I! 1 I N ¦ -j •'J .*!&¦ "<£**- •*'-¦ »J*1Will [•f»f»»tti»«»»*»»»0»»iet§0eef#0»8a«i>f«««».»«iiM DE / gipe thefe JSaeii foi- the- founding of a Collegt /ir'sr,. ColewiV «YALE«¥MWEI^SIIir¥» DIVINITY SCHOOL TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY THE STORY OF THE NATIONS I2M0, ILLUSTRATED. PER VOL., $1.50 THE EARLIER VOLUMES ARE THE STORY OF GREECE. By Prof. Jas. A. Harrison THE STORY OF ROME. By Arthur Gilman THE STORY OF THE JEWS. By Prof. Jas. K. Hosmer THE STORY OF CHALDEA. By Z. A. Ragozin THE STORY OF GERMANY. By S. Baring-Gould THE STORY OF NORWAY. By Prof. H. H. Boyesen THE STORY OF SPAIN. By E. E. and Susan Hale THE STORY OF HUNGARY. By Prof. A. Vambery THE STORY OF CARTHAGE. By Prof. Alfred J. Church THE STORY OF THE SARACENS. By Arthur Gilman THE STORY OF THE MOORS IN SPAIN. By Stanley Lane-Poole THE STORY OF THE NORMANS. By Sarah O. Jewett THE STORY OF PERSIA. By S. G. W. Benjamin THE STORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. By Geo. Rawlinson THE STORY OF ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. By Prof. J. P. Mahaffy THE STORY OF ASSYRIA. By Z. A. Ragozin THE STORY OF IRELAND. By Hon. Emily Lawless THE STORY OF THE GOTHS. By Henry Bradley THE STORY OF TURKEY. By Stanley Lane-Poole THE STORY OF MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA. By Z. A. Ragozin THE STORY OF MEDIAEVAL FRANCE. By Gustave Masson THE STORY OF MEXICO. By Susan Hale THE STORY OF HOLLAND. By James E. Thorold Rogers THE STORY OF PHOENICIA. By George Rawlinson THE STORY OF THE HANSA TOWNS. By Helen Zimmern THE STORY OF EARLY BRITAIN. By Prof. Alfred J. Church THE STORY OF THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. By Stanley Lane-Poolk THE STORY OF RUSSIA. By W. R. Morfill. THE STORY OF THE JEWS UNDER ROME. By W. D. Morrison. THE STORY OF SCOTLAND. By James Mackintosh. For prospectus of the series see end of this volume G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON £ |(lp Jjtotg oj the I[aiions THE STORY OF SWITZERLAND BY LINA HUG AND RICHARD STEAD NEW YORK G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN 1890 Copyright, 1890 BY G. P. Putnam's Sons Entered at Stationers' Hall, Londoi: By T. Fisher Unwin Press of G. P. Putnam's Sons New York RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO PROFESSOR GEORG VON WYSS AND PROFESSOR G. MEYER VON KNONAU PREFACE. For many reasons, some of which are obvious to the least thoughtful, the history of Switzerland is peculiarly interesting, and not least so to English- speaking peoples. In the first place, the "' playground of Europe " is every year visited by large numbers of British and Americans, some of whom indeed are familiar with almost every corner of it. Then to the Anglo-Saxon race the grand spectacle of a handful of freemen nobly struggling for and maintaining their freedom, often amidst enormous difficulties, and against appalling odds, cannot but be heart- stirring. To the citizen of the great American republic a study of the constitution of the little European republic should bring both interest and profit — a constitution resembling in many points that of his own county and yet in many other respects so different. And few readers, of whatever nationality, can, we think, peruse this story without a feeling of admiration for a gallant people who have fought against oppression as the Swiss have fought, who have loved freedom as they X PREFACE. have loved it, and who have performed the well-nigh incredible feats of arms the Switzers have performed. And as Sir Francis O. Adams and Mr. Cunningham well point out in their recently published work on the Swiss Confederation, as a study in constitutional his tory, the value of the story of the development of the Confederation can hardly be over-estimated. Few of the existing accounts of Swiss history which have appeared in the English language go back beyond the year 1291 A.D., the date of the earliest Swiss League, and of course Switzerland as a nation cannot boast of an earlier origin. But surely some account should be given of the previous history of the men who founded the League. For a country which has been occupied at different periods by lakemen, Helvetians, and Romans ; where Alamanni, Burgun dians, and Franks have played their parts ; where Charlemagne lived and ruled, and Charles the Bold fought ; where the great families of the Zaerings, the Kyburgs, and Savoy struggled ; and whence the now mighty house of Habsburg sprang (and domi neered)— all this before 1291 — a country with such a story to tell of its earlier times, we say, should not have that story left untold. Accordingly in this volume the history of the period before the formation of the Confederation has been dwelt upon at some little length. It should be mentioned, too, that in view of the very general interest caused by the remarkable discovery of the Swiss lake settlements a few years ago, a chapter has been devoted to the subject Mindful, however, of the superior importance of the PREFACE. xi formation and progress of the Confederation, an en deavour has been made to trace that progress step by step, showing how men differing in race, in language, in creed, and in mode of life, combined to resist the common enemy, and to build up the compact little state, we now see playing its part on the European stage. The whole teaching of the history of the country may be summed up in Mr. Coolidge's words, in his " History of the Swiss Confederation " (p. 65). " Swiss history teaches us, all the way through, that Swiss liberty has been won by a close union of many small states." And Mr. Coolidge adds an opinion that " it will be best preserved by the same means, and not by obliterating all local peculiarities, nowhere so striking, nowhere so historically impor tant as in Switzerland." It remains to add a few words as to the authorities consulted by the writers of this little volume. The standard Swiss histories have naturally been largely used, such as those of Dr. Carl Dandliker, Dierauer, Vulliemin, Daguet, Strickler, Vogelin, and Weber (" Universal History "). Amongst other histories and miscellaneous writings — essays, pamphlets, and what not — may be mentioned those of Dr. Ferdinand Keller, Wartmann, Heer, Heierli, Von Arx, Mommsen, Burkhardt, Morel, Marquardt, Dahn, Biidinger, Secretan, Von Wyss, Meyer von Knonau, Schweizer, Finsler, Roget, Bachtold, Marcmonnier, Rambert, - Hettner, Scherer, Roquette, Freytag, Pestalozzi, Schulze, and Kern. Amongst the Eng lish works consulted are Freeman's writings, the Letters of the Parker Society, Adams and Cunning- xii PREFACE. ham's " Swiss Confederation," Coolidge's reprint from the " Encyclopaedia Britannica " of the article on the "History of the Swiss Confederation," Bryce's "Holy Roman Empire," &c. The authors are indebted for most kind and valu able assistance to several eminent Swiss scholars. To Prof. Georg von Wyss and Prof. Meyer von Knonau special thanks are due, whilst Prof. Kesselring, Herr J. Heierli, and others, have shown much helpful in terest in the progress of the work. They also owe many thanks to Dr. Imhoof, who has most kindly furnished them with casts from his famous collection of coins ; and to the eminent sculptors, Vela and Lanz, who have given permission to use photographs of their latest works for illustration purposes. Zurich and Folkestone, July, 1890. CONTENTS. Preface PAGE . ix Table of Cantons xiii Table showing Names, Areas, and Populations of Cantons ....... xxiv I. The Lake Dwellers I-I2 Discovery of Lake Settlements — Dr. Ferdinand Keller's ex plorations — Three distinct epochs — Daily life of the Lakemen — Lake Settlements in East Yorkshire. II. The Helvetians 13-28 Extent of their territory — Their government and mode of life — Orgetorix — Divico beats the Roman forces— Caesar routs Helvetians — Vercingetorix — Valisians — Rhaetians. III. Helvetia under the Romans. . . . 29-43 Caesar's mode of dealing with Helvetia — Augustus — Helvetia incorporated into Gaul — Vespasian — Alamanni and Bur gundians — Christianity introduced. XIV CONTENTS. PAGE IV. The Ancestors of the Swiss Nation . . 44-57 The Huns and their ravages — Alamanni — Burgundians — "The Nibelungenlied " — The Franks subdue both Alamanni and Burgundians — Irish monks preach in Switzerland. V. The Carolingians — Charlemagne . . . 58-70 Pepin le Bref — Charlemagne — His connection with Zurich. VI. The Kingdom of Burgundy; the Duchy of Swabia; and the German Empire . . 71-82 Division of Charlemagne's territory into three — Rudolf the Guelf — Swabian Dukes — Genealogical tables. VII. Burgundy and Swabia under the German Emperors 85-94 Bertha, the " Spinning Queen '' — Her son Conrad — Helvetia in close connection with Germany — Henry III. — Struggle with the Papal power VIII. The Reign of the House of Zaeringen . 95-100 Their orgin — Freiburg and other towns founded — Bern founded — Defeated by Savoy — The Crusades. IX. The Houses of Kyburg, Savoy, and Habsburg 101-117 Fall of the Zaerings — Kyburg dynasty — Growth of Feudalism ¦ — The Hohenstaufen — Savoy — Rise of the Habsburgs — Rudolf. CONTENTS. xv The Confederation, or Eidgenossenschaft i 18-130 The Forest Cantons— The Oath on the Riitli— Rudolf op presses the Waldstatten — Tell and the apple — Investigation as to the facts relating to the foundation of the League. XI. The Battle of Morgarten . . . 131-137 Attempt on Zurich by the Habsburgs — Albrecht — Gathering of the Wald peoples — Austrian defeat. XII. The League of the Eight States . . 139-146 Lucerne joins the League — Zurich follows — War with Austria — Glarus attached to the League as an inferior or protected State — Zug joins the Union — Bern. XIII. Zurich an example of a Swiss Town in the Middle Ages 147-157 Abbey Church of our Lady — Influence of the Lady Abbess — Citizens in three classes — They gradually gain freedom — Trade of the city — Zurich a literary centre — Uprising of the working classes — A new constitution. XIV. Bern crushes the Nobility: Great Victory of Laupen 158-166 Bern of a military bent — Forms a West Swiss Union — Siege of Solothurn — Bern opposes the Habsburgs — Acquires Laupen — Victory at Laupen — League of the Eight States completed. XV. The Battles of Sempach and Naefels . 167-178 Opposition to Austria — Leopold III., Character of— His plans — Defeat and death at Sempach — Winkelried — Battle of Naefels, xvi CONTENTS PAGE XVI. How Switzerland came to have Subject Lands 179-189 Acquisition of surrounding territories desirable — Appenzell — Valais — Graubiinden — Aargau — Quarrels with Milan. XVII. War between Zurich and Schwyz . . 190-199 Dispute concerning Toggenburg lands — Stiissi of Zurich and Von Reding of Schwyz — Zurich worsted — Makes alliance with Austria — France joins the alliance — Battle of St. Jacques. XVIII. Burgundian Wars 200-216 Charles the Bold — Louis XI. of France — Causes which led to the war — Policy of Bern — Commencement of hostilities- Battle of Grandson — Morat— Siege of Nancy and death of Charles. XIX. Meeting at Stanz, &c 217-229 Prestige gained by the League — Disputes respecting the ad mission of Freiburg and Solothurn — -Diet at Stanz — Nicolas von der Flue — Covenant of Stanz — Waldmann — His execution. XX. The League of the Thirteen Cantons Com pleted ....... 230-242 Maximilian — Swabian War — Separation of Switzerland from the Empire — Basel joins the League — Schaffhausen — Appen zell — Italian wars — Siege of Novara — Battle of Marignano — St. Gall. XXI. The Great Councils, Landsgemeinde, and Diet, &c 243-253 Two kinds of Canton — Constitution of Bern and of Zurich — Landsgemeinde — Tagsatzung — Intellectual and literary life, CONTENTS. xvii XXII. The Reformation in German Switzerland 254-268 Zwingli— His early life— His desire for a reformation— Ap pointed to Zurich — A national Reformed Church established —Spread of the new faith— The Kappeler Milchsuppe— Dis putes between Luther and Zwingli— Second quarrel with the Forest — Zwingli killed. XXIII. The Reformation in West Switzerland . 269-278 Political condition of Vaud and Geneva— Charles III. and Geneva — The " Ladle Squires " — Bonivard thrown into Chillon— Reformed faith preached in French Switzerland by Farel — Treaty of St. Julien— Operations in Savoy. XXIV. Geneva and Calvin 279-290 Calvin — His " Institutes " — His Confession of Faith — Banish ment from Geneva — His return — The Consistoire — The " Children of Geneva " — Servetus burnt — The Academy founded — Calvin's death. XXV. The Catholic Reaction .... 291-302 Droit aVasile — Pfyffer — Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan — Borromean League — Protestants driven from Locarno — Switzerland an asylum for religious refugees — Effect of Swiss Reformation on England — Revival of learning — Escalade of Geneva. XXVI. The Aristocratic Period .... 303-314 Thirty Years' War — Graubiinden and its difficulties — Massacre in Valtellina — Rohan — Jenatsch — Peasants' Revolt — Treaty with France. xviii CONTENTS. PAGE XXVII. Political Matters in the Eighteenth Cen tury 3x5-323 Aristocracy and plebeians — French League — Massacre at Greifensee— Davel's plot — Bern — Its three castes — Constitu tional struggles in Geneva — Affray in Neuchatel. XXVIII. Switzerland and the Renaissance : Influence of Voltaire and Rousseau . . 324-342 Voltaire — Residence at Ferney — No special influence on Geneva — Rousseau — Madame de Stael — Swiss savants — Zurich a Poets' Corner — Breitinger, Bodmer, Haller, Klop- stock, &c. — Pestalozzi— Lavater — The Helvetic Society. XXIX. The French Revolution and Switzerland 343-359 Swiss Guards massacred in Paris — Insurrection of St'afa — Treaty of Campo Formio — The Paris Helvetic Club — The "Lemanic Republic" — Surrender of Bern — Helvetic Republic proclaimed — Opposition by Schwyz, Stanz, &c. XXX. The "One and Undivided Helvetic Republic" 357-368 A levy ordered by France — Franco-Helvetic alliance — Austrian occupation — Russian occupation — Battle of Zurich — Su- warow's extraordinary marches — Heavy French requisitions — Rengger and Stapfer, — Centralists and Federalists — Napoleon as mediator. XXXI. The Mediation Act and Napoleon . 369-381 Conference in Paris on Swiss matters— Mediation Act signed — The Bockenkrieg — Six new cantons formed — Material and intellectual progress — Extinction of Diet— The " Long Diet" — Congress of Vienna — Completion of twenty-two cantons. CONTENTS. Xix PAGE XXXII. Switzerland under the Constitution of 1815-48 382-394 Dissatisfaction with results of Vienna Congress — The French revolution of 1830— The " Day of Uster "—The Siebner Con cordat — Catholic League — Progress of education — Political refugees in Switzerland — Louis Philippe — Louis Napoleon — Disturbances in Zurich by the Anti-Nationalists — The Sonder- bund War. XXXIII. Under the Constitution of 1848 . . 395-407 New Federal Constitution — Federal Assembly — Federal Council — Federal Tribunal — Powers of the individual cantons — Military service — Neuchatel troubles — Federal Pact amended — The Initiative — The Referendum. XXXIV. Industry, Commerce, Railways, Education. The "Right of Asylum" .... 408-421 Extent of trade — Exports and imports — Railways — Education — Keller the poet — The Geneva Convention — International Postal Union — International Labour Congress — Switzerland as a political asylum — Franco-German War — Summary of population statistics. Genealogical Tables . . . . . 83, 84 Index 423 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. LAKE DWELLINGS, ZURICH LAKE, FROM A DESIGN BY- DR. FERDINAND KELLER . . . Frontispiece MAP, SHOWING LAKE SETTLEMENTS AROUND ZURICH LAKE, BY MR. HEIERLI ..... 2 (i) DECORATION ON SWORD HILT; (2 AND 3), STONE CELTS FOUND IN SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS (COPIED BY PERMISSION FROM " HARPER'S MAGAZINE ") . 4 (i) VESSEL; (2) SPECIMENS OF WOVEN FABRICS FOUND IN SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS (COPIED BY PERMISSION FROM " HARPER'S MAGAZINE") . 7 SPECIMENS OF POTTERY FOUND IN SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS (COPIED BY PERMISSION FROM " HARPER'S MAGAZINE ") IO JOHANNISSTEIN, WITH RUINS OF CASTLE OF " HOHEN- RHjETIA," NEAR THUSIS, GRAUBUNDEN . . 16 house (formerly chapel) in romaunsh style, at schuls, lower engadine, graubunden . 27 silver coin, vercingetorix (,dr. imhoof, winter- thur) 29 xxii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE GOLD COIN, VESPASIAN [VESPASIANUS IMPERATOR- AETERNITAS] (DR. IMHOOF) .... 34 GOLD COIN OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY [ST. FELIX, ST. REGULA-SANCTUS CAROLUS] (DR. IMHOOF) . 42 THE EIGER 52 GREAT MINSTER AND WASSERKIRCHE, ZURICH (APPENZELLER, ZURICH) .... 67 FURKA PASS 79 CATHEDRAL (EXTERIOR), LAUSANNE ... 92 CHATEAU DE VUFFLENS, VAUD (FOURTEENTH CENTURY) ....... 102 BRONZE FIGURES FROM MAXIMILIAN MONUMENT, INNSBRUCK (ARTHUR OF THE ROUND TABLE, BRITAIN ; THEODOBERT, DUKE OF BURGUNDY ; ERNEST, DUKE OF AUSTRIA ; THEODORIC, KING OF THE OSTROGOTHS) 106 THE OLD HABSBURG CASTLE, CANTON AARGAU . 112 THALER OF THE THREE CANTONS (URI, SCHWYZ, AND UNTERWALDEN) 120 MAP OF OLD SWITZERLAND 1 38 UPPER FALL OF THE REICHENBACH (MEYRINGEN) . 160 PORCH OF BERN MINSTER, WITH STATUE OF RUDOLF VON ERLACH 165 WINKELRIED'S MONUMENT, STANZ . . . .174 ARMS OF URI 189 ST. JACQUES MONUMENT, BASEL, BY SCHLOTH 1 96 ARMS OF SCHWYZ 198 ELIZABETH, WIFE OF ALBERT II. ; MARIA OF BUR GUNDY ; ELEANOR OF PORTUGAL ; KUNIGUNDE, SISTER OF MAXIMILIAN (FROM MAXIMILIAN MONUMENT, INNSBRUCK) .... 201 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxiil PAGE MAP OF GRANDSON 2TO OLD WEAPONS AND ARMOUR IN ZURICH ARSENAL . 214 INNER COURT OF THE ABBEY OF OUR LADY. LUTH CHAPTER OF ZURICH 220 ARMS OF UNTERWALDEN 229 MARBLE RELIEVI, MAXIMILIAN MONUMENT, INNSBRUCK 23 1 CITY WALLS OF MURTEN 235 CUSTOM-HOUSE, FREIBURG . . . . .240 SARNEN, BERN 244 CITY WALLS, LUCERNE 246 ULRICH ZWINGLI 256 MINSTER, BERN 270 THALER OF 1564 (ST. GALL) 289 HIGH ALTAR, CHUR CATHEDRAL .... 306 ROUSSEAU . 329 PESTALOZZI 330 HALLER 333 LAVATER „ 340 THE LION OF LUCERNE 344 LA HARPE 348 REDING 354 DILIGENCE CROSSING THE SIMPLON PASS . . 362 INTERLAKEN, FROM THE FELSENEGG . . .386 POLYTECHNIKUM AT ZURICH 397 VIEW OF SION 404 LAW COURTS AT LAUSANNE , . . .407 " VICTIMS OF THE WORK," ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL, FROM A BAS-RELIEF BY VELA (BY SPECIAL PERMISSION OF SCULPTOR) . . . . 411 PORTRAIT OF GOTFRIED KELLER, THE POET . . 413 INTERIOR OF LAUSANNE CATHEDRAL . . . 4J9 TABLE SHOWING NAMES (GERMAN AND FRENCH), AREAS, AND POPULATIONS OF CANTONS. German Name. French Name. i. Aargau . ,, f Ausser Rhoden 2. Appenzell { Inner Rhoden 3. Basel Stadt ,, Land 4. Bern 5. Freiburg 6. St. Gallen. 7. Genf 8. Glarus 9. Graubiinden 10. Luzern n. Neuenburg 12. Schaffhausen 13. Schwyz 14. Solothurn 15. Tessin 16. Thurgau i7.Unterwaldenj ^™d 18. Uri 19. Wallis 20. Waadt 21. Zug 22. Zurich Argovie .„„„., ( Rhodes Exterieures Appenzell j Rhodes Int(jrieure5 Bale-Ville ,, Campagne Berne Fribourg St. Gall Geneve (Geneva) Glaris Grisons Lucerne Neuchatel Schafl house Schwyz (Schwytz) Soleure Tessin (Italian, Ticino) Thurgovie ( Le Haut Unterwalden Uri Valais Vaud Zoug Zurich ( Le Bas.. ¦2» < § 543 100 60 14 163 2, 660 644 779 109 267 2.774 579312 116 3Si 3°3 1.095 381 183 112 415 2,026 1,244 92 66S Total 15,987 2.920.7231 .lis 193,000 54,000 13,000 74,00062,000 539. °°° 119,000 229,000 107,000 33,000 96,000 135,000 109,000 37,00050,000 85,000 127,000 105,000 15,000 12,00017,000 102,000 251,000 23,000 332,000 1 This grand total of the population, on Dec. 1, 1888, is taken from the pro visional Census Tables issued by the Swiss Government in 1889. SWITZERLAND English Miles o 5 io 20 30 40 THE STORY OF SWITZERLAND. THE LAKE DWELLERS. Who first lived in this country of ours ? What and what manner of men were they who who first settled on its virgin soil and made it " home " ? These questions naturally present themselves every now and then to most thoughtful people. And the man with any pretensions to culture feels an interest in the history of other countries besides his own. But however interesting these questions as to primary colonizations may be, they are usually exactly the most difficult of answer that the history of a country presents. Now and then indeed we may know tolerably well the story of some early Greek immigration, or we may possess full accounts of the modern settlement of a Pitcairn Island ; but in far the greater number of instances we can but dimly surmise or rashly guess who and what were the earliest inhabi tants of any given region. In the case of Switzerland, however, we are parti cularly fortunate. " Every schoolboy " has heard of MAP Showinc the Chief Lake Settlements in or near LAKE ZURICH, By Prcf-THeierli, Zurich. ®Zachen, HuftterswiR 9 Lake Settlements DISCOVERY OF THE LAKE DWELLINGS. 3 the wonderful discoveries made on the shores of the beautiful Swiss lakes during the last few years, and the same schoolboy even understands, if somewhat hazily, the importance attaching to these discoveries. Nevertheless, some short account of the earliest inhabitants of the rugged Helvetia must occupy this first chapter. And to the general reader some little information as to what was found, and how it was found, on the lake shores, may not come amiss. In the winter of 1853, the waters of Zurich lake sank so low that a wide stretch of mud was laid bare along the shores. The people of Meilen, a large village some twelve miles from the town of Zurich, took advantage of this unusual state of things to effect certain improvements, and during the opera tions the workmen's tools struck against some obstacles, which proved to be great wooden props, or piles. These piles, the tops of which were but a few inches below the surface of the mud, were found to be planted in rows and squares, and the number of them seemed to be enormous. And then there were picked out of the mud large numbers of bones, antlers, weapons, implements of various kinds, and what not. Dr. Ferdinand Keller, a great authority on Helvetian antiquities, was sent from Zurich to examine the spot, and he pronounced it to be a lake settlement, probably of some very ancient Celtic tribe. Many marks of a prehistoric occupation had previously been found, but hitherto no traces of dwellings. Naturally the news of this important discovery of lake habi tations caused a great sensation, and gave a great impulse to archaeological studies. Dr. Keller called (i) DECORATION ON SWORD HILT ; (2 AND 3) STONE CELTS, FOUND IN SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS. (Copied by permission from" Harper's Magazine"} INTERIOR OF THE DWELLINGS. 5 these early settlers Pfahl-bauer, or pile-builders, from their peculiar mode of building their houses. During the course of the last thirty years, over two hundred of these aquatic villages have been discovered — on the shores of the lakes of Constance, Geneva, Zurich, Neuchatel, Bienne, Morat, and other smaller lakes, and on certain rivers and swampy spots which had once been lakes or quasi-lakes. The Alpine lakes, however, with their steep and often inaccessible banks, show no trace of lake settlements. The lake dwellings are mostly1 placed on piles driven some io feet into the bed of the lake, and as many as thirty or forty thousand of these piles have been found in a single settlement. The houses them selves were made of hurdlework, and thatched with straw or rushes. Layers of wattles and clay alternat ing formed the floors, and the walls seem to have been rendered more weather-proof by a covering of clay, or else of bulrushes or straw. A railing of wickerwork ran round each hut, partly no doubt to keep off the wash of the lake, and partly as a protec tion to the children. Light bridges, or gangways easily moved, connected the huts with each other and with the shore. Each house contained two rooms at least, and some of the dwellings measured as much as 27 feet by 22 feet. Hearthstones blackened by fire often remain to show where the kitchens had been. Mats of bast, straw, and reeds abound in the settlements, and show that the lakemen had their notions of cosiness and comfort. Large crescent- 1 There are two distinct kinds of settlement, but we are here dealing witlTthe first or earlier kind. 6 THE LAKE DWELLERS. shaped talismans, carved on one side, were hung over the entrances to the huts, showing pretty clearly that the moon-goddess was worshipped. The prehistoric collections in the public museums at Zurich, Berne, Bienne, Neuchatel, and Geneva, not to speak of private collections, are very extensive and very fine, containing tools, handsome weapons, knives of most exquisite shape and carving, women's ornaments, some of them of the most elegant kind. A " lady of the lake " in full dress would seem to have made an imposing show. An undergarment of fine linen was girded at the waist by a broad belt of inlaid or em bossed bronze work. Over the shoulders was thrown a woollen cloak fastened with bronze clasps, or pins, whilst neck, arms, and ankles were decked with a great store of trinkets — -necklaces, anklets, bracelets, rings, spangles, and so forth. The whole was set off by a diadem of long pins with large heads beautifully chiselled, and inlaid with beads of metal or glass, these pins being stuck through a sort of leathern fillet which bound up the hair. So beautiful are some of the trinkets, that imitations of them in gold are in request by the ladies of to-day. It is curious to find that one of the most extensive lake colonies in Switzerland is situated in and spread over the vast marshes of Robenhausen (Zurich) which once formed part of Lake Pfaffikon. The visitor who is not deterred by the inconvenience of a descent into a damp and muddy pit some n feet deep, where excavations are still being carried on, finds himself facing three successive settlements, one above another, and all belonging to the remote stone age. Between Jl) VESSEL ; (2) SPECIMENS OF WOVEN FABRICS FOUND IN SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS. (Copied by permission from "Harper's Magazine") 8 THE LAKE DWELLERS. the successive settlements are layers of turf, some 3 feet thick, the growth of many centuries. The turf itself is covered by a stratum of sticky matter, 4 inches thick. In this are numbers of relics embedded, both destructible and indestructible objects being perfectly well preserved, the former kept from decay through having been charred by fire. The late Professor Heer discovered and analysed remains of more than a hundred different kinds of plants. Grains, and even whole ears of wheat and barley, seeds of strawberries and raspberries, dried apples, textile fabrics, imple ments, hatchets of nephrite — this mineral and the Oriental cereals show clearly enough that the lake- men traded with the East, though no doubt through the Mediterranean peoples — spinning-wheels, corn- squeezers, floorings, fragmentary walls — all these are found in plenty, in each of the three layers. The topmost settlement, however, contains no destructible matters, such as corn, fruits, &c. This is to be ac counted for by the fact that the two lower settlements were destroyed by fire, and the uppermost one by the growth of the turf, or by the rising marshes. In the latter case there was no friendly action of fire to preserve the various objects. The scholar's mind is at once carried back to the account given by Herodotus of Thrakian lake- dwellers.1 The people of this tribe, he tells us, built iheir houses over water, so as to gain facilities for fishing. They used to let down baskets through trap doors in the floors of their huts, and these baskets rapidly filled with all kinds of fish that had gathered around, tempted by the droppings of food. 1 Herod, v. 16. DOMESTIC ECONOMY OF THE LAKEMEN. g Though the lakemen depended chiefly on the water for their supply of food, yet they were hunters, and great tillers of the ground as well as fishermen. They grew wheat and barley, and kept horses, cattle, sheep, and goats. The women spun flax and wool, and wove them into fabrics for clothing. Their crockery was at first of a very primitive description, being made of black clay, and showing but little finish or artistic design. But the children were not for gotten, for they were supplied with tiny mugs and cups.1 With regard to the date when the immigration of lakemen began the savants are hopelessly at variance. Nor do they agree any better as to the dates of the stone and bronze epochs into which the history of the lake settlements divides itself. But as in some of the marshy stations these two epochs reach on to the age of iron, it is assumed by many authorities that the lake dwellers lived on to historical times. This is particularly shown in the alluvial soil and marshes between the lakes of Neuchatel and Bienne, Prefargier being one of the chief stations, where settlements 1 The lake tribes of the bronze age, however, not only understood the use of copper and bronze, but were far more proficient in the arts than their predecessors. Some of the textile fabrics found are of the most complicated weaving, and some of the bronze articles are of most exquisite chiselling, though these were probably imported from Italy, with which country the lake dwellers would seem to have had consider able traffic. The earliest specimens of pottery are usually ornamented by mere rude nail scratchings, but those of the bronze period have had their straight lines and curves made by a graving tool. In fact, the later tribes had become lovers of art for its own sake, and even the smallest articles of manufacture were decorated with designs of more or less elaboration and finish. SPECIMENS OF POTTERY FOUND IN SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS. (Copied by permission from "Harper's Magazine") \^\ THE AGE OF BRONZE. II belonging to the stone, bronze, and iron ages are found ranged one above another in chronological order. In the topmost stratum or colony, the lake- men's wares are found mingling pell-mell with iron and bronze objects of Helvetian and Roman make, a fact sufficient, probably, to show that the lake dwellers associated with historical peoples. It would be useless as well as tedious to set forth at length all the theories prevailing as to the origin and age of the lake dwellings. Suffice it to say that, by some authorities, the commencement of the stone period is placed at six thousand, and by others at three thousand years before the Christian era, the latter being probably nearest the truth. As to the age of bronze, we may safely assign it to iioo-iooo B.C., for Professor Heer proves conclusively that the time of Homer — the Greek age of bronze — was contemporary with the bronze epoch of the lakemen.1 The Lake period would seem to have drawn to a close about 600-700 B.C., when the age of bronze was superseded by that of iron. According to the most painstaking investigations made by Mr. Heierli, of 1 The products of the soil seem to have been the same amongst the lakemen as amongst Homer's people. Both knew barley and wheat, and neither of them knew rye. In their mode of dressing and pre paring barley for food the two peoples concurred. It was not made into bread, but roasted to bring off the husk. And roasted barley is still a favourite article of diet in the Lower Engadine. The Greeks ate it at their sacrifices, and always took supplies of it when starting on a journey. So Telemachus asks his old nurse Eurykleia to fill his goat skin with roasted barley when he sets out in search of his father. And young Greek brides were required to complete the stock of household belongings by providing on their marriage day a roasting vessel for barley. 12 THE LAKE DWELLERS. Zurich, now the greatest authority on the subject in Switzerland, the lakemen left their watery settle ments about the date just given, and began to fix their habitations on terra firma. Various tombs already found on land would bear witness to this change. When these peculiar people had once come on shore to live they would be gradually absorbed into neighbouring and succeeding races, no doubt into some of the Celtic tribes, and most likely into the Helvetian peoples. Thus they have their part, how ever small it may be, in the history of the Swiss nation. It must be added that the Pfahl-bauer are no longer held to have been a Celtic people, but are thought to have belonged to some previous race, though which has not as yet been ascertained. But enough has been written on the subject, perhaps. Yet, on the other hand, it would have been impossible to pass over the lakemen in silence, especially now when the important discoveries of similar lake settlements in East Yorkshire have drawn to the subject the attention of all intelligent English- speaking people.1 1 Those who wish to see pretty well all that can be said on the matter should read the valuable article in The Westminster Review, for June, 1887. II. THE HELVETIANS. The history of a country often includes the history of many peoples, for history is a stage on which nations and peoples figure like individual characters, playing their parts and making their exits, others stepping into their places. And so the Swiss soil has been trodden by many possessors — Celts, Rhaetians, Alamanni, Burgundians, Franks. These have all made their mark upon and contributed to the history of the Swiss nation, and must all figure in the earlier portions of our story. Dim are the glimpses we catch of the early condition of the Helvetians, but the mist that enshrouds this people clears, though slowly, at the end of the second century before Christ, when they came into close contact with the Romans who chronicled their deeds. The Helvetians themselves, indeed, though not ignorant of the art of writing, were far too much occupied in warfare to be painstaking annalists. At the Celto-Roman period of which we are treating, Helvetia comprised all the territory lying between Mount Jura, Lake Geneva, and Lake Con- 14 THE HELVETIANS. stance, with the exception of Basle, which included Graubiinden, and reached into St. Gall and Glarus. It was parcelled out amongst many tribes, even as it is in our own day. The Helvetians, who had previously occupied all the land between the Rhine and the Main, had been driven south by the advanc ing Germans, and had colonized the fertile plains and the lower hill grounds of Switzerland, leaving to others the more difficult Alpine regions. They split into four tribes, of which we know the names of three — the Tigurini, Toygeni, and Verbigeni. The first named seem to have settled about Lake Morat, with Aventicum (Avenches) as their capital. Basle was the seat of the Rauraci ; to the west of Neuchatel was that of the Sequani ; whilst Geneva belonged to the wild Allobroges. The Valais J district was inhabited by four different clans, and was known as the " Pcenine valley," on account of the worship of Pceni- nus on the Great St. Bernard, where was a temple to the deity. In the Ticino were the Lepontines, a Ligurian tribe whose name still lingers in " Lepontine Alps." The mountain fastnesses of the Grisons (Graubiinden) were held by the hardy Rhaetians, a Tuscan tribe, who, once overcome by the Romans, speedily adopted their speech and customs. Romansh, a corrupt Latin, holds its own to this day in the higher and remoter valleys of that canton. All these tribes, except the two last mentioned, belonged to the great and martial family of the Celts, and of them all the wealthiest, the most valiant, and 1 Valais (German, Wallis) means valley, and is so called from its being a long narrow dale or vale hemmed in by lofty mountains. THE HELVETIANS. 1 5 the most conspicuous were the Helvetians.1 Of the life and disposition of these Helvetians we know but little, but no doubt they bore the general stamp of the Celts. They managed the javelin more skilfully than the plough, and to their personal courage it is rather than to their skill in tactics that they owe their reputation as great warriors. But in course of time their character was greatly modified, and, owing probably to their secluded position, they settled down into more peaceful habits, and rose to wealth and honour, combining with their great powers a certain amount of culture. They practised the art of writing, having adopted the Greek alphabet, and gold, which was possibly found in their rivers, circulated freely amongst them. To judge from the relics found in Helvetian tumuli the Helvetians were fond of luxuries in the way of ornaments and fine armour, and they excelled in the art of working metals, especially bronze. They had made some progress in agriculture, and in the construction of their houses, and more especially of the walls that guarded their towns, which struck the Romans by their neatness and practicalness. Nor would this be to be wondered at if the old legends could be trusted, which tell us that Hercules himself taught the Helvetians to build, and likewise gave them their laws ; an allusion, no doubt, to the fact that culture came to them from the east, from the peoples around the Mediterranean. Besides many hamlets, they had founded no fewer than four hundred villages and twelve towns, and seem to have been well able to select for their settlements the most 1 Mommsen, " Roman History," vol. ii. p. 166. JOHANNISSTEIN, WITH RUINS OF CASTLE OF " HOHEN-RH^TIA,'* NEAR THUSIS, GRAUBUNDEN. (From a Photograph. ) THE CELTIC RELIGION. I1} picturesque and convenient spots. For many of their place-names have come down to us, in some cases but little changed. Thus of colonies we have Zuricum (Zurich), Salodurum (Soleure), Vindonissa (Win- disch), Lousonium (Lausanne), and Geneva ; of rivers navigable or otherwise useful, Rhine, Rhone, Aar, Reuss, Thur ; of mountains, Jura and perhaps Camor. Disliking the hardships of Alpine life the Helvetians left the giant mountains to a sturdier race. The nature of their political code was republican, yet it was largely tinctured with elements of an aristocratic kind. Their nobles were wealthy landed proprietors, with numerous vassals, attendants, and slaves. In case their lord was impeached these retainers would take his part before the popular tribunal. The case of Orgetorix may be cited. He was a dynastic leader, and head over one hundred valley settlements ; his name appears on Helvetian silver coins as Orcitrix. He was brought to trial on a charge of aspiring to the kingship, and no fewer than a thousand followers appeared at the court to clear him, but voxpopuli vox dei, and the popular vote prevailed. Orgetorix was sentenced to die by fire, a punishment awarded to all who encroached upon the popular rights. Their form of religion was most probably that common to all the Celts, Druidical worship. Invested with power, civil and spiritual, the Druids held abso lute sway over the superstitious Celtic tribes. Proud as the Celts were of their independence, they yet were incapable of governing themselves because of the perpetual dissensions amongst the tribes; and 1 8 THE HELVETIANS. they were overawed by the intellectual superiority of a priesthood that professed all the sciences of the age — medicine, astrology, soothsaying, necromancy — and had taken into its hands the education of the young. The common people were mere blind de votees, and rendered unquestioning obedience to the decrees of the Druids. Druidism was, in fact, the only power which could move the whole Celtic race, and could knit together the Celts of the Thames and those of the Garonne and Rhone, when they met at the great yearly convocation at Chartres, then the "Metropolis of the Earth." Human sacrifice was one of the most cruel and revolting features of the Druidical religion. The Celts were a peculiarly gifted people, though differing greatly from the contemporary Greeks and Romans. They had been a governing race before the Romans appeared on the stage, and wrested from them the leading part. They had overrun the whole world, so to speak, casting about for a fixed home, and spread as far as the British Isles, making Gaul their religious and political centre, and settled down into more peaceful habits. Driven by excess of population, or their unquenchable thirst for war, or simply their nomadic habits— one cannot otherwise account for their retrogression — they migrated east wards whence they came — to Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor — demanding territory, and striking terror into every nation they approached by their warlike habits. They knocked at the gates of Rome, and the Gala tians were conspicuous by their atrocities.1 Brilliant 1 "Story of Alexander's Empire, "-by Mahaffy, p. 79. CHARACTER OF THE CELTS. 10. qualities and great national faults had been their peculiar characteristics. Quick-witted they were, highly intelligent, ingenious, frank, versatile ; attach ing much value to gloire, and esprit ; susceptible of and accessible to every impression, skilled handi craftsmen ; but inclined to be vain, boastful, and fickle-minded, averse to order and discipline, and lacking in perseverance and moral energy. This, according to both ancient and modern writers, was their character. They failed to create a united empire, and to resist their deadly enemy, Rome. What they did excel in was fighting. Dressed in gaudy costume — wide tunic, bright plaid, and toga embroidered with silver and gold — the Celtic noble would fight by preference in single combat, to show off to personal advantage, but in the brunt of battle he threw away his clothing to fight unimpeded. Bituitus, king of the Arverni, attired in magnificent style, mounts his silver chariot, and, preceded by a harper and a pack of hounds, goes to meet Caesar in battle, and win his respect and admiration. The Helvetians were peaceful neighbours to Italy so long as they did not come into direct contact with the Romans, but on the Rhine they were engaged in daily feuds with the German tribes, who had driven them from their settlements in the Black Forest, and had continued their raids beyond the river. For the sake of plunder, or from mere restless habits, the Germans had left their northern homes on the Baltic and North Seas, the Cimbri, and their brethren, the Teutons and others, and were slowly moving south ward, repelling or being in turn repelled. The most 20 THE HELVETIANS. daring crossed the Rhine, and made their way straight through the lands of the Belgians and Helvetians towards the South, thereby anticipating the great dislocation of peoples which was to take place but five hundred years later, when the Roman Empire, sapped at the root, crumbled to pieces, unable longer to resist the tide of barbarian invasion. On one of these expeditions the Cimbri, giving a glowing account of sunny Gaul, and the booty to be obtained there, were joined by the Helvetian Tigurini, whose leader was the young and fiery Divico (B.C. 107). They started with the intention of founding a new home in the province of the Nitiobroges in Southern Gaul ; but when they had reached that territory they were suddenly stopped on the banks of the Garonne by a Roman army under the consul Cassius and his lieutenant Piso. But, little impressed by the military fame of the Romans, the Tigurini, lying in ambush, gave battle to the forces of great Rome, and utterly routed them at Agen, on the Garonne, between Bordeaux and Toulouse. It was a brilliant victory ; both the Roman leaders and the greater part of their men were slain, and the rest begged for their lives. The proud Romans were under the humiliating necessity of giving hostages and passing under the yoke — a stain on the Roman honour not to be for gotten ; but the victors, being anything but diplomats, knew no better use to make of their splendid victory than to wander about for a time and then go home again. A few years later (102 and 101 B.C.) the Tigurini, Toygeni, Cimbri, and Teutons joined their forces on ORGETORIX. 21 a last expedition southwards. The expedition ended in the destruction of these German tribes. The Toygeni perished in the fearful carnage at Aquae Sextiae, and the Cimbri later on at Vercellae. When the Tigurini heard of this last-mentioned disaster they returned home. Caesar had been appointed governor of the Province (Provence) which extended to Geneva, the very door of Helvetia ; on the Rhine the Germans continued to make their terrible inroads. Thus there was but little scope for the stirring Helvetians, and the soil afforded but a scanty supply of food ; so they turned their eyes wistfully in the direction of fair Gaul. Meeting in council they decided on a general migration, leaving their country to whoever might like to take it. Then rose up Orgetorix, one of their wealthiest nobles, and supported the plan, volunteering to secure a free passage through the neighbouring pro vinces of the Allobroges and y£dui. The 28th of March, B.C. 58, was the day fixed for the departure, and Geneva was to be the meeting-place ; thence they were to proceed through the territory of the Allobroges. For two years previously they were to get ready their provisions, and to collect carts, horses, and oxen, but before the period had expired Orgetorix was accused of treason, and being unable to clear himself, put an end to his own life to escape public obloquy. This episode made no difference in the general plan. The Helvetians, indeed, insisted on its being carried out. Setting fire to their towns and villages to prevent men from returning, they started on their adventurous journey on that spring morn of 22 THE HELVETIANS. 58 B.C. Caesar's figures seem very large, but, if he is to be trusted, the tribes numbered some 368,000 men, of which 263,000 were Helvetians, the rest being neighbours of theirs. But 93,000 were capable of bearing arms. A curious yet thrilling sight must have been that motley caravan of prodigious proportions — ten thou sand carts drawn by forty thousand oxen, carrying women, children, and the old men; riders and armour- bearers alongside, toiling painfully through woods and fords, and up and down rugged hills ; behind the emigrants the smoking and smoulderings ruins of the homes they were leaving with but little regret. Yet they were no mere adventurers, but looked forward with swelling hearts to a brighter time and a more prosperous home. Arriving at Geneva they found the bridge over the Rhone broken up by Caesar's order. Caesar was, in truth, a factor they had not reckoned upon, and, after useless attempts to make headway, they turned their steps towards Mount Jura, and whilst they were toiling over the steep and rugged Pas de l'Ecluse, Caesar returned to Italy to gather together his legions. Returning to Gaul he arrived just in time to see the Helvetians cross the Arar (Sadne) with the utmost difficulty. The Tigurini were the last to cross. And on them Caesar fell and cut them down, thus avenging the death of Piso — the great-grandfather of Caesar's wife — and wiping out the stain on the honour of the Roman arms. His legions crossed the Sa6ne in twenty- four hours, and this performance so excited the admiration of the Helvetians, who had themselves taken twenty days to RETREAT OF THE HELVETIANS. 23 cross, that they condescended to send legates to treat with Caesar for a free passage. They promised him that they would do no harm to any one if he would comply with the request, but threatened that if he should intercept them he might have to see something of their ancient bravery. No threats or entreaties were of avail, however, with such a man as Caesar, who, smiling at their naive simplicity, asked them to gives hostages as a sign of confirmation of their promise. " Hostages ! " cried Divico, the hero of of Agen, in a rage, "the Helvetians are not ac customed to give hostages ; they have been taught by their fathers to receive hostages, and this the Romans must well remember." So saying he walked away. The Helvetians continued their march, Caesar following at a distance, watching for an opportunity of attacking them. At Bibracte, an important city of Gaul (now Mont Beuvray), west of Autun in Burgundy, the opportunity offered itself. Cassar seized a hill and posted his troops there, and charged the enemy with his cavalry. The Helvetians fiercely repulsed the attack, and poured on the Roman front, but were quite unable to stand against the showers of the Roman pila, which often penetrated several shields at once, and thus fastened them together so that they could not be disentangled. Disconcerted by this unexpected result, the Helvetians were soon discomfited by the sharp attack with swords which instantly followed. Retiring for a while to a hill close by, the barbarians again drew up in battle order, and again descended to combat. Long and fierce was the 24 THE HELVETIANS. struggle which followed ; the Helvetians fighting like lions till the evening, never once turning their backs on the enemy. This is Caesar's own report. But barbarian heroism was no match for the regular, well- organized, and highly-trained Roman army, and once more driven back, they withdrew to the hill where had been left their wives and children with the baggage. From this place they ventured to make a last resist ance, and they drew up their carts in the form of a deep square, leaving room in the middle for the non- combatants and the baggage. Then mounting their extemporized fort — the so-called Wagenburg — the Helvetian men commenced the fray, even their women and children hurling javelins at the enemy. Not till midnight did the Romans seize and enter on the rude rampart, and when they did the clashing of arms had ceased. All the valiant defenders lay slain at their feet, and the spirit of bold independence of the Helvetians was crushed for ever. After this fearful disaster the rest of the emigrants, to the number of 110,000, continued their march through Gaul, but lacking both food and capable leaders, and being moreover ill-used by the Gauls, they sent to Caesar for help. He demanded hostages, and ordered them to return home and rebuild their towns and villages. And, further, he supplied them with food for the journey, and requested the Allobroges to do the same when the Helvetians should arrive in their province. Caesar admits that this apparent generosity on his part was dictated not by compassion, but by policy. It was to his interest that these barbarians should re-occupy Helvetia, C&SAR'S POLICY. 25 because they would keep watch on the Rhine, and prevent the irruption of the Germans into the country. In their condition now, he calls the Helvetians Associates (fcederati), and not Subjects, and leaves them their own constitution, and, to some extent, their freedom. But they did not relish this forced friendship, which was indeed more like bondage ; and when the Celts of Gaul rose in revolt under the noble and beloved Vercingetorix, who had been a friend of Caesar, they joined their brethren (52 B.C.), and were again vanquished. On the defeat of the Helvetians at Bibracte followed that of the Valisians, in 57 B.C. To establish a direct communication between Central Gaul and Italy, Caesar took those same measures which Napoleon I. employed long afterwards ; he conquered the Valais (by his lieutenant Galba), that he might secure the passage of the Great St. Bernard. A splendid road was formed over Mount Pceninus, and a temple erected to Jupiter Pceninus, where the traveller left votive tablets as a thanksgiving offering after a fortunate ascent. The subjugation of Rhaetia was delayed for more than a generation. To guard the empire against the Eastern hordes ; against the mountain robbers of Graubiinden and the Tyrol, who descended into the valleys of the Po, ravaging the country as far as Milan, and no doubt liberally paying back in their own coin, the Romans who had made from time to time such havoc in the Alpine homes — to guard against these, and the wild Vindelicians of Bavaria, Augustus sent the two imperial princes to reduce them to subjection. Drusus marched into the Tyrol, 26 THE HELVETIANS. whilst Tiberius advanced on Lake Constance, where even the Rhaetian women engaged in the conflict, and, in default of missiles, hurled their sucking chil dren into the face of the conquerors, through sheer exasperation. Their savage courage availed them nothing, however ; the incursions from the East were repressed ; and once the Rhaetians were overcome, they became the most useful of auxiliaries to the Roman army. Horace's ode to Drusus alludes to the Rhaetian campaign. The Rhaeto-Roman inhabitants of Graubiinden — for they still occupy the high valleys of the Engadine and of the Vorder-Rhine — present much interest in point of language and antiquities. The sturdy Rhaetians belonged to the art-loving Etruscan race, whose proficiency in the amphora-technic we so highly value. An old legend calls their ancestor Raetus a Tuscan. And not without show of reason, says Mommsen, for the early dwellers of Graubiinden and the Tyrol were Tuscans, and spoke a dialect agreeing with that of the district of Mantua, a Tuscan colony in the time of Livy. In Graubiinden and Ticino were found, some thirty years ago, stones bearing inscriptions in that dialect. The Rhaetians may have dropped behind in these Alpine regions on the immigration of Etruscans into the valleys of the Po ; or, they may just as likely have fled there on the advent of the Celts, when that warlike race seized on the fertile plains of the river, and drove the Etruscans from their home southward and northward. Be that as it may, however, it is certain that the Rhaetians, once blended with the Romans, have preserved the Latin tongue HOUSE (FORMERLY CHAPLE) IN THE ROMAUNSH STYLE, AT SCHULS, LOWER ENGADINE, GRAUBUNDEN. (After a Photogi-aph by Guler. ) 28 THE HELVETIANS. and customs to this day, for Romaunsh a corrupt Latin, with no doubt some admixture of Tuscan, is still spoken by more than one-third of the population of the Grisons. III. HELVETIA UNDER THE ROMANS. On the surrender of the noble Vercingetorix, a valiant knight, but no statesman — he delivered him self up to Caesar, trusting in his generosity on the plea of former friendship, and died a prisoner of Rome — the war with Gaul was virtually at an end. SILVER COIN, VERCINGETORIX. (Dr. Imhoof, Winterthur.) The sporadic risings that followed lacked the spirit of union, and led to no results of any consequence. During the seven years of his governorship in Gaul (58-51 B.C.), Caesar had completed the subjection of the entire country, with the exception of the province of Narbonensis, whose conquest was of more ancient date. He followed up his victories, and secured their results by organizing a line of secure defences on the 30 HELVETIA UNDER THE ROMANS. northern boundary of Gaul, along the Rhine, creating thereby a new system of open defences — defences offensive, so to speak — which he sketched out with full details, and made Gaul herself a bulwark against the inroads of the aggressive Germans. To secure peace and voluntary submission, he also regulated the internal affairs of the new province, leaving her, how ever, most of her old national institutions, hoping by conciliatory measures to gradually bring her under Roman influences, and win her to side with Rome. But it was left to others to carry out his plans, the Emperor Augustus being the first to put them into practice ; for civil war was again threatening Italy, and Caesar returned home to carry on his great contest with Pompey for supremacy in the State. Although Caesar's plans were but a sketch they were faithfully carried out, and the Gallic conquest proved to be more, and aimed higher, than the mere subjection of the Celts. Caesar was not only a great general, but also a far-seeing politician. He had clearly understood that the barbarian Germans might well prove more than a match for the Greek-Latin world if they came into close contact with it. His defeat of Ariovistus, who was on the point of forming a German kingdom in Gaul, and his wise measures of defence, kept the barbarian hordes at bay for centuries, and thus there was ample time given for the Greek-Latin culture to take root throughout the West. It happened consequently that when Rome could no longer offer any serious resistance, and the Germans poured into her lands, the people of the West were already Romanized, and those of Gaul, THE WORK OF AUGUSTUS. 31 Britain, and Spain, became the medium of transmitting to the Germans the spirit of classicism, by which they would otherwise have hardly been affected ; and those nations became the connecting link between the classical age and the German era which absorbed its high-wrought culture. If Alexander may be said to have spread Hellenism over the East ; Caesar may be taken to have done as much, and indeed vastly more for the West, for it is owing to him, though we can scarcely realize the fact in our day, that the German race is imbued with the spirit of classical antiquity. The fall of Caesar, and the state of anarchy that followed again, delayed the work of pacification, and Helvetia was left to take care of herself. But when Augustus was firmly seated on the imperial throne, he resumed the task which had been bequeathed to him. The organization of Gaul was chiefly his work, and it required an energetic yet moderate policy, The old Narbonensis district, which had long been moulded into a Roman province, was placed under senatorial control. New Gaul, or Gallia Comata {Gaule Ckevelue), as the whole territory was called which Caesar had conquered, was submitted to imperial authority, and treated more adequately in accordance with the ancient constitutions of the various tribes. To facilitate taxation and administration New Gaul was divided into three provinces, each ruled by a Roman governor. Of these three provinces, one was Belgica, extending from the Seine and the mouth of the Rhine to Lake Constance, thus including Helvetia proper. Belgica, on account of its size, was subdivided into three commands, in one of which, that of Upper 32 HELVETIA UNDER THE ROMANS. Germany, Helvetia found itself placed. Thus we find Helvetia incorporated with Gaul. The political capital of the Tres Galliae, or Three Gauls, was Lugdunum (Lyons), owing to its central position, and it seems to have been a very important city. Here Drusus had raised an altar to his imperial father, Augustus, and the Genius of the City. Here met the representatives of the sixty-four Gallic states (including those of the Helvetians and the Rauraci) on the anniversary of the emperor. Here, too, was the seat of the Gallic Diet ; and here, in the amphitheatre, took place rhetorical contests, the Celts holding eloquence in high honour. Eastern Switzerland, that is, Graubiinden, and the land around Lake Wallenstatt, as far as Lake Con stance, was joined with Rhaetia, which likewise included, amongst other districts, the Tyrol and Southern Bavaria. The whole of this territory was ruled by a governor residing at Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg). The Valais district was joined to some part of Savoy, and ruled by the procurator of the Pcenine Alps. Ticino does not concern us here, as it remained a portion of Italy down to the sixteenth century. Yet though thus arbitrarily made a part of Gaul, Helvetia formed a province of itself, and had its' own history and kept its own constitution, thanks to Caesar's wise and generous policy, by which he pro vided that the Celts should not be interfered with in their method of governing by tribes (pagi or civitates), nor in their constitution, so long as it did not clash with the Roman laws. When Caesar had defeated the CONDITION OF THE HELVETIANS. 33 Helvetians he sent them back to rebuild their old homes, and they re-occupied their ancient territory, with the exception of that portion which stretches from Fort l'Ecluse to Geneva and Aubonne, and borders on Mount Jura. This portion was wrenched away and given to the Equestrian Julian colony settled at Noviodunum (Nyon) on Geneva lake, to keep the passes of the mountain (43 B.C.). The Jura range separated Helvetia from the territory of the Rauraci, where another veteran colony was about the same time established as a safeguard for the Rhine, to check the incursions of the Germans. The Colonia Rauracorum was afterwards called Augusta Raura- corum in honour of the emperor. The colonists of these two settlements were mostly Romans, or had been admitted to Roman citizenship, and occupied a different position from the inhabitants of the country generally, for they were allowed Roman privileges and favours — exemption from taxation most likely amongst others — but, on the other hand, they were entirely dependent on the Roman Government. The laborious investigations of the learned Mommsen and Charles Morel go to show that the Helvetians were mildly treated by their masters. They had been received into the Roman pale as friends (fcederati), and as such lived on favourable terms with these, and enjoyed as high a degree of liberty and autonomy as was compatible with their position as Roman subjects. The Rhaetians had been taken from their country ; the Helvetii, on the con trary, had been sent back home and entrusted with the guardianship of the Rhine, merely being required to 34 HELVETIA UNDER THE ROMANS. furnish a contingent for service abroad. They were allowed to maintain garrisons of their own — that of Tenedo on the Rhine, for instance — to build forts, to raise militia in case of war. And, as has before been mentioned, their religious worship was not interfered with, nor their traditional division into pagi, or tribes, and they were allowed a national representative at the Gallic capital, Lyons. Helvetia took the rank of a state (Civitas Helvetiorum), its chief seat (chef- lieu) being Aventicum, which was also the centre of government. So long as Helvetia conformed to the regulations imposed by the imperial government she GOLD COIN, VESPASIAN (VESPASIANUS IMPERATOR-AETERNITAS). (By Dr. Imhoof, Winterthur.) was allowed to manage her own local affairs. Latin was made the official language, though the native tongue was not prohibited. A.D. 69-79. Under Vespasian, however, a great change took place. Thanks to the munificence of that emperor, who had a great liking for Aventicum, this city lost its Celtic character, and was made a splendid city after the Italian type. He had sent there his befriended and faithful Flavian colony of the Hel vetians to live, giving her the lengthy title of Colonia Pia Flavia Constans Emerita Helvetiorum Fcederata in return for services, for she had staunchly supported INSTITUTIONS OF AVENTICUM. 35 his party against Vitellius when the latter contended with Galba for the imperial throne. The inhabitants most likely received the Latin Right (Droit Latin), or were considered Roman citizens, and as such were more intimately connected with Rome, and had to submit to closer control. Her institutions were assimilated to those of Italian towns. She had a senate, a council of decuriones, city magistrates, a prcefectus operum publicoriim (or special officer to attend to the construction of public buildings), Augustan flamens, or priests, and so forth. Notwithstanding the overwhelming importance of Aventicum, a certain amount of self-government was left to the country districts, towns, and villages (vici). The inhabitants of Vindonissa (Windisch), Aquae (Baden), Eburodunum (Yverdon), Salodurum (Soleure), erected public buildings of their own accord. The towns of the -Valais, Octodurum (Martigny), Sedu- num (Sion), &c, had their own city council and municipal officers, and received the Latin Right. In the case of the Helvetians, those of the capital and those of the provinces equally enjoyed that Right ; whereas, with Augusta Rauracorum, the case was different, only the colonists within the walled cities being granted the like standing and liberties. On the whole it may be said that, though Helvetia kept many of her own peculiarities, and some of her ancient liberties, she submitted to Rome, and was greatly influenced by the advanced civilization of the empire. The Helvetians, indeed, underwent that change of speech and character, which split them into two nations, French and Germans. 36 HELVETIA UNDER THE ROMANS. One of the chief factors contributing to the Roman colonization of Helvetia was the military occupation of its northern frontier, though this occupation weighed heavily on the country. The great object of Rome was to keep back the Germans, who were for ever threatening to break into the empire. Vindo- nissa was one of the military headquarters, and its selection for the purpose was justified by its excellent position, situated as it was on an elevated neck of land, washed by three navigable rivers, the Aare, Reuss, and Limmat, and at the junction of the two great roads connecting East and West Helvetia with Italy. A capital system of roads, too, was planned all over the country. There would no doubt often be but little love lost between the Helvetians and the soldiery in occupa tion. Tacitus (" Annals ") tells of one bloody episode. After the death of the madman hero, the twenty-first legion, surnamed Rapax, or Rapacious, no doubt for good reasons, was quartered at Vindonissa. Caecina, a violent man, lieutenant of Vitellius, then commander of the Rhine army, marched into Helvetia to proclaim Vitellius emperor. But the Helvetians supported his opponent Galba, not knowing that he had just been murdered, and fell upon the messengers of Caecina, and put them in prison, after first seizing their letters. The lieutenant enraged at this affront laid waste the neighbouring Aquae (Baden near Zurich), a flourish ing watering-place much frequented for its amuse ments, Tacitus tells us. Calling in the Rhaetian cohorts, he drove them to the Bcetzberg, and cut them down by thousands in the woods and fastnesses of HELVETIA A ROMAN PROVINCE. 37 Mount Jura ; then, ravaging the country as he went, Caecina marched on to Aventicum, which at once surrendered. Alpinus, a notable leader, was put to death, and the rest were left to the clemency of Vitellius. However, the Roman soldiery demanded the destruction of the nation, but Claudius Cossus, a Helvetian of great eloquence, moving them to tears by his touching words, they changed their minds, and begged that the Helvetians might be set at liberty. However this military occupation was, after sixty years of duration, drawing to a close. Under Domi- tian and Trajan all the land between Strasburg and Augsburg, as far as the Main, was conquered and annexed to the Roman Empire. An artificial ram part was formed across country from the mouth of the Main to Regensburg on the Danube, and the military cordon was removed from the Swiss frontier to the new boundary line. Helvetia, now no longer the rendezvous of the Roman legionaries, quietly settled into a Roman province, where the language, customs, art, and learning of Rome were soon to be adopted. If the military stations were starting-points of the new culture, it was the more peaceful immigrants who introduced agriculture, commerce, and wealth, or, at any rate, caused it to make progress. Gradually the Helvetians amalgamated with the Romans, adopting even their religion. Horticulture and vine-culture were introduced. A Roman farmer grew vines on a patch of ground near Cully, on Lake Geneva, and on an inscribed stone (dug up at St. Prex) begs Bacchus 38 HELVETIA UNDER THE ROMANS. (Liber Pater Cocliensis) to bless the vintage. He little anticipated that his plantation would be the ancestor, as it were, of the famous La C6te, now so highly valued. Wherever the art-loving Roman fixed his abode he built his house, with the wonderful Roman masonry, and furnished it with all the luxury and art his refined taste suggested. Thus the country gradually assumed a Roman aspect. Many towns and vici, or village settlements, sprang up or increased in importance under Roman influence — Zurich, Aquae (Baden near Zurich), Kloten, Vindonissa, and others.1 Yet the eastern portion of the country could not compete in the matter of fine buildings with the western cantons. Indeed, in the eastern districts the Helvetian influence was never predominated over by the Latin influence, and the Helvetians clung to their native speech despite the Latin tongue being the official language. But it was the mild and sunny west which most attracted the foreigner, as it still does. Wealthy Romans settled in great numbers between Mount Jura and the Pennine ranges. Every nook and corner of the Canton Vaud bears even down to our days the stamp of Roman civilization. The shores and sunny slopes of Geneva lake were strewn with villas, and the woody strip of land between Villeneuve and Lausanne and Geneva was almost as much in request for country seats by the great amongst the Romans as that delightful stretch of coast on the Bay of 1 We know little of them, most likely they were but vici (village settlements). Aquae alone we know from Tacitus was a city-like watering-place ; Kloten had handsome villas, but what it was we do not know. PERIOD OF GRANDEUR. 39 Naples, from Posilippo to Pozzuoli and Baiae, where Cicero and Virgil, and many Romans of lesser mark, had their villegiatures. But the most remarkable place, whether for art, learning, or opulence, was Aventicum, the Helvetian capital. Of this town some mention has been made above, and, did space permit, a full description might well be given of this truly magnificent and truly Roman city. Its theatre, academy, senate-house, courts, palaces, baths, triumphal arches, and private buildings were wonderful. Am. Marcellinus, the Roman writer, who saw Aventicum shortly after its partial destruction by the Alamanni, greatly admired its palaces and temples, even in their semi-ruinous condition. The city next in beauty and size was Augusta Rauracorum (Basel Augst), where the ruins of a vast amphitheatre still command our wondering admiration. But this period of grandeur was followed by the gradual downfall of the empire, which was already rotten at the core. The degenerate Romans of the later times were unable to stand against the attacks of the more vigorous Germans. The story is too long to tell in detail, but a few points may be briefly noted. In 264 A.D. the Alamanni swept through the country on their way to Gaul, levelling Augusta Rauracorum with the ground, and considerably injuring Aventicum. At the end of the third century the Romans relin quished their rampart between the Rhine and the Danube, and fell back upon the old military frontier of the first century. Helvetia thus underwent a second military occupation. Yet the prestige of Rome 40 HELVETIA UNDER THE ROMANS. was gone. In 305 A.D. the Alamanni again overran Helvetia, and completed the ruin of Aventicum. Weaker and weaker grew the Roman power, and when the Goths pressed into Italy the imperial troops were entirely withdrawn from Helvetia. As for the Helvetians themselves, they were quite unable to offer any resistance, and when the Alamanni once more burst into the land (406 A.D.), they were able to secure entire possession of the eastern portions. The Burgundians, another German tribe, followed suit, and in 443 A.D. fixed themselves in West Helvetia. The inaccessible fastnesses of Graubiinden alone re mained untouched by the tide of German invasion, which effected snch changes in the neighbouring districts. At this period of worldly grandeur and internal decay, occurs another historical event of the greatest importance, the rise of Christianity, containing the vital elements necessary for bringing about the spiritual regeneration of the world. The social and political decomposition throughout the empire, the cruel tyranny of the sovereigns, the decrepitude of the state and its institutions, the growing indiffe rence to the national religion, which showed itself in the facile adoption of, or rather adaptation to, the Eastern forms of worship — the adoption of the deities Isis and Mithra, for example — all these and many other things unnecessary to mention, were unmistakable signs that Roman rule was drawing to its close, and they also prepared the way for the reception of the new doctrine. The belief in one God of mercy and love ; of one Saviour, the Redeemer of the world ; of a CHRISTIANITY IN SWITZERLAND. 41 future life, — were startling but good tidings to the poor and oppressed, and made their influence felt also on the rich and cultivated, who saw in Christianity a tolerance, benevolence, human love, loftiness of principle and moral perfection which had not been attained by the creeds of antiquity. The passionate ardour and force of conviction amongst the Christians was such that they faced suffering and death rather than abjure their tenets or desist from preaching them to others. The accounts of the introduction of Christianity into Switzerland are mostly legendary, yet it is generally believed that it was not the work of special missionaries. It is more likely that the new faith came to the land as part and parcel of the Roman culture. Indeed this is now the opinion most generally received. The military operations of the empire required continual changes of locality on the part of the troops ; thus we find Egyptian, Numidian, and Spanish soldiers quartered on the Rhine and the Danube, and such as they would most probably be the first to bring in the new faith. At first the Roman authorities looked upon Chris tians as state rebels, and fierce persecutions followed. The oldest Christian legend of this country tells of such a conflict between the state officials and the Christians, and no doubt contains some admixture of truth, as many of these stories do. A legion levied at Thebes in Egypt — hence called the Thebaide — was sent to Cologne to take the place of troops required to quell a rising in Britain. Coming to the Valais, they were required by the Emperor Maximian to sacrifice to 42 HELVETIA UNDER THE ROMANS. the heathen gods (a.d. 280-300), but being mostly Christians they refused, and were massacred with their chief, Mauritius. Some, however, escaped for the time, but were called upon to receive the martyr's crown later on, and in other places. Two such, Ursus and Victor, came to Soleure with sixty-six com panions, and were put to death by order of Hirtaeus, the Roman governor. Two others, Felix and his sister Regula, reached Zurich, where their successful conversions irritated Decius, who put them to the rack, and then beheaded them. Yet, wonderful to tell, the legend goes on, they seized their heads that had GOLD COIN OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY (ST. FELIX, ST. REGULA — SANCTUS CAROLUS). (By Dr Imhoof, Winterthur.) fallen, and, walking with them to the top of a hill close by, buried themselves, bodies and heads too. This wonderful feat was an exact counterpart of that reported to have been performed also by Ursus and Victor at Soleure. Felix and Regula became the patron saints of Zurich, and play a conspicuous part in its local history. Tradition says that Charlemagne himself in later days erected a minster on their burial spot. Thus, as ever, the blood of martyrs became the seed of the Church. The Roman towns Geneva, St. Maurice, Augusta Rauracorum, Aventicum, Vindonissa, and Curia had EPISCOPAL SEES. 43 been episcopal sees since the third century, though some of these sees were in process of time removed to other places. Thus, Augusta, Vindonissa, and St. Maurice were removed to Basel, Constance, and Sion respectively. IV. THE ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS NATION. THE ALAMANNI ; BURGUNDIANS ; FRANKS; MEROVINGIANS. THE fifth century was remarkable for what may be called the dislocation of the peoples of Europe — the migrations of the Germans into the Roman Empire, and, mightiest movement of all, the irruption of the Huns under their terrible king Attila, the " Scourge of God." The mere sight of the hideous Asiatics filled men with horror. Never afoot, but ever on their ill-shaped but rapid steeds , to whose backs they seemed as if they were glued, and on which they lived well-nigh day and night, it seemed as if man and horse had grown into one being. Their large heads ill-matched their meagre bodies ; their tawny faces with deep-set eyes and high, protruding cheek-bones made them resemble rough-cut figures in stone rather than human beings. The Goths regarded them as the offspring of spirits of the desert and of witches. These masses of Asiatic barbarism, which had burst SLAUGHTER OF THE HUNS. 45 into Europe, stayed for awhile in Hungary, but soon rolled towards the West, dislodging all the peoples with whom they came in contact. Marching to the Rhine, they drove the Burgundians from their settle ments in the district of Worms, a land so rich in song and saga, and entered Gaul to found a new kingdom. But the doom of the Huns was at hand, for Aetius the Roman general, and the last defender of the empire, defeated them, AD. 451, in a truly gigantic battle on the Catalaunian Plain, in the Champagne country. The slaughter was so terrible that the saying went abroad that the river ran high with the blood of 300,000 men. But it was clear that the tottering empire could noC defend itself against a whole world in commotion. The time had come when Rome was to leave the stage of history. The great German nation was forming. It would be tedious and profitless to men tion all the German tribes beyond the Rhine and XStonube, a well-nigh endless list of names, impossible to remember. Besides, the petty tribes and clans gradually formed alliances with each other for greater security, and, dropping their ancient names, took collective ones more familiar to our ears — Saxons, Franks, Thuringi, Burgundians, Alamanni, and Bavarians. Of these the Alamanni and the Burgundians are those from whom the Swiss are descended, and thus Switzerland, like England, has to look back to Germany as its ancestral home. The tall, fair-haired, true-hearted Alamanni for whom Caracalla had such an admiration that to be like them he wore a red wig, 46 THE ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS NATION. are said to have been descendants of the Semnones who had migrated from Lusatia on the Spree (in Silesia) to the Main. The name Alamanni is gene rally held by the learned to be derived from aldh, a temple-grove, and implies a combination of various tribes, " the people of the Divine grove." The Suevi, of whom the Semnones were the most conspicuous tribe, had a sacred grove in the district of the Spree, where they met for worship. In the fifth century we find the Alamanni occupying the district from the Main to the Black Forest, East Helvetia, and Alsatia as far as the Vosges. When this formidable horde took possession of Eastern Helvetia they found but little trouble from the Celto-Roman population, who, thinned . by pre vious invasions, and unaccustomed to fighting, could offer no serious resistance, and sank into slaves and servants. The towns were laid in ruins, the country ravaged, and all culture trodden under foot. It seemed as if "the hand on the dial of history had been put back by centuries," T and civilization had once more to begin her work. They outnumbered the natives, and were not absorbed by them, but on the contrary on the half-decayed stock of the Roman province the Alamanni were grafted as a true German people, retaining their old language, institutions, and mode of living. The Alamanni did not at once develop into a civilized and cultivated people, but retained their fondness for war and hunting, and other character istics of their ancient life. Their grand and majestic 1 Green's " Smaller History of England," p. 42. CHARACTER OF THE ALAMANNI. 47 woods had stamped themselves on the intrepid, dauntless spirits, whose deep subjectiveness and truth ful natures contrasts strongly with the polished artful ness of the Romans. For the mighty aspects of nature — forest, mountain, sea — play their part in moulding the character of a nation. And their impenetrable woods had influenced the destinies of the Germans in the early periods of their history — had saved them from the Roman yoke, the labyrinths of swamp and river, defying even the forces of the well-nigh all- powerful empire. Then, too, when hard fighting was afoot, and men had burnt their homesteads before the advance of the foe, the vast forest formed a safe retreat for women and children. The original house, by the way, was a mere wooden tent on four posts, and could be carried off on carts that fitted underneath. The next stage was a hut in the style of the Swiss mountain -shed, but it was still movable— was, in fact, a chattel the more to be taken along on their wander ings.1 Their mode of settling in their new country was curious enough, though the early settlement of England was very similar in character. Disliking walled towns of the Roman fashion, the Germans felt their freedom of movement impeded and their minds oppressed by living within the prison-like fortifications of strong cities. But loving seclusion and independence, nevertheless, they built extensive farmsteads, where each man was his own master. To the homestead were added fields, meadows, and an extensive farmyard ; the whole hedged about so as ' Dahn, " Urgeschichte der Romanish-germanischen Volker." 48 THE ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS NATION. to keep the owner aloof from his neighbours. Each farmer pitched his tent wherever " spring or mead, or sylvan wood tempted him," reports Tacitus. This liking for seclusion on the part of the Germans is well shown in the case of Zurich, for at one time the canton had three thousand farm homesteads, as against a hundred hamlets and twelve villages. The mode of partitioning the land shows demo cratic features. It was divided amongst the com munity according to the size of families and herds of cattle, but one large plot was left for the common use. The large Allmend, or common, supplied wood for the community, and there, too, might feed every man's flocks and herds. The nobleman as such had no domains specially set apart for him, his position and privileges were honorary. He might be chosen as a high officer of a district, or even a duke, or leader of the army, in time of war. Payment for such services was unknown. Money was scarce, and in deed its use was mainly taught them by the Romans. Not only did flocks and herds form their chief wealth, but were the standard of value, each article being estimated as worth so much in cattle. Society was from the very first sharply and clearly divided into two great classes — the landowners and the bondsmen — the " free and the unfree." The former class was again split into " lesser men," " middle men," and "first men," or Athelinge (Adelige), these last named being of noble blood, and owners of most land and the greatest number of slaves and cattle. The " unfree " were either Hcerige that be longed to the estate they tilled, and might be sold RELIGION OF THE ALAMANNI. 49 with it, or slaves who could call nothing their own, for whatever they saved fell to their lord at their death, if he so willed. A shire or large district was subdivided into hundreds. The whole of the free men met on some hallowed spot, under some sacred tree, with their priests and leaders. Here, besides per forming religious exercises, they discussed war and peace, dispensed justice, chose their officers of state, and their leader if war was imminent. War and jurisdiction were the whole, or well-nigh the whole, of public life at that early stage. The popular assemblies, done away with by the feudal system, revived later on in the form of the famous " Lands gemeinde " of the forest district, which are still in use in some of the cantons. Blood money, or wergild, was exacted from wrong-doers as in Saxon times in England. The tariff drawn up for bodily injuries reveals the mercenary and brawling temper of a semi- civilized people. At the time they settled in Switzerland the Alamanni were heathens, and worshipped nature- deities — in groves, near springs, or mountains — the names of some of which we still trace in the names of the days of the week. Their religion, which was that common to all Germany, reveals the German mind — full of reverie, deep thoughtfulness, and wild romantic fancy that leads to a tragical issue. Like most heathen people the Alamanni clothed their gods in their own flesh and blood. Woden and his attendant deities, shield-maidens — Freyr and Freya, the king and queen of the elves — dwarfs, giants, spirits — all these are well known to us, and are indeed the charm 50 THE ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS NATION. of the fairy tales of our youth. The bright spirits, the Asen, war against the spirit of darkness, the giants, and lose ground, for they have broken the treaties made with them. The Asen are the benevo lent powers of nature, spring sunshine, and fertilizing rain, and live in bright palaces, in Walhalla, and receive the dead ; the evil spirits are the sterile rock, the icy winter, the raging sea, the destructive fire. Thor destroys the rocks with his Hammer, pounding them to earth that man may grow corn. The giants scale the sky to defy the gods for assisting mankind, but Heimdallr stands watching on the rainbow-bridge that leads to Asgard — the garden of the Asen — and prevents their entrance. But the gods them selves are stained with guilt, and in a fight with the Giants before the gates of Walhalla, they utterly destroy each other. The columns of heaven and the rainbow-bridge break down, the universe is destroyed and the downfall of the gods is complete. But the heathen Germans could not bear the notion of entire annihilation, so in a sort of epilogue the great tragedy is followed by the dawn of brighter and better times, the gods recover their former innocence, when they used to play with golden dice without knowing the value of gold.1 The Gdtterddmmerung, the Divine Dawn, has broken, and a new epoch has set in for gods and men. One of Wagner's musical dramas is, as is well known, founded on these myths. To turn to the Burgundians. They became the neighbours of the Alamanni in Helvetia about 443 A.D., after a severe defeat by the Huns. This great battle 1 Dahn. STORY OF THE " NIBELUNGENLIED." 51 is pictured with great power in the " Nibelungenlied." The Burgundians play a conspicuous part in that grand old epic. A wonderful blending it is of heroic myth, beautiful romance, and historic sagas attaching to the great heroes of the early Middle Ages — Theodoric the Great, Gunther of Burgundy, Attila, King of the Huns. If space permitted, the whole story might well be told, but in this place let one feat be cited as an example. Siegfried, the Dragon- slayer, a demigod, invulnerable, like Achilles, except in one place, and who could make himself invisible, woos the sweet and lovely maid of Worms. As " invisible champion," he assists her brother Gunther in his combat with the warlike Brunhilde, Queen 01 the North, whom Gunther wishes to obtain to wife. After years of happy married life the Queen of Worms fell to a quarrel with the Queen of Xanten on a question of precedence, and the gallant Siegfried falls a victim to Brunhilde's hatred, and her intrigue with Hagen. To avenge his death, the disconsolate widow marries the powerful Attila, and engages in a terrible battle with the Burgundians. In this battle she and her own kindred were slain. Attila and Dietrich of Verona (Theodoric the Great) are saved, however. Aetius gave to the Burgundians as a settlement Sabaudia (Savoy), on condition that they should protect Gaul and Italy from the incursions of the Alamanni. One-third of the lands and homesteads were made over to them by the Romans, and later two-thirds were yielded. Gradually the Burgundians advanced in the interior of Helvetia, Vaud, Valais, EIGER IN THE BERNESE OBERLAND. THE BURGUNDIANS. 53 and Fribourg, and into Southern Gaul. They occupied indeed all the territory from the Vosges to the Alps and the Mediterranean. They lived on friendly terms with the previous settlers, differing considerably in character from the Alamanni. Less numerous, less vigorous, and more pliant, they were unable to Ger manize the West, as the Alamanni did the East, yet were strong enough to infuse new vital force into the enervated Roman populations. A readily cultivable race the Burgundians availed themselves of the Roman civilization and advancement, and gradually blended with the previous settlers — chiefly of Latin origin — to form a new people. Thus through Roman in fluence and German grafting — with two distinct German grafts — two nationalities sprang up in Swit zerland, and we find, as in our own day, the Germans in the ncrth-east, and the French in the south-west. The Roman influence over the Burgundians was greatly increased by the policy of King Gundobad (AD. 500). He had visited Italy, and had been greatly taken with Roman institutions. There is still extant a letter of his in which he begs of Theedoric the Great a sun- or water-dial which he had seen at his Court. Gundobad's code of laws was a blend ing of Roman legislation with German jurisdiction. He introduced the Latin speech and chronology officially, and gave the Romans equal rights and an equal standing with the German population. Re ligious differences arising— the Burgundians were Arians — and conflicts ensuing between king and people, the Franks took advantage of the turmoils to bring the subjects of Gundobad under their sway. 54 THE ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS NATION. There was no love lost between the Alamanni and their neighbours, the Burgundians ; indeed the national antipathy for each other was great, but the Frankish domination did more than anything else towards bringing about a union between the hostile peoples. The reports they have left as to the character of the Franks are not flattering. They said that the Franks were capable of breaking an oath with a smiling face, and a saying ran, " Take a Frank for a friend, but never for a neighbour." Clovis, the Frankish king, had waded to the throne through the blood of his own kin. He was, however, the first to take more extended views in politics, and planned a united German kingdom after the type of the Roman Empire. To his vast scheme the Alamanni fell the first victims. A great battle was fought in* which they suffered defeat. Clovis had vowed that he would embrace Christianity if he should prevail against the Alamannic Odin. Victory falling to his side, Clovis and his nobles were baptized. His conversion was a great triumph for the Church, and furnished the Merovingian kings with a pretext for the conquest of the Arian Germans, who had been led astray from the orthodox faith. To crown the work and enhance his greatness in the eyes of his Roman and German subjects, the imperial purple, and the title of Roman Patricius was bestowed on Clovis by the Greek emperor. The subjection of Burgundy was brought about in the following reign, under Sigismund, who had been guilty of the murder of his son by the desire of the stepmother. He fled to St. Maurice, which he FRANKISH RULE. 55 endowed so richly that it gave shelter to upwards of five hundred monks. However, his piety did not bring him victory, for the Burgundians were defeated by the Franks at Autun in 532, and Sigismund and his family were hurled down a well. In the same year Chur-Rhaetia was yielded to the Franks by the Goths, who required their help against the East. Rhaetia, which had escaped the German invasion, had fallen to the share of the Goths of Italy, and had enjoyed the protection and munificence of their glorious king, Theodoric the Great. He defended her against her neighbours as a forepost 01 Italy, but left intact the Roman institutions. Thus had Helvetia been formed into a Frankish dependency ; not a vestige was left of the very name Helvetia. Yet the Frankish rule was more nominal than real. Counts were appointed to govern shires and hundreds, and, being royal governors, were elected by, and dependent on, the Frankish kings. Jurisdiction, military command, summoning to war, raising of taxes — fishing, hunting, coinage, had become royal prerogatives — and the farmers kicked against the impositions — these were the functions of the governing counts. None the less the Burgundians retained their king or patricius, and the Alamanni remained under the sway of their own duke, to whom alone they gave allegiance. Chur-Rhaetia was par ticularly privileged. It was ruled by a royal gover nor, who was supreme judge, count, and praises, and the dignity remained for one hundred and fifty years in one powerful and wealthy native family called the Victoriden, who held likewise the eccle- 56 THE ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS NATION. siastical livings. On its extinction in 766, Bishop Tello, the last of the family, bestowed the immense wealth on the religious-houses of Disentis and Chur. The promotion of Christianity, and the staunch support given by the Merovingian kings to the Church, were perhaps the greatest benefits resulting from the Frankish rule. Knowing the Church to be the sole means by which in that benighted age culture could be spread and civilization extended, those monarchs availed themselves of her services, and bestowed upon her in return great wealth and high prerogatives. Churches and religious-houses sprang up one could hardly tell how. In French Switzerland there were founded the bishoprics of Geneva, Lausanne, and Sion ; and in the eastern half of the country those of Basel, Vindonissa (removed to Constance in the sixth century), and Chur. St. Maurice, benefited, as we have seen, by Sigismund. was a flourishing abbey town. Yet many of the Alamanni held tenaciously to their old gods, and their holy shrines and idols stood side by side with the Cross ; even Christians invoked Woden, for fear he should be offended by their neglect. The further amalgamation of heathenism and Christianity was most effectually stopped by — curious to say— a caravan of Irish monks. In fact, later tradition attributed to these monks the foundation of religious-houses, to a number which modern investi gation has shown to have been greatly exaggerated. Ireland, which had so far escaped the struggle with the great Teutonic race, had given all her energies to the promotion of the new faith, and ever since the IRISH MISSIONARIES. 57 fourth century Christianity had wonderfully flourished in the island. Filled with missionary ardour, the Irish Columban conceived an intense desire to conquer Gaul and Germany, and in 610 set out on his wanderings with a staff of twelve companions. Equipped with "knotty sticks," a leather vial, a travelling pouch, a relic case, and with a spare pair of boots hung round the neck, " tatooed, " wearing long waving hair,1 the adventurous band arrived in Gaul, and founded monasteries in the Vosges district. However, they offended Queen Brunhilde by their frankness, and had to depart. Proceeding to Eastern Helvetia, they arrived at Zurich, but at length finding nothing more to do there, as we may suppose, they proceeded to Tuggen, on the Upper Zurich lake. Here they saw people engaged in an oblation of beer to the national gods. Moved with holy anger, the monks upset the vessel, and flung the idols into the lake, and won many to Christianity. We cannot here follow them in their devoted labours. Columban passed on into Italy, but left his disciple Gallus in the neighbourhood of Lake Constance. Hence sprang up the famous monastery bearing his name. 1 Professor Rahn. V. THE CAROLINGIANS — CHARLEMAGNE. Under the last Merovingian kings, whose character is sufficiently attested by the name of Faine'ants — sluggards — Alamannia and Burgundy struggled to shake off the Frankish yoke. Now the wealth and power of those weak kings were passing from them to their " Mayors of the Palace." Charles Martel, one of these " Mayors," defeated the Alamanni in a great battle (A.D. 730), and Carlomann, Charlemagne's brother, had a number of Alamannic grandees put to the sword, and their lands confiscated (A.D. 746). Charles Martel remained simple " Mayor of the Palace," but Pepin le Bref had himself crowned king, at St. Denis, by Stephen II. , in 751, rewarding the Pope for this great service by the gift of a tract of land around the Holy City. By this coup d 'e'tat were established both the Carolingian dynasty and the temporal power of the Pope — well-nigh convertible terms. The new dynasty greatly fostered religion, and furthered the work begun by the Irish and Anglo- Saxon monks. St. Gall's cell became an abbey THE POLICY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 59 church and monastic school ; St. Leodegar's at Lucerne was incorporated with the abbey of Murbach in Alsatia ; and on the bank of the Limmat at Zurich arose a college of prebends. Pepin le Bref was succeeded by his son, Charles the Great, or Charlemagne, as he is usually called (768-814). For nearly half a century this talented, powerful, and lofty-minded sovereign swayed the destinies of Europe with unflagging zeal, ever bearing in mind the responsibilities of his exalted position, He ruled over a vast domain, stretching from the Ebro in Spain to the Theiss in Hungary, and from Denmark to the Tiber. Saxons, Sclavonians, Avars, Lombards, and Arabs, were subject to his rule. His Court was a great intellectual centre, whence enlighten ment spread to every part of his dominions. Charle magne was great as a general, as a statesman, as a politician ; he was a painstaking economist, and his humanity, and his other virtues secured for him the noble title of ." Father of Europe." A brilliant figure in a benighted age, which shed its light on after times. No wonder mediaeval fancy lingered fondly on his memory ; and around his name gathered song and saga and legend. Charlemagne is a special favourite with the Swiss ; indeed, of all the German rulers who have held sway over them, he is the one whose memory is most dear ; and Switzerland has done at least her share in helping to swell the mass of legend and fiction respecting him. The impulse he gave to education in this country was alone sufficient to endear his memory to the Swiss. Basel, Geneva, Chur, and Sion, benefited by his wise administration, 60 THE CAROLINGIANS. CHARLEMAGNE. and Zurich quite particularly exalts him, calling him the " Fountain of her intellectual life," during the Middle Ages. It is impossible as it is unnecessary to give at length in this volume, the history of this long and brilliant reign. A few points may suffice to indicate the character of Charlemagne, and to throw some light on the times, and the condition of the country. The ambition of the Franks to found an empire after the fashion of Rome was practically realized when Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the West by Hadrian in A.D. 800. Yet Charles aimed less at mere outward grandeur than at the establish ment of a spiritual kingdom on earth, and a kingdom that should embrace all his people in one Christian Church, upheld by a strong and well-organized state- commonwealth. The union of Church and State, yet giving the preponderance to the latter, was Charlemagne's leading idea, and well-nigh summed up his religious and political creed. The strong religious bent of this "priestly king" was revealed at the very beginning of his reign, when he took upon himself the mission of" Defender of the Holy Church, and Coadjutor of the Apostolic See," I thus claiming, with the concurrence of the Primate, the spiritual guidance of his realm. Hadrian's congenial nature and tendencies helped to bring about this union. Yet in this matter Charles but conformed to the policy of his ancestors, and to the spirit of the age, an age remarkable for acts of piety and devotion. 'See Biidinger, "Von den Anfangen des Schulzwanges, " Zurich, 1865, p. 10, THE SHIRE ADMINISTRATIONS. 6l And the history of Switzerland is for that period rather a history of the religious movements of the time than a political chronicle. For in those early stages the Church was proportionally far more important than in our own times. Then she was the sole, or almost the sole, centre of intellect, of art, of letters, and represented the ideal side of life in an illiterate age. Despite her defects the Church was a blessing to mankind. Helvetian lands had entirely lost their political independence. During this reign, the vigorous government of the monarch frustrated every attempt at insurrection, and in the end both Alamanni and Burgundians began to feel the benefits arising from the existence of a wise and firm administration. To curb their power the sovereign abolished the dignities of the mighty dukes, and parcelled out the land into smaller shires (than the old county divisions), and placed over these counts as royal governors with judicial power. The people no longer appeared in corpore at the shire-motes, but were represented at the lesser court by Schceffen, or reeves. These reeves had to bring in the verdict ; if they could not agree, trial-by- ordeal was resorted to. Twice a year Charles assembled his nobles and bishops to receive their reports, and to frame laws, which were, however, submitted to the people, that is, the " freeholders " at the "real thing," when they met in May. For the control of the shire administration, and to give the people a means of appealing more directly to the king's justice, he appointed a special commission of spiritual and temporal officers (missi dominiei). 62 THE CAR0LING1ANS. CHARLEMAGNE. Charlemagne's legislation, it hardly needs to be said, was highly favourable to the Church, and tended to increase her wealth largely. He allotted to her tithes of the produce of the soil, and the people of their own free will overwhelmed the ecclesiastical and monastic institutions with offerings of lands and money. In the eighth century the monastery of St. Gall already possessed 160,000 acres of land, which had been bestowed by pious donors, whilst the twelve hundred deeds-of-gift found amongst the old abbey documents testify to the zeal of the givers. Religious establishments became the largest landowners in the country, and vassalage and the feudal system sprang up. Under the territorial subdivision Switzerland fell into the shires of Thurgau, Aargau, Genevagau, Waldgau (Vaud), &c, far larger than at present, whence are derived the names of various cantons as we have them now. Some of the Swiss would seem to have shared in Charlemagne's military glory. The " Monk of St. Gall," T recently identified with Notker Balbulus (the Stammerer), the popular biographer of Charlemagne, tells in bombastic style the feats of an Alamannic hero from Thurgau. This mediaeval Hercules — Eishere the Giant by name — had accom panied the emperor against the Avars, and after his return, reported that they had " mowed down the enemy like grass," and that he himself had " strung on his lance some six or eight pigmy toads of Bohemians as if they were larks, then carried them 1 Professor Bachtold, "History of German Literature in Switzer land," Frauenfeld, 1887. PRIVATE LIFE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 63 hither and thither, not knowing what they were grumbling out " ! Notker, the chronicler, had in his youth heard the story of the military exploits of Charlemagne, from an old Thurgau soldier who had followed the emperor in his wars. And when Charles III. was on a visit to St. Gall in 883, he was so delighted with the monk's lively chat about the matchless emperor, that he requested him to write down his recollections of his illustrious ancestor. To this monkish chronicler we owe so many of the pleasant stories of Charlemagne current among us.1 Interesting and touching are the traits we con stantly meet with in the glimpses we get of the Court and private life of the emperor. His daughters were not allowed to marry because he could not bear sepa ration from them. Hatto of Basel, the most illus trious of his elder bishops, often inveighed against the monarch's weaknesses, yet Charlemagne not only bore the bishop's censures, but sent him on a highly honourable mission to the Court of Constantinople, and chose him as one of the witnesses to his last will. The emperor's friendship with Pope Hadrian was quite remarkable, and, in spite of many differences, was deep and lasting. On hearing the news of Hadrian's death, Charlemagne burst into tears, and eulogized him in the most flattering terms. The emperor's management of his royal estates was in the highest degree prudent, skilful, energetic, and in every way admirable. To his property he gave the 1 Professor Bachtold, " History of German Literature in Switzer land," Frauenfeld, 1887. 64 THE CAROLINGIANS. CHARLEMAGNE. closest and most constant inspection, down to the very eggs produced on his farms. He gathered round him scholars, artists, and teachers, from Italy and Greece, and a Court school was opened by Alcuin, the Anglo-Saxon scholar — the English were then the most cultured of the German peoples — and a body of English pupils followed him to France. Alcuin became the friend, and in matters educational the counsellor, of Charle magne, by whom he was entrusted with the revision of the Bible. Warnfried Paulus Diaconus, the famous Lombard writer, was ordered to compile a collection of homilies from the Fathers. Copies of both these remarkable manuscripts — Bible and Homilies — were presented to the church of Zurich, and one, the beautiful Alcuin Bible, is still extant and among its literary treasures. Thronging the learned circle whose poetic centre was Charles himself, with his wife and daughters, and two sisters, were Einhard the German, the confidant and biographer of the emperor; Augilhard, the knightly poet; the Goth Theobald, Bishop of Orleans, a scholar and man of the world ; as well as many another illustrious man. Charlemagne's two sisters were nuns, and one of them, Gisela, was the great friend of Alcuin.1 Charlemagne was fond of visiting and occasionally teaching in his Court school. He took great interest in the progress of his scholars, praising the diligent and admonishing the indolent. The " Monk " in forms us that on one occasion finding the compositions of the poorer boys praiseworthy, whilst those of the 1 See Gustav Freytag's charming " Pictures of the Middle Ages." CHARLEMAGNE'S ZEAL FOR EDUCATION. 65 young nobles were unsatisfactory, the emperor rose up in anger and warned these latter youths that their high birth and fine manners should not screen them from punishment if they did not get rid of their laziness. Then, turning to the poor but meritorious youths, he highly commended them, and exhorted them to be always thus diligent, promising them rewards and preferment if they continued in their good course. Charlemagne indeed gained imperish able glory by his educational efforts, through which a foundation was laid for after ages. Full of the conviction that religion and learning were essential to happiness, he yearned to spread education amongst his people, and made it the chief object of his later years. All parents ought, he says, "to send their boys to school, and let them abide there till they are well informed," a principle only imperfectly under stood and acted upon even in our own day. This ideal side of his complex activity lifts him far above the other rulers of the Middle Ages. To our mind there is but one who bears comparison with him for greatness of character and lofty aims — Alfred the Great, of Wessex. Clerical colleges, and secular schools attached to them, sprang up all over the country, and the knowledge of the Scriptures, hitherto confined to the clergy, was freely placed before the people. The bishops were charged by the emperor to take care that the priests were " well qualified as religious teachers." Theobald enjoins his clergy to open schools and "teach the children with love, and to accept no fees but what the parents choose to give." 66 THE CAROLINGIANS. CHARLEMAGNE. Such was the emperor's educational zeal, that he ordains whipping and deprivation of food even for men and women if they do not know by heart the Confession of Faith and the Lord's Prayer, and are not able to repeat them in Latin to the priests. Yet he makes allowances for the dunces who are permitted to learn and repeat these exercises in their own illiterate language. He admonishes the monks to learn better grammar, and get rid of their uncouth modes of speech. He strongly reprimands a choir boy whose wrong notes grate on his delicate ear. Amongst the bishops of Switzerland, Hatto of Basel, and Remedius of Chur-Rhaetia, were Charle magne's chief supporters and lawgivers in their own dioceses. The latter prelate was a great friend of Alcuin, and held a brilliant Court with many vassals. The power of these theocratic governors was very great. It may be mentioned, as an example of this, that Remedius decreed that persons guilty of sacrilege should be covered with hot tar and made to ride thus on a donkey through the villages. The emperor's protection to church and school foundations was exercised in many cases in Switzerland. According to tradition, Sion was enriched with landed property ; and to St. Maurice was presented a fine onyx cup adorned with beautiful Greek relievi, still amongst the treasures of that church. Zurich attributes her oldest churches and schools to the emperor's bounty. To him she is said to owe her minster, bearing his name and statue; the Chorherrenstift, or College of Canons, and the Carolinum, a clerical school for prebends or canons, which developed in 1832 into the GREAT MINSTER AND WASSERKIRCHE, ZURICH. (Appenzeller, Zurich.) 68 THE CAROLINGIANS. CHARLEMAGNE. University and Gymnasium respectively, and finally the Wasserkirche, a chapel by the riverside, on the spot where the martyrs Felix and Regula once suffered. Zurich was indeed, according to tradition, a favourite residence of the great monarch, and his mansion is said to have been the Haus zum Loch (hole or cavern), standing on a steep incline near the minster. Connected with this is a charming legend which reflects the character for justice he had gained amongst the people. This story may also serve as an example, the only one our space will permit us to give, of the abundant store of legend collected around the memory of Charlemagne. There was a chapel on the riverside where he had placed a bell for people to ring if they wished to appeal to justice. One day as he was at dinner with his queen this bell began to ring. None of the servants could inform him what was the matter. The bell rang a second time, and then a third. On this the emperor rose from the table, saying, " I am sure there is some poor man you don't wish me to see." So saying, he walked down the hill to the chapel, where, hanging to the bell rope, he found a large snake. The reptile crept down, moved towards him, and wagged her tail to pay her respects. Then going on in front she led Charle magne to a tuft of nettles, and his servants examining the spot found a large toad sitting on the eggs in the serpent's nest. At once, grasping the meaning of this appeal, he sat him down in his chair of justice and passed sentence that the toad should be killed and quartered. The next day at dinner time the snake CHARLEMAGNE AND THE SNAKE. 6g appeared in the passage, frightening the attendants grievously. However, Charles quieted them, and said, "God is wonderful, and we cannot know the meaning of this." The snake entered the hall, climbed on the table, and, beckoning the emperor to remove the lid of his golden goblet, dropped into it a beautiful jewel. Then, descending from the table, she bowed to the royal couple, and disappeared. Charles held this to be a good omen, and resolved never to part with the jewel. The moral is obvious. Charlemagne was so just, and his reputation for equity so widespread, that even the lower animals appealed to him, and not in vain. According to another version, the stone exerted attraction like a loadstone, for where it was dropped the emperor could not leave the place. But Arch bishop Turpin had dropped it into the springs of Aachen, and hence Charlemagne no more quitted that royal residence. It would be impossible in our space, even if it were interesting to the general reader, to enter into the discussions respecting Charlemagne's foundations in and visits to Zurich. Two things, however, come out clearly ; first (thanks to the labours of the learned historian, Professor Georg von Wyss), that tradition is not entirely unworthy of trust, as there is documentary evidence still extant to prove that Charlemagne reformed the College (Chorherrenstift) ; second, that he kept up a close connection with the city, whether he actually resided there or not. No doubt this exaltation of Charlemagne's merits is an expression of the attachment felt for his person, 70 THE CAROLINGIANS. CHARLEMAGNE. and of the admiration for his marvellous educational efforts. His grandson, Louis the German, founded the Abbey of our Lady, in 853, on the site of an old convent erected to the memory of the patron saints of Zurich. Louis erected this new abbey in order to give a more brilliant church preferment to his daughter, Hildgard, Lady Principal of a small convent at Wurzburg. This Princess Abbess received the sole right of jurisdiction, and the convent rose rapidly, and with it extended the city commonwealth. (We shall show in a later chapter how this female govern ment checked the growth of political power in that city, and yet was the making of her.) VI. THE KINGDOM OF BURGUNDY; THE DUCHY OF SWABIA ; AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. (843-IIOO.) The death of the great emperor brought this realm into utter confusion, the whole fabric of his wise and firm administration falling to pieces. All the hetero geneous and often refractory elements which his stern rule had kept in check burst their bounds and gained full play during the reigns of his descendants, who grew weaker and weaker, though with here and there an exception. The pretensions of the Church, which Charlemagne's own protection and fostering care had, so to speak, ushered in and strengthened ; the struggles of eminent families and dynastic houses for sovereignty in the absence of one central and undis puted power ; the increase of the immunities and the growth of feudalism — all these were serious difficulties for the coming rulers to cope with. Louis the Pious, the only surviving son of Charle- 72 THE KINGDOM OF BURGUNDY. magne, and heir to his crown, was clearly quite unfit to cope with these difficulties satisfactorily. The un timely distribution of the crown lands insisted on by the imperious Judith, his second wife, in favour of her own son, and the protracted struggles between the imperial princes, steeped the realm in intestine wars, and in the end led to its dissolution. It is impossible in this short sketch to follow to his tragical end this unworthy son of a great father. The treaty of Verdun (843) settled the bloody conflicts, but split the empire into three new dominions ; the East Frankish realm devolving on Louis the German : the West Frankish kingdom falling to Charles the Bald ; and the middle district, including Italy and the strip of land between the two first divisions just mentioned, and comprising Provence, Burgundy, Lorraine, and the Netherlands. This last realm fell to Lothair. The treaty of Verdun, to which the French, and German States trace their origin, also effected the most sweeping changes in Helvetia, and altered greatly its political aspect. The country was rent into two halves, East Switzerland, forming the Aare, with Chur-Rhaetia, being incorporated with the East Frankish kingdom ; and West Helvetia and the Valais with Lorraine or the middle kingdom. This naturally tended to revive the national antagonism between the two Helvetias. Freed from the iron hand which had crushed all attempts at insurrection, the peoples began again their struggles for the recovery of national indepen dence and separate rule, and thence came the restora tion of the kingdom of Burgundy and the Duchy of RUDOLF THE GUELF. 73 Alamannia, or Swabia.1 Burgundy was the first to make sure of her national freedom. On the death of Lothair in 855 his kingdom fell to pieces. Count Boso, of Vienna, his relative, founded the kingdom of Burgundy without Helvetia, 879 (Provence or Aries — Arelatisches Reich). After fruitless attempts by various Burgundian nobles to establish their sovereignty within Helvetia, a renowned nobleman, Rudolf, of the illustrious house of the Guelfs, set up as a pretender to Swiss Burgundy, after the precedent of Count Boso. Rudolf possessed vast estates in Swabia, on Lake Constance. He had sworn allegiance to Charles III. (the " Stout "), who, weak as he was, had, strange to say, once more united the Empire under his sceptre. On his death, in 888, Rudolf the Guelf was crowned king at St. Maurice, the venerable abbey-town in the Low-Valais, by a large assembly of Burgundian bishops and nobles. Thus was established the Helvetian kingdom of Upper or New Burgundy (Bur- gundia transjurans), which seems to have extended into Lorraine and Savoy. In 933 both Burgundies were united. Rudolf not only maintained his independence against the aggressive spirit of intruding neighbours, but carried his victories into East Helvetia, as far as Lake Zurich, and on his death in 912 his crown passed without opposition to his son Rudolf II. This king had inherited his father's great abilities and rest less habits, which engaged him in numerous wars. 1 It is perhaps preferable to use the word Swabia instead of Alamannia so often. Freeman in his essay on the Holy Empire speaks of the Swabian Emperors, the Hohenstaufen. 74 THE KINGDOM OF BURGUNDY. His greatest martial achievement was the defeat of the Hungarians, who were making their fearful inroads into Europe. In East Helvetia, however, his advance was checked by Burkhard I., Duke of Alamannia, who routed him at Winterthur, near Zurich, in 919. Led no doubt by their mutual admiration for each other's prowess, and by common political interests, they made peace and contracted a lasting friendship. To seal the union between the two Helvetias, Burkhard gave his lovely daughter, Bertha, in marriage to the Burgundian king, and gave her as dowry the land between the Aare and the Reuss, the district for which he had been contending. He even followed Rudolf on his expedition to Italy, and fell in a skir mish whilst succouring his son-in-law. But Rudolf was unable to maintain the authority of his Italian crown, and exchanged his claim to Lombardy for the kingdom of Lower Burgundy (Provence) in 933 ; this arrangement was, however, much contested. When not engaged in wars he assisted his queen in her good works. The Burgundian kings as yet had no fixed residence, and moved from place to place on their royal estates — to Lausanne, Payerne, Yverdon, Solothurn, or Lake Thun. When making these rounds Rudolf loved to do as the judges of Israel of old — to seat himself under the shade of a fine oak and deal out justice to whoever might come near and appeal to him. Yet the memory of this good king is almost eclipsed by the glory of his wife, the famous " Spinning Queen," and her wisdom and ministry amongst the poor. Things went less pleasantly with the Alamanni. ABBEY OF ST. GALL. 75 Their efforts to restore separate or self-government — the passionate yearning for national independence innate in the German tribes has done much to bring about the division of the German Empire into its many kingdoms, principalities, and duchies — met with far steadier and more violent opposition than was the case with the Burgundians. Under the pacific rule of Louis the German (843-876) the Alamanni enjoyed the benefits of his peaceful tendencies, and we hear of no attempts at insurrection. This sensible and practical monarch left to East Helvetia the " remembrance of him in good works." Two things brought him into close relations with this country — his founding of the Abbey of our Lady at Zurich, where he installed his daughters Hildegard and Bertha, as has been stated before ; and his benefactions to St. Gall, which he freed from the overlordship of Constance. Indeed, the chronicler of this latter institution, Notker, Monachus S. Gallensis, would seem to have been fascinated by his personal charms and affable manners. Promoted to the posi tion of an independent abbey, owing allegiance to none but the king himself, and enriched by continual grants of land on the part of pious donors, St. Gall developed into a flourishing monastic commonwealth. The peaceful colony of thrifty and studious monks — Benedictines they were — who, like their Irish founder, combined manual labour with learned contemplation, earnest study, and literary skill — form a society quite unique in its way. The holy men "conjure into their cells the departed spirits of classical antiquity," J and 1 Dierauer. 76 THE KINGDOM OF BURGUNDY. hold free intercourse with them ; given to ecclesias tical learning, whilst not neglectful of profane studies, these learned and high-bred scholars constitute a truly mediaeval university. Their life and character is vividly set before us by their chroniclers. Arnulf of Kaernthen (887-899), grandson of Louis, kept up a close connection with St. Gall, through his chaplain, Solomon III., its abbot. He governed the East Frankish kingdom with firmness and great ability. The military glory of the Carolingians seemed to be restored when he defeated the Normans brilliantly at Laewen on the river Dyle. Unfortunately this vigorous ruler died after a short reign, leaving his crown to his only son, Louis " the Child," then only six years of age. Through the reign of this sickly prince (900-911) the country was torn by party struggles, and the invasions of the Hungarians in creased the distresses of the time. Contemporary writers seem hardly able to express the horror they felt at the very sight of the Asiatics, who appeared even loathsome to them. Arnulf was reproached with having launched them upon Europe when he led them against his enemies, the Maehren ; whilst Charle magne's policy had been altogether opposed to this, he having shut them in by raising gigantic walls on the Danube against the Avars. These were followers of the Huns of the fifth century, and resembled them by their savage warfare and indescribable habits. " Woe to the realm whose king is a child," writes Solomon III. to a befriended bishop; "all are at variance, count and vassals, shire and boundary neighbours ; the towns rise in rebellion, the laws are SOLOMON THE ABBOT. jy trampled under foot, and we are at the mercy of the savage hordes." Such was the condition of the country at the opening of the tenth century. Solomon, who wrote these lamentations, was himself a powerful political ruler no less than a Church potentate. Next to Archbishop Hatto, of Mayence, who governed during the minority of Louis, Solomon was the most influential man at the German Court, and wielded its destinies after Hatto's death. This high-born Church man, educated as a secular priest at St. Gall, became secretary, chaplain, and chancellor, at the German Court, and enjoyed the friendship of four successive monarchs. Promoted by Arnulf to the Abbey of St. Gall in 890, and shortly afterwards to the see of Con stance, he thus combined the dignities of the two rival institutions. Subtle, versatile, and indefatigable, this high ecclesiastic was the most consummate courtier and man of the world. Handsome and mag nificent, he captivated his hearers in the council by the clearness of his argument and his ready wit ; and melted the people to tears by his eloquence in the pulpit. His leadership at St. Gall promoted the mag nificence of the abbey, and formed it into a prominent literary and political centre. It was, however, robbed of its ascetic character, Solomon being wanting in genuine piety, for one thing. The absolute rule of this powerful prelate greatly checked the national risings of the Swabian leaders, for he strenuously maintained the oneness of Church and State. Conrad I. (911-919), the last of the East Frankish kings, gave all his energies to the one aim of strengthening and solidifying his rule 78 THE KINGDOM OF BURGUNDY. by the suppression or abolition of the dukedoms, which he saw undermined the power of the sovereign. Relying on the support of the clergy, he was strongly influenced by Solomon's insinuations when he put forth his bloody measures against the Swabian pre tenders. During the reign of Louis the Child the state of anarchy had begotten numerous national risings, which led to the establishment of the Bavarian, Frankish, and Saxon duchies. At its very close a similar attempt was ventured upon in Alamannia. Burkhard, Marquis of Chur - Rhaetia, afterwards Graubiinden, one of the most eminent of the Swabian grandees, put forward claims to the duchy. His sons were banished, and, it was whispered, by Solomon's machinations (911). Yet all this was no check on the aspirations of the two brothers, Erchanger and Bertold, brothers-in-law to the king, who aspired to the Duchy of Swabia. They, too, fell victims to the policy of the prelate, whose hatred was intensified when they laid hands on his person to arrest him. Conrad called a Synod to assist him, and heavy punishment was awarded the pretenders. However, the king had them beheaded, no doubt to please his chancellor. The cruel fate of the two made a deep impression on the people. Next year, when Burkhard, son of the unfortunate marquis, returned to his country whence he had fled — for he had joined in the rising of the two brothers, and had been summoned before the Synod — he was unanimously elected by the nobility and people (917). It was no small mortifi- THE FURKA PASS. 80 THE KINGDOM OF BURGUNDY. cation to both king and bishop to have their designs thus thwarted, the principle they had so vigorously opposed being carried out. The annals of St. Gall hear witness to the fact that Solomon was implicated in the murders, for though usually exalting his merits, they report that the mighty prelate repented of his cruel actions, since he wandered as a pilgrim to Rome, contrite, weeping and lamenting, to do penance for his sins. Conrad I., at the close of his reign, acknowledged that his policy had been a mistaken one by giving the crown to his most powerful antagonist, the Saxon leader, Duke Henry, whose power he had striven to abrogate. Henry I., called "the Fowler" and the "City Founder" (919-936), was the first German ruler who erected a true German kingdom. With quick discernment he founded the authority of the Crown on the union of the tribes, by reconciling their leaders and enforcing their submission through the ascendency of his own powerful Saxon tribe. Binding them by oath of fealty without detracting from their honour, he met with no opposition. His son, Otho I., the "Great," obtained the imperial crown in Rome, and increased the greatness of his new kingdom. Thus we find East Helvetia with Chur-Rhaetia forming part of Alamannia, and presently the whole country was absorbed into, and its destinies bound up with, the vast empire. Burkhard L, assuming the title of "Duke of Alamannia by Divine Right," bent to Henry's royal supremacy with little objection, no doubt feeling it a safeguard to his own position. His successors like- EKKEHARD. 8l wise held to Germany, and were faithful adherents of the emperors, who in their turn strove to knit Swabia more closely with the empire. This alliance was highly valued by them ; they had to pass through Chur-Rhaetia on their expeditions to Italy ; the Alamanni were famous for their prowess ; and their religious institutions, St. Gall, Rheinau, and Reiche- nau, were famous centres of culture. Swabia became a highly valuable fief to be granted at the pleasure of the emperors. On the death of Burkhard, who fell in a skirmish whilst accompanying his son-in-law, Rudolf of Burgundy, to the south, as we have seen above, the duchy devolved on the son of Otho I., and then on Burkhard II. of Chur-Rhaetia. He never swerved from his policy of holding to the empire, and his marriage with Otho's niece, whose beauty and courage and literary skill were celebrated in ballad and chronicle, drew the union still closer. On her husband's death, Hadwig inherited the title and his estates, but the duchy was granted to a friend of Otho II. She retired to her favourite residence, her manor on Mount Hohentwiel, near Lake Constance, where she lived in deep seclusion till her death in 994 A good Greek scholar and fond of learning, she invited young Ekkehard II. of St. Gall to her castle, and made him her chaplain and her tutor in classical studies. Hadwig is the central figure in Scheffel's brilliant novel " Ekkehard," which glows with life and sparkling humour, and is a fanci ful rendering of the amusing narratives contained in the St. Gall annals. The chronicler and the poet combining have produced an immortal work, 82 THE KINGDOM OF BURGUNDY. and shed a lasting glory on the cloisters of St. Gall. Another famous monastic institution that sprung up about this time, i.e., under the Saxon emperor Otto, and obtained, like Loretto, European fame as a place of pilgrimage, was that of Einsiedeln, in Canton Schwyz. In 1024 the Duchy of Swabia was vested in Ernest II., stepson of the Emperor Conrad II. of the Salic dynasty. A fierce struggle arose on the question of the succession to the Burgundian throne. Ernest claimed through his mother, and Conrad through his wife, niece to Rudolf III. Seeing his hopes frustrated Ernest, with his friend Werner of Kyburg, and his party, fell upon the imperial troops, and bloody frays occurred. Ernest was imprisoned, and the manor of Kyburg besieged ; but both friends escaped, and again combined in new opposition to Conrad. In order to break their union, the emperor promised his son installation in Burgundy if he would deliver up his friend. But this was indignantly re fused, the struggle began anew, and the gallant youths fell in a skirmish in 1030. Ernest was long a chief figure in mediaeval heroic poetry. GENEALOGICAL TABLES. I. The Carlowingians (so far as they concern this history). Charles Martel, 741. Carlomann. Pippin the Short, 768. Charlemagne, 814. Carlomann, 771. Charles, 811. Pippin, 810. Louis the Pious, 840= (1) Irmengare. (2) Judith. I Charles the Bald, 877. Lothair I., 855. Pippin, Louis the German, 876. 1 1 1 i i 1 Louis II., Lothair II., Charles of Provence. Carlomann, Louis, Charles III., 875- 867. 880. 882. 888. Irmengard = Count Boso of Burgundy. Arnulf of Kaernthur, 899 (natural son). Louis the Child, 911. Oo tr-- tu tot- Co II. Descent of the Saxon Emperors. Lindolf (made Duke of part of Savoy by Louis the German). Duke Otto, 912. Henry I., 936 (the " Fowler "). Otto I., 973 (the "Great"). L.indolf, Duke of Swabia. Lintgarde. Otto II., Emperor, 983. I . Otto II., Emperor, 1002. Henry of Bavaria. Henry the Quarrelsome (of Bavaria), 995. Henry IL, Emperor, 1024. III. Salic (Frankish) Emperors. Conrad II., 1038 (great grandson of Lintgarde). i Henry III., 1038-1056. Henry IV., 1056-1106. I Henry V., 1106-1125. (The Hohenstaufen follow.) tuft t-< O »--.O tu t-< tu tat-d> enfant du peuple as he was, rebelled against the tyranny of the patricians, and gave vent to his indignation in his writings. He thus ROUSSEAU S WRITINGS. 329 became the mouthpiece of a down-trodden people craving for liberty, of a society satiated with culture. His prize essay on " Arts and Sciences " is an answer in the negative to the question propounded by the Dijon Academy, Whether the New Learning had resulted in an improvement to morals. His next essay on " L'origine et les fondements de l'inegalitd " ROUSSEAU. is a sally against the state of society. In it he advo cates a return to the condition of nature, on which Voltaire sarcastically retorted, " I felt a great desire to go on all fours." " Emile " (1762), which Goethe calls the " gospel of education," declares against the hollowness of our distorted and over-refined civiliza tion, and advocates a more rational training based on PORTRAIT OF PESTALOZZI. (From a photograph of the statue, at Yverdon, by Lanz.] "EMILE" AND "CONTRAT SOCIAL." 331 nature. And Pestalozzi, pedagogue and philan thropist, though he styled " Emile " a " book of dreams," was yet nourished on Rousseau's ideas. " Emile" is opposed to deism and materialism on the one hand, whilst on the other it objects to revelation and miracles, and declares that existing religion is one-sided and unable to save mankind from intellectual slavery. The excitement the book created was im mense on both sides, and it was publicly burnt both at Paris and Geneva. Its author was compelled to flee. A similar untoward fate befel the same author's famous " Contrat Social," perhaps the most important political work of the eighteenth century. In this Rousseau advances much further than Montesquieu. Indeed the former was a strong Radical, whilst the latter might be more fittingly described as a Whig. Rousseau advocates republicanism, or rather a demo cracy, as the best form of government ; whilst Montes quieu points to the constitutional government of England as his model, insisting on the right to equality of all before the law. The " Contrat Social," as is well known, did much to advance the revolutionary cause, and became indeed the text book of the democracy, and formed the principal basis of the Constitution of 1793. But Rousseau himself was no agitator. On the contrary, when the burghers of Geneva rose on his behalf, to save " Emile " and the " Contrat " from the flames, he hesitated hardly a moment, but begged them to submit to order, as he disliked disorder and bloodshed. 332 INFLUENCE OF VOLTAIRE AND ROUSSEAU. His novel, "La Nouvelle Helofse " (1761), intro duced the romantic element, and opened a new era in literature. It was, in fact, a manifesto against a bewigged and bepowdered civilization. Poetry was invited to withdraw from the salons and come once more to live with nature. But this sudden onslaught on the stiff conventionalism and narrowness of the time was too much, and there ensued an outburst of excitement and feeling such as we in our day can scarcely realize. A great stream of sentiment poured into literature, and gave rise to that tumultuous " storm and stress " (Sturm und Drang) period in Germany, out of which sprang Schiller's " Rauber " (Robbers). Goethe caught up the prevailing tone of sentimentality and supersensitiveness in his "Werther" (1774). This tearful, boisterous period is but the outrush of a nation's pent-up feelings on its sudden emancipation from the thraldom of con ventionalism. And it led the way to the golden era in German literature, the era of Schiller and Goethe. The brilliant literary court of Madame de Stael at Coppet succeeded that of Voltaire at Ferney. Though born in Geneva she was in heart a Frenchwoman, and her native country but little affected her character. " I would rather go miles to hear a clever man talk than open the windows of my rooms at Naples to see the beauties of the Gulf," is a characteristic speech of hers. Yet amongst women-writers Madame de Stael is perhaps the most generous, the most lofty, and the grandest figure. Her spirited opposition to Napo leon, her exile, her brilliant coterie at Coppet, and MADAME DE STAEL. 333 her famous literary productions, are topics of the greatest interest, but as they do not specially concern Switzerland, they cannot be more than hinted at here. From the very depression, political and social, HALLER. prevailing in Swiss lands arose the yearning for and proficiency in letters and scientific culture which in the period now before us produced so prolific a literature in the country. And it was not in West 334 INFLUENCE OF VOLTAIRE AND ROUSSEAU. Switzerland alone that this revival of letters showed itself. Basel prided herself on her naturalists and mathematicians, Merian, Bernoulli, and Euler ; while Zurich could boast of her botanists, Scheuchzer and John Gessner. Bern produced that most distinguished naturalist, Haller, who was also a poet ; Schaffhausen claims Johannes von Muller, the brilliant historian ; and Brugg (Aargau) Zimmermann, philosopher and royal physician at Hanover. Bodmer and Breitinger formed an aesthetic critical forum at Zurich. And no country of similar area had so many of its sons occupying positions of honour in foreign universities. A whole colony of Swiss savants had settled at Berlin, drawn thither by the great Frederick ; others were to be found at Halle. Haller, who had lived at Gottingen ever since 1736, likewise received an invitation from Frederick, but found himself unable to accept it, being greatly averse to Voltaire and his influence. A perfect stream of Swiss intellect poured into Germany, and by its southern originality, greater power of expression, and its true German instinct, quickened German nation ality, and witnesses to the fact that there is ever passing between the two countries an intellectual current.1 It is impossible within the limits of the present volume to do more than touch upon the most characteristic literary movements of the period. Amongst the upper classes in Switzerland, French culture reigned supreme, just as did French fashions, 1 Switzerland was the cradle of the German drama in the sixteenth century; even the Oberammergau Passion play can be traced to a Swiss origin (Bachtold). ZURICH AS A LITERARY CENTRE. 335 French manners, and it may almost be said, the French language. Nevertheless, the Swiss were the first to throw off the French supremacy in literature, turning rather to England as a more congenial guide and pattern. Bodmer speaks of Shakespeare and Milton " as the highest manifestations of Germanic genius." As for German literature itself, it was still in a state of helplessness — what with the Thirty Years' War, and the German nobility given over to French tastes and French influence — and fashioned itself in foreign modes till the close of the Seven Years' War, in 1763, when it took the leading position it has ever since maintained. Bern and Zurich, which had both risen to wealth and independence, were stout opponents of the French policy. Both cities were homes of the belles lettres, and Zurich was a veritable "poets' corner." The chief figure there was Bodmer, who wielded the literary sceptre in Switzerland and Germany for well- nigh half a century. A fellow-worker with him, and his well-nigh inseparable companion, was Breitinger, and these two more than any others helped to break the French spell; Bodmer (1698-1783), was the son of a pastor of Greifensee, and had himself been at first destined for the church, though he was at length put to the silk trade. But neither calling could keep him from his beloved letters, and in 1725 he became professor of history and political science at the Zurich Carolinum. His aim was to raise literature from its lifeless condition. As far back as 1 721, he had joined with Breitinger and others, in establishing a weekly journal on the model of Addison's Spectator 336 INFLUENCE OF VOLTAIRE AND ROUSSEAU. — " Discurse der Maler." Breitinger was professor of Hebrew, and later on, canon of the minster of Zurich, and was a man of profound learning and refined taste. The new paper treated not only of social matters, but discussed poetry and belles lettres gene rally. Gottsched (1700- 1766), who occupied the chair of rhetoric at Leipzig, was supreme as a literary critic. His tastes were French, and he held up the French classics as models. In his " Critical Art of Poetry " (1730), he tries to teach what may be called the mechanics of poetry based on reason, and pretends that it is in the power of any really clever man to produce masterpieces in poetry. In 1732, appeared Bodmer's translation of " Paradise Lost," to the chagrin of Gottsched, who, feeling that he was losing ground, furiously attacked the Miltonian following. His mockery of the blind poet roused Bodmer's anger, and he replied with his work the " Wonderful in Poetry." A fierce controversy raged for ten years. In the name of Milton the young men of talent took the side of Zurich, that is, of the German, as opposed to the French influence in literature. The result was that by the efforts of such men as Haller, Klopstock, Wieland, and Kleist, the French influence was ousted and the national German influence came to the front. Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777), whom Goethe calls "the father of national poetry," was the first representative of the new school of poets which began to turn to nature for inspiration and illustration rather than to mere dead forms. His poems on the Alps (1732) paint the majestic beauty of the Bernese highlands, and contrast the humble and peaceful but KLOPSTOCK AND BODMER. 337 natural life of the shepherd with the luxurious and artificial life of the patrician, and the dweller in cities. Haller's writings made a great impression on the polite world.1 Klopstock it was, however, whom Bodmer welcomed as the harbinger of a new era, as the German Milton. Klopstock had been trained in the Swiss school of thought, and regarded Breitin- ger's "Critical Art" as his aesthetic bible, whilst Bodmer's translation of " Paradise Lost " inspired his epic, " Messiah." The first three cantos appeared in the "Bremer Beitrage " in 1748, and created such a furore that he was declared to be an immortal poet. Wieland's first poems were, in 175 1, published in the " Swiss Critic," and met with a reception hardly less favourable if somewhat less enthusiastic. A strong friendship springing up between Bodmer and the young Klopstock, the former offered the poet a temporary home at his Tusculum (still standing) on the slopes of Zurichberg, that he might go on with his great epic. The fine view of the lake and moun tains, the "highly cultivated city beneath," was greatly prized by Goethe who sounds its praises in "Wahrheit und Dichtung." However, Bodmer was disappointed with his young guest, for Klopstock loved the society of the young men and young women of his own age, and the progress made with the " Messiah " was well-nigh nil. However, it is to Klopstock's sojourn there, that we owe some of his 1 Haller, anxious to return to his native land, accepted an inferior post as director of salt-mines at Bex (Vaud), Bern, his native town, dis regarding his great merits, declining to offer him either a professorship or a seat on the governing board. 338 INFLUENCE OF VOLTAIRE AND ROUSSEAU. fine odes, especially that on Zurich lake. But mean while Bodmer's friendship had cooled, and Klopstock went to the house (in Zurich itself) of Hartmann Rahn, who later on married the poet's sister. With this same Rahn was some years afterwards associated the philosopher Fichte, when he lived at Zurich (1788). Fichte in fact married Rahn's daughter, Johanna. In 1752, Wieland z repaid Bodmer for his previous disappointments, by staying with him for some two years. Bodmer's zeal for the advance of literature was unremitting. Though he could not himself boast of much poetic genius, he was a prolific writer in both prose and verse. His great merit is his bringing to light again the fine old mediaeval poetry long since forgotten. The manuscript of the " Minnesanger " and the famous " Nibelungen " he had dug up from the lumber-room of Hohenems Castle. He moved, heaven and earth to obtain royal protection and patronage for German literature. But little did he gain at the court of the great Frederick. To Miiller, who presented the " Nibelungen," his majesty replied in characteristic fashion that the piece was not worth a single " charge of powder." Not less characteristic was Voltaire's reply when a request was made for the royal favour to Klopstock. " A new ' Messiah ' is too much of a good thing, the old one has not been read yet." Bodmer's influence on the young man of parts is noticeable. He gathered round him a large following of young Ziircher who had a taste for letters. 1 A daughter of Wieland was also married to the son of his great friend Gessner, the poet. OTHER WRITERS. 339 Crowds of them would accompany him in his evening walks in the avenue Platzspitz, drinking in his words of wit and wisdom. Of the disciples thus gathered round " Father " Bodmer — for so he was affectionately styled — some attained no little eminence in later life. Amongst them we may mention Sulzer, who became art professor at Berlin, and stood in high favour with the king ; and Solomon Gessner, the painter poet, whose word pictures are hardly less beautiful than the productions of his brush. His " Idylls," published in I7S&> gave him a European reputation. The work was translated into all the literary languages, and in France and Italy was read with great eagerness, a first edition in French being sold out within a fort night. Another important work is Hirzel's " Klein- jogg," or the " Socrates of the Fields." In this Hirzel, who was a physician and a philanthropist, brings to the fore the despised peasantry. " Klein- jogg " is not a work of fiction solely, but an account of Jakob Gujer who lived in a small Zurich village. Jakob was a man of great intelligence, indomitable resolution, and practical wisdom, who by his admirable management raised a wretched country home into a model farm. Goethe, who on a visit ate at his table, was delighted with the philosophic peasant, and called him " one of the most delicious creatures earth ever produced." Heinrich Pestalozzi, the philanthropist, but better known for his efforts in the cause of education, was also a Zurich man. His principles of education are embodied in his novel of rural life, " Lienhard and Gertrude" (1781). His ideas are partly borrowed 340 INFLUENCE OF VOLTAIRE AND ROUSSEAU. from Rousseau, but he failed to realize them in practice. The work at once won for Pestalozzi European fame. Ludwig Meyer von Knonau, a country magnate, was a poet and a painter, and wrote "Fables." Johannes Casper Lavater, Bodmer's ~**f£^x&!i' LAVATER. favourite pupil, stirred to their depth the patriotic feelings of his countrymen by his famous " Schweizer- lieder," which he composed for the Helvetic Society, in 1767. Indeed literary tastes seem to have been very prevalent amongst the Swiss at that time. LAVATER. 341 More of Winkelmann's great work on ^Esthetics were sold in Zurich and Basel then would in our own day probably be sold in such cities as Berlin and Vienna. And Solothurn, we find, produced thrice as many subscribers to Goethe's works as the great cities just mentioned. After Bodmer Lavater became the chief attraction at Zurich, and strangers flocked thither in great num bers to see him. He was the founder of the study of physiognomy, and his works on it were very largely read at the time. Goethe himself joined with Lavater in his " Essays on Physiognomy." The philosopher's personality being singularly charming and fascinating, he was one of the most influential men of his time. He was the pastor of St. Peter's church, and was full of high religious enthusiasm. He desired to take Christianity from its lifeless condition and make it a living thing, and was strongly opposed to rationalism — Anglo-French deism — then slowly creeping in, notwithstanding severe repressive measures against it. Goethe was for many years the close friend of Lavater, and carried on with him a brilliant correspondence. The great poet, it may be stated, paid no fewer than three visits to Zurich, viz., in 1775, 1779, and 1797. He considered his inter course with Lavater the " seal and crown " of the whole trip to Switzerland in 1779, and calls the divine the "crown of mankind," "the best among the best," and compares his friendship with "pas- tureland on heaven's border." Lavater's later years were marked by many eccentricities, and he fell into religious mysticism. But his sterling merits will not readily be forgotten by the Swiss. 342 INFLUENCE OF VOLTAIRE AND ROUSSEAU. A word respecting the Helvetic Society must close the present chapter. This society was founded in 1762, with the view of gathering together those who were stirred by political aspiration. It gradually united all those who desired the political regeneration of their fatherland, and the most prominent men of both East and West Switzerland, and of both confessions, joined the new society. The young patriots regularly met to discuss methods of improving the country and its institutions, and this in spite of the prohibitions of a narrow-minded executive, and the close control of the press. Stockar's scheme for amalgamating the free states into one republic mightily swelled the hearts of both Catholic and Protestant, and their efforts gave rise to many practical reforms. The most prominent result of these efforts was the rise of national education. Zurich with its higher schools occupied a leading position in the work of reform, and Pestalozzi established on his own estate a school for the poor. Unfortunately this admirable institu tion failed for want of a proper manager. Later on, after the Revolution, when the soil was better pre pared for it, Pestalozzi's system took vigorous root. XXIX. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND SWITZERLAND. (1790-1798.) NONE of our readers will need to be told the story of the French Revolution, nor shown that it was the natural outcome of previous misgovernment and oppression. Every one has read of the miseries of the lower classes — intolerable beyond description ; of the marvellous inability of the nobles and clergy to see that amidst all their selfishness and pleasures they were living on the very edge of a frightful volcano ; of the tiers-Hat and its emancipatory movement, which, outgrowing its primary intention, brought about a series of stupendous changes ; of Napoleon, how he stopped this disorder and how he made all Europe into one vast theatre of war. All this, in so far as it is the history of France, can only be alluded to here, but, inasmuch as Switzerland was dragged into the whirlpool of changes, we must dwell upon some of the effects of the great Revolution. Not less clearly than in France itself did the cry of "Liberie', MASSACRE OF THE SWISS GUARDS. 345 andegalit/!" resound through the Swiss lands, filling the hearts of the unfree and the oppressed with high hopes. Yet it was only after terrible sufferings and endless vicissitudes that the liberal principles of the Revolution came to the front, and admitted of that practical realization which was to lead up to a nobler and happier life for men. Of the many popular risings in Switzerland due to the influence of France, we may briefly touch on those which precede the Bern catastrophe in 1798. In September, 1791, Lower Valais rose against the landvogte of Upper Valais, but the intervention of Bern checked the revolt. In the April of the follow ing year, Pruntrut (in the Bernese Jura) renounced its allegiance to the prince-bishops of Basel, and set up as an independent territory, under the style of the "Rauracian Republic," and three months later the widely-extended bishopric itself was amalgamated with France as the " Department Mont Terrible." It was on August 10th of this same year (1792) that the Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries against the Paris mob were massacred. Every one knows the story. " We are Swiss, and the Swiss never surrender their arms but with their lives," were the proud words of Sergeant Blaser to the crowds furious against the protectors of royalty, and claiming that their arms should be put down. When Louis was in safety, the Swiss Guards were withdrawn. But on leaving the palace they were suddenly attacked by thousands of the mob. Resistance was plainly useless, yet the Swiss would not fly, and were ruthlessly slaughtered. Of the 760 men and twenty-two officers, but few escaped 346 FRENCH REVOLUTION AND SWITZERLAND. that terrible onslaught. The beautiful and far-famed Thorwaldsen monument — the " Lion of Lucerne " — with its inscription, " Helvetiorum fidei ac virtuti," still keeps up the memory of the heroic courage of the Swiss Guards.1 The outrage aroused intense indignation at home, but could not be avenged. The subjects of the prince-abbot Beda, of St. Gall, secured under his mild rule the abolition of serfdom. His successor, Forster, however, refusing the measure his sanction, was driven from his see — till he returned under Austrian auspices — and a large rural district of St. Gall gained autonomy and freedom from the rule of the abbey in 1797. Geneva saw almost every possible change. At one time she was rescued by Bern at Zurich, but was, in 1798, absorbed by France. The singularly harsh bearing of Zurich towards the country districts brought about the widespread insur rection of Stafa, in 1795 ; an insurrection vigorously suppressed however. The Italian lordships, severely treated by Graubiinden, desired to be included in the Cis-alpine republic Bonaparte was forming, and the general advised that free state that it should be admitted into their pale as a fourth member of equal rank. Finding that his advice was not taken, he suddenly proclaimed the memorable maxim, "that no people can be subject to another people without a violation of the laws of nature," and joined Valtellina, Bormio, and Chiavenna to Lombardy. This arrange- 1 This grand work of art is carved out of and on the face of an im mense rock, after a model by Thorwaldsen — a wounded lion with a broken spear, representing hapless but noble courage. The work was executed in 1821. THE HELVETIC CLUB. 347 ment he had ratified by the treaty of Campo Formio, in 1797, which destroyed the Venetian republic, hand ing it over, indeed, to Austria, France taking the Netherlands and Milan as her share of the plunder. Few things served to draw the attention of France to Swiss lands more than the Helvetic Club at Paris. This famous club was founded in 1790, by malcon tents, chiefly from Vaud, Geneva, and Freiburg. They were bent on the liberation of Switzerland from aristocratic domination, and desirous of assimilating the form of government with that of France. This suited the French Directory exactly, their aim being to girdle France with a strong belt of vassal states. Among these Switzerland was to serve as a bulwark, or at any rate as a battle-ground, against Austria; and France was not without hope of filling her coffres-forts with Swiss treasure, now grown, after long years of peace, to great dimensions. Amongst the band of patriots two men stand out as leaders. One was Cdsar de La Harpe, a noble-minded and enthusiastic Vaudois, who, however, was more concerned for his own canton than for Switzerland at large. The other was Peter Ochs, of Basel, a shrewd and able man, but ambitious, and a creature of France. La Harpe had once been taunted by a Bernese noble, who reminded him that Vaud was subject to Bern, and this he never forgot. Even at the Court of Catherine II. of Russia, to which he had been called as tutor to the imperial grandchildren, he never forgot his republican prin ciples. In 1797, returning from Russia, and being forbidden to enter Vaud, he joined the Helvetic Club at Paris, and thence launched forth his pamphlets 348 FRENCH REVOLUTION AND SWITZERLAND.' against Bern. And in the Directory things were making against that hapless canton, Reubel, a declared enemy, gaining a seat. Napoleon too was no lover of Bern. On his way to the Congress of Rastatt, in 1797, he passed through Switzerland, and, LA HARPE. while accepting the enthusiastic welcome offered by Basel and Vaud, he declined altogether to respond to that of Bern and Solothurn. Peter Ochs enjoyed Napoleon's full confidence, and was by him sum moned to Paris, and charged with the drafting of a THE " LEMANIC REPUBLIC." 349 new constitution for Switzerland, on the lines of the Directory. La Harpe and Ochs thus worked towards the same end, though the motives of the two men differed greatly. Vaud hailed with delight the French Revolution, and celebrated the fall of Bastille in the most osten tatious manner ; Bern, on the other hand, looked with dismay on the march of events, and, in Jan. 1798, sent Colonel Weiss with troops into the province. France replied by immediately sending men to occupy the southern shore of Lake Geneva. This was done at the request of the Helvetic Club, which gave as a pretext an old treaty of 1564, by which France gua ranteed her support to Vaud. In vain did Weiss issue manifestoes ; Bern was irresolute, and Vaud, feeling herself safe under the aegis of France, proclaimed the establishment of the " Lemanic Republic," with the seat of government at Lausanne (Jan. 24, 1798). A simple accident which resulted in the death of a couple of French soldiers was by their general magni fied into an attentat of the " Bernese tyrants " against a "great nation." The French troops marched on Weiss, ousted him without the necessity of striking a blow, and then charged Vaud with a sum of £28,000 for services rendered. Such proceedings struck terror into the hearts of the Swiss, and many of the cantons — Basel, Schaffhausen, Lucerne, &c. — set about re forming their governments. With matters at this pass the Diet ordered that the national federal oath should be sworn to, a proceeding which had been neglected for three hundred years. But this pretence of unity was a mere sham, as indeed were all these 350 FRENCH REVOLUTION AND SWITZERLAND. hasty attempts at reform. They failed to avert the coming storm, as the rulers failed to read aright the signs of the times. The Tagsatzung distracted and helpless dissolved on Feb. ist In the operations which followed, the chief com mand of the French forces in Switzerland was trans ferred from Mengaud to Brune, a Jacobite of the school of Dan ton. Brune directed his main attack on Bern, which, torn by dissensions, was wavering between peace and war. With Machiavellian astute ness Brune enticed the city into a truce. This truce, which was to last till the ist of March, was most injurious to the interests of Bern, as it allowed time both for Brune to increase his own forces, and for Schauenburg to join him with a body of troops from Alsace. The Bernese were well-nigh paralyzed, and not unnaturally suspected treason amongst their own adherents. Unluckily, too, for her, Bern was far from popular amongst her sister cantons, and was well- nigh left to her own resources. Her chief allies were Solothurn and Freiburg, but these surrendered to Schauenburg and Brune at the first shock, on March 2nd. The French troops next marched to Bern, destroying on the way the national monument at Morat. But Von Grafenried secured a decided victory against Brune at Neueneck. On the other hand, Ludwig von Erlach, who attempted a stand against Schauenburg at Fraubrunnen, quite failed to hold his own, and was driven back on Grauholz, a few miles from Bern. A life-and-death struggle followed, even women and children seizing whatever weapons they could and fighting desperately, many of them even BERN CAPTURED. 351 unto death. For three hours the combat lasted, and the Bernese fighting with their old bravery, main tained their honour as soldiers. Old Schultheiss von Steiger, "trembling in body, but stout in heart," cheered on his men regardless of the hail of bullets falling, but harmlessly, around him. Four times did the Swiss stand against the terrible onslaught of the French, but were at length compelled to yield to a force so superior in numbers and tactics to their own. And even whilst the clash of arms was still sounding the news came that Bern had surrendered. Erlach and Steiger fled to the Oberland, intending there to resume the combat ; but the troops, mad with suspicion that the capitulation was the result of treason, mur dered the former, Steiger narrowly escaping a similar fate. On the 5 th of March, 1798, the French entered Bern in triumph, Brune, however, cautiously keeping up strict discipline. On the 22nd of the previous month at Lausaune, Brune had caused it to be proclaimed that the French came as friends and bearers of freedom, and would respect the property of the Swiss citizens. Notwithstanding this he emptied the treasuries and magazines of Bern, and on the 10th and nth of March, sent off eleven four-horse waggons full of booty, nineteen banners, and the three bears — which they nicknamed respectively Erlach, Steiger, and Weiss — the French carried off in triumph. Thus fell Bern, the stronghold of the aristocracy, and with its fall the doom of Switzerland was sealed, though more work remained to be done before it would be complete. The Directory now abolished the old Confederation, and proclaimed in its stead the 352 FRENCH REVOLUTION AND SWITZERLAND. " one and undivided Helvetic Republic," forcing on it a new constitution elaborated from the draft by Peter Ochs. Brune himself had had a scheme for a triple division of the territory, but a preference was given to a united republic, as more easily manageable from Paris. The thirteen old cantons, together with the various subject lands and connections were formed into twenty-two divisions. After the failure of the laender the number was reduced to nineteen, the three Forest Cantons with Zug being thrown into one, as a punishment. Some of the rearrangements and par titions were very curious. A few may be cited. Oberland Canton was lopped off from Bern, and Baden from Aargau proper. Santis included Ap penzell and the northern portion of St. Gall, and Linth comprised the rest of St. Gall and Glarus: Tessin was split into Bellinzona and Lugano ; Vaud, Valais, and Biinden were added intact. Geneva and Neuchatel were left outside. In this manner the united Helvetic commonwealth was formed, the central government being fixed at Aarau, Lucerne, and Bern in succession. The passing of laws was vested in a senate and great council. There was a Directory of five members to whom were added four ministers of state — for war, justice, finance, and art and science. A supreme court of justice was made up of nineteen representatives, one from each canton. These were sweeping changes, and the unadvised manner in which they were forced on the people prevented their meeting with general approval. And then France gained the hearty dislike of the Swiss generally by her treatment of the country. Switzer- REDING. 353 land was regarded as a conquered and subject land, and was ruthlessly despoiled by the French. A con tribution of sixteen million francs was imposed on the Swiss aristocracy — besides the eight million francs carried off from Bern at her fall.1 Ten cantons, notably Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, and Vaud, i.e., the city cantons, feeling that resistance was impossible, and reform was necessary, acquiesced in the new arrangement ; but the laender, except Obwalden, stirred up by the priests and local patriots, and fearing that religion and liberty would die to gether, offered a most uncompromising resistance. They preferred, they said, " to be burnt beneath their blazing roofs, rather than submit to the dictates of the foreigner." Very noble was the defence made by the Forest folk, but we can only touch briefly upon it. After a brave resistance Glarus was defeated at Rapperswyl, on the 30th of April, 1798, and then Schauenburg proceeded with his whole strength against Schwyz. In its defence a band of some four thousand stout-hearted men was collected under the command of Reding, a young and handsome officer, who had just returned from Spanish service. Reding was an enthusiastic patriot of the old stamp, deeply imbued with conservative principles. Men rallied to his standard eagerly, and swore a solemn oath, " not 1 The exact sum paid by Bern is not known, but probably it reached seven or eight million francs. The Bernese losses, up to 1813, were estimated at seventeen million francs. One hundred and sixty cannon, and sixty thousand muskets were also captured. Bern had kept three bears (in the Barangraben of the town) ever since the battle of Novara, in 1513. Strangely enough the bears carried off in that battle were French trophies. 354 FRENCH REVOLUTION AND SWITZERLAND. to flee, but conquer." Reding and his little army gained three brilliant victories, at Schindellegi, Arth, and Morgarten, respectively, showing themselves worthy descendants of the old heroes of 1 3 1 5. How ever, the French effected an entrance by way of Mount REDING. Etzel, through the failure of the priest Herzog to hold his own against them, and poured through the gap in overwhelming numbers. For the moment they were thrust back at Rothenthurm, but Schwyz was too exhausted to continue the unequal struggle, and SIEGE OF STANZ. 355 Reding was forced to enter into negotiations, though negotiations of an honourable character, with Schauen burg. Then followed the gloomy 9th of September, written down as " doomsday " in the annals of Mid- walden,1 a day that well-nigh blotted that semi- canton out of existence. Having set up a wild opposition to the " Helvetic," this district drew down upon itself the wrath of France. Animated by the spirit of Winkelried, one and all — its worthy sons, its women and children even — the little band — they were but two thousand as against sixteen thousand — for some days kept up the unequal struggle. The little bay of Alpnach (Alpnacher See) and the Wood of Kerns (Kernserwald) were red with the blood of the enemy. But this state of things could not last long. Suddenly the French broke through, and poured in from all sides. Terrible conflicts took place at Rotzloch and Drachenried, and a rush was made on Stanz, the chief place of the district. By noon this town was really taken, but notwithstanding this the combat continued in furious fashion till evening. This was the 9th of September, 1798, a day which Schauenburg called the hottest of his life. " Like furies," the report says, "the black legion of the French galley-slaves slew and raged the district through." When night set in Stanz looked a de vastated, smoking city of blood and death. Europe 1 The mountain range, running from Titlis north-west and then north-east to Stanzer Horn, with the Kernwald at its centre, separates Unterwalden into Obwalden (above the wood) and Midwalden (below the wood). 356 FRENCH REVOLUTION AND SWITZERLAND. looked with amazement, yet with admiration and sympathy, on this heroic spot of earth. Both England and Germany sent provisions and money, and even Schauenburg was • moved with compassion towards the poor Midwaldeners, and had food dis tributed to them. It may perhaps here be noted that Stanz shortly figures again in Swiss history, but this time in a far more peaceful and humane manner. It was here that Pestalozzi resumed his noble work of education. To heal the wounds of his noble country as far as was in his power the minister Stapfer founded an educational establishment for the orphan children of the district. And here it was that Pestalozzi ruled, not so much as a mere pedagogue, but as a veritable father, the little unfortunates committed to his care. XXX. THE " ONE AND UNDIVIDED HELVETIC REPUBLIC." (1798-1803.) The day of the "one and undivided Helvetic Republic " was a period of " storm and stress," short lived, full of creative ideas and vast schemes, with much struggling for what was most noble in the principles of the Revolution. Yet Helvetia was torn by inner dissensions, and its energies paralysed by civil and foreign war, by its position of dependence, and by financial difficulties. The Helvetic scheme of pounding the various members of the Confederation into one state wiping out the cantons — a scheme often planned since then, but to this day unrealized, and as yet unrealizable — by its inevitable levelling tendencies, roused intense disgust and hatred amongst the more conservative of the Swiss. In truth, it went too fast, and too far in the direction of centralization. The laender were robbed of their landsgemeinde, the city cantons of their councils, and the independent states of their sovereignty. Everything seemed to be turned 358 THE UNDIVIDED HELVETIC REPUBLIC. topsy-turvy. Cantons became mere administrative districts.1 The barriers between them, and likewise between the various classes of society, were broken down. Subject lands were recognized as equal in status to the rest, and the inhabitants given full rights of citizenship. Amongst the many beneficent measures brought forward the principal may be mentioned. All restrictions on trade and industry were removed, tithes, bondservice, and land taxes could be redeemed at a small cost ; freedom in religious matters, freedom of the press, and the right to petition were guaranteed, and torture was sup pressed. That child of the Revolution, " the Helvetic," indeed, advocated many reforms and gave birth to many new ideas which required time and thought and peace to bring to maturity and useful ness. But the time was not yet ripe, and peace was lacking, and many things were suggested rather than put into practice. Yet we look back with interest on many of the ideas of the time, for they paved the way for and led up to much of our modern progress. Excellent men, men of parts, wise and moderate, watched over the early days of the young republic ; amongst them Usteri, Escher (of Zurich), Secretan and Carrard (Vaud), and Mayer (Bern). But gradually French partisans, nominated from Paris, were returned to the Swiss Directory, and Ochs and 1 The utter failure clearly shows how little such a centralization of government, leaving the cantons no scope for action, could suit the separate states of the Confederation at any time. The name "canton" was first used in French treaties with Switzerland, and became thence forward the general term. It had not come into use even so late as the Helvetic. FRANCO-HELVETIC ALLIANCE. 359 La Harpe were promoted to the leadership of Helvetic affairs. Soon a "reign of terror" — of a milder form, perhaps, but none the less a rule of terrorism — was set up, with the view of dragooning the country into submission to the "grande nation." A levy was enforced in order to make up a total of eighteen thousand men, a number the Swiss were loth to produce for the foreigner. They objected to this forced service, and took up arms abroad, whilst men like Lavater and Reding, who defied both French tyranny and " Helvetic " despotism, were transported, or thrust into the filthy dungeons of the fortress of Aarburg. On the 19th of August, 1798, was concluded the fatal Franco- Helvetic Alliance — offensive and defensive — despite the supplications and warnings of the more far-seeing patriots, such as Escher (von der Linth) for instance. Swiss neutrality being thus abandoned, the door was opened to the Austro- Russian invasion, planned by the second European coalition with the view of ousting France from Swiss territory. Hating the new regime exasperated at French supremacy and French extortion, and desirous that the status quo ante of 1798 should be re-estab lished, the reactionists hailed with delight the coming of the Austrians, quite as much as the " Patriots " had before welcomed the interference of France. A legion of Swiss emigres abroad collected by Roverea, at Vaudois, who had sided with Bern in the previous struggle, joined the Austrian army. The foreign occupation which took place and turned Switzerland into one military camp cannot be followed in all its details here. Yet one or two points must be noted, 360 THE UNDIVIDED HELVETIC REPUBLIC. above all, those remarkable Alpine marches carried out, though against his own will, by Suwarow. These marches are quite unique in military history. After the defeat of the French in Southern Ger many, the Tyrol, and Italy, by the Archduke Charles, Hotze, and Suwarow, they were to be driven out of Switzerland. Marshal Massena, who had succeeded Schauenburg in the command of the French troops, had at the commencement of the war seized Grau biinden, and forced it, free state though it was, to join the Helvetic Republic to which it so strongly ob jected. But in May, 1799, & was recaptured by Hotze, a gallant swordsman of Swiss birth ; J who had risen to the rank of field-marshal in the Austrian army. Hotze drove the French from the central highlands, Roverea likewise taking a prominent part in the expedition. About this time the Archduke Charles entered Switzerland at Schaffhausen, and, carrying all before him, advanced to Zurich. This city, after various skirmishes in its neighbourhood, he seized on the 4th of June> forcing Massena to retire to the heights beyond the Limmat river. But now a cessation of hostilities intervened for some months, owing to differences between Austria and Russia, and with this came a change of tactics. Arch duke Charles withdrew, and his place was taken by Korsakow with a Russian army forty thousand strong. A plan was now agreed upon under which Suwarow should join Korsakow from Italy, and they should then combine their forces in a grand attack on the French, on September 26th. This Massena was 1 He was a native of a large village in the Zurich district. SECOND BATTLE OF ZURICH 361 determined to prevent. By admirable manoeuvring he disposed his eight divisions about Eastern and Central Switzerland, his force amounting to no fewer than seventy-five thousand men. The highlands of Schwyz, Uri, and Glarus, were held by Lecourbe, a skilled strate gist, thoroughly at home in the Alps, and the entrance to the St. Gothard pass was blocked. Marshal Soult gave battle to Hotze in the marshy district between Lake Zurich and Walensee, on the 25th of September, with the result that Hotze was slain, and the Austrian force retired from Swiss soil. Wherever the Austrians had gained a footing, the reactionists had taken ad vantage of it to re-establish the status quo. On the 25th and 26th of September, Massena attacked the Russian forces under Korsakow, at Zurich. This second battle of Zurich — the fighting was continued (from outside) into the very streets — resulted in the complete defeat of Korsakow. Fortunately the city itself, having remained neutral, escaped violent treat ment, but Lavater was unfortunate enough to be struck by a shot during the engagement, whilst carrying help to some wounded soldiers.1 Quite unaware of what was being done in Switzer land, Suwarow reached the heights of St. Gothard on the 24th of September, and, finding the pass occu pied by the enemy, cut his way through in brilliant style. Whilst some of the Russians — at Teufels- briiche, for instance — held in check the French, the larger portion of their army scrambled down the 1 He lingered on suffering from his wound for a whole year, and then died, distinguished to the very last by his love for all mankind, and for his country especially. IBI DILIGENCE CROSSING THE SlMPLON PASS. RUSSIAN REVERSES. 363 steep rocks lining the Reuss, amidst the French fire. Wading across the rapid torrent they hurried down the valley to Fliielen, intending to push on to Lucerne and Zurich. But to their great dismay they found no road skirting Uri lake, and all the boats removed. They were thus locked up in a labyrinth of mountain fastnesses, the outlets from which were blocked by their foes. In this desperate strait there was nothing for it but to proceed over the mountains as best they might, by any rough path which might present itself. In reality, however, these passes were no highroads for armies, but only narrow paths used by occasional shepherds or huntsmen. Devoted to their leader, the Russian troops toiled up from the sombre Schachen- thal, and along the rugged Kinzig pass, pursued by their enemies. On reaching Muotta they learned the disheartening news that Korsakow had been defeated. No wonder that down the weather-beaten face of the brave old general, the tears rolled as he gave the order to retreat. But Suwarow was not inclined to sit still and repine, and undaunted by his recent terrible struggle against nature, at once resumed his march across the toilsome Pragel pass into the canton of Glarus, where he had good hopes of finding Austrian friends. But on his arrival he learnt that the Austrians had left the neighbourhood. Thus baffled once more, and unable to get to the plains at Naefels on account of the enemy, he was compelled to retreat again, and again attempt the terrible passage across the moun tains. Striking across the Panixer pass, which rises to the height of eight thousand feet, he found himself confronted by greater difficulties than before. Snow 364 THE UNDIVIDED HELVETIC REPUBLIC. had lately fallen, and all traces of the path had disap peared. For five terrible days the force decimated, dying with cold, hunger, and fatigue, unshod — their boots were entirely worn out — struggled along those wintry regions, creeping like caterpillars up walls of snow and over icy peaks. Hundreds of men and horses fell into the hidden crevices, down which also many a piece of artillery fell with sudden crash. Fully one- third of the gallant band perished during that fearful passage. The worn and famished survivors reached Graubiinden on the 10th of October, and thence made their way into Austrian territory. Suwarow had failed, but immortal glory attaches to the memory of the dauntless and resolute old general. The non- success of the foreign invasions meant also the failure of the reactionists in their attempt to overthrow the " Helvetic Republic." Indescribable misery was the consequence of the foreign wars, and it was intensified by the French occupation, and especially by the disgraceful system of spoliation practised by the French generals and agents, Mengaud, Lecarlier, Rapinat, &c. A few examples of the treatment Switzerland received at the hands of the French " liberators '' may be given, Urserenthal, one of the Uri valleys, was called upon during the year Oct. 1798 to Oct. 1799, to provide food for a total of 861,700 men, and a pretty hamlet in Freiburg for twenty-five thousand, within half a year. During four months, Thurgau spent one and a half million francs, and the Baden district well-nigh five millions, in provisioning French troops within a year. All protestations of inability RENGGER AND STAPFER. 365 on the part of the inhabitants were useless ; Rapinat * and others, like vampires, sucked the very life-blood out of the unfortunate Swiss. The " Helvetic Re public " had its noble side, it is true, but the French occupation, by which it was maintained, and which indeed was the outcome of it, caused the Helvetic scheme to be regarded by the people at large with disgust and hatred. The brightest side of the " Helvetic Republic " was seen in the remarkable efforts of noble patriots — foremost amongst them Rengger and Stapfer — to miti gate the effects of all these calamities by promoting, in spite of all difficulties, or against all odds of the time, the material and ideal interests of the people. Both Rengger and Stapfer were highly cultivated men, and both were ministers of state, the former holding the portfolio of finance, the latter that of arts and sciences. Rengger directed his efforts to the improvement of trade and agriculture ; one of his practical efforts being the introduction of English cotton-spinning machines. Stapfer, on the other hand, worked for the spread of popular education. " Spiritual and intellectual freedom alone makes free," he main tained. He himself had been born in one of the new enfranchised subject lands, it may be noted parenthe tically. He drew up a remarkable scheme of national education, a scheme embracing the child in the 1 The following lines, common in men's mouths afterwards, tell their own tale : — " La Suisse qu'on pille et qu'on ruine Voudrait bien que l'on decidat Si Rapinat vient de rapine, Ou rapine de Rapinat." 366 THE UNDIVIDED HELVETIC REPUBLIC. primary school, and the young man in the National University. This dream of a national university, by the way, is still unrealized,1 but Stapfer intended that it should crown his whole system of national educa tion, and should combine German depth with French versatility and Italian taste. Most of Stapfer's grand scheme remained untried through want of means and time, but it was a very remarkable scheme for that day. Yet much was done. Numerous schools sprang up, and every canton had its educational council and its inspector of schools. Lucerne, which had hitherto been quite behindhand in these matters, now founded schools in all its communes (by 1801), and Aarau estab lished a gymnasium. Some four thousand children from the wasted and ruined country districts were brought into the towns and educated ; whilst numerous journals were started, and many literary and art societies founded. Perhaps Stapfer's chief title to honourable remembrance is his appreciation of, and his assistance to, Pestalozzi. Leaving Stanz on account of confes sional differences, the great philanthropist established his famous school at Burgdorf, winning for himself by it European renown. These noble efforts towards national advancement intellectually are the more admirable as the country was convulsed with constitutional struggles. From the first days of the Revolution, there had sprung up two political schools, the Centralists, who 2 wished to see one single state with one central government ; and 1 And not very likely to be realized, as the respective cantons cling to their four universities and two academies, which are their pride. " In German, Centralisten or Unitarier. RAPID CHANGES. 367 the Federalists, who clung to the historical traditions of their fatherland, and to the status quo ante of 1798. These latter desired to see cantonal self-government preponderating over the central authority. It was a struggle to the death between advanced Liberals and stout Conservatives. Within the short space of five years, the country saw no fewer than four coups d'etat, complete overthrowings of government and constitu tion. We can notice only the chief points in the history of these changes. The first shock came with the change in France from the Directory to the Consulate, and the return of Napoleon from Egypt, on the 9th of November, 1798. Ochs, detested as the tool of France by nearly all the Swiss, was hurled from his eminence ; and La Harpe following suit, the Swiss Directory was replaced by an executive com mittee. The Peace of Luneville, February, 1801, left the Swiss free to chose their own form of govern ment, but Napoleon himself gradually went over to the Federalist view. Drafts of new constitutions fol lowed each other in quick succession, each in its turn being upset by that which followed. The sketch of La Malmaison, drawn up by the Federalists, restored the Tagsatzung, and the independence of the cantons, May, 1 80 1. Another overthrow, and then Alois Reding rose to the position of first Landammann, and head of the Conservative government (Oct. 28, 1801). Chivalrous and of unflinching resolve, Reding lacked the pliancy necessary for a statesman, and desired to see Vaud again placed under the rule of Bern. "Sooner shall the sun turn from west to east," fiercely exclaimed Napoleon, "than Vaud shall go 368 THE UNDIVIDED HELVETIC REPUBLIC. back to Bern." Reding was deprived of his office, and shut up at Aarburg, a fate that befell him on several other occasions under Bonaparte. In July, 1802, Napoleon withdrew the French troops from Swiss territory, with the view ostensibly of complying with the treaty of Amiens, but in reality to show Jhe Swiss how powerless they were without his help. This was the signal for a general outbreak of civil war, humorously called Stecklikrieg, or Guerre aux batons, in allusion to the indifferent equipment of the soldiery. The Helvetic Government which was then in power fled from Bern, and took up its quarters at Lausanne. Its small force was defeated at Avenches by the Federalists, who pushed on to the Leman city, when an order to lay down their arms reached them from Paris. Through the medium of General Rapp, Napoleon offered his services as " mediator " in the civil troubles of Switzerland, and at his heels followed Marshal Ney, with an army of forty thousand men to enforce order. XXXI. THE MEDIATION ACT AND NAPOLEON. (1803-15.) From a constitutional point of view this period — the mediation period (1803-13) — is the most satis factory portion of the epoch between the French revolutions of 1789 and 1830. It suited Napoleon's fancy to assume the position of a directing providence to the Alpine lands. And, finding that the federalists and the centralists of Switzerland — the laudatores temporis acti and the progressivists — were quite unable to agree upon a compromise, it pleased him to give the country a new constitution. He stopped their squabbles by summoning the " Helvetic Consulta " to Paris. Sixty-three deputies, of whom but fifteen were federalists, obeyed the call, many of the foremost statesmen among them. Those who disobeyed the summons, like Reding and his party, were arrested (Nov., 1803). In the official gazette Napoleon was pleased to speak of the Swiss nation as one that had " always stood out in history as a model of strength, 370 THE MEDIATION ACT AND NAPOLEON'; courage, and good manners," and he expressed a wish that the Swiss should " aim at good government, and should sacrifice their party feelings to their real interests, to glory, and independence." Thus com plimentary was his language, and the painstaking care and thoughtful consideration he brought to bear on the re-organization of Swiss affairs presents the great despot under a singularly amiable aspect ; and the Mediation Act which he drew up would, but for the selfish arriere pensee running through it, be one of his noblest and most beneficent political acts. From the drafts and data presented by the Con ference Napoleon, in two months (Nov. 25th-Jan. 24th), drew up his famous scheme. Laying it first before the whole assembly, he then had selected an inner committee of ten for a further and final con sultation. This took place on Jan. 29th at the Tuileries, the sitting lasting from one o'clock to eight in the evening. The French commissioners1 after wards stated that they had never witnessed such a scene, and that " never had the First Consul devoted such close attention, even to the most important matters of European politics." The Swiss party, representing both the political sections, and the four French Commissioners, sat round the table, Napoleon himself in the middle of them, beaming with graceful amiability. The proposals respecting the three classes of cantons were read out, and two of the delegates, Stapfer of whom we have heard before, and Hans von 1 Barthelemy, Rbderer, Fouche, and Desmeunier. NAPOLEON'S ARRANGEMENTS. 37 1 Reinhard,1 were called upon to express their respec tive views. A general discussion followed, the Consul giving the closest attention to every detail. His own speeches showed an intimate acquaintance with Swiss matters, and whilst full of practical wisdom, also evidenced his real interest and sympathy with the little republic. He pointed out that Switzerland was quite unlike any other country in its history, its geographical position, in its inclusion of three nationalities and three tongues. The characteristics and the advancement of three nations had, in fact, to be considered and maintained. Nature itself had clearly intended that it should be a federal state. To the Forest Cantons, to which he avowed the whole republic owes its characteristic hue, he restored the time-honoured landsgemeinde, " so rich in memories of the past " ; to the city cantons he gave back their ancient councils, re-fashioned in accordance with modern ideas ; and to the subject lands he gave autonomy. The position of these last in the past was, he averred, incompatible with the modern character of a republic, and his elevation of them into new cantons is the special merit of his scheme. Meeting the views of the federalists by giving inde pendence or home-rule to each canton, he also met those of the centralists by planning a well-organized central government in the form of a Tagsatzung with enlarged powers. At the head of this he placed a Swiss Landammann with almost plein pouvoir. * This Hans von Reinhard was burgomaster of Zurich and Landam mann ; he belonged to one of the old aristocratic families of his native city. 372 THE MEDIATION ACT AND NAPOLEON. Napoleon selected as first Landammann a man he highly esteemed — Louis d'Affry, of Freiburg, son of Count d'Affry. Both father and son had served in France as officers and statesmen, and Louis was one of the few who had escaped the massacre at Paris in 1792. He was a perfect courtier, mild and con servative in his views. It is worth mentioning that during the intermezzo, which occurred at five o'clock, when refreshments were handed round, the Consul, standing by the mantelpiece, with a circle of dele gates round him, talked incessantly on Swiss politics and spared no pains to impress on his hearers how much Swiss interests were bound up with those of France. There was no mistaking his meaning, which, to do him justice, he did not attempt to conceal. The members of the Conference, whom Napoleon treated all through with marked distinction, were quite alive to the danger threatening their country, but trusted that some turn of the wheel might avert it. After this parley the Consul redrafted the Mediation Act, and presented it in person on the 19th of February for signature, afterwards taking leave of the whole deputation. La Harpe gained for the Swiss the countenance of the Emperor Alexander, and Prussia and Austria were engaged in a territorial squabble, and no inter ference took place. An epoch of peace and prosperity followed the general amnesty (April 15, 1803) granted by the Mediation Act. The period of quiet was broken only by the Bockenkrieg in 1804, a rising in which an attempt was made by the country folk of the Zurich Canton to stand against the unredeemed SIX NEW CANTONS. 373 land rents and tithes still due to the city.1 The insurrection was put down by force.2 Six new can tons were formed by the new Act — Biinden, St. Gall, Thurgau, Aargau, Vaud, and Ticino ; and these were added as equals to the thirteen Alte Orte, the manage ment of its own affairs being granted to each. The liberal principles inaugurated by the " Helvetic " were to a great extent borne in mind, though the lower orders were still excluded from direct political repre sentation. Mercenary wars, military movements, and leagues between separate cantons, were strictly for bidden ; but so, also, was forbidden the maintenance of a federal army, save a small force to maintain order, and thus the country was robbed of adequate means of defence. Freiburg, Bern, Soleure, Basel, Zurich, and Lucerne, became in their turns managing or dictatorial cantons for one year at a time. That is, they were the seats of the Diet, and their chiei magistrate — schultheiss or burgomaster, as the case might be — became Landammann. To the larger cantons, i.e., those having not less than one hundred thousand inhabitants, two votes at the Diet were 1 The liquidation of this territorial debt was a most complicated matter, and plays an important part in the risings of the rural districts, yet the rightly cautious city had to consider various other interests besides those of the country folks. Many benevolent city institutions for the sick and poor were maintained by the income drawn from country dues. 2 "It is meet that the country districts should cease their antipathy to the city, or they deserve to fall again under its authority," Napoleon had remarked, during the Paris Conference, to the Zurich representatives, Reinhard and Paul Usteri. He added that the personal character of the representatives was a guarantee that they would reconcile the two parties they represented. 374 THF< MEDIATION ACT AND NAPOLEON. assigned, to the smaller, one vote. It is not necessary to go into more minute details here, as there are numerous constitutional changes to be noted between that period and the year 1874. Thus, whatever may be thought of Napoleon's ultimate aims, it was owing to him that Switzerland enjoyed quiet, prosperity, and perfect self-government at a time when Europe generally was torn by quarrels and steeped in war. The Swiss people gave their whole attention ¦ to home affairs, and to the striving after intellectual and material progress, as they had done in the Helvetic days, but now with more success. Benevolent societies were founded, high schools established, and institutions for the advancement of letters, science, and art, sprang up. Many men of note mightily stirred the ideal side of life ; amongst them we may mention the novelist, Zschokke,1 of Aargau ; Martin Usteri, the poet-artist ; and George Nageli, the Sangervater, or " Father of Song." Both these latter were of Zurich, and Nageli gave a great impulse to the founding of musical societies, and did much to spread the art of singing so common in the German districts, and especially cultivated at Basel and Zurich. Pestalozzi established a new school at Yverdon in Vaud ; and his friend and former pupil, Von Fellenberg, of Bern, the superior of his master in practical management, founded his famous institution at Hofwil. This comprised a whole series of schools, high schools, schools for the middle class, agricultural schools, and elementary schools for the poor. Pater Girard, a friend of Pestalozzi, at Frei- 1 A German by birth. COMMERCIAL IMPROVEMENTS. 375 burg, did for the Catholics much what these men did for the Protestants. Another noble and devoted man was Escher, who, though of aristocratic birth himself, was yet an ardent worker for the benefit of the poorer classes. His chief work was the canali zation of the Linth between Walensee and the Lake of Zurich, by means of which some twenty-eight thousand acres of unhealthy swamp became valuable agricultural land. For this labour of love, to which he sacrificed his health, the Diet decreed to him and his family the honourable addition of " Von der Linth." J The introduction of machinery gave a great impetus to trade and industry. In 1800 the cloisters of St. Gall were turned into the first Swiss spinning mill, and during the following decade four more mills were started in the canton. In 1 808 Heinrich Kunz, the " King of spinners on the Continent," laid the foun dations (Zurich) of the first of his numerous mills. In 18 1 2 the great firm of Rieter and Co., whose machines soon gained a world-wide reputation, started business at Winterthur. Yet all was not smooth in the little Swiss state. Switzerland was compelled not only to enter into a close defensive alliance with France, but to keep the French army constantly supplied with sixteen thousand Swiss soldiers. So great was the drain of 1 Escher died soon after the completion of the Linth Canal (1822), and the Diet erected to his memory a monument in Glarus Canton. A characteristic story respecting him is worth repeating. Some poor man seeing him standing hard at work up to his waist in water ex claimed, "Why, sir, if I were as rich as you, I shouldn't work at all." " That's just why God has given you no wealth," was Escher's quiet reply. 376 THE MEDIATION ACT AND NAPOLEON. this " blood-tax," that in some cantons even the prisons had to be opened to enable the levy to be made up. Switzerland was made an entrepdt for English contraband goods ; and the decree of Trianon, in 1810, ordered the confiscation of these, and placed a tax on English goods of half their value. All this weighed heavily on Switzerland, and the Landam- mann's touching representation to Napoleon, that twenty thousand families were rapidly becoming breadless, passed unheeded. In 1 806 the despot gave Neuchatel to his favourite general, Berthier, and in 1 810 he handed over Ticino to Italy, on the pretext that that district was harbouring English contraband goods. The same year he joined to France the Valais district, where he had a few years earlier (1802) constructed the famous Simplon road into Italy. The Swiss naturally protested against these mutilations, but he threatened to annex the whole country, and D'Affry and Reinhard, who stood in favour with him, had much ado to calm his temper. When, however, the impetuous Sidler, of Zug, and the heroic Reding, defied him, and advised an armed resistance at the Diet, Napoleon sent word to Rein hard that he would march fifty thousand men into the country, and compel the Swiss to unite with France. But the tide was beginning to turn ; Napoleon had passed his zenith. The fatal Russian expedition, into which his pride and reckless ambition tempted him in 1812, was followed by the terrible disaster of Leipsic, " the battle of the nations." The allied armies marched to Paris, and compelled the abdi- MEDIATION ACT OVERTHROWN. 3JJ cation of the emperor. This turn of events naturally affected the position of the Swiss very greatly, but, quite content with their new constitution, they declined to join the allied states. At the command of the Landammann, Von Reinhard, General von Wattenwil placed his scanty forces, numbering some fifteen thousand men, along the frontier to enforce neutrality if possible. But on the approach of the allied forces Wattenwil saw that resistance would be madness, and gave orders to his men to withdraw, and be careful not to provoke hostilities. About Christmas time in 1813, the combined Austrian and German troops — Alexander was for sparing the Swiss — to the number of one hundred and seventy thousand, marched right across the country on their way to the French capital. On the whole little material injury was done to the country, but the Mediation Act, by the very reason of its origin, was bound to fall. On the 29th of December the Diet was compelled to decree its own extinction. The Peace of Paris, on the 31st of May in the following year, guaranteed Switzerland its independence. A new constitution was to come later on. The overthrow of the Mediation Act plunged Switzerland into fresh troubles. All the reactionary elements came to the surface. Bern revived her old pretensions to the overlordship of Vaud and Aargau ; and Freiburg, Solothurn, Lucerne, and the Forest Cantons, acting on the same lines, supported Bern in her claims. Zurich, on the other hand, stood out for the nineteen cantons, and headed the opposition to Bern. Again there was seen the deplorable 378 THE MEDIATION ACT AND NAPOLEON. spectacle of a divided state, with two confederation and two diets. One of these, with its headquartei at Lucerne, was, however, forced to dissolve, b foreign pressure, chiefly through to the influence c D'lstria, the Russian ambassador at Zurich. All th cantons now sent representatives to the Diet held i: this last-named city, with the view of drawing up new federal pact. But party strife was very bittei and the session lasted from April 6, 1814, to th the 31st of August, 181 5, an extraordinary length c time hence it was called the " Long Diet" Th protracted proceedings were caused chiefly by Berr which obstinately refused to abate her pretension to the two districts (Vaud and Aargau). There were however, many minor points of difference, all tending to embitter and prolong the session. It was clea that a settlement could only be brought about by ; compromise, and great concessions on the part o some of the members. As a matter of fact severa things were left unsettled. This Zurich constitutioi was to be laid before the Vienna Congress, whicl opened on the 3rd of November, 18 14, and which wa: to disentangle many knots in European politics. Monarchs, princes, ambassadors, ministers, anc generals, from all the states, met at the gay city 01 the Danube, to rearrange the map of Europe. Th( story of this strange international gathering is wel known, with its Vanity Fair of fine ladies and gentle men, its magnificent fetes, balls, masquerades, steeple chases, and gaities innumerable. It is said thai Francis I. spent no less than thirty millions of florin; on entertaining his guests, and the gay scene anc VIENNA CONGRESS. 379 high spirits formed a strange contrast with the previous despondency prevailing on the Continent generally. The " Congres danse, mais ne mar che pas" was the saying that went abroad. Yet it was not strange that men felt glad. The weight of Napoleon's hand was now removed, and the world breathed more freely. All the sufferings of the last quarter of a century were forgotten, and, it is to be feared, the lesson to be learnt from them was not learnt. The changes were too many, too sudden, and too sweeping to permit anything to take root. But the seeds left behind by the revolutions and wars will blossom and bear fruit later on. Every sound movement must develop gradually. In this way only can we account for the reactions, the return to the old lines of con stitution and social life, after the fall of Bonaparte. Switzerland had many points to settle at the Congress, and, indeed, to the despair of the members, seemed inclined to bring forward all her domestic squabbles. On the whole, the commissioners showed much goodwill towards Switzerland, and took great pains to make that country a strong outpost against French extensions. Von Reinhard, the first Swiss representative at the Congress, gained much praise by his dignity and astuteness, and the Emperor Alexander entered fully into his liberal views and aspirations, coinciding with those of La Harpe. Bern and her pretensions, which were as strong as ever, gave most trouble, Vaud and Aargau naturally in sisting on retaining their independence. At length a compromise was arranged, and the larger portion of the see of Basel (Bernese Jura, &c), and Bienne 380 THE MEDIATION ACT AND NAPOLEON. being given to Bern. The bailiwicks of the laender redeemed their freedom by purchase ; the rest of the cantons, more generous, required no compensation. Subject lands were set free for good, and the country received its present boundaries. Ticino had been restored by Napoleon, and Valais, Geneva, and Neuchatel, were admitted as cantons on an equality with the rest, and thus we get the now familiar number of twenty-two cantons. The list was closed, though by a strange anomaly Neuchatel still continued to be not only a Swiss canton, but a Prussian duchy. Geneva was, as it were, rounded off by the addition of Versoix (Gex), and some Savoy communes.1 Geneva had long wished to be received into the Federation, and great was her rejoicing now that her dream was realized. Thus Switzerland received the great boon of independence, and was placed under the protection of the Great Powers. Biinden lost her appendages, Valtellina, Chiavenna, and Bormio, which went to Austria, but gained in return the district of Razuns. The new constitution as signed to Switzerland is decidedly inferior to the " Mediation Act." There was a revival of the old system of narrow prerogatives ; the several cantons gaining plein pouvoir as against the federal authori- 1 She objected to receiving the larger strip of Savoy and French land (on the lake and the Rhone), which the Congress wished to assign her, for fear of being absorbed by Catholicism, and, moreover, she was anxious not to alarm her old friends. The facts were and are often misrepresented. Chablais and Faucigny, once temporarily held by Bern, were declared neutral, and placed under the guarantee of the Powers. That is, in case of war, Swiss troops quarter the district, as in 1870-71 A NEW CONSTITUTION. 381 ties ; the cities retaining their preponderance over the rural districts, and the wealthy and the aristoc racy their power over their poorer brethren. Military matters alone were better provided for. Thus we shall presently find that Revolution had to begin her work over again. Bern, Zurich, and Lucerne became in turn the seat of the Diet, and one vote only was allotted to each canton. Midwalden offered a fanatical opposition to the new constitution, but was compelled to give way, and had to forfeit Engelberg, with its famous cloister and the whole valley, which was given to Obwalden. XXXII. SWITZERLAND UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1815-48. The history of the thirty-three years following 1815 may, so far as Switzerland is concerned, be summed up in this description — it was a protest, latent at first and afterwards open and declared, of the Swiss people against the decrees of the Vienna Congress, which tended to stop the wheel of progress. The Swiss struggled onwards through the conflicts of political development, and battled against all that was a hindrance to them in the constitution of 181 5, the Powers looking on with misgiving if not with dismay the while not understanding the signs of the times. Yet, by 1848, when the thrones of Europe were again shaken by revolutions, Switzerland had gained that for which it had been struggling, and had settled down into a peaceful and regenerated Bundestaat. We have shown how the settlement of 1 81 5 was in many ways a return to old lines in both Church and State. Speaking generally, the Church gained greatly by the new constitution, the return of PATRIOTIC AND LITERARY CLUBS. 383 the Jesuits was favoured, th e religious establishments were still maintained at a rate which really exceeded the financial possibilities of the state, and the clergy were given a free hand. Then the old power of the aristocracy was largely re-established, and the cities were given their former great preponderance over the country districts. Bern, for instance, receiving two hundred seats in the Council, as against ninety-nine. The reactionary r/gime from 181 5 to 1830, was, in fact, politically a blank, though towards its close some of the cantons began to carry measures of reform. Amongst these was Ticino, into which some fatal abuses had crept. To make up for their political deficiencies, and to rekindle their smouldering patriotism, the Swiss, as they had done before, turned to the past history of their country. They founded patriotic and literary clubs, and established liberal and benevolent institutions. Monuments were erected at classical spots — Morat, St. Jacques, the lion monu ment, and so forth. Eminent painters like Vogel and Didary chose national historical events for their canvas ; and Rudolf Wyp composed the fine national anthem, " Rufst Du mein Vaterland." I A naturalists' club at Geneva, a students' association at Zofingen, and a society of marksmen — still in existence — were started, whilst the old Helvetic Society of the eighteenth century left behind its mere theorizings and discussions, and became an active political club. 1 Wyp had studied at Gottingen, which was still under English rule, and had there been impressed by the English national anthem, of which his own is an imitation, the air being borrowed from "God save the Queen." 384 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1815-48. All these things tended greatly to spread and promote Swiss liberalism, of which many noble champions had sprung up, now and in the previous period, like the veteran trio — Victor von Bonstetten, the friend of Madame de Stael, La Harpe, and Usteri ; like Troxler, Zschokke, Monnard, Von Orelli and others, far too numerous even to name here. Under such men Switzerland moved on. " No human efforts can succeed in permanently leading back mankind to the old lines of a past and less enlightened age. To struggle onwards, and to reach the end aimed at is the quickening stimulus in every thinking being." Such were the encouraging words of Usteri, a champion whom the party of progress regarded as an oracle. Military matters received a great impetus by the formation of a central school for officers at Thun, and the increase of the army from fifteen thousand to thirty thousand men. It hardly needs to be said that when the struggle of the Greeks for independence began they had the hearty sympathy and support of the Swiss.1 In 1830 the revolution of July hurled from his throne Charles X., and raised to his place Louis Philippe. Strangely enough the effects of this movement were felt almost more abroad than in France itself. Certainly its influence on Switzerland was very considerable, and it hurried on various changes of a sweeping character in that country, changes, however, which had been long preparing. 1 One of the leading collectors of subscriptions in aid of the Greeks was Eynard, a wealthy Genevese, whose own contributions were most munificent. THE "DAY OF USTER." 385 Constitutional struggles, both federal and cantonal, crowded the next few years, and confessional diffi culties tended not a little to quicken them. With nearly all the states, excepting some of the laender, the chief object now became the revision of their charters, so as to make them more consistent with the principles of popular rights and equality. Glarus, Uri, and Unterwalden were as yet averse to making changes, however justifiable and desirable they might seem to the rest of the country. The reforms were for the most part quietly carried out, but there were popular oppositions and stormy disputes in places. Bern was at first inclined to be conservative, but once embarked on the sea of reformation, sided strongly with the more progressive Zurich. Freiburg returned a crowd of fifty-seven priests and seventeen professors, all of the Jesuit order, and these ousted Girard, the Catholic Pestalozzi, from his noble work at St. Michael's College. Zurich proceeded in a peaceful and interesting fashion. Here as in other cases the city had a great prepon derance of political power over the country districts of the canton. The fourteen thousand citizens elected one hundred and thirty representatives, as against the eighty-six assigned to the two hundred thousand rural inhabitants. The cause of the country folk was ably and without bitterness championed by two eloquent speakers, Guyer and Hegetschweiler ; and a motion was carried which allotted to the rural districts two-thirds of the seats on the council board. This "day of Uster," as it was called, proved a great landmark in political development. The sovereignty of the people was n i , i I ; i ' ' il . " I ' i , , INTERLAKEN, FROM THE FELSENEGG. CATHOLIC LEAGUE. 387 now the basis on which reforms were made. The foundation was laid for better administration, and social improvement and provision was made for necessary revisions of the constitution. To safe guard their constitutions against the influence of reactionists, seven cantons entered into a league — Sieb tier- Concordat — March, 1832. They were Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, Solothurn, St. Gall, Aargau, and Thurgau. Less satisfactory was the course of events in Schwyz, Basel, and Neuchatel. In Schwyz a tem porary separation into the two semi-cantons of Inner and Outer Schwyz was caused by the refusal of the former to grant equal rights to the latter, which had been formerly subject or purchased land mainly. Basel, the city of millionaires and manufactures, was able by her overwhelming importance to hold her supremacy over the rural districts, and thus arose the division into Baselstadt, and Baselland, which latter had Liestal as its chef lieu. But all this after a civil strife of three years. Basel city joined the Catholic League formed at Sarnen, in November, 1832, as a counterblast to the Siebner- Concordat. Uri, Inner- Schwyz, Unterwalden, Valais, and Freiburg also joined this league. The inhabitants of Neuchatel had a double object, the reformation of their constitution, and their separation, if possible, from Prussia, the double rdgime being greatly disliked. An attempt was made on the castle, but it failed, and the Federa tion re-established order, and the old status quo. The royalist party in Neuchatel now aimed at a severance from Switzerland. 388 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1815-48. But the natural consequence of constitutional revision in the separate cantons was the revision of the federal pact, with the view of strengthening the bonds which joined the states. The draft of a new constitution for Switzerland was presented at Lucerne in July, 1832, by the moderate party, but it failed, as so many other attempts have done which clashed with the selfishness of those cantons, that thought more of the question of cantonal home-rule than of the weal of the country as a whole. A far-seeing policy required that the central government should be strengthened, that the Diet should be made thoroughly capable of protecting Swiss interests, both in the country itself and abroad. That the Diet was quite incapable of enforcing its decrees for the general good was plainly shown by the condition of things in Basel, alluded to above. With all these drawbacks, however, the period from 1830-1848 witnessed a true regeneration — social, political, intellectual. Never had education made such marvellous progress. It is to this period that the country owes that revival of educational zeal and that improvement in schools and methods of teaching, which are the great glory of modern Switzerland. Canton vied with canton, and authority with authority, in their noble enthusiasm for education. Zurich, Bern, Thurgau, Solothurn, Vaud — all these founded excellent teachers' seminaries. Primary schools were improved, and secondary schools established in every canton, and in all the more important cities gym nasiums were founded. At Zurich these time- honoured institutions, the Chorherrenstift and the RIGHT OF ASYLUM. 389 Carolinum, were in 1832 converted into the present gynmasium and university, and Bern made similar establishments in the following year. Thus were being gradually realized the noble aspirations of the " Helvetic " period, those of Stapfer particularly. Unfortunate conflicts with foreign powers, however, not seldom arose. Fugitives from other countries then as now made Switzerland their abode, and many of them abused her hospitality, and entangled her in dissensions with foreign governments, exactly as we find happening at the present moment. Many of the political emigres were men of great note, but space will permit of our noticing only two, Louis Philippe, and Louis Napoleon, afterwards Napoleon III. The Prince de Chartres lived for some years in Grau biinden, occupying under the name of Chabaud, the position of mathematical master in an educational establishment of repute at Reichenau. Singularly enough he afterwards refused to the man who was to succeed him on the throne of France, the privilege of shelter in Swiss lands, that is to say, he objected very strongly. For in 1838 he suddenly requested that the Swiss Diet should give up Louis Napoleon, on the plea that he was an intriguer. This request was in reality a demand, and was more than the Swiss could stand. Napoleon was in fact a Swiss burgess, having become naturalized, and having passed through the military school at Thun, and become a captain in the Swiss army. His mother had for some time lived with her son in the castle of Arenenberg (in the Canton of Thurgau), which she had purchased soon after 18 14. Thanks to the efforts 390 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1815-48. of Dr. Kern, representative of that state in the Diet, the Swiss Government were able to disprove the charge made against Louis Napoleon, and the Diet firmly refused to expel the prince. France enraged threatened war to her " turbulent neighbour," and actually set on foot an army of twenty-five thousand men. Thoroughly roused, the Diet sent troops to the frontier, amidst general acclamations, Geneva and Vaud being conspicuous in their endeavours to pro tect their boundaries. These two cantons were specially thanked by the central government. The prince, however, cleared away difficulties by quitting the Swiss soil.1 The Zurich conflicts of 1839, called " Zurichputsch," from a local word meaning push or scramble, claim a moment's attention. That canton had perhaps more thoroughly than any other carried through a reorganization of its legislature and administration. It had establishment a most complete system of schools, graded from the primary school up to the University, whose chairs were occupied by men who made the city a real intellectual centre — by Oken, Hitzig, Schweizer, Von Orelli, Bluntschli, and others. Things marched too rapidly however. Dr. Scherr, a rationalist German emigre', was at the head of an 1 " La Suisse a montre qu'elle etait prete k faire les plus grands sacrifices pour maintenir sa dignite et son honneur. Elle a su faire son devoir comme nation independente ; je saurai faire le mien, et rester fidele a l'honneur. . . . le seul pays oil j'avais trouve' en Europe appui et protection. . . . Je n'oublierai jamais la noble conduite des cantons qui se sont prononces si courageusement en ma faveur . . . surtout Thurgovie " (Extracts from Napoleon's letter of thanks to the Landammann of Thurgau, published in Dr. Kern's " Souvenirs poli- tiques"). RELIGIOUS DISTURBANCES. 391 excellent training-college for teachers, but refused to allow biblical teaching to be given. Then the Government, anxious to make the city of Zwingli a centre of freethought, appointed the famous Strauss, author of the " Leben Jesu," to a vacancy on the university staff, despite the warnings of the native professors. The country people rose in wild frenzy, being urged on by the reactionary party, which desired to regain the reins of government. So great was the feeling against the appointment, that Strauss was pensioned off" even before he saw the city. Even yet the excitement was very great, and, led by Pastor Hirzel, the rural inhabitants flocked into Zurich in great numbers. The Council was obliged to resign, and for a considerable period the reactionists had the power in their own hands. A few persons, but not many, were killed during the disturbances. The effects of this contre-coup in the most advanced city of the republic were soon felt in other places, in Ticino, Lucerne, and Freiburg, where conservative governments were returned, and codes altered accord ingly. Zurich and Lucerne left the Siebner-Con- cordat. But the event which stands out more prominently than any other during this period is the Sonderbund war of 1847. This conflict, which threatened the very existence of the state, forms the prelude to the European disturbances of the following year. This dispute of 1847 is the old struggle between the centralists and the federalists, or rather the progressi- vists and the reactionists, the dispute being intensified by religious differences. The chief points in the con- 392 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1815-48. flict must be briefly noted. In some of the cantons the Catholics, though in a minority, had advantages over the Protestant population, and when, in 1841, Aargau was revising its constitution, the latter de manded to be put on an equal footing with their Catholic brethren. This was flatly refused, and an embroilment took place in the canton, some of the monasteries taking a leading part in fomenting the quarrel. The rising, however, came to nought, and the Diet, on the motion of Keller, suspended the monastic houses, on the plea that they were hotbeds of intrigue. This step was clearly in opposition to the principles of the Constitution of 181 5, and for years caused great trouble. It is impossible to give here minutely the story of the disputes : suffice it to say, the Diet compromised matters by extending for giveness to four of the cloisters that had kept aloof from the rising (1843). But in 1844 Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, Freiburg, and Valais, formed a secret league — that of Sarnen had long since fallen through — to protect Catholic interests, and appointed Jesuits to the highest offices in the state. The entrance of the order at the Vorort created great excitement, but the Diet abstained from intervening, fearing to make matters worse. Two hapless expe ditions of " Free Lances " now took place, the liberals from Lucerne and other cantons attempting to carry that city. The attempts utterly failed, and naturally so, seeing in how disorganized a condition the partizans were. But in January, 1847, the Protestants managed to get a majority at the Diet, and demanded the dissolution of the Sonderbund, as it had got to be THE SWISS SONDERBUND. 393 called by that time. The foreign courts — Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and others — sided with the Swiss Sonderbund, being anxious to retain the status quo of 1815 ; France and Austria particularly sending money and promises of further support. England alone favoured the Protestants of Switzerland, and rendered them a great service. Palmerston was all against foreign intervention, and when the Powers issued a manifesto against the Swiss, he kept it back till Nov. 30th, when all was quietly settled. Meanwhile the Sonderbund organized a Council of War, and prepared for action. The Diet did all in its power tc reconcile the contend ing religionists, and the English ambassador at Bern strongly recommended moderation and mutual con cessions.1 Seeing that in spite of all their efforts war was inevitable, the Diet levied an army of ninety-eight thousand men, at the head of which was placed General Dufour of Geneva. The Sonderbund raised seventy-five thousand men, under General Salis- Soglio, a Protestant from Biinden. Dufour was a soldier of the old Napoleonic school, and a con summate tactician, and was revered by his fellow countrymen for his patriotism, lofty character, and high culture. It was under his management that the Swiss topographical maps bearing his name — the first of their kind — were executed. His selection as general gave great satisfaction. Thanks to Dufour's ability the campaign was short, lasting only from the 4th to the 29th of November, 1847, and the losses 1 See "Souvenirs Politiques de 1838-83," by Dr. Kern, Swiss Ambassador at Paris, Bern, and Paris, 1887, pp. 51, 52. 394 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1815-48. were comparatively small. Honours were lavished on Dufour on all sides, even they of the Sonderbund heartily acknowledging his great services. Heartburning and jealousy enough and to spare there had been between the opposing religious parties. On the 29th of October, 1847, the last occasion on which the Diet had attempted to reconcile Catholic and Protestant, there had been the utmost dissension and rancour. But such is the nature of Swiss patriotism that when, three short months after, the countries around Switzerland were convulsed with revolutions, and the Swiss lands were threatened with invasion, the contending religionists forgot their domestic quarrels entirely. And the glorious sight was seen of Catholic and Protestant standing shoulder to shoulder, ready to vie with each other in meeting danger and death in defence of their common and beloved fatherland. Not a vestige of hostile party feeling was left. It has ever been thus in Switzer land. XXXIII. UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1 848. THE year 1848, which crowned the noble aspirations of the Regeneration period in Switzerland, marks a fresh starting-point in the history of the country. Providence had dealt graciously with the little republic. France, Prussia, and Austria were battling with the " February Revolution," and were thus prevented from dealing out to her the fate of unhappy Poland. Meanwhile eminent Swiss statesmen were drafting the new Federal Constitution which was to bind the various nationalities into one people, and the twenty- two cantons into a well-riveted Bundestaat, a state which, thanks to its policy, its prosperity, and its in dependent spirit, was soon to command the esteem of even the most antagonistic Powers. On the 1 2th of September, 1848, the new pact was proclaimed, amidst cannonading, illumination, and general rejoicing. The old and crippled Tagsatzung was abolished. The new constitution borrowed some features from that of the United States, and, though greatly on the lines of the Mediation Act, blended far 39° UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1848. more happily the central and federal systems. Only the essential points can here be noted. The Central Government, whose raison d'etre is the maintenance of peace and order at home, and the upholding of the national honour abroad, divides itself into three authorities or divisions, the Federal Assembly, the Legislative body ; the Federal Council, which is the executive body ; and the Federal Tri bunal. The Federal Assembly consists of two cham bers, the National Council, and the Council of the States ; the former elected by the Swiss people at large, the latter representing the different cantons. The Nationalrath is elected by ballot for three years, one member to every twenty thousand souls. At present (1889) there are 145 members. The can tonal governments elect the members of the other chamber, two to each canton, one to a semi-canton. The Federal CouncU (Bundesrath) is the Executive, and consists of seven members. Its chairman or president holds the highest dignity in the country, though his powers do not exceed those of his fellow-ministers. The whole Cabinet is collectively responsible for the conduct of all public business, and holds the summum imperium. Thus the whole Federal Council, and not its president only, occupies the position similar to that of the Presi dent of the United States.1 There are various departments of the Executive — Foreign Affairs, 1 There is, in fact, no office in Switzerland similar to that of the United States President, though foreigners nearly always speak of the President of the Swiss Republic, when they mean simply the Chairman of the Cabinet. THE FEDERAL ASSEMBLY, &C. 397 Interior and Education, Justice and Police, Military, Finance and Customs, Industry and Agriculture, Post and Railway. The Federal Assembly sits twice a year, and elects both the Bundesrath, and Bundes- gericht (Tribunal). The Cabinet is subject to re-elec tion every three years, but the same ministers are commonly chosen again and again. The Tribunal, or judiciary body, consists of nine members, who are elected every six years, with headquarters at Lau sanne (since 1884). POLYTECHNIKUM AT ZURICH. Bern, on account of its position between the German and French-speaking districts, was chosen as the seat of the central government. Zurich was to have been the home of the National University, but the plan failed, and it is now the seat of the National Polytechnikum, or technical university. Thus the two leading cities of the Confederation keep up their old characteristics, as governmental and intellectual respectively. Zurich's claims to intellectual distinc- 398 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1848. tion are unquestionable. Its magnificent system of schools, &c, is probably one of the most complete in Europe, if not in the world. It would be tedious as it is unnecessary to enter in detail into the powers of the central government as compared with those of the separate cantons. Suffice it to say, that the Bund reigns supreme in all relations with foreign states — it is only through the medium of the central government that any canton can treat with a foreign Power — that it controls all military matters, regulates coinage (Mints), weights and measures, posts and telegraphs, and fixes customs duties. It also partly controls the national education — the Polytechnikum at Zurich is wholly a federal affair, for instance — but in general each canton is left to its own devices in the matter. Thus, though every Swiss takes a pride in his schools, there in not one uniform standard throughout the state. Every burgess is bound to perform military service, and at any time a force of 200,000 men of the elite, and first reserve, can be placed in the field, not including the Landsturm. Since the Franco-German war military matters are engaging the serious atten tion of the country, seeing the central position of Switzerland, and the unsettled state of Europe.1 It remains to be said that the new Constitution secured freedom in religious matters, though the Jesuits were denied free settlement, and the Jews were not recog nized till 1866. The Octroi, or duties between the 1 The reader is referred for fuller information to the most interesting account by Sir F. O. Adams and Mr. Cunningham in " The Swiss Confederation " (Longmans). TROUBLE IN NEUCHATEL. 399 cantons, was not removed till 1887, and then only after a hard fight on the part of some of the cantons, notably Bern, to whom these dues were a great source of profit. It is a problem requiring all the powers of the skilled statesmen to make the two Swiss sovereign ties — the federal and cantonal — run side by side without allowing either to trench on the other's ground. And it is a much disputed point how far it is to the national benefit to increase the powers of the Federal Government. The centra lization of the Government undoubtedly secures a better administration in most points, but the cantons jealously guard against any infringement of their rights by the Federation. They believe that a healthy rivalry and emulation between the states is a good thing, and one not lightly to be given up. The new Bundesrath was soon called upon to prove the quality of its mettle, for troubles arose in Neu chatel. This canton was, up to 1848, a veritable mediaeval relic in its form of government — a mixture of monarchy and free state. Few spots in Europe have had a more typical and characteristic history than Neuchatel, and did space permit it would be most interesting to trace that history downwards, from its junction with the empire in 1033 ; through its rule by native lords, the counts of Neuchatel, till their extinction in 1395 ; its vassalage to the house of Chalons ; the suzerainty of the Orleans- Longueville family ; the regency of Marie de Nemours (1679- 1707). But here suffice it to say, that through fear of the designs of Louis Quatorze, Neuchatel gladly 400 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1848. accepted the ducal supremacy of the kings of Prussia. In 18 1 5 it was incorporated with the Confederation, as a canton with equal rights and standing to the rest. Notwithstanding this, Prussia still claimed to be its overlord, and thus arose a double regime, a condition of things plainly untenable. In 1848 the Confederation endeavoured to obtain the release of the canton from Prussian rule, and this by the peace ful methods of diplomacy, but in vain. In 1856 a conspiracy was set on foot to undo the work of 1848 — the granting of a more democratic constitution to Neuchatel. At the head of these royalist plotters were Count Poustates and De Meuron. However, their plans failed, and five hundred prisoners were taken. Out of these, twenty-five were by order of the Federal Government kept back to be tried as insurgents. Frederick William IV, of Prussia, demanded their unconditional pardon and surrender, an order obedi ence to which would have been a renunciation of the canton, and a defiance of the Federal rule. The demand was refused, and the question of the release became the centre about which all the negotiation now turned. In this emergency Napoleon III., of France, offered his services as mediator, mindful of the hos pitality shown to him of old by Switzerland. He further promised to espouse the Swiss cause if the prisoners were released, and to Switzerland his offer carried greater weight than all the promises of Prussia. " I shall act in the matter as if I were the Swiss Govern ment," he assured Dr. Kern, who had been sent as special envoy to the French Court, and in a further conversation tried in every possible way to prove his GENERAL DUFOUR. 401 sympathy with the little republic.1 England made similar promises. However the Prussian king made no overtures, and neither France nor England gave sufficient guarantee that Neuchatel should be ceded to Switzerland, and the Swiss Government therefore declined to proceed further on these vague terms. Frederick William threatened war, and began to mobilize his troops. The Federal Council likewise began its preparation, and without outward sign of fear or hesitation, but with a unanimous feeling of heroic enthusiasm though the length and breadth of the country, the Swiss went on with their military organization. Most touching instances of devoted patriotism were witnessed — from the greyhaired old man to the mere boy the people offered their services ; fellow-countrymen abroad sent large sums of money ; even school children offered their savings. Catholic and Protestant, French and German, Italian and Romansch, all were animated by one spirit, all were equally ready to defend the honour and independence of their beloved country. Dufour was again elected Commander-in-chief of the Federal forces. To the crowds who gave him a splendid ovation he replied in these memorable words : " I rejoice to end my life in the service of my country. I am old " — he was seventy — " and my task is heavy, for the enemy is powerful, but I trust I shall carry on my mission in the name of the God of our Riitli, who has never ceased to protect our Fatherland." Such has ever been and ever will be the love of the Swiss for their native soil, a love 1 Kern, " Souvenirs Suisses," pp. 124-129, where other instances of Napoleon's goodwill in 1848-9 are mentioned. 402 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1848. not based merely on the beauty of their land, nor on the perfection of its institutions, but on the knowledge that it is a stronghold of noble freedom, and one of their own rearing. The proud bearing of the Swiss made a great impression on the Powers, and particu larly excited the admiration of Napoleon, who, for getting the former distrust shown towards him, again offered his services as mediator. By his advice the prisoners were conducted to France, and there set free, on January 16, 1857, and they remained in banishment till the settlement of the dispute. This was finally accomplished on May 26th, at the con ference of Paris, when the Prussian king formally renounced for ever all claims on Neuchatel, whether duchy or canton, retaining, however, the title of Furst von Neuenburg. Thus the district was entirely ceded to Switzerland. The cession of Nice and Savoy to Napoleon III. by Victor Emmanuel in 1859-60, led to dissensions with the emperor, which might have turned out serious, the Swiss having some claims on Chablais and Faucigny. The point is not settled even yet. There have also been disputes with the Papal See, consequent on the development of the Old Catholic movement, and the Pope's encroachments. Though the old diocese of Geneva had been long abolished, Pius IX. appointed Mermillod as bishop. Lachat, Bishop of Solothurn, turned out of their cures several priests for declining to accept the dogma of infallibi lity. The exasperation in the country was great, the two bishops were banished from Switzerland, and the Papal Nuncio was discharged. It was not till 1883 that Mermillod was allowed to return. "INITIATIVE" AND "REFERENDUM." 403 It remains to speak briefly of some of the consti tutional revisions which have taken place, up to 1883, or even to the present moment. In 1874 the Federal Pact was amended. Briefly the improvement on the pact of 1848 consisted mainly in arranging a better and more effective centralization in financial, military, and judicial matters. Experience had brought to light many defects in the representative system. Personal, local, or class interests often weighed more with delegates than national interests ; or occasion ally a minister would assume too great powers to himself. To give the people a more direct share in the legislation, two institutions were set on foot which are peculiar to Switzerland. These are the "Initiative" and the "Referendum." They are perhaps the furthest developments of democracy yet reached, and are exciting considerable interest in English-speaking countries at the present time. The Initiative is a development of the right of petitioning. By it any voter or voters may propose new legislation, and if the requisite number of voters can be got to support the proposal by signing the formal petition in its favour, the matter must be put to the popular vote. The number of signatures necessary is five thousand in the case of cantonal legislation, and fifty thousand in Federal matters. The people have thus always the power to bring on the discussion of any matter, however much the Council, or the legislators may object. The Referendum, which by the way is far more frequently applied, secures that any law passed by the cantonal assemblies, or by the Federal Assembly, WORKING OF THE REFERENDUM. 405 shall be put before the forum of the whole people 1 — referred to the whole body of voters — if again the required number of supporters can be got together. In cantonal matters this number is the same as in the case of the Initiative ; in matters relating to the Confederation, thirty thousand votes, or eight cantons are necessary. There are two kinds of Referendum, adopted by different parts of the country, the " facul tative," or optional Referendum, by St. Gall, Zug, Lucerne, Baselstadt, Schaffhausen, Vaud, Neuchatel (1882), Geneva, Ticino (1883) ; and the "obligatory" or compulsory Referendum, which obtains in Zurich (1869), Bern (1869), Thurgau, Aargau, Solothurn, Schwyz, Graubiinden, and Baselland. Uri, Glarus, the two Unterwalden, and the two Appenzell cantons, still cling to their old landsgemeinde, whilst Valais has a financial Referendum, and Freiburg is content with its older representative form of government. Opinion is much divided in Switzerland as to the value of the Referendum. In this, probably, most Swiss agree, that an arrangement which places the sovereign will of the people above that of the autho rities and legislative bodies is a good arrangement, providing the people at large are intelligent and educated. And here Switzerland shows to great advantage. Probably no people in the world have so fully and so clearly recognized that "education alone makes free." The Swiss educational system is such, 1 Legislative Acts are, in fact, referred to the whole people for approval or disapproval, as in limited monarchies they are referred to the sovereign. But in Switzerland the veto possessed by the people is a. real thing, and not a virtual impossibility, as in England for instance. 406 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1848. that it reaches down to the poorest child and pene trates into the remotest valley. All primary educa tion is gratuitous and compulsory. If any people deserve by education and intelligence to be entrusted with powers like that conferred by the Referendum, it is the Swiss. Yet men of every political shade admit that the Referendum is a two-edged weapon which may cut both ways. It is at any rate no new thing in Switzerland. It may be styled a landsgemeinde by ballot. And, as far back as the sixteenth century, the question of the Reformation was put to the Refe rendum — in a somewhat different way, it is true — both in Zurich and Bern. In its present form, of course, the Referendum is modern. It is curious to find that though introduced by the advanced democratic party it turns out in actual working to be a decidedly con servative measure. It may stop a sound and beneficial measure occasionally, but it is more likely to check rash and insufficiently considered legislation, as the Swiss are naturally averse to needless changes. An example or two may serve to illustrate this. Baselland thrice brought forward a Bill for the revision of its cantonal code ; thrice the Bill was rejected, under the compulsory Referendum. At Zurich quite recently (spring of 1889), the Grand Council wished to bring in a new law for bettering the education of the masses by improving the supplementary schools. The country labourers had a majority, and rejected the measure, objecting, it is said, to the additional expenditure. It is to be hoped, however, that this measure will be carried eventually. On the whole, perhaps, the " facultative " Referendum is to be REJECTION OF MEASURES. 407 preferred to the obligatory. We may mention, in conclusion, that out of 107 Bills passed by the Federal Council, between 1874 and 1886, nineteen were sub mitted to the Referendum, and of these nineteen, but six were ultimately adopted by the whole body of voters thus appealed to.1 1 For further notes on the Referendum, see Adams and Cunningham's Swiss Confederation," alluded to above. The Referendum seems likely to attract increasing attention, in England and America especially. LAW COURTS AT LAUSANNE. XXXIV INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, RAILWAYS, EDUCATION THE "RIGHT OF ASYLUM." OUR story must be brought to a close with a short account of several important matters on which nothing has as yet been said, viz., the industrial condition of the country, and its material progress. Hardly any other country has had to contend with so many natural disadvantages as Switzerland, in prosecuting her industries and establishing her trade. The diffi culty of the country, the absence of coal and iron, the want of navigable rivers, the scanty produce of the soil in the more elevated districts, the want of sea board — all these and other things increased the severity of the struggle in the race for wealth. Then she is fenced in as it were by protection. As a set off against these drawbacks, there is an abundance of water-power. But it is evident that agriculture alone could not suffice to provide for all the inhabi tants, and thus it comes to pass that the Swiss have turned their energies in a remarkable manner to the TRADE AND COMMERCE. 409 establishment and development of manufactures. It may here be pointed out parenthically that the poverty of the country in the pre-manufacturing days accounts for, and to some extent excuses, the old and reprehensible practice amongst the Swiss of hiring themselves out as soldiers to the highest bidder. Raw material in vast quantities is imported, and finished goods sent out. Switzerland competes successfully with some of the greatest manufacturing countries — England, Belgium, France — nay, consider ing her population, she almost surpasses them. Putting imports and exports together, Switzerland does a trade of £60,000,000 annually, the imports consisting mainly of coal, iron, raw silk, cotton, gold, and other raw materials, the exports of manufactured goods. The value of the imports exceeds that of the exports by no less a sum than six and a half millions sterling (Federal Statistics, 1887), the counterbalance being supplied by the tourists, and by the interest on foreign investments. The Swiss are a stirring and business-like people, and had already in the first half of the present century carried their enterprises abroad, especially in the principal seaports. As early as 1 812, Egg, a citizen of Zurich, took two hundred operatives, and started a cotton factory at Piedimonti, near Naples, notwithstanding the blockade, the ma chinery being taken by way of Trieste and the Adriatic. Now the Swiss are to be found all over the world, as every one knows. A few figures in detail respecting the imports and exports may be interesting. They are from the official statistics for 1887. 410 INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, RAILWAYS, EDUCATION. Imports. Foodstuffs 242,935,277 francs. Raw materials 330,324,615 „ Finished or partly-finished goods 263,775,024 „ Total ... 837,034,916 „ Exports. Food stuffs 78,565,548 francs. Raw materials 95,922,106 „ Finished products 496,604,979 „ Total ... 671,092,633 „ Switzerland imports chiefly from the neighbouring countries, but her export trade is largely with England and America, as well as with Germany and France. Of the industries of the country, the largest as well as the oldest is the production of silk goods, dating back to the thirteenth century, the chief seats being Zurich and Basel. Cotton manufacture is carried on at Zurich, Aargau, St. Gall, and other places ; em broidery is made at St. Gall and Appenzell; and watches at Neuchatel and Geneva. This last town has also a great trade in jewellery and musical boxes. Then there are considerable manufactures of machinery, cheese, condensed milk, and other things, and wood carving is carried on to a large extent. The last returns give the exports of silk as 198,768,230 francs, cotton as over 158,000,000, and watches over 84,000,000. This is not the place for details respecting the railway system, but it may be noted that the total length of the Swiss lines is now over three thousand kilometres. A special feature of the Alpine lines is, as every one is aware, the skill with which the : : VICTIMS OF THE WORK," ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL, FROM A BAS-RELIEF BY VELA. (Photographed by Guler. By permission of the Sculptor.) 412 INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, RAILWAYS, EDUCATION. engineering difficulties have been surmounted. The St. Gothard line, with its fifty tunnels, is the most , conspicuous of these successes. This grand inter national enterprise owes its execution to Dr. Alfred Escher of Zurich, and the famous engineer, Louis Favre of Geneva. Vela, the Ticinese sculptor, has produced a fine group of relievi as a memento of the many poor victims of the great undertaking. The tunnel is between nine and ten miles long, and was completed in seven and a half years. There is no doubt that the thriving condition of Switzerland is chiefly due to three causes — the thrifti- ness of the people, their natural ability, and perhaps, more than all, the excellence of the educational system. On this last point much has been written by the late Matthew Arnold and Sir F. O. Adams, and to their works the reader must be referred for details. We may here mention, however, that besides the primary, secondary, and high schools, which are to be found in every canton, Switzerland stands out conspicuously by the number and excel lence of its technical and trade schools. The great Polytechnikum of Zurich is the pride of the country, and Basel, Zurich, Bern, and Geneva have universities, and Neuchatel and Lausanne academies.1 Primary education is entirely free, and to it the greater share of the education vote is assigned — in 1887, nearly seventeen and a half million francs out of a total of twenty-six and a half millions given to. education. Attendance at school is compulsory, and there were 1 That of Lausanne is to be made into a university 1*1"; * WKmW ' mm ' tit ^Hl» ¦j»*iw ¦'' '¦• '• X^ Spit'' toiib.'J.E-j.. PORTRAIT OF GOTFRIED KELLER, THE POET. (After a Photograph. ) 414 INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, RAILWAYS, EDUCATION. in 1887, 467,597 children attending the primary schools. Of men of intellect, of talent, of artistic, scientific, or literary skill, Switzerland has produced many, and has sheltered many more. The numerous academical institutions, literary, scientific, and musical societies, draw together large numbers of superior intellects. Amongst the numberless men of science now or lately living may be mentioned Agassiz, Desor, De la Rive, Heer, Merian, Studer, and Dr. Ferdinand Keller, the discoverer of the lake dwellings. In literature we have Viet, Marc Monnier, Zschokke, as well as Leuthold, Gotfried Keller, and Ferdinand Meyer. Keller has a reputation more than European ; he has been called the German Shakespeare. He belongs to Zurich. The occasion of his seventieth birthday (on July, 1889), brought a remarkable demonstration. The Assembly voted him an address, and enthusiastic congratulations poured in upon him from all quarters. From Germany Von Moltke himself headed the list of admiring friends who sent messages. Keller is acknowledged to be the greatest living German poet. Amongst painters are Calaine, Diday, Girardet, Gleyre, Vautier, and Bocklin, whom the Germans consider one of their greatest living painters ; and of sculptors, there are Vela and Lanz. Gustave Weber and Joachim Raff are well-known musical composers, with whom we must name Baum- gartner, who has raised Keller's " Oh, mein Heimat- land," into the position of a second national anthem. We see in Switzerland a nation which once played THE GENEVA CONVENTION. 415 a conspicuous part in European military affairs, but which has now become a land of peace, whose neutrality the Powers vouchsafed at the Vienna Congress. In the exceptional position she holds, she deems it part of her mission of peace to promote the general welfare of the world, so far as lies in her power. Most important international institutions owe their origin, or at least their successful establish ment, to Switzerland. Thus she started the Geneva Convention, under the presidency of General Dufour, in 1864. This Convention had for its object the mitigation of the horrors of war, and every European nation was represented at it. The declaration of the neutrality of all nurses, medical men, hospitals, &c, on either side, and the adoption of the distinguishing badge, the Geneva cross, are too well known to need description here. Then at the suggestion of Germany the International Postal Union was founded at a meeting at Bern. And quite recently the Inter national Congress of labour delegates is under con sideration to be called with the view of settling some of the social questions affecting labour. A particu larly interesting Swiss foundation was started in 1886, to provide for poor soldiers incapacitated by war, and to assist relatives dependent on those killed in battle. It was founded to celebrate the five- hundredth anniversary of Sempach, and is appro priately named the Winkelriedstiftung. The right to offer an asylum in time of war she considers one of her most precious privileges. Seeing, however, how frequently her well-meant intentions are misinterpreted, and her hospitality 416 THE "RIGHT OF ASYLUM." abused, she may probably have to restrict her offers of asylum. In fact, the Bundesrath have even now under consideration the question of how best to maintain her rights in this respect, whilst seeing that no injury is done to foreign interests. One thing is certain, she will not give up the right of asylum. Meanwhile the refractory foreign elements residing in Switzerland are not only endangering her safety, but doing harm to the character of her people. The confusion of 1848-9 brought to Swiss territory fugitives from all parts of Europe. As many as ten thousand fled from the Grand Duchy of Baden, when the Prussian troops checked the rising there. Many distinguished men, who would otherwise have met with death, or lingered indefinitely in prison, found a safe retreat in Switzerland. We need only mention the great composer, Richard Wagner, and Riistow, Mommsen, Semper, Joh. Scherr, Kinkel, Kochly, from amongst a host of scholars who took refuge there, and settled for years at the Swiss universities. Kochly's scholarship and activity brought in a con spicuously successful period of classical study at Zurich University (1850-64),1 and his successor, Arnold Hug, was no less devoted and successful. In 1853 Austria turned out six thousand Swiss (Ticinese) in the harshest manner from Lombardy, on the plea that Italians had been allowed to com bine on Swiss ground against Austria. Six years later the Swiss had an opportunity of heaping coals of fire on the head of Austria, for when the Austrian garrison was driven from Fort Laveno, on Lake 1 " Life of Kochly," by Prof. A. Hug, 1878. SWISS HOSPITALITY. 417 Maggiore, the soldiers were not only freely admitted into Swiss territory, but were liberally treated. Mazzini, too, the Italian patriot, sought safety in Switzerland, causing her, by the way, considerable trouble. The Franco-German war, again, offered the Swiss many opportunities of showing their usual benevolence and charity towards distressed foreigners. To the Germans who had to leave France on the outbreak of war, making their way home through Switzerland, the Swiss people showed innumerable kindnesses, many of the people being poor, and destitute of even necessaries. And when they heard of the siege of Strasburg, their old friend and ally of centuries ago, the Swiss sent a deputation to invite the weak and tender to go home with them. This was done with the consent of both belligerents, and fourteen hundred persons, chiefly women and children, and old men', accepted the invitation. It was a touching scene when they left with their protectors, and few eyes were dry. Every one knows how Bourbaki, failing to relieve Belfort, was compelled to flee into Swiss territory, with his eighty-five thousand men and nine thousand horse (February 1, 1 871). The troops were disarmed, and quartered all over the country, and remained till peace was con cluded. High and low, rich and poor, the Swiss vied with each othesi1 in showing kindness to the refugees. Miserable in the extreme had been their condition on their arrival, but they left recruited in health, improved in appearance and full of gratitude. As they departed the air was filled with shouts of " Vive la Suisse." That same spring, too, when seed 418 THE "RIGHT OF ASYLUM." was wanting with which to sow the ground in many districts of France, the Swiss sent large quantities of potatoes, oats, barley, and beans, and other seed corn, besides money and clothing. And during the war Swiss aid was distributed amongst French and Germans impartially. It is not from self-interest or vain-glory that the Swiss act thus, but from motives of humanity and benevolence. And, though the " right of asylum " 'is liable to be abused, its nobler side is not to be forgotten. It is to be hoped that Switzerland will ever keep her present independence and neutrality, the very existence of which bears witness to the more human tendencies of modern European politics. It remains only to give a few figures respecting the present numbers of the population. They are taken from the official returns, and though the report is only provisional,1 it may be taken that the figures are substantially correct. It appears, then, that the total population of the Republic, on December i, 1888, was 2,934,057 actually, or 2,920,723 in regular residence. In 1850 the actual population was 2,392,740, thus the increase during the thirty-eight years has been over half a million. Of the 2,934,057 enumerated on December 1, 1888, 1,427,377 were males, and 1,506,680 females ; 2,092,530 were German- speaking, 637,972 French-speaking, 156,606 Italian- speaking, 38,375 Romansch-speaking, 8,574 were of other nationalities ; 1,724,957 were Protestants, 1,190,008 Catholics, and 19,092 of other religions, or 1 "Vorlaufige Resultate der eidg. Volksz'ahlung vom 1 Dezember, 1888." INTERIOR OF LAUSANNE CATHEDRAL. (From a Photograph.) 420 THE "RIGHT OF ASYLUM." of none. The canton with the largest population was Bern, with 539,271, Zurich coming next with 339,014, whilst that with the smallest number of souls was Lower Unterwalden, with 12,524. The most populous town is Zurich, with 90,111 inhabitants, those coming next in order being Basel, with over 69,000, Geneva 52,000, Bern, 45,000, Lausanne, 33,000. Here must end our short sketch of this remarkable little state. From the very earliest times its peoples have been particularly interesting — from its prehistoric lakemen with their almost unique series of settle ments, down through successive nationalities of Helvetians and Romans, Alamanni and Burgun dians to the modern Germans, French, Italians, and Romansch. Switzerland has bred or has been closely connected with some of the proudest ruling families in European history — Habsburgs and Zaerings, Car- lovingians and Burgundians, Hohenstaufens and Savoys. Some of the most glorious victories re corded in history have been gained by the little Swiss nation in defence of their beloved fatherland ; the fame of Morgarten, Sempach, Grandson, and Morat is not likely to die out while European civili zation lasts. Constitutionally the history of Switzer land is of surpassing interest. Step by step we have seen a handful of gallant people free themselves from oppression by emperor or duke, by prince or lord, by prelate or cloister. Inch by inch the people at large have gained their political rights from foreign overlords or from native aristocracies. We have seen how a tiny confederation of three petty states has grown into a league of eight, and then of thirteen INTEREST OF SWISS INSTITUTIONS. 421 independent districts, and how this has developed into the federal state of twenty-two cantons of our own day. Lastly, some of the institutions of the country, notably the Initiative and the Referendum, are well-nigh unique of their kind, and certainly are of the greatest interest to the student of political history and development ; whilst Switzerland's noble efforts for the amelioration and benefit of mankind at large cannot but command our admiration. " II est a nous, notre libre avenir; Morgarten, Grandson, jours de fete, Si vous ne deviez revenir, O Saint Jacques, O sainte defaite, Dans ton pourpre linceul, tu nous verrais dormir." ' 1 De la Rive, Genevan poet. The End. INDEX. Aargau, subject land, 186 Adams, Sir F. O., 412 Adolf of Nassau, 131 ^Eneas Sylvius, 203, 253 jEtius defeated Huns, 45 ; gave Savoy to Burgundy, 51 Agassiz, 14 Agen, battle of, 20 Agnes of Konigsfelden, 141 Alamanni, 39, 46, 47, 49 Albrecht of Habsburg, 113, 120, 131. 132 Alcuin, 64 Allobroges, 21 Allmend, or common land, 48, 126 Alpinus, 37 Alpnach, bay of, 355 Ambiihl of Glarus, 176 Amman chosen in Uri, 127 Am Stoss, battle of, 181 Appenzell, 181 ; admitted as an ally, 182 ; admitted as a canton, 237 Aquse (Baden), 35 Aquae Sextiae, battle of, 21 Arbedo, engagement at, 188 Arelatisches Reich founded, 73 Arnold of Brescia, reformer, 100, 152 Arnold von Melchthal, 120 Arnulf of Kaemthen, 76 Arth, Battle of, 354 Asylum, Right of, 416, 418 Augusta Rauracorum, 35, 39 Augusta Vindelicorum, 32 " Ausserer Stand," Society, 320 Austria, 143, 146, 166 ; defeated at Sempach, 172; defeated at Naefels, 177 ; claims the Forest, 178 Autun, battle of, 55 Avars, the, 76 Avenches, 97, 213 ; battle at, 368 Aventicum, 14, 34, 39 B Baden (Zurich), 186 Barbarossa, 96 Basel, 14; treaty of, 236 ; divided, 387 Bayard, 240 Beccaria, 294 Bellinzona, 188 Bern, founded, 97 ; defeated at Schosshalde, 158 ; forms Bur gundian Confederation, 159 : rules over Hasle, 163 ; League with Austria, 166 ; power over house of Kyburg, 166 ; seizes Habsburg, 186; fortifies Morat, 212 ; natural bent for rule, 245 ; governing families of, 320; plundered by French, 351, 353 ; population, &c., 420 Berchtold V. founds Bern, 97; defeated by Savoy, 98 Bertha, the " Spinning Queen,'' 74,86 Bertold I., Duke of Zaeringen, 93 424 INDEX. Bertold II. , 94 Bertold IV., 96 Beza, 287, 290 Bibracte, battle of, 23 Bituitus, 19 Bockenkrieg, 372 Bodmer, 334, 338 Bonivard, 273 Borromean League, 294 Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, 293 Bourbaki, General, 417 Breisach, rising at, 205 Breitinger, 334, 336 Brun, Burgomaster of Zurich, 140, 146, 155, 157 Bubenberg, Hans von, 164 ; Adrian von, 206, 212 Bullinger, Reformer, 268, 296 Bund ob dem See, 181 Burgdorf, 97, 166 Burgundia Transjurans, 73 Burgundy takes West Helvetia, 40 ; defeated by Huns, 50 ; defeated by Franks, 55 ; two kingdoms of, 73 ; its wars, 200 Burkhard of Alamannia, 74 Burkhard of Chur-Rhaetia, 78, 8o, 81 Caecina ravages Helvetia, 36 Campo Formio, treaty of, 347 Calvin, 279 ; his writings, 280 ; settles at Geneva, 281 ;banished, 282 ; founds the Consistory, 283 ; burns Servetus, 286 ; his policy, 287 ; death, 289 Carlomann, 58 Carmagnola, General, 188 Carolinum founded, 67 Catalaunian Plain, great battle on, 45 Catholic League, 387 Catholic Reaction, 291, 294 Central Government, 396 Centralists, the, 365 Chablais, 380, 402 Charlemagne, 59 ; Emperor of the West, 60 ; legends concerning, 62 ; zeal for education, 64 Charles the Bald, 72 Charles the Bold, 200, 205; defeated at Grandson, 211 ; at Morat, 213 ; death, 215 Charles IV. of Germany, 141, 143 Chiavenna, 241, 346, 380 Chillon, 109, 274 Christianity, introduction of, 40 Christian League, 264 Codex Manesse, 153 Columban, 57 Commerce, 409 Confederation formed, 1 19 Conrad I., 77 ; IL, 88 ; III., 99 Conradin, 114 Constance, siege of, 304 Clairvaux, monk, preaches Cru sades, 99 Clovis, king of the Franks, 54 Crusades, 98 D D'Affry, 372, 376 Davel, Major, 319 "Delices, Les," 326; theatre destroyed, 328 Diesbach, Nicolas von, 206 Divico, 20, 23 Domo d'Ossola, 188 Dornbuhl, victory at, 158 Drachenried, engagement at, 355 Drusus, 25, 32 Dufour, General, 393, 401, 415 East Frankish realm, 72 Eberhard the " Quarrelsome," 143 ; of Kyburg, 161 Education, 388, 412 Eidgenossenschaft, the, 118 Eight States League, 139, 166 Einsiedeln, 82, 134 Eishere the Giant, 62 Elizabeth of Habsburg, 133 " Empty Pocket," Frederick the, 181 Ensisheim, peace of, 197 Erlach, Ludwig von, 350 Erlach, Rudolf von, 164 INDEX. 425 Ernest II. of Swabia, 82 Escalade of Geneva, 302 Eschenbach, 133 Escher, 358, 375 Ewiger Bund, 129 Exports, 410 Farel, reformer, 275 Faucigny, 380, 402 " Faustrecht," the, 107 Federal Assembly, 396 Federal Council, 396 Federal Tribunal, 396 Felix Martyr, 42 Fellenberg, educationist, 374 Ferney, 326 Feudalism, 103 Fichte, 338 Fontana, 234 " Foul Peace," the, 175 Franche Comte, 215 Franco-German War, 417 Franks, the, 54 Fraubrunnen, skirmish at, 350 Frederick von Staufen, 93 Frederick I. (Barbarossa), 105 Frederick II. , 127, 150 Frederick III., 190 Frederick the " Empty Pocket," 181, 185 Freiburg, 161, 221 French Revolution, 343 Fridolin St., banner of, at Naefels, 177 " Friedel" (Empty Pocket), 185 Galba, 25, 35 Gallia Comata, 31 Gall, St., 57, 62, 182, 241, 346 Geneva, 245 ; " Children " of, 273, 285 ; besieged by Savoy, 276 ; occupied by Bernese army, 277 ; Calvin's rule in, 284 ; escalade of, 302 ; Fatio's reforms, 322 ; admitted into league, 380 ; Geneva Conven tion, 415 Geschworne Brief, 155 Gessler, 121, 123 Giornico, victory at, 189 Glarean, scholar, 254 Glarus, 141 ; 1st Landsgemeinde, 175 ; defeats Austria, 177 ; defeated at Rapperswyl, 353 Goethe, 341 Golden League, 294 Gothard, St., pass, 187 ; tunnel, 412 Gbtterdammerung, 50 Gotteshausbund, 184 Grandson, battle of, 208, 211 Graubiinden, 184, 234 ; religious feuds, 305 ; massacre in, 307 ; Austrian occupation, 308 ; independence recovered, 311 Grauholz, conflict at, 351 Gregory VII., Pope, 91 Greifensee, 194, 317 Greyerz, 162, 164 Grey, Lady Jane, 298 Grey League, 184 Guillermins, the, 282 Giimminen, 161 Gundobad of Burgundy, 52 H Habsburg Castle, 1 13 Habsburg- Austria, family of, 113 Habsburg- Laufenburg, 113 Habsburg, house of, 113, 114; kings of Germany, 115 Hadrian, Pope, 60, 63 Hadwig, 81 Hserige, the, 48 Hagenback, Peter von, 204, 205 Haller, 334, 336 Hallwyl, Hans von, 212 Harpe, La, 347, 359, 367, 372, 384 Hartmann, 108, 161 Harsthbrner, 209 Hatto, Bishop, 66 Heer, Professor, 8 Heierli, n Helvetia, 13, 31, 32 Helvetians, 14; government, 17; feuds with Germans, 18 ; victory 426 INDEX. over Romans, 20 ; defeated at Bibracte, 24 ; made associates by Rome, 25 ; split into two sections, 36 Helvetic Club, 347 Helvetic Republic, 352 Helvetic Society, the, 340, 342 Henry I., the " City Founder," 80 Henry II. of Germany, 87 Henry III., 88, 90, 105 Henry IV., 91, 93 Henry VII., 134 Hericourt, Siege of, 208 Herodotus, 8 Hertenstein of Lucerne, 213 Hildgard, Princess, Abbess of Zurich, 70 Hirtzel, 339 Hohe Frau von Zurich, 149 Hohenstaufen line, 107 ; extinc tion, 114 Hooper, Bishop, 297 "Horned Council," 229 Hotze, 360 Hug, Dr. Arnold, scholar, 416 Huns, 44, 45 Huss, martyr, 198 I Im Grund, 219 Imports, 410 Initiative, the, 403 Innsbruck, 186 International Postal Union, 415 Italian Wars, 237 Jacques, St., battle of, 191, 193, I9S Jenatsch, 307, 309 ; stabbed, 310 John XXIII., Pope, 185 Judith, 72 Julien, St., treaty of, 274 Juvalta, Anna, 307 K Kaernthen, Arnulf of, 76 Kappel, first battle, 264; second ditto, 267 "Kappeller, Milchesuppe," 262 Keller, Dr. Ferdinand, 3, 414 Keller, novelist, 154 Keller, poet, 414 Kern, Swiss envoy, 400 Klaus, Bruder, 221 Klingenberg, Henry of, 153 Klopstock, 337, 338 Kloten, 38 Knonau Castle, 186; rising at, 227 ; Ludwig Meyer von, 340 Knox, 287 Kochly, scholar, 416 Konigsfelden, Monastery, 133 Korsakow, 360, 361 Kyburg Manor, 82 ; counts of, 89 ; rise of family, 104 ; fall, 166 " Ladle Squires," the, 274 Lake dwellers, 5, 9, 11 Lake dwellings, 3 ; construction, 5 ; probable dates, 1 1 ; ditto in East Yorkshire, 12 Landammann, installation of, 249 Landenberg, 121 Lander, the, 218 Landsgemeinde, 247 Latin right, 35 Laupen, 97, 163 Lausanne bishopric, 271 Lavater, 340, 359, 361 League of Perpetual Alliance, 1 19 Lemanic Republic, 349 Lenzburg, counts of, 89 ; family, 104 Leopold, 135 ; defeated at Mor garten, 136 Leopold III. of Austria, 168 ; defeated at Sempach, 172 Letzinen, the, 162 Leventina, 188 ; rising in, 316 Libertines, 285 Ligue a la Cassette, 316 Linth canal, 375 " Lion of Lucerne," 346 Locarno refugees, 295 " Long Diet," 378 Lorraine, kingdom of, 200 INDEX. 427 Lothair, 73, 96 Louis Napoleon, 389 Louis Philippe, 389 Louis the Child, 76 Louis the German, 70 Louis the Pious, 71 Louis XL, 195 I,ouis XIV., 312, 313 Lucerne, 140 Luneville, peace of, 367 Liitzelburg, Henry of, 133 Lyons, 32 M Maehren, the, 76 Malleolus, savant, 198, 253 Mamelukes, the, 273 Manesse, 142, 153 Manufactures, 410 Marignano, 218, 240 Martel, Charles, 58 Massena, 360, 361 Maximilian, 232 Mayence, diet at, 93 "Mazze,"the, 183 Mediation Act, 369 Meilen, 3 Meistersinger, 251 Melchthal, Arnold von, 120 Mermillod, Bishop, 402 Milan, 187, 189, 238 "Milchsuppe," the, 264 Military system, 398 Minnelieder, 153 Misox, 295 Monk of St. Gall, 62 Morat, battle of, 212 Morgarten, battle of, 131, 135; another engagement at, 354 Miiller, historian, 124 Murten, see Morat Mytenstein, the, 121 N Naefels, battle of, 175 Nancy, battle of, 215 Napoleon and Switzerland, 370 " Natifs," the, 323 " Negatifs," the, 322 Nellenburg, counts of, 89 Neuchatel, 209 ; rebels against Prussia, 323 ; admitted to league, 380 ; troubles in, 399 ; Prussia renounces claim to, 402 Neueneck, engagement at, 350 " Nibelungenlied," 51 Nicolas von der Flue, 219 Nidan, Count of, 164 Nidwalden, 129 Notker, chronicler, 62 ; Monachus S. Gallensis, 75 Novara, siege of, 239 Noviodunum, 33 O Obwalden, 129 Ochs, Peter, 347, 352, 358, 367 Octodurum (Martigny), 35 Omer, St., treaty of, 204 Orcitrix, see Orgetorix Orgetorix, 17 ; his treason and death, 21 Otho I., 80 Ottokar of Steyermark, 1 16 Otto of Strassberg, 135 ; death, 136 Otto von Freysing, 151 Papal see, alliance with, 238 Paracelsus, 301 Paris, peace of, 377 Paulus Diaconus, 64 Peasants' revolt, 311 Pepin le Bref, 58 Pestalozzi, 331, 339> 356> 3°6, 374. 3»5 Peter Martyr, 295 Peter of Savoy, "Second Charle magne," 108 ; Savoy palace, 109; war with Austria, 1 10; death, ill Pfaffikon Lake, 6 Pfyffer, " Swiss king, " 293 Philip of Savoy, III Pius II., 203 Planta, John von, 305 ; Rudolf, 307 Polytechnikum at Zurich, 398 428 INDEX. Population, 418 Postal Union, the, 415 R Railways, 410 Rapinat, 364 Rapperswyl, counts of, 104 ; skirmish at, 156 ; John of, 156 ; battle at, 353 Raron, barons of, 182, 183 Rauraci, 14, 33 Rauracian Republic, 345 Reding, 191, 194 ; advocates Reislaufen, 226 Reding of Schwyz, 353, 359, 367 Referendum, the, 403 ; of two kinds, 405 ; its working, 406 Reformation in East Switzerland, 254 ; in West Switzerland, 267 Regensburg, peace of, 145 Regula Martyr, 40 Reichsfreiheit, the, 126 Reinhard, 376, 379 Rene of Lorraine, 208, 215 Rengger, 365 Rhaetians, 14 ; campaign of Drusus, 26 ; joined with East Switzerland, 32 ; fall of Goths, 55 Rheinfelden manor, 91 ; battle of, 310 Richard of Cornwall, 109 Robenhausen, 6, 8 Rohan, Duke Henry de, 309, 310 Romans, 20 ; Bibracte, 23 ; con quer Valais, 25 ; Rhaetia, 26 ; policy, 30 Romaunsh dialect, 14, 26 Rotach, 181 Rothenburg, 168 Rotzloch, battle of, 355 Rousseau, 325 ; birth, 328 ; writ ings, 329 ; " Contrat Social," 331 Rudolf der Alte, 113 Rudolf of Habsburg, 113; elected King of Germany, 115; policy, 116 Rudolf II. , 74 Rudolf III., 82,87 Rudolf IV., 145 Rudolf, " Rector of Burgundy," 91 Rudolf the Guelf, 73 Rudolf the Silent, 1 13 Rudolf von Erlach, 164 "Rufst du mein Vaterland," 178 Riitli, the oath on, 120, 122 Sabaudia (Savoy), 51 Salis, Von, 305 Salodunum (Soleure), 35 Sarnen, the "White Book" of, 124 Savoy, 98 ; Palace in Strand, 109 ; defeated at Visp, 182 ; loses Lower Valais, 208 ; and Freiburg, 216 ; and Vaud, 277 " Savoyards," the, 273 Sax-Misox, 183, 188 Schaffhausen, 204, 236 Schauenberg, 350, 355, 360 Scheffel's "Ekkehard," 81 Schindellegi, battle of, 354 Schinner, Matthaeus, 238 Schirmverwandte, 180 Schmalkalden wars, 291 Schosshalde, battle of, 1 58 Schwyz, 119; charter of liberties, 127 ; joins league, 128 ; war with Zurich, 190 Sempach, battle of, 166 ; Winkel ried's death, 1 70 Sequani, the, 41 Servetus, 286 Sforza, Ludovico, 238 ; Maxi milian, 239 Siebner Concordat, 387, 391 Sigismund, 55, 185 Sigmund of Austria, 204 Simplon Road, 376 Socinus, 295 Solernon, Abbott of St. Gall, 76, 77,80 Solothurn, 159, 221 Sonderbund wars, 392 Soult, Marshal, 361 Stael, Madame de, 332 Stafa, insurrection in, 346 INDEX. 429 Stanz, meeting at, 217, 219 ; covenant of, 221 ; siege, 355 Stapfer, 365, 370 Staufacher, 120 " Stecklikrieg," the, 368 Steyermark, 116 Strasburg, 203 Strauss, 391 Stuppa, 313 Stiissi, 191, 193 Subject lands, 179 Suwarow, 360, 361 Swabia, 71, 73 ; John of, 133 ; wars, 235 Swiss guards massacred, 345 Sylvius, 204 T Tagsatzung (Diet), 250 Tatwil, Austrian defeat at, 142 Tavelli murdered, 182 Tell, 122, 123 Tell, historian, 301 Tellenplatte, 123 Theiling of Lucerne, 227 Theobald, bishop, 66 Theodoric the Great, 51, 53 "Thermopylae of Switzerland," 137 Thun, 97 Thurgau, 204 Ticino, 187, 241 Tigurini, the, 14, 22 Tirano, skirmish at, 308 Toggenburg, 93, 190 Torberg, peace of, 146 Toygeni, the, 14 Tremouille, General, 239 Trivulzio, 239, 241 Tschudi, historian, 124, 252 U Ufenau Island, 192 Ulrichen, battle of, 182 Ulrich of Kyburg, 108 Unitarier, 366 Unterthanen Laender, 180 Unterwalden, 119; divided, 129 Uri, 119; severed from Zurich Abbey, 126 ; chooses Ammann, 127 Uristier of Uri, 209 Ursus (and Victor) put to death, 42 " Uster, Day of," 385 Uto Castle, 115 Valais, 14 ; joined to Savoy, 32 ; joins league, 182 ; rising in, 345 Valangin, Count, 164 Valisians, 14, 25 Valtellina, 241 ; massacre in, 307 ; joined to Lombardy, 346 ; to Austria, 380 Vaud, 216, 269 ; lost to Savoy, 277 Vazerol, diets at, 184 Vercellse, battle of, 21 Vercingetorix defeated, 25 ; death, 29 Verdun, treaty of, 72 ; ditto, 200 Vespasian, 34 Victor (and Ursus) put to death, 42 Victoriden, the, 55 Vienna Congress, 378 Villemergen, religious strife, 311 ; second ditto, 316 Vindonissa, 35 Viret, reformer, 276 Visconti, the, 187 Visp, battle of, 182 Vitellius, 37 Vogelinseck, battle of, 181 Volkslieder, the, 251 Voltaire, 325 ; at Ferney, 326 ; influence, 327 Voralberg, 190 W Walchen Romaunsh, 184 Waldmann, 212, 213 ; his life, 222 ; policy, 225 ; conspiracy against him, 227 ; sentence and death, 228 ; compromise, 229 Waldshut feud, 204 Waldstatten, the, 3, 120, 140 Walter Fiirst von Attinghausen, 120 430 INDEX. Wart stabs Albrecht of Habs burg, 133 Wasserkirche (Zurich), 68, 224 Weiss, 349 Wengi, Nicolas von, 268 Werdenberg, counts of, 105, 176, 181 ; revolts, 316 Werner of Kyburg, 104 Werner Staufacher, 120 Wesen, 175, 177 West Frankish realm, 72 Westphalia, peace of, 311 Wieland, 337 William IV. of Burgundy, 95 Willisan destroyed, 169 Wimmis stormed, 162 Winkelried, 171, 173 Winkelriedstiftung, the, 415 Winterthur, 74, 132 Wyss, Prof. Georg von, historian, 69 Y Yorkshire, lake settlements in East, 12 Yverdon, 97 Z Zaeringen, house 0' 95, 96 ; dis solution, 101 Zehngerichte (Bund), 184 Zschokke, novelist, 374, 384, 414 Zug, 142 ; excluded from league, 145 ; readmitted, 146 Zugewandte, 180 Zum Ranft, 219 Ziinfte or guilds, 225 Zuricum, 17 Zurich, 60,66; abbey founded, 70, 75; diets, 90; Reichsvogtei, 94; attacks Winterthur, 1 32 ; joins league, defeats Austrians, 142 ; Lenzburgs and Zaerings, 149 ; a poet's corner, 155 ; " Mord- nacht," 156 ; war with Schwyz, 190, 193 ; gives up Austrian Alliance, 197 ; revolts against Waldmann, 228 ; war with Forest, 264 ; religious refugees, 295 ; educational pre-eminence, 398 ; largest Swiss city, 420 " Zurichputsch," 390 Zwingli, 255 : birth, 257 ; called to Zurich, 258 ; abolishes Reis laufen, 260 ; establishes National Church, 262 ; with Zurich army, 264 ; killed in battle, 267 XCbe Stoqp of tbe IRations, MESSRS. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS take pleasure in announcing that they have in course of publication, in co-operation with Mr. T. Fisher Unwin, of London, a series of historical studies, intended to present in a graphic manner the stories of the different nations that have attained prominence in history. In the story form the current of each national life is distinctly indicated, and its picturesque and noteworthy periods and episodes are presented for the reader in their philosophical relation to each other as well as to universal history. It is the plan of the writers of the different volumes to enter into the real life of the peoples, and to bring them before the reader as they actually lived, labored, and struggled — as they studied and wrote, and as they amused themselves. In carrying out this plan, the myths, with which the history of all lands begins, will not be over looked, though these will be carefully distinguished from the actual history, so far as the labors of the accepted historical authorities have resulted in definite conclusions. The subjects of the different volumes have been planned to cover connecting and, as far as possible, consecutive epochs or periods, so that the set when completed will present in a comprehensive narrative the chief events in the great STORY OF THE NATIONS ; but it is, of course, not always practicable to issue the several volumes in their chronological order. The " Stories " are printed in good readable type, and in handsome i2mo form. They are adequately illustrated and furnished with maps and indexes. They are sold separately at a price of $1.50 each. The following volumes are now ready (April, 1890): THE STORY OF GREECE. Prof. Jas. A. Harrison. " " ROME. Arthur Gilman. " THE JEWS. Prof. James K. Hosmer. " CHALDEA. Z. A. Ragozin. " GERMANY. S. Baring-Gould. " " NORWAY. Hjalmar H. Boyesen. " SPAIN. Rev. E. E. and Susan Hale. " HUNGARY. Prof. A. Vambery. " CARTHAGE. Prof. Alfred J. Church. " THE SARACENS. Arthur Gilman. " THE MOORS IN SPAIN. Stanley Lane-Poole. " THE NORMANS. Sarah Orne Jewett. " PERSIA. S. G. W. Benjamin. " ANCIENT EGYPT. Prof. Geo. Rawlinson. " ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. Prof. J. P. Mahaffy. " ASSYRIA. Z. A. Ragozin. " THE GOTHS. Henry Bradley. " IRELAND. Hon. Emily Lawless. " TURKEY. Stanley Lane-Poole. " MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA. Z. A. Ragozin. " MEDIAEVAL FRANCE. Prof. Gustav Masson. " HOLLAND. Prof. J. Thorold Rogers. " MEXICO. Susan Hale. ' PHOENICIA. Prof. Geo. Rawlinson. " THE HANSA TOWNS. Helen Zimmern. " EARLY BRITAIN. Prof. Alfred J. Church. " THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. Stanley Lane-Poole. " RUSSIA. W. R. Morfill. " THE JEWS UNDER ROME. W. D. Morrison. " SCOTLAND. James Mackintosh. Now in Press for immediate issue: THE STORY OF SWITZERLAND. R. Stead and Mrs. Arnold Hug. " VEDIC INDIA. Z. A. Ragozin. ' THE THIRTEEN COLONIES. Helen A. Smith. " MODERN FRANCE. Emily Crawford. " CANADA. A. R. Macfarlane. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS T. FISHER UNWIN New York London YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 05224 2006