The exports of coal, which were 1,600,000 tons in 1849, have since then more than doubled, being set down at 3,450,000 tons in 1860. France took the great bulk of these exports, to the amount of 1,453,000 tons in 1850, of 3,298,000 tons in 1860, and of 3,217,000 tons in 1861. The French imports from Belgium were three times greater in 1860 than those from England.

The following table gives the total real value of the imports and exports (exclusive of specie) of Belgium, in the years 1859 and 1860:

The following was the number and tonnage of vessels, Belgian and foreign, which entered and cleared at ports in Belgium, with cargoes and in ballast, in each year from 1856 to 1860 :

The following was the number and tonnage of merchant vessels of the kingdom at the close of 1862:

The number of vessels belonging to the Belgian merchant-service, at the close of 1861, was 111. At the end of 1860 it was 120.

DENMARK.

Reigning Sovereign and Family.

Christian IX., King of Denmark, born April 8, 1818, the fourth son of the late Duke Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-SonderburgGlücksburg, and of Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. Appointed to the succession of the crown of Denmark by the protocol of London, signed on May 8, 1852, by the representatives of Great Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia, Sweden and Denmark. Succeeded to the throne on the death of King Frederick VII., November 15, 1863. Married, May 26, 1842, to

Louise, Queen of Denmark, born Sept. 7, 1817, the daughter of Landgrave William of Hesse-Cassel. Issue of the union are:-1. Prince Frederick, born June 3, 1843, general in the Danish army. 2. Princess Alexandra, born Dec. 1, 1844; married, March 10, 1863, to Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. 3. Prince William, born Dec. 24, 1845; midshipman in the Danish navy, 1860-63; elected King of Greece, under the title of George I., by the Hellenic National Assembly, March 31, 1863. 4. Princess Maria, born Nov. 26, 1847. 5. Princess Thyra, born Sept. 29, 1853. 6. Prince Waldemar, born Oct. 27, 1858.

The crown of Denmark was elective from the earliest times. At periods it became hereditary, by usage, in certain families, but seldom long up to the fifteenth century. At the latter part of this period, in 1448, after the death of the last scion of the princely house of Skiold, the Danish Diet elected to the throne Christian I., Count of Oldenburg, in whose family the royal dignity remained for more than four centuries. The direct male line of the House of Oldenburg became extinct with the sixteenth king, Frederick VII., on November 15, 1863. In view of the death of the king without direct heirs, the great powers of Europe, 'taking into consideration that the maintenance of the integrity of the Danish monarchy, as connected with the general interests of the balance of power in Europe, is of high importance to the preservation of peace,' signed a treaty at London on May 8, 1852, by the terms of which the succession to the crown of Denmark was made over to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, to the exclusion of several other collateral relations. The contracting parties to the treaty were the Queen of Great Britain, the Emperor of Austria, the

Prince President of the French Republic, the King of Prussia, the Emperor of Russia, and the King of Sweden on the one part, and the King of Denmark on the other part. The powers which subsequently acceded to the treaty were Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, the Netherlands, Oldenburg, Portugal, Spain, Saxony, Wurtemberg, Sardinia, Naples, Belgium, and Tuscany. The representatives of Oldenburg and Saxony, in signing, reserved certain rights contained in ancient treaties. Bavaria, Hesse-Darmstadt, Saxe-Weimar, Baden, and the two Mecklenburgs refused to sign the protocol of London. Subjoined is a list of the kings of Denmark, with the dates of their accession, from the time of election of Christian I. of Oldenburg :— HOUSE OF OLDENBURG.

HOUSE OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN-SONDERBURG-GLÜCKSBURG.

Christian IX., 1863.

The sixteen members of the House of Oldenburg, who filled the throne of Denmark for 415 years, had an average reign of 26. years.

Constitution and Government.

The present constitution of the Danish monarchy was voted by the representatives of the kingdom of Denmark in October 1863, and obtained the royal sanction November 18, 1863. According to this charter, the executive power is in the king and his responsible ministers, and the right of making and amending laws in the Rigsdag, or Diet, acting in conjunction with the sovereign. The king must be a member of the evangelical Lutheran Church, which is declared to be the religion of the State. The Rigsdag consists of the Landsthing and the Folksthing, the former being a Senate or Upper House, and the latter a House of Commons. The Landsthing consists of 75 members: 59 for Denmark proper, and 16 for the duchy of Schleswig. Of these, 25 are nominated by the crown19 for Denmark and 6 for Schleswig-for the term of 12 years, and the rest are elected. To the Landsthing any male subject is eligible who is fortyy-one years of age, who does not labour under mental incapacity, and who either pays 200 rixdollars, or 221. 14s. 2d. direct taxes, or has a yearly income of 1,200 rixdollars, or 1367 5s. To the Folksthing, consisting of 130 members-101 for Denmark