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WÜRTTEMBERG, a kingdom of Southern Germany, the sixth in rank of the states in the German Confederation, lies between N. Lat. 47° 35' and 49° 35'; E. Long. 8° 12' and 10° 20'; and is bounded on the N.W., W., and S.W., by Baden; S. by Baden, Hohenzollern, and the Lake of Constance, which separates it from Switzerland; E. and N.E. by Bavaria. Length, from N. to S., 140 miles; greatest breadth, 200; area, 7484 square miles. The kingdom may be considered as hilly, if not mountainous. It is estimated that 29 per cent. of the area is mountainous, 46 per cent. hilly, and 25 per cent. lowland. On the eastern part is the group of the Swabian Alps, and on the western the Black Forest, a continuation of the Swiss Alps. The highest point of the former of these groups is Oberhohenberg, 3160 feet; and that of the latter is Katzenkopf, 3610 feet. The latter is the highest point in the kingdom; the lowest being 420 feet, and the average elevation 1476 feet above the level of the sea. The eastern are not so lofty as the western ranges of hills, but they are more bleak and rugged. There are no plains, but some extensive and beautiful valleys, highly fruitful, of which that of the Neckar with its branches, and that of the Danube from Tuttlingen to Ulm, are the most celebrated. The various smaller valleys, running between the hills, and terminating on the banks of the several rivers, present rich and beautiful prospects. The woods are extensive, and contain almost every kind of forest-tree; but the absence of hedgerows is a great drawback to the beauty of the country in most parts of the kingdom. The scenery is much indebted to the rivers and the several tributary streams which run through all the valleys. The Neckar rises in the southern extremity of Württemberg, and, with many windings, leaves the kingdom on its northern frontier, in its course to join the Rhine. It collects the waters of the Kocher, the Jaxt, the Rems, the Enz, the Erms, and the Zaber. The Danube rises in this

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1 December 1711. 2 Up to the time of his death he seems to have occupied himself by abstruse mathematical studies, and his recreation seems to have been occasional journeys to London, where he visited the scenes of his former labours, and more particularly the great cathedral. 3 In the touching words of his son, Parentalia, p. 346, "It was the will of the Omnipotent Author and Dispenser of all Belongs to release him from this mortal state, and to invest him with immortality, on the 25th day of February, in the year of grace 1723, and in the ninety-first of his age."

VOL. XXI. kingdom, in the mountains of the Black Forest, and leaves it at Ulm, on the frontiers of Bavaria. It is increased by the several streams of the Iller and the Brentz. The Tauber, in the north, is one of those streams which contribute to the waters of the Maine. The Schussen and the Argent are two small rivers that empty themselves into the Lake of Constance. That lake borders a small part of the kingdom. The Feder Lake, about three miles in length and breadth, and those of Laufen and Pfaffen, which are smaller, lie within its boundaries.

The climate is mild, temperate, and healthy; but it varies considerably in different parts of the country. The northern part is less elevated, and enjoys a higher degree of temperature than the southern. On the shores of the Neckar and the Lake of Constance, the air is very mild; but in the mountainous regions more cold and inclement. The mean temperature at Stuttgart is 54°, and at Tübingen 50°; while, on an average over the whole country, the highest temperature is 90°, and the lowest 9°. The character of the soil varies considerably in different parts; but on the whole it is highly fertile; and with the exception of a few swampy tracts in some places, there is none of the land that cannot be turned to good account. The distribution of the soil, in 1852, was as follows:—corn-land, 2,050,102 acres; gardens, 94,773; vineyards, 64,678; meadows, 687,653; pastures, 208,206; and forests, 1,497,062; the remainder is either waste or occupied by lakes, rivers, roads, railways, buildings, &c.

In no part of Germany is so much attention directed to agriculture as in this kingdom, and in no part of it are the practices so generally good. The cultivation of green crops is much diffused. Turnips and mangold wurzel are much grown, and beetroot is raised for the manufacture of sugar. Potatoes are very extensively cultivated, and form the chief food of the working classes. Hemp and flax are raised in abundance, the former chiefly in the circles of the Neckar and Black Forest, and the latter most extensively in that of the Danube. The harvests of corn are tolerably productive as wheat, rye, barley, oats, and, in some of the warmer districts, maize. The produce of grain, in 1852, was estimated for the whole kingdom at about 30,808,000 bushels; of which, as potatoes are extensively used for food, some is every year sent to supply the wants of the neighbouring states. The woods afford more fuel and building materials than are demanded for domestic consumption; and the surplus is, by means of the rivers, conveyed to the countries lower down the several streams. The vineyards produce abundance of wine, and much of it is of very good quality. The best wines usually comprehended in the general class of Neckar wine are those made in the valleys of the Neckar, Reins, and Tauber, and on the banks of the Lake of Constance. In 1852, the quantity of the wine produced was 5,822,180 gallons, and the value L196,818; but in some previous years both the amount and value have been very much greater.

The cattle in Würtemberg have been carefully attended to, and the cows especially are of a very good description, which is attributed, in a great measure, to the care in improving the breed. The butter is excellent, and in many districts good cheese is made, but the last less extensively than with due pains it might be. The sheep have been much improved by constant crossings between the old races of the country and those of the Rousillon and Merino breeds, and now the greater part of the flocks are of the fine-wooled kind. The breed of horses was at one time very good, but afterwards became much deteriorated. Recently, however, much attention has been paid to the improvement of the breed, and the efforts made in this direction have been facilitated and encouraged by the establishment of several studs by the government. The number of live stock in the year 1853 was thus enumerated: horses 95,038; horned cattle 811,159; sheep 458,488; Württemberg swine 143,524; goats 42,064; asses 351.

The fisheries are very productive both in the lakes and the rivers. The Lake of Constance affords abundance of salmon trout, perch, carp, and barbel; the other lakes and the rivers yield trout, eels, barbel, pike, and several other kinds of fish; and in the Feder Lake the shad is found of a very large size.

The only mines that are extensively worked are those of iron, the most productive of which are at Aalen and Wasersalzungen. The ore from these mines is prepared both by smelting and the hammer, and supplies the manufacturers of Friedrichsthal, Christophsthal, Ludwigsthal, Abtsge- mind, and Heidenheim, with materials for their cutlery and ironmongery. There are saline springs at Hall, Sultz, Offenau, Kochendorf, and Weisbach, from whence are annually made about 18,000 tons of culinary salt. The working both of iron and salt is monopolized by the crown. Würtemberg has also marble, building-stone, porcelain and potter's clay, silver, lead, and copper, in more or less abundance.

There are in the kingdom some valuable mineral springs, used for medicinal purposes; and accommodations have been provided in a style of elegance and convenience which attracts to them a great number of visitors in the summer months. The principal of these are at Kanstatt, on the right bank of the Neckar, a few miles from Stuttgart. There are more than thirty springs in and about the town. The waters are cold; they contain Glauber, Epsom, and common salts, mixed with a small portion of iron, and are found of great efficacy in curing disorders of the digestive powers. At Wildbad in the Black Forest, nearer to the capital of Baden than to that of Würtemberg, the springs are hot, varying from the temperature of 65° to 100° of Fahrenheit. The water is colourless, and has neither taste nor smell, but it gives out much carbonic acid gas. Few ingredients of a medicinal nature have been detected in it, but the use of the baths has been found by experience highly salutary in gouty and rheumatic complaints.

The chief manufacture of Würtemberg is that of linen. The inhabitants of the eastern Alps and of the Black Forest are employed in this branch of industry. In those districts almost all the women are occupied during the winter in spinning, and every peasant is a weaver. Both fine and coarse linen is produced, and also diaper and sail-cloth. The cloth manufactures are among the most considerable and flourishing in the kingdom. Cotton spinning and weaving have been introduced at several places, and form important and steadily improving branches of industry. Leather, glass, paper, snuff, hardware, cutlery, with oil, pitch, tar, and potash, are all made in different parts of the kingdom. The breweries, and especially the distilleries, are numerous. This is the country for making wooden clocks; and those works produced in Würtemberg, or from natives of it who have transferred their labour to other countries, are to be seen in almost every part of Europe.

The commerce of Würtemberg is important and active, especially the internal trade. The principal commercial towns are Heilbronn, Kanstatt, Ulm, Stuttgart, Friedrichshafen, Reutlingen, Calw, and Tuttlingen. Among the chief articles of export are corn, cattle, timber, wooden articles, wool and woollen stuffs, linen, leather, salt, stone, wine, vegetables, cast-iron, paper, gold, silver, and jewellery. The principal imports are colonial wares, dried fruits, oil, hops, hemp, tobacco, brandy and wines, iron, hides, silk, cotton, coal, glass, &c. The exports are usually in excess of the imports in value. The country is traversed in all directions by good roads, and trade is also facilitated by a railway extending from Heilbronn, by Stuttgart and Ulm, to Friedrichshafen on the Lake of Constance.

The government of Würtemberg is at present an here- ditary limited monarchy. The king is the sole sovereign, and acts without control by his ministers, in every executive department. He appoints to all offices, makes war and peace, commands the forces, distributes rewards, confers dignities and honours, executes justice, and dispenses pardons. Under the ancient dukes, within the original territories of Württemberg there existed a feudal constitution. The states, consisting of fourteen prelates and seventy-one deputies from the cities, exercised some legislative authority; but on the assumption of the kingly dignity, and the addition of the acquired provinces in 1806, the monarch assumed unlimited power, until the termination of the war, and the end of the Congress of Vienna, when a new constitution was promulgated. Two legislative chambers were then instituted, and have since continued. The upper is composed of the princes of the blood, the high nobility, and a certain proportion of members appointed by the king. The lower consists of the prelates of the Protestant and Catholic churches, the deputies from the cities of Stuttgart, Tübingen, Ludwigsburg, Ellwang, Ulm, Heilbronn, and Reutlingen, from the learned institutions, and from the several bailiwicks. The citizens and the peasants enjoy equal rights, and the feudal slavery of the latter is universally abolished. All have equal pretensions to public employments, and all the Christian sects enjoy the same rights. The feudal tenures are destroyed, and the estates formerly subject to them are converted into freehold properties.

The administration is executed by six ministers, whose departments are thus denominated: justice, foreign affairs, domestic affairs, war, finance, and ecclesiastical affairs. Each of these ministers is at the head of the board which regulates his own branch of the executive government. The law is founded upon the ancient feudal principles which prevailed in Württemberg at the earliest period, but in some instances is tempered by the addition or intermixture of the Roman law. The administration of justice in smaller matters is executed by provincial judges. There are four superior courts for the four circles, and a supreme tribunal of appeal and revision is established at Stuttgart.

The income, according to the budget for 1860-61, amounted to L.1,139,494, of which L.478,275 are derived from the royal domains, L.304,833 from direct, and L.758,386 from indirect taxes. The expenditure was L.1,168,880, including the payment of the interest of the public debt. That debt amounted, 10th June 1858, to L.4,605,124. To the honour of the kingdom, it is to be observed, that the expenditure on the church and on education (chiefly for the latter object) is greater than for any other department except that of war; indeed, as respects education, it ranks among the first of the German states.

The army on the peace footing amounts, in all, to 9893 men; but in time of war, might be raised to 24,869. It consists of four regiments of cavalry, eight regiments of infantry, a corps of guards, of horse and foot artillery, and a small corps of sappers. The contingent to the German league is fixed at 23,259 men.

The inhabitants are partly of Swabian and partly of Franconian origin, and retain the peculiar pronunciation of the races from which they are descended. There are likewise some settlements of the Waldenses. The Swabians make use of many words very different from the other German people, and adopt many variations in the idioms not known elsewhere. These may be observed to alter at every 10 or 12 miles in travelling through the country.

The prevailing religion in old Württemberg was the Lutheran, for which it suffered most severely during the thirty years' war. No toleration was granted to any other sect except to the Waldenses, and they were confined within prescribed limits, and even in those spots were under strict regulations, and excluded from the rights of citizenship. Since 1806, the three religious parties have enjoyed the free exercise of their modes of worship, and a participation in all civic rights, with eligibility to all public offices. The Lutherans and Calvinists, now united, are distinguished by the name of the Evangelical Church. Their number in 1858 was 1,158,324; and that of the Romish Church 519,913. There are some sectaries, such as Separatists, Baptists, Hermuthers, and others, who are neither favoured nor persecuted by the government; but these only amounted to 2229 at the above date. Through the whole of Protestant Württemberg there are a great number of persons distinguished by the appellation of Pictists, who hold their private meetings for devotion, but do not in other respects separate from their churches. The Lutheran Church is under the direction of 6 superintendents, whose dioceses are divided into 49 deaneries, and supplied with 985 pastors. The Catholics are governed by a vicar-general, who is assisted by a council consisting of clerical and lay members; the priests under them are about 898. The Lutheran clergy are in general better supported, and taken from a somewhat higher class of people, than in most of the other parts of Protestant Germany. The Jews, who have established themselves chiefly in the new provinces of Württemberg, amounted in 1858 to 10,432 persons.

Few parts of Germany have exhibited more or better specimens of knowledge and talent than have been produced from the institutions for education in Württemberg. No state has, for its population, more means for acquiring learning. The university of Tübingen has long been considered one of the best in Germany. There are, besides, six gymnasia, four lyceums and seminaries, for the Protestant clergy at Maulbronn, Schoenthal, Urach, and Blaubeuren; and for Catholics at Rothweil and Ehingen. The endowed classical schools are fifty-five, from which the theological pupils are transferred to the university of Tübingen, where they are maintained from the funds of the institution. Schools for instructing the poorer classes of the people are amply provided in every part of the kingdom, so that the knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic is almost universal. No village is without its school, and scarcely a market-town without a classical instructor.

The nucleus of the present kingdom of Württemberg was the ancient earldom of that name, which was originally included in the duchy of Swabia. It first rose to historical importance on the fall of the Swabian House in 1268; and Ulric I. (1246-65) is the first earl conspicuous in history; but his dominions only comprised small portions of the present circles of the Neckar and the Black Forest. His son Eberhard, and his grandson Ulric II., extended the limits of the earldom by annexing adjacent districts either by inheritance or by purchase. In the end of the fourteenth century, Mompelgard in Franche Comté was acquired by marriage; and in this way the earldom gradually increased to such an extent, that in 1495 Maximilian I. was induced to raise it to the rank of a duchy. At the Reformation both the people and the dukes embraced the Protestant religion; and in the wars of the succeeding century the country suffered very much; the reigning family being three times expelled by the Austrians. They were, however, finally restored by the peace of Westphalia in 1648. Württemberg also suffered severely in the wars between France and Germany, about the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. The last duke, Frederick II., at the peace of Lunéville in 1801, ceded Mompelgard to France; but was more than indemnified for this in 1803, by the territories of several independent prelates and imperial cities, and by the title of Elector. By the treaty of Presburg, in 1806, he received further additions to his territories; and assumed the title of King. The country is divided into four circles, the area and the population of which are as follow:—