The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-08-23
EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENCE.
Interesting Letter From PROBES.
sor q. 4. Loos, OF Bethany Col

a. crystal, coming Immediately from the
Alps BY the Lake Of Constance, which Is
not far from schaffhausen. Farther
down the Rhine, in the Palatinste, the
waters assume pale green color, but
still preserve their clsaruess and cold
ness. Mathison, the great German lyriSt,
10 one Of his delightful poems says:
: oI German streams the Father art thou, Rhine!
How iair AaJenee, 9Th nectar hills eetrt'
And Baeha ieh ADD Ringers mossy Ioehs fts
Are mirTored 1t. Thy green eIysiAl HOOD" ,D ~
The Falls Of the Rhine have not the
,nbI;me grandeur Of the laundering Nj
agara vel they present sight Of really
,s,riec msies,y. The wall Of the preciP:
itons dissent Is irregular and broken ~
proiectipg rocks, which lash the swiit
flushing waters into perfect fury, and ne
roar is tremendous, especially on the SIDE
of The old Castle Lanaen, which crown.
the lofty rocks in the angle Of
The Fall, setting on the very beeuipg
sdss oi Il. 40 that the baron who built i
in The olden times could look from hi:
Windows right into the boiling tumnlt OF
roaripg waves beneath. Il must have
been a bold and cunning old knight who
nsrebed his nest, perhaps vulture's.
ps,t on this high precipice, as he was
ns,t,inly secure from his foes, since. the
s;,sr sNeeps around the base Of his rock
40 completely that it leaves but small
strip Of land approach, which was well
fortified by moat and wall. These old
castles and castle ruins are certainly OBJ.
;sc,s 81 historic and romantic and pic
snresoue interest, and are eagerly sought
ont by travellers, especially Americana.
Va. when we think Of the reason Of their
origin and their history, We can rejoice
thsi our American land has no such cas-.
,Ie ruins and no such castle histories. u
IA we'll illustrated by the story Of bur
lev, rich Englishmsn who. was travelling,
!. Englishmen will travel, with his
daughter in Italy. The father was simp'
" a man OF business and money without
a spark Of romance; the daughter had
read novels and her little head was iull
of pictures Of gay, yAlorous high souled
bripands. On sudden, in dark detile Of
he Apprentices, the carriage was stopped
by one OF these very gaily dressed bri:
esnd chiefs. "iour money or your lives"
called out the brigand. The daughter,
was In absolute extacies. "Oh pa, oh pa!
oh iust see! Here is real brigand chieil
How charming. How charming!" "Yes,
We. ye,ln growled old London burgher;
Isli we'll enough for fools like youl-bui
what il going 10 become Of my money!
Switzerland ought TO have for Amerias
e,pecial attractions. Here 10 the centre
Of Western Europe, its Alpine homes,
among these splendorous mountain last
e,,es, almost impregnable, this little
eoniedracy Of republics has maintained
i,,slf 70. centuries-almost half q mil-
lennium, through severe internal and ex.
ternal conflicts, 10 this day Drawing every
trial. resisting every temptation TO re.
duce Il from iis love for freedom and It's
devotion 10 republican institutions.
These centuries Of fidelity 10 its faith In
republicanism have been finally reward
ed with the lofty prize Of it's present Tree
institutions second only 10 our own,aiter
which il is modelled. A briet sketch Of
what the Swiss coniedracy was and now
il. NAV not be unselcome and interesting
10 The readers Of the IsTELLIGEsoEB, Cd.
pecially as / know that this piece Of
European history is asyetso imperfeetly
known in America by the people gener.
ally, and yet Americans ought to know
IT 81
Liberty is native in its own home,
these mountains: everything conspires
10 awaken and TO foster 1t. Efeminscy
and luxurious ease on the one aide, with
the need and love Of dominion over man
which these engender, slavish subsection,
The death Of manhood, on the other side
cannot find copgepial soil and atmos.
phere here. The Swiss love and long for
freedom as they do for the fresh air Q!
their mountains. Even the ancient Hell.
ye,ians in the time Of the Romans had
this unconquerable love OF liberty In
their souls.
But until 1877 their republican insti.
tu,ions had been very imperfect In The
fret place there was no federal republi'
can unity among the cantons. Some
were democratic In their constitutions,
some aristocralic, some mixed. The aris-
tocrat element bad been very tenacious
" maintained, especially in some Of the
German cantons, and as are all peculiar
privileges, had been the cause Of perpet-
nal civil dissensions, and had greatly re.
tarded.the prosperity Of these canlons.
In some instances, again, the cilies or
chief towns, IS in the case Of Zurich, had
retained kind Of federal prerogaiiye
over the rural territories Of the cantons,
which serious inequality and injustice
had often brought these cantons TO actual
civil war between the city burghers and
the peasants OF the same canton. The
strictly democratic cantonal govern
ments also worked perpetual mischief.
This lack Of weli-balaneed cantonal res
publican governments, and also the feder-
al unity was the cause Of the many dis
as,ers which the Swiss oontederacy has
suffered through centuries. The can.
tons we're but loosely bound together; 1t
was the loose .jointed kind Of confederacy
some Americans had dreamed Of. The
effect was that one canton often paid
little attention 10 the will Of the others.
Some cantons formed seperate alliances
with other nation'; foreign nations read
ily and constantly found occasion TO in
terfere In Switzerland to their own ad.
vantage and the great injury Of the repub.
lie. This lack Of strong well-deaned fed.
eral unity, sgsin and again brought the
Helyelien confederacy we'll nigh TO the
verge Of ruin. The coniederacy could
not be strong, independent and prosper.
Gus. This is history. In lS47 came the
6nsl, great and decisive trial. Several Of
the Catholic cantons, instigated by evil
counsels and by a strong feeling Of sup
posed wrongs At the hands Of other can
tons, determined 10 form seperate con.
iederacy or Bund-a SoadsrbEm and took
up arms. The contest was short and
decisive. IL few weeks the Sonderhum
was atan end, and Switzerland was saved.
It is curious 10 note that not all the
Catholic cantons entered into the new
league; several stood by the federal gov
erment. The history Of this brief Son
derbum conflict In Switzerland Is very
interesting to an American to read.
When the war wa, over there was q
general feeling Of the absolute necessity
Of general cAntonAl and federal constf.
lutional reform. The convention called
for this purpose took the institutions Of
the United States as the model, and