244 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



heirs. Although elected for life, the av- 

 erage service of a doge did not in fact 

 exceed sixteen years, only men of middle 

 age being regarded as eligible to the 

 office. 



The oath of the doge involved an ex- 

 plicit renunciation of sovereign rights. 

 He was required to promise not only to 

 execute the laws and decrees of the coun- 

 cils, but not to correspond directly with 

 foreign powers, or to open letters ad- 

 dressed to him, even by Venetians, with- 

 out the presence of a councillor. He 

 could hold no property outside the terri- 

 tory of Venice; he could not intervene in 

 any judgment, either of fact or of law ; 

 none of his relatives could be appointed 

 by him to any civil, military, or ecclesi- 

 astical office ; he was prohibited from per- 

 mitting any citizen to kneel before him 

 or kiss his hand. But as a symbol of the 

 State he was clothed with magnificence, 

 and stood before the world as the out- 

 ward representative of supreme power. 



GENOA WAS LIKE VENICE 



Tike Venice, Genoa, which was founded 

 as a city in the eighth century B. C., in 

 the tenth century of our era threw off the 

 imperial yoke and became an independ- 

 ent republic. Like Venice, it also devel- 

 oped into a great maritime and commer- 

 cial power, extended its territory by con- 

 quest, and was the possessor of valuable 

 colonies. Subjected to French rule in the 

 fourteenth century, it afterward regained 

 its independence, but in 1746 fell for a 

 time under the power of Austria. By 

 1776 it had lost most of its colonies, hav- 

 ing been obliged in 1768 to cede Corsica 

 to France. 



Internal discord had completely deliv- 

 ered the republic into the hands of the 

 aristocratic party. Four hundred and 

 sixty-five families of the nobility were in- 

 scribed in the "Golden Book" and divided 

 among themselves all the public powers, 

 honors, and offices, to the exclusion of 

 the middle class and the common people. 

 A Council of 400 members chose the Sen- 

 ate ; the Senate chose the eight governors 

 who formed the Executive Council, and 

 this body chose from its own number the 

 doge, who represented the nation. 



THE SWISS REPUBLIC IS VERY OLD 



Altogether different in form and struc- 

 ture was the Swiss Confederation. It, 

 too, came into being through a revolt 

 against external authority. The three 

 "Forest Cantons" — Uri, Schwyz, and 

 Unterwalden — comprised in the duchy of 

 Suabia had fallen under the rule of the 

 counts of Hapsburg. Upon the death of 

 Rudolf, in 1291, "in view of the malice 

 of the time," these cantons formed a de- 

 fensive league and resolved to recognize 

 no chief who was not of the country, and 

 to maintain the peace and their rights by 

 their own armed force. 



The parchment upon which their com- 

 pact was written is still preserved, and 

 bears as seals the cross of Schwyz, the 

 bull's head of Uri, and the key of Unter- 

 walden. 



This document was not a declaration 

 of independence and retained a trace of 

 feudalism ; for it enjoined that "who- 

 ever hath a lord let him obey him, ac- 

 cording to his bounden duty." But it was 

 a declaration of rights and a firm resolu- 

 tion that they should never be taken away 

 by the power of a usurper. The efforts 

 of the Hapsburg emperors to reduce the 

 cantons to subjection gave repeated op- 

 portunities for the fulfillment of this 

 pledge. 



In 1 5 13 the Confederation had grown 

 to thirteen cantons, Berne, Zurich, Lu- 

 cerne, Friburg, Zug, Glaris, Bale, So- 

 leure, Schaffhausen, and Appenzell hav- 

 ing united with the "Forest Cantons" ; but 

 this expansion had entirely transformed 

 the original league. Subject territories, 

 added by conquest, now formed part of 

 the republic. The cities had contributed 

 decisive elements of change, for they 

 were less democratic than the "Forest 

 Cantons." In truth, in some instances, 

 the cities had developed the attributes of 

 ambitious and oppressive oligarchies. 



A CHILD OF BLOOD AND HEROISM 



Like the Venetian and the Swiss re- 

 publics, the United Netherlands was a 

 child of revolution, but of a far more 

 dramatic kind. In November, 1565, 

 twenty confederates met at Brussels to 

 form a league to resist the Spanish In- 



