LITERARY SPECTATOR.

ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN*.

Ir has been a great delight to us to read these volumes: the pleasure that they will give to multitudes uncounted, collectively, is infinite. The Author of Waverley is at home upon the mountains, whether they be the highlands of Caledonia or of Helvetia. Perhaps a Switzer might discover that he had not felt the inspiration of the land as he has done that of his own heathery hills ; but to us, to the world, he has clothed even the splendid scenery of Switzerland with additional charms.

Every one knows that the Swiss have a stout history of their own ; that stern has been the strife between the mountain peasant and the feudal lord ; and that every district of that wild but lovely country is marked by local associations of the most heartcheering kind to the lover of independence. Few places, however, are more sacred than the now fair farms which lie between the lake of Morat and the hills on the right, as the traveller approaches the stubborn-looking little town from which the lake takes its name. The ground is crossed by every voyager from Geneva to Berne ; and at Berne the relics of that plunder which the peasant host seized in the very camp of Charles the Bold himself, when his numerous army was put to rout and slaughter, are still exhibited in the ancient and venerable cathedral of that city. It is this small but stirring episode in the history of Europe that the author has chosen for his theme. The most formidable monarch at that time in Europe, whether by his talents or his power, led his armies to the skirts of Switzerland, to chastise the mountain churls who had ventured to defy his might. The sturdy heroism of the republicans taught him to rue his rashness : he was utterly routed in two severe pitched battles, and obliged to flee for his life,—which indeed he only retained for a few months to fall in ,another engagement, where his old enemies the Switzers were not the principal force, but most active auxiliaries. The Anne of Geierstein is the history of a pacificatory embassy of mountaineer elders to the court of the Duke of Burgundy, by which the Switzers sought to appease his wrath ; but failing in that, the principal of the party, the Lanclamman of Unterwald, carrying, like Fabius, in the folds of his toga, both peace and war, and meeting with nothing but the harshest language and roughest treatment, was impowered to defy the tyrant to do his worst. This he does before the ducal monarch and his senate ; a defiance necessarily followed by a bloody war ; near to the scenes of which the author contrives to keep us, by various devices, to its fatal termination in the death of the Duke himself.

Such is the great groundwork of this fine specimen of the historical novel. We all know by what arts the author introduces us to his great national pictures—how he contrives to interest us in individuals, and, by inventing relations for them of various kinds, enables us to hear and see every thing. The principal person of the story—at .least she from whom the novel takes its title—is a lovely Swiss girl of the mountains : she is and yet she is not what she seems : she is one of those bold but modest maidens equal to great exertions, of inexhaustible resources in times of difficulty, forming a strange mixture of the heroine and the tender woman, which the author of Waverley loves to paint, and which with various shades of difference he has so often painted. Her uncle, the peasant-count, and her father, the courtier-count, are both striking originals : the latter has too much of the Schedoni (Mrs. RADCLIFFE'S monk) about him to please us entirely ; but the character of the uncle Arnold Biederman is a magnificent portrait of integrity, frankness, courage, and simplicity. The two Englishmen, who cut a conspicuous figure all through the piece, are also clever, well-sustained characters. The Duke of Burgundy is one of those splendid full-lengths which ought to be added to the author's royal gallery of portraits—to his Louis the Eleventh, his James the First, and Elizabeth. Another female monarch also comes in for her share of interest—we encounter the unfortunate Margaret of Anjou. Her father, "Le bon Roi Rent," King of Provence, is drawn with a felicity which in the minds of literary connoisseurs will probably be deemed to excel every other tableau in these copious volumes. We shall not attempt any analysis of the story, both because such analyses are not agreeable to read, and because they deduct from the interest of the reader of the original. Our task shall be confined to the humble employment of picking out some specimens for popular admiration.

The novel opens with the description of two Englishmen voyaging *Anne of Geierstein; or the Maiden of the Mist. By the Author of " Waverley? &c. 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1829. Cadell and Co, on foot in Switzerland in the autumn of 1476. They are on the bankS of the Lake of Lucern, when overtaken by a storm: they fortunately find shelter and protection, after great exertions and a narrow escape for their lives, in the house of Arnold Biederman, properly Count of Geierstein, who lives among the ruins of his ancestors' castle, and cultivates a portion of the land over which they were the undisputed lords. His niece, Anne of Geierstein, the Maiden of the Mist, who skips from rock to rock like a chamois, and who had materially assisted in the preservation of the English, dwells here with him and his five sons. We become familiarly acquainted with the whole family ; but it is Arnold himself, the I andamman of Untenvald alone, that we shall make room for in our columns.

" Arthur had in the mean time an opportunity of observing the figure and features of their Swiss landlord, which, I have already hinted, exhibited a primeval simplicity mixed with a certain rude dignity, arising out of its masculine and unaffected character. The dress did not greatly differ in form from the habit of the female which we have described. It consisted of an upper frock, shaped like the modern shirt, and only open at the bosom, worn above a tunic or under doublet. But the man's vest was considerably shorter in the skirts, which did not come lower down than the kilt of the Scottish Highlander ; a species of boots or buskins rose above the knee, and the person was thus entirely clothed. A bonnet made of the fur of the marten, and garnished with a silver medal, was the only part of the dress which displayed anything like ornament ; the broad belt which gathered the garment together, was of buff leather, secured by a large brass buckle. " But the figure of him who wore this homely attire, which seemed almost wholly composed of the fleeces of the mountain sheep, and the spoils of animals of the chase, would have commanded respect wherever the wearer had presented himself, especially in those warlike days, when men were judged of according to the promising or unpromising qualities of their thews and sinews. To those who looked at Arnold Biederman in this point of view, he displayed the size and form, the broad shoulders and prominent muscles of a Hercules. But to such as looked rather at his countenance, the steady sagacious features, open front, large blue eyes, and deliberate resolution which it expressed, more resembled the character of the fabled King of Gods and men. He was attended by several sons and relatives, young men among whom he walked, receiving, as his undeniable due, respect and obedience, similar to that which a herd of deer are observed to render to the monarch stag."

Before we take our reader among personages of a higher bearing, we will give the description of this good man's abode, for the sake of the truth with which the author has drawn a truly Swiss scene. We know not how long it is since Sir WALTER SCOTT travelled in these mountains, but the impression is still undoubtedly as bright as ever.

" Arthur Philipson had, in the mean time, like a good bow when newstrung, regained the elasticity of feeling and character which was natural to him. It was not indeed with perfect composure that he followed his guide, as she tripped lightly over the narrow arch, composed of rugged stones, and rendered wet and slippery with the perpetual drizzle of the mist issuines from the neighbouring cascade. Nor was it without apprehension that he found himself performing this perilous feat in the neighbourhood of the waterfall itself, whose deafening roar he could not exclude from his ear, though he took care not to turn his head towards its terrors, lest his brain should again be dizzied by the tumult of the waters as they shot forward from the precipice above, and plunged themselves into what seemed the fathomless gulf below. But notwithstanding these feelings of agitation, the natural shame to show cowardice where a beautiful young female exhibited so much indifference, and the desire to regain his character in the eyes of his guide, prevented Arthur from again giving way to the appalling feelings by which he had been overwhelmed a short time before. Stepping firmly on, yet cautiously supporting himself with his piked staff, he traced the light footsteps of his guide alone the bridge of dread, and followed her through the ruined sally-port, to which they ascended by stairs which were equally dilapidated. " The gateway admitted them into a mass of ruins, formerly a sort of court.. yard to the donjon, which rose in gloomy dignity above the wreck of what had been works destined for external -defence, or buildings for internal accommodation. They quickly passed through these ruins, over which vegetation had thrown a wild mantle of ivy, and other creeping shrubs, and issued from them through the main-gate of the castle into one of those spots in which Nature often embosomsher sweetest charms, in the midst of districts chiefly characterized by waste and desolation.

"The castle in this aspect also rose considerably above the neighbouring ground, but the elevation of the site, which towards the torrent was an abrupt rock, was on this side a steep eminence, which had been scarped like a modern glacis, to render the building more secure. It was now covered with young trees and bushes, out of which the tower itself seemed to rise in ruined dignity. Beyond this hanging thicket the view was of a very different character. A piece of ground, amounting to more than a hundred acres, seemed scooped out of the rocks and mountains, which, retaining the same savage character with the tract in which the travellers had been that morning bewildered, inclosed, and as it were defended, a limited space of a mild and fertile character. The surface of this little domain was considerably varied, but its general aspect was a gentle slope to the southwest.

" The principal object which it presented was a large house, composed of huge logs, without any pretence to form or symmetry, but indicating, by the smoke which arose from it, as well as the extent of the neighbouring offices, and the improved and cultivated character of the fields around, that it was the abode, not of splendour certainly, but of ease and competence. Au orchard of thriving fruit-trees extended to the southward of the dwelling. Groves of walnut and chestnut grew in stately array, and even a vineyard, of three or four acres, showed that the cultivation of the grape was understood and practised. It is now universal in Switzerland, but was, in those early days, almost exclusively confined to a few more fortunate proprietors, who had the rare advantage of uniting intelligence with opulent, or at least easy circumstances.

"There were fair ranges of pasture fields, into which the fine race of cattle which constitute the pride and wealth of the Swiss mountaineers, had been brought down from the more Alpine grazings where they had been fed during the summer, to be near shelter and protection when the autumnal storms might be expected. On some selected spots, the lambs of the last season fed in plenty and security, and in others, huge trees, the natural growth of the soil, were suffered to remain, from motives of convenience probably, that they might be at hand when timber was required for domestic use, but giving at the same time, a woodland character to a scene otherwise agricultural. Through this mountain-paradise the course of a small brook might be traced, now showing itself to the sun, which had by this time dispelled the fogs, now intimating its course, by its gently sloping banks, clothed in some places with lofty trees, or concealing itself under thickets of hawthorn and not bushes. This stream,, by a devious and gentle course, which seemed to indicate a reluctance to leave this quiet region, found its way at length out of the sequestered domain,. and, like a youth hurrying from the gay and tranquil sports of boyhood Into the wild career of active life, finally united itself with the boisterous torrent, which, breaking down tumultuously from the mountains shook the ancient Tower of Geierstein as it rolled down the adjacent rock, and then rushed howling through the defile in which our youthful traveller had wellnigh lost his life."

We now pass on to Burgundy. In our way, however, we must record the meeting of an unhappy and a banished Queen of England, with one of her most faithful adherents—the noble Earl of Oxford, who is here represented as travelling in disguise on a secret mission to the court of Charles. The scene, the place, the circumstances, are full of grandeur and pathos.

" In approaching the access to this superb cathedral, the travellers foundit obstructed, as is usual in Catholic countries, by. the number of mendicants of both sexes, who crowded round the entrance to give the worshippers an opportunity of discharging the duty of almsgiving, so positively enjoined as a chief observance of their church. The Englishmen extricated themselves from their importunity by bestowing, as is usual on such occasions, a donative of small coin upon those who appeared most needy, or-most deserving of their charity. One tall woman stood on the steps close to the door, and extended her hand to the elder Philipson, who, struck with her appearance, exchanged for a piece of silver the copper coins which he had been distributing amongst others. " 'A marvel !' she said, in the English language, but in a tone calculated only to be heard by him alone, although his son also caught the sound and sense of what she said,—' Ay, a miracle !—An Englishman still possesses a silver piece, and can afford to bestow it on the poor !'

"Arthur was sensible that his father started somewhat at the voice or words, which bore, even in his ear; something of deeper import than the ob servation of an ordinary mendicant. But after a glance at the female who thus addressed him, his father passed onwards into the body of the church, and was soon engaged in attending to the soleinn ceremony of the mass, as it was performed by a priest at the altar of a chapel divided from the main body of the splendid edifice, and dedicated, as it appeared from the image over the altar, to Saint George ; that military Saint, whose real history is so obscure,

though his popular -legend rendered him an object of peculiar veneration

during the feudal ages. The ceremony was begun and finished with all customary forms. The officiating priest, with his attendants, withdrew, and though some of the few worshippers who had assisted at the solemnity remained telling their beads, and occupied with the performance of their private devotions, far the greater part left the chapel, to visit other shrines, or to return to the prosecution of their secular affairs. " But Arthur Philipson remarked, that whilst they dropped off one after another, the tall woman who had received his father's alms continued to kneel near the altar ; and he was yet inure surprised to see that his father himself, who, he had many reasons to know, was desirous to spend in the church no more time than the duties of devotion absolutely claimed, remained also on his knees, with his eyes resting oil the form of the veiled devotee, (such she seemed from her dress,) as if his own motions were to be guided by hers. By no idea which occurred to him, was Arthur able to form the least conjecture as to his father's motives—he only knew that he was engaged

in a critical and dangerous neopociation, liable to influence or interruption from various quarters ; and that political suspicion was so generally awake

both in France, Italy, and Flanders, that the most important agents were often obliged to assume the most impenetrable disguises, in order to insinuate themselves without suspicion into, the countries where their services were required. Louis XL, in particular, whose singular policy seemed in some degree to give a character to the age in which he lived, was well known to have disguised his principal emissaries and envoys in the fictitious garbs of mendicant monks, minstrels, gipsies, and other privileged wanderers of the meanest description.

"Arthur concluded, therefore, that it was not improbable that this female might, like themselves, be something more than her dress imported ; and he resolved to observe his father's deportment towards her, and regulate his own actions accordingly. A bell at last announced that mass, upon a more splendid scale, was about to he celebrated before the high altar of the cathedral itself, and its sound withdrew from the sequestered chapel of St. George the few who had remained at the shrine of the military saint, excepting the father and son, and the female penitent who kneeled opposite to them. When the last of the worshippers had retired, the female arose and advanced towards the

elder Philipson, who, folding his arms on his bosom, and stooping his head, in an attitude of obeisance which his son had never before seen him assume, appeared rather to wait what she had to say, than to propose addressing her. There was a pause. Four lamps, lighted before the shrine of the saint, cast a dim radiance on his armour and steed, represented as he was in the act

of transfixing with his lance the prostrate dragon, whose outstretched wings and writhing neck were in part touched by their beams. The rest of the chapel was dimly illuminated by the autumnal sun, which could scarce find its way through the stained panes of the small lanceolated window, which was its only aperture to the open air. The light fell doubtful and gloomy, tinged with the various hues through which it passed, upon the stately, yet somewhat broken and dejected form of the female, and on those of the melancholy and anxious father, and his son, who, with all the eager interest of youth, suspected and anticipated extraordinary consequences from so singular an interview.

"At length the female approached to the same side of the shrine with Arthur and his father, as if to be more distinctly heard, without being obliged to raise the slow solemn voice in which she had spoken.

" ' Do you ly!re worship,' she said, the St George of Burgundy, or the St. George of merry Fngland, the flower of chivalry ?'

"'I serve,' said Philipson, folding his hands humbly on his bosom, 'the saint to whom this chapel is dedicated, and the Deity with whom 1 hope for his holy intercession, whether here or in my native country.'

"'Ay—you,' said the female, even you can forget—you, even you, who have been numbered among the mirror of knighthood—can forget that you have worshipped in the royal fane of 'Windsor—that you have there bent a gartered knee, where kings and princes kneeled around you—you can forget this, and make your orisons at a foreign shrine, with a heart undisturbed with the thoughts of what you have been,—praying, like some poor peasant, for bread and life during the day that passes over you.'

" Lady,' replied Philipson, in my proudest hours, I was, before the Being to whom I preferred my prayers, hut as a worm in the dust—In His eyes I am now neither less nor more, degraded as I may be in the opinion of my fellowreptiles.'

" How canst thou think thus ?' said the devotee; and yet it is well with thee that thou canst But what have thy losses been compared to mine ?' " She put her hand to her brow, and seemed for a moment overpowered by agonizing recollections, "Arthur pressed to his father's side, and inquired, in a tone of interest which could not be repressed, Father, who is this lady ?—Is it my mother ?' " No, my son,' answered Philipson ; peace, for the sake of all you hold dear or holy ! " The singular female, however, heard both the question and answer, though expressed in a whisper.

'Yes,' she said, ' young man—I am—I should say I was—your mother ; the mother, the protectress, of all that was noble in England—I am Margaret of Anjou.' "Arthur sank on his knees before the dauntless widow of Henry the Sixth, ivho so long and in such desperate circumstances, upheld, by unyielding courage and deep policy, the sinking cause of her feeble husband ; and who if she occasionally abused victory by cruelty and revenge, had made some atonement by the indomitable resolution with which she had supported the fiercest storms of adversity. Arthur had been bred in devoted adherence to the now dethroned line of Lancaster, of which his father was one of the most distinguished supporters; and his earliest deeds of arms, which, though unfortunate, were neither obscure nor ignoble, had been done in their cause. With an enthusiasm belonging to his age and education, he in the same instant flung his bonnet on the pavement, and knelt at the feet of his ill-fated sovereign.

" Margaret threw back the veil which concealed those noble and majestic features, which even yet,—though rivers of tears had furrowed her cheek,— though care, disappointment, domestic grief, and humbled pride had quenched the fire of her eye, and wasted the smooth dignity of her forehead,—even yet showed the remains of that beauty which once was held unequalled in Europe. The apathy with which a succession of misfortunes and disappointed hopes had chilled the feelings of the unfortunate Princess, was for a moment

melted by the sight of the fair youth's enthusiasm. She abandoned one hand to him, which he covered with tears and kisses, and with the other stroked with maternal tenderness his curled locks, as she endeavoured to raise him from the posture he had assumed. His father, in the meanwhile, shut the door of the chapel, and placed his back against it, withdrawing himself thus from the group, as if for the purpose of preventing any stranger from entering during a scene so extraordinary."

The Queen had been informed of the sojourning of Oxford in Strasburg, and had taken these means to procure an unobserved interview. But pass we on to the camp at Dijon. Here is our first view of Charles the Bold.

"At length the travellers reached, amidst the dazzling varieties of this military display, the pavilion of the Duke himself, before which floated heavily in the evening breeze, the broad and rich banner, in which glowed the armorial bearings and quarterings of a prince, Duke of six provinces, and Count of fifteen counties, who was from his power, his disposition, and the success which seemed to attend his enterprises, the general dread of Europe. The pursuivant made himself known to some of the household, and the Englishmen were immediately received with courtesy, though not such as to draw attention upon them, and conveyed to a neighbouring tent, the residence of a general officer, which they were given to understand was destined for their accommodation, and where their packages accordingly were deposited, and all refreshments offered them.

" 'As the camp is filled.' said the domestic who waited upon them, with soldiers of different nations and uncertain dispositions, the Duke of Burgundy, for the safety of your merchandise, has ordered you the protection of a regular sentinel. In the meantime, be in readiness to wait on his highness, seeing you may look to be presently sent for.'

"Accordingly, the elder Philipson was shortly after summoned to the Duke's presence, introduced by a back entrance into the ducal pavilion, and into that part of it which, screened by close curtains and wooden barricades, formed Charles's own separate apartment. The plainness of the furniture, and the coarse apparatus of the Duke's toilette, formed a strong contrast to the appear-twee-of the exterior of the pavilion-; foe-Charles, -whose character was, in that as in other things, far from consistent, exhibited in his own person during war an austerity, or rather coarseoess of dress, and sometimes of manners also, which was more like the rudeness of a German lanzknecht, than the bearing of a prince of exalted rank ; while, at the same time, he encouraged and enjoined a great splendour of expense and display amongst his vassals and courtiers, as if to be rudely attired, and to despise every restraint, even of ordinary ceremony, were a privilege of the sovereign alone. Yet when it pleased him to assume state in person and manners, none knew better than Charles of Burgundy how he ought to adorn and demean himself.

"Upon his toilette appeared brushes and combs, which might have claimed dismissal as past the term of service, over-worn hats and dou bl &so:log-leashes,. leather belts, and other such paltry articles ; amongst which lay at random, as it seemed, the great diamond called Sanci,—the three rubies termed the Three Brothers of Antwerp,—another great diamond called the Lamp of Flanders, and other precious stones of scarcely inferior value and rarity. This 'extraordinary display somewhat resembled the character of the Duke himself, who mixed cruelty with justice, magnanimity with meanness of spirit, economy with extravagance, and liberality with avarice ; being, in fact, con-. sistent in nothing excepting in his obstinate determination to follow the opinion he had once formed, in every situation of things, and through all variety of risks.

"In the midst of the valueless and inestimable articles of his wardrobe and toilette, the Duke of Burgundy called out to the English traveller, Welcome, Herr Philipson—welcome, you of a nation whose traders are princes, and their merchants the mighty ones of the earth. What new commodities have you brought to gull us with? You merchants, by St. George', are a wily generation.' " Faith, no new merchandise I, my lord,' answered the elder Englishman ; I bring but the commodities which I showed your highness the last time I communicated with you, in the hope of a poor trader, that your Grace may find* them more acceptable upon a review, than when you first saw them.' " 'It is well, Sir—Philipville, I think they call you?—you are a simple trader, or you take me for a silly purchaser, that you think to gull me with the same wares which I fancied not formerly. Change of fashion man—novelty—is the motto of commerce; your Lancaster wares have had their day, and I have bought of them like other $, arid was like enough to have paid dear for them too. York is all the vogue now.'

It may be so among the vulgar,' said the Earl of Oxford : hut for souls like your highness's, faith, honour, and loyalty, are jewels which change of fancy, or mutability of taste, cannot put out of fashion.' *

We would gladly extract the beautiful description of Provence, and the minstrel follies of good Kin?. Rent! ; they would well contrast with the rough character of Burgundy and his rude warfare.: we must however hurry to perhaps a more striking quotation. We shall be able,. by putting together some detached passages, to give an account of the' interview of the Swiss Ambassadors with the impetuous Duke, who, so. far from listening with patience to their expostulations, had been with difficulty restrained from hanging them all up. And with this spirited. extract we must close our report of a novel which bids fair to rival in popularity some of the author's most successful efforts. It is the pendant of Quentin Durward, with this advantage over that • splendid. romance, of possessing greater reliefs, from the character of the country in which the scenes are chiefly placed. " The doors of the hall were now opened to theSwiss deputies, who for the preceding hour had been kept in attendance on the outside of the building, without receiving the slightest of those attentions, which among civilized nations are universally paid to the representatives of a foreign state. Indeed, their very appearance, dressed in coarse grey frocks, like mountain hunters or shepherds, in the midst of an assembly.blazing with divers-coloured garments, gold and silver lace. embroidery, and precious stones, served to confirm the idea that they could only have come hither in the capacity of the most humble petitioners.

" Oxford. however, who watched closely the deportment of his late fellowtravellers, failed not to observe that they retained each in his own person the character of firmness and indifference which formerly distinguished them. Rudolf Donnerhugel preserved his bold and haughty look ; the Banneret, the military indifference which made him look with apparent apathy on all around him ; the burgher of Soleure was as formal and important as ever ; nor did any of the three show themselves affected in the slightest degree by the splendour of the scene around them, or embarrassed by the consideration of their, own comparative inferiority of appointments. But the noble Landamman, on whom Oxford chiefly bent his attention, seemed overwhelmed with a sense of the precarious state in which his country was placed ; fearing, from the rude and unhonoured manner in which they were received, that war was unavoidable, while, at the same time, like a good patriot, he mourned over the consequences of ruin to the freedom of his country by defeat, or injury to her simplicity and virtuous indifference of wealth, by the introduction of foreign luxuries and the evils attending on conquest. * * * "After a silence of nearly five minutes, the Duke spoke, with the haughty and harsh manner which he might imagine belonged to his place, and which certainly expressed his character.

" iVIen of Berne, of Schwitz, or of whatever hamlet and wilderness you may represent, know that we had not honoured you, rebels as you are to the dominion of your lawful superiors, with an audience in our own presence, but for the intercession of a well-esteemed friend, who has sojourned among your mountains, and whom you may know by the name of Fhilipson, an Englishman, following the trade of a merchant, and charged with certain valuable matters of traffic to our court. To his intercession we have so far given way, that instead of commanding you, according to your demerits, to the gibbet and the wheel in the Place de Morimont, we have condescended to receive you into our own presence, sitting in our cour plkiPre, to hear from you such submission as you can offer for your outrageous storm of our town of La Ferette, the slaughter of many of our liegemen, and the deliberate murder of the noble knight, Archibald of Hagenbach, executed in your presence, and by your countenance and device. Speak—if you can say aught in defence of your felony and treason, either to deprecate just punishment, or crave undeserved mercy.'

"The Landamman seemed about to answer ; but Rudolf Donnerhugel, with his characteristic boldness and hardihood, took the task of reply on himself. He confronted the proud Duke with an eye unappalled, and a countenance as stern as his own.

"'We came not here,' he said, 'to compromise our own honour, or the dignity of the free people whom we represent, by pleading guilty in their name, or our own, to crimes of which we are innocent. And when you term us rebels, you must remember, that a long train of victories, whose history is written in the noblest blood of Austria, has restored to the confederacy of our communities the freedom, of which an unjust tyranny in vain attempted to deprive us. While Austria was a just and beneficent mistressewe served.

her with our lives ;-;--when she became oppressive and tyrannical, we assumed independence. If she has aught yet to claim from us, the' descendants of Tell, Faust, arid Stauffenbach, will be as ready to assert their liberties as their fathers were to gain them. Your Grace—if such be your title—has no concern with any dispute betwixt Us and Austria. For your threats of gibbet and wheel, we are here defenceless men, on whom you may work your plea, sure ; but we know how to die, and our countrymen know how to avenge us.' "The fiery Duke would have replied by commanding tlee instant arrest, and probably the immediate execution, of the whole deputation. But his chan cellor, availing himself of the privilege of his office, rose, and doffing his cap with a deep reverence to the Duke, requested leave to reply to the misproud young man, who had, he said, so greatly mistaken the purpose of his Highness's speech.

"Charles, feeling perhaps at the moment too much irritated to form a calm decision, threw himself back in his chair of state, and with an impatient and angry nod, gave his chancellor permission to speak."

After the Chancellor's explanation of the Duke's charge, Donnerhugel answers, among other things, with "'But not a pike or sword belonging to us our our attendants was dipped in Burgundian blood. Archibald de Hagenbach perished, it is true, on a scaffold, and I saw him die with pleasure, under a sentence pronounced by a competent coart, such as is recognised in Westphalia, and its dependencies on this side of the Rhine. I am not obliged to vindicate their proceedings ; but I aver, that the Duke has received full proof of his regular sentence ; and, in fine, that it was amply deserved by oppression, tyranny, and foul abuse of his authority, I will uphold against all gainsayers, with the body of a man. There lies my glove.'

"And, with an action suited to the language he used, the stern Swiss flung his right-hand glove on the floor of the hall. In the spirit of the age, with the love of distinction in arms which it nourished, and perhaps with the desire Of, eakeing the Duke's favour, there was a general motion among the young eurgundiaus to accept the challenges and more than six or eight gloves were hastily doffed by the young knights present, those who were more remote flineing them over the heads of the .nearest, and each proclaiming his name and title as he proffered the gage of combat.

"

'1 set at all,' said the daring young Swiss, gathering the gauntlets as they fell clashing around him. More, gentlemen, more ! a glove for every finger ! come on, one at once—fair lists, equal judges of the field, the combat on foot, and the weapons two-handed swords, and I will not budge for a score of you.' " ' Hold, gentlemen ; on your allegiance, hold,' said the Duke, gratified at the same time, and somewhat appeased, by the zeal which was displayed he his cause—moved by the strain of reckless bravery evinced hype challenger, with a hardihood akin to his own—perhaps also not unwillire to display, in the view of his cour pieni're, more temperance than he had been at first capable ef. 'Hold, I command you all.—Toison d'Or, gather up these gauntlets, and return them each to his owner. God and St. George forbid that we should hazard the life of even the least of our noble Burgundian gentry against such a churl as this Swiss peasant, who never so much as mounted a horse, and knows not a jot of knightly courtesy, or the grace of chivalry.—Carry your-vulgar brawls elsewhere, young man, and know that, on the present occasion, the Place Morimont were your only fitting lists, and the hangman your meet antagonist. And von, sirs, his companions—whose behaviour in suffering this swaggerer to take the lead emongst you, seems lo show t het the laws of nature, as well as of society, are inverted, and that age is meter red to youth, as gentry to peasants—you whitebearded men, I say, is there none" of you who can speak your errand in such language as it becomes a sovereign prince to listen to ? '

" ' God forbid else,' said the Landamman, stepping forward and silencing Rudolf Donnerhugel, who was commencing. an answer of defiance—' God forbid,' he said, 'noble Duke, that we should not be able to speak so as to be understood before your highness, since, I trust, we shall speak the language of truth, peace, and justice. Nay, •should it incline your highness to listen to us the more favourably for our humility, I am willing to humble myself rather than-you should shun to hear us. For my own part, I can truly say, that, though I have lived, and by free choice have resolved to die, a husbandman and a hunter on the Alps of the Unterwald, I may claim by birth the hereditary right to speak before Dukes and Kings, and the Emperor himself. There is no one, my Lord Duke, in this proud assembly, who derives his descent from a nobler source than Geierstein.'

'" We have heard of you,' said the Duke. Men call you the peasant_ count. Your birth is your shame ; or perhaps your mother's, if your father had happened to have a handsome ploughman, the fitting father of one who has become a willing serf.'

" ' No serf, my lord,' answered the Lailitlamman, but a freeman, who will neither oppress others, nor be himself tyrannized over. My father was a noble lord, my mother a most virtuous lady. But I will not he provoked, by taunt or scornful jest, to refrain from stating with calmness what my country has given me in charge to say. The inhabitants of the bleak and inhospitable regions of the Alps desire, mighty sir, to remain at peace with all their neighbours, and to enjoy the-government they have chosen, as best fitted to their condition and habits, leaving all other states and countries to their free will in the stifle respects. Especially, they desire to remain at peace and in unity

with the princely House of Burgundy, whose dominions approach their possessions on so many points. My lord, they desire it, they entreat it, they even consent to pray for it. We have been termed stubborn, intractable, and insolent contemners of authority, and headers of sedition and rebellion. In evidence of the contrary, my Lord Duke, I, who never bent a knee but to Heaven, feel no dishonour in kneeling: before your highness, as before a

sovereign prince in the cour plénibe of his dominions, where he has a right to exact homage from his subjects out of duty, and from strangers out of cour

tesy. No vain pride of mine,' said the noble old man, his eyes swelling with tears, as he knelt on one knee, shall prevent me from personal humiliation, when peace—that blessed peace, so dear to God, so inappreciably valuable to man—is in danger of being broken off.' " The whole assembly, even the Duke himself, were affected by the noble and stately manner in which the brave old man made a genuflection, which was obviously dictated by neither meanness nor timidity. Arise, sir,' said Charles ; if we have said aught which can wound your private feelings, we retract it as publicly as the reproach was spoken, and sit prepared to hear you, as a fair-meaning envoy."

The Landamman then enters into a dissuasive against war and an assertion triSwiss independence. CHARLES, however, is not to be touchor.

"ft We know as well as you can tell us, that there is neither profit nor fame to be achieved by conquering you. But sovereigns, to whom Heaven has given the power, must root out a band of robbers, though there is dishonour in measuring swords with them ; and we hunt to death a herd of wolves, though their flesh is carrion, and their skins are nought.' "The Landamman shook his grey head, and replied, without testifying emotion, and even with something approaching to a smile,—' I am an older woodsman than you, my Lord Duke—and, it may be, a more experienced one. The boldest, the hardiest hunter, will not safely drive the wolf to his. den. I have shown your highness-the poor clratice of gain, and the great risk of loss, which even you, powerful its•you are, must incur by risking a war with de-. termined and desperate men. Let me now-tell what we are willing to do to secure a sincere and lasting peace with our powerful neighbour of Burgundy. Your Grace is in the act of engrossing Lorraine, and it seems probable, under so vigorous and enterprising a prince, your authority may be extended to the shores of the Mediterranean—be our noble friend and sincere ally, and our mountains, defended by warriors familiar with victory, will be your barriers, against Germany and Italy. For your sake we will admit the Count of Savoy to terms, and restore to him our conquests, on such conditions as your highness shall yourselfjudge reasonable. Of past subjects of offence on the part of your lieutenants and governors upon the frontier, we will be silent, so we have assurance of no such aggression,s in future. Nay, more, and it is my last and proudest offer, we will send three thousand of our youth to assist your highness in any war which you may engage in, whether against Louis of France, or the Emperor of Germany. They are a different set of men— proudly and truly may-I state it—from the scum of Germany and Italy, who form themselves into mercenary bands of soldiers. And, if heaven should decide your highness to accept our offer, there will be one corps in your army which will leave their carcasses on the field ere a man of them break their plighted troth.'

"A swarthy, but tall and handsome man, wearing a corslet richly engraved with arabesque work, started from his seat with the air of one provoked beyond the bounds of restraint. This was the Count de Campo-baeso, commander of Charles's Italian mercenaries ; who possessed, as has been alluded to, much influence over the Duke's mind, chiefly obtained by accommodating himself to his master's opinions and prejudices, and placing before the Duke specious arguments to justify him for following his own way.' " This lofty presence must excuse me,' he said, if I speak in defence of my honour, and those of my bold lances, who have followed my fortunes from Italy to serve the bravest prince in Christendom. I might, indeed, pass over, without resentment the outrageous language of this grey-haired churl, whose words cannot affect a knight and a nobleman more than the yelling of a peasant's mastiff. But when I hear him propose to associate his bands of mutinous misgoverned ruffians, with your highness's troops, I must let him know that there is not a horse-boy in my ranks who would fight in such fellowship. No, even I myself, bound by a thousand ties of gratitude, could not submit to strive abreast with such comrades. I would fold up my

banners, and lead five thousand men to seek,--not,a nobler master, for the world has none such,—but wars in which we might not be obliged to blush for our assistants.'

" Silence, Campo-basso,' said the Duke, and be assured you serve a prince who knows your worth too well to exchaneee it for the untried and untrustful services of those, whom we have only known as vexatious and malignant neighbours.'

"Then addressing himself to Arnold Beiderman, he said coldly and sternly, Sir Landamman, we have heard you fairly. We have heard you, although you come before us with hands died deep in the blood of our servant, Sir Archibald de Hagenbach ; for supposing be was murdered by a villanous association,—which, by Saint George, shall never, while we live and reign, raise its pestilential head on this side of the Rhine,—yet it is not the less undeniable and undenied, that you stood by in arms, and encouraged the deed the assassins performed under your countenance. Return to your mountains, and be thankful that you return in life. Tell those who sent you that I will be presently on their frontiers. A deputation of your most

notable persons', who meet me with halters round their necks, torches in their left hands, in their right their swards held by the paint, may learn on what conditions we will grant you peace, " Then farewell peace, and welcome war said the Landamman ; 'and be its plagues and curses on the heads of those who choose blood and strife rather than peace and union. We will meet you on our frontiers with our naked swords, but the hilts, not their points shall be in our grasp. Charles of Burgundy, Flanders' and Lorraine, Duke of seven dukedoms, Count of seventeen earldoms, bid you defiance ; and declare war against you in the name of the confederated Cantons, and such others as shall adhere to them. There,' he said, are my letters of defiance.'

"The herald took from Arnold Biederman the fatal denunciation.

"'Road it not, Tolson d'Or said the haughty Duke. Let the executioner drag it through the streets at his horse's tail, and nail it to the gibbet, to show in what acecuint we hold the paltry scroll, and those who sent it. Away, Sirs,' speaking to the Swiss, trudge back to your wildernesses with such haste as your feet can use.. When we next meet, you shall better know whom you have offended. Get or horse ready—the council is broken up.'"