A few words may be given here respecting the famous monastery of St. Gall. The cloisters of St. Gall shed a bright lustre on Swabian lands during its best period, from 800 to 1050 A.D. This famous religious-house was a centre of art and high culture, and was a blessing to the whole country. We can but allude to some of its famous monks, such as the Notkers, Ekkehard, Rabbert, and so forth; many famous as poets, musicians, savants, historians, and teachers of the very highest rank. In the noted school attached to the monastery there resided and were educated some three hundred sons of the German and Helvetic nobility. The discipline kept up was most severe. A story runs that King Conrad I., on a visit to the institution, wished to put this to the test, and caused to be scattered under the school benches a basketful of fine apples. Not a single scholar touched the fruit, and, to reward them for this very remarkable self-restraint, Conrad gave the youths three holidays. But the number of anecdotes attaching to this magnificent institution is endless. FOOTNOTES: [43] Maximilian, however, lies buried at Wiener (Vienna) Neustadt. The monument at Innsbruck was planned by the emperor himself, though it took some generations to execute the work (1509-83). Twenty of the relievi were the work of Colin of Mecheln, and excited the admiration of Thorwaldsen even. The whole monument is highly interesting from both an artistic and an historical point of view. Among the bronze figures that of King Arthur is the most exquisite, and is by the famous Peter Vischer. [44] See p. 187. [45] "Here you might observe men's disposition," he writes, "caution, and cunning. They strive to puzzle one another with the view of drawing advantage from the confusion. They pretend to one thing, but hope to get another." XXI. THE GREAT COUNCILS; THE LANDSGEMEINDE AND TAGSATZUNG, OR DIET; LITERATURE IN THE HEROIC AGE. Perhaps no better place than this can be found for discussing the constitutional affairs of the enlarged Bund. A description of the _rouage administratif_ of each of the thirteen republics would be far too tedious to the reader, and we shall therefore treat them collectively as far as possible. The cantons naturally split into two divisions, those _à Grand Conseil_, and the cantons _à Landsgemeinde_, the latter including the country republics, the three Waldstätten, Glarus, Appenzell, and Zug. [Illustration: SARNEN, BERN.]