GALL, ST, is the name of a town in Switzerland, and the capital of a canton of the same name. It derives its name from the ancient abbey of St Gall, situated within the walls of the town. The town is situated between two 'mountains, upon the small brook of Steinach. The seat of the cantonal government is in the chateau of the abbey. The Catholic clergy inhabit the monastery, which contains the library of the convent, now the library of the canton. It contains very valuable manuscripts relative to the histo ry of the middle ages. The town library, which contains that of Vadianus, is kept in the college, which was found ed in 1598. The collection of Vadianus contains many precious manuscripts, among which is a chronicle compre hending 13 folio volumes of letters of the most celebrated Swiss and German reformers. This library also possesses a cabinet of petrifactions, collected in the neighbouring country. There is a good collection of paintings and prints in the house of M. de Gonzenbach, and a cabinet of natu ral history in that of Doctor Zollikofer.
St Gall has always been celebrated as a manufacturing town. In the 13th century, great quantities of linen cloth were manufactured here, and at the epoch of the Council of Constance, 1414-1418, such crowds of workmen from that city settled in St Gall, that it became necessary to en large the town. The principal articles of manufacture, are linen goods, muslin, and cotton cloth. The inhabitants of
Swabia, and of the mountains of Breghentz, were employ ed in spinning and embroidery by the manufacturers of St Gall; and towards the end of the 18th century, the num ber of embroiderers amounted to 30,000 or 40,000. The price of a piece of muslin richly embroidered in gold or silver, sometimes amounted to 60 Louis. The muslins embroidered in white are generally fabricated out of the town in the cottages of the forest of Breghentz. About the beginning of the present century, spinning machines, like those used in this country, were erected in St Gall, and in a few years a great number of these machines were in full acti%ity, in consequence of the exclusion of English manufactures from the continent. All the environs of St Gall are covered with bleachfields.
The most interesting promenades and prospects at St Gall, are near the convent of Notkerseck ; at Vogliseek, about a league from the town; at the Chateau of Warteck, from which there is a view of almost all the lake of Con stance ; and at the Chateau of Dottenwyl. The bridge of St Martin is well worthy of attention. It is built over a wild gorge upon the Goldach. It is the work of Hungewerk, and is constructed upon the same principle as the famous bridges of Schauffhausen, \Vettingen, and Reichenau. Po pulation of the town 9,000.