Lucern, on the lake of the same name, occupies a gentle eminence and is surrounded by a wall and towers. Among its curiosities is the model of Switzerland, executed in relief by the late general Pfyffer. Pop. 7,000. 16. AGRICULTURE. The nature of the country presents numerous obstacles to its cultivation; but they have been, in a great measure, overcome by the industry of the inhabitants. The traces of the plough are visible on the sides of the precipices apparently inaccessible, and spots, which nature seemed to have doomed to eternal sterility, are crowned with vegetation. The produce of grain is generally equal to the consumption; but pasturage is the chief object of the farmer. 17. MANUFACTURES AND TRADE. The chief manufactures are cotton and woolen goods, linen, silk, leather, jewellery, ware, and particularly watches. Though in the centre of Europe, Switzerland is much restricted in its commercial intercourse by the barriers of the Alps and the prohibitory systems of the neighboring States. The chief exports are cattle, sheep, linen, lace, silks, jewelry, &c. The imports are principally corn, flax, raw silk, cotton, spices, and various kinds of manufactured goods. 18. INHABITANTS. The Swiss have the beauty that comes from strength and health. They are robust and temperate, but their countenances have little of the beau ideal. In the territories that border on France, Germany and Italy, there are French, Germans and Italians, and there are a few Jews, principally in Aargau. 19. DRESS. The higher classes generally follow the French fashions; but the common people have many peculiar forms of dress; varying somewhat in the different cantons, and all picturesque. They are less becoming however, than the common prints would lead one to suppose. They are generally simple and convenient. The dress of the females is the most peculiar, for the men have no longer a national dress. It consists partly in a short petticoat, which shows the stockings as high as the knee, and a wide flat hat, without a crown, tied under the chin. Near Bern the hat gives place to a strangelooking black cap, standing off the face, and in shape like the two wings of a butterfly. In some parts, the hair is plaited and pieced, down to the heels. In Appenzel the modern invention of braces is not yet adopted: the dress is a scanty jacket and short breeches, and there is a preposterous interval between the two garments, which the wearer makes frequent but ineffectual hitches, to close. 20. LANGUAGE. About two thirds of the Swiss speak the German language, but often of a very corrupted dialect; and the majority of the other third, French. The rest use the Italian, and the Romanish, a corrupted dialect of the Latin, and not much unlike the colloquial language of the Romans. 21. MANNER OF BUILDING. There is some difference in this, in the various cantons and towns. In the canton of Vaud (and in many other places), the houses are often 80 or 100 feet square, and though low they have a very high shingle roof, loaded with large stones, as a defence from the wind, and projecting in the piazza shape, over an outside gallery, up a flight of stairs. This is the part occupied by the family. The lower story, barricaded with fire wood, and buried in snow in winter, is the cellar where provisions are kept and domestic animals housed. These houses are much exposed to fires, and are under the protection of a mutual insurance at three fourths their value. They are chiefly built of stones and some of them are thatched, or tiled. At Bern and Neufchatel are a great many fountains of the purest water; at the latter city they flow into gigantic basins. The lofty terraces at Bern have a very imposing look, and the massy arcades, here and at Bienne, like the arches of a bridge, and on which the houses are built, give the towns a strange massy appearance. On the ends of many houses are written the names of the builders, or occupants, with verses from Scripture. There are few public buildings in Switzerland of much architectural grandeur, though there and are many venerable with age. The shepherds have rude chalets of logs, or stones, as temporary tenements. 22. FOOD AND DRINK. The Swiss are almost a pastoral people, and much of their subsistence is drawn from their flocks and herds. Bread is a luxury in many valleys in the Alps, where milk and its preparations form the basis of nutriment. In the mountainous part of Bern, a custom still exists, for many families connected by affinity, or marriage, to make in common a cheese of enormous size. On it are carved the names of parties about to be married, and the cheese often serves for the marriage of their descendants. In some remote parts every family with a years' provision, may feel the dignity of wealth, and the people by way of ostentation, offer to visitors mouldy food, to show that they have on hand the provision of a preceding year. Wine and spirits are somewhat used in Switzerland, but the inhabitants are temperate. Much tobacco is consumed, chiefly in smoking. The pipes are of silver, with large bowls, and hang down upon the breast. 23. DISEASES. Switzerland is highly salubrious. There are, however, pulmonary complaints, and the usual alpine diseases, particularly goitres, prevail in various parts. 24. TRAVELLING. The facilities for foreigners to travel in Switzerland, are less than the inducements. The air of the mountains however will create an appetite for the plain and simple food that is generally found at the inns. Within the present century there were no inns in the mountains, and the tra veller stopped at the house of a clergyman or substantial farmer. The roads are of all kinds; some hard and smooth, having seats and fountains, at regular distances; but more are impassible to carriages, and scarcely safe for the sure instinct of mules. On some routes there are regular post coaches: but generally the traveller unless he walks, hires his own conveyance. In the mountains a char-à-banc is used, a light carriage, of two flexible bars on four wheels. Two or three people sit sideways upon the bars and the driver sits in front. There is but one horse. Many travellers prefer to explore Switzerland on foot, a cheaper and not less expeditious mode of travelling. 25. CHARACTER, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. The Swiss, like all mountaineers, are attached to their country, which they have often defended against fearful odds. It is remarkable that countries the least fertile are the most beloved by the inhabitants: an Italian or a Spaniard may be contented in exile, but seldom a Swiss; and an Esquimaux or a Greenlander finds nothing in Europe to compensate absence from his barren rocks and icy seas. The Swiss nevertheless emigrates, though he often returns when he has acquired a competency, to his sublime, but unproductive mountains. And as a child, when scaring sounds molest, The Swiss have a quiet temperament, and mediocrity of genius. The country has produced few men distinguished for genius; though collectively the people have performed great achievements. They have nothing of the melancholic, poetic character that distinguishes the Highlanders of Scotland, or their Italian neighbors on the other side of the Alps. They are moral, faithful, industrious and brave, and they are the only people in Europe, who have habitually served as mercenaries in foreign armies. But in every ser vice they have proved their courage and fidelity. They retain much of their pastoral simplicity and may be characterised as a race of heroic husbandmen worthy to be the countrymen of Tell. They are familiar with the use of arms, and there is a law that no one shall be married who has not arms, uniform, and equipments. At Geneva, the mode of life is extremely social. The soirées are constant, from November till spring. The ladies go to them on foot, preceded by a servant with a lantern, for there are few carriages or sedans at Geneva. These meetings resemble family assemblages, in their freedom from the constraints imposed by etiquette. A stranger is struck with the affectionate terms by which women of all ages address each other, such as mon cœur, ma mignonne, mon ange. These come from the influence of certain Sunday Societies,' in which children meet at their parent's houses, where they are left to themselves and have a light supper of fruit, pastry, &c. The friendships thus formed endure through life, and the youthful expressions of fondness are never dropped. At Zurich there is less social visiting. The men are inveterate smokers, and have their own meetings, in an atmosphere of smoke that no female could endure. In the canton of Bern there is a custom of Saturday night visiting among young people, somewhat resembling a practice unjustly attributed to New England. Young men who are there engaged in agricultural labors, have little time for visiting but on Saturday nights. The young women who generally expect company on that night, are seated at the windows neatly dressed, and they answer the form of salutation, which is in verse, by another verse either affirmative or negative. The visitor if not repulsed at this stage of the siege, climbs up to the window of an upper story, on certain projections of the wooden houses, where he sits a while and further parley is held, when he takes some refreshment, generally cherry-brandy and gingerbread. Sometimes the visitor advances no farther than the window, but often he is admitted to the chamber. This proceeding is so open to observation, that it loses some of its indelicacy, while it subjects the accepted swain on his late return, to the cudgels of his less fortunate rivals. For this reason, young men frequently escort one another, on such occasions. 26. AMUSEMENTS. Hunting the chamois is perhaps rather an employment than an amusement in Switzerland; for many pursue it constantly. The pursuit, though enticing and fascinating, is full of danger, and few hunters attain to age, or receive christian burial. They go to the mountains and never return; being crushed by falling ice or stones, or mangled by a fall into some covered gap, or from some giddy and slippery precipice. The hunter must have steadiness of nerve, hardihood, and contempt of death. He must climb icy barriers, where a slip of hand or foot would precipitate him down a fathomless abyss, or stand in a gale upon the pinnacle of a rock, with the confidence of the chamois itself, where, as Gray said, a goat may dance and scratch an ear with its hind foot, in a place where I could not have stood still for all beneath the moon.' The chamois is a timid and sagacious animal: the hunter creeps towards a flock, with his shirt over his clothes, and lies motionless in the snow, for half an hour, if the herd appear alarmed. At the distance of about 250 steps, he aims at the darkest coat, which generally indicates the fattest animal. Accustomed to the detonations of the mountains, the chamois sometimes stand a second shot, if they do not see the smoke, or scent the powder. The other amusements of the Swiss are dancing, and the sports and games common in Europe. 27. EDUCATION. In this, the Protestant cantons excel the Catholic, though neither except Geneva have kept pace with the spirit of the times. Basle has the only Swiss university, and it has also a good Missionary Seminary. The superiority of education in Geneva is greatly owing to maternal care and zeal, and to the effect of the Sunday Societies. At Yverdun is the school founded by Pestalozzi, in which it is the great aim of the teacher to make the pupils construct the sciences themselves, as far as they are able, without the artificial rules which might facilitate their progress, but leave them in ignorance of the rationale of a science. At Hofwyl, near Bern is the school of De Fellenberg, who in his celebra ted institution, has united agriculture, &c, with education, though education is the primary object. His system is the best to show on a large scale, how the children of the poor may be taught, and their labor at the same time profita bly applied; and if it were universal, would change the moral aspect of the world. In executing it, however, much depends on the personal character of the teacher. The pupils go to their work soon after sunrise, having first breakfasted and received a lesson of about half an hour. At noon they return, and after dinner which takes half an hour, a lesson follows of one hour, and then work till six. On Sunday the lessons take six hours. The boys sel dom see books; they are taught viva voce a few matters of fact, and rules of practical application; much of their education is moral, and they grow up in habits of industry, kindness, and veracity. 23. STATE OF THE ARTS, SCIENCES, AND LITerature. At Geneva, and in some other towns, there is a general taste for the arts, which is so far cultivated that the ladies commonly draw with much precision. Mr Decandolle, at Geneva, having borrowed for a few days, a great collection of drawings of American plants, 860 in number, and filling 13 folio volumes, had them well copied in a week by 114 female artists. Switzerland, however, has not produced any leading artists; the best have been Holbein, Graff, and Angelica Kauffmann: The talent for music, especially in the German cantons, is general. The ranz des vaches is an air singularly wild and melancholy, and when sung, is broken by a sudden shriek, like the war song of an American savage. A peculiar strain like this is associated with the remembrance of home; and the impressive scenes of Switzerland have a powerful effect on the Swiss in foreign countries: in some military services it has therefore been for bidden to play the ranz des vaches. The literature is merged in that of Germany and France. The French cantons have produced Beza, Causabon, Necker, De Staël, Huber, Le Sage, Rousseau, Sismondi, Decandolle, &c, and the German cantons, Haller, Gessner, Lavater, Paracelsus and others. 29. RELIGION. The Catholics are not quite half the number of the Protes tants, and there are a few Lutherans, Anabaptists and Jews. The Catholics have 190 cloisters, and 3,500, recluses. The Protestant form of church gov ernment is Presbyterian. The Catholic religion predominates in nine cantons, and the Protestant in seven. In the rest both creeds are mingled, and all parties live in much harmony. 30. GOVERNMENT. The twentytwo Cantons are united in a confederacy, for mutual defence and order. A general Diet assembles yearly in July, or more frequently, at Bern, Zurich, or Lucern, alternately and each canton sends one deputy. Questions of war and peace require three fourths of the deputies; other matters are determined by a majority. The internal constitutions of the separate cantons are various. Basle, St Gall, and Geneva have a mixture of aristocracy and democracy. Neufchatel le gislates by a representative assembly, and the executive powers belong to the present king of Prussia, who is obliged to swear to the constitution. Bern, Zurich, Soleure, and Fryeburg, are aristocratic. Uri is entirely democratic, and every male of 20 years is a member of the general assembly which meets yearly to choose executive officers. The constitution of Underwalden is similar. In Schweitz every male of 16 years has a vote; the land is not minutely divided as in some cantons; it is under the management of the youngest Appenzel all males of the age of 16, meet yearly, to enact laws and elect officers. Zug, the Grisons, Thurgau, Tessino, Vaud, and Valais are also democratic. son. In 31. LAWS. Justice is generally well administered in Switzerland; but this is as much from the good spirit of the people, as the excellence of the laws. The revolutions of the present century have, however, much ameliorated the system. At Zurich, the legal proceedings are secret; and if there is corrup tion, it is not of the kind which comes from venality. The torture by flogging, was until lately applied ad libitum, to extort confession; now it is regulated by a special order of court, prescribing the number of lashes! The administration of justice in France is better than in most of the Swiss cantons.* 32. ANTIQUITIES. At Augst not far from Bâle, are the ruins of a Roman city, partly under the level of the Rhine. The theatre, aqueduct, and walls are indistinct; but there are in the library at Bâle 12,000 medals, chiefly found in these ruins. It is supposed that the city was destroyed by an earthquake. At Avenche, the ancient Aventicum, are among other antiquities, mosaic pavements, sculptured cornices, &c. The bridge of St Maurice over the Rhone, was built by the Romans: it is very narrow but solid. It has a single arch of 200 feet, resting on mountains on either side, gigantic abutments of 8,000 feet. 33. POPULATION, REVENUE, &C. In 1827 the population was estimated at 2,037,039. The revenue of the country, before it was conquered by the French, was 4,662,000 dollars. At present it is about half that sum. It is raised from domain lands, taxation, and customs. Each canton supplies a certain contingent to the general army of the confederacy, which amounts to about 15,000 men, and the internal strength of the country is farther increased by a body of militia. It is calculated that above 30,000 Swiss are employed in the service of foreign states. 34. HISTORY. The Swiss are the descendants of the ancient Helvetii, subdued by Julius Cæsar. They continued long under a nominal subjection to Austria till about the year 1300, when the emperor Albert I. treated them with so much rigor that they rose in rebellion. William Tell slew Gesler the Austrian viceroy and delivered his countrymen. On this occasion the three cantons, of Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden, in 1308, entered into a league. for mutual defence. At a later period the other cantons were successively included, and in 1513, the federative republic was complete. Switzerland was overrun by the French armies in 1798, and the government experienced some alterations. Geneva and the Valais were for a time annexed to France, but were subsequently restored. A new constitution was established in 1814. Switzerland is nominally a neutral and independent power, but the influence of Austria is felt and acknowledged in every part of the Confederacy. CHAPTER LXXIII -THE HUNGARIAN STATES. These states constitute a portion of the Austrian empire, and consist, 1st, of the Kingdom of Hungary, with the provinces of Slavonia and Croatia ; 2d, The Principality of Transylvania, 34, The Military frontiers; and 4th, The Kingdom of Dalmatia. The whole of these countries together have a surface of 124,200 square miles, with a population of 11,701,843. 1. KINGDOM OF HUNGARY. This country is bounded N. W. by Moravia ; N. E. by Galicia; E. by Transylvania; S. by the Military frontiers; S. W. Some ancient decisions and laws in Zurich and Bern, are the following, 'Sak of Bern, shall be whipped and led out of the gate by the executioner for returning from banishment. If he returns again he shall be drowned. Hanns, the public executioner, is banished two miles from the jurisdiction of the town, for having spoken immodestly to respectable men and women. If he returns he shall have his eyes put out. Count Hanns, of Lavenstein, for stealing a pair of sheets, shall have one of his ears cut off, and be banished two miles from Zurich. Any one clipping the corn, shall have his fingers clipped off, and then shall be hanged. An innkeeper for forgery was broken on the wheel at Bern, and the witnesses to the fraudulent bond were boiled in a kettle. The avoyer or chief magistrate found wines for those who applied at the beginning of the carnival; and young people assembling for that purpose were watched by him according to their degree.' |