money, and even Schauenburg was moved with compassion towards
the poor Midwaldeners, and had food distributed to them. It may
perhaps here be noted that Stanz shortly figures again in Swiss
history, but this time in a far more peaceful and humane manner. It
was here that Pestalozzi resumed his noble work of education. To
heal the wounds of his noble country as far as was in his power the
minister Stapfer founded an educational establishment for the orphan
children of the district. And here it was that Pestalozzi ruled, not so
much as a mere pedagogue, but as a veritable father, the little
unfortunates committed to his care.
FOOTNOTES:
This grand work of art is carved out of and on the face of an immense rock,
after a model by Thorwaldsen—a wounded lion with a broken spear,
representing hapless but noble courage. The work was executed in 1821.
The exact sum paid by Bern is not known, but probably it reached seven or
eight million francs. The Bernese losses, up to 1813, were estimated at
seventeen million francs. One hundred and sixty cannon, and sixty
thousand muskets were also captured. Bern had kept three bears (in the
Bärangraben of the town) ever since the battle of Novara, in 1513.
Strangely enough the bears carried off in that battle were French trophies.
The mountain range, running from Titlis north-west and then north-east to
Stanzer Horn, with the Kernwald at its centre, separates Unterwalden into
Obwalden (above the wood) and Midwalden (below the wood).
[Pg 357]
XXX.
THE "ONE AND UNDIVIDED HELVETIC REPUBLIC."
(1798-1803.)
The day of the "one and undivided Helvetic Republic" was a period of
"storm and stress," short-lived, full of creative ideas and vast
schemes, with much struggling for what was most noble in the
principles of the Revolution. Yet Helvetia was torn by inner
dissensions, and its energies paralysed by civil and foreign war, by its
position of dependence, and by financial difficulties. The Helvetic
scheme of pounding the various members of the Confederation into
one state wiping out the cantons—a scheme often planned since
then, but to this day unrealized, and as yet unrealizable—by its
inevitable levelling tendencies, roused intense disgust and hatred
amongst the more conservative of the Swiss. In truth, it went too fast,
and too far in the direction of centralization. The laender were robbed
of their landsgemeinde, the city cantons of their councils, and the
independent states of their sovereignty. Everything seemed to be
turned
[Pg 358]
topsy-turvy. Cantons became mere administrative districts.[86] The barriers between them, and likewise between the various classes of
society, were broken down. Subject lands were recognized as equal
in status to the rest, and the inhabitants given full rights of citizenship.
Amongst the many beneficent measures brought forward the principal
may be mentioned. All restrictions on trade and industry were
removed, tithes, bondservice, and land taxes could be redeemed at a
small cost; freedom in religious matters, freedom of the press, and
the right to petition were guaranteed, and torture was suppressed.
That child of the Revolution, "the Helvetic," indeed, advocated many
reforms and gave birth to many new ideas which required time and
thought and peace to bring to maturity and usefulness. But the time
was not yet ripe, and peace was lacking, and many things were
suggested rather than put into practice. Yet we look back with interest
on many of the ideas of the time, for they paved the way for and led
up to much of our modern progress.
Excellent men, men of parts, wise and moderate, watched over the
early days of the young republic; amongst them Usteri, Escher (of
Zurich), Secretan and Carrard (Vaud), and Mayer (Bern). But
gradually French partisans, nominated from Paris, were returned to
the Swiss Directory, and Ochs and
[Pg 359]
La Harpe were promoted to the leadership of Helvetic affairs. Soon a
"reign of terror"—of a milder form, perhaps, but none the less a rule
of terrorism—was set up, with the view of dragooning the country into
submission to the " grande nation." A levy was enforced in order to make up a total of eighteen thousand men, a number the Swiss were
loth to produce for the foreigner. They objected to this forced service,
and took up arms abroad, whilst men like Lavater and Reding, who
defied both French tyranny and "Helvetic" despotism, were
transported, or thrust into the filthy dungeons of the fortress of
Aarburg. On the 19th of August, 1798, was concluded the fatal
Franco-Helvetic Alliance—offensive and defensive—despite the
supplications and warnings of the more far-seeing patriots, such as
Escher (von der Linth) for instance. Swiss neutrality being thus
abandoned, the door was opened to the Austro-Russian invasion,
planned by the second European coalition with the view of ousting
France from Swiss territory. Hating the new régime exasperated at
French supremacy and French extortion, and desirous that the status
quo ante of 1798 should be re-established, the reactionists hailed
with delight the coming of the Austrians, quite as much as the
"Patriots" had before welcomed the interference of France. A legion
of Swiss emigrés abroad collected by Roverea, at Vaudois, who had
sided with Bern in the previous struggle, joined the Austrian army.
The foreign occupation which took place and turned Switzerland into
one military camp cannot be followed in all its details here. Yet one or
two points must be noted,
[Pg 360]
above all, those remarkable Alpine marches carried out, though
against his own will, by Suwarow. These marches are quite unique in
military history.
After the defeat of the French in Southern Germany, the Tyrol, and
Italy, by the Archduke Charles, Hotze, and Suwarow, they were to be
driven out of Switzerland. Marshal Massena, who had succeeded
Schauenburg in the command of the French troops, had at the
commencement of the war seized Graubünden, and forced it, free
state though it was, to join the Helvetic Republic to which it so
strongly objected. But in May, 1799, it was recaptured by Hotze, a
gallant swordsman of Swiss birth;[87] who had risen to the rank of field-marshal in the Austrian army. Hotze drove the French from the
central highlands, Roverea likewise taking a prominent part in the
expedition. About this time the Archduke Charles entered Switzerland
at Schaffhausen, and, carrying all before him, advanced to Zurich.
This city, after various skirmishes in its neighbourhood, he seized on
the 4th of June, forcing Massena to retire to the heights beyond the
Limmat river. But now a cessation of hostilities intervened for some
months, owing to differences between Austria and Russia, and with
this came a change of tactics. Archduke Charles withdrew, and his
place was taken by Korsakow with a Russian army forty thousand
strong. A plan was now agreed upon under which Suwarow should
join Korsakow from Italy, and they should then combine their forces in
a grand attack on the French, on September 26th. This Massena was
[Pg 361]
determined to prevent. By admirable manœuvring he disposed his
eight divisions about Eastern and Central Switzerland, his force
amounting to no fewer than seventy-five thousand men. The
highlands of Schwyz, Uri, and Glarus, were held by Lecourbe, a
skilled strategist, thoroughly at home in the Alps, and the entrance to
the St. Gothard pass was blocked. Marshal Soult gave battle to Hotze
in the marshy district between Lake Zurich and Walensee, on the
25th of September, with the result that Hotze was slain, and the
Austrian force retired from Swiss soil. Wherever the Austrians had
gained a footing, the reactionists had taken advantage of it to re-
establish the status quo. On the 25th and 26th of September,
Massena attacked the Russian forces under Korsakow, at Zurich.
This second battle of Zurich—the fighting was continued (from
outside) into the very streets—resulted in the complete defeat of
Korsakow. Fortunately the city itself, having remained neutral,
escaped violent treatment, but Lavater was unfortunate enough to be
struck by a shot during the engagement, whilst carrying help to some
wounded soldiers.[88]
[Pg 362]
DILIGENCE CROSSING THE SIMPLON PASS.
[Pg 363]
Quite unaware of what was being done in Switzerland, Suwarow
reached the heights of St. Gothard on the 24th of September, and,
finding the pass occupied by the enemy, cut his way through in
brilliant style. Whilst some of the Russians—at Teufelsbrüche, for
instance—held in check the French, the larger portion of their army
scrambled down the steep rocks lining the Reuss, amidst the French
fire. Wading across the rapid torrent they hurried down the valley to
Flüelen, intending to push on to Lucerne and Zurich. But to their great
dismay they found no road skirting Uri lake, and all the boats
removed. They were thus locked up in a labyrinth of mountain
fastnesses, the outlets from which were blocked by their foes. In this
desperate strait there was nothing for it but to proceed over the
mountains as best they might, by any rough path which might present
itself. In reality, however, these passes were no highroads for armies,
but only narrow paths used by occasional shepherds or huntsmen.
Devoted to their leader, the Russian troops toiled up from the sombre
Schächenthal, and along the rugged Kinzig pass, pursued by their
enemies. On reaching Muotta they learned the disheartening news
that Korsakow had been defeated. No wonder that down the weather-
beaten face of the brave old general, the tears rolled as he gave the
order to retreat. But Suwarow was not inclined to sit still and repine,
and undaunted by his recent terrible struggle against nature, at once
resumed his march across the toilsome Pragel pass into the canton
of Glarus, where he had good hopes of finding Austrian friends. But
on his arrival he learnt that the Austrians had left the neighbourhood.
Thus baffled once more, and unable to get to the plains at Naefels on
account of the enemy, he was compelled to retreat again, and again
attempt the terrible passage across the mountains. Striking across
the Panixer pass, which rises to the height of eight thousand feet, he
found himself confronted by greater difficulties than before. Snow
[Pg 364]
had lately fallen, and all traces of the path had disappeared. For five
terrible days the force decimated, dying with cold, hunger, and
fatigue, unshod—their boots were entirely worn out—struggled along
those wintry regions, creeping like caterpillars up walls of snow and
over icy peaks. Hundreds of men and horses fell into the hidden
crevices, down which also many a piece of artillery fell with sudden
crash. Fully one-third of the gallant band perished during that fearful
passage. The worn and famished survivors reached Graubünden on
the 10th of October, and thence made their way into Austrian
territory. Suwarow had failed, but immortal glory attaches to the
memory of the dauntless and resolute old general. The non-success
of the foreign invasions meant also the failure of the reactionists in
their attempt to overthrow the "Helvetic Republic."
Indescribable misery was the consequence of the foreign wars, and it
was intensified by the French occupation, and especially by the
disgraceful system of spoliation practised by the French generals and
agents, Mengaud, Lecarlier, Rapinat, &c. A few examples of the
treatment Switzerland received at the hands of the French "liberators"
may be given. Urserenthal, one of the Uri valleys, was called upon
during the year Oct. 1798 to Oct. 1799, to provide food for a total of
861,700 men, and a pretty hamlet in Freiburg for twenty-five
thousand, within half a year. During four months, Thurgau spent one
and a half million francs, and the Baden district well-nigh five millions,
in provisioning French troops within a year. All protestations of
inability
[Pg 365]
on the part of the inhabitants were useless; Rapinat[89] and others, like vampires, sucked the very life-blood out of the unfortunate Swiss.
The "Helvetic Republic" had its noble side, it is true, but the French occupation, by which it was maintained, and which indeed was the
outcome of it, caused the Helvetic scheme to be regarded by the
people at large with disgust and hatred.
The brightest side of the "Helvetic Republic" was seen in the
remarkable efforts of noble patriots—foremost amongst them
Rengger and Stapfer—to mitigate the effects of all these calamities
by promoting, in spite of all difficulties, or against all odds of the time,
the material and ideal interests of the people. Both Rengger and
Stapfer were highly cultivated men, and both were ministers of state,
the former holding the portfolio of finance, the latter that of arts and
sciences. Rengger directed his efforts to the improvement of trade
and agriculture; one of his practical efforts being the introduction of
English cotton-spinning machines. Stapfer, on the other hand, worked
for the spread of popular education. "Spiritual and intellectual
freedom alone makes free," he maintained. He himself had been born
in one of the new enfranchised subject lands, it may be noted
parenthetically. He drew up a remarkable scheme of national
education, a scheme embracing the child in the
[Pg 366]
primary school, and the young man in the National University. This
dream of a national university, by the way, is still unrealized,[90] but Stapfer intended that it should crown his whole system of national
education, and should combine German depth with French versatility
and Italian taste. Most of Stapfer's grand scheme remained untried
through want of means and time, but it was a very remarkable
scheme for that day. Yet much was done. Numerous schools sprang
up, and every canton had its educational council and its inspector of
schools. Lucerne, which had hitherto been quite behindhand in these
matters, now founded schools in all its communes (by 1801), and
Aarau established a gymnasium. Some four thousand children from
the wasted and ruined country districts were brought into the towns
and educated; whilst numerous journals were started, and many
literary and art societies founded. Perhaps Stapfer's chief title to
honourable remembrance is his appreciation of, and his assistance
to, Pestalozzi. Leaving Stanz on account of confessional differences,
the great philanthropist established his famous school at Burgdorf,
winning for himself by it European renown.
These noble efforts towards national advancement intellectually are
the more admirable as the country was convulsed with constitutional
struggles. From the first days of the Revolution, there had sprung up
two political schools, the Centralists, who[91] wished to see one single state with one central government; and
[Pg 367]
the Federalists, who clung to the historical traditions of their
fatherland, and to the status quo ante of 1798. These latter desired to
see cantonal self-government preponderating over the central
authority. It was a struggle to the death between advanced Liberals
and stout Conservatives. Within the short space of five years, the
country saw no fewer than four coups d'état, complete overthrowings
of government and constitution. We can notice only the chief points in
the history of these changes. The first shock came with the change in
France from the Directory to the Consulate, and the return of
Napoleon from Egypt, on the 9th of November, 1798. Ochs, detested
as the tool of France by nearly all the Swiss, was hurled from his
eminence; and La Harpe following suit, the Swiss Directory was
replaced by an executive committee. The Peace of Luneville,
February, 1801, left the Swiss free to chose their own form of
government, but Napoleon himself gradually went over to the
Federalist view. Drafts of new constitutions followed each other in
quick succession, each in its turn being upset by that which followed.
The sketch of La Malmaison, drawn up by the Federalists, restored
the Tagsatzung, and the independence of the cantons, May, 1801.
Another overthrow, and then Alois Reding rose to the position of first
Landammann, and head of the Conservative government (Oct. 28,
1801). Chivalrous and of unflinching resolve, Reding lacked the
pliancy necessary for a statesman, and desired to see Vaud again
placed under the rule of Bern. "Sooner shall the sun turn from west to
east," fiercely exclaimed Napoleon, "than Vaud shall go
[Pg 368]
back to Bern." Reding was deprived of his office, and shut up at
Aarburg, a fate that befell him on several other occasions under
Bonaparte. In July, 1802, Napoleon withdrew the French troops from
Swiss territory, with the view ostensibly of complying with the treaty of
Amiens, but in reality to show the Swiss how powerless they were
without his help. This was the signal for a general outbreak of civil
war, humorously called Stecklikrieg, or Guerre aux bâtons, in allusion
to the indifferent equipment of the soldiery. The Helvetic Government
which was then in power fled from Bern, and took up its quarters at
Lausanne. Its small force was defeated at Avenches by the
Federalists, who pushed on to the Leman city, when an order to lay
down their arms reached them from Paris. Through the medium of
General Rapp, Napoleon offered his services as "mediator" in the civil
troubles of Switzerland, and at his heels followed Marshal Ney, with
an army of forty thousand men to enforce order.
FOOTNOTES:
The utter failure clearly shows how little such a centralization of
government, leaving the cantons no scope for action, could suit the
separate states of the Confederation at any time. The name "canton" was
first used in French treaties with Switzerland, and became thenceforward
the general term. It had not come into use even so late as the Helvetic.
He was a native of a large village in the Zurich district.
He lingered on suffering from his wound for a whole year, and then died,
distinguished to the very last by his love for all mankind, and for his country
especially.
The following lines, common in men's mouths afterwards, tell their own
tale:—
"La Suisse qu'on pille et qu'on ruine
Voudrait bien que l'on decidât
Si Rapinat vient de rapine,
Ou rapine de Rapinat."
And not very likely to be realized, as the respective cantons cling to their
four universities and two academies, which are their pride.
In German, Centralisten or Unitarier.
[Pg 369]
XXXI.
THE MEDIATION ACT AND NAPOLEON.
(1803-15.)
From a constitutional point of view this period—the mediation period
(1803-13)—is the most satisfactory portion of the epoch between the
French revolutions of 1789 and 1830. It suited Napoleon's fancy to
assume the position of a directing providence to the Alpine lands.
And, finding that the federalists and the centralists of Switzerland—
the laudatores temporis acti and the progressivists—were quite
unable to agree upon a compromise, it pleased him to give the
country a new constitution. He stopped their squabbles by
summoning the "Helvetic Consulta" to Paris. Sixty-three deputies, of
whom but fifteen were federalists, obeyed the call, many of the
foremost statesmen among them. Those who disobeyed the
summons, like Reding and his party, were arrested (Nov., 1803). In
the official gazette Napoleon was pleased to speak of the Swiss
nation as one that had "always stood out in history as a model of
strength,
[Pg 370]
courage, and good manners," and he expressed a wish that the
Swiss should "aim at good government, and should sacrifice their
party feelings to their real interests, to glory, and independence."
Thus complimentary was his language, and the painstaking care and
thoughtful consideration he brought to bear on the reorganization of
Swiss affairs presents the great despot under a singularly amiable
aspect; and the Mediation Act which he drew up would, but for the
selfish arrière pensée running through it, be one of his noblest and
most beneficent political acts.
From the drafts and data presented by the Conference Napoleon, in
two months (Nov. 25th-Jan. 24th), drew up