Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/724

 706 HESSE ly Hesse-Darmstadt, a German grand duchy, con- sisting of two large portions separated by a long strip of land extending from E. to W., which belongs to the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. The N. portion is bounded on all sides by Prussia ; the S. portion is bounded N. by Prussia, E. by Bavaria, S. by Baden, S. W. by Rhenish Bavaria, and W. by Prussia ; area, 2,964 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 852,894, of whom 585,399 were Protestants, 238,080 Ro- man Catholics, and 25,373 were Jews. Hesse is divided into the provinces of Upper Hesse, Starkenburg, and Rhenish Hesse. The princi- pal mountains are the Odenwald in the south- ern portion and the Vogelsgebirge in the north- ern. The Vogelsgebirge is a volcanic mass, occupying with its branches about 400 sq. m. The country is also traversed by branches of the Taunus, Westerwald, &c. The chief rivers are the Rhine, Main, Nahe, Nidda, and Lahn. Hesse is one of the best cultivated agricul- tural countries in Germany. Offenbach, near Frankfort, is the chief manufacturing town. Mentz is the great emporium for the corn, wine, and transit trade. Darmstadt is the capital. The grand duchy possesses many railways and excellent public roads. It occu- pies the sixth rank in the German empire, has three votes in the federal council, and sends eight deputies to the German Reichstag. The troops of the grand duchy constituted in 1874 a separate division of the llth army corps. The government is a constitutional monarchy. The grand duke, who bears the title of Gross- Jierzog von Hessen und ~bei Rhein, is assisted by a council of state and a cabinet, which in 1874 consisted of the premier or president (who is at the same time minister of the grand ducal household and of foreign affairs), of the minis- ters of the interior, of justice, and of finance. The legislature is composed of two chambers. The annual receipts, according to the budget of 1873-'5, amount to $4,500,000; the ex- penditures to $4,250,000. The public debt was contracted almost exclusively for the con- struction of railways, and amounted in 1872 to about $5,500,000. There are numerous educational institutions, the chief of which is the university of Giessen. The line of Hesse- Darmstadt was founded in 1567 by George I., youngest son of Philip the Magnanimous. The war of succession with Hesse-Cassel which broke out under the reign of his successor, Louis V. the Faithful, continued to rage during that of his son George II. (1626-'61), but was brought to a close in 1647 by the cession of Marburg and other contested localities in ex- change for Giessen and other territory. Du- ring the French revolution much territory was lost, which was more than regained by the treaty of Luneville in 1801. Louis X. (born 1753, died 1830) joined the confederation of the Rhine, adopting as grand duke the name of Louis I., obtained from Napoleon still further accessions of territory, caused his troops to act against Austria in 1809 and in concert with the French in 1813, but joined the allies after the battle of Leipsic, on condition of being left in possession of his newly acquired territory. In 1815 he joined the German confederation, and made large cessions on the right bank of the Rhine to Prussia and other states, but ob- tained valuable possessions on the left bank of that river, including Mentz and Bingen. In 1828 he joined the Prussian customs union, by which he gave the first impulse to the forma- tion of a more general union, which culmina- ted eventually in the Zollverein. Soon after the accession of Louis II., political riots fol- lowed the French revolution of 1830, which were quelled by the army. The revolution of 1848 extorted from the grand duke the conces- sion of the trial by jury. He appointed his son as coregent, March 5, 1848. He died June 16, and his son, the present grand duke Louis III. (born June 9, 1806), succeeded him. In March, 1866, the landgraviate of Hesse- Homburg, the reigning dynasty being extinct, was united with Hesse-Darmstadt. In June of the same year Hesse-Darmstadt joined Aus- tria and the majority of the federal diet in the war against Prussia. In September it concluded a separate peace with Prussia, in which it en- gaged to pay an indemnification of $1,200,000 to Prussia, and to cede the former landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, and a small portion of its other territory, in exchange for which it re- ceived a few places which formerly belonged to> Hesse-Cassel and Nassau. It also joined the- North German confederation for that part of its territory which is situated north of the riv- er Main. A special military convention with Prussia, by which the army of Hesse became a part of the army of the North German confed- eration, was concluded in April, 1867. In 1870 Hesse-Darmstadt, like the other states of South Germany, joined Prussia in the war against France, and in November it entered the Ger- man empire, then forming, for its entire terri- tory. In 1871 the unpopular prime minister Dalwigk was dismissed. The history of Hesse- Darmstadt has been written by Walther (1841) and Steiner (5 vols., 1833-'4). HESSE, Adolph Friedrieh, a German organist, born in Breslau, Aug. 30, 1809, died there, Aug. 5, 1863. His father was an organ builder, and the son acquired at the factory a knowledge of the instrument, and when but nine years of age excited astonishment by his precocity as an organist. In 1827 he was ap- pointed assistant organist at the church of St. Elizabeth. In 1828 and 1829 he made a con- cert tour through Germany, forming the ac- quaintance of Spohr and Rink, from the latter of whom he received valuable counsels. In 1831 he became first organist of the church of St. Bernardin. In 1844 he went to Paris for the inauguration of the great organ of St. Eus- tache. His reputation was that of one of the first organists of Europe. His compositions are about 80 in number, including six sympho- nies, an oratorio, five overtures, and many