ter Ulric spake very plainly, that they who were
there might understand, declaring that the cold apology of the Five
Cantons and their appeals to the law, which before this had been little
regarded by them, reminded him of condemned criminals, who when led to
punishment cried out for justice, in order to prolong their lives. Then
he spoke of the sin, the danger and the injury springing from the
pensions, undeservedly taken from kings and princes, countries and
people, and addressed the aforementioned _schultheiss_, Hug, by name:
It is well known what he is and has been for years, and whence he has
been enriched by so many thousand crowns; they are earnestly exhorted
to put it away, else peace, quiet and unity would never be seen in the
Confederacy."

With milder words Escher sought to allay the rising discontent of
the deputies of the Five Cantons, who, after a notice that the
leaders of the Zurichers should remember to appear also before their
commons-at-war, withdrew and were honorably conducted out of the camp.

Rain in torrents, as it fell abundantly during this summer, poured down
on the following day, the fifteenth of June. The overflowing of the
Loretz prevented any meeting. On the sixteenth, with clearing skies and
glad sunshine, fifteen of the most prominent Zurichers, to whom several
people from the country were added, rode over into the camp of the Five
Cantons.

Here also, as with the Zurichers, the reception took place amid warlike
display and the thunder of cannon. The leaders affirmed that more than
12,000 men were under arms. They stood well drawn up; defiance in every
face. The Unterwaldners were particularly well armed, partly with bows
and partly in heavy coats of mail. Hans Escher opened the discussion,
glad of the opportunity to represent in its true light the
misapprehended cause of Zurich before so large an assembly of
Confederates. First, he read aloud a detailed list of grievances,
published by the government itself. "All this," he then continued, "we
would have borne for the sake of the common peace, but when your rulers
concluded an alliance with yon power, which your own forefathers have
always considered their most dangerous enemy, and which is now, perhaps
more than ever, ours, how could we keep quiet any longer? Still, we
were not the first to march out. The Unterwaldners took up arms before,
to place their _vogt_ in Baden. Our troops, when they came to Muri,
found a meal prepared for t