BELGIUM. 



5T 



churches of 1,368 additions by baptism, of a 

 clear increase of 441, and a total of about 26,- 

 000. members. The receipts for foreign mis- 

 sions had been 7,766, and the expenditures 

 8,518. 



A " Local Preachers' Conference " was held 

 during the meeting of the association, at which 

 a paper was read on the need of increased and 

 better organized local preachers' work in the 

 churches. The establishment of home-mission 

 centers, to be under the direction of the con- 

 ference to which they belong, was recom- 

 mended. In a Sunday-school conference, the 

 establishment of weekly services for children, 

 a union for young converts, and special evan- 

 gelistic services, were recommended. Numer- 

 ous services for children of the kind suggested 

 were already held weekly in London, Liver- 

 pool, and Paris. The " association letter " on 

 the adaptation of the church to the wants of 

 the times, suggested that such modifications in 

 creed and practice as were made necessary in 

 the light of modern discoveries should be ac- 

 cepted, that a wider policy should be allowed 

 in baptism, and that open fellowship should be 

 permitted. Another " association letter" was 

 read upon the subject of " open fellowship." 



BEACONSFIELD, EARL OF. (See DIS- 

 RAELI, BENJAMIN.) 



BELGIUM, a kingdom of Europe. Leopold 

 II, King of the Belgians, born April 9, 1835, 

 is the son of King Leopold I, former Duke of 

 Saxe-Cobourg, and ascended the throne at his 

 death, December 10, 1865. He was married 

 August 22, 1853, to Marie Henriette, daughter 

 of the late Archduke Joseph of Austria (born 

 August 23, 1836), who has borne him three 

 daughters. The heir-apparent to the throne 

 is the brother of the King, Philip, Count of 



Flanders, born March 24, 1837, lieutenant- 

 general in the service of Belgium, who was 

 married, April 26, 1867, to Princess Marie of 

 Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (born November 17, 

 1845), and has two sons, Baldwin, born July 

 3, 1869, and Albert, born April 8, 1875. The 

 oldest daughter, Princess Louisa, born Febru- 

 ary 18, 1858, was married on February 4, 1875, 

 to Prince Philipp, Duke of Saxe-Cobourg and 

 Gotha. 



The area of this kingdom is 29,455-16 square 

 kilometres (1 square kilometre = 0'386 square 

 mile) or 11,373 square miles. The population, 

 according to the census of December 31, 1876, 

 was 5,336,189, and in December, 1879, accord- 

 ing to a calculation based upon the movement 

 of population, 5,536,654. The following table 

 exhibits the population of each province at the 

 close of 1878 : 



PROVINCES. Pop. In Dec., 1879. 



Antwerp .* 569,279 



Brabant 993.596 



Flanders, West 698,761 



" East 886,776 



Hainault 982,402 ' 



Liege 659,808 



Limburg 211,694 



Luxemburg 210,553 



Namur 824,510 



Total 5,536,654 



The population of the principal cities on 

 December 31, 1879, was as follows : Brussels, 

 170,345; Antwerp, 163,011; Ghent, 132,839 ; 

 Li6ge, 121,787; Bruges, 44,833; Malines, 41,- 

 328 ; Verviers, 40,362 ; Louvain, 35,090 ; Tour- 

 nay, 32,832 ; Courtrai, 27,061 ; Saint Nicolas, 

 25,698; Namur, 25,792; Seraing, 25,046; 

 Mons, 24,696 ; Alost, 21,631. 



The movement of population from 1873 to 

 1879 is shown in the following table: 



Of the total births in 1879, 168,724 were 

 legitimate, and 14,059 were illegitimate. The 

 number of divorces amounted to 151. 



The number of representatives in the Lower 

 House of the Chambers is 132, the number of 

 senators is 66. In order to be eligible for elec- 

 tion to the Chamber of Eepresentatives, it is 

 necessary to be twenty-five years of age, and a 

 citizen of Belgium. On the other hand, no one 

 is eligible to the Senate who does not pay di- 

 rect taxes to the amount of 1,000 florins (2,116 

 francs). Under this law there are at present 

 but 507 Belgians eligible to the Senate. The 

 number of persons entitled to vote at general 

 elections was, in 1881, 116,090. 



The public debt on August 1, 1880, was as 

 follows : 



Frano. 



Two and a half per cent debt 219,959,682 



Three per cent loans from 1878 to 1S7S 883,707,100 



Four per cent debt (1871 to 1879) 672.741 ,892 



Four per cent loan of 1880 184,719,000 



Kentes funded at 8 per cent 1,409,(W5 



Rentes* funded at 5 per cent 7,611,960 



Five per cent annuities to the Netherlands 2,589,680 



Annuities for repurchasing railroads at 4J per 



cent... 818.511,878 



Total 1,741,200,267 



The immigration into Belgium has since 

 1871 always exceeded the emigration from the 

 country. In 1879, there were 14,234 immi- 

 grants and 12,474 emigrants. 



The budget for the years 1879 and 1880 esti- 

 mated receipts and expenditures as follows (in 

 francs) : 



