take a fixed aim. It was useless for the wretched parent to beg some other trial, however onerous or painful. The monster would have his revenge amply glutted, and the mode he had resolved upon promised a piquancy which no other punishment could supply.

At the appointed hour, the fair and weeping child was placed at a measured distance from the father-the apple was put upon its head, and Tell ordered to level his weapon at the mark. What were his feelings at that moment it would be vain to describe. The arrow flew and pierced the apple, leaving unscathed the tender infant. As the conditions of the trial had been, that Tell should have only one shot for his life, Gessler, seeing another arrow in his quiver, asked him to what use he had destined it. For your heart,' answered the ironnerved hero, if my first aim had swerved!' The wretch, already infuriated that his victim had escaped him, again commanded his guards to seize the courageous peasant, and immure him in a dungeon.

A scene at once so affecting and so revolting must needs have roused the indignation of the Swiss to some visible commotion. The tyrant feared his prisoner would be wrested from him by a popular and general movement if he kept him within the bounds of Uri. Contrary to the fundamental laws, which prohibited a citizen from being imprisoned out of his own canton, he therefore hurried Tell on board a boat, and pushing off into the lake, he ordered the boatmen to steer for Kussnacht, in Schwytz. Eager to gratify the vengeance which had been hitherto balked, Gessler himself accompanied the prisoner, who was loaded with chains. As they approached the famous plain of Rutli, one of those violent gusts of wind which are common in those wild regions, burst from a gorge in the lofty St Gothard, and, rousing the lake into awful turbulence, threatened the party with destruction. In this crisis the self-possession of the tyrant failed him. The horrors of a sudden and fearful death overcame his hatred of Tell, and with an abjectness of spirit congenial to cruelty, he solicited his injured prisoner to exert his

well-known skill as a mariner in extricating him from danger. The irons of the captive were loosened, and his vigorous arm applied to the oar. The boat neared a rock jutting out from the shore. Tell, darting from his seat, sprang with a powerful effort upon its level surface, and by the same motion with which he reached the rock, he forced back into the foaming waves Gessler and his crew. Then hurrying with all speed to the intended point of debarkation, and having provided himself with his unerring weapon, he quietly waited to see whether the waves or his arrow should rid the world of his oppressor. Gessler escaped the fury of the storm; but as he was proceeding from his landing-place, a shaft from Tell's bow pierced his heart, and he fell dead. This was the first victim to the independence of the Waldstat; and whatever merit may be assigned to the original patriots of Rutli, it is undoubted that the actions of Tell first roused the slumbering spirit of his countrymen, and encouraged them to the noble enterprises which have covered their name with glory.

The death of Gessler was the signal for energetic measures. On the first day of the year 1308, the fortress of the other governor, Landenberg, was taken by an ingenious stratagem. He himself fled, but was overtaken. He purchased his life by resigning all the castles held by the Austrians, and withdrawing the troops. Thus the three cantons were simultaneously freed from their oppressors, without any blood being shed, save that of the infamous Gessler. A formal league and treaty was entered into by them, to defend each other against all aggression; and, thus united in concord and determination, they awaited the storm that was lowering upon

them.

The Emperor Albert was not a man to receive with resignation the news of the revolt and emancipation of three cantons, which he had vowed to grind to the dust. His indignation rose to a furious pitch, and if the season of the year had permitted, he would have instantly proceeded to execute his projects of vengeance. But whilst

the mind of this imperious mortal was intent only on spoliation and aggrandisement-for his covetous eye was fixed on the tempting kingdom of Bohemia-and brooding over his scheme of merciless revenge, a miserable death was preparing for him. Amongst the acts of injustice which he had perpetrated, a refusal to restore his rightful possessions to his nephew John of Austria, was one of the most indefensible. The young prince became irritated at his uncle's perfidy, and there were not wanting persons to insinuate in his ear, that it was lawful to remove the obstacle to the possession of his rights. Four noblemen especially, who had all grounds of complaint against the emperor, fortified his resolution, and a plan for the assassination of the common enemy was resolved проп. An opportunity presented itself on the 1st of May 1308, as Albert was proceeding from Stein to Baden. The conspirators contrived to isolate him from his retinue as he was winding round the foot of the hill on the acclivity of which stood the castle of Hapsburg, the original seat of his family before its great and sudden elevation. His nephew struck the first blow, and as he pierced his breast with a lance, he cried out: 'Receive the reward of thy injustice.' The others pressed around, and passed their swords through his body. They then left him weltering in his gore. An old woman saw him, and came to his assistance. The emperor was yet struggling with death, but on attempting to raise him in her arms, he expired. This murder of the oppressor did not emancipate Switzerland. Civil discord ensued in Austria; a new ruler, fully as despotic as Albert, sprang up; and in 1315, seven years after the revolt, Leopold, the brother of the lately declared duke, was despatched with an army into the rebellious cantons, for the purpose of wreaking the vengeance of his family on the unfortunate mountaineers. With the blind confidence that the Swiss would never venture to oppose him, Leopold led his army into a defile commanded by surrounding heights. His forces amounted to 10,000 men. The Swiss were posted at the end of the defile, to the

number of 1300. Fifty citizens of the canton of Schwytz, who had been banished their country, resolved to win back their restoration by effective service. Pouring down from the hills loose rocks and stones upon the Austrian army, they caused a confusion in the ranks, which, on such narrow ground, was irremediable. The main body of the Swiss charged at the critical moment, and their enemies fell before them powerless and unresistingly. A precipitate flight saved Duke Leopold and his rear body; the rest either fell or were captured. The scene of this glorious exploit was Morgarten, and the date of its achievement the 15th of November 1315. It secured the independence of the Waldstat, and eventually of all Helvetia. The other divisions of the army which were advancing upon Unterwalden, retreated upon learning the fate of the battle of Morgarten. Thus the three cantons once more drew the breath of liberty, and they testified their gratitude to a gracious Providence, by a solemn thanksgiving, and ordaining an annual festival in honour of the day. So unbroken have the customs of these simple but heroic communities continued, that after a lapse of more than five centuries, the anniversary of Morgarten continues to be celebrated in the same form and in the same costume in which the original heroes of the day went through its ceremonies.

Thus did the happy valour and indomitable energy of William Tell lead on his countrymen to a successful vindication of their rights. He is, therefore, justly considered as the champion of Swiss independence, for the bravery which emancipated the three cantons, gradually attracted the other states to partake the benefit of the union, and thus the great Helvetic confederacy was ultimately consolidated. In the country which was the immediate scene of his exploits, his name is venerated as that of its great benefactor. Two chapels yet survive to commemorate the place of his residence, and the spot to which he sprang from the boat in which Gessler was conveying him to Kussnacht. The peasants yet celebrate his praises in national ballads, or relate with exultation

the stories concerning him, which tradition has handed down through the lapse of ages.

Nothing more is certainly known of William Tell than has been here related. That he took an active part in the conflicts by which the freedom of the cantons was secured, may be safely concluded from the intrepidity of his character and his proficiency in arms. After the cessa

tion of hostilities, he retired to the spot on which he had first drawn breath, Burglen, and there he lived happy and retired in the exercise of husbandry for forty-seven years. He left two sons, William and Walter, who cultivated their father's farm, and propagated his name. But in 1684, his last male descendant died, and in 1720, the female branch becoming also extinct, there is now no one left to claim so illustrious an ancestor.

COLTER'S ADVENTURE.

IN Bradbury's Travels in the Interior of America, a work now seldom seen, there occurs the following singular adventure of a man named John Colter, who had been traversing the Indian hunting-grounds in the great western prairies :

Colter came to St Louis in May 1810, in a small canoe, from the head-waters of the Missouri, a distance of 3000 miles, which he traversed in thirty days. I saw him on his arrival, and received from him an account of his adventures, after he had separated from Lewis and Clark's party. I shall relate one anecdote for its singu larity. On the arrival of the party at the head-waters of the Missouri, Colter, observing an appearance of abundance of beaver being there, got permission to remain and hunt for some time, which he did in company with a man of the name of Dixon, who had traversed the immense tract of country from St Louis to the head-waters of the Missouri alone. Soon after, he separated from Dixon, and