of the council mounted a rough platform erected in the centre of the field, draped with black and white, and with two ancient-looking swords crossed before it. Close attention was given to the Landammann while he addressed them as “Trusty, faithful, and well-beloved confederates.” He submitted a report of the administration of affairs for the past year, and proposed a few new laws and some amendments to the old laws. These were five in number, only two of which were accepted, by the raising of hands, the vote being taken without discussion; though each man had full right to speak his own mind as long as he pleased. The President, on behalf of the council, took from a bag, not of silk, but of plain homespun material, the seal of state and surrendered it into the hands of those by whom it had been given; and in delivering up this official charge he concluded with the statement, that he had not voluntarily injured any one, and asked the pardon of any citizen who might think himself aggrieved. The President and the members of the council then retired and took their places as simple citizens in the ranks of their fellows, leaving the Canton for the time being, without any executive official, an absolute interregnum. In a few moments some one in the crowd placed in nomination for re-election the retiring President, and he was unanimously chosen; the same process was repeated as to all the other members of the council; they then returned to the platform and resumed possession of the seal of state. Some subordinate officials were chosen in a similar manner, all without opposition except in the case of the _grossweibel_, for which place, owing to some charges of intemperance against the incumbent, there had arisen quite a contest, resulting in a half-dozen names being placed in nomination, each one of whom submitted his claims in a few remarks. The vote was taken for the several candidates, in turn, by uplifted hands, and the executive council found it impossible to decide who had received the most votes, until five trials were had, when the old official was declared re-elected. Neither the voting nor the result of this unusual contest was accompanied with the slightest manifestation of feeling. The entire proceeding was marked by an earnest, serious, reverent decorum, as could be found in any church service. When the newly-chosen Landammann enters upon his office, he first binds himself by an oath to obey the law, and then administers to the multitude before him the same oath. There was a heart-stirring solemnity in hearing the voice of these thousands of freemen, beneath the canopy of heaven, in firm, clear accent, pledging themselves to obey the laws which they themselves had made. The Landammann’s oath was: “To promote the welfare and honor of his fatherland, and to preserve it from injury; to enforce the constitution and laws of his country, to protect, defend, and assist widows and orphans, as well as all other persons, to the best of his