ral of the principal leaders slain. Anthony du Port, a Muanese, who had settled in the valley of Uri, cried out, Strike the poles of the spears, they are hollow" this was effected; but the broken spears were immediately replaced by fresh ones, and Du Port himself perished in the conflict. The knights, partly owing to their unskilfulness, and more to the unwieldiness of their armour, found it impracticable to form the intended crescent; but they stood firm and unshaken. The Confederates, who had now lost sixty men, became apprehensive of a movement of the van-guard from the rear, and did not think themselves altogether secure against a surprise from Bonstetten.

• This anxious suspense was at length decided by one heroic deed. Amold Struthan de Winkelried, a knight of Underwalden, burst suddenly from the ranks. I will open a passage,” he cried, “ into the enemy's line. Provide for my wife and children, dear countrymen and confederates; honour my race!" He threw himself instantly on the enemy's pikes, grapsed as many of them as he could reach, buried them in his bosom, and being tall and large of limb, bore them to the ground as he fell. His companions rushed over his body; the whole army of confederates followed, and their close files penetrated with irresistible force. The enemy, struck with amazement, fell one over another in endeavouring to avoid their shock; and the pressure, heat, and confusion thus produced proved fatal to many knights, who died without a wound, stifled by the weight of their armour. Others of the Swiss meanwhile had mustered in the woods, and now hastened to reinforce the conquerors.

"One of the first who fell in the Austrian army was Frederic, the bastard of Brandis, a bold and strong man, who alone inspired as much fear as

At

twenty others, and near him was killed Frietzhend, called the Long, who boasted that he alone would resist the Confederates. The servants of the nobles, who had been left with the baggage, seeing the fortune of the day, saved themselves upon their masters' horses. The banner of Austria dropped from the hands of Henri d'Escheloh. Ulrich d'Ortenburg fell upon the flag of the Tyrol. Ulrich d'Aarburg rushed to preserve the former. He held it aloft, and endeavoured to restore the day, but without success. He fell mortally wounded; and collected his remaining strength to exclaim, "Save it, Austria, save it!" The Duke broke through the press, and received the banner from his dying hand. It soon re-appeared above the combatants, steeped in blood, and borne by Leopold himself. A crowd of gentlemen collected for his defence, and fell around him. length he exclaimed, "Since so many lords are dead by my side, I also, like them, will die with honour.” He sprang forth from among his friends, rushed into the thickest of the enemy, and there met his doom: he fell, and while weighed down by his ponderous armour and struggling in vain to raise himself, he was approached by a common man from Schwitz, who levelled a blow at him. Leopold called out, am the Duke of Austria ;" but the man either heard him not, believed him not, or thought that in a day of battle the highest rank conferred no privilege the Duke received a mortal wound. Martin Malterer, the banneret of Friburg in Brisgau, saw the disaster: he stood appalled: the banner dropped from his hand: he threw himself upon the corpse of his slaughtered sovereign to preserve it from insult, and there met his own fate.

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'The Austrian infantry now, looking round in vain for their Duke, betook themselves to flight. The

nobles called loudly for their horses; but the dust they saw rising at a distance marked the road by which their faithless servants had long since led them away. Oppressed by their heavy armour, by heat, thirst, and fatigue, they still resolved to avenge their sovereign; and if they could not preserve their lives, at least not to fall easy victims to the resistless fury of their triumphant foes.

"Among the leaders of the Confederates fell Conrad, landamman of Uri; Sigrist, landamman of Underwalden above the forest; and Peterman de Gundoldingen, the avoyer of Lucern. While the latter was bleeding to death one of his townsmen approached him to learn his dying requests: he, unmindful of all private concerns, answered, "Tell our fellow-citizens never to continue an avoyer longer than one year in office; tell them that this is the last advice of Gundoldingen, who dies contented, wishing them repeated victories, and a long series of prosperous years;" thus saying, he breathed his last. The banner of Hohenzollern was taken by a shepherd of Gersan. The services of the burghers of Bremgarten, who withdrew from the field covered with the blood of slaughtered foes, were so greatly prized by the Austrian princes, that they immortalized their valour by a change in the colours of their town livery. Nicholas Gutt, avoyer of Zoffingen, fell, together with twelve of his townsmen. Regardless of every concern but that of preventing his banner from falling into the hands of the enemy, he tore it into small pieces, and was found among the dead with the staff fast locked between his teeth. His successors in office have ever after been made to swear that they would maintain the banner even as Nicholas Gutt had maintained it." Six hundred and fifty-six counts, lords, and knights, whose presence

was wont to grace the court of Austria, were found among the slain; and it became proverbial among the Confederates, "that God had on this day sat in judgment on the wanton arrogance of the nobles."'*

*Planta. History of the Helvetic Confederacy. We have taken the liberty of making a few alterations in the text, to bring it nearer to the great work of Muller, of which this passage is a direct, but rather a free translation.

CHAPTER VIII.

Thermopyla- Battle of St Jaques near Basle-Siege of Malta in 1565 Destruction of the Sacred Band' in the Greek Revolution - Roncesvalles.

THE plain of Thessaly is so entirely surrounded by mountains, that only one practicable, or at least only one frequented road leads southward from it into Greece; and even this is commanded by a difficult and dangerous pass, the celebrated Thermopylæ, where the first stand was made by Greece against Xerxes, and the noblest instance of Spartan heroism displayed. The ridge of Eta, which runs in an unbroken line from west to east, falls precipitously into the sea, leaving but a narrow slip of level ground, which had, in old times, been fortified by the Phocians who lay immediately south of Thessaly, and were separated from it only by Mount Eta, to check the depredations of their Thessalian neighbours. this spot some hot springs burst from the mountain, whence the name Thermopylæ, which signifies the Warm-Gates, and here the pass was about fifty feet wide; but to the northward it grew still narrower, and in one part required the assistance of masonry to make the road passable even for a single carriage. A more favourable spot for stopping an invading army could not have been selected, and it seems not

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* Those who have travelled from Conway to Bangor since the new road was cut, will recollect a spot closely resembling Thermopyla. The grandeur of the pass, however, is much injured by the change, and we strongly recommend all who are not particular about their horses' knees or their own necks to take the old road.