at present, beside
lower schools, seven institutions of higher learning, five of which are
universities.

[27.] Savage, savage beast. Few of these can be found in Switzerland
now.

[28.] With many a tale, etc. Possibly the poet alludes to his own
experiences.

[29.] Such are the charms, etc. In this and the following lines the
poet paints a picture that has not for centuries been true of the Swiss
a people. Their principal cities have long been centers of refinement
and of intellectual activity.

[30.] Gestic lore, the art of dancing.

[31.] Thus idly busy, etc. The French peasant has always been noted
for his industry and economy. This picture was drawn before the French
revolution, when the lower classes were miserably poor and the nobles
reckless in their extravagance. France has now a remarkable system of
public instruction and many large institutions of higher learning. In
matters where taste is concerned she still leads the world.

[32.] Frieze, coarse woolen cloth.

[33.] Holland is now known as The Netherlands. The sovereign is the
young queen Wilhelmina, who began to reign in 1898.

[34.] Rampire, a dam or dike.

[35.] From opulence that springs. Holland was a great commercial power
during the seventh [Transcriber's note: should probably be
"seventeenth"] century; then her commerce dwindled, and after 1713 she
was of small political importance. Of course the poet's description is
greatly exaggerated.

[36.] Dull as their lakes. The Netherlands can at present boast of
four public universities.

[37.] Belgic sires. _Belgae_ was the name given to the early
inhabitants of Holland and certain regions near that country.

[38.] Lawns, cleared places in a wood; not cultivated grassland near a
house, as now.

[39.] Arcadian pride. Arcadia is an inland country in Greece, often
mentioned by poets as a place of ideal beauty.

[40.] Famed Hydaspis. The river Jhelum, or Jhelam, in India, about
which many fabulous stories used to be told. One was, that its sands
were of gold.

[41.] The self-dependent lordlings. Probably in no country in the
world have the nobility been so popular as in England. It has been
said that an Englishman "dearly loves a lord."

[42.] Repelling and repelled. Goldsmith, who grew up among the
warm-hearted people of Lissoy, was doubtless often hurt by the apparent
coldness of his English friends.

[43.] One sink of level avarice. At the time _The Traveller_ wa