The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1885-09-10
The Story of William Tell.

The new United States Minister to
Switzerland having been requested by
the government to make inquiries
as to the authenticity of the story of
William Tell, the following, from
'Myths and Dreams" by Edward
Clodd, may prove interesting:
Everybody has heard how in the year
1907 Tor, as some say, 1296} Gessler,
Vogt Tor Governor) of the Emperor
Albert of Hapsburg, set hat ON a
pole as a symbol of the Imperial pow
er, and ordered every one who passed
by to do obeisance to it; and how a
mountaineer named Wilhelm Tell, who
hated Gessler and the tyranny which
the symbol expressed, passed by with
out saluting the hat, and was at once
seized and brought before Gessler, who
ordered that as a punishment Tell
should shoot an apple off the head of
his own son. As resistance was vain,
the apple was placed on the boys
head, when Tell bent his bow, and the
arrow, piercing the apple, fell with it to
the ground. Gessler saw that Tell. be-
fore shooting, had stuck a second ar
row in his belt, and, asking the reason,
received this for answer-'It was for
you; had l shot my child, know that
this would have pierced your heart"
Now, this story first occurs in the
chronicle of Melchior Russ, who wrote
at the end OF the fifteenth century,.
e., about ITO years after it's reputed
occurrence. The absence of any ref
erence to it in contemporary records
caused doubt to be thrown upon it
three centuries ago. Guillimann, the
author OF a work on Swiss antiquities,
published in 1893, calls it a fable, but
subscribes to the current belief in it
because the tale is so popular! The
race to which he belonged is not yet
extinct. A century and 4 half later
q more fearless sceptic, who said that
the story was of Danish origin, was
condemned by the Canton of Uri to be
burnt alive, and in the well-timed alb
sence of the offender his book was or
dered to be burned by the common
hangman. But the truth is great, and
prevails. G. Won Wyss, the Swiss his
torian, has pointed out that them
OF Wilhelm Tell does not occur even
once in the history OF the three can
tons, neither is there any trace that a
VOgt named Gessler ever served the
house of Hapsburg there. Moreover,
the legend does not correspond to any
fact of a period OF expressions of the
Swiss at the hands of their Austrian
rulers.
''There exist III contemporary rec
Ords no Instances of wantOn courage
and insolence ON the Hapsburg side.
1t was the object OF that power to OBJ
tain political ascendancy, not to i'll
dulge it's representatives in lust and
wanton insult" and, where records of
disputes between particular persons oc-
cur, 1.-THE symptoms of violence, as
natural enough appear rather on the
side of the Swiss than on that OF the
aeggrandising Imperial house."
Candour, however, requires that the
"evidence' in support of the legend
should be stated. There is the foun-
tain on the supposed site OF the lime
tree in the market-place at Altdorf by
which young Tell stood, as well as the
colossal plaster statue of the hero
himself which confronts us as we enter
the quaint village. But more than
this, the veritable cross-bow itself is
preserved III the arsenal at Zurich!
However, although the little Tells
chapel, as restored, was opened with
a national fete, in the presence of two
members Of the Federal Council, in
June, 1888, the Swiss now admit in
their school teaching that their story
is legendary.