BELGIUM. 



77 



average of 68,000 a year for the first ten 

 years, and 75,000 a year for the second ten 

 years. Nothing was included in this account 

 for school-rooms, vestries, repairs, decorations, 

 ministers' houses, organs, or interest on chapel 

 debts, and it applied to England alone. At 

 the meeting in behalf of missions, report was 

 made that ten mission-stations had been estab- 

 lished on the Congo river, at distances of one 

 hundred miles apart, so as to cover a stretch 

 of 1,200 miles of territory, and twenty mission- 

 aries were to be sent out two by two to supply 

 them. The mission in India was to be strength- 

 ened, and an additional income of 5,000 was 

 needed for the purpose. The President of the 

 Union made an address on the duties of the 

 Baptist churches toward unbelief and the unbe- 

 lieving, toward the masses outside of the Church 

 at home, and toward the heathen world. 



At the meeting of the Baptist Total Absti- 

 nence Society it was stated that one half of the 

 ministers of the Baptist denomination, and 208 

 out of 226 students in the Baptist colleges, 

 were total abstainers. 



VII. Baptist Union of Scotland, The Baptist 

 Union of Scotland held its annual meetings in 

 Glasgow, in October. It was reported that the 

 denomination now embraces 87 churches and 

 140 preaching stations and cottage meetings, 

 with 9,517 members, and 79 Sunday-schools, 

 having 926 teachers and 7,637 pupils. The in- 

 crease of members during the year was 367. 



BELGIUM, a constitutional monarchy in west- 

 ern Europe. The House of Bepresentatives is 

 elected in the ratio of one member to at least 

 40,000 inhabitants, by citizens paying direct 

 taxes to the amount of 43 francs, which re- 

 stricts the franchise to about one thirteenth of 

 the adult male population. The 132 deputies 

 are elected for four years, one half of the terms 

 expiring every two years. All laws relating to 

 finance and military service must originate in 

 this chamber. The members of the Senate 

 are elected in the same way as the deputies; 

 their number is exactly half that of the depu- 

 ties, and their terms are twice as long. The 

 reigning sovereign is Leopold II., born April 9, 

 1835, who succeeded his father, Leopold!., De- 

 cember 10, 1865. 



Arn and Population. The area of Belgium 

 is 29,455 square kilometres, or 11,373 square 

 miles. The population at the beginning of 

 1882 was 5,585,846, or 490 to the square mile. 

 The foreign-born population in 1880 was 143,- 

 261, of whom 51,089 were of French origin, 

 41,391 of Dutch, and 34,186 of German. Of 

 the 5,520,009 inhabitants returned in the 

 census of December 31, 1880, 2,237,868 spoke 

 French, 2,479,746 Flemish, 41,072 German, 

 420,313 French and Flemish, 35,321 French 

 and German, 2,809 Flemish and German, and 

 13,534 all three languages. The entire popu- 

 lation profess the Catholic religion, except 

 about 15,000 Protestants and 3,000 Jews. The 

 population of Brussels at the close of 1881 was 

 165,350, with suburbs, 388,781 ; of Antwerp, 



175,636; of Ghent, 133,755; of Liege, 126,- 

 233 ; of Bruges, 44,598 ; of Malines, or Mech- 

 lin, 43,354; of Verviers, 41,692; of Louvain, 

 36,367; of Tournai, 32,817. The number of 

 marriages in 1881 was 39,487 ; of births, 183,- 

 621 ; of deaths, 125,217. The net immigration 

 in 1881 was 1,842. 



Commerce. The aggregate imports of mer- 

 chandise in 1881 were valued at 1,680,900,000 

 francs, the exports at 1,302,700,000 francs. 

 The countries that figured most largely in the 

 import trade were France, with 334 millions ; 

 the United States, 270; England, 255; the 

 Netherlands, 236 ; Germany, 223 ; Russia, 126. 

 The export trade was mainly with France, 414 

 millions ; England, 254 ; Germany, 233 ; Neth- 

 erlands, 160. The share of the United States 

 was 42 millions. The values of the general 

 classes of merchandise were as follow, in mill- 

 ions of francs and tenths of millions : 



The imports of cereals were 349 millions of 

 francs, exports 137 millions; imports of colo- 

 nial goods 63, exports 43 millions ; imports of 

 tobacco I7i, of spirituous liquors 27 millions; 

 imports of animal food-products and animals 

 143, exports 66 millions ; imports of fuel 14, 

 exports 81 millions; imports of raw metals 59, 

 exports 112 millions; imports of textile ma- 

 terials 261, exports 95 millions ; exports of glass 

 and pottery 54 millions, of textile yarns 134, 

 and fabrics 81 millions, of machinery 56 mill- 

 ions, of paper 22 millions. 



Navigation. The number of steamers entered 

 at Belgian ports in 1881 was 3,201, tonnage 

 2,733,603 ; the number of sail-ships 1,835, ton- 

 nage, 628,961; total tonnage entered, 3,362,- 

 564 in 1880, 3,571,182 ; total tonnage cleared, 

 3,331,098 in 1880, 3,554,964. 



The merchant marine in 1882 comprised 18 

 sailing-vessels, of 7,354 tons, and 41 steamers, 

 of 70,486 tons. 



Railroads. The length of railroad lines in 

 operation in 1882 was 4,293 kilometres, of 

 which 3,038 belonged to the state. The re- 

 ceipts from state lines amounted to 119,256,- 

 301 francs, expenses 74,642,328 francs; the 

 receipts from lines owned by companies 39,- 

 626,462 francs, expenses 21,197,596 francs. 



Posts and Telegraphs. The number of private 

 letters forwarded by the post-office in 1882 

 was 81, 629,309; postal-cards, 22,586,876; news- 

 papers, 88,675,000. The receipts were 12,739,- 

 743 francs ; expenses, 7,796,598 francs. 



The length of telegraph lines in 1883 was 

 5,851 kilometres; of wires, 26,074. The num- 

 ber of dispatches in 1882 was 3,979,291 ; re- 

 ceipts, 2,628,597 francs; expenses, 3,425,503. 



The Army. Although a neutralized state, 



