I have been led into these remarks by observing the vineyards here.  The qualities of wines, of course, are affected by the positions of the vineyards, for all who can make wine do not make good wine, but the vines of Vevey, owing most probably to their exposure, are said to be the best of Switzerland.  The best liquor comes from St. Saphorin, a hamlet that is quite near the town, which lies at the foot of the acclivity, described to you in our approach to this place.  The little chateau-looking house that so much struck our fancies, on that occasion, is, in fact, in the immediate neighbourhood of the spot.  All these circumstances show how much depends on minor circumstances in the cultivation of the vine, and how much may be expected from the plant, when care is had to respect them.

The heat may be too great for the vineyard as well as the cold.  In Italy there is a practice of causing the vines to run on trees, in order to diminish the effect of the heat, by means of the shade they create.  But the good wines are nearly everywhere, if not positively everywhere, produced from the short, clipped standards.  This fact has induced me to think that we may succeed better with the vine in the middle, and even in the eastern, than in the southern and western states.  I take it, the cold is of no importance, provided it be not so intense as to kill the plant, and the season is long enough to permit the fruit to ripen.  It would be absurd in me, who have but a very superficial knowledge of the subject, to pretend to be very skillful in this matter, but I cannot help thinking that, if one had patience to try the experiment, it would be found the common the American fox-grape would in time bring a fine wine.  It greatly resembles the grapes of some of the best vineyards here, and the fact of its not being a good eating grape is altogether in its favour.

In short, I throw it out as a conjecture more than as an ascertained fact, it is true, but from all I have seen in Europe, I am induced to think that, in making our experiments on the vine, we have been too ambitious to obtain a fat soil, and too warp of the higher latitudes of the country.  A gravelly hill-side, in the interior, that has been well stirred, and which has the proper exposure, I cannot but thing would bring good wine, in all the low countries of the middle states.

LETTER XIX.

The Leman Lake.—­Excursions on it.—­The coast of Savoy.—­Grandeur and beauty of the Rocks.—­Sunset.—­Evening Scene.—­American Families residing on the banks of the Lake.—­Conversation with a Vevaisan on the subject of America.—­The Nullification Question.—­America misrepresented in Europe.—­Rowland Stephenson in the United States.—­Unworthy arts to bring America into disrepute.—­Blunders of Europe in respect of America.—­The Kentuckians.—­Foreign Associations in the States.—­Illiberal Opinions of many Americans.—­Prejudices.