488 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



grand manoeuvres were refined Into 

 sightly evolutions, chiefly calcula- 

 ted to gratify the eye of inglorious 

 commanders.' 



The following passages throw 

 great light on the singularities ob- 

 servable in the Helvetic govern- 

 ments. Speaking of the territorial 

 acquisitions made by different cities, 

 Mr. Planta observes : ' in each of 

 these contracts, all feudal rights, 

 not alienated in the bargain, and 

 all previous municipal privileges of 

 the respective communities, were 

 scrujiulously reserved ; whence (as 

 this was observed in all other pur- 

 chases of the confederates) arose the 

 multiplicity of local privileges, im- 

 munities, and customs, to which 

 the Helvetic body owed its compli- 

 cated polity.' After having recited 

 these acquisitions, he adds : 



' Thus in a few years, and with- 

 out wars or compulsive means, 

 have the confederate cities of Hel- 

 vetia acquired upwards of forty 

 seigneuries from Austria and its 

 vassals; some by voluntary surren- 

 der, but most of them by open pur- 

 chase. The old maxim of reject- 

 ing territorial acquisitions was in- 

 deed relinquished on these occa- 

 sions; but at this period no censure 

 will apply for this deviation, if we 

 reflect that the princes, in these 

 times, in proportion as the nobility 

 sunk into decay, had recourse to sti- 

 pendiary forces, numbers of which 

 they now began to enlist under their 

 banners; and that by means of these, 

 they would soon have crushed the 

 various confederacies it had been 

 found expedient to oppose to the 

 encroachments of despotism. The 

 Helvetic cities guarded against this 



by encircling their walls with ample 

 territorial dependencies, whicii de- 

 feated the purposes of their relent- 

 less adversaries, and enabled theirs 

 to survive the leagues of the Sua- 

 bian, Rhenish, and Hanseatic cities, 

 which had not used similar precau- 

 tions. The confederacy, moreover, 

 by these accessions gradually ob- 

 tained a preponderancy, which was 

 soon felt in the scale of political 

 equilibrium, and rendered its inde- 

 pendence an object of equal solici- 

 tude and protection to all the states 

 that compose the grand republic of 

 Europe.' 



The battles of Spheicher and Stoss, 

 and the rest of the exploits which 

 rendered Appenzel so renowned at 

 this time, displayed a bravery which 

 almost exceeds that of the confeder- 

 ates. They originated in a quarrel 

 between the Abbot of St. Gallen 

 and the people of Appenzel. Some 

 of our readers may have been agree- 

 ably introduced to an acquaintance 

 with several of the parties in this 

 dispute, by means of one of the most 

 pleasing and instructive novels late- 

 ly delivered from the teeming press 

 of Germany.* 



It is about this time that the Ori- 

 sons becameknowntohistory. This 

 people following the example of 

 the confederacy, formed their seve- 

 ral leagues. ' The prosperous ex- 

 ample of the Helvetic confederacy 

 thus spread around its own spirit of 

 independence; and no doubt prompt- 

 ed many powerful, but provident no- 

 bles and prelates, to a nearer inter- 

 course with their subjects, and to 

 favour combinations which they 

 well saw they could not obviate.' 



Book H. treats of the progress. 



Rudolph vOn Werdenbcig. 



