376 H E L V 
The two avoyers were the higheft officers in the ftate. 
They were eledted by public votes, in the fovereign 
council, for life $ but were liable to be removed by the 
fame body v One of them only fup'ported the dignity, and 
exercifed the functions,of head of the republic; and they 
alternately exchanged their ftations every year, on Eafter 
Monday. The avoyer in office prefided both in the 
council and fenate, in each of which he had no regular 
voice, but only a carting vote : the great feal of the re¬ 
public was in his cuftody ; and a provincial jurifdidlion 
was annexed to his ftation. In hisabfence the ex-avoyer 
fupplied his place, and when he alfo was prevented from 
attending, he was authorized to appoint a fubrtitute, 
who however could not be either a treafurer or a ban¬ 
neret. During the harveft and vintage, which were con- 
fidered as vacations, one of the bannerets prefided in the 
lefs-frequent meetings that were held both of the fenate 
and council, and had the curtody of the great feal. The 
proceedings, on a vacancy in the fenate, were as follows. 
On the day, or morrow', of the interment of a deceafed 
fenator, the fenate and council met, and as many -balls 
as there were members prefect being put into two co¬ 
vered boxes, the fenators drew them out of one, and 
the counfellors out of the other : among the former were 
three gilt balls, and among the latter feven, the re¬ 
mainder being filvered over; and thofe who drew the 
ten golden balls were electors for the nomination of can¬ 
didates. Thefe three fenators and feven counfellors now 
withdrew behind a curtain, where they found printed 
lifts of all tjte members of the council who were eligible 
into the fenate : from one of thefe, each of them tore 
the name of the counfellor whom he meant to favour, 
and cancelled the remainder of the lift. Thefe names 
were next collected; and if they happened to be fewer 
than fix, a frefh choice of ten electors was made, who 
proceeded in the fame mariner, until the number of ten 
candidates was completed. Thefe candidates, witli their 
neareft of kin, immediately withdrew ; their names were 
affixed each to a box ; and a fecond choice, by lot, was 
made of electors, the number of golden balls being, in 
this initance, two-thirds of the members prefent. Each 
of thofe who drew a golden ball, dropped it into the 
box of the candidate to whom he gave his fuffrage; and 
on examining this ballot, the fix who had the feweft 
votes, and were hence excluded, were, together with 
their relations, called back into the aflembly. Four 
balls, two fiiver and two golden ones, were next put 
into a box; and the four remaining candidates, they 
having, previouily determined the precedency by lot, 
drew them : the two who drew golden balls were laftly 
put to-the ballot of the whole artembly; and he who 
now obtained the majority of votes, was declared duly 
eledled. The reafon of this repeated alternation by lot 
and ballot, cannot but be obvious to thofe who will 
beftow fome thought upon the lubjedt. Its greateft ex¬ 
cellence perhaps confided in making the chance of lots 
. apply chiefly to the eiediors, and not to, thofe who might 
pretend to the fuccetlion ; by which means the danger¬ 
ous effedts of a cabal were in a.great meafure obviated ; 
and yet’ a fair profpect of fuccefs was given to the meri¬ 
torious, while thofe wholly unqualified could entertain 
little hope of being preferred. 
The elections of the members of the council were 
thus condudted : The feizeniers, who were entrufted 
with a conliderable fhare in the eledlion of counfellors, 
were chofen out of the twelve tribes or abbeys, by the 
members of thofe bp,dies.who; being counfellors, had 
fe.ryed the office of bailiff. Their functions, being of a 
nature that required iio uncommon talents, their nomi¬ 
nation was left folely to the de.ci.fion;of chance. When¬ 
ever the great council determined upon completing their 
number, the fenate and the feizeniers were aflembled for 
the pufpofe, and proceeded to the nomination. • Here 
each of the avp.yers had.the right to. propofe two candi- 
E T I A. 
dates, and every other member one. The chancellor, 
the greffier or fecretary of (fate, the grand fautier or 
lieutenant of the police, and the uftier or keeper of the 
town-houfe, claimed alfo the privilege of naming each 
a candidate; and it feldom happened that any of thefe. 
nominees were rejected. The eledlors, it may well be 
imagined, in exercifing this privilege, gave the prefer¬ 
ence to theirTons, fons-in-law, brethren, or other near 
relations, which neceflarily fecured the feats in the 
council to a fma'll number of families. Stanyan ridicules, 
with fome humour, the amorous vifits that were ufually 
paid to the. daughters of the newly-created feizeniers, 
the inftant they were raifed to that ftation, previous to 
an eledlion into the great council ; while others aftert, 
in extenuation of the practice, that the fenatorial fami¬ 
lies, by the education and early experience they afforded 
to their youths, were likely to fit’them, preferably to 
others, for the complicated duties of a public ftation: 
they farther allege, that inftances of exclufion have not 
been wanting when the candidates propofed were noto- 
rioufly unqualified, or unworthy of fo eminent a ftation. 
About fifty of the vacancies having 'being thus filled, 
the remainder was provided for by an open eledlion. 
Each of the abbeys was required to fend in the names 
of thofe burghers who, being duly qualified, were more¬ 
over deemed worthy of the promotion. Thefe names 
were drawn by lot, and fucceftively proclaimed ; and 
each eledlor fignified his approbation of a candidate by 
rifing from his feat when the name was mentioned. An 
accurate account was kept of thofe who had thus pub¬ 
licly voted for each burgher; and, the whole being 1 
fumlned up, as many as were equal to the number o'f 
vacancies, having the majority of votes, were declared 
members of the great council. Although, in general, 
the counfellors were chofen out of not more than about 
feventy families, yet there feldom was an eledlion in 
which fome burghers of new families were not admitted 
to that dignity, and fome of late were ufually preferred 
out of the families of the Pays de Vaud. 
The page of hiftory does not exhibit a greater curio- 
fity than the conrtitution of Berne. A fingular, and at 
firft fight no doubt a ludicrous, eftablilhment, of which 
no inftance is to be met witli in any other government, 
was the mimic legiflature, which, under the name of the 
exterior Jiate, was a perfedt model of the real one, with 
all its officers, fundtions, ceremonies, and fubordinate 
departments. It confided of thofe burghers of diftin- 
guiflted families who had not yet attained the age re- 
quifite for real promotion : it appointed to fixty.fix bai¬ 
liwicks, which took their names from ruined caftjes, 
difperfed throughout the country, among which Hapf- 
burg was the principal : it had an exchequer, and, dif¬ 
fering in this from its archetype, fome debts. Great 
honours were paid to it in all public ceremonies, in 
which it greatly fimparted the fovereign council in ftate- 
linefs .and fplendour. Thefe diftindtions it doubtlefs 
owed to the confideration of its being, in fadt, a politi¬ 
cal feminary for the youths who were likely one day 
to arrive at the higheft offices in the ftate. Its avoyer 
feldom failed of promotion into the great council. Its 
badge, or coat of arms, an ape fitting on a lobfter, and 
viewing itfelf in a mirror, was no bad emblem of its 
mock confequence. 
The following is a fketch of the conrtitution of the 
ftate of Urf, between which and thofe of the other 
democratic cantons there was fcarcely any difference. The 
people met on ftated days, generally once a-year, in an 
open field, about four thoufand in number. At thefe 
allemblies, which were called the communities of the 
country, each male of the age of fixteen had his fuf¬ 
frage. They were opened by folemn prayers, and'oaths 
of fidelity and allegiance. The people next proceeded 
either to. confirm the old, or to elect new, magiftrates; 
confifting of the landamman, who was generally conti- 
