GERMANY. 439 



The elector of Bavaria, who is grand sewer, or officer who serves 



out the feasts. 



The elector of Saxony, who is great marshal of the empire. 



The elector of Brandenburg (king of Prussia) who is arch-cham» 

 berlain. 



The elector of Brunswick-Lunenburg (Hanover; the king of Great 

 Britain) who is arch-treasurer. 



The elector of Salzburg (late grand duke of Tuscany.) 



The elector of Wurtemberg, who is arch-pantler. 



The elector of Baclen. 



The elector of Hesse. 



It is necessary for the emperor, before he calls a diet, to have the 

 advice of those members : and during the vacancy of the imperial 

 throne the electors of Saxony and Bavaria have jurisdictions, the for- 

 mer over the northern, and the latter over the southern circles. 



The diet is composed of the electoral college, the college of prin- 

 ces, and the college of imperial towns. 



The electoral college consists of the ten electors above enumerated, 

 each of whom has a personal vote, termed by the German lawyers 

 votam virile. The college of princes is divided into two classes ; 

 the proper princes of the empire, as dukes, margravines, landgraves, 

 princes and princely counts, who have each a personal vote, and the 

 counts and lords of the empire, who are arranged in four colleges or 

 benches, viz. the Wetteravian, Swabian, Franconian, and Westphalian, 

 each of which has but one vote, styled voium curiatum. In this col- 

 lege Austria and Salzburg have the directory by turns. The college 

 of imperial cities consists of deputies from the Hans towns, Ham- 

 burg, Bremen, and Lubeck, and the imperial cities Frankfort on the 

 Maine, Nuremberg, and Augsburg. The imperial cities are tree 

 republics under no particular sovereign, but immediately under the 

 emperor and the empire. 



The imperial chamber, and that of Vienna, which is better known 

 by the name of the Aulic council, are the two supreme courts for 

 determining the great causes of the empire, arising between its re- 

 spective members. The imperial council consists of fifty judges or 

 assessors. The president, and four of them, are appointed by the 

 emperor, and each of the electors chooses one, and the other princes 

 and states the rest. This court is at present held at Wetzler, but 

 formerly resided at Spire : and causes may be brought before it by 

 appeal. The Aulic council was oiuginally only a revenue court of 

 the dominions of the houses of Austria. As that family's power in- 

 creased, the jurisdiction of the Aulic council was extended upon the 

 powers of the imperial chamber, and even of the diet. It consists of 

 a president, a vice-chancellor, a vice-president, and a certain number 

 of Aulic counsellors, of whom six are protestants, besides other 

 officers ; but the emperor, in fact, is master of the court. These 

 courts follow the ancient laws of the empire for their guides, the 

 golden bull, the pacification of Passau, and the civil law. 



Besides these courts of justice, each of the nine circles has a direc- 

 tor to take care of the peace and order of the circle. This director is 

 in general one of the most powerful princes of the circle. 



In case of great public offences, after the votes of the diet are col- 

 lected, and sentence pronounced, the emperor, by his prerogative, 

 commits the execution of it to a particular prince or princess, whose 



