I80a] Letters en the Present State of Skvilzerland. 



21J 



remenihcr the feafon, even of my boy- 

 Lood, iiiicc I was capable ol' uiuierftanc'- 

 ing the words he makes u!e of, wlicn I 

 !C»cr foujid any diiliculty in fo reuditig 

 him as to be able to comprehend fucli 

 portions of hi* meaning as did not hap- 

 pen to refer to topics beyond the fphere 

 of my imperfect erudition. 



It is peril 'ps worthy of confideration, 

 whether a carefully revifcd edition, ra- 

 tionally punttuated, and accompanied 

 with a liinplc and accurate fylleni of no- 

 tation, that migiit facilitate the fponta- 

 neous reading, and indicate the nntural 

 rythmus of tliis iublinie and wonderful 

 poem, mi2,ht not coutribute to the ftiil 

 more i^eneral dilfulion of the reputation 

 of our mmiortid bard, and to the increai- 

 (ed gratification of his numerous admi- 

 rers. J. Thelwall. 



Bedford-place, RufflH-Jijuurc, 

 ' Auguji ir, 1806. 



For the MoiUftti/ Mai^azine. 



tETTERS on t/te PRESE.NT STATE o/'sWITZ- 



ERLAND, addrcffcdjii/ a traveller in 

 /Aat COUNTRY to hu vnir.so in hon- 

 Dox. Lucarte, Sept. 8, 1805. 



ON leaving Zurich, I took the grent 

 road to Zug, leading over Mount 

 Albis, where Maii'ena had a Itrong poli- 

 tion during the revolutionary war. Tlie 

 firft fix miles from Zuricli alforded me 

 the higheft enjoyment, in furveying the 

 immenfe amphitheatre of Alpine and 

 fnowy eminences which gradually open- 

 ed to the view, towering above each 

 other to an indefcribabk; height. 



On the fuminit of the Albis, near 

 the beacon, which is at a little diftance 

 from a good inn, I enjoyed a profpett of 

 the lakes of Zurich and Zug, part of the 

 canton of Lucerne, and the chain of the 

 Glaciers, ■ — the eye extending towards 

 the north as far as Germany. I defcend- 

 ed this mountain, and paiTed Cappel, 

 rendered famous in hiftory by the defeat 

 of the Zurichers, and the death of Zuin- 

 glius the reformer. The fpoils of his ar- 

 mour, the helmet with the imprelTion of 

 the huge pole-axe that dallied out bis 

 brains, and his own battle-axe, made, af- 

 ter the fafliion of the times, to ferve as a 

 firelock, are ftill to be fcen in the ar- 

 moury of Lucerne. He prophefied his 

 death fourteen days before, and died 

 with the words of the Bible in his mouth, 

 " You mav kill the body, but you cannot 

 kill the foul." 



After croffing the bridge of Sihl, which 

 witnelfed an eug'iijenicut, in 1798, be- 



twixt the inhabitants of the fmaller can- 

 tons and a h-gioii of Schauenburg, I 

 reached Zug in a tew hours, a neat httlt 

 town, and vei'y ancient, having given its 

 name to one of the Helvetic dUtricts fo 

 early as the time of Julius Ca;lar. Tlie 

 filh from its iaki^are very famous even in. 

 Gennany, v\hich receives yearly vail 

 quantities of them in barrels. Carp 

 weighing from fifty to fixty pounds have 

 fometiines been caught in that lake ; 

 and the (inking of a whole llreet into the 

 water, in the year 1435, has been afcrib- 

 td to thefe inonllrous tilhes. 



From Zug I made a lliort excurfion 

 to Morgarten, a place become facred 

 to the Swifs as the theatre of their victo- 

 ries at tvvo difi'ereut periods. On tiie 

 15th of November, 1315, thirteen hun- 

 dred valiant men, commanded by lludol- 

 phus Reding, put twenty thoufand war- 

 riors to flight; and on the 2d of Alav, 

 1798, Aloys Reding, his great defcend- 

 ant, gained no lets fign:il advantages, 

 witl) four thoufand of his countrymen, 

 over twelve thoufand of Schauenburg 

 and Nouvions brigades, who formed a 

 line many miles in length. The adja- 

 cent village of Biebiregg gave birth to 

 this illultrious family, which has diliin- 

 guiflied iti'elf for ages in every department, 

 civil or military. Aloys Reding has acquii^, 

 ted himfelf with no lefs honour as a Itatef- 

 man than as a general. He is about fortv 

 years of age, of dignified manners, a mild 

 and yet lofty afpect, a cultivated mind, 

 and an engaging i)eliaviour. He is limple 

 without awkwardr.cfs, pohte without af- 

 fettat'on, and upright without wilhing to 

 appear fo. In him we difcover the vir- 

 tues of the old Swifs combined with tlie 

 polilli of a modern education. After 

 having been Colonel in the Spanilh fei- 

 vice, he had retired to the folitude of his 

 paternal vale, from whence he was re- 

 called into public life by the unanimous 

 vvilh of the people and his own patnot- 

 ifm. The lofs of his young and, raueli- 

 beloved wife atfected him with a melan- 

 choly which rendered the dangers of war 

 more acceptable. 



On the verdant heights of Morgarten, 

 near Sattel and Rothenthunn,in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Egeri lake, the conflict 

 of the 2d of May was the hottelL The 

 women and girls of Rothenthurm, har- 

 neffing themfelves to the cannon taken 

 from Lucerne, dragged them over hill 

 and dale. Almofc ail the females of the 

 comitry were anned Avith clubs or other 

 weapons. Many of them were even 

 dreiled 



