Not the pangs of " Hope deferr'd"
My tormented bosom tear :--

On the tomb of Hope interr'd

Scowls the spectre of Despair.

Where the Alpine summits rise, Height o'er height stupendous hurl'd;

Like the pillars of the skies,

Like the ramparts of the world:

Born in Freedom's eagle nest,

Rock'd by whirlwinds in their rage, Nursed at Freedom's stormy breast, Lived my Sires from age to age.

High o'er UNDERWALDEN'S vale,

Where the forest fronts the morn; Whence the boundless eye might sail O'er a sea of mountains borne ;

There my little native cot

Peep'd upon my father's farm :

O it was a happy spot,

Rich in every rural charm!

There my

life, a silent stream,

Glid along, yet seem'd at rest;

Lovely as an infant's dream

On the waking mother's breast.

Till the storm that wreck'd the world,

In its horrible career,

Into hopeless ruin hurl'd

All this aching heart held dear.

On the princely towers of BERNE

Fell the Gallic thunder-stroke;
To the lake of poor LUCERNE,

All submitted to the yoke.

REDING then his standard raised,

Drew his sword on BRUNNEN's plain ;*

But in vain his banner blazed,

REDING drew his sword in vain.

Where our conquering fathers died;
Where their awful bones repose;

Thrice the battle's fate he tried,

Thrice o'erthrew his country's foes.t

* BRUNNEN, at the foot of the mountains, on the borders of the Lake of URI, where the first Swiss Patriots, WALTER FURST of URI, WERNER STAUFFACHER OF SCHWITZ, and ARNOLD of MELCHTAL in UNDERWALDEN, conspired against the tyranny of Austria in 1307, again in 1798 became the seat of the Diet of these three forest cantons.

+ On the plains of MORGARTHEN, where the Swiss gained their first decisive victory over the force of Austria, and thereby secured the independence of their country; ALOYS REDING, at the head of the troops of the little Cantons, URI, SCHWITZ, and UNDERWALDEN, repeatedly repulsed the invading army of FRANCE.

Happy then were those who fell
Fighting on their fathers' graves!

Wretched those who lived to tell

Treason made the victors slaves.*

Thus my country's life retired,
Slowly driven from part to part;
UNDERWALDEN last expired,
UNDERWALDEN was the heart.t

By the resistance of these small cantons, the French General SCHAWENBOURG was compelled to respect their independence, and gave them a solemn pledge to that purport; but no sooner had they disarmed, on the faith of this engagement, than the enemy came suddenly upon them with an immense force; and with threats of extermination compelled them to take the civic oath to the new constitution, imposed upon all Switzerland.

+ The inhabitants of the Lower Valley of UNDERWALDEN alone resisted the French message, which required submission to the new constitution, and the immediate surrender, alive or dead, of nine of their leaders. When the

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In the valley of their birth,

Where our guardian mountains stand;

In the

eye

of heaven and earth,

Met the warriors of our land.

Like their Sires in olden time,

Arm'd they met in stern debate;
While in every breast sublime

Glow'd the SPIRIT OF THE STATE.

GALLIA'S menace fired their blood;
With one heart and voice they rose;
Hand in hand the heroes stood,
And defied their faithless foes.

demand, accompanied by a menace of destruction, was read in the Assembly of the District, all the men of the Valley, fifteen hundred in number, took up arms, and devoted themselves to perish in the ruins of their country.

B