n
stant themes for discussion, when reposing
under the rocks to shelter ourselves from
the rays of the mid-day sun. From the
speculations of Bonnet we were often led
into the boundless field of enquiry respecting
subjects which will ever remain beyond
the present limited powers of the human
mind satisfactorily to resolve. Our conversations,
though harmless, frequently brought
to my mind, with a secret smile, the passage
in Milton, where he describes the vanquished
angels as amusing themselves in a
manner precisely similar, and followed by
a similar result.
Others apart sat on a hill retired — * * * * * *
Of good and evil much they reason’d then;
Fix’d fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute.
And found no end, in wandering mazes lost.
We were generally roused from these airy
meditations by the distant sound of the
dinner bell in the round tower of the chateau,
inviting us to a more substantial rethe
writings of Bonnet, particularly in his Natural
Theology; but Bonnet wants the sound judgment of
our English divine.
past. At dinner we found the parties assembled
from their different excursions,
recounting the adventures of the morning,
and planning some new expedition for the
evening. In this manner the days passed
away delightfully, and in the morning we
were awakened by the full chorus of singing
birds, to see the sun rise above the
mountains, gilding the northern side of the
la k e ; whichever way the eye turned it
was gratified with scenes of uncommon
beauty and magnificence.
The singing-birds were chiefly the blackbird
and the thrush j they filled the numerous
cherry-trees near Duing. The nightingale,
so common around Chamberry, is
scarcely heard in this part of Savoy. Indeed
it is remarkable that singing-birds of any
kind should abound here as they do, for the
numerous birds of prey in the surrounding
mountains make great havoc with the poultry,
and prevent the inhabitants from keeping
pigeons.
The Lake of Annecy is about ten English
miles in length, and varies in breadth
from one to two miles, but the island or
promontory, on which Chateau Duing
stands, advances so far into the lake as
D 3
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