In Switzerland from 1516 to 1525 - James Aitken Wylie

memory in presence of this one enormity, which an
ancient document has handed down to us, and
which we must glance at; for we shall only glance,
not dwell, on the revolting spectacle. It will give us
some idea of the frightful moral gulf in which
Switzerland was sunk, and how inevitable would
have been its ruin had not the arm of the
Reformation plucked it from the abyss.
On the northern shore of Lake Leman stands
the city of Lausanne. Its site is one of the grandest
in Switzerland. Crowned with its cathedral towers,
the city looks down on the noble lake, which
sweeps along in a mighty crescent of blue, from
where Geneva on its mount of rock is dimly
descried in the west, till it bathes the feet of the two
mighty Alps, the Dent du Midi and the Dent de
Morcele, which like twin pillars guard the entrance
to the Rhone valley. Near it, on this side, the
country is one continuous vineyard, from amid
which hamlets and towns sweetly look out.
Yonder, just dipping into the lake, is the donjon of
Chillon, recalling the story of Bonnevard, to whose
captivity within its wails the genius of Byron has
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