724 SAX 
the carriage of goods on waggons, and the roads are often 
indifferent. The exports from Saxony consist, in regard to 
raw produce, in wool and minerals; as to manufactures, in 
linen, yarn, woollens, and lace. The imports are silk, flax, 
cotton, coffee, sugar, wine, and, in certain seasons, corn. 
The most trading place is Leipsic, which is remarkable both 
for its half yearly fairs, and for being the centre of the book 
trade of Germany. 
Religion and Education. —Saxony, the birth-place of the 
reformation, reckons among its inhabitants a great majority 
of Lutherans, but the reigning family have been Catholics 
since 1697, when Augustus abjured the reformed creed, to 
obtain the crown of Poland. That change was productive 
of extended toleration to the Catholics in Saxony, who, till 
then, had not been allowed to perform their worship openly. 
The institutions for education in this country are numerous 
and well conducted, it being a common remark, that, in no 
country, except Scotland and the Pays de Vaud, are the 
lower classes so generally taught to read and write. Certain 
it is, that in no country of equal extent is the number of 
printing and book establishments so great. Of the univer¬ 
sities, Halle now belongs to Prussia, but Leipsic remains to 
Saxony, and maintains all its former reputation. 
The Saxons having cultivated literature and the elegant 
arts more generally than the majority of their German coun¬ 
trymen, have been, by some writers, compared to the French 
—a comparison not devoid of foundation, as far as regards 
attention to the fair sex, or a certain versatility of opinion 
and feeling. But the German character certainly predomi¬ 
nates among this people, as is evinced, among other things, 
by the minuteness with which they too often treat an insig¬ 
nificant subject; also in the more gratifying points of the 
general modesty of the women, and a no less general frank¬ 
ness in the male sex. 
Revenue and Military Force. —The revenue of Saxony 
passes in the first instance through the hands of the provin¬ 
cial states, who render government an account only of the 
surplus, after defraying all local expenses: it thus probably 
exceeds 1,000,000/. sterling, the sum at which it is com¬ 
puted, including the rent of the royal domains and the 
crown dues, which are paid into the treasury direct. Saxony 
has long been burdened with a national debt. In the latter 
part of the 18th century, the elector and the states exerted 
themselves to diminish it, and were proceeding successfully, 
when they unfortunately became involved in the war of the 
French revolution. The territorial acquisitions of 1807, 
accounted so advantageous at the time, proved the source of 
additional burdens. On making the cessions to Prussia, in 
1815, a proportional amount of debt was made over to that 
crown; but the public debt of Saxony amounts still to 
3,700,000/. The army, which in this country was never 
large in proportion to its population, is at present on a peace 
establishment of 12,000 men, the best disciplined part of 
whom are the cavalry and artillery. 
Constitution and Government. —After being, during 
many centuries, an electorate, Saxony was formed, in 1806, 
into a kingdom, in consequence of the occupancy of Prussia 
by Buonaparte, and of the aggrandisement of those states 
which it suited him to consider his allies. But this change 
of title was not accompanied by an extension of prerogative, 
the sovereign continuing to share the legislative functions 
with the states, and imposing no tax without their concur¬ 
rence. The states are divided into two houses, viz.: the 
prelates and nobles in one, and in the other the country 
gentry and deputies of the towns. The higher offices of ad¬ 
ministration are entrusted to a cabinet-council, a board of 
finance, a military board, a high court of appeal for judicial 
questions, and an upper consistory for ecclesiastical. Each 
circle has a court of justice, and offices for the transaction of 
provincial business: The inhabitants of Saxony are better 
prepared than in most parts of Germany for a representative 
assembly on the plan of uninfluenced election. The pea¬ 
santry, very different from their degraded brethren in Bohe- 
, mia or Prussian Poland, are here in the enjoyment of com¬ 
plete personal freedom. 
O N Y. 
The King of Saxony, as a member of the Germanic con¬ 
federation, has the fourth rank (see Germany) in the 
smaller, and four votes at the larger assembly. The court, 
formerly kept with a certain degree of magnificence, has 
adopted a style of great simplicity, since the distressing ces¬ 
sions of territory in 1815. 
History .—Referring to the preceding article for the origin 
of the Saxons, it remains to state that the first margrave of 
Meissen who bore the title of elector, began his reign in 
1422; he was surnamed Frederick the Warlike, and was 
the founder of the university of Leipsic. The next memor¬ 
able event in the history of Saxony was the reformation, in 
the beginning of the 16th century. Luther had the good 
fortune to be the subject of a prince who, without openly 
espousing his cause, protected him and his doctrines against 
persecution. His successor, John Frederick, styled, with the 
ordinary courtesy of Germans, the “ magnanimous,” having 
the misfortune to lose a decisive battle against an army of 
the Emperor Charles V., was stripped of his states and dig¬ 
nity, which the Emperor conferred on Maurice, margrave of 
Meissen, the cousin of the elector, and the ancestor of the 
present house of Saxony. Maurice putting himself at the 
head of the Protestant interest, proved a full match for the 
artful Charles, who, in 1552, had almost fallen into his 
hands, and was compelled to sign the convention of Passau, 
since considered the bulwark of the religious freedom of 
Germany. 
The Saxons took an active part in the war of religion, or, 
as it is called in Germany, the thirty years war, .terminated 
at last by the peace of Westphalia, in 1648. But, in 1697, 
the temptation of the crown of Poland, vacant by the death 
of Sobieski, induced the reigning elector, Augustus I., to 
profess himself a Catholic, a change which, in these days of 
religious fervour, was productive of great surprise. His 
policy did not, however, prosper. The Swedes, under 
Charles XII., not only conquered Poland, but invaded Sax¬ 
ony, bringing great distress in the country until 1708, when 
relief was obtained by the march of Charles into Russia, and 
its disastrous issue; after which the crown of Poland was 
resumed by Augustus. 
Saxony remained neutral in the war of 1740, between 
Prussia and Austria. In that of 1756 she was tempted to 
take a part by the flattering promises of Austria; but instead 
of an accession of territory, the Saxon court saw its dominions 
ravaged, and many of its subjects ruined in this dreadful 
contest. The peace of 1763 left the country loaded with an 
enormous debt, and impressed both the government and the 
people with the necessity of a total alteration of politics, 
renouncing objects of ambition, reducing the military estab¬ 
lishment, cultivating a good understanding with Prussia, and 
endeavouring to lessen the pressure of the public debt. In 
the war of 1793, the contingent furnished by Saxony against 
France was not large, and no decided part was taken in the 
war, until 1806, when the elector sent all his troops to the 
field, in support of the King of Prussia. The overthrow of 
that power enabled Buonaparte to attach the Saxons to his 
cause by the most substantial advantages. The title of Elector 
was changed to that of King. Prussian Poland was added to 
the Saxon dominions, and in 1809 was nearly doubled by 
cessions obtained from Austria. But these acquisitions, dis- 
proportioned to the inherent strength of Saxony, led, as 
formerly, to disastrous results. The Russians re-occupied 
Poland in the beginning of 1813, and, joined by the Prus¬ 
sians, made Saxony the scene of the great continental 
struggle against Buonaparte. In that year took place the 
battles of Lutzen and Bautzen, the attacks on Dresden, and 
the decisive engagements at Leipsic, fallowed by the retreat 
of Buonaparte to the Rhine, and by divesting his too faithful 
ally, the King of Saxony, of the government of his territories. 
Many of his subjects, however, flattered themselves that their 
attachment to the cause of Germany, evinced by the defec¬ 
tion of their troops from the French army on the 18th 
October, would secure the integrity of their territory. The 
interval between the battle of Leipsic and the decision of the 
Congress 
