of Duke Carlos III. of Parma. Offspring of the union are four daughters and a son, Prince Jaime, born June 27, 1870.

King Alfonso XII. has a civil list, fixed by the Cortes in June 1876, of 7,000,000 pesetas, or 280,000l., exclusive of allowances to members of the royal family. The annual grant to the Queen was fixed by the Cortes, in December 1879, at 450,000 pesetas, or 18,000l., with a jointure of 250,000 pesetas, or 10,000l., in case of widowhood. The parents of the King, ex-queen Isabel and her husband, have an allowance of 1,050,000 pesetas, or 42,000l., and the four infantas, his sisters, of 800,000 pesetas, or 32,000l. The total amount of the civil list and allowances to the relatives of the King was fixed by the Cortes in 1876 at 10,000,000 pesetas, or 400,0001.

The following is a list of the sovereigns and sovereign rulers of Spain, with dates of their accession, since the foundation of the Spanish monarchy by the union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile:

House of Aragon.

Fernando V., 'The Catholic'. 1512 Fernando VII., restored.

House of Bourbon.

The average reign of the thirteen monarchs of Spain, from King Fernando V. to King Alfonso XII., filling a period of nearly three centuries and three-quarters, was twenty-seven years.

Government and Constitution.

The present constitution of Spain, drawn up by the Government and laid before a Cortes Constituyentes, elected for its ratification, March 27, 1876, was proclaimed June 30, 1876. It consists of 79 articles or clauses. The first of them enacts that Spain shall be a constitutional monarchy, the executive resting in the King, and the power to make the laws in the Cortes with the King.' The Cortes are composed of a Senate and Congress, equal in authority. There are three classes of Senators-first, Senators by their own right, or Senadores de derecho propio; secondly, 100 life Senators nominated by the Crown-these two categories not to exceed 180;

and thirdly, 180 Senators, elected by the Corporations of State-that is, the communal and provincial states, the church, the universities, academies, &c., and by the largest payers of contributions. Senators in their own right are the sons, if any, of the King and of the immediate heir to the throne, who have attained their majority; Grandees who are so in their own right and who can prove an annual renta of 60,000 pesetas, or 2,4007.; captain-generals of the army; admirals of the navy; the patriarch of the Indias and the archbishops; the presidents of the Council of State, of the Supreme Tribunal, and of the Tribunal of Cuentas del Reino. The elective Senators must be renewed by one-half every five years, and by totality every time the King dissolves that part of the Cortes. The Congress is formed by deputies 'named in the electoral Juntas in the form the law determines,' in the proportion of one to every 50,000 souls of the population. Electors must be registered, 25 years of age, have paid 17. per annum land tax for one year, or 21. industrial tax for two years; members of certain learned academies, members of chapters, and priests and curates, public officials with a salary of 801., pensioned civil servants, retired officers, professors, and certain other classes have a right to vote. At the election of 1879 there were 942,215 electors, or 1 elector to every 17 of the population. By a royal decree issued August 8, 1878, the Island of Cuba received the privilege of sending deputies to the Cortes, in the proportion of one to every 40,000 free inhabitants, paying 125 pesetas, or 5l., annually in taxes. Members of Congress must be 25 years of age; they are re-eligible indefinitely, the elections being for five years. Deputies, to the number of 10, are admitted, who, although not elected for any one district, have obtained a cumulative vote of more than 10,000 in several districts. Deputies to the number of 88 are elected by scrutin de liste in 26 large districts, in which minorities may be duly represented. There are in all 431 deputies. The deputies cannot take State office, pensions, and salaries; but the ministers are exempted from this law. Both Congress and Senate meet every year. The King has the power of convoking them, suspending them, or dissolving them; but in the latter case a new Cortes must sit within three months. The King appoints the president and vice-presidents of the Senate from members of the Senate only; the Congress elects its own officials. The King and each of the legislative chambers can take the initiative in the laws. The Congress has the right of impeaching the ministers before the Senate.

The constitution of June 30, 1876, further enacts that the King is inviolable, but his ministers are responsible, and that all his decrees must be countersigned by one of them. The Cortes must approve his marriage before he can contract it, and the King cannot marry

Should any one excluded by law from the succession to the crown. the lines of the legitimate descendants of Alfonso XII. become extinct the succession shall be in this order-first, to his sisters; next to his aunt and her legitimate descendants; and next to those of his uncles, the brothers of Ferdinando VII., 'unless they have been excluded." If all the lines become extinct 'the nation will elect its monarch.' The executive is vested, under the King, in a Council of Ministers of nine members, appointed January 18, 1884, as follows:

President of the Council.-Señor Canovas del Castillo.

Minister of Foreign Affairs.-Señor J. de Elduayen, Marquis del Pazo de la Merced.

Minister of Finance.-Señor Cos-Gayon.

Minister of the Interior.-Señor Romero Robledo.

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Minister of Justice.-Señor Francisco Silvela.

Minister of Public Works and Instruction, Commerce and Agriculture.-Señor Pidal y Mon.

Minister of War.-Marshal Quesada y Matheus, Marquis de Miravalles.

Minister of Marine.—Admiral Antequera.

Minister of the Colonies.-Count Tejada de Valdosera.

The various provinces and communes of Spain are governed by the provincial and municipal laws. Every commune has its own elected Ayuntamiento, consisting of from five to thirty-nine Regidores, or Concejales, and presided over by the Alcalde, at whose side stand, in the larger towns, several Tenientes Alcaldes. The entire municipal government, with power of taxation, is vested in the Ayuntamientos, the half elected every two years, the members appointing the Alcalde, executive functionary, from their own body. In the larger towns he may be appointed by the king. Each province of Spain has its own Parliament, the Diputacion provincial, the members of which are elected by the constituencies The Diputaciones provinciales meet in annual session, and are permanently represented by the Comission provincial, a committee elected every year. The Constitution of 1876 secures to the Diputaciones provinciales and the Ayuntamientos the government and administrationof the respective provinces and communes. Neither the national executive nor the Cortes have the right to interfere in the established municipal and provincial administration, except in the case of the action of the Diputaciones provinciales and Ayuntamientos going beyond the locally limited sphere to the injury of general and In the Basque provinces self-government permanent interests. has been almost abolished since the last civil war, and they are ruled as the rest of Spain. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Constitution, pressure is too frequently brought to bear upon local elections by the Central Government.

Church and Education.

The national Church of Spain is the Roman Catholic, and the whole population of the kingdom adhere to that faith, except 6,654 Protestants, 4,021 Jews, 9,645 Rationalists, 510 other religions, and 13,175 not stated. According to Article 12 of the Constitution of 1876, a restricted liberty of worship is allowed to Protestants, but it has to be entirely in private, all public announcements of the same being strictly forbidden. The Constitution likewise enacts that 'the nation binds itself to maintain the worship and ministers of the Roman Catholic religion.' Resolutions of former legislative bodies, not repealed in the Constitution of 1876, settled that the clergy of the established Church are to be maintained by the State. On the other hand, by two decrees of the Cortes, passed July 23, 1835, and March 9, 1836, all conventual establishments were suppressed, and their property confiscated for the benefit of the nation. These decrees gave rise to a long dispute with the head of the Roman Catholic Church, which ended in the sovereign pontiff conceding the principle of the measure. By a concordat with Rome, concluded in August 1859, the Spanish Government was authorised to sell the whole ecclesiastical property, except churches and parsonages, in return for an equal amount of untransferable public debt certificates, bearing interest at the rate of 3 per cent.

It was found at the general census of 1877, that of the population above 12 years of age, 2,683,320 males, and 4,531,217 females, or 7,214,537 in all, 60 per cent. of the adult population could not read. There has been little progress in this respect during the last forty years. By a law of 1857 an elaborate system of primary education was ordained; education was to be compulsory, there was to be a primary school for every 500 inhabitants, and instruction was to be on a rigidly uniform plan. Compulsion has never been enforced; and partly from political causes and partly from the wretched pay of most of the elementary teachers (10l. to 201. per annum), education is very inefficient. In 1881, however, several improvements were introduced. Under the Minister of Public Works there is a Director-General of Public Instruction, with a Council; there are ten educational districts, with the universities as centres, 49 inspectoral districts, and numerous local educational authorities. The public and primary schools are supported mainly by the Municipalities, the total sum spent in each of the last three years on primary education, including a small contribution by Go.. vernment, being 950,000l. Most of the children are educated free. In 1880 there were 23,132 public, and 6,696 private primary schools, or 1 for every 560 inhabitants, including 1,100 public and private schools for adults and Sunday schools. In 1880 there were

1,769,456 pupils on the books, the attendance being 1,295,254. Secondary education is conducted in 'Institutions,' or middle-class schools, somewhat like universities in their organisation; there must be one of them in every province in addition to private schools. These are largely attended, but the education is inefficient. These Institutions prepare for the Universities, of which there are ten, attended in 1883 by 15,732 students-viz., medicine, 6,659, law, 5,917, pharmacy, 1,915, science, 680, philosophy, 561. The fees largely cover the expense of the universities. Government also supports various special schools-engineering, agriculture, architecture, fine arts, music, &c. In 1882-83 the total sum set apart for education in the budget was only 304,7081.

In 1876 the number of places of worship and schools of Spanish Protestants were as follows:-53 places of worship; 90 schools, enrolled members 2,500, and 8,000 attendants at service on Sundays at the various chapels; 3,000 children. The poorest receive Protestant education,

Revenue and Expenditure.

The revenue of the kingdom is raised by a system of direct and indirect taxation, stamp duties, Government monopolies, and income from state property. The direct taxes are imposed on landed property, houses, live stock, industry, commerce, registration acts, titles of nobility, mortgages, and mineral produce. The indirect taxes are derived from foreign imports, articles of consumption, tolls, bridge and ferry dues.

There have been no accounts of the actual public revenue and expenditure of the kingdom published since the year 1870-71, but only budget estimates. There are, indeed, accounts of public revenue and expenditure published monthly; but the public accounts have not been approved by Parliament since 1865-67; and the Tribunal de Cuentas has not audited the accounts later than 1868-69. According to official returns, the following were the estimated ordinary revenue and expenditure for the financial years from 1877-8 to 1883-4 ::