372 HELV 
leges of the refpeCtive. communities, were fcrupuloufly 
referred ; whence (as this was obferved, in all pther 
purchafes of the confederates) arofe the multiplicity of 
local privileges, immunities, and cuftotps, to which the 
Helvetic body owed .its complicated policy.”. After 
having recited thefe acquisitions, he adds: “Thus, in 
a few years, and without wars or compullive m'eans, the 
confederate cities of Helvetia acquired upwards of forty 
feigneuries from Auftria and its vaflals; l 0 me by volun¬ 
tary furrender, but mod: of them by Open pur c * ,ale - 
The old maxim of rejecting territorial a C quifitioh s was 
indeed relinquifhed on thefe occafions ; but at thi s P e * 
riod no cenfure will apply for this deviation, if w e re * 
fled that the princes, in thefe times, in proportio 11 a . s 
the nobility funk into decay, had recourfe to ftipe nc |i- 
ary forces, numbers of 1 which they now began to en 1 '^ 
under their banners ; and that, by means of thefe, th e y 
would foon have cruthed the various confederacies it h'a^ 
been found expedient to oppofe to the encroachments of 
defpotifm. The Helvetic cities guarded againft this by 
encircling their walls with ample territorial depen¬ 
dencies, which defeated the purpofes of their relentlefs 
adverfaries, and enabled theirs to furviVe the leagues of 
the Swabian, Rhenifh, and Hanfeatic, cities, which had 
not ufed fimilar precautions. The confederacy, more¬ 
over, by thefe acceflions, gradually obtained a prepon- 
derancy, which was foon'felt in the fcale of political 
equilibrium, and rendered its independence an objert of 
equal folicitude and protection to all.the Hates that 
compofe the grand republic of Europe.” 
It is about this time that the Grifons become known 
to hillory. The people, following the example of the 
confederacy, formed their feveral leagues. The prof-" 
perous example of the Helvetic confederacy thus fpread 
around it its own fpirit of independence ; and no doubt 
prompted many powerful, but provident, nobles and 
prelates, to a nearer intercourfe with their fubjeCts, and 
to favour combinations which they well faw they could 
not obviate. See the article Grisons, p. 30. 
We have already hinted at a (imilarity between the 
tranfaClions in the vales of Helvetia in the fourteenth 
and fifteenth centuries, and others in modern times on a 
more conspicuous theatre. Coalitions were formed among 
eccleliallical and temporal princes againft newly-rifen 
popular ftates; and combined efforts were made to coun¬ 
teract thefe politics. Such was the objeCt of Albert 
and Leopold, and of the widely-extended confederacy 
which was defeated at Laupen. But, having feen the 
Helvetic body-politic reach its prime, we now are called 
to witnefs the operation of thofe feeds of dilfolution, 
•which are inherent in all the work's of man; to obferve 
the fliocks which convulfe the folid frame, which tend 
to undermine fome pillar, or to break fome hinge, and 
which commence the gradual change from perfection to 
decay. 
No votaries have been more intoxicated than thofe of ' 
liberty. They attribute to their divinity every, poflible 
excellence; and they defcribe her as pacific and mode¬ 
rate. Hiftory forces on Us a different opinion, and wrefts 
from us a confeflion which we take no pleafure in mak¬ 
ing-; that liberty infpir.es her fons too often with ambi¬ 
tion, and with the love of aggrandizement. This is in- 
ftanced in a very remarkable manner in the cafe of the 
cantons of Uri and Underwalden; whofe fequeftered 
fituation, it might have been expeCted, would have 
guarded them againft facrificing at the fhrine of ambi¬ 
tion. It was in ah attempt to make good a foreign ac- 
quifition, (that of Bellinzona,) that victory firft proved 
unfaithful to the Swifs banners ; and it was at the bat¬ 
tle of St. Paul’s, before that city, that a Swifs was firft 
.known to furrender himfelf prifoner of war. 
Previoufty .to the Italian difalter, in the courfe of the 
troubles of the Vallais, a fpirit had difcovered itfelf, 
^widely .different from that which animated the confede- 
E T I A. 
racy in its better days. A demagogic ceremony, prac- 
tifed by the infurgents, is too curious to be palled over. 
It was analogous to what popular leaders ever prac- 
tife in order to concentrate the various grievances com¬ 
plained of into one (ingle image, word, or fentence. 
They produced a club, on which a human face was 
rudely fculptured, and tied it to a young birch-tree, 
which they plucked up by the root. This they called 
ike Mace, and fet it up as an emblem of the injured peo¬ 
ple. The figure was afked whom it had chiefly to com¬ 
plain of; and the names of principal families being call¬ 
ed over, when that of the perfon aimed at was mention¬ 
ed, it was made to bow profoundly in token of humilia¬ 
tion, and earned entreaty for relief. All thofe who 
took compaflion on it, drove a hobnail into the trunk 
of the tree, thereby denoting their number and firm re- 
folve, without betraying their names. When the num¬ 
ber was thought fufficient, this pageant tv as carried 
throughout the country, and placed before fuch houfes 
and caftles as were doomed to deltruCtion. Whoever 
reprobated the violences committed by the infurgents, , 
was threatened with the Mace ; and the perfon who 
was the principal object of the confpiracy, had no op¬ 
tion but that of flying the country. 
The (late of fecurity in which the cantons now found 
themfelves, foon induced them to turn their thoughts 
to objects of private advantage, of at beft to conceive 
that a tender regard for the welfare of their particular 
city or canton was all the ■patriotifm that could now be 
demanded of them. Eacli canton thus gradually ac¬ 
quired a diftinCt character. Berne became lordly and 
domineering; but this very fpirit, and the prevailing 
influence of that city, proved in the fequei the main 
fpring of the confequence of the confederacy as a ftate. 
Zurich carried on an extenfive trade, and lienee fuffered 
its commercial views to warp all its public as well as 
private deliberations ; and we accordingly feldom find 
it in unifon with the reft of the confederates. The three 
foreft cantons preferved, indeed, their paftoral fimpli- 
city; but, their emulation being once excited, even 
Mount St. Gothard was not high enough to reftrain Uri 
and Underwalden from attempting conquefts in Italy, 
in which they were feebly aflifted by their allies. 
The war of Zurich was a conteft as inveterate and de- 
ftruCtive as thofe ufually are which arife among friends 
and confederates. The fplendid Stufli, who exercifed 
abfolute fway over the minds of theZurichers, was their 
leader. Author of incalculable ills to his country and 
to the confederacy, and compromifing the very exift- 
enceof both as independent powers by his treaty with 
Auftria, he retained his influence over the people undi- 
minifhed, to the day in which he bravely fell, fighting 
for the caufe of which he was'the foul. The frantic 
valour of the fmall band of intrepid Swifs, who fold 
their lives at fo dear a rate to the dauphin of France, (af¬ 
terward Louis XI.) in the aCtion of St. Jacob near £a- 
fil, was the firft caufe of the intimate connection be¬ 
tween France and Swiflferland, formed foon afterward; 
which has been productive of fo many important confe- 
quences, whicli remained to our days, and which had' 
fo tragical a termination. 
The civil war of which we have juft fpoken, exhi¬ 
bited the character which too generally diftinguifhes 
fuch contefts. Towns, we are told, were lacked, 
churches pillaged, crucifixes broken, the confecrated 
hofts dragged through the mire, women fuffered the 
greateft. outrages at the foot of the altars, and houfes 
were confirmed to afhes. Thefe fhepherds, who in 
peace were calm, cold, moderate, and humane, became 
tigers thirfting for blood, when made to believe that 
they faw perfidious enemies in thofe whom they had 
heretofore regarded as fellow-countrymen and brethren. 
It is remarkable that, in this war, the Swifs trampled 
on thofe objects which in general they held in the high- 
