II. Elizabeth, born November 1, 1864; married to the Grandduke Sergius Alexandrovitch of Russia, June 15, 1884.

III. Irene, born July 11, 1866.

IV. Ludwig, born November 25, 1868.

V. Alice, born June 6, 1872.

Brothers of the Grand-duke.

I. Prince Heinrich, born Nov. 28, 1838; married, Feb. 28, 1878, to Caroline Willich, elevated Freifrau zu Niddau; widower, Jan. 6, 1879.

II. Prince Wilhelm, born November 16, 1845.

Uncle of the Grand-duke.

Prince Alexander, born July 15, 1823; field-marshal lieutenant in the service of Austria; married, Oct. 28, 1851, to Princess Julia von Battenberg, born Nov. 12, 1825. Offspring of the union are five children-1. Marie, born July 15, 1852; married April 29, 1871, to Count Gustaf von Erbach-Schönberg. 2. Ludwig, born May 24, 1854, lieutenant in the British navy; married to Princess Victoria of Hesse, April 30, 1884. 3. Alexander, born April 5, 1857; elected Prince of Bulgaria, April 29, 1879. 4. Heinrich, born October 5, 1858. 5. Franz Josef, born September 24, 1861.

The former Landgraves of Hesse had the title of Grand-duke given them by Napoleon I., in 1806, together with a considerable increase of territory. At the congress of Vienna this grant was confirmed, after some negotiations. The reigning family are not possessed of much private property, and dependent almost entirely upon the grant of the civil list, amounting to 1,228,288 mark, or 61,4147., the sum including allowances to the princes.

Hesse has a university at Giessen. There are 983 public elementary schools (1881), and 872 preparatory schools, besides 22 higher schools.

Constitution, Revenue, and Population.

The Constitution bears date Dec. 17, 1820; but was modified in 1856 and 1872. The legislative power is vested in two Chambers, the first composed of the princes of the reigning family, the heads of a number of noble houses, the Roman Catholic bishop, the chief Protestant superintendent, the Chancellor of the University, two members elected by the noble landowners, and a number of lifemembers, nominated by the Grand-duke; while the second consists of 10 deputies of the eight larger towns, and 40 representatives of the smaller towns and rural districts.

The executive is represented by a ministry divided into three departments, namely, of the Grand-ducal House and Foreign Affairs; of the Interior and of Justice; and of Finance.

The

The budget is granted for the term of three years. The revenue for the financial period 1882-85 was estimated at 17,558,207 mark, or 877,9107., per annum, and the expenditure at 17,306,747 mark, or 865,3371., per annum. The actual surplus, added to that of previous periods, left 6,286,648 marks for investment. estimates for the finance period 1885-8 give the expenditure at 17,500,000 marks. The public debt amounted to 40,797,898 mark in 1885, of which 34,000,000 mark are railway debt; against this are active funds of the State amounting to 24,222,962 mark.

The total annual charge of the debt in the budget of 1885-8 is 43,9007.

The area of Hesse embraces 2,866 English square miles, on which lived at the last census 936,340 inhabitants (464,917 males and 471,423 females). The Grand-duchy is administratively divided into three provinces, the area and population of which were as follows at the two enumerations of December 1, 1875, and December 1, 1880:

At the census of December 3, 1867, the population numbered 831,939. The increase of population in the four years from 1871 to 1875 was at the rate of 0.85 per cent. per annum, and in the five years 1875 to 1880 at the rate of 1.14. Estimated population at the end of 1882, 947,224. There were 6,501 marriages in Hesse in 1882, 31,779 births and 22,268 deaths, leaving a surplus of 9,511 births. Among the births are 1,308, or 4.11 still-born, and 2,308, or 7.26 illegitimate children. In 1881 there were 4,173 emigrants from Hesse, 3,430 in 1882, and 3,589 in 1883.

Of the population in 1880, 635,523 were Protestants; 269,397 Catholics; 4,130 other Christian sects; 26,746 Jews; and 544 unclassified, or of 'no religion.' The largest towns of the Grandduchy are Mayence or Mainz, with 60,905; Darmstadt, the capital, 48,153; Offenbach, 28,449; Worms, 19,005; Giessen, 16,855 inhabitants at the census of December 1, 1880.

Hesse has 566 miles of railway, of which 140 miles belong to the State.

British Chargé d'Affaires.—Hon. W. Nassau Jocelyn, C.B.
Consul-General.-Charles Oppenheim (Frankfort).

VIII. OLDENBURG.

(GROSSHERZOGTHUM OLDENBURG.)

Reigning Grand-duke.

Peter I., Grand-duke of Oldenburg, born July 8, 1827, the son of Grand-duke August, and of Princess Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg; succeeded to the throne at the death of his father, Feb. 27, 1853; married, Feb. 10, 1852, to Elisabeth, born March 26, 1826, daughter of Prince Joseph of Saxe-Altenburg.

Children of the Grand-duke.

I. Prince August, heir-apparent, born Nov. 16, 1852; married, February 18, 1878, to Princess Elizabeth, born Feb. 8, 1857, second daughter of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia; issue a daughter Sophia, born February 2, 1879.

II. Prince Georg, born June 27, 1855.

The cousin of the Grand-duke, Prince Peter (died May 14, 1881), the son of Prince Georg, brother of the late Grand-duke August of Oldenburg, and of Princess Catharine, daughter of the late Emperor Paul of Russia, and his wife, Princess Therese of Nassau, had the following four children :-1. Princess Alexandra, born June 2, 1838; married, Feb. 6, 1856, to Grand-duke Nicholas, brother of the late Czar Alexander II. of Russia. 2. Prince Nicolaus, born May 9, 1840, married May 29, 1863, to Marie Bulazel, Countess von Osternburg, born July 8, 1845; offspring of the union are a son and a daughter called Count and Countess von Osternburg. 3. Prince Alexander, born June 2, 1844; general in the service of Russia; married, Jan. 19, 1868, to Princess Eugenie, born April 1, 1845, daughter of the late Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg; offspring of the union is a son, Peter, born Nov. 21, 1868. 4. Prince Constantine, born May 9, 1850; colonel in the army of Russia; married Oct. 20, 1882, to Agrippina, Countess of Zarnekau.

The ancient house of Oldenburg, which has given sovereigns to Denmark, Scandinavia, and Russia, is said to be descended from Wittekind, the celebrated leader of the heathen Saxons against Charlemagne. In the fifteenth century, a scion of the House of Oldenburg, Count Christian VIII., was elected King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The main line became extinguished with Count Anton

Günther, in 1667, whereupon the territory of the family fell to the King of Denmark, who made it over to Grand-duke Paul of Russia, in exchange for pretended claims upon Schleswig-Holstein. The Grandduke then gave Oldenburg to his cousin, Prince Friedrich August of Holstein-Gottorp, with whose descendants it remained till December 1810, when Napoleon incorporated it with the kingdom of Westphalia. But the Congress of Vienna not only gave the country back to its former sovereign, but, at the urgent demand of Czar Alexander I., added to it a territory of nearly 400 square miles, with 50,000 inhabitants, bestowing at the same time upon the prince the title of Grand-duke. Part of the new territory consisted of the principality of Birkenfeld, on the left bank of the Rhine, close to the French frontier, and some three hundred miles distant from Oldenburg. The other part consists of the principality of Lübeck. The Grand-duke has a civil list of 255,000 mark, or 12,750l. He draws also a revenue of 6,000l. from private estates of the family in Holstein.

Constitution, Revenue, and Population.

A Constitution was given to the Grand-duchy on Feb. 18, 1849, which, revised by a decree of Nov. 22, 1852, grants liberty of the press, trial by jury, and equality of all citizens in political and social matters. The legislative power is exercised by a Landtag, or Diet, elected for three years, by the vote of all citizens paying taxes, and not condemned for felony by a court of justice. The mode of election is indirect. The first electors choose a delegate, and the delegates of several districts appoint one deputy, the whole number being 33, or one for every 10,000 inhabitants. The executive is vested, under the Grand-duke, in a responsible ministry of three departments.

The budgets are voted for three years at a time, and are divided into the budget of the Grand-duchy and the budgets of the Duchy of Oldenburg, and the principalities of Lübeck and Birkenfeld. The revenue and expenditure of the Central Treasury balance at 52,4007. for 1882, 51,5177. for 1883, and 53,9271. for 1884. The estimated revenue of the duchy and principalities is:-1882, 361,4497.; 1883, 297,0497.; 1884, 296,3741. The estimated expenditure:-1882, 313,9737.; 1883, 307,7097.; 1884, 307,2701. The chief item of revenue is from the produce of State property; while in expenditure the civil list and the interest of the public debt take the largest sums. The debt amounted, at the beginning of 1883, to 1,912,5337.

The area of Oldenburg embraces 2,417 Engl. square miles, with a population, according to the census of Dec. 1, 1880, of 337,478 inhabitants (167,838 males, 169,640 females). At the census of Dec. 1, 1875, the population numbered 319,314, the increase of

M

population amounting to 1.10 per cent. per annum in the years 1875-80, to 0·35 per annum in the years 1871-75, while in the four preceding years, 1867 to 1871, the increase was only 0.05 per annum. Estimated population in 1882, 340,592. The people are mostly Protestants, the Catholics numbering 74,254 in 1880.

Marriages in 1882 2,551, births 11,436, deaths 7,618, excess of births 3,818. Included in the births are 474, or 4.14 per cent. still-born, and 586, or 5.12 per cent. illegitimate children. Emigrants 1881, 2,007; 1882, 2,251; 1883, 2,056.

The capital, Oldenburg, has 20,575 inhabitants (1880).
Oldenburg had 203 miles of railway in 1884.

British Minister Plenipotentiary.-Sir Edward Malet, K.C.B.
Consul-General.-George R. L. Annesley (Hamburg).

IX. BRUNSWICK.

(HERZOGTHUM BRAUNSCHWEIG.)

The last Duke of Brunswick was Wilhelm I., born April 25, 1806, the second son of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm and of Princess Marie of Baden. Undertook provisionally the government of Brunswick in consequence of the insurrection of September 7, 1830, and subsequent flight of his brother, Duke Karl, October 12, 1830; ascended the throne, April 25, 1831, and died October 18, 1884.

The ducal house of Brunswick, extinct on the death of Wilhelm I., was long one of the most ancient and illustrious of the Germanic Confederation. Its ancestor, Henry the Lion, possessed, in the twelfth century, the united duchies of Bavaria and Saxony, with other territories in the north of Germany; but having refused to aid the Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa in his wars with the Pope, he was, by a decree of the Diet, deprived of the whole of his territories with the sole exception of his allodial domains, the principalities of Brunswick and Lüneburg. Their possessions were, on the death of Ernest the Confessor, divided between the two sons of the latter, who became the founders of the lines of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Brunswick-Lüneburg, the former of which is represented at present in the ducal house of Brunswick, while the latter is merged in the royal family of Great Britain.

The Brunswick Regency law of February 1879 enacts that in case the legitimate heir to the Brunswick throne be absent or prevented from assuming the government, a Council of Regency, consisting of the Minister of State and the Presidents of the Landtag and of the Supreme Court, should carry on the Government; while the German Emperor should assume command of the military forces