298 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT DE SAUSSURE 



swallowed it up. The Prince-Bishops' troubles were not only 

 external ; they had also to contend with their own subjects 

 within the walls. The Constitution of Geneva was based on the 

 liberties won from one of its sovereigns, embodied and confirmed 

 in 1387 in a document described as the Magna Carta of Genevese 

 history. 1 This definitely recognised the existence and powers of 

 a General Assembly, and provided for the appointment of four 

 Syndics as its executive officers. The Senate, or Council of 

 Twenty-five, is not mentioned in the charter, but independent 

 evidence has been brought to light that it already existed at that 

 date in the form of a committee, with certain well-defined adminis- 

 trative powers. 



A hundred and fifty years later, about 1535, the Genevese 

 finally got rid of their Prince-Bishops, and proceeded to develop 

 a constitution by creating in imitation of the neighbouring Swiss 

 cantons the Great Council, and also a Council of Sixty, which 

 dealt with Foreign Affairs, and met only at intervals. 



The same date was further marked by the arrival of the 

 reformer Farel and the introduction of the Protestant religion. 

 The Reformation affected the political and social life of the city 

 for evil as well as for good . The old framework of liberty remained , 

 but in place of being adapted to the needs of the time, it was 

 stiffened by Calvin with the spirit of ecclesiastical tyranny. 



Recent historians have shown a tendency to exaggerate the 

 services rendered to the cause of popular government by the 

 example and influence of Geneva under its clerical rulers. If 

 the first aim of Calvinism was to be free of the control of princes, 

 it was equally keen to set up a tyranny of its own in some respects 

 even more absolute. Its ideal of liberty was strictly limited 

 by its demand for conformity. It took no account of the claims 

 of the individual conscience ; it had no tolerance for those who 

 objected to its creed and doctrine, or its harsh restrictions. When 

 we are invited to regard the little city on Lake Leman as the 

 source from which Hampden and Cromwell drew their energy, 

 and the Pilgrim Fathers their principles, we are tempted to 

 inquire more closely what the extent and nature of the influence 



1 Coutumes, Ordonnances, Franchises et Libertks de la Ville de Geneve. 

 Recueillies et publiees en 1' annee 1387, par Adhemar Fabry, Prince et Eveque 

 de 1'Eglise et de la dite ville de Geneve. 



