National (Colored) Baptist Convention.-The National (Colored) Baptist Convention met in Boston, Mass.. in September. The Board of Foreign Missions (in Africa) reported that more than $5,000 had been raised for the work, and about $1,500 had been appropriated directly to it. These figures do not include the work of the Virginia churches, which is carried on independently. It was shown that during the past seventeen years the negro Baptists of America have raised $36,546 for African missions. The report of the Home Mission Board concerned chiefly schools and publications, while little had been done in the way of church extension. The convention further considered the subjects of systematic beneficence, the Young People's movement, and a magazine.

Young People's Union. The seventh international convention of the Baptist Young People's Union of America (United States and Canada) was held at Chattanooga, Tenn., July 15 to 18. Mr. J. H. Chapman presided. The annual report of the secretary showed that the union was organized in all of the States except Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Mississippi, and the Territory of New Mexico. The treasurer's reports showed an improved financial condition. The receipts for the year had been $69,824, and the deficit had been reduced from $4,820 to $1,738. The number of examinations in the Christian culture courses, 13,407, showed an increase of 1,962 over the previous year. An arrangement for union with the Baptist Young People's Union Auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention made through committees in March, 1897, had been formally ratified, and was in effect during the present meeting. In place of the division of the Young People's Baptist Union of America into four departments, known respectively as the Departments of the Red, Gold, Blue, and Green, it was determined that the aggregation of societies within the Dominion of Canada should be designated the Baptist Young People's Union of Canada; that within the territory tributary to the Southern Baptist Convention as the Union South; that within the remaining States east of the Mississippi river as the Union North; and that within the remaining territory west of the Mississippi river as the Union West. The principal features of the convention consisted of the addresses which were delivered, among the subjects of which were: "The Christ Conception-Person, not Proxy," by the Rev. Dr. Carter Helm Jones; "Divine Ownership Human Stewardship," by the Rev. Dr. D. D. MacLaurin; “Education the Structural Idea," by the Rev. W. P. McKee: Denomination our Conservative Idea," by the Rev. Dr. J. W. A. Stewart; "The Ideal Home and its Permanent Influence," by the Rev. W. W. Weeks; "The Stewardship of Service," by the Rev. Dr. B. A. Greene; "The Stewardship of Culture," by the Rev. Dr. C. S. Gardner; and "The Power of the Keys," the annual address of the president. Conferences of workers, department rallies, and other special meetings were held. The convention was attended by 3,200 delegates.

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The Baptist Congress.-The fifteenth session of the Baptist Congress was held in Chicago, Ill., Nov. 16 to 18. The Rev. A. A. Kendrick, D. D., of St. Louis, Mo., presided. The congress is a voluntary meeting of Baptist ministers and laymen, without authority or formal representative character, the purpose of which is defined to be "to promote a healthful sentiment among Baptists through free and courteous discussion of current questions by suitable persons." The programmes of the meetings are prepared beforehand, and include a list of subjects on which papers are read by persons assigned to that function, which are in each case followed by remarks from appointed speakers,

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after which opportunity is given for voluntary addresses. The subjects discussed at the present meeting were: "Are the Teachings of the Apostles of Equal Authority with those of Christ?" Baptism a Prerequisite to the Lord's Supper ? ̈ "Should Denominational Beliefs impose Limitations upon Religious Teachers?" "Our Government and the Oppressed of Other Nations"; "The Psychology of Conversion"; and "The Power of the Cross in the Life of the Believer."

Baptists in Great Britain and Ireland.-The Baptist Yearbook for 1897 gives as the numbers of the Baptist churches in Great Britain and Ireland (including about 300 churches not reporting, for which estimates are made from previous years' returns) 2,924 churches, 360,112 members, 1,955 pastors, 4,838 local preachers, 3,822 chapels with 1.286,514 sittings, 50,721 teachers and 519,226 pupils in Sunday schools, and 16,113 baptisms during the year. Of these, 1,700 churches and 221,778 members were in England, 783 churches with 101,791 members in Wales, 108 churches with 15,698 members in Seotland, 28 churches with 2,487 members in Ireland, 4 churches with 337 members in the Channel Islands, and 1 church with 21 members in the Isle of Man. The figures in each department are in advance of those of the preceding year, the most prominent increase being that of membership— 6,145. The amount expended during the year upon new buildings was £76,807, or £17,293 more than during the previous year; while £27,315 were upon chapel improvements, and £63.340 for the removal of debt on chapel property. A considerable increase is shown in the last item. The large number of local preachers is mentioned as an interesting feature in the statistics. With the exception of a few who are fully engaged as missionaries or evangelists, these local preachers are men who support themselves and their families by secular occupations and aid their pastors by preaching on Sundays and at other times at out stations, receiving no pay for these services. While many of the churches have no local preachers, a large number of them have from 1 to 20 each. Two report 22; one, 23; three, 25; one, 30; one, 44; and the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London returns 130. A paper on Baptist authors and history from 1527 to 1800, by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Angus, is published in the Yearbook. It gives the names of between 400 and 500 English Baptist authors, with some particulars about many of them, and the number of books published by each, with dates of publication. Abraham Booth and Andrew Fuller are credited in it with 40 works each; John Gill, D. D., with 45; and John Brine, J. Ryland, D. D., Dan Taylor, and W. Whiston with 50 each.

The Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland met in its annual meeting April 26. The address of the President, the Rev. E. G. Gange, bore special reference to the centenary of Baptist home missions, which was celebrated in connection with the present meeting. The report of the council showed an increase of 7 Baptist churches connected with the union, 6,145 members, 242 teachers, and 5,585 pupils in Sunday schools, and £18,960 in expenditure on new buildings and improvements, while building debts had been reduced or removed to the extent of £63,340 as against £57,392 in the previous year. The Board of Introduction had made 70 recommendations of ministers to churches without pastors. A Ministerial Recognition Committee had been formed, in accordance with proposals adopted at the previous annual meeting. The receipts of the General Expense fund had been £1.978; of the Church Extension fund, which now amounted to £9,491, £2.600. An increased activity in church extension was remarked in some

of the larger centers. The receipts of the Annuity fund had been £9,409. The fund had 650 beneficiary members, and 401 wives were subscribed for, while £6,673 had been paid in annuities during the year. The seventh triennial valuation of the investments belonging to the fund gave the purchase value as £174,527, showing an increase of £37,830.

About 20 English associations were co-operating with the council of the Home Mission Society in the home - mission work. Eighty-eight mission churches were on the list of the council, 50 of which were formed into 23 groups of two or three churches cach. There were besides 25 mission stations, with 113 preaching places and 58 mission pastors. The number of communicants was 4,306, and of baptisms during the year 173. An historical sketch of the home missions, published in connection with the centenary celebration, showed that they were begun in July, 1796, when two ministers started from Plymouth on an evangelistic tour through Cornwall, under the direction of the Baptist Missionary Society. An "Address to the Friends of Evangelical Truth in General and to the Calvinistic Baptist Churches in Particular," by the Rev. Abraham Booth, issued in 1797, announced the formation of the Baptist Society in London for the Encouragement and Support of Itinerant and Village Preaching. This society did good work in many counties. It held its first public meeting in 1814. The name of the society was changed in 1817 to the Baptist Itinerant and Home Missionary Society. The income of the society in 1835 was £2,000; in 1841 it had risen to more than £5,000; but, except in 1845, when it rose to £5,901, had never since reached £5,000.

The capital of the Baptist Building fund stood at £51,578. Thirty-nine churches had been aided by loans of from £40 to £1,000 each, and for different terms of years to the total amount of £12,010.

The Bible Translation Society had received £1,300 during the year, all of which had been expended, except a balance of £57. The Legacy fund amounted to £1,600.

The year's sales of the Tract and Book Society had amounted to £1,622, £427 more than the sales of the previous year, which had been much larger than those of previous years; the subscriptions amounted to about £800. A balance of £120 was due the treasurer.

The income of the Baptist Missionary Society for 1896 was £75,978, the largest ever received by the society in any one year of its history except the centenary year. Of this amount, £11,186 had been contributed in response to an appeal for relief of the districts in India that were suffering from famine. The contributions to the general fund showed an advance of £2,083 over those of the previous year, with an additional £1,571 for the Thanksgiving fund, while the special gifts were £1,341 more than those of the year before. There had, however, been a falling off of £9,789 in the amount received from legacies. The expenditures had increased £3.947. The year's receipts of the Baptist Zenana Mission had been £7,635. The association had 56 missionaries and 205 native Bible women and school teachers in India visiting regularly about 1,220 zenanas and several hundred houses in which the Bible is used.

The autumnal session of the union was held at Plymouth, beginning Oct. 6, the Rev. E. G. Gange presiding. Resolutions were adopted reiterating the protests of the union against state aid to denominational schools, and insisting on the extension of the school-board system to the whole country, the absence of denominational formularies from religious instruction in public elementary schools, VOL. XXXVII.-6 A

and the establishment of training colleges which shall impose no religious tests; favoring peaceful arbitration as a means of settling national disputes; condemning state regulation of vice in India and the toleration of slavery in countries under British protection; advising a movement for the extension of the Sunday closing of liquor shops over the whole of England; and regretting the spread of priestly pretensions and sacramentarian superstitions, and calling on all Christians to uphold the sole mediatorship of Jesus Christ. The consideration of a temperance resolution, embodying clauses advising the election of abstainers as deacons and other church officers, and declaring it inconsistent to solicit or receive financial aid from persons engaged in the manufacture or sale of intoxicants, was objected to as bearing against persons who were not present to defend themselves, and the subject was referred to the council with a view to its being brought forward again at the spring meeting of the union, 1898. The subjects were considered in papers and general discussions of the attitude of the churches toward Roman Catholicism, the Chautauqua movement, Christian Endeavor societies, and Free Church principles. Conferences were held of lay preachers and on Sunday schools, and meetings in behalf of the Baptist missionary and benevolent enterprises.

BELGIUM, a constitutional monarchy in Western Europe, founded in 1830, when it seceded from the United Netherlands. Its territory was declared neutral and inviolable by the Treaty of London, made on Nov. 15, 1831, by Austria, England, Prussia, and Russia. The constitutional amendment of Sept. 7. 1893, changed the manner of electing Senators, who were formerly elected directly. Now part are elected directly, and part by the provincial councils. There are half as many Senators as there are members of the House of Representatives. Senators elected directly are required to have an income of 12,000 francs from real estate, or pay 1,200 franes of direct taxes a year. The provincial councils in provinces having less than 500,000 inhabitants elect 2 Senators; if above that population, up to 1,000,000 they elect 3; and provinces of more than 1,000,000 inhabitants elect 4 Senators. The term of a Senator is eight years, one half retiring every four years. The House of Representatives are elected in districts having not fewer than 40,000 inhabitants for four years by the direct vote of the qualified voters. Every two years one half of the chamber is renewed. Every citizen over twenty-five years of age, resident in the commune for a year, and not disqualified by crime or pauperism. has one vote; owners of real estate worth 2,000 francs or having Belgian funds or savings-bank deposits yielding 100 francs a year, also married men or widowers with children, who are thirty-five years of age and pay at least 5 francs of house tax, are entitled to an additional vote; and one or two supplementary votes can be cast by university graduates, professional men, and officials or ex-officials, no citizen being entitled to more than three votes at any election.

The Cabinet, first constituted on Oct. 26, 1884, was composed at the beginning of 1897 as follows: President of the Council and Minister of Finance, P. de Smet de Naeyer, appointed Feb. 25, 1896; Minister of Foreign Affairs, P. de Favereau, appointed Feb. 25, 1896; Minister of Justice, V. Begerem ; Minister of Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs and Minister of War ad interim, J. H. P. van den Peereboom; Minister of the Interior and Minister of Public Instruction, M. Schollaert, appointed May 25, 1895; Minister of Agriculture and Public Works, L. de Bruyn; Minister of Industry and Labor, M. Nyssens, appointed May 25, 1895.

Area and Population.-The area of Belgium is 11,373 square miles. The population on Dec. 31, 1895, was estimated at 6,410,783, composed of 3,198,507 males and 3,212,276 females. The number of marriages in 1895 was 49,712; of births, 183.015; of deaths, 125,148; excess of births, 57,867. The population of Brussels, with suburbs, at the beginning of 1895 was 518.387. Antwerp had 262,255, Liége 163,207, and Ghent 157,214 inhabitants. There are 6,335 public primary schools, with 720,191 pupils; 1,431 infant schools, with 142,384 pupils; and 1,797 adult schools, with 69,270 pupils. Every commune is required to maintain at least one primary school. The provincial and national governments grant subventions. The total cost of elementary education in 1894 was 30,322,383 francs. About 27 per cent. of the population over fifteen years of age could not read nor write in 1890. Out of 63,113 young men called out in 1896 for military service 22,911 had more than a rudimentary education, 31,141 could merely read and write, 1,284 could only read, 7,129 could neither read nor write, and of 648 no returns were given.

Finances.-The revised budget for 1897 makes the ordinary revenue 386,923,178 francs. Of this sum 25,276,000 francs are derived from taxes on property, 19,846,000 francs from personal taxes, 7,270,000 francs from trade licenses, 400,000 francs from mines, 36,116,632 francs from customs duties, 52,420,297 francs from excise, 20,475,000 francs from succession duties, 19,850,000 francs from registration taxes, 6,500,000 francs from stamps, 5,778,000 francs from various indirect taxes, 1,579,000 francs from canal tolls, 154,000,000 francs from railroads, 6,730,000 francs from telegraphs, 12,649,500 francs from the post office, 1,435,000 francs from pilotage dues, 3,178,500 francs from domains and forests, 9,358,900 francs from funds and securities, the national bank, etc., and 4,060,349 francs from repayments. The total ordinary expenditure was estimated at 386,295,842 francs, of which 113,659,819 francs are for interest and sinking fund of the debt, 4,865,200 francs for the civil list and dotations, 21,594,240 francs for the Ministry of Justice, 2,806,014 francs for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 26,432,385 francs for the Ministry of the Interior and Public Instruction, 23,171,149 francs for the Ministry of Agriculture and Public Works, 116,438,585 francs for the Ministry of Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs, 48,381,375 francs for the Ministry of War, 19,069,415 francs for the Ministry of Finance, 1,926,000 francs for the gendarmerie, and 3,095,060 francs for the Ministry of Industry and Labor.

The ordinary revenue for 1894 was 362,600,000 francs, and the extraordinary revenue 42,589,000 franes; total, 405,185,000 francs. The ordinary expenditure in that year was 353,340,000 francs, and the special expenditure 49,219,000 francs, making a total of 402,559,000 francs. The revenue of the provincial administrations in 1894 amounted to 15,225,500 francs, and their expenses to 14,069,000 francs. The revenue of the communes from ordinary sources amounts to about 118,000,000 francs a year, besides which 60,000,000 francs or more are expended for extraordinary purposes.

The public debt was raised almost entirely for railroads and other useful and reproductive public works. The capital amount in 1895 was 2,246,366,647 francs, of which 2,006,407,015 francs pay 3 per cent. interest, 219,659,632 francs 2 per cent., and 20,000,000 francs are redeemable treasury bonds.

The Army.-The Belgian defenses consist of the central arsenal of Antwerp, with the fortified towns of Dendermond and Diest, the fortifications at Mons, Tournai, and Ypres, guarding the French frontier, and those at Liége, Huy, and Namur, with those of

the scheme of 1887 for the further fortification of the line of the Meuse. Every able-bodied Belgian on reaching the age of nineteen is liable to conscription, but substitution is permitted. The annual recruit is about 13,300 men. The period of service is eight years, though not more than two or three years of actual service with the colors are required. The strength of the army on the peace footing in 1895 was 3,515 officers and 48,165 men. Of the total, 1,923 officers and 27,738 men were in the infantry, 379 officers and 5,849 men in the cavalry, 467 officers and 8,215 men in the artillery, 94 officers and 1,534 men in the engineers, 64 officers and 2,522 men in the gendarmerie, and 588 officers and 2,307 men attached to the general staff, administrative corps, military school, and other establishments. The artillery is armed with 200 guns, in war time with 240. There are 7,200 horses for the army and 1,636 for the gendarmerie. The war strength of the army is 3,505 officers and 163,082 men, with 14,000 horses. In addition there is the Civic Guard organized, in the towns, numbering about 43,000 men.

Commerce and Industry.-Most of the land of Belgium is divided into small parcels, which are highly cultivated by farmers or by the owners. The proportion of cultivators owning their land is increasing. Of the total area of the kingdom, 67 per cent. is under cultivation and 17 per cent. is forest. The agricultural class forms about 22 per cent. of the total population. Wheat, rye, oats, and the sugar beet are the principal crops. Tobacco was raised to the amount of 5,166,000 kilogrammes in 1895. The raw sugar produced in 1895 amounted to 182,178,000 kilogrammes; refined sugar, 65,662,000 kilogrammes. The distilleries produced 628,340 hectolitres of proof spirit. There were 118,957 persons employed in the coal mines in 1895. The number of women working underground decreased from 2,172 in 1893 to 1,628 in 1895. The production of coal in 1895 was 20,451,000 tons, valued at 193,357,000 francs. The iron mines produced 312,637 tons of ore, and 1,942,900 tons of iron ore were imported, mostly from Luxemburg. The produc tion of pig iron was 829,234 tons, valued at 40,207,000 francs; of manufactured iron, 445,899 tons, valued at 55,729,000 francs; of steel ingots, 407,634 tons, valued at 31,018,000 francs; of steel rails, etc., 367,918 tons, valued at 42,419,000 francs. The zinc product was 38,496,000 francs in value; lead, 4,203,000 francs; silver, 3,430,000 francs.

The value of imports in the general commerce of 1895 was 2,904,948,026 francs, of which 1,397,293,169 francs constituted the ocean trade and 1,507,654,857 francs the railroad and river traffic. The general exports amounted to 2,424,560,429 francs, of which 1,154,157,499 francs represent goods shipped from the ports and 1,450,705,084 francs the amount sent by land and river. The total value of the imports for domestic consumption was 1,680,400,000 francs; of the domestic exports, 1,385,400,000 francs; of the transit trade, 1,219,400,000 francs. The special imports of cereals were 268,292,000 francs in value; raw textile materials, 155,543,000 francs; drugs and chemicals, 95,105,000 francs; resins and gums, 85,457,000 francs; timber, 66,411,000 francs; woolen, cotton, and silk tissues, 64,059,000 francs; oil seeds, 59,462,000 francs: mineral substances, 59,458,000 francs; hides. 59,037,000 francs; coffee, 55,174,000 francs; metals, 50,357,000 francs; animal products, 38.958,000 francs; live animals, 37,791,000 francs; meat, 32.833,000 francs; wines, 32,792,000 francs; coal and coke, 30,263,000 francs; linen and woolen yarns, 23,338,000 francs; fertilizers, 20,612,000 franes; machinery, 19,518,000 francs; butter, 18,868,000 franes; flour, 18,785.000 francs; tobacco, 12,090,000 francs. The special exports of linen,

diency of the change to be reflected upon. The bar of Ghent and Antwerp pronounced against it, for lawyers of both nationalities and political camps were agreed that the adoption of the two languages would needlessly complicate and encumber the forms of legal as well as parliamentary procedure in Belgium and that the translation of the French text into Flemish was fraught with many difficulties. The effects upon the standing and influence of the Belgian state and upon the opportunities of its citizens were the subject of misgivings. The act would accentuate the dual nationality of the Belgian people and tend to perpetuate race animosities among them. Every Walfoon inhabitant would be compelled to learn to read and speak Flemish under penalty of being debarred from occupying any official post in his country, while the Flemings would not need, as heretofore, to become perfect masters of French. Yet a knowledge of Flemish serves no purpose outside of the little area where it is read and spoken. On the other hand, by maintaining the official position of French, the Government would render it incumbent on every aspiring Flemish youth to become proficient in a language that is not only spoken by every educated member of the community, but serves as a passport in most parts of the civilized world. Flemish as a language of affairs and legislation has yet to be created. Genuine Flemish, the literary form of the language, is not spoken in Belgium, where each village has its own rude and untranslatable dialect. The Walloons are entirely ignorant of Flemish except in the border district, where they can converse in the patois of their neighbors as well as in their own. North of this narrow district the Flemish dialects are uniformly heard, and south of it the Walloon dialects, but everywhere French is the common language of educated people, the language of polite intercourse, of literature and the press, of science, of law, and of commerce. All these considerations were brought out in the debate in the Senate, which was led to recognize that it was a proceeding fraught with serious and far-reaching consequences to confer a distinctly bilingual stamp upon the administration of the country. The only clause that finally passed the Senate, on Feb. 3, was one enacting that all acts of Parliament should henceforth be promulgated both in French and in Flemish. The friends of the bill would not accept this solution of the question. They withdrew the bill, determined to continue the agitation and press for the official and integral equality of the two national tongues in another year.

Legislation. The Government on Jan. 1 accepted an arrangement presented by the French Minister regulating the relations of Belgium with France in Tunis. Parliament enacted a bill for suppressing gambling operations on the stock exchange. A plan of the works that will convert Brussels into a seaport was finally adopted by the ministry, the municipal authorities, and the commission of maritime installations on Jan. 4. The course of the canal will pass through the plain of Tour and Taxis, thus bringing the new docks nearly into the heart of the capital. The law authorizing the police authorities to expel foreigners, which was originally framed in 1835 and would expire on Feb. 15, 1897, was continued in force by a vote of 61 to 35 in the Chamber on Jan. 21. The English Government demanded redress for Ben Tillett, the labor organizer, who came to Antwerp in connection with the dock strike and was expelled by order of the Minister of Justice in 1896; but the Belgian Government cited precedents for its action. The British Foreign Office then_proposed arbitration, and, Belgium acceding, a French jurist was se

lected to arbitrate the matter. A congress of employees, composed of delegates representing clerks, salesmen, artisans, persons in Government employ, and the mass of wage earners who do not belong to the laboring class, met at Brussels on Feb. 7 with the object of taking common action with a view to bringing before Parliament the grievances of their class, and organized a system of local unions and a central league whose duty it should be to exact from parliamentary candidates a pledge to assist their cause. The Chamber, which heretofore has had no stricter code of discipline than the simple call to order, revised its rules against the protests of the whole Left for the avowed purpose of curbing the Socialists, who have introduced into the debates an unaccustomed laxity and disregard for parliamentary etiquette.

The Liberal Opposition supported the military authorities in the demand for army reorganization, which the Clerico-Conservative Cabinet took up and then abandoned or deferred because the ministers could not get their democratic followers to agree to submit to the enforced military service that it would entail. The Liberals insisted that the reform should embrace the reorganization of the Civic Guard. Societies of retired officers and military men of all grades, including veterans of 1880, representatives of the Liberal League, and delegations from communal councils and other corporate bodies, assembled in Brussels on June 13, and in a monster procession, with Gen. Brialmont for their spokesman, presented an address to the King in favor of army reform, to which King Leopold, who is a convinced advocate of the introduction of conscription into Belgium, replied with a powerful plea for the urgent necessity of strengthening the military defense of the country, saying that he was too solicitous for the security and eventual defense of the country not to desire that the principle of personal service should be the base of the military system, and that it would be at the mercy and hazard of events unless it organized its defenses solidly, modeling its military institutions on those of the surrounding nations, with tactical units composed, armed, and trained in conditions analogous to those of its neighbors. The King's outspoken utterances on the military question created a widespread sensation in Belgium and gave occasion for an interpellation in the Chamber. The bill for the reorganization of the Civic Guard was passed by the Chamber at the end of July after a long discussion. The Socialist Demblon protested against the clause providing for the administration of the oath of allegiance, and delivered a violent attack on the King, incurring thereby a vote of censure, passed by 74 votes to 17, with 6 abstentions. The Chamber passed a bill compelling all foreigners who have resided in Belgium for a year to enroll themselves in the Civic Guard. This measure was the result of the great increase of late in the foreign colonies of Brussels and Antwerp. Objections against the enforcement of this law were interposed by the British and American diplomatic representatives. The question of army reform took precedence of all other matters in the public mind. The original bill to enforce universal conscription and put an end to the privilege of purchasing substitutes enjoyed by the wealthy classes was withdrawn by the Government on the eve of the meeting of the Chambers in October, 1896, and in consequence Gen. Brassine resigned the Ministry of War. The actual strength of the Belgian army is the lowest of any country in Europe, and the military budget per capita is a third of that of France or Great Britain. Universal liability to service was exceedingly popular in the Walloon half of the kingdom. Even a section of the Socialists in their