ont of them.

"Young gentlemen, where are we?" he asked.

"In Germany."

"Very true, but rather indefinite," added the professor.

"In Baden," said Paul Kendall, who, as usual, had taken pains to study
up the situation.

"In the Grand Duchy of Baden."

"What is a Grand Duchy?" inquired one of the students, who was
doubtless bothered, as others have been, by the varying titles of the
German states.

"It is a territory having an independent local government. There is no
reason why it should be called a Grand Duchy, unless it is because it
is larger than a simple Duchy, though this rule does not always hold
good, for the Duchy of Brunswick has double the territory and double
the population of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The titles
of the states seem to be entirely arbitrary, and, according to the
fancy of their rulers, they were called kingdoms, principalities,
electorates, palatinates, margraviates, Grand Duchies, or Duchies. The
Grand Duchy of Baden is larger than the Kingdom of Saxony. These
designations have been occasionally changed, as the states increased in
size, or as their rulers desired a grander title. In 1803 Baden was a
margraviate of one fourth its present extent. Napoleon gave the title
of Elector, and afterwards of Grand Duke, to the Margrave Charles
Frederick, as his territory was increased.

"Baden has about six thousand square miles, or is about equal in size
to Rhode Island and Connecticut united. It has a population of one
million three hundred thousand, which has hardly increased during the
last fifty years, for the reason that so many of its people have
emigrated to the United States. The country is mountainous, and
contains the Schwarzwald. What does that mean?"

"The Black Forest," replied several.

"A mountainous region, which has been the paradise of story-tellers.
The highest peak is the Feldberg, forty-six hundred and fifty feet
high. Its principal river is the Rhine, which forms its western and
southern boundary, and has many branches in this country. The Neckar is
the largest, crossing Baden in the north. The river which you observed
in this place is the Kinzig. The Danube, which the Germans call the
Donau, rises in Baden. In the south-east the country borders on Lake
Constance, or, in German, Boden See. The climate is salubrious, but it
is cold in the mountains, where they have snow during the greater part
of the year.

"Baden is divided into four circles, or pro