is, to be sure, unlikely that the primary instinct of song, the tendency to celebrate heroes, and events in immediate verse, and the habit of epic tradition, main constituents of balladry, should cease as we cross the marches of the Transition period and pass from the modern speech and modern metres, in which our ballads are composed, into that more reflected language, that wholly different form of thythm, which prevailed in Old English and, with some modifications, in all Germanis verse. To claim for this older period, however, ballads of the kind common since the fifteenth century in England, Scandinavia and Germany, is an assertion impossible to prove. The Old English folk must have had popular ballads of some sort; but it cannot be said what they were. Singing, to be sure, implies a poem in stanzas; and that is precisely what one cannot find in recorded Old English verse-the one exception, Deor's song, being very remote from balladry. It is true that the subject of a popular ballad can often be traced far back; Scandinavian ballads still sing the epic heroes of 'Old Norse.' Community of theme, however, does not imply a common poetical form; and it is the structure, the style, the metrical arrangement, the general spirit of English and Scottish ballads, which must set them apart in our literature and give them their title as an independent species. . . . In the absence of texts, conjecture is useless. The earliest recorded piece of English verse which agrees with balladry in all these important characteristics is the famous song of Canute, preserved in the chronicles of Ely. . . . This desire of the warrior to sing the battles he has fought did not pass away with the lost songs. A passage in Bishop Leslie's History of Scotland, used in part by Andrew Lang for the solution of the problem of ballad origins, declares that 'our bordir men,' as Dalrymple translates, delight in their own music and in the songs that they themselves make about their deeds and about the deeds of their forbears. . . . Gaston Paris, on good evidence, has made a similar assertion about the early Germanic and English warriors, who, before the days when the minstrel existed in a professional class, sang their own deeds and furnished the prime material of later epics. Even in Beowulf (q. v.) a warrior is described improvising a song on the defeat of Grendel. There is, thus, a presumption that border ballads, like Cheviot and Otterburn, owed their earliest form to the improvisation of fighting men who could sing their own deeds; and thus, too, one draws a faint line, mainly touching theme and conditions of origin, from the 'old song of Percy and the Douglas' back to those last lays that inspired the poet of Beowulf. But this is all. Of the actual structure and form of those old lays nothing is known. . . . All that can be said of material gathered from older chronicles, or suspected in older poems, is that it lends itself to conjecture, not to proof. The one exception is this song of Canute, which may pass as a genuine ballad fragment. "Short work can be made of other assumptions. In the fourteenth century, 'rimes of Robin Hood and Randolph, earl of Chester,' are mentioned in Piers the Plowman as known to the common men of that day. Robin Hood ballads are preserved; the Randolph cycle is lost. But the outlaw literature must have been popular long before that. .... Ballads of the outlaw, indeed, would be of a popular and traditional type, as the Robin Hood cycle shows; but political songs, which also had their vogue, were doubtless made by the minstrel, who, also, retouched and sang again the rude BALLAD verses which warrior or outlaw had improvised, taking them out of their choral conditions, smoothing, adding, connecting, and making them fit for chant and recitation de longue haleine, precisely as the jongleurs of early France, according to Gaston Paris, remade the improvisations of an age that knew no minstrel class at all into the chansons de geste and into the epic itself [See MUSIC: Medieval: 11th-13th centuries]. Such remade poems could again be broken into ballads, popular enough, sung and transmitted by very humble folk... .. Minstrels, moreover, as actual authors of the ballads recorded at a later day, are utterly out of the question. Barring a few wretched specimens labelled by Child with the minstrel's name, and inserted in the collection because they still may retain some traditional note, that 'rogue by act of parliament' to whom Percy ascribed the making of practically all English and Scottish ballads is responsible for none of them. It has been pointed out by Kittredge as 'capable of practically formal proof that for the last two or three centuries the English and Scottish ballads have not, as a general thing, been sung or transmitted by professional minstrels or their representatives. There is no reason whatever for believing that the state of things between 1300 and 1600 was different, in this regard, from that between 1600 and 1900.' Still stronger proof lies in the fact that we have the poetry which the minstrels did make; and it is far removed from balladry. The two categories are distinct.' When, finally, one studies the structure and the elements of the ballad itself as a poetic form, a form demonstrably connected with choral dramatic conditions in its origin but modified by a long epic process in the course of oral and quite popular tradition, one is compelled to dismiss absolutely the theory of minstrel authorship, and to regard ballads as both made and transmitted by the people. . . . Tradition is something more than a confusion of texts; a choral throng, with improvising singers, is not the chance refuge, but, rather, the certain origin, of the ballad as a poetic form; and, while one is not to regard the corpus of English and Scottish ballads as directly due to such singing and improvisation, it is thither that one turns for origins, and it is to tradition that one turns for the growth and spread of the versions themselves. Once choral, dramatic, with insistent refrain and constant improvisation, the ballad came to be a convenient form for narrative of every sort which drifted into the ways of tradition. This traditional process has been mainly epic, although oral tradition alone would not and does not force the ballad out of its choral structure, its dramatic and lyric purpose. What slowly reduces the importance and, therefore, the function of these old elements is the tendency of ballads towards the chronicle, the story, the romance. Literary influences worked upon it for these ends. "A close study of the material demands that we distinguish two general classes. One, demonstrably the older in structure, tends in form to the couplet with alternating refrain or burden, and in matter to the rendering of a single situation. As, however, epic purposes prevailed, this typically oldest ballad was lengthened in plot, scope, details, and was shorn entirely of its refrain. Hence a second class, the long ballad, recited or chanted to a monotonous tune by a singer who now feels it to be his property, a kind of enclosed common. Instead of the short singing piece, steeped in repetition, almost borne down by its refrain, plunging abruptly into a situation, describing no characters and often not naming them, telling no long story and giving no details, here is a deliberate narrative, long and easy of pace, free of repetitions, bare of refrain, abounding in details and covering considerable stretches of time. By a happy chance, indeed, this epic process can be followed into its final stage. We have a number of ballads which tell different adventures in the life of Robin Hood; and we have an actual epic poem, formed upon these ballads or their very close counterparts, which embodies the adventures in a coherent whole. Between the style of the Gest of Robyn Hode, however, and the style of the best Robin Hood ballads, there is almost no difference at all; and these, for all their age of record, may well represent the end of the epic process in balladry. Apart, now, from chronology of the record, this material may be grouped according to its subjects, its age in tradition and its foreign or local origins. Oldest in every way, and quite independent of place, are the riddle-ballads which open Child's first volume. They are far simpler than the Old English riddles and are closely related to those ballads of question and answer made in many countries at the communal dance, and used to determine the choice of a partner or the winning of a garland. . . "The epic tendency, always working out of situation into narrative, now takes us to a very large group of ballads, which seldom content themselves with the dramatic crisis, but deal in a more intricate plot, furnish the details and even add a store of romantic incidents. This ballad of domestic complications, the tragedy of kin, looms large in all European tradition; borrowing, however, or a common source, is not always to be assumed even where the story is the same, since certain primary instincts must bring about like results wherever men are set in families or clans and human passions prevail. Still, there is, in many cases, abundant reason for identification, and, even, for alliance with more distant branches of balladry and tales. . . . Complications of kin make up ballads of domestic tragedy, a most important group; and even the inroads of a doggerel poet upon the old material, even the cheap literature' of the stalls, cannot hide that ancient dignity. . . . Finally, there is the true-love. . . . Ballads of the funeral, echoes of the old coronach, vocero, whatever the form of communal grief, are scantily preserved in English. . . . Superstitution, the other world, ghost-lore, find limited scope in English balladry. . . . Epic material of every sort was run into the ballad mould. . . . Refusing classification, there stand out those two great ballads, probably on the same fight, Cheviot and Otterburn. The version of the former known as Chevy Chace, 'written over for the broadside press,' as Child remarks, was the object of Addison's well-known praise; what Sidney heard as 'trumpetsound' is not certain, but one would prefer to think it was the old Cheviot. One would like, too, the liberty of bringing Shakespeare into the audience, and of regarding that ancient ballad as contributing to his conception of Hotspur. . . . Last of all, the greenwood; . . . with these ballads of Robin Hood, balladry itself crossed the marches of the epic, and found itself far from the old choral, dramatic improvisations, though still fairly close to the spirit and motive of traditional verse."-F. B. Gummere, Ballads (Cambridge history of English literature, v. 2, PP. 450-456, 464-473). Ballad and history. The ballad, aside from its literary interest, is a primary source for history. "History had its origin in poetry,' says the old Danish author, and this is undoubtedly true BALLAD as to much of the early history of our own country [England]. . . . In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, two complete historical ballads, and fragments of eight or ten others, are inserted as integral parts of the Chronicle. While some of our earliest writers mix together truth and fiction, without attempting to distinguish between them, others, like William of Malmesbury, divide records for which there was some shew of authority from those which were only derived from ballads sung about the country. In this way we learn the subjects of many of the legends and historical songs which delighted our ancestors for successive centuries. . . A volume might be filled with the stories which these early chroniclers derived from ballads, and, among them, not a few that have descended to the present day."-W. Chappell, Old English ditties, Introduction pp. iii-iv.-"At a very early period in the progress of a people, and long before they are acquainted with the use of letters, they feel the want of some resource, which in peace may amuse their leisure, and in war may stimulate their courage. This is supplied to them by the invention of ballads; which form the groundwork of all historical knowledge, and which, in one shape or another, are found among some of the rudest tribes of the earth. They are, for the most part, sung by a class of men, whose particular business it is thus to preserve the stock of traditions. Indeed, so natural is this curiosity as to past events, that there are few nations to whom these bards or minstrels are unknown. Thus, to select a few instances, it is they who have preserved the popular traditions, not only of Europe, but also of China, Tibet, and Tartary; likewise of India, of Scinde, of Belochistan, of Western Asia, of the islands of the Black Sea, of Egypt, of Western Africa, of North America, of South America, and of the islands in the Pacific. In all these countries, letters were long unknown, and, as a people in that state have no means of perpetuating their history except by oral tradition, they select the form best calculated to assist their memory; and it will, I believe, be found that the first rudiments of knowledge consist always of poetry, and often of rhyme. The jingle pleases the ear of the barbarian, and affords a security that he will hand it down to his children in the unimpaired state in which he received it. This guarantee against error increases still further the value of these ballads; and instead of being considered as a mere amusement, they rise to the dignity of judicial authorities. . . . We therefore find, that the professed reciters and composers of these songs are the recognized judges in all disputed matters; and as they are often priests, and believed to be inspired, it is probably in this way that the notion of the divine origin of poetry first arose. These ballads will, of course, vary according to the customs and temperaments of the different nations, and according to the climate to which they are accustomed. In the south they assume a passionate and voluptuous form; in the north they are rather remarkable for their tragic and warlike character. But, notwithstanding these diversities, all such productions have one feature in common. They are not only founded on truth, but making allowance for the colorings of poetry, they are all strictly true. Men who are constantly repeating songs which they constantly hear, and who appeal to the authorized singers of them as final umpires in disputed questions, are not likely to be mistaken on matters, in the accuracy of which they have so lively an interest."-H. T. Buckle, History of civilization in England, v. 1, pp. 211-214. See also ENGLISH LITERATURE; GERMAN LITERA BALLARAT, second city of the state of Victoria, Australia; seat of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishoprics. After the discovery of gold in 1851, became chief gold-mining center of the state. Chartered 1855, raised to the rank of city 1870. BALLARD, Samuel Thurston (1855- ), American flour mill owner; appointed member of the National Industrial Commission in 1913. See INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION. BALLET, Origin of French opera. See MUSIC: Modern: 1645-1764. BALLIN, Albert (1875-1918), director-general of the Hamburg-American line from 1866. German promoter of steamship navigation and maritime passenger traffic. Enjoyed the confidence of the Kaiser, but in 1917 lost favor because of alleged criticism of the government's policy in the war. At the same time he was accused of having advised Germany's ruthless submarine warfare. BALLINGER, Richard Achilles (1858- ), secretary of the interior, United States, 1909-1911. See CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: United States: 1910-1912; U. S. A.: 1909 (March): Inauguration of President Taft. Action against water power monopoly. See TRUSTS: 1909: Threatened combination to control water power of the country. over Ballinger VS. Pinchot.-Controversy Alaskan coal lands. See ALASKA: 1904-1911. BALLIOL, Edward (d. 1363), head of English Barons' invasion of Scotland. See SCOTLAND: 1332-1333. BALLIOL, or Baliol, John de (1249-1315), King of Scotland. See ScOTLAND: 1290-1305. BALLOONS. See AVIATION: Development of balloons and dirigibles. BALLOT. See AUSTRALIAN BALLOT; SUFFRAGE, MANHOOD; PRIMARIES: United States: Arrangement of names on primary ballots; SHORT BALLOT; BULGARIA: 1908-1914. Corruption of. See CORRUPT AND ILLEGAL PRAC BALTIC LANGUAGES sions abroad, he was minister of foreign affairs and of the interior and introduced liberalizing bills, such as one for civil marriage, etc. He was senator in 1885 and was elected president of Chile in 1886; at once instituted numerous reforms. Dissensions in his own party culminated in a civil war (1891), which ended in his overthrow and suicide, Sept. 18, 1891. See CHILE: 1885-1891; and VALPARAISO: 1536-1906. BALMACEDISTS. See CHILE: 1891-1892. BALMORAL CASTLE (Gælic, "the majestic dwelling"), a private residence of the British sovereign in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated on the right bank of the Dee about forty-five miles west of Aberdeen. The property was purchased in 1852 and presented to Queen Victoria. The castle was erected 1853-1855 in Scottish baronial style. BALOCH TRIBE. See BALUCHISTAN. BALTA, Don José (1816-1872), Peruvian colonel and statesman; elected president of Peru in 1868; murdered in a military mutiny at Lima 1872. See PERU: 1826-1876. BALTA-LIMAN, Convention of (1849). See RUMANIA: 1828-1858. BALTHI, or Balthings. "The rulers of the Visigoths, though they, like the Amal kings of the Ostrogoths, had a great house, the Balthi, sprung from the seed of gods, did not at this time [when driven across the Danube by the Huns] bear the title of King, but contented themselves with some humbler designation, which the Latin historians translated into Judex (Judge)."-T. Hodgkin, Italy and her invaders, int., ch. 3.-See also BAUX, LORDS OF. BALTIC AND NORTH SEA CANALS. See GERMANY: 1895 (June); and 1900 (June); and CANALS: European canals: Germany. BALTIC AND WHITE SEA CONFERENCE. "The Baltic and White Sea Conference, which was created in 1905, is an International Association . . . with a central bureau and a regular organ of government, and an annual conference. It consists of the ship owners of eleven different countries interested in shipping in the North of Europe. It controls [written in 1916] 905 ships of 1,764.603 tons out of 1,816 ships of 2,988,635 tons interested in the trade, and only the smaller ship owners have remained outside. It originated from the realization of owners that competition had cut freights for wood from the Baltic to next to nothing. The object of the Association was to regulate competition and to fix a minimum freight tariff. It must be admitted that a rather similar attempt to regulate international competition during a period of contracting trade had failed. But the Baltic Conference was established during a time of expanding trade, and up to the [World] war had undoubtedly succeeded in its objects. The members meet in annual conference, and by a majority vote fix a minimum rate binding upon the members. The formation of the Conference was certainly followed by a rise in freights. The Baltic Conference succeeded through a regular organ of government in limiting international competition between capitalist groups and in fixing an international minimum rate. In other words, the ship owners discovered that their group interests were international rather than national, and could best be served by international regulation and government instead of by competition."L. S. Woolf, International government, p. 328. BALTIC FLEET, Russian: Voyage and destruction. See JAPAN: 1902-1905. BALTIC LANGUAGES: History and distribution. See PHILOLOGY: 21. BALTIC MYTHS BALTIC MYTHS. See MYTHOLOGY: Slav mythology: Baltic myths. BALTIC PROVINCES.-Geography.-Area and population.-"The Baltic Provinces consist of Esthonia, Livonia, and Courland. Esthonia faces the Gulf of Finland; Livonia and Courland face the Baltic and are deeply indented by the large Gulf of Riga, which is half closed by the islands of Dagö and Ösel. . . . The glaciers of Scandinavia and Finland have left their mark on these provinces. They are dotted with numerous lakes and even more numerous swamps. They are strewn with erratic boulders and glacial ridges of earth or sand (åsar). They are covered with great coniferous forests; even today, in spite of the areas cleared, forests occupy nearly a third of the total area of the Baltic Provinces, or one-quarter of Esthonia, two-fifths of Livonia, and one-fifth of Courland. These 100,000 square kilometers of inhospitable northern lands contained a population of barely 3,000,000 in 1913, or about 30 to the square kilometer."-Geographical Review, December, 1918. "The prevailing population of the Baltic Provinces is Esthonian, Couronian and Lettish. Numerically they outnumber the Germans in the country, but the Germans are the ennobled class, and in the cities the tradesmen and artisans are German."-Bellman, Mar. 30, 1918.-This status of the German population in the cities which had gained a firm foothold on the Baltic through the traders of Lübeck, the first German settlers in the Baltic provinces, who preceded the German missionaries, has existed since the time of the Hanseatic league. The approximate percentage figures of the population in the three provinces are in Courland, 8.25 per cent Germans, 79 per cent Letts; in Livonia 54 per cent Germans, 39.3 per cent Letts, 39.9 per cent Esths; and in Esthonia, 3.8 per cent Germans and 88.6 per cent Esths. Resources.-Cities.-The chief industries in the Baltic provinces are agriculture and dairy farming. The soil is favorable for the production of rye, oats, flax, and potatoes. Fruit and vegetables are also grown. Nearly half of the tilled lands in Courland and Livonia is devoted to the growing of rye which yields the largest crop. All three provinces have a thriving cattle raising industry. In other industries Livonia takes the lead. In its capital, Riga, the greater part of Russia's timber trade was concentrated. It was also the center of the flax trade, the large flax fields of the region being located about fifty miles north of Riga. The chief manufactures of the 393 factories in Livonia are textiles, metal and rubber goods. The principal manufacturing industries in the other two provinces are iron and machinery works, match factories, flour and saw mills in Courland and Esthonia; tanneries, glass and soap works in Courland, and cotton, woolen, paper mills, and distilleries in Esthonia. There is only one trunk line crossing each of these provinces through their principal cities. The chief routes are, in Livonia, from Riga through Dorpat to Petrograd, and in Courland, through Libau, Mitau, Shavli via Vilna, Minsk, and by a junction to Moscow and south Russia. "Libau, with nearly seventy thousand population, is the chief city of Courland; Riga, with a population of three hundred and seventy thousand, of Livonia; and Reval, with nearly a hundred thousand people, of Esthonia. The history of these cities, is essentially that of the territory surrounding them."-Bellman, Mar. 30, 1918. Original and existing races.-"Of the original inhabitants, the Cours, Livs, and Esths, all of UgroFinnic (Mongolian) stock, speaking languages akin BALTIC PROVINCES to modern Finnish, the Esths still inhabit Esthonia and the Northern part of Livonia; the Cours and Livs were displaced by the Letts, a tribe of Lithuanian (Indo-European, but not Slavonic) race, in the early Middle Ages, and have disappeared though the Liv language is said to linger, much corrupted by Lettic, in one or two villages in Livonia. The German Schwertbrüder (Brothers of the Sword), later absorbed in the Teutonic Order, conquered the Letts and Esths in the early thirteenth century, took their land, and converted them to Christianity. [See LIVONIA; and PRUSSIA: 13th century.] From these Teutonic knights are descended the present German element in the three provinces. The word 'Balt,' which might be expected to apply to all the races in the provinces, is commonly confined to the German element. . . . The present racial distribution is, (1) Balt in all three provinces: (2) Letts in Courland and South Livonia: (3) Esths in North Livonia and Esthonia. The Russian element before the War consisted almost entirely of officials. The Jews in the three provinces speak German, not Yiddish (as the Russian and Polish Jews do), and are in general supporters of the Balts."-R. Butler, New Eastern Europe, p. 21.-See also EUROPE: Ethnology: Migrations: Map showing barbaric migrations; TURANIAN RACES AND LANGUAGES. 9th century. Conquered by the Varangians.Russian beginnings. See RUSSIA: 9th to 12th centuries. 11th-16th centuries.-Overlordship of Russian princes. See RUSSIA: 1054-1237. 13th-16th centuries.-Under the Teutonic Knights. Until 1560 the three provinces, Esthonia, Livonia, and Courland together with Latgale (Latvingalas), constituted one state, formed by the Teutonic order, after the Livonian order, or Brothers of the Sword, had conquered the region early in the thirteenth century.-See also PRUSSIA: 13th century. 14th century.-Connections with Russia broken by Tartar invasions. See RUSSIA: 13501480. 1561.-Esthonia acquired by Sweden. See SWEDEN: 1523-1604. 1613-1721.-Wars between Russia and Sweden. -Esthonia captured by Russia (1710).-Livonia (1721). See SWEDEN: 1611-1629; 1697-1700; 17011707; 1719-1729. 1768.-Extent of territory. See EUROPE: Map of Eastern Europe, 1768. 1796.-Courland taken by Russia in the third partition of Poland.-Courland at first remained an independent duchy under the suzerainty of Poland; passed under Russian rule in 1796.-See also POLAND: 1793-1796; Russia; 18th century. 1861-1917.-Agrarian situation.-Serfdom.Peasants' status.-"The Germans, become masters in the thirteenth century in Esthonia, Livonia, and Courland, have remained imperious and absolute masters. For seven hundred years they have dominated and exploited the native population without ever merging with them. During the period of Swedish domination some humane and just measures were put into force which rendered servitude less hard. But the Russian conquest gave back to the German-Baltic barons the full and complete exercise of their ancient feudal rights. The abolition of serfdom (in 1861) was for the unfortunate Baltic populations only an illusory reform, inasmuch as the power and the lands remained in the hands of the landed proprietors and the local laws and taxes were not changed. In the country districts the hardest kind of serfdom has for seven centuries weighed heavily on the expropriated and exploited natives. In Livonia 67 per cent of the lands belonged to the nobles and 15 per cent to the state. The estates of 823 landed proprietors had an average area of 3,800 hectares. Thus every Livonian landed proprietor in general owned a piece of territory which was as large as three rural communes in France. These domains were divided into large estates (Rittergüter) about which lived in misery the field workers and the peasants (Knechte), who could be, dismissed at the owner's will."-J. Brunhes and C. Vallaux, German colonization in Eastern Europe (Geographical Review, Dec., 1918.)."The Knechte were generally engaged, as throughout Eastern Europe, by a written contract covering a year from winter to winter. Many varieties of contract of course prevailed: they were long documents, drawn up with considerable detail. The following is a summary of a typical specimen, made on an Estate near Libau in the second year of the World War between a Balt Ritter and a Lett Knecht on what is known as a wage and allowance (Deputat) basis:-The labourer is to receive wages. . . [$30]: free lodging: free doctor and chemist: free stabling for a horse and cart: and allowances of 1800 lbs. rye, 1100 lbs. barley, 400 lbs. small rye [used as pig-food]; 80 lbs. oats and groats (peeled barley or oats), 120 lbs. beans: with free milling. The labourer is to have in manured and prepared land, 1⁄2 Lofstelle [rather over 1⁄2 acre] potato land; 4-% acre garden-land: tools and cartage for the labourer's land to be provided by the Estate. The labourer is allowed to keep [his own] sheep and cows to the number of 3 sheep and 2 cows: and receives as allowances of fodder for them, 2-3 cartloads of hay, for each beast: summer and winter straw: one large basket of chaff. The labourer also received 1⁄2 Faden [about 4 cubic feet] of wood: 2-3 Faden brushwood. In return the labourer has to give daily work from breakfast till dark for the whole year: and his wife for 70 days in the year. The cattle fodder allowance is treated as wage for the wife: for any days above 70 worked by her she is to receive . . . [26 cents] a day. In the work-day the following rests are allowed, 1 hour breakfast, 1 hour in the afternoon ['teatime'], 1 or in high summer 2 hours midday. The Wirte (land-owning peasants or small farmers) paid higher wages than the Ritter; instead of the... [$30] paid in the above case, a WirtsKnecht might get anything from [$40 to $60], and a woman labourer . . . [$20] to ... [$30]. On the other hand the Wirte did not give free drugs and doctoring; and they made deductions for absence owing to accidents or illness-a practice which was greatly disliked. It was common experience that the Ritter got their labourers more readily than the Wirte."-R. Butler, New Eastern Europe, pp. 40-41.-Up to 1917 the agrarian situation had changed very little. More than twothirds of the Lettish lands were still in the hands of the German nobility. In Livonia, only 38.25 per cent of the land was controlled by the Letts and Esthonians. In Courland, two-fifths was owned by twenty-five baron families. 1867-1918.-Russification.-German character BALTIC PROVINCES many years its use was confined to communications between the provincial authorities and the capital. In the 'seventies the Russian Government laid their hands on the Town Councils. The Russian Municipal Constitution . . . was introduced throughout the Provinces; and in the freely elected Municipal Assemblies the proud and wealthy Balt Stadtväter [city fathers] found themselves forced for the first time to admit the despised Letts to their councils. In the large towns they have been able, though not without difficulty, to maintain their ascendancy. . . . In the smaller towns they have for the most part been swamped, or, as the expression runs in Balticum, verlettet [Letticized]. The judicial functions of the towns were abolished. It was intended to abolish the more or less obsolete Baltic Law, and the Russian Criminal Code was introduced in the 'eighties; but it was found impossible to replace the Baltic Civil Law without an interim period, owing to the complexities of Baltic shipping transactions. The Russian Government accordingly. . . withdrew all facilities for its study at the University of Dorpat [Yuryev or Yuriev], and it was hoped that in time the supply of lawyers acquainted with its intricacies would die out! At the end of the 'eighties the whole hierarchy of the Russian bureaucracy was introduced in town and country alike. It was the first crushing blow to the Balt domination. . . . Half a century ago, before the Russification began, the Baltic Provinces represented an enclave of Germanism within the borders of the Russian Empire. All told the German element (Balts) constituted less than one-fifteenth of the entire population: but they held under the Russian Governor-General almost the whole of the administration of the country in their hands. . . . The diets representing exclusively the Ritterschaften, or Corporations of German Barons, whose ancestors took the land in the thirteenth century, ruled the land, and the Town Councils, representing equally exclusively the German element, ruled the towns. . . . Each appointed a catena of officials, Its I judges who administered German mediæval law, teachers in the schools, and pastors in the Lutheran Church. . . . The Diets survived until the World War, and finally expired painlessly at the hands of the German invader."-R. Butler, New Eastern Europe, pp. 22-32.-The Russification of the provinces went on very slowly. "The towns are still German in appearance, and it may be said in atmosphere. The Russian language has never got a foothold in the everyday life of the Provinces, and German is the lingua franca from Riga to Reval.”—Ibid., p. 41.-"In 1893 Libau, the second largest city in the Baltic provinces, had all the appearance of a transplanted German town. It was most attractively laid out, with charming, well-paved and well-kept streets and parks. buildings were tasteful, its residences pretty, and neatness and thrift were everywhere apparent. The churches were Protestant; the people all spoke German, which was taught in the clean-looking schools; the morning paper, and in fact all the publications, of which there were several, were printed in the German language. The mayor's name was Schmidt, and he could not speak Russian. German was the universal language. of the shops and streets. There were several excellent hotels kept by Germans, and the food was German. The Russification of Libau had only been under way about eight years, and it was making very slow progress, as was frankly admitted by the Russian colony, which consisted of half a dozen Russian officials and their families, exiles from the capital, who performed certain of the provinces.-Though the treaty by which the provinces passed under Russian rule, guaranteed the Protestant religion and the German language to their inhabitants, the Russification of the provinces already began in the middle of the nineteenth century. "Russian was nominally substituted for German as the official language in 1867; but the officials, being all Balts, made no attempt to introduce it in practice, and for |