together, Bruin following with a blunderbuss, while Fairlop with a brace of pistols brought up the rear, receiving the assurance of Bruin, as they walked along, that on account of his courage, a quality of which he was a huge admirer, he should have the hand of Dolly, with the bag of guineas for her portion.-The night was stormy. Immense masses of black clouds, driven rapidly athwart the sky, enveloped the earth in darkness, or, if the moonlight struggled through them for a moment, her beams served but to disclose the dreary and desolate features of the Common over which they were passing. Harry was endeavouring to fortify himself with a desperate resolution, when suddenly the loud and wailful howl of a dog met his ear, at the same time he heard a harsh creaking, and looking up he beheld close to him a gibbet, with the remains of a highwayman who had been hung in chains, swinging and rattling in the blast. His heart sunk within him, but erecting his head, and clenching his teeth with a look of defiance, he was passing on with a firm tread, when his attention was arrested by two shining objects at the foot of the gibbet, which he conjectured to be either glowworms, or the eyes of some animal. Presently they raised themselves from the ground, and at that moment a ray of light fell upon the wild and haggard features of Ranting Moll, who, stretching out her long bony arm to the moon, exclaimed in a sepulchral voice" Look at it, boy, look at yonder moon-it is the last thou shalt see, for ere her face is again full, thine shall be dust, and thy body shall be like the jingling bones of this murderer, that dance in the night-wind to the music of their own irons. Said I not right? He who is an ass, and takes himself to be a stag, finds his mistake when he comes to leap the ditch. Thou wouldst not heed me when I said an idle man is the devil's bolster, and another man's bread costs more than our own. But we may save a man from others whom we cannot save from himself; when the pear is ripe, it must needs fall to the ground. I told thee, Harry, thou shouldst flourish under the sign of the Bear, and who is he that marches behind thee with thy life in his hand, that it may be laid down at the judge's bar? Is it not Bruin? What! Cannot I read a palm? yet thou wouldst neither heed me when I bade thee fear the Bear, nor believe me when I saidhe who would be rich in a year, gets hanged at six months' end.Away! Away!" LETTERS ON A TOUR IN SWITZERLAND. NO. VII. "Ev'n here, where Alpine solitudes extend, GOLDSMITH. H. FROM Berne to Thun (six leagues) is one of the loveliest drives in Switzerland. A green, rich pasture country, wooded slopes, avenues of loaded fruit-trees, scattered châteaux and granges (one of the prettiest of which belongs to the Grand Duchess Constantine of Russia), busy peasants at work in their picturesque costume, and villages remarkable for their union of picturesque beauty with affluent neatness and comfort, make the whole road a succession of agreeable and pastoral scenes. The imagination, too, is strongly excited by the aspect of the stupendous pinnacles and piles of mountain glittering in snowy beauty, towards which you are journeying. Every step brings into bolder view these awful summits, which, at Berne, afford a constant object of admiration and remark. The Berne Alps are more beautiful than the Alps of Savoy (those near Montblanc). They are not quite so sublime and stupendous in their height and appearance, though the difference between mountains of 11 and 12,000 feet and those of 14 and 15,000 feet is very little felt in a prospect-but the forms, the juxta-position, and the surrounding accompaniments make a vast difference: the Alps of Berne form finer, more compact, and betterproportioned groupes. A cluster of these gigantic peaks and masses, formed by the Jungfrau, the Wetterhorn, the Eiger, the Finster Aarhorn, &c. &c. rear themselves in confederated grandeur far above all the surrounding heights. The Blumlis-Alp, the Niesen, and various other mountains, form a second tier or range upholding the snowy heights-while still lower, noble ranges of rocks, crags, green slopes, and forest-covered cliffs, rise out of the vallies, forming the connecting link between the world of snows above and the busy cultivated villages and vallies low beneath them. Thun, its castle, and its lake, repose beautifully in one of the most delicious of these vallies. Thun is one of the prettiest little towns imaginable, standing just at the point where the rapid Aar flows out of the silvery waters of the lake;-nothing can be more enchanting than the view from the church-yard and the castle, placed on an eminence commanding the town and lake;-the glassy expanse of water, the river, the neat town, the châteaux and gardens on the lake, the bold majestic mountains rising from its banks, the varied tints of the forests growing up their sides, and the snows and points of the Jungfrau, marked out on the deep blue sky, form a ravishing picture. We dined at an excellent inn by the Aar, while our guide procured a boat to proceed up the lake to Interlaken. During dinner we were struck with a burst of fine female voices pouring forth a shrill mountain air in the next room. On inquiry, we found the Russian Count de B was dining in true Oriental state, with four peasant girls to sing during his repast. Our guide learnt that these vocal nymphs came from Interlaken, and would gladly return with us in our boat if the Count objected not. He was very obliging, walked down with us to our boat, and there taking leave of his fair choristers, wished us a good voyage, and told the girls to be sure and sing "God save the King" to us. The girls were peasants' daughters from Untersen, who, with the consent of their parents, frequently were in the habit of accompanying travellers on the lakes of Thun and Brientz-a practice which, to us corrupted inhabitants of a metropolis, might at first seem somewhat inconsistent with simplicity and strictness of manners. Four young damsels, who should accompany four young male strangers on a water-party to Richmond or Twickenham, would certainly not obtain credit, in London, for any nice regard to character or reputation;-but morals and conduct on the banks of the Thames and on the lake of Thun will scarcely bear trying by the same standard. The parents of these young girls are certainly not to be commended for their prudence in thus exposing their daughters to the thoughtless flatteries and unprincipled attempts of chance travellers of all descriptions and, perhaps, the love of lucre so generally attributed to the Swiss peasantry may too much influence their conduct-but, in justice to these fair and fresh mountaineers, I must say that their behaviour and conversation were simple, frank, and modest; and that, after two days, during which they accompanied us as a vocal chorus on the lakes, we, a jury of four young men not ill versed in Paris and in London, and consequently not entirely deluded by dreams of female purity and Arcadian innocence, pronounced a decided verdict (after due discussion) in favour of the virtue of our fair companions. A jury of elderly spinsters would, doubtless, have come to an opposite conclusion--but I question much whether they would have been equally competent judges on the point. Two of the girls were handsomeone of them a perfect mountain-beauty-with "rosy health of buxom hue"-tall and well shaped; and with a regularity of features above the general German cast of countenance which distinguishes this peasantry—their voices were powerful, and rather animated than softtheir national airs had a true mountain spirit-a shrill inspiring melody which gushed forth in fresh exhilarating tones, and seemed to spring from hearts of Alpine purity and independence. One of their songs was a droll coarse lampoon at the expense of Napoleon-full of abuse in German Patois, and exultation at his downfall. The girls were delighted to hear of his death. A bright rosy sky, exquisite scenery, animated songs, and a blue unrippled lake, gave us a pleasant voyage of three hours to Neuhaus-from whence we walked a league to Interlaken, beautifully situated between the lakes of Thun and Brientz. The inn stands in the midst of a grove and avenues of walnut-trees, more majestic and umbrageous than any I ever beheld-opposite is the chdteau of the bailiff, Mons. de Haller, a nephew of the celebrated naturalist and philosopher. The scenery around is sequestered and romantic beyond description-hemmed in on all sides by noble ramparts of mountains covered with forests of beech and pine, which grow down to the edge of the lake of Brientz, and crown the summits, which throw their dark shadows on its blue surface. The valley is so narrow and the mountains so precipitous, that the view of the great snowy chain is here entirely excluded. A celebrated monastery, of which the noble walnut-trees are the only remaining vestige, was established here in the twelfth century-and a convent of nuns soon afterwards became its near neighbour. The morals of the valley do not appear to have been improved by religious example. In 1475, the Bernese Government were compelled to represent to the Pope the indecorum and dissolute conduct of the Prior and Monks of Interlaken.-A young lady, sister of William de Scharnachthal, a seigneur of the neighbourhood, was to take the veil in the Abbatial Church of Interlaken, but a handsome young Abelard happened to be present at the ceremony, and the inflammable damsel was so captivated with his appearance, that she instantly gave up her pious resolutions, and declared, in the presence of the two assembled communities, that she had chosen him for her spouse, and would never consent to give him up. Yet then to these dread altars as I drew, 'Not on the cross my eyes were fix'd, but you; And if I lose thy love, I lose my all.— The two religious houses were dissolved at the Reformation. We rowed up to the extremity of the lake of Brientz, which is smaller but not less lovely than that of Thun, to visit the celebrated cascade of the Giesbach. The Giesbach is a succession of silvery cascades, pouring down from the summit of a stupendous mountain, exquisitely shaded and tufted with forest trees and wild shrubs of every kind and tint. The firs, larches, and beeches, beautifully fringe and overhang the foaming stream, as it glides over ledges of rock or tumbles from abyss to abyss. The falls are not of extraordinary height, and the mass of water hardly sufficient for grandeur-but it is romantic and poetical in the highest degree-there is an attractive "music in its roar," which is never too overpowering to be harmonious. On a little ledge of pasture half way up the steep sides of the mountain, we found the solitary cabin of the Herr Schulmeister (schoolmaster of the parish), a fine sturdy peasant, surrounded by half a score little urchins, whom he instructs in reading, writing, figures, and music. An old jingling spinet, and an antique german-flute, served the purposes of musical tuition, and our fair songstresses formed a very important accession of vocal strength. The schoolmaster received us very kindly, and, soon perceiving our country, welcomed us with "God save the King" in full chorus; his boys and the four girls joining their clear and spirited voices with great effect; while the old pedagogue thrummed his spinet as leader of the band, with all the emphasis of Cramer or Weichsel. A knowledge of music forms a regular part of rustic education in Switzerland; the children of both sexes read music, and are able to sing in parts; the music of the village churches in the Protestant cantons, gains much by this general skill, and I am inclined to think it has a good effect on the character, and at least supplies an innocent and refined amusement, which saves many hours from bi utal riot and low pleasures. The rudiments of music might be taught with great advantage in our own parochial and national schools, and would form a serviceable ingredient in the plan of gentle encouragement, and persuasive amelioration, which we begin now to find so much more efficacious in improving the lower orders than penal laws, parish stocks, and whipping posts. To consider the amusements of the poor as beneath the notice of the magistrate, is a notion as injudicious as it is hard and unfeeling. Bow them down as much as you will under the load of their iron duties and necessities, they, as well as the rich, must and will have relaxation and periods of amusement. Wearied spirits and exhausted strength must be exhilarated and repaired; and if they are left without a taste for innocent diversion, they inevitably fly to coarse debauchery, for a short oblivion of their cares. We drove to the valley of Lauterbrunn in a char-d-banc. A hard rain, and louring clouds and mist, dimly veiled, though they could not conceal the grand features of the gorge, which forms the entrance of this singular and beautiful valley. Walls of perpendicular rock on each side; soaring summits, covered with brushwood and beeches; torrents swollen with the rains and obstructed in their furious course by wrecks of the woods and the mountains; large granites, and lofty trees laid low, formed a scene of wild and picturesque sublimity. The valley of Lauterbrunn (Anglicè "pure springs") is covered with the richest pastures. It is about two leagues long, and not an English mile in breadth; precipices of greater perpendicular height than almost From these heights num any others in Switzerland shut it in. berless streams and torrents pour into the vale, with a never-ceasing The famous Staubbach (stream of murmur, which fills all its recesses. dust) falls from the Pletschberg, a perpendicular height of 800 feet, and wants nothing but a larger quantity of water to render it one of the finest cataracts in Europe. Although we saw it after many days violent rain, a comparatively small stream gushed over the brink of the precipice. After gradually expanding in a fall of about 200 feet, it glances against a projection in the rock, splits into thin silvery streams, and is presently dissipated by the winds into the finest vapour and foam. The cataract thus possesses little of the grace or the grandeur of a fine fall of water-it is a singular effect of foam-a long thin cloud of mist, which floats backwards and forwards like a pendulum, as the current of air drives it, till it is at last scattered over the meadows in thin spray. The rock from which it falls, though grand and precipitous, is bare and uniform, and wants the rich accompaniments of foliage and vegetation. In short, the Staubbach is over-rated, on account of the immense height of the fall.-Lauterbrunn has several other cascades (the Mirrenbach, Schmadribach, &c.) with more picturesque charms-and the valley merits all its fame for the grandeur of its precipices, and the lovely contrast of its green glades and picturesque hamlets, with the stupendous crags and snows which overhang them. Towards these impending wintry regions we climbed our way on strong peasant's horses, in passing the Wengern Alp, one of the subThe highest point of limest and least difficult of alpine excursions. the passage of the Wengern Alp is about 6300 feet above the level of the sea-the ascent from Lauterbrunn, by a zig-zag path, is very rapid, and commands a noble view of the green valley beneath, with all its streams and silvery cascades--but these charms soon yield on reaching the summit, to the majestic beauty of the white, awful, and inac cessible Jungfrau, which rears her vast head nearly 7000 feet even above the summit of the Wengern Alp; and presides like a virgin. queen over the vast demesnes of glittering snow, which stretch from the Breithorn to the Wetterhorn, above Grindelwald. The sides of the Wengern Alp, along which we rode, slope rapidly down to an enormous ravine, called the Trumletenthal, the bottom of which forms the base of the glaciers of the Jungfrau. A light filmy veil of transparent vapour floated over the mountain, which rather increased its beauty, and which the sun soon dissipated. We halted at a châlet an hour to enjoy this near view of the sublime spectacle. It is the finest near prospect of a stupendous alpine height that I ever beheld. We were no longer kept at an impenetrable distance-or excluded by that provoking barrier of impracticable lesser mountains, which so often mocks one's curiosity, and leaves one to speculate vaguely on the awful domes of ice and snow which they surround. We were now admitted to the presence-fairly in the holy of holies-and in immediate contact with fathomless chasms, inaccessible snows, bare granite needles, awful crags and fissures, and, above all, continual avalanches, which poured These summer down from rock to rock with the roar of thunder. avalanches are, of their kind, very striking and sublime, though not equal to the overwhelming avalanches of the spring. The effect to the eye is not always adequate to expectation, owing to the height and |