The San Francisco call., 1908-07-27
HISTORY SPEAKS
IN SWITZERLAND
Symbols of Empire Survive in
Every Canton of the Demo-
cratic State
HOary Castles, Gray Monster
les and Century Old Cathe-
draIS Record the Past

comfortably on a sort OF biblical ven
Grafton for the eternal hills. But this
Switzerland is rather of the imagina-
ZION than Of the reality. The eternal
hills perpetually advertise themselves.
The civilization, the significance Of
Switzerland I'M the history of nations,
are more reticent To rise from a
table d'hote dinner and rush to the
window for a glimpse Of snow peaks
made carmine IN the light of a sun
30 longer visible is as entertaining
In mid August as IL is eXhilarating in
mid December 10 lie face foremost on
n toboggan and skim down the noun
tainside over a glistening white sheet
Of snow. But neither Caesar nor
Charlemagne, whose presence still
fingers in the substantial walls Of
castle and cathedral, in many a pic
turesque ruin past which the train
carries the complacent tourist, Will
emerge from a contemplation OF sun
sets or the invigorating pursuit Of
open air sport.
To find Caesar you must forget the
appeal Of nature and study the thick
ness OF the walls in castles like that
OF Razuns in the canton OF Graubun-
den; 10 know Charlemagne you must
read Of his benedces TO Zurich. and
gaze at his effigy with crown and
sword on the western tower OF the
great minister in that city. The SYM
bols of empire survive with q mighty
distinctness in this model democratic
state, and its meaning IN modern Eu-
rope is -enshrined no less in the ruins
OF Hapsburg. that castle on the Wul-
pelsberg which rose at the beginning
OF the eleventh century and became
the cradle Of the Austrian emperOrs,
than in the DEGREES OF the national
council at Berne. which today reflect
the political activity Of modern SwitZ-
erland.
History speaks in every one Of the
% cantOns. But her voice sinks TO a
whisper in the presence Of fiction,
whether It be the fiction of Lord Byron
1n The Prisoner of Chillon." or that
Of Tschudi Cthe Swiss Herodotus) IN
the development Of Tells imagined
personality. Not on myths does the
historical consequence Of Switzerland
rest its foundations. but on monuments
of architecture like those feudal cas-
ties Of which Vufiens in the canton
Of Eaud is so noble an example, and
on treasures which are the embodi-
rnent Of historical antiquity itself.
They may be studied in monasteries
like those of St. Gall, Einsiedeln and
Disentis II the civilization Of Switzer-
land is reticent IL viii be found
none the less rich on that account when
an attempt is made to penetrate its
spirit in such centers. Protestant and
Catholic inspiration have both their
permanent memorials. Side by side
with the noble church Of St. Martin may
be studied the ancient cathedral in
Chur. Viewed from an elevation on
some mountainside outside the city this
building looks as If IL had grown in
corporate with the rocky eminence on
which il sQuats There is little in that
architecture 10 tempt the eye taking its
i'll Of satisfaction from a neighbOring
luxury Of scenic splendor. But when
you leave the sunlight and the noun
tains for the interior Of the great
cathedral antiquity pursUes you like a
growing shadow. so that even the
beauties Of altarpiece and clOisters
cannot emerge with anything like
swiftness from the general impression
of an undisturbed, far reaching past in
which you are closely enshrouded.
What / have said Of the reticence Of
history in Switzerland is illustrated TO
perfection In the sacristy, a simple hall
lined with plain wooden lockers. You
wonder why you have been brought
here and your mind still grOpes in the
recent memory Of the cathedral itself.
But when the sacristan takes down
these wooden shutters you are face to
face with the charters granted to the
bishops by Charlemagne, Louis the
DebOnnaire, LOthaire; and in a neigh
boring locker are crucifiXes Of the
twelfth and fourteenth centuries. mon
gtrances. embroideries. reliquaries of
St. Florian. St Placidus. St. Ursula. st.
Lucius. In other countries the pres
ence Of similar treasures is heralded by
some magnihcence in their immediate
neighbOrhood: the Swiss are too proud
OF their possessions TO show them of.
You may observe similar reticence in
their art museums. How many Of the
thousands Of people who pass through
Bale have ever found their way TO the
works Of the younger Holbein in The
picture gallery: BurgOmaster Meyer
and his wife, the family Of Sir Thomas
More. the Praise Of Folly?
It is so easy to pass from place to
place enjoying much, and yet missing
the best things in Switzerland. the old
stained glass in the Altkirche OF Lu-
cerne, the quaint devices on the foun-
tains Of Berne, the choirstalls in the
church Of St. Oswald at Zug. There is
less opportunity for seeing the real
Switzerland in the height of summer
than in spring. for in the later season
the country robes itself for the
stranger. and one Of the oldest jokes
in Switzerland concerns those noun
tain peaks carefully covered with snow
each year by the inhabitants TO pro-
vide English visitors with the scenic
effects which they invariably expect TO
find. The Swiss who has visited Lon
don only in November pictures it en-
Veloped from years end to years end
3n a prodigious fog.
90 The LondOner who has visited Switz-
erland only IN the late summer thinks
too often idly of the whole country as
one vast scene in an opera, a place of
chalets and Alps. wooden bridges and
white church spires, animated by the
music Of COW bells. Yet the real
Switzerland the home OF great mer-
chants like Nestle and Suchard no less
than of Zwingh and Rousseau, no less
the battle-ground of nations ir the past
than their playground in the present, is
no farther from Charing Cross station
than the vague operatic Switzerland of
Imperfect experience. Il would rather
go miles to hear a clever man talk"
said Madame de Stael, than open the
windows Of my rooms at Naples to see
the beauties Of the gulf"
This is the spirit in which Switzer-
land should be approached by all those
who are eager TO understand the place
81 has won and continues to hold in the
Sfection Of those who can think as well
@s see-London News