284 GREECE.
successor to the throne is either a minor or absent at the time of the King's decease, and no Regent has been appointed, the Legislative Chamber has to assemble of its own accord within, ten days after the occurrence of that event. The constitutional royal authority in this case has to be exercised by the ministerial council until the choice of a Regent, or the arrival of the successor to the throne. The present sovereign is allowed, by special exception, to adhere to the religion in which he was educated, the Protestant Lutheran faith, but his heirs and successors must be members of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Constitution and Government.
The present Constitution of Greece was elaborated by a Constituent Assembly, elected in December 1863, and adopted Oct. 29, 1864. It vests the whole legislative power in a single chamber of repre- sentatives, called the Boule, elected by universal suffrage for the term of four years. The elections take place by ballot, and each candidate must be put in nomination by the requisition of at least one-thirtieth of the A'oters of an electoral district. The voting takes place by means of ballot-boxes, into which balls are dropped, there being one box for each candidate, and every voter being at liberty to give his vote either for or against each, so that the voter has as many votes as there are candidates in his district. The Boule must meet annually for not less than three, nor more than six months. No sitting is valid unless at least one-half of the members of the Assembly are present, and no bill can pass into law without an absolute majority of members. Every measure, before adopted, must be discussed and voted, article by article, thrice, and on three separate days. But the Legislative Assembly has no power to alter the Constitution itself; particular provisions may be reviewed after the lapse of ten years, with the exception of ' fundamental principles.' The Chamber of Deputies, unless spe- cially convoked at an earlier date, for extraordinary occasions, must meet on the 1st of November of every year. The number of members, dependent upon the number of population, was 170 in the session of 1868-9.
The executive is vested in the King and his responsible Ministers, the heads of seven departments. They are the Ministry of the In- terior, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Marine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. .Since the accession of the present sovereign, in I860, ministerial changes have been very frequent, occurring, on the average, from three to lour times u year.
