the people, but when he became firmly established he threw off the
mask, and showed himself to be a cruel, cowardly, mean-spirited
tyrant. He was both vain and greedy, and he exacted both homage and
tribute from the surrounding peasantry. Property was seized by the
soldiers, and, should the owner venture to remonstrate, he was
mercilessly beaten or killed on the spot. Complaints to the governor
were followed by fresh outrages, until no one, even in the most
secluded valleys, considered himself safe. Here tyranny as usual
overstepped the bounds of safety. The free spirit, born of toil and
privations in the mountain-fastnesses, would not long endure the
outrages to which the people were subjected. A leader only was needed
to induce a general revolt, and this leader was found in the person of
William Tell.

[Illustration: _Lake Lucerne_]

4. William Tell, according to the received accounts, was born at
Buergelen, a secluded hamlet in the canton of Uri, near the lake of
Lucerne, about the year 1275; and, like his forefathers, was the
proprietor of a cottage, a few small fields, a vineyard, and an
orchard. When William had reached the age of twenty, his father is
said to have died, bequeathing to him these humble possessions.
Endowed by nature with a lofty and energetic mind, Tell was
distinguished also by great physical strength and manly beauty. He was
taller by a head than most of his companions; he loved to climb the
rugged rocks of his native mountains in pursuit of the chamois, and to
steer his boat across the lake in time of storm and of danger. The
load of wood which he could bear upon his shoulders was double that
which any ordinary man could support.