Annals of Switzerland

Preface

It seems strange that Switzerland, a country so popular among tourists, so extolled by every lover of nature, so appreciated by those who realize " What pleasure lies in height ! should have found few to chronicle in the Eng lish tongue the inspiring events of her history. Many records have been written in the native German and French languages, but for the English reader, the fragmentary facts of the guide-book have provided the chief historical information concerning a land where the blood red of the battle-field is environed with prismatic tints of romance. It is the aim of the " Annals of Switzerland " to present a brief, consecutive narrative of the struggles, progress, and attainments of a race of freemen ; but traditions which belong as Preface VIII truly to the land as do its glaciers and ava lanches cannot be ignored in pages which seek to depict the development of this de mocracy, founded three centuries before the Reformation.

J. M. C. Brooklyn, May 6, 1897. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Helvetia 5 II. Supremacy of the Franks, Imperial Rule, and Zeringen Dynasty 13 III. The League of Three Lands 21 IV. Growth of the Confederacy 37 V. The Era of Sempach and Nafels ... 51 VI. The Council of Constance 64 VII. Civil Wars and the Everlasting Compact . 74 VIII. War with Burgundy 85 IX. Grandson, Morat, and Nancy .... 95 X. League of Thirteen Districts 112 XI. Mercenary Service and the French Alliance, 123 XII. The Apostle of Switzerland 131 XIII. The Religious Struggle 141 XIV. Geneva 153 XV. Conflicts and Controversies 170 XVI. The Victory Won 180 XVII. Calvin in Geneva 192 XVIII. The Borromean League Contents. CHAPTER PAGE XIX. Freedom from the Empire 214 XX. Progress in Political Enfranchisement . 226 XXI. The Era of the French Revolution ... 237 XXII.

The League of Rothen 252 XXIII. The Sonderbund War 271 XXIV. The Constitutions of 1848 and 1874. . . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Cantonal Coats of Arms Frontispiece. Map of Switzerland facing p. vii Chamonix : Le Groupe de De Saussure et le Mont-Blanc . " '5 Brurmen " 19 Tell's Chapel " 31 Altdorf : Statue of William Tell " 35 Luzern " 37 Lake of Thunn " 57 Martigny: The Castle " 71 Bluebeard's Castle, near Interlaken .... " 81 The Jungfrau " 91 Map of Burgundy "95 Clock Tower at Bern "119 Lauterbrunnen "127 Seal of Zurich " 140 Zurich "145 Castle of Chillon "161 The Reformers " 1 73 Lake of Geneva " 187 Cathedral of St. Peter, Geneva " 195 St. Gothard Pass " List of Illustrations Wesen facing p. 221 Maloja " 227 Lion of Luzern " 237 Goeschennen " 261 Near Klosters — Silbretta Glacier ... " 275 The Axenstrasse " AUTHORITIES.

Daguet Abrege de l'Histoire Suisse. Zschokke History of Switzerland. Duruy History of France. Hallam History of Middle Ages. Kirk History of Charles the Bold. Coxe House of Austria. D'Aubigne" History of Reformation. Fisher History of Reformation. Seebohm History of Reformation. Bryce Holy Roman Empire. Christoffel Life of Zwingli. Grote Letters on Switzerland. Winchester Swiss Republic. Adams & Cunningham, Swiss Confederation. Bernard Moses . . . Federal Government of Switzerland. CHAMONIX : LE GROUPE DE DE SAUSSURE ET LE MONT-BLANC.

Chapter I Helvetia Borne

upon wavering wings of tradition, a legend floated long ago over the Alps, to begin the story of Switzerland. Falling to earth in the region near the sources of the Rhine and the Inn, the legend told of a people from Italy, — perhaps kindred to the Etruscans, — who, wandering northward during years veiled amid myths, rested where the district of Rhetia preserved the name of the tribe, as well as that of their god Rhetus. Neither revelatory legend, nor archæological research has traced the ties of kinship between the Rhetians and the Latin race of Lake-dwellers, whose architectural and domestic remains have procured their introduction to the modern world, but both claim recognition among ances tors of the Swiss. Wanderers from Scandinavia, under the guidance of the brothers Switer and Swen, are reputed to have founded the Canton of Schwyz, and the Grecian emigrants from Massilia, whose journey to the Lake of the remote Wilderness *** was chronicled by Herod otus, have also been named among predeces sors of the Helvetic nation.

In the region bounded by the Rhine, the Jura mountains, Lake Leman, and the Lake of Con- The Heistance, authentic history begins four veuans. or centuries before the Christian era, when the land was occupied by a valorous people, living in separate communities. Each community was independent within its own district, unless a common interest rendered union of strength advantageous, as in the case of peo ples on the Rhine and the Thor, whose com pact gave to their united lands the surviving name of Thurgau. We find records of warlike expeditions among the tribes occupying this territory dur ing the last years of the second century B. C, when a martial impulse had been excited by the exploits of their neighbors, the Cimbri and Teutones, and in search of both glory and spoil forces of their strong men were sent to join the " confederates from many nations " in an invasion of Gaul.

The Gauls, thus menaced, sought 1 Lake Leman. Helvetia 7 Roman aid ; a Roman army was directed to march toward the homes of the men of Thur gau, who, suddenly recalled from pursuit of plunder, hastened under a valorous young leader, named Diviko, to encounter the Contact Roman legions. On the banks of Lake Rome. Leman,1 Diviko achieved a brilliant victory; the Romans lost their commander — the consul Lucius Cassius — were forced to sue for quarter, and, after passing disarmed under the yoke erected for their humiliation by command of the conqueror, they were sent over the moun tains with the story of their disgrace. The victorious Diviko then returned to Gaul, and, uniting his forces with those of the Cimbri, passed into Italy; but Rome summoned her Consul Marius out of Africa, and in the battles of Aix and Vercellæ (102-101 B. c.) the barbarian hosts suffered such overwhelm ing defeats that the survivors from their ranks sought hasty refuge amid the mountains.

The fugitives settled in a district afterwards divided into the four cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Unter walden, and Luzern, where, in conjunction with occupants of the neighboring valleys, they were 1 Most historians name the shores of Lake Leman as the theatre of this battle, but Mommsen, and a few other authorities place it on the borders of the Garonne, near Santons. known as Helvetians, a people mentioned by Cæsar as inhabitants of twelve towns and four hundred villages. The glory gained at Lake Leman, and glow ing reports from the adjacent pasture-lands of Gaul, sufficed to stimulate again the ambition of this stalwart people, and Hordrich, or Orget orix, an influential man among them, proposed that the entire community should emigrate and seek possessions in that more fruitful district. The project was received with a degree of favor Project of t*na-- insured immediate preparations for orgetorix. jts execution, — preparations continued until the leader's zeal had well-nigh wrecked the enterprise.

To consummate friendly compacts with princes of Gaul, Orgetorix bound his daughter by a marriage contract with one of the number; but the prospective alliance aroused suspicion that personal aggrandizement was the principal aim of the Helvetian, and he was im mediately summoned before a popular tribunal, to answer this accusation. Orgetorix responded by defiantly arming his retainers, whereupon the entire community denounced him as a traitor and demanded his death by fire. To escape this fate the chief committed suicide. This tragic episode did not divert the Helve tians from the pursuit of their purpose ; and, Helvetia 9 after three years spent in preparation for the emigration, they burned their houses & ■' Emigration to preclude all thought of a return, and subjuga and carrying provisions for three months went forth under the guidance of the aged Diviko.

With their allies from neighboring lands they were computed to number three hundred and sixty-eight thousand, of whom ninety-two thousand were warriors. This exodus occurred in the year 60 B. c, and Cæsar was then in Gaul. He first encoun tered the Helvetians near Geneva, where an attack upon the rear-guard of their army resulted in victory for the trained legions of Rome; but, instead of seeking an immediate engagement with the entire force of invaders, Cæsar, while strengthening his own army, al lowed the enemy to advance, until on the bor ders of the Saone he was able to strike so effective a blow that the surviving remnant of the Helvetian host were powerless to resist the decree which ordained their immediate return to their desolated land. Cæsar annexed their territory to Gallia Celtica, and granted to the humbled people the title of Roman allies ; but he erected on Lake Leman the new fortress of Noviodunum (Nyon), in order, from that point, as from other strongholds, soon scattered along their frontiers, to keep the tribes of Helvetia under the Argus eye of Rome.

Heedless of the subjugation of their neigh bors, the sturdy folk in Rhetia, with allies along the borders of the Inn, and in the valleys of the Tyrol, pursued their custom of plundering travellers across their borders, and, secure in the retreats afforded by their mountain passes, often descended into Italy for purposes of pillage. In the reign of Augustus these incursions grew formidable, and legions under the successive commands of Dru sus and Tiberius were sent against the intruders. After an obstinate struggle the Rhetians were subdued ; their district, with the mountain lands east, was included in the empire under the name of Rhetian, Norican, and Pannonian provinces, and permanent Roman garrisons were established to secure the subjection of the people. Although thus under imperial control, the peasants were permitted to retain their simple The Roman laws > and> m an assembly of deputies sway. from the combined districts, they chose their own magistrates, and decided questions of common interest.

Under the imme diate successors of Augustus, the inhabitants of Helvetia paid taxes and served in the Roman armies, as good and loyal subjects of the em- Helvetia 11 pire, while Aventicum, their seat of government, became a magnificent city with institutions similar to those in Italian towns of the period. In the year 70 A. D. the emperor Galba was assassinated in Rome, and in the provinces Roman officials speedily formed leagues for the election of his successor. Before the people of Helvetia had heard of Galba's death, Aulus Cecina, their governor, sent messengers through out every district to command allegiance to Vitellius. Believing that they were loyal to their emperor in their act, the Helvetians inter cepted the messengers, and armed to oppose the governor. Cecina marched against them with a large force, sacked Baden, then one of their principal cities, and having defeated the insurgents in battle, sold many into slavery, and commanded the immediate execution of Julius Alpinus, the chief man in the community.1 With the tidings of their defeat, the Helve- 1 Fifteen hundred years afterwards this inscription is said to have been discovered in the ruins of Aventicum : " I lie here ; Julia Alpinula ; unfortunate child of an unfortunate father.

Priestess of the goddess Aventia, my prayers failed to avert the death of my father ; fate had decreed that he should die ignominiously. I lived to the age of twenty-three." Although, through the criticism of Lord Mahon, this alleged memorial has been denominated a forgery of the seventeenth century, Byron accords the priestess a credulous note of sym pathetic admiration. tians first heard of the death of Galba, and ambassadors were immediately dispatched to implore pardon for an unintentional opposition to legitimate authority. But the arrogant soldiers who had raised Vitellius to the throne, demanded the total extirpation of the race of peasants whose loyalty had opposed their will ; and, although the eloquent pleading of the Hel vetian envoy obtained a mitigation of the pen alty and rescued the lives of the offenders, the punishment ordained terminated their history as a nation.

Their country was incorporated with the province of Gaul, and the distinctive name of Helvetia was legally ignored. Gradu ally Roman customs were introduced, the Latin language encroached to some extent upon the ancient speech, and, under the mild dominion of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, the people, turning from warlike pursuits to the cultivation of their land, again achieved prosperity.

Chapter II Supremacy Of The Franks, Imperial Rule And Zeringen Dynasty

A. D. 200-1 200. During the closing years of the Roman supremacy, and through several succeeding decades, the region north of the Alps lay open to occu pation by the nomadic tribes who were pushing their way toward Italy, and much obscurity rests upon its annals. From a confusing record of conflicts which indicate frequent interchange of realm among the migrating nations, we emerge in the year 500, when the south western portion of the country now called Switzerland belonged to the Burgundians, the northern territory was shared between the Franks and the Allemanni, and Rhetia was claimed by the Ostrogoths. The distinction between the languages spoken in Switzerland has been traced to this period, when the people in the dominions of the Allemanni spoke a Gothic tongue, and those under Burgundian instrumentality, were enabled to acquire wide political as well as spiritual influence.

The monastery of St. Gall became noted as a centre of learning where medieval culture attained its zenith, while its temporal prosperity was at tested by the possession of one hundred and sixty thousand acres of land. With Charlemagne's sovereignty a new era dawned, for under his liberal patronage many charieinstitutions for popular instruction magne. were founded. To his bounty, sym bolized as a "fountain of intellectual life," Zurich attributes her first schools, and other cities included within the boundaries of Switzer land ascribe their early literary impulses to the stimulating influence of the first sovereign of the " Holy Roman Empire." In the division of Charlemagne's empire, the Helvetian territory was tossed like a ball from hand to hand, until caught in the grasp of the newly-organized German monarchy.

Counts and seignors in the land from thenceforth paid feudal allegiance to the Emperor, but in his own domain each was allowed absolute control of "the soil, with man, beast, and tree." Upon these vast feudal estates, in addition to the customary tribute of fowls and eggs, rendered to the seignor, each householder was assessed Supremacy of the Franks 17 for an annual tax of a tenth of his crops or other wealth, and upon the death of the father of a family his children yielded up whatever had been his most valued possession, — beast, garment, or furniture. The seignors in adjacent districts were usually at feud with one another, unless some common danger threatened, when individual jealousies were temporarily controlled, and forces were joined for mutual protection. Gradually the inhabitants of the open coun try gathered in villages, for which a religious house or a baronial mansion served as Growth of a nucleus.

Each village enjoyed a aties' special jurisdiction under its vogt or bailiff; but at a general assembly, held in the open air, all important questions were settled, and any person who possessed "seven feet of land before or behind him " might claim a voice in this council. In the tenth century, when Magyar hordes, from the north and east, swept with barbaric fury through Germany, the Emperor Henry I. commanded that the larger villages should be walled, that, thus protected, they might serve as places of refuge for peasants of the neighboring country. In the unsettled state of the empire, the population of villages thus fortified rapidly increased, and when an imperial decree con ferred special privileges upon all their residents who were not bondsmen, a thrifty burgher class *■* arose, and prospered.

The name of a city often records some dis tinctive characteristic of its early days, as Schaffhausen on the Rhine, which originated in a cluster of boathouses, or SchiffJiausern, and Luzern, where the old Lucerna, or light-house (now called the Wasserthurm), indicates the origin of the city. Freemen of noble birth who possessed small landed estates were chosen members of the councils in these villages, and, proud of a position of authority in the " Holy Roman Empire," they assumed the name of "patrician," — a title retained until the close of the middle ages. In the eleventh century, when contests be tween the Emperor Henry IV. and Pope Gregory VII. had called forth the bull of ex communication that freed all imperial subjects from their oaths of allegiance, a Diet held at Forschew deposed Henry and declared Rudolf of Swabia Emperor of Germany; Henry returning from his enforced pilgrimage to Rome, found himself crownless, and Rudolf in pos session of sovereign power.

In the war that 1 Residents of a burg, or fortress. BRUNNEN. Zeringen Dynasty 19 ensued, although the Pope sent a consecrated crown to Rudolf, fortune declared in favor of Henry; Rudolf was slain in the battle of Merseburg, by the hand of Godfrey de Bouil lon, and his Swabian dukedom was bestowed upon Frederick of Hohenstaufen, son-in-law of Henry IV. Rudolf's son, however, continued the war until his death, ten years later, when his claims were transferred to his brother-in-law Berchthold II. of Zeringen. A compromise was then effected, by which the greater portion of the Helvetian territory was given to Berchthold, as a fief of the empire, and, during several genera tions, dukes of his family, known as the "thirty lords of Zeringen," retained the sovereignty. It was during the period of Zeringen rule that the name of the free men of Schwyz came for the first time into prominence.

TheFree Men of In a sheltered district upon Lake schwyz. Luzern dwelt these descendants of the Helve tians, who had continued to exercise, unmo lested, all the privileges of a free community throughout the stormy years in which their land had been passed from sovereign to sovereign. Although they recognized the Emperor of Germany as their feudal superior, these peas ants had remained unrestricted in their choice of the Ammann who presided over their local courts of justice, and had acknowledged no foreign obligation beyond the payment of imperial tribute-money. Ignorant of the fact that Henry II. had donated large tracts of land, adjacent to their own, for the enrichment of monasteries, or as rewards to seignors, these shepherds of Schwyz came into unforeseen conflict with the Abbot of Einsiedeln, whose flocks were feeding upon their mountains.

The Abbot claimed as much as he chose of the uninclosed territory, and appealed for support to the head of the empire, whose decision in favor of the ecclesiastic apprised the inhabitants of the valley that their allegiance was no guarantee of protection. Rejecting, thenceforth, all obligations imposed by imperial mandate, they declared, " We have no need of an emperor if he cannot secure our rights," and having cemented a defensive alliance with their neighbors of Uri and Unterwalden, they defied the imperial au thority. Despite anathemas and decrees from Emperor and from Pope, the attitude of hostil ity toward Einsiedeln was maintained; priests were compelled to conduct religious services, though papal sanction was denied, and during an age of universal servitude the brave peasants of Schwyz preserved a prosperous independence.

Chapter III The League Of Three Lands

1200-1315. After the extinction of the house of Zeringen, the entire territory, formerly subject to their control, was ruled by the counts and seignors whose castles clung to the mountain sides or dotted the level country. According to Watte ville, there were in the thirteenth century no less than fifty counts, one hundred and fifty barons, and one thousand noble families within the confines of modern Switzerland. Promi nent among these petty sovereigns were three ecclesiastical princes, — the Bishop of Chur, the Abbot of St. Gall, and the Abbess of Sackingen, — and the Counts of Kyburg, Rap perswyl and Hapsburg in the list of temporal lords. The last-named nobles owned only a small territory west of the Steinen, but Count Albert III. secured the office of vogtship or imperial bailiff over a larger district than any member of his family had previously controlled, and his son Rudolf obtained the advocacy of a region embracing the three districts of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden.

His duties in this office included those of the president of criminal tribunals, arbitrator in civil dissensions, guardian of the highway, and representative of the people at the imperial court. In 12 1 7 the intervention of the advocate Rudolf I. secured a temporary cessation of the prolonged hostilities between Schwyz and Einsiedeln; but when Rudolf II. claimed hereditary authority to govern the district, and attempted to restrict the liberty of the peasants, the three valley-communities sought imperial sanction in their defence of privileges exercised by their ancestors. In response to the appeal from Uri, a formal release from Hapsburg Rnieof over-lordship was granted in 1231, Hapsburg . . Lords. with a special charter of franchises, and in 1240 a document, addressed "to all the inhabitants in the valley of Swites," gave that district also deliverance from the jurisdiction of the counts of Hapsburg, and immunity from all but imperial taxation.

But the domineering knight who continued to claim the authority of an advocate in the territory practically ignored the imperial charters, and compelled obedience to his arbitrary decree from the peasants of Schwyz and Uri, as well as in Unterwalden, where he possessed estates. In protestation against this bondage, the men of the three dis tricts in 1245 concluded, by a verbal compact, their first defensive league. As a means of establishing his authority on the shores of Lake Luzern, Rudolf erected there a castle; but this was destroyed five years later, and for half a century no fortress walls marred the Arcadian landscape. During the contests between Frederick II. and Inno cent IV. the Hapsburgers sided with the Pope, and the men of the forest cantons took the part of the Emperor; but in the decline of Frederick's authority, the Hapsburgs, like other nobles of the empire, found opportunity for their own aggrandizement, and in 1273 Count Rudolf III. was elected Emperor of Germany.

For a score of years the imperial crown had been loosely controlled by various factions, who, by turns, bestowed it upon one Rudolf ' J ' ' III. of foreign candidate or another, until, Hapsburg. weary of the existing confusion, yet jealous of their own authority, the electors sought a man strong enough to punish criminals, with whom the country was flooded, yet weak enough to need for every mandate the sanction of the princes. Their desires were bluntly defined by the Bishop of Olmutz, who wrote to the Pope : " They wish to obtain, through the grace of the Holy Ghost, a gracious emperor, — through the wisdom of the Son of God, a wise emperor; but they ignore the first person in the Trinity, and power is their abhorrence." Rudolf's rival for the imperial honors was Ottacar of Bohemia, a war with whom, following the election, resulted in the acquisition by the Hapsburgs of Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia.

These provinces Rudolf bestowed upon his two sons, whereupon Albert, the elder son, assumed the title of "Duke of Austria." Rudolf's elevation is said to have been largely due to the influence of Werner, Archbishop of Mentz, who had received favors at the hands of the Count of Hapsburg, for which he promised recompense. In order to insure the necessary votes for Rudolf, the Archbishop hinted to the electors, who were chiefly unmarried men, that his candidate had six marriageable daugh ters; whereupon the election was immediate and unanimous. But the Count of Hapsburg had not so favorably impressed all ecclesiastics, for the Bishop of Basle is reported to have exclaimed, when he heard of the election, " Lord God ! set thyself fast upon thy throne, else surely this Rudolf will pluck thee down from it."

Rudolf's imperial administration of eighteen years, popular and widely equitable, induced a confiding submission to legitimate authority. But although the Emperor recognized the char ter of Uri, he refused to confirm the privileges claimed by Schwyz, and two weeks after his death the men of that community joined the patriots of Uri and Unterwalden in a _ „ r The Perpet " Perpetual Alliance " for mutual aid in uai aiu- . ance or resisting oppressions. August i, 1291, •■ Bundes deputies from the three districts signed 6rles-" the Bundcsbrief, which embodied in written form the terms of the verbal contract of 1245. This Latin Bundesbrief, still preserved in the archives of Schwyz, records the formal inauguration of the oldest free state in the world. With the motto " All for one, and each for all," it united the members of the league against any "who should use violence toward them, or cause injury to one or to all."

While recognizing the duty of allegiance to the Em peror, the communities declared a resolution to preserve their prerogatives in matters of legislation, and in case dissensions should arise, they claimed perfect freedom in the choice of arbitrators. Upon the death of the Emperor Rudolf, his son Albert assumed the imperial crown, with- Aibertof out awaiting the action of a diet; but Austria. received proof of his unpopularity when Adolf of Nassau was chosen head of the empire. The new sovereign possessed little influence among princes, but he confirmed the imperial franchises of Uri and Schwyz, and the three forest districts (Waldstatten) embraced his cause. Thereupon Albert, conciliating some of the electors, kindled a partisan war, in which Adolf was defeated and slain ; Albert, succeeding to his authority, refused to recognize the franchises claimed by the Waldstatten, and by imperious and unscrupulous acts thoroughly alienated the people.

Although there is no authentic record of a direct attack upon the liberties of the land, yet a host of legends, bearing reference to tyrannical aggressions, have centred around the period, and mingle so indissolubly with the history of the age that they demand narration. According to these stories, Albert sent an Austrian official to exercise authority in the oppressions districts of the Waldstatten, and when of Imperial Bailiffs. the allied peasants claimed the right to demand in his place an imperial bailiff, Hermann Gesler, and Berengen of Landenberg, contrary to all former usages, took up their abode in the land. Gesler built a fortress, which he called " Uri's Restraint," while Landenberg located himself with equal security in Unterwalden, and both by arbitrary and tyrannical rule violated the franchises, and exasperated the people.

The taxes were in creased, the smallest offence severely punished, and the peasants continually insulted. In Landenberg' s district of Unterwalden lived Arnold of Melchthal, whose punishment for some trifling offence was the confiscation of his oxen. The official sent to seize them jeer ingly said, " If peasants wish for bread they may draw the plough themselves." Stung by this insult, Arnold offered resistance, and broke the fingers of one of the men. He then fled to the mountains to escape the bailiff's vengeance ; but Landenberg caused the arrest of his aged father, whose eyes were put out in expiation of the son's offence. "That puncture," says an old chronicler, "went so deep into many a heart that numbers resolved to die rather than leave it unrequited." In the village of Steinen, the freeman Werner Stauffacher built a house whose com fort aroused the jealousy of Gesler, and the bailiff's comment, "Shall a vile peasant build himself a house without permission from his lord?" was quoted throughout the region.

Urged onward by his heroic wife, Stauffacher joined Arnold of Melchthal and Walther Furst of Uri in a solemn oath to free the land from its tyrants; and in the meadow of Riitli, on the shore of Lake Luzern, the three men held midnight consultations, when each brought assur ances from the persecuted communities they represented, that death was more desirable than bondage. On the night of November 11, 1307, each leader guided to the trysting-place ten trusted men, to whom their heroic purposes were revealed; and at sunrise, raising their hands to heaven, all joined in an oath which consecrated them to the service of freedom. Then, appointing New Year's night, 1308, for the accomplishment of their enterprise, they returned to their homes. Meanwhile, Gesler, suspicious of the fidelity of the people in his district, had ordered a pole to be erected in the village of Altorf, upon which the ducal cap of Austria was fastened, that homage to this symbol of authority might be publicly rendered.

For disregard of this decree, wniiam William Tell, the son-in-law of Walther Teii. Furst, and one of the oath-bound men of Riitli, was seized and carried before the bailiff. His reputation as a marksman was widespread, and, making his skill the instru ment of punishment, Gesler commanded him to shoot an apple from the head of his son. The amazing deed was successfully accomplished ; but a second arrow in the archer's quiver aroused inquiry, and upon receiving a promise of pardon, Tell incautiously revealed his reso lution to shoot Gesler had his son been the first victim. The terrified bailiff, declaring that his promise secured the life but not the freedom of the marksman, commanded the immediate arrest of Tell, who, securely bound, was placed in the boat awaiting Gesler's return to his castle at Ktissnacht.

Half-way across the lake a storm arose, the boat became unmanageable by the boatmen, and the prisoner, known to be a superior seaman, was unbound, and ordered to take the helm. Steering the craft toward a rocky shelf of land that protruded at the base of the Axenberg, Tell suddenly seized his bow, and sprang ashore, while the boat, rebounding, carried Gesler and his men far out upon the lake. They succeeded in landing when the storm had abated; but Tell meanwhile had sought a hiding-place, from whence, as the bailiff passed, was sent forth a well-aimed arrow, that pierced the tyrant's heart. So runs the tale, and with it belongs the legend, current in Switzerland, that Tell and the three men of Riitli are asleep in the mountains, but will awake to the rescue of their land should tyranny ever again enchain it.1 The ancient chroniclers proceed to relate that at midnight on New Year's eve, 1308, a capture of girl in Landenberg's castle threw Landenberg's castle. a rope to her lover, waiting below her window, and by this device twenty of the 1 Although the pitiless criticism of modern historical work has forced the exploits of Tell into the domain of the mythi cal, yet a degree of credence is given to the story that may render interesting a summary of evidence in favor of its truth.