their term of office is at an end, the trust which
has been placed in their hands falls back into the
hands of those by whom it was given, into the hands
of the sovereign people. The chief of the commonwealth,
now such no longer, leaves his seat of office, and
takes his place as a simple citizen in the ranks of
his fellows. It rests with the freewill of the
Assembly to call him back to his chair of office,
or to set another there in his stead. Men who
have neither looked into the history of the past, nor
yet troubled themselves to learn what happens year
by year in their own age, are fond of declaiming against
the caprice and ingratitude of the people, and of
telling us that under a democratic government neither
men nor measures can remain for an hour unchanged.
The witness alike of the present and of the past is
an answer to baseless theories like these. The
spirit which made democratic Athens year by year bestow
her highest offices on the patrician Perikles and
the reactionary Phokion, still lives in the democracies
of Switzerland. The ministers of kings, whether
despotic or constitutional, may vainly envy the sure
tenure of office which falls to the lot of those who
are chosen to rule by the voice of the people.
Alike in the whole Confederation and in the single
Canton, re-election is the rule; the rejection of
the outgoing magistrate is the rare exception.
The Landammann of Uri, whom his countrymen have raised
to the seat of honour, and who has done nothing to
lose their confidence, need not fear that when he
has gone to the place of meeting in the pomp of office,
his place in the march homeward will be transferred
to another against his will.
E.
A. FREEMAN.
[Notes: Uri. A Swiss canton which, early
in the 14th century, united with Unterwalden and Schwytz
to form the Swiss Confederation.
Sempach (1386) and Morgarten (1315),
both great victories won by the Swiss over the Austrians.
——Charles the Bold of Burgundy
was defeated by the Swiss in 1476 at Morat.
_ Perikles_. A great orator and statesman, who,
in the middle of the 5th century, B.C., guided the
policy of Athens, and made her the centre of literature,
philosophy, and art.
_ Phokion _. An Athenian statesman of the 4th
century B.C., who opposed Demosthenes in his efforts
to resist Philip of Macedon. His reactionary
policy was atoned for by the uprightness of his character.]
* * * *
*
LIBERTY.
’Tis
liberty alone that gives the flower
Of fleeting
life its lustre and perfume;
And we are
weeds without it. All constraint,
Except what
wisdom lays on evil men,
Is evil:
hurts the faculties, impedes
Their progress
in the road of science: blinds
The eyesight
of Discovery; and begets,
In those
that suffer it, a sordid mind
Bestial,