At the census of December 3, 1867, the population numbered 2,426,300. The increase in the four years 1867-71 was 129,944, being at the rate of 1:30 per cent. per annum. The increase of population during the four years 1871-75 was at the rate of 1.92 per cent. per annum; in the five years 1875-80, 1.48 per cent. per annum; and between 1880 and 1885, 1.38 per cent. per annum. The increase was nearly thrice as large in the towns as in the rural districts of the kingdom.

Besides the German population, Saxony has (in 1885) 49,916 Wends, most of them in the district of Bautzen. The number of marriages in Saxony in 1885 was 29,286; births, 137,935; deaths, 95,851, leaving a surplus of births of 42,084. Included in the births were 5,083, or 3.69 per cent., still-born, and 18,040, or 13.08 per cent., illegitimate children. There were 9,241 emigrants from Saxony in 1881, 6,281 in 1883, 4,636 in 1884, 2,885 in 1885, 2,388 in 1886. The density of population is high, being about 500 per square mile, rising in the Zwickau district to C64.

Saxony has a comparatively large town population. The urban population in 1880 numbered 1,223,342, and the rural 1,750,463. There were, in December 1885, 9 towns with a population of more than 20,000, namely :

The number of agricultural enclosures, each cultivated by one household, was (1882) 192,921, with a population of 578,592, of whom 285,414 were actively engaged on the farms. Of these farms 94,783 were under 1 hectare (2.47 acres); 69,171 ranged from 1 to less than 10 hectares, 28,209 from 10 to less than 100 hectares, and 758 had an area of 100 hectares and upwards.

Considerable quantities of coal are obtained in Saxony; in 1886, 4,213,037 metric tons, valued at 32,198,000 marks.

In 1887 there were 1,431 miles of railway.

British Chargé d'Affaires.- George Strachey.

British Consul-General.-Baron von Tauchnitz (Leipzig).

V. BADEN.

(GROSSHERZOGTHUM BADEN.)

Reigning Grand-duke.

Friedrich I., born September 9, 1826, second son of Grand-duke Leopold I., and of Princess Sophie of Sweden. Ascended the throne

of Baden at the death of his father, April 24, 1852. Married, September 20, 1856, to Grand-duchess Luise, born December 3, 1838, the daughter of King Wilhelm I. of Prussia.

Children of the Grand-duke.

I. Friedrich Wilhelm, born July 9, 1857.

Married Septem

ber 20, 1885, to Hilda, daughter of the Duke of Nassau.

II. Victoria, born August 7, 1862. Married September 20, 1881, to Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden.

III. Ludwig, born June 12, 1865.

Brothers and Sisters of the Grand-duke.

I. Princess Alexandrine, born December 6, 1820; married, May 3, 1842, to Duke Ernst of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

II. Prince Wilhelm, born December 18, 1829; married, February 11, 1863, to Princess Maria Romanovska, born October 16, 1841, daughter of the late Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg. Offspring of the union are two children:-1. Princess Marie, born July 26, 1865. 2. Prince Maximilian, born July 10, 1867.

III. Prince Karl, born March 9, 1832; married, May 17, 1871, to Rosalie von Beust, elevated Countess von Rhena, born June 10, 1845. IV. Princess Marie, born Nov. 20, 1834; married, Sept. 11, 1858, to Prince Ernst of Leiningen.

V. Princess Cecilia, born Sept. 20, 1839; married, Aug. 28, 1857, to Grand-duke Michael of Russia.

The title of Grand-duke was taken by Margrave Karl Friedrich of Baden in 1806, after the dissolution of the German Empire.

The Grand-duke is in the receipt of a civil list of 1,828,269 marks, which includes the allowances made to the princes and princesses.

Constitution and Revenue.

The Constitution of Baden vests the executive power in the Grand-duke, and the legislative authority in a House of Parliament composed of two Chambers. The Upper Chamber comprises the princes of the reigning line who are of age; the heads of the mediatised families; eight members elected by the nobility; the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Freiburg; the superintendent of the Protestant Church; two deputies of Universities; and eight members nominated by the Grand-duke, without regard to rank or birth. The Second Chamber is composed of 63 representatives of the people, 22 of whom are elected by towns, and 41 by rural districts. Every citizen not convicted of crime, nor receiving parish relief, has a vote in the elections. The elections are indirect: the citizens nominating the Wahlmänner, or deputy-electors, and the latter the representatives. The members of the Second Chamber are

elected for four

years.

The Chambers have to be called together at

least once every two years.

The executive is composed of four departments, headed by the 'Staats Ministerium' (Ministry of State). The ministers are individually and collectively responsible for their actions.

The budget estimate of revenue for the year 1888 amounts to 46,929,667 marks, besides an extraordinary revenue of 651,058 marks; while the expenditure is estimated at 45,708,345 marks, with the addition of 4,970,605 marks. One-fourth of the revenue is derived from direct taxes, including a land tax-Grundsteuer— and an income tax. About one-fourth comes from indirect taxes, one-fifth from the produce of crown lands and forests, and one-fifth from customs and miscellaneous sources.

Nearly all the railways of Baden are the property of the State. The receipts of the State railways in the year 1888 are estimated at 48,781,000 marks, and the disbursements at 34,036,500 marks, leaving a surplus of 14,744,500 marks. This surplus serves specially to cover the interest and sinking fund of the railway debt. The total amount invested in railways up to the end of 1886 was 419,384,000 marks.

The public debt is divided into two parts, the first called the General debt, and the second the Railway debt. The General net debt amounted, at the commencement of 1887, to 9,850,448 marks, and the Railway debt, at the same date, to 334,599,010 marks.

Area and Population.

Baden has an area of 15,081 sq. kilom., or 5,824 English square miles, with a population of 1,601,255 at the census of December 1, 1885. The population was as follows on December 1, 1875, 1880, and 1885:

The density of the population is 275 per square mile, being greatest in the Karlsruhe district, where it is 425. Of the total population in 1885, 782,039 were males, and 819,216 females.

In the four years from 1871 to 1875 the population increased at the rate of 0.78 per cent. per annum; in the five years from 1875-80 it was 0.84 per cent. per annum, and between 1880 and 1885 at the rate of 0.39 per cent. per annum. The number of marriages

in Baden in 1886 was 11,161, births 54,954, deaths 39,951, excess of births over deaths 15,003. Included in the births were 1,681, or 3.06 per cent., still-born, and 4,724, or 8.59 per cent., illegitimate children. The emigrants from Baden to countries out of Europe is estimated in 1883 at 10,000, in 1884 at 7,500, in 1885 at 5,000, and in 1886 at 4,500.

Two-thirds of the population of Baden are Roman Catholics, and one-third Protestants. At the census of 1885 there were 1,004,276 Roman Catholics, and 565,236 Protestants, 4,525 of other Christian sects, together with 27,104 Jews. There were five towns with a population of over 10,000 at the census of 1885:

The number of farms or agricultural enclosures, each under one household, was (1882) 232,287, with a population of 752,489, of whom 328,091 were actively engaged on the farms. Of these farms 80,153 were less than 1 hectare each; 139,179 ranged from 1 to less than 10 hectares, and 12,872 from 10 to less than 100 hectares, while there were 83 of 100 hectares and upwards.

Of the total area of Baden 42 per cent. is under cultivation, 37 per cent. under forest, and 17 per cent. under meadows and pastures. There were 866 miles of railways in 1887.

British Chargé d'Affaires.-Hon. W. Nassau Jocelyn, C.B.
Consul-General.-Charles Oppenheimer (Frankfort-on-Maine).

VI. 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 Jan. 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 21, 1886.

Brothers and Sisters of the Grand-duke.

I. Paul Friedrich, born September 19, 1852; married May 5, 1881, to the Duchess Maria of Windisch-Grætz. 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 becaine 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, December 6, 1886, to Duchess Elizabeth, daughter of the Grand-duke of SaxeWeimar-Eisenach.

IV. 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.

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 Granddukes style themselves Princes of the Wends. The genealogical table of the reigning Grand-dukes begins with Niklot, who died 1160, and comprises 25 generations.

Constitution, Revenue, and Population.

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 Grand-duke 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 Knight's 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 executive is represented in a ministry divided into four departments, appointed by, and responsible alone to the Grandduke. 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 1887-88 at 15,350,000 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 4,209,000 marks. On July 1, 1887, the public debt was estimated at 41,684,900 marks. The interest of the railway debt (11,568,900 marks), and