JURA MOUNTAINS. 41 dren, the sick and the lame, to cultivate the fields! The houses appeared to be mouldering into dust, and the people to be half-starved. Doubtless the dreadfully depressed state of the wine trade in France, for many years past, has led to this superlative degree of misery and poverty among the inhabitants of those provinces where the grape is the staple commodity. It has been stated, on good authority, that, in many of the vine-countries, the wine was not worth more than the cask in which it was contained. If we may judge by the wretched appearance of the people and of the towns in Burgundy, and more especially by Joigny and the neighbouring villages, we might conclude that the wine was not worth more than the hoops of the cask! I wish the English farmers, a race of beings that have been characterized for grumbling and discontent ever since the days of Virgil "O Fortunatos nimium si sua bona nôrint," could be dropped down in the heart of France, Spain, or Italy, for one week, to stare, and starve, and growl, and gripe, on the sour wine and sandy bread of their continental neighbours! Surely they would hail the chalky cliffs of their native Isle with pleasure, and enjoy the roast beef and brown stout of Old England with a better relish than they had ever done before. "Rem carendo, non fruendo, cognoscimus." THE JURA MOUNTAINS---PAYS DE VAUD. To traverse" the long rough road" between Paris and Poligny, is bad enough to describe it would be worse-but the penalty of reading such descriptions would be worst of all! Yet Reichard and Mrs. Starke inflict this last punishment on thousands of their countrymen and women annually! Such descriptions are, after all, the only things on the dull and dreary track, which are calculated to amuse the traveller. It is really wonderful how these and other writers have been able to invest the country with beauties which have no existence but in their own imaginations. It was a great violation of the unity of French monotony and of the Genius of Geography, to annex the Jura Mountains to France. They appear the natural boundary between that country and Switzerland, and partake much more of the geological features of the latter than of the former territory. This chain of mountains presents many beautiful prospects-but none more joyful to the traveller than that which is seen from the heights above Poligny —because it is a farewell to France! He who has pilgrimaged from Calais to this place, will feel the invigorating influence of the mountain air, as soon as he begins to ascend from the stupid, though fertile and vine-clad plains of Burgundy and Franche Compté. Should the route of the Rhine be prohibited, I had rather go round by the Cape of Good Hope to Switzerland, than G traverse France another time! It is really refreshing to see even a goitre or a short petticoat (some approach to Swiss costume) after the clattering sabot, the bas bleu, the coarse jacket, the mahogany complexion, the horrible caps, and the downright ugly features which so generally meet the eye among the French peasantry. The great military road winds up and along precipices-through magnificent forests of beech and pine-the rivulets are heard foaming over ledges of rock-while innumerable alpine shrubs and flowers unfold their varying tints and hues to Summer suns and Winter snows. From Champagnole to Les Russes, the scenery is very interesting-and, in several places, is even fine. The descent to Morez and the ascent to Les Russes present some extremely romantic spots-especially a valley on the right hand soon after leaving Morez, where Rasselas might have been placed, and the picture, as far as geographical scenery is concerned, drawn from Nature itself. But the attractive points of the Jura are those from whence the traveller catches the first view of the Lake of Geneva, the Pays de Vaud, and surrounding Alps. 'Twas at this instant-while there glow'd This last intensest gleam of light— The valley burst upon my sight! That glorious valley, with its lake, And Alps on Alps in clusters swelling, Mighty and pure, and fit to make The ramparts of a Godhead's dwelling !—MOORE. The Savoy, or opposite side of the lake attracts most attention. The immense chain of Alps, with the monarch of mountains (Mont Blanc) át their head, presents three very different, and tolerably defined zones or regions. The first is the snowy region, undulated like white fleecy clouds, on an autumnal evening, and so much resembling them, that it is only by waiting some time, that the distinction can be ascertained. In this region Mont Blanc still preserves his superiority—and from the Jura this superiority is more striking than from any other point that I have seen in Switzerland. It is curious that the higher the spectator is placed, the higher this monarch of the Alps appears. Thus, from the Valley of Chamouni, at the foot of Mont Blanc, the height of that mountain seems by no means remarkable; though the vastness of the immense pile is peculiarly so. But from the Jura, the altitude of the mountain is something incredible. The next band or region is of a dark blue colour, interspersed with many white points or perpendicular lines, and the naked eye cannot distinguish the parts of which this region is composed. A good telescope plainly shews that PAYS DE VAUD FROM THE JURA. 43 it is the region of wood, rock, glacier and torrent. The woods, which are chiefly pine, together with the naked rocks and the haze which hangs about the woods, give this region the dark blue tint. The torrents, the glaciers, and the white cliffs reflect the rays of the evening sun, and account for the bright points and perpendicular lines in the landscape. The lowest range or zone is that of cultivation-or, more properly speaking, of FERTILITY-for every spot of the middle region, on which the hand of industry can bear, is cultivated in some way or other. The Savoy side of the lake is neither so fertile nor so well managed as the Pays de Vaud; but still the telescope, and even the naked eye ranges over vineyards, corn fields, gardens, plantations-in short, over every kind of agriculture, down to the waters' edge-presenting a succession of habitations, from the simple chalet perched on the edge of a precipice, or hanging, as it were, over the edge of a cliff, down to the beautiful villa reposing on the banks of the Leman, and reflected from the surface of the glassy lake. The eye at length comes down to the lake itself, stretching, like an immense mirror, from Geneva on the right to Vevay and Chillon on the extreme left. These two last reflect the beams of the setting sun, and are clearly seen from the gorge of the Jura with the naked eye. The lake itself, forty-seven miles in length, sweeps round in a crescent, bearing on its smooth bosom a great variety of vessels, gliding quietly along, loaded with the local commerce of the surrounding shores. Among these the STEAMER daily ploughs its rapid course, and without that long train of smoke which has given such a shock to the sensibility, or rather sentimentality of northern tourists round the borders of Loch Lomond. Wood is used instead of coal, and the traveller has an excellent opportunity of thus viewing the magnificent scenery of Lake Leman in one day, with no fatigue and very little expense. Lastly, the PAYS DE VAUD, one of the best cultivated and fertile slopes in Switzerland, lies directly beneath us, stretching from the Jura to the waters' side-varying in breadth from six to eight miles-covered with vineyards, corn fields, orchards and gardens-and interspersed with towns, villages, and villas. The new road down the Jura from Vattry to Rolle, is cut in such graceful windings, rather than in acute zig-zags, that the horses go at full gallop along the greater part of it-the traveller retaining a full view of the fairy scene the whole way to the verge of the lake. From thence to Geneva, a distance of about 14 miles, the drive is beautiful. The view of the Jura on one side, and the Savoy mountains on the other-the pellucid waters of the lake breaking, with gentle murmur, on the golden sands along the very edge of the road-the beams of the setting sun gilding the snowy summits of the high Alps, and playing on glaciers, cliffs, "And glittering streams high gleaning from afar" harmonizing with the freshness of the air, the serenity of the scene, the neatness of the cottages, the honest and cheerful countenances of the inhabitants, form a combination of magnificence and tranquillity that defies the power of description, either in prose or verse. It was on this very spot, and at this time of evening, that Moore was excited to the following effusion:— No, never shall I lose the trace Of what I've felt in this bright place; This mighty scene again I'll seek, At this same calm and glowing hour, And here, at the sublimest shrine That Nature ever reared to thee, Rekindle all that hope divine, And feel my immortality! The sun-beams hovered round the hoary head of Mont Blanc for full half an hour after their parent source had sunk behind the Jura. The " refulgent lamp of night" then rose in splendour, and poured her column of silver light over the rippling wave direct upon us, while we galloped along the winding shores to the gates of Geneva. Although the physical character and costume of the Swiss people do not exhibit such a striking contrast with the character and costume of the French, as the geographical features of Switzerland with those of France—yet the contrast is great, even in the Pays de Vaud, where the two people touch. The complexions change to a healthier tint, owing, no doubt, to air, exercise, and cleanliness. The Swiss are ten times more industrious than the French, and had they half the fertility of soil, they would be ten times richer than their prouder neighbours. As it is, with all their rocks, and snows, and glaçiers, and lakes, and forests, they are infinitely more comfortable as to food, drink, clothing, and most of the necessaries of life-and all this from INDUSTRY, which invariably brings in its train HEALTH, WEALTH, and HAPPINESS. That this industry is much connected with, or dependent on religious and political institutions, there can be no doubt. PROTESTANTISM Seems to lead as naturally to PROPERTY, through the medium of industry, as POPERY leads to POVERTY, through the medium of idleness! The two sides of the Lake of Geneva exhibit this contrast, though on a small scale. GENEVA. The gates of this ancient and far-famed city recalled my attention to one of the many vexations and taxations to which all are subject on the Continent, the VEXATIONS OF THE PASSPORT SYSTEM. 45 but which the traveller feels more severely than any other class, for obvious locomotive reasons :-I mean the PASSPORT SYSTEM. Europe is still, in this respect, what it was in the days of ROMAN DOMINION-one vast and dreary PRISON! According to all just and good laws, a man is considered innocent till he is proved to be guilty. Not so under the passport system. There he is always suspected of being guilty, after repeated proofs of innocence! An Englishman undergoes all necessary scrutiny on landing at Calais, and his passport is found to be "quite correct." But a drive along a road where it would be difficult to beg, borrow, or steal-a passage over a crazy wooden plank, or under a tottering gateway, renders him as great an object of political suspicion, as if he had crossed direct in a balloon from the Cabinet of St. James's-and again he undergoes gendarmerie purification-generally at expense of a franc for his freedom to the next fortified town. This system is vexatious enough in the "GREAT NATION;" but it is still more taxatious in the fifty little nations through which the traveller passes in rapid succession. A drawbridge and a portcullis are not the only things that cast suspicion of political conspiracy on the unfortunate traveller. A night-cap, or the name of his meal, is a formal procés-verbal against him. He may dine in a town or village on the Continent, and drink his bottle of winemount his mule or his carriage, and proceed without molestation. But if he sup, put on his night-cap, and go to bed-he is a suspected subject—and the master of the hotel is bound to have him purified in the morning by a visit from a whiskered knight of the halbert, who bows, begs, or perhaps blusters, till the traveller gets rid of his accursed presence by a piece of money! The more petty, paltry, and subjugated the principality or state through which you pass, the more rigorous the examination of your passport and baggage, lest you should be plotting against its independance (!!) or infringing on its commerce! The PRINCE of MONACO, for example, (one of Napoleon's imperial brood, I believe) whose town and territory Gulliver would have extinguished with the same ease, and by the same means, as he did the fire in Lilliput, orders a half-starved sergeant, with a cigar in his mouth, into your room, while breakfasting or dining at MENTONE, to demand 75 cents for liberty to pass through his empire! But all this time we are standing at the gates of Geneva, with as much doubt and anxiety as candidates for admission into the portals of Paradise, although our courier had long preceded us with all kinds of documents, to prove that we were peaceable and not political travellers-subjects of a friendly state-free-born as the sons of Helvetia—and, what is more than all, believing as firmly as Calvin himself, that-the POPE is ANTICHRIST! Whether a senatus consultus of watchmakers and musical snuff-box manufacturers had been summoned to deliberate on the safety or "danger of the republic" in case we were admitted after 10 o'clock, I cannot tell-but there was quite |