BELOirM. 



BELGRADE. 



of the Senate during the time when the Chamber of Representatives 

 is not sitting are without force. 



EaeS branch of the legislature may originate laws, with tlii - 

 tion. that every \.\\\ relating to the receipt or expenditure of money 

 for public purposes must be finrt Toted by the Chamber of H'-piv 

 entativea. The ordinary sittings of both chamber* are held in pulilie ; 

 but each chamber on the demand of the president or of ten members 

 mar form itself into a secret committee, and when so formed it rests 

 with the majority of the chamber to decide whether or not the 

 sittimrs shall continue to be secret. If a member of either of the 

 legislative house* accepts an office of emolument under the crown be 

 immediately vacate* his seat until re-elected. The president and 

 rice-presidents of each chamber are nominated by its members at the 

 beginning of each session. 



The chambers assemble as of right every year on the second 

 Tuesday in November, unless they shall have been previously called 

 together by the king. The session must last at least forty days : its 

 prorogation is pronounced by the king. 



The number of citizens registered as electors in the lists, as they 

 stood in each province in 1852, was 32,683 in the towns, and 45,545 

 in the country, in all 78,228 ; to which are to be added certain official 

 voters, making the aggregate somewhat over 1 00,000. 



The person of the king is declared sacred. His ministers are 

 responsible for the acts of the government No act of the king can 

 have any legal effect until countersigned by one of his ministers, who 

 by that means becomes responsible. 



The king appoints and dismisses his ministers at pleasure. He 

 nominates to civil and military offices. He promulgates the rules and 

 orders necessary to insure the execution of laws, but has no power to 

 dispense with or to suspend the execution of the laws. The king 

 commands the land and sea forces, declares war, and makes I 

 of peace, of alliance, and of commerce, communicating the same to 

 the legislative chambers as speedily as the public safety and interest 

 permit. Commercial treaties have no legal effect until they have been 

 assented to by the chambers. No cession, exchange, or addition to 

 the national territory can be made except by means of a law passed 

 in conjunction with the chambers. 



The king is declared of age at eighteen years. Before he can 

 exercise the functions of royalty he must take the following oath in 

 presence of both legislative chambers "I swear to obscnv tin- 

 constitution and the laws of the Belgian people ; to maintain the 

 independence of the nation and the integrity of its territory.'' 



If at the death of the king his successor should be a minor, the 

 two chambers meet together in order to appoint a regeut. The 

 regency cannot be intrusted to more than one person, who before he 

 can enter upon his office must take the oath just recited. 



In case the throne should become vacant, the chambers deliberating 

 together shall appoint a provisional regent ; both chambers are then 

 dissolved, and must meet again at latest in two months, when the 

 new chambers, sitting in deliberation together, are to supply the 

 vacancy. 



N<> man can be appointed a minister of state who is not a Belgian 

 by 1'irth or naturalisation. No member of the royal family can be a 

 minuter. The ministers have the right of attending and speaking in 

 either of the chambers, but can only vote in one, provided they have 

 been elected members thereof. The chambers may require the pre- 

 sence of ministers. In no case can the king screen a minister from 

 responsibility. 



king has the right of coining money and of conferring titles of 

 nobility, but without granting thereby any peculiar privilege!", such 

 being repudiated by a fundamental article of the o which 



declares all Belgians to be equal in the eye of the law, without any 

 distinction of orders. 



Judges receive their appointment* directly from the king, and In. Id 

 them for life, so that they cannot be superseded but by their own 

 consent, or by a judgment pronounced in open court, and for reasons 

 publicly declared on that occasion. The trial by jury is established 

 for all criminal and political charges, and for offences of the press. 



No taxes can be levied by the state unleM in.'viou.ly .-).,' 

 by a law passed by the chambers ; and all such taxes must ) 

 annually, the laws by which they are established expiring at tli. . -ti.l 

 of a year. The contingent of the army is voted under Hie same 

 limitation. 



Personal liberty and liberty of conscience are guaranteed to every 

 citizen by the constitution in the fullest sense; all are ainennb;.- t . 

 the laws, and all are placed equally under th.'ir protection. 



The law is administered by a tribunal de paix in each canton, a 

 tribunal de premiere instance in each arrondisramnnt, and v 

 appeal at Brussels, Ohent, and Liege. Tribunal of commerce 

 settlement of commercial differences are established in all the principal 

 commercial towns. The criminal population of Belgium appears t<> 

 be much maller in proportion to the population than that of 

 France or Kngland, and it does not seem to be increasing. 



Ii language is that used in all public affairs. The French 

 decimal system is adopted for the money, weights, and measures of 

 Bejgjum. 



The total revenue of Belgium for the year 1852 amounted to 

 4.8W.41W. ; for 1853 it was 4,924,S70/. The expenditure for 1862 



was 4,848,407?. ; for 1853 it wn 5, but in these estimates 



the charges for canals and railways, which nmount<-d 

 l,0f)8,320/., are not included. The following shows tin- di-tr : l.uti..n 

 of tin i H.T.- f..r 1S58 : 



RECEIPTS FOB 1858. 



Direct Taxes (land-tax, person*! taxes, and patent*) . 1,242,590 



Dun from Mines 



Ctutonu : 



Eiciw (on salt, foreign wines and brandies, home-midc ) . . 

 brandy, spirit*, beer, vinegar, nd sugar) . . / 



Stamp*, fcc 9S9.ROO 



National Domains (tolls, dues, &c.) 172,000 



Postage Dues 116,000 



Railways and Electric Telegraph 684.000 



steam.packet 



Sundries 374,464 



FOR 1853. 



National Debt 



Civil Lit 



Ministry of Justice 



Foreign Affairs .... 



Home Affair, (de I'rntcriour) 



Public Works .... 



War 



Finances 



Deficiencies and Repayments , 



4,924,970 



JCl.i:'. 



. 134,637 



86,474 

 274.S8J 



' - . : - : 

 1,687,480 



9,308,328 



The public debt remaining unredeemed in 1853 amounted to 

 25,739,542/., of which 9,481, 478. is part of the public debt of the 

 kingdom of the Netherlands, which was appointed to be paid by 

 Belgium nt its separation from the Netherlands in 1830. 



The military establishment of Belgium consists of the civic guard 

 nnd the regular army. The cine or national guard of the kingdom 

 is raised for the purposes ot the constitutional rights of 



the monarchy and the people, of maintaining ord.i. \ip!i ..Ming the 

 laws, and preserving the territory of Belgium from invasion. Tlii- 

 guard is unequally divided into three corps (bans). The first two 

 bans, which form the available militia, or the only portion which has 

 been called into active duty, comprise about 90,000 men. The 

 government is authorised to give a more active and efficient character 

 (mobilise,) t.. the whole or any part of this arm of the service when- 

 ever it deems it necessary. 



The more regular or standing army consists of 12 regiments of 

 infantry of the line ; 8 of foot chasseurs ; 1 of grenadiers ; 2 of horse 

 chasseurs; 2 of lancers; 2 of cuirassiers ; 1 of guides; 4 of artillery, bat- 

 tering train, sappers and miners, &c. ; forming in all an effective army 

 of about 100,000 men ; but of them only somewhat under 40,000 are 

 kept on actual duty. The remainder can be called into service in a 

 few days. 



T HiMixchling, Kuai ntr la Stnlittique Gtnlrale it la Bflgique ; 

 Ducpetiatix, Koyavme dt Bctgiqne, Jr.; Official Ka)>i>nrl, liullttint, 

 <tc. ; Quetelet, Annuairr de F Obttrvatoi rt de JtrurtVrt, &c.) 



I! K.I.i ii >1!OD, or BJELGOROD, once the capital of a province, but 

 n. .w tip :i of a circle in the province of Kursk, in the south- 



eastern part of Russia in Europe, is situated in 50 W N. lat.., 36 2 1 

 E. long., distant 90 miles S. from the city of Kursk. It is traversed 

 by the small river /.iolka, or Wessolka, and is nearly 4) miles in 

 circuit : the population is about 10,000. This town was originally 

 built in i.ir Ivanovitsh in the year 15!'7. wln-n its site 



was a chalk-hill, whence it was called Bjcl-Oorod, or ' White Town ;' 

 but it WHS afterwards removed about n mile lower down to its 

 present situation, in a valley between two hills. It is dr. !! into 

 the Old Town and the New Town, mid h.-ii three suburbs ; the Old 

 Town is surrounded by a rampart and diMi, but the New Town 

 by palisades only. Belgorod is the seat of an nrchbishop, has two 

 monasteries, ten churches of stone and three of wood, and three 

 . There are several manufactories in the town, 

 ,:.u-ly for ivlining and pressing wax and for Binning and 

 ; and it carries on a considerable trade in hemp, bristles, 

 ..p. fcc. Three fairs, to which a great number 

 n the Hniith of Russia resort, are held in the course of 

 the year. The environs are extremely productive in fruit, for which 

 the district is much celebrated : whole fields arc laid out in growing 



lil'.LHHADK. m ' \r> (White City), is tho capital of the 



1 in 44 60' 



Ben with the Danube, 



Ii rivers, which arc here very broad and 



Belgrade is the Sigindunum of Ptolermcus, the Siir.-idunum of the 

 Itinerary of Antoninus, and the Singedum of Procopius. Tin- city 

 was founded by the Romans, afterwards totally destroyed by the 

 Barbarians, and rebuilt by the emperor Justinian, who fortified it 

 strongly. The Uoman city was opposite to Tauranum (now Semlin) 

 in Panuonia. A trace of its former name ii still retained by a 



