GENEVA. 



water, which is, or ou^^jht to be, procured from tlic berries 

 of the juniper-tree, diilillcJ with oraudy or malt-lpirits. 

 See Jlnh'kuws. 



The word is formed from ^t-n^iwr, the Frefich name of the 

 ■juiiiper-berry. 



The bell geneva we now have, is made from an ordinary 

 fpirit, dillilied a fecond time with an addition of lome juni- 

 per berries ; but the original liquor of this kmd ivas pre- 

 pared in a very different manner. It was a cullom in the 

 dillillinjr of Ipirits from wort, or other fermented liquors, to 

 add in the working fome aromatic ingredient, fueii as ginger, 

 cortex Winteranus, or grains of paradife, to take ofl" the 

 bad flavour, and to give a pimgent talle to the fpirit. 

 Among other things ufed witii this intent, fome tried the 

 juniper-berries, and finding that they gave not only an agree- 

 able flavour, but very valuable virtues alio to the fpirit, 

 they brought it to a general cullom, and the liquor fold 

 under this name. The method of adding the berries was to 

 the malt in the grinding : a proper proportion was allowed, 

 and the v.'hole was reduced to meal together, and worked in 

 ■the common way. The fpirit thus obtained was flavoured 

 {'.b origiiie with the berries, and exceeded all tliat coidd be 

 made by any other method. Our common dillillers leave 

 out the juniper-berries entirely from the liquor they now 

 make and fe.l under that name. Our chemiits have let them 

 into the fecret, that the oil of juniper-berries, and that of 

 turpentine, are very much alike in flavour, though not in 

 price: and the common method of making what is called 

 geneva in London, is with common malt fpirit, and a'pro- 

 jier quantity of oil of turpentine diflilled together. Shaw's 

 Effiy on DifliU. p. 7. See Di.stili.i'.u. 



G];XKV.\, in Gcogrnphy, a city of France (fince the re- 

 volution), principal plice of a diftrift, and capital of the 

 department Leman, but formerly capital of a republic, in 

 alliance with the Swifs; fituated on the confines of Savoy, 

 •France, and Switzerland, at the foutiiern extremity of the 

 " lake of Geneva," or " Leman lake,'' upon the narroweft 

 part of it ; where the Rhone iflucs in two large and rapid 

 l'ream=, which foon afterwards unite, and, pafling through 

 the city, divides it into two unequal parts. Tiie adjacent 

 country is uncommonly picfurcfque, and abounds in magnL- 

 fieent views, formed by the town, the lake, tlie numerous 

 hills and mountains, particularly the Saleve and the Mole, 

 riflng fuddenly from, the plain in a variety of fantaftic forms, 

 backed bv the glaciers of Savoy, with their frozen tops 

 gliftening in the fun, and the my.jeftic Mont Blanc rearing 

 its head far above the refl:. Geneva, which ftands partly in 

 the plain, upon the borders of the lake, and partly upon a 

 gentle afcent, is irregularly built : the houfcs are high, and 

 many in the trading part of the city have arcade's of wood, 

 which are raifed even to the upper {lories. TheCe arcades, 

 fupported by pillars, give a gloomy appearance to the flireet, 

 -but are ufef.d to the inhabitants in protecting tlwni from the 

 fun and rain. This is the mofl: populous town in Switzer- 

 land ; aid ihe inhabitants are eftiniKted to be from 23,000 

 to 25.000. This population is owing to the indullry and 

 activity that prevail in tiiis place, to its extenfive commerce, 

 to the facility of purelialing the burghi-rfliip, and to the pri- 

 vileges which the government allows to all foreigners. The 

 members of this city are diftinguifhed into citizens and 

 burgeffts, inhabitants and natives, b.-fldes a fitth dais, effa- 

 bliflied after the revolution in 1782, and called " domicilics," 

 who receive froin the magillratcs an annual permiflion to 

 rcfide in the city The citizens and burgeifes were, under 

 the old police, admitted to a fliare in the governm.ent ; the 

 inhabitants are llrangers allowed to lettle in the town with 

 certain privileges, and the natives are the foiis of thefe inha- 



bitants, who poflefs additional advantages : thefe two lail 

 clafles form a large majority of the people. 



The liberal policy of this government, in receiving ftran- 

 gers, and conferring the burgherfliip, is the more remark- 

 able, as it is contrary to the fpirit and ufage of the Swifs. 

 Here it is peculiarly necelfary ; as the tenitory of this ftate 

 is fo very fmall, that its very cxiltence depends upon tl-.e 

 number and induftry of the people ; for, exclufively of the 

 city, there are fcarccly 16,000 perfons in the whole diftridl 

 of the Genevois. 



Geneva boafl^s, and not without reafon, of its antiquity. 

 The precife time of its commencement is not known ; but 

 it exilled before the Chriftian era, and is particularly men- 

 tioned by Ca:far. (De Bell. Gall. 1. i. c. i.) It belongeS 

 to the Allobroges (ice this article), and flouriflied under the 

 fucceflbrs of Casfar. The Chriftian religion was introduced 

 among the Genevans in the third century, and about the 

 middle of the 4th century Geneva appears to liavc been the 

 fee of a bifliop. It faffcred, however, in a confiderable de- 

 gree, and in common with other parts of the weftcrn empire, 

 from the incurfions and rav.ages of the northern barbarians. 

 About the middle of the fifth century the Vandals, vs-ho, 

 having fettled in the country of Vaud, and built feveral bo- 

 roughs, afluracd the name of Bourguignons, or, according 

 to modern orthograpliy, Burgundians, had pofl:"eflion of it ; 

 and in the year 620, it was transferred to the Franks. To- 

 wards th.e end of the 8tk century, Charlemagne convened an 

 afliembly of his ilates at Geneva, to confult about a war with 

 the Lombards, and confirmed both the civil and religious pri- 

 vileges of this city. In the year 1032, it was annexed to 

 the German empire ; but the authority of the emperor was 

 little regarded in diftant provinces, and they found it expe- 

 dient to proteft aifociations of the common people, and to 

 enlarge their liberty, in order to counterati the tyranny of 

 tlie lords and clergy. In procefs of time, the clergy acquired 

 a great degree of fecular power and jurifdiftion in connec- 

 tion with tlieir fpiritual authority : and thus the biihops of 

 Geneva had obtained of the emperor the title of princes and 

 fovereigns over the town and the adjacent country. On the 

 other hand, the counts of the Genevois, or of tiic diftrift in 

 the vicinity of Geneva, who were originally officers of the 

 empire, though afterwards they became vafials of the bifiiops, 

 afpired to an exclufive adminiftration of juftice both in the 

 town and tiie country. The people availed themfelves 

 ot the conteft between their fuperiors in rank and power to 

 confirm and extend their own privileges. In the mean time, 

 the liberty of the city was menaced by a third power, no lefs 

 formidable than either of the other two. The counts of 

 Savoy became powerful by the fuccefiivo poflTefilon of fe- 

 veral provinces ; and among the rell the Genevois favoured' 

 the pretenfions of the ancient counts, and afpired to the fo- 

 vereignty of a flouriftiing town, which was aUb a convenient 

 and llrong frontier. 



It would not be very interefting to recite, in minute detail' 

 the contefts that were from time to time renewed between the 

 Genevefe and the counts of Savoy. We fliall content ourfclves 

 with obferving that in the year 141 5, the emperor Sigif- 

 mund vi!itcd Gencs-a, and that two yea';s afterwards he ert.6i- 

 ed Savoy into a dukedom in favour of Amadeus, the 8th 

 count, who, in the year 1420, petitioned the pope for the 

 fovereignty of the city. The duke's fuit was referred by the 

 pope to the biihop, who fummoned a general afl'embly of 

 the people, to deliberate upon the duke's requeft, which had 

 obtained the approbation of the pope. The inhabitant! 

 unanlm.oufly rejefted it, and at the fame time required the 

 bifliop to be true to his charge, alfuring him of their ccn- 

 * "cunence 



