again sunk, although the lake is only from twenty to thirty fathoms deep near Zug, while it is two hundred fathoms in some places, it being the deepest lake in Switzerland after Constance.

Zug, one of the smaller cantons of the Swiss confederation, is situated nearly in the centre of Switzerland, and is bounded on the north by the canton of Zurich, on the cast and south by Schwitz, and on the west by Lucerne and Aargau. It lies in the basin of the river Reuss, an affluent of the Rhine, and its waters flow in a northern direction. The northern part of the lake of Zug occupies the centre of the canton; the southern part is in the territory of Schwitz. The lake is a fine piece of water, about eight miles long and between one or two miles wide, surrounded by a delightful country.

The little town of Zug boasts its remote antiquity, being one of the twelve destroyed by the Helvetii, when they attempted to emigrate into the Roman provinces in Casar's time, having been rebuilt on their return. Strabo mentions it, and Bochat the antiquarian says that its name means, in the Celtic language, "near deep waters."

Schwitz is one of the cantons of the Swiss confederation which has given its name to all Switzerland. It lies on the west side of the high Alps of Glarus, of which the Glärnisch, 9,000 feet high, is the loftiest summit. It consists of several long valleys between lower offsets of the Alps, the summits of which are from 4,000 to 6,000 feet high, and of a plateau or table-land in the centre of the canton. The waters of the northern part of the canton of Schwitz run in a north direction into the lake of Zurich; those of the central part flow north-west by the river Sihl into the Leinmat; and those of the southern part run southwards into the lake of Lucerne. Besides bordering on those lakes, the canton embraces within its territory the southern part of the lake of Zug, and it also entirely encloses the small lake of Lowerz, which is about two miles long and one mile wide. The small island of Schwanau, on which are the ruins of a feudal castle, rises in the middle of the lake. North-west of the lake of Lowerz, and between it and the lake of Zug, is the valley of Goldau, between Mount Righi and the Rossberg.

The capital of the canton is situated at the junction of the valley of Muota with two other valleys, one of which runs southwards to Brunnen on the shore of the lake of Lucerne, and the other westward towards the little lake of Lowerz. The conicallyshaped mountain called Mythe, nearly 6,000 feet high, rises immediately north-east of the town, and seems to threaten to overwhelm it by its fall. The country around Schwitz is beautiful and very fertile, and the scenery is splendid. It is an open town, having good streets, a large square, a very handsome church, and various public buildings.

The town of Einsiedeln, situated about ten miles north of Schwitz, is a thriving place. Its prosperity is owing to its celebrated sanctuary in the church of the abbey, which attracts, it is said, annually, 150,000 pilgrims. It was founded in the tenth century, and is very rich.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE-VARIED HISTORY OF THE SWISS-THE REFORMATION.

The

In the fifteenth century, the famous Council of Constance began. No less than three popes, John XXIII., Gregory, and Benedict, contended for the see of Rome. emperor Sigismund, determining to put an end to the scandal and distraction which in consequence arose, convoked this council. But his disposition was false and rapacious. To John Huss, the celebrated preacher of Bohemia, when accused of heresy, he gave a safe conduct; yet, when he appeared before the council, Sigismund allowed him, as well as his disciple Jerome of Prague, to be surrendered to the civil power and burnt alive.

The duke Frederick of Austria favoured John XXIII., a prelate of a profligate character, protecting and abetting him, even after he was deposed by the council, as well as the two other pretenders to the papacy, and elected in their place Martin V. For this Frederick was excommunicated by the council, whilst Sigismund, jealous of the power of Austria, and covetous of its vast dominions, put him under the ban of the empire and invited all the imperial vassals and towns to make war against him. The same invitation was addressed to the Swiss cantons. The Swiss refused at first, with the exception of Berne, ever ready to seize a favourable opportunity for its own aggrandisement. The old forest cantons hesitated; they had lately renewed their truce with the duke of Austria for fifty years longer, and although the bishops, in council assembled, absolved them from their engagements, and the emperor promised them the permanent possession of all the conquests they should make on Frederick, they for some time withstood the temptation, saying, "that a breach of faith could never be justified either by the church or the empire."

But Zurich, more covetous and less scrupulous than the rest, having followed the example of Berne, the other cantons, threatened on the one hand and tempted on the other, also declared war against Austria, in April, 1415. The canton of Uri, and the brave shepherds of Appenzell, formed the only honourable exceptions; they remained faithful to their truce with Frederick, and took no part either in the war or the spoil.

Berne, joined by Soleure and Bienne, entered the Aargau. This fine province was the cradle of the house of Hapsburg; it extends from the Aar to the Limmat, and northward to the Rhine, and was divided between towns enjoying franchises under the protection of the dukes of Austria, and several lords, vassals of the duke. Hearing of Frederick's interdict, and of the movements of the cantons, they assembled a diet at Sursee. The towns were for remaining neutral in the approaching struggle, and forming a close alliance among all the districts of Aargau for the defence of their liberties, with leave to treat with the Swiss confederates in case of necessity, and to join them in a distinct canton, as Glaris and Zug had done.

But the nobles did not accede to the compact; they preferred having the duke as their master to placing themselves on a level with the burghers. This was the cause of

the misfortunes of Aargau, and of its state of subjection, which lasted till the close of the eighteenth century. The towns then resolved to place themselves under the protection of the confederates, in order to secure their freedom, but it was too late. As the assembly broke up, and the deputies were returning to their houses, they espied on the hills the banners and the troops of the cantons, who had hostilely entered the country. The town of Zoffingen was the first attacked, and was obliged to renounce its allegiance to Austria, and swear fidelity to Berne. The same happened to Aarburg, Aarau,

Brugg, Lentzburg, and others.

In a few weeks the Bernese had conquered the greater part of Aargau, the rapidity of their movements preventing any effectual resistance Lucerne, on its side, took Sursee, Meyenberg, and other places, as far as the Bernese line of conquests. The Zurichers, having crossed Mount Albis, occupied the bailiwick of Knonau, Dietikon, and the banks of the Limmat, towards Baden. The forces of the confederates united between the Limmat and the Reuss, and conquered in common, in the name of the seven cantons, that of Uri being excepted, Mellingen, Bremgarten, and the country of Baden. The strong castle of Baden held out some time longer for Austria, but the artillery of the Bernese having battered down part of the walls, the garrison surrendered, and the castle was burned. The confederates then divided their spoils. Berne, Zurich, and Lucerne kept each its conquests with the same rights that the house of Austria had exercised over those districts; and the country conquered in common was formed into bailiwicks under the authority of the united cantons, who sent, by turns, bailiffs every second year to govern them. Berne, which had already obtained the lion's share, did not participate in the common bailiwicks. Thus the Swiss republicans began to have extensive districts as subjects, over which they ruled as sovereigns. The practice was afterwards widely extended, and it became an abundant source of discontent and civil war, and was, at last, the main cause of overthrowing the old Swiss confederation.

While the house of Austria was thus stripped of its ancestral possessions in Helvetia, Duke Frederick made his submission to the Emperor Sigismund, and, having given up Pope John, became reconciled to the church. This re-establishment of peace was signified to the Swiss cantons, with the injunction that they should restore their conquests to the duke. Uri again lifted up its voice for the cause of honesty, but its scruples were laughed at by the other cantons, who were determined to hold fast their prize, and they propitiated the cupidity of Sigismund by a sum of 10,000 golden florins. By a treaty concluded in 1418, between the emperor and the duke of Austria, the duke renounced all his rights over the Aargau, and the counties of Lenzburg and Baden, and the other bailiwicks. Such was the end of the war, called the war of Constance; the first in which the Swiss acted on the offensive without having received provocation.

About this period the Swiss cantons first carried their arms across the Alps into the valleys of Italy. The cantons of Uri and Unterwalden had grounds of complaint against the officers of the duke of Milan, who had annoyed some of their countrymen and seized their cattle. The duke refused to give them satisfaction. They crossed the St. Gothard, took possession of the Val Levantina or Livinen, and then, with the full consent of the inhabitants, they occupied the valley of Ossola.

The duke Visconti engaged the duke of Savoy to reconquer the latter. The troops of Savoy crossed the Valais, and penetrating by the Simplon to Domo d'Ossola, drove the Swiss garrison away. The cantons of Uri and Unterwalden next purchased of the baron of Sax Misox, a Rhætian noble, the town and valley of Bellinzona, and an obstinate combat, lasting a whole day, ensued. The landamman of Uri, the standard-bearer of the samne canton, and the amman of Zug, Peter Kolin, were among the killed. The son of Kolin seized the banner, dyed with his father's blood, again waved it at the head of the men of Uri, and although he too perished, the banner was saved. Swiss bravery,

however, could not triumph over the steady discipline of the veteran troops of Italy. Weakened by the loss they had sustained, the Swiss mournfully recrossed the St. Gothard, leaving a garrison, however, in the Val Levantina. The battle of Arbedo was fought in June, 1442, and Bellinzona was soon after surrendered, by treaty, to the duke of Milan.

These Italian broils gave rise to a popular insurrection in the Valais. The lord of Raron, captain-general of that country, had allied himself to the duke of Savoy, whom he had assisted in his expedition against the Swiss at Domo d'Ossola. The cantons, resenting this, excited the people of the Valais against the lord of Raron, who escaped to Savoy; and the people destroyed his castle near Siders, as well as that of the bishop. Having obtained no assistance from the duke of Savoy, the lord of Raron repaired to Berne. Berne espoused his cause, the forest cantons took part with the Valaisans. A diet, assembled at Zurich, decided that the property of the baron should be returned to him first, and that, on the other hand, he should do justice to the people. But the people were not satisfied with this decision, and hostilities commenced between them and Berne. The Bernese, joined by Freyburg and Soleure, sent an army of 13,000 men over the Sanetch Alps into the Valais. The forest cantons offered their mediation in vain; and the Valaisans, having refused to accede to any terms with Raron and Berne, were left to their own resources. They fought desperately, and repulsed the Bernese. At length, fresh proposals of peace were made, and the Valaisans agreed to restore Raron's domains, to pay 10,000 florins as a compensation for the damage they had done him, an equal sum to Berne for the costs of the war, and 4,000 florins to the chapter of Sion. But the lord of Raron, dying at a distance from his country, and his family losing all their influence, the Valaisans continued, thenceforward, to govern themselves according to their own municipal constitution. The Upper, or German Valais, was divided into six dizains, or hundreds, and the town of Sion formed a seventh. Each sent deputies to the general assembly of the country, at which the bishop of Sion presided. The Lower Valais was afterwards wrested, by the Upper Valaisans, from the duke of Savoy, and was governed by them as a subject district. The Valais entered also into alliances with various Swiss cantons, and particularly with Berne.

Another country, more extensive and populous than the Valais, effected its emancipation about the same time. This was the highlands of Rhaetia, with their sixty valleys, where the Rhine and the Inn have their sources-a wild secluded region, surrounded and intersected on all sides by the highest Alps. The house of Hapsburg, or of Austria, had no pretensions to that country. Its numerous nobles had become independent, holding directly of the empire; indeed the bishop of Coire, who had great possessions in the country, was a prince of the empire. Though a century had now elapsed since the Swiss cantons had achieved their independence, their neighbours of the Rhætian valleys still suffered under the oppression of their petty lords, far more overbearing and capricious than the Austrian rulers had been in Helvetia. Occupying castles built on lofty cliffs, they sallied thence, like vultures or eagles, scaring the poor shepherds and cultivators below, extorting from them the produce of the soil, insulting the chastity of their daughters, and disposing of the liberties and lives of their sons. The greatest atrocities were perpetrated, from the details of which the mind instinctively revolts. No wonder that the people became rife for emancipation; they rose to a man: the valley of Schams and the Rheinwald became free; and they joined the gray or Grison league, which was able to protect them from any further violence.

The Engadine, one of the finest and largest valleys of all Helvetia, is watered throughout its length, about sixty miles, by the river Inn, and is separated on one side from Italy, and the other from the rest of the Grisons, by two lofty ridges of the Rhætian Alps. After the emancipation of the neighbouring valleys, the people of Engadine

aspired to the same liberty as their brethren of the Grison league. A brutal insult, offered to Theresa of Camogask, decided the explosion. Her father, with assumed composure, told the emissary of the tyrant that he would himself bring his daughter to the castle next morning in a more becoming dress than she wore at present. Meanwhile, he collected his friends, and exhorted them to follow the example of their neighbours. Next morning he led forth his daughter in her best dress, and followed by several young men, proceeded to the castle, near which another party was posted in ambuscade. The chatelain came out of the castle, and seizing the maid, rudely kissed her, when the father's dagger pierced the heart of the ruffian, and he fell lifeless to the ground. The men of Engadine rushed into the castle, overpowered the guard, and destroyed the walls. The independence of Engadine was now proclaimed, and in that fine valley liberty prevailed.

In 1450, a union, called "the Black League," formed of many nobles, who disliked the enfranchisement of the communes, endeavoured to reduce them to subjection, but it was defeated, and many of the leaders lost their lives in conflict, in the valley of Schams. The three leagues now proposed a solemn alliance among themselves, embracing all the Rhætian valleys, with a view to their mutual support. Each commune sent, therefore, deputies to the village of Vazerol, which stands nearly in the centre of the country, and there a union for perpetual defence was sworn to between them, and general diets were appointed to be held by turns in each of the three leagues, to deliberate on the interests of the whole.

It was arranged that if differences should arise between any two of the leagues, the third was to be the umpire, and the decision of the two was to be obligatory on the third. But, in their internal affairs, each league, and even each commune, was to govern itself according to its own laws and customs, to hold its own meetings, and to elect its own magistrates. Several communes together formed a jurisdiction, having its courts of civil and criminal justice, and a landamman was elected for a time by a majority of voices; several jurisdictions formed a league, having its own annual diet; and the three leagues together became the confederacy of the Grisons. Their government, like that of the Valais, contained a mixture of pure democratic and representative forms, adapted to an extensive, yet mountainous, country, where each valley is a little world, secluded from the rest, during a great part of the year, by snow and ice. It was not till afterwards, during the war of Suabia, that the Grisons contracted a perpetual alliance with the Swiss cantons, which they subsequently maintained, forming an important accession to Switzerland, and protecting its eastern frontiers on the side of the Tyrol and of the other dominions of the house of Austria.

On the death of the last count of Tockenburg, in 1436, fatal dissension arose among the Swiss, Zurich claiming the inheritance, because the count had been a freeman of that city. Great strife ensued, and serious violence occurred. At length, the other cantons combining, Zurich was threatened with an immediate attack, when, perceiving the danger, it submitted to what is called the jus Helveticum, or public law of the confederation. Arbiters were appointed from the five mediating cantons, and it was decided that Zurich should restore all it had taken out of the Tockenburg estates, while Schwitz and Glarus should retain possession of Tocken and of the Upper March, of which they had gained possession by conquest, but of which the count had given them the reversion by a former treaty.

Stussi, burgomaster of Zurich, a bold ambitious man, thinking solely on revenge, sought the alliance of the hereditary enemy of their common country, Frederick III. of Austria. Frederick soon after repaired to Zurich, when the citizens swore fidelity to the empire, and tearing from their sleeves the white cross-the badge of the Swiss in all their wars-assumed the red cross of Austria. The confederates were indignant at such conduct, and war arose. They defeated the Zurichers and Austrians in several battles,