SWISSERLAND.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY.

NAMES. EXTENT.-BOUNDARIES. ORIGINAL POPULATION.-PROGRESSIVE GEOGRAPHY.-HISTORICAL EPOCHS AND ANTIQUITIES.

NAMES. THE provinces, now known by the collective name of Swisserland, were in ancient times distinguished by several appellations. By the Romans they were regarded as a part of Gaul; and the chief possessors were the Helvetii on the west, and the Rhæti on the east; the chief city of the Helvetians being Aventicum, now Avenche. After the fall of the Roman empire, this interesting country may, in a general point of view, be considered as possessed by the Alemanni on the east, who also held Swabia, and Alsace; and on the west as a part of Burgundia, the inhabitants being styled Burgundi trans Jurenses, because, with regard to France, they were situated on the other side of the mountains of Jura*. Divided among several lords, secular, and spiritual, the inheritances of the former at length chiefly centered in the house of Hapsburg, afterwards the celebrated family of Austria: and on its emancipation in the beginning of the fourteenth century first appeared the modern denomination of Swisserland, either derived from the canton of Schweitz, distinguished in that revolution; or from the general name of Schweitzers, given by the Austrians to this Alpine people. For the sake of precision, modern writers restrict the orthography of Schweitz and Schweitzer to the canton; while the general'

* D'Anville Etats form. en l'Europe, p. 13. 93.

appellation for the people is the Swiss, and for the country Switzerland, or Swisserland.

EXTENT. In length, from east to west, Swisserland extends about 200 British miles; and in breadth, from north to south, about 130. The contents in square miles have been estimated at 14,960; but a great part is lost to human industry, consisting of vast rocks, partly covered with eternal ice and snow. Even of this country, the boundaries are rather arbitrary than natural, though on the west, mount Jura forms a grand division from France, and on the south, the Pennine Alps, a partial barrier from Italy. On the east lies the Austrian territory of Tyrol, and on the north is Swabia, containing, as it were, an excrescence of Swisserland, on the other side of the Rhine, the small canton of Schaffhausen.

ORIGINAL POPULATION.

The original population is thought

to have been Celtic; and it was reported, that at the beginning of the last century, the people of a small district used a language resembling the Welch. Yet it would be difficult, either from history, or from ancient appellations, to trace the residence of the Celts in Swisserland; and there is every reason on the contrary to believe that the Helvetians were a Gothic race, a very ancient colony of Germans. Cæsar, who first disclosed the various races of men who inhabited Gaul, nowhere throws a positive light on this subject; but when he describes Celtic Gaul as beginning beyond the Rhone, it follows, that he did not regard the Helvetii as Celts; and the proximity of Germany must induce us to consider the Helvetians as a German people. In the curious collection of Goldastus* there are several glossaries, and fragments of the ancient language used in this country, even in the eighth century, which thence appears to have been pure Gothic, without any Celtic admixture. The Rhæti on the east, are said to have been a Tuscan colony; but a faint resemblance in manners, sometimes led the ancients to rapid conclusions. It is difficult to conceive how the polished Etrurians' should take refuge in the midst of barbarous nations, or why no remains of Tuscan buildings or art, have been discovered in this their supposed habitation.

PROGRESSIVE GEOGRAPHY.

The progressive geography of Swisserland may be traced with considerable clearness from the contest of Cæsar with the Helvetians, through the classic, Francic, and native historians to the present time.

HISTORICAL EPOCHS. arranged in the following order:

The chief historical epochs may be

1. The wars with the Romans; the subjugation of the Helvetii, and Rhæti, and the subsequent events, till the decline of the Roman empire in the west.

2. The irruption of the Alemanni, in the beginning of the fourth century, who are by some supposed to have extirpated the ancient Helvetians.

3. The subjugation of the western part of Swisserland as far as the river Reuss, by the Franks, who annexed that portion to Burgundy.

• Rerum Alamannicarum Scriptores, 1661, fol.

The Grisons on the east, were subject to Theodoric, and other kings of Italy.

4. The conversion of the country to Christianity by the Irish monks, Columbanus, Gallus, and others, in the beginning of the seventh century.

5. The invasion of Alemannia by the Huns*, in the year 909; and the subsequent contests with these barbarians, till the middle of that century. The history of the abbey of St. Gal at this period is interesting, both in a literary point of view, and from the singularity of the events: it was ravaged by the Huns, who were afterwards defeated by Conrad king of Burgundy, about the year 928. See the collection of Goldastus.

6. About the year 1030, the provinces which now constitute Swisserland, began to be regarded as a part of the empire of Germany; and in the course of two centuries, they gradually became subject to the house of Hapsburg.

7. The commencement of the Swiss emancipation, A. D. 1307; and the subsequent struggles with the house of Austria.

8. The gradual increase of the confederacy, the Burgundian and Swabian wars; and the contests with the French in Italy.

9. The history of the reformation in Swisserland.

10. The insurrection of the peasants of Bern, in the middle of the seventeenth century.

11. The dissolution of the confederacy by the French invasion, A. D. 1798.

ANTIQUITIES. The ancient monuments of Swisserland are not numerous, consisting chiefly of a few remains of the Romans, at Aventicum and Vindernissa. Some also occur at Ebrodunum, or Yverdun, and at Baden, the ancient Therma Helvetica. Of the middle ages are many castles, churches, and monasteries, the most noble among the latter being the abbey of St. Gal, the library of which su plied the manuscripts of three or four classical authors, nowhere else to be found. Some interesting monuments relate to the emancipation of the country, and have contributed to extend the spirit of freedom from generation to generation.

The Ugurs, so called by the writers of the time. They were a branch of the Voguls, a Finnish race.

CHAPTER II.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY.

RELIGION.-ECCLESIASTIC GEOGRAPHY.-GOVERNMENT.-LAWS.

POPULATION.-COLONIES.-ARMY.-NAVY.-REVENUES.—POLITK

CAL IMPORTANCE AND RELATIONS.

RELIGION. THE religion of the Swiss countries is in some the Roman Catholic, in others the Reformed. Of the former persuasion are Uri, Schweitz, Underwalden, cantons which founded the liberty of the country, with Zug, Lucerne, Friburg, Solothurn, part of Glarus, and Appenzel. In these are found six bishopricks, and one metropolitan see. The reformed cantons are of the Calvinist, or Presbyterian persuasion; being the rich and extensive canton of Berne, with Zurich, Basel, or according to the French enunciation, Basle, Schaffhausen, the greatest part of Glarus, and some portions of Appenzel. The country of the Grisons is chiefly Protestant; and Vallais, an ally of the thirteen cantons, has been the scene of atrocious persecutions on account of its disaffection from the Catholic faith: but the inhabitants, to the amount of about 100,000, now profess the Roman Catholic system. In general, the two persuasions live in the most amiable unity and moderation.

GOVERNMENT. The government of Swisserland has been a fertile theme of discussion, from the time of Burnet and Stanyan, to the modern description of that able traveller Coxe. The more powerful cantons of Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, and Friburg, had retained much of the feudal aristocratic form: and the insurrection of the peasants, in the middle of the seventeenth century, unites, with repeated discontents, to convey no high practical eulogy on the constitution, as these simple and honest vassals were not influenced by theories of sedition, but acted solely from their own feelings of oppression. In the eye of the most candid observers, the aristocracy had degenerated into a venal oligarchy, more intent on procuring the lucrative governments of the Bailliages, than on the promotion of the general advantage. The other cantons were more democratic; but the recent subversion of the government by the French, has for some time reduced Swisserland to a dependent province, with new divisions and arrangements, which, as they may prove of very short duration, it is unnecessary here to describe.

LAWS. The laws, of course, partook of the nature of the government of each canton; and under the aristocracies was sufficiently

jealous and severe. Yet Swisserland was one of the happiest countries in Europe; and recommended itself to the most intelligent observers equally by moral and by physical grandeur and beauty.

POPULATION. The population of this interesting country is generally computed at 2,000,000, or about 130 to the square mile. But so large a portion is uninhabitable, that on the subtraction of such parts, the number might be about 200 to the square mile.

ARMY. The military force was reckoned at about 20,000; but in the late struggle with France, this force appears to have been divided, and little effectual. The Swiss regiments in foreign service were computed at twenty-nine; but they returned weakened in frame and morals, and seldom proved serviceable to the state. The permission to serve in foreign countries has been loudly blamed, as a moral deformity; but when we consider the poverty and population of Swisserland, we may conceive, that the want of native resources, conspired with the ambition and curiosity, interwoven with the character of man, to stimulate the youth to this path of instruction and preferment, while the government only connived with the national wish.

REVENUE. The ruinous effects of French extortion cannot be divined; but the revenue of Swisserland was formerly computed at somewhat more than a million sterling, arising from moderate taxation, from tolls, national domains, and foreign subsidies. The cantons of Bern and Zurich, were considered as opulent; while in others, the resources hardly equalled the expenditure.

POLITICAL IMPORTANCE AND RELATIONS. The political importance and relations of Swisserland, are, for a time, immerged in those of the French republic. Should the Swiss emancipate their country, their chief object would be protection against the power of France; and, in this view, nothing could be so serviceable as a strict alliance with Austria*.

By the constitution of the 29th May, 1801, Swisserland is divided into seventeen departments. The Pays de Vaud, and Argovie, are withdrawn from Bern; and the Grisons and Italian Bailliages, form two other departments. The other cantons remain as before, with some additions of ecclesiastic

lands, &c. to Glarus, Appenzel, Friburg, and Basel. The abbatical territory of St. Gal, constituted the canton of Sentis by the division of 1798, which seems to be obliterated. The new constitution will probably be on the French model.