s— 2


68  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR,  149&  [Book  I,

land  now  broke  out  in  the  form  of  regular  war.  The  empire  was  as  yet
far  from  renouncing  its  sovereignty  over  the  confederated  cantons  :  it
had  cited  them  before  the  imperial  chambers,  nor  had  any  objection  been
taken  to  the  legality  of  such  a  proceeding  ;  the  Common  Penny  had  been
levied  in  them  ;  so  lately  as  at  the  diet  of  Freiburg,  the  resolution  was
passed,  "  to  keep  the  powerful  cities  of  the  Confederation,  which  bear
the  imperial  eagle  in  their  arms,  in  their  duty  and  allegiance  to  the  empire,
and  to  invite  them  again  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  States.  But
these  invitations  could  have  no  effect  in  a  country  where  the  want  of
internal  peace  was  not  felt,  because  they  had  secured  it  for  themselves  and
were  already  in  possession  of  a  tolerably  well-ordered  government.  A  party
which  had  always  been  hostile  to  the  King  of  the  Romans,  and  which  found
it  more  expedient  to  earn  French  money  than  to  adhere  to  the  empire,
jained  the  upper  hand.  In  this  state  of  things,  the  Grisons,  who  were
threatened  by  Tyrol  on  account  of  the  part  they  had  taken,  injurious  to
the  peace  of  the  empire,  by  sheltering  persons  under  the  king's  ban,  found
mmediate  assistance  from  the  confederates.  In  one  moment  the  whole
xontier,  Tyrol  and  Grisons,  Swabia  and  Switzerland,  stood  in  hostile
irray.
