The king enjoys a far smaller share of personal popularity than Queen Amelia. Nor has it been on the increase of late years. Chosen by the three powers of England, France, and Russia, formerly in alliance to form a protectorate of Greece, he was elevated to the throne while a mere youth, after the assassination of the "Governor," Count Capo d'Istrias. The crown had previously been offered to the young Leopold, now King of Belgium; who was unwilling to accept it, unless certain of the hearty good-will of the people. Well would it have been for Greece had she been so fortunate as to receive such a ruler! Otho was the son of Louis, late King of Bavaria, and a younger brother of the present occupant of the throne. He was, consequently, educated a strict Roman Catholic, and entirely under the influence of the priesthood. From the date of his arrival in Greece until the first of June, 1835, his twentieth birth-day, the government was administered by a German Regency, whose conduct has been regarded in a very different light by those who have viewed it from opposite sides. The first eight years of King Otho's reign were a continuation of the same line of policy with that previously pursued. Within eighteen months after his accession, he gained the hand of the princess Amelia, of Oldenburg, who was some four years younger than himself, and a Protestant in point of religion. The Regency had filled most of the posts of honor and emolument with their own countrymen. Under the young monarch there was a German ministry: German generals commanded troops, many of whom were themselves Germans: and not a few professors in the university were of foreign birth.

The fact that both king and queen were strangers, as well in faith as in nationality, to the great mass of their subjects, was never palatable to the Greeks, who regard their religion as a precious heir-loom, and as the bond of union in the Hellenic state. But it was quite insupportable to the poor but proud revolutionary soldiers and klefts, to see a horde of foreigners reaping the rewards of their toils, and occupying the situations to which they considered themselves entitled. A constitution, too, had been promised from time to time; but it was a mere promise. The monarchy was in fact autocratic: the king's edict having the full force of law.

At length the people grew tired of waiting for the change that was to put an end to the disorders complained of. On one of the first days of September, 1843, a crowd gathered in front of the palace, gradually increasing by fresh arrivals from town and country, till the spacious square was one dense mass of human beings, all loudly demanding a constitution. It was now no time for delay, and promises could no longer avail. The troops themselves had caught the general enthusiasm, and siding with the citizens, were loudest in their vociferations. Cannon were even pointed at the palace, and Callerges, who sat on one of them, threatened to fire, if, at the expiration of a few hours, the king still refused to satisfy the popular desire. Otho was disposed to be obstinate. Nothing was farther from his wishes, than to be trammeled by a constitution, and to share his legislative functions with the representatives of the nation. His wife, though no less attached than himself to unlimited power, grasped the full consequences of resistance; and is said to have begged him with tears to bend, rather than break, before the approaching storm. Perceiving that the people were in no mood to be trifled with, Otho reluctantly yielded. The 3d of September (old style) is annually kept as a festival to commemorate the auspicious A representation of the people was at once called to draft a proper constitution; which, on the 18th of the next March, was solemnly sworn to by the king, in the presence of all the officers of the government.

event.

In accordance with this instrument,* the legislative powers are vested in a Congress composed of two bodies, the Senate (gerousia), and the House of Representatives (boule). The former, which is intended to be the conservative branch, should be composed of not less then twenty-seven members, nor of more than one half the number of representatives in the other House, save with its own consent. The senators are chosen for life by the king; but the classes of individuals

* A Greek work entitled "Hippodamus; Principles of Constitutional Law, or the Greek Constitution Annotated, by N. Pappadoukas," contains a lucid and able commentary. The true author is reported to be the well-known Demetrius Kyriakou, some time Minister of Justice, one of the best lawyers of Athens.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS.

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from which they may be selected, are carefully enumerated. They are chiefly those who commanded the armies in the great revolutionary struggle, or have occupied high stations of honor and trust in the civil, judicial, and military departments for a specified period, varying from four to ten years.* The senator must be at least forty years of age. The other House is composed of the representatives of the people, one being elected for about ten thousand inhabitants. Their number can not be less than eighty. No male citizen above twentyfive years, with the exception of the clergy, is debarred from the right of voting; but none are eligible to office until they are thirty years old. The members of both houses are remunerated for their services, the senators receiving $83, and the representatives $43 per month, during the session. The intrusion of foreigners into office is effectually precluded by the provisions of the constitution, which expressly declare that no foreign army shall be allowed to pass through, or be maintained in Greece, unless permission be specially granted by law. To obviate future inconvenience from the anomaly of a king professing a religion different from that of the great mass of the inhabitants, the successor to the throne must embrace the Greek religion. The crowns of Greece and Bavaria, it is farther stipulated, shall never be united on the same head. The king's annual stipend is fixed by law at one million drachms ($166,000).

Such are some of the most important provisions of the Constitution, inaugurating a government theoretically perhaps the most liberal in Europe. All citizens are equal in the eye of the law; for the creation of titles of nobility is expressly forbidden, and there is no room for an hereditary aristocracy. And though the prevailing or established religion is declared to be the "Orthodox Oriental Church of Christ," yet one of the chief excellences of the Constitution is its liberality toward other creeds. "Every known religion is tolerated, and its worship conducted without hindrance under the protection of the law, proselytism and every other encroachment upon the dominant religion being forbidden." "Every one may publish his opinions orally, in writing, and by the press, ob

*See Article 72 of the Constitution.

serving the laws of the State."* How these principles have been violated in Dr. King's condemnation I shall elsewhere narrate. Meanwhile, the checks upon the power of the crown are apparently as great as are compatible with the existence of the regal system. The budget is, of course, submitted by the ministry to the chambers. As the latter alone have the right to provide the revenue necessary for carrying on the government, by authorizing the levy of taxes and the collection of duties, the entire control of the Executive is apparently intrusted to their hands. The ministers are made personally responsible for their actions; and all members of the royal family are excluded from the cabinet, in order that they may not be liable to impeachment.

.

In practice, however, the throne may be said, under the present administration, to be almost unrestrained by the popular element in the accomplishment of the measures it has determined upon. It is notorious that the government of Otho is generally unpopular throughout the land, and yet it constantly succeeds in securing a majority in the chambers sufficient to attain its ends. The representatives are, it is true, chosen by the people at large, but the government is rarely at a loss for means to obtain a favorable result. Under the pretext of allowing the greatest freedom for voters, the election is made by ballot; but during the eight days of the election the ballot-boxes are left in the keeping of an electioncommittee. In some cases the boxes are known to have contained a number of votes larger than the entire number of registered voters in the district. During the election, as well as before, the greatest exertions are made by all the government officers, in conjunction with the friends of the candidates, to influence the people to vote for those who are known to be most favorable to the measures of the king. But even in the House of Representatives there can not exist for any great length of time a numerous and determined opposition. Every method-bribes, offers of promotion, and of the patronage of friends, are employed, and most of those elected are soon induced to yield support to the government.

*Articles 1 and 10.

† Act to regulate the Election of Representatives, tit. 3, arts. 18, 22.

A POLITICAL MEASURE.

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An instance of the determination of the ministry to carry its plans at any cost was seen in the passage of a certain law in the summer of 1851. Its object was the creation of a large number of ephori, or officers for the collection of the revenue. Its introduction was the signal for opposition from those who were not attached to the courtly party, and saw no necessity for so considerable an increase of the places in the gift of the throne. It passed the Lower House, however; but on being brought up in the Senate, although the king had, in anticipation, created three or four new members, that body refused to concur in the proposed act. Thereupon the king prorogued both Houses for the space of some forty days. In the mean while ten or more additional senators were appointed, for the most part from the officers of the king's own household, or from the ministry, and all of them persons devoted to himself. The party thus reinforced was now enabled to reconsider the bill in the Senate, and it was passed in accordance with the desires of the ministry. In this manner, and by means of the most flagrant corruption, the throne is usually able to control with ease the deliberations of the legislative bodies. And this is much facilitated by the Constitution, which, although it declares that representatives cease to be such the moment they accept any post under the government, yet permits executive officers to be elected representatives.* Thus it happens that many military officers are at the same time members of one of the legislative bodies, where, as they retain their commissions merely during the sovereign's pleasure, they constitute the warmest adherents of the crown. A remarkable clause is, however, inserted in the Constitution, providing that in such a case the individual is not entitled to the emoluments of both offices, but only to those of the more lucrative of the two.†

*

In respect to foreign relations, the politicians of Greece may be divided into three parties-the Russian or Napist, the English, and the French: a result which the acute mind of Coray long since foresaw and deplored. For it was not, he argued, until Greece was divided into the Macedonian and antiMacedonian parties that Philip found an entering wedge for * Article 64. + Article 68.