and having at their
head a president and vice-president, who are the first magistrates of
the republic. There is also a federal tribunal, having similar functions
to those of the supreme court of the United States of America,
consisting of nine members elected for six years by the federal
assembly.

The Empire of Germany is a federal union, differing from the United
States and Switzerland in having an hereditary emperor as its head. It
comprises twenty-six States, who have "formed an eternal union for the
protection of the realm, and the care of the welfare of the German
people."[63] The King of Prussia, under the title of German Emperor,
represents the empire in all its relations to foreign nations, and has
the power of making peace and war, but if the war be more than a
defensive war he must have the assent of the Upper House. The
legislative body of the empire consists of two Houses--the Upper, called
the Bundesrath, representing the several component States in different
proportions according to their relative importance; the lower, the
Reichstag, elected by the voters in 397 electoral districts, which are
distributed amongst the constituent States in unequal numbers, regard
being had to the population and circumstances of each State.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire is a federal union, differing alike in its
origin and construction from the federal unions above mentioned. In the
beginning Austria and Hungary were independent countries--Austria a
despotism, Hungary a constitutional monarchy, with ancient laws and
customs dating back to the foundation of the kingdom in 895. In the
sixteenth century the supreme power in both countries--that is to say,
the despotic monarchy in Austria and the constitutional monarchy in
Hungary--became vested in the same person; as might have been
anticipated, the union was not a happy one. If we dip into Heeren's
_Political System of Europe_ at intervals selected almost at random, the
following notices will be found in relation to Austria and
Hungary:--Between 1671 and 1700 "political unity in the Austrian
monarchy was to have been enforced especially in the principal country
(Hungary), for this was regarded as the sole method of establishing
power; the consequence was an almost perpetual revolutionary state of
affairs."[64] Again, in the next chapter, commenting on the period
between 1740 and 1786: "Hungary, in fact the chief, was treated like a
conquered province; subjected to the most