Lincoln telegraph. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1836-1846, 1840-12-31
Rudolph of Werdenberg
OR, THE FREEDOM FIGHT OF
$50 APPENZELL
BY HENRY F. HARRINGTON.

mountain sous, had been wholly freed
But Appenzell, a neighboring province.
lying between ST. Gall on the west and the
in the glorious league, and her children
yet fro~ned beneath the lash Of oppression.
The Abbot Of st. Gall was their hated lord
taxes were heaped upon them, and the
cruelty and exioftlon OF his meuas pressed
the calling chain Into their already Tester
ing flesh 1t was vain to plead poverty or
hope to evade the burden; for the fero-
cious dogs were let loose upon the unwill-
ing. and the wages of tyranny were steep
ed in blood. g-...
But there are lands whose very breath
is freedom; and such is AppenzeIl. The
winds that blow over her valleys from her
heaven-piercing mountains have no faint
of slavery; the SHOWS that glisten on their
jagged peaks, and the glaciers that sleep
on their bosom, are stainless for ever; aud
stainless, TOO, are the hearts that bathed in
those rowing winds-fetlerless the feet that
tread the snow track, and climb the sllppe-
ry ice-hill Appenzel bore affection long;
but when the grave of the dead was violat-
ed, and the clothes in which tiial love had
robed the cold clay of parent, were strip
ped from the corse by fendish rapacity, it
was time for action. 1t was but to resolve,
and the land was free BY one boodless
effort every ninion of the Abbot of St.
Gall was expelled from the scene Of his
iniquity. -- z.s.#-e=+.-z-.--s..s .-----ss.-zs#s
The ten imperial towns of Suabia were
the Abbot's close allies; and in an ecstacy
of rage and apprehension at this simulta-
neous and bold uprising of those whom he
had regarded as brutes, to be scoffed at and
irampled upon, he called on them for their
mighty aid. TWAS granted; and OIL the
morning of day in May, l4O3, a brilliant
array Of proud-souled chivalry, that was
but the van of well-appoin,ed army of
foot, numbering thousands in its ranks,
crossed the Lnsenbuhel, and with braying
trumpets aud lofty hope, marched for the
heights of Voeglinseck. But Appenzel
was wide awake. She had called upon the
Swiss confederacv for alliance aud aid;
and though Schwyz alone grasped her Of
iered hand in full mpanionship, and sent
three bundled bold men 10 help her, yet
two hundred volunteered from Gars, and
the men of Appenzell, arrayed with their
good allies, found themselves twothousand
strong-two thousand poor peasants against
six thousand war-traibed veterans-but
those peasants were from the mountains of
Switzerland!
Watchmen were on the cliffs, and when
that army came, fire answered fire from
height to height, in wide and full alarm.
One embrace Of wives and children, and
the Appenzellers were ready. Eighty
posted themselves so as 10 command the
hollow way, while their allies were station
ed under the concealment of a wood. On
came the cavalry in war-like array, With
swords outdrawn and flashing in the sun
beams They pass now within the shad-
ows of the narrow path, where the very
loneliness whispers of danger-they grasp
with firmef clench their friendly blades,
and spur their prond horses hard. Blu;
now shout makes the echoes ring aud
the ambushed eighty shower stones upon
them from their practsed sings, and
wound them with sure aimed lances; while
the men of Glars and Schwyz sally out
from the lhickets, rush upon them i'll
flank, and lash them into confusion. But
"on on !" though danger and death be
threatening from every tree, and every
overhanging crag, "on!'' is the warword
of chivaIry and on they go in desperate
conflict aud almost desperate loss. They
reach the height at last; but there oulpoars
the whole power of Appenzell, like a
n-torent-as il was indeed "a tor
rent Of soul foaning upon these rocky
boundaries that would hem it IN, aud dam
It's leaping current VIVA, could the Sua-
bians, bestriding fiery chargers on the
craggy height, will, foemen all around !?
Back! back! shouts the leader, III very
pity for his gallant troop, and turning Short.
they galIop madIy down. The five thou
sand infantry are advancing in close and
fearful column; when, at once, the retreat
ing horsemen appear in rapid flight. "ihe
day is LOST" flies from rank to rank. They
waver, they hesitate, they halt! Glad mo-
ment for the Appenzellers who charge
upon them from every point, and as they
fly along the hollow, death-fear upon every
face, Stay them as all were but play. The
horsemen-the bold cavalers-are allies,
triumphant allies, ay, of the very Appen-
zellers for they dash in fear, with tramp
ling hoof, thu ough their own array, and
crush with dreadful death Alas for the
glory of the ten imperial towns, the allies