Ernst II., born June 21, 1818, the son of Duke Ernst I. of SaxeSaalfeld-Coburg and of Princess Louise of Saxe-Altenburg. Studied philosophy and political economy at the University of Bonn, 183436; entered into the military service of Saxony, 1836; travelled in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Northern Africa, 1838-40. Succeeded to the throne, at the death of his father, Jan. 29, 1844. Married, May 3, 1842, to Princess Alexandrine, born Dec. 6, 1820, the daughter of the late Grand-duke Leopold of Baden. The Duke being childless, heir-apparent is his nephew, Prince Alfred, duke of Edinburgh, born Aug. 6, 1844, the son of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and of Victoria I., Queen of Great Britain. (See page 189.) The immediate ancestor of the reigning family of Saxe-CoburgGotha, formerly called Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg, and previously SaxeCoburg, was Prince Albrecht, second son of Duke Ernst, surnamed the Pious, who died in 1699. A dispute about his heritage lasted through three generations, and was only settled, towards the end of the eighteenth century, by a re-distribution of the territories of the Saxon princes. A new division took place in 1826, on the extinction of the line of Saxe-Gotha, and it was then that the house of Saxe-SaalfeldCoburg exchanged its name for that of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The family is in possession of a large private fortune, accumulated chiefly by Duke Ernst I. of Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg, whom the Congress of Vienna made a present of the principality of Lichtenberg, in return for his services as commander of the fifth corps d'armée in the year 1813. This principality he sold, Sept. 22, 1834, to the King of Prussia, for a sum of two million thaler, and other advantages. Besides a vast private income, Duke Ernst II. has a comparatively large civil list. It is paid out of the revenue of the domains, and amounts to 100,000 thaler, or 15,000l., at a minimum, and more in case these estates produce above 134,079 thaler, or 20,1127. a year. The proprietorship of these domains, which, according to the decision of the highest legal authorities in Germany, belong to the State and not to the reigning family, gave rise for a time to animated disputes between the Government and the legislature of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. A compromise was finally arrived at, by the terms of which the reigning Duke has a civil list of 100,000 thaler out of the income of the domains, and the surplus of 34,079 thaler is paid into the public exchequer, while the rest is divided between the Duke and the State. Constitution, Revenue, and Population. The Staatsgrundgesetz, or fundamental law of the duchy, proclaimed May 3, 1852, vests the legislative power in two separate assemblies, one for the province of Coburg and the other for the province of Gotha. The Coburg Chamber consists of eleven, and that for Gotha of nineteen members, chosen in as many electoral divisions, by the indirect vote of all the inhabitants. Every man above the age of twenty-five, who pays taxes, has a vote, and any citizen above thirty may be elected a deputy. New elections take place The two assemblies meet separately every year, every four years. and every second year they unite into one Chamber, to which the Coburg Diet deputes seven, and that of Gotha fourteen members. The United Parliament meets alternately at the town of Coburg and at Gotha. The budget is voted for the term of four years, and in the financial accounts a distinction is made between Crown-revenue, derived from the domains, and State-revenue. In recent years the Crown-revenue produced an annual surplus of from 25,000l. to 26,000l., divided in the proportion above mentioned between the Duke and the public exchequer. In the budget estimates for 1877-81, the Crown-revenue for Coburg was set down at 383,486 mark, or 19,1747., and that for Gotha at 2,102,221 mark, or 105,110l., per annum. The annual State-revenue and expenditure for the period 1877-81 was fixed for Coburg at 937,780 mark, or 46,8891., and for Gotha at 2,433,200 mark, or 121,6601. The public debt, in 1881, amounted to 4,100,000 mark, or 205,000l., for Coburg, and to 7,503,284 mark, or 375,1647., for Gotha, being a total of 508,1647. The area of the duchy is 816 English square miles, of which 230 belong to the province of Coburg, and 586 to Gotha. At the census of December 1, 1880, the total population numbered 194,716, the increase during the four years 1871-75 amounting to 1.17 per cent. per annum, and the five years 1875-80, to 1.32. In the four years, 1867-71, the increase was at the rate of 0.80 per cent. per annum. Nearly the whole of the population are Protestants. The town of Gotha had 26,525, and Coburg 15,791 inhabitants at the census of December 1, 1880. There are no other towns in the duchy. XV. SAXE-ALTENBURG. Reigning Duke. Ernst, born September 16, 1826, the son of Duke Georg of SaxeAltenburg and Princess Marie of Mecklemburg-Schwerin. Succeeded to the throne, at the death of his father, August 3, 1853; married, April 28, 1853, to Princess Agnes, of Anhalt-Dessau, born June 24, 1824. Daughter of the Duke. Princess Marie, born August 2, 1854; married, April 19, 1873, to Prince Albrecht of Prussia. (See page 111.) Brother of the Duke. Prince Moritz, born October 24, 1829; married, October 15, 1862, to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen, by whom he has issue four daughters and a son, Ernst, born Aug. 31, 1871. The reigning family of Saxe-Altenburg, formerly called SaxeHildburghausen, dates its origin from the year 1482, when the separation took place between the Ernestine and Albertine lines of Saxony. Up to the year 1826, Saxe-Altenburg formed part of Saxe-Gotha, and was then, by a general exchange of territories among the Saxon princes, made over to the Hildburghausen family. The Duke has a civil list of 143,000 thaler, or 21,4507., amounting to above one-sixth of the revenue of the whole country. On December 20, 1862, the Chamber raised the ducal income to this sum-from 128,000 thaler, or 19,2007., which it had been previously -on condition that the whole of the domains, formerly belonging to the reigning family, should be made over definitely to the State. Constitution, Revenue, and Population. The Constitution bears date April 29, 1831, but was altered at subsequent periods. It vests the legislative authority in a Chamber composed of twenty-four representatives, of which eight are chosen by the Ritterschaft, or land-holding nobility, eight by the inhabitants of towns, and eight by those of rural districts. The Chamber meets every three years, and the deputies are elected for two sessions. The executive is divided into three departments, namely, of the Ducal House; the Interior; of Justice; and of Finance. The budget is voted for three years, the estimates of the last period, 1881-83, exhibiting an annual revenue of 2,418,177 mark, or 120,9087., and an expenditure of the same amount. Two-thirds of the revenue are derived from the State domains, and the remainder from indirect taxes. The public debt at the commencement of 1877 amounted to 4,986,628 mark, or 249,3317., a moiety of which consisted in notes, not bearing interest. Saxe-Altenburg has an area of 509 English square miles, with a population, according to the census of Dec. 1, 1880, of 155,036 inhabitants. The increase of population was at the rate of 1.26 per cent. per annum in the five years 1875-80, and at the rate of 0.65 per cent. per annum in the four years 1871-75. Many of the inhabitants of the duchy are of Slavonic origin, and the customs and dress of the nationality are still prevailing in the rural districts, although the Slavonic dialect has disappeared since the middle of the sixteenth century. The peasants are reputed to be more wealthy than in any other part of Germany, and the rule prevails among them of the youngest son becoming the heir to the landed property of the father. Estates are kept for generations in the same family, and seldom parcelled out. The rural population, however, has been declining in numbers for the last thirty years. XVI. WALDECK. (FÜRSTENTHUM WALDECK.) Georg Victor, born Jan. 14, 1831, the son of Prince Georg Friedrich and Princess Emma of Anhalt-Bernburg; succeeded to the throne at the death of his father, under the guardianship of his mother, May 14, 1845; married, September 26, 1853, to Princess Helena, born Aug. 12, 1831, daughter of the late Duke Wilhelm of Nassau. Children of the Prince. I. Princess Pauline, born October 19, 1855. II. Princess Marie, born May 23, 1857; married Feb. 15, 1877, to Prince Wilhelm of Württemberg. (See page 137.) III. Princess Emma, born Aug. 2, 1858; married Jan. 7, 1879, to King Willem III. of the Netherlands. IV. Princess Helena, born February 17, 1861. After the war between Austria and Prussia, at the end of 1866, Prince Georg Victor made an offer to abdicate the throne in favour of the King of Prussia, but the proposal was not accepted by the latter. Consequent upon further negotiations, a Treaty of Accession' (Accessionsvertrag) was signed by the Prince on July 10, 1867, by which he surrendered his chief sovereign rights to King Wilhelin I., retaining merely nominal power. Constitution and Population. The charter of the principality was granted Aug. 17, 1852. It provides for a legislative assembly of forty-one members, of which number eighteen are chosen by the nobility, thirteen by the inhabitants of towns, and ten by the people of the rural districts. On October 22, 1867, the assembly approved the Treaty of Accession' concluded between the reigning Prince and King Wilhelm I., which made the administration of the country over to Prussia, restricting the authority of the representatives to purely local affairs. The principality embraces an area of 466 English square miles, with a population, according to the census of December 1, 1880, of 71,107. At the preceding census, of Dec. 1, 1875, the inhabitants numbered 54,743; and at that of Dec. 1, 1871, 56,224. XVII. LIPPE. (FÜRSTENTHUM LIPPE.) Reigning Prince. Waldemar, born April 18, 1824, the second son of Prince Leopold and of Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen; succeeded to the throne at the death of his brother, Dec. 10, 1875; married, Nov. 9, 1858, to Princess Sophie, born August 7, 1834, daughter of the late Margrave Wilhelm of Baden. Heir-apparent is the Prince's brother, Prince Hermann, born Jan. 16, 1831, formerly captain in the Hanoverian army. The house of Lippe is a younger branch of the ancient family of Lippe, formed in the latter part of the sixteenth century. The Prince has a civil list amounting to about 10,000l., which is stated to be insufficient for the expenses of the court. Owing to financial distress, the late Prince, on May 17, 1850, sold a part of his territory, the Lippstadt, to Prussia, for a life-annuity of 9,000 thaler, or 1,3501. Constitution, Revenue, and Population. A charter of rights was granted to Lippe by decree of July 6, 1836. It includes a representative organisation; but nearly the whole legislative as well as executive power remains in the hands of the |