wheel and this gave me time to ascend the mountain on which the castle stands. There were several masons and workmen employed in the construction of a church which they are erecting at the request and entire expense of His Sardinian Majesty. I could not ascertain what were the reasons that induced the King to build a church in a foreign territory. I did not observe either on the road or in any of the village thro' which we passed any striking specimen of Valaisan female beauty; but I often remarked the prominent bosom that Rousseau describes as frequent among them. We met with several _crétins_ or idiots, all of whom had _goitres_ in a greater or less degree. These _souls of God without sin_, as the crétins are called, are very merry souls; they always appear to be laughing. They seem to have adopted and united three systems of philosophy: they are Diogenes as to independence and neglect of decency and cleanliness; Democriti as to their disposition to laugh perpetually; and Aristippi inasmuch as they seem to be perfectly contented with their state. They are in general fat and well fed, for the poorest inhabitants give them something. They have a good deal of cunning, and many curious anecdotes are related of them which shews that they are endowed with a sort of sagacity resembling the instinct of animals. I recollect one myself mentioned by Zimmermann in his Essay on Solitude, of a crétin who was accustomed to imitate with his voice the sound of the village clock whenever it struck the hours and quarters; one day, by some accident, the clock stopped; yet the cretin went through the chimes of the hours and quarters with the same regularity as the clock would have done had it been going. We arrived at night at the village of Brieg at the foot of the Simplon and put up at a very comfortable inn. Brieg and Glisse are two small villages lying within a quarter of a mile distance from each other. The direct road runs thro' Brieg and is a great advantage to this town; while Glisse lost this benefit from the opposition shewn by its inhabitants to the annexation of the Valais to the French Empire. They now deeply regret this refusal as few travellers chuse to stop at Glisse. _Passage of the Simplon_. Chi mi darà la voce e le parole Convenienti a si nobil soggetto?[52] Who will vouchsafe me voice that shall ascend As high as I would raise my noble theme? --Trans. W.S. ROSE. How shall I describe the Simplon and the impressions that magnificent piece of work, the _chaussée_ across it, made on my mind? On arrival at the village of the Simplon, which lies at nearly the greatest elevation off the road and is more than half-way across, I wrote in my enthusiasm for the author of this gigantic work, the following lines: