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THE RISE

THE SWISS REPUBLIC

& ftistorg

W. D. McCRACKAN, M. A.

BOSTON, MASS.
ARENA PUBLISHING COMPANY
1892

Copyright, 1892
By William D. McCrackan

All rights reserved

THIS VOLUME
IS DEDICA TED
TO
(gtg ©ear Wife
THE CONSTANT COMPANION OF MY TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES
AND MY TRUEST CRITIC AND ADVISER.

INTRODUCTION.

TTHE study of federalism as a system of government has, in
* recent times, become a favorite subject for constitutional
writers. At present the United States and the Dominion of Canada
on this continent, the newly constituted Australian Commonwealth
at the Antipodes, and in Europe the German Empire, the Austro-
Hungarian Empire, and the Swiss Confederation are all examples
of the application of the federal principle in its various phases.
What makes all researches into this branch of political learning
particularly difficult, and, perhaps, for that reason, also exceptionally
fascinating, is the fact that federated states seem forever oscillating
between the two extremes of complete centralization and decentral
ization. The two forces, centripetal and centrifugal, seem to be
always pulling against each other, and producing a new resultant
which varies according to their proportionate intensity. One is
almost tempted to say that there must be an ideal state somewhere
between these two extremes, some point of perfect balance, from
which no nation can ever depart very far, without either falling apart
into anarchy or being consolidated into despotism. Whatever,
therefore, can throw a light upon these obscure forces is certainly
entitled to our deepest interest.
But not all representatives of federalism possess an equal value
for us, in our search after improvements in the art of self-govern
ment. The study of the constitutions of the German and Austro-
Hungarian Empires can only be of secondary importance to us
Americans, because these states are founded upon monarchical prin
ciples, quite foreign to our body politic. To a limited extent, the
same objection may be made to the Canadian and Australian consti
tutions, since the connection of those countries with the monarchical
mother-country has not been constitutionally severed. But there is

vi INTR OD U CTION. i
another federated state in existence, until lately almost ignored by
writers on political subjects, whose example can, in reality, be of the
utmost service to us. The Swiss Confederation is as near as possi
ble a counterpart in miniature of the United States. Prof. Albert
Bushnell Hart, in his "Introduction to the Study of Federal Govern
ment ", declares with justice that, " Of all the confederations of his
tory, Switzerland bears the closest resemblance in institutions to the
United States."1
Within two years, by what seems like an extraordinary revival of
interest, four books have appeared in English devoted to the eluci
dation of Swiss political institutions, but the history of the country
still awaits scholarly and scientific treatment. It is, in fact, the mis
fortune of Swiss history, that although very little is popularly known
about it, that little is almost invariably incorrect. The subject has
so long lain neglected in the literary garret that cobwebs have gath
ered over it and obscured the truth.
There is a widespread but vague idea that a regularly organized
republic has existed in the Alps rfrom time immemorial, under the
name of Helvetia. Nothing could be more misleading — for, as a
matter of fact, the territory now known as Switzerland had no sepa
rate political existence prior to the end of the thirteenth century,
and its condition resembled that of Central Europe in general.
The Swiss Confederation made its entry upon the historic stage in
1291, when three small and obscure peasant communities, Uri,
Schwiz, and Unterwalden, concluded a perpetual pact in order to
defend themselves against the encroachments of the nobility in gen
eral, and of the family of Habsburg in particular. As for the Celtic
tribe of the Helvetii, who inhabited a part of the country when it is
first mentioned by Roman writers, they had no more to do with
founding the Swiss Confederation, than had the Indians in America
to do with framing the Constitution of the United States.
Around the three communities of Uri, Schwiz, and Unterwalden,
as a nucleus, the Swiss Confederation grew, in course of time, by
the adherence of other sovereign communities, until it reached its
present proportion of twenty-two Cantons in 18 15. The very name
of Switzerland was unknown before the fifteenth century, when, for
the first time, the eight states which then composed the Confedera
tion began to be called collectively "Die Schweiz", after the com-
1 Chap. IV., p. 62.

INTRODUCTION. vii
munity of Schwiz, which was the most pronounced in its opposition
to the pretensions of the German nobility. It was not until 1648,
by the Peace of Westphalia, that the complete independence of the
Swiss from the German Empire was established beyond question.
There is another fact which must be borne in mind, namely, that
Swiss self-government, in the opinion of the writer the most perfect
yet devised by any free people, is Teutonic in character, like that of
England and the United States. Although Switzerland is now a
polyglot state, and her constitution expressly stipulates that Ger
man, French and Italian shall all alike be considered national lan
guages, the majority of the inhabitants are German-speaking, and it
was from them that the original impulse toward independence made
itself felt. The other Romance-speaking Cantons were acquired by
conquest, and were not admitted on a footing of equality until the
beginning of the present century.
It is, indeed, surprising to notice how that country, with whose
name we are accustomed to associate some of our noblest concep
tions of liberty, has run up the gamut of self-government, striking
all the intervening notes between complete subjugation and unques
tioned independence. The history of the Swiss Confederation
presents for our inspection six centuries of growth from the very
rudiments of liberty to its full flower in the present day. It
furnishes a veritable catalogue of priceless precedents for our
edification and guidance, and the indifference with which it has
heretofore been viewed by English-speaking scholars is, therefore,
inexcusable. Of course, the prevailing neglect of this promising historical field
is susceptible of certain explanations, which do not, however, con
done the fault of the neglect itself.
Switzerland is visited for the sake of its scenery ; for recreation,
not for study. The Swiss people themselves do not, at first sight,
invite interest, nor does the national character stimulate the imagin
ation. Public affairs are managed with so much moderation and
sobriety that the attention of the world at large is not attracted to
them. The country is too small, and apparently insignificant, amid
the great powers of Europe, to arouse the enthusiasm of the super
ficial observer.
And yet, how disproportionately large has been the share of
Switzerland in the work of overthrowing the feudal system, of

viii INTRODUCTION.
hastening the triumph of the common people over the privileged
few, and turning great world-tendencies definitely toward democ
racy ! How the victories of the peasantry at Morgarten and Sem-
pach, where the flower of Austrian chivalry was utterly defeated,
lighted up the gloom which brooded over the serfs of the middle
ages ! How Zwingli and Calvin strove to emancipate the human
conscience from ecclesiastical tradition, and how such men as Lava-
ter, Rousseau, and Pestalozzi, each after his own fashion, laid the
foundation for that great study of humanity which has distinguished
our own century !
The issue constantly at stake, throughout the history of the Swiss
Confederation, has been one of the noblest and the most persistent
with which human nature has had to grapple — the question of
self-government. In these days Switzerland has become the stand
ard-bearer in all reforms which make for direct democracy and pure
politics. Her historical development ought, therefore, to be fully
known and duly appreciated by American scholars.

CONTENTS.

BOOK I.
SWITZERLAND BEFORE THE FOUNDING OF THE CONFEDERATION.

I. The Lake Dwellers ...
II. Helvetia and the Roman Occupation ,
III. The Teutonic Ancestors of the Swiss
IV. The Supremacy of the Franks
V. Queen Bertha of Burgundy
VI. The House of Zaeringen
VII. The House of Savoy .
VIII. The House of Habsburg .

13
20
31
38 49555962

BOOK II.
THE CONFEDERATION OF EIGHT STATES.
I. The Origin of the Swiss Confederation . . 69
H. Uri  73
III. Schwiz  78
IV. Unterwalden  83
V. The First Perpetual League . . . . 85
VI. The Legend of William Tell . . . . 92
VII. Other Legends  105
VIII. The Origin of the Swiss Confederation and of the
United States Compared . . . .111
IX. The Confederates against Habsburg-Austria . 116
X. The Battle of Morgarten  123
XI. Luzern . . . . . . . .129
XII. Zurich  136
XIII. Glarus and Zug  147
XIV. Bern  154
XV. Invasion of the Gugler and Feud with Kiburg . 162
XVI. The Battle of Sempach  167
XVII. The Battle of Nafels  177
XVIII. Constitutional Organization of the Confederation of
Eight States  184
ix

CONTENTS.

BOOK III.
THE CONFEDERATION AT THE HEIGHT OF ITS MILITARY POWER.

I. Appenzell and St. Gallen . . . . 193
II. The Valais and Graubiinden .... 202
III. The Conquest of Val Leventina and Aargau . 208
IV. The First Civil War  213
V. The War with Charles of Burgundy . . 219
VI. The Covenant of Stans  232
VII. The War against the Empire .... 236
VIII. Switzerland and the Balance of Power in Europe 239
IX. The Thirteen Swiss States and the Thirteen Ameri
can Colonies  243
BOOK IV.
THE PERIOD OF THE REFORMATION.
I. The Rise of the Reformation in Switzerland . 251
II. Zwingli in Zurich  259
III. The Growth of the Reformation . . 264
IV. Calvin in Geneva  . 271
V. Decay of National Life . . . . . 278
VI. The Growth of Aristocracy and the Peasants' War 281
BOOK V.
THE MODERN CONFEDERATION.
I. Signs of National Regeneration . . 289
II. The Helvetic Revolution  295
III. The Helvetic Republic ..... 300
IV. Switzerland the Battle-field of Europe . . . 308
V. Napoleon's Act of Mediation . . . . 313
VI. The Period of Reactionary Restoration . . 319
VII. Democratic Reforms in the Cantons . . 325
VIII. The War of the Sonderbund and the Constitution of
1848  331
IX. Recent Constitutional Changes in the Cantons . 338
X. The Constitutions of the Swiss Confederation and of
the United States Compared . . . 346
XI. The Neutrality of Switzerland . . . 354
XII. Appendix ....... 364

BOOK I.
SWITZERLAND BEFORE THE FOUNDING OF THE
CONFEDERATION.

THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC

CHAPTER I.

THE LAKE DWELLERS.

THE earliest traces of man's existence which have been
found in the territory covered by modern Switzerland,
are represented by some fragments of basket-work, imbedded in
a lignite formation at Wetzikon near Zurich. Geologists rec
ognize two glacial eras as having passed over the country, and
this lignite is the vegetation, now carbonized, which sprang up
after the retreat of the first ice and before the advance of the
second, so that the presence of man in these regions has been
established during a period, the antiquity of which can only be
estimated by geological formulas.
Man's next appearance dates from the time when the second
glacial era was on the wane, and the outskirts of the country
were already free from ice. Traces of a primitive people,
known to antiquarians as Troglodytes, have been discovered in
a few isolated caves, at the foot of the Saleve near Geneva, at
Villeneuve, and notably at Thayngen near Schaffhausen. At
this last place a cave has been exhaustively examined, and has
amply rewarded the pains expended upon it, for besides a mass
of flint and bone implements, the searchers came upon a bone
fragment upon which the image of a reindeer was engraved.
The drawing is so good, that there was some excuse for the
incredulity with which its appearance was popularly received.
Amongst the contemporary fauna may be mentioned the mam-

14 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
moth, the woolly haired rhinoceros, two species of wild bull,
the elk, the cave bear, and the hyaena, besides a number of
animals still existing in Switzerland. These Troglodytes knew
the use of fire, but not that of metals. As for their origin and
subsequent fate, both are absolutely unknown ; there is little
doubt, however, that they belonged to the same race which has
left similar traces over the whole of Western Europe.
After an interval of many centuries, during which the cli
mate changed to something like its present condition, and the
animals enumerated above, vanished or emigrated, the so-called
Lake Dwellers made their appearance. Probably the transi
tion from Cave Dwellers to Lake Dwellers came about
through a complete change of race, for even the earliest lake
dwellings bear evidence that their inhabitants were many
degrees in advance of their predecessors in everything that
constitutes civilization.
The discovery of these lake dwellings in Switzerland ranks
amongst the most notable achievements of modern antiquarian
science. From time to time during the first part of this cen
tury, and even earlier, ancient wooden stakes and stone imple
ments of finished workmanship had been noticed along the
shores of the lakes of Zurich and Constance. They were
objects of wonder for awhile, but were soon forgotten.
Finally during the severe winter of 1853-54 a peculiar circum
stance forced the whole subject upon public attention. In
that year the lakes and rivers of Switzerland were unusually
low, and the receding waters left great stretches of bottom-land
exposed to view. The inhabitants of Obermeilen, a village on
the lake of Zurich, profiting by this rare opportunity, set to
work reclaiming as much as possible of the uncovered ground
for gardens and quays. In the course of their labors they
came upon piles driven deep into the soil, and presenting
every appearance of great age, while scattered about in the
immediate vicinity lay stags' horns and stone utensils. Fortu
nately the village school-master, Herr Aeppli was sufficiently
impressed by these finds to notify the Antiquarian Association

THE LAKE DWELLERS. 15
of Zurich, and so it was that Dr. Ferdinand Keller, the Presi
dent of that society, repaired to Obermeilen, and having exam
ined the remains, announced the discovery of prehistoric lake
dwellings. As compared with some of the great tourist show-places of
Switzerland, the lake of Zurich cannot perhaps claim to pos
sess exceptional beauty of scenery. It has neither the roman
tic loveliness of the lake of Luzern, enhanced as that is by
historical and legendary traditions, nor the wealth of color and
the majestic sweep of Lake Leman, but the discovery of the
first lake dwellings upon its shores has secured it an imperish
able name in the annals of science. By searching the shores
of other lakes in Switzerland, similar remains were found in
great quantities, grouped in stations or villages, the number of
which has now grown to more than two hundred. Usually,
however, the most important discoveries were made by acci
dent, like that of Obermeilen, when dredging operations were
in progress or piers were being built in the water. Some
years ago the Swiss government inaugurated a great engineer
ing enterprise, known as the " Correction des Eaux du Jura"
which was designed to drain a district of marshland lying
between the lakes of Neuchatel, Bienne, and Morat, and
marked upon the map as the "Grosse Moos." This undertak
ing is now practically complete, and the level of the three
lakes has been lowered some six or eight feet, unexpectedly
revealing the existence of numerous lake dwelling villages
along the shores, which had heretofore been hidden under
water. In the same way interesting finds were made at
Zurich when the beautiful new promenades were being built
along the lake front.
These discoveries in Switzerland stimulated antiquarian
researches in other parts of Europe, so that traces of lake
dwellings have been found throughout an area extending from
the British Isles to the great rivers of the Black Sea, and
from Scandinavia to Northern Italy. Besides the typical lake
dwellings such as are found in Switzerland, there are other vari-

16 THE RISE- OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
eties : The crannogs of Ireland and Scotland, the terp-mounds
of Holland, and the palafittes and terramare of Italy, all bear
ing witness to the extent to which this curious manner of
building obtained at one period of man's development.
The only references to these lake dwellings which have
come down to us in literature are contained in two passing
notices of Herodotus and Hippocrates. Says Herodotus:
"And they likewise who inhabited Lake Prasias [near the
mouth of the Struma in Macedonia] were not conquered by
Megabazus. He sought indeed to subdue the dwellers upon
the lake but could not effect his purpose. Their manner of
living is the following: Platforms supported upon tall piles
stand in the middle of the lake, which are approached from the
land by a single narrow bridge. . . . Each has his own
hut, wherein he dwells, upon one of the platforms, and each
has also a trapdoor giving access to the lake beneath ; and
their wont is to tie their baby children by the foot with a
string to save them from rolling into the water."1
Hippocrates' account is confined to a few lines and refers to
settlements along the river Phasis, to the east of the Black
Sea.2 Fortunately, however, for the cause of science the deposits,
which had gathered under the dwellings in the course of cen
turies, have been preserved for the inspection of antiquarians
by the mud in which they were imbedded. It has, therefore,
been possible to examine these layers or Kulturschichten, as
the Germans so aptly call them, and to reconstruct a certain
amount of the history of these ancient Lake Dwellers.
The writer does not intend to present a complete and fin
ished picture of this early civilization, especially as the whole
subject has recently been exhaustively treated by an archeolo-
gist of note, Mr. Robert Munro, in " The Lake Dwellings of
Europe." But for the sake of those who do not care to enter
so deeply into the matter, let me sum up the principal discov.
1 History. Book V, 16.
2De Aeribus XXXVII.

THE LAKE DWELLERS. 17
eries which have been made, and the theories to which they
have*given rise.
Taking all the settlements together, they have demonstrated
in a very striking manner the correctness of the classification
of prehistoric remains into the great periods of stone, bronze
and iron, which antiquarians had made before the discovery of
lake dwellings- There are stations where only stone and bone
implements have been found, and no vestige of metal appears ;
others in which copper and bronze utensils begin to show
themselves in small quantities ; others again where bronze pre
dominates and faint traces of iron are to be seen, and finally
there is one settlement at least, La Tene, in which iron reigns
supreme. Some stations even passed through several success
ive stages, but in general those situated in the eastern part of
Switzerland did not long survive the first appearance of metal,
while those of the western part continued through the bronze
and into the dawn of the iron ages.
Amongst the chief articles found in the deposits under the
dwellings, the following will give an idea of the truly astonish
ing advance in civilization which this mysterious race had
made. There are hearth-stones, corn-crushers, spindle-whorls, sick
les, scissors, needles, harpoons, fish-hooks, crucibles, axes of
various descriptions, flint-saws, arrow-heads, lance-heads, clubs,
daggers and swords ; parts of a chariot, of horse-bits and bri
dles, a wooden yoke, a canoe, basket-work and a bow of yew-
wood; for personal adornment there are bracelets, arm-bands,
rings, hair-pins, beads of amber, glass and gold, combs of wood
and bronze, and girdles ; specimens of woven cloth, of fish-nets,
mats, thread, ropes, even of embroideries and checked muslin.
As for examples of pottery, they are of all kinds and of all
degrees of fineness, but it is noteworthy that while the Troglo
dytes decorated their implements with images of real objects, as
for instance of a reindeer, the Lake Dwellers drew only imag
inary designs, such as geometrical patterns and arabesques.
A few rude plastic images of animals have been discovered,.

18 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
but no drawings of them. Owing to the fact that most of the
lake dwellings were burned down, a number. of perishable arti
cles were carbonized and thus preserved for inspection much
in the same way as similar remains excavated at Pompeii. In
this manner antiquarians have been able to identify samples of
wheat, oats, millet, flax, poppy, etc., as well as apples, hazelnuts,
plums, strawberries, raspberries, peas, lentils and other vegeta
ble substances; they have also found the bones of horses, cat
tle, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs and cats, and of bears, deer, beaver,
swans, geese and various species of fish.
For a long time there was a great deal of speculation about
the appearance of the lake dwellings, until the fortunate dis
covery of a hut at Schussenried in Wiirttemberg in a very fair
state of preservation, threw light upon the subject. It is a
rectangular wooden structure, measuring some ten by seven
meters, divided into two rooms, one of which only had a door
giving access to the exterior. In the first and smaller room
were discovered the remains of a stone hearth ; the flooring was
made of round logs laid side by side, while the walls were con
structed of split logs. During the stone age the platforms
upon which these huts rested were considerably smaller and
nearer the land than in the succeeding ages. Narrow bridges
connected the platforms with the land, and ladders led down to
the water's surface.
Of human remains there is not a very large collection, but
the few skulls and skeletons found in the cemeteries or in the
deposits, reveal that the race of the Lake Dwellers was proba
bly smaller than our own, although well formed, and in no
sense inferior to us in anatomical structure.
Many questions naturally arise in regard to the origin and
fate of this curious people, which cannot be answered with
absolute certainty. There is still room for endless speculation.
Dr. Ferdinand Keller was of the opinion that the remnants he
examined at Obermeilen were of Celtic origin, but his theory
has not been confirmed by subsequent discoveries. It is now
generally conceded that the earliest Lake Dwellers at all events,

THE LAKE DWELLERS. 19
belonged to a more primitive race. Mr. Robert Munro states
it as his conclusion that the original founders of the settle
ments were immigrants who penetrated into Europe from the
East during the neolithic period. He thinks that they spread
from the regions surrounding the Black Sea and the shores of
the Mediterranean, up the Danube and its tributaries into
Styria, into the valley of the Po, and to the Swiss lakes, and
that the Scotch and Irish crannogs with analogous remains in
other countries are cases of the system cropping up in out-of-
the-way corners after the great lake dwelling centres had
already collapsed. Although it is impossible to fix upon pre
cise dates for this lake dwelling era, the approximate age of
the earliest settlements has been computed as perhaps 2000 or
3000 B. C. and the latest as 800 or 1000 B. C.
No very definite explanation has yet been given of the rea
son why these people invariably built their homes over the
water. Some writers ascribe this practice to a desire for pro
tection ; others to the primeval forests which covered the avail
able land, or to the facilities for communication and for fishing.
Personally I am inclined to think that it was a racial custom
which they brought with them from their homes in the swamps
of Asia, and which had become a fixed tradition amongst them.
As for the subsequent history of the Lake Dwellers, it is
shrouded in complete mystery, for when we next hear of the
territory occupied by modern Switzerland, it is described as
inhabited by Celts, living in towns and villages on the land.
This strange race, therefore, returns to the darkness from
which the discoveries of Obermeilen momentarily caused it to
emerge.

CHAPTER II.
HELVETIA AND THE ROMAN OCCUPATION.
A GREAT historical gap exists between the time when the
lake dwellings ceased to be inhabited and the period
in which the country is first mentioned in literature. The
earliest written information is derived from Latin authors who
described the country as it appeared in the century which pre
ceded the birth of Christ, and who had either themselves come
into contact with the land and people, or had noted down
what they had heard from others. They represent the coun
try as inhabited almost exclusively by Celts, grouped inta
three nations or Confederations, and six independent tribes,
overlapping on all sides into territory not now comprised by
Switzerland, so that the picture they offer is not that of a
political unit by any means, but rather a conglomeration of
numerous hostile states.
Of the six independent tribes, the Allobroges occupied
Savoy and the region around Geneva; the Sequani dwelt in
the Jura and a part of the Franche Comte; the Raurici in
Southern Elsass and the region around Basel ; the Viberi and
Lepontii, of Ligurian origin, in the Upper Valais and Ticino;
and the Vindelici upon the shores of Lake Constance and in
the adjacent districts. As these tribes do not play a signifi
cant part in history, they may with safety be set aside. Of
the three nations, that of the Raeti, containing Etruscan ele
ments, was in possession of the modern Canton of Grisons
and the neighboring Tyrol ; the Gaesatae consisted of three
small but warlike tribes in the lower Valais ; and the Helvetii,.
20

HELVETIA AND THE ROMAN OCCUPATION. 21
the most powerful of all, held all the rest of the territory
between the lakes of Geneva and Constance on the one hand,
and the Alps and the Jura on the other.
These Helvetii had already made an appearance in history
before they became inhabitants of Swiss territory, while the
main body of the nation still dwelt in the regions between the
Main and the Rhine. Two of their clans, the Tigorini and
Tougenes, had joined the Cimbri and Teutones, when the latter
swept into Gaul in the second century before Christ on their
way to Italy, and under an enthusiastic chief, Divico, had
inflicted a disastrous blow upon a Roman army at Agen on the
Garonne, forcing the surviving enemy to submit to the shame
of passing under the yoke.
It was probably soon after this invasion of the Cimbri and
Teutones that the Helvetii crossed the Rhine into what was
destined to become Swiss territory, being no longer able to
withstand the pressure of the German tribes at their back.
But they had not been long in their new habitations when a
combination of unfavorable circumstances induced them to
hazard another expedition into Gaul. The story of this unsuc
cessful migration is told by Julius Caesar in his Commentaries
on the Gallic War1 ; it is much to be regretted that no infor
mation whatever has come down to us from the Helvetian side,
as Caesar's account, however great his desire to be impartial,
could not fail to be incomplete, if not actually prejudiced. Let
me simply recapitulate the principal incidents.
Being continually at war with the Germans, and unable to
extend their raids into neighboring countries, as was their
wont, on account of the great natural barriers which enclosed
them, the Helvetii were easily persuaded by an ambitious noble
man in their midst, a certain Orgetorix, to emigrate into fer
tile Gaul. Although their leader died before they could
complete their preparations, they were not deterred from their
purpose, and after entering into friendly compacts with neigh
boring tribes, providing themselves with food for the journey,
iBook I, Chap. 1-29.

22 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
and burning their twelve towns and four hundred villages
behind them, they gave the rendezvous to all the clansmen at
Geneva for the 28th of March, B. C. 58. But here an unex
pected obstacle presented itself ; the way was barred by Julius
Caesar, just entering upon his great career of conquest in Gaul.
His motive for thus arresting the progress of the Helvetii was
a well-founded apprehension lest they might extend their dep
redations into the Roman Province, and the much-dreaded Ger
mans, moving into the land thus left vacant, might reach the
frontier of the Roman possessions. After deluding them by
repeated negotiations, until he had intrenched himself and col
lected reinforcements, Caesar finally refused point blank to let
them pass at all. Outwitted by these tactics the Helvetii made
some fruitless efforts to force a passage across the Rhone, and
then turned aside to reach Gaul by the modern Pas de l'Ecluse.
In the meantime Caesar hurried back to Italy, collected five
legions, and returned in time to catch the slow moving
train of the Helvetii, just as they were crossing the river
Soane. Here he managed to inflict a severe blow upon the
clan of the Tigorini, commanded by their old chieftain Divico,
and following closely, at length engaged the whole force in a
decisive battle at Bibracte, the modern Autun in Burgundy.
His well disciplined legions and superior generalship triumphed
over the bravery of the desperate Helvetii, but only after a
struggle which lasted from about one o'clock till sunset. As a
last resort the Helvetii had built a fort out of their ox-carts,
within which they sold their lives as dearly as possible, per
forming prodigies of valor to the last. According to writings
which were found in the camp of the conquered, the whole
number of men, women, and children of the Helvetii and their
allies was 368,000 souls at the beginning of the ill-fated
expedition, but Caesar counted only 1 10,000, which he sent
back that they might rebuild their former homes before the
German tribes should advance into the vacant territory.
This is the naked outline of a movement which is not devoid
of a certain epic grandeur and gloom, and is eminently suited

HELVETIA AND THE ROMAN OCCUPATION. 23
for poetic treatment at the hands of some one who could appre
ciate the barbaric pathos of the theme.
From henceforth the Helvetii were bound to Rome by an
alliance, the terms of which have unfortunately not been
handed down to us. They were not mere subjects of the
Romans, for they continued to enjoy a certain amount of self-
government, nor were they on the other hand merely allies,
since their country was held by the armed forces of their con
querors. Mommsen is of the opinion that the Helvetii were
in possession of the highest degree of liberty which was con
sistent with their position as a conquered people. Their duties
seem to have consisted principally in paying a share of the
yearly tribute which was levied from Gaul, in watching the
German frontier, and submitting to the small duties imposed
upon their commerce ; for the rest they were free to keep their
national customs, their language and religion.
In the next year, 57 B. C, the three tribes in the Valais also
succumbed to the Romans, and about the same time Caesar
founded an important military stronghold on the lake of Geneva,
the Colonia Julia Equestris, now Nyon. In 15 B. C, the con
quest of the whole of what is now Swiss territory was completed
by the victory of Tiberius and Drusus, the stepsons of the
Emperor Augustus, over the warlike Raeti. It is this latter
victory which Horace celebrates in an ode1 addressed to
Augustus, where, with somewhat transparent flattery, he ascribes
the honor as due to the emperor instead of his generals. In
the division of the empire, instituted by Augustus, the whole of
Eastern Switzerland was assigned to the province of Raetia,
the Valais formed a separate district known as Vallis Poeninus,
Ticino remained with Italy, and all the rest was counted to Gaul,
so that the country retained to a certain extent the motley
political appearance which had characterized it in pre-Roman
times. The first care of the Romans after acquiring new possessions
was to provide them with a complete system of roads, which,

24 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
though built primarily for military purposes, eventually also
became the highways of commerce, and the arteries of civiliza
tion. Helvetia, Raetia and the Valais formed no exception to
this rule, especially as the positions of these provinces made
them of first importance as connecting links between the sys
tems of defence upon the Rhine and the Danube on the one
hand and Italy, the mother country, on the other.
Of the numerous roads which traversed the country, one
started from Milan (Mediolanum), passed to the head of the
lake of Como, over the Spliigen Pass to Chur (Curia) and the
lake of Constance ; another from Aosta (Augusta Praetoria)
over the Great St. Bernard (In summo Pennino) to Martigny
(Octodurum), running thence along the northern shore of Lake
Leman to Nyon (Colonia Equestris), to Geneva and thus into
France ; and a third branched off from the latter road at Vevey
(Viviscus), and passed by Avenches (Aventicum), the chief city
of the Helvetii, to Solothurn (Salodurum), just beyond which
place it divided in two, one part going to Augst (Augusta
Raurica) and thus down the Rhine, while the other followed
the Aar to Windisch (Vindonissa). This place, now an insig
nificant village near Brugg in the Canton of Aargau, was chosen
for the centre of the whole military system of Helvetia, being
well adapted for the purpose by its situation at the juncture
of the Aar, the Reuss and the Limmat, three small rivers which
gave access to the interior. It was connected with the military
stations dotted along the Rhine from the lake of Constance to
Cologne, and with Raetia and the Danube by means of a road
running through Baden (Aquae), Zurich (Turicum) and along
the Wallensee to Chur. It was the duty, therefore, of the
legion stationed at Windisch to guard the communication
between the two great divisions of the Roman army, on the
Rhine and the Danube.
That this standing army was at times anything but welcome
to the native population, is illustrated by a conflict which broke
out in 69 A. D., between the Helvetii and the arrogant soldiery
in their midst. Tacitus relates that after the murder of the

HELVETIA AND THE ROMAN OCCUPATION. 25
emperor Galba and the accession of Vitellius, a certain Alienus
Caecina, officer of Vitellius, passed through Helvetia, where the
people who had not yet heard of Galba's assassination, refused
to acknowledge the authority of Vitellius. Thirsting for
war, Caecina seized the first pretext to attack the Helvetii;
they resisted and were massacred by the thousands in an
uneven contest, escaping complete annihilation only by abject
submission and through the eloquence of one of their
orators.1 Switzerland is much richer in Roman remains than is popu
larly supposed. Extensive discoveries have been made in many
places, notably at Nyon on the lake of Geneva, which the
traveller will remember as a little castled town, with terrace
and arbored walks, from whence Mont Blanc is seen in all its
grandeur ; also at Augst near Basel, now an insignificant ham
let, but once a stronghold of Roman civilization. Baden near
Zurich has proved equally attractive to archeologists. It is
described by Tacitus in his day as "a place which during long
years of peace had grown to be like a city, much frequented on
account of the attraction of its salubrious waters." This place
is still a favorite resort for invalids, with its long rows of hotels,
and the picturesque medieval ruin surmounting all. But the
principal Roman remains are to be found at Avenches, the
modern successor of ancient Aventicum, the chief city of
the Helvetii.
Like many another place of historic interest in Switzerland,
Avenches lies off the beaten track, so that in order to visit it,
one must turn aside and make it the object of a special journey.
It is charmingly situated upon a hill, in sight of the lake of
Morat and the Jura mountains, and surrounded by fertile lands
under cultivation — altogether a miniature town of medieval
aspect with castle, wall and gate. Old Aventicum, however,
occupied much more ground than modern Avenches ; it lay for
the most part in the plain to the east enclosed by a great wall
some four miles in circumference. The present town is perched
1 History, Book I., Chap. 67-69.

26 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
upon what was formerly the Castellum. On alighting at the
railroad station the visitor immediately perceives the remnants
of the old wall, which can be readily traced through its entire
length ; in fact one of its numerous towers still remains standing
to bear witness to the formidable proportions it must have
possessed. From the site of the ancient Forum, now a field of
grass, there rises an architectural fragment of great beauty
some forty feet in height, at once massive and graceful. It
resembles a column, but has now been identified as part of an
arcade which formerly flanked the Forum. This ruin is known
locally as the Cigognier, because it used to be a favorite place
for storks (French cigogne) to build their nests upon. Travel
ing from the Rhine to the lake of Geneva, Byron passed
through Avenches, and it is to the Cigognier that he refers
in his "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" :
" By a lone wall a lonelier column rears
A grey and grief-worn aspect of old days,
'Tis the last remnant of the wreck of years,
And looks as with the wild bewilder'd gaze
Of one to stone converted by amaze,
Yet still with consciousness ; and there it stands,
Making a marvel that it not decays,
When the coeval pride of human hands,
Levell'd Aventicum, hath strew'd her subject lands."1
The poet has been very successful in rendering the impres
sion which this ruin produces upon the mind, and it is unfortu
nate that in the next stanza he should dilate with enthusiastic
praise upon the story of a certain Julia Alpinula, which is now
known to have been invented out of whole cloth by a forger of
inscriptions. It seems to have been Byron's fate to immortal
ize unwittingly many a falsehood or a half-truth.
A few fragments of fluted columns and stray bits of ornament,
still lying on the ground or gathered into the local museum,
alone attest the ancient beauty of the Forum. Against the
hillside, across the Forum, and partly hidden by brushwood, are
1 Third Canto, Stanza LXV.

HELVETIA AND THE ROMAN OCCUPATION. 27
the concrete substructure of a theatre. Near by also are indi
cations of four Guild Houses, one belonging to a fraternity of
boatmen, and at the Eastern entrance to the modern town there
is an oblong depression which reveals the former presence of
an amphitheatre. Finally in the extensive fields beyond, in the
direction of the wall-tower, the remains of baths have been
found, as well as an unusually rich collection of mosaic floors,
statuettes, amphorae, drainage pipes, and all the usual evidences
of Roman civilization.
Aventicum reached its period of greatest prosperity under
Vespasian and Titus, who both favored it with their imperial
protection, doubtless because according to Suetonius, Vespa
sian's father, surnamed Sabinus, had "turned usurer [or
banker, as we should say] amongst the Helvetii, and there
died." 1
When under Domitian and Trajan the Roman empire
received the greatest extension to which it ever attained, Hel
vetia ceased to be a frontier province, the soldiery were pushed
forward across the Rhine, and a long period of peace set in,
which lasted not far from one hundred and fifty years. The
land advanced many degrees in the knowledge of the peaceful
arts and of a wider culture, Roman gods and goddesses sub-
planted the Celtic divinities, the theatre and gymnasium flour
ished, and the barbarians were to all appearances completely
Romanized. It is doubtful, however, whether the best side of
this superimposed civilization became in any sense an organic
part of the character of the Helvetii, whether they did not
rather absorb too readily its vices without comprehending its
higher aspects, and in assuming the Roman did not often bury
the best qualities of the Helvetian. All national enthusiasm
vanished forever to give place to a skind-deep and uncertain pol
ish, for, as even Tacitus in his day says, " Of late years the his
tory of their ancestors was their only glory."
This welcome era of peace came to an end during the reign
of Valerianus and Gallienus, when the German hordes, taking
1 Lives of the Twelve Caesars.

28 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
advantage of the confusion into which the empire had been
plunged by the claims of rivals to the throne, succeeded in
breaking through the Roman system of defence. The Alam-
anni, who were later to play so great a part in the destinies of
Switzerland, invaded Helvetia and destroyed Aventicum, which
was never after rebuilt. With a mighty effort the Romans
under Aurelian and Diocletian reoccupied some of their for
mer strongholds and maintained the line of defence upon the
Rhine, but everything beyond that river was lost to them.
Helvetia once more became a frontier province full of soldiers,
and .exposed to continual ravages from marauding German
tribes ; the land became as unsafe as it had been before the
Roman occupation. Ammianus Marcellinus, traveling through
Gaul in the suite of the emperor Julian, enumerates amongst
other cities, " Aventicum also, now a deserted city, but once of
no mean account, as the half ruined buildings even now testify."1
Modern Avenches, an insignificant country town with
perhaps a tenth of old Aventicum's population, visited at
most by a stray archeologist, and forgotten by the great world
outside, admirably illustrates the decay which overtook that
ephemeral civilization the Romans had tried to graft upon
the Celtic Helvetii. The fall of Helvetia is best symbolized
bythe column whose "grey and grief-worn aspect" appealed
so strongly to the poet.
But there was a ray of light in all this gloom, one great
mitigating circumstance in this shame and degredation, for it
was just about this time that Christianity made its appearance
in the regions north of the Alps.
Such was the confusion of the period that it is impossible to
find perfectly trustworthy documentary evidence in regard to
this introduction of Christianity. The only testimony of any
sort is derived from a number of legends and traditions pre
served by the Catholic Church. Unfortunately they are so much
distorted by miraculous interpolations that the task of extracting
the historical germs they may contain, is well nigh hopeless.
'XV, n.

HELVETIA AND THE ROMAN OCCUPATION. 29
There is a tradition, perhaps the least authenticated of all,
though singularly beautiful in its details, concerning a St.
Beatus whose cave and ruined chapel are shown to travelers
at a spot above the carriage road which flanks the northern
shore of Lake Thun ; another connects a St. Lucius with the
city of Chur; but the most important and, on the whole, best
supported legend is that of St. Maurice. The story goes that
a Christian legion, recruited from Thebals in Egypt, and com
manded by an officer Maurice, was massacred while at Agaunum
in the Lower Valais, by command of the Emperor Maximianus,
who was just then carrying on a vigorous persecution of the
Christians throughout the Empire. In memory of this mar
tyrdom the name of the place was changed to St. Maurice.
This particular legend has been much discussed because it
forms the starting point for a number of others, whose authen
ticity, therefore, depends upon it. After the persecutions in
the Valais, namely, many Christians are supposed to have fled
to other parts ; notably the Sts. Felix and Regula to Zurich and
Ursus and Victor to Solothurn. It is significant that the first
Bishop on Swiss territory, mentioned by reliable records, was a
certain Theodor or Theodul, resident in the Lower Valais, at
Martigny, in 381.
But whatever may be the historical importance of the
legends, it is likely that the most potent influence was exerted,
not by regular missionaries, but by Christianized officials, mer
chants and soldiers who came into contact with the people.
In other words Christianity was introduced as civilization had
been, by a multitude of unrecorded acts, and by a process of
infiltration rather than of inundation — from Gaul into Geneva,
on the one hand, and from Italy into the Valais on the other,
creeping along the high roads of commerce and of military
enterprise. No Roman inscriptions have been found in Switzerland
which date from a later period than the reign of Constant-
ine, and no coins after Valentinian I., for by that time the
limit of Rome's power of resistance in Helvetia had been

30 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
reached. Valentinian, indeed, still made a last attempt by
erecting a stronghold at the sharp bend of the Rhine, and
naming it Basileia, in Greek "The Royal," now Basel, but the
hour had come when, demoralized by internal corruptions, the
Roman Empire could no longer hold in check the vigorous,
unspoiled barbarians upon the frontiers.

CHAPTER III.
THE TEUTONIC ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS.
IN the beginning of the fifth century the final and successful
invasion of the German nations broke over the Roman
Empire and changed the face of Europe.
In 406, or 407, the nation of the Alamanni, crossing the
Rhine and the Jura, took possession of northern Helvetia. A
few years later, in 443, the nation of the Burgundians settled
on the shores of the lake of Geneva, in Sabaudia, or modern
Savoy, and in southern Helvetia. What is now the Canton of
Ticino remained with Italy, and shared the fate of that country
until far into the Middle Ages. The inhabitants of Raetia,
the modern Canton of Graubiinden, in their mountain fast
nesses alone escaped almost untouched from the tide of Teu
tonic invasion.
This, distribution of the invaders must be distinctly borne in
mind, for the above-mentioned races, with the addition' of a
remnant of Celts, form the basis of population in the four divi
sions of modern Switzerland — the German, French, Italian
and Romansch speaking districts. Although the political
aspect of these divisions has changed more than once since
then, the races have remained practically the same to this day.
The Alamanni are identical with the Semnones of Tacitus.
They were the main branch of the Suevi, and in fact always
called themselves Schwaben, for the name Alamanni was given
to them by Greek and Latin authors. Authorities are divided
as to the etymology of this latter name. Baumann explains it
as meaning "The men of Alah," i. e. of the sacred grove,
while Joh. Meyer as equivalent to "All men" {imiversi
homines). 31

32 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
When first mentioned by writers, the Alamanni were dwell
ing in the region between the rivers Elbe and Oder. Thence
they moved southward and established themselves between the
Main and the Rhine, and it was from this territory as a basis
of operations that they made incursions into Helvetia, destroy
ing Aventicum in 264, but sustaining repeated reverses at the
hands of succeeding emperors, until their final invasion at the
beginning of the fifth century.
The fact that the descendants of these Alamanni were des
tined some eight centuries later to found the Swiss Confedera
tion, lends a special value to everything which concerns the
economic, social and political organization of the Teutonic
invaders. It is much to be regretted that sufficient material
for a comprehensive study of their condition at this early time
has not come down to us. The body of law, known as Pactus
lex Alamannorum throws considerable light on their public life
two centuries later, but for the study of the fifth century we
are obliged to content ourselves with the examination of the
few remains which they have left, of the dialects and the
names of places in German -speaking Switzerland of to-day,
and with certain deductions which may be established by
analogy with other Teutonic nations.
It may be inferred from the presence of distinct dialects in
well-defined areas of modern German speaking Switzerland,
that the Alamanni took possession of the country in detached
groups, at various intervals of time, and not in one general
invasion. Nor can there be any doubt that they forcibly
reduced the Helveto-Roman population to slavery, and dis
tributed their lands amongst themselves. The whole social
fabric of the Romans was torn to shreds, and in the general
catastrophe, Christianity, itself a newcomer, was almost entirely
supplanted by a primitive heathenism. Only here and there
little communities which had been overlooked, or had intrenched
themselves in the mountains, remained to testify to the former
presence of Latin civilization. It is significant of the sweep
ing change which took place, that the great majority of the

THE TEUTONIC ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS. 33
modern names of places in the territory, which the Alamanni
took in possession at that time, are Teutonic in origin, while
the few Celto-Roman designations, which were retained, were
completely Teutonized, e. g., Turicum was changed to Zurich
and Vindonissa to Windisch. It also seems probable that
the invaders found Helvetia in great part unreclaimed or
devastated, covered with forests and swamps, for a noticeably
large number of names are compounds of words signifying
forests, clearings and moors.
The greatest interest, however, centres in their system of
land tenure, for if it can be stated as a general truth that the
key to the history of all nations is to be found in the manner
in which they distribute and hold the land, it must be acknowl
edged that this truth is especially patent in the case of the
Alamanni. Following the natural bent of the Teutonic race, they set
tled principally in isolated farmsteads (EinzelJwfe). This is
sufficiently proved by the prevalence of names of places with
patronymic forms, of which the name of Zollikon, now a vil
lage on the lake of Zurich, may be taken as an illustration.
The original settler was a certain Zollo ; his descendants were
known as the Zollinger ; and the group of their farms (Jtdfe)
was then called Zollinghofen, shortened in course of time into
Zollikon. The Alamanni undoubtedly also founded open vil
lages and hamlets, surrounded by wide-reaching, unused land,
but avoided until much later the ruined towns which they
found studding the country. It is impossibe to follow out in
every detail the manner in which they parcelled out the land
amongst themselves, but there can be no question that there
grew up in their midst in very early times the peculiar system
of the Almend, a system which it will be necessary to notice
particularly on account of its transcending importance in the
life of the Swiss people. Briefly stated the Almend was the
undivided land which surrounded a settlement. It consisted,
according to the nature of the ground, of meadow, pasture and
forest, and also of swamp, lake, river or mountain. As long:

34 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
as the country remained thinly populated, the supply of undi
vided land between the settlements remained practically unlim
ited, and there was of course no need of defining any one's
rights to that land, but when in course of time the popula
tion increased and the settlements expanded, the want of
more land naturally made itself felt, and regulations were
adopted for the management of this undivided land.
Some doubt has recently been expressed as to whether these
regulations took a communistic form at first, whether the right
to the Almend was vested in the freemen of a settlement col
lectively or distributively. There is in point of fact no subject
in history more hopelessly confusing than this of the primitive
Teutonic communities. Indeed it is a question whether histori
ans," with the material now at their command, will ever be able
to establish a definite and completely satisfactory theory in
regard to the origin and growth of these communities. Never
theless there seems to be a general agreement that, whatever
may have been the rights of individuals as such in the Almend
at first, these rights were gradually supplanted in the course of
the Middle Ages by those of the community as a whole. The
cattle of the whole settlement grazed upon the pastures and
every householder cut his share of wood in the forest. In so
far as the Almend served as a boundary between settlements it
was also called the Mark, and the community organized to
use it, an Association of the Mark (Markgenossenshaft).
Upon their entrance into Helvetia the Alamanni had as yet
remained almost uninfluenced by Roman civilization, with
which they had in reality hardly come into contact. They
were still Pagans and were not Christianized until the advent of
the Irish missionary Columban at the beginning of the seventh
century — more than two hundred years later. During this
period all the rudiments of the purely Teutonic institutions
which they had brought with them, such as the system of the
Almend, their organization into Hundreds and Counties with
open-air legislative and judiciary assemblies, had an opportu
nity to grow and consolidate into definite forms. It was then

THE TEUTONIC ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS. 35
that the seed was sown on Swiss soil from which eventually
arose the free communities whose welding together has pro
duced the Confederation of to-day.
There is a somewhat remarkable similarity between the
Alamannian invasion of Helvetia and that of Britain by the
Saxon and English tribes. It has so far, I believe, escaped the
notice of historians, and yet it explains to us as nothing else
can, why Switzerland and England (with her colonies and the
United States) have retained Teutonic institutions in greater
purity than all the other states founded by Teutonic races.
Both the Alamanni and the Saxons were practically untouched
by Roman civilization when they made their conquests, both
nations were still pagan, and undermined Christianity in Hel
vetia and Britain so effectually that foreign missionaries were
obliged to revive that religion into both countries at a later
date. From the arrival of the Saxons to the landing of Augus
tine was an interval of some hundred and forty years ; from
the invasion of the Alamanni to the advent of Columban about
two hundred years, so that primitive Teutonic institutions had
every opportunity to establish themselves in Switzerland and
England with a tenacity which subsequent foreign influences
were never able to shake.
A few years after the Alamanni had thus taken forcible
possession of northern Helvetia, another Teutonic nation, the
Burgundians, acquired Savoy and southern Helvetia by peace
ful means.
As late as 443 these Burgundians still had their habitation
in the region surrounding Worms, where in fact, the events
narrated in the Nibelungenlied took place in their midst. But
in that year they pressed southward into the Roman province
of Sabaudia, and were quartered upon the inhabitants of that
district by the Roman general Aetius. They did not reduce
the Celto-Roman population to slavery, as the Alamanni had
done in northern Helvetia, but were content to accept from
them a certain share of their possessions : two thirds of their
fields and one half of the rest of their goods. In this manner

36 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
the two nationalities were thrown intimately together, and
before long were inextricably interwoven the country over.
From this peculiar relation between the two nationalities arose
the fact that, wherever the Burgundians penetrated, Roman
customs, law and language were retained, whereas these were
utterly rooted out, wherever the Alamanni gained permanent
possession. Moreover the Burgundians, upon their entry into
Sabaudia, had already been Christianized in the Arian faith,
and were apparently by nature also more receptive of civiliz
ation than the Alamanni, so that they soon discarded their
Teutonic traditions and adopted the principal features of
Roman culture. Under a certain King Gundobad (473-516)
the Burgundian state reached the height of its prosperity.
This ruler issued a collection of laws, remembered in French
Switzerland as the "Loi Gombette," which if anything had still
been needed, completed the Romanization of the Burgundians.
There are indications that the two nations of the Alamanni
and Burgundians, these Teutonic ancestors of the modern
Swiss, did not live in peace with one another. The frontier
line between them wavered for a long time to and fro, as a
result of their mutual encroachments, before definitely following
about the same course which may be traced to-day, dividing
French from German-speaking Switzerland. The Alamanni,
for example, at one time pushed over the Jura mountains, but
were later forced back by the Burgundians ; while, on the other
hand, the chronicle, known to scholars as that of Fredegar,
makes mention of an invasion of the Alamanni into the region
of Avenches, which they devastated with fire and sword.
Confusion, therefore, reigned supreme in the territory now
comprised by the name of Switzerland. With two rival
nations struggling for supremacy and holding each other in
check, it was evident that the country was practically defence
less, and at the mercy of any determined third power.
Indeed, hardly had the Alamanni and the Burgundians
acquired fixed domains when they were themselves incorpo
rated into the rising kingdom of the Franks, just then enter-

THE TEUTONIC ANCESTORS OF THE SWISS. 37
ing upon that great career of conquest which was to make of it
the veritable successor to the ruined Roman Empire of the
West. It appears that while extending their depredations into Gaul,
under the leadership of their Duke, the Alamanni came into col
lision with the Franks, and in 469 were completely routed in a
severely contested battle by Chlodwig, the Merowingian, ruler
of the Salic Franks. The scene of this battle was probably
somewhere on the Upper Rhine, but not at Ziilpich, as has
been erroneously believed. A part of the conquered Alamanni
took refuge in the Raetian mountains, at that time belonging
to the kingdom of the East Goths under Theodoric, the Great,
but in 536 returned under the dominion of the Franks, when
Raetia was ceded to these conquerors by the East Goths.
Nor was it long before the Burgundians also began to feel the
heavy hand of their Frankish neighbors. After Gundobad's
death and the accession to the throne of his weak and priest-
ridden son Sigismund, the Burgundian Kingdom began to
decline. Chlodwig's sons, Childebert I. and Chlotar I., deposed
Sigismund, and in 534 defeated his brother Godomar at Autun,
therewith incorporating Burgundy into the Kingdom of the
Franks. Thus was the whole of what is modern Switzerland, with the
exception of Ticino, once more united in subjection to a single
power, as in the days of the Roman occupation, to share for
centuries in the varying vicissitudes of the Merowingian and
Carolingian rulers of the Franks.

CHAPTER IV.
THE SUPREMACY OF THE FRANKS.
A CERTAIN amount of credit is due to the Franks for the
manner in which they governed their new possessions.
Instead of attempting to break down ruthlessly whatever was
characteristic of the two nations, in a mistaken effort to absorb
them more readily, they recognized the wisdom' of allowing
each what was distinctive in its laws, whenever this was con
sistent with their own supreme rule. Thus it was that the
Loi Gombette was permitted to remain in force in Burgundy,
and in Alamannia a body of native law, the Pactus lex
Alamannorum. This latter collection, which has come down to us only in
fragments, gives us the first documentary insight into the life
of the Alamanni. It appears to have been begun about the
middle of the sixth century, and does not differ materially from
the other Teutonic folk laws, dating from that period.
There was apparently no pretence of democracy amongst the
Alamanni, using the term in its modern sense, for the pactus
clearly distinguishes two great classes of men — the freemen
and the slaves. The freemen were subdivided into nobles
(primi), freemen land-owners {tnedii), and freemen without
land of their own (minoflidi) ; the slaves into two classes :
freedmen (liti), with certain rights from their masters, and
bondmen (servi), who enjoyed no rights whatever, and were
sold from hand to hand like cattle. German scholars generally
use the names of Kncchte or Leibeigenc for the bondmen and
Hbrige for the freedmen, a distinction which must be borne in
mind, as it will receive important application in dealing with
the early Swiss. It is well to notice that it was the land
38

THE SUPREMACY OF THE FRANKS. 39
which formed the basis of classification amongst the Alamanni,
as indeed it must amongst all nations, for in the last analysis
all history is but the record of land-holding amongst the
nations. The relative importance of the above classes was
expressed by the Wergeld, the fine which a murderer was
obliged to pay to the kindred of his victim, from 240 shillings
(representing approximately in modern value 4500 dollars) for
a noble, to 15 shillings (280 dollars) for a bondman. King
Chlotar II. (613-628), or possibly Chlotar III. (656-660),
revised the pactus in order to bring Alamannia more com
pletely under the royal control, and to favor the spread of
Christianity in that still pagan country. For these purposes he
made the Duke of the Alamanni, who was the political and mili
tary head of the nation, subject to the authority of the Frank-
ish King, as a sort of viceroy, and introduced the so-called
County (Gau) system. He used the existing division of the
country into Counties (subdivided into Hundreds), a division
which had probably existed for a long time, but of which the
beginnings cannot be clearly traced. Over each county the
Crown appointed a Count who administered the law and levied
troops. He went about and held court in each Hundred within
his county in the presence of the freemen of the Hundred
united under their Centenarius (later also Schultheiss) .
In fact it was the county system, upon which the Frankish
Kings relied, in order to hold together so heterogeneous a
mass as their possessions grew to be. The counties of Bur
gundy were united into groups, each group under a superior
called Patricius, and the two counties of Raetia under a
Presses. Amongst the few events, which we can cite with certainty
during the rule of the Merowingian Franks, is the revival of
Christianity in Alamannia. It was more truly a revival than a
reintroduction, as one might at first be tempted to call it, for
Christianity had never entirely disappeared from the land; as
in Britain, so in Helvetia there were still Christian communi
ties in existence, which had weathered the Teutonic invasion.

40 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Augst (later Basel) and Vindonissa (replaced by Constance)
seem to have been the seat of bishoprics throughout that
period of confusion, so that when the Irish missionaries pen
etrated into the forests of Alamannia two hundred years later,
they still found evidences of primitive Christianity. It would
be more correct, therefore, to say that the machinery of the
Church, however incomplete it might have been, in reality
never ceased entirely to work, and that the task set before
Columban was very much like that of Augustine, to revive and
reorganize, rather than reintroduce. It will, of course, always
appear strange that this revival should have been set on foot
by foreigners from distant Ireland, rather than by the clergy
of the Frankish conquerors or of neighboring Burgundy and
Raetia, where Christianity was already firmly established.
Columbanus, who must be carefully distinguished from St.
Columba, the more famous founder of the monastery of Iona,
was a native of Leinster in Ireland. In 590 he left the mon
astery of Bangor, accompanied by twelve companions, in order
to carry the Gospel to those parts of the continent which had
not yet received the faith. Without entering into the ecclesi
astical controversy which has existed for many years in regard
to the doctrines of the ancient Irish Church, we may safely say
that it did not acknowledge the supremacy claimed by the
Bishop of Rome, and certainly exercised a great deal of inde
pendence in the management of its own affairs. The labors of
that part of the band which reached Alamannia are described
in one of the most valuable of early chronicles, the Vita Sancti
Galli, written in Latin by an unknown monk of the monastery
of St. Gallen about the year 771.
Columban and his companions first visited the court of
Theodebert, King of Austrasia, one of the divisions into
which the Frankish Kingdom had fallen at the end of the 6th
century. But they resisted his entreaties to remain in his
country, and in 610 pushed on, endeavoring to find a region,
where their missionary labors might be more necessary. " In
this search," says the Vita, "they came to the river Lindima-

THE SUPREMACY OF THE FRANKS. 41
cus (Limmat), followed its course and came unto a fortress by
name Turegum (Zurich). Thence they reached the hamlet
which men call Tucconia (Tuggen), and which lies at the
upper end of the lake from Turegum. This place pleased
them, but not the evil ways of the dwellers. Cruelty and mis
chief ruled in their midst, and they were given over unto hea
then superstitions. Therefore, when the servants of God had
made their dwelling amongst them, they taught them to wor
ship God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. For Gallus, whose
miracles, with the Grace of Christ we shall be at pains to tell,
and who followed the man of God, Columban, as has already
been said, from the beginning of his monastic life, and who
shared his labors, this one began to throw the images of their
Gods into the lake." Driven thence by the enraged Ala
manni, the missionaries went to Arbona (Arbon), where they
met a native priest by name Willimar. "After these days
they learned from the same priest that in the neighborhood
there was a ruined town, by name Pregentia (Bregenz) . . .
Now in that place the superstitious people worshipped three
brazen and gilded images, to which they were more attached,
and to which they brought greater gifts than to the Creator of
the world. After an eloquent exhortation and before the eyes
of all, Gallus dashed to pieces against the rocks the images
which he had taken away, and cast them into the depths of the
lake [of Constance]. Then did a part of the people confess
their sins and believed, but the others went away in anger and
filled with wrath." Being appealed to by these unbelievers,
Kunzo, Duke of Alamannia, bade the missionaries leave the
country, and so Columban crossed the Alps into Italy to make
new converts amongst the Lombards, and to die amongst them
not long after. But Gallus, afflicted with fever, remained
behind, withdrew into the forests of North-eastern Alamannia,
and in 614 founded a hermitage near the brook Steinach, which
was destined to become after his death one of the most influ
ential centres of Christian civilization in Central Europe.
However great may be the want of historical accuracy in

42 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
the account of this monkish chronicler, who was evidently
bent as much upon sermonizing as upon recording the origin
of his monastery, he gives us some valuable bits of information
in his references to the fortress Turegum, and to Arbona and
Pregentia with their surviving evidences of Christian and
Roman civilization, as well as to Kunzo the Duke of Alaman
nia and Gallus, the iconoclast.
The hermitage appears to have enjoyed a local reputation
from the first. In the course of the next hundred years a
community had gathered in the vicinity, forming the hamlet of
St. Gallen, while over the spot where the hermit's cell had
stood, a monastery was built, in which the strict rules of the
Irish Church were enforced until 720, when they were
abolished, and those of St. Benedict substituted by an abbot
Othmar. From this time on St. Gallen began to play an
important part in the social and political growth of Alamannia,
for it was the peculiar vocation of the church to distribute
a civilization which should take the place of the lost one
of ancient Rome. All traces of paganism were slowly and
discreetly removed, or else invested with a Christian meaning.
From the eighth to the tenth century St. Gallen was one of
the greatest seats of learning in Europe, its history being vir
tually that of the best medieval culture during that period. At
the risk then, of seeming to neglect the general course of
events in the Kingdom of the Franks, but really in order to
render the history of this monastery at once more consecutive
and more easily comprehensible, the writer will here proceed
with an account of St. Gallen during its golden age.
The chronicler of the monastery, to whom we are indebted
for our information concerning this period, is a monk, Ekke-
hart IV, who wrote the Casus Sancti Galli in the eleventh cen
tury. He gives a graphic, if somewhat biassed, version of the
fortunes of the institution, and describes the lives of the men
who contributed to its greatness. There was the composer
of music, Notker, surnamed the Stammerer, the author of
so-called sequences in the music of the mass. He was the

THE SUPREMACY OF THE FRANKS. 43
first of three Notkers famous in the annals of the abbey. The
second Notker was a physician, one of the pioneers of modern
medicine, and the third, surnamed the Thick-lipped, is reckoned
among the fathers of German prose. Not that his works are
valuable for any new ideas contained in them, being principally
translations of the classics, undertaken to help his pupils in the
monastery school, but because they are amongst the earliest
efforts ever made in German to put into writing the common
speech of the people. Another personage was the versatile
Tuotilo, who was "eloquent, with a clear voice, skillful in
embossing, and an artist in painting, a musician as well as his
companions, but superior to them all on stringed instruments
and reed-pipes, for he taught the sons of the nobility on the
strings in a room set apart by the abbot." Ratpert, a native
of Zurich, was reckoned one of the most assiduous scholars
and schoolmasters of the abbey. On the St. Gallen records
are the names of five Ekkeharts, three of whom were noted
men. Ekkehart I. was the author of a Latin poem, and Ekke-
hart II. is known to the present generation as the hero of Shef-
fel's great novel bearing the name of Ekkehart. In that work
the monk is described as becoming the lover of Hedwig,
Duchess of Alamannia, but Dandliker1 thinks the novelist has
overstepped the bounds of actual historical truth in construct
ing his plot, and does not believe that love or indeed scandal
ever entered into the relations of the noblewoman and the monk.
The Casus relates this curious episode in the Abbey's history at
some length. It appears that the beautiful, but eccentric, widow
had been engaged in her youth to be married to the Greek em
peror Constantine, and that she had at that time been carefully
instructed in Greek learning by1 ambassadors especially sent
for the purpose. Though this marriage never took place, she
acquired a taste for learning, and as widow of Burkhard II.,
Duke of Alamannia, she renewed her studies with Ekkehart
II. She went to the Abbey and requested that he be given
to her as teacher, "having the day before, because he was door-
1 Geschichte der Schweiz. Vol. I, p. 187.

44 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
keeper, secretly made an agreement with him to this effect,"
adds the chronicler.
The other Ekkehart who deserves to be mentioned is the
author of the chronicle quoted above, a work not free, by any
means, from the usual inaccuracies of medieval chroniclers, but
nevertheless extremely valuable and eminently readable.
Indeed the art of writing, a rare accomplishment in those
days, implanted in the monastery by the numerous Irish
brethren, had during the ninth century produced a truly
extraordinary literary activity. The classics were much studied,
especially for practice in order to acquire facility in reading the
Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible. St. Gallen also had its
artists, its musicians, carvers, and illuminators of texts. The
so-called Golden Psalter, dating from the ninth century, is
one of the most highly prized examples of monkish art to be
found anywhere, a work which is said to exhibit to-day colors
as fresh as though painted but yesterday.
The founding of the monastery of St. Gallen over the spot
where the hermitage of Gallus had stood, is typical of many
others on Swiss territory. Thus Dissentis (corruption of
Desertind) was founded near the source of the Rhine, prob
ably by Sigisbert, a disciple of Columban, and the monastery
of Reichenau by St. Pirmin on an island in the lake of Con
stance. A number of churches and chapels sprang up in all
directions, so that by the middle of the eighth century Ala
mannia, as well as Burgundy, was practically Christianized.
In the meantime the family of the Merowingians died out
by degrees in a manner which leaves an impression nothing
short of painful. They sank gradually, but inevitably, through
an unbroken series of crimes and feuds to utter incapacity.
The Frankish Kingdom after having experienced several par-
titionings, at the beginning of the seventh century fell apart
into Austrasia and Neustria, and the rulers of these two
divisions ended by placing all but purely nominal authority
into the hands of their Majores Domus (Mayors of the palace).
The Austrasian Pipin of Heristal became major domus of both

THE SUPREMACY OF THE FRANKS. 45
divisions by defeating the Neustrian major domus. He was
followed by his son Charles Martel and by his grandson Pipin,
the Small, who deposed Childeric III., the last of the decaying
Merowingians, in 751, and was then declared King of the
Franks. Pipin's elder son Karlmann died in 771, and his
younger son Charles the Great (Charlemagne) then became
King of the Franks and later, Emperor of the West.
With the advent of Charles the Great to power in 768 a
new era began to dawn over the Frankish possessions, an era
marked first and foremost by a centralization of the functions
of government into the hands of one man. The Carolingian
idea of the divine right of Kings resulted in consolidating the
various parts of the Empire into something like a homoge
neous whole, at least during the lifetime of the great emperor.
There seems to be no reason for supposing that Charle
magne gave particular attention to that portion of his realm
which forms the subject of this history. But it is well estab
lished that he must have repeatedly traversed what is now
Swiss territory on his way to and from Italy. He certainly
visited Geneva and Constance, perhaps even St. Maurice and
Zurich. A number of traditions, the truth of which is not
sufficiently proven, connect him especially with this last place,
where the Institute of Canons (Chorherrenstifi) attached to
the Grossmiinster, and its school, the Karolinum, claimed to
have been founded by him. Among the great scholars whom
he gathered around his court were two bishops from Swiss
soil, Hatto of Basel and Remedius of Chur, and he likewise
confirmed the independence of the Abbey of St. Gallen from
the jurisdiction of the see of Constance.
In order to keep pace with the increasing size of his empire,
Charles the Great was obliged to enlarge the County system,
and to bring it more immediately under his control. Beside
the ordinary Gaugrafen, he appointed Markgrafen over the
border districts, and Sendgrafen, imperial messengers, who
made periodical circuits, heard complaints, and reported them
to him. Important changes were made also in the administra-

46 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
tion of justice, in the levying of troops, and in church polity.
Under his patronage education made great strides, agriculture
was improved, and the arts and sciences received a much
needed impetus.
But while the consolidation of the empire was going on
apace, and the reforms of Charlemagne were raising society to
a higher level of culture, the rapid development of the feudal
system was dividing his subjects into castes which tended con
tinually to become less pliable. A wedge was thus introduced
which was destined after the death of the great emperor to
split the state into countless factions, reducing his descendants
to a condition of pitiable impotency.
Like everything else which is connected with the organiza
tion of ancient Germans, this institution of the feudal system
cannot be traced to its origin with anything like certainty.
The custom of comradeship, mentioned by Tacitus, is probably
the earliest form in which it appeared. Under Charles the
Great, however, it reached a stage of the highest development,
partly in consequence of his administrative changes, but prin
cipally as the result of natural causes, over which he had really
no control. It is, in fact, to the concentration of land into the
hands of a few men, in a word to the growth of large estates,
that we must look for the prime cause of this extraordinary
progress of the feudal system. The owners of vast landed
property could not possibly cultivate the whole of their posses
sions themselves. It followed, therefore, that they must lend
them to others on certain conditions of rent and personal ser
vice, a course which placed these borrowers in the feudal rela
tion to the owners of the land. In time a rigid class system
grew upon this basis of land tenure, with hard and fast dis
tinctions from the sovereign down to the serf, each rank owing
services of some sort to the rank above it, and receiving in
return a certain measure of protection, somewhat arbitrarily
accorded. This dangerously artificial and inelastic system might per
haps have maintained itself unimpaired, had it not been for

THE SUPREMACY OF THE FRANKS. 47
the so-called decrees of immunity (immunitas in the docu
ments), which the Frankish rulers, notably Charles the Great
and his successors, saw fit to issue to church institutions.
Such decrees took the institutions, to which they were
granted, from the control of the Count, under whose jurisdic
tion they would naturally have fallen, and placed them in the
immediate care of an imperial Vogt (corruption of advocatus),
or bailiff. This privilege is described by German scholars as
Reichsunmittelbarkeit. It was largely upon this same right of
immunity that the Forest States, Uri, Schwiz and Unterwal
den, later founded the Swiss Confederation, by refusing to
submit to the hereditary Counts of the thirteenth and four
teenth centuries. But not only were the heads of ecclesiasti
cal institutions liberated from the trammels of the county
system, secular nobles also, envious of their success, managed
to acquire this much desired prerogative, and even the Counts
achieved a certain amount of independence by establishing the
principle of hereditary succession. Thus did the immunity
make inroads into the organization of the County system, and
undermine the uniform administration of justice throughout
the empire.
As long as a strong sovereign was at the head of the com
plex Frankish empire, the stability of the state remained unim
paired. While Charles the Great lived, he was able to hold the
empire together by the force of his executive genius, but
under his weak successors it fell apart.
In 814 Charlemagne's youngest son, Ludwig the Pious,
succeeded to the throne. He barely maintained his position
against four rebellious sons until his death in 840. Finally,
in 843, the empire was divided amongst the three remaining
sons, Lothar, Ludwig the German and Charles the Bold at the
treaty of Verdun.
It is not without reason that the French and Germans date
the beginning of their separate existence, as nations, from this
treaty, for, though drawn up simply as a family contract, it was
in reality destined to effect a new grouping of nationalities.

48 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Nor could an event of such capital importance in general
European affairs fail to exert a corresponding influence upon
what is to-day Swiss territory. By this treaty Alamannia and
Curraetia went to Ludwig the German, while Burgundy was
given to Lothar. The country was, therefore, once more
divided, after having been united for more than three hundred
years under the sceptre of Frankish Kings. The contrast
which already existed between the purely Teutonic Alamanni
and the Romanized Burgundians was thus emphasized by
political separation.

CHAPTER V.
QUEEN BERTHA OF BURGUNDY.
THERE is an expression still currently used in French
Switzerland, le bon temps que reine Berthe filait, which
is equivalent to our saying of "good old times." It recalls
one of the most delightful chapters in the history of that
region, when a Queen Bertha, sat on the throne of the King
dom of Transjurane Burgundy, and endeared herself to her
subjects through the charitable disposition which she evinced
and the executive ability with which she ruled. So vivid was
the impression she made on her contemporaries, that their
descendants have preserved the image of the good queen with
greater clearness than those of personages whose careers were
fraught with even more important consequences to the his
torical development of the country.
In the earliest stages of the situation created by the treaty
of Verdun, the Kingdom of Lothar presented a picture of the
most complete demoralization. Indeed it had hardly been con
stituted when it was already hopelessly divided into a variety
of new states. Only one of these falls within the scope of the
present history — the Kingdom of Transjurane, or New Bur
gundy, founded in 888 by a Markgrave Rudolf, related to the
Guelph family. The coronation of the new king took place
at St. Maurice in the presence of the spiritual and temporal
lords of Burgundy. He succeeded in maintaining himself
against Arnulf of Carinthia, King of the East Franks, and
during the reign of Ludwig, the Child, established his kingdom
upon so firm a foundation that he was able to leave it intact to
his son, Rudolf II. 49

50 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
The latter sovereign, then, considerably enlarged Transju
rane Burgundy ; rather, indeed, by his good fortune than by his
talents. In attempting to add to his possessions in the direc
tion of Alamannia, he came into conflict with Burkhard I., who
had just raised himself to the position of duke of that country,
and was defeated by the latter in a battle at Winterthur (919),
but this feud was amicably settled two or three years later
when Burkhard gave him the hand of his daughter in marriage.
This was the famous and beloved Bertha, the queen whom
popular tradition represents as going about amongst her people,
riding on a palfrey, and spinning the while from her distaff, in
the good old times of Burgundy. She brought her husband a
large dowry in lands, probably a portion of Alamannia, so that
Rudolf thus acquired by peaceful means what he had failed to
do by force of arms. Before he died he had also enlarged his
kingdom by another stroke of good fortune to include the two
Burgundies, comprising what is now French Switzerland and
in France, Provence, Dauphine and Franche Comte. An
infant son, Conrad, succeeded Rudolf, in 935. He was placed
during his minority under the guardianship of Otto the Great,
Emperor of Germany. Bertha's daughter Adelaide, famed for
her beauty and piety, had married King Lothar of Italy at the
age of sixteen, to whom she had been betrothed from infancy,
but three years later, at the death of Lothar, she became the
bride of Otto, the Great, of Germany.
Bertha's activity during the reign of her husband and the
minority of her son was of such a character as to imprint her
personality indelibly upon the period. The documents relating
to her are few indeed, but tradition is, perhaps for this reason,
all the richer in reminiscences. Amongst the stories which
have been handed down in French Switzerland, is the follow
ing : As the queen was making her rounds one day from farm
to farm, she met a young shepherdess who was spinning as she
watched her flock. Pleased at this sign of industry, Bertha
gave her a rich present. On the morrow the queen was sur
prised to see all her ladies in waiting appear with distaffs in

QUEEN BERTHA OF BURGUNDY. 51
their hands. "My ladies," said Bertha, "you come too late.
The young peasant girl came first, and like Jacob, she has
taken away my blessing." The Bernese painter, Anker, has
executed an admirable work representing the queen in the act
of teaching some children of the people how to use the distaff.
Not only is the subject treated with excellent artistic effect,
but the costumes are scrupulously accurate for the period.
During the terrible invasions of the Magyars and Saracens,
who poured over the Alps in the early part of the tenth cen
tury, devastating the country as far north as Chur and St.
Gallen, Bertha is reported to have' erected towers of refuge,
having a wide outlook. Towers of this sort at Gourze, Moudon,
Moliere and Neuchatel, now rapidly falling into ruins, show by
their construction that they were intended to be simply shel
ters in time of danger, and not regularly inhabited strongholds.
Tradition also ascribes to her the building of many roads and
bridges, and credits her with taking a special interest in
developing the agricultural interests of the country.
Of strictly authentic facts regarding the good Queen's life,
there is unfortunately a great lack. In 961 she executed a
will, deeding valuable properties to the Abbey at Payerne, "for
the love of my lord Rudolf, of my sons, of Otto, the most
glorious King, of my daughter Adelaide, and finally for my
own sake, and for the souls of all those who shall endow this
temple of the Lord."1 An elaborate curse is appended to this
document, after the custom of the age, to be invoked upon all
who may dare to set aside the provisions of the deed. Modern
Payerne is a thriving little town, not far from Avenches, and off
the track of tourist travel, with a local reputation for pork
sausages rather than for any special display of sanctity. Queen
Bertha placed the monastery in charge of a Benedictine Abbot,
Majolus. She and her daughter Adelaide ever after showed a
special interest in this ecclesiastical foundation. In point of
fact the Abbey church, though it has suffered with the lapse
of so many centuries, is one of the most interesting, artd;, valu
able architectural remains of Switzerland. A
1 Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France.

52 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
As far as can be ascertained the royal family of Transjurane
Burgundy had no fixed place of residence, but changed about
from one castle, or one estate to another, as public policy or pri
vate preference suggested. There is a document, dated ion,
in which Conrad's son Rodolf III. deeded to his wife Irmen-
garde a most royal residence (regalissimam sedem) at Neuchatel.
It was at one time thought that this residence was identical
with the south-western wing of the present castle of Neuchatel,
a romanesque building of unusual beauty, ornamented by a pil
lared gallery, somewhat after the style of an Italian loggia.
The church also of Notre Dame, now known as the Temple
du Haut and the cloisters of the Collegiate with their archaic
carvings, were attributed to Bertha. But Rahn and the later
archeologists are now agreed that these buildings cannot ante
date the twelfth century, and could not, therefore, have been
founded in the time of the good queen.
Perhaps the most valuable pieces of evidence which have
come down to us in regard to Bertha, are two seals appended
to documents of the time. In one she is represented as sit
ting, in the other as standing, but in both she is clad in the
tunic and mantel of the tenth century, and holds in one hand
a sceptre, in the other the Gospels. A crown rests upon her
head, while around her image we read the legend : " Berta Dei
Gracia Humilis Regina" Bertha, by the Grace of God, the
Humble Queen — as evidence at once of her divine right to
rule, and also of her humble disposition.
The exact date of Bertha's death is not known. It was
probably about the year 970.
In 1817 a stone sarcophagus was discovered under the tower
of the Abbey Church, containing the bones of a woman, and
under the choir two skeletons of males. The authorities of
the Canton of Vaud came to the conclusion that they must be
the remains of Queen Bertha, of King Rudolf II., and their
son Conrad. They were, therefore, removed to the parish
church, where they now lie, covered with a suitable inscription.
A curious saddle is shown to travelers at Payerne, purporting

QUEEN BERTHA OF BURGUNDY. 53
to be that of Bertha ; it has even a place to hold the distaff
which always accompanied the good Queen on horseback.
But archeologists have now recognized the pretended saddle to
be merely an instrument of torture of much later date than the
tenth century. After all, Bertha's principal memorial is the
grateful memory in which she has been held by succeeding
generations, and the singular tenacity with which tradition and
popular songs have kept her image before the people of French
Switzerland for nigh upon a thousand years.
When her son Conrad assumed the control of government,
the German influences which had crept in during his minority,
and had been strengthened by Adelaide's marriage to Otto of
Germany, made themselves daily more conspicuous. The
Kingdom of Burgundy began to decline as an independent
power. His successor Rudolf III., surnamed the Lazy, lacked
the requisite strength either to resist the advance of Germany
or to hold in check the ambitions of the feudal nobles in his
country. In despair he turned to the church for support, dis
pensing his estates with careless lavishness upon the prelates
and the ecclesiastical institutions of his realm, until he became
so much impoverished that he was glad to receive the alms col
lected in the churches. In 1016 he finally abdicated in favor
of Henry II. of Germany, but the latter left him in nominal
authority upon the request of the Burgundian nobles. It was
Henry's successor, Conrad IL, who in 1032 defeated Odo,
Count of Champagne, leader of the Burgundian nobles, in a
battle at Morat, and was then crowned King of Burgundy at
Payerne, so that the Kingdom was at length united to the Ger
man Empire after having enjoyed more than a hundred and
forty years of more or less precarious independence.
While these events were taking place in Burgundy with the
result of bringing that country into subjection to the German
Empire, very different ones in Alamannia were leading to the
same issue.
The weak reign of Ludwig the Child had there also been
the signal for an independent movement. Burkhard, Margrave

54 , THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
of Curraetia was the first to make a disastrous attempt to
revive the Duchy of Alamannia, but he was executed before he
could accomplish his purpose, mainly through the opposition of
Solomon, the crafty bishop of Constance and Abbot of St.
Gallen. This unfortunate rebellion was followed by another,
equally tragic, the one of Erchanger and Berchtold, two broth
ers who were probably descendants of the ancient ducal family
of Alamannia. They, too, succumbed to Solomon, and were
executed. Nothing daunted, the son of Burkhard boldly pro
claimed his right to the title of Duke, was hailed by the people
as such, and eventually confirmed in his position by the Ger
man emperor himself. It was this Burkhard who defeated
Rudolf II., of Burgundy, at Winterthuf, and later gave him his
daughter Bertha in marriage, the good queen whose acts we
have just been rehearsing. In this manner Bertha, Alaman-
nian by birth and Burgundian by connection, in a sense typi
fies the struggle for independence at that time in the whole of
what is now Switzerland, and her name may well be placed at
the head of the chapter devoted to this period. Burkhard II.
died childless, though when somewhat advanced in years, he
had married a daughter of the Duke of Bavaria, the Hedwig
whose career was so intimately associated with St. Gallen.
Hedwig seems to have retained the title of Duchess after
her husband's death, but the authority conferred by the posi
tion passed into the hands of a court favorite. Indeed the
succession thereafter devolved upon men who were either
related to the German emperors, or at least subservient to
their dictation. Alamannia was definitely incorporated into
the great empire.

CHAPTER VI.

THE HOUSE OF ZAERINGEN.

WITH the extraordinary development of the feudal sys
tem and the growing impotence of the imperial author
ity, which followed the downfall of the Carolingian family, a
great number of noblemen rose to practical independence
upon what was later to become Swiss soil. Although the
whole country remained under the supreme rule of the German
kings and emperors, still their rule was seldom, if ever, felt by
those who chose to disregard it. During the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries four great families in succession exerted a
predominating influence, Zaeringen, Kiburg, Savoy and Habs-
burg. Each in turn held the balance of power, each attempted
to establish an enduring dominion in Switzerland, and all
failed utterly to accomplish their object. Zaeringen and Kiburg
became extinct, while Savoy and Habsburg were forced to
evacuate the ground. Of the two latter houses, the first now
sits on the throne of a united and progressive Italy, the second
reigns over the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, and the
scene of their first successes is the free state of the Swiss
Confederation. It was during that all-embracing struggle between Henry IV.
and Pope Gregory VII. (Hildebrand), which broke over Europe
in 1077, that the house of Zaeringen first gave unmistakable
signs of its power. No one could remain neutral in the gen
eral war kindled by this quarrel about the right of investiture.
The strife penetrated into the remotest valleys of the Alps,
where it arrayed the partisans of the King and the Pope
against each other, and caused them to fight with as much

56 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
spirit as did the men in the lowlands, who were nearer the
great seats of conflict. When the excitement had temporarily
subsided at the death of Rudolf of Rheinfelden, the papal anti-
king, and the masses, which had been involved, were once
more able to readjust themselves, it was found that the house
of Zaeringen had materially strengthened its position in Ala
mannia and Burgundy.
During the minority of Henry IV, his mother Agnes had
granted the Duchy of Alamannia to her favorite, Rudolf of
Rheinfelden. But when later this Rudolf became the leader
of the party of the Pope, Henry appointed Frederic of Hohen-
staufen in his place. After the extinction of the family of
Rheinfelden in 1090, Berchtold IL, Duke of Zaeringen, laid
claim to Alamannia. A compromise was finally reached in
1097 by which the family of Hohenstaufen retained the title
and Duchy, with the exception of the town and estates of
Zurich, which fell to Zaeringen. For the future, however,
the rule of Hohenstaufen on the south of the Rhine was purely
nominal, the Dukes of Zaeringen more and more absorbed the
rights and privileges of what is now German Switzerland. In
1 127 the office of Governor, or Rector, over Burgundy was
awarded to them by King Lothar. The Dukes of Zaeringen
thereby acquired the balance of power in the territory extend
ing from the Rhine to the Lake of Geneva, and virtually
became the masters of what is to-day the Swiss Confederation.
The efforts which they made to maintain themselves, with all
the results this entailed, constitute the history of Switzerland
for the century during which they flourished.
From modest beginnings, as simple freemen living at Villin-
gen near Freiburg in Baden, the family had succeeded in add
ing one estate to another, until two brilliant marriages had
brought them into the forefront of the nobility. The ancestral
castle of Zaeringen, now in ruins, may still be seen at the
village of that name not far from Freiburg. Once in posses
sion of the balance of power in Southern Alamannia and
Burgundy the Dukes found themselves confronted by the

THE HOUSE OF ZAERINGEN. 57
difficult problem of preserving their position from the attacks
of jealous rivals. They inaugurated a system of defence which
was destined to exert a far-reaching influence upon the future
of the country. Selecting a number of villages situated in
positions of strategic importance, they fortified them with
walls and converted them into cities with chartered privileges.
An ancestor, Berchtold 1 1., had founded Freiburg in Baden,
after the model of Cologne, and his descendant Berchtold IV,
now in 1176, or 11 78, enlarged a small settlement on the banks
of the Sarine into the city of Fribourg. Either he or his son,
Berchtold V, also fortified such towns as Burgdorf, Morat and
Thun. The culmination of this process of building cities was
reached in the founding of Bern by Berchtold V. in 1191.
He was induced to take this step in order to complete his line
of defence Fribourg-Burgdorf, by placing a garrisoned strong
hold about midway between the two. He had just put down a
rising of Burgundian nobles near Avenches or Payerne, and
had gained a decisive victory in the valley of Grindelwald,
when he erected his new fortress upon a high sandstone penin
sula formed by the winding river Aar.
The derivation of the name of Bern has given rise to con
siderable speculation. The Bernese chronicler, Justinger,
writing in 1420, gives the following explanation, so characteris
tic of his age : " And since much game ran in that oak forest
[on the site of the future city], Berchtold told his councillors
that he would name the city after the first beast caught in the
forest. Now the first to be caught was a bear, therefore the
city was called Bern."1 It is certainly curious, if nothing more,
that this animal is represented on the city coat-of-arms as soon
after the year of founding as 1224. Dierauer, in his "Ges
chichte der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft," mentions a
family "de Berno" from Rottweil in modern Wiirttemberg,
who were supposed to have been in the service of the Duke of
Zaeringen.2 But the most reasonable explanation of the name,
^andliker, Geschichte der Schweiz. Vol. 1, p. 633.
2Vol. I, p. 61.

58 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
and one which is now generally accepted, is that Bern is sim
ply the German form of the Italian Verona. The Margraviate
of Verona was at one time in the possession of the family of
Zaeringen, and the founder may have had this fact in mind
when he named his new city. An example of exactly the
same change from Verona to Bern is furnished by the name of
Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, who, because he
sometimes resided at Verona, is known in the German hero
romances as Dietrich von Bern.
In 12 1 8 Berchtold V. died childless, presumably at his ances
tral castle of Zaeringen, leaving his possessions to be divided
amongst a crowd of eager relatives.
The Swiss people have reason to remember the house of
Zaeringen with gratitude for having laid the foundations of so
many of their important cities. Nor must it be forgotten that
the extinction of the house of Zaeringen came most oppor
tunely, for it is entirely within the range of possibility, that,
otherwise, the state they had erected, might have become a
principality, or even a monarchy, as enduring as any of those
which surround Switzerland to-day.

CHAPTER VII.

THE HOUSE OF SAVOY.

THE mantle of Zaeringen seemed for a time to have fallen
upon the Counts of Kiburg, a family of somewhat uncer
tain origin which had risen to great power in and about the
Thurgau. One of their castles may still be seen near Winter-
thur, the old Kiburg, as it is called, now a pleasant, restored
chateau, and another is the splendid castle which towers over
the little town of Thun. They inherited all the possessions
of Berchtold V. of Zaeringen, except those which he had held
in fief from the empire. Under a certain Count Hartmann,
the Elder, and his nephew Hartmann, the Younger, Kiburg
reached the apex of its prosperity ; but these two men both
died without issue in 1263-64, and left Savoy and Habs-
burg to quarrel over their vast estates.
At this time Count Peter of Savoy, surnamed Charlemagne
the Little, had conquered for himself the undisputed control of
what is to-day French Switzerland. He was nearing the close
of a career marked by extraordinary success, and his personal
ity deserves in a measure to stand as one typical of the chiv
alry of his time.
Peter's father, Thomas of Savoy, had sprung from the
obscure family of Maurienne, but had taken the first steps
toward obtaining a foothold on the northern shore of the Lake
of Geneva. Peter continued these efforts by contracting an
advantageous marriage with the heiress of Faucigny, then by
erecting strongholds at points of strategic importance, and
finally by embarking in open warfare against the multitude of
more or less independent lordlings, who ruled over the country.
59

60 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
His niece, Eleonora, became the wife of Henry III., King of
England, so that he also became intimately associated with that
country. It is related that on the occasion of his first visit to
London, he was received amid festivities at Westminster
Abbey, and created Duke of Richmond with the revenues of
many castles and manors. His brother Boniface was actually
appointed archbishop of Canterbury and primate of all Eng
land. Peter became a sort of general personal advisor to the
King during his visit of about a year and a half.
On his return to Savoy, he began to subjugate the Valais,
and then turned his attention more particularly to the land of
Vaud ; in fact, it is in connection with the conquest of this lat
ter region that his name is especially known in history. In the
course of some twenty years Peter gradually absorbed one
feudal estate after the other, until he was master of the lands
lying in the Lower Rhone valley, and in Vaud almost as far
north as the river Aar. The intervals of active conquest were
spent at the Court of England. Picturesque details of his
career are furnished by that highly imaginative, but not always
reliable, work the "Chronicle of Savoy." His address was
so persuasive that he was often asked to act as mediator
between England and France, and doubtless his services were
well rewarded, for we find him building a palace on ground
given him by Henry III. It stood on the Strand near the mod
ern Waterloo Bridge. Indeed, wherever the name Savoy
occurs in London, it is in memory of this Count Peter, Queen
Eleonora's uncle.
After Henry's defeat at Lewes, Peter made a great effort to
come to the aid of his kinsman. He equipped a fleet in
Flanders, and raised an army in the Alps ; but the fleet was
scattered by adverse winds, like many another which has been
sent against England, and his army was needed elsewhere, for
Peter suddenly received alarming news from the land of Vaud. ,
During his absence Count Rudolf of Habsburg, in his charac
ter of heir to the extinct house of Kiburg, had advanced into,
the country in order to receive the homage of his subjects, and,

THE HOUSE OF SAVOY. 61
if possible, to add to his possessions. There was a battle at
Chillon, one of Savoy's principal strongholds, which resulted
in favor of Peter. It appears that Rudolf's forces lay
encamped before Chillon under the leadership of a Duke of
Cophingen. Peter, coming down the Valais, left his army at
Villeneuve, penetrated with two others by might into the
castle, mounted the tower, saw the enemy lying about in dis
order, and returned by boat to Villeneuve. Says the chronicle
pf Savoy: "He went back in good spirits. When they saw
him so gay — 'What news?' they asked. 'Good news,' he
answered, 'for if God be with us and you behave like men,
the enemy is ours.' At which they all cried with one accord
'Sir, you have but to command.' They armed themselves,
then fully equipped and in good order, mounted their steeds,
rounded the pass of Chillon without blowing of trumpets, and
fell upon the tents and quarters of the Duke of Cophingen.
They had good luck, for they found him and his men unarmed,
half awake and half asleep." There followed a treaty which
served to determine the respective spheres of action of these
two ambitious noblemen. A few months later in 1268 Count
Peter died on his way home from a trip to Italy.
His brother Philip succeeded to the title, a man who did not
possess the requisite enterprise to carry on the schemes of the
indefatigable conqueror of the land of Vaud. The house of
Savoy lost prestige and power throughout the territory which
is now French Switzerland. The property in England was
left to Queen Eleonora, except the palace in London, which,
strangely enough, went as an endowment for the hospice on
the Great St. Bernard, already at that date doing its benefi
cent work.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE HOUSE OF HABSBURG.

NOT far from Brugg in the present Canton of Aargau,
upon a hill which goes by the name of the Wiilpelsberg,
stands a massive tower with an adjoining dwelling. This par
tial ruin is the ancestral castle of the house of Habsburg, now
rented to a farmer by the Cantonal authorities. Near by, on
the tongue of land made by the confluence of the rivers Aar
and Reuss, archeologists have discovered traces of an older
seat, the Altenburg, but in the eleventh century the family
appear to have moved to the castle on the hill. A pretty
legend was devised in after years to explain the name of Habs
burg. It relates that a certain ancestor, while hunting in
these parts, lost his hawk (Habicht), and at last found it on
the Wiilpelsberg. He was struck with the beauty of the view,
built a castle, and called it Habichtshxirg or Habsburg.
The most valuable documentary information is derived from
the archives of the Abbey of Muri, which was founded by the
family in 1027. Besides extensive possessions in the Aargau
itself, Habsburg seems to have early acquired additional ones
in Elsass and the Breisgau. The first direct ancestor of the
great Rudolf, of whom we have definite knowledge, was a
Count Wernher II. living in the year 1 1 35. He was followed
by a Count Adelbert, who placed the family in the forefront
of the younger nobility by a fortunate marriage, and also inher
ited a share of the possessions which the house of Lenzburg
had left upon becoming extinct. The significance of this last
acquisition becomes evident when we find that the estates in
question were situated mainly in the present Cantons of
62

THE HOUSE OF HABSBURG. 63
Luzern, Schwiz and Unterwalden, where the revolt originated
which was destined to pave the way for the founding of the
Swiss Confederation. Before Adelbert died he was also cre
ated Count of the Zurichgau by Frederic Barbarossa. His suc
cessor was Rudolf, surnamed the Old, who dying in 1232, left
two sons to divide the inheritance between them, Albrecht, the
Wise, and Rudolf, surnamed the Taciturn. These sons gave
rise to two lines ; Albrecht to that known later as Habsburg-
Austria, and Rudolf to Habsburg-Laufenburg. Elsass alone,
with perhaps the Zurichgau, were administered conjointly by
the two. When Albrecht died in the Crusades, in 1239 or
1240, his share came by degrees into the hands of his eldest
son, Count Rudolf III., better known in history as Rudolf I.,
king and emperor of Germany.
Rudolf made his first impression on public affairs during the
renewal of hostilities between the empire and the papal chair,
which burst forth in 1239 under Frederic II. He followed
the traditions of his father in remaining a loyal adherent of
the Hohenstauffen family. It was only when Frederic had
died that Rudolf reconciled himself to the church.
But, in the meantime, the emperor's death was succeeded
by an interregnum of twenty-three years, from 1250-1273, the
famous epoch of demoralization, commonly known as that of
Faustrecht, or Club law, which saw the robber-knights flourish
as never before. Every man's hand was against his neighbor.
Every noble, from the prince to the lordling, was striving to
widen his influence by any means at his disposal. It was also
the time for the weak to unite in leagues and build walls,
in order to defend themselves against arbitrary aggression.
Hence this period of confusion, which was so favorable to the
power of ambitious noblemen, was equally conducive to the
formation of peasant and burgher leagues. For, with all its
outward splendor the age of knighthood was but a sorry one
for the great mass of population in Europe. We, who are
more familiar in literature with the brighter aspects of Chiv
alry, can with difficulty form a just conception of the actual

64 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
condition of the serfs or even the so-called freemen. Life cer
tainly was not a mere succession of public shows and manly
encounters, tinged throughout with a beautiful, though impos
sible, devotion to the ideals of knighthood and love. The sor
did cares, the innumerable injustices, which, taken separately,
seem trivial, but in the aggregate are mountain high ; the base
wrongs, daily perpetrated in the name of custom, and the
unholy denial of man's most ordinary rights — these details of
every-day life in the Age of Chivalry are not recorded, or have
been subordinated to the picturesque and the romantic. It
would be more accurate to say that vast multitudes were lying
in a wretchedness akin to despair; that the feudal state no
longer had any respect for the old-fashioned word freeman,
but knew only princes and slaves.
Thrown upon their own resources during the perils of the
interregnum, the people founded a number of leagues through
out the empire. They were not apparently actuated by the
dream of creating free states, but by the instinct of self-preser
vation, and in the retrospect this season of unrest, terrible as
it was in many respects, is seen to have given them a veritable
Schooling in the art of self-government. It was during this
period, for instance, that the secluded peasant communities of
Uri, Schwiz and Unterwalden, deprived of the support from
the imperial crown, to which they were entitled, learnt the
lesson of organization, of mutual help, and in a word of union.
They were receiving an inestimable political education from
the very perils which surrounded them, as we shall see in
detail later on.
Nor was Rudolf of Habsburg slow in taking advantage of the
unsettled state of affairs to enrich himself at the expense of
his neighbors. He had inherited almost the whole of the vast
possessions left by the extinct house of Kiburg, which added
to his own estates, gave him practical control of what is now
German Switzerland. He took special pains to be on good
terms with the rising free cities, like Zurich, in order to make
sure of their help in time of trouble. At the same time he

THE HOUSE OF HABSBURG. 65
was indefatigable in enterprises destined to enlarge his private
possessions. He was, in fact, engaged in besieging the city of
Basel, having become involved in a quarrel with the bishop of
that place, when suddenly the extraordinary news was commur
nicated to him that he had been elected King of Germany
by an assembly convened at Frankfurt. Hastily concluding
peace with Basel, he hastened to assume the duties of his high
office. It does not fall within the province qf this history to
treat of the new king's actions as they affected Germany at
large, but he displayed a certain general tendency during his
reign which deserves to be especially noticed on account of
the results which it entailed upon the history of the Swiss
Confederation. Rudolf of Habsburg surveyed the scene of his future activ
ity with singular clearsightedness, took account of what he
could do to unite the distracted empire, and, what is more,
comprehended the limitations which had been set to his power.
He knew well that the new kingdom, created by his election,
was not the empire of Charlemagne ; that he was king, not by
the Grace of God, but by the good will of the electing princes ;
and that the time might come when he, or his descendants,
would be obliged to yield the throne to another family. He
did not, therefore, stop the efforts which he was making to
build up a private fortune and to establish a great principality,
but in his new position rather redoubled his exertions.
All the conditions seemed favorable for the creation of a
great Habsburg power in the Swiss Alps. How came it that
Rudolf and his descendants, having once acquired so firm a
foothold, and having, moreover, obtained the vantage ground of
the German throne itself, were worsted by the rude peasants
of the mountains ?
The answer to this question brings us to the threshold of
the real history of Switzerland.
That which has gone before — the Helvetian era, the
Roman occupation, the Alamannian and Burgundian settle-

66 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
ments, the supremacy of the Franks, the incorporation of the
whole into the German Empire, and the rise of independent
nobles — all this is but the prologue to the great drama which
now unfolds itself.

BOOK II.
THE CONFEDERATION OF EIGHT STATES.

CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN OF THE SWISS CONFEDERATION.
THERE is no period in all history so generally misunder
stood as that which marks the origin of the Swiss Con
federation ; partly on account of the scarcity of authentic, con
temporary documents, but principally on account of the false
versions which unscrupulous chroniclers have handed down to
us. In fact, so great is this want of records, and so confusing
are the traditions, that the dawn of Swiss history is probably
doomed to remain shrouded in a certain amount of obscurity.
The comprehensive view which is obtained from the various
peaks of the Rigi affords the best possible introduction to the
study of this difficult period. Almost every spot celebrated
in the annals of the early Confederation, or hallowed by its
traditions, is visible from that height ; and when not actually
visible, can be readily located with the help of a map.
There, on the banks of the Lake of Luzern, the national life
of the Swiss people had its origin. They have reason to feel
proud of such a birthplace, for this sheet of water, blue and
green by turns, like all the Swiss lakes, lies on the northern
side of the great Alps, imbedded like a fair jewel in the setting
of the lesser heights. Three principal valleys empty their tor
rents into its winding arms, and velvet slopes stretch from the
water up the mountain-sides, to where the firs stand sentinel
over summer pastures. In the background the distant snow
lends the whole a tone of magnificent tranquility.
Amid such surroundings the commonwealths of Uri, Schwiz
and Unterwalden grew from infancy to maturity by the slow
process which characterized the rise of all free communities in

70 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
the Middle Ages. They had not existed from time immemo
rial, nor had they suddenly sprung into existence. They fol
lowed the general law of nature, which is growth. Nor did
they at first occupy exceptional positions within the German
empire, for the same conditions are found to have existed
elsewhere. In a word, they acquired the first degree of lib
erty, the privilege of immediate dependence upon the empire
(Reicksunmittelbarkeit), by the same steps as some of their
neighbors, and their final, collective independence was not
very different from that of the leagues of the Hanseatic, Lom
bard, Rhine, and Swabian cities, except that it was more
enduring. In time Uri, Schwiz and Unterwalden assumed many of the
features of ideal democracies. Supremely simple, pastoral and
secluded in their Alpine fastnesses, they seem in the retrospect
to have been veritable idylls, more perfect than poet or philos
opher ever imagined. And, if a closer acquaintance with the
history serves to dispel many illusions, enough remains to
attract our attention and arouse our enthusiasm.
It is doubtful, however, whether such states are possible
under present industrial conditions in populous districts. In
certain highlying and sequestered regions of Switzerland, espe
cially near the Lake of Luzern the conditions have for ages
been particularly favorable. There the existence of man is
one of ceaseless toil, his wants are few and his pleasures
simple. The continual conflict which he is forced to wage
against the elements, makes him hardy in mind and body, and
teaches him to rely upon himself, as well as to value the co-op
eration of his neighbor. The uniformity of his life develops
his sense of eqaulity, and strengthens his conservatism. In
regions thus remote from the great centres, where the din of
a restless world arrives far-spent, and loses itself amid the
hush that rests upon the mountains, where life runs on plac
idly and unchanged, there only can we conceive of a state
enduring from century to century in such archaic simplicity.
Uri, Schwiz and Unterwalden, known collectively as the

THE ORIGIN OF THE SWISS CONFEDERATION. 71
three Forest States, on account of the primeval forests which
originally covered them, appear for the first time in history
during the seventh and eighth centuries. There are no traces
of lake dwellings within their territory, the nearest being at
Zug. On the Roman charts there is nothing but a blank for
the whole region. When the Alamanni came, the land passed
into their hands and formed part of the Duchy of Alamannia.
Under the supremacy of the Franks, and after the fall of the
ducal house, it belonged first to the Thurgau, and when that
county was divided, to the Zurichgau to be administered by
the count of the district.
There is no longer any doubt that the original colonists were
Alamanni, in spite of the reasons given by Muralt1 in his docu
mentary history for believing that they were Swedes and Frie-
sians. The false account of a Swedish immigration into those
parts, which is to be found in the chronicles of the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries, seems to repose upon a misconcep
tion. A wrong interpretation was laid upon the resemblance
between the Latin forms of the names given to the inhabitants
of Schwiz and of Sweden — Schwidones and Schwedones —
and much was made of the conviction amongst the people
themselves that their ancestors had come from the North.
The similarity between the names is simply a coincidence,
while the tradition of a Northern descent is explained as a long
cherished remembrance of the Alamannian invasion of Helvetia.
While we are not warranted in fixing with any precision the
date when the first colonization took place, it seems beyond
question that the Forest States, although they are the oldest
members of the Confederation, were the last to become popu
lated. As the plains became more and more thickly settled,
pioneers, adventurous spirits, moved up into the then savage
country that skirts the lake, pushed into the forests, and made
clearings. This colonization was accomplished in three differ
ent ways : by freemen who occupied and tilled their own land,
by bondmen sent out from ecclesiastical institutions, or by
1 Muralt, E. Schweizergeschichte. p. 122.

72 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
bondmen in the employment of secular nobles. The two lat
ter classes paid rent to their ecclesiastical or lay landlords, the
former paid taxes to the Count only. In Uri, moreover, the
sovereign himself had estates, known as crown lands, which
played a most important part in the history of that district.
Thus it happened that the very manner of colonization pro
duced a diversity of conditions amongst the inhabitants.
Schwiz was settled principally by freemen, while the majority
of the inhabitants of Uri and Unterwalden were in the condi
tion of servitude either to spiritual or temporal lords.
As the origin of the three Forest States was different, so
also was their growth into sovereign democracies, each acquir
ing the ReicJisunmittelbarkeit separately, and at different times.
It will, therefore, be necessary to examine them individually,
to trace their respective histories apart from one another, in
order more fully to comprehend the scope and purport of the
perpetual league in which they united toward the close of the
thirteenth century.

CHAPTER II.

URI.

THE derivation of the name of this state is still to be
determined. The most common explanation is that it is
from the root ur, signifying the Auerochs, or wild bull, an ani
mal now long extinct. Certain it is that the head of a bull
has figured on the Cantonal seal since the year 1243.
The name Uri occurs for the first time in the Latin chron
icle of a certain Hermann, a monk of the Abbey of Reichenau,
dated 732. He says: "Eto, our abbot, was banished to Uri
[in Uraniam] by Theobald [a Duke of Alamannia]."1 In 853
Ludwig, the German, founded the Abbey of Nuns (Fraumiin-
ster) in Zurich by enlarging an already existing convent dedi
cated to the martyrs Felix and Regula. He placed his daugh
ter Hildigard over it as abbess, and in the deed of founding he
transferred to the Abbey, amongst other property, the crown-
lands which he possessed in Uri. That part of the deed
which refers to Uri, reads as follows in the translation from the
Latin: "Be it known that we give completely and unreserv
edly, . . the little land of Uri (pagellum uroniae) with its
churches, houses and such other buildings as 'are upon it, the
serfs of both sexes and of every age, the lands cultivated and
uncultivated, the forests, fields and pastures, the still and run
ning waters, the roads, exits and entrances, whatever has been
acquired or is yet to be acquired, with all the tithes and the vari
ous imposts ... to our convent, situated in the . . .
place (vico) Zurich, where the saints Felix and Regula, the
Martyrs of Christ, rest in the body . . . ."2 The" last
provision of this deed grants the privilege of immunity to the
1 Rilliet, A. Les Origines de la Confederation Suisse, p. 339.
2 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch zur Schweizergeschichte. p. 20.
73

74 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Abbey and its belongings in the following words : " Finally we
command and decree that no public judge (judex publicus) or
Count (comes) or any one with judicial powers (guislibet exjudi-
ciaria potestate) presume in the aforesaid places, and in the
affairs which appertain to them, to exercise jurisdiction (dis-
tringere aut infestare) over the men who dwell there, both free
and bond, either by demanding pledges (fideiussores tollendo),
or by exacting payments (redibitiones) , whether in services or
fines (freda aut'bannos), or to use unjustified violence on any
man, at any time. But that these things remain in perpetuity
under our protection and guardianship with the bailiffs who
are there established . . . ."
The lands, thus conveyed, did not comprise the whole of the
modern Canton of Uri, but only those lying near Altdorf.
The valley of Urseren still belonged to the Abbey of Dissentis,
and large estates belonged to the Abbey of Wettingen, or to
members of the lesser nobility, such as the Knights of Atting-
hausen, the ruins of whose castle may still be seen at the vil
lage of that name. There were besides small communities
of freemen living in the Schachenthal, that charming valley
which opens up behind the village of Altdorf.
This act, therefore, conferred the immunity only on a part
of Uri, and this part was now withdrawn from the jurisdiction
of the officials of the Zurichgau to be placed under the impe
rial bailiff (Kastvogt) of the Abbey of Nuns in Zurich. The
duty of this bailiff was in general to represent the sovereign.
He regulated the relations of the nunnery to the surrounding
nobles and convents, and held court twice a year under the
lime-tree of Altdorf, in order to adjust cases of importance in
the presence of the subjects of the Abbey. There were
besides special officials of the Abbey, Mayors (Meier) who, as
its possessions grew, had their seats at Altdorf, Biirglen, Sile-
nen, and Erstfeld, where their ruined towers can still be seen.
It was their duty to collect the tithes and to try minor
offences, according to the traditional usage of every locality.
It is evident, therefore, that the diversity of conditions

URI. 75
amongst the inhabitants of Uri was very great, but in one
matter they were all' equal ; every man, from the Lake of
Luzern to Goschenen, whether bond or free, was a member of
the Markgenossenschaft, according to the ancient Alamannian
custom. In this association they were united. The concen
tration into one undivided commonwealth was destined to take
place under the shadow of the Abbey which enjoyed the
imperial immunity. The fate of its subjects, known as Regler
from their patron, Saint Regula, was so much envied by the
subjects of other landowners, and even by the freemen, who
were under the regular county officials, that they spared no
effort to become themselves subjects of the nunnery, and thus
partakers in the privileges of the immunity. In this manner
the majority of the inhabitants gathered under the protection
of the imperial bailiff. Finally, the last step in this process of
unification was taken, when the whole valley was placed under
this official, probably to obviate the inconvenience of having a
part under the count and another under the bailiff. The lat
ter office had' just been transferred from the family of Lenz-
burg to that of Zaeringen 1172, when this change took place.
It speaks strongly for the fact that the people of Uri were
beginning to act together as a political unit, when we find
them treating collectively, as inhabitants of Uri, concerning
new tithes with an officer of the Abbey, and arranging the
boundary line on the Klausen Pass with the Kastvogt of
Glarus. When in 12 18 the family of Zaeringen died out, the
Emperor Frederic II. made several changes in the Zurichgau.
Amongst others he took the land of Uri from the jurisdiction
of the imperial bailiff of the Zurich nunnery, without, how
ever, effecting the tithes to be paid to that institution, and
gave it in fief to Rudolf of Habsburg, surnamed the Old.
For a moment it seemed as though the process of emancipa
tion in Uri had received a fatal check. The immunity was
lost, and the country was in the power of an ambitious family.
Indeed the case seemed hopeless, when one of those happy
chances, which have often appeared in Swiss history, com-

76 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
pletely changed the aspect of affairs in Uri. In 123 1 Fred
eric's son, Henry (VII), recalled this grant, probably in answer
to the prayers of the men of Uri, and issued a charter to them
(universis hominibus in valle Uraniae) in which he freed them
from the power of Habsburg. The Latin original of this doc
ument is lost, but it was copied by Tschudi and reads as fol
lows, without the greeting and signature: "In the desire
always to do that which shall serve your interest and welfare,
we have hereby bought you and set you free from the posses
sion of Count Rudolf of Habsburg and promise that we will
never put you away from us, either by feoffment or by mort
gage (per concessionem seu per obligationem), but will always
keep you and shield you in our service and in that of the
empire. Therefore we exhort your community (universitatem
vestram) most sincerely that you believe and do in regard to
the requisition and payment of our taxes, whatsoever our faith
ful Arnold of Baden (de Aquis) may tell you, and bid you do
from me, in order that we may praise your ready fidelity,
because with the assent of our council we have considered it
good to send him to you . . . ."1
Thus the immunity was saved. The charter was carefully
preserved amongst the archives, and Uri had taken a long step
on the road which led to complete independence. During the
interregnum which immediately preceded the election of Rudolf
of Habsburg to the throne, the inhabitants called upon him
to act as arbitrator in a quarrel between two of their families,
but it is not known that an imperial bailiff (Reichsvogt) was
appointed to govern the country, indeed the sovereign himself
seems to have treated on several occasions directly with the
head of the community, the Ammann (Amtmann) or minister,
whom he appointed from their midst. We hear of the com
monwealth levying taxes in 1243, possessing a seal with the
inscription S. Vallis Vranie (later .S. Hominum Vallis Vranie),
and finally in 1291 changing the title of Ammann into the
more comprehensive one of Landammann.
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 46.

URI. 77
Once more the immunity of Uri was confirmed, and that by
Rudolf of Habsburg himself, for hardly had he become King
when he promised "his loyal and good people" (fideles egregii)
the maintenance and even the increase of their privileges
(libertates honores etjura), in the heartiest and most unmistak
able terms. Never after was the immunity of Uri seriously
disputed.

CHAPTER III.

SCHWIZ.

IN the meantime Schwiz was pushing toward the same goal,
but by a different road. Here it was the freemen who
formed the majority of the inhabitants, and who took the lead
in the work of emancipation.
The name of this district appears for the first time as
Suuites, in a document dated 970, which deals with an
exchange of land between the monasteries of Pfaffers and
Einsiedeln. Suuit is apparently the name of a person, and es
the genitive ending, but nothing is known of the meaning of
this name.
In the beginning the designation of Schwiz was not applied
to the whole territory which is now included in the Canton,
but only to a region lying in the immediate vicinity of the vil
lages of Schwiz and Morschach with the Muota valley. Even in
this small area several convents held property, amongst others
the powerful Abbey of Einsiedeln, which enjoyed the privilege
of the immunity. Two estates belonged first to Lenzburg,
then to Habsburg. The greater part of the land, however,
was in the hands of free peasants, paying the Count of the
Zurichgau a tax of sixty marks (equal to about 15,000 francs
in modern money), but possessing a separate court of justice,
Freigericht, which was chosen from their midst, and was pre
sided over by an Ammann, selected by them and the Count
conjointly. As in Uri, so here, the whole population, bond
and free, were united in a vigorous Markgenossenschaft.
The name of Schwiz was first brought into history by the
1 Rilliet, A. Origines. p. 343. 78

SCHWIZ. 79
famous dispute of this Association of the Mark, with the monks
of Einsiedeln concerning certain forests and Alpine pastures,
lying on the confines of their respective territories. The men
of Schwiz claimed them as part of their Almend, the monks
maintained that they belonged to the lands deeded to the
Abbey when it was founded. The strife ran on for many
years ; the two sides robbed, burned and plundered ; every act
led to retaliation, and the question seemed to defy all attempts
at a satisfactory solution. The emperors Henry IV., in 1 1 14,
and Conrad III., in 1 144, gave decisions unfavorable to Schwiz.
In 1217 Count Rudolf I. of Habsburg, having been requested
to arbitrate, rendered a verdict which was rather more favor^
able than had been the others. It brought about a temporary
cessation of hostilities. In his written judgment on this sub
ject Rudolf calls himself "rightful bailiff and protector of
the people of Schwiz by inheritance" (von rechter Erbschaft
rechter Vbget und Schirmer der vorgenanden Luten von
Schwitz),1 a proof that the office of bailiff had already lost its
original signification, for this official had heretofore regularly
been appointed by the crown. This right Rudolf based upon
having inherited the estates of Lenzburg and upon his position
as Count of the Zurichgau. At the division of the Habsburg
inheritance in 1232, Schwiz fell to his son Rudolf IL, the
founder of the line Habsburg-Laufenburg, under whose rule
the liberties of the people seemed for the first time seriously
to suffer. Therefore, emboldened by the success of Uri in
obtaining a charter from King Henry, the men of Schwiz sent
messengers to Frederic II. as he lay besieging Faenza in
Northern Italy, to beseech his protection. The mission
arrived just at the right moment, when the relations between
the emperor and Count Rudolf were not of the best. Frederic
issued a charter to " all the inhabitants of the valley of Swites "
(universis hominibus vallis in Swites), in which he conferred
upon them the imperial immunity. The original of this much
prized document, dated 1240, the oldest of the Swiss charters
1 Rilliet, A. Origines. pp. 4°3-4°4-

80 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
now extant, is religiously preserved in the archives of the Can
ton, and reads : " Having received letters and messengers
from you to prove and make known your conversion and sub
mission to us, we accede to your express desire with gracious
and affectionate good will ; we praise your submission and
loyalty not a little in that you have shown the zeal, which you
have always had for us and the empire, by taking protection
under our wings and those of the empire, as you are bound to
do, being freemen (tamquam hontmes liberi), who must turn to
us and to the empire alone. Since, therefore, you have chosen
our rule and that of the empire of your own free will, we
receive your loyalty with open arms, and respond to your sin
cere affection with our single-minded favor and good-will, by
taking you under our special protection and that of the empire,
so that we will never allow you to be alienated or withdrawn
from our sovereign rule and that of the empire  m
This assurance, though expressed in the heartiest terms,
was not explicit enough to be altogether effective. At all
events Rudolf of Habsburg remained at his post, and no
imperial bailiff was sent to take his place. It was then that
the men of Schwiz resorted to arms, and made common cause
against the house of Habsburg with the men of Unterwalden
(first Obwalden and then Nidwalden), and with the burghers
of Luzern. They concluded, about the year 1245, the first
Swiss league of which we have any knowledge. This act was
consummated just at the time of the struggle between Fred
eric II. and the papacy, and the young league boldly joined
forces with the king against the papal party, to which Count
Rudolf belonged.
When, however, the emperor Frederic died, excommunicated
and deposed, their humiliation quickly followed. This deplor
able result was hastened by another circumstance. During the
very heat of the conflict, in 1247, Count Rudolf had prevailed
upon the Pope to issue a bull,2 in which the Prior of the con-
' Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 47.
2 Ibid. p. 48.

SCHWIZ. 81
vent of Oelemberg in Elsass was empowered to set a time,
within which the people of Subritz (sic) and Sarmon (Schwiz
and Sarnen) as well as those of Luzern, if he could prove their
complicity, were to renounce their allegiance to the deposed
Frederic under pain of interdict, to return into the unity of
the church, and to subject themselves to their lawful lord, the
Count. About the same time the latter built the fortress of
Neu-Habsburg on a promontory of the lake which separates
the Bay of Luzern from that of Kiissnacht — a far more effect
ive mode of dealing with the rude mountaineers than the most
threatening of papal bulls.
We know very little beyond these few facts concerning the
course of this first revolt. It is not improbable, however, that
a part of the traditions which the popular mind connects with
the uprising after King Rudolf's death in 1291, had their ori
gin in events which took place in 1245. In 1273 Schwiz
passed from the possession of the line Habsburg-Laufenburg
to Rudolf III., of Habsburg-Austria, a few days before his
election to the throne of Germany.
Here was a sudden danger. A Habsburg on the throne !
The men of Schwiz had every reason to fear that their aspira
tions toward independence would bring down upon them the
wrath of the new sovereign, who in his exalted position would
have many opportunities of frustrating their plans. Their
apprehensions, however, were not exactly justified, for they
virtually came into possession of the immunity, notwithstand
ing the fact that Rudolf refused to confirm the charter issued
to them by the late Emperor Frederic.
Rudolf, the King, did not surrender his rights of Landgrave,
but kept them well in hand throughout his reign. He did not
appoint a bailiff, but collected the taxes in his own name, and
selected the men who were to act as Ammanner for the free
men and for his two estates. Now, the curious result of this
procedure was that Schwiz was thereby virtually governed
directly by the sovereign himself, without the intervention of
the county officials — in others words, Schwiz was placed in

82 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
immediate dependence upon the empire, and came into pos
session of the Reichsunmittelbarkeit.
In 1278 the revenues of Schwiz, along with those of the lit
tle town of Sempach and of several other places in the vicin
ity, were promised to Joan, daughter of Edward I., King
of England, in the event of her marriage with Hartmann,
Rudolf's son. By the revenues of Schwiz must be understood
those from the two Habsburg estates, with perhaps the sixty
marks previously mentioned as being the annual tax paid by
the freemen to the Count of Zurichgau. This marriage, how
ever, never took place. Young Hartmann was drowned in the
Rhine, and Joan married the Earl of Gloucester some years
later.1 In 128 1 the revenues were mortgaged to Eberhard of Habs
burg-Laufenburg, Rudolf's cousin, but the administration of
the country remained in the hands of the sovereign.
Far from being dangerous to the liberties of Schwiz, as
might have been expected, this reign proved in reality a bless
ing in disguise. Many new privileges were actually accorded.
An act was issued which specified that the inhabitants need
not obey summons to appear before any tribunal outside of
the valley, but were answerable only to the king, his sons, or
to the judge of the valley itself. In 1291 a document further
declares that this judge shall never be a bondman. As early
as 1281 the commonwealth was in possession of a seal, as sym
bol of its sovereignty, bearing the inscription : 5. Universitatis
in Swites around an image of St. Martin, the patron saint of
the country
The final unification of Schwiz into one community was
accomplished when a single Landammann was appointed to
take the place of the four Ammanner who had heretofore
been chosen.
1 Coolidge, W. A. B. The English Historical Review. Oct. 18S6. pp. 738-739".

CHAPTER IV.

UNTERWALDEN.

THOUGH probably the first of the three Forest States to
be colonized, Unterwalden was undoubtedly the last to
become free. It will be seen upon the map that the modern
Canton is divided into two natural sections by a range of
mountains, extending back from the Stanzerhorn to the snow-
clad peak of the Titlis. The fact that a great forest formerly
covered part of this range caused the two valleys to be
called respectively Obwalden (Above-the-Forest) and Nidwal-
den (Below-the-Forest). They were not named together
Unterwalden (In-the-Midst-of-the-Forest) until a comparatively
late date.
Here the struggle for independence was fraught with even
greater' difficulties than in Uri or Schwiz, for the land was
owned by a multitude of different masters, and instead of one
Markgenossenschaft for the whole country, there was one for
every valley. As a consequence there was no basis for com
mon action amongst the inhabitants, and the work of unifica
tion was much retarded.
Chief amongst the land-owners was the monastery of Engel-
berg, an institution of great antiquity situated at the foot of
the Titlis. The monks of St. Ledger in Luzern also owned
estates, as well as the Counts of Habsburg and certain mem
bers of the native nobility, such as the Knights of Winkelried.
There was also a goodly sprinkling of free peasants, but they
were slow to organize themselves into communities. The free
men of Stans and Sarnen seem to have made a beginning in
the middle of the thirteenth century; at all events in 1291,
83

84 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
these two districts apparently possessed all the characteristics
of full-grown commonwealths.
The administration of the country belonged mainly to the
Count of the Zurichgau. When, therefore, in the thirteenth
century the house of Habsburg came into possession of this
office, and also acquired the stewardship [Kastvogtei) of all the
monasteries owning land in the district, except Engelberg —
Obwalden and Nidwalden came virtually under the complete
control of Habsburg, the more so as the confusion of the.
period made it possible for the holders of such titles to exer
cise almost unlimited jurisdiction.

CHAPTER V
THE FIRST PERPETUAL LEAGUE.
THE reader who has derived his ideas of the origin of the
Swiss Confederation from Schiller's play of "William
Tell," will doubtless feel disappointed at the picture here pre
sented. Tradition would have us believe that the three states
were from the very beginning independent commonwealths of
freemen, leagued together from time immemorial, that they
voluntarily submitted themselves to the German empire during
the reign of Frederic II. , and only revolted when King
Albrecht of Habsburg sought to put an end to their liberties.
This view is quite incompatible with contemporary evidence.
Uri, Schwiz and Unterwalden were not originally independent
states with fully developed republican forms of government ;
nor can there be a question of their having voluntarily submit
ted themselves to the empire, since they formed a part of it as
early as we have any records. If modern research has proved
anything beyond the shadow of a doubt, it is that the Forest
States gained their freedom after the lapse of centuries of per
sistent toil, and not at one blow.
• But what was the danger which prompted their final union?
What the bond which held them together through all their
trials and tribulations ? Stated in the simplest terms it was
the existence of a common enemy in the ambitious and not
over-scrupulous house of Habsburg. Though these young
communities had advanced thus far toward the attainment of
antonomy, they were overshadowed by a power which threat
ened at any moment to engulf them. There was a natural,
inevitable antagonism between the inhabitants of the Forest
85

86 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
States and the Counts of Habsburg, the former alert to defend
their liberties, the latter to extend their stewardship into
unquestioned dominion.
Since his accession to the throne Rudolf had extended his
power in all directions. By reconciling himself to the church
in an interview with Pope Gregory X., in the cathedral of
Lausanne, he saved himself from an attack from the south.
In 1278 he pacified the eastern boundaries of his realm by con
quering his great rival, Ottocar, King of Bohemia, at the same
time giving the lands thus obtained, Austria, Styria and Cor-
inthia to his sons as imperial fiefs. In this manner the title
of Duke of Austria became associated with the name of
Habsburg. Amongst his other exploits was a siege of the flourishing
city of Bern, which had refused to pay imperial taxes. The
citizens defended themselves bravely for almost a year, until
the king's younger son, Rudolf, succeeded in enticing a large
detachment into an ambush at the Schlosshalden. After this
defeat Bern was obliged to yield to the sovereign's demands.
In Alamannia he displayed the greatest ingenuity in finding
pretextsfor usurping lands and titles. He wrested an estate
from the Abbot of St. Gallen, absorbed the possessions of the
house of Rapperswil, acquired the office of Mayor over ecclesi
astical property in Glarus for his sons, and just before his
death took advantage of the financial straits, into which the
Abbey of Murbach in Elsass had fallen, to purchase its scat
tered estates, which were situated partly in Luzern and in the
Forest States. Nor did the stewardship (Kastvogtei) of the
monastery of Einsiedeln and Pfaffers escape him.
Nothing can give one so good an idea of the extent of the
family power of Habsburg on all sides of Uri, Schwiz and
Unterwalden, as the roll of the estates, the so-called Urbarbuch,
in which were recorded the lists of properties and offices with
the revenues appertaining to them. An examination of this
terrier, which was begun by Rudolf and finished by his son
Albrecht, shows conclusively that the Forest States were sur-

THE FIRST PERPETUAL LEAGUE. 87
rounded by a veritable cordon of Habsburg estates, and that
nothing but a determined effort on their part could save'
them from becoming completely owned by that ambitious
family. Rudolf of Habsburg died on the 15th of July, 129 1, and
seventeen days after, on the ist of August, the three Forest
States concluded a perpetual league and signed what may be
styled the first federal constitution of the Swiss Confederation.
The promptness with which this great act was consummated
seems to suggest that the text of the perpetual pact had been
drawn up previously and held in abeyance to be ratified after
the King's death.
The Latin original parchment is preserved in the archives
of Schwiz. In the following translation the words " Invoca
tion" and "Preamble," and the numbers are inserted for the
sake of clearness.
"(Invocation.) In the name of God — Amen. (Preamble.)
Honor and the public weal are promoted when leagues are
concluded for the proper establishment of quiet and peace.
1. Therefore, know all men, that the people of the valley of
Uri, the democracy of the valley of Schwiz, and the commu
nity of the mountaineers of the Lower Valley (homines vallis
Vranie, Universitasque vallis de Switz ac communitas homi-
num intramontanorum vallis inferioris), seeing the malice of
the age, in order that they may better defend themselves and
their own, and better preserve them in proper condition, have
promised in good faith to assist each other with aid, with
every counsel and every favor, with person and goods, within
the valleys and without, with might and main, against one and
all, who may inflict upon any one of them any violence, molest
ation or injury, or may plot any evil against their persons or
goods. 2. And in every case each community has promised
to succour the other when necessary, at its own expense, as
far as needed in order to withstand the attacks of evil-doers, and
to avenge injuries; to this end they have sworn a bodily oath
to keep this without guile, and to renew by these presents the

88 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
ancient form of the league, 1 [also] confirmed by an oath.
3. Yet in such a manner that every man, according to his
rank, shall obey and serve his overlord as it behooves him.
4. We have also promised, decreed and ordered in com
mon council and by unanimous consent, that we will accept
or receive no judge in the aforesaid valleys, who shall have
obtained his office for any price, or for money in any way
whatever, or one who shall not be a native or a resident with
us. 5. But if dissension shall arise between any of the confed
erates, the most prudent amongst the confederates shall come
forth to settle the difficulty between the parties, as shall seem
right to them; and whichever party rejects their verdict shall
be an adversary to the other confederates.
6. Furthermore as has been established between them that
he who deliberately kills another without provocation, shall, if
caught, lose his life, as his wicked guilt requires, unless he be
able to prove his innocence of said crime; and if perchance he
escape, let him never return. Concealers and defenders of
said criminal shall be banished from the valleys, until they be
expressly recalled by the confederates.
7. But if any one of the confederates, by day, or in the
silence of the night, shall maliciously injure another by fire, he
shall never be considered a compatriot. 8. If any man pro
tect and defend the said criminal, he shall render satisfac
tion to the injured person. 9. Furthermore, if any one of the
confederates shall spoil another of his goods, or injure him in
any way, the goods of the guilty one, if recovered within the
valleys, shall be seized in order to pay damages to the injured
person, according to justice. 10. Furthermore, no man shall
seize another's goods for debt, unless he be evidently his debtor
or surety, and this shall only be done with the special permis
sion of his judge. Moreover, every man shall obey his judge,
and if necessary, must himself indicate the judge in the valley,
1 Referring to some previously enacted league, whose provisions are not
known.

THE FIRST PERPETUAL LEAGUE. 89
before whom he ought properly to appear, ii. And if any
one rebels against a verdict, and, in consequence of his obsti
nacy, any one of the confederates is injured, all the confeder
ates are bound to compel the contumacious person to give
satisfaction. 12. But if war or discord arise amongst any of the confed
erates and one party of the disputants refuse to accept justice
or satisfaction, the confederates are bound to defend the other
party. 13. The above-written statutes, decreed for the common
weal and health, shall endure forever, God willing. In testi-
timony of which, at the request of the aforesaid parties, the
present instrument has been drawn up and confirmed with the
seals of the aforesaid three communities and valleys.
Done Anno Domini M.CC.LXXXX. primo. in the begin
ning of the month of August."
A recent examination of the seals, attached to the docu
ment, shows that the third one, which has heretofore been
taken to represent Nidwalden alone, is the same as that used
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries for the whole of
Unterwalden. The presumption seems to be justified, there
fore, that Obwalden also joined the league of 1291.
On the whole the above agreement is just what would be
suggested to men working entirely by experience and not upon
any definite theory. It is neither complete nor altogether sat
isfactory, when viewed in the light of modern statecraft ; but
it served its purpose admirably, and showed the touch of what
we call practical men. Indeed this first perpetual pact of the
Forest States is distinctly a conservative utterance — a sort of
compromise between a declaration of independence from the
nobles, and an oath of allegiance to the feudal system itself,
as befitting a people conscious of a grievance and yet unwill
ing to break with the past. The pact was enacted " for the
proper establishment of quiet and peace." Moreover, the third
provision expressly states that "every man, according to his
rank, shall obey and serve his overlord, as it behooves him."

90 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Here is direct evidence from the people of the Forest States
themselves that they did not aspire as yet to be free in the
sense in which the nineteenth century understands that term.
As far as can be judged from the document itself, there was
no intention of cutting adrift from all previous enactments to
found a new state, although this was the actual result of the
league. The struggle seems to have been directed more par
ticularly against corrupt judges, as is shown by the emphatic
declaration in regard to them. Especially noteworthy is the
provision made for settling quarrels between the States by
arbitration, a method which thereafter received wide applica
tion in the public affairs of the young Confederation.
History has recorded no words in which childlike faith in
the justice of a cause and prophetic insight into its inevitable
triumph have been better expressed than in the closing lines :
" The above-written statutes, decreed for the commonweal and
health, shall endure forever, God willing." Succeeding cen
turies have practically verified the naive declaration of this
group of unpretentious patriots, for the perpetual pact remained
the fundamental statue-law of the growing Confederation for
centuries, and was only superseded by enactments of a more
modern date, when it had as a matter of fact died of old age.
The name of the place where this historic document was
signed is not revealed in the text, but in any case it must have
been somewhere in the incomparable environment of the Lake
of Luzern. It is also to be regretted that the names of the
signers have not been handed down to us. We can only spec
ulate as to who those patriots were, but a fortunate circum
stance has put us in possession of a list of men who, if they
were not the actual signers of the first league, were at all
events leading personages in two of the Forest States at the
time under consideration.
A little more than two months after the conclusion of this
league, Uri and Schwiz entered into a separate alliance for
three years with Ziirich,1 and the names of their representatives
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 50.

THE FIRST PERPETUAL LEAGUE. 01
are mentioned in the document then drawn up. For Uri there
was the Landammann Arnold, Mayor of Silenen, besides
Knight Werner von Attinghausen, Burkart, the late Landam
mann, and Conrad, Mayor of Erstfeld ; and for Schwiz there
was the Landammann Conrad Ab Iberg, Rudolf Stauffacher,
and Conrad Hunn — representatives of all the classes in the
community, from noblemen to the descendants of serfs.
The conclusion is legitimate that the above-mentioned men
were typical leaders, and it is quite probable that they, or at
least some of their number, were also the signers of the first
perpetual league. If this be the case, we may infer that these
early leagues were in reality the combined work of the com
mon people and of the native aristocracy, co-operating in the
great cause which lay so near their hearts.
Moreover, it is not too much to say that the patriots, whose
names appear in the alliance with Zurich, with perhaps the
addition of the unknown Landammann of Unterwalden, may
be proclaimed the real founders of the Swiss Confederation.

CHAPTER VI.
THE LEGEND OF WILLIAM TELL.1
SOME years ago the announcement went abroad that the
familiar story of William Tell was not historically true J
that such a person never existed, or, if he did, could never
have played the r61e ascribed to him as founder of the Swiss
Confederation. It was discovered that when the methods of
research which Niebuhr had used with so much skill to eluci
date the origin of Rome were applied also to the early days of
the Confederation, the episode of William Tell became a fire
side tale, a bit of folk-lore ; valuable from a literary standpoint,
but without historical significance. Unfortunately, he had
long been regarded as a universal household friend, a prime
favorite with the children, and one who appealed also to their
elders as a singularly picturesque representative of Liberty
striving successfully against Tyranny. He had, moreover,
called forth the best powers of at least one great poet, Schiller,
and one famous musician, Rossini, so that his claim seemed to
the world established beyond question by the sanction of gen
ius. It was natural, therefore, that this adverse report should
be received with incredulity and indignation. At first people
preferred to cling to their belief in William Tell, rather than
to sacrifice another illusion of their childhood to the all-devour
ing, investigating spirit of the age; the more so because they
knew little or nothing about the history of Switzerland beyond
this episode. But when the best authorities, one by one,
declared themselves against the truth of the tradition, the
conviction gradually gained ground that the old hero must be
classified as a legendary personage.
'Appeared in "The Atlantic Monthly," November, 1890.
92

THE LEGEND OF WILLIAM TELL. 93
The truth is, there have always been a certain number of
objectors to the accuracy of the tradition which based Swiss
liberty upon the shot of a skillful archer, but their words have
made no lasting impression upon the public mind. As early
as the beginning of the sixteenth century, Joachim von Watt,
the reformer of St. Gallen, better known under his Latinized
name of Vadianus, had spoken of the subject in his Chronicle
of the Abbots of the Monastery of St. Gallen : " Of these three
lands" [meaning the present Cantons of Uri, Schwiz, and
Unterwalden] " they tell strange things in regard to their age
and origin. ... I suspect that much is fabled, and some
again, may not be likened to the truth."1 In 1607, the writer,
Francois Guilliman, of Fribourg, who added some new details
to the story of William Tell in his history De Rebus Helveti-
orum, makes this surprising confession in a letter to a friend :
"After having maturely pondered the matter, I consider the
whole thing a mere fable, especially as I have not yet been
able to discover a writer or chronicler, more than a century
old, who mentions it. All this seems to have been invented
to nourish hatred against Austria. The people of Uri are
not agreed amongst themselves in regard to the place where
William Tell lived ; they can give no information in regard to
his family or his descendants." Again, in 1754, Voltaire said
in his Annales de V Empire, " L' histoire de la pomme est bien
suspecte"; and in his Essai sur les Masurs, "II semble qu'on
ait cru devoir orner d'une fable le berceau de la libertd helve"-
tique."2 A momentary sensation was created in 1760 by a
pamphlet entitled Der Wilhelm Tell, Ein Ddnisches Mahrgen,
which was ordered publicly to be burned by the hangman of
Canton Uri, so bitter had the controversy become. The author
was a certain Uriel Freudenberger, pastor at Ligerz, on the
Lake of Bienne, and his attack elicited a sharp retort from
Felix Balthazar, of Luzern, a Defense de Guillaume Tell.
Calm, however, was restored for a time by the authoritative
1 Rilliet, A. Origines. p. 311.
" Ibid. pp. 312, 395.

94 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
declarations of two noted historians, Emmanuel von Haller
and Johannes von Miiller, in favor of the traditional hero*
although von Miiller, like Guilliman, privately acknowledged to
a friend that he had serious doubts of the truth of what he
wrote. Even Schiller, whose play appeared in 1804, was con
strained to admit that in the tradition William Tell had really
no part in founding the Confederation, and he was conse
quently obliged to resort to such expedients as his art sug
gested, in order to make his hero the central figure of the
struggle against Austria.
The subject finally came up again when Joseph Eutych
Kopp submitted it to a thorough investigation by searching
the records of the three cantons, and publishing his results
in his Urkunden zur Geschichte der Eidgenossischen Biinde
(1835—1857), his Reichsgeschichte (1845-1858), and his Ges-
chichtsblatter aus der Schweiz (1853.)
To understand the commotion produced in Switzerland by
Kopp's expose" we must try to imagine what would be the
result in the United States if George Washington were sud
denly declared to be a legendary character. Every one sided
for or against the truth of the tradition ; no one could remain
neutral ; but from that day to this the impression has gradu
ally forced itself upon the minds of all who have looked into
the question that Kopp was in the main right, and that,
whatever modifications new discoveries may make necessary
in the sweeping judgment which that historian pronounced,
William Tell can never again be looked upon as the founder of
the Swiss Confederation.
Our confidence in the accuracy of the tradition is first
shaken by the fact that the great archer is not mentioned by a
single writer of the period in which he is supposed to have
lived, or even the faintest allusion made to him in the records
of that day. To begin with, therefore, we are warranted in
doubting his historical importance, if he could be so com
pletely ignored by his contemporaries. The battle of Morgar-
ten, in 13 15, was the baptismal day of the young confederation,

THE LEGEND OF WILLIAM TELL. 95
but none of the chroniclers who describe this event and the
incidents attending it have a word to say of a William Tell,
or of any one who could be mistaken for him. On the other
hand, the whole tenor of these writings and of the documents
of the period is opposed to the tradition. The impres
sion we derive from them is that the Swiss gained their
independence after a long-continued struggle, not by a sudden
rising, and through the efforts of the whole people, not at the
instigation of one man. In 1420, Konrad Justinger, of Bern,
in writing the annals of his native city, touched upon the
origin of the Confederation, but even he says nothing about
William Tell ; nor does Felix Hemmerlin, of Zurich, writing
upon the same subject in 1450.
In fact, it is not till about 1477, more than a century and a
half after William Tell was supposed to have lived, that we
can find any reference to him. At that date an unknown poet
brought out a ballad entitled, " Song of the Origin of the Con
federation," in twenty-nine stanzas, nine of which seem from
internal evidence to antedate 1474. The following translation
of the four stanzas which bear upon the subject, the first to
my knowledge which has appeared in English, has been made
without any attempt at metrical correctness, the original being
extremely rough and in dialect :
" Now listen well, dear sirs,
How the league at first arose,
Nor let yourselves be wearied ;
How one from his own son
An apple from the head
Had with his hands to shoot.
" The bailiff spake to William Tell;
' Now look thee that thy skill fail not,
And hear my speech with care :
Hit thou it not at the first shot,
Forsooth it bodes thee little good,
And costeth thee thy life.'
" Then prayed he God both day and night
He might at first the apple hit ;
It would provoke them much I

96 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
He had the luck, by the power of God,
That he with all his art
So skillfully could shoot.
" Hardly had he done the first shot,
An arrow did he put in his quiver :
' Had I shot down my child,
I had it in my mind —
I tell thee for the honest truth —
I would have shot thee also.' " l
Subsequent verses describe how an uproar ensues, in which
Tell enumerates the evil deeds of the bailiffs. These are then
expelled, and young and old unite in a loyal league. It will
be noticed, however, that there is no mention of the name
Gessler, of a hat set upon a pole, of the leap at the Tellsplatte,
or of the murder of the bailiff at Kiissnacht : these details
appear in another version, dating from almost the same time.
Between 1467 and 1474, a notary at Sarnen, in the Canton
of Unterwalden, transcribed a number of traditions in the form
of a chronicle into a collection of documents, known as "The
White Book," on account of the color of its parchment bind
ing. Here the story of William Tell is told as follows, in a
style of archaic simplicity which is not without a certain charm
of its own : " Now it happened one day that the bailiff, Gess
ler, went to Ure [Canton Uri], and took it into his head and
put up a pole under the lime-tree in Ure, and set up a hat upon
the pole, and had a servant near it, and made a command who
ever passed by there he should bow before the hat, as though
the lord were there ; and he who did it not, him he would pun
ish and cause to repent heavily, and the servant was to watch
and tell of such an one. Now there was there an honest man
called Thall ; he had also sworn with Stoupacher and his fel
lows [a reference to a conspiracy previously described in The
White Book]. Now he went rather often to and fro before it.
The servant who watched by the hat accused him to the lord.
The lord went and had Thall sent, and asked him why he was
not obedient to his bidding, and do as he was bidden. Thall
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. pp. 63-64.

THE LEGEND OF WILLIAM TELL. 97
spake : ' It happened without malice, for I did not know that
it would vex your Grace so highly ; for were I witty, then were
I called something else, and not the Tall' [the Fool, a pun
upon his name1]. Now Tall was a good archer ; he had also
pretty children. These the lord sent for, and forced Tall with
his servants that Tall must shoot an apple from the head of
one of his children ; for the lord set the apple upon the child's
head. Now Tall saw well that he was mastered, and took an
arrow and put it into his quiver ; the other arrow he took in
his hand, and stretched his crossbow, and prayed God that he
might save his child, and shot the apple from the child's head.
The lord liked this well, and asked him what he meant by it
[that he had put an arrow in' his quiver]. He answered him,
and would gladly have said no more [an obscure passage ; the
original is hett es gern jm besten ver Rett]. The lord would
not leave off; he wanted to know what he meant by it. Tall
feared the lord, and was afraid he would kill him. The lord
understood his fear and spake: 'Tell me the truth; I will
make thy life safe, and not kill thee.' Then spake Tall : ' Since
you have promised me, I will tell you the truth, and it is true:
had the shot failed me, so that I had shot my child, I had shot
the arrow into you or one of your men.' Then spake the lord :
'Since now this is so, it is true I have promised thee not to
kill thee' ; and had him bound, and said he would put him into
a place where he would never more see sun or moon."2 The
account goes on to describe how Tall, in being taken down the
lake in a boat, makes his escape at the Tellsplatte, and later
shoots Gessler in the Hohle Gasse at Kiissnacht ; but he is not
mentioned as taking part in the league afterward made ; much
less does he figure as the founder of the Confederation.
Now the question arises, How can we account for the sud
den appearance of William Tell, both in the "Song of the Ori
gin of the Confederation" and in "The White Book of Sar
nen," after the writers of a century and a half had passed him
over in complete silence ?
1 Root dalen, to act childishly.
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. pp. 64-70.

98 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
As regards the simple story of the shot, apart altogether
from its historical application, there can be no doubt now, after
the investigations which have been made in all directions, that
we have to do here with a widespread household myth, belong
ing equally to many branches of the Germanic family, but pre
served with special tenacity in the retired and conservative
valley of Uri. The same legend occurs in various parts of
northern and central Europe, in Iceland, Norway, Denmark,
Holstein, on the Middle Rhine, and with another motive in the
English ballad of William of Cloudesly. There is always a
skillful archer who is punished by being made to shoot an
object from his child's head, and who in almost every case
reserves an arrow with which to slay the tyrant in case of fail
ure. The names of the men and places and the local coloring
of course vary in the different versions, but the structure of
the story remains the same in all. The one which bears prob
ably the greatest resemblance to that of William Tell is to be
found in a Danish history, Gesta Danorum, written by Saxo,
surnamed Grammaticus, in the twelfth century. Here the
anecdote is told of one Toko, or Toki, and King Harald Blue
tooth (936-986). Making due allowance for the great differ
ence between the style of this work, which is in pompous
Latin, and the rude and fresh dialect of "The White Book of
Sarnen," the resemblance is certainly very striking.
Says Saxo Grammaticus : " Nor ought what follows to be
enveloped in silence. Toko, who had for some time been in
the king's service, had by his deeds, surpassing those of his
comrades, made enemies of his virtues. One day, when he
had drunk too much, he boasted to those who sat at table with
him that his skill in archery was such that with the first
shot of an arrow he could hit the smallest apple set on the top
of a stick at a considerable distance. His detractors, hearing
this, lost no time in conveying what he had said to the king.
But the wickedness of this monarch soon transformed the con
fidence of the father to the jeopardy of the son ; for he ordered
the dearest pledge of his life to stand in place of the stick,

THE LEGEND OF WILLIAM TELL. 99
from whom if the utterer of the boast did not at his first shot
strike down the apple, he should with his head pay the penalty
of having made an idle boast. The command of the king
urged the soldier to do this, which was so much more than he
had undertaken, the detracting artifices of the others having
taken advantage of words spoken when he was hardly sober.
As soon as the boy was led forward, Toko carefully admon
ished him to receive the whir of the arrow as calmly as possi
ble, with attentive ears, and without moving his head, lest by
a slight motion of the body he should frustrate the experience
of his well-tried skill. He also made him stand with his back
toward him, lest he should be frightened at the sight of the
arrdW. Then he drew three arrows from his quiver, and the
very first he shot struck the proposed mark. Toko being
asked by the king why he had so many more arrows out of his
quiver, when he was to make but one trial with his bow, ' That
I might avenge on thee,' he replied, 'the error of the first by
the points of the others, lest my innocence might happen to
be afflicted and thy injustice go unpunished.' " 1 Afterward,
during a rebellion of the Danes against Harald, Toko slays
him with an arrow in a forest.
Observe, also, the truly remarkable likeness of the old Eng
lish ballad of William of Cloudesly to the " Song of the Origin
of the Confederation," both as regards sense and style. I
quote a few of the more striking verses only, in order not to
weary the reader with continual repetitions :
" ' I haue a sonne is seuen yere olde ;
He is to me full deare ;
I wyll hym tye to a stake,
All shall see that be here ;
" ' And lay an apple vpon hys head,
And go syxe score paces hym fro,
And I my selfe, with a brode arow,
Shall cleue the apple in two.'

1 Baring-Gould, S. Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. p. 113.

100 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
•• And bound therto his eldest sonne,
And bad hym stande styll thereat,
And turned the childe's face fro him,
Because he shuld not sterte.

' Thus Clowdesle clefte the apple in two,
That many a man it se ;
' Ouer goddes forbode,' sayed the kynge,
' That thou sholdest shote at me ! ' " l

Two explanations are possible in view of this similarity:
either the author of the ballad of Tell and the notary of Sar
nen copied the account of Saxo Grammaticus, written three
centuries before, at the same time making them conform to
Swiss surroundings, or the Danish and Swiss writers simply
put down a legend current amongst their own people, derived
from some common, older source, from which proceeded also
the Icelandic, Norwegian and other versions. This latter solu
tion seems to me preferable. Northern Switzerland was
invaded by the German tribe of the Alamanni at the fall of
the Roman Empire, and the present Cantons of Uri, Schwiz
and Unterwalden were colonized by them somewhat later.
William Tell is probably the Alamannian counterpart of Toko,
the Dane. Moreover, both the ballad and The White Book
reveal the ring of genuine folk-lore ; they do not betray the
touch of the copyist ; so that we need not necessarily ques
tion the good faith of the men who wrote them down. But
whatever explanation be accepted, it is now established that
William Tell is no more exclusively Swiss than he is Icelandic.
If, now, we examine the different parts of the legend itself,
to see if we cannot establish its historical value from internal
evidence, we shall find our task still more discouraging. All
the arguments put forward by the partisans of Tell have been
found to fail upon closer scrutiny.
Certainly it is not unreasonable to suppose that if the great
archer had once lived in the Forest Cantons his name would
be found in some of the ancient records, but the most minute
1 Child's The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Part V., p. 29.

THE LEGEND OF WILLIAM TELL. 101
search in the archives of the three cantons has failed to show
that such a man as Thall, Tall, or William Tell ever existed.
In the midst of the controversy upon this question which broke
out at the end of the last century, a Johann Imhof, vicar
of Schaddorf, a village adjoining Biirglen, the traditional
birthplace of Tell, searched diligently for proofs of his exist
ence. He announced that he had discovered the name in two
places : in the burial register (Jahrzeitbuch) of his own parish,
and again in the parsonage book (PfarrbucJi) of the neighbor
ing village of Attinghausen. Investigation has revealed that,
of these two entries, one had been wrongly read, the other had
been tampered with. In the first case de Tello was really de
Trullo, and in the second Tall, originally Nail.1 Imhof also
cited documents, as well as Balthazer in his Defense de Guil-
laume Tell; but upon examination these supposed proofs failed
utterly, and only harmed the cause they were intended to sus
tain. They consist of quotations from well-known chronicles,
which date from a time when the tradition was already fully
¦ developed, or of documents bearing the strongest internal evi
dence of forgery.
Nor can the pilgrimages which are held in his memory, the
Tell's Chapels, or other local features, which are shown to trav
elers at Altdorf and Biirglen, be regarded as testifying to his
existence, since, like the chronicles, they either date from a
time when the tradition was fully developed, or have been
found to be connected with altogether different circumstances.
The famous chapel on the Lake of Luzern seems to have
been originally designed for the use of fishermen ; the one at
the Hohle Gasse, near Kiissnacht, is first mentioned in 1570,
and the one at Biirglen in 1582, long after the chroniclers had
fixed the legend upon the hearts and minds of the people.
The supposed site of the William Tell episode at Altdorf is
in the centre of the village, not far from the market-place.
From this spot Tell is reported to have shot the arrow, while
his little son stood just beyond, under an ancient lime-tree.
This tree, having withered and died, was cut down in 1 569 by
1 Rilliet, A. Origines. pp. 315-316.

102 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
a certain Besler, magistrate of the village (Dorfvogt), and a
fountain erected in its stead, which now stands there sur
mounted by a rude statue of Besler himself. As a matter of
fact, the lime-tree is historical, for we know that assizes were
held under it, and sentences signed as having been pronounced
"under the lime-tree at Altdorf"; but of course all this does
not bear upon the truth or falsity of the Tell tradition, since
chroniclers, if they chose to adorn their tale, would naturally
select genuine local features.
Near by rises a tower, at one time pronounced to be over
the place where the boy stood, but now known to be much
older than the period in which William Tell is said to have
lived ; that is, at the beginning of the fourteenth century. It
was probably the seat of a mayor who collected tithes for the
Abbey of Nuns (Fraumunster) in Zurich, to which institution
the greater part of the present Canton of Uri at one time
belonged. Even that highly picturesque incident, the setting
of a hat upon a pole, a feature peculiar to the Swiss version of
the legend, so far as is known is susceptible of a perfectly
natural historical explanation. The historian Meyer von Kno-
nau, noticing that a hat figures in his own family coat of arms,
and in those of many other families whose name is Meyer, has
come to the conclusion that the setting up of the mayor's hat
was a regular custom at the Altdorf assizes, and that what is
represented in the legend as the whim of a tyrant was in real
ity a well-established official procedure.
Not to protract this argument to tedious length, I will
merely cite one more proof of the flimsiness of the structure
upon which the whole story rests. We now know that the
r61e ascribed to the bailiff Gessler is an historical impossibil
ity. The history of the Gessler family has been written by
an untiring investigator, Rochholz, who has brought together
from every conceivable source the documents which bear upon
the subject. From his investigations it results that no mem
ber of that family is mentioned as holding any office whatso
ever in the three cantons, or as being murdered by a man

THE LEGEND OF WILLIAM TELL. 103
Thall, Tall, or William Tell. It is contrary to all contempo
rary documents to suppose that an Austrian bailiff ruled over
Uri after 1231, or that such a one would have owned the cas
tle of Kiissnacht, the history of which property has been care
fully traced, and which was in the hands of its true owners,
the Knights of Kiissinach, at the time when Gessler is reported
to have made it his residence.
The fact is, that in Gessler we are confronted by a curious
case of confusion in identity. At least three totally different
men seem to have been blended into one in the course of an
attempt to reconcile the different versions of the three can
tons. Felix Hemmerlin, of Zurich, in 1450 tells of a Habs
burg governor living on the little island of Schwanau, in the
Lake of Lowerz, who seduced a maid of Schwiz and was killed
by her brothers. Then there was another person, strictly his
torical, Knight Eppo of Kiissinach (Kiissnacht), who, while
acting as bailiff for the dukes of Austria, put down two revolts
of the inhabitants in his district, one in 1284 and another in
1302. Finally there was the tyrant bailiff mentioned in the
ballad of Tell, whom, by the way, a chronicler writing in 15 10
calls, not Gessler, but the Count of Seedorf. These three per
sons were combined, and the result was named Gessler.
To trace the legend to a mythical source and to reveal its
inconsistencies is simple enough, but to explain the historical
application which has been made of it, is quite another matter.
If William Tell is a hero of a widespread Germanic myth, how
came he to be connected with the history of Switzerland at
all? Why has not tradition handed down as founder of the
Confederation one of those active patriots who are known to
have lived and labored for Swiss freedom — men like Stou-
pacher (Stauffacher) of Schwiz, or Attinghausen of Uri?
Here lies the main difficulty ; but an explanation even of this
is at hand, which on the whole satisfies the peculiar conditions
of the problem.
When the Song and The White Book appeared at the end
of the fifteenth century, the Swiss Confederates stood at the

104 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
very apex of their military glory, having just completed a
series of great victories by defeating in three pitched battles
the richest prince in Europe, Charles the Bold of Burgundy.
Filled with a spirit of patriotic exaltation, they turned to
magnify their national origin, as is the wont of all nations
when they rise to importance. But each of the three districts
which had united to form the nucleus of the Confederation,
Uri, Schwiz, and Unterwalden, tried to secure for itself as
much credit as possible in the founding of it, thus giving rise
to a variety of versions. Schwiz supplied the story of a cer
tain genuinely historical personage, Stoupacher; Unterwalden,
that of a youth designated as living in the Melchi, near Sarnen,
and arbitrarily named Melchthal by later writers ; and Uri
attempted to turn to political account a legendary William
Tell, an old favorite amongst the people of that district. The
notary of Sarnen collected these stories, and did his best to
give each of the three lands an equal share in the founding of
the Confederation. In time the mythical hero distanced his
rivals in popular favor, perhaps for the very reason that he was
mythical and his family unknown in those parts, a sort of
"dark horse" upon whom the jealous claimants could unite.

CHAPTER VII.

OTHER LEGENDS.

IT is somewhat strange that the legend of William Tell
should be the only one, amongst those surrounding the
origin of the Swiss Confederation, in which there does not
seem to be the faintest trace of historical truth. None of
the others contained in the "White Book of Sarnen," can be re
jected as absolutely devoid of probable facts. Taken together
they present a picture of the times which, though by no means
accurate, deserves to be considered in connection with the
study of mere matter-of-fact documents, for in the latter, what
we may term the human side of the question, is apt to receive
scanty justice.
These legends also have a certain literary quality of their
own. They are medieval, childlike and savor of the soil to a
remarkable degree. "Now at Sarnen a von Landenberg was
bailiff in the name of the empire. He heard that there was
one in the Melchi who had a fine yoke of oxen. Then the
lord went thither, and sent one of his servants, and had the
oxen unyoked and brought to him, and had the poor man told,
peasants must draw the plow [themselves], and he wanted to
have the oxen. The servant did as the lord had bid him, and
went thither, and wanted to unyoke the oxen, and drive them
to Sarnen. Now the poor man had a son who did not like
this, and would not let him have the oxen, and when the ser
vant of the lord laid hands upon the yoke, and wanted to
unyoke the oxen, then he smote him with the oxgoad, and
broke a finger of the lord's servant. The servant was hurt,
and ran home, and complained to his lord of how he had fared.
105

106 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
The lord was angry, and wanted to punish the other one. So
he had to flee; the lord sent for his father and had him
brought to Sarnen to his house, and put out his eyes and took
from him what he had and did him much harm.
" In those days there was an upright man in Alzellen who had
a pretty wife, and he who was lord there at the time wanted. to
have the woman, whether she would or not. The lord came
to Alzellen into her house; the husband was in the forest.
The lord forced the woman to make ready a bath for him, and
said she must bathe with him. The woman prayed God to
keep her from shame, and thought to herself: God never
leaves his people who call upon Him in need. The husband
came in the meantime, and asked her what ailed her. She
spake : 'The lord is here and forced me to make ready a bath
for him.' The husband grew angry, and went in and smote
the lord to death in that hour with an axe, and delivered his
wife from shame.
" In those same days there was a man in Swiz [Schwiz], called
Stoupacher [Stauffacher] who lived at Steinen, this side the
bridge; he had built a pretty stone house. Now at that time
a Gesler [Gessler] was bailiff there, in the name of the
empire; he came one day, and rode by there, and called to
Stoupacher, and asked him, whose the pretty dwelling was.
Stoupacher answered him and spake sadly : ' Gracious lord, it
is yours and mine in fief,' and dared not say it was his, so
greatly did he fear the lord. The lord rode away. Now
Stoupacher was a wise man and well to do. He had also a
wise wife, and thought over the matter, and had great grief,
and was full of fear before the lord, lest he should take his life
and his goods from him. His wife, she noticed it and did as
women do, and would like to have known what was the mat
ter with him, or why he was sad ; but he denied her that.
At last she overwhelmed him with great entreaty, that he
might let her know his matter, and spake : ' Be so good and
tell me thy need ; although it is said, women give cold coun
sels, who knows what God will do ? ' She begged him so

OTHER LEGENDS. 107
often in her trusting way, that he told her what his grief was.
She went and strengthened him with words and spake:
' There'll be some good plan,' and asked him if he knew any
one in Ure [Uri] who was so trusted by him that he might
confide his need to him, and told him of the family of Fiirst
and of zer Fraowen [Zur Frauen]. He answered her and
spake : ' Yea, he knew them well, and thought about the coun
sel of his wife, and went to Ure, and stayed there, until he
found one who had also a like grief. She had also bid him
ask in Unterwalden ; for she thought, there were people there
also, who did not like such tyranny.
"Now the poor man's son had fled from Unterwalden and
was nowhere safe, he who had smitten in twain the finger of
the servant of von Landenberg with the oxgoad ; for which his
father had been blinded by the lord, and he felt sorry for his
father, and he would have liked to avenge him. That one also
came to Stoupacher, and so there came three of them together,
Stoupacher of Schwitz [Schwiz], and one of the Fiirsts of Ure,
and he from Melche in Unterwalden, and each confided his
need and grief to the other, and took counsel, and they took
an oath together. And when the three had sworn to each
other, then they sought and found one from nid dem wald
[Nidwalden] he also swore with them, and they found now and
again secretly men whom they drew to themselves, and swore
to each other faith and truth, both to risk life and goods, and
to defend themselves against the lords, and when they wanted
to do and undertake anything, they went by the Myten Stein
at night to a place [which] is called jm Riidli (Riitli); There
they met together and each one of them brought men with
him, in whom they could trust, and continued that some time
and met nowhere else in those days, save in the Riidli."4
The White Book goes on to relate that Stoupacher's com
pany grew so strong that they went about, destroying the
castles of the lords ; a tower below Amsteg, Twing Uren
.(Zwing Uri) by name, Swandow (Schwandau) in Schwiz, Rotz-
berg in Nidwalden, and finally the castle at Sarnen in Obwal-
iDandliker, K. Geschichte. Vol. I., p. 637. T Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 64.

108 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
den, the storming of which is told in a graphic manner, with
many bits of local interest. When the bailiffs had been
expelled the three lands made a league and held their meet
ings at Begkenriet (Beckenried). The account then passes
on to describe Luzern's entry into the Confederation without
mentioning the decisive battle of Morgarten.
The whole of this narrative cannot be mere invention.
There are great inaccuracies, but there are no irreconcilable
inconsistencies, as in the legend of William Tell.
Two noblemen, vassals of Habsburg, both named Herrmann
von der hohen Landenburg, are known to have lived in the
reigns of Rudolf and Albrecht, although there is no record of
their having had any connection with the Forest States. As
for Stauffacher, that is the name of a family which was promi
nent in the affairs of Schwiz for several generations, as will be
shown later. Fiirst and Zur Frauen were historical families of
Uri. There is no evidence either for or against the existence
of the peasant from the Melchi in Obwalden, or the virtuous
wife in Alzellen. Contemporary documents are also silent
concerning the castle of Zwing Uri, but judging from the
scanty ruins which may still be seen on a hillock near the
entrance to the Maderaner Thai, it must have been a simple
tower, similar to those of the Mayors of the nunnery of Zurich
situated at Altdorf, Biirglen, Silenen and Erstfeld. The same
uncertainty reigns in connection with the ruins on the island
in the lake of Lowerz; it has not yet been ascertained
whether they were those of a nobleman's castle, or formed
part of the fortifications, erected by the men of Schwiz before
the battle of Morgarten.
As regards the oath on the Riitli, there is no likelihood that
it took place in 1291, for there was at that time no motive for
secrecy. On the other hand, Swiss critical scholars are inclined
to relegate this midnight conspiracy, along with the story of
Stauffacher and of the storming of the castle at Sarnen, to an
earlier period. If there be any truth at all in the above men
tioned incidents, they belong more properly to that early stage

OTHER LEGENDS. 109
in the struggle for independence which took place about 1245,
when the Pope found it necessary to issue a warning to the
men of Schwiz and Sarnen to return to their allegiance to
Count Rudolf Habsburg. The very situation of the Rutli
marks it as the likely scene of secret meetings. For who that
has visited the spot can have failed to notice how wonderfully
it is adapted for such purposes ? At once central for the
inhabitants of the Forest States, and yet secluded to a remark
able degree, it possesses in reality all the requirements of an
ideal trysting-place.
As subsequent historians based their accounts almost exclu
sively upon the "White Book of Sarnen," it is not necessary to
examine their work in detail. Suffice it to say that they did
not hesitate to supply the persons with names and the events
with dates, whenever these were needed. The traditions found
their best exponent in Giles (Aegidius) Tschudi of Glarus,
from whom in turn Schiller derived most of the material for
his play.
The true explanation of the legends, which surround the ori
gin of the Swiss Confederation, seems to be somewhat as
follows :
All nations when they have risen to importance begin to
speculate about their origin. Obscure local events, connected
superficially with the struggle for independence, appeal to
popular imagination and become traditions. These are col
lected and fitted together so as to produce one continuous nar
rative, which shall sound reasonable and satisfy patriotic pride.
But, of course, the longer this task has been delayed, and the
more remote the national origin, the greater the obscurity
which surrounds these traditions, and the more numerous the
inaccuracies which have crept into them. For unwritten his
tory soon loses its original purity in being transmitted from
father to son, so when finally put down in writing, it no longer
represents events as they have actually taken place, but as
the people have learned to imagine them. The long conflict
against Habsburg was concentrated into a short space of time;

110 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
the multitudes, who took part in it, symbolized by a handful of
determined men ; and the Swiss nation was made to result
from a sudden upheaval.
The history of the early Swiss is more than picturesque, it
is instructive. The chroniclers need not have resorted to
legends of doubtful origin in order to invest the rise of their
Confederation with the interest it ought always to have com
manded. In attempting this they rather obscured than dis
played!, the qualities which made their ancestors worthy of our
admiration, and pressed into the background those features of
Swiss history which best deserve to be studied. The chroni
clers would have us believe that the sacred flame of liberty was
kindled by the whim of a petty tyrant, the liberation of the
people effected by murder ; they would make the origin of the
oldest feudal republic in existence depend upon a trick, upon
the chances of an arrow in its flight, when in reality it is
based upon the eternal laws of the brotherhood of man ; they
would represent as fortuitous, abnormal, and sudden, what was
eminently deliberate, lawful, and long drawn through centur
ies of strife and struggle.
Nothing could have been more heroic than the ceaseless
resistance of the patriots in Uri, Schwiz and Unterwalden to
the encroachments of Habsburg, or more admirable than the
patient wisdom with which they finally won their independence.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE ORIGIN OF THE SWISS CONFEDERATION COMPARED WITH
THAT OF THE UNITED STATES.
HISTORICAL analogies are apt to be misleading because
exactly the same conditions can never be reproduced in
different countries and at different periods. At the same
time the lessons to be learned by the comparative method of
study are so manifold, that they cannot well be neglected with
out serious injury to the subject under consideration.
Peculiar interest must attach to the origin of the two most
successful systems of federalism in modern times. A judi
ciously conducted comparison between the forces which led to
their founding, and their subsequent growth into independent
free states, cannot fail to be of value to the student, especially
when the truly marvelous resemblance between their present
organizations is duly appreciated.
In reality the main difference to be noted in the develop
ment of the Swiss Confederation, as compared with that of the
United States, is one of time rather than of manner. The
growth of the former from a loose aggregation of states into a
firm federal body, has been spread over the better part of six
centuries, while that of the United States has been compressed
into little more than two centuries and a half. On the other
hand there are moments in the history of both countries, nota
bly in their constitutional progress, which are so nearly alike,
that they may well be placed opposite each other in parallel
columns of development.
The Alamannian tribes, which invaded Switzerland and
111

¦m

112 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
later laid the foundations of the Confederation, found what was
practically virgin soil for their Teutonic institutions. They
themselves were almost entirely free from the influence of
Latin civilization, and the few Celto-Roman Helvetii, whom
they encountered upon taking possession of the country, they
promptly reduced to slavery. There was nothing to disturb
the essentially Teutonic character of their civilization. Very
much the same set of conditions obtained in England at the
time of the Saxon invasion, so that Teutonic institutions took
root and flourished in those two countries, and preserved their
primitive purity as nowhere else.
When in the course of the seventh and eighth centuries the
descendants of the original Alamannian settlers colonized the
Forest States, and the descendants of the Saxon invaders
crossed the Atlantic to people the American coast, each group
of emigrants was able to transplant the rudiments of ancient
Teutonic institutions to fresh soil, in much the same form as
they had originally received them from their ancestors. As
a matter of fact, therefore, the Celtic Helvetii had as little to
do with founding the Swiss Confederation as had the Red
Indians to do with the formation of the United States of
America. The organization of both these confederated states
was essentially Teutonic in conception and application. Even
the manner in which the colonization of the Forest States was
effected bears a strong resemblance to that of New England.
The majority of the settlers were sent out by great ecclesias
tical corporations or by powerful noblemen, and these may be
likened, for purposes of illustration, to those joint-stock com
panies, the London Company and the Plymouth, and to the
English noblemen who took so prominent a part in the colo
nization of the American coast.
But the English settlers had one very appreciable advant
age over the Swiss mountaineers. The task of founding a
free state, in the modern sense of the word, was much easier
for them, because when they left England the fabric of feu
dalism was already torn, the principle of the divine right of

ORIGIN OF THE SWISS CONFEDERATION. 113
kings was no longer unquestioned. Their opportunity to rear
a state upon true democratic principles, upon an equality of
opportunity for all men could not have been better — it has
never been equalled in the history of the world. Indeed, if
they had succeeded in establishing an aristocratic, feudal soci
ety upon the American continent, their act would have been
an historical freak, pure and simple, and wholly out of the nat
ural order of the world's development. But the struggle of
the early Swiss had first to be directed against the allied forces
of feudalism. They bore the incubus of a system of society
based upon special privileges for the few. Their constant con
flict was for democracy in an age encumbered with the para-
pharnalia of medievalism, and their ultimate victory for popu
lar rights was as wonderful in itself, considering the obstacles
in their path, as would have been the triumph of feudal prin
ciples in the settlements of the English colonists.
In Switzerland and in America alike, the various states
acquired local self-government by different methods. They
grew into sovereign communities before they united into a
federal body, remaining in subjection to a distant supreme
power — the Forest States to the head of the German Empire,
and the American Colonists to the King of England. In both
countries there were charters issued by this supreme power,
which formed the basis of later constitutions in conjunction
with local enactments.
The first feudal constitution of the Swiss Confederation,
which has come down to us, is the perpetual league drawn up
by the three communities of Uri, Schwiz and Unterwalden in
129 1. In the history of the United States there is a docu
ment which may fairly be said to correspond to this. It is
the Articles of Agreement, framed in 1643, by the four colo
nies of Connecticut, New Haven, Plymouth and Massachusetts
Bay. In both cases the fear of aggression from a common
enemy led to union. The Swiss mountaineers were induced
to enter into their league, in order that they might repulse
the constant encroachments of Habsburg-Austria, while tbe

114 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
English settlers founded the United Colonies of New England
to withstand the attacks of Indian tribes.
In this connection the provisions of the Articles of Agree
ment are worthy of examination. We "enter into a consocia
tion amongst ourselves," say the four colonies, "for mutual
help and strength in all future concernment, that as in nation
and religion, so in other respects, we be and continue one."
They, therefore, establish a "firm and perpetual league of
friendship and amity." Each state shall retain its own pecu
liar form of jurisdiction. "Charges of all just wars" shall be
borne by them in certain fixed proportions. Levies shall be
raised from each state according to regulations. Two commis
sioners from each state shall meet to exercise carefully enu
merated powers. And finally the document asserts that
commissioners from the four states have subscribed to "this
perpetual confederation." The American Articles of Agree
ment are somewhat more explicit than the Swiss Perpetual
League, they are not quite as discoursive, they do not contain
as many provisions of a purely judicial character, but in other
respects, they betray the same untutored, experimental qualities
as the Perpetual League. It is somewhat remarkable also that
the Colonists should have declared their confederation perpet
ual when this form of phraseology is so comparatively rare in
history. Nor does the resemblance between these two perpetual
pacts stop at this point. Neither the one nor the other gives
us any reason to believe that these primitive confederations
harbored any aspirations after cutting adrift from the protect
ing parent country. As a matter of fact, both were eventually
driven to separation, as much by the natural process of great
world forces, as by their own individual efforts. When the
Swiss Confederation was formally and officially recognized as a
power independent of the German Empire, at the Peace of
Westphalia in 1648, the signatory parties only set their seal to
a state of things which had virtually existed since the Swabian
war in 1499. And in the same manner the Declaration of

ORIGIN OF THE SWISS CONFEDERATION. 115
Independence, enunciated by the thirteen colonies in i yy6, was
only the world-wide announcement of a fact which had been
patent to every investigator long before. As at the present
moment the practical independence of the Australian colonies
and of Canada must be conceded, although those states have
never actually severed their connection with the mother
country. The Swiss Confederation and the United States have each
in their way contributed invaluable services to the cause pf
federalism. It would be invidious to award the palm to either.
The first seems to have represented the principle in Europe
until the second was ready to develop it on purer lines in the
New World. For when the United States were founded the
prevalent conception of government amongst civilized nations
was that of a highly centralized monarchy. The Dutch and
the Swiss Confederations, it is true, existed, but they had
grown to be most unworthy examples of federalism. Switzer
land presented the unedifying spectacle of extreme decentral
ization, of a disorganized and demoralized conglomeration of
sovereign states, bereft of national sentiment, divided into
religious factions, and a prey to foreign intrigue. The Nether
lands had been consolidated by the house of Orange into a
centralized state, almost devoid of true federalism. It was the
representative system of England, in its last analysis a species
of federalism, which the founders of the United States trans
planted to a new environment. Working at first crudely
and imperfectly, but later with a marvelous precision, they
accomplished a practical revolution in the whole science of
constitutional government. To-day, therefore, the Swiss Con
federation and the United States stand side by side in friendly
rivalry to demonstrate the blessings of federalism.

CHAPTER IX.
THE CONFEDERATES AGAINST HABSBURG-AUSTRIA.
IN spite of the conservative tone which is observable in the
text of the first perpetual league, there can be no doubt
that the signing of this instrument denoted a new departure
in the policy of the Forest States. Every line breathes the
determination of the contracting parties to resist fresh
encroachments upon the liberties they had so far acquired, as
well as to enforce law and order within their boundaries. No
disguise was made of the fact that they were committed to a
policy of organized resistance against Habsburg.
The death of Rudolf was the signal for a period of confu
sion. He had made every effort to secure the succession to
his eldest son, Albrecht, but so great was the alarm caused by
the extraordinary development of the Habsburg power, that
after the throne had remained vacant for almost a year, it was
awarded to Count Adolf of Nassau. The partisans of the two
rivals broke out into open feud. In the south of the empire
the cities of Bern and Zurich, with a number of spiritual and
temporal lords, united in hostility to Habsburg, and it was
this alliance which Uri and Schwiz joined by making a spe
cial compact with Zurich to last for three years. Unterwal
den does not seem to have felt strong enough to incur such
responsibilities. Of this alliance we need only say that it was
not particularly successful, and fell apart before the term had
expired for which it had been concluded.
Adolf's short reign is not distinguished in the history of the
young confederation by any event of a startling nature, but
still it deserves to be noted for the fact that, in 1294, the first
116

CONFEDERATES AGAINST HABSBURG-AUSTRIA. 117
Landsgemeinde, or open-air legislative meeting, of which we
have any record, met in Schwiz. A decree promulgated on
this occasion will ever remain memorable on account of the
light it throws upon the economic and social conditions exist
ing in Schwiz at this early date.
It refers to the subject of land tenure. The assembled peo
ple of Schwiz agree to forbid any one to sell or give land to
monasteries in the valley, or to strangers dwelling outside,
under pain of a heavy fine. All land thus alienated must be
bought back, or else confiscated by the community. The mon
asteries must pay the same taxes as all the other members of
the community, or else be excluded from using the common
lands, i. e. the Almend. The strangers must also pay the
same taxes ; nor can they exact any compensation from their
tenants for this reason, or take the land away from them.
Rough and ready as these regulations undoubtedly are, they
give evidence of great insight on the part of the rude peasants.
They constitute a revolt against special privilege, against the
monopoly of land by great ecclesiastical corporations and
absentee landlords. They show that the men of Schwiz felt
the pinch of land hunger, where land was in plenty, and that
they were persuaded of the necessity for regulating its tenure
in such a manner, as to give every man an equal measure of
opportunity in the acquirement of wealth.
The causes which produced the revolt of the Eorest States
against Habsburg, and thereby called into being a new state,
are to a certain extent, shrouded in obscurity. If they could
ever be traced to their ultimate, prime cause, there is reason
to believe that the great question of land tenure, which has
presided at the rise and fall of many another nation, would be
found at the origin of the Swiss Confederation also.
In the midst of the war between Adolf and Albrecht, for the
latter had never renounced his pretensions to the throne, Uri
and Schwiz succeeded in persuading Adolf to ratify their char
ters of immunity. But unfortunately the Forest States were
not destined to be left long in their enjoyment of these char-

118 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
ters, for, in 1298, Adolf lost his crown and his life in battle
with his rival, who was thereupon formally elected king in his
place. One might suppose that with Albrecht of Habsburg's acces
sion to the throne, the Forest States would be made to feel
the full resentment which their independent action was calcu
lated to provoke; but, as it was, they escaped untouched for
more than twenty years.
The Swiss chroniclers of the sixteenth century have stigma
tized Albrecht I., of Germany, as a ferocious tyrant, who in
order to establish his personal power, sent despotic bailiffs into
the Forest States, who, in their turn, behaved so arrogantly,
that the inhabitants were compelled to revolt. As a matter of
fact history does not corroborate these accusations.
It is true that Albrecht was every inch a Habsburg, a man
determined to extend the patrimony which his father had left
him, and not over scrupulous in the choice of means toward
the attainment of this object. But there is no evidence of his
having appointed tyrannical bailiffs, or of having brought about
the revolt which the chronicles relate. Of course his interests
forced him to oppose the aspirations of the Forest States. He
refused to ratify the charters of immunity, possessed by Uri
and Schwiz. There was also an uprising of the people on the
Habsburg estate of Kiissnacht, directed against the bailiff of
the place, but Kiissnacht did not, at that time, belong to the
Forest States.
On the whole, an examination of Albrecht's reign from
1298-1308 shows that the Forest States were allowed to man
age their own affairs as freely as heretofore.
Uri was governed by a native Landammann, Knight Werner
von Attinghausen, during most of this time, a man who had
taken a part hostile to Habsburg in the alliance with Zurich.
In Schwiz there are several notices of native Landammanner,
of whom one was Rudolf Stauffacher. This patriot had made
himself especially odious to Habsburg on account of his hostil
ity to the great land-owning monasteries in Schwiz. As early

CONFEDERATES AGAINST HABSBURG-A USTRIA. 119
as 1275, during the reign of Rudolf I., Stauffacher had per
sisted in demanding taxes of the nunnery at Steinen, and
when the latter refused, had taken a horse belonging to that
institution as security. Thereupon Queen Anna, Rudolf's
wife, wrote a letter to Landammann Stauffacher, demanding
the instant surrender of the horse to the nuns, and their
exemption from taxation. In 1294 came the Laudsgemeinde
decree, mentioned above, and in 1299, by a curious coinci
dence, Queen Elizabeth, Albrecht's wife, like her predecessor,
was constrained to write to the Landammann, of Schwiz,
again demanding exemption from taxation for the nunnery in
Steinen. One is inclined to suspect that this second Landam
mann, whose name is not given, was in reality the same
Rudolf Stauffacher, to whom Queen Anna had once written
on the same subject, that arch-enemy of the monopoly of land.
Certain it is that this patriot filled the office of chief magis
trate in 1 304.
Perhaps the most striking evidence that the liberties of the
Forest States were not seriously curtailed is supplied by the
fact that, during Albrecht's reign, in 1304, Nidwalden and
Obwalden appear for the first time united under the name of
Unterwalden, with a Landammann in the person of a certain
Rudolf von Oedisriet.
It is a question, however, whether these comparatively
friendly relations could have existed much longer between the
Habsburg family and the liberty loving peasants in Uri,
Schwiz and Unterwalden ; whether the open hostilities, which
broke out some years later, would not have shown themselves
already during Albrecht's reign, had not an event of the most
startling nature called away attention from the Forest States
to the wider interests of the German Empire at large.
King Albrecht was one day riding toward his ancestral cas
tle near Windisch, when he was foully murdered by his ward
and nephew, John, Duke of Austria. When the sensation,
caused by this deed, had somewhat subsided, Count Henry
of Luxemburg was elected to the throne, and once more, as in

120 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
the days of Adolf of Nassau, the supreme power had been
wrested from the hands of Habsburg in time to avert a conflict
with the Forest States.
Henry VII. confirmed the charters of Uri and Schwiz, and
issued one to Unterwalden, which is the first official recogni
tion of the immunity of that state, known to historians. These
royal acts were in themselves sufficiently hostile to Habsburg,
but Henry also appointed an imperial bailiff to govern the
three States conjointly, thus taking them from the stewardship
of Habsburg, and placing them directly under his own care.
The Dukes Frederic and Leopold, Albrecht's sons, were
engaged for the time being in waging a war of extermination
against the murderer of their father and his accomplices. Only
one of the conspirators fell into their hands, a certain Rudolf
von Wart, perhaps the least culpable of all. He was put to
death amid frightful tortures upon the scene of the murder,
where Queen Elizabeth thereupon founded the nunnery of
Konigsfelden, as a memorial to her husband.
This awful task accomplished, Duke Leopold, to whose share
the Habsburg possessions in the West had fallen, turned his
attention to the Forest States, where his interests were in a
condition to awaken his worst apprehensions. He obtained an
assurance from Henry VII. that an exhaustive examination
would be made of Habsburg's rights in the Forest States.
Fortunately for these communities, however, Henry died in
1 3 13, before the promised inquiry could be made, and the sub
ject was pressed into the background by the difficulties experi
enced in finding a successor to the crown. It was during the
long contest, which now ensued between Dukes Ludwig of
Upper Bavaria and Frederic of Austria, the two claimants to
the succession, that the final revolt of the Forest States against
Habsburg was destined to take place.
It is impossible to judge how much longer the conflict might
have been averted, had not the men of Schwiz committed an
outrage upon the neighboring Abbey of Einsiedeln, an institu
tion which was under the stewardship of Habsburg. In' the

CONFEDERATES A GAINST HABSB URG-A USTRIA. 121
night of the 6th of January, 1314, a marauding band from
Schwiz, under the leadership of Landammann Werner Stauf
facher attacked the monastery, took the sleeping monks pris
oners, penetrated into the cellars, broke open the doors of the
sanctuary, and in drunken fury overthrew the ornaments, treas
ures, vessels, vestments and relics. At daybreak they departed
with their prisoners, and the cattle they had found on the place.
The story of this raid has been told in a Latin poem, the Gap-
pella Heremitarium,1 by one of the suffering monks. It reflects
but little credit upon the men of Schwiz. At the same time
the causes which led up to this outrage are not sufficiently
known to make a fair judgment possible. There seems to have
been one of those periodic quarrels with the monks about the
Almend, and the men of Schwiz seem to have been exasperated
beyond endurance at the infringement on their rights. Only
a few years before, the bishop of Constance, in whose see the
Forest States were situated, had launched a decree of excom
munication against the men of Schwiz, in consequence of con
stant complaints on the part of Einsiedeln, so that the rela
tions between the peasants and the monks were decidedly
strained. One point, however, is clear, and that is, that the
conflict was in regard to land, that it turned upon the vital
question of land tenure, which was the characteristic feature
of the struggle for independence in Schwiz, if not in the other
Forest States.
Habsburg's exasperation was now complete. The failure
of the investigation ordered by Henry VII., and now this
unpardonable behavior of Schwiz, made a peaceful solution
impossible. Day by day the conviction forced itself upon the
parties involved, that the relations which existed between
them would not continue, and that the final decision must be
reached in a resort to arms. Of course this particular strug
gle was only an incident in a much wider conflict, which was
going on everywhere at this time, between the peasants and
the nobles. Each side followed the dictates of self-interest,
1 Rilliet, A. Origines. p. 167 and 373.

122 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
with no more reference to general principles of equity than we
find to-day amongst semi-barbaric nations, so that it would be
unfair to stigmatize the conduct of the ducal house as tyran
nical, and to exalt that of the peasants unreservedly as holy
and righteous. Undoubtedly the patriots were fighting for
the good cause of popular liberty, but Habsburg at the same
time thought itself justified by law in resisting their attempts
at independence.

CHAPTER X.

THE BATTLE OF MORGARTEN.

BOTH sides made ready for the struggle. In the autumn of
13 1 5 Duke Leopold, the King's brother, rallied around
him a formidable army in the Aargau, composed of vassal
Knights, and infantry recruited from the towns subject to him.
Says Johannes Vitoduranus (of Winterthur), a contemporary
chronicler, to whom we are indebted for the best account of the
battle of Morgarten: "The men of this army came together
with one purpose, to utterly subdue and humiliate those peas
ants who were surrounded with mountains as with walls." x
Leopold's plan of attack was in every way an admirable one,
but carelessly executed. His main force was to march upon
Schwiz, over the low Sattel pass, skirting the ridge of Morgar
ten, while minor detachments operated against Unterwalden,
so as to involve these two States in a network from which
there could be no escape.
In the meantime the Confederates had not been idle.
King Ludwig had so far esp'oused their cause as to publicly
announce their right to the immunity, and to annul the decree
of political interdict launched against them by Frederic, as
punishment for the raid of Schwiz upon Einsiedeln. But
Ludwig gave them no material aid, and they knew well that
his moral support merely would avail them nothing, sur
rounded as they were on all sides by the subjects of Habsburg.
The Confederates, therefore, looked to their frontier defences,
and got ready their famous halberds, formidable weapons of
'Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 54. 123

124 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
their own invention, to be used in striking, thrusting, as well as
dragging men from their horses ; nor did they forget, accord
ing to the chronicler, to offer public prayers for heavenly aid,
according to immemorial custom, on the eve of any great
undertaking. Morgarten is not a terrifying, craggy Alpine pass, as pop
ular imagination has painted it, but is a ridge of hills, situated
in the rolling country north of the village of Schwiz. If the
scenery can be said to be remarkable at all, it is by reason of
a certain gentle charm, due to the absence of the higher Alps,
and the softness of the velvet slopes.
On the 15 th of November, the forces of Schwiz, with rein
forcements from Uri and Unterwalden, were posted on the
Sattel Pass, to dispute the passage of the Austrians. The
main force of the Austrian Knights advanced along the road
which skirts the Lake of Aegeri, riding toward Schwiz in the
best of spirits. They jested as though out for a day's sport,
never for one moment doubting that they would return victori
ous, in fact, they were so sure of plunder, that their attendants
had provided themselves with ropes in order to lead away the
captured cattle.
There are certain topographical details which must be
clearly understood, if the course of the battle is to be at all
comprehensible. At the other end of the lake, where the Confederates were
posted, the old path which was in. use at the time of the battle,
branches off to the left of the modern carriage road, leading
along the slope of Morgarten to join the modern road again at
an old piece of fortification, called the Tower of Schorno.
This old path alone can reveal the secret of the victory of the
Confederates. As the knights were riding up this path, weighed down by
heavy accoutrements, their line of battle necessarily broken,
they came to a spot which suddenly placed them at a great
disadvantage, if they should be attacked. Behind them was
the steep path which they had mounted, on their right flank a

THE BATTLE OF MORGARTEN. 125
detached hillock, and on their left the ridge of Morgarten.
Here the battle must have been fought, if the early accounts
of the course of events are to have any meaning. When thus
hemmed in, the Austrians suddenly heard a loud, roaring noise
and looking up, beheld an avalanche of rocks and trees rolling
down upon them from the Figlerfluh, a prominent spur of the
ridge of Morgarten. A somewhat mistrusted tradition ascribes
this first blow to a detachment of fifty men of Schwiz, who
had been banished from their country, and were desirous of
proving their loyalty by some act of patriotism. Be that as it
may, the effect of their plan was instantaneous ; the Austrians
were thrown into the wildest confusion, and at this moment,
the main force of the Confederates rushed from their positions
further up the path, swinging their deadly halberds, and
hurled themselves against the invaders with a momentum
made irresistible by their descent. Unable to deploy their
mounted force in this natural trap, the Austrians were obliged
to yield in the direction of the lake, whence they had come.
The retreat turned into flight, the battle into slaughter.
Some were crushed by the falling masses, some hewn down,
and others crowded into the lake, where they were drowned in
their armor ; the rest fled to the friendly shelter of the towns,
which were under Austria's protection.
Amongst the Knights who reached Winterthur that night,
our chronicler, Johannes Vitoduranus, saw: "Lupoid, who
seemed half-dead with overpowering sorrow. That I saw with
my own eyes," he assures us, "for I was a schoolboy at that
time, and ran in great glee to meet my father at the gate, with
other, older schoolboys."1
Many a noble family in Austrian lands mourned a father,
son or brother, on that day, but the loss of the Confederates
was insignificant.
"When the fight was over, the men of Schwiz pulled off the
weapons of the killed and drowned, robbed them also of their
Other possessions, and enriched themselves with arms and
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 55.

126 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
money. " In order to commemorate the victory, a chapel was
erected near by, dedicated to St. Jacob, where a rude, but
exceedingly graphic picture of the battle now hangs.
Morgarten was one of the first occasions in the Middle
Ages, perhaps the very first, on which any army of mounted
Knights was conquered by peasants on foot ; so that for this
reason, if for no other, it deserves an important place in the
annals of military tactics. The Bernese chronicler, Justinger,
supplies an anecdote which, if true, shows that one person,
at least, in the Austrian camp was not without apprehensions.
Jenni von Stocken, the duke's fool, when asked what he
thought of the plan of invasion, remarked that he did not like
it : "You have all taken counsel how best to get into the coun
try, but have given no explanation of how you are going to get
out again ! " *
As in the perpetual league of 1291 we heralded the birth of
the Swiss Confederation, so in this battle we must recognize
its martial baptismal day. Henceforth the union of the Forest
States was admitted to membership in the company of the
nations, modest newcomers, occupying humble positions, but
none the less worthy of admiration and respect.
The din of battle had barely subsided when, on the 9th of
December, 13 15, the Confederates hastened to renew their
first league at the village of Brunnen. Nothing more beauti
ful could be imagined than the surroundings amid which this
document was signed, in the angle formed by the abrupt turn
which the Lake of Luzern takes to the south, where it opens
out into an arm known as the Lake of Uri.
This second league made no change in the general policy of
the Confederation, but rather served to accentuate the princi
ples previously enunciated. Thus, after repeating that every
man should obey his overlord, exception is made of "those
lords or that lord who shall attack one of the Lands with vio
lence, or force unjust exactions ; such an one or such men shall
not be served as long as they have not given satisfaction to the
1 D'andliker, K. Geschichte. Vol. I., p. 391.

THE BATTLE OF MORGARTEN. 127
Lands." An important provision is the following: "We have
also agreed that none of the Lands, nor any one amongst the
Confederates [here the German name Eidgenosse appears for
the first time] shall give an oath or pledge to a foreigner with
out the advice of the other Lands or Confederates."1
As for King Ludwig, as soon as he saw that the Forest
States had given proof of such unexpected powers when aban
doned to their own resources, he promptly annulled all of
Habsburg's rights in Uri, Schwiz, and Unterwalden, whether
administrative or proprietary, and confirmed all their charters
of immunity.
Three years after the battle the Dukes of Austria decided to
make peace with the Confederates. Indeed they were so hope
lessly involved in a life and death struggle with King Ludwig,
that they saw no immediate chance of avenging themselves
for the defeat which they had sustained at Morgarten.
Accordingly, the Dukes of Austria formally renounced all
administrative rights within the three States, maintaining,
however, their ancient estates with the serfs and revenues
appertaining to them, in spite of Ludwig's act, which was
intended to deprive them of proprietary rights as well. Provi
sion was made for debts contracted before and during the war.
The Confederates, on their side, bound themselves not to
form any alliances injurious to the interests of Austria.
They guaranteed safe passage for all men through their terri
tory, and stipulated that the same should be accorded to them
on the roads leading through the Austrian lands which sur
rounded them.
Seven times were these articles of peace renewed, until, in
1323, they were allowed to lapse, without this fact, however,
leading to immediate hostilities.
At this point we have reached the first stage in the rise of
the Swiss Confederation. We have seen three separate com
munities, different in their origin and development, but one in
.their interests, growing side by side into vigorous democracies,
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch p. 56.

128 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
then uniting in an indissoluble bond, and finally defeating in
battle the hereditary foe who had refused to acknowledge their
independent position in the German Empire. We have been
impressed throughout by the sobriety and moderation of the
patriots, above all by their marvelous patience in adversity.
The next stage is to be the growth of this primitive league
into a powerful Confederation by the adherence of other sov
ereign communities.

CHAPTER XI.

LUZERN.

THE Confederates did not lapse into inactivity after their
victory at Morgarten, nor were they deceived as to the
enemy's ultimate intentions by the temporary cessation of
hostilities which followed that battle. No sooner, therefore,
had the conditions of peace expired in 1323, than they cast
about for allies amongst the communities in their neighbor
hood, whose aspirations for independence were being opposed
by Habsburg.
In this emergency they turned to Luzern, a small city at
that time, growing into comparative importance on account
of its connection with the pass over the St. Gothard. In
deed the union of the three States to Luzern was, in a
sense, a physical necessity. The waters of the lake served
both as a natural bond, and also as a convenient highway
for their commerce — the lake being, in fact, called the
Vierwaldstattersee, or the Lake of the Four Forest States.
They were mutually dependent upon each other's good will
for whatever measure of trade they might acquire, so that
it was no difficult matter to convert their commercial bond
into a political one, resting on the surest of foundations, a
community of interests. On the 7th of November, 1832, a
perpetual league was concluded between the Schultheiss,
Council and Burghers of the city of Luzern and the people
of Uri, Schwiz, and Unterwalden. The original document is
not extant ; its contents are only known from copies.
After a preamble, which reads like that prefixed to the
129

130 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
league of 1 3 1 5, the contracting parties engage under oath
to help each other in certain specified ways. It is first
expressly stipulated that Austria's rights in Luzern and those
of the Emperor in Uri, Schwiz, and Unterwalden shall be
respected as heretofore. In case, however, one of the Four
States is unjustly treated by foes from without or within,
the injured parties shall meet under oath, and the majority of
them shall decide whether the injury is such as to require
the help of the Confederates. Should this be the case,
the threatened States shall issue a warning call (Mahnung)
to the others, and the latter shall be bound to go to the
rescue, without investigating the case for themselves, and at
their own expense. Difficulties between the Confederates
shall be settled by arbitration, " the best and wisest " being
selected as judges. An important provision declares that
no separate alliance shall be contracted without the permis
sion of all the Confederates.1
Documentary evidence of a later date tends to show that
the little semi-independent villages of Gersau, Weggis, and
Vitznau, at the foot of the Rigi, also joined the league at
this time, although they are not mentioned in the document.
Rude and unpolished as are some of the terms contained
in this document, they speak unmistakably for the wisdom
of the contracting parties. The rights of the individual
States were carefully maintained, their private affairs left
untouched, while, at the same time, a firm union between them
was established through which their common interests were
guarded. The result was a federal organization which could
be safely counted upon to withstand external pressure and
internal dissensions. Especially is that rule to be commended
which forbade the contracting parties to enter into separate
alliances without the permission of all the Confederates. Had
this rule been observed by members which joined the Confed
eration after Luzern, some of the saddest and most humiliating
chapters in Swiss history would never have had to be written.
1Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 71.

LUZERN. 131
Luzern owes its origin to a colony of monks from the
Alsacian Abbey of Murbach, who, about the middle of the
eighth century, founded a little monastery in honor of St.
Ledger on the bank of the Reuss, at the point where that river
leaves the lake. Around this nucleus there grew up a city
bearing the name of Luzerren, or Luciaria, in the documents.
It was at one time supposed that a Roman lighthouse (lucerna)
had stood here, but there is no evidence of a Roman settle
ment, and a more reasonable interpretation of the name seems
to be that of Leodegar's-Ern, contracted into Luzern, meaning
Ledger's farm.
Luzern, being the property of the Abbey of Murbach, was
an example of a city under ecclesiastical rule. As such it
possessed the Reichsunmittelbarkeit. The Abbot governed in
the name of the empire and by means of his representative,
a Mayor or Ammann, who collected tithes and tried minor
offences, while the more important ones were in charge of the
Steward of Murbach, an office held since 1239, conjointly with
that of the Count of Aargau, by the elder branch of the house
of Habsburg- The Steward administered justice through
an Underbailiff, resident at Rothenburg, and was probably
also represented in the city by a magistrate, known as the
Schultheiss. It was the aim of every city, whether subject to secular or
ecclesiastical rulers, to attain complete self-government. In
this all were not successful, nor was there any uniformity in
the manner of procedure, but there were certain steps which
all alike were obliged to take. One was to obtain a charter,
a Handfeste or Brief. Sometimes this privilege had been
granted when the city was founded; in that case the task
of liberation became all the easier. Another step was to con
stitute a council (Rath), and to elect a presiding officer, called
Burgermeister or Schultheiss. From this point of vantage the
citizens could then wrest farther rights from their rulers until
they became entirely self-governing.
In general, Swiss cities advanced much further in the path

132 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
of independence than the majority of cities in other parts of
the German Empire. They grew to be veritable republics.
Their sovereignty, when once attained, not only gave them
perfect freedom in all municipal matters, but also clothed
them with powers which are generally reserved for national
governments. In their markets they had their own commer
cial regulations, used their own weights and measures, coined
their own money, contracted alliances, declared war, or
remained neutral as they chose, and finally possessed their own
seals, as expressions of undisputed sovereignty. It is obvious,
however, that at any given time there would be the greatest
diversity amongst the cities, according to the stage which they
had reached on the road to self-government, and that the
value of a particular city in the general struggle of the people
against the nobles would depend very much upon the degree
of independence it could command.
At the time of Luzern's entry into the Confederation, the
citizens had already acquired certain important rights and priv
ileges. During the struggle between the empire and the
papacy, about 1245, they had joined issue with Schwiz and
Obwalden against the house of Habsburg. In 1252 they
obtained a charter, the so-called "Sworn Brief", thus making
their first decisive advance on the road toward self-govern
ment. Little by little the process of emancipation unfolded
itself. When, in 1273, Rudolf of Habsburg ascended the
throne, he gave his royal sanction to the privileges Luzern
already possessed, and added others of importance.
Suddenly, however, the prospect which had appeared so
bright, became clouded over, for in 1291, a few months before
his death, Rudolf bought for his sons all the possessions of the
Abbey of Murbach lying on this side of the Rhine, including
also Luzern and adjacent estates. For this he paid the finan
cially embarrassed Abbot Berchtold the sum of 2000 marks in
silver, and gave up to him a few villages in Elsass. Some of
the older Swiss historians have maintained that the Abbot had
given the citizens a promise never to alienate them from him-

LUZERN. 133
self. It is very difficult, at this distance of time, to ascertain
the truth in regard to this, but, as there is a complete lack of
contemporary evidence, modern historians have been inclined
to doubt the existence of any such promise. Be that as it
may, the change in Luzern's condition caused by this pur
chase was decidedly for the worse, since the city thereby lost
the rights of immunity, and virtually became the personal
property of the Dukes of Austria. All advance in the direc
tion of self-government was stopped for a time. In 13 15, the
citizens were obliged by their Austrian masters to take part
against the Three Forest States at the battle of Morgarten,
although it is not known that they had any fighting to do on
that occasion. But the unexpected success of the peasants
against the Austrian knights, revived the drooping courage of
the burghers and animated them with new hopes. A party
was formed within the city whose ultimate object was union
with the Three States, and whose immediate efforts were
directed toward acquiring the right of electing the whole of
the Council and its presiding officer, the Schultheiss. Their
reforms were but half attained when the perpetual league of
1332 was concluded with Uri, Schwiz and Unterwalden.
In view of this bold stroke of Luzern, it is not surprising
that the Dukes of Austria should have made every effort to
punish the rebellious burghers. A desultory warfare ensued,
made intermittent by the struggle which Duke Albrecht was
waging with Adolf of Nassau for the crown. In the end the
citizens were brought into subjection, but their alliance with
Uri, Schwiz, and Unterwalden remained intact, as far as can
be ascertained from the meagre tidings of the conflict which
have reached us.
Another danger menaced Luzern in 1343, this time from
within. It appears that a party was organized in opposition
to what we may call the patriotic one, with the purpose of
destroying the league and bringing the city once more under
Austria's sway. Little is known of this movement from docu
mentary evidence. The chronicler, Etterlin, in his " Kronika

134 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
von der loblichen Eidgnoschaft," relates the following story,
showing how the designs of the conspirators were frustrated
by the patriotism of a boy who overheard their deliberations.
Whatever may be the untrustworthiness of this incident from
a strictly historical standpoint, it is not devoid of a picturesque
charm. The conspirators were holding a conclave in a vault under
the Tailor's Guild house, when a boy happened to pass that
way. " Hearing the sound of muttering," writes Etterlin,
" and the clashing of arms, he was afraid and thought the
place haunted, and turned to flee ; but some men gave chase,
and held him fast. They threatened his life, that he should
tell no man what he had seen. He promised and went with
them. And thus he heard their deliberations. And when no
one more gave heed unto him, he quietly crept from thence,
went up the steps by the house of the tailors into the street, and
looked about if he might see a light. This he saw in the Guild
room of the butchers, where the men were wont to sit up later
than in other rooms. He went in and saw many men drinking
and playing. Here he sat him down behind the stove, and
began to say : ' Oh ! stove, stove ! ' But no one gave heed
unto him. Then cried he again : ' Oh ! stove, stove ! May I
speak ?' The men now became aware of his presence, mocked
him, and thought him mad, and asked him who he was, and
what he wanted. 'Oh! nothing, nothing,' was his answer.
Then began he a third time and said : ' Oh ! stove, stove ! I must
make my complaint to thee, since I may speak to no man —
to-night there are men gathered under the great vault at the
corner, who are going to commit murder.' As soon as the
men heard that, they ran out in haste, gave the alarm, made
prisoners of the conspirators, and forced them to swear
fealty." 1
The above episode in the history of Luzern is known as the
Night of the Massacre (Mordnacht). Recent Swiss historians
are inclined to regard it as legendary, on account of its close
1 Dandliker, K. Geschichte. p. 423.

LUZERN. 135
resemblance to a whole collection of German legends. Be that
as it may, there can be no doubt that Luzern at the time under
consideration passed through an internal crisis of some sort
which resulted in the triumph of the patriotic party.
The league of the Four Forest States had now resisted suc
cessfully the assaults of the enemy from without and within.
Its maintenance was, therefore, more than ever assured. With
the prestige conferred upon it by the presence of a city amid
its members, the Confederation could enter upon the task of
absorbing other important communities on its borders, for it
was destined, in time, to embrace all the little states which hid
amongst the Alps, and all the cities which clustered on their
sloping plains, as far east and north as the Rhine, as far west
as the Jura range, and as far south as the Italian lakes.

CHAPTER XII.

ZURICH.

NINETEEN years elapsed before the Confederation re
ceived any new additions, but after this interval, as if
to make up for lost time, four members were admitted in
rapid succession.
Of these the first was Zurich, the free city, whose rise in the
East of Switzerland offers the student of municipalities one of
the most interesting subjects to which he can devote himself.
Zurich is unquestionably of greater antiquity than Luzern.
Traces of lake-dwelling settlements have been found in the
whole neighborhood, and during the Helveto-Roman period it
was known as Turicum, a small customs-station for the regula
tion of trade flowing from Gaul to Raetia and vice versa.
All traces of the place, however, are lost throughout that time
of savage gloom which settled upon the whole of what is now
German Switzerland after the invasion of the Alamanni, so
that when it reappears in the 9th century, it presents quite
another aspect.
Four separate settlements could be distinguished as occupy
ing the ground whereon the modern city stands. An imperial
castle, or Pfalz, stood on the eminence now called Lindenhof,
surrounded by dependents who were designated as fiscalini in
the legal phraseology of the day ; a minster, the present Gross-
miinster, with an Institute of Canons and a cloister school
attached, had attracted another group of dependents, named
ministeriales, to the right bank of the river Limmat : and the
Abbey of Nuns, the Fraumiinster, founded by Ludwig the Ger
man, in 853, had likewise drawn a group to the left bank.
136

ZURICH. 137
Finally a fourth settlement, a qommunity of free Alamanni,
lived at the foot of the Ziirichberg.
According to feudal regulations, these four settlements were
differently governed. The Pfalz was subject to an imperial
bailiff, the two church foundations to a steward, and the free
Alamanni to the Count of the Zurichgau. Medieval Zurich
arose from the mingling of these four elements into one, a pro
cess which was initiated by placing them all under one bailiff,
representing the emperor, and turning the whole into an
administrative district known as the imperial bailiwick of
Zurich. As a result of this method of simplification the city
came into possession of the Reichsunmittelbarkeit, assuming an
exceptional position in the Zurichgau, within whose boundaries
it was situated.
The office of imperial bailiff became hereditary in the fami
lies of Lenzburg and Zaeringen consecutively. Upon the
death of the last Duke of Zaeringen it reverted to the empire,
and Frederic II. decided that it should no longer be inherited
from father to son, but that, subject to his approval, it should
be awarded to a citizen from the ranks of aristocracy, chosen
by the citizens themselves. After obtaining this very impor
tant privilege, Zurich sought to curtail the powers of the
Abbess of the Fraumiinster, who still enjoyed many constitu
tional rights in the city. She appointed a Schultheiss to try
minor cases, controlled the customs and market duties, and
regulated municipal coinage, weights and measures. Nor was
the result of such prerogatives by any means insignificant.
Zurich's position gave it special importance as a commer
cial centre between Italy and Germany ; its regular markets
attracted buyers and sellers; its sanctuaries worshippers; its
silk industry, introduced from Lombardy under the Hohen-
stauffen emperors, brought artisans; and the frequent visits
of these same emperors added to its prestige. The chronicler
Otto von Freising called it " Turegum nobilissimum Siievice
oppidum" and quoted an ancient inscription over one of the
city gates, "Nobile Turegum, mitltarum copia rerum."

138 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
A great part of the revenue of this prosperous city flowed
into the coffers 'of the Abbess, who, at the same time, was
entitled to the designation of a princess of the realm. But
the remedy for this excessive power lay near at hand. It had
been the custom for successive Abbesses to summon a council
of advisors, chosen from the aristocracy of the city, to help
them in the management of their affairs. In Zurich, as in
other cities, the council soon became the agent of the citizens
in forwarding their interests and helping them in their aspira
tions after self-government.
During the struggle between the empire and the papacy, this
council succeeded in curtailing and absorbing the rights of the
Abbess and the Schultheiss, and even in diminishing those of
the imperial bailiff, so that the Princess-Abbess sank into polit
ical insignificance, and Zurich became in reality a free city of
the German Empire. In 1304, a compilation of laws, begun
under Rudolf of Habsburg, was brought to a close, and styled
"The Brief of Rights of the Burghers of Zurich." It proves
conclusively that the city, at that time, already enjoyed a posi
tion of great independence, for the council appears as a
sovereign body with extraordinary powers, both legislative,
executive and judiciary.
Such was the origin and growth of Zurich, and such the
state of its affairs, internally and externally, when, toward the
beginning of the fourteenth century, a great revolutionary
storm, which had long been brewing, burst forth and shook the
city to its foundations.
It was this social and political revolution which indirectly
led to a definite alliance between Zurich and the Forest States.
When Zurich has been described in these pages as a free
city of the German Empire, it must not be supposed that
the term free, as applied to a city in the Middle Ages, meant
that all its inhabitants enjoyed equal political rights. Such
ideas were foreign to the medieval conception of the state, and
altogether at variance with the spirit of the age. It is true a
free city was exempt from the control of the count or bailiff,

ZURICH. 139
and empowered to regulate its private affairs, but that did not
imply that all its citizens possessed a voice in the government.
Generally speaking there were three great classes in every
city : i, the nobility ; 2, the simple free burghers ; and 3, the
working men, i. e. the artisans and common laborers. Only
the first two classes, known together as Old Burghers, had any
political rights, the third having no share in the government
whatsoever, for they were neither eligible to office themselves,
nor permitted to vote for others — a political condition admi
rably expressed bythe German term, " nicht regimentsfahig."
In fact something of that relation which existed between
the Patricians and Plebeians of Rome was repeated in
the medieval cities of the German Empire between the Old
Burghers and the oppressed working classes. But the time
came when commerce and manufacturing enterprises made
giant strides, owing chiefly to the intercourse with the
Byzantine Empire, which followed in the devastating track
of the Crusades, when, as a consequence, the demand for
artisans and laborers increased, and their importance to the
community was acknowledged. They became aware of the in
justice inflicted upon them by the idle governing class ; they
saw that their political condition had not kept pace with their
general advance in the direction of wealth and influence.
At the time of the popular rising in Zurich, the form of gov
ernment which obtained was oligarchical ; the supreme author
ity being represented by a council composed of thirty-six Old
Burghers, divided into three groups of twelve, each of which
governed for a third of the year. As the people at large
were not eligible to office, nor permitted to vote, the govern
ing class could award the places in the council to suit their
particular interests, and needed not to be over scrupulous
in the manner in which they secured the necessary votes.
In the end the council lost the confidence, not only of the
workingmen, but also of a part of the Old Burghers : it
was accused of recruiting its numbers from bad sources, and
pf corrupt dealings in its administration, especially in regard

140 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
to the revenues. There was a widespread feeling of discon
tent and indignation, an outspoken desire for a change
which would give all the inhabitants of the city a voice in
its government. What was needed was a leader, a man
who would know how to unite the disaffected amongst the
governing class with the great mass of working men, clam
oring for a reform on democratic lines. The popular party
found the required leader in Rudolf Brun, himself a descendant
of one of the oldest families, and a member of the council.
Interesting as is this great historical personage, conspic
uous, not only in the annals of Zurich and Switzerland,
but also in those of Europe in the fourteenth century, it
is surprising how little definite knowledge we have, either
of his early history, or of the reasons which led him to take
up the role of reformer. He was fifty years of age when
these stormy events in his native city brought him to the
front, but no definite information has reached us of his life
prior to this time, except a somewhat disgraceful escapade
which happened while he was a member of the Council.
It appears from the records, that he and a fellow Councillor,
Rudolf Biber, were condemned upon one occasion to pay a
heavy fine of 550 pounds, for having given offence to a lady
of the aristocracy, a Frau von Lunkhofen. What their
crime had been, will probably always remain a mystery,
whether it was actually of a scandalous nature, or simply an
outbreak of rudeness; but judging from the size of the fine,
the former supposition seems to be the correct one. Some
historians have argued that Brun was actuated by revenge
for this humiliation in espousing the cause of the working
men against the class to which he himself belonged ; per
haps this consideration exerted some influence upon his
choice of party, but, if personal motives were present, they
were more probably those common to all strong, command
ing natures, such as Brun's proved itself to be: love of
power and the hope of fame.
Only the general features of the uprising can be gathered

ZURICH. 141
from Johannes Vitoduranus, or from Eberhard Miilner, an aris
tocratic partisan of Brun, who wrote the Annals of Zurich.
They say that the council was dismissed and banished from
the city, that Brun was chosen Biirgermeister, and that guilds
were instituted. It is easier to learn the extent of the
changes made in the government by examining the terms of
the new charter or constitution, the so-called "First Sworn
Brief," which was solemnly accepted by the united burghers
on the 16th of July, 1336. The document is full of interest
on account of the glimpses it affords of the inner life of a typ
ical medieval city.
First comes the announcement of the overthrow of the old
council, the accusations brought against its members, and their
unfitness ever again to hold office. It was then agreed that
the whole population, " Knights, Nobles and Commons," rich
and poor, should swear to serve and obey the Biirgermeister in
all things, even unto death, and that this oath should supersede
all others, without, however, violating the rights of the sover
eign of the German Empire, and of the two church foundations
in the city. The Biirgermeister, on his side, must swear to
protect all the citizens, according to the best of his ability with
out distinction of rich or poor.
The new council was to be elected in a manner hitherto
unknown, the male population of the city being divided for
this purpose into two great electoral bodies. The classifica
tion adopted was sufficiently singular to make an explanation
interesting. In the first class were the knights, the nobles,
and those burghers who lived on their incomes, or were in
business as merchants, woolen-drapers, money-changers, gold
smiths, and dealers in salt. Together they formed an associa-
ation called "The Konstaffel," 1 and represented the aristocracy
of rank and wealth in the city. The working men were rele
gated to the second class, and grouped into thirteen Guilds or
Fraternities. It is worth while to enumerate the various
crafts, because they afforded an insight into social and indus-
1 A corruption of the Latin comes stabuli.

142 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
trial conditions of the fourteenth century which one could not
otherwise obtain.
The first guild comprised the shop-keepers, and commercial
travelers. The second — cloth-cutters, tailors, and furriers.
The third — tavern-keepers, wine-vendors, tapsters, saddlers,
painters, and petty dealers, or brokers. The fourth — bakers
and millers. The fifth — wool-weavers, wool-beaters, makers'
of grey cloth, and hatters. The sixth — linen-weavers, linen-
drapers, and bleachers. The seventh — smiths, sword-cutlers,
pewterers, bell founders, tin-smiths, armorers, barbers and
bathmen. The eighth — tanners, and dressers of parchment
and white leather. The ninth — butchers, and those who
buy cattle in the country and drive them to the shambles.
The tenth — shoemakers. The eleventh — carpenters, masons,
cartwrights, turners, timber-dealers, coopers, and vine-dressers.
The twelfth — fishermen, boatmen, cartmen, rope-makers and
porters. The thirteenth — gardeners, oil-men and peddlers.1
Besides the purely technical duties which naturally belonged
to these guilds, such as the regulation of the quality and quan
tity of work to be done, and the supervision over the relations
between masterworkmen, journeymen and apprentices, this
"Brief" also, conferred military and political duties upon them
They were organized into companies, each with a banner, and
were kept ready drilled and armed to defend the city at a
moment's notice. Twice a year the guilds proceeded to the
election of guildmasters (Zunftmeistcr), and the thirteen
guildmasters became cx-officio members of the council, thir
teen others being chosen from the Konstaffel, so that the full
membership was twenty-six.
On extraordinary occasions the advice of a larger body of
citizens, a sort of popular assembly, could be consulted.
Of course such a document did not convert Zurich into a
democratic community, for the Biirgermeister stands forth in
the light of an irresponsible ruler, a dictator to whom all must
swear fealty. His office is assured to him for life in return
for a vague promise of impartiality in the administration of his
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 75.

ZURICH. 143
office. Viewed from a modern standpoint, therefore, this
"First Sworn Brief "is almost monarchical in its conservatism.
At the same time its provisions seem to have been well suited
to the requirements of the age, for they remained in force, with
few alterations, until the spirit evoked by the French revolu
tion wrought more than one change in Europe. Furthermore,
the guilds were as natural an expression of the aspirations of
the workingmen for fuller recognition, as are the trades unions
of to-day. They accomplished their purpose to a certain
extent, especially during the earlier stages of the movement.
It was only when the guilds began to tyrannize over society by
securing a monopoly of labor, that they grew corrupt, and were
generally done away with as dangerous nuisances.
No sooner, however, was the storm allayed in the city, than
a new danger presented itself from without. The deposed
party found a ready sympathizer in Count John of Rapper-
swil, in whose little city at the upper end of Lake Zurich they
gathered in such numbers as to make of it a second or outer
Zurich. Encounters between the rival parties became of
frequent occurrence, until Count John himself was slain in
an engagement at the stronghold of Grinau. Then Duke
Albrecht of Austria, a kinsman to the late Count, seconded
by the emperor, interposed and forced the combatants to come
to terms. But this enforced peace did not prove very lasting.
On the night of the 23d of February, 1350, an attack was
made upon Zurich under the leadership of the son of the slain
Count of Rapperswil. It was intended to be a surprise, but
Brun had been warned in time to take the necessary precau
tions. At a preconcerted signal the loyal citizens and guilds
poured forth from their houses, encountered the conspirators,
and in the ensuing street fight made prisoners of the Count of
Rapperswil and the principal ring-leaders.
This episode is known as the Zurich " Night of Massacre."
It was followed by acts of the greatest cruelty; eighteen of
the prisoners were tortured on the wheel, and seventeen
decapitated, their names all being enumerated by Eberhard

144 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Miilner in his account of the massacre. The little city of
Rapperswil was likewise forced into submission, the castle
destroyed, and many houses burned to the ground. Then
Brun placed himself at the head of an army, and devastated
the whole region at the upper end of the lake, called the
March, which was a fief of the house of Austria — an act cal
culated to aggravate the situation very perceptibly. For, as a
result, Zurich soon found itself surrounded by a ring of ene
mies, consisting of the partisans of Austria from the whole
country round about.
In this crisis Brun resorted to an expedient which was des
tined to be followed by far-reaching consequences in Swiss
history — he sought the alliance of Austria's hereditary foe,
the Forest States.
On the ist of May, 135 1, Zurich concluded a perpetual
league with Luzern, Uri, Schwiz, and Unterwalden, thus enter
ing the Confederation as the fifth member.
Heretofore the city had followed the dictates of self-
interest in matters of foreign policy with little regard for
appearances, casting its influence now on one side now on
the other in the strife between Austria and the Forest
States. Rudolf of Habsburg, while still a simple Count,
had given his support to the citizens in their little wars
with the surrounding nobles, but no sooner was he dead,
than we find them joining Uri and Schwiz in an alliance
against his descendants. Again, at the battle of Morgarten
a detachment from Zurich fought on the Austrian side,
some of these soldiers being reported as killed in that
famous engagement.
But hereafter Zurich stood pledged to make common
cause with the Forest States against Austria.
The contracting parties promised each other to render
assistance upon receipt of a warning call, as in the league
between Luzern and the three States. But in this docu
ment a definite area was prescribed, within which such
assistance could be claimed. It was bounded on the south

ZURICH. 145
and west by the river Aar, from its source on the Grimsel
Pass to its mouth ; on the north by the Rhine ; on the
east by a line which followed the river Thur from its
mouth to its source, crossed over to the St. Gothard group,
and back again to the Grimsel. In this surprisingly wide
area were included all the roads and passes which were of
commercial importance to the Confederates.
The Abbey of Einsiedeln was selected as a convenient
place of meeting in case of consultations or of quarrels
between Zurich and the Forest States. Arbitration was to
be the method of adjusting disputes.
Two clauses in the league deserve especial notice :
The first stipulated that the contracting parties reserved
to themselves the right of entering into separate alliances,
if they saw fit to do so, although the present league was to
precede all others. The second, that the Four Forest States
must pledge themselves to help maintain the then existing
form of government in Zurich, if their assistance toward
this end should be requested. l
The hand of Brun can be distinctly traced in the framing
of these two clauses. They were unmistakably to his per
sonal advantage. For, if at any time an opportunity
presented itself of effecting a reconciliation with Austria,
he could manage to do so without violating the letter of
the league by virtue of the first clause. Or, again, if danger
arose from within the city, from any attempts to restore the
old system of government, Brun could array the whole
strength of the Four States against any such movement by
virtue of the second.
In passing judgment upon the general value and purport
of the above document, the fatal weakness of allowing the
parties to enter into separate alliances, becomes at once
apparent. It is difficult to understand how the Forest States
could have been persuaded to have such a permission
inserted, especially as this question had been so carefully
1Oechsli,W. Quellenbuch. p. 86.

146 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
settled in the Luzern League. Considered from the point
of view of statesmanship, the clause was a mistake, and was
certain to cause dissensions sooner or later amongst the
Confederates. That the league was not a perfectly impar
tial instrument is further shown by the fact that, although
Zurich's present form of government was virtually guaranteed
by the Forest States, the reverse was by no means true,
i. e. Zurich was under no obligations whatever to uphold
the constitutions of the Forest States.
But, in treating of the constitutional enactments of the early
Swiss, one must remember that they did not draw up their
agreements in accordance with any regular theories of govern
ment. They did not consciously base them upon the study
either of historical precedents or of philosophical, systems; on
the contrary their acts were experiments, and in their leagues
they embodied only those principles which experience had
demonstrated to be sound sfnd feasible. Their statecraft was
crude, according to modern standards, their blunders costly.
But they were solving the perplexing problems of federalism,
as a system of government, without help or example. They
had yet to learn that their union must be complete and abso
lute to be enduring. Nor could they foresee the greatness of
the structure they were erecting, or appreciate the importance
of making its foundations so exceptionally secure.

CHAPTER XIII.

GLARUS AND ZUG.

WAR followed close upon Zurich's union with the Four
Forest States, a long-drawn, wearisome contest with
the Dukes of Austria, and at times even with the sovereign of
the German Empire. During this period Zurich was thrice
besieged, each time with indifferent success, three formal
declarations of peace were signed, and three new members
added to the Confederation, so that in the end the war was not
barren of results.
But the perusal of this desultory warfare, full of uninterest
ing details, is by no means an agreeable task, nor the duty of
the writer an easy one to present the salient features in such
a manner as to leave a distinct impression upon the mind of
the reader.
Duke Albrecht, surnamed the Wise or the Lame, felt that
the recent behavior of Zurich toward his kinsman, the Count
of Rapperswil, who was still in prison, called for prompt meas
ures. In punishing Zurich he hoped also to strike a blow at
the Forest States, thus settling an account of long standing,
which had accumulated since the humiliating defeat at Mor
garten. Luzern's action in joining the victors only served to
intensify his feeling of bitterness, so that to him the approach
ing conflict seemed a day of reckoning, which had already
been too long deferred.
But no sooner had he gathered an army around Zurich than
he was himself called away to Vienna by the death of his wife.
After a fruitless effort at reconciliation the besiegers dis-
147

148 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
banded, and the Confederates turned the tables upon them
by taking the offensive against the partisans of Austria in all
directions. It was on one of their flying expeditions, that the Confeder
ates marched into the valley of Glarus, and won over the
inhabitants to their cause against Austria, the mutual enemy.
As a matter of fact Glarus had of necessity been influenced
by the fortunes and misfortunes of the Forest States from the
very earliest times. Not only was it connected with Uri by the
Urner Boden, and with Schwiz by the Pragel Pass, but it had
also suffered with them from the same harsh and grasping pol
icy on the part of the house of Habsburg-Austria. Especially
is there a truly extraordinary resemblance between the physical
features of Glarus and Uri, and their historical development.
On the map each appears as a long valley, walled in on
either hand with lofty mountain ranges ; the length of these
two valleys is almost identical and they run in parallel lines
toward the north ; each is blocked at its southern extremity
by a great mountain group, Glarus by the Todi and Uri by the
St. Gothard ; and each opens out upon a lake at its northern
end, the former upon the Walensee, the latter upon the lake
of Luzern.
The similarity in their early history is simply astonishing.
Glarus, the name being probably a corruption of Hilarius,
the patron saint of the valley, was deeded at some unknown
date in the eighth or ninth centuries to the Abbey of Nuns at
Seckingen on the Rhine, probably by one of the German sov
ereigns. It enjoyed the privilege of the immunity by virtue
of its position as ecclesiastical property. The steward of
Seckingen administered the higher justice, while a Mayor
adjudged lesser cases. There was the same diversity of polit
ical conditions in Glarus as in Uri, of native nobles, simple free
men, and serfs ; but all alike shared in the Almend and were
required to attend court, which was held under the oak at the
village of Glarus — in valle Clarona sub quercu, as was written
on the sentences which were there delivered. In time the

GLARUS AND ZUG. 149
office of Mayor ceased to be awarded to strangers, and even
became hereditary in the native family of Tschudi.
But with the growth of the Habsburg power, a change came
over the condition of Glarus. While still a simple count,
Rudolf of Habsburg had inherited the office of Steward of
Seckingen, and during his reign as emperor had persuaded the
Abbess to award the office of Mayor to his sons. As a result
Glarus lost the advantages accruing from the immunity, and
.practically became the personal property of the family of
Habsburg-Austria. That the inhabitants deeply resented these changes as injuri
ous to their liberties, may be inferred from the fact that when
they were summoned to join the Austrian forces at Morgarten,
they absolutely refused to do so. They seized the opportunity
of putting on record a protest against their anomalous position,
declaring in no uncertain terms that they were the subjects of
the Abbess of Seckingen, not of Austria; that she alone could
call them to arms, and that they had no part in Austria's
quarrels. In order to offset the latter's power, Glarus entered into a
temporary alliance with Schwiz, in 1323, her sympathies for
the Forest States growing as Austria's enmity became more
pronounced. When, therefore, the Confederates burst into
the valley, in 13 15, they found a population exasperated by
bad treatment, and ready to make common cause with them.
On the 4th of June, 1352, Glarus concluded a perpetual
league with Ziirich, Uri, Schwiz, and Unterwalden, thus becom
ing the sixth member of the Confederation. Luzern, for rea
sons which are not clear, decided not to take part in this new
compact. As for the document drawn up on this occasion, it makes
an unfortunate departure in the relations between the mem
bers of the Confederation. Glarus was assigned a distinctly
inferior position and given no voice whatever in matters of
common interest. It was agreed, for instance, that if Glarus
was threatened by any danger, it should issue the customary

150 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
summons, but the Confederates were not bound to render aid
if, upon examination they found that the grievance complained
of did not in their opinion justify armed interference. On the
other hand the new member was pledged to respond to every
official call for help from the other Confederates, without
investigation. To this manifest injustice was added the fur
ther one that, whereas Ziirich, Uri, Schwiz, and Unterwalden
were privileged to contract separate alliances without the
knowledge or consent of Glarus, the latter was strictly forbid-
to do the same thing. Special places were then selected where
disputes between the various contracting parties could be ami
cably settled.1
There is no reason to suppose that the men who framed the
above contract had any perception of the danger which inhered
in so biased an organization. The five Confederated States
doubtless argued that a community which had been rescued
from Austrian tyranny by their exertions, ought to be content
to take up a subordinate position. They could not realize the
evil character of the precedent they had set, nor foresee the
misunderstandings which their example was destined to foster
amid the Confederates of the future.
A few days after the admission of Glarus, the victorious
army proceeded to take possession of a strip of land, also sub
ject to Austria, which by reason of its position, was of the
utmost strategic value to both sides in the present war. This
was the little district of Zug, now the smallest of the Swiss
Cantons. Reference to the map will show that it enters like a
wedge between Zurich and the Forest States, and in the hands
of a hostile power would effectually separate their armies, mak
ing joint operations extremely difficult. The Confederates
were fully alive to this danger when they entered Zug, nor
were they altogether indifferent to the fertility of the country,
for it is a land of soft contours, where views of green fields and
smiling orchards alternate with lake scenery of a peculiarly
lovely description — the home of peaceful charms and rustic
contentment. 1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 92.

GLARUS AND ZUG. 151
What is now comprised by the Canton was at that time
divided into two parts — the city proper of Zug, which enjoyed
regular municipal privileges, and the surrounding country,
the so-called Outer District, comprising the communities of
Baar, Menzingen and Aegeri. Austria had absorbed the
entire government of these two parts. The townsmen did
not surrender until after a siege of fifteen days, while the
country people submitted willingly, being already heartily in
sympathy with the Confederates. According to Eberhard
Miilner, the townsmen had, in fact, sent messengers to Duke
Albrecht, entreating him to send help, but had received an
evasive answer.
On the 27th of June, 1352, the city and district of Zug con
cluded a perpetual league with Zurich, Luzern, Uri, Schwiz,
and Unterwalden, thereby entering the Confederation as the
seventh member. The name of Glarus does not appear
amongst the contracting parties. The document itself was
copied almost word for word from the one signed at Zurich's
admission, and secured to Zug a position equal in all respects
to the other Confederates.1
It must not be supposed, however, that Duke Albrecht
allowed these victories to pass unnoticed. As soon as he
could return to the scene of operations, he straightway began
to make preparations for a grand assault upon Zurich and her
allies, securing the services of some great nobles, such as the
Margrave Ludwig of Brandenburg and Count Eberhard of
Wurttemburg. The latter was entrusted with the supreme
command, for Duke Albrecht himself appears to have been
incapacitated for the work of military leadership by bodily
infirmity. Somehow this large army accomplished very little against
Zurich. The city was strongly fortified and ably defended,
and the siege languished unaccountably until finally the Count
of Wurttemburg discovered that a party in his camp had been
making secret overtures of peace. He therefore withdrew,
the attacking force gradually disbanded, and the Margrave of
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 95.

152 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Brandenburg was entrusted with the task of drawing up arti
cles of peace with the Confederates.
Contrary to what might have been expected the so-called
peace of Brandenburg proved to be a pronounced diplomatic
success for Austria. Both parties pledged themselves to
restore all territory gained in the course of the war, thus Gla
rus and Zug once more became subject to the enemy, although
their leagues with the Confederates were not finally repealed.
Luzern also agreed to submit to the Austrian dominion, as it
had existed before the war. Even Schwiz and Unterwalden
guaranteed the inviolability of the proprietary rights of Habs
burg within their borders. The Confederates were for the
future not to enter into alliance with Austrian subjects.
Count John of Rapperswil was finally released from prison,
and Zurich even paid a large sum for return of hostages,
which the city had given Duke Albrecht in the course of the
war. Such conditions are set by victors to the vanquished, not
by equals to equals, as the combatants had proved themselves
to be. One is at a loss to account for the tone of these arti
cles, which seem to take for granted that the Confederates had
been defeated.
Perhaps Brun's ambition was at fault. His desire for a
reconciliation with Austria was at times thrust into the back
ground by the exigencies of Zurich's position, but it was never
wholly abandoned, for he was always willing to sacrifice the
interests of his Confederate allies, if he could but make sure
of Austria's friendship.
A peaceful moment followed the conclusion of this treaty,
a lull in the hostilities, during which the Confederation, as
though to make up for the diplomatic defeat just sustained,
was strengthened by the addition of a new member — Bern.
The city, which is to-day the capital of Switzerland, and was
already then a military stronghold of recognized importance
on the confines of ancient Burgundy and Alamannia, came as
a welcome friend in time of need. Nor was Bern's admission

GLARUS AND ZUG. 153
in any sense a violation of that article of the peace of Branden
burg which forbade the Confederation to contract alliances
with the subjects of Austria, since Bern was a free city of the
empire in no way subject to that power.
Before considering the immediate results of this act, it will
be necessary to review Bern's growth from an obscure fort
ress into a prosperous city, keeping in mind that the struggle
between the Confederates and Austria was by no means at an
end, a struggle which has been justly described at the opening
of the chapter as long drawn and wearisome.

CHAPTER XIV.

BERN.

WHILE Zurich was fast becoming the controlling power
in the East of the region now known as Switzerland,
Bern was beginning to occupy a similar position in the West.
But it is interesting to notice how the different causes which
gave rise to the two cities, also left a peculiar impression upon
the character of their inhabitants, and seemed from the first
to give them different missions to fulfill. Zurich grew to
importance as a centre of trade, and its population was
engaged for the most part in the peaceful pursuits of manu
facturing and commerce, but Bern was founded by Berchtold
V, Duke of Zaeringen, to be a military stronghold and bul
wark against aggressive neighbors, so that the Bernese were
by nature more inclined to war, always displaying the greatest
confidence in their own martial powers. This characteristic
trait serves to explain more than one peculiarity in the general
history of the city.
Bern came into possession of the Reichsunmittelbarkeit at
the extinction of the family of Zaeringen, probably because the
soil on which it stood belonged to the empire. The earliest
charter which has reached us, the basis of Bern's municipal
government, is the Goldene Handveste, so-called because of the
seal of beaten gold which is attached to it. When the citizens
laid this document before Rudolf of Habsburg, in 1274, for his
confirmation, they claimed that it had been granted to them by
Frederic IL, in 12 18. Historians now generally doubt the
accuracy of this statement, and are inclined to think that the
Handveste simply represented a body of law which had accu-
154

BERN 155
mulated since Frederic's time. However that may be, Rudolf
undoubtedly gave his sanction to its various provisions.
In many respects it presents an excellent picture of a pecul
iar kind of municipal government in the Middle Ages.
In the first place the imperial immunity is assured to the
city as well as exemption from all imperial taxation except an
annual homestead tax. The citizens are allowed a mint and
market of their own, and the privilege of electing all their
municipal officers, from the Schultheiss to the Sheriff. By
an exceptional arrangement the Schultheiss had exercised for
many years all the powers which naturally belonged to the
imperial bailiff, although officials with the later title appeared
in Bern until the beginning of the fourteenth century, so that
this privilege of election in reality meant a great deal to the
citizens. Furthermore, they were not to be required to render
military assistance at any place so far removed that they could
not return to their homes the following night. Suitable quar
ters must be provided for the sovereign's suite, whenever he
visited the city. Subsequent articles deal with the right of
holding real estate, with the acquirement of citizenship (Btir-
gerrecht), and the administration of justice. Minute regula
tions follow relating to criminal law, especially to the settling
of wrongs by duel. Every male who had completed his four
teenth year could exercise the rights of a citizen, and was at
that age required to swear fealty to the city and the empire.1
In 1295, Bern's municipal government was altered by the
introduction of certain popular reforms. In addition to the
Schultheiss and council of twelve, a sort of board of control
of sixteen was to be chosen from the four wards of the city.
This body was in turn empowered to elect a common council
of two hundred. Artisans, hitherto unrepresented, were eli
gible to the board of control and common council, but guilds,
as they existed in Zurich, were strictly forbidden. In spite of
these reforms, the government remained essentially aristo
cratic and military, while the tendency of Zurich was mani
festly democratic and industrial.
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 27.

156 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Bern was now fully equipped for carrying out some definite
policy in the fertile Aar valley in which it was situated, and
this policy was one of conquest and aggression, as might be
expected. It was the aim of the city to unite the towns and
communities of the valley into one Commonwealth, to create
a little republic.
History shows that this plan was successful in the end, but
not until many years had passed and much blood had flowed,
for here, as elsewhere in Switzerland, the efforts of the people
to unite in leagues was opposed by the great common enemy,
Habsburg-Austria. Indeed the history of the Aar valley for
the next hundred years and more is the history of the struggle
between the partisans of Bern and Austria for the mastery.
It was a struggle, in which the rising city, in spite of occa
sional reverses, gained steadily against the feudal nobles, and
in so far aided the cause of the people against their oppressors.
Bern's foreign policy had, up to this time, vacillated
between adherence to Savoy and Habsburg; hereafter, it was
to be marked by a vigorous independence.
In 1243, a perpetual league had been concluded with Fri-,
bourg, and on different occasions since then temporary alli
ances had been formed with Luzern, with the bishop of Sion,
the valley of Hasle, and the city of Solothurn. But in 1298,
Fribourg, having become a confirmed partisan of Austria,
renounced its friendship with Bern, and made an attack upon
the city with the help of certain noblemen. The Bernese
anticipating the assault, marched forth from their walls, drove
the enemy from the position they had taken on the so-called
Dornbiihl, and inflicted a severe defeat upon them further
on at Oberwangen. Following up this victory, the citizens
destroyed many of the neighboring castles, renewed alliances
under advantageous terms with old friends, or formed treaties
with new ones.
In 1308, followed a perpetual league with the city of Solo
thurn, at that time enjoying the position of a free city of the
empire.

BERN. 157
Solothurn, was the ancient Helveto-Roman Salodurum,
risen from the ruins into which it had fallen at the time of
the invasion of the Alamanni. As the seat of an institute of
Canons, dedicated to St. Ursus, a martyr of the Theban legion,
the place won considerable renown in the tenth century. It
possessed the Reichsunmittelbarkeit, and the citizens seem to
have acquired the right of electing their Schultheiss and coun
cil, but by steps which are not yet clearly understood.
In the meantime, Austria was carrying out a plan of
aggrandizement in another quarter. By one means or another
that power obtained control of the line of communication
between Bern and the Forest States by way of Thun, Unter-
seen, and the Briinig Pass.
A branch of the family of Kiburg had its seat at Thun, but
was now fast sinking under financial difficulties into utter help
lessness. Hartmann, the elder brother, sided with Austria,
while Eberhard, the younger, looked to Bern to give him the
leadership in the family. On the night of All Saints, 1322,
the two brothers quarrelled while discussing their affairs in
the Castle of Thun, flew to arms, and Hartmann was killed in
the resulting scuffle.
This was the signal for the rival supporters of Kiburg, Bern
and Austria, to strain every nerve in order to gain control
over the remaining brother. A period of the utmost confu
sion ensued. In 1323, Bern sought the alliance of the Forest
States, an important event in Swiss history, although its last
ing consequences were not immediately apparent. In 1332, a
regular war broke out for the possession of Giimminen, a
stronghold of strategic value to the rival powers.
Bern was feeling the exaltation of success, and strode from
one conquest to another. The eyes of her martial citizens
were now turned upon the Oberland, that district of unmatched
grandeur to which modern tourists now flock by thousands
every year.
In the first part of the fourteenth century, the Oberland was
subject to a variety of masters. The Lords of Weissenburg

158 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
ruled over the Simmenthal and the valley of the Hasle; the
Counts of Gruyeres possessed the upper valley of the Saane,
(Sarine) ; in the valley of the Kander at Frutigen were the
nobles, Thurn von Gestelen, natives of the Valais; and at
Spiez, the decaying house of Strattlingen. These families
were closely united by intermarriage, and acted in conjunction
for the interests of Austria. After repeated quarrels with the
Lords of Weissenburg, the Bernese finally, in 1334, attacked
Wimmis, took it by storm, and destroyed the wall (Letzi),
which blocked the entrance to the valley. The nobles of
Weissenburg were forced to conclude a treaty with Bern and
to become citizens of the city, as well as to give up their
rights over the valley of Hasle. This peasant community had
for centuries possessed the Reichsunmittelbarkeit; an Amm
ann, elected by the people themselves, or chosen from their
midst by the Sovereign, had exercised complete jurisdiction.
In fact, the valley of the Hasle was a potential Forest State,
and would doubtless have developed into an independent mem
ber of the Swiss Confederation, had not Henry VII. granted
it as a forfeit to the Lords of Weissenburg, in 13 10. Nor was
the position of the community sensibly improved, when, in
1334, the possessions of those nobles passed into the grasp of
Bern. But these events were watched with growing anxiety by the
partisans of Austria. Little by little, the surrounding nobles
formed themselves into a coalition inspired by one thought,
and impelled by one purpose, to overthrow the rising commun
ity of Burghers in Bern, who were threatening to absorb the
whole region between the lakes of Geneva, Morat, and Thun.
In this task they found Fribourg a willing tool, or rather a
determined leader, for this city was devoured by a jealousy
which grew in proportion as Bern gained new territory
and overshadowed her sister city on the Sarine. A new
element in the strife was added when the Emperor Ludwig,
whose election Bern and Solothurn obstinately refused to
acknowledge, on account of their attachment t-o the papal

BERN. 159
cause, gave his sanction to the efforts of the nobles to crush
the disobedient city. This new complexion of affairs gave the
coalition the moral support which it had lacked up to that
time. Bern found herself almost deserted. The city, could
only count upon comparatively small contingents from the
Oberland and from the Forest States, the latter being pledged
to support by virtue of the alliance of 1323. Solothurn, threat
ened as it was by the same coalition, could only send a handful
of men.
Operations began with an incursion into Bernese territory
made by Count Gerhard of Valengin. Then the citizens sent
a garrison of 600 men to hold Laupen, which was, in point of
fact, the key to their defence. The garrison was to defend
that stronghold until Bern could collect its allies and march to
the rescue, a feat of endurance which was safely accomplished
in the face of a besieging army, estimated at 16,000 infantry
and 1,000 horsemen.
On the 2 ist of June, 1339, the Bernese and their allies,
numbering, at the utmost, 6,000 men, hastened to the relief of
Laupen. A parish priest, Theobald Baselwind, accompanied
them, carrying the host and proclaiming the war as waged in
behalf of the Pope against Emperor Ludwig, his adversary.
They also wore white crosses as symbols of their holy cause.
After traversing a forest they came out upon the height of the
Bramberg, and saw the enemy in the plain below, occupying a
position between them and Laupen.
The battle began in the afternoon with a heavy attack of
infantry, led by the men of Fribourg, upon their hated rivals
of the city of Bern. The latter seem to have yielded to the
onslaught at first, but quickly recovering, they turned and
repulsed the enemy, eventually putting the whole infantry to
flight. In the meantime, the contingents from the Forest
States had been waging an unequal contest with the hostile
horsemen. With the help of the victorious Bernese, however,
they succeeded in routing also the horsemen. Thus the day
was won. The garrison of Laupen, waiting anxiously to learn

160 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
the result of the battle, was liberated with joy. The Forest
States, on their part, received compensation for the share they
had taken in the battle.
In the camp of the nobles there was great lamentation.
Knights had come from Swabia, Elsass, the Aargau, and Bur
gundy; their loss was very great. There perished Count
Louis of Vaud, the Count of Nidau, of Valengin, and John of
Maggenberg, Schultheiss of Fribourg.
Historical criticism has been much busied with regard to the
leadership of the Bernese troops at Laupen. There is still a
question whether this honor must be ascribed to Rudolf
von Erlach, or to the ruling Schultheiss, John von Buben-
berg. The name of the leader is not mentioned in the old
est account of the battle, the so-called Conflictus Laupensis,
written by an unknown contemporary citizen of Bern in the
middle of the fourteenth century ; nor in the Cronica de
Berno, contained in the annals of the minster of St. Vin
cent. Justinger is the first to cite Erlach as the com
mander-in-chief, but his account is marred by certain well-
established inaccuracies.
A particular importance attaches to this battle of Laupen
from the fact that it gave an opportunity for the Bernese
to co-operate with their friends of the Forest States against
Austria. It was the first occasion on which the East and
West of what is now Switzerland joined hands against a
common enemy.
Not that the struggle against the coalition was ended, how
ever, for a desultory warfare was maintained until 1342, when
peace was definitely established with the Dukes of Austria.
Finally, in 1353, came the admission of Bern into the Swiss
Confederation. A perpetual league was concluded with Uri,
Schwiz, and Unterwalden ; Zurich and Luzern alone, of the
other States, taking any part in the contract.
The' document setting forth the agreements made on this
occasion was copied in part from the league concluded between
the Forest States and Zurich. Minute regulations were estab-

BERN. 161
lished to govern the issuing of a warning call, in case of dan
ger. There was also a provision, resembling the one in the
Zurich league, which virtually pledged the Forest States to
guarantee the inviolability of Bernese territory, although Bern
itself made no corresponding promise to them. It was only
another case of short-sighted injustice on the part of the early
Confederates, due, in a great measure, to Bern's superior diplo
macy and prestige.
As for the rest, the general tenor of this document indicated
the city's desire not to bind itself too closely to the policy of
the allies, but rather to allow a wide margin for plans of its
own. Zurich and Luzern were not admitted directly into this
league, but it was agreed that in case the Forest States were
called upon to help Zurich or Luzern, they might also issue a
summons to Bern.
For the present, Bern's entrance into the Confederation did
not lead to great results. The city took care not to become
embroiled in the intermittent struggle which Zurich and the
Forest States were waging against Austria, and at times even
against the emperor himself; a struggle which had not yet
come to an end, but was destined to be crowned by a triumph
of such brilliancy as to startle the medieval world.
Bern thus closed the list of the Eight States which com
posed the early Confederation. One hundred and twenty-
eight years were to elapse before another member was
adrrjtfred.

CHAPTER XV
INVASION OF THE GUGLER AND FEUD WITH KIBURG.
WAR begets war, and victory provokes retaliation.
Duke Albrecht was not satisfied with the manner
in which certain articles of the treaty of Brandenburg were
carried out, and, therefore, lodged complaints with the reign
ing King, Charles IV., desiring him to interfere in his
behalf. As a result the latter twice appeared in person at
Ziirich, in 1353 and 1354, in order to bring about an under
standing between Austria and the Confederation. His
efforts were all in vain. The citizens of Zurich and the
delegates of the Forest States there assembled, received him
with all the honors due to the sovereign of the empire, but
the negotiations failed to produce satisfactory results. The
demands urged by Albrecht's councillors, proved altogether
unreasonable, and, if accepted, would have rendered null and
void all the charters and leagues upon which the Confeder
ation was based. Seeing that peaceful means were of no
avail, Charles IV. and Albrecht prepared to lay seige to Zurich.
It was a critical moment in the history of the Confeder
ates, for they had arrayed against them, not only the forces
of their traditional enemy, but also those of the head of the
empire. Their fate trembled in the balance, when the men
of Zurich suddenly extricated themselves from this predica
ment by a clever strategem, doubtless suggested by their
crafty Biirgermeister Brun. The Chronicler, Miilner, has
described it in the following words : " As now they lay
before our city, Zurich, with all power and great might, we
planted high the imperial banner, and told the emperor that,
162

INVASION OF GUGLER— FEUD WITH KIBURG. 163
•
after all, we belonged to none but the Holy Empire, against
which we would never act."1 With this stroke the besieg
ing army was dissolved, as if by magic. Charles could not
well fight against his own banner, after this open submis
sion, and was, moreover, delighted at any excuse for abandon
ing his thankless task. Albrecht, on the other hand, was
not strong enough to gain a decisive battle single-handed,
and was obliged, for the third time, to retire without having
been able to punish Zurich. In 1355, conditions of peace
were signed at Regensburg, which did not vary essentially
from those negotiated by the Margrave of Brandenburg,
three years before. In fact, Zurich actually entered into a
separate alliance with Austria shortly after, and Biirgermeis
ter Brun took the extraordinary step of becoming Privy
Councillor to Duke Albrecht, in return for a handsome
annual pension.
If Brun had continued to direct Zurich's policy much longer,
it is difficult to understand how the young Confederation could
have held together at all, one party filled with traditional dis
trust of Austria, and the other tending apparently to become
steadily more submissive to the dictates of that power. But
another era dawned, when the two men, who had contributed
so largely to this anomalous state of affairs, followed each
other, in quick succession, into the grave. Duke Albrecht suc
cumbed in 1358, a man who, as Miilner says with charming
impartiality, "had done much harm to us and our Confeder
ates. He was lame, so that he had to be carried ; nor could
he ride except upon a horse-litter, and yet was an earnest,
brave and undaunted man and master."2 Brun only survived
him two years, to trouble the internal peace of the Confeder
ation by his absolute and abject submission to Austria.
Swiss historians have had a good deal to say about the pri
vate character and public life of this first Biirgermeister —
some praising him for his clear insight into the peculiar needs
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch, p. 99.
2 Dandliker, K. Geschichte. p. 482.

164 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
of nis native city, and others calling him nothing short of a
traitor to the cause of the Confederation. It is now generally
conceded that he does not quite deserve so ugly a name. In
the light of subsequent events, his conduct certainly appears
disloyal to the interests of the Confederates, but, considering
the dangers which beset Zurich in his day, and the purely local
conception of patriotism which was characteristic of the mid
dle ages, his offence seems less inexcusable than one might sup
pose. Brun was, undoubtedly, a diplomatist of talent, a born
executive officer, but he was not what the world calls great.
He lacked the perception of broad principles. He did not
realize the position to which the Confederation would be called,
or else he would have thrown the whole of his energy into the
effort to develop it, instead of wasting his life in intrigue with
Austria. It seemed, at last, that the Confederates could start afresh
with a distinct national policy. Charles IV., having quarreled
with Duke Rudolf IV, Albrecht's successor, confirmed all the
charters and leagues of the various States. In 1364, the men
of Schwiz reconquered Zug from Austria, and in 1368, that
power was forced to agree to the conditions imposed upon it
by the peace of Thorberg.
If anything could demonstrate the reawakening of the Con
federates to a full appreciation of their common interests, it
was the so-called Priest's Charter (Pfaffenbrief), an instrument
to which they all subscribed, except Bern and Glarus. Its
special provisions will be dealt with in another chapter ; suffice
it here to relate the incident from which it arose.
It appears that the Schultheiss of Luzern, Peter von Gun-
doldingen, was returning, in the autumn of 1370 with several
companions, from the annual fair in Zurich, when he was
seized by order of Bruno Brun, a son of the late Biirger
meister, with whom he was involved in a lawsuit. Bruno
Brun was, at that time, Provost of the Grossmiinster and a
zealous partisan of Austria, like his father. Although the
affair was evidently a case of private revenge, it, nevertheless,

INVASION OF GUGLER — FEUD WITH KIBURG. 165
created a great sensation throughout the land, on account of
the prominent personages who figured in it. Public opinion
branded it as an offence against the sovereignty of Luzern ; as
a violation of the holy peace of markets, without which com
merce would become an impossibility ; and as the result of
Austrian influence. In face of this popular storm, Bruno Brun
attempted to escape punishment by appealing to an ecclesias
tical court, but thereby merely precipitated a revolutionary
movement in Zurich, which led to a democratic amendment in
the city constitution, known as the Zweitene Geschworene
Brief (Second Sworn Brief), and eventually to an agreement
amongst the Confederates, which they called the Priest's
Charter, from the peculiar cause of its origin.
In 1375, an unforeseen disaster spread terror and misery
over certain districts of the Confederation. A noted free
lance, Enguerrand (Ingram) de Coucy, called upon the Duke
of Austria to pay him a sum of money which was due to his
mother, Catherine of Austria, daughter of that Duke Leopold
I., who had been defeated at Morgarten. His demands not
being complied with, he determined to seize certain towns in
the Aargau, which had originally been named as security for
the payment of the sum in question. For this purpose he
gathered about him a vast army, estimated at between 40,000
and 50,000, consisting principally of mercenaries, who had been
thrown out of employment by the cessation of hostilities be
tween England and France. Amongst them, also, a sprinkling
of Welshmen, notably the redoubtable warrior, levan ap Ey-
nion, who had been fighting against the English. The peasants
styled the invaders Englishmen, or gave them the nickname of
Gugler, on account of the cowls (Kugelhilte) many of them wore.
Enguerrand de Coucy entered the Aargau by way of Basel,
crossed the Jura, and then allowed his troops to rove about far
and wide over the plains, plundering and devastating with
remorseless ardor. For a moment the whole country seemed
at their mercy, especially as the Austrian officials offered no
resistance. Then the people rose in self-defence. There was

166 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
a bloody engagement at Buttisholz, where, to this day, a hillock
still goes by the name of Englander Hiigel, and finally the
Bernese surprised a large detachment of the enemy at the
monastery of Fraubrunnen, in a night attack. The survivors
were forced to retire from the country after this defeat, and
the war was over.
As for the rest, the invasion of the Gugler, although it
created a great sensation at the time, was not productive of
lasting results. A disturbance in another quarter soon de
manded the attention of the Confederates.
The process of decay which had overtaken the once power
ful family of Kiburg has already been noticed in a previous
chapter. In 1382, however, Count Rudolf, a grandson of
Eberhard, the fratricide, made a last and desperate attempt
to retrieve the fortunes of his house by an attack upon Solo
thurn, with which city he had been involved in a long-drawn
lawsuit. He conceived the idea of settling this dispute with
the sword, in true knight-errant fashion ; then, if successful in
his undertakings, of extending his conquests over Bern and
neighboring cities. Fortunately, the plan was betrayed and
Solothurn was saved, but so general was the indignation
aroused by the mere possibility of this dastardly act, that Sol
othurn, Bern, and contingents from the Forest States laid siege
to Burgdorf and Olten, the principal towns in the Kiburg pos
sessions. It is true they were not immediately successful in
punishing the Count, for Austria came to his aid, contrary to
express agreement, but later, at a conference held in Bern,
Rudolf of Kiburg agreed to sell Burgdorf and Thun to the
Bernese, thus accelerating the downfall of his house, which now
sank into insignificance, and became extinct in 14 15.

CHAPTER XVI.
THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH.1
THAT growth of unity, of a national policy amongst the
Confederates, which had reasserted itself after Brun's
death, now became continually more apparent, and, as before,
took the shape of hostility toward Austria. A long list of
grievances had nourished this hatred in the past ; a harrow
ing warfare had been waged sullenly for years, without
leading to a decisive result. It was evident that a conflict
between the Confederation and the ducal house could no
longer be averted; that two expanding forces,- trying to
occupy the same territory, must eventually come into open
collision. ,
Duke Leopold III., nephew of the Leopold who was
defeated at Morgarten, ruled over the western possessions of
the Habsburg family, including those situated in what is
now Swiss territory. In his efforts to extend and consoli
date his authority in southern Germany, he had encountered
the determined opposition of a coalition known as the
League of the Swabian Cities. Seeing this, the Confeder
ates hastened to ally themselves with the new league, in
the hope of sweeping their hereditary enemy out of the
country altogether. Had this alliance been of a firm and
durable kind, the desired result might have been obtained;
but it was weak and vacillating, unable, as subsequent events
proved, to stand the test of actual warfare.
The signal for hostilities to begin came from an unex
pected quarter — from that of Luzern. This city had been
1 Appeared in part in "The Atlantic Monthly," April, 1891, under the title of
"Arnold Winkelried at Sempach.'' 167

168 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
for some time in a false position, for, while nominally under
Austrian dominion, it was practically self-governing, and,
moreover, bound to Austria's implacable enemy by a perpet
ual league. There was a continual struggle between the
two tendencies of allegiance to the ducal authorities and to
the Confederation, going on within its walls. In 1385, dem
ocratic strivings began to manifest themselves in an unmis
takable manner. The citizens set about demolishing the
Austrian strongholds in their vicinity, liberating the peasantry
from the control of the enemy's officials, and admitting them
as fellow citizens to the enjoyment of their own charter.
Thus the seat of the Austrian bailiff at Rothenburg was
destroyed, the men of Entlebuch, a neighboring valley, were
drawn into friendly relations, and the little city of Sempach
received the rights of co-citizenship with Luzern.
Nor did the other Confederates remain quiet in the face of
such enterprise. Zug attacked the castle of St. Andreas near
Cham, Zurich marched against Rapperswil, and Schwiz took
Einsiedeln. When war seemed inevitable, they sent the customary sum
mons to the Swabian cities, but the latter attempted to with
draw from the pledge to send help, and, in the end, left their
allies to bear the brunt of the storm alone.
In June, 1386, Leopold organized the expedition with which
he hoped to deal the Confederation a death-blow. Many
well-known noblemen flocked to his standard, attracted by his
knightly character and by the hope of inflicting a lasting
punishment upon the insolent peasants. There were the mar
graves of Baden and Hochberg, and the counts of Hohen-Zol-
lern, Nassau, and Habsburg-Lauffenburg ; from Italy came the
Marquis of Este with two hundred Milanese lances, and his
brother-in-law, Duke Conrad of Theck. Leopold had also
hired the services of several noted mercenary captains : the
Duke of Lorraine; the Dutch Count of Salm; Lord Jean
de Raye, who later became Marshal of France ; Lord Jean de
Vergy, Senechal and Marshal of Burgundy ; and the same

THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH. 169
Enguerrand de Coucy, who had fought in the French and
English wars, and had shortly before invaded Switzerland at
the head of plundering troops. It was Leopold's plan to pen
etrate at once to Luzern, the geographical centre of the
Confederation, while diverting the enemy's attention by a
reconnaissance upon Zurich ; and, had his force been compact
and available for immediate invasion, the issue of the war might
have been very different. But a great part of his army did
not reach the scene of action at all, so that only a compara
tively small column made the disastrous march upon Luzern.
From the little town of Brugg, near the ancestral castle of
Habsburg, Leopold advanced by way of Zofingen and Willisau
to Sursee, foolishly wasting more than a week of valuable time
in stopping at Willisau to punish a refractory chatelaine for her
allegiance to Bern. On the 9th of July, the main force finally
rode along the northern shore of the Lake of Sempach, in
order to reach Luzern by way of Rothenburg.
The battle-ground of Sempach, like that of Morgarten, is
not situated amongst the high Alps, but in the undulating
lowlands which lead up to them. A ten-mile ride in the train
from Luzern and a short walk from the rustic station will take
you to the gates of the miniature walled town of Sempach, a
quaint survival of the middle ages, practically untouched by
the march of time. Take the road which climbs the hill in a
north-easterly direction toward Hildisrieden. In something
like half an hour you will reach an uneven plateau, where a
road joins your own from the west. This is the battle-ground
of Sempach. A chapel stands by the wayside to mark the spot
where Duke Leopold met his death ; in the open field a rude
pyramid of granite, surrounded by pine saplings, bears this
legend : " Hier Hat Winkelried den Seinen Eine Gasse Gem-
acht, 1386." To the south, across the sloping field, broken
by little brooks into rough divisions, lies a tract of forest,
known as the Meierholz, where the Confederates lay in hiding
on that eventful day, waiting for the arrival of the Austrians
from Sursee.

170 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
As soon as war had been declared, the various states of the
Confederation had taken steps to put their frontiers into a
defensive condition, Bern alone remaining inactive and pre
serving an expectant attitude. About fifteen hundred troops
marched to Zurich to defend that city, because it was generally
believed that Leopold would select it for his principal attack ;
but at the last moment news came that the Austrians were
advancing upon Luzern, and the troops hastened to take up a
position from which they could surprise Leopold on the march.
Thus it happened that when the Austrians reached the uneven
plateau, which has been described above, the battle came upon
them as a complete surprise, and in a locality ill-suited for the
evolutions of their cavalry. The majority of the knights dis
mounted, sent their horses and squires to one side, and sta
tioned themselves in long and deep lines, clad in heavy armor,
and holding before them the lances they were accustomed
to wield on horseback. The rest, amongst whom rode Leo
pold himself, remained behind to act as a reserve with the
contingents sent by Austria's partisans. According to the
most reliable accounts, some adventurous young . noblemen,
eager to win their spurs that day, straightway rushed upon
the Confederates, who were drawn up in a wedge-shaped col
umn peculiar to them, and were armed with their famous hal
berds and a variety of short weapons.
There can be no question that the first part of the battle
proved most unfavorable to the Confederates. It appears that
their short weapons were useless against the long spears which
confronted them, for they couH not reach the Austrians to
strike them, and could, at best, only shatter the wooden shafts.
In vain they rushed against the bristling array, in vain they
attempted to break through that solid phalanx; the foremost
were invariably pierced through before they could make use of
their short weapons. By degrees the Austrians were pressing
the Confederates off the field, and victory seemed assured to
the noblemen against the peasants.
Suddenly, however, the tide of battle turned ; defeat was

THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH. Ill
changed to triumph as though by a miracle. How this came
about is a problem which has exercised the minds of many his
torians, for it is at this point that certain versions introduce
the much-contested episode of Arnold Winkelried, while others
ascribe the cause of this good fortune to a change of tactics
adopted by the Confederates, or to the hot July sun, acting
upon the heavy armor in which the Austrians were encased.
Probably these circumstances affected the issue of the battle
to a certain extent ; but there seems to be room for the heroic
deed of Winkelried as well. In the words of the anonymous
chronicler who is the first to mention the subject: "To this
[victory] a trusty man amongst the Confederates helped us.
When he saw that things were going so badly, and that the
lords with their lances and spears always thrust down the
foremost before they could be touched by the halberds, then
did that honest man and true rush forward and seize as many
spears as he could and press them down, so that the Confed
erates smote off all the spears with their halberds, and so
reached the enemy." :
As soon as the Confederates had succeeded in breaking
through the enemy's line and were at close quarters, whatever
the manner in which this was accomplished, their short weap
ons at once became superior to the enemy's long spears, and
their light equipment gave them a great advantage over the
knights, whose movements were hampered by heavy armor.
The Austrian knights, encased in plates of iron and steel, half
suffocated under heavy helmets, heated by the broiling sun,
their legs covered with greaves, could not long withstand the
light-footed peasants. Austria's standard was seen to sway to
and fro, threatening to fall, and the cry went up, " Austria to
the rescue ! " Then Leopold, who had been watching the fray
from his post amongst the reserves, sprang forward, unmindful
of his followers' prayers, plunged into the thick of the fight to
save the honor of his house, and, after a brave struggle, fell
himself beneath the strokes of the victorious Confederates.
Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 105.

172 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Then ensued a moment of indescribable confusion, for the
mounted knights, seeing their leader's fate, fled precipitately,
while the dismounted ones called aloud for their squires and
horses. But alas ! they, too, had fled ; and thus abandoned by
their friends, weak with exhaustion, and imprisoned in their
armor, these warriors perished an easy prey to the relentless
peasants. When all was over, the Confederates, as was their wont, fell
upon their knees to sing a Kyrie, and to thank God for the
victory. Then they remained three days upon the battlefield,
to gather up the spoils, to bury their dead, and to be ready to
meet the enemy should they return.
Besides Leopold the Austrians mourned the loss of a host
of nobles, whose names are carefully recorded in various annals,
in all more than six hundred of the best blood of Swabia and
the lands subject to the Habsburg family. The victors also
lost some of their best leaders, notably Conrad der Frauen, the
Landammann of Uri, and Peter von Gundoldingen, late Avoyer
(Schultheiss) of Luzern. Great booty in costly weapons, gar
ments, and jewels fell into their hands, of which they could
hardly understand the uses or appreciate the value. The
museum of Luzern still contains a few authenticated trophies
captured in the battle, but most of the spoils were scattered
about, and are of course extremely difficult to identify at this
late date.
It is interesting to know that, when Leopold's body was trans
ported to Austria from the monastery church of Konigsfelden,
near Brugg, where he had been temporarily laid to rest after
the battle, an eye-witness of the ceremony reported that his
head was covered with long reddish-gold hair, and that no
wound whatever was visible on his head.
In forming an estimate of the duke's character, we must not
allow ourselves to be influenced by the humiliating defeat
which he sustained at Sempach. He seems to have been
every inch a knight ; not by any means free from the failings
peculiar to his class and his age, but a man possessed of

THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH. 173
of the manly virtues — brave, keen, and well practiced in
arms. There was something extraordinary in the sensation caused
by the reports of this rout of the nobles. The news flew like
wildfire in every direction, so that we find it mentioned in the
chronicles of places as far removed from the scene of battle as
Liibeck and Limburg in the far north, and an Italian city in
the south. A Swabian writer expressed the pious wish " that
the cursed Swiss at Sentback (Sempach) might be confounded
and their descendants destroyed forever,"1 while the Confeder
ates, on their side, made all manner of fun of the vanquished
knights, accumulating a large stock of anecdotes and war
songs upon the subject. It is related, for instance, that the
dismounted horsemen were obliged to cut off the awkward
beak-shaped points to their shoes, which were fashionable in
those days, before entering into battle, and that this is the rea
son why a field near by is still called the Schnabelacker, or
Beakfield. A further task in historical criticism remains to be accom
plished before leaving this subject — a disagreeable duty in
many respects, for it is to examine whether Arnold Winkel
ried did really perform the heroic act attributed to him, or
whether his story is merely an interpolation, inserted by
unscrupulous chroniclers.
Fortunately, the evidence concerning the ancestry of Win
kelried, unlike that of William Tell, reposes upon a solid foun
dation. As long ago as 1854, Dr. Hermann von Liebenau,
whose services in the cause of Swiss historical research have
been invaluable, published a genealogical record of the family
from contemporary documents, covering the period between
1248 and 1534.
The Knights of Winkelreid appear at intervals, according to
Von Liebenau's investigations, occupying positions of honor
and trust amongst the families of lesser nobles which Unter
walden possessed from very early times. In 1367, nineteen
1 Liebenau, T. von. Die Schlacht bei Sempach.

174 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
years before the battle of Sempach, the name of a man, Erni
Winkelried, was affixed as witness to a deed of transfer, Erni
being the local diminutive of Arnold. The same name, whether
representing the same person or not, cannot be determined,
but with the particle von added, occurs again three years after
the battle, and without a von thirty-one years after, when one
Erni Winkelried is mentioned as Landammann of Unterwaldea
At the eastern extremity of the village of Stans, travellers
are shown an ancient stone house which is known locally as
the Winkelried homestead, and in the little arsenal hangs a
coat-of-mail which is said to have been the hero's own. There
is no evidence of the genuineness of the relic beyond popular
say-so, while the house was more likely the property of the
Counts of Habsburg. A modern marble group, representing
Winkelried's act of heroism, stands in the village square.
The ominous silence of contemporary chronicles is urged
against the truth of the generally accepted version, for the
brave deed is not mentioned until something like half a cen
tury after the battle, and even this date is open to the question.
The name of Winkelried does not occur in the earhest account
which has been quoted above in the description of the battle,
where he is described simply as "a trusty man amongst the Con
federates"; in fact, we meet the name for the first time in a
certain battle-song attributed to one Halbsuter, of Luzern, the
date of its production being also a matter in dispute, but gen
erally conceded to be about 1476. The three stanzas which
deal with the Winkelried episode are presented here in all
their naive simplicity : —
" The nobles' force was firm.
Their order deep and broad;
This vexed the pious guests.1
A Winkelried, he said :
' Ha ! if you'll make amends
To my poor child and wife,
TU do a daring deed.'
1Referring, probably, to the fact that the men of Unterwalden were, in a sense,
military guests of Luzem, in whose territory the battle of Sempach was fought.

THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH. lib
"'True and dear Confederates,
I'll lose my life with you ;
They've closed their line of battle,
We cannot break it through ;
Ha I I will force an opening,
Because to my descendants
You'll make amends forever!'
" With this he then did seize
Of spears an armful quickly ;
For them he makes a way,
His life is at an end.
Ah ! he has a lion's courage ;
I lis brave and manly death
Saved the Four Forest States."1

In 1538, Rudolf Gwalther, Zwingli's son-in-law, tells the
same story, without, however, mentioning Winkelried's name.
Two lists of those who fell in the battle have put the
hero's name on record ; but, unfortunately, they were both
drawn up long after Sempach, almost two hundred years
having elapsed since that event, so that their testimony is
open to suspicion. In the course of this controversy, it has
also transpired that five similar feats are on record in Swiss
history. One historian (K. Biirkli) has gone so far as to
assert that the whole story has been transferred to Sem
pach from the fight which occurred at Bicocca, near Milan,
in 1522, where another Arnold Winkelried met his death in
a similar manner ; while somebody else even maintains that
Winkelried did not seize the enemy's spears at all, but him
self used a bundle of spears to break through the enemy's
ranks. The, upshot of the whole discussion seems to be some
what as follows : —
The strictest historical research has established that a
man, Arnold Winkelried, lived in Stans, of Unterwalden, at
about the time of the battle of Sempach ; but it is still a
debatable question whether he was present at the battle.
'Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 107-108.

176 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
The fact that he came from a knightly family, distinguished
for its warlike character, would, lead _ one to suppose that he
would not absent himself at a critical moment, such as the day
of Sempach undoubtedly was. As for the act itself, the
evidence for and against seems fairly well balanced. There
was, unquestionably, a wonderful turning-point in the course
of the battle, and Winkelried's act might have accomplished
all that has been claimed for it ; but, on the other hand,
the silence of contemporary accounts, the similarity of the
feat recorded of the battle of Bicocca, and the unscrupulous-
ness of chroniclers and ballad-mongers in glorifying their
particular locality, are arguments which must be considered
to weigh heavily against the story of the patriotic self-
sacrifice. One must confess to an intense enthusiasm for this heroic
act, whether performed at Sempach or at Bicocca, by a
Winkelried or by an unknown " trusty man amongst the Con
federates." It has in it something exceptionally noble,
something classic, as though destined to fire the imagination
and arouse the devotion of mankind for all time. William
Tell's disappearance from the historical stage has proved a
great gain, especially by opening the way for a serious
study of the origin of the Swiss Confederation. His conduct
never merited the eulogisms which have always been lavished
upon it ; for to imperil the life of his own child by an exhibi
tion of fancy shooting, and then to murder the tyrant from
ambush, were acts which we cannot sanction unreservedly.
William Tell's story is picturesque, but Winkelried's is
heroic, unsoiled even by the semblance of self-interest. If
it be destined to disappear from the pages of strict history,
let it at least live in the hearts of men forever as a divine
fiction.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE BATTLE OF NAFELS.

MORGARTEN and Sempach alike, though fought between
Austria and the Confederation, were in reality episodes
in a far greater contest which embraced the nobility and
peasantry of Europe in general. In the retrospect these bat
tles are seen to be amongst those victories which have
advanced the cause of liberty and placed mankind nearer the
ideal toward which it is steadily progressing through the
ages. But Austria's cup of humiliation was not yet full. Embold
ened by their wonderful success, the Confederates encroached
upon the enemy's territory in all directions. A sort of armis
tice was indeed agreed upon, a temporary cessation of hostilities,
which went by the name of the Evil Peace, because no one for
a moment dreamed that the contracting parties would adhere
strictly to its provisions. The Bernese promptly marched
against Fribourg, as they usually did when that staunch Aus
trian rival of theirs was unprotected, and inflicted several
defeats in that quarter. Other Confederates took the little
town of Wesen as the first step toward reclaiming Glarus
altogether from the Austrian yoke. In fact, the contest was
now transferred to that unfortunate valley, which, though
united to the Confederation by a perpetual league, was still
governed by the common enemy.
At this juncture, the men of Glarus cast off the last sem
blance of subjection to Austria in a public assembly, or
Landsgemeinde, presided over by a Landammann elected by
themselves. A constitution (Satsungsbrief) was drawn up,
177

178 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
which aimed openly at political independence from the nunnery
at Seckingen and its bailiff, the Duke of Austria. It then
received the sanction of all the Confederates except Bern,
that city still holding aloof frbm any joint action with the rest.
Barely had the Evil Peace expired in 1388, when the Aus
trians renewed offensive operations by attempting to reconquer
the rebellious little land of Glarus. For this purpose the pos
session of Wesen was necessary, as a glance at the map will
show, a stronghold guarded at that time only by a small detach
ment of Confederates, principally from Glarus itself. In the
night of the 22d of February, the garrison was surprised, with
the connivance of a part of the inhabitants. Great indignation
was expressed throughout the land, both against those who had
planned this cowardly attack, as also against the traitorous
population of Wesen, who had given their assistance, for, with
this key in their hands, the Austrians could proceed to the con
quest of Glarus under the most favorable circumstances. A
last attempt to come to some sort of understanding miscar
ried, and Glarus was, therefore, exposed to an immediate
invasion. On the morning of the 9th of April, 1388, the Austrian
army, 5000 to 6000 strong in horse and foot, set out in two
columns to march up the valley and capture the chief village,
the little capital of Glarus. One would have thought so numer
ous a host more than enough to subdue a poor and thinly
populated district, but the result at once showed the great supe
riority of the people on foot, defending their native soil, over
the best mounted troops in search of plunder. It was but a
repetition of Morgarten and Sempach. The main body, under
Count Donat of Toggenburg, proceeded straight up the valley,
while a detachment, under Count Werdenberg-Sargans, exe
cuted a flank movement from the Walensee over the Kerenzen
Mountain to Beglingen and Mollis.
There was no fighting until the principal force drew near
Nafels, where the valley grows considerably narrower. Here an
old Letzi, or fortification, barred their way for a time, defended

THE BATTLE OF NAFELS. 179
by a small picked body of the men of Glarus. After a fierce
struggle, the latter were obliged to yield to superior numbers,
and withdrew up the valley, giving the alarm to all the inhab
itants as they went. So far all had gone well for the Austri
ans, but no sooner had they forced the Letzi, than, regardless
of discipline, they spread over the plain in search of booty,
plundering the houses, destroying the crops, and driving the
cattle together. Nothing could have been more favorable to
the men of Glarus, for it gave them just the time they needed
to recover from the shock of their first defeat, and to take up
a position of defence beyond Naf els, upon a slope at the foot
of the Rautiberg, which goes by the name of Schneisingen.
It was covered with loose, rolling stones, the debris which
time and weather had worn from the cliffs above, the whole
forming what is technically called a talus. Upon this ground
a devoted band had gathered, consisting of native men rein
forced by a few brave fellows from Schwiz, who had probably
hastened over the Pragel Pass at the last moment. They did
not number more than 600 in all, a mere handful of men, but
all inspired by the loftiest ideal of patriotism and rendered for
midable by their desperate situation.
As the Austrians approached in loose order, they became
aware of this concentration of the enemy, firmly planted to
dispute their passage, and straightway prepared to dislodge
them. The horsemen were riding in front, according to uni
versal practice in medieval warfare, behind them the infantry.
Without hesitation the former urged their horses up the steep
and insecure slope in the hope of driving down the defenders,
but, for their pains, received a perfect shower of large stones
which wounded many and rendered the chargers unmanageable
with fright. It was evident that nothing could be accom
plished in this manner ; the horsemen, therefore, drew back a
little, calling out to the infantry behind to make way for them.
Just as this backward movement was being carried out, while
the whole Austrian force was still retreating, and before it had
taken up a new position, the men of Glarus rushed down from

180 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
the height, hurled themselves with the utmost violence against
the disordered foe, and drove them, step by step, down the val
ley, by the Letzi, and finally over the open plain toward
Wesen. Tradition has it that the Austrians arrested their flight eleven
times to make a stand against the furious onslaught of the
enraged mountaineers, and eleven times were turned back with
frightful slaughter. Then their flight developed into a mad
race to Wesen, in course of which many were drowned by the
breaking down of a bridge over the river Linth, and others
were cut down by their ruthless pursuers, as they lay wounded
and defenceless upon the battlefield. It was a barbarous age,
when quarter was neither asked nor given. As near as can be
estimated, the Austrian loss was no less than 1700 men, while
that of the victors did not exceed 54, the names of the fallen
patriots being still visible in the church at Mollis, inscribed in
golden letters.
As for Count Werdenberg, no sooner had he ascertained
the fate of the main body, than, esteeming discretion the better
part of valor, he fled in hot haste — "and yet," remarks a
Ziirich chronicler, ironically, "not a soul ran after him. "x
A year after the battle, the men of Glarus instituted an
annual pilgrimage to Nafels, which has developed in course of
time into a regular patriotic festival ; a procession, on each
occasion, visits the eleven stones which mark the places where
according to tradition the Austrians rallied in vain.
In 1389, a seven-years' peace was signed at Vienna, leaving
the Confederates in undisputed possession of all the territory
they had acquired by force of arms in the recent war. But
this did not prevent the Dukes of Austria from attempting to
undermine the victorious Confederation by diplomatic means,
for, after succeeding in placing themselves at the head of a
league of imperial cities in Southern Germany, tried their old
trick of trying to win Zurich from allegiance to the Confedera
tion, in order to incorporate that city into their own alliance.
1 Dandliker, K. Geschichte. Vol. I., p. 534.

THE BATTLE OF NAFELS. 181
In fact, they had already received the assent of the Zurich gov
ernment to their proposition, when all at once a note of alarm
was heard throughout the land, and negotiations had to be
stopped. An aristocratic faction, which had inherited Brun's
philo- Austrian policy, was at the time (1393) in control of
Zurich, but when remonstrances poured in from various mem
bers of the Confederation, and the great body of the citizens
themselves expostulated against the scandalous plan, a popular
rising took place in the city. Biirgermeister, Rudolf Schon,
and his satellites were expelled ; the assent to the league with
Austria was withdrawn ; and a thorough revision of the city
constitution undertaken in a democratic sense. This new doc
ument was known as the Dritte Geschworene Brief.
It is difficult to understand the motive of the aristocratic
party in lending itself to proceedings which were so certain to
arouse the fury of the people, and that, too, so soon after the
Confederation had proved its ability to repulse the attacks of
Austria on every hand. Had the treacherous purpose suc
ceeded, Zurich must inevitably have severed her connection
with the growing federal state to which she had voluntarily
bound herself by a perpetual pact.
Still burning with the sense of wrong, and impressed by
the necessity for closer union, the Confederates, one and all,
even Glarus and Bern, with the latter's principal ally, Solo
thurn, met in 1393, and signed a document, the Covenant of
Sempach, so-called because it related principally to the defects
in the military organization of the Confederates, which the
war of Sempach had betrayed. Its several provisions will be
examined in the next chapter.
Whether it was the failure to sever Zurich from the Con
federation, or whether the utter hopelessness of further con
quest finally impressed itself upon the Dukes of Austria, at
all events, they suddenly abandoned the position they had
maintained until now, and signed a peace for twenty years, to
last until 1415.
The war of independence was virtually over; the Eight

182 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
States could rest from their labors. All the pretentions Aus
tria had so long upheld, at the sacrifice of so great an outlay
in men and money, all these collapsed utterly and forever; the
Dukes virtually acknowledged that they had been worsted in
the struggle of more than a hundred years, and were now
forced to treat as independent and sovereign the very people
they had heretofore considered in the light of subjects or
vassals. In truth a new power had arisen within the German Empire,
a warlike element formidable to the upholders of the feudal
system, but to the oppressed people an example of what
undaunted patriotism, wisely tempered, could accomplish.
To all intents and purposes the Confederation, though still
within the Empire, was from this time on no longer of it. In
Germany proper men spoke of the various States collectively
as Die Schweiz, after Schwiz, the State which seemed to them
the most active and irreconcilable, while the Swiss them
selves called their Confederation an Eidgenossenschaft in the
documents, showing that they were beginning to form a sepa
rate nation.
Certainly the results are worthy of admiration, the more
so as the democratic feelings, which had made their appear
ance in the Swabian and Rhine cities, received their death
blow at this very time. Only a few months after the rude
peasants of Glarus had defeated a large army of Knights at
Nafels, the league of the Swabian cities was hopelessly
crushed by Count Eberhard, of Wurttemburg, in the battle
of Dofflingen, and soon after the Rhine cities also suc
cumbed to a like fate. At the very time, therefore, that the
seeds of immemorial Teutonic liberties were being trampled
into the mire in Germany proper, they took root and flour
ished in the rising Swiss Confederation. On one side the
monarchical principle was in the ascendant, on the other the
republican. With the lapse of time this fundamental differ
ence became more and more accentuated ; the two nations
grew apart, never again to be united.

THE BATTLE OF NAFELS. 183
The Swiss of the fourteenth century rescued the princi
ple of primitive democracy, which had reached them from
pre-feudal times, just at the critical moment when it was
threatened with extinction. All honor to them for that
great service to mankind !

CHAPTER XVIII.
CONSTITUTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERATION OF
EIGHT STATES.
OF a constitution proper, in the modern acceptation of
the term, there were, as yet, only faint traces. The
Confederation of Eight States by no means presented all
the features of a well-balanced, logical scheme of govern
ment. It was a group of sovereign communities rather than
a nation, an organization rather than an organism, and "a
Union of the loosest kind," as Mr. Freeman says, in which the
members were neither all bound to each other nor all on an
equal footing with each other. Bern had contracted no direct
league either with Zurich or Luzern, nor Luzern with Glarus,
nor Glarus with Zug. Moreover Glarus occupied a distinctly
subordinate position toward the rest, while the Forest States
were pledged to render certain services to Zurich and Bern,
for which those cities by no means returned an equivalent.
The very charters of the different States, and their meth
ods of home government, varied as much as possible from
each other.
Uri, Schwiz, Unterwalden, and Glarus were typical rural
communities. In time they had grown to be pure democ
racies. The sovereign people exercised their powers directly
in open-air popular assemblies, or Landsgemeinden, of their
own choice. Usually a council was elected to attend to the
daily needs and current bnsiness of the community, but it
was characteristic of these Landsgemeinde states that the
supreme power emanated from the people themselves, and
was only delegated to the magistrates. 184

ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERATION. 185
In the cities the procedure was reversed. Here the
supreme power was lodged in the chief magistrate and his
council, and distributed from above, as it were, upon the
people, with greater or less liberality, according to the
amount of privilege which the latter had wrung from their
rulers. On the whole, Zurich had made greater progress than any
of the other cities in the direction of democracy. The first,
second, and third Sworn Briefs all indicated successive
.stages in the emancipation of the common people, in giving
them greater influence in the government. The power of
the aristocratic Konstaffel was steadily being curtailed to the
profit of the guilds ; two Biirgermeister were elected instead
of one, and to serve only half a year each ; and, finally, the
Great Council of Two Hundred, which at first was only con
sulted on very exceptional occasions, was declared supreme,
and constituted a sort of court of last appeal.
Bern, on the other hand, was the representative of aristo
cratic principles. Here commercial interests were always
subordinate to military and administrative needs. Hence the
guilds never acquired any prominence, but were promptly sup
pressed by the authorities, whenever they showed signs of
vigorous growth. The chief magistrate was called Schul
theiss ; he and the council of twelve were elected exclusively
from the ranks of the aristocracy. It was, therefore, a decided
democratic innovation when workingmen were admitted to a
share in electing the Great Council of Two Hundred.
Luzern occupied a position somewhere midway between
these two cities, with the character of a conservative democ
racy. There was a Schultheiss and council to which all citi
zens were eligible, but guilds were here also strictly forbidden.
In Zug a distinction must be made between the city proper
and the country district, or Amt. The two together formed a
democracy after the pattern of the Forest States, but the city
had its own Schultheiss and council.
Apart from these differences in the constitutions of the'

186 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
several States, there was a further obstacle to their union. It
so happened that their boundaries were by no means every
where contiguous, that tracts of alien lands entered between
them like wedges, or that some of them were even isolated
from the rest and completely surrounded by enemies. The
whole did not form a well-rounded, compact territory.
One may well ask, therefore, how it came to pass that so
motley a Confederation, made up of members differing so
widely from one another, united by such slender political
bonds, and sometimes geographically separated, could hold
together at all. Similar leagues cropped up in various parts
of the German Empire, flourished for a while, and then van
ished into oblivion. Why was it that the Swiss alone sur
vived ? Probably no one reason, taken by itself, will answer
this question satisfactorily.
Great stress, however, may be laid upon two points of vital
importance. One is that the members of the Swiss Confeder
ation were really driven into union by the conduct of their
common foe, Austria, and another is that, whatever may have
been their relations to each other, they were all leagued to the
three Forest States as a connecting link. Mr. Vincent has
illustrated this singular relationship in his pamphlet entitled
"A Study in Swiss History", by comparing it to a "tele
phone service in which the three original cantons acted as the
central exchange. When the later states wished the help of
the League they called on the forest cantons, and the latter
summoned the rest. There were some cross-connections, but
in general the touch was direct."1 It must also be reckoned
as an element of strength that the leagues were concluded in
perpetuity, although it is also true that this principle had to
be sacrificed in the case of Glarus and Zug. A careful exam
ination of the documents drawn up when the various states
joined the Confederation, will reveal that they agree in cer
tain essential particulars — all have a clause which gives them
priority over leagues concluded with outside powers; they
1 Page 6.

ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERATION. 187
establish the duty of mutual help in time of danger, and
enforce the principle of arbitration in case of disputes. In a
measure, therefore, the stability of the Confederation was
better provided for than would appear from a first glance at
the documents.
But the contracting parties were wise not to rest content
with these safeguards, however important they might be ; an
effort was made to formulate more definite and substantial
guarantees for their union. The first step taken toward this
end was the signing of the Priest's Charter. Its more import
ant provisions are as follows :
I. All vassals of Austria, whether clergy or laity, nobles or
commoners, who desire to take up their abode upon territory
belonging to the Confederation, shall swear fealty to the Con
federates. 2. Especially shall no foreign ecclesiastic, dwell
ing in the Confederation, summon others before foreign
tribunals, but shall appear before those of the particular place
where he is domiciled, except in cases where matrimonial or
ecclesiastical interests are involved. 3. A priest who disobeys
these injunctions shall be outlawed. ... 9. The contract
ing parties guarantee the safety of all roads from the Stiebende
Briicke on the St. Gotbard route (a bridge which used to hang
from chains at the spot where the tunnel Urnerloch has since
been made) as far as Ziirich.1
The keynote of the document, that, in fact, which has given
a name to the whole, is contained in the provision regarding
the clergy. It is expressly and unmistakably declared that no
ultramontane policy will be tolerated, the clergy are told in
plain words to mind their own business — an attitude which
the Swiss people as a whole, have always maintained. Two
innovations are likewise noticeable in the Priest's Charter —
the name Eidgenossenschaft, or Confederation, here makes its
first official appearance. The principle that a majority of the
contracting parties would suffice to amend the Charter is also
new, the unanimous consent of all no longer being necessary,
as agreed in former leagues.
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 99.

188 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Another advance toward closer union was made in the Cov
enant of Sempach (Sempacherbrief), to which all the eight
States, without exception, as well as Solothurn, set their seals.
"Whereas they had fought and won against Austria," said the
document, "they now desired to make provision for future
attacks." i. It was agreed that no Confederate should break
into the house of another with intent to plunder either in war or
peace. 2. The safety of merchants in person and goods was
guaranteed. 3. Those who should take part in future military
expeditions were to stand by one another, whatever might hap
pen, like true men, as also their forefathers did. 4. Should
anyone desert in war, or break any of the rules of this Cove
nant, and his guilt be attested by at least two honorable men,
he should be promptly punished in his person and goods,
according to the laws of the state to which he belonged. 5.
The wounded were to stay by their comrades until all danger
was past, nor be considered deserters if unable to help. 6.
Since many of the enemy escaped at Sempach who would have
remained upon the field, had the Confederates set off in pursuit,
and not stopped to plunder, it was unanimously agreed that,
in future, no man be allowed to pillage until, the fight being at
an end, the captains should give permission to do so, and that
afterward the spoils should be distributed to every man an
equal share. 7. "And since Almighty God said that His
houses were houses of prayer," all monasteries, churches, and
chapels should be inviolate, unless the enemy took shelter in
them. 8. Women should not be attacked unless they warned
the enemy by an outcry or fought themselves, in which case
they could be punished as they deserved. 9. Finally the con
tracting parties were of unanimous opinion that none of them
hereafter should provoke war wantonly, without due cause, or
without warning, as provided for in the various leagues.1
In contrast with the prevalent practices of warfare in the
middle ages these provisions must be looked upon as eminent
ly humane. Dandliker, in fact, calls the Covenant of Sempach
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. no.

ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERATION. 189
"The first attempt, made by any people, to restrain somewhat
the fury of war, to regulate military disciples and leadership
by an intelligent, humane law." x Elsewhere he adds : " The
Confederation, which in the nineteenth century founded the
Geneva Convention, for the protection of the wounded, had
already, in the fourteenth century, for the first time in the his
tory of the world, tempered the barbarity of war."2
Of regular Diets (Tagsatzungen), as they existed later in the
Confederation, it would be premature to speak at this time.
If delegates from some of the States met occasionally to dis
cuss matters of common interest, the occurrence was so rare
and accidental as to have but little influence as yet on the
maintainance of the union.
The ancient Confederation of Eight States, therefore, pre
sented the strange spectacle of a group of sovereign communi
ties, each enjoying the utmost liberty of action imaginable,
bound together by no central authority, either executive, legis
lative or judiciary, and yet united by perpetual leagues which
proved sufficiently strong to secure immunity from without
and peace within. Truly a unique type of federalism, at once
elastic and stable, capable of great expansion, without over
straining the bonds by which it was held together.
As for the social aspect of this fourteenth century, its sign
and token was the steady decline in the power of the nobility,
with a corresponding improvement in the position of the com
mon people. Such a turning of tables was, of course, no
matter of chance, but rather the direct result of forces work
ing quietly within the social fabric. The growth of commerce
and manufacturing in the cities, to dimensions unheard of in
the preceding century, had the effect of raising the merchant
and artisan at the expense of the nobility, both as regards
wealth, political influence and social prestige. At the same
time, it must not be overlooked that many noblemen became
citizens, and in their new positions continued to wield enor-
1 Geschichte der Schweiz. Vol. I, p. 560.
2 Ibid. p. 594.

190 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
mous power over the destinies of their adopted states. To
add to the changed conditions of the century, money now came
into general use as a medium of exchange in place of articles
in kind. A great part of the land, which had at one time
been owned almost exclusively by the nobility fell into the
hands of rich commoners, for the former, in order to procure
money, were constrained to sell their lands or to raise mort
gages upon them, and in either case to see their possessions
pass away to persons of a lower grade in the social scale. It
cannot be said that any great benefits resulted from this
change of land ownership, or that the new class of landlords
were less exacting in their demands upon the tenants than the
old. As a matter of fact, it is doubtful whether the land was
more evenly distributed after this movement than before, while
the institution of serfdom made it practically immaterial to the
tenants, whether or no great city commoners were substituted
for country noblemen. Another prerogative of the nobility
was swept away when the principle reasserted itself that all
men could bear arms. This had been the rule amongst the
ancient Germans, but the feudal system had excluded the
serfs, and made it the special privilege of freemen only.
In one sense, the noblest portion of Swiss history virtually
ended with the battle of Nafels. For, although the succeed
ing period saw the Confederation reach the very height of
military glory, still the motives for action were never again so
pure, so genuine, as in these early days. A new stage of
development had been reached. Abandoning the attitude of
mere self-defence which had characterized their general policy
so far, the Confederates entered upon an era of conquest. It
seemed as though they had outgrown their sturdy childhood,
and, pressing forward, felt within them the desire of manhood
to display their strength, for, one by one, the communities upon
their borders fell within the orbit of their attraction — some
to be conquered outright, while others, of their own free will,
drew near to enjoy the fellowship of common democratic
aspirations

BOOK III.
THE CONFEDERATION AT THE HEIGHT OF ITS MILITARY
POWER.

CHAPTER I.

APPENZELL AND ST. GALLEN.

THE beginning of the fifteenth century marks an era of
great territorial expansion in the history of the Con
federation. There was evidently something contagious in the
very success of the Swiss. Their steadfast resistance to
feudal rule, their wonderful powers of organization and con
tinued victories upon the battle-field, all this excited the
admiration and envy of the less-favored peasantry in neigh
boring lands. Independent communities and miniature
leagues sprang into existence on every hand. In time they
naturally gravitated toward the Swiss Confederation as a
common centre, and, at the proper moment, sought admission
within its ranks.
As a rule, this final consummation was brought about after
the new community had first obtained citizenship in one of
the ' States. Thus the mountaineers of Appenzell were
admitted to the rights of citizenship in Schwiz, those of Grau-
biinden in Glarus, and those of Valais in Uri, Unterwalden,
and Luzern, before they became full-fledged members of the
Confederation as a whole.
In the north-eastern corner of Switzerland, near the lake
of Constance, rises a highland region, culminating in the
mountain group of the Sentis. It comprises the modern
Cantons of Appenzell and St. Gallen — a little world apart,
with peculiar local traits and an historical development of its
own. No definite information has come down to us of its con
dition prior to the founding of the monastery of St. Gallen, but
193

194 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
after that date the history of the monastery becomes practically
identified with that of the whole district. Powerful Abbots
exercised jurisdiction in all minor matters, by virtue of their
position as land-owners, while the supreme authority still
reposed in the hands of an imperial bailiff; in other words, the
district enjoyed the privilege of the immunity. At the
end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth century
a change gradually manifested itself ; a period of discontent set
in. Two centres of opposition sprang into existence within
the vast estates of the monastery, ominous and threatening to
the rule of the Abbots ; first the city of St. Gallen, which had
grown from small beginnings around the hermit cell of Gallus,
and then the outlying country district of Appenzell, its name
doubtless a corruption of Abtes Zelle, Abbot's Cell.
The city of St. Gallen had originally been governed by
officials of the monastery, as an ecclesiastical piece of property.
During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, however, the
city developed by degrees into a free city of the empire, elect
ing its own magistrates and subject only to the imperial bailiff.
Its inhabitants grew rich through the perfection of their linen
weaving, guilds were instituted with representation in the
council, somewhat after the pattern of Zurich, and finally, as
a sign of complete emancipation, the citizens initiated an inde
pendent foreign policy, by joining the league of Swabian cities.
Appenzell's progress toward freedom began somewhat later.
It is true that the hardy mountaineers of that district more
than once found themselves obliged to resist oppressive meas
ures instituted by various Abbots, but their main prerogative,
the imperial immunity, was not seriously threatened until
1345. In that year the ruling Abbot gained the office of
imperial bailiff over their principal villages, which prerogative,
added to those he already possessed, made him absolute
master of the situation. For awhile the country people sub
mitted to this new state of things, waiting for a convenient
time to win back their former liberties. In 1377, five villages,
Appenzell, Hundwil, Teufen, Urnasch and Gais, uniting under

APPENZELL AND ST. GALLEN. 195
the name of the first, joined the league of Swabian cities, and
a year later created a council (Landrath) of thirteen members,
to be elected by the people themselves. It was probably about
this same time also that the institution of a Landsgemeinde,
with the presiding Ammann, made its first appearance in
Appenzell. In all their aspirations after freedom, and in the means
which they took toward that end, these people were influ
enced by the conduct of their neighbors, the Swiss Confeder
ates. Every success of the latter sent an answering thrill of
hope throughout the little land of Appenzell. Sempach and
Nafels inspired them with new hope, revealed to them what
extraordinary results could be accomplished by united action
against tremendous odds, and showed them the road which
would lead them eventually to full and perfect independence.
Heretofore Appenzell and St. Gallen had acted apart, being
united only through their common membership in a league of
cities on the lake of Constance, which had survived the down
fall of the Swabian league, but, in 1401, during the rule of an
unusually tyrannical Abbot, Kuno von Stoffeln, they came
together in an alliance which was to last for seven years.
Both parties were reinforced by other communities of the
neighborhood, all alike threatened by the Abbot, so that the
movement was distinctly formidable, and could not be over
looked. A few months later the allies proceeded to acts of
open hostility. They attacked the possessions of the monas
tery, and destroyed the hated stronghold of Clanx, which
commanded the village of Appenzell. Before they could
advance to other deeds of violence, however, Kuno checked
their proceedings by a clever manoeuvre. He brought the
whole matter before the league of imperial cities to which
Appenzell and St. Gallen belonged, and secured a favorable
verdict, for delegates assembled at Constance affirmed that
their alliance violated the rights of the Abbot, and must, there
fore, be annulled.
It is instructive to notice how differently the two sides

196 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
received this sentence. Rich St. Gallen, whose strength lay
in commerce and manufactures, yielded timidly, throwing over
a tried friend for fear of the Abbot and the imperial cities ; but
Appenzell, the land of poor peasants, stood undaunted and dis
dainfully ignored what they considered an unwarranted inter
ference from outsiders.
Then it was that the men of Appenzell, abandoned alike by
the city which ought to have been their natural ally, as well as
by the more distant cities, which circumstances had tempora
rily joined to them, turned as a last refuge to a member of the
Swiss Confederation. In 1403, they made common cause with
the state of Schwiz, were admitted to the protection of its
laws (Landrecht), and received as their chief magistrate an
Ammann from that community. It is, of course, to be regret
ted that Appenzell was not able to secure help on better terms,
for, in reality, Schwiz immediately assumed the powers of a
ruler, as being the stronger of the two. Great scandal also
arose in the Confederation at this separate alliance ; Zurich
expostulated, jealous of any gains which Schwiz might make
in territorial possessions, but the allies clung faithfully to one
another. Thus strengthened in their resolve, the mountaineers of
Appenzell ventured to take up arms. They proceeded to com
mit a series of depredations and incursions into the Abbot's
estates, so that, in 1403, the latter was forced to collect his sub
jects, and to call upon the imperial German cities for troops.
As soon as reinforcements had arrived, he set out from St. Gal
len, to invade the rebellious country, accompanied by a detach
ment from the city itself. His way lay through the villages of
Speicher and Trogen, over a hill known as Vogelinsegg, now
much prized on account of the extensive view which may be
enjoyed from its summit. The men of Appenzell seem to
have been fully informed of the projected route. Just at the
foot of the hill, therefore, behind a Letzi (redoubt), they
posted a part of their forces, the rest, comprising reinforce
ments from Schwiz, they drew off to one side, in order to

APPENZELL AND ST. GALLEN. 197
attack the enemy simultaneously on the front and flank. It
is impossible to speak with any certainty of the numbers
engaged on the two sides ; they could not have been great,
probably a few hundred defenders and a few thousand inva
ders. Everything went off as the men of Appenzell had
expected. The Abbot's troops advanced, without taking the
slightest precautions, into the path enclosed by high banks
which led over the hill, and so fell easily into the trap set for
them. Unable to deploy their strength on account of the
nature of the ground, they were thrown into the utmost con
fusion, and driven back upon St. Gallen with a loss of more
than two hundred men.
With right has this battle of Vogelinsegg been called the
Morgarten of Appenzell, the baptismal day of a new democ
racy with a special r61e to play. A thirst for conquest, a fiery
zeal for the liberation of the less fortunate who were still in
bondage, seemed to seize the men of Appenzell. " Now, for
the first time," says the so-called Klingenberg "Chronicle,
"they became really brave and bold,"1 destroying the castles
of the nobility, setting free their subjects, and proclaiming the
good news of liberty.
A cry of alarm went up from those whose interests were
threatened by this overwhelming democratic wave. Measures
were devised for checking its career. There was a general
rearrangement of allies for the coming struggle. The league of
imperial cities withdrew their support from the Abbot ; St.
Gallen was reconciled to Appenzell. But the whole movement
received a new aspect when Kuno, ever watchful for his inter
ests, conceived the idea of calling upon Austria for support in
his pretensions, hoping that, if that power became involved in
the struggle, the Confederates and thus Schwiz, also, would be
debarred from helping Appenzell on account of the twenty-years'
peace between the Swiss and the Dukes of Austria, which
would not expire until 141 5. His request found favor with
the. reigning Duke, Frederic IV, son of the Leopold who was
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 115.

198 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
slain at Sempach, but he was mistaken if he thought that
Schwiz would abandon Appenzell, for, as a matter of fact, in
spite of the twenty-years' peace, and the remonstrances of the
other Confederates, that State continued as heretofore to sup
port the rebellious mountaineers. Furthermore, if the Abbot
won a new ally, so did the men of Appenzell.
There was a certain Count Rudolf von Werdenberg-Heili-
genberg, a relative of that Count of Werdenberg-Sargans who
had conducted himself in such a cowardly manner at Nafels.
This nobleman had sunk to a condition of beggary, partly
through financial embarrassments which were the result of his
own extravagance, and partly through the deliberate persecu
tions of the Dukes of Austria. In his despair, it was only
natural that he should forget how much he had himself contri
buted toward his misfortunes, and should cast the whole
blame upon his relentless enemy. In 1404, having lost even
his ancestral castle, Count Rudolf determined upon a most
unusual expedient ; he offered his service as an experienced
warrior to the peasants of Appenzell, if they, in their turn,
would promise to help him regain his possessions.
We must not look upon this act as though it had been
inspired by a lofty enthusiasm for the cause of liberty, since
it was, in truth, a mere business compact entered into with the
hope of realizing substantial advantage. Nor do the men of
Appenzell seem to have lost sight of this fact, for, according to
the Klingenberg Chronicle, "they did not trust him alto
gether." It is known, also, that they made him promise to
submit to all the ordinances which Schwiz might issue in her
capacity as protector of the country. He became a simple
citizen of Appenzell, and " went with them on foot, like any
peasant ; for they would not that he should wear a coat-of-arms
or anything different from one of them."
Yielding at length to the renewed cries for help which came
from the Abbot and the nobility, Duke Frederic of Austria
prepared to put down the rebellion in Appenzell. At the last
moment he made an attempt, happily an unsuccessful one, to

APPENZELL AND ST. GALLEN. 199
win over some of the Swiss States to his side by taking advan
tage of a temporary breach that had made its appearance in
the Confederation between the aristocratic cities and the demo
cratic country-districts, due, in a great measure, to the support
Schwiz was giving Appenzell. The strong feeling of unity
amongst the Confederates, however, caused his intrigue to
miscarry completely, and he proceeded in person to the scene
of action.
The plan of the invaders resolved itself into a double attack.
While Frederic of Austria led a small detachment to St. Gal
len in order to prevent that city from co-operating with Appen
zell, the main force was to penetrate into the latter country,
the real centre of the whole disturbance, and inflict a crushing
blow. In accordance with this arrangement, the Duke marched
from Arbon, took possession of the Hauptlisberg, an eminence
which commands St. Gallen upon the North, and held the
attention of the burghers away from their allies in Appenzell
by skirmishing. The very next day, however, as he was with
drawing his troops in loose order, a sortie was made from the
city and a number of his men were killed.
In the meantime, a decisive battle was being fought between
the main body of the Austrians and the mountaineers of
Appenzell. On the 17th of June, 1405, the invaders, more
than 1200 strong, toiled up the long, steep road from Altstat-
ten to Gais, made slippery by much rain. Just below the
highest point of the road, near the mountain spur known as the
Stoss, they came upon'the Letzi which guarded the frontiers,
but finding it deserted, they pushed on into the country of
Appenzell, confident of victory. When they had advanced
not more than the length of a bowshot further, a force of 400
of the enemy suddenly sprang from their hiding-places, rushed
down upon them, hurling stones and other missiles, and forced
them to retreat. The Austrians were hemmed in ; behind
them rose the Letzi and in front came the agile mountaineers.
After a short resistance they attempted to escape through an

200 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
opening in the Letzi, but it was so small that only a few of the
fugitives could pass at a time. The press developed into a
panic ; the Austrians trampled upon each other, or fell easy
victims to their pursuers. The survivors fled precipitately to
Altstatten. Evidently the invasion upon which the Abbot of St. Gallen
had relied to restore him to power, was an utter failure.
But the result of his supreme effort was not merely negative,
for a spirit had been conjured up before which the whole coun
try round about was soon to quail. First, the mountaineers of
Appenzell fortified themselves by concluding alliances with
neighboring communities, and then, as though intoxicated with
their recent success, they broke forth from their mountain fast
nesses to overrun the whole region which lies to the southeast
of the lake of Constance, destroying the castles of the nobility,
and inciting the peasants to rebellion. With irresistible force,
they poured down upon the Thurgau, across the Rhine into the
Vorarlberg and Tyrol, sweeping together alf their vanquished
or voluntary adherents into one mighty but unorganized League
of the People, which they called the League above the Lake
(Bund ob dem See), to distinguish it from another league of
cities around the lake of Constance. Nor did they fail to
reward their allies of Schwiz, to whom they presented the
district of the March, while Count Rudolf of Werdenberg
received his ancestral castle, according to agreement, although
he was not able to hold it for long, and died a few years later,
poor and childless.
In the face of this extraordinary uprising, the whole machin
ery of the feudal system seems to have broken down, showing
itself perfectly powerless to check the aspirations of the people
after freedom. In 1406, Duke Frederic saw himself con
strained to conclude a two-years' truce with the League above
the Lake, leaving the peasants in full possession of their con
quests, while the Abbot Kuno, deeply humiliated, actually
agreed to enter into the protection of Appenzell and St.
Gallen, his former subjects.

APPENZELL AND ST. GALLEN. 201
Not that this state of things endured very long. The haste
with which the league had been patched together, the incongru
ous material of which it was composed, and the extravagances
into which the liberated peasants were betrayed, militated
against its stability. A reaction set in, until, in the winter of
1407, an army of nobles surprised the men of Appenzell as they
lay before Bregenz, under the leadership of a captain from
Schwiz, Conrad Kupferschmied. Strangely enough, this insig
nificant defeat was the cause of far-reaching results, altogether
disproportionately great. For the men of Appenzell, who had
heretofore been universally victorious, now felt that their
invincibility was broken, and so, discouraged and deserted,
retreated to the mountains, whence they had issued like an all-
devouring avalanche a few years before.
King Ruprecht himself came to Constance to deliver sen
tence in regard to the whole matter in dispute. He decided
that the League above the Lake should be dissolved, and the
men of Appenzell return once more into their former relation
toward the Abbot. They distinctly refused, however, to com
ply with these demands, and defiantly held their own against
the head of the empire, biding their time as they had done on
a former occasion.
The answer to Ruprecht's demands came in 141 1, when the
undaunted mountaineers of Appenzell enlarged their alliance
with Schwiz into a wider treaty with the other members of
the Swiss Confederation, Bern alone holding aloof in the pur
suit of a cautious and independent policy. As before, this
Burg and Landrecht placed Appenzell in a subordinate posi
tion under the virtual protectorate of the seven states, but it
contained the promise of a closer and more equitable union in
the future. In 141 2, St. Gallen, likewise, followed the example
of her old ally, by concluding a similar Burg and Landrecht
with the seven states, so that hereafter, for weal or for woe,
the interests of the whole region comprised by the modern
cantons of Appenzell and St. Gallen, were bound up in those
of the Swiss Confederation.

CHAPTER II.
THE VALAIS AND GRAUBiiNDEN.
NONE of the cantons which are now included in French-
speaking Switzerland, took any part whatever in build
ing up the Swiss Confederation. Throughout the whole
period, during which the Forest States were struggling for
emancipation from Habsburg-Austria, they lay in apathetic
subjection to a multitude of spiritual and temporal masters.
The only exception to this general indifference was found
amongst the people of the Valais (German Wallis), the various
forms of the name being derived from the Latin vallis, a
valley. Says the Abbe Grimaud, whose researches have cast so
much light upon the early history of that district : " Between
the two highest mountain ranges of Europe, there lies a long
valley, watered by the upper Rhone"1. . . This is the
simple description of a region which, from a physical stand
point, is one of the most remarkable in the world; where within
a small compass are enclosed a multitude of startling contrasts.
The mountain ranges here mentioned are on the right hand,
the monster chain of the Bernese Alps, and on the left that of
Monte Rosa. One end of the valley is blocked by a glacier,
the other by a sunny lake. Between these two extremes
are to be found all the gradations in fertility of which nature is
capable. There are spots upon which the full springtide of
Italy seems to have been shed, almost tropical in exuberance:
others which the boisterous Rhone has converted into gravelly
1 Document relatifs a l'histoire du Vallais. 202

THE VALAIS AND GRAUBUNDEN. 203
deserts; there are mountain slopes, festooned with vines or
covered with exquisite verdure, while opposite rise vast expan
ses of naked rock, as devoid of vegetation as though smitten
with a curse. In a few hours the traveler, passing up the val
ley, may experience all the sensations from burning heat to
arctic cold.
A further contrast lies in the race and language of the peo
ple ; the upper part, from the Rhone glacier down to Sierre,
being inhabited by men of Alamannian stock and speaking
German ; while in the lower part the population is of mixed
Celtic and Burgundian origin, speaking numerous Roman
dialects, though French is now gradually superseding the older
languages. The same variety which is observable in nature and popula
tion to-day, existed also from an early date in the political
affairs of the district.
After passing under the dominion of the Romans, of the
two Burgundian Kingdoms, and of the rectorship of Zaeringen,
the Valais, in the thirteenth century, became the scene of a
struggle for supremacy between four powers or elements.
First and foremost the Bishops of Sion, whose diocese cov
ered the whole of the modern canton. The origin of the
bishopric is not quite clear; it is known that, in 381, a certain
bishop, Theodore or Theodul, who was the first ecclesiastical
of that rank on Swiss soil, had his seat at Octodurum (Marti-
gny), and that, in 585, a successor of his, Heliodore, had
transferred it to Sedunum (Sion). In the course of the early
middle ages, the episcopal possessions were curtailed by the
encroachments of a second power, the house of Savoy. A
series of conflicts ensued from this cause, until it was finally
agreed, in 1384, to fix the boundary between the two at the
stream of La Morge de Conthey, just below Sion. A third
factor in the political problem was represented by the feudal
nobility, a multitude of petty, quarrelsome lords, whose ruined
castles may still be seen perched upon every available rock.
Some were vassals of the bishop, others of the house of Savoy,

204 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
and others again dependent upon both. Amongst the princi
pal families were the lords of La Tour, of Rarogne, and Saxon.
But what became of the people and of popular liberty in the
midst of these rival factions ? Was there no democratic ele
ment to counteract aristocratic rule? Fortunately a fourth
power guarded their interests. It was the institution of the
commune, known amongst the German-speaking population as
the Zehnte, which is mentioned for the first time in documents
of the thirteenth century, but bears evidences of much greater
antiquity. The citizens of Sion seem to have been the first
to organize themselves into a community of this sort, and then
the country districts followed their example. At first the
communes confined their attention to the management of
strictly local affairs, possessing so-called Plaits or popular
assemblies, not unlike the Landsgemeinden of German Switzer
land; but later, from the middle of the fourteenth century on,
the people began to take part in the general government of
the whole country under the auspices of the bishop, who sum
moned their representatives from time to time to a Conseil
General de la terre du Valais.
The various conflicts for supremacy finally resolved them
selves into a well-defined struggle between the bishop and the
communes on the one hand, and the house of Savoy with petty
nobles on the other. In 1354, King Charles IV. confirmed
the traditional liberties of the communes of the upper Valais.
In 1375, a popular outbreak occurred, directed against the lesser
nobility. Bishop Guichard Tavelli was one day at his castle
de la Soie, above Sion, when he was attacked by order of his
enemy, lord Antoine de la Tour, and hurled down from a win
dow upon the rocks below. The people, infuriated by this
dastardly act, proclaimed a war of revenge, defeated an army
of nobles, exiled the family of la Tour, and finally, in 1388, in
the same year as the battle of Nafels, inflicted an overwhelm
ing defeat upon Count Amadeus VII., of Savoy, and his allies
at Visp. Although the communes did not reap the full bene
fit of their victory in the peace which followed, still they

THE VALAIS AND GRAUBUNDEN. 205
placed themselves in a position to make good their losses a
little later, by entering into an alliance with certain members
of the Swiss Confederation ; for, in 1403, the Bishop of Sion
and the people of the Valais entered into the perpetual citizen
ship (Burg and Landrecht) of Uri, Unterwalden, and Luzern.
Trouble broke out again, after a few years of deceptive
peace. It appears that the lords of Rarogne, having been
instrumental in driving out their rivals of la Tour, and finding
themselves, as a result, masters of the situation, abused their
power and influence to such an extent, that the people of the
Valais were constrained once more to take up arms in self-
defence. On this occasion, the patriots brought into play an
old custom, which consisted in carrying from village to village
a wooden club as a symbol of revolt. This Mazze, as it was
called from the Italian mazza, a club, had carved upon it a
human face in agony, to express violated justice, and was
deposited before the residence of the lord of Rarogne. The
latter had become a citizen of Bern, in order to avail himself
of the protection this step would afford him, but the com
munes had been admitted to the citizenship of Uri, Unter
walden, and Luzern by a new alliance, in 1416. Here was a
predicament for the Swiss Confederation to be placed in. If
both parties carried out their engagements to their allies, civil
war would be the result. As a matter of fact, the Bernese
collected an army and invaded the Valais, but one of their
detachments, which had crossed the Grimsel, was so com
pletely repulsed at the village of St. Ulrichen, in 1419, that
further attempts were abandoned. Through the intervention
of the other Swiss Confederates, peace was established, the
men of Valais paid a heavy indemnity to the lord of Rarogne,
and the latter, seizing a propitious moment to sell his estates,
left the country altogether.
Hereafter the growth of the Valais into an independent
commonwealth was practically assured. The attainment of
complete self-government, the triumph of democracy, could no
longer be prevented by the aristocratic factions, and the mis-

206 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
sion of the Valais, to act as a southern bulwark to the Swiss
Confederation, was made manifest. It was not until almost
four hundred years later that this relationship was established
on a still firmer basis, when the Valais became, in reality, a
member of the Confederation.
But, like Appenzell, St. Gallen, and the Valais, ancient
Raetia in the fourteenth century began to feel this same spirit
of popular liberty which had gone abroad. A transformation
was slowly preparing itself in that highland region, which, cut
into many valleys by intersecting ranges, seemed predestined
to local self-government or to the rule of independent lordlings.
The history of Graubiinden is a reproduction in miniature of
that of the Swiss Confederation as a whole. After passing
through the vicissitudes of the Teutonic invasion, Raetia
emerged into the feudal system, and took on that appearance
of a mass of administrative fragments which characterized the
other parts of Switzerland. There were the same ecclesiasti
cal and secular rulers, the same groups of isolated freemen,
and there resulted the same conflict of interests, and the
same final victory of the people over their masters.
At the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centu
ries, three well-defined centres of government made their
appearance; three separate leagues, which were known by the
somewhat extraordinary titles of " The League of the House of
God", "The Upper" or "Grey League", and "The League
of the Ten Jurisdictions ".
In 1367, the chapter of the cathedral at Chur with the sub
jects of the Bishop in the Valleys of Bergell, Oberhalbstein,
the Engadin and Domleschg, and the burghers of Chur itself,
concluded an alliance against the Bishop of Chur, the most
powerful ruler of the whole country, because he threatened to
compromise their interest, in an alliance which he had made
with the Duke of Austria. This is the foundation of the so-
called "League of the House of God", and here, also, as else
where in Switzerland, Austria was instrumental in forcing the
people to build up free states. While this league was formed

THE VALAIS AND GRAUBUNDEN. 207
almost entirely by subjects, i. e. by ecclesiastical serfs, the Up
per, or Grey League, was the result of the combined action of
serfs, freemen, and nobles. In 1395, the Abbot of Dissentis,
the Lords of Raziins and of Sax, with their subjects, and the
communities between the source of the Rhine and the forest
of Flims, solemnly agreed to protect one another and to settle
all disputes by means of a board of arbitration of three men.
It was a union of elements which elsewhere could not live at
peace with each other, and was evidently the result of a mutual
agreement to put a stop to the endless and useless quarrels
which had devastated the upper Rhine Valley. The League
of the Ten Jurisdictions arose from the fact that certain com
munities, at the extinction of the house of Toggenburg, of
which they formed a feudal dependence, suddenly found them
selves without an overlord, and consequently determined to
govern themselves. In 1436, their representatives united in a
league which was purely democratic, inasmuch as no ecclesi
astical or secular nobles at all were to be found amongst
the contracting parties — a league, therefore, which more
nearly resembled that of the Forest States than the others in
Raetia. The first connection with any member of the Swiss Confed
eration occurred in 1400, when the Grey League entered into
a perpetual pact with the community of Glarus. Moreover the
three Rastian leagues eventually found it to their mutual advan
tage to draw closer to one another in order to form a federal
state, somewhat after the pattern of the Swiss Confederation
of Eight States. Although the exact date of this final union is
not known with precision, it probably antedated 1450, and the
meeting-place was Vazerol.

CHAPTER III.
THE CONQUEST OF VAL LEVENTINA AND AARGAU.
IT may almost be called an historical law that northern races,
especially those inhabiting mountainous and barren
regions, continually tend to encroach upon their southern
neighbors on more productive soil. Anyone who has stood on
some point of the great range which separates Switzerland
from Italy, and, on a clear day, has seen the vineyards, the
olive trees, and the rich plains of Lombardy spread out before
him, can imagine the longing of the men of the rugged Forest
States to possess that land of promise, or at least the slopes
which led toward it.
Uri was the first to make any effort toward the accomplish
ment of this end. The possession of the St. Gothard pass
was, in reality, a commercial necessity. An agreement was
therefore made with the inhabitants of the valley of Urseren,
which secured the freedom of that pass. The territory now
comprised by the Canton of Ticino, the Val Leventina (Ger
man, Livinen), belonged to the Dukes of Milan. In 1331,
the three Forest States and Zurich found it necessary to pun
ish the inhabitants of that district for interfering with the
free use of the St. Gothard as a trade route. In 1403, how
ever, Uri and Obwalden, incensed because some of their cattle-
dealers had been unjustly treated by the authorities of Varese,
invaded the Val Leventina, and, taking advantage of the fact
that the ruling Duke of Milan was temporarily involved in dif
ficulties at home, forced the inhabitants to swear fealty to
them. Uri and Obwalden simply substituted their own rule
for that of the Duke of Milan, collected taxes, and sent gov-
208

CONQ UEST OF VAL LE VENTINA AND AAR GA U. 209
ernors to keep the people in submission. It was the first
example in Swiss history of a conquered province being openly
annexed. There was no pretence of a league, of mutual
advantages, or of equal rights. The people of the Val Leven
tina merely exchanged one master for another, between whom
there was, in point of fact, little to choose.
Successive Dukes of Milan attempted to recapture Bellin-
zona, the military key of the valley, but with varying success.
The Confederates were once defeated with great loss at the
village of Arbedo, in 1422, and, in 1426, the whole of their
possessions south of the St. Gothard returned into the power
of the Milanese. Finally, in 1440, an army from Uri settled
the question of ownership by bringing the valley once more
into subjection. Hereafter the Val Leventina continued to be
connected with the Swiss Confederation for some three and a
half centuries, until, in modern times, it was admitted on an
equal footing with the other Cantons.
The conquest of the valley of Domo d'Ossola (German
Eschenthal), which was carried on almost simultaneously with
that of Leventina, was not of vital importance in the building
up of the Confederation, as the territory was eventually lost.
The same, however, cannot be said of the conquest of the
Aargau, an event which left indelible traces upon the history
and political organization of Switzerland, and deserves to be
described in detail.
In the chapter on the political organization of the League
of Eight States, it was noticed that they did not form a
well-rounded, compact territory, that alien tracts of land,
here and there, entered like wedges into their midst. This
was particularly the case on the northwestern frontier,
where the Austrian district of the Aargau presented a con
tinual menace. To annex these lands, therefore, became a
sort of cherished ambition amongst the Confederates. The
Aargau also contained the ancestral castle of Habsburg; at
Baden, the principal stronghold of the district, successive
Dukes had collected their troops for the battles of Morgar-

210 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
ten and Sempach and for their attacks upon Zurich ; and it
was upon this hostile ground that the native nobility con
spired on every occasion against the Confederates. Nothing,
it was felt, could so effectually destroy the influence of Austria
in the region south of the Rhine as the loss of the Aargau.
For the present, there seemed to be no opportunity of
initiating so bold an undertaking, and, in 141 2, the Confed
erates renewed their policy of friendship by signing articles
of peace with Austria, which were to last for fifty years,
until 1463. It must be said to the credit of the Swiss that
the temptation to break this formal engagement came from
the very highest secular and ecclesiastical authority in
Europe, from no less a person than the emperor himself and
from the hierarchy of Christendom, assembled at the church-
council of Constance, from 1414-1418. It will be remem
bered that one of the objects for which that council was
convened, was to settle the conflicting claims of three
Popes, and that Pope John XXIII., who was on the point
of being deposed, managed to escape from Constance with
the help of Frederic, Duke of Austria. This was the sig
nal for Sigismund, the emperor, who was also Frederic's bit
ter enemy, to put the latter under the ban of the empire,
to declare his possessions confiscated, and to call upon his
imperial subjects to rise and seize them in the name of the
Empire. An exhortation to invade the Aargau was
despatched also to the Swiss Confederates, as immediate
dependants upon the Empire. In view of their fifty years
truce with Austria, they did not at once comply with the
royal request. While Austria's possessions in Swabia and
the Tyrol were being fast brought into subjection to Ger
man conquerors, the Swiss hesitated to break their word,
even to their arch-enemy. It took all the persuasive pow
ers of Sigismund, coupled with his authoritative command, as
head of the realm, to induce them, one by one, to appear in
the field. He represented to them that their duty to the
empire came before any pledges given to other powers ; he

CONQ UEST OF VAL LEVENTINA AND AARGA U. 211
bribed them by declaring null and void all remnants of
power which the house of Habsburg might still possess on
Swiss soil, and by promising that they could keep whatever
they could take by force of arms in the coming conflict.
Thereupon the invasion of the Aargau began. Bern opened
the campaign, then came Luzern and Zurich. Finally the
troops of all the Confederates met before the stronghold of
Baden, which resisted their combined attack for a fortnight.
They were gathering for a last decisive effort against the cita
del, the so-called Stein, which is now one of the most pictur
esque ruins of Switzerland, when an admonition reached them
from Sigismund to suspend their operations. It appears that
Duke Frederic, rendered desperate by his misfortunes, had,
in the meantime, submitted to the King. A reconciliation
between the two rivals had been brought about, and an order
issued to stop hostilities against Austria. But the lust of con
quest, which the King's appeal to arms had conjured up,
could not be allayed so quickly, nor could the Confederates
resist the temptation of putting an end, once for all, to Aus
trian dominion in the Aargau. They disobeyed the royal
command ; and the messengers who came to Baden, bearing
a second peremptory injunction from the King, had the pleas
ure of arriving just in time to see the Stein surrender to the
Confederates. Sigismund threatened them all with his royal
wrath, and declared that they had forfeited their right to
retain the Aargau. The upshot of the quarrel was that, in
141 5, a division of the conquered territory took place amongst
the Confederates, but that they were obliged to pay hand
somely in good round sums of money for their new acquisi
tions. The lion's share fell to Bern, which had been the first
in the field. Zurich and Luzern each acquired small districts
for themselves, and the rest became common Confederate
property, to be administered conjointly by all ; Uri alone refus
ing to take part, either on moral grounds, or, more probably,
because it shrank from the responsibility of governing a
province so far removed from its own frontiers.

212 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
It is evident that the system of joint property, of which
this is the first example in Swiss history, was fraught with
unknown dangers, and opened up a series of new problems for
the Confederates. Looking back from our own day upon this
experiment, we can declare that it was ethically wrong, as
being opposed to the natural rights of man, and opposed also
to the democratic traditions of the early Confederates. We
can only regret that the Aargau did not first free itself from
the Austrian dominion, and then, of its own free will, seek
admission within the Confederation upon an equal footing
with the other states. Unfortunately these moral considera
tions are out of place when treating of the fifteenth century.
We must remember that the humanitarian aspect of these
questions was unknown to the men of that time, being purely
a modern product, so that it would be unfair to judge fifteenth-
century men by nineteenth-century standards of national ethics.

CHAPTER IV.

THE FIRST CIVIL WAR.

JUST as the Confederation was becoming more compact in
point of territory, and hence more secure from foreign
interference, the latent antagonism which existed between the
cities and the rural districts suddenly led to open hostilities.
The former embodied the principle of urban aristocracy, the
latter, of agrarian democracy. Their estrangement was inten
sified by commercial jealousy, by the practice of excluding
each other's trade products, upon the strange medieval idea
that imports were injurious. Markets and trade routes were
arbitrarily established or abolished, so that each state felt con
strained to make conquests in order to gain trade, for commer
cial restrictions are, in their last analysis, acts of war. Mutual
hatred had been especially accentuated by the conquest of the
Aargau, which so materially increased the power of the cities.
The result was an open feud, and it took the form of bitter
hostility between Zurich and Schwiz. The centre of gravity
of the Confederation had shifted from the country districts to
the cities, and it was an attempt to alter this state of things
which produced the so-called Old Zurich war. While the
remote cause was this rivalry of the two parties, the immediate
occasion of the war was the death of Frederic VII., Count of
Toggenburg. He died childless and intestate, leaving his vast
possessions to be scrambled for by a host of eager claimants.
During his lifetime he had entered into a number of agree
ments with both Zurich and Schwiz. They had long cast
Jonging glances upon his territory, as affording the only means
of expansion which now remained to them. In this struggle
213

214 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
for the possession of Toggenburg the long-pent-up hatred of
the two rivals at length found vent. Schwiz seized a part of
the contested estates, and the Biirgermeister of Zurich per
suaded the widow of the late Count, who claimed to be the
legal executrix, to entrust another portion to his city. With
the help of Glarus, Schwiz proceeded to bring more territory
under her sway, and thus called forth expostulations from jeal
ous Zurich.
As all remonstrances proved futile, Zurich then took a
measure to which she had a legal right in her capacity as an
imperial city. She closed her markets to Schwiz and Glarus,
and instituted a veritable blockade against them. Great want
ensued in the districts which were thus cut off from supplies,
but, as is always the result of such restrictive or protective
measures, Zurich herself, felt the blow almost as severely.
Instead of bringing about a solution of the difficulty, the
blockade simply embittered the rivals, and made a violent out
break of some sort more certain.
Disappointed by this failure, Zurich cast about for some new
weapon to forge against Schwiz and the other Confederates,
who had now declared for Schwiz. She appealed to the
emperor for intervention. Unfortunately the House of Habs
burg was then upon the throne, and the person to whom
Zurich appealed against the Confederates was Frederic III.,
of Austria. When we consider the part which Habsburg-Aus
tria had played in the history of the Confederation, we can
understand that the Confederates looked upon this act of
Zurich as a veritable outrage against themselves, as a piece of
treachery without name. The country was filled with horror
at the conduct of the old ally. Both sides found expression
for their feelings in popular songs, in which they derided,
taunted and challenged each other in the rudest fashion.
In 1442, Zurich concluded a league with the Emperor, in
which the city promised, in return for his help, to support his
pretentions over the Aargau. At the same time, Frederic
refused to confirm the charters of the other Confederates, as

THE FIRST CIVIL WAR. 215
was customary upon the accession of every new sovereign,
but came to Zurich in person to testify his friendship. The
Habsburg symbol, the peacock feather, was substituted in the
streets of Zurich for the white cross, which had generally
become the sign of the Confederation.
In 1443, the Confederates declared war against the mon
strous combination of Austria-Zurich. At first there were short
skirmishes in which the Confederates were victorious. An
important battle was finally fought before the gates of the
city, at a chapel of St. Jacob, near the little stream of the Sihl.
The Confederates advanced upon Zurich from the direction
of Zug, and as they came out upon the height above the town,
they suddenly beheld the whole district spread out below them
like a map. It was determined to cut off by a flank move
ment the hostile army which had ventured far out beyond the
walls into a great field. The plan succeeded admirably.
Caught in a trap, the townsmen and their Austrian allies
fought desperately, but were hopelessly defeated and thrown
back upon Zurich. A last stand was made at the bridge
over the Sihl, where Rudolf Stiissi, the Biirgermeister, per
ished in a vain attempt to stem the tide of the advancing Con
federates. This victory was followed by a short truce, known
as the Bad Peace (Fauler Friede), because it was not kept by
either party. The Confederates upon one occasion stormed a
stronghold in Zurich territory, the Greifensee, and put the
whole garrison to the sword in the most treacherous and inhu
man manner. Finally a regular siege was laid to Zurich itself,
the Confederates being determined to bring this wearisome and,
heretofore indecisive, war to a close. The city was strongly
fortified and ably defended, so that no definite result was
obtained, but the Austrian party bethought them of a means
by which the Confederate force might be diverted elsewhere,
and perhaps the whole Confederation eventually brought into
subjection to Austria. Frederic III., applied to Charles VII.,
of France, for the loan of 5000 mercenaries. A truce of eight
een months had just been declared between France and Eng-

216 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
land. It was in the year 1444, and the latter was delighted to
find an opportunity of getting rid of the military vagabonds,
who, in time of peace, were a veritable plague in the land.
Instead of the number demanded, he sent 30,000 Armagnacs,
so-called after their original leader, Bernard, Count of Armag-
nac, placing them under the command of his son, the Dau
phin, who was later Louis XI.
The main force of the Confederates lay before the castle of
Farnsburg, near Basel, besieging Thomas of Falkenstein,
one of the Austrian leaders, when rumors of an approach
ing host came to their ears. The Armagnacs, called by the
people Ecorcheurs (German Schinder), i. e. robbers, passed
through the Franche comte, by Montebliard to Basel, sack
ing and burning the peaceful country homes which lay in
their path. At Farnsburg, the Confederates held a council, the
result of which was that a small force, about 1300 in all, was
despatched to reconnoitre, but with particular instructions not
to be enticed into a pitched battle. A Church Council was
just then in session at Basel. In fact, the most reliable infor
mation which has been handed down concerning the resulting
events is derived almost exclusively from prelates and noble
men who were there in attendance. As the little force was
advancing upon Basel, they met two Canons of Neuchatel who
warned them of the strength of the enemy, but in vain, for one
of the leaders answered, "Then we commend our souls to God
and our bodies to the Armagnacs."1
At the village of Pratteln, they came upon the out-posts of
the enemy who retreated before them to Muttenz where
another skirmish took place, with the result that the Armag
nacs, though much superior in numbers, were thrown back
across the little stream of the Birs. At the water's edge the
Confederates stopped to consider what they should do. Finally
yielding to some hot heads in their midst, unmindful of the
instructions they had received, and in sight of the whole host
of Armagnacs drawn up in battle-array, they crossed the Birs
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 143.

THE FIRST CIVIL WAR. 217
and threw themselves, with lion-like but foolhardy bravery, upon
the astounded horsemen. They fought against these terrible
odds from early morning until noon, when they were constrained
to take refuge in the chapel of St. Jacob and the walled garden
which surrounded it. Here they maintained themselves for
hours, repulsing charge after charge of the infuriated enemy,
until hardly a man was left to carry on the battle. The Armag
nacs on several occasions tried to stop the fight, struck dumb
by this display of courage, but the Austrian leaders who were
present amongst them, urged them on to the extermination of
the hated foe. It is reported that only 200 Confederates sur
vived the battle, and that even they were all wounded.
Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, later famous as Pope Pius II. ,
attended the Council of Basel. He describes some of the
feats of valor performed by the vanquished, in a letter to a
friend. "The Swiss," he says, "tore the bloody arrows from
their bodies, and threw themselves upon the enemy even after
their hands had been cut off, not breathing their last until
they had themselves killed their murderers." 1 .A French
nobleman, Matthiew de Coucy, was assured by veteran soldiers
who were present, "that they, in their day, had neither seen
nor found men so valiant in defence nor so outrageously fear
less in sacrificing their lives."2 As Jean Chartier, the French
historian, naively remarks, "Thereupon the Dauphin, seeing
that it was a strange and amazing country, . . . returned
to Nancy." 3 In truth, he hurriedly made peace with the Swiss,
and left them masters of the situation.
With justice has this terrific battle been called the Ther-
mopyilae of Switzerland, for there was the same disparity in
numbers, the same heroism in defence, and the same virtual
victory in defeat.
In 1450, Henry of Bubenberg, the Schultheiss of Bern, was
chosen final arbitrator of the war and its results. He
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 146.
2 Ibid. p. 148.
8 Ibid. p. 148.

218 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
delivered his judgment at Einsiedeln, whither all the Confed
erates had been summoned to send delegates, in compliance
with the Zurich league of 135 1. He declared the alliance
between Zurich and Austria to be null and void, and once
more brought into force the perpetual league which bound
Zurich to the Confederation. On the other hand, Zurich was
to regain the territory she had lost during the war, Schwiz
retaining only, a few unimportant accessions won from the
Toggenburg possessions.
In reality, a great principle had been at stake in this war,
although disguised by numerous complications. It was the
question of Federalism versus States-rights, of centralization
against localism, a struggle which really never ceases in any
federated state. The national idea, though imperfect and
crudely apprehended, had come off victorious against the sepa
ratist ambitions of Zurich ; and the evil machinations of the
arch-enemy, Austria, had once more come to naught.

CHAPTER V.
THE WAR WITH CHARLES, THE BOLD, OF BURGUNDY.
THE Confederates emerged from the experience of the Old
Zurich war more united at home and more formidable
abroad. It was a time of new departure in their national life;
for they had now embarked upon the sea of international poli
tics, a distinct power, a new force in Europe, no longer negli-
geable. The battle of St. Jacob an der Birs was reported far
and wide, calling attention to their extraordinary military
prowess. Mr. John Foster Kirk, in his "History of Charles, the Bold,
Duke of Burgundy," thus aptly describes the Swiss Confedera
tion of the middle of the 15th century: "It constituted, not
indeed a nation, but a unique and terrible power, exultant in
its indomitable strength, and defiant of the storms that were
sweeping around it, convulsing and dislocating all the adjoin
ing lands."1 Strong and weak were irresistibly attracted, the
former to secure the military co-operation of the Confederates,
the latter to seek their protection. Hence it happened that
the next few years witnessed a number of new alliances or the
confirmation of old ones.
In 1450, Glarus was finally admitted on an equal footing
with the other states. In 145 1, St. Gallen, the Abbey, drew
nearer; in 1452, the community of Appenzell followed suit,
and in 1454, St. Gallen, the Town. About this time, even the
German imperial cities of Schaffhausen and Miilhausen sought
the friendship of the Confederates. In 1452, a treaty was
concluded with France, to be renewed in 1463. The relations
1 Kirk, J. F. History of Charles,the Bold. vol. II., p. 282.
219

220 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
with the powerful duchies of Milan on the South and Bur
gundy on the West were satisfactorily regulated.
How was it, then, that a few years later the Swiss found
themselves contending in a struggle for life and death against
this last power ; departing apparently so far from the national
aspirations they had marked out for themselves, as to engage
in a policy of foreign adventure, and to be caught in the
meshes of general European diplomacy ?
In truth, the causes of the great duel between Charles, the
Bold, of Burgundy and the Swiss Confederates have proved
more or less of a bone of contention amongst historical schol
ars. Two points, however, in the controversy may be accepted
as well established. The Swiss themselves were the aggres
sors, contrary to common opinion, and they were also undoubt
edly entrapped into the war by designing neighbors. Charles
himself never set foot on what was then Swiss soil, while the
Swiss went to meet him in full reliance of help from allies who
never came. They entered into the contest as auxiliaries, only
to find themselves principals. They were tricked into an atti
tude of hostility to Charles, and the brunt of war shifted upon
their shoulders, so that, in the end, it would seem as though the
combatants themselves had least to do with producing the war,
and were the least culpable of its bloodshed.
Indeed, this seemingly unlikely encounter was brought about
by a set of strangely complicated circumstances.
There was first, the desire of Charles, the Bold, Duke of
Burgundy, to found a great middle-state between Germany and
France, and to revive the glories of the ancient kingdom of
Burgundy. The late Mr. Freeman, in his essay on " Charles
the Bold," has pointed out this peculiar aspect of the question.
"From the ninth century to the nineteenth," he writes, "the
politics of Europe have largely gathered round the rivalry
between the Eastern and the Western kingdoms — in modern
language, between Germany and France. From the ninth to
the nineteenth, a succession of efforts have been made to
establish, in one shape or another, a middle-state between the

THE WAR WITH CHARLES THE BOLD. 221
two" . . . "That object was never more distinctly aimed
at, and it never seemed nearer to its accomplishment, than
when Charles, the Bold, actually reigned from the Zuyder Zee
¦to the lake of Neuchatel, and was not without hopes of extend
ing his frontier to the Gulf of Lyons."1
Then there was the anxiety of Louis XL, king of France, to
prevent this extension of power, which could only be brought
about at his expense. All the resources of his singularly
shrewd character were enlisted in order to keep Charles in a
state of vassalage. Indeed, one cannot appreciate the full
import of the impending contest without constantly bearing in
mind, that it was but one phase of -the more general con
flict which was being waged everywhere in Europe between
sovereigns and their vassals, between the principles of central
ization and decentralization in things political. In point of
fact, the antagonism between Louis and Charles was of the
same kind as that which had manifested itself in a somewhat
different manner between the central authority of the Confed
eration and the separate states in the Old Zurich war.
The Swiss were brought into touch with this diplomatic
game through their relations with King Louis XL, on the one
hand, and with Duke Sigmund, of Austria, and Duke Charles,
of Burgundy, on the other. Since 1463, they were bound to
France by close and friendly ties. The king showered gold
upon their public men, a French party was formed within the
Confederation itself, led by Nicolas von Diessbach, of Bern,
and Jost von Silenen, of Aargau. It is too much to say, how
ever, of the Burgundian war, as Mr. Kirk does in his work men
tioned above, "that it was undertaken at the instigation of
France, for the interest of France, and in the pay of France." 2
Certain peculiar complications with Duke Sigmund, of Austria,
also threw the Swiss unwittingly into a hostile attitude toward
Burgundy. As yet nothing had intervened to put a stop to the heredi-
1 Freeman, E. A. Historical Essays. Vol. I. p. 336.
2 Kirk, J. F. History of Charles, the Bold. Vol. Ill p. 9.

222 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
tary enmity between Austria and the Confederation. Follow
ing an admonition of Pope Pius IL, the Swiss, in 1460, had
invaded the Thurgau, the last of the Austrian possessions
south of the Rhine. Like the Aargau, this new territory was
administered hereafter conjointly by seven states as a com
mon bailiwick. In 1468, they had followed up their success by
further encroachments upon Austrian dominions. Their
allies, the cities of Schaffhausen and Mulhausen, complained
of being hard pressed by various Austrian partisans, and called
for help. This was the excuse for an extended expedition into
the Black Forest and Elsass, where no one ventured to offer
serious opposition. On their way back, the Swiss laid siege
to the stronghold of Waldshut. But they would not stir until
they had brought Duke Sigmund to agree to certain specified
terms, which are worth nothing, with great care, because they
acted as the point of departure for the whole train of events
which led to the war of Burgundy. The otherwise inexplica
ble attitude of the Swiss Confederation will seem less faulty
and less irrational.
Duke Sigmund promised to pay the sum of 10,000 florins
within one year, and if he could not fulfil his engagement, to
cede Waldshut and the Black Forest to the Confederates.
Being unable to raise this sum within the time agreed upon,
he tried to borrow from Louis XL, but, receiving a negative
answer, turned to Charles, the Bold. In 1469, a treaty was
concluded between the two Dukes, at St. Omer; Sigmund
mortgaged the Black Forest, Waldshut, and Elsass to Charles,
for 50,000 florins. The latter was to satisfy the demands of
the Swiss, and, if possible, to bring about a reconciliation
between them and Sigmund ; but, if the Swiss attacked
Sigmund, Charles was to give him his support.
Austria's offers of reconciliation proving too heavily encum
bered with inadmissable conditions, the Confederates came to
look upon Charles as a possible enemy in any hostilities which
might result. Then came the further fact that his governor in
Elsass, Knight Peter von Hagenbach, drew upon himself the

THE WAR WITH CHARLES THE BOLD. 223
hatred of the native population by his tyrannous conduct.
The Swiss protested to Charles against von Hagenbach's treat
ment of Miilhausen, their ally, but without success.
It was at this moment, when an estrangement between
Charles and the Swiss had begun to manifest itself, that
Louis XL, of France, determined to extract some advantage
for himself. He sought to isolate Charles by reconciling
Sigmund to the Swiss, a task which a less wily diplomat
might certainly have considered altogether impossible, but
which was, in point of fact, accomplished with consummate
tact, and fox-like cunning. The treaty of St. Omer had not
proved satisfactory to Sigmund ; he found Charles estab
lishing himself firmly in Elsass, and his lost provinces
seemed further than ever from his grasp, as the time slipped
by, and he was still unable to comply with the conditions
of payment. In hfs predicament, Sigmund turned for help
to Louis XL, with the result that an altogether new group
ing of forces was effected ; for the French King persuaded
Austria and the Confederation to approach one another,
and to draw up the preliminaries of a Perpetual Peace
(Ewige Richtung), which was to be formally adopted, two
years later, in 1476.
All honor to the monarch for thus bringing to a close
this seemingly interminable struggle ! It had been waged
intermittently for about two hundred years, so that it had
become part and parcel of the national policies of the two
sides. To have reconciled enemies, heretofore, with reason, con
sidered hopelessly estranged, was no mean performance —
but behind this apparently disinterested service there lay a
far-reaching plan which aimed not at the welfare of the
Confederates but at the aggrandizement of France. It will
always remain a much-vexed question just how far Louis XI.
was responsible for the events which succeeded this pact of
friendship, whether he directed them, or was himself swept
away by the force of circumstances. Certain it is that

224 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
while he worked for certain ends, a series of events was
furthering his plans in the most remarkable way. Through
the influence of Nicholas von Diessbach and Jost 'von
Silenen he won the close alliance of the Swiss. An agree
ment was made that, should they become involved in war,
notably with Burgundy, they might count upon his help;
and, as an expression of his friendship, he was to give the
Eight States, with their allies, Fribourg and Solothurn, an
annuity of 2000 francs each, besides 20,000 francs to be
distributed equally amongst them. In return for this they
pledged themselves to supply the French King with mer
cenary troops whenever he should require them.
In the meantime, Peter von Hagenbach's rule in Elsass had
culminated in a popular revolt. He was condemned to death
in a trial at which the Swiss participated, and finally executed.
In 1474, a declaration of war was sent to Duke Charles of
Burgundy by Bern, in the name of the whole Confederation.
The magistrates and people of the communities, constituting
the "Great Confederacy of Upper Germany," as the Swiss
Confederation was officially styled, proclaimed themselves
enemies of the Burgundian prince. Soon after, an expedition,
composed of Swiss and Austrians with contingents from
Elsass, invaded Burgundy, during Charles' absence in Ger
many, and laid seige to the stronghold of Hericourt. Louis
XL, watched their movements with pleasure, and was full of
compliments for the Swiss when they defeated the Burgund
ians and took Hericourt after a stubborn fight. As Charles
did not immediately return, Bernese troops continued to make
several incursions into his territory, then penetrated into the
land of Vaud, at that time under the dominion of the house of
Savoy, and advanced as far as Geneva, which city was forced
to pay a large ransom in order to rid itself of these unwelcome
guests. At length, Charles, the Bold, returned from his German
expedition, collected his troops at Nancy, and prepared to
march upon Bern by way of the lake of Neuchatel. On the

THE WAR WITH CHARLES THE BOLD. 225
19th of February, 1476, he stopped to lay siege to the little
town of Grandson, at that time held by a detachment of men
from Bern and Fribourg. He met with desperate and unex
pected resistance. The garrison retired to the castle, where
they repulsed his repeated assaults with so much success, that
he felt himself wasting precious time and grew daily more
impatient to advance on his way to Neuchatel. But as rein
forcements, now long expected, failed to come to the relief of
the brave garrison, the latter, reduced to extremities, discour
aged, and no longer united, finally surrendered to the Bur
gundians. In a Chronicle of the Canons of Neuchatel, it is
said that a certain Knight de Rondchamps tricked them into
submission, by assuring them that the Duke had taken the
whole country round about, and would be merciful to them if
they surrendered. However that may be, it is certain that
when the captives were led before Charles he ordered them
all, to the number of four hundred and twelve, to be hanged
or drowned in the lake, an act of atrocity which was designed
to intimidate the Confederates, but in reality filled them with
the bitterness of revenge. Panigarola, the ambassador of the
Duke of Milan in Charles' camp, wrote home : " It is a hor
rible, a fearful sight, that of so many dangling corpses."1
Now the Duke of Burgundy was ready to march upon Neu
chatel. His army has been computed at about 20,000 strong,
horse and foot, equipped with the best arms of the age, and
especially well supplied with artillery. The camp itself was
fitted up most lavishly, for Charles passed for the richest and
most extravagant prince of his day. Like the Austrian Dukes
at Morgarten and Sempach, he never for one moment doubted
the issue of the battle, in his over-confidence even neglecting
to take the proper precautions against surprise.
In the meantime, the Confederates had been quietly collect
ing their contingents at Neuchatel. There had been great
delays ; they had not arrived in time to relieve Grandson, but
on the 2d of March, they advanced, somewhat over 18,000
1 Kirk, J. F. History of Charles, the Bold. Vol. III., p. 316.

226 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
men in all, a well-armed, well-trained host, under experienced
leaders, to meet the redoubtable prince.
In order to understand the course of the battle, the follow
ing topographical details must be noted. The Jura mountains
run almost parallel with the shore of the lake of Neuchatel
throughout its length, but at a point between Neuchatel and
Grandson, a spur of the range approaches so close to the
water's edge as to form a narrow pass, known as La Lance
Chartreuse. The possession of this spur and this passage was
of prime importance to both armies, and it was here that they
met unexpectedly, coming from opposite directions.
Instead of following the road along the water's edge, the
vanguard of the Confederates struck up over the spur of the
mountain into an old Roman road, known locally as the via
ddtra, driving before them the Burgundian archers who had
been posted there to dispute their passage. As they rounded
the point they suddenly beheld the whole Burgundian army
spread out in the plain below, as far as Grandson, in all the
pride and perfection of accoutrement, just preparing to march.
It was the intention of Charles to take the spur, but finding it
already occupied by the Swiss, he changed his plan and tried
to draw the enemy down into the plain, where he could sur
round them with his superior numbers.
The Swiss vanguard decided not to wait for the main body
which was on the march behind them, but promptly formed
into a square, bristling with spears, fell on their knees to pray,
amid the derisive laughter of the Burgundians, and as soon as
they rose, the battle began. At first, the Burgundian artillery
brought many of them to the ground, but by moving a little to
one side they could place themselves out of range. Then
Charles sent his cavalry upon their right flank, but with no
success. Finally he led a charge himself from the centre,
only to find the Swiss square unshaken.
It was at this moment that the Duke bethought him of a
new disposition of troops, by which he might entice the Swiss
vanguard into the plain and annihilate them, for, in spite of

THE WAR WITH CHARLES THE BOLD. 227
their brave stand, their ranks were thinning perceptibly. He
ordered the artillery and infantry to deploy from the front to
the flanks. As fortune would have it, the long-expected main
body of the Confederates appeared over the brow of the spur,
just as his troops were effecting this change. It was the con
junction of these two movements which decided the issue of
the battle, for the rear of the Burgundian army, seeing the
simultaneous withdrawal of their own artillery and infantry
with the jubilant advance of the Swiss down the hillside,
became panic-stricken and fled, shouting, " Sauve qui peut."
Etterlin describes this scene in his "Kronica der Loblichen
Eydtgnoschaft " : " Now, when the Duke of Burgundy saw the
hosts descending the mountains, the sun just shone upon them,
and they glittered like a mirror ; at the same time the horn of
Uri bellowed, and the war horns of Luzern, and there was such
a roar that the Duke's men shuddered at it and retreated."1
Charles himself, exasperated beyond measure by the stupid
cowardice of his troops, rode amongst them with drawn sword,
striking them furiously, in the vain effort to bring them to a
standstill. But his army had passed entirely beyond his con
trol ; it fled, without looking back, helter-skelter, leaving
everything in the camp in hopeless disarray, and back to
Burgundy. When the Confederates arrived before the castle of Grand
son, they were horrified at the sight of their comrades hanging,
"still fresh, from the trees." "There hang father and son
together," writes Etterlin ; "there two brothers or some friend
or other; and the good men who knew them, their friends,
cousins, and brothers, found them there, hanging so pitifully."
But in the camp another and very different reward awaited
the Confederates. A greater part of the wealth in arms and
apparel, in gold and silver and precious stones, which Charles,
the Bold, carried about with him, lay open to pillage. It has
been calculated that more than a million florins' worth of spoils
fell into the hands of the Swiss. Diebold Schilling, a Bernese
1Ochsli, W. Quellenbuch, p. 174.

228 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
chronicler, in 1484, drew up a more or less accurate list of the
booty taken at Grandson. He enumerates amongst other art
icles : 420 pieces of artillery with much powder, many silken
banners, costly garments, silken tents and great stores of mer
chandise and provisions; precious stones of such value that no
man could properly estimate them, notably three great dia
monds, whose subsequent adventures read like romances. One
now adorns the papal tiara, another is said to be in the treas
ury of Vienna, and the third to have been until lately amongst
the crown jewels of France. Schilling is very careful in his
description of a wonderful golden casket, containing holy
relics, pieces of the true cross and the crown of thorns. A
comical aspect is lent to this wholesale plunder by the fact
that, for sometime after the battle, silken clothes and doublets
and other precious articles were worn as commonly throughout
the Confederation as ordinary cloth had been before. But the
after effects of this sudden wealth were more serious in other
respects, for there was engendered a whole train of corrup
tions, a taste for plunder, a feeling of envy, and, in general, a.
departure from the simple habits of the olden time.
The loss of life was not very great in the battle of Grand
son, for the Burgundians hardly fought at all, while the con
querors had no cavalry to complete the pursuit. On the
whole, therefore, the Swiss victory was more of a moral than
a material one. It was evident that Charles would soon be in
position to renew the struggle, his forces being only scattered
and not annihilated. Full of exultation and of confidence in the
future, the Confederates disbanded and returned to their homes.
As soon as the Duke of Burgundy had recovered sufficiently
from the stupefaction into which this unexpected defeat had
plunged him, he swore revenge against the impudent peasants
who had brought such shame upon him. This time again
Bern was made the objective point, but he determined to reach
that city by the way of Murten (Morat), a walled town on the
lake of the same name, which was defended at the time by a
Bernese garrison, under Adrian von Bubenberg.

THE WAR WITH CHARLES THE BOLD. 229
There was considerable difficulty in getting the Confederate
army together, and in the meantime, Charles settled down
before Murten with a force of about 25,000 men, determined
not to move until he had reduced the stronghold. The siege
began on the 9th of June, 1476. It was carried on with great
vigor ; assault followed assault in quick succession ; great siege-
guns were trained against the wall; a part of the town wall
and adjacent houses were shot down ; and Charles counted
upon taking the place in a few days. But Bubenburg dis
played great courage and skill in the defence. With the help
of some artillery pieces, sent from Strassburg, and carefully
constructed intrenchments, he repulsed all the charges of the
enemy. Still his position was, at the best, very critical, and he
looked with growing impatience for the arrival of the Confeder
ate army.
The peril was great, for, should Murten yield, Bern was
exposed to almost certain capture. In this extremity, the
Bernese council sent a missive to the Confederates, urging
them to make haste. "Dearest friends and brothers," runs
the letter, "were the need not so great, we should be loath
to use such pressing and burdensome solicitations. But
our affairs, alas ! are in a state which obliges us to load
you beyond our desire. If God grant that we preserve our
existence and power, we will show our eternal gratitude, to
the extent of our ability, with steadfast brotherly love, never
separating ourselves from you." At length the contingents
began to arrive in the city, and were then promptly dispatched
to a general meeting-place in the village of Gumminen, on the
road to Murten. Besides the troops of the Swiss states them
selves, came Duke Renatus of Lorraine, Count Tierstein, an
Austrian Governor, the Count of Gruyeres, and reinforcements
from Elsass — making a total of about 25,000 men, the same
in number as the Burgundian army. The men of Zurich alone
failed to respond promptly, in spite of Hans Waldmann's earn
est entreaties. It was not until the 22d of June that the
whole Confederate army advanced upon Murten.

230 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
The battle was fought in the rolling country, partly wooded
and partly rising in tablelands, which separates the lake
of Murten from the valley of the Saane (Sarine). Charles,
the Bold, had brought his troops from Murten to meet
the enemy in this region, leaving only a small body to
watch the besieged town. He placed his centre at Miinchen-
wiler, the right wing at Cressier, where stood a chapel
dedicated to St. Urbaine, and his left near the forest of
Murten. The Confederates sent a body of cavalry, their
Alsatian allies, to spy out his position in the early morning,
causing the Burgundians to hastily take up their position in
battle-array. In reality it was not till noon that the attack
began. In the meantime, as hour after hour slipped by with
out leading to hostilities, Charles allowed his troops to scatter
and gave up all expectation of a battle that day. When finally
the whole Swiss army appeared, he was taken by surprise, and
his dispositions had to be made with great haste.
It appears that the Confederates were at first brought to
a standstill by a palisade of some sort which the Burgundians
had erected. They were mercilessly cut down by a well-
directed artillery fire. A detachment, however, was sent
around to attack the right wing of the enemy. As soon as
the success of this latter movement was assured, the whole
Swiss force broke through and drove the Burgundians pell mell
upon Murten. In vain did Charles try to stem the current
of retreat ; his troops, as at Grandson, seemed incapable of
facing the Swiss; neither his splendid cavalry nor the far-
famed English bowmen who accompanied him, could be
brought to a standstill. He himself escaped by the road to
Avenches, but the mass of the infantry were hemmed in at
Murten by the pitiless hosts of the Confederates and the
cavalry of their allies. Here the defenceless and demoralized
Burgundians were butchered without remorse or driven into
the lake and drowned. It was an act of deliberate ferocity,
for the Confederates had agreed to slay everyone within
reach. The loss of the enemy was, therefore, enormous —

THE WAR WITH CHARLES THE BOLD. 231
according to Panigarola, the Milanese ambassador, somewhere
between 8,000 and 10,000, while the Swiss did not lose more
than a few hundred men. On the other hand, the booty was
nothing like as valuable as that of Grandson.
The last chapter of this great Burgundian war was enacted
a year later, at Nancy, when Renatus, Duke of Lorraine,
called upon his allies, the Swiss, to help him reconquer his
country from Charles, the Bold. More than 8,000 Confeder
ates took part in a decisive battle under the walls of Nancy.
Two days after, the body of the restless and foolhardy Duke
was discovered near the city, disfigured almost beyond recog
nition. He had been carried away in the general flight of
his troops and killed by some unknown hand.
Mr. Freeman has justly said: "The history of Charles is
a history of the highest and most varied interest. The tale
as a mere tale, as a narrative of personal adventure and a dis
play of personal character, is one of the most attractive in
European history." 1 Walter Scott has sufficiently popularized
the outlines of his general career in the two novels of " Anne
of Geierstein " and " Quentin Durward ", to make him a famil
iar figure to readers of English. But nothing can surpass the
simple, concise pathos of the ancient rhyme which told how
Charles lost : Bei Grandson das Gut,
Bei Murten den Mut,
Bei Nancy das Blut. 2
1 Freeman, E. A. Historical Essays. ¦ Vol. 1, p. 335.
2 Dandliker, K. Geschichte. p. 226.

CHAPTER VI.

THE COVENANT OF STANS.

THE effect of the Burgundian war upon the Swiss people
has been aptly likened to that of the Persian wars upon
the Greeks or the Punic upon the Romans. It widened their
horizon ; it opened up new fields of enterprise, and led to the
point of highest military renown in the history of Switzerland ;
but, at the same time, it admitted fresh dangers and hitherto
unknown temptations, and proved the precursor of an internal
crisis which brought the Confederation to the verge of dissolu
tion. The generation, which grew up after the Burgundian
period, was corrupted by booty or the lust of it, by the uncer
tain pay and flattering annuities of Sovereigns who cared
nothing for the real welfare of the Swiss, but only sought to
procure them as mercenaries.
No sooner was the exhilaration of actual warfare a thing of
the past, than the old rivalry between the cities and the coun
try districts flamed up anew. This time a further cause of
dissension came to light, namely, the dissatisfaction of the
Forest States with the distribution of booty taken in the late
war, and with the tribute exacted from conquered states.
The preponderance of power had been for a long time tend
ing to pass over to the three cities of the Confederation, in
fact, the leadership of the country districts, if it existed at all,
was purely historical, and the cities, especially Bern, had
undoubtedly managed the campaign against Charles of Bur
gundy. A number of incidents followed each other in quick
succession which helped to increase the antagonism. In 1477,
some unemployed mercenaries at Carnival time broke forth
232

THE COVENANT OF STANS. 233
from Zug and overran the country, demanding tribute from
the cities. Even distant Geneva was obliged to pay a good
round sum in order to propitiate this "joyous band of the mad
life", as the adventurers called themselves. Under the plea
that this uproar had received the connivance of the authori
ties in the country districts, the cities met and formed them
selves into a separate league with a separate Diet. By entering
into this alliance, Luzern broke that article of her league with
the Forest States, which especially declared that none of the
contracting parties were to make alliances with other powers
except by the permission of the rest. For this broken faith
the Forest Cantons incited the Entlibuch to rebel, a district
held in subjection by Luzern. The rebellion did not suc
ceed in its object, but served to increase the tension which
already existed between the two parties. Another object of
contention was the admission of Fribourg and Solothurn into
the Confederation, demanded by the cities. The country dis
tricts, on the other hand, refused, because this addition to the
number of cities would have given them a definite preponder
ance in the Confederation. A welcome diversion for a mo
ment drew the attention of the contending parties elsewhere,
to an expedition into Milanese territory, where they gained a
brilliant victory at the little village of Giornico, in 1478. No
sooner was this adventure over, than the quarrel broke out
afresh, with increased violence. It became evident that noth
ing short of a complete revision of the leagues which bound
together the various States of the Confederation would pre
vent this Constitutional crisis from developing into Civil war.
An agreement was finally made to hold a Diet at Stans in
the State of Unterwalden. There the grievances of the two
parties could be discussed and a definite solution given to the
questions which were demoralizing the state.
In 148 1, this assembly of delegates drew up a charter, which
was known as "The Covenant of Stans " (Slanser Verkommnis),
but not before the delegates, thus convened, had been several
times upon the point of going apart amid scenes of the great-

234 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
est disorder. It is related by the only contemporary chron
icler of this famous convention, Diebold Schilling, of Luzern,
that just as the meeting was breaking up without having
reached an agreement, and war seemed inevitable, Nicholas
von der Flue, a hermit who lived near by at Sachseln, was
asked for advice by the parish priest of Stans. The excited
delegates were persuaded to listen to his words of reconcilia
tion and peace. In consequence of this intervention the Diet
was not fruitless, for the delegates resumed their labors, and
brought them to a successful termination by drawing up the
above-mentioned Covenant. It was agreed that the separate
leagues of the cities should be annulled, and that Fribourg
and Solothurn should be admitted into the Confederation.
Moved by the remembrance of the popular excesses which
had been of frequent occurrence within recent years, the Con
federates were persuaded to insert into the Covenant two
articles of a restrictive character. " We have also agreed and
determined," says the text, "that hereafter no one amongst
us and in our Confederation shall secretly or openly, in town
or country, hold any unusual, dangerous gatherings, assemblies
or discussions, from which there might result harm, tumult or
mischief to any one, without the will and permission of his
lords and superiors." . . . "And if contrary to this [stip
ulation], any amongst us should undertake to hold, or give
help, or advice, concerning any such aforesaid dangerous
gatherings, assemblies or discussions, he and those men shall
straightway and without hindrance from their lords and supe
riors be punished according to their fault."1
The stipulations of the Covenant of Sempach and the Priest's
Charter were reaffirmed at the end of this document ; and to
familiarize the rising generation with the leagues which bound
the several States to each other, it was agreed that they should
be sworn to every five years.
It is important to note the drift of public opinion at this
time as expressed in the article I have quoted above. The
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 203.

THE COVENANT OF STANS. 235
repression of popular excesses was undoubtedly within the
province of the constitutional rights of the Confederates, but
to forbid all popular meetings of any sort, all expressions of
the public will, whatever their purport, was to deal a crushing
blow to the democratic principles and practices which had so
far been the chief glory of Switzerland. In fact, an aristocratic
wave was passing over the land, due partly to the prepon
derance of the cities which were governed by powerful mag
istrates instead of open-air assemblies like the country districts,
and partly to the influence of foreign Courts. As a sign of the
times, therefore, these stipulations of the Covenant are omin
ous, and prophetic of a certain decay of democracy.

CHAPTER VII.
THE WAR AGAINST THE EMPIRE.
THE signing of the Covenant of Stans was followed by
about fifteen years of comparative peace, broken only
momentarily by a successful expedition into Milanese terri
tory, and by the autocratic, and at times violent, career of
Hans Waldmann, now Biirgermeister of Ziirich.
In 1449, the reigning tranquility was brought to a close in
an unexpected manner. The Swiss Confederates became
involved in a quarrel with the German emperor himself, a
quarrel which finally resulted in their complete separation
from the empire. Heretofore there had been no thought of
breaking with the traditional allegiance ; on the contrary the
Confederates had always set a great value upon the protection
thus received. But a change in the relations between the two
parties was now imminent.
Of course the Swiss Confederation was originally only one
of many leagues which arose in the course of the thirteenth
century, and its creation was due not to hostility against the
empire, but against the encroachments of Habsburg-Austria.
When, however, all the other leagues gradually sank into
impotence, leaving the Swiss alone to testify to the principles
inherent in such organizations, the latter naturally assumed a
peculiar position within the Empire. Moreover, as the house
of Habsburg, the traditional enemy, once more came to the
throne of Germany, the amicable relations between the Swiss
and the sovereign received a severe shock.
Add to this that the Burgundian War had taught the Con
federates their real strength and self-sufficiency ; that they had
236

THE WAR AGAINST THE EMPIRE. 237
entered into a close alliance with the King of France, then at
enmity with the German Emperor ; and finally that their dem
ocratic principles and practices were in continual contrast to
the aristocratic organization of Germany, and we have an
explanation of the movement which, at this time, led to the
separation of Confederates from the Empire of which they
nominally formed a part.
It will be remembered that Maximilian I. carried out a com
plete reorganization of the Empire at the celebrated Diet of
Worms, in 1495, instituting an Imperial Chamber and new sub
divisions of the whole country. The Swiss, being still nominal
members of the Empire, were asked to give their acquiescence
to these changes and to subscribe their share to the public
expenses ; but, proud of their independent position, and satisfied
with their own way of governing themselves, the Swiss refused
to take part in this reorganization or to pay the imperial taxes
demanded of them. Instead of this, they allied themselves
still more closely with the King of France, who rewarded them
with money, in pay and pensions. When Maximilian threat
ened to invade the Confederation if his demands were not com
plied with, the Biirgermeister of Zurich, who had been sent to
carry on the negotiations, is said to have replied : " Gracious
lord, I should not advise you to do this ; we have so ignorant
and rustic a populace, that they would not spare, I fear, even
the imperial crown."
While this slumbering antagonism contributed not a little to
the war which followed, actual hostilities were precipitated by
quite another cause. The leagues of Graubiinden, which we
have seen allying themselves with the Confederates, were just
at this time suffering severely at the hands of their Austrian
neighbors in the Tyrol, and, in their need, called upon the
Swiss to help them. With this a desultory, devastating war
began, which was sometimes sharpest upon the Northern front
ier, sometimes upon the Eastern. The first encounter between
the Swiss and the Swabian League, which had been formed in
the South of Germany under the patronage of the Emperor,

238 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
was at Bruderholz, near Basel. Here, as in all the subsequent
battles of this war, the Swiss defeated an enemy much superior
to them in point of numbers, but undisciplined and not anima
ted by a definite purpose. An unusually bloody encounter
took place soon after, at Frastenz, in the Tyrol, and Maximilian
himself sent an imperial army to reinforce the Austrians sta
tioned there, but without success, for another battle was
fought near the gorge of the Calven in the Miinsterthal which
resulted in a perfect slaughter of the Austrians.
The decisive battle of this war was fought at Dornach near
Basel, where the Swabian army was surprised by the Swiss
and cut to pieces.
In 1499, the Peace of Basel put an end to this war. The
Confederates had proved themselves stronger than the forces
of the German Empire. From now on, although they were
not expressly declared independent, they practically formed
a separate organization. It was not until about one hundred
and fifty years later, at the Treaty of Westphalia, in 1648, that
their independence received the formal acknowledgement of
the. powers.
In 1 501, as one of the results of the Swabian war, the towns
of Schaffhausen and Basel, old and trusted allies on many
occasions, were definitely received into the Confederation
as the eleventh and twelfth members.

CHAPTER VIII.
SWITZERLAND AND THE BALANCE OF POWER IN EUROPE.
AT this moment the r61e which the Confederation assumed
in European politics became almost dramatic in inten
sity and brilliancy. The rude mountaineers actually held the
balance of power during the period which succeeded the Swa
bian war and preceded the Reformation. With justice, there
fore do Swiss writers describe this era of their history as
the most glorious in diplomacy and war, but the most demora
lizing, ethically and morally.
Their ambassadors were feted and flattered at all the foreign
courts. The chief towns of the States were haunted by emis
saries, intriguing to secure fresh levies of troops. The time
came when the richest prince would invariably secure the ser
vices of these mercenaries, the most desirable soldiers in
Europe. " Pas d' argent, pas de Suisses," was the saying
which then arose, and has ever since been made a cause of
reproach to the Confederation, although an explanation of the
origin of this sentence has been given, which, if correct, makes
it redound to the honor, rather than to the shame, of the mer
cenaries. It appears that, while in the service of France,
some Swiss troops were unable to obtain their pay, and they
therefore declared their intention of returning home. They
were urged, however, to live by brigandage, like other bands of
mercenaries out of employment, until they could be
re-engaged ; and when they refused to do this, a French gen
eral is said to have exclaimed, "Pas d' argent, pas de Suisses,"
in impatience at their scruples. Even if this explanation is
far-fetched and improbable, there is a good deal to be said in
239

240 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
excuse of the Swiss ; the barrenness of their mountains, the
hard struggle for existence in the face of the contending ele
ments, and their training in the use of arms, must all be taken
as extenuating circumstances. Perhaps the best answer
which has ever been given to this reproach was that made by
a Swiss to a Frenchman. "We fight for honor, you for
money," said the Frenchman. "Yes," replied the Swiss, "we
both fight for what we have not got."
In fact, fighting fori pay was considered a perfectly legitimate
and honorable means of gaining a living. The only trouble
was that, in the confusion of promises to various sovereigns,
Swiss troops were sometimes found in opposing armies, and
although they are not known to have actually fought against
each other, the mere fact that they could thus support antag
onistic policies at the same time shook the respect in which
they had heretofore been held, and brought bitter reproach upon
their native land.
The authority of the central government of the Confeder
ation, as distinguished from that of the several states, was
found too weak and impotent to grapple with this evil of the
mercenary system. In vain did consecutive Diets forbid
young men to hire themselves out for foreign service, in vain
were the disastrous consequences of this conduct explained
and insisted upon — the whole country was given up to war
and intrigue.
The power of the Confederation was exerted mainly upon
affairs in Italy, which had become a prize of contention in Euro
pean politics. At the end of the fifteenth and the beginning
of the sixteenth century, Italy was in a state of political demor
alization and disintegration. Although it was pre-eminently the
home of art, and the centre of great commercial activity and
wealth, it was nevertheless a prey to internal dissensions, and
was powerless against the attacks of foreign invaders. It was
mainly in Milan that the influence of the Swiss made itself
felt, where a conflict arose between Charles VIII., King of

SWITZERLAND'S POWER IN EUROPE. 241
France, who laid claims to that city, and the Dukes of the fam
ily of Sforza. By throwing their influence now on one side
now on the other, the Swiss could decide the issues of this
long-drawn contest. At first they were allied with France,
which had overrun the whole of Italy, but when the Pope con
cluded the so-called Holy League, with the object of driving the
French out of Italy, they were induced to change sides, and
found themselves arrayed against their former ally. It must
be said that the unsophisticated Swiss knew nothing about the
Pope's true plans, of his ambitious design of becoming a great
political master, but merely supposed that his spiritual suprem
acy was threatened. They were, therefore, easily persuaded
to send troops by the Pope's emissary, Matthaus Schinner, an
ecclesiastic of the Upper Valais, later created first Swiss Car
dinal for these services.
They repeatedly invaded Northern Italy on their own
account, always conquering and plundering. On one occasion
they penetrated to Pavia, in their midst being Ulrich Zwingli,
the later Reformer, but at that time army chaplain, and a
staunch partisan of the Papal pretensions. They reinstated
Max Sforza in Milan and drove the French from his territories.
In 1 5 13, however, the French returned, reconquered Milan,
and were apparently once more masters of the situation.
When the news of this exploit reached the Confederates, a
large army was collected to march to the relief of Milan. At
Novara a decisive battle was fought, which forced the French
again to evacuate the country ; the Swiss had once more proved
themselves too strong for the King of France.
This apparently interminable fight for Milan was finally
decided in favor of the French by a tremendous battle near
Marignano, or modern Melegnano. Francis I., ambitious and
enterprising, determined to retrieve the disasters of his prede
cessors in that field, and to attack Milan with an overwhelming
force. For this purpose he collected an army of 60,000 men,
magnificently equipped, and supplied with the best artillery of
the day. In the course of a few days he had taken every-

242 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
thing up to within a short distance of Milan. The Swiss,
in the meantime, were undecided whether to check the
advancing tide or to withdraw from a contest in which they
had only an indirect interest ; but Cardinal Schinner, who
was filled with a bitter hatred against the French, succeeded
by a trick in forcing the Swiss to fight. About 24,000 Con
federates opposed the advance of the French army at Marig-
nano, where a terrible struggle took place, which deserves to
rank amongst the bloodiest encounters in history. The first
day of the fight remained indecisive; both sides maintained
their positions, fighting by the light of the moon until mid
night, but next morning, when the battle was renewed at dusk,
the superior numbers and the effective artillery of the French
began to tell heavily upon the Swiss. Still they fought on,
holding their own by prodigies of valor. Unfortunately, at the
critical moment, when the two armies were so thoroughly
exhausted that the slightest advantage given to one or the
other was decisive, the French received reinforcements from
Venice, and forced their brave opponents to yield the ground.
In perfect order, defending themselves to the last with hero
ism, the Swiss executed a retreat which has never been sur
passed in the history of military tactics for bravery and order.
The battle of Marignano put an end to the international r61e
which the Swiss Confederation had been playing since the
Swabian War, for, although still much sought after and feared
for their military power, the Swiss no longer were able to
decide European issues by the weight of their influence.
Amongst the many results of the Italian campaign we may
cite as the most important the definite admittance of Appen
zell into the Confederation as the thirteenth State.

CHAPTER IX.
THE THIRTEEN SWISS STATES AND THE THIRTEEN AMERICAN
COLONIES.
IN what respects did the Confederation of Thirteen States
differ from that of the Eight old States ?
There are a number of striking changes to note, both in the
foreign relations and in the internal constitution of this
enlarged Confederation. There are evidences, not only of
great territorial expansion, but also of entirely new departures
in the principles and practices of government.
After the Swabian war, the Confederation had become, to all
intents and purposes, independent of the German Empire, lead
ing a life apart from the parent stem, and developing foreign
policies of its own. In fact, as time went on, the Swiss found
themselves drawn closer and closer into an alliance with the
natural enemy of the Empire, with France, the strongly centra
lized and wealthy state, which supplied them with unlimited
pay and pensions in return for military services. The fifteenth
century also saw the accomplishment of an undertaking which
the men of the fourteenth would have scouted as impossible
and visionary, a perpetual peace was established, clearly drawn
up and signed, between the Confederates and their hereditary
enemy, the Dukes of Austria.
The incorporation of five new States, as well as the addition
of a number of allies and of conquered or subject districts, gave
the Confederation of Thirteen States an unbroken frontier and
made of it a compact, geographical whole. Besides these thir
teen States, which were the real privileged members, there were
a number of allies, or Zugewandte Orte, bound sometimes to
243

244 THE RISE OF' THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
one, sometimes to more of the thirteen States. Amongst these
were the Abbot and Town of St. Gallen, the Prince-Bishop of
Basel, the Count of Neuchatel, the towns of Bienne, Miilhausen
in Elsass, Rotweil in Swabia, and the two republics of the Val
ais and Graubiinden. We might add the little miniature
republic of Gersau on the lake of Luzern, which was really
never incorporated into any of the States until the beginning
of this century, when it became part of the Canton of Schwiz.
The subject lands, or Untertanenlande, were the Aargau and
Thurgau, administered in common, the former by eight States,
the latter by ten, the Rheinthal, Sargans, Gaster, and Utznach,
Morat, Grandson, Orbe, and Echallens, Bellinzona, Lugano,
Locarno, Mendrisio, and the Val Maggia — all these districts
were governed by various combinations from amongst the Thir
teen States. The confusion resulting from rivalries and jeal
ousies in administering the affairs of these common possessions
was one of the worst features in the organization of the Thir
teen States, and was the cause of endless corruption in ages to
come. It will be seen from the above enumeration of names, that
of the twenty-two Cantons, now forming the Swiss Confedera
tion, at that time only thirteen were full-fledged members,
four were still allies, three were in the inferior position of sub
ject or conquered lands, and two, Vaud and Geneva, had not
yet entered into direct relations with the Confederation at all.
From a constitutional standpoint, the Confederation of Thir
teen States had not advanced much beyond that of the Eight.
The want of a central, controlling force was as glaring as ever,
and the whole still presented the appearance of a group of
states, united rather by the force of circumstances than by
premeditation. The Covenant of Stans undoubtedly tended
toward centralization, and continued the work of founding a
body of Federal Law, begun by the Priest's Charter and by
the Covenant of Sempach, but in any case, the advance was
very small, and in the Covenant of Stans was marred by the
autocratic provisions which forbade public meetings.

THE THIRTEEN SWISS STATES. 245
The Diets, however, or Tagsatzungen, to which delegates
were sent from the several States, began to assume certain
regular features, although it was not till later that they
received fixed times and places of meeting. Unfortunately,
the laws and resolutions of these Diets usually-remained inop
erative from the very impotence of the assemblies. There
was no executive authority to enforce the regulations. In
the first place, the delegates had not a free hand to vote as
seemed best to them ; they acted entirely according to the
instructions which they took with them from the home author
ities. If no decision was reached, the delegates were obliged
to return for new instructions. But suppose the delegates
re-assembled for reconsideration, it did not suffice that a majority
of them consented to the proposed piece of legislation ; every
bill to become a law must receive the unanimous vote of the
delegates. One obdurate State could defeat the wishes of
the whole Confederation. And when the law was once passed
there was no executive power to enforce it ; the individual
States were at liberty to choose whether or not they would
obey the injunctions of the Diets. As a result, certain States
might vote in favor of good resolutions for form's sake and at
the same time never comply with them practically. This mode
of procedure was especially resorted to in* all matters connected
with the mercenary system and the foreign pensions. Success
ive Diets voted to suppress these evils, which were felt to be
eating away the virtue of the country, but the individual states
did not enforce the provisions made to counteract the spread
ing corruption.
Amongst the new departures inaugurated at this time were,
first, the common bailiwicks, such as the Aargau and Thurgau,
and then a singular provision inserted into the leagues con
cluded with Basel, Schaffhausen, and Appenzell. This stipu
lated that the new members should give aid against a foreign
foe, but in case the Confederates quarrelled amongst them
selves, they were to make every attempt to reconcile the
adversaries. If these efforts did not succeed they were to

246 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
remain neutral or, in the words of the text, to "sit still" while
the Confederates fought out their quarrel.
Whatever the inherent weaknesses of this loose Confedera
tion of the Thirteen States, it must have contained elements of
strength for it lasted no less than two hundred and eighty-
five years as then constituted.
But what are the points of resemblance which can be
traced between those Thirteen Swiss States and the Thirteen
American Colonies before their growth into an independent
nation ?
In both countries the states were practically self-governing,
owing only nominal allegiance to a distant supreme ruler. In
both countries there was the same absence of a central control
ling organization, although the national spirit was vigorous
and assertive. The American colonies, however, were fortu
nate in not possessing subject lands to debauch their gov
ernments. It is true that the Western territory for awhile
proved a dangerous bone of contention amongst them, but the
wisdom shown by Congress in carving new states out of that
territory soon removed all cause for jealousy. Indeed, the
process of absorbing the Western lands into the Union has
been admirable in its simplicity and success. Switzerland
had no vast area of virgin soil to assimilate ; its growth was
strictly circumscribed to the few states it could attract within
its orbit or to those it could conquer outright. The American
colonies naturally expanded westward, away from the narrow
strip of sea-coast, but the Swiss states had no such store-house
of well-nigh unlimited resoures to draw upon. As Mr. J. F.
Kirk has said of the Swiss Confederation in the middle of
the fifteenth century : " It had now entered upon a course of
retaliation and of foreign enterprise. Its former assailants,
stripped of their possessions in Helvetia [sic] and unable to
arrest the flood which their own temerity had set in motion,
were treated with a retributive and scornful insolence, saw
their provinces exposed to perpetual incursions, and their
towns, if not in open mutiny, inviting the friendship of the

THE THIRTEEN SWISS STATES. 247
invaders, and seeking admission into the league."1 That was
the method by which the Swiss Confederation enlarged its area.
The first irregular Diets of the Confederation were not
unlike the occasional Congresses convened by the Colonies —
deliberative bodies without constitutional attributes, and with
out the necessary powers to enforce their decrees.
It is interesting, also, to notice the difference in the growth
of the two groups of states from mere aggregations into firm
organisms, to measure the intervals between epoch-making
charters in their evolutionary progress. It took the Swiss
Confederation no less than five hundred and twenty-four years
to grow from a primitive league into a state with even a sem
blance of central authority, from the Perpetual Pact in 1291,
to the Federal PactX)f 18 15. The short-lived constitution of
the Helvetic Republic, in 1 798, and the Act of Meditation, in
1803, cannot be reckoned as part of a natural development,
since they were imposed upon Switzerland by a foreign power.
On the other hand, it took the United States only one hun
dred and thirty-eight years to traverse this same period in its
history, from the first ephemeral Articles of Agreement, con
cluded by four of the Colonies in 1643, to the adoption, of the
Articles of Confederation, in 1781. The next step, from a
loose-jointed state into a compact federal body, was accom
plished much more rapidly in both countries. In Switzerland
after thirty-three years of dissatisfaction, and in the United
States after only eight years of experimenting.
Prof. Hart, in his "Introduction to the Study of Federal
Government" says on this point, "It is a remarkable fact that
three of the four strong existing federations have passed
through a transition stage of weak federation, and out of the
experiences of that period have developed a workable system.
This was the case in America, as it was the case in Switzer*
land and Germany."1
1 Kirk, J. F. History of Charles, the Bold. Vol. II., p. 282.
2 Hart, A. B. Introduction to the Study of Federal Government, p. 56.
(Harvard Monographs).

BOOK IV.
THE PERIOD OF THE REFORMATION.

CHAPTER I.
THE RISE OF THE REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND.
SWITZERLAND has always been too insignificant in point
of territory and population, and too much on sufferance
in the midst of the great European powers, to play what could
be termed a leading part upon the historical stage. It is true
that for a few years, at the end of the fifteenth century, she
held the balance of power, and was able to decide the issues of
European conflicts with the help of her unequalled mercenary
troops ; but after all this temporary advantage was not due so
much to her own strength as to the demoralization of her
neighbors, and in the end proved neither creditable to her
honor nor profitable to her development. It is also true that,
at the present time, Switzerland has entered upon a life of
great usefulness and honor, influencing the world for good both
by the example of a pure and progressive democracy, and by
the international unions of which she is the centre. But if
one were asked by what movement within her own borders
Switzerland has made the most profound and lasting impres
sion upon human development, and fully vindicated her right
to rank with nations which have shaped the destinies of man,
the answer would undoubtedly be : by the Reformation, as the
work of Ulrich Zwingli at Zurich, and of John Calvin at
Geneva. The scope of this work does not admit of any examination
into the purely religious aspect of that great movement which
swept through Christendom at the beginning of the sixteenth
century. The writer will not attempt to make any inquiry
into the respective merits of the theological systems involved
251

252 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
in this controversy, enlarging neither upon the corruption
which had invaded the Church, the immorality in the monas
teries and nunneries, the traffic in absolutions and livings, the
loss of spirituality and the decay of learning amongst the
clergy; nor, on the other hand, upon the fanaticism of the Prot
estants, their ruthless destruction of the good along with evil,
their unnatural condemnation of innocent pleasures and their
unnecessary cruelty in the hour of triumph.
I shall confine myself to the political problems, created by
the Reformation in the Swiss Confederation, and to the traces
which it left upon the life of that country.
For it must be remembered that the Reformation was not
only a religious movement, it was a new departure in every
branch of human activity. Before its advent the world had
grown stale, and man's wisdom had become unprofitable. Not
only the dogmas of the theologians, but the very works of the
artists, the experiments of the scientists and the dissertations
of the schoolmen had become puerile and perverted, their
inspirations and aspirations distorted and misdirected, and
their fallacies perpetuated themselves in a vicious sequence
under the dominion of fixed, unalterable rules. Upon such a
state of society there burst, at the end of the fifteenth century, a
new force, whose sign was liberty — liberty of thought, of act
ion and of spirit. It pervaded every work of man, and inaug
urated an era of innovation in every department of life ; it
sent men to study the secrets of science, and invented the
printing press ; it drove others across the seas in search of
new continents, and discovered America ; it set scholars at
work upon the ancient classics distributed over Europe by the
fall of Constantinople, and gave birth to the revival in art and
learning known as the Renaissance. Politics, economics, and
social life felt this rejuvenating breath, which opened fresh
fields for research and new ideals on every hand. When we
consider how thoroughly the Church entered into the life. of
the men of that day, by means of her various ministrations, by her
influence over the secular authorities, and her fabulous wealth,

THE RISE OF THE REFORMATION. 253
it is not surprising that she should have felt the change as
keenly as she did and borne such lasting traces of the subse
quent struggle.
Before the advent of the Reformation, the Swiss people
were exceedingly well-disposed toward the head of the
Church. They were conspicuous amongst the nations for
their attachment to his person, and for their zeal in all ecclesi
astical matters. Nor was this enthusiasm confined to the
Forest States, which might be said to have been too far
removed from the world to perceive the real corruption of
the Church, but even Zurich and Bern, the very centres of the
subsequent agitation, prided themselves upon their well-known
devotion to Rome. Indeed, had there been less religious zeal
and more indifference in Switzerland, the Reformation would
not have left those deplorable scars upon the national life
which are still noticeable to-day.
Why was it that at least one-half of those to whom the
Pope had awarded the title of " Defenders of the Liberty of the
Church," should think themselves constrained to change from
partisans into adversaries of the Papal cause ?
In Switzerland, more than elsewhere, the Reformation was
affected by all manner of secular considerations, by political
questions and administrative jealousies, for, in spite of their
deeply religious temperament, the Swiss were very jealous of
any ecclesiastical interference in their political affairs. The
secular authorities in the various States were always seeking
to acquire control over the clergy in their midst, and to con
fine them to purely ecclesiastical matters. This tendency
is seen in a number of ordinances passed by different
States, and in the famous Pfajfenbrief which concerned
the Federation at large. To this day the parishes of Canton
Uri, for example, distinctly Ultramontane though they be,
retain the right of electing their own priests, in accordance
with a decree of Pope Julius II. No doubt, therefore, the
readiness of certain portions of the Swiss people to take up
the ideas of the Reformation, must be ascribed in part to this

254 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
desire of the secular authorities to exercise supervision over
ecclesiastical affairs in their districts.
But there were also moral considerations. During the Italian
campaigns the governments of the Confederated States had
been in constant communication with Papal emissaries. In
the course of these negotiations they had become acquain
ted with the . worldly ambitions, the broken pledges, and the
intrigues of the Holy Father ; they were shocked to find his
conduct so inconsistent with his sacred functions. They had
supposed him engaged at most in a righteous struggle for his
spiritual supremacy, and now they found that he was pursuing
political plans, without regard to the rights and liberties of the
nations involved. But more than this, the Swiss mercenary
troops had penetrated far into the Papal States, and had not
been edified by what they saw and heard. They brought back
strange stories of the doings at Rome, of the corruption in
high places, and the general profligacy so much at variance
with the sanctity of the place. Returning to their homes,
they carried with them the vices and diseases they had con
tracted in the Papal service ; they became idle vagabonds,
unwilling to work, and unfit to fulfil the duties of citizenship.
No wonder that a cry of indignation arose from the Confedera
tion ; that honest men tried to put down the mercenary system,
and began to look upon the Papal emissaries, who besieged
the authorities for fresh levies of men, as the enemies of their
country. The time came when all true patriots were constrained to
combat the influence of the Pope as fatal to the welfare of
their native land.
Thus was the traditional veneration of the Swiss undermined,
and their old-time allegiance loosened. When the public con
science had been aroused by these evils, and public opinion
had turned against Papal interference, then came the man who
should inaugurate the movement of religious emancipation.
But observe how the career of Ulrich Zwingli illustrates the
peculiar political character of the Reformation in Switzerland,

THE RISE OF THE REFORMATION. 255
to which reference has been made above. Zwingli began his
work as a political reformer ; his first efforts were directed
against political abuses, and some of his noblest words were
spoken in the cause of a distinct national life, free from foreign
interference. It was not until he found all his exertions in
this field baffled by ecclesiastical intrigues, until he discovered
that the peculiar conditions, which then obtained in Christen
dom, made it impossible to purify politics without first reform
ing the Church, that he began* to attack certain doctrines of
religion and to set up a theological system of his own.
Zwingli was a Reformer in the widest sense of the word.
He conceived his mission to be nothing less than the complete
political, religious, and moral regeneration of Switzerland; so
that whatever may be the reader's particular estimate of the
religious teachings which he introduced, no one can deny him
an honorable position amongst the great-hearted and fearless
seekers after the truth.
Ulrich Zwingli was born in 1484, at the village of Wildhaus,
in the ancient County of Toggenburg, now forming part of the
Canton of St. Gallen. A rude, wooden chalet, blackened with
age, is still shown as the house where he first saw light.
His family were counted amongst the best in those parts, his
father being chief magistrate of the parish. He received an
education which was remarkable for its comprehensiveness.
At an early age, young Zwingli was sent to school in Basel and
Bern, from whence, showing especial aptitude for the study of
the ancient classics, he was allowed to perfect himself at the
University of Vienna. During his two-years' stay at this seat
of learning, he distinguished himself in the studies embraced
by the designation of the humanities, and by his talent for
eloquent debate. Returning to Switzerland, he accepted a posi
tion as a Latin teacher, in the school of St. Martin, at Basel,
making the acquaintance of the famous Glareanus, at the Uni
versity in that city, and of a certain Thomas Wyttenbach, of
Bienne, who seems to have been the first to direct his atten
tion to theological studies. In 1506, in his twenty-second

256 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
year, Zwingli was chosen parish priest of Glarus, and at the
outset of his ecclesiastical career, had a foretaste of the
corruption which obtained in the church ; for he found himself
obliged to pay one hundred florins to the holder of the living,
before he could take possession. During the ten years of his
sojourn at Glarus, Zwingli turned to his studies with renewed
zest. In his search after the truth, he not only drank deeply
of the wisdom of the ancients, making himself familiar with the
Greek and Latin authors, with the Bible, and with the Fathers
of the Church ; but he also kept up a correspondence with such
contemporary scholars as Glareanus, Mykonius, Vadianus, and
later with the great Erasmus himself. He was laying the
foundation of his education deep and broad.
But to the erudition of the closeted student he joined quali
ties which savants generally lack. Zwingli was a true man
of the people, both in manner and speech, a believer in popu
lar sovereignty, an out-and-out democrat. A great part of the
success which attended his sermons was due to his genial
mother-wit, born of his intimate participation in the life of the
humble people.
Nor was his activity confined to his parish. In the capa
city of army chaplain, he twice accompanied contingents of
troops from Glarus, across the Alps into Italy. In fact, his
graphic account of the expedition to Pavia which he sent to
his friend Vadianus, is our principal authority for that event.
And to show how unshaken his allegiance to the Church still
was at this time, it will suffice to recall his expression when he
calls Rome "the common mother of all Christian Believers."
A few days before the disastrous battle bf Marignano he
delivered a speech to the soldiery, warning them against the
consequences of the disorders which had broken out amongst
them. So prominent was the part he played in these Italian
campaigns, and so conspicuous his zeal in behalf of the Papal
cause, that the attention of the Pope was finally directed to
him, probably by Matthaus Schinner, the Swiss Cardinal.
The Papal Legate was sent to assure Zwingli of his master's

THE RISE OF THE REFORMATION. 257
special favor, and to reward him by an appointment to the
grade of Papal Court Chaplain, with a yearly allowance, which
was extremely welcome to the poor parish priest. In this gift
we must not see any attempt on the part of the Pope to bribe
Zwingli into silence, for the latter had not yet begun to attack
the tenets of the Church. But in the light of his subsequent
career, one cannot help remarking the irony of the transaction,
especially when we take into consideration that Zwingli used
the money thus obtained for the purchase of books which were
to help him eventually to throw off his allegiance to the Pope.
For the present, Zwingli's attention was directed toward the
political abuses which followed in the wake of the mercenary
system. Even a little place like Glarus was at that time the
rendezvous of intriguing ambassadors from the great powers,
who vied with each other in bribing the authorities to lend
them troops. Zwingli's outspoken condemnation of these
evils soon brought him into conflict with the ruling faction in
Glarus, and, although he had gathered about himself a band of
devoted parishioners, he determined to accept an invitation
which came to him from Einsiedeln, to act as Chaplain in the
monastery of that place. It seems almost like malicious fate
that the very place which was then, as it is now, the most
celebrated place of pilgrimage in Switzerland, should have
called the man who was later foremost in denouncing every
thing which had to do with the veneration of saints.
It is never an easy matter to determine, with anything like
precision, the turning-point in a man's life, but it would seem
that this period of cloistered retirement determined the partic
ular bent which Zwingli's subsequent life should take. In his
hours of study in the monastery library he seems to have
turned his thoughts more and more upon religious matters, he
began to take the Bible as a text-book, and, applying to it the
same methods of research which he had learned in connection
with his studies of the Greek and Latin classics, he saw, for the
first time, how far the Church of his day had departed from
the simple word of the text. His sermons began to attract

258 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
attention, and his reputation to spread abroad as a scholar and
Churchman of the newer school ; but, as yet, no word of his
betrayed any hostility toward the Church, of which he
remained a devoted follower. After two years at Einsiedeln,
he was elected Rector of the Minster (Grossmiinster), at
Zurich, where his career as a religious Reformer really began.

CHAPTER II.

ZWINGLI IN ZURICH.

ON New Year's Day, 15 19, Zwingli delivered his first ser
mon in the Grossmiinster at Zurich, taking the simple
text of St. Matthew's Gospel in his hand, and expounding it
verse by verse, chapter by chapter, before a deeply moved
congregation. He did not, as yet, denounce the practices of
the Church which were inconsistent with this rendering, but
left his hearers to form their own opinion in regard to these
matters. As usual he did not confine himself to religious
questions in his exhortations. He laid bare before the aston
ished multitudes, which flocked to hear his impassioned ora
tory, the political degradation into which they had sunk
through their own discord and through foreign interference.
Just at this time, his words acquired a special significance,
on account of the fact that Switzerland had once more been
suddenly drawn into the stream of international politics by the
struggle between Francis I., of France, and Charles I., of
Spain, for the vacant throne of the German Empire. Both
princes set a great value upon the support of the Swiss mer
cenaries, and the usual flatteries and briberies were set in
motion, with the usual demoralizing results. Zwingli set his
face sternly against this procedure, and it was probably his
influence which kept Zurich from joining the twelve other
States in an alliance with Francis I. But later, as though
to complicate matters, the Pope, becoming embroiled in this
quarrel for the German throne, applied to Zurich for troops.
Cardinal Schinner, of course, was in favor of granting this
request, but Zwingli was for putting an end to all foreign
259

260 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
enterprises, whatever their object might be. In the end his
protestations were overruled. Zurich sent troops into Italy,
which, after advancing successfully as far as Piacenza, were
recalled upon the death of the Pope. The twelve other States
of the Confederation reproached Zurich for her isolated con
duct, and taunted her with being too papistical, a reproach
which seems singular enough in the light of subsequent
events. A terrible defeat at Bicocca of the troops of the
twelve States, in league with the French and fighting against
the German imperial troops, put an end to this last and disas
trous participation of Switzerland in European politics.
While the defeat of Bicocca was still in everybody's minds,
and the sorrow and shame which it had occasioned still lay
like a pall upon the public mind of Switzerland, Zwingli broke
the humiliating silence by an impassioned appeal, addressed to
the Landsgemeinde of Schwiz, just then in session. After all
these years, his eloquent words still ring with the clear note of
patriotic exaltation and are stamped with the indelible mark of
greatness. "Our forefathers," he wrote, "did not slay fellow Chris
tians for pay, but fought for liberty only, that their bodies and
lives, their wives and children, might not be in miserable subjec
tion to a wanton nobility. . . . Therefore God gave them
ever the victory and increased their honors and possessions. .
In our own wars we have always been victorious, in
foreign ones often defeated." With great vigor and richness
of illustration, Zwingli then proceeded to describe the evil
results of the mercenary system ; he insisted upon the danger
of God's wrath, the necessary suppression of justice in times of
war, and the demoralization occasioned by the bribery of
foreigners ; he warned them against the introduction of new
vices, the sowing of discord and hatred amongst the Confeder
ates, and finally predicted that, unless a change was made, the
Swiss would end by falling completely into the power of
foreigners. "Therefore," he cried in a closing appeal, with an
exaggeration of epithet which betrayed the strength of his

ZWINGLI IN ZURICH. 261
feelings, "I exhort you, pious, wise, true, beloved, and hon
orable men of Schwiz, by the agony and salvation of Jesus
Christ, our Lord, by the honor which Almighty God has
shown our pious forefathers, by the sweat and evil times they
endured for the sake of our freedom — beware of the pay of
foreign masters which would destroy us, and do this now,
while there is yet time, and do not follow those who say it
cannot be done ! "1
These ringing words had only a momentary effect upon the
Landsgemeinde of Schwiz. After passing resolutions against
the mercenary system, this body found it impossible to enforce
them, and things returned into the old ruts.
Rebuffed and beaten at every point, discouraged, and doubt
less somewhat embittered by his repeated failures as a politi
cal Reformer, Zwingli became more radical in his religious
teachings. He rejected the Papal pension, which had been
awarded to him for his services in the Italian campaign, and pre
pared to denounce openly those practices which he conceived
to be at variance with Holy Writ. The opportunity for the
first attack came in 1522. Certain citizens of Zurich, having
reached the conclusion, from Zwingli's sermons, that they were
no longer under obligations to keep the Lenten fasts, had been
punished by the city authorities for this misdemeanor, accord
ing to the unfortunate custom of secular interference in relig
ious matters which characterized the age. Thereupon,
Zwingli took up their defence in public, in spite of the expos
tulations which came from his ecclesiastical superior, the
Bishop of Constance, from the Canons of the Minster, and
the City Council. Communications passed between the City
Council and the Bishop, the former being desirous of a full
explanation as to the conduct to be observed in Church cere
monies. The Bishop replied that, although certain customs
which were contrary to Holy Writ might have crept into com
mon practice, they should still be observed, because a common
error must make them right. Zwingli, on his side, now boldly
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 301.

262 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
claimed the privilege of preaching the Gospel, and advocated
the marriage of priests. Finally, in order to test these and
other questions, which now arose on every hand, the City
Council of Zurich, in 1523, summoned the clergy of the state
to a public disputation.
On this occasion, Zwingli presented sixty-seven articles,
which he had drawn up for discussion, as representing the sum
of his teachings. Bible in hand, he developed with great skill
the arguments in favor of these articles, astounding his hearers
by the familiarity which he displayed with the text of the
Bible, a work at that time almost forgotten and unused. The
Bishop of Constance had sent his Vicar General to supervise
the discussion, and to act as arbitrator in the proceedings. At
first, he contented himself with denying the competence of this
assembly to determine questions of doctrine which ought to
come before a Council of all Christendom ; but later, having
allowed himself to be enticed into arguing upon the articles of
themselves, he fell an easy prey to Zwingli's superior knowl
edge of the Bible. Deeply moved by the brilliant manner in
which the Reformer had refuted the arguments directed
against his new teachings, the City Council decreed that the
clergy of the state should avoid everything which could not be
proved and demonstrated by the text of the Bible.
The first official step in the Swiss Reformation had now
been taken ; henceforth the successive stages of the movement
followed each other in uninterrupted sequence. In the same
year another convocation decreed the abolition of images.
Six months later, these were carefully removed from the
churches and public places. Then came the suppression of
the monasteries within the whole territory subject to Zurich,
provision being made for the inmates, and the buildings revert
ing to the State, to be used henceforth as schools, poor-houses
and hospitals.
Zwingli was not a man of half measures ; he meditated noth
ing short of a complete overthrow of the existing ecclesiastical
forms and the substitution of a new system based upon the

ZWINGLI IN ZURICH. 263
simple word of God. Having reached the conclusion that the
celebration of the Mass, as then practiced, was contrary to
that authority, he did not rest until it was swept away, and the
so-called reformed communion introduced.
Great severity was exercised against the Catholics who per
sisted in clinging to their own service. At first, they were
allowed to go outside of Zurich territory to perform their
devotions, but finally, even this scant privilege was withdrawn
from them.
History repeats itself. The reaction is equal to the original
impulse. The greater the injustices under which one genera
tion labors, the greater the excesses of the triumphant popu
lace in the next. It seems to be the common fate of all
reformers to overbalance themselves as soon as they have
reached the climax of their activity. Like Savanarola, like
many another religious enthusiast, Zwingli had started with a
noble aspiration after freedom, and a holy abhorrence of the
existing order. He ended by erecting a theocratic system, no
whit less tryannical than the hierarchy he had overturned.
The world, in the sixteenth century, was not ripe for freedom of
thought, toward which we are rapidly making in the nine
teenth. One doctrine was supposed to have the upper hand in
those days, and all the others were obliged to remain in abey
ance. Zwingli conceived himself to be inspired like the pro
phets of the Old Testament, to preach a new saying to a
corrupt generation. He imagined himself the spiritual head
and adviser of a theocratic state, in which religion and politics
should both conform to the precepts of the Bible, and thus
become identical.

CHAPTER III.
THE GROWTH OF THE REFORMATION.
FROM Ziirich the new teachings spread to the other states
of the Swiss Confederation, to meet there with varying
fortunes. In some, they were welcomed by a population, eager
for religious innovations ; in others, they gave rise to long-
protracted, confessional struggles ; and in others again, they
encountered so determined an opposition that they were
unable to gain even momentary footing. In St. Gallen, the
influence of Zwingli's friend, Joachim von Watt, better known
under his Latinized name of Vadianus, was paramount. This
eminent scholar, having been appointed Biirgermeister, carried
his state completely over to the cause of the Reformation. In
the Thurgau, in Glarus, and Graubiinden, the efforts of the
new teachers were more and more successful. In Basel, the
two parties were pretty evenly divided. The strife was espe
cially bitter in proportion to the importance of that city as the
seat of a university and the home of a printing-press. The
great Dutch theologian, Erasmus, who had. made Basel his
place of residence, although advocating greater freedom from
tradition, recoiled from the practical reforms which the new
teachings enjoined ; his fastidious taste as a student was
shocked at the essentially popular turn which the movement
began to take, and his influence was finally cast against the
progress of the Reformation.
In Bern, the new teachings had many obstacles to surmount,
but in the end were triumphant through the ceaseless activity
of enthusiastic partisans. The real leader was Berchtold Hal
ler, but his efforts were strongly seconded by a certain Nicho-
264

THE GROWTH OF THE REFORMATION. 265
las Manuel, who satirized the abuses of the Church and the
vices of the clergy in stinging verses.
The authorities of Fribourg and Solothurn promptly stamped
out the first manifestations of the Reformation within their
districts, while, in the Forest States, the new doctrines were
viewed with abhorrence. In truth, the simple mountaineers,
far removed from the demoralizing influences of the world,
were at a loss to understand the necessity for a change, or to
appreciate the significance of the movement. It seemed to
them to be a wanton attack, not only upon their religious faith,
but also upon the memory of their ancestors. The whole
course of their glorious history, every act of their forefathers,
was inextricably interwoven with the doctrines of their relig
ion. Every patriotic feast was crowned with a religious obser
vance, on every battle-field stood a chapel to which they made
solemn pilgrimages at stated times. They could not conceive
of a change in their religious habits which did not desecrate
the past and imperil the future. They were unfortunately
also influenced by purely worldly considerations, questions of
financial and political interests. The Forest States were, to
a great extent, dependent upon the mercenary system as an
opening for their young men ; they counted as much upon the
annual shower of pensions from abroad as upon the harvests
from their fields, and when they found the movement of
the Reformation opposing this system, self-interest dictated
hostility. Indeed, both parties were eager for the strife. First Bern
and Zurich joined hands in a separate alliance, and then the
five Catholic states of Uri, Schwiz, Unterwalden, Luzern, and
Zug united in a separate league, and entered into a compact
with Austria.
Zwingli desired war, mainly for two reasons. He saw that
the Catholics were unprepared, and thought the present a
favorable opportunity to win over the whole of Switzerland by
a bold stroke; secondly, he imagined, erroneously, as the future
proved, that the populations of the five states were secretly in

266 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
sympathy with his views, and were only kept in submission by
the severity of the local authorities.
The antagonism created by religious differences had free
play in the common subject lands of the Aargau and Thurgau.
Which of the two parties should control these districts, and
thus obtain the balance of power? That was the question
which finally precipitated an armed conflict. Mutual outrages
and indignities first made all attempts to arrive at a reasonable
understanding fruitless, and then Zurich launched forth a dec
laration of war. Accompanied by Zwingli, the troops of this
city disposed themselves in such a manner as to overpower
the enemy at their first move. The Zurich army was imbued
with the Reformer's principles ; neither oaths were heard nor
games of chance played in the camp. The same rigid disci
pline prevailed as amongst the Puritan followers of Cromwell.
When both armies were already standing facing each other,
an encounter was averted, at the last moment, by the interven
tion of Aebli, the Landammann of Glarus, and an armistice
was established. Zwingli did not disguise his disappointment,
for he insisted that an opportunity had been lost which would
never return ; the Catholic States would perfect their arma
ments and would return to the charge.
A peace was declared at Kappel, which guaranteed religious
liberty, according to the conception of that term in the 16th
century ; i. e., the various States could determine for themselves
what religious form should obtain within their jurisdiction, and
in the common subject lands every parish could choose for
itself. There was no question of individual liberty, for every
man became Catholic or Protestant, according to the dictation
of the majority in the State or parish which he inhabited,
unless he chose to sacrifice house and home, and emigrate
to some district where his particular faith was practised.
After the conclusion of this peace, Zwingli sought to extend
the scope of his operations outside the narrow limit of Switzer
land, to enter the arena of international politics. He conceived
the idea of bringing Swabia and Elsass, even Italy, within the

THE GROWTH OF THE REFORMATION. 267
sphere of his influence, and of then effecting a connection with
the German Protestants, under Luther. He went so far as to
propose an alliance with Francis I. of France, in contradiction
to all the political principles which he had preached for so
many years to his fellow-countrymen, when he had urged them
to shake off foreign alliances, and to put an end to foreign
enterprises. It must be said, however, that not one of these
ambitious schemes succeeded. Every effort to force the move
ment, of which he was the leader, into foreign fields, failed sig
nally, and even his interview with Luther, from which he
expected so much, instead of resulting in a cordial plan for
co-operation, only produced an open feud between the two
Reformers. In truth, there were radical differences between
the teachings of the two men, especially as regards the doc
trine of the communion. In this, and in other respects, Luther
was more conservative than Zwingli, who sought to revolution
ize the whole existence of man, sweeping out of his daily life
everything which was not founded upon the Bible. At first,
there had been only an exchange of views by letter, but, in
1529, the Landgrave Philip, of Hessen, invited the two leaders
to a conference in his castle, at Marburg. At the outset of
this memorable meeting, Luther demanded the complete sub
mission of the Swiss Protestants to his own movement. This
attitude was not likely to facilitate an understanding with a
man of Zwingli's independent temperament, but when the two
Reformers broached the cardinal point, the doctrine of the
Communion, and were unable to agree upon a common inter
pretation, the interview degenerated into a vulgar quarrel; the
learned doctors lost their tempers, Luther calling Zwingli a
heretic, and Zwingli taunting Luther with inability to answer
his arguments. A few meaningless articles were drawn up,
probably to hide the complete failure of the negotiations, but
the two men parted in anger. "You have another spirit from
us," said Luther, and when Zwingli offered him his hand in
parting, he refused to take it. 1
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch, p. 330.

268 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Discouraged by this failure, Zwingli went home, to pursue
his daily avocations at the minster in Zurich.
But, in the meantime, the strife between the Catholic and
Protestant States of the Swiss Confederation had not been set
tled by the Peace of Kappel, for both sides soon discovered dif
ferent interpretations of contested articles. The spirit of
confessional hatred was not slow in finding occasion to pit the
two parties against each other. The signal for the outbreak
was a trifling event, which had, in reality, nothing to do with
religious matters at all. A certain Italian adventurer, calling
himself Giovanni Giacomo Medici, was making incursions into
Graubiinden, from his stronghold at Musso, on the lake of Como,
where a few remains still attest the former presence of a cas
tle. The harassed men of Graubiinden applied to the Confed
erates for help, but the Catholic States, for some reason, did
not respond to this appeal, and Zurich alone was left to send
the desired help. From this circumstance, the suspicion got
abroad in Zurich, that the conduct of the Italian soldier was
the result of a preconcerted plan with the Catholic States, and
was to form the prelude to a general systematic attack upon
the Protestant States. This suspicion was perfectly unfounded,
but was sufficient, in the heated condition of the public mind,
to lead to disastrous results. Zurich instituted a blockade of
provisions against the Forest Cantons, much to Zwingli's dis
pleasure, be it said, and in other ways drove the Five States to
exasperation. There enter into the lives of many great men moments of
excessive melancholy, of unaccountable depression, when they
give voice to dire forebodings and prophecies, and bewail the
apparent failure of their life's work. It would seem that
Zwingli was now assailed by dark thoughts of this kind.
From the pulpit, he uttered words of warning to the men of
Zurich for their lenient conduct toward the Five Catholic
States ; he predicted that the Protestant cause would sustain a
terrible defeat, unless they pursued a different policy; in an
access of despair he foretold his own death and that of many

THE GROWTH OF THE REFORMATION. 269
of his friends ; and finally offered to resign his position, and
retire from public life.
In point of fact, he need not have estimated his work so low,
for the results he had obtained were in every way marvellous.
In a few years he had transformed Ziirich from a gay, rollick
ing city, dependent upon foreign pensions and the good will of
the Pope, into a sober, industrious place, free from the bribes
of mercenary captains. And this he had accomplished by
appealing to the hearts of the people, rather than to the fana
ticism which so largely prevailed in his time. His character
had none of the austere, prim, and long-faced piety which dis-.
tinguished some of the other Reformers and their followers.
To the last, he remained a genial favorite of the people. In
the early part of his career, he had married a widow, Anna
Reinhard, who bore him four children, and this fact, coupled
with many homely accomplishments, not to speak of some
very pronounced but very human failings, served to increase
his popularity with all his fellow citizens.
The cruel and unjust blockade of provisions, instituted by
Zurich against the Five Catholic States, was the prelude to
another armed conflict. This time again, it was in the region
of Kappel that the two armies met, but the issue of the com
bat was reversed, for, after several hours' fighting, a Captain of
Uri succeeded in executing a flank movement upon the Zurich
army, which decided the battle in favor of the Five States.
Zwingli had, as usual, accompanied the troops, in his capacity
of Chaplain, in spite of the remonstrances of the city author
ities, who not only feared for his life, but also dreaded the
exasperating effect which his presence upon the battle-field
would exert upon the enemy. In the last mel6e he was
struck down, while tending the wounded. When the strife
was over, he was found by some stragglers, who, seeing that
he was still breathing, but not recognizing him, asked if he
desired to confess to a priest. He shook his head, and then a
soldier pierced him with his sword. Another account says,
that when his body was recognized, it was torn to pieces by a

270 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
furious multitude, and the remains delivered to the flames, as
that of an arch-heretic and traitor.
Considering the decisiveness of this victory, the Catholic
States gave proof of great moderation in drawing up the con
ditions of peace which closed the hostilities. The new state
of affairs did not differ from that which had preceded the
battle, except in a few particulars which flowed naturally from
the defeat of the Protestants.
The consternation and panic, which had broken out in
Zurich upon the announcement of Zwingli's death, were soon
allayed by the appointment as his successor of a man sing
ularly well suited to fill this difficult post. Heinrich Bull-
inger was a man of tact, of firm moderation, not easily led into
hazardous enterprises, and not at all given to political plans.

CHAPTER IV.

CALVIN IN GENEVA.

AS I have already said in the chapter on the Valais, none of
the Cantons which are now included in French-speak
ing Switzerland, took any part whatever in founding the Swiss
Confederation. They did not contract alliances with the Ger
man-speaking States, until the latter had already established
their independence and become a power in Europe. Even
Fribourg, though the first of the French-speaking States to be
admitted within the federal circle, did not become a full-
fledged member until after the Burgundian war had given the
Confederation a world-wide reputation ; while Vaud, the Valais,
Neuchatel, and Geneva were not placed upon an equal footing
with the other States until the beginning of this century.
Properly speaking, the religious transformation, of which
Geneva was the scene during the sixteenth century, cannot
be called a Swiss movement; it was more truly an expression
of French Protestantism, since Calvin himself and his chief
collaborators were Frenchmen. At best, it was an independent
agitation, if we take into consideration that Geneva was a free
Republic at the time. It is only because this Republic has
since become part and parcel of the Swiss Confederation, and
because the triumph of Protestantism in Geneva was virtually
assured by the intervention of Bern, a Swiss State, that we are
constrained to devote a chapter to the fortunes of the Refor
mation in that city.
Geneva, the charming place, which ranks first in point of
wealth and culture amongst the cities of Switzerland, lies at
the Southern extremity of Lake Leman, in a position similar
271

272 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
to Zurich and Luzern with reference to their lakes. Julius
Caesar speaks of it, in his day, as a frontier-town of the Celtic
tribe of the Allobroges, and describes how he used it as a
strategic point of great value in his conflict with the Helvetii.
Like many another stronghold, it passed through the vicissi
tudes of the Roman occupation, the invasion of the barbarians,
and the Frankish supremacy with varying fortunes, to emerge,
in the early middle ages, as the seat of a bishopric. There was
first the ruling Bishops, secondly the Counts of Geneva, later
superseded by the Counts of Savoy, and thirdly a community
of citizens, all disputing with each other for the control of
affairs. In fact, the struggle for supremacy between these
three elements and the eventual victory of the citizens, con
stitutes the history of Geneva, prior to the advent of the Refor
mation. From all accounts, the medieval city must have
resembled modern Geneva in more than one particular. It
was then, as now, a commercial centre, admirably situated on
the confines of Italy, France, and Germany, with a cosmopoli
tan population of varied and interesting qualities. The Gene-
vese type has always, from this circumstance, been marked by
great breadth of character, being, in fact, a happy combination
of French vivacity with German solidity and Italian artistic
taste. An alliance with Fribourg, based upon common commercial
interests, seems to have been Geneva's first connection with
the Swiss Confederation, but, by degrees, this bond was
strengthened, for the party of the people, as distinguished
from that of the Bishop and the Count, began to look upon a
closer alliance with their democratic neighbors as the surest
road toward independence. A group of citizens, nicknamed
"The Children of Geneva," was formed, under the leadership
of their patriots : Philibert Berthelier, Bezanson Hugues, and
Francois Bonivard. It was their purpose to emancipate the
city from the rule of the Bishop and the house of Savoy, and
to cultivate friendly relations with the Confederates. These
three leaders, although so intimately united in their patriotic

CALVIN IN GENEVA. 273
task, were as different as possible in temperament and attain
ments. Berthelier seems to have been a jovial, popular favor
ite, of somewhat questionable habits, perhaps, but devoted
heart and soul to the popular cause ; Hugues, on the other
hand, was a sober man of business, moderate but firm in his
demands ; while Bonivard, whose captivity in the dungeon of
Chillon has been unintentionally immortalized by the verse of
Byron, belonged to quite another class in society. He was
Prior of the monastery of St. Victor, intellectual by education,
passionate and ambitious by temperament. On the whole, his
motive in joining the people's party was not so- pure as that of
his two colleagues, for we know that he was filled with a bitter
personal grudge against the House of Savoy, for having
deprived him of certain possessions.
The Republican faction in Geneva succeeded in inducing
the city to conclude a temporary alliance with Fribourg and
Bern, in 15 19, and another, for twenty-five years, in 1526; but
not without the continual opposition of the House of Savoy,
from whose midst the Bishop, as well as the Counts, were
drawn. From the circumstance of their close union with the
Swiss Confederates, the popular party began to be known as
Eidguenots, which is the French vulgarized form of the Ger
man Eidgenossen, or Confederates. Some scholars have even
supposed that the name Huguenots, to denote French Protes
tants at large, was derived from this party designation in
Geneva. Be that as it may, the cause of independence and
that of Protestantism, which, after the advent of the Reforma
tion was allied with it, would never have triumphed in that city
had not the Swiss State of Bern offered armed intervention.
At first, the House of Savoy had seemed likely to crush all
the aspirations of the "Children of Geneva." Bertheiler was
arrested, and, scorning to retract what he had said or to
acknowledge the sovereignty of Savoy, was decapitated ; Boni
vard,1 while travelling through the forest of Jorat, on his way
1 McCrackan, W. D. Francois Bonivard, Prisoner of Chillon — New England
Magazine, July, 1892.

274 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
from Moudon to Lausanne, was caught and imprisoned in the
castle of Chillon; and, in 1532, Hugues, the last of the three
patriots, died, without having seen the full realizations of his
hopes. But these men had prepared the ground ; the religious
agitation which came with the Reformation accomplished the
rest. In the same year in which Hugues died, there came to
Geneva upon his missionary rounds, a man named William
Farel, who had previously traversed other parts of French
Switzerland, preaching under the protection of the Bernese
authorities. This man, one of the strangest personages which
the Reformation produced, was born in the south of France,
but had been obliged to flee from his country, on account of
his outspoken advocacy of Protestant doctrines. After long
wanderings, he placed his services at the disposal of Bern.
That city, having just accepted the new doctrines, was anxious
to do some proselyting in French Switzerland, in order, at the
same time, to extend her political influences. No insults or per
sonal outrages, no imprisonments or bodily chastisements
were able to moderate the fanatical zeal of Farel, or to
dampen the fire of his Southern nature. By sheer persistence
he won over the greater part of French Switzerland, and then
transferred the scene of his operations to Geneva, the Episco
pal city. He was almost immediately expelled, in the midst of
a popular tumult, but, undaunted by this hostile reception, and,
in fact, rather stimulated by the dangers which he was obliged
to face, and which were his very breath of life, he returned
soon after, with several followers, under the special protection
of Bern. This time he was more successful. In 1535, he
induced the people to rise in revolt against the rule of the
Bishop and the House of Savoy, to storm the churches, and
introduce Protestantism.
But, having accomplished this, the people still found them
selves confronted by the danger of regular, systematic efforts
on the part of Savoy to reconquer the city. This was the
state of affairs when, in 1536, a Bernese army of 10,000 men,

CALVIN IN GENEVA. 275
under the command of Hans Franz Nageli came to their res
cue, established the independence of Geneva upon a firm basis,
and concluded a new alliance. On its way, this army had
traversed the whole country of Vaud without encountering
any opposition worthy of the name, and its entry into Geneva
was a veritable triumph. Returning, the Bernese troops
liberated the unfortunate Bonivard from the dungeon of Chil
lon, where he had suffered six long years of captivity, so that
he could return to his city in the midst of popular rejoicings,
and live the remaining thirty-four years of his life in public ser
vice. The ancient bishopric of Lausanne was also dissolved,
and the whole of Vaud became Bernese territory, a subject
land of the state of Bern.
The transformation of Geneva was now practically over.
By the Bernese invasion, Catholicism with Episcopal rule had
been definitely abolished. A new city, Protestant in point of
religion, and politically free, had taken the place of the old.
Still there remained a great deal to be done in bringing order
into the council of the city, in adapting her needs to new sur
roundings, and, above all, in specifying and defining the arti
cles of her religious creed. After a period of general radical
changes, the city was sorely in need of a constructive era.
It was just at this time, that the great organizer of French
Protestantism, John Calvin, arrived one summer's evening in
Geneva, on his way to Germany, expecting to proceed unno
ticed on his journey after a short halt for rest. But the ever-
watchful Farel heard of his presence, and forthwith repaired to
the house where Calvin lodged, to persuade him to stay in
Geneva, and help him in the work of organization. With
characteristic vehemence, he went so far as to threaten Calvin
with God's curse if he did not give up his intention of going
to Germany, and settle in Geneva.
Calvin obeyed what he conceived to be a divine call, but
with the utmost reluctance, for he was, by nature, a retiring
scholar rather than a man of affairs. He had hoped, after
many wanderings, to find a place of refuge in Protestant Ger-

276 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
many, where, sheltered from strife, he might meditate, and
occasionally launch a telling work upon the world. From early
youth he had been distinguished by great sensitiveness, prob
ably exaggerated by the consciousness of bodily weakness.
His father had destined him for the church ; and when he was
only twelve years of age, had already procured for him a liv
ing, the income of which was used for his schooling in Paris.
But as he grew up, there seems to have been a change of plan,
for we hear of his studying law at the universities of Orleans
and Bourges. Returning to Paris, he displayed a leaning
toward the new Lutheran doctrines. When he was twenty-
three, a lecture of his, read at the Sarbonne by one of his
friends, created such a sensation that he was obliged to flee
from the city to the South of France.
In the course of the next few years, he visited Strassburg
and Basel, in the latter place publishing (1536) his great work,
the " Ins titutio Religionis Christiana" an exposition of his per
sonal faith, and by far the most important dogmatic work of
sixteenth century Protestantism. After a short visit to Fer-
rara, in Italy, he returned to France, and was on his way to
settle in Germany when, as we have seen, he was detained
in Geneva by the impetuous Farel.
Calvin began to work quietly, under Farel's guidance, until
his superior talents made him the chosen leader of the Gene-
vese Protestants. He drew up a catechism, organized the con
gregations, and persuaded the secular authorities to introduce
sumptuary laws of great severity. Jovial, pleasure-loving
Geneva was to be reformed into a quiet, church-going com
munity. But opposition soon manifested itself amongst the
people. A crisis came, in 1538, when Calvin and Farel
refused to celebrate the communion, on the plea that it would
be profaned by the dissensions which were raging in the city.
For this act of insubordination the twp Reformers were con-;
demned by the municipal council to leave the city within three
days ; Calvin going to Strassburg and Farel to Neuchatel.
One might have supposed that this episode would have put

CALVIN IN GENEVA. 277
a stop to Calvin's and Farel's connection with Geneva, but
three years had not elapsed before their partisans in the city
had once more gained the upper hand, and had extended an
invitation to them to return to Geneva, and resume the work
which had been so brusquely interrupted. It was with great
reluctance that Calvin allowed himself to be persuaded.
"When I think," he writes to Farel, "how wretched I have
been there, I cannot help shuddering in my whole soul, when
ever there is a question of my being recalled." l His sense
of duty, however, prevailed and drove him back to Geneva,
where, once installed into his old place, he displayed the
utmost energy in furthering the plans he had matured
during his absence. A system of Church polity, his " Ordon-
nances Ecclesiastiques," was adopted by the magistrates
and people as the supreme law, knowing no mercy for
those who disobeyed, but exercising a pitiless censorship
over every act of the citizens. A system very much like
that of the Catholic inquisition grew up under his patron
age; secret spies denounced the slightest infraction of the
laws, and even torture was applied to prisoners in order
to extract confessions from them. The multitude of these
cruel persecutions culminated in that of Michael Servetus,
a Spanish physician, who, hunted and outlawed by Prot
estants and Catholics alike for his denial of the dogma of the
Trinity, was caught in Geneva and burned alive by order of
the Council, and with the sanction of Calvin. After this
the Reformer's authority remained practically undisputed until
his death. Geneva became the headquarters of the various
Reformed churches, the Protestant Rome ; England and Scot
land, the Netherlands and Germany sent scholars to study
under Calvin and to spread his peculiar doctrines to the ends
of the earth. Calvin himself died in 1 564, at the age of fifty-
five, after having written an important page in the world's
history. 1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 344.

CHAPTER V.

DECAY OF NATIONAL LIFE.

WHEN we consider the religious and political differences
to which the Reformation had given rise in the Swiss
Confederation, the looseness of the bonds which held the vari
ous States together, and the total absence of any central
power, impartial enough to render acceptable verdicts, or
strong enough to enforce them upon the contestants, we may
well wonder that the Confederation should have survived the
trials of this period. The gigantic struggle between Protest-
tantism and revived Catholicism, which was raging in Europe
at large, reproduced its various phases in miniature within the
Confederation. Every success or failure of the foreign con
tending armies was made the occasion for public rejoicing or
bewailing by the two parties in Switzerland, until the senti
ment of a distinct, national life was lost in the heat of confes
sional dissensions.
Indeed, it is doubtful whether any remnants of the old Swiss
spirit could have survived this ordeal, had it not been for the
possession of common subject lands, for whose administration
the hostile States were obliged to take concerted action.
In the middle of the sixteenth century, a strong reaction
against the excesses of Protestantism came over Europe, cul
minating in the Catholic, or Counter-Reformation. Starting
with the Council of Trent, in 1545- 1563, this movement was
carried forward with surprising vigor and success by the newly
founded order of the Jesuits and the reorganized Capucines.
In Switzerland, such men as Aegidus (Giles) Tschudi, of
Glarus, the historian, and Ludwig Pfyffer, of Luzern, nick-
278

DECAY OF NATIONAL LIFE. 279
named "The Swiss King", on account of his wealth and influ
ence, labored for the revival of Catholicism. The Five States
concluded a defensive and offensive alliance with the Pope;
while in Milan, Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop and leader of this
revival, founded a "Collegium Helveticum", where a certain
number of Swiss youths could be educated free of charge and
sent back to spread the faith. Moreover, a Jesuit college was
created in Luzern itself, and a regular nunciature established
there. Finally the Five Catholic States, with Fribourg and
the Valais, cut themselves off from the Protestant Cantons, in
1586, by concluding a separate league, known as the "Golden ",
on account of the gilded initial letters of the document then
drawn up. In 161 2, Zurich and Bern, on their side, entered
into a special alliance with the Margrave of Baden. The
State of Appenzell, where the two faiths had hitherto existed
side by side, was torn asunder into Catholic and Protestant
divisions, known as Inner Rhoden and Ausser Rhoden.
The confessional disputes and rivalries which had agitated
Europe since the beginning of the Reformation, in 161 8,
ended in the long and disastrous struggle known as the Thirty-
Years' War. Of course Switzerland could not remain uninflu
enced by the war of extermination which was raging around
her borders, but fortunately all the efforts, which Catholics and
Protestants alike made to involve the country in direct par
ticipation, were fruitless. Gustavus Adolphus in vain admon
ished the Swiss of their traditional relationship with the
Swedes. They displayed a self-possession and unanimity,
which were truly remarkable considering their internal jealous
ies, for they refused to enter into the contest, and, for the first
time, gave a practical application to the principle of neutrality,
which has since become an established national policy with
them, guaranteed by the European powers.
It was a period of utter demoralization in politics, but
strangely enough an era of progress in art, science, and letters.
Culture advanced while patriotism was dying, a fact which can
only be accounted for by the stimulating effect of the doctri-

280 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
nal controversies, then in vogue, and the presence of many
foreign fugitives, bringing new ideas, new arts and new proc
esses of manufacture into the country. Strangely enough,
also, it was at this very time of national degradation and confu
sion, that the work of Swiss independence received its final
glorious culmination.
In 1648, the Treaty of Westphalia put an end to the Thirty-
Years' War, and, what is more important for our special con
sideration, in a separate article formally acknowledged the
independence of the Swiss Confederation from the German
Empire. In the words of the text : " Aforesaid city of Basel
and the remaining Cantons of the Helvetians are in possession
of as good as full freedom and exemption from the Empire,
and are in no way subject to the Dikasterten and courts of
that Empire."1
Thus did the labor of the early patriots against the House of
Habsburg reach its full fruition, and the independence of Swit
zerland, which was virtually an accomplished fact after the Swa
bian War, receive the official sanction of the world at large.
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch, p. 364.

CHAPTER VI.
THE GROWTH OF ARISTOCRACY AND THE PEASANTS' WAR.
IT is perhaps a mistake to imagine primitive Switzerland as a
country in which pure democratic principles, as we under
stand the term in this century, held unlimited sway. Equal
rights for all is a modern conception and phrase. It was not
understood at the time when the Confederation was founded.
But with all these political shortcomings and prejudices, the
early Swiss were, nevertheless, the best democrats of their
day, unconscious, but practical exponents of the virtues of self-
government. This was especially the case in the sequestered
mountain districts, where simple habits of freedom sprang
naturally from the rocky soil. In the cities, the common
people had been forced to wage a long warfare against feudal
masters and privileged classes, so that their progress toward
complete liberation had been somewhat retarded. But we may
say that, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, before the
spirit of foreign conquest had invaded the public mind, or the
possession of subject lands had perverted the sense of natural
rights, the Swiss States, both country districts and towns,
were organized upon democratic principles,
Unfortunately, in the course of the sixteenth century, a
retrograde movement began to make its appearance, an aris
tocratic spirit manifested itself, which acquired ascendancy
during the seventeenth century, and was not successfully
stamped out until the end of the eighteenth, when it was
swept away by the hurricane of the French Revolution. All
political and lucrative offices were monopolized by privileged
281

282 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
families ; the Cantonal magistrates, as well as those which
belonged to the Confederation at large ; the bailiwicks of sub
ject lands ; and the posts of ambassadors to foreign courts.
All were held by a few men and their relatives, or were even
inherited from father to son, as in the early days of the Feudal
Age. These abuses were more conspicuous in the cities, with
their larger populations and greater wealth. It is also notice
able that those in which the Guilds had no political power, like
Bern, Luzern, Fribourg, and Solothurn, were more readily sub
jected to the rule of aristocratic factions, while the Guild
cities of Zurich, Basel, and Schaffhausen retained their demo
cratic organization much longer.
Nor did the Country States escape altogether from the pre
vailing tendency, for, although they never abolished the Lands
gemeinden, still the actual governing powers tended more and
more to be monopolized by certain powerful families.
What are the facts which can account for the growth of this
aristocratic spirit in a country which was organized upon the
principles of self government ? One thing is certain, mere
political conditions are not sufficient to explain so great a
transformation. It is true that since the entry of the Swiss Confederation
into European politics, everything had tended to produce a
distinct governing class. There were the great mercenary
captains, the ambassadors to foreign courts, and the bailiffs of
subject lands; men who acquired wealth and titles abroad, and
expended them in establishing their political power at home.
But economic and social abuses were at the root of these pol
itical privileges.
The great fundamental wrong in Switzerland was the same
as that which has brought to ruin in succession the various
great empires of the world. The treatment of the conquered
provinces, of the new lands, and the men who tilled them, was
continually at variance with the early traditions of the Con
federation. As soon as the era of conquests had set in, an

THE GROWTH OF ARISTOCRACY. 283
aristocratic class had naturally developed. The conquered
provinces were not accorded equal rights with the actual mem
bers of the Confederation, but were held in subjection, were
fleeced by rapacious bailiffs, and denied the least expression of
their own will.
The Confederates assumed the feudal rights of the nobility
which they had driven out ; their bailiffs ruled like sovereigns,
held miniature courts, and exacted the same tribute, in the
shape of taxes and personal service, as the former feudal
rulers. As far as the subject lands were concerned, it was a
mere exchange of masters, and sometimes a most disadvan
tageous bargain. The administration of these subject lands
certainly forms one of the darkest pictures in Swiss history.
Every State in the Confederation became a land-owning cor
poration. The aristocratic factions within the city developed
into an idle body, who lived upon the unearned increment of
land, or the pensions received from foreign military service.
It made no difference that the Swiss peasants were generally
allowed to remain in nominal possession of the land they
tilled — in distinction to their fellows in France, Germany,
and Italy — for mortgages, taxes, and personal services swal
lowed up the apparent advantage, and made their position fully
as miserable.
This was the original cause which produced the aristocratic
revival, and led to the terrible outbreak in the middle of the
seventeenth century, known as the Peasants' War. After
numerous unsuccessful risings in protest against these wrongs,
a general movement was inaugurated, in 1653, in the Entle-
buch, a valley subject to Luzern. It spread to other Cantons
and finally embraced almost the whole Confederation. Popu
lar assemblies were held everywhere by the peasants to protest
against the tyrannies of the local governments, and a great
wide-spreading "League of the People" was established, under
the leadership of two devoted men, Christian Schibi and
Nicholas Leuenberger. But the badly organized and ignorant
peasantry, burning under a sense of injustice, without definite

284 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
plans or remedies, were no match for the well-equipped author
ities of the various States.
It will be remembered that an article had been inserted into
the famous Covenant of Stans, pledging the governments of
the contracting States to support each other against popular
up-risings. At the time when this agreement was made the
country had been disturbed by the armed exploits of various
bands of unemployed mercenaries, returned from foreign ser
vice, and there was, in reality, urgent need for concerted action
upon the part of the authorities ; but in this case the peasants
were not seditious vagabonds, to be repressed without a hearing.
They were men with legitimate grievances, and it is a distress
ing sign of the loss of the true democratic spirit in Switzer
land that no serious effort was made by the governments to
redress their wrongs. The Covenant of Stans reads like a
contract between governments, instead of between peoples.
In the armed encounters which resulted from this state of
affairs, the poorly equipped peasantry were beaten, and their
leaders arrested. Leuenberger and Schibi were tortured and
executed ; Leuenberger being specially honored by having his
body quartered as a final expression of the hatred of the
authorities. After this victory, the democratic movement gained renewed
force, and the autocratic, absolute rule by the magistrates,
quite upon the same pattern as that in vogue amongst the sur
rounding monarchical states, was substituted for the old self-
government of the people. Popular sovereignty ceased to be
acknowledged, and in its place arose the doctrine of the divine
authority of the magistrates.
A period full of national degradation and shameful submis
sion to foreign influences was the natural result.
Louis XIV, of France, succeeded in bringing the Confeder
ates completely under his control, by binding them to him in a
treaty, originally concluded in 1602 but renewed in 1663, in
which they pledged themselves to supply him with at least six
thousand men, or at most sixteen thousand annually, in return

THE GROWTH OF ARISTOCRACY. 285
for certain commercial privileges. He granted annuities of
three thousand francs to each Canton and regular pay to the
mercenaries beside.
Thus it was that Swiss soldiers fought under his banners
against the Dutch Republic, in the Palatinate, and in all the
great wars which Louis XIV. brought upon Europe.
Switzerland, in all but name, became a dependency of the
French Crown. Born in the thirteenth century, she had
passed through her heroic age in the fourteenth ; had expanded,
first by natural assimilation, and then by conquest, in the fif
teenth and sixteenth; and in the seventeenth and the first
part of the eighteenth was lying passive, unprogressive, and
apparently in decay. Within the small circle of the Confed
eration the utmost confusion and diversity of interests reigned
supreme ; localism was carried to the farthest possible limits
in the different States ; different systems of coinage, different
measures and military establishments conflicted with each
other. The national, patriotic spirit was in abeyance.
Of course the aristocratic factions, which had gained the
upper hand, endeavored to perpetuate their rule by secret
methods, by organizations of spies and the enactment of
sumptuary laws controlling every detail of private life. Some
of these ordinances read like jokes perpetuated for the amuse
ment of the people rather than serious efforts at legislation!
Thus it was that Johannes Miiller, Switzerland's classic his
torian, was forced to print Boston as the place where his
great history was published, instead of Bern, in order that it
might escape the scissors of the local censor, and the
pamphlet of Freudenberger, showing the Danish origin of the
legend of William Tell, was publicly burned by the hangman
of Uri. An aversion to everything new characterized the rul
ing powers, and a timid clinging to everything old. Society
seemed once more organized upon a feudal basis, without,
however, the compensations which had made the old system so
long tolerated.
But even while Switzerland presented this doleful aspect,

286 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
and seemed to have wandered hopelessly from her original
ideals and traditions, new forces were beginning to work in her
midst, preparing a movement which should eventually lead to a
complete national regeneration. Switzerland was soon to be
purged of the artificial, aristocratic, and autocratic abuses
which had fastened themselves upon her public life. After
many vicissitudes she was destined to become the most demo
cratic, and best governed of modern states.

BOOK V.
THE MODERN CONFEDERATION.

CHAPTER I.
SIGNS OF NATIONAL REGENERATION.
A WHOLE list of world celebrities lived and worked on
what is now Swiss territory, during the second half of
the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth.
Zurich, Bern, and Basel, the republic of Geneva, Neuchatel (at
that time a Prussian Province), and the land of Vaud (still in
subjection to Bern), were all the homes of men whose influ
ence radiated over the whole of Europe.
It suffices to mention the names of Voltaire, Rousseau,
Madame de Stael, Gibbon, Lavater, and Pestalozzi, in order to
indicate what tremendous powers were concentrated on Swiss
soil during that period.
In truth, it was a revival of literature, of the arts and sci
ences, which gave the original impulse to the national regener
ation of Switzerland. Political reorganization seems to have
followed in the footsteps of this awakening instead of preced
ing it, as one might have expected.
The honor of starting the movement of reform, of touching
the public conscience, must be ascribed to Johann Jacob Bod-
mer, of Zurich, who gathered about himself a school of devoted
scholars, bent upon the task of reviving patriotism, and found
ing a veritable independent Switzerland. He seems to have
drawn his inspiration principally from the master-pieces of
English literature, for which he conceived an ardent admira
tion. In conjunction with Johann Jacob Breitinger, he
founded a review in imitation of the English reviews, with a
somewhat fanciful name, "The Discourses of Painters," in
which he and his followers gave expression to their ideas upon
289

290 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
national topics. Bodmer was also in constant communication
with the celebrated Klopstock, known as the Father of modern
German prose.
While this school of thought was actively engaged in Zurich,
Albrecht Von Haller, in Bern, was writing patriotic poems,
which found a ready echo all over Switzerland. It was not
long before every place of inportance in the country had
become the centre of stirring, literary activity, fostered by
correspondence with foreign scholars, or by the visits of great
men, such as Goethe and Fichte. This age saw Lavater, the
ologian and original investigator into the science of Physiog
nomy and Phrenology; Salomon Gessner, the author of "Swiss
Idylls " ; Isaak Iselin, of Basel, the philosopher ; and Pestalozzi,
whose labors in educational matters have become the common
heritage of mankind. It is significant of the extent to which
culture had advanced in Switzerland as compared with Ger
many, that a little place like Solothurn supplied three times
as many subscribers to Goethe's works as either Berlin or
Vienna. In Basel, the family of Bernouilli were attracting universal
attention by their achievements in various branches of science,
notably in mathematics. It was at this time, too, that Gottlieb
Emanuel Haller, of Bern, and Johannes Miiller, of Schaff-
hausen, the classic historian of Switzerland, were inflaming
patriotic zeal by their writings on national history. Fearless
investigators were beginning to show the legendary character
of the national hero, William Tell. As a result of De Saus-
sure's ascent of Mont Blanc and his various exploits and des
criptions, the Alps now, for the first time, acquired a charm in
the eyes of the world. The Ancients had regarded them
only as horrible, uncanny manifestations of nature, to be
avoided if possible; now men were led to seek new inspirations
and serene pleasures in their midst. Tourists began to flock
to them, new roads and maps to multiply.
So pronounced an awakening in literature could not fail to
exert a reflex action upon politics, and to stimulate patriotism.

SIGNS OF NATIONAL REGENERATION. 291
In 1762, a so-called Helvetian society was organized, with the
avowed object of studying and introducing practical reforms in
every department erf public life. The Baths of Schinznach,
near Brugg, were selected as a rendezvous for the members of
this society. It was agreed, that complete religious toleration
should reign over their consultations.
About the same time, an agricultural society was formed in
Bern, the Oekonomische Gesellschaft (1759), said to have been
the first of its kind in Europe. The old system of rotation of
crops, with all its waste and primitive methods, began to be
abandoned, every farmer planting when and where he chose.
The Allmenden, also, those peculiar landmarks of Swiss coun
try districts, tended to disappear, and with them that primitive
communism of which they were the outward expression. In
other branches of production, changes manifested themselves.
Manufactures of silk, wool, and cotton were erected in the
Eastern part of Switzerland ; in French Switzerland watch-mak
ing was introduced, and has maintained itself there ever since.
Simultaneously with these manifestations of the modern spirit
in the old Confederation, there was in progress a marvelous
quickening of thought, a veritable upheaval of tradition, on the
borders of the lake of Geneva. The premonitory symptoms of
the French Revolution were abroad in the air. The philos
ophy of enlightenment was making converts. A host of dis
satisfied, expectant, speculative thinkers were undermining
long-cherished institutions in every department of life.
The Republic of Geneva had been torn throughout the cen
tury by internal conflicts between the ruling, oligarchical fac
tion and the common citizens. The situation was aggravated
by the presence of a third group, the descendants of foreigners,
who had settled in Geneva, principally as a result of the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685. Although these
families formed the most progressive and enlightened element
in the community, they were without political rights in their
adopted city, but were oppressed alike by the aristocracy, and
the native citizens. It was to them that Voltaire said : " My

292 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
friends, you resemble somewhat those flying fish, who, when
out of water are eaten by birds of prey, and when they dive
back again into the waves, are devoured by big fish."1 There
was almost universal discontent.
By a somewhat unusual coincidence, two men arrived in
Geneva, in the same year, 1754, who were destined to exert
an overmastering influence upon their time. Rousseau was
returning there after a wandering, unstable youth, spent prin
cipally in France, and Voltaire entered the city to spend the
declining years of his life. Between them they succeeded in
creating a veritable revolution in theology, literature, and
politics, attracting followers, but attacking each other without
mercy or scruple.
Jean Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva, in 1712. H.
T. Amiel calls him, "The most powerful advocate of individ
ualism." He preached the gospel of the natural rights of
man. In his "Nouvelle Helolse", he gave an idyllic picture
of primitive society, in "Emile," pleaded for the natural
method of educating children, and in the " Contrat Social ",
outlined an ideal state. But his writings are often mixtures
of sublime truths and strange sophisms. Always invigorat
ing, palpitating with earnestness and actuality, never fail
ing to provoke thought, Rousseau, at times, fell into error and
showed a warped judgment. After his "Emile" had been
publicly burned by the hangman, he fled to Yverdon, and
thence to Motiers, in the then Prussian Province of Neuchatel.
But his "Letters from the Mountain", provoking the peasants
of his retreat to threaten his life, he withdrew to the little
island of St. Pierre, in the lake of Bienne. Hunted even from
this shelter soon after, by the authorities of Bern, he went
abroad to Strassburg, and also visited his friend, David Hume,
in England. He died in 1778, before the great revolution, of
which he was the chief apostle, had culminated in the revolt
of the French people. A warm-hearted, unbalanced creature,
filled with the immortal promptings of liberty, Rousseau seems
1 Godet, Philippe. Histoire LitteVaire de la Suisse Francaise, p. 229.

SIGNS OF NATIONAL REGENERATION. 293
to have been more sinned against than sinning. He had
caught the imagination of a restless generation, reflected its
aspirations, and in an unconventional, free spirit had taught
men to learn from nature at first hand. He made all Europe
stop and think. Certainly the French Revolution derived
from him its conception of civic equality and national sover
eignty, and the world has many lessons still to take to heart
from the Genevese philosopher.
Voltaire was sixty-one years old when he took up his resi
dence in his estate of Les Delices, near Geneva. His free-
thought writings and the theatrical performances, which he
delighted to hold with his friends and followers, shocked the
Puritan city inexpressibly. Whether at Lausanne, or in the
castle of Prangins, near Nyon, or at Ferney, just outside the
jurisdiction of the Republic of Geneva, whither he retired
after his enemies grew too strong in the city, everywhere he
created a stimulating, irreverent atmosphere. From his
retreat, he delighted in worrying and twitting the staid magis-
strates of the city. He laughed at the disturbances he cre
ated. There was something sinister in his raillery, and
malicious in his cynical genius. At times his feverish wrath
against his enemies took on an almost diabolical character.
But the marvelous brilliancy of his satire, his perseverance,
even if unworthily exhibited, must be accounted of value in
the general assault which was being made on antiquated
abuses, and irrational modes of thought.
Edward Gibbon, on three occasions, made his home in
Lausanne, in 1756, again from 1763-1767, and from 1785—
1793. It was there that he finished his great work on the
"Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." Not possessing
the magnetic, attractive power of either Voltaire or Rousseau,
Gibbon did not gather around him a circle of disciples, but
was well known to all his contemporaries in the world of
letters. It is interesting to know that he was at one time
engaged to be married to Suzanne Curchod, later the wife of
Necker, the famous financier of Louis XVI.

294 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
It was in the castle at Coppet, a little village on the lake,
near Geneva, that the daughter, of Mme. Necker, Mme. de
Stael, held intellectual court, at the beginning of this century.
The best thought of Europe flocked thither. For a time
European brilliancy was focused upon that small place.
In this manner the ground was being prepared for a mighty
harvest. A regeneration was at hand, and in this world-wide
movement, Switzerland was playing a prominent part.

CHAPTER II.

THE HELVETIC REVOLUTION.

IT is unnecessary for the writer to describe in detail that tre
mendous awakening of mankind, which characterized the
last decades of the eighteenth century, and changed the face
of Europe. The centenary of the French Revolution was
recently celebrated with so much splendor, its history was so
fully and minutely reviewed, and the lessons which it incul
cates were placed before the public in so unmistakable a fash
ion that nothing new remains to be said upon the subject. I
will simply call attention to the fact that Switzerland also felt
the promptings of the spirit of the age, and played her part in
the tragedy which marked the overthrow of an old civilization
and the beginning of a new one. Indeed, the Revolution,
like the Reformation two hundred years before, was a univer
sal movement, penetrating every sphere of thought and action
and spreading to every land. It was not exclusively French,
for in 1776, fully twenty years before the outbreak in France,
the United States of America had launched forth upon an
astonished and applauding world the glowing enunciation of
first principles contained in the Declaration of Independence.
As early as the first decades of the eventful eighteenth cen
tury, the people of the Land Cantons of Switzerland had
grown restive under the autocratic rule of their governments.
Popular risings occurred in Appenzell against Landammann
Zellweger, who, intrenched behind his office, resisted for some
time all efforts made to dislodge him ; in Zug against a certain
Zur Lauben ; and in Schwiz against the aristocratic supremacy
295

296 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
of the family of Reding, who, having acquired wealth in for
eign service, had constituted themselves patriarchal leaders of
the people at home.
The cities also began to feel the effects of the new ideas
which were taking possession of the people. Geneva, as has
been noticed in the preceding chapter, was the scene of
countless revolts and revolutions against the established order
of government. In Bern, Henzi, the leader of a democratic
movement, was executed, with two companions. In Zurich a
certain Waser shared the same fate.
Finally the subject lands themselves, the down-trodden,
long-suffering victims of a system of tyranny, but little better
than that of the feudal age at its worst, revolted against their
abnormal condition. The little Gemeinde of Wilchingen, iri
the territory of Schaffhausen, seems to have been the first to
rise; then came liberty-loving Entlebuch, under the rule of
Luzern ; and other small communities followed the example
thus set to them. The most notable of the revolts, at this
time, was the ill-fated one of the people of Vaud, under Major
Davel, a singularly disinterested, but visionary character. His
heroic efforts failed utterly. Having been seized by the Ber
nese authorities, he was beheaded just outside of Lausanne.
Disturbances broke out subsequently in the territory of the
Prince Bishop of Basel, and in the Toggenburg, a subject land
of the Prince Abbot of St. Gallen. The Val Leventina, mod
ern Ticino, showed signs of unrest under the rule of Uri ; and
Neuchatel tried to throw off the Prussian yoke, which had
been saddled upon the little city by the treaty of Ulrecht, in
1712. But soon the efforts of the revolutionary parties sought
wider fields. A regular propaganda of new ideas was started
by a Swiss Club, formed for the purpose, in Paris. Pamph
lets were distributed broadcast, in spite of the watchfulness of
the Cantonal authorities ; the subject lands were exhorted to
throw off the yoke of foreign rule. The principles of equality
and natural rights were preached.

THE HELVETIC REVOLUTION. 297
On several occasions, war seemed imminent between France
and Switzerland, especially in 1792, when the greater part of
the Swiss Guard was massacred in defending the Palace of the
Tuilleries from the attacks of the mob. It appears that the
Swiss troops were more than holding their own, when the
word of command came from the King to cease firing, and the
people, overpowering the guard, killed more than half of them.
It is in commemoration of this deed that the famous lion of
Luzern was designed by Thorwaldsen, and the words " Helveti-
orum fidei ac virtuti" engraved beneath. But the final out
break of hostilities did not come till later, when the Directory
having been established in France, and Napoleon having
assumed control of affairs, the conquest of Switzerland became
a necessity, in order that she might act as a buffer against
Austria and Germany and a link with the newly conquered
regions of the North of Italy. There can be no doubt that
Napoleon deliberately planned the invasion of Switzerland,
in order to make use of her important strategic position for
the furtherance of his great plans. He also desired to replen
ish his coffers with the great sums of money, which were
known to be hidden in the treasury vaults of Bern and other
rich centres.
The French were helped in their designs by two Swiss
statesmen of talent, whom they had succeeded in winning
over to their side ; Peter Ochs of Basel, and Frederic Caesar
La Harpe of Vaud. Not that these men intentionally played
the part of traitors to their native country ; they were inspired
by the desire, which all true patriots must have shared with
them, of seeing the aristocratic factions in the various Can
tons swept away and true democratic governments substituted.
The mistake they made was in trusting too much to the good
faith and the avowed disinterestedness of French statesmen.
The first infringement of Swiss territory took place in
1797. The Val Tellina (Gr. Veltlin), then a subject land of
Graubiinden, but now forming part of the kingdom of Italy,
seized the opportunity created by internal difficulties in

298 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Graubiinden, to break away, and, with Napoleon's permission,
to join the newly erected Cisalpine Republic.
In the same year, Napoleon passed through Switzerland, on
his way to the Congress of Rastadt. Geneva and Lausanne
received him with open arms. He passed by Morat, Bern, and
Basel through the country, greeted everywhere with enthusiasm,
either as a deliverer and avenger, or as an all-powerful con
queror. The Congress of Rastadt was a failure, but Napoleon
had been able to reconnoitre Switzerland, and it is probable
that the indications which he gave his generals upon his return
to Paris were of great service in the subsequent invasion of
the country. In the meantime, the patriots of Vaud were
carrying on a systematic agitation, under the leadership of
La Harpe, encouraged by the French authorities. Bern then
sent troops into Vaud, and the inhabitants called upon the
French for help ; thereupon the French ambassador, in the
name of the Directory of France, officially recognized the " Re
public of the Leman ", and two days after, upon a slight pre
text, French troops entered and occupied the new Republic.
Under outside pressure, and when it was too late, the gov
ernments of the various Cantons announced all manner of
reforms, thinking thus to satisfy the long-expressed demands
of the people. But the latter now took matters into their own
hands. In every Canton the glad news of " Liberty, Equality
and Fraternity " was proclaimed. The whole country was in a
state of confusion and transition, admirably suited to further
the plans of the French Directory. In fact, Bern was the only
Canton which made serious preparations to withstand the inva
sion. The other Cantons were either too busy in settling
their own local disturbances, or were indifferent to the bonds
which still held them to each other. It must also be acknowl
edged that the majority of the Swiss people did not suppose
that France harbored any hostile plans against them, but
naively believed in the assurances of the French emissaries
accredited to their various governments. At most they looked
for a benevolent intervention.

THE HELVETIC REVOLUTION. 299
After long negotiations, an unacceptable ultimatum was
sent to the Bernese authorities by the French, and the attack
began upon the old city, so long free from foreign foes.
The French army, under Brune and Schauenburg, mustered
25,000 strong with reserves, while Bern could put only 15,000
in the field. It was not long, therefore, before the three
columns of the French had thrown back the Bernese detach
ments sent forward to intercept their approach. At Grauholz,
a decisive battle was fought.
From the very beginning of the conflict, it was evident what
the result must be. The disproportion between the forces
was too great to admit of a favorable outcome for the Bernese,
but, nevertheless, they stood undaunted and steadfast in their
place of defence, displaying throughout that terrible conflict,
the truest heroism. Old men and women, with agricultural
implements, threw themselves into the fray, only to be cut
down by the French soldiery. At length, overcome by
superior numbers, the Bernese troops withdrew to their city,
and capitulated just as Erlach, their leader, was meditating a
last supreme effort.
It seemed as though the power of resistance in the outworn
Confederation had been completely broken, for, after the fall
of Bern, the other states yielded without striking a blow.
The ancient league of Thirteen States collapsed like an old
house, unfit for use.

CHAPTER III.

THE HELVETIC REPUBLIC.

AS one of the few Americans who have turned their atten
tion upon Swiss history has aptly remarked, "A con
sultation of French doctors sat upon the case of Switzerland.
Having rejuvenated France, the Paris revolutionists proposed
to reform the rest of the world. Switzerland must be made
a unit state, and so it was. The ancient Cantons, cradled in
independence and grown old in isolation, were suddenly trans
formed into departments of a single government and called
the Helvetic Republic."1
Had disinterested motives alone prompted French inter
ference, Switzerland might have been spared those scenes of
violence which followed the proclamation of the new Helvetic
constitution, but the French statesmen and their generals had
absorbed the lust of conquest and of plunder. Brune issued
a pompous proclamation, in which he solemnly affirmed that
he had come as friend of the worthy descendants of William
Tell, and not as conqueror. He told the Swiss to fear noth
ing for their personal safety, their possessions, their religion,
their political independence, and the integrity of their terri
tory. As a matter of fact, these promises were deliberately
broken. No sooner had the French troops taken possession
of the country, than the inhabitants were ordered to lodge and
feed them, and a systematic plundering of the cantonal treas
uries was undertaken by Brune and his associates. Many
millions of francs were thus sent to France, ostensibly to pay
for the costs of the occupation, but really in order to fill the
1 Vincent, J. M. A Study in Swiss History. Pamphlet p. 12.
300

THE HEELVTIC REPUBLIC. 301
depleted coffers of the French Directory. Especially hard
was the fate of Bern, whose rich treasury, the long-saved-up
hoard of centuries, was promptly despoiled of available funds
in bullion and securities.
No words are too strong to condemn the conduct of these
French invaders. No regrets can suffice to express the harm
they did to the cause of liberty in Switzerland and in the world
at large. The ultimate benefit which accrued to Switzerland
from the French Revolution is the only extenuating circum
stance, the only excuse which can be cited in their behalf.
It was determined to put in force a Constitution, modeled
upon that of France, and for this, the project drawn up by
Ochs was taken as a basis, but considerable vacillation showed
itself at first in adopting a definite scheme. An idea was
mooted of breaking up the country into three • parts, with
ready-made boundaries, and utterly fanciful names. There
was to be, first, a Republic of the Rhone, comprising Vaud,
Fribourg, parts of Canton Bern, the Valais, and Ticino ;
secondly, a County of Tell (Tellgau), for the Forest Cantons;
and thirdly, an Helvetic Republic, for the Northern and East
ern Cantons. Finally, this separatist project was abandoned ;
it was decided to create a completely centralized state, the
Helvetic Republic, one and indivisible.
The new constitution, promulgated April 12th, 1798, first
enunciated a series of general principles. They are now uni
versally understood and clearly established, but were abso
lutely foreign to the spirit of the old Confederation. The sum
total of the citizens was declared sovereign ; the form of gov
ernment was to be a representative democracy ; religious lib
erty and the freedom of the press were guaranteed ; all
hereditary powers and titles were abolished, as well as the last
remnants of feudal tenure of land. "The natural liberty of
man is unalienable ; it has no other limits than the liberty of
every other man," says the text. Radical ideas, such as these,
came like a revelation to men who had suffered under systems
of local tyranny, which, in every Canton, had bred a host of

302 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
economic and social abuses. The very boldness of these decla
rations, their irresistible logic, captivated men's minds. A new
vista of justice seemed opened to the oppressed. A great
reform wave seemed ready to dash away every vestige of long-
accumulated wrongs.
The document then proceeded to determine the various
attributes of government. Two legislative bodies were insti
tuted, the Senate and the Grand Council, the former to con
sist of four delegates from each Canton, and the latter of
representatives chosen according to population. The execu
tive power was lodged in the Directory of five members, to be
elected by the Senate and the Grand Council conjointly. Four
ministers, with special departments, were also to be chosen to
act with the Directory in the administration of executive
powers. A Supreme Court, consisting of one judge from each
Canton, controlled the highest judicial functions. A small
standing army of paid troops was to be maintained, and a body
of militia in each Canton.
Moreover, every Canton was to possess a Prefect, who repre
sented the central government, besides a board of administra
tion and a cantonal tribunal. For the districts, which were
subdivisions of the Cantons, sub-Prefects were appointed.
Finally, conditions were imposed which made any revision
of the constitution an extremely cumbersome procedure. 1
It will always remain the principal merit of this Constitu
tion that it abolished utterly all distinctions between the Can
tons and their subject lands ; that it placed the inhabitants of
the whole of Switzerland upon an equal footing, and gave them
the inestimable privileges of religious liberty and freedom of
the press. It destroyed the last vestiges of the aristocratic
organization of the Cantons, and created a new title — the
Swiss citizen. But unfortunately these benefits were accom
panied by narrow, vexatious ordinances, often too ridiculous to
deserve serious consideration, but of such a nature as to rouse
all the deep-seated prejudices and susceptibilities of the Swiss
Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 417.

THE HELVETIC REPUBLIC. 303
people. For example, the uniforms which were to be worn by
various government officials were designated with the utmost
precision, and often in the worst possible taste. Some of the
descriptions of the obligatory costumes are a positive shock to
one's aesthetic nerves. A Senator wore a blue coat, a straw-
coloured waistcoat, a tri-color scarf with fringes, and a black
hat with a green ostrich feather. A solemn decree was
issued, making the national colors of Switzerland green, red
and yellow. We shudder to think of this combination, and
marvel at such an aberration of French taste.
On the whole, the failure* of the Constitution, so admirable
in its enunciation of general principles and so logical in its
arrangement, must be ascribed to an absolute disregard of the
historical development and habits of the Swiss people. It
was purely artificial ; it was super-imposed, and therefore
unacceptable to a people accustomed, through centuries of
experience, to manage their own affairs. The Old Confedera
tion deserved to fall ; but the Helvetic Republic was not
suited to succeed.
One by one, the Swiss Cantons accepted the new Constitu
tion, until it came to be the turn of the Forest Cantons.
Here, however, the French met with a determined resistance ;
all efforts to introduce the foreign-made organization into the
cradle of Swiss liberty failed in the presence of their uncom
promising attitude. Full of patriotic fervor, and inspired by a
sort of exaltation, the people of the primitive Cantons prepared
to oppose the hated innovation by force of arms. Ten thou
sand men put themselves under the command of Alois Reding,
of Schwiz, ready to repulse the French. Their plan of cam
paign, however, was destined to result in failure, for, instead
of concentrating their forces upon a few threatened points and
acting entirely upon the defensive, they dispersed in every
direction in the hope of winning the surrounding country to their
cause. The French, on the other hand, advanced with 30,000
men, from Zurich and Luzern, upon the village of Schwiz. As
in the olden days of the war of independence against Austria,

304 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
so now, this little place was the objective point, the soul and
inspirer of the rebellion. There were a number of hard-
fought preliminary encounters before the decisive battle was
fought, notably one in the Hohle Gasse, near Kiissnacht, where
the historical association of the spot fired the Swiss to deeds
of utmost valor. At the upper end of Lake Zurich the fight
ing was also very sharp, but in the end the French forced their
way through, until -the Canton of Schwiz was completely
surrounded. Now came the supreme moment which was to decide the
issue of the campaign and the fate of Schwiz. Strangely
enough the final conflict was fought upon that very range of
Morgarten which had witnessed the first great victory of the
early Confederates against Austria, more than four hundred
and fifty years before. In the morning of the decisive day,
the French advanced from the Lake of Zurich, and penetrated
as far as Einsiedeln, through the treachery or cowardice of a
busybody priest. Reding had been expecting them at the
pass of the Schindelleghi, but, hearing of this movement, with
drew to the plateau of Rothenthurm, where he received rein
forcements from Uri and the Landsturn of Schwiz, consisting
of old men and beardless youths. In the meantime, another
detachment of French troops advanced from Aegeri, climbed
the slopes of Morgarten, and took possession of the whole
ridge. The Swiss dislodged the French from this ridge, after
severe fighting, and then turned, with fanatical fury, against
the enemy coming from Einsiedeln. They succeeded in driv
ing back even this force with great loss, but when night fell
the conflict was undecided ; for, although the Swiss had
repulsed the French, it was evident that they could not long
sustain the attacks of greater numbers continually being rein
forced. An armistice was concluded before fighting could be
renewed next day, and a definite peace signed, by which the
Forest Cantons agreed to accept the Helvetic Constitution,
but only on condition that all their ancient liberties should be
guaranteed to them.

THE HELVETIC REPUBLIC. 305
The example of Schwiz was followed by Uri, Glarus, Zug>
and Unterwalden. Resistance was offered in the Upper
Valais, but the patriots were promptly defeated near Sion.
On the 14th of July, 1798, the deputies from the eighteen
Cantons, which at the time composed the Republic, met in
Aargau to take the oath of allegiance to the constitution.
'Nidwalden alone refused to allow its citizens to take the
oath, and went so far as to. depose the Helvetic officials of
the Canton, at the instigation of the fanatical local clergy.
Schauenburg, the French general, therefore, on the 6th of
September, began operations against the stubborn mountain
eers, with a force of between 12,000 and 16,000 veterans.
Barely 2000 inexperienced peasants of Nidwalden stood
opposed to him. His attempts to land troops at Stansstadt
and Kehrsiten having proved unsuccessful, he next, on the
9th, directed his attack upon Stans, the village-capital of
the Canton, advancing by way of the valley lying between the
short ridge of the Mueterschwand and the great Stanserhorn.
But the French met with heroic resistance, their advance was
effectually blocked, until finally they penetrated to the rear
of Stans by the pass of Grossacherli. This had been left
almost undefended. The inhabitants fought in desperation,
with a fury which knew no bounds, while the victors, maddened
by the long resistance they had encountered, committed the
most atrocious acts of cruelty, slaying women, children and
old men alike in their rage. Schauenburg was obliged to
write to General Jordi : " We have lost a great many men,
which was unavoidable, considering the incredible stubbornness
of these people, whose fearlessness became positive madness.
. . . It was one of the hottest days I have ever seen."1
In fact, while Nidwalden lost only a little over four hundred
persons, the French mourned several thousand men.
The battle of Stans deserves a place in world-history, apart
altogether from its character of an heroic defence. It gave
Pestalozzi, the founder of modern pedagogy, an opportunity
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 447.

306 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
to put into practice the principles which have since made his
name famous the world over. The slaughter, namely, had been
so great at Stans that many orphaned children were left there
in a state of the utmost misery. In view of this lamentable
state of things, the Helvetic Directory decided to found an
orphan asylum in the place, and to put Pestalozzi in charge,
whose extraordinary success as a teacher of children in his
institute of Neuhof had already attracted attention. Pesta-
lozzi's methods at Stans elicited the admiration of Zschokke,
then government commissioner, and, although renewed -war
like disturbances made his recall necessary, the work he
accomplished on this occasion left an indelible mark upon
the educational progress of mankind.
No sooner was the Helvetic Republic firmly established
and in working order, than it displayed a positively astounding
legislative activity. Decree followed decree, in rapid succes
sion. The most startling innovations were adopted in every
department of national life, in finance, in the administration
of justice, and in the relations between church and state.
Many truly magnificent conceptions came to life ; many plans
of more than ordinary greatness were ventilated in the course
of parliamentary debate. Especially fine was the system of
education elaborated and, in a measure, put into practice by
the enthusiastic Stapfer. One of the happiest strokes of the
government was to abolish all the petty, vexatious, commercial
restrictions, which the individual Cantons had imposed for
centuries, and to declare absolute free trade throughout the
length and breadth of the republic. It was significant of the
barbaric medieval character of the old Swiss Confederation
that torture, as a means of punishment, had still been officially
recognized, until the Helvetic government expressly decreed
its cessation.
But the continued occupation of the country by French
troops became a tremendous tax upon the resources of the
country. The proceedings of the Grand Council, for the year
1798, are full of complaints from various representatives,

THE HELVETIC REPUBLIC. 307
describing the wanton tyrannies of the soldiery, and their
unpunished excesses. The Helvetic Directory remonstrated
with Rapinat, the French conMaissioner, but he answered them
in insolent terms ; demanded the deposition of two members of
the Directory, whom he could not browbeat into submission ;
and issued a proclamation, declaring null and void all resolu
tions passed by the Helvetic government, which were contrary
the orders given, or the measures taken, by the commissioner to
himself or the French commander-in-chief. The situation was
humiliating in the extreme ; the Swiss were powerless to rid
themselves of their oppressors.
As though to emphasize Switzerland's abject submission to
France, an offensive and defensive alliance was concluded
between the two countries on the 19th of August, 1799, which
marks the lowest stage in her abasement. The contracting
parties pledged themselves to mutual help in case of war.
France agreed to guarantee the Helvetic constitution against
the attacks of the ancient oligarchies, and to give back a few
old cannon captured in the late disturbances. In return for
these concessions, the Helvetic Republic was obliged to cede
Geneva and Porrentruy to France, and to leave two great
routes always open to the passage of French troops and mer
chandise, one along the Rhine to the lake of Constance and
thus into Germany and Austria, and another up {he Valais
into Italy. In truth, these conditions converted Switzerland
into a conquered province, a mere vassal. A French protecto
rate had been virtually established.

CHAPTER IV
SWITZERLAND THE BATTLE-FIELD OF EUROPE.
DURING those dark days at the beginning of the century,
when Switzerland had become the battle-field of Europe,
and her independence was trampled, underfoot alike by Napo
leon and the Allies, Wordsworth broke forth in that noble
lament, which is entitled, in the collection of his poems,
"Thought of a Briton on the Subjugation of Switzerland."
Coupling the fall of Venice with that of Switzerland in his
mind, he thus apostrophizes Liberty : —
" Two voices are there : one is of the sea,
One of the mountains ; each a mighty voice.
In .both from age to age thou didst rejoice;
They were thy chosen music, Liberty ! "
Although the Confederation has now entirely recovered from
the humiliation of that time, the Swiss people still remember
the helpless position into which they once fell, with a lively
horror. The shame and suffering which the year of. 1799
brought upon the country cannot be adequately appreciated,
until we examine in detail the operations of the foreign
armies. During Napoleon's absence in Egypt, the so-called war of
the second coalition broke forth in Europe ; Russia, Austria,
and England, with some of the lesser powers, uniting against
France. An elaborate plan of campaign was drawn up by
these allies, and the French Directory placed six armies in the
field to oppose its execution, of which Massena commanded

THE BATTLE-FIELD OF EUROPE. 309
the one operating in Switzerland. The famous Alpine fighter,
Lecourbe, acted under Massena's orders.
Early in the year, war seemed inevitable. France and Aus
tria gave the signal for hostilities in Graubiinden, a district
which, they foresaw, must be of the utmost strategic importance
to their armies in the coming struggle. At first, Massena and
Lecourbe were successful, but, by degrees, they were forced to
evacuate the Tyrol and Graubiinden, and fall back upon the
Forest Cantons.
In the meantime, the greatest uncertainty reigned in Swit
zerland itself. The adherents of the Helvetic Republic, led by
the indefatigable La Harpe, were for declaring war against
Austria, and raising an army to help the French. On the
other hand, the partisans of the old Confederation, and all the
reactionary elements, favored an Austrian alliance. The coun
try was hopelessly divided, and could not be brought to act as
a unit. In the end it remained passive under the terrible
infliction. In some battles, Swiss soldiers fought on both
sides, like their ancestors, the mercenaries, in foreign wars.
Discontent, persecutions, and wide-spread misery produced pop
ular disturbances in almost all the Cantons. Switzerland lay
powerless and distracted on the eve of the storm.
In May, two Austrian armies advanced into the country;
one of 40,000 men, under Archduke Charles, coming over the
Rhine from Germany, and another of 20,000, under Field-
marshal Von Hotze, a Swiss in Austrian service, from Grau
biinden. Lecourbe retreated into the Forest Cantons, and
Massena gathered all available troops around him in Zurich.
It was near this city that the decisive conflicts of the war in
Switzerland were fought.
As the Austrians advanced, Massena saw himself unable to
maintain his position within the walls of Zurich. During the
4th, and until the 7th of June, he was obliged to fall back, and
finally entrench himself at the foot of the Uetliberg, from
which he could effect a conjunction with Lecourbe at Luzern.
Now was the moment for the Austrians to push their advan-

310 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
tage, and strike a telling blow ; but there was disunion amongst
the allies, their ambitions conflicted, mutual jealousies arose,
and Archduke Charles was not allowed to complete his
victory. A change of plan was executed at headquarters. It was
decided that Archduke Charles should march into South Ger
many ; that a Russian corps, under Korsakoff, should take his
place at Zurich ; and finally, that the great victorious general,
Suvaroff, should invade Switzerland from Italy, over the St.
Gothard, and co-operate with Korsakoff in driving the French
out of the country. Months of inaction were allowed to slip
by, while these changes were being made ; Massena was able
to recover from his defeat, and to elaborate a general plan of
attack all along the line. The problems involved were com.
plicated and necessitated a thorough knowledge of topographi
cal conditions, but the French generals surmounted all
difficulties in a brilliant manner, carrying to a successful con
clusion one of the most masterly military achievements of
modern times.
On the 14th and 15th of August, the six divisions of the
French army, stationed in Switzerland, were simultaneously
set in motion against the opposing Austrians. The fighting
was especially severe on the St. Gothard and in the valley of
Urseren, amid the Alpine desolation of those regions. The
rattle of musketry and clash of arms re-echoed from the preci
pices ; hoarse commands, the cries of the wounded, the oaths of
an infuriated hand-to-hand combat, and all the sounds of battle
mingled with the roar of mountain torrents. By the 16th, the
French had conquered all along the line.
Still there was danger from the side of Suvaroff, who was
hurrying toward the St. Gothard from Italy, in order to
take the French in the rear, while Korsakoff and Hotze
attacked them in the front. Massena determined to antici
pate Suvaroff's arrival by making an offensive movement
upon Zurich. The Russian conqueror had sent word to
Korsakoff and Hotze to begin their attack on the 26th of

THE BATTLE-FIELD OF EUROPE. 311
September. On the 25th, Massena himself moved forward
from the Uetliberg, under cover of a thick morning fog, driv
ing the Russians from their positions. At the same time,
Hotze was attacked and routed in the region between the
lakes of Zurich and of Walen. Next day the French entered
the city of Zurich and the Austrians and Russians were in
full retreat.
But this victory had come none too soon, for, on the same
day, Suvaroff made his appearance in Uri, having fought his
way over the St. Gothard, in the face of terrific odds, against
the French, under Lecourbe.
On the 24th, he had reached the southern foot of the pass
with 20,000 men. A detachment of 6,000 had been detailed
to penetrate into Urseren, by the Oberalp Pass, thus taking
the French in the flank. By almost superhuman exertions the
main body had reached the top of the St. Gothard, fighting
every foot of the way. Then the attack upon the French flank
had been executed ; a last stupendous struggle had taken place
at the Devil's Bridge, between Andermatt and Goschenen, and
Suvaroff was momentarily master of the situation.
But Lecourbe's resources were never at an end. He hur
ried before the advancing Russians, and gave orders that all
boats of every description should be removed from that
branch of the lake of Luzern which goes by the name of the
lake of Uri. When, therefore, Suvaroff arrived at the water's
edge, to march upon Schwiz and Zurich, in order to join Kor
sakoff and Hotze, he found that he had strayed into a blind
alley. There was no road along the Axenberg, as in the pres
ent day, and he could not spare the time to construct boats to
transport his army. In this predicament, he resorted to an
expedient which many a well-equipped modern tourist might
dread. He turned aside and, with bag and baggage, climbed
the almost pathless Kinzigkulm, in order to reach the Muotta
Valley. When he arrived there, after incredible difficulties, it
was only to hear that the generals he was going to meet had
been defeated and were in retreat. Filled with heartrending

312 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
disappointment, the old veteran, victor in so many battles,
saw himself constrained, for the first time, to retreat before the
enemy. He straightway comprehended his critical situation,
crossed the Pragel Pass to Glarus and thus made his escape,
fighting steadily with the French, who swarmed about his path.
Only those who have themselves followed the itinerary of this
masterly retreat can appreciate the dangers, the untold
fatigues and privations, and the horrors which Suvaroff and
his brave band must have suffered. Military history has noth
ing more heroic to show, and never has purely Alpine fighting
been managed on so vast a scale.
As for the condition of the Swiss people, while this Euro
pean struggle was being waged upon their soil, it was nothing
short of pitiable. In November, 1799, the French ambassa
dor, Pichon, wrote to his government, describing the wide
spread misery which he saw about him. "The small Cantons
are a wilderness," he said, "The French army has been
quartered three or four times between Glarus and the St. Goth
ard within six months. . . . The soldier has lived upon
the provisions of the inhabitants. . . . As our troops did
not obtain a single ration from France, everything was eaten
up six months ago, even before the 25,000 Russians invaded
this devastated region. Urseren alone has fed and lodged in
one year some 700,000 men. . . . The richest Cantons
are all oppressed by requisitions and have succumbed under
the load of quartering men and feeding soldiers and horses.
. . . Everywhere there is lack of fodder. . . . Every
where the cattle are being slaughtered." x
The French army remained in Switzerland until 1802, a
curse to the exhausted country, but even before its departure
the constitutional problems and the struggle between party
factions, which the war had somewhat allayed, were renewed
and again led to foreign interference.
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch, p. 468.

CHAPTER V.
NAPOLEON'S ACT OF MEDIATION.
THE conviction had now forced itself upon the nation that
the Helvetic constitution was not suited to the require
ments of Switzerland. It did not take into consideration the
ingrained genius of the people for local self-government ; it
made no allowance for that principle of federalism, upon which
the country had been organized for more than five centuries,
and, as a superimposed foreign product, it was doomed to
prove a failure. The people had submitted to its disturbing
provisions, because they were powerless to resist the French
bayonets, but they were ready to overthrow the odious Hel
vetic government, as soon as the soldiers, 'upon whom it relied
for support, were withdrawn.
In fact, so sure were the Swiss people that a change was
bound to come, that they already fell to quarrelling over the
form which the next constitution was to assume. Two great
parties arose, the Federalists and the Centralists, representing
respectively the principles of States rights and of centraliza
tion. In point of fact, every federated state, from its very
nature, must at all times contain parties advocating these
opposite tendencies. It is only in moments of great national
excitement, however, that they take up bitterly antagonistic
positions. A great political crisis was at hand in Switzerland.
The general dissatisfaction with the Helvetic constitution may
be inferred from the fact that between the 30th of April, 1801,
and the 28th of April, 1802, e.g., in one year only, no less
than four drafts of constitutions were proposed or promulgated.
When finally the French troops left Swiss soil, in July and
313

314 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
August of 1802, the people everywhere arose to restore the
old order of things. There were armed conflicts in Unterwal
den, in Zurich, ^nd in Aargau, between the insurgents and the
Helvetic forces, in which the former were uniformly successful.
Bern itself surrendered to a poorly equipped and disorganized
mob of peasants. The members of the Helvetic government
fled to Lausanne, while an old-time Diet of the Confederated
States was held in Schwiz, under the direction of Alois Red
ing. A victorious army of the Confederates then marched
upon Lausanne. The cause of the Helvetic Republic seemed
indeed lost, and the restoration of the ancient Confederation
assured, when suddenly both sides laid down their arms and
disbanded, as though struck by a magic wand.
It appears that a plenipotentiary had unexpectedly arrived
in Lausanne, from Paris, bearing an offer of mediation from
Napoleon himself, now enjoying the title of First Consul.
The Swiss people were invited to send delegates to consult
with him, regarding a new constitution, which should establish
the political status of the country upon a sure basis.
In his proclamation, Napoleon expressed himself with
brutal and characteristic frankness, concerning Switzerland's
helpless condition :
"You have been presenting a sad spectacle for the last
two years ; opposing factions have one after the other seized
the supreme power, they have marked their temporary rule
with partisan systems which afforded proof of their unfitness
and weakness.
"In the course of the tenth year [1799], your government
desired to have withdrawn the small number of French troops
which were in Helvetia. The French government willingly
took this occasion to honor your independence ; but soon
after your parties set themselves in motion with renewed fury ;
Swiss blood has been shed by Swiss hands.
"You have quarreled amongst yourselves for three years,
without arriving at an understanding. If you are left any
longer to your own devices, you will slay yourselves for

NAPOLEON'S ACT OF MEDIATION. 315
another three years, and then be no better off. Your history
also proves that your internal wars cannot be ended except
through the efficacious intervention of France.
"It is true, I had resolved not to interfere again in your
affairs. I saw your government constantly asking my advice,
and then not following it, and several times misusing my
name, according to their interests and passions.
"But I cannot, I must not, remain impassive under the
misfortune to which you are a prey. I withdraw my resolu
tion ; I will be the mediator in your quarrel, and my media-
tion shall be efficacious, as is worthy of the great nation in
whose name I speak."
There is true Napoleonic assurance in these words. The
Consul does not mince matters, but boldly asserts his right
to dictate to the Swiss, while, at the same time, he ingeniously
places them under an obligation to him for exerting this
right. After stating certain preliminary conditions and issuing
unmistakable commands, Napoleon closed his proclamation
with an invocation, full of Gallic bombast and noisome cant :
"Inhabitants of Helvetia! Hope again! ! ! — Your native
country is on the edge of a precipice; it shall be instantly
withdrawn from it.
"Every sensible man must be persuaded that the media
tion which I am accepting, is, for Helvetia, a kindness of that
Providence, which has always watched over the existence and
independence of your nation, amid so many subversions and
shocks, and that this mediation is the only means which
remains open to you of preserving the one or the other."1
In obedience to this proclamation, some sixty Swiss emissa
ries arrived in Paris, in the month of December, forming a Con
sulta, to draw up a new constitution. On the ioth of that month,
Napoleon sent them a writing, setting forth the points to be
deliberated upon, and indicating clearly what he insisted upon
their fulfilling. On the 12th, he addressed a committee from
their midst, in the castle of St. Cloud. On this occasion, the
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 470-471.

316 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
First Consul displayed so accurate a knowledge of the internal
affairs of Switzerland, and showed so marvelous an appreciation
of its needs, that his hearers were dumfounded. In fact, never
have the peculiar problems of that country been explained with
more unfailing penetration. If the manner of the address was
calculated to wound the pride of the Swiss emissaries, the
advice which was given, was sound and to the point.
"The more I thought over the nature of your country," said
Napoleon, "the stronger became my conviction that it was
impossible to subject it to any uniform system on account of
the diversity of its component parts; everything drives you to
federalism. " Switzerland can no longer play an important part amongst
the states of Europe, as in the days when no great neighbors
stood beside her, when France was divided into sixty principal
ities, Italy into forty.
"You need rest, independence, and a neutrality acknowl
edged by all the powers surrounding you.
" I speak to you, as though I were myself a Swiss ; the prin
ciple of federation is uncommonly advantageous for small states.
I, myself, am born a mountaineer; and I know the spirit which
springs from this."1
Such language carried conviction, or at least silenced oppo
sition. From first to last, the emissaries were made to under
stand that their services were more honorary than required,
that Napoleon's ideas would triumph in the end, whether they
acceded or not. Their humiliation was great, but neither Fed
eralists nor Centralists dared object, and on the 19th of Febru
ary, the Act of Mediation was formally signed, and became the
organic law of Switzerland.
In truth, this new constitution was a clever compromise
between the extreme demands of the Federalists and the Cen
tralists. It restored the sovereignty of the Cantons, but main
tained a central government; it granted the Cantons all the
powers which were not expressly attributed to the Federal
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 472-473.

NAPOLEON'S ACT OF MEDIATION. 317
authorities, but reinstated the old Diet, with enlarged func
tions ; and it, therefore, contained the constitutions of all the
nineteen Cantons which then composed the Confederation, as
well as that of the Confederation itself.
The contributions of the several Cantons in men and money
were carefully enumerated. Import tariffs were left to be
managed by the Cantons, but the Diet determined the uni
form character of coinage. Six Cantons were also selected
from the rest : Fribourg, Bern, Solothurn, Basel, Zurich, and
, Luzern, to be Directorial Cantons or Vororte, The Diet was
to be held in each, in annual rotation ; and the Schultheiss, or
Biirgermeister, of each capital became in turn President of the
Confederation, with the title of Landammann of Switzerland.
Each Canton sent one representative to the Diet, with pre
pared instructions, but the Cantons possessing more than one
hundred thousand inhabitants had two votes, an attempt being
thus made to give the element of population due consideration. 2
On the whole, the Act of Mediation must be considered a
vast improvement over the Helvetic Constitution. As an
attempt to reconcile the opposing parties it was practically
successful, and gave the country comparative immunity from
political broils. At the same time, one misses those magnifi
cent utterances on popular rights contained in the Helvetic
Constitution, and one is shocked at the almost royal attributes
assigned to the Swiss Landammann. It was evident that a
suitable stop-gap had been found, but that a permanent solu
tion of the difficulties in which the country was plunged yet
remained to be discovered.
At all events, Switzerland experienced quite a revival of the
arts and sciences under the benign influence of peace. Cul
ture, which had been rudely pushed aside by war, was able to
reassert itself. Several writers graced the somewhat barren
fields of Swiss belles-lettres, historical writing flourished, scien
tists explored the wonders of the Alpine world, and great
engineering works were inaugurated. All this time, however,
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch, p. 474-478.

318 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Switzerland was treated as a vassal by France. Napoleon,
now proclaimed Emperor, insulted and browbeat her states
men, violated her neutrality, which he conceived to be a fiction
to be used for his own purposes, and did not hesitate to issue
direct commands to the Diet. He had now developed into a
general European bully. It was not likely, therefore, that he
would spare a small, defenceless country like Switzerland,
whose territory possessed the utmost value from a strategic
point of view.
The culmination of Napoleon's contempt for established
rights was reached, when, on Nov. 15th, 1810, he issued a
decree, incorporating the Valais into the French Empire, with
the name of the Department du Simplon, on the plea that the
possession of the Simplon route was necessary to France and
Italy, that eighteen million francs had been spent upon the
road, by the French, and that anarchy reigned supreme in that
country. At another time, the whole Swiss people would have
risen in arms to resist this spoliation, now they contented
themselves with unavailing protests. Their abasement was
complete. They were even obliged to submit helplessly to the
sufferings inflicted upon them by Napoleon's insane Continen
tal blockade against British trade.
But the hour of deliverance was at hand. After the tyrant's
retreat from Russia, came the great war of liberation, and then
the Congress of Vienna, which secured Switzerland once more
an independent position amongst the European powers.

CHAPTER VI.
THE PERIOD OF REACTIONARY RESTORATION.
IT was at this point, when the lowest degree in the scale had
been reached, that the signatory powers at the Congress
at Vienna, on the 20th of March, 181 5, announced their inten
tion of drawing up an act which should guarantee the per
petual neutrality of Switzerland. On the 27th of May, the
Swiss Diet accepted this offer, but there was a delay of several
months before the pledge given by the powers was fulfilled ;
for the great struggle at Waterloo, which took place in the
meantime, overshadowed every other phase of the European
situation. Finally, on the 20th of November, the document,
which was to exert so potent an influence upon the destinies
of the Swiss people, was approved by the Congress. "The
signatory powers of the declaration made at Vienna on the
20th of March," says the text, " by the present act make a
formal and authentic acknowledgment of the perpetual neu
trality of Switzerland, and they guarantee to her the integrity
and inviolability of her territory within her new boundaries."
This agreement is further on declared to be " in the true inter
ests of the politics of all Europe." x
If any one should be tempted to say that even these solemn
promises were insufficient to establish the neutrality of Swit
zerland upon an unquestioned legal basis, surely the array of
great names appended to this document ought to remove all
doubts. Amongst them there was Metternich, for Austria ;
1 HUty. La Neutrality de la Suisse. Pamphlet, p. 61-62.
319

320 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Richelieu, for France; Wellington, for England; Humboldt,
for Prussia ; and Capo d'lstria, for Russia. It wouid be a
strange forgetfulness of the past which could make the powers
declare null and void an act signed by historic names such as
these. The person who actually prepared the text was the
Swiss representative at the Congress, Charles Pictet de Roche-
mont, a Genevese; the task having been first assigned to
Stratford Canning, who preferred to leave it to Pictet,
There was no condition appended to this declaration of
neutrality beyond the natural one that the Swiss Diet should
agree to the terms of the proposed transaction, a duty which
that body promptly performed. At least one of these
accepted terms deserves to be noticed, on account of the nego
tiations to which it has since given rise, and the dangers to
European peace with which it is still fraught. This so-called
" question of Savoy " resulted from a compromise effected at
this time among the conflicting interests of France, Switzer
land, and the king of Sardinia. During the discussions of the
Congress, it was proposed, and very properly, to give Switzer
land the whole of the geographical basin between the Jura and
the Alps, in order that she might have a natural and logical
frontier ; but, instead of this simple solution of the difficulty,
the representatives at the Congress ended by setting up a
complicated and irrational system of apportionment ; France
was allowed to retain parts of this basin, and a zone was
created in northern Savoy, which should be included in the
neutrality of Switzerland, "in the same manner as though it
belonged to her." 1
The events which had led up to this epoch-making declara
tion of perpetual neutrality were somewhat complicated, for
Switzerland reflected every phase of the struggle going on
about her frontiers.
As early as Nov. 15th, 1813, the Diet had proclaimed the
neutrality of the country, and, in a half-hearted manner, even
made preparations to defend it against all comers. But when
1 Hilty. La Neutrality de la Suisse, p. 62.

THE PERIOD OF REACTION. 321
the allies, in the course of the war of liberation, desired to use
Switzerland for a flank movement upon the French, the Swiss
army retreated from the frontier, and allowed 130,000 Austri
ans to pass through, leaving in their track starvation and
disease. In the meantime, all the reactionary elements were
preparing to side openly with the allies, to overthrow the exist
ing order, and to plunge Switzerland back into feudal times.
They were sustained in their efforts by a certain Saxon, Count
von Senfft-Pilsach, an agent of Metternich, who had familiarized
himself with Swiss politics by a residence of several months
in the country. In fact, the only leader amongst the allies,
who opposed these subversive designs of the great Austrian
diplomat, was the then liberal Czar of Russia, Alexander I.
He had had as tutor in his youth Frederic Caesar La Harpe, '
the patriot of the Helvetic Revolution, and his sympathies for
Switzerland had thereby always been kept active.
On the 22d of December, 181 3, Bern, now once more con
trolled by the old patrician element, declared the Act of Medi
ation null and void, as far as she was concerned, and reinstated
the surviving members of the old Council who had served before
the Helvetic Revolution. She even attempted once more to
rule over the Cantons of Vaud and Aargau as subject lands.
A week later, the Swiss Diet also denounced the Act of Medi
ation. The work of driving out the new and letting in the
old, thereafter began in earnest. Of course the usual party
rivalries and recriminations did not fail to make their appear
ance. But after the country had several times seemed on the
verge of civil war, and the famous Long Diet had been in ses
sion from the 29th of December, 18 13, to the 31st of August,
181 5, a year and eight months, the twenty-two States compos
ing the Confederation, on the 7th of August, 18 15, signed a
Bundesvertrag, or a Federal Pact.1
As the name implies, the agreement thus concluded was
not a constitution, in the proper sense of the word, although
it served that purpose, but was, in reality, a sort of bargain
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 487.

322 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
effected by independent sovereign states. Valais, Geneva,
and Neuchatel were now admitted as equal members, the last
two for the first time. Moreover, all efforts of the old States
to reduce their former subject lands into submission failed
Utterly, for the free spirit of the French revolution had not
passed over the land altogether in vain.
As for the rest, the Pact brought into being a loose, dis
jointed Confederation. It was not devoid of certain merits.
As in the Act of Mediation^ the contributions of the various
Cantons in men and money were carefully regulated ; a Federal
board of arbitration was established to settle internal difficul
ties ; the Diet was entrusted with a few new functions, but
unfortunately not given the necessary powers tb enforce its
acts; and all the representatives were once more limited to
one vote apiece, whatever the size of their Cantons. Zurich,
Bern, and Luzern remained Vororte, in rotation every two
years, but the ill-suited office of Landammann of Switzerland
was deservedly abolished. Amongst the least commendable
provisions was the one guaranteeing the maintenance of mon
asteries and chapters within the Confederation, thus pledging
the Federal government to interfere in local, Cantonal affairs,
and paving the way for a religious question which eventually,
in 1848, produced civil war. ' It is also interesting to notice
that the Federal war chest was to be kept filled by the pro
ceeds from customs duties on imports, this affording another
illustration of the fact that war, or the fear of war, and high
tariffs almost always go hand in hand, reacting upon each
other arid intensifying each others' effects. Finally, one is
gratified to read that no subject lands and no privileged polit
ical classes would be tolerated hereafter, an enunciation which
still savors of the refreshing radicalism of the Revolutionary
period. Thus did Switzerland, after many vicissitudes, relapse into
an era of reaction. It was but natural, after the brusque
introduction of sweeping changes had spent itself, after the
friction of new ideas, constantly clashing with the old, had

THE PERIOD OF REACTION. 323
produced fatigue, that the country should long for rest.
Hence the period from 18 15-1830, while it was marked by a
strange disregard of all the great political principles which the
French revolution had brought into the world, was, at the
same time, valuable to Switzerland as a breathing spell, as a
time of repose and recuperation.
The centre of gravity, as it were, was again, as in pre-
revolutionary days, shifted from the central government to the
Cantons. The whole formed a loose Confederation, with only
an ill-defined, latent national sentiment to hold it together.
As there was no foreign enemy to evoke the spirit of unity, a
centrifugal force whirled the Cantons apart. They amended
their constitution on reactionary lines, displaying the greatest
fear of all innovations in popular rights. The censorship of
the press was reinstated ; the Jesuits were permitted to carry
on diplomatic intrigues with the local governments ; and the
mercenary system flourished once more without let or hinder-
ance, Swiss soldiers in great numbers seeking service in Hol
land, France, and with the Pope. After all, these reactionary
tendencies were not confined to Switzerland, but were charac
teristic of the whole of Europe after the fall of Napoleon,
resulting from the discredit which had been thrown upon1 the
principles of the French Revolution. In fact, the little Con
federation became a place of refuge for many political fugi
tives from neighboring countries, notably from Germany, where
the restored monarchs filled the prisons with discontented
subjects. But'even during these years of apparent stagnation, forces
were at work which were destined to reawaken a spirit of indi
vidual liberty, and by a slow, and in the main peaceful evolu
tion, to convert the Confederation into a closely knitted union
of real democracies. A number of societies contributed most
effectually to this end, principally the patriotic student associ
ation of Zofingen, so-called from the place where its first gath
ering was held. It proved a worthy successor to the famous
Helvetic Society of pre-revolutionary times. Numerous gym-

324 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
nastic and singing societies also furthered the national
aspirations, as well as the annual Federal Shooting Match
(Schutzenfest), which was now first instituted.
Thus did the slumbering spirit of liberty revive and herald
the advent of better things.

CHAPTER VII.
DEMOCRATIC REFORMS IN THE CANTONS.
IT was a French revolution which, in 1798, caused the
old Swiss Confederation to collapse, and it was another
French revolution which, in 1830, gave the signal for political
regeneration in Switzerland on democratic lines. From her
very position Switzerland has always been particularly sensi
tive to the tendencies manifesting themselves about her,
reflecting in her long career every phase bf European history.
It was only natural, therefore, that she should feel the exhilar
ation of new aspirations, when tne reactionary cloud, which
had brooded over Europe, began to lift, as the breeze of liberty
blew fresh from the streets of Paris.
In true Teutonic fashion the people came together in open-
air assemblies, to formulate their demands for further rights,
and, when necessary, to make arrangements for enforcing
them. It was a magnificent movement, bearing a striking like
ness to the revival of political thought amongst the farmers of
the United States in the Grange and the Alliance. There
were the same wrongs of special privilege to redress, the same
organized oppression from the middle class, Hving as non-pro
ducers on their interest, and the same political tyranny of the
politicians to break. In Switzerland, however, the struggle
had first to be directed against the reactionary, almost feudal
administrations in the various Cantons, and was not carried on
so much against plutocracy, as the industrial uprising of recent
years in the United States has been conducted.
The first of these patriotic meetings of protest against the
aristocratic governments, was held in the Canton of Thurgau
325

326 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
on the 22d of October, 1830. A petition for the revision of
the constitution was drawn up, and pressed upon the author
ities with so much vigor, that the desired changes were soon
after carried into effect. An assembly, held at Uster, in the
Canton of Zurich, likewise sent a memorial to the govern
ment with clearly expressed demands. The form of address
to the authorities, which had become compulsory during the
period of reaction, shows in what abject submission the people
were held.
"Right Honorable, Highly esteemed, Squire Biirgermeister!
Highly esteemed, Highly honored Sirs and Masters!" Then
followed a list of desired reforms. Amongst them was a new
electoral system with fair representation ; the constitution was
to be declared valid only after it had been sanctioned by the
people voting in popular assemblies ; a demand was made for
freedom of the press ; for publicity of the sessions and minutes
of the Cantonal Council; the right of petition; also a reduc
tion of specified taxes; the introduction of a general income
tax, and the improvement of the schools.1
It will be seen that the patriots clamored for some of the
most elementary rights of freemen, as well as for other reforms
of more modern aspect. The people in other Cantons,
encouraged by this example, met to bring pressure upon their
governments, and, by the middle of December, nine Cantons
had revised their constitutions in a liberal sense. In general,
these popular proceedings were dignified and peaceful, such
disturbances as did occur being due to an insane attempt of the
authorities to resist the express will of the people. Thus
amid intense excitement the fateful year of 1830 passed, and
left Switzerland already half regenerated. During the next
year, however, there were serious conflicts in the Cantons of
Basel, Schwiz, and Neuchatel. The first was eventually divi
ded into Baselstadt and Baselland, two half Cantons which
have remained apart ever since. In Schwiz, the difficulties
were patched up after several failures, and in Neuchatel the
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 490.

DEMOCRATIC REFORMS IN THE CANTONS. 327
situation was further complicated by the fact that the Canton
occupied the abnormal, paradoxical position of being a Prus
sian principality and a member of the Swiss Confederation at
the same time.
Of course these local changes could not fail to influence the
Federal government. There were loud cries for a revision of
the Federal .constitution, and several attempts were, in fact,
made by the Liberal representatives. But in every case they
were checkmated by the opposing Conservatives, who viewed
with dismay the steady growth of radical doctrines. The Diet
declared that it could not guarantee the maintenance of special
Cantonal constitutions.
Thereupon, on the 17th of March, 1832, seven Cantons:
Luzern, Zurich, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Aargau, and Thurgau,
agreed to a concordat, known as the Siebnerkonkordat.1 The
object of this unfortunate union was to guarantee the mainten
ance of the constitutions of the contracting parties, which task
the Diet was unable to perform. Although admission was left
open to all the other Cantons, as a matter of fact none of them
joined, and the movement, therefore, remained one of seces
sion. It was a fatal step to take, and a dangerous precedent to
set. It opened the way for other separatist changes in the
future ; it created a wheel within a wheel. By Nov. 14th,
five conservative Cantons withdrew from participation in the
Federal Diet: Uri, Schwiz, Unterwalden, Baselstadt, Neucha
tel, and Valais. They united in a League of Sarnen, and so
the division of the Swiss Confederation into two hostile, bit
terly antagonistic, minor Confederations was complete. An
ominous state of affairs, calculated to make every patriot trem
ble for the result, and full of awful possibilities, since the two
Confederations could be at any moment converted into two
camps. Both sides were at fault, and yet it is difficult, at this day, to
pronounce unconditionally against their actions, representing,
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch, p. 495.

328 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
as they did, opposite and apparently irreconcilable tendencies.
The Liberals sought above all to make sure of the gains they
had made in a radical sense; the Conservatives found them
selves out of place in a Diet which was always held in a
Vorort belonging to the faction of the Siebnerkonkordat. One
means of reconciliation alone remained, and that was a revis
ion of the Federal Constitution, which should remedy these
just grievances. But in the midst of prevailing dissensions
the attempt to carry any revision to a successful issue, fell per
fectly flat ; the draft of a revised constitution was overwhelm
ingly rejected by the people. When, however, the Cantons of
Basel and Schwiz again became the scenes of dangerous dis
turbances, the Federal authorities resolved to intervene in the
interest of peace. They put an army into the field to quell
the uprising, dissolved the League of Sarnen, and compelled
the refractory states to send representatives to the Diet,
Quiet was thus momentarily re-established.
But a new danger did not fail to show itself soon after.
Heretofore the Swiss Confederation had been divided on
purely political questions ; the situation was now to become
further complicated by religious issues, always the most bit
terly contested and the most difficult to allay.
There was first the incident of Strauss, the famous free
thinker, in Zurich. In 1839, the authorities of that city called
Dr. D. F. Strauss from Tubingen to the chair of dogmatic
theology, in the newly formed university of Zurich. It was
purposed thereby to start a great religious reform movement
to keep pace with the political regeneration of the times, but
a storm of indignation rose from all parts of the Canton to pro
test against this violation of the Christian faith, as it was
called. In a circular, issued by a Committee of Faith, the call
of Strauss was declared to be "so convulsing an event for the
great majority of the inhabitants of the Canton of Zurich, that
all minds saw themselves filled with horror as though smitten
by an electric stroke."1 The instant dismissal of the free-
1 Oechsli. W. Quellenbuch. p. 498

DEMOCRATIC REFORMS IN THE CANTONS. 329
thinker was demanded, and the appointment of a true believer
in his place. In the end Strauss was asked to resign, and a
life annuity awarded him, but the sensation created by this
incident was tremendous. It was felt throughout the Confed
eration, and only served to alienate still more the conservative
Cantons from the radical ones.
An occurrence of still greater gravity was the action of the
authorities of Aargau, in decreeing the abolition of all monas
teries and nunneries within their Canton. It was a spark
which set the whole country ablaze. Protests came from
every quarter; not only from the conservative Cantons, but
also from the Papal Nuncio, and even from the emperor
of Austria, whose ancestors had founded Muri, one of the
monasteries in question. The difficulty was temporarily
compromised by limiting the decree of abolition to the monas
teries, leaving the nunneries in existence. In this a majority
of the Diet supported Aargau.
It was not to be a permanent solution, however, for, in 1843,
a new grouping of States took place as a result of this relig
ious question. Luzern, Uri, Schwiz, Unterwalden, Zug, Fri
bourg, and Valais held a conference1 in Luzern to discuss the
dangers which threatened the Catholic religion, thus laying the
foundation for the so-called Sonderbund. In 1844, the Can
ton of Luzern called the Jesuits to take charge of educational
matters. This act was immediately followed by an armed raid
of radical volunteers from other Cantons upon the city, acting
in conjunction with their friends within. It was the first
so-called Freischaarenzug, and proved a complete failure, as did
also a second raid against Luzern in the following year.
Finally, in December, 1845, the seven Cantons, mentioned
above, signed an Act of Secession,2 in which they pledged
each other support against attacks upon their sovereign and
territorial rights. At the same time they appointed a Council
of War, with extended powers.
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 500.
2 Ibid. p. 504.

330 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
From that moment civil war seemed inevitable, although
it was slow in coming. In 1847, the Diet ordered the expul
sion of the Jesuits from Swiss soil. Soon after, it called upon
the Sonderbund to disband, passed a resolution to execute its
command by force of arms, and elected Henry Dufour Com
mander-in-Chief, a Genevese soldier of great experience,
trained in the school of war of the first Napoleon.
At the last, 'serious efforts were made to allay the bitter feel
ing which animated the two sides, by holding conferences. All
in vain, for Unionists and Secessionists showed themselves
irreconcilable, and a resort to arms had become necessary.
When all hope of peace had vanished, the Sonderbund went
so far as to appeal to Austria for help. It seemed almost like
the old time of the Zurich War. A few days after, Dufour
issued an order to the Union army, which deserves to be
remembered for its noble, humanitarian tone. It doubtless
had much to do with the great forbearance shown by the. vic
torious troops in the ensuing conflict. "You will advance into
the Canton of Luzern," he said, " As you cross the boundary
leave your anger behind, and think only of fulfilling the duties
your native country imposes upon you. Attack the enemy
boldly, fight bravely, and stand by your flag to the last drop of
blood ! But as soon as victory is decided in our favor, forget
every feeling of revenge; act like generous soldiers, for you
will thus prove your real courage. Under all circumstances,
do what I have already often commanded you ; respect the
churches and all buildings consecrated .to divine service!
Nothing will disgrace your flag more than insults to religion.
Take all the defenceless under your protection ; do not allow
them to be insulted or maltreated. Do not destroy anything
unnecessarily ; waste nothing ; in a word, conduct yourselves in
such a manner as to win respect, and to show yourselves
worthy of the name you bear."1
Animated by this spirit, the Unionist forces entered into
the conflict.
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch, p. 509.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE WAR OF THE SONDERBUND AND THE CONSTITUTION OF
1848.
THERE is a marked likeness between the crisis through
which Switzerland passed in 1847 and our own Ameri
can Civil War, of 1 861-1864. The special points of resem
blance will be noticed in detail, after a description has been
given of the course of events in the Swiss Confederation ; suf
fice it to say here that not only were the experiences of both
countries in their supreme struggle against secession very
much the same, but they were also productive of almost iden
tical political results.
As to the resources of the two sides in Switzerland, there
was a very decided disparity between them. Twelve and
a half Cantons joined the Federal cause, only seven that
of the Sonderbund, while one and two half Cantons remained
neutral, Neuchatel, Appenzell (Inner Rhoden) and Baselstadt.
The Federalists mustered over 98,000 strong, but the Seces
sionists only a little over 37,000, or, counting in the poorly
organized reserve (Landsturn), about 85,000. In equipment
and discipline the advantage was also decidedly on the Union
side. The seceded states, moreover, formed a difficult piece
of territory to defend ; the centre, composed of the Forest
Cantons, was a strong position, but Fribourg was absolutely
isolated, and Valais connected with the rest only by high
Alpine passes. If the Secessionists could be said to have
any element of success in their midst, it was the strength
derived from religious fanaticism — of that they possessed
great abundance. For this reason it is, perhaps, strange that
331

332 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
the commander-in-chief on the side of the Sonderbund, Salis-
Soglio, should have been a Protestant. He was, however, an
experienced soldier, who had received his schooling, like
Dufour, during the Napoleonic wars.
The first act of the war was a sudden and momentarily suc
cessful invasion of Ticino by the Secessionist leader, Siegwart-
Miiller. Like the firing on Sumpter in our own rebellion, it
roused the whole country to a sense of the necessity for
immediate action.
Dufour adopted the plan of completely surrounding the
enemy by a system of extended detachments. He then
marched with 20,000 men upon Fribourg, to strike an immedi
ate blow where the Sonderbund was weakest. The city
surrendered to superior numbers after very little resistance,
and the Union cause was able, from the very outset, to enjoy
the military and moral advantage of a decided victory. This
task accomplished, Dufour directed his divisions to concen
trate upon Luzern, determined to crush the rebellion at its
centre. The Secessionists had already been partly successful in a
number of skirmishes with his troops, stationed in the
Aargau ; the order to advance, therefore, came none too soon.
On the 2 ist of November, Zug capitulated. On the 23d,
Dufour ordered two divisions to march upon Luzern — one
along the Reuss, by Honau and Gislikon, and the other
from Zug, by way of Meyerskappel. The first division
encountered determined opposition at Gislikon, where the only
real battle of the Sonderbund War was fought. The enemy
were strongly posted in the village and on the heights which
rise behind it, so that their well-directed artillery fire could
check the advance of the Federalists for some time, and, in
fact, very nearly put them to flight. But with reinforcements
the latter broke all resistance, and drove the enemy upon
Luzern. In the meantime, the second division had made its
way, fighting steadily, along the pre-arranged route, so that by
nightfall the two Federal divisions were masters of the situa-

THE WAR OF THE SONDERBUND. 333
tion. They could have proceeded immediately to attack the
city, but preferred to wait until they had made their own con
nections more secure.
Next day Luzern surrendered without fighting. The Seces
sionist leaders had fled to Fluelen by steamboat, leaving utter
confusion behind them. Organized resistance seemed out of
the question, and, in fact, the entry of the Federal troops was
not unwelcome to a good part of the population. Of the
other operations of the war, now practically decided, it need
only be said that they were insignificant, and uniformly
turned to the advantage of the Federal cause. Soon after,
Unterwalden surrendered, then Schwiz and Uri, and, on the
29th of November, Valais, so that the war was finished by a
campaign of not quite twenty days. In the whole struggle
there were only seventy-eight dead and two hundred and sixty
wounded to deplore. It was, therefore, a singularly bloodless
affair, showing Dufour's careful manoeuvring and masterly
massing of troops where their presence would do the most
work. As the conduct of the campaign had been expeditious, so
the feeling of hostility between the two sides was soon
allayed. The conquered Cantons were fined the costs of war;
but when they had paid less than half the stipulated sum, the
balance was remitted to them in a brotherly spirit of forgive
ness. It may be stated as a fact that there is to-day not a par
ticle of sore feeling in Switzerland between the old antagonists
of the Sonderbund War. Both the singular generosity of the
victors and the rise of new political issues have long ago
diverted public attention into new channels. There was no
waving of the bloody shirt in Switzerland. Neuchatel,
Appenzell, and Inner Rhoden were heavily fined for not hav
ing taken part on the Federalist side. By a sort of poetic
justice the fund thus obtained was used for pensioning the
Federalist wounded and the widows and orphans of the
; slain. The Secessionist Cantons were, of course, subjected
to a short military occupation until they were sufficiently

334 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
reconstructed to manage their own affairs, but then Swit
zerland's crisis was over, and an era of reforms was inau
gurated, which led inevitably to a revision of the Federal
constitution in a liberal sense.
Meanwhile the situation had just escaped from being compli
cated by foreign interference, for, on the 30th of Nov., when
hostilities were practically over, the French ambassador pre
sented a collective note to the President of the Federal Diet
and to the Sonderbund Council of War, in the name of his
own government, and of Austria, Great Britian, Prussia, and
Russia, offering to mediate between the two sides. As pre
liminary conditions to this mediation the Sonderbund Cantons
were to ask the Pope's advice concerning the question of the
Jesuits, and were to give up their separate league ; the Diet
must promise to protect the Cantons exposed to Freischaaren-
zilge, and to adopt no new articles into the constitution, which
were not approved by all the members of the Confederation.
On the 7th of Dec, the Diet answered, rejecting the proffered
offer, on the ground that the civil war was already decided in
its favor ; that the proposed conditions were not consistent with
Switzerland's position, as defined by European treaties; and
that the security of neighboring states was in nowise endan
gered. This bold stand of the Federal authorities had its
effect. Great Britain, which seems to have been an unwilling
participator in this foreign interference, withdrew from further
attempts at coercion, and when Austria sent another note in
the interest of the conquered Cantons, the Diet answered with
great firmness and dignity, insisting upon the complete inde
pendence of Switzerland from all foreign influence. With that
the diplomatic incident was closed.1
Of course this war of the Sonderbund can only be said to
resemble our own civil war in miniature, for the forces engaged,
the territory covered, the loss of life and property, and the
duration of the contest in Switzerland were comparatively
insignificant. One misses the terrific battles, the long marches,
1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch, p. 513-523.

THE WAR OF THE SONDERBUND. 335
and the feats of endurance which characterized the American
war. At the same time, it must be remembered that it is not
the number of troops engaged, or of the men slain, which
makes a war notable in history or otherwise, it is the issue at
stake in the conflict. In this respect, the likeness between the
wars of the two countries is remarkable. The fundamental
issue in both cases was a political one. It was that of Federal
union versus extreme states rights, of centralization as opposed
to decentralization, but in both cases a deep-seated evil came to
complicate the situation and embitter the two sides. In Swit
zerland there was the question of the Jesuits, and in the
United States the institution of slavery.
The parallel may be extended to other details, e.g., the party
of Secession was recruited in both countries from that element
which was least affected by progressive ideas, was most remote
from the great centres, and mainly agricultural and pastoral.
Even the disproportion between the resources of the two. sides
serves to carry out the likeness between the Sonderbund and
the American war. The Freischaaren raids, which preceded
the struggle in Switzerland, were like the armed emigrations
to Kansas and the attack of John Brown on Harper's Ferry.
So also did the neutral Cantons in the Swiss conflict resemble
our own doubtful States.
Not to prolong this historical analogy to tedious length, let
me pass on to the great and lasting results of the Sonderbund
War in Switzerland. After the military struggle was over, a
constitutional reform movement was inaugurated. It was
generally acknowledged that the antiquated Federal Pact of
1815 must give way to a revised constitution, more in keeping
with the needs of the Confederation. A committee was,
therefore, chosen to draw up a complete draft of a new con
stitution, to be submitted to the people and the Cantons for
final acceptance or rejection. If the framers of this document
showed any hesitation at first in performing their task in a
radical spirit, they were soon encouraged by the outbreak of
the so-called February revolution of 1848, in Paris, which set all

336 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Europe ablaze. Not only did that foreign triumph of demo
cracy react upon the Swiss Liberals, but it also prevented the
great powers who were threatened by internal difficul
ties, from interfering in the affairs of the reconstructed
Confederation. It is especially interesting for us Americans to know that
the example of our own constitutional organization exerted a
strong influence upon Swiss statesmen at this time. Our sys
tem of two legislative houses, one representing the states and
another the people numerically, was the model from which
the framers of the Swiss constitution of 1848 drew their inspi
ration for the Council of States and the National Council, in
Switzerland. It was a case of deliberate and acknowledged
imitation, urged by such men as the great Bluntschli himself
and by Riittiman, the author of a work1 comparing Swiss and
American politics.
In September, 1848, the new constitution was accepted by
fifteen and a half Cantons as against seven, and by a majority
of the voters. It was, therefore, declared to be in force. The
minority submitted to the voice of the majority, and cheer
fully acquiesced in the provisions of the new organic law.
As a careful translation of the whole of the constitution
will be found in the Appendix, with amendments up to 1892,
it will not be necessary here to enter into an examination of
its many details. Switzerland was thereby converted from a
loose confederation into a federal union, or, as the German
constitutional writers delight to express themselves, from a
Staatenbund into a Bundesstaat. The central government
assumed control over all the foreign relations of the Cantons,
and abolished the mercenary system, forbidding all military
capitulations and foreign pensions and titles. It took charge
of the customs, of the postal service, of coinage, weights and
measures, and of the manufacture and sale of gunpowder.
It divided responsibility with the Cantonal governments on
1 Riittiman. Das Nordamerikanische Bundesstaatsrecht verglichen mit den pol-
itischen Einrichtungen der Schweiz.

THE WAR OF THE SONDERBUND. 337
the matter of the national military and educational systems,
and of public works and police. The Federal government
also guaranteed certain fundamental popular rights, such as
the equality of all citizens before the law, the right of free
settlement anywhere on Swiss soil, freedom of faith, the
liberty of the press, and the rights of assembly and petition.
Thus was the evolution from a mere aggregate of sovereign
states into a compact Confederation at length complete.
There has been steady growth on the same lines since 1848,
tending toward increasing centralization ; the Cantons have
learned to sacrifice one prerogative after the other, the Fed
eral government to absorb a multitude of new powers. How
far this movement may go without converting Switzerland into
a unitary state, remains to be seen, but of this we may be
sure, as long as the inalienable rights of man, the birthright
of the individual, remain unharmed and inviolate, the process
of unification may go on apace without danger to the state.
As soon as the work of centralization shall involve the curtail
ment of any of the fundamental liberties of the citizen, no
matter how magnificent the apparent results or how attractive
the momentary glamor, in that hour the decline of the nation
will have begun.

CHAPTER IX.
RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES IN THE CANTONS AND
THE CONFEDERATION.
PERHAPS the most encouraging feature of modern Swiss
statesmanship is that steady striving after a fuller recog
nition and practice of popular sovereignty, which has been
expressed in the institutions of the Referendum and the Initia
tive. There is no movement in any other country, at present,
which can be compared to this masterly and systematic reform
on democratic lines. It is full of great possibilities. It has
already fulfilled many of its earlier promises. It is rapidly
converting the Swiss people into a nation governing itself
upon an almost ideal plan, directly, logically, and without
intermediaries. The keynote to this reform is its directness. Whereas, in
the United States the practice of direct government, such as
it still exists in the Massachusetts Town Meeting and kindred
bodies, tends yearly to become obsolete, in Switzerland it
flourishes with renewed vigor. In fact, the parliamentary
representative system has never taken very firm foothold in
that country. It was a foreign imitation, and as such has
always been viewed somewhat askance. The appearances are
that it will be still more modified and limited in the future.
The first steps toward the introduction of this modern form
of direct government in Switzerland were taken by the Canton
of St. Gallen, in 1831. At that time there was granted to
the people the right of veto over acts of the Cantonal Grand
838

RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES. 339
Council. On the whole, this institution did not give entire
satisfaction, but it paved the way admirably for the more
radical Referendum and Initiative. The Canton of Vaud, in
1845, adopted both these latter institutions in a modified form,
and, from that time on, the example has been followed by
almost all the other members of the Confederation, and by the
Federal government itself.
This term "Referendum" is part of the old formula, "ad
referendum et audiendum," and means that laws and resolutions
framed by the representatives must be submitted to the people
for acceptance or rejection. A distinction is made between a
compulsory and optional Referendum, e.g., in some Cantons all
laws must be submitted, in others only certain kinds or only
those which are demanded by a certain number of voters.
As far as the historical genesis of the Referendum is con
cerned, it appeared in a rudimentary form as early as the six
teenth century in the Cantons of Graubiinden and Valais,
before those districts had become full-fledged members of the
Swiss Confederation, and while they were still known as Zuge
wandte Orte, or Associated States. Delegates from their sev
eral communes met periodically, but were always obliged to
refer their decisions to the communes themselves for final
approval. In the same manner, the delegates from the vari
ous Cantons to the old Federal Diet used to refer their meas
ures to their home governments before they became laws.
To-day, every Canton, except priest-ridden, Ultramontane Fri
bourg, has either the compulsory or the optional Referendum
incorporated into its constitution, and the central government
in the Federal Constitution possesses the optional, e.g., in the
words of the text : " Federal laws as well as federal resolutions
which are binding upon all, and which are not of such a nature
that they must be despatched immediately, shall be laid before
the people for acceptance or rejection, when this is demanded
by 30,000 Swiss voters or by eight Cantons."1
Not satisfied, however, with passing judgment upon the
1 Federal Constitution, Article 89.

340 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
laws made by their representatives, the people soon de
manded the right of proposing measures themselves; this is
the Initiative, or the right of any voter or body of voters to
initiate proposals for the enactment of new laws, or for the
alteration or abolition of existing laws. At present seventeen
Cantons out of twenty-two have incorporated the Initiative
into their constitutions. On the 7th of July, 1891, moreover,
the Swiss people accepted an amendment to the Federal Con
stitution which introduces the same principle also into that
document. Hereafter the right of the Initiative is applicable,
"When 50,000 voters demand the enactment, abolition or
alteration of special articles of the Federal Constitution."1 It
can only be a question of a few years, therefore, before all the
Cantons of the Confederation are governed by the Referendum
and Initiative.
Hereafter, Switzerland must become more than ever the
standard bearer in all reforms which make for direct and effic
ient self-government, while we of the greater Republic must
acknowledge with humiliation that we have been distanced in
the race for pure politics.
This Swiss Referendum must not be confounded with the
French plebiscite, and deserves none of the odium which
attaches to that destructive institution. The latter is a tem
porary expedient, illegal and abnormal, used only at moments
of great national excitement, when the popular vote has been
carefully prepared and ascertained, by unscrupulous adven
turers. The plebiscite has invariably proved itself to be a
device invented by tyrants to entrap the people into giving
assent to their usurpations, whereas the Referendum acts
through regular channels, established by law, sanctioned by
the people and, therefore, constitutional.
Nor must the right of the Initiative be considered as equiva
lent to the general privilege of petition, which is enjoyed by
the inhabitants of every state which makes any pretentions
whatever to political liberty. The latter is merely a request,
1 Federal Constitution. Article 121.

RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES. 341
addressed to the authorities in power, by a number of more or
less irresponsible persons. The authorities may, or may not,
take it into Consideration, as they see fit. But the Initiative
is a -demand, made upon the government by a body of voters,
to discuss a certain project, and to return it to the people for
final acceptance or rejection. The authorities are obliged to
take it into consideration, or to draw up a bill of their own,
incorporating the same principle.
In Switzerland, therefore, the introduction into practical pol
itics of any question which attracts public notice, can be
accomplished in a simple and direct manner. While in this
country we are confronted by the almost insurmountable diffi
culties connected with the election of representatives pledged
to lay reform bills before the House, or are obliged to content
ourselves with harmless petitions.
Now the Initiative is a necessary corollary of the Referen
dum. Both institutions are mediums for the expression of the
popular will, but viewed from different standpoints. The
Referendum is a passive force ; it says merely "aye" or "nay"
and is essentially judicial in character. The Initiative, on the
other hand, is an active creative force ; it supplies the progres
sive element in the process of legislation, while the Referen
dum acts as a critical, controlling check upon the adoption of
laws. Taken together these two institutions form the most
perfect contrivance, so far devised by a free people, for the
conduct of self-government. They create a sort of political
pendulum, which oscillates in a groove strictly marked by the
constitution. They produce a steady see-saw of legislation, a
continual to-and-fro movement, which carries certain expres
sions of the' public will directly from the people to the legisla
ture, and back again to the people for their verdict.
In the Landsgemeinde Cantons voters have always pos
sessed the right to initiate proposals for legislation, and these
proposals have always been submitted to the verdict of the
assembled people, so that the Referendum and the Initiative
may be said to have always existed in those Cantons. Practi-

342 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
cally, of course, the right of the Initiative has often been
hedged in by more or less significant conditions. At the pres^
ent time, the six Cantons and Half-Cantons, which still main
tain their open-air assemblies, show considerable differences in
this respect, but such limitations as are imposed are very
slight, and do not interfere with a reasonable exercise of this
right. It will always remain the chief honor and glory of Swiss
statesmanship to have discovered the solution of one of the
great political problems of the ages : how to enable great
masses of people to govern themselves directly. By means of
the Referendum and the Initiative, this difficulty has been
brilliantly overcome. The essence and vital principle of the
popular assembly has been rescued from perishing miserably
before the exigencies of modern life, and successfully grafted
upon the representative system.
It has become somewhat of a commonplace assertion that
politics in the United States have reached the lowest stage to
which they may safely go. There seems to be no longer any
necessity to prove this proposition, for the general conviction
has gone abroad, amply justified by the whole course of his
tory, that no democracy can hope to withstand the corrupting
influences now at work in our midst, unless certain radical
reforms are carried to a successful conclusion. Our calm
American complacency seems, at length, to have received a
shock ; our habitual optimism to have given place to a feeling
of apprehension, lest the maligant forces, now uppermost in
our national life, may not, after all, prove too strong for us;
and a corresponding desire is being manifested to set in
motion other benign forces, which shall save the state from
destruction while there is yet time.
Unfortunately all attempts to probe the fundamental, first
causes of our corruption are checked at the outset, by the diffi
culty of bringing the popular will to bear upon public ques
tions. Our whole administrative system, and all the methods
by which the people are supposed to make known their desires

RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES. 343
are perverted and diseased, so that the sovereign body are pre
vented by mere tricksters from exerting their legitimate con
trol over the making of the laws which are to govern them.
We are suffering, not only from deep-seated economic and social
diseases, of which, perhaps, the most alarming symptom is the
concentration of wealth into the hands of a few, but from the
rule of the Boss, and from the lamentable fact that the people
at large are divorced from legislation. As a matter of fact,
nothing stands between us and the tyranny of Municipal, State,
and Federal bosses, as unscrupulous as any feudal lordlings in
the thirteenth century, except public opinion, imperfectly
expressed by the press.
In so far as modern parliamentary systems have set up bar
riers between the people and legislation, they have departed
from their real function, which is to take the propositions ema
nating from the people, and, having examined and adjusted
them to suit the peculiar requirements of the case, then to
return them to the people for acceptance or rejection.
In the light of these facts, the question of the hour resolves
itself into this : How best to bring our representative system
into conformity with the principle of popular sovereignty.
As for the introduction of the Referendum and the Initia
tive into the United States, there are, in reality, no insur
mountable obstacles to bar the way. Those who are interested
in this question cannot do better than read what has been
written by Mr. J. M. Vincent in his recent work on " State
and Federal Government in Switzerland." The author is one
of the few Americans who understand Swiss political institu
tions, and realize the tremendous possibilities which they
unfold. The suggestions offered by Mr. Vincent are timely
and deserve careful attention.
In point of fact, the combination of the Referendum and
the Initiative is fatal to the lobby. Under its beneficent influ
ence politics cease to be a trade ; for the power of the politi
cians is curtailed and there is no money in the business. No
Chance is offered of devising deals and little give-and-take

344 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
schemes, when everything has to pass before the scrutinizing
gaze of the tax payers. Moreover, second Houses, such as
our Senate, tend to become superfluous, and if the Referen
dum were thoroughly applied would doubtless be abolished
altogether. The people constitute a second House in which
every bill must find its final verdict.
Democracies have been justly reproached for the fact that
their political offices are not always filled by men of recog
nized ability and unstained honor ; that the best talent of the
nation, after a while, yields the political field to adventurers.
This is not the case in Switzerland, under the purifying work
ing of the Referendum and Initiative. Nowhere in the world
are government places occupied by men so well fitted for the
work to be performed. These institutions strike a blow at
party government in the narrow sense, in the sense in which
offices are distributed only to party workers, irrespective of
capacity for peculiar duties, — party government which pro
duces an . opposition whose business it is to oppose, never to
co-operate. It would also modify our whole representative
system, which now practically endows the elected legislators
with sovereign attributes. For these systems the Referendum
and the Initiative substitute a government based upon busi
ness principles, displaying ability and stability, simplicity and
economy. Besides these purely practical gains there are recommenda
tions on the score of ethics which deserve to be noticed.
Consider the educational effect of institutions which obliges
every voter to investigate and pass judgment upon bills sub
mitted to him. How much more likely it is under such cir
cumstances that legislation will be treated on its merits, and
not with a view toward keeping a certain party or certain
persons in power. We have, in recent years, had a striking
proof of the extraordinary educational influence of presidential
campaigns in calling attention to the absurdities of our protec
tive tariff. How much greater must be the results of a series
of such campaigns, turning in succession upon all the subjects

RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES. 345
with which a good citizen should be familiar. Then think
of how the Referendum and the Initiative invest the individ
ual voter with a new dignity, and how they add to the collec
tive sovereign people the majesty of final appeal, of which
our representative system, as at present constituted, practi
cally deprives them.
In the eyes of some people it will undoubtedly seem an
objection to the Referendum that it seriously curtails the
powers of legislatures. But when we remember that the peo
ple of several of our States have already found it necessary to
do this by special enactments, and when we stop to imagine
for one moment the mass of legislation, often contradictory
and inconsistent, and generally useless if not absolutely harm
ful, which is being piled up in the legislatures of the various
States and of the Federal government, it will be seen, at a
glance, what a boon the Referendum in reality might become ;
how valuable, nay, how providential a check it might be upon
this reckless, regardless, wholesale rush of legislation ! To
day reform lies in the direction of repeal rather than of further
laws, of liberty rather than restriction.
Those who have no faith in the principles which underlie
all genuine democracies, in the equality and brotherhood of
man, and in his natural rights ; who fear the people as an
unreasoning beast which must be controlled ; and therefore
look to reform by means of artificial laws rather than by those
of Nature — such men will naturally dread anything which sav
ors of direct government, and will, of course, find the Referen
dum ahd the Initiative a stumbling-block and a bugbear.
But the increasing number of those who place their utmost
confidence in the common sense of the people as a whole,
unhampered and unperverted by bosses, will welcome the
Referendum and its complement, the Initiative, as the most
important contributions to the art of self-government and the
greatest triumphs over the peculiar dangers to which repre
sentative governments are exposed, which this century has
yet seen.

CHAPTER X.
THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SWISS CONFEDERATION AND OF
THE UNITED STATES COMPARED.
In her quiet fashion, the unobtrusive little Confederation is
working out some of the great modern problems, and her citi
zens, with their natural aptitude for self-government, are pre
senting object lessons which we especially in America cannot
afford to overlook. It is true that political analogies are some
times a little perilous, for identical situations can never be
reproduced in different countries, but if there be any virtue at
all in the study of comparative politics, a comparison between
the Federal constitutions of Switzerland and of the United
States ought to throw into relief some features which can be
of service to us.
To be perfectly frank, the Swiss constitution when placed
side by side with our own, at first shows certain decided short
comings. The Constitution of the United States is an emi
nently logical, well-balanced document, in which a masterly
distinction is made between the executive, legislative, and
judicial functions of government, and between matters which
belong by nature to organic law, and those which may safely
be left to the statute law. In the Swiss constitution, however,
the line which separates these departments is not as clearly
drawn, so. that, in fact, a certain amount of confusion in their
treatment becomes apparent. In the primitive leagues which
were concluded between the early Confederates, no attempt
was made to draw up regular constitutions, and the one now in
force dates only from 1848, with amendments made in 1874,
346

SWISS AND AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONS. 347
1879, 1885, 1 891 and 1892, an instrument still somewhat im
perfect, perhaps, but none the less suggestive to the student.
There are two institutions in the Swiss state which bear a
very strong likeness to corresponding ones in our own.
Both countries have a legislative system consisting of two
houses, one representing the people numerically, and the
other the Cantons of which the Union is composed, and
both possess a Supreme Court, which in Switzerland goes by
the name of the Federal Tribunal. It is generally conceded
that the Swiss consciously imitated these American institu
tions, but in doing so they certainly took care to adapt them
to their own particular needs, so that the two sets of institu
tions are by no means identical. The Swiss National Council
and Council of States, forming together the Federal Assembly,
are equal, co-ordinate bodies, performing the same functions,
whereas our House of Representatives and^Senate have partic
ular duties assigned to each, and the former occupies, in a
measure, a subordinate position to the latter. The Swiss houses
meet twice a year in regular sessions, on the first Monday in
June and the first Monday in December, and for extra sessions
if there is special unfinished business to transact. The
National Council is composed at present of 147 members, one
representative to every 20,000 inhabitants. Every citizen of
twenty-one is a voter, and every voter not a clergyman is
eligible to office. This exception is due to dread of relig
ious quarrels, with which the pages of Swiss history have
been only too frequently stained. A general election takes
place every three years. The salary of the representatives
is four dollars a day, which is forfeited by non-attendance,
and about five cents a mile for travelling expenses. On the
other hand, the Council of States is composed of forty-four
members, two for each of the twenty-two Cantons. The length
of their terms of office is left entirely to the discretion of the
Cantons which elect them, and in the same manner their sala
ries are paid out of the Cantonal treasuries. There are certain
special occasions when the two houses meet together and

348 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
act in concert; first, for the election of the Federal Council,
which corresponds in a general way to our President and his
Cabinet ; secondly, for the election of the Federal Tribunal ;
thirdly, for that of the Chancellor of the Confederation, an
official whose duties seem to be those of a secretary to the
Federal Council and Federal Assembly ; and fourthly, for that
of the Commander-in-Chief in case of war.
The attributes of the Swiss Federal Tribunal, though closely
resembling those of our Supreme Court, are not identical with
them, for the Swiss conception of the sovereignty of fhe peo
ple is quite different from our own. Their Federal Assembly
is the repository of the national sovereignty, and, therefore, no
other body can override its decisions. The Supreme Court of
the United States tests the constitutionality of laws passed by
Congress which may be submitted to it for examination, thus
placing itself as arbiter over the representatives of the people ;
but the Federal Tribunal must accept as final all laws which
have passed through the usual channels, so that its duty con
sists merely in applying them to particular cases without
questioning their constitutionality.
If there is a resemblance between the Federal Assembly
and our Congress, and between the Federal Tribunal and our
Supreme Court, there is, on the other hand, a striking differ
ence between the Federal Council and our presidential office.
The Swiss Constitution does not intrust the executive power
to one man, as our own does, but to a Federal Council of seven
members, acting as a sort of Board of Administration. These
seven men are elected for a fixed term of three years, out of
the ranks of the whole body of voters throughout the country
by the two Houses, united in joint session. Every year they
also designate, from the seven members of the Federal Council,
the two persons who shall act as President and Vice-President
of the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss President is, therefore,
only the chairman of an executive board, and presents a com
plete contrast to the President of the United States, who is
virtually a monarch, elected for a short reign. Sir Henry

SWISS AND AMERICAN CONSTITUTION. 349
Maine says in his book on "Popular Government", (that
somewhat exasperating but always instructive arraignment of
democracy) : "On the face of the Constitution of the United
States, the resemblance of the President of the United States
to the European king, and especially to the King of Great
Britain, is too obvious to mistake. The President has, in vari
ous degrees, a number of powers which those who know some
thing of kingship in its general history recognize at once as
peculiarly associated with it and with no other institution."
In truth, he is vested with all the attributes of sovereignty
during his term of office. He holds in his hands the whole
executive power of the government ; he is Commander-in-Chief
of the army and navy ; possesses a suspensory veto upon legis
lation and the privilege of pardoning offences against Federal
law, and, finally, is intrusted with an appointing power unpa
ralleled in any free country. With all this authority he is still
a partisan by reason of the manner of his election, so that he
cannot possibly administer his office impartially, and must,
from the necessity of the case, forward the interests of one
political party at the expense of the rest. It is certainly
worthy of consideration whether the Swiss Federal Council
does not contain valuable suggestions for reformers who
desire to hasten the triumph of absolute democracy in the
United States.
The institutions of the Referendum and the Initiative have
no counterparts in our own country, unless we except the
somewhat unwieldy provisions in various States for the revis
ions of their constitutions by popular vote, and the general
right of petition. It is undoubtedly the most successful
experiment in applying the principles of direct government
which has been made in modern times.
There are, besides, a host of minor differences between the
Swiss and American Constitutions, of more or less interest to
students of politics and economics.
The central government in Switzerland maintains a univer
sity, the Polytechnic, at Zurich, and by virtue of the con-

350 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
stitution also exerts an influence over education throughout
the Confederation. Article 27 prescribes that the Cantons
shall provide compulsory primary instruction to be placed
in charge of the civil authorities and to be gratuitous in all
public schools. In practice these provisions have been found
difficult to enforce where the spirit of the population was
opposed to them, as in Uri, the most illiterate of the Cantons,
where educational matters remain entirely in the hands of the
priesthood. Fortunately, however, the Swiss people at large
have a very keen appreciation of the value of education, so
that illiteracy, as we have it in this country, among the negroes
and the poor whites of the South, as well as amongst certain
classes of our immigrants, is really unknown in Switzerland.
Someone has jestingly said that there "the primary business
of the state is to keep school," and really, in travelling through
the country which gave birth to Pestalozzi, one is continually
impressed with the size and comparative splendor of the
school-houses; in every village and hamlet they have the
appearance of being the very best which the community by
scrimping and saving can possibly put up.
On the subject of import duties, the Constitution lays down
the Article 29 as general rules to guide the conduct of legisla
tors, that "materials which are necessary to the industries
and agriculture of the country shall be taxed as low as possi
ble ; the same rule shall be observed in regard to the neces
saries of life. Articles of luxury shall be subjected to the
highest taxes." From this set of principles it will be seen
that Switzerland levies her duties for revenue only, as the
phrase is, although it must be confessed that there is a percep
tible tendency now manifested to raise the duties in conse
quence of the high protectionist wave which is sweeping over
the continent of Europe at the present moment.
When the statistics of Switzerland's general trade, including
all goods in transit, which, of course, make a considerable por
tion of the whole, are compared with those of other European
states, it is found that she possesses a greater amount of gen-

SWISS AND AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONS. 351
eral trade per head of population than any other European
country, more even than England.
The telegraph and telephone systems are managed by the
central government, as well as the post-office, with excellent
results. Not only are these departments conducted in an
exemplary manner upon cheap terms, but a respectable rev
enue is also derived from them, which makes a good showing
in the annual budget.
Everything which is connected with the army, from the
selection of the recruits to the election of the Commander-in-
Chief, also possesses exceptional interest, because Switzerland
is the only country in the world which has so far succeeded in
maintaining an efficient militia without the vestige of a stand
ing army.
An attempt was made, in 1885, to deal with the evils of
intemperance, by establishing a state monopoly of the manu
facture and sale of spirituous liquors, the revenue thus derived
being apportioned amongst the Cantons according to popula
tion, with the proviso that ten per cent of it be used by them
to combat the causes and effects of alcoholism in their midst.
It is too early to speak of the final results of this legislation,
but for the moment there seems to be a decided falling off in
the consumption of the cruder and more injurious qualities.
Amongst other matters which the Federal authorities have
brought under their supervision, are the forests, river improve
ments, ordinary roads and railroads, and bridges, etc., not man
aging them all directly, but reserving the right to regulate
them at will. Even hunting and fishing come within the juris
diction of the central government, this constitutional power
having been used to preserve the chamois in certain mountain
ranges where they were threatening to disappear completely,
but where, thanks to timely interference, they are now actually
on the increase.
Apart from these constitutional provisions, the general drift
of legislative action seems to have set in very strongly toward
a mild form of state socialism, somewhat after the form of the

352 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Prussian system, but with this difference, that in the case of
Switzerland it is the people who unite to delegate certain pow
ers to the state, while in the latter country this policy is
imposed upon the people from above by the ruling authorities.
The altogether exceptional clauses in the Swiss Constitution
referring to the exclusion of the Jesuits, a survival of the war
of 1848, to the so-called Heimatlosen, or those who have no
commune of origin, and to the police appointed to control the
movements of foreign agitators seeking asylum in the country,
all these have a purely local interest, and need not be especially
examined. What, then, is the peculiar mark and symbol of the Swiss
Constitution, taken as a whole ? When all has been said and
done, the most characteristic provisions are those which intro
duce forms of direct government or of pure democracy, as the
technical expression is. The supremacy of the legislative
branch, as representing the people, the peculiar make-up of
the Federal Council, the limited power of the Federal Tri
bunal, and above all the institution of the Referendum and
Initiative, are all evidences of this tendency toward direct
government. In the Cantonal governments the same quality
is more apparent, for it is from them that the Swiss Federal
Constitution has borrowed the principles which underlie these
characteristic provisions. In point of fact, representative de
mocracy has never felt quite at home in Switzerland ; there has
always been an effort to revert to simpler, more straightfor
ward methods; to reduce the distance which separates the
people from the exercise of their sovereignty ; and to consti
tute them into a court of final appeal.
In view of the marvellous stability which the pure demo
cracy of Switzerland has displayed, there is something comical
in the horror of all forms of direct government expressed by
most constitutional writers. De Tocqueville, whom we honor
for his appreciation of our own Constitution, declared, "that
they all tend to render the government of the people irregular
in its action, precipitate in its resolutions and tyrannical in its

SWISS AND AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONS. 353
acts." x Mr. George Grote2 also condemned the Referendum,
and, of course, one cannot expect pure democracy to be
praised by Sir Henry Maine. On the other hand, Mr. Dicey
recently discussed the practicability of introducing the Refer
endum into the English political system in a favorable
manner.3 After all, is not this very quality of directness a
great recommendation, when we consider the rubbish which at
present clogs the wheels of our political machinery, the com
plications which confuse the voter and hide the real issues
from his comprehension ? The very epithets, pure and direct,
satisfy at once our best aspirations and our common sense.
1 De Tocqueville. Democracy in Switzerland.
a Grote, G. Seven Letters concerning the Politics of Switzerland in 1847.
8 Dicey, E. Article in Contemporary Review. April, 1890.

CHAPTER XI.
THE NEUTRALITY OF SWITZERLAND.
HAPPILY, that period of national degradation, which
Switzerland traversed at the beginning of the century,
is now only an evil memory. The Confederation has risen
from the state of complete prostration into which she had
fallen, has collected her forces during many succeeding years
of peace, and after various vicissitudes, has at length won her
present position of honor and usefulness amongst the nations.
Switzerland's geographical position imposes upon her the
choice between two utterly distinct foreign policies. She
must either cast in her lot with one of the rival European
powers, or else she must observe strict neutrality toward them
all. Since the Congress of Vienna, in 1815, Switzerland has
adhered, without the slightest deviation, to the latter policy;
thus fulfilling the two-fold mission of providing neutral terri
tory in the midst of armed Europe, and of representing the
principles of democracy on the continent.
But it is one thing to be endowed with the privilege of per
petual neutrality and quite another matter to maintain it invio
late. The complications, to which the intense rivalry of the
powers now and again give rise, often make this task
extremely embarrassing.
The so-called question of Savoy, a legacy of the Congress of
Vienna, deserves to be especially noticed. In 1859, tne ces"
sion of Nice and Savoy to France led to negotiations between
the Confederation and Napoleon III. The latter offered to
concede certain further rights over the zone in Savoy to Swit-
354

THE NEUTRALITY OF SWITZERLAND. 355
zerland, but they were refused as insufficient, and, during an
interchange of notes between the two governments, in 1883,
it was acknowledged that the conditions created by the act of
181 5 were still in force. The zone presents, therefore, the
strange anomaly of being French territory, and yet enjoying
the same sort of neutrality as Switzerland ; of furnishing sol
diers for the French army, and in the event of a European war,
being forbidden ground for contending armies. Moreover,
any interference of Switzerland in that quarter, to which she
is legally entitled according to the terms of the act of 1815,
would now undoubtedly produce grave international complica
tions ; so that the whole question may be considered to be in
a very unsatisfactory state, and to be prevented from endan
gering peace only by the especially friendly relations which
exist between the Swiss and the French.
As has been shown, Switzerland displayed the greatest pres
ence of mind, in 1847, at the time of the Sonderbund War, in
rejecting the offer made by the powers to intervene in the inter
est of peace. The so-called question of Neuchatel, of 1857, a's0
gave the Confederation the opportunity of showing Europe a
determined front, and more recently she asserted her neutrality
by a show of armed force, in 1871, during the closing months of
the Franco-German war. In February of that critical year, the
French army of the East, under Bourbaki, had retreated from
Belfort upon the Swiss frontier, and then, surrounded by the
Germans, decimated by cold and hunger, had taken refuge
upon Swiss soil to the number of about 85,000 men, with
10,000 horses and 200 guns. A body of 20,000 Swiss troops
promptly disarmed them and distributed them over Switzerland,
where for something like seven weeks they were cared for in a
manner which has always been remembered with gratitude by
the French nation, and is still frequently mentioned upon pub
lic occasions.
It is the right of asylum which has given Switzerland the
greatest trouble in the exercise of her neutrality. The late Sir
F. 0. Adams, Minister of Great Britain, at Bern, says in regard

356 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
to this point, in his book, "The Swiss Confederation": "The
question of the right of asylum has been at times a difficult one
for Swiss statesmen ; but the invariable principle that has
guided them, even when there has been pressure from abroad,
is stated to be that Switzerland, whilst maintaining that right
in its integrity, cannot allow foreigners who have taken refuge
upon her soil to abuse her hospitality by organizing conspira
cies against foreign governments; still less to lay plans for the
commission of crimes against individuals, or for injuring their
property."1 As maybe imagined, it is no easy matter to apply
these principles impartially, and to distinguish between purely
political crimes and offences against common law ; but, at all
times, the little. Confederation has shown the greatest courage
in ignoring foreign threats, and in interpreting her duty accord
ing to her own standards. In 1823, several German fugitives,
implicated in the liberal agitation of the German students, or
Burschenschaften, took refuge at Basel. Amongst them, a Wil
liam Wesselhoeft2 who, finding that great pressure was being
exerted by the powers to force Basel to expel him, left of his
own accord for the United States. In 1834, the presence of
Mazzini in Switzerland led to international difficulties, and, in
1838, she preferred to mobilize her troops rather than to sub
mit to the demand of the French government in regard to
Louis Napoleon, the subsequent Emperor, who had taken
refuge at Arenenberg, on the Lake of Constance.
Only lately, in the summer of 1889, a ripple of excitement
passed over the surface of the diplomatic world on account of
what was known as the Wohlgemuth affair. A German police
officer of that name was detected practising the arts of an
agent provocateur amongst the German Socialist and Anarchist
fugitives in Switzerland ; that is, he was engaged in ingratiat
ing himself into their good will by pretending to be one of
them, and was caught urging them to commit open acts of
violence which would lead to their arrest. It is almost incred-
1 Adams and Cunningham. The Swiss Confederation, p. 244.
2 His descendants, a well-known family of physicians, now live in Boston, Mass.

THE NEUTRALITY OF SWITZERLAND. 357
ible that the great powers should stoop to such baseness, but
the history of the last few years in Europe is full of the
doings of these official spies. Wohlgemuth was promptly
clapped into prison, on the accusation of inciting to a breach of
the peace, and later politely conducted to the frontier, after
repeated remonstrances from Bismarck, at that time still in the
heyday of his glory as Chancellor of the empire. There may
have been some irregularities in the manner in which the
police officer was treated, but every impartial person was
delighted at the fearlessness displayed by the local Swiss
authorities. The incident did not, however, end with Wohl-
gemuth's expulsion, for Bismarck took this occasion to try to
bully Switzerland after his most approved method. He made
the impossible request that the Swiss government should here
after refuse the right of asylum to every German subject not
provided with papers signed by the officials of his native coun
try ; denounced the treaty of settlement which existed between
Germany and Switzerland ; and, what was more serious, threat
ened to withdraw the guarantee of his government to Switzer
land's perpetual neutrality. In 1870, a few days after the
declaration of war against France, Bismarck had written, in
answer to a circular letter sent by the Swiss Federal Council,
" Germany will scrupulously respect the neutrality of Switzer
land guaranteed by the treaties"1; but, in 1889, he professed
to consider this promise as no longer binding.
Popular feeling in Switzerland ran very high against these
Bismarckian methods. Of course, the newspapers of both
countries made much of the incident, with that peculiar aban
don which characterizes all press wars ; but the height of reck
lessness and disregard of established rights was reached by a
German paper, which went so far as to suggest the partition
of Swiss territory amongst Germany, France, Austria, and
Italy, as the simplest solution of the great European problem.
After boiling up ominously for a while, the waters subsided,
but not before Bismarck had succeeded in persuading the Rus-
1Hilty. La Neutrality de la Suisse, p. 51.

358 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
sian government to remonstrate against Switzerland's lenient
attitude toward the Nihilist fugitives on her soil. The upshot
of the Wohlgemuth affair was that the Swiss authorities insti
tuted an extra force of police to watch the doings of foreign
agitators ; another treaty of settlement was concluded with
Germany, and the threats made by Bismarck were followed by
assurances of good will. At the present time the question
is, of course, closed, but a feeling of distrust has remained
amongst the Swiss, and a deepened conviction that they must
learn to depend more and more upon their own exertions to
maintain their much-prized neutrality.
It must be remembered, in treating of this subject, that
there is a distinction between a case of ordinary neutrality,
which is the state of any country preserving an impartial bear
ing while its neighbors are engaged in war, and the perpetual
or guaranteed neutrality which belongs to Switzerland by vir
tue of international agreements. The latter is a special priv
ilege, accorded only under exceptional circumstances. It is
unquestionably the strategic importance of the little Confeder
ation, out of all proportion to the extent of her territory,
which has made her the recipient of such a favor ; for Switzer
land's position and topographical features are such as to
render her the great natural fortress of central Europe, and
the key to the military situation. In fact, her importance,
from this point of view, has steadily increased in modern
times, as the balance of power between the rival nations has
approached nearer and nearer to equilibrium. At the present
moment, it may be said that the power which could operate
with Switzerland as a basis could dictate the terms of peace ;
so that the absolute neutrality of this territory is essential to
the very existence of modern Europe.
To examine the situation from a purely military standpoint :
What are the chances of Swiss territory being invaded during
the next great war? The advantages which certain powers
would find in pushing troops through Switzerland, in order
to attack their rivals upon the flank, are so great that the

THE NEUTRALITY OF SWITZERLAND. 359
temptation could not be resisted, if only military considera
tions were allowed to have the upper hand. In case of a duel
between France and Germany, the likelihood of such a viola
tion is not great, for the invading nation would immediately
find Switzerland making common cause with the enemy, and,
in the present state of affairs, this slight advantage might
decide the issue; but since the formation of the Triple Alli
ance the risk has measurably increased. A glance at the map
reveals Germany on the north, Austria on the east, and Italy
on the south, leagued together against France on the west.
Switzerland is, therefore, completely surrounded by a cordon of
armies, eager to attack each other across her territory. Aus
tria perhaps, would not need to make use of Swiss soil, for,
according to present indications, all her available troops would
be engaged in a struggle with Russia; nor would Germany,
apparently, gain very much by such a move, for, after crossing.
Switzerland, she would be confronted by a strong line in
France, Belfort-Besancon and Lyons. But the right of pas
sage would be undoubtedly of inestimable value to France and
Italy. The former could, in twenty-four hours, throw a large
force upon Germany's unprotected flank, the line Basel-
Schaffhausen-Constance ; while the latter could reaoh France
by the undefended Swiss passes of the Simplon and the Great
St. Bernard, and by the Lake of Geneva. The chances are,
consequently, that if Swiss neutrality were violated at all, it
would be by the French and the Italians ; and there seems to
be no doubt that, whichever of these powers made the first
move, the other would immediately follow suit by hastily
throwing forward an army to check the enemy's advance.
Switzerland would then again become the seat of war, as in
1799. In view of this military situation, what resistance could the
Swiss offer to the invaders ? Of course, no one pretends that
they could hold their own single-handed, even against an isola
ted European power, for any length of time, but the necessity
for such action is scarcely imaginable. If the Swiss were

360 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
called upon to fight at all, it would be only to hold certain posi
tions until the friendly powers could come to their aid, and not
to carry on great offensive operations. For defensive pur
poses, the Swiss have organized a militia force which, compris
ing all the reserves, in 1889, numbered no less than 475,795
men, although the total population of the country falls below
3,000,000 inhabitants. This army is not a parade force ; it
has certain weaknesses which are inseparable from militias
everywhere, but it is complete in every detail, can be rapidly
mobilized, and does not drain the resources of the nation like a
standing army. If the Swiss soldier looks slovenly, he is, at
the same time, the best average shot in the world, and yields to
no one in his readiness to sacrifice his life in the holy cause of
liberty. On the whole, the chances of Switzerland's perform
ing her part creditably in the next war would be favorable;
she would do her duty.
So much for the purely military side of the question ; but,
fortunately, there is another and a higher aspect of the case.
A moral principle is involved, which is of far greater import
ance to the European powers, and is therefore more likely to
triumph in the end. For it must be remembered that Europe,
at the Congress of Vienna, gave her word to Switzerland that
her neutrality should be respected ; so that, as a matter of
fact, the trustworthiness of international agreements in gen
eral is at stake. It seems hardly likely that any of the rival
powers would be willing to incur the odium of being the first
to break this engagement with a small but highly respected
and useful state. Public opinion, the world over, would
promptly turn against that nation ; and even Bismarck was
forced to acknowledge that it is worth something to have
the moral support of outsiders in a great contest.
There is another consideration which would have weight in
determining the conduct of the powers toward Swiss neutral
ity. As no one can suspect Switzerland of seeking territorial
conquests or laying plans for self-aggrandizement, she has, in
these days, become the centre of many international unions, and

THE NEUTRALITY OF SWITZERLAND. 361
the powers have acquired the habit of referring some of their
disputes to her for abitration. This movement was inaugurated
in 1864, by the memorable convention for the protection of
the wounded, held in Geneva. Soon after that date, Bern was
selected as the centre for the permanent administration of the
International Telegraph Union; in 1 871, followed the settle
ment of the Alabama Claims by a tribunal of arbitration
assembled at Geneva, — an act which gave a wonderful moral
impulse to the cause of international arbitration. Since then
a number of central offices have been constituted at Bern, such
as those for the International Postal Union, for the regulation
of freight transport upon the Continent, and for the protection
of industrial, literary, and artistic property. When we take
into consideration that these international officers are the only
ones in existence, except the purely scientific Bureau du Metre
in Paris, it becomes evident how highly the use of this neutral
meeting-ground is valued by the European powers, and how
loath they would be to part with it.
The following significant words upon this subject occur in a
report made to the English government, in 1885, by one of its
agents abroad : " It is difficult, when passing through the
quiet streets of Bern, to realize the importance of the opera
tions which are being unobtrusively carried on, or the world
wide scope of the interests involved. Yet it cannot be
doubted that these interests form a more effectual guarantee
for the preservation of Switzerland as an independent state
than any other that could be devised. ... No one, finally,
who has lived for even a few years in Switzerland, and has
learnt to appreciate the practical good sense so largely pre
vailing in that energetic little country, will hesitate to
rejoice at the destiny which now, more than ever before,
seems assured to it, of retaining an honored place among the
nations." 1
It may be that the example of Switzerland is destined to
1 Reports from her Majesty's Diplomatic and Consular Officers Abroad. Part
IV., Commercial, No. 26 (1885).

362 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
accomplish great results in the world's history, for, in truth,
there are tremendous possibilities in this principle of perpetual
neutrality. It supplies a means of arriving at a semblance, if
nothing better, of a permanent international peace.
There are, at present, several other neutral states, and it only
remains for the powers to extend this privilege gradually to all
the contested points on the map of Europe in order to make
war unnecessary, and in time impossible. Belgium's neutrality
is guaranteed by England, and the little duchy of Luxembourg
is also neutral territory, according to international treaty. It
will be seen by looking into an atlas that, if Alsace-Lorraine
could be declared neutral, there would be an unbroken band of
neutral soil from Belgium to Switzerland, effectually shutting
off all approach from France to Germany. Is it too much to
expect sensible counsels to prevail yet awhile in this much-
vexed question ? If sq, perhaps in a few years, when the two
nations have begun to feel that the weight of their enormous
armaments is too great for endurance, and have drunk to the
depths the bitterness of this enforced peace, they will resort to
some such compromise, rather than prolong an impossible situ
ation. In other parts of Europe there are little independen
cies, whose neutrality is carefully respected by the powers,
such as San Marino in Italy, Andorra in Spain, Liechtenstein
in Austria, and Monaco on the boundary between France and
Italy ; they are all witnesses to the fact that neutralities can
be maintained even in the very midst of great nations. Only
the other day, the powers united in a sort of joint protectorate
over the Congo Basin, and established the principle of optional
arbitration in cases of dispute; while England, Germany, and
the United States have, since then, made certain agreements
as regards the Samoan Islands. Think how the stability of
peace would gain by the neutralization of such debatable ground
as the Balkan peninsula and Egypt ! Not long ago, it was
proposed in the parliaments of Sweden and Denmark to labor
for the perpetual neutralization of those two countries. And
so the movement might grow, until, all over the earth, there

THE NEUTRALITY OF SWITZERLAND. 363
would be neutral zones from which war would be ostracized as
a thing unclean.
Look at Switzerland as she is even now. Does she not
stand for a representation — on a small scale and imperfectly,
it may be — of what poets and philosophers have pictured to
themselves the world might some day become ? Is she not
already, in her way, a miniature Parliament of Man ? For she
is not a national unit, like France or Spain, existing as such in
spite of herself. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederation was
perhaps formed by nature to be free and independent, but the
outlying districts joined the Union of their own accord ; in
other words, it is the will of the Swiss people and their fixed
determination which keep them united. Consider the mix
ture of races and religions which they represent. Of the
twenty-two Cantons, thirteen are German speaking, four are
French ; in three German and French both are spoken, in one
Italian, and in another Romansch. The population of Ger
man Switzerland is almost purely Teutonic ; that of French
Switzerland about half-and-half Teutonic and Celto-Roman ;
while Italian and Romansch Switzerland can boast of Celto-
Roman, Ostro-Gothic, and even Etruscan elements. Some
of these Cantons are Protestant, others Roman Catholic, and
others, again, have a mixed population of both faiths. If
these incongruous, often antagonistic Cantons can meet upon
some common plane and conform to some standard, can live
side by side in peace and prosperity, surely the task of some
day uniting the nations of the world upon a similar basis is
not altogether hopeless and chimerical.

THE END.

APPENDIX.

Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation,1 of
May 29, 1874.
in the name of almighty god.
THE Swiss Confederation, desiring to confirm the alliance
of the Confederates, to maintain and to promote the
unity, strength, and honor of the Swiss nation, has adopted
the Federal Constitution following :
CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
Article First. The peoples of the twenty-two sovereign
Cantons of Switzerland, united by this present alliance, viz. :
Zurich, Bern, Luzern, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden (Upper
and Lower), Glarus, Zug, Freiburg, Solothurn, Basel (urban
and rural), Schaffhausen, Appenzell (the two Rhodes), St.
1 This translation of the Constitution of Switzerland has been made from the
parallel French and German texts by Albert Bushnell Hart, Assistant Professor of
History in Harvard College. The copy or proofs of the translation have been
submitted to Profs. S. M. Macvane and Adolphe Cohn of Harvard College, Prof.
Bernard Moses of the University of California, Prof. Woodrow Wilson of Wes-
leyan University, Prof. R. Hudson of the University of Michigan, and Mr. J. M.
Vincent, Librarian of the Department of History and Politics, Johns Hopkins
University — from all of whom helpful suggestions have been received. The
translation adheres as closely as possible to the form of the French version, since
the French idioms more closely approach the usual phraseology of American pol
itical documents. Amendments passed up to 1892 have, in accordance with Swiss
usage, been incorporated in their logical place in the text. — Reprinted, by permis
sion, from " Old South Leaflets" General Series, No. 18, with more recent amend
ments added by the Author. 3G4

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 365
Gallen, Grisons, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud, Valais,
Neuchatel, and Geneva, form in their entirety the Swiss
Confederation. Art. 2. The purpose of the Confederation is, to secure the
independence of the country against foreign nations, to main
tain peace and order within, to protect the liberty and the
rights of the Confederates, and to foster their common welfare.
Art. 3. The Cantons are sovereign, so far as their sov
ereignty is not limited by the Federal Constitution; and, as
such, they exercise all the rights which are not delegated to
the federal government.
Art. 4. All Swiss are equal before the law. In Switzer
land there are neither political dependents, nor privileges of
place, birth, persons, or families.
Art. 5. The Confederation guarantees to the Cantons
their territory, their sovereignty, within the limits fixed by
Article 3, their Constitutions, the liberty and rights of the
people, the constitutional rights of citizens, and the rights and
powers which the people have conferred on those in authority.
Art. 6. The Cantons are bound to ask of the Confedera
tion the guaranty of their Constitutions.
This guaranty is accorded, provided :
(a) That the Constitutions contain nothing contrary to the
provisions of the Federal Constitution.
(b) That they assure the exercise of political rights, accord
ing to republican forms, representative or democratic.
(c) That they have been ratified by the people, and may be
amended whenever the majority of all the citizens demand it.
Art. 7. All separate alliances and all treaties of a politi
cal character between the Cantons are forbidden.
On the other hand, the Cantons have the right to make con
ventions among themselves upon legislative, administrative, or
judicial subjects ; in all cases they shall bring such conventions
to the attention of the federal officials, who are authorized to
prevent their execution, if they contain anything contrary to
the Confederation, or to the rights of other Cantons. Should

366 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
such not be the case, the covenanting Cantons are authorized
to require the cooperation of the federal officials in carrying
out the convention.
Art. 8. The Confederation has the sole right of declaring
war, of making peace, and of concluding alliances and treat
ies with foreign powers, particularly treaties relating to tariffs
and commerce.
Art. 9. By exception the Cantons preserve the right of
concluding treaties with foreign powers, respecting the admin
istration of public property, and border and police intercourse ;
but such treaties shall contain nothing contrary to the Confed
eration or to the rights of other Cantons.
Art. 10. Official intercourse between Cantons and foreign
governments, or their representatives, shall take place through
the Federal Council.
Nevertheless, the Cantons may correspond directly with the
inferior officials and officers of a foreign State, in regard to
the subjects enumerated in the preceding article.
Art. Ii. No military capitulations shall be made.
Art. 12. No members of the departments of the federal
government, civil and military officials of the Confederation,
or federal representatives or commissioners, shall receive from
any foreign government any pension, salary, title, gift, or
decoration. Such persons, already in possession of pensions, titles, or
decorations, must renounce the enjoyment of pensions and
the bearing of titles, and decorations during their term of
office. Nevertheless, inferior officials may be authorized by the
Federal Council to continue in the receipt of pensions.
No decoration or title conferred by a foreign government
shall be borne in the federal army.
No officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier shall accept
such distinction.
Art. 13. The Confederation has no right to keep up a
standing army.

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 367
No Canton or Half-Canton shall, without the permission
of the federal government, keep up a standing force of more
than three hundred men ; the mounted police [gendarmerie]
is not included in this number.
Art. 14. In case of differences arising between Cantons,
the States shall abstain from violence and from arming them
selves ; they shall submit to the decision to be taken upon
such differences by the Confederation.
Art. 15. In case of sudden danger of foreign attack, the
authorities of the Cantons threatened shall request the aid of
other members of the Confederation, and shall immediately
notify the federal government ; the subsequent action of the
latter shall not thereby be precluded. The Cantons sum
moned are bound to give aid. The expenses shall be borne
by the Confederation.
Art. 16. In case of internal disturbance, or if the danger
is threatened by another Canton, the authorities of the Canton
threatened shall give immediate notice to the Federal Council,
in order that that body may take the measures necessary,
within the limits of its power (Art. 102, §§ 3, 10, 11), or may
summon the Federal Assembly. In extreme cases the author
ities of the Canton are authorized, while giving immediate
notice to the Federal Council, to ask the aid of other Cantons,
which are bound to afford such aid.
If the executive of the Canton is unable to call for aid, the
federal authority having the power may, and if the safety of
Switzerland is endangered, shall intervene without requisition.
In case of federal intervention, the federal authorities shall
take Care that the provisions of Article 5 be observed.
The expenses shall be borne by the Canton asking aid or
occasioning federal intervention, except when the Federal As
sembly otherwise decides 0.1 account of special circumstances.
Art. 17. In the cases mentioned in Articles 15 and 16,
every Canton is bound tc afford undisturbed passage for the
troops. The troops shaH mmediately be placed under federal
command.

368 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Art. i 8. Every Swiss is bound to perform military
service. Soldiers who lose their lives or suffer permanent injury to
their health, in consequence of federal service, are entitled
to aid from the Confederation for themselves or their families,
in case of need.
Each soldier shall receive without expense his first equip
ment, clothing, and arms. The weapon remains in the hands
of the soldier, under conditions which shall be prescribed by
federal legislation.
The Confederation shall enact uniform provisions as to an
exemption tax.
Art. 19. The federal army is composed :
(a) Of the cantonal military corps.
(b) Of all Swiss who do not belong to such military corps,
but are nevertheless liable to military service.
The Confederation exercises control over the army and
the material of war provided by law.
In cases of danger, the Confederation has also the exclu
sive and direct control of men not included in the federal
army, and of all other military resources of the Cantons.
The Cantons have authority over the military forces of their
territory, so far as this right is not limited by the Federal Con
stitution or laws.
Art. 20. The laws, on the organization of the army, are
passed by the Confederation. The enforcement of military
laws in the Cantons is entrusted to the cantonal officials,
within limits which shall be fixed by federal legislation, and
under the supervision of the Confederation.
Military instruction of every kind pertains to the Confeder
ation. The same applies to the arming of troops.
The furnishing and maintenance of clothing and equipment
is within the power of the Cantons ; but the Cantons shall be
credited with the expenses therefor, according to a regulation
to be established by federal legislation.
Art. 21. So far as military reasons do not prevent, bodies

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 369
Of troops shall be formed out of the soldiers of the same
Cantons. The composition of these bodies of troops, the maintenance
of their effective strength, the appointment and promotion of
officers of these bodies of troops, belong to the Cantons, sub
ject to general provisions which shall be established by the
Confederation. Art. 22. On payment of a reasonable indemnity, the Con
federation has the right to use or acquire drill-grounds and
buildings intended for military purposes, within the Cantons,
together with the appurtenances thereof.
The terms of the indemnity shall be settled by federal
legislation. Art. 23. The Confederation may construct at its own
expense, or may aid by subsidies, public works which concern
Switzerland or a considerable part of the country.
For this purpose it may expropriate property, on payment of
a reasonable indemnity. Further enactments upon this matter
shall be made by federal legislation.
The Federal Assembly may forbid public works which
endanger the military interests of the Confederation.
Art. 24. The Confederation has the right of superintend
ence over dike and forest police in the upper mountain regions.
It may cooperate in the straightening and embankment of
torrents as well as in the afforesting of the districts in which
they rise. It may prescribe the regulations necessary to
assure the maintenance of these works, and the preservation of
existing forests.
Art. 25. The Confederation has power to make legislative
enactments for the regulation of the right of fishing and hunt
ing, particularly with a view to the preservation of the large
game in the mountains, as well as for the protection of birds
useful to agriculture and forestry.
Art. 26. Legislation upon the construction and operation
of railroads is in the province of the Confederation.
Art. 27. The Confederation has the right to establish,

S70 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
besides the existing Polytechnic School, a Federal University
and other institutions, of higher instruction or to subsidize
institutions of such nature.
The Cantons provide for primary instruction, which shall be
sufficient, and shall be placed exclusively under the direction
of the secular authority. It is compulsory and, in the public
schools, free.
The public schools shall be such that they may be fre
quented by the adherents of all religious sects, without any
offence to their freedom of conscience or of belief.
The Confederation shall take the necessary measures against
such Cantons as shall not fulfill these duties.
Art. 28. The customs are in the province of the Confeder
ation. It may levy export and import duties.
Art. 29. The collection of the federal customs shall be
regulated according to the following principles :
1. Duties on imports :
(a) Materials necessary for the manufactures and agricul
ture of the country shall be taxed as low as possible.
(b) It shall be the same with the necessities of life.
(c) Luxuries shall be subjected to the highest duties.
Unless there are imperative reasons to the contrary, these
principles shall be observed also in the conclusion of treaties of
commerce with foreign powers.
2. The duties on exports shall also be as low as possible.
3. The customs legislation shall include . suitable provis
ions for the continuance of commercial and market intercourse
across the frontier.
The above provisions do not prevent the Confederation
from making temporary exceptional provisions, under extraor
dinary circumstances.
Art. 30. The proceeds of the customs belong to the
Confederation. The indemnity ceases which hitherto has been paid to the
Cantons for the redemption of customs, for road and bridge
tolls, customs duties and other like dues.

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 371
By exception, and on account of their international alpine
roads, the Cantons of Uri, Grisons, Ticino, and Valais receive
an annual indemnity, which, considering all the circumstances,
is fixed as follows : Uri, 8o,ooo francs.
Grisons, 200,000 francs.
Ticino, 200,000 francs.
Valais, 50,000 francs.
The Cantons of Uri and Ticino shall receive in addition, for
clearing the snow from the Saint Gotthard road, an annual
indemnity of 40,000 francs, so long as that road shall not be
replaced by a railroad.
Art. 31. The freedom of trade and of industry is guaran
teed throughout the whole extent of the Confederation.
The following subjects are excepted :
(a) The salt and gunpowder monopoly, the federal customs,
import duties on wines and other spirituous liquors, and other
taxes on consumption expressly permitted by the Confedera
tion, according to Article 32.
(b) The manufacture and sale of alcohol, under Article
32 (ii). [Amendment of Dec. 22, 1885.]
(c) Drinking places, and the retail trade in spirituous
liquors ; but nevertheless the Cantons may by legislation sub
ject the business of keeping drinking places, and the retail
trade in spirituous liquors, to such restrictions as are required
for the public welfare. [Amendment of Dec. 22, 1885.]
(d) Measures of sanitary police against epidemics and
cattle diseases.
(e) Provisions in regard to the exercise of trades and
manufactures, in regard to taxes imposed thereon, and in
regard to the police of the roads.
These provisions shall not contain anything contrary to the
principle of freedom of trade and manufacture.
Art. 32. The Cantons are authorized to collect the import
duties on wines and other spirituous liquors, provided in Arti
cle 31 (a), always under the following restrictions :

372 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
(a) The collection of these import duties shall in no wise
impede transportation : commerce shall be obstructed as little
as possible and shall not be burdened with any other dues.
(b) If the articles imported for consumption are reex
ported from the Canton, the duties paid on importation shall
be refunded, without further charges.
(c) Products of Swiss origin shall be less burdened than
those of foreign countries.
(d) The existing import duties on wines and other spirit
uous liquors of Swiss origin shall not be increased by the
Cantons which already levy them. Such duties shall not be
established upon such articles by Cantons which do not at
present collect them.
(e) The laws and ordinances of the Cantons on the collec
tion of import duties shall, before their going into effect, be
submitted to the federal government for approval, in order
that it may, if necessary, cause the enforcement of the preced
ing provisions.
All the import duties now levied by the Cantons, as well as
the similar duties levied by the Communes, shall cease, with
out indemnity, at the end of the year 1890.
Art. 32 (ii). [Amendment of Dec. 22, 1885.]
The Confederation is authorized by legislation to make reg
ulations for the manufacture and sale of alcohol. In this leg
islation those products which* are intended for exportation, or
which have been subjected to a process excluding them from
use as a beverage, shall be subjected to no tax. Distillation
of wine, fruit, and their by-products, of gentian root, juniper
berries, and similar products, is not subject to federal legisla
tion as to manufacture or tax.
After the cessation of the import duties on spirituous
liquors, provided for in Article 32 of the Constitution, the
trade in liquors not distilled shall not be subjected by the Can
tons to any special taxes or to other limitations than those
necessary for protection against adulterated or noxious bever
ages. Nevertheless, the powers of the Cantons, defined in

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 373
Article 31, are retained over the keeping of drinking places,
and the sale at retail of quantities less than two liters.
The net proceeds resulting from taxation on the sale of
alcohol belong to the Cantons in which the tax is levied.
The net proceeds to the Confederation from the internal
manufacture of alcohol, and the corresponding addition to the
duty on imported alcohol, are divided among all the Cantons,
in proportion to the actual population as ascertained from
time to time by the next preceding federal census. Out
of the receipts therefrom the Cantons must expend not less
than one tenth in combating drunkenness in its causes and
effects. Art. 33. The Cantons may require proofs of competency
from those who desire to practice a liberal profession.
Provision shall be made by federal legislation by which
such persons may obtain certificates of competency which shall .
be valid throughout the Confederation. .
Art. 34. The Confederation has power to enact uniform
provisions as to the labor of children in factories, and as to
the duration of labor fixed for adults therein, and as to the
protection of workmen against the operation of unhealthy and
dangerous manufactures.
The transactions of emigration agents and of organizations
for insurance, not instituted by the State, are subject to fed
eral supervision and legislation.
Art. 34 bis. [Amendment of Oct. 26, 1890.] The Con
federation will by law establish invalid and accident insurance,
having regard for existing invalid funds. It may declare par
ticipation obligatory for all, or for special classes of the
population. Art. 35. The opening of gaming nouses is forbidden.
Those which now exist shall be closed Dec. 31, 1877.
The concessions which may have been granted or renewed.
since the beginning of the year 1871 are declared invalid.
The Confederation may also take necessary measures con
cerning lotteries.

374 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Art. 36. The posts and telegraphs in all Switzerland are
controlled by the Confederation.
The proceeds of the posts and telegraphs belong to the
federal treasury.
The rates shall, for all parts of Switzerland, be fixed accord
ing to the same principle and as fairly as possible.
Inviolable secrecy of letters and telegrams is guaranteed.
Art. 37. The Confederation exercises general oversight
over those roads and bridges in the maintenance of which it is
interested. The sums due to the Cantons mentioned in Article 30,
on account of their international alpine roads, shall be retained
by the federal government if such roads are not kept by them
in suitable condition.
Art. 38. The Confederation exercises all the exclusive
rights pertaining to coinage.
It has the sole right of coining money.
It establishes the monetary system, and may enact provis
ions, if necessary, for the rate of exchange of foreign coins.
Art. 39. The Confederation has the power to make by
law general provisions for the issue and redemption of bank
notes. But it shall not create any monopoly for the issue of bank
notes, nor make such notes a legal tender.
Art. 40. The Confederation fixes the standard of weights
and measures.
The Cantons, under the supervision of the Confederation,
enforce the laws relating thereto.
Art. 41. The manufacture and the sale of gunpowder
throughout Switzerland pertains exclusively to the Confedera
tion. Powders used for blasting and not suitable for shooting are
not included in the monopoly.
Art. 42. The expendituies of the Confederation are met
as follows :
(a) Out of the income from federal property.

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 375
(b) Out of the proceeds of the federal customs levied at
the Swiss frontier.
(c) Out of the proceeds of the posts and telegraphs.
(d) Out of the proceeds of the powder monopoly.
(e) Out of half of the gross receipts from the tax on mili
tary exemptions levied by the Cantons.
(f) Out of the Contributions of the Cantons, which shall
be determined by federal legislation, with special reference to
their wealth and taxable resources.
Art. 43. Every citizen of a Canton is a Swiss citizen.
As such he may participate, in the place where he is domi
ciled, in all federal elections and popular votes, after having
duly proven his qualification as a voter.
No person can exercise political rights in more than one
Canton. The Swiss settled as a citizen outside his native Canton
enjoys, in the place where he is domiciled, all the rights of
the citizens of the Canton, including all the rights of the com
munal citizen. Participation in municipal and corporate prop
erty, and the right to vote upon purely municipal affairs, are
excepted from such rights, unless the Canton by legislation
has otherwise provided.
In cantonal and communal affairs, he gains the right to
vote after a residence of three months.
Cantonal laws relating to the right of Swiss citizens to set
tle outside the Cantons in which they were born, and to vote
on communal questions, are submitted for the approval of the
Federal Council.
Art. 44. No Canton shall expel from its territory one of
its own citizens, nor deprive him of his rights, whether acquired
by birth or settlement. [Origine ou cite".]
Federal legislation shall fix the conditions upon which for
eigners may be naturalized, as well as those upon which a
Swiss .may give up his citizenship in order to obtain naturaliz
ation in a foreign country.
Art. 45. Every Swiss citizen has the right to settle any-

376 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
where in Swiss territory, on condition of submitting a certifi
cate of origin, or a similar document.
By exception, settlement may be refused to or withdrawn
from, those who, in consequence of a penal conviction, are not
entitled to civil rights.
In addition, settlement may be withdrawn from those who
have been repeatedly punished for serious offenses, and also
from those who permanently come upon the charge of public
charity, and to whom their Commune or Canton of origin, as
the case may be, refuses sufficient succor, after they have been
officially asked to grant it.
In the Cantons where the poor are relieved in their place
of residence the permission to settle, if it relates to citizens of
the Canton, may be coupled with the condition that they shall
be able to work, and that they shall not, in their former domi
cile in the Canton of origin, have permanently become a charge
on public charity.
Every expulsion on account of poverty must be approved by
the government of the Canton of domicile, and previously
announced to the government of the Canton of origin.
A Canton in which a Swiss establishes his domicile may
not require security, nor impose any special obligations for
such establishment. In like manner, the Communes cannot
require from Swiss domiciled in their territory other contribu
tions than those which they require from their own subjects.
A federal law shall establish the maximum fee to be paid
the Chancery for a permit to settle.
Art. 46. Persons settled in Switzerland are, as a rule, sub
jected to the jurisdiction and legislation of their domicile, in
all that pertains to their personal status and property rights.
The Confederation shall by law make the provisions neces
sary for the application of this principle and for the prevention
of double taxation of a citizen.
Art. 47. A federal law shall establish the distinction
between settlement and temporary residence, and shall at the
same time make the regulations to which Swiss temporary resi-

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 377
dents shall be subjected as to their political rights and their
civil rights.
Art. 48. A federal law shall provide for the regulation of
tHe expenses of the illness and burial of indigent persons amen
able to one Canton, who have fallen ill or died in another
Canton. Art. 49. Freedom of conscience and belief is inviolable.
No person can be constrained to take part in a religious
society, to attend religious instruction, to perform a religious
rite, or to incur penalties of any kind whatever on account of
religious opinion.
The person who exercises the parent's or guardian's author
ity has the right, conformably to the principles above stated,
to regulate the religious education of children up to the age of
sixteen completed years.
The exercise of civil or political rights shall not be abridged
by any provisions or conditions whatever of an ecclesiastical or
religious kind.
No person shall, on account of a religious belief, release
himself from the accomplishment of a civil duty.
No person is bound to pay taxes of which the proceeds are
specially appropriated to the actual expenses of the worship
of a religious body to which he does not belong. The details
of the carrying out of this principle are reserved for federal
legislation. Art. 50. The free exercise of religious worship is guaran
teed within the limits compatible with public order and good
morals. The Cantons and the Confederation may take suitable
measures for the preservation of public order and of peace
between the members of different religious bodies, and also
against encroachments of ecclesiastical authorities upon the
rights of citizens and of the State.
Contests in public and private law, which arise out of the
formation or the division of religious bodies, may be brought
by appeal before the competent federal authorities.

378 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
No bishopric shall be created upon Swiss territory without
the consent of the Confederation.
Art. 51. The order of the Jesuits, and the societies affili
ated with them, shall not be received into any part of Switzer
land ; ^nd all action in church and school is forbidden to its
members. This prohibition may be extended also, by federal ordinance,
to other religious orders, the action of which is dangerous to
the state or disturbs the peace between sects.
Art. 52. The foundation of new convents or religious
orders, and the re-establishment of those which have been sup
pressed, are forbidden.
Art. 53. The civil status and the keeping of records
thereof is subject to the civil authority. The Confederation
shall by law enact detailed provisions upon this subject.
The control of places of burial is subject to the civil author
ity. It shall take care that every deceased person may be
decently interred.
Art. 54. The right of marriage is placed under the pro
tection of the Confederation.
No limitation upon marriage shall be based upon sectarian
grounds, nor upon the poverty of either of the contractants, nor
on their conduct, nor on any other consideration of good order.
A marriage contracted in a Canton or in a foreign country,
conformably to the law which is there in force, shall be recog
nized as valid throughout the Confederation.
By marriage the wife acquires the citizenship of her
husband. Children born before the marriage are made legitimate by
the subsequent marriage of their parents.
No tax upon admission or similar tax shall be levied upon
either party to a marriage.
Art. 55. The freedom of the press is guaranteed.
Nevertheless the Cantons by law enact the measures neces
sary for the suppression of abuses. Such laws are submitted
for the approval of the Federal Council.

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 379
The Confederation may enact penalties for the suppression
of press offenses directed against it or its authorities.
Art. 56. Citizens have the right of forming associations,
provided that there be in the purpose of such associations, or
in the means which they employ, nothing unlawful or danger
ous to the state. The Cantons by law take the measures
necessary for the suppression of abuses.
Art. 57. The right of petition is guaranteed.
Art. 58. No person shall be deprived of his constitu
tional judge. Therefore no extraordinary tribunal shall be
established. Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is abolished.
Art. 59. Suits for personal claims against a solvent
debtor having a domicile in Switzerland, must be brought
before the judge of his domicile; in consequence, his property
outside the Canton in which he - is domiciled may not be
attached in suits for personal claims.
Nevertheless, with reference to foreigners, the provisions of
international treaties shall not thereby be affected.
Imprisonment for debt is abolished.
Art. 60. All the Cantons are bound to treat the citizens of
the other confederated States like those of their own State in
legislation and in all judicial proceedings.
Art. 61. Civil judgments definitely pronounced in any
Canton may be executed anywhere in Switzerland.
Art. 62. The exit duty on property [traite foraine] is
abolished in the interior of Switzerland, as well as the right of
redemption [droit de retrait] by citizens of one Canton against
those of other confederated States.
Art. 63. The exit duty on property is abolished as
respects foreign countries, provided reciprocity be observed.
Art. 64. The Confederation has power to make laws :
On legal competency.
On all legal questions relating to commerce and to trans
actions affecting chattels (law of commercial obligations,
including commercial law and law of exchange).

380 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
On literary and artistic copyright.
On the protection of new patterns and forms, and of inven
tions which are represented in models and are capable of
industrial application. [Amendment of Dec. 20, 1887.]
On the legal collection of debts and on bankruptcy.
The administration of justice remains with the Cantons, save
as affected by the powers of the Federal Court.
Art. 65. No death penalty shall be pronounced for a polit
ical crime. [Amendment of May 18th, 1879.]
Corporal punishment is abolished.
Art. 66. The Confederation by law fixes the limits within
which a Swiss citizen may be deprived of his political rights.
Art. 67. The Confederation by law provides for the extra
dition of accused persons from one Canton to another; never
theless, extradition shall not be made obligatory for political
offenses and offenses of the press.
Art. 68. Measures are taken by federal law for the incor
poration of persons without country (Heimathlosen), and for
the prevention of new cases of that nature.
Art. 69. Legislation concerning measures of sanitary police
against epidemic and cattle diseases, causing a common danger,
is included in the powers of the Confederation.
Art. 70. The Confederation has power to expel from its
territory foreigners who endanger the internal or external
safety of Switzerland.

CHAPTER II. FEDERAL AUTHORITIES.
I. FEDERAL ASSEMBLY.
[Assembl/e f/d/rale ; Bundesversammlung.]
Art. 71. With the reservation of the rights of the people
and of the Cantons (Articles 89 and 121), the supreme author-

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 381
ity of the Confederation is exercised by the Federal Assembly
which consists of two sections or councils, to wit :
(A) The National Council. '
(B) The Council of States.
A. NATIONAL COUNCIL.
[Conseil National ; Nationalrath.]
Art. 72. The National Council is composed of representa
tives of the Swiss people, chosen in the ratio of one member
for each 20,000 persons of the total population. ' Fractions of
upwards of 10,000 persons are reckoned as 20,000.
Every Canton, and in the divided Cantons every Half-
Canton, chooses at least one representative.
Art. 73. The elections for the National Council are direct.
They are held in federal electoral districts, which in no case
shall be formed out of parts of different Cantons.
Art. 74. Every Swiss who has completed twenty years of
age, and who in addition is not excluded from the rights of a
voter by the legislation of the Canton in which he is domiciled,
has the right to vote in elections and popular votes.
Nevertheless, the Confederation by law may establish uni
form regulations for the exercise of such right.
Art. 75. Every lay Swiss citizen who has the right to vote
is eligible for membership in the National Council.
Art. 76. The National Council is chosen for three years,
and entirely renewed at each general election.
Art. TJ. Representatives to the Council of States, mem
bers of the Federal Council, and officials appointed by that
Council, shall not at the same time be members of the National
Council. Art. 78. The National Council chooses out of its own
number, for each regular or extraordinary session, a President
and a Vice-President.
A member who has held the office of President during a

382 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
regular session is ineligible either as President or as Vice-
President at the next regular session.
The same member may not be Vice-President during two
consecutive regular sessions.
When the votes are equally divided the President has a
casting vote ; in elections he votes in the same manner as other
members. Art. 79. The members of the National Council receive a
compensation out of the federal treasury.
B. COUNCIL OF STATES.
[Conseil des Etats ; Standerath.]
Art. 80. The Council of States consists of forty-four rep
resentatives of the Cantons. Each Canton appoints two rep
resentatives ; in the divided Cantons, each Half-Canton chooses
one. Art. 81. The members of the National Council and those
of the Federal Council may not be representatives in the
Council of States.
Art. 82. The Council of States chooses out of its own
number for each regular or extraordinary session a President
and a Vice-President.
Neither the President nor the Vice-President can be chosen
from among the representatives of the Canton from which the
President has been chosen for the regular session next
preceding. Representatives of the same Canton cannot occupy the posi
tion of Vice-President during two consecutive regular sessions.
When the votes are equally divided the President has a
casting vote ; in elections he votes in the same manner as the
other members.
Art. 83. Representatives in the Council of States receive
a compensation from the Cantons.

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 383
C. POWERS OF THE FEDERAL ASSEMBLY.
Art. 84. The National Council and the Council of States
consider all the subjects which the present Constitution places
within the competence of the Confederation, and which are
not assigned to any other federal authority.
Art. 85. The subjects within the competence of the two
Councils are. particularly the following :
1. Laws on the organization of and election of federal
authorities. 2. Laws and ordinances on subjects which by the Con
stitution are placed within the federal competence.
3. The salary and compensation of members of the fed
eral governing bodies and of the Federal Chancery; the
creation of federal offices and the determination of salaries
therefor. 4. The election of the Federal Council, of the Federal
Court, and of the Chancellor, and also of the Commander-in-
Chief of the federal army.
The Confederation may by law assign to the Federal
Assembly other powers of election or of confirmation.
5. Alliances and treaties with foreign powers, and also
the approval of treaties made by the Cantons between them
selves or with foreign powers ; nevertheless the treaties made
by the Cantons shall be brought before the Federal Assembly
only in case the Federal Council or another Canton protests.
6. Measures for external safety and also for the mainte
nance of the independence and neutrality of Switzerland ; the
declaration of war and the conclusion of peace.
7. The guaranty of the Constitution and of the territory
of the Cantons ; intervention in consequence of such guar
anty ; measures for the internal safety of Switzerland, for the
maintenance of peace and order ; amnesty and pardon.
8. Measures for the preservation of the Constitution,
for carrying out the guaranty of the cantonal constitutions,
and for fulfilling federal obligations.

384 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
9. The power of controlling the federal army.
10. The determination of the annual budget, the audit
of public accounts, and federal ordinances authorizing loans.
1 1. The superintendence of federal administration and
of federal courts.
12. Protests against the decisions of the Federal Coun
cil upon administrative conflicts. (Art. 113.)
13. Conflicts of jurisdiction between federal authorities.
14. The amendment of the federal Constitution.
Art. 86. The two Councils assemble annually in regular
session upon a day to be fixed by the standing orders.
They are convened in extra session by the Federal Council
upon the request either of one fourth of the members of the
National Council, or of five Cantons.
Art. 87. In either Council a quorum is a majority of the
total number of its members.
Art. 88. In the National Council and in the Council of
States a majority of those voting is required.
Art. 89. Federal laws, enactments, and resolutions shall
be passed only by the agreement of the two Councils.
Federal laws shall be submitted for acceptance or rejection
by the people, if the demand is made by 30,000 voters or by
eight Cantons. The same principle applies to federal resolu
tions which have a general application, and which are not of
an urgent nature.
Art. 90. The Confederation shall by law establish the
forms and intervals to be observed in popular votes.
Art. 91. Members of either Council vote without in
structions. Art. 92. Each Council takes action separately. But in
the case of the elections specified in Article 85, § 4, of par
dons, or of deciding a conflict of jurisdiction (Art. 85, § 13),
the two Councils meet in joint session, under the direction of
the President of the National Council, and a decision is made
by the majority of the members of both Councils present and
voting.

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 385
Art. 93. Measures may originate in either Council, and
may be introduced by any of their members.
The Cantons may by correspondence exercise the same
right. Art. 94. As a rule, the sittings of the Councils are public.
I I. FEDERAL COUNCIL.
[Conseil fdde'ral ; Bundesralh.]
Art. 95. The supreme direction and executive authority
of the Confederation is exercised by a Federal Council, com
posed of seven members.
Art. 96. The members of the Federal Council are chosen
for three years by the Councils in joint session from among all
the Swiss citizens eligible to the National Council. But not
more than one member of the Federal Council shall be chosen
from the same Canton.
The Federal Council is chosen anew after each election of
the National Council.
Vacancies which occur in the course of the three years are
filled at the first ensuing session of the Federal Assembly, for
the remainder of the term of office.
Art. 97. The members of the Federal Council shall not,
during their term of office, occupy any other office, either in
the service of the Confederation or in a Canton, or follow any
other pursuit, or exercise a profession.
Art. 98. The Federal Council is presided over by the
President of the Confederation. There is a Vice-President.
The President of the Confederation and the Vice-President
of the Federal Council are chosen for one year by the Federal
Assembly from among the members of the Council.
The retiring President shall not be chosen as President or
Vice-President for the year ensuing.
The same member shall not hold the office of Vice-Presi
dent during two consecutive years.

386 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Art. 99. The President of the Confederation and the
other members of the Federal Council receive an annual salary
from the federal treasury.
Art. 100. A quorum of the Federal Council consists of
four members.
Art. 10 1. The members of the Federal Council have the
right to speak but not to vote in either house of the Federal
Assembly, and also the right to make motions on the subject
under consideration.
Art. 102. The powers and the duties of the Federal
Council, within the Kmits of this Constitution, are particularly
the following :
1. It conducts federal affairs, conformably to the laws
and resolutions of the Confederation.
2. It takes care that the Constitution, federal laws and
ordinances, and also the provisions of federal concordats, be
observed ; upon its own initiative or upon complaint, it takes
measures necessary to cause these instruments to be observed,
unless the consideration of redress be among the subjects
which should be brought before the Federal Court, according
to Article 1 13.
3. It takes care that the guaranty of the cantonal consti
tutions be observed.
4. It introduces bills or resolutions into the Federal
Assembly, and gives its opinion upon the proposals submitted
to it by the Councils or the Cantons.
5. It executes the laws and resolutions of the Confeder
ation and the judgments of the Federal Court, and also the
compromises or decisions in arbitration upon disputes
between Cantons.
6. It makes those appointments which are not assigned
to the Federal Assembly, Federal Court, or other authority.
7. It examines the treaties made by Cantons with each
other, or with foreign powers, and approves them, if proper.
(Art. 85, § 5.)
8. It watches over the external interests of the Confed-

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 387
eration, particularly the maintenance of its international
relations, and is, in general, intrusted with foreign relations.
9. It watches over the external safety of Switzerland,
over the maintenance of independence and neutrality.
10. It watches over the internal safety of the Confedera
tion, over the maintenance of peace and order.
11. In cases of urgency, and when the Federal As
sembly is not in session, the Federal Council has power to
raise the necessary troops and to employ them, with the reser
vation that it shall immediately summon the Councils if the
number of troops exceed two thousand men, or if they remain
in arms more than three weeks.
12. It administers the military establishment of the Con
federation, and all other branches of administration committed
to the Confederation.
13. It examines such laws and ordinances of the Cantons
as must be submitted for its approval ; it exercises supervision
over such departments of the cantonal administration as are
placed under its control.
14. It administers the finances of the Confederation,
introduces the budget, and submits accounts of receipts and
expenses. 15. It supervises the conduct of all the officials and
employees of the federal administration.
1 6. It submits to the Federal Assembly at each regular
session an account of its administration and a report of the
condition of the Confederation, internal as well as external,
and calls attention to the measures which it deems desirable
for the promotion of the general welfare.
It also makes special reports when the Federal Assembly or
either Council requires it.
Art. 103. The business of the Federal Council is distribu
ted by departments among its members. This distribution has
the purpose only of facilitating the examination and despatch
of business ; decisions emanate from the Federal Council as a
single authority.

388 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Art. 104. The Federal Council and its departments have
power to call in experts on special subjects.
III. FEDERAL CHANCERY.
[Chancellerie fe'de'rale ; Bundeskanzlei.]
Art. 105. A Federal Chancery, at the head of which is
placed the Chancellor of the Confederation, conducts the secre
tary's business for the Federal Assembly and the Federal
Council. The Chancellor is chosen by the Federal Assembly for the
term of three years, at the same time as the Federal Council.
The Chancery is under the special supervision of the Fed
eral Council.
A federal law shall provide for the organization of the
Chancery. IV. FEDERAL COURT.
[ Tribunal fediral ; Bundesgericht. ]
Art. 106. There shall be a Federal Court for the admin
istration of justice in federal concerns.
There shall be, moreover, a jury for criminal cases. (Art.
112.) Art; 107. The members and alternates of the Federal
Court shall be chosen by the Federal Assembly, which shall
take care that all three national languages are represented
therein. A law shall establish the organization of the Federal Court
and of its sections, the number of judges and alternates, their
term of office,, and their salary.
Art. 108. Any Swiss citizen eligible to National Council
may be chosen to the Federal Court.
The members of the Federal Assembly and of the Federal

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 389
Council, and officials appointed by those authorities, shall not
at the same time belong to the Federal Court.
The members of the Federal Court shall not, during their
term of office, occupy any other office, either in the service of
the Confederation or in a Canton, nor engage in any other pur
suit, nor practice a profession.
Art. 109. The Federal Court organizes its own Chancery
and appoints the officials thereof.
Art. i io. The Federal Court has jurisdiction in civil suits :
1. Between the Confederation and the Cantons.
2. Between the Confederation on one part and corpora
tions or individuals on the other part, when such corporations
or individuals are plaintiffs, and when the amount involved is
of a degree of importance to be determined by federal
legislation. 3. Between Cantons.
4. Between Cantons on one part and corporations or
individuals on the other part, when one of the parties demands
it, and the amount involved is of a degree of importance to be
determined by federal legislation.
It further has jurisdiction in suits concerning the status of
persons not subjects of any government (heimathlosat), and
the conflicts which arise between Communes of different Can
tons respecting the right of local citzenship. [Droit de cit/.]
Art. hi. The Federal Court is bound to give judgment
in other cases when both parties agree to abide by its decision,
and when the amount involved is of a degree of importance to
be determined by federal legislation.
Art. 1 12. The Federal Court, assisted by a jury to decide
upon questions of fact, has criminal jurisdiction in:
1. Cases of high treason against the Confederation, of
rebellion or violence against federal authorities.
2. Crimes and misdemeanors against the law of nations.
3. Political crimes and misdemeanors which are the
cause or the result of disturbances which occasion armed fed
eral intervention.

390 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
4. Cases against officials appointed by a federal author
ity, where such authority relegates them to the Federal Court.
Art. 1 13. The Federal Court further has jurisdiction :
1. Over conflicts of jurisdiction between federal author
ities on one part and cantonal authorities on the other part.
2. Disputes between Cantons, when such disputes are
upon questions of public law.
3. Complaints of violation of the constitutional rights of.
citizens, and complaints of individuals for the violation of con
cordats or treaties.
Conflicts of administrative jurisdiction are reserved, and are
to be settled in a manner prescribed by federal legislation.
In all the fore-mentioned cases the Federal Court shall
apply the laws passed by the Federal Assembly and those reso
lutions of the Assembly which have a general import. It shall
in like manner conform to treaties which shall have been rati
fied by the Federal Assembly.
Art. 114. Besides the cases specified in Articles no, 112,
and 113, the Confederation may by law place other matters
within the jurisdiction of the Federal Court; in particular.it
may give to that court powers intended to insure the uniform
application of the laws provided for in Article 64.
V. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
Art. 1 1 5. All that relates to the location of the authori
ties of the Confederation is a subject for federal legislation.
Art. 116. The three principal languages spoken in Swit
zerland, German, French, and Italian, are national languages of
the Confederation.
Art. 117. The officials of the Confederation are respon
sible for their conduct in office. A federal law shall enforce
this responsibility.

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 391
CHAPTER III. AMENDMENT OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
Art. i i 8. The Federal Constitution may at anytime be
wholly or partially amended.
Art. 119. Complete Amendment is secured through the
forms required for passing federal laws.
Art. 120. When either Council of the Federal Assembly
passes a resolution for the complete amendment of the Federal
Constitution and the other Council does not agree ; or when
fifty thousand Swiss voters demand the complete amendment,
the question whether the Federal Constitution ought to be
amended is, in either case, submitted to a vote of the Swiss
people, voting yes or no.
If in either case the majority of the Swiss citizens who vote
pronounce in the affirmative, there shall be a new election of
both Councils for the purpose of preparing the complete
amendment. Art. 121. [Amendment of July 7th, 189 1. J
Partial amendment may take place through the forms of
Popular Initiative, or of those required for passing federal laws.
The Popular Initiative may be used when fifty thousand
Swiss voters present a petition for the enactment, the abolition
or the alteration of certain articles of the Federal Constitution.
When several different subjects are proposed for amendment
or for enactment in the Federal Constitution by means of the
Popular Initiative, each must form the subject of a special
petition. Petitions may be presented in the form of general suggest
ions or of finished bills. When a petition is presented in the
form of a general suggestion, and the Federal Assembly agrees
thereto, it is the duty of that body to elaborate a partial
amendment in the sense of the Initiators, and to refer it to the
people and the Cantons for acceptance or rejection. If the
Federal Assembly does not agree to the petition, then the
question of whether there shall be a partial amendment at all
must be submitted to the vote of the people, and if the major-

392 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
ity of Swiss voters express themselves in the affirmative, the
amendment must be taken in hand by the Federal Assembly
in the sense of the people.
When a petition is presented in the form of a finished bill,
and the Federal Assembly agrees thereto, the bill must be
referred to the people and the Cantons for acceptance or
rejection. In case the Federal Assembly. does not agree, that
body can elaborate a bill of its own, or move to reject the
petition, and submit its own bill or motion of rejection to the
vote of the people and the Cantons along with the petition.
Art. 122. A Federal law shall determine more precisely
the manner of procedure in popular petitions and in voting for
amendments to the Constitution.
Art. 123. The amended Federal Constitution, or the
amended part thereof, shall be in force when it has been
adopted by the majority of Swiss citizens who take part in the
vote thereon and by a majority of the States.
In making up a majority of the States the vote of a Half-
Canton is counted as half a vote.
The result of the popular vote in each Canton is considered
to be the vote of the State.
TEMPORARY PROVISIONS.
Article i. The proceeds of the posts and customs shall
be divided upon the present basis, until such time as the Con
federation shall take upon itself the military expenses up to
this time borne by the Cantons.
Federal legislation shall provide, besides, that the loss which
may be occasioned to the finances of certain Cantons by the
sum of the charges which result from Articles 20, 30, 36 (§ 2)
and 42 (e), shall fall upon such Cantons only gradually, and
shall not attain its full effect till after a transition period of
some years.
Those Cantons which, at the going into effect of Article
20 of the Constitution, have not fulfilled the military obliga-

CONSTITUTION OF SWISS CONFEDERATION. 393
tions which are imposed upon them by the former Constitu
tion, or by federal laws, shall be bound to carry them out at
their own expense.
Art. 2. The provisions of the federal laws and of the
cantonal concordats, constitutions or cantonal laws, which are
contrary to this Constitution, cease to have effect by the adop
tion of the Constitution or the publication of the laws for
which it provides.
Art. 3. The new provisions relating to the organization
and jurisdiction of the Federal Court take effect only after the
publication of federal laws thereon.
Art. 4. A delay of five years is allowed to Cantons for
the establishment of free instruction in primary public educa
tion. (Art. 27.)
Art. 5. Those persons who practice a liberal profession,
and who, before the publication of the federal law provided for
in Article 33, have obtained a certificate of competence from
a Canton or a joint authority representing several Cantons,
may pursue that profession throughout the Confederation.
Art. 6. [Amendment of Dec. 22, 1885.]
If a federal law for carrying out Article 32 (ii) be passed
before the end of 1890, the import duties levied on spirituous
liquors by the Cantons and Communes, according to Article
32, cease on the going into effect of such law.
If, in such case, the shares of any Canton or' Commune, out
of the sums to be divided, are not sufficient to equal the
average annual net proceeds of the taxes they have levied on
spirituous liquors in the years 1880 to 1884 inclusive, the
Cantons and Communes affected shall, till the end of 1890,
receive the amount of the deficiency out of the amount which
is to be divided among the other Cantons according to popu
lation; and the remainder only shall be divided among such
other Cantons and Communes, according to population.
The Confederation shall further provide by law that for
such Cantons or Communes as may suffer financial loss
through the effect of this amendment, such loss shall not

394 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
come upon them immediately in its full extent, but gradually
up to the year 1895. The indemnities thereby made neces
sary shall be previously taken out of the net proceeds desig
nated in Article 32 (ii), paragraph 4.
Thus resolved by the National Council to be submitted to
the popular vote of the Swiss people and of the Cantons.
Bern, January 31, 1874. Ziegler, President.
Schiess, Secretary.
Thus resolved by the Council of States, to be submitted
to the popular vote of the Swiss people and of the Cantons.
Bern, January 31, 1874. A. Kopp, President.
J. L. Lutscher, Secretary.

REFERENCE LITERATURE.

GENERAL HISTORIES.
Dandliker, K. Geschichte der Schweiz. 3 vols. Zurich, 1885-
1887.
At once the most attractive and most complete history of Swit
zerland. It contains the latest researches on debated questions.
Especial attention is given to the industrial and social develop
ment of the nation. The work is copiously illustrated and the
style eminently readable.
Dierauer, J. Geschichte der Schweizenschen Eidgenossenschaft.
2 vols. Gotha, 1887-1892.
A very scholarly book. The historical treatment is essentially
scientific and minute. Industrial and social conditions are only
touched upon incidentally. Better adapted for reference than
for continuous reading. The work is still incomplete, the last
volume only goes as far as the year 1516, the beginning of the
Reformation.
Daguet, A. Histoire de la Confederation Suisse. 2 vols. Gen
eva, 1879-1880.
Valuable as treating more fully of French-speaking Switzerland.
v. Muxler, J. Geschichtcder Schweizenschen Eidgenossenschaft.
Fortgesetzt von R. Glutz-Blotzheim und J. J. Hottinger.
7 vols. Translated into French and enlarged by S. Vulli-
emin and Ch. Monnard. 16 vols. 1841-1847.
This work was written at the end of the last century, before the
modern school of history had investigated the origin of the Swiss
Confederation. It once ranked as a classic, its literary style and
pervading spirit is charming, but it has now undoubtedly become
antiquated, and cannot be read without distinct reservations.
Coolidge, W. A. B. Article on Switzerland in the Encyclopaedia
Brittanica. (Part II. History.)

396 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Is by far the most accurate version in English. Especially
recommended to those who desire to obtain a correct impression
of the rise of the Swiss Confederation.
Hug, L. and Stead R. Switzerland. Story of the Nations Series.
i vol. New York, 1889.
Fairly accurate. Prettily illustrated.
Historical Sketches are given in :
Adams, F. O. and Cunningham, C. D. The Swiss Confederation.
1 vol. London, 1889.
Vincent, J. M. State and Federal Government of Switzerland.
1 vol. Baltimore, 1891.
Zschokke, H. History of Switzerland. 1 vol. Translated by
F. G. Shaw, New York, 1855.
The following are excellent chronological synopses :
Zellweger, J. K. Chronologische Uebersicht der Schweizerges
chichte. Neu bearbeitet von J. Strickler. Br. Zurich, 1887.
Dandliker, K. Uebersichtstafeln zur Schweizergeschichte. Br.
Zurich, 1890.
v. Muralt, C. Schweizergeschichte mit durchgangiger Quellen-
angabe. 1 vol. Bern, 1885.
A work of great research, but of unequal merit in its various
periods.
Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch zur Schweizergeschichte. 1 vol. Zurich,
1886.
A collection of the most important documents and chronicles
relating to Swiss history, from the earliest times to the present.
It is perfectly indispensable to the student, and is so pleasantly
edited as to commend itself for popular use.
Amtliche Sammlung der alteren eidgenossischen Abschiede,
1245-1798. 8 vols.
Repertorium der Abschiede der eidgenossischen Tagsatzungen,
1803-1848. 3 vols.
These two collections contain the reports of the old Federal
Diets. They represent an enormous mass of historical matter,
invaluable to scholars engaged in original research. The reports
covering the period, 1798-1803, are now being collected and
published. Anzeiger fur Schweizerische Geschichte. A periodical pub
lished in Bern.

REFERENCE LITERATURE. 397
The Societe* d' Histoire de la Suisse Romande issues period
ically its Memoires et Documents, in Lausanne. They throw light
upon the history of French-speaking Switzerlamd.
Meyer, J. Geschichte des Schweizerischen Bundesrechts. 2 vols.
Winterthur, 1875-1878.
Bluntschli, J. C. Geschichte des Schweizerischen Bundesrechts.
2 vols. Zurich, 1849-1852.
Bachtold, J. and Vetter, F. Bibliothek alterer Schriftwerke der
deutschen Schweiz. 5 vols. Frauenfeld, 1882-1884.
Rossel, V. Histoire litte'raire de la Suisse Romande. 2 vols.
Geneva, 1889-1891.
Godet, P. Histoire litte'raire de la Suisse Francaise. 1 vol.
Neuchatel, 1890.
Rahn, J. R. Geschichte der bildenden Kiinste in der Schweiz.
1 vol. Zurich, 1876.
A complete manual of the rise of art and architecture in Swit
zerland. It forms a convenient commentary to the political,
industrial, and social history of the country.
Historish-Geographischer Atlas der Schweiz. By Vogelin,
Meyer von Knonau, and Von Wyss. Zurich, 1870.
Equipped with the above list of books, the reader can obtain a
thorough and accurate conception of Swiss History.
For the study of special periods, the following works will be
found useful.

BOOK I.
SWITZERLAND BEFORE THE FOUNDING OF THE CONFEDERATION.
Heer, O. The Primaeval World of Switzerland. 2 vols. Transla
ted by W. S. Dallas. London, 1876.
Munro, R. The Lake-Dwellings of Europe. 1 vol. London,
1890.
Gross, V. Les Protohelvetes. 1 vol. Berlin, 1883.
Keller, F. and others. Various articles in Mittheilungen der
Antiquarischen Gesellschaft, vols. 1-19. Zurich.
Gisi, W. Quellenbuch zur Schweizergeschichte. 1 vol. Bern,
1869.

398 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Mommsen, T. Romische Geschichte, vol. 5. Berlin, 1885.
" Die Schweiz in romischer Zeit. (Mitt. d. antiq. Ges.,
vol. 9. Zurich.)
" Inscriptiones confoederationis helvet. lat. (Mitt. d.
antiq. Ges., vols. 10 and 15. Zurich.)
Rauchenstein, H. Der Feldzug Caesars gegen die Helvetier. Br.
Zurich, 1882.
Miles, E. J. Aventicum the Roman Metropolis of Helvetia. Jour
nal of the British and American Archaeological Society of
Rome. vol. 1, no. 4. Rome, 1888.
Naeher, J. Die romischen Militarstrassen in der Schweiz und in
Sudwestdeutschland. Br. Strassburg, 1888.
Lutolf. Die Glaubensboten der Schweiz. 1 vol. Luzern, 187 1.

Baumann, F. L. Schwaben und Alamannen.
Meyer von Knonau. Die alamannischen Denkmaler in der
Schweiz. Mitt. d. antiq. Ges., vol. 18 and 19. Zurich.
Ross, D. The Early History of Land-Holding Among the Ger
mans. 1 vol. Boston, 1883.
Merkel, J. Lex Alamannorum. (Monum. Germ. hist. Leges III.)
Bluntschli, J. C. Staats und Rechtsgeschichte von Zurich.
2 vols. Zurich, 1838.
Secretan, E. Le premier royaume de Bourgogne. (Memoires et
Documents de la Suisse Romande, vol. 24.)
Jahn, A. Geschichte der Burgundionen und Burgundiens. 2 vols.
Halle, 1874.
Vita S. Galli. Translated by A. Potthast. (Die Geschichtschrei-
ber der deutschen Vorzeit, vol. 1. Berlin, 1857.)
Casus S. Galli. By Ekkehard IV. Translated by G. Meyer von
Knonau. Leipzig, 1878.

Vulliemin, L. La Reine Berthe. Galerie Suisse, vol. 1. Lau
sanne, 1873.
Diacon, M. et Tripet, M. La Regalissima Sedes ejt la Reine
Berthe. Br. Neuchatel, 1890.

REFERENCE LITERATURE. 399
v. Stalin, C. F. Wirtembergische Geschichte. 3 vols. Stuttgart,
1841-1856.
Fontes Rerum Bernensium. 3 vols. Bern, 1877-1883.

v. Liebenau, T. Die Anfange des Hauses Habsburg. Vienna,
1883.
Das Habsburg-Oestreichische Urbarbuch. Herausgegeben von
F. Pfeiffer. Stuttgart, 1850.
Grimm, J. L. C. Weisthiimer. 5 vols. Gottingen, 1840-1866.

BOOK II.
THE CONFEDERATION OF EIGHT STATES.
Rilliet, A. Les Origines de la Confe'de'ration Suisse. 1 vol.
Geneva, 1868.
Sums up in a logical and lucid manner the various ques
tions which have risen concerning this obscure period.
Kopp, J. E. Urkunden zur Geschichte der eidgenossischen Biinde.
1 vol. 1835.
" " Geschichte der eidgenossischen Biinde. 11 Biicher.
Leipzig and Berlin. 1845-1852.
These were epoch-making books. Kopp was the first his
torical writer to reconstruct the origin of the Swiss Confed
eration from the documents. Discarding the legends and
myths which had, up to that time, been generally accepted,
he entered upon his task with a strictly scientific method.
It is to be regretted that Kopp's books are extremely diffi
cult reading.

Blumer, J. J. Staats und Rechtsgeschichte der Schweizerischen
Dempcratien. 2 vols. St. Gallen, 1850-1858.
Bluntschli, J. C. Die Drei Lander Uri, Schwyz, und Unterwalden.
Br. Zurich, 1846.

400 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
v. Wyss, G. Uri, Schwyz, und Unterwalden. Br. Zurich, 1858.
Ross, D. The Theory of Primitive Democracy in the Alps.
Pamphlet.

Hilty, K. Die Bundesverfassungen der Schweizerischen Eidge
nossenschaft. 1 vol. Bern, 1891.
Oechsli, W. Bausteine zur Schweizergeschichte. Br. Zurich.
1890. Chap. 1. Die historischen Grander der
Eidgenossenschaft.
" " Die Anfange der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft.
1 vol. Zurich, 1891.
v. Ah, J. J. Die Bundesbriefe der alten Eidgenossen. 1 vol.
Einsiedeln, 1891.
May, T. E. Democracy in Europe. 2 vols. London, 1877. Con
tains some information p. 333-403. As well as
Freeman, E. A. The growth of the English Constitution. 1 vol.
Leipzig, 1872.
Vaucher, P. Esquisse d' Histoire Suisse. 1 vol. Lausanne, 1882.
" " Les Commencements de la Confe'de'ration Suisse. Br.
Lausanne, 1891.

Die Chronik des Weissen Buches von Sarnen. Herausgege
ben von F. Vetter. Schweizerische Rundschau, p. 225.
August number. Bern, 1891.
Baring-Gould, S. Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. 1 vol.
London, 1884. Chapter V., William Tell.
v. Liliencron, R. W. T. H. F. Die historischen Volkslieder der
Deutschen. 4 vols. Leipzig, 1865-69.
Tschudii, Aegidii. Chronicon Helveticum. Herausgegeben von
J. R. Iselin. 2 vols. Basel, 1 734-1 736. This is the princi
pal chronicle devoted to early Swiss history. It was upon
Tschudi's version that v. Miiller based his great history and
Schiller his play of William Tell.
Joannis, Vitodurani. Chronicon. Herausgegeben durch G. v.
Wyss. Archiv fur Schweizergeschichte. vol. 2. Zurich,
1856. Translated into German by B. Freuler, Winterthur,
1866.

REFERENCE LITERATURE. 401
Malleoli, Felicis. Vulgo Hemmerlin. De Nobilitate et Rusti-
citate Dialogus. Ejusdem de Switensium ortu, nomine, con-
federatione. Tiguri, 1735.
Justinger, C. Bernerchronik. Herausgegeben von G. Studer.
Bern, 187 1.
Etterlin, P. Kronica von der loblichen Eydtgnoschaft. Basel,
i5°7-

M"lner, E. Jahrbuch. Herausgegeben von L. Ettmiiler. (Mitt.
d. antiq. Ges., vol. 2. Zurich, 1844.)
Conflictus Laupensis. Herausgegeben von G. Studer. Bern,
1871.
v. Liebenau, T. Die Schlacht bei Sempach. 1 vol. Luzern,
1886. Contains all the documentary accounts of the battle,
arranged in an attractive form. The author has collected
from far and wide every piece of information bearing on the
battle.
v. Liebenau, H. Die Winkelriede von Stans. (Mitt. d. antiq. Ges.,
vol. 9. Zurich, 1853.)
" Arnold Winkelried. 1 vol. Aargau, 1862.
Coolidge, W. A. B. Article on Arnold von Winkelried in Encyclo
paedia Brittanica.
Sums up in a scholarly fashion the conclusions of various
writers in regard to the question of Winkelried's heroic act.

Vincent, J. M. A study in Swiss History. Papers of the Ameri
can Historical Association, vol. 3, pp. 146-164. 1887.
Hart, A. B. Introduction to the study of Federal Government.
1 vol. Harvard Historical Monographs. Boston, 189 1.

BOOK III.
the confederation at the height of its military power.
Zellweger. Geschichte des Appenzellischen Volkes. 1 vol.
Trogen, 1830.

402 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
v. Arx, J. Geschichte von St. Gallen. 2 vols. St. Gallen, 18 10.
Klingenberger Chronik. Herausgegeben von Dr. Henne von
Sargans. Gotha, 1861.

Gremaud, l' Abbe. Documents relatifs a 1' histoire du Vallais.
(Mem. et doc. de la Socie'te' d' histoire de la Suisse Romande,
vol. 33.)
v. Moor, K. Geschichte Graubiindens, und Codex Diplomaticus.

Fuchs, J. Mailandische Feldziige der Schweizer.
Frei, H. Die Eroberungdes Aargau's. Basel, 1870.

Oechsli, W. Bausteine zur Schweizergeschichte. Br. Zurich, 1890.
Chap. II. Der Streit um das Toggenburger Erbe.
Chronik des Hans Friind. Herausgegeben von Ch. J. Kind.
Chur, 1875.
Die Schlacht bei St. Jacob in den Berichten der Zeitgenossen.
Sacularschrift der Historischen Gesellschaft zu Basel. Basel,
1844.

Kirk, J. F. History of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. 3
vols. London, 1863.
A detailed account of the battles of Grandson, Morat, and
Nancy, will be found in this work. It is well in connection
with it to read the criticisms of
Freeman, E. A. Select Historical Essays. 1 vol. Leipzig, 1873.
Chapter VI.
Ochsenbein, G. F. Die Urkunden der Belagerung und Schlacht
von Murten. Freiburg, 1876.
Michelet, J. Histoire de France. 6 vols. Paris, 1835-1844.
v. Ranke, F. L. Franzosische Geschichte. 4 vols. Stuttgart,
1852.
Schilling, D. (The Elder!) Beschreibung der Burgundischen Krie-
gen. Bern, 1743.
DepSches des ambassadeurs Milanais sur les campagnes de
Charles-Le-Hardi. Publ. par F. de Gingins La Sarra. 2 vols.
Paris-Geneve, 1858.

Schilling, D. (The Younger!) Luzerner chronik, Luzern, 1862.

REFERENCE LITERATURE. 403
Ming. Der selige Bruder Niklaus von Flue. 3 vols.
Rochholz, E. L. Die Schweizerlegende des Bruders Niklaus von
Flue.

Pirkheimer, W. Historia belli Suitensis sive Helvetici. Tiguri,
!735-
Jovn, P. Historiae sui temporis. 2 vols. Basel, 1567.
The parts in these two latter works which bear on Swiss
history are translated into German by W. Oechsli, Quellen
buch zur Schweizergeschichte.
Macchiavelli, N. Frequently refers to the Swiss in his books : II
Principe, Dell 'Arte delle Guerre, and Discorsi. The refer
ences are all noticed in Oechsli's Quellenbuch.

BOOK IV.
the period of the reformation.
Strickler, J. Die Quellen zur Reformationsgeschichte. 1884.
Huldreich Zwinglis Werke. Herausgegeben von M. Schuler
und J. Schulthess. 8 vols. Zurich, 1828-1842.
Bullinger, H. Reformationsgeschichte. 3 vols. Herausgegeben
von Hottinger und Vogeli. Frauenfeld, 1838-1840.
Epistolae Tigurinae. Parkerianae Societatis auspiciis editae.
Cantabrigiae, 1848.
Contains letters of Lady Jane Grey to Bullinger, Zwingli's
successor.
Hess, J. G. The Life of Ulrich Zwingle. Translated from the
French by Lucy Aikin. 1 vol. London, 18 12.
Schwalb, M. Etude comparative des doctrines de Me'lanchton,
Zwingle et Calvin. 1 vol. Strassburg, 1859.

Corpus Reformatorum. Joannis Calvini opera. 28 vols. Bruns-
vigae, 1863-1885.
Roget. Histoire du Peuple de Geneve. 7 vols. Geneva, 1870-
1883.

404 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Kampschulte, F. W. Calvin, seine Kirche und sein Staat in Genf.
i vol. Leipzig, 1869.
Bonivard, F. Les Chroniques de Geneve. 2 vols. Geneva, 1831.
Tracts Relating to the Reformation. 3 vols. Edinburgh,
1844-1851.
Dyer, T. H. The Life of John Calvin. 1 vol. New York, 1850.

v. Zualauben, B. F. A. J. D. Tableaux topographiques, pittores-
ques, moraux, politiques, litte'raires de la Suisse. Paris, 1780.

BOOK V.

the modern confederation.

Weber, R. Die poetische Nationalliteratur der deutschen Schweiz.
Perey, L. et Maugras, G. Voltaire et Rousseau. Paris, 1886.
" " La vie intime de Voltaire aux Delices.
Paris, 1885.
Rousseau, J. J. Jugd par les Genevois d'aujourd 'hui. Geneva,
1878.
Herzfelder. Goethe in der Schweiz. 1 vol. Leipzig, 1891.
Memoirs of Edward Gibbon, written by himself, with occasional
notes and narrative by John, Lord Sheffield. Edited by Henry
Morley. London, 1891.

Olivier, J. Etudes d' Histoire Nationale. Lausanne, 1842.
Posselt. Europaische Annalen. Tubingen, 1798.
v. Tillier, A. Geschichte des Freistaates Bern. 5 vols.
v. Erlach, R. Zur bernischen Kriegsgeschichte des Jahres 1798.
Bern, 1881.

Amtliche Sammlung der Akten aus der Zeit der Helvetischen
Republik. 2 vols. Herausgegeben von J. Strickler.
Tageblatt der Gesetze und Dekrete der gesetzgebenden Rathe
der Helvetischen Republik. 6 vols. Bern, 1800.
Der Schweizerische Republikaner. Herausgegeben von Escher
und Usteri. 3 vols. Ziirich, Luzern, Bern, 1798-1799.

REFERENCE LITERATURE. 405
Bulletin officiel du Directoire Helve'tique et des autorite's du
Canton du Le'man. 3 vols.
v. Tillier, A. Geschichte der Helvetischen Republik. 1798-1803.
3 vols. Bern, 1843.
Zschokke, H. Denkwiirdigkeiten der Helvetischen Staatsumwal-
zung. 3 vols. Winterthur, 1803-1805.
" Geschichte vom Kampf und Untergang der Schweiz
erischen Berg und Waldkantone. Bern, 1801.
Rambert, E. Etudes historiques et nationales, Lausanne, 1889.
Guillaume, J. Pestalozzi, etude biographique. Paris, 1890.

Wieland. Kriegsgeschichte der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft.

v. Tillier, A. Geschichte der Eidgenossenschaft wahrend der Herr-
-. schaft der Vermittlungsakte. 2 vols. Zurich, 1845-1846.
Repertorium der Abschiede der eidgenossischen Tagsatzungen,
v. Jahr, 1803, bis 1813. Bern, 1842-1843.

v. Tillier, A. Geschichte der Eidgenossenschaft wahrend der
sogenannten Restaurationsepoche, 1814-1830. 3 vols.
Zurich, 1848-1850.
Hilty, C. La Neutralite de la Suisse. Br. Translated from Ger
man by F. H. Mentha. Bern, 1889.
Van Muyden, B. La Suisse sous le Pacte de 18 15. 1 vol. Lau
sanne, Paris, 1890.

Repertorium der Abschiede der eidgenossischen Tagsatzungen,
v. Jahr 18 14 bis 1848. Bearbeitet von W. Fetscherin. 2
vols. Bern, 1874-1876.
Kern. Souvenirs politiques, 1833-1883.
v. Tillier, A. Geschichte der Eidgenossenschaft wahrend der Zeit
des sogeheissenen Fortshritts, 1830-1848. 3 vols. Bern,
i854-i855-
Muller-Friedberg. Schweizerische Annalen, oder die Geschichte
unserer Tage seit dem Julius, 1830. 6 vols.

Dufour, Gen. G. H. AUgemeiner Bericht des eidgenossischen
Oberbefehlshabers iiber den Feldzug von
1847.

406 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Dufour, Gen. G. H. Der Sonderbundskrieg und die Ereignisse
von 1856. Basel, 1882.
Grote, G. Seven Letters concerning the politics of .Switzerland.
London, 1876.
De Peyster, J. W. Secession in Switzerland and in the United
States compared. Pamphlet. Catskill, 1863.
Ruttimann. Das Nordamerikanische Bundesstaatsrecht vergli-
chen mit den politischen Einrichtungen der Schweiz. 2 vols.
Zurich, 1867-1872.

Curti, T. Geschichte der Schweizerischen Volksgesetzgebung. 1
vol. Zurich, 1885.
" Die Volksabstimmung in der schweizerischen Gesetzge-
bung. Br. Zurich, 1886.
Keller, A. Das Volksinitiativrecht nach den schweizerischen Kan-
tonsverfassungen. Br. Zurich, 1889.
Herzog, J. A. Das Referendum in der Schweiz. Br. Berlin, 1885.
Droz, N. Instruction Civique. 1 "vol. Geneva, Lausanne, 1885.
Marsauche, L- La Confe'de'ration Helve'tique. 1 vol. Neuchatel,
1890.
v. Orelli, A. Das Staatsrecht der schweizerischen Eidgenossen
schaft. Freiburg 1. Br. 1885.
Moses, B. The Federal Government of Switzerland. 1 vol. Oak
land, Cal., 1889.
Winchester, B. The Swiss Republic. 1 vol. Philadelphia, 1891.
Sullivan, J. W. Direct Legislation. 1 vol. New York, 1892.

INDEX.

Aar, 24, 62, 145, 156.
Aargau, 62, 123, 131, 160, 165, 209-
214.
Abbey of Nuns (Fraumiinster), 73,
102, 137, 138.
Ab Iberg, 91.
Adams, 355.
Adelaide, 50, 51.
Adolf, King, n 6-1 18, 120.
Aebli, 266.
Aegeri, 124, 151, 304.
' Aeppli, 14.
Agen, 21.
Alamanni, 28, 31-35, 48, 71, 111-
136. 137-
Albrecht, King. 85, 86, 1 16-120.
Alexander I., of Russia, 321.
AHobroges, 20.
Almend, 79, 117, 121, 148, 291.
Altdorf, 74, 101, 103.
Altenburg, 62.
Altstatten, 199, 200.
Alzellen, 106, 119.
Amiel, 292.
Ammann, 76, 78, 81, 131, 158, 195, 1
Ammianus Marcellinus, 28.
Andermatt, 311.
Anker, 51.
Anne, Queen, 119.
" Anne of Geierstein," 231.
Aosta, 24.
Appenzell, 193-201, 219, 295.
Arbedo, 209.
Arbon, 41, 199.
Armagnacs, 216.
Arnold, 91.
Articles of Agreement, 113, 114.
Attinghausen, 74, 91, 101, 103, 118.
Auerocks, 73.
Augst, 24, 25, 40.
Aurelian and Diocletian, 28.
Austria, title of Duke of, 86.
" Duke Albrecht, 143, 147, 15
152, 162, 163.

212 74,

96.

Austria, Catherine of, 165.
Duke Frederic, 120, 197-200,
210, 211.
Duke John, 119.
Duke Leopold I., 120, 123-125,
165. Duke Leopold III., 167-173.
Duke Rudolf IV., 164.
Duke Sigmund of, 221, 222.
Autun, 37.
Avenches or Aventicum, 24, 25-27, 28,
230.
Axenberg, 311.
Baar, 151.
Bad Peace (Fauler Friede), 215.
Baden, 24, 25, 76, 168, 209, 211, 279.
Balthazar, Felix, 93, 101.
Basel, 20, 30, 65, 165, 216, 238, 280, 326.
Baselwind, Theobald, 159.
Beglingen, 178.
Befiinzona, 209.
¦Berchtold, Abbot, 132.
Beckenried, 108,
Bergell, 266.
Bern, 57,86, 116, 152, 153, 154-161, 164,
184, 205, 211, 224, 298, 299, 301.
Bernouilli, 290.
Bertha, Queen, 49-53.
Besler, 102.
Berthelier, 272, 273.
Biber, Rudolf, 140.
Bibracte, 22.
Bicocca, 175, 176, 260.
Bienne, 15.
Bismarck, 357.
Black Forest, 222.
Bluntschli, 336.
Bodmer, 289.
Boniface, Archbishop, 60.
Bonivard, 272, 273, 274, 275.
Borromeo, 279.
Boston, 285.
Bourbaki, 355.

407

408

INDEX.

Bramberg, 159.
Brandenburg, 151, 152, 162.
Bregenz 41, 201.
Breitinger, 289.
Brief, 131, 138.
Bruderholz, 238.
Brugg, 24, 62, 169.
Brun, Rudolf, 140, 143, 145, 152, 162-
164.
" Bruno, 164.
Brune, 299, 300.
Briinig Pass, 157.
Brunnen, 126.
Bubenberg, 160, 217, 228, 229.
Bullinger, Heinrich, 270.
Burgdorf, 57, 166.
Burgundians, 31, 35, 36.
Burgundy, 48, 49, 53.
" Charles, the Bold, of, 104,
219-231.
Burkard, Duke, 43, 50, 54.
Burkart, Landammann, 91.
Biirglen, 74, 101.
Biirkli, K., 175.
Buttisholz, 166.
Byron, 26.
Calven, 238.
Calvin, 271-277.
Caecina, Allienus, 25.
Caesar, Julius, 21.
" Augustus, 23.
Carinthia, 86.
Casus, Sancti Galli, 42, 43.
Centenarius, 39.
Cham, 168.
Charles, the Great (Charlemagne), 45-
47-
" Martel, 45.
¦ " the Bold, 47.
" I-. 259-
" IV., 162, 164, 204.
" VII., 215.
Chartier, Jean, 217.
Childebert I., 37.
Childeric III., 45.
Chillon, 61.
Chivalry, age of, 63, 64.
Chlotar, I., II., III., 37, 39.
Chorheirenstift in Zurich, 45.
Chur, 24, 29, 51.
Clanx, 195.
Cloudesly, William of, 98, 99, 100.
Cigognier, 26.
Cisalpine Republic, 298.
Coloma, Julia Equestris (Nyon), 23, 24,
25.
Como, 24, 268.

Conflictus Laupensis, 160.
Conrad, King of Transjurane Burgundy,
5°. 52> 53-
" Mayor of Erstfeld, 91.
Conseil General de la terre du Valais,
204.
Constance, 14, 20, 24, 195, 200, 201,
210, 261.
Constantine, Greek emperor, 43.
Roman emperor, 29.
Coplingen, 61.
Coppet, 294.
Coucy, Enguerrand de, 165, 169.
" Matthiew de, 217.
Covenant of Stans (Stanser Verkomm-
nis), 232-235.
Crannogs, 16.
Cressier, 230.
Cronica de Berno, 160.
Crusades, 139.
Curchod, 293.
Curraetia, 48, 54.
Davel, 296.
De Saussure, 290.
De Tocgueville, 352.
Devil's Bridge, 311.
Diessbach, Nicolas von, 221, 224.
Diets (Tagsatzungen), 189.
Dissentis, 44, 74, 207.
Divico, 21, 22.
Dofflingen, 182.
Domitian and Trojan, 27.
Domleschg, 206.
Domo d'Ossola (Eschenthal), 209.
Dornach, 238.
Dornbiihl, 156.
Dutch Confederation, 115, 285.
Ecorcheurs or Schinder, 216.
Einsiedeln, 78, 79, 86, 120, 121, 123, 145,
168, 218.
Ekkehart, I., II. and IV., 42, 43, 44.
Eleonora, Queen of England, 60, 61.
Elizabeth, Queen, 120.
Elsass, 62, 63, 132, 160, 222.
Engadin, 206.
Engelberg, 83, 84.
Englander Hiigel, 166.
Entlebuch, 168, 233, 296.
Erchanger and Berchtold,
Erlach, 160, 299.
Erstfeld, 74, 91.
Este, Marquis of, 168.
Eto, Abbot, 73.
Etterlin, 133, 227.
Faenza, 79.

INDEX.

409

Falkenstein, Thomas of, 21 6.
Farel, 274, 275.
Faensburg, 216.
Ferney, 293.
Fichte, 290.
Figlerfluh, 125.
Fiscalini, 136.
Flims, 207. .
Flue, Nicholas von der, 234.
Forest States, 71,72, 85, 86, 117, 118,
120, 121, 126, 265.
Francis I., 259, 267.
Frastenz 238.
Fraubrunnen, 166.
Freeman, Ed. A., 184, 220, 231, 234.
Frederic Barbarossa, 63.
" II., 56, 63, 79, 85, 137, 154.
" III., Emperor, 214, 215.
Freising, Otto von, 137.
Freudenberger, 93, 285.
Fribourg, 57, 156, 158, 159, 177, 233,
265, 271.
Frutigen, 158.
Fiirst, 107, 108.
Gaesatae, 20.
Gais, 194, 199.
Galba, 25.
Gallus, 41, 42.
Gaul, 136.
Geneva, 20, 22, 29, 31, 45, 224, 271-
291.
Geneva Convention, 189.
Gersau, 130.
Gessler, 96, 97, 102, 103, 106.
Gessner, 290.
Gibbon, 289, 293.
Giornico, 233.
Godomar, 37.
Goethe, 290.
Golden League, 279.
Goschenen, 75.
Gourze, 51.
Glarus, 75, 86, 148-150, 152, 164, 177-
180, 184, 186, 207, 214, 219, 264.
Gloucester, Earl of, 82.
Grandson, 225-228.
Graubiinden, or Grisons, 20, 31, 193,
206, 207, 237, 264, 268.
Grauholz, 299.
Gregory VII., Pope, 55.
X., Pope, 86.
Greifensee, 215.
Grimaud, Abbe, 202.
Grimsel Pass, 145.
Grinau, 143.
Grindelwald, 57.
Grosse Moos, 15.

Grossmiinster in Zurich, 45, 136, 164,
259.
Gruyeres, 158, 229.
Gugler, 165, 166.
Guilds, 141, 142.
Gumminen, 157.
Gundoldingen, Peter von, 164, 172.
Gustavus, Adolphus, 279.
Gwalther, Rudolf, 175.
Habsburg, Count Rudolf, III. (Emperor
Rudolf I.), 60, 63-65, 76, 77, 81,
87, 116, 144, 149, 154.
" 55, 62-66, 75, 79, 82, 168, 209.
Hagenbach, 223, 224.
Haller, Albrecht, 290.
Haller, Berchtold, 264.
Haller, Emanuel von, 93, 290.
Hanseatic League, 70.
Harald Bluetooth, King, 98, 99.
Hasle, 156, 1 58.
Hatto Bishop, 45.
Hauptlisberg, 199.
Hedwig, Duchess of Alamannia, 43, 54.
Helvetian Society, 291.
Helvetii and Helvetia, 20-2S, 112.
Hemmerlin, 95, 1,03.
Henry I , Emperor, 53.
" III., King of England, 60.
" IV., Emperor, 55, 56, 79.
" VII., " 76, 120, 121, 158.
Henzi, 296.
Herodotus, 16.
Hessen, Philip of, 267.
Hericourt, 224.
Hermann, Chronicler, 73.
Hilarius, 148.
Hildigard, 73.
Hildisrieden, 169.
Hippocrates, 16.
Hochberg, 168.
Hohenstauffen, 137.
Hohen-Zollem, 168.
Hohle Gasse, 97, 101.
Horace, 23.
Horige, 38.
Huguenots, 273.
Hugues, 272-274
Handwil, 194.
Hunn, 91.
Iceland, 98.
levan ap Eynion, 165.
Imhof, Johann, 101.
Immunity, 47.
Indians, American, 112, 114.
Institute of Canons, 136.
Institutis Religionis Christianae, 276.

410

INDEX.

Irish Church, 40, 42.
Irmengarde, 52.
Iselin, 290.
Joan, daughter of Edward I., King of
England, 82.
John XXIII., Pope, 2to.
" Joyous band of the mad life," 233.
Julia, Alpinula, 26.
Julian, Emperor, 28.
Jura, 15, 20, 21, 31, 36, 165.
Justinger, 57, 95, 126, 160.
Kander, 158.
Kappel, 266, 268, 269.
Karlmann, 45.
Karolinum, 45.
Kastoogt, 74, 75, 84, 86,
Keller, Dr. Ferdinand, 15,18.
Kerenzen Mountain, 178.
Kiburg, 59, 157, 166.
Kirk, J. F., 219, 221.
Klausen Pass, 75.
Klingenberg Chronicle, 197.
Klopstock, 290.
Knechte, 38.
Konigsfelden, 120, 172.
Konstaffel, 141, 142, 185.
Kopp, Joseph Eutych, 94.
Kugelhiite, 165.
Kunzo, Duke, 41.
Kupferschmied, Conrad, 201.
Kiissnacht, 81, 96, 97, 103, 118.
La Harpe, 297, 298, 309.
Lake Dwellers, 14-19.
La Lance Chartreuse, 226.
Landammann, 76, 82, 91, 118, 119, 177.
Landenberg or Landenburg, 105, 107,
108.
Landrath, 195.
Landsgemeinde, 117, 177, 184, 195, 260.
Landrect, 196, 201, 205.
Land tenure, 117, 190.
La Soie, castle of, 204.
La Tine, 17.
Laupen, 159, 160.
Lausanne, 86, 275.
Lavater, 289, 290.
League above the Lake, 200.
" of the House of God, 206.
" of the Ten Jurisdictions, 206,
207.
" of the Grey or Upper, 206.
Leibeigene, 38.
Lenzburg, 62, 75, 78, 79, 137.
Les DHices, 293.
Letsi, 158, 178, 179, 180, 196, 199, 200.

Leuenberger, 283, 284.
Leventina, Val (Livinen), 208, 209.
Liebenau, von, 173.
Limburg, 173.
Limmat, 24, 41, 136.
Lindenhof, 136.
Linth, 180.
Lombard League, 70.
Lorraine, Duke of, 168, 229, 231.
Lothar, King of Italy, 50.
King, 47, 48, 49.
Louis XI., 216, 221, 223, 224.
•' XIV., 284, 285.
Lowerz, Lake of, 103, 108.
Liibeck, 173.
Ludwig, the German, 47, 48, 73, 136.
" King, 120, 127, 158, 159.
Luther, 267.
Luxemburg, 119.
Luzern, 63, 80,83, 86, 129-135, 167, 168,
184, 185, 211.
" Lake of, 15, 69, 70, 75, 90, 126.
Maderaner, Thai, 108.
Maggenberg, 160.
Mahnung, 130.
Manuel, Nicholas, 265.
Marburg, 267.
Markgenossenschaft, 75, 78, 83.
Martigny, 24, 203.
Massacre, Night of, 134, 143.
Maurienne, family of, 59.
Major (Meier), 74, 149.
Maximianus, Emperor, 29.
Maximilian I., 237.
Mazze or mazza, 205.
Medici, G. G., 268.
Meierholz, 169.
Melchi or Melche, 104, 105, 107, 108.
Melchthal, 104.
Menzingen, 151.
Milan, 24, 220.
Ministeriales, 136.
Moliere, 51.
Mollis, 178, 180.
Moudon, 51.
Morat, 15, 53, 57, 158, 228-231.
Morgarten, 94, 108, 123-128, 133, 144,
147, 149, 165, 167, 177, 178.
Morge de Couthey, la, 203.
Morschach, 78.
M6tiers, 292.
Mulhausen, 219, 222, 223.
Miiller, Johannes von, 93, 285, 290
Miilner, Eberhard, 141, 144, 151, 162,163.
Miinchenwiler, 230.
Muota Valley, 78.
Muralt, E. von, 71.

INDEX.

4.11

Murbach, Abbey, 86, 131, 132.
Muri, Abbey of, 62.
Musso, 268.
Multenz, 216.
Nafels, 177-180, 182, 190, 195.
Nageli, 275.
Nancy, 217 224, 231.
Napoleon, 297, 298, 308.
Nassau, Count of, 168.
Neuchatel, 15,^51, 52, 216, 271, 276, 296.
Neu-Habsburg, 81.
New England, 112.
Niebuhr, 92.
Nidau, 160.
Nidwalden, 80, 83, 84, 107, 119.
Norway, 98.
Notker, 42, 43
Oberhalbstein, 206.
Oberland, Bernese, 157, 159.
Obermeilen, 14.
Oberwangen, 156.
Obwalden, 80, 83, 84, 107, 108, 119.
Ochs, 297.
Oedisriet, Rudolf von, 119.
Oekonomische Gesellschaft, 291.
Oelemberg, 80.
Olten. Ordonnances Ecclesiastiques, 277.
Orgetorix, 2r.
Othmar, abbot, 42.
Otto, the Great, 50, 51.
Ottocar, King of Bohemia, 86.
Palafittes, 16.
Palatinate, 285.
Panigarola, 225, 231.
Pas de l'Ecluse, 22.
Patricius, 39.
Payerne, 51, 53.
Peace, the Evil, 177, 178.
Peasants' War, 283, 284.
Perpetual Peace (Ewige Richtung), 223.
Pestalozzi, 289, 290.
Pfalz, 136, 137.
Pfaffers, 78, 86.
Pfyffer, 278.
Pipin, 44, 45.
Pius II. (Alneas Sylvius Piccolomini),
217, 222.
Plaits, 204.
Praeses, 39.
Pragel Pass, 148, 179.
Prangins, 293.
Pratteln, 206.
Priest's Charter (Pfaffenbrief) 164, 165,
187, 234.

"Quentin Durward", 231.
Rapperswil, 86, 143, 144, 146, 152, 168.
Rath, 131.
Rarogne, 204, 205.
Rathert, 43.
Raurioi, 20.
Rautiberg, 179.
Raziins, 207.
Raeti and Raetia, 20, 23, 24, 31, 39, 136,
206.
Raye, 168.
Reding, 296, 303.
Regensburg, 163.
Regler, 75.
Reichenau, 44, 73.
Reichsunmittelbarkeit, 47, 70, 72, 81, 131,
137. 154. 157. I58-
Remedius, 45.
Reuss, 24, 62, 131.
Rheinfelden, 56.
Rhine league, 70, 182.
Rhone, 202, 203.
Rigi, 69.
Rondohamps, 225.
Rossini. 92.
Rothenburg, 131, 168, 169.
Rotzburg, 107.
Rousseau, 289, 292, 293.
Rudolf IL, King of Burgundy, 49, 52.
Riitli, 107, 108, 109.
Sachseln, 234.
Salm, Count of, 168.
Salomon, Bishop, 54.
Sarnen, 83, 104, 105, 107, 108.
Sattel Pass, 123, 124.
Satzungsbrief, 177.
Savoy, 55, 59-61.
Sabandia, 20, 31, 35.
Saleve, 13.
Sarine or Saane, 57, 158, 230.
Sax, 207.
Saxo Grammaticus, 98, 99, 100.
Saxon, 204.
Schachenthal, 74.
Schaddorf, ioi.
Schaffhausen, 219, 222, 238.
Schauenberg, 299, 305.
Scheffel, 43.
Schibi, 283, 284.
Schiller, 85, 92, 94, 109.
Schilling, 227, 234.
Schinner (Cardinal), 241.
Schinznach, 291.
Schlosshalden, 86.
Schon, 181.
Schorno, 124.

412

INDEX.

Schneismgen, 179.
Schultheiss, 39, 129, 131, 133, 137, 155,
157, 164, 172, 185.
Schiissenried, 18.
Schanau, 103, 107
Schwiz, 4^ '
89,

296, 303.
Scott, Walter, 231.
Seckingen, 148, 149.
Seedorf, 103.
Sempach, 81, 167-176, 177, 178, 195.
" Covenant of, 181, 188.
Sendgrafen, 45. ¦
Sen tis, 193.
Sequani, 20.
Servetus, 277.
Sigisbert, 44.
Sigismund, 37, 210, 211.
Sigmund, 223.
Silenen, 74, 91.
" Jost von, 221, 224.
Simmenthal, 158.
Sierre, 203.
Sion, 156, 203, 205.
Solothurn, 24, 29, 1 56, 1 57, 1 58, 1 59,
166, 181, 233, 265.
Speicher, 196.
Spiez, 158.
Spliigen Pass, 24.
St. Andreas, 168.
" Beatus, 29.
" Bernard, 24, 61.
" Columba, 40.
" Felix and Regula, 29, 73, 75.
" Gallen, 40, 42-44. 45» 5'> 54. 86, 93,
193-201, 219.
" Gothard, 129, 145, 148, 187, 208.
" Jacob, an der Birs, 216, 217, 219.
" " " " Sihl, 215.
" Ledger, 83, 131.
" Maurice, 29, 45, 49.
" Martin, 82.
" Omer, 222, 223.
" Pirmin, 44.
" Pierre, 292.
" Urbaine, 230.
" Ursus, 29, 157.
'• Ulrichen, 205.
" Vincent, 160.
Stael, 289. 294.
Stans, 83, 174.
Stanzerhorn, 83,
Stauffacher, 91, 96, 103, 104, 106, 107,
108, 118, 119, 121.
Stem, 211.
Steinach, 41.

Steinen, 106, 119.
Stocken, 126.
Stoffeln, 195, 197, 200.
Stoss, 199-200.
Strand, the (London), 60.
Strattlingen, 158.
Stiissi, 215.
Styria, 86.
Suetonius, 27.
Sursee, 169.
Swabian league, 70, 160, 167, 182, 195,
210. 237.
Swiss Club, 296.
" Guard, 297.
Sworn Brief, 132, 141-143, 165, 181, 185.
Tacitus, 25, 27, 46.
Tavelli, 204.
Tell, William, 92-104, r76, 285.
Teufen, 194.
Thayngen, 13.
Theck, 168.
Thorwaldsen, 297.
Theobald, 73.
Theodebert, 40.
Theodore, 29, 203.
Theodoric, 37.
Thierstein, 229.
Thorberg, 164.
Thur, 145.
Thurgau, 59, 71, 200, 222, 264.
Thun, 29, 57, 157, 158.
Thurn von Gestelen, 158.
Tiberius, 23.
Ticino, 20, 23, 31, 37, 208, 296.
Tigorini, 21, 22.
Titlis, 83.
Tbdi, 148.
Toggenburg, 178, 207, 213, 214, 296.
Toko, 98, 99, 100.
Tougenes, 21.
Trogen, 196.
Troglodytes, 13.
Tschudi, 76, 109, 148, 278.
Tuggen, 41.
Tuotilo, 43.
Turicum, 136.
Unterseen, 157.
Unterwalden, 47, 63, 64, 69, 70, 72, 80,
83, 84, 85, 87-89, 91, 104, no,
119, 184.
Urbarbuck of Habsburg, 86.
Uri, 47, 64, 69, 70, 72, 73-77, 85, 87-89,
90, 104, no, 116, 119, 120, 184.
Urnasch, T94-
Urner Boden, 148.
Urnerloch, 187.

INDEX.

413

Uifseren, 74, 108.
Vadianus (Joachim von Watt), 93, 264.
Valais, 20, 23, 24, 29, 60, 193, 202-206.
271.
Val Tellina, 297.
Valerianus, 27.
Varese, 208.
Vaud, 60, 160, 224, 271.
Vazerof, 207.
Verdun, 47, 49.
Vergy, 168.
Verona, 57.
Vespasian, 27.
Vevey, 24.
Via detra, 226.
Viberi, 20.
Vierwaldstattersee, 129.
Villingen, 56.
Villeneuve, 13, 61.
Vindelici, 20.
Vincent, 186.
Vindonissa, 33, 40.
Visp, 204.
Vita Sancti Galli, 40.
Vitellius, 25.
Vitznau, 130.
Vitoduranus, 25, 123, 141.
Vogelinsegg, 196, 197.
Voltaire, 289, 291, 293.
Waldmann, 229. 236.
Waldsheet, 222.
Walensee, 24, 178.
Wart, 120.
Waser, 296.
Waterloo Bridge, 60.

Werdenberg-Heiligenberg, 198, 206.
Weggis, 130.
Wergeld, 39.
Weissenburg, 157, 158.
Werdenberg-Sargans, 178, 180.
Wesen, 177, 178, 180.
Westphalia, Treaty of, 114, 230, 280.
Wettingen, 74.
Wetzikon, 13.
Wilchingen, 296.
Willisau, 169.
Wimmis, 158.
Windisch, 24,-119. ^
Winkelried, 83, 171, 173-176.
Winterthur, 50, 59.
Worms, Diet of, 237.
Wiilpelsberg, 62.
Wiirttemberg, 151, 182.
Yverdon, 292.
Zaeringen, Dukes of, 55-58, 75, 137,
154. 203.
Zehute, 204.
Zellweger, 295.
Zofingen, 169.
Zug, 71, 150, 151, 152, 164, 184, 185,
186, 233, 295.
Zur or Der Franen, 107, 108, 172.
Zurich, 14, 15, 29, 32, 41, 45, 56, 64, 73,
90, 116, 118, 136-146, 162-164,
184, 285, 213-215.
Ziirichberg, 137.
Zurichgau, 71, 74, 75, 78, 79, 84, 137.
Zur Lauben, 295.
Zwingli, 270.
Zwing Uri or Twing Uren, 107, 108.

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