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ther was seen to start at the sight of it, to shed tears even; but upon hearing a footstep he turned into another path, and no further notice was taken of the circumstance; but some years afterwards his tombstone betrayed the secret*.

Edward felt the tears rush to his eyes as he exclaimed, "Oh, how shocking. Do you think, Šir-" A look from the Doctor closed his lips, and they continued to stroll in the church-yard for some time, where they saw many names once distinguished in the world as heroes and statesmen.

66

Upon quitting this gloomy mansion, Dr. Walker and his pupil appeared to have imbibed some portion of the taciturnity imposed upon the fraternity who inhabited it. They pursued their route for some time in silence, which was first interrupted by Dr. Walker. "I told you," said the good man, we would talk about the cypress trees, by and bye; are you willing to hear their natural history now?" EDWARD.- 66 Yes, Sir; but I wanted to ask you about the Chartreux monks." DR. WALKER." Some other time I will give you history of their foundation. At present we will not begin the subject. Those cypress trees claim our attention at this

moment.

the

"This tree is a native of the Levant, although now so luxuriant here. They are sometimes, when left to themselves, of a complete pyramidal form, and then, as you see in that one which overhangs yon craggy rock, they are graceful and beautiful.

"In many of the old gardens in England, cypress trees are still to be found, but their general sombre and gloomy appearance has caused them, of late years, to be much neglected. They are, however, very valuable, on account of their wood, which is hard, compact, and durable, of a pale or reddish colour, with deep veins, and a pleasant smell. We are informed by Pliny that the doors of the famous temple of Diana, at Ephesus, were of cypress wood, and, though 400 years old at the time that he wrote, appeared to be nearly as fresh as new. Indeed this wood was so much esteemed by the ancients that the image of Jupiter in the Capitol was made of it. The gates of St. Peter's church at Rome was stated to have been of cypress, and to have lasted more than 1000 years, from the time of the Emperor Constantine until that of Pope Eugenius the fourth, when gates of brass were erected in their stead. As this

The above anecdote is a fact; but it happened in the Chartreux, at Grenoble, in Dauphiné.

wood, in addition to its other qualities, takes a fine polish, and is not liable to the attacks of insects, it was formerly much esteemed for cabinet furniture. By the Greeks,, in the time of Thucydides, it was used for the coffins of eminent warriors; and many of the chests which inclose Egyptian mummies, are made of it. The latter afford very decisive proof of its almost incorruptible nature..

"The name of this tree is derived from the island of Cyprus, in the Mediterranean, where it still grows in great luxuriance. Its gloomy hue caused it to be consecrated by the ancients to Pluto, aud to be used at the funerals of people of eminence. Pliny states that, in his time, it was customary to place branches of the cypress tree before those houses in which any person lay dead."

SECTION VII..

JOURNEY TO SAVOY.

FROM Gruyere they continued their journey, and arrived on a beautiful evening at Vevai, when the clouds were glowing with gold and purple. "It has been a matter of great contest among philosophers," said Dr. Walker, as Edward pointed to the lovely scene, "by what means water, which is nearly nine hundred times heavier than air, can be rendered capable of ascending into the aerial regions. Descartes accounted for it by supposing, that by the action of solar heat upon a sheet of water, its superficial particles are formed into minute hollow spheres, and become filled with the materia subtilis of space; the particles thus filled, must necessarily, it was added, from the superior levity of the substance, they envelope, ascend through the ambient air, till they attain their proper level.

"But the hypothesis now generally admitted is that of solution, first of all advanced by the Abbé Nollet, in his Leçons de Physique Experimentale. Water and air, it is contended, have a mutual power of dissolving each other; and air is not more frequently, extricated from the former than water is from the latter. The lower part of the atmosphere being then pressed by the weight of the cumbent column on the surface of the water, and perpetually rubbing against it, attracts and dissolves those particles with which

it is in contact, and separates them from the rest of the water. The aqueous particles thus detached, and absorbed by the lower column of air, are next still more forcibly attracted by the superior column, in consequence of its being not only dryer, but that it possesses ampler pores to receive the dissolved vapour. When the aqueous particles attain a certain degree of elevation, the coldness of the atmosphere condenses them, and they coalesce into particles of much larger dimensions, and gradually produce the phenomenon, called a cloud. When the particles of which such clouds consist, are more closely compacted, either by their mutual attraction of cohesion, or the external pressure of the wind against it, they run into drops sufficiently ponderous to descend in the form of rain. If the cloud become frozen by any current of cold air before its particles are formed into drops, small fragments of them being condensed, and consequently encreased in weight, they will detach themselves from the general mass, and fall in flakes of snow. If its particles have coalesced into drops prior to its being frozen, these drops will then descend in the form of hail-stones. And when the lower air is replete with aqueous vapour dissolved in its pores, and a sudden current of cold wind rushes through it producing the natural frigidity of the superior atmosphere, a mist, or fog, which is only a kind of inferior cloud, is immediately created, and as suddenly dispersed on the return of the natural warmth of the air, which then re-dissolves the vapoury particles to invisible minuteness. In like manner dew drops may be regarded as an inferior rain, the cold attacking the dissolved vapours of the lower atmosphere, being more intense than in the case of fogs, or continued for a greater length of time. Thus you see, my dear Edward, that we are surrounded by the wonderful operations of nature, by the most extraordinary chemical processes, and yet as the immortal Thomson says:

'But wand'ring oft with brute unconscious gaze,
Man marks not Thee, marks not the mighty hand
That ever busy, wheels the silent spheres,
Works in the secret deep; shoots steaming, thence
The fair profusion that o'erspreads the spring:
Flings from the sun direct the flaming day;
Feeds every creature; hurls the tempest forth,
And, as on earth this grateful change revolves
With transport touches all the springs of life."

The sun was just sinking behind the hills to the west of Velay, when our travellers entered the town. They no sooner alighted from their carriage, for since they quitted the more mountainous regions they had enjoyed that luxury, than they resolved to have a cruise on the much famed lake of Geneva. The tops of the magnificent rocks of Savoy were still seen reflecting the sun's last rays; but the waters of the lake were discerned only through the encreasing gloom of the evening, they therefore returned to the town, and early the next morning began their peregrinations in its en. virons. Upon a small eminence behind the town stands the castle of Blonai, from whence the prospect is extensive and beautiful. Within this small baronial territory there is a medicinal spring, which has performed several cures, and people resort to it in the summer to drink its waters. In this neighbourhood is a house called a Coterold, where Sir Edmund Ludlow, one of the judges of Charles I. took refuge when Charles II. was restored to his throne.

Dr. Walker and his pupil were extremely pleased with the scene displayed in the market-place by the Savoyards, who are allowed to dispose of their fruits, flowers and vegetables on a market day in this town. Their appearance is very picturesque; they wear a little straw hat, in which they tastefully place a rose on one side. Their manners are totally devoid of all vulgarity, and they arrange their little merchandize in the most fanciful way.

St. Saporin was the next town they stopped at; but here they only remained to take a view of the columns which decorate the walls, and which were erected to the emperor Adrian. Cuilly, situated at the edge of a fine forest, next arrested their attention from its romantic situation; but they staid only to change horses, and at length arrived at Lausanne, the capital of the canton of Leman. The great church called Notre Dame, is magnificent, and very ancient; it was built in the eleventh century. It is very spacious, and of a prodigious height. The roof is supported by two hundred and sixty columns, and eleven others of black marble sustain a beautiful gallery, under which are placed two fine marble tables of great value. The great window is in the form of a rose, and is exceedingly striking. The view from the terrace of this town is beyond all description; but perhaps no part of it is more attractive than the lake in a calm summer evening, when the boats set sail to convey the

Savoyard peasant girls to the other side. Their voices are particularly melodious, and as they generally sing during the whole of their little voyage, their soft cadences, joined to the sound produced by the gentle undulation of the waters, considerably encrease those pleasing sensations which the beauty of the scenery is so calculated to excite. From Lausanne they coasted the lake till they arrived at Geneva. At Copel, one stage short of this place, M. Neckar resided, and after him his daughter, Madame de Stael.

The environs of Geneva, are studded with magnificent edifices, many of which are inhabited by foreigners from various nations, who are attracted thither by the politeness and urbanity of its inhabitants, and the beauty of its situation. The walks are extremely extensive. That which overlooks the Rhone, and which is adorned with a bust of Rousseau, commands a fine view of the Alps, and from amidst these sublime and lofty mountains Mont Blanc lifts its venerable head.

DR. WALKER, -"We have no time to visit the stupendous Mont Blanc, or its delightful valley of Chamouni; we must content ourselves with imagining its sublime scenery. M. de Saussure has the credit of being the first man who ascended this stupendous mountain; he is called the Father of the Alps; for the greater part of his life has been passed in visiting their most dangerous, as well as their most attractive points. Ben Nevis, which is 4388 feet above the level of the sea, is but a hillock compared to Mont Blanc; and Mont Blanc itself would be looked upon as no higher than Ben Nevis, if placed by the side of Chimboraco in Peru. Every thing is but comparatively large or small. Even in the intellectual world all must be judged comparatively. So it is with suffering. And the poor peasant of the Grisons, whose food consists of flour and honey mixed; whose bed is a heap of hay, his pillow the cold and flinty rock; whose hut is formed of stones, and whose body is enveloped in goat skins to defend it from the piercing cold of these unfriendly and solitary regions, is yet happier far than the miserable objects in the mines of Idrai. And now let us return to our delightful inn, and see what M. Degion can give us for dinner."

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