GEOGRAPHY. 55 



The Roman Catholic rehgion is predominant throughout the greater part 

 of France, ahhough all forms are represented. Thus there are three 

 millions of Lutherans, one million of the Reformed Church, sixty thousand 

 Jews, four thousand Mennonites, five hundred Quakers, &c. The state of 

 education in France is quite promising, although many portions of the 

 country are sadly deficient in the means of instruction. There are no 

 universities in the German sense of the term, only colleges or faculties for 

 special sciences. All the schools, of whatever grade, are subordinate to the 

 University of Paris. 



France has been the oldest monarchy in Europe. As a kingdom, it was 

 ruled in succession by the Prankish kings, the Carlovingians, the descendants 

 rof Capet (987), the Valois (1328), the Bourbons (1587) ; it then became a 

 republic in 1792, an empire in 1804, again a kingdom under the Bourbons 

 (1815), since 1830 under the House of Orleans, and since 1848 again a 

 republic. The legislative power is vested in a national assembly of 750 

 members, chosen by the people ; to a president, elected every four years, is 

 assigned the executive. The first (and present) president is Louis Napoleon 

 Bonaparte. 



The revenues (for 1849) have been estimated at 1528 millions of francs. 

 The army embraces about 450,000 troops, with about 94,000 horses, and 

 16,500 pieces of ordnance. The navy consists of a sail and a steam fleet. 

 The former has in active service ten ships of the line, eight frigates, eighteen 

 corvettes, twenty-four brigs, twelve transports, and twenty-four light boats : 

 and in reserve ten ships of the line and fifteen frigates. The steam navy 

 has in active service fourteen frigates, fifteen corvettes, thirty-four avisos ; 

 in reserve ten frigates, six corvettes, and six avisos. 



The whole of France at present is divided into eighty-six departments, 

 which are subdivided into arrondissements, cantons, and communes. At 

 the head of the departments stand prefects ; the arrondissements are governed 

 by sub-prefects, the cantons and communes by maires. The eighty-six 

 departments with their capitals are : 1, Ain (Bourg) ; 2, Aisne (Laon) ; 3, 

 Allier (Moulins) ; 4, Lower Alps (Digne) ; 5, Upper Alps (Gap) ; 6, Ardeche 

 (Privas) ; 7, Ardennes (Mezieres) ; 8, Ariege (Foix) ; 9, Aube (Troyes) ; 10, 

 Aude (Carcassonne); 11, Aveyron (Rodez) ; 12, Calvados (Caen); 13, 

 Cantal (Aurillac) ; 14, Charente (Angouleme) ; 15, Lower Charente (La 

 Rochelle) ; 16, Cher (Bourges) ; 17, Correze (Tulle) ; 18, Corsica (Ajaccio) ; 

 19, Cote d' Or (Dijon) ; 20, Creuse (Gueret) ; 21, Dordogne (Perigueux) ; 

 22, Doubs (Besanc^on) ; 28, Drome (Valence) ; 24, Eure (Evreux) ; 25, 

 Eure- Loire (Chartres) ; 26, Finistere (Quimper) ; 27, Gard (Nimes) ; 28, 

 Upper Gbronne (Toulouse) ; 29, Gers (Auch) ; 30, Gironde (Bordeaux) ; 

 31, Landes (Mont de JMarsan) ; 32, Herault (Montpellier) ; 33, Ille-Villaine 

 (Rennes) ; 34, Jndre (Chateauroux) ; 35, Indre-Loire (Tours) ; 36, Isere 

 (Grenoble) : 37, Jura (Lons le Saulnier) ; 38, Canal or Manche (Saint-L6) , 

 39, Loir-et-Cher (Blois) ; 40, Loire (Montbrison) ; 41, Lower Loire (Nantes) ; 

 42, Upper Loire (Le-Puy) ; 43, Loiret (Orleans) ; 44, Lot (Cahors) ; 45, 

 Lot-Garonne (Agen) ; 46, Lozere (Mende) ; 47, Maine-Loire (Angers) ; 48, 

 Marne (Chalons-sur-Marne) ; 49, Upper Marne (Chaumont) ; 50, Mayenne 



5.5 



