I was one
Who loved the greenwood bank and lowing herd,
The russet prize, the lowly peasant's life,
Season'd with sweet content, more than the halls
Where revellers feast to fever-height. Believe me,
There ne'er was poison mix'd in maple bowl.
ANONYMOUS.
Leaving the young persons engaged with their sports, the Landamman of
Unterwalden and the elder Philipson walked on in company, conversing
chiefly on the political relations of France, England, and Burgundy,
until the conversation was changed as they entered the gate of the old
castle-yard of Geierstein, where arose the lonely and dismantled keep,
surrounded by the ruins of other buildings.
"This has been a proud and a strong habitation in its time," said
Philipson.
"They were a proud and powerful race who held it," replied the
Landamman. "The Counts of Geierstein have a history which runs back to
the times of the old Helvetians, and their deeds are reported to have
matched their antiquity. But all earthly grandeur has an end, and free
men tread the ruins of their feudal castle, at the most distant sight
of whose turrets serfs were formerly obliged to vail their bonnets, if
they would escape the chastisement of contumacious rebels."
"I observe," said the merchant, "engraved on a stone under yonder
turret, the crest, I conceive, of the last family, a vulture perched
on a rock, descriptive, doubtless, of the word Geierstein."
"It is the ancient cognisance of the family," replied Arnold
Biederman, "and, as you say, expresses the name of the castle, being
the same with that of the knights who so long held it."
"I also remarked in your hall," continued the merchant, "a helmet
bearing the same crest or cognisance. It is, I suppose, a trophy of
the triumph of the Swiss peasants over the nobles of Geierstein, as
the English bow is preserved in remembrance of the battle of
Buttisholz?"
"And you, fair sir," replied the Landamman, "would, I perceive, from
the prejudices of your education, regard the one victory with as
unpleasant feelings as the other?--Strange, that the veneration for
rank should be rooted even in the minds of those who have no claim to
share it! But clear up your downcast brows, my worthy guest, and be
assured, that though many a proud baron's castle, when Switzerland
threw off the bonds of feudal slavery, was plundered and destroyed by
the just vengeance of an incensed people, such was not the lot of
Geierstein. The blood of the old possessors of these towers still
flows in the veins of him by whom these lands are occupied."
"What am I to understand by that, Sir Landamman?" said Philipson. "Are
not you yourself the occupant of this place?"
"And you think, probably," answered Arnold, "because I live like the
other shepherds, wear homespun grey, and hold the plough with my own
hands, I cannot be descended from a line of ancient nobility? This
land holds many such gentle peasants, Sir Merchant; nor is there a
more ancient nobility than that of which the remains are to be found
in my native country. But they have voluntarily resigned the
oppressive part of their feudal power, and are no longer regarded as
wolves amongst the flock, but as sagacious mastiffs, who attend the
sheep in time of peace, and are prompt in their defence when war
threatens our community."
"But," repeated the merchant, who could not yet reconcile himself to
the idea that his plain and peasant-seeming host was a man of
distinguished birth, "you bear not the name, worthy sir, of your
fathers--They were, you say, the Counts of Geierstein, and you
are"----
"Arnold Biederman, at your command," answered the magistrate. "But
know,--if the knowledge can make you sup with more sense of dignity or
comfort,--I need but put on yonder old helmet, or, if that were too
much trouble, I have only to stick a falcon's feather into my cap, and
call myself Arnold, Count of Geierstein. No man could gainsay
me--though whether it would become my Lord Count to drive his bullocks
to the pasture, and whether his Excellency the High and Well-born
could, without derogation, sow a field or reap it, are questions which
should be settled beforehand. I see you are confounded, my respected
guest, at my degeneracy; but the state of my family is very soon
explained.
"My lordly fathers ruled this same domain of Geierstein, which in
their time was very extensive, much after the mode of feudal
barons--that is, they were sometimes the protectors and patrons, but
oftener the oppressors of their subjects. But when my grandfather,
Heinrich of Geierstein, flourished, he not only joined the
Confederates to repel Ingelram de Couci and his roving bands, as I
already told you, but, when the wars with Austria were renewed, and
many of his degree joined with the host of the Emperor Leopold, my
ancestor adopted the opposite side, fought in front of the
Confederates, and contributed by his skill and valour to the decisive
victory at Sempach, in which Leopold lost his life, and the flower of
Austrian chivalry fell around him. My father, Count Williewald,
followed the same course, both from inclination and policy. He united
himself closely with the state of Unterwalden, became a citizen of the
Confederacy, and distinguished himself so much that he was chosen
Landamman of the Republic. He had two sons,--myself, and a younger
brother, Albert; and possessed, as he felt himself, of a species of
double character, he was desirous, perhaps unwisely (if I may censure
the purpose of a deceased parent), that one of his sons should succeed
him in his Lordship of Geierstein, and the other support the less
ostentatious, though not in my thought less honourable condition, of a
free citizen of Unterwalden, possessing such influence among his
equals in the Canton as might be acquired by his father's merits and
his own. When Albert was twelve years old, our father took us on a
short excursion to Germany, where the form, pomp, and magnificence
which we witnessed made a very different impression on the mind of my
brother and on my own. What appeared to Albert the consummation of
earthly splendour seemed to me a weary display of tiresome and useless
ceremonials. Our father explained his purpose, and offered to me, as
his eldest son, the large estate belonging to Geierstein, reserving
such a portion of the most fertile ground as might make my brother one
of the wealthiest citizens, in a district where competence is esteemed
wealth. The tears gushed from Albert's eyes--'And must my brother,' he
said, 'be a noble Count, honoured and followed by vassals and
attendants, and I a homespun peasant among the grey-bearded shepherds
of Unterwalden?--No, father--I respect your will--but I will not
sacrifice my own rights. Geierstein is a fief held of the empire, and
the laws entitle me to my equal half of the lands. If my brother be
Count of Geierstein, I am not the less Count Albert of Geierstein; and
I will appeal to the Emperor, rather than that the arbitrary will of
one ancestor, though he be my father, shall cancel in me the rank and
rights which I have derived from a hundred.' My father was greatly
incensed. 'Go,' he said, 'proud boy, give the enemy of thy country a
pretext to interfere in her affairs--appeal to the will of a foreign
prince from the pleasure of thy father. Go, but never again look me in
the face, and dread my eternal malediction!' Albert was about to reply
with vehemence, when I entreated him to be silent and hear me speak. I
had, I said, all my life loved the mountain better than the plain; had
been more pleased to walk than to ride; more proud to contend with
shepherds in their sports than with nobles in the lists; and happier
in the village dance than among the feasts of the German nobles. 'Let
me, therefore,' I said, 'be a citizen of the republic of Unterwalden;
you will relieve me of a thousand cares; and let my brother Albert
wear the coronet and bear the honours of Geierstein.' After some
further discussion, my father was at length contented to adopt my
proposal, in order to attain the object which he had so much at heart.
Albert was declared heir of his castle and his rank, by the title of
Count Albert of Geierstein; and I was placed in possession of these
fields and fertile meadows amidst which my house is situated, and my
neighbours called me Arnold Biederman."
"And if Biederman," said the merchant, "means, as I understand the
word, a man of worth, candour, and generosity, I know none on whom the
epithet could be so justly conferred. Yet let me observe, that I
praise the conduct which, in your circumstances, I could not have
bowed my spirit to practise. Proceed, I pray you, with the history of
your house, if the recital be not painful to you."
"I have little more to say," replied the Landamman. "My father died
soon after the settlement of his estate in the manner I have told you.
My brother had other possessions in Swabia and Westphalia, and seldom
visited his paternal castle, which was chiefly occupied by a
seneschal, a man so obnoxious to the vassals of the family, that but
for the protection afforded by my near residence, and relationship
with his lord, he would have been plucked out of the Vulture's Nest,
and treated with as little ceremony as if he had been the vulture
himself. Neither, to say the truth, did my brother's occasional visits
to Geierstein afford his vassals much relief, or acquire any
popularity for himself. He heard with the ears and saw with the eyes
of his cruel and interested steward, Ital Schreckenwald, and would not
listen even to my interference and admonition. Indeed, though he
always demeaned himself with personal kindness towards me, I believe
he considered me as a dull and poor-spirited clown, who had disgraced
my noble blood by my mean propensities. He showed contempt on every
occasion for the prejudices of his countrymen, and particularly by
wearing a peacock's feather in public, and causing his followers to
display the same badge, though the cognisance of the House of Austria,
and so unpopular in this country, that men have been put to death for
no better reason than for carrying it in their caps. In the meantime I
was married to my Bertha, now a saint in heaven, by whom I had six
stately sons, five of whom you saw surrounding my table this day.
Albert also married. His wife was a lady of rank in Westphalia, but
his bridal-bed was less fruitful; he had only one daughter, Anne of
Geierstein. Then came on the wars between the city of Zurich and our
Forest Cantons, in which so much blood was shed, and when our brethren
of Zurich were so ill advised as to embrace the alliance of Austria.
Their Emperor strained every nerve to avail himself of the favourable
opportunity afforded by the disunion of the Swiss, and engaged all
with whom he had influence to second his efforts. With my brother he
was but too successful; for Albert not only took arms in the Emperor's
cause, but admitted into the strong fortress of Geierstein a band of
Austrian soldiers, with whom the wicked Ital Schreckenwald laid waste
the whole country, excepting my little patrimony."
"It came to a severe pass with you, my worthy host," said the
merchant, "since you were to decide against the cause of your country
or that of your brother."
"I did not hesitate," continued Arnold Biederman. "My brother was in
the Emperor's army, and I was not therefore reduced to act personally
against him; but I denounced war against the robbers and thieves with
whom Schreckenwald had filled my father's house. It was waged with
various fortune. The seneschal, during my absence, burnt down my
house, and slew my youngest son, who died, alas! in defence of his
father's hearth. It is little to add that my lands were wasted and my
flocks destroyed. On the other hand, I succeeded, with help of a body
of the peasants of Unterwalden, in storming the Castle of Geierstein.
It was offered back to me by the Confederates; but I had no desire to
sully the fair cause in which I had assumed arms, by enriching myself
at the expense of my brother; and besides, to have dwelt in that
guarded hold would have been a penance to one the sole protectors of
whose house of late years had been a latch and a shepherd's cur. The
castle was therefore dismantled, as you see, by order of the elders of
the Canton; and I even think that, considering the uses it was too
often put to, I look with more pleasure on the rugged remains of
Geierstein, than I ever did when it was entire, and apparently
impregnable."
"I can understand your feelings," said the Englishman, "though I
repeat, my virtue would not perhaps have extended so far beyond the
circle of my family affections.--Your brother, what said he to your
patriotic exertions?"
"He was, as I learnt," answered the Landamman, "dreadfully incensed,
having no doubt been informed that I had taken his castle with a view
to my own aggrandisement. He even swore he would renounce my kindred,
seek me through the battle, and slay me with his own hand. We were, in
fact, both at the battle of Freyenbach, but my brother was prevented
from attempting the execution of his vindictive purpose by a wound
from an arrow, which occasioned his being carried out of the mêlée. I
was afterwards in the bloody and melancholy fight at Mount-Herzel, and
that other onslaught at the Chapel of St. Jacob [_d_], which brought
our brethren of Zurich to terms, and reduced Austria once more to the
necessity of making peace with us. After this war of thirteen years,
the Diet passed sentence of banishment for life on my brother Albert,
and would have deprived him of his possessions, but forbore in
consideration of what they thought my good service. When the sentence
was intimated to the Count of Geierstein, he returned an answer of
defiance; yet a singular circumstance showed us not long afterwards
that he retained an attachment to his country, and amidst his
resentment against me, his brother, did justice to my unaltered
affection for him."
"I would pledge my credit," said the merchant, "that what follows
relates to yonder fair maiden, your niece?"
"You guess rightly," said the Landamman. "For some time we heard,
though indistinctly (for we have, as you know, but little
communication with foreign countries), that my brother was high in
favour at the court of the Emperor, but latterly that he had fallen
under suspicion, and, in the course of some of those revolutions
common at the courts of princes, had been driven into exile. It was
shortly after this news, and, as I think, more than seven years ago,
that I was returning from hunting on the farther side of the river,
had passed the narrow bridge as usual, and was walking through the
courtyard which we have lately left" (for their walk was now turned
homeward), "when a voice said, in the German language, 'Uncle, have
compassion upon me!' As I looked around, I beheld a girl of ten years
old approach timidly from the shelter of the ruins, and kneel down at
my feet. 'Uncle, spare my life,' she said, holding up her little hands
in the act of supplication, while mortal terror was painted upon her
countenance.--'Am I your uncle, little maiden?' said I; 'and if I am,
why should you fear me?'--'Because you are the head of the wicked and
base clowns who delight to spill noble blood,' replied the girl, with
a courage which surprised me.--'What is your name, my little maiden?'
said I; 'and who, having planted in your mind opinions so unfavourable
to your kinsman, has brought you hither, to see if he resembles the
picture you have received of him?'--'It was Ital Schreckenwald that
brought me hither,' said the girl, only half comprehending the nature
of my question.--'Ital Schreckenwald?' I repeated, shocked at the name
of a wretch I have so much reason to hate. A voice from the ruins,
like that of a sullen echo from the grave, answered, 'Ital
Schreckenwald!' and the caitiff issued from his place of concealment,
and stood before me, with that singular indifference to danger which
he unites to his atrocity of character. I had my spiked mountain-staff
in my hand--What should I have done--or what would you have done,
under like circumstances?"
"I would have laid him on the earth, with his skull shivered like an
icicle!" said the Englishman, fiercely.
"I had well-nigh done so," replied the Swiss, "but he was unarmed, a
messenger from my brother, and therefore no object of revenge. His own
undismayed and audacious conduct contributed to save him. 'Let the
vassal of the noble and high-born Count of Geierstein hear the words
of his master, and let him look that they are obeyed,' said the insolent
ruffian. 'Doff thy cap, and listen; for though the voice is mine, the
words are those of the noble Count.'--'God and man know,' replied I,
'if I owe my brother respect or homage--it is much if, in respect for
him, I defer paying to his messenger the meed I dearly owe him.
Proceed with thy tale, and rid me of thy hateful presence.'--'Albert
Count of Geierstein, thy lord and my lord,' proceeded Schreckenwald,
'having on his hand wars, and other affairs of weight, sends his
daughter, the Countess Anne, to thy charge, and graces thee so far as
to intrust to thee her support and nurture, until it shall suit his
purposes to require her back from thee; and he desires that thou apply
to her maintenance the rents and profits of the lands of Geierstein,
which thou hast usurped from him.'--'Ital Schreckenwald,' I replied,
'I will not stop to ask if this mode of addressing me be according to
my brother's directions, or thine own insolent pleasure. If
circumstances have, as thou sayest, deprived my niece of her natural
protector, I will be to her as a father, nor shall she want aught
which I have to give her. The lands of Geierstein are forfeited to the
state, the castle is ruinous, as thou seest, and it is much of thy
crimes that the house of my fathers is desolate. But where I dwell
Anne of Geierstein shall dwell, as my children fare shall she fare,
and she shall be to me as a daughter. And now thou hast thine
errand--Go hence, if thou lovest thy life; for it is unsafe parleying
with the father, when thy hands are stained with the blood of the
son.' The wretch retired as I spoke, but took his leave with his usual
determined insolence of manner.--'Farewell,' he said, 'Count of the
Plough and Harrow--farewell, noble companion of paltry burghers!' He
disappeared, and released me from the strong temptation under which I
laboured, and which urged me to stain with his blood the place which
had witnessed his cruelty and his crimes. I conveyed my niece to my
house, and soon convinced her that I was her sincere friend. I inured
her, as if she had been my daughter, to all our mountain exercises;
and while she excels in these the damsels of the district, there burst
from her such sparkles of sense and courage, mingled with delicacy, as
belong not--I must needs own the truth--to the simple maidens of these
wild hills, but relish of a nobler stem, and higher breeding. Yet they
are so happily mixed with simplicity and courtesy, that Anne of
Geierstein is justly considered as the pride of the district; nor do I
doubt but that, if she should make a worthy choice of a husband, the
state would assign her a large dower out of her father's possessions,
since it is not our maxim to punish the child for the faults of the
parent."
"It will naturally be your anxious desire, my worthy host," replied
the Englishman, "to secure to your niece, in whose praises I have deep
cause to join with a grateful voice, such a suitable match as her
birth and expectations, but above all her merit, demand."
"It is, my good guest," said the Landamman, "that which hath often
occupied my thoughts. The over-near relationship prohibits what would
have been my most earnest desire, the hope of seeing her wedded to one
of my own sons. This young man, Rudolph Donnerhugel, is brave, and
highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens; but more ambitious, and more
desirous of distinction, than I would desire for my niece's companion
through life. His temper is violent, though his heart, I trust, is
good. But I am like to be unpleasantly released from all care on this
score, since my brother, having, as it seemed, forgotten Anne for
seven years and upwards, has, by a letter which I have lately
received, demanded that she shall be restored to him.--You can read,
my worthy sir, for your profession requires it. See, here is the
scroll, coldly worded, but far less unkindly than his unbrotherly
message by Ital Schreckenwald--Read it, I pray you, aloud."
The merchant read accordingly.
"BROTHER--I thank you for the care you have taken of my
daughter, for she has been in safety when she would
otherwise have been in peril, and kindly used, when she
would have been in hardship. I now entreat you to restore
her to me, and trust that she will come with the virtues
which become a woman in every station, and a disposition
to lay aside the habits of a Swiss villager, for the
graces of a high-born maiden.--Adieu. I thank you once
more for your care, and would repay it were it in my
power; but you need nothing I can give, having renounced
the rank to which you were born, and made your nest on the
ground where the storm passes over you. I rest your
brother,
"GEIERSTEIN."
"It is addressed 'to Count Arnold of Geierstein, called Arnold
Biederman.' A postscript requires you to send the maiden to the court
of the Duke of Burgundy.--This, good sir, appears to me the language
of a haughty man, divided betwixt the recollection of old offence and
recent obligation. The speech of his messenger was that of a malicious
vassal, desirous of venting his own spite under pretence of doing his
lord's errand."
"I so receive both," replied Arnold Biederman.
"And do you intend," continued the merchant, "to resign this beautiful
and interesting creature to the conduct of her father, wilful as he
seems to be, without knowing what his condition is, or what his power
of protecting her?"
The Landamman hastened to reply. "The tie which unites the parent to
the child is the earliest and the most hallowed that binds the human
race. The difficulty of her travelling in safety has hitherto
prevented my attempting to carry my brother's instructions into
execution. But as I am now likely to journey in person towards the
court of Charles, I have determined that Anne shall accompany me; and
as I will myself converse with my brother, whom I have not seen for
many years, I shall learn his purpose respecting his daughter, and it
may be I may prevail on Albert to suffer her to remain under my
charge.--And now, sir, having told you of my family affairs at some
greater length than was necessary, I must crave your attention, as a
wise man, to what further I have to say. You know the disposition
which young men and women naturally have to talk, jest, and sport with
each other, out of which practice arise often more serious
attachments, which they call loving _par amours_. I trust, if we are
to travel together, you will so school your young man as to make him
aware that Anne of Geierstein cannot, with propriety on her part, be
made the object of his thoughts or attentions."
The merchant coloured with resentment, or something like it. "I asked
not to join your company, Sir Landamman--it was you who requested
mine," he said; "if my son and I have since become in any respect the
objects of your suspicion, we will gladly pursue our way separately."
"Nay, be not angry, worthy guest," said the Landamman; "we Switzers do
not rashly harbour suspicions; and that we may not harbour them, we
speak, respecting the circumstances out of which they might arise,
more plainly than is the wont of more civilised countries. When I
proposed to you to be my companion on the journey, to speak the truth,
though it may displease a father's ear, I regarded your son as a soft,
faint-hearted youth, who was, as yet at least, too timid and
milky-blooded to attract either respect or regard from the maidens.
But a few hours have presented him to us in the character of such a
one as is sure to interest them. He has accomplished the emprise of
the bow, long thought unattainable, and with which a popular report
connects an idle prophecy. He has wit to make verses, and knows
doubtless how to recommend himself by other accomplishments which bind
young persons to each other, though they are lightly esteemed by men
whose beards are mixed with grey, like yours, friend merchant, and
mine own. Now, you must be aware, that since my brother broke terms
with me, simply for preferring the freedom of a Swiss citizen to the
tawdry and servile condition of a German courtier, he will not approve
of any one looking towards his daughter who hath not the advantage of
noble blood, or who hath, what he would call, debased himself by
attention to merchandise, to the cultivation of land--in a word, to
any art that is useful. Should your son love Anne of Geierstein, he
prepares for himself danger and disappointment. And, now you know the
whole,--I ask you, Do we travel together or apart?"
"Even as ye list, my worthy host," said Philipson, in an indifferent
tone; "for me, I can but say that such an attachment as you speak of
would be as contrary to my wishes as to those of your brother, or what
I suppose are your own. Arthur Philipson has duties to perform totally
inconsistent with his playing the gentle bachelor to any maiden in
Switzerland, take Germany to boot, whether of high or low degree. He
is an obedient son, besides--hath never seriously disobeyed my
commands, and I will have an eye upon his motions."
"Enough, my friend," said the Landamman; "we travel together, then,
and I willingly keep my original purpose, being both pleased and
instructed by your discourse."
Then changing the conversation, he began to ask whether his
acquaintance thought that the league entered into by the King of
England and the Duke of Burgundy would continue stable. "We hear
much," continued the Swiss, "of the immense army with which King
Edward proposes the recovery of the English dominions in France."
"I am well aware," said Philipson, "that nothing can be so popular in
my country as the invasion of France, and the attempt to reconquer
Normandy, Maine, and Gascony, the ancient appanages of our English
crown. But I greatly doubt whether the voluptuous usurper, who now
calls himself king, will be graced by Heaven with success in such an
adventure. This Fourth Edward is brave indeed, and has gained every
battle in which he drew his sword, and they have been many in number.
But since he reached, through a bloody path, to the summit of his
ambition, he has shown himself rather a sensual debauchee than a
valiant knight; and it is my firm belief, that not even the chance of
recovering all the fair dominions which were lost during the civil
wars excited by his ambitious house will tempt him to exchange the
soft beds of London, with sheets of silk and pillows of down, and the
music of a dying lute to lull him to rest, for the turf of France and
the réveille of an alarm trumpet."
"It is the better for us should it prove so," said the Landamman; "for
if England and Burgundy were to dismember France, as in our father's
days was nearly accomplished, Duke Charles would then have leisure to
exhaust his long-hoarded vengeance against our Confederacy."
As they conversed thus, they attained once more the lawn in front of
Arnold Biederman's mansion, where the contention of the young men had
given place to the dance performed by the young persons of both sexes.
The dance was led by Anne of Geierstein and the youthful stranger;
which, although it was the most natural arrangement, where the one was
a guest, and the other represented the mistress of the family,
occasioned the Landamman's exchanging a glance with the elder
Philipson, as if it had held some relation to the suspicions he had
recently expressed.
But so soon as her uncle and his elder guest appeared, Anne of
Geierstein took the earliest opportunity of a pause to break off the
dance, and to enter into conversation with her kinsman, as if on the
domestic affairs under her attendance. Philipson observed that his
host listened seriously to his niece's communication; and, nodding in
his frank manner, seemed to intimate that her request should receive a
favourable consideration.
The family were presently afterwards summoned to attend the evening
meal, which consisted chiefly of the excellent fish afforded by the
neighbouring streams and lakes. A large cup, containing what was
called the _schlaf-trunk_, or sleeping-drink, then went round, which
was first quaffed by the master of the household, then modestly tasted
by the maiden, next pledged by the two strangers, and finally emptied
by the rest of the company. Such were then the sober manners of the
Swiss, afterwards much corrupted by their intercourse with more
luxurious regions. The guests were conducted to the sleeping-apartments,
where Philipson and young Arthur occupied the same couch, and shortly
after the whole inhabitants of the household were locked in sound
repose.