S'witzerland, the Helvetia of the Latins, is one of the smallest of the European states, Iving between 45*3 49' and 47^ 50' N. lat., and 5° 55' aiid 10'^ 30' E. long., its extreme length from E. to W. being 210 miles, and its extreme breadth not far from 140 miles. It has an area of nearly 16,000 English miles, and is bounded north by Germany, from which it is separated by the Khine and Lake Constance ; on the east by Austria, the valley of tlie Rhine and the Rhtetian Alps being the dividing line between the two countries ; on the south by Italy and France, and on the west bj- France. It is the most mountainous country in Europe, being covered through- out its entire extent by the Alps, which are grouped into several branches. The highest and best-known peaks of the Alps in Switzerland are Matterhorn, or Mont Cervin, Finster-Aarhorn, and Jungfrau. Mont Blanc was once included in the mountains of Switzer- land, but at the close of the Franco-Italian war it was transferred to France. The principal lakes of Switzer- land are Lake of Neufchatel, Lake of Geneva, Lake Thun, Lake Lucerne, Lake Zurich, and Lake of Con- stance. Its great rivers are the Rhine and the Rhone, with their manj' tributary streams. The glaciers are the great feeders of these streams and rivers, and are in themselves objects of great interest to the lover of nature. The climate of Switzerland is generally cold, as might be expected, the region of perpetual snow be- ing more extensive than in any other mountain system in Europe. In the lowlands and valleys the tempera- ture is warmer, and many of the productions which grow so luxuriantly in Italy are raised there. Agricult- ure furnishes the chief employment to tVie inhabitants of this country. There are some kinds of manufactures carried on which are productive, such as cotton, em- broidery, and silk stuffs of various kinds. The Swiss also pay great attention to the manufacture of watches, the annual production, in fine, of the cantons being not far from seventeen and a half millions of dollars.
I. History. — Our earliest knowledge of Switzerland carries us back to the time when the inhabitants were
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alluded to in Roman history as the llelvetii. In those early days, not far from a century before the commence- ment of the Cliristian ;era, they succes-sfully resisted the attacks of the Uomans. The Cummeiilnrli's of C;esar give us interesting^ accounts of the attem|)ts of the le- gions under his command to subdue tliese hardy dwell- ers of the mountains and valleys of Helvetia. After many years, by degrees, the Homan arms brought these proud-siiirited foes into subjection, and for several cen- turies the coiuiuerors held dominion over the country. Invasions from tlie northern tribes of Kiimpe laid waste many sections of tlie land. Tliese barbarians of the North were at last all brought under the power of the Franks, and Christianity became the prevailing faith. Without tracing tlie political history of Switzerland through the various phases throngli which it passed during several centuries, it may sullice to sa\' that it be- came a federal republic in 1>!W, and tlic people are now living under a revised constitution, which was accepted bj' them in the spring of 1.S74. This constitution guar- antees to the inliabitants of the twenty-five cantons into which Switzerland is divided those rights and im- munities which are found in all properly constituted republics. All citizens are equal in the eye of the law. Privileges of place or birth have ceased. Absolute lib- erty of conscience everywhere prevails. The press is free. The right of association is guaranteed, with the exception that the Jesuits an<l organizations kindred to them are forbidden. The capital of the confederated states is Berne.
II. Religion. — Christianity was first introduced into Switzerland about A.I). GIO by St. Gall, a native of Ire- lan<l and pupil of Columban. He was one of twelve Irish monks wIkj laliored to disseminate Christianity throughout Europe. They first took up their residence at the head of Lake Zuricli, and, burning with zeal, set fire to the pagan temples, casting the idols into the lake. Driven away by the inhabitants, they settled at Bre- gentz, but at the end of two years were banished from this place also, and all left for Italy except St. (iall, who was too ill to be removed. He repaireil to a se(iuestered spot, and with a few adherents built the Monastery of St. (iall in the canton of the same name. After his death, several of his scholars and monks from Ireland continued his work, mitil paganism lost its hold and Ro- manism was substituted in its place.
With reference to the Reformation, P'Anbigne says: "From 1519 to 152(j Zurich was the centre of the Ref- ormation, which was then entirely (Jertnan, and was propagated in the eastern and northern parts of the confederation. Between 1526 and 1532 the movement was communicated from Berne; it was at once German and French, and extended to the centre of Switzerland, from the gorges of the Jura to the deepest valleys of the Alps. In 1532 (ieneva became tlic focus of the light; and the Reformation, which was liere essentially French, was established on tlie shores of the Lemuii Lake, and gained strength in every (piarter." Tlie main instru- ment in commencing and carrying forward the work of Reformation in Switzerland was L'lric Zwingli (q. v.). In 1513 he commenced the study of the tireek lan- guage; and from 151(5, when he began to expound the WonI r)f (ioil as preacher in the Abbey of Finsiedeln, Zwingli dates the Swiss Reformation. The influence of the ]iurc faith was soon extensively felt, so that, by the year 1522, we find Erasmus estimating " those" in the cantons " who abhorred the see of Rome" at about 200,000 persons. (Jradually changes in the mode of worship were introduced. In 1523 we find the Council of Zurich requiring that "the pastors of Zurich should rest tlieir discourses on the words of Scripture alone;" the abolition of images in clinrches soon followed; mar- riage was no longer prohibited to the clergy; and in 1525 the mass was sufierscded by the simple ordinance of the Lord's supper. In Apjienzell the Reformation be- gan about 1521, in SchafTbausen about the same time. The sacramentarian controversy between Luther and