mountains, amidst all the convulsions of Europe; for two hundred years they had hardly drawn the sword, or, never drawn it but to conquer: "They were a chosen

land, beloved of God; and while the "wrathful hail smote the lands about "them, in their fields was no hail seen."

Into these hallowed retreats, in the midst of a solemn truce, in spite of the strict neutrality observed by the Swiss, and the solemn, and repeated promises of their own government, burst the common enemies of mankind, hot from the carnage, and reeking with the blood of other nations: They came to no new work of horror; they had murdered other innocents, and pillaged other temples, and wasted other lands: They could dye the silvered hair of the aged man with his own blood; they could curse the tears of women, and dash down the suckling babe, as he lifted up his meek eyes for mercy.

In the midst of such horrid scenes as these, many actions of heroic valour cha

racterized the last days of Switzerland; and she died with her face ever turned to the enemy, slowly yielding, and fiercely struggling to the last. In the final battle, fought near the environs of the capital, (fought, as said the French, on their part, for the liberation of the Swiss people), one hundred and sixty women were left dead upon the field of battle, mangled almost to atoms; still greater numbers perished at Nurenburg, at Laupen, and Lengnau, fighting with madness for all they loved upon earth, and throwing their comely bleeding bodies before their husbands, and their children. At Oberland, an old peasant was observed in arms, fighting amidst his three children, and his seven grandchildren; they sustained the combat with inconceivable bravery, calling upon each other by name tenderly; the children thronging about, the old man, and guarding with their manly limbs the hoary head of their parent. They were all murdered; and in a moment of time, this valiant race was blotted from the book of living men.

In the midst of all, wherever bravery,

and wherever counsel, were needed, was their truly great, and intrepid leader;* not now, as you might think, in the fulness of strength, and youth, but an old man, of seventy years of age, who, for half a century, had ruled the affairs of the republic with the utmost wisdom, and justice, and found himself, at the close of life, when ease, and retirement, crowned with honour, are so sweet, found himself combating in the midst of armed peasants, for the existence of his country. He had ever warned the Swiss of the dangers to which they were exposed, but unfortunately in vain. At the moment of actual peril, his age, and his infirmities, would have allowed him to retire without disgrace; but there are men who are ruled by something within, which they dread more than the judgment of the world. He who had guided his country in the days of her tranquillity, could not forsake her in her troubles: The miseries of Switzerland made her doubly dear to this good man; and, like a true leader of the people, he led them in the day of death and

Steigner.

battle. The people are never ignorant who is fit to lead them; they rushed after him like the angel of the living God; and every Swiss peasant, who was stabbed at his feet, cast his lingering eyes on this great man, and when he saw him yet breahing, died in peace.

I ought perhaps to apologize to you for thus occupying your time from the pulpit with the praises of individuals; but I could not let such an occasion pass, without saying a few words on so memorable a man. I paint to you the genius of the people, in showing you the extraordinary characters to which such an epoch gave birth. You see what a nation has been destroyed; you see the full extent of crime, for which the French have become amenable to the whole human race. Besides, too, if at any future time it shall please Almighty God, to expose this country to similar perils; if these robbers of the earth, are still suffered to mock at all living men, to shiver to pieces crowns and sceptres, and hurl down princes, and potentates, and thrones, and dominations; and if there be in this church any young man, des

tined, by his great talents, to lead the people at such an awful crisis; let him learn, from the life of this illustrious leader, to despise every system of temporizing policy, to see that there are times when magnanimity is prudence, when despair is wisdom; like him, ever looking up to God, and guided by the light of beautiful, and manly principles, let him move forwards in one even tenor, through all times, and seasons, and circumstances, and events.

The vengeance which the French took of the Swiss, for their determined opposition to the invasion of their country, was decisive, and terrible. The history of Europe can afford no parallel of such cruelty. To dark ages, and the most barbarous nations of the east, we must turn for similar scenes of horror, and perhaps must turn in vain. The soldiers, dispersed over the country, carried fire, and sword, and robbery, into the most tranquil, and hidden valleys of Switzerland: From the depth of sweet retreats echoed the shrieks of murdered men, stabbed in their humble dwellings, under the shadow of the high mountains, in the midst of those scenes