In Switzerland from 1516 to 1525 - James Aitken Wylie

Unhappily, the five Forest Cantons did not
share in this renovation. The territory of these
cantons contains, as every traveler knows, the
grandest scenery in all Switzerland. It possesses the
higher distinction of having been the cradle of
Swiss independence. But those who had contended
on many a bloody field to break the yoke of
Austria, were content, in the sixteenth century, to
remain under the yoke of Rome. They even
threatened to bring back the Austrian arms, unless
the Refrained cantons would promise to retrace
their steps, and return to the faith they had cast off.
It is not easy to explain why the heroes of the
fourteenth century should have been so lacking in
courage in the sixteenth. Their physical courage
had been nursed in the presence of physical danger.
They had to contend with the winter storms, with
the avalanches and the mountain torrents; this
made them strong in limb and bold in spirit. But
the same causes which strengthen physical bravery
sometimes weaken moral courage. They were
insensible to the yoke that pressed upon the soul. If
their personal liberty or their material interests
were assailed, they were ready to defend them with
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