Works Erected On This Height Would Enfilade
The Whole Road Either Way And Totally Obstruct The Approach Of An Enemy.
There is besides a large castle on the southern paroi of mountains which
hem in this valley, which would expose
To a most galling fire and take in
flank completely those who should attempt to force the passage whether
coming from St Maurice or Brieg. We stopped two hours at Sion to mend a
wheel and this gave me time to ascend the mountain on which the castle
stands. There were several masons and workmen employed in the construction
of a church which they are erecting at the request and entire expense of
His Sardinian Majesty. I could not ascertain what were the reasons that
induced the King to build a church in a foreign territory. I did not
observe either on the road or in any of the village thro' which we passed
any striking specimen of Valaisan female beauty; but I often remarked the
prominent bosom that Rousseau describes as frequent among them. We met with
several cretins or idiots, all of whom had goitres in a greater or less
degree. These souls of God without sin, as the cretins are called, are
very merry souls; they always appear to be laughing. They seem to have
adopted and united three systems of philosophy: they are Diogenes as to
independence and neglect of decency and cleanliness; Democriti as to their
disposition to laugh perpetually; and Aristippi inasmuch as they seem to be
perfectly contented with their state. They are in general fat and well fed,
for the poorest inhabitants give them something. They have a good deal of
cunning, and many curious anecdotes are related of them which shews that
they are endowed with a sort of sagacity resembling the instinct of
animals. I recollect one myself mentioned by Zimmermann in his Essay on
Solitude, of a cretin who was accustomed to imitate with his voice the
sound of the village clock whenever it struck the hours and quarters; one
day, by some accident, the clock stopped; yet the cretin went through the
chimes of the hours and quarters with the same regularity as the clock
would have done had it been going.
We arrived at night at the village of Brieg at the foot of the Simplon and
put up at a very comfortable inn. Brieg and Glisse are two small villages
lying within a quarter of a mile distance from each other. The direct road
runs thro' Brieg and is a great advantage to this town; while Glisse lost
this benefit from the opposition shewn by its inhabitants to the annexation
of the Valais to the French Empire. They now deeply regret this refusal as
few travellers chuse to stop at Glisse.
Passage of the Simplon.
Chi mi dara la voce e le parole
Convenienti a si nobil soggetto?[52]
Who will vouchsafe me voice that shall ascend
As high as I would raise my noble theme?
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