, one of the heroes of Swiss liberty, in the beginning of the fourteenth
, one of the heroes of Swiss liberty, in
the beginning of the fourteenth century, a man of property, and of good, though not distinguished family, was
an inhabitant of the village of Burgeln in the country of
Uri. In 1307 he was one of the persons engaged in the
conspiracy against the Austrian government. The bailiff,
or governor, Herman Gesler, either from a suspicious disposition, or having received some intimation of an impending insurrection, resolved to ascertain who would most patiently submit to his dominion. For this purpose he is said
to have raised a hat upon a pole,* as an emblem of liberty,
and commanded Tell, among others, to pay obeisance to
it. “The youth Tell,
” says Muller, “a friend to freedom,
disdained to honour in a servile manner, and on an arbitrary
command, even its emblem.
” Then it was that, according
to the current story, Tell was commanded by Gesler to
shoot an arrow at an apple placed on the head of his own
son; and, though reluctant, compelled to do it, bv the
menace of immediate death, both to him and the infant if
be should refuse. Tell cleft the apple without hurting the
child but could not refrain from informing the tyrant that,
had his aim proved less fortunate, he had another arrow in
reserve, which he should have directed to the heart of his
oppressor. By this manifestation of his courage and sentiments, he induced the bailiff to confine him; who, afterwards, mistrusting the friends and relations of Tell, resolved to carry him out of the country of Uri, across the
lake of Lucern; though contrary to the acknowledged privileges of his countrymen. On the lake, as they were
crossing, a violent storm arose; and Gesler, who knew
Tell to be very skilful in the management of a boat, ordered his fetters to be taken off, and the helm committed
to him. Taking advantage of this circumstance, Tell
steered the boat close to a rock, leaped upon a flat part of
it, scrambled up the precipice, and escaped. Gesler also
escaped the danger of the water, but, landing near Kusnacht, fell by an arrow from the bow of Tell, whose skill
he thus proved a second time, to his cost. Gesler thus
perished by the indignation of a private man, without any
participation of the people, and before the day appointed
for their insurrection. Tell retired to Stauffacher, in the
canton of Schwitz, and on the new year’s day ensuing, all
the Austrian governors were seized and sent out of the
country. In 1354, forty-seven years after this event, Tell
is supposed to have lost his life in an inundation at Burgeln.