This society was founded in 1762, with the view of gathering together
those who were stirred by political aspiration. It gradually united all
those who desired the political regeneration of their fatherland, and
the most prominent men of both East and West Switzerland, and of both
confessions, joined the new society. The young patriots regularly met to
discuss methods of improving the country and its institutions, and this
in spite of the prohibitions of a narrow-minded executive, and the close
control of the press. Stockar's scheme for amalgamating the free states
into one republic mightily swelled the hearts of both Catholic and
Protestant, and their efforts gave rise to many practical reforms. The
most prominent result of these efforts was the rise of national
education. Zurich with its higher schools occupied a leading position in
the work of reform, and Pestalozzi established on his own estate a
school for the poor. Unfortunately this admirable institution failed for
want of a proper manager. Later on, after the Revolution, when the soil
was better prepared for it, Pestalozzi's system took vigorous root.
FOOTNOTES:
[79] Hettner's "French Literature in the Eighteenth Century."
[80] Switzerland was the cradle of the German drama in the sixteenth
century; even the Oberammergau Passion play can be traced to a Swiss
origin (Baechtold).
[81] Haller, anxious to return to his native land, accepted an inferior
post as director of salt-mines at Bex (Vaud), Bern, his native town,
disregarding his great merits, declining to offer him either a
professorship or a seat on the governing board.
[82] A daughter of Wieland was also married to the son of his great
friend Gessner, the poet.
XXXI.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND SWITZERLAND.
(1790-1798.)
None of our readers will need to be told the story of the French
Revolution, nor shown that it was the natural outcome of previous
misgovernment and oppression. Every one has read of the miseries of the
lower classes--intolerable beyond description; of the marvellous
inability of the nobles and clergy to see that amidst all their
selfishness and pleasures they were living on the very edge of a
frightful volcano; of the _tiers-etat_ and its emancipatory movement,
which, outgrowing its primary intention, brought about a series of
stupendous changes; of Napoleon, how he stopped this disorder and how he
made all Europe into one vast theatre of war. All this, in so far as it
is the history of France, can only be alluded to here, but, inasmuch as
Switzerland was dragged into the whirlpool of changes, we must dwell
upon some of the effects of the great Revolution. Not less clearly than
in France itself did the cry of "_Liberte, and egalite!_" resound
through the Swiss lands, filling the hearts of the unfree and the
oppressed with high hopes. Yet it was only after terrible sufferings and
endless vicissitudes that the liberal principles of the Revolution came
to the front, and admitted of that practical realization which was to
lead up to a nobler and happier life for men.
[Illustration: THE LION OF LUCERNE.
(_From a photograph of the original._)]
Of the many popular risings in Switzerland due to the influence of
France, we may briefly touch on those which precede the Bern catastrophe
in 1798. In September, 1791, Lower Valais rose against the _landvoegte_
of Upper Valais, but the intervention of Bern checked the revolt. In the
April of the following year, Pruntrut (in the Bernese Jura) renounced
its allegiance to the prince-bishops of Basel, and set up as an
independent territory, under the style of the "Rauracian Republic," and
three months later the widely-extended bishopric itself was amalgamated
with France as the "Department Mont Terrible." It was on August 10th of
this same year (1792) that the Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries
against the Paris mob were massacred. Every one knows the story. "We are
Swiss, and the Swiss never surrender their arms but with their lives,"
were the proud words of Sergeant Blaser to the crowds furious against
the protectors of royalty, and claiming that their arms should be put
down. When Louis was in safety, the Swiss Guards were withdrawn. But on
leaving the palace they were suddenly attacked by thousands of the mob.
Resistance was plainly useless, yet the Swiss would not fly, and were
ruthlessly slaughtered. Of the 760 men and twenty-two officers, but few
escaped that terrible onslaught. The beautiful and far-famed
Thorwaldsen monument--the "Lion of Lucerne"--with its inscription,
"Helvetiorum fidei ac virtuti," still keeps up the memory of the heroic
courage of the Swiss Guards.[83] The outrage aroused intense indignation
at home, but could not be avenged. The subjects of the prince-abbot
Beda, of St. Gall, secured under his mild rule the abolition of serfdom.
His successor, Forster, however, refusing the measure his sanction, was
driven from his see--till he returned under Austrian auspices--and a
large rural district of St. Gall gained autonomy and freedom from the
rule of the abbey in 1797. Geneva saw almost every possible change. At
one time she was rescued by Bern at Zurich, but was, in 1798, absorbed
by France. The singularly harsh bearing of Zurich towards the country
districts brought about the widespread insurrection of Staefa, in 1795;
an insurrection vigorously suppressed however. The Italian lordships,
severely treated by Graubuenden, desired to be included in the Cis-alpine
republic Bonaparte was forming, and the general advised that free state
that it should be admitted into their pale as a fourth member of equal
rank. Finding that his advice was not taken, he suddenly proclaimed the
memorable maxim, "that no people can be subject to another people
without a violation of the laws of nature," and joined Valtellina,
Bormio, and Chiavenna to Lombardy. This arrangement he had ratified by
the treaty of Campo Formio, in 1797, which destroyed the Venetian
republic, handing it over, indeed, to Austria, France taking the
Netherlands and Milan as her share of the plunder.
Few things served to draw the attention of France to Swiss lands more
than the Helvetic Club at Paris. This famous club was founded in 1790,
by malcontents, chiefly from Vaud, Geneva, and Freiburg. They were bent
on the liberation of Switzerland from aristocratic domination, and
desirous of assimilating the form of government with that of France.
This suited the French Directory exactly, their aim being to girdle
France with a strong belt of vassal states. Among these Switzerland was
to serve as a bulwark, or at any rate as a battle-ground, against
Austria; and France was not without hope of filling her _coffres-forts_
with Swiss treasure, now grown, after long years of peace, to great
dimensions. Amongst the band of patriots two men stand out as leaders.
One was Cesar de La Harpe, a noble-minded and enthusiastic Vaudois, who,
however, was more concerned for his own canton than for Switzerland at
large. The other was Peter Ochs, of Basel, a shrewd and able man, but
ambitious, and a creature of France. La Harpe had once been taunted by a
Bernese noble, who reminded him that Vaud was subject to Bern, and this
he never forgot. Even at the Court of Catherine II. of Russia, to which
he had been called as tutor to the imperial grandchildren, he never
forgot his republican principles. In 1797, returning from Russia, and
being forbidden to enter Vaud, he joined the Helvetic Club at Paris, and
thence launched forth his pamphlets against Bern. And in the Directory
things were making against that hapless canton, Reubel, a declared
enemy, gaining a seat. Napoleon too was no lover of Bern. On his way to
the Congress of Rastatt, in 1797, he passed through Switzerland, and,
while accepting the enthusiastic welcome offered by Basel and Vaud, he
declined altogether to respond to that of Bern and Solothurn. Peter Ochs
enjoyed Napoleon's full confidence, and was by him summoned to Paris,
and charged with the drafting of a new constitution for Switzerland, on
the lines of the Directory. La Harpe and Ochs thus worked towards the
same end, though the motives of the two men differed greatly.
[Illustration: LA HARPE.]
Vaud hailed with delight the French Revolution, and celebrated the fall
of Bastille in the most ostentatious manner; Bern, on the other hand,
looked with dismay on the march of events, and, in Jan. 1798, sent
Colonel Weiss with troops into the province. France replied by
immediately sending men to occupy the southern shore of Lake Geneva.
This was done at the request of the Helvetic Club, which gave as a
pretext an old treaty of 1564, by which France guaranteed her support to
Vaud. In vain did Weiss issue manifestoes; Bern was irresolute, and
Vaud, feeling herself safe under the aegis of France, proclaimed the
establishment of the "Lemanic Republic," with the seat of government at
Lausanne (Jan. 24, 1798). A simple accident which resulted in the death
of a couple of French soldiers was by their general magnified into an
_attentat_ of the "Bernese tyrants" against a "great nation." The French
troops marched on Weiss, ousted him without the necessity of striking a
blow, and then charged Vaud with a sum of L28,000 for services rendered.
Such proceedings struck terror into the hearts of the Swiss, and many of
the cantons--Basel, Schaffhausen, Lucerne, &c.--set about reforming
their governments. With matters at this pass the Diet ordered that the
national federal oath should be sworn to, a proceeding which had been
neglected for three hundred years. But this pretence of unity was a mere
sham, as indeed were all these hasty attempts at reform. They failed to
avert the coming storm, as the rulers failed to read aright the signs of
the times. The Tagsatzung distracted and helpless dissolved on Feb. 1st.
In the operations which followed, the chief command of the French forces
in Switzerland was transferred from Mengaud to Brune, a Jacobite of the
school of Danton. Brune directed his main attack on Bern, which, torn by
dissensions, was wavering between peace and war. With Machiavellian
astuteness Brune enticed the city into a truce. This truce, which was to
last till the 1st of March, was most injurious to the interests of Bern,
as it allowed time both for Brune to increase his own forces, and for
Schauenburg to join him with a body of troops from Alsace. The Bernese
were well-nigh paralyzed, and not unnaturally suspected treason amongst
their own adherents. Unluckily, too, for her, Bern was far from popular
amongst her sister cantons, and was well-nigh left to her own resources.
Her chief allies were Solothurn and Freiburg, but these surrendered to
Schauenburg and Brune at the first shock, on March 2nd. The French
troops next marched to Bern, destroying on the way the national monument
at Morat. But Von Grafenried secured a decided victory against Brune at
Neueneck. On the other hand, Ludwig von Erlach, who attempted a stand
against Schauenburg at Fraubrunnen, quite failed to hold his own, and
was driven back on Grauholz, a few miles from Bern. A life-and-death
struggle followed, even women and children seizing whatever weapons they
could and fighting desperately, many of them even unto death. For three
hours the combat lasted, and the Bernese fighting with their old
bravery, maintained their honour as soldiers. Old Schultheiss von
Steiger, "trembling in body, but stout in heart," cheered on his men
regardless of the hail of bullets falling, but harmlessly, around him.
Four times did the Swiss stand against the terrible onslaught of the
French, but were at length compelled to yield to a force so superior in
numbers and tactics to their own. And even whilst the clash of arms was
still sounding the news came that Bern had surrendered. Erlach and
Steiger fled to the Oberland, intending there to resume the combat; but
the troops, mad with suspicion that the capitulation was the result of
treason, murdered the former, Steiger narrowly escaping a similar fate.
On the 5th of March, 1798, the French entered Bern in triumph, Brune,
however, cautiously keeping up strict discipline. On the 22nd of the
previous month at Lausaune, Brune had caused it to be proclaimed that
the French came as friends and bearers of freedom, and would respect the
property of the Swiss citizens. Notwithstanding this he emptied the
treasuries and magazines of Bern, and on the 10th and 11th of March,
sent off eleven four-horse waggons full of booty, nineteen banners, and
the three bears--which they nicknamed respectively Erlach, Steiger, and
Weiss--the French carried off in triumph.
Thus fell Bern, the stronghold of the aristocracy, and with its fall the
doom of Switzerland was sealed, though more work remained to be done
before it would be complete. The Directory now abolished the old
Confederation, and proclaimed in its stead the "one and undivided
Helvetic Republic," forcing on it a new constitution elaborated from the
draft by Peter Ochs. Brune himself had had a scheme for a triple
division of the territory, but a preference was given to a united
republic, as more easily manageable from Paris. The thirteen old
cantons, together with the various subject lands and connections were
formed into twenty-two divisions. After the failure of the _laender_ the
number was reduced to nineteen, the three Forest Cantons with Zug being
thrown into one, as a punishment. Some of the rearrangements and
partitions were very curious. A few may be cited. Oberland Canton was
lopped off from Bern, and Baden from Aargau proper. Saentis included
Appenzell and the northern portion of St. Gall, and Linth comprised the
rest of St. Gall and Glarus; Tessin was split into Bellinzona and
Lugano; Vaud, Valais, and Buenden were added intact. Geneva and Neuchatel
were left outside. In this manner the united Helvetic commonwealth was
formed, the central government being fixed at Aarau, Lucerne, and Bern
in succession. The passing of laws was vested in a senate and great
council. There was a Directory of five members to whom were added four
ministers of state--for war, justice, finance, and art and science. A
supreme court of justice was made up of nineteen representatives, one
from each canton. These were sweeping changes, and the unadvised manner
in which they were forced on the people prevented their meeting with
general approval. And then France gained the hearty dislike of the Swiss
generally by her treatment of the country. Switzerland was regarded as
a conquered and subject land, and was ruthlessly despoiled by the
French. A contribution of sixteen million francs was imposed on the
Swiss aristocracy--besides the eight million francs carried off from
Bern at her fall.[84]
Ten cantons, notably Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, and Vaud, _i.e._, the city
cantons, feeling that resistance was impossible, and reform was
necessary, acquiesced in the new arrangement; but the _laender_, except
Obwalden, stirred up by the priests and local patriots, and fearing that
religion and liberty would die together, offered a most uncompromising
resistance. They preferred, they said, "to be burnt beneath their
blazing roofs, rather than submit to the dictates of the foreigner."
Very noble was the defence made by the Forest folk, but we can only
touch briefly upon it. After a brave resistance Glarus was defeated at
Rapperswyl, on the 30th of April, 1798, and then Schauenburg proceeded
with his whole strength against Schwyz. In its defence a band of some
four thousand stout-hearted men was collected under the command of
Reding, a young and handsome officer, who had just returned from Spanish
service. Reding was an enthusiastic patriot of the old stamp, deeply
imbued with conservative principles. Men rallied to his standard
eagerly, and swore a solemn oath, "not to flee, but conquer." Reding
and his little army gained three brilliant victories, at Schindellegi,
Arth, and Morgarten, respectively, showing themselves worthy descendants
of the old heroes of 1315. However, the French effected an entrance by
way of Mount Etzel, through the failure of the priest Herzog to hold his
own against them, and poured through the gap in overwhelming numbers.
For the moment they were thrust back at Rothenthurm, but Schwyz was too
exhausted to continue the unequal struggle, and Reding was forced to
enter into negotiations, though negotiations of an honourable character,
with Schauenburg.
[Illustration: REDING.]
Then followed the gloomy 9th of September, written down as "doomsday" in
the annals of Midwalden,[85] a day that well-nigh blotted that
semi-canton out of existence. Having set up a wild opposition to the
"Helvetic," this district drew down upon itself the wrath of France.
Animated by the spirit of Winkelried, one and all--its worthy sons, its
women and children even--the little band--they were but two thousand as
against sixteen thousand--for some days kept up the unequal struggle.
The little bay of Alpnach (Alpnacher See) and the Wood of Kerns
(Kernserwald) were red with the blood of the enemy. But this state of
things could not last long. Suddenly the French broke through, and
poured in from all sides. Terrible conflicts took place at Rotzloch and
Drachenried, and a rush was made on Stanz, the chief place of the
district. By noon this town was really taken, but notwithstanding this
the combat continued in furious fashion till evening. This was the 9th
of September, 1798, a day which Schauenburg called the hottest of his
life. "Like furies," the report says, "the black legion of the French
galley-slaves slew and raged the district through." When night set in
Stanz looked a devastated, smoking city of blood and death. Europe
looked with amazement, yet with admiration and sympathy, on this heroic
spot of earth. Both England and Germany sent provisions and money, and
even Schauenburg was moved with compassion towards the poor
Midwaldeners, and had food distributed to them. It may perhaps here be
noted that Stanz shortly figures again in Swiss history, but this time
in a far more peaceful and humane manner. It was here that Pestalozzi
resumed his noble work of education. To heal the wounds of his noble
country as far as was in his power the minister Stapfer founded an
educational establishment for the orphan children of the district. And
here it was that Pestalozzi ruled, not so much as a mere pedagogue, but
as a veritable father, the little unfortunates committed to his care.
FOOTNOTES:
[83] This grand work of art is carved out of and on the face of an
immense rock, after a model by Thorwaldsen--a wounded lion with a broken
spear, representing hapless but noble courage. The work was executed in
1821.
[84] The exact sum paid by Bern is not known, but probably it reached
seven or eight million francs. The Bernese losses, up to 1813, were
estimated at seventeen million francs. One hundred and sixty cannon, and
sixty thousand muskets were also captured. Bern had kept three bears (in
the Baerangraben of the town) ever since the battle of Novara, in 1513.
Strangely enough the bears carried off in that battle were French
trophies.
[85] The mountain range, running from Titlis north-west and then
north-east to Stanzer Horn, with the Kernwald at its centre, separates
Unterwalden into Obwalden (above the wood) and Midwalden (below the
wood).
XXX.
THE "ONE AND UNDIVIDED HELVETIC REPUBLIC."
(1798-1803.)
The day of the "one and undivided Helvetic Republic" was a period of
"storm and stress," short-lived, full of creative ideas and vast
schemes, with much struggling for what was most noble in the principles
of the Revolution. Yet Helvetia was torn by inner dissensions, and its
energies paralysed by civil and foreign war, by its position of
dependence, and by financial difficulties. The Helvetic scheme of
pounding the various members of the Confederation into one state wiping
out the cantons--a scheme often planned since then, but to this day
unrealized, and as yet unrealizable--by its inevitable levelling
tendencies, roused intense disgust and hatred amongst the more
conservative of the Swiss. In truth, it went too fast, and too far in
the direction of centralization. The _laender_ were robbed of their
_landsgemeinde_, the city cantons of their councils, and the independent
states of their sovereignty. Everything seemed to be turned
topsy-turvy. Cantons became mere administrative districts.[86] The
barriers between them, and likewise between the various classes of
society, were broken down. Subject lands were recognized as equal in
status to the rest, and the inhabitants given full rights of
citizenship. Amongst the many beneficent measures brought forward the
principal may be mentioned. All restrictions on trade and industry were
removed, tithes, bondservice, and land taxes could be redeemed at a
small cost; freedom in religious matters, freedom of the press, and the
right to petition were guaranteed, and torture was suppressed. That
child of the Revolution, "the Helvetic," indeed, advocated many reforms
and gave birth to many new ideas which required time and thought and
peace to bring to maturity and usefulness. But the time was not yet
ripe, and peace was lacking, and many things were suggested rather than
put into practice. Yet we look back with interest on many of the ideas
of the time, for they paved the way for and led up to much of our modern
progress.
Excellent men, men of parts, wise and moderate, watched over the early
days of the young republic; amongst them Usteri, Escher (of Zurich),
Secretan and Carrard (Vaud), and Mayer (Bern). But gradually French
partisans, nominated from Paris, were returned to the Swiss Directory,
and Ochs and La Harpe were promoted to the leadership of Helvetic
affairs. Soon a "reign of terror"--of a milder form, perhaps, but none
the less a rule of terrorism--was set up, with the view of dragooning
the country into submission to the "_grande nation_." A levy was
enforced in order to make up a total of eighteen thousand men, a number
the Swiss were loth to produce for the foreigner. They objected to this
forced service, and took up arms abroad, whilst men like Lavater and
Reding, who defied both French tyranny and "Helvetic" despotism, were
transported, or thrust into the filthy dungeons of the fortress of
Aarburg. On the 19th of August, 1798, was concluded the fatal
Franco-Helvetic Alliance--offensive and defensive--despite the
supplications and warnings of the more far-seeing patriots, such as
Escher (von der Linth) for instance. Swiss neutrality being thus
abandoned, the door was opened to the Austro-Russian invasion, planned
by the second European coalition with the view of ousting France from
Swiss territory. Hating the new _regime_ exasperated at French supremacy
and French extortion, and desirous that the _status quo ante_ of 1798
should be re-established, the reactionists hailed with delight the
coming of the Austrians, quite as much as the "Patriots" had before
welcomed the interference of France. A legion of Swiss _emigres_ abroad
collected by Roverea, at Vaudois, who had sided with Bern in the
previous struggle, joined the Austrian army. The foreign occupation
which took place and turned Switzerland into one military camp cannot be
followed in all its details here. Yet one or two points must be noted,
above all, those remarkable Alpine marches carried out, though against
his own will, by Suwarow. These marches are quite unique in military
history.