young larvae,
perhaps more horrible in their pulpy stillness than in the infernal
wriggle of maturity. But no sooner is the stone turned and the wholesome
light of day let in on this compressed and blinded community of creeping
things than all of them that have legs rush blindly about, butting
against each other and everything else in their way, and end in a
general stampede to underground retreats from the region poisoned by
sunshine. Next year you will find the grass growing fresh and green
where the stone lay--the ground-bird builds her nest where the beetle
had his hole--the dandelion and the buttercup are growing there, and the
broad fans of insect-angels open and shut over their golden disks as the
rhythmic waves of blissful consciousness pulsate through their glorified
being.

"The stone is ancient error, the grass is human nature borne down and
bleached of all its color by it, the shapes that are found beneath are
the crafty beings that thrive in the darkness, and the weak
organizations kept helpless by it. He who turns the stone is whosoever
puts the staff of truth to the old lying incubus, whether he do it with
a serious face or a laughing one. The next year stands for the coming
time. Then shall the nature which had lain blanched and broken rise in
its full stature and native lines in the sunshine. Then shall God's
minstrels build their nests in the hearts of a new-born humanity. Then
shall beauty--divinity taking outline and color--light upon the souls of
men as the butterfly, image of the beatified spirit rising from the
dust, soars from the shell that held a poor grub, which would never have
found wings unless that stone had been lifted."

THE SWISS WIN THEIR INDEPENDENCE

BATTLE OF SEMPACH

A.D. 1386-1389

F. Grenfell Baker

For two generations after the victory of the Swiss over the
Austrians at Morgarten (1315), which was followed by the
renewal of the Swiss Confederation of 1291, the leagued
cantons were favored with growth and internal development.
To the original cantons--Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden--were
added (1332-1353) Lucerne, Zurich, Glarus, Zug, and Bern.
The Confederation acknowledged no superior but the Emperor
of Germany.

In 1375 there was an irruption into Switzerland of a horde
of irregular soldiers under Enguerrand de Courcy, son-in-law
of Edward III of England. The mother of De Courcy was a
daughter of Leopold I, Duke of Austria, and through