arts and arguments of the jefuits of Thouloufe. He remained about 17 months, (19th March 1669-19th Auguft 1670,) in their hands, a voluntary captive; and a letter to his parents, which the new convert compofed or fubfcribed, (April 15. 1670) is darkly tinged with the fpirit of popery. But nature had defigned him to think as he pleafed, and to speak as he thought: his piety was offended by the exceffive worship of creatures; and the study of phyfics convinced him of the impoffibility of tranfubftantiation, which is abundant ly refuted by the teftimony of our fenfes. His return to the communion of a falling fect, was a bold and difinterested step, that exposed him to the rigour of the laws; and a speedy flight to Geneva protected him from the refentment of his fpiritual tyrants, unconscious as they were of the full value of the prize, which they had loft. Had Bayle adhered to the Catholic church, had he embraced the ecclefiaftical profeffion, the genius and favour of fuch a profelyte might have aspired to wealth and honours in his native country: but the hypocrite would have found lefs happinefs in the comforts of a benefice, or the dignity of a mitre, than he enjoyed at Rotterdam in a private state of exile, indigence, and freedom. Without a country, or a patron, or a prejudice, he claimed the liberty and fubfifted by the labours of his pen: the inequality of his voluminous works is explained and excufed by his alternately writing for himfelf, for the bookfellers, and for pofterity; and if a fevere critic would reduce him to a fingle folio, that relic, like the books of the Sybil, would become ftill more valuable. A calm and lofty spectator of the religious tempeft, the philofopher of Rotterdam condemned with equal firmness the perfecution of Louis XIV. and the republican maxims of the Calviaifts; their vain prophecies, and the In re intolerant bigotry which fometimes vexed his folitary retreat. viewing the controverfies of the times, he turned againit each other the arguments of the difputants; fucceffively wielding the arms of the Catholics and Proteftants, he proves, that neither the way of authority, nor the way of examination can afford the multitude any teft of religi ous truth; and dexterously concludes that cuftom and education must be the fole grounds of popular belief.— The ancient paradox of Plutarch, that atheism is lefs pernicious than fuperftition, acquires a tenfold vigour, when it is adorned with the colours of his wit, and pointed with the acuteness of his logic. His critical dictionary is a vast repofitory of facts and opinions, and he balances the false religions in his fceptical scales, till the oppofite quantities, (if I may ufe the language of algebra,) annihilate each other. The wonderful power which he fo boldly exercised, of affembling doubts and objections, had tempted him jocofely to affume the title of the vanyepera Zeus, the cloud-compelling Jove; and in a converfation with the ingenious Abbé (afterwards Cardinal) de Polignac, he freely difclofed his univerfal Pyrronifm. "I am most truly (faid Bayle,) a Proteftant; for I proteft indifferently against all fyftems and all fects." Obfervations on a Tour in Swifferland. During two year, if I forget fome boyish excurfions of a day or a week, I was fixed at Lausanne; but at the end of the third fummer, my father confested that I fhould make the tour of Swifferland with Pavilliard and our short abfence of one month, (September 21.-October 20. 1755) was a reward and relaxation of my affiduous ftudies. The fashion of climbing the mountains and reviewing the Glaciers, had not yet been introduced by foreign travellers, who feek feek the fublime beauties of nature. But the political face of the country is not lefs diverfified by the forms and spirit of fo many various republics, from the jealous government of the few to the licentious freedom of the many. I contemplated with pleafure the new profpects of men and manners; tho' my converfation with the natives would have been more free and inftructive, had I poffeffed the German, as well as the French language. We paffed through most of the principal towns of Swifferland, Neufchatel, Bienne, Soleure, Arau, Baden, Zurich, Bafil, and Bern. In every place we vifited the churches, arfenals, libraries, and all the most eminent perfons; and after my return, I digefted my notes in fourteen or fifteen sheets of a French journal, which I dispatched to my father; as a proof that my time and his money had not been misfpent. Had I found this journal among his papers, I might be tempted to felect fome paffages; but I will not tranfcribe the printed accounts, and it may be fufficient to notice a remarkable spot, which left a deep and lafting impreffion on my memory. From Zurich we proceeded to the Benedictine Abbey of Einfidlen, more commonly ftyled Our Lady of the Hermits. I was aftonished by the profufe oftentation of riches in the poorest corner of Europe; amid a favage fcene of woods and mountains, a palace appears to have been erected by magic; and it was erected by the potent magic of religion. A crowd of palmers and votaries was proftrate before the altar. The title and worship of the Mother of God provoked my indignation; and the lively naked image of fuperftition fuggefted to me, as in the fame place it had done to Zuinglius, the most preffing argument for the reformation of the church. A bout two years after this tour, I paffed at Geneva a useful and agreeable month; but this excurfion, and fome short vifits in the Pais de Vaud, did not materially interrupt my ftudious and fedentary life at Laufanue. Anecdotes of Voltaire. Before I was recalled from Swif ferland, I had the fatisfaction of feeing the most extraordinary man of the age; a poet, an historian, a philofopher, who has filled thirty quartos, of profe and verfe, with his various productions, often excellent and always entertaining. Need I add the name of Voltaire? After forfeiting, by his own misconduct, the friendfhip of the firft of kings, he retired, at the age of fixty, with a plentiful fortune, to a free and beautiful country, and refided two winters, (1757 and 1758) in the town or neighbourhood of Lausanne. My defire of beholding Voltaire, whom I then rated above his real magnitude, was eafily gratified. He received me with civility as an English youth; but I cannot boaft of any peculiar notice or distinction, Virgilium vidi tantum. The ode which he compofed on his firft arrival on the banks of the Leman Lake, O Maifon d'Ariftippe, O Jardin d'Epicure, &c. had been imparted as a fecret to the gentleman by whom I was introduced.— He allowed me to read it twice; I knew it by heart; and as my diferetion was not equal to my memory, the author was foon difpleafed by the circulation of a copy. In writing this trivial anecdote, I wished to ob ferve whether my memory was impaired, and I have the comfort of finding that every line of the poem is ftill engraved in fresh and indelible characters. The higheft gratification which I derived from Voltaire's refidence at Laufanne, was the uncommon circumftance of hearing a great poet declaim his own productions on the ftage. He had formed a company of gentlemen and ladies, fome of whom were not deftitute of ta. 1 talents. A decent theatre was framed at Monrepos, a country-houfe at the end of a fuburb; dreffes and fcenes were provided at the expence of the actors; and the author directed the rehearsals with the zeal and attention of paternal love. In two fucceffive winters, his tragedies of Zayre, Alzire, Zulime, and his fentimental comedy of the Enfant Prodigue, were played at the theatre of Monrepos. Voltaire reprefented the characters beft adapted to his years, Lufignan, Alvarez, Benaffar, Euphemon. His declamation was fathioned to the pomp and cadence of the old stage; and he expreffed the enthufiafm of poetry, rather than the feelings of nature. My ardour, which foon became confpicuous, feldom failed of procuring me a ticket. The habits of pleasure fortified my tafte for the French theatre, and that tafte has perhaps abated my idolatry for the gigantic genius of Shakspeare, which is inculcated from our infancy as the first duty of an Englishman. The wit and philofophy of Voltaire, his table and theatre, refined, in a visible degree, the manners of Laufanne; and, however addicted to tu dy, I enjoyed my share of the amufements of fociety. After the reprefentation of Monrepos, I fometimes fupped with the actors. I was now familiar in fome, and acquainted in many houses; and my evenings were generally devoted to cards and converfation, either in private parties or numerous affemblies. Interefting Account of Mademoiselle Curchord, afterward Wife of the celebrated M. Neckar. I hefitate, from the apprehenfion of ridicule, when I approach the delicate subject of my early love. By this word I do not mean the polite attention, the gallantry,without hope, or defign, which has originated in the fpirit of chivalry, and is interwoven with the texture of French manners. I understand by this paffion the union of defire, friendship, and tendernefs, which is inflamed by a fingle female, which prefers her to the rest of her fex, and which feeks her poffeffion as the fupreme or the fole happinefs of our being. I need not blush at recollecting the object of my choice; and though my love was difappointed of fuccefs; I am rather proud that I was once capable` of feeling fuch a pure and exalted fentiment. The perfonal attractions of Mademoiselle Sufan Curchord were embellished by the virtues and talents of the mind. Her fortune was humble, but her family was refpectable. Her mother, a native of France, had preferred her religion to her country. The profeffion of her father did not extinguish the moderation and philofophy of his temper*, and he lived content with a fmall falary and laborious duty, in the obscure lot of minifter of Craffy, in the mountains that separate the Pays de Vaud from the county of Burgundy. In the folitude of a fequeftered village, he beftowed a liberal, and even learned education on his only daughter. She furpaffed his hopes by her proficiency in the fciences and languages; and in her fhort vifits to fome relations at Laufanne, the wit, the beauty, and erudition of Mademoiselle Curchord, were the theme of univerfal applaufe. The report of fuch a prodigy awakened my curiofity; I faw and loved. I found her learned without pedantry, lively in converfation, pure in fentiment, and elegant in manners; and the firft fudden emotion was fortified by the habits and It has been obferved, that this is a fcoff, neither dictated by the spirit of modera tion, nor by that of true philofophy. Ed. Mag. Sept. 1796. A a : and knowledge of a more familiar acquaintance. She permitted me to make her two or three vifits at her father's houfe. I paffed fome happy days there, in the mountains of Burgundy, and her parents honourably encouraged the connection. In a calm retirement, the gay vanity of youth no longer fluttered in her bofom; fhe fiftened to the voice of truth and paffion, and I might prefume to hope that I had made fome impreffion on a virtuous heart. At Craffay and Laufanne I indulged my dream of felicity but on my return to England, I foon difcovered that my father would not hear of this ftrange aliiance, and that without his confent I was myself deftitute and helplefs. After a painful ftruggle I yielded to my fate: I fighed as a lover, I obeyed as a fon; my wound was infenfibly healed by time, abfence, and the habits of a new life. My cure was accelerated by a faithful report of the tranquillity and cheerfulness of the lady herfelf, and my love fubfided in friendship and efteem. The minister of Craffy foon afterwards died; his stipend died with him : his daughter retired to Geneva, where, by teaching young ladies, the earned a hard fubfiftence for herself and her mother; but in her lowest diftrefs the maintained a fpotlefs reputation, and a dignified behaviour. A rich banker of Paris, a citizen of Geneva, had the good fortune and good fenfe to difcover and poffefs this ineftimable treasure; and in the capital of tafte and luxury the refifted the temptations of wealth, as the had fuftained the hardships of indigence. The genius of her husband has exalted him to the most confpicuous ftation in Europe. In every change of profperity and difgrace, he has reclined on the bofom of a faithful friend; and Mademoiselle Curchord is now the wife of M. Necker, the minifter, and perhaps the legiflator, of the French monarchy. Characters of the Style of Swift, Addi fon, Robertfon, and Hume. The favourite companions of my leifure, were our English writers fince the revolution: they breathe the fpirit of reafon and liberty; and they moft feafonably contributed to restore the purity of my own language, which had been corrupted by the long ufe of a foreign idiom. By the judicious advice of Mr Mallet, I was directed to the writings of Swift and Addifon; wit and fimplicity are their common attributes: but the ftyle of Swift is fupported by manly original vigour; that of Addison is adorned by the female graces of elegance and mildness. The old reproach, that no British altars had been raifed to the mufe of history, was recently difproved by the first performances of Robertfon and Hume, the hiftories of Scotland and of the Stuarts. I will affume the prefumption of faying, that I was not unworthy to read them : nor will I disguise my different feelings in the repeated perufals. The perfect compofition, the nervous language, the well-turned periods of Dr Robertson, inflamed me with the ambitious hope that I might one day tread in his footfteps: the calm philofophy, the carelefs inimitable beauties of his friend and rival, often forced me to clofe the volume with a mixed fenfation of delight and despair. Vifit to Rome, Obfervations on Foreign Travel, and Origin of his Roman Hiflory. I fhall advance with rapid brevity in the narrative of this tour, in which fomewhat more than a year, (April 1764-May 1765,) was agreeably employed. Content with tracing my line of march, and flightly touching on my perfonal feelings, I thall wave the minute inveftigation of the scenes which have been viewed by thoufands, and defcribed by hundreds of qur modern travellers. Rome is the great object of our pilgrimage: and, 1ft, the journey; 2d, the refidence; and 3d, the return; will form the moft proper and perfpicuous divifion. 1. I climbed Mount Cenis, and defcended into the plain of Piedmont, not on the back of an elephant, but on a light ofier feat, in the hands of the dextrous and intrepid chairmen of the Alps. The architecture and government of Turin prefented the fame afpect of tame and tirefome uniformity: but the court was regulated with decent and fplendid economy; and I was introduced to his Sardinian Majefty Charles Emanuel, who, after the incomparable Frede ric, held the fecond rank (proximus longo tamen intervallo) among the kings of Europe. The fize and populouinefs of Milan could not furprife an inhabitant of London: but the fancy is amufed by a vifit to the Boromean Islands, an inchanted palace, a work of the fairies in the midst of a lake encompaffed with mountains, and far removed from the haunts of men. I was lefs amused by the marble palaces of Genoa, than by the recent memorials of her deliverance, (in December 1746,) from the Auftrian tyranny; and I took a military furvey of every fcene of action within the inclofure of her double walls. My fteps were detained at Parma and Modena, by the precious relics of the Farnefe and Efte collections: but, alas! the far greater part had been already tranf ported, by inheritance or purchase, to Naples and Drefden. By the road of Bologna and the Apennine, at laft reached Florence, where I reposed from June to September, during the heat of the fummer months, In the gallery, and especially in the tribune, I at firit acknowledged, at the feet of the Venus of Medicis, that the chiffel may difpute the preeminence with the pencil, a truth in the fine arts which cannot, on this fide of the Alps, be felt or under ftood. At home, I had taken fome leffons of Italian on the fpot I read, with a learned native, the claffics of the Tufcan idiom: but the shortness of my time, and the ufe of the French language, prevented my acquiring any facility of speaking, and I was a filent fpectator in the converfations of our Envoy, Sir Horace Mann, whofe moft ferious business was that of entertaining the English at his hofpitable table. After leaving Florence, I compared the folitude of Pifa with the industry of Lucca and Leghorn, and continued my journey through Sienna to Rome, where I arrived in the beginning of October, 2. My temper is not very fufceptible of enthufiafm: and the enthusiasm which I do not feel, I have ever fcorned to affect. But, at the dif tance of twenty-five years, I can nei ther forget nor exprefs the ftrong emotions which agitated my mind as I first approached and entered the eternal city. After a fleepless night, I trod, with a lofty ftep, the ruins of the forum ; each memorable spot where Romulus stood, or Tully fpoke, or Cæfar fell, was at once prefent to my eye; and feveral days of intoxication were loft or enjoyed before I could defcend to a cool and minute inveftigation. My guide was Mc Byers, a Scotch antiquary of experience and tafte; but, in the daily labour of eighteen weeks, the powers of attention were fometimes fatigued, till I was myfelf qualified, in a laft review, to felect and ftudy the capital works of ancient and modern art. Six weeks were borrowed for my tour of Naples, the most populous of cities, relative to its fize, whofe luxurious inhabitants feem to dwell on the confines of paradife and hell-fire. I was prefented to the boyking by our new Envoy, Sir William Hamilton; who, wifely diverting his correfpondence from the Secretary. of State to the Royal Society and British Museum, has elucidated a A 2 coun |