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+Project Gutenberg's The Story of Switzerland, by Lina Hug and Richard Stead
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+
+Title: The Story of Switzerland
+
+Author: Lina Hug
+        Richard Stead
+
+Release Date: May 14, 2012 [EBook #39695]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF SWITZERLAND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Josephine Paolucci and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS, ZURICH LAKE. (_From Design
+by Dr. F. Keller._)]
+
+
+
+
+The Story of the Nations
+
+THE STORY OF SWITZERLAND
+
+BY
+
+LINA HUG
+
+AND
+
+RICHARD STEAD
+
+NEW YORK
+G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+London: T. FISHER UNWIN
+1890
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1890
+BY
+G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+
+_Entered at Stationer's Hall, London_
+BY T. FISHER UNWIN
+
+Press of
+G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+New York
+
+
+THE STORY OF THE NATIONS
+
+12MO, ILLUSTRATED. PER VOL., $1.50
+
+THE EARLIER VOLUMES ARE
+
+THE STORY OF GREECE. By Prof. JAS. A. HARRISON
+THE STORY OF ROME. By ARTHUR GILMAN
+THE STORY OF THE JEWS. By Prof. JAS. K. HOSMER
+THE STORY OF CHALDEA. By Z. A. RAGOZIN
+THE STORY OF GERMANY. By S. BARING-GOULD
+THE STORY OF NORWAY. By Prof. H. H. BOYESEN
+THE STORY OF SPAIN. By E. E. and SUSAN HALE
+THE STORY OF HUNGARY. By Prof. A. VÁMBÉRY
+THE STORY OF CARTHAGE. By Prof. ALFRED J. CHURCH
+THE STORY OF THE SARACENS. By ARTHUR GILMAN
+THE STORY OF THE MOORS IN SPAIN. By STANLEY LANE-POOLE
+THE STORY OF THE NORMANS. By SARAH O. JEWETT
+THE STORY OF PERSIA. By S. G. W. BENJAMIN
+THE STORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. By GEO. RAWLINSON
+THE STORY OF ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. By Prof. J. P. MAHAFFY
+THE STORY OF ASSYRIA. By Z. A. RAGOZIN
+THE STORY OF IRELAND. By Hon. EMILY LAWLESS
+THE STORY OF THE GOTHS. By HENRY BRADLEY
+THE STORY OF TURKEY. BY STANLEY LANE-POOLE
+THE STORY OF MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA. BY Z. A. RAGOZIN
+THE STORY OF MEDIÆVAL FRANCE. By GUSTAVE MASSON
+THE STORY OF MEXICO. By SUSAN HALE
+THE STORY OF HOLLAND. By JAMES E. THOROLD ROGERS
+THE STORY OF PHOENICIA. By GEORGE RAWLINSON
+THE STORY OF THE HANSA TOWNS. By HELEN ZIMMERN
+THE STORY OF EARLY BRITAIN. By Prof. ALFRED J. CHURCH
+THE STORY OF THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. By STANLEY LANE-POOLE
+THE STORY OF RUSSIA. By W. R. MORFILL.
+THE STORY OF THE JEWS UNDER ROME. By W. D. MORRISON.
+THE STORY OF SCOTLAND. By JAMES MACKINTOSH.
+
+For prospectus of the series see end of this volume
+
+G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
+RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
+TO
+PROFESSOR GEORG VON WYSS
+AND
+PROFESSOR G. MEYER VON KNONAU
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+For many reasons, some of which are obvious to the least thoughtful, the
+history of Switzerland is peculiarly interesting, and not least so to
+English-speaking peoples. In the first place, the "playground of Europe"
+is every year visited by large numbers of British and Americans, some of
+whom indeed are familiar with almost every corner of it. Then to the
+Anglo-Saxon race the grand spectacle of a handful of freemen nobly
+struggling for and maintaining their freedom, often amidst enormous
+difficulties, and against appalling odds, cannot but be heart-stirring.
+To the citizen of the great American republic a study of the
+constitution of the little European republic should bring both interest
+and profit--a constitution resembling in many points that of his own
+country, and yet in many other respects so different. And few readers,
+of whatever nationality, can, we think, peruse this story without a
+feeling of admiration for a gallant people who have fought against
+oppression as the Swiss have fought, who have loved freedom as they
+have loved it, and who have performed the well-nigh incredible feats of
+arms the Switzers have performed. And as Sir Francis O. Adams and Mr.
+Cunningham well point out in their recently published work on the Swiss
+Confederation, as a study in constitutional history, the value of the
+story of the development of the Confederation can hardly be
+over-estimated.
+
+Few of the existing accounts of Swiss history which have appeared in the
+English language go back beyond the year 1291 A.D., the date of the
+earliest Swiss League, and of course Switzerland as a nation cannot
+boast of an earlier origin. But surely some account should be given of
+the previous history of the men who founded the League. For a country
+which has been occupied at different periods by lakemen, Helvetians, and
+Romans; where Alamanni, Burgundians, and Franks have played their parts;
+where Charlemagne lived and ruled, and Charles the Bold fought; where
+the great families of the Zaerings, the Kyburgs, and Savoy struggled;
+and whence the now mighty house of Habsburg sprang (and domineered)--all
+this before 1291--a country with such a story to tell of its earlier
+times, we say, should not have that story left untold. Accordingly in
+this volume the history of the period before the formation of the
+Confederation has been dwelt upon at some little length. It should be
+mentioned, too, that in view of the very general interest caused by the
+remarkable discovery of the Swiss lake settlements a few years ago, a
+chapter has been devoted to the subject.
+
+Mindful, however, of the superior importance of the formation and
+progress of the Confederation, an endeavour has been made to trace that
+progress step by step, showing how men differing in race, in language,
+in creed, and in mode of life, combined to resist the common enemy, and
+to build up the compact little state, we now see playing its part on the
+European stage. The whole teaching of the history of the country may be
+summed up in Mr. Coolidge's words, in his "History of the Swiss
+Confederation" (p. 65). "Swiss history teaches us, all the way through,
+that Swiss liberty has been won by a close union of many small states."
+And Mr. Coolidge adds an opinion that "it will be best preserved by the
+same means, and not by obliterating all local peculiarities, nowhere so
+striking, nowhere so historically important as in Switzerland."
+
+It remains to add a few words as to the authorities consulted by the
+writers of this little volume. The standard Swiss histories have
+naturally been largely used, such as those of Dr. Carl Dändliker,
+Dierauer, Vulliemin, Daguet, Strickler, Vögelin, and Weber ("Universal
+History"). Amongst other histories and miscellaneous writings--essays,
+pamphlets, and what not--may be mentioned those of Dr. Ferdinand Keller,
+Wartmann, Heer, Heierli, Von Arx, Mommsen, Burkhardt, Morel, Marquardt,
+Dahn, Büdinger, Secretan, Von Wyss, Meyer von Knonau, Schweizer,
+Finsler, Roget, Bächtold, Marcmonnier, Rambert, Hettner, Scherer,
+Roquette, Freytag, Pestalozzi, Schulze, and Kern. Amongst the English
+works consulted are Freeman's writings, the Letters of the Parker
+Society, Adams and Cunningham's "Swiss Confederation," Coolidge's
+reprint from the "Encyclopædia Britannica" of the article on the
+"History of the Swiss Confederation," Bryce's "Holy Roman Empire," &c.
+
+The authors are indebted for most kind and valuable assistance to
+several eminent Swiss scholars. To Prof. Georg von Wyss and Prof. Meyer
+von Knonau special thanks are due, whilst Prof. Kesselring, Herr J.
+Heierli, and others, have shown much helpful interest in the progress of
+the work. They also owe many thanks to Dr. Imhoof, who has most kindly
+furnished them with casts from his famous collection of coins; and to
+the eminent sculptors, Vela and Lanz, who have given permission to use
+photographs of their latest works for illustration purposes.
+
+ZURICH and FOLKESTONE, _July, 1890_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+PAGE
+
+PREFACE                                                                  ix
+
+TABLE OF CANTONS                                                       xiii
+
+TABLE SHOWING NAMES, AREAS, AND POPULATIONS OF CANTONS                 xxiv
+
+
+I.
+
+THE LAKE DWELLERS                                                      1-12
+
+     Discovery of Lake Settlements--Dr. Ferdinand Keller's
+     explorations--Three distinct epochs--Daily life of the
+     Lakemen--Lake Settlements in East Yorkshire.
+
+
+II.
+
+THE HELVETIANS                                                        13-28
+
+     Extent of their territory--Their government and mode of
+     life--Orgetorix--Divico beats the Roman forces--Cæsar routs
+     Helvetians--Vercingetorix--Valisians--Rhætians.
+
+
+III.
+
+HELVETIA UNDER THE ROMANS                                             29-43
+
+     Cæsar's mode of dealing with Helvetia--Augustus--Helvetia
+     incorporated into Gaul--Vespasian--Alamanni and
+     Burgundians--Christianity introduced.
+
+
+IV.
+
+THE ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS NATION                                     44-57
+
+     The Huns and their ravages--Alamanni--Burgundians--"The
+     Nibelungenlied"--The Franks subdue both Alamanni and
+     Burgundians--Irish monks preach in Switzerland.
+
+
+V.
+
+THE CAROLINGIANS--CHARLEMAGNE                                         58-70
+
+     Pepin le Bref--Charlemagne--His connection with Zurich.
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE KINGDOM OF BURGUNDY; THE DUCHY OF SWABIA; AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE   71-82
+
+     Division of Charlemagne's territory into three--Rudolf the
+     Guelf--Swabian Dukes--Genealogical tables.
+
+
+VII.
+
+BURGUNDY AND SWABIA UNDER THE GERMAN EMPERORS                         85-94
+
+     Bertha, the "Spinning Queen"--Her son Conrad--Helvetia in close
+     connection with Germany--Henry III.--Struggle with the Papal power.
+
+
+VIII.
+
+THE REIGN OF THE HOUSE OF ZAERINGEN                                  95-100
+
+     Their origin--Freiburg and other towns founded--Bern
+     founded--Defeated by Savoy--The Crusades.
+
+
+IX.
+
+THE HOUSES OF KYBURG, SAVOY, AND HABSBURG                           101-117
+
+     Fall of the Zaerings--Kyburg dynasty--Growth of Feudalism--The
+     Hohenstaufen--Savoy--Rise of the Habsburgs--Rudolf.
+
+X.
+
+THE CONFEDERATION, OR EIDGENOSSENSCHAFT                             118-130
+
+     The Forest Cantons--The Oath on the Rütli--Rudolf oppresses the
+     Waldstätten--Tell and the apple--Investigation as to the facts
+     relating to the foundation of the League.
+
+
+XI.
+
+THE BATTLE OF MORGARTEN                                             131-137
+
+     Attempt on Zurich by the Habsburgs--Albrecht--Gathering of the Wald
+     peoples--Austrian defeat.
+
+
+XII.
+
+THE LEAGUE OF THE EIGHT STATES                                      139-146
+
+     Lucerne joins the League--Zurich follows--War with Austria--Glarus
+     attached to the League as an inferior or protected State--Zug joins
+     the Union--Bern.
+
+
+XIII.
+
+ZURICH AN EXAMPLE OF A SWISS TOWN IN THE MIDDLE AGES                147-157
+
+     Abbey Church of our Lady--Influence of the Lady Abbess--Citizens in
+     three classes--They gradually gain freedom--Trade of the
+     city--Zurich a literary centre--Uprising of the working classes--A
+     new constitution.
+
+
+XIV.
+
+BERN CRUSHES THE NOBILITY: GREAT VICTORY OF LAUPEN                  158-166
+
+     Bern of a military bent--Forms a West Swiss Union--Siege of
+     Solothurn--Bern opposes the Habsburgs--Acquires Laupen--Victory at
+     Laupen--League of the Eight States completed.
+
+
+XV.
+
+THE BATTLES OF SEMPACH AND NAEFELS                                  167-178
+
+     Opposition to Austria--Leopold III., Character of--His
+     plans--Defeat and death at Sempach--Winkelried--Battle of Naefels.
+
+
+XVI.
+
+HOW SWITZERLAND CAME TO HAVE SUBJECT LANDS                          179-189
+
+     Acquisition of surrounding territories
+     desirable--Appenzell--Valais--Graubünden--Aargau--Quarrels with
+     Milan.
+
+
+XVII.
+
+WAR BETWEEN ZURICH AND SCHWYZ                                       190-199
+
+     Dispute concerning Toggenburg lands--Stüssi of Zurich and Von
+     Reding of Schwyz--Zurich worsted--Makes alliance with
+     Austria--France joins the alliance--Battle of St. Jacques.
+
+
+XVIII.
+
+BURGUNDIAN WARS                                                     200-216
+
+     Charles the Bold--Louis XI. of France--Causes which led to the
+     war--Policy of Bern--Commencement of hostilities--Battle of
+     Grandson--Morat--Siege of Nancy and death of Charles.
+
+
+XIX.
+
+MEETING AT STANZ, &C.                                               217-229
+
+     Prestige gained by the League--Disputes respecting the admission of
+     Freiburg and Solothurn--Diet at Stanz--Nicolas von der
+     Flüe--Covenant of Stanz--Waldmann--His execution.
+
+
+XX.
+
+THE LEAGUE OF THE THIRTEEN CANTONS COMPLETED                        230-242
+
+     Maximilian--Swabian War--Separation of Switzerland from the
+     Empire--Basel joins the League--Schaffhausen--Appenzell--Italian
+     wars--Siege of Novara--Battle of Marignano--St. Gall.
+
+
+XXI.
+
+THE GREAT COUNCILS, LANDSGEMEINDE, AND DIET, &C.                    243-253
+
+     Two kinds of Canton--Constitution of Bern and of
+     Zurich--Landsgemeinde--Tagsatzung--Intellectual and literary life.
+
+
+XXII.
+
+THE REFORMATION IN GERMAN SWITZERLAND                               254-268
+
+     Zwingli--His early life--His desire for a reformation--Appointed to
+     Zurich--A national Reformed Church established--Spread of the new
+     faith--The Kappeler Milchsuppe--Disputes between Luther and
+     Zwingli--Second quarrel with the Forest--Zwingli killed.
+
+
+XXIII.
+
+THE REFORMATION IN WEST SWITZERLAND                                 269-278
+
+     Political condition of Vaud and Geneva--Charles III. and
+     Geneva--The "Ladle Squires"--Bonivard thrown into Chillon--Reformed
+     faith preached in French Switzerland by Farel--Treaty of St.
+     Julien--Operations in Savoy.
+
+
+XXIV.
+
+GENEVA AND CALVIN                                                   279-290
+
+     Calvin--His "Institutes"--His Confession of Faith--Banishment from
+     Geneva--His return--The _Consistoire_--The "Children of
+     Geneva"--Servetus burnt--The Academy founded--Calvin's death.
+
+
+XXV.
+
+THE CATHOLIC REACTION                                               291-302
+
+     _Droit d'asile_--Pfyffer--Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of
+     Milan--Borromean League--Protestants driven from
+     Locarno--Switzerland an asylum for religious refugees--Effect of
+     Swiss Reformation on England--Revival of learning--Escalade of
+     Geneva.
+
+
+XXVI.
+
+THE ARISTOCRATIC PERIOD                                             303-314
+
+     Thirty Years' War--Graubünden and its difficulties--Massacre in
+     Valtellina--Rohan--Jenatsch--Peasants' Revolt--Treaty with France.
+
+
+XXVII.
+
+POLITICAL MATTERS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 315-323
+
+     Aristocracy and plebeians--French League--Massacre at
+     Greifensee--Davel's plot--Bern--Its three castes--Constitutional
+     struggles in Geneva--Affray in Neuchâtel.
+
+
+XXVIII.
+
+SWITZERLAND AND THE RENAISSANCE: INFLUENCE OF VOLTAIRE AND ROUSSEAU 324-342
+
+     Voltaire--Residence at Ferney--No special influence on
+     Geneva--Rousseau--Madame de Staël--Swiss savants--Zurich a Poets'
+     Corner--Breitinger, Bodmer, Haller, Klopstock,
+     &c.--Pestalozzi--Lavater--The Helvetic Society.
+
+
+XXIX.
+
+THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND SWITZERLAND                               343-359
+
+     Swiss Guards massacred in Paris--Insurrection of Stäfa--Treaty of
+     Campo Formio--The Paris Helvetic Club--The "Lemanic
+     Republic"--Surrender of Bern--Helvetic Republic
+     proclaimed--Opposition by Schwyz, Stanz, &c.
+
+
+XXX.
+
+THE "ONE AND UNDIVIDED HELVETIC REPUBLIC"                           357-368
+
+     A levy ordered by France--Franco-Helvetic alliance--Austrian
+     occupation--Russian occupation--Battle of Zurich--Suwarow's
+     extraordinary marches--Heavy French requisitions--Rengger and
+     Stapfer,--Centralists and Federalists--Napoleon as mediator.
+
+
+XXXI.
+
+THE MEDIATION ACT AND NAPOLEON                                      369-381
+
+     Conference in Paris on Swiss matters--Mediation Act signed--The
+     Bockenkrieg--Six new cantons formed--Material and intellectual
+     progress--Extinction of Diet--The "Long Diet"--Congress of
+     Vienna--Completion of twenty-two cantons.
+
+
+XXXII.
+
+SWITZERLAND UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1815-48                       382-394
+
+     Dissatisfaction with results of Vienna Congress--The French
+     revolution of 1830--The "Day of Uster"--The Siebner
+     Concordat--Catholic League--Progress of education--Political
+     refugees in Switzerland--Louis Philippe--Louis
+     Napoleon--Disturbances in Zurich by the Anti-Nationalists--The
+     Sonderbund War.
+
+
+XXXIII.
+
+UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1848                                      395-407
+
+     New Federal Constitution--Federal Assembly--Federal
+     Council--Federal Tribunal--Powers of the individual
+     cantons--Military service--Neuchâtel troubles--Federal Pact
+     amended--The Initiative--The Referendum.
+
+
+XXXIV.
+
+INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, RAILWAYS, EDUCATION. THE "RIGHT OF ASYLUM"      408-421
+
+Extent of trade--Exports and imports--Railways--Education--Keller the
+poet--The Geneva Convention--International Postal Union--International
+Labour Congress--Switzerland as a political asylum--Franco-German
+War--Summary of population statistics.
+
+
+GENEALOGICAL TABLES                                                  83, 84
+
+
+INDEX                                                                   423
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+LAKE DWELLINGS, ZURICH LAKE, FROM A DESIGN BY
+DR. FERDINAND KELLER                                     _Frontispiece_
+
+MAP, SHOWING LAKE SETTLEMENTS AROUND ZURICH LAKE, BY MR. HEIERLI       2
+
+(1) DECORATION ON SWORD HILT; (2 AND 3), STONE CELTS
+FOUND IN SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS (COPIED BY PERMISSION
+FROM "HARPER'S MAGAZINE")                                              4
+
+(1) VESSEL; (2) SPECIMENS OF WOVEN FABRICS FOUND IN
+SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS (COPIED BY PERMISSION FROM
+"HARPER'S MAGAZINE")                                                   7
+
+SPECIMENS OF POTTERY FOUND IN SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS
+(COPIED BY PERMISSION FROM "HARPER'S MAGAZINE")                       10
+
+JOHANNISSTEIN, WITH RUINS OF CASTLE OF "HOHENRHÆTIA,"
+NEAR THUSIS, GRAUBÜNDEN                                               16
+
+HOUSE (FORMERLY CHAPEL) IN ROMAUNSH STYLE, AT
+SCHULS, LOWER ENGADINE, GRAUBÜNDEN                                    27
+
+SILVER COIN, VERCINGETORIX (DR. IMHOOF, WINTERTHUR)                   29
+
+GOLD COIN, VESPASIAN [VESPASIANUS IMPERATOR-AETERNITAS]
+(DR. IMHOOF)                                                          34
+
+GOLD COIN OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY [ST. FELIX, ST.
+REGULA-SANCTUS CAROLUS] (DR. IMHOOF)                                  42
+
+THE EIGER                                                             52
+
+GREAT MINSTER AND WASSERKIRCHE, ZURICH
+(APPENZELLER, ZURICH)                                                 67
+
+FURKA PASS                                                            79
+
+CATHEDRAL (EXTERIOR), LAUSANNE                                        92
+
+CHÂTEAU DE VUFFLENS, VAUD (FOURTEENTH
+CENTURY)                                                             102
+
+BRONZE FIGURES FROM MAXIMILIAN MONUMENT,
+INNSBRUCK (ARTHUR OF THE ROUND TABLE,
+BRITAIN; THEODOBERT, DUKE OF BURGUNDY;
+ERNEST, DUKE OF AUSTRIA; THEODORIC, KING
+OF THE OSTROGOTHS)                                                   106
+
+THE OLD HABSBURG CASTLE, CANTON AARGAU                               112
+
+THALER OF THE THREE CANTONS (URI, SCHWYZ,
+AND UNTERWALDEN)                                                     120
+
+MAP OF OLD SWITZERLAND                                               138
+
+UPPER FALL OF THE REICHENBACH (MEYRINGEN)                            160
+
+PORCH OF BERN MINSTER, WITH STATUE OF RUDOLF
+VON ERLACH                                                           165
+
+WINKELRIED'S MONUMENT, STANZ                                         174
+
+ARMS OF URI                                                          189
+
+ST. JACQUES MONUMENT, BASEL, BY SCHLÖTH                              196
+
+ARMS OF SCHWYZ                                                       198
+
+ELIZABETH, WIFE OF ALBERT II.; MARIA OF BURGUNDY;
+ELEANOR OF PORTUGAL; KUNIGUNDE,
+SISTER OF MAXIMILIAN (FROM MAXIMILIAN
+MONUMENT, INNSBRUCK)                                                 201
+
+MAP OF GRANDSON                                                      210
+
+OLD WEAPONS AND ARMOUR IN ZURICH ARSENAL                             214
+
+INNER COURT OF THE ABBEY OF OUR LADY. LUTH
+CHAPTER OF ZURICH                                                    220
+
+ARMS OF UNTERWALDEN                                                  229
+
+MARBLE RELIEVI, MAXIMILIAN MONUMENT, INNSBRUCK                       231
+
+CITY WALLS OF MURTEN                                                 235
+
+CUSTOM-HOUSE, FREIBURG                                               240
+
+SARNEN, BERN                                                         244
+
+CITY WALLS, LUCERNE                                                  246
+
+ULRICH ZWINGLI                                                       256
+
+MINSTER, BERN                                                        270
+
+THALER OF 1564 (ST. GALL)                                            289
+
+HIGH ALTAR, CHUR CATHEDRAL                                           306
+
+ROUSSEAU                                                             329
+
+PESTALOZZI                                                           330
+
+HALLER                                                               333
+
+LAVATER                                                              340
+
+THE LION OF LUCERNE                                                  344
+
+LA HARPE                                                             348
+
+REDING                                                               354
+
+DILIGENCE CROSSING THE SIMPLON PASS                                  362
+
+INTERLAKEN, FROM THE FELSENEGG                                       386
+
+POLYTECHNIKUM AT ZURICH                                              397
+
+VIEW OF SION                                                         404
+
+LAW COURTS AT LAUSANNE                                               407
+
+"VICTIMS OF THE WORK," ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL,
+FROM A BAS-RELIEF BY VELA (BY SPECIAL
+PERMISSION OF SCULPTOR)                                              411
+
+PORTRAIT OF GOTFRIED KELLER, THE POET                                413
+
+INTERIOR OF LAUSANNE CATHEDRAL                                       419
+
+
+
+
+TABLE
+
+SHOWING NAMES (GERMAN AND FRENCH), AREAS, AND POPULATIONS OF CANTONS.
+
+
+----------------------------+------------------------+---------+-------------
+                            |                        |  Area in| Population
+        German Name.        |        French Name.    |  Square |(approximate)
+                            |                        | Miles.  |Dec. 1, 1888.
+----------------------------+------------------------+---------+-------------
+ 1. Aargau                  |Argovie                 |    543  |  193,000
+ 2. Appenzell               | Appenzell              |         |
+             {Ausser Rhoden |     {Rhodes Extérieures|    100  |   54,000
+              {Inner Rhoden |     {Rhodes Intérieures|     60  |   13,000
+ 3. Basel Stadt             |Bâle-Ville              |     14  |   74,000
+      "   Land              | "   Campagne           |    163  |   62,000
+ 4. Bern                    |Berne                   |  2,660  |  539,000
+ 5. Freiburg                |Fribourg                |    644  |  119,000
+ 6. St. Gallen              |St. Gall                |    779  |  229,000
+ 7. Genf                    |Genève (Geneva)         |    109  |  107,000
+ 8. Glarus                  |Glaris                  |    267  |   33,000
+ 9. Graubünden              |Grisons                 |  2,774  |   96,000
+10. Luzern                  |Lucerne                 |    579  |  135,000
+11. Neuenburg               |Neuchâtel               |    312  |  109,000
+12. Schaffhausen            |Schaffhouse             |    116  |   37,000
+13. Schwyz                  |Schwyz (Schwytz)        |    351  |   50,000
+14. Solothurn               |Soleure                 |    303  |   85,000
+15. Tessin                  |Tessin (Italian, Ticino)|  1,095  |  127,000
+16. Thurgau                 |Thurgovie               |    381  |  105,000
+17. Unterwalden {Obdem Wald |Unterwalden {Le Haut    |    183  |   15,000
+                {Mid dem  " |            {Le Bas     |     112 |   12,000
+18. Uri                     |Uri                     |     415 |   17,000
+19. Wallis                  |Valais                  |   2,026 |  102,000
+20. Waadt                   |Vaud                    |   1,244 |  251,000
+21. Zug                     |Zoug                    |      92 |   23,000
+22. Zürich                  |Zurich                  |     665 |  332,000
+----------------------------+------------------------+---------+-------------
+                                            Total    |  15,987 |2,920,723[1]
+                                                     +---------+-------------
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] This grand total of the population, on Dec. 1, 1888, is taken from
+the provisional Census Tables issued by the Swiss Government in 1889.
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF SWITZERLAND.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+THE LAKE DWELLERS.
+
+
+Who first lived in this country of ours? What and what manner of men
+were they who first settled on its virgin soil and made it "home"? These
+questions naturally present themselves every now and then to most
+thoughtful people. And the man with any pretensions to culture feels an
+interest in the history of other countries besides his own.
+
+But however interesting these questions as to primary colonizations may
+be, they are usually exactly the most difficult of answer that the
+history of a country presents. Now and then indeed we may know tolerably
+well the story of some early Greek immigration, or we may possess full
+accounts of the modern settlement of a Pitcairn Island; but in far the
+greater number of instances we can but dimly surmise or rashly guess who
+and what were the earliest inhabitants of any given region.
+
+MAP SHOWING THE CHIEF LAKE SETTLEMENTS IN OR NEAR LAKE ZURICH, By Prof.
+T. Heierli, Zurich.
+
+In the case of Switzerland, however, we are particularly fortunate.
+"Every schoolboy" has heard of the wonderful discoveries made on the
+shores of the beautiful Swiss lakes during the last few years, and the
+same schoolboy even understands, if somewhat hazily, the importance
+attaching to these discoveries. Nevertheless, some short account of the
+earliest inhabitants of the rugged Helvetia must occupy this first
+chapter. And to the general reader some little information as to what
+was found, and how it was found, on the lake shores, may not come amiss.
+
+In the winter of 1853, the waters of Zurich lake sank so low that a wide
+stretch of mud was laid bare along the shores. The people of Meilen, a
+large village some twelve miles from the town of Zurich, took advantage
+of this unusual state of things to effect certain improvements, and
+during the operations the workmen's tools struck against some obstacles,
+which proved to be great wooden props, or piles. These piles, the tops
+of which were but a few inches below the surface of the mud, were found
+to be planted in rows and squares, and the number of them seemed to be
+enormous. And then there were picked out of the mud large numbers of
+bones, antlers, weapons, implements of various kinds, and what not. Dr.
+Ferdinand Keller, a great authority on Helvetian antiquities, was sent
+from Zurich to examine the spot, and he pronounced it to be a lake
+settlement, probably of some very ancient Celtic tribe. Many marks of a
+prehistoric occupation had previously been found, but hitherto no traces
+of dwellings. Naturally the news of this important discovery of lake
+habitations caused a great sensation, and gave a great impulse to
+archæological studies. Dr. Keller called these early settlers
+_Pfahl-bauer_, or pile-builders, from their peculiar mode of building
+their houses.
+
+[Illustration: (1) DECORATION ON SWORD HILT; (2 AND 3) STONE CELTS,
+FOUND IN SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS.
+
+(_Copied by permission from "Harper's Magazine."_)]
+
+During the course of the last thirty years, over two hundred of these
+aquatic villages have been discovered--on the shores of the lakes of
+Constance, Geneva, Zurich, Neuchâtel, Bienne, Morat, and other smaller
+lakes, and on certain rivers and swampy spots which had once been lakes
+or quasi-lakes. The Alpine lakes, however, with their steep and often
+inaccessible banks, show no trace of lake settlements.
+
+The lake dwellings are mostly[2] placed on piles driven some 10 feet
+into the bed of the lake, and as many as thirty or forty thousand of
+these piles have been found in a single settlement. The houses
+themselves were made of hurdlework, and thatched with straw or rushes.
+Layers of wattles and clay alternating formed the floors, and the walls
+seem to have been rendered more weather-proof by a covering of clay, or
+else of bulrushes or straw. A railing of wickerwork ran round each hut,
+partly no doubt to keep off the wash of the lake, and partly as a
+protection to the children. Light bridges, or gangways easily moved,
+connected the huts with each other and with the shore. Each house
+contained two rooms at least, and some of the dwellings measured as much
+as 27 feet by 22 feet. Hearthstones blackened by fire often remain to
+show where the kitchens had been. Mats of bast, straw, and reeds abound
+in the settlements, and show that the lakemen had their notions of
+cosiness and comfort. Large crescent-shaped talismans, carved on one
+side, were hung over the entrances to the huts, showing pretty clearly
+that the moon-goddess was worshipped. The prehistoric collections in the
+public museums at Zurich, Berne, Bienne, Neuchâtel, and Geneva, not to
+speak of private collections, are very extensive and very fine,
+containing tools, handsome weapons, knives of most exquisite shape and
+carving, women's ornaments, some of them of the most elegant kind. A
+"lady of the lake" in full dress would seem to have made an imposing
+show. An undergarment of fine linen was girded at the waist by a broad
+belt of inlaid or embossed bronze work. Over the shoulders was thrown a
+woollen cloak fastened with bronze clasps, or pins, whilst neck, arms,
+and ankles were decked with a great store of trinkets--necklaces,
+anklets, bracelets, rings, spangles, and so forth. The whole was set off
+by a diadem of long pins with large heads beautifully chiselled, and
+inlaid with beads of metal or glass, these pins being stuck through a
+sort of leathern fillet which bound up the hair. So beautiful are some
+of the trinkets, that imitations of them in gold are in request by the
+ladies of to-day.
+
+[Illustration: (1) VESSEL; (2) SPECIMENS OF WOVEN FABRICS FOUND IN SWISS
+LAKE DWELLINGS.
+
+(_Copied by permission from "Harper's Magazine."_)]
+
+It is curious to find that one of the most extensive lake colonies in
+Switzerland is situated in and spread over the vast marshes of
+Robenhausen (Zurich) which once formed part of Lake Pfäffikon. The
+visitor who is not deterred by the inconvenience of a descent into a
+damp and muddy pit some 11 feet deep, where excavations are still being
+carried on, finds himself facing three successive settlements, one above
+another, and all belonging to the remote stone age. Between the
+successive settlements are layers of turf, some 3 feet thick, the growth
+of many centuries. The turf itself is covered by a stratum of sticky
+matter, 4 inches thick. In this are numbers of relics embedded, both
+destructible and indestructible objects being perfectly well preserved,
+the former kept from decay through having been charred by fire. The late
+Professor Heer discovered and analysed remains of more than a hundred
+different kinds of plants. Grains, and even whole ears of wheat and
+barley, seeds of strawberries and raspberries, dried apples, textile
+fabrics, implements, hatchets of nephrite--this mineral and the Oriental
+cereals show clearly enough that the lakemen traded with the East,
+though no doubt through the Mediterranean peoples--spinning-wheels,
+corn-squeezers, floorings, fragmentary walls--all these are found in
+plenty, in each of the three layers. The topmost settlement, however,
+contains no destructible matters, such as corn, fruits, &c. This is to
+be accounted for by the fact that the two lower settlements were
+destroyed by fire, and the uppermost one by the growth of the turf, or
+by the rising marshes. In the latter case there was no friendly action
+of fire to preserve the various objects.
+
+The scholar's mind is at once carried back to the account given by
+Herodotus of Thrakian lake-dwellers.[3] The people of this tribe, he
+tells us, built their houses over water, so as to gain facilities for
+fishing. They used to let down baskets through trapdoors in the floors
+of their huts, and these baskets rapidly filled with all kinds of fish
+that had gathered around, tempted by the droppings of food.
+
+Though the lakemen depended chiefly on the water for their supply of
+food, yet they were hunters, and great tillers of the ground as well as
+fishermen. They grew wheat and barley, and kept horses, cattle, sheep,
+and goats. The women spun flax and wool, and wove them into fabrics for
+clothing. Their crockery was at first of a very primitive description,
+being made of black clay, and showing but little finish or artistic
+design. But the children were not forgotten, for they were supplied with
+tiny mugs and cups.[4]
+
+[Illustration: SPECIMENS OF POTTERY FOUND IN SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS.
+
+(_Copied by permission from "Harper's Magazine."_)]
+
+With regard to the date when the immigration of lakemen began the
+savants are hopelessly at variance. Nor do they agree any better as to
+the dates of the stone and bronze epochs into which the history of the
+lake settlements divides itself. But as in some of the marshy stations
+these two epochs reach on to the age of iron, it is assumed by many
+authorities that the lake dwellers lived on to historical times. This is
+particularly shown in the alluvial soil and marshes between the lakes of
+Neuchâtel and Bienne, Préfargier being one of the chief stations, where
+settlements belonging to the stone, bronze, and iron ages are found
+ranged one above another in chronological order. In the topmost stratum
+or colony, the lakemen's wares are found mingling pell-mell with iron
+and bronze objects of Helvetian and Roman make, a fact sufficient,
+probably, to show that the lake dwellers associated with historical
+peoples. It would be useless as well as tedious to set forth at length
+all the theories prevailing as to the origin and age of the lake
+dwellings. Suffice it to say that, by some authorities, the commencement
+of the stone period is placed at six thousand, and by others at three
+thousand years before the Christian era, the latter being probably
+nearest the truth. As to the age of bronze, we may safely assign it to
+1100-1000 B.C., for Professor Heer proves conclusively that the time of
+Homer--the Greek age of bronze--was contemporary with the bronze epoch
+of the lakemen.[5]
+
+The Lake period would seem to have drawn to a close about 600-700 B.C.,
+when the age of bronze was superseded by that of iron. According to the
+most painstaking investigations made by Mr. Heierli, of Zurich, now the
+greatest authority on the subject in Switzerland, the lakemen left their
+watery settlements about the date just given, and began to fix their
+habitations on _terra firma_. Various tombs already found on land would
+bear witness to this change. When these peculiar people had once come on
+shore to live they would be gradually absorbed into neighbouring and
+succeeding races, no doubt into some of the Celtic tribes, and most
+likely into the Helvetian peoples. Thus they have their part, however
+small it may be, in the history of the Swiss nation. It must be added
+that the Pfahl-bauer are no longer held to have been a Celtic people,
+but are thought to have belonged to some previous race, though which has
+not as yet been ascertained.
+
+But enough has been written on the subject, perhaps. Yet, on the other
+hand, it would have been impossible to pass over the lakemen in silence,
+especially now when the important discoveries of similar lake
+settlements in East Yorkshire have drawn to the subject the attention of
+all intelligent English-speaking people.[6]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] There are two distinct kinds of settlement, but we are here dealing
+with the first or earlier kind.
+
+[3] Herod, v. 16.
+
+[4] The lake tribes of the bronze age, however, not only understood the
+use of copper and bronze, but were far more proficient in the arts than
+their predecessors. Some of the textile fabrics found are of the most
+complicated weaving, and some of the bronze articles are of most
+exquisite chiselling, though these were probably imported from Italy,
+with which country the lake dwellers would seem to have had considerable
+traffic. The earliest specimens of pottery are usually ornamented by
+mere rude nail scratchings, but those of the bronze period have had
+their straight lines and curves made by a graving tool. In fact, the
+later tribes had become lovers of art for its own sake, and even the
+smallest articles of manufacture were decorated with designs of more or
+less elaboration and finish.
+
+[5] The products of the soil seem to have been the same amongst the
+lakemen as amongst Homer's people. Both knew barley and wheat, and
+neither of them knew rye. In their mode of dressing and preparing barley
+for food the two peoples concurred. It was not made into bread, but
+roasted to bring off the husk. And roasted barley is still a favourite
+article of diet in the Lower Engadine. The Greeks ate it at their
+sacrifices, and always took supplies of it when starting on a journey.
+So Telemachus asks his old nurse Eurykleia to fill his goat skin with
+roasted barley when he sets out in search of his father. And young Greek
+brides were required to complete the stock of household belongings by
+providing on their marriage day a roasting vessel for barley.
+
+[6] Those who wish to see pretty well all that can be said on the matter
+should read the valuable article in _The Westminster Review_, for June,
+1887.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE HELVETIANS.
+
+
+The history of a country often includes the history of many peoples, for
+history is a stage on which nations and peoples figure like individual
+characters, playing their parts and making their exits, others stepping
+into their places. And so the Swiss soil has been trodden by many
+possessors--Celts, Rhætians, Alamanni, Burgundians, Franks. These have
+all made their mark upon and contributed to the history of the Swiss
+nation, and must all figure in the earlier portions of our story.
+
+Dim are the glimpses we catch of the early condition of the Helvetians,
+but the mist that enshrouds this people clears, though slowly, at the
+end of the second century before Christ, when they came into close
+contact with the Romans who chronicled their deeds. The Helvetians
+themselves, indeed, though not ignorant of the art of writing, were far
+too much occupied in warfare to be painstaking annalists. At the
+Celto-Roman period of which we are treating, Helvetia comprised all the
+territory lying between Mount Jura, Lake Geneva, and Lake Constance,
+with the exception of Basle, which included Graubünden, and reached into
+St. Gall and Glarus. It was parcelled out amongst many tribes, even as
+it is in our own day. The Helvetians, who had previously occupied all
+the land between the Rhine and the Main, had been driven south by the
+advancing Germans, and had colonized the fertile plains and the lower
+hill grounds of Switzerland, leaving to others the more difficult Alpine
+regions. They split into four tribes, of which we know the names of
+three--the Tigurini, Toygeni, and Verbigeni. The first named seem to
+have settled about Lake Morat, with Aventicum (Avenches) as their
+capital. Basle was the seat of the Rauraci; to the west of Neuchâtel was
+that of the Sequani; whilst Geneva belonged to the wild Allobroges. The
+Valais[7] district was inhabited by four different clans, and was known
+as the "Poenine valley," on account of the worship of Poeninus on
+the Great St. Bernard, where was a temple to the deity. In the Ticino
+were the Lepontines, a Ligurian tribe whose name still lingers in
+"Lepontine Alps." The mountain fastnesses of the Grisons (Graubünden)
+were held by the hardy Rhætians, a Tuscan tribe, who, once overcome by
+the Romans, speedily adopted their speech and customs. Romansh, a
+corrupt Latin, holds its own to this day in the higher and remoter
+valleys of that canton.
+
+All these tribes, except the two last mentioned, belonged to the great
+and martial family of the Celts, and of them all the wealthiest, the
+most valiant, and the most conspicuous were the Helvetians.[8] Of the
+life and disposition of these Helvetians we know but little, but no
+doubt they bore the general stamp of the Celts. They managed the javelin
+more skilfully than the plough, and to their personal courage it is
+rather than to their skill in tactics that they owe their reputation as
+great warriors. But in course of time their character was greatly
+modified, and, owing probably to their secluded position, they settled
+down into more peaceful habits, and rose to wealth and honour, combining
+with their great powers a certain amount of culture. They practised the
+art of writing, having adopted the Greek alphabet, and gold, which was
+possibly found in their rivers, circulated freely amongst them. To judge
+from the relics found in Helvetian tumuli the Helvetians were fond of
+luxuries in the way of ornaments and fine armour, and they excelled in
+the art of working metals, especially bronze. They had made some
+progress in agriculture, and in the construction of their houses, and
+more especially of the walls that guarded their towns, which struck the
+Romans by their neatness and practicalness. Nor would this be to be
+wondered at if the old legends could be trusted, which tell us that
+Hercules himself taught the Helvetians to build, and likewise gave them
+their laws; an allusion, no doubt, to the fact that culture came to them
+from the east, from the peoples around the Mediterranean. Besides many
+hamlets, they had founded no fewer than four hundred villages and twelve
+towns, and seem to have been well able to select for their settlements
+the most picturesque and convenient spots. For many of their place-names
+have come down to us, in some cases but little changed. Thus of colonies
+we have Zuricum (Zurich), Salodurum (Soleure), Vindonissa (Windisch),
+Lousonium (Lausanne), and Geneva; of rivers navigable or otherwise
+useful, Rhine, Rhone, Aar, Reuss, Thur; of mountains, Jura and perhaps
+Camor. Disliking the hardships of Alpine life the Helvetians left the
+giant mountains to a sturdier race.
+
+[Illustration: JOHANNISSTEIN, WITH RUINS OF CASTLE OF "HOHENRHÆTIA,"
+NEAR THUSIS, GRAUBÜNDEN.
+
+(_From a Photograph._)]
+
+The nature of their political code was republican, yet it was largely
+tinctured with elements of an aristocratic kind. Their nobles were
+wealthy landed proprietors, with numerous vassals, attendants, and
+slaves. In case their lord was impeached these retainers would take his
+part before the popular tribunal. The case of Orgetorix may be cited. He
+was a dynastic leader, and head over one hundred valley settlements; his
+name appears on Helvetian silver coins as Orcitrix. He was brought to
+trial on a charge of aspiring to the kingship, and no fewer than a
+thousand followers appeared at the court to clear him, but _vox populi
+vox dei_, and the popular vote prevailed. Orgetorix was sentenced to die
+by fire, a punishment awarded to all who encroached upon the popular
+rights.
+
+Their form of religion was most probably that common to all the Celts,
+Druidical worship. Invested with power, civil and spiritual, the Druids
+held absolute sway over the superstitious Celtic tribes. Proud as the
+Celts were of their independence, they yet were incapable of governing
+themselves because of the perpetual dissensions amongst the tribes; and
+they were overawed by the intellectual superiority of a priesthood that
+professed all the sciences of the age--medicine, astrology, soothsaying,
+necromancy--and had taken into its hands the education of the young. The
+common people were mere blind devotees, and rendered unquestioning
+obedience to the decrees of the Druids. Druidism was, in fact, the only
+power which could move the whole Celtic race, and could knit together
+the Celts of the Thames and those of the Garonne and Rhone, when they
+met at the great yearly convocation at Chartres, then the "Metropolis of
+the Earth." Human sacrifice was one of the most cruel and revolting
+features of the Druidical religion.
+
+The Celts were a peculiarly gifted people, though differing greatly from
+the contemporary Greeks and Romans. They had been a governing race
+before the Romans appeared on the stage, and wrested from them the
+leading part. They had overrun the whole world, so to speak, casting
+about for a fixed home, and spread as far as the British Isles, making
+Gaul their religious and political centre, and settled down into more
+peaceful habits. Driven by excess of population, or their unquenchable
+thirst for war, or simply their nomadic habits--one cannot otherwise
+account for their retrogression--they migrated eastwards whence they
+came--to Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor--demanding territory, and
+striking terror into every nation they approached by their warlike
+habits. They knocked at the gates of Rome, and the Galatians were
+conspicuous by their atrocities.[9] Brilliant qualities and great
+national faults had been their peculiar characteristics. Quick-witted
+they were, highly intelligent, ingenious, frank, versatile; attaching
+much value to _gloire_, and _esprit_; susceptible of and accessible to
+every impression, skilled handicraftsmen; but inclined to be vain,
+boastful, and fickle-minded, averse to order and discipline, and lacking
+in perseverance and moral energy. This, according to both ancient and
+modern writers, was their character. They failed to create a united
+empire, and to resist their deadly enemy, Rome.
+
+What they did excel in was fighting. Dressed in gaudy costume--wide
+tunic, bright plaid, and toga embroidered with silver and gold--the
+Celtic noble would fight by preference in single combat, to show off to
+personal advantage, but in the brunt of battle he threw away his
+clothing to fight unimpeded. Bituitus, king of the Arverni, attired in
+magnificent style, mounts his silver chariot, and, preceded by a harper
+and a pack of hounds, goes to meet Cæsar in battle, and win his respect
+and admiration.
+
+The Helvetians were peaceful neighbours to Italy so long as they did not
+come into direct contact with the Romans, but on the Rhine they were
+engaged in daily feuds with the German tribes, who had driven them from
+their settlements in the Black Forest, and had continued their raids
+beyond the river. For the sake of plunder, or from mere restless habits,
+the Germans had left their northern homes on the Baltic and North Seas,
+the Cimbri, and their brethren, the Teutons and others, and were slowly
+moving southward, repelling or being in turn repelled. The most daring
+crossed the Rhine, and made their way straight through the lands of the
+Belgians and Helvetians towards the South, thereby anticipating the
+great dislocation of peoples which was to take place but five hundred
+years later, when the Roman Empire, sapped at the root, crumbled to
+pieces, unable longer to resist the tide of barbarian invasion.
+
+On one of these expeditions the Cimbri, giving a glowing account of
+sunny Gaul, and the booty to be obtained there, were joined by the
+Helvetian Tigurini, whose leader was the young and fiery Divico (B.C.
+107). They started with the intention of founding a new home in the
+province of the Nitiobroges in Southern Gaul; but when they had reached
+that territory they were suddenly stopped on the banks of the Garonne by
+a Roman army under the consul Cassius and his lieutenant Piso. But,
+little impressed by the military fame of the Romans, the Tigurini, lying
+in ambush, gave battle to the forces of great Rome, and utterly routed
+them at Agen, on the Garonne, between Bordeaux and Toulouse. It was a
+brilliant victory; both the Roman leaders and the greater part of their
+men were slain, and the rest begged for their lives. The proud Romans
+were under the humiliating necessity of giving hostages and passing
+under the yoke--a stain on the Roman honour not to be forgotten; but the
+victors, being anything but diplomats, knew no better use to make of
+their splendid victory than to wander about for a time and then go home
+again.
+
+A few years later (102 and 101 B.C.) the Tigurini, Toygeni, Cimbri, and
+Teutons joined their forces on a last expedition southwards. The
+expedition ended in the destruction of these German tribes. The Toygeni
+perished in the fearful carnage at Aquæ Sextiæ, and the Cimbri later on
+at Vercellæ. When the Tigurini heard of this last-mentioned disaster
+they returned home.
+
+Cæsar had been appointed governor of the Province (Provence) which
+extended to Geneva, the very door of Helvetia; on the Rhine the Germans
+continued to make their terrible inroads. Thus there was but little
+scope for the stirring Helvetians, and the soil afforded but a scanty
+supply of food; so they turned their eyes wistfully in the direction of
+fair Gaul. Meeting in council they decided on a general migration,
+leaving their country to whoever might like to take it. Then rose up
+Orgetorix, one of their wealthiest nobles, and supported the plan,
+volunteering to secure a free passage through the neighbouring provinces
+of the Allobroges and Ædui. The 28th of March, B.C. 58, was the day
+fixed for the departure, and Geneva was to be the meeting-place; thence
+they were to proceed through the territory of the Allobroges. For two
+years previously they were to get ready their provisions, and to collect
+carts, horses, and oxen, but before the period had expired Orgetorix was
+accused of treason, and being unable to clear himself, put an end to his
+own life to escape public obloquy. This episode made no difference in
+the general plan. The Helvetians, indeed, insisted on its being carried
+out. Setting fire to their towns and villages to prevent men from
+returning, they started on their adventurous journey on that spring morn
+of 58 B.C. Cæsar's figures seem very large, but, if he is to be
+trusted, the tribes numbered some 368,000 men, of which 263,000 were
+Helvetians, the rest being neighbours of theirs. But 93,000 were capable
+of bearing arms.
+
+A curious yet thrilling sight must have been that motley caravan of
+prodigious proportions--ten thousand carts drawn by forty thousand oxen,
+carrying women, children, and the old men; riders and armour-bearers
+alongside, toiling painfully through woods and fords, and up and down
+rugged hills; behind the emigrants the smoking and smouldering ruins of
+the homes they were leaving with but little regret. Yet they were no
+mere adventurers, but looked forward with swelling hearts to a brighter
+time and a more prosperous home. Arriving at Geneva they found the
+bridge over the Rhone broken up by Cæsar's order. Cæsar was, in truth, a
+factor they had not reckoned upon, and, after useless attempts to make
+headway, they turned their steps towards Mount Jura, and whilst they
+were toiling over the steep and rugged Pas de l'Ecluse, Cæsar returned
+to Italy to gather together his legions. Returning to Gaul he arrived
+just in time to see the Helvetians cross the Arar (Saône) with the
+utmost difficulty. The Tigurini were the last to cross. And on them
+Cæsar fell and cut them down, thus avenging the death of Piso--the
+great-grandfather of Cæsar's wife--and wiping out the stain on the
+honour of the Roman arms. His legions crossed the Saône in twenty-four
+hours, and this performance so excited the admiration of the Helvetians,
+who had themselves taken twenty days to cross, that they condescended
+to send legates to treat with Cæsar for a free passage. They promised
+him that they would do no harm to any one if he would comply with the
+request, but threatened that if he should intercept them he might have
+to see something of their ancient bravery. No threats or entreaties were
+of avail, however, with such a man as Cæsar, who, smiling at their naïve
+simplicity, asked them to gives hostages as a sign of confirmation of
+their promise. "Hostages!" cried Divico, the hero of of Agen, in a rage,
+"the Helvetians are not accustomed to give hostages; they have been
+taught by their fathers to receive hostages, and this the Romans must
+well remember." So saying he walked away.
+
+The Helvetians continued their march, Cæsar following at a distance,
+watching for an opportunity of attacking them. At Bibracte, an important
+city of Gaul (now Mont Beuvray), west of Autun in Burgundy, the
+opportunity offered itself. Cæsar seized a hill and posted his troops
+there, and charged the enemy with his cavalry. The Helvetians fiercely
+repulsed the attack, and poured on the Roman front, but were quite
+unable to stand against the showers of the Roman pila, which often
+penetrated several shields at once, and thus fastened them together so
+that they could not be disentangled. Disconcerted by this unexpected
+result, the Helvetians were soon discomfited by the sharp attack with
+swords which instantly followed. Retiring for a while to a hill close
+by, the barbarians again drew up in battle order, and again descended to
+combat. Long and fierce was the struggle which followed; the Helvetians
+fighting like lions till the evening, never once turning their backs on
+the enemy. This is Cæsar's own report. But barbarian heroism was no
+match for the regular, well-organized, and highly-trained Roman army,
+and once more driven back, they withdrew to the hill where had been left
+their wives and children with the baggage. From this place they ventured
+to make a last resistance, and they drew up their carts in the form of a
+deep square, leaving room in the middle for the non-combatants and the
+baggage. Then mounting their extemporized fort--the so-called
+Wagenburg--the Helvetian men commenced the fray, even their women and
+children hurling javelins at the enemy. Not till midnight did the Romans
+seize and enter on the rude rampart, and when they did the clashing of
+arms had ceased. All the valiant defenders lay slain at their feet, and
+the spirit of bold independence of the Helvetians was crushed for ever.
+
+After this fearful disaster the rest of the emigrants, to the number of
+110,000, continued their march through Gaul, but lacking both food and
+capable leaders, and being moreover ill-used by the Gauls, they sent to
+Cæsar for help. He demanded hostages, and ordered them to return home
+and rebuild their towns and villages. And, further, he supplied them
+with food for the journey, and requested the Allobroges to do the same
+when the Helvetians should arrive in their province. Cæsar admits that
+this apparent generosity on his part was dictated not by compassion, but
+by policy. It was to his interest that these barbarians should re-occupy
+Helvetia, because they would keep watch on the Rhine, and prevent the
+irruption of the Germans into the country. In their condition now, he
+calls the Helvetians ASSOCIATES (_foederati_), and not SUBJECTS, and
+leaves them their own constitution, and, to some extent, their freedom.
+But they did not relish this forced friendship, which was indeed more
+like bondage; and when the Celts of Gaul rose in revolt under the noble
+and beloved Vercingetorix, who had been a friend of Cæsar, they joined
+their brethren (52 B.C.), and were again vanquished. On the defeat of
+the Helvetians at Bibracte followed that of the Valisians, in 57 B.C. To
+establish a direct communication between Central Gaul and Italy, Cæsar
+took those same measures which Napoleon I. employed long afterwards; he
+conquered the Valais (by his lieutenant Galba), that he might secure the
+passage of the Great St. Bernard. A splendid road was formed over Mount
+Poeninus, and a temple erected to Jupiter Poeninus, where the
+traveller left votive tablets as a thanksgiving offering after a
+fortunate ascent.
+
+The subjugation of Rhætia was delayed for more than a generation. To
+guard the empire against the Eastern hordes; against the mountain
+robbers of Graubünden and the Tyrol, who descended into the valleys of
+the Po, ravaging the country as far as Milan, and no doubt liberally
+paying back in their own coin, the Romans who had made from time to time
+such havoc in the Alpine homes--to guard against these, and the wild
+Vindelicians of Bavaria, Augustus sent the two imperial princes to
+reduce them to subjection. Drusus marched into the Tyrol, whilst
+Tiberius advanced on Lake Constance, where even the Rhætian women
+engaged in the conflict, and, in default of missiles, hurled their
+sucking children into the face of the conquerors, through sheer
+exasperation. Their savage courage availed them nothing, however; the
+incursions from the East were repressed; and once the Rhætians were
+overcome, they became the most useful of auxiliaries to the Roman army.
+Horace's ode to Drusus alludes to the Rhætian campaign.
+
+The Rhæto-Roman inhabitants of Graubünden--for they still occupy the
+high valleys of the Engadine and of the Vorder-Rhine--present much
+interest in point of language and antiquities. The sturdy Rhætians
+belonged to the art-loving Etruscan race, whose proficiency in the
+_amphora-technic_ we so highly value. An old legend calls their ancestor
+Rætus a Tuscan. And not without show of reason, says Mommsen, for the
+early dwellers of Graubünden and the Tyrol were Tuscans, and spoke a
+dialect agreeing with that of the district of Mantua, a Tuscan colony in
+the time of Livy. In Graubünden and Ticino were found, some thirty years
+ago, stones bearing inscriptions in that dialect. The Rhætians may have
+dropped behind in these Alpine regions on the immigration of Etruscans
+into the valleys of the Po; or, they may just as likely have fled there
+on the advent of the Celts, when that warlike race seized on the fertile
+plains of the river, and drove the Etruscans from their home southward
+and northward. Be that as it may, however, it is certain that the
+Rhætians, once blended with the Romans, have preserved the Latin tongue
+and customs to this day, for Romaunsh a corrupt Latin, with no doubt
+some admixture of Tuscan, is still spoken by more than one-third of the
+population of the Grisons.
+
+[Illustration: HOUSE (FORMERLY CHAPLE) IN THE ROMAUNSH STYLE, AT SCHULS,
+LOWER ENGADINE, GRAUBÜNDEN.
+
+(_After a Photograph by Guler_.)]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[7] Valais (German, _Wallis_) means valley, and is so called from its
+being a long narrow dale or vale hemmed in by lofty mountains.
+
+[8] Mommsen, "Roman History," vol. ii. p. 166.
+
+[9] "Story of Alexander's Empire," by Mahaffy, p. 79.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+HELVETIA UNDER THE ROMANS.
+
+
+[Illustration: SILVER COIN, VERCINGETORIX.
+
+(_Dr. Imhoof, Winterthur._)]
+
+On the surrender of the noble Vercingetorix, a valiant knight, but no
+statesman--he delivered himself up to Cæsar, trusting in his generosity
+on the plea of former friendship, and died a prisoner of Rome--the war
+with Gaul was virtually at an end. The sporadic risings that followed
+lacked the spirit of union, and led to no results of any consequence.
+During the seven years of his governorship in Gaul (58-51 B.C.), Cæsar
+had completed the subjection of the entire country, with the exception
+of the province of Narbonensis, whose conquest was of more ancient date.
+He followed up his victories, and secured their results by organizing a
+line of secure defences on the northern boundary of Gaul, along the
+Rhine, creating thereby a new system of open defences--defences
+offensive, so to speak--which he sketched out with full details, and
+made Gaul herself a bulwark against the inroads of the aggressive
+Germans. To secure peace and voluntary submission, he also regulated the
+internal affairs of the new province, leaving her, however, most of her
+old national institutions, hoping by conciliatory measures to gradually
+bring her under Roman influences, and win her to side with Rome. But it
+was left to others to carry out his plans, the Emperor Augustus being
+the first to put them into practice; for civil war was again threatening
+Italy, and Cæsar returned home to carry on his great contest with Pompey
+for supremacy in the State.
+
+Although Cæsar's plans were but a sketch they were faithfully carried
+out, and the Gallic conquest proved to be more, and aimed higher, than
+the mere subjection of the Celts. Cæsar was not only a great general,
+but also a far-seeing politician. He had clearly understood that the
+barbarian Germans might well prove more than a match for the Greek-Latin
+world if they came into close contact with it. His defeat of Ariovistus,
+who was on the point of forming a German kingdom in Gaul, and his wise
+measures of defence, kept the barbarian hordes at bay for centuries, and
+thus there was ample time given for the Greek-Latin culture to take root
+throughout the West. It happened consequently that when Rome could no
+longer offer any serious resistance, and the Germans poured into her
+lands, the people of the West were already Romanized, and those of
+Gaul, Britain, and Spain, became the medium of transmitting to the
+Germans the spirit of classicism, by which they would otherwise have
+hardly been affected; and those nations became the connecting link
+between the classical age and the German era which absorbed its
+high-wrought culture. If Alexander may be said to have spread Hellenism
+over the East; Cæsar may be taken to have done as much, and indeed
+vastly more for the West, for it is owing to him, though we can scarcely
+realize the fact in our day, that the German race is imbued with the
+spirit of classical antiquity.
+
+The fall of Cæsar, and the state of anarchy that followed again, delayed
+the work of pacification, and Helvetia was left to take care of herself.
+But when Augustus was firmly seated on the imperial throne, he resumed
+the task which had been bequeathed to him. The organization of Gaul was
+chiefly his work, and it required an energetic yet moderate policy. The
+old Narbonensis district, which had long been moulded into a Roman
+province, was placed under senatorial control. New Gaul, or Gallia
+Comata (_Gaule Chevelue_), as the whole territory was called which Cæsar
+had conquered, was submitted to imperial authority, and treated more
+adequately in accordance with the ancient constitutions of the various
+tribes. To facilitate taxation and administration New Gaul was divided
+into three provinces, each ruled by a Roman governor. Of these three
+provinces, one was Belgica, extending from the Seine and the mouth of
+the Rhine to Lake Constance, thus including Helvetia proper. Belgica, on
+account of its size, was subdivided into three commands, in one of
+which, that of Upper Germany, Helvetia found itself placed. Thus we
+find Helvetia incorporated with Gaul.
+
+The political capital of the Tres Galliæ, or Three Gauls, was Lugdunum
+(Lyons), owing to its central position, and it seems to have been a very
+important city. Here Drusus had raised an altar to his imperial father,
+Augustus, and the Genius of the City. Here met the representatives of
+the sixty-four Gallic states (including those of the Helvetians and the
+Rauraci) on the anniversary of the emperor. Here, too, was the seat of
+the Gallic Diet; and here, in the amphitheatre, took place rhetorical
+contests, the Celts holding eloquence in high honour.
+
+Eastern Switzerland, that is, Graubünden, and the land around Lake
+Wallenstatt, as far as Lake Constance, was joined with Rhætia, which
+likewise included, amongst other districts, the Tyrol and Southern
+Bavaria. The whole of this territory was ruled by a governor residing at
+Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg). The Valais district was joined to some
+part of Savoy, and ruled by the procurator of the Poenine Alps. Ticino
+does not concern us here, as it remained a portion of Italy down to the
+sixteenth century.
+
+Yet though thus arbitrarily made a part of Gaul, Helvetia formed a
+province of itself, and had its own history and kept its own
+constitution, thanks to Cæsar's wise and generous policy, by which he
+provided that the Celts should not be interfered with in their method of
+governing by tribes (_pagi_ or _civitates_), nor in their constitution,
+so long as it did not clash with the Roman laws. When Cæsar had defeated
+the Helvetians he sent them back to rebuild their old homes, and they
+re-occupied their ancient territory, with the exception of that portion
+which stretches from Fort l'Ecluse to Geneva and Aubonne, and borders on
+Mount Jura. This portion was wrenched away and given to the Equestrian
+Julian colony settled at Noviodunum (Nyon) on Geneva lake, to keep the
+passes of the mountain (43 B.C.). The Jura range separated Helvetia from
+the territory of the Rauraci, where another veteran colony was about the
+same time established as a safeguard for the Rhine, to check the
+incursions of the Germans. The Colonia Rauracorum was afterwards called
+Augusta Rauracorum in honour of the emperor. The colonists of these two
+settlements were mostly Romans, or had been admitted to Roman
+citizenship, and occupied a different position from the inhabitants of
+the country generally, for they were allowed Roman privileges and
+favours--exemption from taxation most likely amongst others--but, on the
+other hand, they were entirely dependent on the Roman Government.
+
+The laborious investigations of the learned Mommsen and Charles Morel go
+to show that the Helvetians were mildly treated by their masters. They
+had been received into the Roman pale as friends (_foederati_), and as
+such lived on favourable terms with these, and enjoyed as high a degree
+of liberty and autonomy as was compatible with their position as Roman
+subjects. The Rhætians had been taken from their country; the Helvetii,
+on the contrary, had been sent back home and entrusted with the
+guardianship of the Rhine, merely being required to furnish a
+contingent for service abroad. They were allowed to maintain garrisons
+of their own--that of Tenedo on the Rhine, for instance--to build forts,
+to raise militia in case of war. And, as has before been mentioned,
+their religious worship was not interfered with, nor their traditional
+division into _pagi_, or tribes, and they were allowed a national
+representative at the Gallic capital, Lyons. Helvetia took the rank of a
+state (_Civitas Helvetiorum_), its chief seat (_chef-lieu_) being
+Aventicum, which was also the centre of government. So long as Helvetia
+conformed to the regulations imposed by the imperial government she was
+allowed to manage her own local affairs. Latin was made the official
+language, though the native tongue was not prohibited.
+
+[Illustration: GOLD COIN, VESPASIAN (VESPASIANUS IMPERATOR-AETERNITAS).
+
+(_By Dr. Imhoof, Winterthur._)]
+
+A.D. 69-79. Under Vespasian, however, a great change took place. Thanks
+to the munificence of that emperor, who had a great liking for
+Aventicum, this city lost its Celtic character, and was made a splendid
+city after the Italian type. He had sent there his befriended and
+faithful Flavian colony of the Helvetians to live, giving her the
+lengthy title of Colonia Pia Flavia Constans Emerita Helvetiorum
+Foederata in return for services, for she had staunchly supported his
+party against Vitellius when the latter contended with Galba for the
+imperial throne. The inhabitants most likely received the Latin Right
+(_Droit Latin_), or were considered Roman citizens, and as such were
+more intimately connected with Rome, and had to submit to closer
+control. Her institutions were assimilated to those of Italian towns.
+She had a senate, a council of decuriones, city magistrates, a
+_præfectus operum publicorum_ (or special officer to attend to the
+construction of public buildings), Augustan flamens, or priests, and so
+forth.
+
+Notwithstanding the overwhelming importance of Aventicum, a certain
+amount of self-government was left to the country districts, towns, and
+villages (_vici_). The inhabitants of Vindonissa (Windisch), Aquæ
+(Baden), Eburodunum (Yverdon), Salodurum (Soleure), erected public
+buildings of their own accord. The towns of the Valais, Octodurum
+(Martigny), Sedunum (Sion), &c., had their own city council and
+municipal officers, and received the Latin Right. In the case of the
+Helvetians, those of the capital and those of the provinces equally
+enjoyed that Right; whereas, with Augusta Rauracorum, the case was
+different, only the colonists within the walled cities being granted the
+like standing and liberties. On the whole it may be said that, though
+Helvetia kept many of her own peculiarities, and some of her ancient
+liberties, she submitted to Rome, and was greatly influenced by the
+advanced civilization of the empire. The Helvetians, indeed, underwent
+that change of speech and character, which split them into two nations,
+French and Germans.
+
+One of the chief factors contributing to the Roman colonization of
+Helvetia was the military occupation of its northern frontier, though
+this occupation weighed heavily on the country. The great object of Rome
+was to keep back the Germans, who were for ever threatening to break
+into the empire. Vindonissa was one of the military headquarters, and
+its selection for the purpose was justified by its excellent position,
+situated as it was on an elevated neck of land, washed by three
+navigable rivers, the Aare, Reuss, and Limmat, and at the junction of
+the two great roads connecting East and West Helvetia with Italy. A
+capital system of roads, too, was planned all over the country.
+
+There would no doubt often be but little love lost between the
+Helvetians and the soldiery in occupation. Tacitus ("Annals") tells of
+one bloody episode. After the death of the madman hero, the twenty-first
+legion, surnamed _Rapax_, or Rapacious, no doubt for good reasons, was
+quartered at Vindonissa. Cæcina, a violent man, lieutenant of Vitellius,
+then commander of the Rhine army, marched into Helvetia to proclaim
+Vitellius emperor. But the Helvetians supported his opponent Galba, not
+knowing that he had just been murdered, and fell upon the messengers of
+Cæcina, and put them in prison, after first seizing their letters. The
+lieutenant enraged at this affront laid waste the neighbouring Aquæ
+(Baden near Zurich), a flourishing watering-place much frequented for
+its amusements, Tacitus tells us. Calling in the Rhætian cohorts, he
+drove them to the Boetzberg, and cut them down by thousands in the
+woods and fastnesses of Mount Jura; then, ravaging the country as he
+went, Cæcina marched on to Aventicum, which at once surrendered.
+Alpinus, a notable leader, was put to death, and the rest were left to
+the clemency of Vitellius. However, the Roman soldiery demanded the
+destruction of the nation, but Claudius Cossus, a Helvetian of great
+eloquence, moving them to tears by his touching words, they changed
+their minds, and begged that the Helvetians might be set at liberty.
+
+However this military occupation was, after sixty years of duration,
+drawing to a close. Under Domitian and Trajan all the land between
+Strasburg and Augsburg, as far as the Main, was conquered and annexed to
+the Roman Empire. An artificial rampart was formed across country from
+the mouth of the Main to Regensburg on the Danube, and the military
+cordon was removed from the Swiss frontier to the new boundary line.
+Helvetia, now no longer the rendezvous of the Roman legionaries, quietly
+settled into a Roman province, where the language, customs, art, and
+learning of Rome were soon to be adopted.
+
+If the military stations were starting-points of the new culture, it was
+the more peaceful immigrants who introduced agriculture, commerce, and
+wealth, or, at any rate, caused it to make progress. Gradually the
+Helvetians amalgamated with the Romans, adopting even their religion.
+Horticulture and vine-culture were introduced. A Roman farmer grew vines
+on a patch of ground near Cully, on Lake Geneva, and on an inscribed
+stone (dug up at St. Prex) begs Bacchus (_Liber Pater Cocliensis_) to
+bless the vintage. He little anticipated that his plantation would be
+the ancestor, as it were, of the famous La Côte, now so highly valued.
+
+Wherever the art-loving Roman fixed his abode he built his house, with
+the wonderful Roman masonry, and furnished it with all the luxury and
+art his refined taste suggested. Thus the country gradually assumed a
+Roman aspect. Many towns and _vici_, or village settlements, sprang up
+or increased in importance under Roman influence--Zurich, Aquæ (Baden
+near Zurich), Kloten, Vindonissa, and others.[10] Yet the eastern
+portion of the country could not compete in the matter of fine buildings
+with the western cantons. Indeed, in the eastern districts the Helvetian
+influence was never predominated over by the Latin influence, and the
+Helvetians clung to their native speech despite the Latin tongue being
+the official language.
+
+But it was the mild and sunny west which most attracted the foreigner,
+as it still does. Wealthy Romans settled in great numbers between Mount
+Jura and the Pennine ranges. Every nook and corner of the Canton Vaud
+bears even down to our days the stamp of Roman civilization. The shores
+and sunny slopes of Geneva lake were strewn with villas, and the woody
+strip of land between Villeneuve and Lausanne and Geneva was almost as
+much in request for country seats by the great amongst the Romans as
+that delightful stretch of coast on the Bay of Naples, from Posilippo
+to Pozzuoli and Baiæ, where Cicero and Virgil, and many Romans of lesser
+mark, had their _villegiatures_.
+
+But the most remarkable place, whether for art, learning, or opulence,
+was Aventicum, the Helvetian capital. Of this town some mention has been
+made above, and, did space permit, a full description might well be
+given of this truly magnificent and truly Roman city. Its theatre,
+academy, senate-house, courts, palaces, baths, triumphal arches, and
+private buildings were wonderful. Am. Marcellinus, the Roman writer, who
+saw Aventicum shortly after its partial destruction by the Alamanni,
+greatly admired its palace's and temples, even in their semi-ruinous
+condition. The city next in beauty and size was Augusta Rauracorum
+(Basel Augst), where the ruins of a vast amphitheatre still command our
+wondering admiration.
+
+But this period of grandeur was followed by the gradual downfall of the
+empire, which was already rotten at the core. The degenerate Romans of
+the later times were unable to stand against the attacks of the more
+vigorous Germans. The story is too long to tell in detail, but a few
+points may be briefly noted. In 264 A.D. the Alamanni swept through the
+country on their way to Gaul, levelling Augusta Rauracorum with the
+ground, and considerably injuring Aventicum. At the end of the third
+century the Romans relinquished their rampart between the Rhine and the
+Danube, and fell back upon the old military frontier of the first
+century. Helvetia thus underwent a second military occupation. Yet the
+prestige of Rome was gone. In 305 A.D. the Alamanni again overran
+Helvetia, and completed the ruin of Aventicum. Weaker and weaker grew
+the Roman power, and when the Goths pressed into Italy the imperial
+troops were entirely withdrawn from Helvetia. As for the Helvetians
+themselves, they were quite unable to offer any resistance, and when the
+Alamanni once more burst into the land (406 A.D.), they were able to
+secure entire possession of the eastern portions. The Burgundians,
+another German tribe, followed suit, and in 443 A.D. fixed themselves in
+West Helvetia. The inaccessible fastnesses of Graubünden alone remained
+untouched by the tide of German invasion, which effected such changes in
+the neighbouring districts.
+
+At this period of worldly grandeur and internal decay, occurs another
+historical event of the greatest importance, the rise of Christianity,
+containing the vital elements necessary for bringing about the spiritual
+regeneration of the world. The social and political decomposition
+throughout the empire, the cruel tyranny of the sovereigns, the
+decrepitude of the state and its institutions, the growing indifference
+to the national religion, which showed itself in the facile adoption of,
+or rather adaptation to, the Eastern forms of worship--the adoption of
+the deities Isis and Mithra, for example--all these and many other
+things unnecessary to mention, were unmistakable signs that Roman rule
+was drawing to its close, and they also prepared the way for the
+reception of the new doctrine. The belief in one God of mercy and love;
+of one Saviour, the Redeemer of the world; of a future life,--were
+startling but good tidings to the poor and oppressed, and made their
+influence felt also on the rich and cultivated, who saw in Christianity
+a tolerance, benevolence, human love, loftiness of principle and moral
+perfection which had not been attained by the creeds of antiquity. The
+passionate ardour and force of conviction amongst the Christians was
+such that they faced suffering and death rather than abjure their tenets
+or desist from preaching them to others.
+
+The accounts of the introduction of Christianity into Switzerland are
+mostly legendary, yet it is generally believed that it was not the work
+of special missionaries. It is more likely that the new faith came to
+the land as part and parcel of the Roman culture. Indeed this is now the
+opinion most generally received. The military operations of the empire
+required continual changes of locality on the part of the troops; thus
+we find Egyptian, Numidian, and Spanish soldiers quartered on the Rhine
+and the Danube, and such as they would most probably be the first to
+bring in the new faith.
+
+At first the Roman authorities looked upon Christians as state rebels,
+and fierce persecutions followed. The oldest Christian legend of this
+country tells of such a conflict between the state officials and the
+Christians, and no doubt contains some admixture of truth, as many of
+these stories do. A legion levied at Thebes in Egypt--hence called the
+_Thebaïde_--was sent to Cologne to take the place of troops required to
+quell a rising in Britain. Coming to the Valais, they were required by
+the Emperor Maximian to sacrifice to the heathen gods (A.D. 280-300),
+but being mostly Christians they refused, and were massacred with their
+chief, Mauritius. Some, however, escaped for the time, but were called
+upon to receive the martyr's crown later on, and in other places. Two
+such, Ursus and Victor, came to Soleure with sixty-six companions, and
+were put to death by order of Hirtæus, the Roman governor. Two others,
+Felix and his sister Regula, reached Zurich, where their successful
+conversions irritated Decius, who put them to the rack, and then
+beheaded them. Yet, wonderful to tell, the legend goes on, they seized
+their heads that had fallen, and, walking with them to the top of a hill
+close by, buried themselves, bodies and heads too. This wonderful feat
+was an exact counterpart of that reported to have been performed also by
+Ursus and Victor at Soleure. Felix and Regula became the patron saints
+of Zurich, and play a conspicuous part in its local history. Tradition
+says that Charlemagne himself in later days erected a minster on their
+burial spot. Thus, as ever, the blood of martyrs became the seed of the
+Church.
+
+[Illustration: GOLD COIN OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY (ST. FELIX, ST.
+REGULA-SANCTUS CAROLUS). (_By Dr. Imhoof, Winterthur._)]
+
+The Roman towns Geneva, St Maurice, Augusta Rauracorum, Aventicum,
+Vindonissa, and Curia had been episcopal sees since the third century,
+though some of these sees were in process of time removed to other
+places. Thus, Augusta, Vindonissa, and St. Maurice were removed to
+Basel, Constance, and Sion respectively.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[10] We know little of them, most likely they were but _vici_ (village
+settlements). Aquæ alone we know from Tacitus was a city-like
+watering-place; Kloten had handsome villas, but what it was we do not
+know.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+THE ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS NATION.
+
+_THE ALAMANNI; BURGUNDIANS; FRANKS; MEROVINGIANS._
+
+
+The fifth century was remarkable for what may be called the dislocation
+of the peoples of Europe--the migrations of the Germans into the Roman
+Empire, and, mightiest movement of all, the irruption of the Huns under
+their terrible king Attila, the "Scourge of God." The mere sight of the
+hideous Asiatics filled men with horror. Never afoot, but ever on their
+ill-shaped but rapid steeds, to whose backs they seemed as if they were
+glued, and on which they lived well-nigh day and night, it seemed as if
+man and horse had grown into one being. Their large heads ill-matched
+their meagre bodies; their tawny faces with deep-set eyes and high,
+protruding cheek-bones made them resemble rough-cut figures in stone
+rather than human beings. The Goths regarded them as the offspring of
+spirits of the desert and of witches. These masses of Asiatic barbarism,
+which had burst into Europe, stayed for awhile in Hungary, but soon
+rolled towards the West, dislodging all the peoples with whom they came
+in contact. Marching to the Rhine, they drove the Burgundians from their
+settlements in the district of Worms, a land so rich in song and saga,
+and entered Gaul to found a new kingdom. But the doom of the Huns was at
+hand, for Aëtius the Roman general, and the last defender of the empire,
+defeated them, A.D. 451, in a truly gigantic battle on the Catalaunian
+Plain, in the Champagne country. The slaughter was so terrible that the
+saying went abroad that the river ran high with the blood of 300,000
+men.
+
+But it was clear that the tottering empire could not defend itself
+against a whole world in commotion. The time had come when Rome was to
+leave the stage of history. The great German nation was forming. It
+would be tedious and profitless to mention all the German tribes beyond
+the Rhine and Danube, a well-nigh endless list of names, impossible to
+remember. Besides, the petty tribes and clans gradually formed alliances
+with each other for greater security, and, dropping their ancient names,
+took collective ones more familiar to our ears--Saxons, Franks,
+Thuringi, Burgundians, Alamanni, and Bavarians.
+
+Of these the Alamanni and the Burgundians are those from whom the Swiss
+are descended, and thus Switzerland, like England, has to look back to
+Germany as its ancestral home. The tall, fair-haired, true-hearted
+Alamanni for whom Caracalla had such an admiration that to be like them
+he wore a red wig, are said to have been descendants of the Semnones,
+who had migrated from Lusatia on the Spree (in Silesia) to the Main. The
+name Alamanni is generally held by the learned to be derived from
+_alah_, a temple-grove, and implies a combination of various tribes,
+"the people of the Divine grove." The Suevi, of whom the Semnones were
+the most conspicuous tribe, had a sacred grove in the district of the
+Spree, where they met for worship. In the fifth century we find the
+Alamanni occupying the district from the Main to the Black Forest, East
+Helvetia, and Alsatia as far as the Vosges.
+
+When this formidable horde took possession of Eastern Helvetia they
+found but little trouble from the Celto-Roman population, who, thinned
+by previous invasions, and unaccustomed to fighting, could offer no
+serious resistance, and sank into slaves and servants. The towns were
+laid in ruins, the country ravaged, and all culture trodden under foot.
+It seemed as if "the hand on the dial of history had been put back by
+centuries,"[11] and civilization had once more to begin her work. They
+outnumbered the natives, and were not absorbed by them, but on the
+contrary on the half-decayed stock of the Roman province the Alamanni
+were grafted as a true German people, retaining their old language,
+institutions, and mode of living.
+
+The Alamanni did not at once develop into a civilized and cultivated
+people, but retained their fondness for war and hunting, and other
+characteristics of their ancient life. Their grand and majestic woods
+had stamped themselves on the intrepid, dauntless spirits, whose deep
+subjectiveness and truthful natures contrasts strongly with the polished
+artfulness of the Romans. For the mighty aspects of nature--forest,
+mountain, sea--play their part in moulding the character of a nation.
+And their impenetrable woods had influenced the destinies of the Germans
+in the early periods of their history--had saved them from the Roman
+yoke, the labyrinths of swamp and river, defying even the forces of the
+well-nigh all-powerful empire. Then, too, when hard fighting was afoot,
+and men had burnt their homesteads before the advance of the foe, the
+vast forest formed a safe retreat for women and children. The original
+house, by the way, was a mere wooden tent on four posts, and could be
+carried off on carts that fitted underneath. The next stage was a hut in
+the style of the Swiss mountain-shed, but it was still movable--was, in
+fact, a chattel the more to be taken along on their wanderings.[12]
+
+Their mode of settling in their new country was curious enough, though
+the early settlement of England was very similar in character. Disliking
+walled towns of the Roman fashion, the Germans felt their freedom of
+movement impeded and their minds oppressed by living within the
+prison-like fortifications of strong cities. But loving seclusion and
+independence, nevertheless, they built extensive farmsteads, where each
+man was his own master. To the homestead were added fields, meadows, and
+an extensive farmyard; the whole hedged about so as to keep the owner
+aloof from his neighbours. Each farmer pitched his tent wherever "spring
+or mead, or sylvan wood tempted him," reports Tacitus. This liking for
+seclusion on the part of the Germans is well shown in the case of
+Zurich, for at one time the canton had three thousand farm homesteads,
+as against a hundred hamlets and twelve villages.
+
+The mode of partitioning the land shows democratic features. It was
+divided amongst the community according to the size of families and
+herds of cattle, but one large plot was left for the common use. The
+large _Allmend_, or common, supplied wood for the community, and there,
+too, might feed every man's flocks and herds. The nobleman as such had
+no domains specially set apart for him, his position and privileges were
+honorary. He might be chosen as a high officer of a district, or even a
+duke, or leader of the army, in time of war. Payment for such services
+was unknown. Money was scarce, and indeed its use was mainly taught them
+by the Romans. Not only did flocks and herds form their chief wealth,
+but were the standard of value, each article being estimated as worth so
+much in cattle.
+
+Society was from the very first sharply and clearly divided into two
+great classes--the landowners and the bondsmen--the "free and the
+unfree." The former class was again split into "lesser men," "middle
+men," and "first men," or Athelinge (Adelige), these last named being of
+noble blood, and owners of most land and the greatest number of slaves
+and cattle. The "unfree" were either _Hoerige_ that belonged to the
+estate they tilled, and might be sold with it, or slaves who could call
+nothing their own, for whatever they saved fell to their lord at their
+death, if he so willed. A shire or large district was subdivided into
+hundreds. The whole of the free men met on some hallowed spot, under
+some sacred tree, with their priests and leaders. Here, besides
+performing religious exercises, they discussed war and peace, dispensed
+justice, chose their officers of state, and their leader if war was
+imminent. War and jurisdiction were the whole, or well-nigh the whole,
+of public life at that early stage. The popular assemblies, done away
+with by the feudal system, revived later on in the form of the famous
+"Landsgemeinde" of the forest district, which are still in use in some
+of the cantons. Blood money, or _wergild_, was exacted from wrong-doers
+as in Saxon times in England. The tariff drawn up for bodily injuries
+reveals the mercenary and brawling temper of a semi-civilized people.
+
+At the time they settled in Switzerland the Alamanni were heathens, and
+worshipped nature-deities--in groves, near springs, or mountains--the
+names of some of which we still trace in the names of the days of the
+week. Their religion, which was that common to all Germany, reveals the
+German mind--full of reverie, deep thoughtfulness, and wild romantic
+fancy that leads to a tragical issue. Like most heathen people the
+Alamanni clothed their gods in their own flesh and blood. Woden and his
+attendant deities, shield-maidens--Freyr and Freya, the king and queen
+of the elves--dwarfs, giants, spirits--all these are well known to us,
+and are indeed the charm of the fairy tales of our youth. The bright
+spirits, the _Asen_, war against the spirit of darkness, the giants, and
+lose ground, for they have broken the treaties made with them. The Asen
+are the benevolent powers of nature, spring sunshine, and fertilizing
+rain, and live in bright palaces, in Walhalla, and receive the dead; the
+evil spirits are the sterile rock, the icy winter, the raging sea, the
+destructive fire. Thor destroys the rocks with his Hammer, pounding them
+to earth that man may grow corn. The giants scale the sky to defy the
+gods for assisting mankind, but Heimdallr stands watching on the
+rainbow-bridge that leads to Asgard--the garden of the _Asen_--and
+prevents their entrance. But the gods themselves are stained with guilt,
+and in a fight with the Giants before the gates of Walhalla, they
+utterly destroy each other. The columns of heaven and the rainbow-bridge
+break down, the universe is destroyed and the downfall of the gods is
+complete. But the heathen Germans could not bear the notion of entire
+annihilation, so in a sort of epilogue the great tragedy is followed by
+the dawn of brighter and better times, the gods recover their former
+innocence, when they used to play with golden dice without knowing the
+value of gold.[13] The _Götterdämmerung_, the Divine Dawn, has broken,
+and a new epoch has set in for gods and men. One of Wagner's musical
+dramas is, as is well known, founded on these myths. . To turn to the
+Burgundians. They became the neighbours of the Alamanni in Helvetia
+about 443 A.D., after a severe defeat by the Huns. This great battle is
+pictured with great power in the "Nibelungenlied." The Burgundians play
+a conspicuous part in that grand old epic. A wonderful blending it is of
+heroic myth, beautiful romance, and historic sagas attaching to the
+great heroes of the early Middle Ages--Theodoric the Great, Gunther of
+Burgundy, Attila, King of the Huns. If space permitted, the whole story
+might well be told, but in this place let one feat be cited as an
+example. Siegfried, the Dragon-slayer, a demigod, invulnerable, like
+Achilles, except in one place, and who could make himself invisible,
+woos the sweet and lovely maid of Worms. As "invisible champion," he
+assists her brother Gunther in his combat with the warlike Brunhilde,
+Queen of the North, whom Gunther wishes to obtain to wife. After years
+of happy married life the Queen of Worms fell to a quarrel with the
+Queen of Xanten on a question of precedence, and the gallant Siegfried
+falls a victim to Brunhilde's hatred, and her intrigue with Hagen. To
+avenge his death, the disconsolate widow marries the powerful Attila,
+and engages in a terrible battle with the Burgundians. In this battle
+she and her own kindred were slain. Attila and Dietrich of Verona
+(Theodoric the Great) are saved, however.
+
+Aëtius gave to the Burgundians as a settlement Sabaudia (Savoy), on
+condition that they should protect Gaul and Italy from the incursions of
+the Alamanni. One-third of the lands and homesteads were made over to
+them by the Romans, and later two-thirds were yielded. Gradually the
+Burgundians advanced in the interior of Helvetia, Vaud, Valais, and
+Fribourg, and into Southern Gaul. They occupied indeed all the territory
+from the Vosges to the Alps and the Mediterranean. They lived on
+friendly terms with the previous settlers, differing considerably in
+character from the Alamanni. Less numerous, less vigorous, and more
+pliant, they were unable to Germanize the West, as the Alamanni did the
+East, yet were strong enough to infuse new vital force into the
+enervated Roman populations. A readily cultivable race the Burgundians
+availed themselves of the Roman civilization and advancement, and
+gradually blended with the previous settlers--chiefly of Latin
+origin--to form a new people. Thus through Roman influence and German
+grafting--with two distinct German grafts--two nationalities sprang up
+in Switzerland, and we find, as in our own day, the Germans in the
+north-east, and the French in the south-west.
+
+[Illustration: EIGER IN THE BERNESE OBERLAND.]
+
+The Roman influence over the Burgundians was greatly increased by the
+policy of King Gundobad (A.D. 500). He had visited Italy, and had been
+greatly taken with Roman institutions. There is still extant a letter of
+his in which he begs of Theodoric the Great a sun- or water-dial which
+he had seen at his Court. Gundobad's code of laws was a blending of
+Roman legislation with German jurisdiction. He introduced the Latin
+speech and chronology officially, and gave the Romans equal rights and
+an equal standing with the German population. Religious differences
+arising--the Burgundians were Arians--and conflicts ensuing between king
+and people, the Franks took advantage of the turmoils to bring the
+subjects of Gundobad under their sway.
+
+There was no love lost between the Alamanni and their neighbours, the
+Burgundians; indeed the national antipathy for each other was great, but
+the Frankish domination did more than anything else towards bringing
+about a union between the hostile peoples. The reports they have left as
+to the character of the Franks are not flattering. They said that the
+Franks were capable of breaking an oath with a smiling face, and a
+saying ran, "Take a Frank for a friend, but never for a neighbour."
+Clovis, the Frankish king, had waded to the throne through the blood of
+his own kin. He was, however, the first to take more extended views in
+politics, and planned a united German kingdom after the type of the
+Roman Empire. To his vast scheme the Alamanni fell the first victims. A
+great battle was fought in which they suffered defeat. Clovis had vowed
+that he would embrace Christianity if he should prevail against the
+Alamannic Odin. Victory falling to his side, Clovis and his nobles were
+baptized. His conversion was a great triumph for the Church, and
+furnished the Merovingian kings with a pretext for the conquest of the
+Arian Germans, who had been led astray from the orthodox faith. To crown
+the work and enhance his greatness in the eyes of his Roman and German
+subjects, the imperial purple, and the title of Roman Patricius was
+bestowed on Clovis by the Greek emperor.
+
+The subjection of Burgundy was brought about in the following reign,
+under Sigismund, who had been guilty of the murder of his son by the
+desire of the stepmother. He fled to St. Maurice, which he endowed so
+richly that it gave shelter to upwards of five hundred monks. However,
+his piety did not bring him victory, for the Burgundians were defeated
+by the Franks at Autun in 532, and Sigismund and his family were hurled
+down a well.
+
+In the same year Chur-Rhætia was yielded to the Franks by the Goths, who
+required their help against the East. Rhætia, which had escaped the
+German invasion, had fallen to the share of the Goths of Italy, and had
+enjoyed the protection and munificence of their glorious king, Theodoric
+the Great. He defended her against her neighbours as a forepost of
+Italy, but left intact the Roman institutions.
+
+Thus had Helvetia been formed into a Frankish dependency; not a vestige
+was left of the very name Helvetia. Yet the Frankish rule was more
+nominal than real. Counts were appointed to govern shires and hundreds,
+and, being royal governors, were elected by, and dependent on, the
+Frankish kings. Jurisdiction, military command, summoning to war,
+raising of taxes--fishing, hunting, coinage, had become royal
+prerogatives--and the farmers kicked against the impositions--these were
+the functions of the governing counts. None the less the Burgundians
+retained their king or patricius, and the Alamanni remained under the
+sway of their own duke, to whom alone they gave allegiance. Chur-Rhætia
+was particularly privileged. It was ruled by a royal governor, who was
+supreme judge, count, and _præses_, and the dignity remained for one
+hundred and fifty years in one powerful and wealthy native family called
+the Victoriden, who held likewise the ecclesiastical livings. On its
+extinction in 766, Bishop Tello, the last of the family, bestowed the
+immense wealth on the religious-houses of Disentis and Chur.
+
+The promotion of Christianity, and the staunch support given by the
+Merovingian kings to the Church, were perhaps the greatest benefits
+resulting from the Frankish rule. Knowing the Church to be the sole
+means by which in that benighted age culture could be spread and
+civilization extended, those monarchs availed themselves of her
+services, and bestowed upon her in return great wealth and high
+prerogatives. Churches and religious-houses sprang up one could hardly
+tell how. In French Switzerland there were founded the bishoprics of
+Geneva, Lausanne, and Sion; and in the eastern half of the country those
+of Basel, Vindonissa (removed to Constance in the sixth century), and
+Chur. St. Maurice, benefited, as we have seen, by Sigismund, was a
+flourishing abbey town. Yet many of the Alamanni held tenaciously to
+their old gods, and their holy shrines and idols stood side by side with
+the Cross; even Christians invoked Woden, for fear he should be offended
+by their neglect.
+
+The further amalgamation of heathenism and Christianity was most
+effectually stopped by--curious to say--a caravan of Irish monks. In
+fact, later tradition attributed to these monks the foundation of
+religious-houses, to a number which modern investigation has shown to
+have been greatly exaggerated. Ireland, which had so far escaped the
+struggle with the great Teutonic race, had given all her energies to the
+promotion of the new faith, and ever since the fourth century
+Christianity had wonderfully flourished in the island. Filled with
+missionary ardour, the Irish Columban conceived an intense desire to
+conquer Gaul and Germany, and in 610 set out on his wanderings with a
+staff of twelve companions. Equipped with "knotty sticks," a leather
+vial, a travelling pouch, a relic case, and with a spare pair of boots
+hung round the neck, "tatooed," wearing long waving hair,[14] the
+adventurous band arrived in Gaul, and founded monasteries in the Vosges
+district. However, they offended Queen Brunhilde by their frankness, and
+had to depart. Proceeding to Eastern Helvetia, they arrived at Zurich,
+but at length finding nothing more to do there, as we may suppose, they
+proceeded to Tuggen, on the Upper Zurich lake. Here they saw people
+engaged in an oblation of beer to the national gods. Moved with holy
+anger, the monks upset the vessel, and flung the idols into the lake,
+and won many to Christianity. We cannot here follow them in their
+devoted labours. Columban passed on into Italy, but left his disciple
+Gallus in the neighbourhood of Lake Constance. Hence sprang up the
+famous monastery bearing his name.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[11] Green's "Smaller History of England," p. 42.
+
+[12] Dahn, "Urgeschichte der Römanish-germanischen Völker."
+
+[13] Dahn
+
+[14] Professor Rahn.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+THE CAROLINGIANS--CHARLEMAGNE.
+
+
+Under the last Merovingian kings, whose character is sufficiently
+attested by the name of _Fainéants_--sluggards--Alamannia and Burgundy
+struggled to shake off the Frankish yoke. Now the wealth and power of
+those weak kings were passing from them to their "Mayors of the Palace."
+Charles Martel, one of these "Mayors," defeated the Alamanni in a great
+battle (A.D. 730), and Carlomann, Charlemagne's brother, had a number of
+Alamannic grandees put to the sword, and their lands confiscated (A.D.
+746).
+
+Charles Martel remained simple "Mayor of the Palace," but Pepin le Bref
+had himself crowned king, at St. Denis, by Stephen II., in 751,
+rewarding the Pope for this great service by the gift of a tract of land
+around the Holy City. By this _coup d'état_ were established both the
+Carolingian dynasty and the temporal power of the Pope--well-nigh
+convertible terms. The new dynasty greatly fostered religion, and
+furthered the work begun by the Irish and Anglo-Saxon monks. St. Gall's
+cell became an abbey church and monastic school; St. Leodegar's at
+Lucerne was incorporated with the abbey of Murbach in Alsatia; and on
+the bank of the Limmat at Zurich arose a college of prebends.
+
+Pepin le Bref was succeeded by his son, Charles the Great, or
+Charlemagne, as he is usually called (768-814). For nearly half a
+century this talented, powerful, and lofty-minded sovereign swayed the
+destinies of Europe with unflagging zeal, ever bearing in mind the
+responsibilities of his exalted position. He ruled over a vast domain,
+stretching from the Ebro in Spain to the Theiss in Hungary, and from
+Denmark to the Tiber. Saxons, Sclavonians, Avars, Lombards, and Arabs,
+were subject to his rule. His Court was a great intellectual centre,
+whence enlightenment spread to every part of his dominions. Charlemagne
+was great as a general, as a statesman, as a politician; he was a
+painstaking economist, and his humanity, and his other virtues secured
+for him the noble title of "Father of Europe." A brilliant figure in a
+benighted age, which shed its light on after times. No wonder mediæval
+fancy lingered fondly on his memory; and around his name gathered song
+and saga and legend. Charlemagne is a special favourite with the Swiss;
+indeed, of all the German rulers who have held sway over them, he is the
+one whose memory is most dear; and Switzerland has done at least her
+share in helping to swell the mass of legend and fiction respecting him.
+The impulse he gave to education in this country was alone sufficient to
+endear his memory to the Swiss. Basel, Geneva, Chur, and Sion, benefited
+by his wise administration, and Zurich quite particularly exalts him,
+calling him the "Fountain of her intellectual life," during the Middle
+Ages. It is impossible as it is unnecessary to give at length in this
+volume, the history of this long and brilliant reign. A few points may
+suffice to indicate the character of Charlemagne, and to throw some
+light on the times, and the condition of the country.
+
+The ambition of the Franks to found an empire after the fashion of Rome
+was practically realized when Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the
+West by Hadrian in A.D. 800. Yet Charles aimed less at mere outward
+grandeur than at the establishment of a spiritual kingdom on earth, and
+a kingdom that should embrace all his people in one Christian Church,
+upheld by a strong and well-organized state-commonwealth. The union of
+Church and State, yet giving the preponderance to the latter, was
+Charlemagne's leading idea, and well-nigh summed up his religious and
+political creed. The strong religious bent of this "priestly king" was
+revealed at the very beginning of his reign, when he took upon himself
+the mission of "Defender of the Holy Church, and _Coadjutor of the
+Apostolic See_"[15] thus claiming, with the concurrence of the Primate,
+the spiritual guidance of his realm. Hadrian's congenial nature and
+tendencies helped to bring about this union. Yet in this matter Charles
+but conformed to the policy of his ancestors, and to the spirit of the
+age, an age remarkable for acts of piety and devotion. And the history
+of Switzerland is for that period rather a history of the religious
+movements of the time than a political chronicle. For in those early
+stages the Church was proportionally far more important than in our own
+times. _Then_ she was the sole, or almost the sole, centre of intellect,
+of art, of letters, and represented the ideal side of life in an
+illiterate age. Despite her defects the Church was a blessing to
+mankind.
+
+Helvetian lands had entirely lost their political independence. During
+this reign, the vigorous government of the monarch frustrated every
+attempt at insurrection, and in the end both Alamanni and Burgundians
+began to feel the benefits arising from the existence of a wise and firm
+administration. To curb their power the sovereign abolished the
+dignities of the mighty dukes, and parcelled out the land into smaller
+shires (than the old county divisions), and placed over these counts as
+royal governors with judicial power. The people no longer appeared _in
+corpore_ at the shire-motes, but were represented at the lesser court by
+_Schoeffen_, or reeves. These reeves had to bring in the verdict; if
+they could not agree, trial-by-ordeal was resorted to. Twice a year
+Charles assembled his nobles and bishops to receive their reports, and
+to frame laws, which were, however, submitted to the people, that is,
+the "freeholders" at the "real thing," when they met in May. For the
+control of the shire administration, and to give the people a means of
+appealing more directly to the king's justice, he appointed a special
+commission of spiritual and temporal officers (_missi dominici_).
+
+Charlemagne's legislation, it hardly needs to be said, was highly
+favourable to the Church, and tended to increase her wealth largely. He
+allotted to her tithes of the produce of the soil, and the people of
+their own free will overwhelmed the ecclesiastical and monastic
+institutions with offerings of lands and money. In the eighth century
+the monastery of St. Gall already possessed 160,000 acres of land, which
+had been bestowed by pious donors, whilst the twelve hundred
+deeds-of-gift found amongst the old abbey documents testify to the zeal
+of the givers. Religious establishments became the largest landowners in
+the country, and vassalage and the feudal system sprang up.
+
+Under the territorial subdivision Switzerland fell into the shires of
+Thurgau, Aargau, Genevagau, Waldgau (Vaud), &c., far larger than at
+present, whence are derived the names of various cantons as we have them
+now. Some of the Swiss would seem to have shared in Charlemagne's
+military glory. The "Monk of St. Gall,"[16] recently identified with
+Notker Balbulus (the Stammerer), the popular biographer of Charlemagne,
+tells in bombastic style the feats of an Alamannic hero from Thurgau.
+This mediæval Hercules--Eishere the Giant by name--had accompanied the
+emperor against the Avars, and after his return, reported that they had
+"mowed down the enemy like grass," and that he himself had "strung on
+his lance some six or eight pigmy toads of Bohemians as if they were
+larks, then carried them hither and thither, not knowing what they were
+grumbling out"! Notker, the chronicler, had in his youth heard the story
+of the military exploits of Charlemagne, from an old Thurgau soldier who
+had followed the emperor in his wars. And when Charles III. was on a
+visit to St. Gall in 883, he was so delighted with the monk's lively
+chat about the matchless emperor, that he requested him to write down
+his recollections of his illustrious ancestor. To this monkish
+chronicler we owe so many of the pleasant stories of Charlemagne current
+among us.[17]
+
+Interesting and touching are the traits we constantly meet with in the
+glimpses we get of the Court and private life of the emperor. His
+daughters were not allowed to marry because he could not bear separation
+from them. Hatto of Basel, the most illustrious of his elder bishops,
+often inveighed against the monarch's weaknesses, yet Charlemagne not
+only bore the bishop's censures, but sent him on a highly honourable
+mission to the Court of Constantinople, and chose him as one of the
+witnesses to his last will. The emperor's friendship with Pope Hadrian
+was quite remarkable, and, in spite of many differences, was deep and
+lasting. On hearing the news of Hadrian's death, Charlemagne burst into
+tears, and eulogized him in the most flattering terms. The emperor's
+management of his royal estates was in the highest degree prudent,
+skilful, energetic, and in every way admirable. To his property he gave
+the closest and most constant inspection, down to the very eggs
+produced on his farms.
+
+He gathered round him scholars, artists, and teachers, from Italy and
+Greece, and a Court school was opened by Alcuin, the Anglo-Saxon
+scholar--the English were then the most cultured of the German
+peoples--and a body of English pupils followed him to France. Alcuin
+became the friend, and in matters educational the counsellor, of
+Charlemagne, by whom he was entrusted with the revision of the Bible.
+Warnfried Paulus Diaconus, the famous Lombard writer, was ordered to
+compile a collection of homilies from the Fathers. Copies of both these
+remarkable manuscripts--Bible and Homilies--were presented to the church
+of Zurich, and one, the beautiful Alcuin Bible, is still extant and
+among its literary treasures. Thronging the learned circle whose poetic
+centre was Charles himself, with his wife and daughters, and two
+sisters, were Einhard the German, the confidant and biographer of the
+emperor; Augilhard, the knightly poet; the Goth Theobald, Bishop of
+Orleans, a scholar and man of the world; as well as many another
+illustrious man. Charlemagne's two sisters were nuns, and one of them,
+Gisela, was the great friend of Alcuin.[18]
+
+Charlemagne was fond of visiting and occasionally teaching in his Court
+school. He took great interest in the progress of his scholars, praising
+the diligent and admonishing the indolent. The "Monk" informs us that on
+one occasion finding the compositions of the poorer boys praiseworthy,
+whilst those of the young nobles were unsatisfactory, the emperor rose
+up in anger and warned these latter youths that their high birth and
+fine manners should not screen them from punishment if they did not get
+rid of their laziness. Then, turning to the poor but meritorious youths,
+he highly commended them, and exhorted them to be always thus diligent,
+promising them rewards and preferment if they continued in their good
+course. Charlemagne indeed gained imperishable glory by his educational
+efforts, through which a foundation was laid for after ages. Full of the
+conviction that religion and learning were essential to happiness, he
+yearned to spread education amongst his people, and made it the chief
+object of his later years. All parents ought, he says, "to send their
+boys to school, and let them abide there till they are well informed," a
+principle only imperfectly understood and acted upon even in our own
+day. This ideal side of his complex activity lifts him far above the
+other rulers of the Middle Ages. To our mind there is but one who bears
+comparison with him for greatness of character and lofty aims--Alfred
+the Great, of Wessex. Clerical colleges, and secular schools attached to
+them, sprang up all over the country, and the knowledge of the
+Scriptures, hitherto confined to the clergy, was freely placed before
+the people.
+
+The bishops were charged by the emperor to take care that the priests
+were "well qualified as religious teachers." Theobald enjoins his clergy
+to open schools and "teach the children with love, and to accept no fees
+but what the parents choose to give." Such was the emperor's
+educational zeal, that he ordains whipping and deprivation of food even
+for men and women if they do not know by heart the Confession of Faith
+and the Lord's Prayer, and are not able to repeat them in Latin to the
+priests. Yet he makes allowances for the dunces who are permitted to
+learn and repeat these exercises in their own illiterate language. He
+admonishes the monks to learn better grammar, and get rid of their
+uncouth modes of speech. He strongly reprimands a choirboy whose wrong
+notes grate on his delicate ear.
+
+Amongst the bishops of Switzerland, Hatto of Basel, and Remedius of
+Chur-Rhætia, were Charlemagne's chief supporters and lawgivers in their
+own dioceses. The latter prelate was a great friend of Alcuin, and held
+a brilliant Court with many vassals. The power of these theocratic
+governors was very great. It may be mentioned, as an example of this,
+that Remedius decreed that persons guilty of sacrilege should be covered
+with hot tar and made to ride thus on a donkey through the villages. The
+emperor's protection to church and school foundations was exercised in
+many cases in Switzerland. According to tradition, Sion was enriched
+with landed property; and to St. Maurice was presented a fine onyx cup
+adorned with beautiful Greek _relievi_, still amongst the treasures of
+that church. Zurich attributes her oldest churches and schools to the
+emperor's bounty. To him she is said to owe her minster, bearing his
+name and statue; the Chorherrenstift, or College of Canons, and the
+Carolinum, a clerical school for prebends or canons, which developed in
+1832 into the University and Gymnasium respectively, and finally the
+Wasserkirche, a chapel by the riverside, on the spot where the martyrs
+Felix and Regula once suffered.
+
+[Illustration: GREAT MINSTER AND WASSERKIRCHE, ZURICH.
+
+(_Appenzeller, Zurich._)]
+
+Zurich was indeed, according to tradition, a favourite residence of the
+great monarch, and his mansion is said to have been the Haus zum Loch
+(hole or cavern), standing on a steep incline near the minster.
+Connected with this is a charming legend which reflects the character
+for justice he had gained amongst the people. This story may also serve
+as an example, the only one our space will permit us to give, of the
+abundant store of legend collected around the memory of Charlemagne.
+There was a chapel on the riverside where he had placed a bell for
+people to ring if they wished to appeal to justice. One day as he was at
+dinner with his queen this bell began to ring. None of the servants
+could inform him what was the matter. The bell rang a second time, and
+then a third. On this the emperor rose from the table, saying, "I am
+sure there is some poor man you don't wish me to see." So saying, he
+walked down the hill to the chapel, where, hanging to the bell rope, he
+found a large snake. The reptile crept down, moved towards him, and
+wagged her tail to pay her respects. Then going on in front she led
+Charlemagne to a tuft of nettles, and his servants examining the spot
+found a large toad sitting on the eggs in the serpent's nest. At once,
+grasping the meaning of this appeal, he sat him down in his chair of
+justice and passed sentence that the toad should be killed and
+quartered. The next day at dinner time the snake appeared in the
+passage, frightening the attendants grievously. However, Charles quieted
+them, and said, "God is wonderful, and we cannot know the meaning of
+this." The snake entered the hall, climbed on the table, and, beckoning
+the emperor to remove the lid of his golden goblet, dropped into it a
+beautiful jewel. Then, descending from the table, she bowed to the royal
+couple, and disappeared. Charles held this to be a good omen, and
+resolved never to part with the jewel. The moral is obvious. Charlemagne
+was so just, and his reputation for equity so widespread, that even the
+lower animals appealed to him, and not in vain.
+
+According to another version, the stone exerted attraction like a
+loadstone, for where it was dropped the emperor could not leave the
+place. But Archbishop Turpin had dropped it into the springs of Aachen,
+and hence Charlemagne no more quitted that royal residence.
+
+It would be impossible in our space, even if it were interesting to the
+general reader, to enter into the discussions respecting Charlemagne's
+foundations in and visits to Zurich. Two things, however, come out
+clearly; first (thanks to the labours of the learned historian,
+Professor Georg von Wyss), that tradition is not entirely unworthy of
+trust, as there is documentary evidence still extant to prove that
+Charlemagne reformed the College (Chorherrenstift); second, that he kept
+up a close connection with the city, whether he actually resided there
+or not.
+
+No doubt this exaltation of Charlemagne's merits is an expression of the
+attachment felt for his person, and of the admiration for his
+marvellous educational efforts. His grandson, Louis the German, founded
+the Abbey of our Lady, in 853, on the site of an old convent erected to
+the memory of the patron saints of Zurich. Louis erected this new abbey
+in order to give a more brilliant church preferment to his daughter,
+Hildgard, Lady Principal of a small convent at Wurzburg. This Princess
+Abbess received the sole right of jurisdiction, and the convent rose
+rapidly, and with it extended the city commonwealth. (We shall show in a
+later chapter how this female government checked the growth of political
+power in that city, and yet was the making of her.)
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[15] See Büdinger, "Von den Anfangen des Schulzwanges," Zurich, 1865, p.
+10.
+
+[16] Professor Bächtold, "History of German Literature in Switzerland,"
+Frauenfeld, 1887.
+
+[17] Professor Bächtold, "History of German Literature in Switzerland,"
+Frauenfeld, 1887.
+
+[18] See Gustav Freytag's charming "Pictures of the Middle Ages."
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE KINGDOM OF BURGUNDY; THE DUCHY OF SWABIA; AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE.
+
+(843-1100.)
+
+
+The death of the great emperor brought this realm into utter confusion,
+the whole fabric of his wise and firm administration falling to pieces.
+All the heterogeneous and often refractory elements which his stern rule
+had kept in check burst their bounds and gained full play during the
+reigns of his descendants, who grew weaker and weaker, though with here
+and there an exception. The pretensions of the Church, which
+Charlemagne's own protection and fostering care had, so to speak,
+ushered in and strengthened; the struggles of eminent families and
+dynastic houses for sovereignty in the absence of one central and
+undisputed power; the increase of the immunities and the growth of
+feudalism--all these were serious difficulties for the coming rulers to
+cope with.
+
+Louis the Pious, the only surviving son of Charlemagne, and heir to his
+crown, was clearly quite unfit to cope with these difficulties
+satisfactorily. The untimely distribution of the crown lands insisted on
+by the imperious Judith, his second wife, in favour of her own son, and
+the protracted struggles between the imperial princes, steeped the realm
+in intestine wars, and in the end led to its dissolution. It is
+impossible in this short sketch to follow to his tragical end this
+unworthy son of a great father. The treaty of Verdun (843) settled the
+bloody conflicts, but split the empire into three new dominions; the
+East Frankish realm devolving on Louis the German: the West Frankish
+kingdom falling to Charles the Bald; and the middle district, including
+Italy and the strip of land between the two first divisions just
+mentioned, and comprising Provence, Burgundy, Lorraine, and the
+Netherlands. This last realm fell to Lothair.
+
+The treaty of Verdun, to which the French and German States trace their
+origin, also effected the most sweeping changes in Helvetia, and altered
+greatly its political aspect. The country was rent into two halves, East
+Switzerland, forming the Aare, with Chur-Rhætia, being incorporated with
+the East Frankish kingdom; and West Helvetia and the Valais with
+Lorraine or the middle kingdom. This naturally tended to revive the
+national antagonism between the two Helvetias.
+
+Freed from the iron hand which had crushed all attempts at insurrection,
+the peoples began again their struggles for the recovery of national
+independence and separate rule, and thence came the restoration of the
+kingdom of Burgundy and the Duchy of Alamannia, or Swabia.[19] Burgundy
+was the first to make sure of her national freedom. On the death of
+Lothair in 855 his kingdom fell to pieces. Count Boso, of Vienna, his
+relative, founded the kingdom of Burgundy _without_ Helvetia, 879
+(Provence or Arles--_Arelatisches Reich_). After fruitless attempts by
+various Burgundian nobles to establish their sovereignty _within_
+Helvetia, a renowned nobleman, Rudolf, of the illustrious house of the
+Guelfs, set up as a pretender to Swiss Burgundy, after the precedent of
+Count Boso. Rudolf possessed vast estates in Swabia, on Lake Constance.
+He had sworn allegiance to Charles III. (the "Stout"), who, weak as he
+was, had, strange to say, once more united the Empire under his sceptre.
+On his death, in 888, Rudolf the Guelf was crowned king at St. Maurice,
+the venerable abbey-town in the Low-Valais, by a large assembly of
+Burgundian bishops and nobles. Thus was established the Helvetian
+kingdom of Upper or New Burgundy (_Burgundia transjurans_), which seems
+to have extended into Lorraine and Savoy. In 933 both Burgundies were
+united.
+
+Rudolf not only maintained his independence against the aggressive
+spirit of intruding neighbours, but carried his victories into East
+Helvetia, as far as Lake Zurich, and on his death in 912 his crown
+passed without opposition to his son Rudolf II. This king had inherited
+his father's great abilities and restless habits, which engaged him in
+numerous wars. His greatest martial achievement was the defeat of the
+Hungarians, who were making their fearful inroads into Europe. In East
+Helvetia, however, his advance was checked by Burkhard I., Duke of
+Alamannia, who routed him at Winterthur, near Zurich, in 919. Led no
+doubt by their mutual admiration for each other's prowess, and by common
+political interests, they made peace and contracted a lasting
+friendship. To seal the union between the two Helvetias, Burkhard gave
+his lovely daughter, Bertha, in marriage to the Burgundian king, and
+gave her as dowry the land between the Aare and the Reuss, the district
+for which he had been contending. He even followed Rudolf on his
+expedition to Italy, and fell in a skirmish whilst succouring his
+son-in-law. But Rudolf was unable to maintain the authority of his
+Italian crown, and exchanged his claim to Lombardy for the kingdom of
+Lower Burgundy (Provence) in 933; this arrangement was, however, much
+contested.
+
+When not engaged in wars he assisted his queen in her good works. The
+Burgundian kings as yet had no fixed residence, and moved from place to
+place on their royal estates--to Lausanne, Payerne, Yverdon, Solothurn,
+or Lake Thun. When making these rounds Rudolf loved to do as the judges
+of Israel of old--to seat himself under the shade of a fine oak and deal
+out justice to whoever might come near and appeal to him. Yet the memory
+of this good king is almost eclipsed by the glory of his wife, the
+famous "Spinning Queen," and her wisdom and ministry amongst the poor.
+
+Things went less pleasantly with the Alamanni. Their efforts to restore
+separate or self-government--the passionate yearning for national
+independence innate in the German tribes has done much to bring about
+the division of the German Empire into its many kingdoms,
+principalities, and duchies--met with far steadier and more violent
+opposition than was the case with the Burgundians.
+
+Under the pacific rule of Louis the German (843-876) the Alamanni
+enjoyed the benefits of his peaceful tendencies, and we hear of no
+attempts at insurrection. This sensible and practical monarch left to
+East Helvetia the "remembrance of him in good works." Two things brought
+him into close relations with this country--his founding of the Abbey of
+our Lady at Zurich, where he installed his daughters Hildegard and
+Bertha, as has been stated before; and his benefactions to St. Gall,
+which he freed from the overlordship of Constance. Indeed, the
+chronicler of this latter institution, Notker, _Monachus S. Gallensis_,
+would seem to have been fascinated by his personal charms and affable
+manners. Promoted to the position of an independent abbey, owing
+allegiance to none but the king himself, and enriched by continual
+grants of land on the part of pious donors, St. Gall developed into a
+flourishing monastic commonwealth. The peaceful colony of thrifty and
+studious monks--Benedictines they were--who, like their Irish founder,
+combined manual labour with learned contemplation, earnest study, and
+literary skill--form a society quite unique in its way. The holy men
+"conjure into their cells the departed spirits of classical
+antiquity,"[20] and hold free intercourse with them; given to
+ecclesiastical learning, whilst not neglectful of profane studies, these
+learned and high-bred scholars constitute a truly mediæval university.
+Their life and character is vividly set before us by their chroniclers.
+
+Arnulf of Kaernthen (887-899), grandson of Louis, kept up a close
+connection with St. Gall, through his chaplain, Solomon III., its abbot.
+He governed the East Frankish kingdom with firmness and great ability.
+The military glory of the Carolingians seemed to be restored when he
+defeated the Normans brilliantly at Loewen on the river Dyle.
+Unfortunately this vigorous ruler died after a short reign, leaving his
+crown to his only son, Louis "the Child," then only six years of age.
+Through the reign of this sickly prince (900-911) the country was torn
+by party struggles, and the invasions of the Hungarians increased the
+distresses of the time. Contemporary writers seem hardly able to express
+the horror they felt at the very sight of the Asiatics, who appeared
+even loathsome to them. Arnulf was reproached with having launched them
+upon Europe when he led them against his enemies, the Mæhren; whilst
+Charlemagne's policy had been altogether opposed to this, he having shut
+them in by raising gigantic walls on the Danube against the Avars. These
+were followers of the Huns of the fifth century, and resembled them by
+their savage warfare and indescribable habits.
+
+"Woe to the realm whose king is a child," writes Solomon III. to a
+befriended bishop; "all are at variance, count and vassals, shire and
+boundary neighbours; the towns rise in rebellion, the laws are trampled
+under foot, and we are at the mercy of the savage hordes." Such was the
+condition of the country at the opening of the tenth century. Solomon,
+who wrote these lamentations, was himself a powerful political ruler no
+less than a Church potentate. Next to Archbishop Hatto, of Mayence, who
+governed during the minority of Louis, Solomon was the most influential
+man at the German Court, and wielded its destinies after Hatto's death.
+This high-born Churchman, educated as a secular priest at St. Gall,
+became secretary, chaplain, and chancellor, at the German Court, and
+enjoyed the friendship of four successive monarchs. Promoted by Arnulf
+to the Abbey of St. Gall in 890, and shortly afterwards to the see of
+Constance, he thus combined the dignities of the two rival institutions.
+Subtle, versatile, and indefatigable, this high ecclesiastic was the
+most consummate courtier and man of the world. Handsome and magnificent,
+he captivated his hearers in the council by the clearness of his
+argument and his ready wit; and melted the people to tears by his
+eloquence in the pulpit. His leadership at St. Gall promoted the
+magnificence of the abbey, and formed it into a prominent literary and
+political centre. It was, however, robbed of its ascetic character,
+Solomon being wanting in genuine piety, for one thing.
+
+The absolute rule of this powerful prelate greatly checked the national
+risings of the Swabian leaders, for he strenuously maintained the
+oneness of Church and State. Conrad I. (911-919), the last of the East
+Frankish kings, gave all his energies to the one aim of strengthening
+and solidifying his rule by the suppression or abolition of the
+dukedoms, which he saw undermined the power of the sovereign. Relying on
+the support of the clergy, he was strongly influenced by Solomon's
+insinuations when he put forth his bloody measures against the Swabian
+pretenders.
+
+During the reign of Louis the Child the state of anarchy had begotten
+numerous national risings, which led to the establishment of the
+Bavarian, Frankish, and Saxon duchies. At its very close a similar
+attempt was ventured upon in Alamannia. Burkhard, Marquis of
+Chur-Rhætia, afterwards Graubünden, one of the most eminent of the
+Swabian grandees, put forward claims to the duchy. His sons were
+banished, and, it was whispered, by Solomon's machinations (911). Yet
+all this was no check on the aspirations of the two brothers, Erchanger
+and Bertold, brothers-in-law to the king, who aspired to the Duchy of
+Swabia. They, too, fell victims to the policy of the prelate, whose
+hatred was intensified when they laid hands on his person to arrest him.
+Conrad called a Synod to assist him, and heavy punishment was awarded
+the pretenders. However, the king had them beheaded, no doubt to please
+his chancellor.
+
+[Illustration: THE FURKA PASS.]
+
+The cruel fate of the two made a deep impression on the people. Next
+year, when Burkhard, son of the unfortunate marquis, returned to his
+country whence he had fled--for he had joined in the rising of the two
+brothers, and had been summoned before the Synod--he was unanimously
+elected by the nobility and people (917). It was no small mortification
+to both king and bishop to have their designs thus thwarted, the
+principle they had so vigorously opposed being carried out. The annals
+of St. Gall bear witness to the fact that Solomon was implicated in the
+murders, for though usually exalting his merits, they report that the
+mighty prelate repented of his cruel actions, since he wandered as a
+pilgrim to Rome, contrite, weeping and lamenting, to do penance for his
+sins.
+
+Conrad I., at the close of his reign, acknowledged that his policy had
+been a mistaken one by giving the crown to his most powerful antagonist,
+the Saxon leader, Duke Henry, whose power he had striven to abrogate.
+Henry I., called "the Fowler" and the "City Founder" (919-936), was the
+first German ruler who erected a true German kingdom. With quick
+discernment he founded the authority of the Crown on the union of the
+tribes, by reconciling their leaders and enforcing their submission
+through the ascendency of his own powerful Saxon tribe. Binding them by
+oath of fealty without detracting from their honour, he met with no
+opposition. His son, Otho I., the "Great," obtained the imperial crown
+in Rome, and increased the greatness of his new kingdom. Thus we find
+East Helvetia with Chur-Rhætia forming part of Alamannia, and presently
+the whole country was absorbed into, and its destinies bound up with,
+the vast empire.
+
+Burkhard I., assuming the title of "Duke of Alamannia by Divine Right,"
+bent to Henry's royal supremacy with little objection, no doubt feeling
+it a safeguard to his own position. His successors likewise held to
+Germany, and were faithful adherents of the emperors, who in their turn
+strove to knit Swabia more closely with the empire. This alliance was
+highly valued by them; they had to pass through Chur-Rhætia on their
+expeditions to Italy; the Alamanni were famous for their prowess; and
+their religious institutions, St. Gall, Rheinau, and Reichenau, were
+famous centres of culture. Swabia became a highly valuable fief to be
+granted at the pleasure of the emperors. On the death of Burkhard, who
+fell in a skirmish whilst accompanying his son-in-law, Rudolf of
+Burgundy, to the south, as we have seen above, the duchy devolved on the
+son of Otho I., and then on Burkhard II. of Chur-Rhætia. He never
+swerved from his policy of holding to the empire, and his marriage with
+Otho's niece, whose beauty and courage and literary skill were
+celebrated in ballad and chronicle, drew the union still closer. On her
+husband's death, Hadwig inherited the title and his estates, but the
+duchy was granted to a friend of Otho II. She retired to her favourite
+residence, her manor on Mount Hohentwiel, near Lake Constance, where she
+lived in deep seclusion till her death in 994. A good Greek scholar and
+fond of learning, she invited young Ekkehard II. of St. Gall to her
+castle, and made him her chaplain and her tutor in classical studies.
+Hadwig is the central figure in Scheffel's brilliant novel "Ekkehard,"
+which glows with life and sparkling humour, and is a fanciful rendering
+of the amusing narratives contained in the St. Gall annals. The
+chronicler and the poet combining have produced an immortal work, and
+shed a lasting glory on the cloisters of St. Gall.
+
+Another famous monastic institution that sprung up about this time,
+_i.e._, under the Saxon emperor Otto, and obtained, like Loretto,
+European fame as a place of pilgrimage, was that of Einsiedeln, in
+Canton Schwyz.
+
+In 1024 the Duchy of Swabia was vested in Ernest II., stepson of the
+Emperor Conrad II. of the Salic dynasty. A fierce struggle arose on the
+question of the succession to the Burgundian throne. Ernest claimed
+through his mother, and Conrad through his wife, niece to Rudolf III.
+Seeing his hopes frustrated Ernest, with his friend Werner of Kyburg,
+and his party, fell upon the imperial troops, and bloody frays occurred.
+Ernest was imprisoned, and the manor of Kyburg besieged; but both
+friends escaped, and again combined in new opposition to Conrad. In
+order to break their union, the emperor promised his son installation in
+Burgundy if he would deliver up his friend. But this was indignantly
+refused, the struggle began anew, and the gallant youths fell in a
+skirmish in 1030. Ernest was long a chief figure in mediæval heroic
+poetry.
+
+
+GENEALOGICAL TABLES.
+
+I. THE CARLOWINGIANS (so far as they concern this history).
+
+                          Charles Martel, 741.
+                                  |
+                +-----------------+--------------+
+                |                                |
+            Carlomann.                Pippin the Short, 768.
+                                              |
+              +-------------------------------+-------+
+              |                                       |
+        Charlemagne, 814.                        Carlomann, 771.
+              |
+       +------+---------+----------------------------+
+       |                |                            |
+   Charles, 811.    Pippin, 810.          Louis the Pious, 840=
+                                            (1) Irmengare.   (2) Judith.
+                                                     |             |
+      +---------------------+------------------+-----+  Charles the Bald, 877.
+      |                     |                  |
+    Lothair I., 855.    Pippin, 838.     Louis the German, 876.
+      |                                        |
+  +---+----------+--------------+              +----+---------+----------+
+  |              |              |                   |         |          |
+Louis II.  Lothair II.  Charles of Provence. Carlomann,  Louis,  Charles III.,
+  875.         867.                             880.      882.      888.
+   |                                            |
+Irmengard=Count Boso of Burgundy.    Arnulf of Kaernthur, 899 (natural son).
+                                                      |
+                                             Louis the Child, 911.
+
+II. DESCENT OF THE SAXON EMPERORS.
+
+          Lindolf (made Duke of part of Savoy by Louis the German).
+               |
+          Duke Otto, 912.
+               |
+          Henry I., 936 (the "Fowler").
+               |
+           +-------------------------------------------+
+           |                                           |
+      Otto I., 973. (the "Great").              Henry of Bavaria.
+           |                                           |
+    +----------------------------+    Henry the Quarrelsome (of Bavaria), 995.
+    |              |             |                     |
+Lindolf,       Lintgarde.  Otto II.,                   |
+ Duke of Swabia.            Emperor, 983.      Henry II., Emperor, 1024.
+                                 |
+                           Otto II., Emperor, 1002.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                    III. Salic (Frankish) Emperors.
+
+                  Conrad II., 1038 (great grandson of Lintgarde).
+                           |
+                  Henry III., 1038-1056.
+                           |
+                  Henry IV., 1056-1106.
+                           |
+                  Henry V., 1106-1125.
+
+(The Hohenstaufen follow.)
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[19] It is perhaps preferable to use the word _Swabia_ instead of
+_Alamannia_ so often. Freeman in his essay on the Holy Empire speaks of
+the Swabian Emperors, the Hohenstaufen.
+
+[20] Dierauer.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+BURGUNDY AND SWABIA UNDER THE GERMAN EMPERORS.
+
+
+To return to the kingdom of Burgundy. Rudolf had greatly extended his
+dominions; in 919 he added to them the land between the Aare and the
+Reuss, and in 933 Lower Burgundy, which he had obtained in exchange for
+the Italian crown. The kingdom now comprised West Switzerland, Provence,
+Dauphiné, and Franche Comté. During the king's absence on military
+expeditions, and during the minority of Conrad, Bertha, the "Spinning
+Queen," held the reins of government. She is represented on the seal of
+the document founding the convent of Payerne--one of her authenticated
+foundations--with the spinning wheel, and the words _Bertha humilis
+regina_ below. This Alpine queen, called by the French Swiss the "Mother
+of their liberties," was a model of industry and economy. Like
+Charlemagne, she was an excellent housekeeper, and even knew how many
+eggs had been laid on her estates. Humble in bearing, yet firm and
+strong, this lady fortified the country against the invasions of the
+Hungarians and Saracens. The gap between the Alps and Mount Jura was
+strengthened by a line of towers still to be seen, though crumbling from
+age, at Neuchâtel, La Molière, Moudon, Gourze. These towers were almost
+inaccessible, and possessed thick walls, narrow windows, and doors
+which, being ten feet above the ground, could only be got at by means of
+ladders. At the first signal of alarm, seigneur and peasantry hurried to
+these strongholds carrying with them whatever they were able; when they
+had entered, the ladders were drawn in, and there the people remained
+till the wild hurricane of savagery had blown over. Gradually the
+Burgundians rallied as regular troops to meet the hordes in open battle.
+
+Herself always busy, Bertha hated idleness, and wherever she went she
+was to be found spinning, even on the road. Who has not heard of the
+humble and graceful queen, riding on her palfrey, spindle in hand, going
+from house to house, visiting castle, convent, farm, homestead, and hut,
+doing deeds of piety and benevolence? Once, when the Queen of Payerne,
+as she was often called, was on her circuits of inspection she met with
+a peasant girl keeping her flocks, and spinning. Delighted with the
+girl's industry, she gave her a handsome present. Next day all the
+ladies of her suite appeared before her with spindles in their hands.
+Smiling at the sight, she said, "My ladies, the young peasant girl, like
+Jacob, has been the first to receive the blessing." Space will not allow
+us to dwell longer on the memory of the "Spinning Queen" which is most
+dear to the French Swiss. It should be added, however, that the
+Burgundian traditions respecting this queen are doubtless mixed with
+mythological elements. In the German religious myths, Bertha (_Berchta_,
+_Perahta_,) means what is bright and pure and orderly: she is the
+Goddess of Fertility, and the Mother of the Earth, and bestows rich
+blessings on mankind.
+
+On the death of his father, which had left him a mere child, Bertha's
+son Conrad had been educated at the Court of Otho the Great. Fearing
+that Burgundy might become the prey of aggressive neighbours, the
+emperor stepped in and made himself protector of the queen, and tutor to
+the children, and naturally exerted much influence on the country.
+Conrad, coming of age, ruled wisely, and for more than half a century
+(937-993), Burgundy flourished. His beautiful sister Adelheid was first
+Queen of Italy, but after Lothair's untimely death, became Empress of
+Germany, Otho I. wishing to unite Italy with his own empire, making her
+his wife.
+
+The reign of Rudolf III. (993-1032) was greatly harmful to the country,
+which was fast declining in prestige and prosperity. Better fitted for
+the cloister than for the throne, he lavished his wealth and estates on
+the clergy, with the view of enlisting their help against the
+encroaching feudal vassals. In the end, indeed, he was so reduced that
+he was compelled to live on alms from his priests. His own incapacities
+drove him to seek protection from the empire. Having no children, he
+appointed his nephew, the Emperor Henry II., heir to his kingdom, and
+even during his own lifetime he arranged to give up the reigns of
+government to Henry. The opposition of the Burgundian nobles and the
+emperor's death prevented this shameful arrangement from actually coming
+into force. The next emperor, Conrad II., prosecuted the claim against
+his stepson, Ernest II., as has been told above, and was crowned king at
+the Cluniacensian convent, founded by Bertha at Payerne, (1033). His
+elevation to the Burgundian throne was confirmed in the following year
+by a brilliant assembly of Burgundian, German, and Italian bishops and
+nobles, at Geneva. Shortly before his death in 1038, he had his son
+Henry installed in the kingdom, and the oath of fealty to him was taken
+by the Burgundian nobles at the Diet of Solothurn. Switzerland was thus
+very closely allied with the empire; Henry III. holding the reins of
+government as King of Burgundy and Duke of Alamannia or Swabia. This
+third amalgamation with the empire told more lastingly and influentially
+on the country than either the Roman or the Frankish rule had done; to a
+great extent it stamped on the people the German character and spirit.
+
+These external changes, these shifting scenes, these various masters and
+systems of government, naturally affected the internal condition of the
+country as well. Of the social life of the country, however, we know
+very little. The chroniclers of the period are monks, or noble
+ecclesiastics who wrote of, and for their own class, and the people did
+not enter into their concerns. But the political changes were very
+great. The Frankish county administrations fell into disuse through the
+increase of immunities granted to royal and ecclesiastical foundations,
+by which they were exempted from obedience to the county officers. The
+counts themselves, who had formerly held office at the sovereign's
+pleasure, gradually made their dignities into hereditary fiefs, which
+became family property in wealthy and powerful houses. Thus, at the
+close of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth century we already
+find in Switzerland a number of counts, such as the Nellenburger, in
+Zurichgau; the Lenzburger, in Aargau; the Burkharde, in Chur-Rhætia; the
+Kyburger, at Winterthur, near Zurich. The greatest changes, however,
+were effected by the growth of feudalism, which had arisen indeed under
+Charlemagne, but had to some extent been checked by him. Feudalism
+outgrew all other systems, and entirely disarranged the social scale.
+The free peasantry shrank to a small number, and there sprang up a
+martial nobility of high functionaries, who held offices in the army or
+courts of justice, and exerted much influence. On the native soil, on
+the very meeting-places where the old German people had assembled to
+deal with civil and judicial matters, eminent men founded families which
+grew into reigning houses. These men, combining political discernment
+with military ability and experience, rose above their fellows, and
+assumed the highest offices. The distresses, the dissensions, the
+intestine wars, and particularly the invasions by savage hordes, drove
+people to seek the protection of powerful lords, even at the risk of
+losing their own independence. In most cases the people became "unfree,"
+or serfs. Society thus was divided into distinct classes; the old
+German democracy gave place to a highly aristocratic order, the nobility
+ruling over the people. Thus, we find Switzerland, like other European
+countries, struggling through her age of feudalism, and centuries must
+yet pass before she succeeds in establishing a system of government
+which alone will suit her peculiar character.
+
+At that stage of history the welfare of the country depended to a great
+extent on the personal character of the imperial sovereigns. They
+visited Swabia and Burgundy, enforcing order and discipline, holding
+diets at important places, and assigning prerogatives to secular and
+religious foundations. In truth, these imperial visits promoted greatly
+the development of rising cities. Of the German emperors none came so
+often to Switzerland as the powerful Salic ruler, Henry III. When he
+left Burgundy--he was often at Basel and Solothurn--the people felt,
+says a contemporary writer, as if the sun had gone down. Henry II. and
+Henry III. held imperial diets at Zurich, and the latter used to reside
+there for weeks together, and lavished privileges and gifts on her
+religious foundations. He promoted festivals in the royal palace
+(Pfalz), in the Lindencourt; and Zurich was the meeting-place for his
+Burgundian and Italian subjects, the capital of Swabia, and residence of
+the Swabian dukes, where they here established their mint. His wise
+administration tended greatly to destroy all political difference and
+hostile feeling between the two Helvetias.
+
+This national concord (1057-77) was still further strengthened by the
+rule of Rudolf of Rheinfelden, who for twenty years swayed the destinies
+of the country as "Rector of Burgundy" and Duke of Alamannia. The regal
+and ducal power had been bestowed upon him by the Empress Agnes, on the
+death of Henry III., whose son-in-law he was. Rudolf was from the manor
+of Rheinfelden, near Basel, and was a distant connection of the
+Burgundian royal family. He held vast estates on Geneva lake, and in
+Swabia, and thus met with no opposition on the part of the nobility of
+Burgundy. But this long period of peace was suddenly and sadly
+interrupted by a terrible catastrophe which fell upon the empire; the
+fierce antagonism which arose between Gregory VII. and Henry IV. The
+emperor was unwilling to submit to the excessive encroachments of the
+Church, or, rather the Pontiff, on his prerogatives, and like William I.
+of England, entirely repudiated the Pope's claims, and tried to check
+his encroachments. The "Conqueror" indeed had gained so much power that
+the Pope could not issue excommunications against English subjects
+except by William's permission, but Henry IV. fell a victim to the
+Interdict. Never was sovereign more humiliated by the Papal power, nor
+more humiliated himself to escape the terrible punishment, for
+interdicts were fearful weapons in the hands of the Pontiffs of the
+Middle Ages. The story of this long struggle--how the emperor failed to
+carry his point--his wanderings across the Alps in the depth of
+winter--his submission at Canossa--for all this, full of thrilling
+interest as it is, the reader must be referred to the history of
+Germany.
+
+[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LAUSANNE.]
+
+On the deposition of Henry, our Rudolf of Rheinfelden was elected king
+by the opposing party, and was thence called the Popish king
+(Pfaffenkönig); thus Switzerland, it is almost needless to say, was
+drawn into the struggle and convulsed by intestine wars. The bishops of
+Lausanne, Geneva, and Basel; the seigneurs of Grandson and Neuchâtel,
+clung to the emperor; the counts of Geneva and Toggenburg, the houses of
+Habsburg, Kyburg, and Savoy, and the clergy of Alamannia and Chur-Rhætia
+sided with the new king. St. Gall rallied round its valiant abbot,
+Ulrich III., to uphold the cause of Henry. The wars were continued with
+alternate successes and reverses on each side, till the death of Rudolf
+in 1080 on the Grona, near Leipzig, it was said by the hand of Godefroi
+de Bouillon, the famous crusader, who fought on the side of Henry. The
+intensity of bitter feeling gradually abated. Henry even tried to
+establish his royal authority in Burgundy, but in Alamannia new quarrels
+broke out on the question of the succession to the duchy. Two native
+Swabian dukes contended for the duchy, Frederick von Staufen,
+grandfather of Frederick Barbarossa, the ancestor of the illustrious
+dynasty, and Duke Bertold von Zaeringen, brother-in-law and heir to the
+estates of the son of the late Rudolf of Rheinfelden, who died shortly
+after his father. The differences were settled by a diet at Mayence, in
+1097, and Frederick von Staufen, son-in-law to Henry, who had staunchly
+upheld and fought for the imperial cause in the Popish quarrels, was
+invested with the Swabian duchy. Yet his power on the Swiss side of the
+Rhine was more nominal than real, and it was exerted by Bertold II. of
+Zaeringen, who received in compensation for the loss of the duchy the
+ducal title, and the _Reichsvogtei Zürich_ (a kind of prefecture),
+together with the royal prerogatives over the secular and religious
+institutions of the city. For Zurich was then the noblest and most
+conspicuous town in Swabia, as Bishop Otto von Freysingen, the most
+prominent historian of the Middle Ages, asserts. This severance of Swiss
+Alamannia, and particularly of the imperial prefecture of Zurich, from
+the empire tended greatly to bring about the gradual political
+separation. Under the Zaeringer came again a long period of comparative
+peace.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+THE REIGN OF THE HOUSE OF ZAERINGEN.
+
+(1050-1218.)
+
+
+The rule of the Dukes of Zaeringen ushered in a long period of
+comparative peace (1100-1218), which improved the social and material
+condition of the people. Yet this time of peace was every now and again
+interrupted in the west by feuds with the Burgundian nobles. This
+Swabian family took their name from the ancestral manor of Zaeringen,
+near Freiburg, in the Breisgau (Black Forest). The vast estates they had
+derived from the House of Rheinfelden on its extinction reached from
+Lake Geneva to the rivers Aare and Emme, and gave them a dominant
+position in the country at the opening of the twelfth century.
+
+Burgundy had been slowly falling away from the empire during its
+internal dissensions and its conflicts with the Papacy. But on the death
+of Count William IV., who was assassinated by his own people in 1127,
+the Emperor Lothair drew that province more closely to his realm, by
+bestowing the regency of it on his adherent, Conrad of Zaeringen.
+Conrad's position was, however, violently contested by Rainald III., a
+relative of the murdered count. The Burgundian nobles rallied round him,
+and made a desperate stand against German interference, and he
+maintained his independence in the Franche Comté, as the district was
+subsequently called. When Frederick Barbarossa married Beatrix, the
+daughter and heiress of Rainald, he claimed the Burgundian territory,
+and came into conflict with the Zaeringer. Berchtold IV. obtained the
+position of suzerain over the sees of Geneva, Lausanne, and Sion, and by
+this division Swiss Burgundy was being lopped off from its appendage
+beyond Mount Jura. The insubordinate prelates joined with secular
+princes to upset the German rule. To guard against these protracted
+struggles, and to increase their own influence in the country, the
+Zaeringer resorted to a means which does them great credit, and which
+won for them the affection of the people. They began to found towns, as
+they had done in Germany, or to raise settlements into fortified cities,
+and granted them extensive liberties. The lesser nobles and the common
+people found shelter in these walled towns against the over-bearing
+amongst the high nobility; trade and industry began to thrive, and these
+city commonwealths rose to a flourishing condition, and became a source
+of wealth as well as a staunch support to their founders.
+
+Bertold or Berchtold IV. (1152-1186) planned a whole strategical line of
+strongholds in the west, as a check on the nobles; and in 1177 he
+founded the free city of Freiburg on his own estates. The situation, on
+a high plateau above the Saane, was on the line of demarcation between
+the French and German tongues. To this new town he granted a charter of
+liberties similar to that granted to its sister foundation of the same
+name in the Breisgau.
+
+Berchtold V. (1186-1218) followed in the steps of his father. He founded
+and fortified Burgdorf, Moudon, Yverdon, Laupen, Murten, Gümminen, Thun.
+These towns he founded to be not only places of military strength, but
+also centres of industry and trade, which should increase the prosperity
+of his people. But he had, however, to stand against the heavy
+opposition of the Burgundian nobles. As he was preparing to set out on a
+crusade with Frederick Barbarossa they rose in arms. Hastening back, he
+defeated the refractory rebels, both at Avenches and in the Grindelwald
+valley, in 1191, and immediately after his victories he resumed his
+strategical projects. On a promontory washed by the Aare, and on
+imperial crown lands, he raised a new citadel, to which he gave the name
+of Bern, in memory of Dietrich of Berne (Verona), a favourite hero of
+Alamannic mediæval poetry.[21] The lesser nobles of the neighbourhood,
+as well as the humbler people, poured into Bern for shelter, and,
+receiving a most liberal charter, these burgesses rapidly rose to wealth
+and power. Being built on imperial land, Bern took from the first a
+higher standing than the sister town, Freiburg.
+
+These city foundations form a chief corner-stone in the fabric of Swiss
+liberties. Attaining political independence, the towns held their own
+against aggressors. To effect their deliverance from oppression, they
+united with kindred communities or with powerful princes, and thus began
+the system of offensive and defensive alliances.
+
+A new enemy arose in the West, and Berchtold V. was defeated by Count
+Thomas of Savoy (1211), who encroached on Vaud, and seized Moudon. Yet
+the Zaeringer steadily and successfully strengthened their hold over the
+country, and obtained the most complete independence. And, indeed, the
+moment seemed drawing near when Switzerland was to be shaped into a
+durable monarchical state. However, she was spared that fate--from which
+no patriotic act of any national hero could probably have rescued
+her--by a natural, yet providential, event, the extinction of the ducal
+family. For in 1218 Berchtold V. died, leaving no issue.
+
+This century is eminently an age of religious movements. And, although
+our space will not permit us to enter into full details, yet it is
+impossible to pass over the great religious revival which centred in the
+Crusades, that is, so far as that movement touches Switzerland.
+
+On the 10th of December, in the year 1146, a most touching scene might
+have been witnessed in the minster of Schaffhausen. The Alamannic people
+were thronging the church to listen to a glowing sermon from a French
+Cistercian monk, Bernard de Clairvaux. Vividly depicting the distress
+of the Christians in Palestine, he invited his hearers to join the
+second crusade. France was ready, he said, but the House of Hohenstaufen
+was still wavering. His captivating manner, his noble earnestness, and
+the elegance and flow of his language--though it was but half understood
+by the masses--stirred the audience to bursts of enthusiasm. "Your land
+is fertile," were the concluding words of the monk, "and the world is
+filled with the reputation of your valour. Ye soldiers of Christ, arise!
+and hurl down the enemies of the Cross!" Laying his hands on the blind
+and lame, says the half-legendary story, he restored to them eyesight or
+the use of limbs, and, strewing crosses amongst the crowds, left the
+church. The people, in a state of ecstatic fervour, beat their breasts,
+and, shedding tears, broke into a shout of "Kyrie eleison, the saints
+are with us!"[22] On the 15th of the same month Bernard preached at
+Zurich, and on Christmas Day at Speyer, before Conrad III., whom he won
+for the crusade. His fervent exhortations seem to have found willing
+ears, too, in the country. Schaffhausen and Einsiedeln took an active
+share in the work. We hear of almost countless numbers of spiritual and
+secular princes, nobles, knights, and lesser people who joined in the
+crusade. The counts of Montfort, Kyburg, Habsburg, Zaeringen, and
+Neuchâtel, and bishops and abbots started for the East. Contemporary
+writers bewail the loss of so many of the best and bravest of South
+Germany who died in Palestine. The holy orders of the Knights of St.
+John, of the Teutonic order, and the Knights-Templars raised their
+aristocratic institutions in this country; new orders of monastic
+foundations sprang up, which we cannot here dwell upon. Amongst these
+new orders were that of Mendicant Friars, though it is worthy of note
+that these played no such part in Switzerland as they did in England.
+
+Yet the Burgundian or western portion of the country plunged more deeply
+into the movement than did the eastern part. German enthusiasm was but
+slowly won by French religious ecstasy, which had to a great extent
+started the Crusades. Still the age was filled with religious and
+romantic frenzy. Not the mere practical aims of conquest or gain it was
+that stirred men's minds, but the mystical elements of the movement, and
+the grand, novel, and indeed fabulous sights that were to be witnessed;
+and the old love of wandering and adventure revived, and drove men to
+the East. By a happy coincidence the effect of Bernard's sermons was
+lessened to some extent in this country by the previous teachings of
+another enthusiast of a far different stamp. The intrepid Italian
+reformer, Arnold of Brescia, had for some time preached at Zurich and
+Constance, sowing the seeds of heresy. Boldly attacking the abuses of
+the Church, and advocating the return to the simplicity of the apostolic
+teaching, he invited people to no longer lavish wealth on Church
+institutions. Arnold fell a victim to his advanced religious and
+political views, but his teachings took hold of the people of the Alpine
+districts. To his influence may safely be attributed the staunch
+resistance to Papal aggressiveness shown in the thirteenth century by
+the people of Zurich and of the Forest Cantons.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[21] See Nibelungen.
+
+[22] Prof. Bächtold, "Sermon Literature in Switzerland."
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+THE HOUSES OF KYBURG, SAVOY, AND HABSBURG.
+
+(1218-1273.)
+
+
+We are nearing the period of their history most dear to the Swiss, the
+period when the Eidgenossenschaft is forming, but before reaching it we
+have still to make our way as best we can through a short era of chaotic
+feudalism and political confusion generally, preceding the great
+struggle for Swiss independence. On the extinction of the House of
+Zaeringen Switzerland fell a prey to the designs of vassal princes who
+had started into eminence on her soil, and now contended for supremacy
+over her. The realm of the Zaeringen sovereigns fell to pieces, the
+Swiss portions with Freiburg, Burgdorf, Thun, going to a native prince,
+Ulrich, Count of Kyburg, brother-in-law of Berchtold V.; the Swabian
+portions to a German relative. Thus Switzerland was cut off from Swabia.
+The crown lands he had held in Swiss Burgundy, and likewise the royal
+prerogative, fell to the empire, and the Vice-regency, being vested by
+Frederick II. in his younger son, Henry, became gradually nominal and at
+length died out. In this way all vassal princes in the west, and all the
+territorial lordships and free cities, such as Bern, Solothurn, Morat,
+Laupen, Gümminen, which were built on crown lands, and had been
+subjected to the Zaerings, were now held directly from the emperor.
+Zurich was likewise restored to the empire. By this time most of these
+places had become virtually independent.
+
+[Illustration: CHÂTEAU DE VUFFLENS, VAUD. (_Fourteenth Century._)]
+
+Switzerland reflects most faithfully the feudal and political condition
+of the empire at large. It was torn into an almost countless number of
+spiritual and secular territorial sovereignties. Taking advantage of the
+state of distraction prevailing throughout the realm, Church prelates,
+religious foundations, the greater and lesser nobles, and even the
+thriving burgesses of great city commonwealths, all strove to erect
+their lands into petty independent dominions. The bishops assumed
+temporal power in their own dioceses; the religious-houses, owing to
+their "rich immunities," enjoyed almost perfect freedom. The peasantry
+had dwindled into small bodies of men, and in the place of the Frankish
+county-officers (counts) a martial nobility had sprung up, and, grasping
+the public functions and dignities, had turned these offices into
+freeholds independent of the sovereign. Henceforward they assumed the
+names of the feudal manors they held, and began to raise
+_chateaux-forts_ on commanding or picturesque spots. As many as two
+hundred territorial rulers held their feudal sway in Switzerland. To
+give even the names of these would be not only useless but absurd, yet
+they had their share in the political development of the country.
+
+In the Low Valais the counts of Savoy had obtained a footing, and were
+moreover advancing into Vaud. Vaud was at that time governed by a host
+of more or less important nobles, such as the barons of Grandson,
+Cossonay, Blonay, &c., and was contended for by the bishops of Lausanne
+and Geneva, and the counts of the latter town, whilst the counts of
+Greyerz governed in the districts of the Saane, and those of Neuchâtel
+in the lake districts of the Jura. Little Burgundy, with Solothurn as
+capital, fell to the counts of Buchegg. One of the wealthiest and most
+ancient of the native families was that of Lenzburg, whose counts held
+sway in Aargau, Zurichgau, and the Forest Cantons, and were governors of
+famous religious-houses. One of the counts of Lenzburg, Ulrich IX., was
+an intimate friend and a minister of Frederick Barbarossa, and on the
+extinction of the rule of these counts, their heritage fell to the
+Habsburgs, and gave that family a great lift in the early days of their
+rise. In the east we meet with the famous House of Kyburg, to which
+belonged young Werner, the friend of Ernest II. of Swabia. Their
+ancestral manor house near Winterthur is still in good condition. They
+had numerous vassals and followers. In Zurichgau the barons of
+Regensberg and others, and the counts of Rapperswyl were harassing the
+people. The most powerful nobles in the east were the abbots of St.
+Gall, who governed part of St. Gall and Appenzell, and the counts of
+Toggenburg, and in Chur-Rhætia and the Rhine districts the counts of
+Montfort and Werdenberg. This sufficiently shows how feudalism had grown
+apace in Switzerland, and what a hard struggle the people had to hold
+their own against the impositions of princes and nobles. How feudalism
+had arisen has been already shown in the previous chapter.
+
+To find some explanation of this rapid growth and the distracted state
+that followed in its train we must turn for a moment to the empire.
+Owing no doubt to the loftiness of the imperial dignity--for the
+emperors were indisputably the greatest of the civilized monarchs--the
+vassal princes rose to far greater independence in the empire than in
+other countries. Yet the possession of the imperial crown was in the end
+the weakening of royalty. Henry III. had raised the empire to its
+pinnacle of greatness, and the imperial dignity increased the prestige
+of the German name, and surrounded the German monarch with a halo of
+glory and even reverence. But the engagements abroad, the campaigns in
+Italy, the struggles with the Pontiffs, and the close attention required
+to be paid to Italian affairs, kept the emperors away from duties and
+cares nearer home. The Italian claims and titles, in fact, proved in the
+long run injurious to German interests. Frederick I., Barbarossa, had
+indeed, by his just and powerful rule, forced his insubordinate vassals
+into submission, but it was far different with his grandson, the
+brilliant Frederick II. (1215-50). Born in Italy and brought up to love
+the land of his birth, Naples and Sicily, more than his fatherland,
+Frederick II. was more Southerner than Teuton. He gave Southern Italy a
+model administration, but allowed Germany to be weakened by a divided
+internal government. And though we cannot but admire the unflinching
+spirit with which this "wonder of the world" carried on his unequal
+struggle with the Papacy, yet it is clear that the conflict which sealed
+the doom of his own family was equally ruinous to the empire.[23]
+
+[Illustration: BRONZE FIGURES FROM THE MAXIMILIAN MONUMENT AT
+INNSBRUCK.]
+
+During the interregnum (1254-73) Germany was without an actual ruler,
+although two foreign princes had been elected as its sovereigns. One of
+these never even showed his face in Germany, and the other, Richard of
+Cornwall, could not make sure his ascendency in the country,
+notwithstanding all the money he lavished in the attempt. This was the
+unhappy time of the _Faustrecht_--the name indicates its character--when
+the right of the strong hand (fist) alone was of avail. The empire lost
+its prestige, and it slowly dissolved into a loose confederacy of some
+five thousand larger or smaller states and fragments of states, each
+struggling for independence.
+
+Most eminent amongst the crowd of nobles on Swiss soil aiming at their
+personal exaltation were the counts of the great Houses of Kyburg,
+Savoy, and Habsburg. Taking advantage of the general state of
+misgovernment or want of government, they systematically planned the
+aggrandisement of their own families, whether by conquest, purchase, or
+unjust encroachment. Yet there was opposition from the city burgesses,
+who, seeing their liberties in danger, felt the love of freedom roused
+in their breasts.
+
+The powerful Kyburger, the mightiest Swiss nobles, were the first to
+threaten the liberties of the people. Count Ulrich was reckoned one of
+the wealthiest princes throughout Swabia. By clever policy he had
+arranged the union of his son Hartmann (the elder) with Margaretha of
+Savoy. Ulrich's daughter, too, was married to Albrecht of Habsburg, and
+became the mother of Rudolf, the German king. He upheld the cause of
+Frederick II., and his elder son, Werner, went with him on his crusade
+where he was carried off by the plague, leaving one son, Hartmann the
+Younger. Their territories, after they had inherited the Zaeringen
+estates, reached from Lake Constance to Swiss Burgundy. Both the elder
+and the younger Hartmann encroached without scruple on the crown lands
+adjoining their estates, whilst Frederick II. was engaged in his
+struggle with the Church. In this emergency Bern and Murten, whose
+independence was at stake, followed suit, and resorted to means which
+would be a precedent in the future struggles for Swiss freedom. They
+joined in an offensive and defensive union with the Kyburg city,
+Freiburg, with Lucerne and the Bishop of Sion (1243). Bern had always
+adhered closely to the Hohenstaufen, and when Hartmann ventured on an
+open attack in 1255, that city applied to the empire for help. Unable to
+obtain support, however, both Bern and Murten placed themselves under
+the patronage of Count Peter of Savoy, who was already at variance with
+Kyburg, and a peace was arranged.
+
+Peter of Savoy, "the second Charlemagne" as he was styled, was a most
+remarkable man, and a striking figure amongst the Savoy princes. Being
+the fourth of seven brothers he had been placed in the Church by his
+father, Count Thomas. However, on the death of the father Peter doffed
+his priestly robes, married the heiress of Faucigny, and added that
+province and Chablais to his territories, and set up as guardian of his
+brothers. Like his father he had constantly his mind on Vaud, and the
+daily feuds amongst its leaderless swarm of nobles facilitated the
+conquest. Castles were erected to further his object; and Chillon, which
+to-day gives us an excellent idea of what a fine feudal castle was in
+mediæval days, became his princely residence, having indeed been, to a
+great extent, built by him. Invited to the Court of England by his niece
+Eleanor, he spent the greater part of his life abroad, gathering in the
+service of Henry III. men and money. These he used to achieve the
+acquisition of Vaud, to which he every now and then returned to
+overthrow his enemies. In England he occupied a high position in the
+Council, was knighted, and had titles and honours lavished on him; the
+palace of the Savoy in the Strand bears witness to his magnificence.
+Many of the nobles in his train, such as De la Porte, Grandson,
+Flechère, married Englishwomen, and hence arose the family names of
+Porter, Grandison, Fletcher. Possessing an iron will, and thoroughly
+versed in diplomacy, Peter of Savoy finally annexed Vaud, partly by
+conquest and partly by agreement. In truth, the whole nobility lay at
+his feet ready to do him homage and acknowledge him as lord paramount.
+The German government sanctioned his protectorate of Bern and Morat, and
+Richard of Cornwall his conquests in the Bernese Highlands. Thus West
+Switzerland became the portion of a Savoy prince, and in the place of
+the ancient kingdom of Upper Burgundy arose a feudal sovereignty.
+However, order, discipline, and wise organization were the fruits of
+Peter's rule. And his generous nature, his chivalrous spirit, and his
+love of justice and good government, won for him the affection of his
+people, and the title of Le Petit, or Le Second, Charlemagne.
+
+Presently the Kyburg domains in Eastern Switzerland devolved on him, the
+male line having died out in 1264--the elder Hartmann leaving no
+children, and the younger but one daughter, Anna, a minor. But when
+Peter attempted to take possession of the inheritance in the name of his
+sister, Margaretha of Savoy, he found himself in conflict with a rival
+claimant of superior strength, Rudolf, of Habsburg. This prince
+confiscated the whole of the lands of Hartmann the Elder, regardless of
+the claims of the widow, Margaretha. There was no mistaking the meaning
+of this, and war broke out between Savoy and Habsburg. Rudolf invited
+the whole of the nobles of the west to rise against Count Peter. He was
+engaged in East Switzerland when the Burgundian lords proceeded to
+besiege Chillon, in 1266. Peter himself was at war in the Valais. He
+suddenly returned, and at dead of night fell upon the enemy. He found
+them asleep, and some eighty nobles, barons, counts, seigneurs, and
+followers fell into his hands. These he conducted into the castle of
+Chillon, but instead of treating them as prisoners, entertained them at
+a banquet. Thus Peter became once more master of the west. Bern by a
+"writ of submission" regained from the House of Savoy the freedom it
+had forfeited on a previous occasion.[24] Rudolf signed a peace at
+Morat, and obtained the Kyburg heritage with the exception of the lands
+settled on the Dowager Countess. On the death of the "Conqueror of
+Vaud," which occurred soon after, the sovereignty passed to his brother
+Philip, a man of far inferior stamp. French Switzerland, save Geneva,
+gradually became a loose confederation of petty states, and their
+languishing political life led to their gradual amalgamation with the
+Eastern Republics.
+
+The most dangerous champion enters the lists when the great Habsburg
+prince seizes on the reins of government in Switzerland. In its early
+stages the rule of the Habsburger is closely linked with, and is indeed
+the incitement to, the national movement or rising, if such a word may
+be applied in the case of a people just forming. The famous Habsburg
+family was of right noble and ancient lineage. Whether they sprang from
+Swiss soil (Aargau), or had their origin in Alsacia, is not quite
+settled. As a matter of fact, they were a Swabian family who possessed
+vast estates in both those countries. Their estates, ("Eigen," allods or
+freeholds) with Windisch, Brugg Nurri, lay at the junction of the Aare
+and Reuss, in Aargau. Originally they dwelt in the castle of Altenburg,
+near Brugg, and subsequently in their manor of Habsburg, on the
+Wülpelsberg,[25] a little hill overlooking the ancient Vindonissa.
+Numerous other castles they held as time went on.
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD HABSBURG CASTLE (CANTON AARGAU).]
+
+Rudolf der Alte (the Old) is the first of the ancestors of whom we know
+much. He accompanied Frederick II. on his campaigns, and that great
+emperor stood godfather to his son Rudolf, who was later on to wear his
+royal crown. On his death the dynasty split into two branches,
+Habsburg-Austria (senior), and Habsburg-Laufenburg Aargau (junior), the
+heads being respectively Albrecht the Wise and Rudolf the Silent, his
+sons. Each of these branches followed its own separate policy, the
+junior holding to the Papacy. Albrecht cleverly contrived to marry
+Heilwig of Kyburg, hoping thus to inherit the estates of her childless
+brother, Hartmann the elder. He died, it was rumoured, whilst engaged in
+one of the crusades, and his estates passed to his sons, of whom,
+however, but one survived, our Rudolf of Habsburg. This man within the
+space of thirty years made his family one of the mightiest in the
+empire. Rudolf inherited from his father the family estate on the Aare,
+with Habsburg Castle. Besides this, he succeeded to various titles and
+lands, to the lordship of several towns in the Aargau, to the prefecture
+(_Vogtei_) over the religious-houses of Säckingen and Muri, to the
+landgraviate of Alsacia, and so forth.
+
+Though but one-and-twenty when his father died, Rudolf at once
+displayed great energy, as well as firmness and caution. In the struggle
+with the Papacy he held to the Staufen. It mattered little to him that
+his estates were under an interdict, and himself excommunicated. He held
+faithfully to the illustrious dynasty, and accompanied its last
+representative, Conradin, across the Alps, to Verona, in 1267. On the
+death of Conradin on the scaffold at Naples, and the consequent
+extinction of the Staufen line, Rudolf veered gradually round to the
+side of the Pope.
+
+Rudolf was highly popular with the peasantry, winning their hearts by
+his affability, simple habits, and kindly good-nature. His tall and
+slender person, thin face, and aquiline nose, were striking features,
+and not easily forgotten when once seen. He had been known to mend with
+his own hands, after a campaign, the old grey coat he usually wore, and
+this was but a typical act of his. And the proud opposition he offered
+to a plundering nobility quite won for him the confidence of the people.
+The great cities stood on good terms with him, and sought his friendship
+and aid. Thus did the Alsacian towns seek his help against the bishops
+of Strasburg; Zurich against the barons of Regensberg and Toggenburg. On
+many an occasion did he render remarkable service in this way, of which
+one instance must suffice. The barons of Regensberg had a castle on the
+Uto, a mountain towering above Zurich, and from thence often sent men to
+waylay and rob the citizens who chanced to pass that way. Rudolf hit on
+a crafty device. Riding up the Uetliberg with thirty men of Zurich, he
+placed behind each man a companion, and so came to the gate of the
+castle. The garrison despising a band apparently so small, rushed out of
+the gates upon them. But great was their terror when suddenly the men
+riding behind appeared in sight, and, taking to flight, they left the
+castle at the mercy of the strange attacking party. The place was
+levelled with the ground. Rudolf was asked by a body of free men of Uri
+to be their umpire in a dispute, and he actually sat in judgment on the
+matter, under the linden at Altorf, a fact which bears witness to his
+popularity amongst the people. Yet, with many amiable qualities, Rudolf
+was covetous, ambitious, and violent. Bent on raising his family to
+greatness, he reveals a most mercenary spirit, and shows himself
+unscrupulous in the pursuit of gain. It has been shown above, how he had
+seized the Kyburg lands; he also made himself guardian of Anna of
+Kyburg, and when she came of age, united her to his cousin, Eberhard of
+Habsburg. Thus was founded the new House of Kyburg-Burgdorf. He obtained
+from them Anna's heritage in the Aargau, besides Zug, Art, Willisan,
+Sempach, &c., as well as lands in the Forest Cantons. He was one of
+those chieftains who profited immensely by the distraction during the
+interregnum.
+
+Whilst engaged in storming Basel, whose bishop had encroached on the
+Alsacian territories, the news was brought to Rudolf (October 1, 1273)
+that he had been elected King of Germany, at Frankfort, and, raising the
+siege, he at once proceeded to his coronation at Aix-la-Chapelle.
+
+Rudolf's influence greatly altered the policy of Germany. He made his
+peace with Gregory X. at Lausanne in 1275, and entered into a close
+alliance with him. Thus an end was put to the unfortunate quarrels with
+the Papal power, and the German king was set at liberty to follow his
+own ambitions, aims, and plans. He resigned all claim to Italy, and so
+far also to the imperial dignity, which had once been of such splendour,
+and had indeed been almost equivalent to the government of the whole
+world. Sober, cautious, and matter-of-fact as he was, Rudolf cared not
+for merely ideal greatness, and devoted himself to following more
+practical aims. The empire had been impoverished by the late crisis, and
+by the different calamities which had befallen it; and the German
+princes had risen to positions of defiant independence. Seeing
+beforehand that the authority of the crown must be founded on the wealth
+and hereditary possessions of the sovereign, Rudolf made the
+aggrandisement of his family the chief object of his career. Fortune's
+favourite he seemed indeed to be, and gained a great victory over his
+opponent to the throne, Ottokar of Bohemia (1278), and secured from him
+the Duchy of Austria, with Steyermark. This he vested as a new
+possession in his own family.
+
+Notwithstanding the extension of his power eastward, he likewise
+continued his aggressive policy in Switzerland. He forced from Philip of
+Savoy the cession of Payerne, Murten, &c., and waged war with Bern,
+which held to Savoy, refusing to pay the royal taxes (1279). Making
+ample use of his exalted position and unlimited power, he lost no
+opportunity of buying up princes and religious-houses in pecuniary
+difficulties. He compelled the Abbots of St. Gall, Alrich of Güttingen,
+and William of Montfort, to cede to him lands and farms, forcing on them
+as steward a worthless fellow who was a devoted adherent of the
+Habsburgs. When the male line of Rapperswyl died out, the fiefs which
+should have passed to the Abbey of St. Gall, he gave to his own sons.
+And, taking advantage of the pecuniary straits of the monastery of
+Nurbach, he obtained by one means or another Lucerne, which belonged to
+the abbey, as well as numerous farms reaching into the Forest Cantons.
+The stewardship of Einsiedeln and Pfäffers likewise fell to his share.
+Many more instances might be given to show how Rudolf's clever and
+unscrupulous scheming extended his power all over the midlands and the
+eastern districts, and how grievously his heavy hand was felt throughout
+the country. Yet the famous Habsburgs, able, warlike, and energetic as
+they were, met with one obstacle to their progress which they were
+unable to remove, and against which all their plans came to nought---the
+love of freedom innate in the Swiss peoples.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[23] For more complete account of the Hohenstaufen see Freeman's "Holy
+Roman Empire," Frederick I., II.
+
+[24] The story runs that Peter allowed the town to ask a favour in
+return for past services, and the witty men of Bern at once begged for
+the restitution of their lost liberty. Henceforth Peter was regarded as
+the benefactor and second founder of the city.
+
+[25] Tradition says that one of their ancestors, Radbot, hunting in the
+Aargau, lost his favourite hawk, and found it sitting on the ridge of
+the Wülpelsberg. Being delighted with the view, Radbot built a castle
+there, and called it _Hawk Castle_, Habichtsburg, or Habsburg.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+THE CONFEDERATION, OR EIDGENOSSENSCHAFT.
+
+(1231-1291.)
+
+
+In the present chapter we have to attempt the task of separating truth
+from fiction, at all times, perhaps, a difficult, and often an
+impossible, undertaking, in matters of history. This chapter indeed
+splits itself naturally into _Wahrheit_ and _Dichtung_. Fortunately the
+stories of Tell and the three Eidgenossen are everywhere well known, and
+will need but little description at our hands.
+
+A lake of exquisite beauty extends between the Forest Cantons, and, so
+to speak, links them together, the whole forming a singularly
+picturesque stretch of country. Separated from the sister cantons and
+from the outside world, each of these little states formed a world of
+its own. The lake was the common outlet, and the rallying-point for the
+peoples of the secluded valleys. The various armlets into which it
+branches, like the districts which lie about them, have each their
+peculiar charm. Of these cantons Unterwalden has a pastoral character,
+and attracts attention by its beautiful verdure--velvety slopes, green
+meads, clusters of nut-trees in the lower parts, orchards of fruit
+trees, the country dotted everywhere with sunburnt huts, forming a _tout
+ensemble_ truly idyllic. Schwyz is a canton of similar natural
+appearance, with green pastures and somewhat gentler slopes, but broad
+terraces with their red cottages line the valley. Above the chief town
+of the same name, which nestles at the head of the dale it commands,
+shining, dazzlingly white with its snug whitewashed houses, rise to the
+sky the torn but imposing pyramids of the two Myten. Uri is _par
+excellence_ the highland district amongst the three little states.
+Towering mountains and inaccessible rocks hem in a strip of water, and
+give that wondrous hue which makes the charm of Uri lake.
+
+The inhabitants are of the Alpine mould. Sinewy, robust, quick, shrewd,
+they are persevering, fearless, bold, and self-reliant; they are yet
+simple in their habits, artless in manner, pious, and strongly
+conservative, each people having however its own characteristic points
+of difference. Ever exposed to danger, their struggles with nature for
+the supply of their daily wants have increased their strength of body,
+brought out their mettle, and quickened their natural intelligence. Thus
+it was not the love of innovation, or even of reform, that led them to
+form their "League of Perpetual Alliance," in 1291. They entered into
+the Confederation but to check the aggressions of the Habsburgers.
+
+Such is the district and such the race from which arose the three famed
+Eidgenossen, Walter Fürst von Attinghausen, Werner Staufacher, and
+Arnold von Melchthal, who, on the "Rütli," swore a solemn oath to save
+their country from rulers shameless as they were cruel.
+
+[Illustration: THALER OF THREE CANTONS--URI, SCHWYZ, AND UNTERWALDEN
+[SANCTUS MARTINUS EPISCOPUS].
+
+(_By Dr. Imhoof._)]
+
+Tradition reports that King Albrecht, son of Rudolf (1298-1308), greatly
+oppressed the three Waldstätten, doing his best to reduce the people to
+the condition of bondmen. To the various stewards or bailiffs whom he
+set over them, he gave strict orders to keep well in check the people of
+the Forest Cantons. These overseers grew into covetous and cruel
+tyrants, who taxed, fined, imprisoned, and reviled the unfortunate
+inhabitants. To complain to the monarch was useless, as he refused to
+listen. One of these stewards, or lieutenant-governors, was Gessler, and
+a particularly haughty and spiteful governor he was. Passing on one
+occasion through Steinen (Schwyz), he was struck by the sight of a fine
+stone-built house, and filled with envy he inquired of Werner
+Staufacher, who happened to be the owner, whose it was. Fearing the
+governor's anger the wealthy proprietor replied cautiously, "The holding
+is the king's, your grace's, and mine." "Can we suffer the peasantry to
+live in such fine houses?" exclaimed Gessler, scornfully, as he rode
+away. Landenberg, another of these "unjust stewards," at Sarnen, being
+informed that a rich farmer in the Melchi (Unterwalden), had a fine pair
+of oxen, sent his man for them. Young Arnold, of Melchthal, the son of
+the farmer, was standing by when the animals were being unyoked, and,
+enraged at the sight, raised his stick, and struck the governor's
+servant a blow, breaking one of his fingers. But being afraid of the
+governor's wrath, young Arnold fled. So Landenberg seized the old
+father, brought him to his castle, and had his eyes put out.
+
+Werner Staufacher was consumed by secret grief, and his wife, guessing
+what was on his mind, gave him such counsel that, nerving himself to
+action, he went over to Uri and Unterwalden to look for kindred spirits
+and fellow-sufferers. At the house of Walter Fürst, of Attinghausen
+(Uri), he met with the young man from the Melchi, to whom he was able to
+tell the sad news that the old father had been blinded by Landenberg.
+Here the three patriots unburdened to each other their sorrowing hearts,
+and vowed a vow to free their country from oppressors, and restore its
+ancient liberties. Gradually opening their plans to their kindred and
+friends, they arranged nightly meetings on the Rütli, a secluded Alpine
+mead above the Mytenstein, on Uri lake. Meeting in small bands so as
+not to excite suspicion, they deliberated as to how best their
+deliverance might be effected. On the night of the 17th of November,
+1307, Walter Fürst, Arnold of Melchthal, and Werner Staufacher, met on
+the Rütli, each taking with him ten intimate associates. Their hearts
+swelling with love for their country and hatred against tyranny, these
+three-and-thirty men solemnly pledged their lives for each other and for
+their fatherland.
+
+Raising their right hands towards heaven the three leaders took God and
+the saints to witness that their solemn alliance was made in the
+spirit--"One for all, and all for one." At that moment the sun shot his
+first rays across the mountain-tops, kindling in the hearts of these
+earnest men the hopes of success.
+
+In the meantime a very remarkable event had happened at the town of
+Altorf in Uri. Gessler had placed a hat on a pole in the market-place,
+with strict orders that passers-by should do it reverence, for he wished
+to test their obedience. William Tell scorned this piece of over-bearing
+tyranny, and proudly marched past without making obeisance to the hat.
+He was seized, and Gessler riding up, demanded why he had disobeyed the
+order. "From thoughtlessness," he replied, "for if I were witty my name
+were not Tell." The governor, in a fury, ordered Tell to shoot an apple
+from the head of his son, for Gessler knew Tell to be a most skilful
+archer, and, moreover, to have fine children. Tell's entreaties that
+some other form of punishment should be substituted, for this were of no
+avail. Pierced to the heart the archer took two arrows, and, placing
+one in his quiver, took aim with the other, and cleft the apple. Foiled
+in his design, Gessler inquired the meaning of the second arrow. Tell
+hesitated, but on being assured that his life would be spared, instantly
+replied, "Had I injured my child, this second shaft should not have
+missed thy heart." "Good!" exclaimed the enraged governor, "I have
+promised thee thy life, but I will throw thee into a dungeon where
+neither sun nor moon shall shine on thee." Tell was chained, and placed
+in a barge, his bow and arrow being put at his back. As they rowed
+towards Axenstein, suddenly their arose a fearful storm, and the crew
+fearing they would be lost, suggested that Tell, an expert boatman,
+should save them. Gessler had him unbound, and he steered towards
+Axenberg, where there was a natural landing-stage formed by a flat
+rock--_Tellenplatte_. Seizing his bow and arrows he flung the boat
+against the rock, and leapt ashore, leaving its occupants to their fate.
+Woe betide him, however, should the governor escape death on the lake!
+Tell hurried on to Schwyz, and thence to the "hollow way" near Kusnach,
+through which Gessler must come if he returned to his castle. Hiding in
+the thicket lining the road, Tell waited, and presently seeing the
+tyrant riding past, took aim, and shot him through the heart. Gessler's
+last words were, "This is Tell's shaft."
+
+Thus runs the old story. The question naturally arises, What of all this
+is truth, and what fiction? just as it will in the case of Winkelried
+and others. The question is easier to ask than to answer, at least in
+the very limited space at our disposal. The truth is, this question has
+been for half a century the subject of controversy always lively, often
+passionate and violent. Some authorities are for making a clean sweep of
+all traditional annals, and all semi-mythical national heroes. Others,
+no less able and conscientious, and no less learned, have re-admitted
+tradition to investigation, and have made it their special care to pick
+out the historical grain from the chaff of fiction. It is impossible
+within the limits of our space to discuss the merits of the numerous
+chronicles, and popular songs and plays, in which the traditions of the
+Tell period are preserved. Suffice it to say, that the "White Book of
+Sarnen" (1470), naïve and artless as is its tone, is the most
+trustworthy; that of the "Swiss Herodotus," the patriotic Tschudi
+(1570), the most fascinating and most skilfully penned. The work of the
+latter is mainly a series of gleanings from the "White Book," together
+with additional pictures from Tschudi's own pencil. He combined and
+supplied dates and minor details, and cast the whole in a mould
+apparently so historical that it became an authority for Joh von Müller,
+the great Swiss historian of the eighteenth century. And the immortal
+Schiller deeply stirred by the grand epic, produced his magnificent
+drama, "William Tell."
+
+It hardly needs to be said in these days that whilst no one thinks of
+taking these beautiful old-world stories literally, yet few of us would
+care to toss them contemptuously and entirely on one side. Truly they
+have a meaning, if not exactly that which was once accepted. In the
+present instance they represent and illustrate a long epoch during
+which a high-spirited people were engaged in establishing a
+confederation, and maintaining it against a powerful enemy--one long
+effort to secure emancipation from Habsburg tyranny--an epoch which
+opened with the acquisition of a charter of liberties for Uri in 1231,
+and closed with the brilliant victory of Morgarten in 1315.
+
+It remains now to show briefly what may be considered the authentic
+history of the period, that is, the history as found in authentic
+documents.
+
+And first, it is clearly absurd to suppose that the three Forest Cantons
+sprang suddenly into existence as democracies. Feudalism had spread its
+net over the Waldstätten as elsewhere in Switzerland and Europe
+generally. But the inborn love of freedom amongst the "freemen" of the
+three cantons was intensified by two things, the secluded Alpine life
+and the tyranny and aggressiveness of the Habsburgs. The inhabitants of
+the Forest were Alamanni, who, in the seventh century, had moved into
+the higher Alpine regions, the immigration into those regions being
+greatly promoted by a decree of Charlemagne, that whoever should
+cultivate land there with his own hands should be the owner thereof. But
+besides these farmer freemen, land was taken up by religious-houses, and
+by the secular grandees, who claimed the soil cultivated by their serfs,
+bondsmen, and dependants of all kinds. By the bounty of Louis the
+German, the "Gotteshausleute" (God's-house-people), had become of great
+importance in Uri; in 853 that monarch had bestowed his royal lands in
+Uri, with everything appertaining thereto, on the Abbey of our Lady at
+Zurich, an abbey founded for his daughters. Beneath the mild rule of
+these royal ladies the inhabitants had acquired great independence, and
+had shared with their mistress the high privilege of the
+"Reichsfreiheit," which saved their lands from being mortgaged, or from
+falling under the power of vassal princes. Besides the Lady Abbess,
+there were other proprietors in Uri--the Maison Dieu of Wettingen, the
+barons of Rapperswyl, and other high-born or noble families, and,
+lastly, a body of "freemen."
+
+This scattered and various society was knit into one close
+boundary-association by the possession of the "Almend," a stretch of
+land common to all, according to the old German custom--to free and
+unfree, rich and poor, noble and serf, who were brought together in
+council for deliberation. These assemblies gave rise to the political
+gatherings of the "Landsgemeinde."
+
+Now by a decree of the Emperor Frederick II., Uri was severed from the
+jurisdiction of Zurich Abbey in 1218, and placed under the control of
+Habsburg, who had succeeded to the governorship of Zurichgau, a district
+which then included the three Forest states. "Reichsfreiheit" was lost,
+and the inhabitants, fearing their state would fall into the hands of
+the Habsburgs, applied for protection from Henry, son of Frederick II.,
+then at variance with the Habsburg family. He complied with their
+request, and on the 26th of May, 1231, granted them a charter of
+liberties, restored "Reichsfreiheit," and received them into the pale of
+the empire. Uri was now under the direct control of the monarch, and the
+local authority was vested in an _Ammann_ chosen from the native
+families. An imperial representative appeared twice a year in the
+country to hold his half-yearly sessions, and to collect the imperial
+taxes. When Rudolf of Habsburg rose to the imperial throne, he
+recognized fully the validity of the Uri charter. However a charter was
+but little check on the monarchical tyranny, and we find the country
+exasperated by Rudolf's grinding taxation.
+
+The inhabitants of Schwyz were no less bold, resolute, and energetic,
+than those of Uri, and no less averse to falling into the hands of the
+Habsburgs. Here the freemen predominated, and owned the largest portion
+of the country. There is not space to tell of their long quarrel with
+the monks of Einsiedeln respecting some forest lands. Suffice it to say
+that, after a stout stand for their rights, they were ordered to share
+the _corpus delicti_, the forest, with their opponents. During the
+quarrels between Rome and the Hohenstaufen, Schwyz staunchly upheld the
+cause of Frederick II., but the wavering policy of Rudolf of the junior
+line, Habsburg-Laufenburg, was a strong temptation to separate
+themselves from him (1239). They sent letters, messengers, and most
+likely auxiliaries, to Frederick, when he was besieging Faënza with the
+view of recovering the Lombard cities, and begged for the protection of
+the empire. Frederick expressed his gratification that the freemen of
+Schwyz should voluntarily place themselves under his protection, and
+sent them a charter similar to that of Uri (1240)--to "his faithful
+men"--by which they obtained the "Reichsfreiheit," and an assurance that
+they should not be severed from the empire.
+
+A very few years later we hear of the first federal union of which we
+have any certain knowledge. The great quarrel between the emperor and
+the Pope, and the flight of the latter to Lyons, had set Europe on fire.
+Schwyz took up arms to defend the founder of its liberties, and entered
+into an alliance with Uri and Unterwalden--and even Lucerne--to throw
+off the yoke of the younger Habsburg line. War raged fiercely in the
+valleys of the Forest and by Lake Lucerne, till the Popish party was
+brought to bay, and the overseer driven from the Habsburg castle. We do
+not know the result of this insurrection; it closed no doubt with the
+death of Rudolf and Frederick in 1249-50.
+
+It is to this period of the insurrection doubtless that the stories of
+Tell, the oath on the Rütli, &c., apply most clearly. They are
+reminiscences probably of some forgotten episodes of the campaigns. Had
+the annalists connected the stories with these times instead of with the
+reign of Albrecht, their validity could hardly have been contested.
+
+When Rudolf III. of Habsburg-Austria became emperor, and had bought from
+the younger branch of his house the estates and titles in the
+Waldstätten, he drew Schwyz most closely to his family. He refused to
+confirm Frederick's charter on the plea that that monarch had been
+excommunicated. The magistrates were officers of his own; he gathered
+the taxes in his own name, and, in 1278, assigned them as dowry to the
+English bride of his favourite son, Hartmann. Schwyz did not feel
+comfortable under all this, and stood on its guard.
+
+Unterwalden[26], the lowland district of the Forest, was politically
+quite behind the times. It was exceedingly fertile, and was much in
+request, and in the thirteenth century was parcelled out amongst
+religious-houses, great nobles, and lesser freemen. The Habsburgs being
+not only the greatest proprietors, but also stewards of the
+religious-houses, naturally held sovereign sway. It was only by the aid
+of friendly neighbours indeed that Unterwalden could hold its own
+against such powerful masters, and of all its neighbours the men of
+Schwyz were not only the best organized, politically, but the most
+energetic and far-seeing. That the Schwyzers took the lead in the
+emancipation of the district is pretty clear from the name that was
+given to the newly-formed state by surrounding lands, and by the
+Austrians after the battle of Morgarten.
+
+The death of Rudolf in 1291 was good news to the men of the Forest, and
+all their pent-up hopes of the recovery of their ancient rights once
+more burst forth. Yet dreading new dangers from new governors, they took
+measures of precaution. Within a fortnight of Rudolf's death the three
+districts of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden had entered into a perpetual
+league or defensive alliance (_Ewiger Bund_), a renewal no doubt of a
+previous pact, probably that of 1246. They may have met on the Rütli to
+swear the solemn oath which was to bind them into a confederation, _à
+perpetuité_. The various acts of agreement were drawn up in Latin, and
+the document--the Magna Charta of the Eidgenossenschaft--treasured up at
+Schwyz, is held in veneration by the whole Swiss nation. It bears an
+essentially conservative character, and witnesses to the thought and
+consideration given to the matter, no less than to the strong sense of
+equity and clear judgment of the contracting parties. Amongst other
+things it enjoins that every one shall obey and serve his master
+according to his standing; that no judge shall be appointed who has
+bought his office with gold, nor unless he be a native; that if quarrels
+shall arise between the Eidgenossen (_inter aliquos conspiratos_), the
+more sensible shall settle the differences, and if the one party does
+not submit, the opposition shall decide in the matter. To the document
+were affixed the seals of the three countries as a guarantee of its
+authenticity.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[26] Unterwalden is parted into two unequal halves by a mountain range
+running from the Titlis to the Buochser Horn, with the wood of Kerns in
+its centre. The districts on both sides have thence taken the names of
+Ob and Nidwalden, above and below the wood.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+THE BATTLE OF MORGARTEN.
+
+(1315.)
+
+
+The primary object of the Perpetual League was to secure for the three
+Waldstätten that safety which the empire, with its fluctuating fortunes
+and condition, failed to ensure. Rich and mighty cities in Germany and
+Italy had joined in alliance with similar intent, but whilst these
+alliances had come to nought, the simple peasants of the Forest,
+hardened by continual struggles, had developed into a power before which
+even the Habsburgs were of no avail; for, gifted with striking political
+understanding and far-sightedness, these born diplomatists knew how to
+turn the tide of events to their own advantage.
+
+As an additional security, they entered within a few weeks into an
+alliance with Zurich and the Anti-Habsburg coalition that had sprung up
+in East Switzerland when Adolf of Nassau was chosen successor to King
+Rudolf in preference to his son Albert, whose absolutism was dreaded by
+all. The Zurich forces attacked Winterthur, a Habsburg town, but owing
+to the absence of reinforcements sustained a severe defeat (1292).
+Taking advantage of their heavy losses, Duke Albert laid siege to the
+imperial city of Zurich. Great was his dismay, however, when from his
+camp he saw a formidable force drawn up in battle array on the
+Lindenhof, an eminence within the city. The armour-bearers, their
+helmets, shields, and lances glittering in the sun, appeared to the foe
+to indicate an overwhelming force, and Albert made his peace with the
+remarkable city. This was gladly accepted, as well it might be, for it
+is said that the dazzling array seen by Albert consisted of the Amazons
+of the place, to wit, the women of the town, who had lit on this
+stratagem to save their city.
+
+King Adolf guaranteed the "liberties" of Uri and Schwyz in 1297; but on
+his death in the following year, in battle against his rival, Albert of
+Habsburg, these were again at stake--for charters had to be submitted to
+the sovereign's pleasure at every new accession--and in fact were never
+acknowledged by the succeeding king. As the object of the Habsburgs was
+to join the Waldstätten to their Austrian possessions, their policy was
+naturally to oppose the freedom of the district. It was a fact highly
+favourable to Swiss interests that the German monarchy was elective; for
+the princes and prince-electors, with their personal and selfish aims,
+shut out the mighty Habsburg dynasty, whenever candidates presented
+themselves whom they considered more likely to favour their views. On
+such grounds Adolf of Nassau was elected, as was also Henry of
+Lützelburg later on.
+
+Albrecht was not the cruel, taciturn, tyrant Swiss chroniclers and
+historians have pictured him. They have, in fact, confounded him with
+previous rulers, chiefly of the junior Habsburg line. Albrecht was bent
+on the aggrandizement of his house, but, if anything, less selfishly so
+than his father Rudolf III. He was, however, no friend of Swiss
+liberties, and, had he lived longer, would doubtless have checked any
+efforts on the part of the Swiss to gain greater freedom. But he was cut
+off in the very prime of life, by his nephew and ward, John of Swabia,
+who believed himself defrauded of his heritage. With John were other
+young Swiss nobles--Von Eschenbach, Von Balm, Von Wart, &c.; and by
+these Albrecht was stabbed, within sight of his ancestral manor,
+Habsburg, as he was on a journey to meet his queen, Elizabeth. He sank
+to the ground, and expired in the lap of a poor woman (1308). The
+assassins got clear away, excepting Wart. A terrible vengeance was taken
+on him, and on the friends and connections of the fugitives, however
+innocent. A thousand victims perished, by order of the bloody Elizabeth.
+On the spot where her husband had fallen the queen built the Monastery
+of Königsfelden (King's Field), a place which afterwards attained great
+fame and splendour. The stained windows of the church still in
+existence, are masterpieces of Swiss work, showing all the exquisite
+finish of the fourteenth century, and testifying to the former
+magnificence of the abbey.
+
+Once again the Habsburgs were passed over, and Henry VII. became King of
+Germany. To him Unterwalden owes its charter, which placed the three
+small states on an equal footing politically. However, he died in Italy
+when going to receive the imperial crown--it is thought by poison. On
+his decease the opposing parties elected two sovereigns, Louis of
+Bavaria, and Frederick the Handsome, of Austria, son of Albrecht. During
+a short interregnum, which occurred after the death of Henry VII.,
+Schwyz began hostilities against the Abbey of Einsiedeln, of which the
+Habsburgs were stewards. This greatly vexed Frederick, and his annoyance
+was increased by finding that the Forest generally sided with his rival.
+Goaded beyond bearing, Frederick determined to deal a crushing blow
+against the rebellious Forest states, and, late in the autumn of 1315,
+hostile operations commenced. We are now in our story on the eve of the
+famous battle of Morgarten, which is justly regarded by the Swiss as one
+of the noblest of the many noble episodes in their stirring history.
+There is not a civilized nation in the world to which the name of
+Morgarten is not familiar.
+
+Both parties prepared for war. The Wald Cantons fortified such parts of
+their district as offered no sufficient security, and placed troops at
+the entrance to the valley. Duke Leopold, a younger brother of the king,
+a great champion, and eager for combat, undertook the command of the
+campaign, with much dash and self-reliance. He gathered a considerable
+army together on the shortest notice, the Aargau towns, with Lucerne
+and Winterthur, and even Zurich, sending troops, whilst the nobility
+espoused his cause, and rallied to his standard at Zug. In order to
+divide the forces of the enemy the leader ordered a section of the army,
+under Count Otto of Strassberg, to break into Unterwalden by the Brünig
+Pass. Leopold himself commanded the main force, and directed his
+principal charge against Schwyz, which was particularly obnoxious to
+him. Of the two roads leading from Zug to Schwyz, he chose--probably
+from ignorance--the one which was the more difficult, and strategically
+the less promising. On the 15th of November, the day before the feast of
+St. Othmar, he brought his cavalry to Ægeri, and thence moved in a
+heedless fashion along the eastern bank of that lake, taking no care
+either to watch the enemy or to reconnoitre his ground. Amongst his
+baggage was a cartload of ropes, with which he intended to fasten
+together the cattle he expected to seize. Hurried on by the nobles, and
+himself eager for the fray, he neglected even the most elementary
+measures of precaution, which, indeed, he deemed quite unnecessary when
+marching against mere peasants. His _cortège_ resembled a hunting party
+rather than an army expecting serious warfare. Reaching the hamlet of
+Haselmatt, the troops began slowly to ascend the steep and frozen slopes
+of Morgarten, in the direction of Schornen. Soon they were hemmed in by
+lake and mountain, when, without a moment's warning, there came pouring
+down upon the dense masses of horsemen huge stones, pieces of rock, and
+trunks of trees. Dire confusion followed at once. This unexpected
+avalanche had been hurled down upon them by a handful of men posted on
+the mountain ridge, and well informed respecting the movement of the
+Austrians. Presently the main body of the men from Schwyz and Uri
+appeared behind Schornen, and like a whirlwind rushed down the hill on
+the terrified and bewildered foe, who were caught in the narrow pass of
+Morgarten, as in a net. It was quite impossible to ward off such an
+attack as that. Then the Eidgenossen began to mow down the Austrians
+with their terrible weapon the halberd, an invention of their own.
+
+A confused scramble and a terrified _mêlée_ ensued, in which it was at
+once seen that the foe must succumb, utterly disorganized as they were,
+and well-nigh helpless through terror. Many in sheer despair rushed into
+the lake. Soon lay scattered over the wintry field the "flower of
+knighthood," amongst them the counts of Kyburg and Toggenburg, and other
+Swiss nobles. Leopold himself had a narrow escape, and hurried back to
+Winterthur, "looking," says Friar John of that place, an eye-witness,
+"like death, and quite distracted." Otto of Strassberg, hearing of the
+disaster, retreated with such rapidity that he died overcome by the
+physical efforts he had made. "Throughout the country the sounds of joy
+and glory were changed into wails of lamentation and woe." Such was the
+ever-memorable battle of Morgarten. As to the number of men who fell on
+that day, the accounts vary hopelessly, and we do not venture to give
+any figures. The infantry probably fled, and had no share in the
+encounter.
+
+Such was the first proof the young Confederation gave of their mettle
+and skill in warfare. The battle has been called the Swiss Thermopylæ,
+but it was more fortunate in its results than that of the Greeks. It
+confirmed the national spirit of resistance to the house of Habsburg,
+and commenced a whole series of brilliant victories, which for two
+centuries increased the glory, as they improved the military skill of
+the Swiss nation. In humbleness and in a spirit of true devotion, the
+victors fell to thanking God on the battlefield for their rescue, and
+they instituted a day of thanksgiving to be observed as year after year
+it should come round.
+
+On the 9th of December in the same year (1315) the Eidgenossen proceeded
+to Brunnen, to renew by oath, and enlarge by some additional paragraphs,
+the treaty or league of 1291, and this for nearly five hundred years
+remained the fundamental code of agreement between the three
+Waldstätten. The Forest Cantons, having grown into three independent
+republics, claimed each separate administration or autonomy. The idea of
+a federal union thus started by the Forest men gradually grew in favour
+with neighbouring commonwealths struggling for independence; and these,
+so attracted, slowly clustered round the Forest Cantons, to form a
+bulwark against a common foe.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF OLD SWITZERLAND.]
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+THE LEAGUE OF THE EIGHT STATES.
+
+(1332-68.)
+
+
+One by one the Swiss lands were reached by the breeze of freedom blowing
+from the Forest Cantons after the great victory of Morgarten. Yet it was
+only very gradually and in small groups that the other districts entered
+within the pale of the Eidgenossenschaft. Eight states made up the
+nucleus for some time; indeed, till after the Burgundian wars, in 1481,
+they jealously kept out all intruders. In fact, the confederate states
+looked on outsiders merely as "connections," or subjects, and associated
+with them on no other footing. It is a somewhat startling and unusual
+thing to find republics ruling over subject lands, yet in this case the
+result was to knit the whole more closely together in after centuries.
+In the fourteenth century the union was of the loosest kind; alliances
+wavered, and politics were swayed by separate ends. The other
+commonwealths, in joining themselves with the Forest states, had no
+notion of giving up their individual life, but were wishful to create a
+body powerful enough to secure independence against the aggressions of
+Austria; and at the price of continued struggle, and steady perseverance
+no less admirable, they achieved that object.
+
+Attracted by common interests as a near neighbour, and being moreover
+the mart of the Forest Cantons, Lucerne was the first to be drawn into
+the union. This town had acquired great independence under the mild rule
+of the famous Murbach Abbey. But in 1291 the convent, having got into
+financial straits, had sold the town to the Habsburgs. Finding but
+little liberty under their new rulers, the men of Lucerne formed in 1332
+with the Forest the union of the four Waldstätten,[27] with the view of
+shaking off the Austrian yoke. Lucerne was bound by treaty not to league
+herself with outsiders without the consent of the Forest Cantons.
+
+In 1351 Zurich followed suit. Her clever and powerful burgomaster, Brun,
+was keenly desirous of raising her to greatness. He was less regardful
+of the interests of the Eidgenossen, and indeed had strong leanings
+towards Austria and the empire, as affording a wider scope for ambitious
+politics. Consequently he would not permit her superior position as an
+imperial free city, nor her foreign and commercial relations, to be
+injured by submission to the Forest control, and he carried a clause
+which left her free to join in any other alliances she choose, provided
+that with the Waldstätten was not broken. He also bound the Forest
+states by treaty, to secure to Zurich its own constitution. The
+documents connected with this alliance show that the five states formed
+a power quite ready to cope with Austria. And well for them that they
+were so ready. Louis of Bavaria, the protector of the Forest Cantons,
+was dead, and his successor on the German throne was Charles IV., son of
+the famous blind King of Bohemia, who fell so bravely at Cressy. To
+maintain his authority Charles fell back on the friendship of Austria,
+and to win the favour of Albrecht (the "Wise," or "Lame"), he nullified
+all the measures which Louis had enacted against Austria, measures which
+had destroyed the power of that country in the Waldstätten. The
+destruction of Rapperswyl[28] (Zurich), and the union between Zurich and
+the other four states were regarded by the Habsburgs as a challenge, and
+gave rise to a long-protracted war, marked rather by feats of diplomacy
+on the part of Austria than by feats of arms. Albrecht was desirous of
+having a reckoning with the Eidgenossen generally, yet for the present
+he confined his attacks to Zurich, their strongest outpost. The assault
+by sixteen thousand men in 1351 was stoutly opposed, and collapsed
+suddenly by proffers of peace. Queen Agnes of Königsfelden, the duke's
+sister, was called in as umpire, and Brun temporizing with Austria to
+save his town, a verdict was passed so injurious to the people of the
+Forest, that they refused the mediation of this "wondrously shrewd and
+quick woman," who had for these thirty years swayed the Habsburg
+politics, and the quarrel broke out anew.
+
+The Zurcher now assumed the offensive, and defeated the Austrians at
+Tätwil, being led by Roger Manesse, the grandson of the amateur poet.
+They then marched on Glarus, and conquered that valley in November,
+1351. Clarona, like Lucerne, had drifted from beneath the spiritual
+rule, and had fallen under that of the Habsburgs, much to her dislike.
+An old chronicler reports that "the Glarner were well disposed towards
+the Eidgenossen," and it is not difficult to believe that they consented
+willingly to be conquered, for in the spring of the next year they
+utterly defeated the Austrian forces under Count Stadion, who had
+returned with the intention of recovering the country if possible. The
+union of the Glarner with the Confederates was fixed by a treaty, on
+June 4, 1352, but, curious to relate, they were received as inferiors or
+_protégés_ (Schutzort) and not as equals. The Confederates no doubt
+reasoned that the acquisition of the valley, with its open villages,
+offered no adequate advantages for the extra risks to which it exposed
+them.
+
+Zug was the next to be brought into the union. The very situation of
+Zug, surrounded as it was by the federal territory, rendered it quite
+necessary that that state should be brought into the fold of the
+Eidgenossen. The country districts surrendered at the approach of the
+federal forces, but the town of Zug offered a stout resistance. However,
+the townsmen heard nothing from Albrecht, much less received any help
+from him, and yielded on June 27, 1352. Thanks to the greater security
+she offered, Zug was admitted as a full member.
+
+In July, 1352, Albrecht renewed his attack on Zurich, with an army
+double the one first brought against her, Bern, Basel, Strasburg,
+Solothurn, and Constance, being bound by treaty, sending troops. But
+this second venture likewise miscarried, after stout opposition and much
+wasteful ravaging. This plan of storming an imperial city was unpopular
+amongst the neighbouring towns, and Eberhard "the Quarrelsome," who held
+the chief command in the place of the lame duke, displeased with the
+secret negotiations, left the camp, and the army was dissolved. Again
+the Austrians resorted to diplomatic machinations, and recovered by the
+pen what they had failed to keep by the sword. The treaty, or rather
+truce, of Brandenburg, so called from its author, reinstated the
+Habsburger in their Forest possessions. Glarus and Zug were compelled to
+give up their union with the Eidgenossen, and, like Lucerne, to return
+to the Habsburg rule. Nevertheless, though complying outwardly, the
+states still maintained their friendly _liaisons_. And the league of the
+five states remained intact, and was indeed strengthened by the alliance
+of Bern with the Waldstätten, with which she had been more closely
+connected ever since the great battle of Laupen, where the Forest men
+had proved such staunch and useful friends. The treaty is dated March 6,
+1353.
+
+Albrecht was dissatisfied with the results of the last truce, and
+renewed the hostilities in the spring of 1353. Prevailing on Charles IV.
+to intervene that monarch twice visited Zurich, and held interviews with
+her representatives, and those of the Waldstätten. Yet it was evident
+his purpose was to give every advantage to Austria. The citizens
+trusting that his mediation would be just, received him with "imposing
+pomp and great honours." But their high hopes were soon dashed.
+Influenced by the Austrian counsellors about him, Charles strongly
+upheld the old Habsburg claims, and on his second visit even denied the
+validity of the ancient charters of the Forest, and requested the
+Eidgenossen to dissolve their union. Naturally, the Confederates were
+unwilling to throw away the results of a century's hard struggling, and,
+insisting on their unchangeable and undeniable rights, they simply
+answered that his "views were incomprehensible to them." Charles at once
+returned to Nürnberg, and thence sent to Zurich his declaration of war.
+
+Albrecht, who had bought and rebuilt Rapperswyl, assembled there his
+forces, and laid waste the borders of the lake. The king fixed his camp
+at Regensberg; and thence the two pushed forward and formed a junction
+at Küsnacht. Their united forces, estimated at fifty thousand, formed
+the most formidable and magnificent army seen that century. Ravaging the
+lovely vineyard slopes, laments a contemporary annalist, they marched on
+Zurich, and, in spite of the sallies of the Zurcher to avert such a
+fate, completely encircled the town. Entirely cut off from all supplies,
+the inhabitants had no hope of holding out for any length of time,
+especially against a foe ten times more numerous. But at the most
+critical moment the place was saved by a stratagem. For suddenly the
+imperial banner was seen floating over the citadel. The burgesses (or
+their leader Brun) had hoisted it up as a declaration that they were the
+subjects of the Holy Roman Empire, and meant no disobedience to the
+king. The incident made a deep impression on the enemy, and Charles at
+once suspended the siege. Thus for the third time foiled Albrecht
+retired in high dudgeon to Baden, and thence began to indulge in mere
+petty warfare. As for the king, he betook himself to Prague, there to
+enrich the Domkirche with the numerous relics and antiquities he had
+delightedly amassed during his stay in Swiss lands. This king was the
+founder of Bohemia's greatness, and of the splendour of its capital.
+
+On his return from Italy as Roman emperor he concluded a peace at
+Regensburg, in July, 1355, and the war came to an end. The result, as in
+the case of the previous war, had been injurious to the interests of the
+Confederation. Glarus and Zug remained excluded from the League, and the
+Habsburgs retained their lands in the Forest. The only thing left was
+the union of the six states. Zurich had borne the burden of the war for
+the last four years, and, unless she wished to forfeit her very
+existence, was compelled to have peace at any price. And as she was
+completely exhausted, and yet was made the surety for the Waldstätten,
+the Eidgenossen submitted to the harsh conditions imposed.
+
+In 1358 Albrecht died, and was succeeded by his enterprising son, Rudolf
+IV. This ruler made it his special object to extend his power on the
+Upper Zurich lake. Rapperswyl was fortified and enlarged, and the famous
+wooden bridge across the lake was built--not for pilgrims wandering to
+Einsiedeln, as common report had it, but--to connect the territories he
+had conquered, or was expecting to conquer. Besides, he wished to cut
+off Zurich from the direct route to, and trade with, Italy, and from the
+Forest. But in 1360 died the all-powerful Brun, who had ever sympathised
+with Austria; and, in 1364, the old Queen Agnes (the widowed queen of
+Hungary), who had resided for twenty years at Königsfelden. Rudolf
+likewise died about the same time, and with their decease the Austrian
+spell was broken, and the hold of the Habsburgs on Zurich for a while
+loosened. Charles, now unfriendly towards Austria, tried to win favour
+with the Eidgenossen. He heaped privileges on Zurich, and sanctioned the
+league of the six states. Zurich refused to renew the treaty of
+Regensburg by oath, and as persistently declined to punish the people of
+Schwyz for breaking it. A fresh outbreak of war seemed imminent, but was
+averted by the peace of Torberg, 1368, which established a better
+agreement between Austria and the Confederation. By this treaty Zug was
+permitted to be re-annexed to the league. Zug had been conquered by
+Schwyz in 1365, at a moment when the attention of Austria was withdrawn.
+Glarus did not return to the Confederation until it had, so to speak,
+qualified itself for re-admission, by gaining the most remarkable
+victory of Naefels, the story of which will be told later on.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[27] Compare _Vierwaldstättersee_, the German for Lake Lucerne.
+
+[28] See Chapter xiii.
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+ZURICH AN EXAMPLE OF A SWISS TOWN IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
+
+(853-1357.)
+
+
+We may perhaps do well to pause here awhile before proceeding to show
+how the various Swiss cantons were gathered into the fold of the
+Eidgenossenschaft--a long process, as a matter of fact--and devote a
+short chapter to a glance at an aristocratic city whose polity and
+development contrast with those of the Forest lands. Zurich presents a
+fair example of a city whose origin dates back to a remote age, and
+whose transition from the condition of a feudal territory into the
+position of an independent commonwealth can be clearly followed. That
+Turicum is a word of Celtic origin, and that the place was one of the
+lake settlements in prehistoric times, and a Roman toll-station later
+on, has been already shown.
+
+The chief founders of this Alamannic, or Swabian, settlement, however,
+were the Carolinger. Louis the German had raised the Grand Abbey and
+Church of Our Lady (Fraumunsterabtei) in 853, to provide his saintly
+daughters, Hildegarde and Bertha, with positions and incomes equal to
+their rank. His ancestors, Pepin the Short and Charlemagne, had founded
+or enlarged the minster, with its vast establishment of prebends, and
+the Carolinum, or clerical colleges. Both institutions were richly
+endowed with land, and granted many prerogatives, especially the
+_immunity_, most precious of all, viz., the severance from the county or
+local administration of Zurich. They thus came again under the immediate
+control of the empire, and there were developed, two distinct centres of
+feudal life. Yet a third nucleus was formed by the dependants of
+royalty, the _fiscalini_, and followers of the monarch and of the
+Swabian dukes. These were grouped around the imperial palace (Pfalz) on
+the Lindenhof, a fortified stronghold on the site of the Roman
+_castrum_, and a favourite residence of the German sovereigns, who were
+attracted thither by the natural beauty of the place. The houses of the
+Alamannic free peasantry were scattered over the slopes of Zurichberg,
+and reached down to the Limmat river. Gradually these four distinct
+settlements approached each other, and in the tenth century the inner
+core at the mouth of the lovely lake was girt with strong walls with
+towers, and the _tout ensemble_ now looked like a picturesque mediæval
+city with its suburbs. The rights of high jurisdiction over the whole
+were exercised by a royal governor, or representative of the sovereign.
+This was the so-called _Reichsvogtei_, or Advocacia in imperio.
+
+The noble counts of Lenzburg were imperial governors from about 970 to
+1098, but when the Zaerings became the governors of the Swiss lands the
+Lenzburgs became their holders till their death. Then the
+_Reichsvogtei_, that is, the city and its vicinity, fell back into the
+hands of the Zaerings, and was held by them directly till the extinction
+of the dynasty, 1218. From that time the charge was entrusted to the
+city-board, as Vögte. In Zurich the Lady Abbess acknowledged as her
+superior none but the governing Zaeringen duke, and later on, that is,
+after the dynasty had come to an end, took the foremost position. Indeed
+Frederick and the Hohenstaufer created his _Reichsfürstin_, Princess
+Abbess, and thus the office became one of very special dignity, and was
+bestowed generally on ladies of noble birth. By the acquisition of
+territory--reaching into Alsacia and to the St. Gothard--by privileges
+acquired under successive monarchs, by monopolies (coinage, fees, and
+tolls on markets and fairs, &c.), the institution rose to an eminence
+and splendour truly royal. Dukes and counts visited the abbey to pay
+court to its illustrious abbess--_die Hohe Frau von Zurich_, as she was
+styled--and entrusted their daughters to her care. Yet it was for
+court-life these high-born damsels were to be prepared rather than for
+the religious vows. The inner life of this great monastery, though
+highly interesting in itself, cannot enter into a short sketch like the
+present. Not only was the Abbess Lady Paramount over her clergy and vast
+abbatial household, with its staff of officers and its law-court, but
+she also bore sway over the city itself. When the administration began
+to require increased attention she enlarged its council, and presided at
+its meetings. This curious state of things continued till the thirteenth
+century, which saw the rise of a general political emancipation in
+German cities. Though apparently under a thraldom, yet the citizens
+really grew beneath the mild and equitable female rule into a powerful
+and thriving body, and at length began to contest with their mistress
+for self-rule.
+
+To Frederick II. they owed their emancipation. By him Zurich became a
+free imperial city, governed by its own council. Council and citizens
+gradually becoming alive to their own civic interests, step by step
+wrested the civil power from the hands of the Lady Abbess, and emerged
+into the condition of an independent commonwealth. By this time society
+within the city had arranged itself into three distinct classes. (1) The
+clergy, headed by the abbess and the provost. (2) The knights, owing
+military service to emperor and abbess, and the burghers, or chiefly
+free landowners, and important commercial men. This second order was the
+governing class, and out of it came the members of the council. (3) The
+craftsmen, who exercised their trades only with the permission of their
+masters, the governing class. The workers were excluded from all share
+in the government, and were even prohibited from forming guilds. The
+majority of the artisans and serfs lived without the gates, in the outer
+city or walled-in suburbs. These political inequalities at length met
+with violent opposition, and in 1336 there broke out a revolution.
+
+The industry of the thrifty and energetic population increased the
+material wealth of the city, and commercial treaties were entered into
+with neighbouring countries, with Italy particularly, and Italian
+influence made itself felt ever since the twelfth century, through four
+hundred years, not only in trade, but also in architecture. Zurich
+became an emporium for silk, and the silk manufacture, introduced from
+Italy, became a speciality, and was found in no other German town.[29]
+The activity displayed in building churches and monasteries was simply
+astonishing. The present minster, in the Lombard style, on the type of
+San Michele at Pavia, was built in the twelfth century, and the abbey
+was restored by the noble ladies in the thirteenth. The frequent visits
+of kings and emperors, who held their diets here, naturally increased
+the importance of the city. Taking it altogether, Zurich must have been,
+even in the thirteenth century, a fine specimen of a mediæval town, for
+Barbarossa's biographer, Otto von Freysing, calls it the noblest city of
+Swabia ("Turegum nobilissimum Sueviae oppidum").[30] Her policy of
+entering into alliances with the Swabian and Rhenish towns, and with the
+vast South-German coalition, and the friendly political and commercial
+relations she maintained, show that she fully grasped the situation,
+and gave her that security which promoted her trade and industry, and
+allowed her to develop freely.
+
+The thirteenth century spread enlightenment amongst the benighted people
+of the Middle Ages, and increased the growth of political freedom in the
+cities, thanks to the struggles between the Papacy and the Hohenstaufen.
+Zurich had early emancipated herself from the spiritual sway and
+influence of her abbess mistress. Already, in 1146, the people had
+listened with keen interest to the advanced religious teaching of Arnold
+of Brescia, and in the ensuing quarrels sided with the freethinking
+Frederick II. During the interdict of 1247-49 Frederick's staunch
+adherents boldly drove from the town those clergy who refused to perform
+their spiritual functions. On a second expulsion from the town the
+friars took sides with the citizens, and obeyed the order literally, for
+they went out by one gate of the town, and re-entered by another, and
+resumed their offices. That the Zurcher had grown strong and
+self-reliant is shown by their alliance with Rudolf of Habsburg, in the
+feuds against their common foes, the neighbouring nobles, whose raids
+they checked, and by openly resisting the heavy taxation imposed by the
+monarch on the city. On one occasion--it was at a drinking-bout--the
+chief magistrate denounced this oppressive policy most wrathfully in the
+very presence of the queen and her daughters.
+
+The Staufen epoch, seething with social and political movements, was
+also full of the spirit of romanticism. The English and French met the
+Germans in the Crusades, and quickened in the Fatherland the love of
+poetry and romance. Then the great religious wars themselves opened out
+a whole new world of thought and fancy. The glorification of the
+brilliant exploits of the Staufen sovereigns, themselves poets, inspired
+many a grand or lovely song, the highest flights producing the
+Nibelungen and the _Minnelieder_. In Swiss lands also minstrelsy flowed
+richly, and Zurich stands out as a "Poets' Corner" in the thirteenth
+century. At the hospitable manor of Roger Manesse, a famous knight and
+magistrate of the city, or at the great Abbey Hall, a brilliant company
+of singers clustered round the Princess Abbess Elizabeth, an eminent
+woman, and her relatives, the Prince Bishop of Constance, Henry of
+Klingenberg, and his brother Albrecht, the famous chevalier. Then the
+Prince Abbots of Einsiedeln, and the abbots of Petershausen (Constance),
+the counts of Toggenburg, the barons of Regensberg, of Eschenbach, and
+Von Wart, together with many other lords, spiritual and temporal, and
+many a fair and illustrious lady--all these thronged the courtly circle
+to listen to the recital of the _Minnelieder_, or perchance to produce
+their own. The famous Codex Manesse, lately at Paris, and now in
+Germany,[31] bears witness to the romantic character of the age. It
+contains the songs of some hundred and fifty German and Swiss minstrels,
+who sang between the years 1200 and 1350. Manesse and his son, a canon
+at the minster, undertook the collection out of pure enthusiasm. Their
+amanuensis was a comely young fellow named Hadloub, the son of a
+freeman farmer from the Zurichberg. A pretty story is told how during
+his mechanical labour of copying there grew strong in him the love of
+poetry, and he became himself a poet. For he fell in love with a
+high-born lady at Manesse's court, who however noticed him not. Then he
+told his grief in love songs which Manesse added to his collection.
+Indeed these songs close the series of Swiss poems in the Codex Manesse.
+Gottfried Keller, of Zurich, one of the greatest German novelists of the
+present day, has treated of the period in his exquisite novel "Hadloub"
+(_Zurcher Novellen_). Space does not permit us to give any account of
+the story, and the reader must be referred to the fascinating tale as it
+stands. Hadloub was indeed the last Swiss minstrel belonging to that
+fertile age. The love and beauty of woman is the theme of his songs, and
+in depicting these he particularly excels--the real _Minnegesang_.
+Uhland, the great lyric poet says of him, "In the clear soul of this
+poet the parting minstrelsy has once more reflected its own lovely
+image."
+
+But whilst poetry was rejoicing the hearts of the nobles, political
+clouds were fast gathering over the city, to break at length into a wild
+hurricane. As a matter of fact, a few distinguished families had
+established an oligarchy in the place of the city council in process of
+time. The craftsmen, excluded from any share in the administration, and
+moreover finding fault with the financial management of the state, and
+galled by the domineering conduct of the aristocracy, rose in fierce
+opposition. Rudolf Brun, an ambitious ruler, but a clever statesman,
+being at variance with his own patrician party, suddenly placed himself
+at the head of the malcontents. Overthrowing the government before it
+had time to bestir itself, Rudolf had himself elected burgomaster, an
+official in whom all power was to centre. In 1336 he presented a new
+constitution, making the whole assembly swear to it. To insure its
+validity this code (_Geschworne Brief_) was submitted to the sanction of
+the abbess and the provost, and was also approved by the emperor. This
+new constitution was quite in keeping with the political views of the
+age, and remained in its chief points the leading constitutional guide
+of the commonwealth down to the revolution of 1798. It was a curious
+blending of democratic with aristocratic and monarchical elements. The
+craftsmen, who up to the present had counted for nothing in politics,
+were now formed into thirteen corporations, each selecting its own
+guildmaster, who represented its members in the governing council. The
+nobility and the wealthy burghers who practised no profession, or the
+Geschlechter (patricians), and rentiers formed a highly aristocratic
+body known as the Constafel (Constables), and were likewise represented
+in the state council by thirteen members, six of whom Brun named
+himself. The position of the burgomaster was the most striking of all,
+and was, in fact, that of a Roman dictator of old, or resembling the
+Italian tyrannies of the Visconti or Medici. Elected for life, vested
+with absolute power, the burgomaster was responsible to none, whilst to
+him fealty was to be sworn by all on pain of losing the rights of
+citizenship. The idol of the people to whom he had granted political
+power, Brun was regarded as the true pilot and saviour in stormy times.
+The fallen councillors brooded revenge, and being banished the town,
+resorted to Rapperswyl, the Zurich _extra muros_, and at the other end
+of the lake. There they made _chose commune_ with Count John of that
+place, who was desirous of evading payment of the debts he had
+contracted in Zurich. Feuds and encounters followed, and John was slain
+in battle in 1337. The emperor tried to restore peace, but the exiled
+councillors were bent on bringing back the old state of things, and on
+regaining their seats. They plotted against Brun's life, and those of
+his associates, and fixed upon the 23rd of February, 1350, for making an
+attack by night on the city, with the intention of seizing it by a
+single _coup-de-main_. They relied on the help of sympathisers within
+the town. The burgomaster, being apprized of the plot, summoned his
+faithful burghers to arms by the ringing of the tocsin. A bloody
+hand-to-hand fight in the streets took place, thence called the _Zurcher
+Mordnacht_. The conspiracy was crushed by the majority, and Count John
+of Rapperswyl, son of the above-mentioned count, was thrown into the
+tower of Wellenberg, a famous state prison. There he passed his time in
+the composition of _Minnelieder_.
+
+Brun made a bad use of his victory. His cruelties to the prisoners and
+to Rapperswyl, which he burnt, are unjustifiable, and seem inexplicable
+in so far-sighted a statesman. He was ambitious, and desired not only
+his own advancement, but also that of his native city. He had depended
+on Austria, hoping to rise through her alliance and aid, but, suddenly
+forgetting all moderation, and disregarding all traditional _liaisons_
+with her, he laid waste the territory of the counts of Rapperswyl,
+cousins to the Habsburgs. This of course entangled Zurich in a war with
+Austria, who threatened to level her with the ground. Having estranged
+the neighbouring states by her cruel proceedings, or rather by those of
+Brun, Zurich stood alone, and was compelled to look around for aid and
+countenance. Though by no means friendly towards the bold Forest men,
+the dictator Brun concluded an alliance with them. The Waldstätten were
+quite ready to receive into their league a commonwealth so powerful and
+well-organized as Zurich, a state likely to be at once their bulwark and
+their emporium. They therefore willingly agreed to Brun's stipulations
+(May 1, 1351), and, further acquiesced in the proviso that Zurich should
+be allowed to conclude separate treaties. These treaties or alliances
+were very common at that time, and changeable as they were, they
+nevertheless gave additional security for the time being.
+
+But though Brun had introduced a _régime_ of force, he yet made
+concessions to the masses, giving them a share of political power. And
+his constitutional system answered the wants of the city, to a great
+degree, for some four centuries and a half.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[29] White silk veils in the guise of bonnets were exported to Vienna,
+and even as far as Poland. This silk-making, of course, increased the
+prosperity of the town. It declined, and was reintroduced in the
+sixteenth century in a far more advanced condition, by the persecuted
+Protestants from Locarno.
+
+[30] He also reports that one of its gates bore the inscription,
+"_Nobile Turegum multarum copia rerum_."
+
+[31] It happened to be in the possession of the Elector of the
+Palatinate, and was carried off to France when Louis XIV. laid waste the
+province.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+BERN CRUSHES THE NOBILITY: GREAT VICTORY OF LAUPEN, 1339.
+
+
+The alliance of Bern was a great acquisition to the federal league. She
+formed the corner-stone of the Burgundian states, and brought them into
+connection with, and finally into the pale of, the Swiss Confederation.
+Her early history has been touched upon in previous chapters. True to
+her original position as a check on the nobility, and forming a natural
+stronghold, this proud Zaeringen town shows a singularly martial, and
+indeed dominant spirit, and runs a military and political career of
+importance. Bern had effectively resisted the encroachments of the old
+house of Kyburg (1243-55), and stoutly opposed the oppressive tax of 40
+per cent, imposed by Rudolf of Habsburg. And, though she had suffered a
+severe defeat at Schosshalde, in 1289, the disaster was more than
+compensated by a great victory at Dornbühl, in 1298, and she had carried
+over her rival, Freiburg and the nobles of the highlands, partners of
+the latter. It was always a most usual thing in the fourteenth century
+for states to enter into leagues, with the view of better safeguarding
+themselves against neighbouring and powerful foes. And thus Bern
+gathered all the kindred elements of West Switzerland into a Burgundian
+Confederation--the free imperial valley Hasle, the rich monastery of
+Interlaken, the house of Savoy, the new house of Kyburg-Burgdorf, the
+bishops of Sion, the cities of Bienne, Solothurn, Freiburg,--all these
+were at one time or another in union with Bern. The friendship with
+Freiburg, however, was often disturbed by feelings of jealousy that at
+times grew into feuds, but that for Solothurn was lasting. It was, in
+fact, based on similarity of political views and aims, both agreeing in
+refusing to acknowledge the rival kings, Louis of Bavaria and Frederick
+the Handsome. In consequence of their obstinacy, Leopold, who had been
+defeated at Morgarten, and wished to reassert the authority of his
+brother, laid siege to Solothurn in 1318. The Bernese came to the help
+of the sister city. A memorable scene was witnessed during the course of
+the assault. The river Aare was much swollen at the time, and a bridge
+that the beleaguering forces had thrown across was carried away by the
+flood, and their men were being drowned in numbers. Then the
+Solothurner, forgetting all injuries, rushed out with boats to save
+their enemies. Leopold was so touched by such magnanimity that he at
+once raised the siege, and presented the town with a beautiful banner.
+
+[Illustration: THE STANDARD-BEARERS OF SCHWYZ, URI, UNTERWALDEN AND
+ZÜRICH.]
+
+Bern's strong bent for territorial extension was quite a match for the
+encroaching tendencies of the Habsburgs. To get a footing in the canton
+the latter made use of a crime committed amongst the Kyburger. That
+illustrious house, well-nigh ruined morally and financially, had been
+compelled by its adverse fortunes to place in the Church a younger son,
+Eberhard. The young man submitted with great reluctance. Happening to
+fall to a quarrel with Hartmann, at the castle of Thun, high words arose
+and were succeeded by blows, and Hartmann was slain. This was in 1332.
+On the plea of avenging the murder, the Habsburgs set up a claim to the
+Kyburg property. Bern however confirmed the count in his possessions,
+and purchasing Thun from him, returned it as a fief, requiring him to
+give an undertaking that Burgdorf should never be mortgaged without her
+knowledge and consent. But Eberhard gradually forgot the services Bern
+had rendered his house, and, fearing her power, veered round to
+Freiburg, and became a citizen of that town. The differences then
+swelled into an outbreak, which had been for some time impending. Bern,
+it is to be noted, had in many ways got the start of the sister city;
+for instance, she had become an imperial free city in the year 1218, on
+the extinction of the Zaeringer, and this had given her a considerable
+lift. Then, in 1324, Bern had secured the mortgage of Laupen, an
+excellent stronghold on the Saane, and had driven the Freiburger from
+the district. And in 1331, after the house of Kyburg had joined its
+fortunes with those of Freiburg, the strong fortress of Gümminen had
+been demolished, as well as many Kyburg castles. Gümminen belonged to
+her rival, and was a place of singular strategical importance.
+
+But these were mere preliminary episodes, and more serious warfare
+followed. Many of the surrounding nobles had outlived their time of
+prosperity and greatness, and yet clung to the prerogatives of their
+class without possessing any longer the means to maintain them. Bern
+took advantage of all this to secure her own aggrandisement, and gain
+for herself more territory, for originally she had possessed no lands
+beyond her walls. The Bernese Oberland was the first district on which
+she set her eyes. Here the counts of Greyerz,[32] the dynasts of Turn
+(Valisian nobles), and the barons of Weipenburg, held the chief
+territorial lordships, and formed a strong Alpine coalition with
+Austrian sympathies, as against the rising city of Bern. With the last
+mentioned Bern strove for the supremacy, and stormed their stronghold,
+Wimmis, in the Simmenthal, both town and castle, and demolished the
+_Letzinen_,[33] or fortifications in the valley. The old baron and his
+nephew had no means to fight out the quarrel, and were compelled to
+accept the terms dictated by the victors. They were bound to render
+military service, and were required to pledge their castles for their
+submission, and so forth. But what most nearly touched them was the loss
+of Hasle. That beautiful valley, stretching from Brienz lake to the
+Grimsel pass, with romantic Meiringen as its central place, has had a
+strange history. The inhabitants were at first free Alamannic farmers,
+owing allegiance to no sovereign, or lord, except the German monarch,
+and they chose their Ammann from amongst themselves, or had him chosen
+by the king. They had allied themselves as equals with Bern, in 1275,
+but in 1310 their subjection was sealed. Henry VII. wanting money for
+his coronation at Rome, mortgaged Hasle to the barons of Weipenburg, for
+340 marks. In 1334 Bern bought up the mortgage, and the valley thus came
+under Bernese rule. Bern now appeared likely enough to stretch her power
+even up to the snow-clad mountain lands, and laid the foundation of her
+future pre-eminence amongst the western cantons. But she stirred up
+fierce opposition, especially on the part of the Burgundian nobles.
+Fearing for their very existence, the counts of Greyerz, Valangin,
+Aarberg, Nidan, Neuchâtel, Vaud, Kyburg, headed by Freiburg, encouraged,
+though not actually assisted, by Louis of Bavaria, rose in arms. Bern
+called for help from Hasle, Weipenburg, and the Forest Cantons, but
+found it a difficult matter to get together the scattered forces. On the
+10th of June, 1339, an army of fifteen thousand foot and three thousand
+horse marched against Laupen, whose defence devolved upon some four
+hundred Bernese. On the 21st of the same month there arrived at the town
+the forces of the Eidgenossen, amounting to barely six thousand men.
+They wore a white cross of cloth, and marched to the relief of the
+beleaguered city animated by the stirring words of Theobald, a priest of
+the Teutonic order. The battle actually took place, however, on a
+plateau a little more than two miles east of the town. During the day
+the besiegers had amused themselves with various sports, mocking the
+preparations of their opponents, and it was not till vespers that Count
+Valangin commenced hostilities. It was a desperate struggle that
+followed--a second Morgarten. The Waldstätter had begged to be allowed
+to engage the cavalry, and a hard task they found it. Yet within two
+hours the enemy was completely routed, and took to flight. No fewer than
+fifteen hundred men lay dead upon the field, and amongst them the counts
+of Valangin, Greyerz, Nidan, the last count of Vaud, and others. Seventy
+full suits of armour, and twenty-seven banners had been taken. Their
+hearts overflowing with joy and thankfulness the victors sank on their
+knees at nightfall, when all was over, and thanked God for His mercy. It
+would be uninteresting to a foreign reader to give an account of the
+discussions which have taken place as to the leadership of the Bernese
+force. But it may be mentioned that two distinguished generals, Rudolf
+von Erlach and Hans von Bubenberg, have by different authorities been
+credited with the honour.
+
+[Illustration: PORCH OF BERN MINSTER, WITH STATUE OF RUDOLF VON
+ERLACH.]
+
+The war was not yet concluded, but degenerated into one of simple
+devastation. The Freiburg forces were defeated at the very gates of
+their town by Rudolf von Erlach, according to some records, which would
+seem to show at any rate that he is no mere fictitious personage. Bern
+added victory to victory, and the saying ran that, "God Himself had
+turned citizen of that town to fight for her just cause." In July, 1340,
+a truce was agreed upon, and Bern resumed her old alliances with Kyburg,
+the Forest, Vaud, and even Geneva. The diplomatic Lady of Königsfelden,
+Agnes, anxious to secure so staunch an ally, drew Bern into a league
+with Austria, which lasted for ten years, and strongly influenced the
+politics of the town. It was not till after the expiration of this
+league, and after the peace of Brandenburg, that she could enter into an
+alliance with the league of the seven states. This closed the list of
+the eight Orte, and the league proved to be perpetual. Though Bern was a
+great check on the feudal nobility, she yet herself possessed a
+thoroughly aristocratic form of government, in which the lesser people
+and craftsmen had no share whatever.
+
+The mad schemes of Rudolf of Kyburg, who hoped to mend his fortunes by
+conquering Solothurn and other towns, gave rise to protracted warfare,
+in which Burgdorf and Thun fell to the share of Bern, by purchase, in
+1384. To dwell on this is impossible, within the limits of our space,
+but it may be mentioned that a first siege proved a failure. Retaliation
+was made by the siege of Burgdorf, which likewise miscarried, through
+the intervention of Leopold. The doom of the house of Kyburg was,
+however, sealed, and it fell beneath the sway of Bern. The treachery of
+the Habsburgs in breaking their promise to the Eidgenossen was one of
+the chief causes leading to the battle of Sempach, the most famous of
+all Swiss battles.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[32] Von Greyerz still occurs amongst the Bernese aristocracy.
+
+[33] Letzinen are walls constructed across a valley, and are peculiar to
+Switzerland.
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+THE BATTLES OF SEMPACH, 1386, AND NAEFELS, 1388.
+
+
+Seldom, if ever, has Switzerland seen a more eventful month than that of
+July, 1386, for in that month she fought and won the ever-memorable
+battle of Sempach. To set down all the petty details as to the causes
+which led to this engagement would be tedious indeed. It is sufficient
+to point out--what is but a truism--that there is seldom much love lost
+between oppressor and oppressed, and Austria and the Swiss Confederation
+had for some time held that relation to each other. A ten years' peace
+had indeed been concluded between the two powers, but it was a sham
+peace, and the interval had been used by both to prepare for new
+conflicts.
+
+Austria was secretly assisting the impoverished house of Kyburg in her
+ravishing expeditions against the towns of the Confederation.
+Ruthlessness was met by ruthlessness; Zurich laid siege to Rapperswyl
+with the intent to destroy the odious Austrian toll-house; Lucerne
+levelled with the ground the Austrian fort Rothenburg, and entered into
+alliances with Entlebuch and Sempach to overthrow the Austrian
+supremacy. This was equal to a declaration of war, and war was indeed
+imminent.
+
+Duke Leopold III., of Austria, was most anxious to bring the quarrel to
+an issue, and to chastise the insolent Swiss citizens and peasantry. The
+Swiss cities had joined in league with the Southern German towns, which
+like themselves professed the policy of resisting the encroaching
+tendencies of princes and nobles. Mutual help in case of need had been
+pledged amongst themselves by this league of cities, but the burghers of
+the German towns were mere puppets in the hand of Austria. She, dreading
+the rising of wealthy towns, cajoled them by fine promises, and they
+pleaded for submission, and sought to compose the differences between
+the Swiss and the Austrians. Of very different mettle, however, were the
+towns on this side the Rhine; they objected to the weak and wavering
+policy of their more northerly neighbours, and determined on fighting,
+if necessary, alone and unaided.
+
+Leopold III., a descendant of that Leopold so disastrously defeated at
+Morgarten, possessed most of the virtues held of account in his day. He
+was manly, chivalrous, dauntless; he was possessed of dexterity and
+adroitness in both sports and the more serious business of war. His
+indomitable spirit and personal daring knew no bounds. He had once, clad
+in full armour, forded the Rhine at flood-time, and in the sight of the
+enemy, to escape being made prisoner. Like Rudolf of Habsburg he was
+vastly ambitious, and bent on securing wealth and greatness for the
+house of Austria. A clever manager of his estates and a generous master,
+he was yet neither politician nor tactician; as a man of action, and
+filled with hatred of the refractory towns, he spared no pains to check
+their struggles for independence. No wonder then that the nobles of
+Southern Germany rallied round the gallant swordsman, and made him their
+leader in the expeditions against the _bourgeoisie_ and peasantry. And
+no sooner had the truce expired (June, 1386), than they directed their
+first attack on the bold Confederation; no fewer than one hundred and
+fifty nobles sending letters of refusal (= a challenge) to the summons
+to war sent out by the Swiss Government.
+
+Leopold's plan was to make Lucerne the centre of his military
+operations, but in order to draw away attention from his real object, he
+sent a division of five thousand men to Zurich to simulate an attack on
+that town. Whilst the unsuspecting Confederates lay idle within the
+walls of Zurich, he gathered reinforcements from Burgundy, Swabia, and
+the Austro-Helvetian Cantons, the total force being variously estimated
+at from twelve thousand to twenty-four thousand men. He marched his army
+in the direction of Lucerne, but by a round-about way, and seized upon
+Willisan, which he set on fire, intending to punish Sempach _en passant_
+for her desertion. But the Confederates getting knowledge of his
+stratagem left Zurich to defend herself, and struck straight across the
+country in pursuit of the enemy. Climbing the heights of Sempach on the
+side of Hiltisrieden, overlooking the town and lake of that name, they
+encamped at Meyersholz, a wood fringing the hilltop. The Austrians
+leaving Sursee, for want of some more practicable road towards Sempach,
+made their way slowly and painfully along the path which leads from
+Sursee to the heights, and then turns suddenly down upon Sempach. Great
+was their surprise and consternation when at the junction of the Sursee
+and Hiltisrieden roads they came suddenly upon the Swiss force, which
+they had imagined to be idling away the time at Zurich. The steep
+hillsides crossed by brooks and hedges looked a battlefield
+impracticable enough for cavalry evolutions, yet the young nobles in
+high glee at the prospect of winning their spurs in such a spot pleaded
+for the place against the better reason of all men.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The Swiss, confident of success, and trusting in the help of God and the
+saints, as of old, drew up in battle order, their force taking a kind of
+wedge-shaped mass [Drawing of trapezoid] the shorter edge foremost
+and the bravest men occupying the front positions. The Austrians, on the
+other hand, relying proudly on the superiority of their high-born
+knights and nobles, looked disdainfully on what they believed to be a
+mere rabble of herdsmen. And, in truth, the handful of fifteen hundred
+men, inadequately armed with short weapons or clubs, battle-axes or
+halberds, seemed but a sorry match for that steel-clad army of six
+thousand well-trained lancers, cavalry, and foot. But the possession of
+cavalry in such a spot could not in itself give any advantage to the
+Austrians, and their knights dismounted and handed their horses to the
+care of attendants. To avoid getting their feet entangled in the long
+grass of a meadow close by the noble cavaliers cut off the beaks or
+points of their shoes--then the fashion--and the spot is to this day
+called the "beak-meadow" (Schnabelweide). Claiming for themselves the
+right to win honour that day, they ordered their infantry to the rear.
+According to another account, however their infantry were still at
+Sursee, the noble horsemen declining their aid. After ancient custom,
+the Austrians formed themselves into a compact phalanx, the noblest
+occupying the front ranks, the preparations being necessarily hurriedly
+and somewhat indefinitely made.
+
+The onset was furious, and the Austrian Hotspurs, each eager to outstrip
+his fellows in the race for honour, rushed on the Swiss, drove them back
+a little, and then tried to encompass them and crush them in their
+midst. The Swiss quickly fell back, but some sixty of their men were cut
+down before the Austrians lost a single soldier. The banner of Lucerne
+was captured; the Austrian phalanx was as yet unbroken, and all the
+fortune of the battle seemed against the Swiss, for their short weapons
+could not reach a foe guarded by long lances. But suddenly the scene
+changed. "A good and pious man," says the old chronicler, deeply
+mortified by the misfortune of his country, stepped forward from the
+ranks of the Swiss--_Arnold von Winkelried_! Shouting to his comrades
+in arms, "I will cut a road for you; take care of my wife and children!"
+he dashed on the enemy, and, catching hold of as many spears as his arms
+could encompass, he bore them to the ground with the whole weight of his
+body. His comrades rushed over his corpse, burst through the gap made in
+the Austrian ranks, and began a fierce hand-to-hand encounter. Fearful
+havoc was made by the Swiss clubs and battle-axes in the wavering ranks
+of the panic-stricken enemy, whose heavy armour and long lances indeed
+greatly impeded their movements. Nevertheless the Austrians made a brave
+stand, and Leopold, who had been watching the issue, now rushed into the
+_mêlée_, and fell one of the bravest in the desperate struggle. The
+nobles and knights, calling for their horses, found that the attendants
+had fled with them. Seeing that all was lost, the knights became
+panic-stricken, and rushed hither and thither in the greatest disorder.
+There still remained the infantry, however, and these attempted to stay
+the flight of the hapless cavaliers, and restore order, but it was all
+in vain. A fearful carnage followed, in which no mercy was shown, and
+there fell of the common soldiers two thousand men, and no fewer than
+seven hundred of the nobility. The Swiss lost but one hundred and twenty
+men. Rich spoils--arms, jewellery, and eighteen banners--fell into the
+hands of the victors.
+
+This defeat of a brilliant army of horse and foot, of knights and
+noblemen, all well-trained, by a mere handful of irregulars--citizen and
+peasant soldiers--was a brilliant military achievement, and attracted
+the attention and admiration of the civilized world. It brought to the
+front the _bourgeoisie_ and peasantry and their interests, and struck
+terror into the hearts of their oppressors. This great victory gained by
+the Swiss not only widened and established more firmly the career of
+military glory commenced at Morgarten, but it gave to the Confederation
+independence, and far greater military and political eminence. What
+Platæa had been of old to the Greeks, that Sempach was to the Swiss; it
+struck a deadly blow against an ancient and relentless foe. Austria, her
+rule on this side of the Rhine thus rudely shaken, was compelled to
+waive all rights of supremacy over the Confederation. Not that she
+relinquished those rights readily; it needed an equal disaster to her
+forces at Naefels, in 1388, before she would really and avowedly
+renounce her pretensions to rule the Swiss.
+
+The story of Winkelried's heroic action has given rise to much fruitless
+but interesting discussion. The truth of the tale, in fact, can neither
+be confirmed nor denied, in the absence of any sufficient proof. But
+Winkelried is no _myth_, whatever may be the case with the other great
+Swiss hero, Tell. There is proof that a family of the name of Winkelried
+lived at Unterwalden at the time of the battle. But no Swiss annals
+referring to the encounter at Sempach were written till nearly a century
+later. The Austrian chronicle gives no account of Winkelried's exploit,
+and for good reason, say the Swiss: all the men of the Austrian front
+ranks, who alone could have witnessed the exploit, were killed, and the
+rear ranks fled at the very first signs of disaster in front of them. A
+fifteenth-century chronicle of Zurich, and the numerous songs and annals
+of the sixteenth century, are full of praise of Winkelried and his
+deeds. But whatever may be the real truth of the matter it is certain
+that the grand old story of Winkelried and his splendid self-sacrifice
+is indelibly written on grateful Swiss hearts. Whether it was a single
+man or a whole body of men that offered up life itself for their
+country, it clearly proves a dauntless spirit of independence, a hatred
+of wrong and tyranny to have been innate in the breasts of the old
+Switzers, and to have led to the deliverance of their country from
+foreign oppression. And in spite of the many and often bitter
+controversies of the past twenty years the memory of Winkelried will
+ever remain an inspiration and a rallying-point whenever the little
+fatherland and its liberties are threatened.
+
+[Illustration: Winkelried's monument at Stanz (_From photograph by
+Appenzeller, Zurich._)]
+
+The victory of Naefels forms a worthy pendant to that of Sempach, and as
+such cannot be passed over in silence. The Austrians, having recovered
+their spirits after the terrible disaster, and the "foul peace" (_faule
+Friede_) hastily arranged having expired, they carried the game to its
+conclusion. Despite all prohibitions, Glarus had kept up its friendship
+with the Eidgenossen, and in conjunction with them had, in 1386,
+captured Wesen, the key to the district. To Glarus, therefore, Albrecht
+III. now gave his whole attention. But Glarus itself, feeling much more
+free after Sempach, assembled its inhabitants, in the spring of 1387,
+for the first time as a Landsgemeinde, and drew up for itself a
+constitution. Wesen on Walensee was recaptured by the Austrians on
+their way to Glarus. This happened through the treachery of the
+inhabitants of the town, who, siding with their old masters, opened
+their gates. The federal garrison was surprised as they slept, and put
+to the sword (February, 1388). The Austrians assembled at Wesen a force
+of six thousand horse and foot, and on the 9th of April set out in two
+divisions. Count Hans von Werdenberg, the chief mover in the enterprise,
+climbed the opposite heights, with the intention of forming a junction
+at Mollis, whilst Count Donat von Toggenburg and other nobles led the
+main force along the river Lint. Reaching Naefels, at the entrance of
+the Glarus valley they found their passage barred by an Alpine
+fortification--a _Letzi_, as it is called--consisting of rampart and
+ditch. This, however, was stormed without difficulty, as the guard was
+insufficient for its defence. In truth, the Glarner were unaware of the
+Austrian movements, and though Ambühl and his two hundred men fought
+with the utmost bravery, they were no match for the far superior numbers
+against them. Like a torrent the Austrians rushed into the open and
+defenceless valley, and, fancying no doubt there was no further
+opposition or danger to fear, dispersed in all directions, pillaging
+property, firing houses, driving cattle. Plunder and destruction seemed
+indeed to be now their sole aim; but meanwhile the tocsin was sounding
+through the valley to call the villagers to arms in defence of their
+country. Fast they flocked to the standard of Ambühl, who had posted
+himself with his troops on the steep declivity of Rautiberg, waving
+high the banner of St. Fridolin to attract his friends. Here, six
+hundred men all told, including a handful of men from Schwyz, awaited
+the foe. At last, in straggling and disorderly fashion, the Austrians
+appeared in sight, many lingering behind for the sake of plunder. Their
+attempt to ascend the eminence occupied by the foe was met by a shower
+of stones, which threw the horses into confusion. With true Alpine
+agility the mountaineers now dashed down the slopes and fell on the
+cavalry. A fierce encounter followed, and then a terrible chase, during
+which the Austrians are said to have ten times stopped in their flight
+and attempted to hurl back their Swiss pursuers, but ten times were
+compelled to give way again before the terrible strokes which met them.
+Darkness set in, and with it came on fog, and a sudden fall of snow. A
+superstitious panic seized on the Austrians, and they fled in the utmost
+confusion to Naefels, and thence sought to regain their faithful Wesen.
+But here a fresh catastrophe awaited them. Thronging the bridge spanning
+the outlet of the lake their weight broke down the structure, and
+hundreds of fugitives dragged down by their heavy armour sank with it,
+and were drowned. Count Werdenburg, who was watching the disaster from
+his eminence, fled as fast as he could. This disaster explains the loss
+by the Austrians of so disproportionate a number of men, viz., seventeen
+hundred, as against the fifty-four who fell of the Glarus force. The
+latter fell chiefly in defence of the Letzi.
+
+Year after year the people of Glarus, rich and poor alike, Protestant
+and Catholic, still commemorate this great victory. On the first
+Thursday in April, in solemn procession, they revisit the battlefield,
+and on the spot the Landammann tells the fine old story of their
+deliverance from foreign rule, whilst priest and minister offer
+thanksgiving. The 5th of April, 1888, was a memorable date in the annals
+of the canton, being the five-hundredth anniversary of the day on which
+the people achieved freedom. From all parts of Switzerland people
+flocked to Naefels to participate in the patriotic and religious
+ceremonies. A right stirring scene it was when the Landammann presented
+to the vast assembly the banner of St. Fridolin--the same which Ambühl
+had raised high--and thousands of voices joined in the national anthem,
+_Rufst du mein Vaterland_, which, by the way, has the same melody as
+_God save the Queen_. If the Switzer has no monarch to love and revere,
+he has still his national heroes and his glorious ancestors, who sealed
+the freedom of their country with their blood.
+
+In 1389 a seven years' peace was arranged, and Glarus returned to the
+Confederation. This peace was first prolonged for twenty years, and
+afterwards, in 1412, for fifty years. Finally, after a strife of more
+than one hundred years, Austria renounced her claims to rule over the
+Forest, and all her rights in Zug, Lucerne, and Glarus. In process of
+time the various dues were paid off in ordinary form.
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+HOW SWITZERLAND CAME TO HAVE SUBJECT LANDS.
+
+(1400-1450.)
+
+
+In the fourteenth century the Eidgenossen established a _ménage
+politique_ of their own, and fixed its independence; in the fifteenth
+they raised it to power and eminence, and obtained for it an important
+military position in Europe. Yet though their family hearth was
+established, all was not done. The allied states could not stop there.
+They were still surrounded by lands ruled by Austria, by Italy, by
+Savoy; lands which could and did threaten the independence of the little
+infant republic. In fact, at a very early stage, the acquisition of
+additional territory became a vital question. This was to be done by
+means of new alliances, or by purchase or conquest. Zurich, for
+instance, had already, between 1358 and 1408, spent some two million
+francs in the buying of land. The struggles for independence had kindled
+a like desire for emancipation amongst the neighbouring Alpine states.
+But the efforts resulting were not all equally successful. Some of the
+states drifted from monarchical subjection to that of the federation or
+canton as subject lands (_Unterthanen laender_); others became
+"connections" (_Zugewandte_), or allies of inferior rank; others, again,
+took the position of _Schirmverwandte_, or _protégés_. One might indeed
+go thus through a whole graduated scale of relationships developed
+amongst the crowd of candidates seeking admission into the league. And
+though as yet kept outside they received a helping hand from the
+Eidgenossen. But it is not till the opening of the nineteenth century
+that we find the list of twenty-two cantons made up. Thanks to the
+mediation of Napoleon Bonaparte (1803), St. Gall, Thurgau, Grisons,
+Aargau, Vaud, and Ticino were added to the confederation of states. And
+by the Congress of Vienna, in 1814-15, were also added Valais, Geneva,
+and Neuchâtel. The latter, however, still continued under the sway of
+Prussia, although partly a free state, till 1857. The reader will
+clearly see into what a complicated fabric of unions the league is
+growing, and that the Swiss fatherland did not spring at once into life
+as a _fait accompli_. Each canton had its separate birth to freedom, as
+was the case with the free states of ancient Greece, which joined into
+confederations for a similar end--protection against a common foe. Each
+little state has its own separate history, even before it amalgamates
+with the general league. We shall, however, notice only the leading
+features.
+
+Appenzell opens the series of _Zugewandte_, or "connections." The
+shepherds and peasants scattered around the foot of Mount Säntis,
+oppressed by the abbots of St. Gall, began a rising that partook of a
+revolutionary character. A succession of heroic feats followed--the
+battle of Vogelinseck in 1403, that of Am Stoss in 1405, and
+others[34]--and the prelate and his ally, Frederick IV. of Austria
+("Empty Pocket"), were completely defeated. Somewhat curiously we find
+Graf Rudolf von Werdenberg throwing in his lot with that of the humble
+peasants, and stooping to the humiliating terms they insisted upon. He
+had been robbed of his lands by the Habsburgs, and hoped to recover them
+by the help of the Alpestrians, and actually did so. But the peasantry
+were somewhat diffident concerning him, and would not entrust him with
+command. So the noble knight of St. George put aside his fine armour and
+his magnificent horse, and donned the peasant's garb to be admitted into
+their ranks. Elated by their succession of triumphs the hardy
+Appenzeller rushed on to new victories. Bursting their bounds, like an
+impetuous mountain torrent, they spread into neighbouring lands, and
+even penetrated to the distant Tyrol. Serf and bondsman hailed them as
+deliverers, and whole towns and valleys along the Upper Rhine and the
+Inn came into alliance with them--_Bund ob dem See_, above Lake
+Constance--that was to be a safeguard in the East. At last the Swabian
+knighthood plucked up courage enough to oppose this mountain hurricane.
+At the siege of Bregenz in 1407, they were, through carelessness, put
+to flight. The Bund collapsed, and its prestige departed, but the men
+had secured their object, viz., independence from control by the Abbey
+of St. Gall. By and by they bought off some of the taxes, and they met
+at their Landsgemeinde to consult respecting the weal of their country.
+Down to our own days this institution remains famous. Their application
+in 1411 for admission into the league was granted, but quite
+conditionally. Bern kept aloof from them, and Zurich found it necessary
+to checkmate their revolutionary tendencies, and they were received as
+_Zugewandte_, or allies of second rank. It was not till 1513 that the
+new-comer rose to the position of full member of the league. St. Gall,
+too, became "a connection"--and no more--in 1412.
+
+The emancipation of the Valais (Wallis) is but one succession of feuds
+between the native nobility and Savoy, the owner of Low Valais, on the
+one hand, and the bishops of Sion and the people, on the other. It was,
+in fact, a contest between the Romance and the German populations, the
+latter of whom the French had driven into a corner. The dynasts Von Turn
+had Bishop Tavelli seized in his castle and hurled from its very windows
+down a precipice. This foul murder was avenged in the great battle of
+Visp, where Savoy is said to have left four thousand dead (1388). The
+barons of Raron sustained a defeat at Ulrichen, in 1414, though assisted
+by Bern (of which town they were citizens) and Savoy. These powerful
+nobles left the country, and the Valisians gradually secured autonomy,
+and, being helped in their quarrels by the Forest men, they finally drew
+nearer to the Confederation, as _Zugewandte_ (1488).
+
+We must not pass over a singular custom which prevailed amongst the
+Valais folk. It was a custom observed as a preliminary to serious
+warfare. If a tyrant was to fall, he was attainted and doomed by the
+Mazze. This was a huge club on which was carved a distressed-looking
+face as a symbol of oppression, the club being wound round with bramble.
+It was carried from village to village, and hamlet to hamlet, even to
+the remotest spots, and set up at public places to attract the attention
+of the people. One of the malcontents would then step forward and
+denounce the oppressor to the figure, and promise help. It was said that
+when the name of Raron was pronounced the figure bowed deeply in token
+of assent, and the insurgents drove nails into the face as a declaration
+of hostility, and the instrument was deposited at the gate of the
+baron's castle.
+
+Graubünden (Grisons), the land of ancient and mediæval memories, of
+crumbling and picturesque castles, was, on account of its rugged surface
+and its almost countless dales, split up into numberless territorial
+lordships. Here in this rocky seclusion held sway the Belmonts, the
+Montforts, the Aspermonts, the Sax-Misox, and many others whose sonorous
+names tell of their origin. Here also were found the families of
+Haldenstein, Werdenberg, Toggenburg, and many more--Italian, Romansch,
+and German mingling closely. Yet the lord-paramount of them all was the
+Bishop of Chur, who had attained the rank of _Reichsfürst_ or duke, who
+had a suite of nobles attached to his quasi-royal household, and who
+held lands even in Italy. Quite contrary to the usual rule, noble and
+peasant in general lived amicably together. The political freedom of the
+state was due rather to remarkable coalitions than to acts of war or
+insurrection. In the fourteenth century, when the bishops of Chur
+revealed a strong leaning towards Austria-Tyrol, the Gotteshausbund
+sprang into existence as a check on the alien tendencies of the
+prince-bishops. This league was formed in 1367 by the _Domstift_
+(chapter of clergy), the nobles, and the common people. The bishops
+themselves ruled over people of three different nationalities. A glance
+at the place-names on the map of Bünden shows how the old Latin race
+(Romansch), the Italians, and the migrated German race, were mixed up
+pell-mell in the district. Yet the Walchen Romansch (Welsh) were slowly
+retreating before the Valser, or Germans of the Valais, who had a strong
+bent for colonization and culture. In 1397 the _Graue Bund_ (Grey
+League) was started in the valleys of the Vorder-Rhine by the Abbot of
+Disentis, some of the nobles, and the people at large. On the death of
+the last of the Toggenburgs in 1436 his various domains of Malans,
+Davos, Prättigau, &c., dreading Austrian interference, united into a
+league known as the ten _Gerichte Bund_ (Jurisdictions), so called
+because each of the districts had its own place of execution. Gradually
+the three leagues formed a federal union (1471), and held their diets at
+one centre, Vazerol. Thus Bünden, developing after the manner of the
+Forest Cantons, grew into a triple and yet federal democracy which,
+threatened by the Austrian invasion during the Swabian wars, turned to
+the Eidgenossen for help, and joined with them in 1497 as "connections."
+
+In 1414 met the famous Council convoked by the Emperor Sigismund to
+remedy the evils which galled the Church, that Council which by a
+strange irony of fate sentenced to death by fire John Huss, the staunch
+opponent of the very abuses which the Council was called to redress. The
+Council proved fatal to the Habsburg interests in Swiss lands. Frederick
+IV. of Austria--the enemy of Appenzell--refused his homage to the German
+monarch, and for material reasons espoused the cause of John XXIII., one
+of the three deposed popes. John gave a tournament to cover his
+departure, and during the spectacle fled in a shabby postillion's dress
+to the Austrian town, Schaffhausen, whither Frederick followed.
+Excommunicated and outlawed--within a few days no fewer than four
+hundred nobles sent challenges to him--Duke Friedel, as he was
+familiarly called by his faithful Tyrolese peasantry, who alone stood by
+him, was driven from his lands and from his people. On all sides German
+contingents fell upon his provinces. Sigismund called on the Eidgenossen
+in the name of the empire to march on Aargau, his ancestral land,
+promising them the province for themselves. As they had just renewed
+their peace with Austria, the Eidgenossen were unwilling to break it,
+but it was urged by the emperor that their promise to Frederick was not
+binding. Bern, ever bent on self-aggrandisement, and determined to
+secure the lion's share if possible, threw away her scruples, and within
+seventeen days took as many towns and castles.[35] Zurich, consulting
+with the Eidgenossen, followed suit and seized Knonau. Lucerne took some
+fragment, and the Forest did likewise. Aargau, the retreat of the
+Habsburg nobles, offered no serious resistance; but Baden, which was
+seized by the Eidgenossen conjointly, the castle of Stein, the royal
+residence of the Habsburgs, was being stormed, when Sigismund tried to
+stop the siege; for Frederick in despair had in the meantime made an
+abject submission, and most of the confiscated lands were restored to
+him. However, the Eidgenossen were unwilling, because of the emperor's
+wavering policy, to relinquish so good a chance of adding to their
+territory. Matters were settled by their paying over a sum of money to
+Sigismund, who was ever in financial straits. Henceforth Friedel was
+nicknamed "With-the-empty-pocket."[36] Aargau was divided amongst the
+Eidgenossen as subject land, what they had seized separately becoming
+cantonal, and what conjointly federal, property. Baden and some other
+places became federal domains _(gemeine Herrschaften)_, over which each
+of the eight states in turn set a governor for two years. With this
+precedent we enter upon the curious period in which the Swiss cantons
+split into two sets, the governing and the governed.
+
+Whilst the republics vied with each other in extending their borders,
+two, Uri and Unterwalden, were unable to increase their territory, being
+hemmed in by lofty mountains. They turned their eyes towards the sunny
+south, beyond St. Gothard, where they might find additional lands. Like
+the Rhætians of old they had often descended into the Lombard plains,
+though for far more peaceful ends. When the St. Gothard pass was thrown
+open in the thirteenth century, there was a lively interchange of
+traffic between the two peoples--the cismontanes and the transmontanes.
+The men of the Forest sold their cheese, butter, cattle, and other
+Alpine produce at the marts in the Lombardian towns, and got from thence
+their supply of corn and other necessaries. And they of the Forest acted
+as guides across the mountains, as they did down to the railway era.
+Their youths, too, enlisted amongst the Italians soldiers, induced
+either by the prospect of gaining a living, or by a mere desire for
+amusement. Thus the Swiss associated on friendly terms with the
+southerners. But all this pleasant social intercourse was suddenly cut
+off. Whilst the Eidgenossen under the ægis of a weakened empire secured
+independence, the mighty Lombard cities, which had objected to imperial
+fetters, however light, by a singular contrast sank beneath the
+tyrannies of ambitious native dynasts, and under the Visconti the duchy
+of Milan sprang up from these free Italian towns. Quarrels that broke
+out between the Milanese and the people of the Forest prepared the way
+for the acquisition of Ticino by the Swiss. In 1403 Uri and Unterwalden
+were robbed of their herds of cattle at the mart of Varese by the
+officials of the Visconti, on what pretext is not clear. Failing to get
+redress, they at once decided on resorting to force. They seized the
+Livinenthal or Leventina, which willingly accepted the new masters.
+Fresh robberies in 1410 were revenged by the annexation of the
+Eschenthal, with Domo d'Ossola, which greatly preferred Swiss supremacy
+to that of the Duke of Milan. This is not much to be wondered at, seeing
+that Gian Maria Visconti was a second Nero for cruelty. The human beings
+who fell victims to his suspicion or revenge he had torn to pieces by
+huge dogs, which were fed on human blood. To strengthen their Italian
+acquisitions the Eidgenossen bought Bellinzona (1418) from the barons of
+Sax-Misox or Misocco of Graubünden. But the Milanese dukes would not
+brook the loss of these lands, and a long-protracted war ensued with
+varying success. Most of the more distant cantons being opposed to these
+Italian conquests declined to send help, but hearing that Bellinzona had
+been captured by the Visconti, some three thousand Eidgenossen marched
+to its relief in 1422. They were, however, no match for the twenty-four
+thousand troops gathered by the famous general Carmagnola. Lying in
+ambush for the Swiss he succeeded in completely shutting them in at
+Arbedo, with the exception of six hundred who had escaped into the
+valley of Misox. For six hours the small Swiss band fought to the
+utmost, refusing to give way, though opposed by a force of ten times
+their number, and well trained. Suddenly their brethren came to their
+relief, or they would have been crushed. The Swiss loss was two hundred,
+that of the enemy nine hundred. But the conquests were forfeited for
+the present. Yet the Swiss pushed on to new war to redeem their
+misfortunes under the Sforza. A brilliant victory was that of Giornico
+(Leventina), 1478, where six hundred Swiss under Theiling from Lucerne
+defeated a force of fifteen thousand Milanese soldiers. This tended
+greatly to spread Swiss military fame in Italy.
+
+[Illustration: ARMS OF URI.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[34] It is related that Uli Rotach kept at bay with his halbert twelve
+Austrians, giving way only when the hut against which he leant was set
+on fire.
+
+[35] To Bern fell the classic spots Habsburg and Königsfelden.
+
+[36] As a retort to those who thus nicknamed him this extravagant prince
+built a balcony at Innsbruck whose roof was covered with gold, at the
+cost of thirty thousand florins--it would be twenty times more money
+now. Every visitor to that romantic city will be struck by the quaint
+_Haus zum goldenen Dachere_ (House with the golden roof).
+
+
+
+
+XVII.
+
+WAR BETWEEN ZURICH AND SCHWYZ.
+
+(1436-1450.)
+
+
+A gloomy picture in Swiss history do these civil wars present, marking
+as they do the chasm separating the Confederates, who were each swayed
+by a spirit of jealous antagonism. Yet it was clear that the town and
+the country commonwealths--citizens and peasants--formed such strong
+contrasts that they would not always pull together. Indeed, the
+smouldering discontent was suddenly fanned into flame by questions
+respecting hereditary succession that threatened to consume the whole
+Confederation. Feudalism was tottering to its fall in Switzerland, but
+it seemed as if the famous counts of Toggenburg were for a while to stay
+its ruin in the eastern portion of the country. Frederick III.
+(1400-1436) possessed what would come up to the present canton of St.
+Gall, the Ten Gerichte, a large portion of Graubünden, Voralberg (which
+he had wrenched from Friedel "of the Empty Pocket"), and other
+districts. Despite the popular struggles for freedom he managed to
+maintain his authority by adroit and designing policy and by alliance
+with Zurich and Schwyz, which stood by him against foes domestic and
+foreign. Having no children Frederick promised that on his death the two
+cantons should receive his domains south of Zurich lake, which
+acquisition would round off their territory. He died in 1436, but left
+no will--intentionally, as was thought by some, with the view of
+entangling the Confederates in quarrels--"tying their tails together,"
+as the expressive but not very polished phrase had it. Be that as it
+may, the apple of discord was soon in the midst, and there set up as
+claimants numerous seigneurs of Graubünden, barons from the Valais, near
+relatives, as well as Austria and the empire. Zurich and Schwyz also
+contended for the promised stretch of land. To penetrate into the maze
+of petty conflicts which followed would be ridiculous as it would be
+impossible. In accordance with her more aristocratic inclinations Zurich
+paid court to the dowager countess whilst Schwyz humoured rather the
+subjects as the future masters, and the three latter proved in the end
+to have had the better judgment. The strife, indeed, fell into one of
+emulation between the two most energetic and talented statesmen of the
+two commonwealths. One of these leading men was burgomaster Stüssi, of
+Zurich, and the other was Ital von Reding, from Schwyz, both highly
+gifted and energetic men. Even from their youth they had been rivals,
+incited by the Emperor Sigismund whose favour they enjoyed.
+
+Save the battle of St. Jacques on the Birse, the war brought forth no
+great military exploits, and as it effected no material changes it may
+be very briefly passed over. It splits naturally into three periods. The
+first of these (1436-1442) is simply a series of wasteful feuds waged by
+the Confederates alone. Schwyz had taken for itself the whole heritage
+in question, with the exception of one fragmentary portion left to its
+rival. Zurich, thus deprived of her portion, and disappointed in her
+scheme of planning a direct commercial road to Italy through Graubünden,
+retaliated by shutting her market against Schwyz and Glarus, causing a
+famine in the two districts. The Confederates did not act with
+impartiality in the matter, but, laying all blame on Zurich, drove her
+to arms. She was, however, again a loser, for her territory to the east
+of the lake, which was the theatre of war, was terribly wasted. This
+portion of the land Schwyz wished to annex, but was prevented by order
+of the federal Diet. Nevertheless Zurich lost to Schwyz and Glarus three
+villages on the upper lake, and the island Ufenau which she had governed
+for half a century, and she was compelled to re-open her roads and
+market.
+
+Deeply wounded by the position of the Confederates in the opposition
+ranks, and still more by the humiliation inflicted on her by the rustics
+of Schwyz, the proud, free city of Zurich thirsted for revenge. Thus the
+second period of conflict began, and in June, 1442, Zurich sought a
+foreign alliance. Stüssi, or his secretary, who was his right hand,
+taking advantage of her old leanings towards Austria, conceived the
+Machiavelian plan of joining in union with the deadly foe of the
+Confederates. Despite the firm opposition of a strong party of noble and
+eminent patriots, the coalition was arranged. The plea was put forward
+that the "imperial city," by virtue of her exceptional position, and the
+treaty concluded under the auspices of Brun, in 1351, was allowed to
+make any alliances she chose. Disloyalty was thus coloured by a show of
+truth. The Emperor Frederick III. and his brother, Albrecht of Austria,
+proceeded to Zurich to receive the homage and allegiance of the
+enthusiastic population. The Confederates guessing the meaning of this
+move tried to convince the renegade member of her perfidy. But their
+efforts failing, all, Bern included--though she took no prominent or
+active part, being chiefly occupied by her Burgundian politics--sent
+their challenge to Austria and Zurich. The war, though fiercer and
+bloodier than the first, was just as luckless, owing to dissensions
+arising amongst the allies, the men of Zurich being unwilling to submit
+to a many-headed Austrian lordship. The struggle was carried on by fits
+and starts, the Confederates returning home on one occasion for the
+annual haymaking. Having laid waste the Zurich territory the
+Confederates proceeded to attack the capital itself. During a sally to
+St. Jacques on the Sihl, Stüssi fell in defence of the bridge over that
+river, whilst endeavouring to keep back the foe and stay the flight of
+the fugitives. His heroic death makes one almost forget his ambitious
+and misguided policy. At last the Zurich forces drew up their guns on
+the Lindenhof, an eminence within the town. A single ball worked
+wonders, for, piercing the walls of a barn, it upset the table at which
+were sitting a party of Glarner, and carried off the head of the topmost
+man at the table. Greatly impressed by this result the besiegers rushed
+from the premises, stopped the siege, and began negotiations for a
+truce. But the Austrians objected to the truce, fearing a reconciliation
+between Zurich and the Confederates, and they incited the mob to make a
+set against the patriotic councillors who were believed to be the prime
+movers in the peace negotiations. A state of terrorism set in, five of
+the leading men were demanded by the populace, and were publicly
+beheaded; and ten more suffered the same fate. Thus powerless had Zurich
+grown in the hands of Austria. The truce being thus prevented the
+Eidgenossen proceeded to besiege Greifensee, a strong fortress in the
+Zurich midlands. For four weeks the garrison of eighty men held out,
+but, being at last betrayed by a peasant, were compelled to surrender at
+discretion. Sentence of death was passed on the brave defenders by a
+majority of the Confederates, and the cruel sentence was carried out in
+a meadow at hand. Ital von Reding stood by to see that the imperial
+custom of passing over every tenth man should not be followed in this
+case. However when sixty had fallen he turned away, and the rest were
+spared. Strange stories attach to that bloody spot, and indeed Nemesis
+soon avenged the cruel deed. A second siege of the capital was
+undertaken by the Confederates, but proved a failure like the first. The
+men of Zurich, in fact, made light of the siege, and a band of young men
+even sallied forth and captured wine and other provisions.
+
+[Illustration: St. Jacques Monument, Basel, by Schlöth. (_From
+Photograph by Appenzeller, Zurich._)]
+
+[Illustration: Arms of Schwyz.]
+
+Wishful to bring matters to an issue, Austria turned to France for
+assistance, well knowing that she herself was no match for the
+Eidgenossen in open field. She was, besides, tired of the profitless and
+resultless kind of war which had hitherto been carried on. Charles VII.
+was anxious to get rid of his mercenary troops, the savage Armagnacs,
+which he had led against England, and was glad to launch them on Swiss
+lands. This combination of Austrian and French arms--the Zurcher
+remained at home to defend their still beleaguered city--introduces the
+third and last portion of the war. The Dauphin (Louis XI.), with an army
+of thirty thousand men, marched against Basel, and the Eidgenossen,
+unacquainted with the numbers of the enemy, set out to meet them. When
+they came within sight of the foe, they crossed the river Birse in the
+most exuberant spirits. Soon, however, they were split into two
+divisions by the heavy fire of the French, and one of these being
+surrounded on an island in the river was completely annihilated by the
+overwhelming numbers, though fighting with marvellous bravery. The other
+division took up a position behind the garden walls of the infirmary of
+St. Jacques, on the river (August 26, 1444). Here for six hours a small
+body of some five or six hundred men held their ground. Twice they
+withstood the assault of a foe twenty or thirty times their number, and
+twice themselves rushed on in attack. But at last the walls gave way,
+pierced through and through, and the foe rushed through the breach. A
+hand-to-hand fight followed, till the hospital being fired the Swiss
+were compelled to succumb. Yet, though failing, each man died a hero.
+Some drew arrows from their wounds, and hurled them at the enemy; others
+who had lost one hand swung their halberts with the other. The
+Armagnacs, who had fought in many a bloody battle, confessed that never
+before had they met with a foe so dauntless, so regardless of death. The
+Austrians, however, denied the Swiss such testimony. On the day
+following the battle a German knight was riding over the field wading in
+blood, and boasted to his comrades, "To-day we seem to be bathing in
+roses." "There, eat thy roses!" yelled a dying Uri soldier, flinging at
+his head a large stone which struck him dead from his horse. Louis, who
+had lost some four thousand men in the fight, was greatly impressed by
+such show of bravery on the part of the Swiss, and concluded an
+honourable peace with them at Ensisheim, on the 28th of October, 1444.
+St. Jacques is a second Swiss Thermopylæ, and sheds immortal honour on
+the combatants. Though beaten the Confederates were not dishonoured.
+Like the brave Spartans under Leonidas they preferred death to servitude
+and dishonour. This battle was also the turning-point of the federal
+war; it rendered the Confederates more pliant. And though desultory
+feuds still showed themselves, peace was at last concluded, in 1450, by
+which Zurich was forced to give up her Austrian alliance. The federal
+league was knit more closely together than ever before; old injuries
+were soon forgotten, and the Eidgenossen accepted an invitation to
+Zurich to join in the carnival festivities got up to celebrate the
+reconciliation, 1454. A deplorable incident took place during the
+festivities, the seizure by the Eidgenossen, at the minster, of the
+famous savant, Felix Malleolus, a canon of the Church. Born of an
+ancient family at Zurich, he was educated first at the Carolinum in his
+native city, and afterwards at the university of Bologna, which was the
+glory of the Middle Ages. Bold, and of an unbending will, early
+acquainted with the corruptions of the Church and clergy, he hurled
+bitter invectives against the guilty, and raised for himself a host of
+enemies amongst the priesthood. And during the early years of the war he
+had likewise attacked the Eidgenossen as enemies of his native town, and
+called them an illiterate, uncouth, and belligerent race. His own
+chapter had objected to so stern a man as provost, and he had
+consequently contented himself with the position of canon, a position
+which left him ample time for study, and the composition of learned
+pamphlets. When the Eidgenossen seized him he was bending over his
+beloved books. He was hurried to Constance, and was there, by the
+bishop, thrown into the same prison as that occupied by the martyr Huss.
+The higher clergy as a rule connived at the deed, and, though promised
+release, he was handed over a prisoner to the monks at Lucerne. Here the
+lofty words of Cellano, _"Dies irae, dies illa,"_ so well known from
+their use in Mozart's Requiem Mass, seem to have been a great
+consolation to the unfortunate canon. It is not known exactly when he
+died.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII.
+
+BURGUNDIAN WARS.
+
+(1474-1477.)
+
+
+These wars raised to its height the military glory of the Eidgenossen,
+and instead of the limited sphere occupied by most of the previous wars,
+we find ourselves now watching a scene of world-wide interest and
+importance. Three Great Powers--France, Germany, and Austria--if such a
+term is applicable in the fifteenth century, are striving for the
+downfall of a fourth great realm, Burgundy, in some respects the
+mightiest of them all. The Swiss League, no less interested in the
+issue, is made the instrument for bringing about that tragical ending
+which strikes Burgundy for ever from the list of future kingdoms.
+
+[Illustration: Elizabeth, wife of Albert II.; Maria of Burgundy; Eleanor
+of Portugal; Kunigunde, sister of Maximilian.
+
+(_From Maximilian Monument at Innsbruck._)]
+
+Charles the Bold aimed at the re-establishment of the ancient kingdom of
+Lorraine, such as it was created by the treaty of Verdun in 843.[37]
+This was to be a middle kingdom between French and German territory--a
+kingdom which, stretching from the North Sea through to the
+Mediterranean, would absorb the Swiss Confederation, and what of other
+territory we cannot tell. A striking scheme, and one which, if it had
+succeeded, would have greatly changed the face of modern politics.
+Charles's deadliest foe was Louis of France, who was unswervingly bent
+on his destruction. Politically, the two men were the very antipodes of
+each other. The romantic duke is the embodiment of mediæval chivalry;
+the sober Louis that of modern absolutism. His reign seals the fate of
+dying feudalism. Louis is like an immovable rock against which the
+effete Middle Ages dash themselves in vain. He stands, indeed, between
+two great historical epochs. Charles is doomed to fall; for pitilessly
+Louis crushes his unruly vassals, and feudatory France is by his power
+welded into a mighty and absolute monarchy. The ambitious hotspur, the
+warlike duke, believes himself a second Alexander. And, indeed, in all
+Christendom there is no court so splendid as his, no treasury so vast.
+His magnificence is more than royal, more even than imperial, and he
+grapples with numberless intricate problems. To carry out his plans he
+stakes realm and life, but lacking patience and sound political judgment
+he fails in his chief enterprises.[38]
+
+The preliminary steps leading to the war are a diplomatic maze,
+revealing the double-dealing of the actors, and likewise showing the
+uncertain position held by the Swiss League in the empire. The
+destruction of this league, and the overthrow of Charles the Bold were
+chiefly aimed at. The maze of intrigue is, indeed, well-nigh
+impenetrable; yet, because the preliminaries are far less known than the
+wars which followed, and the actual facts have been often distorted,
+they will, no doubt, command general interest, and we shall try to
+disentangle the skeins as best we can. The battle of St. Jacques had
+secured for the Confederates, not only the sympathies of Louis, but also
+the alliance of his father, Philip the Good, of Burgundy, the Sforzas of
+Milan, and others. Since those times of prowess the young republic had
+been growing into a prosperous and powerful nation, not without its
+influence on continental military affairs. Admired, envied, and feared,
+by turns, its friendship was greatly appreciated, and it lent protection
+to all who sought it. So strong was its love of warfare, that it was at
+all times ready to avenge any wrong or fancied wrong done to itself or
+its friends. Thus, Zurich, in 1456, laid waste the lands of the Austrian
+knight-robbers who had plundered some Strasburg merchants on a Swiss
+round. Despite the distance between them, the two towns of Strasburg and
+Zurich were on terms of close friendship.[39] At the bidding of Pius
+II., the elegant Latin writer commonly known as Æneas Sylvius, who had
+fallen out with his literary friend, Duke Sigmund of Austria, the
+Eidgenossen conquered Thurgau, which had remained still an Austrian
+province, and placed it amongst their subject lands. The quarrels of
+Mulhausen and Schaffhausen with Austria entangled their friends of the
+league into a war with Sigmund (1468), who, to secure peace, agreed to
+pay over the sum of ten thousand florins, guaranteeing them their recent
+conquests. This feud of Waldshut (Black Forest) led to the Burgundian
+wars.
+
+Extravagant but poor, Sigmund failed to find even that modest sum, and
+applied to Louis of France for help, but was by him referred to Charles
+of Burgundy. The astute Louis saw that a quarrel between the dukes would
+be injurious and possibly fatal to Charles, who, all unaware of the
+pitfall prepared for him, readily fell in with the proposals of Sigmund.
+He was anxious to join together Alsace, Breisgau, the Aargau towns on
+the Rhine, &c., and advanced fifty thousand florins as mortgage on the
+dominions of Sigmund, expecting they would soon fall to him entirely. By
+the treaty of St Omer, in 1469, their mutual terms of agreement were
+thus fixed:--Charles to give help in case of need against the Swiss, and
+Sigmund to promote the long-planned marriage between the son of his
+cousin and Maria of Burgundy. Rejoicing at this turn of fortune, the
+emperor at once disannulled the treaty of Waldshut, and the new lands
+were by Charles the Bold entrusted to the management of his favourite,
+Peter von Hagenbach.[40] A tyrant and a libertine, his acts of violence,
+and those of his foreign soldiery, exasperated the German populations
+of Alsace, Basel, Bern, and Solothurn. Their merchants being robbed on
+the Rhine, their envoys imprisoned--one Bernese man was killed in a
+fray--they complained to the duke, but without result for the cruelties
+and oppression continued.
+
+Artful and ever on the watch, Louis found that the Eidgenossen,
+disgusted by the grasping tendencies of Charles, were fast drifting away
+from their good understanding with Burgundy, and strove to draw them to
+his own side. Anxious to secure a friend, the Swiss lent willing ears to
+the flattery and insinuations of the crafty Louis. He actually succeeded
+in effecting a reconciliation between the Eidgenossen and Austria. It
+was a cleverly calculated bit of diplomacy, that secured for the Swiss
+their recent conquests, isolated Charles, and strengthened the
+opposition against him. Louis fixed a pension on Sigmund, and urged him
+to pay off the mortgage on his lands, whilst the Alsacian towns likewise
+leagued themselves with the Swiss, and actually advanced Sigmund the sum
+of money required. Charles, however, disappointed in his plans, refused
+to receive the money. A popular rising took place at Breisach, and
+Hagenbach was seized, imprisoned, and brought before a tribunal, at
+which some of the Eidgenossen assisted. He was condemned to death, and
+publicly beheaded, as a sort of popular judgment. Enraged beyond measure
+though he was, yet Charles deferred vengeance for the death of his
+favourite, being, indeed, at the time, otherwise engaged. Taking
+advantage of this delay, Louis won over to his side Frederick, also
+lavishing flatteries on the Swiss, and pensions on Nicolas von Diesbach
+and his followers. This Nicolas was a Bernese nobleman and a skilled
+politician, and was a fit instrument in the hands of a king who
+calculated his schemes rather on men's _mauvaises passions_ than on
+their virtues. Louis hastened on the outbreak of war, and on October 9,
+1474, Frederick called on the Eidgenossen to take their part in the
+attack on Charles. They hesitated, but the pensioner and creature of
+France, Diesbach, notwithstanding the resistance offered by Adrian von
+Bubenberg, a Bernese noble of far loftier character, in hot haste
+declared war against Charles in the name of the empire, and with the
+consent of the Confederation. But war once actually afoot the Swiss were
+made a mere catspaw by their partners, and left to their own devices.
+
+In a short story like this it is impossible to discuss the merits or
+demerits of the various factions, or those of Hagenbach or Diesbach,[41]
+yet we must dwell for a moment on the federal policy, and more
+especially on that of Bern. The position of the Swiss League at the
+outbreak of the war was very similar to that of "Sweden, under Gustavus
+Adolphus, in the Thirty Years' War." Threatened by the preponderating
+power of Austria, she would not take up arms till France, equally
+interested in the downfall of Habsburg, under Richelieu, drove her to
+war by sending subsidies. But French gold was by no means the actual and
+moving cause of the war. Many things concurred to give rise to it, not
+the least being Bern's extraordinary bent for aggrandisement and
+conquest. Her aggressiveness and her far-sightedness were quite
+remarkable for that age, and her policy was conceived on so large a
+scale that she has been not inaptly compared to ancient Rome. Bordering
+on Swiss Burgundy, Bern had strong western leanings, if one may so
+speak, and very early set her eyes on Vaud and Geneva. She considered
+Mount Jura as the true western boundary, for French Switzerland still
+lay without the pale of the Confederation, and belonged for the most
+part to Savoy, or the vassals of Savoy. However selfish the policy of
+Bern may appear at this distance of time, yet she has the unquestionable
+merit of having brought Swiss Burgundy into the federation, thus
+connecting the French with the German portions of Helvetia. The
+political views of Bern are clearly evidenced by her foreign relations
+at the time. Her nobility sent their sons to foreign courts to be
+educated and trained for a military or a diplomatic career--Bubenberg,
+for instance, spent his youth at the Court of Burgundy. Her leading men
+were well-trained military officers or skilled politicians, and the
+aristocracy which formed the governing body of the town clung
+obstinately to the prerogatives still left them in those moribund Middle
+Ages.
+
+The country cantons were less interested in Burgundian troubles, well
+knowing that Bern would take the lion's share of any conquests. Bern and
+Zurich were rivals, and, like Athens and Sparta of old, followed each
+its separate ends. Yet when the safety of either, or that of the
+fatherland, was at stake, private aims and private animosities were
+dropped, and the Confederates rallied to the common standard, displaying
+that wonderful heroism which strong love of fatherland seems ever to
+inspire.
+
+The first event of the war was the siege of Héricourt, near Belfort, at
+the bidding of Frederick III. This was in November, 1474, and there
+followed wasteful inroads into Vaud, by Bern, Freiburg, and Solothurn,
+on the pretext of punishing Savoy for siding with Charles (1475). Place
+after place fell to the victors, and with the help of Bern, Lower Valais
+was wrenched from Savoy, and restored to Upper Valais. But when once the
+Swiss were fairly launched on the war all their partners withdrew from
+the stage, and made their peace with Charles. The Burgundian prince thus
+having his hands more free pushed on alone his expedition against Duke
+René, the minstrel poet of Lorraine, in November, 1475. In the January
+of the following year he opened his campaign against the Swiss.
+
+With an enormous army of fifty thousand of the best-trained soldiers in
+Europe, besides heavy artillery, he started in high spirits across the
+Jura, resolved on crushing the Swiss peasants, and levelling Bern with
+the ground. Count Romont was sent on in advance, with instructions to
+re-conquer Vaud. This he effected within a fortnight, the district being
+inefficiently garrisoned. Charles then marched on Grandson, whither the
+main Bernese force had retired. The odds were desperate, five hundred
+men against so vast an army, and, after a resistance of ten days, the
+garrison was allured into a surrender by vain promises of safety, and
+by impudent forgeries. The fate of Dinant (Belgium) awaited the body of
+412 men who surrendered. They were bound with ropes and drowned in the
+lake, or hanged from the trees lining the roads (February 28, 1476). In
+great straits Bern summoned the assistance of the other cantons, and, on
+March 2nd, the federal army of eighteen thousand horse and foot, well
+trained and equipped, assembled at Neuchâtel, and Charles went to meet
+this force. A large division of the Swiss having gone on in front
+suddenly noticed from the vineyard slopes the Burgundian troops in the
+plain beneath. As was their wont in warfare--they were very religious,
+almost superstitiously so, at that time--the Swiss knelt down, and
+extended their hands in prayer. To the enemy it seemed as if they were
+begging for mercy, and Charles exclaimed, "These cowards are ours!" and
+ordered his men to fire. His artillery swept down whole files, but,
+though their ranks were broken, the Swiss stoutly held their ground
+against the oncoming foe. Suddenly Charles ordered his forces to fall
+back, with the double intention of getting more room, and of alluring
+his foe into descending from the higher ground. But his men unapprised
+of their leader's intentions mistook the movement for an actual flight,
+and their ranks began to show signs of falling into disorder. At this
+most critical moment the chief body of the Swiss appeared on the
+heights, their armour glittering in the sun. The deafening noise of
+their war-cries and war-horns (Uristier of Uri, Harsthörner of Lucerne)
+"struck such terror into the Burgundians," reports an old chronicler of
+Neuchâtel, "that they took to their heels, and disappeared from sight,
+as if a whirlwind had swept them from the earth." Not far, however, did
+the Eidgenossen pursue, for, "with indescribable joy," they dropped on
+their knees to render thanks for the great victory. When they neared the
+camp of Charles the terrible sight they saw stirred up still more their
+desire for revenge. Their brethren were still suspended by dozens from
+the trees by the wayside.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF GRANDSON--SKETCH MAP.
+
+Scale 1 in 150,000.
+
+MAP OF GRANDSON DISTRICT.]
+
+The battle of Grandson is remarkable for the immense quantity of spoil
+that fell to the victors. For Charles and his nobles were wont to carry
+the splendour of their court even into their camps. Four hundred silk
+tents came into the hands of the Swiss, as well as the arras carpets,
+and Charles's sets of gold plate and dishes, the admiration of the
+sovereigns of the time. His Flemish lace and fine linen were cut up like
+homespun, and divided amongst the rough soldiers; his money dealt out in
+helmets; his artillery, his beautiful swords and hand-guns; and, most
+precious of all, his jewellery, were shared amongst the victorious
+Swiss. Of his three famous diamonds the finest passed finally to Pope
+Julius II., another to Henry VIII., of England, and thence to Philip of
+Spain, and the third to the kings of Portugal. It would require pages to
+give even a bare list of the spoils.[42]
+
+Despite this great disaster, Charles did not lose heart, and within a
+fortnight began to reassemble his scattered forces. His movements were
+closely watched by the Bernese, who strongly fortified Morat, their
+strongest outpost, sending Adrian von Bubenberg with fifteen hundred men
+to hold it against the duke. On the 9th of June, 1476, Charles appeared
+before the town with twenty-five thousand men, and his artillery soon
+made terrible havoc amongst the weak fortifications. Von Bubenberg,
+however, vowed that he would not surrender so long as a drop of living
+blood remained in his veins. The Eidgenossen forces, which had returned
+home after the last engagement, did not reach Morat till the 21st of
+June, but determined to give battle on the 22nd, that day being the
+anniversary of the ever-memorable Laupen. Charles had drawn up his
+troops on the plateaux of Munchwiler, Courlevon, and Cressier, opposite
+Morat, and had strengthened his front with a ditch and a barricade of
+trees, having also lined the hedges with his artillery, and flanked it
+with his horse. It was raining in torrents; to weary the foe the Swiss
+spent the morning in dubbing knights; Duke René of Lorraine, who had
+joined the Swiss ranks as simple spearman, and Hans Waldmann having that
+honour bestowed upon them. Towards noon the sun unexpectedly broke
+forth, and Hans von Hallwyl, a Bernese nobleman, brandishing his sword,
+exclaimed, "Onward! brave men. God lights up our path. Do not leave your
+wives and children to the stranger!" Leading his van in a wide circle to
+avoid the hedge he fell on the right wing of Charles. Seeing him thus
+engaged Hans Waldmann of Zurich, with his ten thousand troops occupying
+a central position in the field, marched up, sprang on the intrenchment,
+and trampled down the hedge. Carrying their guns across their shoulders,
+they rushed on the artillery, who were keeping up a deadly fire, and,
+thrusting back the enemy, soon silenced their guns. Then the Swiss force
+advanced in a close phalanx to the hostile centre, where stood Charles
+with the Prince of Orange, and other distinguished officers, and where,
+too, were placed the English archers under Somerset. A murderous
+engagement ensued, Charles fought like a lion, and soon fifteen hundred
+nobles lay at his feet. Suddenly Bubenberg sallied forth with his force,
+and attacked the Burgundian left wing, stationed between Munchwiler and
+Morat, whilst Hertenstein of Lucerne attacked Charles's centre in the
+rear. A terrible panic seized Charles, and his army became suddenly
+disorganized, and fled in wild haste, the Swiss closely following in
+pursuit. For the whole distance from Morat to Avenches there were
+terrible hand-to-hand conflicts, for the Burgundians resisted stoutly,
+and the Swiss gave no quarter. Countless numbers were driven into the
+lake, and altogether twelve thousand of the foe fell that day, the Swiss
+themselves losing three thousand men. Charles escaped with a few
+horsemen to Morges, but quite dazed with despair, and the Eidgenossen
+turned homewards laden with rich spoils. All over the country the bells
+were set ringing to welcome the heroic men who had saved Switzerland
+from becoming a subject-province of Burgundy. The great battle of
+Murten, a purely defensive engagement so far as the Swiss were
+concerned, still exerts on them the same spell as Morgarten and
+Sempach.
+
+[Illustration: OLD WEAPONS AND ARMOUR PRESERVED IN THE ARSENAL,
+ZURICH.]
+
+Luckless Duke Charles had shut himself up in his castle near Pontarlier,
+a prey to a morbid despair, but hearing that René was reconquering
+Lorraine, he was spurred into taking up arms once more, and started for
+Nancy with a new force. René went back to Switzerland, and even with
+tears implored the Federal Diet to help him. The Diet would not
+themselves organize a new army, but permitted men to enlist of their own
+will under René's banner. Some eight thousand soldiers enlisted, and,
+under Hans Waldmann, retook Nancy, on January 15, 1477. The fate of the
+unhappy Charles is well known; his corpse was found in a bog embedded in
+ice and snow. A popular rhyme thus characterizes Charles's triple
+misfortune:--
+
+    "Zü Grandson das Gut,
+    Zü Murten den Mut,
+    Zü Nancy das Blut."
+
+The acquisition of the victors were in no way adequate to the labour
+expended. Franche Comté, to which the Eidgenossen had a title, and which
+the cities wished to annex, was sold to Louis for a sum of money, which
+he never paid, however. The Swiss merely retained the protectorate over
+the province, whose envoys had begged on their knees that they might be
+admitted to the Swiss Federation, to prevent their falling into the
+hands of France or Austria, a fate which was, however, to be theirs.
+Grandson Murten, Bex, &c., remained with Bern and Freiburg, but the
+greater part of Vaud fell back to Savoy, for a ransom of fifty thousand
+florins. Geneva had to pay half that sum as a war contribution; yet the
+way was paved for the annexation of Vaud. Freiburg and Low-Valais were
+entirely rescued from the grasp of Savoy.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[37] See Chap. VI.
+
+[38] One curious instance of his failures may be given. The Burgundian
+crown was ready for him, and he proceeded to Trier (1473) to have it
+placed on his brow by the (Roman) emperor, and push his imperial claims.
+However, Frederick III., becoming alarmed at the presumption of the
+future Welsh-German sovereign, broke off negotiations, and fled at night
+with his son Max, who was to have married the daughter of Charles.
+
+[39] A pleasant story is related to the effect that, on one occasion,
+some young Zurich men started off in a boat by way of the Limmat and the
+Rhine, taking a dish of hot lentils with them. Reaching Strasburg in the
+evening they placed the dish, still hot, on the mayor's dinner table. A
+famous poem, "Glückhaft Schiff," describes the event.
+
+[40] Well known from Scott's "Anne of Geierstein."
+
+[41] For these matters the reader is directed to Freeman's admirable
+essay on Charles the Bold.
+
+[42] The suits of armour, guns, and banners--the suit belonging to
+Charles's court jester who fell at Morat, is at Soleure--are stored up
+in the museums of various capitals. The golden seal of Burgundy is at
+Lucerne, whilst the town library of Zurich possesses the seal of the
+Great Bastard, brother of Charles.
+
+
+
+
+XIX.
+
+MEETING AT STANZ, 1481, &C.
+
+
+Grandson, Morat, and Nancy stamped the Eidgenossen as the _enfants
+gâtés_ of Europe, and as a nation of the highest military standing on
+the Continent, nay, even as an umpire in continental politics, and a
+guardian of the peace. Everybody lavished flattering praises on the
+prowess of the Swiss. Nation after nation made overtures to them--France
+foremost, Italy, the Pontiff, the Emperor, distant Hungary, and even
+England, this last desirous of breaking the French alliance. The
+meetings of the Federal Diet often became brilliant congresses, lasting
+for weeks, where princes and ambassadors vied with each other in
+bestowing bounties and favours on the Swiss leaders, in order to secure
+their aid, deeming themselves invincible if the Swiss fought on their
+side. The period 1476-1512--from Morat to Marignano--a noble victory and
+a scarcely less noble defeat, adds another glorious page to the military
+history of the Swiss League, but the _revers de la medaille_ shows
+bitter contention and moral decline. In truth, the Burgundian wars
+closed a glorious epoch, but brought about a baleful change in the face
+of more noble warfare, for Nancy is linked with that period of mercenary
+service and foreign pay which became the curse of Switzerland, and which
+could not be checked even by the grand efforts of the Reformation
+period.
+
+Leaving the foreign wars for the moment let us cast a glance at home
+matters. It is not necessary to dwell at length on the excesses indulged
+in by the disbanded soldiers, unoccupied and unaccustomed to regular
+labour after the Burgundian wars. These things nearly always result from
+long-continued struggles.
+
+More serious danger threatened the League, through the cropping up again
+of the old antagonism between the country commonwealths and the city
+states. Disputes arose concerning the distribution of the Burgundian
+conquests, and the admission of Freiburg and Solothurn, which had
+solicited the favour, into the federal fold. In the fifteenth century
+the balance of political power was gradually inclining towards the
+cities. Zurich, Bern, and Lucerne, had far outstripped the "Länder" in
+population, wealth, influence, and culture, and in 1481 their forces
+amounted to 35,000 as against the 15,500 of the other five cantons. They
+advocated the division of the spoil in proportion to their soldiery, and
+the reception of their two helpmates in the previous wars by way of
+reward. But the three Forest States, presuming on their prestige as the
+primary stock and foundation of the league, and anxious to maintain
+their position, resisted measures that would throw the weight of power
+entirely on the opposite side. Their narrow and selfish views and their
+obstinacy placed the Confederation in jeopardy. Meetings, held to settle
+differences, only deepened the bitterness. A final Diet was fixed for
+the 18th of December, 1481, at Stanz (Unterwalden), and the foremost men
+met to arrange, if possible, a compromise. But high words were
+exchanged, and when the excitement had reached its height, the pastor of
+that place, Im Grund, stole away, and proceeded at dead of night to the
+cave Zum Ranft, in a wilderness near Sachseln. Here he took counsel with
+Nicholas von der Flüe, the famous hermit, who had dwelt there for the
+space of twenty years. Mild words and deep thoughts proceeded from the
+good man, whose love for his country had always been of the strongest.
+In his earlier days he had served as a soldier and a magistrate, had
+married, and had had several children born to him. But always given to
+meditation, he was at the age of fifty-one suddenly filled with
+religious enthusiasm, and, unable to appease his yearning soul, took
+leave of his family, and retired into deep seclusion. His commune built
+him a cell and chapel--still to be seen near Sachseln--on a rock called
+die Flüe, hence his name. A few planks formed his bed, and his pillow
+was a log of wood. Stores he needed not, for he lived on roots and wild
+berries, and the saying went abroad amongst the country folk that he was
+sustained by the bread of the holy sacrament alone, and ate no other
+food. The peasants regarded his person with wonder and awe, and though
+he was seen at times worshipping at Einsiedeln, no man ever saw him on
+his way to or from that place. The fame of his wisdom spread beyond the
+boundaries of his own land, and many were the high personages who came
+to consult his oracle--from all parts of the empire and Italy, envoys
+from Sigmund and Frederick. But into subtle discussions he never
+entered, leaving them rather to his priests. "Pure water does not flow
+through golden pipes, but through pipes of lead," he used to say to
+those who complained of the dissolute and degenerate lives of the
+clergy. To this man, then, the good pastor unburdened his mind, and from
+him received solace and wise words. Then he toiled back to Stanz,
+December 22nd. Finding the Diet broken up, and the envoys on the point
+of leaving for their respective homes, he ran to the various hostelries,
+and with tearful eyes begged the men to return once more. All opposition
+melted at the name of Bruder Klaus, the envoys reassembled, and listened
+with thrilled hearts to the profound truths uttered by him. Their jars
+and differences were settled within the hour, and Freiburg and Solothurn
+were unanimously admitted into the league. Blessing the memory of the
+"Peacemaker," the delegates returned home, and the glad tidings of the
+establishment of concord were everywhere celebrated by the ringing of
+bells.
+
+[Illustration: INNER COURT OF THE ABBEY OF OUR LADY. LUTH CHAPTER OF
+ZURICH.]
+
+Another feature of this memorable day was the signing of the Covenant of
+Stanz, a series of measures prepared beforehand, but in which Nicholas
+had no hand. They were levelled chiefly against the excesses and
+tumultuous risings that were continually taking place in the country
+cantons, their object being to re-establish order and prevent a
+repetition of the insubordination, and to set bounds to "the too much
+freedom in the Länder." Despite the resistance of Schwyz the agreement
+was ratified, and gradually became part and parcel of the judicial
+enactments of the Confederation. Breathing as they do the vigorous
+spirit of Hans Waldmann, the most influential Swiss statesman of his
+time, these measures were, though wrongly, attributed to him.
+
+This Waldmann is indeed the most conspicuous figure in Switzerland in
+the fifteenth century, and forms a singular contrast to the humble
+recluse Zum Ranft, for he shared in all the vicissitudes of his times.
+Full of vital energy, teeming with lofty schemes, his life is a bright
+picture, darkened however, here and there, by deep shadows thrown by
+that stirring, luxurious, fast-living epoch, an epoch itself coloured by
+the Burgundian wars. The career of this remarkable man is a piece of
+moral, social, and political history, quite worthy of a few moments'
+notice.
+
+A poor peasant boy Waldmann had raised himself to the highest position
+in the country, that of Burgomaster of Zurich, and head, or king, as he
+pleased to call it, of the Eidgenossen. The mobile and passionate
+Zurcher, more than any other members of the league, lend themselves to
+infatuations, and never do things by halves, whether for good or for
+evil, to-day hurl down their idol of yesterday, and hand him over to the
+executioner, so it has been said. A strange career was that of Waldmann.
+Born in the canton of Zug, about 1436, he wandered in early youth to
+Zurich to seek his fortune, and at the age of sixteen bought the
+citizenship there. Apprenticed in various callings he turned at length
+to the iron trade, but his restless mind being unalterably bent on the
+battlefield he enlisted as a soldier at the first beat of the drums, and
+plunged into the impending struggles as captain of the Zurich men, and
+condottière of German princes. In the intervals of peace he turned again
+to business, giving himself up at the same time to the pleasures of the
+town. Young, fiery, handsome, with an intelligent face and winsome
+manners, he fascinated the women, whilst his eloquence and joviality
+made him a general favourite with the men, and especially with the
+masses. Many stories were current as to his adventurous life, and the
+excesses in which he indulged in company with other young men of the
+town caused him to be lodged in the Wellenberg, a state prison built in
+the lake. Yet in that age of dissoluteness such failings did not detract
+from his personal charm and credit. He married a gay and handsome young
+widow of good family, and called himself the squire of Dübelstein, from
+the manor he acquired. This union raised his position in society, and
+with the help of the Constafel, the body of aristocracy with which he
+became connected, he hoped to get a position in the Government. But the
+Junker, or young nobles, treated with disdain the pretensions of a man
+who had once been a tanner, and accordingly he turned his attention to
+the craftsmen and guilds, and was returned as councillor by them in
+1473. Beneath his exuberant spirits and brawling temper lay the superior
+gifts of the general and the politician, gifts which the Burgundian wars
+were to exhibit to the world. From first to last he shared in the
+campaigns. At Morat we have seen him knighted, and leading the principal
+charge against Charles the Bold; the recovery of Nancy was chiefly his
+doing, for he it was who advocated the continuation of the war and the
+appeal to arms by René of Lorraine, at the Federal Diet. At the
+council-board and in the federal assemblies he rose to eminence by his
+political and diplomatic talents, and showed himself to be an astute
+ambassador. Sent to the French Court to negotiate with Louis XI.
+respecting Franche Comté, he lent himself to French influences, for his
+moral principles were by no means equal to his intellectual gifts. He
+became a pensioner of that same king, who was thus the first to corrupt
+the Swiss leaders with his gold. In his own city of Zurich, Waldmann
+filled a series of public offices; as edile he built the fine
+Wasserkirche, the Pantheon for war trophies, &c. In 1480 we find him
+occupying a high position as tribune, and head of the guilds, and, three
+years later, he was chosen Burgomaster. To obtain this last position,
+however, he had ousted the powerful Chevalier Goldein. He ruled Zurich
+as a veritable sovereign, head of the republic, and swayed also the
+foreign policy of the Federation. He dictated terms of peace; to him
+foreign princes applied for alliance or troops; and on him they showered
+their favours. He was made Hofrath of Milan, and, becoming a pensioner
+of Austria, began to lean more towards that country than to France, and
+rightly so, perhaps. Waldmann rapidly became, in fact, the most
+influential statesman, and, notwithstanding his extravagant habits, and
+boundless generosity, the wealthiest of the Eidgenossen. Thanks to his
+great ascendency Zurich was restored to that pre-eminence in the state
+which she had forfeited in the civil strife, and which Bern had gained
+in the time of the Burgundian troubles.
+
+Ambitious, and readily bribed, Waldmann still professed lofty views in
+his home policy and in his administration, and these views he proposed
+to put into practice by the help of a political club he had founded.
+This club he placed under the care of twelve influential citizens, who
+followed his guidance. There was, in truth, a singular charm about his
+person, and his intellectual gifts commanded the admiration of his whole
+circle. He intended making some sweeping reforms that were to change the
+face of the Zurich republic. And he addressed himself first to the
+nobility, of whom he was no friend.
+
+Hitherto the aristocracy and the craftsmen had been equally represented
+in the government (Kleiner Rath, see Zurich), each having twelve seats
+(one having dropped away). Waldmann, however, did away with half that
+number, and supplied their places by men from the Zünfte, or Guilds, who
+were almost to a man on his side. This not only strengthened his power
+as dictator, but increased the importance of the democracy generally,
+whilst it lessened that of the nobility. Nor did he spare the clergy. In
+1486 he issued a series of orders against abuses, and compelled Innocent
+VIII. to give his sanction to them. Waldmann would at times
+good-humouredly style himself pope and emperor at Zurich. In one of his
+writs he laments the evil consequences of the Burgundian wars, and of
+the Reislaufen, mercenary service. Foreign influence was indeed
+spreading fast; the rich contracted expensive foreign tastes, French
+and Spanish dress became fashionable, public amusements increased in
+number, and magnificent family feasts--weddings, baptisms, and the
+like--grew general among the people of Zurich. Waldmann began to take
+steps to regulate these extravagant tastes, although he himself did not
+practise what he preached--going so far as to fix the number of guests
+to be invited, and the cost of the presents to be given. Public
+amusements were checked or suppressed, even when of an altogether
+innocent character. Reding of Schwyz advocated Reislaufen in full.
+
+The indefatigable Waldmann extended his writs and orders to the country
+districts, and, anticipating the views of the sixteenth century, strove
+for the centralization of power. This was with the hope of strengthening
+his government, and bringing the detached portions of the country under
+one general code of laws. For each village had so far its own distinct
+judicature. Regensberg, for instance, jealously maintained its curious
+right of indulging in ear-boxing at the cost of five shillings in each
+case, whereas the same doubtful amusement cost elsewhere double and
+treble the money. The city Waldmann considered to be the head of the
+republic, whilst the country parts he looked upon as the less honourable
+or subject portion of the body politic. The trade and manufacturing
+industry he monopolized for the town, limiting the country districts to
+agriculture and the cultivation of the vine. Numberless were the
+measures of improvement which the bold reformer showered on his country,
+but many of them were inadvisedly introduced, and the severity with
+which he carried out his plans alienated all classes, and none more than
+the nobles. Consequently a conspiracy was formed by the Junker (the
+Göldli, the Escher, the Meyer von Knonau, &c.), against the Burgomaster,
+whose manifest opulence gave the lie to his affectation of republican
+simplicity. But blinded by the flatteries of the crowd and by his own
+power Waldmann did not see the storm which was rising fast.
+
+The ill-advised execution of Theiling of Lucerne, the hero of Giornio,
+by the orders of Waldmann, whom and whose banner he had insulted in that
+campaign, turned the tide of popular favour against the ruler of Zurich,
+although Lucerne, overawed by the powerful Burgomaster did not dare to
+accuse him. But a more absurd if less iniquitous order was issued by
+him, and at length caused the tempest to burst forth against him. He
+seems however to have been urged on by his enemies, who wished to hasten
+his ruin, and he issued the order most reluctantly. It was to the effect
+that the country folk were to kill all their large dogs, his plea being
+that the animals did injury to the vineyards and hunting grounds. The
+consternation was as great as if Charles the Bold had once more come to
+life. Some obeyed, but at Knonau five hundred peasants met, and resisted
+the messengers who had been sent to effect the slaughter. With this
+example the whole district rose in arms, and, marching on Zurich,
+demanded admittance, March 4, 1489. It would occupy too much space to
+give the story of this outbreak; it was stopped for a time, but broke
+out again on April 1st. Waldmann bent on amusement had actually returned
+to Baden, a gay watering-place near Zurich, and the rendezvous of the
+_grand-monde_ of various nations, but he at once rode back to the town
+with his troop of horses, hoping to check the revolt by his personal
+influence. But the majority was too strong for him, and surrendering, he
+was with his adherents rowed off to the Wellenberg tower, where he was
+placed on the rack, however without anything worthy of death being
+discovered. Meanwhile the burgesses held a town's meeting in the
+Wasserkirche; passed sentence of death on him, and hurriedly instituted
+a government to confirm the verdict. In his last hours Waldmann revealed
+his nobleness of soul; no bitter accusation against his enemies ever
+passed his lips; and he never lost heart, for he knew within himself
+that he had ever aimed at promoting the greatness of the town, and at
+that only. Had he appealed to the crowds he might have been saved, but
+he had promised to his confessor that he would make no such appeal, and
+on his way to the block he merely begged the thousands who had flocked
+to the bloody spectacle to forgive him and pray with him. The people
+were moved to tears, but just then a false alarm was spread that an
+Austrian army was coming to his rescue. This hurried on his doom. He was
+executed in a meadow on an eminence outside the walls, so that the armed
+men might be kept out of the town, April 6, 1489. "May God protect thee,
+my beloved Zurich, and keep thee from all evil!" were the last words of
+the dying man, as he turned his eyes towards his loved city for a
+moment before the fatal blow fell. The new government, called the
+"Horned Council," on account of its incapacity, was for a while unable
+to stop the revolts, and more executions followed. The "Compromise of
+Waldmann" (_Waldmann's Spruch_) secured to the city the supremacy over
+the country districts, whilst it restored to the city itself its old
+liberties. To ask to be represented on the council had as yet not
+entered the mind of the country folk. It may perhaps be added that the
+question is frequently being ventilated in Zurich whether or no a
+monument shall be erected to Waldmann's memory. Opinion is divided on
+the subject.
+
+[Illustration: ARMS OF UNTERWALDEN.]
+
+
+
+
+XX.
+
+THE LEAGUE OF THE THIRTEEN CANTONS COMPLETED.
+
+(1513.)
+
+
+No traveller visiting the picturesque town of Innsbruck should miss
+turning into the Hofkirche to inspect one of the most remarkable
+masterpieces of German art, the imposing monument erected by Maximilian,
+of Austria to himself. Amongst the numerous magnificent bronze effigies
+adorning this monument, we find those of Rudolf of Habsburg, Leopold
+III., who fell at Sempach, Charles the Bold, and many others whose names
+are familiar to the reader of the "Story of Switzerland." But the
+grandest figure there is that of Maximilian himself, a personage hardly
+less interesting to the Switzer, from the part played by that ruler in
+the separation of Switzerland from the empire.[43]
+
+[Illustration: MAXIMILIAN'S MONUMENT AT INNSBRUCK, MARBLE RELIEVI.
+
+(_From a Photograph of the Original._)]
+
+Maximilian, the son of Frederick III., is the first of a long series of
+monarchs who regarded their high vocation as a serious trust, and
+earnestly desired the well-being of the people whom they ruled; and of
+an empire sadly torn by the dissensions amongst the various factions of
+prelates, princes, and cities, each of which followed its own special
+ends, regardless of the welfare of the empire as a whole. Desirous of
+drawing more closely together the various members of his kingdom, he
+sought to lighten his hold over the Swiss Confederation, the bonds
+between which and the empire lapse of time had loosened. He was at the
+same time hopeful that he might win Switzerland over for his Italian
+schemes. He first invited, and then ordered the Eidgenossen to acquiesce
+in the new constitution (1495), and to join the Swabian Bund, a league
+formed by the nobility and the great cities, under the ægis of Austria.
+But this sacrifice of their freedom and independence did not at all suit
+the Swiss, and they flatly refused. They quite realized by this time
+that their own federal union was a much better guarantee of safety for
+them than the dubious assistance of party-torn Germany. Moreover they
+felt that the Reichstag, composed only of aristocratic elements, would
+ever fail to really represent and promote their republican and
+democratic interests. And besides, their strongest feelings were arrayed
+against Austria. The imperial crown had become almost hereditary in the
+Habsburg family, and to submit to imperial rule meant to the Swiss the
+loss of all the political freedom and advantages they had gained. Last,
+but not least, after the double-dealing of Frederick III. in the
+Burgundian wars, the Swiss could have but little confidence in imperial
+rulers. The position of the Eidgenossen was indeed much like that of the
+Americans three hundred years later. They refused allegiance to a
+government which placed burdens upon them, but in which they had little
+or no share. Maximilian threatened the Swiss with invasion, whilst his
+chancellor proposed to bring his pen to bear upon them. But a Swiss
+envoy replied to the monarch that he would be very ill-advised to start
+on such a venture, whilst to the chancellor he said, "Why, sir, should
+we fear your goose quills? We are known not to have feared your Austrian
+lances." For the first time, perhaps, the Swiss truly realized that they
+were in a singularly independent position, and needed no foreign support
+for their protection. The truant child had grown strong and
+self-reliant, and would certainly decline to give up his dearly-bought
+and much-cherished freedom.
+
+This stout refusal, the great friendship of the Swiss for France--for
+since the days of St. Jacques they had been slowly drifting to the
+French side--and their independent bearing, nettled beyond measure their
+Swabian neighbours. Mutual recriminations and accusations followed, and
+the desire of both sides for war was intensified by vexatious lawsuits,
+and by serious troubles in the Grisons. At last the flame burst forth.
+That "Rocky Island" where three Swiss nationalities mingle peacefully
+together, afraid of falling beneath the Habsburg sway--for the Austrian
+and Rhætian lands were still inextricably mixed together--sought shelter
+with the Eidgenossen as Zugewandte connections (1497 and 1498), the
+Zehngerichte excepted. The Tyrolese Government, seizing on this
+occurrence as a pretext, summoned the Swabian League to its aid, and
+sent troops into the Münsterthal in the absence of the monarch. The
+Bündner replied by calling in the Confederates, and war was soon raging
+along the whole line of the Rhine, from Basel to the borders of
+Voralberg and the Grisons. The deliverance of Rhætia (Graubünden) thus
+went step by step with the separation of the Swiss League from the
+empire. This war, called the Swabian war, from the people who took the
+most prominent part in it, glorious though it was in many ways, cannot
+be described in detail here. Maximilian was drawn into the struggle, but
+his troops never entered into the spirit of the enterprise, and were
+completely routed. No Swiss war has been more fruitful in glorious deeds
+and acts of self-sacrifice. As an example we may just allude to the
+noble courage of Benedict Fontana, the chieftain of the Gotteshausbund.
+He led the charge on the strong fortress deemed impregnable in the
+narrow valley, An der Calven (Chialavaina), on the Tyrolean frontier.
+Lacerated by a bullet he nevertheless covered his wounds with one hand,
+fighting with the other till he fell exhausted, calling to his troops,
+"Onward, comrades! I count but for one man; to-day we are Rhætians and
+allies, or nevermore!" Fired by his example, Von Planta and other noble
+leaders sacrificed themselves; the fort was taken, and the two leagues
+were rescued from the Austrian grip. The Swabian war had lasted for six
+months, the Swabians themselves had suffered reverses on ten occasions,
+whilst in only two cases had the Swiss been repulsed; the German
+territory beyond the Rhine had been wasted; two thousand villages and
+castles having been reduced, and twenty thousand of their soldiery
+killed. No wonder both the contending parties longed for peace, and this
+was secured by a treaty at Basel, September 22, 1499. The effect was the
+separation of the Swiss League from the empire, but this was understood
+rather than officially expressed. The Eidgenossen were released by the
+emperor from the Reichskamergericht, a step tantamount to acknowledging
+their independence. One hundred and fifty years later this independence
+was formally declared at the Peace of Westphalia. For a time, however,
+many curious anomalies continued; the Swiss still submitted their
+charters for the sovereign's approval, accepted patents of nobility, and
+so forth. But the late wars had again won for them the respect and
+admiration of many of their neighbours.
+
+[Illustration: CITY WALLS OF MURTEN.]
+
+Admission into the league was now requested by Basel and Schaffhausen,
+and their request was granted in 1501. Basel ranked as the ninth link of
+the federal chain, and thus took precedence of Freiburg and Solothurn,
+in acknowledgment of its high position and great merits. Basel had
+indeed advanced greatly in prosperity. She had opened her University in
+1460; her importance as an emporium was great; and she formed a fitting
+corner-stone in the West. She gloried in her union with the league and
+the protection it afforded her; and to show the perfect trust she felt,
+she dismissed all the guards at her gates, and placed in their stead an
+old woman with a distaff who, much to the annoyance of the neighbours,
+used to receive the tolls. Henceforward the Swabians and the Swiss were
+looked upon as distinct nationalities. Wurtemburg and Bavaria joined in
+union with the Swiss the very next year, and even Maximilian himself
+renewed his friendship with the Swiss states. "Could there be a greater
+compliment paid to the excellence of the Swiss Union," says a German
+historian, Uhlmann, "than this mark of confidence on the part of
+Maximilian?" After various refusals, and only after having qualified
+itself for taking its position, Appenzell was admitted into the federal
+fold December, 1513, despite the resistance of the Prince Abbot of St.
+Gall, as a member on equal terms, and the list of the XIII. Orte, or
+cantons, was complete, and remained closed for three centuries.
+
+The Italian wars which follow bear more or less the stamp of mercenary
+wars, and are interesting chiefly from a military point of view, only
+the essential points of their story will therefore be touched upon here.
+It has been shown how the league got a footing in Ticino under the
+Visconti;[44] and later on the Swiss not only strove to increase their
+acquisitions in Italy, but played a prominent part in the wars waged by
+foreign princes and powers which set up pretensions to Naples, Milan,
+&c.
+
+The period of the French invasion of Italy opened in 1494 when the Swiss
+assisted Charles VIII. of France in the conquest of Naples, which he
+claimed from the house of Aragon. His successor, Louis XII., took Milan
+from Ludovico Sforza, surnamed Il Moro, with the aid of the Swiss,
+promising to cede Bellinzona to the Swiss as a reward for their
+services. Of the numerous enemies he raised up against himself the
+bitterest was Pope Julius II., who counted on the help of the
+Eidgenossen in the task of driving the French from Italy, and the more
+so as he discovered amongst them a fit instrument for carrying out his
+schemes. Matthæus Schinner, a priest, was a most remarkable man. Born of
+the poorest of parents, in the Upper Valais, he had in early life sung
+in the streets for bread. From this humble origin he had raised himself
+to the position of Cardinal, and had become an intimate friend of the
+Pontiff. Having money, indulgences, and power liberally at command, he
+brought about a five years' alliance between the Papal See and
+Switzerland. The Swiss readily entered into this agreement, as they had
+been slighted by Louis, and, moreover, their contract with France had
+expired in 1510. Spain, England, and other powers, had likewise entered
+into league with Pope Julius, but his chief supporters were the Swiss.
+In their march through Lombardy, against the French (1512), Pavia
+surrendered, and Milan also fell to the victors. Zwingli, the reformer,
+who had been present in the campaign as camp-preacher, reports that it
+was curious to see the ambassadors of great powers appearing at the
+Tagsatzung held at Baden to decide on the fate of Milan, and pleading
+with the Eidgenossen for a greater or less share of the duchy.[45]
+Despite all flatteries, the Swiss envoys reinstated Maximilian Sforza in
+his heritage, and in return for this they received Lugano, Locarno, &c.
+
+The attempt of Louis to re-conquer Milan miscarried. His fine army,
+commanded by the greatest generals of the age, Trémouille and Trivulzio,
+was defeated at Novara in 1513. This siege surpassed all the Swiss had
+yet gone through, yet they left open the gates, and in derision hung
+linen before the breaches. Foreign historians compared this battle with
+the greatest victories of the Greeks and Romans. The historian,
+Machiavelli, prophesied that the Swiss would one day acquire the
+leadership of Italy, but that was not to be, however.
+
+[Illustration: FREIBURG CUSTOM-HOUSE.]
+
+On the accession of Francis I., that youthful and ambitious prince
+wished to signalize the opening of his reign by the recovery of Milan.
+Anxious to have Switzerland neutral he made overtures, which were
+rejected. But intrigues amongst the Swiss and dissensions among their
+allies worked in his favour, and Bern, Freiburg, and Solothurn, accepted
+a peace against the interests of Switzerland, and their men returned
+home. Cardinal Schinner, strongly averse to the French, by a false
+report that the enemy was at the gate, brought up in wild haste the
+Eidgenossen, who had been wavering hitherto. The Swiss followed their
+leader who was mounted on his horse, his purple cloak streaming in the
+wind, and came up with the enemy at Marignano (the modern Malegnano)
+September 13, 1515. A terrific struggle ensued, abating only when the
+moon went down at midnight. Trivulzio had cut his way through the force
+with his sword. Bayard, the "Chevalier _sans peur et sans reproche_,"
+for the first time in his life fled. At dawn the Swiss renewed to the
+attack. Their fortunes fluctuated till noon, when the cries of "San
+Marco!" announced the approach of the Venetians. These appeared to be
+about to cut off retreat, and the plain on which the Swiss stood being
+now under water--for the French had broken down the dykes of the
+Lambro--the Eidgenossen were compelled to retire. This they did in
+perfect order, carrying with them their wounded, and retaining their
+guns and banners. They were, indeed, rather foiled than defeated, and
+Francis, full of admiration for the Swiss, forbade his troops to pursue.
+Trivulzio declared that the eighteen battles he had previously witnessed
+were but child's play to that of Marignano.
+
+In the November of the following year (1516) an "eternal peace" was
+concluded between France and the Swiss, and this drew Switzerland closer
+to her powerful neighbour. The material results of the war were the
+acquisition of Ticino (which was admitted a canton in 1805), and of
+Valtellina and Chiavenna. This defeat was a turning-point in Swiss
+history, establishing as it did the supremacy of France. The part they
+had hitherto played in European politics had come to an end, and the
+ascendency they had so long maintained as a leading military power had
+been strangely shattered. A decline was clearly inevitable.
+
+A few words may be given here respecting the famous monastery of St.
+Gall. The cloisters of St. Gall shed a bright lustre on Swabian lands
+during its best period, from 800 to 1050 A.D. This famous
+religious-house was a centre of art and high culture, and was a blessing
+to the whole country. We can but allude to some of its famous monks,
+such as the Notkers, Ekkehard, Rabbert, and so forth; many famous as
+poets, musicians, savants, historians, and teachers of the very highest
+rank. In the noted school attached to the monastery there resided and
+were educated some three hundred sons of the German and Helvetic
+nobility. The discipline kept up was most severe. A story runs that King
+Conrad I., on a visit to the institution, wished to put this to the
+test, and caused to be scattered under the school benches a basketful of
+fine apples. Not a single scholar touched the fruit, and, to reward them
+for this very remarkable self-restraint, Conrad gave the youths three
+holidays. But the number of anecdotes attaching to this magnificent
+institution is endless.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[43] Maximilian, however, lies buried at Wiener (Vienna) Neustadt. The
+monument at Innsbruck was planned by the emperor himself, though it took
+some generations to execute the work (1509-83). Twenty of the relievi
+were the work of Colin of Mecheln, and excited the admiration of
+Thorwaldsen even. The whole monument is highly interesting from both an
+artistic and an historical point of view. Among the bronze figures that
+of King Arthur is the most exquisite, and is by the famous Peter
+Vischer.
+
+[44] See p. 187.
+
+[45] "Here you might observe men's disposition," he writes, "caution,
+and cunning. They strive to puzzle one another with the view of drawing
+advantage from the confusion. They pretend to one thing, but hope to get
+another."
+
+
+
+
+XXI.
+
+THE GREAT COUNCILS; THE LANDSGEMEINDE AND TAGSATZUNG, OR DIET;
+LITERATURE IN THE HEROIC AGE.
+
+
+Perhaps no better place than this can be found for discussing the
+constitutional affairs of the enlarged Bund. A description of the
+_rouage administratif_ of each of the thirteen republics would be far
+too tedious to the reader, and we shall therefore treat them
+collectively as far as possible. The cantons naturally split into two
+divisions, those _à Grand Conseil_, and the cantons _à Landsgemeinde_,
+the latter including the country republics, the three Waldstätten,
+Glarus, Appenzell, and Zug.
+
+[Illustration: SARNEN, BERN.]
+
+We have seen in the case of Zurich how her council sprang into existence
+and became the chief corner-stone of her constitutional freedom, after
+she had been for generations dependent on an abbey. In this latter
+respect Zurich but resembles Lucerne, Solothurn, Geneva, and others,
+which went through similar phases of development. Bern, however,
+received the stamp of independence at her very birth--in the very
+charter of liberties involved in her foundation--and her history ran
+more smoothly. Her government at once took an aristocratic tinge, a
+close corporation of dominant families ruling; and in this respect she
+resembled somewhat mighty Venice. In the eighteenth century these ruling
+families numbered 360, and kept at arm's length, as it were, the
+craftsmen, who, however, were not entirely excluded from a share in the
+government. Vast personal property and additional domains acquired by
+conquest formed the chief source of the power of Bern, and brought in a
+great income to the patricians. Rule, domination, statecraft, became the
+chief concern of the Bernese aristocracy, whilst in Lucerne, Solothurn,
+and Freiburg, the government was, if possible, still more aristocratic
+than that of Bern, and in all these cases was presided over by a
+Schultheiss, or Mayor. In the Zurich republic a more democratic spirit
+was found, and the inhabitants were given to industrial and intellectual
+pursuits rather than to rule and conquest. Her trade was considerable,
+and her constitution had done away with the prerogatives of the
+nobility. Owing to these things the way was opened for her burghers into
+the government, and there sprang up an ambition among the craftsmen to
+rise in the social scale. Zurich is the prototype of the Geneva of the
+eighteenth century, the two cities greatly resembling each other in
+their tendencies and movements, religious and political. At Geneva the
+craftsmen, occupying the _bas de la ville_, by their energy struggled to
+the _haut de la ville_, or quarter of the privileged classes. All
+authority was vested in the two councils--the "Grosse Rath," a sort of
+legislative body numbering one hundred or two hundred members; and the
+"Kleine Rath," a select committee of the former, consisting of from
+twenty-five to thirty-six members, in whom rested the executive and
+judicial power. In the liberal cantons the Burgomaster presided. The
+Council, however, encroached upon the rights of the people at large, and
+deprived them of direct influence in the management of affairs. Basel
+and Schaffhausen followed in the track of Zurich. Genuine democracies
+represent the cantons _à Landsgemeinde_. The government embodied the
+will of a sovereign people, and from its very antiquity commands our
+veneration and deserves special attention. To time immemorial the
+ancient custom goes back. It was known amongst the Greeks, and we meet
+with it in the "Volksversammlung" of the early German tribes--the
+gathering of a whole people around their king to administer justice or
+decide issues of peace or war. These assemblies sprang up again in the
+thirteenth century, in the Forest Cantons, but now became political
+meetings, from the necessity of guarding against a common foe. The rule
+by Landsgemeinde was adopted by eleven Alpine districts, of which two,
+Gersau and Urseren, were almost microscopical. Five of these were swept
+away, Schwyz amongst the number. Of these we shall not speak. Yet the
+hoary and patriarchal custom still lingers on in some of the secluded
+Alpine nooks, favoured by the isolation of the place, and the _génie
+conservateur_ innate in the Alpine folk. Unable, however, to clearly
+understand the ancient Landsgemeinde except by reference to the present
+age, we prefer to draw the reader's attention to the living spring, the
+sacred spot where he can "look face to face on freedom in its purest and
+most ancient form"--to quote Freeman's fine words--a heart-stirring
+sight to witness.
+
+[Illustration: CITY WALLS OF LUCERNE.]
+
+The last Sunday in April is the date usually fixed for the holding of
+the Landsgemeinde. The gatherings all bear a general resemblance to each
+other, yet each shows the influence of the locality, the religion, or
+the industrial pursuits of the people. But whether we see the meeting in
+Protestant and manufacturing Glarus, in Catholic and conservative
+Unterwalden, or in picturesque Sarnen, the scene is one never to be
+forgotten. Dressed in their Sunday best, and wearing the sword, the
+badge of freedom--so orders the ancient ritual--the ardent burghers
+flock to the national ring, or forum, to discharge their civic duties.
+After early morning service, and a grand parade of Landammann and staff,
+halberdiers, troops, and bands of music, the Landsgemeinde opens at
+eleven with a religious ceremony. At Trogen the hymn, "All life flows
+from Thee," is sung by ten thousand voices, and, at the call of the
+Landammann, the vast crowd falls down in silent prayer. The effect is
+grand and solemn. An address by the Landammann follows, and then the
+business of the day is entered upon. The inspection of the yearly
+accounts, the election of magistrates and officials, amendment of
+existing laws and the promulgation of new ones, are the chief items on
+the agenda list. All the officers, from the Landammann himself down to
+the humblest public servant, are subject to yearly election, though in
+the case of the chief man re-election usually takes place for many
+years. There are indeed regular dynasties of Landammanns, so to speak,
+for the office may remain in the same family for many generations.
+Assent to a proposal is given by holding up the right hand, and this the
+crowd does with great eagerness. The list of candidates is drawn up by
+the Landsgemeinde, but, strange to say, free discussion on proposed
+reforms and new laws is permitted only at Glarus. The question is
+discussed beforehand by the Landrath, a legislative body elected by the
+parish. "De minoribus rebus principes consultant, de majoribus omnes,"
+writes Tacitus of the German Volksgemeinde, and the words apply almost
+equally well here. The Landsgemeinde is, in fact, the supreme court,
+which approves or annuls. So recently as the spring of 1888, for
+instance, Urseren was deprived of its autonomy and joined to the Canton
+of Uri, by order of the Landsgemeinde. And at Sarnen the revision of the
+constitution was agreed to at the open and general meeting. The election
+of the Waibel, or Summoner, gives rise to much amusement, for in him the
+chief requisite is strength of lungs, he being the mouthpiece of the
+Landammann. The installation of the Landammann himself is the closing
+scene, and the most impressive one. Slowly and solemnly he takes the
+oath of fidelity to the constitution, and the people in return pledge
+themselves to stand by the leader. With hands uplifted the vast crowd
+repeats the phrases word by word as they are spoken by the Landammann.
+This mutual engagement between leader and people--their hearts filled
+with the sacredness of the moment, and their voices swelling into one
+grand roll--is almost overwhelming in its touching simplicity and
+fervour. That the custom has maintained itself with but minor changes
+through so many centuries answers for the admirable stability of the
+people, and the suitableness of the _régime_ itself.
+
+The common tie that bound together the thirteen autonomous states into
+one was the Diet or Tagsatzung. It met at one or other of the chief
+towns--Zurich, Lucerne, Bern, Baden, and so forth. Each canton was, as a
+rule, allowed one representative, and any one of the cantons could
+summon a meeting, though this was generally done by the Vorort or
+_canton directeur_--a position usually held by Zurich--whose member
+likewise presided. The various cantons joined in the discussions
+according to their rank and the order of their admission to the league.
+This will be made clearer by the accompanying list. The Boten, or
+envoys, not being plenipotentiaries, would post to and fro between their
+governments and the Diet, to report progress and receive instructions.
+As the proceedings were in later times committed to writing, we have
+extant a most valuable series of records called Abschiede (= leave or
+_congé_). Held at first but once a year, the Diet occasionally met as
+many as fifty times in the course of the twelvemonth, whilst a single
+session would last sometimes for several weeks. At one period the
+meetings became international congresses, at which the most important
+questions were deliberated. But, in truth, the Diet, down to its
+extinction in 1848, never again during its long existence exerted the
+vast influence it had in its brilliant fifteenth-century period. Yet
+despite its many defects, and its slow and round-about way of doing
+business, the Tagsatzung worked successfully--far more so indeed than
+did the German Government.
+
+A short sketch of the intellectual and literary life of the heroic
+period may here be given. It is clear at the outset that an epoch so
+largely given over to warfare and political progress would not be likely
+to produce much meditative or reflective poetry. "The clash of arms
+frightens the Muses," says an old proverb. (An exception must, however,
+be usually made in the case of the peaceful and sheltered cloister.) Yet
+this active and stirring period brought forth much national literature.
+Throughout we find singers who in verse or prose chant the national
+glory, and no episode of importance is without its poetic chronicle or
+interpretation; the national enthusiasm vents itself in war-song, in
+satire, in mock-heroics, or in rhyming chronicle. Wandering poets living
+on the scanty proceeds of their _lieder_; craftsmen who have taken up
+the sword; soldiers by profession--these are the bards of the time.
+Rugged and unpolished sometimes are their verses, for the Middle German
+is in a transition state, and poetry has long since left courts and
+descended among the people. In Germany, as everybody knows, had formed
+the body of the _Meistersinger_. The historical "Folk songs"
+(_Volkslieder_) are the overflowing of a nation's heart stirred to its
+depths by the thrilling scenes around it, and they are the true
+expression of the temper of the time. We need only allude to the songs
+inspired by Sempach and Naefels, and the fiery song of Morat by Veit
+Weber, an Alsacian, who fought in the Swiss ranks filled with patriotic
+enthusiasm. Lucerne, too, has brought forth many poets--Auer, Wick,
+Viol, Birkes, and others--who sang the glory of the great wars. A song
+and a play dealing with Tell appeared about this time.
+
+Along with the poet the chronicler springs up, and numerous instances of
+this class are met with. At Bern we find Justinger (1420), the first to
+draw historical knowledge from the _Volkslieder_, Diebold Schilling
+(1484), and Anshelm; at Schwyz, John Fründ; at Lucerne, Melchior Russ,
+Diebold Schilling, the chaplain, whose account of the meeting at Stanz
+is most trustworthy, Petermann Etterlin, and Nicolas Schradin; at
+Zurich, Gerold Edlibach, the noble knights Strettlinger of Bern, who
+wrote the chronicles bearing their name, and the author of the "White
+Book of Sarnen," complete the list. The "White Book" is much referred to
+by modern writers. The most brilliant annalist perhaps is Tschudi, of
+whom mention was made in the chapter on the foundation of the league.
+Biassed as the writers often are--nothing else can be expected from the
+times--their records bear witness to the national spirit of the Swiss,
+and to the intellectual revival taking place. The first Helvetian
+typography was produced by Albert von Bonnstetten, a Zurich nobleman,
+and Dean of Einsiedeln, and one of the chief scholars of his age. He
+gave a trustworthy account of Nicolas von der Flüe, and the Burgundian
+wars. Another great scholar was his friend Nicolas von Wyl, a nobleman
+of Aargau.
+
+The revival of letters introduced into the subtle scholasticism of the
+time a world of new thoughts, learning, and refined literary
+tastes--_humanismus_ as the Germans so expressively call it. Nicolas von
+Wyl is one of the oldest German-Swiss humanists. He extended the Italian
+Renaissance to his native soil by his masterly translations of Petrarch,
+Boccaccio, Poggio, and others. Æneas Sylvius, the elegant poet,
+novelist, and orator, who rose to the Papal dignity as Pius II., would
+have had the world forget his fascinating but worldly writings.
+"Rejicite Æneam, suscipite Pium," was his request. For twenty years
+Æneas had laboured to bring classical culture to barbarian Germany. His
+earliest pupil, Von Wyl,[46] became a great favourite at the German
+courts, and with the literary circle which the highly-cultivated Duchess
+of Wurtemberg gathered around her. Von Wyl translated some of the Latin
+works of Felix Malleolus, his friend and benefactor; for instance, his
+biting satire on the idle Lollards and "Beghards." He died at Zurich.
+
+But if the courts and the nobles promoted the growth of the New
+Learning, the universities were its chief support. That of Basel was
+opened in 1460, under the auspices of Pius II. (Æneas Sylvius), who
+granted its foundation charter. It rapidly gathered within its walls
+some of the brightest minds of the day, amongst whom we need only
+mention the world-famed Erasmus and Zwingli the reformer.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[46] Prof. Bächtold's "Swiss-German Literature."
+
+
+
+
+XXII.
+
+THE REFORMATION IN GERMAN SWITZERLAND.
+
+(1484-1531.)
+
+
+The age of the Renaissance ushered in a century of intellectual
+revolution, and wrought remarkable changes in art, in science, in
+literature, in religion, and in every department of human life and
+energy. The space at our disposal will permit us to touch only on one of
+these developments, the religious. But the varying history of religious
+movement well-nigh fills up the sixteenth century. The revival of
+learning quickened the spirit of the Reformation, though most of the
+savants disapproved of the movement, as in the case of Erasmus and
+Glarean, a famous Swiss scholar. But whilst Luther's training was
+monastic rather than scholarly, and whilst he was, if anything, opposed
+to the New Learning, the great Swiss reformer was a scholar of the first
+order, who drew his profound and liberal ideas from his study of the
+classics. And it is a curious and noteworthy fact that with the spread
+of letters in Switzerland, there started up on its soil a host of men
+of parts[47] who, forming a school of disciples, as it were, espoused
+the cause of their great leader, Zwingli, and promoted it, each in his
+own canton. This is one peculiarity of the Swiss Reformation.
+
+The degeneracy of the Church passed all belief, and was, as every one
+knows, the primary and chief cause of the Reformation on the Continent;
+but in Switzerland there was yet another cause, quite as important,
+which gave an impulse to the movement--the calamitous consequences of
+the mercenary wars, touched upon in previous chapters. Foreign pay had
+irresistible attractions for captain and man alike, and the country was
+constantly being drained of its stoutest arms and bravest hearts. It was
+difficult to over-estimate the baneful effects of this practice on the
+national welfare, and, of all the noble men who deplored these results,
+none felt it like Ulrich Zwingli. An enthusiastic scholar, a gifted
+preacher, a zealous patriot, and a remarkably able politician, he
+devoted his life to the work of rescuing his people and country from
+their moral decline. This he proposed to effect by the working of the
+Divine Word. Luther left the knotty skein of politics to his princely
+friends to unravel, but Zwingli, on the contrary, shrank from no
+political difficulties, encumbrances, or complications. To his clear and
+far-seeing mind social and political reform was inseparably bound up
+with religious change and progress. The one would be of but little avail
+without the other, and the great object of his life became the total
+regeneration of the commonwealth--church and state both.
+
+[Illustration: ULRICH ZWINGLI.
+
+(_After Asper._)]
+
+Ulrich Zwingli was born at Wildhaus, among the song-loving Toggenburger,
+in the canton of St. Gall, January 1, 1484. The talented youth was
+destined for the Church by his father, a highly-respected magistrate,
+and was sent to school at Basel, and afterwards studied at Bern. Here
+sprang up his enthusiasm for classical studies under the famous Lupulus,
+whilst the friars were so struck with his musical talents that they
+tried hard to keep him in the cloisters. However, in 1500 he left for
+the University of Vienna, and two years later we find him established as
+Latin teacher at Basel and a student of the university there. Steeped in
+the New Learning his attention was now drawn to scriptural studies by
+the enlightened Wittenbach. At Basel, too, he formed a friendship with
+the famed Erasmus. Obtaining the degree of _magister philosophiæ_, in
+1506, he was nominated pastor at Glarus, and with regret tore himself
+away from that seat of learning. During his ten years' ministry at
+Glarus (a Landsgemeinde canton) his natural taste and talent for
+politics were brought into play. And though he founded a Latin school
+for clever youths, and pursued his own studies vigorously, and kept up a
+vast correspondence with Erasmus, Glarean, and other noted scholars, he
+was no mere pedant or bookworm, but took a profound interest in the
+political life of that stirring age. Twice he accompanied the men of
+Glarus on their Italian expedition as field chaplain, but though he
+naturally rejoiced at the glory their arms acquired, yet his eyes became
+fully opened to the disastrous results of the mercenary wars. His direct
+and unsparing attacks on the _Reislaufen_ and foreign pension system
+roused such a storm against him that he was forced to take refuge at
+Einsiedeln, 1516. His two years' quiet retreat in the famous abbey
+afforded him a glimpse of the flagrant abuses rife in the Church. At
+first he appealed to the dignitaries of the Church to remedy the evils,
+but at length, driven no doubt by the sight of the superstitions around
+him, he introduced those sweeping measures of reform which did away with
+every vestige of Romanism that remained in the evangelical church.
+Preaching to the thousands who flocked to the wonder-working image of
+the Virgin, his sermons, full of force, novelty, and pithy eloquence,
+rapidly spread abroad his fame. He became friendly with other scholars
+and religious reformers. Rome made him tempting offers with the view of
+drawing him away from Switzerland and his life-work, but resisting all
+her persuasion, he accepted a call to Zurich, as _plebanus_ at the
+Minster, December, 1518. Zurich was the foremost town of the
+Confederation, but was justly reputed a dissolute city, not unlike the
+then Geneva. Its enlightened Council saw in Zwingli a spirited leader.
+
+His opening sermon, on New Year's Day, 1519, stirred his hearers in a
+marvellous way, and at once stamped him as an evangelical reformer of no
+common type. He briefly sketched out the plan by which he proposed to be
+guided in his future sermons. His subjects would be drawn from the
+Bible only,[48] especially from the New Testament, and he would follow
+the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and not human direction. So profound
+was the impression made by his impassioned and eloquent words that some
+of the listeners declared him to be a "new Moses who had arisen to save
+his people from spiritual bondage." The learned Platter writes that
+during the sermon he "felt himself lifted off the ground by his hair."
+The very first year of Zwingli's ministry at Zurich, two thousand souls
+were "saved by the milk of the Holy Gospel." And his practical goodness
+of heart was attested by his assiduous attention to the sick during the
+plague of 1519, in which he was himself stricken and brought very near
+to death. Three hymns composed during this trying time reveal his entire
+resignation and calm trust in God. Although he fiercely opposed the sale
+of indulgences there were no thunderings against him from the Vatican,
+such as were hurled against Luther.[49] The Eidgenossen, being useful to
+the Papal See, was rather indulged; it was even intimated to the Diet
+that they should send back from Bern Friar Bernhard Samson, who was
+preaching with great effect there, should he prove obnoxious. With
+unflagging zeal and courage Zwingli followed his ideal in politics,
+viz., to rear a republic on the type of the Greek free states of old,
+with perfect national independence. Thanks to his influence Zurich in
+1521 abolished _Reislaufen_, and the system of foreign pay. This step,
+however, brought down on the head of Zurich the wrath of the twelve
+sister republics, which had just signed a military contract with Francis
+I. Zwingli addressed to Schwyz a "Holy Exhortation" to serve neither
+Pope nor Emperor; his exhortation, however, served only to increase the
+number of his political foes.[50] Relying rather on reason than on
+force, he prepared the way for his reforms with singular moderation and
+forbearance.
+
+It was only in 1522 that he began to launch pamphlets against the abuses
+in the Church-fasting, celibacy of the clergy, and the like. On the 29th
+of January, 1523, Zwingli obtained from the Council of Zurich the
+opening of a public religious discussion in presence of the whole of the
+clergy of the canton, and representatives of the Bishop of Constance,
+whose assistance in the debate the Council had invited. In sixty-seven
+theses remarkable for their penetration and clearness he sketched out
+his confession of faith and plan of reform, and utterly confounded all
+objections of his opponents by showing the conformity of his theses with
+the Holy Scriptures. On the 25th of October, 1523, a second discussion
+initiated the practical consequences of the reformed doctrine--the
+abrogation of the mass and image worship. Zwingli's system was virtually
+that of Calvin, but was conceived in a broader spirit, and carried out
+later on in a far milder manner by Bullinger. To enter into a full
+comparison of the two systems would, however, be out of place here. The
+Council gave the fullest approval to the Reformation.
+
+In 1524 Zwingli married Anne Reinhard, the widow of a Zurich nobleman
+(Meyer von Knonau), and so discarded the practice of celibacy obtaining
+amongst priests. She made him an excellent wife and help-mate, and bore
+him four children. The reformer's skill in music was often brought to
+bear on his children when they were inclined to be unruly; he would
+soothe them into peace and quietness by his performances on the lute or
+other instrument. To his stepson Gerald Meyer he was an excellent
+father. Tall, with grave but winning features, with a kind and generous
+heart and winning manner, Zwingli's personality was most fascinating. A
+scholar but no pedant, a plain but vigorous speaker, of sound and
+practical judgment, with vast stores of learning, and an unusual
+elevation of mind, he was also broadminded and compassionate. It may be
+mentioned that he provided on Ufenau Island in Zurich lake a last asylum
+for Ulrich von Hutten, who had been rejected by Erasmus and driven from
+Germany.
+
+In 1524 Zwingli began to effect the most sweeping changes with the view
+of overthrowing the whole fabric of mediæval superstition. In the
+direction of reform he went far beyond Luther, who had retained oral
+confession, altar pictures, &c. The introduction of his reforms in
+Zurich called forth but little opposition. True, there were the risings
+of the Anabaptists but these were the same everywhere, and the revolt
+of the peasants was a general feature of the time.[51] Pictures and
+images were removed from the churches, under government direction, and
+nothing was left to distract men's attention, for Zwingli aimed at the
+re-establishment of the primitive Christianity in its pure, simple, and
+biblical form. The Holy Scriptures, expounded by the elect ministers of
+God, were to be men's highest guide and support. At the
+Landgemeinden,[52] called for the purpose, the people gave an
+enthusiastic assent to his doctrines, and declared themselves ready "to
+die for the gospel truth." Thus a national Church was established,
+severed from the diocese of Constance, and placed under the control of
+the Council of Zurich and a clerical synod. The convents were turned
+into schools, hospitals, and poor-houses. The famous Chorherrenstift,
+founded by the Carolingians, was turned into a University College,
+continuing to be called the Carolinum. This lasted till 1832, when it
+was formed into the University and Gymnasium of our own days. Zwingli
+was elected rector, and lectured on theology. He was also devoted to the
+study of Greek, and on New Year's Day, 1531, had a splendid performance
+of one of the plays of Aristophanes, for which he himself wrote the
+accompanying music, grave statesmen joining the professors and students
+in the representation. Zwingli was now, indeed, the idol of the people,
+and wielded the sceptre in his little state. Under him Zurich became a
+centre of learning and religious enlightenment, and its influence spread
+over other Swiss lands, South Germany and elsewhere.
+
+The reformed faith penetrated, but only gradually, into the northern and
+eastern cantons. Bern was reached in 1528, after a brilliant disputation
+held in that city. Basel and Schaffhausen followed in 1529, and then St.
+Gall, Appenzell, Graubünden, and Solothurn, though some of them had
+serious struggles within themselves and fell in only partly with the
+reforms. But in the Central or Forest Cantons it was that the fiercest
+opposition was encountered. Many things combined to produce this result.
+In the first place, the district was a very stronghold of Catholic and
+Conservative feeling, and religion was entwined with the fond memories
+of a glorious past. From the very simplicity of their lives the people
+ignored the degeneracy of the priesthood, and amongst these pastoral
+peoples the priests were of simpler manners and more moral life than
+those in the cities; they disliked learning and enlightenment.
+
+Then there was the old feeling of antipathy to the cities, coupled with
+a strong dislike for the reforms which had abolished _Reislaufen_, that
+standing source of income to the cantons. Lucerne, bought with French
+gold, struggled with Zurich for the lead. So far was the opposition
+carried that the Catholic districts by a majority of votes insisted (at
+the Diet) on a measure for suppressing heresy in Zurich, whilst some
+were for expelling that canton from the league. The Forest Cantons
+issued orders that Zwingli should be seized should he be found within
+their territories; consequently he kept away from the great convocation
+at Baden, 1526. Serious collisions arose, but it is impossible to dwell
+on them here.
+
+Wider and wider grew the chasm between the two religious parties, and
+Zwingli at length formed a "Christian League" between the Swiss
+Protestants and some of the German cities and the Elector of Hesse. On
+the other hand, the Catholics entered into an alliance with Ferdinand of
+Austria, a determined enemy to the reformed religion. At last the
+Protestant party was exasperated beyond bearing, and Zurich declared war
+on the Forest Cantons, Zwingli himself joining in the vicissitudes of
+the campaign. His camp presented the "picture of a well-organized,
+God-fearing army of a truly Puritan stamp." The encounter at Kappel, in
+June, 1529, however, took a peaceful turn, thanks to the mediation of
+Landammann Aebli, of Glarus, greatly to the disgust of Zwingli, who
+prophetically exclaimed that some day the Catholics would be the
+stronger party, and then they would not show so much moderation. All
+ill-feeling, indeed, subsided when the two armies came within sight of
+each other. The curious and touching episode known as the _Kappeler
+Milchsuppe_ took place here. A band of jolly Catholics had got hold of a
+large bowl of milk, but lacking bread they placed it on the boundary
+line between Zug and Zurich. At once a group of Zurich men turned up
+with some loaves, and presently the whole party fell to eating the
+_Milchsuppe_ right merrily. A peace was concluded on the 29th of June,
+1529, by which the Austrian League was dissolved, and freedom of
+worship granted to all.
+
+Zwingli's closing years were devoted to vast schemes of European policy.
+With the view of forming a strong alliance of the Swiss Protestants with
+foreign powers favouring the reformed faith, and in opposition to the
+emperor Charles V., he entered into negotiations with France, with some
+of the German states, with the Venetian republic, and others. His plans
+were too bold and sweeping to be practical, and came to nought. His
+relations with Luther claim special attention, however. By his treatise,
+"De verâ et falsâ religione" (1525), Zwingli had, though unwillingly,
+thrown the gauntlet into the Wittenberg camp. The work was
+intended to be a scientific refutation of the Catholic doctrine of
+transubstantiation, and a war of words arose. The contest was by each
+disputant carried on _suo more_ by Luther with his usual authoritative
+and tempestuous vehemence, by Zwingli in his own cool reasoning,
+dignified, and courteous style and republican frankness. Presently there
+came a strong desire for a union between the German _Protestants_, and
+the Swiss _Reformers_--the two were thus distinguished--the impulse to
+it being given by Charles V.'s "Protest" against the Protestants.
+Landgrave Philip of Hesse, the political leader of the German reformers,
+invited Luther and Zwingli to meet at his castle of Marburg, with the
+view of reconciling the two sections. The religious _colloquium_ was
+attended by many savants, princes, nobles, and all the chief leaders of
+the Reformation, and might have done great things, but came to grief
+through the obstinacy of Luther, as is well known, or rather through his
+determination to approve of no man's views except they should agree
+exactly with his own. Luther insisted on a literal interpretation of the
+words "This is my body," whilst Zwingli saw in them only a metaphorical
+or symbolical signification. Zwingli's logic and cool, clear reasoning
+were acknowledged to be superior to those of his opponent, but Luther
+demanded complete submission. The conference, in short, resulted in
+nothing, and nearly ended in an open rupture between the two leaders.
+Zwingli extended his hand in token of friendship and goodwill, but
+Luther refused it. The truth was the two men looked at the matter from
+quite different points of view. With Luther religion was almost wholly a
+thing of a mystic basis, a creed of the heart--of feeling--whilst
+Zwingli, required his reason to be satisfied. The one wrestled in agony
+of soul with the spirits of darkness; the other looked to the Divine,
+all-embracing love under which all creation rests in trust and
+happiness, and under which all men are brothers, children of one
+all-kind Father.
+
+To return for a moment to home politics. The peace of 1529 was a
+short-lived one. Zwingli anxious only to spread the reformed faith over
+the whole republic did not realize clearly the hatred of the Forest
+district against the new creed. Then there were faults on both
+sides--the Zwinglian party and the Waldstätten--but the history of them
+is too long and too trifling to be given here. Not the least of the
+mistakes, however, was made by Zwingli himself, in claiming well-nigh
+absolute power for the two chief reformed cities, Zurich and Bern.
+Again, the refusal of the Waldstätten to assist Graubünden against an
+Italian invasion was looked upon with grave suspicion, and caused much
+ill-feeling against them. War was imminent, and was indeed eagerly
+desired on _both_ sides. Bern, finding that war was likely to be
+injurious to her private ends insisted on a stoppage of mercantile
+traffic between the opposing districts,[53] but Zwingli scorned to use
+such a means to hunger the enemy and so bring them to submit. However
+Zurich was outvoted in the Christian League (May 16th), and the Forest
+was excluded from the markets of that city and Bern. The rest may be
+easily guessed. On Zurich was turned all the fury of the famished Forest
+men, and they sent a challenge in October, 1531. A second time the
+hostile armies met at Kappel, but the positions were reversed. Zurich
+was unprepared to meet a foe four times as numerous as her own, and Bern
+hesitated to come to her aid. However Göldlin, the captain of the little
+force, recklessly engaged with the opposing army, whether from treachery
+or incapacity is not known, but he was certainly opposed to the reformed
+faith. Zwingli had taken leave of his friend Bullinger, as though
+foreseeing his own death in the coming struggle, and had joined the
+Zurich force. He was with the chief banner, and, with some five hundred
+of his overmatched comrades, fell in the thickest of the battle. Amongst
+the slain were most of the foremost men of the city, councillors,
+clergy, Zwingli's friends and relations. Amongst these last was his
+beloved stepson who had been fighting by his side. A canon of Zug,
+seeing Zwingli's body, burst into tears, crying, "Whatever thy faith, I
+know thou hast been a brave Eidgenosse." According to the barbarous
+custom of the time the body was quartered, then burnt, and scattered to
+the winds. And the terrible disaster which befell Zurich was followed
+soon after by another.
+
+But the reformation was far too deeply rooted to be thus destroyed.
+Bullinger, the friend of Zwingli, and, later on, of Calvin, worthily
+succeeded to the headship of the Zurich reformers. Keeping clear of
+politics, for which he had no propensity, he concentrated his attention
+on the perfecting of the Zwinglian ecclesiastical system; working for
+strict morality without narrowness of mind, for national independence,
+for inquiring after light and truth, and for true piety combined with
+benevolence and charity. Zwingli had made mistakes of policy, but his
+devotion to his cause, his self-abnegation, and his tragic death, made
+full reparation for them.
+
+At Solothurn Catholicism again got the upper hand, and the reformers had
+to leave. Intestine feuds were breaking out, and indeed the first shot
+had actually been fired, when the noble-minded Schultheiss, Nicolas von
+Wengi, a Catholic, threw himself before the mouth of a cannon, and
+exclaimed, "If the blood of the burghers is to be spent, let mine be the
+first!" Wengi's party at once desisted from the attack, and matters were
+settled amicably.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[47] A mere list of names must suffice:--Lupulus, Wittenbach,
+Oecolompad, Vadian, Oeconomius, Collin, Myconius, Pellikan Platter,
+Glarean (the poet laureate crowned with the wreath by the Emperor Max).
+The savants at that time were wont to latinize their names in their
+enthusiasm for the classics.
+
+[48] It is necessary to bear in mind that at that time the Bible was
+well-nigh an unknown book to the common people. There were even to be
+found priests who neither possessed a copy of the Scriptures nor could
+have read it if they had.
+
+[49] On such good terms with the Pontiff was Zwingli that one of the
+Papal Legates sent his own doctor to attend him.
+
+[50] "It is meet that cardinals should wear red cloaks and hats," to
+quote one passage from the Exhortation; "if you shake them they drop
+crowns and ducats, but if you wring them there flows forth the blood of
+your fathers, your sons, and your brothers."
+
+[51] In Germany similar revolts took place, but Luther took no pains to
+appease the peasantry.
+
+[52] Landgemeinden or gatherings of the parishes, a mode of appealing to
+the people which became the prototype of the modern Referendum.
+
+[53] Traffic absolutely necessary to the Forest Cantons for supplying
+provisions.
+
+
+
+
+XXIII.
+
+THE REFORMATION IN WEST SWITZERLAND.
+
+(1530-1536.)
+
+
+The history of French Switzerland has not yet been touched upon, and
+that for good reasons. It is difficult to realize that down even to the
+sixteenth century the French Swiss were still languishing under the
+ancient forms of feudalism, and this at a time when their German
+brethren had long been enjoying the blessings of national independence,
+and had filled the world with their military renown. But, in truth, the
+French were slow to awaken to republican freedom, and looked to East
+Switzerland rather than to themselves for deliverance from political
+bondage. It is a remarkable fact that the Reformation was made but with
+the assistance of those skilled statesmen, the Bernese, the connecting
+link between the eastern portions of Switzerland and the isolated west.
+That Bern rightly calculated on benefiting by this junction is well
+known.
+
+[Illustration: MINSTER, BERN.
+
+(_From a Photograph._)]
+
+Before passing to the Reformation itself, however, we must give a slight
+sketch of the political condition at that time of Vaud and Geneva, with
+which alone we have here any concern. Neuchâtel still remained in
+reality a separate principality, though temporarily (1512-1529) under
+Swiss rule. Vaud had in its time seen many masters which may perhaps
+account for its backwardness in adopting home rule. Its natural beauty
+and enjoyable climate have made it coveted at all times, in ancient, in
+mediæval, and, as we shall see, even in modern times. At first a scene
+of turmoil and tumult caused by the quarrels of its powerful nobles, it
+sank beneath the sceptre of Savoy, Peter, the eminent prince of
+Savoy--surnamed the "Petit Charlemagne"--having succeeded in
+establishing his authority over the native nobility. Once joined to
+Savoy, the fortunes of Vaud naturally depended on those of the Savoy
+dynasty. Peter attempted to annex the bishopric of Lausanne, but
+failing, Vaud was torn asunder, and there existed side by side a
+spiritual and a temporal lordship. Of the two portions that under
+ecclesiastical sway enjoyed the less liberty. Lausanne was a place much
+frequented by pilgrims, and was a mart for indulgences, but it possessed
+not a vestige of autonomy. It lay "dormant at the base of its many
+churches." When in the fifteenth century the power of the House of Savoy
+declined, the Vaud country speedily fell into a condition of anarchy,
+the nobility at daggers drawn against the burghers, and the
+mountain-dwellers at deadly variance with the vine-tillers of the plain.
+But early in the sixteenth century Lausanne was stirred from its
+lethargy by the attempts of Charles III. of Savoy to obtain the
+overlordship of the city. Thus threatened, and torn by intestine
+quarrels, Vaud in its helplessness seemed to invite the interference of
+Bern in this affair, and that city on its part was only too glad of an
+occasion of interfering.
+
+Geneva was Vaud's companion in trouble, threatened by similar dangers,
+and torn by similar struggles. Here also the bishop was lord-paramount,
+but in this case the stout-hearted burghers had wrested from him a
+considerable amount of self-rule. Its inveterate enemy, too, was the
+Duke of Savoy. But the men of Geneva loved independence far too much to
+submit quietly to hostile aggressiveness and encroachment; for centuries
+even they had kept at bay the designing nobility. Yet at one time the
+Duke of Savoy had arrogated to himself the rights of vicedom, that is,
+temporal justice of the bishop as his vassal. Possessing thus temporal
+jurisdiction, _nomine episcopi_, over the city, he was anxious to annex
+it altogether. Geneva was almost entirely surrounded by Savoy territory.
+In the end Savoy arrogated to itself the right of appointing to the see,
+and its nominees were, it is needless to say, always members of its own
+house. Boys of twelve or fourteen, bastard sons even, were not
+unfrequently raised to the episcopal dignity. This did not add to the
+peacefulness of the district, and the adherents of the respective Savoy
+and Geneva factions went about armed to the teeth.
+
+The accession of Charles III. in 1504 opened for Geneva a period of
+struggle. Anxious to maintain its freedom against a crafty and malignant
+prince, and his creature, the base-born bishop, the city split into two
+parties, the patriotic _Eidguenots_, so called from their relying for
+assistance on the Swiss Confederation, and the Savoyards, who were
+nicknamed the Mamelukes (knaves). Something like half the population
+were Savoyards by birth. Among the patriot party we find the "Children
+of Geneva," a gay and somewhat noisy band of patriotic enthusiasts, who
+loved fighting and did not fear death. At the head stood Thilibert the
+witty hotspur, François Bonivard, Prior of St. Victor, and a noteworthy
+Geneva chronicler, and Hugues Besançon, a clever statesman, and the
+father and deliverer of his country. When Charles required the Genevans
+to do homage they refused, answering sturdily that "Geneva would rather
+go begging and be free." In 1519, during his sojourn in the city,
+Charles punished with terrible rigour this bold stand for freedom; all
+were cowed into submission except Berthelier, who scorned to "bend to a
+man who was not his master." His head was one of the first to fall. But
+executions of one kind or another were soon of almost daily occurrence
+during Charles's stay. Four years later Charles and his beautiful bride,
+Beatrix entered Geneva with great pomp, and the princess even remained
+for the birth of her first-born. Charles desired the city to become
+accustomed to royal splendour, and to feel real sympathy for a native
+sovereign. But all his plans failed. By his eloquence and patriotism
+Hugues melted the hearts of the men of Freiburg, and succeeded in
+persuading them as well as the people of Bern to make an alliance with
+his own city. This alliance checkmated the plans of Savoy. But the
+success of the Genevans excited the jealousy of the "Ladle Squires."
+This curious nickname was given to an extraordinary band of the gentry
+and nobility living around Geneva. They met at a most frugal supper, and
+vowed the destruction of the city. A dish of rice was being served by
+the duke with a large spoon or ladle when one of the guests suddenly
+brandishing the implement fiercely exclaimed, "With this I shall swallow
+Geneva!" By an oath the men assembled bound themselves to seek the
+destruction of the obnoxious city, and hung their ladles round their
+necks in token of adherence. These "Seigneurs de la Cuiller," though
+unable to carry out their design, were yet able to work much mischief to
+Geneva, by cutting it off from the necessaries of life, and by keeping
+up a desultory but none the less harassing warfare against it. More than
+this, Bonivard was by order of the duke ousted from his living, and
+thrown into the castle of Chillon, in 1530.[54] In this same year,
+however, a new attack on the part of Savoy was checked by Bern and
+Freiburg, and Charles was forced to sign the treaty of St. Julien,
+guaranteeing the independence and freedom from molestation of Geneva. It
+was stipulated that should the treaty be violated by Savoy it should
+forfeit Vaud to Bern.
+
+About this time Bern ventured on the introduction of the reformed faith
+into French Switzerland, hoping thereby to deepen her interest in that
+quarter. She found a suitable instrument in the person of Guillaume
+Farel, a fiery Frenchman from Dauphiné. The most intrepid and daring of
+champions of the gospel, he had fled from his native soil to Switzerland
+to avoid religious persecution, and had been expelled from Basel for his
+fanaticism. Supported by "Leurs excellences les Messieurs de Berne," as
+the government of that city was styled, he wandered about as an
+itinerant reformer, visiting Vaud and Neuchâtel. Through his efforts the
+latter canton adopted Zwingli's doctrines, in 1530, Vaud obstinately
+refusing the reformation, except in that portion of the district subject
+to Bern. Farel's preaching always excited the mob, and his harangues
+generally ended in a scuffle. He would often stop a priest on the road
+and fling into the river the host or the relics he carried. He had even
+been known to burst into a church during mass, and inveigh against
+Antichrist from the pulpit. Buffetings and prison alike failed to stop
+his efforts, for rough though his manner of controversy was, he was yet
+deeply in earnest. Going to Geneva, in 1532, his very name so stirred
+the Catholics there that he was obliged to flee for his life. The
+Protestant party in the city were strong and well organised, and they
+counted on the assistance of Bern, and that important state, anxious to
+convert the whole west, if possible, threatened Geneva with her
+displeasure should Farel not be favourably received. Thus Geneva was
+suddenly called upon to decide between the friendship of Bern, and that
+of Freiburg, where the Catholic party was dominant. Fear of Savoy
+decided Geneva in favour of Bern, which certainly was a more powerful
+ally than Freiburg. Furbity, an eloquent priest, who had been chosen to
+controvert the reformers' teachings, was to be discharged, and Farel,
+Fromment (another Frenchman), and Viret, a very able Vaudois, one of
+Farel's disciples, were established at Geneva, in 1534, by the desire of
+Bern. The new faith rapidly spread, and fresh attacks on the part of
+Savoy against Geneva only served to promote its extension. A religious
+discussion arranged by Bern, and conducted (on the reformed side) by
+Farel, took place at Geneva, in 1535, and resulted in the full
+establishment of the Zwinglian doctrine in that city. During the
+disputations an embassy from the Bernese attended the city council to
+make known the will of the ruling state, much after the manner of the
+proud and austere Roman senators of old.
+
+But neither the ousted Catholics nor Savoy was inclined to submit tamely
+to this state of things. Geneva was a perfect hotbed of dissension. Duke
+Charles laid siege to the city, both by land and by water. A sudden
+change in French politics prompted Bern to show more active energy than
+it had lately shown. Two claimants for the Duchy of Milan appeared,
+Francis I. and the Emperor Charles V. To facilitate its conquest the
+former also planned the annexation of Savoy, intending to include Geneva
+as the key to Rhone valley. Bern thus seeing threatened the safety of a
+city which it was itself coveting, declared war on Savoy, and marched
+six thousand men into the Vaud country. The pretext set up by Bern was
+that Savoy had violated the treaty of St. Julien. Vaud was seized
+without striking a blow, and portions of Savoy, Gex, and Chablais, were
+annexed. In great triumph the Bernese army entered Geneva, but fear of
+France, and the proud and noble bearing of the Genevese, prevented the
+Bernese from attempting to put into execution any plans they might have
+had for annexing the republic. It was in this campaign that Bonivard was
+rescued.
+
+Great was the disappointment of Vaud to find that it had only changed
+masters; had been rescued from the grasp of Savoy to fall beneath the
+sway of Bern, though the latter master was certainly in every way
+superior to the former. It will be well understood that this treatment
+on the part of Bern would later on give rise to serious troubles. Indeed
+to this day Vaud bears a grudge against her former master. However the
+powerful canton set up order and discipline in the disorganized district
+of Vaud, and gave it the _cachet_ of its exemplary administration. It
+was divided into governmental districts and managed by eight Bernese
+landvögte. It agrees with the laws of Bern though its local
+administration was left it. Every effort was made to establish the
+reformed faith, and a disputation was held at Lausanne. In this Calvin
+took a part, but not a prominent one. The result was, however, the
+downfall of Catholicism in the district, deeply-rooted though it had
+been. Schools were established, and the Academy was founded by Bern. In
+this way the French position of the country was cemented to the eastern
+half. It was not till the Great Revolution that the prerogatives of the
+governing cantons were shaken, the immense wealth of the cathedral of
+Lausanne went to fill the state coffers of Bern, and the funds of the
+various churches were left to provide schools.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[54] For a fuller account of Bonivard the reader is referred to
+Marc-Monnier's "Genève et ses poètes." It is of course well known that
+though Bonivard's adventures suggested the idea of Byron's beautiful
+"Prisoner of Chillon," the story in the poem is almost entirely
+fictitious. In truth, Bonivard was liberated by Bern in 1536, and set
+himself to write the annals of his city of Geneva. He was married no
+fewer than four times. He seems to have been frequently cited before the
+Consistory for gambling and other like offences.
+
+
+
+
+XXIV.
+
+GENEVA AND CALVIN.
+
+(1536-1564.)
+
+
+Political and religious changes had brought about in Geneva a confusion
+which Farel felt himself incapable of lessening. By vehement intreaties,
+therefore, and even by threats, he induced Calvin to join him in his
+missionary work, Calvin being already known to the world as the author
+of "Institutio Christianæ Religionis," a work that fell on men like a
+revelation. John Calvin, or Cauvin, was born at Noyon, in Picardy, in
+1509, and was a northern Frenchman of superior intelligence and
+learning, but of a gloomy, austere disposition, with a large admixture
+of fatalism in his views. Destined for the Church, he studied in Paris
+at the early age of thirteen, but by his father's wish he changed his
+intention, and applied himself to the study of law, at Orleans and
+Bourges. To these latter studies he owed that wonderful facility in
+systematic reasoning which is so noticeable in his writings. But the
+death of his parent in 1531 brought Calvin once more to Paris, where he
+speedily found himself drawn into the new religious movement which was
+winning its way in France. Profound theological researches and severe
+inward struggles caused his conversion to the reformed faith, in the
+following year. In 1535 we find him at Basel, whither he had retired to
+escape further persecution on account of his extreme views. Here he
+published his "Christianæ Religionis Institutio," which is his most
+celebrated work, and which has shed undying lustre on his name.
+Fascinating by its profound learning, its unflinching logic, and its
+wonderful fervour, the book became at once a general favourite, and was
+translated into all the civilized tongues. It is not necessary to do
+more than place before the reader one or two essential features of this
+great work. It is of mathematical exactness, and is the very base and
+foundation of his remarkable religious system, while it likewise maps
+out his scheme of reformation. This scheme was based on the doctrine of
+predestination, a doctrine Calvin had embraced with eagerness.
+Predestination was indeed with him a religious axiom, a self-evident
+truth which neither needed proof nor admitted of dispute, and he made it
+the corner-stone of his new religious system. His theory was that, of
+men all equally guilty _a priori_, some had from the beginning of the
+world been destined by God for eternal happiness, others for eternal
+perdition. Who were the elect and who the rejected was left an open
+question. However incompatible with humane feeling, however
+irreconcilable with the doctrine of the redemption, this belief might
+be thought by many, it yet sufficed for the eager minds of the sixteenth
+century, earnestly seeking as they were some practicable and, as it
+were, palpable, faith. Whatever the objections to the doctrine, it was
+on this that the Calvinistic Church was built, and by its spirit that
+that Church was swayed.
+
+It was in 1536 that Calvin settled in Geneva. With Farel he undertook
+the reorganization of the Church on the lines marked out in his
+"Institutes," entirely sweeping away previous reforms. A "confession of
+faith" was drawn up and subscribed to by the people, and a new Church
+constitution was adopted which involved the establishment of a Church
+censorship, or rather a Church police. The rigorous discipline enforced,
+however, clashed with the Genevans' notions of present freedom, and the
+civil magistrates stoutly contested the right of the pulpit to find
+fault with the secular government, or interfere in the public
+administration. For the Genevese were a gay and pleasure-loving people,
+and they were moreover boisterous, undisciplined, and fond of
+disputation. A bold stand was made against the "Popery on Leman Lake,"
+by the national party. The spirit of opposition was quickened by the
+disappointment of Bern at the overthrow of her reformation movement and
+ritual,[55] and the immigration of French refugees who strengthened
+Calvin's party. Bickerings, disorderly scenes, riots, both inside and
+outside the churches, followed, and the direct disobedience of Calvin
+and Farel to a civil decree of suspension prompted the government to
+pass sentence of banishment against them in 1538. Amidst the revilings
+and hootings of the mob they quitted Geneva, Farel going to Neuchâtel,
+where he remained till his death in 1565, and Calvin to Strasburg.
+
+In this more tolerant German city he came into daily contact with the
+workings of the Lutheran and Zwinglian professions. He attempted to
+mediate between them with the view of reconciling their opposing views
+on the Eucharist, but failed. He admired Melanchthon, but considered
+that his temporizing measures resulted in laxity of discipline. He was
+grieved, too, by the little regard shown to the clergy, and by their
+dependence on the courts, and the contemplation of all this served to
+confirm him in his own views. He never lost sight of the aim of his
+life--to make the Genevan Church, which he loved as his own soul, the
+rallying point for his persecuted countrymen. His plans were greatly
+favoured by several circumstances: the quarrels convulsing Geneva during
+his exile, and the incapacity of the new ministry there; above all, the
+well-founded dread of Bern's supremacy. This fear brought into existence
+the party nicknamed the Guillermins, from Guillaume Farel, which
+literally drove the Genevans into the fold of Calvinism. Yet Calvin at
+first hesitated to return. "Why should I replunge into that yawning
+gulf," he writes to Farel, "seeing that I dislike the temper of the
+Genevese, and that they cannot get used to me?" But believing himself
+called by God, he yielded, and, amidst acclamations and rejoicings, he
+was welcomed back to the city in 1541.
+
+Speaking roughly Calvin began his reforms where Luther and Zwingli had
+stopped; they had broken the ice for him, and shown him the way. He
+demanded implicit and unquestioning obedience to the Divine Word, for
+human reason, he said, was "as smoke in the sight of God." His aim was
+to found a kingdom of God in the spirit of the ancient prophets, and
+ruled by equally rigorous laws. Excluding the people from direct control
+in church matters, he lodged the chief authority in the clergy, a class
+which was also to have the preponderance in the state. By skilful
+organization he established a theocracy with strong aristocratic
+leanings, the democratic element being almost entirely excluded. Geneva
+became indeed "the city of the spirit of stoicism, built on the rock of
+predestination." But the most curious institution of the Calvinistic
+Church was the _Consistoire_, a body of twelve chosen from the oldest
+councillors and the city clergy, Calvin himself being usually at the
+head. This tribunal was 01 authority in spiritual and moral, and in
+public and private, matters alike. Calvin's intention was to change the
+sinful city into a sanctified city--a "city of God." The members of the
+Consistoire had power to enter private houses, and to regulate even the
+smallest concerns of life, and they admonished or punished offenders as
+they thought fit. Even the most trivial matters came within its ken; it
+prescribed the fashions, even down to the colour of a dress, and fixed
+the _menus_ of the table, not less than it enforced attendance at
+religious worship. The table was by no means profusely supplied either,
+only one dish of meat and one of vegetables being allowed, and no
+pastry, and only native wine. We find girls cited before the Consistoire
+for skating, a man for sniffing in church, two others for talking
+business when leaving church. Every now and then Bonivard was brought up
+for card playing, and other disorderly deeds. A hairdresser adorning a
+lady's hair, together with the friends present, was sent to gaol. To the
+Genevans theatre-going was the chief occupation in life, but
+nevertheless theatrical performances were suspended, and remained so
+till shortly before the advent of Voltaire, who, indeed, gloried in
+leading back the strait-laced Genevans to worldliness and pleasure. But
+not only was the theatre forbidden, but likewise dancing, games, and
+music, except psalm-singing. No wonder the Muses left Geneva! Objects of
+art, and even those of home comfort, were objected to by iconoclasts
+like Calvin. The once gay Geneva sank into a dull, narrow-minded city of
+the true Puritan type. Indeed, as is well known, she furnished the
+pattern for later Puritanism. The Consistoire reserved to itself the
+right of excommunication, that is, of exclusion from the Communion,
+though secular or physical punishments were left to the Council.
+
+The criminal history of the Genevan Republic reflects the temper of the
+time, and the spirit of the ecclesiastical leaders. Vice was mercilessly
+punished, and drunkenness, blasphemy, and unbelief were put in the same
+category with murder. One reads with dismay of the state of terrorism
+prevailing during the plague raging about the middle of the century.
+Superstition was rife and increasing, and every kind of torture was used
+to extort confessions from accused persons. Whilst the plague was at its
+worst the sword, the gallows, the stake were equally busy. The jailor
+asserted that his prisons were filled to excess, and the executioner
+complained that his arms were tired. Within a period of three years
+there were passed fifty-eight sentences of death, seventy-six of
+banishment, and eight to nine thousand of imprisonment, on those whose
+crime was infringement of the Church statutes. Offences against himself
+personally Calvin treated as blasphemy, as he identified himself with
+the prophets of old. Strange as this assertion is, it can be supported.
+A single instance will suffice. One Pierre Amieaux, a councillor, had
+once in company spoken of Calvin as a bad man. This the reformer
+declared to be blasphemy, and refused to preach again till satisfaction
+was done to him.[56]
+
+In such manner was Geneva forced into obedience. However, there was one
+powerful check on Calvin's progress, viz., the efforts of the national
+party, the "Children of Geneva," as they called themselves, or the
+"Libertines," as their opponents nicknamed them.[57] An excellent way of
+neutralizing the influence of these, Calvin tells his friend Bullinger,
+at Zurich, was to expel the natives and admit French _emigrés_ to the
+Genevan citizenship. "The dogs are barking at me on all sides," he
+complains to the same friend, and now and then he made a clean sweep of
+his adversaries. The Genevans naturally looked with disfavour on
+Calvin's policy, objecting to the French refugees not so much from ill
+will as from a natural dislike to leaving a city to which they were so
+devotedly attached, and seeing the positions of honour and influence
+taken up by the strangers. At last, exasperated beyond measure by the
+admission of a fresh batch of refugees, the Libertines attempted a _coup
+de main_ on the Calvin government, May, 1555. The attempt miscarried,
+and the ringleaders were put to death or imprisoned, and most of the
+rank and file expelled from the city. To fill the great gaps thus
+caused, three hundred and fifty-nine French families were admitted
+gradually to the citizenship, and in this way within a few years the
+population increased from thirteen thousand to twenty thousand. Such
+high-handed proceedings--wholesale proscriptions one might call
+them--caused the wheels to run smoothly enough, and Calvin was now
+completely master of the situation. The imprisonment and burning of
+Servetus for denying the doctrine of the Trinity once more ruffled the
+smooth surface of affairs, yet helped if possible to increase Calvin's
+prestige and influence. Every one knows of the endless discussions that
+have since taken place as to Calvin's part in putting to death the
+learned and unfortunate Spaniard. But Calvin's own defence would seem
+to show that it was he who was chiefly the leader in the matter.[58]
+
+His pre-eminence now fully established and acknowledged, Calvin founded
+the Academy, in 1559, in order to provide ministers for the reformed
+churches generally. Learned French _emigrés_ were appointed to the
+professorships, and Theodore de Bèze (Beza) was made rector, and the
+institution became the glory of the city. From all parts sympathizers
+flocked to Geneva--Italians, English,[59] Spanish, Germans, mostly
+French and Italians, however--and churches to suit the different
+nationalities sprang up. On Leman Lake they found another Rome, and
+another inspired and infallible Pope, albeit a Protestant Pope. At the
+first view of the sacred city they sank on their knees and sang songs of
+joy and praise, as if they had sighted a new Jerusalem. Wittenberg had
+witnessed similar scenes. No fewer than thirteen hundred French and
+three hundred Italian families had made Geneva their second home, and
+men of the greatest mark had settled there temporarily or for good.
+Missionaries went to France to rally and strengthen the Huguenots, and
+some two thousand communes were converted to the new faith. Religious
+champions, like the intrepid John Knox, Peter Martyr, Marnix (de St.
+Aldegonde), went to Scotland, England, or the Netherlands, to advance
+the cause of Calvinism. To Geneva as their mother church may look
+Puritans and Presbyterians.
+
+Calvinism but little affected Switzerland at large during the lifetime
+of its founder. Its absolutism and narrowness clashed with the milder
+and more advanced, and, if one may say so, more ideal views of the
+Zwinglian system. It was due to the conciliatory spirit of Bullinger and
+to his noble efforts that the Churches of Zurich and Geneva--while other
+countries were distracted with religious differences--drew together as
+friends, and that their doctrines were blended in official "confessions"
+of faith. Viret's attempts to plant Calvinism in Vaud failed, as did
+those of Farel in Neuchâtel.
+
+And if Geneva did not regard her great master with affection, she bowed
+before him in profound veneration. Without him the ancient, frivolous,
+and quarrelsome city could hardly have kept at bay her many foes. But
+trained in the school of Calvinism she gathered moral strength, and
+became the "abode of an intellectual light that has shone for three
+centuries, and that, though growing pale, is not yet extinguished."
+
+[Illustration: THALER OF 1564.
+
+(_Laus et gloria soli Deo optimo maximo._)]
+
+[Illustration: THALER OF 1564.
+
+(_Moneta nova Civitatis San Gallensis, 1564._)]
+
+Calvin was a prodigious worker, a profound theologian, an accomplished
+linguist, a statesman and organizer of consummate skill, and a most
+excellent correspondent. Twenty-four printing-presses were kept at work
+day and night multiplying his writings in different languages. No fewer
+than 2,025 sermons of his have been collected, and 4,721 letters. For
+the French language Calvin did much what Luther did for the German. His
+frame, at all times weak, became still more enfeebled by continued
+illness, and it seemed impossible that he should be physically fit to
+labour as he did, but his religious enthusiasm was able to triumph over
+bodily ailments. Bright, sparkling eyes lit up his pale and emaciated
+features. Averse to earthly pleasures, careless of popular applause, of
+strong and unbending will--though not devoid of deep feeling--he
+commanded men's awe rather than their affection. His near personal
+friends were devotedly attached to him, and on the death of his wife,
+who sank when bereaved of her children, his tenderness breaks forth in
+letters to his friends. "If I did not make a strong effort to moderate
+my grief," he writes to Viret, "I should succumb." He died in May, 1564,
+and even in his last moments had words of censure for those who had come
+to take leave of him. His death is registered in these curious terms:
+"Aujourd'hui spectable Jean Calvin s'en est allé à Dieu, sain et entier,
+grâce à Dieu, de sens et entendement." Beza was elected his successor;
+and, less severe and more conciliating than his friend and predecessor,
+he exerted great influence, both at Geneva and in the reformed countries
+generally. Beza's death occurred in 1603.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[55] The Bern, that is, the Zwinglian, ritual preserved several things
+which the French reformers rejected, amongst others, the four high fête
+days, the baptismal font, and the use of unleavened bread in the
+Communion.
+
+[56] Amieaux was led in his shirt through the city, with a lighted torch
+in his hand, and was required to confess his fault in three different
+public squares.
+
+[57] These "Lovers of Freedom" were stigmatized by the opposite party as
+"men of loose morals," but of such there were not a few amongst the
+Calvinists themselves.
+
+[58] The Swiss churches under the ægis of Bullinger acquiesced, not so
+much from a spirit of intolerance, as from a fear that the influence of
+Servetus might undermine French Protestantism. Rome envied Calvin the
+honour of having condemned Servetus to the flames.
+
+[59] Amongst the English we find the names of Spencer, Coxe, Chambers,
+Bishop Hooper, and the Bishops of Exeter, Norwich, Durham, and
+Salisbury.
+
+
+
+
+XXV.
+
+THE CATHOLIC REACTION.
+
+
+The benefits conferred by the Reformation on Switzerland were
+counterbalanced by a religious schism which divided the land into two
+antagonistic moieties, and paralyzed political progress. The religious
+enthusiasm in Europe had spent itself in the first half of the sixteenth
+century, and the energy it had displayed had roused amongst the
+Catholics a corresponding activity. They were led by the famous Philip
+II. of Spain, but fortunately Queen Elizabeth of England was able to
+withstand the attack directed against her country. But the new order of
+Jesuits, lately launched on the world to undo the work of the religious
+reformers, took the field with united ranks; whilst, on the other hand,
+the Protestants, split as they were into sections, and stumbling over
+questions of dogma, lacked the unity of aim and purpose necessary to
+stand successfully an attack so formidable. The wars of Schmalkalden
+(1547-49) were as injurious to Protestant Germany as the catastrophe of
+Kappel had been to Reformed Switzerland. The tide of Reformation rolled
+back in Germany, and the men of Zurich beheld with grief and indignation
+the fall of their strong ally in the work of religious reform,
+Constance, after its desperate stand against the Emperor, Charles V.
+Zurich was prevented by internal dissension and Catholic intolerance
+from assisting Constance, and, moreover, was compelled to release
+Mulhausen and Strasburg from their evangelical union with her. Thus
+Geneva, which the Papists threatened to level with the ground, was
+forced into an isolated position, and was near becoming the prey of
+invading Savoy. Considering the internal condition of the Confederation,
+we may well ask what it was that saved the little republic from complete
+destruction in the terrible storm of the reaction which swept over
+Europe, if it was not the very strength of the Federal union, and the
+common possession of the different Swiss bailiwicks, which bound the
+parts so strongly together, and which triumphed over both party feelings
+and private interests. Thanks to the moderation of the Protestants, war
+was avoided, and the country settled into a state of comparative repose.
+Through Zwingli's efforts Switzerland extended the _droit d'asile_ to
+all, and she henceforward followed out her mission as a neutral power.
+It is the protection so freely given to refugees by Geneva, Zurich, and
+other Swiss cities that brightens the history of this gloomy reaction
+period.
+
+Henry II., anxious to win over Switzerland to the Catholic cause,
+requested the Swiss to stand as sponsors to his daughter, Claudia, and
+received their embassy with marked distinction. Bern and Zurich,
+however, were not coaxed into an alliance with France by these
+blandishments. France wished for the preservation of peace from
+self-interest. But she extolled greatly the prowess of the Swiss, and
+called them the very "marrow" of her army. The Swiss excelled in single
+feats of arms, and amongst the Catholic captains stands out
+conspicuously the valiant Ludwig von Pfyffer, of Lucerne, who played a
+part, as regards political influence, not unlike that of Waldmann, and
+was nicknamed the "Swiss King." The wealth he had hoarded up during his
+French service he freely spent in the Catholic cause.
+
+Pre-eminent amongst those who worked for the Catholic revival was the
+famous Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, and nephew of Pius IV. He
+lived the life of a saint, and in due time was canonized. To his see
+belonged the Swiss bailliages in the Ticino and Valtellina.
+Indefatigable in his labours, constantly visiting every part of his
+diocese, toiling up to the Alpine huts, he gathered the scattered flocks
+into the Papal fold, whether by mildness or by force. Shocked at the
+state of religious matters in the Forest Cantons, he founded a seminary
+for priests, to which Pfyffer at once gave a very large sum of money.
+For the spread of Catholic doctrines he hit upon three different means.
+He called into being the Collegium Helveticum in 1579 at Milan,[60]
+where the Swiss priests were educated free. He sent the Jesuits into the
+country, and placed a nuncio at Lucerne, in 1580. In 1586 was signed,
+between the seven Catholic cantons, the Borromean or Golden League,
+directed against the reformers, and in the following year a coalition
+was, by the same cantons, excepting Solothurn, entered into with Philip
+of Spain and with Savoy. The Jesuits settled themselves in Lucerne and
+Freiburg, and soon gained influence amongst the rich and the educated,
+whilst the Capuchins, who fixed themselves at Altorf, Stanz, Appenzell,
+and elsewhere, won the hearts of the masses by their lowliness and
+devotion. In this way did Rome seek to regain her influence over the
+Swiss peoples, and the effect of her policy was soon felt in the
+semi-Protestant and subject lands. To the impression made by the efforts
+of the Capuchins the great dissension in Appenzell bears witness, the
+canton actually breaking up into two hostile divisions. The Catholics
+removed to Inner, and the Reformers to Outer Rhoden, and each managed
+its own affairs independently of the other; the latter, however, soon
+began to prosper more than the former. In the Valais, the Protestant
+party, though strong, was quite swept out by the Jesuits, before 1630,
+and fled to Vaud and Bern. The history of lacerated Graubünden will
+occupy the next chapter.
+
+It is painful to read of an act of violence committed by the Papists in
+the expulsion of the Evangelians from Locarno, in the winter of 1555,
+where a little band of two hundred adherents of the Zwinglian Church had
+formed round Beccaria. Zurich supported them, notwithstanding the
+opposition of France, and even of some of the Protestant cantons, and
+Bullinger was their comfort and strength in all transactions. However,
+Beccaria was compelled to flee to Misox valley, whence he ministered by
+stealth to his flock. In January, 1555, stronger measures were taken,
+and men and women were driven over the snowy heights to Misox, a sorry
+substitute for the luxurious homes some of them had left in Locarno. But
+they were soon moved on by the Papal legate, and in May some 120 of the
+band arrived at Zurich, where Bullinger had arranged for them a
+hospitable welcome. These new-comers revived the old trade with
+Lombardy, and reintroduced the silk manufacture, which, being a
+monopoly, became a source of great wealth to Zurich. Thus the town was
+rewarded for its hospitality. Some of the aristocratic Zurich families
+of to-day trace their origin to these Locarno refugees.
+
+The city of Zurich was indeed at this time a general asylum for
+religious refugees from all quarters. Germans, Italians, and English
+fled there, and especially the Marian exiles from England. We find Peter
+Martyr from Oxford established as a professor at the Carolinum; and
+Occhino as minister to the Italian congregation in Zurich; Socinus and
+other famous Italians.[61] Martyr and Socinus both died at Zurich, and
+lie buried in its minster. For several years Peter Martyr and Bullinger
+had lived on terms of the closest friendship with each other, and their
+letters show how close was the tie between them. Their respective
+religious views naturally tended to greater mutual resemblance.
+Bullinger, like Calvin, kept up an immense correspondence with the
+reformed churches, and was in frequent communication with monarchs,
+princes, powerful nobles, and learned doctors. The readers of the
+present story will naturally feel most interest in the relation between
+the Swiss and the English Churches, and it will perhaps be better to
+leave on one side the tangled skein of religious dissensions which
+agitated Europe, and show from authentic sources[62]--letters
+chiefly--how the Swiss Churches and Swiss divines influenced the
+Reformed Church of England.
+
+Though the English Reformation under Henry VIII. was greatly influenced
+by Luther, under Edward VI. the Church veered round more to the Swiss
+views, Cranmer especially leaning strongly towards Zwinglianism. Since
+1536 the prelate had been on most friendly terms with Bullinger, and in
+this same year some young Englishmen, Butler, Udrof, and Partridge, by
+Cranmer's desire, settled in Zurich, to study its religious aspect and
+enjoy intercourse with the distinguished Bullinger. In the following
+year Eliot and others arrived with similar intent, and a great
+attachment sprang up between the young men and their spiritual guide.
+At the request of the students, Bullinger addressed to Henry two
+treatises on the "Authority of the Scriptures," and on the "Dignity and
+Office of Bishops," respectively, and was afterwards told that the
+treatises greatly interested both the king and the archbishop. "It is
+incredible what fame you acquire in England by your writings," says
+Eliot in his letter to Bullinger in 1539; "the booksellers are growing
+rich through you." Under Edward VI., Bullinger's relations with Cranmer
+and Hooper, with Warwick and Dorset, and with Coxe and Cheke, grew
+closer and closer, and the Church of Zurich regained its ascendency. At
+Bullinger's house Hooper passed his second exile, and he says he was
+received with delight, "being a true Christian," and he states that his
+faith was greatly quickened by the writings of the famous Zurich divine.
+The friendship between the two men was most intimate. At Hooper's
+desire, Bullinger dedicated a series of his sermons on the "Christian
+Faith" to Edward, who was greatly delighted with them, and had them
+translated into English. During his imprisonment Hooper composed a
+remarkable treatise addressed to Parliament in defence of the Zwinglian
+teaching with regard to the Lord's Supper, and Traheron states (1548)
+that England at large was inclined towards the Zwinglian view. In 1550
+King Edward sent an envoy to ask the state of Zurich to unite with
+England with regard to a Church Council, and, curiously enough, with
+regard to reconciling that country with France.[63]
+
+A charming episode in the life of Bullinger was the springing up of the
+friendship with Lady Jane Grey, then a young and studious girl of
+fourteen. Three letters written by her hand, and still treasured up at
+Zurich, bear witness to this friendship. Of the treatise on "Christian
+Marriage" dedicated to her, she translated a portion into Greek, and
+presented it as a Christmas present to her father. Bullinger's sermons
+and letters were a delight to her, and were to her "as most precious
+flowers from a garden." She asked his advice as to the best method of
+learning Hebrew, and regarded him as particularly favoured by the grace
+of God. He it was whose teaching quickened her love for Christ, and gave
+her and her family such support in their great trials later on. Even at
+her last hour her thoughts were of him, for at the block she took off
+her gloves and desired that they should be sent on to her Swiss
+friends.[64]
+
+It was on the Continent, among the Reformed Churches, that Hooper and
+others gained their taste for a simple form of religious worship. When
+Hooper was made Bishop of Gloucester, in 1550, he refused both the oath
+and the episcopal vestments, and was sent to prison for his refusal. His
+opposition, indeed, sowed the germs of that religious development which
+so strongly agitated the Church under Elizabeth, and which, breaking
+into open schism, resulted in the rise of Puritanism, and, later on, of
+the dissenting movements generally. And, as is well known, the Puritans
+fled to New England rather than give up their religious liberty. Hooper
+was exempted from taking the oath, but had to give way in the matter of
+the vestments. During his episcopacy Bullinger was ever his faithful and
+wise counsellor, and when the martyr's death overtook him, he
+recommended his persecuted country to his Swiss friends. "Of all men
+attached to thee," he assures Bullinger in 1554, "none has been more
+devoted than myself, nor have I ever had a more sincere friend than
+thee."
+
+Many other Marian exiles settled in Zurich, to whom, however, only a
+passing word can be devoted. Bullinger alone accommodated often as many
+as twenty guests at a time, and both ministers and magistrates--Gualter,
+Lavater, and others--received the English exiles "with a tenderness and
+affection that engaged them to the end of their lives to make the
+greatest possible acknowledgment for it," to quote the words of one
+Englishman. The correspondence between the Swiss hosts and their English
+guests proves how close were the friendships formed between them.
+Amongst these correspondents we find the English archbishops, Grindal
+and Sandys, Bishop Pilkington, the Earl of Bedford, and other notable
+men. Other proofs without number might be given of the close connection
+between Switzerland and England in religious matters in the sixteenth
+century, but what has been said must suffice.
+
+Enough has been said to show how the influence of the Reformed Swiss
+Churches was brought to bear on English Protestantism; on the Anglican
+Church in respect of doctrine; and on the dissenting Church, that is,
+Puritanism, in respect of both doctrine and form of worship. The
+Reformed Church is the result of an amalgamation between the two mother
+Churches of Geneva and Zurich, the union being brought about by the
+desire of the leaders Calvin, Farel, Beza, Bullinger, who, anxious for
+peace and concord, made mutual concessions.[65] Thus in Switzerland the
+narrowness of Calvinism has been tempered by an admixture of the broader
+and more enlightened teachings of Zwinglius, or rather the basis of the
+teaching is Zwingli's, and Calvin has confirmed, intensified, and
+completed it. Over France, England, Scotland, Holland, and North America
+the reformed faith spread its roots "to grow up to trees of the same
+family, but of different shape and size according to the soil from which
+they started up." That Switzerland, with the exception of Geneva,
+inclined strongly to Zwinglianism we have already shown. To deal
+adequately with the question of the religious influence of Switzerland
+on other European countries would be impossible within the limits of
+this work. But that its influence was very great needs no saying. And
+not in Europe alone, for the Puritan spirit was carried beyond the
+ocean, and the reformers of Switzerland had their disciples in far-away
+New England. Even modern Unitarianism is, in a sense, the direct
+descendant of the reformation of Zurich, and its apostles--Williams,
+Channing, Parker--are so far the successors of Zwingli and Bullinger.
+
+The revival of learning witnessed by the sixteenth century had its full
+effect in Switzerland. The thirst for knowledge was so great that men
+would undergo almost any privations in their pursuit of it. Thomas
+Platter--to cite but one instance out of many--rose from the humble
+position of goatherd to be a prominent master of Hebrew and the classics
+at Basel. In early life he laboured at rope-making, or turned
+serving-man, or even begged in the streets. His son Felix was a notable
+physician. The great reformers have already been spoken of. Besides the
+above,[66] we may just mention among the Catholics, Glarean, the
+foremost classical scholar of his country, crowned poet-laureate by the
+Emperor Max. I.; and Tschudi, of Glarus, the brilliant narrator, author
+of the national epic, Tell, and for centuries the first authority on
+Swiss history; Paracelsus of Einsiedeln: of Protestants, Manuel (Bern),
+the satirical poet, and painter of the _Todten Tänze à la Holbein_; and,
+above all, Gessner, of Zurich, scholar, philosopher, naturalist, the
+"Pliny of Germany."
+
+_Kleinkunst_, lesser or practical art, also made brilliant progress in
+Switzerland. Painting on glass, wood-carving, manufacture of
+painted-tile stoves developed into industries almost peculiar to the
+country in their excellence. This is shown by an inspection of the
+magnificent specimens of these arts with which the country
+abounds--splendid painted windows, beautiful wainscots, exquisite
+relievi, beautiful tiled stoves, and so forth.
+
+A few words respecting affairs in Geneva must close our account of the
+sixteenth century. The Dukes of Savoy, unwilling to renounce their
+claims, continued to harass the city. Henry IV., of France, came forward
+as a protector, and Elizabeth, of England, addressed to the Swiss
+cantons and reformed cities letters remarkable for the noble sentiments
+and clear judgment displayed in them.[67] She urged them not to throw
+away the key of Switzerland. However, on the night of the 21st of
+December, 1602, Duke Charles Emmanuel ventured on a treacherous _coup de
+main_ on the city known as the famous "Escalade." Eight thousand men had
+been drawn up before her gates, and some three hundred had already
+scaled her walls, when the sudden firing by a watchful guard roused the
+citizens to a sense of their danger. A fierce conflict took place in the
+streets, and the intruders were fortunately overpowered. This event
+caused the greatest indignation throughout Europe, but it sealed the
+independence of the Republic. The anniversary of the victory is still
+regarded by the Genevans.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[60] This still exists in connection with the episcopal seminary.
+
+[61] Faustus Socinus, the nephew of this Laelius Socinus, formed into a
+regular system the ideas of his uncle, and really prepared the way for
+modern Unitarianism.
+
+[62] The Zurich archives are remarkably rich in materials relating to
+the Reformation period. The Simmler collection contains copies of
+eighteen thousand authentic letters. The "Epistolæ Tigurinæ," published
+by the Parker Society, London, in 1842, contain copies of original
+letters from the Marian exiles to Zurich divines. At Zurich are
+preserved original letters from Erasmus, Henry the Fourth of France,
+Lady Jane Grey, &c.
+
+[63] Pestalozzi's "Life of Bullinger," Zurich.
+
+[64] Pestalozzi's "Life of Bullinger."
+
+[65] In England the general name Calvinistic is applied to certain
+doctrines of the Reformed Churches, but not altogether appropriately,
+seeing that Calvin was only one of the teachers of these doctrines.
+
+[66] Glarean and Tschudi were Catholics, Manuel a Protestant.
+
+[67] Copies are preserved among the Zurich letters.
+
+
+
+
+XXVI.
+
+THE ARISTOCRATIC PERIOD.
+
+(1600-1712.)
+
+
+In the life of nations no less than of individuals there are
+vicissitudes, alternations of prosperity and adversity. If the
+fourteenth and fifteenth centuries witnessed the glorious rise of the
+Swiss people, the seventeenth and eighteenth saw the political decline
+of the Republic. Even the Reformation itself led the way to this decline
+by lodging all power--political, fiscal, moral, and educational--in the
+Protestant cantons in the hands of the governments. Patriotism was on
+the wane, and the old mania for foreign service as a means of securing
+foreign gold was again breaking out. Even Zurich, which for well-nigh a
+century had steadfastly borne in mind the patriotic maxims of Zwingli,
+now yielded to the persuasions of France. Indeed the Swiss Commonwealth
+was rapidly becoming a mere vassalate of that country, under the
+despotic Louis XIV. Swiss rule was taking that tinge of absolutism which
+was colouring the governments of almost all European states. Louis, the
+personification of absolute rule, had stamped the century with his
+_cachet_, and aristocracies and oligarchies were taking the place of the
+old democratic governments. This seems incompatible with the old Swiss
+republican tenets. Yet, drawn within the influence of the monarchical
+states, how could Switzerland escape the effects of that influence any
+more than Venice or Genoa?
+
+The political and religious passions and animosities of the previous
+century now found vent in the terrible Thirty Years' War, which from
+1618 to 1648 convulsed Europe. Thanks to its good fortune and
+far-sightedness, Switzerland was not drawn into the conflict, save as to
+its south-eastern corner, close as it was to the theatre of the great
+struggle. Most anxiously was the neutrality of the country maintained,
+yet its territory was not unfrequently violated. To give one instance,
+General Horn led his Swedes into Swiss territory to besiege Constance.
+Germany and Sweden--Gustavus Adolphus especially[68]--did all they could
+to draw Switzerland to their side, but the Swiss had the good sense to
+resist all blandishments, and bear patiently with vexatious intrusions.
+The terrible scenes that were taking place across the Rhine were enough
+to quell all intestine disputes in Switzerland itself, and the
+comparative peace and prosperity found within its borders was the envy
+of the neighbouring lands. A German traveller chronicles his surprise at
+finding in Switzerland neither rapine nor murder, but security and
+content. However rough and rugged its surface, the little republic
+seemed to him an earthly Paradise.
+
+[Illustration: HIGH ALTAR, CHUR CATHEDRAL.
+
+(_From a Photograph._)]
+
+Different, however, was the experience of Graubünden, then a separate
+free state, and a connection only of the Confederation. In truth, the
+history of that old Rhætian land at that time forms a striking pendant
+as it were to the great drama of the European struggle. The Latin-German
+inhabitants, combining northern prudence with southern passion, had
+since the middle of the sixteenth century been steeped in internal
+dissension, owing to the religious divisions caused by the Reformation.
+The Protestant party under Von Salis, and the Catholics headed by Von
+Planta, were at deadly enmity with each other, and sided with France and
+Venice, and with Austria and Spain respectively. John von Planta, head
+of his clan, and solicitor-general of the Papal see, was suspected of
+intending to reintroduce Popery into the Grisons. The mountaineers
+accordingly descended from their Alps in crowds, and flocked to Chur.
+There they brought to trial Planta and sentenced him to death, and his
+fall struck the keynote to the tragedy that followed. With the opening
+of the seventeenth century the conflict grew fiercer, national interests
+and foreign policy being now inextricably mixed. Mistress of the
+beautiful Italian Signory Valtellina, Bormio, Chiavenna, and the Alpine
+passes commanding the entrance into the Tyrol and Italy, Graubünden
+became the apple of contention between the southern states of Europe.
+Austria and Spain possessing Milan were not without hopes of joining
+hands across Graubünden, and France was sanguine of her success in
+preventing it. This latter state with Venice had effected an alliance
+with Protestant Bünden, and that party strongly opposed the Spanish
+union for which the energetic but headstrong Rudolf von Planta was
+working. Fuentes, a Spaniard, Governor of Milan, furious at the
+resistance offered, erected a chain of strong forts on Lake Como, with
+the view of cutting off the Valtellines. Before long, George Jenatsch
+from the Engadine, Tschusch, and other high-minded and patriotic
+Protestants, began to decry the Spanish scheme, and tumults arose. An
+attack on Planta's manor, Zernez (1618), having failed through the
+escape of Rudolf, Zambra, Landammann in Bregaglia, and Rusca, a priest
+in the Valtellina, both greyheaded old men, were seized. They were
+sentenced to death by a new court which had been set up at Thusis, a
+court which raged against popery and spread terrorism for some months.
+In the Engadine a strange thing happened. The respective chiefs of the
+hostile clans were the two brothers Von Travers, and a hand-to-hand
+fight between the opposing parties having begun, suddenly the wives,
+daughters, and sisters of the combatants rushed amongst them like the
+Sabine women of old, and checked them. Foremost amongst these noble
+women was the spirited Anna Juvalta. The Plantas were now in exile, and
+were conspiring with Austria. Their cousin Robustello (Valtellina) at a
+given signal broke into the houses of the Protestants, and, with the
+help of hired assassins, put the inmates to the sword. This was on the
+19th of July, 1620, and throughout the whole valley no quarter was
+given. Zurich and Bern on hearing of this shocking massacre--the "St.
+Bartholomew of the Valtellina"--sent troops, but they were defeated at
+Tirano by the Spanish forces and adherents. The Plantas returned from
+exile and asked the Forest Cantons to give their countenance to their
+party, and these were not unwilling; but the plot itself was opposed by
+the Protestant Grisons with scorn and fury. Jenatsch penetrated to the
+castle of the Plantas at Rietberg, and Pompejus fell by his hands
+(1621). The Catholics were defeated at Valendas, and the country was
+cleared of the troops of the Forest Cantons and of Spaniards. However,
+Jenatsch failed to take Valtellina.
+
+The Austrians still claimed supremacy over part of the
+_Zehngerichte_,[69] and we find them, from 1620 to 1629, twice invading
+and occupying Graubünden. The most dreadful cruelties marked the passage
+of their general, Baldiron, and Catholicism was reintroduced by force.
+In 1629, the Emperor Ferdinand had reached the height of his success and
+greatness, and Bünden with all its dependencies lay prostrate at his
+feet. France came to the rescue. Richelieu pursued the policy of Henry
+IV. to re-establish the balance of power by breaking down the prestige
+of the Habsburgs. With the view of gaining supremacy for France, he had
+drawn Sweden into the Thirty Years' War; and on the death of Gustavus
+Adolphus, when the zeal was somewhat flagging, he revived it by sending
+French troops into Alsace, South Germany, and the Grisons. The command
+of the Franco-Grison army was entrusted to Duke Henry de Rohan, godson
+of Henry IV. of France (and godfather to Charles I. of England), one of
+the noblest characters of his age. De Rohan was also appointed
+ambassador to the Eidgenossen states in 1631. He had been leader of the
+Huguenots, and had supported the Edict of Nantes in opposition to Louis
+XIII. Becoming obnoxious to the king in consequence, he withdrew to
+Venice. There he wrote a treatise on the strategical importance of the
+Grisons, as if he foresaw his future mission.[70] During his residence
+in Switzerland he watched zealously over its interests, smoothing over
+difficulties in the Diet to avoid war. Richelieu sent him neither money
+nor help, but left him to extricate himself as best he could from his
+position in that isolated mountain fastness; yet Rohan was the idol of
+his soldiers and of the people of the Grisons, and was always spoken of
+by them as the "good duke." In 1635, when France was doing its utmost to
+oust Austria, open war broke out, and Rohan gained four brilliant
+victories in succession--Jenatsch serving as local guide and combatant
+in advance, his superior tactics proving too much for the Austro-Spanish
+forces. Yet the "good duke" was soon to fall a victim to the perfidious
+policy of Richelieu, and the treachery of Jenatsch. This latter was a
+strange mixture of the noble and the vile--fierce, and ambitious, a
+seeker of gain, yet a man of honour, full of a wild patriotism and
+thirst for freedom. Eager to free his country from the grasp of the
+stranger, he and the hot-tempered Bündner, at whose head he was,
+suddenly found that they were but exchanging masters. Sticking at
+nothing to gain his ends Jenatsch entered into a secret understanding
+with Austria and Spain, and even turned Catholic to win more favour with
+them. Then, forgetting the many kindnesses he had received from his
+friend Rohan, he betrayed him to his enemies. It should be observed,
+parenthetically, that the question in dispute was that of the
+Valtellina, and Rohan had had no instructions from Richelieu to return
+that territory. Suddenly the French general found himself surrounded by
+hostile troops from the Grisons, and was compelled to capitulate (1637).
+Unable to bear the sight of France again, he fought for her under the
+banner of Bernhard von Weimar, and fell at Rheinfelden, in Aargovy,
+seeking rather than fearing death. Jenatsch, however, did not long enjoy
+the fruits of his guilty action. Two years later he was stabbed at an
+officers' banquet, during the carnival, by some masked figure. Rudolf
+Planta, son of Pompejus, was said by some to have done the deed, whilst
+another story has it that the avenger was Rudolf's sister, Lucretia, who
+was burning for vengeance on the slayer of her father.[71] One of the
+first German novelists of our time, Ferdinand Meyer, of Zurich, has
+worked these thrilling episodes into his fine story, "Jenatsch." The
+hero was buried with pomp at Chur, but his murderer remained
+unpunished. Thus Graubünden, after a struggle of nearly a hundred years,
+recovered both its independence and its lost territory.
+
+That memorable event of the seventeenth century, the signing of the
+Peace of Westphalia, which concluded the Thirty Years' War, whilst, on
+the one hand, it sanctioned the dismemberment of the German Empire, yet
+ratified the independence and autonomy of the Swiss republics. This
+result was chiefly due to the noble efforts of two men--Wettstein,
+Burgomaster of Basel, who most effectively championed Swiss interests at
+the Congress; and Henry d'Orleans Longueville, count and reigning prince
+of Neuchâtel, the French representative at the same conference, who
+supported the Swiss claims.
+
+The religious strife of Villmergen in 1656, which ended in the defeat of
+the Protestants, cannot be gone into here. Suffice it to note that this
+defeat was fully repaired by the second war of that name in 1712. A more
+important matter was the Peasants' Revolt, in 1653. It promised to grow
+to alarming dimensions, but was put down by the Government. This rising,
+however, is noteworthy, as marking the vast chasm which had formed
+between the labouring and the governing classes. The peasantry were now
+in a state of complete subjection, and patiently awaited the dawn of a
+brighter day, which nevertheless came only with the French Revolution.
+What they claimed was the restoration of their old liberties, relief
+from the excessive taxation, and the general improvement of their
+material interests. But many of the governing classes, councillors,
+_landvögte_, and others, had served abroad at foreign courts, and had
+drunk in the spirit of absolutism, and were as much imbued as any James
+I. or Louis XIV. with notions as to the "divine right" of the privileged
+classes to govern. They claimed seats on the administration as a right.
+From their superior positions they looked down on the labouring classes,
+and had little or no sympathy with them. Except in name the Swiss
+cantons were as absolutely governed by aristocracies as France was by
+Louis XIV. Nothing is more ludicrous, or more clearly shows the
+affectations and narrow pedantries of the age, than the childish delight
+in long or high-flown titles, by which the Swiss "regents," as they were
+called, were wont to address each other, and be addressed even by
+foreigners. "Leurs excellences," "noble-born," and so forth, were as
+common amongst Swiss republicans as in any monarchy.[72] Nor were they
+behindhand in the adoption of court fashions, wigs, frills, and the
+like; whilst they hunted eagerly for patents of nobility, and placed the
+"von" so unblushingly before their names that the higher classes, and
+really well-born for the most part dropped it for a time.
+
+The Eidgenossen, however, were eminently useful soldiers, and Louis XIV.
+in 1663 wheedled or tricked them into the renewal of the alliance with
+France, an alliance into which Le Barde had tried in vain for thirteen
+years to coax them. The wily Louis invited a Swiss embassy to his Court,
+and for a whole week amused and flattered his guests with a succession
+of banquets, ceremonies, and entertainments. Molière played before them
+by royal command. The ambassadors were thus beguiled into admitting some
+of the most important points in the treaty, the neutrality of Burgundy,
+the liquidation of the old debt, &c. On the 18th of November, in the
+presence of the whole French Court, at Notre Dame, the Swiss
+representatives agreed to a disgraceful and humiliating bargain with
+Louis. The king was not, however, inclined to lavish money on them like
+his predecessors had done. One day Louvois complained to him that his
+Swiss troops stood him dear, that for the money they had cost him and
+his predecessors the road could be paved with crown-pieces from Paris to
+Basel. Stuppa from the Grisons, overhearing this, quickly retorted,
+"Sir, you forget that with the Swiss blood spilt in the French service
+you might fill a canal from Basel to Paris."
+
+Despite the engagements to France which Switzerland had entered into, it
+never ceased to give shelter to the French refugees who fled to escape
+the persecutions of Louis--to the Waldenses and the Huguenots. After the
+revocation of the Edict of Nantes, sixty-six thousand emigrants are said
+to have found shelter in Switzerland. Amongst the Swiss cities Geneva
+stands out conspicuously and honourably by her great benevolence. Not to
+speak of the vast amount of private assistance given, the municipality
+spent on the relief of the religious refugees no less a sum than five
+million florins between 1685 and 1726. Gradually the Eidgenossen became
+alive to the real character of Louis and his negotiations with them,
+and ashamed of their own lack of patriotism. As early as 1689, indeed,
+we find Swiss envoys from Bern and Zurich at Paris, rejecting his
+bribes, his golden chains, and what not. And on their return home they
+received the eulogies of their people for their integrity and
+independence. Gradually the league with France was set aside, or
+ignored. Nevertheless, the system of mercenary service remained an
+evil--one may say a cancerous evil--in the Swiss policy of the later
+centuries.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[68] Appealing to the absurd pretended national relationship between
+Swedes and Switzers, an etymology of the Middle Ages.
+
+[69] See the chapter on the Swabian wars.
+
+[70] Rohan was a great friend to Zurich, and presented to its city
+library which was then forming his "Parfait Capitaine," a Hebrew Bible,
+and his portrait. He was by his own request buried at Geneva, and his
+death was greatly regretted by the reformed cities. The letters written
+by his family in reply to the "Condolence of Zurich" are still preserved
+in the library. See pamphlet on Rohan by Professor von Wyss.
+
+[71] In Meyer's novel, Lucretia is betrothed to Jenatsch and takes the
+veil after the murder of Jenatsch, but this story has no foundation in
+fact.
+
+[72] A few of these magnificent titles, or epithets, may be noted:
+"Hoch," "Wohlgeachtete," "Edle," "Fromme," "Fürsichtige," "Fürnehme,"
+"Weise Herren," and many more such like.
+
+
+
+
+XXVII.
+
+POLITICAL MATTERS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+
+Politically Switzerland presents much the same aspect in the eighteenth
+as in the previous century, and it needs here only a few words to
+indicate more clearly the temper of the times. In Swiss lands, as
+elsewhere, we have the inevitable division into the two classes of
+governor and governed. The rank and file of the "reigning families,"
+_regiments-fähig_, patricians or plutocrats, rigorously kept all power
+to themselves, and held sway over the ordinary burghers and common folk.
+Unchecked rule and superiority and a life of ease and luxury on the one
+side; blind submission and toil on the other, especially in the rural
+districts. Even in the professedly democratic cantons the same despotism
+is met with; chieftains and family "dynasts" seizing the reins of
+government, and overruling the _landsgemeinde_, whilst they contend with
+each other for supremacy. Just as in the case of the oligarchies, the
+_laender_ make the most of their "divine right" to govern. No wonder
+risings took place, as that of the Leventines against the harsh
+_landvögte_ of Uri, and that of the Werdenberger (St. Gall) against
+Glarus, though these revolts were in vain. In Zurich, Schaffhausen, and
+Basel, there was less oppression, the guilds keeping the nobility at
+bay, though this guild system itself was not without blemish. The chief
+cities or cantonal _chefs-lieux_ one and all held sovereign sway over
+the country districts attaching to them, but, like the old nobility of
+France, shifted off their own shoulders nearly all taxation, whilst they
+monopolized trade and industry. Thus the peasantry were crushed with the
+weight of taxes, imposts, tithes, and what not.
+
+Religious differences had deepened since the second war of Villmergen
+(1712), which had brought the Protestants to the fore, and had
+established the principle of religious equality. The Catholics, having
+lost their supremacy in certain bailiwicks or subject districts, began
+to dream of regaining their lost position. To this end they entered into
+a secret agreement (_ligue à la cassette_) with Louis XIV. of France
+shortly before that monarch's death. It was not till 1777, however, that
+France really gained her point. In that year the common fear of Austria
+induced both Protestants and Catholics to enter into a league with Louis
+XVI. Thus, for the first time since the Reformation, the Confederates
+were a united body, or at any rate were agreed as to their joint plan of
+action.
+
+Interesting though the task might be, it is here impossible to
+investigate the various conditions of the government in the subject
+lands--Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud, part of St. Gall, portions gained
+by conquest, or fragments acquired by purchase. We should meet with
+curious remnants of feudalism, and strange mixtures of the mediæval and
+the modern. But our space will permit of only a glance. The subject
+lands were deprived of all self-government, and the _landvögte_ ruled
+them as an Eastern satrap might rule his satrapy. A somewhat strange
+arrangement for a republic to make and allow; but yet, on the whole, the
+government was excellent, and this state of things continued for a long
+period. Abuses, bribery, extortions, and the like of course crept in,
+but it is to be remembered that the _landvögte_ were strictly controlled
+by the central government.[73] Many of them, especially at Bern, kept up
+much state; possessed horses, carriages, and livery-servants, and kept
+open house. In their lordships they ruled as veritable sovereigns, but
+they cared for their people, as good sovereigns should. They were,
+indeed, more like the patriarchs of old, rewarding or admonishing their
+peoples as circumstances required. One specimen of the class was greatly
+admired by Goethe, viz., Landvogt Landolt von Greifensee (Zurich). A few
+traits will serve to mark the man and the system. This governor was of
+the old school, and hated enlightened peasants and modern revolutionary
+ideas. He advocated compulsory attendance at church, and firmly believed
+in flogging as the most rational form of punishment. On the other hand,
+he was both benevolent and humane, and watched over his people with a
+fatherly care. He was equally anxious to improve their farms and their
+morals. He was wont to go about _incognito_--generally dressed as a
+Tyrolese--and visited the printshops to find out the gamblers and the
+drunkards. The latter he had put into a revolving cage till they got
+sober. Quarrelling couples he shut up together, and forced them to eat
+_with the same spoon_![74] But among many subject lands the system had
+greatly changed.
+
+The greatest holder of subject territory was Bern, with its forty-four
+lordships or bailiwicks, Zurich coming next with twenty-nine. The
+largest subject district was Vaud, and, thanks to its thriving
+agriculture, and the wise, though harsh, administration of Bern, it
+flourished greatly. The Vaudois had on the whole submitted quietly to
+Bernese rule, though the upper classes amongst them did not relish their
+exclusion from the conduct of State affairs. However, bowing to the
+inevitable, they gave themselves up to the enjoyment of a life of
+pleasure and to intellectual pursuits. About this time Lausanne, their
+capital, had become the resort of men like Gibbon, Fox, Raynal,
+Voltaire, and many men of lesser mark. They were attracted by the beauty
+of the scenery and by the high repute of the Vaud gentry for good
+breeding and affability. These noble families opened their salons to the
+distinguished foreigners who resided among them, and Gibbon seems to
+have particularly appreciated their good qualities.[75] The historian
+spent much of his life at Lausanne. An unlucky attempt had been made by
+Major Davel, in 1723, to rescue Vaud from the grasp of Bern. This
+enthusiastic patriot had himself concocted the plot, and attempted to
+carry out his plans without informing a single person of his intentions.
+Mustering his men, Davel, on some pretence, led them to Lausanne, where
+the council were then sitting, the _landvögte_ being up at Bern, and
+informed the board what he proposed to do. But the members of the
+council were not yet prepared to seek emancipation, and, simulating an
+understanding, betrayed the luckless patriot to the Bernese authorities.
+"Leurs Excellences"--such was the official title of the Bernese
+rulers--made use of the rack, with the object of extorting from him the
+names of his accomplices, but in vain, and he was beheaded.
+
+Amongst the leading cities of the Confederation, Zurich was conspicuous
+as the centre of Liberal tendencies and intellectual progress, whilst
+Bern was the political centre, and the leading financial focus.[76] Like
+a modern Rothschild, Bern then lent to various European states. Part of
+her treasure went towards paying the cost of Napoleon's expedition to
+Egypt. Among her sister cities, Freiburg, Solothurn, and Lucerne, Bern
+presented the most perfect example of an oligarchy, admired by
+Montesquieu, Napoleon, and even Rousseau. Her decided bent was for
+diplomacy, and she was completely absorbed in rule and administration,
+and she had few other tastes. Trade and industry she considered beneath
+her dignity; even literary pursuits to a great extent. The Bernese
+aristocrats were politicians from birth, so to speak, and the young men
+had a curious society amongst themselves, "Äusserer Stand," a society
+formed for the purpose of cultivating the diplomatic art and practising
+parliamentary oratory and tactics, especially their more formal outward
+side. Thus trained in bearing and ceremonial they acquired their
+much-admired political _aplomb_. Bern was French in fashion, in manners,
+and in language, and the German tongue was as little appreciated amongst
+the Bernese patricians as at the Court of Frederick the Great. The
+constitution presents some features quite unique in their way. There was
+an exclusiveness which has lasted in all its force even down to our own
+days; and three classes of society sprang up, as widely separated from
+each other as the different castes in India. All power was vested in the
+360 "reigning families"; the number of these was at length, by death and
+clever manipulating, reduced to eighty, and even fewer. From these
+families alone were the councils selected, and to the members of these
+only were governorships assigned. If male heirs were wanting, then the
+seats on the council were given to the daughters as dowries. So
+exclusive was this governing body, that even Haller, the great poet, was
+not allowed to enter it. The class next lower in rank was that of the
+burghers, _ewige habitanten_, with no political rights, and with not a
+vestige of power in the commonwealth. They were not allowed to hold
+officerships abroad, but trade, industry, and the schools and churches
+were theirs. Lastly came the Ansässige (settlers), the proletariat,
+including the country labourers, foreigners, refugees, and commoner folk
+generally. Many were their disabilities; they were not permitted to buy
+houses, to have their children baptised in the city, to have tombstones
+set up over the graves of members of their family.[77] They might not
+even appear in the market till their betters had done their business,
+viz., 11 a.m., and they were strictly forbidden to carry baskets in the
+archways (_les arcades de la ville_), in order that these should not
+damage the hooped petticoats of the patrician ladies.[78] Bern has often
+been compared with ancient Rome, and certainly its stern council
+somewhat resembles in its austerity, solemnity, and pomp the august
+Roman Senate. It is not surprising that many attempts should have been
+made to induce the Government to relax its severity. In 1744 certain
+citizens petitioned the council to that effect, but were banished for
+their pains. Five years later a famous man named Henzi, with several
+associates, formed a plot against the council, but they were detected
+and executed.
+
+But in truth there were risings in almost every one of the cantons. Of
+these only the most remarkable can be touched on here, those of Geneva.
+These are real constitutional struggles, and, indeed, form the
+preliminaries in their way to the French Revolution, on which indeed
+their history sheds no little light. These troubles in Geneva are not
+unlike those of the Gracchi period in Roman history. By the Constitution
+of 1536 Geneva had been granted the right of a "Conseil Général," but
+this council had never been allowed to act or meet. The patricians who
+occupied the _haut de la cité_ had arrogated to themselves well-nigh all
+power. But as early as 1707, the burghers, ever on the alert to regain
+their liberties, rose with the view of re-establishing the General
+Council of 1536. The movement was headed by the generous and
+noble-minded Pierre Fatio, himself a patrician. In fiery speeches, made
+in the open places of the town, he championed the popular rights,
+asserting with vehemence that the rulers were not the masters and tutors
+of the people, but the executors of its sovereign will. The attempt to
+gain popular liberty miscarried, Fatio was shot in prison, and his
+followers were exiled. Yet Fatio's idea lived on amongst the working
+classes, and later were again advocated in the pamphlets of Micheli du
+Crêst. In the years 1734 and 1737 the insurrections burst out afresh,
+and resulted in the establishment of the Constitution of 1738, which
+secured for a quarter of a century a happiness it had never before
+known.
+
+However, the second half of the century witnessed new troubles between
+the burghers and the patricians. These latter were called, by way of
+nickname, "Négatifs," because they denied the people reform, whilst the
+burghers were styled "Représentants," because they presented petitions
+for political liberty. The artizan class were nicknamed "Natifs." It is
+impossible here to follow closely these "tea-cup squabbles," as Voltaire
+called them, but the philosopher's sympathies were with the _haut de la
+ville_, while Rousseau, on the contrary, sided with the _bas de la
+ville_.
+
+Of all the Swiss lands the most equitable and righteous government was
+that enjoyed by Neuchâtel, under Frederick the Great (1740-1786). This
+state had of its own free will in 1707 accepted the ducal sway of the
+kings of Prussia, in order to escape the grasp of Louis XIV. At one
+time, however, Frederick II. so far forgot himself as to infringe the
+"states'" right of taxation, and the semi-republican duchy at once rose
+in rebellion. Gaudot, the vice-governor, Frederick's devoted minister,
+was shot in the fray (1768). Yet, thanks to the monarch's wise
+moderation, and the intervention of the Swiss Confederation, the storm
+was calmed, and Neuchâtel continued in her peaceful and happy condition.
+It is clear that there was in Switzerland plenty of combustible matter,
+needing only the French Revolution to raise a conflagration.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[73] The unrighteous and cruel Landvogt Tscharner was punished with
+death by the Bernese Government in 1612.
+
+[74] For further particulars about this original man the reader is
+referred to the charming novel bearing his name, by Keller (Keller's
+"Zurcher Novellen").
+
+[75] Madame de la Charrière, the novelist, writes: "Nous vivons avec
+eux, nous leur plaisons, quelquefois nous les formons, et ils nous
+gâtent."
+
+[76] The Bernese peasantry had attained unusual wealth by its excellent
+management and the strict administration of its government.
+
+[77] Prof. Vögelin, "Schweizergeschichte," p. 344.
+
+[78] See "Die Patrizierin," a recent fascinating novel by Widmann, a
+Bernese writer.
+
+
+
+
+XXVIII.
+
+SWITZERLAND AND THE RENAISSANCE. INFLUENCE OF VOLTAIRE AND ROUSSEAU.
+
+
+Barren and uninviting is the waste of politics in Switzerland at this
+period of our story, and it seemed as if the republic was quietly
+crumbling out of active existence. But the literary and scientific
+renaissance runs through it all like a fertilizing stream, and saves it
+from utter sterility. Feeble though it was politically, Switzerland yet
+produced on all sides men of mark in science, in literature, in
+philosophy. Time would fail to tell of them all, and we must be content
+to follow briefly the three great currents of the movement, which
+centred respectively around Geneva, Zurich, and the Helvetic Society.
+The two former of these may indeed be said to form a part (and an
+important part) of the great general awakening of the eighteenth
+century, an awakening beginning with the French "period of
+enlightenment," and crowned by the era of German classicism. Yet the
+French movement itself was based on English influence. Just as, at the
+Restoration, England had copied the France of Louis Quatorze, so France
+in return drew intellectual strength from the England of the second half
+of the eighteenth century--England was then vastly ahead of the
+Continent--and brought forth the "_siècle de la philosophie_." Of the
+great Frenchmen who learned in the school of English thought,
+Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Voltaire stand foremost, and of these again
+Voltaire occupies indisputably the highest place. Voltaire was not only
+the founder, but the very heart of the philosophic school which reared
+its front against the statutes and traditions and pretensions of the
+Church. He had drunk deeply of the spirit of Newton and of Locke during
+his exile in England, and spread abroad their views and discoveries,
+assisted by his genius, his sparkling wit, his lashing satire, and his
+graceful style. None equally with him naturalized on the Continent
+English free thought and English rationalism. Voltaire and Rousseau were
+as two great beacons planted in the century guiding as they would the
+course of philosophy. Both were champions of personal freedom and
+religious tolerance in a benighted and down-trodden age. But the
+influence of the two men worked in very different ways, for in the one
+it was based on the head, in the other on the heart. Voltaire, the
+realist, by his venomous and even reckless satires on the Church and on
+Christianity, dealt a severe blow to religion at large. Rousseau, the
+idealist, plunged into the mystery of good and evil, and was wrecked by
+the very impracticability of his system.
+
+Voltaire, as is well known, spent the last twenty years of his life--his
+"_verte vieillesse_"--almost at the gates of Geneva, and Rousseau,
+actually one of its citizens, passed the greater part of his life
+wandering abroad, though he loved Geneva so dearly that he once fainted
+with emotion on leaving it. Yet while both did battle so to speak from
+Geneva, neither of them was reckoned as a prophet in that city. After
+Voltaire had spent a couple of years at "Les Délices"--this was
+subsequent to his break with the great Frederick--he bought Tournay and
+Ferney, close to Geneva, to "keep aloof from monarchs and bishops, of
+whom he was afraid." Ferney, with its _parc à la Versailles_, and its
+fine castle, he made his residence; and there his niece did the honours
+of the house to the countless visitors who came from all parts to do
+homage to the illustrious "Aubergiste del' Europe," as he pleasantly
+styled himself. It was not the salons of Ferney that induced him to
+reside there, but care for his health and a wish to be free from all
+fear of bastilles.
+
+Geneva was not inclined to bow in admiration before her famous
+neighbour, as has been already stated. She had by this time become a
+great intellectual centre. Men of science, naturalists, and philosophers
+there congregated, and a reaction against the everlasting study of
+theology, of which the fashion had been introduced by the Huguenot
+refugees, having come about, the study of nature had taken its place.
+Whilst France was being governed by the Pompadours, Geneva was ruled by
+a society of savants, inclined, it is true, to absolutism and narrow
+Calvinism, but still savants. It is a common error to suppose that
+Voltaire's influence took deep root in Geneva. Voltaire set the current
+running for the world at large indeed, but Geneva was not specially
+affected. In truth, most of her learned men were disinclined to do more
+than follow Voltaire half way, as it were, into his philosophy, whilst
+some of them, as, for instance, Charles Bonnet, were particularly narrow
+in their views, and were even heretic hunters.[79] Voltaire's contest
+with the city authorities respecting the establishing of a theatre is a
+good illustration of his want of real authority and influence there. It
+greatly tickled his fancy to seduce the "pedantic city still holding to
+her old reformers, and submitting to the tyrannical laws of Calvin" from
+the ancient path, and to make war on her orthodoxy. And as part of his
+plan he determined to introduce theatrical performances into the city.
+The ball was set rolling by an article in the "Encyclopédie" by
+D'Alembert, but the arguments there adduced in favour of the theatre
+proved of no avail. Rousseau made a furious reply, and averred that a
+theatre was injurious to the morals of a small town. In a large city,
+where the morals were already corrupt, it did not signify. The
+Consistoire was in a flutter, for it had pretended that the Genevans had
+a prodigious love for light amusements. However, one day Voltaire
+invited the city authorities to "Les Délices," and there treated them to
+a representation of his "Zaïre," and it was no little triumph to the
+wily old schemer that his audience were overcome with emotion. "We have
+moved to tears almost the whole council--Consistory and magistrates; I
+have never seen more tears," he delightedly reports; "never have the
+Calvinists been more tender! God be blessed! I have corrupted Geneva and
+the Republic." Nevertheless he was not to triumph. The theatre at "Les
+Délices" had to be closed. He opened his theatre several times elsewhere
+in Genevan territory, and began to draw crowds, but in every instance
+was compelled to close again. In truth, it was not till 1766 that Geneva
+had a theatre of its own, and even then it lasted but two years. The
+building was set on fire by some Puritans, and, being only of wood, was
+rapidly consumed. Crowds ran to the conflagration, but finding that it
+was only the theatre that was on fire, they emptied their buckets,
+shouting, "Let those who wanted a theatre put out the fire!"
+"_Perruques_ or _tignasses_," exclaimed Voltaire, with irritation, "it
+is all the same with Geneva. If you think you have caught her, she
+escapes."
+
+Rousseau (1712-1778) was the son of a Genevan watchmaker, and received
+but a very desultory education in his early days. Whilst yet but a boy
+he had drunk in the republican and Calvinistic spirit of his native
+town, hence his democratic leanings. He was a lover of nature, and fond
+of solitude, and was possessed of a deep religious feeling, even though
+his religion was based on sentiment. He witnessed the revolt of 1735-37,
+and, _enfant du peuple_ as he was, rebelled against the tyranny of the
+patricians, and gave vent to his indignation in his writings. He thus
+became the mouthpiece of a down-trodden people craving for liberty, of a
+society satiated with culture. His prize essay on "Arts and Sciences" is
+an answer in the negative to the question propounded by the Dijon
+Academy, Whether the New Learning had resulted in an improvement to
+morals. His next essay on "L'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité"
+is a sally against the state of society. In it he advocates a return to
+the condition of nature, on which Voltaire sarcastically retorted, "I
+felt a great desire to go on all fours." "Emile" (1762), which Goethe
+calls the "gospel of education," declares against the hollowness of our
+distorted and over-refined civilization, and advocates a more rational
+training based on nature. And Pestalozzi, pedagogue and philanthropist,
+though he styled "Emile" a "book of dreams," was yet nourished on
+Rousseau's ideas. "Emile" is opposed to deism and materialism on the one
+hand, whilst on the other it objects to revelation and miracles, and
+declares that existing religion is one-sided and unable to save mankind
+from intellectual slavery. The excitement the book created was immense
+on both sides, and it was publicly burnt both at Paris and Geneva. Its
+author was compelled to flee.
+
+[Illustration: ROUSSEAU.]
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF PESTALOZZI.
+
+(_From a photograph of the statue, at Yverdon, by Lanz._)]
+
+A similar untoward fate befel the same author's famous "Contrat Social,"
+perhaps the most important political work of the eighteenth century. In
+this Rousseau advances much further than Montesquieu. Indeed the former
+was a strong Radical, whilst the latter might be more fittingly
+described as a Whig. Rousseau advocates republicanism, or rather a
+democracy, as the best form of government; whilst Montesquieu points to
+the constitutional government of England as his model, insisting on the
+right to equality of all before the law. The "Contrat Social," as is
+well known, did much to advance the revolutionary cause, and became
+indeed the textbook of the democracy, and formed the principal basis of
+the Constitution of 1793. But Rousseau himself was no agitator. On the
+contrary, when the burghers of Geneva rose on his behalf, to save
+"Emile" and the "Contrat" from the flames, he hesitated hardly a moment,
+but begged them to submit to order, as he disliked disorder and
+bloodshed.
+
+His novel, "La Nouvelle Heloïse" (1761), introduced the romantic
+element, and opened a new era in literature. It was, in fact, a
+manifesto against a bewigged and bepowdered civilization. Poetry was
+invited to withdraw from the salons and come once more to live with
+nature. But this sudden onslaught on the stiff conventionalism and
+narrowness of the time was too much, and there ensued an outburst of
+excitement and feeling such as we in our day can scarcely realize. A
+great stream of sentiment poured into literature, and gave rise to that
+tumultuous "storm and stress" (_Sturm und Drang_) period in Germany, out
+of which sprang Schiller's "Räuber" (Robbers). Goethe caught up the
+prevailing tone of sentimentality and supersensitiveness in his
+"Werther" (1774). This tearful, boisterous period is but the outrush of
+a nation's pent-up feelings on its sudden emancipation from the thraldom
+of conventionalism. And it led the way to the golden era in German
+literature, the era of Schiller and Goethe.
+
+The brilliant literary court of Madame de Staël at Coppet succeeded that
+of Voltaire at Ferney. Though born in Geneva she was in heart a
+Frenchwoman, and her native country but little affected her character.
+"I would rather go miles to hear a clever man talk than open the windows
+of my rooms at Naples to see the beauties of the Gulf," is a
+characteristic speech of hers. Yet amongst women-writers Madame de Staël
+is perhaps the most generous, the most lofty, and the grandest figure.
+Her spirited opposition to Napoleon, her exile, her brilliant _coterie_
+at Coppet, and her famous literary productions, are topics of the
+greatest interest, but as they do not specially concern Switzerland,
+they cannot be more than hinted at here.
+
+[Illustration: HALLER.]
+
+From the very depression, political and social, prevailing in Swiss
+lands arose the yearning for and proficiency in letters and scientific
+culture which in the period now before us produced so prolific a
+literature in the country. And it was not in West Switzerland alone
+that this revival of letters showed itself. Basel prided herself on her
+naturalists and mathematicians, Merian, Bernoulli, and Euler; while
+Zurich could boast of her botanists, Scheuchzer and John Gessner. Bern
+produced that most distinguished naturalist, Haller, who was also a
+poet; Schaffhausen claims Johannes von Müller, the brilliant historian;
+and Brugg (Aargau) Zimmermann, philosopher and royal physician at
+Hanover. Bodmer and Breitinger formed an æsthetic critical forum at
+Zurich. And no country of similar area had so many of its sons occupying
+positions of honour in foreign universities. A whole colony of Swiss
+savants had settled at Berlin, drawn thither by the great Frederick;
+others were to be found at Halle. Haller, who had lived at Göttingen
+ever since 1736, likewise received an invitation from Frederick, but
+found himself unable to accept it, being greatly averse to Voltaire and
+his influence. A perfect stream of Swiss intellect poured into Germany,
+and by its southern originality, greater power of expression, and its
+true German instinct, quickened German nationality, and witnesses to the
+fact that there is ever passing between the two countries an
+intellectual current.[80] It is impossible within the limits of the
+present volume to do more than touch upon the most characteristic
+literary movements of the period.
+
+Amongst the upper classes in Switzerland, French culture reigned
+supreme, just as did French fashions, French manners, and it may almost
+be said, the French language. Nevertheless, the Swiss were the first to
+throw off the French supremacy in literature, turning rather to England
+as a more congenial guide and pattern. Bodmer speaks of Shakespeare and
+Milton "as the highest manifestations of Germanic genius." As for German
+literature itself, it was still in a state of helplessness--what with
+the Thirty Years' War, and the German nobility given over to French
+tastes and French influence--and fashioned itself in foreign modes till
+the close of the Seven Years' War, in 1763, when it took the leading
+position it has ever since maintained.
+
+Bern and Zurich, which had both risen to wealth and independence, were
+stout opponents of the French policy. Both cities were homes of the
+_belles lettres_, and Zurich was a veritable "poets' corner." The chief
+figure there was Bodmer, who wielded the literary sceptre in Switzerland
+and Germany for well-nigh half a century. A fellow-worker with him, and
+his well-nigh inseparable companion, was Breitinger, and these two more
+than any others helped to break the French spell. Bodmer (1698-1783),
+was the son of a pastor of Greifensee, and had himself been at first
+destined for the church, though he was at length put to the silk trade.
+But neither calling could keep him from his beloved letters, and in 1725
+he became professor of history and political science at the Zurich
+Carolinum. His aim was to raise literature from its lifeless condition.
+As far back as 1721, he had joined with Breitinger and others, in
+establishing a weekly journal on the model of Addison's
+_Spectator_--"Discurse der Maler." Breitinger was professor of Hebrew,
+and later on, canon of the minster of Zurich, and was a man of profound
+learning and refined taste. The new paper treated not only of social
+matters, but discussed poetry and _belles lettres_ generally. Gottsched
+(1700-1766), who occupied the chair of rhetoric at Leipzig, was supreme
+as a literary critic. His tastes were French, and he held up the French
+classics as models. In his "Critical Art of Poetry" (1730), he tries to
+teach what may be called the _mechanics_ of poetry based on reason, and
+pretends that it is in the power of any really clever man to produce
+masterpieces in poetry. In 1732, appeared Bodmer's translation of
+"Paradise Lost," to the chagrin of Gottsched, who, feeling that he was
+losing ground, furiously attacked the Miltonian following. His mockery
+of the blind poet roused Bodmer's anger, and he replied with his work
+the "Wonderful in Poetry." A fierce controversy raged for ten years. In
+the name of Milton the young men of talent took the side of Zurich, that
+is, of the German, as opposed to the French influence in literature. The
+result was that by the efforts of such men as Haller, Klopstock,
+Wieland, and Kleist, the French influence was ousted and the national
+German influence came to the front.
+
+Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777), whom Goethe calls "the father of
+national poetry," was the first representative of the new school of
+poets which began to turn to nature for inspiration and illustration
+rather than to mere dead forms. His poems on the Alps (1732) paint the
+majestic beauty of the Bernese highlands, and contrast the humble and
+peaceful but natural life of the shepherd with the luxurious and
+artificial life of the patrician, and the dweller in cities. Haller's
+writings made a great impression on the polite world.[81] Klopstock it
+was, however, whom Bodmer welcomed as the harbinger of a new era, as the
+German Milton. Klopstock had been trained in the Swiss school of
+thought, and regarded Breitinger's "Critical Art" as his æsthetic bible,
+whilst Bodmer's translation of "Paradise Lost" inspired his epic,
+"Messiah." The first three cantos appeared in the "Bremer Beiträge" in
+1748, and created such a _furore_ that he was declared to be an immortal
+poet. Wieland's first poems were, in 1751, published in the "Swiss
+Critic," and met with a reception hardly less favourable if somewhat
+less enthusiastic. A strong friendship springing up between Bodmer and
+the young Klopstock, the former offered the poet a temporary home at his
+Tusculum (still standing) on the slopes of Zurichberg, that he might go
+on with his great epic. The fine view of the lake and mountains, the
+"highly cultivated city beneath," was greatly prized by Goethe who
+sounds its praises in "Wahrheit und Dichtung." However, Bodmer was
+disappointed with his young guest, for Klopstock loved the society of
+the young men and young women of his own age, and the progress made with
+the "Messiah" was well-nigh _nil_. However, it is to Klopstock's sojourn
+there, that we owe some of his fine odes, especially that on Zurich
+lake. But meanwhile Bodmer's friendship had cooled, and Klopstock went
+to the house (in Zurich itself) of Hartmann Rahn, who later on married
+the poet's sister. With this same Rahn was some years afterwards
+associated the philosopher Fichte, when he lived at Zurich (1788).
+Fichte in fact married Rahn's daughter, Johanna. In 1752, Wieland[82]
+repaid Bodmer for his previous disappointments, by staying with him for
+some two years.
+
+Bodmer's zeal for the advance of literature was unremitting. Though he
+could not himself boast of much poetic genius, he was a prolific writer
+in both prose and verse. His great merit is his bringing to light again
+the fine old mediæval poetry long since forgotten. The manuscript of the
+"Minnesänger" and the famous "Nibelungen" he had dug up from the
+lumber-room of Hohenems Castle. He moved heaven and earth to obtain
+royal protection and patronage for German literature. But little did he
+gain at the court of the great Frederick. To Müller, who presented the
+"Nibelungen," his majesty replied in characteristic fashion that the
+piece was not worth a single "charge of powder." Not less characteristic
+was Voltaire's reply when a request was made for the royal favour to
+Klopstock. "A new 'Messiah' is too much of a good thing, the old one has
+not been read yet."
+
+Bodmer's influence on the young man of parts is noticeable. He gathered
+round him a large following of young Zürcher who had a taste for
+letters. Crowds of them would accompany him in his evening walks in the
+avenue Platzspitz, drinking in his words of wit and wisdom. Of the
+disciples thus gathered round "Father" Bodmer--for so he was
+affectionately styled--some attained no little eminence in later life.
+Amongst them we may mention Sulzer, who became art professor at Berlin,
+and stood in high favour with the king; and Solomon Gessner, the painter
+poet, whose word pictures are hardly less beautiful than the productions
+of his brush. His "Idylls," published in 1756, gave him a European
+reputation. The work was translated into all the literary languages, and
+in France and Italy was read with great eagerness, a first edition in
+French being sold out within a fortnight. Another important work is
+Hirzel's "Kleinjogg," or the "Socrates of the Fields." In this Hirzel,
+who was a physician and a philanthropist, brings to the fore the
+despised peasantry. "Kleinjogg" is not a work of fiction solely, but an
+account of Jakob Gujer who lived in a small Zurich village. Jakob was a
+man of great intelligence, indomitable resolution, and practical wisdom,
+who by his admirable management raised a wretched country home into a
+model farm. Goethe, who on a visit ate at his table, was delighted with
+the philosophic peasant, and called him "one of the most delicious
+creatures earth ever produced."
+
+Heinrich Pestalozzi, the philanthropist, but better known for his
+efforts in the cause of education, was also a Zurich man. His principles
+of education are embodied in his novel of rural life, "Lienhard and
+Gertrude" (1781). His ideas are partly borrowed from Rousseau, but he
+failed to realize them in practice. The work at once won for Pestalozzi
+European fame. Ludwig Meyer von Knonau, a country magnate, was a poet
+and a painter, and wrote "Fables." Johannes Casper Lavater, Bodmer's
+favourite pupil, stirred to their depth the patriotic feelings of his
+countrymen by his famous "Schweizerlieder," which he composed for the
+Helvetic Society, in 1767. Indeed literary tastes seem to have been very
+prevalent amongst the Swiss at that time. More of Winkelmann's great
+work on Æsthetics were sold in Zurich and Basel then would in our own
+day probably be sold in such cities as Berlin and Vienna. And Solothurn,
+we find, produced thrice as many subscribers to Goethe's works as the
+great cities just mentioned.
+
+[Illustration: LAVATER.]
+
+After Bodmer Lavater became the chief attraction at Zurich, and
+strangers flocked thither in great numbers to see him. He was the
+founder of the study of physiognomy, and his works on it were very
+largely read at the time. Goethe himself joined with Lavater in his
+"Essays on Physiognomy." The philosopher's personality being singularly
+charming and fascinating, he was one of the most influential men of his
+time. He was the pastor of St. Peter's church, and was full of high
+religious enthusiasm. He desired to take Christianity from its lifeless
+condition and make it a living thing, and was strongly opposed to
+rationalism--Anglo-French deism--then slowly creeping in,
+notwithstanding severe repressive measures against it. Goethe was for
+many years the close friend of Lavater, and carried on with him a
+brilliant correspondence. The great poet, it may be stated, paid no
+fewer than three visits to Zurich, viz., in 1775, 1779, and 1797. He
+considered his intercourse with Lavater the "seal and crown" of the
+whole trip to Switzerland in 1779, and calls the divine the "crown of
+mankind," "the best among the best," and compares his friendship with
+"pastureland on heaven's border." Lavater's later years were marked by
+many eccentricities, and he fell into religious mysticism. But his
+sterling merits will not readily be forgotten by the Swiss.
+
+A word respecting the Helvetic Society must close the present chapter.
+This society was founded in 1762, with the view of gathering together
+those who were stirred by political aspiration. It gradually united all
+those who desired the political regeneration of their fatherland, and
+the most prominent men of both East and West Switzerland, and of both
+confessions, joined the new society. The young patriots regularly met to
+discuss methods of improving the country and its institutions, and this
+in spite of the prohibitions of a narrow-minded executive, and the close
+control of the press. Stockar's scheme for amalgamating the free states
+into one republic mightily swelled the hearts of both Catholic and
+Protestant, and their efforts gave rise to many practical reforms. The
+most prominent result of these efforts was the rise of national
+education. Zurich with its higher schools occupied a leading position in
+the work of reform, and Pestalozzi established on his own estate a
+school for the poor. Unfortunately this admirable institution failed for
+want of a proper manager. Later on, after the Revolution, when the soil
+was better prepared for it, Pestalozzi's system took vigorous root.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[79] Hettner's "French Literature in the Eighteenth Century."
+
+[80] Switzerland was the cradle of the German drama in the sixteenth
+century; even the Oberammergau Passion play can be traced to a Swiss
+origin (Bächtold).
+
+[81] Haller, anxious to return to his native land, accepted an inferior
+post as director of salt-mines at Bex (Vaud), Bern, his native town,
+disregarding his great merits, declining to offer him either a
+professorship or a seat on the governing board.
+
+[82] A daughter of Wieland was also married to the son of his great
+friend Gessner, the poet.
+
+
+
+
+XXXI.
+
+THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND SWITZERLAND.
+
+(1790-1798.)
+
+
+None of our readers will need to be told the story of the French
+Revolution, nor shown that it was the natural outcome of previous
+misgovernment and oppression. Every one has read of the miseries of the
+lower classes--intolerable beyond description; of the marvellous
+inability of the nobles and clergy to see that amidst all their
+selfishness and pleasures they were living on the very edge of a
+frightful volcano; of the _tiers-état_ and its emancipatory movement,
+which, outgrowing its primary intention, brought about a series of
+stupendous changes; of Napoleon, how he stopped this disorder and how he
+made all Europe into one vast theatre of war. All this, in so far as it
+is the history of France, can only be alluded to here, but, inasmuch as
+Switzerland was dragged into the whirlpool of changes, we must dwell
+upon some of the effects of the great Revolution. Not less clearly than
+in France itself did the cry of "_Liberté, and égalité!_" resound
+through the Swiss lands, filling the hearts of the unfree and the
+oppressed with high hopes. Yet it was only after terrible sufferings and
+endless vicissitudes that the liberal principles of the Revolution came
+to the front, and admitted of that practical realization which was to
+lead up to a nobler and happier life for men.
+
+[Illustration: THE LION OF LUCERNE.
+
+(_From a photograph of the original._)]
+
+Of the many popular risings in Switzerland due to the influence of
+France, we may briefly touch on those which precede the Bern catastrophe
+in 1798. In September, 1791, Lower Valais rose against the _landvögte_
+of Upper Valais, but the intervention of Bern checked the revolt. In the
+April of the following year, Pruntrut (in the Bernese Jura) renounced
+its allegiance to the prince-bishops of Basel, and set up as an
+independent territory, under the style of the "Rauracian Republic," and
+three months later the widely-extended bishopric itself was amalgamated
+with France as the "Department Mont Terrible." It was on August 10th of
+this same year (1792) that the Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries
+against the Paris mob were massacred. Every one knows the story. "We are
+Swiss, and the Swiss never surrender their arms but with their lives,"
+were the proud words of Sergeant Blaser to the crowds furious against
+the protectors of royalty, and claiming that their arms should be put
+down. When Louis was in safety, the Swiss Guards were withdrawn. But on
+leaving the palace they were suddenly attacked by thousands of the mob.
+Resistance was plainly useless, yet the Swiss would not fly, and were
+ruthlessly slaughtered. Of the 760 men and twenty-two officers, but few
+escaped that terrible onslaught. The beautiful and far-famed
+Thorwaldsen monument--the "Lion of Lucerne"--with its inscription,
+"Helvetiorum fidei ac virtuti," still keeps up the memory of the heroic
+courage of the Swiss Guards.[83] The outrage aroused intense indignation
+at home, but could not be avenged. The subjects of the prince-abbot
+Beda, of St. Gall, secured under his mild rule the abolition of serfdom.
+His successor, Forster, however, refusing the measure his sanction, was
+driven from his see--till he returned under Austrian auspices--and a
+large rural district of St. Gall gained autonomy and freedom from the
+rule of the abbey in 1797. Geneva saw almost every possible change. At
+one time she was rescued by Bern at Zurich, but was, in 1798, absorbed
+by France. The singularly harsh bearing of Zurich towards the country
+districts brought about the widespread insurrection of Stäfa, in 1795;
+an insurrection vigorously suppressed however. The Italian lordships,
+severely treated by Graubünden, desired to be included in the Cis-alpine
+republic Bonaparte was forming, and the general advised that free state
+that it should be admitted into their pale as a fourth member of equal
+rank. Finding that his advice was not taken, he suddenly proclaimed the
+memorable maxim, "that no people can be subject to another people
+without a violation of the laws of nature," and joined Valtellina,
+Bormio, and Chiavenna to Lombardy. This arrangement he had ratified by
+the treaty of Campo Formio, in 1797, which destroyed the Venetian
+republic, handing it over, indeed, to Austria, France taking the
+Netherlands and Milan as her share of the plunder.
+
+Few things served to draw the attention of France to Swiss lands more
+than the Helvetic Club at Paris. This famous club was founded in 1790,
+by malcontents, chiefly from Vaud, Geneva, and Freiburg. They were bent
+on the liberation of Switzerland from aristocratic domination, and
+desirous of assimilating the form of government with that of France.
+This suited the French Directory exactly, their aim being to girdle
+France with a strong belt of vassal states. Among these Switzerland was
+to serve as a bulwark, or at any rate as a battle-ground, against
+Austria; and France was not without hope of filling her _coffres-forts_
+with Swiss treasure, now grown, after long years of peace, to great
+dimensions. Amongst the band of patriots two men stand out as leaders.
+One was César de La Harpe, a noble-minded and enthusiastic Vaudois, who,
+however, was more concerned for his own canton than for Switzerland at
+large. The other was Peter Ochs, of Basel, a shrewd and able man, but
+ambitious, and a creature of France. La Harpe had once been taunted by a
+Bernese noble, who reminded him that Vaud was subject to Bern, and this
+he never forgot. Even at the Court of Catherine II. of Russia, to which
+he had been called as tutor to the imperial grandchildren, he never
+forgot his republican principles. In 1797, returning from Russia, and
+being forbidden to enter Vaud, he joined the Helvetic Club at Paris, and
+thence launched forth his pamphlets against Bern. And in the Directory
+things were making against that hapless canton, Reubel, a declared
+enemy, gaining a seat. Napoleon too was no lover of Bern. On his way to
+the Congress of Rastatt, in 1797, he passed through Switzerland, and,
+while accepting the enthusiastic welcome offered by Basel and Vaud, he
+declined altogether to respond to that of Bern and Solothurn. Peter Ochs
+enjoyed Napoleon's full confidence, and was by him summoned to Paris,
+and charged with the drafting of a new constitution for Switzerland, on
+the lines of the Directory. La Harpe and Ochs thus worked towards the
+same end, though the motives of the two men differed greatly.
+
+[Illustration: LA HARPE.]
+
+Vaud hailed with delight the French Revolution, and celebrated the fall
+of Bastille in the most ostentatious manner; Bern, on the other hand,
+looked with dismay on the march of events, and, in Jan. 1798, sent
+Colonel Weiss with troops into the province. France replied by
+immediately sending men to occupy the southern shore of Lake Geneva.
+This was done at the request of the Helvetic Club, which gave as a
+pretext an old treaty of 1564, by which France guaranteed her support to
+Vaud. In vain did Weiss issue manifestoes; Bern was irresolute, and
+Vaud, feeling herself safe under the ægis of France, proclaimed the
+establishment of the "Lemanic Republic," with the seat of government at
+Lausanne (Jan. 24, 1798). A simple accident which resulted in the death
+of a couple of French soldiers was by their general magnified into an
+_attentât_ of the "Bernese tyrants" against a "great nation." The French
+troops marched on Weiss, ousted him without the necessity of striking a
+blow, and then charged Vaud with a sum of £28,000 for services rendered.
+Such proceedings struck terror into the hearts of the Swiss, and many of
+the cantons--Basel, Schaffhausen, Lucerne, &c.--set about reforming
+their governments. With matters at this pass the Diet ordered that the
+national federal oath should be sworn to, a proceeding which had been
+neglected for three hundred years. But this pretence of unity was a mere
+sham, as indeed were all these hasty attempts at reform. They failed to
+avert the coming storm, as the rulers failed to read aright the signs of
+the times. The Tagsatzung distracted and helpless dissolved on Feb. 1st.
+
+In the operations which followed, the chief command of the French forces
+in Switzerland was transferred from Mengaud to Brune, a Jacobite of the
+school of Danton. Brune directed his main attack on Bern, which, torn by
+dissensions, was wavering between peace and war. With Machiavellian
+astuteness Brune enticed the city into a truce. This truce, which was to
+last till the 1st of March, was most injurious to the interests of Bern,
+as it allowed time both for Brune to increase his own forces, and for
+Schauenburg to join him with a body of troops from Alsace. The Bernese
+were well-nigh paralyzed, and not unnaturally suspected treason amongst
+their own adherents. Unluckily, too, for her, Bern was far from popular
+amongst her sister cantons, and was well-nigh left to her own resources.
+Her chief allies were Solothurn and Freiburg, but these surrendered to
+Schauenburg and Brune at the first shock, on March 2nd. The French
+troops next marched to Bern, destroying on the way the national monument
+at Morat. But Von Grafenried secured a decided victory against Brune at
+Neueneck. On the other hand, Ludwig von Erlach, who attempted a stand
+against Schauenburg at Fraubrunnen, quite failed to hold his own, and
+was driven back on Grauholz, a few miles from Bern. A life-and-death
+struggle followed, even women and children seizing whatever weapons they
+could and fighting desperately, many of them even unto death. For three
+hours the combat lasted, and the Bernese fighting with their old
+bravery, maintained their honour as soldiers. Old Schultheiss von
+Steiger, "trembling in body, but stout in heart," cheered on his men
+regardless of the hail of bullets falling, but harmlessly, around him.
+Four times did the Swiss stand against the terrible onslaught of the
+French, but were at length compelled to yield to a force so superior in
+numbers and tactics to their own. And even whilst the clash of arms was
+still sounding the news came that Bern had surrendered. Erlach and
+Steiger fled to the Oberland, intending there to resume the combat; but
+the troops, mad with suspicion that the capitulation was the result of
+treason, murdered the former, Steiger narrowly escaping a similar fate.
+On the 5th of March, 1798, the French entered Bern in triumph, Brune,
+however, cautiously keeping up strict discipline. On the 22nd of the
+previous month at Lausaune, Brune had caused it to be proclaimed that
+the French came as friends and bearers of freedom, and would respect the
+property of the Swiss citizens. Notwithstanding this he emptied the
+treasuries and magazines of Bern, and on the 10th and 11th of March,
+sent off eleven four-horse waggons full of booty, nineteen banners, and
+the three bears--which they nicknamed respectively Erlach, Steiger, and
+Weiss--the French carried off in triumph.
+
+Thus fell Bern, the stronghold of the aristocracy, and with its fall the
+doom of Switzerland was sealed, though more work remained to be done
+before it would be complete. The Directory now abolished the old
+Confederation, and proclaimed in its stead the "one and undivided
+Helvetic Republic," forcing on it a new constitution elaborated from the
+draft by Peter Ochs. Brune himself had had a scheme for a triple
+division of the territory, but a preference was given to a united
+republic, as more easily manageable from Paris. The thirteen old
+cantons, together with the various subject lands and connections were
+formed into twenty-two divisions. After the failure of the _laender_ the
+number was reduced to nineteen, the three Forest Cantons with Zug being
+thrown into one, as a punishment. Some of the rearrangements and
+partitions were very curious. A few may be cited. Oberland Canton was
+lopped off from Bern, and Baden from Aargau proper. Säntis included
+Appenzell and the northern portion of St. Gall, and Linth comprised the
+rest of St. Gall and Glarus; Tessin was split into Bellinzona and
+Lugano; Vaud, Valais, and Bünden were added intact. Geneva and Neuchâtel
+were left outside. In this manner the united Helvetic commonwealth was
+formed, the central government being fixed at Aarau, Lucerne, and Bern
+in succession. The passing of laws was vested in a senate and great
+council. There was a Directory of five members to whom were added four
+ministers of state--for war, justice, finance, and art and science. A
+supreme court of justice was made up of nineteen representatives, one
+from each canton. These were sweeping changes, and the unadvised manner
+in which they were forced on the people prevented their meeting with
+general approval. And then France gained the hearty dislike of the Swiss
+generally by her treatment of the country. Switzerland was regarded as
+a conquered and subject land, and was ruthlessly despoiled by the
+French. A contribution of sixteen million francs was imposed on the
+Swiss aristocracy--besides the eight million francs carried off from
+Bern at her fall.[84]
+
+Ten cantons, notably Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, and Vaud, _i.e._, the city
+cantons, feeling that resistance was impossible, and reform was
+necessary, acquiesced in the new arrangement; but the _laender_, except
+Obwalden, stirred up by the priests and local patriots, and fearing that
+religion and liberty would die together, offered a most uncompromising
+resistance. They preferred, they said, "to be burnt beneath their
+blazing roofs, rather than submit to the dictates of the foreigner."
+Very noble was the defence made by the Forest folk, but we can only
+touch briefly upon it. After a brave resistance Glarus was defeated at
+Rapperswyl, on the 30th of April, 1798, and then Schauenburg proceeded
+with his whole strength against Schwyz. In its defence a band of some
+four thousand stout-hearted men was collected under the command of
+Reding, a young and handsome officer, who had just returned from Spanish
+service. Reding was an enthusiastic patriot of the old stamp, deeply
+imbued with conservative principles. Men rallied to his standard
+eagerly, and swore a solemn oath, "not to flee, but conquer." Reding
+and his little army gained three brilliant victories, at Schindellegi,
+Arth, and Morgarten, respectively, showing themselves worthy descendants
+of the old heroes of 1315. However, the French effected an entrance by
+way of Mount Etzel, through the failure of the priest Herzog to hold his
+own against them, and poured through the gap in overwhelming numbers.
+For the moment they were thrust back at Rothenthurm, but Schwyz was too
+exhausted to continue the unequal struggle, and Reding was forced to
+enter into negotiations, though negotiations of an honourable character,
+with Schauenburg.
+
+[Illustration: REDING.]
+
+Then followed the gloomy 9th of September, written down as "doomsday" in
+the annals of Midwalden,[85] a day that well-nigh blotted that
+semi-canton out of existence. Having set up a wild opposition to the
+"Helvetic," this district drew down upon itself the wrath of France.
+Animated by the spirit of Winkelried, one and all--its worthy sons, its
+women and children even--the little band--they were but two thousand as
+against sixteen thousand--for some days kept up the unequal struggle.
+The little bay of Alpnach (Alpnacher See) and the Wood of Kerns
+(Kernserwald) were red with the blood of the enemy. But this state of
+things could not last long. Suddenly the French broke through, and
+poured in from all sides. Terrible conflicts took place at Rotzloch and
+Drachenried, and a rush was made on Stanz, the chief place of the
+district. By noon this town was really taken, but notwithstanding this
+the combat continued in furious fashion till evening. This was the 9th
+of September, 1798, a day which Schauenburg called the hottest of his
+life. "Like furies," the report says, "the black legion of the French
+galley-slaves slew and raged the district through." When night set in
+Stanz looked a devastated, smoking city of blood and death. Europe
+looked with amazement, yet with admiration and sympathy, on this heroic
+spot of earth. Both England and Germany sent provisions and money, and
+even Schauenburg was moved with compassion towards the poor
+Midwaldeners, and had food distributed to them. It may perhaps here be
+noted that Stanz shortly figures again in Swiss history, but this time
+in a far more peaceful and humane manner. It was here that Pestalozzi
+resumed his noble work of education. To heal the wounds of his noble
+country as far as was in his power the minister Stapfer founded an
+educational establishment for the orphan children of the district. And
+here it was that Pestalozzi ruled, not so much as a mere pedagogue, but
+as a veritable father, the little unfortunates committed to his care.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[83] This grand work of art is carved out of and on the face of an
+immense rock, after a model by Thorwaldsen--a wounded lion with a broken
+spear, representing hapless but noble courage. The work was executed in
+1821.
+
+[84] The exact sum paid by Bern is not known, but probably it reached
+seven or eight million francs. The Bernese losses, up to 1813, were
+estimated at seventeen million francs. One hundred and sixty cannon, and
+sixty thousand muskets were also captured. Bern had kept three bears (in
+the Bärangraben of the town) ever since the battle of Novara, in 1513.
+Strangely enough the bears carried off in that battle were French
+trophies.
+
+[85] The mountain range, running from Titlis north-west and then
+north-east to Stanzer Horn, with the Kernwald at its centre, separates
+Unterwalden into Obwalden (above the wood) and Midwalden (below the
+wood).
+
+
+
+
+XXX.
+
+THE "ONE AND UNDIVIDED HELVETIC REPUBLIC."
+
+(1798-1803.)
+
+
+The day of the "one and undivided Helvetic Republic" was a period of
+"storm and stress," short-lived, full of creative ideas and vast
+schemes, with much struggling for what was most noble in the principles
+of the Revolution. Yet Helvetia was torn by inner dissensions, and its
+energies paralysed by civil and foreign war, by its position of
+dependence, and by financial difficulties. The Helvetic scheme of
+pounding the various members of the Confederation into one state wiping
+out the cantons--a scheme often planned since then, but to this day
+unrealized, and as yet unrealizable--by its inevitable levelling
+tendencies, roused intense disgust and hatred amongst the more
+conservative of the Swiss. In truth, it went too fast, and too far in
+the direction of centralization. The _laender_ were robbed of their
+_landsgemeinde_, the city cantons of their councils, and the independent
+states of their sovereignty. Everything seemed to be turned
+topsy-turvy. Cantons became mere administrative districts.[86] The
+barriers between them, and likewise between the various classes of
+society, were broken down. Subject lands were recognized as equal in
+status to the rest, and the inhabitants given full rights of
+citizenship. Amongst the many beneficent measures brought forward the
+principal may be mentioned. All restrictions on trade and industry were
+removed, tithes, bondservice, and land taxes could be redeemed at a
+small cost; freedom in religious matters, freedom of the press, and the
+right to petition were guaranteed, and torture was suppressed. That
+child of the Revolution, "the Helvetic," indeed, advocated many reforms
+and gave birth to many new ideas which required time and thought and
+peace to bring to maturity and usefulness. But the time was not yet
+ripe, and peace was lacking, and many things were suggested rather than
+put into practice. Yet we look back with interest on many of the ideas
+of the time, for they paved the way for and led up to much of our modern
+progress.
+
+Excellent men, men of parts, wise and moderate, watched over the early
+days of the young republic; amongst them Usteri, Escher (of Zurich),
+Secretan and Carrard (Vaud), and Mayer (Bern). But gradually French
+partisans, nominated from Paris, were returned to the Swiss Directory,
+and Ochs and La Harpe were promoted to the leadership of Helvetic
+affairs. Soon a "reign of terror"--of a milder form, perhaps, but none
+the less a rule of terrorism--was set up, with the view of dragooning
+the country into submission to the "_grande nation_." A levy was
+enforced in order to make up a total of eighteen thousand men, a number
+the Swiss were loth to produce for the foreigner. They objected to this
+forced service, and took up arms abroad, whilst men like Lavater and
+Reding, who defied both French tyranny and "Helvetic" despotism, were
+transported, or thrust into the filthy dungeons of the fortress of
+Aarburg. On the 19th of August, 1798, was concluded the fatal
+Franco-Helvetic Alliance--offensive and defensive--despite the
+supplications and warnings of the more far-seeing patriots, such as
+Escher (von der Linth) for instance. Swiss neutrality being thus
+abandoned, the door was opened to the Austro-Russian invasion, planned
+by the second European coalition with the view of ousting France from
+Swiss territory. Hating the new _régime_ exasperated at French supremacy
+and French extortion, and desirous that the _status quo ante_ of 1798
+should be re-established, the reactionists hailed with delight the
+coming of the Austrians, quite as much as the "Patriots" had before
+welcomed the interference of France. A legion of Swiss _emigrés_ abroad
+collected by Roverea, at Vaudois, who had sided with Bern in the
+previous struggle, joined the Austrian army. The foreign occupation
+which took place and turned Switzerland into one military camp cannot be
+followed in all its details here. Yet one or two points must be noted,
+above all, those remarkable Alpine marches carried out, though against
+his own will, by Suwarow. These marches are quite unique in military
+history.
+
+After the defeat of the French in Southern Germany, the Tyrol, and
+Italy, by the Archduke Charles, Hotze, and Suwarow, they were to be
+driven out of Switzerland. Marshal Massena, who had succeeded
+Schauenburg in the command of the French troops, had at the commencement
+of the war seized Graubünden, and forced it, free state though it was,
+to join the Helvetic Republic to which it so strongly objected. But in
+May, 1799, it was recaptured by Hotze, a gallant swordsman of Swiss
+birth;[87] who had risen to the rank of field-marshal in the Austrian
+army. Hotze drove the French from the central highlands, Roverea
+likewise taking a prominent part in the expedition. About this time the
+Archduke Charles entered Switzerland at Schaffhausen, and, carrying all
+before him, advanced to Zurich. This city, after various skirmishes in
+its neighbourhood, he seized on the 4th of June, forcing Massena to
+retire to the heights beyond the Limmat river. But now a cessation of
+hostilities intervened for some months, owing to differences between
+Austria and Russia, and with this came a change of tactics. Archduke
+Charles withdrew, and his place was taken by Korsakow with a Russian
+army forty thousand strong. A plan was now agreed upon under which
+Suwarow should join Korsakow from Italy, and they should then combine
+their forces in a grand attack on the French, on September 26th. This
+Massena was determined to prevent. By admirable manoeuvring he
+disposed his eight divisions about Eastern and Central Switzerland, his
+force amounting to no fewer than seventy-five thousand men. The
+highlands of Schwyz, Uri, and Glarus, were held by Lecourbe, a skilled
+strategist, thoroughly at home in the Alps, and the entrance to the St.
+Gothard pass was blocked. Marshal Soult gave battle to Hotze in the
+marshy district between Lake Zurich and Walensee, on the 25th of
+September, with the result that Hotze was slain, and the Austrian force
+retired from Swiss soil. Wherever the Austrians had gained a footing,
+the reactionists had taken advantage of it to re-establish the _status
+quo_. On the 25th and 26th of September, Massena attacked the Russian
+forces under Korsakow, at Zurich. This second battle of Zurich--the
+fighting was continued (from outside) into the very streets--resulted in
+the complete defeat of Korsakow. Fortunately the city itself, having
+remained neutral, escaped violent treatment, but Lavater was unfortunate
+enough to be struck by a shot during the engagement, whilst carrying
+help to some wounded soldiers.[88]
+
+[Illustration: DILIGENCE CROSSING THE SIMPLON PASS.]
+
+Quite unaware of what was being done in Switzerland, Suwarow reached the
+heights of St. Gothard on the 24th of September, and, finding the pass
+occupied by the enemy, cut his way through in brilliant style. Whilst
+some of the Russians--at Teufelsbrüche, for instance--held in check the
+French, the larger portion of their army scrambled down the steep rocks
+lining the Reuss, amidst the French fire. Wading across the rapid
+torrent they hurried down the valley to Flüelen, intending to push on to
+Lucerne and Zurich. But to their great dismay they found no road
+skirting Uri lake, and all the boats removed. They were thus locked up
+in a labyrinth of mountain fastnesses, the outlets from which were
+blocked by their foes. In this desperate strait there was nothing for it
+but to proceed over the mountains as best they might, by any rough path
+which might present itself. In reality, however, these passes were no
+highroads for armies, but only narrow paths used by occasional shepherds
+or huntsmen. Devoted to their leader, the Russian troops toiled up from
+the sombre Schächenthal, and along the rugged Kinzig pass, pursued by
+their enemies. On reaching Muotta they learned the disheartening news
+that Korsakow had been defeated. No wonder that down the weather-beaten
+face of the brave old general, the tears rolled as he gave the order to
+retreat. But Suwarow was not inclined to sit still and repine, and
+undaunted by his recent terrible struggle against nature, at once
+resumed his march across the toilsome Pragel pass into the canton of
+Glarus, where he had good hopes of finding Austrian friends. But on his
+arrival he learnt that the Austrians had left the neighbourhood. Thus
+baffled once more, and unable to get to the plains at Naefels on account
+of the enemy, he was compelled to retreat again, and again attempt the
+terrible passage across the mountains. Striking across the Panixer pass,
+which rises to the height of eight thousand feet, he found himself
+confronted by greater difficulties than before. Snow had lately fallen,
+and all traces of the path had disappeared. For five terrible days the
+force decimated, dying with cold, hunger, and fatigue, unshod--their
+boots were entirely worn out--struggled along those wintry regions,
+creeping like caterpillars up walls of snow and over icy peaks. Hundreds
+of men and horses fell into the hidden crevices, down which also many a
+piece of artillery fell with sudden crash. Fully one-third of the
+gallant band perished during that fearful passage. The worn and famished
+survivors reached Graubünden on the 10th of October, and thence made
+their way into Austrian territory. Suwarow had failed, but immortal
+glory attaches to the memory of the dauntless and resolute old general.
+The non-success of the foreign invasions meant also the failure of the
+reactionists in their attempt to overthrow the "Helvetic Republic."
+
+Indescribable misery was the consequence of the foreign wars, and it was
+intensified by the French occupation, and especially by the disgraceful
+system of spoliation practised by the French generals and agents,
+Mengaud, Lecarlier, Rapinat, &c. A few examples of the treatment
+Switzerland received at the hands of the French "liberators" may be
+given. Urserenthal, one of the Uri valleys, was called upon during the
+year Oct. 1798 to Oct. 1799, to provide food for a total of 861,700 men,
+and a pretty hamlet in Freiburg for twenty-five thousand, within half a
+year. During four months, Thurgau spent one and a half million francs,
+and the Baden district well-nigh five millions, in provisioning French
+troops within a year. All protestations of inability on the part of the
+inhabitants were useless; Rapinat[89] and others, like vampires, sucked
+the very life-blood out of the unfortunate Swiss. The "Helvetic
+Republic" had its noble side, it is true, but the French occupation, by
+which it was maintained, and which indeed was the outcome of it, caused
+the Helvetic scheme to be regarded by the people at large with disgust
+and hatred.
+
+The brightest side of the "Helvetic Republic" was seen in the remarkable
+efforts of noble patriots--foremost amongst them Rengger and Stapfer--to
+mitigate the effects of all these calamities by promoting, in spite of
+all difficulties, or against all odds of the time, the material and
+ideal interests of the people. Both Rengger and Stapfer were highly
+cultivated men, and both were ministers of state, the former holding the
+portfolio of finance, the latter that of arts and sciences. Rengger
+directed his efforts to the improvement of trade and agriculture; one of
+his practical efforts being the introduction of English cotton-spinning
+machines. Stapfer, on the other hand, worked for the spread of popular
+education. "Spiritual and intellectual freedom alone makes free," he
+maintained. He himself had been born in one of the new enfranchised
+subject lands, it may be noted parenthetically. He drew up a remarkable
+scheme of national education, a scheme embracing the child in the
+primary school, and the young man in the National University. This dream
+of a national university, by the way, is still unrealized,[90] but
+Stapfer intended that it should crown his whole system of national
+education, and should combine German depth with French versatility and
+Italian taste. Most of Stapfer's grand scheme remained untried through
+want of means and time, but it was a very remarkable scheme for that
+day. Yet much was done. Numerous schools sprang up, and every canton had
+its educational council and its inspector of schools. Lucerne, which had
+hitherto been quite behindhand in these matters, now founded schools in
+all its communes (by 1801), and Aarau established a gymnasium. Some four
+thousand children from the wasted and ruined country districts were
+brought into the towns and educated; whilst numerous journals were
+started, and many literary and art societies founded. Perhaps Stapfer's
+chief title to honourable remembrance is his appreciation of, and his
+assistance to, Pestalozzi. Leaving Stanz on account of confessional
+differences, the great philanthropist established his famous school at
+Burgdorf, winning for himself by it European renown.
+
+These noble efforts towards national advancement intellectually are the
+more admirable as the country was convulsed with constitutional
+struggles. From the first days of the Revolution, there had sprung up
+two political schools, the Centralists, who[91] wished to see one single
+state with one central government; and the Federalists, who clung to
+the historical traditions of their fatherland, and to the _status quo
+ante_ of 1798. These latter desired to see cantonal self-government
+preponderating over the central authority. It was a struggle to the
+death between advanced Liberals and stout Conservatives. Within the
+short space of five years, the country saw no fewer than four _coups
+d'état_, complete overthrowings of government and constitution. We can
+notice only the chief points in the history of these changes. The first
+shock came with the change in France from the Directory to the
+Consulate, and the return of Napoleon from Egypt, on the 9th of
+November, 1798. Ochs, detested as the tool of France by nearly all the
+Swiss, was hurled from his eminence; and La Harpe following suit, the
+Swiss Directory was replaced by an executive committee. The Peace of
+Luneville, February, 1801, left the Swiss free to chose their own form
+of government, but Napoleon himself gradually went over to the
+Federalist view. Drafts of new constitutions followed each other in
+quick succession, each in its turn being upset by that which followed.
+The sketch of La Malmaison, drawn up by the Federalists, restored the
+Tagsatzung, and the independence of the cantons, May, 1801. Another
+overthrow, and then Alois Reding rose to the position of first
+Landammann, and head of the Conservative government (Oct. 28, 1801).
+Chivalrous and of unflinching resolve, Reding lacked the pliancy
+necessary for a statesman, and desired to see Vaud again placed under
+the rule of Bern. "Sooner shall the sun turn from west to east,"
+fiercely exclaimed Napoleon, "than Vaud shall go back to Bern." Reding
+was deprived of his office, and shut up at Aarburg, a fate that befell
+him on several other occasions under Bonaparte. In July, 1802, Napoleon
+withdrew the French troops from Swiss territory, with the view
+ostensibly of complying with the treaty of Amiens, but in reality to
+show the Swiss how powerless they were without his help. This was the
+signal for a general outbreak of civil war, humorously called
+_Stecklikrieg_, or _Guerre aux bâtons_, in allusion to the indifferent
+equipment of the soldiery. The Helvetic Government which was then in
+power fled from Bern, and took up its quarters at Lausanne. Its small
+force was defeated at Avenches by the Federalists, who pushed on to the
+Leman city, when an order to lay down their arms reached them from
+Paris. Through the medium of General Rapp, Napoleon offered his services
+as "mediator" in the civil troubles of Switzerland, and at his heels
+followed Marshal Ney, with an army of forty thousand men to enforce
+order.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[86] The utter failure clearly shows how little such a centralization of
+government, leaving the cantons no scope for action, could suit the
+separate states of the Confederation at any time. The name "canton" was
+first used in French treaties with Switzerland, and became thenceforward
+the general term. It had not come into use even so late as the Helvetic.
+
+[87] He was a native of a large village in the Zurich district.
+
+[88] He lingered on suffering from his wound for a whole year, and then
+died, distinguished to the very last by his love for all mankind, and
+for his country especially.
+
+[89] The following lines, common in men's mouths afterwards, tell their
+own tale:--
+
+      "La Suisse qu'on pille et qu'on ruine
+       Voudrait bien que l'on decidât
+       Si Rapinat vient de rapine,
+       Ou rapine de Rapinat."
+
+[90] And not very likely to be realized, as the respective cantons cling
+to their four universities and two academies, which are their pride.
+
+[91] In German, _Centralisten_ or _Unitarier_.
+
+
+
+
+XXXI.
+
+THE MEDIATION ACT AND NAPOLEON.
+
+(1803-15.)
+
+
+From a constitutional point of view this period--the mediation period
+(1803-13)--is the most satisfactory portion of the epoch between the
+French revolutions of 1789 and 1830. It suited Napoleon's fancy to
+assume the position of a directing providence to the Alpine lands. And,
+finding that the federalists and the centralists of Switzerland--the
+_laudatores temporis acti_ and the progressivists--were quite unable to
+agree upon a compromise, it pleased him to give the country a new
+constitution. He stopped their squabbles by summoning the "Helvetic
+Consulta" to Paris. Sixty-three deputies, of whom but fifteen were
+federalists, obeyed the call, many of the foremost statesmen among them.
+Those who disobeyed the summons, like Reding and his party, were
+arrested (Nov., 1803). In the official gazette Napoleon was pleased to
+speak of the Swiss nation as one that had "always stood out in history
+as a model of strength, courage, and good manners," and he expressed a
+wish that the Swiss should "aim at good government, and should sacrifice
+their party feelings to their real interests, to glory, and
+independence." Thus complimentary was his language, and the painstaking
+care and thoughtful consideration he brought to bear on the
+reorganization of Swiss affairs presents the great despot under a
+singularly amiable aspect; and the Mediation Act which he drew up would,
+but for the selfish _arrière pensée_ running through it, be one of his
+noblest and most beneficent political acts.
+
+From the drafts and data presented by the Conference Napoleon, in two
+months (Nov. 25th-Jan. 24th), drew up his famous scheme. Laying it first
+before the whole assembly, he then had selected an inner committee of
+ten for a further and final consultation. This took place on Jan. 29th
+at the Tuileries, the sitting lasting from one o'clock to eight in the
+evening. The French commissioners[92] afterwards stated that they had
+never witnessed such a scene, and that "never had the First Consul
+devoted such close attention, even to the most important matters of
+European politics." The Swiss party, representing both the political
+sections, and the four French Commissioners, sat round the table,
+Napoleon himself in the middle of them, beaming with graceful
+amiability. The proposals respecting the three classes of cantons were
+read out, and two of the delegates, Stapfer of whom we have heard
+before, and Hans von Reinhard,[93] were called upon to express their
+respective views. A general discussion followed, the Consul giving the
+closest attention to every detail. His own speeches showed an intimate
+acquaintance with Swiss matters, and whilst full of practical wisdom,
+also evidenced his real interest and sympathy with the little republic.
+He pointed out that Switzerland was quite unlike any other country in
+its history, its geographical position, in its inclusion of three
+nationalities and three tongues. The characteristics and the advancement
+of three nations had, in fact, to be considered and maintained. Nature
+itself had clearly intended that it should be a federal state. To the
+Forest Cantons, to which he avowed the whole republic owes its
+characteristic hue, he restored the time-honoured _landsgemeinde_, "so
+rich in memories of the past"; to the city cantons he gave back their
+ancient councils, re-fashioned in accordance with modern ideas; and to
+the subject lands he gave autonomy. The position of these last in the
+past was, he averred, incompatible with the modern character of a
+republic, and his elevation of them into new cantons is the special
+merit of his scheme. Meeting the views of the federalists by giving
+independence or home-rule to each canton, he also met those of the
+centralists by planning a well-organized central government in the form
+of a _Tagsatzung_ with enlarged powers. At the head of this he placed a
+Swiss Landammann with almost _plein pouvoir_. Napoleon selected as
+first Landammann a man he highly esteemed--Louis d'Affry, of Freiburg,
+son of Count d'Affry. Both father and son had served in France as
+officers and statesmen, and Louis was one of the few who had escaped the
+massacre at Paris in 1792. He was a perfect courtier, mild and
+conservative in his views. It is worth mentioning that during the
+_intermezzo_, which occurred at five o'clock, when refreshments were
+handed round, the Consul, standing by the mantelpiece, with a circle of
+delegates round him, talked incessantly on Swiss politics and spared no
+pains to impress on his hearers how much Swiss interests were bound up
+with those of France. There was no mistaking his meaning, which, to do
+him justice, he did not attempt to conceal. The members of the
+Conference, whom Napoleon treated all through with marked distinction,
+were quite alive to the danger threatening their country, but trusted
+that some turn of the wheel might avert it. After this parley the Consul
+redrafted the Mediation Act, and presented it in person on the 19th of
+February for signature, afterwards taking leave of the whole deputation.
+
+La Harpe gained for the Swiss the countenance of the Emperor Alexander,
+and Prussia and Austria were engaged in a territorial squabble, and no
+interference took place. An epoch of peace and prosperity followed the
+general amnesty (April 15, 1803) granted by the Mediation Act. The
+period of quiet was broken only by the Bockenkrieg in 1804, a rising in
+which an attempt was made by the country folk of the Zurich Canton to
+stand against the unredeemed land rents and tithes still due to the
+city.[94] The insurrection was put down by force.[95] Six new cantons
+were formed by the new Act--Bünden, St. Gall, Thurgau, Aargau, Vaud, and
+Ticino; and these were added as equals to the thirteen _Alte Orte_, the
+management of its own affairs being granted to each. The liberal
+principles inaugurated by the "Helvetic" were to a great extent borne in
+mind, though the lower orders were still excluded from direct political
+representation. Mercenary wars, military movements, and leagues between
+separate cantons, were strictly forbidden; but so, also, was forbidden
+the maintenance of a federal army, save a small force to maintain order,
+and thus the country was robbed of adequate means of defence. Freiburg,
+Bern, Soleure, Basel, Zurich, and Lucerne, became in their turns
+managing or dictatorial cantons for one year at a time. That is, they
+were the seats of the Diet, and their chief magistrate--schultheiss or
+burgomaster, as the case might be--became Landammann. To the larger
+cantons, _i.e._, those having not less than one hundred thousand
+inhabitants, two votes at the Diet were assigned, to the smaller, one
+vote. It is not necessary to go into more minute details here, as there
+are numerous constitutional changes to be noted between that period and
+the year 1874.
+
+Thus, whatever may be thought of Napoleon's ultimate aims, it was owing
+to him that Switzerland enjoyed quiet, prosperity, and perfect
+self-government at a time when Europe generally was torn by quarrels and
+steeped in war. The Swiss people gave their whole attention to home
+affairs, and to the striving after intellectual and material progress,
+as they had done in the Helvetic days, but now with more success.
+Benevolent societies were founded, high schools established, and
+institutions for the advancement of letters, science, and art, sprang
+up. Many men of note mightily stirred the ideal side of life; amongst
+them we may mention the novelist, Zschokke,[96] of Aargau; Martin
+Usteri, the poet-artist; and George Nägeli, the Sängervater, or "Father
+of Song." Both these latter were of Zurich, and Nägeli gave a great
+impulse to the founding of musical societies, and did much to spread the
+art of singing so common in the German districts, and especially
+cultivated at Basel and Zurich. Pestalozzi established a new school at
+Yverdon in Vaud; and his friend and former pupil, Von Fellenberg, of
+Bern, the superior of his master in practical management, founded his
+famous institution at Hofwil. This comprised a whole series of schools,
+high schools, schools for the middle class, agricultural schools, and
+elementary schools for the poor. Pater Girard, a friend of Pestalozzi,
+at Freiburg, did for the Catholics much what these men did for the
+Protestants. Another noble and devoted man was Escher, who, though of
+aristocratic birth himself, was yet an ardent worker for the benefit of
+the poorer classes. His chief work was the canalization of the Linth
+between Walensee and the Lake of Zurich, by means of which some
+twenty-eight thousand acres of unhealthy swamp became valuable
+agricultural land. For this labour of love, to which he sacrificed his
+health, the Diet decreed to him and his family the honourable addition
+of "Von der Linth."[97] The introduction of machinery gave a great
+impetus to trade and industry. In 1800 the cloisters of St. Gall were
+turned into the first Swiss spinning mill, and during the following
+decade four more mills were started in the canton. In 1808 Heinrich
+Kunz, the "King of spinners on the Continent," laid the foundations
+(Zurich) of the first of his numerous mills. In 1812 the great firm of
+Rieter and Co., whose machines soon gained a world-wide reputation,
+started business at Winterthur.
+
+Yet all was not smooth in the little Swiss state. Switzerland was
+compelled not only to enter into a close defensive alliance with France,
+but to keep the French army constantly supplied with sixteen thousand
+Swiss soldiers. So great was the drain of this "blood-tax," that in
+some cantons even the prisons had to be opened to enable the levy to be
+made up. Switzerland was made an _entrepôt_ for English contraband
+goods; and the decree of Trianon, in 1810, ordered the confiscation of
+these, and placed a tax on English goods of half their value. All this
+weighed heavily on Switzerland, and the Landammann's touching
+representation to Napoleon, that twenty thousand families were rapidly
+becoming breadless, passed unheeded. In 1806 the despot gave Neuchâtel
+to his favourite general, Berthier, and in 1810 he handed over Ticino to
+Italy, on the pretext that that district was harbouring English
+contraband goods. The same year he joined to France the Valais district,
+where he had a few years earlier (1802) constructed the famous Simplon
+road into Italy. The Swiss naturally protested against these
+mutilations, but he threatened to annex the whole country, and D'Affry
+and Reinhard, who stood in favour with him, had much ado to calm his
+temper. When, however, the impetuous Sidler, of Zug, and the heroic
+Reding, defied him, and advised an armed resistance at the Diet,
+Napoleon sent word to Reinhard that he would march fifty thousand men
+into the country, and compel the Swiss to unite with France.
+
+But the tide was beginning to turn; Napoleon had passed his zenith. The
+fatal Russian expedition, into which his pride and reckless ambition
+tempted him in 1812, was followed by the terrible disaster of Leipsic,
+"the battle of the nations." The allied armies marched to Paris, and
+compelled the abdication of the emperor. This turn of events naturally
+affected the position of the Swiss very greatly, but, quite content with
+their new constitution, they declined to join the allied states. At the
+command of the Landammann, Von Reinhard, General von Wattenwil placed
+his scanty forces, numbering some fifteen thousand men, along the
+frontier to enforce neutrality if possible. But on the approach of the
+allied forces Wattenwil saw that resistance would be madness, and gave
+orders to his men to withdraw, and be careful not to provoke
+hostilities. About Christmas time in 1813, the combined Austrian and
+German troops--Alexander was for sparing the Swiss--to the number of one
+hundred and seventy thousand, marched right across the country on their
+way to the French capital. On the whole little material injury was done
+to the country, but the Mediation Act, by the very reason of its origin,
+was bound to fall. On the 29th of December the Diet was compelled to
+decree its own extinction. The Peace of Paris, on the 31st of May in the
+following year, guaranteed Switzerland its independence. A new
+constitution was to come later on.
+
+The overthrow of the Mediation Act plunged Switzerland into fresh
+troubles. All the reactionary elements came to the surface. Bern revived
+her old pretensions to the overlordship of Vaud and Aargau; and
+Freiburg, Solothurn, Lucerne, and the Forest Cantons, acting on the same
+lines, supported Bern in her claims. Zurich, on the other hand, stood
+out for the nineteen cantons, and headed the opposition to Bern. Again
+there was seen the deplorable spectacle of a divided state, with two
+confederations and two diets. One of these, with its headquarters at
+Lucerne, was, however, forced to dissolve, by foreign pressure, chiefly
+through to the influence of D'Istria, the Russian ambassador at Zurich.
+All the cantons now sent representatives to the Diet held in this
+last-named city, with the view of drawing up a new federal pact. But
+party strife was very bitter, and the session lasted from April 6, 1814,
+to the the 31st of August, 1815, an extraordinary length of time hence
+it was called the "Long Diet." The protracted proceedings were caused
+chiefly by Bern, which obstinately refused to abate her pretensions to
+the two districts (Vaud and Aargau). There were, however, many minor
+points of difference, all tending to embitter and prolong the session.
+It was clear that a settlement could only be brought about by a
+compromise, and great concessions on the part of some of the members. As
+a matter of fact several things were left unsettled. This Zurich
+constitution was to be laid before the Vienna Congress, which opened on
+the 3rd of November, 1814, and which was to disentangle many knots in
+European politics.
+
+Monarchs, princes, ambassadors, ministers, and generals, from all the
+states, met at the gay city on the Danube, to rearrange the map of
+Europe. The story of this strange international gathering is well known,
+with its Vanity Fair of fine ladies and gentlemen, its magnificent
+fêtes, balls, masquerades, steeplechases, and gaities innumerable. It is
+said that Francis I. spent no less than thirty millions of florins on
+entertaining his guests, and the gay scene and high spirits formed a
+strange contrast with the previous despondency prevailing on the
+Continent generally. The "_Congrès danse, mais ne marche pas_," was the
+saying that went abroad. Yet it was not strange that men felt glad. The
+weight of Napoleon's hand was now removed, and the world breathed more
+freely. All the sufferings of the last quarter of a century were
+forgotten, and, it is to be feared, the lesson to be learnt from them
+was not learnt. The changes were too many, too sudden, and too sweeping
+to permit anything to take root. But the seeds left behind by the
+revolutions and wars will blossom and bear fruit later on. Every sound
+movement must develop gradually. In this way only can we account for the
+reactions, the return to the old lines of constitution and social life,
+after the fall of Bonaparte.
+
+Switzerland had many points to settle at the Congress, and, indeed, to
+the despair of the members, seemed inclined to bring forward all her
+domestic squabbles. On the whole, the commissioners showed much goodwill
+towards Switzerland, and took great pains to make that country a strong
+outpost against French extensions. Von Reinhard, the first Swiss
+representative at the Congress, gained much praise by his dignity and
+astuteness, and the Emperor Alexander entered fully into his liberal
+views and aspirations, coinciding with those of La Harpe. Bern and her
+pretensions, which were as strong as ever, gave most trouble, Vaud and
+Aargau naturally insisting on retaining their independence. At length a
+compromise was arranged, and the larger portion of the see of Basel
+(Bernese Jura, &c.), and Bienne being given to Bern. The bailiwicks of
+the _laender_ redeemed their freedom by purchase; the rest of the
+cantons, more generous, required no compensation. Subject lands were set
+free for good, and the country received its present boundaries. Ticino
+had been restored by Napoleon, and Valais, Geneva, and Neuchâtel, were
+admitted as cantons on an equality with the rest, and thus we get the
+now familiar number of twenty-two cantons. The list was closed, though
+by a strange anomaly Neuchâtel still continued to be not only a Swiss
+canton, but a Prussian duchy. Geneva was, as it were, rounded off by the
+addition of Versoix (Gex), and some Savoy communes.[98] Geneva had long
+wished to be received into the Federation, and great was her rejoicing
+now that her dream was realized. Thus Switzerland received the great
+boon of independence, and was placed under the protection of the Great
+Powers. Bünden lost her appendages, Valtellina, Chiavenna, and Bormio,
+which went to Austria, but gained in return the district of Räzuns. The
+new constitution assigned to Switzerland is decidedly inferior to the
+"Mediation Act." There was a revival of the old system of narrow
+prerogatives; the several cantons gaining _plein pouvoir_ as against the
+federal authorities; the cities retaining their preponderance over the
+rural districts, and the wealthy and the aristocracy their power over
+their poorer brethren. Military matters alone were better provided for.
+Thus we shall presently find that Revolution had to begin her work over
+again. Bern, Zurich, and Lucerne became in turn the seat of the Diet,
+and one vote only was allotted to each canton. Midwalden offered a
+fanatical opposition to the new constitution, but was compelled to give
+way, and had to forfeit Engelberg, with its famous cloister and the
+whole valley, which was given to Obwalden.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[92] Barthélemy, Röderer, Fouché, and Desmeunier.
+
+[93] This Hans von Reinhard was burgomaster of Zurich and Landammann; he
+belonged to one of the old aristocratic families of his native city.
+
+[94] The liquidation of this territorial debt was a most complicated
+matter, and plays an important part in the risings of the rural
+districts, yet the rightly cautious city had to consider various other
+interests besides those of the country folks. Many benevolent city
+institutions for the sick and poor were maintained by the income drawn
+from country dues.
+
+[95] "It is meet that the country districts should cease their antipathy
+to the city, or they deserve to fall again under its authority,"
+Napoleon had remarked, during the Paris Conference, to the Zurich
+representatives, Reinhard and Paul Usteri. He added that the personal
+character of the representatives was a guarantee that they would
+reconcile the two parties they represented.
+
+[96] A German by birth.
+
+[97] Escher died soon after the completion of the Linth Canal (1822),
+and the Diet erected to his memory a monument in Glarus Canton. A
+characteristic story respecting him is worth repeating. Some poor man
+seeing him standing hard at work up to his waist in water exclaimed,
+"Why, sir, if I were as rich as you, I shouldn't work at all." "That's
+just why God has given you no wealth," was Escher's quiet reply.
+
+[98] She objected to receiving the larger strip of Savoy and French land
+(on the lake and the Rhone), which the Congress wished to assign her,
+for fear of being absorbed by Catholicism, and, moreover, she was
+anxious not to alarm her old friends. The facts were and are often
+misrepresented. Chablais and Faucigny, once temporarily held by Bern,
+were declared neutral, and placed under the guarantee of the Powers.
+That is, in case of war, Swiss troops quarter the district, as in
+1870-71.
+
+
+
+
+XXXII.
+
+SWITZERLAND UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1815-48.
+
+
+The history of the thirty-three years following 1815 may, so far as
+Switzerland is concerned, be summed up in this description--it was a
+protest, latent at first and afterwards open and declared, of the Swiss
+people against the decrees of the Vienna Congress, which tended to stop
+the wheel of progress. The Swiss struggled onwards through the conflicts
+of political development, and battled against all that was a hindrance
+to them in the constitution of 1815, the Powers looking on with
+misgiving if not with dismay the while not understanding the signs of
+the times. Yet, by 1848, when the thrones of Europe were again shaken by
+revolutions, Switzerland had gained that for which it had been
+struggling, and had settled down into a peaceful and regenerated
+_Bundestaat_. We have shown how the settlement of 1815 was in many ways
+a return to old lines in both Church and State. Speaking generally, the
+Church gained greatly by the new constitution, the return of the
+Jesuits was favoured, the religious establishments were still maintained
+at a rate which really exceeded the financial possibilities of the
+state, and the clergy were given a free hand. Then the old power of the
+aristocracy was largely re-established, and the cities were given their
+former great preponderance over the country districts. Bern, for
+instance, receiving two hundred seats in the Council, as against
+ninety-nine. The reactionary _régime_ from 1815 to 1830, was, in fact,
+politically a blank, though towards its close some of the cantons began
+to carry measures of reform. Amongst these was Ticino, into which some
+fatal abuses had crept. To make up for their political deficiencies, and
+to rekindle their smouldering patriotism, the Swiss, as they had done
+before, turned to the past history of their country. They founded
+patriotic and literary clubs, and established liberal and benevolent
+institutions. Monuments were erected at classical spots--Morat, St.
+Jacques, the lion monument, and so forth. Eminent painters like Vogel
+and Didary chose national historical events for their canvas; and Rudolf
+Wyp composed the fine national anthem, "_Rufst Du mein Vaterland_."[99]
+A naturalists' club at Geneva, a students' association at Zofingen, and
+a society of marksmen--still in existence--were started, whilst the old
+Helvetic Society of the eighteenth century left behind its mere
+theorizings and discussions, and became an active political club. All
+these things tended greatly to spread and promote Swiss liberalism, of
+which many noble champions had sprung up, now and in the previous
+period, like the veteran trio--Victor von Bonstetten, the friend of
+Madame de Staël, La Harpe, and Usteri; like Troxler, Zschokke, Monnard,
+Von Orelli and others, far too numerous even to name here. Under such
+men Switzerland moved on. "No human efforts can succeed in permanently
+leading back mankind to the old lines of a past and less enlightened
+age. To struggle onwards, and to reach the end aimed at is the
+quickening stimulus in every thinking being." Such were the encouraging
+words of Usteri, a champion whom the party of progress regarded as an
+oracle. Military matters received a great impetus by the formation of a
+central school for officers at Thun, and the increase of the army from
+fifteen thousand to thirty thousand men. It hardly needs to be said that
+when the struggle of the Greeks for independence began they had the
+hearty sympathy and support of the Swiss.[100]
+
+In 1830 the revolution of July hurled from his throne Charles X., and
+raised to his place Louis Philippe. Strangely enough the effects of this
+movement were felt almost more abroad than in France itself. Certainly
+its influence on Switzerland was very considerable, and it hurried on
+various changes of a sweeping character in that country, changes,
+however, which had been long preparing. Constitutional struggles, both
+federal and cantonal, crowded the next few years, and confessional
+difficulties tended not a little to quicken them. With nearly all the
+states, excepting some of the _laender_, the chief object now became the
+revision of their charters, so as to make them more consistent with the
+principles of popular rights and equality. Glarus, Uri, and Unterwalden
+were as yet averse to making changes, however justifiable and desirable
+they might seem to the rest of the country. The reforms were for the
+most part quietly carried out, but there were popular oppositions and
+stormy disputes in places. Bern was at first inclined to be
+conservative, but once embarked on the sea of reformation, sided
+strongly with the more progressive Zurich. Freiburg returned a crowd of
+fifty-seven priests and seventeen professors, all of the Jesuit order,
+and these ousted Girard, the Catholic Pestalozzi, from his noble work at
+St. Michael's College. Zurich proceeded in a peaceful and interesting
+fashion. Here as in other cases the city had a great preponderance of
+political power over the country districts of the canton. The fourteen
+thousand citizens elected one hundred and thirty representatives, as
+against the eighty-six assigned to the two hundred thousand rural
+inhabitants. The cause of the country folk was ably and without
+bitterness championed by two eloquent speakers, Guyer and
+Hegetschweiler; and a motion was carried which allotted to the rural
+districts two-thirds of the seats on the council board. This "day of
+Uster," as it was called, proved a great landmark in political
+development. The sovereignty of the people was now the basis on which
+reforms were made. The foundation was laid for better administration,
+and social improvement and provision was made for necessary revisions of
+the constitution. To safeguard their constitutions against the
+ influence of reactionists, seven cantons entered into a
+league--_Siebner-Concordat_--March, 1832. They were Bern, Zurich,
+Lucerne, Solothurn, St. Gall, Aargau, and Thurgau.
+
+[Illustration: INTERLAKEN, FROM THE FELSENEGG.]
+
+Less satisfactory was the course of events in Schwyz, Basel, and
+Neuchâtel. In Schwyz a temporary separation into the two semi-cantons of
+Inner and Outer Schwyz was caused by the refusal of the former to grant
+equal rights to the latter, which had been formerly subject or purchased
+land mainly. Basel, the city of millionaires and manufactures, was able
+by her overwhelming importance to hold her supremacy over the rural
+districts, and thus arose the division into Baselstadt, and Baselland,
+which latter had Liestal as its _chef lieu_. But all this after a civil
+strife of three years. Basel city joined the Catholic League formed at
+Sarnen, in November, 1832, as a counterblast to the _Siebner-Concordat_.
+Uri, Inner-Schwyz, Unterwalden, Valais, and Freiburg also joined this
+league. The inhabitants of Neuchâtel had a double object, the
+reformation of their constitution, and their separation, if possible,
+from Prussia, the double _régime_ being greatly disliked. An attempt was
+made on the castle, but it failed, and the Federation re-established
+order, and the old _status quo_. The royalist party in Neuchâtel now
+aimed at a severance from Switzerland.
+
+But the natural consequence of constitutional revision in the separate
+cantons was the revision of the federal pact, with the view of
+strengthening the bonds which joined the states. The draft of a new
+constitution for Switzerland was presented at Lucerne in July, 1832, by
+the moderate party, but it failed, as so many other attempts have done
+which clashed with the selfishness of those cantons, that thought more
+of the question of cantonal home-rule than of the weal of the country as
+a whole. A far-seeing policy required that the central government should
+be strengthened, that the Diet should be made thoroughly capable of
+protecting Swiss interests, both in the country itself and abroad. That
+the Diet was quite incapable of enforcing its decrees for the general
+good was plainly shown by the condition of things in Basel, alluded to
+above.
+
+With all these drawbacks, however, the period from 1830-1848 witnessed a
+true regeneration--social, political, intellectual. Never had education
+made such marvellous progress. It is to this period that the country
+owes that revival of educational zeal and that improvement in schools
+and methods of teaching, which are the great glory of modern
+Switzerland. Canton vied with canton, and authority with authority, in
+their noble enthusiasm for education. Zurich, Bern, Thurgau, Solothurn,
+Vaud--all these founded excellent teachers' seminaries. Primary schools
+were improved, and secondary schools established in every canton, and in
+all the more important cities gymnasiums were founded. At Zurich these
+time-honoured institutions, the Chorherrenstift and the Carolinum, were
+in 1832 converted into the present gymnasium and university, and Bern
+made similar establishments in the following year. Thus were being
+gradually realized the noble aspirations of the "Helvetic" period, those
+of Stapfer particularly.
+
+Unfortunate conflicts with foreign powers, however, not seldom arose.
+Fugitives from other countries then as now made Switzerland their abode,
+and many of them abused her hospitality, and entangled her in
+dissensions with foreign governments, exactly as we find happening at
+the present moment. Many of the political _emigrés_ were men of great
+note, but space will permit of our noticing only two, Louis Philippe,
+and Louis Napoleon, afterwards Napoleon III. The Prince de Chartres
+lived for some years in Graubünden, occupying under the name of Chabaud,
+the position of mathematical master in an educational establishment of
+repute at Reichenau. Singularly enough he afterwards refused to the man
+who was to succeed him on the throne of France, the privilege of shelter
+in Swiss lands, that is to say, he objected very strongly. For in 1838
+he suddenly requested that the Swiss Diet should give up Louis Napoleon,
+on the plea that he was an intriguer. This request was in reality a
+demand, and was more than the Swiss could stand. Napoleon was in fact a
+Swiss burgess, having become naturalized, and having passed through the
+military school at Thun, and become a captain in the Swiss army. His
+mother had for some time lived with her son in the castle of Arenenberg
+(in the Canton of Thurgau), which she had purchased soon after 1814.
+Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Kern, representative of that state in the
+Diet, the Swiss Government were able to disprove the charge made against
+Louis Napoleon, and the Diet firmly refused to expel the prince. France
+enraged threatened war to her "turbulent neighbour," and actually set on
+foot an army of twenty-five thousand men. Thoroughly roused, the Diet
+sent troops to the frontier, amidst general acclamations, Geneva and
+Vaud being conspicuous in their endeavours to protect their boundaries.
+These two cantons were specially thanked by the central government. The
+prince, however, cleared away difficulties by quitting the Swiss
+soil.[101]
+
+The Zurich conflicts of 1839, called "Zurichputsch," from a local word
+meaning push or scramble, claim a moment's attention. That canton had
+perhaps more thoroughly than any other carried through a reorganization
+of its legislature and administration. It had establishment a most
+complete system of schools, graded from the primary school up to the
+University, whose chairs were occupied by men who made the city a real
+intellectual centre--by Oken, Hitzig, Schweizer, Von Orelli, Bluntschli,
+and others. Things marched too rapidly however. Dr. Scherr, a
+rationalist German _emigré_, was at the head of an excellent
+training-college for teachers, but refused to allow biblical teaching to
+be given. Then the Government, anxious to make the city of Zwingli a
+centre of freethought, appointed the famous Strauss, author of the
+"Leben Jesu," to a vacancy on the university staff, despite the warnings
+of the native professors. The country people rose in wild frenzy, being
+urged on by the reactionary party, which desired to regain the reins of
+government. So great was the feeling against the appointment, that
+Strauss was pensioned off even before he saw the city. Even yet the
+excitement was very great, and, led by Pastor Hirzel, the rural
+inhabitants flocked into Zurich in great numbers. The Council was
+obliged to resign, and for a considerable period the reactionists had
+the power in their own hands. A few persons, but not many, were killed
+during the disturbances. The effects of this _contre-coup_ in the most
+advanced city of the republic were soon felt in other places, in Ticino,
+Lucerne, and Freiburg, where conservative governments were returned,
+and codes altered accordingly. Zurich and Lucerne left the
+_Siebner-Concordat_.
+
+But the event which stands out more prominently than any other during
+this period is the Sonderbund war of 1847. This conflict, which
+threatened the very existence of the state, forms the prelude to the
+European disturbances of the following year. This dispute of 1847 is the
+old struggle between the centralists and the federalists, or rather the
+progressivists and the reactionists, the dispute being intensified by
+religious differences. The chief points in the conflict must be briefly
+noted. In some of the cantons the Catholics, though in a minority, had
+advantages over the Protestant population, and when, in 1841, Aargau was
+revising its constitution, the latter demanded to be put on an equal
+footing with their Catholic brethren. This was flatly refused, and an
+embroilment took place in the canton, some of the monasteries taking a
+leading part in fomenting the quarrel. The rising, however, came to
+nought, and the Diet, on the motion of Keller, suspended the monastic
+houses, on the plea that they were hotbeds of intrigue. This step was
+clearly in opposition to the principles of the Constitution of 1815, and
+for years caused great trouble. It is impossible to give here minutely
+the story of the disputes: suffice it to say, the Diet compromised
+matters by extending forgiveness to four of the cloisters that had kept
+aloof from the rising (1843). But in 1844 Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug,
+Freiburg, and Valais, formed a secret league--that of Sarnen had long
+since fallen through--to protect Catholic interests, and appointed
+Jesuits to the highest offices in the state. The entrance of the order
+at the Vorort created great excitement, but the Diet abstained from
+intervening, fearing to make matters worse. Two hapless expeditions of
+"Free Lances" now took place, the liberals from Lucerne and other
+cantons attempting to carry that city. The attempts utterly failed, and
+naturally so, seeing in how disorganized a condition the partizans were.
+But in January, 1847, the Protestants managed to get a majority at the
+Diet, and demanded the dissolution of the Sonderbund, as it had got to
+be called by that time. The foreign courts--Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and
+others--sided with the Swiss Sonderbund, being anxious to retain the
+_status quo_ of 1815; France and Austria particularly sending money and
+promises of further support. England alone favoured the Protestants of
+Switzerland, and rendered them a great service. Palmerston was all
+against foreign intervention, and when the Powers issued a manifesto
+against the Swiss, he kept it back till Nov. 30th, when all was quietly
+settled. Meanwhile the Sonderbund organized a Council of War, and
+prepared for action. The Diet did all in its power to reconcile the
+contending religionists, and the English ambassador at Bern strongly
+recommended moderation and mutual concessions.[102]
+
+Seeing that in spite of all their efforts war was inevitable, the Diet
+levied an army of ninety-eight thousand men, at the head of which was
+placed General Dufour of Geneva. The Sonderbund raised seventy-five
+thousand men, under General Salis-Soglio, a Protestant from Bünden.
+Dufour was a soldier of the old Napoleonic school, and a consummate
+tactician, and was revered by his fellow countrymen for his patriotism,
+lofty character, and high culture. It was under his management that the
+Swiss topographical maps bearing his name--the first of their kind--were
+executed. His selection as general gave great satisfaction. Thanks to
+Dufour's ability the campaign was short, lasting only from the 4th to
+the 29th of November, 1847, and the losses were comparatively small.
+Honours were lavished on Dufour on all sides, even they of the
+Sonderbund heartily acknowledging his great services.
+
+Heartburning and jealousy enough and to spare there had been between the
+opposing religious parties. On the 29th of October, 1847, the last
+occasion on which the Diet had attempted to reconcile Catholic and
+Protestant, there had been the utmost dissension and rancour. But such
+is the nature of Swiss patriotism that when, three short months after,
+the countries around Switzerland were convulsed with revolutions, and
+the Swiss lands were threatened with invasion, the contending
+religionists forgot their domestic quarrels entirely. And the glorious
+sight was seen of Catholic and Protestant standing shoulder to shoulder,
+ready to vie with each other in meeting danger and death in defence of
+their common and beloved fatherland. Not a vestige of hostile party
+feeling was left. It has ever been thus in Switzerland.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[99] Wyp had studied at Göttingen, which was still under English rule,
+and had there been impressed by the English national anthem, of which
+his own is an imitation, the air being borrowed from "God save the
+Queen."
+
+[100] One of the leading collectors of subscriptions in aid of the
+Greeks was Eynard, a wealthy Genevese, whose own contributions were most
+munificent.
+
+[101] "La Suisse a montré qu'elle était prête à faire les plus grands
+sacrifices pour maintenir sa dignité et son honneur. Elle a su faire son
+devoir comme nation independente; je saurai faire le mien, et rester
+fidèle à l'honneur.... le seul pays où j'avais trouvé en Europe appui et
+protection.... Je n'oublierai jamais la noble conduite des cantons qui
+se sont prononcés si courageusement en ma faveur... surtout Thurgovie"
+(Extracts from Napoleon's letter of thanks to the Landammann of Thurgau,
+published in Dr. Kern's "Souvenirs politiques").
+
+[102] See "Souvenirs Politiques de 1838-83," by Dr. Kern, Swiss
+Ambassador at Paris, Bern, and Paris, 1887, pp. 51, 52.
+
+
+
+
+XXXIII.
+
+UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1848.
+
+
+The year 1848, which crowned the noble aspirations of the Regeneration
+period in Switzerland, marks a fresh starting-point in the history of
+the country. Providence had dealt graciously with the little republic.
+France, Prussia, and Austria were battling with the "February
+Revolution," and were thus prevented from dealing out to her the fate of
+unhappy Poland. Meanwhile eminent Swiss statesmen were drafting the new
+Federal Constitution which was to bind the various nationalities into
+one people, and the twenty-two cantons into a well-riveted Bundestaat, a
+state which, thanks to its policy, its prosperity, and its independent
+spirit, was soon to command the esteem of even the most antagonistic
+Powers.
+
+On the 12th of September, 1848, the new pact was proclaimed, amidst
+cannonading, illumination, and general rejoicing. The old and crippled
+Tagsatzung was abolished. The new constitution borrowed some features
+from that of the United States, and, though greatly on the lines of the
+Mediation Act, blended far more happily the central and federal
+systems. Only the essential points can here be noted.
+
+The Central Government, whose _raison d'être_ is the maintenance of
+peace and order at home, and the upholding of the national honour
+abroad, divides itself into three authorities or divisions, the Federal
+Assembly, the Legislative body; the Federal Council, which is the
+executive body; and the Federal Tribunal. The Federal Assembly consists
+of two chambers, the National Council, and the Council of the States;
+the former elected by the Swiss people at large, the latter representing
+the different cantons. The Nationalrath is elected by ballot for three
+years, one member to every twenty thousand souls. At present (1889)
+there are 145 members. The cantonal governments elect the members of the
+other chamber, two to each canton, one to a semi-canton. The Federal
+Council (Bundesrath) is the Executive, and consists of seven members.
+Its chairman or president holds the highest dignity in the country,
+though his powers do not exceed those of his fellow-ministers. The whole
+Cabinet is _collectively_ responsible for the conduct of all public
+business, and holds the _summum imperium_. Thus the _whole Federal
+Council, and not its president only_, occupies the position similar to
+that of the President of the United States.[103] There are various
+departments of the Executive--Foreign Affairs, Interior and Education,
+Justice and Police, Military, Finance and Customs, Industry and
+Agriculture, Post and Railway. The Federal Assembly sits twice a year,
+and elects both the Bundesrath, and Bundesgericht (Tribunal). The
+Cabinet is subject to re-election every three years, but the same
+ministers are commonly chosen again and again. The Tribunal, or
+judiciary body, consists of nine members, who are elected every six
+years, with headquarters at Lausanne (since 1884).
+
+[Illustration: POLYTECHNIKUM AT ZURICH.]
+
+Bern, on account of its position between the German and French-speaking
+districts, was chosen as the seat of the central government. Zurich was
+to have been the home of the National University, but the plan failed,
+and it is now the seat of the National Polytechnikum, or technical
+university. Thus the two leading cities of the Confederation keep up
+their old characteristics, as governmental and intellectual
+respectively. Zurich's claims to intellectual distinction are
+unquestionable. Its magnificent system of schools, &c., is probably one
+of the most complete in Europe, if not in the world.
+
+It would be tedious as it is unnecessary to enter in detail into the
+powers of the central government as compared with those of the separate
+cantons. Suffice it to say, that the Bund reigns supreme in all
+relations with foreign states--it is only through the medium of the
+central government that any canton can treat with a foreign Power--that
+it controls all military matters, regulates coinage (Mints), weights and
+measures, posts and telegraphs, and fixes customs duties. It also partly
+controls the national education--the Polytechnikum at Zurich is wholly a
+federal affair, for instance--but in general each canton is left to its
+own devices in the matter. Thus, though every Swiss takes a pride in his
+schools, there is not one uniform standard throughout the state.
+
+Every burgess is bound to perform military service, and at any time a
+force of 200,000 men of the _élite_, and first reserve, can be placed in
+the field, not including the Landsturm. Since the Franco-German war
+military matters are engaging the serious attention of the country,
+seeing the central position of Switzerland, and the unsettled state of
+Europe.[104] It remains to be said that the new Constitution secured
+freedom in religious matters, though the Jesuits were denied free
+settlement, and the Jews were not recognized till 1866. The _Octroi_, or
+duties between the cantons, was not removed till 1887, and then only
+after a hard fight on the part of some of the cantons, notably Bern, to
+whom these dues were a great source of profit.
+
+It is a problem requiring all the powers of the skilled statesmen to
+make the two Swiss sovereignties--the federal and cantonal--run side by
+side without allowing either to trench on the other's ground. And it is
+a much disputed point how far it is to the national benefit to increase
+the powers of the Federal Government. The centralization of the
+Government undoubtedly secures a better administration in most points,
+but the cantons jealously guard against any infringement of their rights
+by the Federation. They believe that a healthy rivalry and emulation
+between the states is a good thing, and one not lightly to be given up.
+
+The new Bundesrath was soon called upon to prove the quality of its
+mettle, for troubles arose in Neuchâtel. This canton was, up to 1848, a
+veritable mediæval relic in its form of government--a mixture of
+monarchy and free state. Few spots in Europe have had a more typical and
+characteristic history than Neuchâtel, and did space permit it would be
+most interesting to trace that history downwards, from its junction with
+the empire in 1033; through its rule by native lords, the counts of
+Neuchâtel, till their extinction in 1395; its vassalage to the house of
+Châlons; the suzerainty of the Orleans-Longueville family; the regency
+of Marie de Nemours (1679-1707). But here suffice it to say, that
+through fear of the designs of Louis Quatorze, Neuchâtel gladly
+accepted the ducal supremacy of the kings of Prussia. In 1815 it was
+incorporated with the Confederation, as a canton with equal rights and
+standing to the rest. Notwithstanding this, Prussia still claimed to be
+its overlord, and thus arose a double _régime_, a condition of things
+plainly untenable. In 1848 the Confederation endeavoured to obtain the
+release of the canton from Prussian rule, and this by the peaceful
+methods of diplomacy, but in vain. In 1856 a conspiracy was set on foot
+to undo the work of 1848--the granting of a more democratic constitution
+to Neuchâtel. At the head of these royalist plotters were Count
+Poustates and De Meuron. However, their plans failed, and five hundred
+prisoners were taken. Out of these, twenty-five were by order of the
+Federal Government kept back to be tried as insurgents. Frederick
+William IV., of Prussia, demanded their unconditional pardon and
+surrender, an order obedience to which would have been a renunciation of
+the canton, and a defiance of the Federal rule. The demand was refused,
+and the question of the release became the centre about which all the
+negotiation now turned. In this emergency Napoleon III., of France,
+offered his services as mediator, mindful of the hospitality shown to
+him of old by Switzerland. He further promised to espouse the Swiss
+cause if the prisoners were released, and to Switzerland his offer
+carried greater weight than all the promises of Prussia. "I shall act in
+the matter as if I were the Swiss Government," he assured Dr. Kern, who
+had been sent as special envoy to the French Court, and in a further
+conversation tried in every possible way to prove his sympathy with the
+little republic.[105] England made similar promises. However the
+Prussian king made no overtures, and neither France nor England gave
+sufficient guarantee that Neuchâtel should be ceded to Switzerland, and
+the Swiss Government therefore declined to proceed further on these
+vague terms. Frederick William threatened war, and began to mobilize his
+troops. The Federal Council likewise began its preparation, and without
+outward sign of fear or hesitation, but with a unanimous feeling of
+heroic enthusiasm though the length and breadth of the country, the
+Swiss went on with their military organization. Most touching instances
+of devoted patriotism were witnessed--from the greyhaired old man to the
+mere boy the people offered their services; fellow-countrymen abroad
+sent large sums of money; even school children offered their savings.
+Catholic and Protestant, French and German, Italian and Romansch, all
+were animated by one spirit, all were equally ready to defend the honour
+and independence of their beloved country. Dufour was again elected
+Commander-in-chief of the Federal forces. To the crowds who gave him a
+splendid ovation he replied in these memorable words: "I rejoice to end
+my life in the service of my country. I am old"--he was seventy--"and my
+task is heavy, for the enemy is powerful, but I trust I shall carry on
+my mission in the name of the God of our Rütli, who has never ceased to
+protect our Fatherland." Such has ever been and ever will be the love of
+the Swiss for their native soil, a love not based merely on the beauty
+of their land, nor on the perfection of its institutions, but on the
+knowledge that it is a stronghold of noble freedom, and one of their own
+rearing. The proud bearing of the Swiss made a great impression on the
+Powers, and particularly excited the admiration of Napoleon, who,
+forgetting the former distrust shown towards him, again offered his
+services as mediator. By his advice the prisoners were conducted to
+France, and there set free, on January 16, 1857, and they remained in
+banishment till the settlement of the dispute. This was finally
+accomplished on May 26th, at the conference of Paris, when the Prussian
+king formally renounced for ever all claims on Neuchâtel, whether duchy
+or canton, retaining, however, the title of Fürst von Neuenburg. Thus
+the district was entirely ceded to Switzerland.
+
+The cession of Nice and Savoy to Napoleon III. by Victor Emmanuel in
+1859-60, led to dissensions with the emperor, which might have turned
+out serious, the Swiss having some claims on Chablais and Faucigny. The
+point is not settled even yet. There have also been disputes with the
+Papal See, consequent on the development of the Old Catholic movement,
+and the Pope's encroachments. Though the old diocese of Geneva had been
+long abolished, Pius IX. appointed Mermillod as bishop. Lachat, Bishop
+of Solothurn, turned out of their cures several priests for declining to
+accept the dogma of infallibility. The exasperation in the country was
+great, the two bishops were banished from Switzerland, and the Papal
+Nuncio was discharged. It was not till 1883 that Mermillod was allowed
+to return.
+
+It remains to speak briefly of some of the constitutional revisions
+which have taken place, up to 1883, or even to the present moment. In
+1874 the Federal Pact was amended. Briefly the improvement on the pact
+of 1848 consisted mainly in arranging a better and more effective
+centralization in financial, military, and judicial matters. Experience
+had brought to light many defects in the representative system.
+Personal, local, or class interests often weighed more with delegates
+than national interests; or occasionally a minister would assume too
+great powers to himself. To give the people a more direct share in the
+legislation, two institutions were set on foot which are peculiar to
+Switzerland. These are the "Initiative" and the "Referendum." They are
+perhaps the furthest developments of democracy yet reached, and are
+exciting considerable interest in English-speaking countries at the
+present time.
+
+The Initiative is a development of the right of petitioning. By it any
+voter or voters may propose new legislation, and if the requisite number
+of voters can be got to support the proposal by signing the formal
+petition in its favour, the matter must be put to the popular vote. The
+number of signatures necessary is five thousand in the case of cantonal
+legislation, and fifty thousand in Federal matters. The people have thus
+always the power to bring on the discussion of any matter, however much
+the Council, or the legislators may object.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF SION. (_From a Photograph_.)]
+
+The Referendum, which by the way is far more frequently applied,
+secures that any law passed by the cantonal assemblies, or by the
+Federal Assembly, shall be put before the forum of the whole
+people[106]--_referred_ to the whole body of voters--if again the
+required number of supporters can be got together. In cantonal matters
+this number is the same as in the case of the Initiative; in matters
+relating to the Confederation, thirty thousand votes, or eight cantons
+are necessary. There are two kinds of Referendum, adopted by different
+parts of the country, the "facultative," or optional Referendum, by St.
+Gall, Zug, Lucerne, Baselstadt, Schaffhausen, Vaud, Neuchâtel (1882),
+Geneva, Ticino (1883); and the "obligatory" or compulsory Referendum,
+which obtains in Zurich (1869), Bern (1869), Thurgau, Aargau, Solothurn,
+Schwyz, Graubünden, and Baselland. Uri, Glarus, the two Unterwalden, and
+the two Appenzell cantons, still cling to their old _landsgemeinde_,
+whilst Valais has a _financial_ Referendum, and Freiburg is content with
+its older representative form of government. Opinion is much divided in
+Switzerland as to the value of the Referendum. In this, probably, most
+Swiss agree, that an arrangement which places the sovereign will of the
+people above that of the authorities and legislative bodies is a good
+arrangement, providing the people at large are intelligent and educated.
+And here Switzerland shows to great advantage. Probably no people in the
+world have so fully and so clearly recognized that "education alone
+makes free." The Swiss educational system is such, that it reaches down
+to the poorest child and penetrates into the remotest valley. All
+primary education is gratuitous and compulsory. If any people deserve by
+education and intelligence to be entrusted with powers like that
+conferred by the Referendum, it is the Swiss. Yet men of every political
+shade admit that the Referendum is a two-edged weapon which may cut both
+ways. It is at any rate no new thing in Switzerland. It may be styled a
+_landsgemeinde by ballot_. And, as far back as the sixteenth century,
+the question of the Reformation was put to the Referendum--in a somewhat
+different way, it is true--both in Zurich and Bern. In its present form,
+of course, the Referendum is modern. It is curious to find that though
+introduced by the advanced democratic party it turns out in actual
+working to be a decidedly conservative measure. It may stop a sound and
+beneficial measure occasionally, but it is more likely to check rash and
+insufficiently considered legislation, as the Swiss are naturally averse
+to needless changes. An example or two may serve to illustrate this.
+Baselland thrice brought forward a Bill for the revision of its cantonal
+code; thrice the Bill was rejected, under the compulsory Referendum. At
+Zurich quite recently (spring of 1889), the Grand Council wished to
+bring in a new law for bettering the education of the masses by
+improving the supplementary schools. The country labourers had a
+majority, and rejected the measure, objecting, it is said, to the
+additional expenditure. It is to be hoped, however, that this measure
+will be carried eventually. On the whole, perhaps, the "facultative"
+Referendum is to be preferred to the obligatory. We may mention, in
+conclusion, that out of 107 Bills passed by the Federal Council, between
+1874 and 1886, nineteen were submitted to the Referendum, and of these
+nineteen, but six were ultimately adopted by the whole body of voters
+thus appealed to.[107]
+
+[Illustration: LAW COURTS AT LAUSANNE.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[103] There is, in fact, no office in Switzerland similar to that of the
+United States President, though foreigners nearly always speak of the
+_President of the Swiss Republic_, when they mean simply the _Chairman
+of the Cabinet_.
+
+[104] The reader is referred for fuller information to the most
+interesting account by Sir F. O. Adams and Mr. Cunningham in "The Swiss
+Confederation" (Longmans).
+
+[105] Kern, "Souvenirs Suisses," pp. 124-129, where other instances of
+Napoleon's goodwill in 1848-9 are mentioned.
+
+[106] Legislative Acts are, in fact, referred _to the whole people_ for
+approval or disapproval, as in limited monarchies they are referred to
+the _sovereign_. But in Switzerland the veto possessed by the people is
+a _real_ thing, and not a virtual impossibility, as in England for
+instance.
+
+[107] For further notes on the Referendum, see Adams and Cunningham's
+"Swiss Confederation," alluded to above. The Referendum seems likely to
+attract increasing attention, in England and America especially.
+
+
+
+
+XXXIV.
+
+INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, RAILWAYS, EDUCATION THE "RIGHT OF ASYLUM."
+
+
+Our story must be brought to a close with a short account of several
+important matters on which nothing has as yet been said, viz., the
+industrial condition of the country, and its material progress. Hardly
+any other country has had to contend with so many natural disadvantages
+as Switzerland, in prosecuting her industries and establishing her
+trade. The difficulty of the country, the absence of coal and iron, the
+want of navigable rivers, the scanty produce of the soil in the more
+elevated districts, the want of seaboard--all these and other things
+increased the severity of the struggle in the race for wealth. Then she
+is fenced in as it were by protection. As a set-off against these
+drawbacks, there is an abundance of water-power. But it is evident that
+agriculture alone could not suffice to provide for all the inhabitants,
+and thus it comes to pass that the Swiss have turned their energies in a
+remarkable manner to the establishment and development of manufactures.
+It may here be pointed out parenthetically that the poverty of the
+country in the pre-manufacturing days accounts for, and to some extent
+excuses, the old and reprehensible practice amongst the Swiss of hiring
+themselves out as soldiers to the highest bidder. Raw material in vast
+quantities is imported, and finished goods sent out. Switzerland
+competes successfully with some of the greatest manufacturing
+countries--England, Belgium, France--nay, considering her population,
+she almost surpasses them. Putting imports and exports together,
+Switzerland does a trade of £60,000,000 annually, the imports consisting
+mainly of coal, iron, raw silk, cotton, gold, and other raw materials,
+the exports of manufactured goods. The value of the imports exceeds that
+of the exports by no less a sum than six and a half millions sterling
+(Federal Statistics, 1887), the counterbalance being supplied by the
+tourists, and by the interest on foreign investments. The Swiss are a
+stirring and business-like people, and had already in the first half of
+the present century carried their enterprises abroad, especially in the
+principal seaports. As early as 1812, Egg, a citizen of Zurich, took two
+hundred operatives, and started a cotton factory at Piedimonti, near
+Naples, notwithstanding the blockade, the machinery being taken by way
+of Trieste and the Adriatic. Now the Swiss are to be found all over the
+world, as every one knows.
+
+A few figures in detail respecting the imports and exports may be
+interesting. They are from the official statistics for 1887.
+
+
+IMPORTS.
+
+Food stuffs                            242,935,277 francs.
+Raw materials                          330,324,615    "
+Finished or partly-finished goods      263,775,024    "
+                                       -----------
+                              Total    837,034,916    "
+
+
+EXPORTS.
+
+Food stuffs                             78,565,548 francs.
+Raw materials                           95,922,106    "
+Finished products                      496,604,979    "
+                                       -----------
+                              Total    671,092,633    "
+
+Switzerland imports chiefly from the neighbouring countries, but her
+export trade is largely with England and America, as well as with
+Germany and France. Of the industries of the country, the largest as
+well as the oldest is the production of silk goods, dating back to the
+thirteenth century, the chief seats being Zurich and Basel. Cotton
+manufacture is carried on at Zurich, Aargau, St. Gall, and other places;
+embroidery is made at St. Gall and Appenzell; and watches at Neuchâtel
+and Geneva. This last town has also a great trade in jewellery and
+musical boxes. Then there are considerable manufactures of machinery,
+cheese, condensed milk, and other things, and wood carving is carried on
+to a large extent. The last returns give the exports of silk as
+198,768,230 francs, cotton as over 158,000,000, and watches over
+84,000,000.
+
+[Illustration: "VICTIMS OF THE WORK," ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL, FROM A
+BAS-RELIEF BY VELA.
+
+(_Photographed by Guler. By permission of the Sculptor._)]
+
+This is not the place for details respecting the railway system, but it
+may be noted that the total length of the Swiss lines is now over three
+thousand kilometres. A special feature of the Alpine lines is, as every
+one is aware, the skill with which the engineering difficulties have
+been surmounted. The St. Gothard line, with its fifty tunnels, is the
+most conspicuous of these successes. This grand international enterprise
+owes its execution to Dr. Alfred Escher of Zurich, and the famous
+engineer, Louis Favre of Geneva. Vela, the Ticinese sculptor, has
+produced a fine group of relievi as a memento of the many poor victims
+of the great undertaking. The tunnel is between nine and ten miles long,
+and was completed in seven and a half years.
+
+There is no doubt that the thriving condition of Switzerland is chiefly
+due to three causes--the thriftiness of the people, their natural
+ability, and perhaps, more than all, the excellence of the educational
+system. On this last point much has been written by the late Matthew
+Arnold and Sir F. O. Adams, and to their works the reader must be
+referred for details. We may here mention, however, that besides the
+primary, secondary, and high schools, which are to be found in every
+canton, Switzerland stands out conspicuously by the number and
+excellence of its technical and trade schools. The great Polytechnikum
+of Zurich is the pride of the country, and Basel, Zurich, Bern, and
+Geneva have universities, and Neuchâtel and Lausanne academies.[108]
+Primary education is entirely free, and to it the greater share of the
+education vote is assigned--in 1887, nearly seventeen and a half million
+francs out of a total of twenty-six and a half millions given to
+education. Attendance at school is compulsory, and there were in 1887,
+467,597 children attending the primary schools.
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF GOTFRIED KELLER, THE POET.
+
+(_After a Photograph._)]
+
+Of men of intellect, of talent, of artistic, scientific, or literary
+skill, Switzerland has produced many, and has sheltered many more. The
+numerous academical institutions, literary, scientific, and musical
+societies, draw together large numbers of superior intellects. Amongst
+the numberless men of science now or lately living may be mentioned
+Agassiz, Desor, De la Rive, Heer, Merian, Studer, and Dr. Ferdinand
+Keller, the discoverer of the lake dwellings. In literature we have
+Viet, Marc Monnier, Zschokke, as well as Leuthold, Gotfried Keller, and
+Ferdinand Meyer. Keller has a reputation more than European; he has been
+called the German Shakespeare. He belongs to Zurich. The occasion of his
+seventieth birthday (on July, 1889), brought a remarkable demonstration.
+The Assembly voted him an address, and enthusiastic congratulations
+poured in upon him from all quarters. From Germany Von Moltke himself
+headed the list of admiring friends who sent messages. Keller is
+acknowledged to be the greatest living German poet. Amongst painters are
+Calaine, Diday, Girardet, Gleyre, Vautier, and Böcklin, whom the Germans
+consider one of their greatest living painters; and of sculptors, there
+are Vela and Lanz. Gustave Weber and Joachim Raff are well-known musical
+composers, with whom we must name Baumgartner, who has raised Keller's
+"Oh, mein Heimatland," into the position of a second national anthem.
+
+We see in Switzerland a nation which once played a conspicuous part in
+European military affairs, but which has now become a land of peace,
+whose neutrality the Powers vouchsafed at the Vienna Congress. In the
+exceptional position she holds, she deems it part of her mission of
+peace to promote the general welfare of the world, so far as lies in her
+power. Most important international institutions owe their origin, or at
+least their successful establishment, to Switzerland. Thus she started
+the Geneva Convention, under the presidency of General Dufour, in 1864.
+This Convention had for its object the mitigation of the horrors of war,
+and every European nation was represented at it. The declaration of the
+neutrality of all nurses, medical men, hospitals, &c., on either side,
+and the adoption of the distinguishing badge, the Geneva cross, are too
+well known to need description here. Then at the suggestion of Germany
+the International Postal Union was founded at a meeting at Bern. And
+quite recently the International Congress of labour delegates is under
+consideration to be called with the view of settling some of the social
+questions affecting labour. A particularly interesting Swiss foundation
+was started in 1886, to provide for poor soldiers incapacitated by war,
+and to assist relatives dependent on those killed in battle. It was
+founded to celebrate the five-hundredth anniversary of Sempach, and is
+appropriately named the _Winkelriedstiftung_.
+
+The right to offer an asylum in time of war she considers one of her
+most precious privileges. Seeing, however, how frequently her well-meant
+intentions are misinterpreted, and her hospitality abused, she may
+probably have to restrict her offers of asylum. In fact, the Bundesrath
+have even now under consideration the question of how best to maintain
+her rights in this respect, whilst seeing that no injury is done to
+foreign interests. One thing is certain, she will not give up the right
+of asylum. Meanwhile the refractory foreign elements residing in
+Switzerland are not only endangering her safety, but doing harm to the
+character of her people. The confusion of 1848-9 brought to Swiss
+territory fugitives from all parts of Europe. As many as ten thousand
+fled from the Grand Duchy of Baden, when the Prussian troops checked the
+rising there. Many distinguished men, who would otherwise have met with
+death, or lingered indefinitely in prison, found a safe retreat in
+Switzerland. We need only mention the great composer, Richard Wagner,
+and Rüstow, Mommsen, Semper, Joh. Scherr, Kinkel, Köchly, from amongst a
+host of scholars who took refuge there, and settled for years at the
+Swiss universities. Köchly's scholarship and activity brought in a
+conspicuously successful period of classical study at Zurich University
+(1850-64),[109] and his successor, Arnold Hug, was no less devoted and
+successful.
+
+In 1853 Austria turned out six thousand Swiss (Ticinese) in the harshest
+manner from Lombardy, on the plea that Italians had been allowed to
+combine on Swiss ground against Austria. Six years later the Swiss had
+an opportunity of heaping coals of fire on the head of Austria, for when
+the Austrian garrison was driven from Fort Laveno, on Lake Maggiore,
+the soldiers were not only freely admitted into Swiss territory, but
+were liberally treated. Mazzini, too, the Italian patriot, sought safety
+in Switzerland, causing her, by the way, considerable trouble. The
+Franco-German war, again, offered the Swiss many opportunities of
+showing their usual benevolence and charity towards distressed
+foreigners. To the Germans who had to leave France on the outbreak of
+war, making their way home through Switzerland, the Swiss people showed
+innumerable kindnesses, many of the people being poor, and destitute of
+even necessaries. And when they heard of the siege of Strasburg, their
+old friend and ally of centuries ago, the Swiss sent a deputation to
+invite the weak and tender to go home with them. This was done with the
+consent of both belligerents, and fourteen hundred persons, chiefly
+women and children, and old men, accepted the invitation. It was a
+touching scene when they left with their protectors, and few eyes were
+dry. Every one knows how Bourbaki, failing to relieve Belfort, was
+compelled to flee into Swiss territory, with his eighty-five thousand
+men and nine thousand horses (February 1, 1871). The troops were
+disarmed, and quartered all over the country, and remained till peace
+was concluded. High and low, rich and poor, the Swiss vied with each
+other in showing kindness to the refugees. Miserable in the extreme had
+been their condition on their arrival, but they left recruited in
+health, improved in appearance and full of gratitude. As they departed
+the air was filled with shouts of "Vive la Suisse." That same spring,
+too, when seed was wanting with which to sow the ground in many
+districts of France, the Swiss sent large quantities of potatoes, oats,
+barley, and beans, and other seed corn, besides money and clothing. And
+during the war Swiss aid was distributed amongst French and Germans
+impartially.
+
+It is not from self-interest or vain-glory that the Swiss act thus, but
+from motives of humanity and benevolence. And, though the "right of
+asylum" is liable to be abused, its nobler side is not to be forgotten.
+It is to be hoped that Switzerland will ever keep her present
+independence and neutrality, the very existence of which bears witness
+to the more human tendencies of modern European politics.
+
+It remains only to give a few figures respecting the present numbers of
+the population. They are taken from the official returns, and though the
+report is only provisional,[110] it may be taken that the figures are
+substantially correct. It appears, then, that the total population of
+the Republic, on December 1, 1888, was 2,934,057 actually, or 2,920,723
+in regular residence. In 1850 the actual population was 2,392,740, thus
+the increase during the thirty-eight years has been over half a million.
+Of the 2,934,057 enumerated on December 1, 1888, 1,427,377 were males,
+and 1,506,680 females; 2,092,530 were German-speaking, 637,972
+French-speaking, 156,606 Italian-speaking, 38,375 Romansch-speaking,
+8,574 were of other nationalities; 1,724,957 were Protestants, 1,190,008
+Catholics, and 19,092 of other religions, or of none. The canton with
+the largest population was Bern, with 539,271, Zurich coming next with
+339,014, whilst that with the smallest number of souls was Lower
+Unterwalden, with 12,524. The most populous town is Zurich, with 90,111
+inhabitants, those coming next in order being Basel, with over 69,000,
+Geneva 52,000, Bern, 45,000, Lausanne, 33,000.
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF LAUSANNE CATHEDRAL.
+
+(_From a Photograph._)]
+
+Here must end our short sketch of this remarkable little state. From the
+very earliest times its peoples have been particularly interesting--from
+its prehistoric lakemen with their almost unique series of settlements,
+down through successive nationalities of Helvetians and Romans, Alamanni
+and Burgundians to the modern Germans, French, Italians, and Romansch.
+Switzerland has bred or has been closely connected with some of the
+proudest ruling families in European history--Habsburgs and Zaerings,
+Carlovingians and Burgundians, Hohenstaufens and Savoys. Some of the
+most glorious victories recorded in history have been gained by the
+little Swiss nation in defence of their beloved fatherland; the fame of
+Morgarten, Sempach, Grandson, and Morat is not likely to die out while
+European civilization lasts. Constitutionally the history of Switzerland
+is of surpassing interest. Step by step we have seen a handful of
+gallant people free themselves from oppression by emperor or duke, by
+prince or lord, by prelate or cloister. Inch by inch the people at large
+have gained their political rights from foreign overlords or from native
+aristocracies. We have seen how a tiny confederation of three petty
+states has grown into a league of eight, and then of thirteen
+independent districts, and how this has developed into the federal state
+of twenty-two cantons of our own day. Lastly, some of the institutions
+of the country, notably the Initiative and the Referendum, are well-nigh
+unique of their kind, and certainly are of the greatest interest to the
+student of political history and development; whilst Switzerland's noble
+efforts for the amelioration and benefit of mankind at large cannot but
+command our admiration.
+
+    "Il est à nous, notre libre avenir;
+    Morgarten, Grandson, jours de fête,
+    Si vous ne deviez revenir,
+    O Saint Jacques, O sainte defaite,
+    Dans ton pourpre linceul, tu nous verrais dormir."[111]
+
+
+THE END.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[108] That of Lausanne is to be made into a university.
+
+[109] "Life of Köchly," by Prof. A. Hug, 1878.
+
+[110] "Vorläufige Resultate der eidg. Volkszählung vom 1 Dezember,
+1888."
+
+[111] De la Rive, Genevan poet.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+A
+
+Aargau, subject land, 186
+
+Adams, Sir F. O., 412
+
+Adolf of Nassau, 131
+
+Æneas Sylvius, 203, 253
+
+Ætius defeated Huns, 45;
+  gave Savoy to Burgundy, 51
+
+Agassiz, 14
+
+Agen, battle of, 20
+
+Agnes of Königsfelden, 141
+
+Alamanni, 39, 46, 47, 49
+
+Albrecht of Habsburg, 113, 120, 131, 132
+
+Alcuin, 64
+
+Allobroges, 21
+
+Allmend, or common land, 48, 126
+
+Alpinus, 37
+
+Alpnach, bay of, 355
+
+Ambühl of Glarus, 176
+
+Amman chosen in Uri, 127
+
+Am Stoss, battle of, 181
+
+Appenzell, 181;
+  admitted as an ally, 182;
+  admitted as a canton, 237
+
+Aquæ (Baden), 35
+
+Aquæ Sextiæ, battle of, 21
+
+Arbedo, engagement at, 188
+
+Arelatisches Reich founded, 73
+
+Arnold of Brescia, reformer, 100, 152
+
+Arnold von Melchthal, 120
+
+Arnulf of Kaernthen, 76
+
+Arth, Battle of, 354
+
+Asylum, Right of, 416, 418
+
+Augusta Rauracorum, 35, 39
+
+Augusta Vindelicorum, 32
+
+"Äusserer Stand," Society, 320
+
+Austria, 143, 146, 166;
+  defeated at Sempach, 172;
+  defeated at Naefels, 177;
+  claims the Forest, 178
+
+Autun, battle of, 55
+
+Avars, the, 76
+
+Avenches, 97, 213;
+  battle at, 368
+
+Aventicum, 14, 34, 39
+
+
+B
+
+Baden (Zurich), 186
+
+Barbarossa, 96
+
+Basel, 14;
+  treaty of, 236;
+  divided, 387
+
+Bayard, 240
+
+Beccaria, 294
+
+Bellinzona, 188
+
+Bern, founded, 97;
+  defeated at Schosshalde, 158;
+  forms Burgundian Confederation, 159;
+  rules over Hasle, 163;
+  League with Austria, 166;
+  power over house of Kyburg, 166;
+  seizes Habsburg, 186;
+  fortifies Morat, 212;
+  natural bent for rule, 245;
+  governing families of, 320;
+  plundered by French, 351, 353;
+  population, &c., 420
+
+Berchtold V. founds Bern, 97;
+  defeated by Savoy, 98
+
+Bertha, the "Spinning Queen," 74, 86
+
+Bertold I., Duke of Zaeringen, 93
+
+Bertold II., 94
+
+Bertold IV., 96
+
+Beza, 287, 290
+
+Bibracte, battle of, 23
+
+Bituitus, 19
+
+Bockenkrieg, 372
+
+Bodmer, 334, 338
+
+Bonivard, 273
+
+Borromean League, 294
+
+Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, 293
+
+Bourbaki, General, 417
+
+Breisach, rising at, 205
+
+Breitinger, 334, 336
+
+Brun, Burgomaster of Zurich, 140, 146, 155, 157
+
+Bubenberg, Hans von, 164;
+  Adrian von, 206, 212
+
+Bullinger, Reformer, 268, 296
+
+Bund ob dem See, 181
+
+Burgdorf, 97, 166
+
+Burgundia Transjurans, 73
+
+Burgundy takes West Helvetia, 40;
+  defeated by Huns, 50;
+  defeated by Franks, 55;
+  two kingdoms of, 73;
+  its wars, 200
+
+Burkhard of Alamannia, 74
+
+Burkhard of Chur-Rhætia, 78, 80, 81
+
+
+C
+
+Cæcina ravages Helvetia, 36
+
+Campo Formio, treaty of, 347
+
+Calvin, 279;
+  his writings, 280;
+  settles at Geneva, 281;
+  banished, 282;
+  founds the Consistory, 283;
+  burns Servetus, 286;
+  his policy, 287;
+  death, 289
+
+Carlomann, 58
+
+Carmagnola, General, 188
+
+Carolinum founded, 67
+
+Catalaunian Plain, great battle on, 45
+
+Catholic League, 387
+
+Catholic Reaction, 291, 294
+
+Central Government, 396
+
+Centralists, the, 366
+
+Chablais, 380, 402
+
+Charlemagne, 59;
+  Emperor of the West, 60;
+  legends concerning, 62;
+  zeal for education, 64
+
+Charles the Bald, 72
+
+Charles the Bold, 200, 205;
+  defeated at Grandson, 211;
+  at Morat, 213;
+  death, 215
+
+Charles IV. of Germany, 141, 143
+
+Chiavenna, 241, 346, 380
+
+Chillon, 109, 274
+
+Christianity, introduction of, 40
+
+Christian League, 264
+
+Codex Manesse, 153
+
+Columban, 57
+
+Commerce, 409
+
+Confederation formed, 119
+
+Conrad I., 77;
+  II., 88;
+  III., 99
+
+Conradin, 114
+
+Constance, siege of, 304
+
+Clairvaux, monk, preaches Crusades, 99
+
+Clovis, king of the Franks, 54
+
+Crusades, 98
+
+
+D
+
+D'Affry, 372, 376
+
+Davel, Major, 319
+
+"Délices, Les," 326;
+  theatre destroyed, 328
+
+Diesbach, Nicolas von, 206
+
+Divico, 20, 23
+
+Domo d'Ossola, 188
+
+Dornbühl, victory at, 158
+
+Drachenried, engagement at, 355
+
+Drusus, 25, 32
+
+Dufour, General, 393, 401, 415
+
+
+E
+
+East Frankish realm, 72
+
+Eberhard the "Quarrelsome," 143;
+  of Kyburg, 161
+
+Education, 388, 412
+
+Eidgenossenschaft, the, 118
+
+Eight States League, 139, 166
+
+Einsiedeln, 82, 134
+
+Eishere the Giant, 62
+
+Elizabeth of Habsburg, 133
+
+"Empty Pocket," Frederick the, 181
+
+Ensisheim, peace of, 197
+
+Erlach, Ludwig von, 350
+
+Erlach, Rudolf von, 164
+
+Ernest II. of Swabia, 82
+
+Escalade of Geneva, 302
+
+Eschenbach, 133
+
+Escher, 358, 375
+
+Ewiger Bund, 129
+
+Exports, 410
+
+
+F
+
+Farel, reformer, 275
+
+Faucigny, 380, 402
+
+"Faustrecht," the, 107
+
+Federal Assembly, 396
+
+Federal Council, 396
+
+Federal Tribunal, 396
+
+Felix Martyr, 42
+
+Fellenberg, educationist, 374
+
+Ferney, 326
+
+Feudalism, 103
+
+Fichte, 338
+
+Fontana, 234
+
+"Foul Peace," the, 175
+
+Franche Comté, 215
+
+Franco-German War, 417
+
+Franks, the, 54
+
+Fraubrunnen, skirmish at, 350
+
+Frederick von Staufen, 93
+
+Frederick I. (Barbarossa), 105
+
+Frederick II., 127, 150
+
+Frederick III., 190
+
+Frederick the "Empty Pocket," 181, 185
+
+Freiburg, 161, 221
+
+French Revolution, 343
+
+Fridolin St., banner of, at Naefels, 177
+
+"Friedel" (Empty Pocket), 185
+
+
+G
+
+Galba, 25, 35
+
+Gallia Comata, 31
+
+Gall, St., 57, 62, 182, 241, 346
+
+Geneva, 245;
+  "Children" of, 273, 285;
+  besieged by Savoy, 276;
+  occupied by Bernese army, 277;
+  Calvin's rule in, 284;
+  escalade of, 302;
+  Fatio's reforms, 322;
+  admitted into league, 380;
+  Geneva Convention, 415
+
+Geschworne Brief, 155
+
+Gessler, 121, 123
+
+Giornico, victory at, 189
+
+Glarean, scholar, 254
+
+Glarus, 141;
+  1st Landsgemeinde, 175;
+  defeats Austria, 177;
+  defeated at Rapperswyl, 353
+
+Goethe, 341
+
+Golden League, 294
+
+Gothard, St., pass, 187;
+  tunnel, 412
+
+Götterdämmerung, 50
+
+Gotteshausbund, 184
+
+Grandson, battle of, 208, 211
+
+Graubünden, 184, 234;
+  religious feuds, 305;
+  massacre in, 307;
+  Austrian occupation, 308;
+  independence recovered, 311
+
+Grauholz, conflict at, 351
+
+Gregory VII., Pope, 91
+
+Greifensee, 194, 317
+
+Greyerz, 162, 164
+
+Grey, Lady Jane, 298
+
+Grey League, 184
+
+Guillermins, the, 282
+
+Gümminen, 161
+
+Gundobad of Burgundy, 52
+
+
+H
+
+Habsburg Castle, 113
+
+Habsburg-Austria, family of, 113
+
+Habsburg-Laufenburg, 113
+
+Habsburg, house of, 113, 114;
+  kings of Germany, 115
+
+Hadrian, Pope, 60, 63
+
+Hadwig, 81
+
+Hærige, the, 48
+
+Hagenback, Peter von, 204, 205
+
+Haller, 334, 336
+
+Hallwyl, Hans von, 212
+
+Harpe, La, 347, 359, 367, 372, 384
+
+Hartmann, 108, 161
+
+Harsthörner, 209
+
+Hatto, Bishop, 66
+
+Heer, Professor, 8
+
+Heierli, 11
+
+Helvetia, 13, 31, 32
+
+Helvetians, 14;
+  government, 17;
+  feuds with Germans, 18;
+  victory
+  over Romans, 20;
+  defeated at Bibracte, 24;
+  made associates by Rome, 25;
+  split into two sections, 36
+
+Helvetic Club, 347
+
+Helvetic Republic, 352
+
+Helvetic Society, the, 340, 342
+
+Henry I., the "City Founder," 80
+
+Henry II. of Germany, 87
+
+Henry III., 88, 90, 105
+
+Henry IV., 91, 93
+
+Henry VII., 134
+
+Héricourt, Siege of, 208
+
+Herodotus, 8
+
+Hertenstein of Lucerne, 213
+
+Hildgard, Princess, Abbess of Zurich, 70
+
+Hirtzel, 339
+
+Hohe Frau von Zurich, 149
+
+Hohenstaufen line, 107;
+  extinction, 114
+
+Hooper, Bishop, 297
+
+"Horned Council," 229
+
+Hotze, 360
+
+Hug, Dr. Arnold, scholar, 416
+
+Huns, 44, 45
+
+Huss, martyr, 198
+
+
+I
+
+Im Grund, 219
+
+Imports, 410
+
+Initiative, the, 403
+
+Innsbruck, 186
+
+International Postal Union, 415
+
+Italian Wars, 237
+
+
+J
+
+Jacques, St., battle of, 191, 193, 195
+
+Jenatsch, 307, 309;
+  stabbed, 310
+
+John XXIII., Pope, 185
+
+Judith, 72
+
+Julien, St., treaty of, 274
+
+Juvalta, Anna, 307
+
+
+K
+
+Kaernthen, Arnulf of, 76
+
+Kappel, first battle, 264;
+  second ditto, 267
+
+"Kappeller, Milchesuppe," 262
+
+Keller, Dr. Ferdinand, 3, 414
+
+Keller, novelist, 154
+
+Keller, poet, 414
+
+Kern, Swiss envoy, 400
+
+Klaus, Bruder, 221
+
+Klingenberg, Henry of, 153
+
+Klopstock, 337, 338
+
+Kloten, 38
+
+Knonau Castle, 186;
+  rising at, 227;
+  Ludwig Meyer von, 340
+
+Knox, 287
+
+Köchly, scholar, 416
+
+Königsfelden, Monastery, 133
+
+Korsakow, 360, 361
+
+Kyburg Manor, 82;
+  counts of, 89;
+  rise of family, 104;
+  fall, 166
+
+
+L
+
+"Ladle Squires," the, 274
+
+Lake dwellers, 5, 9, 11
+
+Lake dwellings, 3;
+  construction, 5;
+  probable dates, 11;
+  ditto in East Yorkshire, 12
+
+Landammann, installation of, 249
+
+Landenberg, 121
+
+Länder, the, 218
+
+Landsgemeinde, 247
+
+Latin right, 35
+
+Laupen, 97, 163
+
+Lausanne bishopric, 271
+
+Lavater, 340, 359, 361
+
+League of Perpetual Alliance, 119
+
+Lemanic Republic, 349
+
+Lenzburg, counts of, 89;
+  family, 104
+
+Leopold, 135;
+  defeated at Morgarten, 136
+
+Leopold III. of Austria, 168;
+  defeated at Sempach, 172
+
+Letzinen, the, 162
+
+Leventina, 188;
+  rising in, 316
+
+Libertines, 285
+
+Ligue à la Cassette, 316
+
+Linth canal, 375
+
+"Lion of Lucerne," 346
+
+Locarno refugees, 295
+
+"Long Diet," 378
+
+Lorraine, kingdom of, 200
+
+Lothair, 73, 96
+
+Louis Napoleon, 389
+
+Louis Philippe, 389
+
+Louis the Child, 76
+
+Louis the German, 70
+
+Louis the Pious, 71
+
+Louis XI., 195
+
+Louis XIV., 312, 313
+
+Lucerne, 140
+
+Luneville, peace of, 367
+
+Lützelburg, Henry of, 133
+
+Lyons, 32
+
+
+M
+
+Mæhren, the, 76
+
+Malleolus, savant, 198, 253
+
+Mamelukes, the, 273
+
+Manesse, 142, 153
+
+Manufactures, 410
+
+Marignano, 218, 240
+
+Martel, Charles, 58
+
+Massena, 360, 361
+
+Maximilian, 232
+
+Mayence, diet at, 93
+
+"Mazze," the, 183
+
+Mediation Act, 369
+
+Meilen, 3
+
+Meistersinger, 251
+
+Melchthal, Arnold von, 120
+
+Mermillod, Bishop, 402
+
+Milan, 187, 189, 238
+
+"Milchsuppe," the, 264
+
+Military system, 398
+
+Minnelieder, 153
+
+Misox, 295
+
+Monk of St. Gall, 62
+
+Morat, battle of, 212
+
+Morgarten, battle of, 131, 135;
+  another engagement at, 354
+
+Müller, historian, 124
+
+Murten, _see_ Morat
+
+Mytenstein, the, 121
+
+
+N
+
+Naefels, battle of, 175
+
+Nancy, battle of, 215
+
+Napoleon and Switzerland, 370
+
+"Natifs," the, 323
+
+"Négatifs," the, 322
+
+Nellenburg, counts of, 89
+
+Neuchâtel, 209;
+  rebels against Prussia, 323;
+  admitted to league, 380;
+  troubles in, 399;
+  Prussia renounces claim to, 402
+
+Neueneck, engagement at, 350
+
+"Nibelungenlied," 51
+
+Nicolas von der Flüe, 219
+
+Nidan, Count of, 164
+
+Nidwalden, 129
+
+Notker, chronicler, 62;
+  Monachus S. Gallensis, 75
+
+Novara, siege of, 239
+
+Noviodunum, 33
+
+
+O
+
+Obwalden, 129
+
+Ochs, Peter, 347, 352, 358, 367
+
+Octodurum (Martigny), 35
+
+Omer, St., treaty of, 204
+
+Orcitrix, _see_ Orgetorix
+
+Orgetorix, 17;
+  his treason and death, 21
+
+Otho I., 80
+
+Ottokar of Steyermark, 116
+
+Otto of Strassberg, 135;
+  death, 136
+
+Otto von Freysing, 151
+
+
+P
+
+Papal see, alliance with, 238
+
+Paracelsus, 301
+
+Paris, peace of, 377
+
+Paulus Diaconus, 64
+
+Peasants' revolt, 311
+
+Pepin le Bref, 58
+
+Pestalozzi, 331, 339, 356, 366, 374, 385
+
+Peter Martyr, 295
+
+Peter of Savoy, "Second Charlemagne," 108;
+  Savoy palace, 109;
+  war with Austria, 110;
+  death, III
+
+Pfäffikon Lake, 6
+
+Pfyffer, "Swiss king," 293
+
+Philip of Savoy, III
+
+Pius II., 203
+
+Planta, John von, 305;
+  Rudolf, 307
+
+Polytechnikum at Zurich, 398
+
+Population, 418
+
+Postal Union, the, 415
+
+
+R
+
+Railways, 410
+
+Rapinat, 364
+
+Rapperswyl, counts of, 104;
+  skirmish at, 156;
+  John of, 156;
+  battle at, 353
+
+Raron, barons of, 182, 183
+
+Rauraci, 14, 33
+
+Rauracian Republic, 345
+
+Reding, 191, 194;
+  advocates Reislaufen, 226
+
+Reding of Schwyz, 353, 359, 367
+
+Referendum, the, 403;
+  of two kinds, 405;
+  its working, 406
+
+Reformation in East Switzerland, 254;
+  in West Switzerland, 267
+
+Regensburg, peace of, 145
+
+Regula Martyr, 40
+
+Reichsfreiheit, the, 126
+
+Reinhard, 376, 379
+
+René of Lorraine, 208, 215
+
+Rengger, 365
+
+Rhætians, 14;
+  campaign of Drusus, 26;
+  joined with East Switzerland, 32;
+  fall of Goths, 55
+
+Rheinfelden manor, 91;
+  battle of, 310
+
+Richard of Cornwall, 109
+
+Robenhausen, 6, 8
+
+Rohan, Duke Henry de, 309, 310
+
+Romans, 20;
+  Bibracte, 23;
+  conquer Valais, 25;
+  Rhætia, 26;
+  policy, 30
+
+Romaunsh dialect, 14, 26
+
+Rotach, 181
+
+Rothenburg, 168
+
+Rotzloch, battle of, 355
+
+Rousseau, 325; birth, 328;
+  writings, 329;
+  "Contrat Social," 331
+
+Rudolf der Alte, 113
+
+Rudolf of Habsburg, 113;
+  elected King of Germany, 115;
+  policy, 116
+
+Rudolf II., 74
+
+Rudolf III., 82, 87
+
+Rudolf IV., 145
+
+Rudolf, "Rector of Burgundy," 91
+
+Rudolf the Guelf, 73
+
+Rudolf the Silent, 113
+
+Rudolf von Erlach, 164
+
+"Rufst du mein Vaterland," 178
+
+Rütli, the oath on, 120, 122
+
+
+S
+
+Sabaudia (Savoy), 51
+
+Salis, Von, 305
+
+Salodunum (Soleure), 35
+
+Sarnen, the "White Book" of, 124
+
+Savoy, 98;
+  Palace in Strand, 109;
+  defeated at Visp, 182;
+  loses Lower Valais, 208;
+  and Freiburg, 216;
+  and Vaud, 277
+
+"Savoyards," the, 273
+
+Sax-Misox, 183, 188
+
+Schaffhausen, 204, 236
+
+Schauenberg, 350, 355, 360
+
+Scheffel's "Ekkehard," 81
+
+Schindellegi, battle of, 354
+
+Schinner, Matthæus, 238
+
+Schirmverwandte, 180
+
+Schmalkalden wars, 291
+
+Schosshalde, battle of, 158
+
+Schwyz, 119;
+  charter of liberties, 127;
+  joins league, 128;
+  war with Zurich, 190
+
+Sempach, battle of, 166;
+  Winkelried's death, 170
+
+Sequani, the, 41
+
+Servetus, 286
+
+Sforza, Ludovico, 238;
+  Maximilian, 239
+
+Siebner Concordat, 387, 391
+
+Sigismund, 55, 185
+
+Sigmund of Austria, 204
+
+Simplon Road, 376
+
+Socinus, 295
+
+Solernon, Abbott of St. Gall, 76, 77, 80
+
+Solothurn, 159, 221
+
+Sonderbund wars, 392
+
+Soult, Marshal, 361
+
+Staël, Madame de, 332
+
+Stäfa, insurrection in, 346
+
+Stanz, meeting at, 217, 219;
+  covenant of, 221;
+  siege, 355
+
+Stapfer, 365, 370
+
+Staufacher, 120
+
+"Stecklikrieg," the, 368
+
+Steyermark, 116
+
+Strasburg, 203
+
+Strauss, 391
+
+Stuppa, 313
+
+Stüssi, 191, 193
+
+Subject lands, 179
+
+Suwarow, 360, 361
+
+Swabia, 71, 73;
+  John of, 133;
+  wars, 235
+
+Swiss guards massacred, 345
+
+Sylvius, 204
+
+
+T
+
+Tagsatzung (Diet), 250
+
+Tätwil, Austrian defeat at, 142
+
+Tavelli murdered, 182
+
+Tell, 122, 123
+
+Tell, historian, 301
+
+Tellenplatte, 123
+
+Theiling of Lucerne, 227
+
+Theobald, bishop, 66
+
+Theodoric the Great, 51, 53
+
+"Thermopylæ of Switzerland," 137
+
+Thun, 97
+
+Thurgau, 204
+
+Ticino, 187, 241
+
+Tigurini, the, 14, 22
+
+Tirano, skirmish at, 308
+
+Toggenburg, 93, 190
+
+Torberg, peace of, 146
+
+Toygeni, the, 14
+
+Trémouille, General, 239
+
+Trivulzio, 239, 241
+
+Tschudi, historian, 124, 252
+
+
+U
+
+Ufenau Island, 192
+
+Ulrichen, battle of, 182
+
+Ulrich of Kyburg, 108
+
+Unitarier, 366
+
+Unterthanen Laender, 180
+
+Unterwalden, 119;
+  divided, 129
+
+Uri, 119;
+  severed from Zurich Abbey, 126;
+  chooses Ammann, 127
+
+Uristier of Uri, 209
+
+Ursus (and Victor) put to death, 42
+
+"Uster, Day of," 385
+
+Uto Castle, 115
+
+
+V
+
+Valais, 14;
+  joined to Savoy, 32;
+  joins league, 182;
+  rising in, 345
+
+Valangin, Count, 164
+
+Valisians, 14, 25
+
+Valtellina, 241;
+  massacre in, 307;
+  joined to Lombardy, 346;
+  to Austria, 380
+
+Vaud, 216, 269;
+  lost to Savoy, 277
+
+Vazerol, diets at, 184
+
+Vercellæ, battle of, 21
+
+Vercingetorix defeated, 25;
+  death, 29
+
+Verdun, treaty of, 72;
+  ditto, 200
+
+Vespasian, 34
+
+Victor (and Ursus) put to death, 42
+
+Victoriden, the, 55
+
+Vienna Congress, 378
+
+Villemergen, religious strife, 311;
+  second ditto, 316
+
+Vindonissa, 35
+
+Viret, reformer, 276
+
+Visconti, the, 187
+
+Visp, battle of, 182
+
+Vitellius, 37
+
+Vogelinseck, battle of, 181
+
+Volkslieder, the, 251
+
+Voltaire, 325;
+  at Ferney, 326;
+  influence, 327
+
+Voralberg, 190
+
+
+W
+
+Walchen Romaunsh, 184
+
+Waldmann, 212, 213;
+  his life, 222;
+  policy, 225;
+  conspiracy against him, 227;
+  sentence and death, 228;
+  compromise, 229
+
+Waldshut feud, 204
+
+Waldstätten, the, 3, 120, 140
+
+Walter Fürst von Attinghausen, 120
+
+Wart stabs Albrecht of Habsburg, 133
+
+Wasserkirche (Zurich), 68, 224
+
+Weiss, 349
+
+Wengi, Nicolas von, 268
+
+Werdenberg, counts of, 105, 176, 181;
+  revolts, 316
+
+Werner of Kyburg, 104
+
+Werner Staufacher, 120
+
+Wesen, 175, 177
+
+West Frankish realm, 72
+
+Westphalia, peace of, 311
+
+Wieland, 337
+
+William IV. of Burgundy, 95
+
+Willisan destroyed, 169
+
+Wimmis stormed, 162
+
+Winkelried, 171, 173
+
+Winkelriedstiftung, the, 415
+
+Winterthur, 74, 132
+
+Wyss, Prof. Georg von, historian, 69
+
+
+Y
+
+Yorkshire, lake settlements in East, 12
+
+Yverdon, 97
+
+
+Z
+
+Zaeringen, house of, 95, 96;
+  dissolution, 101
+
+Zehngerichte (Bund), 184
+
+Zschokke, novelist, 374, 384, 414
+
+Zug, 142;
+  excluded from league, 145;
+  re-admitted, 146
+
+Zugewandte, 180
+
+Zum Ranft, 219
+
+Zünfte or guilds, 225
+
+Zuricum, 17
+
+Zurich, 60, 66;
+  abbey founded, 70, 75;
+  diets, 90;
+  Reichsvogtei, 94;
+  attacks Winterthur, 132;
+  joins league, defeats Austrians, 142;
+  Lenzburgs and Zaerings, 149;
+  a poet's corner, 155;
+  "Mordnacht," 156;
+  war with Schwyz, 190, 193;
+  gives up Austrian Alliance, 197;
+  revolts against Waldmann, 228;
+  war with Forest, 264;
+  religious refugees, 295;
+  educational pre-eminence, 398;
+  largest Swiss city, 420
+
+"Zurichputsch," 390
+
+Zwingli, 255;
+  birth, 257;
+  called to Zurich, 258;
+  abolishes Reislaufen, 260;
+  establishes National Church, 262;
+  with Zurich army, 264;
+  killed in battle, 267
+
+
+
+
+The Story of the Nations.
+
+
+Messrs. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS take pleasure in announcing that they have
+in course of publication, in co-operation with Mr. T. Fisher Unwin, of
+London, a series of historical studies, intended to present in a graphic
+manner the stories of the different nations that have attained
+prominence in history.
+
+In the story form the current of each national life is distinctly
+indicated, and its picturesque and noteworthy periods and episodes are
+presented for the reader in their philosophical relation to each other
+as well as to universal history.
+
+It is the plan of the writers of the different volumes to enter into the
+real life of the peoples, and to bring them before the reader as they
+actually lived, labored, and struggled--as they studied and wrote, and
+as they amused themselves. In carrying out this plan, the myths, with
+which the history of all lands begins, will not be overlooked, though
+these will be carefully distinguished from the actual history, so far as
+the labors of the accepted historical authorities have resulted in
+definite conclusions.
+
+The subjects of the different volumes have been planned to cover
+connecting and, as far as possible, consecutive epochs or periods, so
+that the set when completed will present in a comprehensive narrative
+the chief events in the great STORY OF THE NATIONS; but it is, of
+course, not always practicable to issue the several volumes in their
+chronological order.
+
+The "Stories" are printed in good readable type, and in handsome 12mo
+form. They are adequately illustrated and furnished with maps and
+indexes. They are sold separately at a price of $1.50 each.
+
+The following volumes are now ready (April, 1890):
+
+THE STORY OF GREECE. Prof. JAS. A. HARRISON.
+ "    "   "  ROME. ARTHUR GILMAN.
+ "    "   "  THE JEWS. Prof. JAMES K. HOSMER.
+ "    "   "  CHALDEA. Z. A. RAGOZIN.
+ "    "   "  GERMANY. S. BARING-GOULD.
+ "    "   "  NORWAY. HJALMAR H. BOYESEN.
+ "    "   "  SPAIN. Rev. E. E. and SUSAN HALE.
+ "    "   "  HUNGARY. Prof. A. VÁMBÉRY.
+ "    "   "  CARTHAGE. Prof. ALFRED J. CHURCH.
+ "    "   "  THE SARACENS. ARTHUR GILMAN.
+ "    "   "  THE MOORS IN SPAIN. STANLEY LANE-POOLE.
+ "    "   "  THE NORMANS. SARAH ORNE JEWETT.
+ "    "   "  PERSIA. S. G. W. BENJAMIN.
+ "    "   "  ANCIENT EGYPT. Prof. GEO. RAWLINSON.
+ "    "   "  ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. Prof. J. P. MAHAFFY.
+ "    "   "  ASSYRIA. Z. A. RAGOZIN.
+ "    "   "  THE GOTHS. HENRY BRADLEY.
+ "    "   "  IRELAND. Hon. EMILY LAWLESS.
+ "    "   "  TURKEY. STANLEY LANE-POOLE.
+ "    "   "  MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA. Z. A. RAGOZIN.
+ "    "   "  MEDIÆVAL FRANCE. Prof. GUSTAV MASSON.
+ "    "   "  HOLLAND. Prof. J. THOROLD ROGERS.
+ "    "   "  MEXICO. SUSAN HALE.
+ "    "   "  PHOENICIA. Prof. GEO. RAWLINSON.
+ "    "   "  THE HANSA TOWNS. HELEN ZIMMERN.
+ "    "   "  EARLY BRITAIN. Prof. ALFRED J. CHURCH.
+ "    "   "  THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. STANLEY LANE-POOLE.
+ "    "   "  RUSSIA. W. R. MORFILL.
+ "    "   "  THE JEWS UNDER ROME. W. D. MORRISON.
+ "    "   "  SCOTLAND. JAMES MACKINTOSH.
+
+Now in Press for immediate issue:
+
+THE STORY OF SWITZERLAND. R. STEAD and Mrs. _Arnold Hug_.
+ "    "   "  VEDIC INDIA. Z. A. RAGOZIN.
+ "    "   "  THE THIRTEEN COLONIES. HELEN A. SMITH.
+ "    "   "  MODERN FRANCE. EMILY CRAWFORD.
+ "    "   "  CANADA. A. R. MACFARLANE.
+
+
+G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS      T. FISHER UNWIN
+NEW YORK        LONDON
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Switzerland, by 
+Lina Hug and Richard Stead
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF SWITZERLAND ***
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