ampleft refource, whenever there was a neceflity of impofing public contributions. They were, therefore, invited to appear in the diets of the empire, by reprefentatives, chofen by themfelves, out of their own number. But as their interefts did not always coincide with thofe of the princes, prelates, and counts, they withdrew from thefe orders, formed a separate college of their own, and communicated the refult of their deliberations to the other two ftates, in whofe affemblies they prefented themselves only on the moft folemn occafions. During a period of confiderable length, it was the policy of the more powerful among the princes, to retain, by all means, the prelates and counts, as a part of their own body, that they might not lean too much towards the fide of the emperor. But it was not long before new and particular interefts occafioned a feparation in this college. The chief among the princes fecular, and ecclefiaftic, by degrees, affumed the privilege of electing the emperor. At firft, they met together for concerting whom they thould propofe, and recommend to the other princes affembled in the diet of the empire, who generally gave their voices in favour of the candidate fo propofed, and always, if the chief princes were unanimous in their recommendation. But it was not til the fificenth century, that the chief princes affumed a formal, abfolute, and exclufive right of election. During this period, the ftates of the empire came to be divided into three colleges, the Electoral College, the College of Princes, and the ColIge of the Free or Imperial Cities. The members of the ecclefiaftical colege were criginally feven; three ecclefiaftic, and four fecular. The former owed the dignity to the antiquity of their epifcopal fees, and, to the office of arch-chancellors, which they performed at the imperial court, and which gave them the management of all fuch public affairs as were tranfacted, by means of letters, or writing. The elector of Mentz, was arch-chancellor for Germany; the elector of Treves, for the Gauls, or kingdom of Lorraine, when it became a part of the empire; and the elector of Cologne, for the kingdom of Lombardy, when that country too became fubject to the fovereign power of the German empire. Subfequent changes in France, and in Italy, did not deprive the two latter princes of their electoral dignity and privileges. The fecular princes of the electe: al college were the fovereign princes of Bohemia, the palatinate of Saxony, and Brandenburg, who, in like manner, owed their electoral dignity to the great officers of ftate, which' they held at the imperial court. The elector palatine having accepted the crown of Bohemia, in 1618, was overcome by the emperor Ferdi ard II. put to the bar of the empire, ftripped of his hereditary territories, and the electoral dignity conferred by the emperor on his ally, the duke of Bavaria. This dignity was conferred to the duke, by the peace of Weftphalia: but, by the fame treaty, an eighth electorfhip was created, in favour of the prince palatine, who was nominated arch-treasurer of the empire, on the ground, that it was indifpenfably neceflary that every clector fhould hold fome great office of ftate under the imperial crown. As the two houfes of the palatinate and Bavaria Bavaria were both of them branches of the fame ftem, and as it was forefeen that, in the courfe of time, the once might probably fall into the other, by hereditary fucceffion, it was ftipulated, that the electorfhip laft created fhould, from that time, be difcontinued. On the re-union of the two branches of the palatine family, in 1777, the num ber of electors would have been, accordingly, reduced to the primitive number of feven, if at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the electoral dignity had not been conferred, by the emperor, on the ducal houfe of Brunswick Lunenburg, or Hanover. The college of princes is compofed of a hundred voices, or votes: of which fome are parted, or flared among different perfons, and, in fome inftances, even whole bodies. For example, the whole of the prelates have but two votes, the whole of the counts only four. Hence a divifion of the voices into viriles and curiales; the former those of individuals, the latter those of whole claffes or bodies. The imperial and free cities, which form the third college of the ftates of the empire, are all of them conftituted on republican plans of government; being mixtures of democracies and ariftocracies, or rather ariftocracies more or less moderate. The city of Nuremberg alone is wholly wholly arifiocratical. Of the free cities of Germany, there are only four, which, at the prefent day, retain their ancient profperity and confideration. Frankfort-onthe-Maine, and the three Hanfeatic towns of Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburgh. Nerember erg, Ulm, Augfburg, and others, have fallen from their ancient fplendour. The number of the imperial cities, by the ceffion of Alface to the French, and,, in one or two cafes, the encroachments of powerful princes, has been reduced from fixty-two, to about fifty. They are divided into two benches, that of the Rhine, and that of Swabia. Befides the political divison of the ftates of the empire into three colleges, it was divided, geographically, into ten circles, or regions, fhaped into a kind of particular counties, by the hand of nature; before Belgium, or the circle of Burgundy, was ceded to France, by the treaty of Campo-Formio, foon to be ratified by another pacification. The members of these circles, meet from time to time, to deliberate on their common interefts. In former times, when the German ftates and princes were actuated, more than at prefent, by public fpirit and a love of their country, aflemblies of the circles were frequent, and of great importance. In proportion as particular interefts and views prevailed over thofe of the community, the meetings of the circles have become irregular, ill attended, broken up haftily by pitful difputes about precedency, where the members were numerous, or difcouraged and overborne by fome preponderating power, when few. Every circle has its director, or prefident, charged with the general police and maintenance of the public tranquillity, as well as with the execution, of all imperial decrees within their circles. In the affemblies of the circles, there is no dif ference between voices viriles, and voices curiales. The vote of the fmalleft count, or prelate, is equi valent to that of the greateft princes, even electors not excepted. And all queftions are difpofed of by a plurality of voices. There is yet another divifion of the empire, befides the political and geographical divifions juft mentioned, and that is, a divifion founded on difference of religion. In the college of the princes, as well as that of electors, the Catholics are the most numerous: though of the princes, all those of the most ancient and illuftrious houfes are proteftants, with the exception of Auftria, Bavaria, and the Palatine. In the college of imperial cities, the proteftants preponderate. However, although the Catholics prevail in the other two colleges, it was provided and fettled, by the peace of Weftphalia, that the preponderating number and voices of the Catholics, fhould not be of any prejudice to the Proteftants, in any queftion wherein the Proteftants fhould agree to make common caufe, and at the imperial diet, form themselves into a lepa rate and diftinct body. In which cafe nothing remained but modes of conciliation. If these failed, the matter in queftion remained undecided. It has already been obferved, that the emperor, in moft cafes, was refrained from exercifing the imperial authority without the confent of the ftates. In order to obtain this, the emperors, in former times, were wont to aflemble, from time to time, to the states of the empire in perfon. When all matters were agreed on, the refult of their deli berations was reduced to the form of a law, under the name of a recefs of the empire, and the diet was broken up. As the emperors and princes were prefent in the diets, in perfon, there proceedings were carried on with expedition. From the date of 1663, when the diet, or afïembly, of the states of the empire became permanent, neither the em peror, nor the different members of the ftates, appear there in perfon. Every thing is tranfacted by depu ties, who are not, however, empowered to conclude any business of importance, without tranfmitting it, and receiving the inftructions of their conftituents. The reprefentative of the emperor, in the diet, has the title of the principal commiffary, because it would be beneath the dignity of the chief of the empire to fend a deputy to the ftates. It is the prerogative of the emperor to call meetings of the diet for any particular purpofe, and to lay before them the fubjects of deliberation. A propofition, or motion, is made in the diet, either by the imperial or principal commiffary, in which cafe the decree for making it, is called a decree of commiflion: or, in his abfence, directly by a meffage from the imperial court; in which cafe, it is called an "aulic decree. But although the regular initiative of legiflation belong to the emperor, it is, nevertheless, competent for the fiates too to propofe any queftion or fubject of difcuffion: of which an inftance was exhibited a few years ago, by the elector of Mayence, in a motion relative to peace with France. But in whatever manner a propofition is made, it must be communicated to the whole empire. Each of the three colleges meets feparately, and deliberates on the propofitions fubmitted to their confideration and decifion, by the prefident or director: who reduces to writing, the fenfe of what is determined by the majority; and lays it be fore fore the college at the next meeting, for their confirmation. In the electoral college, in general more concordant than the others, the draught of what is understood to have been agreed on, is not often attended with any difficulties: but it is very commonly otherwife in the college of princes; in which the fketch or project drawn up by the director, is often rejected, and another propofed to the college in its ftead. Thus it follows, from this mode of conducting the deliberations of the itates, that there are three different decrees, or refolutions, on all matters that come before them: which three decrees it, of course, becomes neceflary to reduce to one. For this end, the directors of the two first colleges proceed, without deJay, to a conference. If it happens that the refolutions agreed to by their respective colleges be fundamentally the fame, or conceived in. the fame fpirit, it is not commonly difficult for the two colleges to come to a common refult or conclufum. But if they cannot be brought, by any means, to one accord, the queftion is dropped, and there is an end of the bufinefs: unlefs indeed, as fometimes hap. pens in cafes of great urgency, they agree to refer the matter to the arbitration of the emperor; for he has no right to interfere, without fuch reference. After the conclufum of the two firft colleges, a fimilar procedure takes place between thefe two colleges, united in the fame defign, on the one part, and the college of imperial cities, on the other. The confent of this college is followed by a general decree of the diet: which, however, has not the force of a law, without the ratification of the emperor. The ge a neral decrees, in fome measure, qualified or characterized by the title they bear, of Advices of the Dict, reprefented by the directors to the imperial and principal commiffary, who tranfmits it to his court. Thefe advices the emperor may reject, though not without coming to an explanation on their fubjects. The confent of the emperor, duly declared, is called a Decree of Ratification. An Advice of the Diet, and a Decree of Ratification, form together a conclafum of the empire. From this fketch of the Germanic conftitution, it is evident, that the tranfactions of the diet cannot be carried on otherwife than very flowly; and that it is impoffible they thould be kept fecret. A very great influence on the assembly is poffeffed by the emperor, who feldom fails to turn it to his own advantage. He is, himself, a member of the clectoral college, as king of Bohemia; and the three ecclefiaftical electors are ufually of his party. In the college of princes, too, he can commonly reckon on the ecclefiaftical princes, as well as on the fecular princes of the new houfes, and fill more on the prelates and counts. As for the col lege of free cities, it is but very rarely that they dare refift the will of the chief of the empire, It is only the houfe of Brandenburg, and the greater part of the princes of the old families, that can form, to a certain degree, a counter-balance to the power of the emperor. But of thele great houfes, means have generally been found to draw over one or other to the imperial party. One thing is certain, that if the courts of Berlin and Vienna are of one mind, as was unfortunately the cafe, ease, at the commencement of the prefent war with France, all refiftance from any other quarter would be vain. On the other, a refolute and fteady oppofition, on the part of the Pruffian monarch, in the prefent fituation of the empire, would fuffice to fruftrate, in the diet of the empire, any project of the emperor's. The bufinefs brought before the diet is fometimes tranfacted by the flates, in a body, and fometimes, as in cafes where difpatch is neceffary, and others, by committees appointed to deliberate and decide in the name of the empire. Thefe committees, which may be confidered as committees, on a small scale, are called Deputations of the Empire. Of these there are two kinds: ordinary, or extraordinary; fuch as thofe appointed to deliberate and decide on queftions relating to peace or war and it is in this kind of deputations alone that we are interefted. The members of an extraordinary deputation are chosen by a plurality of voices in the different colleges, and their election is confirmed by the emperor. At the head of fuch a deputation is the ambafLador plenipotentiary of the emperor in the choice of whom his imperial majefty is not reftrained by any limitation whatever either of law or cuftom. : Although a deputation of the empire, as has already been observed, be a diet on a fmall fcale, in deputations extraordinary there is no divifion of the members into feparate colleges. They form but one body. Their prefident is the elector of Mayence, and the vote of a delegate from one of the cities, is equivalent to that of an electoral plenipotentiary. There was for VOL. XLI. merly a world of difputes about the ceremonial, according to which the fub-delegates from the diets were, on fuch occafions, to take their feats or places. In order to avoid fuch an inconveniency at the congrefs of Raftadt, it was fettled, that all the deputies fhould be placed on equal feats, and that there fhould not be, as ufual, in the midst of the hall, any table. The inconveniencies neceflarily arifing from this arrangement, it feems, were judged lefs than thofe to be apprehended from the ideas of dignity or degradation that would arife in the breafts of the fub-delegates, from their pofitions, in relation to that utenfil. With regard to the manner or form in which the deliberations, in the extraordinary deputations of the empire are conducted, it is precifely the fame with that which takes place in the diet. The imperial plenipotentiary opens the feffion with due folemnity, and propofes the various points that are to be made the fubjects of difcuffion. Every thing that is proper for them to know, is communicated from time to time through the miniftration of the elector of Mayence: who collects the votes, and pronounces the decrees; which decrees, when they are of a nature that requires the imperial fanction, are either ratified or rejected by the emperor. In extraordinary deputations of the empire, the fub-delegates are furnished, by the emperor and diet, with powers and inftructions which they cannot tranfgrefs. The members of the extraordinary deputation, at Raftadt, were appointed fo early as 1795, on the first overtures for peace. And although there was afterwards a great change of cis[K] cumftances, |