BELGIUM. (ROYAUME DE BELGIQUE.) Leopold II., born April 9, 1835, the son of King Leopold I., former Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and of Princess Louise, daughter of the late King Louis Philippe of the French; ascended the throne at the death of his father, Dec. 10, 1865; married Aug. 22, 1853, to Queen Marie Henriette, born Aug. 23, 1836, the daughter of the late Archduke Joseph of Austria. Children of the King. I. Princess Louise, born Feb. 18, 1858; married February 4, 1875, to Prince Philip of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, born March 28, 1844, eldest son of Prince August, cousin of the reigning duke, and of Princess Clementine of Orléans, daughter of the late King Louis Philippe of the French. II. Princess Stéphanie, born May 21, 1864; married to Archduke Rudolf, only son of the Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, May 10, 1881. [See p. 3.] III. Princess Clémentine, born July 30, 1872. Brother and Sister of the King. I. Philippe, Count of Flanders, born March 24, 1837; lieutenantgeneral in the service of Belgium; married April 26, 1867, to Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, born November 17, 1845. Offspring of the union are four children :-1. Prince Baudouin, born June 3, 1869. 2. Princess Henriette, born Nov. 30, 1870. 3. Princess Josephine, born Oct. 18, 1872. 4. Prince Albert, born April 8, 1875. II. Princess Charlotte, born June 7, 1840; married July 27, 1857, to Archduke Maximilian of Austria, elected Emperor of Mexico July 10, 1863; widow June 19, 1867. King Leopold II. has a civil list of 3,300,000 francs, or 132,0002. The kingdom of Belgium formed itself into an independent state in 1830, having previously been a part of the Netherlands. The secession was decreed on the 4th of October, 1830, by a Provisional Government, established in consequence of a revolution which broke out at Brussels on the 25th of August, 1830. A National Congress elected Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg king of the Belgians on the 4th of June 1831; the prince accepted the dignity July 12, and ascended the throne July 21, 1831. It was not until after the signing of the Treaty of London, April 19, 1839, which established peace between King Leopold I. and the sovereign of the Netherlands, that all the States of Europe recognised the kingdom of Belgium. D census, December 31, 1880, of 37,883,226, or 160 per square mile. At the preceding census the population was 35,884,389. The increase during the period, embracing eleven years, amounted to 8.5 per cent. for the Cisleithan monarchy, but only to 1.24 per cent. for Hungary. In Transylvania there seems to have been an actual decrease of about 70,000 in the eleven years. In Austria the density of the population is 191 per square mile, and in the rest of the empire 135 per square mile. The density in both divisions varies much; in Lower Austria it is over 300 per square mile, and in Salzburg less than 60. As a rule the density declines from west to east, the industrial districts of the north-west being most thickly populated. The following table gives the area, and total number of inhabitants, of the various provinces of the Empire, after the returns of the census of December 31, 1869, and the census of December 31, 1880: Including military, the total population was 37,883,226 in 1880. In Austria there were 10,819,737 males and 11,324,507 females; in Hungary 7,702,810 males and 7,939,192 females. The total civil population of Austria Proper on January 1, 1884, was 22,494,021, and of the Hungarian lands in 1882 was 16,118,203. It was decided at the Congress of Berlin that the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Sanjak of Novi Bazar should be occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary. To this should be added 27,000 military. Of the total number of inhabitants in Bosnia and Herzegovina 448,613 are Mohammedans, 496,761 Greek-Orthodox, 209,391 (with 4 eparchies), Roman Catholics (with 3 bishoprics), 3,439 are Jews, and the rest belong to different faiths. It was stated in 1883 that the Mohammedans were leaving Bosnia by tens of thousands. Practically belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, though not incorporated with it by any treaty, is the small principality of Liechtenstein, enclosed in the Austrian province of Tyrol and Vorarlberg, with an area of 68 English square miles, and a population of 9,124 in 1880, nearly all Roman Catholics. The inhabitants of the principality pay no taxes, nor are they liable to military service. The following table exhibits the number of births, deaths, and marriages, with the surplus of births, in both Austria Proper and the lands of the Hungarian Crown, for a quinquennial period, according to the latest official returns: Constitution and Government. According to the Constitution of 1831, Belgium is a constitutional, representative, and hereditary monarchy.' The legislative power is vested in the King, the Chamber of Representatives, and the Senate. The royal succession is in the direct male line in the order of primogeniture. The king's person is declared sacred; and his ministers are held responsible for the acts of the Government. No act of the king can have effect unless countersigned by one of his ministers, who thus becomes responsible for it. The king convokes, prorogues, and dissolves the Chambers. In default of male heirs, the king may nominate his successor with the consent of the Chambers. If the successor be under eighteen years of age, which is declared to be the age of majority, the two Chambers meet together for the purpose of nominating a regent during the minority. The power of making laws is vested in the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate, the members of both houses being chosen by the people. The sittings are public, and by the decision of the majority either Chamber may form itself into a private committee. Each Chamber determines the manner of exercising its own powers, and every session nominates its president and vice-president, and forms its bureau. No petition can be presented personally, and every resolution is adopted by the absolute majority, except in some special cases, when two-thirds of the votes of the members are required for its acceptance; in the case of an equality of votes the proposition is thrown out. The Chambers meet annually in the month of November, and must sit for at least forty days; but the king has the power of convoking them on extraordinary occasions, and of dissolving them either simultaneously or separately. In the latter case a new election must take place within forty days, and a meeting of the Chambers within two months. An adjournment cannot be made for a period exceeding one month without the consent of the Chambers. The Chamber of Representatives is composed of deputies chosen directly by all citizens, 21 years of age, paying direct taxes to the annual amount of 17. 13s. 6d. Under this qualification, the electoral lists, in the year 1884, contained the names of 124,378 electors, the right of suffrage being with 22 in every thousand of the population, or about one-thirteenth of the adult male population. According to a law passed in August 1883 large classes of official, professional, learned, and scientific persons are admitted to the franchise without having to pay any taxes. The number of deputies is fixed according to the population, and cannot exceed one member for every 40,000 inhabitants. In the year 1884 they amounted to 138, elected in 41 electoral districts. To be eligible as a member, it is necessary to be a Belgian by birth, or to have received the 'grande naturalisation;' to have attained the age of twenty-five years, and to be resident in Belgium. The members not residing in the town where the Chamber sits receive, during the session, an allowance of 423 francs, or 167. 16s. each per month. The members are elected for four years, one-half going out every two years, except in the case of a dissolution, when a general election takes place. The Chamber has the parliamentary initiative and the preliminary vote in all cases relating to the receipts and expenses of the State and the contingent of the army. The Senate is composed of exactly one-half the number of members comprising the Chamber of Representatives, and the senators are elected by the same citizens who appoint the deputies. The senators are chosen for eight years; they retire in one moiety every four years; but in case of dissolution the election must comprise the whole number of which the Senate is composed. The qualifications necessary for a senator are, that he must be a Belgian by birth or naturalisation; in full possession of all political and civil rights; resident within the kingdom; at least forty years of age; and paying in direct taxes not less than 841. sterling. In those provinces where the list of citizens who possess this lastmentioned qualification does not reach to the proportion of one in 6,000 of the population, that list is enlarged by the admission into it of those citizens who pay the greatest amount of direct taxes, so that the list shall always contain at least one person who is eligible to the Senate for every 6,000 inhabitants of the province. The senators do not receive any pay. The presumptive heir to the throne is of right a senator at the age of eighteen, but he has no voice in the proceedings until twenty-five years of age. All the proceedings of the Senate during the time the Chamber of Representatives is not sitting are without force. The Executive Government consists of seven departments, under the following Ministers, appointed October 26, 1884, viz.: 1. President of the Council and Minister of Finance.-M. Bernaert. 2. Minister of Justice.-M. J. De Volder. 3. Minister of the Interior and of Instruction.-M. Thonissen. 4. Minister of War.-General Pontus. 5. Minister of Railways, Posts and Telegraphs.-M. J. Van den Peereboom. 6. Minister for Foreign Affairs.-Prince de Caraman-Chimay. 7. Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Public Works.-M. Chevalier de Moreau. Besides the above responsible heads of departments, there are a number of Ministres d'Etat,' without portfolio, who form a privy |