the lord marshal upon the subject, who thinking as I did, that the people
of Berne would be glad to see me banished to the island, and to keep me
there as a hostage for the works I might be tempted to write, and sounded
their dispositions by means of M. Sturler, his old neighbor at Colombier.
M. Sturler addressed himself to the chiefs of the state, and, according
to their answer assured the marshal the Bernois, sorry for their past
behavior, wished to see me settled in the island of St. Peter, and to
leave me there at peace. As an additional precaution, before I
determined to reside there, I desired the Colonel Chaillet to make new
inquiries. He confirmed what I had already heard, and the receiver of
the island having obtained from his superiors permission to lodge me in
it, I thought I might without danger go to the house, with the tactic
consent of the sovereign and the proprietors; for I could not expect the
people of Berne would openly acknowledge the injustice they had done me,
and thus act contrary to the most inviolable maxim of all sovereigns.

The island of St. Peter, called at Neuchatel the island of La Motte, in
the middle of the lake of Bienne, is half a league in, circumference; but
in this little space all the chief productions necessary to subsistence
are found. The island has fields, meadows, orchards, woods, and
vineyards, and all these, favored by variegated and mountainous
situations, form a distribution of the more agreeable, as the parts, not
being discovered all at once, are seen successively to advantage, and
make the island appear greater than it really is. A very elevated
terrace forms the western part of it, and commands Gleresse and
Neuverville. This terrace is planted with trees which form a long alley,
interrupted in the middle by a great saloon, in which, during the
vintage, the people from the neighboring shores assemble and divert
themselves. There is but one house in the whole island, but that is very
spacious and convenient, inhabited by the receiver, and situated in a