80 



BELGIUM. 



Baptist Missionary Society The Baptist Mis- 

 sionary Society returned an income for the year 

 of 61,417, being an increase, as compared with 

 the previous year, of 2,273 ; but the expendi- 

 ture had exceeded that sum. 



The Baptist Zenana Mission reported that its 

 force of laborers included 42 zenana visitors, 

 25 assistants, and 104 native Bible-women. 

 These were laboring in 18 different districts, 

 visiting regularly 986 zenanas, and* teaching 

 daily some 1,500 people. The society closed 

 the year with a debt of 280 standing against it. 



The autumnal session of the Baptist Union 

 was held in Bristol, beginning October 4. The 

 meetings were devoted chiefly to discussions, 

 in formal addresses and written papers of sub- 

 jects relating to the prosperity and growth of 

 the denomination, and of the various enter- 

 prises in missions domestic and foreign ed- 

 ucation, and church building and extension, in 

 which the Union is actively interested. The 

 Baptist Zenana Mission (for India) reported 

 that its expenditures for the year had been a 

 little more than 6,000, and that some of the 

 girls who had been in its schools were now 

 teachers. The receipts of the Baptist Annuity 

 Fund for the year had been 9,315, and its 

 total investments to September 30 had been 

 109,738. The number of beneficiary mem- 

 bers was 843, and of annuitants 121, while 142 

 fresh applicants to be beneficiary members had 

 been accepted. The British and Irish Home 

 Missions reported a deficit of between 600 

 and 700. A resolution was adopted perti- 

 nent to the approaching jubilee of the Queen's 

 reign, directing the preparation of an address 

 to her Majesty and the offer of other suitable 

 testimonials of loyalty. 



Baptists in Scotland. The annual meeting of 

 the Baptists of Scotland was held in Glasgow 

 in October. The Rev. F. H. Roberts presided. 

 An increase of 512 members was reported, and 

 the whole number was now 9,930. A con- 

 gratulatory address to the Queen on the occa- 

 sion of her approaching jubilee, and resolutions 

 in favor of disestablishment and of interna- 

 tional arbitration, were adopted. 

 t General Baptists. The General Baptist Asso- 

 ciation met at Leicester in June. The statis- 

 tical report showed that there were in England 

 192 General Baptist churches, with 25,826 mem- 

 bers. The "Association Letter" dwelt upon 

 the ministry of religious truth in the villages of 

 England, and recommended the grouping of 

 villages under the leadership and in the circuit 

 of town churches. 



BELGIUM, a constitutional, representative, 

 and hereditary monarchy in Western Europe. 

 The legislative authority is vested in a Parlia- 

 ment consisting of two chambers. The sena- 

 tors are elected for a term of eight years, one 

 half retiring every four years. The members 

 of the House of Representatives are elected for 

 f >ur years, one half being replaced every two 

 years. The representatives are elected by vote 

 of all citizens paying direct taxes annually to 



the amount of 42 francs. The electoral lists in 

 1885 contained 126,419 names, being one out 

 of every thirteen adult males. 



Area and Population. The area of the king- 

 dom is 11,373 square miles. The estimated 

 population at the beginning of 1885 was 5,784,- 

 958, of which number 2,890,812 were males 

 and 2,894,146 females. The number of births 

 in 1884 was 176,721; deaths, 121,070; mar- 

 riages, 39,209 ; natural increase of population, 

 55,651. There was an increase by immigra- 

 tion of 2,565 persons in 1884. The population 

 of Brussels, the capital, on Jan. 1, 1885, was 

 403,389, inclusive of the suburbs; Antwerp 

 had 191,124 inhabitants; Ghent, 140,926; 

 Liege, 133,044; Mechlin, 46,499; Bruges, 

 45,559; Verviers, 44,667; Louvain, 37,490; 

 Tournai, 33,773 ; Seraing, 30,607. 



Commerce. The total volume of the general 

 commerce in 1883 was 5,410,900,000 francs. 

 The special imports amounted to 1,552,131,000 

 francs, and the special exports to 1,343,126,000 

 francs. Chief among the special imports were 

 cereals and rice of the value of 296,966,000 

 francs ; wool, woolen tissues, and yarn, 127,- 

 847,000 francs; metals and minerals, 114,929,- 

 000 francs; textile fabrics, excepting cottons, 

 woolens, and silks, 89,782,000 francs ; hides, 

 80,782,000 francs; live animals, 72,785,000 

 francs; oil-seeds, 57,750,000 francs; cotton, 

 56,416,000 francs; timber, 48,290,000 francs; 

 coffee and sugar, 47,921,000 francs; chemical 

 products, 34,473,000 francs ; butter, 25,820,000 

 francs; tlax and hemp, 13,034,000 francs; 

 vegetables, 11,093,000 francs. All other classes 

 of imports amounted to 474,514,000 francs. 

 The exports of the different classes of domes- 

 tic products were of the following amounts: 

 cotton, woolen, and linen thread, 121,340,000 

 francs; cereals, 107,837,000 francs; machin- 

 ery, 92,625,000 francs; coal, 85,329,000 francs; 

 stones, 74,870,000 francs; vegetable fibers, 

 67,599,000 francs; cotton, woolen, and linen 

 tissues, 66,782,000 francs ; wrought-iron, 63,- 

 938,000 francs; glass, 56,602,000 francs; sugar 

 and molasses, 56,435,000 francs; hides, 51,- 

 936,000 francs; raw zinc, 35,916,000 francs; 

 oil-seeds, 25,525,000 francs; resins, 17,685,000 

 francs ; candles, 14,432,000 francs ; food prepa- 

 rations, 14,174,000 francs; vegetables and 

 roots, 12,606,000 francs; all other articles, 

 349,831,000 francs. 



The imports from France amounted to 307,- 

 146,000 francs ; from Germany, to 233,100,000 

 francs; from the Netherlands, to 210,021,000 

 francs; from Great Britain, to 197,865,000 

 francs; from the United States, to 159,554,000 

 francs; from Russia, to 133,634,000 francs; 

 from Asiatic countries to, 80,862,000 francs ; 

 from the Argentine Republic, to 48,436,000 

 francs; from Sweden and Norway, to 34,914,- 

 000 francs; from Italy, to 22,283,000 francs; 

 from Brazil, to 22,265,000 francs. The exports 

 to Franco were of the value of 415,465,000 

 francs; to Great Britain, 273,594,000 francs; 

 to Germany, 229,390,000 francs ; to the Neth- 



