a people situated among the Alps, and allies of the Swiss. Their country is bounded on the north by the counties of Sargans and Bludenz, the canton of Glaris, and the principality of Lichtenstein; on the south by the canton's Italian bailiwics, the county of Chavanne, and the Valteline; on the east by the territories of Venice and Milan; and on the west by some of the Italian bailiwics, and the canton of Uri. It is divided into three leagues, viz. the Grifon or gray league, the league of the house of God, and that of the ten jurisdictions; which unite and form one republic. The two first lie towards the south, and the third towards the north. The length of the whole is above 70 miles, and the breadth about 60. The inhabitants are said to have had the name of Grifons from the gray coats they wore in former times. This country, lying among the Alps, is very mountainous; but the mountains yield good pasture for cattle, sheep, and goats, with some rye and barley: in the valleys there is plenty of grain, pulse, fruits, and wine. This country also abounds with hogs and wild-fowl; but there is a scarcity of fish and salt, and their horses are mostly purchased of foreigners. The principal rivers are the Rhine, the Inn, and the Adda. Here are also several lakes, most of which lie on the tops of the hills. The language of the Grifons is either a corrupt Italian or the German. Each of the leagues is subdivided into several lesser communities, which are so many democracies; every male above 16 having a share in the government of the community, and a vote in the election of magistrates. Deputies from the several communities constitute the general diet of the Grifon leagues, which meets annually, and alternately at the capital of each league; but they can conclude nothing without the consent of their constituents. This country was anciently a part of Rhetia. After the extinction of the Roman empire in the west, it was some time subject to its own dukes, or those of Swabia. Then the bishop of Coire, and other petty princes, dependent on the emperors of Germany, became masters of great part of it: at last, by the extinction of some, purchase, voluntary grants, and force, it got rid of all its lords, and erected itself into three distinct republics, each of which, as we observed already, is subdivided into a certain number of communities, which are a sort of republics, exercising every branch of sovereignty, except that of making peace or war, sending embassies, concluding alliances, and enacting laws relating to the whole country, which belong to the provincial diets of the several leagues. The communities may be compared to the cities of Holland, and the diets of the several leagues to the provincial states. The particular diets are composed of a deputy from each community; and both in them and the communities every thing is determined by a majority of votes. In the communities, every male above 16 has a vote. Besides the annual provincial diets for choosing the chiefs and other officers, and deliberating on the affairs of the respective leagues, there are general diets for what concerns all the three leagues or whole body. In both these, the representatives can do nothing of themselves, but are tied down to the instructions of their principals. There is a general seal for all the three leagues; and each particular league has a separate seal. Besides the stated times of meeting, extraordinary diets are sometimes summoned, when either the domestic affairs of the state or any foreign minister require it. In the general diets, the Grey League has 23 votes; that of Grifons, the House of God, 23; and that of the Ten Jurisdictions, 15. These leagues, at different times, have entered into close alliances with the neighbouring cantons and their associates. The bailiwics belonging in common to the three leagues are those of the Valteline, Chievane, Bormio, Meyenfeld, Malans, and Jenins; the officers of which are nominated successively by the several communities every two years. The yearly revenues arising to the Grifons from their bailiwics is said to amount to about 13,500 florins. The public revenues altogether are but small, though there are many private persons in the country that are rich. However, in case of any extraordinary emergency, they tax themselves in proportion to the necessity of the service and the people's abilities. They have no regular troops, but a well-disciplined militia; and upon occasion, it is said, can bring a body of 30,000 fighting men into the field; but their chief security arises from the narrow passes and high mountains by which they are surrounded.

Of the jurisprudence, religion, &c. of the Grifons, the following account is given by Mr. Cox in his travels in Switzerland. Throughout the three leagues the Roman law prevails, modified by the municipal customs. The courts of justice in each community are composed of the chief magistrate, who presides, and a certain number of jurymen, chosen by the people: they have no regular salaries, but receive for their attendance, a small sum, arising in some communities from the expenses of the process, which are defrayed by the criminals; in others from a share of the fines. They enjoy the power of pardoning or diminishing the penalty, and of receiving a composition in money. This mode of proceeding supposes what is as absurd in theory as it is contrary to experience, that judges will incline to mercy when it is their interest to convict; or will impartially inflict punishment, even when injurious to their own private advantage.—The prisoners are examined in private; frequently tortured for the purpose of forcing confession, when the judges either divide the fines, or remit the punishment for a composition. In some districts a criminal trial is a kind of festival to the judges, for whom a good repast is provided at the expense of the prisoner if convicted; and thus the following allusion, in Garth's Dispensary, applied with more wit than truth to our courts of justice, is literally fulfilled:

"And wretches hang, that jurymen may dine."

Capital punishments, however, are extremely rare; a circumstance arising not from a want of severity in the penal statutes, or from a propensity to mercy in the judges: but because the latter draw more advantages from fining than executing an offender. In a word, to use the expression of Burnet, which is as true at present as it was in his time, "Many crimes go unpunished, if the persons who commit them have either great credit or much money." It is remarkable, that torture is more frequently applied, and for smaller delinquencies, in these independent republics, than in the subject provinces. The infliction of it depends entirely upon the arbitrary will of the judges; a majority of whom may order it for an offence which is not capital, nor even punishable by corporal penalties. Thus it is not uncommon, in those communities where fines are divided among the judges, to torture women of loose conduct, for the purpose of compelling them to confess with whom they have been connected; for as such offences are punishable by fines, the more persons are convicted, the larger share of money is distributed among the judges for the trouble of their attendance.

Even in the districts where the fines are paid to the community, torture is often no less wantonly inflicted, because when the prisoner is not found guilty, the expenses of the process fall upon the public, and the judges receive little emolument. Even in the civil courts most causes are decided by bribing the judges; and appeals in those communities, wherein they are admitted, scarcely serve any other end than to enlarge the sphere of corruption. Coire and a few other places are excepted from this general reflection.

The religion of the Grisons is divided into catholic and reformed. The doctrines of the reformation were first preached about the year 1524, and received at Fläsch, a small village in the Ten Juridictions upon the confines of Sargans; from thence they were extended to Mayenfeld and Malantz, and soon afterwards through the whole valley of Prättigau. The new opinions spread with such celerity, that before the end of the 16th century they were embraced by the whole league of the ten jurisdictions (excepting part of the community of Altenrhein), the greatest part of the House of God, and a few communities in the Grey League.

The difference of religion nearly excited a civil war between the two sects, as well as the first introduction of the Reformation as at the beginning of the troubles in the Valteline. In the latter instance, the two parties rose in arms; but the Catholics being overpowered by the Protestants, matters were amicably adjusted. Since that period all religious concerns have been regulated with perfect cordiality. According to the general consent of the three leagues, each community being absolute within its little territory, has the power of appointing its own particular worship, and the inhabitants are free to follow either the Catholic or Reformed persuasion. In the administration of civil affairs religion has no interference: the deputies of the general diet may be members of either communion, as chosen by the communities which they represent. By this moderate and tolerating principle, all religious dissensions have been suppressed as much as possible; and the most perfect amity subsists between the two sects.

In spiritual concerns, the Catholics for the most part are under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Coire. For the affairs of the Reformed churches, each league is divided into a certain number of districts, the ministers whereof assemble twice every year: these assemblies are called colloquia. Each colloquium has its president, and each league a superintendent called a dean. The supreme authority in spiritual concerns is vested in the synod, which is composed of the three deans, and the clergy of each league; the synod assembles every year alternately in each of the three leagues. Candidates for holy orders are examined before the synod. The necessary qualifications for admission into the church ought to be the knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; but this rule is not strictly adhered to; many being ordained without the least acquaintance with either of those languages. Formerly Latin was solely used, as well in the debates of the synod as for the purpose of examining the candidates; but at present that tongue grows more and more into disuse, and German is employed in its stead.

The number of reformed parishes in the whole three leagues amounts to 135, in the following proportion:

—In the Grey League 46, in that of God's House 53, and in the League of Ten Jurisdictions 36. The ministers of these churches enjoy but very small salaries. The richest benefices do not perhaps yield more than 20l. or at most 25l. per annum, and the poorest sometimes scarcely 6l. This scanty income is attended with many inconveniences. It obliges the clergy who have families to follow some branch of traffic, to the neglect of their ecclesiastical studies, and to the degradation of the professional character. Another inconvenience is superadded to the narrowness of their income. In most communities the ministers, though confirmed by the synod, are chosen by the people of the parish, and are solely dependent on their bounty. For these reasons, the candidates for holy orders are generally extremely ignorant. They cannot support that expense which is requisite to pursue their studies; they are not animated with the expectation of a decent competence; and, from the dependent mode of their election, are not encouraged to deserve their promotion by a confident dignity of character.