Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 109 June to November 1904 . iss descended from their defiles. There are some half-dozen castled ruinswithin the confines of Liechtenstein, andsome half-dozen other ruined piles frownback from the Swiss side of the river—ghosts of the passions of the past. One,on the Liechtenstein side, looms abovethe village of Balzers, and bears in theneighborhood the fame of never havingbeen captured, although it has stood fora thousand years. It stands on the sum-mit of a rocky mass, rising steeply onevery side out of the level land. Neverwas a grimmer or dourer pile; fo
Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 109 June to November 1904 . iss descended from their defiles. There are some half-dozen castled ruinswithin the confines of Liechtenstein, andsome half-dozen other ruined piles frownback from the Swiss side of the river—ghosts of the passions of the past. One,on the Liechtenstein side, looms abovethe village of Balzers, and bears in theneighborhood the fame of never havingbeen captured, although it has stood fora thousand years. It stands on the sum-mit of a rocky mass, rising steeply onevery side out of the level land. Neverwas a grimmer or dourer pile; for so nar-rowly did it escape capture in 1499, whenthe Swiss scarred it with a lumberingpiece of artillery, that the baron builtup all the windows and openings, reducingthem to the narrowest of slits. The Watch on the Rhine in thecenturies past meant something very dif-ferent from the present usage of thephrase. For every merchant with ladenpack-horses, every owner of a cargo goingtoward the Lake of Constance and thencetoward the cities of Germany, was likely. The Southern End of Liechtenstein Coin, Postage-stamp, and Arms of the Prince of Liechtenstein to have to pay toll to one or another, orto many, of the castle barons, predeces-sors of the customs-gatherers of to-day,and one is moved to admiration for thebusiness sense of those hard-headed men,who went about their affairs in pot-hatsof steel, and jackets and trousers of iron,and with swords in their hands insteadof umbrellas. For they refrained fromtaking, as a rule, more than should serveas a stimulating reminder, and so man-aged the affair as to seem to be givingprotection, for a small proportional fee,instead of taking too much and thus put-ting an end to traffic and to the appear-ance of the golden eggs. It need notbe minced that living upon their neigh-bors was the general law of life in thoseolden times. Shrines are placed at frequent intervalsthroughout the villages and along theroads; and on a cliff not far from V
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