Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/450

402 Brunswick also possesses in Prussian Silesia the princi pality of Oels, which, from 1647 to 1792 belonged to Wiirtemberg. A portion of the Hartz Mountains is common to Brunswick and Hanover, and is consequently known as the Communion-Hartz. Various minor arrange ments have been made with Prussia for the more convenient organization of this district since the formation of the new German empire. The highest point of the mountains in the Brunswick territory is the Wormberg, 3230 feet in height. The principal rivers by which the duchy is watered are the Ocker, the Weser, the Aller, and the Leine. The lower parts of the country are generally fertile and well cultivated ; the higher are mostly covered with forests of fir, oak, and beech. A very extensive improvement has been effected in the circle of Helmstedt by the draining of the Dromling swamp, and the rectification of the courses of the Aller and the Ohre. Of the whole duchy 32 7 per cent, is arable, 27 3 consists of meadow and pasture, and 31*8 is under wood. Agricultural and pastoral pursuits con stitute the principal employment of the inhabitants ; and the peasant class are usually well to do. The principal articles of cultivation are grain, potatoes, beetroot, flax, hops, and fruits. The growing of tobacco, which was formerly of great importance, is now very limited. In 1870 there were in the duchy 25,344 horses, 83,558 head of cattle, 386,757 sheep, 75,616 swine, 39,167 goats, 55,829 geese, and 8385 bee stocks. The mineral wealth of the country, which is chiefly derived from the Hartz Mountains, consists of copper, lead, iron, gold, silver, sulphur, coal, salt, and alum. In 1867 the total yield of coal was 219,400 tons, of iron ore 58,400, of pig-iron 143,000, of cast-iron 1584; the copper amounted to 383 tons; the lead to 710, and the vitriol to 1339. The manufactures, which are comparatively small, comprise (besides the preparation of the ores) spinning, weaving, and brewing. The principal iron-works are at Ptiibeland, Wieda, Delligsen, and Oker; and the chief centres of general industry are Brunswick and Schoningen. An active trade is carried on by means of the extensive railway communica tion with the rest of Germany. The educational institutions comprise two ecclesiastical seminaries, an anatomical and surgical college, an architec tural school at Holzminden, an agricultural school at Schoppenstedt, 5 gymnasiums, 25 burgher schools, and upwards of 400 village schools, besides several important establishments in the capital (see below). There is an ex tensive lunatic asylum at Konigslutter, opened in 1 865. According to the constitution of 1832, which has been frequently modified, the Government is an hereditary mon archy, with a legislative assembly of representatives. These are chosen, by the law of 1851, twenty-one by those citizens who pay the largest amount of taxes, ten by the towns, three by the clergy, and a certain number by the communes. They hold office for six years, one-half going out triennially ; and when they are not in session, they are represented by a standing committee of seven members. In the federal council the duchy has two votes, and it sends three deputies to the imperial diet. The ducal contingent, which still wears its famous black uniform, forms part of the 10th federal army corps. The state is the proprietor not only of a large proportion of the mines and forests in the duchy, but also of its railways. From these sources it derives a considerable part of its revenue, which in recent years has been augmented by the farming out of lotteries. By the budget for the period 1873-5, the annual receipts were fixed at 7,429,400 marks, or 371,470, The total debt, which had been mainly incurred for the forma tion of the railways, amounted to 65,400,000 marks, or 3,270,000. The people of Brunswick are, with comparatively few exceptions, of Saxon race. The country people speak dialects of Low German, while High German is employed by the educated classes in the cities. The more immediate ancestor of the house of Brunswick was Henry the Lion, who, in the 12th century, held the united duchies of Bavaria and Saxony ; but having refused to aid the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in his wars with the Pope, he was, by decree of the diet in 1180, deprived of both duchies, and only left the possession of his allodial domains of Brunswick and Liineburg. His grandson, Otho, was invested in 1235 with these domains as a fief of the empire, and thus became the first duke of Brunswick. The two principalities which had been severed were united by Ernest the Confessor, but on his death in 1546, they were again divided between his two sons; the elder (or rather his son Augustus) receiving Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel, or Bruns wick, and the younger Brunswick-Liineburg, or Hanover. The ducal residence, which had before been at Wolfen- biittel, was in 1754 removed to Brunswick by Duke Charles. His successor, Duke Charles William Ferdinand, married Augusta, daughter of George III. of England He com manded the Prussian troops at Auerstadt in 1806, and soon after died of the wounds he had received in the battle. His possessions were immediately seized by Napoleon, and formed part of the kingdom of Westphalia till after the battle of Leipsic, when the duchy was restored to its rightful possessor, Frederick William, youngest son of the preceding duke. This prince fell at the head of his troops at Quatre Bras, and was succeeded by Charles Frederick, the elder of his two sons,who, being at that time a minor, was placed under the tutelage of George IV. of England, then prince-regent. The duke entered on the exercise of his authority in October 1823, but in consequence of a re volution in 1830 was obliged to abdicate in 1831 in favour of his brother William, the present duke. During the long reign of duke William many important changes have taken place in the internal organization of the duchy, and most of them have been in the direction of greater civil liberty. Of great moment was the establishment of a new criminal code in 1840 ; and publicity of parliamentary discussion, the freedom of the press, the introduction of jury-trials in criminal cases, and the legitimation of Christian-Jewish marriages were secured in 1849. In 1851 military service was recognized as binding on all, and the election of members of parliament was placed more directly in the hands of the people. In 1864 the Stolgebiihren, or taxes paid to the established clergy on the occasion of a baptism, a marriage, or a burial, were made no longer leviable on Jews, lloman Catholics, or other dissenters. The intro duction of the German commercial code was effected in 1864, and freedom of trade was introduced in the same year. Treaties of mutual inheritance exist between the houses of Hanover and Brunswick ; and should the present duke, who is still unmarried, die without issue, the duchy will pass to the house of Hanover. The ex-duke, to whose sons the right would first have descended, died childless at Geneva in August 1873. He had spent his life in pitiable devotion to certain hobbies, the most remarkable of which was the collection of valuable diamonds. His various treasures were bequeathed to the city of Geneva, but the will is disputed by the present duke.

, the capital of the above duchy, is situated on the Ocker, 37 miles E.S.E. of Hanover by rail, and 52 W.N.W. of Magdeburg, in 52 16 N. lat. and 10 32 E. long. In spite of the numerous alterations effected during the present century, the city is still of an antiquated appear ance, and is for the most part contained within the limits of its old fortifications. These, which were dismantled in 1797, have given place to a regular circle of gardens and promenades, which rank among the finest in Germany, 