of the soil, in which respect the country is divided into Grand-ducal Domains, embracing about one-fifth of the total area of MecklenburgSchwerin; Knight's Estates-Rittergüter '-comprising two-fifths; Convent Estates Klostergüter'-embracing one-fifth; and Town Estates, comprising the remaining fifth of the land. The Domains. contain rather more than one-third of the total population of the Grand-duchy, and the Town Estates another third.

There was a gradual decrease of population up to 1875, although the average density is only 119 inhabitants per English square mile, and the soil moreover very fertile. At the census of December 3, 1867, the population of the Grand-duchy numbered 560,628, and at the next enumeration, of December 1, 1871, the number had fallen to 557,707, being a decrease of 2,921, or onehalf per cent. of the population in the four years 1867-71. At the census of December 1, 1875, the population was found to have further declined to 553,785, being a loss of 3,922, or of 0.18. per cent. per annum. From 1875 to 1880, however, there was a large increase. The number of marriages in 1881 was 4,327, births 18,522, deaths 12,071, excess of births 6,151. Included in the births were 713, or 3.91 per cent. still-born, and 2,389, or 13:11 per cent. illegitimate children. During the five years from 1873 to 1877, the large number of 10,097 emigrants left the little State. But there was a gradual decline in emigration during the period, the number of emigrants falling from 6,492 in 1873, to 365 in 1877. In 1880 it was 1,335, in 1881, 3,795, in 1882, 61,257,. and 34,790 in 1871-1882.

Nearly all the inhabitants are Protestants, there being in 1880 only 2,524 Catholics, and 2,580 Jews. There were two towns with a population of over 20,000, namely, Rostock, with 36,967, and Schwerin, the capital, with 30,146 inhabitants, at the census of December 1, 1880.

The two Mecklenburgs had 262 miles of railway in 1883.

VII. HESSE.

(GROSSHERZOGTHUM HESSEN.)

Reigning Grand-dule.

Ludwig IV., born September 12, 1837, the son of Prince Karl, eldest brother of Grand-duke Ludwig III. and of Princess Elizabeth of Prussia. Succeeded to the throne at the death of his uncle, Grand-duke Ludwig III., June 13, 1877. Married, July 1, 1862, to Princess Alice, second daughter of Queen Victoria, of Great Britain and Ireland; widower, December 14, 1878.

Children of the Grand-duke.

I. Victoria, born April 5, 1863.

II. Elizabeth, born November 1, 1864.
III. Irene, born July 11, 1866.

IV. Ludwig, born November 25, 1868.
V. Alice, born June 6, 1872.

Brothers of the Grand-duke.

I. Prince Heinrich, born Nov. 28, 1838; married, Feb. 28, 1878, to Caroline Willich, elevated Freifrau zu Niddau; widower, Jan. 6, 1879.

II. Prince Wilhelm, born November 16, 1845.

Uncle and Aunt of the Grand-duke.

I. Prince Alexander, born July 15, 1823; field-marshal lieutenant in the service of Austria; married, Oct. 28, 1851, to Princess Julia von Battenberg, born Nov. 12, 1825. Offspring of the union are five children-1. Marie, born July 15, 1852; married April 29, 1871, to Count Gustaf von Erbach-Schönberg. 2. Ludwig, born May 24, 1854, lieutenant in the British navy. 3. Alexander, born April 5, 1857; elected Prince of Bulgaria, April 29, 1879. 4. Heinrich, born October 5, 1858. 5. Franz Josef, born September 24, 1861. II. Princess Maria, born August 8, 1824; married, April 28, 1841, to Grand-duke Alexander of Russia, late Emperor Alexander II. (See page 382.)

The former Landgraves of Hesse had the title of Grand-duke given them by Napoleon I., in 1806, together with a considerable increase of territory. At the congress of Vienna this grant was confirmed, after some negotiations. The reigning family are not possessed of much private property, and dependent almost entirely upon the grant of the civil list, amounting to 1,228,288 mark, or 61,4147., the sum including allowances to the princes.

Hesse has a university at Giessen. There are 983 public elementary schools (1881), and 872 preparatory schools, besides 22 higher schools.

Constitution, Revenue, and Population.

The Constitution bears date Dec. 17, 1820; but was modified in 1856 and 1872. The legislative power is vested in two Chambers, the first composed of the princes of the reigning family, the heads of a number of noble houses, the Roman Catholic bishop, the chief Protestant superintendent, the Chancellor of the University, two members elected by the noble landowners, and a number of lifemembers, nominated by the Grand-duke; while the second consists

of 10 deputies of the eight larger towns, and 40 representatives of the smaller towns and rural districts.

The executive is represented by a ministry divided into three departments, namely, of the Grand-ducal House and Foreign Affairs; of the Interior and of Justice; and of Finance.

The budget is granted for the term of three years by the Chambers, and the estimates seldom differ much from the actual revenue and expenditure. The revenue for the financial period 1882-85 was estimated at 17,558,207 mark, or 877,910l., per annum, and the expenditure at 17,306,747 mark, or 865,3371., per annum. The public debt, incurred mainly in recent years for the construction of a network of State railways, amounted to 27,663,078 mark, or 1,383,1537. in 1883.

The total annual charge of the debt in the budget of 1882-5 is 34,5421.

The area of Hesse embraces 2,866 English square miles, on which lived at the last census 936,340 inhabitants (464,917 males and 471,423 females). The Grand-duchy is administratively divided into three provinces, the area and population of which were as follows at the two enumerations of December 1, 1875, and December 1, 1880:

:

At the census of December 3, 1867, the population numbered 831,939. The increase of population in the four years from 1871 to 1875 was at the rate of 0.85 per cent. per annum, and in the five years 1875 to 1880 at the rate of 1:14. There were 6,423 marriages in Hesse in 1881, 32,323 births and 22,634 deaths, leaving a surplus of 9,689 births. Among the births are 1,347, or 4-17 still-born and 2,397, or 7-42 illegitimate children. In 1881 there were 4,173 emigrants from Hesse, and 2,681 in 1882.

Of the population in 1880, 635,474 were Protestants; 269,384 Catholics; 4,192 other Christian sects; 26,746 Jews; and 544 unclassified, or of 'no religion.' The largest towns of the Grandduchy are Mayence or Mainz, with 60,905; Darmstadt, the capital, 48,153; Offenbach, 28,449; Worms, 19,005; Giessen, 16,855 inhabitants at the census of December 1, 1880.

Hesse has 566 miles of railway, of which 140 miles belong to the State.

British Chargé d'Affaires.-Hon. W. Nassau Jocelyn.

VIII. OLDENBURG.

(GROSSHERZOGTHUM OLDENBURG.)

Reigning Grand-duke.

Peter I., Grand-duke of Oldenburg, born July 8, 1827, the son of Grand-duke August, and of Princess Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg; succeeded to the throne at the death of his father, Feb. 27, 1853; married, Feb. 10, 1852, to Elisabeth, born March 26, 1826, daughter of Prince Joseph of Saxe-Altenburg.

Children of the Grand-duke.

I. Prince August, heir-apparent, born Nov. 16, 1852; married, February 18, 1878, to Princess Elizabeth, born Feb. 8, 1857, second daughter of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia; issue a daughter Sophia, born February 2, 1879.

II. Prince Georg, born June 27, 1855.

The cousin of the Grand-duke, Prince Peter (died May 14, 1881), the son of Prince Georg, brother of the late Grand-duke August of Oldenburg, and of Princess Catharine, daughter of the late Emperor Paul of Russia, and his wife, Princess Therese of Nassau, had the following five children:-1. Princess Alexandra, born June 2, 1838; married, Feb. 6, 1856, to Grand-duke Nicholas, brother of Czar Alexander II. of Russia. 2. Prince Nicolaus, born May 9, 1840, married May 29, 1863, to Marie Bulazel, Countess von Osternburg, born July 8, 1845; offspring of the union are a son and a daughter called Count and Countess von Osternburg. 3. Prince Alexander, born June 2, 1844; general in the service of Russia; married, Jan. 19, 1868, to Princess Eugenie, born April 1, 1845, daughter of the late Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg; offspring of the union is a son, Peter, born Nov. 21, 1868. 4. Prince Constantine, born May 9, 1850; captain in the army of Russia.

The ancient house of Oldenburg, which has given sovereigns to Denmark, Scandinavia, and Russia, is said to be descended from Wittekind, the celebrated leader of the heathen Saxons against Charlemagne. In the fifteenth century, a scion of the House of Oldenburg, Count Christian VIII., was elected King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The main line became extinguished with Count Anton Günther, in 1667, whereupon the territory of the family fell to the King of Denmark, who made it over to Grand-duke Paul of Russia, in exchange for pretended claims upon Schleswig-Holstein. The Grandduke then gave Oldenburg to his cousin, Prince Friedrich August of

Holstein-Gottorp, with whose descendants it remained till December 1810, when Napoleon incorporated it with the kingdom of Westphalia. But the Congress of Vienna not only gave the country back to its former sovereign, but, at the urgent demand of Czar Alexander I., added to it a territory of nearly 400 square miles, with 50,000 inhabitants, bestowing at the same time upon the prince the title of Grand-duke. Part of the new territory consisted of the principality of Birkenfeld, on the left bank of the Rhine, close to the French frontier, and some three hundred miles distant from Oldenburg. The other part consists of the principality of Lübeck. The Grand-duke has a civil list of 255,000 mark, or 12,750 He draws also a revenue of 6,000l. from private estates of the family in Holstein.

Constitution, Revenue, and Population.

A Constitution was given to the Grand-duchy Feb. 18, 1849, which, revised by a decree of Nov. 22, 1852, grants liberty of the press, trial by jury, and equality of all citizens in political and social matters. The legislative power is exercised by a Landtag, or Diet, elected for three years, by the vote of all citizens paying taxes, and not condemned for felony by a court of justice. The mode of election is indirect. The first electors choose a delegate, and the delegates of several districts appoint one deputy, the whole number being 33, or one for every 10,000 inhabitants. The executive is vested, under the Grand-duke, in a responsible ministry of three departments.

The budgets are voted for three years at a time, and are divided into the budget of the Grand-duchy and the budgets of the Duchy of Oldenburg, and the principalities of Lubeck and Birkenfeld. The revenue and expenditure of the Central Treasury balance at 52,4001. for 1882, 51,5177. for 1883, and 53,9271. for 1884. The estimated revenue of the duchy and principalities is:-1882, 361,4497.; 1883, 297,0497.; 1884, 296,3747. The estimated expenditure:-1882, 313,9737.; 1883, 307,7091.; 1884, 307,2701. The chief item of revenue is from the produce of State property; while in expenditure the civil list and the interest of the public debt take the largest sums. The debt amounted, at the beginning of 1883, to 1,912,5337.

The area of Oldenburg embraces 2,417 Engl. square miles, with a population, according to the census of Dec. 1, 1880, of 337,478 inhabitants (167,838 males, 169,640 females). At the census of Dec. 1, 1875, the population numbered 319,314, the increase of population amounting to 110 per cent. per annum in the years 1875-80, to 0.35 per annum in the years 1871-75, while in the four preceding years, 1867 to 1871, the increase was only 0.05 per annum. The people are mostly Protestants, the Catholics numbering 75,254 in 1880.