BELGIUM. 



BELL, HENEY H. 



71 



provement of the place, and its intellectual and 

 moral advancement, greatly endeared him to 

 its citizens. 



BELGIUM, a kingdom in Europe. King, 

 Leopold II., born April 9, 1865 ; succeeded his 

 father, Leopold I., on December 10, 1865. The 

 only son of the king, Prince Leopold, born 

 June 12, 1859, died in January, 1869. Heir- 

 apparent is now the king's only brother, Count 

 Philip of Flanders, born March 24, 1837, mar- 

 ried April 25, 1867, to Princess Maria of Hohen- 

 zollern-Sigmaringen. The area is 11,373 square 

 miles. The population was estimated in De- 

 cember, 1865, at 4,984,451, but in 1866, accord- 

 ing to the " provisional " results of the census 

 of that year, it only amounted to 4,839,094. 

 The following cities had above 100,000 inhab- 

 itants: Brussels, 163,434 (with eight adjacent 

 communities, 286,827); Ghent, 116,607; Ant- 

 werp, 123,571; Liege, 101,699. 



The ministry was reorganized on January 3, 

 1868, so as to consist of the following mem- 

 bers : President of the Council and Minister 

 of Finance, Hubert Frere-Orban, appointed 

 January 3, 1868 ; Minister of Justice, Jules Ba- 

 ra, November 12, 1865 ; Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, Jules van der Stichelen, January 3, 

 1868 ; Minister of War, General Eenard, Jan- 

 uary 3, 1868 ; Minister of the Interior, Eudore 

 Pirmez, January 3, 1868; Minister of Public 

 Works, Jamar, January 3, 1868. 



The budget for 1868, as approved by the 

 Chambers, fixed the revenue at 169,403,280 

 francs; the expenditures at 171,911,650 francs. 

 The national debt, in 1868, amounted to 717,- 

 155,214 francs. 



The army, according to the law of April 5th, 

 is to be raised, in time of war, to 100,000 men. 



The -exports and imports of Belgium, in 

 1866 and 1865 were as follows (value in mill- 

 ions of -francs): 



The amount of shipping during 1866 was as 

 follows: Arrivals, 4,568 vessels, of 1,067,886 

 tons; clearances, 4,478 vessels of 1,029,113 

 tons. The merchant navy, on December 31, 

 1865, consisted of 98 vessels, together of 37,925 

 tons. 



An election for the renewal of one-half of 

 the House of Representatives, which, accord- 

 ing to the Belgian Constitution, takes place 

 every two years, resulted in the gain of one 

 member by the Government, or Liberal party, 

 which has now in the House seventy-three 

 members, against fifty-one belonging to the 

 Catholic party. 



On March 13th the Chamber of Representa- 



tives passed the Government bill for the contin- 

 gent of 12,000 men for 1869, being an increase 

 of 2,000 men over the previous year, by sixty- 

 eight votes against forty-three. The bill pro- 

 posing to divide the contingent into two sec- 

 tions, one effective and the other reserve, was 

 adopted, by sixty-six votes against thirty-five, 

 after a very stormy sitting. The reduction 

 of the time of service to twenty-four months 

 was adopted by eighty-seven votes against 

 twenty-one. The Chamber subsequently adopt- 

 ed, by a majority of thirty-eight votes, a reor- 

 ganization of the regimental lists. Previously 

 (February 22d), M. Lehardy's amendment, pro- 

 posing that the army should be exclusively 

 composed of volunteers, had been rejected, by 

 seventy-four against eighteen. 



Owing to the pressure exercised by France 

 and other governments, the Government of 

 Belgium has for years expelled a number of 

 liberal refugees. In May, the Chamber of 

 Representatives adopted the Government bill, 

 proposing to renew until 1871 the law relating 

 to foreigners residing in Belgium. During 

 the debate the ministry stated that the ex- 

 pulsion of M. Rogeard took place in conse- 

 quence of his attacks upon the Belgian Govern- 

 ment, and with a view to avoid eventual diffi- 

 culties with France. General Prim and M. 

 Yessinier were not expelled, but simply re- 

 quested to leave Belgium. 



BELL, HENBT H., U. S. N., a Rear- Admiral 

 in the United States naval service, born in 

 North Carolina, about 1808 ; drowned at the 

 mouth of Osaka River, Japan, January 11, 

 1868. Rear- Admiral Bell was appointed a 

 midshipman from North Carolina, in August, 

 1823, and during his more than forty-five years 

 of service in the Navy, twenty-five of which 

 were passed afloat, he saw more severe fighting 

 than has usually fallen to the lot of our naval 

 commanders. His first experience, in naval 

 warfare, was on board of the Grampus, when 

 she was engaged in clearing the coast of Cuba 

 of pirates. He was connected with the East 

 India squadron for many years, and command- 

 ed one of the vessels of the squadron which, 

 in November, 1856, captured and destroyed 

 the four barrier forts near Canton, China. 

 Early in the late war he was assigned to the 

 command of one of the first-rates forming the 

 West Gulf squadron, took an active part in the 

 capture of New Orleans, and the siege of 

 Yicksburg, and in the blockade rendered es- 

 sential service. For a time, in 1863, he was 

 in command of the West Gulf squadron, and 

 when Rear- Admiral Thatcher was ordered to 

 other duty the command of it again devolved 

 on him. In July, 1865, he was ordered to the 

 command of the East India squadron, his rank 

 being then that of commodore. In July, 1866, 

 he was promoted to be rear-admiral, and, in 

 1867, having served more than forty years in 

 the navy, he was retired ; but Rear- Admiral 

 S. C. Rowan, who was to have relieved him, 

 had not arrived when he was drowned. He 



