CHAPTER I. CANTONS OF BASLE AND ARGOVIE. "The Alps, The palaces of Nature, whose vast walls EYRON. BASLE (Basil, Basel, Bâle) is one of the most considerable towns in the republic of Switzerland; for although its population does not exceed some 15 or 18,000, it is superior in size to any other. It lies in a beautiful stretch of country, at the foot of romantic hills, and on the banks of the still lordly Rhine. The river here, although 208 leagues from the sea, is upwards of 700 feet wide, and flows by the town in an impetuous current. The environs of Bâsle are beautiful; the hills are high, without deserving the name of mountains, on which are studded villas and châteaux, corn-fields, a few vineyards, and a profusion of bright green meadows. There are woods to cool the summerbreeze, and shadowed streamlets, the delicious banks of which are fit for fairy pic-nics. The Rhine, ever beautiful, is of course the chief gem in the neighbourhood of Bâsle: its shores offer a succession of smiling villages, grassy knolls, and rocky woodlands, while its water looks like a flowing meadow of green. The Canton of Bâsle is protestant, and contains 50,000 people, of which upwards of a quarter live in the capital. Towards the grand total of 540,000 francs for the service of the soldiery, Bâsle pays 20,450. The government of the canton consists of 150 members of the Great Council, which elects two smaller councils: one to administer the laws, the other to put them into execution. The lands are generally occupied by the proprietors, and the usual size of farms is from 10 to 50 acres; consequently the rural population is well off, and easy in circumstances. A tenth of the produce is paid to government as a tax. Query: Is not this founded on the Mosaic law of tithes? I must now return to the city of Bâsle. Last night, you will remember, we arrived, bag and baggage, at the Three Kings. At almost every town we have been at, there has been an hotel called |