Report by Mr. A. G. G. Bonar, on the Commerce and Industry of Austria, dated Vienna, July 10, 1868; in Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation. Nos. V. & VI., 1868. London, 1868.

Statistical Tables relating to Foreign Countries. Part XI. London, 1868. Trade Accounts. Foreign Countries. Austria: years 1867-68. Fol. London, 1869.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Annuario Marittimo per l'Anno 1869, compilato dal Lloyd austriaco coll' approvazione dell' eccelso i. r. governo centrale marittimo. XVIII. Annata. 8. Trieste, 1869.

Austria.

Archiv für Consularwesen, Volkswirthschaft und Statistik. 4. 21. Jahrgang. Vienna, 1869.

Blumenbach (W. C. W.) Gemälde der Oesterreichischen Monarchie, 3 vols. 8. Vienna, 1865.

Brachelli (H. F.) Statistik der Oesterreichischen Monarchie. 8. Vienna, 1865. Brachelli (H. F.) Statistische Skizze des Kaiserthums Oesterreich. 8. Leipzig, 1867.

Czoernig (K. Freiherr von) Statistisches Handbüchlein der Oesterreichischen Monarchie. 8. Vienna, 1865.

Czoernig (K. Freiherr von) Vergleich des Oesterreichischen Budgets mit denen der vorzüglicheren andern Europäischen Staaten. 8. Vienna, 1866. Fényes (E.) Magyarország ismertetése statistikai, földirati s történelmi szempontból. I. kötet. Dunántuli kerület. Második szakasz: Sopron-, Tolna-, Vas-, Veszprém- és Zalavármegyékkel. Szerző sajátja. 2 vols. 8. Pesth. 1867.

Friese (F.) Uebersicht der Oesterreichischen Bergwerksproduction. 4. Vienna, 1865.

Jarosch (J. A.) Topographisches Universal-Lexicon des Oesterreichischen Kaiserstaats. 8. 3 vols. Ölmütz, 1857-62.

Kohn (Ignaz) Eisenbahn-Jahrbuch der Oesterreichisch Ungarischen Monarchie. 8. Wien., 1869.

Meynert (H.) Handbuch der Geographie und Staatskunde von Oesterreich. 8. Vienna, 1863.

Petrossi (Ferd.) Das Heerwesen des Oesterreichischen Kaiserstaats. 2 vols. 8. Vienna, 1866.

Prasch (V.) Handbuch der Statistik des Oesterreichischen Kaiserstaats. 8. Brünn, 1860.

Rapporto sulla situazione sfavorevole dell' Austria nel commercio mondiale e sui mezzi per porvi rimedio fatto dal comitato istituito a sovrano rescritto del 9. Febbr 1864. 8. Trieste, 1866.

Schmidl (A.) Das Kaiserthum Oesterreich: geographisch-statistisch-topographisch dargestellt. 8. Vienna, 1861.

Schmitt (F.) Statistik des Oesterreichischen Kaiserstaats. 3rd edition. 8. Vienna, 1868.

BELGIUM.

(ROYAUME DE Belgique.)

Reigning Sovereign and Family.

Leopold II., King of the Belgians, born April 9, 1835, the son of King Leopold I., former Duke of Saxe-Coburg, and of Princess Louise, daughter of King Louis Philippe of the French; ascended the throne at the death of his father, Dec. 10, 1865; married Aug. 22, 1853, to

Marie Henriette, Queen of the Belgians, born Aug. 23, 1836, the daughter of the late Archduke Joseph of Austria. Offspring of the union are two daughters:-1. Princess Louise, born Feb. 18, 1858; 2. Princess Stéphanie, born May 21, 1864.

Brother and Sister of the King.-1. Philippe, Count of Flanders, born March 24, 1837; lieutenant-general in the service of Belgium ; married April 26, 1867, to Princess Marie of HohenzollernSigmaringen, born November 17, 1845. Offspring of the union is a son, Leopold, born June 3, 1869. 2. 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 132,000l.

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. The Crown had previously been offered to, but was refused by, the Duke de Nemours, second son of King Louis Philippe of the French. It was not until after the signing of the treaty of London, April 19, 1839, which established peaceful relations between King Leopold I. and the sovereign of the Netherlands, that all the States of Europe recognised the kingdom of Belgium.

Constitution and Government.

According to the charter 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, and makes rules and orders necessary for the execution of the laws; but he has no power to suspend, or dispense with the execution of the laws themselves. He nominates to civil and military offices, and commands the sea and land forces. He declares war, and concludes treaties of peace, of alliance, and of commerce, communicating the same to the Chambers as far as may be consistent with the interest and safety of the State. Those treaties which may be injurious to the State, or to the individual interests of the people, can only have effect after obtaining the sanction of the Chambers. No surrender, exchange, or addition of territory can be made except when authorised by a law passed by the Chambers. In no case can the secret articles of a treaty be destructive or contrary to the public clauses. The king sanctions and promulgates the laws. He has the power of remitting or reducing the punishment pronounced by the judges, except in the case of his ministers, to whom he can extend pardon only at the request of one of the Chambers. He has the power of coining money according to law, and also of conferring titles of nobility, but without the power of attaching to them any privileges. In default of male heirs, the king may nominate his successor with the consent of the Chambers. On the death of the king, the Chambers assemble without convocation, at latest on the tenth day after his decease. From the date of the king's death to the administration of the oath to his successor, or to the regent, the constitutional powers of the king are exercised in the name of the people, by the ministers assembled in council, and on their own responsibility. The regency can only be conferred upon one person, and no change in the constitution can be made during the regency. The successor to the throne or the regent can only enter upon his duties after having taken an oath in presence of the assembled Chambers to observe the laws and the constitution, to maintain the independence of the nations and the integrity of its territory. 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 nomi

nating a regent during the minority. In the case of a vacancy of the throne, the two Chambers, deliberating together, nominate provisionally to the regency. They are then dissolved, and within two months the new Chambers must assemble, which provide definitively for the succession.

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. No person can at the same time be a member of both Chambers, and no member can retain his seat after obtaining a salaried office under the Government, except on being re-elected. No member can be called to account for any votes or opinions he may have given in the performance of his duties. No member can be prosecuted or arrested during the session without the consent of the Chamber of which he is a member, except in the case of being taken in flagranti crimine. 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 paying a small amount of direct taxes. The number of deputies is fixed according to the population, and cannot exceed one member for every 40,000 inhabitants. In the year 1869 they amounted to 116, elected in 41 electoral districts. The members represent the nation generally, and not merely the province or division by which they are nominated. To be eligible as a member, it is necessary to be a Belgian by birth, or to have received the 'grande naturalisation;' to be in possession of the civil and political rights of the kingdom; 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 indemnity of 430 francs, or 177. 5s., 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 six departments, as follows: :

1. The Ministry of Finance.-Hubert J. W. Frère-Orban, born at Liège, April 24, 1812; studied law and, after 1830, entered the journalistic career; elected member of the Chamber of Deputies, for Liège, June, 1847; Minister of Finance in 1847, from 1848 to 1852, and Nov. 9, 1857, to June 3, 1861; Minister of Public Works, 1847-48. Appointed, for the fourth time, Minister of Finance, Oct. 26, 1861; nominated President of the Council of Ministers, Jan. 3, 1868.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs.-Jules Van der Stichelen, Minister of Public Works from Jan. 14, 1859, to Jan. 3, 1868. Appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan. 3, 1868.

3. The Ministry of Justice.-Jules Bara, appointed Minister of Justice, Nov. 12, 1865.

4. The Ministry of Public Works.-A. Jamar, appointed Minister of Public Works, Jan. 3, 1868.

5. The Ministry of War.-General B. Renard, formerly aide-decamp to the king, and commander of the 2nd military division. Appointed Minister of War, Jan. 3, 1868.