They saw that city, welcoming the Rhine,
As from his mountain heritage he bursts,
As purposed proud Orgetorix of yore,
Leaving the desert region of the hills,
To lord it o'er the fertile plains of Gaul.
_Helvetia._
The eyes of the English travellers, wearied with a succession of wild
mountainous scenery, now gazed with pleasure upon a country still
indeed irregular and hilly in its surface, but capable of high
cultivation, and adorned with cornfields and vineyards. The Rhine, a
broad and large river, poured its grey stream in a huge sweep through
the landscape, and divided into two portions the city of Bâle, which
is situated on its banks. The southern part, to which the path of the
Swiss deputies conducted them, displayed the celebrated cathedral, and
the lofty terrace which runs in front of it, and seemed to remind the
travellers that they now approached a country in which the operations
of man could make themselves distinguished even among the works of
nature, instead of being lost, as the fate of the most splendid
efforts of human labour must have been, among those tremendous
mountains which they had so lately traversed.
They were yet a mile from the entrance of the city, when the party was
met by one of the magistrates, attended by two or three citizens
mounted on mules, the velvet housings of which expressed wealth and
quality. They greeted the Landamman of Unterwalden and his party in a
respectful manner, and the latter prepared themselves to hear, and
make a suitable reply to, the hospitable invitation which they
naturally expected to receive.
The message of the community of Bâle was, however, diametrically
opposite to what they had anticipated. It was delivered with a good
deal of diffidence and hesitation by the functionary who met them, and
who certainly, while discharging his commission, did not appear to
consider it as the most respectable which he might have borne. There
were many professions of the most profound and fraternal regard for
the cities of the Helvetian League, with whom the orator of Bâle
declared his own state to be united in friendship and interests. But
he ended by intimating, that, on account of certain cogent and weighty
reasons, which should be satisfactorily explained at more leisure, the
Free City of Bâle could not, this evening, receive within its walls
the highly respected deputies, who were travelling, at the command of
the Helvetian Diet, to the court of the Duke of Burgundy.
Philipson marked with much interest the effect which this most
unexpected intimation produced on the members of the embassage.
Rudolph Donnerhugel, who had joined their company as they approached
Bâle, appeared less surprised than his associates, and, while he
remained perfectly silent, seemed rather anxious to penetrate their
sentiments than disposed to express his own. It was not the first time
the sagacious merchant had observed that this bold and fiery young
man could, when his purposes required it, place a strong constraint
upon the natural impetuosity of his temper. For the others, the
Banneret's brow darkened; the face of the Burgess of Soleure became
flushed like the moon when rising in the north-west; the grey-bearded
Deputy of Schwitz looked anxiously on Arnold Biederman; and the
Landamman himself seemed more moved than was usual in a person of his
equanimity. At length he replied to the functionary of Bâle, in a
voice somewhat altered by his feelings:--
"This is a singular message to the deputies of the Swiss Confederacy,
bound as we are upon an amicable mission, on which depends the
interest of the good citizens of Bâle, whom we have always treated as
our good friends, and who still profess to be so. The shelter of their
roofs, the protection of their walls, the wonted intercourse of
hospitality, is what no friendly state hath a right to refuse to the
inhabitants of another."
"Nor is it with their will that the community of Bâle refuse it,
worthy Landamman," replied the magistrate. "Not you alone, and your
worthy associates, but your escort, and your very beasts of burden,
should be entertained with all the kindness which the citizens of Bâle
could bestow--But we act under constraint."
"And by whom exercised?" said the Banneret, bursting out into passion.
"Has the Emperor Sigismund profited so little by the example of his
predecessors"----
"The Emperor," replied the delegate of Bâle, interrupting the
Banneret, "is a well-intentioned and peaceful monarch, as he has been
ever; but----there are Burgundian troops, of late marched into the
Sundgaw, and messages have been sent to our state from Count Archibald
of Hagenbach."
"Enough said," replied the Landamman. "Draw not farther the veil from
a weakness for which you blush. I comprehend you entirely. Bâle lies
too near the citadel of La Ferette to permit its citizens to consult
their own inclinations. Brother, we see where your difficulty lies--we
pity you--and we forgive your inhospitality."
"Nay, but hear me to an end, worthy Landamman," answered the
magistrate. "There is here in the vicinity an old hunting-seat of the
Counts of Falkenstein, called Graffs-lust,[3] which, though ruinous,
yet may afford better lodgings than the open air, and is capable of
some defence--though Heaven forbid that any one should dare to intrude
upon your repose! And hark ye hither, my worthy friends;--if you find
in the old place some refreshments, as wine, beer, and the like, use
them without scruple, for they are there for your accommodation."
"I do not refuse to occupy a place of security," said the Landamman;
"for although the causing us to be excluded from Bâle may be only done
in the spirit of petty insolence and malice, yet it may also, for what
we can tell, be connected with some purpose of violence. Your
provisions we thank you for; but we will not, with my consent, feed at
the cost of friends who are ashamed to own us unless by stealth."
"One thing more, my worthy sir," said the official of Bâle--"You have
a maiden in company, who, I presume to think, is your daughter. There
is but rough accommodation where you are going, even for men;--for
women there is little better, though what we could we have done to
arrange matters as well as may be. But rather let your daughter go
with us back to Bâle, where my dame will be a mother to her, till next
morning, when I will bring her to your camp in safety. We promised to
shut our gates against the men of the Confederacy, but the women were
not mentioned."
"You are subtle casuists, you men of Bâle," answered the Landamman;
"but know, that from the time in which the Helvetians sallied forth to
encounter Cæsar down to the present hour, the women of Switzerland, in
the press of danger, have had their abode in the camp of their
fathers, brothers, and husbands, and sought no further safety than
they might find in the courage of their relations. We have enough of
men to protect our women, and my niece shall remain with us, and take
the fate which Heaven may send us."
"Adieu, then, worthy friend," said the magistrate of Bâle; "it grieves
me to part with you thus, but evil fate will have it so. Yonder grassy
avenue will conduct you to the old hunting-seat, where Heaven send
that you may pass a quiet night; for, apart from other risks, men say
that these ruins have no good name. Will you yet permit your niece,
since such the young person is, to pass to Bâle for the night in my
company?"
"If we are disturbed by beings like ourselves," said Arnold Biederman,
"we have strong arms, and heavy partisans; if we should be visited, as
your words would imply, by those of a different description, we have,
or should have, good consciences, and confidence in Heaven.--Good
friends, my brethren on this embassy, have I spoken your sentiments as
well as mine own?"
The other deputies intimated their assent to what their companion had
said, and the citizens of Bâle took a courteous farewell of their
guests, endeavouring, by the excess of civility, to atone for their
deficiency in effective hospitality. After their departure, Rudolph
was the first to express his sense of their pusillanimous behaviour,
on which he had been silent during their presence. "Coward dogs!" he
said; "may the Butcher of Burgundy flay the very skins from them with
his exactions, to teach them to disown old friendships, rather than
abide the lightest blast of a tyrant's anger!"
"And not even their own tyrant either," said another of the group--for
several of the young men had gathered round their seniors, to hear the
welcome which they expected from the magistrates of Bâle.
"No," replied Ernest, one of Arnold Biederman's sons, "they do not
pretend that their own prince the Emperor hath interfered with them;
but a word of the Duke of Burgundy, which should be no more to them
than a breath of wind from the west, is sufficient to stir them to
such brutal inhospitality. It were well to march to the city, and
compel them at the sword's point to give us shelter."
A murmur of applause arose amongst the youth around, which awakened
the displeasure of Arnold Biederman.
"Did I hear," he said, "the tongue of a son of mine, or was it that
of a brutish Lanzknecht,[4] who has no pleasure but in battle or
violence? Where is the modesty of the youth of Switzerland, who were
wont to wait the signal for action till it pleased the elders of the
canton to give it, and were as gentle as maidens till the voice of
their patriarchs bade them be bold as lions?"
"I meant no harm, father," said Ernest, abashed with this rebuke, "far
less any slight towards you; but I must needs say"----
"Say not a word, my son," replied Arnold, "but leave our camp
to-morrow by break of day; and, as thou takest thy way back to
Geierstein, to which I command thine instant return, remember, that he
is not fit to visit strange countries who cannot rule his tongue
before his own countrymen, and to his own father."
The Banneret of Berne, the Burgess of Soleure, even the long-bearded
Deputy from Schwitz, endeavoured to intercede for the offender, and
obtain a remission of his banishment; but it was in vain.
"No, my good friends and brethren, no," replied Arnold. "These young
men require an example; and though I am grieved in one sense that the
offence has chanced within my own family, yet I am pleased in another
light, that the delinquent should be one over whom I can exercise full
authority, without suspicion of partiality.--Ernest, my son, thou hast
heard my commands: Return to Geierstein with the morning's light, and
let me find thee an altered man when I return thither."
The young Swiss, who was evidently much hurt and shocked at this
public affront, placed one knee on the ground, and kissed his
father's right hand, while Arnold, without the slightest sign of
anger, bestowed his blessing upon him; and Ernest, without a word of
remonstrance, fell into the rear of the party. The deputation then
proceeded down the avenue which had been pointed out to them, and at
the bottom of which arose the massy ruins of Graffs-lust; but there
was not enough of daylight remaining to discern their exact form. They
could observe as they drew nearer, and as the night became darker,
that three or four windows were lighted up, while the rest of the
front remained obscured in gloom. When they arrived at the place, they
perceived it was surrounded by a large and deep moat, the sullen
surface of which reflected, though faintly, the glimmer of the lights
within.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] Graffs-lust--_i. e._, Count's-delight.
[4] A private soldier of the German infantry.