Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/146

110 Dating from Elector Friedrich III. of Brandenburg, who, on January 18, 1701, placed the royal crown upon his head, calling himself King Friedrich I. of Prussia, there have been the following independent

Friedrich I. .  .   .   .   .   .    1701

Friedrich Wilhelm I. .  .   .   .   1713

Friedrich II., called 'the Great'. . 1740

Friedrich Wilhelm II. .  .   .   .   1786

Friedrich Wilhelm III. .  .   .   .  1797

Friedrich Wilhelm IV. .  .   .   .  1840

Wilhelm I. .. .  .   .   .   .    1861

The average reign of the seven kings of the House of Hohenzollern, including the present monarch, amounted to 23 years.

Constitution and Government.

The present constitution of Prussia was drawn up by the government of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV., with the co-operation of a Constituent Assembly, sitting August-December, 1849, and was proclaimed January 31, 1850; but subsequently modified by royal decrees of April 30, 1851; May 21 and June 5, 1852; May 7 and May 24, 1853; June 10, 1854; May 30, 1855; and May 15, 1857. These fundamental laws vest the executive and part of the legislative authority in a king of the House of Hohenzollern, who attains his majority upon accomplishing his eighteenth year. The crown is hereditary in the male line only, according to the rights of primogeniture. In the exercise of the government, the king is assisted by a council of ministers, appointed and dismissed by royal decree. The legislative authority the king shares with a representative assembly, composed of two Chambers, the first called the 'Herrenhaus,' or House of Lords, and the second the 'Abgeordnetenhaus,' or Chamber of Deputies. The assent of the king and both Chambers is requisite for all laws. Financial projects and estimates must first be submitted to the second Chamber, and be either accepted or rejected ' en bloc ' by the Upper House. The right of proposing laws is vested in the king and in both Chambers. Projects of law rejected by either Chamber or by the king cannot be reproduced during the same session. The first Chamber, according to the original draft of constitution, was to consist of princes of the royal family of age, and of the heads of Prussian houses deriving directly from the former empire, as well as of the heads of those families who, by royal ordinance, would be appointed to seats and votes in the Chamber, according to the rights of primogeniture and lineal descent. Besides these hereditary members, there were to be ninety deputies directly