Napoleon, in the early part of the present century. Napoleon dissolved the old German Empire, and substituted in its place the Confederation of the Rhine, formed by a union of the several German States. Francis II. then renounced the title of Emperor of Germany, which he held at the time, for that of Emperor of Austria. Upon the downfall of Napoleon, the present Germanic confederation was formed, in 1815.

The Roman Catholic religion is professed by rather more than half the population of Germany, and is entertained by the majority of the people in the states of Bavaria and Baden, besides the German provinces of Austria, and the Prussian provinces of Westphalia and the Rhine. The Protestant religion prevails in Hanover, Wurtemberg, Saxony, and most of the smaller states, besides the Prussian provinces of Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Prussian Saxony.

Education is in a highly advanced condition in Germany, especially so in some of the smaller states, and in Wurtemberg and Bavaria, in which a larger proportion of the people have received instruction than in any other country in the world, excepting some portions of the United States of America. Besides parochial schools for the education of the lower orders, there are in nearly all the towns schools of a higher order, entitled Gymnasiums, Pædagogiums, and Lyceums, in which instruction can be obtained at a very cheap rate; and no part of Europe possesses so great a number of Universities, or affords such facilities for coming into contact with men of learning and science, and reaping the benefits of their information. The German Universities are twenty-three in number, of which those of Berlin, Heidelberg, Leipzig, Rostock, Marburg, Jena, Giessen, Kiel, Halle, Gottingen, Erlangen, and Greifswald, are Protestant: Prague, Vienna, Grätz, Olmutz, Innsbruck, Würzburg, Munich, and Freyburg, are Roman Catholic ;-and Bonn, Tubingen, and Breslau, of mixed character.

The great number of public libraries contained in the towns of Germany forms a characteristic and interesting feature in the intellectual condition of that country. Nearly every town of eight or ten thousand inhabitants (and many even of much smaller population) possesses one or more libraries open to the use of the public, many of which contain collections of great magnitude and value. Thus, the town of Bonn has a library of 100,000 volumes; Oldenburg and Bamberg, each, of 60,000; Cassel, of 70,000; Darmstadt, Heidelberg, and Wolfenbuttel, each 200,000: Weimar. 110,000; Gotha, 150,000, &c.; besides the larger collections of Berlin, Dresden, Gottingen, and Vienna, already mentioned. There are also numerous learned societies spread over Germany, many of which have formed large and highly valuable collections of objects of natural history, works of art, and various articles calculated to render assistance in the pursuit of knowledge.

Prussia and Austria are the principal military powers of Germany, but the force maintained by Bavaria, Hanover, and some of the smaller states, is also considerable. Each state is bound to furnish a contingent to the general army of the Confederation. Luxemburg, Mentz, and Landau, are the three principal fortresses of the federal government, and are strongly garrisoned.

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CHAPTER VII.

THE COUNTRIES OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPE.

SECTION I.-DENMARK.

(322.) Extent and Boundaries. - Denmark is bounded on the north by the channel of the Skager-rack, on the west by the North Sea, on the south by Germany, and on the east by the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat. Its most northern point, the Skawe, is in latitude 57° 44′; its most southern, near the town of Lauenburg, on the banks of the Elbe, in latitude 53° 20': between these two points, the greatest length of Denmark from north to south is about 300 miles, Its greatest breadth, between the west coast of Jutland and the easternmost point of the Island of Zealand, is 180 miles, but the extreme width of the continental part of the kingdom is only 110 miles, and at its narrowest portion is less than 30 miles across from sea to sea.

The total area of Denmark is 21,856 English square miles, nearly equal to three times the size of Wales, and rather more than two-fifths of the dimensions of England. About a fourth part of its extent consists of the islands of the Danish Archipelago.

(323.) Surface, Rivers, &c. The kingdom of Denmark has four natural divisions:- a peninsula, which forms the province of Jutland, and is its northern and broadest portion; an isthmus, by which this is connected with the mainland, and which constitutes the province of Sleswig; in the south, the territory of Holstein and Lauenburg, which forms a part of Germany; and in the east, a group of islands, of which Zealand is the most considerable.

The continental part of Denmark belongs to the great European plain, and is almost entirely level. There are some inequalities of surface in the interior of Holstein, but the elevation is inconsiderable. The coasts are generally low, and the western shores are in many places protected from

inundations of the sea by means of dykes, as in Holland. The western coast of Sleswig is lined by a chain of low and narrow islands, which have been separated from the mainland by the action of the sea.

The rivers of Denmark are inconsiderable in point of size: the Eyder which forms the boundary between Sleswig and Holstein, flows into the North Sea, and is navigable for small vessels below the town of Rendsburg, whence a canal connects it with the town of Kiel, on the Baltic coast. Near the eastern borders of the kingdom is the Trave, which flows into the Baltic, below Lubeck, and which is connected by a canal with the Elbe (Art. 318.). The last-mentioned river forms part of the southern frontier of Denmark.

There are a great number of lakes, both on the mainland and in the islands, generally of small size; and also numerous salt-water lagoons, adjacent to the coasts. The largest of these is the Lim Fiord, which leaves the Kattegat by a narrow channel on the coast of Jutland, and afterwards spreads out to a great breadth, so as to occupy a large part of the interior of the peninsula, enclosing several islands, and ex-* tending entirely across to the shores of the North Sea. During a violent storm in 1825 the narrow isthmus which divided the Liim Fiord from the North Sea was broken through, and the channel thus formed has since remained open, though it is too shallow to be of much use for the purpose of navigation.

(324.) Climate, Productions, &c.-The climate of Denmark is humid, but generally temperate in character: vapours and moist fogs are of frequent occurrence, owing to the abundance of water; but these are dispersed by the strong winds which prevail during great part of the year. In May and June a powerful north-west wind called the Skai does injury to the vegetation by its violence and the lowness of its temperature. The winter is frequently severe, and both snow and rain are of almost constant occurrence during that season. But, though moist, the climate is in general not insalubrious.

The soil near the coasts (particularly on the west and south-west) is generally a rich marsh-land, highly favourable to the development of vegetation; but in the interior of Jutland and Holstein, much of it is dry and sandy, and large tracts are covered with heath. There are few forests, and consequently hardly any of the larger wild animals. The woods were formerly extensive, but have gradually been cut down; those that remain are chiefly on the eastern coast of Jutland, in the interior of Holstein and Lauenburg, and in some parts of Zealand. In these, the wild boar is still occasionally met with; the stag and the fallow-deer are mostly confined to parks, but the fox, marten, and polecat, exist in great numbers. Game is abundant, and, both on the coasts of Jutland, and around the shores of the Liim Fiord, there are vast numbers of geese, ducks, and other birds, the feathers of which form an

article of traffic. The adjacent seas, as well as the fiords and rivers, abound in fish, and a large number of the inhabitants are engaged in the fisheries, the produce of which supplies the people near the coasts with great part of their food.

Denmark has scarcely any mineral productions; turf is most generally used for fuel, but coal, salt, and other minerals, are imported. At Odersloe, in Holstein, there is a brine-spring, but its produce is not sufficient for the consumption of the kingdom.

(325.) Inhabitants.—The population of Denmark amounted, in 1858, to 2,468,000,-an average of only 112 inhabitants to the square mile. These all belong to the Teutonic, or German, family of nations, though the language spoken in the greater part of the kingdom differs considerably from the German, and is a dialect of the Norse or Scandinavian tongues. The Danes (properly so called) form the majority of the population, and occupy the islands, the peninsula of Jutland, and the greater part of Sleswig:. Holstein and Lauenburg, and the southern portion of Sleswig, are inhabited by Germans. Besides these are the Frisons, who inhabit the islands on the west coast of Jutland and Sleswig; and the Angles, who dwell in the east of the latter province, and are believed to be the descendants of the nation from whom the name of our own country (Angle-land or England) is derived.

(326.) Industrial Occupations.-The wealth of Denmark consists in its pastures, which are rich and extensive. The cattle of Holstein are particularly fine, and both horses and oxen are reared in great numbers and largely exported. The dairy produce of this province, as well as that of other parts of the kingdom, is likewise considerable; cheese is made in great abundance, and forms an article of export, together with salt beef and pork, butter, and wool. The agricultural produce is also great, and besides supplying the home consumption leaves a large surplus for export. Oats, barley, and rye, are the grains most generally grown, and the latter is the chief food of the peasantry: wheat is more largely raised in Holstein than elsewhere. Rape, beans, tares, buck-wheat, and potatoes, are also objects of extensive cultivation, particularly rape, which is grown with advantage in the marshy tracts along the west coast. Agriculture is more advanced in the provinces of Holstein and Sleswig than in other parts of Denmark. Two-thirds of the whole population of the kingdom derive their support from

the cultivation of the soil and the labours of the farm and dairy.

(327.) Manufactures.- Denmark has no manufactures of any importance, and does not possess the native materials (iron and coal) requisite for the prosecution of this branch of industry. Throughout the country the peasantry in general weave various linen and woollen articles for their own consumption; and in Copenhagen, Altona, and the other towns, both these, and also cotton and silk goods, are made, but not on a large scale: the chief supply of manufactured goods is derived from abroad. Distillation and brewing are both prosecuted to a great extent; earthenware is made in some places, and in Holstein there are some brass and copper works. There are also some sugar-refineries, paper-mills, soap-works, tanneries, hat-manufactories, &c.

(328.) Commerce.—The foreign commerce of Denmark is considerable, though not to the extent that might be expected from the favourable position of the country for maritime traffic. It is for the most part confined to the supply of the population with the manufactures of other countries, and with articles of colonial produce, in exchange for the surplus agricultural productions of their own territory. The imports are coals, iron, salt, timber, tar, fruits, wine; cotton, woollen, and silk, manufactures; glass and hardware; with coffee, tea, sugar, and various tropical produce.

The principal exports are butter, rape-seed, barley, wheat, rye, oats; horses and oxen; salt beef and pork, hides and skins, wool, honey; and various minor articles of farm and dairy produce. The mercantile navy of Denmark is considerable, and the Danes have always been distinguished for their skill and enterprise in nautical undertakings.

(329.) Internal Communication. · The roads in Zealand and the other islands are generally good, but in the other parts of the kingdom are in a neglected state. Railways have at present only been introduced to a limited extent. There is one between Copenhagen and the small town of Roskilde, 16 miles to the westward; and, in Holstein, another line communicates between Altona (adjacent to Hamburg) and Kiel, on the Baltic, with branches to the other principal towns of that province.

Water-communication is rendered abundant by the numerous arms of the sea and fiords, and there are three channels of connection between the North Sea and the Baltic, independently of the passage round the Skawe, by the Skager-rack and Kattegat. These are, 1st, the Canal of Stecknitz, which unites the Trave with the Elbe (Art. 318.), — 2nd, the Canal of Kiel, which connects the river Eyder with the Baltic, and 3rd, the Lim Fiord, which reaches entirely across the peninsula of