ALABAMA CLAIMS. 83 



(Eldgenossisclie) Bank established at Berne. On 

 receiving the respective "Counter-Cases" of the two 

 Governments, which in effect closed the proofs on 

 both sides, he took a characteristic step in order to 

 be j^repared 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 Beatenbero;. Here, 

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

 with' the beautiful lakes of Thun and Brienz 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. Stsempfli secluded himself from the 

 social distractions and cares of business at Berne, and 

 dedicated himself to the mastery of the "" Alahcnna 

 Claims." In such a blessed retreat even law-books 

 might lose their dullness, and diplomatic correspond- 

 ence, depositions, and legal pleadings be invested w^ith 

 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 heio-hts of the Juno-frau. 



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

 tus blessed the mountain labors of Mr. Staempfli, 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 Cockburn, who, con- 

 fidently relying on the ruj^ture of the Arbitration, as 



