deputies of landed proprietors; twenty-five of towns and city corporations; twenty-five of peasants and communes; and five representatives of commerce and manufacturing industry. The qualification for a seat in the Upper House, as well as the right of election to the same, is the possession of a landed estate, worth at least 1,000 thalers a year; which qualification, however, is not required by the ex officio deputies of chapters and universities. To be a member of the Lower House, no fixed income is required; and electors are all men above twenty-five years of age who pay taxes, or contribute in any way to the public burdens. A salary is attached to the performance of the legislative functions; the members of the Upper House being allowed seven thalers, or about a guinea a day, during the sittings of Parliament, and the deputies to the second chamber three thalers, or 9s. Both houses have the right to make propositions for new laws, the bills for which, however, must come from the ministry. No taxes can be made, levied, or altered without the sanction of both Chambers.

The executive is in the King and a Council of Ministers, consisting of five members, namely:

1. The Ministry of the Interior.-Freiherr Frederick Ferdinand von Beust, President of the Council of Ministers, also Minister of Foreign Affairs, appointed Feb. 24, 1849.

2. The Ministry of Justice. Dr. J. H. August von Behr, appointed November 1858.

3. The Ministry of War.-General Bernhard von Rabenhorst, appointed March 8, 1849.

4. The Ministry of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs.-Dr. Johann Paul von Falkenstein, appointed March 1855.

5. The Ministry of Finance. Freiherr Richard von Friesen, appointed November 1858.

Church and Education.

Although the royal family profess the Roman Catholic religion, the vast majority of the inhabitants are Protestants. According to the last census, of December 1861, the population of Saxony was composed of 2,175,392 Lutherans; 4,515 Calvinists; 233 members of the Episcopal Church; 41,363 Roman Catholics; 1,722 DeutschKatholiken, or German Catholics; 460 members of the Greek Church; and 1,555 Jews. There are very nearly 1,400 Protestant churches in the kingdom. The clergy are chiefly paid out of local rates and from endowments, the budget contribution of the State to the department of ecclesiastical affairs amounting to but 85,593 thalers, or about 12,8301., chiefly spent in administrative salaries. The government of the Protestant Church is entrusted to the Landes-Consis

torium, or National Consistory, presided over by the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs; while the Roman Catholic congregations are under the supervision of a Papal delegate, Dr. Forwerk, Bishop of Leontopolis in partibus. Public education has reached the highest point in Saxony, every child, without exception, partaking of its benefits. By the law of June 6, 1835, attendance at school, or under properly qualified teachers, has become compulsory, for Roman Catholics as well as Protestants. On the average, 95 of every 100 children capable of instruction are in attendance at school.

Revenue and Expenditure.

The budget of Saxony is voted for triennial periods. The actual expenditure-the income was larger-amounted, during the period

1849 to 1851 to 7,600,669 thalers, or £1,140,100 annually.

1852 1854 8,281,728

The budget for the financial period of 1861 to 1863 was ratified by the Chambers in the following proportions:

The details of the annual expenditure are:

Civil list of the King and Queen, dotation of the

Thalers

princes, and repair of royal residences

Interest on public debt.

Ministry of Justice

of Interior

803,845

2,834,000

384,703

850,495

474,395

2,175,096

390,833

94,445

35,000

590,336

3,339,461

323,743

112,356,352 or £1,853,452

For the last few years, there has been a gradually increasing

surplus of income over expenditure, which is collected in a 'fund of reserve,' and made use of for the reduction of the public debt. The greater part of the railways of Saxony are State property, and a very considerable revenue, varying from 1,500,000 to 1,800,000 thalers, is derived from this source. The length of State railways, at the beginning of 1862, was 252 miles, built at an expense of 42,657,000 thalers, or 6,398,550l. The value of the public domains, chiefly forests, was estimated, at the same date, at 25,241,393 thalers, or 3,786,2101.

The public debt amounted, in 1861, to 61,725,499 thalers, or 9,258,8251. The greater part of it is of ancient date, created by the connection of the electors of Saxony with the throne of Poland. The debt amounted, in 1764, to 29,028,425 thalers; it had fallen, in 1806, to 14,932,885 thalers; but risen again, at the end of the Napoleonic wars, in 1815, to 22,857,626 thalers. It was settled at the Congress of Vienna, when about one half of the territory of Saxony was made over to Prussia, that the latter should also take a portion of the public debt. The amount left to Saxony was 16,660,771 thalers. This debt had increased, in 1830, to 18,762,050 thalers, and henceforth augmented in still larger proportions, owing mainly to the establishment of a network of State railways, built at a cost of 42,657,000 thalers. A portion of the public debt7,000,000 thalers, or somewhat above one million sterling-consists in notes, called Cassen-Billets, bearing no interest.

Army.

The troops are raised by conscription, to which every citizen above twenty-one is liable. Substitution, however, is permitted in times of peace, on payment of a sum of 300 thalers to the State. A very considerable number of young men of the upper and middle classes avail themselves annually of this permission. The period of service is six years, with further two years' inscription among the troops of reserve; but for at least one-half of this period, the men are generally sent home on furlough. In the budget of 1862, the strength of the army was set down as follows:

8 regiments of infantry of the line

4 battalions of Jäger

2 regiments of cavalry

To which is to be added the army of reserve, consisting, nominally, of about 10,000 men, but only a small proportion of which are ready for active service.

The military power of Saxony has greatly declined since 1815, when one half of the kingdom had to be ceded to Prussia. In 1783, the electors had a force of 30,000 men under arms; and during the Napoleonic campaigns the contingent furnished to the French emperor consisted of 28,000 men. Of late years, the military efficiency of the population has also sunk very considerably. In 1834, only 40 per cent. of the young men drawn for conscription were fit for service; and in 1856 only 22 per cent. Official reports mention that, within the last few years, up to 1862, this state of things has somewhat improved.

Population.

The kingdom is divided into four Kreise, or circles, of the following area and population, according to the census of 1852, and of December 1861.

The increase of population-237,408 in nine years, or 26,378 per annum-is inferior to that of most other European states. The sexes, according to the census of 1861, are in the usual proportion, there being 1,088,933 male, and 1,136,307 female inhabitants. At the same period, 819,621 persons lived in the 142 towns of the kingdom-some of these towns with a population of less than 600 and 1,405,619 persons in the country. The increase in the latter districts has been for many years considerably greater than in the former.

The population of the chief towns, according to the census of December 1861, was as follows:

The criminal statistics of the kingdom have been unfavourable for the last twenty years. The number of convicts varied from 1,093 to 1,271 during the years 1840-49, and in 1850 rose to 1,382; in 1851 to 1,623, and in 1857 to 2,315. A number of these, however-137 in the year 1851-were political criminals. In 1858, the number of convicts fell to 2,253; in 1859, to 2,071; and on the 1st of July, 1861, consisted of 1,986. Taking the average of five years, there was—

One convict to 1,453 inhabitants in the period from 1840 to 1844

This gives an increase of 41 per cent. during the latter period. The number of criminals under sixteen years of age increased even 61 per cent.

The number of illegitimate children born annually amounted to 12.97 per cent. in 1834; to 14:08 per cent. in 1840; and to 15.33 per cent. in 1849, but has been on the decrease since the latter period.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Saxony.

1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Sachsen. Dresden, 1865.

Zeitschrift des statistischen Bureau's des Königlich Sächsischen Ministerium des Innern. Dresden, 1865.

Report by Mr. Barnard, H. M.'s Secretary of Legation, on the Trade and Commerce of Saxony, dated Jan. 1, 1863; in Reports of H. M.'s Secretaries of Embassy,' &c. No. VI. London, 1863.

Reports by Mr. Barnard, H. M.'s Secretary of Legation, on the State of Education, Trade, and Industry in Saxony, dated Jan. 1, and July 1, 1864; in Reports of H. M.'s Secretaries of Embassy," &c. No. VII. London, 1864.

Report by Mr. Barnard, H. M.'s Secretary of Legation, on the Textile Manufactures of Saxony, dated January, 1865; in 'Reports of H. M.'s Secretaries of Embassy,' &c. No. VIII. London, 1865.

Report by Mr. Consul-General Crowe on the Trade of Leipzig during the year 1864; in Commercial Reports received at the Foreign Office. London, 1865.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Engel (E.) Jahrbuch für Statistik und Staatswissenschaft des Königreichs, Sachsen. 8. Dresden, 1864.

Leupold (H.) Wanderbuch durch Sachsen und die Nachbarlande. 2 vols. 8. Dresden, 1863.

Richter (E. W.) Beschreibung des Königreichs Sachsen in geographischer, statistischer und topographischer Hinsicht. 3 vols. 8. Freiberg, 1846-52. Weidinger (K.) Führer durch die Stadt Leipzig und ihre Umgebungen. 8. Leipzig, 1865.