of the clouds to its first great
reservoir, the Lake of Constance, it passes through one of the wildest
and most picturesque regions in the world. It is not strange that the
Romans should have called their old Swiss road _Via Mala_.

"Lake Constance! How our heads bent and our feelings kindled and
glowed when we beheld it! It is the most beautiful lake that Germany
possesses. It is walled by snow-capped mountains, whose tops seem like
islands in the blue lakes of the skies. Quaint towns are nestled among
the groves of the shore; towers, with bells ringing soft and melodious
in the still air. The water is like emerald. Afar, zigzagging sails
flap mechanically in the almost pulseless air.

"There is color everywhere, of all hues: high, rich tones of color;
low tones. Piles of gems on the mountains, gloomy shadows in the
groves; a deep cerulean sky above, that the sunlight fills like a
golden sea. At sunset the lake seems indeed like the vision that John
saw,--'a sea of glass, mingled with fire.'

[Illustration: BRIDGE IN THE VIA MALA.]

"The town of Constance, once a great city, is as old as the period of
Constantine. When Charlemagne went to Rome to receive the imperial
crown, he rested here. Here a long line of German kings left the
associations of great festivities; here those kings passed their
Christmases and Easters. Here convened brilliant regal assemblies.
Here the ambassadors from Milan appeared before Barbarossa, and
delivered to him the golden key of the Italian states.

"But these events are of comparatively small importance in comparison
with the so-called Holy Council of Constance, in 1414. It was a time
of spiritual dearth in the world. Arrogance governed the Church, and
immorality flourished in it. There were three popes, each at war with
the others,--John XXIII., Benedict XII., and Gregory XII.

"The Council was called to choose a pope, and to reform the Church.
The town for four years became the centre of European history. Hither
came kings and princes; the court of the world was here.

"The town filled, and filled. It was like a great fair. Delegates came
from the North and the South, the East and the West. There were
splendid fetes; luxury and vainglory. At one time there were present a
hundred thousand men.

"The Council accomplished nothing by way of reform, except to induce
the three rival popes to relinquish their claims to a fourth; but it
stained its outward glory with a crime that