of carrying on all active business. The government is in the hands of the Senate, but the House of Burgesses has the right of initiative in all measures relative to the public expenditure, foreign treaties, and general legislation. To the passing of every new law the sanction of the Senate and the House of Burgesses is required.

Area and Population.

The State comprises a territory of 115 English square miles, of which the population in 1880 was 63,571, including a garrison; on December 1, 1890, the population was 76,485 (37,471 males and 39,014 females). The city proper had 39,743, and the rural districts, composed of scattered portions of territory surrounded by Prussia, Oldenburg, and Mecklenburg, 12,415 inhabitants in 1875; in 1880 the city had increased to 51,055, in 1885 to 55,399, and in 1890 to 63,590. In the four years from 1871 to 1875 the population increased at the rate of 2.28 per cent. per annum ; in the five years from 1875 to 1880 at the rate of 2.34 per cent. ; in 1880–85 at 1·29 per cent. ; and in 1885-90 at 14 79 per cent.

In the State of Lübeck the movement of population during four years was as follows:

In 1892 there were 222 illegitimate births, or 8.6 per cent. of the total births, and 70 still-births, or 2.7 per cent.

Religion, Instruction, Justice, and Pauperism.

On December 1, 1890, Protestants numbered 74,544 (975 per cent.), Roman Catholics 1,143 (15 per cent.), other Christians 122, Jews 654, and 'unclassified' 22. Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14. In the city and suburbs there are (1890) 18 elementary schools (9 for each sex), with 6,778 pupils ; for boys 1 gymnasium (601 pupils), 1 Höhere Bürgerschule (233 pupils), 1 private higher school (522 pupils), and 3 public middle schools; for girls there are 4 private high schools and several private middle schools. There are also a public technical school for apprentices, and 2 private commercial schools. Three daily newspapers, one weekly and one bi-weekly periodical, are published in the city. Lübeck contains an Amtsgericht and a Landgericht, whence the appeal lies to the Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht' at Hamburg. The police force number 181 men, and in 1890 cost 240,620 marks; 1891, 240,113 marks; 1892, 235,322 marks. In 1890, 585; 1891, 544; 1892, 603 criminals were convicted. In 1890, 1,100; 1891, 1,023 persons received poor-relief from the State Armen-Anstalt,' which spent, in 1890, 105,495 marks; in 1891, 95,022 marks out of a revenue of 118,347 marks.

Finance.

The estimated revenue for the year 1893 amounted to 3,750,703 marks, and the expenditure to the same amount. About one-sixth of the revenue is derived from public domains, chiefly forests; one-fourth from interest; and

the rest mostly from direct taxation. Of the expenditure, one-fourth is for the interest and reduction of the public debt, the latter amounting, in 1892, to 9,549,407-10 marks.

Imports by sea in 1892, 62,825,977 marks; exports, 122,604, 205 marks. The chief articles of commerce are timber, corn, coal and coke, iron, and colonial produce. The bulk of the direct trade of Lübeck is carried on with Denmark, Great Britain, Russia, and Sweden and Norway. (For the shipping statistics see under Germany.) The number of vessels arriving under the British flag in 1892 was 30 of 20,403 registered tons. The number of vessels belonging to the port of Lübeck at the end of 1892 was 37, with an aggregate tonnage of 18,156, of which 31 vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 14,689, were steamers.

The State contained 29 miles of railway in 1892, belonging to private companies.

British Vice-Consul.-H. L. Behncke.

MECKLENBURG-SCHWERIN.

(GROSSHERZOGTHUM MECKLENBURG-SCHWERIN.)
Reigning Grand-duke.

Friedrich Franz III., born March 19, 1851; son of Friedrich Franz II. and Princess Augusta of Reuss-Schleiz; succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, April 15, 1883; married, January 24, 1879, to Grand-duchess Anastasia, born July 28, 1860, daughter of Grand-duke Michael of Russia. Offspring 1. Alexandrine, born December 24, 1879. 2. Friedrich Franz,

:

born April 9, 1882. 3. Cecile, born September 20, 1886.

Brothers and Sisters of the Grand-duke.-I. Paul Friedrich, born September 19, 1852; married May 5, 1881, to the Duchess Maria of WindischGrætz. Offspring: 1. Paul Friedrich, born May 12, 1882. 2. Marie Antoinette, born May 28, 1884. 3. Heinrich Borwin, born December 16, 1885. Duke Paul in 1884 renounced all hereditary rights to the Grand-duchy for himself and his descendants; he himself became a Roman Catholic. II. Marie, born May 14, 1854; married August 28, 1874, to Grand-duke Vladimir, second son of Alexander II., Emperor of Russia. III. Johann Albrecht, born December 8, 1857; married, November 6, 1886, to Duchess Elizabeth, daughter of the Grand-duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Elisabeth, born August 10, 1869. V. Friedrich Wilhelm, born April 5, 1871. VI. Adolf Friedrich, born October 10, 1873. VII. Heinrich, born April 19, 1876.

IV.

The Grand-ducal house of Mecklenburg is the only reigning family in Western Europe of Slavonic origin, and claims to be the oldest sovereign

house in the Western world. In their full title, the Grand-dukes style themselves Princes of the Wends. The genealogical table of the reigning Granddukes begins with Niklot, who died 1160, and comprises 25 generations. The title of Grand-duke was assumed in 1815.

Constitution.

The political institutions of the Grand-duchy are of an entirely feudal character. The fundamental laws are embodied in the Union of 1523, the Reversales of 1572 and 1621, and the charters of 1755 and Nov. 28, 1817. Part of the legislative power (only in the Domain has the Grandduke the whole legislative power) is in the hands of the Diet-Landtag. There is only one Diet for both Grand-duchies, and it assembles every year for a few weeks; when it is not in actual session it is represented by a committee of nine members-Engerer Ausschuss.' Seats and votes in the Diet belong to the Ritterschaft-that is, the proprietors of Rittergüter, or Knights' Estates-and to the Landschaft, consisting of the burgomasters of the 48 towns. The Ritterschaft has nearly 800 members, but only a few of them take seats in the Diet. The Domain has not a representation of its own. The only elected representatives of the people are the 6 deputies returned to the German Reichstag.

The executive is represented by a ministry divided into four departments, appointed by, and responsible to, the Grand-duke alone.

Area and Population.

Mecklenburg-Schwerin is situated on the north-east coast of the Empire. The total area is 5,135 English square miles. There is no other administrative division than that springing from the ownership of the soil, in which respect the country is divided as follows, with population in 1890:-Grandducal Domains, 191,195; Knights' Estates (Rittergüter), 119,194; Convent Estates (Klostergüter), 8,442; Town Estates, 259,511. Total, 578,342. Average density, 112·6 per square mile. Though the average density is low, and the soil very fertile, there was a gradual decrease of population up to 1875, and again in 1880-85, though between 1875 and 1880 there was a large increase. Population: 1867, 560,628; 1871, 557,707; 1875, 553,785; 1880, 577,055; 1885, 575,152; 1890, 578,342. Of the total population in 1890, 42.7 per cent. lived in towns of 2,000 inhabitants or upwards, 573 per cent. in rural communes; 78,052 lived in medium towns, 73,352 in small towns, and 94,270 in country towns. The rural population was thus 332,668. The chief towns are Rostock (44,409 inhabitants), Schwerin (33,643 inhabitants), the capital, Wismar (16,787 inhabitants), and Güstrow (14,568 inhabitants). 1890 the population included 285,092 males and 293,250 females, i.e. 102.9 females per 100 males.

In

More than one-half of the people are engaged in agriculture and cattle rearing, as is shown in the table on p. 536. In 1890 there were 2,628 foreigners in Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Marriages, 1891, 4,552; total births, 17,306; stillborn, 578 (33 per cent.); illegitimate, 2,168 (12.5 per cent.); total deaths, 11,916; surplus of births, 5,390.

The numbers of emigrants, viâ German and Dutch ports and Antwerp, for eight years were as follows:

Religion and Instruction.

Nearly all the inhabitants are Protestants. In 1890 there were: Roman Catholics, 5,034; Jews, 2,182; other Christians, 905. The State Church is Protestant. There are 478 Protestant churches and 346 clergymen. The parishes are generally well endowed with landed property.

There are about 1,315 elementary schools in the Grand-duchy; Gymnasia, 7 with 1,782 pupils; Realschulen, 9 with 1,838 pupils; normal schools, 2 with 204 pupils; navigation schools, 2; agricultural schools, 2; architectural school, 1. There are besides several middle and special schools. There is a university at Rostock (see German Empire).

Justice, Crime, and Pauperism.

The Grand-duchy contains 43 Amtsgerichte, 3 Landgerichte, and 1 Oberlandesgericht at Rostock, which is also the supreme court for MecklenburgStrelitz. There are also certain special military and ecclesiastical tribunals. In 1889, 3,229 criminals were convicted, i.e. 76°2 per 10,000 inhabitants over 12 years of age. On October 31, 1890, 374 persons were in prison-304 men, 55 women, and 15 children.

The Grand-duchy is divided into about 1,700 poor-law districts. In 1885, 14,475 heads of families, or solitary paupers, with 8,735 dependents, were relieved at a total cost of 1,308,488 marks. A poor-rate, averaging about 1 per cent. on incomes, may be levied by the poor law districts.

Finance.

There exists no general budget for the Grand-duchy. There are three systems of finance, entirely distinct. 1. That of the Grand-duke, estimated for 1893-94 at 17,900,000 marks. 2. The financial administration of the States, the resources of which are very small. 3. The common budget of the Grand-duke and States, the receipts and expenditure of which balance at 3,828,800 marks (for 1893-94). On July 1, 1893, the public debt was estimated at 82,153,500 marks. The interest of the railway debt (10,801,800 marks), and of the consolidated loan of 1886, amounting to 12,000,000 marks, is covered by the annuity of 960,000 marks paid by the State railways, and the remaining debt is more than covered by the State funds.

Production.

Of the total surface of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, arable and garden-land occupy 759,138 hectares; pasturage, 108,512; woods, 226,562; heath and waste land, 77,736; uncultivated land, 158, 426. On June 5, 1882, the number of agricultural tenements, each cultivated by one household, was as follows:

These farms had an aggregate area of 1,059,043 hectares, and supported 293,348 persons, of whom 116,135 were actively engaged upon them.

The areas in hectares under the principal crops were as follows in 1890: Wheat, 43,633; rye, 167,344; barley, 17,717; oats, 112,901; potatoes, 42,699; hay, 108,512. In 1891 the yield was (in quintals) :—wheat, 775,051; rye, 2,284,706; barley, 348,071; oats, 1,363,566; potatoes, 4,044,643; hay, 6 694,354.

In 1892 the railways measured 622 miles.

Consul-General.-Hon. C. S. Dundas (Hamburg).

MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ.

(GROSSHERZOGTHUM MECKLENBurg-Strelitz.)

Reigning Grand-duke.

Friedrich Wilhelm I., born October 17, 1819; the son of Grand-duke Georg and of Princess Marie of Hesse-Cassel; succeeded to the throne at the death of his father, September 6, 1860; married June 28, 1843, to Augusta, born July 19, 1822, the daughter of the late Duke Adolphus of Cambridge. Offspring: Adolf Friedrich, born July 22, 1848; married April 17, 1877, to Princess Elizabeth of Anhalt, born September 7, 1857, of which union there is offspring: Mary Augusta, born May 8, 1878; Jutta, born January 24, 1880; Adolf Friedrich, born June 17, 1882; and Carl Barwin, born October 10, 1888.

The reigning house of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was founded, in 1701, by Duke Adolf Friedrich, youngest son of Duke Adolf Friedrich I. of Mecklenburg. There being no law of primogeniture at the time, the Diet was unable to prevent the division of the country, which was protested against by subsequent Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The Grand-duke is, however, one of the wealthiest of German sovereigns, more than one-half of the country being his private property.

Constitution and Finance.

The country is divided into two separate provinces, the first of which Stargard, has a Diet composed of landowners and town magistrates, while the second, Ratzeburg, has no representative Constitution (see Mecklen burg-Schwerin). Of the 48 burgomasters and nearly 800 members of the Ritterschaft, 7 burgomasters and over 60 proprietors of Rittergüter belong to Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

The executive is entirely in the hands of the Grand-duke, and is exercised by him through his Government, at the head of which is a 'Minister of State.' Accounts of public income and expenditure are never made known, and the whole State revenue forms the civil list of the Grand-duke; the debt is estimated at 6,000,000 marks.

Area, Population, &c.

The area of the country is 2,929 square kilometres, or 1,131 English square miles, the ownership of which territory is divided between the sovereign, the feudal proprietors, and the corporations of certain towns, in the following manner :-527 square miles belong to the Grand-duke; 353 to the titled and untitled nobles; and 117 to the town corporations.

The population in 1875 was 95,673; in 1880, 100, 269; in 1885, 98,371: on December 1, 1890, it was 97,978; it was decreasing steadily, through emigration, previous to 1875, although there is a less density than in any other State of the German Empire, less than 100 inhabitants living on the square mile. During the census period, 1871-75, the decrease of population