a kingdom in Germany, formerly an electorate, whose princes were raised to the throne of Great Britain. It was seized by France during the late war, and delivered over to the King of Prussia. After the battle of Jena France resumed her authority over it, and transferred it to Jerome Bonaparte, to compose a part of his newly created kingdom of Westphalia. In the year 1814, the dissolution of the French power gave back this country to its former sovereign. In 1815 it was increased by the addition of several dominions, and erected into a kingdom, which assumed the name of its capital city.

By subsequent treaties with Prussia and Denmark, which exchanged territory, Hanover has become a compact dominion, extending over 14,720 English square miles. It lies between 50° 18' and 53° 54' north latitude, and 6° 58' and 11° 56' east longitude. It is bounded on the north by the Duchy of Oldenburg, the Bailiwick of Ritzebüttel, belonging to Hamburg, and the mouth of the Elbe. On the north-east the river Elbe divides it from Holstein and Luneburg, belonging to Denmark, and from the Duchy of Mecklenburg Schwerin; only that it has the small territory of Neuhoft on the right bank of that river. On the east it is bounded by the Prussian province of Saxony, and by the Duchy of Brunswick; on the south it touches the dominions of Prussia, of Hesse Cassel, of both the Lippes, and of Westphalia; on the west the kingdom of the Netherlands is the boundary.

This kingdom is divided in the following manner:—

<table> <tr> <th></th> <th>Population.</th> <th>Extent in Eng. acres.</th> <th>Capitals, and their Population.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>Principality of Kalenburg</td> <td>139,292</td> <td>680,960</td> <td>Hanover 24,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>of Göttingen</td> <td>96,593</td> <td>440,320</td> <td>Göttingen 8,970</td> </tr> <tr> <td>of Grubenhagen</td> <td>80,300</td> <td>330,240</td> <td>Eimbeck 4,900</td> </tr> <tr> <td>of Lüneburg</td> <td>252,450</td> <td>2,794,240</td> <td>Lüneburg 10,050</td> </tr> <tr> <td>County of Hoya, with Diepholtz</td> <td>104,970</td> <td>908,100</td> <td>Nienburg 3,420</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Province of Bremen</td> <td>191,060</td> <td>1,720,320</td> <td>Stade 4,740</td> </tr> <tr> <td>of Osnabrück</td> <td>188,655</td> <td>1,169,930</td> <td>Osnabrück 9,280</td> </tr> <tr> <td>of Hildesheim</td> <td>121,816</td> <td>426,880</td> <td>Hildesheim 10,650</td> </tr> <tr> <td>of East Friesland</td> <td>127,522</td> <td>721,920</td> <td>Emden 10,980</td> </tr> <tr> <td>of Bentheim</td> <td>24,364</td> <td>182,620</td> <td>Bentheim 1,380</td> </tr> <tr> <td>of Hohnstein</td> <td>6,680</td> <td>83,200</td> <td>Ilefeld 620</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>1,333,632</td> <td>9,408,790</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>

The most considerable places, besides the capitals of the provinces, within the kingdom, and their respective populations, are Hameln, 5050; Nordheim, 3100; Minden, 4500; Osterode, 4180; Duderstadt, 4100; Elbingerode, 2380; Klausthal, 7100; Uelzen, 2550; Zell, 8360; Verden, 3520; Altenbruch, 2320; Pappenburg, 3250; Goslar, 5670; Alfeld, 2100; and Aurich, 2660. The principalities of Kalenburg, Göttingen, and Grubenhagen, and a part of Hildesheim, are very mountainous, especially in the southern divisions. The other provinces form a part of that extensive plain which commences on the shores of the German Ocean, and terminates on the frontiers of Russia. The whole plain is a sandy soil, resting on a bed of granite, and is generally sterile, except on the banks of the various rivers that water it, or near the cities, where cultivation has improved it by artificial means. The most fruitful part of the kingdom is on the banks of the Elbe, and near the German Ocean, where, as in Holland, rich meadows are preserved from being immersed in water, by broad dikes and deep ditches, constructed and kept in repair at a great expense.

The most remarkable mountains are those of the Hartz Forest, three-fifths of which are in this kingdom, and two-fifths in the Duchy of Brunswick. These mountains are not a part of any chain, but rise from a plain in a groupe by themselves, the highest points of which are nearly in the centre. The mass is about eighty miles in length from east to west, and about twenty-eight in breadth from north to south. The highest points, and their height above the level of the sea, are Bruchberg, 3020 feet; Wornberg, 2880 feet; Achtermanshöhe, 2710 feet; the little Winterberg, 2684 feet; Kahlenberg, 2180 feet; and the Rammelsberg, 1915 feet. These mountains are wholly covered with forests. On their lower sides the trees are of the deciduous kinds, but the summits are exclusively pines. These mountains abound with minerals of almost every kind, and the principal employment of the inhabitants is either in mining, or in manufacturing the iron and copper into domestic utensils. Some of the mining and manufacturing towns, as Klausthal, Andreasberg, Cellerfeld, and several others, are from 1700 to 1900 feet above the level of the sea; and their population would suffer most severely from the cold of the severe winters, but for the abundance of both wood and fossil coal with which they are supplied.

The whole of the kingdom of Hanover dips towards the north, and the courses of all the rivers are in that direction. These are, first, the Elbe, which borders a large part of the dominion, and receives into it the Ohre, which rises in the province of Luneburg; the Aland and the Jeetze, which come out of Prussia, and are navigable before they terminate in the Elbe; the Ilmenau, which becomes navigable at Luneburg; the Este, which is navigable to Buxtehude; the Lihe, navigable to Hornburg; the Schwinge, by which vessels reach Stade; the Öste, which passes Harburg, and is navigable to Kirchosters; and the Medem, which runs through the land Hadeln, and admits large vessels as high as Ottendorf. Second, the Weser, which enters the dominions of Hanover at Minden, being there formed by the junction of the Fulda and the Werra. It is navigable for barges from the spot at which its name commences. It receives, in its course, the Hamel, the Aller, the Oertze, the Line, the Böhme, the Eyther, the Wümme, the Lesum (formed by the three streams, Rodau, Wiste, and Worpe), the Greste and the Hunter; all of which are Hanoverian rivers, and continue their united courses till they are lost in the German Ocean near Bremen. Third, the Ems, a river rising in the Prussian province of Westphalia. After entering Hanover, it receives the waters of the Aa, the Hase, the Else, and the Leda. Before reaching the sea, it falls into the Dollart near Emden, which is the principal sea port in the kingdom. The vessels belonging to this port are about 270, and their tonnage 19,289 lasts. There are equipped at the mouth of this river upwards of fifty busses, which are employed in the herring-fishery, and usually take and cure from 12,000 to 14,000 tons of that fish annually. Fourth, the Vecht, a river of short course, rising in the Prussian province of Westphalia, and terminating in the Zuyder Sea. Its principal importance is derived from a navigable canal, which commences at the city of Münster, and is the channel of some trade through the Vecht to Amsterdam.

Though Hanover is generally a sandy soil, it has some small fresh water lakes. The Dünnnersee, in Diepholtz, is about twelve miles in circuit. The Steinhudermeer, in the province of Kalenburg, is about four miles long and two broad; and the Dollart, at the mouth of the Ems, which is rather an estuary than a lake, is twelve miles across. The canals are all of short course. The Bremen canal, designed to unite the Hamme, the Oste, and the Schwinge, is not completed; nor is the Treckschuit canal, intended to connect Witmund with Aurich. The Pappenburg canal is only navigable from the Ems to that city.

Though considerable variations, in conformity to the different natures of the soils, occur in the husbandry of Hanover, yet it may be generally described as at a very low standard. The land mostly belongs either to the king or to the nobles, as lords of the soil, who have under them a species of tenants called bauers, having the use of small portions of land, under many and various feudal conditions. These bauers pay little or no rent in money, but render the lord a stipulated number of days' work in seed time and harvest on his demesne lands, or give him a certain proportion of the proceeds of their crops. In most instances the lords have the right of pasture for their cattle over the whole land, and are the proprietors of most of the sheep and cows. There is an exception to this mode of holding, called the meyer law, but it extends over so small a portion of the kingdom, as not to merit a detailed notice of it. The rotation of crops usually followed in Hanover is first a fallow, on which the land is cultivated to potatoes, peas, or flax; then follows winter corn, either rye or wheat, but chiefly the former, and to them succeeds summer corn, either barley or oats. As the fields are usually divided into small portions, like many of our common fields in England, and the larger divisions must all be cultivated alike, though belonging to different occupiers; and as the course that has prevailed from time immemorial must be continued, there is little or no room for improvement, and little encouragement for superior knowledge or greater activity. Such is the bad state of cultivation, that the increase of grain is not estimated to exceed four for one of the quantity sown through the whole kingdom. The breeding and fattening of cattle is a branch of rural economy, confined to particular portions adapted to that purpose, and is in the same backward state as the agriculture. By the latest enumeration of the live stock, which was previous to some provinces of 600,000 acres in extent being added to it, there were 224,500 horses; 675,926 head of horned cattle; 1,540,794 sheep and lambs; 15,728 goats and kids; 176,974 swine; and 1498 asses and mules. Much of the heath land, especially in the province of Luneburg, is used for no other purpose but that of rearing bees for the sake of their honey and wax. The hives are transported in waggons, at the commencement of the spring, to those more southern countries, where the flowers bloom early, and are afterwards brought back when the heath flowers are fit for them, and remain till the proper time for taking the contents of the hives. Large numbers of geese are also kept by the bauers on the moist situations; their flesh is salted for winter domestic consumption, and their feathers are preserved for sale. These two sources, affording wax, honey, and feathers, yield the principal disposable produce of some of the provinces.

The manufactures of Hanover are very numerous, but none of them extensive. Except linen, linens, yarn, and domestic utensils, few of them afford a surplus beyond the home consumption. The linen is of four kinds: First, that called Hausleimann, or household linen, the making as well as use of which is to be met with in every family. Second, a coarse kind, that called the Loventleinen. Third, the fine linen, which is only made in some of the cities to a small extent, and almost wholly consumed by the richer families of the kingdom. Fourth, sailcloth and hempen linen, which is principally made in East Friesland and the Duchy of Bremen, and which is mostly sold for foreign consumption. Besides the linen yarn used in the home fabrics, a great quantity is spun for foreign trade. Spinning is, indeed, the constant operation of almost all the females in the villages during the long nights of winter. The spinning of coarse wool, and making it into cloth, either by itself or mixed with linen, occupies a considerable portion of the industry of the peasantry, and furnishes them with clothing from the produce of their own lands; besides these, they spin cotton, and, mixing the yarn with that of linen, manufacture dresses for the females and the younger part of their families. The stockings they wear, whether of linen, cotton, or worsted, are usually made at home. In some parts of the country much oil is made from linseed. Coarse pottery ware is made in many parts. Paper-mills, which supply about 80,000 reams annually, are not sufficient for the home consumption. In the cities, woollen cloths, silk goods, cotton of various kinds, hats, hosiery, soap, and leather, are manufactured. The principal branches that employ much capital, are the breweries of Hanover, Embeck, and Goslar, and the corn distilleries which are to be found in all the cities. The former of these are suffering a gradual declension, whilst the latter are as rapidly increasing.

The productions of the mines naturally follow those of agriculture and manufactures. These yield annually as follows: Silver, - - - - 34,238 merks, valued at - - - - 410,436 rix dollars. Copper, - - - - 1404 hund. - - - - 44,928 Lead, - - - - 41,949 do. - - - - 258,624 Iron, - - - - 122,913 do. {valued, including the labour of what} 484,347 Zinc, - - - - 2987 do. - - - - 44,805 Vitriol, white, blue, and green, 1289 do. - - - - 3878 Sulphur, - - - - 1300 do. - - - - 866 Salt, - - - - 329,055 do. - - - - 548,425 Fossil coal, - - - - 469,840 do. - - - - 58,730

The prices at which the commodities are estimated are those which they are worth at the mines, before any expence of carriage has been incurred.

As may be supposed from the small quantity of surplus production, the trade of Hanover cannot be extensive. The principal port, Embden, has some export and import trade; but from the state of the roads between that place and the more populous parts of the kingdom, more of its trade passes through Hamburg and Bremen than through that city. Besides the more considerable articles made from flax, its honey, wax, feathers, and large quantities of timber, are sent to Hamburg and Bremen. Hops, rape-seed, oil-cake, fruit, hams, and sausages form also articles of export of small amount. In very fruitful years some corn is exported, but in general the consumption is equal to the produce. The imports consist principally of wine, coffee, tea, sugar, indigo, tobacco, and a few manufactured articles, which are consumed by the richer classes. As the roads to the great fairs of Leipsc and Frankfort pass through Hanover, the transit of goods by these create a pretty large commission trade, and give employment to many waggons, horses, and men, as well as to the barge owners. The exports and imports nearly balance each other, and the amount of neither exceed L. 500,000 Sterling.

The government of Hanover is a monarchy, whose king is the possessor of the throne of Great Britain. Before it was erected into a kingdom in 1814, the dominions consisted of various portions, the succession to which was regulated by ancient and different usages; but at that epoch the whole was made subject to the same law of succession, and the different parts cannot be henceforth divided. In case the present family should become extinct, the heir of the house of Brunswick is to succeed to the sovereignty. The monarch is deemed to be of age when 18 years old. During a minority, the states of the kingdom are guardians, unless the case is provided for by the predecessor. The king has the whole executive power,—the appointment of officers, civil, military, and judicial. The legislative power is enjoyed jointly with the assembly of the states. This assembly consists of 102 deputies, chosen for the three bodies of the clergy, the nobility, and the cities. Those who are supposed to represent the clergy are nominated by the chapters of the secularized religious foundations; the nobility choose their deputies; and the magistrates of the cities select theirs. In a country where scarcely any men of much information are to be found out of the privileged classes, it is not surprising that nearly all the deputies should be chosen from them. The ministry are supposed to have the nomination of the greater number of the members, and three-fourths of them have places under the crown. The deliberations are secret, and the result of them only known by the laws they promulgate. The members, during their sittings, are allowed some pay. Those who reside in the city of Hanover have two, and those who come from other places have four, rix dollars daily subsistence money. The administration of the executive part of the government is at present in the hands of a prince of the royal family, with the title of Governor-General, and a salary of L. 5500 Sterling. He is assisted by various ministers, forming a cabinet-council, who administer, at the head of respective boards, the different branches of the public business.

The finances of the kingdom are not stated to the public, and therefore cannot be accurately known. The revenue is estimated to amount to about one million Sterling, of which a little more than L.500,000 is derived from the patrimonial estates of the king, who is by far the largest land-owner in his dominions; the remainder is drawn by taxation. The taxes are—a land-tax, producing L.170,000; a tax on food consumed in towns and cities, L.20,000; a tax on brewing and distilling, L.67,000; on salt, L.20,000; on stamps, L.5000; on imported goods, L.33,000; and a property and personal tax, L.92,000. This can only be an approximation to accuracy; but it is certain that the taxes produce less than the domains. The estates of the king and of the nobility were formerly exempt from many of these taxes, but now all are alike liable to them.

The national debt of Hanover is about three years income, or somewhat more than L.3,000,000 Sterling. A part of this was owing before the occupation of the country by France; but, during the period they were in possession, it was much increased; and the preparations made for war when Bonaparte returned from Elba caused a farther augmentation. The interest is paid at the rate of four per cent., and the debt has been diminished within the last four years. It is almost wholly owing to the subjects of the kingdom.

The regular forces of Hanover amounted to 12,940 men and officers, but they are undergoing a reduction, which is intended to bring them to less than 8000 for a permanent peace establishment. The militia, or landwehr, have hitherto been 18,000; but they are, like the regulars, gradually reducing, and will be fixed at about two-thirds that number. Hanover has no naval force, except a single brig of war, moored off the city of Stade, to enforce the tolls which all merchant vessels passing up the Elbe are bound to pay, and which amounts to about L.5000 Sterling annually.

The judiciary system of Hanover is very complicated. Many of the inferior judges and magistrates are appointed by the proprietors of particular estates; and many of those nominated by the king are rather by his prerogative as owner of some estates than as the monarch. Some of these jurisdictions are small, but yet have the power of life and death. An attempt is now making to simplify and assimilate the administration of justice in the different provinces, among which there is considerable variation. It must, however, be a work of time, as the inhabitants are much attached to their local customs. A court of appeal at Zell has extensive power, and it is intended to increase its authority by allowing all the provinces to have recourse to it for final judgments.

In Hanover there is not merely toleration, but equal establishment to the three Christian sects of Lutherans, Catholics, and Reformed; and the smaller sects of Menonites, Hennhuthers, and others, enjoy perfect protection. The members of the Lutheran community amount to 1,050,000; the Catholics to 160,000; the Reformed to 90,000; the remainder comprise Jews and the smaller Christian communities. The Lutheran church is regulated by superintendents, who resemble bishops, but are assisted, and somewhat controlled, by the consistories. The seat of these is in Hanover, Stade, Osnabrück, Hildesheim, Aurich, and Hohnstein. The Catholics are divided into dioceses, and have bishops at Osnabrück, Hildesheim, and Regensburg; and the provinces of Meppen and Eimsbuhren are under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Prussian Bishop of Münster. The Lutherans and Reformed are united in some of the consistories, and the trifling differences in their faith and modes of worship are easily compromised or reconciled.

The means of education are very amply provided for all classes of the community. Each village has a schoolmaster for gratuitously teaching the poorer inhabitants; all of whom are instructed in reading, writing, and the common rules of arithmetic. In the capital there is a large institution, established for the tuition of the parochial schoolmasters. In all the cities, and many of the towns, are Gymnasiums, in which classical and elementary instruction is dispensed on very moderate terms. The University of Göttingen, established by King George II, in 1734, has been greatly celebrated for the learning of its professors and the number of its pupils. Owing to some turbulent conduct of the latter, their number has been reduced from 1200 to 800, none of whom are either subjects of Hanover, of Hesse Cassel, or of Brunswick. The library belonging to the university is admirably conducted, and consists of near 300,000 volumes. There is a valuable chemical, mechanical, and philosophical apparatus; an astronomical observatory; and dissecting rooms for surgical and veterinary studies. The university is governed by its own magistrates, and the professors may publish what works they please, without a previous censurate being exercised.

The press in Hanover is not, however, unrestricted. All works, except those of the Göttingen professors, must be examined and licensed before publication; but the censors are very liberal in the exercise of their duty, and seldom suppress any works, however contrary to established opinions, if they are unmixed with slander, invective, or personalities. There is no law in Hanover to prevent the introduction of any work, however obnoxious, that is published in other parts of Germany, or in foreign countries.

The poor are provided for wholly by voluntary contributions, which are made from house to house at stated periods. They are in a great degree supported in workhouses, where their own labour contributes in some measure to their maintenance. Their food and clothing are of the coarsest kind. There are many hospitals and other charitable establishments for the relief and cure of the diseased; and, upon the whole, the poor are as well taken care of as in other countries where their maintenance is compulsory.

By the population tables, which are accurately kept, the increase in the number of inhabitants is going on rapidly. In the year 1817, the births were 46,118, and the deaths 32,004, though, on account of the scarcity of corn, the greatest distress was felt; of these births the males were 23,812, and the females 22,314.

The language usually spoken in Hanover is the Plat-Deutsche, a dialect of the High German, more pure, and less complicated in its construction, but treated by the learned with more contempt than it merits. As the service in the churches and the instruction in the schools is exclusively in the High German, all the peasantry understand it, though they very unwillingly use it when they can avoid it. The higher classes pride themselves on speaking the High German with greater purity than is practised in any other part of the empire.

Hanover has two standards of money, the Leip-sigen and the Convention. The public accounts are kept in the latter. The gold coin called Georges d'or is five rix dollars eight groschen in convention money; or, in Leipsigen money, four rix dollars sixteen groschen. The other gold coin, the Gold-Gulden, is two rix dollars six groschen in convention, two dollars two groschen in Leipsigen money.

The long measure is the rood of eight ells; the ell is two feet; the foot twelve inches. Six Hanoverian are equal to five Brabant ells. Land is measured by hufen and morgens. The hufe is 30 morgens, the morgen 120 ruthen, equal to 24,844 Paris feet. The morgen by which woodland is measured contains 160 ruthen. The liquid measure is the eimen, of 3.136 cubic inches, or the anker of 1,960 cubic inches. The latter makes 16 stübchens, or 32 kammen—64 quartiere, or 128 nosel. The weights in common use are ships-pounds, lies-pounds, hundreds, and customary pounds. The ships-pound is equal to 20 lies-pounds; the hundred is 110 lies-pounds. The lyes-pound is divided into two marks, the mark into eight ounces, the ounce into two loths, the loth into four quintins. The local weights and measures vary from these the standards in all the villages of the several provinces.

See Erdebeschreibung des Konigreichs Hannover, von H. D. A. Sonne. Historish-Topographisch-Statistische Besereibung der Königlichen residentzstadt Hannover, von B. C. Spilcker. Hodgskin's Travels in Germany. Jacob's Travels in Holland and Germany. (w.w.)