Images de page
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

I was greatly struck with the number of good farm-houses in the canton of Fribourg. Almost every field had a house. The vine culture of Geneva and Vaud disappeared. Here there is some bog; an Irishman in the train remarked that the turf cutting reminded him of Tipperary.

I have tried to confine my judgment of the condition of these several States to a comparison of facts. The eye is apt to aid us in forming conclusions. If we see a people well clad; if they appear ruddy and healthy, and indicate the enjoyment of sufficient food; if their houses are well and substantially built, and well kept; if the land is fairly farmed, we should recognise this evidence, and be slow to assert that a system of agriculture which produces such results is inherently bad. About 16,500 acres of Vaud is under vines; this is about two per cent. of the entire surface. Where the land suits, the vine culture pays better than any other. About Lausanne this culture forms a striking feature of the landscape. The land is terraced to the very tops of the hills, and planted with vines. A custom has sprung up which is found to answer well; it is that of giving one-half of the produce for the labour, and reserving one-half for the owner. The land of Fribourg is of very inferior quality, and it is marvellous to see the results arising from the farming. The fields are not separated from each other by fences. The land is not wasted in this way. I was greatly struck with the density of the population. Nowhere in the United Kingdom can be seen such a number of chalets or houses of equal accommodation as in the poor canton of Fribourg; the country is studded with them; they are far superior to English farm-labourers' houses, yet there is a family

of five persons for each fifteen acres of cultivable land. It is quite true that we rarely see in Switzerland grand baronial residences, with large lawns, extensive flower-gardens, conservatories, &c.; where they are met with, they are generally built by Englishmen, and seem quite out of place. There are no incomes to support them, and the inhabitants cannot spare from the growth of food large spaces for non-productive purposes. Yet there is round every chalet a spot for flowers, many of which look very gay. There is a certain portion of the produce of land which may be annually devoted for buildings. If this fund gets into the hands of one proprietor we see a grand hall, but poor buildings for the tenants and labourers; if this fund is distributed we see, as in Switzerland, a large number of excellent houses, but no palatial residence.

Switzerland is a wonderful country, mentally and physically. The Swiss are the old Celtic race, who, unable to resist the invasion of Goths, retired to the mountains. Here, sheltered by the fortifications which God had raised, the ark of freedom floated amid the turbulence of the middle ages. The House of Hapsburg hurled its force against these battlements, but failed. The armies of Burgundy, led on by Charles the Bold, thrice attempted the subjugation of Switzerland, but were defeated. The three historic cantons, Uri, Schwetz, and Unterwalden, do not even now number 70,000 souls, of which the adult male population would not be more than 14,000 men! Yet how great is the influence which Switzerland exercises upon the affairs of mankind. It has proved the possibility of a very small nation maintaining its independence among most powerful

SWITZERLAND AND LONDON.

75

neighbours. It has cherished the idea of liberty, and infected the surrounding nations with a desire for freedom. Yet Switzerland has done this in such a healthy, robust manner, that she has not turned aside to cultivate the arts of poesy, painting, or sculpture. Goldsmith was conscious of the absence of excellence in the fine arts, and thus explains it :

Yet let them only share the praises due ;

If few their wants, their pleasures are but few;
For every want which stimulates the breast
Becomes a source of pleasure when redressed.
Whence from such land each pleasing science flies
That first excites desire, and then supplies,
Unknown to them when sensual pleasures cloy,
To fill the languid frame with purer joy;

Unknown those powers that raise the soul to flame,
Catch every nerve, and vibrate through the frame.

·

Men who are in earnest, whose lives are a selfsacrifice, who act poetry, have not time to write it. The muse flourishes under a sense of injury; it pleads against wrong. Men who are resolved to be free do not content themselves with rhyme; they fight. But in Switzerland, if there are no poor, neither are there any rich; art, therefore, lacks patrons. Mediocrity in point of wealth seems to affect the products of the mind. Switzerland has not produced many profound thinkers or writers; nevertheless she has powerfully affected the interests of man. The entire population of Switzerland is less than that of London, yet how great is the difference in the influence they exercise. Switzerland is a producer, London is not. Switzerland, though relatively poor, is rich in all that conduces to the welfare of its people, and extends its influence to other nations. London, though

relatively rich, includes an incalculable mass of vice and crime, and is a consumer and waster instead of a producer.

If we compare civic London, corporate London, London as it is distinct from the casualty of being the place at which the Legislature of Great Britain assembles, we shall find that, notwithstanding its size, population, and intelligence, it has exercised less influence upon the progress of civilisation or upon the development of liberty than Switzerland, poor, illiterate, and barbarous as she is represented to be. The Swiss have acted well their part in the great drama of human life. Liberty planted in her own soil has grown to be a tree; it has shed its seed abroad over neighbouring nations. The example of freedom is contagious, and the inoculation of the doctrines of liberty and equality have lessened or removed the small-pox of despotism. The war between opinions is still being waged, and Switzerland must continue to play her part. The insular position of England, the difficulties of her language, the want of intercourse with her people, have retarded the spread of her influence and the knowledge of her institutions in Europe. Emigration has carried them to new countries, where the Anglo-Scandinavian race have adopted the municipal institutions of the mother-country. It is an easier task to colonise new districts than to alter the constitutions of older ones. It is less difficult to establish liberal forms of government than to destroy despotic. The mission of Switzerland has been a noble one; her influence over Europe has been beneficial. May she long continue to wield that influence, and be in her mountain fastnesses the little leaven of liberty which will

[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

leaven the absolutism of central Europe into one lump of sound, wholesome, rational institutions, congenial to the character of man, and favourable to the full development of his being a development which can only take place when he has the right to think, the right to speak, the right to associate, without being cribbed, cabined, and confined by the interference of absolute power.

Berne.-I arrived at Berne during the sitting of the International Social Science Congress, which held its fourth session in this the chief town of Switzerland. The Federal buildings and one of the churches were placed at the service of the members of the Congress. I find on my notes the following account of the opening of the sittings :

This important body commenced its fourth session at Berne, on Monday, by a meeting of the Council of the Administration at the Federal Palais, which is a magnificent building, containing several different chambers, which have been lent for the purpose of the meeting. The first section, on Comparative Legislation, meets in the hall of the Council of State; the second section, on Education, in the grand hall of the Casino; the third, Art and Literature, in the hall of the Commission of the National Council; the fourth, on Health, in the Standerhaus; and the fifth, Political Economy, in the hall of the National Council.

At two o'clock the general opening meeting was held in the Temple St. Esprit. The attendance comprised some of the most learned men of the Continent, but was not so large as might have been expected. The number present was not more than 400.

The proceedings were opened by a brief and em

« PrécédentContinuer »