322 Letters from Switzerland , on the late Revolutions fNov. ],- 



of the horn. The men came armed 

 in rn:ik and file : tlie women Itood oppo- 

 litc to them with ckibs, Iticks, and 

 fcythes. In the iiiean time the arrival of 

 two hundreil Schwitzers, who attached 

 thiimi'elves to their party, awakened uni- 

 vcrfal joy. iSilence beinj; reilorcd, the 

 whole a, ray jonied in imging folenin 

 hymns, men wwA uoinen altenritely. 



The number of (hvcllinsis cojiUuned at 

 Stanzftadt, and in the diltriin of "^tanz, is 

 reckoned at (iC3. Part are rifen again 

 fmt of the allies ; but every thing re- 

 minds me ftill of tliofe unhappy days. At 

 Stanz I was Ihewn the grave in the 

 church-yard whicii holds the bodies of 

 ei'jhty women, cliildren, and old men, 

 who were murdered in the moment of 

 their flying into tiie clmrch to implore 

 Cod's mercy ; and on the altar the hole 

 of the ball Vhich killed the prielt as he 

 was oriiciatina;. In thcoijcn fpacc before 

 the church (lands Arnold Winkehicd, on 

 llic pump, cut in itonc. The fword of 

 this ftatue was taken oft", and his lliicid 

 jjainted with the now Helvetic colours. 

 A hltlc farther on I perceived the Ihell 

 ol" a houfe burnt down, beiongiiiji to a 

 family of the name of Kayfer, who on 

 the loth of September, were all murder- 

 ed, after the fury of the battle had fubfid- 

 cd ; and oppoiite to ihefe walls .1 read, 

 over the entrance into the church-yard, 

 the words Duiiiinui videt in large glittcr- 

 iii<r letters. The Helvetic Directory had 

 cliabliihed, in 1799, an inlHtutiou for the 

 mmierons orplians of the fmaller can- 

 tons, which fnbfifted only a year, and is 

 remarkable as the place where Pcftalozzi 

 commenced his new pedagogic inliitu- 

 tion. 



At Buochs, fome miles from Stanz, I 

 vilited the grave which holds the remains 

 of the painter Wurfch', whofe mafter- 

 j)ieces are llill to be admired in the abbey 

 <jf Eni!;elberg. lie fell with his count ly 

 in the eightieth year of his age. As pro-. 

 fcHorof the Academy of Painting at Be- 

 fancon, and hiltoric painter, he deferved 

 wxll of the arts. This blind old man was 

 fitiing at his door on the evening of the 

 dreadful inroad. He thongiit to n)ove 

 the hearts of th.e folciiers by his venerable 

 afpeOt and gentle words ; but fome bar- 

 bariaiiJ puftied him into the houfe, where 

 ht; periihed in the flames. Painful, truly 

 painful, is the reilection for ti;c iiranger, 

 that the Swifs theiufelves were not only 

 idle fpeclators, but active jiartakers and 

 abettors in the defeat and calamities of 

 the I'ndcrvvaldcners. Many have indeed 

 ciianjcd their tone, as you may fuppofc, 



not only in private, but in public. The 

 w ell-know n Bodmer, of Staffa, declared, 

 in an open aifembly of the Helvetic Se- 

 nate, in -1800, that, " in the contcft with 

 the fmaller cantons, fome Swifs, and 

 even four of his fons, had joined the 

 French ; but he fliould wilh to know 

 which of the two had properly taught for 

 their country .'" A queftion like this, 

 from a mau of Bodmer's character, and 

 in inch a place, is equivalent to a farcaf- 

 tic confellion neatly levelled at the prin- 

 cij)les ol" his colleagues. 



One of thefe modern Swifs having met 

 a worthy defcendant of Winkelried's in 

 the bloody and obftinate conflict at 

 Stanziiadt, wcllering in his blood, and 

 covered with wounds, he was going tcr 

 convey him to an hofpital, but the other 

 poiitivclv refufed his aid. " How could 

 you be i'o mad (faid the new Helvetian,) 

 to' think of rcfiilance with ib fmall a 

 force .? Who could have ever put that 

 into your heads ?" " Who, (returned the 

 old Swifs,) wUo but our good caufe, Mor- 

 garten, and Sempuch?" With thefe 

 words he departed. 



Biirdi of I'mmaten had already re- 

 cei\ed fe\cral mortal wounds, and was 

 unable to rife from the ground. He 

 continued defending himfelf till his 

 Urengtii totally deferted him : he had 

 been leen before contending with half a 

 dozen ot' the enemy. A hoary old man, 

 leaving his fick bed, had his arms carried 

 for him to the Held, that he might die 

 lighting. 



At Buochs I embarked on the Lake of 

 Lucerne fiir Altorf, by way of Fluelen. 

 On traverfmg the lake, I palTed Gerl'»u, 

 formerly the fnialieil republic in Europe, 

 now united to .Scliwitz, and vilited llutli, 

 an hiuulilo cot, near a. bubbling ftreani, 

 in a meadow, where the full founders of 

 Swifs liberty fu-orc to their confederacy, 

 and where tlieir degenerate fons [ .'ofan- 

 ed its ruune by commemoi-uting it» de- 

 ftruction. 



Not far from hence I defcricd the foli- 

 Uuv chapel of Tell, built at the mouth of 

 the lake, on the fpot where he had the 

 addrefs t!) call himfelf (jut of the lioat 

 during a llorm, and efcape his enemies. 

 It is uorthy of note, that in this chapel, 

 one <if the few monuments that efcaped 

 the devaihitions of the foldiery,, there are 

 many painted tigure;, among whom Tell 

 is i-ojirefcntcd in the national colours of 

 Sv\'itzerlaiul, green, red, and yellow ;, 

 Gefsler wid his fatcUites, on the other 

 hand, in the foreign colours, red, blue^ 

 and white ; a circumliiiiice that iufluen- 



cei4 



