LAUSANNE.

Rousseau, Voltaire, our Gibbon, and de Staël,

Leman! these names are worthy of thy shore,
Thy shore of names, like these; wert thou no more,
Their memory thy remembrance would recall!

BYRON.

LAUSANNE is a neat picturesque town, about eight hours' drive from Geneva, and is deservedly celebrated for the singular beauty of its situation. The climate is salubrious and delightful, and the romantic scenery of the Pays de Vaud has not its equal in the world. Nothing can surpass the glowing magnificence of a summer's evening in this fairy region. When the sun descends beyond mount Jura, the alpine summits reflect for a long time the bright ruddy splendour, and the quiet lake, unruffled by a breeze, assumes the appearance of liquid gold. In the distance rises the vast chain of Alps, with their seas of ice and boundless regions of snow, contrasted with the near and more pleasing objects of glowing vineyards and golden corn fields, and interspersed with the wooded brow, the verdant and tranquil valley, with villas, hamlets, and sparkling streams.

Rousseau expresses his rapture at this scene, in the person of the hero of his celebrated romance, who, returning from a voyage round the world, thus exclaims at the sight of his native Pays de Vaud, "Ce paysage unique, le plus

beau dont l'œil humain fut jamais frappé, ce sejour charmant auquel je n'avais rien trouvé d'egal dans le tour du monde."

Lausanne is the capital of the Pays de Vaud. The church is a magnificent gothic building, and was the cathedral when the country was subject to the dukes of Savoy. It was taken from the house of Savoy by the canton of Bern, under whose dominion it remained for nearly two centuries and a half, until the French revolution altered the whole face of affairs in Europe. Switzerland caught the cry of liberty and equality, and the government of Bern, which had hitherto been vested in an aristocracy, was transferred to a representative council, chosen by the people.

The inhabitants of Lausanne are Calvinists, although none of that mortifying spirit is discernible which characterises their brother presbyterians of Scotland. The only point on which they appear to feel the necessity of a strict observance is the time of divine service on the Sabbath day. Every thing then is as quiet and still as though all classes were convinced of the necessity of, at least, an appearance of religious duty, and few persons are seen in the streets, unless on their way to church. But so soon as the services are ended, the day is devoted to gaiety and recreation. As in France, the neighbouring places of amusement are crowded with visitors, and every thing exhibits a more than usual appearance of gaiety. Their festivities however are conducted on a more moderate scale; for great attention is paid by the government to repress the growth of luxury which, despite of the endeavours of the Swiss republicans, is making

a rapid progress. Many of the foreign residents find it extremely difficult to accommodate their habits to the regulations imposed on the inhabitants, and sometimes incur the penalties awarded in cases of infringement of their sumptuary laws.

Lausanne, in addition to the natural beauties with which it so richly abounds, derives new interest from the associations to which it gives rise.

The house of Gibbon, one of the most attractive objects at Lausanne, is visited by every stranger. To this retreat he retired to complete those great historical labours which have immortalized his name. The little impression which he had made in public life—the loss of his seat at the Board of Trade—and the neglect of the coalition ministry, who "counted his vote on the day of battle, but overlooked him in the division of the spoil;" all seemed to render his voluntary banishment desirable; while his attachment to the society and scenery of Lausanne, and his intimate acquaintance with the people and the language, gave that banishment almost the air of a restoration to his native country. Familiar as he had been with the society of the learned, the noble, and the great, he valued it too correctly to mourn over its loss. "Such lofty connexions," he observes, "may attract the curious and gratify the vain; but I am too modest, or too proud, to rate my own value by that of my associates; and whatever may be the fame of learning or genius, experience has shown me that the cheaper qualifications of politeness and good sense are of more useful currency in the commerce of life." The historian's choice was well made, nor did it subject him to repent"Since my establishment at Lausanne," he says,

ance.

"" seven years have elapsed, and if every day has not been equally soft and serene, not a day, not a moment has occurred in which I have repented of my choice."

In a letter addressed to Madame Severy, during his visit to England in 1787, he expresses, very beautifully, his attachment to his Swiss residence, and the pain which he had experienced in leaving it.

"Je perdrois de vue cette position unique sur la terre, ce lac, ces montagnes, ces riants côteaux; ce tableau charmant, qui paroit toujours nouveau aux yeux mêmes accoutumés dès leur enfance à le voir. Je laissois ma bibliothèque, la terrasse, mon berçeau, une maison riante, et tous ces petits objets de commodité journalière que l'habitude nous rend si necessaires; et dont l'absence nous fait à tous momens sentir la privation. Sur tous les pays de l'Europe, j'avois choisi pour ma retraite le Pays de Vaud, et jamais je ne me suis repénté un seul instant de ce choix."

During his residence at Lausanne, Gibbon in general devoted the whole of the morning to study, abandoning himself in the evening to the pleasures of conversation, or to the lighter recreation of the card-table. "By many," he observes," conversation is esteemed as a theatre or a school; but after the morning has been occupied with the labours of the library, I wish to unbend rather than to exercise my mind, and in the interval between tea and supper I am far from disdaining the innocent amusement of a game at cards.”

In a letter to his kind and excellent relative, Mrs. Porter, Gibbon has described what he terms the "skeleton of his life at Lausanne."

"In this season (the winter) I rise, not at four in the