III. Prince Wilhelm, born April 10,1816; field-marshal-lieutenant in the service of Austria.

IV. Princess Louise, born Nov. 18, 1820; nominated abbess of the convent of Itzehoe, Holstein, Aug. 3, 1860.

V. Prince Julius, born Oct. 14, 1824; general in the Danish army. VI. Prince Hans, born Dec. 5, 1825, general in the Danish army. The Crown of Denmark was elective from the earliest times. In 1448, after the death of the last male scion of the princely House of Svend Estridsen, the Danish Diet elected to the throne Christian I., Count of Oldenburg, in whose family the royal dignity remained for more than four centuries, although the crown was not rendered hereditary by right till the year 1660. The direct male line of the House of Oldenburg became extinct with the sixteenth king, Frederik VII., on November 15, 1863. In view of the death of the king without direct heirs, the great Powers of Europe,' taking into consideration that the maintenance of the integrity of the Danish monarchy, as connected with the general interests of the balance of power in Europe, is of high importance to the preservation of peace,' signed a treaty at London on May 8, 1852, by the terms of which the succession to the Crown of Denmark was made over to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and to the direct male descendants of his union with the Princess Louise of HesseCassel, niece of King Christian VIII. of Denmark. In accordance with this treaty, a law concerning the succession to the Danish crown was adopted by the Diet, and obtained the royal sanction July 31, 1853.

King Christian IX. has a civil list of 500,000 rigsdalers, or 55,555l., settled upon him by vote of the Rigsdag, approved Dec. 17, 1863. The heir-apparent of the Crown has, in addition, an allowance of 60,000 rigsdalers, or 6,6667., settled by law of March 20, 1868.

Subjoined is a list of the kings of Denmark, with the dates of their accession, from the time of election of Christian I. of Oldenburg : House of Oldenburg.

House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Christian IX., 1863.

The sixteen members of the House of Oldenburg, who filled the throne of Denmark for 415 years, had an average reign of 26 years.

Constitution and Government.

The present Constitution of Denmark is embodied in the charter of June 5, 1849, which was modified in some important respects in 1855 and 1863, but again restored, with various alterations, by a statute which obtained the royal sanction on July 28, 1866. According to this charter, the executive power is in the king and his responsible ministers, and the right of making and amending laws in the Rigsdag, or Diet, acting in conjunction with the sovereign. The king must be a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, which is declared to be the religion of the State. The Rigsdag comprises the Landsthing and the Folkething, the former being a Senate or Upper House, and the latter a House of Commons. The Landsthing consists of 66 members. Of these, 12 are nominated for life by the Crown, from among actual or former representatives of the kingdom, and the rest are elected indirectly by the people, for the term of eight years. The choice of the latter 54 members of the Upper House is given to electoral bodies composed partly of the largest taxpayers in the country districts, partly of deputies of the largest taxpayers in the cities, and partly of deputies from the totality of citizens possessing the franchise. Eligible to the Landsthing is every citizen who has passed his twenty-fifth year, and is a resident of the district. The Folkething, or Lower House of Parliament, consists of 102 members, returned in direct election, by universal suffrage, for the term of three years. According to the Constitution there should be one member for every 16,000 inhabitants. The franchise belongs to every male citizen who has reached his thirtieth year, who is not in the actual receipt of public charity, or who, if he has at any former time been in receipt of it, has repaid the sums so received, who is not in private service without having his own household, and who has resided at least one year in the electoral circle on the lists of which his name is inscribed. The total number of electors in 1880 was 304,585, or 1 in every 7.3 of the population; the actual voters in that year numbered 110,635. Eligible for the Folkething are all men of good reputation, past the age of twenty-five. Both the members of the Landsthing and of the Folkething receive payment for their services, at the same rate.

The Rigsdag must meet every year on the first Monday in October. To the Folkething all money bills must in the first instance be submitted by the Government. The Landsthing, besides its legislative functions, has the duty of appointing from its midst every four years the assistant judges of the Rigsret, who, together with the ordinary members of the Höiesteret, form the highest tribunal of the kingdom (Rigsret), and can alone try parliamentary impeachments. The ministers have free access to both of the legislative assemblies, but can only vote in that Chamber of which they are members.

E

The executive, acting under the king as president, and called the State Council-Statsraadet-consists of the following seven departments:

1. The Presidency of the Council.-Jacob Brennum Scavenius Estrup, appointed President of the Council of Ministers, and Minister of Finance, June 11, 1875.

29,

2. Ministry of the Interior.-S. H. S. Finsen, appointed August 1880.

3. Ministry of Justice and for Iceland.—J. M. V. Nellemann, appointed June 11, 1875.

4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs.-Otto Ditlev, Baron RosenœrnLehn, appointed October 11, 1875.

5. Ministry of War.—Colonel J. J. Bahnsen, appointed September 13, 1884.

6. The Ministry of Marine.-Commander N. F. Ravn, appointed January 4, 1879.

7. Ministry of Public Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs.J. F. Scavenius, appointed August 24, 1880.

The ministers are individually and collectively responsible for their acts, and in case of impeachment, and being found guilty, cannot be pardoned without the consent of the Folkething.

The chief of the dependencies of the Crown of Denmark, Iceland, has its own constitution and administration, under a charter dated January 5, 1874, and which came into force August 1, 1874. By the terms of this charter, the legislative power is vested in the Althing, consisting of 36 members, 30 elected by popular suffrage, and six nominated by the king. A minister for Iceland, nominated by the king and responsible to the Althing, is at the head of the Administration: while the highest local authority is vested in the Governor, called Stiftamtmand, who resides at Reikjavik. Besides him there are three Amtmands for the western, the northern, and eastern districts of Iceland.

Church and Education.

The established religion in Denmark is the Lutheran, which was introduced as early as 1536, the Church revenue being at that time seized by the Crown, to be delivered up to the University, and other religious and educational establishments. The affairs of the national Church are under the superintendence of seven bishops. The bishops have no political character. Complete religious toleration is extended to every sect, and no civil disabilities attach to Dissenters.

According to the census of 1880, there were only 17,527 persons,

or less than one per cent. of the population, not belonging to the Lutheran church. Of this number 3,946, or nearly one-third, were Jews; the remainder comprised 2,985 Roman Catholics; 1,363 members of the Reformed church, or Calvinists; 1,722 Mormons; 3,687 Baptists; 1,036 Irvingites; 1,919 other sects; and 1,241 without creed, or unknown.

Elementary education is widely diffused in Denmark, the attendance at school being obligatory from the age of seven to fourteen. Education is afforded gratuitously in the public schools to children whose parents cannot afford to pay for their teaching. The university of Copenhagen had in 1882-3, 84 professors and teachers, and 1,261 students. Connected with the university is a polytechnic institution, with 18 teachers and 183 students. Between the university and the elementary schools there are 13 public gymnasia, or colleges, in the principal towns of the kingdom, which afford a ' classical' education, and 27 Real-schule. Instruction at the public expense is given in Parochial Schools, spread all over the country, to the number, according to the latest official statistics, of 2,940, namely 28 in Copenhagen; 132 in the towns of Denmark, and 2,780 in the rural districts; with 231,935 pupils in all, or 123 per 1,000 of population. Of the Conscripts for 1881, 0.36 per cent. only could neither read nor write.

Revenue and Expenditure.

The annual revenue of the State during the five financial years ending March 31, from 1879 to 1883, averaged 2,728,000l. The expenditure during this quinquennial period was fully balanced by the revenue, with an annual surplus, employed for the reduction of the public debt.

By the terms of the Constitution of Denmark the annual financial budget, called the 'Finantslovforslag,' must be laid on the table of the Folkething at the beginning of each session. As to the annual financial accounts, called 'Statsregnskab,' the Constitutional Charter prescribes them to be examined by four paid revisors, two of whom are elected by the Folkething and two by the Landsthing. Their report is submitted to both Chambers, which, after due consideration, pass their resolution, generally to the effect that they have no remarks to make on the balance-sheet.

The budget revenue voted for 1882-3 amounted to 2,766,0581., and the actual revenue was 2,979,1307.; the estimated expenditure was 3,000,8487., and the actual expenditure, 2,819,411.

For

1883-4 the estimated revenue was 2,883,2631., and expenditure, 2,861,1201. The chief sources of revenue and branches of expenditure were estimated as follows for the financial year 1884-5 :—

According to these estimates, there was a calculated surplus of 373,4371.

An important feature in the administration of the finances of the kingdom is the maintenance of a Reserve Fund of a comparatively large amount. On the 31st of March 1868, the Fund stood at 6,317,000l., or as much as the national revenue for two years, but it was reduced to 5,687,000l.in 1869, and further reduced to 5,033,000. in 1871, to 3,746,000l. in 1872, and stood in October 1883 at 1,071,1367. The object of the Reserve Fund is to provide means at the disposal of the government in the event of sudden occur

rences.

The public debt of Denmark, incurred in part by large annual deficits in former years, before the establishment of parliamentary government, and in part by railway undertakings, and the construction of harbours, lighthouses, and other works of public importance, amounted to 200,343,243 kroner, or 11,130,180l., on March 31, 1883. The debt has been in course of reduction since 1866, as shown in the following table, which gives the national liabilities at different periods, from 1870 to 1883 :