514 SWITZERLAND. 



with a great number of medals and paintings. In the cabinets of 

 Erasmus and Amerbach, which also belong to this university, there 

 are no less than twenty original pieces of Holbein ; for one of which, 

 representing a dead Christ, a thousand ducats have been offered. The 

 other universities, which indeed are commonly only styled collegesj 

 are those of Bern, Lausanne, and Zurich, 



Language. ..Several languages prevail in Switzerland; but the 

 most common is German. The Swiss who border upon France speak 

 an impure French, as those near Italy do a corrupt Italian. 



Antiquities... .Some Roman antiquities are found in this country, 

 but they are not numerous. The ruins of Cesar's wall, which extend- 

 ed eighteen miles in length, from mount Jura to the banks of lake 

 Leman, are still discernible. Many monuments of antiquity, have 

 been discovered near the baths of Baden, which were known to the 

 Romans in the time of Tacitus. Switzerland boasts of many noble 

 religious buildings, particularly a coilege of Jesuits ; and many ca- 

 binets of valuable manuscripts, antiques, and curiosities of all kinds. 



History. ...The present Swiss and Grisons, as has been already 

 mentioned, are the descendants ot the ancient Helvetii, subdued by 

 Julius Caesar. Their mountainous uninviting situation formed abet- 

 ter security for their liberties than their forts or armies. They con- 

 tinued long under little more than a nominal subjection to the Bur- 

 gundians and Germans, till about the year 1300, when the emperor, 

 Albert I, treated them with so much rigour, that they petitioned 

 against the cruelty of their governors. This served only to double 

 the hardships of the people ; and one of Albert's Austrian governors, 

 Gresler, in the wantonness of tyranny, set up a hat upon a pole, to 

 ■which he ordered the natives to pay as much respect as to himself, 

 The famous William Tell being observed to pass frequently with- 

 out taking notice of the hat, and being an excellent marksman, the 

 tyrant condemned him to be hanged, unless, he cleft an apple upon 

 his son's head, at a certain distance, with an arrow. Tell cleft the 

 apple ; and Gresler asking him the meaning of another arrow he saw 

 stuck in his belt, he bluntly answered, that it was intended for his 

 (Gresler's) lieart, if he had killed his son. Tell was condemned to 

 prison upon this ; but, making his escape, he watched his opportunity, 

 and shot the tyrant, and thereby laid the foundation of the Helvetic 

 liberty. 



It appears, however, that, before this event, the revolt of the Swiss 

 from the Austrian tyranny had been planned by some noble patriots 

 among them. Their measures were so just, and their course so 

 intrepid, that they soon effected a union of several cantons. 



Zurich, driven by oppression, sought first an alliance with Lucern, 

 Uri, Schweitz.and Unterwalden,on the principles of mutual defence; 

 and the frequent successes of their arms against Albert, duke of 

 Austria, insensibly formed the grand Helvetic union. They first 

 conquered Glaris and Zug, and admitted them to an equal participa- 

 tion of their rights. Bern united itself in 1353 ; Freyburg and 

 Soleure 130 years after; Basil and Schaffhausen in 1501; and Ap- 

 penzel, in 15 1 3, completed the confederacy, which repeatedly defeat- 

 ed the united powers of France and Germany ; till, by the treaty of 

 Westphalia, in 1648, their confederacy was declared to be a free and 

 independent state. 



Neufchatel, since the year 1707, has been under the dominion of 

 the king of Prussia; but the inhabitants are free to serve any prince 



