The Sun.
London, England, 1847-11-04 00:00:00

IMPORTANT from SWITZERLAND
(From the Journal des Debuts.)

The gravity and extent of the news which we have
received from Switzerland have made us resolve to
publish a half-sheet, notwithstanding the solemnity
of All Saints-day. We were not ill-informed yes-
terday, when we announced that the deputies of the
Sonderbund had quitted the Diet and Berne. This
event has now become notoriously public. Thus the
last thread which held back a catastrophe long fore-
seen, and ready to burst forth at any moment, is
broken, and, probably, blood has already been shed.
The circumstances which immediately preceded the
last attempts made by the deputies of the Sonder-
bund to avert this disaster and save Switzerland from
its effects, their endeavours to bring about a recon-
ciliation consistent with honour and security, the
disdain with which the Radicals received these
advance, their manifest wilfulness to decide by force
of arms a quarrel which themselves have provoked—
all this history of the two days is of the most serious
interest, and merits being related.
M. Sarrasin, deputy for Bale Town, having called
a meeting of the deputies of the majority at his own
house, to make another essay to bring about, upon
friendly grounds, a reconciliation so desirable, Messrs.
Bernard Meyer, Fournier, Bossard, and Muller, went
to him in the evening of the 27th. at his residence,
the Hotel du Faucon. A little time afterwards came
in M. Naeff, of St. Gall, and M. Boeschenstein, of
Schaffhausen. M. Nieff suggested that the question
of the Jesuits should be submitted to the Pope. M.
Bernard Meyer at once declared that the seven
cantons would readily assent to such a solution, par-
ticularly if, at the same time, the question of the con-
vents was also submitted to his Holiness. The two
parties, thinking that it might be possible to negotiate
upon these bases, agreed to propose the adjournment
of the sitting of the Diet until the 29th, in order to
have the next day, the 28th, a friendly meeting of the
representatives of every opinion. M. Naeff expressed
a hope that the majority would be disposed to lend
itself to a compromise, and the meeting separated with
hearts full of hope. On the following day the
deputies of the seven cantons came to the confe-
rence. They soon noticed the arrival of Messrs.
Naeff, Manzinger, Furrer, and Kern, but these
were all who came. The deputies of the Sunderbund
could not help, on seeing this, entertaining an
unfavourable presentiment. M. Bernard Meyer re-
peated the proposition of the preceding day, and as
M. Naeff observed that this was no more than a per-
sonal opinion, the Deputy from Lucerne then made
the proposition in his own name, that the question of
the Jesuits should be referred to the Pope. M.
Manzinger objected that, although such an arbiter
might be acceptable to Catholics, there were a great
number of the states forming the majority who be-
longed to the Protestant Church. M. Furrer said
that the majority would not consent to any other pro-
position than that the seven cantons should send a
deputation to the Pope, entreating him to recal the
Jesuits. This would be to require purely- and simply
the exclusion of the Jesuits, without deviating the
breadth of a line from the pretensions so frequently
expressed. If Lucerne wished to send away the
Jesuirs, it had no need to ask the Pope for permission.
This was also the reply of M. Bernard Meyer,
who ailed that they would melee. no con-
cession, and only wanted to have concession made
to thetn. Ile demanded what guarantee would be
given them, if they sent away the Jesuits, that
their independence, which wL:s threatened, should
remain untouched ? To this question no answer
was given. M. Meyer then formally put his pro-
positions, offering to present them to the Diet in the
name of the seven prepositions of Zug
as the basis of the negotiation, and not as an ulti •
roaturn, on condition that both should lay down
their arms. The distinctness of this language grexly
emhirrassA the Radicals. M. Forrer declared that
this condition was inadmissible ; that the Diet had
appoieted a commander-in-chief—had decreed the
formation of an army—had chosen a staff, and there-
fore would not put a stop to all this movement—that
they were not came to make propositions, or to accept
any, but only to :isten to those which might be made
to them. This speech made the most painful im-
pression upon the envoys from the seven cantons. M.
Bernard Meyer replied—Nothing is left for us but to
retire. Your plan is t-A3 evident for us to render our-
selves accomplices in it—you give us no answers ;
you will enter into no engagements—your only
object in negotiiting is to create delay, and gain
time to collect your forces ; and, when they are
ready, you will bring them down upon us and cru.h
us. We cannot submit to this scheme. Upon this
all arose. M. de Calme, deputy for Neufchatel, with
an emotion which almost deprived him of the power
of speech, grasped the hand of M. Bernard Meyer,
saying, "It is but too evident ! They wish not for
any means of conciliation !" Thus terminated the
conference. The deputies of the seven cantons came
to it with the most pacific intentions, ready to do any-
thing consistent with honour and duty to avoid war,
and hoping that they would find similar dispositions
in the minds of their confederates. But they found
only enemies, resolved to make no concessions, but
decided upon submitting all to the arbitrament of
arms. On the subsequent day they went to the
Diet, and, although unattended by hope, renewed
their endeavours at reconciliation. The first proposal
made by M. Bernard Meyer was that both parties
should disarm themselves and then negotiate. As-
suredly this offer was serious. To negotiate with
benefit, peace must be desired, and consequent*
the first step should be to renounce war. This pro-
position was put to the vote, but rejected by the
twelve. Again the same deputy got up and laid on the
table a note, comprising the preceding proposition of
the canton of Zug, and signed by the deputies of the
seven cantons. M. Bossard explained that this was
not meant as an ultimatum, but only as a basis for a
negotiation. This proposition also was rejected by
the majority of the twelve. While M. Bernard Meyer
was calling God to witness that the most ardent wish
of the seven cantons was to save their common coun-
try from the scourge of civil war, a deputy inter-
rupted him with a most gross and insulting apos-
trophe. lie complained of this, and demanded that
the deputy should be called to order. This was voted,
but only by the seven cantons, with Neufchatel and
Appenzel interior, Bale Town abstaining from voting
at all. Seeing all their attempts at conciliation
treated,.with disdain and repulsed, and every hope of
an amicable settlement vanish away, the deputies of
the seven cantons read to the Diet by the represen-
tative of Lucerne, the solemn declaration which we
subjoin, founding upon incontestable facts the con-
duct they hail resolved to pursue. They demonstrate
that the majority has already declared war against
the seven cantons. They recapitulate all the
attempts at conciliation which have been made
without effect ; the propositions to this end made by
Zug as a basis for negotiation ; the question of the
Jesuits submitted to the arbitrement of the univer-
sally venerated head of the Catholic Church ; the
proposition, made with a sincere love of peace, that
both parties should disarm themselves, and hold an
amicable assembly together to confer on the means of
establishing peace. "All these propositions," say the
deputations, " even the last, have been rejected. It
is, therefore, evident that there is no desire for a
pacific solution, however honourable to both parties,
and that another is sought for through the paths of
blood." M. Bernard Meyer deposited with this de-
claration a manifesto, which we also publish. This
done, he and all the other deputies of the seven can-
tons rose together and withdrew from the hall. The
Radicals affected to regard this scene with indiffer-
ence, and M. Druey, the deputy for Vaud, cried out
aloud—" A good journey to you." The President
then endeavoured to continue the order of the day.
The whole of this sitting, writes our correspondent,
presented a most striking spectacle. On one side a
physiognomy of conviction, simplicity, and dignity, a
painful but noble and profound feeling ; while on the
other side nothing was to be perceived but mockery,
The
deputies or affected lightness and indifference.
--the deputies of the seven cantons left Berne
on the 29th,
at two o'clock. They went
Openly
in
their carriages, with their huis-
si wearing the colours of their cantons. A
great crowd assembled before the residence of the
envoys from Intzern_e to see them depart. The peo-
ple were evideloeelcy filled with emotion and inquietude,
but not a single cry uttered. It is known that
of
the Government
has
pending all judicial proceed' rendered a decree sus-
ngs until further orders.
The Government of Berne
imitated
sfollawed this example,
i by
which will undo': btedly
beotherter the
cantons.
itii:eriru i
body
Thus the coursc of justice is
egup latd ive
greatest part of Switzerland. T
of Neufchatel assembled on the 29th and decided,
by a majority of 73 against 12, that the
tr
should trot march against the Sondels of
the
canton
The Ifelatie announces that at Berne, on the Sonderbund.
M. de Calame, deputy to the Diet from Neufchatel,2Bth,
went to M. Oc hsenbein, and announced to himtld
intention of his Government. M. Ochsenbein, upon
receiving this c, ummunication, replied that if the con-
tingent of Neurchatel did not answer the call, the
principality wound be immediately occupied by the Ra-
dical troops. Wed learn, moreover, from our corresyon_
dent, that this meter was laid before the Diet on the
29th; and was ref reed to the Radical committee
charged with all ;affairs relative to the Sonderbund,
and which is to make its report with promptitude
Thus, unless the .Radicals retrace their steps, Neuf.
chatal will join Via ranks of the Sonderbund,

DECLARATIO N INSERTED IN THE PRO-
TOCOL 0)? THE DIET, OCT. 29, 1847.1
The moment hog -arrived for the undersigned depu-
tailons--that is to say, for the deputations of the
states of Lucerne, 'Uri, Schwitz, Untef walden (Upper
and Lower), Zug, Friburg, and Valais—at which, in
consequence of the, conduct of the majori y of the j

cantons represented in the Diet, they must quit that
assembly.
To justify this proceeding they rely on the follow-
ing facts :
Discussions of the nature which is demanded by
the dignity and rights of the confederated states no
longer exist in the Diet. It is in the private confes
rences of the deputations of the twelve cantons of the
majority that is prepared and settled what is after-
wards converted into a resolution of the Diet.
The deliberation in the Diet is only a farce, with-
out real signification. When the most im-
portant affairs have to be treated, it is not
even considered necessary to place them on the or-
ders of the day ; mystery is observed with respect to
them in the letters of convocation, in the distribu-
tion of which the rules of propriety are also set aside
as regards the deputations which are not initiated in
the plans of the majority ; the matters of deliberation
are afterwards placed on the orders of the day in
secret sittings, and it is there that the decisions are
taken. And what decisions ? If the anti-federal
conduct which has just been signalised must pro-
foundly wound the feelings of the undersigned depu-
tations, it is not, however, to this cause that the im-
portant proceeding which they this day adopt must
be attributed, but to the nature of the decisions taken,
which, without any doubt, will cause civil war in the
course of a few days, and which at present ordain war
against the seven Catholic cantons.
These decisions decree the formation of a federal
army of 50,C00 men. But these soi-disant federal
troops are only to be levied in the 12 cantons of the
majority. The object of this measure is said to be
the maintenance of order, the re• establishment of it
where it may be disturbed, and the preservation of
the rights of the Confederation.
It is needless to enter into developments of the
sense which such words have in the mouths of the
deputies of the majority. The resolution gives, how-
ever, subsequently explanations in this respect. Legal
order has not been disturbed in any of the confede-
rated cantons, with the single exception of St. Gall,
where some military disturbances have taken place.
To put down these disturbances, an army of 50,000
men is not required ; and if 50,000 armed men are
called out, it is because another object is pursued, and
this object concerns the seven cantons. The mis-
sion is given to the Commandant-in-Chief to employ
his army for the re-establishment of order and legality
wherever an attack may be made on them, and for
the maintenance of the consideration which is due to
the Confederation." In consequence, from the mo-
ment at which the resolution was taken, the Com-
mandant-in-Chief has not only the authorisation, but
even the mission to put these troops in activity ; and
if thus far there have been no hostilities, it is to
another motive that the fact must be ascribed. The
division of the troops called put is besides of a nature
to dissipate the doubts which some deceitful words
might have allowed to subsist as to the veritable
object which they are destined to accomplish. If it
were not intended to carry war into the seven cantons,
but only to re-establish order, which has been dis-
turbed in one canton, why is the army re-assembled
in the states of Berne, Soleure, Argau, Zurich, and
Tessino ?
The body of armed troops which has been called
out is an army destined to combat the seven cantons.
The resolution from which war must arise, is, there-
fore, settled. Any moment may announce to us the
commencement of a civil war which merits our male-
dictions. We must, therefore, retire, for those who
swore to live with us as brothren and confederates in
good and in evil fortune, have drawn the sword against
us. We throw the responsibility of our proceeding
on those who have rendered it necessary.
The deputies of the seven cantons had adopted the
propositions made by the canton of Zug, and had
designated them as the basis of a conciliation. They
had in private conferences declared themselves ready,
in case their political rights and confessionals should
be guaranteed to them, to submit the questions re-
specting the Jesuits and the convents to the enlight-
ened decision of the universally venerated chief of the
Cathac Church ; they had demanded, as a proof of
the sincere love of peace existing on both sides, that
if at present it was not believed to be possible to
re-enter on a discussion of one or other of these
questions, at least arms should be laid down nci-
proc..lly, and the troops be dismissed, and that then
an amicable meeting should take place for confer-
ences .of peace. But all these propositions, even the
last, have been rejected. It is therefore evident that
a pacific solution, honourable for both parties, is
not desired, and that another is sought by sanguinary
means.
In order to establish clearly that we can be re-
proached with no fault, we this day address, in con-
junction with the present declaration, a manifesto to
the whole Swiss people, to present and future gene-
rations, and we also deposit it here, in order that it
may be inserted in the protocol of the Diet.
MANIFESTO OF THE CANTONS OF I.T'
CERN E, URI, SCHWYTZ, UNTER WALD 1.,
(UPPER AND LOWER), ZUG, FRIBURG,
AND THE VALAIS.
The delegates of the cantons of Berne, Zal ieh,
Glaris, Soleure, Schaffhausen, St. Gall, The 6ri,ons.
Argau, Thurgau, Tessino, Vaud, and G nova, by
order of their grand council, declare war egiinst the
cantons of Lucerne, Uri, Schwy tz, Unterwalden, Zug,
Friburg, and the Valais.
The delegates of these seven cantons, before leaving
the Diet, in consequence of the declaration of war of
the majority, find themselves under the necessity of
publishing the following declaration, addressed to the
people of the twenty-two sovereign states of the
Helvetic Confederation, to contemporaries, and to
posterity, in the form of a manifesto, and in order that
an eternal remembrance may be kept of it.
The war which the Governments of the twelve
cantons declare against the people of the seven sove-
reign co-cantons is an unjust war; the resistance
which the latter oppose to the former is a just re-
sistance.
The twelve delegates declare the union formed by
the seven cantons of Lucerne, Uri, Schwytz, Unter-
walden, Zug, Friburg, and the Valais, for the defence
of their territory and their sovereignty, to be contrary
to the Confederation, and dissolved, and as the seven
cantons consider this declaration as illegal, and will
not accept it for that reason, they are to be constrained
by the force of arms to conform to it, and to act in
consequence.
The essential character of perpetual confederations,
from the Confederation of Brunen of the 15th of De-
cember, 1307, to the Federal Confederation of Zurich
of the 15th of August, 1815, has always been the
union of the cantons of the Confederation with the
object of protecting the whole of the territory as well
as the territory of the separate cantons; in other
words, of protecting the independence of Switzerland
at the exterior, and the sovereignty of the cantons in
the interior. This is so true, that the three countries
of Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden, the founders of
the Swiss Confederation, league themselves with other
countries to protect the common independence against
the foreigner, whilst these countries, newly received
into the Confederation, remained entirely inde-
pendent one of another. When, after the dissolution
of the Confederation, which had endured for
nearly 500 years, by the central Helvetic Government,
and after its overthrow in 1803 by the interven-
tion of Napoleon, a general alliance comprised the
old and new members for the first time; and the first
article of this convention expressed the duty of the
members to guarantee reciprocally the constitution,
territory, liberty, and independence, both towards
foreign powers and against the usurpation of any
canton or any party whatsoever. But this first
general constitution of the Confederation did not
nevertheless satisfy the desire of the states of the
Confederation, because the sovereignty and the equal
rights of the states, existing from time immemorial,
had been restrained and injured by some of these dis-
positions. Thus, as soon as the European powers
had recognised the independence of Switzerland, on
30th May, 1814, by the treaty of Paris, they im-
posed, in an Act of 20th March, 1815, as a condition
of the guarantee of neutrality, the formal demand
made to the Confederation, that the existence in tact
of the cantons as states should form the basis of the
Swiss federal system. The Diet, in accordance with
the declarations made by the sovereign cantons, re
solved, the 27th May, 1815, to adhere to this Act-
and promised "that the conditions of the convention
incorporated in this Act should be faithfully and
conscientiously fulfilled." The Diet of 1815 kept
its word. The federal convention of 7th August,
1815, according to its form and tenor, is
nothing . else than an alliance or a convention
formed to protect the independence of the Swiss
Confederation before the foreigner, and the sovereignty
of the cantons in the interior. In the preamble of the
federal: pact, the states call themselves the sovereign
cantons of Switzerland, such as Zurich, Berne, Lu-
cerne, Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden, Glaris, Zug,
Priburg, Soleure, Bale, Schaffhausen, Appenzell, of
the two Rhodes, St. Gall, the Grisons, Argau, Thur-
gau, Tessino, Vaud, Valaie, Neufchatel, and Geneva.
each
federal state
The convention is signed and sealed in the name of
toaattehbywhich
the
wdase I etga
taken
ns
by
yf
the e
delegates
a c h s tate.
fT theh e
cantons on 7th August 181' and since that period in
all ordinary anrLirrai.ordin'ia'ry Diets, commences in
sovereign cantons of the e We,
the following
and with the authorisatio the delegates of the
Confederation, r a
thet io n
b,
oiunr
gthineesntarmes:
ciliors, syndics, minor anda.ns' chiefs, prefects, cowl-
%rand councils, and the
avoyers, mayors, lanciamin
whole communes of Zurich,
on.edeerrantieoiniikecv.entaktheeo,aiethie.:
colours of
n'tction and
In all the Diets of the C
y of the
And the
gates of the half cantons appear •
g?anccordance
their state. Can there be informwan
guarantee less equivocal of the sovertle;
twenty-two cantons of the Cpnfederaytioinn'
tenor of this convention is perfectl
with this form.

In the first article is indicated, as objects of the
Confederation of the twenty-two sovereign cantons,
the maintenance of their liberty, of their independence,

and of their security against all the attacks of foreign
powers, and the maintenance of tranquillity and order
at home. The states guarantee to each other reci-
procally their constitution and their territory, but the
sovereignty consists in nothing else than in the in-
violability of the territory, and in the liberty to con-
stitute themselves, and give themselves a constitution.
Order at home cannot consist in any other thing than
in the free and unrestricted exercise by any other can-
ton of the constitutional powers, the same as tranquil-
lity in the interior depends essentially on the
inviolability of the territory, and of the independent
existence of each canton. The two following articles
of the federal compact declare expressly that "an
army and common fund of the Confederation shall be
formed by the cantons, for the guarantee of the terri-
tory and of the constitutions, and for the maintenance
of neutrality, that is, for the double object for which
the Confederation is founded." The fourth article, in
order to ensure the sovereignty of the cantons and the
independence of Switzerland, gives to each canton the
right, when an exterior or interior danger appears, to
call for the aid of the co• cantons, and it imposes on
those the duty of affording such assistance; if, when
interior troubles are occurring, the danger continues,
and if the Government which is menaced demands it,
the Diet takes ulterior measures ; but, in the case of
exterior danger, all the arrangements for the safety of
the Confederation belong to the Diet. The sovereignty
of each particular state could not have been admitted
and guaranteed in a manner more clear and more abso-
lute. When a canton is menaced from interior dangers
—that is to say, from such as do not proceed from
foreign powers, it may call forth the aid of such of
the co-states as it desires, and each of the co-states
whose aid it asks is bound to afford it. It is true
that the cantons menaced ought to inform the direct-
ing
canton of the fact, but neither the latter, nor I
even the Diet, can take ulterior measures, if not at
the express demand of the Government menaced.
The eighth article, in speaking of the Diet, declares
that "it conducts, according to the previsions of the
federal compact, the affairs of the Confederation with
which it is charged by the sovereign cantons ; that it
is composed of delegates from the twelve cantons,
voting according to the instructions which they re-
ceive ; that each canton has one vote." This com-
position of the Diet, and the clause declaring that the
affairs alone with which it is charged by the sove-
reign states are within its competence, are unequivo-
cal proofs of the guarantee of the sovereignty of the
cantons. According to the ninth article of the con-
vention, the representatives adjoined to the directing
canton in extraordinary circumstances, and when a
prolongation of the Diet takes place, are chosen by
the cantons. The directing canton, according to
article 10 of the compact, possesses only the powers
which it had exercised up to 1798—namely, those
of directing affairs. The president and autho-
rity of the directing canton are cantonal
authorities. The Confederation recognises no
other power than that which emanates from
the sovereign states. All the cantons of the Con-
federation gave, on May 16, and Aug. 30, 1845, in a
letter addressed to the states of Schwytz and Nidwal-
den, an authentic interpretation of the federal com-
pact, declaring that, " according to the literal tenor
of paragraph 1 of the compact, the cantons, as sove-
reign states, form part of the Confederation, and
unite together to maintain their liberty and their in-
dependence. It results in an incontestable manner
that the federal compact, far from making an in-
fringement on the liberty, independence, and sove-
reignty of the cantons of Schwytz and Nidwalden,
on the contrary, contains a formal guarantee of their
,-ecurity." Thus, according to the lorm and contents
of the federal compact of August 7, 1815, the pro-
tection of the territory and of the sovereignty of each
canton is expressed as being one of the two principal
objects of this convention. It is, therefore, in ac-
cordance with the spirit and letter of the ancient
perpetual conventions, and with the basis of the Swiss
ftel,Tal system laid down by the European powers.
After the federal compact of all the 22 cantons of the
Confederation had been concluded, sealed, and sworn
to, the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland was
guaranteed on Dec. 20, 1815, by the European
Powers. That which the ancient perpetual conven-
tions contained ; that which the federal compact of
August 7, 1815, guarantees; that which the European
Powers admitted as the basis of the Swiss federal
system, as the condition of the perpetual neutrality of
Switzerland, viz., "the sovereignty of the cantons
and the inviolability of their territory," are what
the union of the states of Lucerne, Uri, Schwytz,
Unterwalden, Zug, Friburg, and the Valais,
aim at protecting. Such is the aim and tenor
of these conventions. The first article of the Act
of union runs literally thus :—" The cantons of Lu-
cern-, Uri, Schwytz, Unterwahlen, Zug, Friburg, and
th- ',"alais, mutually engage, as soon as one or more
them may be attacked, to repel the attack in corn-
„ m, and by all the means in their power to maintain
heir right of sovereignty and of territory, in virtue
of the federal compact of August 7th, 1815, and of
the ancient conventions." This article is clear - it
contains nothing else than what the ancient confede-
rations contain and guarantee literally and expressly.
Besides, the seven cantons have seized on every occa-
sion to add to the tenor of the Act of union for the
purpose of re assuring timorous minds the fornial
declaration that they have not entered into their union
but for the purpose of protecting. and defending their
territory and their sovereignty. What is more, they
have confirmed by the acts the truth of that declara-
tion, for notwithstanding all the inimical acts, and
the hostile measures of their co-cantons, they have
not for a moment quitted their legal position, and
have constantly confined themselves to ensure the
defence of their territory. The decision of the twelve
cantons of July 20th, which declared that union
to be dissolved, is, therefore, the destruction of
the right appertaining to the seven cantons, and
guaranteed by the federal compact, a right which
consists in protecting their territory and their
sovereignty. It is in vain that the twelve cantons
refer to art. 6 of the federal convention, which de-
clares :—" There shall not be concluded between
separate cantons any association prejudicial to the
general Confederation and to the rights of the other
cantons." For the union of the seven cantons cannot
he prejudicial to the general Confederation; it has
the same objects and means—namely, the summons
to act, and reciprocal assistance. It cannot be pre-
judicial to the rights of the other cantons, because it
only wants to protect the territory and sovereignty of
the cantons who concluded it, and because it in no
way causes any infringement on the territory and
sovereignty of the co-cantons. It is in rain that the
twelve cantons refer to art. 8 of the compact, pretend-
ing that the union of the seven cantons puts in peril
the interior safety of Switzerland, and that it ought,
consequently, to yield to the will of the majority. The
first assertion is inexact, as is proved by the tenor
of the Act of union, and by the declaration and the
manner of acting of the seven cantons; the second as-
sertion is in formal contradiction with the compact.
The assertion that the minority ought to yield to the
will of the majority is in genearl contrary to the com-
pact. There are but vary few well determined cases to
which it is applicable, and such cases are clearly
stated in the compact. In all other cases there must
be applied the rule founded on the right of nations
and on federal right—namely, that sovereign states
ought to be recognised and protected in the unlimited
possession and enjoyment of their rights of sove-
reignty, in such points as they are not formally and
expressly deprived of by conventions. It is precisely
this eighth article of the federal compact which is
referred to to establish the omnipotence of the majo-
rity of the Diet, that expressly rejects such omnipo-
tence, by according only to the Diet the regulation
of the affairs of the Confederation with which it is
charged by the sovereign states. According to the
whole tenor of the eighth article, the following para-
graph—" The Diet will adopt all measures necessary
for the internal and external safety of the confedera-
tion"—cannot have any other sense than this, that the
Diet exercises the military power of the Confederation
when such power is necessary in order to protect the
independence with respect to foreign powers, or when
called on to protect the sovereignty and the territory
of particular states. If it be attempted to attribute
to this paragraph the meaning that it authorises the
Diet to exercise political omnipotence, there is
an evident contradiction with the commencement
of the same article—with the spirit and tenor of

the whole federal compact. The twenty-two
sovereign cantons entered freely into the Confe-
deration, being in possession of absolute sovereignty,
and in order to protect that sovereignty from all at-
tack. They neither yielded up nor impaired that
sovereignty, either to the whole Confederation, or to
the majority of the members of the Confederation.
Thus, the moment the diet or the majority of the
diet place themselves in contradiction with the sove-

reignty of one or of several states, the latter are
authorized to resist the demands addressed to them.
It is only thus that it can be admitted that the
liberty, the independence, and the sovereignty of the
cantons can be protected and saved. There cannot
1
be any summons more unjust than that made by the
twelve cantons, having for its object to dissolve, by
force of arms and civil war, a union ofcantons contracted
to defend their territory and their sovereignty. Such
a proceeding goes the length of depriving sovereign
states, having all the same rights, of the right of
their own preservation, and of lawful defence—a
right belonging to every man, even to a sk.ve.
This summons would introduce into the free Con-
federation the despotism of a majority absorbing all
the individual sovereignties, and it is intended to
support this summons by force of arms and all the
horrors of civil war. A more unjust war cannot be
imagined than that which is proclaimed by the
twelve cantons of the Confederation, nor a resistance
more just than that which is opposed by the
sue: v
legitimateenoenl cantons, .dre'rlfo'ehtneoceseet
aawnnhddo
defend make
self-preservation ui
tssetoenrlryit oo
territory
yt
certainlyhe r i g ht
osprp:se a
sovereiiinty,

Confederation a minority of members, having equal
rights, claims this equality of rights, it combats for
the liberty of all its members, and for the indepen-
dence of the whole Confederation. All this is appli-
cable to the resistance of the seven cantons against
the violent decision of the twelve cantons. The union
of the seven cantons is commanded by the duty of
legitimate defence and self-preservation. In 1844,
the state of the Valais was convulsed in the interior
by a faction—the legitimate Government by the voice
of the directing canton, summoning the aid of the
states. The cantons of Berne and Vaud not only re-
fused it, but declared their intention of using force to
prevent aid being given by the other cantons. The
canton of the Valais deprived of all aid from the Con-
federation, saw itself reduced to its own resources,
but saved itself by the fidelity and bravery of its
citizens. In the, same year the disloyal citizens of the
canton of Lucerne united with the perjured citizens of
other cantons to raise the standard of revolt and
treason at Lucerne. The Government put down
these criminal projects. But more than one proof
was discovered that the neighbouring state of Berne
was not only initiated in these plans, but had
provided forces to support the execution of them.
Some refugees fomented in the territory of the co-
states their perfidious intrigues; they organised them-
selves under the eyes of the Governments of the Con-
federation, with the co-operation of officers, and
taking arms from the arsenals. It was in vain that
the State of Lucerne summoned the States whom the
affair concerned, to put a stop to these criminal pro-
ceedings. The most glaring facts were denied or
even excused, as was done by Argau. It was in vain
that the cantons of Lucerne and Zug applied to the
directing canton ; all that it did was limited to a cor-
respondence and some written exhortations, and even
the Diet, when invoked by the seven States, and
particularly by Lucerne, which was menaced, in
order that it might be guaranteed against the unheard-
of violation of its territory and its sovereignty, sepa-
rated without coming to any resolution, because the
majority of the States had no disposition to comply
with the just duty of the Confederation. The State
of Lucerne found fidelity and federal goodwill only in
its ancient allies, Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden, and
Zug, as well as in its confederates of Friburg and the
Valais, as much as depended on them. In that manner
the traitors of Lucerne, accompanied by the corpsfrancs
of Argovie, Berne, Soleure, and Bale Campagne, en-
tered, in the night of 30th March, 1845, in the canton
of Lucerne with arms, cannon, and munitions of war,
taken from the public arsenals. At their head were
the officers of the Confederation, magistrates and
functionaries of the allied co-states. The faithful
confederates of Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden, and Zug
alone gave assistance to Lucerne when attacked.
These events, unheard-of in a Confederation, showed
to the canton of Lucerne and to her faithful allies
the necessity of closely uniting for their legitimate
defence and their own preservation. They felt that
twelve cantons were no longer disposed to fulfil the
duty of co- operating for the defence of their territory
and of their sovereignty, and that some of them had
even assumed a hostile position. Scarcely had the
criminal plane of the corps francs been defeated by-
Lucerne and its faithful allies, with the visible assist-
ance of God, than the states themselves seized on the
pretext that the corps- francs had already so lightly
put ferward to dissimulate their revolutionary plans,
and to expel the order of the Society of
Jesus. Not satisfied with not having given
to the threatened and invaded territory of
a co-state the guarantee stipulated by treaties,
they even attacked the sovereignty of the
four sovereign cantons of Lucerne, Schwytz, Fri-
burg, and the Valais. The states of the Confederation
took upon themselves the attack in which the carps
francs had failed. The states who would not take
part in this illegal act were overthrown by unconsti-
tutional means, by disorder and revolution. In this
manner was the majority of the twelve formed. It
was the canton of Argau, which at the time of the
abolition aed pillage of the convents, opposed to a
not equivocal federal duty an absolute cantonal sove-
reignty, and which, in making the demand for the
expulsion of the Jesuits, in a manner declared war
against the cantonal sovereignty, and sought to pro-
cure an illegal power for the Confederation.
The twelve equal states who, at the commence-
ment, declared as contrary to the Confederation the
abolition and pillage of the convents of Argau, but
who since that had sanctioned those acts, out of
respect for the cantonal sovereignty of Argau, by
accepting the offers of that state, and by removing
the affair from the discussion of the Diet; these same
twelve states united themselves, in the demand of
Argau, for the expulsion of the Jesuits—made an
indirect attack on the sovereignty of the cantons
—and thus sapped the foundations of the Swiss
Confederation. None of those twelve states
could deny that the admission or the non-
admission of a religious order, the organisation
of establishments for education and worship, the
choice of professors and priests should not be
exclusively the province of cantonal sovereignty. An
experience of five hundred and forty years proves the
truth of this. It is only by the employment of dis-
graceful violence that it could be wished to prevent
the Catholic States from calling and keeping with
them a religious order recognised and approved by
the general church, and to select professors and priests
from that order. It is only by the most bitter irony
against sovereignty, guaranteed by conventions as the
fundamental basis of the Swiss Confederation, that it
could be sought to carry into effect by force of arms
such a decision dictated by violence. It was in
their full right that the seven cantons opposed such a
decision and its execution.
In thus acting they combatted for their existence,
and for their right of equality in the Confederation.
If these seven cantons had ever admitted that a ma-
jority might arbitrarily dispose of the minority; that
it might declare in its competency what was not
specially stipulated in the federal pact; if they
admitted the principle of the all-powerful policy
of the Diet, their existence would be destroyed by
the abolition of their right of equality. Since the ex-
istence of a Swiss Confederation the despotic prin-
ciple has never been admitted, that the minority of the
sovereign states was subservient to the majority, par-
ticularly in affairs incontestibly within the province
of cantonal sovereignty. It was reserved for the ty-
ranny in matters of faith of the nineteenth century in
Switzerland, to dare to publish the decision that the
sovereign Catholic states should, in order to admit or
expel professors or priests, bend the knee before the
Protestant states, and execute the orders of the ma-
jority. If that violence on the part of the majority
Ishould prevail, the federal convention, sworn to by
all the states, is
.destroyed, the spirit of the free Con-
federation has disappeared, and the execrable yoke of
central power weighs on the head of the oppressed
S tate
representation,s.'Su ch a state
according of
things would be equivalent to
to numerical order, a re-
form which must lead to the revision of the federal
pact, which has been so ardently sought for. The
l
seven States of Lucerne, Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden,
Zug, Friburg, and the Valais, have resolved to op •
pose a resistance for life or death to such a resolu-
tion of the Confederation.
The Governments of the twelve States of Berne,
Zurich, Glaris, Soleure, Schaffhausen, St. Gall, the
Grisons, Argau, Thurgau, Tessino, Vaud, and Geneva,
have drawn the sword fur an unjust war. The Go-
vernments and inhabitants of the States of Lucerne,
Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden, Zug, Friburg, and the
Valais, will draw theirs in their legitimate defence.
A sacred oath unites you to us—you, confederates of
the States, whose authorities lead-you to a sanguinary
war against us. You are sworn, as well as we, to
faithfully and constantly maintain the confederated
alliance, and to sacrifice for it, if necessary, your lives
and your property.
But your authorities tear up the alliance, and make
war upon the confederates and the founders of the
Confederation. You are called upon to shed your
blood to execute their decree against the Confedera-
tion. You are called upon to sacrifice your pro-
pertyin an endeavour to despoil that of your faithful
confederates. You have taken with us a sacred oath
to contribute to the prosperity of our common coun-
try, and to protect it against all calamity, yet your
authorities are plunging the country into civil war,
not to promote its prosperity, hut to execute their
decree against confederates. They are precipita-
ting the Confederation which is the admira-
tion of all nations, into the abyss where
it must meet with destruction, and, instead of
watching over the prosperity of each particular.
State, they desire to destoy the liberty and sove-
reignty of the seven cantons. You have sworn to
live with us as brothers in good and bad fortune.
Have we not always kept our oath ? Have we not
always rejoiced when you were happy? Have we
not always shared your misfortunes ? Have we ever
shackled your independence and your rights ? Your
authorities, however,
in the midst of peace, have de-
stroyed our Catholic institutions, and it was from
your territory that came the attacks of the free corps
against one of our cantons, which they plunged in
distress. Your authorities have kept up these bands,
and wish now, by civil war, to carry to the highest
point, by civil war, the offences of which they were
guilty. You have sworn, as well as us to ao all that
honour and duty impose on faithful confederates.
Mention to us a duty which we have not fulfilled
towards you. Your authorities substitute their sum-
mons fur the duties which are imposed upon them ;
they support traitors and assassins; they grant no
protection to our innocent fellow-citizens, destroy our
commerce, carry off our property, invest our frontiers,
and declare war against us in your name. You have
taken the oath to us solemnly in the name of Almighty
God,:adding, "Et qu'ainsi it nous soit en aide.', Think
of this, the confederation has existed 500 years with
the aid of God. This all-powerful God in His Holy
Trinity protects right and punishes perjury. Strong
in our right, we oppose resistance, and you attack us
with a conviction of your error. In the midst of our
afllction we place all our confidence in God, and we
submit ourselves to his will.

We have received a supplement of Revue de
Geneve of the 30th ult. fl•
It
,n,nrmq us thst the news
of the un,atistactory re,ult of the
Berne had reached Geneva, and states that the fault
was entirely on the side of the Sonderbund, which,
it says, had been formed not simply in a defensive
point of view, but in order to dispute any decisions
of the Diet which might be disagreeable to it. A
courier had arrived at Geneva from the Federal Di-
rectory, with instructions from the Federal Directory
to call out the whole of the contingent. This journal
states that three battalions of infantry and a battalion
of carbineers of the Upper Valais, with some artillery,
have occupied St. Maurice and the Lower Valais, and
that the canton of Vaud has 12,000 men under arms,
a part of whom have been directed to Vevey and
Aigle, and the remainder to Moudon, Lucens, Pay-
erne, and Avenches. Four companies of artillery,
four of cavalry, and four of carbineers have also been
called into active service. The federal army forms
six divisions, five of which are commanded by Colo-
nels Burckardt, Rilliet Constant, Donatz, Ziegler,
and Gmur. The sixth division is to act as a corps of
observation under Colonel Luvini.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, Nov. 2.—The Terrible steam-frigate,
Captain Ramsay, arrived at Spithead this morning
(St. Helen's last night) from Lisbon, bringing the
latest news from Portugal. The Terrible brought
Colonel Sir Horace Seymour and the Dowager Lady
Clinton, who went out in the suite of the Queen
Dowager to Lisbon, in the Howe; Commander
Thomas Miller, and Lieutenant Arthur Warre, on
promotion from the Caledonia, 120 ; and Major
Strantham, Captain Grey, Lieutenants Croker, Fitz-
gerald, and Taylor, of the Royal Marines, and the
172 men under their command who were sent out in
the Sidon to guard the Portuguese prisoners. The
Terrible towed the Howe, 120, with the Queen
Dowager on board, out to Fort St. Julian's on the
day prior to her leaving for England. At the time
she had the three decker in tow, there being a fearful
swell off the rock of Lisbon, the hawsers parted,
which nearly caused the Howe to go on shore; she
let go her anchor, however, and brought up. The
Vixen steam sloop sailed on Monday, the 25th ult., for
Madeira, en route to Mexico, but left her anchor in the
Tagus, which was fished up by the Vengeance, and
brought home by the Terrible. Two French frigates
and a Spanish corvette were in the Tagus ; the latter
arrived the day before the Terrible left ; in addition
to which there was the St. Vincent, Caledonia,
Queen, Vengeance, Canopus, Odin, Dragon, and
Avenger. Prior to leaving, the Queen Dowager
presented the Duke de Terceira, Master of the
Horse to the Queen of Portugal, with a superb gold
box set with diamonds, value 200 guineas, as a mark
of her respect, her Majesty having used the Queen
of Portugal's equipages once; also 1001. to Sir Ha-
milton Seymour, the British Minister, to be distri-
buted amongst the poor of Lisbon ; and 1001. for the
servants of the Palace of the Necessidades. We
regret to state that diarrhaia had been very prevalent
in the fleet at Lisbon, and typhus had broken cut
about three days before the Terrible left. A marine
of the Caledonia named Bray, died, also, two days
before the Terrible left, and three fresh cases had
broken out on board the Caledonia. Sir Charles
Napier continued to exercise the fleet daily in vari-
ous manamvres, in which the Caledonia and Queen
are awarded the palm of superior smartness, Caledonia
especially.
On Tuesday her Majesty the Queen Dowager
visited the St. Vincent, and expressed herself very
much pleased with the way in which she had been
received by the squadron on her arrival.
A man belonging to the Queen was unfortunately
drowned on the night of the 27th, owing to a boat
capsising alongside, having got athwart hawse. The
ebb runs at the rate of seven knots. It is a wonder
there are not more accidents. Few such squadrons
can boast of less. Future movements of the squadron
not known at present.
Squadron lying at Lisbon on the 28th—
The St. Vincent (flag), Queen, Caledonia, Canopus,
Vengeance, Odin, Avenger, and Dragon, moored off
Belem. The French frigates, Iphigenie (gunnery)
awl Armeide, and two steam frigates; one Portuguese
line-of-battle-ship, frigate, corvette, and one steamer;
also a Spanish corvette.
The Terrible brought some dispatches from the
British Minister and Commander-in-Chief at Lisbon.
Captain H. T. Austin, with the officers and men
who were employed in navigating the Blenheim, 56,
to this port, embarked last night on board the Rhada-
manthus steam transport, Master-commanding, Jona-
than Aylen, but not early enough to admit of the
steamer getting away as was expected and intended,
before dark. She sailed for Sheerness soon after
daylight this morning.
The Comet steam vessel, Commander Johnson, was
at Holyhead on the first instant, into which place she
put to replenish fuel on the previous day. On the
morning of the 30th ult., from the fall of a boom on
board the dredging machine, one of the extra riggers
(Elliot Broadfoot) was killed on the spot, the boom
having struck him on the head. An inquest has
been held upon the body, and a verdict in accordance
with the circumstances of the catastrophe returned.
On the 2.1 instant the Comet left Holyhead for Port
Patrick with the dredging engine in tow. The
Torch iron steam-vessel, Lieutenant-Commander
Morris, was in Holyhead harbour at the above date,
getting ready for sea.
The Birkenhead iron steam-transport, Commander
Ingram, is ordered to be expedited, by extra exertions
on the part of the dockyard men, as her services are
required without delay to proceed to Plymouth, ship
meal for Cork, and 60 riggers frOm that dockyard for
Pembroke, whence she proceeds to Cork to discharge
her cargo of meal, thence to Kinsale, and embark
troops for Bristol.
CHATHAM, Nov. 3.—The Meander, 44 guns, was
commissioned yesterday afternoon by Lieutenant N.
J. Reed, late of the Asia. This ship was taken
alongside of the sheer hulk, and her masts were taken
out for inspection. She is to be fitted with all dis-
patch for sea. Her armament is to consist of the
following guns :—Her main deck is to have two 8-
inch guns, weight 60 cwt. each, and length 8 feet
10 inches ; and 26 guns, 32-pounders, weight of each
40 cwt., length 7 feet 6 inches, Congraves; and for
her quarter-deck and forecastle, four 32-pounders,
45 cwt. each, and 8 feet 6 inches in length, Congraves;
and twelve 32 carronades, 17 cwt. each. This fine
ship is to be in command of the Hon. Henry Keppel,
late of the Dido, and whose commission is dated sth
December, 1837.
Wooewieir, Nov. 3.—The Hydra steam-vessel
got up her steam yesterday to try her engines down
the river, but could not proceed far in consequence .of
the thick fog which came on during the early part of
the day.
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty issued
instructions in January, 1843, to the master-eyi,
wright in Chatham Dockyard, to have the mainmast
Curacoa, 24, then fitting at that port, joined with'
marine glue, to test its capabilities for that purpose.
The mast was accordingly made of several pieces of
timber joined together, under the immediate super-
intendence of Mr. Jeffery, and when completed mea-
sured 28 inches in diameter and 66 feet in length,
and, when put up with the topmast, 90 feet 10
inches. The Curacoa was soon afterwards com-
missioned by Captain Sir Thomas Pasley, Bart., and
proceeded to the South American station, and after
serving the usual period was ordered home and re-
cently paid off at Sheerness. The vessel having been
dismasted, their Lordships ordered that the mast should
be opened, as is usual after four years' service, to
ascertain its present condition. The master-ship-
wright, Mr. Isaac Watts, at Sheerness Dockyard, in
compliance with their Lordships' order, set eight men
to work yesterday with sledge hammers and wedges
to separate the timbers, but their whole united efforts
at one time failed in separating the joints, and only
split the solid timber into large pieces. Mr. Watts
then considered it best to have the mast cut into sec-
tions about eight feet long, for one piece to be trans-
mitted to each dockyard, to satisfy the master. ship-
wrights that they were correct in their judgment
when they assembled in committee and reported to
the Government, that this invention was " one of
the most valuable discoveries of modern days f,r
fet i
y adhesive throughout,
as
a and
fortnight h e
after
ship-building purposes." On the mast being cut
into pieces, it presented a most perfect and sound
marinein-
teriorits asagplupelicwaatison.T
pehre-
foremast which was j Aned in the upper part in the
usual manner adopted at the dockyards was found to
be very rotten, the parts where the wet had entered
and been retained yielding to the pressure of the
hand like a piece of sponge, and in other places,
where dry, crumbled into powder on being pressed.
Both masts being in the same vessel, and exposed to
the same weather and climates, afford a correct com-
parison, and pieces of each have been sent to the
Admiralty for their Lordships' inspection. The ori-
ginal cost of a mast of the same dimensions as the
main mast of the Curacoa is upwards of 250/. ; and
now that it has been proved by upwards of four years'
trial that " made" masts joined with marine glue
are equally serviceable after that period as when
first made, the saving to the country would be very
great were all the future made mainmasts for vessels

and ships in the royal navy to be joined with ~that
substance.

TUE UNEMPLOYED.—Yesterday forenoon, a num-
berunemployed on Blakeley Moor,
of unemployed factory operatives walked in pro-
hceesasdi.on
Athrmouegetliintgheoftothwen' with a drum and fife at their
was spoken of, hut did not take place at the time stated.
—Manchester Guardian.

DISINTERMENT AND REBURIAL OF THE BODY OF
Jonx TAWELL.— In consequence of the disposal of the
property within the confines of the old gaol at Ayles-
bury, the body of John Tawell, who was executed
about two years since, for the murder of Sarah Hart, at
Salt-hill, has just been disinterred by order of the
visiting justices, and again buried within the precincts of
the new prison,