296 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT DE SAUSSURE 



burghers ; the latter section suffered from certain disabilities 

 set out below. 



In theory the Geneva of the eighteenth century was a demo- 

 cracy governed by the General Assembly, through four executive 

 officers appointed by it, and known as Syndics. But, as time went 

 on, the power of this body had been gradually limited, or usurped, 

 by two committees distinguished as the Council of Twenty-five, 

 or Small Council, or more generally as the Senate, and the Council 

 of Two Hundred, or Great Council. The Senate was selected from 

 members of the Great Council, for which citizens, amongst whom 

 were included burghers' sons born in the city, were alone eligible. 

 Burghers, though they voted in the General Assembly, could not 

 sit in either of the Councils, or hold any of the higher administra- 

 tive offices of the State. Families, a member of which had sat 

 in the Senate, or served in one of its chief offices, bore the title of 

 ' Noble,' while doctors, lawyers and ministers were entitled to be 

 addressed as ' Spectable.' 



The origin of the Senate, which dates back to the fourteenth 

 century, is somewhat obscure. It would seem to have been at 

 first a committee, with certain special functions, which were 

 enlarged, so that in the course of years it developed into something 

 like a Cabinet. As the affairs of State grew in importance, it 

 delegated a part of its functions to the larger committee known 

 as the Great Council. These bodies were, it appears, originally 

 nominated by the Syndics, and confirmed by the General Assembly. 

 But about the time of the Reformation the Assembly lost its con- 

 trol, and the Councils assumed the right to elect one another. The 

 Senate secured another most important advantage ; hitherto the 

 four Syndics had been elected by the free vote of the Assembly, 

 from which they directly derived their authority. Its choice was 

 now limited to four out of eight nominees of the Senate, and the 

 Senate nominated only members of its own body. The combined 

 effect of these changes was to destroy the democratic character 

 of the State : the General Assembly might still be acclaimed as 

 the Souverain, but the reins had passed into other hands. 



Henceforth all political and judicial power was concentrated 

 in the Senate and Great Council, and these were recruited out of 

 a limited number of closely allied patrician families. As the years 

 went on the powers of the popular body were still further reduced. 



