The number of associations reported is 74; number of ministers, 657; of Sunday-schools, 661; of members of Sunday-schools, 54,532; number of meeting-houses, 761; estimated value of the same, $7,845,447.

The following is a list of the educational institutions of the Universalists, with the number of students in each: Tufts College and Tufts Divinity School, College Hill, Mass., 80 students; Lombard University, Galesburg, Ill., 100 students; St. Lawrence University and Canton Theological School, Canton, N. Y., 79 students; Smithson College, Logansport, Ind., 90 students; Buchtel College, Akron, Ohio, 200 students; Liberal Institute, Clinton, N. Y., 125 students; Westbrook Seminary, Deering, Me., 175 students; Green Mountain Perkins Academy, South Woodstock, Vt., 53 students; Goddard Seminary, Barre, Vt., 80 students; Liberal Institute, Jefferson, Wis., 60 students; Dean Academy, Franklin, Mass., 90 students; Mitchell Seminary, Mitchellville, Iowa, 63 students: total, twelve literary and two theologi

cal schools, 1,195 students. Ninety-eight professors and teachers were employed in these institutions in 1873. The estimated value of their assets was, in round numbers, $2,295,000.

Five weekly newspapers, one bi-weekly periodical, one monthly, one literary and religious monthly periodical, one quarterly review, and three Sunday-school papers, are published in the interest of the Universalist denomination. The Universalist Publishing-House at Boston was founded in 1862, and has net assets amounting to $37,976.09. It owns the title and copyright of 119 volumes, and publishes six periodicals.

The General Convention, embracing the United States and British Provinces, meets annually on the third Wednesday of September. It was incorporated March 9, 1866. It is composed of the presidents (or in their absence, the vice-president) and secretaries of the State Conventions, together with delegates from State Conventions, in the following proportion, viz. 1. Every State Convention regularly admitted to fellowship is entitled to one clerical and two lay delegates. 2. If it have in its fellowship an aggregate of fifty parishes and clergymen, it is entitled to two clerical and four lay delegates; and for every additional fifty parishes and clergymen, to one clerical and two lay delegates. 3. If there be one or more organized parishes in a State where there is no convention, said parish or parishes may choose one delegate, who shall be entitled to full membership in the General Convention; provided, however, that to be counted on this basis of representation every parish must maintain its legal existence and support public worship, and every clergyman must be actively engaged in the work of the ministry, unless disabled by years or sickness. The General Convention is the court of final appeal in all cases of dispute and difficulty between State Conventions, and in all cases of discipline and questions of government not provided for and settled by subordinate bodies. It has original jurisdiction in States and Territories where no conventions are organized.

The General Convention of Universalists in the United States met at Washington, D. C., September 16, 1873. The Rev. A. A. Miner, D. D., was elected president. The treasurer reported that the aggregate amount of the Murray Centenary Fund in his hands on the 10th of September was $120,939.44; and that the Ballou Centenary Fund had remained in its original form, but was steadily accumulating interest, which will be added to the principal when received. The Murray Centenary Fund was originated by the General Convention of 1869, which proposed to raise under that name a permanent fund of $200,000, the income of which should be expended in aid of theological students, the distribution of the denominational literature, and in church extension. The Ballou Centenary Fund consists of a gift of $100 from Mr. R. A. Ballou, with

compound interest from September 30, 1870. The treasurer also reported that by the bequest of the late John G. Gunn, of Nyack, N. Y., the sum of $8,000 had been placed in the charge of the Board of Trustees, the income from which is to be applied to the relief of clergymen or their families requiring aid. The principal of the fund was invested in full. The aggregate receipts of the treasurer for the year had been $850 more than the receipts for the previous year. The indebtedness of the convention was now $22,500, having been diminished $6,000 during the year.

The income from the missionary boxes since the 4th of March had been $2,469.40. This was not as large a return as the trustees had hoped for, but they declared that their faith in the boxes was unimpaired. The convention determined, in order to promote the efficiency of the boxes by making their aim as definite as possible, that the receipts obtained through them should be applied to the works in aid of theological scholarship, and that if the amount collected should exceed the necessary disbursements for those purposes, the surplus should be applied to the Murray Centenary Fund. A committee of five persons, three of whom were women, was appointed to take charge of the boxes.

One hundred and sixty-five parishes had taken the annual collection. Adding individual contributions, the amount raised by this means, was $3,867.44. The trustees of the convention, in referring to this subject in their report, suggested that the minds of the people were perplexed by the pressing upon their attention of too many objects of benevolence at once. In this fact, they saw another argument for the completion of the Murray and other special funds.

Ten scholarships had been granted since the last session of the convention, and twelve students had been graduated. Thirty-nine scholarships had been in force during the year, at a cost to the convention of $6,000.

The statistical returns of the denomination in the hands of the officers of the convention were pronounced so meagre that any statement which could be made on the subject would be of little value. It appeared that there were more parishes than ministers, and that for this reason the progress of the denomination was greatly retarded. A code of regulations was adopted for the licensing of lay preachers. Statistical returns of Sundayschools were presented. Sunday-school institutes, described as "large and enthusiastic," had been held at Providence, R. I., Worcester, Mass., Waterville, Me., and at several places in the West. The committee appointed at the previous session of the General Convention to prepare a system of lessons for Sunday-schools, recommended the adoption of the "International Series."

Buchtel College, Akron, Ohio, was formally dedicated on the day succeeding the close of

the session of the General Convention of 1872. The theological schools were represented to have made an honorable record, notwithstanding they were young and scantily endowed.

The following resolutions were adopted, pertinent to the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance which was to be held in New York in October:

Whereas, The Evangelical Alliance is about to hold sessions in New York; and

Whereas, So far as we can understand the terms of the call and the objects of the meeting, we should be represented in it; therefore

Resolved, That a committee of three, of whom the president of this convention shall be one, be appointed to represent the Universalist Church in said meeting.

The Rev. Drs. Miner, of Boston, Chapin, of New York, and Ryder, of Chicago, were appointed as this committee.

In commenting on this action, the Christian Leader, of which Rev. Dr. Chapin was editor, said that it was taken, "not with any view to force on the Alliance the consideration of an unwelcome question, nor, on the other hand, with any desire to procure notoriety: but solely because it was the profound conviction of the delegates present, that there is no essential to a true evangelical faith, or character, in which the Universalist body is deficient; and that, in such a state of facts, selfrespect, equally with regard for the honor and reputation of the Protestant branch of the Christian Church of the time, demands that we claim recognition."

A resolution was adopted declaring the traffic in intoxicating liquors as a beverage to be contrary to Christian morality, injurious to the Church of Christ, and hurtful to the best interests of humanity; and that it should, therefore, be prohibited by statute, not only by the several States of the Union, but also by the General Government in all the domains over which its control extends.

The annual meeting of the Women's Centenary Association was held at Washington, D. C., September 17th. The treasurer's report showed that nearly $19,000 had been raised by the Association during the past year, the record of its existence. The Association resolved to prosecute its purposes with undiminished vigor, with full faith in its power to be a mighty instrumentality in promoting the best interests of the Universalist Church.

URUGUAY (REPUBLICA DE LA BANDA ORIENTAL DEL URUGUAY), or BANDA ORIENTAL, an independent state of South America, lying between latitude 30° and 30° 50′ south, and longitude 52° 40′ and 58° west.

The area of the republic is estimated at 84,170 square miles by Engineer José M. Reyes, but most other authorities set it down at 69,832 square miles. A statistical publication in Montevideo computes the population at 350,000, of whom 127,704 are in the department of Montevideo. The mortality in that department, in 1870, was 3,059; in 1871, 4,380; in

1872, 3,642; sixty-seven per cent. being Uruguayans, and the remaining thirty-three per cent. foreigners.

The city of Montevideo, the capital, has a population of about 60,000.

The Government is based upon the constitution proclaimed on July, 1831, by the terms of which the executive power is vested in a President, elected for a term of four years, and a Vice-President, whose term of office is of the same duration, and who is also Speaker of the Senate. The legislative power resides in a Congress, composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives, whose sessions are annual, and extend from February 15th to June 30th; the legislative power, as also the general control of the administrations being confided during the remainder of the year to a committee of two Senators and five Representatives.

The President of the Republic is Señor Don José Ellauri, who entered upon his official duties on March 1, 1873.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is Dr. G. Perez Gomar; Minister of the Interior (including Justice, Public Worship and Instruction), Dr. S. Alvarez; Minister of Finance, J. Peñaloa; and Minister of War and the Navy, E. Fonda.

The chief articles of importation are machinery, and almost all kinds of manufactured articles, beer, ales, wines, etc.

The following table shows the imports from Great Britain for the five years therein expressed:

9,088,915

The single article hides stands in each of the foregoing years for about one-half the total value.

There are two railways in the republic: that from Montevideo to Florida, about forty miles, opened in 1869; and that from Montevideo to Tupando, about fifteen miles, opened in 1873.

The estimated budget for 1873 was: revenue, $6,796,000; expenditures, $6,623,758, to be devoted to the conversion of the public debt (the twelve per cent. and nine per cent. portions) into a new debt to be negotiated in Europe, and to be applied likewise upon the regulation of the floating debt, and the reestablishment of equilibrium in the national budget.

The total custom-house receipts in 1870 were $4,538,854; in 1871, $5,312,318; and in 1872, $7,207,907.

From an official publication by the "Junta de Crédito Público," on January 1, 1873, the public debt would appear to have been at that time $41,481,235.

Since the creation of the debt in 1859, the Government has paid $10,305,406 upon the capital, and $12,153,955 of interest, amounting to a total of $22,459,361.

In the second half of the year the elections for Senators were held with the greatest tranquillity.

A number of military chiefs of the republic, who had served in the revolutionary army of Jordan (see ARGENTINE REPUBLIC), found on their return that they had been dismissed from the Uruguayan service; incensed at this measure, they threatened to recover by force their restoration to the army; and it was apprehended that a revolutionary outbreak would

VENEZUELA (ESTADOS UNIDOS DE VENEZUELA), an independent republic of South America, extending from latitude 1° 8' to 12° 16' north, and from longitude 53° 15' to 73° 17' west. It is bounded north by the Caribbean Sea, east by Guiana, south by Brazil, and west by the United States of Colombia.

The territory is divided into nineteen States and one Federal District: Apure, Aragua, Barcelona, Barquisimeto, Carabobo, Coro, Cuinaná, Guárico, Guayana, Maturin, Mérida, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Táchira, Trujillo, Yaracui, Zamora, Zulia, and the Federal District of Carácas.

The area is computed at 463,336 square

among the immigrants in December; some 500 cases were reported, most of which terminated fatally. The port of Montevideo was immediately closed to all shipping; and all measures possible were used to prevent the spread of the malady.

miles; and the population at 1,400,000, of whom about one per cent. are whites, the only pure race in the republic. The bulk of the population are mestizoes, from the union of whites and Indians; mulattoes, from whites and negroes; and zambos, from Indians and negroes.

Caracas, the capital, has about 50,000 inhabitants; some 4,000 of whom are foreigners. Other important towns are Maracaibo, 20,000; Ciudad-Bolívar, 15,000; Puerto Cabello, 12,000; and Laguayra, 8,000.

The President of the Republic is General A. Guzman Blanco. He was elected on February 20, 1874.

The Primer Designado, or First Substitute, is General F. Linares Alcántara; Segundo Designado, General Z. Crespo, both appointed May 16, 1873; President of the High Federal Court, P. Casanova.

The cabinet consists of the following_ministers: Interior and Justice, General J. G. Ochoa; Foreign Affairs, General J. Gutierrez; Finance, S. Goeticoa; Public Works, M. Urbaneja; Public Credit, Simentel y Roth; and War and the Navy, General L. Gil. This cabinet was formed June 30, 1873.

The Governor of the Federal District is J. M. Paul.

Archbishop of Carácas (vacant).
Apostolic Vicar, A. Baralt.

The ranks of the army are virtually recruited by impressment, although volunteering is the system prescribed by law. The present Government promulgated, in February, 1873, an act rendering military service obligatory both in the regular army and the militia; each State is required to furnish its contingent, which shall be renewed annually to the extent of one-fourth of its number. The term of service is four years. The effective strength of the army for 1873-'74 is to be 3,000 men.

The navy is made up of six wooden steamvessels, of an aggregate tonnage of 3,500, and 780 horse-power, and mounting 21 guns; besides a few armed small-craft.

The commerce of Venezuela is insignificant as compared to the vast extent and capabilities of the country; an effect due to three principal causes: frequent civil wars, indolence, and a too sparse population. The chief staples of export are coffee, cacao, dye-stuffs and dye-woods, cotton, etc., most of which last is taken by Great Britain.

The following shows the value of the exports to England in the five years, 1868-'72 inclusive:

to about 100 per cent. of the value of the merchandise. There is no export duty.

Venezuela is the most backward of all the Spanish-American republics in highways and means of communication between the producing centres and the seaports. The present Government has, however, inaugurated some praiseworthy improvements in this respect.

Four regular lines of European steamers visit the different ports, and there is monthly steam communication with New York.

In the budget for 1873-74, the revenue was represented at $3,549,000 ($2,310,000 of which was expected from imports and duties); and the expenditure at $3,642,344, constituting a deficit of $93,344.

The public debt was stated at $120,804,560 in 1871, exclusive of a large indebtedness consisting of indemnities for damage during the civil war since 1870, and other liabilities not yet determined; by all of which the total amount of the debt would probably be raised to little less than $250,000,000 at the end of 1873. As no payments of either capital or interest have been made for several years, the republic is virtually bankrupt. A law was promulgated on November 30, 1872, appropri ating 10 per cent. of the national revenue to the payment of interest on the foreign debt, amounting at that time to £2,000,000. The conversion of this debt into a single emission of the same amount was proposed to the London creditors in July, 1873. In case their sanction should be granted, the interest would commence from January 1st of the same year, and be paid semi-annually in Carácas as prescribed by the bondholders.

VERMONT. The financial condition of this State appears to be remarkably prosperous. At the end of the last fiscal year, August 1, 1873, the whole amount of her funded debt, including $187,000 of registered loan and coupon bonds of various sums, maturing on December 1, 1874, 1876, 1878, and June 1, 1890, respectively, was $433,000. The largest one of three loans, amounting to $135,500, and

Cotton fabrics comprise far more than onehalf the value of the imports in the years just mentioned.

The largest trade is with Germany; next in order are England, France, and the United States. To the last country raw-sugar (papelon) has been exported for a few years past.

and there is in the sinking fund $101,851.02, to meet as much of the rest-the deduction of which two items from the above-mentioned sum reduces the actual amount of the State indebtedness to $195,649.

The State receipts from all sources during the year 1873 amounted to $869,034.24; and the aggregate expenditures to $628,262.17: leaving in the Treasury an available surplus of $240,772.07.

The current liabilities of the State, at the beginning of the new fiscal year, were $30,881.33; and the current resources, including $5,255.25 due on taxes of 1872, amounted to $246,027.32; showing an excess of resources over liabilities of $215,145.99.

amount collected on the same class of taxes for 1871 had been $504,134.68.

At the close of the year 1873, there was enough on hand of the unexpended appropriation previously made to cover all the State bonds which mature in 1874; so that no moneys need be voted except for ordinary current expenses until 1876.

During the panic which broke out in September, 1873, the creditors of the State of Vermont manifested such a feeling of security in her promises to pay, that in the course of two months from the beginning of the panic, while securities of all sorts were thrown by their possessors on the market for the purpose of converting them into money, or of getting rid of them, the Treasurer of the State sought to buy her outstanding bonds, but was unable to find any of them for sale, except $5,000 in Baltimore.

The four towns here-below named were considered to be comparatively the wealthiest of all in the State, as in the official returns for the grand list they figured highest in proportion to the number of their respective inhabitants: Charlotte-population 1,430, grand list $9,119.92, for each person $6.30; Addisonpopulation 911, grand list $5,600.24, for each person $6.14; Shoreham-population 1,225, grand list $7,507.47, for each person $6.12; Orwell-population 1,192, grand list $7,168,46, for each person $6.01. Randolph, which used to be reported as the richest town in Vermont, is now returned as having a population of 2,229, and a grand list of $10,606.64, or $3.74 for each person.

The expenditures of the State for the education of her youth, and the condition of the public schools with regard to the manner in which they are conducted and provided for, appear not to stand on a settled basis. The schools are supported wholly by taxation, and this is not uniform, but exceedingly unequal; the highest rate of school taxation being three hundred per cent., the lowest one per cent. on the grand list; which inequality seems likely to render the schools in the State extremely unequal in respect to the efficiency of their educational results, and the number of pupils attending them. In 1872 the number of children of school age in Vermont was reckoned at 85,000, about 74,000 of them being considered to have attended the public schools. The expense of such schools in 1872 amounted to $500,000; and $1,500,000 are invested in school property. The expense of schools was defrayed by the United States deposit fund, and by town and district tax; the lastnamed tax having provided for two-thirds of the expense. One hundred and twenty-two school districts had no tax; 190 terms were taught with an average of only five pupils; and 1,009 terms averaged less than ten pupils.

The Vermont State Teachers' Association, whose organization is of twenty-three years' standing, held their annual meeting at Rut

land on the 30th and 31st of January, 1873, 148 teachers being in attendance. A large number among them addressed the meeting, and many a subject was discussed concerning public instruction in general, and its several branches in particular. One of the addresses treated of the present system of taxation for the support of schools, pointing out some of the evil effects produced by its want of uniformity. As a remedy, the speaker proposed a plan whereby “ a State tax of 26 mills on the dollar, and a poll-tax of $2 should be levied for the support of schools."

Normal schools have been established at several places in the State, and are in successful operation, especially the one at Randolph. The regular teaching force in this school consisted of the principal and four assistants; and the students who attended it during the four quarters of 1873 numbered 460, a larger attendance than at any previous time. These schools are not under the direct and full control of the State, although she favors them, and promotes their interest by pecuniary contributions to pay for tuition; State aid being intended as a help to those who would devote themselves to teaching, but whose circumstances do not permit them to pursue their studies, and qualify themselves for that purpose. At the last session, the General Assembly gave each of the normal schools in the State an additional appropriation of $500, to be expended under the direction of the Board of Education. The board directed this amount to be used in the payment of the teachers.

The Vermont Asylum for the Insane, at Brattleboro, also, is not under the direct control of the State, but is conducted under the management of trustees acting in the name and behalf of a private corporation, although the State has contributed much more largely than private persons to its establishment.

Upon complaints made about matters vitally affecting the interests and object of such an institution, the General Assembly, at its last session, appointed a special joint committee, composed of two Senators and two members of the House of Representatives, to examine into the affairs of the asylum, so as to ascertain its condition in all respects, and report. The committee, after having by personal inspection, the hearing of witnesses, and other means of information, acquired all the knowledge which they were able to collect in regard to the financial condition of the asylum, and its interior management, more especially in the treatment of its inmates, stated the result of their labors in a report, the substance of which is as follows:

In 1834 Mrs. Anna Marsh, of Hinsdale, N. H., by will bequeathed the sum of $10,000, in trust for the purpose of founding a hospital for the insane in the county of Windham, near Connecticut River. incorporating "The Vermont Asylum for the InIn November, 1834, the Legislature passed an act ," which act, in words, followed very nearly the language of Mrs. Marsh's will. This act is referred

sane,