Latin and German, and singular statues in relief, the work of the middle ages. It is one of the oldest churches in the country, and what is of greater importance, there is a superb view of the Rhine from the top of its spire.

15th. In this country the works of nature are formed on such a magnificent scale, that one feels the less inclined to bestow much attention on those of art. Indeed, though I have now only crossed the barriers of Switzerland, I imagine that there is already something different, even in the "liberal air," from what I have elsewhere experienced, and this makes me the more anxious to enjoy it as much as possible among the open fields. As Cowper says

"God made the country, but man made the

town

and I was never before so deeply impressed with the truth of the observation. I certainly feel every inclination to behave like a zealous tourist; that is, to describe the shape of the streets, the number of the houses, and the size of the doors and windows-to sketch old crosses, or copy inscriptions from fountains and market-places-and to ascertain the precise periods at which the different charitable institutions were founded. All this, however, I am prevented from doing, by an accident which befel me one calm Sabbath evening. I happened to walk a few miles from Basle, up a small and silent valley, by the side of a beautiful stream. Towards the head of it, I ascended a vine-clad hill of considerable height, and enjoyed as usual a most delightful view. But one night I shall never cease to remember, "While memory holds her seat in this dis.

tracted globe."

On turning towards the Swiss side, I beheld for the first time, with astonishment and joy, the snow-covered summits of the Alps at a vast distance, towering beyond the line of perpetual congelation. The sun had almost sunk, at least the vallies and lower ranges of hills were obscured; but these gigantic mountains still reflected the golden beams from their snowy scalps, which glittered in the distant twilight like glorious diadems; and contrasted with the increasing darkness of the still vallies below, were grand as it was possible for the imagination to picture. The majestic Rhine, too, shone in

the great valley, and appeared here and there in the distant plain spreading its bosom into a lovely lake. Now, whenever I endeavour to particularize the works of human skill, these icy peaks, the "palaces of nature," rise up before me, and have made so strong an impression, that I find myself incapable of attending to any thing else. During supper, a German artist favoured us with a critique on the Dance of Death, and other works of Holbein, some of which it seems are preserved here.

16th. On leaving Basle I need not say how sorry I was. I had there only passed two little days, but they were pleasant and happy ones; and though I should live many a long year, I don't think I shall ever forget them. My regret, however, at leaving it, gradually wore away as I proceeded on my journey to Lauffenburg; for every step I took discovered some new beauty. The road winds along a number of little vallies, caused by the wooded hills which form the banks of the Rhine; and as often as the traveller turns about, he beholds a beautiful extent of country behind him, covered with hanging woods, and either swelling into lofty hills, or sinking into deep dells with the most delightful variety. A number of lovely cottages scattered through the vales, and glimmering amid the trees, present continual objects for admiration-and each one becomes envied till a more beautiful one appears. So delighted was I with this walk, that though many leagues long, I scarcely knew where I was till it was over, and then I could not help wishing that I had to perform it again. There is certainly something in the noise and motion of a carriage, which prevents the mind from feeling excited by rural scenery in the way in which I feel mine to be when my body is unconfined. That calm and placid breathing of nature, which every one must have seen and felt who has walked alone through a fine country, cannot be enjoyed except on foot. The face of nature bears a different aspect, and the cracking of the coachman's whip is sufficient to dissolve the charm, and cause "The silence that is in the starry skyThe sleep that is among the lonely hills-" to vanish. But on foot every thing makes an impression-every winding of a river, and each beautiful tree,

and the calmness of a fine summer evening, when there is nothing to prevent it sinking into the farthest recesses of the heart. For myself at least I can say, that I never walked with my face towards a fine setting sun, without feeling it to be, as our own most majestic poet has expressed it, "a heavenly destiny." Nothing tends so powerfully to extinguish all bad passions as the contemplation of the still majesty of Nature. Perhaps time so spent might ere long fill up the void even of a desolate heart, and cause it to wonder why it should ever have been wretched. Peace has visited the cell where the hermit retired to die in sorrow.

But what relation do such speculations bear to Lauffenburg? I rose with the lark, and descended to the river side, having heard a good deal of a fall of the Rhine here. I was not disappointed with the scene, but there is no fall. The river for some hundred yards passes along a rocky bed, and is confined within one half of its natural channel; there is also a great declivity for nearly a quarter of a mile, so that it has here exactly the appearance of an American rapid. The rushing of the water is prodigious, and the surrounding scenery is quite in unison with the voice of the destroyer. Every thing seems rent, uprooted, and overthrown, and placed exactly in a situation the most different from that which nature must have originally intended it should occupy. If you glance your eye over a sheet of water, or a chain of rocks, you have not proceeded a few yards before you find the water and the rocks in opposition to each other, and turning, "with aspect malign," in a direction quite contrary to that which you at first expected them to take. The banks are steep, and shaggy, and romantic in the extreme; indeed, upon the whole, this little town of Lauffenburg possesses the most picturesque situation I have ever beheld. It has the merit, also, of originality-at least I never saw any other to which it bore the slightest resemblance. Immediately above the rapid, and at the head of the town, the river is very broad and spacious, like a little lake it appears, in fact, as if collecting its utmost strength to effect the passage through the rocks. The waters of the Rhine hitherto have not been clear.

VOL. IV.

I am informed that towards Schaffhausen they are so; but from Brissac to Basle, and somewhat farther up, they are of a clay colour, with a shade of green. Here, however, they begin to brighten; the clay colour is less visible, and the green is like that of a shallow sea. Such, however, is the opposition the waters meet with in this rapid, that the whole is one sheet of foam of the most snowy whiteness. When first I beheld this glorious pass, the rays of the sun had just fallen on the river, while the steep bank on the eastern side was dark and obscure. The river shone like liquid silver, and the waving tops of the birches and weeping willows constantly bending their long drooping branches into the stream," stooping as if to drink," gave a character of life and beauty to the scene, which passeth speech. Above that part of the river which has the appearance of a little lake, the mountains are lofty, and ranged like an immense amphitheatre, adorned with vineyards and cottages, and terminated by precipitous crags and old romantic pine-trees.

18th. I found the last-mentioned village so delightful, that I was almost rivetted to the spot, and wished that I had so arranged my plans as to allow me to pass a couple of months there. This, however, could not well be; so I left it this forenoon, and proceeded onwards by the left side of the Rhine. The greater part of my journey this day lay in Germany. The road proceeds for many miles close to the river, and a little elevated above it. The banks on either side are green and sloping-the river is smooth and rapid, and seems in some parts almost to overflow its banks. It would be difficult to fancy any thing more beau tiful than many parts of my walk at this time. Passing through Albrugg and Waldshut, towards evening I arrived at Little Coblentz, below which is the junction of the Rhine, with its great branch the Aâr, which river has a long and continuous course through Switzerland, and is fed by streams from Neufchatel, the country to the north-east of the lake of Geneva, and from the cantons of Berne and Zurich. It is nearly as large as the other branch; but, running at an angle with the united waters, it loses its own name, and assumes that of the Rhine. My favourite river, therefore, though 4 R

still magnificent, is now much diminished, but it is beautifully clear, of a fine bluish green colour, and the surrounding country is as delightful

as ever.

After passing the village of Coblentz, we lose sight of the Rhine, though, in the stillness of a fine autumnal evening, its sonorous flow was distinctly audible for some time after it became invisible to the eye. About nightfall I found myself in the town of Thungen; but not liking its appearance, I determined to proceed another league to Luchingen, having previously ascertained that there were no walls, or other hostile barriers, around the last-mentioned city. There I arrived, accordingly, in good time, and regaled myself with an excellent bottle of hock. I was treated with great civility, though it is rather an ill-regulated place, and not to compare with Lauffenburgbut indeed what other spot deserves

to be so?

19th.-On Wednesday I departed, before the mists of the morning had risen from the valley, and pursued my route to Schaffhausen. An old ruined castle was seen on the brow of a steep hill, with white clouds breaking around it in a very picturesque style. I crossed one or two small streams, with antique mossy bridges, but the majestic river was inaudible. During my walk this day, I recollected that I was within a few days' journey of the source of the Danube; and being suddenly inspired with the desire of beholding the parent of that famous river, I struck off to the leftward, and entered the Black Forest, with the intention of crossing the Suabian mountains next day. After walking, how ever, for several hours, without meeting a single being, and seeing nothing but bare hills before me, I began to think it might be as well to sleep beneath a human roof, particularly as I felt both fatigued and feverish; so turning to the right, I again directed my steps towards the Rhine, the course of which could easily be traced by the fine woods and cultivated fields on either side-and thus ingloriously terminated my excursion to the Danube. I arrived at Schaffhausen in the evening, having taken a near cut through a small forest in the neighbourhood, at the instigation of, and in company with, a Ger

man peasant. We descended upon the town from an elevated ridge of land, from which I had a noble view of the old Rhine and the surrounding country. About a quarter of a mile from Schaffhausen, I passed close by a small mount surrounded by a stone wall, which altogether reminded me of the druidical temple I had erected near Basle. My attention was more particularly attracted to it by a group of children on the top, who seemed intently examining something on its surface. I accordingly ascended, and found, to my surprise, the verdant sod covered with blood. On inquiry, I found that this place was what the natives call the Rappen-stein, which is the place of public execution. The blood I saw was possibly still warm, as an unhappy malefactor had been executed that afternoon. Their heads are chopped off with a two-handed sword, and this, by a dextrous execu tioner, is accomplished by a single

blow.

During this day, I had not much enjoyment. The scenery, no doubt, was fine, but the weather was oppres sively hot, the sky being without a cloud, and the greater part of my walk without a tree-and the refreshing flow of the river, which had so long delighted both eye and ear, with its mighty melody, was far distant.

19th.-Schaffhausen is a considerable town, but dirty and ill paved. With in a mile or two of this place, is the famous fall of the Rhine, by many thought the finest cataract in Europe. It is certainly a glorious sight. The river, owing to a rapid immediately above the fall, rushes with prodigious velocity-the body of water is very great, the breadth being nearly 200 feet, and it falls from the height of 80 feet. There are two or three high castellated rocks in the centre, finely wooded. These divide the fall, but the spray rising from below, conceals their bases entirely, and produces an appearance towards the lower part, of one continued mass of water. But the scenery is really so superb, and the weather so delightful, that all description is set at defiance; and I sit down more from a praiseworthy habit which I have got into of writing for a few minutes every evening, than from any hope, or even intention, of recording either my own feelings, or the general features of this heavenly country.