THE TOWN OF LUCERNE,

IN SWITZERLAND.

LUCERNE, or Luzern, the capital of the Swiss Canton of the same name, stands nearly in the centre of Switzerland, upon the banks of the river Reuss, at the points where it issues from the north-western extremity of the large lake, which bears the different names of the Lake of Lucerne and the Lake of the Four Cantons, or, in German, Vier Waldstetten See. It is one of the three towns which alternately enjoy the honour of being the capital of the Swiss Confederation for the space of two years, the others being Zürich and Berne; that distinction fell last to its turn in the years 1831 and 1832, and will again fall to it in the years 1837 and 1838. The town is also the ordinary residence of the Pope's nuncio; Lucerne being the first in rank and power among the Roman Catholic Cantons of Switzerland. The population is small, not exceeding 7000 persons.

The origin of Lucerne is unknown; some writers attribute it to the time of the Romans, and suppose that the town existed in the fourth century, and was among the places which suffered under the merciless inroad of Attila. Others date it from the establishment of a convent, which was built and endowed in the latter portion of the seventh century, by a noble priest named Wickard, or Wingard, the brother of a Frank lord, according to Ebel, who had founded the cathedral of Zürich, and, as others say, a cousin of Clovis, the third king of France. The founder died, however, soon after the completion of his work. Subsequent kings of France secured to his establishment the possession of the place, which then bore the appellation of Lucerne, and under the protection of the monks it soon became of sufficient importance to assume the title of town. In the year 768, King Pepin, father of Charlemagne, bestowed the convent upon the Abbey of Murbach, in Upper Alsace, and the town of Lucerne passed with it under the new dominion. In this state it remained for upwards of 500 years, the abbot exercising over it a sovereign authority, which was tempered, however, by many restrictions tending to secure the liberty of the inhabitants. At length, in 1291, it was sold, together with the convent and twenty neighbouring districts, to the Emperor Rodolph of Hapsburgh, and thus it came under the Dukes of Austria. Its new possessors did not respect its liberties, and Lucerne began to experience bitterly the evils of a foreign yoke.

The three Waldstetten, or Cantons of Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden, having already secured their liberty and independence, were continually engaged in hostilities with Austria; in these Lucerne was obliged to take a share, on account of its dependence upon the Duke. The result was of course highly injurious to the happiness and prosperity of its citizens, whose grievances were still further increased by the imposition of additional taxes, as exorbitant as they were unjust; and at length, when they became unable any longer to bear such oppression, they began to treat with the Waldstetten for a truce of twenty years. The nobles, however, were still attached to the Austrian rule, and the more popular party among the burghers, fearing their designs, abandoned the project of the truce, and at once concluded a perpetual alliance of reciprocal protection and defence with the confederated Cantons. Hostilities of course followed with Austria, and the citizens were attacked by the nobles of the Aargau in the name of the Duke; but, being aided by their new confederates, they boldly stood forward in defence of their rights; but they had not the support of their own nobles.

The most distinguished families of the town were anxious for the restoration of the Duke's dominion, and a plot was formed for the assassination of the confederates in their beds at midnight, and the subsequent surrender of the town to the Duke's partisans. "It was already dark," says Zschokke, "and they were assembled armed within a cave situated on the lake beneath the club-room, frequented by the incorporated trade of tailors, when their project was overheard by a boy who happened to be passing by. They seized on the lad, and were going to despatch him, but finally contented themselves with making him solemnly swear not to reveal to any one what he had heard. The boy, however, entered the room belonging to the fraternity of butchers, where several of the tradesmen were still drinking and playing; here addressing himself aloud to the stove in the room, he related the oath he had taken to communicate to no man what he had heard; those present, struck with horror and amazement, hurried away to give the alarm; the citizens instantly seized on the conspirators, called in the assistance of the people of Unterwalden, and ultimately excluded the higher ranks from any share in the government, expelling them from the city they had before governed. From this time the city council was composed of three hundred burghers, and the community assumed the administration of the city possessions, the levying of taxes, and the conclusion of treaties and alliances. Thus," adds this historian, "was the freedom of Lucerne saved by the discretion and patriotic feeling of a youth."

The entry of Lucerne into the confederation took place in 1332; and in 1386 the citizens, with the aid of their confederates, gained the famous victory of Sempach over the Austrians, on the occasion of which the Duke Leopold lost his life. From that time forward the town gradually acquired dominion, by conquest and other means, of the territory, which was afterwards known as the Canton of Lucerne; and in the year 1477, Austria concluded a treaty of perpetual alliance with the confederates, formally renouncing all claims to those places which they had captured from the house of Hapsburg. The town of Lucerne then remained for a long while free from the miseries of war; but it was occasionally the theatre of violent scenes arising out of the discontent prevailing among the country people of the canton. In the year 1652, the goverment made an alteration in the coinage, which excited much dissatisfaction among the inhabitants of the bailliages, or bailiwicks; the result was an open tumult and rebellion, which was joined by the peasantry of Berne and some other cantons, who had loudly complained of the grievances which they suffered under the oppressive system practised by the citizens who enjoyed the supreme authority. Threats were put forward of an attack upon the town of Lucerne, and the smaller cantons were obliged to contribute levies to garrison and protect it; the malcontents even went so far as to hold a general assembly, and elect a peasant for their chief magistrate, and for leader of the confederacy of the four cantons of Lucerne, Berne, Soleure, and Basle. But their proceedings were the offspring more of rashness and violence than of prudence and reflection, and the insurrection was subdued after some blood had been shed.

These discontents were revived about a century afterwards, when they gave rise to many disorders. In the year 1798, the council of Lucerne publicly proclaimed the abolition of the ancient oligarchical constitution, and convoked the representatives of the people for the establishment of a new one based upon

an equality of political rights. Soon afterwards a French army entered the town, and Lucerne became the capital of the "Helvetian Republic;" this distinction it enjoyed only until the month of March, 1799, when the French having been beaten in Swabia, and the Austrians having penetrated into Switzerland, the seat of government was removed for security to Berne. By the act of mediation which Buonaparte promulgated in 1803, Lucerne was named one of the six towns in which the diet was to be held alternately; in 1815, according to the arrangement proposed by the allied powers, it became one of the three towns which were to share in turns the honour of being the seat of government for two years.

The situation of Lucerne,-at the edge of a noble lake, and upon the banks of a rapid river, with lofty mountains around it,-is very fine. The approach to it, both from the water, and along the road leading from Berne through the scenery of the Reuss, and its neighbourhood, is spoken of in terms of high praise. "Few things among the finest, are better than this approach to Lucerne," says a recent female writer, speaking of that by the latter route; "descending with the mountains full in view, and then following the windings of the clear river that sweeps along between rich banks dotted with habitations, hanging over the airy cliffs, and darkened by forests that if they have ever heard the sound of an axe, at least say nothing about it. At the issue of this beautiful defile, Lucerne stretches out its towers and battlements, assuming an antique and feudal bearing which it does not sustain quite so nobly on a nearer approach." The approach from the lake though very beautiful, is not so striking as the other.

The Reuss divides Lucerne into two unequal portions, which communicate by three wooden bridges, one of which is 1380 feet in length. Two of the three bridges are covered with a roof which protects them from the sun and rain; "You may walk there at all times," says M. Simond, "and enjoy one of the finest prospects in existence,-prodigious mountains rising at once from the tranquil and pure expanse of the waters, at the distance of a few miles, between Mount Pilatus, and the Righi on the foreground." There is a fourth bridge which stretches across an arm of the lake, and leads from the larger division of the town to the cathedral; this, too, is covered, and has a length of 1000 feet. Three of these bridges are decorated with paintings. The Hofbrücke, (literally "bridge of the court,") or that which crosses the river near its outlet, is 1380 feet long, and is adorned with a vast number of paintings from Scripture history; the kappel, or chapel-bridge-which is that crossing the lake, boasts the possession of 200 pictures, recording the great exploits of the Swiss. The third, and smallest of the covered bridges, exhibits the "Dance of Death,"-a painting by Moglinger, copied, according to Mr. Inglis, from Holbein's famous work on the same subject. Near the centre of the chapel-bridge, is the water-tower, which is remarkable for its antiquity, and for the tradition connected with it,-that it served formerly as a lighthouse, and thus gave its name of Lucerna to the town. It used to contain, and in all probability still contains, the state treasure, and the great banner which Pope Sixtus the Fourth gave to the city, together with the ring of Charles of Burgundy, and some other precious spoils.

One of the most curious objects of interest to the traveller at Lucerne, is a celebrated model in relief, which represents a large district of the most mountainous part of Switzerland. It was executed by General Pfyffer, and is upwards of 22 feet in length,

and 12 in breadth; the space comprised in it is about 180 square leagues, comprehending the whole of the cantons of Lucerne and Underwald, a large portion of Uri, Schwytz, and Zug, and also some part of Berne, Zürich, and Aargau. Each square league of country covers in the model about 212 square inches; and the highest mountains of 9700 feet, are marked by an elevation of ten inches. It is impossible, says Ebel, to see this magniffcent work, without wondering at the precision with which the forms of the rocks and mountains are given, the exactness which prevails throughout, in the minutest details, and the striking accuracy which characterizes this imitation of nature.

Not a path, not a hut, not a cross, has been forgotten. Every traveller, before his departure from Lucerne, may study in it the route which he intends to follow among the neighbouring mountains, and on his return may extend and perfect the incomplete knowledge which he has gathered in his tour. M. Simond complains that the objects are beyond all reason too large, "many a village steeple rivalling in height the neighbouring Alps!" and speaks of the work being clumsily executed; he admits, however, that "nothing in the shape of a sight ever gave him more pleasure.'

When the Rev. Mr. Coxe first saw this model, or so much of it as was finished in the year 1776, the general had been employed upon it about ten years, with the most astonishing patience and assiduity. He had himself raised the plans upon the spots, taken the elevations of the mountains, and laid them down in their several proportions. In the prosecution of this laborious work he had been twice arrested for a spy; and in the popular cantons he had frequently been forced to work by moon-light, in order to avoid the jealousy of the peasants, who thought their liberty would be endangered, should so exact a plan be taken of their country. As he was obliged to remain some time upon the tops of mountains on which no provision could be found, he generally carried with him a few she-goats, whose milk used When he had to supply him with nourishment. finished any particular part, he sent for the peasants and hunters residing near the spot, and bade them examine the model, to see whether it corresponded, as far as the smallness of the scale would admit, with the original of nature; thus, by frequently retouching, he managed to approach very closely to accuracy.

Ten years afterwards, when the old general was in his seventieth year, and had been employed twenty years upon his model, Mr. Coxe again saw him, and found that he still continued his annual expeditions into the Alps with a spirit and ardour that would He was a have fatigued a much youuger person. native of Lucerne, and had been an officer in the service of France; when the troops of that country entered Switzerland at the end of the last century, they were about to carry off his model, but "they were shamed out of it," says M. Simond. Shortly afterwards, in the year 1802, the old man died, at the advanced age of eighty-five, and in full possession of "his mountains and his fame," a full-length portrait of him hangs in the room in which the model is preserved, and in the house which he inhabited; he is represented in his working dress, and in a climbing attitude, with his iron-shod galoches, or clogs, his portable seat, and his mountain-stick.

HE that would undertake great enterprises, hath need of wisdom and courage; wisdom to contrive, and courage to execute; wisdom to guide his courage, and courage to second his wisdom; both which, if they meet with a good cause, cannot but succeed.-BISHOP HALL.

AN imperfect knowledge of the real nature and habits of the Ourang Outang, has been a source of much error and misrepresentation for ages, and we owe all our fabulous accounts of satyrs, and fauns, and wild men of the woods, to a casual view of this animal, or of the Chimpansée*, which bears a great general resemblance to it. In later times, when the progress of maritime discovery ought to have been the means of introducing us to an accurate knowledge of the animals and productions of the countries visited, the tales of wonder related of these larger kind of monkeys, were as ridiculous and false as those of the ancients, and more likely to mislead the judgment; for our modern accounts were founded professedly on an intimate knowledge of the circumstances related, and from a personal observation of the individuals described.

All the Ourangs that have been brought to Europe, and retained in a state of captivity, have been very young, and consequently their manners were playful and mild, and as may be seen by the engravings, the difference in character between youth and age is so very great in these animals, that they would be hardly recognised as belonging to the same species. At present, although great additions have been made to our information on the subject of these larger kinds of monkeys, still much remains to be discovered, before our knowledge of these animals can be said to be anything like complete.

The latest inquiries seem to have established the fact that there are two distinct species of the large tailless apes-namely, the Ourang Outang, Jocko, or Pongo, belonging to some of the Asiatic islands, particularly Borneo; and the Chimpansée, which is found in the tropical parts of Africa. The most readily discerned distinction between the two, is the colour of the hair and the length of the arms. In the Ourang the hair is of a red-brown colour, and the arms when the creature is erect reach nearly to the ancles; while the hair of the Chimpansée is black, and the arms reach very little below the knees.

Much has been said of the great resemblance in anatomical structure between the Ourang and man, • See Saturday Magazine, Vol. I., p. 172.

FEMALE.

but "a careful investigation will show, that in all those particulars of mechanical structure which have a direct or remote reference to the employment of mind, the ape is perhaps as far removed from us in material formation, as any other animal of the same class." One great reason of their apparent superiority to other animals, is the structure of their fore-paws or hands, which, from the possession of a thumb, but more resembling a great toe, enables them to grasp an object, and to perform many other acts in imitation of those of a human being. But although it can walk in a clumsy and unsteady manner upon its hinder legs, its general formation clearly shows that it never was intended for an erect posture. Living in woods, and feeding upon fruits and berries, the Ourang has been provided with feet and hands, so formed as to enable it to cling firmly to the branches of trees, either with its fore or hiuder paws, which answer the purpose of hands; on this account, the monkeys have been placed by naturalists in a separate order, called Quadrumana, meaning four-handed.

The full-grown Ourang has never yet been known in a captive state, and its appearance and proportions were hardly understood, until latterly, when the enterprise of European naturalists succeeded in killing and bringing home the bones and skin of several specimens.

The annexed engravings represent the heads of two full-grown Ourangs, whose skins and skeletons are preserved in the Museum at Leyden. The male, which is furnished with a beard and a curious protuberance on each cheek, consisting of thickened skin and fat, is about five feet five inches in height; the female is rather shorter.

In order to show how great a difference there is between the bones of the head of the young Ourang and the adult, we have represented the skulls of the animal when very young, and when full grown: it will be seen that that portion of the skull which contains the brain, is hardly more capacious in the old specimen than in the young, and that the jaws are lengthened in a most extraordinary manner, giving to the creature a most ferocious aspect. In this stage of its life, the muscles by which the jaws are moved are amazingly powerful and a strongly

I

SKULL OF THE ANIMAL WHEN VERY YOUNG.

SKULL OF THE ANIMAL WHEN AGED.

Some idea may be formed of their wonderful strength, by the following well-authenticated account of the death of one of this genus; it is extracted from the Transactions of the Asiatic Society. The occurrence took place on the coast of the Island of Sumatra, on a spot where there were but few trees. A gigantic animal of the monkey tribe was discovered. On the approach of the party, he came down from the tree on which he was seated, and

sought refuge in another at a small distance; he had the appearance of a tall figure, covered with shining brown hair, walking erect, with a waddling gait, but sometimes helping himself forward with his hands, and at others with the bough of a tree; but it was evident that movement on the ground was not natural to him. He passed with such rapidity from tree to tree, that it was difficult to take a steady aim at him. After receiving five musket-balls, the animal became exhausted, and lying on the branch of a tree vomited a quantity of blood. Believing that he would now be easily taken, his pursuers began to cut down the tree, but as it was in the act of falling, he began his retreat again with great activity, and it was not till the few trees on the spot were felled, that he could be brought to the ground. When in a dying state, the creature seized a spear, and with a force greater, apparently, than that of the strongest man, shivered it to pieces.

The Leyden Museum contains no less than six stuffed specimens, namely, two adult males, two adult females, a male not quite full grown, and a young female: they were all killed on the Island of Borneo, by a party of nearly a hundred men, who surrounded that portion of the forest in which they were found.

The following characteristic anecdote of one of these animals was furnished by a gentleman con

On its return from India, the vessel which conveyed the poor little Ourang to a climate always fatal to its race, stopped some time at the Isle of France to take in fresh provisions. The Ourang accompanied the sailors in their daily visits to the shore, and in their calls upon the keepers of taverns and shops. To one of these, kept by an old woman who sold coffee, &c. for breakfast, the Ourang was accustomed to go, unattended, every morning; and by signs, which were easily interpreted, demanded his usual breakfast, which was duly delivered. The charge was scored up to the captain's account, which he paid before his departure.

There was but one person on board the ship of whom the poor Ourang seemed at all afraid. This man was the butcher. The Ourang had seen him kill sheep and oxen in the exercise of his duty, and probably anticipated from his hands a fate similar to that of his equally dumb, but not so intelligent companions. However, in order to conciliate the friendship of this dreaded dispenser of death, he made every advance, although in a very singular manner. He would, for instance, approach him with great caution, examine his hands minutely, finger by finger, and finding no weapon, proceed by every little artifice to attract his notice. With the rest of the sailors he was on terms of intimate friendship, and no doubt felt himself entitled to all the attendant privileges, not unfrequently to the annoyance of his companions from whose hammocks he took such portions of bedding as he deemed necessary for his own comfort, and which he would by no means resign without a hard contest. His conduct at table, to which he was familiarly hended the use of knives and forks, but preferred He soon compreadmitted, was always decorous. a spoon, which he handled with as much ease as almost arrival in England, he soon began to sicken. During any child of seven or eight years old. On his

his illness, he was removed to Bruton Street, where one of his favourites, I believe the cook, attended as his nurse. He would raise his head from his

pillow, turn his eyes on his attendant, with an exhis relief. He would at the same time utter a plainpression as if entreating him to do something for tive cry, but he evinced nothing like impatience or ill temper, and was compassionated by all who saw him. He lingered on a few days, and gradually grew worse and worse till he died, not without the regret of his nurse, and indeed of us all.

IN no part of creation are the POWER, WISDOM, and GOODNESS, of its beneficent and Almighty Author, more signally conspicuous than in the various animals that inhabit and enliven our globe. The infinite diversity of their forms and organs; the nice adaptation of these to their several functions; the beauty and elegance of a large number of them; the singularity of others; the variety of their motions; their geographical distribution; but, above all, their pre-eminent utility to mankind, in every state and stage of life, render them objects of the deepest interest both to rich and poor, high and low, wise and unlearned, so that arguments in proof of these primary attributes of the Godhead, drawn from the habits, instincts, and other adjuncts of the animal creation, are likely to meet with more universal attention, to be more generally comprehended, to make a deeper and more lasting impression upon the mind, to direct the heart more fervently and devotedly to the Maker and Giver of these interesting beings, than those which are drawn from mere abstruse sources though really more elevated and sublime.-KIRBY.