far, yet how be able to decide this without his Science? and how venture to declare against any thing he has advanced from personal knowledge, without having studied his particular subjects as profoundly as himself, and with equal talents and penetration? one thing is certain, that his virtuous, upright, and every way respectable principles exclude, in the eye of candour, the slightest suspicion of Imposture, or a wish to erect a Fabric to Vanity on the sandy foundation of Credulity and Poverty. Nor is it less sure that his Divinations have in a thousand instances been surprisingly just. I had almost forgotten to mention among Lavater's excellencies his fine talent for Poetry; he has written a great number of Songs in praise of the Government, Simplicity, Courage, Manners, &c. &c. of his Country, and a commemoration of the most famous Exploits of his Countrymen, which are esteemed the best in the language, and sung with enthusiasm at all the public Assemblies in Switzerland; but his other arduous studies prevent his cultivating this charming Talent as much as one could wish. I have seen the celebrated Poet Gesner, his eye marks Genius, but he is a coarse vulgar every day man to Lavater. As there is a kind of Knowledge which is apt to be dogmatical and disgusting, so is there a species of Ignorance that is interesting and almost sacred. The poor Peasant's simple offering of Flowers to his humble Saint, in a nich by the way-side, has often interested me, and their perfumes are, I doubt not, often wafted to heaven; but I look with cold contempt on the costly offerings of the Great, which are generally the tribute of Ostentation, or wrung from them by Terror in the hours of sickness and peril. Of the latter, an immense treasure is preserved, and with great delight and vain glory displayed at Enseidlen. Nothing can be more absurd than these arrangements, or heterogeneous than their forms and nature. To pass over the rest, would you not start back with mingled emotion and derision, disgust and scorn, from the sight of all kinds of Human Bones, sanctified with the name of some Martyr, and dressed up in Satin and Velvet, and sparkling with Gold and Silver. But what are these to half a dozen entire Skeletons of pretended Saints, arrayed in sumptuous robes, their poor skulls plastered all over with Coloured Stones, and discovering through their open breasts (which are hollow like many other of their vaunted Brethren) their ribs and back bones embroidered with Jewels in the most clumsy and fantastic manner. Several had Green Silk gloves on, and seemed to step daintily in Velvet shoes, with Roses of Jewels, while their mouths grinned horribly the ghastly smile of Death, and the Sockets of their Eyes goggled at you with protuberant lumps of large Pearls. What a shocking prodigality of Riches! and how absurd and loathsome to see the wretched Carcasses of the Dead adorned with the pomps and vanities that even dishonour the Living. * * 案 NEAR Soleure, and deep in the shady dells of Mount Jura, we visited a Hermitage happily placed under the protection of a bold and bare Rock, adorned with a tufted topknot of Firs. Another rock of similar height and feature, leaned forward as if to meet it on the other side, and a murmuring Brook of limpid water edged the narrow path between them with its winding course. A Chapel, of different features, springs as it were out of the side of each rock, to one of which we mount by a light Bridge thrown across the stream; and by a steep flight of Stone Steps to the other. One of these Houses of Piety was laboured out of the very bosom of the Rock, by the First Hermit who fixed on this sweet solitude, and is of considerable depth; the entrance roomy and lofty, but narrowing and lowering as we advance to what may be called the Choir. I fear the fervour of my Devotion would ill defend me from the humidity of the spongy roof and walls. A little Platform at the entrance, which is covered with a Portico, supported by four light Columns, has a most pleasing effect. Nor less picturesque is the Bell which appears at the summit of the Cliff, suspended in a Turret which peeps partially through the dark shade. Hard by, and beneath the arching extremity of the same rock, is an Oratoire enclosed with palisades, within which are seen full length figures of our Saviour and His Apostles, reclining on a bank of moss, with miniature models of the Old and New Jerusalem over their heads. The Lamp depending from the roof, has a soothing and solemn effect, especially in the Evening. A little wooden Bridge, with a picturesque Portal, and a Fountain at its threshold, leads over the brook to the Hermit's simple Cell, and to a little walled Garden overshadowed by a few old Walnut Trees. An aged Dog and two Hens compose his entire establishment, the sole companions of his melancholy hours. His Costume much resembles that of an ordinary Rustic; he is far advanced in years, and his manner is simple and subdued. The winding path which leads to this romantic Retirement, the deep impressive shades around, the solemn moaning of the Wind, and the plaintive |