They saw that city, welcoming the Rhine,

As from his mountain heritage he bursts,

As purposed proud Orgetorix of yore,

Leaving the desert region of the hills,

To lord it o’er the fertile plains of Gaul.

Helvetia

The eyes of the English travellers, wearied with a succession of wild mountainous scenery, now gazed with pleasure upon a country still indeed irregular and hilly in its surface, but capable of high cultivation, and adorned with cornfields and vineyards. The Rhine, a broad and large river, poured its gray stream in a huge sweep through the landscape, and divided into two portions the city of Bale, which is situated on its banks. The southern part, to which the path of the Swiss deputies conducted them, displayed the celebrated cathedral, and the lofty terrace which runs in front of it, and seemed to remind the travellers that they now approached a country in which the operations of man could make themselves distinguished even among the works of nature, instead of being lost, as the fate of the most splendid efforts of human labor must have been, among those tremendous mountains which they had so lately traversed.

They were yet a mile from the entrance of the city, when the party was met by one of the magistrates, attended by two or three citizens mounted on mules, the velvet housings of which expressed wealth and quality. They greeted the Landamman of Unterwalden and his party in a respectful manner and the latter prepared themselves to hear, and make a suitable reply to the hospitable invitation which they naturally expected to receive.

The message of the community of Bale was, however, diametrically opposite to what they had anticipated. It was delivered with a good deal of diffidence and hesitation by the functionary who met them, and who certainly, while discharging his commission, did not appear to consider it as the most respectable which he might have borne. There were many professions of the most profound and fraternal regard for the cities of the Helvetian League, with whom the orator of Bale declared his own State to be united in friendship and interests. But he ended by intimating, that, on account of certain cogent and weighty reasons, which should be satisfactorily explained at more leisure, the free city of Bale could not, this evening, receive within its walls the highly respected deputies, who were travelling at the command of the Helvetian Diet, to the court of the Duke of Burgundy.

Philipson marked with much interest the effect which this most unexpected intimation produced on the members of the embassage. Rudolph Donnerhugel, who had joined their company as they approached Bale, appeared less surprised than his associates, and, white he remained perfectly silent, seemed rather anxious to penetrate their sentiments, than disposed to express his own. It was not the first time the sagacious merchant had observed that this bold and fiery young man could, when his purposes required it, place a strong constraint upon the natural impetuosity of his temper For the others, the Banneret’s brow darkened; the face of the Burgess of Soleure became flushed like the moon when rising in the north-west; the grey-bearded deputy of Schwytz looked anxiously on Arnold Biederman and the Landamman himself seemed more moved than was usual in a person of his equanimity. At length, he replied to the functionary of Bale, in a voice somewhat altered by his feelings: —

This is a singular message to the Deputies of the Swiss Confederacy, bound as we are upon an amicable mission, on which depends the interest of the good citizens of Bale, whom we have always treated as our good friends, and who still profess to be so. The shelter of their roofs, the protection of their walls, the wonted intercourse of hospitality, is what no friendly State hath a right to refuse to the inhabitants of another.”

“Nor is it with their will that the community of Bale refuse it worthy Landamman,” replied the magistrate. “Not you alone, and your worthy associates, but your escort, and your very beasts of burden, should be entertained with all the kindness which the citizens of Bale could bestow — But we act under constraint.”

“And by whom exercised?” said the Banneret, bursting out in passion. “Has the Emperor Sigismund profited so little by the example of his predecessors — ”

“The Emperor,” replied the delegate of Bale, interrupting the Banneret, “is a well-intentioned and peaceful monarch, as he has been ever; but — there are Burgundian troops, of late, marched into the Sundgaw, and messages have been sent to our State from Count Archibald of Hagenbach.”

“Enough said,” replied the Landamman. “Draw not farther the veil from a weakness for which you blush. I comprehend you entirely. Bale lies too near the citadel of La Ferette to permit its citizens to consult their own inclinations. — Brother, we see where your difficulty lies — we pity you — and we forgive your inhospitality.”

“Nay, but hear me to an end, worthy Landamman,” answered the magistrate. “There is here in the vicinity an old hunting-seat of the Counts of Falkenstein, called Graffs-lust, 4 which, though ruinous, yet may afford better lodgings than the open air, and is capable of some defence — though Heaven forbid that any one should dare to intrude upon your repose! And hark ye hither, my worthy friends; — if you find in the old place some refreshment, as wine, beer, and the like, use them without scruple, for they are there for your accommodation.” I do not refuse to occupy a place of security,” said the Landamman; “for although the causing us to be excluded from Bale may be only done in the spirit of petty insolence and malice, yet it may also, for what we can tell, be connected with some purpose of violence. Your provisions we t............