Taken as a whole

Hanover is very thinly peopled and in proportion to its extent of surface has much fewer towns of importance than any other country in Germany. The inhabitants are generally of Saxon origin except in the W., where Ltd have a common origin with the Dute, and are of Frisian extraction. They are simple, temperate, industrious, and patient; submitting almost without a murmur to live on the humblest fare and give themselves little concern with political arrangements. The educated cla es, of course, speak the ordinary written language, but the lower orders generally speak Low German. The great Majority of them are Protestants of the Luther an oI The Roman Catholics do not exceed one-seye@nth of the whole, and are almost en- Hanoves. ————— tirely confined to the districts of Hildesheim and Osnabruck. The government, previous to its annexation to Pru ia in 1866, was a hereditary monarchy in which the Salic law was in force. The greater part of the population seemed readily to ee in the new order of things and most of the officials pa ed over into the service of the Pru ian rulers, but the nobility, Luther an clergy, ete. were le easily reconciled, or remained irreconcilable, and the present Duke of Cumber land still claims to be the rightful king.