Antwerp, and Limbourg, and some part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. By another Treaty, signed at London April 19, 1839, between the same States, and including the Netherlands, the Union which existed between Holland and Belgium in virtue of the Treaty of Vienna of May 31, 1815, was acknowledged by the King of the Netherlands as dissolved. It was again specified that Belgium, separated from Holland and formed into an independent State under the auspices of the Courts of Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, and Russia, should, within the limits specified in the Treaty, be an independent and perpetually neutral State, and made bound to observe such neutrality towards all other States. By a Treaty between Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Prussia, and Russia, signed at London May 11, 1867, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was declared to be neutralized, the high contracting parties engaging to respect the principle of neutrality so stipulated. That principle was placed under the sanction of the collective guarantee of the Powers signing parties to the Treaty, with the exception of Belgium, itself a neutral State. By a Treaty between Great Britain and Russia, signed in London August 9, 1870, Prussia engaged to respect the neutrality of Belgium during her hostilities with France, so long as the same should be respected by France. A Treaty to the same effect, and of the same date, was also concluded between Great Britain and

France, Great Britain agreeing to co-operate with either Power against the other, in order to insure the observance of such obligation.

*

In February, 1881, the International Association of the Congo was founded by the King of the Belgians,* for the purpose of promoting the civilization and commerce of Africa, and for other humane and benevolent purposes. Belgium is a party to the General Act of the Conference of Berlin, signed February 26, 1885, for the purpose of regulating the conditions most favourable to the development of trade and navigation in certain regions of Africa, and for securing to all nations the advantages of free navigation on the two chief rivers of Africa.

Denmark, a Constitutional Monarchy, once a Kingdom of considerable extent, now comprises the

* On September 12, 1876, a Conference was held at the Royal Palace at Brussels, on the exploration and civilization of Africa, and in 1877 an African Exploration Fund was established. The Comité d'Etudes was afterwards expanded into the "Association Internationale du Congo." By a decision of the Chamber of Representatives and Senate of Belgium, dated April, 1885, the King of

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the Belgians was authorized to be the chief of the State so founded, the union between Belgium and the new State of the Congo being exclusively personal.

Peninsula of Jutland on the European Continent, and a group of Islands in the Baltic. Norway, which had belonged to the Crown of Denmark since 1587, was ceded to Sweden in 1814. By the Treaties of August 1 and October 30, 1864, Denmark renounced all claims to Lauenburg, Holstein, and Schleswig. These were incorporated with Prussia, and now they form part of the German Empire.

France, after having been for a considerable time a Kingdom under the elder branch of the Bourbon family, was declared a Republic on September 21, 1792. On May 18, 1804, Napoleon I. was, by a Senatus-Consulte, proclaimed Emperor of the French, and France continued an Empire till the peace of 1814. At the Restoration in 1815, after the Congress of Vienna, Louis XVIII., heir of the House of Bourbon, became King of France, and he was succeeded in 1824 by Charles X. But on August 3, 1830, after the revolution of July, Louis Philippe, the representative of the younger branch of the Bourbon family, was elected King of the French. In February, 1848, another revolution occurred, and once more France was declared a Republic, Louis Napoleon

being chosen as President. On December 2, 1852, Louis Napoleon restored the Empire, and this lasted till September 4, 1870, when again France was declared a Republic. In 1830 Algiers became a French Colony. The frontiers between France and Germany were settled by the Treaty of September 14, 1871, and between France and Italy by the Treaty of February, 1860, upon the incorporation of Savoy and Nice with France. France is party to the Treaty for the Separation of Holland and Belgium of April 19, 1839; the navigation of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus, July 13, 1841; the succession to the Crown of Denmark, May 8, 1852; the succession to the Throne of Greece, November 20, 1852; the Treaty of Peace with Russia of March 30, 1856; the pacification of Syria of September 5, 1860; the neutralization of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg of May 11, 1867; the revision of Stipulations on the Navigation of the Black Sea and Danube of March 8, 1821; the Berlin Treaty on the Affairs of the East of 1878; the Navigation of the Danube, March 10, 1883; and the Act on the Congo of February 26, 1885.

The following territories are under the protection of Germany, but no information exists of their exact area and population, viz.:

The territory of Togo on the coast of Africa, with the ports of Lomi and Bagidah.

Guinea New, by the right of the river Rey, near Old Calabar and Cross rivers.

On the West Coast of Africa Cape Frio and Orange River.

The territory of the Negro Chiefs of Usagara, Ngouran, Onsegonha, and Onkami.

On the Ocean the Land of Emperor William, New Guinea.

The Congress of Vienna of 1815 formed the "German Confederation," which included the Sovereign Princes and the Free Towns of Germany, the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, the King of Denmark for the Duchy of Holstein, and the King of the Netherlands for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The federative Diet was to be presided over by Austria; it was to sit at Frankfort-onMain, and the votes were distributed according to the relative influence of the various Members. On February 14, 1867, the North German Confederation was constituted, under the presidency of the King of Prussia; and on January 18, 1870, the King of Prussia was proclaimed Emperor of Germany. On April 16, 1871, by an alliance between the King of Prussia, in the name of the North German Confederation, the King of Bavaria, the King of Würtemburg, the Grand Duke of Baden, and the Grand Duke of Hesse, the German Empire was formed; and by this Act Germany has succeeded to all the rights and obligations of Prussia and other German States.

The frontiers between France and Germany were settled by the Treaties of September 14, 1871, and March 20, 1872, and by them Alsace and Lorraine,