gloom. In a retired apartment of one of his
castles he sat silent and woful, apparently incapacitated for any
exertion whatever, either bodily or mental. The affairs of his realm
were neglected, and his bailiffs and feudal chiefs, left with
irresponsible power, were guilty of such acts of extortion and tyranny,
that, in the province of Suabia the barons combined, and a fierce
insurrection broke out. Forty important towns united in the confederacy,
and secured the co-operation of Strasburg, Mentz and other large cities
on the Rhine. Other of the Swiss provinces were on the eve of joining
this alarming confederacy against Leopold, their Austrian ruler. As
Vienna for some generations had been the seat of the Hapsburg family,
from whence governors were sent to these provinces of Helvetia, as
Switzerland was then called, the Swiss began to regard their rulers as
foreigners, and even Leopold found it necessary to strengthen himself
with Austrian troops.

This formidable league roused Leopold from his torpor, and he awoke like
the waking of the lion. He was immediately on the march with four
thousand horsemen, and fourteen hundred foot, while all through the
defiles of the Alps bugle blasts echoed, summoning detachments from
various cantons under their bold barons, to hasten to the aid of the
insurgents. On the evening of the 9th of July, 1396, the glittering host
of Leopold appeared on an eminence overlooking the city of Sempach and
the beautiful lake on whose border it stands. The horses were fatigued
by their long and hurried march, and the crags and ravines, covered with
forest, were impracticable for the evolutions of cavalry. The impetuous
Leopold, impatient of delay, resolved upon an immediate attack,
notwithstanding the exhaustion of his troops, and though a few hours of
delay would bring strong reinforcements to his camp. He dismounted his
horsemen, and formed his whole force in solid phalanx. It was an
imposing spectacle, as six thousand men, covered from head to foot with
blazing armor, presenting a front of shields like a wall of burnished
steel, bristling with innumerable pikes and spears, moved with slow,
majestic tread down upon the city.

The confederate Swiss, conscious that the hour of vengeance had come, in
which they must conquer or be miserably slain, marched forth to meet the
foe, emboldened only by despair. But few of the confederates were in
armor. They were furnished with such weapons as men grasp wh