ITALY 125 



In 1770 there was a renewal of political disorders in Geneva. 

 Under the Edict of 1768 the unenfranchised ' Natif s ' who had 

 taken part with the Representants in the late disputes had gained 

 relief from some of their disabilities. But their position still left 

 them with many just grievances. The Representants, on their 

 part, recognised in the growing number and prosperous condition 

 of the ' Natifs ' the prospect of a formidable rivalry, commercial 

 as well as political. They showed no disposition to give them the 

 civic vote or to combine with them in opposition to the patrician 

 oligarchy. In a heated atmosphere a trifling incident often leads 

 to serious consequences. In 1770 the Councils seized on the 

 occasion of a riot arising out of the prosecution of an individual 

 for reciting a satirical street ballad to pass an ordinance dis- 

 solving the numerous clubs, which had played an important 

 part in the recent struggles. In a city of so few amusements and 

 among a race only too prone to talk and argument these social 

 institutions filled an obvious need. But, as at Paris, they tended 

 to become centres of political excitement and intrigue. The 

 Councils next proceeded to make it penal to propose any further 

 change in the political position of the ' Natifs,' and to banish their 

 leaders. These measures, confirmed by the General Assembly, 

 were for the time successful. The city was now to have some 

 eleven years of relative tranquillity, at any rate on the surface, 

 under its patrician government. But the old feuds were only 

 dormant. The Representants continued to agitate for the 

 promised Code ; the ' Natifs ' were still clamorous for the removal 

 of their practical grievances. De Saussure, fully occupied in his 

 own studies and duties at the Academy and divided in his sym- 

 pathies, held consistently aloof from the politics of the hour. 



In 1770 his friend Lord Palmerston begged him to join a 

 party, consisting of himself and two friends, in a visit to the 

 glaciers of Chamonix and Grindelwald. He also asked him to 

 recommend a German translation of Homer. Haller, on being 

 appealed to, replied that he knew of none ! He advised de 

 Saussure, apparently on botanical grounds, to prefer the Valais, 

 the Grisons, and Val Tellina to the Bernese Oberland, but the 

 suggestion was not followed. No record of the tour exists, 

 but we learn from incidental allusions that it was carried out 

 successfully. The party visited the Rhone Glacier, and early 



