The above account leaves a clear surplus of 5,164,569 guilders, or 430,3801., as profit for the Home Government, exclusive of commercial transactions.

The revenue and expenditure of the West Indian and African colonies, in the year 1860, is shown in the subjoined statement:

This leaves an annual deficit in the administration of the West Indian and African colonies of 94,2267., which, however, is more than covered by the profits on commerce, drawn direct by the Government of the Netherlands. From documents issued by the Colonial Office in December 1862, it appears that the total amount realised by the Government in 1860 from its importations from the

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Dutch colonies was 58,493,399 guilders, or 4,874,4497. The produce represented by this amount was brought to the European market through the medium of the Netherlands Trading Company,' the Government's brokers. The expenses incurred in the cultivation and shipping of this produce, and for the governmental charges of the colonies, amounted to 35,194,720 guilders, which gives the home power a balance of profit of 23,194,720 guilders, or 1,932,8931.

Slavery ceased in the West Indian colonies on the 1st of July, 1860. There were, at this period, 11,386 slaves, for each of whom, without regard to age or sex, the owner has to receive 33t. in compensation. All the emancipated slaves have to undergo an apprenticeship of three years, during which period one-half of their income is retained by the Home Government.

PORTUGAL.

Reigning Sovereign and Family.

Luis I., King of Portugal, born Oct. 31, 1838, the son of Queen Maria H. and of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg; succeeded his brother, King Pedro V., Nov. 11, 1861; married Oct. 6, 1862, to

Pia, Queen of Portugal, born Oct. 16, 1847, the youngest daughter of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy. Issue of the union is a son, Carlos, born Sept. 28, 1863.

Sisters and Brother of the King.-1. Princess Maria, born July 21, 1843; married, May 11, 1859, to Prince George, second son of the King of Saxony. 2. Princess Antonia, born Feb. 17, 1845; married, Sept. 12, 1861, to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. 3. Prince Augustus, born Nov. 4, 1847.

Father of the King.-Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, titular 'King of Portugal,' born Oct. 29, 1816, the eldest son of the late Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg; married, April 9, 1836, to Queen Maria II. of Portugal; obtained the title King,' Sept. 16, 1837; widower, Nov. 15, 1853; Regent of Portugal during the minority of his son, the late King Pedro V., Nov. 15, 1853, to Sept. 16, 1855.

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Great-Aunts and Uncle of the King.-1. Princess Teresa, born April 29, 1793, the daughter of King Joan VI. of Portugal and of Princess Charlotte of Spain; married, April 11, 1809, to Don Pedro of Spain; widow July 4, 1812; married, a second time, Oct. 20, 1838, to Don Carlos, pretender to the crown of Spain; widow, March 10, 1855. 2. Princess Maria, sister of the preceding, born July 4, 1801; Regent of Portugal from March 10, 1826, to Feb. 26, 1828. 3. Prince Miguel, born Oct. 26, 1802; Regent of Portugal, Feb. 26, 1828; declared King of Portugal by decree of June 30, 1828; abdicated May 29, 1834; married, Sept. 24, 1851, to Adelheid, daughter of the non-sovereign Prince of LöwensteinWertheim-Rochefort, domiciled in the grand duchy of Baden. Offspring of the union are four daughters and one son, who assume the title of Prince and Princesses of Portugal, but are not acknowledged as such by the Government of King Luis I.

The reigning dynasty of Portugal belongs to the House of Braganza, which dates from the commencement of the fifteenth

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century, at which period Affonso, an illegitimate son of King Joan, or John I., was created by his father Duke of Braganza and Lord of Guimaraens. When the old line of Portuguese kings, of the House of Avis, became extinct by the death of King Sebastian, and of his nominal successor, Henrique 'the Cardinal,' Philip II. of Spain took possession of the country, claiming it in virtue of his descent from a Portuguese princess; but in disregard of the fundamental law of the kingdom, passed by the Cortes of Lamego in 1139, which excluded all foreign princes from the succession. After bearing the Spanish rule for more than half a century, the people of Portugal revolted, and proclaimed Don Joan, the then Duke of Braganza, as their king, he being the nearest heir to the throne, though of an illegitimate issue. The Duke thereupon assumed the name of Joan IV., to which Portuguese historians appended the title 'the Fortunate.' From this Joan, through many vicissitudes of family, the present rulers of Portugal are descended. For two centuries the members of the line of Braganza kept up the ancient blood alliances with the reigning house of Spain; but the custom was broken through by the late Queen Maria II., who, by a union with a Prince of Coburg, entered the great family of Teutonic Sovereigns. Luis I. is the second Sovereign of Portugal of the line of Braganza-Coburg.

Luis I. has a civil list of 365,000 milreis, or about 82,000l.; but His Majesty returns annually 70,000 milreis to the public exchequer, to be employed for educational purposes. The expenses of the whole Court, including the allowance to King Ferdinand and the other princes, amount to 675,000 milreis, or nearly 152,000l. King Luis has settled upon his consort, Queen Pia, sixty contos of reis, or 14,000l., from his own civil list, declining a proffered grant from the funds of the nation.

The average reign of the thirty-five sovereigns of Portugal, from the ascension of the House of Burgundy, amounted to twenty-two years.

Constitution and Government.

The fundamental law of the kingdom is the 'Carta de Ley' granted by King Pedro IV., April 29, 1826, and altered by an additional act, dated July 5, 1852. The crown is hereditary in the female as well as male line; but with preference of the male in case of equal birthright. The constitution recognises three powers in the State, the legislative, executive, and 'moderating' authority, the two last of which reside in the Sovereign and his responsible ministers. There are two legislative Chambers, the Camara dos Pares,' or House of Peers, and the Camara dos Diputados,' or House of Commons, which are conjunctively called the General Cortes. The peers, unlimited in number, but actually comprising 115, are named for life by the Sovereign, by whom also the president and vicepresident of the first Chamber are nominated. The members of the second Chamber are chosen in direct election, by all citizens possessing a clear annual income of 133 milreis, or 221. The deputies must have an income of at least 390 milreis, or 891. per annum ; but lawyers, professors, physicians, or the graduates of any of the learned professions, need no property qualification. Continental Portugal is divided into thirty-seven electoral districts, returning 154 deputies, to which Madeira and the Azores add twenty-five. Each deputy has a remuneration of about 10s. a day during the session. The annual session lasts three months, and fresh elections must take place at the end of every four years. In case of dissolution, a new Parliament must be called together within thirty days. The General Cortes meet and separate at specified periods, without the intervention of the Sovereign, and the latter has no veto on a law passed twice by both Houses. All laws relating to finance and general taxation must originate in the Chamber of Deputies.

The executive authority rests, under the Sovereign, in a responsible Cabinet, divided into seven departments, namely—

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs.-Duke de Loulé, born