s 



Letters on the Present State qf Swit;:erland. [Aug. I, 



land of profperity and natural beauty 

 profaned and defolated by party-rage. 

 The perverle condutt of thefe, as well 

 ai the Balle pealantry, (who are both oc- 

 cupied in manufattures,) in tlie hour of 

 their country's danger, ftrikingly exem- 

 plifies the remarks of a late Swiis travel- 

 ler on the two claffea of labourers. 



" The manufa6turer (fays he,) is dlf- 

 contented : the example of town-extra- 

 vagance before his eyes creating in him 

 fuperfluous necellities : he is nitempe- 

 rate, becaufe he often gains with little 

 trouble : he is licentious and extravagant, 

 he is turbulent and mifcluevous, becaufe 

 bis mechanical labour leaves his mind un- 

 occupied. The mountaineer or huitnmd- 

 man, on the contrary, is hoiieft and fm- 

 cere : no fedu£tion awakens his defires : 

 lie is temperate, his gains being fniall, 

 and his income fo gradual as to ])revent a 

 momentary abundance : he is contented, 

 inafmuch as he knows only the wants of 

 nature, which are more eafdy gratified 

 than artificial ones." 



Another more extenfive excurfion than 

 the former, which I mnde to Baden and 

 the country adjacent, afforded me many 

 other obfervations. 



The little town of Baden is acceffible 

 on all fides by main roads croffmg each 

 otlier. One of tliele, a broad paved way, 

 lined with churches, dwclling-houfes, 

 barns, &c., leads down to a narrow plain 

 fomewhat raifed above the bed of the 

 boillerous Limmat, that winds by a tu- 

 multuous courfe out of the valley. I'rom 

 this fpot bubble up the hot fpriiigs that 

 rife from underneath the ftreani, and 

 which are known all over Europe for the 

 abundance of their waters They are the 

 fame as thole mentioned by Tacitus, and 

 were reforted to by tlie fick of all defcrip- 

 tions. This cavern of the earth, which 

 had from time immemorial harboured no 

 fmall portion of human mifery, bccinne 

 by this means a centrical point for all the 

 pleafure and magnificence that Helvetia 

 €0uld produce ; fo that, in 141 f, we find 

 Poggi rapturoully defcribing, in his well- 

 known epillie to his friend Leonardo Are- 

 tin, the delights of his refidence at Ba- 

 den. A change of tafie, an incrcafe of 

 luxury, and a love of variety, ha\'e draivn 

 multitudes from thefe to other rival baths ; 

 fo that accommodations which a hundred 

 years ago would have fuited the nobility, 

 are now defpifed even by the clafs of ci- 

 tizens, and the fulphurous fprings appear 

 to have loil their efficacy. 



The country of Baden, its fields, rocks, 

 hills, fpriiigs, and river in this part, 



abound in antiquities of every kind, par- 

 ticularly in the natural or artificial dice 

 formerly in fuch g'onerai ufe. 



From Baden I extended my route to 

 the fecularized abbey of Konigsfelden, 

 and farther on to Schinznach and Hapf- 

 burgh. KonigT.felden was not the field 

 of a triumphant king, (as its derivation 

 leads fome to fuppofe.) but that of th(^ 

 murdered Albert of /\uliria, the fecond 

 Kmperor of this houle, who v\as killed 

 by his nephew Duke .Tohn on his paffage 

 over the Aar. Abandoned by every body 

 except a young peafant-girl who nurfed 

 him in his lall moments, he expired 

 in her arilis iVIay 1, 1308. Elizabeth 

 his widow, and Agnes his daughter, after 

 having fatiated their revenge by the fii- 

 criticc of many noblemen in the adjacent 

 country, founded, as is well kncuvn, this 

 magnificent con\ent. The high altar was 

 fixed on the fpot where T^lbert departed 

 this life, and monuments and infcriptions 

 have eternized thefe two princelfes, who 

 in their rage confounded the innocent 

 witii the guilty. 



At prefent Konigsfelden is in a perfect 

 fiate of decay, poffefling no other memo- 

 rials of its former grandeur but the old 

 arms and windows, which reprefent the 

 hiftory of its royal builders. The adjoin- 

 ing village of VV'indifch, which was the 

 far-famed Vindonilla in the time of the 

 llomans, is a ftill greater monument of 

 the tranfitory graiuleur of this world. 

 Many coins and other veftiges have been 

 dug out of it ; and a Roman aquedu6t is 

 ftill remaining,' through which Konigsfel- 

 den is fup])lied with water. This place 

 inclofed the whole country as far as the 

 caflle of Altenburg. 



Brugg, a fine little town in the way to 

 Schinznach, is etititlcd to notice, as the 

 birth-place of the celebrated Zimmcr- 

 mami, a nian who in his latter days was 

 blackened by his enemies, but died in 

 the undiminiflied eftcem of all who knevr 

 him. You will join with me as I (hind 

 over his gra\e, and with peace to his 

 allicrs. 



Aarau, the principal place in the nevv 

 canton of Argau, and a very fliort dif- 

 taucc from Brugg, has acquired celebrity 

 in tiie prefent day from the events which 

 it has witnefl'ed. Here the lafl Swifs diet 

 was held, and, when difVolved through 

 the intrigues of Mengaud, it was con- 

 cluded by the noble fpeech of the Zurich 

 bnrghermafler Wyfs, whofc patriotifin in 

 the end involved him m many difficul- 

 ties, and finally occafioned his impnfon- 

 mcnt. Here alio the Directory of the 

 Helvetic 



