turn, after the deaths of their fathers, fatigued with diſſipation, to enjoy their honours and eſtates, to ſupport thoſe laws which are ſo partial to their wiſhes; and to re-aſſume the manly ſimplicity of manners of their native country.
LETTER XIII.
SOLEURE.
My dear Sir,
THE canton of Soleure, ſeven leagues in breadth and twelve in length, contains fifty thouſand ſouls, and the Patrician families are in quiet poſſeſſion of all the public offices. The ſovereign is the city of Soleure; and the ſovereignty reſides in the grand council, conſiſting of two avoyers, who preſide alternately, and whoſe election depends upon the council, and all the citizens in general, who are divided into eleven tribes; of twenty-three of the thirty-three ſenators taken from the tribes, each of which furniſhes three; and of ſixty-ſix members who repreſent the citizens, and are taken alſo from the tribes in equal numbers, viz. ſix from each tribe.
The ſenate is compoſed of the two avoyers, and the thirty-three ſenators taken from the tribes, making thirty-five in all, who are called the little council, conduct the affairs of ſtate, and judge cauſes civil and criminal. The two councils make together the number of one hundred, without computing the avoyer in office, who preſides in chief. This body, named the grand council, makes laws and ſtatutes; treats of alliances, peace
