s intention, and his banns will then be published in the commune, and
a license sent him to marry. But if, having debts of your own or your
father's, you marry without giving notice, you are then no longer
belonging to the commune, and if you come back in distress, you will be
conveyed to the confines of the republic, and advised to seek the parish
of your wife in her country. If you are out of Switzerland with your
wife, every child that you have born you must give notice of by letter
to the commune, that it may be properly registered; and if you omit so
doing, those children have no claim on their return."

Such was the result of our conversation, and I repeat it for the benefit
of those who occupy themselves with our internal legislation.

I have been searching a long while for liberty, but I can find her
nowhere on this earth: let me be allegorical. If all the world are
still in love with the name of Liberty, how much more were all the world
in love with the nymph herself when she first made her appearance on
earth. Every one would possess her, and every one made the attempt, but
Liberty was not to be caught. How was it possible without her
destruction? After being harassed all over the world, and finding that
she never was allowed to take breath, she once more fled from her
pursuers, and, as they seized her garments, with the spring of the
chamois she burst away, and bounding from the world, saved herself in
Ether, where she remains to this day. Her dress was, however, left
behind, and was carried home in triumph. It is, however, composed of
such slippery materials as its former owner, and it escapes as it
pleases from one party to another. It is this dress of Liberty which we
now reverence as the goddess herself, and whatever is clothed with it
for the time receives the same adoration as would have been offered up
to the true shrine. Even Despotism, when in a very modest mood, will
clothe herself in the garb of Liberty.

Now there is really a sort of petty despotism in these _free_ cantons,
which would be considered very offensive in England. What would an
English farmer say, if he was told that he could not commence his
harvest without the permission of Government? Yet such is the case in
Switzerland, where there is a heavy fine if any one commences his
vintage before the time prescribed by the authorities. Your grapes may
be ripe, and be spoiled; you have to choose between that alternative, or
pay