, with Mondstein, renowned for the battles which were fought there ; and to complete the grand pictorial effect, thè back ground is formed by the snowy and colossal heights of the Rheinthal, or valley of the Rhine, and of Appenzel, which ränge among the loftiest of the western world. The greatest part of the Vorarlberg was in the hands of the noble family of Montfort, which at the most flourishing period of its existence, was more powerful than that of Habs burg. The descendants, however, thougli
brave and courageous, have afforded to the world no instance of any extraordinary character, and in 1783, the family became extinct. The house of Hohenems was the second principal family, wbicli excelled the Montforts in chivalry, and was for some time even wealthier, but in 1759, it had lost nearly the whole of its importance, and was extinguished about a quarter of a Century afterwards, The Vorarlberg has been often the theatre of great military acliievements ; the most san- guinary battles of the
Suabian war were fought near Frasianz , Fussach, and Haag. Düring the thirty ycars’ war it offered a dauntless resistance ; and Bregenz and Kempten have wit- nessed thè Swedish torture, song, and feast. In the French campaigns from 1796 to 1805, the inhabitants valiantly distinguished themselves. In the ever-memorable war of 1809, Vorarlberg contributed an equal number of patriotic soldiery to the Tyrol, notwithstanding its disproportion as to square miles, population, and the materiei of warfare
; and it must not be omitted, that the natives nobly resisted and intrepidly attacked the enemy at Hohenems and Ravensburg, near Constance and Kempten, and by the Leiblach. The Vorarlberg enjoyed a general state of prosperity, until the year 1806, when thè dire chance of war forced its Separation from Austria ; all thè speculative consignments of manu- factured goods had been accustomed to be directed towards Vienna, most firms having brauch houses in various parts of thè empire; and when, in 1814
