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 PRUSSIA tained. In the other provinces there are city or district courts, and 26 courts of appeal. The chief tribunal at Berlin is the court of last resort for all parts of the kingdom. Finan- cially Prussia is in a flourishing condition, and its financial administration is excellent. The annexation of large territories in 1866 and the establishment of the German empire under the Prussian dynasty in 1871, to whose budget some of the revenues as well as the expendi- tures of Prussia were transferred, render a comparison of the Prussian budgets of the years before 1867 with those of the following years of little value. The estimates of public revenue and expenditure submitted by the government tp the chambers are always pre- pared to show an even balance ; but in recent years the actual revenue has always largely exceeded the estimate, and shown even in years of war a constant and increasing sur- plus. In the budgets of 1868 to 1874, reve- nue and expenditures were each estimated at the following amounts: 1868, $115,000,000; 1869,$120,600,000; 1870, $121,200,000; 1871, $124,500,000; 1872, $134,600,000; 1878, $151,- 200,000; 1874, $167,500,000. The actual sur- plus amounted in 1870 to $6,700,000, in 1871 to $7,200,000, and in 1872 to $8,900,000. Of late the income from railways and other state undertakings, such as mines, has been largely increasing, showing a tendency to become in the course of time larger than that from taxa- tion, direct or indirect. In the estimates for 1874, the revenue of the ministry of commerce, chiefly from the railways and mines, was more than two fifths of the entire government re- ceipts. The exemption of a large number of landed proprietors (noblemen) from taxation on real estate was abolished in 1861, but the actual payment of taxes by them did not begin till 1865. The public debt of Prussia, which in 1787 was only $32,250,000, amounted in 1820 to $152,491,000. In 1847 it had been re- duced to $98,000,000, but in 1862 it again amounted to $175,700,000. On the annexation of Schleswig-IIolstein, Hanover, Ilesse-Cassel, Nassau, and Frankfort to Prussia, it was ar- ranged that the incorporation of the debts of these states with that of Prussia should take place at some future period. This had not yet been done in 1874. The aggregate debt of the entire monarchy in that year amonnted to $259,400,000, of which $107,900,000 was rail- way debt. The interest on the latter debt is paid out of the profits of the state lines, the yearly increasing dividends of which likewise create a sinking fund for the gradual extinc- tion of the debt The Prussian military sys- tem, so elaborate and thorough that it has been chiefly instrumental in giving the state its present leadership among European countries, was in 1871 extended to the whole empire, and the Prussian became a part of the imperial army. The navy of Prussia has in the same way become the chief part of the imperial naval force. (See GERMANY, vol. vii., pp. 750, 751.) The country which gave its name to the kingdom of Prussia, of which it is now only a province, was in antiquity probably known to the Phoenicians, who either in their ships or through trading posts procured amber from its Baltic shores. The aborigines, a Lettic tribe kindred to the Lithuanians, appear to have been peaceable and quiet, and acquainted with agri- culture. During the first centuries of the Christian era they became dependent upon the Goths, who overran their country. In the 10th century they are first mentioned under the name of Borussi or Porussi. Their re- ligion was polytheism, and human sacrifices were not uncommon. Bishop Adalbert, who attempted to convert them to Christianity, was slain by them while hewing down thoir sacred oak tree, in A. D. 997. Boleslas I. of Poland invaded their country and compelled them to profess the Christian faith in 1015, but neither he nor his immediate successors could retain a hold upon them. A large army which Boleslas IV. led against them was totally annihilated, and the Prussians even held a part of Poland in subjection for some time. In 1219 they repelled a crusade sent against them from Germany, and soon became the terror of all neighboring countries. The Teutonic knights finally conquered Prussia (1280-'83), founded cities, introduced German colonists and German laws, and by their firm rule made Prussia one of the most flourish- ing countries of its time. (See TEUTONIC KNIGHTS.) But about the middle of the 15th century the demoralization of the knights, their continual wars with Poland and Lithu- ania, and their reckless exactions created a powerful opposition. The nobility and the municipalities obtained the assistance of th king 01 Poland, Casimir IV., and by a war of 12 years' duration (1454-'66) compelled the order to cede western Prussia and Ermeland to Poland. The remainder was left to them as a fief of Poland. In 1511 the margrave Albert of Brandenburg was elected grand master of the order. Having vainly striven to throw off the Polish rule, he turned Protestant, and in 1525 accepted Prussia as a duchy from Poland. His son Albert Frederick becoming insane, the duchy was governed by his relatives, of whom John Sigismund, elector of Branden- burg, inherited it in 1618. He was a descen- dant of Frederick of Hohenzollern, burgrave of Nuremberg, who had become possessor of Brandenburg in 1415 by foreclosure of mort- gage. (See BRANDENBURG, and HOHEKZOL- LKBN.) The electorate of Brandenburg, not Prussia proper, must be considered the nucleus of the present monarchy of that name. The electorate, though frequently divided by the descendants of Frederick, played a conspicuous part in the history of Germany, especially du- ring the reformation. Frederick I. (1415-'40) subdued the robber knights, and obtained some additional territory from Pomerania and Meck- lenburg, but succumbed to the Hussites, who