GEN 
f'o its incorporation with France ; tTiey therefore joined 
tJie new rcvolutionifts, and at length obtained an afcen- 
dancy. 'j'lieir firft attempt was to deprive the hVencli 
agent of liis influence ; and the overtlirow of Rcbef- 
j'ierre, whofe creature lie was, favoured tlieir defign. 
See the article France, vol. vii. p. 803. After the 
death of that execrable tyrant, the French government 
iccalled this agent, and accompanied his recal with une¬ 
quivocal marks of their difapprobation. The fucceflbrs 
of Robefpierre entirely difavowed his condufl at Gene¬ 
va ; and the convention gave a full and folemn acknow¬ 
ledgment of the independence of Geneva, and granted 
to its minifler the fame honours that had been granted 
to other isdependent ftates. And on the 7th of Sep¬ 
tember, the French convention folemnly declared that 
they would take no flep which could in the lealt aft'edl 
the independence of Geneva. The moderate party, 
therefore, who had obtained the government of that re¬ 
public, turned their thoughts to the befl; practicable 
methods of healing thofe wounds which the late enor¬ 
mities had occafioned ; and jultice fucceeded for a time 
to the reign of oppreflion and terror. 
* 795 ) the government of Geneva enjoined M. Rey- 
baz, their ainbalfador at Paris, to requefl: the ouarantee 
of the independence of their republic, in cafe of any 
peace between the French and the king of Sardinia, or 
tlm German empire. But the conduCt of the French 
directory now clearly evinced their determination to an¬ 
nex Geneva to the republic, as a department ; and the 
rcmonllrances of the government of Geneva, breathing 
a fpirit of freedom, declared the refblution of tlie Ge- 
nevefe to emigrate from their native foil, rather than 
fubmit to an incorporation of their country with that of 
France. 
P'or a time again the idea of annexing Geneva to 
France feemed to be abandoned by the French ; it was 
however only deferred to a more favourable opportuni¬ 
ty, and fetch a conjuncture occurred in the invafion of 
Swiflerland. The intercourfe which had taken place 
between France and Geneva from the date of the con- 
quelt of Savoy, had given a confiderable afcendancy to 
French principles of government. Though the mafs 
of the Genevefe remained attached to the idea of terri¬ 
torial independence, a confiderable number of them be¬ 
gan to look with indifference on the forms by which 
they Iteld their liberties; whether ss part of the I'ove- 
reign people of Geneva, or as a portion of the fovereign 
and powerful people cf the French republic. 1 he 
agents of the French government had ffudioufly follered 
this fraternifing fpirit, and had made confiderable pro- 
grefs in profelytifm, by reprefenting the benefits which 
would accrue from a more intimate alliance between the 
two nations. Whatever influence thefe reprefentafions 
might hav'e had, th.c partifans of territorial indepen¬ 
dence remained Itrenuous in rejecting the proffered fra¬ 
ternity. The partifans for the incorporation, h.owever, 
formed a yaff majority. Of 3197 votes, 2204 gave their 
fuffrage tor the union ; and Geneva was accordii.gly 
declared by the fupreme council to he incorporated with 
the French republic on the 27th of April, 1798. The 
treaty'of union was ratified on the 17th cf May by the 
French government. The city of Geneva was foon af¬ 
ter formed into the capital of a department, under the 
name of “ The Department of the Lake of Lemarnus.” 
Geneva is an irs'ccularly built town, whofe fortifica¬ 
tions are tolerably ftrong; the houfes are lofty and 
large, conftruCfed like the inns of court at London, and 
the colleges at Cambridge, where one common ftaircafe 
leads to feveral apartments, which are here inhabited 
by different families. The ffreets are in general wide ; 
ai\d the loftinefs of the free-fione houfes would produce 
a very ffately efi'eCt, if it were not for the odious de- 
formii}' produced by the arcades, which are ereCted be¬ 
fore moft of the houfes, and throw a gloom over the 
whole ffrect. Thefe arcades are coaffiuCted of wcod^ 
EVA. b’J9 
and fometimes rife to a level with the roofs of tlie 
lioufes : they projeCl very confiderably, and thus re¬ 
duce a fpacious and noble ftreet into a narrow and mean¬ 
looking lane ! I'lieir objeCt is to give foot-paffengers 
fhelter from the rain, and fliade from the fun, and, at 
the (jine time, to afford a convenience for drying linen, &c. 
The population of Geneva is about 24,000, befidcs 
the new effablifliment of French troops; and notwitb- 
ftanding their prefent humiliated condition. Freedom is 
ffill the goddefs they worfliip ; and had there been any 
poflibilrty of fecuring her from violation, they would 
gladly have bled before her altars. However various 
lias been their fuccefs, in the different revolutions which 
have agitated this fecluded ftate, the Genevefe have 
uniformly evinced a courage which awed their enemies, 
and a determined bravery in defence of their rights, 
which, in ffietving that they prized them highly, gave 
proof that they were worthy to enjoy them. 
The territory of Geneva is now comprehended in the 
Departement (hi Leman, which contains about fixteen fquare 
leagues of land ; its population is ellimated at 609,000 
perfons. It is divided into three cantons or hundreds, 
the largell of which has Geneva for its capital, and 
contains about 75,000 fouls, of which 10,coo only are 
Genevefe, 20,000 are French, and the remainder are 
Savoyards. The prefeft, as in all the other depart¬ 
ments, is appointed durante bene-placito. All military 
appointments are given to Frenchmen: one general 
commands the town, and another the country. At the 
firff moment of the revolution, all the old magiftrates 
were difplaced, ;utd fince that lime tlie civil officers 
have been elected by the citizens at large, confequenlly 
feme are Frenchmen, and fume Genevefe. 
The revenue of Geneva, fince it has been annexed to 
France, arifes cliiclly from the following fourdes :—An 
exclfe duty is laid on all provifions (wlieat excepted) ; 
on wine and merchandife of every defeription which is 
brought into Geneva ; the annual produce of this tax 
is about 120,000 French livres ; a land tax; a tax on 
doors and windows ; a tax on the fale of eftates ; a heavy 
tax on tlie collateral inlieritance of an eftate—where the 
inlieritance is lineal and immediate, the tax is moderate. 
To thefe taxes, or contributions as tiiey are called, muff' 
he added la contribution mobiliere, which is a fmall tax on 
perfonal property, and produces annually about 75,000 
livres. 
In the repiiihlic of letters, Geneva has obtained an 
honourable eminence. The works of Bonnet, Saud'ure, 
Mallet, De Luc, See. have imparted celebrity to the 
place which gave them birth. Here is a public library 
of very ancient effablifliment, a Critical Catalogue of 
which wa's publifhed a few years fince by M. Sennebier, 
who was then librarian. It has been frequently re¬ 
marked, not only that Geneva has produced a large pro¬ 
portion of men of letters, but that the hulk of its in¬ 
habitants have a more than ordinary ffiare of underfland- 
ing and information. This is perhaps to be accounted 
for by the effahlilhments wiiicli abound here of public 
fchools. Of thefe there are, in every pariiii, at leaff 
two, one for the education of hoys, and anotlier for 
girls : the number of fchools is proportioned to the 
I'izc .and pop'uiation of the pSriffi. Thefe fchools are 
fupported by a private fociety, natJiing more being re¬ 
quired from the parents of the children, than that they 
Ihuuldfend them to fclioo! clean. The academy, which, 
together witli the college, owes its eftablifliiii'ent to Cal¬ 
vin, is a I'ort of univerfity ; it has twelve profcflTors, 
who give gratuitous ledlures to ftudents, on the follov,'- 
ing twelve fubjeiSs :—the belles-lettres, pliilofophy, 
medicine, mathematics, law, education, oriental lan¬ 
guages, theology, facred hiffory, natural hiftory, clie- 
miffry, and political economy. The expences attached 
to all thefe inffitutions are defrayed by a fociety, deiva- 
miiiated La Societe Economique, compofed of many of the 
old clergy, inagillrates, and citizens of Geneva, wlio 
