PRUSSIA, formerly a duchy, but now a powerful and extensive kingdom in Europe, is thought by some to have derived its name from its vicinity to the vast country of Russia.. The Sclavonic word /to signifying near or adja cent, the district which Prussia originally comprehended was in reference to Russia, as is supposed, denominated Po-Russia, a term afterwards softened into Prussia. Nor is this derivation of names entirely fanciful or unprece dented. The river Elbe, in the Sclavonic speech, was termed Labe; and hence, on the principle referred to above, the tribes which inhabited its banks were called Po-Labae, or Polabae. The word Prussia, however, what ever probability there may be in the foregoing etymology, has been traced by others to a different source, and has been supposed to be obtained from the Prusi or l'ruzi, a Sclavonic people, whom ancient chroniclers mention as inhabiting a portion of the country which we are now con sidering. In which of these conjectures the greater con fidence may be placed, it is now too late to determine; but it may not be uninteresting to state, that the former, namely, the derivation of the word from Po and Russia, has obtained the sanction of a late illustrious king of Prussia, (Frederick the Great,) in his Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg.
The extent of Prussia has been different at various periods. Its size is now greater than at any former date ; and while under this and the succeeding heads, we give an account of it, according to its present circumstances, we shall, when treating of its history, investigate its gradual accumulation of territory, until from a petty duchy it has become one of the first powers in Europe. Its figure is extremely disjointed, and, indeed, has long been so, being, from a very remote period, composed of small and distinct states, without any regard to compactness or regularity of form. The remark of Voltaire, that the Prussian dominions stretched along the map of Europe like a pair of garters, is, if possible, more applicable at the present moment than a century ago, when it was made. Its breadth from north to south varies from 70 to 350 miles, its greatest breadth being between the Baltic at Dantzick and the south of Silesia ; its length is not less than 1200 miles, stretching in a line from south-west to north-east, or from the borders of France to the river Memel, which divides it from Russia. It lies between
50° and 55° of north lat. and between 30' and 24° of east longitude. The length, however, given above, is not contiguous; and between the eastern and western pro vinces there is no direct intercourse without the inter vention of other states. Thus, Hanover on the north stretches a considerable way into the Prussian dominions; and towards the south, the states of Brunswick, Ilesse Cassel, Waldeck, Darmstadt, Nassau, and others, inter cept the direct communication. Prussia is, besides, pos sessed of other territories, detached from those which the foregoing measurement embraces, and forming insulated spots in the centre of the dominions of other powers—such as Neufchatel, one of the Swiss cantons, as well as small detached positions in Saxony, Saxe Weimar, Sic. And Prussia formerly included Anspach in Franconia, which, in 1806, was given by Bonaparte to Bavaria, and has been confirmed to that power by subsequent treaties. The whole dominions of Prussia were, after the peace of 1814, divided and subdivided according to the following Table : From this enumeration, there are, it is evident, ten pro vinces, exclusive of Neufchatel, which acknowledges the sovereignty of Prussia, but retains its own laws and usages, and which amounts to 50,000 inhabitants. Each of these provinces, it is also apparent, is subdivided into two or more governments, making twenty-eight in 'all; and the go vernments contain severally 8, 10, or 12 districts, or even more, termed circles. The object of these subdivisions is the prompt and correct administration of justice. Minute as these divisions may appear, there are yet other divisions of a different kind, namely, for military purposes; a depart ment which the successive Prussian monarchs have culti vated with great ardour and success. These arc five in num ber, Prussia; Brandenburg and Pomerania ; Silesia and Prussian Poland ; Saxony; Westphalia, and the Lower Rhine.