750 



RUSSIA. 



namely, in 1841, there were but 3,563 Jesuits, 

 so that since that period the number has been 

 more than doubled. In the Comarca alone 

 there are 475 Jesuits, of whom 385 reside in 

 Rome, and the remainder in the Colleges of Vel- 

 letri, Frosinone, and Viterbo. There are 173 Jes- 

 uits superintending the Roman College; 15 are 

 engaged in directing the journal " Civilta -Cat- 

 tolica," 18 in the German College, 11 in the Col- 

 lege dei Nobile, 13 in the South American Col- 

 lege, 54 live in the House of Profession, 79 are 

 assigned to the novitiate, and 28 remain in the 

 House of Refuge. The Franciscan Order, ac- 

 cording to the '" Monde," of Paris, also increases 

 in number every year, and now reckons 200,000 

 men and 300,000 sisters, including the Tertiares. 

 It possesses 252 provinces, and 26,000 convents, 

 of which five are in Palestine and 30 in Turkey. 



The Catholic Congress of Belgium did not 

 meet in 1 865. That of Germany held its annual 

 meeting in September, at Treves. The Baron 

 of Andlaw, of Baden, was chosen President, and 

 A. Reichensberger, late Vice-President of the 

 Prussian Chamber of Representatives, first Vice- 

 President. The Society for Circulating Catholic 

 Books, which owes its origin to one of the for- 

 mer Congresses, was reported to be an entire 

 success. Progress was also reported as to the 

 project of a Free Catholic University, to which 

 large pecuniary aid had been contributed by 

 the ladies. A long debate was called forth by 

 a proposition to constitute a central office for 

 the Catholic press of Germany, for the purpose 

 of concentrating the literary forces of the best 

 publicists, of rewarding them according to their 

 merits, and utilizing them for the establishment 

 of an autographic correspondence. The prop- 

 osition was deemed by a majority of the Con- 

 gress impracticable, and withdrawn. 



RUSSIA, an empire in Europe and Asia. 

 Present Emperor, Alexander II., born 1818; 

 succeeded his father in 1855. Heir apparent, 

 Alexander, born in 1845. The area in 1862 

 was estimated at 7,770,882 English square miles. 

 The population was, according to the latest 

 dates, as follows : 



Caucasian Russia was, in 1862, divided into 

 five governments (Kutaiss, Stavropol, Tiflis, 

 Shemakha, Erivan), and three territories (Kuban 

 Terek, and Daghestan). Asiatic Russia, in the 

 same year, consisted of four governments (To- 

 bolsk, Tomsk, Yenisseisk, Irkutsk), and seven 

 territories (Transbaikal, Yakutsk, Amoor, East 

 Siberian Coast, Semipalatinsk, Siberian Kir- 

 gheez, Orenburg Kirgheez). Since then Russia 

 has made steady and considerable progress in 

 Central Asia, and in February, 1865, the newly 



conquered provinces were organized into the 

 province of Turkestan. The total population 

 was estimated, in 1865, at about 80,000,000. 

 The largest cities, in 1861, were the following: 

 Petersburg, 586,293; Moscow, 377,838; Odessa, 

 117,999; Kishineff, 93,359; Saratoff, 83,763; 

 Riga, 73,953. The revenue was estimated, in 

 the budget for 1865, at 380,093,514 rubles. The 

 public debt, on January 1, 1864, was 64,338,585 

 rubles. The exports of Russia in 1863 were 

 valued at $152,094,268, and the imports at 

 $154,159,030. The movement of shipping on 

 the Baltic, White, Black, and Azov Seas, was, 

 in 1863, as follows: Entered, 9,893 vessels; 

 cleared, 9,945 vessels. The number of vessels 

 running between Russian and Finnish ports 

 was 1,658; and the number of coasting vessels, 

 19,066. The Russian army, on January 1, 1863, 

 numbered 812,196 men ; on the outbreak of the 

 insurrection in Poland, it was increased to 

 1,350,000; and after the suppression of the in- 

 surrection, it was again reduced to 800,000 

 men. The fleet, in June, 1863, consisted of 

 248 steamers, carrying 2,387 guns, and 62 sail- 

 ing vessels, carrying 1,304 guns. In 1865, ac- 

 cording to a report of the Minister of the Navy, 

 the fleet consisted of 258 steamers and 43 sail- 

 ing vessels. 



The hereditary Grand-duke Nicholas Alex- 

 androvitch died at Nice, on April 24th, at the 

 age of 22 years. Only a few weeks before, his 

 betrothal to the Princess Dagmar, of Denmark, 

 sister to the Princess of Wales, had been offi- 

 cially announced in Russia. The princess was 

 present with the grand-duke during the closing 

 hours of his life. 



The year 1865 witnessed the convocation 

 of the first Provincial Diets of the empire, 

 which had been established by an Imperial 

 ukase of January 21, 1864. The Provincial 

 Diets consist of deputies elected by the district 

 assemblies, which were provided for by the 

 same ukase, and are composed of the represent- 

 atives of the landed gentry, the towns and the 

 villages. The deputies are elected for three 

 years, and their number is regulated by that 

 of the representatives in each district, accord- 

 ing to a table annexed to the law. These pro- 

 vincial assemblies are under the presidency of 

 the provincial marshals of nobility, in cases 

 where the Emperor does not appoint another 

 president. Provincial rural courts, composed 

 of a president and six members, chosen for 

 three years, are established by the provincial 

 assemblies. The payment of the members of 

 these courts is optional with the provincial as- 

 semblies. The president of the provincial runil 

 court must be confirmed in his office by the 

 Minister of the Interior. The assemblies thus 

 constituted have an administrative power, ami 

 a general supervision over rural aftuirs, while 

 the rural courts exercise the executive power, 

 and a closer supervision of matters relating to 

 the rural body. The provincial and district 

 assemblies meet once a year ; the district assem- 

 blies not later than September, the provirirhJ 



