tre of the crowd_.]

BERTHA.

Peasants! Confederates! Into your league
Receive me, who was happily the first
That found deliverance in the land of freedom.
To your brave hands I now intrust my rights.
Will you protect me as your citizen?

PEASANTS.

Ay, that we will, with life and goods!

BERTHA. 'Tis well!

And now to him (_turning to_ RUDENZ) I frankly give my hand.
A free Swiss maiden to a free Swiss man!

RUDENZ.

And from this moment all my serfs are free!

[_Music, and the curtain falls_.]

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 36: Permission The Macmillan Co., New York, and
G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., London.]

[Footnote 37: The German is, _Thalvogt_, Ruler of the Valley--the name
given figuratively to a dense gray mist which the south wind sweeps
into the valleys from the mountain tops. It is well known as the
precursor of stormy weather.]

[Footnote 38: A steep rock, standing on the north of Ruetli, and nearly
opposite to Brumen.]

[Footnote 39: In German, _Wolfenschiessen_--a young man of noble
family, and a native of Unterwalden, who attached himself to the House
of Austria, and was appointed _Burvogt_, or Seneschal, of the Castle
of Rossberg. He was killed by Baumgarten in the manner, and for the
cause, mentioned in the text.]

[Footnote 40: Literally, The _Foehn_ is loose! "When," says Mueller, in
his History of Switzerland, "the wind called the Foehn is high, the
navigation of the lake becomes extremely dangerous. Such is its
vehemence that the laws of the country require that the fires shall be
extinguished in the houses while it lasts, and the night watches are
doubled. The inhabitants lay heavy stones upon the roofs of their
houses, to prevent their being blown away."]

[Footnote 41: Buerglen, the birthplace and residence of Tell. A chapel,
erected in 1522, remains on the spot formerly occupied by his house.]

[Footnote 42: Berenger von Landenberg, a man of noble family in
Thurgau, and Governor of Unterwald, infamous for his cruelties to the
Swiss, and particularly to the venerable Henry of the Halden. He was
slain at the battle of Morgarten, in 1315.]

[Footnote 43: A cell built in the 9th century, by Meinrad, Count of
Hohenzollern, the founder of the Convent of Einsiedeln, subsequently
alluded to in the text.]

[Footnote 44: The League, or Bond, of the Three Cantons was of very
ancient origin. Th