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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
dining * Surmounting , the higher part « f the Coi $ d& it is called , by a quarter before five o ' clock in the evenings the tnost stupendous prospect op © i > e . i be * fore me towards the Valley of San Mtirtino , ) which lay . l < pst * ft gloojjny , Right beneath my feet , while the setting sun Was still shining with the intensest brilliancy on the summits of the mountains above my head . All around me
was the pure white of newly fallen stiow , except the dark vale , which presented the appearance rather of a gorge or defile among the rocks * suited to the habitation of wild beasts , than a valley inhabited b y the hurnarv race . The deep black colour , the majestic forms and threatening aspect of these rocks , rendered this by far the wildest and most singular of the scenes , I had yet contemplated in the territory of the ancient Vaudois * Is , it . credible , thought I , that the fire and sword of the persecutor have ever penetrated even into such hidden recesses as this ? When we arrived at the hamlet of
Clo $ 9 in the centre of the Valley , my companions recommended me to proceed half an hour ' s walk further , and to take up my quarters with the pastor of Villa Secca . I proposed that we should , at any rate , rest ourselves , and take a little wine at the small inn at Clos » and then I could determine whether it would be a sufficiently comfortable place to sleep at or riot . Our little party consulted together , and then one of them said to me , " Why sfwuld we go to the inn when we have none of us any desire to drink f We
will accompany Monsieur wherever he pleases , but we do < not , want to drink" I , however , persuaded them , with considerable difficulty , to enter the inn , and to accept of some roasted chesnuts and a tumbler of wine each . But when I offered a trifle to the lad who had carried my knapsack , he steadily refused it , saying , "No no , it was not for that he accompanied Monsieur" . The landlady , however , interposed and told him , he had better accept it as I wished him to do so . I mention these little traits of Vaudois
character , because mountaineers in general have ( along with many overbalancing good qualities ) the failing of being great drinkers ; and as they see but few strangers , they often appear to consider much too eagefly how to make the greatest advantage o { them . In ihese Valleys , however , I uniformly found that a stranger had at his command * without the hope of reniu * - neration being at all entertained , whatever the poor inhabitants had to give ,
their time and attention , their poor thii * wine * their bread and cheese , o ? , if they had nothing else , their chesnuts . I sometimes accepted to avoid further importunity , but very often declined offers of this kind . I found that there was truth as well as poetry in the invitation which Virgil represents , Tityrus as giving to his friend , of the first part of whichy how ever , 1 had fortunately never any occasion to avail myself , " Hie tataen * haac ra ^ cum poteris uequicscere noctem , Vt ^ on de super viridit aunt nobis rtiitia poma , Cafltaneae molles , et presai £ (> pia lactifi : Kt jam sum ma procul villai um eulBuna furaapt , j . ¦ , > Majoresque cadaut aitls tie montibus umbras / ' ., Wfc , lScl . i . ' LgO ~ 65 .
1 determined not to * encroach on * the hospitality of the * pastor df ViUa Secca , and taking tip my quarters at thejittle ttiti btClos , 1 found that the room in which I slept contained ( not pictui ^ s of the Virgin ; cruc ^ iAfes , and a small vessel to contain holy Water , as at the inn dt La Peijfousd i but ) the stock of the district Vaudois Bible Society , comprising hot , only Bibles * but a large quantity df t * ac& oh the Divinity of € hri 4 t , and oth £ r translations in French , from the most orthodox English writers , sent as presents by Mr .
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722 The Wiildenm .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1827, page 722, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1801/page/10/
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