_n_n-ji_n_n_n_n_n_n_n-. REESE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. O./.s.s THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC A HISTORY BY W. D. McCRACKAN, M. A. AUTHOR OF " ROMANCE AND TEUTONIC SWITZERLAND," ETC. SECOND EDITION, RE VISED AND ENLARGED or THE ( UNIVERSITY ) NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1901 COPYRIGHT, 1892, 1901, BY WILLIAM D. MCCRACKAN All rights reserved THIS VOLUME IS DEDICA TED TO MY DEAR WIFE THE CONSTANT COMPANION OF MY TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES AND MY TRUEST CRITIC AND ADVISER. INTRODUCTION. '"THE 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 INTRODUCTION. 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 resemblajice in institutions to the United States." 1 In recent years, by what seems like an extraordinary revival of interest, several books have appeared in English devoted to the elucidation of Swiss political institutions, but the history of the country has not always received scientific treatment. It is, in fact, the misfortune of Swiss history, that although very little is popularly known about it, that little is almost invariably incorrect. The sub- ject has so long lain neglected in the literary garret that cobwebs have gathered over it and obscured the truth. There is a widespread but vague idea that a regularly organized republic has existed in the Alps from 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 1815. 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. AFTER. PAGE. I. The Lake Dwellers 13 II. Helvetia and the Roman Occupation . . . 20 III. The Teutonic Ancestors of the Swiss . . 31 IV. The Supremacy of the Franks .... 38 V. Queen Bertha of Burgundy .... 49 VI. The House of Zaeringen 55 VII. The House of Savoy 59 VIII. The House of Habsburg 62 BOOK II. THE CONFEDERATION OF EIGHT STATES. I. The Origin of the Swiss Confederation II. Uri III. Schwiz IV. Unterwalden V. The First Perpetual League .... VI. The Legend of William Tell .... VII. Other Legends VIII. The Origin of the Swiss Confederation and of the United States Compared .... IX. The Confederates against Habsburg-Austria X. The Battle of Morgarten XI. Luzern XII. Zurich Alii. Glarus and Zug ....... XIV. Bern XV. Invasion of the Gugler and Feud with Kiburg . XVI. The Battle of Sempach XVII. The Battle of Nafels XVIII. Constitutional Organization of the Confederation of Eight States ix 69 73 78 83 85 92 IO S in 116 123 129 136 '47 J 54 162 J6 7 177 x CONTENTS. BOOK III. THE CONFEDERATION AT THE HEIGHT OF ITS MILITARY POWER. CHAPTER. PACK. 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. Twentieth-Century Switzerland .... 364 Appendix 373 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 Sal eve 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. 2 De 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 Schiissenried 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 into 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 War 1 ; 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 1'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 MOHAN 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 Ode XIV, 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 Pennine) 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 L, 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 skin-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 r.eoccupied 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 by the 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 degradation, 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. ixv, ii. 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 Thebai's 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 SO 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 Roman sch 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," /. e. of the sacred grove, while Joh. Meyer as equivalent to "All men" (nniversi 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 Alamarmi took in possession at that time, are Teutonic in origin, while the few Celto-Roman designations, which were retained, were completely Teutonized, e. g. t 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 (Einzelhofe). 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 (hofe) 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 in 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 Ae'tius. 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 A lamannorum. 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 (medii), 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 Knechte or Leibeigene for the bondmen and Horige 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 Prank- 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 Prankish 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 lona, 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 Dandliker 1 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 by 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 Prankish 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 (Chorherrenstift) 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 Bald 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 Prankish 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 te^tps que reine Berthe filait, which is equivalent to our saying of "good old times." It recall* 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 Trans ju- 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 L, 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 and valu- able architectural remains of Switzerland. 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 mantle 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. 5a 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 II., 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 Winterthur, 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 55 5b 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 II., 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 1127 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 II., had founded Freiburg in Baden, after the model of Cologne, and his descendant Berchtold IV., now in 1176, or 1178, 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, iDandliker, Geschichte der Schweiz. Vol. I, p. 633. 2 Vol. 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 1218 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 1 263 - 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 of 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- 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 Habicktsburg 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 1135. 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 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 Ziirichgau 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 #ame 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 commu- 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 of 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 (Reichsunmittelbarkeif), 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 equality, 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 Ziirichgau 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 Muralt 1 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 (Fraumun- ster) in Ziirich 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 (vied) 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. ~ 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 (quislibet 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 Ziirichgau 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, Burglen, 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 URL 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 1 1 72, 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 1218 the family of Zaeringen died out, the Emperor Frederic II. made several changes in the Ziirichgau. Amongst others he took the land of Uri from the jurisdiction of the imperial bailiff of the Zurich nunnery, without, how- ever, affecting 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 1231 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 (iiniversis 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 feoff ment or by mort- gage (per concessioner* 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 . . . ." J 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 (Amtmami) 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 5. 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. URL 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 etjurd), 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 fyf the land, however, was in the hands of free peasants, paying the Count of the Ziirichgau 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 Vb'get und Schirmer der vorgenanden Luten von Schwitz)? 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 Ziirichgau. At the division of the Habsburg inheritance in 1232, Schwiz fell to his son Rudolf II., 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. 403-404. 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 hommes 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 "* 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 Unterwalclen (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- 1 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 L, 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 Ziirichgau. 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 1281 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. 1886. pp. 738-739. CHAPTER IV. UNTERWALDEN. THROUGH probably the first of the three Forest States to 1 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, 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 Ziirichgau. 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 autonomy, 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 Car- 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 pretexts for 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 I5th of July, 1291, 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, i. 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 vallts 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 aro not known. THE FIRST PERPETUAL LEAGUE. 89 before whom he ought properly to appear, u. 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 nai've declaration of this group of unpretentious patriots, for the perpetual pact remained the fundamental statute-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 Zurich, 1 and the names of their representatives 1 Oechsli, W. QuellenbucH. p. 50. THE FIRST PERPETUAL LEAGUE. 91 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 role 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-devoi>r- 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. 1 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, "IShistoire de la pomme est bien suspccte" ; and in his Essai sur les Mceurs, "II semble quon ait cru devoir orner d'une fable le berceau de la liberte" helve- tique"* A momentary sensation was created in 1760 by a pamphlet entitled Der Wilhelm Tell, Ein Danisches Mdhrgen, wnich 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. 2 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 expost 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 firft 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 1315, 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.' "* 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 name 1 ]. Now Tall was a good archer; he had also pretty children, ^^j^e the lord sent for, and forced Tall with his servants tfjpHlpmust shoot an apple from the head of one of his chmdre^F for the lord set the apple upon the child's head. NowTTall Bw well that he was mastered, and took an arrow and put it io 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 Retf]. 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. 2 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 Gern^^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 s'ervice, 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 arrow. 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 self e, 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 I '" 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 Burglen, 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 (PfarrbucJt) 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 Burglen, 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 Kussnacht, is first mentioned in I57> and the one at Burglen 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 1569 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 role 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- iber of that family is mentioned as holding any office whatso- Wer 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 1510 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 I 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, Stoupaeher; 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 dent 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/;^ 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." 1 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- 1 Dandliker, K. Geschichte. Vol. I., p. 637. * 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 fearlier 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 Riitli 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, wliat 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. T1ISTORICAL analogies are apt to be misleading because 1 1 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 111 112 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- phernalia 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 1 29 1. L_ 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 the 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. (&s 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 m ^ e same manner the Declaration of ORIGIN OF THE SWISS CONFEDERATION. 115 Independence, enunciated by the thirteen colonies in 1776, 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 oi theTAustralian 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 of federalism. It would be invidious to award the palm to either. CThe 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.Cjt 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, ^o-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 HABSB UEG-A U STRIA. Ill 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 Forest 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 hasf 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-j 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 I 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 I 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 Ziirich. 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-AU STRIA. 119 as 1275, during the reign of Rudolf L, Stauffacher had per- sisted in demanding taxes of the nunnery at Stein en, 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 Landsgemeinde 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, and who opposed the monopoly of land. Certain it is that this patriot rilled the office of chief magis- trate in 1304. 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 1313, 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 AGAINST HABSBURG-AU STRIA. 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 Cap- 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 1315 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." 1 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 espoused 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 1 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 1 5th 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: "Liipold, 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 ! " l 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 Qth of December, 1315, 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 JDandliker, 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 /th 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 1315, 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 (Maknung} 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. 1 Oechsli, 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. It sought to possess the ReicJisunmittelbarkeit. The Abbot governed in the capacity of owner 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 Biirgermeister 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- LUZEEN.\* J 133 X&/FORHAX 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 1315, 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 righting 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." * The above episode in the history of Luzern is known as the Night of the Massacre (Mordnachf}. 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. "\TINETEEN years elapsed before the Confederation re- 1 N 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 Qth 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 y 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 ministerialist 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 settlenfcent, a community 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 Suevics oppidum" and quoted an ancient inscription over one of the city gates, "Nobile Turegum y multarum 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 political insignificance, and Zurich flourished as 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 by the German term, "nicht regiments-fahig" 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 of 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 Ziirich 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 Mulner, 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 Burgermeister, 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 1 6th 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 Burgermeister 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 Burgermeister, 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 afford 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 (Ztmftmeister), and the thirteen guildmasters became ex-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 J Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 75. ZVRICH. 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. Mulner 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 1st of May, 1351, 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 1 Oechsli, 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 and 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 H absburg- Au stria. 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 1351, 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 Zurich, 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 Zurich, 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 2/th 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 Wiirttemburg. 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 Wiirttemburg 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 Ziirich 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 II., in 1218. 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 (Bilr- 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. BEEN. 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 1310. 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 to 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 Bcrno, 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 Ziirich 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 admitted. 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 Zurich, 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 GUGLERFEUD WITH KIBUBG. 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 his 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 Grossmtinster 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 (Kugelkute) 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 Huge!, 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 1415. CHAPTER XVI. THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH. 1 THAT growth of unity, of a national policy amongst the Confederates, which had reasserted itself after Brim'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-Lauff enburg ; 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 Qth 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 Austrian s 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 could 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. 171 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." l 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. 1 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 Unterwalden. 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 question. The name of Winkelried does not occur in the earliest 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, I'll do a daring deed.' 1 Referring, probably, to the fact that the men of Unterwalden were, in a sense, military guests of Luzern, in whose territory the battle of Sempach was fought. THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH. 175 "'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 will force an opening, Because to my descendants You'll make amends forever 1' " 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 ; His 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. 1 Oechsli, W. Quellenbuch. p. 107-108. 176 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC. tristling 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 pent" 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 J Ochsli, 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 25,00x3 men, determined not to move until he had reduced the stronghold. The siege began on the Qth 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 Giimminen, 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 KISE 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 J>hd. 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." l 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. I, 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 1481, this assembly of delegates drew up a charter, which was known as "The Covenant of Stans " (Stanser 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 Burgermeister of Zurich. 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 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 1501, 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 fted 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. "Point d* argent, point de Suisse" 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, " Point d 'argent ', point de Suisse" 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 for 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 1513, 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 role 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 ako 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 Pact of 1815. The short-lived constitution of the Helvetic Republic, in 1798, and the Act of Mediation, 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 tne 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." 2 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. QWITZERLAND has always been too insignificant in point O 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 Pfaffenbrief which concerned the Federation at large. To this day the parishes of Canton Uri, for example, distinctly Ultramontane thougfy 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 of 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 parish priest of that pilgrimage town. 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 (Grossmunster), at Zurich, where his career as a religious Reformer really began. CHAPTER II. ZWINGLI IN ZURICH. ON New Year's Day, 1519, 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 hia 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 sh'own 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 ! "* 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. Zvvingli 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 Ziirich 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 i6th 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. l 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 Zurich 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 mele"e 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 inti 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 of European history. It was only natural, therefore, that she should feel the exhilar- ation of new aspirations, when the 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, living 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 i/th 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. I4th, 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, tne 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 conference 1 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, tne 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 an d our own Ameri- can Civil War, of 1861-1864. 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 2Qth 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 3Oth 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- ziige y and to adopt no new articles into the constitution, which were not approved by all the members of the Confederation. On the ^th 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 denned 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. ^JThe 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 Ru'ttiman, the author of a work 1 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 b'e 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 dso^ujTanteed 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 glamour, in that hour the decline of the nation will have begun. CHAPTER IX. RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES IN THE CANTONS AND THE CONFEDERATION. "TJERHAPS the most encouraging feature of modern Swiss 1 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 338 RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES. 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. y 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. O&Qiile 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. LCaken 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, are suffering, not only from deep-seated economic and social diseases, of which, perhaps, the most alarming symptom is the concentration of wealth intp^the hands of a- few, but from the rule of^tBe Boss, and from the lamentable fact that_the people ,at_Jarge 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. C 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. J 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 thejobby. Under its beneficent influ- ence politics cease to be a trade ; for the power of the politi- cians is curtailed and there is no mbney 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 adventurejrs. [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. /Jt 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- r 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 himi teow 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 witlLa nejy rMgnity 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 owers 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 and 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.J) 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 citizens, 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, 1891 and 1892, an instrument still somewhat im- perfect, pc rhaps, but none the less suggestive to the student. There a e 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 s 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 the 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 until recently had no counterparts in our own country, unless we except the somewhat unwieldy provisions in various States for the revisions of their constitutions by popular vote, and the general right of petition. It is undoubtedly the most success- ful 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 Federal Polytechnic School 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." 1 Mr. George Grote 2 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- endi'm 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. 2 Grote, G. Seven Letters concerning the Politics of Switzerland in 1847. 9 Dicey, . 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 1815 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 tne ^ mQ f tne 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, also 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. O. 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 may be 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 Wesselhoef t 2 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. or THE UNIVERSITY 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- 1 Hilty. 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 reach 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 cf 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 1899, numbered no less than 509,707 men, although the total population of the country is little over 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 1871, 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 Mhre 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 so, 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. CHAPTER XII. TWENTIETH-CENTURY SWITZERLAND. THE twentieth century finds Switzerland progressing along the lines laid down by her people during the second half of the nineteenth. She is solving her political problems accord- ing to the principles of direct government, and her social and economic difficulties according to her national motto, " All *. for Each and Each for All," Her success has attracted the attention of thinkers in many countries, and her example has stimulated the efforts of earnest reformers everywhere. She has demonstrated the practicability of the Referendum, the Initiative, and Propor- tional Representation. She has shown the world the advan- tages of holding large tracts of land in common, and how to maintain an efficient army with the minimum of professional soldiers. She has established a Federal alcohol monopoly, and her government ownership of the telegraph and telephone systems has proved so satisfactory, that she has decided to extend it also to the railroads. Although her area is not even one-third as great as the State of New York, and fully one-third of her territory is hope- lessly unproductive, being covered with mountain ranges, < glaciers and lakes, nevertheless, with the opening of the new century, her population has passed the three-million mark. Although she possesses not a single coal-mine, nor a foot of sea- coast, and is obliged to import her raw materials against high freight charges and often against hostile tariffs, yet she is making rapid progress in manufacturing and trade, and in the . arts and sciences. The signs of orderly well-being multiply on * every hand. Contentment and good cheer reign in the little Republic. Among the causes which have contributed to this substan- tial progress some are political, and some social and economic, 364 TWENTIETH-CENTURY SWITZERLAND. 365 but undoubtedly the temper of mutual helpfulness which charac- terizes the Swiss has helped mightily to bring all reforms to full fruition. The Referendum and the Initiative have already been ex- plained in a previous chapter. A word may, therefore, be said here concerning Proportional Representation. Students of the representative system of government have long since observed certain flaws in its practical application. It has been calculated, for instance, that no less than two-fifths of the voters are unrepresented in the Parliament of England, in the Congress of the United States, and in the Federal As- sembly of Switzerland. It has been found that parties are rarely represented according to their numerical strength. It is to correct these injustices that various systems of Proportional Representation have been proposed. Ideal conditions may be illustrated by the following example : Suppose an imaginary state is to elect ten representatives with 1,000 votes. Then every party which can muster one- tenth of the total, or 100 votes, ought to be entitled to one rep- resentative. The number of votes divided by the number of representatives to be elected is called the electoral quotient. In this case it is 100. If this imaginary state contains 400 Re- publicans, 300 Democrats, 200 Populists, and 100 Prohibi- tionists, its legislature ought to be composed of 4 Republicans, 3 Democrats, 2 Populists, and I Prohibitionist. Under present conditions the Populists and Prohibitionists could not elect their candidates at all, while the slight preponderance of Republicans over Democrats would probably allow the former to sweep the state. The manner in which Proportional Representation was in- troduced into Switzerland is not without interest. To the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino belongs the honor of adopt- ing this reform in 1891, although the nation at large had de- bated it for years. There had been for some time a good deal of bickering and quarreling between the two principal parties in Ticino, the Con- servatives and the Liberals, but the main cause of dissension 366 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC. was the glaringly unjust representation of the two parties in the Grand Council, which is the single assembly of the canton. The official figures for the election of representatives to that house on the 3d of March, 1889, were as follows : There were 112 deputies to elect ; of these the Conservatives with 12,653 ballots returned seventy-seven members, while the Liberals with 12,008 (a handful less) returned only thirty-five. Out of a total vote of 24,671 it was calculated that 9,157 were unrepre- sented. Finally, in September of 1890, an insurrection broke out which led to the overthrow of the Conservative Government. After a provisional government had restored order, it was soon seen that the only way of ending the strife in Ticino was to adopt some form of Proportional Representation. This was done, and since then the cantons Neuchatel, Geneva, Zug, Fri- bourg, Basel, Luzern, and Solothurn have followed the example of Ticino with most satisfactory results. It will not be long before the Federal Assembly itself is elected on this same prnciple. The plan introduced into Switzerland is that of the Free List, with local variations. Each party establishes its list of candidates, which must be officially certified. Each elector has as many votes as there are candidates to be elected. No cumu- lation of votes is permitted, but provision is made for marking preferences. In counting ballots, the judges are obliged to as- certain the number of votes cast for each party and for each candidate, as well as to determine the electoral quotient. Each party elects as many representatives as it has received electoral quotients. If there are places left over after this process, they are assigned to the party polling the largest vote. t'j \ Turning now to an economic subject, what has Switzer- land to say upon the Land Question ? Nothing final, it is true, but the treatment of public, common lands in that coun- try is full of suggestions. The Swiss people have from the earliest times operated a crude system of communism in their midst. In the valleys they set apart almends, or commons, and in the mountains alps, TWENTIETH-CENTURY SWITZERLAND. 367 or summer pastures, for the use of the community. By this means a part, at least, of the land in every gemeinde, or com- mune, has not been allowed to fall into the hands of private owners, but has been reserved for public use. We have a reminiscence of this in the commons of England and New England, though the resemblance does not go very far ; for the Swiss almend, in its wider sense, consists of forest, pasture, and meadow land, and, according to the nature of the ground, sometimes also of marshy land for rushes and peat. In spring the cattle are driven up into the mountains, and take possession of the pastures as the snow recedes, reaching their highest feeding-ground at the end of August. The tech- nical term for these grazing lands, alps, is to be carefully dis- tinguished from the general name of Alps, spelt with a capital letter, and given to the great mountain range that traverses Europe. The use of these summer pastures goes back to the period of the earliest settlements. In fact, remains of ancient huts have been found, known locally as Heidenhuttchen, which seem to date from Raeto-Roman times, before the advent of Germanic tribes into Switzerland. There are between 4000 and 5000 regular alps throughout the length and breadth of the country. It is only natural, therefore, that the manner of using them should vary very much. In some cantons they are managed collectively by the communes, in others they are rented out to private individuals. As a rule each citizen has the right to send up a certain num- ber of cows for the summer, and on specified days the average yield and total production of each cow is computed, so that the proper division of the resulting butter and cheese may be made. By treating at least some of the total supply of land as common property, the Swiss not only exclude the possibility of the complete monopolization of land by a small coterie of landowners, but at the same time provide themselves with a safe and equitable system of revenue to be expended for pub- lic purposes. It is principally owing to this system that the 368 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC. Swiss gemeinden, or communes, are almost entirely free from debt and able to live on their own incomes. The army of Switzerland may be termed without exagger- ation the most efficient militia force in existence to-day. The first clause of Article 18 of the Federal Constitution says: "Every Swiss is bound to perform military service." At stated dates every year, all" young men who have come of age go before an examining board, consisting of military offi- cers and physicians. They are subjected to an examination in the rudiments of learning, and are tested to see if they come up to the rather easy requirements in physical condition, de- manded of Swiss recruits. Those who have successfully sus- tained these tests are drafted into the different branches of the service, according to their special aptitudes, and are sent to recruiting schools scattered over the country, the infantry for a term of forty-five days, the artillery for fifty-five, the cavalry for sixty, and the engineers for fifty. On the other hand, the recruits who are unable to pass their examinations in the rudiments of learning are obliged to attend special re- cruits' schools, while those who are found to be physically in- capacitated pay an annual tax of exemption. So severe are the regulations in this regard that even Swiss citizens living in foreign countries are required to pay this tax. Upon issuing from the recruiting schools, the young men, now trained to be regular soldiers, join the active army, the Elite as it is called in French, the Auszug in German, until they are thirty-two years old, being required to join the ranks every other year for regular drills, the cavalry every year on account of the greater amount of training demanded by that branch of the service. The soldier then passes from the Elite into the Landwehr, until he is forty-four, and finally enters the Landsturm, which comprises all men capable of bearing arms, between the ages of seventeen and fifty, who are not in the Elite or the Landwehr. According to the statistics for 1899 the active army numbered 148,435, the first reserve 85,676, and the second 275,596, making an astound- TWENTIETH-CENTURY SWITZERLAND. 369 ing total of 509,707 armed men out of a population of a trifle over three million souls. It is one of the peculiar features of the Swiss military establishment that every soldier keeps his outfit at home, ready for immediate use when the summons may come. The third clause of Article 18 of the constitution provides that: " 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." Rigid inspections of arms are held an- nually in each district, and if repairs are made necessary by any carelessness on the part of the soldier, they are executed at his own expense. The Schmidt rifle, with which the army has now been supplied, is of the magazine type, burning smokeless powder. As one might expect of a citizen army, the uniforms are simple, but serviceable. The headdress for all arms is a kind of low shako (in German Kdppi y in French ktpi\ made of stiff felt with fore-and-aft peaks. It is adorned with a colored worsted pompon, or cockade, to denote the wearer's particular branch of the service. Dark-blue tunics and dark-gray trou- sers are the rule, except green tunics for sharpshooters and cavalry, and complete light-blue uniforms for surgeons. In fact this latter uniform is the only brilliant one in the Swiss army. The rank of the officers is indicated by the number of narrow lace bands on the headdress, and of stars on the shoulder-straps. During active service all officers and men wear the Federal badge on the left arm, a broad red ribbon bearing a white cross. True to their deep-rooted, Federal instinct, the Swiss do not admit a commander-in-chief in times, of peace, but content themselves with a general staff composed of three colonels, sixteen lieutenant-colonels or majors, and thirty-five captains. In case of war, however, a general would immediately be elected by the Federal Assembly to take supreme command. Military law is administered by a special judiciary staff, in 370 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC. accordance with an elaborate law passed on the 28th of June, 1889. Among the most interesting subjects connected with the Swiss army are the regulations in regard to pensions. Short and simple as is the constitutional enactment upon this subject, it is worthy of serious attention. The second clause of Article 1 8 says : " Soldiers who lose their lives or suffer permanent injury to their health in consequence of Federal service are entitled to aid from the Republic for themselves or their fam- ilies, in case of need." Observe these words, " in case of need"; they speak volumes. Moreover, the amount of such pensions has been limited by special law to a sum of 1,200 francs ($240), paid down, or to an annual pension of 650 francs ($130), according to the gravity of the case and the poverty of the family. As reward for special bravery on the part of the pen- sioners these sums can be doubled. If one were asked to designate the particular quality which distinguishes the Swiss army from all others, one would point to the comparative absence of class distinctions within the ranks. This model militia is as democratic as an efficient army can be. When the drill is over, the officer and the private may be seen plowing in the fields together, or working in the same factory. They are real brothers in arms. Between the years 1848 and 1898 the Federal Referendum has been used forty-eight times. Twenty-nine bills have been rejected by the Swiss people, and only nineteen accepted. Among the latter the two most important ones have been those creating a Federal alcohol monopoly, and instituting govern- ment ownership of railroads. A law was passed on October 25th, 1885, and came into force in 1887, by which the importation of alcohol and the dis- tillation of potatoes, cereals and foreign fruit passed into the hands of the state. The distillation of home-grown fruit and the importation of foreign fruit-brandies, however, remained free. The state supplied retailers with spirits in wholesale quantities. In order to help the cause of temperance, the law decreed TWENTIETH-CENTURY SWITZERLAND. 371 that the total profits of the monopoly should not be retained by the Federal government, but should be divided among the cantons according to population, with the special proviso that one-tenth of each canton's share should be devoted to the cause of combating intemperance. The total amount to be divided in 1898 was about 1,290,667 dollars. In practice it has been found rather difficult for the cantons to determine exactly what agencies or institutions could be considered as combating intemperance, and therefore entitled to financial aid, but the general result of the Federal alcohol monopoly has been to effect a great saving for the country at large by abolishing certain cumbersome cantonal taxes which were very costly to collect. It has, moreover, wiped out the largest as well as the smallest distilleries, leaving only those of moderate capacity. It has decreased the consumption of spirits, while at the same time it has increased the consumption of wine and beer. As a financial measure the Federal alcohol monopoly has proved itself to be a decided success ; as a means of inculcating tem- perance it is variously estimated by different investigators, ac- cording to the views entertained by them concerning the problem of intemperance itself. Of vital importance and of special interest to foreign observers is Switzerland's experiment in government owner- ship of railroads. * Ever since the first Swiss railroad was built, the Swiss people have discussed periodically this subject of complete govern- ment construction, ownership and operation. The Federal government has managed the postal system since the reorgan- ization of 1848 ; it has managed the telegraph and telephone systems since those inventions came into use in Switzerland. In 1852, when railroad construction first began on an exten- sive scale, the question of government construction, ownership and operation of railroads came up for discussion in the Fed- eral Assembly, but the Assembly voted for private construc- tion, ownership and operation. Nevertheless laws were passed, from time to time, extending the control of the Federal gov- ernment over the management of the railroads, until in 1890 372 THE RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC. and 1891 government ownership virtually began, when the Federal government bought a controlling share in the stock of the Jura-Simplon line. Finally on February 2Oth, 1898, the Swiss people by means of the Referendum decided, by the enormous majority of over 200,000 votes, that the state should purchase and operate all the main Swiss railroads. There are about 1700 miles of rail- road, and the purchase-price is variously estimated at between 186,000,000 and 200,000,000 dollars. The original owners of stock are to be bought out, and bonds issued bearing 3^ per cent, interest. The number of men employed on the railroads will be about 25,000. The Federal government is now buying one line after another. On February 22d, 1899, the Federal Council took charge of the Swiss North East Line, and favorable effects have already been observed in the reduction and uniformity of rates. The other lines are to follow, the United Swiss Line, the Swiss Central, and eventu- ally the St. Gothard Line. The campaign which preceded the vote by means of the Referendum was unusually lively. The opposition cited the enormous debt which Switzerland would incur, the inevitable increase of employes, and dwelt upon the various objections which are generally urged against government ownership of railroads, but the voters were undeterred from their purpose. Every voter received a copy of the law dealing with the details of the purchase, the issuance of bonds, the operation of the railroads, the payment of the employes, and the provi- sions made for their insurance against accident and death. Finally, after the Referendum had been taken, the news of the result was sent free of charge by the government to all parts of Switzerland. It is not too much to say that the world is watching this experiment with close attention, and that the solution which certain social and economic problems are to find depends largely upon the measure of its success. 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. /