a large town of Germany, and capital of Brisgaw; remarkable for the steeple of the great church, which, next to that of Strasburg, is the finest in Germany; and for its university. The inhabitants are famous for polishing crystal and precious stones. It has been several times taken and retaken; particularly by the French in 1744, who demolished the fortifications. It was also taken by them in June 1796. It is seated on the river Triest, ten miles east of Brisach, and 26 south of Strasburg. E. Long. 7. 57. N. Lat. 48. 4.

a town of Switzerland, and capital of the canton of the same name, seated on the river Sane, in E. Long. 6. 48. N. Lat. 46. 50. Its situation is most singular and picturesque: "It stands partly in a small plain, partly on bold acclivities on a lofty ridge." ridge of rugged rocks, half encircled by the river Sane; and is so entirely concealed by the circumjacent hills, that the traveller scarcely catches the smallest glimpse, until he bursts upon a view of the whole town from the overhanging eminence. The fortifications, which consist of high stone walls and towers, enclose a circumference of about four miles, within which space the eye comprehends a singular mixture of houses, rocks, thickets, and meadows, varying instantly from wild to agreeable, from the bustle of a town to the solitude of the deepest retirement. The Sane winds in such a serpentine manner as to form in its course, within the space of two miles, five obtuse angles, between which the intervening parts of the current are parallel to each other.

On all sides the descent to the town is extremely steep; in one place the streets even pass over the roofs of the houses. Many of the edifices are raised in regular gradation like the seats of an amphitheatre; and many overhang the edge of a precipice in such a manner, that on looking down, a weak head would be apt to turn giddy. But the most extraordinary point of view is from the Pont-neuf. To the north-west, part of the town stands boldly on the sides and the piked back of an abrupt ridge; and from east to west a semicircle of high perpendicular rocks is seen, whose base is washed and undermined by the winding Sane, and whose tops and sides are thinly scattered with shrubs and underwood. On the highest point of the rocks, and on the very edge of the precipice, appears, half hanging in the air, the gate of the town called Bourguillon; a stranger standing on the bridge would compare it to Laputa, or the Flying island in Gulliver's Travels; and would not conceive it to be accessible but by means of a cord and pulleys. The houses, constructed with a gray sandstone, are neat and well built; and the public edifices, particularly the cathedral, are extremely elegant. The inhabitants are Roman Catholics, as are those of the whole canton. The bishop of Lausanne, called here the bishop of Friburg, resides in this city. He is appointed by the pope, usually at the recommendation of the French court: and his revenues, including a small pension from France, and from the abbey of Hauterive, of which he was abbot, amount to about 400l. per annum. His diocese extends over the whole canton, and part of that of Soleure. In all his acts and deeds he signs himself bishop and count of Lausanne, and prince of the German empire. The sovereign power resides in the great council of two hundred; comprising the two advoyers, the chancellor, the grand sautier, the senate or little council of twenty-four, the sixty, from which body are chosen the bannerets and principal magistrates, and the remaining hundred and twelve members, who are simply denominated burghers."

the Canton of, one of the 13 republics of Switzerland. It is surrounded on all sides by the canton of Bern. The land is fertile in corn, fruits, and pastures; and it is said the canton can send 18,000 men into the field. This canton is entirely Catholic.