The number of ministers was 27; of churches, 50; of members, 1,064, greater than in 1878. The number of licentiates was 151, or 3 less than in 1878. The amount of moneys pledged to the Systematic Benevolence Fund was $51,714, or $4,076 more than in 1878.

The General Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventists met in its eighteenth annual session at Battle Creek, Michigan, November 7th. Twenty conferences and two missions were represented by thirty-nine delegates. The Conference Treasurer reported that his receipts and expenditures for the year had been respectively $8,848. A committee, who had been appointed by the previous General Conference to look after a number of Russian "Sabbath-keepers" who had settled in Dakota, reported that they had been found to be holding fast to their principles, and were anxious to become identified with the denomination. The denomination attaches importance to a gift of prophecy which it believes to be possessed by Mrs. E. G. White, and several sessions of the Conference were devoted to the consideration of the subject. The report which was adopted upon it declared that the past experience of the denomination had fully proved "that our prosperity as a people is always in proportion to the degree of confidence we cherish in the

work of the spirit of prophecy in our midst; that the most bitter opposition it had to meet was aimed against this work, showing that its enemies realized the importance of the same; and that great light had shone upon it through this channel. It also recommended several measures for the publication and more extensive circulation of the writings of Mrs. White, particularly the volumes of the "Spirit of Prophecy" and the "Testimonies of the Church," and declared it to be the duty of the ministers to teach the "Scriptural view of the gift of prophecy" and of the relation it sustains to the work of God. Resolutions were adopted expressing the opinion, as the sense of the Conference, "that none but those who are Scripturally ordained are properly qualified to administer baptism and other ordinances," and that it is "inconsistent for our Conferences to grant credentials to individuals to occupy official positions among our people who have never been ordained or set apart by our people." A committee was appointed to consider the subject of the proper qualification of ministers, and report to the next meeting of the Conference. A Mission Board of nine members was constituted, and charged with the special oversight of all the foreign missions of the denomination, which is to report annually to the General Conference. The Conference resolved that it was the duty of all members of the denomination to becoine members of the American Health and Temperance Association, and to induce others to do the same; that health and temperance clubs ought to be formed in every church; that persons should be encouraged to fit themselves to engage in health and temperance work; that ministers especially should prepare themselves to present these subjects and make it a part of their work; and "that it should not be considered that any minister has fully discharged his duty in any new field where a company of Sabbath-keepers has been raised up, until he has fully advocated, in public and in private, the subjects of health and temperance and spiritual gifts, and organized systematic benevolence; and a failure in this shall be considered worthy of censure."

The twentieth annual meeting of the Seventh Day Adventist Publishing Association was held at Battle Creek, Michigan, November 11th. The Treasurer reported that the Association possessed property to the value of $215,237, and that its assets over the amount of indebtedness were $103,712, showing an increase of net assets during the year of $4,599. The receipts for the year had been $284,799. The Association published a general religious newspaper, the "Advent Review and Sabbath Herald," papers in the Danish, Swedish, and German languages, a health journal, a monthly and a weekly paper for youth, lesson - sheets for Sabbath-schools, and books and tracts. The periodicals had in all 23,133 subscribers; the total amount of issues of books and tracts during the year had been 14,274,560 pages.

The fifth annual meeting of the Seventh-Day Advent Educational Society was held at Battle Creek, Michigan, November 9th. The Treasurer reported that the property of the Society amounted to $52,758 in value, and that its net assets after all indebtedness was paid would be $46,423. The receipts for the year had been $9,416. The institution at Battle Creek had been attended by 426 students. Three new departments, a normal department, or teacher's institute, commercial, and primary departments had been added. The debt of the institution was continually decreasing, and would be reduced to about $6,000, or one half of what it was in 1875, during the present year.

AFGHANISTAN, a Mohammedan country in Central Asia; area, about 278,000 square miles; population, about 4,000,000. The recent war between this country and England, and the views which both England and Russia are supposed to entertain with regard to the annexation of parts of its territory, have attracted the attention of the entire civilized world to Afghanistan, which has hitherto belonged to the least known parts of Asia. The Government of British India has for years made incessant efforts to obtain accurate information about Afghanistan, not only through its military expeditions and diplomatic missions, but through numerous travelers and explorers whom it has supported. These efforts to explore the unknown country have required many sacrifices. Stoddard, who was the first to cross the mountains from Herat to Bokhara, and Arthur Connolly, who pursued a new way from Cabool, by way of Merv, to Khiva, Khokand, and Bokhara, perished in 1841 in Bokhara. Edward Connolly, the first discoverer of Seistan, was shot from an unknown fort in Kohistan. Dr. Lord, the companion of Wood in the valley of the Oxus, was assassinated about the same time. Dr. Forbes was murdered in 1841 in Seistan. Lieutenant Pattinson, who was the first to explore the middle and lower valley of the Helmund, was killed by the mutinous Jan-bas in Candahar. Colonel Sanders, who had drawn an excellent map of the region between Candahar and the Hasareh Mountains, was slain a few years later at Maharajpoor. Eldred Pottinger, who twice crossed the mountains between Cabool and Herat, escaped the massacre of Cabool and the danger of an imprisonment by the Afghans, but died soon after of yellow fever in Hong Kong. Alexander Burnes, one of the most distinguished geographical explorers, was one of the first victims of the rising in Cabool. The most important of the English explorations in Afghanistan are laid down in the collective work, "Central Asia, compiled for Political and Military Reference." A synopsis of all the recent explorations is given by F. von Stein, in Petermann's " Mittheilungen," 1878, I., and 1879, I. and II.

The boundaries of Afghanistan have never been fixed. The frontier which separates the

Afghan territory of Herat from the Persian province of Seistan in the southwest, and from Beloochistan in the south, was regulated in 1872 by an English commission of arbitration. In 1873 Russia and England agreed upon the northern frontier of Afghanistan, which was to embrace Badakshan with the dependent district Wakhan, the districts of Koondooz, Khooloom, and Balkh, and the interior districts of Akhshee, Siripal, Maymene, Shibergan, and Anjai. The eastern frontier, which separates it from British India, is likewise fixed, but the Afghan tribes which live east of it can not be relied upon, and frequently make it insecure. The frontier between Afghanistan and Kafiristan has never been settled, and the English maps generally leave it unmarked.

The

The administrative division of the country was made by Dost Mohammed, who tried to unite the multitudinous independent tribes in an organic whole, and organized the three provinces of Caboolistan in the northeast, Herat in the west, and Candahar in the southeast. former contains the capital of the country, with the residence of the Ameer, who is accustomed to appoint his nearest relatives governors of the two other provinces. The provinces north of the Hindoo Koosh and its western continuations are treated as conquered lands, and constitute the four administrative districts of Badakshan, Khooloom, Balkh, and Anjai. The governors of all these provinces are appointed by the Ameer, and the Governor of Balkh is regarded as governor-general, the three other governors being dependent upon him.

The

Afghanistan has not many cities. The capital, Cabool, is situated about 6,000 feet high, and is strongly fortified by nature, being only accessible from one side. The residence of the Ameer, Shere Ali, was in the fort Bala-Hissar. On October 4, 1874, an earthquake destroyed about a thousand houses, and greatly added to the wretched aspect of the city. The number of inhabitants is estimated at 60,000. The city of Candalar is only a shadow of what it was in former times. About twenty miles from the city are the ruins of the city of Alexandria, which was built by Alexander the Great. present population of Candabar probably does not exceed 15,000, though according to some it is from 60,000 to 80,000. In May, 1874, a part of the city wall fell down, destroyed four hundred houses, and killed many persons. Herat is the chief station on the great road that leads from India to Persia, and as such has long been an apple of discord between the Persians and Afghans. The English regard Herat as so important that they interfered when it was threatened in 1837 by the Persian Shah Mohammed. In 1856 they even began a war against Persia in order to prevent it from occupying Herat. Ghuznee, northeast of Candahar, was the residence of the first Mohammedan dynasty which ruled in India. It was captured by the English in 1839, and again in 1842, and Shere Ali defeated his brother here

in 1868, and secured to himself the rule over Afghanistan.

Their language as well as their physical constitution prove the Afghans to belong to the Aryan race. They are a well-formed, handsome, intelligent people, free from Oriental ignorance and indolence. Almost every village has a mollah, who is at the same time school-teacher and reader in the mosque. The boys quite generally learn to read, to write, and to say the common prayers, and it is believed that about one fourth of the entire population is in possession of an elementary education. The instruction is given in the Afghan language, but the boys also learn Persian, which is the literary language in Cabool, Candahar, and Peshawer, as well as the colloquial language of the higher classes, and is spoken in the western districts almost exclusively. The schools in the towns are very good, and their courses of instruction embrace Persian and Arabic. The high school of Peshawer, which embraced the whole course of Mohammedan science, was celebrated throughout Central Asia. Nearly all the Afghans are Sunnite Mohammedans; the educated classes are tolerant, and, inclining toward Sufism, sometimes exhibit considerable indifference in regard to the Koran.

A full account of the British-Indian campaign against Afghanistan to the end of 1878 was given in the "Annual Cyclopædia" for that year, and mention was made of the ending of the active campaign with the capture of Candahar on the 9th of January. At the end of 1878 the British-Indian forces had marched by three columns into the Afghan country, and had seized the principal passes leading to the important stations of Candahar, Cabool, and Jelalabad. Shere Ali, having become convinced that reliance could not be placed on his troops, had fled after the capture of Fort Ali Musjid and the Peiwan, leaving Yakoob Khan in charge of his capital; and the capture of Jelalabad, December 20th, placed the country substantially at the mercy of the invading force. It was for some time doubtful where Shere Ali had gone, and contradictory reports were in circulation on the subject. It appeared from information which afterward reached the Viceroy of India that, when his military condition had become critical, he held a durbar, at which the chiefs agreed that effective resistance was not practicable, and the Ameer decided to seek the protection of the Russians. Yakoob Khan was released from confinement and placed in control, an oath having been administered to him that he would do as the Ameer might direct; and the Ameer left Cabool on the 13th of December. The Afghan envoys who had been sent to the Russian General Kaufmann at Tashkend held a farewell interview with him about the 1st of January, when the General informed them that the Czar absolutely refused to intervene in the affairs of Afghanis

tan. Two or three days later General Kaufmann received a letter from General Rasgonoff, the Russian agent at Cabool, stating that he had left Cabool with the Ameer for the Russian frontier. General Kaufmann had telegraphed to Prince Gortchakoff for instructions, and had advised that the Ameer be received if he crossed the Russian frontier. Shere Ali left affairs at Cabool in a disordered state. His authority, according to the accounts received from there, had almost disappeared, and Yakoob Khan had difficulty in securing himself in his new position, and there appeared danger for some time that he would be overthrown before he could adopt any definite attitude with respect to the invasion.

The British advance against Candahar was begun on the 31st of December, 1878, when a large part of General Stewart's division marched through the Ghamaja Pass, and General Biddulph's division crossed the Khojek pass. The two bodies met at Tuk-i-Put, at the junction of the two passes, and on the 6th or 7th of January their advanced cavalry encountered the Afghan cavalry, 600 strong, and easily defeated them, with a loss of 34 killed and prisoners, and 4 wounded on the British side. The enemy fled toward Candahar. On the 8th the advancing force was met by two deputations from Candahar. One deputation, representing the townsfolk, reported that the governor of the town had fled with an escort of troops to Herat, taking with him most of the civil officers and a sum of money, and that the rest of the army had fled on receiving the news of the defeat at Tuk-i-Put; and they stated that the people were prepared to open their gates on the arrival of the columns. The other deputation was from the deputy-governor, tendering a formal surrender of the city. On the next day the British entered the city, the first brigade of General Stewart's division and the first of General Biddulph's moving together. The march proved a difficult one, for the dikes by the roadside had been broken and the road was flooded; but the people were quiet, and the troops were well received. The large Hindoo colony dwelling in the town welcomed them, it was said, with delight. Candahar is described by a special correspondent who was with General Stewart's column as "less a great city than a collection of numerous walled villages lying in an oblong plain, intersected every fifty yards by watercourses, and surrounded by a common wall. It is encircled by abrupt stony hills. It possesses no good streets practicable for wheeled vehicles, and in empty spaces within the walls are many rugged trees, and some large sapling plantations, which assist in destroying its appearance as a great city. The mud walls encircling it are of great height and thickness, and are in a state of fair repair. The bastions and towers described as existing in 1840 have now entirely disappeared." The condition of the citadel indicated that military

preparations of a rough nature had been made to stand a siege, when the news of the skirmish at Tuk-i-Put caused an entire change of plans.

January 22d. Announcing to them his intended withdrawal, he pointed out to them that the British arms had been successful everywhere, that resistance to its progress was hopeless, that neither Shere Ali nor Yakoob Khan could reign at Cabool unless he accepted the British terms, and that it was idle to entertain any hope of Russian assistance. On the next day he marched to Subbery, twelve miles distant, leaving Sultan Jan as the British representative at Matoond. On the following day news arrived that the Mangals were threatening the fort. A force was dispatched back to Matoond, who found the hills swarming with Afghans. General Roberts rescued his representative, stripped the fort, burned the stores, and marched back to his camp, allowing it to be announced that he had abandoned Khost for the present, convinced that similar disturbances would be incessant. Wali Mahomed, a half brother of Shere Ali, tendered his submission, and was received by General Roberts at a durbar held for the purpose.

General Roberts, after annexing the Kuram Valley, advanced into the Khost Valley, in an endeavor to make a new route into Afghanistan. At Bukk, the governor of the province sent in an officer to announce his surrender. At Yakubi, which General Roberts reached January 6th, the deputy-governor of Khost came to pay his respects to the British commander, and transferred to him the forts and records. Notwithstanding these favorable signs, his force was in a critical position. Large numbers of Mangals were hovering around the camps in a threatening manner, and the men were obliged to sleep on their arms. On the 7th, in anticipation of an attack in the night, General Roberts went out against the Mangals, and defeated them after a brisk action. A reconnaissance was made of the southern and western extremities of the valley, and a promise was gained from the people that they would not give the British any trouble. The Mangals, however, continued to maintain a threatening attitude, and a return to the Kuram Valley was decided upon. Before leaving Khost, General Roberts called the chiefs of the valley to a durbar at Matoond

While these movements were going on, a band of Mazud Waziris, a tribe who did not acknowledge the rule of the Ameer, made an incursion into British territory, and plundered and burned the frontier town of Tank. Reenforcements were sent to the neighborhood to prevent a repetition of the outrage, who made

attacks upon the marauders and finally cut them off.

The general demeanor of the inhabitants of Candahar after the occupation of the city was quiet; nevertheless, two attempts were made to assassinate British officers. One was against Major St. John, general political superintendent, who was fired at but not wounded; the other against Lieutenant Willis, of the Royal Artillery, who died a few days after ward from the effects of his wound. Gholab Hussein Khan was appointed civil administrator of Candahar, under the supervision of Major St. John. General Stewart prosecuted a reconnaissance to Khelat-i-Ghilzai, a town eighty-eight miles northeast of Candahar, on the road to Ghuznee and Cabool, and occupied it without resistance January 20th. General Biddulph was dispatched to Girishk, at the ford of the Helmund, on the road to Herat, and reached his destination, also without opposition, on the 29th. General Stewart returned to Candahar, where he made preparations to send his surplus troops back to India, while he retained with him as many men as would be needed. Approaches toward Yakoob Khan with reference to negotiation were repelled by him, he answering in writing that he had orders from Shere Ali to hold Cabool and would do it. He was, however, troubled at home with quarrels with his tribal chieftains. He having occupied a fort of the Ghilzais at Tezeen, hostilities were begun against him by that tribe.

Shere Ali, after his flight from Cabool, made his way toward the Russian frontier. He became ill, and sent to General Kaufmann for a military surgeon. On his arrival at the Russian frontier, his followers were disarmed, he alone being allowed to retain his arms. The Russian authorities endeavored to persuade him not to go to St. Petersburg, but he insisted upon it. He was said to have been astonished at his treatment by the Russians, he having expected to be received as an ally. His illness, which arose from a gangrene of the thigh, increased, and he was obliged to remain at Mazar-i-Shereef, near Balkh, and postpone his journey to Tashkend. He, however, dispatched an embassy to Tashkend, consisting of his nephew, his Grand Vizier, his Minister of Justice, and his Minister of the Interior, which traveled in state and was attended by a numerous suite. General Kaufmann had received instructions from St. Petersburg, in anticipation of the arrival of the embassy, to decline all negotiations. He had previously stated to an American correspondent, in explanation of the attitade of the Russian Government, that there would be no Russian interference between Afghanistan and England unless a European war should break out in which Russia and England should not be on the same side. "Besides," he added, "it is the Emperor alone who can decide the future." All question on this subject was put to rest by the death of Shere Ali,

which took place February 21st. The event was officially announced to the Viceroy of India in a note written to him February 26th by Yakoob Khan, who also, speaking of a previous letter he had sent to the Viceroy, added, "As my father was an old friend of the British Government, I send this information out of friendship." Shere Ali was attended by a Russian doctor, Javorsky, who states that after his death the town was in a state of anarchy for five days. A conflict broke out between the partisans of Yakoob Khan, his brother Ibrahim Khan, and his nephew Ahmed Khan. The partisans of Yakoob Khan were victorious, and appointed a new governor, who released Javorsky from the prison into which the contestants had thrown him, and escorted him to the frontier to secure his personal safety. The ambassadors sent by Shere Ali to General Kaufmann took leave of him March 9th. The Russian General, acting under instructions from the Czar, gave them no message to the new Ameer. The coldness of the Russians toward Shere Ali indicated that they had adopted a different policy in reference to the British in Afghanistan from that which it had been supposed they would pursue. In explanation of the change, it was believed that an understanding had been reached between the British and Russian Governments, involving a toleration by the former of certain features of the Russian policy toward Turkey, in consideration of a similar toleration by the Russians of the British operations in Afghanistan. The diplomatic correspondence on the Central Asian question published in February showed that the withdrawal of the Russian embassy from Cabool had been arranged for in December, 1878.

General Biddulph's rear-guard was attacked on the march from Girishk on the Helmund, February 26th, by from 1,500 to 2,000 Alizai Duranis, who were driven off with an estimated loss of 150 killed. This event rendered necessary a continued occupation of Girishk.

Yakoob Khan was proclaimed Ameer immediately after the death of Shere Ali, and seems to have had no difficulty in retaining the recognition he had already gained at Cabool. Efforts to negotiate with him were continued by the British, with at first but little prospect of success. In the latter days of March Major Cavagnari informed the Viceroy that there were no hopes of coming to peaceful terms with Yakoob Khan, and an immediate advance on Cabool was ordered. The British forces suffered from the guerrilla attacks of the native tribes, in consequence of which expeditions were sent out on the 1st of April to Futtehabad and Lughman, with orders to reduce the tribes holding those places to obedience. A squadron of hussars of the former expedition, in crossing the Cabool River at night, missed the ford, and Lieutenant Harford and fifty men were drowned. The other expedition attacked the Khujianis who were threatening the column, and defeated them.