e those of the state) are most generally
adopted at Geneva; but the Lutherans, the Germans of the Confession of
Augsburg, and the Roman Catholics, have each a church. The ministers are
appointed by the Government, and care is taken that the Roman Catholic
minister be subject to a Swiss Bishoprick. In the Calvinistic churches,
the hours of divine service are nine in the morning and two in the
afternoon. The service consists in the reading the commandments, a few
prayers, a chapter in the Bible, and the sermon; and concludes with a
psalm or hymn, accompanied by the organ; the whole service generally
occupies an hour. The Sunday is principally distinguished by the sermon,
the rest of the week being allotted for reading the Scriptures.--A
stranger is much surprised at seeing _many persons wear their hats
during the sermon_, a custom which indicates a want of respect to the
place that cannot be excused, however inferior the compositions of a
preacher may be to the rest of the service. There is one thing to be
noticed here as worthy of imitation: no burials are allowed within the
city. At Paris also, most of the burial places near the churches have
been removed to the catacombs, a change which has tended greatly to
purify the air of the city. There is a box at each door of the churches
here, and as the congregation retire after divine service, a person is
stationed near it, to desire them to _remember the poor_. These
collections must be liberal, as few places are so free from beggars as
Geneva.

* * * * *

CHAP. XI.

The _Perte du Rhone_, or the spot where the Rhone suddenly sinks into
the ground, forms one of the objects usually visited from Geneva, and I
accepted a proposal to join a party in making an excursion thither. We
were careful in providing a carriage, which was so constructed, as to
allow us a view on _both sides_, as some only afford a prospect of _half
the country_, the passengers all sitting on one side, and the cover
being immoveable.

We set out at an early hour, and arrived at Vanchy about noon, from
whence we proceeded on foot to the spot where the vast waters of the
Rhone, in approaching a ridge of rocks, with inconceivable rapidity,
_sink into the earth_. The cavern is covered with foam, from the
agitation of so great a body of water being forced into so small an
aperture; and the sight is at once magnificent and solemn. The
_emersion_ of the Rhone is not far dis