Sees no contiguous palace rear its head,
    To shame the meanness of his humble shed;
    Cheerful at morn, he wakes from short repose,
    Breathes the keen air, and carols as he goes.

The situation of Geneva is as striking as can be well imagined.  It seems to rise out of the transparent waters of its lake.  Some tourists tell us, that, Naples and Constantinople excepted, no city in Europe can be compared to Geneva in point of situation, and those who have ascended the towers of its cathedral, will feel disposed to admit, that the prospect of the lake, the junction of the river Rhone with the Arve, the number of villas dispersed on all sides, the scene of cultivation which the nearer mountains present, almost to their summits, and the imposing effect produced by the more distant Alps, whose bases rest in Italy, and whose tops, covered with perpetual snow, seem to unite with the clouds, present a spectacle which it would be indeed difficult to surpass.

    ——­“While admiration, feeding at the eye
    “And still unsated, dwells upon the scene.”

    Cowper.

The lake of Geneva (which, according to M. de Luc, is 187 toises, or 1203 English feet above the level of the Mediterranean Sea) is one of the most considerable in Europe, being about eighteen leagues in length, by about three and a half at its greatest width.  Its waters are at this season about six feet higher than in winter, and are of a beautiful blue colour, derived from the nature of the soil beneath.  Its depth, near Meillerie, is 190 fathoms, that of the Baltic, according to Dr. Goldsmith, being only 115 fathoms.  This lake abounds with fish of various kinds.  I myself saw a trout of twenty-three pounds, and there have occasionally been taken of nearly double that weight.  These extraordinarily large fish are often presented by the republic to its allies, and are frequently sent as far as Paris or Berlin.  The Rhone issuing, with vast rapidity, from the lake forms an island which is covered with houses, and constitutes the lower part of the city, which rises to the summit of a hill, where stand the cathedral and many elegant private houses.  The city is, in general, tolerably well built; but many of the streets have domes, or arcades of wood, which are frequently fifty or sixty feet in height, and which have an inelegant appearance, but are useful in the winter, and under some of them are rows of shops, Containing every article of luxury or utility, in equal perfection with those that are to be met with in some of the greatest cities.

Here is every appearance of the activity produced by the revival of commerce, after the long prohibition it suffered during the period whilst Geneva remained united to France.