. No. 81. means of their peftilential vapours and unhealthy fogs, deftroy a number' of children annually, while yet in' their cradle, and boys and girls in the flower of their age. Thus lately perifhed a charming young lady, whom I faw in paffing through Anet; whom I felicitated my felf with the hopes of feeing again; but who, alas! was a corpfe on my return! The Economical Society of Berne have been occupied on this fubject;' the members have already laid a great number of plans before the council; but these are ftill to be confidered as fo many plans, for they remain as yet unexecuted. The cultivation of the earth has not always been defpifed in Switzerland; for their Hiftorians recite the following anecdote with no fmail fhare of pride: A Duke of Auftria, while travelling on horfeback from Rappelwyl to Wintherthur, happening to crois the fertile country of Kibourg, in the can. ton of Zurich, faw near to the highroad four noble horses harneffed to a plough; a youth, who poffèffed a charming perfon, directed their mo tions, while an old man, whofe hair was whitened by age, opened the furrows. Surprifed at the fuperiour air of the two labourers, no lets than the beauty of the cattle, 'the Duke stopped, and turning towards the grand mafter of the houfhold, faid, "I have never feen fuch refpectable peasants, or fuch fine horfes before." not aftonifhed, my Lord," replies this officer, thefe are the Baron du Hugi and his fon: behold, at the foot of yonder hill is the ancient caftle belonging to their family; and if you are ftill in doubt, to-morrow you will fee them come to do homage to you." the "Be Accordingly, on the next day, the Duke perceives the fame labourers arrive on horfeback at his court, attended by a numerous retinue of their vaffals. After the Baron had paid the ufual homage to his fovereign, he prefented his his fon to him, and entered into converfation. The Duke being unable to flifle his curiofity, feized on this opportunity to fatisfy his impatience. "Was it you," fays he, whom I faw yesterday near to the high way, holding a plough fuperbly decorated?" "Yes, my Lord," replies the Baron: "next to a war undertaken for the defence of one's country, I know of no occupation more honourable for a gen tleman, han that of cultivating his own eftate; I therefore do this as an example to my my fon." Thus thought, and thus acted the ancient Swifs, who, equaling the Romans in their courage, r fembled them alfo in their tafte for agriculture and a country life. The fame hands that wielded the lance, or carried the banner, thought not themfelves difhonoured by using the fpade, and bright.ning the ploughfhare. More than once, in the idit of the Alps, and at the foot of mount Jura, as well as on the banks of the Tiber, the General has been feen leaving his pl ugh, to repel, at the head of his equals, the enemies of his country; and returning triumphant. he has been known to follow his fufpended labours with additional ardour! One may fee from thence, that a flate may be as much indebted for its profperity, to CERES' feythe, as to BELLONA's fword. But it is more efpecially in an age when agriculture appears to be honored-in an age when Economical Societies are every where occupied in differtations, in obervations, &c.-in an age when the marshes of Aunis, of Flanders, and part of the wafte lands about Bourdeaux, have been fubjected to agriculture, and changed * either into pafture or corn lands:in tuch an age, I fay, it is not a little furprising, that the people of Berne do not endeavour to drain the marsh of Anet. "If I were a Lieutenant of the Police:" (this fingular exclimation is attributed to a fovereign who loved his people,) "If I were Lieutenant of "the Police, I would prohibit cabrislets" As for myself, were I at the head of the republic at Berne, that indigent and fterile country which furrounds and composes the marfh of Anet fhould be drained and dedicated to agriculture in the space of two years. There is no land, howeyer barren it is, or however much it may be covered with briars and thorns, but the fpade and the hedging-bill will make it wave with a golden harveft, or bloom with rofes. WILLIAM TELL. THE most enthufiaftic hiftorian has infinitely lefs refpect for his hero, than the Swifs have for the memory of William Tell, whom they regard as the deliverer of his country, and the founder of its republican liberty. There never has been any man in Switzerland, whom the artists of all kinds have taken fuch pains to immortalize in portraits, bufts, medallions ;-you every where, and in every fhape, encounter the image of William Tell. The engraver, the painter, the fculptor, have multiplied his refemblance under a thousand allegories. At every corner, in every ftreet, and in almoft every part of Switzerland, Tell is reprefented darting an arrow into the apple placed on his fon's head. Many people, however, still dubious of the authenticity of this anecdote, Light low chaifes, fometimes with one and fometimes with two horfes, which the young nobility were used to drive in a furious manner along the streets of Paris and the environs, to the great danger of the foot-paffengers. The fuppreffion of this nuifance is one of the many evils that have been corrected by the late Revolution. anecdote, treat the whole as a fiction, and difbelieve the autrocity of Grisler, the ftory of the hat, of the apple, and even the exiftence of William Tell himself. Where is the nation, however, which does not furnish a numerous lift of conquerors and of heroes, of whom the history and the existence is not fupported by more authentic proofs, than the gods, the Demi-gods, the imaginary battles, and fuppofitious warriors of Linus, of Homer, and of Orpheus? NATIONAL FESTIVAL IN HONOR OF SWISS PATRIOTISM. WHATEVER may be the doubts in regard to the hero of Switzerland, they celebrate every year at Arth, in the canton of Scheverick, a national and patriotic feftival in honor of William Tell. I have feen-I was prefent at, and was highly delighted with this feftival. Preceded by two heralds at arms of a gigantic fize, and by warlike mufic, the cavalcade proceeds from the neighbouring country to the town of Arth, where there is a theatre erected in the middle of the public fquare. The Genius of ancient Helvetia, carrying in one hand a fhield emblazoned with the arms of the Thirteen Cantons, and in the other a lance furmounted by the Cap of Liberty, leads the proceffion, escorted by two warriors armed at all points, each wielding a battle axe, and a troop of herdfmen dreffed like the fhepherds of the Alps, with leathern caps on their heads, and maffy clubs over their fhoulders; after them the captain of the crofs-bowmen approaches, at the head of a company clad in green, and armed with bows: thefe are followed by William Tell and his fon, and the three other patriots, Stauffacher, Melchtal and Furft. The domeftics of Governor Grifler fucceed thefe, dreffed in the fashion of that age, and bearing a pike on which the hat of their mafter is placed. car Soon after the deputies of the Thirteen Cantons make their appearance, each preceded by a young man rying a banner, and a herald dreffed in the uniform of his proteffion. The cavalcade is clofed by a company of twenty foldiers, fix feet high, chofen from among the handfomeft young men of the whole country. The proceffion having arrived at the theatre, and the fpectators being feated on benches elevated above each other, in the manner of the ancient amphitheatres, the Genius of Helvetia advances, and delivers an oration, of which the following is the tranflation: O Helvetia, country of heroes! ' of all the nations fcattered over the face of this globe, thine is the fʊle one that enjoyeft completely the fift of all earthly bleffings-LIBERTY! From the fummit of its Aips, it fees nothing but injuftice armed to destroy the fmiling labours of the peafant-fanguinary defpotifm fporting with the nights and with the lives of mankind; an bition, vengeance, and pride, defolating the moft fertile countries; and effiminacy, luxury, and debauchery, anticipating the effects of age! You alone, O my friends! You alone enjoy, without flaves and without mafters, thofe poffeflions which you owe only to Heavento the intrepedity of your ancestors -and to your own industry. You are nourished with the milk, which the numerous heids that roam among yor va les furnish you with in abundance; you breathe a pure air which ftrangers come in fearch • of trom afar, as a certain remedy for difcafe; you drink at the foot of 6 your rucks, a beverage m. re refreshing than that pretented in golden veffels at the banquets of Kings; you choose your own Magiftrates < Bb 2 from |