of the kingdom; 6 deputies of the Protestant clergy; the deputies of the Roman Catholic clergy, comprising the bishop of the diocese of Württemberg, and two other representatives of Roman Catholic bodies; the chancellor of the university of Tübingen; and 71 deputies of towns and rural districts. All the members of the second Chamber are chosen for six years, and they must be thirty years of age; property qualification is not necessary. To be a member of the first Chamber it is sufficient to be of age. The president of both Houses is appointed by the king; for the Upper House without restriction of person, and for the lower, from among three members elected by the deputies. The debates of the second Chamber are public, and have to be printed and distributed among the various constituencies. Whenever Parliament is not sitting, it is represented by a committee of twelve persons, consisting of the presidents of both Chambers, two members of the Upper, and eight of the Lower House. A special court of justice, called the Staats-Gerichtshof, is appointed guardian of the constitution and of the rights and privileges of the Houses of Parliament. It is composed of a president and twelve members, six of which, together with the president, are nominated by the king, while the other six are elected by the combined Chambers.

The executive of the kingdom is in a Privy Council, composed of six ministerial departments, and presided over by the king, or a member of the royal family nominated by his majesty. The heads of the six departments are the Ministers of Justice; of the Interior; of Public Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs; of War; of Foreign Affairs; and of Finance. There are besides the members of the Ministry a number of special Privy Councillors, whom the sovereign has the right to consult on all occasions.

Church and Education.

The census of Württemberg, taken December 1, 1880, stated the religious creed of the inhabitants as follows:-Evangelical Protestants, 1,361,412; Roman Catholics, 590,405; Dissenters of various denominations, 5,870; and Jews, 13,326. According to the census of 1875, the Protestants form 69 per cent. of the population, and the Roman Catholics 30 per cent. The 'Evangelical Protestant' Church of Württemberg was formed in 1823, by a union of the Lutherans. and the Calvinists, or Reformers. The administration of the Protestant Church is in the hands of six general superintendents, at Ulm, Ludwigsburg, Reutlingen, Hall, Heilbronn, and Tübingen. In the king is vested, according to the constitution, the supreme direction as well as the guardianship-obersthoheitliche Schutz und Aufsichtsrecht-of the Evangelical Protestant Church,

which is considered, though not formally declared, the religion of the State. The Roman Catholics, most numerous in the eastern part of the kingdom, comprising the circle of the Danube, are under a bishop, dependent of the Archbishop of Freiburg, in Baden, who has his seat at Rottenburg, but who, in all important matters, has to act in conjunction with a Catholic church-council-Kirchenrath— appointed by the government. The Jews likewise are under a special board, nominated by the minister of ecclesiastical affairs.

Education is compulsory in Württemberg; every child between the age of 6 and 14 must attend school; and there must be a public school in every community of 30 families. It was ascertained, according to recent official returns, that there is not an individual in the kingdom, above the age of ten, unable to read and write. There are about 2,500 elementary schools, attended by 350,000 pupils; besides numerous seminaries for imparting a classical education; four Protestant and two Roman Catholic training establishments for ministers, and seven colleges, providing a classical education, at Stuttgart, Heilbronn, Ulm, Ellwangen, Ludwigsburg, Hall, and Rottweil. The whole educational system is centred in the university of Tübingen, founded in 1477. (See Germany, p. 97.)

Revenue and Expenditure.

Nearly one-half of the public revenue of the kingdom is divided from domains, including vast forests, and other State property, such as railways, telegraphs, and mines.

The financial year, which formerly ended with the month of June, was changed in 1878 to finish with March. The estimated sources of revenue and branches of expenditure for the two years ending March 31, 1882, and March 31, 1883, were as follows:

The expenditure for the same financial period was as follows:—

The public debt of Württemberg more than doubled within the last twenty years, owing to the establishment of the railway lines of the kingdom, the whole of which are State property. The capital of the public debt was as follows at the end of June 1878:

The total debt in April 1879 was 376,756,196 mark, or 18,837,8091. The debt of the kingdom, here enumerated, is divided into two portions, namely, the general debt, and the railway debt. The latter, forming by far the largest portion of the total, an.ounted to 171,000,000 mark, or 8,550,000l. at the end of June 1878.

The net income of the railways, all expenses deducted, and making allowance for wear and tear, amounts to between six

and seven per cent., and the surplus is devoted to the payment of the interest on the public debt.

Area and Population.

Württemberg has an area of 354 geographical, or 7,675 English square miles, with 1,881,505 inhabitants-907,314 males, and 974,191 females-at the enumeration of December 1, 1875. The kingdom is divided into four Kreise, or circles, the area of which, in English square miles, and number of inhabitants, were as follows at the two enumerations of December 1, 1875, and December 1, 1880:

The increase of population between the two census periods, amounting on the whole to only 0.95 per cent. per annum, varied greatly in the four circles of the kingdom. It was, as will be seen, proportionately largest in the Neckar circle, and least in the Danube. The total increase in the kingdom during the 35 years from 1841 to 1880 was very slight, and at one period, from 1849 to 1855, there was a decline of population.

The kingdom has but seven towns with more than sixteen thousand inhabitants, namely Stuttgart, the capital, which had 117,303; Ulm, fortress and principal military establishment, which had 32,773; Heilbronn, which had 24,446; Esslingen, which had 20,758; Reutlingen, 16,609; Cannstadt, 16,205; and Ludwigsburg, 16,100 inhabitants at the census of December 1, 1880. The population, following generally agricultural pursuits, including extensive cultivation of the vine, is dispersed over a great many villages and small boroughs. Emigration, chiefly directed to the United States of America, was formerly drawing off large numbers of the people. In the five years from 1873 to 1877, the total number of emigrants was 10,039. But the emigration here, as in other parts of Germany, greatly declined during the period, falling from 4,651 in 1873, to 1,032 in 1877.

IV. SAXONY.

(KÖNIGREICH SACHSEN.)

Reigning King.

Albert I., born April 23, 1828, eldest son of King Johann I. and of Queen Amalie, daughter of King Maximilian I. of Bavaria. Educated for the military career, and entered the army of Saxony, 1846, and of Prussia, 1867. Commander of a German corps d'armée in the war against France, 1870-71. Nominated FieldMarshal in the German army, 1871. Succeeded to the throne, at the death of his father, October 29, 1873. Married June 18, 1853, to Queen Caroline, born Aug. 5, 1833, daughter of Prince Gustav of Vasa.

Sister and Brother of the King.

I. Princess Elisabeth, born Feb. 4, 1830; married, in 1850, to Prince Ferdinand of Sardinia; widow, Feb. 10. 1855; married, in second nuptials, Oct. 10, 1856, to the Marchese Rapallo, of Florence.

II. Prince Georg, Duke of Saxony, born August 8, 1832; married May 11, 1859, to Infanta Maria, born July 21, 1843, daughter of King Ferdinand of Portugal. Offspring of the union are six children :-1. Princess Mathilda, born March 19, 1863. 2. Prince Friedrich August, born May 25, 1865. 3. Princess Marie, born May 31, 1867. 4. Prince Johann Georg, born July 11, 1869. 5. Prince Maximilian, born November 17, 1870. 6. Prince Albert, born February 25, 1875.

The royal house of Saxony counts among the oldest reigning families in Europe. It gave an emperor to Germany as early as the beginning of the tenth century; but the house subsequently spread into numerous branches, the elder of which, called the Ernestine line, is represented at this moment by the ducal families of Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen, and SaxeWeimar, while the younger, the Albertine line, lives in the rulers of the kingdom of Saxony.

King Albert I. has a civil list of 2,940,000 mark, or 147,000l. er annum. Exclusive of this sum are the appanages, or dotations f the princes and princesses, amounting to 511,818 mark, or 25,5901. year. The formerly royal domains, consisting chiefly in extenve forests, became, in 1830, the property of the State.