Chapter CDXXVII: Act 8: Parliament 1. repeated in Act 99. Parliament 7 (24)

The southern side of the Lake Leman, which had thus been
momentarily held, and which nature seemed to have intended to
belong to the Confederacy, was thus abandoned. The frontiers,
however, which were now secured became permanent ones. The
Dukes of Savoy had transferred much of their ambition, with
their capital, beyond the Alps; and the Confederates remained
secure in their remaining possessions. The Confederacy might
now have added further to its power by admitting new members
to its League. … Constance … had urged its own incorporation.
The religious tendencies of its inhabitants, however, had made
it suspected: and it was allowed to fall, in 1548, without
hope of recovery, under the dominion of Austria. Geneva … was
pleading loudly for admission. The jealousy of Bern, and later
the hostility of the Catholic Cantons to the faith of which
the city had become the centre, refused the request. She
remained a mere ally, with even her independence not always
ungrudgingly defended against the assaults of her enemies.
Religious zeal indeed was fatal during this century to
political sagacity. Under its influence the alliance with the
rich city of Mulhausen, which had endured for more than a
hundred years, was thrown off in 1587; the overtures of
Strasburg for alliance were rejected; the proposals of the
Grisons Leagues were repulsed. The opportunities of the
Confederates were thus neglected, while those of their
neighbours became proportionately increased. … The progress
that is to be traced during the 16th century is such as was
due to the times rather than to the people. The cessation of
foreign wars and the fewer inducements for mercenary service
gave leisure for the arts of peace; and agriculture and trade
resumed their progress. Already Switzerland began to be sought
by refugees from England, France, and Italy. The arts of
weaving and of dyeing were introduced, and the manufacture of
watches began at Geneva. … War, which had been almost
abandoned except in the service of others, comes little into
the annals of the Confederation as a State. … As another
century advances, there is strife at the very gates of the
Confederation. … But the Confederacy itself was never driven
into war."

C. F. Johnstone,
Historical Abstracts,
chapter 7.

ALSO IN:
_H. Zschokke,
History of Switzerland,
chapters 33-41._

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1536-1564.
Calvin's Ecclesiastical State at Geneva.

See GENEVA: A. D. 1536-1564.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1579-1630.
The Catholic revival and rally.
The Borromean or Golden League.

"Pre-eminent amongst those who worked for the Catholic revival
was the famous Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan and nephew
of Pius IV. He lived the life of a saint, and in due time was
canonized. To his see belonged the Swiss bailliages in the
Ticino and Valtellina. Indefatigable in his labours,
constantly visiting every part of his diocese, toiling up to
the Alpine huts, he gathered the scattered flocks into the
Papal fold, whether by mildness or by force. … For the spread
of Catholic doctrines he hit upon three different means. He
called into being the Collegium Helveticum in 1579 at Milan,
where the Swiss priests were educated free. He sent the
Jesuits into the country, and placed a nuncio at Lucerne, in
1580. In 1586 was signed, between the seven Catholic cantons,
the Borromean or Golden League, directed against the
reformers, and in the following year a coalition was, by the
same cantons, excepting Solothurn, entered into with Philip of
Spain and with Savoy. The Jesuits settled themselves in
Lucerne and Freiburg, and soon gained influence amongst the
rich and the educated, whilst the Capuchins, who fixed
themselves at Altorf, Stanz, Appenzell, and elsewhere, won the
hearts of the masses by their lowliness and devotion. In this
way did Rome seek to regain her influence over the Swiss
peoples, and the effect of her policy was soon felt in the
semi-Protestant and subject lands. … In the Valais, the
Protestant party, though strong, was quite swept out by the
Jesuits, before 1630."

_Mrs. L. Hug and R. Stead,
Switzerland, chapter 25._

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1620-1626.
The Valtelline revolt and war with the Grisons.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1624-1626.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1648.
The Peace of Westphalia.
Acknowledged independence and
separation from the German Empire.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1648.

{3049}

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1652-1789.
The Peasant Revolt and the Toggenburg War.
Religious conflicts.
Battles of Villmergen.
The Peace of Aarau.

"About the middle of the 17th century there was growing up, in
all the cantons except the Waldstätten, a feeling of strong
discontent among the peasants, who still suffered from many of
the tyrannies which had descended to them from the old days of
serfdom. They felt the painful contrast between their lot and
that of the three old cantons, where every peasant voted for
his own magistrates and his own laws, and helped to decide the
taxes and contributions which he should pay. … Now that their
liberty had been proclaimed at Westphalia, they were inspired
with the idea of trying to make it a reality. … They rose on
the occasion of the reduction of the value of their copper
coinage. … Opposition began among the Entlibuchers of Lucerne,
a tall and sturdy race, that lived in the long, fertile valley
on the banks of the Emmen. … Their spirit was soon quenched,
however, by the threats of Zurich and Berne; but though they
yielded for the moment, their example had spread, and there
were popular risings, excited in the large canton of Berne by
the same causes, which were not so easily checked. There was a
second revolt in Lucerne, which was intended to be nothing
less than a league of all the lower classes throughout the ten
cantons. The peasants of Lucerne, Berne, Basel, Solothurn, and
the territory of Aargau, all joined in this and held an
assembly at Sumiswald, in April 1653, where they chose
Nicholas Leuenberger as their chief, and proclaimed their
purpose of making themselves free as the Small Cantons. To
this union, unfortunately, they brought neither strength of
purpose nor wisdom. … Meanwhile the cities were not idle.
Zurich, the capital, gave the order for the whole confederacy
to arm, in May 1653. The struggle was short and decisive. For
a few weeks Leuenberger's soldiers robbed and murdered where
they could, and made feeble and futile attempts upon the small
cities of Aargau. Towards the end of May he met, near
Herzogenbuchsee, the Bernese troops. … A desperate fight
ensued, but the insurgents were soon overpowered. … This
battle ended the insurrection." Leuenberger was beheaded. "No
sooner was this revolt of the peasants over than the
smouldering fires of religious hatred, zealously fanned by the
clergy on both sides, broke out again. … Several families of
Arth, in Schwyz had been obliged by the Catholics to abjure
their faith, or fly from their homes." Zurich took up their
cause, and "a general war broke out. … Berne first despatched
troops to protect her own frontier, and then sent 40 banners
to the help of Zurich." The Bernese troops were so careless
that they allowed themselves to be surprised (January 14,
1656) by 4,000 Lucerners, in the territory of Villmergen, and
were ruinously defeated, losing 800 men and eleven guns. "Soon
afterwards a peace was concluded, where everything stood much
as it had stood at the beginning of this war, which had lasted
only nine weeks. … A second insurrection, on a smaller scale
than the peasants' revolt, took place in St. Gall in the first
years of the 18th century. The Swiss, free in the eyes of the
outside world, were, as we have already seen, mere serfs in
nearly all the cantons, and such was their condition in the
country of Toggenburg. … The greater part of the rights over
these estates had been sold to the abbot of St. Gall in 1468.
In the year 1700, the abbey of St. Gall was presided over by
Leodegar Burgisser as sovereign lord. … He began by
questioning all the commune rights of the Toggenburgers, and
called the people his serfs, in order that they might become
so used to the name as not to rebel against the hardness of
the condition. Even at the time when he became abbot, there
was very little, either of right or privilege, remaining to
these poor people. … When, in 1701, Abbot Leodegar ordered
them to build and keep open, at their own expense, a new road
through the Hummelwald, crushed as they had been, they
turned." After much fruitless remonstrance and appeal they
took up arms, supported by the Protestant cantons and attacked
by the Catholics, with aid contributed by the nuncio of the
pope, himself. "The contest was practically ended on the 25th
of July, 1712, by a decisive victory by the Protestants on the
battle-field of Villmergen, where they had been beaten by the
Lucerne men 56 years before. The battle lasted four hours, and
2,000 Catholics were slain. … In the month of August, a
general peace was concluded at Aarau, to the great advantage
of the conquerors. The five Catholic cantons were obliged to
yield their rights over Baden and Rapperswyl, and to associate
Berne with themselves in the sovereignty over Thurgau and the
Rheinfeld. By this provision the two religions became
equalized in those provinces. … The Toggenburgers came once
more under the jurisdiction of an abbot of St. Gall, but with
improved rights and privileges, and under the powerful
protection of Zurich and Berne. The Catholic cantons were long
in recovering from the expenses of this war. … During 86 years
from the peace of Aarau, the Swiss were engaged in neither
foreign nor civil war, and the disturbances which agitated the
different cantons from time to time were confined to a limited
stage. But real peace and union were as far off as ever.
Religious differences, plots, intrigues, and revolts, kept
people of the same canton and village apart, until the
building which their forefathers had raised in the early days
of the republic was gradually weakened and ready to fall, like
a house of cards, at the first blow from France."

_H. D. S. Mackenzie,
Switzerland,
chapters 15-16._

ALSO IN:
_H. Zschokke,
History of Switzerland,
chapters 42-56._

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1792-1798.
The ferment of the French Revolution.
Invasion and subjugation by the French.
Robbing of the treasure of Berne.
Formation of the Helvetic Republic.

"The world rang with arms and cries of war, with revolutions,
battles and defeats. The French promised fraternity and
assistance to every people who wished to make themselves free.
… Their arms advanced victorious through Savoy and the
Netherlands and over the Rhine. Nearer and nearer drew the
danger around the country of the Alpine people. But the
government of the Confederate states showed no foresight in
view of the danger. They thought themselves safe behind the
shield of their innocence and their neutrality between the
contending parties. They had no arms and prepared none; they
had no strength and did not draw closer the bands of their
everlasting compact. Each canton, timidly and in silence,
cared for its own safety, but little for that of the others. …
All kinds of pamphlets stirred up the people. At Lausanne,
Vevey, Rolle and other places, fiery young men, in noisy
assemblages, drank success to the arms of emancipated France.
{3050}
Although public order was nowhere disturbed by such
proceedings, the government of Berne thought it necessary to
put a stop to them by severe measures and to compel silence by
wholesome fear. They sent plenipotentiaries supported by an
armed force. The guilty and even the innocent were punished.
More fled. This silenced Vaud, but did not quell her
indignation. The fugitives breathed vengeance. … In foreign
countries dwelt sadly many of those who, at various times, had
been banished from the Confederacy because they had, by word
or deed, too boldly or importunately defended the rights and
freedom of their fellow-citizens. Several of these addressed
the chiefs of the French republic. … Such addresses pleased
the chiefs of France. They thought in their hearts that
Switzerland would be an excellent bulwark for France, and a
desirable gate, through which the way would be always open to
Italy and Germany. They also knew of and longed for the
treasures of the Swiss cities. And they endeavored to find
cause of quarrel with the magistrates of the Confederates. …
Shortly afterwards, came the great general Napoleon
Buonaparte, and marched through Savoy into Italy against the
forces of the emperor. … In a very few months, though in many
battles, Buonaparte vanquished the whole power of Austria,
conquered and terrified Italy from one end to the other, took
the whole of Lombardy and compelled the emperor to make peace.
He made Lombardy a republic, called the Cisalpine. When the
subjects of Grisons in Valtelina, Chiavenna and Bormio saw
this, they preferred to be citizens of the neighboring
Cisalpine republic, rather than poor subjects of Grisons. For
their many grievances and complaints were rarely listened to.
But Buonaparte said to Grisons: 'If you will give freedom and
equal rights to these people, they may be your
fellow-citizens, and still remain with you. I give you time;
decide and send word to me at Milan.' … When the last period
for decision had passed, Buonaparte became indignant and
impatient, and united Valtelina, Chiavenna and Bormio to the
Cisalpine republic (22d October, 1797). … So the old limits of
Switzerland were unjustly contracted; four weeks afterwards
also, that part of the bishopric of Bale which had hitherto
been respected on account of its alliance with the Swiss, was
added to France. Thereat great fear fell on the Confederates.
… Then the rumor spread that a French army was approaching the
frontiers of Switzerland to protect the people of Vaud. They
had called for the intervention of France in virtue of ancient
treaties. But report said that the French intended to
overthrow the Confederate authorities and to make themselves
masters of the country. … Almost the whole Confederacy was in
a state of confusion and dissolution. The governments of the
cantons, powerless, distrustful and divided, acted each for
itself, without concert. … In the mean while a large army of
French advanced. Under their generals Brune and Schauenberg
they entered the territory of the Confederates, and Vaud,
accepting foreign protection, declared herself independent of
Berne. Then the governments of Switzerland felt that they
could no longer maintain their former dominion. Lucerne and
Schauffhausen declared their subjects free and united to
themselves. Zurich released the prisoners of Stafa, and
promised to ameliorate her constitution to the advantage of
the people. … Even Freiburg now felt that the change must come
for which Chenaur had bled. And the council of Berne received
into their number 52 representatives of the country and said:
'Let us hold together in the common danger.' All these reforms
and revolutions were the work of four weeks; all too late.
Berne, indeed, with Freiburg and Solothurn, opposed her troops
to the advancing French army. Courage was not wanting; but
discipline, skill in arms and experienced officers. … On the
very first day of the war (2d March, 1798), the enemy's light
troops took Freiburg and Solothurn, and on the fourth (5th
March), Berne itself. … France now authoritatively decided the
future fate of Switzerland and said: 'The Confederacy is no
more. Henceforward the whole of Switzerland shall form a free
state, one and indivisible, under the name of the Helvetian
republic. All the inhabitants, in country as well as city,
shall have equal rights of citizenship. The citizens in
general assembly shall choose their magistrates, officers,
judges and legislative council; the legislative council shall
elect the general government; the government shall appoint the
cantonal prefects and officers.' The whole Swiss territory was
divided into 18 cantons of about equal size. For this purpose
the district of Berne was parcelled into the cantons of Vaud,
Oberland, Berne and Aragau; several small cantons were united
in one; as Uri, Schwyz. Unterwalden and Zug in the canton of
Waldstatten; St. Gallen district, Rheinthal and Appenzell in
the canton of Santis; several countries subject to the
Confederacy, as Baden, Thurgau, Lugano and Bellinzona, formed
new cantons. Valais was also added as one; Grisons was invited
to join; but Geneva, Muhlhausen and other districts formerly
parts of Switzerland, were separated from her and incorporated
with France. So decreed the foreign conquerors. They levied
heavy war-taxes and contributions. They carried off the tons
of gold which Berne, Zurich and other cities had accumulated
in their treasure-chambers during their dominion. … But the
mountaineers of Uri, Nidwalden, Schwyz and Glarus, original
confederates in liberty, said: 'In battle and in blood, our
fathers won the glorious jewel of our independence; we will
not lose it but in battle and in blood.' … Then they fought
valiantly near Wollrau and on the Schindellegi, but
unsuccessfully. … But Aloys Reding reassembled his troops on
the Rothenthurm, near the Morgarten field of victory. There a
long and bloody battle took place. … Thrice did the French
troops renew the combat: thrice were they defeated and driven
back to Aegeri in Zug. It was the second of May. Nearly 2,000
of the enemy lay slain upon that glorious field. Gloriously
also fought the Waldstatten on the next day near Arth. But the
strength of the heroes bled away in their very victories. They
made a treaty, and, with sorrow in their hearts, entered the
Helvetian republic. Thus ended the old Bond of the
Confederates. Four hundred and ninety years had it lasted; in
seventy-four days it was dissolved."

_H. Zschokke,
The History of Switzerland,
chapters 57 and 60._

{3051}

"A system of robbery and extortion, more shameless even than
that practised in Italy, was put in force against the cantonal
governments, against the monasteries, and against private
individuals. In compensation for the material losses inflicted
upon the country, the new Helvetic Republic, one and indivisible,
was proclaimed at Aarau. It conferred an equality of political
rights upon all natives of Switzerland, and substituted for
the ancient varieties of cantonal sovereignty a single
national government, composed, like that of France, of a
Directory and two Councils of Legislature. The towns and
districts which had been hitherto excluded from a share in
government welcomed a change which seemed to place them on a
level with their former superiors: the mountain-cantons fought
with traditional heroism in defence of the liberties which
they had inherited from their fathers; but they were
compelled, one after another, to submit to the overwhelming
force of France, and to accept the new constitution. Yet, even
now, when peace seemed to have been restored, and the whole
purpose of France attained, the tyranny and violence of the
invaders exhausted the endurance of a spirited people. The
magistrates of the Republic were expelled from office at the
word of a French Commission; hostages were seized; at length
an oath of allegiance to the new order was required as a
condition for the evacuation of Switzerland by the French
army. It was refused by the mountaineers of Unterwalden, and a
handful of peasants met the French army at the village of
Stanz, on the eastern shore of the Lake of Lucerne (September
8). There for three days they fought with unyielding courage.
Their resistance inflamed the French to a cruel vengeance:
slaughtered families and burning villages renewed, in this
so-called crusade of liberty, the savagery of ancient war."

_C. A. Fyffe,
History of Modern Europe,
volume 1, chapter 4._

"Geneva at the same time [1798] fell a prey to the ambition of
the all-engrossing Republic. This celebrated city had long
been an object of their desire; and the divisions by which it
was now distracted afforded a favourable opportunity for
accomplishing the object. The democratic party loudly demanded
a union with that power, and a commission was appointed by the
Senate to report upon the subject. Their report, however, was
unfavourable; upon which General Gerard, who commanded a small
corps in the neighbourhood, took possession of the town; and
the Senate, with the bayonet at their throats, formally agreed
to a union with the conquering Republic."

_Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1789-1815,
chapter 25 (volume 6)._

ALSO IN:
_A. Thiers,
History of the French Revolution (American Edition),
volume 4, pages 248-252._

_Mallet du Pan,
Memoirs and Correspondence,
volume 2, chapters 13-14._

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1797.
Bonaparte's dismemberment of the Graubünden.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1797 (MAY-OCTOBER).

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1798-1799.
Battlefield of the second Coalition against France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1798-1799 (AUGUST-APRIL).

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1799 (August-December).
Campaign of the French against the Russians.
Battle of Zurich.
Carnage in the city.
Suwarrow's retreat.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1799 (AUGUST-DECEMBER).

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1800.
Bonaparte's passage of the Great St. Bernard.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1800-1801 (MAY-FEBRUARY).

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1802.
Revolution instigated and enforced by Bonaparte.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1801-1803.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1803-1848.
Napoleon's Act of Mediation.
Independence regained and Neutrality guaranteed by
the Congress of Vienna.
Geneva, the Valais, and Neuchâtel.
The Federal Pact of 1815.
The Sonderbund and Civil War.
The Federal Constitution of 1848.

"Bonaparte summoned deputies of both parties to Paris, and
after long consultation with them he gave to Switzerland, on
the 2d February 1803, a new Constitution termed the Act of
Mediation. Old names were restored, and in some cases what had
been subject lands were incorporated in the League, which now
consisted of 19 Cantons, each having a separate Constitution.
The additional six were: St. Gallen, the Grisons, Aargau,
Thurgau, Ticino, and Vaud. This was the fifth phase of the
Confederation. A Diet was created, there being one deputy to
each Canton, but still with limited powers, for he could only
vote according to his instructions. The 19 deputies had,
however, between them 25 votes, because every deputy who
represented a Canton with more than 100,000 inhabitants
possessed two votes, and there were six of these Cantons. The
Diet met once a year in June, by turns at Zürich, Bern,
Luzern, Freiburg, Solothurn, and Basel, the Cantons of which
these were the capitals becoming successively directing
Cantons. Three were Catholic and three Protestant. The head of
the directing Canton for the time being was Landammann of
Switzerland and President of the Diet. The Act of Mediation
was not acceptable to all parties, and before Switzerland
could become entirely independent there was to be one more
foreign intervention. The fall of the Emperor Napoleon brought
with it the destruction of his work in that country, the
neutrality and independence of which were recognized by the
Congress of Vienna [see VIENNA: CONGRESS OF), though upon
condition of the maintenance in the Confederation of the new
Cantons; and in 1814 the Valais (a Republic allied to the
Confederation from the Middle Ages till 1798), Neuchâtel
(which, from being subject to the King of Prussia, had been
bestowed by Napoleon upon Marshal Berthier), and Geneva (which
had been annexed to France under the Directory in 1798, but
was now independent and rendered more compact by the addition
of some territory belonging to France and Savoy) were added to
the existing Cantons. Finally, the perpetual neutrality of
Switzerland and the inviolability of her territory were
guaranteed by Austria, Great Britain, Portugal, Prussia, and
Russia, in an Act signed at Paris on the 20th November 1815.
Neuchâtel, however, only really gained its independence in
1857, when it ceased to be a Prussian Principality. The
Confederation now consisted of 22 Cantons, and a Federal Pact,
drawn up at Zürich by the Diet in 1815, and accepted by the
Congress of Vienna, took the place of the Act of Mediation,
and remained in force till 1848. It was in some respects a
return to the state of things previous to the French
Revolution, and restored to the Cantons a large portion of
their former sovereignty. … Then came an epoch of agitation
and discord. The Confederation suffered from a fundamental
vice, i. e. the powerlessness of the central authority. The
Cantons had become too independent, and gave to their deputies
instructions differing widely from each other. The fall of the
Bourbons in 1830 had its echo in Switzerland, the patricians
of Bern and the aristocratic class in other Cantons lost the
ascendency which they had gradually recovered since the
beginning of the century, and the power of the people was
greatly increased.
{3052}
In several months 12 Cantons, among which were Luzern and
Freiburg, modified their Constitutions in a democratic sense,
some peaceably, others by revolution. … Between 1830 and 1847
there were in all 27 revisions of cantonal Constitutions. To
political disputes religious troubles were added. In Aargau
the Constitution of 1831, whereby the Grand Council was made
to consist of 200 members, half being Protestants and half
Catholics, was revised in 1840, and by the new Constitution
the members were no longer to be chosen with any reference to
creed, but upon the basis of wide popular representation, thus
giving a numerical advantage to the Protestants. Discontent
arose among the Catholics, and eventually some 2,000 peasants
of that faith took up arms, but were beaten by Protestants of
Aargau at Villmergen in January 1841, and the consequence was
the suppression of the eight convents in that Canton, and the
confiscation of their most valuable property. … A first result
of the suppression of these convents was the fall of the
Liberal government of Luzern, and the advent to power of the
chiefs of the Ultramontane party in that Canton. Two years
later the new government convoked delegates of the Catholic
Cantons at Rothen, near Luzern, and there in secret
conferences, and under the pretext that religion was in
danger, the bases of a separate League or Sonderbund were
laid, embracing the four Forest Cantons, Zug, and Freiburg.
Subsequently the Valais joined the League, which was clearly a
violation not only of the letter but also of the spirit of the
Federal Pact. In 1844 the Grand Council of Luzern voted in
favour of the Jesuits' appeal to be entrusted with the
direction of superior public education, and this led to
hostilities between the Liberal and Ultramontane parties.
Bands of volunteers attacked Luzern and were defeated, the
expulsion of the Jesuits became a burning question, and
finally, when the ordinary Diet assembled at Bern in July
1847, the Sonderbund Cantons declared their intention of
persevering in their separate alliance until the other Cantons
had decreed the re-establishment of the Aargau convents,
abandoned the question of the Jesuits, and renounced all
modifications of the Pact. These conditions could evidently
not be accepted. … On the 4th November 1847, after the
deputies of the Sonderbund had left the Diet, this League was
declared to be dissolved, and hostilities broke out between
the two contending parties. A short and decisive campaign of
25 days ensued, Freiburg was taken by the Federal troops,
under General Dufour, later Luzern opened its gates, the small
Cantons and the Valais capitulated and the strife came to an
end. … As soon as the Sonderbund was dissolved, it became
necessary to proceed to the revision of the Federal Pact."

_Sir F. O. Adams and C. D. Cunningham,
The Swiss Confederation,
chapter 1._

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1810.
Annexation of the Valais to France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1810 (FEBRUARY-DECEMBER).

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1817.
Accession to the Holy Alliance.

See HOLY ALLIANCE.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1832.
Educational reforms.

See EDUCATION, MODERN: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
SWITZERLAND.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1848-1890.
The existing Federal Constitution.

On the conclusion of the Sonderbund Secession and War, the
task of drawing up a Constitution for the Confederacy was
confided to a committee of fourteen members, and the work was
finished on the 8th of April, 1848. "The project was submitted
to the Cantons, and accepted at once by thirteen and a half;
others joined during the summer, and the new Constitution was
finally promulgated with the assent of all on the 12th
September. Hence arose the seventh and last phase of the
Confederation, by the adoption of a Federal Constitution for
the whole of Switzerland, being the first which was entirely
the work of Swiss, without any foreign influence, although its
authors had studied that of the United States. … It was
natural that, as in process of time commerce and industry were
developed, and as the differences between the legislation of
the various Cantons became more apparent, a revision of the
first really Swiss Constitution should be found necessary.
This was proposed both in 1871 and 1872, but the partisans of
a further centralization, though successful in the Chambers,
were defeated upon an appeal to the popular vote on the 12th
May 1872, by a majority of between five and six thousand, and
by thirteen Cantons to nine. The question was, however, by no
means settled, and in 1874 a new project of revision, more
acceptable to the partisans of cantonal independence, was
adopted by the people, the numbers being 340,199, to 198,013.
The Cantons were about two to one in favour of the revision,
14½ declaring for and 7½ against it. This Constitution bears
date the 29th May 1874, and has since been added to and
altered in certain particulars."

_Sir F. O. Adams and C. D. Cunningham,
The Swiss Confederation,
chapter 1._

"Since 1848 … Switzerland has been a federal state, consisting
of a central authority, the Bund, and 19 entire and 6 half
states, the Cantons; to foreign powers she presents an united
front, while her internal policy allows to each Canton a large
amount of independence. … The basis of all legislative
division is the Commune or 'Gemeinde,' corresponding in some
slight degree to the English 'Parish.' The Commune in its
legislative and administrative aspect or 'Einwohnergemeinde'
is composed of all the inhabitants of a Commune. It is
self-governing and has the control of the local police; it
also administers all matters connected with pauperism,
education, sanitary and funeral regulations, the fire brigade,
the maintenance of public peace and trusteeships. … At the
head of the Commune is the 'Gemeinderath,' or 'Communal
Council,' whose members are elected from the inhabitants for a
fixed period. It is presided over by an 'Ammann,' or 'Mayor,'
or 'President.' … Above the Commune on the ascending scale
comes the Canton. … Each of the 19 Cantons and 6 half Cantons
is a sovereign state, whose privileges are nevertheless
limited by the Federal Constitution, particularly as regards
legal and military matters; the Constitution also defines the
extent of each Canton, and no portion of a Canton is allowed
to secede and join itself to another Canton. … Legislative
power is in the hands of the 'Volk'; in the political sense of
the word the 'Volk' consists of all the Swiss living in the
Canton, who have passed their 20th year and are not under
disability from crime or bankruptcy.
{3053}
The voting on the part of the people deals mostly with
alterations in the cantonal constitution, treaties, laws,
decisions of the First Council involving expenditures of Frs.
100,000 and upward, and other decisions which the Council
considers advisable to subject to the public vote, which also
determines the adoption of propositions for the creation of
new laws, or the alteration or abolition of old ones, when
such a plebiscite is demanded by a petition signed by 5,000
voters. … The First Council (Grosse Rath) is the highest
political and administrative power of the Canton. It
corresponds to the 'Chamber' of other countries. Every 1,300
inhabitants of an electoral circuit send one member. … The
Kleine Rath or special council (corresponding to the
'Ministerium' of other continental countries) is composed of
three members and has three proxies. It is chosen by the First
Council for a period of two years. It superintends all
cantonal institutions and controls the various public boards.
… The populations of the 22 sovereign Cantons constitute
together the Swiss Confederation. … The highest power of the
Bund is exercised by the 'Bundesversammlung,' or Parliament,
which consists of two chambers, the 'Nationalrath,' and the
'Ständerath.' The Nationalrath corresponds to the English
House of Commons, and the Ständerath partially to the House of
Lords; the former represents the Swiss people, the latter the
Cantons. The Nationalrath consists of 145 members. … Every
Canton or half Canton must choose at least one member; and for
the purpose of election Switzerland is divided into 49
electoral districts. The Nationalrath is triennial. … The
Ständerath consists of 44 members, each Canton having two
representatives and each half Canton one. … A bill is regarded
as passed when it has an absolute majority in both chambers,
but it does not come into force until either a plebiscite is
not demanded for a space of three months, or, if it is
demanded (for which the request of 30,000 voters is necessary)
the result of the appeal to the people is in favor of the
bill. This privilege of the people to control the decision of
their representatives is called Das Referendum. …

See REFERENDUM.

The highest administrative authority in Switzerland is the
Bundesrath, composed of seven members, which [like the
Bundesversammlung] … meets in Bern. Its members are chosen by
the Bundesversammlung and the term of office is ten years. …
The president of the Confederation (Bundespresident) is chosen
by the Bundesversammlung from the members of the Bundesrath
for one year. … The administration of justice, so far as it is
exercised by the Bund, is entrusted to a Court, the
Bundesgericht, consisting of nine members."

_P. Hauri,
Sketch of the Constitution of Switzerland
(in Strickland's "The Engadine")._

ALSO IN:
_Sir F. O. Adams and C. D. Cunningham,
The Swiss Confederation._

_J. M. Vincent,
State and Federal Government in Switzerland._

_Old South Leaflets,
general series, number 18._

_University of Pennsylvania,
Publications, number 8._

For the text of the Swiss Constitution,

See CONSTITUTION OF SWITZERLAND.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1871.
Exclusion of Jesuits.

See JESUITS: A. D. 1769-1871.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1894.

The President of the Swiss Federal Council for 1894 is Emile
Frey, the Vice President, Joseph Zemp. According to the latest
census, taken in 1888, the population of Switzerland was
2,917,740.

----------SWITZERLAND: End--------

SWORD, German Order of the.

See LIVONIA: 12-13TH CENTURIES.

SWORD, Swedish Order of the.

An Order, ascribed to Gustavus Vasa. It was revived, after
long neglect, by King Frederick I. in 1748.

SYAGRIUS, Kingdom of.

See GAUL: A. D. 457-486.

SYBARIS. SYBARITES.

Sybaris and Kroton were two ancient Greek cities, founded by
Achæan colonists, on the coast of the gulf of Tarentum, in
southern Italy. "The town of Sybaris was planted between two
rivers, the Sybaris and the Krathis (the name of the latter
borrowed from a river of Achaia); the town of Kroton about
twenty-live miles distant, on the river Æsarus. … The fatal
contest between these two cities, which ended in the ruin of
Sybaris, took place in 510 B. C., after the latter had
subsisted in growing prosperity for 210 years. … We are told
that the Sybarites, in that final contest, marched against
Kroton with an army of 300,000 men. … The few statements which
have reached us respecting them touch, unfortunately, upon
little more than their luxury, fantastic self-indulgence and
extravagant indolence, for which qualities they have become
proverbial in modern times as well as in ancient. Anecdotes
illustrating these qualities were current, and served more
than one purpose in antiquity."

_G. Grote,
History of Greece,
part 2, chapter 22._

SYBOTA, Naval Battle of.

Fought, B. C. 432, between the fleets of Corinth and Corcyra,
in the quarrel which led up to the Peloponnesian War. The
Athenians had ten ships present, as allies of the Corcyreans,
intending only to watch affairs, but at the end they were
drawn into the fight. The Corcyreans were beaten.

_Thucydides,
History,
book 1, section 46._

SYCOPHANTS.

"Not until now [about B. C. 428, when the demagogue Cleon rose
to power at Athens] did the activity of the Sycophants attain
to its full height; a class of men arose who made a regular
trade of collecting materials for indictments, and of bringing
their fellow citizens before a legal tribunal. These
denunciations were particularly directed against those who
were distinguished by wealth, birth and services, and who
therefore gave cause for suspicion; for the informers wished
to prove themselves zealous friends of the people and active
guardians of the constitution. … Intrigues and conspiracies
were suspected in all quarters, and the popular orators
persuaded the citizens to put no confidence in any magistrate,
envoy or commission, but rather to settle everything in full
assembly and themselves assume the entire executive. The
Sycophants made their living out of this universal suspicion.
… They threatened prosecutions in order thus to extort money
from guilty and innocent alike; for even among those who felt
free from guilt were many who shunned a political prosecution
beyond all other things, having no confidence in a jury."

_E. Curtius,
History of Greece,
book 4, chapter 2 (volume 3)._

SYDENHAM, and Rational Medicine.

See MEDICAL SCIENCE: 17TH CENTURY.

{3054}

SYDNEY: First settlement (1788).

See AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1601-1800.

SYLLA.

See SULLA.

SYLLABARIES.

"A good deal of the [Assyrian] literature was of a lexical and
grammatical kind, and was intended to assist the Semitic
student in interpreting the old Accadian texts. Lists of
characters were drawn up with their pronunciation in Accadian
and the translation into Assyrian of the words represented by
them. Since the Accadian pronunciation of a character was
frequently the phonetic value attached to it by the Assyrians,
these syllabaries, as they have been termed—in consequence of
the fact that the cuneiform characters denoted syllables and
not letters—have been of the greatest possible assistance in
the decipherment of the inscriptions."

_A. H. Sayce,
Assyria, its Princes, Priests and People,
chapter 4._

SYLLABUS OF 1864, The.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1864.

SYLVANIA, The proposed State of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1784.

SYLVESTER II., Pope, A. D. 999-1003.

SYLVESTER III., Antipope, 1044.

SYMMACHIA.

An offensive and defensive alliance between two states was so
called by the Greeks.

SYMMORIÆ, The.

"In the archonship of Nausinicus in Olymp. 100,3 (B. C. 378)
the institution of what were called the symmoriæ (collegia, or
companies), was introduced [at Athens] in relation to the
property taxes. The object of this institution, as the details
of the arrangement themselves show, was through the joint
liability of larger associations to confirm the sense of
individual obligation to pay the taxes, and to secure their
collection, and also, in case of necessity, to cause those
taxes which were not received at the proper time to be
advanced by the most wealthy citizens."

_A. Boeckh,
Public Economy of the Athenians
(translated by Lamb),
book 4, chapter 9._

SYMPOSIUM.

The Symposium of the ancient Greeks was that part of a feast
which ensued when the substantial eating was done, and which
was enlivened with wine, music, conversation, exhibitions of
dancing, etc.

_C. C. Felton,
Greece, Ancient and Modern,
Course 2, lecture 5._

SYNHEDRION, OR SYNEDRION, The.

See SANHEDRIM.

SYNOECIA.

See ATHENS: THE BEGINNING.

SYNOD OF THE OAK, The.

See ROME: A. D. 400-518.

----------SYRACUSE: Start--------

SYRACUSE: B. C. 734.
The Founding of the city.

"Syracuse was founded the year after Naxos, by Corinthians,
under a leader named Archias, a Heracleid, and probably of the
ruling caste, who appears to have been compelled to quit his
country to avoid the effects of the indignation which he had
excited by a horrible outrage committed in a family of lower
rank. … Syracuse became, in course of time, the parent of
other Sicilian cities, among which Camarina was the most
considerable. … Forty-five years after Syracuse, Gela was
founded by a band collected from Crete and Rhodes, chiefly
from Lindus, and about a century later (B. C. 582) sent forth
settlers to the banks of the Acragas, where they built
Agrigentum."

_C. Thirlwall,
History of Greece,
chapter 12_.

The first settlement at Syracuse was on the islet of Ortygia.
"Ortygia, two English miles in circumference, was separated
from the main island only by a narrow channel, which was
bridged over when the city was occupied and enlarged by Gelôn
in the 72nd Olympiad, if not earlier. It formed only a small
part, though the most secure and best-fortified part, of the
vast space which the city afterwards occupied. But it sufficed
alone for the inhabitants during a considerable time, and the
present city in its modern decline has again reverted to the
same modest limits. Moreover, Ortygia offered another
advantage of not less value. It lay across the entrance of a
spacious harbour, approached by a narrow mouth, and its
fountain of Arethusa was memorable in antiquity both for the
abundance and goodness of its water."

_G. Grote,
History of Greece,
part 2, chapter 22._

SYRACUSE: B. C. 480.
Defeat of the Carthaginians at Himera.

See SICILY: B. C. 480.

SYRACUSE: B. C. 415-413.
Siege by the Athenians.

The Greek city of Syracuse, in Sicily, having been founded and
built up by colonization from Corinth, naturally shared the
deep hatred of Athens which was common among the Dorian
Greeks, and which the Corinthians particularly found many
reasons to cherish. The feeling at Athens was reciprocal, and,
as the two cities grew supreme in their respective spheres and
arrogant with the consciousness of superior power, mutual
jealousies fed their passion of hostility, although nothing in
their affairs, either politically or commercially, brought
them really into contact with one another. But Syracuse,
enforcing her supremacy in Sicily, dealt roughly with the
Ionian settlements there, and Athens was appealed to for aid.
The first call upon her was made (B. C. 428) in the midst of
the earlier period of the Peloponnesian War, and came from the
people of Leontini, then engaged in a struggle with Syracuse,
into which other Sicilian cities had been drawn. The Athenians
were easily induced to respond to the call, and they sent a
naval force which took part in the Leontine War, but without
any marked success. The result was to produce among the
Sicilians a common dread of Athenian interference, which led
them to patch up a general peace. But fresh quarrels were not
long in arising, in the course of which Leontini was entirely
destroyed, and another Sicilian city, Egesta, which Athens had
before received into her alliance, claimed help against
Syracuse. This appeal reached the Athenians at a time (B. C.
416) when their populace was blindly following Alcibiades,
whose ambition craved war, and who chafed under the restraints
of the treaty of peace with Sparta which Nicias had brought
about. They were carried by his influence into the undertaking
of a great expedition of conquest, directed against the
Sicilian capital—the most costly and formidable which any
Greek state had ever fitted out. In the summer of B. C. 415
the whole force assembled at Corcyra and sailed across the
Ionian sea to the Italian coast and thence to Sicily. It
consisted of 134 triremes, with many merchant, ships and
transports, bearing 5,100 hoplites, 480 bowmen and 700 Rhodian
slingers. The commanders were Nicias, Lamachus and Alcibiades.
On the arrival of the expedition in Sicily a disagreement
among the generals made efficient action impossible and gave
the Syracusans time to prepare a stubborn resistance.
{3055}
Meantime the enemies of Alcibiades at Athens had brought about
a decree for his arrest, on account of an alleged profanation
of the sacred Eleusinian mysteries, and, fearing to face the
accusation, he fled, taking refuge at Sparta, where he became
the implacable enemy of his country. Three months passed
before Nicias, who held the chief command, made any attempt
against Syracuse. He then struck a single blow, which was
successful, but which led to nothing; for the Athenian army
was withdrawn immediately afterwards and put into winter
quarters. In the following spring the regular operations of a
siege and blockade were undertaken, at sea with the fleet and
on land by a wall of circumvallation. The undertaking promised
well at first and the Syracusans were profoundly discouraged.
But Sparta, where Alcibiades worked passionately in their
favor, sent them a general, Gylippus, who proved to be equal
to an army, and promised reinforcements to follow. The more
vigorous Athenian general, Lamachus, had been killed, and
Nicias, with incredible apathy, suffered Gylippus to gather up
a small army in the island and to enter Syracuse with it, in
defiance of the Athenian blockade. From that day the situation
was reversed. The besieged became the assailants and the
besiegers defended themselves. Nicias sent to Athens for help
and maintained his ground with difficulty through another long
winter, until a second great fleet and army arrived, under the
capable general Demosthenes, to reinforce him. But it was too
late. Syracuse had received powerful aid, in ships and men,
from Corinth, from Sparta and from other enemies of Athens,
had built a navy and trained sailors of her own, and was full
of confident courage. The Athenians were continually defeated,
on land and sea, and hoped for nothing at last but to be able
to retreat. Even the opportunity to do that was lost for them
in the end by the weakness of Nicias, who delayed moving on
account of an eclipse, until his fleet was destroyed in a
final sea-fight and the island roads were blocked by an
implacable enemy. The flight when it was undertaken proved a
hopeless attempt, and there is nothing in history more
tragical than the account of it which is given in the pages of
Thucydides. On the sixth day of the struggling retreat the
division under Demosthenes gave up and surrendered to the
pursuers who swarmed around it. On the next day Nicias yielded
with the rest, after a terrible massacre at the river
Assinarus. Nicias and Demosthenes were put to the sword,
although Gylippus interceded for them. Their followers were
imprisoned in the Syracusan quarries. "There were great
numbers of them and they were crowded in a deep and narrow
place. At first the sun by day was still scorching and
suffocating, for they had no roof over their heads, while the
autumn nights were cold, and the extremes of temperature
engendered violent disorders. Being cramped for room they had
to do everything on the same spot. The corpses of those who
died from their wounds, exposure to the weather, and the like,
lay heaped one upon another. The smells were intolerable; and
they were at the same time afflicted by hunger and thirst.
During eight months they were allowed only about half a pint
of water and a pint of food a day. Every kind of misery which
could befall man in such a place befell them. This was the
condition of all the captives for about ten weeks. At length
the Syracusans sold them, with the exception of the Athenians
and of any Sicilian or Italian Greeks who had sided with them
in the war. The whole number of the public prisoners is not
accurately known, but they were not less than 7,000. Of all
the Hellenic actions which took place in this war, or indeed
of all Hellenic actions which are on record, this was the
greatest—the most glorious to the victors, the most ruinous to
the vanquished; for they were utterly and at all points
defeated, and their sufferings were prodigious. Fleet and army
perished from the face of the earth; nothing was saved, and of
the many who went forth few returned home. Thus ended the
Sicilian expedition."

_Thucydides,
History
(translated by Jowett),
books 6-7._

ALSO IN:
_E. A. Freeman,
History of Sicily,
volume 3._

_G. Grote,
History of Greece,
part 2, chapters 58-60._

_Sir E. Creasy,
Fifteen Decisive Battles,
chapter 2._

See, also, ATHENS: B. C. 415-413.

SYRACUSE: B. C. 397-396.
Dionysius and the Carthaginians.

Eighteen years after the tragic deliverance of Syracuse from
the besieging host and fleet of the Athenians, the Sicilian
capital experienced a second great peril and extraordinary
escape of like kind. The democratic government of Syracuse had
meantime fallen and a new tyrant had risen to power.
Dionysius, who began life in a low station, made his way
upward by ruthless energy and cunning, practising skilfully
the arts of a demagogue until he had won the confidence of the
people, and making himself their master in the end. When the
sovereignty of Dionysius had acquired firmness and the
fortifications and armament of his city had been powerfully
increased, it suited his purposes to make war upon the
Carthaginians, which he did, B. C. 397. He attacked Motye,
which was the most important of their cities in Sicily, and
took it after a siege of some months' duration, slaughtering
and enslaving the wretched inhabitants. But his triumph in
this exploit was brief. Imilkon, or Himilco, the Carthaginian
commander, arrived in Sicily with a great fleet and army and
recaptured Motye with ease. That done he made a rapid march to
Messene, in the northeastern extremity of the island, and
gained that city almost without a blow. The inhabitants
escaped, for the most part, but the town is said to have been
reduced to an utter heap of ruins—from which it was
subsequently rebuilt. From Messene he advanced to Syracuse,
Dionysius not daring to meet him in the field. The Syracusan
fleet, encountering that of the Carthaginians, near Katana,
was almost annihilated, and when the vast African armament,
numbering more than seventeen hundred ships of every
description, sailed into the Great Harbor of Syracuse, there
was nothing to oppose it. The city was formidably invested, by
land and sea, and its fate would have appeared to be sealed.
But the gods interposed, as the ancients thought, and avenged
themselves for insults which the Carthaginians had put upon
them. Once more the fatal pestilence which had smitten the
latter twice before in their Sicilian Wars appeared and their
huge army was palsied by it. "Care and attendance upon the
sick, or even interment of the dead, became impracticable; so
that the whole camp presented a scene of deplorable agony,
aggravated by the horrors and stench of 150,000 unburied
bodies.
{3056}
The military strength of the Carthaginians was completely
prostrated by such a visitation. Far from being able to make
progress in the siege, they were not even able to defend
themselves against moderate energy on the part of the
Syracusans; who … were themselves untouched by the distemper."
In this situation the Carthaginian commander basely deserted
his army. Having secretly bribed Dionysius to permit the
escape of himself and the small number of native Carthaginians
in his force, he abandoned the remainder to their fate (B. C.
394). Dionysius took the Iberians into his service; but the
Libyans and other mercenaries were either killed or enslaved.
As for Imilkon, soon after his return to Carthage he shut
himself in his house and died, refusing food. The blow to the
prestige of Carthage was nearly fatal, producing a rebellion
among her subjects which assumed a most formidable character;
but it lacked capable command and was suppressed.

_G. Grote,
History of Greece,
part 2, chapter 82._

SYRACUSE: B. C. 394-384.
Conquests and dominion of Dionysius.