6 



BELGIUM. 



ID both Chambers of the Legislature, which 

 wen In session t the beginnfitg of the year, 

 the Catholic party was in * considerable ma- 

 jority. A motion made in the Senate, by a 

 Liberal member, to discontinue the office of 

 Belgian ambaMador near the Pope, was there- 

 fore rejected by a large majority. The new 

 militia law, which extends the time of military 

 service, and aim* at restricting the system of 

 substitution, was adopted on May 1st by 66 

 against 48 rote*. At a supplemental election, 

 held in Antwerp on September 16th, the two 

 candidate* of the Catholic party were elected 

 by 400 majority. 



On September 10th, an International Con- 

 ference of Jurist* was opened at Ghent for tho 

 pnrpoae of preparing a codification of the in- 

 ternational law, and of defining the principles 

 by which international arbitrations should be 

 guided. Signer Mancini, a member of the Ital- 

 ian Parliament, was elected president The 

 Conference resolved to found a permanent In- 

 stitute of International Law, and adopted the 

 constitution of the institute. The next meeting 

 is to be held in 1874, at Geneva. The found- 

 ers of the institute who were present at tlio 

 conference are : Asser, of Amsterdam; Beso- 

 bnwow, of St Petersburg; Bluntechll, of IK i- 

 delberg; Cairo, of Buenos Ay res; David 

 Dudley Field, of New York ; De Laveleyp, of 

 Liege; Lorimer, of Edinburgh; Mancini, of 

 Rome; Moynier, of Geneva; Pierantoni, of 

 Naples; and Rolins-Jacqnemyns, of Ghent. 



The regular session of tho two Chambers of 

 the year 1878 was opened by the King in per- 

 son on November llth. The speech from the 

 throne mentions the friendly relations to all 

 foreign powers, and speaks of the foreign trade 

 of the kingdom a* very prosperous ; the con- 

 clusion of a commercial treaty with France, 

 of a treaty with the Netherlands concerning 

 the construction of a railroad from Antwerp to 

 the Lower Rhine, the actual construction of 

 this road, and the esUblinhment of regular 

 steamship-line* to North and South America, 

 art mentioned a* very favorable to the further 

 development of commerce. The great want 

 of improvements in the maritime institutions 

 of the country is dwelt upon, and the opening 

 of negotiations to this end with the municipal 

 council of Antwerp is announced. The diplo- 

 matie sad consular representation of Belgium 

 in the East is to be completed, and treaties of 

 extradition are to be concluded with several 

 foreign powers. The King then points to tho 

 reform* of the commercial legislation, and of 

 tbe civil code which was in course of progress; 

 ~ es new laws on insane asyluma, and 

 i ft revision of tbe laws of public in- 

 i. The condition of national industry 

 to described as favorable ; that of the harvest 

 of the year unfavorable, though not threaten- 

 in* want; tbe fine art* are said to have main- 

 tabed Uwir old reputation at Vienna, Several 

 law* oo military affairs are announced, and a 

 r*riew of tbe public works which have been 



BENEDIX, JULIEN R. 



completed and which are in the course of con- 

 M ruction, is given. The financial condition is 

 vi ry good ; in spite of the abolition or reduc- 

 tion of several taxes, the public revenue is in- 

 creasing every year. The speech then reviews 

 the forty-three years of Belgian indepim: 

 and closes with the words: "Calm and pros- 

 perous, the Belgium of 1878 can be proud of its 

 past, and with serene confidence look forward 

 toward its future." Both in the Senate and 

 in the Chamber of Representatives the former 

 President and Vice-Presidents were reflected; 

 in the Senate the Prince do Ligne as President, 

 and Mil. de Tornaco and Delia Faille as V ice- 

 Presidents; in the Chamber of Representa- 

 tives, M. Thibaut as President, and MM. Tack 

 and Schollaert as Vice-Presidents. 



BENEDIX, JULIEN RODERIC, a German co- 

 median, poet, and dramatist, born in Leipgic, 

 in 1811 ; died at Cologne, September 27, 1878. 

 His early education was desultory and imper- 

 fect, but he commenced writing plays while 

 yet a child. These were for the most part 

 modeled on the moral tales of Berquin. At 

 about the age of eighteen he entered one of 

 the Leipsic ffymnatia, or colleges, and devoted 

 his attention principally to the study of modern 

 languages. In 1881 he joined Bethman's troupe 

 in one of the Leipsic theatres as a conn dum, 

 studying music at the same time. In 1633 he 

 made his first appearance as a tenor-singer, 

 and attained considerable reputation in the 

 German cities as a vocalist. In 1884 or 1836 

 he became manager of the Winter Theatre at 

 1, and started also in that city n literary 

 journal called The Talker, to which he con- 

 tributed largely, both in critical articles end 

 novelettes. At Wesel also he commenced the 

 composition of the comedies which have made 

 his name so famous on t he ('out inent of Europe, 

 having been produced in almost nil the thea- 

 tres of Germany, Austria. Holland, and Bel- 

 gium, and translated into French for the 

 Parisian theatres. There are more than thirty 

 of these comic dramas, written mostly within 

 the sixteen years 1885-'51, and they have l>i . n 

 collected into a series of six volumes. In ]>- ;_ 

 Herr Bencdix removed to Cologne, and in the 

 university of that city connm need the delivery 

 of a course of lectures on German literature, 

 which he continued for several years. He l.c- 

 came director-general of the new Elberfeld 

 Theatre in 1845, and in 1848 inspector-general 

 of the theatres of the city of Cologne. These 

 office* did not diminish his literary nctivity. 

 He has published, becidcs the six volumes of 

 his dramatic works, "Deutsche Volkssngen" 

 (Popular German stories), C vols., 1839-'40 ; a 

 very lively history of tho German War of In- 

 dependence, entitled "1818, 1814, and 1816," 

 6 parts. 1841; "Hnndhmh for die Reise von 

 Rotterdam Ms Strasl.nrg" (a Hand-book or 

 Guide-book from Rotterdam to Stnisl.urg), 

 1889; "Niederrheinischer Volkukalender " (a 

 Popular Almanac of tin- Lower Rhine), which 

 wo* continued from 183<! to 1842 ; " Bilder aus 



