The Black Prince died in 1376. He was sincerely mourned by the
English people. They felt that they had lost a prince who would
have made a great and good king.
William Tell and Arnold von Winkelried
I
Far up among the Alps, in the very heart of Switzerland, are three
districts, or cantons, as they are called, which are known as the
Forest Cantons and are famous in the world's history. About two
thousand years ago the Romans found in these cantons a hardy race
of mountaineers, who, although poor, were free men and proud of
their independence. They became the friends and allies of Rome,
and the cantons were for many years a part of the Roman Empire, but
the people always had the right to elect their own officers and to
govern themselves.
When Goths and the Vandals and the Huns from beyond the Rhine and
the Danube overran the Roman Empire, these three cantons were not
disturbed. The land was too poor and rocky to attract men who were
fighting for possession of the rich plains and valleys of Europe,
and so it happened that for century after century, the mountaineers
of these cantons lived on in their old, simple way, undisturbed by
the rest of the world.
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