صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

was in a short time concluded, upon condition that Boson should be left in tranquil possession of the Burgundian crown, provided he would consent to hold it as a fief of the empire.' Vol. i. P. 77.

When our author proceeds to lament the want of information concerning these periods, we are led to infer that he is unhappily a stranger to the exuberance of Francic chronicles. To write an exact history of Switzerland it was necessary to consult the grand collection of Bouquet; and, in our review of Mr. Planta's book, we have already recommended that of Goldastus. It is not a little surprising that both our author and Mr. Planta have nearly passed in silence the invasion of Switzerland by the Huns in the tenth century, though one of the most important and singular events in the ancient history of that country.

In p. 100 we at length arrive at the twelfth century through a mass of extraneous matter concerning the German emperors and the Burgundians; while the best form at this period would have been that of annals, merely indicating those events which relate to Switzerland, half of which was possessed by the Burgundians, and the other half by the Alemanni.

In his fourth chapter Mr. Naylor gives what he calls a view of society during the thirteenth century, but which is every way inferior to the trivial information adduced by Voltaire in his Histoire Générale. The observations are besides extended over Germany, instead of being confined to the country in question. If some literary judge had been consulted, he would doubtless have advised Mr. Naylor to have suppressed the first 148 pages, as not only trivial and uninstructive, but almost wholly extra

neous.

After wading through this chaos of injudicious compilation, we at length arrive in Switzerland.

At the accession of Rodolphus to the imperial throne, Helvetia was divided into a variety of little states. Among the most powerful of the independent barons were the counts of Toggenburg and Rapperswyl, who were masters of that remnant of the Thurgau which was unoccupied either by the bishop of Constance or the abbot of St. Gall. The canton of Zuric was subject to the potent fainilies of Kyburg and Thurgau, with the exception of the lordship of Regensberg, which reached to the very gates of Zuric, and a small district belonging to the counts of Lensberg and the margrave of Baden. The towns of Arberg and Zofingen, with the whole western bank of the Aar, from Olten to Bibenstein, belonged to the counts of Froburg and Bucheck. In the canton of Bâle, the most considerable families were those of Thierstein and Homburg. The domain of the count of Rothenberg lay contiguous to the lake of Lucerne. Upon the extinction of the house of Zarengen, the principalities of Thun and Burgdorf had devolved to the house of Kyburg. Among the mountains of Berne we discover the lords of Wiflisburg. The great possessions of the house of Neuchâtel had

[ocr errors]

lately fallen between four collateral branches, viz. Neuchâtel, Arberg, Valendis, and Nidau. The town of Granson was subject to its respective lord. The dominions of the house of Savoy extended to the southern shore of the lake of Geneva, and from thence to St. Mauritius, while on the northern extremity it comprehended the whole country between Lausanne, Morat, and Iverdun. Even so far back as the eleventh century, this ambitious family had obtained a footing in one of the finest provinces of Transjurane Burgundy. Much about the same time the counts of Morienne had procured the investiture of the duchy of Chablais from the emperor Conrad the Second, in which grant both Vevais and Bomon were included. The inhabitants of the Lower Vallais, who were less indebted than their neighbours to nature for local strength, had likewise been rendered subject to the same jurisdiction.

But formidable as this latter power appears, it was in reality far less so than that of the house of Hapsburg. From the remotest times that family had been in possession of the towns of Altenburg and Bruck, both places of considerable strength. Hapsburg itself was built in 1013 by Radpot, an ancestor of Rodolphus; Werner, bishop of Strasburg, who was his brother, having supplied the necessary funds. When finished, the wealthy prelate visited the castle, and, having examined it with an attentive eye, observed that the magnificence of the edifice by no means corresponded with the greatness of the expense. Radpot made no reply; but immediately called out his train of dependents, which had been greatly improved both in numbers and appearance by the bishop's liberality, and, pointing to them, exclaimed, "It is not to the strength of our castles alone, but to the numbers and discipline of our followers, that we must look for the future glory of our family!"

Notwithstanding the truth of this observation, which seems to have been treasured up as a leading principle to direct his posterity in the paths of ambition, it is nevertheless remarkable that the Austrian family has been more frequently indebted to alliances than to conquest for their immense acquisitions. The emperor Rodolphus inherited, in right of his mother, the counties of Lenzberg, Baden, and Kyburg, the town of Winterthur, with the landgraviates of Zug and Thurgau. The counts of Lauffenburg, a younger branch of the same house, possessed the towns of Seckingen, Waldshut, Lauffenburg, and Rheinfeld; while another, but more distant relative, had succeeded the counts of Kyburg in the principalities of Burgdorf and Thun.

The chief authority in the Grisons (the ancient Rhætia) centered in the bishops and counts of Coire; the lords of Sargans and Werdenberg had also a considerable influence in that country.

The evident superiority of the houses of Hapsburg and Savoy over the rest of the Helvetic princes seemed clearly to indicate that the whole of Switzerland was ultimately destined either to be divided between them, or to be swallowed up by the successful competitor, in case they should disagree in the partition of their prey. Hitherto, indeed, the attention of the latter had been particularly directed towards the plains of Lombardy; while the former had entirely confined their views to northern or Germanic Helvetia: but the attain

[ocr errors]

ment of the imperial crown opened a wider field to the aspiring genius of Rodolphus, and taught him to aim at sublimer projects.' Vol. i. P. 149.

Some account is then given of Zurich, at that time the most considerable of the Helvetian cities, and of Berne, Basle, &c. In his fifth chapter Mr. Naylor begins his statement of the Helvetic revolution.

No sooner was the emperor's death made public, than the prin cipal inhabitants of Uri, Schweitz, and Unterwalden, assembled to renew their ancient bond by an oath, which was conceived nearly in the following terms. "Be it known to all the world, that we, the inhabitants of the valleys of Uri, and of the mountains of Unterwalden, together with the men of Schweitz, in consideration of the alarming prospect of affairs, have united ourselves by the closest ties; and do solemnly swear to assist each other, both with our fortunes and our lives, against every aggressor whatever. Such is the spirit of our league, and it is imprinted on our hearts. It was formerly the privilege of this country to be subject to the jurisdiction of no magistrate who was not a native of it, nor to any one who had purchased his employment. Among us, the decision of every dispute should be referred to the most prudent; nor is any one at liberty to refuse the office. Our laws are simple. Whoever intentionally kills a fellowcreature shall be punished with death; and whoever attempts to screen the murderer from the hands of justice shall be banished. If any one sets fire to a house, he shall forfeit his right of citizenship, and the person who protects him shall make good the loss. The man who injures or robs another shall make ample compensation as far as his ability extends. Nor shall any one seise the property of another without the permission of a judge; nor even then, except he is his debtor, or has been security for a debt. Every member of society is equally bound to obey the magistrates; and, in cases of resistance, all men are obliged to lend their aid to the civil power. If, in a private quarrel, one party shall refuse to accept of an adequate satisfaction, all the neighbours shall side with his adversary.-These laws are established for the common benefit of us all; and, with the mercy of God, shall continue in force for ever*." Vol.i. p. 186.

To Mr. Naylor's proposition, p. 191, that the liberties of a people are utterly annihilated from the very moment they submit to the most trifling act of oppression, we cannot assent; for if it were granted, freedom would be a mere philosopher's stonealways sought, but never acquired. Infinite prejudice has arisen to society from vague notions concerning political freedom; which, like some texts of Scripture, have been wrested in every

*This declaration, bearing date in the month of August 1291, lay buried among the public archives till the year 1760, when it was discovered by the diligent Tschudi, and has since been published by Gleser in his Helvetiorum Fædera.

We have preferred preserving the rude and simple style of the original to the refinements of modern language, as more impressive and appropriate.'

possible form and direction. Many theoretical writers even appear to have absolutely forgotten the practice of domestic slavery amongst the freest nations of antiquity.

Were we to dwell on the succession of events that occur, we should run a risk of repeating most of the subjects already detailed in our account of Mr. Planta's history. We shall therefore hasten to the close of the second volume, and exhibit some few of our author's general reflexions.

If ever there existed a republic which was erected upon a virtuous principle, it was that of Helvetia. The more nearly we investigate the motives which actuated its founders, and the measures they pursued, the greater reason we shall discover to conform ourselves to this opinion. In vain we look for the strifes of ambition or the wars of interest. They had no share in the actions of that plain and honest people, whose hearts were pure as the Alpine breeze, whose manners were uncorrupted as the mountain spring. And yet, in the course of a century and an half, a tide of uninterrupted prosperity was sufficient to infect the two leading states with all those vices and passions which are the inseparable companions of wealth and commerce. The interest of the public was sacrificed to that of the individual. The grand and active principle of the federation was forgotten amid the violence of domestic dissensions, and an unnatural union formed with the hereditary enemy of Helvetic independence.

The destiny of Helvetia appears to us a satisfactory proof, that virtue, considered as the fundamental principle of government, is the mere phantom of a heated imagination, the child of theory and speculation; but that it is in vain to look for it in any aggregate body composed of such corrupted beings as men. Virtue and greatness we fear to be almost incompatible in exalted posts; and more particularly so according to the abandoned system of modern politics. In a private station we may repose securely upon the bed of innocence; but from the moment that we embark upon the perilous ocean of public life, the virtue of the most virtuous is in danger.

It may then be asked, with some appearance of reason, in what consists the difference which is so visible in the characters of different people, and even of the same people, under a different form of government? The answer is plain and easy. It consists in the feelings of the heart-in that noble sentiment of independence which tells the lowest citizen of a free state that he is a man, and as such has an equal claim to the protection of the laws with the proudest and most wealthy of his countrymen.

Deprive him of this, and his whole nature alters. It matters little by what means the change is produced, whether by the hand of power or by the pressure of poverty and distress, The effect in either case will be similar.

• Examples of this kind may escape the common observer; but to the philosopher, who investigates the springs and motives of human conduct, they appear in all the strong and melancholy features of truth. Behold the man whose arm alone is sufficient to procure him every necessary of life! With what a bold and elevated countenance he looks around him! The smile of content sits light upon his brow.

That smile is the characteristic of freedom. It denotes the feelings of a heart which can reply with fearless dignity to the mightiest of mankind, I am like yourself—a man. Let us now reverse the picture. Let us reduce the same person to a precarious dependence upon the bounty of others for his daily subsistence. He will no longer be recognisable. Not a feature, not an action, not a word will be the same. The open countenance of conscious honesty has disappeared, and assumed the close and sullen expression of discontent, servility, and despair!

The history of mankind in every period of the world confirms the truth of this remark. But no instance can be adduced more striking than what may be found in a comparison of the Roman character under the consular and papal government.-And woe to the country where so fatal a metamorphose has taken place! The liberties of that people no longer exist, but on the precarious tenure of their sovereign's discretion.' Vol. ii. p. 355.

The concluding view of the Swiss manners is not sufficiently confined to the proper subject, but filled with German and Italian anecdotes. What have the riches of Nuremburg to do with the history of Switzerland? The account of fools, p. 382, might be greatly enlarged, even under the divisions selected by Mr. Naylor-of professional fools, court fools, and itinerant fools. Our learned author seems mistaken when he supposes that the race of professional fools has expired, as it is still extremely numerous throughout Europe, and constitutes a profession as lucrative as in the times to which he refers with regret.

Upon the whole, we must repeat our observation, that it is to be wished our author had begun with the modern history of Switzerland, in which so much industry and selection would not have been required as are indispensable in compiling the ancient annals of any country. With a little more time and attention, and a due study of the best modern models, it is probable he might greatly improve this work, of which the more interesting topics are already treated with considerable ani

mation.

ART. VIII.-The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland : Together with the Psalter, or Psalms of David, pointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches. Published for John Reeves, Esq. 12mo. 8s. 6d. Boards. Wright. 1801.

THIS Prayer-book does credit to the royal press. It is dedicated to the queen, and is to be followed by a Bible, now in hand, which, by royal permission, is to be dedicated to the

« السابقةمتابعة »