29, 1875; married Jan. 10, 1893, to Prince Ferdinand of HohenzollernSigmaringen, Crown Prince of Roumania; (2) Victoria, born Nov. 25, 1876; married April 19, 1894, to Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse; the marriage was dissolved December 21, 1901; (3) Alexandra, born Sept. 1, 1878; married April 20, 1896, to Prince Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg; (4) Beatrice, born April 20, 1884.

I. Princess Helena, born May 25, 1846; married, July 5, 1866, to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. Offspring : Albert John, born Feb. 26, 1869; Victoria, born May 3, 1870; Louise Auguste, born Aug. 12, 1872, married to Prince Aribert of Anhalt, July 6, 1891; the marriage was dissolved December 13, 1900.

II. Princess Louise, born March 18, 1848; married March 21, 1871, to John, Marquis of Lorne, who became Duke of Argyll, April 24, 1900.

III. Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, born May 1, 1850; married, March 13, 1879, to Princess Louise of Prussia, born July 25, 1860. Offspring :-(1) Margaret Victoria, born Jan. 15, 1882; (2) Arthur, born Jan. 13, 1883; (3) Victoria, born March 17, 1886.

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, born 1853; married, 1882, to Princess Helena of Waldeck; died, 1884; left two children, Alice, born February 25, 1883; married, February 10, 1904, to Prince Alexander of Teck; and Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, now Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, born July 19, 1884.

IV. Princess Beatrice, born April 14, 1857; married, July 23, 1885, to Prince Henry (died January 20, 1896), third son of Prince Alexander of Hesse. Offspring :-(1) Alexander Albert, born Nov. 23, 1886; (2) Victoria Eugénie, born Oct. 24, 1887; (3) Leopold Arthur Louis, born May 21, 1889; (4) Maurice Victor Donald, born October 3, 1891.

Cousins of the late Queen.

I. Prince Ernest August, Duke of Cumberland, born Sept. 21, 1845, the grandson of Duke Ernest August of Cumberland, fifth son of King George III. ; married, December 21, 1878, to Princess Thyra of Denmark, born September 29, 1853. Offspring: 2 sons and 3 daughters.

II. Princess Augusta, daughter of the late Duke Adolph of Cambridge, sixth son of King George III., born July 19, 1822; married June 28, 1843, to Grand Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; widow, May 30,

1904.

The King's legal title rests on the statute of 12 & 13 Will. III. c. 3, by which the succession to the Crown of Great Britain and Ireland was settled on the Princess Sophia of Hanover and the heirs of her body, being Protestants.' By proclamation of November 4, 1901, under the Royal Titles Act, 1901, the title is declared to be "Edward VII., by the Grace of God of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India."

Provision is made for the support of the Royal household by the settlement of the Civil List soon after the commencement of each reign. Formerly hereditary Crown revenues from land, excise duties, and other sources, supplemented by revenues specially assigned by Parliament, were applied to the maintenance of the Royal household and also to the general civil administration of the country. Over the expenditure of this money Parliament exercised no direct control until, in 1760, George III. surrendered the greater part of the hereditary revenues in England and agreed to accept, instead, a Civil List of 800,000l. per annum. The Civil List was from time to time relieved of many civil charges, but its amount proved insufficient. Besides annually paying the stipulated sum which in 1777 was increased to 900,000l., and by 1816 had risen to 1,803,7301. per annum, Parliament, during the reign of George III., paid Civil List debt to the amount of 3,398,0001. In addition to the Civil List for England, George III. enjoyed the hereditary revenues of both Scotland and Ireland, unsurrendered. George IV. (1820) having surrendered most of the hereditary revenues of England and Ireland, the civil charges on the Civil List were further diminished, and the allowance was fixed at 850,000l. for England and 250,0001. for Ireland, the hereditary revenues of Scotland (unsurrendered) being to the average amount of 109,000l. William IV. (1830), having surrendered the hereditary revenues of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the burdens on the Civil List were almost all removed, and the annual allowance was fixed at 510,000!. On similar conditions Queen Victoria's Civil List (1837) was fixed at 385,000l., free of all charges for the public service. By Act of 1 Ed. VII. c. 4 (July 2, 1901), the Civil List of the King, after the usual surrender of hereditary revenues, is fixed at 470,000l., of which 110,000l. is appropriated to the privy purse of the King and Queen, 125,8001. for salaries of the Royal household and retired allowances, 193,000l. for household expenses, 20,000l. for works, 13,0001. for alms and bounty, and 8,0001. remains unappropriated. The Civil List Act. 1901, also provides for an annuity of 20,0001. during the present reign to the Prince of Wales, and of 10,000l. to the Princess of Wales, or 30,000l. to the Princess if she should survive the Prince. To each of the three daughters of the King there is granted an annuity of 6,000Z., and to Queen Alexandra, in the event of her surviving the King, an annuity of 70,0001. Civil List pensions may be granted, but are not chargeable on the sum paid for the Civil List. All these payments are charged on the Consolidated Fund, into which the surrendered hereditary revenues are carried The King has paid to him the revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster, which in the year 1903 amounted to 91,4881., and the payment made to his Majesty for the year was 61,000l.

On the Consolidated Fund are charged likewise the following sums allowed to members of the royal family:-25,000l. a year to the Duke of Connaught; 6,000l. to Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein; 6,000l. to Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll; 6,000l. to Princess Henry (Beatrice) of Battenberg; 3,000l. to the Grand Duchess of MecklenburgStrelitz; 12,000l. to George, Duke of Cambridge; and 6,000l. to Princess Helena of Waldeck, Duchess of Albany.

The Heir Apparent has an income from the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, which in the year 1903 were 114,300l., the sum paid to the Prince being 72,3931.

The following is a list of the sovereigns and sovereign rulers of Great Britain, with date of their accession, from the union of the crowns of England and Scotland :—

House of Stuart.

House of Stuart.

1. THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN

AND IRELAND.

Constitution and Government.

I. IMPERIAL AND CENTRAL.

The supreme legislative power of the British Empire is by its Constitution given to Parliament. Parliament is summoned by the writ of the sovereign issued out of Chancery, by advice of the Privy Council, at least thirty-five days previous to its assembling. On a vacancy occurring in the House of Commons whilst Parliament is sitting, a writ for the election of a new member is issued upon motion in the House. If the vacancy occurs during the

recess, the writ is issued at the instance of the Speaker.

It has become customary of late for Parliaments to meet in annual session extending from the middle of February to about the end of August. Every session must end with a prorogation, and by it all Bills which have not been passed during the session fall to the ground. The royal proclamation which summons Parliament in order to proceed to business must be issued fourteen days before the time of meeting. A dissolution is the civil death of Parliament; it may occur by the will of the sovereign, or, as is most usual, during the recess, by proclamation, or finally by lapse of time, the statutory limit of the duration of the existence of Parliament being seven years.

any

The present form of Parliament, as divided into two Houses of Legislature, the Lords and the Commons, dates from the middle of the fourteenth century.

The House of Lords consists of peers who hold their seats— (1) by hereditary right; (2) by creation of the sovereign; (3) by virtue of office-English bishops; (4) by election for life-Irish peers; (5) by election for duration of Parliament— Scottish peers.

The number of names on the 'Roll' in 1904 was 594. There are, besides, 11 peeresses of the United Kingdom in their own right, and 3 Scotch peeresses, and 17 Scotch and 62 Irish peers who are not peers of Parliament.

The House of Commons consists of members representing County, Borough and University constituencies in the three Divisions of the United Kingdom. Every elector must be of

full age, and must be registered in the electoral lists. Property qualifications are restricted to counties and to such boroughs as have county privileges. In England they are: the holding of an estate (1) in freehold of the annual value of 40 shillings; (2) of lands in life tenure of the annual value of 5.; (3) held on lease of at least 60 years of the annual valve of 5l., or of at least 20 years of the annual value of 50%. Similar, but not identical, qualifications exist in Scotland and Ireland. Throughout the United Kingdom, in counties, occupation of a tenement which is rated for the support of the poor, and for which the rates have been paid by the prescribed date, constitutes a qualification, but in English boroughs the occupation franchise is associated with 6 months' residence, and in Scotch boroughs with 12 months' residence. Every inhabitant occupier who has for 12 months, within the United Kingdom, inhabited a rated dwelling-house for which the rates have been paid is entitled to registration, and lodgers occupying for 12 months the same lodgings of the value of 107. a year, may have a vote. There are, besides, some ancient franchises, such as that of the liverymen of the City of London companies, and there are 6 university constituencies in which graduates on the electoral roll are electors. Disqualified for registration are aliens and persons who within a year have received parochial poor relief.

The number of members and of registered electors for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland respectively, in 1904 was as follows:

Thus about one-sixth of the population are electors.

All elections for members of Parliament must be by secret vote by ballot, an Act being passed annually to this effect.

No one under twenty-one years of age can be a member of Parliament. All clergymen of the Church of England, ministers of the Church of Scotland, and Roman Catholic clergymen are disqualified from sitting as members; all Government contractors, and all sheriffs and returning officers for the localities for which

they act, are disqualified both from voting and from sitting as members. No English or Scottish peer can be elected to the House of Commons, but non-representative Irish peers are eligible. The following is a table of the duration of Parliaments of the United Kingdom during the reign of Queen Victoria :

The executive government of Great Britain and Ireland is vested nominally in the Crown; but practically in a committee of Ministers, commonly called the Cabinet, whose existence is dependent on the possession of a majority in the House of Commons.

The member of the Cabinet who fills the position of First Lord of the Treasury is, as a rule, the chief of the Ministry. It is on the Premier's recommendation that his colleagues are appointed; and he dispenses the greater portion of the patronage of the Crown.

The present Cabinet consists of the following members:

1. Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.-Right Hon. Arthur J. Balfour, born 1848; educated at Eton and Trinity College; Cambridge; Private Secretary to Marquis of Salisbury, 1878-80, at Berlin Congress; M.P. for Hertford, 1879; for Manchester East, 1885; President of Local Government Board, 1885; Secretary for Scotland, 1886; admitted to Cabinet, November, 1886; Chief Secretary for Ireland, 18871891; First Lord of the Treasury, November, 1891, to August, 1892; and again June 25, 1895; Prime Minister, July 12, 1902.

2. Lord President of the Council and President of the Board of Education.-Right Hon. the Marquis of Londonderry, born 1852; M. P. for County Down, 1878-84; succeeded to the peerage, 1884; Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1886-89; Chairman of the London School Board, 1895-97;