Constitution and Government.

The present Constitution of Saxony dates from Sept. 4, 1831; but has undergone alterations and modifications by the laws of March 31, 1849; May 5, 1851; November 27, 1860; and October 19, 1861. According to the terms of the Constitution, the crown is hereditary in the male line; but, at the extinction of the latter, also in the female line. The sovereign comes of age at the completed eighteenth year, and, during his minority, the nearest heir to the throne takes the regency. In the hands of the king is the sole executive power, which he exercises through responsible ministers. The legislature is jointly in the king and Parliament, the latter consisting of two chambers. The Upper Chamber comprises the princes of the blood royal; the proprietors of eight baronial domains; twelve deputies elected by the owners of other nobiliar estates; ten noble proprietors nominated by the king for life; the burgomasters of eight towns; and the superintendents and deputies of five collegiate institutions, of the university of Leipzig, and of the Roman Catholic chapter or St. Peter at Bautzen. The Lower Chamber is made up of twenty deputies of landed proprietors; twenty-five of towns and city corporations; twenty-five of peasants and cominunes; and ten representatives of commerce and manufacturing industry. The qualification for a seat in the Upper House, as well as the right of election to the same, is the possession of a landed estate worth at least 3,000 mark a year; which qualification, however, is not required by the ex officio deputies of chapters and universities. To be a member of the Lower House, no fixed income is required; and electors are all 'men above twenty-five years of age who pay taxes, or contribute in any way to the public burdens. A salary is attached to the performance of the legislative functions; the members of the Upper House being allowed 20 mark, or one pound a day, during the sittings of Parliament, and the deputies to the Second Chamber 10 mark, or 10s. Both Houses have the right to make propositions for new laws, the bills for which, however, must come from the ministry. No taxes can be made, levied, or altered without the sanction of both Chambers.

The executive is in the king and a Council of Ministers, consisting of five members, namely, the President of the Council, the Ministers of the Interior, of Justice, of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs, and of Finance.

Church and Education.

Although the royal family profess the Roman Catholic religion, the vast majority of the inhabitants are Protestants. At the census

of December 1, 1871, the population of Saxony was composed of 2,493,422 Lutherans; 53,642 Roman Catholics; 554 Greek Catholics; 3,467 members of other Christian sects; and 3,358 Jews. The clergy are chiefly paid out of local rates and from endowments, the budget contribution of the State to the department of ecclesiastical affairs amounting to but 85,593 thalers, or about 12,8301., chiefly spent in administrative salaries. The government of the Protestant Church is entrusted to the Landes-Consistorium, or National Consistory, presided over by the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs; while the Roman Catholic congregations are under the supervision of a Papal delegate. Public education has reached the highest point in Saxony, every child, without exception, partaking of its benefits. By a law of June 6, 1835, attendance at school, or under properly qualified teachers, is made compulsory, for Roman Catholics as well as Protestants.

The kingdom has the second largest university in Germany, that of Leipzig, founded in 1409, and attended, on the average of recent years, by nearly three thousand students. (For number of professors, teachers, and students of each of the four faculties, at the university in the semester of 1877-78, see Germany, p. 97.)

Revenue and Expenditure.

The public revenue of Saxony amounted to 47,492,919 mark, or 2,374,645l., in the year 1874, and was balanced by the expenditure. The budget estimates for each of the years 1876 and 1877 were calculated upon a revenue of 136,380,884 mark, or 6,819,0447., and an expenditure of the same amount. More than one-half of the total revenue of 1874 was derived from domains and state railways, the former producing 8,106,957 mark, or 405,347, and the latter 17,760,651 mark, or 888,0321. The chief branch of expenditure is that of interest on the public debt, amounting to 13,072,359 mark, or 653,6177., for the year 1874.

The public debt amounted, at the end of 1876, to 340,888,050 mark, or 17,044,4027., the liabilities being made up as follows:

The debt was incurred almost entirely for the establishment and purchase of a network of railways and telegraphs, and the promotion of other works of public utility.

Area and Population.

Saxony has an area of 272 geographical, or 6,777 English square miles, with a population of 2,760,342-comprising 1,365,962 males, and 1,394,380 females-at the census of December 1, 1875. The kingdom is divided into four government districts, called KreisHauptmannschaften, the area of which, in English square miles, and population, was as follows at each of the two enumerations of December 1, 1871, and December 1, 1875:

At the census of December 3, 1867, the population numbered 2,426,300. The increase in the four years 1867-71 was 129,944, being at the rate of 1:30 per cent. per annum. The increase of population during the three years 1871-75 was at the rate of 1.92 The increase from 1871 to 1875 was nearly per cent. per annum. thrice as large in the towns as in the rural districts of the kingdom. Saxony has a comparatively large town population. There were, at the census of December 1, 1875, eight towns with a population of more than 20,000, namely:

The population of Leipzig is vastly increased during the period of the great annual fairs, at New Year, Easter, and Michaelmas, notably that of Easter, which bring together merchants from all parts of the civilised world. According to a report of the British ConsulGeneral, Baron Tauchnitz, the total quantity of goods manufactured in Germany, imported into Leipzig at the fairs in the year 1875 amounted to 378,449 zentner, or cwts. Leipzig is also the centre of the German, and to some extent European, trade in productions of the printing press.

V. BADEN.

(GROSSHERZOGTHUM BADEN.)

Reigning Sovereign and Family.

Friedrich I., Grand-duke of Baden, born September 9, 1826, second son of Grand-duke Leopold I., and of Princess Sophie of Sweden. Ascended the throne of Baden at the death of his father, April 24, 1852. Married, September 20, 1856, to Grand-duchess Louise, born December 3, 1838, the daughter of King Wilhelm I. of Prussia. Offspring of the union are 1. Friedrich Wilhelm, heirapparent, born July 9, 1857. 2. Victoria, born August 7, 1862. 3. Ludwig, born June 12, 1865.

Brothers and Sisters of the Grand-duke.-1. Princess Alexandrine, born December 6, 1820; married, May 3, 1842, to Duke Ernst of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. 2. Prince Wilhelm, born December 18, 1829; married, February 11, 1863, to Princess Maria Romanovska, born October 16, 1841, daughter of the late Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg, offspring of which union are two children, namely, Marie, born July 26, 1865, and Maximilian, born July 10, 1867. 3. Prince Karl, born March 9, 1832; married, May 17, 1871, to Rosalie von Beust, elevated Countess von Rhena, born June 10, 1845. 4. Princess Marie, born November 20, 1834; married, September 11, 1858, to Prince Ernst of Leiningen. 5. Princess Cecilia, born Sept. 20, 1839; married, Aug, 28, 1857, to Grand-duke Michael of Russia. The title of Grand-duke was given by Napoleon I. to Margrave Karl Friedrich of Baden in 1806, on the occasion of the alliance of the heir-apparent of Baden with Stephanie Beauharnais.

The very extensive landed property formerly belonging to the reigning family, and valued at about 50 million florins, or 4, 166,000Z., has been made over to the State, and the Grand-duke is in the receipt of a civil list of 1,498,635 mark, or 74,9317., which includes the allowances made to the princes and princesses.

Constitution and Revenue.

The Constitution of Baden vests the executive power in the Grand-duke, and the legislative authority in a House of Parliament composed of two Chambers. The Upper Chamber comprises the princes of the reigning line who are of age; the heads of ten noble families; the proprietors of hereditary landed estates worth 500,000 mark, or 25,000l.; the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Freiburg; the superintendent of the Protestant Church; two deputies of

Universities; and eight members nominated by the Grand-duke, without regard to rank or birth. The Second Chamber is composed of 63 representatives of the people, 22 of which are elected by burgesses of towns, and 41 by the inhabitants of rural districts. Every citizen not convicted of crime, nor receiving parish relief, has a vote in the elections. To be a deputy, it is necessary to possess tax-paying property to the amount of 16,000 mark, or 8001.; or to hold a public office with a salary of not less than 2,500 mark, or 1257. The elections are indirect; the citizens nominating the Wahlmänner, or deputy-electors, and the latter the representatives. The members of the Second Chamber are elected for eight years. The Chambers have to be called together at least once every two years.

The executive is composed of five departments, headed by the 'Private Cabinet of the Grand-duke,' which office is filled by the chief of the cabinet. The departments are, of the Grand-ducal House; of the Interior; of Justice; of Finances; and of Commerce. The ministers are individually and collectively responsible for their actions, both to the legislature and to every individual citizen who may choose to lodge complaints against them before the 'Oberhofgericht,' or Superior Tribunal of the country.

The budget estimates of revenue for the year 1876 amounted to 24,123,300 mark, or 1,206,1607., while the expenditure was calculated at 25,770,100 mark, or 1,288,505l., leaving a deficit of 1,646,800 mark, or 82,3401. The greater part of the revenue is derived from direct taxes, including a land tax-Grundsteuer-and an income tax. About one-fourth of the receipts come from the produce of crown lands, forests, and mines, and one-sixth from customs and miscellaneous sources. Rather more than one-third of the expenditure is set down under the head of 'General cost of administration.' The contribution to Imperial expenditure amounted to 3,241,600 mark, or 167,0807., in 1876.

Nearly all the railways of Baden are the property of the State, giving a dividend, on the capital expended, of above 6 per cent. The accounts of the income and expenditure of the State railways, as well as of the Post-office and steam navigation on the Lake of Constance, are not entered in the general budget, but form a special fund. The estimated receipts of this fund in the two years 1874 and 1875 amounted to 129,329,868 mark, or 6,466,4937., and the disbursements to 161,292,374 mark, or 8,064,6181. The deficit was caused by expenditure in the construction of new lines. The State railways left a profit of 10,259,939 mark, or 512,9967., in the year 1875.

The public debt is divided into two parts, the first called the General debt, and the second the Railway debt. The General debt amounted, at the commencement of 1876, to 85,269,414