ALABAMA CLAIMS. S3 



(Eidgenossisclie) Bank established at Berne. On 

 receiving the respective &quot; Counter-Cases&quot; of the two 

 Governments, which in effect closed the proofs on 

 both sides, he took a characteristic step in order to 

 be prepared for action in June. 



As you sail up the Lake of Thun toward Unter- 

 seen or Interlaken, you note on the left the precipi 

 tous wooded mountain-side of Beatenberg. Here, 

 high up in a rural hamlet, hidden among the trees, 

 with the beautiful lakes of Thun and Brieuz at his 

 feet, and the magnificent spectacle of the Oberland, 

 terminating at the remoter Berner Alps, in those 

 balmy Alpine days when spring is passing into sum 

 mer, and all earth is a paradise of verdure and of ani 

 mation, here Mr. Stsenipfli secluded himself from the 

 social distractions and cares of business at Berne, and 

 dedicated himself to the mastery of the u Alabama 

 Claims.&quot; In such a blessed retreat even law-books 

 might lose their dullness, and diplomatic correspond 

 ence, depositions, and legal pleadings be invested with 

 the charmed reflection of the matchless scenery of 

 lakes, fields, hamlets, cities, mountains, and rivers, 

 glittering in the sun, and resting in the horizon at 

 the snow-crowned heights of the Jungfrau. 



And so it seems to have been. For good St. Bea- 

 tus blessed the mountain labors of Mr. Strernpfli, and 

 he came to Geneva in due time with full abstracts 

 of evidence and elaborately written opinions on the 

 main questions at issue before the Tribunal, to the ap 

 parent surprise of Sir Alexander Cockbum, who, con 

 fidently relying on the rupture of the Arbitration, as 



