LUXEMBURG 



3542 



LYCURGUS 



gloves, paper, malt and distilled liquors and 

 sugar. 



Government, Religion and Education. Lux- 

 emburg is a constitutional monarchy ruled 

 under the constitution of 1848 as revised in 

 1856 and 1868. The chief power is in the hands 

 of the hereditary grand duke (or duchess). 

 The chamber of deputies, whose fifty-three 

 elected members serve six years, passes the laws, 

 which are usually introduced by the grand duke 

 and must all be sanctioned by him. There is 

 also an advisory council of state, appointed by 

 the grand duke. The minister of state, who is 

 the active executive, is assisted by directors of 

 finance, justice and the interior, all appointed 

 by the monarch. The government allows entire 

 freedom of worship, but the whole population, 

 except about 4,000 Protestants and 1,300 Jews, 

 is Roman Catholic. Education is controlled by 

 the state, and primary education is compulsory. 

 Luxemburg has no university, but has a num- 

 ber of classical and other schools which offer 

 suitable preparation or the universities of 

 neighboring countries. 



History. The country of Luxemburg, origi- 

 nally called Liitzelburg, was one of the minor 

 principalities of the Holy Roman Empire. It 

 came into prominence in 1308, when Count 

 Henry IV of Luxemburg became Holy Roman 

 Emperor as Henry VII. Henry's grandson, 

 Charles IV, also Emperor, raised Luxemburg to 

 the rank of a duchy, and presented it to his 

 half-brother, Wenceslas, whose descendants 

 held it until 1437. After being owned by Aus- 

 tria and by Burgundy and then again by Aus- 

 tria, Luxemburg finally, in 1555, became the 

 personal property of the kings of Spain, but 

 remained a principality of the Holy Roman 

 Empire. By the Peace of Utrecht, 1713, it was 

 ceded to Austria, which lost it again when 

 France conquered it in 1795. After the fall of 

 Napoleon the Congress of Vienna created Lux- 

 emburg a grand duchy, made it a member of 

 the Germanic Confederation, and gave it to 

 William I, king of the Netherlands, in ex- 

 change for his ancestral estates of Nassau, 

 which were taken by Prussia. 



In 1831 attempts were made to incorporate 

 Luxemburg into the new kingdom of the Bel- 

 giums. The powers, as usual, intervened, and 

 declared that a part of the duchy must be left 

 to the king of Holland. The king, however, 

 declined to accept this arrangement until 1838, 

 when the present boundaries were established. 

 In 1866, when the old Germanic Confederation 

 was dissolved, the Dutch king, William III, 



proposed to sell Luxemburg to France. This 

 offer nearly caused war with Prussia, whose sol- 

 diers had garrisoned the duchy for fifty years. 

 In 1867, by the Treaty of London, France, 

 Prussia and Great Britain agreed to the inde- 

 pendence and neutrality of Luxemburg; the 

 Prussian soldiers, however, were not withdrawn 

 until 1872. 



Luxemburg remained a possession of the king 

 of Holland until the death of William III in 

 1890. King William left no male heirs, and 

 by the Salic law, which was still in force 

 Luxemburg, the throne of the grand di 

 could not pass to a woman if any male her 

 survived. Wilhelmina thus became queen 

 Holland, but a distant relative, Duke Adolf 

 Nassau (1817-1905), became grand duke 

 Luxemburg. With the death of Adolf's 

 William Alexander (1852-1912), the male li 

 of the house of Nassau came to an end, 

 the throne passed to his eldest daughter, Mar 

 (born 1894). In August, 1914, on the outbret 

 of the War of the Nations, a German an 

 demanded free passage through Luxemburg 

 France; the Germans seized the state railws 

 and practically assumed control of the gn 

 duchy, against the heated protests of Gi 

 Duchess Marie and her government. The 

 man government, however, promised reparati( 

 for any damage which might result from 

 invasion. E.D.F. 



Consult Renwick's The Grand Ducliy of Luc 

 bourg and Its People. 



LUXOR, luk'sawr. See THEBES. 



LUZON, luzori, the largest of the thi 

 thousand islands of the Philippine group, 

 description, see PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



LYCEUM, li se'um, originally a gymnasit 

 of ancient Athens which received its name frc 

 the adjoining temple of the Greek god, Aj 

 Lyceus. It was used by Socrates, and at a lat 

 period by Aristotle and his disciples, who 

 cussed their philosophy while wander 

 through the shady groves for which the pi 

 was noted. Modern usage applies the term 

 preparatory schools for young men, to lecti 

 platforms, and, occasionally, to public halls 

 assembly rooms. 



LYCURGUS, likur'gus, according to tr 

 tion, was the author of the laws and institu- 

 tions of ancient Sparta. He lived during the 

 ninth century B. c., and was a son of the Spar- 

 tan king Eunomus. In order to study the 

 laws of other nations, he traveled extensive 

 in Greece, Asia and Egypt, and upon his 

 turn to his native land he was requested by 



