• . ''. 
 
 
 
 - 
 1 
 
 
 s . 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 fei 
 
 '£-. 
 
 raw! 
 
 is® 
 
 
 
 
 fSSJj 
 
 i 
 
 [*9g> \ 
 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 ; 
 
 r t f 
 
 
 
 
 f <£k? , 
 
 
 
 
 I'' 
 
 fltl 
 
 j: 
 
 i 
 
 rwjJioi 
 
 ■,. 
 
 \y$&l 
 
 
 
 1 : 
 
 1: 
 
 
 
 
 SS 
 
 - 
 
 ffc 
 
 ®1 
 
 w 
 
 A 
 
 
 -SUA. 
 
 * It 
 
 m 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031821683 
 
SWITZERLAND 
 
 AND THE /&£) 
 
 
 
 SWISS 
 
 BY 
 
 Sr"H^Mf"BYERS 
 
 U. S. CONSUL at ZURICH 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 CUPPLES UPHAM. & Co. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 D. NUTT, 270 Strand. 
 
 ZURICH 
 
 ORELL FUSSLI & Co. 
 
 %, 
 
^W^r^S^fi 
 
3STOTB. 
 
 The following pages have been written in the hopes of 
 accomodating, as far as may be, the very great number of 
 Americans and English who have wanted books giving gen- 
 eral information of Switzerland and its people. Of mere 
 Guide-Books, there are already many, but these necessarily 
 stop with simply telling how to get about in the country. 
 Of Histories, there are almost none, or as good as none, 
 available in English. 
 
 In view of this, the following papers have been prepared, 
 combining a condensed History of the country with general 
 information relative to the people and their institutions and 
 with descriptions of the finest scenes. 
 
 To make these papers as useful as possible to readers who 
 may carry the book along to Switzerland, it is prefaced with 
 a chapter of Hints and Suggestions as to the easiest and 
 most economical way of seeing Switzerland. For the con- 
 venience of travelers who may not care to read the historical 
 parts first, they are placed at the back of the book. 
 
 Switzerland. I 
 
ii Note. 
 
 No one should travel in Switzerland without providing 
 himself with the little Post, Railway, and Telegraph Guide 
 of the country. It costs less than a sixpence, is corrected 
 every six months, and is for sale by every Postmaster. Al- 
 though in German and French, its tables, tariffs etc., are 
 easily comprehended by the English reader. 
 
 Kussnacht, May-day 75. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 HOW TO SEE SWITZERLAND; 
 or, 
 Hints to the Traveler. (IX) 
 
 Table of Cantons — Giving population — creeds — area etc. (XXII) 
 
 Map of Cantons. (XXIII) 
 
 Map of Railways. (XXIV) 
 
 Map of Lakes and Rivers. (XXV) 
 
 Table of Mountains above 12,000 feet in night. (XXVI) 
 
 CHAPTER I. (i) 
 
 Lake Leman and the River Rhone. 
 The Lake. — The City of Geneva. — John Calvin. — History of Geneva. 
 
 — Joins the Swiss Confederation. — Encouragement of Genius and Learning. 
 
 — Character of the People. — Watch Industry. — School Holidays. — Course 
 of Study in Geneva Schools. — Importance of Geneva. — Its Environs. — 
 Surroundings of the Lake. — Lausanne. — Vevey. — Clarens. — Montreux. 
 
 — Castle Chillon. — The Rhone Valley. — ■ Its Scenery and People. — 
 Pass of the Great St. Bernard. — Napoleon's Passage of the same. — Hospice 
 of the St. Bernard. — Dogs. — Excursion from Geneva to Chamouny. — Mount 
 Blanc and the River Arve. — Source of the River Rhone. 
 
 CHAPTER H. (19) 
 Interlacken and the Gemmi Pass. 
 
 Charms of Interlacken. — The Jungfrau. — Lauterbrunnen. — Avalanches. 
 
 — Grindelwald. — Glaciers. — Valley of Frutigen. — No meat for seven 
 years. — Saanen and its Coffee Drinkers. — Ascent of the Gemmi Pass. — 
 Descent of the same. — Baths of Leuk. — Beautiful Ride into the Rhone 
 Valley. 
 
 CHAPTER m. (29) 
 The Lake of the Forest Cantons. 
 
 Enchanting Beauty of the Lake. — Early struggles for Liberty. — Rudolph 
 of Habsburg. — Albrecht, his Son. — New Years Day, 1308. — Meeting of 
 
iv Contents. 
 
 Deputies at Brunnen. — Einsiedeln. — Battle of Morgarten. — Founding of 
 the Swiss Confederacy. — Lucerne admitted. Town of Lucerne. — Thor- 
 waldsen's Lion. — Festivals. — Forest Cantons not progressive. — The 
 Reason. — Description of Lake Lucerne. — The Rigi. — Mountain Railway. 
 
 — Mount Pilatus. — Politeness of Railway and Steamer Of6cials. — Tell's 
 Chapel. — The Axen-Strasse. — Schiller's Rock in the Lake. — The Griitli. 
 
 — Brunnen. — Altorf. — Birthplace of Tell. — The St. Gotthard Railway 
 Tunnel. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. (42) 
 
 Zurich City. 
 
 A Beautiful old Town. — Its Age. — Different Rulers. — An Imperial 
 City. — Alliance with Schwyz and Uri. — Fights under the Austrian 
 Banner at Morgarten. — Joins Confederacy. — Present mingling of Old and 
 New. — The Modern fast superseding the Old. — Ancient Wedding Customs. 
 
 — Funerals. — Church-Going. — Dress. — Regulated by law. — New Zurich 
 Progressive. — Anti-Progressive Element. — The Canton's Importance in 
 Commerce, Education, and Literature. — How Silk is made. — Raw Silks. 
 
 — Reeling. — Dyeing. — Weaving. — Hand and Machine Weaving. - — Silk 
 Manufacture in the United States. — Amount of Silk Exported. — Cotton 
 and Iron Industries in Zurich. — Agriculture in the Canton. — Grape 
 Culture. — Vintage-time. : — Population. — Forestry. — The Uetliberg. — In . 
 a Fog. — By Moonlight. 
 
 CHAPTER V. (56) 
 
 Einsiedeln. 
 
 An Abbey in the Mountains, a Thousand Years old. — Count Meinrad's 
 Cell. — Two Robbers and Two Ravens. — Benedictine Monks. — Angels 
 consecrating the Temple. — Bull of Leo, the Eighth. — Great Fame of 
 the Abbey. — Nobles putting on the Cap and Cowl. — Pilgrimages. — 
 Destruction by Fire and War. — Hiding the Black Image in the Rocks. — 
 Abbey rebuilt. — Pilgrimages increase. — A Mecca of the Alps. — Pic- 
 turesque Groups of Pilgrims on Lake Zurich. — The Waters tasted by the 
 Lord. — Every House an Inn. — The Importance of the Benedictine Order. 
 
 — More than a Hundred of its Members, Emperors or Kings. — Its Wealth. 
 
 — Many valuable Books at Einsiedeln. — Wonderful Store of Early Bibles. 
 
 — Zwingli, the Reformer, a Village Priest at Einsiedeln. — The Catholic 
 Question in Switzerland. — Clouds Ahead. 
 
Contents. v 
 
 chapter vi. (66) 
 
 The Engadine. 
 Loftiest inhabited Valley of Europe. — The Rhatia of Former Times. — 
 The Grisons of To-day. — Early Struggles. — Incorporated with Switzerland 
 by Napoleon. — Extent of the Valley. — The River Inn. — The People 
 und their Government. — Their Condition and Occupations. — Architecture 
 of Homes. — The Interior of the Same. — Curious Stoves. — Castles. 
 
 — Ruins. — Traditions. — Story of Gardova. — The Language. - — Fruit, 
 Grains, etc. 
 
 CHAPTER VH. (75) 
 Alpine Villages. 
 The Villages of the Alps remain unchanged. — Wooden Towns, centuries of 
 age. — OldMen. — Hurrying through Switzerland. — Towns seen from the Rail- 
 way more modern. — Tourists should go farther back from the Line of Travel. 
 
 — Going on Foot. — A Specimen of a Real Swiss Village, not far from 
 Lake Zurich. — What it looks like. — Peasants weaving Silk. — No 
 Fences. — No Paint. — Summer's Work. — Winter's Idleness. — Health 
 in the Alps. — The Beautiful Wallen-See. — The Town of Goats. — Two 
 Villages with Close Lines drawn. — Dialects. — Land of the Appenzellers. 
 
 — How the Women work in Appenzell. — The Embroidery Business. — 
 Forty thousand Women making Fancy Embroideries. — Machine Embroidery. 
 
 — Twenty-five Million francs worth of Embroidery a. Year. — Hard Work, 
 Poor Pay, and Little to Eat. — What the Men do in Appenzell. — How 
 the Hand Embroidery is made. — Goat's milk , Coffee, and Potatoes, as a 
 regular Ration for Embroidery Girls. — The Tourist in Appenzell. • — 
 Nuisances in the shape of Porters , Guides, and Vagabonds. — Who's to 
 blame ? — What a Tourist may see of Alpine- Village Life, by wandering 
 through the Country on Foot. — How Alpine villagers live. 
 
 CHAPTER VHI. (87) 
 Glimpses of the Swiss People. 
 
 Diversities in Religion, Politics, Ways of Life. — Lack of Social Life. 
 
 — Veneration for the Customs and Habits of the Past. — The Beginning 
 of Life. — Baptism. — Godparents. — Domestic Life. — Funerals. — 
 Swiss Women the best of Housekeepers. — Very Domestic in Habit. — 
 Detective Mirrors. — The semi-annual Family Wash. — Population. — 
 Land Owners. — Patriotism. — Education first, War second. — Military 
 System. — Shop-Keepers. — Business - Houses usually in out-of-the-way 
 places. — Swiss Economy. — Swiss Benevolence. — Bankrupts not allowed 
 'o vote. — Exports and Imports. — The Poor. — Laborers. — Emigration. 
 
 — Needed Information. — A Glance at the Condition of the Middle and 
 
vi Contents. 
 
 Higher Classes. — Tax List of a~ flourishing Swiss Village. — Farming 
 poorly repaid. — Food of the Peasantry. — Lunching. — Climate of 
 Switzerland. — • Astonishing number of Deaf, Dumb, Insane, and Weak- 
 Minded. — What causes it? — Is it the Wine? — Is Switzerland a healthy 
 Country ? — The Press in Switzerland. — Swiss Dialects seldom in Print. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. (103) 
 Swiss Schools. 
 
 Mental Activity following the French Revolution. — Henry Pestalozzi. — 
 His Method of Teaching. — Object-Teaching introduced. — Pestalozzi famous. 
 — Education becomes the principal Business of the State. — Great Number 
 of Schools and their Excellence. — Fine School-Houses. — "Dedicated to the 
 Children of the Town." — Teachers and Pupils together in the Fields and 
 among the Mountains. — Schools free. — Attendance compulsory. — Military 
 Drill at School. — School Festivities. — Six o'clock Bells. — Children's 
 Carnival. — Everybody reads and writes. — Schools cost more than the 
 Army. — Swiss Universities. — The Polytechnicum at Zurich. — Seventy- 
 five Women in Zurich University. 
 
 CHAPTER X. (112) 
 
 Laws and Law Makers. 
 
 The Constitution of 1848. — Its Resemblance to the Constitution of 
 
 the 'United States. — Its Weakness. — The Swiss Diet. — Upper and Lower 
 
 House. — President has little Power. — Cabinet, Judges, Generals etc., 
 
 Elected by the Diet. — How Laws are proposed. — Expenses of Government. 
 
 — Government Telegraphs. — Economy of getting along without a King. — 
 What it costs to rule certain European States. — Debts of other States 
 compared with Switzerland. — Cost of European Armies. — Paupers in. 
 Switzerland, France, and England. — Books for Everybody. — Bad Blood 
 rising. — Swiss Communism. — A General Partnership. — The Cantons. 
 
 — Twenty-five Republics. — State Council in the Meadows of Uri. — 
 Zurich Democracy. — Laws made by the People. — Private Citizens may 
 argue motions in the Legislative Hall. — Officials responsible for their 
 Acts to private Parties. — Peculiar methods of Taxation. — Small Pay 
 and no Stealings for Zurich Officials. — Zurich Parliament. 
 
Contents. vii 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. (131) 
 Lake Dwellings. 
 
 CHAPTER XH. (142) 
 The Swiss of the Olden Time. 
 Lake Dwellers. — The Rhatians. — The Tigura. — ' The Kymbern. — 
 Roman Invasion and Defeat. — Conquests of the Kymbern and Tigura. — 
 March on Rome. — Change of Fortune. — Helvetians resolve tc^emigrate 
 en masse- — Orgetorix. — Beginning of March. — Battle with Csesar. — 
 Defeat and Return of Helvetians. — Country becomes a Roman Province. 
 Rome subdues Rhatia. — Successive Invasions and Occupation of Helvetia 
 by the Allemanen, Huns, Burgundians, and Franks. — Servitude of the 
 Helvetians. — Heathenism. — Early Christianity. — Condition of Helvetia 
 under the Franks. — Planting the Vine. — Improvement of" Condition of 
 the People. — Rudolph of Habsburg, a Helvetian Captain, made Emperor 
 of Germany. — Helvetia accorded two Electoral Princes. — Death of 
 Rudolph. — Albert, Emperor. — Tyranny in the Land. — Gessler. — 
 Gertrude. — The three Founders of Swiss Liberty. — The Griitli. — 
 William Tell. — Underwalden, Schwyz, and Uri, become free. — Murder 
 ■ of Emperor Albert. — • Revenge of Agnes, his daughter. — Straggle for 
 the Empire. — Invasion of Switzerland by Duke Leopold. — Battle of 
 Morgarten. — Foundation of the Republic in 13 15. — Truce with Austria. 
 
 — Zurich. — Burgomaster Brun. — Banished Council attempt taking 
 Zurich. — Eight Cantons in the Confederacy. — Berne. — Battle of Laupen. 
 
 — Von Erlach. — Plague rages in Switzerland. — War with Leopold. — 
 Battle of Sempach. — Arnold Winkelried. — Battle of Naefels. — Con- 
 federacy enlarged. — Government of the People. — Council at Constance. 
 
 — Burning of Huss and Jerome of Prague. Argovie annexed. — Council 
 in Basle. — Zurich and Canton Schwyz at War. — Burgomaster Stiissi. — 
 Battle of St. Jacob, near Basle, between the Swiss and the Armagnacs. 
 
 — The Burgundian War. — Battle of Grandson. — Murten. — Nancy. — 
 Suabian War. — The Swiss as Mercenary Troops. — Condition of the 
 People preceding the Reformation. 
 
 CHAPTER XIH. (179) 
 Switzerland in the Reformation. 
 Martin Luther. — Zwingli. — Leo Tenth beautifies Rome. — Out of Cash. 
 
 — Concludes to collect Peter's-pence in Switzerland. — Zwingli condemns 
 
viii Contents. 
 
 the Practices of the Church. — The Pope's Agent refused admittance to 
 Ziirich. — General Strife in the Country. — Extreme Views and Acts of 
 both Protestants and Catholics. — Armies Mustered. — Battle of Cappel 
 near Lake Zurich. — Catholics win. — Zwingli killed. — The Refor- 
 mation checked. — Anabaptists. — Fanatics going about naked. — Geneva 
 joins the Reform. — Declared a Republic. — John Calvin, the Cooper's 
 Son. — Banished from Geneva. — Terrible Severity of Calvin's Rule in 
 Geneva. — Tremendous Work of Calvin. — Geneva the Protestant Rome. 
 
 — Calvin's Death. — Good Results of the Reformation in Switzerland. — 
 Geneva surprised by the Duke of Savoy. — General Prostration and Trouble 
 in Switzerland. — Rebellions. — The Rhatian Republics. — Half destroyed 
 by Civil Discord. — Nineteen Years Strife and War in the Valleys of the 
 upper Rhine. — Swiss enlisting in Foreign Armies. — Fifty Years Peace 
 and Prosperity preceding the French Revolution. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. (192) 
 Switzerland in the French Revolution. 
 Louis the Sixteenth. — Revolution. — Disorders in Switzerland. — 
 Tuilleries of Paris stormed. — Swiss Guards of the King killed by the 
 Mob. — Their Valor and Fidelity. — Weak Administration of the Swiss 
 Government. — Murder of the Guards unavenged. — Napoleon's Cis-Alpine 
 Republic. — Berne and Basle in a state of Chaos. — Few privileges of 
 the Poor. — General Revolt. — French Agents intriguing in Switzerland. 
 
 — French Troops enter Switzerland. — Command and Countermand. — 
 Peasants fight the French. — Government halting and fearing. — The 
 French give Laws to Switzerland. — The Cantons overpowered. — Make 
 way for Liberty. — Alois Reding. — Swiss Directory. — French Massacre 
 of the Swiss at Stanz. — Swiss Government thanks them for the same. 
 
 — French Statesmen chanting the Marseillaise. — Half Europe fighting 
 among the Alps. — Awful Condition of the Country. — Napoleon's 
 Address to the Swiss, and Mediation. — Prosperity of the Country under 
 Napoleon. — Swiss Soldiers perish in the Retreat from Moscow. — Fall 
 of Napoleon. — Switzerland declared an independent" State by the Vienna 
 Congress. — Democrats up and Aristocrats down. — The Sonderbund 
 Rebellion of 184S. — Promptly put down. — Dufour. — Neutral States pay 
 the Bills. — Peace. — A glimpse at the Constitution of 1874. 
 
HOW TO SEE SWITZERLAND 
 
How to see Switzerland 
 or Hints to the Traveler. , 
 
 no end to the 
 different ways adopted by 
 different people for seeing 
 Switzerland ; but some of 
 these ways are much better and more economical in time and 
 money than others, and should, for this reason, be considered 
 and studied before starting. Six months were a nice time 
 to tarry among the Alps, and three months can leave memories 
 that will refresh the heart in many a future day. Neither 
 six months nor three months are needed by the traveler 
 who only comes to see the brightest spots, the fairest lakes, 
 — to tarry here a week, and there a day. 
 
X HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. 
 
 The Builder of the Alps did not intend that men of 
 wealth and leisure only should enjoy His fairest handiwork. 
 The mountains and villages and lakes are many and close 
 together, and he who cannot see all in the heated term, 
 can at least see much that will make him better for having 
 seen — for these grand rocks, storm capped peaks, and 
 rainbowed cataracts are a sort of educators to a higher life. 
 
 While one can see, and comfortably enjoy, the principal 
 beauties of Switzerland in a much shorter time than from 
 three to six months, and while it is not necessary, nor even 
 always profitable, to see everything mentioned in the guide- 
 books, there is little pleasure and no profit in hurrying 
 through. Except in going long distances, the railroads should 
 be avoided. 
 
 Rushing by villages and farms, diving through dark 
 tunnels, and flying away from what ought to be taken 
 along, is no way of seeing Switzerland. One can "do" the 
 country, in this way, and do it very quickly, but the gains 
 in the way of information, health, and pleasure, correspond 
 only with the little time spent in doing. There are no 
 braced nerves and muscles carried home — no browned 
 faces and rosy cheeks — few vivid, life-long remembrances 
 to be called up of our summer-days in Switzerland. To 
 the person of ordinary means , short vacations , and little 
 leisure, an avoidance of some hurry is almost out of the 
 question; yet he must cultivate a plan of making haste 
 slowly, when he travels for pleasure, or his money is spent 
 in vain. It is better to see one little edge, one bright valley, 
 one fair lake, and one mountain, of this delightful country, 
 and see it well and comfortably, than to rush through every 
 nook and corner of the entire land. It is not necessary to 
 come with reams of paper, pocket diaries, and pencils, for 
 recording events of one's summer-days here. It is no place 
 for business, or philosophy, or self-Worshipping. One's cares, 
 with one's revenges and one's sins, should be left behind with 
 one's Saratoga trunks. This is a place of contemplation and of 
 worship ; for he who contemplates God's works aright must 
 worship Him as well. 
 
HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. XI 
 
 Switzerland is no longer a cheap country to travel in or 
 to live in. On the contrary, it is a dear one, — very dear ; 
 and yet, possibly, not dearer than other continental states ; 
 for none of them suffer from any extraordinary facilities for 
 cheap living. The days when Oliver Goldsmith wandered 
 through the Alps and played upon his flute, as a recompense 
 for a night's lodging, are gone; — long since gone. Nor 
 could a Bayard Taylor now earn bread and milk at peasants' 
 homes, by telling strange stories of a strange, new land, 
 far over the seas. If the prices for living are high in 
 Switzerland , the accommodations are as good. There are 
 no better and, possibly, no bigger hotels, anywhere. Taking 
 them, from the Salle-a-Manger to the floor below, to the 
 first saloons above, and back again, even to the very bills 
 in the steward's hands, they are large, very large, and impress 
 one with feelings of astonishment, if not dismay. 
 
 Old tourists, say experienced travelers, will know the 
 charges to be made, before a meal is eaten, a trunk un- 
 strapped, or a door-key turned ; else blunders in the reckoning 
 will occur and, strangely enough, the addition always fails 
 as against the traveler. Seldom does an inexperienced 
 tourist leave a Swiss hotel without exclaiming "The bill is 
 larger than I expected" ; this to be followed by a dispute with 
 the chief clerk, a soured temper, and a day's pleasure lost forever. 
 Hence, even in pleasure-seeking, there is a business, propriety 
 that should lead one to know the price of a thing before he buys 
 it; and the best way to know the price of a week's board, is to ask 
 the landlord to make a memorandum of each and every charge 
 to be made, and then remember that wines and fires and baths 
 and candles and, sometimes, bows, are things that are charged 
 for extra. Bills for hotels, carriages, guides, porters, and the 
 like, are always smaller, if determined upon in advance, and 
 those who think the outlay too insignificant to mention 
 beforehand, should not complain afterwards, if imposed upon. 
 •In the larger towns, drivers of public carriages, cabs etc., 
 are , by • law , required to carry printed tariffs ; but these 
 tariffs are frequently stowed away from sight, that the driver 
 may double his charge and become, instead of a common 
 
XII HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. 
 
 carrier, a common robber. Nowhere is there a more dis- 
 graceful and unprincipled grabbing at the purse of the 
 traveler than here, among the guides, porters, and drivers 
 of many public conveyances ; and the only way to avoid 
 the imposition, is to demand the tariff in advance. Should 
 imposition still follow, the grievance may as well be pocketed; 
 as appeals to the police are heard one day, considered 
 another, and decided only, if at all, long after the traveler 
 has disappeared. Gratuities, though always expected, are 
 nearly as often wasted, when bestowed upon many of these 
 fleecers self-trained to a species of petty robbing. 
 
 These men won't or don't steal, however. The pettiest, 
 or the most valuable article, if left in the conveyance, is 
 readily restored. It is a principle among them, to stick to 
 one line of obtaining -what don't belong to them; and a lie 
 is easier covered up than an umbrella or a leather trunk. 
 
 The best money to carry in Switzerland is French Na- 
 poleons or English bank-notes. Even English notes, however, 
 are sometimes shaved, and a petty commission is universally 
 docked from letters of credit, whether from England or 
 America. In the shops, a shilling is usually counted a 
 franc and a quarter, and a gold dollar is reckoned at five 
 francs ten. Postage on letters to England is thirty centimes, 
 and to America, a half franc. Inside the limits of Switzer- 
 land, telegraphing is almost as cheap as letter writing, as 
 a half franc pays for a message of twenty words. Telegraphing 
 to hotels for rooms does not engage them; and as it is 
 usually positively necessary, in the season, to secure rooms 
 in advance, an answer from the manager should be asked 
 and paid for, and presented, on reaching the hotel; other- 
 wise, the traveler may count without his host. 
 
 Only small parcels can be carried free on the railroads, 
 which, by the way, run no night trains. Baggage must be 
 paid for as freight, and receipts for the payment, as well as 
 for the trunks, should always be demanded. Trunks can 
 be sent in advance of traveling parties, either by slow freight 
 or express ; but the former is liable to a degree of slowness 
 
HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. XIII 
 
 that may cause a trunk, not made of iron, to perish, weeks 
 before reaching the intended destination. 
 
 Money-orders can be obtained , to the amount of five 
 hundred francs, for any point in the country; and this is, 
 perhaps, the cheapest and easiest method of transferring 
 small amounts, as twenty centimes buys an order for a 
 hundred francs. % 
 
 Distances are usually reckoned by Stunden, or hours, and 
 the method is a convenient one in a mountainous country, 
 for the reason, that a mile up a. mountain side is a very 
 different matter from a mile down a mountain or along 
 a level, turnpiked road. The time required to walk five miles 
 from Andermatt south , would be sufficient for ten miles 
 from Andermatt north ; hence, hours, and not miles, could 
 indicate the time required to accomplish the two distances. 
 
 The first best way of seeing Switzerland is afoot, with 
 knapsack and staff. Those who cannot make the longer 
 distances so, should at least walk in all the shorter excursions; 
 thus gaining better views of the magnificent scenery, as well 
 as enjoying the most delightful and health-giving excercise. 
 Ladies should not be *an exception to this rule of walking 
 through the country as much as possible. Even when 
 traveling in carriages and diligences, tourists will pass hund- 
 reds of points, where romantic paths affording the delight- 
 fulest of views will prove much shorter than the road to 
 be pursued by the vehicle. These cut-offs permit a straigh- 
 tening of the legs, give relief to the horses, and an additional 
 pleasure to the seekers of enjoyment. The roads are many, 
 in every part of the country; are magnificently made and 
 well kept, — so solid, dry, and clean, are they, one might 
 almost tramp the country over in slippers. The post 
 diligences run on most of the public roads, and are a com- 
 fortable means of conveyance. The tariffs are reasonable, 
 always observed , and the conductors accommodating men, 
 able to give much information of the country, as, with the 
 walkers, they tramp through the cut-offs. A cigar, a 
 "constitunional", or a franc, is seldom tendered without its 
 return in little attentions that every traveler can appreciate. 
 
XIV HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. 
 
 The second best way of traveling through Switzerland, 
 though not always the cheapest, is by private carriages, 
 which can be had to better advantage, if taken by the day 
 or week, the driver paying his own expenses. A written 
 memorandum should be made of such engagements, — a 
 driver who is acquainted with the country should be selected, 
 and none but good , ' strong horses accepted. A party of 
 from four to five persons can travel up and down the 
 country with a two horse carriage, at perfect leisure, and 
 at no great advance, if any, on the price paid for the same 
 number in the diligence ; while the comfort and pleasure are 
 immeasurably greater. Night coaching is avoided, delays 
 for the enjoyment of special scenery made possible, and the 
 traveler is his own master. 
 
 Switzerland should, of course , be visited in the summer 
 time, and there is little choice of days between June and 
 October. Mountain climbing, however, should be done in 
 August, when the days are long and hot, and when snow- 
 storms are not to be expected. None but strong, hardy 
 persons should, as a rule, think of making difficult ascents. 
 Continued tramping, and repeated clambering up and down 
 hills and mountain-sides, strengthen the muscle and improve 
 the appetite, of course; but the little good accomplished 
 by climbing a mountain occasionally only, is ill compensated 
 by bruised feet, strained limbs, and a generally exhausted 
 frame. To those who can spend a summer in Switzerland 
 becoming accustomed to the thing, climbing high mountains 
 may prove an exhilarating excercise. To the tourist of a 
 few weeks, it is a positive injury. To those who will not 
 rest content, until their feet have trod a mountain's top, the 
 Rigi, with its rail, offers the best of opportunity, and, although 
 it is by no means a high mountain, the view from its summit 
 is hardly surpassed in the Alpine world. 
 
 It has often occurred to the writer that health and pleasure- 
 seeking pedestrians might tent out in Switzerland to advantage, 
 as sportsmen do in some other countries. The expense, 
 when compared with the pleasure, would be trifling. A 
 single, one-horse vehicle would convey the tent and complete 
 
HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. XV 
 
 baggage of half a dozen foot excursionists. Meals could 
 be taken at wayside inns, and the pleasantest places could 
 always be selected for pitching tents. Everything that a 
 party could possibly want, in the way of traveling con- 
 veniences, could always be at hand in the carriage, and a 
 lame foot or a tired limb could be rested without a general 
 halt. The sum paid for the driver and carriage would not 
 equal the expense saved by free lodgings, while the pleasures 
 of a mountain tramp would be wonderfully enhanced by the 
 conveniences at hand, and the opportunity of resting occasio- 
 nally, during the day, without stopping the whole party. 
 To travel in this way, circular tours should be adopted, 
 to avoid the expense of an empty carriage in a return trip. 
 Before going to the country, tourists should be decided 
 as to the amount of time to be spent there, and select the 
 route offering the best advantages. Most American and 
 English tourists enter Switzerland at one of three points, — ■ 
 Geneva, Basle, or Lindau. If traveling from the west, and 
 it is intended to visit Italy or Germany as a continuation 
 of the tour, Basle may be considered as the best starting 
 point. Coming from the East, Lindau or Constance is the 
 usual point where the frontier is crossed. Passes are not 
 demanded, coming in or going out; yet no traveler should 
 be without such a paper in any continental country. The 
 Swiss levy no duties, export or import, on the articles 
 usually carried out and in by travelers ; but it must not be 
 forgotten that the authorities in France, Italy, and Germany, 
 charge duty on most wares crossing the lines from Switzer- 
 land. As an aid to those who do not invest in professional 
 guide-books, the following general routes, starting from the 
 usual points of crossing the Swiss frontier, are suggested. 
 On another page, will be mentioned some of the most 
 interesting side excursions that can be selected by the 
 tourist, should his leisure allow. Time-tables, tariffs, distances 
 etc. , will not be referred to , as such references would be 
 about as useful, and not more infallible, than last year's almanac ; 
 they, like most things concerning travelers on the continent, 
 being subject to the most astonishing mutations within the 
 
XVI HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. 
 
 cycle of a single year. They can be had, however, with 
 all their changes noted semi-anually, in the little sixpenny 
 book of tables referred to in the prefatory note. 
 
 One of the best and completest routes before the tourist 
 entering Switzerland at Basle, is by rail to the Falls of the 
 Rhine and to Zurich. Rail to Lucerne, — or, still better, 
 steamer to Horgen, carriage to Lucerne. Steamer to Alpnach, 
 carriage over the Briinig to Brienz, steamer to Interlaken. 
 Rail to Berne, Lausanne, and Geneva. Steamer up lake 
 Geneva to Vevey and Chillon, rail up the Rhone valley to 
 Martigny. Here, a side excursion, with mules, to Chamouny 
 and back, rail to Bri egg and thence by carriage over the 
 Simplon pass to Italy. Or the journey can with great 
 profit be continued by rail to Viesch, and thence over the 
 Furka pass, by carriage, to Andermatt, Dissentis, and Chur. 
 Chur to Thusis, where the Via Mala can be visited in a 
 couple of hours, and thence, through the Schynn and Julier 
 passes , to St. Moritz , in the Engadine. Return to Thusis 
 and over the Via Mala to Italy ; or proceed from St. Moritz 
 through the lower Engadine , along the river Inn , through 
 the grand Finstermiinz pass in Tyrol, and on to Innsbruck, 
 where the rail may be taken over the Brenner pass to 
 Italy, or to any point in Germany. This route, pursued all 
 the way to Innsbruck, would afford enjoyment of the 
 most varied and magnificent scenery of the world. It 
 passes along fertile valleys, by fine towns, many rivers, 
 lakes, water-falls, snow-fields, glaciers, avalanches, high 
 passes, and the loftiest mountains of the Alpine regions. 
 By leaving Switzerland at the Simplon pass, the distance is 
 reduced more than a half, and by leaving by the Via Mala 
 and the Splugen, it is reduced a third. The absolute time 
 required to make the whole tour to Innsbruck, would vary, 
 of course, with the number of rests and side excursions 
 along the way. Of the latter, there are many, especially 
 at Lucerne , Interlaken, and Geneva , that should not be 
 omitted. Counting fifteen days for resting and seeing what 
 ought to be seen along the route, and fifteen more for 
 travel, the month is gone; but in that month, one has 
 
HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. XVII 
 
 seen the most glorious sections of Switzerland and the Tyrol. 
 Of course it will have been a month of work, in its way, 
 for no time has been allowed for unusual lounging, or 
 extravagant morning naps. With all the moving about, 
 however, one should reach the end of his journey invigorated, 
 and bettered towards man and God, for having lived a 
 month among the grandeur that praises Him continually. 
 
 Those who enter Swiss lines at Geneva, after having 
 made the separate excursion direct to Mt. Blanc and up 
 the lake, cannot do better than to follow the route just 
 given, backwards, all the way to the Rhine falls or to 
 Basle , take steamer on lake Zurich to Rappersweil , then 
 rail direct to Chur, carriage to Thusis and over the Via 
 Mala to Italy ; or continue the route to the Engadine and 
 down the river Inn to Innsbruck, whence the rail will take 
 them over to Italy, north to Austria or Germany, or back, 
 via Munich, to Zurich and Paris-wards. 
 
 Tourists, arriving at Constance Lake from Germany, and 
 wishing to include the Engadine in their Swiss tour, should 
 take rail from Lindau direct to Chur, carriage to Thusis 
 and the Via Mala, and then proceed to the upper Engadine 
 by the passes mentioned in the first route; return to Chur 
 and go to Ragatz and Zurich by rail, make a side excursion 
 to the falls of the Rhine, and then adopt the route first 
 mentioned, going from Zurich to Horgen or Lucerne, direct 
 thence to Brienz, Interlaken, Thun, Berne, Lausanne, and 
 Geneva; and, after having made the [side excursions to 
 Chamouny and along Geneva lake, go north, by rail, to 
 Neuchatel or Basle, and again westward toward Paris and 
 home. If it is desired to include the Tyrol in this route, 
 the tourist should go to Innsbruck from Munich, follow up 
 the Inn to the Engadine, cross over to Chur, and proceed 
 then as before stated. 
 
 Coming over the Spliigen pass from Italy to Switzerland, 
 tourists cannot do better than to visit the Engadine from 
 Thusis , return to Chur and follow the previous route to 
 Zurich,- Lucerne , Interlaken, Berne, Geneva, and north, to 
 Neuchatel and Basle. The most interesting places to be 
 
XVIII HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. 
 
 visited in the plans suggested, as Zurich, Lucerne, Interlacken, 
 Geneva, and the Engadine, are described at length in some 
 of the following papers. 
 
 The routes given above are thought to be the most direct 
 to the points mentioned and, where there are no railroads 
 or steamers, the very best of post roads, with regular lines 
 of diligences, are found. They pass all the most interesting 
 places in the country, and afford a complete Variety of 
 scenery, climate, people, and language, as the routes reach 
 the most opposite, points in Switzerland. For persons having 
 an abundance of leisure, it is advisable to take but part of 
 one of the suggested routes at a time; but as stop-over 
 tickets are not to be had on the railways, resting points 
 should be selected and tickets bought for that distance only. 
 There is no increased expense caused by breaking the 
 journey thus, on the railways or by the post carriages, as 
 tickets are sold for a certain price per mile, and no reduction 
 is made on long distances. 
 
 There are three classes of railway carriages. The first is 
 very luxurious and not often used. The third is the reverse 
 of this, while the second compares favorably with the first 
 class cars of America and England. It is the class most 
 used by tourists. The fare is two and three fourths cents per 
 English mile. Each car has a compartment where smoking is 
 not allowed. Steamers on the lakes have but two classes of 
 tickets. No smoking is allowed in the first cabins. Diligences 
 have but two compartments proper; — the body of the 
 coach , with six seats , smoking allowed , and the private 
 coupe forward, with two seats. The latter must usually be 
 engaged a day or more in advance. The conductor rides in 
 the little covered Imperial, above and behind the body of 
 the coach. He will, for a few francs, divide his perch or 
 abandon it altogether and ride with the driver. The view 
 from the Imperial is excellent, but the seat is often a bit 
 small for two travelers. 
 
 The tourist in a mountainous country loses his direction, or 
 compass points, most easily. The best method to prevent 
 this is, not only to study a general map of the country 
 
HINTS TO ■ THE TRAVELER. XIX 
 
 before entering it, but to make with pencil a small outline 
 map of one's own; putting down only the larger towns, 
 the principal rivers, and the lines of railway. This little 
 map-making impresses on one's mind the general geography 
 of the country, and is an aid in giving one a just idea of 
 the directions and distances. The mountains should, if 
 possible , be studied first by means of a relief map ; such 
 a one, for instance, as is on exhibition at the Wasser-Kirche 
 in Zurich, where the whole mountain range, with each 
 particular peak, and horn, and lake, and stream, can be seen 
 as if looked upon from an elevation above the entire scene. 
 The short side excursions that may be made, when following 
 the routes suggested, are often more interesting than the 
 principal tour itself. For this reason, a number of the 
 most profitable places to be so visited, will be mentioned. 
 These excursions should, whenever possible, and especially 
 by persons spending the summer in Switzerland, be made 
 on foot. 
 
 At Basle, the traveler who has leisure, can spend a few 
 days to the greatest advantage in a foot excursion to the 
 MiinSterthal and the Jura mountains. The mountains and 
 valleys, though not a part of the Alps proper, have a beauty 
 and a grandeur peculiar to themselves, and an additional 
 charm is added to an excursion among them by the very 
 fact of their being seldom visited. 
 
 Zurich has a few delightful excursions that can be made 
 in a single day. There are pretty places, though not of 
 historic interest, on both sides of the lake. The lake itself 
 is a gem. A rare day's pleasure is to take steamer to 
 Rappersweil and rail to the Wallensee and Obstalden, 
 where the most delightful Alpine scenery can be enjoyed. 
 The Obstalden omnibus should be telegraphed to, to meet 
 the train at Miihlehorn station. 
 
 The wonderful gorge of Ragatz can also be visited from 
 Zurich, but as the distance is about sixty miles by rail , two 
 or three days should be devoted to the tour. This gorge 
 is one of the most astonishing of Nature's freaks among the 
 Alps. It is a tremendous cleft in the earth , through which a 
 
XX HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. 
 
 rapid stream of water dashes away to the Rhine. The gorge 
 is more than a thousand feet in length and about 250 feet 
 in height. At the bottom, where the river rushes along, it 
 is almost wide enough for a steamer ; while the top is arched 
 over with a mountain of earth , except at a single spot, 
 where a crevice is seen, only wide enough to admit the 
 light of day. Inside of the gorge, on the face of the rock 
 and above the stream, galleries have been built along, through 
 which strangers may walk and examine this astounding 
 chasm with perfect security. It is however more convenient and 
 economical of time, to visit this gorge on the way to Zurich 
 from Chur and the Engadine. 
 
 An enjoyable day can be had, too, by taking steamer to 
 Horgen and walking up the hills to Bocken, the former 
 home of the old Zurich Burgomasters. The view of the 
 lake, the clustering villages, and the snow mountains, is 
 exquisite. At the "Waid", an inn an hour's drive from town, 
 ,the view of Zurich is unsurpassed. The Uetliberg, a mountain 
 near the city, which can be ascended by rail, unfolds views 
 in fair weather not greatly inferior to those enjoyed from 
 the Rigi. The falls of the Rhine are but two hours and a 
 half away from the city by rail, and few will care to leave 
 Zurich without seeing them. This is the largest and, in 
 many respects, the handsomest waterfall in Europe. Though 
 not as overpowering and grand as Niagara, and possibly 
 not possessed of a tenth of the volume of water, it is 
 nevertheless almost as enjoyable. Besides being exquisite 
 as a thing of beauty , it is a part — the gem , in fact — 
 of the storied Rhine. 
 
 At Lucerne, the beautiful and historic spots to be visited, 
 are mostly on, or near, the lake. No one, of course, will 
 leave without ascending the Rigi by rail, and driving, or 
 walking, through the celebrated Axenstrasse, cut in the rocks 
 above the water. Altorf, Brunnen, Kiisnacht, Tell's chapel, 
 and the Riitli, are all classic spots in the history of the 
 Swiss. The whole lake border, in fact, is classic ground, 
 and should be leisurely visited, and its glorious scenery 
 contemplated, for days. 
 
HINTS TO THE TRAVELER. XXI 
 
 Interlaken lies in the very midst of the grandest of 
 Alpine scenery, and it is, perhaps, the most delightful resting 
 place in the Alps. Lauterbrunnen and the beautiful Staubbach 
 falls, Grindelwald with its glaciers, and the Wengern Alp 
 facing the Jungfrau, are all within easy drives or walks. 
 There is not a point in all Switzerland more easily reached, 
 and where one can enjoy finer, or more varied, Alpine scenery. 
 In a single afternoon, the tourist can step out of his luxurious 
 hotel and be among the glaciers , the avalanches , and the 
 cataracts. The excursions about Interlaken, as well as 
 Thun, but a short distance away on the lake, are really 
 unsurpassed, and the longer the time spent in this delightful 
 region, the better. 
 
 Berne has few excursions that will repay the tourist who 
 has left the delightful haunts of Interlaken and of Thun. 
 
 Geneva, however, is rich in pleasant walks, and sails, and 
 drives. Tourists not wishing to go all the way up the 
 Rhone valley and over to the Engadine, cannot do better 
 than go to Chamouny and Mount Blanc direct, by the post 
 road following the river Arve, and then cross over the Tete- 
 Noir to the Rhone valley, thence by rail to Lake Leman, 
 Chillon castle, Vevey, Lausanne, and Geneva. Fernex, the 
 village of Voltaire, is not far away, and the grand Saleve, 
 the Rigi of the Genevese, repays the trouble of the drive 
 and climb. . 
 
 There are , of course , hundreds of other delightful spots 
 and profitable excursions in all the Swiss valleys, and over 
 many a mountain side; for, enter Switzerland where and 
 when we will, it is always beautiful and always grand. 
 
XXII 
 
 CANTONS. 
 
 CANTONS. 
 
 Names 
 
 B 
 
 3 
 O. 
 O 
 
 a 
 a 
 
 ta 
 
 » 
 
 o 
 
 OD 
 
 ta 
 
 O 
 0> 
 02 
 
 U 
 
 o 
 
 Date 
 
 of joining 
 
 Confederacy 
 
 « 22, 
 
 M 
 
 02 
 
 Argovie 
 
 198,873 
 
 107,703 
 
 89,180 
 
 1990 
 
 1803 
 
 529 
 
 Appenzell 
 
 60,635 
 
 46,363 
 
 14,078 
 
 194 
 
 1573 
 
 163 
 
 Berne 
 
 506,465 
 
 436,304 
 
 66,015 
 
 4146 
 
 1353 
 
 2602 
 
 Basle 
 
 101,887 
 
 77,980 
 
 22,546 
 
 1361 
 
 1501 
 
 184 
 
 Fribourg 
 
 110,832 
 
 16,819 
 
 93,951 
 
 62 
 
 1481 
 
 627 
 
 Geneve 
 
 93,239 
 
 43,639 
 
 47,868 
 
 1732 
 
 1814 
 
 108 
 
 Grison 
 
 91,782 
 
 51,887 
 
 39,843 
 
 52 
 
 1803 
 
 2666 
 
 Glaris 
 
 35,150 
 
 28,238 
 
 6,888 
 
 24 
 
 1352 
 
 275 
 
 Lucerne 
 
 132,238 
 
 3,823 
 
 128,338 
 
 177 
 
 1332 
 
 472 
 
 Neuchatel 
 
 97,284 
 
 84,334 
 
 11,345 
 
 1605 
 
 1814 
 
 298 
 
 Soleure 
 
 74,713 
 
 12,448 
 
 62,072 
 
 193 
 
 1481 
 
 296 
 
 Schaffhouse ... 
 
 37,721 
 
 34,466 
 
 3,051 
 
 204 
 
 1501 
 
 113 
 
 St. Gall 
 
 191,015 
 
 74,573 
 
 116,060 
 
 382 
 
 1803 
 
 743 
 
 Schwyz 
 
 47,705 
 
 647 
 
 ' 47,047 
 
 11 
 
 1307 
 
 386 
 
 Thurgovie 
 
 93,300 
 
 69,231 
 
 23,454 
 
 615 
 
 1803 
 
 38ft 
 
 Tessin 
 
 119,619 
 
 194 
 
 119,349 
 
 76 
 
 1803 
 
 1228 
 
 Uri 
 
 16,107 
 
 80 
 
 16,018 
 
 9 
 
 1307 
 
 417 
 
 Unterwalden . . . 
 
 26,116 
 
 424 
 
 25,687 
 
 5 
 
 1307 
 
 280 
 
 Vaud 
 
 231,700 
 
 211,686 
 
 17,592 
 
 2422 
 
 1803 
 
 1284 
 
 Valais 
 
 96,887 
 
 900 
 
 95,963 
 
 24 
 
 1814 
 
 1699 
 
 Zc-ug 
 
 20,993 
 
 878 
 
 20,082 
 
 32 
 
 1352 
 
 89 
 
 Zurich 
 
 284,786 
 
 263,730 
 
 17,942 
 
 3114 
 
 1351 
 
 659 
 
OUTLINE MAP OF SWISS CANTONS. 
 
 XXIII 
 
XXIV 
 
 MAP OF SWISS RAILWAYS. 
 
 MAP OF SWISS RAILWAYS. 
 
SWISS LAKES AND RIVERS. 
 
 XXV 
 
 SWISS LAKES AND RIVERS 
 
 with size and depth of the lakes. 
 
 Switzerland 
 
XXVI 
 
 TABLE OF SWISS MOUNTAINS. 
 
 TABLE OF SWISS MOUNTAINS 
 above 12,000 feet in hight. 
 
 Savoy 
 
 Mont Blanc 
 
 15,780 
 
 Engl. 
 
 feet 
 
 high. 
 
 
 Finsteraarhorn 
 
 14,026 
 
 11 
 
 » 
 
 V 
 
 
 Jungfrau 
 
 13,665 
 
 71 
 
 n 
 
 71 
 
 
 Silberhorn 
 
 12,156 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 1) 
 
 
 Aletschhorn 
 
 13,773 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 
 Moncli 
 
 13,465 
 
 „ 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 
 Schxeckhorn 
 
 13,386 
 
 V 
 
 n 
 
 •n 
 
 
 Lauteraavhora 
 
 13,477 
 
 „ 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 
 Grosses Viescherhorn 
 
 13,281 
 
 11 
 
 n 
 
 n 
 
 Bernese 
 
 Walliser Griinhorn 
 
 13,308 
 
 11 
 
 ■ V 
 
 " i 
 
 Alps 
 
 Eiger 
 
 Ebne Fluh 
 
 13,046 
 13,005 
 
 11 
 
 !1 
 11 
 
 Ti 
 
 n 
 
 
 Bietschhorn../ 
 
 12,969 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 
 Mittagshorn 
 
 12,753 
 
 „ 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 
 Nexthorn 
 
 12^533 
 
 1) 
 
 11 
 
 71 
 
 
 Breithorn 
 
 12,382 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 n 
 
 
 Grosshorn 
 
 12,346 
 
 11 
 
 T1 
 
 71 
 
 
 Wetlerhorn 
 
 12,149 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 77 
 
 
 Rosenhom 
 
 12,110 
 
 n 
 
 11 
 
 n 
 
 
 Bliimlisalphorn 
 
 12,041 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 71 
 
 
 Furka, summit of pass 
 
 7,990 
 
 n 
 
 11 
 
 n 
 
 Valais 
 Alps 
 
 Wan-nehorn 
 
 12,812 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 n 
 
 Viescherhoraer 
 
 12,195 
 
 n 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 Mischabehorner 
 
 14,941 
 
 71 
 
 
 ii 
 
 
 Weisshorn 
 
 14,803 
 
 V 
 
 11 
 
 » j 
 
 
 Piz Bernina 
 
 13,294 
 
 n 
 
 V) 
 
 71 
 
 
 Piz Zupo 
 
 13,120 
 
 77 
 
 11 
 
 17 
 
 
 Piz Roseg 
 
 12,937 
 
 77 
 
 „ 
 
 11 
 
 Rhatian 
 
 Piz Pain 
 
 12,835 
 
 n 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 
 Alps 
 
 Cresta Guzza 
 
 12,704 
 
 71 
 
 V 
 
 71 
 
 
 Piz Morteratsch 
 
 12,316 
 
 V 
 
 n 
 
 71 
 
 
 Monte della Disgrazzia 
 
 12,074 
 
 71 
 
 77 
 
 » 
 
 
 Piz Tschieiva 
 
 12,041 
 
 H 
 
 ii 
 
 " 
 
DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Lake Leman and the river Rhone. 
 
 EEPEST and largest of all Swiss 
 lakes is Leman, unless indeed, 
 some of the unfathomed bays 
 of Lake Lucerne are deeper 
 still. The water is blue and 
 beautiful , while the climate 
 about Geneva's shores is far 
 milder than in any other district of the Alps. On the lake's 
 northern banks, are bright villages, handsome country seats, 
 and scores of terraced vineyards. The Jura hills upon the north 
 and the Savoy mountains on the south compose a panorama 
 of picturesqueness seldom surpassed. Mount Blanc, though 
 forty miles away, adds his majestic splendor to the scene. 
 The easy-going, wineloving population on the north, or 
 Swiss side, exceeds in numbers even that on the busy shores 
 of the lake of Zurich. Geneva, of course, is the chief 
 attraction of Geneva lake. It stands on both sides of "the 
 blue, the arrowry Rhone", that rushes away by the city's 
 bridges, walls, and towers and off to the sea. The surround- 
 ings of the place are lovely and the excursions to river, 
 lake , and mountain , within reach of the city, are equalled 
 
 Switzerland. I 
 
2 LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 
 
 in few places. The population is larger than that of any other 
 Swiss town, and Geneva, from its central and neutral position 
 and its friendly character, has long been a sort of hiding 
 place for dethroned heroes, would-be rulers, and the like, 
 whom other states have driven over the frontier. Not this 
 only; the city is, besides, the head quarters, at times, of 
 Paris Communists, German Internationals, Spanish Carlists, 
 and all the other ists and als who , like Egyptian plagues, 
 afflict the unfortunate countries that have given them birth. 
 Yet with all this loose and dangerous element from abroad, 
 Geneva's own social and political life is generally unruffled 
 and undisturbed. The town has been called the home of 
 strangers, the miniature Paris, the shelter of the fugitive, and 
 a hundred other pretty names, deserved and undeserved. 
 
 John Calvin lived and worked and died in Geneva; and, 
 had the town no other claim to distinction, this single fact 
 were claim enough. Geneva was the protestant Rome and 
 Calvin was called her pope. It was a grand thing for the 
 Reformation that John Calvin happened to be on the right 
 side. His was a disposition, a life, and a temper, that were 
 not to be overcome, not even by the devil himself, the good, 
 old gladiator thought and proved. Calvin had been banished 
 from Paris when but a boy, for his writings on the new 
 religion. At twenty-seven years of age, he was living in 
 Basle. and, passing through Geneva once, after a visit to 
 Ferrara, he was implored to stop and help Farel in reforming 
 the town. Calvin stopped and joined in the terribly earnest 
 work, not only of reforming the church , but of governing 
 a light-hearted, frivolous people, through the church, and 
 by the church. The citizens promised obedience, and were 
 subjected to the severest rules and conditions of social life. 
 Those who neglected to attend the service of the church, 
 were fined. The narrowest surveillance was kept on every 
 man, on every house. The rod became too heavy, at the 
 last. The people rebelled and banished Calvin and Farel 
 with their good intentions from the city. Calvin wandered 
 off to Zurich and to Strasbourg , bearing with him always 
 the earnest spirit and the grand determination to conquer 
 
LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 3 
 
 in the Reformation. At Strasbourg, his gread mind and 
 great energy were devoted to writing for his single cause 
 and preaching to the French refugees. In three years, the 
 Genevese repented of driving Calvin off and begged him to 
 return and re-establish the theocratic government in church 
 and state. After a number of protests against returning to 
 a town that had driven him ignominiously away, he yielded to 
 their warm petition and returned. The day of his arrival was 
 hailed with joy. An eager throng of citizens and officials 
 met him at the city gate and escorted him to the house 
 prepared for his reception. Again the heavy hand was laid 
 upon Geneva's social life. This time, the people bore the 
 rod almost without complaint. Again the calendar of fines, 
 of punishments , burnings even , increased ; but crime and 
 immorality decreased in a ratio to correspond. The giant's 
 part in the Reformation again commenced. Calvin not only 
 made laws fop , and governed Geneva , but he preached, 
 almost daily ; he lectured, he wrote books, pamphlets, papers, 
 and worked as no other man in the Reformation worked, to 
 teach all men his notions of the truth. He was, besides, 
 in continual correspondence with the principal protestants of 
 all other countries. He advised with kings and ministers 
 of state and was looked upon as indoctrinating the whole 
 Reformation from his little home in the protestant popedom 
 of Geneva. He bore, it has been said, the churches of seven 
 kingdoms upon his shoulders. He was the doctor, the 
 captain of them all. The most catholic countries feared 
 his influence, as they feared the evil one. France even 
 threatened war, if the preachers sent out from Geneva who 
 were undermining the French state, were not recalled. Five 
 million catholics of France had abandoned the old church 
 and adopted the new ideas of the Reformation. Calvin 
 stood at the acme of his greatness and his power. At last, 
 Death , the common leveler , came , and Calvin yielded, 
 battling however to the grave's edge against iniquity and 
 wrong. Almost the last words of the great gladiator were 
 that he had overcome all enemies without and within. He 
 wished no marble slab or pile of bronze to stand above his 
 
4 LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 
 
 grave, as a reminder to mankind that a moral and intellectual 
 giant had reached life's end. To day, the little spot by- 
 Geneva that holds his dust is almost unmarked ; but millions- 
 who revere the new idea, recall John Calvin's name as that 
 of the civil warrior of the Reformation. The town of Geneva 
 still feels the influence of him who was her great^high priest 
 and amid all the political and social changes of three 
 centuries, her protestant belief has remained unshaken. John 
 Calvin's house still stands on the Rue des Chanoines; and 
 daily many a traveller turns aside among the narrow lanes 
 and high walls of that quarter of the town , to cast a 
 half worshipful glance upon the honored spot. Two letters, 
 J. C, is all that marks his supposed grave on the banks of 
 the Arve. 
 
 Geneva is the Aurelia Allobrogium of the Romans and 
 one of the very oldest towns of all Europe. After more 
 than four centuries of adventure in the hands of the barbarian, 
 it became a part of Burgundy, to whose dukes it belonged 
 for about a hundred years, when the Frankish kings invaded 
 Switzerland and Geneva became a sort of heathen capital 
 again. Early in the fifteenth century, the dukes of Savoy 
 laid claims upon the place and made them good at times 
 for more than a hundred years, when the citizens shook off 
 the foreign yoke and made their city a miniature republic. In 
 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte annexed the town to France 
 and made it the capital of the department of the Leman. 
 After sixteen years of French rule , Geneva regained her 
 liberty. Waterloo was fought and Napoleon shipped of to 
 St. Helena, and then the Genevese gratified the longing of 
 their hearts by joining the Republic of the Swiss. 
 
 Since 18 14, Geneva has been one of the foremost and 
 most prosperous cities of the country. Although the canton 
 is next to the smallest in size, Geneva is the largest as to- 
 population of any of the Swiss towns and does not rank 
 lower than second as to wealth and industry. The language 
 of the people in town and canton is French, though German 
 and even English is often spoken by the better educated 
 classes and in houses doing business with English speaking 
 
LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 5 
 
 countries. Geneva has streets and lanes as dark and narrow 
 as any in the world, and she has boulevards that can vie 
 with stately Paris. The old part of the town stands to 
 day just as it stood centuries ago, with its extravagantly 
 high houses that almost topple over or lean together across 
 the narrow lanes they darken. But outside of the walls 
 which were torn away in 1 849, broad streets, with fine blocks 
 and palatial residences, extend themselves. Whole quarters 
 and sections have sprung up like magic. New streets, new 
 squares, new parks, attest that Geneva has awakened from 
 the Rip van Winkle sleep of the past and become a part 
 of the nineteenth century. Modern houses , with modern 
 people living in them; — this is Geneva. The population, 
 though a little mixed at times from the continual coming 
 and going of strangers, is active, vivacious and earnest. 
 They like manufacturing on a pretty large scale, but prefer, 
 as a rule, to leave the smaller handicrafts to their Celtic 
 brothers farther north. The aristocratic families of the town 
 differ from the aristocracy of most Other places, in the 
 devotion with which they pursue science and general learning, 
 and the number of Geneva names that have adorned the 
 history of the past is something surprising. That which 
 has encouraged and cultivated genius at home, among the 
 Genevese, has also attracted to them genius from abroad; 
 and many of the illustrious of the past, from other lands, 
 have found Geneva a congenial soil for poetry, philosophy 
 and art. Numberless, almost, are the distinguished men 
 and women who have lived and died in Geneva or upon 
 the shores of its fair lake. Every street has a tale to tell 
 of genius ; every square and corner of the town records 
 some history. 
 
 The Genevese of to-day has the industry of the real 
 Swiss, the New Englander's love of money and the tem- 
 perament and vivacity of the French. He is not a real 
 Swiss, because he has the French vivacity. He is not 
 French, because he has the Swiss industry; neither is he 
 Italian, because he is not lazy. He is simply and peculiarly 
 a Genevese. The families congregate many in a house; 
 
6 LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 
 
 that is, the families, as in " other parts of Switzerland and in 
 France, live on flats, or floors, — each floor of the im- 
 mensely tall houses being perfect in its arrangements for 
 the accomodation of one family and sometimes even for 
 two. Aside from the villas out of town or on the handsome 
 boulevards, there are few houses built to be occupied in 
 whole by a single family. The people love money and, 
 like the Yankee, have an inkling as to how money is 
 made ; but they know, better than the Yankee, how money 
 is kept. 
 
 Geneva's reputation for the watch and jewelry industry is 
 world-wide and, though the principal part of the work 
 is done among the Jura mountains, the city has, properly 
 enough, the credit for the capital invested and the enterprise 
 requisite for bringing the various parts of a watch from 
 mountain vallies and far-off places and putting all the varied 
 mechanism together in one whole, capable of measuring 
 time for all seasons, all places and all men. Switzerland 
 sends out to the world over one and a half million watches 
 a year and, of these, a tenth part comes from Geneva alone. 
 More than three hundred firms in the city busy themselves 
 in making , packing , and sending off watches , while forty 
 other firms engage in making the finest jewelry, producing 
 fourteen million francs worth of the latter every year. 
 
 Walter Senn relates how, a couple of hundred years ago, 
 a horse-trader happened to bring to the village of Chaux- 
 de-fonds, in the Jura mountains, a silver watch. It was the 
 first the villagers had ever seen, and people flocked from 
 near and far to witness the wonderful machine mark time. 
 One day, to every body's astonishment, the watch being 
 out of order, stopped. No one knew what to do. Not 
 even that usually cheap and plentiful article, advice, was to 
 be found. The loss was not simply that of an individual, 
 but of the whole town and surrounding neighbourhood. Every 
 body talked of the misfortune. At last, a smith's apprentice, 
 Jean Richard , a boy but fourteen years of age, heard the 
 story of the people's misfortune and at once hurried off to 
 see the wonderful instrument. Though but a boy, he was 
 
LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 7 
 
 a clever, clear-headed one and a few glances among the 
 wheels, posts and cogs of the watch soon made the apprentice 
 master of the situation. The watch was put in order by 
 him in a trice and he became the hero of the day among 
 the rejoicing villagers. But the boy was not contented 
 with simply mending a broken watch. If he could repair 
 a watch, he could make a watch , young Richard thought, 
 and at once set about making the manufacturing of a real 
 watch the business of his life. Without knowledge, experience, 
 tools, machinery, patterns, or even material, the earnest 
 youth commenced, and in less than two years the hands of 
 his first watch were measuring time. He had made machines 
 and tools and patterns himself, had gained experience by days 
 and nights of experiment and of toil, and was rewarded in 
 a few years by seeing himself the successful manager of a 
 large and profitable industry. He died in 1741 and left as a 
 legacy to his country one of her greatest resources for wealth. 
 The industry has progressed to such an extent that the 
 time then spent by Richard in making one watch is sufficent 
 now to enable the various concerns engaged in the business 
 in his native mountains to turn out more than three millions. 
 The watches manufactured in Geneva and the Jura are 
 worth all the way from ten francs to six and seven thousand 
 francs each. Sixty master workmen are required to make 
 a single watch ; that is , the work is divided by pieces • 
 among so many different persons, each one of whom makes 
 a specialty of one particular piece and spends his life in 
 making duplicates of this. The art of specialties is syste- 
 matized and understood most thoroughly and found to be 
 laborsaving, time-saving, and extremely profitable. For a 
 single workman to make all the different parts of a watch, 
 as wheels, posts, plates, cogs, springs, stems, cases, and the 
 like, a whole year would be required upon a single watch 
 and the district that now produces anually a million and a 
 half watches could, under such a plan, produce not more 
 than seventy thousand. The work is performed in the 
 people's homes and the workman is aided by his wife and 
 children. Women, too, often learn the art of making some 
 
LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 
 
 particular part of the intricate machine and become such 
 experts as to earn from five to ten and even more francs 
 per day. The art itself requires the closest observation of 
 mind and eye and its complications and exactness act as 
 a mental stimulus to those engaged in the business. It is 
 said with truth that the watchmakers of the Jura are the 
 brightest, shrewdest, and most observing people of all 
 Switzerland. They practice a different art from that of 
 merely feeding some machine which can do the work from 
 A to Z. Their own hands are the delicate machines and 
 their own minds must be continually awake, to direct the 
 hands aright. A Geneva watch-exporter may gather up the 
 different parts of his watches from all the different vallies 
 of the Jura, and yet each part will be found to fit its 
 special place with mathematical niceness, so careful and 
 competent are the hands that have prepared the varied 
 works. The amount of the raw material used cannot be 
 very large, and yet the products of the small amounts are 
 something wonderful. Two hundred francs worth of English 
 steel will make five hundred and twenty five thousand francs 
 worth of common watch springs and the increase of value 
 in rubies, brass etc., when worked up, is proportionately 
 great. 
 
 There are seventy thousand people in Geneva and the 
 "Jura engaged in making watches, whose industry is worth 
 more than a hundred million francs a year to Switzerland. 
 There are, beside, fifty firms engaged in a kindred business; 
 — that of manufacturing different kinds of music-boxes; 
 and still other firms who make only the Punch and Judy 
 automatons and like machines, intended for the world's 
 amusement. Possibly one half of all the watches made in 
 Switzerland are exported to the United States, notwithstanding 
 the great extent to which the watch industry is carried on 
 in that country. Supposing half a million only to be thus 
 exported to our shores averaging but ten dollars, or fifty 
 francs each, in value, we have, as a result, twenty five 
 million francs worth of our watches alone, made for us 
 abroad; not counting, either, the importations of watches, 
 
LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 9 
 
 which are by no means trifling in number, from other 
 countries. But in America, the industry, the art itself, is in 
 its infancy. What with her large manufactories, her improved 
 machinery, and her twenty five per cent duty, she may yet 
 accomplish in the watch-making way, none scarcely dare to 
 guess ; but as England has learned that, when America once 
 uses her own resources, she has no use for English iron, so 
 Switzerland may yet experience, to the regret of her industrial 
 people, that the Union will some day have no farther use 
 for foreign watches or even foreign silk. 
 
 But with all his work and industry, the Genevese has 
 time to play. Like other cities of Switzerland, the place 
 has many fetes, marches, parades, and holidays in every 
 year. The celebration in memory of the Escalade in 1602 
 is still kept up, whenever the anniversary of the city's 
 deliverance returns. This Anniversary is a day, or rather 
 night, of jubilee among all patriotic citizens. There are 
 torchlight processions of men in the costumes of the middle 
 ages — groups of knights — cavaliers — archers, huntsmen 
 and gymnasts , accompanied by bands of music , masquers 
 and students. It is a splendid fete, made the more novel 
 by being celebrated in the glare of torches and calcium lights. 
 
 The New Years festival is also a strangely peculiar one in 
 Geneva , and, like the fete of the Escalade , is celebrated 
 partly in the night. Toward the close of the year, a 
 people's fair is held in the streets, and continued without 
 cessation, for three days and three nights. The night part of 
 the exhibition presents the most novel of scenes, with its 
 crowded streets, the torches, the colored lanterns, the bright 
 bazaars , the peasant costumes , the carrousels , the revelry 
 and wine. The principal street is filled with booths, where 
 wares of the most diversified description are for sale; and 
 wherever place is found , tents and temporary houses are 
 erected, containing shows, menageries, panoramas, velocipede 
 rings , and theaters. The fair is visited by thousands, and 
 the people are allowed by the police the greatest freedom 
 of action, day and night. With buying and selling, singing 
 and dancing, the days and the nights go by, the usual quiet 
 
IO LAKE'LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 
 
 of the city is restored, and the Newyear's festival is done. 
 It is a freedom's fete and is in commemoration of the day 
 which, forty years ago, witnessed Geneva's redemption from 
 the French rule. 
 
 Another class still of holidays and parades in Geneva is 
 that of the children of the public schools. To these the 
 joyous children go, the parents go , the city magnates go, 
 foreign officials go; every body who is in Geneva goes, to 
 add pleasure and eclat to the children's triumph-day. It is 
 a great parade, with music and flags and bright-faced children 
 in holiday attire. Hundreds, thousands of children are there 
 with beaming eyes and joyous hearts. They are the boys 
 and girls of the primary schools. Vacation day has come 
 and now the school's last day is ended by a march and 
 feast. Prizes and public speeches, compliments and bouquets, 
 are heaped upon the children all the day,till at last the evening 
 comes and goes in a shower of torpedoes , fire balls and 
 calcium lights. 
 
 Geneva canton is little more than Geneva town. It is 
 the town; for though there are some forty-seven villages 
 scattered around the lower end of the lake and inside the 
 canton, the territory of the Genevese state does not exceed 
 five and an eighth square miles and is but one third the 
 size of Geneva lake and one twenty-fourth the size of canton 
 Berne. In political strength and influence, however, it almost 
 equals Berne or Zurich, and far surpasses some other cantons 
 •of the Bund that are ten times its size in territory. 
 
 Of the excursions to be made from the little capital, none 
 are pleasanter than that along the lake to Lausanne, Clarens 
 and the castle of Chillon. All the way, are bright scenes 
 of mountain and hill and lake. Vineyards, fairer than any 
 others of the north, slope to the water's edge from every 
 terraced point. Pomegranates and figs and laurels thrive at 
 places in the open winter- air, while the mild climate and 
 the soft, blue skies resemble Italy. Some of the villages 
 and towns are pictures of beauty, nestling among the woods 
 and vines, or reflecting their white walls in the blue waters, 
 of the lake. 
 
LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 
 
 II 
 
 -■^Ss^IiilB* 
 
 Lausanne, next to Geneva in size, clings in the most 
 wonderful way to the edges and sides and tops of a group 
 of hills and knobs and knolls. The town has many ups 
 and downs in life, but they are pretty and romantic ones. 
 There are no straight streets, there are no level ones; in 
 fact there are almost no streets at all in the town proper; 
 but in their place, are steps and arches, side hills and angular 
 lanes and little 
 ways and brid- 
 ges and pretty 
 places, for going 
 up, and coming 
 down, and cross- 
 ing over, if one 
 is not too tired 
 for the romance 
 of the thing. Gib- 
 bon lived here 
 upon a time and 
 here wrote the 
 
 "Decline and 
 Fall of the Ro- 
 man Empire"; 
 Still other men of 
 note lived here, 
 and each has left 
 some word , or 
 act, or thing, to 
 add distinction to the place. The Gothic church with the 
 grand old porticoes, and with the handsome roof and choir 
 resting on a thousand columns, single and in cluster?, stands 
 high above the beautiful town. It is known as the handsomest 
 cathedral in all Switzerland and although commenced eight 
 centuries ago, is still unfinished. 
 
 "Clarens, sweet Clarens", is still an hour and more away, 
 and Vevey, so fair and warm with its clustering grapes and 
 tempting wines and harvest festivals, has only room for 
 invalids or folks whose stomachs sour in the harsher climate 
 
 LAUSANNE - CATHEDRAL 
 
12 LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 
 
 of other Swiss resorts. Sweet Clarens, too, is filled with 
 invalids or those who would be invalids, almost, for the sake 
 of the exquisite scenery, the sylvan walks, and the half 
 Italian skies that every lounger at the pretty place has 
 known. The woods and groves that Rousseau loved are 
 mostly gone ; but other woods and groves and quiet fruitful 
 vineyards take their place and are equally beautiful. What 
 the best of grapes, the fairest skies, and the most delightful 
 scenery can do to make a pleasant healthful life, Clarens 
 and Montreux can do, for all these pleasant aids to life and 
 healthfulness are there in abundance. The green woods 
 and pleasant country roads, the terraced vineyards, the 
 lake, the lazy lateen sails, the Savoy hills, the white-topped 
 Alps, make up a summer, evening's scene that well might 
 cause even invalids to rejoice. "Lake Leman lies by Chillon's 
 walls" and Chillon castle, itself, is but a breakfast walk from 
 Clarens or Montreux. 
 
 A thousand years ago, a single, massive tower stood 
 upon the rock in the water, where Chillon now stands. 
 This old tower was used as a light-house and as a prison. 
 In 1238, Peter, duke of Savoy, built the present castle on 
 the ruins of the former tower. It became a sort of palace 
 or ducal residence and , after Peter's death , was occupied 
 by the Castellans who were appointed to govern the neigh- 
 boring territory. It has often been the scene of the most 
 shameful and atrocious deeds, as was especially the case in 
 1348, when a pestilence was raging in the country and the 
 Jews were suspected of poisoning the wells. The suspected, 
 to the number of several hundred, were seized, thrown into 
 the dungeons of Chillon and aftenvards burned alive. In 
 1530, Bonnivard, prior of St. Victors, near Geneva, incurred 
 the hatred of the Savoy duke by his advanced and liberal 
 ideas and by his attemps to ally his country with Switzerland. 
 The duke seized him, while visiting his dying mother, and, 
 notwithstanding his safe conduct or passport, chained him 
 in the depths of Chillon for six long years. The pillar to 
 which it is supposed he was chained and a ring of the 
 chain itself, are still to be seen in the damp vault of the 
 
LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 1 3 
 
 prison. Not these, only. There are tracks and a path worn 
 in the very stone around the column to which Bonnivard 
 or some other prisoner was chained, whose weary feet in 
 weary years left their sad history on the rocks. On the 
 29th of March, 1 5 36, the castle was attacked by the small 
 navy of Geneva and was at the same time bombarded from 
 the hills of Montreux by the troops of Berne. In twenty 
 four hours, Chillon surrendered and Bonnivard was freed. 
 He returned to Geneva and, notwithstanding his former 
 sufferings, lived to the age of seventy-five. Byron, in his 
 Prisoner of Chillon , did not refer to Bonnivard , when he 
 wrote his poem at Ouchy, neither had he heard of him, as 
 he himself avers, in one of his notes. The castle became 
 the property of canton Vaud in 1803, soon after its joining 
 the confederacy of the Swiss. In 1830, it was turned into an 
 arsenal and prison and is used for that pnrpose by the 
 Vaudois government to-day. Chillon is a queer old pile, 
 lifting itself out of the waters of the lake. Its towers and 
 turrets have little that is grand or even graceful, and though 
 some of the halls have served as homes for princes, there 
 is little about them now to fit them for anything better than 
 an abode of rats, or a storehouse for lumber. The interest 
 attaching to the grey old walls comes not of architectural 
 style nor wealth of beauty or design , but of the good 
 sympathy of human hearts that are pained to know of in- 
 justice, cruelty, and wrong. 
 
 Above Chillon and near Villeneuve , the gray waters 
 of the Rhone enter the blue waters of the lake. The 
 Rhone valley, as far as St. Maurice at least, is broad, fertile, 
 and prosperous. Corn and wine grow in rich abundance 
 and a contented people live on the fat of a grateful land. 
 But higher up the stream, the scene is changed. From 
 Martigny on, though the sky is fair almost as Italy, the 
 people live in Italian poverty and dirt and wretchedness. 
 Nature, itself, is still beautiful ; more beautiful even than along 
 the lower Rhone. At different points on the Rhone, from 
 Aigle all the way to Visp, romantic vallies or arms put 
 out and run back into the higher Alps. A few of these, 
 
14 LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 
 
 as the Ormcmt-dessus, with the village Sepey rimmed inside, 
 are the most glorious retreats in summer-time. Sepey is 
 not only one of the loveliest of spots, with noble views of 
 Alpine scenery, it is one of the healthiest and most enjoyable, 
 and is considered, besides, to be one of the cheapest of 
 the mountain resorts. There are "others of these pretty 
 vallies, right and left, on both sides of the Rhone , where 
 the tourist can find the greatest enjoyment, provided he is 
 up to a little roughing. 
 
 The life of the peasant, in many of these armlets of the 
 upper Rhone, especially, is simply wretchedness itself, and 
 finds no equal elsewhere in Switzerland. Poverty and dirt, 
 cretinism and idiocy, are seen on every hand, and it is 
 from these exceptional and miserable specimens of peasantry 
 that the Swiss people, as a whole, have sometimes been 
 judged by foreigners. 
 
 Their life is really but little better than beggary. The 
 dirty gipsy who wanders about with his bear and tamborine 
 might well be considered princely in his surroundings, when 
 compared with a Dranse peasant. This wretchedness decreases 
 with the last decade, the Swiss philantropists believe, as 
 sanitary measures, as to air and light and common cleanliness 
 are being adopted even here. A ride from Martigny to 
 the hospice of St. Bernard, were it not for the strange 
 scenery on the way and the novelty of the thing, would 
 simply be unendurable. The miserable, dark, and dirty 
 towns, the dirtier people, and the desolating scenery about 
 the pass, rob the views of the neighboring mountains of 
 many charms. 
 
 Up this road, or an old one ruining by its side, rather, 
 Napoleon and his army marched in the early May of 1 800. 
 What the task of making the pass may have seemed to 
 Bonaparte or the sensational writers of his time, is hard 
 to tell; but that the difficulties of the undertaking were 
 most stupendously exaggerated, there can be little doubt. 
 Had Marengo been lost instead of won, as it barely was, 
 history would have recorded but little of the achivement of 
 marching an army into a place where retreat was impossible. 
 
LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 1 5 
 
 The boldness that others, more than Bonaparte himself, 
 saw in the undertaking, was more than equaled by one of 
 his marshals who crossed the Simplon, where himself and 
 a part of his troops were swung across abysses by the means 
 of ropes ; and again, by the Russian marshal Suwarrow who 
 crossed the St. Gotthard, a pass equally high and dangerous, 
 the previous year, in the face of French cannon and 
 musketry. 
 
 The pass is totally void of interest and increases in 
 desolation as it nears the hospice at the top. No reward 
 but consciousness of Christian duty, nobly done, could 
 induce the monks to stop in this desolation of the clouds 
 and storm, to minister to the lost and worn-out traveler. 
 At the mountain top, where the hospice stands, it is always 
 cold, even in summer time; cold and dreary and desolate. 
 The monks go up in youth, but seldom withstand the severity 
 of the climate beyond a few years, when they come down 
 to the mild valley of the Rhone, to recuperate or die. The 
 strange attractions at the hospice are the charnel house and 
 the dogs of the St. Bernard. The charnel house, or Morgue, 
 is filled with the dried-up remains, or the bleached bones, 
 of poor mortals who have frozen to death in attempting to 
 cross the pass. The bodies are piled into the Morgue just 
 as they were found, and the frozen flesh and features tell 
 the awful story of the struggle between life and death. Some 
 are recognized by jfriends and are taken away for burial, but 
 many of the unfortunates were wandering workmen who, in 
 daring the dread storm and the desolate pass, seeking some- 
 thing to do , have perished , leaving no trace as to who 
 they were, or whether any friends in all the wide world 
 would miss them at all. Some of the frozen figures lean 
 against the walls of the little stone Morgue like black 
 statues and retain the clenched hands, the back bowed to the 
 storm, and the face of agony they bore when yielding to 
 pain , exhaustion , and death , — just when the lights 
 of the Christian hospice shone too late across their 
 hopeless way. A man, groping in the snow and dark, 
 stands, frozen stiff, with bowed head and extended arms. 
 
i6 
 
 LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 
 
 A mother clasps her child to her bosom in a h-ozen embrace 
 of years , for both are dead and their stiffened bodies still 
 pressed together will long haunt the memories of those who 
 have ever entered this tomb of the frozen dead. The 
 faithful dogs are still on duty at the St Bernard, but like 
 the monks, they are changing too, and Newfoundland dogs 
 are gradually taking their place. It would be a wonder 
 if any of the Bernard dogs were left ; for dog traders all 
 over Europe sell genuine dogs of St. Bernard, and are 
 inclined to frown, should any one suggest that a hundred 
 thousand pups or so is a large breed from a dozen dogs. 
 But another and pleasanter of Geneva's excursions is over 
 the Tete Noire, from Martigny, or up the Arve direct, to 
 
 MOUNT BLANC 
 
 the vale of Chamouny, where one stands before the over- 
 powering majesty of Mt. Blanc. This king of the mountains 
 of Europe is wrapped in a blanket of snow and ice, seventy 
 five square miles in size. His top is twelve thousand five 
 hundred and eighty feet above the valley at his feet and 
 fifteen thousand seven hundred and eighty feet above the 
 level of the sea. The old king wears, as a girdle, a band 
 of ice thirteen miles in length and hundreds of feet deep, 
 
LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 1 7 
 
 while a bright, green valley is the hem of his snowy garment. 
 The green vale of Chamouny. where the Arve and the 
 Arvignon "flow ceaselessly along", is a pleasant thing to see, 
 in its bright contrast to the surrounding snow-fields and 
 mountains. The village of Chamouny is nothing more than 
 the plainest of little Savoy towns , with few respectable 
 houses, aside from the large hotels; and its insignificance 
 appears the more utter in the presence of so much that 
 is grand and inspiring. Mount Blanc numbers its many 
 victims among the scores who foolishly seek a day's notoriety, 
 by risking their lives in making an ascent that has never 
 yet in any way accomplished any good. Travelers who 
 have seen the sun rise and the sun set on Mount Blanc 
 and the keen, full moon shine on the Mer de Glace, until it 
 is made glorious as the gates of heaven, should rest contented, 
 as having witnessed one of earth's grandest panoramas, and 
 go away with mute thanks and .secret ecstacy. 
 
 The towns and villages of the Rhone valley, Sion excepted, 
 are never interesting. They are built in close clusters, 
 generally of stone; and with narrow, dark, stony, and 
 dirty streets. There are no suburbs or outposts to the 
 towns. The houses and barns, they are one, really, are 
 huddled into the smallest space, with the least ventilation, 
 light, and cleanliness possible. As a result, there are plentiful 
 crops of cretins and goiters. The villagers are not mechanics 
 and tradesmen, usually, but farmers who prefer living in 
 these dirty towns to having separate homes out on their 
 little farms. Their is, however, a certain economy in this 
 sort of village farming, so common in Switzerland and parts 
 of Germany. Among the poorer, a single house and barn 
 answers for two, three, and sometimes half a dozen families. 
 The post is at the door — the store is just across the 
 street. A sort of market, too, is at the farmer's gate. 
 What A may lack, is possibly supplied by B; and C has 
 grains or fruits that A and B do not raise. Besides, a 
 common purse builds and keeps up a common road and 
 common bridges past the long line of little unfenced patches 
 here called farms, while many other outlays, known to 
 
 Switzerland. 2 
 
i8 
 
 LAKE LEMAN AND THE RIVER RHONE. 
 
 farmers, are avoided by this neighborhood of farming villagers. 
 The upper Rhone is not so broad, is not so rich in soil 
 or mild in climate, as it is from Visp on down to the lake. 
 It is, besides, subject to most fearful floods, at times, from 
 the mountain streams that feed the river fight and left. 
 From Visp, north , the Rhone itself is a roaring mountain 
 stream, the fall between there and its source, a distance of 
 not more than forty miles, being three thousand two hundred 
 and thirty four feet. The river springs from the grand 
 glacier that bears its name, a field of ice and snow eighteen 
 miles in length, surrounded by lofty mountains and bold 
 stupendous rocks. It is a large and lonely valley, frozen 
 full of ice, hundreds of feet deep, with mighty crevasses 
 and great blue ice caverns. From one of these, the Rhone 
 bursts forth, rushes like a cataract for many miles, and then, 
 soothing itself, sweeps grandly down the full length of its 
 broad, rich valley into Geneva lake, where, refreshed, 
 strengthened, and purified, it again bounds off to the Medi- 
 teranean Sea. 
 
 MER DE GLACE 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Interlaken and the Gemmi-Pass. 
 
 iL WISS tourists usually see 
 -V\ Paris first, and, ten to one, 
 jg) see Interlaken next. There 
 is something more than 
 feigned relief in lifting one's 
 tired feet from the hard pavements 
 of Paris and putting them down on 
 the soft, green swards that slope to 
 pleasant lakes in Switzerland. 
 Handsome carriages, rattling on the stony streets, make 
 no such pleasant sounds as babbling brooks and waterfalls. 
 The rushing, jamming crowd, the city's glare, the hot sun 
 pouring down by naked walls of brick and stone, are 
 joyless contrasts to the quiet, mountain paths that lead 
 through shady groves, by purling springs and soft, green 
 meadow lands. The blare of trumpet or the roll of drum 
 is not so cheering as the song of birds. The dress parade, 
 the pomp, the pageantry of man, is nothingness, compared 
 with God's own crystal mountains, mantled in snow or 
 bathing in the clouds. Man wearies with what man has 
 
20 INTERLAKEN AND THE GEMMI-PASS. 
 
 made. To hearts well tuned, the mountains, the meadows, 
 and the lakes are one continued fountain of delight. 
 
 With all conveniences of modern travel, sight -seeing 
 from town to town becomes the very hardest kind of work. 
 The strained and weary eyes, the worn-out feet, the 
 satiated heart, weep not for more to conquer, but for rest, 
 such rest as summer days and shady glens, and Alpine 
 climbs can give. In early summer time, the pleasure- 
 seeking pilgrims come, to rest in peace and gladden Inter- 
 laken landlord's hearts with joy. The village is a vast 
 hotel with many roofs, with many kinds of fare, and many, 
 very, very many bills. Each man's a landlord or a guide, 
 and some are both. But notwithstanding all the host of 
 landlords, guides, and porters, the town is most enjoyable. 
 It has its scores of pretty walks and |ways, through pleasant 
 woods, by river , hill , and lake , where even tired invalids 
 find pleasure and repose. But most of all, it is near neigh- 
 bour to the kingly mountains of the Bernese Oberland. 
 Tired out with all things else, the weary heart finds newer 
 life and joy in contemplating God's own handiwork among 
 the Alps. One does not care, however, to remain even in 
 pretty villages and grand hotels, and see the Jungfrau's 
 majesty as from afar. — Two hours ride, and we can 
 stand beneath the very shadow of the virgin Alp — 
 can feel the cold breath of her giant guards, the Eiger 
 and the Monch — can see bright waters leap a thou- 
 sand feet in praise of Him who loves, though he may 
 awe — can hear the avalanche, tremendous, overpowering, 
 sweeping, crushing, roaring down, as if the mountains were 
 dissolved , and all the vallies trembling. We stand before 
 the very Throne ; the faintest heart will feel like giving praise ; 
 — man's merest nothingness is felt before such majesty. 
 
 Lauterbrunnen, the Wengern Alp, and Grindelwald should 
 each be visited in turn by those who wish to witness Nature's 
 grandest magnificence. 
 
 Each has, however, its own particular hour of the day 
 in which its glories are most wonderfully displayed. Lauter- 
 brunnen chooses the early morning of the summer days, 
 
INTERLAKEN AND THE GEMMI-PASS. 
 
 21 
 
 when the sun's rays first take their rainbow bath in the Staub- 
 bach falls. The Wengern Alp appears the best at noon; 
 and Grindelwald puts on its first full dress at early evening. 
 Beautiful Lauterbrunnen has, as its name implies, nothing 
 
 but fountains and waterfalls, 
 breastworks of the Alps, from 
 whose broad shoulders leap 
 cascades and silverthreaded 
 streams, it is one of the most 
 delicious little fairy vales in 
 all the world. The queen of 
 these fairy cascades and water- 
 falls is Staubbach, falling 
 gracefully over a perpendicu- 
 lar cliff of rocks, nearly a 
 thousand feet in hight. Its 
 pure bright waters sweep 
 down so mistily as to be 
 almost noiseless. The soft 
 wind swings it to and fro 
 like some long bridal vail, 
 while bright-hued rainbows 
 rest like kisses on its silver 
 threads. This pretty water- 
 fall, though higher than any 
 other in Europe, is never grand 
 
 Hemmed in by the mightiest 
 
 STAUBBACH 
 
 but 
 
 like the light of the 
 full, fair, harvest-moon, it is enchanting. It is a vail, sweeping 
 from the face of the virgin hills that wait upon the Jungfrau 
 bride; or a knightly plume, dropping from the head of a 
 giant guard. 
 
 From Lauterbrunnen to the Wengern Alp, is a pleasant 
 climb of less than half a dozen hours. The way leads up 
 through wild fields of hardy heath, by low, dark forests and 
 mountain pasture-lands, while many brown old chalets, 
 scattered on the green grass, add to the picturesqueness of 
 the scene. At the hotel of the Jungfrau, or at the Chamois 
 hill, a half an hour below the summit of the pass, the tourist 
 stands before the grandest spectacle the Alps afford. 
 
22 INTERLAKEN AND THE GEMMI-PASS. 
 
 Behind and far below, the Lauterbrunnen valley, with its 
 bright cascades, seems like a door to fairy-land. Still farther 
 north, though not visible, are the fair, bright lakes of Brienz 
 and ofThun. In front, a deep ravine, a long, dark winding 
 gorge , lies far below and separates the Wengern Alp from 
 the Jungfrau's icy throne, where the avalanches have their 
 birth. Not seemingly farther than a rifle shot away, rises 
 this grand, stupendous pile of earth's first rock, crowned 
 with a diadem of ice and robed in fields of shining snow. 
 
 The traveler looks into the Jungfrau's very face and feels 
 the August air cooled by her icy breath. A wall of rock 
 and snow and ice, more than thirteen thousand feet in hight, 
 weakens his power to calculate the immensity of what he 
 sees. Silence and desolation add to the sublime creation 
 round about. The jealous sun rides higher in his circle 
 of the sky and pours his heated darts into the depths of 
 snow and ice that hang upon the Jungfrau's head and arms 
 and sides. Melted apart, the snow and ice at last succumb ; 
 the mighty mass begins to move — slips from the moun- 
 tain's dizzy edge, and with a deep, dull, trembling roar, that 
 well might wake the dead , tumbles and crashes hundreds 
 and thousands of feet down, down to the dark Abyss below. 
 Great drifts and clouds of snow leap up as if in wrath — 
 the mountains echo back the sullen roar — the mists float 
 slowly, grandly off, the avalanche is born. 
 
 At no point in the Alps can these tremendous cataracts 
 of snow and ice be so safely seen, as, here. At no other 
 point is their mighty fall so great , so sudden , and so 
 grand ; and nowhere else are they so often seen in all their 
 majesty. Their frequency depends upon the previous snows, 
 adding to their enormous bulk and weight, and to the in- 
 tensity of the sun's rays. 
 
 In August, they are seen by scores ; sometimes by dozens, 
 in a single afternoon; and the traveler, sleeping in these 
 lofty regions in the summer nights, is often roused by the 
 sudden crash and roar of their dread artillery. 
 
 A little farther on , the summit of the Wengern Alp is 
 reached, and instead of the Lauterbrunnen vale, with bright 
 
INTERLAKEN AND THE GEMMI-PASS. 
 
 23 
 
 cascades and waterfalls, that of the Grindelwald is seen, with 
 bleak and stony sides and rifts of snow and ice reaching 
 between. 
 
 Instead of the Jungfrau's avalanche, the broad, bright 
 glaciers of the Bernese Alps are seen. They reach from the 
 Silverhorn to the Grimsel, and from Grindelwald almost to 
 the sunny hills by the river Rhone. 
 
 They spread, in one great sheet of frozen ice, with broken 
 spurs and cliffs and gaping crevasses, more than two hundred 
 and thirty thousand acres in extent. They fill the vales 
 and hollows of the highest and the finest group of mountains 
 in Switzerland, whose peaks rise from these arctic fields, 
 from five to fourteen thousand feet in hight, and make, 
 perhaps, the most impressive panorama of the world. 
 
 At Grindelwald, two of these glacier fields reach down 
 the valley and almost into the town, where even children 
 climb upon their icy sides and "lay their hands on them as 
 on the oceans mane." 
 
 The Gemmi, from Kandersteg to Leukerbad, is perhaps 
 the wildest, the grandest, and yet most unfrequented moun- 
 
 THE WETTERHORN 
 
24 INTERLAKEN AND THE GEMMI-PASS. 
 
 tain pass in Switzerland. The route from Interlaken and 
 the lake of Thun leads south through Reichenbach, into the 
 fair, rich lands of Frutigen. For many miles, the way 
 leads through a valley, glowing with fruit and grass and 
 grain. 
 
 Of Frutigen, tradition has its many pleasant and romantic 
 tales. In older times, the people were, as now, a hardy, 
 independent folk; so full of love of liberty and indepen- 
 dence, no hardship checked their ardor to be free. War 
 and misfortune once left the valley with a tax, too great 
 to pay by ordinary means. The people met, determined 
 to be as free from debt as from a foreign rule, and every 
 family in the valley pledged itself to eat no meat for seven 
 years, but use the money thus saved to free them from 
 their tax. The years went by; the tax was paid; the 
 Frutigers were free. 
 
 Their frugal abstinence was pleasantly contrasted with the 
 Saanen folks, their neighbors of a hundred years ago. These 
 Saanenites were given up to coffee quite as much as spinsters 
 of a certain age are given up to cats and tea. 
 
 When harvest days were past, the people made a coffee 
 feast on top of the nearest mountain. The girls went up 
 with coffee, milk and sugar, the boys and men with music 
 and with wine. A great kettle was placed upon a fire, the 
 milk and coffee poured inside and boiled, then pyramids ot 
 sugar were tumbled in ; if sugar failed, salt took its place, and 
 made a most unsavory mess. When all was boiled to perfect 
 blackness, the party spread themselves upon the grass, and 
 with wooden spoons dipped from the pot the live -long 
 day, the next day, and, perhaps, the following week. When 
 surfeited with barrels of coffee and of sour wine, the festive 
 party went below to their labors and their homes. One of 
 these saffron-colored valley folks once asked a friend to 
 come and sup (coffee) with him. The friend dropped in, 
 as he was on his way to church, and having drank eleven 
 cups, the church bells told him he was coming late. He 
 hastily sprang from his seat, swigged down another cup, 
 
INTERLAKEN AND THE GEMMI-PASS. 25 
 
 and hurried off, apologizing all the while for not remaining to 
 drink some coffee with his friend 
 
 At Kandersteg, the ascent of the Gemmi pass begins. 
 The little valley, with its brooks and farms and flowers, is 
 promptly left behind. The way winds up beneath the 
 Gellihorn, through dark forests of fir and pine and cedar. 
 When half way up the pass, the view unfolds itself. 
 
 A multitude of mountain peaks are pointing their grey 
 heads to the sky. To the left, the Rinderhorn, rocky, 
 bleak, and black; in front, a sister Rinderhorn, wearing a 
 cap of pure white snow; and "farther east, the Balm- 
 horn rises from a field of ice that wraps its base, 
 twelve thousand feet. The way leads on through stony 
 wastes and desolate places. A single hut contains the all 
 there is of human life in this lone wilderness of rock and 
 scraggy pine. Here, one can rest and breathe and lunch 
 and learn the story of the murdered girl who lived upon a 
 time within this very hut, and, with her parents, brought the 
 traveler bread and milk and wine; till that bad lust that 
 follows man sometimes, came even here among the desolation 
 of the rocks and storm and clouds, and she was killed. 
 
 A little, dark, and dangerous-looking lake soon edges on 
 the path and makes the desolation more complete. The 
 rocks are bleak and bare; eternal silence seems to reign. 
 A field of ice and snow, dirty and dark and dreary here, 
 feeds the dull waters of the lake that flows without a single 
 sound into some unknown cavern of the rocks. Its mystery, 
 no man hath found, or scarcely sought to penetrate. The 
 silence, the desolation, and the clouds, lead one to conjure 
 up the strangest fancies of the mind. Stories of spirits and 
 of ghosts — of murdered men, walking about the bleared 
 old rocks and gloomy lake in grave clothes, come again. 
 If it were night and moonlight, what a scene were this! 
 
 This gray old glacier who has sat a thousand years, 
 bathing his feet in the dull dark lake he feeds; these gloomy 
 ways; these bare, bold rocks, struggling to cast a shadow- 
 in the lake of night; the distant, glistening peaks, robed in 
 a snow-white mantle, buttoned on with stars; the flitting, 
 
26 
 
 INTERLAKEN AND THE GEMMI-PASS. 
 
 changing clouds, the moaning winds, the ghostly caverns 
 in the rocks, the haunted solitude, the full fofgetfulness of 
 man, would make the time", the place, a something not of 
 earth, yet very far from heaven. 
 
 Such were a moonlight scene around the Dauben see. 
 Ten minutes farther walk, and the very top of the Gemmi 
 pass is reached. In this short walk, how much the scene 
 is changed! The kulm that crowns the pass is sharply 
 
 GEMMI - PASS 
 
 broken on the southern side. The traveler stands upon the 
 edge of an awful precipice. Bold, craggy rocks and walls, 
 two thousand feet in depth, are at his feet, as he looks 
 down into the gulf that breaks off to the Rhone. The sky 
 is clear and blue; the valley of the Rhone, rich in its 
 corn and wine, slopes off to Leman and the sea. Beyond 
 the valley, other mountains lift their heads up to the clouds. 
 The tooth -shaped Matterhorn , the Dent Blanche, and 
 Weisshorn, form the far-off back ground of the scene. To 
 left and right, huge ice fields, ten thousand feet in air, reflect 
 the hot rays -of the summer sun that melts them just enough 
 to feed the little streams, that rush off to the Rhone. 
 
 The pass leads down the face of the mighty wall beneath 
 the travelers feet — a narrow way, skillfully blasted in the 
 
INTERLAKEN AND THE GEMMI-PASS. 27 
 
 granite rock, and sometimes hanging even beyond the 
 perpendicular. At eighteen - hundred feet in hight, the 
 narrow path winds back and forth along the dizzy way and 
 sometimes pushes through the points of far projecting rocks. 
 Below this spiral stair -case from the clouds, lies Leuker- 
 Bath, perhaps the strangest bathing place in all the world. 
 Though this is called the southern foot of Gemrrii pass, 
 the Baths are still almost three thousand feet above the 
 sea and twenty- five hundred feet above the river Rhone, 
 not half a dozen miles away. 
 
 The springs are hot, are very hot for bathing, and flow 
 abundantly. Soldiers and priests, Swedes and Swiss, Dutch, 
 French, and English, female and male, meet in one common 
 bath and boil or soak themselves for many hours a day. 
 The patients are all dressed alike, in long, close, flannel 
 shirts, a sort of sub-marine uniform. An hour at a time is 
 all the soakers take at first; then two, then three; then 
 half the day, and even more. They sit in water to the 
 very neck and talk and eat and laugh and play. Tables 
 of wood float up and down the bath. The mermaids read 
 and pout and chat and play ; the sea-lions ogle , swim, 
 and smoke, or while the hours away with cards. 
 
 Still others, careless of the mermaids floating near, drop off 
 to sleep and, nodding, dream that earth and air have dis- 
 appeared, but hearing some fair bathers laugh, wake up in time 
 to keep from being drowned. The cure is made in twenty- seven 
 days. Nine days of soak and boil produce a rash ; another nine, 
 the rash has seen enough of life and disappears ; another nine, 
 the soaker's cured or killed. He leaves the bath in either case. 
 
 The last few miles that bring the Gemmi pass down the 
 wild romantic Dala to the Rhone, can truthfully be said 
 to be the most delightful ride in Switzerland. The pleasures 
 that one feels in such a place are indescribable. 
 
 The road, smooth as a marble floor, winds through grateful 
 shades, and under overhanging cliffs and banks of bright, 
 green trees. 
 
 A deep, dark gorge, with foaming waters plunging through; 
 old, granite rocks, piled up like palaces ; cascades and falls ; 
 
28 INTERLAKEN AND THE GEMMI-PASS. 
 
 arched bridges, spanning gulfs hundreds of feet in depth; 
 green forests, hanging like royal mantles on lofty mountains, 
 right and left; snow fields that cool the air of Italy; the 
 Gemmi, with its grandeur and desolation, walled to the 
 clouds behind ; the ripened , vine-clad valley of the Rhone 
 below ; — such is the faint picture of a scene, where all the 
 varied beauty and grandeur of the Alps and Switzerland are 
 witnessed in an hour's ride. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Lake of the Forest Cantons. 
 
 WWII 
 
 ARDLY a lake in Switzerland is devoid of 
 some distinguishing loveliness of its own — 
 but if any one may be called more enchanting 
 <^_ -w than all others that one is lake Lucerne, called 
 in German, the Lake of the Forest Cantons. The land where 
 it lies is the classic land of Switzerland. Scarcely a village, 
 a mountain, a rock, on its shores, but is connected in some 
 way with the heroic days of the confederacy. Among the 
 rocks that hang above its waters, Swiss liberty was born. 
 Gessler and Tell and Winkleried may all be myths, but that 
 republicanism lived and glowed in some heroic hearts, and 
 was planted through their sufferings and courage in the 
 bosom of the Swiss mountains and vallies, is a fact upon 
 which their thrilling history rests. It was about the beginning 
 of the twelfth century that the free men of Schwyz first 
 made themselves known by resisting the encroachments 
 of the Einsiedeln Abbots who were claiming, as a present 
 from the emperor of Germany, the high pasture-lands and 
 meadows reaching over towards Brunnen and the lake. The 
 hardy mountaineers resisted successfully every effort made 
 
30 LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 
 
 by the monks and by the German empire itself to rob 
 them of their inherited lands and homes. Outlawry, the ban 
 of the empire , the curse of the pope , was fruitless , used 
 against a people used to liberty. In 1257, the people 
 voluntarily chose count Rudolph of Habsburg, a distinguished 
 soldier, and leader of the Zurich troops, the son of an 
 Alsatian landgrave who was killed in the crusades, as their 
 governor. Sixteen years later, Rudolph was chosen emperor 
 of Germany and under his mild rule the forest people suffered 
 at least no crying wrong; for Rudolph was a- fellow- 
 countryman, almost, and did not forget, in his prosperity, 
 the people among whom he had lived, when his only power 
 was his own good sword. But when Rudolph died and his 
 over ambitious and unscrupulous son Albert secured the 
 throne, a different era dawned on the Helvetian shepherds. 
 Albrecht was not only emperor, but duke of Austria and 
 head of the new ruling family, as well; and a desire to 
 add to the importance and influence of this Austrian house, 
 led him to seek new acquisitions among the mountains and 
 lakes of Helvetia. How he sent vogts or governors to 
 Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden, and how those governors 
 tyrannized over the people, until a choice of rebellion or 
 annihilation was forced upon them, everyone remembers. 
 The secret oath at the Riitli followed, and on Newyear, 
 1308, the different Austrian castles were taken by stratagem, 
 the garrisons paroled and sent home. Gessler, the worst 
 of the Austrian vogts, had been waylaid and killed by Tell, 
 and this was the only blood shed in the quiet revolution 
 that led to the founding of a republic. On the first Sunday 
 of the new year, deputies of the three cantons met down 
 at Brunnen, on the lake, and renewed the Riitli oath and 
 prepared themselves for peace or war. As the Austrians 
 were too busy looking after the imperial crown to avenge 
 themselves just then, quiet and peace were restored to the 
 Helvetian folk for seven years, when the Einsiedeln monks, 
 protected and urged on by Austria, again set up their claim 
 to the forest territory. The duke of Austria at once seized 
 this quarrel as a pretext for an attack upon the Schwyzers. 
 
LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 3 1 
 
 He came to Zug with a magnificent army and at Morgarten was 
 overthrown and destroyed. Again the deputies of the cantons 
 met, and again at Brunnen, and this time established the Swiss 
 confederacy. The town of Schwyz gave the new republic its 
 name, Schweiz — Switzerland. Seventeen years later, 
 Lucerne, the fourth forest canton, joined the confederacy 
 which, under different constitutions and different forms, has 
 lasted until to-day, and which, with the patriotism of its people, 
 the jealousies of its neighbors, and the impenetrableness of 
 its mountain fastnesses, bids fair to live out centuries yet. 
 
 Lucerne, itself, is no longer a town of importance. It is 
 however a picturesque, old place, with handsome walls and 
 towers still standing. Its best buildings are its great hotels, 
 numbering among them one, the National, said to be the 
 largest in the country. 
 
 Politically and socially, the town is comparatively of no 
 importance whatever. What the opening of the St. Gotthard 
 Railway may do for the place in the future, is another 
 question. Like Interlaken, the town is a sort of head 
 quarters for travelers. In fact, it has its only life from 
 travelers whose presence and surplus cash, in the hotels 
 and the many fancy shops, permit the people's putting on 
 some airs in summer time. In, winter, Lucerne is hushed 
 and silent as a tomb. It has but little life and less com- 
 merce, at any time, and art is here confined to Thorwaldsen's 
 great lion, wounded and dying, cut on the face of a sandstone 
 rock, in the open air. It was modeled as a monument to 
 commemorate the massacre of the Swiss guards at the 
 Tuilleries in 1792. It is a striking illustration of what the 
 hand of genius can do in art, even where nature forgets to 
 lavish her usual helps. 
 
 The stone is poor and seamed, and continual drippings 
 from a spring above are fast defacing portions of the work. 
 As a work of art, it is something of which Lucerne may 
 well be proud; but it would appear to better advantage, if 
 the dirty duck-pond which the Lucerners allow to flourish 
 at its base were quickly and forever abolished, the ducks 
 baked , and the old man who hangs about the scene in 
 
32 LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 
 
 dashing regimentals, sent about his business. The old habit 
 of having every year many feasts, festivals, shooting-matches, 
 wrestling-matches, jubilees, and the like, to bring the people 
 together, continues, and the town of Lucerne adds one 
 peculiar fete to the list, in the shape of a festivial and march 
 in carnival time. Three hundred years ago, a jovial-hearted 
 townsman, named Fritschi, died and left the whole of his 
 fortune to be expended in paying from year to year the expenses 
 of an hilarious march to the hills, where he, in life, had held 
 high revelry. The procession is headed by music and a troop 
 of gaily dressed boys. The sober citizens, wearing the war 
 harness of the olden time, are next in train and are followed 
 by the deputy of Fritschi here on earth who bears a sfreat 
 silver goblet in his hand, filled with wine which is offered 
 to whoever still drinks Fritschi's health. Behind the goblet 
 and the flowing wine come other mounted troops, with 
 bright banners and the gear of pageantry. Behind it all, 
 comes Fritschi himself with his own good wife, both dressed 
 in the white and blue colors of the canton. The marching 
 and parading done, the people spend the evening and the 
 night with song and dance and wine and, once a year, 
 at least, is jolly Fritschi's health well drunk in the fair, old 
 town, Lucerne. 
 
 These forest cantons are all catholic in religion, patriotic 
 in sentiment, and backward in the things that give states 
 worldly influence. Of the 230 newspapers published in 
 Switzerland , not one appears in the catholic canton Uri. 
 Of the commerce and industry that characterize so much 
 of the country, but the merest fractions can be put down 
 to those cantons where Catholicism exclusively prevails. 
 
 Not only commerce and general industry lag far behind, 
 in the Swiss dominions of the pope, but art and literature 
 and public libraries stand in the second rank. Though the 
 oldest states in the Swiss confederacy, the forest cantons 
 are, in almost every particular direction, the least advanced. 
 The people who were shepherds and goat herds, five hundred 
 years ago, in the mountains by lake Lucerne, are shepherds 
 and goatherds still, in 1874, while the peasants of the' 
 
LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 33 
 
 protestant cantons not only feed their goats and till their 
 meager lands, but engage in many outside industries that 
 make their lot a happier and a more fortunate one. That 
 a sad and extraordinary difference, as to everything called 
 advancement and modern thought, prevails between the 
 catholic and protestant portions of Switzerland, no man can 
 fail to recognize; and honest catholics themselves, though 
 they fail to see the cause of the difference, will readily 
 admit the fact. It is the same old story repeated here, to 
 a certain extent, as in Italy, in France, and Spain, where 
 priests have ruled. 
 
 But the forest cantons are not the dead, old, papal states, 
 nor Italy, nor France, nor Spain. More books, more schools, 
 and more intelligence are here. The Jesuit priests are also 
 here, but not in all their papal panoply. The general 
 government can chase them out — will chase them out, should 
 there be any too much reverence for the bulls from Rome. 
 The laws must be obeyed ; if not, the Mermillods are handed 
 to the town police and the town police can march them off 
 to France or Italy. • 
 
 So say the Federal functionaries up at Berne ; and while 
 this driving out of priests, without a judge or trial, smacks 
 much of tyranny, in a democratic state like this, the anti- 
 Jesuits approve complacently. 
 
 In catholic Switzerland, intelligence is not confined to 
 priests alone, else Switzerland might be what France and 
 Italy and Spain have been. Here everybody reads, and 
 everybody votes and the evil influence of designing ones 
 is checked and neutralized by the people's own best monitors, 
 — themselves. 
 
 It is not however the Jesuits, nor the merry-makers of 
 Lucerne, nor the goat herds of the mountains, that tourists 
 go to see in the forest cantons ; but Nature, bountiful and 
 beautiful. Perhaps no other lake in Europe presents so 
 many and so varied charms as lake Lucerne. It is but 
 twenty-seven miles in length; but in these twenty-seven 
 miles, what change of scene, of pretty glades and glens, 
 of hills and meadow lands, of mighty walls of rock, of 
 
 Switzerland. -j 
 
34 LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 
 
 mountain peaks and snowy Alps and, finer than all, the 
 fair, blue lake itself. The lake is a cross; its head at the 
 town Lucerne, its foot below Fluelen, and its arms reaching 
 over from Alpnach to Kiisnacht. The waters, however, 
 run up the cross instead of down. Off Altstadt, there is 
 a point, where, from the steamer, one sees the lake through 
 each of its arms, and nowhere do%s it seem finer. Yet 
 there are a score of points on the water, above the rocks, 
 seeming to rival all other points in the wondrous landscape 
 they unfold. The lake has a number of secure harbors, 
 behind each of which nestles some pretty village , waiting 
 to be stormed by travelers. 
 
 In each of these bays, or harbours, the water has a tint 
 exclusively its own. The general tone of the water, however, 
 is greenish-blue, and it is the highest above the sea of all 
 the large Swiss lakes. It is framed in, in part , by walls of 
 rock, from five hundred to two thousand feet in hight, and 
 back of these are mountains , two and three times as high 
 again, that stand as stepping stones or breastworks to the 
 still higher Alps, mantled in eternal snow. It is a picture 
 such as no artist ever made, no pen ever yet described, 
 and yet, with all its thousand charms, with all its grandeur, 
 there is a solitude that tires, eventually, even Nature's wor- 
 shippers. It lacks the twenty thousand pleasant homes of 
 Zurich lake , the fruitful vines of Neuchatel , and Leman's 
 swelling sails and half Italian skies. In a storm, Lucerne 
 is something more than grand. The winds, howling down from 
 the St. Gotthard, — the mighty rocks, half mantled in dark 
 clouds, — pouring, roaring mountain torrents, vivid lighting, 
 and terrific thunder-bolts, conspire to make an awe-inspiring 
 scene, once witnessed, never to be forgot. As a picture, it is 
 . fairest when seen on a clear, warm summer day, from mount 
 Pilatus, or the Rigi Kulm. This last named mountain is a mis- 
 cellaneous pile of rock, thirty-six miles in circumference, at the 
 foot, and five thousand five hundred and forty-one feet in hight. 
 Three bright lakes wash its base, while dark forests and 
 green pastures hang upon its sides, except where its northern 
 wall stands nearly perpendicular. The Rigi is an outpost 
 
LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 35 
 
 of the Alps and stands almost alone. It has a number of tops, 
 or horns, the highest of which is called the Kulm ; and this point, 
 reached by rail, commands a view entirely unsurpassed for 
 variety of scene, even in the Alps. To the north, the hills and 
 plains of German Switzerland, the far-off hills of Suabia, the 
 Black Forest, and the outlines of the Jura alps. From east 
 to south and west, extend the mountains of Appenzell, the 
 group of the St. Gotthard, and the monarchs of the Bernese 
 Oberland. Glimpses of thirteen lakes are had, green rivers, 
 nestling villages, and miles of harvest fields. 
 
 How the Rigi impressed the Swiss some sixty years ago, 
 when it first became known, can be imagined by reading 
 the words of Hegner. In 18 10, Gerold Meyer of Knonau 
 who later, in his Topography of canton Schwyz, has accurately 
 described the Rigi, went up with a little company and related 
 afterwards how, at that time, a girl of the locality said in an 
 explanatory way : "Da schaut me zu iich und i Danemark 
 und in alii di Lander use". "From here one can see Zurich, 
 Denmark, and all other countries". A few years later, the 
 talented Ulrich Hegner came up on the hight which he 
 had already ascended forty years earlier. It had already 
 often been pictured, what the people up there had experien- 
 ced, either by themselves, or according to the writings of 
 a certain Red Book; but probably the best' of the Rigi 
 literature is what Hegner wrote down briefly as his impression 
 upon his entrance into this higher world. "At last, we 
 came to the hitherto closed-up region above, at the border 
 of the Staffel, where, at once, a whole world opens up 
 towards the north and where we forgot, in a moment, heat 
 and fatigue, — yes, the whole life that lay behind us. Above 
 and around us, the sun shone out from a cloudless heaven 
 and, below us, we perceived, not the whole view of the 
 country, but an illimitable, white ocean of fog that lay still 
 upon the landscape and reached half as high as the moun- 
 tain. From this sea, the rocks of the near Pilatus raised 
 themselves up like a sea-coast, and all was as still as though 
 a second heaven were under us. Views from the hights 
 into the depths of the country, we had already often seen, 
 
36 LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 
 
 but never yet such a sea of cloud under us. So must Noah 
 have looked down from the mountain, where his ark rested, 
 when the water still lay upon the depths. 'And there, 
 under this still canopy', we said to each other, and had 
 difficulty to comprehend it, 'surges ever-moving human life, 
 in sorrow and in joy. Under there, are our brothers, 
 striving like the ants, burrowing like the moles, seeking with 
 unsteady eyes the sun of peace which surrounds us here 
 above. We, also, will again go down into the turmoil and 
 often throw fearful glances into the heavens. Let us then 
 not forget what we here, seeing, have felt ; that in spiritual, 
 as well as in physical life, the dusky vail which, obscures our 
 vision is woven from lightest mist, over which in even the 
 lesser hights, the golden light of a glorious day prevails". 
 It is a glorious panorama and one that was more enjoyable 
 to the lovers of nature before the Rigi railway crowded its 
 top with ten thousand noisy travelers, whole hordes of 
 whom go up , more for the novelty of the miniature rail- 
 road, than to witness nature's magnificence. Quiet and peace 
 and meditation are no longer to be had on the Rigi. Jostling 
 and excited crowds, rushing for seats, fighting for beds, and 
 all the hundred nuisances that come of overfilled hotels, is 
 the order of the day there now. The shady path that leads 
 from Arth is still preferred by those who have tried the 
 railroad once or twice to any other way that leads to the 
 Rigi-Kulm. And there are good reasons, too, why Alpine 
 see-ers should prefer to ride a horse, or go on foot through 
 shady paths, instead of creeping up a mountain on a 
 crowded railway car. A railroad on a mountain — and 
 the romance , the adventure , and half the pleasure of the 
 thing are gone; and yet these avaricious stock concerns are 
 threatening the Arth side of the Rigi with an iron road. 
 When that is consummated, mountaineers may seek for plea- 
 sure somewhere else than here and leave the Rigi to the 
 railroads, the porters, and the big hotels. As a piece of 
 engineering, the Rigi-Bahn, as it is called, is worthy of the 
 great success it meets. It was opened for passengers on the 
 23 d of May, 187 1, since when it has carried its hundreds 
 
LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 37 
 
 of thousands up the mountain and down, without a single 
 accident of note. The grade averages twenty-two per cent 
 and, in the steeper places, twenty- five per cent and more 
 is reached. From the Rigi Staffel to the Kulm, the grade 
 is steeper still. The road is modeled after the White moun- 
 tain road, in the United States. There are three, instead of 
 two, rails ; the middle one having deep steel cogs to fit the 
 teeth of the large, steel wheel of the locomotive. The 
 engines are of peculiar construction and built especially for 
 mountain use. They are of a hundred and twenty horse 
 power, with upright boilers, and so arranged as to be stopped 
 instantly, if desired. They are not coupled to the cars, but 
 push them up from behind, one car to each locomotive. 
 In making the descent, the locomotive is at the front and 
 holds the car from moving too rapidly. Speed is left out 
 of the question entirely, as the train scarcely makes three 
 miles an hour, up or down. The carriages are light, open 
 at the sides, to permit a view, and seat nearly sixty per- 
 sons. The road crosses a deep ravine at one point, on an 
 iron bridge, two hundred and seventy feet long, standing 
 at an angle of twenty- five degrees. The road has proved 
 a source of profit to the owners. Sixty thousand and more 
 tickets were sold in the first running season of a hundred 
 and forty-six days and the passenger traffic seems to be 
 on the increase continually. It has made the ascent of the 
 Rigi easy and comfortable. What it has made the Rigi 
 itself, has already been observed. But the Rigi, queen of 
 the mountains, though she be, is not the only height attracting 
 travelers to lake Lucerne. Pilatus, her neighbor, sitting grandly 
 on the other side of the lake, is her superior in everything 
 but the lighter charms. He is her king and , if he frowns, 
 with a fog about his brow, all wooers of the Rigi stay 
 below. Pilatus looks down more than a thousand feet upon 
 the Rigi's highest crown. Though not among the very highest 
 of the Alps, it is still, when measured from its base on lake 
 Lucerne, one of the highest mountains in Switzerland. 
 
 It was well known, even to the Romans, many a century 
 ago; and no mountain has been associated with so many 
 
38 LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 
 
 myths, tales, and traditions, in the past, as this. Its top is 
 rough and wild and dreary and the Tomlishorn, its highest 
 point, or Kulm, is a colossal rock, flung above the moun- 
 tain and piercing the sky. Around this rocky horn, like a 
 spiral stairway, little, narrow, unsafe steps are cut, by which 
 the adventurer may mount to the very apex of the cone 
 and view, from this dizzy height, the meadows, lakes, hills 
 and villages that lie five thousand feet below. In ascending 
 the Esel, a second horn in the crown of Pilatus, the zigzag 
 path would suddenly terminate against an overhanging cliff, 
 were it not that nature has bored a sort of hole or chimmey, 
 twenty-five feet in height, through the solid rock. Up this 
 chimmey a pair of wooden steps have been built and, when 
 the scrambler has made his tour through the dark hole in 
 the rock and suddenly emerges at the top and looks into 
 the bright, blue sky above, and the bluer lake far, far below, 
 the sensation is one of relief, delight, and fear; relief 
 that the climb is done, delight with the glorious scene, and 
 fear of the deep and threatening abyss. Behind him , the 
 chalky horns of the Pilatus sentinels lift up their dismal 
 heads. In front, and right and left, are all the Alps, mantled 
 in snow and ice. The scene richly repays the. climb of half 
 a dozen hours, the aching limbs, and the burning brow. 
 There is a good path now which, though steep, is ascended 
 by ladies, even, to the top and which leads at times 
 through Alpine meadows with grazing herds and singing 
 mountaineers. 
 
 The little huts seen on the grass and rocks at times, and 
 so commonly caled chalets, are the cow-men's homes. In 
 these little huts of two or three compartments, one for the 
 goats in storm , one for the cheese , and one for himself, 
 the mountaineer conducts the business of a dairyman. All 
 day he leads his cows and goats to the freshest grass upon 
 the mountain side. At night, he shuts them in their pens, 
 repeats his prayers, and sleeps beneath the quiet of the 
 stars. When winter comes, the cowboy, with his goats and 
 cows and cheese, goes down the mountain to the villages 
 below and, on his coming, there is song and dance and 
 
LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 39 
 
 wine, with thanks to Him who made the grass to grow and 
 blessed the summer with the dews and rain. 
 
 The pretty steamers on lake Lucerne are comfortable — 
 the new ones, even elegant. The fares are low and the officers 
 are gentlemen. The last remark may be made of most of the 
 railway and steamboat officials in Switzerland, common carriers 
 being here the people's servants, not their masters, as is the 
 case in that greater republic where so wonderfully much is said 
 of independence, freedom, antimonopoly, and the like. Such 
 officials here are usually in uniform and wear some badge 
 or number to designate the particular post which they may 
 fill. Want of politeness to travelers who are polite themselves 
 is not allowed, and the rule is that an officer who has been 
 three times complained of for improper conduct is not to 
 be considered worthy of employment and is, at the third 
 complaint, discharged from service. The boats touch at 
 nearly all the points of special interest on the lake. On 
 the right side of the lake and above Brunnen, sitting on the 
 rocks over the water's edge, is Tell's chapel, built in 1388, a 
 monument to mark the spot where Tell escaped from Gessler 
 in the storm. This chapel is under the Axenstrasse, one of 
 the finest pieces of engineering in the country. It is a post- 
 road , cut along and through the face of the wall of rock, 
 hundreds of feet above the lake. It is twenty-one feet wide 
 and three miles long, blasted out at an expense of a million 
 francs. A little further down the lake and on the left side, 
 a stupendous rock rises up from the water. It has been 
 dedicated to the poet Schiller whose drama of William Tell 
 immortalized the lake and its surroundings. Is is worthy of 
 remark that Schiller himself never saw lake Lucerne, and 
 the play which proved his masterpiece was first suggested 
 by his friend Gcethe. Close to the Schiller rock and on 
 the main land, is the little meadow where the three patriots 
 met, on a dark December night of 1307, and swore to 
 unbind the fetters of the forest people. Within a year, the 
 appointed deputies of the three forest cantons met in an old 
 house, still standing at Brunnen on the other side, and there 
 formed the first alliance or nucleus of the confederacy. At 
 
4Q 
 
 LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 
 
 the extremity of the lake's arm reaching eastwards, is .still 
 another chapel, or monument, erected to Tell in 1482, on 
 the spot where he killed Gessler. At Altorf, on the Reuss 
 and just above the lake, a plaster statue, given by the riflemen 
 of Zurich, marks the spot where, tradition says, Tell shot the 
 apple from the head of his brave boy. In a little valley, 
 not a mile away, another monument points the spot where 
 William Tell was born. 
 
 The scenery about this classic spot is superlatively grand. 
 
 The rapid Reuss, bearing the debris of the avalanches to 
 
 the lake, — stupendous walls of rock, — lofty mountains - — 
 
 .__ -^,. ^ _■<.__. dark, deep vallies, and 
 
 rushing torrents , deepen 
 the impressions history and 
 tradition have made upon 
 the mind. 
 
 The people who live in 
 the vallies leading to the 
 lake, have changed but 
 little since the times of 
 Tell. Honest and inde- 
 pendent, stiff-necked and 
 frugal, they lead a quiet, 
 pastoral life, free of all 
 innovations or very new 
 ideas. Their Altorf monu- 
 ment to Tell stands on 
 ground to them almost sacred. The figure would have more of 
 the heroic to the stranger's heart and eye, were it not re- 
 membered that within a rifle shot of this very place, an editor 
 was publicly and officially cowhided a few years since for print- 
 ing his opinions of the church. It is legal, here in Uri, and may 
 be democratic in idea, but it is not progessive, very, to be 
 thrashing people in the streets for their opinions of the priests; 
 .but this is one of the many strange inconsistencies of Swiss 
 liberty, as exemplified in one of the places where Swiss liberty 
 was born. In a few years, the St. Gotthard railroad tunnel will be 
 built, commerce and trade will force new light into this corner of 
 
 TELLS CHAPEL at KUSSNACHT 
 
LAKE OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 
 
 41 
 
 the land of Tell; the people will then beat their sheep- 
 hooks and milk-pails into spinning-wheels and looms, and the 
 land will cease to find its mental nourishment in one idea. 
 Tired of wagoning over the top of the Alps , Italy, 
 France and Germany determined to pierce the St. Gotthard 
 with a tunnel similar to the one under the Appenines. Three 
 years since, the three states most concerned subscribed eighty- 
 five million francs for the undertaking; but as this sum was 
 found insufficient, a company was formed with one hundred 
 and two millions more , making the total estimate of the 
 cost of the tunnel and road one hundred and eighty- seven 1 
 million francs. The contract was let, to be finished in eight 
 years, and the work is being pushed. Already Swiss, Ger- 
 man, and Italian workmen are drilling the granite and 
 crystal rocks far under the Alps. The rocky peaks sur- 
 rounded in snow, the storm, the avalanche, are far above 
 their heads. They hear and know them not, for down, 
 deep in the darkness of the earth, man seeks to compass 
 even the anger of the elements. 
 
 A FOREST CANTON PEASANT HOUSE 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Zurich City. 
 
 "Next to 
 Damascus," 
 said an EngJ 
 lish traveler 
 
 once, "Zurich is the fairest, friendliest, old city of the hemi- 
 sphere". Whoever stands upon the upper Limmat bridge, 
 on some calm, summer's evening, when the atmosphere is 
 clear, and looks to the south and east, will see a sight as fair 
 indeed as any of the world. Beneath his feet, the broad, green 
 river rushes by. On right and left are old cathedrals, casting 
 
ZURICH CITY. 43 
 
 their shadows to the low-arched bridge ; in front, the enchan- 
 ting lake, the green clad Albis hills, the smiling villages, 
 the snow-topped Glaernish Alps. The sun sinks low behind 
 the western hills. His lingering rays, striking the Glaernish 
 rocks and snow and ice, produce the Alpine glow, making the 
 semicircle of the Alps shine like a thousand crystal palaces. 
 The sun sinks lower still. The Alpine glow, the crystal 
 palaces, are gone, and in their stead, are bleak and 
 dreary walls and peaks of rock — wierd, flitting clouds 
 — shadows that move about like ghosts — cold fields of 
 snow and ice. 
 
 Zurich was an old town, a thousand years ago. A half a 
 century before the birth of Christ, tradition says the Hel- 
 vetians burned this among their other towns and villages 
 and started off to Gaul and Italy in search of a warmer 
 climate and a more grateful soil. When Caesar defeated 
 them and compelled them to return to the Alps and rebuild 
 their towns, Zurich was made a Roman military station and 
 called Turicum. Centuries went by, and with them went 
 from Zurich the Roman legions and the Roman civilization. 
 Old, ruined walls and fragments of fortresses about the town, 
 recall the time when Latins lived on the Helvetian lakes 
 and Vindonissa, tradition says, was half as large as Rome. 
 Four centuries later than the birth of Christ, the Allemanic 
 hordes came in and burned and built, and built and burned, 
 in all the district eastward from the river Aare. They left, 
 at least, their language to the invaded land, and canton 
 Zurich speaks a dialect in 1875 that was the Allemanic 
 tongue of fourteen centuries ago. In the year 499, the city 
 was again rebuilt by Clovis, the Frankish king, and was, 
 for centuries, ruled by Suabian dukes and counts of Thur- 
 govie. After the death of Rudolph of Habsburg who had 
 been her steady friend, Zurich, an imperial city then, allied 
 herself with Schwyz and Urij to protect and to help in 
 time of need. Twenty years later, Austria marched an 
 army against the Uri and the Schwyzer folk and Zurich 
 marched along. Morgarten was fought in 1315. Austria 
 was whipped, and nearly all the Zurich troops engaged were 
 
44 ZURICH CITY. 
 
 killed. In six and thirty years from then, Zurich, herself, 
 was pressed by „ the Austrian duke and turned her face to 
 the forest cantons, not to fight, but for help and for admission 
 as a member of the first Swiss league. Her proposal was 
 accepted and for five and a quarter centuries Zurich canton 
 has been an independent self ruling republic — a faithful 
 member of the Bund of democratic states , composing 
 Switzerland. 
 
 The city sits like a beautiful crescent around the foot of 
 the lake and is seen to the best advantage, if viewed from 
 the Waid or from the hills near Bandlikon. 
 
 The old and the new are strangely intermingled in the 
 houses, in the streets, and in the parks. 
 
 Fair, granite piles, built yesterday, stand side by side with 
 queer old tpwers, walls, and churches of two, three and even 
 five and six, centuries ago. The finest modern street the city 
 has, covers throughout its length a broad, deep ditch that was, 
 in the olden time, a moat outside the military gates and walls. 
 A lovely park stands where the walls of a Roman fortress 
 have fallen to decay. A pretty schoolhouse of a modern style 
 crowds close upon a miinster built when Charlemagne was , 
 emperor. New fountains, built of brass and bronze but 
 yesterday, are playing close by fountains and statues of 
 another age. The railway train that rushes to the finest 
 railroad station in the world is met by the lumbering moun- 
 tain diligence, and the shrill scream of the lake steamer is 
 answered by the driver's horn. 
 
 There are streets that are broad and fair, and there are 
 streets so steep and narrow that Falstaff, with his jolly, 
 laughing sides, never could have worried through, and where 
 the Zurich lovers of the olden time reached hands across 
 and kissed their pretty sweethearts from the upper windows 
 of their homes. The houses vary as the streets and as the 
 times in which they have been built. 
 
 But every house, high or low, good or bad, old or new, is 
 built of stone and built as if to last till the final trump of doom. 
 No single style prevails to the exclusion of all other styles. 
 Specimens of Dutch, of French, of Florentine, and Roman- 
 
ZURICH CITY. 45 
 
 esque architecture are seen, while many houses on many 
 streets possess no style or architecture of any kind that 
 men would think to imitate to-day. High, old, rusty-colored 
 houses, with pointed gables and corner windows, still are 
 seen. The entrances to these are cold, forbidding looking 
 halls, paved with brick or stone, and are as often at the 
 back part of the house as at the front. The oaken doors 
 with their heavy iron knockers, swing to like gateways to 
 a jail. 
 
 The rooms are dark and dull, the ceilings low, but the 
 floors are white and clear as shining sand, and the great 
 white porcelain stove, built in a former age, still fills an 
 ample portion of the room and is the most prominent 
 article of ornament and use in all these antiquated homes. 
 
 But after all, these queer, old, crooked streets, these 
 houses with their hanging eaves, their rusty tiles and corner 
 balconies, are what the traveler and the artist love to see 
 but soon can see no more; for they are passing away and 
 in their stead grow up new granite piles and palaces. But 
 not the traveler alone will miss these monuments of other 
 days. The Switzers, too, have bits of sentiment about such 
 things as these, and the eyes of more than one old Zuricher 
 were wet, a few years since, on learning that the council 
 had resolved to tear away the city's mossy walls and towers, 
 and, in their stead, build modern streets. 
 
 How Zurich people lived, loved, and died, when these old 
 homes were new, the musty records, full of love and law, and 
 gossip, carefully relate. The queerest customs, ways, and things 
 were fixed by law or regulated by the town police. 
 
 At wedding parties in the old, old times, not more than 
 twenty guests could be invited, and a forward step in Zurich's 
 social life was made, when a city ordinance allowed that 
 more than six right handsome folks could attend a wedding 
 together, if they chose. Two singers, two fiddlers, and a pair 
 of hautboys made all the music that the law allowed. The 
 prices paid for wedding dinners, though discriminating in favor 
 of unmarried girls, were fixed. The gallant bridegroom paid 
 the bill which never could exceed three cents for every invited 
 
46 ZURICH CITY. 
 
 male, two cents for married females, and a cent and a half for 
 each unmarried girl. Fourteen years for girls and sixteen years 
 for boys was thought to be the ripened age to which the 
 marriage act could safely be postponed. But even with these 
 accumulated years, papa's consent was not to be despised. 
 When such consent was asked, the parents of the asked- 
 for bride assembled with all the household around the 
 family board. The blushing pair were asked to drink from 
 the same cup", sit on the same stool, eat with the same spoon, 
 in fact — and then the stern, old parent yielded with a 
 <long drawn Ja. 
 
 Funerals were not less strange in character than marriages. 
 In all the churches, black mourning-cloth was kept for the 
 poor to use, free of charge. 
 
 When men of worth, or some near friend dropped off, a 
 sort of Irish wake was held and all the friends assembled, 
 to eat to gluttony, and to drink the dead one's health. 
 Expensive show of dress or funeral gear was not allowed, 
 and as late as the days of Zwihgli even , . the country 
 people brought their dead upon a board and coffinless. 
 
 A sixpence paid the sexton for his work of covering up 
 the corpse with clay, not less than fifteen inches deep. Still 
 others wrapped their dead from head to foot with many 
 folds of cloth , sewed them up like mummies , and turned 
 them over to the vestryman for burial. 
 
 Gravestones were not allowed and, dead or alive, but 
 little more than twenty hours elapsed before the body was 
 slipped into the grave. Even to-day, unpairited boxes 
 instead of coffins are used for the dead in Zurich, and iron 
 crosses oftenest mark the last, long resting place. Bodies 
 of culprits who were put to death for crime were burned or 
 given to the lake, while suicides received no burial at all, 
 but were, as a rule, tumbled into the nearest ditch. 
 
 Church-going was thought a saving ordinance and was 
 enforced by fines and corporal punishment. Staying away 
 from church, on Sunday mornings, especially, was followed, 
 two hundred years ago, by loss of citizenship; and stan- 
 ding at the church's door, to see the comers-out and 
 
ZURICH CITY. 47 
 
 the goers-in, was numbered with the things forbidden by- 
 law. 
 
 Sermons, long spun and wandering from the point in 
 hand, were cut short by the town officers who recommen- 
 ded brevity as the soul of wisdom as well as wit, and that 
 even preachers should stop talking when they had nothing 
 more to say. 
 
 Dress had its limits, too. Gold and silver ornaments, 
 worn on ladies dresses, were unlawful, except at weddings. 
 At church, the women always dressed in black; the men 
 wore mantles, knee breeches, and fancy stockings, but were 
 sometimes fined for not having both stockings of the same 
 color. Zwingli's successor went into the Grossmunster pulpit 
 with coat of black fur , white breeches , red jacket , and a 
 dagger in his belt. Trains were not within the pale of law. 
 Dresses, the city governors said, must not be too long at 
 the bottom, nor too short at the top ; the low-necked style 
 in vogue must not be overdone. Three fingers was made 
 the legal limit to which the girls might cut their dresses 
 down in front. 
 
 The easy women of the town were made to wear red 
 hoods, to indicate the easy lives they led. In church, — 
 they had to go to church, these easy Magdalenes, the bright, 
 red hood was laid upon the shoulder, indicating still its 
 wearer's frailties. 
 
 But the queer, old-fashioned ways and things of Zurich are 
 disappearing with the city's mossy walls and moats and towers. 
 A newer city with newer people is crowding in where the old 
 town stood, and while many of the social customs of former 
 centuries still prevail, new Zurich breathes a freer life, 
 changed to a certain extent, to suit the modern tide of 
 trade , of commerce , and of art. Still old and cramped 
 and angular in social life, the city struggles to cast off 
 the fetters of dead ages and to reap the benefits that 
 come of change and of keeping up with the world's new 
 pace. 
 
 Her tradesmen , bankers , teachers , manufacturers , and 
 business men generally, are awake to the new idea of 
 
48 ZURICH CITY. 
 
 progress. Her cobweb class, no very small one either, a class 
 who live among the dead things of the past, smell musty as 
 the tomb and hang like millstones on the city's neck. 
 
 One jog ahead on the city's part, and these old rusty 
 coaches tumble out of joint and everything and every man in 
 Zurich stops, to oil them up and get them on their feet 
 again. 
 
 The canton, though the seventh in size, is the first in 
 commercial importance in the country. She is the second in 
 wealth , the second in population , the first in schools, the 
 first in political consequence, and is the literary centre of 
 the whole. Zurich's industry is changing the picturesque, 
 old town to a splendid modern mart, whence commerce 
 and trade extend their arms to almost every quarter of the 
 globe. Her business representatives go out to China, Russia, 
 North und South America, — and half the islands of the 
 sea pay tribute, more or less, to modern Swiss industry. 
 The cotton of the sunny south is picked, baled and sent 
 across the sea, to be spun among the Alps. The Chinese 
 silk-worms reel their fairy threads to be sent to the looms 
 of Zurich. Egyptian cotton leaves the Pharaohs' land and 
 the sons and daughters of Alpine shepherds weave it into 
 fair embroideries. 
 
 The busiest industry conducted here is that of silk. Zurich 
 is the second silk stuff manufacturing city of the world, and 
 almost rivals Lyons in the quantity, if not in the quality, of 
 the stuffs produced. The colored silks and the cheaper qualities 
 of blacks are as well woven at Zurich as at Lyons and at 
 smaller cost. 
 
 Who buys good black silks, buys Lyons silks. Who 
 buys the cheapest, buys Zurich silks; but the tremendous 
 amount of Zurich silk that, in America, is sold as Lyons 
 silk, is something quite astonishing. 
 
 Not one woman in twenty can tell by her own judgment 
 whether the heavy silk, dextrously spread before her eyes 
 on the New York counter, is heavy by reason of its great 
 number of fine strong threads, or by reason of the pounds 
 and pounds of rotten dye stuff of which it is composed. 
 
ZURICH CITY. 49 
 
 The heavy silks are not all Lyons silks, nor are heavy 
 silks all good silks, as the manufacturer knows. But Zurich's 
 summer silks, and a few of her heavier ones equal in 
 quality and price the silks of France. The process by 
 which the humble worm is made to clothe the luxury-loving 
 lilies of the day is novel and interesting. 
 
 In Italy, in France, or far-off China, the silk worm, well- 
 fattened on his mulberry leaves, spins about himself his 
 round, ball-like cocoon, and when his grubship's home is 
 built, and he is ready to pierce his castle walls and soar 
 away, no longer grub, but butterfly, the silk man comes 
 and dashes castle and grub into a basin of boiling water. 
 The grub is boiled and killed, to prevent his cutting through 
 and ruining the fairy threads of which his castle, or cocoon, 
 is made. The dead old grub and his water-soaked cocoon 
 are oftenest sent to Lombardy, where nimble-fingered girls 
 wind off the miles and miles of gossamer threads that made the 
 dead grub's home. The prices of these raw silks fluctuate 
 as much as the price of gold or bonds on Wall street, but 
 the usual rates will average perhaps fifty francs to the pound 
 for the best and sixteen francs for the poorest quality pro- 
 duced. The very best of them, however, are worth their 
 weight in silver. Time was when they were valued, pound 
 for pound, with gold. 
 
 In strength these gossamer threads are equal to iron wires 
 of the same thickness ; and a cord of twisted silk, as thick 
 as the cable sustaining the Niagara bridge, would sustain the 
 same strain as easily. These threads are twisted by twos 
 and fours and, again twisted, are wagoned across the Alps 
 to Switzerland and are there again twisted and reeled and 
 made ready for the dyer's hands. The coloring establish- 
 ments are near the lake and the low-covered boats anchored 
 on the water at many points between Zurich and Rappersweil 
 are usually filled with men, engaged in washing the skein 
 silk just from the dye. Day in, day out, summer and winter, 
 with their arms to their elbows in the cold water of the 
 lake, and always stooping over the side of the boats, these 
 washers work for from sixty to eighty cents a day. 
 
 Switzerland. a 
 
50 ZURICH CITY. 
 
 Colored, washed, dried, and weighed, the silk is packed 
 in the manufacturer's magazine, and is ready for the loom. 
 These looms for weaving silk are found in almost every 
 peasant's house around the lake. They are usually plain, 
 cheap, wooden structures , resembling in every respect the 
 old carpet looms so often found among the farmers of our 
 own country. Almost all the peasant women weave between 
 the scanty hours given to the duties of the house. 
 
 In half the homes along the lake, the noise of the loom 
 and the click of the busy shuttle are ever heard, from early 
 morning till late at night. 
 
 The manufacturer weighs out to the peasant woman the 
 raw silk for the week or month. For every pound of raw 
 silk given out, a given quantity of woven stuffs will be 
 required at the magazine, within a given time. The pay 
 for weaving silk is by the yard, and differs with the cha- 
 racter of stuff upon the looms , as Gros grains , Rayes , or 
 Poult de soies, each one requiring a different degree of labor 
 and of watchfulness. Two francs to three francs a day is 
 about as much as the peasant weavers usually can make, 
 but this amount is made without material neglect of the 
 woman's ordinary household cares. 
 
 As late as twenty-five years ago only, Zurich reelers and 
 weavers earned but five to ten cents per day. The men 
 who build the palaces are not the men who usually live in 
 them when they are done, and so it is with those who 
 weave the silken fabrics princes wear. The weaving people 
 nearly all are poor and the only luxury in the house is 
 the handsome silk their tired hands weave for other people's 
 use. The quantities of silk woven by Switzerland in her 
 peasant homes is wonderful. Two hundred and fifteen 
 million francs worth are sent away in a single year. Of 
 this immense amount, some forty millions worth were sent, 
 last year, to the United States, and there paid a duty of 
 sixty per cent, plus the freight, plus the insurance and 
 commission of the agents through whose hands it may have 
 passed. Thus it generally happens that dress silks, costing 
 
ZURICH CITY. SI 
 
 but little more than a dollar a yard in Zurich, cost two, and 
 even three and four dollars, in the United States, and dearer 
 silks, of course, are sold proportionately higher. That silks 
 cannot be woven in the United States, to compete with 
 those of Zurich, Lyons, or Crefeld, is wholly the result of 
 a want of technical knowledge of the business. They are 
 woven as well by machinery as by hand, and power looms 
 could be worked, it would seem, in the United States, as 
 cheaply as the hand looms can be worked in Europe. 
 Even here in Zurich, where hand-labor is so cheap, the few 
 power-looms there are in factories compete most favorably 
 as to quality and cost of silk produced. There is no material 
 gain by using power-looms here, it is true, but in America 
 with her protective advantage the important gain would 
 soon be apparent. The present plan of producing and 
 disposing of much of the silk stuff used, is this. The cocoons 
 raised in China or Japan are sent through the United States 
 to Lombardy to be reeled. From Lombardy, the raw silk 
 goes to Zurich or Lyons, to be woven, and then goes back 
 to the United States, paying a gold duty of sixty per cent 
 to get in and be consumed. 
 
 Zurich alone has more than thirty-three thousand persons 
 engaged in throwing, dyeing, and weaving silk and the millions 
 of capital used in the business is, as a rule, not only well, 
 but very profitably employed. Zurich has an immense 
 cotton and iron industry besides. By the latter, an enormous 
 amount of work of excellent character is turned out every 
 year. The city builds not only the iron steamers for the 
 lakes of Switzerland , but for the lakes of Italy also ; and 
 the Danube river and the Black sea float iron boats built 
 by Swiss hands at Zurich. These boats are first put together 
 here, and, found complete, are then taken apart and shipped 
 to the waters of other countries and, are there again put 
 together for use. 
 
 That these steamers are well built and well managed may 
 be guessed, when we remember that they carried above a 
 million passengers on lake Zurich in 1873 and lost but one. 
 
52 ZURICH CITY. 
 
 The Zurich canton peasants are as thrifty farmers as any 
 in the world. An air of neatness, cleanliness, and care is 
 found in every country house. 
 
 Of course the farms are small, — so very small as scarcely 
 to be worth the name; but every inch of ground is tilled to 
 the utmost it can bear. No other tilling would bring the 
 peasants bread to eat. The agricultural implements used, 
 however , are of the most primitive character , such as the 
 early Romans themselves might have used in ploughing round 
 the walls of ancient Turicum. Wooden mould -board 
 ploughs are used, requiring half a dozen men and as many 
 cows or oxen to get them over the ground. Reapers, 
 mowing-machines, hay rakes, threshing machines, hay lifters, 
 and the like are less known to the Zurich farmer than to 
 the American Indian. The few tools used in farming are 
 not only simple and primitive in character, but are most 
 awkwardly made. 
 
 Some allowance can be made for the absence of modern 
 farm implements, however, when it is considered that a full 
 sized American reaper would scarcely have room to turn 
 around upon the diminutive farms of the Swiss cantons. 
 
 Fences are seldom used, and where handsome hedges, 
 beautifully trimmed, are not growing, imaginary lines divide 
 the little farms , lying a hundred on a single hill. The 
 cattle, of course, are not allowed to run at large, but are 
 carefully stalled, day and night, summer and winter, in 
 close, dark , stone barns. The darker the barn , the less 
 the food consumed, seems to be the Swiss milkman's philo- 
 sophy. 
 
 A peasants cows and goats are his treasures, second only 
 to his children. The breed is good; usually the Toggen- 
 burger kind, with short, smooth horns, small in size, mouse- 
 colored always , and always sleek and fat and famous for 
 its great supplies of sweetest milk. An acre or so of land 
 and a half a dozen of the kind , mouse-colored cows , is 
 often all the store the Zurich peasant has. His cows pro- 
 duce him butter, milk, and cheese for his own use and to 
 spare. 
 
ZURICH CITY. 53 
 
 His little patch of land yields vegetables for his table 
 and even more. What's over is quickly sold for cash and 
 at good prices in the nearest town. He grows but little 
 wheat or corn and buys his flour, imported, nearly all, from 
 Hungary. Himself, his wife, and children too, if not in school, 
 must work, and work continually, out doors and in, to 
 make the little farm and cows supply their wants , and 
 have both ends meet at Christmas time, when doctors' 
 bills and grocers bills and dry -goods' bills must all be 
 paid. 
 
 On rainy days and hours, between the out-door work and 
 in door cares, the busy loom is plied and the pretty woven 
 silks add trifles of ready cash to the poor man's treasury. 
 A sort of happiness is his, not born of contentment, but of 
 a knowledge of the impossibility to him of better things. 
 He has enough to eat and drink and wear, but nothing 
 more, — not even this, if summer rains and late spring 
 frosts or heavy storms should come. 
 
 A class of peasants, better off than these, with but a patch 
 of garden truck and a few cows, are those who own the vine- 
 yards along the lake and on every sunny hill. The culture of 
 the grape has long been practiced in Zurich canton, even in 
 the days of Charlemagne, who gave the munster church a 
 present of a patch of grapes nearly eleven centuries ago and 
 there are vineyards by Zollikon, just in the suburbs of the town, 
 that have borne the vine five hundred years. There are, perhaps, 
 fifteen thousand acres of grapes in the canton and the wines 
 produced are nearly all consumed within a dozen miles of 
 the spot where they are grown. Their quality is usually 
 poor and, with a few exceptions, not of a character to be 
 exported at all. The Meilen wine on the right bank of the 
 lake, however, has a taste quite similar to the common wines 
 of the Rhine districts, , and the wine of Winterthur is thought 
 almost as good as that of Burgundy. The system of culti- 
 vation does not differ materially from that employed in 
 other continental vineyards. 
 
 The vines are planted close together, averaging not more 
 than two to three feet apart. The pruning is done in late 
 
54 ZURICH CITY. 
 
 winter and the vines are well cut down and every inch of 
 superfluous stock removed. 
 
 They are trained on small, short stakes about four feet 
 in hight. The method of tying down in bows is often used, 
 but the broken wood and the scarcity of fruit below the 
 bending of the vine, speaks little in favor of the plan. The 
 vines are rarely protected .in winter, but the wooden stakes 
 are usually pulled up and kept indoors till spring. For the 
 tying, straw alone is used, and, is found, not only cheaper; 
 but far less injurious to the vine than wire or even bark. 
 Such things as weeds or grass are never seen in a Swiss 
 vineyard , where the ground is kept as clean as a cabbage 
 bed. When the grapes are ripe, the merriest time of all the 
 year begins. From early morn till evening, the hills resound 
 with laugh and song, as boys and girls, old men and young, 
 mothers and wives with babes, collect in the vineyards and 
 bear away the luscious white purple fruit. Time and again, 
 the long, long day, the baskets are filled and carted to the 
 press. The neighbors come in groups, a sort of backwoods 
 festival of work is made and all goes merry as a marriage 
 bell. When the grapes are gathered and put under the 
 great oak beams to press, the gatherers, young and old, 
 join in a banquet' in honor of the vintage-time. 
 
 Music and song and dance are heard, and the tables 
 groan for once in the year, at least, with the good things 
 of the farmer's home. 
 
 For a summer day, no pleasanter old town can be found 
 than Zurich. Its lake, its baths, its drives, its concerts, and 
 its good hotels, make the city a delightful resting place, 
 and its central location makes it a desirable head-quarters 
 for tourists on the tramp through German Switzerland. 
 
 The Uetliberg overlooking the city commands one of the 
 finest mountain prospects imaginable. The semi-circle of 
 snow mountains, reaching from the Glaernish on the left, to 
 the Eiger and the Jungfrau on the right, is scarcely excelled 
 for Alpine grandeur, anywhere. The Rigi itself, and mount 
 Pilatus, the Mythen, and other mountains of the forest- 
 canton regions, that lose so much of their splendor by 
 
ZURICH CITY. 55 
 
 being too near, when viewed from Lucerne, are here seen in 
 all their glory. 
 
 Even in winter the Zurich Rigi has its charms and espe- 
 cially when the old city lies down deep in one of its London 
 fogs. It is there that the tourist can stand on the moun- 
 tain's top, with a sky above him as fair and blue as that of 
 Italy, while far below a great gray sea of fog obscures the 
 city and the lake, and all things mortal. 
 
 At night too, when the moon comes up from the fog, 
 the scene is wonderful. We stand amid the silence of the 
 stars — below the great gray sea, the city's murmurings 
 are heard, and soon a few bright bars of light shoot up to 
 announce the coming majesty and then the moon, the great 
 red moon magnified by the peculiar atmosphere to five 
 times its usual size rides grandly, majestically above the sea 
 of fog and is welcomed by the waiting stars. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Einsiedeln. 
 
 m 
 
 H 
 
 
 irspssfr 
 
 An Abbey more than a thousand years old, — a church 
 consecrated by the Angels — a miracle-performing image 
 of the Virgin and her Child ; such are the attractions that 
 have brought, within less than fifty years, five million pil- 
 grims to our Lady's shrine at Einsiedeln. 
 
 A thousand years and more ago, tradition tells, a young 
 count Meinrad of the Hohenzollern blood lived at the cloister 
 Reichenau on the river Rhine. Most deeply learned in all 
 the Benedictine fathers taught, Meinrad was sent to educate 
 the Anchorities who had a little convent on the lake of 
 Zurich. Meinrad, however, chose a hermit's life and built 
 himself a chapel and a hut far up among the wilds of canton 
 Schwyz. The pious people followed him, to seek a blessing 
 of the holy monk, so given up to God. Again the hermit 
 fled; again a chapel and a hut was built and Meinrad's life 
 was given wholly to contemplation and to prayer. Some 
 
EINSIEDELN. 57 
 
 twenty years and more, his lonely cell stood upon the very 
 spot where stands the world-known monastery to-day. 
 
 Two ravens, very black and very tame, were sole com- 
 panions of his hermit days. But Meinrad's fame for christian 
 deeds and charity spread through all the vallies of the Alps 
 and pious souls still sought him in the wilderness, to crave 
 advice and listen to his words of christian cheer. One day, 
 two roving robbers, thinking Meinrad might have gold as 
 well as truth within his cell, came to the hermits little home 
 and asked for bread. The holy man gave bread and milk 
 and wine and, in return, the robbers murdered him and fled. 
 The friendly ravens , burning to see their master's death 
 avenged, followed the murderers far down the hills, across 
 the lake, and into Zurich. The men sought refuge in a little 
 inn, but the ravens flapped their wings against the window 
 panes and screamed aloud for hours. The murderers who 
 were superstitious men, thought this a warning from above, 
 and hastened to confess the deed and tell the details of their 
 crime. They suffered death upon the wheel. The little inn 
 where they were found remained till modern times and was long 
 known as the Ravens' Inn. It had two ravens, carved in black 
 stone, built inside the walls. In later years the inn was changed, 
 if not entirely rebuilt, and is the Hotel Bilharz of to-day. 
 
 The curious who may visit Zurich, still can see these 
 black stone ravens, perched upon a balcony of the house 
 and looking towards the lake. For half a century, at least, 
 Meinrad's hut and chapel stood unused. Then, a Strassburg 
 count who wished to live where holy Meinrad once had 
 lived, repaired the hut and built a convent large enough 
 for many Benedictine monks who followed him. 
 
 Still later, other patrons, other Benedictines came and 
 set about to build a princely church upon the very spot 
 where Meinrad's cell had stood. In September of 948, the 
 temple was at last complete. Two bishops and a host of 
 knights and nobles came from Germany, to consecrate it 
 to the Lord ; and then occurred, — if Papal bulls, and Bi- 
 shops, oaths can be believed, the miracle that placed the 
 monastery among the famous churches of the world. 
 
5 8 EINSIEDELN. 
 
 Leo, the Eighth, was Pope, and learning of the angels' 
 consecration of the church, confirmed the story of the 
 miracle in an official bull, adressed to all the faithful of the 
 Roman church. 
 
 "We, Leo, pope, Servant of the servants of God, do 
 "announce to all the present and future believers in the 
 "church of God: 
 
 "That our reverend brother and associate Bishop at 
 "Constance, Conrad by name, in the presence of our dear 
 "son Otto, the Emperor, and his wife, the Empress Adel- 
 "heid, together with many other princes, has made known 
 "before our apostolic chair, that on the 14 th of September, 
 "948 , he was called to a certain place within his diocese, 
 "named Meinrad's cell, in order to consecrate a chapel to 
 "the, honor of the holy, glorified mother of God, the virgin 
 "Mary. But when he rose, as accustomed, to pray at mid- 
 "night, so he told us, he heard with other godly ones, a 
 "surpassingly lovely song, and by more minute investigation 
 "ascertained indeed, that the angels with like song and order 
 "as were employed by bishops in the same ceremony, were 
 "consecrating the same chapel. When, therefore, on the 
 "morrow all was in readiness, the bishop yet hesitated until 
 "towards noon, but the people came to the chapel and 
 "pressed within to witness the consecration. As the bishop 
 "still continually refused to proceed, relating the miraculous 
 "visitation, they blamed him harshly till he really began 
 "the dedication. Then, immediately and clearly, resounded 
 "a voice three times. 
 
 "Brother desist ; for see, it is already consecrated by God;" 
 
 "At this, the people, frightened, esteemed the revelation of 
 "the bishop as true and holy and believed from then on, that 
 "the chapel had been divinely dedicated." Leo further declared 
 his own conviction of the truth of all the bishop said and for- 
 bade that any man should think to consecrate the church anew. 
 Declared, as well, a full remission of the sins of all who peni- 
 tentially should visit at this mountain shrine. From that time 
 on, the pious catholics from Switzerland, from France, from 
 Alsace and Lorraine and Germany made pilgrimages to the 
 
EINSIEDELN. 59 
 
 spot declared as holy ground. Princes and peasants came by 
 thousands and hundreds of thousands every year. 
 
 With some, Jerusalem itself was scarcely more desirable 
 to see than was this monastery. The savings of months 
 and years were often hoarded up, to pay expenses on the 
 way. Long, weary journeys were made on foot, through 
 summer's heat or winter's cold and storm, to visit Einsiedeln. 
 Princes endowed the monastery with lands and gold. Nobles 
 took on the order of the brotherhood and left the royal 
 court's magnificence, to wear the cap and cowl at holy 
 Meinrad's cell. 
 
 The mountain waste was turned into a pleasant valley. 
 The Abbey grew from Meinrad's little wooden hut into a 
 mountain palace , with marble aisles and rows of monkish 
 cells and altars, rich with silver and with gold, filled with 
 the holy relics of the past. 
 
 Tradition added all that history had grudgingly refused. 
 Jesus, the faithful worshippers were told, had once been 
 there in human form and tasted of the waters flowing from 
 the fountain near the shrine. 
 
 Since then, the waters had been blessed of God and 
 wrought great miracles. The blind, from drinking there, 
 were made to see; the lame, to walk; the deaf, to hear; 
 the lepers had been healed. The Abbots were, in course 
 of time, made princes of the Roman Empire and exercised, 
 within the church, a power not limited, exept by the Pope 
 at Rome. The Abbey's great renown went out to many 
 lands. Einsiedeln became the new Loretto of the Swiss. Hun- 
 dreds of years have passed since then, and still the mighty 
 tide of pilgrims pours into the Alps. Time and again the 
 ancient monastery has fed the flames that glared upon the 
 rocks, the mountains, and the ice. Again the earnest, still- 
 believing church restored its towers and beautified its walls. 
 
 War came and brought its contribution to the Abbey's 
 woes. In 1798, the French troops pressed to almost every 
 valley of the Alps, robbing and burning as they went. Ein- 
 siedeln suffered from their depredations, too. The buildings 
 were in part destroyed, altars were robbed and paintings 
 
60 EINSIEDELN. 
 
 carried off. The little image of the Virgin and her child 
 escaped. This was the greatest treasure that the monastery 
 contained. It was the image Meinrad used in the forest, 
 nine hundred years before — a present from the Abbess 
 Hildegard. 
 
 The monks, on hearing that the French had come, rushed 
 to the woods and hid the image in a crevice of the rocks. 
 They left a copy, though, a very cunning one, remaining 
 in the abbey for the French to steal and send to Paris as a 
 treasure worthy of the gods. When the French left, the 
 Abbey was again restored; again, the wonder-working image, 
 hidden in the rocks, was brought forth, to do its miracles. 
 
 Six times the Abbey had been burned and every time 
 the image had escaped, to receive the homage of the pilgrim 
 multitude who look upon the thing as something more than 
 mere wood , or stone , or even gold ; — a blessed thing, 
 possessed of power to heal the body and the soul. The 
 church and abbey, as it stands since 1798, is commodious 
 and rather grand, built in the Italian style, and not unlike, 
 in character and form, St. Peters church in Rome, The 
 walls inside and ceilings are burdened with a mass of gilding, 
 many paintings and hundreds of emblematic figures, mostly 
 in plaster, hanging out from every cornice, niche, and column. 
 The marble altars, and there are many right and left, have 
 an Italian look, and some of them are excellent. The holy 
 chapel, standing in the nave and near the doors, is of blackest 
 marble, intermixed with grey. It has some pictures and a 
 bas relief; but most of all, to him who is a pilgrim or a 
 devotee, it has the image of the Virgin and her child — a 
 little, homely, wooden figure, black as soot, and crowned 
 with precious jewels. 
 
 This is the central figure of the monastery. Toward it, 
 thousands of pilgrims' eyes are turned, as turned the shepherds' 
 eyes toward Bethlehem. To make a pilgrimage, to see the 
 Virgin and her child, — this is the longing of many a thou- 
 sand catholic's heart. As it was done nine centuries ago, 
 so it is done to-day. From shop and forge and farm, from 
 many lands, through many miles of weary tramp — the 
 
EINSIEDELN. 6 1 
 
 faithful come to Einsiedeln. A central point, from which to 
 reach this Mecca of the Alps, is Zurich. 
 
 From north and south and east and west, they come to 
 Zurich, hundreds — thousands, at a time. Einsiedeln lies 
 south and east of Zurich, twenty miles or more. As far as 
 Richtersweil , the pilgrims take the pretty steamers on the 
 lake; from thence, with bundle and with staff, they wend their 
 way on foot. On days of celebrated feasts, the crowd of 
 pilgrims, rushing to the Zurich boats, is worthy of remark. 
 Whole droves of men and women, old and young, crowd 
 to the forward decks. Hundreds have never left their village 
 gates before and stare with wonder at the boats, the people, 
 the water, and the shore. Indeed, the ordinary pilgrim of 
 this modern day is not the fairest sample of the church's 
 best intelligence. The very poor, the ignorant and the 
 superstitious compose the greater part of these long human 
 trains that seek our Lady's shrine at Einsiedeln. 
 
 Their costumes vary as the towns , the cantons and the 
 countries whence they come. Two features, though, distinguish 
 each and all — a cotton umbrella and a string of beads. 
 The former is their shade on sunny days, their tent on rainy 
 ones ; their walking staff and shield. The latter is their rosary, 
 where busy fingers count the prayers the busier lips have said. 
 The women wear red handkerchiefs in turban shape about 
 the head ; the men are trigged out in their Sunday's best. 
 The scene is not unpicturesque , especially should the day 
 be fair and nature beautiful. The farther Alps are white 
 with snow; the low hills by the lake are green with forest 
 and with vine ; the bright sun shines ; the deep blue lake is 
 calm; the pilgrims chant a prayer — it is the praise of 
 God. 
 
 At Richtersweil, the pious train winds up among the Alps. 
 At every turn of road, at every bridge and stream, a way- 
 side cross appears and here the pilgrim kneels, crosses 
 himself and prays. The way is long and steep and even 
 pilgrim feet grow tired and worn and bleed. At last, the 
 Abbey's spires appear, and then the walls and windows of 
 the monastery. A prayer of joy, of thankfulness, bursts 
 
62 
 
 EINSIEDELN. 
 
 forth from every lip. Tired feet are tired no more; the 
 pilgrims hurry on and drink from waters tasted by the 
 Lord. 
 
 The precious fountain has its fourteen spouts and not a 
 legend tells at which of these the Savior 'drank ; but pilgrims 
 drink at all by turns, then mount the granite steps, kneel 
 at the porch, and pray. The Abbey's doors swing wide 
 apart; the devotee is standing in the vaulted nave. Again 
 he kneels before the mystery of a thousand years. He 
 hears the organ' solemn strains — the dark monks chanting 
 mass. To him, the world is left behind. At last, his eyes 
 rest on the Virgin and her child. His hand has touched 
 the marble where the image rests ; his lips have breathed 
 repentance for his sins ; the priest has given a blessing and 
 a prayer and he is free to start life's journey all anew. 
 His pilgrimage is done. He rises, looks on the splendor that 
 is heaped around and feels within his heart this temple is of 
 God, a house not made with hands. 
 
 Einsiedeln is a village made of inns for men not satisfied 
 to eat the bread of life, alone, as furnished by the abbey- 
 priests. Each house, almost each hut, is ornamented with a 
 gastronomic sign, inviting men to come, eat, drink and be 
 merry while they may. The prices range to suit the peasant 
 or the prince, and the lower the price, the higher the room. 
 Some pilgrims get no room at all ; but sleep, contentedly 
 enough, out in the open air, till early bells invite them to 
 the morning mass. 
 
 The Benedictine order no longer has the influence, wealth, 
 strength, and fame it had in olden times. When John, the 
 Twenty-first, was pope> 1334, the order had produced some 
 twenty emperors, ten empresses, a hundred kings and queens, 
 seventy princes, and a score of popes. Its wealth had been 
 in fair proportion to its rank. Its abbeys were the largest, 
 and by far the richest, in the land. — To-day, Einsiedeln, 
 with a hundred monks and anchorities, ,is all that's left in 
 Switzerland. 
 
 The war that raged between the ancient church and modern 
 state, that rages still in Switzerland, as in other European 
 
EINSIEDELN. 63 
 
 lands, has left the Benedictines little save the memories of 
 the past. 
 
 These memories have been treasured up in manuscript, 
 in book, tradition, and in song. Einsiedeln has hosts of re- 
 cords and of books that learned men pronounce invaluable; 
 — curious old books in manuscript — illuminated books — 
 parchment and vellum books — with bindings made of 
 wood and brass ; a choral book, the work of twenty years ; 
 books more than worth their weight in silver and in gold; old 
 histories and. records; tales of centuries and centuries ago; hun- 
 dreds of bibles in many tongues, from many lands, written long 
 years before the days of Wickliff, Cramner, or king James. 
 To study these old parchments, records, histories — to 
 guard them from the vulgar eye and hand — to shrive the 
 pilgrim penitents — to train some pious youths — this 
 seems to be the only work that's left the Benedictine brothers 
 of to-day. The abbey, though the state has taken from it 
 power, riches, lands, has still enough — enough and yet to 
 .spare, to build another home, a newer one across the seas, 
 far out among the prairies of the west. To this new Canaan, 
 the Benedictine brother turns his eye , in case annihilation 
 should be threatened here again, as was the case in 1848, 
 when catholic rebellion suffered such disastrous overthrow in 
 Switzerland. 
 
 More then three centuries have passed, since Zwingli, the 
 village priest at Einsiedeln, became disgusted with the practices 
 then prevailing in the church and drew his sword to give 
 them battle. 
 
 Since then , there scarcely has been religious peace in 
 Switzerland. Poor Zwingli thought that God was not tied 
 down to Einsiedeln alone, but that He might be found 
 wherever men with honest, humble hearts might look for 
 Him. Within the sound of the old abbey's bells, and not 
 a dozen miles away, Cappel was fought and Zwingli, the 
 reformer, fell. His body, only, fell; his soul went marching 
 on — is marching on to-day. Three hundred years of 
 peace or war have not worked all the change the world or 
 even catholics would have within the Roman church. Changes 
 
64 EINSIEDELN. 
 
 there have been, changes there must be; more than many- 
 catholics will grant without a long, protracted and a bitter 
 struggle. Already the pickets are advanced in Switzerland. 
 The catholics, though split in two contending camps them- 
 selves, will fight. Modern ideas, modern thought and 
 modern state will fight. No loss of temporal power dis- 
 courages the Pope. Italy may come, or Italy may go, the 
 empire of the Pope is not bound in by Alps, nor lakes, nor 
 seas. The faithful of the flock are drilled in their belief as 
 men are drilled in war. Defeat seems but to nerve their 
 hearts anew. Prussia may send the church's bishops off 
 at point of sword, Italian guards may hold Ihe Vatican and 
 Switzerland may shout until her mountains ring — the catholics 
 are not afraid. In Switzerland, this is the vital question of 
 the day. The press expands, the hustings all resound about 
 this quarrel of the church and state. The Pope, hurls Bulls, 
 Anathemas, across the Alps and adds turpentine and powder 
 to the general smell of sulphurous things. The state officials 
 hurl, or try to hurl, the ignited bombs back in the church's 
 face, before they burst. Elastic laws, elastic constitutions, 
 are rendered more elastic still. A free republic, true — and 
 men may have their rights; but not to scheme against the 
 State by reading papal bulls and papal general foolishness, 
 exclaims the Government. Should any Switzer priest be 
 found to honor pope or church before the State, the State 
 must guard its rights, they say, and constables will bear him 
 off to France, even though elastic laws should be a little 
 stretched, and catholics and constitution-worshippers protest. 
 
 In 1872, a sort of skirmish was commenced between the 
 church and State ; at least these were the figures at the front — 
 the men in epaulettes. 
 
 The constitution , amended to suit the newer times , was 
 voted down ; the Jesuits and their friends came out victorious. 
 For this, the catholics in Paris and in Rome gave thanks to 
 God — chanted a mass and sang a song of joy. 
 
 On May day, 1874, the question, slightly modified, was 
 again brought forward and the people at the polls voted 
 the new constitution — the catholics were beaten, and this 
 
EINSIEDELN. 65 
 
 time, the song of joy, the bonfires, and the thanks, were on 
 the other side. The fight with ballots is by — if all is by, 
 'tis well, but still, rebuke, recriminations follow, heel on heel. 
 If any screw is loose, if any joint is out of place, if there is 
 lack of rain, or too much scorching sun, the Jesuits must bear 
 the blame : so think the radicals. Should any priest be poorly 
 paid, or lose his cure, or, violating law, be sent adrift to 
 France or Italy, a cry comes from the Jesuitic camp of insult 
 to the holy Church and Pio Nino answers with a Bull. 
 . The earnest zeal of the faithful continues unabated. Fines 
 and banishments and prisons frighten them not. With all 
 that has been opposed to them in Germany and elswhere, 
 and there has been much, justifiable and unjustifiable, they 
 march on undaunted. Bismarck never had such full hands 
 and racked brains, not with the French armies at Paris, even, 
 as he is having with this church-host fighting for faith and 
 existence. There is the shadow of a cloud ahead, and none 
 but a prophetic eye may discern what woes this crossing of 
 the swords of Church and State may in a few years bring 
 upon Europe. 
 
 Switzerland. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Engadine. 
 
 1T.1GH up in the Engadine, with six 
 months winter and three months rather 
 cold, one finds the Colorado of the 
 Eastern continent. A more than Colo- 
 rado is this Engadine, this lofty valley 
 of the river Inn. It has our Colorado's 
 dry and bracing atmosphere , with brigh- 
 ter, bluer skies. It has a history and a 
 people of its own. It has its ruined castles, 
 towers, and towns, that tell of Etruscan origin. The valley 
 lies almost six-thousand feet above the level of the sea, and 
 varies in its climate, life, and form, with each succeeding 
 league in length. 
 
 It is a part of what was Rhatia once — the Canton 
 Grisons of to-day. The first inhabitants were Etruscan refugees 
 who fled from Italy to escape the sword of the invading 
 Gauls. Their history, like that of Switzerland, was one of 
 struggle against foreign despots and internal foes. At last, 
 when struggling the most bravely for their rights and homes, 
 when Switzerland was falling to decay and raised no hand 
 to help, the Rhatian leagues succumbed to fate. The Grison's 
 land was overrun at different times by Austrian, French, 
 
THE ENGADINE. 6 J 
 
 and Spanish soldiery, each wishing to be master of this 
 loftiest mountain gate to Venice, Lombardy, and the Tyrol. 
 When Bonaparte thought it best to mediate in Swiss affairs in 
 1 803 , he made the Grison country part of Switzerland. 
 Since then, the Engadiners, Rhatians all, compose the 15 th 
 canton of the Bund. The Engadine is fifty-seven miles in 
 length, a mile in width, and sits, a perfect picture, in a frame 
 of snow-topped mountains, not excelled for beauty elsewhere 
 in Switzerland. 
 
 The river Inn is fed by crystal glaciers that hang on the 
 Bernina group of mountains to the south and east. What 
 old Norse kings these Grison mountains are, lifting their 
 ice-crowned tops that gleam like great white palaces ! Whole 
 chains and groups and single mountain peaks — deserts 
 of ice and snow and frozen rocks, surround the birth-place 
 of the Rhine, the Adda, and the Inn. Eternal silence reigns 
 supreme. No song of bird — no word of human voice — 
 no breath, no sound, except the tumbling avalanche — 
 awakes the dreadful quiet of the place. Few human feet 
 have trod — will ever tread, the frozen, glaring fields that 
 stretch like polar seas around these Rhatian Alps. Some 
 hardy travelers have climbed some single groups and peaks, 
 have pressed through valleys of eternal snow ; but left, almost 
 untrod, the Grison glaciers to the wind, to wildness, and 
 the storm. 
 
 The valley of the Inn, before it reaches Sils and St. 
 Moritz, is cold, intensely cold, and dry ; — its atmosphere so 
 pure, and free from moisture, meats and fish are cured by 
 simply hanging in the open air. At St. Moritz, the air, 
 though raw at times, is warmer than at Sils — yet over- 
 coats and muffs are often luxuries there, even in the summer 
 time. 
 
 The opening of the St. Julier and the Albula passes turned 
 the tourist's and the sick man's eyes to see the Engadine. 
 The narrow valley lying higher than the clouds, the mineral 
 baths, the wholesome air, the lofty mountains, and the fields 
 of snow, the people and their homes ■ — each worthily attracts 
 the attention of the traveler. 
 
68 
 
 THE ENGADINE. 
 
 VIA MALA 
 
 A simple, hardy, and 
 peculiar folk, these Enga- 
 dine/s are. In former 
 times, each hamlet formed 
 a pure republic in itself, 
 and men made laws , as 
 they would build a house. 
 Each male, if fourteen years 
 of age, could join his neigh- 
 bors in a plan to govern 
 and to judge. They go- 
 verned little, or they go- 
 verned much, just as the 
 peasant judge's fancy 
 chose, and every town was 
 governed in a different 
 way. There were no kings 
 — there were no presi- 
 dents — there was no 
 central power of any kind. It was the people's Govern- 
 ment — Communism in its purity, not in its Paris rage 
 for blood and burning towns, and claiming other people's 
 goods and stores. The people prospered under such a rule, 
 'tis said — prospered, at least, till French and Spanish sol- 
 diers came and scattered French and Spanish gold among 
 the Rhatian folk ; scattered discontent and love of strife, as 
 well ; and then the little nation pushed itself against the wall, 
 or else got pushed against the wall, and lost, in part, the 
 good, old, democratic faith which taught that governing, like 
 roasts, is spoiled, if overdone. 
 
 The communes of the Engadine are rich; that is, have 
 many meadows, woods, and lands. The people are industrious 
 and well to do. 
 
 Beggars are scarce, and so are tramps and thieves. One 
 modern acquirement, at least, has reached the valley of the 
 Inn ; the art of keeping very large hotels and making bills 
 to correspond in size. 
 
THE ENGADINE. 69 
 
 No tourist, with any previous knowledge of the place, will 
 settle down at St. Moritz , without a pocket full of cash, 
 and patience tempered by remembrances of Job. A pious peo- 
 ple is this, given to good old Luther's notions of the priests 
 and pentecost. A pure democracy of politics, religion, and 
 of law, prevails , and nothing but a sworn allegiance to the 
 new Swiss Bund could make an Engadiner think of any law 
 or order made outside of his republican commune. 
 
 In early youth, the Engadiners, seeing little hope of gain 
 at home, wander away to France, England, or Italy. They 
 are the best confectioners known, and, having gained a com- 
 petency abroad, invariably return, and spend their days in 
 happiness among their kith and kin. The richer classes own 
 their meadow-lands and fields, but rent them out to men from 
 Lombardy who bring great droves of fine-wooled sheep and 
 goats to pasture , till the cold days, drive them back to 
 Italy. On every hill-side, in every meadow, these Ticino 
 shepherds may be seen , in some strange, shepherd garb, 
 peculiar to themselves. They live in huts, or in the open 
 air, and have for food, a scanty mess of mush and cheese. 
 Hay-harvest is, with them, the liveliest season of the year. 
 Hundreds of Italians, Swiss, and Engadiners join in the 
 labor and the festivals. The hard day's work is followed 
 by the evening's song and dance. It is a feast of labor, 
 love , and pleasure — and not unlike the feasts that come 
 with vintage-time in other parts of Switzerland. 
 
 The Engadiner's home is neat and trim, and more real 
 comforts are to be met with there than in the peasant houses 
 in the lower valleys. A strange sort of a home, this Enga- 
 diner's house ; built, not for ornament alone — not even 
 for man alone — a dwelling, shop, and barn in one. The 
 walls are built of solid stone — the roofs are made of tiles 
 or straw. The end, and not the side, or front, stands to the 
 street. 
 
 An entrance, disproportionately large, leads to a sort of 
 open court or hall, from which doors enter to the various 
 rooms. Behind this hall, but joining by a door, are floors 
 
70 
 
 THE ENGADINE. 
 
 for hay and corn, and, near to this, the oxen, cows, and 
 calves, browse most contentedly. 
 
 This close connexion of the house and barn is half necessity, 
 ' in valleys such as this. When winter howls for half the year, 
 and deep snows pile against his roof and window pane, 
 the Engadiner, with his wife, his baby, and his books, sits 
 snug at home and need not brave the winter's wrath. He 
 loves his sheep and heifers as he loves his babes, and gives 
 them, often, almost better care. The fat, sleek cattle, chained 
 to the crib , stand in file and row ; each stall is fresh and 
 clean ; the floors are sprucely washed and spread with finest 
 sand. All wastes are corded, covered up outside, like so 
 many piles of treasure, to renew the hard and scanty soil, 
 when summer-time comes round. The "cattle's room'' is 
 furnished with a bench , and , sometimes , cards and books. 
 The cattle fed, the stalls re-swept, and the white milk put 
 away, the Engadiner rests and reads. The dwelling-rooms, 
 though often low and not a little dark, are neat and warm. 
 On account of the severe cold and storm , the latticed and 
 ornamented windows are extremely small — mere loop-holes, 
 prettily arranged. What first attracts attention in the larger 
 rooms , the sitting rooms , at least , seems like a monstrous, 
 
 SWISS STOVE — OLD STYLE 
 
THE ENGADINE. 
 
 71 
 
 white, porcelain cupboard, six feet in length and width — ■ 
 as many feet in hight, with pictures of battles, ships, and 
 cities, painted in handsome colors on the sides. The structure 
 rests on porcelain feet, cast to resemble dogs, cats, gorgons, 
 and the like. Between its top and the ceiling of the room, 
 are cedar carvings; or, in their stead, some pretty' curtains 
 reaching down. This novel, pocelain pile is called a stove. 
 The furnace, where the fire is made, is outside, in the hall/ 
 These porcelain stoves, when heated well, retain their warmth 
 for many hours; are economical, besides. A basket-full of 
 turf or wood, burned when the family first arise, or earlier, 
 will furnish heat sufficient for the longest day of winter. 
 The pictures on its sides may tell the history of the land. 
 A pair of little steps lead to the flat roof of the stove, 
 concealed by some device of curtain or of wood. Behind 
 this curtain, hangs the latest wash, or drying fruit. Some- 
 times, upon the colder days, the children scramble up and 
 find pure comfort, sitting or lying on this strange old heater's 
 top. This little extra space above has other uses, too. A 
 sort of dressing chamber, it becomes, at times. The farmer's 
 wife and girls who descend shivering from the upper rooms 
 with morning's light, mount to the old stove's top sometimes 
 and there, in christian comfort, make their toilet for the day. 
 
 In other parts of Switzerland, 
 these porcelain stoves are also used ; 
 but different in beauty, form, and 
 size. The common pattern is a 
 perfectly white cylinder, six feet 
 in circumference, reaching from 
 floor almost to ceiling. White 
 as the snow, polished like marble, 
 with bright, brass rings, to give 
 it strength ; such is the ordi- 
 nary Switzer stove. No dust is 
 seen — no scorching clothes; nor 
 is there any warming of one's 
 freezing feet by such a stove. It 
 seems a marble column — cold swiss stove — new styli 
 
72 THE ENGADINE. 
 
 and white and beautiful. The outside of the Engadiner's house 
 is painted in the most fantastic ways, has quaint carvings, 
 gilded lattice-work, and pretty cornices ; but never is so pic- 
 turesque and beautiful as houses seen in Argovie or Appenzell. 
 
 The Grisons have a liberal share of ruined castles, towers, 
 and monuments, that tell a tale of centuries ago. A hundred 
 of these grim, old castles stand among the mountain ways 
 that lead from Chur up to the Engadine. Some have romantic 
 histories, and some, deep tragedies, connected with the story 
 of the country's earliest struggle for its life. Such is the 
 story told of Gardova — a ruined castle sitting near the 
 pretty village Madulein, just where the new Albula pass has 
 made a gateway to the Inn. In older times, the Bishops 
 of the town of Chur held sway in Engadine. 
 
 These Bishops had their Vogts, or Governors, who lived 
 in Castle Gardova. As Austrian tyrants ruled in Switzerland, 
 so ruled these Bishops' Gesslers in the Engadine. At Madulein, 
 the Vogt, a man of cruel heart and cruel lust, was long the 
 terror of the peasant's heart and home. His bad, capricious 
 will was law. To cross his purpose was but little short of 
 prison and of death, and many a maid and many a peasant's 
 fair young wife were sacrificed upon the altar of his lust in 
 Gardova. Less than a mile from Madulein, there lived the 
 fairest maid in all the Engadine — a sweet, pure child, just 
 reaching womanhood. The Engadiners loved the pretty, 
 guileless girl who lived unconscious of her beauty and her 
 destiny. Her father was the village Landamman, or Mayor 
 — a good, old man, known for his good deeds and his 
 charity. The Vogt had met the maiden in her rambles, once ; 
 and, smitten with her beauty, he ordered that she be sent 
 to him at Gardova, where she should live as a princess, he 
 said. The father begged the messenger to tell his lord to 
 wait till morning, only, when he himself would take his 
 daughter up to Gardova. The night was spent in Madulein, 
 consulting with his friends, but early morning saw a pretty 
 cortege winding slowly to the castle. 
 
 It was the Landamman, his daughter, and some villagers. 
 The maid was dressed as. for her bridal day. A dozen 
 
THE ENGADINE. 
 
 / 5 
 
 fa 
 
 village-men who followed, two and two, wore costumes such 
 as all the valley used at festivals. The Vogt rejoiced to 
 see the pretty train winding up the mountain side, to do him 
 honor, bringing another maid for sacrifice at Gardova. Im- 
 patient to possess her, he did not wait until the castle's 
 gate was reached, but hurried out, to meet the cortege on 
 the lawn. He took the young girl by the hand and, when his 
 lips were half way to her fair, young cheek, the father's 
 dagger pierced him to his heart. Then other daggers, clubs, 
 and spears, leaped from beneath (ije holiday attire of every 
 villager. Yet other hardy men, since midnight hidden in the 
 neighbouring wood, rushed forth. 
 
 The castle gate was broken down; the guards, the servants, 
 one and all, were slaughtered. 
 
 The castle sprang in flames, and so the valley of the 
 Engadine was free. 
 
 It is now four hundred years, about, since any Bishops, 
 or their Vogts, have cared to live in Engadine. 
 
 The language spoken here is Ladin, the pure, old Roman 
 tongue itself some people claim — with what of truth, no 
 living man can tell. 
 
 Yet many Engadiners speak in many tongues. The traveled 
 ones, at least — the bakers , candy-makers , and the like, 
 possess a knowledge of Italian, French, and German — even 
 spatter English, learned in John Bull's coffee-houses, now and 
 then. 
 
 One town, alone, speaks in a tongue that differs from the 
 common language of the valley. Tarasp, a pretty village, 
 half way down the Inn — with mineral baths, a fine, old 
 castle and a tower, speaks only German. Tarasp, besides, 
 is Roman catholic ; the only people of the Pope , in this 
 strange valley of the clouds. 
 
 From Sils to Martinsbriick, the soil, the climate, and the 
 people, change in character. As altitude goes down, the 
 mercury goes up. At Sils, no fruit of any kind is grown. 
 
 Barley and rye, hardy as they are, fail more than half the 
 time. The soil is stony, poor, and thin. The only forest 
 trees are mountain larches, cedars, and Siberian pines. The 
 
74 THE ENGADINE. 
 
 cedars, though, must be like those of Lebanon — so light, 
 so white, so fragrant, and so durable. 
 
 The ice-fields here hang like ghostly robes on mountains 
 thirteen thousand feet in hight , while cold, bleak winds howl 
 round the Piz Languard, like demons in a chase of death. 
 The valley is the highest occupied by towns and villages, 
 in Europe. Even Chamouny is not as high, by nearly twenty- 
 five hundred feet, and the Rigi Kulm is lower than the 
 town of St. Moritz. 
 
 At Martinsbruck, not fifty miles from Sils, but still more 
 than 3000 feet above the sea, the scene is changed. Here, 
 barley, corn, potatoes , rye, and fruit, grow plentifully. The 
 winter-days are not so terribly severe. The valley widens 
 out. The mountains and the glaciers of the lower Inn, though 
 still magnificent, are not so near the valley and the stream 
 as those at Sils , or St. Moritz. Still greater changes meet 
 the eye within a score of miles south-west of Sils. The ice 
 and snow, the desolation and the wind, are left around the 
 sources of the Inn, and, in their stead, castanian groves, mul- 
 berry trees, and grapes, grow ripe and full on every hill that 
 looks towards Italy. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Alpine Villages. 
 
 In the many chan- 
 ges of the day, the 
 old mountain villages 
 of Switzerland , at 
 least , remain , and 
 nothing is more pe- 
 culiar to, or charac- 
 teristic of, the country 
 than they. Wooden 
 towns , centuries of 
 age, standing on the 
 green, grassy slopes 
 of mountain sides, or 
 nestling close up in 
 little vales and glens, 
 they give us back 
 our heart's idea of 
 Switzerland. 
 These Alpine towns, villages, and hamlets, represent a 
 rural simplicity of life not found elsewhere in the world. 
 The houses that make the towns are old, and the people 
 who live in the houses are old ; old in their ways, at 
 least, and often very old in years. It is no uncommon 
 thing to find in villages among the Alps, men, almost a 
 century old, living in the house where they were born and 
 where their fathers, their grand-fathers, and their great-grand- 
 
j6 ALPINE VILLAGES. 
 
 fathers were born and where they lived and died. Who 
 built the old houses and the old villages, the oldest inhab- 
 itant can hardly tell. He knows only that his ancestors 
 lived in these same snuff-colored huts, since a time whence 
 "the memory of man runneth not to the contrary". The 
 tourist who hurries through the country by rail and steamer 
 or who rests for awhile in the great hotels of the larger, 
 well-known towns, sees little or nothing of the characteristic 
 places of Switzerland. The towns he sees are almost modern 
 towns. The houses have a modern finish and a modern 
 look. The very people have a modern air and way that 
 is no longer Swiss. The city's walls are down, the ditches 
 filled, and the turnpike yields to the locomotive's rush and 
 scream. It is like looking at a battle-field instead of seeing 
 the fight itself — and the tourist who has not left the 
 highways, built by modern commerce, has not seen Switzer- 
 land. 
 
 Let him who would enjoy the land, unload his mind of 
 cares that come of band-boxes, poodles, and Saratoga trunks. 
 With loose shoes, a knapsack, and an Alpine staff, let 
 him leave the new town's din and wander along the narrow 
 paths that lead by green meadows and by mountain streams. 
 Let him clamber over the stony ways, across the green 
 and close-grazed fields , by the nut-brown villages , brea- 
 thing, as he rambles, heaven's purest mountain air — and 
 thus see Switzerland. Specimens of these rural Alpine towns 
 are found in easy tramping reach of almost every place 
 where tourists congregate. The villages differ in character 
 of architecture and style, as do the people who live in them, 
 in custom , character , and life. Two classes of houses, 
 however ; wood and stone, may, in one sense, be said to 
 represent them all. Travelers at Zurich , tired of the city, 
 whose eyes look longingly beyond the friendly lake, can, 
 after a couple of hours' ride, sling knapsacks and, above 
 Rappersweil , be right at the very gate of the cool moun- 
 tains. If still inclined to ride instead of tramp, the rail will 
 put him off at Miihlehorn, where a country road leads up 
 to Obstalden, a real Swiss village of the olden time, sitting 
 
ALPINE VILLAGES. JJ 
 
 on a mountain - side commanding one of the loveliest views 
 in Switzerland. 
 
 As is usual in Swiss towns, the two principal houses here 
 are the country inn and the white, stone church. - There is 
 no street. The country road leads past, not through, the 
 groups of a dozen or so brown houses, scattered around 
 upon the green grass. The houses are two , or two and a 
 half stories in hight, with low ceilings, lined with pine. 
 They are built of small pine or hemlock logs, dressed smooth 
 and square, laid close, and dove-tailed together at the corners, * 
 the projecting ends being often carved. The clapboard or 
 shingle roof is kept in place by heavy stones and projects 
 from four to eight feet beyond the walls of the house which 
 are sometimes covered with little round-ended shingles, a couple 
 of inches broad. Some of the houses have roofs shingled a dozen 
 layers thick, for what purpose it were hard to guess. The ends 
 of the rafters projecting beyond the walls are also dressed 
 and sometimes carved. The windows, though very many 
 in number, are very small in size. The window tops, or 
 caps, are sloping, prism-shaped ledges, or boxes, covered 
 with the narrow, round-ended shingles. Above the windows 
 and framed to the walls, are large, broad panels of wood, 
 made to slip down over the window and, when needed, 
 answer the double purpose of bar and blind. A little, 
 shingled shelf, fastened to the front or gable end, supports 
 the family bee-hive, made of heavy braids of straw and 
 conical in form. Two to three families usually live in a 
 single house and here, as on the lake of Zurich, the silk 
 loom finds a busy place in every peasant's home. There 
 are few or no fences, and only little, narrow, stony goat- 
 paths lead over the grass that grows to the doorways of the 
 houses. No paint is now, or ever has been, used in all the 
 village ; but time and sun and smoke have given every house, 
 inside and outside , the very color of a well-cured ham. 
 The surroundings of the village are sloping meadows, high 
 mountains, steep water-falls, a fair, blue lake, walled to the 
 clouds, grazing goats, and half- contented poverty. The 
 summer, always short, is spent in cultivating a few potatoes, 
 
78 
 
 ALPINE VILLAGES. 
 
 herding the goats , pressing the cheese , and cutting and 
 carrying in the grass. The winter, always long, is spent in 
 eating up the little that the summer gave, and in a struggle 
 to keep from freezing. Here, as elsewhere in the country, 
 both sexes work in the open air, and, notwithstanding their 
 scanty rations and the sour wine, live long and heartily. 
 What proper diet and proper work might do for mortals, in a 
 place like this, would puzzle all the sons of ^Esculapius to think. 
 Men would not die at all, perhaps ; but, when ripe and full of 
 many years , would silently step away from the mountains 
 and into the clouds that are said to veil the gates of heaven. 
 The scenery here is most enchanting. Behind the village, 
 are lofty mountain peaks; on either side, green fields and 
 dark green forests — while, far below, spreads out the Wallen- 
 See — the handsomest little lake in Switzerland. It is 
 Lucerne in miniature, with higher walls, bluer waters, and 
 a still healthier atmosphere. From Obstalden there is a 
 charming walk that leads to a peculiar place called the town 
 of goats. This Ziegendorf is a cluster of pens where all the 
 goats of the peasants and even the neighboring villages are 
 housed at night. To save the trouble and expense of each, 
 one herding his own goats during the summer, a single 
 shepherd is employed who leads the whole drove into the 
 
 higher Alps every morning and 
 down to the huts at night. 
 When the flock comes down 
 at evening, each goat seeks 
 out its own familiar hut and 
 enters, to be milked and stalled 
 till morning. When winter 
 comes , the goats , with their 
 increase, are returned to their 
 respective owners, and the 
 huts remain empty until the 
 grass appears on the upper 
 mountains in the spring. In the 
 valley below Obstalden and 
 "S^^**^^- "~^- towards the Glaernisch moun- 
 
ALPINE VILLAGES. 79 
 
 tain , lies the little village of Nafels , famous for a great 
 victory won over the Austrian army by an insignificant 
 number of hardy Swiss, five -hundred years ago. The 
 houses of this village, instead of being all wood, as at 
 Obstalden, are wholly stone — and white in color, in- 
 stead of brown. Instead of green grass up to the peasant's 
 very door, there are rough stones and dirty narrow 
 ways. Nafels is catholic ; intensely so. It has a neighbor 
 village Mollis, scarce a rifle shot away, and just across the 
 river Linth, where every man, woman, and child is protestant, 
 and, although the villagers must live so close as to almost 
 tramp upon each' other's toes, their is, even to-day, a rigid 
 distinctness as to faith and dialect. So close are the lines 
 of faith and language and life sometimes drawn in Swiss 
 towns that the people on different sides are made to seem 
 as if of different nationalities. At the dividing lines between the 
 French and German-speaking cantons, the distance of a single 
 mile marks a change in the people's tongue. At Fribourg, 
 a half of the town speaks French and the other half speaks 
 Swiss. About Disentis, in the Grisons, the Italians neither 
 understand their French neighbors on the Rhone nor their 
 German - speaking brothers on the Rhine. Even the Swiss 
 dialects of the German differ so much as to make communi- 
 cation almost difficult at times between the different villages 
 and towns, and a Constance beggar is known by his tongue, 
 if he wanders to a Bernese farm. 
 
 About the pleasantest country villages are across the hills 
 from Rappersweil in the land of the Appenzellers. The 
 houses, like those of Obstalden, are grouped about on the 
 green fields of grass , but they are larger in size, and much 
 handsomer in appearance. When not left to be colored and 
 toned by time, they are painted a dazzling white that contrasts 
 strikingly with the green grass and the climbing vines about them. 
 Their very size gives them an appearance of real farm comfort, 
 and their many, many windows, when lighted by the morning 
 sun, make them seem like giant green-houses or glass villas. 
 
 The Appenzeller's house, inside, is cleanliness itself. Paint 
 and varnish are seldom used , but the plain benches, 
 
80 ALPINE VILLAGES. 
 
 tables, and chairs, made of the whitest wood, are so 
 fairly scraped, scoured, washed, and polished, that to paint 
 them would be to defile them. But all this cleanliness and 
 all these numberless windows are necessities to an Appen- 
 zeller's home from the very character of the work conducted 
 there. The women of the house are said to earn the 
 family living and do it at the needle's point, for the peasants 
 of Appenzell and St. Gall are long famous for the beautiful 
 embroideries that supply so many markets of the world on 
 both sides of the sea. A hundred years ago, about, a 
 custom prevailed among the gentlemen of France and other 
 European lands, of dressing much in powdered wigs, flowing 
 sleeves, high collars, and fancy, embroidered cuffs. St-Gall 
 was then already famous for its fancy muslin wares ; but to 
 supply this new demand, the manufacturers taught a number 
 of country girls the art of delicate embroidering. Rival 
 manufacturers did the same thing and soon the embroidering 
 ring or hook was seen in half the peasant houses from the 
 Black Forest to the lake of Constance and the upper Rhine. 
 But the fashions changed. The fine French gentleman put 
 off his cuffs and furbelows, and the business of the pale-faced 
 embroidery girls lagged awhile, when the fashionable fednale 
 world came to the peasant's rescue, by adopting the styles 
 the men had thrown aside, and again the busy and artistic 
 fingers of the girls earned bread to eat. Instead of a dozen 
 girls , as at first , there are now thirty or forty thousand 
 peasant women in this district engaged in hand embroidery, 
 to supply a market as wide as the world. Some thirty 
 years ago, the art of making embroidery by machinery was 
 introduced successfully, and although similar machines had 
 been cried down and almost mobbed out of existence, as 
 bread thieves, many years before, the new art got upon its 
 feet and now adds its millions of treasure to Swiss industry. 
 Over six thousand of these machines are in operation to- 
 day in the St. Gall and Appenzell villages and the invested 
 capital reaches twelve or fifteen million francs , while 
 the peasants in these small districts are earning their four 
 million francs a year as wages. The embroideries shipped 
 
ALPINE VILLAGES. 8 I 
 
 yearly from St. Gall , as the head quarters , to all parts of 
 the world, equal in value twenty-five million francs, and of 
 this, eleven millions worth finds ready sale in the United 
 States. But the hand embroidery goes on, notwithstanding 
 the thousands of machines and notwithstanding the half blind 
 eyes, the crooked backs, and the very trifling pay resulting 
 from the work. There are plenty of peasants too poor to 
 buy machines or to manage the business on anything like 
 an extended scale, and there are plenty of patterns of em- 
 broidery that are more exquisitely made by hand than by 
 any mere machine, however ingenious, and however cheaply 
 done. The long days and the longer evenings through, the 
 peasant girl and woman bow with weary eyes over their 
 work. Sometimes under the shady trees, sometimes out on 
 the green meadows, but oftenest in the same old room at 
 home, the tired fingers ply the needle for the miserable 
 pittance of a couple of francs a day. The work is unhealthy 
 in the extreme, as the great number of crooked spines, pale, 
 wan cheeks, and spectacled eyes, attest. Though living on 
 fair country meadows and breathing the pure mountain air, 
 the embroidery girl has lost the red rose from her cheek 
 and the brightness from her eye. Her breast is weak and, 
 though she sings her mountain songs, her voice is low and 
 the strain seems dull and sad. 
 
 The husband , in many of these peasant homes , is not 
 the one who earns the bread. His life is one of compa- 
 rative ease. He drives the goats, he mows a little hay, 
 and wanders about as guide to tourists in the summer time. 
 In the winter, he bakes himself upon the porcelain stove, 
 or, with his lazy chums, lounges about the house, tells 
 sailors' yarns , and smokes and puffs the long days and the 
 long evenings through; while the female members of the 
 house stitch, stitch continually before the little lamp that 
 casts its concentrated rays upon the pattern and the gliding 
 thread. 
 
 The plan of work is simple. The chief houses in the 
 larger towns, that manufacture and export embroideries, 
 furnish the peasant woman with a given quantity of smooth, 
 
 Switzerland. 5 
 
8.2 ALPINE VILLAGES. 
 
 unfigured muslin and the requisite amount of thread or yarn. 
 The designs intended to be made are selected by the head 
 of the house and are printed in erasable colors upon the 
 muslin, or are stamped in pierced lines on paper. Through 
 these pierced lines a fine coloring powder is rubbed, and fixed 
 or set by chemical process. The muslin pieces, prepared 
 and numbered, are carried to the peasant's house, where 
 the patterns are worked with the greatest exactitude and 
 delicacy, and are then returned to the chief manufacturer, to 
 be invoiced to some foreign house. 
 
 The life of the embroiderer is not only hard and irk- 
 some, but her food is scanty and very poor. Goats' milk, 
 coffee, and potatoes, morning, noon, and night, is the 
 common ration, year in, year out. A little honey now 
 and then is a luxury, and an occasional bit of meat on 
 a Sunday is a greater luxury still. With such work and 
 with such living, there can be little heart or strength left 
 to enjoy fully the extreme beauty and grandeur that nature 
 has bestowed so lavishly upon Appenzell. The green fields, 
 the babbling streams , the lofty mountains , and the grey, 
 old rocks, have praise from other, more than from Appen- 
 zeller's, lips. It is the wandering tourist who enjoys the 
 picturesque villages, the bright costumes, the pleasant vallies, 
 and the bracing atmosphere, of Appenzell the most. The 
 early Alpine song that echoes from the quiet hills sounds 
 strange and sweet to his ears. The fair meadows and the 
 summer sky gladden his rested eye, while his purse will 
 fetch the sweetest honey, milk, and cheese, the country inn 
 affords. He, at least, is contented, happy, and at rest, 
 while lingering in Appenzell. 
 
 There is another blessing to be added to the traveler's 
 joys in Appenzell. He is away from the fixed and crowded 
 caravansaries, called hotels , that tower above so many Alpine 
 villages. He is not trailed and tormented continually, as in 
 the Bernese Oberland and among the Forest Cantons, by 
 a horde of porters , guides , and dirty rogues , eager to snap 
 his very cane and carry it for a rod, that they may claim 
 a fee. When will this everlasting nuisance to travel and 
 
ALPINE VILLAGES. 83 
 
 life itself in Switzerland be gone? When will the Swiss see 
 that this nuisance is worse than honest begging, and akin 
 to theft? There are to-day ten thousand able-bodied men 
 hanging around the hotels , the stations , and the frequented 
 spots of Switzerland , watching for a chance to turn a penny 
 without work, every one-of whom ought to be in the lock- 
 up, the chain-gang, or the dirt brigade. This miserable 
 practice of trying to live without work is becoming fear- 
 fully prevalent and fearfully injurious in its results among 
 the common people in many parts of Switzerland, and the 
 patriotic Swiss must view with pain a system that is dragging 
 his countrymen into a species of degradation. The origin 
 of this sort of worthless existence on the part of so many 
 Swiss is directly and wholly attributable to the great num- 
 ber of travelers and strangers continually in the country, 
 many of whom are so fond of being waited upon in the 
 most trivial ways and things, as to submit themselves and 
 others to shameless impudence, while they encourage laziness, 
 worthlessness , and a species of general dishonesty. When 
 strangers who visit mountain villages, Swiss lakes, and water- 
 falls, shall leave their beavers, poodles, silks, and Paris 
 costumes all at home, and strap to their own broad shoulders 
 the little baggage that is requisite and enjoyable in such 
 mountain places , the inevitable hanger-on will be without a 
 calling, and will leave the road. 
 
 The one who enjoys Swiss country places most, is he who 
 takes his little knapsack and staff and wanders away to the 
 mountains alone, avoiding, as far as possible, the great 
 hotels and the eager, rushing crowds. He will, if back from 
 railroads and steamers, see Swiss village-life, and this village- 
 life is the real one by which to judge the people of this 
 mountain country. He will see that the farmers seldom live 
 on farms, but in clusters of houses, hamlets, and villages. 
 He will find the people early risers, simple and economical 
 in life, and usually industrious. He will find that, as in 
 Germany and France , the women work in the fields beside 
 the men. He will find the people honest, though the greatest 
 sticklers for little things. He will see them sociable among 
 
84 ALPINE VILLAGES. 
 
 themselves , at fetes and country fairs , but will look in vain 
 for the generous hospitality he would find in an American 
 country home. Patriotic, he will find them all, and that 
 to an extent not equalled elsewhere in the world. He will 
 find a church in every hamlet, in every town; a pretty, 
 comfortable church outside, a cold and dreary one within, 
 with hard, wooden seats, a cold, stone floor, and often 
 sermons of a kind to correspond. He will find bigoted catho- 
 lics and bigoted protestants, both forgetting their religious 
 teachings, as they stand with swords drawn, and praying for 
 each other's destruction. 
 
 He will find many Swiss houses, built substantially of stone 
 or wood , and comfortably large , but with low ceilings and 
 narrow halls, with a general look of discomfort and desola- 
 tion within. He will find little furniture in the rooms and 
 but few pictures on the walls, unless they be some patron 
 saint or rude wood-cuts of William Tell. He will find, too, 
 that a village full of pleasant faces, home comforts, and in- 
 dustry here, may be neighbor to a village there, where thrift 
 and industry and pleasantness were never known; so great 
 is the change of circumstance noticed in the distance marked 
 by a mountain, a river, or a vale. He will find that many 
 who work hard for themselves and earn very little would 
 expect very much were they to work for a stranger. He 
 will find a Yankee's desire for money among the peasants, 
 without a Yankee's shrewdness as to ways of making it. 
 He will find in the fields and over all the farms, old, crippled 
 ways of doing things that must have been old and crippled 
 before the flood; and, should he hint at newer or better 
 ways, his hint will provoke only a shoulder - shrug and a 
 doubting laugh. He will find peasants living, not thriving, 
 in places where goats alone can walk erect , and where men 
 do not walk on level ground a dozen times a year. He 
 will see some happy peasants; he will see more unhappy 
 ones. He will see men and women bearing the summer 
 crop of hay upon their heads, down mountain sides so steep 
 that only grass and shrubs can grow and keep from falling 
 off. He will see hundreds and hundreds of peasants , male 
 
ALPINE VILLAGES. 85 
 
 and female , with terribly swelled necks , or goiters , and, 
 should he venture to ask the cause of the deformity ; be 
 answered by another shrug; or, possibly, be told it is the 
 water, it is the air, it is the food; it is the want of air, 
 the want of food; it is the bearing burdens on the head, 
 it is the sour wines , it is inherited , and a sort of blessing 
 in disguise. Should the bewildered pilgrim turn back to 
 the learned doctors and the great professors in the city, 
 and ask the reason there, another shrug and doubting 
 look will tell him nobody really knows. That there are 
 many of them, that they look unseemly, that they give no 
 pain, and that they seldom kill, is about all that one at 
 last can learn of these monstrous excresences. Like warts, 
 they come uncalled, and are usually neglected, until they 
 become what ought to be unwelcome fixtures to the neck. 
 He will find each villager a perfect shot and a good singer. 
 Rifle corps and singing clubs parade with banners and drink- 
 ing horns continually. Like the Swiss people of the larger 
 towns, the villagers have a tendency to clubism. Every 
 man must have his club or clubs as soon as he is out of 
 school , or free from the restraint of parent or guardian ; and 
 the greatest joy a Sv/itzer has, is to meet his club compa- 
 nions on a holiday ; at feast or fair. 
 
 The Switzer peasant's cares are few and , like his income, 
 very light. He mows his hay, he herds his goats, he prunes 
 his vines , and leaves the outcome of the work to time. His 
 taxes , if he be poor , are fortunately never great ; yet there 
 are many , many mortgaged farms, and many of the farming 
 men are never out of debt. He is a democrat, and that of 
 the straitest sect ; for, though his wordly gear is bounded by 
 a mortgaged farm, he has his goats and cows and grass 
 and hands , and , better still , he has his vote and voice in 
 every law that regulates his life. The great machine called 
 government, is made in part by him, and his in part are 
 all the forests, waters, roads, and mines, that lie within the 
 boundary of his commune. The government that he has 
 helped to make is , fortunately for him , not dear. The bills 
 paid out to run the government machine are almost equalled 
 
86 
 
 ALPINE VILLAGES. 
 
 by the bills paid in. In 1873, the cost of the general govern- 
 ment was but sixty-one millions of francs, and the income 
 of the state was only a couple of millions less. Local taxes 
 are usually comparatively small, as the schools, the church, 
 and the roads, are always receiving help from the general fund. 
 The tourist contented with simple life and simple things, 
 can live in these Alpine. towns for half the amount expended 
 in the large hotels, where tiresome table d'hotes, vexatious 
 bills, and dress, and noisy crowds, dispel all thought of rest. 
 Four francs a day will pay at the little Alpine inns for all 
 the bread and cheese and fish and milk an ordinary man 
 can use, and there will be relief and a pleasure in looking at 
 God's mountains and meadows and rivers, free of charge. There 
 is a freedom from restraint, a purity of air, an elasticity of 
 heart and limb , that make a week spent in a high Alpine vil- 
 lage worth a whole summer spent in the ordinary country towns. 
 
 THE JUNGFRAU 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Glimpses of the People. 
 
 OCARCELY a valley of Switzerland but has its own peculiar 
 habits, customs, and ways of life. These differences in the 
 ways of the people are so great that no single representa- 
 tion of a part can be taken as a picture of the whole. There 
 are two different religions, three different languages, and, 
 in fact, twenty-five different states, no one of which can be 
 called an exact counterpart of the other. Even in German 
 Switzerland, though the language of the different parts is 
 the same, or about the same, the laws and customs differ 
 decidedly. Democracy itself even , differs in the different 
 cantons and presents all the shades of republicanism, from 
 a most conservative Berne to a most radical Zurich. Catho- 
 lic Zug has scarce a way or thought in common with pro- 
 testant Neuchatel. Each state, each valley almost, is a 
 study in itself, yet there are some things in the country's 
 ways and customs, that may be almost called common to 
 all the different parts. 
 
 What is known as society in England, America, and some 
 of the continental states, scarcely exists here at all. As a 
 people, the men are devoted mostly to business, the women 
 to household duties. Of mere pleasure - seekers , there are 
 none. There are no loafers. Gatherings of the two sexes 
 for mutual intellectual improvement seldom occur. Occa- 
 sional dinners, afternoon coffees, the latter patronized by 
 the ladies only , an occasional ball , and the frequent atten- 
 
88 GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 dance at the club on the part of the gentlemen, embraces 
 about all there< Is of society in Switzerland. 
 
 The meetings of the clubs, though their number is legion, 
 are not so much devoted to mental improvement as to dis- 
 cussing the bretzels ,] the beer , and the news of the town. 
 
 Every Swiss is fond of music, and of good music. The 
 concerts , be they ever so expensive , are better patronized, 
 possibly , than in any other country — and the Neapolitan, 
 who will go without his dinner for a ride in the Chiasa, is 
 not fonder of his horses than is the Swiss of his Sunday 
 music. There are three classes of society — the working 
 class, the mercantile , or business class — and the aristocratic 
 class — the latter a very small one , scarcely distinct from 
 the mercantile class, as even the richest Swiss, especially 
 in the German cantons, prefers to be directly or indirectly 
 connected with some business that will in some way fur- 
 nish interest for expenses, without imparing a capital that 
 may have been handed down from his fathers. Monies and 
 estates are kept, as far as possible, in the same families, 
 and marriages are frequently brought about between rela- 
 tives with this single purpose in view. 
 
 While there are a great number of inherited estates in 
 the country, there are also many acquired fortunes, for 
 perserving industry is the greatest characteristic of a Swiss 
 citizen. They are a thrifty, hard working, and saving people, 
 who grow rich, eventually, from the close and honest 
 practising of ordinary business principles. Politically 1 , they 
 have but one desire, and that is to be let alone. For five 
 centuries, they have proved their ability to take care of 
 themselves. They possess a bravery of spirit that has re- 
 mained undampened in the presence of a thankless soil, 
 inhospitable mountains, a fickle climate, jealous neighbors, 
 and internal foes. They are republicans of the conservative 
 kind , ai\d firm as brass. Their sons are every where. 
 Their tents are pitched in every quarter of the globe, 
 but Switzerland is still their home. Go where they 
 will — stay as they may , their eyes are turned to 
 fatherland. 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 89 
 
 Unlike their mountains, the Swiss are hot tempered and 
 seldom overlook a wrong. The death of Winkelried, though 
 oft avenged, has never been forgot. Their friendships, 
 though warm enough among themselves, seldom extend 
 to other lands. Their laws are few, but these few are 
 not written in water. To violate them is to incur a people's 
 wrath. _ 
 
 In the larger cities, the ordinary habits of the people do 
 not differ materially , perhaps , from those of other conti- 
 nental lands; the most peculiar and remarkable habits and 
 ways prevailing in the smaller towns and the back villages 
 and valleys of the country. Country courtships and country, 
 weddings here are as novel in their way as any in the 
 world. A few are weak imitations of what occurs in the 
 marrying way in the cities; but many cantons and valleys 
 do the thing in a manner most peculiar to themselves. In 
 Glarus, the country swain goes for the bride and takes her 
 home with him the night before the marriage, thus making 
 sure of her at the morrow's feast. -In Schaffhausen, the 
 wedding guests are invited by the tailor who happens to 
 have the honor of making the bridegroom's coat. On Lake 
 Lucerne, a peasant's marriage calls out every friend and 
 relative of both parties. A great procession is formed at 
 the bride's house — the females, headed by the bride, taking 
 the lead toward the village church. The groom, in black 
 church mantle, with hat in hand, a chaplet of flowers about 
 his head, and followed by all the masculine guests, brings 
 up the rear. The marriage ceremony by, the marching line, 
 joined by the village priest, wends its way to an inn, where 
 the whole day is spent in eating, drinking, and dancing. 
 During all the dances of the day, the bride must honor no 
 one but the groom. When evening comes, a master or a 
 mistress of the ceremonies takes the wedded pair and locks 
 them together in a room till the following day. These and 
 a hundred other queer, old, marriage customs of the Swiss, 
 though still generally prevailing in many parts of the country, 
 are quietly giving way to others, more modern, but less 
 romantic and picturesque. 
 
CjO GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 At funerals , a bit of the old style yet remains, even in 
 . cities and with the richest people. In the protestant cantons, 
 the females, as in Scotland , never attend funerals. When 
 a member of the family dies, cards announcing the event 
 are sent to the nearest friends; and these specially invited 
 ones are expected to attend the funeral in person or to send 
 their cards of condolence to be put in an urn , standing at 
 the door of the house for the purpose, during the hour of 
 burial. The hour arrived , the invited male friends of the 
 family, in black suits and silk hats, enter an empty room 
 prepared for the purpose, and stand in a line around the 
 wall. The gateway, the outside' of the house, and the hall 
 leading ■ to this empty room , are hung all the way with 
 broad black cloths. The coffin, covered with flowers, 
 is placed in the lower, outside hall. Not a word is spoken 
 in the room. Perfect silence prevails, when the male mourners 
 for the deceased also enter and , passing around , silently 
 shake the hand of each one present. In a few minutes, 
 the door opens, and a woman in attendance announces that 
 it is time for the train to start. The church bells toll and 
 the mourners and the invited friends move from the house 
 to the yard or street, where the procession is joined by 
 others who, though not invited, are yet desirous of tendering 
 this last testimony of regard to the dead. Every one is 
 on foot. No carriages except the hearse are used. The 
 coffin, of plain boards and unpainted , is mantled in black 
 and covered with wreaths of flowers. Frequently there is 
 no sermon at all. With the fewest words possible, the body is 
 lowered into the earth and the mourners return to their 
 respective homes. On the following week, a card signed 
 by the stricken family appears in the town papers, thanking 
 the friends for their sympathy, and their attendance at the 
 grave. 
 
 The Swiss women are the very best of housekeepers 
 and devote their time largely to domestic concerns. 
 Neatness of the most extravagant sort prevails every- 
 where. Dirt is hated as an unholy thing — and the clean, 
 waxed floors, the bright walls, and the polished household 
 
BERNESE COSTUME 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 91 
 
 wares, attest that in the mind of a Swiss matron cleanliness 
 and godliness are indeed akin. 
 
 The women are not less industrious than the busy men. 
 If the Swiss woman is a good housekeeper and a good 
 nurse, she is not the less an adept in the art of needle- 
 work and fair embroidery. In fact, the crochet hook , the 
 needle, and the pattern, are her constant companions, except 
 when her time is employed in superintending the more direct 
 and necessary duties of the house. She draws sometimes, 
 she paints sometimes, and she sings a good deal; but it 
 can never be said that the Swiss women sing better than 
 the Swiss men, or even as well. A home body, too, is the 
 real Swiss woman ; not more from choice , perhaps , than 
 from necessity. Her lord is always gone in the day- 
 time — he is generally gone in the evening; and, oftenest, 
 to places where it is not possible or proper for her to go 
 with him. Beer-gardens do not exist in any such proportion 
 as in Germany, nor are they frequented half so much. In 
 Germany, the husband goes to his beer and takes his wife 
 and. children along, to hear the music and enjoy the garden. 
 The Swiss, except on Sunday, leaves all except himself at 
 home. Occasionally, women are seen in the public gardens 
 and restaurants, with the men; but it is seldom, and is no 
 index to the social pleasures of the female members of the 
 house. The children from eight to fourteen, in the northern 
 cantons, especially the little girls, are nearly all quite pretty; 
 and the bright and tidy appearance of both boys and girls 
 in the public schools, is a refreshing sight. Torn aprons, 
 dirty faces, and ragged' trowsers, are scarcely allowed upon 
 the public streets. 
 
 The men , physically, are a tough , hardy, and enduring 
 class ; rather below the usual hight , but quick , wiry, and 
 muscular. They excel as gymnasts, wrestlers, and riflemen, 
 and can stand a mountain tramp and climb of almost any 
 length, over rocks and snow and ice. They excel the 
 people of all other lands in patriotism and, when well trained, 
 can prove the best soldiers in the world. 
 
92 GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 The houses are large and most substantially built, and are 
 arranged usually for two or three families. There are nearly 
 six hundred thousand families in the country and less than 
 four hundred thousand houses. Moving day comes twice a 
 year to those who move at all. Many don't. At different 
 days from these two , it is next to impossible to rent a 
 house. A noticeable contrivance attached to many houses 
 here, as in Germany, is the little mirror hanging on the 
 outside of the window frame , at an angle to reflect the 
 faces of persons passing by the house. By this arrangement, 
 the good dame can sit near her window and examine the 
 faces of the passers by without being seen. Among another 
 class of people who sport none of these little detective 
 mirrors, especially in the country towns, a different and a 
 ruder habit prevails, when strangers ring the bell, of throwing 
 up the window, poking the head out, and shouting, "Who's 
 there, and what do you want ?" To the timid of heart, these 
 calls sound much like, "Catch thief and, "Off, you vagabond." 
 
 Wash-day, or wash -week, rather, is an event of the year, 
 for many of the Swiss people have a novel habit of washing 
 but twice or so a twelve month, and then the long lines of 
 shirts and the broad grass plots filled with linen, give the 
 surroundings the air of an army hospital. When a Swiss 
 countryman marries, he must have a host of shirts, if nothing 
 else, and in some cantons it has been the custom, in certain 
 classes, for the young bride to present her new lord with a 
 comfortable outfit in the way of shirts, the day before the 
 wedding. A Swiss lad found begging once, was arrested 
 as a vagrant, though, on examining his bundle, he was found 
 to be the proud proprietor of thirty-seven shirts, each and 
 all waiting and ready for the wash. In the middle classes, 
 the principal part of the bride's dowry is often invested in 
 an immense stock of linen that may be considered fully 
 sufficient to last her the remainder of her life, thus avoiding 
 too large a "run" on the small change of her liege lord, for 
 female finery. 
 
 While more than one family occupies a single house, there 
 is usually no crowding, as the families are small, not avera- 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 93 
 
 ging five persons each ; the people not practising the philo- 
 sophy that children, and many of them, are the surest way 
 of perpetuating" one's name. The whole population numbers 
 2,670,345, there being fifty -nine thousand more females 
 than males, and five hundred thousand more protestants 
 than catholics. Every body, nearly, has a little land. The 
 households number 557,820, and of this number, 465,000 
 are land-owners. In canton Zurich, which is a fair specimen 
 of the rest, only a twelfth part of the people live in 
 towns. 
 
 The Swiss love their countrymen, wander where they 
 may ; and they love Switzerland to a degree that could put the 
 patriotism of other people, even Americans, to the blush. 
 Whether Switzerland has done much or little in the world, 
 whether its government be the poorest or the best, her sons 
 are proud of her, and one of the virtues first taught in the 
 boy's school is to revere Switzerland before the world. 
 
 Intelligence prevails every -where, and the country has 
 more circulating books in libraries than any state of equal 
 population in Europe. Zurich canton alone has 267 public 
 libraries. Every inn, cafe, eating house, garden, steamboat, 
 and station, has piles of newspapers whose contents are 
 digested daily and nightly with the bretzels and the beer. 
 Education first, and war second, if at all, is the rule. The 
 schools cost more dollars than the army, and yet there is 
 not another country in all Europe, Prussia not excepted, 
 that could put an army of two hundred thousand men to 
 the front, as quickly as the Swiss. 
 
 At the unexpected breaking out of the Franco-Prussian 
 war of 1870, nearly forty thousand Swiss troops, completely 
 equipped for fight, were on the march in less than three 
 days, and, had the French or Germans crossed the Swiss 
 border, every arms-bearing citizen in the land could, by law, 
 have been at the front in less than a week. The military 
 system is a militia, based on the Prussian plan. Every man 
 who is old enough to vote and is not a cripple, is bound 
 to serve ; nor money, nor favoritism, nor cowardice, can avail 
 to evade this. Every Swiss man is a Swiss soldier and, in 
 
94 GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 his house, within arm's reach, must hang his gun, his uni- 
 form , and sword. The force is divided into two classes : 
 the Elite and the Reserve. The moment a* man's uniform 
 is on, he is subject to the rules of war. The residents of 
 each particular locality are brigaded together and , in case 
 of war, they fight beside their townsmen and their friends. 
 Drilling must go on as often as once a year, rain or shine. 
 The war force, divided into two branches, the Elite and the 
 Reserve, numbers 200,542. The Elite embraces the arms- 
 bearing population between the ages of 20 und 32, and all 
 between 32 and 45 are classed in the Reserve. These 
 troops are divided among the different arms of the service 
 as follows: Infantry 172,852; Cavalry 4,693; Artillery 
 18,955; Engineers-sappers etc. 3,147; General staff 895; 
 making an army of above 200,000 men, not only liable, 
 but fully equipped and prepared, to enter service on 
 twenty-four hours notice. The soldiers here, as in most 
 European countries, are but poorly paid. Commanders 
 of regiments receive, but only when on duty, 15 fcs. 
 per day; Company - commanders receive 10 fcs. per 
 day; and privates in the cavalry but 1 franc, while 
 infantry privates receive but 80 centimes or 16 cents 
 per day. 
 
 Every Swiss can shoot, and shoot well. The shooting 
 fests are the most popular and the best attended of all 
 Swiss festivals. To be a poor shot, for a Swiss, would be 
 a shame ; and would, in public opinion, almost endanger the 
 short-comer's right to marry or to vote. What Swiss soldiers 
 can do in time of war, the history of the past has proved. 
 What two hundred thousand brave sharp-shooters might do 
 in their mountain fastnesses to-day, no European army cares 
 to learn by close experience. What seventy-five Modoc 
 Indians did in the lava beds of the West, might be a weak 
 index to what an army of trained soldiers and riflemen could 
 do behind the bulwarks of the Alps. 
 
 The people are called close; but closeness may mean, 
 after all, but decent economy. It is seldom a rich Swiss 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 95 
 
 dies without leaving a large proportion of the means he has 
 gained by his so-called closeness and stinginess, to charitable 
 purposes. A life is often spent in hoarding up what is given 
 away at the last with liberal heart and hand, and burning 
 Chicago , with Swiss gold hurrying to help , spoke not of 
 the stinginess of the Swiss people. Serious consequences 
 follow failing in business here, and men seldom break up 
 or become bankrupt as in some other countries, with pockets 
 full of gold, while the creditors starve. In canton Zurich, 
 at least, bankruptcy is often followed by a temporary loss of 
 the right to vote or to be elected to office. 
 
 A large export and import business is conducted with all 
 parts of the world. The Swiss must buy and import a 
 large per cent of what he eats and wears. Beef, cattle, horses, 
 wheat, and flour, are brought from Hungary ; cotton, petro- 
 leum, and machinery, from America; raw silk, from Italy, 
 China and Japan — and every pound of coal, for fuel and 
 motive power, is shipped from the Rhine districts of Germany; 
 for, with all her mountains and rocks, Switzerland has little 
 or no coal, but few useful ores, and none of the precious 
 metals; even of wood she has a scarcity, three fourths of 
 that used in the country, coming from south Germany. In 
 return, however, her exports are larger than the amount 
 brought in. She sends her magnificent silks , her watches, 
 her ribbons, her wines, her embroideries and braided straws, 
 her butter and her cheese , to every quarter of the globe. 
 She is no longer a pastoral country only; she is a com- 
 mercial and a manufacturing state, as well ; and her industries 
 are fast making her people rich. The poor man, however, 
 here, as in most other parts of Europe, has no easy row 
 to hoe in life. The laborer works early and he works late; 
 but with all his many hours of toil, he saves no money. 
 
 Switzerland is no longer the cheap country to live in that 
 it was ten, fifteen years ago, before American and English 
 tourists came by droves, to scatter cash about and express 
 continual astonishment at not being charged more for their 
 
96 GLIMBSES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 extravagance. Foreigners demanded to be charged more 
 for all they got. Their hotel bills were insignificant. Their 
 wine was good, but shamefully cheap. Premiums were offered 
 for higher prices. 
 
 At last, the hotel-keepers, the house-renters, the shop- 
 keepers, the wine sellers, the livery men, the porters even, 
 — everybody who had anything to sell or hire in Switzer- 
 land, took the hint. Higher prices came, and Switzerland 
 to-day is a dearer country to live in than California. This 
 climbing up of rents, of wines, of bread, and meat, has no 
 pleasant side from which the man who works for fifty cents 
 a day, can view it. He lives in a crowded and poorly- 
 ventilated house; warm enough, but bare of furniture and 
 many other things that tend to make a home a place of 
 joy and comfort. He has' more bread and less meat, 
 the ration was small enough before — more soup and poorer 
 wine, very sour wine, in fact, and t scarcely fit to drink 
 at all. His pay, though a little better than before, is all 
 spent for the higher rent and the dearer clothes that his wife 
 and little ones must wear. He has no luxuries except a 
 Sunday's walk or a ride in a third class car. He is badly 
 off, for the reason that he works hard, lives poorly, and 
 seldom saves a cent. 
 
 Switzerland is a small country — is not an agricultural 
 country — and a great influx of strangers, added to the 
 population already large, soon eats up all that is grown. 
 Meat and flour and coal are imported, and the poor man 
 pays as much per pound as the richest traveler. He is 
 called industrious and happy. That is the world's idea of 
 the Swiss working classes. Industrious he is, and must be, 
 if he would live at all ; happy, scarcely. No man can work 
 hard, eleven' hours a day, in sun and rain, with insufficient 
 food, and be very happy. He is called happy in Switzer- 
 land, because he is better off than in some other countries — 
 because he is peaceable — because he don't kick up a fuss, 
 rebel, overthrow the government, and divide the spoils. But 
 he is intelligent; he reads, and knows the moral of jumping 
 from the frying pan into the fire. 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 97 
 
 Intelligence, and not bayonets, as in other continental 
 countries, keeps the peace in Switzerland, and leads the 
 lower classes to submit to fate and poverty, in preference 
 to war and death. The Internationals — they come, they 
 g — they leave no impress here — except to bring about 
 a strike, sometimes, and better pay and an increased cons- 
 ciousness , on the part of the laborer , that he is a man, 
 although he is poor. 
 
 The great industries, such as embroidery, silk - weaving, 
 and watch -making — all of which can, to an extent, 
 be conducted in the farmer's house on rainy days and 
 between times, alleviate the small farmer's condition; 
 but of these , the common laborer or the very poor can 
 have no benefit. In twenty-five years, the cost of living in 
 Switzerland has advanced seventy-two per cent and is still 
 rapidly on the increase. 
 
 In canton Zurich, the absolute expenses of a workingman's 
 family of five persons equal two thousand two hundred 
 and twelve francs per year. He can earn , at four francs 
 a day, and this is the highest average, but twelve hundred 
 francs yearly. Add to this the five hundred francs that 
 his wife may earn, at the most, between times, and Christ- 
 mas , when bills are due , finds the laborer , after a hard 
 year's work and poor living, three hundred francs in debt. 
 To avoid this debt, his family must go without one luxury 
 and without many of the commonest necessities of life ; and 
 yet he is spoken of as contented and happy. He sees the 
 miserable facts, knows he can't help their being facts, and 
 so grins fate in the face and submits to his unfortunate lot 
 without audible murmur. The poor man is at the bottom 
 of the ladder in this country, and there he usually stops. 
 The rounds by which men climb upwards are made of class 
 and gold and are far apart. What can the poor man do 
 but submit or emigrate ? Could he only get away from the 
 mortgages that tie him down, the prejudices that hold him 
 back , his love of home , though steeped in poverty ; 
 could his eyes see the boundless prairies of the West, the 
 
 Switzerland. 7 
 
98 GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 growing farms, the inviting fields, the waiting homes — would 
 he submit, or emigrate? 
 
 The middle and higher classes of the Swiss, though well 
 to do , are seldom very rich. A glance at the tax-lists of 
 the prosperous little town of Meilen, on lake Zurich, shows 
 how small the average properties and incomes really are. 
 Meilen has a population of 3074. She has 511 persons who 
 hold taxable property. 
 
 Of these, nine only, are taxed for more than a hundred 
 thousand francs, or twenty thousand dollars ; 3 10 are taxed 
 on five thousand francs. 128, on between five thousand and 
 twenty thousand francs, 38, on between twenty thousand and 
 fifty thousand, and 26 only, on between fifty thousand and a 
 hundred thousand francs. 216 of these pay an income tax 
 on less than seven hundred francs, 154 are taxed on an 
 income of from seven hundred to nine hundred francs, and 68 
 are classed as between a thousand francs and fifteen hundred 
 francs. 438 of these 511 tax payers, therefore, have an 
 income of less than fifteen hundred francs, or three hundred 
 dollars, and but 38 of the whole number have incomes 
 above this, and but 10 of the whole number have an in- 
 come above two thousand francs, or four hundred dollars. 
 
 Meilen is a bright, prosperous country-town and, though 
 she is not a manufacturing place , her list may be considered 
 as representing a pretty fair average of the non-manufacturing 
 country-towns. 
 
 What do these Swiss people do for a living? is a question 
 asked by almost every traveler. The answer is , in the 
 cities, manufacturing and trade is industriously, economically, 
 and very profitably, carried on; in the country, the people 
 farm , on a small scale to be sure , but they farm , never- 
 theless ; raising a few of their grains and all their vegetables. 
 Besides this, the country people have the yield of the 
 pasture, and they weave silk, spin cotton, and make 
 watches, between times ; by this means, obtaining the ready 
 cash for taxes, clothing, doctors bills etc. The women work 
 as hard as the men , and frequently harder , doing , at times, 
 the most menial and disagreeable labor of the farm. When 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 99 
 
 late frosts and early rains come and the scanty crops are 
 lost, the Swiss farmer has a most disheartening time, as 
 he seldom has ready cash enough or credit enough, to 
 supply his commonest wants from his neighbor's store. 
 Late frosts, early rains, and terrible floods, do come, and 
 come often, in the regions of the Alps, and when they 
 come, whole districts of country people are thrown upon 
 the charities of the cities for bread to eat. Farming in Switzer- 
 land , is indeed about a thankless task and , were it not for., 
 the pasture-fields, the vines, the butter and the cheese, and 
 the in-door industries, the farm would be but little better 
 than the jail. The people, even the better classes, live 
 plainly ; very plainly, and the lower classes, very poorly. 
 With many of the working classes, meat is a rarity — 
 a sort of Sunday treat — and a few scarcely have it at 
 all. It is noticeable that the butchers have little demand 
 for the flesh of cows. Cow-meat is not considered good 
 and ox-meat not considered bad in Switzerland. The cows, 
 though giving milk, are worked constantly, while the ox 
 leads an idle life in dark stalls and closes his career only 
 at the shambles. No bad effect follows to the butter, the 
 cheese, and the milk, from this working of the cows, the 
 farmers claim; but they admit that immoderate work and 
 over-heating might poison the whole dairy. Adulterated 
 coffee, soup, potatoes, bread, sour wine, and milk, these 
 make up the usual rations of a Swiss workman. What is 
 lacking in quality, is possibly made up in quantity — by 
 early breakfast, lunch at nine, dinner at twelve, lunch again 
 at four, and supper at eight o'clock. These lunches are 
 taken by the workman in the open air and consist , usually, 
 of black bread and a jug of heathenish wine. 
 
 Switzerland is considered a healthy country, yet it is 
 doubtful if the Swiss themselves can be considered an espe- 
 cially healthy people. Though the summers are exception- 
 ally fine, and the air bracing, the winters are usually rainy 
 and foggy ; especially in the northern parts of the country, 
 where the climate is considered peculiarly unfavorable to 
 rheumatic complaints and weak lungs. The number of blind, 
 
IOO GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 dumb, and insane, all over the country, is astonishingly 
 large. These unfortunates number well on to seventeen 
 thousand, out of a population of something more than two 
 and a half million souls ; and , were the cretins and idiots 
 to be counted , the number would be fearfully increased. 
 The number of deaf and dumb alone is nearly three to 
 every one thousand of the population , or more than three 
 times as many as in France or Fngland. In three cantons, 
 Aargau, Berne, and Zurich, the insane number one to every 
 175 of the population, a per cent 2 1 J3 times as great as in 
 England , and 3 3 /s times as great as in Prussia. The cause 
 of this distressful number of the mentally crippled has never 
 been more than guessed at; but that bad living, hard work, 
 and sometimes continued intermarrying of blood relations, 
 are among the principal causes , the commonest observer 
 can readily believe. These, misfortunes cannot be charged 
 wholly to overhanging mountains, deep valleys, and dark 
 ravines, among which the people live; for canton Basel- 
 land , a comparatively level country with a population 
 about the same as Appenzell Ausser-Rhoden , has more 
 than double as many of" these unfortunates as the latter 
 canton lying in the very heart of the mountains. Again, 
 the city of Basle has about i 2 /3 times as 'many mentally 
 sick, and deaf and dumb, and blind, as has canton Schwyz 
 with about the same population, and fairly girdled in with 
 mountains; and it may be worthy of remark that both 
 Baselland and Basel city use incomparably more sour wine 
 than either Schwyz or Appenzell , where wine is scarcely 
 grown. These figures are mostly from a report made at 
 the World's Fair in 1873, and taken in connexion with 
 the vast number of insane asylums built and building all 
 over Switzerland, the numberless people afflicted with goiters 
 and the like, naturally excite the query, Is Switzerland a 
 healthy country, or is it exactly the reverse? 
 
 Sunday, in Switzerland, is not a day devoted to fasting 
 and prayer alone, by any means. It is, on the contrary, 
 the very merriest day of the week. To church in the 
 morning and to the theater in the afternoon or evening — 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE. 10 1 
 
 this is often the rule. On Sunday, everybody, rich or poor, 
 high or low, is in the streets or on the steamboats and 
 cars , putting off on excursions. Cheaper tickets than usual 
 are issued by the transportation companies for Sundays, 
 and the crowding masses surge up and down and around 
 from daylight till dark. If there is an unusual attraction 
 at the opera, that attraction is reserved for Sunday night. 
 Is there a hippodrome, a circus, a shooting match, an elec- 
 tion, or a horse race, Sunday is the day set for the event. 
 Anything and everything that is avoided in England ot 
 America on Sunday, seems here to be particularly chosen 
 for that particular day; and all this in the land of John 
 Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli. The excursioning alone, throw- 
 ing out the theaters, horse racing, and other side shows, 
 is, undoubtedly, a real blessing to the laboring classes who 
 are unable to procure enjoyment on other days ; and it is 
 only fair to say that their walks aud their rides, as well 
 as their beer and their wine and their coffee, in the pleasant 
 country places, are as innocently indulged in and as free 
 from excess as the most ardent lover of morality could 
 desire. 
 
 The Swiss pay little attention to the titled people of.other 
 lands who travel or sojourn in their midst. There is no 
 running after men in place. Princes and ministers of state 
 and priests and kings may come and go, provided they 
 have paid their bills, and no one asks whither or how or 
 when; and the only trace of them will be their names, 
 misspelled, in the hotel registers. The public press, like 
 the people , is not given to fawning at the feet of men it 
 hates. The newspapers are devoted to news and, when 
 printed well enough to read, will be found to contain fewer 
 balloon editorials than is common to the French, English, 
 or American journals. They are, however, insignificant in 
 appearance , small-sized , and , like the German newspapers, 
 miserably printed. A continual reading of them would be 
 enough in itself to account for the thousands of blind and 
 spectacled people all over the country. They are nearly 
 all printed in German, French, or Italian; an occasional one 
 
102 GLIMPSES OF THE PEOPLE.. 
 
 only, appearing in the dialect of some of the cantons. These 
 German dialects cannot be called written tongues at all, in 
 fact. Though older, some of them, than the real German it- 
 self, and the only language of the uneducated classes, yet 
 they are seldom seen in print. They differ materially with 
 the different cantons, and to an extent that sometimes 
 makes it difficult for a Swiss of one section of Switzerland 
 to even understand a Swiss of another canton , when the 
 language is supposed to be the same. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Swiss Schools. v 
 
 1 HERE was something more than mere smoke and pow- 
 per noticed in the Revolution of 1793. Events that stimu- 
 lated men to war had also stimulated men to think. The 
 fairest plants grew up from seeds dropped in the most un- 
 promising of soils. If hearts beat faster from a patriotic 
 fire, the mind kept pace by delving out new means for 
 compensating every loss. The love of country was never 
 greater than a love of truth. The mysteries of science, art, 
 and literature, unlock their secrets at the sight of human 
 suffering and of blood. The French not only fought — 
 they thought: thought more in their darkest hours than they 
 had ever thought before. Their love of revolution and of 
 change had stimulated other lands to thought of revolution 
 too. Their love of knowledge, literature, and art, that grew 
 with each increasing woe, led Swiss and Germans into 
 newer, deeper, faster streams of thought. 
 
 War and the arts went dancing hand in hand, and know- 
 ledge waited on them both. When French troops crossed 
 the Swiss frontier, bearing a constitution on their sabre points, 
 the smaller cantons hurled, or tried to hurl, them back. In 
 Unterwalden , fire and sword and death pressed into every 
 home. Not only men, but women, fought at Stanz, and 
 fell. Orphans alone remained — orphans and ashes — 
 that was war. The homeless orphans begged , and that 
 was natural ; and some men's hearts were stirred with pity, 
 but none* so deeply as that of Heinrich Pestalozzi. 
 
 Born for a preacher, so his parents thought, at least — 
 so taught the boy to think. But preach he could not ; only 
 
104 SWISS SCHOOLS. 
 
 tried it once, 'tis said, and failed. A want of charity in 
 holy men had dashed the youthful student's hopes; but he 
 had charity himself — a charity for all, even for the home- 
 less, ragged boys at Stanz — had more than charity, the 
 nineteenth century has learned — had something new to 
 think, to say, to do, and knew how to go and do it. His purse 
 was small, his heart was very large. He bundled up the 
 little that he had , went down to Stanz , and taught the 
 children of the poor. He found them shelter, bread to eat, 
 and clothes to wear. His money failed at last ; his heart 
 could never fail. His only help was in the little ragged 
 boys, and they proved help enough, at last. He taught 
 them how to work, to sew, to spin, to chop, to wash, to 
 cook , to aid in everything that helped to support the school. 
 His method met with wonderful success. The rich, at last, 
 began to imitate the poor — to learn to work , to seek for 
 knowledge in ways the easiest to be found, by making labor 
 handmaid of the mind. 
 
 Then object-lessons followed in the teacher's mind. 
 Boys comprehend what they can see and feel better than 
 mere words set down as task for memory, Pestalozzi thought. 
 Pictures and objects were used to represent the thing the 
 boy was asked to learn. The eye, the ear, the hand — 
 all joined to make impressions on the youthful mind. The 
 hour of study soon became an hour of pleasure. Lessons 
 were no longer looked upon as dreary tasks. The children 
 learned, and Pestalozzi's name and thought and plan echoed 
 across a continent. Teachers themselves, by hundreds, 
 nocked to Pestalozzi's side to learn what seemed the only 
 simple, natural way of teaching how to think. 
 
 All Switzerland was roused. An impetus was given to 
 every movement tending towards reform of schools ■ — an 
 impetus that poverty, rebellion, war, could not restrain. 
 The government itself joined hands with private enterprise, 
 to make the teaching of the youthful mind the first, the 
 proudest business of the State. With what success, the 
 poorest peasant in the land can tell; for he can read and 
 write, and knows what rich rewards await intelligence. The 
 
SWISS SCHOOLS. .105 
 
 plan ofPestalozzi crossed the sea, and little boys and girls 
 on English hills and far-off Western plains rejoice in happy 
 homes and better schools, where learning, love, and law, 
 make bright the spring-time of their lives. Since Pestalozzi 
 died, in 1827, his principles have been improved upon 
 till Switzerland has the finest system of public schools in 
 Europe. Not public schools alone — thousands of private 
 ones and special ones , of every kind , for every purpose. 
 The noblest edifices the Swiss possess are dedicated to the 
 schools. The council houses are not half so fine, so large, 
 so well arranged as these. Time was in Switzerland when 
 master architects spent all their skill in building spires, 
 cathedrals, and the like. To-day, even greater skill is used 
 in building and ornamenting granite piles, where teaching 
 youth is made the noblest duty of citizen and State. "De- 
 dicated to the children of the town". This is the happy 
 motto carved in golden letters over many a school house 
 door in Switzerland. When Switzerland would honor Pesta- 
 lozzi's name , the monument she built was more than brass 
 or bronze; it was a school — a school where memories 
 of the man were carved , not on the wood , the stone, 
 but in the minds of happy, growing youths. 
 
 The Swiss boy enters school as soon as he is six, not 
 over seven, years old. He cannot leave until his thirteenth 
 year is reached. But school to him is play, as well as work. 
 His education is not all from books and texts. He sees 
 the pictures painted on the wall — his ears hear pleasant 
 sounds, and hands can feel whatever heads must learn. 
 
 His teacher is a mortal like himself — not some old 
 gorgon, armed with rod and rule. Together they may run 
 and leap and laugh and dance and sing , as well as learn. 
 There is no stiff restraint between the teacher and the taught. 
 Order prevails , and rule , and law , and are obeyed from 
 love , and not from fear alone. The hours of study past, 
 the pupil and the teacher wander to the forests and the 
 fields ; together pluck wild flowers and plants , seek out the 
 red squirrel's home , and learn his industry ; together climb 
 the hills, delve into narrow vales, cross lakes and streams, 
 
106 SWISS SCHOOLS. 
 
 and search for curious rocks and trees, learning again from 
 them the lessons of the day. 
 
 The children of the rich and poor, unfettered by the so- 
 cial law that makes them sit apart in after life, sit side by 
 side within the schools, and, hand in hand, may wander to 
 the fields. A something more than conjugating verbs, ex- 
 tracting roots , is taught. Manners and walk and talk and 
 cleanliness receive attention in the smallest schools. A boy 
 with face begrimed and black, and trowsers torn at the knee, 
 is sometimes seized upon, washed and cleaned and mended 
 up, and then sent home. His mother feels the keen rebuke, 
 and when the boy returns to school, he is shining like a new 
 made top. The schools are not compulsory alone, — they 
 are free. Each child of proper years must go ; each village 
 must provide the means. If wealthy parents choose to send 
 their child to other than to public schools, they have the 
 right ; but they must help to foot the bill for public schools 
 besides; must also show certificate of good and full atten- 
 dance at the private school, for there can be no shirking 
 of this great responsibility by parents or by child. 
 
 The school houses are evidently made for the children's 
 comfort and convenience. One thing never is forgotten in 
 connexion with building a Swiss school house — a large 
 and grassy plot for the children's play-ground, with a fountain 
 of pure water on it, shady trees, and place for a Gymna- 
 sium. 
 
 At twelve years of age , the primary course is completed, 
 and, if the child has received the usual certificates, he may 
 enter on the secondary course with his thirteenth year. In 
 this course he remains three years, and at sixteen is sup- 
 posed to be proficient in everything required to fit him for 
 an unprofessional life, provided he does not speedily forget 
 all that his youthful mind has learned. He is also fitted, 
 should he be inclined, to enter upon a regular University 
 course. 
 
 Birch rods and hickory sticks are seldom seen lying on 
 the teacher's desk, as corporal punishment is usually not 
 allowed. 
 
SWISS SCHOOLS. 107 
 
 A teacher found incapable of ruling by moral force is 
 thought incapable of ruling at all, and off he goes. Pupils 
 who neglect their studies, or who are disobedient, are sent 
 home — turned out of school forever — and this is the 
 most mortifying and severe punishment a Swiss boy can 
 receive. 
 
 In the primary schools, the boys and girls are usually 
 taught in separate classes. 
 
 In all the public schools, female teachers are employed, 
 as well as male, and receive the same salaries. The hours 
 of study are long and severe. In the summer, the school 
 sessions are from seven in the irrorning until eleven , and 
 again from two till four. 
 
 Pupils must not only study their thirty-four hours a week, 
 and forty weeks a year, in the school, they must also have 
 certain studies to be pursued at home. There is no excuse 
 for unnecessary absence or delays. If sick , a scholar is ex- 
 cused when absent; if not, his parents will be fined. Un- 
 vaccinated children, idiot children, and those with faces 
 made too repulsive by disease, are not admitted. The mo- 
 ment that a child is on the streets, has passed from the 
 circle of his home, that moment has commenced the school's 
 authority. 
 
 The latest regulations of the Zurich city schools* printed 
 on slips and dropped in every house, contain, among a score 
 of other rules, the following note relating to the scholars 
 conduct in the street. 
 
 "Delay of any kind between the scholar's home and school" 
 "is not allowed. No whooping, yelling, throwing stones" 
 "and snow balls, teasing children, ridiculing age or deformity", 
 "can be endured. 
 
 "Grown persons shall be met with kind civility , politely" 
 "greeted as they pass, and thus shall honor be reflected" 
 "on the school". 
 
 Kindness to animals and birds is taught in all Swiss schools; 
 and every Switzer boy knows something of the habits, ways, 
 and doings, of the birds and beasts that live among the 
 Alps. In some communes, there's more than common kind- 
 
108 SWISS SCHOOLS. 
 
 ness shown. |n Muri, canton Aargau, the parish council 
 voted sums of ready cash to build the little starlings and 
 the lapwings nests. 
 
 What good kind hearts! When next the congress of the 
 birds shall meet , may not the little lapwings , blackbirds, 
 robins, larks, and titmice, raise their pretty voices up and 
 pass a vote of thanks to Muri's thoughtful councilors? The 
 school and camp go hand in hand. Each citizen must be 
 a soldier, and here in school, at fourteen years or less, the 
 drill for soldier life is begun. The muscles of the body are 
 trained by daily practice with the ladder, rope, and bar. 
 Boys run and leap , heave weights , and jump with sticks 
 and poles, and, when the muscles are developedj each youth 
 is furnished with a uniform and musket, or a sword. 
 
 On pleasant days , on summer afternoons, 
 the regiment is formed; the boys, headed by 
 bands of music, march off to some convenient 
 field, and there are taught to step, to wheel, 
 to fire, and all the dreaded art of war. When 
 grown to manhood, they are soldiers , every 
 one, and leave their shops and stores, just as 
 they left their schools, to drill some certain 
 days in each returning year. 
 
 Of holidays, both boys and girls have many, 
 very many, in a year. Some cantons have at 
 least eighteen legal holidays and some have 
 c^-j more. The town of Arth on the lake of Zug has 
 twenty-three. When these holidays come round, 
 what marchings, what parades of schools take place. A 
 thousand boys are no uncommon sight ; and yet a thousand 
 boys , another thousand girls , all keeping step and time, 
 with bright banners and faces brighter still, is better sight 
 than that of armies marching out to war. These child pa- 
 rades are common in all the larger towns of Switzerland. 
 When schools commence, the little folks parade; when 
 schools are done again , the little folks parade , and so a 
 dozen times in every year. 
 
SWISS SCHOOLS. IO9 
 
 An old and pretty custom prevails in some cantons, of 
 making "Sechselauten" day a time for street festivities. On 
 some set day of every spring , the hour for ringing evening 
 bells is changed to six , and hence the name " Sechse- 
 lauten", or six o'clock bells. The usual custom is to have 
 a great, expensive carnival. Two years ago, the happy 
 thought occurred to those in charge at Zurich , to have a 
 children's carnival, or parade. The day arrived, and fourteen 
 hundred pretty children, of every age from seven to fifteen, 
 in all costumes, assembled at the park, to take their places 
 in the cavalcade. There were a hundred knights with plume 
 and sword and shield ; troop after troop of peasant girls, 
 dressed in the strange costumes of almost every land ; Turks 
 with their tents and steeds ; bright ships with ribboned sails, 
 and nimble sailor boys in blue and gold; an Empress and 
 her suite ; a dozen clowns ; a tribe of Indian warriors. Swiss 
 chalets rode along on wheels, and old Swiss heroes lived 
 and fought and died again. Gessler, the Austrian governor, 
 mounted on a cream white staed, with scarlet mantle droop- 
 ing at the side , was there — and William Tell, the strong, 
 bold man of Uri ; Gertrude , brave , good Gertrude , urging 
 him she loved to die, rather than be a slave; fairies and 
 gnomes, sprites, elves, and goblins, flitting everywhere; side- 
 whiskered English travelers , armed with red guide - books, 
 green eye - glasses , yellow umbrellas , and broad - checked 
 pantaloons ; cadets in uniform , cadets with trumpets and 
 with horns ; music , music everywhere. It was the children's 
 day , and well did' they enjoy it — marching from park 
 to munster, and from mtinster back to park. When the 
 evening bells rang six, the children's day was done, and 
 many a child , and many a grown up man , went home to 
 dream of days and nights in fairy land. 
 
 With holidays behind and books before, the children 
 enter school with livelier, heartier zest. The teachers are 
 paid by the year and the salary continues whether school 
 is in session or not. Though the teacher's reward is small 
 in the way of solid cash, he loves his work. It is his single 
 work of life — his only business for head and heart and 
 
IIO SWISS SCHOOLS. 
 
 hand. The salaries in the country schools are not more 
 then $ 300 to $ 400 per year. In the cities, $ 600 to § 700 
 is the highest paid. The children's schools are the parents' 
 pride, and every father looks upon himself as part director, 
 part inspector, of the plan that makes his boy the model of 
 the man. The state itself is not behind with regulation and 
 with cash. This building human minds means business here; 
 a business standing far ahead of petty politics and huntings 
 after place ; a business that, if nobly done, brings rich return 
 in love of order, law, and right, and truth. The Swiss, at 
 least, have found as much. In no land of the earth, is 
 order cheaper bought than here. No standing armies mock 
 the patriotism of the people's hearts. In no land is intelli- 
 gence so widely spread. 
 
 The country is one of the thickest settled on the globe ; and 
 yet' scarcely more than one to every thousand persons on her 
 soil but reads and writes. One people in the world, at least, 
 pays more for schools than for its public force ; that people 
 is the Swiss; and yet each man of twenty years and even 
 less, is uniformed, is armed, is drilled, and fit to march 
 for war. Such things cannot be' said of any other European 
 state. But elementary schools, gymnastic schools, and can- 
 ton schools are not the only ones that rank as number one 
 in Switzerland. She has four universities; at Zurich, Basle, 
 Berne, Geneva; first class ones, all, and not unknown in 
 other continental lands. The country has, besides, her 
 federal polytechnic school at Zurich. The building, scarce- 
 ly second to any of its kind in Europe, sits like an in- 
 tellectual crown above the city's heights. The structure cost 
 the Zurich council nearly three million francs, and yet the 
 decorations are not all complete. It is longer than Bucking- 
 ham palace, and contains more lofty rooms and halls than 
 any other house in Switzerland. Within its walls are taught 
 philosophy, art, science, literature, mechanics, forestry, 
 history. Chemical, botanical, and mechanical schools, are 
 there, with work-shops, laboratories, libraries, and cabinets, 
 conducted , not by learned men of Switzerland alone , but 
 
SWISS SCHOOLS. 1 1 I 
 
 men from other countries, too, distinguished men with Euro- 
 pean names. 
 
 The students of the Zurich Polytechnic come from many 
 lands. Austrians, Swiss, and Poles, Russians, Swedes, and 
 English , Italians, and Americans , Germans, and "French, 
 Greeks, Gentiles, Christians, Jews, and infidels, all join the 
 Babel of opinion, politics, and tongue. The Zurich uni- 
 versity, though old and excellent, is not so widely known 
 as is its sister school, the Polytechnic. Yet it has gathered 
 up renown for liberal ideas, at least. In 1864, the insti- 
 tution's doors were opened to the female sex. At first, the 
 female students numbered very few. It seemed as if the 
 regents' liberality had been spent in vain. But later years 
 increased the number of the applicants. In 1873, there 
 were seventy-five young ladies in the department of medi- 
 cine alone. The lectures are the same for all, and males 
 and females practice in hospitals and anatomical rooms to- 
 gether. The greater number of the ladies in the classes 
 then were Russian girls; their number, however, has been 
 reduced by an ukase of the Czar, who imagined that his 
 Zurich subjects were engaged in schemes against the State. 
 This ukase, in effect, ordered the Russian female students home, 
 and , although its tenor was greatly modified at a later 
 date , many of the girls were frightened off to other schools 
 and other lands. 
 
 The female students are attentive, so the great professors 
 say — are punctual, hear more lectures than the male stu- 
 dents, and seem more earnest in their work. Their ad- 
 mittance to the same classes with the males can scarcely 
 longer be considered an experiment, as the trial has been 
 going on for tea years in Zurich, with seemingly the best 
 and most satisfactory results. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 Laws and Law Makers. 
 
 1 HE Constitution of 1848 was adopted by the Swiss in 
 the face of protests from the Powers of Europe, who had 
 guaranteed the independence and neutrality of the country 
 on the overthrow of Napoleon. These powers had 'been 
 willing to secure the existence of the Swiss republic, but 
 nothing farther. 
 
 Unadulterated democracy was not wanted , although it 
 had been permitted to exist, in a primitive form, among 
 the valleys of the Alps for centuries. 
 
 The Swiss, however, had learned something of the strength 
 that follows unity of action, and heeded little the protests, 
 and the threats of Europe. Europe, possibly, had thought 
 of doing little more than protesting and threatening* and 
 when the Swiss Diet met to forge new laws and a new 
 Constitution , and the Swiss people showed themselves in 
 earnest about their work, all, or nearly all, opposition ceased. 
 
 The plan of government adopted was similar in many 
 respects to the political plan of the United States.. 
 
 Some of the worst features of the American system were 
 adopted along with some of the best; yet the extreme 
 dread of anything resembling centralization of power- led 
 the Swiss to leave the greater authority in the hands of the 
 separate states, or cantons. 
 
 Though not the best, the system was, however, centuries 
 ahead of anything the Swiss had ever had before. It had 
 a thousand faults, principal among which was the existence 
 of undemocratic parts ins.ide of a democratic whole. 
 
LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. II3 
 
 The general government was republican ; the state , or 
 canton government, was anything or everything that suited 
 the personal freaks of those in power. They were called 
 democratic, too, but there were cantons where democracy, 
 aside from the general right to vote, was scarcely recognized. 
 
 The army, that bulwark of the law in European lands, 
 was in the cantons' hands. The general government could 
 command, but could not enforce obedience. Citizenship was 
 confined to the canton and the communes. There was no 
 such thing as a Swiss citizen. Men were citizens of cantons 
 only, and, outside the canton that gave them birth, they 
 had no rights, no privileges. For a poor man to step out- 
 side of his canton in search of bread or work, was almost 
 the same as stepping into jail, and," should he ask for alms, 
 he would be hustled under guard, and packed off to the 
 canton that gave him birth. 
 
 Switzerland was not a state, it was a Bund, or bundle 
 of states, an alliance of twenty -five little states for pur- 
 poses of convenience and self preservation. All the great 
 rights, all the important privileges, and a disproportional 
 amount of the authority, were reserved to the cantons. It 
 was popular sovereignity exemplified so far as the relations 
 of canton to state were concerned, and was continually in 
 as much danger of suicide as was the lesser German states 
 under the old regime. 
 
 Twenty years from 1848 had not passed away before 
 the Swiss themselves saw the danger in being bound together 
 by a rope of sand. Conflicting interests and jarring words 
 were rapidly sapping the very life out of the Union, and 
 wise men recognized the necessity for instant change. 
 
 Two years ago, a new Constitution was proposed, 
 submitted to the people, and voted down. , The ca- 
 tholic cantons were opposed to change because that 
 change might mean a weakening of the church. The 
 lesser cantons, fearing loss of power, said No: some 
 rich communes that feared division of communal goods, 
 said No : and , lastly , all who liked the dead past better 
 
 Switzerland. 8 
 
114 LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 
 
 than the living present , said No , and the constitution was 
 lost. 
 
 Again, in 1874, the friends of revision and reform pro- 
 posed the same constitution, though in a modified form. 
 This time the fight was won, and the country took a for- 
 ward step a hundred years in length. 
 
 Some of the noticeable clauses of this new constitution 
 are to this effect: 
 
 Every citizen of a canton is a citizen of Switzerland. 
 
 All citizens are equal before the law. 
 
 The management of the army is placed in the hands of 
 the general government. 
 
 Every Swiss citizen is a member of the army. 
 
 The training, clothing, and arming, of the troops is the 
 business of the general government. 
 
 Pensions will be allowed to the families of soldiers killed 
 or wounded in the line of duty. 
 
 No military capitulation will be allowed. 
 
 The government shall regulate the management and build- 
 ing of railroads. 
 
 The post and telegraph management belongs exclusively 
 to the general government. 
 
 The government has the right to found and support uni- 
 versities. 
 
 Primary schools shall be free and their attendance com- 
 pulsory , and shall be supported by the cantons themselves. 
 
 In the public schools no restrictions shall be placed upon 
 the freedom of faith and religion. 
 
 On the list of tariffs, articles of luxury shall be taxed 
 the highest. 
 
 The manufacture of salt and gunpowder is a monopoly 
 of the government. 
 
 The general government has the right to regulate the 
 time of labor in manufactories, and to determine the age 
 at which children may be employed in the same. 
 
 No member of the government, or Diet, is permitted to 
 accept money, presents,- or titles from foreign governments. 
 
LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. IIS 
 
 Liberty of faith and conscience is guaranteed — but the 
 order of Jesuits , and all orders affiliated with them , are 
 suppressed, and their connection with church and schools 
 forbidden. 
 
 All orders, or societies, which may be considered dangerous 
 to the state, may at any time be suppressed. 
 
 The freedom of press is guaranteed, but the general 
 council has the right to prevent and punish its mis-use. 
 
 Citizens have the right to organize societies, so far as 
 they are not dangerous to the state. 
 
 Spiritual courts are abolished. 
 
 Capital punishment and arrest for debt are abolished. 
 
 The ' government has the right to expel strangers who 
 endanger its security, from its territory. 
 
 Trial by jury is continued. 
 
 Judges of the supreme court must be elected, and must 
 be chosen from among the members of the legislative 
 body. 
 
 In the Diet, an absolute majority of votes determines. 
 
 Laws passed by the assembly or Diet must be submitted 
 to the popular vote, should 30,000 voters or eight cantons 
 demand it. 
 
 Cantons have the right to propose laws to the assembly 
 by correspondence. 
 
 The Diet must meet once a year, and oftener, should as 
 many as five cantons demand it; or in case one fourth of 
 the upper house demand it. 
 
 Members of the lower house in the Diet are elected by 
 the people direct. The members of the upper house may 
 be chosen direct or by the cantonal legislature. 
 
 The upper house is composed of two members from 
 each state; the lower house of one representative to every 
 20,000 souls. 
 
 The Bundesrath, or Cabinet, consists of seven members, 
 chosen by the Diet for a term of three years. 
 
 The President of the Confederation, who is also president 
 of the Cabinet, must be chosen from among the members 
 of one of the two houses of the Diet, and is elected by the 
 
Il6 LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 
 
 assembled houses for a term of one year; and he is not 
 immediately eligible for election a second time. Neither can 
 he be elected as vice-president immediately; nor is the vice- 
 president eligible for reelection. 
 
 All the members of the Cabinet have seats and voices in 
 the Diet. 
 
 In case of necessity, the Cabinet has the right to call out 
 troops without waiting for the meeting of the Diet. 
 
 All officials of the Government are held personally res- 
 ponsible for their actions. 
 
 This Constitution comes into operation at once;, and, in 
 connexion with the necessarily modified laws, makes Switzer- 
 land, politically speaking, the most advanced state on the 
 Continent. 
 
 A republic it was before, a republic it always was, and 
 probably always will be ; but the strength gained, and the 
 advance made, by the adoption of the new Constitution, are 
 almost beyond computation. 
 
 Some of the important branches of the government, 
 however, are but little changed, and especially is this so of 
 the legislative branch. 
 
 Under the new regime, as under the old, two councils 
 form the Diet, or legislative branch of government ; a lower 
 and an upper House; the former called the National-Rath, 
 or National Council; the latter, Standerath, or Council of 
 the States. Each canton sends two deputies to the upper 
 House, and every twenty-thousand souls can have one De- 
 puty to represent them in the lower branch. 
 
 These Councils meet hut-onee a year at Berne, and there 
 elect the nation's President, who serves a twelvemonth only. 
 A sort of figure head — this chief of Swiss democracy, pos- 
 sessed of little power above the common councilor. The 
 Cabinet, or Federal Council, Federal Judges, Attorney- 
 General, and Commander of the troops, are each elected 
 by the Legislative power. Three years is fixed as term of 
 office for members of the two houses; the Cabinet, or 
 Council, serves for the same period. 
 
LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 11/ 
 
 All members of the government are paid; their salaries, 
 though, are merely nominal. The President receives but ten 
 thousand francs, about, a year; while Senators have only 
 half as much. 
 
 No man can be elected President for two successive terms; 
 for the Vice-President, the same good rule is law. The 
 members of the upper house are paid by the Cantons which 
 they represent. The members of the other house, the Pre- 
 sident and the Council, Judges and General, have their com- 
 pensation, a very small one, from government ; and every man 
 of them is held to strict account for each official step he 
 takes. 
 
 The Diet sits with open doors ; a bare majority of votes 
 prevails ; and every canton can, by note, propose new laws, 
 or ask amendments of the old. 
 
 The expenses of the government are paid with the reve- 
 nues from public property, as forests etc.; from customs — post 
 and telegraph receipts — interest on the war fund, and from 
 the state monopoly of gunpowder and salt. 
 
 The telegraphs are owned and managed by the state. 
 The rates are placed extremely low. Ten cents will send 
 twice as many words around the Alps, and yet a couple 
 of hundred thousand francs a year are saved above ex- 
 penses. 
 
 In each Department, close economy prevails. In 1872, 
 it cost the Swiss some fourteen francs a head to rule them- 
 selves without a king, while England paid, to be exact, 
 four times as much, or fifty-six francs and a fraction for every 
 man, woman, and child, in the land ; and France, with kings, 
 or worse than kings, paid for the privejlege to exist, five £ j 
 times as much per head as Switzerland. Their little bills | 
 and debts that stood in every body's hands were, of Switzer- 
 land, less than six and a half dollars to the poll ; of France, 
 more than twenty times as much ; — and even the Britons, 
 with their queen, were taxed upon a pyramid of debt that 
 reached the enormous sum of one hundred and two and 
 twenty dollars to the single head. Swiss economy is not 
 more striking in a political, than in a military, direction. 
 
Il8 LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 
 
 To keep the peace and yet have armies ready for a war, 
 the head of every family in Switzerland pays on an average 
 less than four dollars per year. A Russian pays nearly ten 
 dollars for the same thing; a German and an Italian some- 
 thing more than eight, and a Frenchman almost fifteen. 
 Though small and seeming poor, but little real, pinching 
 poverty is in the land. One man in twenty only, asks for 
 alms ; while in France the number is one for every nine, and 
 in England one for every eight. Knowledge is power. 
 The people read. The public libraries contain at least one 
 book for every man, woman, and child, in Switzerland. News- 
 papers stop in almost every home. When Calvin lived, 
 about three centuries ago, not one in hundreds of the Swiss 
 knew how to read or write. To-day, but little more than 
 one in a thousand fails to do them both. A step ahead. 
 The schools are free ; they cost the state more money than 
 is spent for soldiers and for war, while the poorest national 
 school system in the land is pronounced, by judges, better 
 than England's best. 
 
 The whole political system of the country is based on 
 the commune. Every little cluster of Swiss people forms a 
 commune. These communes resemble, to a small extent, 
 the divisions known as townships in the United States. 
 They resemble more, however, a chartered stock company, 
 owning certain rights, privileges and capital. Every human 
 being inside of a given commune is a stock holder there, 
 and every one of the proper age has a voice in saying 
 what disposition shall be made of the common property. 
 
 It is the communal system told of in the Bible, and is 
 as old as the time of Abram and the priests. 
 
 Most of these stock companies, or communes, own pro- 
 perty in forests, rents, lands, and houses, and dividends are 
 declared in the shape of free wood for winter, free books 
 at school, free use of lands, and reduced taxation. 
 
 Some of these communes are rich, and in such it is dif- 
 ficult to become a citizen. The rights of citizenship, when 
 not inherited, must be purchased. The price of purchase 
 differs with the worldly condition of the commune. 
 
LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 1 19 
 
 Sometimes it is a thousand francs and more : sometimes 
 the right cannot be had at any price. As far as an interest 
 in the common property of the commune goes, the poor 
 cannot be very badly off; for, in case of absolute necessity, 
 the commune is bound to support its members. If, for 
 example, a poor man have more children than he can feed 
 and clothe, the communal mayor will have them cared for 
 at the common expense, and the farmer who will feed them 
 at the lowest price will get the job. 
 
 These contracts of feeding the poor are set up at auction, 
 and the lowest bidder wins. 
 
 The poor man, like the rich, shares, of course, all the 
 advantages the commune may derive from its rents, forests, 
 and lands. If the income of the year is large, the taxes 
 will be small, and some communes are enabled to live 
 without raising any tax from their members at all. Even 
 the taxes levied by the general government are in such cases 
 paid from the common pocket of the commune. 
 
 The separate parts of these communes are citizens who 
 vote , and each has some good right of voice, provided he 
 has ought to offer or advise. — As citizens make up com- 
 munes, so cantons form the state. The cantons are the state — 
 some twenty -five republics, great and small, allied for 
 purposes of self-security. Each little state is sovereign in 
 itself — itself- an independent power but little limited by 
 reason of the Bund. Each has its plan of governing, pecu- 
 liar to itself, but democratic all. Some have their parlia- 
 ments, and some have none. Some meet in palaces, to 
 make their laws; some meet in meadows and in fields. 
 Some make their parliaments supreme in power, some give 
 their parliaments no power at all. 
 
 The mails, telegraphs, and customs, are matters managed 
 by the general Bund; and, save a trifling tax on wine in 
 three or four of the German Cantons, no customs can be 
 levied at the cantonal frontiers. Free trade in principle, 
 though not in fact, is made the general policy, as the 
 import duties are of the lightest character. 
 
120 LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 
 
 Uniquest of these Canton Governments, are Uri, Unter- 
 walden and the Appenzells. Time was, the fables say, when 
 men met in the open fields , and chose the tallest of their 
 number as their chief — the quality of hight being thought 
 sufficient proof of good ability to rule. Time is, and that 
 to-day, when purely democratic men meet in the open fields, 
 and, in a single day, make laws, determine suits, and oil 
 the whole political machine. 
 
 On May-day, 1874, the thing was done just as it has 
 been done a thousand times before, in Canton Uri, cornering 
 on Lake Lucerne. At early morning, all the people of the 
 Canton went to mass. The little chapels were each densely 
 packed, and hundreds of the people who could not enter, 
 knelt, with bared heads, on the frosty ground outside, and 
 waited for the blessing and the prayer. At half past ten, 
 the official cortege left the town of Altorf, famous as the spot 
 where Tell performed his archery, and moved out to a green 
 meadow, half a mile away. First marched on foot two* 
 sergeants dressed in costumes of the ancient Swiss — then 
 soldiers, with a military band. Next came six carriages, 
 with members of the government-— in every carriage were 
 the colors and the canton's arms. Behind the carriages, 
 in files of two and two, came shepherds, hunters, boatmen, 
 mountaineers ; in short, the voting population of the canton 
 all were out, from every mountain, glade, and glen. 
 
 A platform elevated in the centre of the field , served for 
 the Council of the State — the people stood in groups 
 about the scene. The Landamman arose, and in few brief 
 words bade welcome to his sovereign friends, and asked that 
 all should join in prayer. This service done, the Land- 
 amman again arose, addressed the people on the leading 
 topics of the canton and the day, and stated what the bu- 
 siness of the gathering should be. 
 
 The secretary of the State then read a bill proposing 
 some reforms of law. Supporters of the bill spoke earnestly, 
 explaining every clause and urging its adoption. . Opponents 
 
LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. '12 1 
 
 spokt- as usual, had many reasons why the bill should not 
 become a law. The sovereign people vote — "Raise hands, 
 who wish to have the Bill for law". The hands are up. 
 The Landamman counts ; "Hands down". "The noes" — 
 "Hands up". He counts again — "more ayes than noes", 
 
 — and so the bill, in half an hour's time, is made the law. 
 Then other propositions — other bills are voted up, are 
 voted down, and, when the legislative work is done, or 
 nearly done, the Landamman and all his officers resign their 
 various trusts. New men are chosen for the coming year; 
 the oath of office is administered, and then the Uri Par- 
 liament adjourns to meet a twelve month hence. The ca- 
 valcade returns to town — the flags and ancient armor for 
 the thousandth time are locked in arsenals. The shepherd 
 seeks his flock in glade and glen ; the mountaineer goes to 
 his distant home; the boatman paddles quietly away, and, 
 in his mountain carols, each has half forgot, that here in Uri 
 he is legislator, citizen and king. 
 
 As Uri does, so do the folk of Glarus, Unterwalden, 
 Appenzell; the latter canton, however, makes a show and 
 dress parade of peasantry that still exceeds in picturesque- 
 ness the rural parliament of Unterwalden and her neighbor 
 Schwyz. 
 
 What rare simplicity of life is this! No wrangling after 
 power — no wearisome debates, — no intrigue after place 
 
 — no lust for fame ; one thought alone, to live just as their 
 fathers lived , in perfect liberty , and fearing none but God. 
 These are the peasant kings, whose form of government has 
 stood the shocks of time. The monarchies of other lands, 
 the neighbors of the Swiss, have risen and have fallen ; 
 have risen again, again are in the dust; yet Uri and the 
 Unterwaldens have the very government to-day that they- 
 had when Tell chased the wild chamois on their hills, five 
 centuries ago. The laws of such a people are their own, 
 at least, and if illiberal and out of date, and out of tune 
 sometimes, there's none to blame; they are their masters, 
 and can change the form at will. — If lack of progress, lack 
 
123. LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 
 
 of modern thought and ways, be theirs, the lack is in the 
 people's minds, not in the law alone nor form of Govern- 
 ment. The mountains, lakes, and rocks, that shut them off 
 from other lands, have made the people singular and strange 
 in life and deed. A reverence for the past, because it is 
 the past, has made them out of date. A deep, religious 
 zeal, led by the church, has made intolerance almost a rule. 
 Their strength lies in the breastworks of their mountain 
 walls, and in the common faith that love of country is better 
 than a love of self. To them, no fable hangs about the 
 deeds of Winkelried and Tell. On mountains, rocks, and 
 lakes, their history is carved indellibly. 
 
 "We will be free so long as we are like our ancestors", 
 is burned in every heart, and, like their native hills, these 
 people seem immovable. 
 
 Another, better type of purely democratic rule is found 
 in Canton Zurich. Year after year from 1848, the privi- 
 leged classes lost their claim to speak and rule for those 
 who had less liberty of action than themselves. Step after 
 step was gained by those who thought that laws are best 
 when made by those whom they will most effect. A quiet 
 revolution had been going on for years. The feudal party 
 saw its sinking craft drift out to sea; the wind — the 
 current, gave no hope of life; at last the climax came. In 
 early May of 1869, the people of the canton by their 
 ballots said: "In virtue of our sovereign right, we give 
 ourselves the Constitution and the law." — The old went 
 out — the new came in. No blare of trumpet — roll of 
 drum, welcomed the new experiment. A simple confidence 
 in self was voted at the polls. — The Constitution differs 
 from all others ; even others of its kind. — By it, all power 
 is vested in the sovereign people's hands; in fact, as well 
 as principle. Authority is only indirect when used by those 
 appointed to its charge. The people are the legislative 
 power; — they vote on every Bill proposed as law, and 
 can propose new laws themselves. They have the right, 
 as private citizens, to enter the council of the State, if only 
 
LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 1 23 
 
 twenty-five Deputies allow them to be heard, and argue 
 motions for the public good. — The people may demand 
 new laws, or cancelling or amending of the old, provided 
 five thousand citizens are in accord in asking what they wish. 
 Twice a year, all proppsitions, laws, decrees, must be sub- 
 mitted to the peoples vote. Each man of twenty years of 
 age must cast his vote for "yes" or "no" : unless, indeed, 
 he be no rightful citizen. An absolute majority of all the 
 votes decides the cause : from this there's no appeal. — 
 All propositions that require a general vote are printed and 
 placed in every voter's hands, four weeks before election 
 day arrives. There is no President, but, in his stead, a 
 council of the government, composed of seven members, 
 exercises all executive authority. — This council is elected 
 by the people's vote ; chooses its chairman, or president, and 
 serves a term of four years, and is by law responsible, not only 
 to the state, but to private citizens as well, for all abuse of 
 power. Neither father and son, father-in-law and son- 
 in-law, nor two brothers, may sit at the same time in 
 any legislative or judicial body of the State. A sort of 
 civil service, too, prevails ; at least, removals without cause 
 are not allowed, and any functionary so removed, can claim 
 his compensation till the term for which he was elected or 
 appointed has expired. At twenty years of age, each citizen 
 is eligible to fill, .if chosen, the highest office of the state. 
 The marriage tie is valid, made by officers of State or church, 
 and all official services at such a time are free. The right 
 to vote, to be a citizen, is lost by those who live by alms, 
 by those found guilty of a crime, and, sometimes, by those 
 against whom bankruptcy has been adjudged. 
 
 Taxes are levied on the progressive, or doubling, plan. To 
 whom much is given, of him is much, very much required, 
 by him who gathers Zurich's tolls. 
 
 The* man who owns $ 4000 worth or less of property, 
 pays taxes only on the half, and he who owns $ 25,000 
 worth pays taxes on eight tenths of it, while the owner of 
 a S 100,000 place pays taxes on the whole; so- that with 
 
124 LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 
 
 taxes at one per cent, for example, the man with the $ 4000 
 farm pays but $ 20.00 tax, while his neighbor who lives on 
 the $ 100,000 place must pay not the proportionate $ 500 
 tax only, but $ iooo 00 , or 50 times as much as his friend 
 on the farm. 
 
 The income tax is managed on a plan quite similar. The 
 first one hundred dollars earned is not taxed at all. A 
 $ 500 income is only taxed in half: while all above $ 800 
 is taxed in full. Supposing the rate of tax is 2 per cent : A, 
 who has but $ 500 income will be taxed on it but $ 5.00, 
 while B, who earns S 800, or only $ 300 more than A will 
 be taxed $ 16,00; and D. with an income of S 10,000 must 
 pay, not the proportional $ 100, or 20 times as much only 
 as his neighbor A who earns S 500, but $ 200, or forty 
 times as much. But the plan works well, they say. It lifts, 
 at least, a burden from the poor, and puts it on the broader 
 shoulders of the rich, who, notwithstanding all complaints, 
 would not exchange positions with the poor to save the 
 doubling of the tax. 
 
 There is usually no official assessment made, but blanks 
 are distributed in every house to be filled in by its occupants. 
 These blanks, with a simple statement as to their correctness, 
 are returned to the tax bureau. Should the sum thus ren- 
 dered seem too small, however, the officials take the liberty 
 of guessing at the proper amount, and change the statement 
 to suit themselves. 
 
 Railways are subject to the state's control. Monopolies 
 and unjust rates for passengers and freights have made no 
 wars between the benefactors and the owners of the roads, 
 as in America. The people's money must be watched, not 
 squandered, as in some other states of democratic rule. The 
 council of the canton is allowed current expenses for the year 
 — no more — not even these, should they be large, or 
 seeming large. Four thousand dollars is the limit set; small 
 stealings and but little luxury there. The canton's Deputies 
 are paid — not much — enough to buy cigars and wine, 
 and beer; and that is all, exept some trifling mileage, half 
 
LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 125 
 
 a dozen francs perhaps. The Deputies in this and other 
 cantons "struck" within the last few years, expected better 
 wages — failed. The thing was put to vote. The wor- 
 king men — the painters — tailors — blacksmiths and the 
 like, though on a strike for better pay themselves, cried, 
 No — you 've got enough, — 'tis we who 're wanting and 
 deserving more ; and so . the ill-paid Deputies go on pro- 
 posing laws and ways and rules to be perhaps rejected at 
 the autumn polls. They are the peoples servants , not 
 their lords, these Zurich Deputies; that much is plain. 
 
 Trial by Jury is guaranteed. Imprisonment for debt is 
 not allowed — nor tying men in chains; and murderers 
 cannot be hung, nor burned, nor quartered, as in former 
 times ; though shooting — stabbing — choking and the like, 
 is not a novelty, alas ! even here in Switzerland. 
 
 Some years experiment has proved this Zurich mode of 
 making laws — of governing, a brave success. Like all 
 things mortal it has its faults and foes, of course, and of the 
 latter, very many here in Zurich. The law makers are not 
 all lawyers, nor men versed in the lore of political subtleties, 
 but more men of the people — bankers, manufacturers, mer- 
 chants, and farmers, whose interests are identical with those 
 for whom they legislate. 
 
 Once every year, they leave their Banks — their Stores 
 — their Factories and Farms, and enter on the people's 
 work. The Canton Hall stands by the market bridge; a 
 rare old house, with bust of some heroic Swiss on every 
 window-top. Black marble portico with columns yielding 
 up to time. Inside the house, simplicity itself prevails. 
 Behind the tribune is a picture of the men who, at the 
 Riitli, swore" for liberty and right. Plain granite floors are 
 seen, plain, stiff-backed wooden seats; no sign of desks. 
 Would Deputies write out a motion or a bill, 'tis done at 
 home, or else a stiff-topped hat held on the knee must 
 answer for a desk. Not given much to talk, the members 
 set about their work; propose — oppose — dispose. At 
 
126 LAWS AND LAW MAKERS. 
 
 last a scheme, and then a vote; not vote to make the 
 scheme a law, but to submit the question to their sovereign 
 judges, the people — crowds of whom, even now, are 
 sitting in. the gallery's smoke and settling in their minds 
 what they shall say when voting time comes round. The 
 Deputies adjourn ; the people vote. What they may want, 
 becomes a law; what not, is set aside forever; so it is 
 written in the people's creed of Zurich. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCHES 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Lake Dwellings. 
 
 History has little or nothing to say of Switzerland be- 
 fore the birth of Christ. The country has been supposed to 
 have been, previous to that period, a wild waste of wilderness, 
 uninhabited, except by beasts, or, in later centuries, by wan- 
 dering tribes, who were not more human than the beasts 
 themselves. Further than supposition and guessing, written 
 history was silent. Within a few years, however, the im- 
 portant fact has come to light that a people, more or less 
 civilized , lived here among the valleys of the Alps , and on 
 the borders of the lakes, hundreds, possibly thousands, of 
 years before the Christian era. 
 
 Proof of this early occupancy of the land by a people used 
 to some of the arts and industries of life is found in the 
 
 Switzerland. n 
 
I30 LAKE DWELLINGS. 
 
 "lake dwellings," or pile-houses, remnants of which are now 
 being discovered and investigated in the waters of almost 
 every Swiss lake. The Winter of 1853 and 1854 was ex- 
 ceedingly dry, and all the Swiss streams und lakes were lower 
 than they had ever been known. At Meilen , on Lake Zurich, 
 some workmen took advantage of the receded waters to ex- 
 cavate earth from the lake-bed, for the purpose of filling in 
 additional garden-spots on the shore. While thus engaged, 
 they were astonished by striking their spades into what proved 
 to be the tops of many wooden piles, arranged in clusters 
 and in rows. 
 
 By closer examination, it was found that these piles ran 
 in lines almost parallel with the shore, and stood on an 
 average about a foot or a foot and a half apart. They were 
 usually split pieces of. oak, beech, or fir-wood , six or eight 
 inches in diameter, and about eight to ten feet in length. 
 The original length of these strange piles could only be 
 guessed at, as they had rotted off down to a point below 
 the water. The lower ends had all been sharpened by fire, 
 except an occasional one , which bore marks of having been 
 sharpened by some edged instrument. 
 
 Among the piles, and in the bed of earth in which they 
 stood, stags' horns and implements of bone and stone were 
 found in great numbers. The principal objects among these 
 were stone celts, a sort of wedge-shaped stone, that could, 
 as its shape varied, have been used as a chisel, gouge, hatchet, 
 or axe.. 
 
 Hundreds of specimens of these were found , varying in 
 length from one to eight inches, and in weight from a quarter 
 of an ounce to a pound and a half. These implements con- 
 sisted partly of a stone found about the lake and among 
 the Alps, and partly of a stone peculiar to the East, and 
 never found in Switzerland , showing that the people who 
 used them must have had some sort of traffic with countries 
 beyond the seas. 
 
 These celts, as they are called, were made, it is supposed, 
 by first hammering the stone into shape , and then grinding 
 or rubbing on sandstone , until an edge was made , often as 
 
LAKE DWELLINGS. 131 
 
 sharp as a knife. Slabs of sandstone were discovered, show- 
 ing by their form that they had been used for some such 
 purpose, while numbers of the implements in a half-finished 
 state were dug up continually. 
 
 The celts were usually found with stag -horn hafts, or 
 handles. Hammers, pincers, etc., of the rudest sort, 
 and made of stone and bone, were also found , as well as 
 primitive corn-crushers , such as are described by Livingstone 
 as being in use in Africa at the present day. There were 
 hearth-stones, and specimens of split boards, or slabs , rude 
 pieces of pottery, and a few spindle-whorls. 
 
 Meilen was the first place thoroughly examined for lake- 
 dwellings, but it was by no means the most interesting. At 
 Robenhausen, on Lake Pfaffikon, as well as at many other 
 points where the antiquities found date as far back as those 
 at Meilen, discoveries have been made, showing that these 
 people in the remotest ages of antiquity must have possessed 
 a degree of civilization far superior to the barbarous races 
 of to-day. 
 
 By systematic excavations at Robenhausen , and at other 
 points, it has been pretty closely determined in what way 
 these lake-dwellers built their homes , the nature of their in- 
 dustries, the food they ate, and the clothes they wore. 
 Here, the curious of to-day can walk over the uncovered 
 floors, and stand upon the hearthstones of houses that pos- 
 sibly were old, when Pompeii and Herculaneum were new. 
 
 Here are household implements, and tools for farming pur- 
 poses, and nets, and woven cloths, and even embroidery, 
 that were made and used perhaps centuries and centuries be- 
 fore the fall of Rome. The lake-dwellers had a settlement at 
 Robenhausen which covered at least sixteen thousand square 
 feet. One hundred thousand piles were used in its construction, 
 and there is an earth-bed about the piles three feet deep, com- 
 posed of animal remains and the results of human industry. 
 Not this only : it has been further ascertained that settlements 
 have been built on the top of these, so that three sets of piles, 
 one above another, have, in the course of time, been driven 
 into the accumulated remains of ages. 
 
132 LAKE DWELLINGS. 
 
 As the first settlements in the lake grew old with time, 
 the waste of animal, and the decay of vegetable life, 
 formed beds of peat, reaching, eventually, above the level 
 of the tops of the piles. There is, too, positive evidence 
 that many of these settlements were destroyed by fire. On 
 top of the new-formed earth , or rather peat , new piles were 
 driven, new settlements were made, and, in some well-known 
 instances at least, these, too, were eventually swallowed up 
 by the increasing waste and growing peat, and, on their tops, 
 still other piles were driven and other villages were built. 
 The years, the centuries, required for these changes, can 
 only be guessed by the length of time required for peat- 
 beds to form to a thickness sufficient to swallow up two or 
 three series of piles, six, to ten, and even eleven feet in 
 length. 
 
 In each of the three distinct layers of earth or peat, anti- 
 quities have been found in great numbers, and the simila- 
 rity of the implements unearthed, indicates no material ad- 
 vancement in civilization in the hundreds of years that the 
 settlements attributed to the , stone age existed. 
 
 The last, or top settlements, were, however, more substan- 
 tially built than those underneath, and some of the imple- 
 ments of flint were more dexterously made. From the po- 
 sition of the hearth-stones , the size of the floors , the clusters 
 of the piles, and the clay weights for looms and hand corn- 
 mills found on the ruins of almost every hut , it can be pretty 
 definitely determined what the size of these lake-dwellings 
 was. 
 
 Those at Robenhausen have been estimated as being twenty- 
 seven feet long, by twenty -two feet wide, and constructed 
 in each case for the use of a single family. In most of the 
 settlements, the huts were built on platforms resting on the 
 tops of the piles. 
 
 The floors consisted of unpeeled sticks of wood, two feet 
 long, lying parallel to each other. The chinks between these 
 little round sticks were usually filled in with clay and rushes, 
 and sometimes a whole bed • of clay and gravel covered the 
 floor, making it more substantial. The walls of the huts 
 
LAKE DWELLINGS. 133 
 
 were made of boards, standing on edge between upright 
 posts. The space between the posts was filled with a sort 
 of wattle-work, covered with clay inside and out. The roofs 
 were made of layers of straw and rushes. 
 
 The houses, in some of the settlements at least, were ar- 
 ranged in regular rows, and often stood not further than 
 two or three feet apart. The fire-places consisted of plates 
 of sandstone lying oftenest in the middle of the hut, but 
 were occasionally found in one corner. 
 
 That these houses were not built as mere places of refuge, 
 in case of danger, is pretty clear, from the fact that the relics 
 found on every floor show that each family had there its 
 full arrangements for cooking, weaving, making nets, and 
 fishing; in short, everything that the people of those days 
 did indoors at all , could have been done , and probably was 
 done , inside these houses built in the lakes. Not only the 
 houses were there equipped for ordinary life , but the cattle, 
 the pigs, the sheep, and the goats, were stalled there in se- 
 parate places on the piles. 
 
 The relics found, indicate that the people lived principally 
 on fish, venison, chestnuts, and corn-bread, with some wheat 
 and fruit, while their clothing was oftener made of woven 
 or plaited cloth than of the skin of beasts. Wheat and corn 
 were cultivated as food , and flax was grown for the loom. 
 Each family did its own grinding of corn or wheat, and its 
 own weaving, at home; but there are evidences that there 
 were special houses devoted to the manufacture of imple- 
 ments for the household, the field, and the chase. Copper 
 and bronze were but little known by the inhabitants of Roben- 
 hausen, though there are relics showing these metals were 
 sometimes used. 
 
 The superstructure of the lake - dwellings has been found 
 to consist of two kinds, or styles, entirely different from 
 each other. The first consists of a floor, or platform, built 
 on piles driven into the lake, as at Robenhausen. The se- 
 cond, called the fascine settlements, is found in nearly all 
 the smaller Swiss lakes , and is merely a heap of poles laid 
 in horizontal layers from the bottom of the lake upward to 
 
134 LAKE DWELLINGS. 
 
 the required height above the water surface. Through this 
 heap of sticks and stems, piles were occasionally driven, to 
 hold the structure in position , and the platforms and houses 
 were built on top of the same, as in the pile settlements 
 of the larger lakes. 
 
 The antiquarians have divided the pre-historic past into 
 three periods, or ages — the stone age, the age of bronze, 
 and the age of iron. The period to which any particular 
 settlement or town belongs, is determined by the amount 
 of stone , bronze, or iron relics, found among the ruins. By 
 this classification, Robenhausen belonged to the stone age, 
 although there were a few implements of bronze discovered. 
 They were, probably, rare specimens, imported from distant 
 countries more advanced in civilization, for the age of stone 
 cannot represent the same- period of time in all countries. 
 Egypt, and even Greece, were possibly enjoying the civi- 
 lization of the most advanced centuries of bronze and iron, 
 when Western Europe was in the age of stone, and some 
 countries, like the north of North America, may probably 
 have had no intermediate age of bronze at all ; but, in a single 
 century, have changed from the flint implement period of the In- 
 dians into the civilization of their iron age. Neither stone, nor 
 bronze, nor iron relics, can be taken as positive evidence of any 
 particular degree of civilization. If the use of implements of 
 brass and iron were any real, certain indication of advanced civi- 
 lization , then was mankind civilized in its very infancy , and 
 certainly centuries before the time recorded by history. When 
 Rome and Greece , and even Egypt , were probably making 
 implements of wood and stone , Tubal Cain , the Bible tells 
 us , was teaching the artificers in brass and iron not far from 
 the gates of Eden, three thousand years before the birth 
 of Christ. But different countries have usually gone through 
 these three periods, and the discovered relics show that the 
 country of the Alps has pretty certainly done so , for there 
 are remains found of settlements that must have belonged 
 almost exclusively to one of these periods, and of other 
 settlements that belonged exclusively to a different one, and 
 
LAKE DWELLINGS. 135 
 
 still other settlements that have existed in all of the three 
 ages. There are some, too, that cannot be classified as 
 belonging to any particular age, as they contain relics of 
 them all. Just when the stone age ended and the bronze 
 age began in Switzerland cannot be determined, as the 
 change of implements from stone and wood to copper and tin 
 was probably so gradual as to leave no particular dividing 
 line noticeable. 
 
 At all events , the stone age was centuries before the age 
 of bronze , and other centuries elapsed before the age of iron 
 came to Switzerland. The settlements of the bronze and of 
 the iron ages differ from those of the age of stone , inasmuch 
 as they are always found in deeper water , further from the 
 shore, and are better built. They are, too, more frequently 
 built on a foundation of stone, formed by collecting great 
 heaps or hills of round stones, which have at one time pro- 
 bably reached to , if not above , the surface of the water. 
 
 Nidau - Steinberg is a little island made of stones in the 
 Lake of Bienne. These stones must have been collected in 
 the neighboring hills , and boated out to where they are now 
 tying) as the remainder of the lake-bottom is composed of 
 loam and mud. On top of this artificial island of gathered 
 stones, piles were driven every two and three feet, upon 
 which the platforms, with their huts, stood. The piles in these 
 stone-islands are usually made of the whole trunks of trees, 
 and not of split stems, as in the ordinary pile settlements. 
 It is remarkable that while fishermen have boated and fished 
 and worked over and around the waters of Lake Bienne for 
 hundreds of years , the existence of this settlement , with all 
 its rich store of relics, was not discovered until quite re- 
 cently. 
 
 Thjs island of stone is three and a half acres in extent, 
 and is usually covered by about eight feet of water. In 
 former times, the level of Lake Bienne was several feet lower 
 than at present, so that it is altogether probable that trie 
 stone -island reached to the top of the water, if not still 
 higher. About this island, hundreds of the best preserved 
 specimens have been found , proving to a certainty that this 
 
136 LAKE DWELLINGS. 
 
 was one of the first habitations of civilized men. Relics of 
 the stone age are found in abundance, side by side with 
 those of the age of bronze and iron , and still further, many 
 of the antiquities unearthed there, prove that Nidau - Stein- 
 berg was occupied as a dwelling-place as late as in the times 
 of the Romans. 
 
 The learned Keller, in his excellent work, remarks that 
 the drawings and descriptions of the objects found at Nidau 
 will show "that it was a flourishing station throughout all 
 periods, from the stone age downward. Many objects of 
 stone, bone, and pottery, which have been obtained there, 
 and which mark the commencement of the civilization of 
 man in our districts, show that it was a settlement in the 
 earliest period; but its existence was prolonged up to the 
 time when bronze was commonly employed for implements; 
 — nay, it even outlasted this period, and reached that when 
 iron came into use. Here and there, on the same lake- 
 bottom, works of art are found lying close together, betokening 
 very different grades of civilization, and telling us of cen- 
 turies lying far apart. The Nidau lake- dwelling , therefore, 
 coincides, on the one hand, with the settlements of East 
 Switzerland, which ceased to exist before the bronze age, 
 or at the very beginning of it, and on the other hand, its 
 existence runs parallel with those of West Switzerland , which 
 were first founded, or came to their full development, in 
 the. course of this period, and from which have been ob- 
 tained such a great number and variety of bronze implements 
 used for war, for household purposes, or for ornaments." 
 
 The implements of the bronze age, found here, consisted 
 of knives, sickles, spears, javelin - heads , chisels, celts of 
 bronze, hair-pins, knitting-needles, rings, armlets, fish- 
 hooks, etc., etc. The heavier articles show a very superior 
 knowledge of the art of casting, and all the implements, a 
 great proficiency in workmanship. 
 
 Lake Geneva has also the remains of settlements of an- 
 cient times. The largest of these is near Morges, and it be- 
 longed , in all probability, to the age of bronze. The piles 
 of this settlement are several hundred feet from the shore, 
 
LAKE DWELLINGS. 
 
 137 
 
 and their tops are now eight to ten feet under water. They 
 cover an area of twelve hundred feet long by one hundred 
 and fifty feet wide. Horizontal timbers, or beams, are found 
 among the piles, which have been worked by the hands of 
 men; and, among other curiosities, a peculiar boat, or canoe, 
 has been fished out of the debris of this settlement, which, 
 like many others, shows signs of having been burned. 
 
 The bronze implements discovered here, in the way of 
 swords, lances, points, sickles, etc., are fine specimens of 
 handiwork, and are in a good state of preservation. Molds 
 for casting celts of bronze were found , such , too , as have 
 never been discovered elsewhere. 
 
 Forty specimens of bronze celts have been found, and as 
 no specimens of the stone or iron age have yet been met 
 with, it is believed by those investigating the subject that 
 this village belonged exclusively to the age of bronze. There 
 are other settlements in Lake Geneva, and not a mile from 
 Morges , that have had their commencement with the age 
 
138 LAKE DWELLINGS. 
 
 of stone, and have existed through the periods of bronze and 
 iron. 
 
 What the relations of the two towns might have been, as 
 to priority of settlement , civilization , etc. , the antiquarians 
 cannot even guess. Marin, on the Lake of Neuchatel, is 
 called a settlement of the iron age. Whatever had been 
 made of bone , or stone , or bronze , before , is here repro- 
 duced in iron. Marin lies in a small bay of the lake, where 
 the River Fiehl flows out. 
 
 The lake - dwellings on piles , here , covered an area of 
 twelve hundred and fifty feet long and two hundred and 
 fifty feet wide , about the same area as that occupied by 
 Morges in Geneva Lake. The piles commence sixty feet 
 from the shore , and run in groups some distance further 
 into the lake. Here, as at Nidau, the first foundation was an 
 artificial hillock of broken stones. Timbers, with holes mortised 
 for tenons, were found, and the piles were more than usually 
 numerous, and of more than the average length. There were 
 no signs of fire , hence it is concluded that Marin was not 
 among the burned towns of the early Helvetians. 
 
 So many of the lake - settlements bear traces of having 
 been destroyed by fire , it is easy to imagine that the early 
 inhabitants must have had a custom of burning their homes, 
 whenever they were disposed to change from one valley or 
 lake to another. It was thus the Helvetians under Diviko 
 burned all their villages and stores, preparatory to setting 
 out for Gaul. Caesar compelled them to return to their 
 country and rebuild their homes, which they did, possibly 
 on the same spots where they had formerly stood. 
 
 There may have been other Csesars in pre-historic times, 
 who likewise might have driven the old Helvetians back, 
 to rebuild towns and villages destroyed before they marched 
 away to war. 
 
 The iron implements found at Marin are excellently 
 made, and some of the swords, exquisitively so. Fifty 
 iron swords, with their scabbards of bronze, were found. 
 These sword - blades are often beautifully ornamented, 
 chiseled, or etched , and the scabbards themselves are not 
 
LAKE DWELLINGS. 1 39 
 
 less beautiful. The patterns differ from all others , where- 
 ever found. They show no relation, in form or appearance, 
 to the bone or stone implements of the early Celts, and 
 neither have they any resemblance to the swords of Roman 
 origin. If they indicate any particular civilization at all, it 
 must be one differing from all other civilizations , just as the 
 swords differ from all other swords. They were probably 
 all made by hand, not by individual smiths, but by 
 sword-manufacturers , as the maker's mark frequently attests. 
 
 Thirteen of these marks , denoting different sword estab- 
 lishments, have been discovered. Human remains were also 
 found here at Marin — parts of eight different bodies, it is 
 said — but they throw no light, it seems, on the age of the 
 place , or the character of its people. Could one of these 
 empty skulls but speak, what days and months and years 
 of puzzling labor it might save to the antiquarian corps, 
 grown rusty and gray in seeking to know how and where 
 and when and for what purpose the owner of this self-same 
 skull once lived. Alas ! the dead can never speak — they 
 shouldn't speak, at least — and antiquarians lead a busy 
 life of guessing at the past. 
 
 How these eight dead had been buried , if at all , could 
 not be ascertained. The disposition of the countless dead 
 of those unnumbered centuries remains a mystery. Human 
 bones are usually not more perishable than wood, or the 
 bones of beasts ; yet while wood and bones of animals 
 have been found in tremendous quantities about the lake- 
 dwellings, and thousands of specimens of man's industry 
 are left behind , the skeletons of these eight men , acci- 
 dentally lost, perhaps, are all that there is left of man 
 himself. 
 
 What became of the dead ? Were they burned to ashes, 
 and their houses with them? Were they thrown into the 
 unfathomed places of the lakes? Were they cast into dark 
 and unexplored abysses of the mountains ? Were they trans- 
 lated, or what has become of their bones? Abraham bu- 
 ried his wife in a cave, and the kings of Egypt had their 
 tombs of stone ; the East wrapped ■ its dead in many folds 
 
140 LAKE DWELLINGS. 
 
 of linen, and their bodies kept a thousand years; the In- 
 dians of the West, with their tomahawks and beads, are 
 laid away in silent mounds and hills; but where are the 
 bones of the ancient Swiss ? 
 
 Another question of more import than the bones of the 
 dead is, when were these lake-dwellings built? — in what 
 period of the world's life was the age of stone and bronze 
 in Switzerland? 
 
 Oswald Heer — and no one is more entitled to speak — 
 says: "We may say, with perfect certainty, they are 
 more than two thousand years old; and with a consider- 
 able amount of probability, that they reach back from one 
 thousand to two thousand years before Christ." Mr. Morlot 
 goes further still, and places the age of the oldest of these 
 lake-towns at from six to seven thousand years. 
 
 The people were no wandering tribes. The same race 
 of men, it is believed, lived in these lake villages through 
 the ages of stone, of bronze, and of iron. Discoveries show 
 further that this race of people occupied Switzerland, not 
 only in the beginning of the age of stone, but at the end 
 of the age of iron, and even down to the period when 
 written history begins; nor is it at all probable that the 
 novel plan of building secure homes out in the lakes was 
 peculiar to them. 
 
 Herodotus, who lived four centuries before Christ, writes 
 of a people of another country than this, "who live on 
 platforms built on tall piles standing in the middle of the 
 lake, which are approached from the land by a single, nar- 
 row bridge. At the first, the piles which bear up the plat- 
 forms were fixed in their places by the whole body of the 
 citizens; but since that time the custom which has pre- 
 vailed about fixing them is this : they are brought from a 
 hill called Orbelus, and every man drives in three for each 
 wife he marries. Now, the men have all many wives, and 
 this is the way in which they live : each has his own hut, 
 wherein he dwells, upon one of the platforms, and each 
 has also a trap -door, giving access to the lake beneath. 
 Their wont is to tie their baby - children by the foot, 
 
LAKE DWELLINGS. 141 
 
 with a string, to save them from rolling into the water. 
 They feed their horses and their other beasts upon fish, 
 which abound in the lake to such a degree that a man 
 has only to open his trap-door, let down a basket by a 
 rope into the water, and then wait a very short time, when 
 up he draws it quite full of them." 
 
 This narrative of "the Father of history," though sounding 
 a little "fishy," threw more light, perhaps, on the lake- 
 dwellings of the ancients than anything that had ever been 
 written down as history. 
 
 In some of the old peat -beds that have filled up lakes 
 in Italy , remains of lake - villages , built upon piles , have 
 been discovered. The character of these peat-bed villages, 
 and the relics found in them , are similar to the lake-houses 
 and relics of Switzerland, proving that, in all probability, 
 the pre-historic civilization of the two countries was about 
 the same. This building houses on piles in the water was 
 not , it would seem , confined wholly to past times , either, 
 for it is asserted that, even to-day, the inhabitants of Dorree, 
 in New Guinea, live in houses built far out in the water, 
 which stand on piles; while fishermen's houses, of a similar 
 character, stood a hundred years ago, we are told, in the 
 River Limmat, at the foot of Lake Zurich. Hundreds and 
 thousands of the relics gathered from the lake - dwellers of 
 Switzerland are to be met with in the museums, public and 
 private , all over the country. At the Wasserkirche , in 
 Zurich, an especially fine collection is on exhibition; and 
 President Keller, from whose valuable reports to the Anti- 
 quarian Society the principal facts contained in this paper 
 have been gathered, presides. To his efforts and his learn- 
 ing, more than to any other man's, is the world indebted 
 for whatever knowledge has been gained of the civilization 
 of Switzerland in pre-historic times. 
 
CHAPTER, XII. 
 
 The Swiss of the olden time. 
 
 i 
 
 .Historians have always supposed that the 
 country of the Alps was an uninhabited wilder- 
 ness before the Christian era. The recent dis- 
 covery of the lake-dwellings, however ; has 
 proved that all Switzerland was inhabited by a 
 people, at least partly civilized , many centuries 
 before the birth of Christ. These people lived 
 in houses built on piles standing in the lakes, 
 and some distance from the shore. Although 
 the culture of wheat and corn was practised 
 to a certain extent, the lake-dwellers lived prin- 
 cipally by fishing and hunting. Aside from an 
 occasional intimation by old writers, there is 
 no written history of this people. Tradi- 
 tion even, says nothing of them; and the first that is re- 
 corded of the inhabitants of the Alps, commences with the 
 story of Etruscans who fled into these mountains, to escape 
 the fury of the Gauls, who had pursued them nearly to the 
 gates of Rome. The Etruscans had a leader named Rhatius. 
 From him, the fugitives were soon called Rhatians, and their 
 country of the Grisons, even till to-day, is often known as 
 Rhatia. Another people, called the Tigura, occupied the 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1 43 
 
 lands extending from Geneva to the Jura mountains, and 
 across to the lake of Constance. These people, hearing of 
 great hordes of wild barbarians, called Kymbern, pressing 
 from Norway, Sweden, and the far-off, icy north, to France 
 and Italy, determined to join the moving caravan, and share 
 the spoils of robbery and of war. Rome sent the consul 
 Lucius Cassius, with an army, over the white mountains to 
 the lake of Geneva, for the purpose of subduing these northern 
 hordes. The Tiguri, thinking their own homes were threat- 
 ened thus by Rome , turned on the Latin army , and , led 
 by Divico, nearly destroyed it, at a point thought to be 
 near the modern town of Villeneuve. 
 
 Cassius was killed, and all the Romans who surrendered, 
 were stripped, made to pass under the yoke, and then sent 
 back in shame to Rome. 
 
 Divico, with his brave Helvetian troops, returned to the 
 Kymbern, who laid waste the fairest part of France, crossed 
 the Appenines, destroyed three Roman armies in Italy, and 
 threatened Rome itself. The Romans, at last, were roused 
 by such disaster and defeat, and hurled new legions on the 
 invading hordes. The tide of battle changed, the Kymbern 
 Wfcre repulsed with fearful slaughter, and only, those escaped 
 who fled across the Alps into Helvetia. For fifty years, 
 the Helvetians toiled on their hard , unthankful soil , re- 
 membering, all the time, the warm climate, the rich fields, 
 and blue skies, of France and Italy. 
 
 At last, it was determined to abandon their own country 
 and , as a people , seek new and better homes in France. 
 The instigator of this unheard of emigration of a whole na- 
 tion was an eloquent, ambitious, and wealthy leader, named 
 Orgetorix. He owned ten thousand slaves, and many miles 
 of land. His power and eloquence were much esteemed, 
 not only by his fellow countrymen, but by the neighboring 
 princes. Let us leave , said he , a land that scarcely nour- 
 ishes us. If the former movement failed, it was because 
 the attempt was not made general. Let us, in a body, 
 march on Gaul, and no force can oppose our arms. We 
 will become masters of the entire land. 
 
144 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 A cry of approval echoed throughout Helvetia. Three 
 years, the harvest shall be reaped and garnered, as pro- 
 visions for the way, and then the towns and homes shall 
 all be burned, and the mighty train commence its march 
 to France. Such was the plan agreed upon. The prepa- 
 rations for the march went on. The ambitious Orgetorix, 
 however, seemed to wish for too much power, and was 
 suspected of designs against the freedom of the people, at 
 whose bar of judgement he was bidden to appear, to answer 
 to the charge. 
 
 Orgetorix refused. The penalty for trifling with the 
 people's rights was burning at the stake, and, fearing such 
 a fate as this, the would-be master of Helvetia killed him- 
 self. 
 
 The people determined still to execute their cherished 
 plan of marching into Gaul. Divico, though gray and old, 
 took chief command of the Helvetian soldiery. The day 
 for setting out arrived. Twelve towns and four hundred 
 villages were left in flames, and the mighty host, a quarter 
 of a million strong, marched toward the Allobrogen town 
 of Geneva. Rome, who almost ruled the world, from Gaul 
 to Judea , had • learned what the Helvetians thought to do 
 within her provinces, and sent the great Caesar to protect 
 her allies and her friends. The troops of Caesar built 
 a monstrous wall, sixteen feet in hight and twenty-seven 
 thousand feet in length, with towers and battlements, across 
 the valley of the Rhone, to bar the passage into Gaul. 
 Divico flanked this wall of Caesar's and, by dangerous moun- 
 tain paths, marched into Gaul by way of Burgundy. For 
 fourteen days , Caesar followed the wild invaders from the 
 Alps, and then, his army falling short of food , he changed 
 his course. Divico, mistaking Caesar's action for retreat, or- 
 dered the attack. The battle lasted with fearful slaughter 
 the whole day long, and Caesar says, himself, no Helvetian 
 soldier turned his back that bloody day. At night, the 
 battle was renewed. Helvetian women even , fought like 
 tigers for their young, but all in vain. Caesar was Caesar 
 everywhere , and the blackness of midnight in the moun- 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 145 
 
 tains at Atun was rendered fearful by the hopeless cries of 
 perishing thousands. Of all that host of Alpine men who 
 sought for fairer homes in sunnier lands than Switzerland, 
 comparatively few remained. The remnant left alive were 
 forced by Caesar to return, and build again their villages 
 and homes. Helvetia now became a province of the Roman 
 state. Walled towns and fortresses were built among the 
 Alps, and garrisoned by Roman troops. 
 
 Augustus was emperor now , and Rome was mistress of 
 the world. The Rhatians, who lived among the icy moun- 
 tains at the sources of the Rhine and Inn , were still un- 
 subdued. These warlike bands lived by plundering travel- 
 ers or robbing and burning towns in Italy. Hunting and 
 fighting was the daily practice of their life. Their prisoners 
 of war were sacrificed upon the altars to their gods. Rome 
 sent, at last, two armies through the Alps, to overpower 
 this dangerous foe to Italy. Tradition tells of the unbelievably 
 heroic, though barbarous, deeds, of this brave people, fight- 
 ing against subjection to the power of Rome; of mothers, 
 in the battle's front, hurling their children in "the faces of 
 the Roman soldiery, thinking total extinction preferable to 
 loss of liberty. Rome, with her well trained legions, over- 
 powered the Rhatians in the end and the Roman flag 
 waved throughout Helvetia. The Romans , however , ruled 
 the people in an easy way. That they might more easily 
 forget their recent shame, and become familiar with the 
 thought of being a subject province, they were allowed 
 their own customs , ways , and laws. The Roman gover- 
 nors and soldiers stationed through the land soon introduced 
 more civilized ideas to the minds of the wild men of the 
 Alps. Commerce and art sprang up. Cities and towns, 
 with palaces, temples, amphitheatres, and baths, were built. 
 Military roads were made to Italy, and Alpine soldiers served 
 in Roman legions. The people, in effeminacy at least, im- 
 bibed the character of their masters, who had taught them 
 vice, as well as virtue, in their new estate. When Italy, 
 falling to pieces from corruption and civil discord, tempted 
 the Allemanen hordes that came from the rising of the sun 
 
 Switzerland. IO 
 
146 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 to fall upon her and devour her heritage, Helvetia suffered 
 from the same destructive foe. Then followed the Huns 
 from the wilds of Asia. These hordes of human beasts 
 passed through the land, like a frightful pestilence, leaving 
 nothing but desolation and ruin in their train. The fields, 
 where Roman subjects had ploughed , were turned to forests, 
 filled with beasts of prey. Then followed the Burgundian 
 conquerors who , like the Romans of the former time, built 
 villages and fortresses, and a sort of civilization seemed 
 again to dawn upon the land. The Burgundians possessed 
 the Savoy districts, and the country reaching from Geneva 
 along the Jura Alps. Their rule was mild and beneficial. 
 Their people intermixed with those whom they had con- 
 quered. The laws and customs introduced, were such as 
 the • Burgundians had themselves, and, though a large pro- 
 portion of the population still were slaves, the citizens were 
 treated more like brothers than a subjugated people. Their 
 rule in the land, however, was short. The mighty Franks, 
 who came from the sands of Holland, had overpowered Gaul, 
 and, naming it France, after themselves, pushed across 
 the Rhine, where, driving off the Allemanen from the North, 
 or German Switzerland , they became the masters of the 
 part lately held by Burgundy. In the meantime , the Goths 
 had plundered Italy, and sent their devastating hordes across 
 the mountains into Rhatia, the Grisons of to-day. On losing 
 power in Italy, these Gothic hordes retired, and Rhatia, 
 like Burgundian Switzerland, went to the Frankish kings. 
 Thus , after five centuries of ever-changing fate , Helvetia 
 became, under the Franks, one people, ruled by one scep- 
 ter, as she once was under the Caesars. 
 
 The Franks now divided the country into two parts, 
 Suabia and little Burgundy. The former included Suabia, 
 Rhatia , and the district from the lake of Constance to the 
 river Aar and the St. Gotthard. The German tongue pre- 
 vailed in all of Suabia. The part called Burgundy com- 
 prised Savoy and that part of Helvetia taken from the 
 Burgundians; as .Geneva, Berne, Fribourg, Soleure, Wallis, 
 etc. ; in all of which Romanish was spoken. Each section 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 147 
 
 had a Frankish duke for governor. The people themselves 
 were simply slaves of the dukes or the different military 
 chieftains, who had received them, with their lands, 
 in payment for military services. Their condition "was 
 fearful in the extreme; as they were bought, or sold, or 
 given away, or killed, to suit the caprice of their foreign 
 masters, conquerors, and owners. 
 
 Heathenism prevailed among the conquerors and the 
 conquered, and gods were made of wood and stone, and 
 worshipped, as they were a thousand years before. What- 
 ever had been learned of the religion of Christ in Helvetia, 
 at an earlier date, was, with their freedom, long since for- 
 gotten. But now the name of Christ again came to the 
 heathen of the Alps. Good men from other lands came 
 in and preached and taught. Cloisters and schools were 
 founded , and the faith that elevates mankind bettered the 
 state of all Helvetian heathendom. The people came in 
 flocks to the catholic teachers, to be converted and forgiven : 
 more, however, from fear of the devil, than from any love 
 of God, or better things. They had no money then; little, 
 at least; but they gave of their services, their slaves, their 
 lands, to building cloisters, and spires, and monuments of 
 wood, to God. 
 
 They learned to say a prayer or two, and went to church, 
 but did not lay aside their heathen practices. Men were 
 bought and sold, as things of wood and stone, by those 
 who, building temples , giving lands , and going to church 
 at times, called themselves Christians , and who, not differ- 
 ent from many converts of the present time, thought this 
 was sacrifice enough to unlock the golden gates of bliss. 
 This was the convert heathen's ladder to the skies. How 
 many men , not heathen , expect to scale the walls of heaven 
 by lofty spires, Babels, and pretensions, must yet be an- 
 swered by the hosts engaged in trying it. The little light 
 education, and religion, that the people got, did, however, 
 improve the condition of the subjected land. The people 
 learned to spin artd weave the wool, to build of stone, in- 
 stead of wood. Agriculture improved , and , for the first 
 
148 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 time, vines were planted on the hills around lakes Zurich 
 and Geneva. 
 
 'When Henry the Fowler was emperor of Germany, in 
 the early part of the 10th century, the Hungarian hordes 
 came down , desolating Germany , and pressed into Switzer- 
 land. Fear of these terrible people led the Swiss for the 
 first time to build walls around their cities, and a ninth part 
 of the people were called inside the walls for defense. 
 
 During the 12th and 13th centuries, the counts of Ky- 
 burg, Rappersweil, Toggenburg, Lenzburg, and many 
 others of Switzerland, were at the height of their power. 
 
 Nothing is left of them or their glory, to-day, save the 
 Old castles that frown down from many an eminence, re- 
 minding one of the cruelties and injustice of many of their 
 owners. Nor is their history of enough importance to lead 
 one to wish to know much about them. Many of them, 
 with their hosts of followers, were lost in the crusades. It 
 was rather a fight, at that particular period, of heathen 
 against heathen; for, aside from the fact that the Swiss 
 heathen had heard of Christianity, and believed in it, though 
 not practising its precepts, there was little difference be- 
 tween him and the heathen at the sepulcher. The great 
 mass of the people were yet> a sort of slaves; but their 
 faithful conduct during their masters' absence in the cru- 
 sades led them to be more respected ; and, as they learned 
 to weave and spin and build, greater freedom was allowed 
 them ; till gradually they became really a part of the people 
 themselves. 
 
 As freedom increased, the towns were strengthened and 
 beautified. Many of the exclusive prerogatives of the Bishops 
 were done away with, and the people commenced to exer- 
 cise, somewhat, the privilege of choosing a part of their 
 councilors at home, while they remained true with 
 purse and sword to the German emperor, whom they 
 now considered their proper leader and master. They were 
 now possessed of a freedom and a prosperity which they 
 had not known before. 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 149 
 
 In the middle of the 13th century, no man in all Switzer- 
 land was more beloved or more feared than Rudolph, count 
 of Habsburg. He lived in canton Aargau, and was a sort 
 of military governor of Schwyz, Uri, Unteirwalden, and 
 Zurich cantons, which had formed a military alliance for 
 self defense in the troublous times which had again befallen 
 this country as well as Germany, during the German inter- 
 regnum, when petty feuds and highway robbery had almost 
 destroyed society, government, and even common se- 
 curity of life and purse. 
 
 Every hill -top and mountain was crowned by a castle, 
 where some petty count or duke or knight dwellt, and 
 from which feuds and wars were constantly kept up at the 
 expense of the peasantry, whose burdens had again become 
 almost too intolerable to bear. Rudolph, though called 
 the Good, sometimes, was, nevertheless, extremely ambitious 
 and warlike , and constantly had some little war of his own 
 on hands with some town or Bishop among his country- 
 men. In the year 1273, he was, with his followers, be- 
 sieging the town of Basle, whose people he proposed to 
 punish for some insult cast upon his friends. While he was 
 there, perhaps laudably enough engaged, the Electors of 
 Germany were down at Frankfort, casting about to see 
 who would have the crown of the German empire, after 
 it had been kicked about as a ^football for some time be- 
 tween German princes and English dukes. One of the 
 Electors, the Archbishop of Metz, went, once on a time, 
 visiting to Italy, and, on his way, was hospitably and kindly 
 entertained by Rudolph. 
 
 Upon leaving him, the good man promised, if oppor- 
 tunity ever should offer, to serve him. So at the election, 
 the Archbishop, sure enough, remembered the excellent 
 wine, though a little sour, as Swiss wines are apt to be, 
 and the wild Aarau boar, and the black bear, that he had 
 feasted upon with Rudolph, in his castle upon the hill by 
 Brugg. Not only remembered it, but as proof of the ex- 
 tent to which his priestly palate had been tickled, proposed 
 the name of the gallant Swiss as Emperor. Rudolph had 
 
ISO THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 a cousin there at the election, too, and this cousin 
 joined the Bishop in his praises of the good , virtuous , and 
 gallant Rudolph, dropping in, by way of parenthesis, a 
 hint to the effect that Rudolph had six handsome, marriage- 
 able daughters. 
 
 As the Electors were ambitious bachelors, mostly, who 
 could not object to connecting themselves with a real em- 
 peror, the election was settled in very short order; and 
 Rudolph, still pegging away at the walls of Basle, was 
 promptly notified of the crown awaiting him. Tourists can, 
 to this day, see a part of the walls still standing of Ru- 
 dolph's old home upon the hill near Brugg and not far 
 even from the site of Vindonissa, a Roman town of great 
 importance, built in the time of Augustus. This city was 
 entirely obliterated by the Allemannen and the Huns, as 
 they poured down from the East and North, wiping Roman 
 greatness out of existence in Italy, as well as in her Hel- 
 vetian province. 
 
 "From my father's hut to the palace of an Emperor," 
 as he himself expressed it, did not overdazzle the mind of 
 a man like Rudolph, nor did he forget, in his prosperity, 
 his own countrymen or his gallant friends. He not only 
 continued the franchises already allowed the Swiss, but 
 granted yet others, and many of the imperial Swiss towns 
 had reason to be thankful to their new Emperor. The 
 Bishop of Lausanne and the Abbot of Einsiedeln were by 
 him made Princes of the Empire. By this means, Switzer- 
 land could have a voice in the selection of an Emperor, 
 as these imperial Princes formed sort of an electoral college 
 which, when occasion demanded, determined who their fu- 
 ture Emperor should be. The body-guard of the good 
 Rudolph was composed partly of the men of Zurich. He 
 had the confidence and love of the Swiss people who , for 
 all the benfits conferred by him, gallantly aided him with 
 purse and sword. The extremely successful and popular 
 reign of Rudolph continued 18 years, when the good Em- 
 peror fell ill and suddenly died, on a journey to Speyer, in 
 1 29 1. His election to the throne had secured peace to the 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 151 
 
 empire, and wonderful good to the upper classes of citizens, 
 both in Germany and Helvetia; but no one man, in any 
 One reign , could undo , for the peasantry , the wrongs of 
 ages. Barons, counts, and petty lords, still held their castles 
 on the mountain tops, and ruled with oppressive hand the 
 peasants in the vales below. The great and courtly luxu- 
 ries to which the nobles had accustomed themselves 'in the 
 new empire had spread into the Helvetian province, and 
 the support of the increased splendor was drawn from the 
 hard earnings of a poor peasantry. The Church, too, held 
 greater sway than ever before. Nobles accepted office un- 
 der spiritual protection, to increase their riches, and, ex- 
 cept in the towns where freedom from tyranny had been 
 purchased and paid for, the condition of the lower classes 
 was one of oppression. The treatment received by the 
 Swiss in different sections, however, differed as much as 
 did the characters of the different nobles who claimed to 
 govern them. While some of the nobility were possessed 
 of cultivated minds, and made poetry a pastime, as did the 
 Minnesingers, others drove a trade in highway robbery. 
 The Holy See, in its presumption that all political power 
 can exist only by permission of the Pope, was seeking to 
 exterminate all ideas of authority in any earthly matter, 
 coming from any other source ; and Papal infallibility was, 
 even then, an unexpressed principle of the catholic church. 
 On the death of Rudolph, his son Albert, who had pre- 
 viously been made Duke of Austria, without waiting for 
 imperial princes to select a new master, seized the reins of 
 empire. The Princes soon afterwards elected Adolph of 
 Nassau Emperor, but, as he proved a rather feeble sove- 
 reign, he was quickly deposed, and Albert managed, by 
 some hook or crook, to be confirmed in his claims. — 
 Albert was unscrupulous as a man, and avaricious as a 
 king. He at once set to work to transfer Helvetia, a pro- 
 vince of the German Empire, to the position of a member 
 of his own Dukedom of Austria. To this proceeding, the 
 people of the forest cantons objected, and, to avoid Albert's 
 immediate supervision, they asked for a governor. Albert 
 
152 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 sent them two, one of whom was Gessler, a man even 
 more imperious and insolent in his conduct than was his 
 master. One of his first insults to the people of Uri was 
 to build a castle for himself, called Zwing-Uri (compel Uri), 
 at the foot of the St. Gotthard. "If the peasant boors 
 want bread, they must pull their own ploughs", — said 
 Landetiberg, governor number two, as he tore the last yoke 
 of oxen from young Arnold Melchthal, plowing in the field. 
 Arnold responded with a blow to the insolence of the mes- 
 senger, and fled. Upon the father's refusing to reveal to 
 the governor his place of concealment, the tyrant caused 
 the old man to be arrested, and his eyes burned out , as 
 punishment for the rashness of his son. The Governors, 
 though located at different points, were alike in baseness. 
 Patience, at last, became wearied. Gessler had placed a 
 hat, as symbol of his power, upon a pole, at the little vil- 
 lage of Altorf on Lake Lucerne. To this hat, every Swiss, 
 in passing, was expected to bow, in proof of his loyalty 
 to Gessler's rule. 
 
 While these outrageous acts were being perpetrated by 
 Albert's governors in this country, a few, brave men, urged 
 by the desperateness of their surroundings, formed a con- 
 spiracy, to relieve the country of the Austrian yoke. 
 
 The conspiracy had its origin , perhaps , in the brave 
 heart of a woman — the wife -of Stauffacher of Steinen. 
 One day, the Austrian duke, followed by his suite, rode 
 down towards lake Lucerne. At Steinen, he observed the 
 handsome cottage, nearly finished, of the freeman, Stauf- 
 facher. He halted , as he passed the gate , and angrily in- 
 quired to whom the house belonged. Stauffacher, stepping 
 forward , mildly answered that it was the king's , • his mas- 
 ter's, house. Gessler, enraged that private citizens, though 
 free, should build them pleasant homes without his leave, 
 rode on, muttering that it should not, would not, be borne, 
 that peasant boors should build them homes as fine or finer 
 than their lords. Stauffacher sat down alone, his head hur- 
 ried in his hands , his heart too full for utterance. His wife 
 reproached him for the patience he had exercised toward 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1 53 
 
 his own and his country's foe. She urged him to seek 
 counsel with others of his countrymen who, like himself, 
 were tired of seeing brave men scourged by tyrants. He 
 sought out Arnold Melchthal and Walther Fiirst of Uri. 
 These three met, at dead of night, in a lone spot called 
 the Riitli , a bit of meadow land among the rocks on lake 
 Lucerne. They pledged themselves to have one thought, 
 one life, one death, if need be, to redress their people's 
 wrongs. 
 
 On the night of November the eleventh, thirteen hundred 
 and seven , the patriots met at the same lone spot again ; 
 this time, however, each brought with him ten tried and 
 trusty friends. Among these friends was William Tell. The 
 night was dark. The huge, old mountains frowned upon 
 them from above. The deep and threatening lake was at 
 their feet. Their tribune was the mossy rocks ; their hearers, 
 the darkness and the moaning winds; their friends, their 
 own courageous hearts, and God. It was the birthplace 
 of a nation. 
 
 Thirty -three bronzed and bold right hands were lifted 
 up in pledge that though they, their wives, their little ones, 
 should perish in the attempt, their valleys and their moun- 
 tains should be free from tyrants. 
 
 A plan of common action for a future day was well ar- 
 ranged; and then the thirty-three went to their homes with 
 brave, strong hearts, to wait the signal that should bid them 
 strike. One daring spirit could not wait the coming time ; 
 but, being pressed and trampled down, struck, and quick, 
 too quick, but strong and deep and well. What old Swiss 
 books, traditions, songs, and monuments, may say of Tell, 
 may be, in part at least, most readily believed. No re- 
 cords, written in the days of Albert, mention Tell or Gess- 
 ler either. 
 
 In short, but little that is history of the conception and 
 the struggling birth of Switzerland has been preserved ; and, 
 hence, the doubting ones have sought to cast doubt and 
 ridicule upon whatever is believed of Gessler, Tell, or even 
 the old Swiss government itself. 
 
154 THE SWISS OK THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 A Swedish or a German incident, occurring centuries be- 
 fore the birth of Tell, is given as a proof that what the 
 Swiss believe of him is false. That Gessler did as Swedish 
 tyrants did, can be no proof that William Tell was but a 
 myth. It was a common practice of tyrants , in the olden 
 times , to punish prisoners in the way that Gessler punished 
 Tell. The duke had little need to rack his brains in search 
 of desperate things for desperate men to do. The Swedish 
 plan of driving captured foes to dreadful feats of archery, 
 as punishment, was probably as well known to Gessler as 
 to the doubting ones of to-day. There was no lack for 
 cruel things in days like those, when men were quartered, 
 skinned, and burned, on mere suspicion of a wrong. 
 
 Gessler did just what other tyrants of a former time had 
 done. 
 
 Contemporary history of the event is lost, but there are 
 monuments and chapels at different points in the Forest can- 
 tons, confirming all that is affirmed of Tell. These monu- 
 ments were built four and five centuries ago, when men had 
 better means than to-day of knowing the truthfulness of the 
 events that they commemorate. 
 
 When Gessler set his hat upon an Altorf pole , to test 
 how far he dared to trample on the men he ruled, he 
 learned of one brave man who did not bow to empty hats, 
 nor even to an Austrian governor. When Gessler sought 
 to make a father slay his own first born , he learned that 
 tyrants' lives are not hemmed in by some "divinity". 
 
 The skillful shot did not effect the liberation Gessler had 
 promised the steady-handed, steadier - hearted , man. The 
 hidden dart spoke more than open words, "To kill thee, 
 tyrant, had I slain my child"; and Gessler feared, as 
 death , the vengeance of so bold a man. 
 
 To-day, the traveler sees, among the Kiisnacht hills, the 
 ruins of a castle, grey with five centuries of years. 
 
 This castle was the governor's , and, when the scene at 
 Altorf was complete , and Tell was chained , Gessler , with 
 his suite, started in an open boat along the lake, intending 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 155 
 
 to place the archer in the dungeon of his castle, that very 
 night. 
 
 The lake, so subject even to-day to fearful squalls of 
 wind, proved treacherous then, and the small, rude boat 
 was at the point of going down, when Gessler remembered 
 that his prisoner was a man as much accustomed to the 
 oar as to the bow. 
 
 Tell was unbound, and his strong arms brought the little 
 boat close to the rocks; when, suddenly, seizing his bow, 
 he le*aped to the shore, and escaped. 
 
 Gessler, saved from the wrath of the waters, pursued 
 his course towards Kiisnacht and his castle on the hill. 
 "But one road leads to Kiisnacht", muttered Tell, as he 
 hurried across the Rigi by a mountain path, and hid among 
 the alders growing by the narrow way, a mile from Kiis- 
 nacht, and where Gessler and his suit must pass. There 
 is no way to punish tyrants for their evil deeds, reflected 
 Tell, but this; and when the unsuspecting Gessler rode 
 slowly by the alders where he lay, the hand that saved 
 him on the lake now shot him dead. The deed of Tell 
 was not so much of the heroic sort , as one of wrongs 
 avenged. To him, assassination seemed the only means for 
 self- redress and, right or wrong, the daring deed served 
 for a patriotic end, and helped, though it precipitated, action 
 on the part of those who, with him, had sworn to see the 
 country's rights restored.- 
 
 The men at the Griitli had never meditated taking human 
 life, in their endeavors to rid themselves of the Austrian 
 vogts, and it is worthy of note that in the daring deeds 
 that set their vallies free within a month, Tell's were the 
 only hands that tasted blood. 
 
 The death of Gessler was necessarily followed by prompt 
 action on the part of the conspirators. On Newyear's eve, 
 1 308 , a bit of strategy , aided by the courage of a girl, 
 put them in possession of castle Rotzberg, and, on New- 
 year's morning, a band of twenty - one conspirators , under 
 the pretence of bringing Newyear's presents, as was usual, 
 to Landenberg, the other Governor, obtained entrance to 
 
156 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 his strong fortress at Sarnen. After being admitted, they 
 drew pike -heads from under their cloaks, fixed them on 
 their staffs, blew a signal horn, and thirty others who had 
 been concealed in the neighboring alders rushed in , when 
 the Governor, his garrison, and castle, were captured. The 
 capture and destruction of other castles and forts followed 
 at once, and the Swiss were soon in possession of their 
 three cantons, without bloodshed. 
 
 Landenberg, when captured at Sarnen, had been allowed 
 to leave the land in peace. This was the happy commence- 
 ment of the Newyear, T308. Deputies of the three cantons, 
 Uri, Unterwalden, and Schwyz, met, and renewed the oath 
 of the Riitli, for the purpose of ridding themselves entirely, 
 if possible, of the Austrian yoke. Shortly after this success- 
 ful revolt , the Emperor himself visited canton Aargau , for 
 the purpose of waging a strife with the Bishop of Basle. 
 His nephew, duke John, was one of the imperial suite 
 that accompanied him. 
 
 This nephew had long held a bitter grudge against his 
 uncle Albert, on account of his not having surrendered to 
 him the whole, or at least a part, of the domains of his 
 deceased father, Duke of Suabia. Albert had been holding 
 a council in his castle at Baden , not far from Zurich , re- 
 lative to the course now to be pursued against the revolted 
 Swiss, and, with his courtly train, was returning to Rhein- 
 felden. When the train reached the river Reuss, at Win- 
 dish, and the Emperor was for a few minutes separated 
 from his guard , his nephew shouted : " Here is the reward 
 of injustice", stabbed him in the neck, and, with his guilty 
 accomplices, fled. — The emperor died in a few minutes, 
 in the lap of an old peasant woman who happened to be 
 standing near the stream. 
 
 The Swiss themselves had nothing whatever to do with 
 the cause of the Emperor's nephew or with the assassina- 
 tion. On the other hand, so far were they from sympathy 
 with the dreadful deed, that their villages and towns re- 
 fused hiding-place and refuge to the flying murderers. 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1 57 
 
 Those who had shared the guilt of Duke John , in the 
 assassination, were also members of noble families, and, as 
 all of these guilty principals could not be found, vengeance 
 was wreaked in the most shameful manner upon all their 
 families, relations, and friends. 
 
 Agnes , Queen of Hungary , and a daughter of the mur- 
 dered Emperor, acted the part of a demon in the bloody 
 scenes that followed. At Fahrwangen, she beheaded thirty- 
 six knights, and, seeing their bloody corpses, cried: "To- 
 day, I bathe in May-dew". She afterwards built a cloister 
 (still standing), on the spot where her father had been mur- 
 dered, at Konigsfelden , near Windish by Brugg. She en- 
 tered this convent herself, and pretended to lead a godly 
 life. A priest once said to her: "They who shed innocent 
 blood, and found convents with the spoils of the victims, 
 can never be truly pious ". 
 
 A great struggle now ensued in Germany for the throne 
 made vacant by Albert's death. The Austrian party strove 
 to elect one of the Habsburg house, but the Princes of the 
 Empire chose Louis of Bavaria ; and, as the Forest cantons, 
 quite naturally too, for they had had enough of Austrian 
 rule, sided with Louis, their annihilation was determined 
 upon by Leopold, now Duke of Austria. The famous con- 
 vent of Einsiedeln, with all its extended lands and fran- 
 chises, was under the protectorship of Austria. The Forest 
 cantons, particularly Schwyz, had continual quarrels with 
 the holy Einsiedlers about their boundaries, forests, etc.; 
 in fact, they never had lived on terms of perfect amity 
 with their pious neighbors, and bad matters were made 
 worse, when a troop of Swiss fellows crept up to the great 
 convent, one dark night, broke into the sacred cells, smash- 
 ed up the altars, and carried the brother Einsiedlers off 
 home with them ; whence the frightened friars were released, 
 only after numerous lengthy petitions and many dreary 
 prayers on the part of the noble relatives ; for the priests 
 and monks had noble relatives in those days, and were 
 sometimes noblemen themselves. This, and like scandals, 
 were seized upon by Duke Leopold, as a blow at Austria, 
 
158 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 and, under the pretext of seeking to correct these playful 
 fancies of the Schwyzers, he raised an army, and commenced 
 the invasion of the country. This was soon followed by 
 Morgarten, the first battle that was ever fought for Swiss 
 liberty or Swiss defense. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 15th of November, 13 15. 
 Duke Leopold, with an army of from 15,000 to 20,000 well 
 drilled soldiers and Austrian noblemen, marched away from 
 the little town of Zug, for the purpose of invading Schwyz, 
 by the road leading to" Mount Sattle and to Morgarten, 
 stretching then, as it does to-day, through the valley and 
 along the beautiful lake of Egeri. 
 
 The Schwyzers, though only 1300 in number, including 
 700 of their neighbors from cantons Uri and Unterwalden, 
 were not dismayed. They posted themselves advantageously 
 on the sides of Mount Sattle overlooking the road, to be 
 pursued by the proud, but soon to be subdued, host of 
 Austria. At a post a little in advance of the Swiss army, 
 and on a higher point of the mountain, fifty men who had 
 been deprived of citizenship and were refused permission, 
 even in this moment of extremity, to return to their country, 
 secreted themselves, determined with heroic hearts to defend 
 the land they had been wont to call their own. The enemy's 
 columns, joined by troops from Zurich, Zug, and other 
 Helvetian towns that acknowledged Austrian rule, filed through 
 the mountain gap, and filled with armored knights the nar- 
 row way along the lake. Their cavalry, clad in heaviest 
 armor, formed the advance, and, close behind, the infantry, 
 with bright uniforms, waving banners, and sounding drums, 
 pressed, eager for the fray. The Duke himself, surrounded 
 by many of the Austrian nobles, rode among the van. 
 The valley and the road were packed with victory-expectant 
 troops, when suddenly a shout and crash of stones and 
 stumps and clubs, among the horsemen at the front, was 
 heard. It was the exiled Swiss, hurling these novel imple- 
 ments of war over the precipice, on whose wooded edge 
 they stood, down on the heads of the frightened Austrian 
 cavalry. This sudden, unexpected crash put men and horses 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1 59 
 
 in the most terrific fright. The Swiss army, seeing the 
 confusion, rushed on with bow and spear and hellibard and 
 threw themselves upon the frightened, flying mob. The 
 cavalry, almost without a fight, had turned, and, in its efforts 
 to escape through the narrow, crowded way, was trampling 
 to death the astonished troops behind. 
 
 No quarter was either asked or given. Hundreds of the 
 foe, to escape being trampled, leaped into the lake, and 
 were drowned. The pursuit was hot; the Duke himself 
 escaped by a peasant's help, but the flower of the nobility 
 and of the Austrian army was lost. Every Zurich man 
 who went to fight against his former friends was killed, 
 fighting at his post. Thus, in less than three hours, Mor- 
 garten was fought, and the Swiss, with but a handful of 
 brave men, had won a victory that served long afterwards 
 to inspire their -troops on many a bloodier field. 
 
 The three cantons, Schwyz, Unterwalden, and Uri, now 
 resolved upon creating a confederacy, and, for that purpose, 
 their deputies met at the pretty little town of Brunnen, on 
 lake Lucerne, and not far from Schwyz, on the ninth of 
 December, 13 15. Here the first compact of Swiss states 
 was formed, and the foundation of a Republic laid which 
 was to last for centuries. Republics, kingdoms, empires, 
 were to come up in light and go down in darkness, while 
 the little league of the Alps, based upon the purest prin- 
 ciples of right and self government, was to live as a beacon 
 light to states, even in the nineteenth century, that were 
 floundering about in the sea of political anarchy. In the 
 same month of the same year, a truce for six years was 
 concluded between Austria and the Swiss, by which their 
 freedom was acknowledged, although they pledged them- 
 selves to pay to Austria all revenues properly belonging 
 to her from the Republic. The bravery of the Swiss had 
 won for them the friendship of Germany. They were often 
 engaged in the Emperor's wars, and, as a result of his attach- 
 ment to them, an imperial decree was issued, demolishing 
 all rights and claims of Austria in the three leagued cantons. 
 Many of the other cities and towns of Helvetia, for long 
 
160 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 years to come, remained as imperial towns or else as Austrian 
 fiefs. In 1332, Lucerne, severely oppressed by Austrian 
 rule, also made alliance with the League, but reserved to 
 Austria still many of her former privileges. 
 
 In spite of all their political difficulties, the Helvetian 
 cities were rather prosperous. The cities and the convents 
 vied in their efforts to disseminate knowledge and to en- 
 courage commerce with Italy, France, and Germany. The 
 Popes did not tire of hurling bulls and anathemas, by times, 
 at the people, who were, however, little hurt, and not a bit 
 afraid. 
 
 If the . priests in the land did not care to hold service in 
 the face of the Pope's bulls forbidding service, they were 
 sent adrift from the country, so that at one period, Zurich 
 was for eighteen years without preaching in the churches. 
 A Papal legate, at Basle, had dared to make public the 
 Pope's excommunication of the Emperor Louis. The people 
 seized and tumbled him into the Rhine, where he drowned, 
 and so the work went on, and perhaps a few seeds were 
 then sown that produced fruit a couple of centuries later, 
 in the Reformation. 
 
 In 1336, the beautiful, old town of Zurich, sitting like 
 a jewel on the waters of the lake of the same name, was 
 ruled by,a council of twelve knights and twenty-four citizens. 
 By degrees, however, the executive power fell into the hands 
 of the twelve knights alone, and, like many other knights 
 of those and later times, too, they behaved in a way rather 
 unbecoming to rulers who propose governing a people of 
 wealth, intelligence, and noble qualities. 
 
 The citizens of Zurich met en masse in those days, 
 on the high point of ground near the Limmat, to day known 
 as the Lindenhof, for the purpose of electing a councilor 
 or so, and hearing a reckoning from the council of the 
 city's money. It happened too often, however, that these 
 gallant knights had no reckoning to make, and had little to 
 say as to what had become of the people's funds. Further 
 than this, the common people, it was said, were treated 
 insolently sometimes, or perhaps generally, by these same 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. l6l 
 
 knightly councilors. Forbearance by the citizens ceased 
 to be a virtue, after a while, and the oppressed people cried 
 aloud for Brun. Now Brun was one of these same twelve 
 knights, and a man of great wealth and renown. 
 
 He took up the people's cause, and, by his exposure 
 of the corrupt councilors, gained hosts of friends. He became 
 a man of the people, and, whether with the best intentions 
 or not, nobody knows, led them where he would. "The 
 councilors are but mocking you", he said to the impatient 
 and excited people, who surrounded the old town hall of 
 the city. 
 
 The council, seeing the excitement and the danger, fled 
 the city in a trice. The people met at once in assembly, 
 voted a new constitution, half democratic and half aristo- 
 cratic, and Brun was made Burgomaster for life. He was 
 a demagogue, say some, with much truth, it would seem, 
 — a benefactor to the city, say others. Be that as it may, 
 the banished nobles, at least, thought themselves severely 
 wronged, and Brun and his party deserving of the wheel. 
 
 They joined league with the count of Rappersweil, a dirty, 
 old town, still standing at the upper end of lake Zurich, 
 and fixed upon a night when they should break into Zurich, 
 and murder the whole democratic party. The night came; 
 so did the nobles, with the count at their head — and so 
 did Brun, too. He had heard of their intended surprise 
 through a baker's boy, and he and the peace-loving citizens 
 pounced upon the noble party when ' they came, killed or 
 drowned the best of them, and laid the principal part of 
 Rappersweil in ashes. Fourteen years, Brun ruled in the 
 city of Zurich, sometimes to its advantage, and sometimes 
 to its disadvantage. He did much to inspire a love of in- 
 dependence throughout Helvetia, and was instrumental in 
 putting the confederacy, now composed of eight cantons, 
 Berne, Zurich, Zug, and Glarus having been admitted, on a 
 better footing. 
 
 Brun was ambitious and artful, however, and loved money, 
 too, as well as power, and by the close of his reign had 
 lost most of his adherents and his fame; especially after 
 
 Switzerland. 1 1 
 
1 62 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 he had been guilty of a secret compact with Austria, that 
 boded no great good to Switzerland. He resigned in 1361, 
 but lived long enough to see his whole family banished, 
 not only from Zurich, but from Switzerland itself. 
 
 The city and Republic of Berne, too, no less than Zurich, 
 must fight her battle with an insolent nobility and an en- 
 croaching aristocracy. 
 
 Berne was rich, enterprising, and self aggrandizing. She 
 had, for the sake of securing their friendship, made citizens 
 of many of the nobility who lived far from her city walls. 
 The protection of these outside citizens was cause of many 
 a bitter strife, and, finally, the very prosperity of the city" 
 itself became a source of jealousy on the part of these 
 out-lying nobles, who leagued together with Burgundy and 
 the Dukes of Austria, for' the purpose of humiliating the 
 pride of the Bernese people, whom they considered as en- 
 gaged in seeking the destruction of the nobility. 
 
 The Emperor of Germany, too, agreed, to help these 
 nobles a little in their efforts at teaching the people that 
 counts and barons were a sort of divine institution, not 
 much to be meddled with by common folks. 
 
 At the little village of Laupen, the contestants met — 
 some twenty thousand nobles against half as many of the 
 Bernese, with a few allies from the forest cantons. The 
 Bernese were led, however, by the great and virtuous Erlach. 
 "Where are the gallant youths, so wont to dance in Berne, 
 with feathers in their hats, and bid defiance to a host of 
 foes," — he cried. — "Come, now the honor of your city 's 
 in your hands." 
 
 The youths dashed forward to the flag, the fight com- 
 menced, and, long before the sun went down, Laupen was 
 won. Those of the nobles who had not been killed, had 
 left the field in utter, shameful rout. Erlach justly won the 
 gratitude of his countrymen ; for Berne and west Switzer- 
 land had been saved through his valor and his skill. Erlach, 
 after his successes, retired to the privacy of his home at 
 his castle near Berne, in the enjoyment of the love of his 
 countrymen. One day, while sitting alone in his room, his 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1 63 
 
 son-in-law, Ruding, who had earned his displeasure, entered, 
 and, seizing the old man's battle sword that hung upon the 
 wall, basely murdered his country's friend. 
 
 In 1349, the great Plague, preceded by the most terrific 
 earthquakes, broke out and raged fearfully through all the 
 Alpine region. Whole townships were desolated, and rich 
 estates were left without an owner and unclaimed. 
 
 Basle alone lost 12000 of its citizens, and a third of the 
 Helvetic nation died within the three or four years that the 
 epidemic raged. Different treaties and truces had been con- 
 cluded by the confederacy with Austria, but to little effect. 
 Fends and petty wars between it and the nobles always 
 threatened the internal peace. By the year 1386, duke 
 Leopold the Third, of Austria, managed to bring about 
 a general war between himself and the nobles on the one 
 hand, and the Swiss cantons on the other. 
 
 The reasons for this war were various. First of all, was 
 the standing hatred of the Swiss by the nobles ; and then 
 there was the death of the Emperor Albert, killed at Win- 
 dish, fifty years before, not yet sufficiently avenged. Beside 
 all this, Brun's putting Rappersweil in flames had not been 
 half forgotten by the Austrian dukes, who laid some sort 
 of claim to that pretentious, though worthless, bailiwick. 
 Again, Sempach and other little towns, upon which Leopold 
 held some second or third rate mortgages, had been ad- 
 mitted to privileges of the Swiss league. All this was too 
 much for Leopold, who never had been loth to find a quar- 
 rel with the Swiss, and so the armies were put in motion. 
 First, the Austrians were turned against Zurich, as the prin- 
 cipal offender, but suddenly wheeled off towards the lake 
 of Sempach, not far from Lucerne. 
 
 Here, at the village of Sempach, on July ninth, 1386, 
 they met the Swiss. The nobles, desirous of winning the 
 victory themselves, like the French at Crecy, dismounted, 
 cut the long toes off from their pointed shoes, for what 
 reason nobody knows, unless it was to lessen their weight 
 for running, and very boldly placed themselves in the bat- 
 tle's front. A solid phalanx of battle-axe and spear was form- 
 
164 
 
 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 ed, through which it seemed impossible for the Swiss 
 soldiers to press. 
 
 They knelt and prayed, then dashed with headlong speed 
 against the solid lines that stood firm as a wall of stone. 
 Again and again the Swiss charged on the lines that never 
 broke or moved. A force of Austrians, too, 't was thought, 
 was falling on their rear. 
 
 In such a moment, what 
 was to be done? Hearts 
 used to war seemed ready 
 now to fail, when Arnold 
 Winkelried rushed upon 
 the enemy, and grasped a 
 dozen spears in his em- 
 brace, crying: "I will open 
 a way for liberty — care for 
 my wife and child." Man 
 after man pressed in the little 
 gate. The brave act broke 
 the Austrian line. Instantly 
 a crowd of Swiss rushed in, 
 and, by desperate blows, de- 
 feat was turned to certain 
 victory. The sun shone in- 
 tensely hot ; and the nobles 
 in their heavy iron war har- 
 ness were unable to retreat. 
 The havoc became general, and many who were not 
 killed by blow of axe or spear, suffocated from heat and 
 thirst. The Swiss lost but two hundred in the fight. Of the 
 Austrians, six hundred noblemen and two thousand common 
 soldiers were slain. The Duke himself, while holding his 
 country's banner, which he had snatched from the banneret, 
 high above his head, was struck down by a man from 
 Schwyz. Such was the day of Sempach ; and the name of 
 Arnold Winkelried became a household word, not only in 
 his own country, but in every land where heroism and 
 devotion to principle are loved. Leopold and many of the 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1 65 
 
 nobles who had cut their shoe toes off, were taken up to 
 the church at Konigsfelden, founded by the pious Agnes 
 who bathed in May-dew, as we have read, and were there 
 interred. The remaining Austrians and nobles who had 
 escaped at Sempach, or who had not been there at all, 
 still wished to fight, and did, indeed, still wage an unsuc- 
 cessful war, for many months to come ; but, after being 
 thoroughly whipped, as usual, and having lost many towns 
 and much territory, and having become withal quite poor 
 in spirit, as well as in purse, agreed upon a peace. For the 
 time being, at least, they had had enough .of peasant boors 
 and agricultural gentlemen. At Nafels, where the nobles 
 were also overthrown, a procession is formed by the people 
 and mass is said, even to this day, at each returning April, 
 for the souls of their brave ancestors who fell. Before the 
 close of the 15th century, the Swiss had extended their 
 influence over almost the whole of Helvetia, and the greater 
 part of the territory became incorporated into the Confede- 
 racy. Austria, after quarreling and fighting with the Swiss 
 people for nearly a hundred years, with the most unfortu- 
 nate results, had lost most of her power and influence in 
 the country, and was quite willing to sell to the Swiss many 
 towns and districts that had not already been captured, 
 and to confirm the Swiss title to these places, wrested 
 from her by heroic deeds. 
 
 Economy and honest dealing characterized the Swiss then 
 as now. To be out of debt, was a universal desire of the 
 towns and villages of the land. The people of the beau- 
 tiful valley of Frutigen, near the Gemmi-pass, had been, 
 with their valley, transferred by one of the nobles to Berne. 
 They were sadly in debt, but it is said of them, so earnest 
 were they in their intention to pay their taxes and be wholly 
 free that, for a period of seven years, they abstained wholly 
 from eating meat. 
 
 The nobles, whose castles were scattered all over the 
 country, like Austria, were exhausted and out of money. 
 They sold to the rich cities many of their estates, privileges, 
 and rights, until they were left with but little influence in 
 
1 66 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 the land they had so much disturbed. There were no kings, 
 and not even presidents then in Switzerland. The cantons 
 and cities, though allied in one Bund, were, nevertheless, 
 entirely independent, and possessed of different forms of 
 government. In time of peace, each was independent of 
 outside influences. The people ruled. The citizens of each 
 of the cities were often divided into twelve tribes. Nobles 
 and plebeians joined in the selection of their Mayor, or 
 Burgomaster. The city tribes chose each a Tribune who, 
 with four deputed nobles, formed a Senate. Each tribe 
 chose, besides, six deputies who, with six deputies chosen 
 by the nobles, and sixteen members of the Senate, composed 
 the Grand Council. 
 
 Such was a city government in Switzerland, in the 15th 
 century. 
 
 In 1415, no less than three Popes were, at one time, 
 setting themselves up as successors of St. Peter and as 
 Vice-gerents of the Holy One on earth. To settle their 
 little disputes and see who, if really anybody, was in fact 
 succeeding Peter in anything like a saintly way, Sigismund, 
 Emperor of Germany, ordered a council. This council met 
 at Constance — a more important city then than now, sit- 
 ting at the foot of the stormy lake of the same name. 
 Two hundred thousand and more people were collected in 
 Constance during the whole sitting of the council, which 
 lasted three years. Historians have mentioned it, as worthy 
 of note, that the Swiss people did not have their morals 
 completely ruined by the character and conduct of these 
 precious councilors who were sitting, as it were, on three 
 Papal stools at once. 
 
 The council did little of note, except, in its over-right- 
 eousness, to burn John Huss and Jerome of Prague, notwith- 
 standing Huss's safe conduct from Sigismund, which was 
 probably used as kindling to the flames at his burning — 
 flames which, no great while afterwards, burst into a mighty 
 conflagration, known as the Reformation. 
 
 The council upset all three of the Popes, too, on whom 
 they had been sitting for two or three years, and chose 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1 67 
 
 another one who, as soon as chosen, thankfully dismissed 
 the council, in turn, and told them to go about their bu- 
 siness ; all of which they did, or at least pretended to do. 
 
 While these prelates and cardinals of the council were 
 eating and drinking in Constance, the cantons of Berne, 
 Lucerne, and Zurich, at the request of the emperor, forgot 
 the terms of the fifty years peace they had just made with 
 Austria, and overran, conquered, and annexed Argovy, with 
 very many important towns and fortresses ; — an act wholly 
 unjustified and in violation of their late treaty, and one 
 which went unpunished only for the reason that Austria 
 was not able to chastise the Swiss who had the Emperor 
 and the Constance cardinals at their backs in their lawless 
 proceedings. Helvetia had now grown strong and united. 
 Most of her former oppressors were defeated and driven 
 out of the country, and prosperity prevailed throughout her 
 borders. But just now, Rhatia, her upper Rhine neighbor, 
 was suffering from the oppression of lords and barons, 
 equaled only by what Switzerland had known before her 
 bloody redemption from similar evils. Rhatia was the 
 Grisons of the present day. The people were a hardy, 
 virtuous, and industrious race, ground down by a shameless 
 master's heel. 
 
 The baseness and the cruelties of the deputies of the count 
 of Werdenberg will scarcely bear repeating. Henry was a 
 rich and powerful noble, and possessed many castles in the 
 upper Rhine country. The keepers of these castles were 
 guilty of the most atrocious acts. Fathers were ordered to 
 bring their daughters to the castles, to be submitted to the 
 guilty embraces of the keepers, and parents and husbands 
 were compelled to witness their own dishonor. Peasants ■ 
 and villagers were even made, at times, to eat from the 
 same troughs with their swine. The wits of these base 
 deputies seemed racked, only to plan some newer degrada- 
 tion for the unfortunate people they were sent to rule. At 
 last, the castle Guardova was stormed and burned, its master 
 killed, and then the peasants set their hearts on liberty. 
 Secret societies were formed by the oppressed people. The 
 
1 68 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 spirit of resistance spread from vale to vale, until three 
 leagues united in a Bund which served to defend them from 
 their former wrongs, and to prepare the way for their later 
 entrance, as members, into the Swiss Republic. 
 
 The burning of Huss by the Constance council was not 
 to be forgotten at once by his followers ; as Sigismund and 
 all others concerned in that shameful deed soon learned in 
 the bloody war that followed for many a long, long year, 
 in Germany. The Hussites, though defeated in arms, at last, 
 did not expire wholly in spirit. Some of them, even to-day, 
 far away from Constance, in many lands on both sides of 
 the sea, are keeping green the memory of John Huss, as 
 one of those who planted the early seeds of the Refor- 
 mation. As if one council of the catholic church, sitting 
 for three years, were not enough to try the patience of the 
 faithful even, another was inflicted, on Basle, this time, and 
 it sat and talked, and talked and sat, for thirteen blessed 
 years, and did nothing quite worth remembering, then. 
 They certainly did not finish the Hussites totally, neither 
 did they postpone the coming Reformation. 
 
 In 1443, Swiss unity was well nigh pushed against the 
 wall, through the avariciousness of a part of its leaders. 
 
 A war broke out between some of the old cantons and 
 Zurich. The count of Toggenburg, a man of immense 
 estates in the country joining the upper Rhine, had died 
 without an heir. There was no lack of pretenders, however. 
 The canton Schwyz claimed all the estates and villages, 
 at least protection over them. So did Zurich. Zurich was 
 ready to defend her claims with arms. So was Schwyz. 
 Zurich had formed an alliance with her old enemy, Austria. 
 Schwyz asked the help of the other cantons. At the head 
 of the Zurich troops, stood Burgomaster Stussi, and Ital 
 Reding led the other Swiss. Both were men of talent and 
 of power, who sometimes seemed to wage the war for per- 
 sonal supremacy alone. At a battle called St. Jacob, on 
 the Sihl, just at the gates of Zurich, Stussi stood upon the 
 bridge and fought most gloriously, but a coward from the 
 Zurich army, rushing to the rear, accused him of being 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1 69 
 
 the author of his country's misfortunes, and struck the city's 
 hero dead. 
 
 With Stussi's death, the battle ceased for a time, but 
 was soon renewed, when the exasperated Schwytzers pushed 
 over the river, up to the Zurich walls, and, but for the 
 heroic conduct of a woman, Anna Ziegler, would have had 
 the town. Another breathing spell ensued, when Zurich 
 was again surrounded, in 1444, by twenty thousand Schwyz- 
 ers who were again on the point of success, when sud- 
 denly the news came that the Dauphin of France, leading 
 an army of the Armagnacs, had broken over the border 
 and was marching down on Basle. The Armagnacs, so 
 called from the name of one of their leaders, were a well- 
 trained sort of highwaymen, with bold hearts and desperate 
 designs. 
 
 At St. Jacob on the Birs, not far from Basle, some six- 
 teen hundred Swiss, without orders, met the Armagnacs, 
 when a fight ensued which, for valor and terrible sacrifice 
 on the part of the Swiss, never was surpassed, not even at 
 Thermopylae. Thousands of- the invaders were slain ; but 
 of the 1600 Swiss, ten only, lived to tell the tale. An eye 
 witness related, that he had seen the wounded pull the ar- 
 rows from their bodies and hurl them at the foe. After 
 the fight, an Armagnacer prince riding, with his suite, over 
 the field , his eye feasting on the dead, exclaimed, "This 
 is indeed a bed of roses." A wounded Swiss lying among 
 the slain, cried out, "Smell this rose", raised himself up, and, 
 with a stone, struck the shameless victor dead. 
 
 The Dauphin liked such bravery as the Swiss possessed. 
 He stopped the war and, as soon as he became king, asked 
 the Swiss people to become his allies. This they did, ha- 
 ving made peace among themselves in 1467. 
 
 Intellectual progress, neither in Switzerland nor in Ger- 
 many, at this period seemed very satisfactory. A blind 
 devotion to the priests and their delusions characterized the 
 people. The Bishop of Lausanne, who loved fish and flesh 
 dearly, was engaged in hurling severe sentences of scripture 
 against the horse-leeches which were, to his great disgust, 
 
170 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 killing all the salmon. Another ridiculous old Bishop was 
 pretending, to his innocent but superstitious countrymen, 
 to be banishing the eels from lake Geneva; — while yet 
 another had, so he said, sent the Glowworms to that apo- 
 chryphal place, where the wood-bine twineth. Bequests 
 to convents, nunneries, etc., it was taught, was about the 
 surest means to secure a free and easy way to heaven ; and 
 happy was the man who could become the possessor of 
 the old bones of saints and martyrs, these, too, being 
 thought to have a propitiating effect on good St. Peter, at 
 the pearly gates. 
 
 In the year 1474, a terrible war broke out between the 
 Swiss and their nearest neighbor, Charles the Bold, duke 
 of Burgundy. The quarrels between the Swiss and the duke 
 were instigated almost wholly by Louis the nth, king of 
 France, and duke Sigismund of Austria. Alsace, with other 
 bits of towns and territories, had been mortgaged by Sigis- 
 mund to the duke of Burgundy. When payments were 
 due, Sigismund, as was to be expected, and as Burgundy 
 had hoped, had no ready money by him, with which to 
 pay the little score ; and so the bold Charles, pursuing the 
 course of mortgagers of earlier days , foreclosed — not 
 exactly by a judgment of a court, but in a much shorter 
 way, by setting his soldiers down on Alsace, and holding 
 the people and the land as one and a piece of Burgundy. 
 
 Charles sent a governor to regulate and manage affairs 
 in his new dominion, and not a very good one either; 
 a second Gessler, if indeed a second pattern of such a gov- 
 ernor were to be found, even there in Burgundy. 
 
 This Governor, Hagenbach by name, not only imposed 
 continually and shamefully upon his new subjects , but 
 encroached also upon the rights of the Swiss bordering on 
 his territory. At last, the good people of the little town 
 of Brisack, sitting on the Rhine, below Basle, took it into 
 their heads, one fine morning, to seize upon this monstrous 
 governor, and tumble him into the nearest jail. Now as 
 Brisack was in the mortgaged territory, Sigismund took this 
 act as a declaration that the people of Alsace were eager 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. IJl 
 
 to get under the Austrian wing again, where they certainly 
 had good reason to wish themselves. So Sigismund hurried 
 over to Brisach and, peacably enough, took possession of 
 his mortgaged property, Alsace. He also looked in on 
 Hagenbach, the bad governor, as he lay trembling one day 
 in Brisach jail. "You shall have a trial," said Sigismund to 
 the governor. And a trial he got, too; for one May mor- 
 ning, a troop of greyheaded, greycoated Swiss rode into 
 the town, at Sigismund's request, to sit in judgment on this 
 bad Burgundian governor. They did 'nt sit as long as the 
 catholic council sat at Basle, by any means, for on that 
 very night, the head of Hagenbach was tumbled into the 
 Rhine. At this, the bold Burgundian, Charles, swore an 
 oath — a big one too, and added : "I'll lose my life rather 
 than my revenge." Morgarten had been fought and the 
 Austrians humiliated, a century and a half before ; but now 
 a new covenant was sought and found, and the Swiss and 
 Austrians became, for the time at least, the firmest friends. 
 France, too, was now an ally of the Swiss against Burgundy, 
 but the heroic Swiss were being used as cats' paws, to pull 
 Austrian and French chestnuts from the Burgundian fire. 
 
 The Swiss entered the war, and won from Charles the 
 battle of Hericourt, taking possession of the place in the 
 name of Sigismund. Shortly afterward, however, their allies, 
 who had never fired a gun in the war, deserted them, by 
 making a dishonorable peace with Burgundy and by leaving 
 the Swiss wholly in the lurch. 
 
 The Swiss were now alone, with a powerful and impla- 
 cable prince as a foe. 
 
 Charles, bound to punish the audacity of these dwellers 
 of the Alps, came pouring down, past Besancon, with an 
 army of nearly a hundred thousand men. 
 
 His court and camp were of the utmost magnificence. 
 He was not bold only — he was immensely rich, in lands 
 and towns and every worldly thing. He had diamonds and 
 gold and silver in his silken tents, which Sardanapalus might 
 have envied. He had come in all his magnificience, to spend 
 
172 
 
 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 a holiday among the Alps, and trample under foot a people 
 whose heroism he had forgotten or despised. 
 
 On a winter's day of 1476, duke Charles laid siege to 
 Grandson, a little town on the lake of Neuchatel. He over- 
 powered the garrison, and had every man of them stripped 
 naked and hung to trees or thrown into the lake. The 
 Swiss army, only twenty thousand strong, were camped at 
 Neuchatel. 
 
 GRANDSON 
 
 On hearing of the atrocious conduct of Charles, they 
 hurried in the direction of his camp, burning with a thirst 
 for an immediate and a terrible revenge. In front of Grand- 
 son, the armies met. The lines of the Swiss, as usual, 
 knelt in prayer. The Burgundians, seeing this, and imagi- 
 ning that the whole Swiss army was on its knees, to beg the 
 mercy of the duke, dashed forward with a ery of derision, 
 but they were bloodily repulsed by the confederate spears. 
 Every effort was made, but in vain, to break the lines of 
 the Swiss, who wavered not before the spear, the cannon- 
 ball, and sword. A charge of six thousand cavalry was 
 made against their flanks. It seemed as if the day would 
 soon be lost, when suddenly a wild, tumultous yell was 
 heard from the hight behind them. Uri and Unterwalden 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1 73 
 
 were there, and soon dashed down upon the frightened foe, 
 who had scarcely known whether to consider them men 
 or apparitions. 
 
 Terror seized upon them, and the whole army took to 
 flight; — some into the fields and woods, some to the 
 mountains, and others across the lake. Charles, with but 
 five companions, escaped through the nearest pass of the 
 Jura. 
 
 The Swiss cut down their comrades, whom he had hung 
 on trees the day before, and, in revenge, hung a lot of 
 Charles's men with the same halters. 
 
 His camp, one of the richest that the world had seen, 
 with all the treasures of the Prince and his generals, was 
 lost. 
 
 Six hundred banners, ten thousand horses, and one hun- 
 dred and twenty cannon, were left upon the field. The gold 
 found in the camp of Charles was measured by hatfulls, 
 among the common soldiers of the Swiss. Diamonds, it is 
 said, that now adorn some of the fairest crowns in Europe, 
 were, by the common soldiers, thrown aside as worthless, 
 or sold for trifling sums. The cantons saved some of them ; 
 and one was sold sixteen years after the battle, for many 
 thousand guilders. Still another, now owned by one of the 
 modern courts, after changing from hand to hand for cen- 
 turies, was sold, in 1872, for several hundred thousand francs. 
 So ended Grandson, but not Burgundy. Charles could still 
 fight, and fight he did. In thirteen days, he was again in 
 the field, and, in seven weeks, by means of the most tre- 
 mendous levying of troops and taxing of his people, he led 
 a larger army than he had before. 
 
 Every sixth man in his dominions was mustered in ; every 
 sixth penny was taken from the people's funds, and the 
 church bells were pulled down and melted into cannon. 
 Charles meant war, undoubtedly, and, for that matter, so did 
 the Swiss. 
 
 At Murten, on the little lake of Morat, between Fribourg 
 and Neuchatel, the armies met again, their numbers about 
 as three to one in favor of the Burgundians. The usual 
 
174 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 fearlessness and heroic action of the Swiss troops again put 
 the army of Charles into a complete panic], and reaped 
 a second famous victory. 
 
 Among others of Charles's allies, was a body of English 
 troops. These, with Charles's favorite body guard, did the 
 best of his fighting, and were, with their commander (sup- 
 posed to have been the duke of Somerset), nearly all killed. 
 The duke lost from twenty to thirty thousand men ; the Swiss, 
 but a few hundred. Thousands of the flying Burgundians 
 leaped into the lake, and those who did not drown at once 
 were shot while swimming in the water. 
 
 Charles was again in flight, but still determined on pos- 
 sessing Lorraine, which the Swiss, now led by duke Reni 
 whom Charles had robbed, determined to defend. 
 
 Again the forces met at Nancy, and again was shameful 
 defeat heaped by the gallant Swiss upon the head of Charles. 
 Totally routed, he fled, and, in flying, lost his life. His 
 naked body was found after the fight, lying in a ditch. 
 So ended the Burgundian war. Louis of France, who had 
 hoped for just such an explosion of the Burgundian kingdom, 
 now picked up his part of the flying fragments of the duke's 
 territory ; and the rest of Burgundy, with Charles's daughter, 
 Mary, was married off to Austria's Arch-duke Maximilian, 
 son of the emperor Ferdinand ; Austria thus acquiring, 
 as was her wont to do, when any of her family married, 
 a bit of the richest and finest territory in all Europe. Just 
 three years after the great sailor of Genoa had discovered 
 a new continent in the West, another war broke out in 
 Switzerland; this time with the Germans. Maximilian was 
 now made emperor, and desirous of making war on the 
 Turks, as well as on France, and being still sort of an ally 
 of the Swiss, he demanded of them men and money in the 
 cause. Both were refused. The Swiss, who were now well 
 up to arms, seemed to be liking war almost as well as 
 peace, although their many wars were seldom of their own 
 seeking. They were proud of their military feats, and flat- 
 tered to see great nations seeking their friendship, whenever 
 war was threatened. 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. IJ$ 
 
 Maximilian became enraged at this refusal of the Swiss 
 to listen completely and promptly to the mandate of the 
 empire to which they still owed some allegiance; for some 
 nations of that day, especially Switzerland, seemed to have 
 several masters at a time, and were not serving any of them 
 very much, at that. He commenced hostilities. For nine 
 months, war raged; the Swiss, as usual, winning almost 
 every battle fought, until the whole of Suabia and the sur- 
 rounding regions were laid desolate and bare. 
 
 Two thousand towns, villages, and castles, had been cap- 
 tured, and left in ashes. 
 
 The Germans of the territory near the scene of conflict 
 were starving to death by hundreds and thousands. The 
 greatest heroism had characterized the conduct of the Swiss, 
 during these fightings, known as the Suabian war. At Fra- 
 stenz, close to Bregenz on the lake of Constance, a small 
 body of Swiss completely routed 14,000 of the enemy, 
 mostly Austrians, — killing, it is said, 4,300, and losing 
 but 1 3 of their own soldiers ; so well had they made use 
 of the narrow ways and rocky steeps that nature gave to 
 Switzerland as guards of safety. At Schwaderloch, near 
 Constance, two thousand Swiss defeated 18,000 Austrians, 
 who were serving the empire in its futile attempts to over- 
 come the little Republic of the Alps. The Austrians lost 
 in killed, at Schwaderloch, a number equal to the whole 
 of the Swiss troops engaged. 
 
 Each Swiss had killed his man. "We never count the 
 numbers of our foe," said a Swiss; and, indeed, in this, as 
 in all their wars, it seemed to make little difference what 
 an enemy numbered ; his defeat was almost certain, when 
 meeting an army of Swiss "shepherds and mountain boors," 
 as the Germans liked to call them. It was perhaps in petty 
 revenge for such nicknames from the nobles and the Ger- 
 mans, that a party of Swiss crossed the Rhine, captured 
 the castle of Dungen, with its proud garrison of a thousand, 
 stripped them to their shirts, paraded them, with white 
 wands in their hands, through the Swiss camp, and set 
 them free. 
 
I?6 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 Blumenfield, they captured, too, and gave each of the 
 garrison permission to march away in peace, with whatever 
 treasure he might carry on his back. Their bitterest foe, 
 the old Baron Rosenek, however, was excepted from this 
 arrangement ; but their astonishment was great, as the enemy 
 marched out of the castle, to see the Baron carried out on 
 the back of his loving wife. 
 
 The devotion, or the joke, softened the Swiss warrior's 
 heart. The Baron was freed, and his wife's property re- 
 stored. The Suabian war was done, and Swiss heroism had 
 shed the greatest lustre on the land. But the very qualities 
 that had made them great in the past, were now destined 
 to cause their future humiliation and terrible disgrace. Two 
 hundred years since, the days of Tell and the Rutli had 
 passed. In all this time, Swiss blood had flown for liber- 
 ty alone ; • — but now, Swiss blood could flow for gold 
 as well. Too long accustomed to deeds of war and 
 war's great trump of fame, and flattered by the words 
 of those who wished to use his iron arm, the Swiss 
 forgot his shepherd's staff, and left his plow to rust, while 
 he should seek new laurels, lavished by a flatterer's hand. 
 Ambassadors of many princes flocked to the country, 
 seeking by flattery and gold to win the favor and alliance 
 of the Swiss. 
 
 Few states in Europe, at the beginning of the 16th century, 
 but were either engaged in war, or expecting war. The 
 Pope, with the Republic of Venice and the king of France, 
 were warring against the duke of Milan, seeking to drive 
 him from his duchy. Some of the Swiss joined with the 
 Pope and king, and some joined with the duke. Wherever 
 gold was most abundant, there were the greatest number 
 of the Swiss. 
 
 The ambassadors of the French king travelled all over 
 Switzerland, distributing gold and presents to the people 
 whom they sought to buy. 
 
 The strictest laws were passed by the Swiss Diet against 
 foreign enlistments. But the Swiss soldiers feared nothing, 
 
THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. IJJ 
 
 not even the capital punishment that was pronounced against 
 those who entered foreign armies. 
 
 They loved glory, they loved gold, and they deserted 
 their country by troops, to join one or the other of the 
 contending armies in the field. Five thousand Swiss were 
 now in the army of the duke, and twenty-four thousand in 
 the army of the king. At the battle of Novara, those of 
 the Swiss with the duke, betrayed him at the most critical 
 moment ; saying they would not fight against their country- 
 men. The duke was soon afterwards surrendered, and spent 
 the rest of his days in a French dungeon. A few short 
 years only passed, till the French got into a war with 
 Maximilian. The Swiss served at first in the armies of the 
 one — then in the armies of the other. 
 
 In 1509, followed the league of Germany, France, and 
 Spain, to destroy the Republic of Venice; and again thou- 
 sands of the Swiss were tempted by gold and love of fame 
 to rush into the field against their republican neighbors. 
 Only a change in the plan of the Pope, he fearing France's 
 accumulating power, saved Venice from being overpowered 
 by the republican bayonets of Switzerland, fighting with 
 the Pope and kings. 
 
 For more than a dozen years, this sort of campaigning 
 was going on, mostly in Italy, between the Pope and the 
 French, or the French and the Pope, accompanied at times 
 by a sprinkling of Spanish, English, German, .and Venetian 
 troops; but always by paid Swiss soldiers on one side or 
 the other, if not on both. — The sort of life the Swiss 
 were now leading, was thus expressed by a historian writing 
 shortly after the time. 
 
 "The old simplicity and brotherly love were extinguished, 
 and the bond of the Confederacy loosened. A lewd and 
 wanton life was commonly practised, with gluttony, gam- 
 ing, dancing, and all manner of wantoness, day and night. 
 The common people, in town and country, were drawn 
 from honest labor to idleness and lewdness and warlike 
 undertakings, while reckless and abandoned habits prevailed 
 everywhere." 
 
 Switzerland. 12 
 
178 THE SWISS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 Such was the condition of the Swiss people in the 16th 
 century, just before the Reformation commenced, when a 
 new faith and a new life were about to be offered to the 
 world, in place of the superstition, ignorance, and degra- 
 dation, that had so long been fostered by the church. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Switzerland in the Reformation. 
 
 In the revolution of thought and faith which constituted 
 the Reformation, Switzerland played a most important part. 
 Possibly, nowhere else in the world was the need of reform 
 in the church more visible than here. Though many of 
 her clergy were men of the rarest intellects and the most 
 cultured minds, the masses of the Swiss people were igno- 
 rant and superstitious. It was seldom that one of the thou- 
 sands of the peasantry could even read. 
 
 It had been a hundred years since the great Constance 
 Council had met to improve the condition of the church, 
 yej: she still suffered the same need. Aside from dethron- 
 ing two or three would-be popes and burning a few Chris- 
 tians, this famous council at Constance had effected nothing. 
 Switzerland was worn out with troubled centuries of war 
 and wrong-doing, and now she longed for more than peace 
 — for truth , as well. 
 
 Germany was fostering the strong spirit that was to rise 
 up as guide and leader of the people. A miner's boy had 
 found a Latin Bible somewhere among the dusty records 
 of Erfurt. Curiosity, love of research, and, finally, amaze- 
 ment at the wide difference between its simple teachings 
 and the childish fables which passed current in the church 
 as extracts from its pages, led him to pore over its con- 
 tents continually. Interest deepened as the blessed truth 
 revealed itself to his eager, wondering soul. 
 
 A pilgrimage to Rome, that highest aspiration of a pious 
 heart, opened his eyes to the unsuspected follies of the 
 church. He saw the enormities which long exercise and 
 
l8o SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 
 
 abuse of power had encouraged among the very ones 
 who called themselves the followers of God. He was awakened 
 — he saw the truth, and, with a great, strong heart, Luther 
 commenced a revolution of the moral world. His work 
 was a revelation , a power , that touched the heart of pea- 
 sant and of king. 
 
 Into Switzerland the new light came ; first peeping over 
 the tall mountains, and then warming the low ; dark vales. 
 Some welcomed the light, and others, doubting, feared. 
 But Switzerland was not without a man, in such a time of 
 doubt and fear. Zwingli appeared. Born in Toggenburg, 
 he commenced preaching, when but a boy, against the 
 errors of the times. Made parish priest at Einsiedeln , he 
 followed, as was the custom of his day, the banner of his 
 town to war. He had been through one or two miserable 
 campaigns in Italy, and had witnessed with his own eyes 
 the wantoness of the times, and how that wantoness found 
 friendship and shelter in the church. Dissoluteness and crime 
 were sheltered under the priestly cowl , and the Holy Church 
 had descended to the idlest ceremonies and grossest de- 
 ceptions. Not in the church alone, but in secular life as 
 well, the extremest folly and dissoluteness seemed to 
 prevail. 
 
 Leo the Tenth sat in the papal chair at Rome : a man 
 of many virtues, and a noble patron of the arts. He thought 
 to adorn his Roman palaces and churches with a splendor 
 becoming the son of the illustrious Medici the Magnificent. 
 The art of half the West — the genius of an Angelo — 
 a Raphael's brush, combined to decorate the City of the 
 Seven Hills. Great spires arose and pierced the skies, 
 while courtly palaces were filled with all the luxuries of 
 art. 
 
 Want of funds, however, brought all to a stand -still, 
 and just how to replenish the exhausted treasury was, for 
 a time, a perplexing question. The solution was, however, 
 reached by a sudden recurrence to the many followers of 
 the church beyond the Alps, to whom, in the then de- 
 graded condition of the church, indulgences and pardons 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 181 
 
 might be successfully peddled out, as an article of barter 
 and profit. A- fitting man to conduct this extraordinary 
 traffic was speedily found, and duly fitted out with an un- 
 limited number of pardons, indulgences, blessings, and the 
 like. Specially empowered by the Pope, he set out on his 
 peculiar errand. 
 
 Zwingli had, in the meantime, been transferred to the 
 Grossmiinster, at Zurich, and when the deputy from Rome 
 first made his appearance, selling indulgences, though asto- 
 nishingly cheap at times, being adapted to the purses of 
 buyers in all ranks and classes, he raised his indignant 
 voice against the shameful traffic , and the deputy was hissed 
 from the city's gates. Zwingli sought not to introduce strife 
 or rebellion in the church; he labored only for reform and 
 truth. A believer in the Pope, a Catholic still, he strove 
 to expose the corruption and falsehood which were fostered 
 within the church's pale, that the blessed light of purity 
 and truth might shine once more through her teachings. 
 Tired of the old fables, chronicles, and myths, which for 
 centuries had constituted the written teachings of the church, 
 he sought to learn the will of God in the pages of the 
 Holy Book itself, and to lay open its truths to all. Like 
 Luther, the more he studied, in all the earnestness of faith 
 and prayer, the more he saw to discountenance and dis- 
 believe in the so-called religion of the day, and the more 
 his preaching became obnoxious to the church. He taught 
 that blessings from above could not be bartered for a price 
 — that sinful man, however low, could find communion 
 with the Holy One through faith alone, and not by means 
 of painted saints and waxen images. He preached with all 
 the power of Luther, and thousands flocked to hear him. 
 The city embraced his teachings, supported him with ardor, 
 and refused to listen to those who opposed his doctrines. 
 Zurich canton, Berne, and Schafifhausen , gave him loyal 
 hand, and made his faith a part of theirs. The other can- 
 tons resisted the coming change, pitying what they regarded 
 as the blind and fanati'c zeal of Zurich, and striving, at first 
 by words, and then by force, to turn her from her heresy. 
 
1 82 SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 
 
 A general strife arose between the leaders of the reform 
 and their opponents; a strife which, with intervals of peace, 
 has been kept alive among the mountains and vales of 
 Switzerland for now three hundred years, and there seems 
 as little hope of peace to-day, as when brave Zwingli 
 buckled on his sword in 1523. 
 
 Both parties became illiberal, and each sought the speedy 
 destruction of the other. Zurich abolished the mass, and 
 tore down the images in her churches. Zwingli opposed 
 celibacy of priests, and proved his faith by marrying a wife. 
 
 The Catholic cantons, five in number, allied themselves 
 against their common foe, the heretics. The Protestants 
 cut off the supplies of bread and meat. The markets on 
 Zurich lake were closed , and then came war. A Catholic 
 army marched across the hills from Zug to Kappel , be- 
 tween lake Zurich and the river Sihl. 
 
 The Protestants came out from Zurich, ready for the 
 fray; but on the battle's eve, the neutral cantons came and 
 begged for peace. Peace they obtained, but peace and 
 friendship are not always one. Within a twelve month, 
 troops were in the field again, and again they met at 
 Kappel. "A tough old knot is this, and nothing but the 
 " sword can cut it loose ", they said. Zwingli himself was 
 there , ostensibly to preach , but more , in fact , to fight with 
 hallibard and sword. 
 
 A strange, sad sight it must have been to see these 
 people setting arguments aside, and leaving to the sword 
 the settlement of faith and creed. 
 
 It was a mild , October morning , in 1 5 3 1 , that barely 
 fifteen hundred men marched from Zurich , along the lake 
 and over the Albis, to where the Catholics lay entrenched, 
 eight thousand strong. The fight commenced at three in 
 the afternoon, and lasted till the sun went down behind 
 the western hills. Each party fought as if defeat could be 
 but death, yet what the fate of such unequal fight must 
 be , was plainly seen. The Zurichers would rather die than 
 yield the field ; and die they did , whole lines of them , at 
 least. Overpowered and worn out, their leaders killed, and 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 1 83 
 
 darkness over all, they fled. Zwingli himself was wounded 
 by a shower of stones, and left among the dying and the 
 dead. When found by his foes, he was lying on his back, 
 his hands clasped, and his eyes turned to heaven. On his 
 refusal to confess, a man from Unterwalden cried: "Then 
 die, thou hard-necked heretic," — and stabbed him in the 
 neck. 
 
 Not satisfied to see him dead only, whom they alive 
 had feared, they quartered his body, burned it, and scat- 
 tered his ashes to the winds. Five hundred and seventy- 
 six of the 15 OO Zurichers were left dead upon the field; 
 among them , twenty - six councilors of the city of Zurich, 
 and twenty-five of the reformed clergy. The wife of Zwingli 
 lost her husband, her son, her brother, her son-in-law, 
 and her brother-in-law, in the fight. After the battle, the 
 pious Catholics thanked God for the victory and then plun- 
 dered the camp. 
 
 Kappel was lost, and with it was lost, for a time, the 
 hope of the Reformation in Switzerland. Zwingli, the great 
 preacher, the original thinker, the great Reformer, was 
 dead. He had been the most energetic and earnest pro- 
 mulgator of the modern faith. In public life, he had been 
 fearless and holy; and in the circle of his personal friends, 
 a man loved for his rare virtues, — virtues, the more con- 
 spicuous, as he lived in a day when even the learned of 
 the clergy practised vice; when corruption and trickery 
 prevailed in holy places, until the most ignoble deeds wore 
 the garb of sanctity. 
 
 With him , the Swiss reformers lost , for a while , the 
 vigor of their faith. Surrender seemed to follow on retreat. 
 The Zurichers, all who were left of them after the fight, 
 went home, and settled down within the city's walls. The 
 Catholics took heart, set up their images again, and forced 
 their ancient faith on every village , farm , and town , with- 
 in their reach. Whole cantons were compelled to renounce 
 the so-called errors of the day. Persecution followed in 
 the train. At Solothurn, the Protestants were driven out 
 from lands and home. Even Zurich seemed to waver in 
 
184 SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 
 
 her faith, and the weaker thought, at times, to abandon 
 all that had been gained. To make the matter worse, 
 whole tribes of German zealots, possessed of the most non- 
 sensical notions of life and the new faith, pinned themselves 
 to the Reformed church, and cast the greatest odium on 
 its struggling infancy. Reformers these, indeed! — ba- 
 nished from Germany, where their dissolute life was no 
 longer tolerated, these Anabaptists, as they were called, 
 fled to Switzerland, where, among the ignorant and wan- 
 ton, they found Jmany a follower. To the minds of these 
 fanatics, the day of a ^strange Jubilee had come. Rank 
 and caste and class should fall. Monies and lands, no 
 longer privilege of theffew, should now belong to each and 
 all. A general division of the spoils of peace, as well as 
 war, should be decreed. Simplicity of life, manners, and 
 customs, should become the practice in the faithful camp. 
 The most scandalous excesses were committed. Law and 
 order and even decency were thrown aside with their gar- 
 ments. They preached and taught in the forests of Zurich 
 and Berne, and, in order to seem as primitively innocent 
 as possible, men and women were sometimes seen stark- 
 naked in the streets. All this excess, the Anti-Zwinglians 
 said, is but a part of the Reformer's faith; and not till the 
 strong arm of law had ended the zeal of the Anabaptist 
 fools upon the scaffold , did the imputations cease. The 
 Reformation suffered — was retarded, by these builders of 
 a new Jerusalem, without its Jews. It was the burden of 
 a zealous, foolish friend, hitched to the barely floating shallop 
 of the young Reform, and not unlike in all its bad results, 
 the weight of libertinism , free-love-ism , and spiritual-ism, 
 borne by the noble party seeking woman's franchisement 
 in England and America to-day. 
 
 The darkest hours of the Reformation in Switzerland, 
 however, were soon to pass, for the new faith silently grew 
 and again gained ground among the most intelligent through- 
 out the land. One foreign city, too, that stood just on 
 the borders of the Confederacy, came fairly out in favor 
 of the great reform. Geneva, a city older than the days 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 185 
 
 of Christ — strong even, when Csesar marched his Roman 
 troops across the Appenines. First, a bishopic, then capital 
 of Burgundy ; and last, an ally of the Savoy counts , she 
 was the centre of the French-Italian trade. Rich, prosper- 
 ous, and without a master save the Emperor, she wel- 
 comed to her gates the heralds of the new belief. Her only 
 care was for her allied friends, the Savoy counts, who 
 claimed, at times, some powers not well defined within the 
 city law; and for some bishops of the Pope, who fell 
 to considering themselves lords temporal there. In 
 course of time, the princes of the Savoy house became 
 themselves the bishops of the place, and ruled for many, 
 many years; if not in peace, at least in partial peace, for 
 times so troublesome. Geneva, tiring at last of the Savoy 
 rule, whether of Bishop or of Count, looked to the neigh- 
 boring Swiss for hope and help, both of which she received, 
 and freed herself from usurpations of whatever sort, by 
 sending off the Bishops, Dukes etc., and by proclaiming 
 herself a free Republic. 
 
 Her chosen allies, now, were Swiss, instead of Savoy 
 duke or Frankish king, and, having gone through a revo- 
 lution of the political sort, she was not abashed at meeting 
 one of a graver kind. The new faith, though well received 
 by some, and they the best, had many bitter foes and 
 many bitter fights in the Genevese Republic. At last, John 
 Calvin rose to become its leader and defender. A cooper's 
 son, born in France, bred in the law, versed in the faith, 
 and strong in heart, he took up the sword that Zwingli 
 dropped at Kappel with his life. Twice had Calvin been 
 a fugitive from Paris, once from Italy, and once, indeed, 
 from his adopted town, Geneva. Severe and rigid, he 
 cared little for ancient forms or creeds. With him, the 
 church and state were one, and both demanded change- 
 reform. Geneva was not ready for his new ideas, and, 
 hence, in 1538, she banished him. A couple of years or 
 so had scarcely passed, before she sought Calvin out again 
 and begged him to return. It did not take much seeking 
 
1 86 SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 
 
 to find John Calvin then, either, for he had become a fa- 
 mous man , talked of through half the continent. 
 
 He came, — one of the ablest, though harshest, doctors 
 of the new reform. He labored long and well in Geneva, 
 and fought all laws, all faiths, that were not Calvin's laws 
 and faith. The severity of character and life which he had 
 shown in Geneva before, was renewed and intensified. The 
 unfaithful met with sound rebuke, and revilers were com- 
 pelled to fly. A man of mighty mind, inflexible in will, 
 he set his heart on one great, noble thought, and labored 
 till that thought, in part at least, became the thought of 
 half the Christian world. 
 
 The Reformation spread. Geneva became a second Rome, 
 and Calvin was her pope — the pope who made her laws, 
 who wrote her creeds, who spoke, and it was done. No 
 gentle blasts came from his bugle horn to those who follow- 
 ed where John Calvin led. No pity for his foes. Rigid, 
 unbending, even with his friends, but one of two results 
 could come of such a man, engaged in such a work — com- 
 plete success — or, in its stead, complete destruction. No half- 
 way ground was there for him and those who followed him. 
 Hate raged in the contending camps. To yield was to be 
 lost, and Calvin, right or wrong, would never yield. 
 
 Day and night, he prayed and preached. It was work, 
 incessant work. Nearly five hundred lectures and sermons 
 in a single year were but a fraction of this giant's work. 
 Twenty-four presses were busy, day and night, in Geneva, 
 printing pamphlets, circulars, and books, in every tongue, 
 for every land. It was too much, at last, for even him, 
 with all his mighty will. Wearied and worn and sick in 
 frame, though not in heart, he sank, bearing his burden 
 to the very last, and died as only god -like men can die, 
 with armor on, and full of faith, a very hero, even to the 
 grave. 
 
 Of Switzerland especially, is it true that religious wars 
 have exceeded in number and in hate all other wars; and 
 yet, though feud and hate tracked close on Zwingli's and 
 on Calvin's work, the whole land smiled with bountiful 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 1 87 
 
 prosperity. Commerce and art and industry received an 
 impetus within her bounds, such as the Swiss had never 
 known before. Men learned to read, and, reading, learned 
 to rule. 
 
 She taught herself to think, as well as fight, and stepped 
 into a higher sphere among the nations of the world. 
 
 Geneva prospered as did all the rest, and yet no town 
 was hated half as much as she, by Rome and all Rome's 
 disappointed host. Not in Rome alone, in Savoy's land 
 as well ; and many were the anxious, longing glances of the 
 Savoy princes toward the City of Reform. 
 
 Their glances turned to deeds, at last, led on by Charles 
 Emanuel, an ancestor of the present king Victor Emanuel, 
 in sunny Italy. This Savoy duke had long had an army 
 resting on the very edge of the borders of the Genevese, 
 but for the most innocent purpose of watching the move- 
 ments of his enemy, the French, he said : and so the honest 
 Genevese slept unsuspectingly within their city walls. 
 
 A cold night in December, the year was 1602, that 
 bonny Prince Charlie and his Savoy troops, a couple thou- 
 sand strong, took it into tfieir heads to play a ruse upon 
 the Genevese ; surprise, rob, and burn, the town, and kill the 
 people, perhaps. Ladders for scaling walls, petards for 
 bursting gates, and, some say, ropes for hanging protestants, 
 were in the camp, and, when the midnight hour arrived, 
 and all the people slept, save some stray sentinels upon 
 the wall, the valiant - hearted Savoyards crept to the city 
 gates, placed ladders in a row, heard blessings and a prayer 
 from a pious old Scotch priest who waited in the ditch, and 
 then, two hundred of them, scaled the walls, but never 
 crossed the ditch again alive. A shot from the sentinel had 
 waked the soldiers and the town ; a cannon raked the ditch ; 
 while men in shirts and nightgowns hurried to the streets, 
 and fought for life, with pitchfork, rifle, club, or stone. Of 
 course, they won the day, or night rather. The Savoyards 
 fled, and the bonny Prince and his "Observation army", 
 as he had been calling it, had no further use so near the 
 town of Geneva. 
 
1 88 SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Of course, the Escaladers ran, but few escaped. Some 
 threw themselves into the ditch and broke their necks, and 
 one came tumbling on the old Scotch priest, and killed him, 
 nearly, then and there. The rest were hanged, their heads 
 chopped off, and set upon the city walls. 
 
 Upon each anniversary of the Escalade, the Genevese 
 have had, even till to-day, good fasting and a psalm. "As 
 a bird out of the snare of the fowler, are we now escaped." 
 Prince Charles was very wroth, 'tis said, and swore exceed- 
 ingly, but let Geneva and the heretics rest in silence, and 
 never thought again of capturing Calvin's Rome. 
 
 The Reformation now seemed squarely on its feet, and 
 not in Switzerland only, for Holland, Sweden, Germany, 
 and England, fell in line, to battle for the great Reform. 
 Was on its feet, indeed, but nothing more. With all its 
 friends, it never lacked for foes. Fending and fighting every 
 where, in every way, had long become the chronic order 
 of the day. The heroic age in Switzerland seemed past. 
 Nearly two centuries of worse than nothingness came on. 
 Of course, they quarreled still among themselves. They 
 had internal feuds and peasants' wars, — the latter growing 
 out of ignorance and misconception of the Reformation ; for 
 many, like the socialists, had thought that freedom from 
 the church meant also freedom from restraint of any kind. 
 Yet others, petty rulers, bailiffs, landvogts, and the like, 
 seemed bent on crushing out the nobler spirit growing in 
 the peasant's breast. Not foreign masters longer tyrannized 
 over the poorer people of the land, but masters of a blood 
 and language with themselves. Politically, 'twas Swiss de- 
 stroying Swiss. Results were increased bitterness, rebellion, 
 strife, and war. Peasants rebelling, were no sooner punished, 
 trampled down, or killed, than other troubles promptly 
 came. Religious hate revived, if, indeed, it ever had been 
 smouldering for a day, and had its bloody turn again at 
 war. The faith, or want of faith, that made war almost 
 every where, for half the century, was stronger, bitterer, here 
 than even in Germany, where war prevailed for thirty years, 
 without a single pause to give men time to breathe or 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 1 89 
 
 dream of peace, the very name of which was most forgot. 
 No captains, such as led the Swedish and German hosts 
 to war, were here. No Wallenstein, no gray old Swede to 
 fight the battles of the Lord, as king Adolphus fought. 
 The people saw their nearest neighbor of the upper Rhine 
 torn up and half destroyed by foreign foe and civil discord, 
 yet would not, or could not, raise a hand to help. 
 
 The Rhatian history was almost identical with that of 
 Switzerland. Their habits, customs, faith, were one. In this 
 high mountain land, each town, each valley, had a miniature 
 republic of its own. Communal rights were known in all 
 their greatest purity. There scarcely was a master there 
 of any kind, at first. A greater freedom of the private 
 citizen has never yet been known, for every man was citizen, 
 and every citizen was king. The law-makers and the law- 
 keepers were one. Four different languages were spoken 
 in the leagues of Rhatia — Romanish, Ladin, German, and 
 Italian — and this difference of tongues served all the more 
 to separate the people from the world. They lived in green, 
 lone vallies that were edged with fields of . ice and snow; 
 they climbed the dizzy mountain hights, to chase the cha- 
 mois and the deer; they saw the avalanche, and lived 
 within the clouds. Their mother Nature smiled or frowned, 
 and they, her truest children, learned the lessons of their 
 life amid the mountains and the storm. They learned but 
 little of the outer world, and scarcely saw even the Swiss 
 themselves. But troubles came at last; religious, first, for 
 even in these mountain fortresses, the two faiths met and 
 fought; and then came wretched discords, fanned to flame 
 by foreign gold, and foreign insolence. There is no land, 
 however high, no sea, however deep, but some strong king 
 will covet it. The Veltlin province of the Rhatian league, 
 that lay just between the Austrian provinces of Milan and 
 Tyrol, was always found to be in Austria's way. Her troops, 
 in war, could never cross the Rhatians pass. And demo- 
 cratic Venice had her bone of contention with Rhatian 
 leagues as well ; for always fearing, fighting, avaricious Spain, 
 she could not draw her allied Swiss across the neutral valley 
 
190 SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 
 
 of the Veltlin. Invasion of the league became the order 
 of the day, and Rhatia suffered with a bitter war that lasted 
 many, many years. 
 
 When foreign gold came in, intriguing men were hired 
 to sow contention in the peasants' minds. The rich began 
 to rule the poor, the poor to hate the rich ; till, from want 
 of union, the people soon became the prey of other countries. 
 For nineteen years, a fearful struggle for life arid death 
 went on throughout the vallies of the upper Rhine and Inn. 
 The Rhatian league was swallowed up, at last, by Austrian 
 and Spanish cormorants. 
 
 The people, bereft of freedom, wanting bread, with foul 
 diseases raging in their homes, were now most miserable. 
 Jealousy of the growing power of Austria, rather than a 
 philanthropic motive, at last led France to interfere. The 
 Austrio-Spanish troops were driven from^ the country, and 
 the people gained by peace something of the independence 
 they had lost by war; but the memory of their wasted 
 years, their ruined homes, their murdered sons, burned long 
 and sadly in the Grison's heart. 
 
 In all these weary years of trouble and of war, the Swiss 
 had scarcely raised one helping hand. In fact they had 
 been almost powerless to help, as well as lacking in spirit 
 to do so; for their dissensions had crippled every canton 
 of the Bund, till now they scarce had strength enough to 
 keep themselves intact. The ancient heroes all seemed dead 
 or gone, and, with the heroes, love of home and land. 
 The Swiss still sold his blood for gold, and often very little 
 gold, at that. Whole squadrons served in foreign lands, and 
 under many flags, so great had the thirst become for war's 
 adventures and its spoils, among the people. A sort of 
 quiet, peaceful breathing spell, however, dawned, some fifty 
 years before the Revolution came. It was the lull before 
 the storm. Commerce and art were prospering. Religious 
 hate and party rancor slept, or seemed to sleep. New men 
 arose in oratory, in literature, and art. The country, though 
 misruled at times, was perhaps better off than many other 
 lands not distant from her border. Geneva had its rebellions, 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE REFORMATION. 191 
 
 revolutions, still ; in fact, had had them nearly all the cen- 
 tury. Patrician rule had seldom pleased the people ; the 
 people's rule could please patricians never, and so the fight 
 went on till other cantons interfered — till France, too, inter- 
 fered at last, and in no very friendly way, at that. Berne, 
 grown strong, aristocratic too, had many frailties of patrician 
 growth. Her peasants groaned in serfdom and in want. 
 Patrician youths, on the other hand, were made expensive 
 items to the state. Mock parliaments were made for them, 
 where intrigue, as well as eloquence, was learned. The 
 "Shadow State", these parliaments were called. Lucerne 
 preserved her usual liberalism still; liberal, that is, with 
 lives of heretics and disbelievers. Not many years before, 
 a solemn Lucerne court condemned a man to be strangled 
 to death for reading the Bible for the private edification of 
 himself and others. His house and books were burned, 
 and the city built a monument to commemorate the very 
 righteous deed. The little peace the country had enjoyed, 
 was destined soon to be disturbed amid the general clatter 
 sounding loud in every continental ear. The fume and 
 smoke of crazy, suicidal France, came wafted to the Alps. 
 The Revolution had begun. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Switzerland in the French Revolution. 
 
 1 HE magnificent extravagance of Louis the XIV., and the 
 wars and the Pompadours of Louis the XV., had left France 
 without bread. 
 
 Faith , besides , had gone out in France , and skepticism 
 had entered in. A new king came, with a good heart, 
 though weak; but France was already tired to death with 
 humbug, knavery, and cheat. The earth itself seemed tired 
 of existing things, when Louis the XVI. became the king 
 of France. But little could it boot that he had the coun- 
 try's weal at heart. Too long had France been toiling, 
 crying out for bread, and finding but a stone. 
 
 Her twenty million working - people , unfed, untaught, 
 were tired, so very tired of kings. The people of the pro- 
 vinces could live on boiled grass and husks , but not for 
 ever. They were hungry now, and the poor, good king, 
 for poor and good he was, poor in counsel, good in heart, 
 was not aware that hunger may gnaw even the heart and 
 brain of man , sometimes , and make him cry aloud for 
 more than bread. Poor, good Louis, he would gladly have 
 given bread, had any Minister but told him where the 
 bread-tree grew. But, lacking such a Minister, what could 
 poor Louis do, when mobs came howling to the palace 
 gates for bread, but give, instead, a stone — a worse than 
 stone , a rifle ball , a scaffold , and a rope ? He gave them 
 these , and soon men read of noise , alarm , intestine war, 
 in Louis's untaught, unfed, and unbelieving France. Alas! 
 what days of fuming smoke, of building up and tumbling 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 1 93 
 
 down , of utter ruin , dawned upon the land ! ! Bad grew 
 to worse, and worse to the unspeakable. Paris became a 
 city made of savage, raving mobs. Order, law, and com- 
 mon sense itself, seemed lost. Men strove like caged beasts 
 of prey. Destruction seemed the only principle that guided 
 party leaders of the day ; until the Revolution, bitter and 
 still more bitter, went on destroying its own children. The 
 cry for bread turned to a cry for blood, and so the miser- 
 able dance of death went on. The Swiss looked on the 
 strange, sad spectacle a while, and suddenly a mania seized 
 on them , to be not merely lookers on , but actors , in the 
 drama of upsetting order , social law , and everything else 
 capable of being upset. 'T was not enough that Switzer- 
 land had seen her regiments dismissed from France with- 
 out a cent of pay, to make her rulers know that they were 
 only tools in foreign shops or, rather, clay in foreign potters' 
 hands, who would mould them as they could, and break 
 them as they would. 
 
 The truest and the best of all French soldiery were they ; 
 and what a spectacle of god-like heroes dying in the ditch, 
 was that which made the Tenth of August memorable in the 
 annals of the world! The king, in his palace of the Tuil- 
 leries , was being mobbed. His " Gardes Nationales" had 
 fled like cowards from their posts. The king, too, fled at last, 
 but left the Swiss to bear the fury of the desperate mob alone. 
 They, true to their oath, stood still, nor thought of giving 
 up one stone of Louis's palace, but through blood and death. 
 The mob increased to thousands, tens of thousands, and 
 their crazy rage grew into more than fever heat. They 
 yelled and hissed, threw stones and clubs; at last, they 
 fired upon the steady, unresisting Swiss. No longer un- 
 resisting, they, too, now had the order Fire, and fire they 
 did , in steady , rapid way , and stretched platoons of how- 
 ling rioters upon the Paris stones. But even rifle lead could 
 not hold out against a mob like this — crazy , demanding 
 blood. The king, though safe for the moment in the As- 
 sembly hall, yet feared the desperation of the mob, and 
 sent the order to the Swiss to cease their fire. Again the 
 
 Switzerland. I \ 
 
194 SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Swiss obeyed, obeyed to die.' Pushed and driven by the 
 crowds behind, the mob fought on, tramped down, and 
 massacred the powerless Swiss. Alas ! that cruel order not 
 to fire! It was the death knell of a gallant guard. Some 
 of the Swiss fled from the palace, but only reached the 
 streets to fall into the jaws of the howling mob , where they 
 were torn to pieces, their red uniforms cut in bits, and 
 their naked bodies left for two days rotting in a Paris sun. 
 Every Swiss, not massacred at the time, escaped only to 
 meet death at another place and day. The whole regiment 
 was dead. Dead , rather than desert the palace of a king 
 who had deserted them. Poor pay was theirs for dying 
 so : Three pence a day was valor's small reward ; and bloody 
 massacre, the pay for duty nobly done. 
 
 In humiliating contrast to this thrilling courage and de- 
 votion, appeared, at this time, the conduct of Switzerland 
 herself. There was lifted to France no word of protest 
 against this atrocious murder of her sons. Irresolute and 
 weak, without a leader or a plan, the Government pursued 
 its feeble course, until its own thousands , seeing its weakness 
 and its want of worth, determined on disorder and revolt. 
 Each canton had some special grievance of its own. 
 
 Napoleon, victorious in Italy, had built a new Republic 
 below the Alps and joining on the Grison provinces. The 
 people of these subject districts longed to be as free, and 
 have as many rights, as France bestowed upon her new- 
 fledged state. Napoleon , witness of these discontents , and 
 eager for some pretext for a new Napoleonic stroke , now 
 gave the Grisons choice of guaranteeing to their subject 
 districts everything they asked, or else of seeing them 
 swallowed in his new estate. No answer came, no hurried 
 one at least, and so the little Corsican annexed the Velt- 
 line valley to his new Cisalpine Government. The Bishopric 
 of Basle was found coquetting with the Prussians, just a 
 bit, so France upset the Bishopric and made the territory 
 part and parcel of her own. The Pays de Vaud was strug- 
 gling with its master Berne. " Old rights , old privileges, 
 were disallowed", her people said ; they were no longer what 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 195 
 
 they were; and so revolt, backed up, perhaps, by gold 
 from France, soon tumbled Berne into a state of chaos 
 edging rapidly on war. In Basle, the peasants struck for 
 better things — burned down the castles on the neighboring 
 hills , made out a Magna- Charta of their own , and claimed 
 the privilege of being citizens in fact, as well as name. 
 The city fathers laid their honors down, and sixty citizens, 
 new-made, the greater part, took up the scepter of the 
 town, and went to work to build a Constitution as fit for 
 peasant folk as for patrician lords. 
 
 What happened here took place at other points, as well, 
 till half of Switzerland was in revolt. Long years of quiet, 
 and exclusive privilege , had made the ruling classes proud, 
 so that the duty due the citizen of lower grade was easily 
 forgotten. The rich monopolized the trade of every town. 
 The severest restrictions were placed upon the peasants, 
 who were not allowed to sell the products of their farm 
 to those who paid the highest price. The right to manu- 
 facture goods was held by corporations living in the towns. 
 The farmer seldom had the right to office or to vote. 
 
 The cities ruled, with heavy hand, the towns, the vil- 
 lages, and farms. With power concentrated in the few, 
 the many lacked redress for injuries continually received. 
 The French had reasons , too , for adding to the general 
 disquiet. Intriguing agents sought to fan the discontent 
 that lodged within the peasant's heart. France, with half 
 of Europe as her foe, would make the Swiss a neutral 
 barrier on her eastern line. She knew that twenty govern- 
 ments were not so lightly led as one and, hence, resolved 
 to force the cantons to some more central plan with but 
 a single head, that head to be well haltered by herself. 
 At last, the people of the Pays de Vaud, tired out with 
 many wrings, tempted by many things, flew up in arms, 
 and cast Bernese allegiance to the winds. All eyes were 
 turned on Berne. Her act should be the signal note for 
 all the other cantons. Should she be prompt and bold, 
 and tramp rebellion in the dust, they, too, would rise and 
 hush the gathering storm. But Berne dallied, and then 
 
196 SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 French soldiers entered in the Pays de Vaud; and then 
 French soldiers marched on canton Berne itself. Brave Er- 
 lach marched to meet the invading French, and fought good 
 fights in vain. The wavering, vaccillating government but 
 crippled every effort of its generals at the front. Command, 
 and countermand; do not, and do; march on, and halt. 
 The loyal peasants joined the troops; old men, women, 
 and even children, fought as did their sires, with pitchfork, 
 scythe, and club, and rendered valiant service. But it was 
 not enough. The allies from the other cantons came too 
 late, or did not come at all, and so the day was lost. The 
 troops, suspecting treachery, engaged in mutiny and strife. 
 Some officers were killed, while others fled. Erlach him- 
 self was basely murdered near the lake of Thun. Berne 
 fell, and with it fell the old Confederacy. Grown grey 
 with centuries, and weak as well, tied down with laws and 
 customs of a former age, with eyes too blind to see the 
 light in which it lived, the old republic died. 
 
 "We'', said the French, "are Freedom's soldiers, and 
 protectors of your homes ". Alas ! what Freedom came 
 with foreign guns to Switzerland ? and what protection, amid 
 burning homes and wasted fields? "Helvetia, shall the land 
 be called again", they said; "one and indivisible". The 
 thirteen cantons were increased by three, and some had 
 different boundaries assigned. 
 
 A Constitution on the newest Paris plan was given to 
 the land. The central power was placed in five directors' 
 hands, and liberty, equality, proclaimed to all the cantons, 
 bailiwicks, and towns. In form alone the laws were better 
 than before ; but little booted form or law , when foreign 
 armies went plundering up and down the sorrowing land. 
 The Wallis folk, who welcomed the invading French with 
 open hearts and arms, paid dear for their impulsive haste. 
 Some half a million francs in gold were levied by their 
 stranger guests as contribution pence to liberty. Berne and 
 her nearest neighbor cantons had their arsenals robbed of 
 arms and flags, the treasury destroyed, and then were fined 
 a sum of fifteen million francs ; and all for liberty. "Make 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 1 97 
 
 way for liberty'', the Frenchmen cried — "Made way for 
 liberty, the Swiss, and died " ! One by one, the cantons 
 were overpowered. When the forces of the French proved 
 insufficient, the Swiss themselves joined regiments in sub- 
 jugating Swiss. The forest cantons refused, in boldest terms, 
 the Constitution brought with foreign bayonets. Ten thou- 
 sand of the mountain people armed, with Alois Reding, a 
 hero of the olden kind , to lead them. 
 
 The French marched on Lucerne and Zug, and hemmed 
 the Switzers in their narrow vales , where they fought as 
 well becomes a people fighting to be free. Four days and 
 nights the fighting raged around lake Egeri, and just in sight 
 of the victorious battle ground of Morgarten. Wives and 
 daughters joined their husbands, brothers, lovers, in the fight 
 — dragged cannon up the hills , and drove with clubs the 
 cowards to the front. Right well the last of the old heroes 
 of the mountains fought. Alas ! in vain. Exhausted , over- 
 powered, they, too, the brave, were forced to accept French 
 liberty. Had Berne behaved so nobly, the French might 
 never have entered Switzerland; at least, would never have 
 gone out again alive. The Swiss Directory, though many 
 of the country's ablest men were there, labored in vain to 
 make the people feel that the new era was better than the 
 old: that unity ; come how it might, would be a cordial 
 for all their wounds. The country did not, would not, ven- 
 erate the new , tri-colored flag. In vain were new rights 
 given, old privileges restored; some cantons would rebel. 
 Wallis rose in arms , but soon was trampled down by French 
 and Swiss, and many of the leaders cast in dungeons of 
 the castle of Chillon. A part of Unterwalden next rebelled 
 against the new Directory, and Schauenberg, a general of 
 the French , was sent to put the rebels down. He did it 
 most effectually: they never rose again, these shepherds of 
 the Alps. For three, long days, their little band, not quite 
 three thousand men, baffled and fought against an army 
 sixteen thousand strong. Their gallantry, that should have 
 won at least respect, was paid with most atrocious cruelty. 
 Their town of Stanz, near lake Lucerne, was burned, and 
 
198 SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 all the people who had fought were massacred. Among 
 the killed, were counted one hundred and thirty women and 
 children. This was the liberty France sent to Switzerland 
 in 1798, and this, the service which won for Schauenberg 
 the hearty thanks of the Swiss Directory. 
 
 Alas! where was the olden spirit then, when downright 
 massacre was thankfully received? O! men of Nidwalden, 
 you have died for hollow nothingness. Your very country- 
 men command French trees of liberty to be planted on 
 your graves. As if Directories, discords, and rebellions, 
 were not punishment enough for this poor Switzerland, the 
 land became the theater of other, bitterer wars. All Europe 
 was at war with France. France, fearless of the world, and 
 fearless of herself, hurled down as battle guage the bleeding 
 head of him who only yesterday had been her king. Not 
 war, nor fate, nor famine, frightened France, for she was 
 all of these herself. She saw unmoved her twenty states- 
 men sitting on the block, chanting in death the music of 
 the Marseillaise. She felt her very bones and muscles 
 quiver on the wheel of death, but never let her heart of 
 courage fail. She might destroy herself, but fate, and Europe, 
 should be hammered, blow for blow. Two hundred and 
 fifty forges in the palace gardens were busy day and night 
 in making guns. Had Switzerland possessed in all her wars 
 such nerve, such heart, as France, she might have ridden 
 through the storm. When Austria, Russia, Prussia, and the 
 rest, made common cause on France, the country of the 
 Alps became the battle ground of fierce, war-waging hosts. 
 
 A twelve month's war went wasting through the land. 
 Great armies, led by famous captains, crossed swords, and 
 left their bloody victims on lofty mountains, in pleasant 
 vallies, and in deep, dark gorges of the Alps. A Soult, 
 Massena, and a Ney, led armies into spots where none but 
 mountain shepherds ever trod before. The Swiss looked on ; 
 what could they do but look? To-day, Suwarrow with his 
 Russians plundered here; to-morrow, French or Austrians 
 plundered there. 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 1 99 
 
 The Cantons had no head, at least no head grown solid, 
 fixed upon the body politic. 
 
 Parties in power went out, and parties out of power went 
 in, to be replaced by other parties, yet more shadowy than 
 the last. The taxes grew, the people groaned. What next 
 should come upon the land, few even dared to think. At 
 last, the sun broke through the clouds and made a little 
 light. Massena, in two brilliant strokes at Zurich, drove the 
 Austrian and the Russian armies back beyond the Rhine. 
 The peace of Amiens followed soon, and the French with- 
 drew their troops from Switzerland. But foreign troops 
 being the only stay that held the Swiss Directory in power, 
 sedition, uproar, and mutiny, followed their withdrawal. 
 The Cantons nearly all rebelled against the general Govern- 
 ment. The poor Directory went groping here and there: 
 knew not, for that matter never had quite known, just what 
 to do. It did, at last, the best thing possible: it fled from 
 Berne, the Capital, and, with a few score troops, found 
 refuge at Lausanne. Its day had come. Napoleon, back 
 from Egypt, and First Consul of the French, looked in on 
 Switzerland, and saw the war of parties that was going on. 
 A Mediation in the Swiss affairs was soon determined on, 
 and Marshall Ney, backed by a corps of troops, was sent 
 as peace ambassador. 
 
 "People of Switzerland", said Bonaparte, "you present a 
 melancholy spectacle indeed. Sovereign power has been 
 seized by factions alternately, for years, whose partial sway 
 served but to show their weakness and incompetency. If 
 you are left to yourselves, you will cut one another to 
 pieces. I had resolved not to mix in your affairs, but 
 I "recall my resolution now. Your discords will not cease 
 without the help of France. I offer myself as Mediator, 
 and every rational man must perceive that my Mediation is 
 a blessing conferred on Switzerland by that Providence which 
 has always preserved her national existence and independence." 
 He then commanded that the senate meet at Berne, and 
 choose delegates to be sent to Paris, there to receive in- 
 
200 SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 structions from thdr Mediator and self styled friend. The 
 Deputies arrived at Paris. Napoleon spoke again. 
 
 "For you, a Federal Constitution is a prime necessity, as 
 is equality of rights among the Cantons, renunciation of fam- 
 ily privileges, and an independent, Federal organization 
 of the Cantons. You must be neutral; if your neutrality 
 be violated by the other powers, you must make common 
 cause with France. It is the democratic Cantons which 
 distinguish you, and draw on you the attention of the world. 
 Your people must have privilege to settle in whatever 
 Canton they may choose. The little Cantons are opposed 
 to principle like this, I learn, but who on earth would ever 
 think of troubling them by settling there at all?" 
 
 The Mediation act soon put a stop to single Cantons 
 making war on other Cantons, or fostering rebellion and 
 war among themselves. The smaller Cantons were now 
 allowed a single vote or Deputy each ; the larger Cantons 
 were allowed two each. Six towns were capitals in turn. 
 The Burgomaster of the town in which the Diet met was 
 also President or general Landamman for the time. For ten 
 years, peace, and law, and order, prevailed in Switzerland. 
 Some of the aristocratic, ruling families, groaned on 
 account of their ancient privileges and rights being restric- 
 ted ; some towns regretted loss of influence and power. 
 Some peasants, too, rebelled at taxes, tithes, and other such 
 political encumbrances, but speedy use of infantry and ropes 
 put down the rebellion-loving, order -hating ones, and again 
 peace and prosperity smiled throughout the land. In ten, 
 short years, the country advanced more than in the hundred 
 years before the Mediation Act. The press increased in 
 usefulness. 
 
 Societies of art were formed, schools were improved, and 
 steamboats placed upon the lakes. 
 
 Napoleon, Emperor now, watched, closer than before, the 
 ward for which he stood as voluntary guardian. An iron 
 hand was his, the Swiss well knew, and feared. Results 
 were order, plan, and law ; the first for many, many years, 
 in this perturbed and troubled Switzerland. Some little 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 201 
 
 duty towards Napoleon, too, was forced upon the Swiss. 
 His armies, fighting much, and fearfully, might grow a little 
 short of men. Swiss soldiers, Napoleon knew, could fight: 
 and so an order came for sixteen thousand Switzer men 
 to march with France and "gloire". They marched to 
 Moscow with the French, but hunger, and cold, and the 
 Cossack swords, left Eight Thousand sleeping the sleep of 
 death in rifts of snow and ice beyond the Vistula. — This 
 was the "glorie" they won. 
 
 Napoleon fell, but not Helvetia. His iron control had left 
 good imprints on the land. From him, the Swiss had learned 
 that order came of law, that strength grew out of unity, that 
 liberty and peace were best assured when law was best 
 obeyed.- New modes of thought, new modes of politics 
 and life, came with the storm that swept away the rotten 
 relics of the past. The dead past was left to bury its 
 decaying dead, and good men asked : "What shall we do 
 to reap the greatest good from past experience"? 
 
 The question,' whether might had been all right, or not, 
 was seldom asked. Unasked, Napoleon came; unasked, he 
 went. Napoleon gone, the allies entered in, and, while the 
 people lost few of the rights acquired, patrician parties got 
 themselves in power again in many Cantons. A second 
 peace in Europe brought peace to Switzerland, as well. 
 The Congress of Vienna met, and there the Powers fixed 
 the status of the new Confederacy again. The map of 
 Europe changed to suit the caprice of assembled kings. 
 The Swiss received their recognition as "an independent, 
 neutral state." Three Cantons more were added to the list: 
 Wallis, Geneva, and Neuchatel. For fifteen years, peace, 
 prosperity, and law, prevailed. In fifteen years, the people 
 set patrician rule aside. In more than half the Cantons, 
 revolutions came, and brought new constitutions, laws, and 
 ways. Aristocrats went out, or mostly out, while democrats 
 went in. The war of faiths was not yet dead in Switzer- 
 land, and many Cantons wished some freedom from the 
 trammels of the church, as well as less dependence upon 
 Rome. At Baden, seven Cantons met, to plan some method 
 
202 SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of securing to the state what to the state belonged. At 
 this, the faithful rose in dread alarm. The greatest fermen- 
 tations followed in the Roman camp. 
 
 Disorder and rebellion came, but both were promptly 
 strangled at their birth. In half a dozen years, the Catholics 
 again were up in arms ; again put down — put down, but not 
 to stay; and Canton Argovie, wearied out with Jesuitic 
 intrigue, at one bold stroke suppressed her Convents. "One 
 stroke too much", the Ultramontanes said ; no law, nor right, 
 in such a stroke as this. Six Cantons formed a secret Bund, 
 the "Sonderbund" : its purposes, to reinstate the Convents 
 as they were ; to keep the Church above the State, or else 
 destroy the Government. For years, the Sonderbund, with 
 all its black intentions, was a sealed and unsuspected thing, 
 when suddenly the vail dropped off, and Switzerland had 
 choice of Ultramontane rule or war. Her Diet voted war. 
 The Sonderbund responded war; and promptly were the 
 parties out in line of battle. Heinrich Dufour, a distinguished 
 citizen, patriot, and general, from Geneva, was chosen leader 
 of the loyal army. A hundred thousand troops, magnificently 
 equipped, and three hundred cannon, were put at his com- 
 mand. 
 
 Objective points were Fribourg and Lucerne, both head 
 quarters and strongholds of the rebellious Catholics. Fri- 
 bourg besieged, soon fell. Dufour himself was marching on 
 Lucerne with nearly all his force, but met the opposing 
 army at a point called Gislikon, and near the river Reuss. 
 The Catholics were out-numbered .three to one, were badly 
 armed, and, save a spirit full of war, were scarcely fit to 
 fight. Truce and delay were asked, but neither given. 
 Dufour knew well the Rebels hoped for promised help from 
 Austria and France. Quick work was his, he came to fight, 
 not to negociate. At ten A. M., November 24th, 1847, 
 the loyal lines advanced and hastened the attack. All fought 
 heroically till in the afternoon, when the Catholic CommandeT, 
 himself wounded, and seing only destruction in continued 
 fight, ordered his forces to retreat beyond Lucerne. The 
 city fell: the Rebels took to boat, and, reaching Altorf, 
 
SWITZERLAND IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 203 
 
 thought to rally there; but the Forest Cantons, though in- 
 stigators of the war, desired no fighting in their midst, and 
 so the Rebel armies sued for peace. The war was done. 
 In eighteen days, a prompt and resolute man had stamped 
 rebellion in the dust, and saved the country many lives, 
 and months of desolating war. If France and Austria really 
 thought to aid the Catholics in breaking down the law and 
 order of the land, they thought too late. The war was 
 done, almost before it had commenced. Cantons that were 
 neutral were fined as heavely as the ones that had rebelled. 
 No middle ground was here: you are our foes unless you 
 are our friends. Dufour was laden down with grateful 
 honors and with gifts. The instigators of the war were 
 vigorously punished. Their canton Governments were over- 
 thrown, Jesuits expelled, and Convents confiscated in those 
 Cantons foremost to rebel. 
 
 The country stood again- on solid ground, and, sharing in 
 the general European cry for change in 1848, soon pulled 
 the Constitution of Napoleon down, and, in its stead, made 
 one more suited to the people and the times : embracing 
 principles, at least peculiar to themselves, and not to France ; 
 founded by their own free will, instead of foreign bayonets. 
 
 This Constitution served its time, and, in May of 1874, 
 it too was changed for one by which the powers of the 
 general Government are strengthened and extended, and 
 the different Cantons, while yielding something for the general 
 good, become still more a part of the united whole. 
 
ZURICH. — ORELL FUSSLI & CO.'s PRINTING OFFICE.