privileges which it did not grant to anybody else. The Government, he said, would know how to make the laws respected; and the struggle of the Right against the secularization of public instruction-adopted as it was now in all civilized countries--would only expose them to the ridicule of all Europe. M. Malon, the leader of the opposition, announced the intention of his party, in case it should regain power, to abrogate the new law of public instruction and substitute the confessional school subsidized by the state for the neutral and lay school. A proposal was adopted on the 23d of March for the appointment of a Parliamentary commission of inquiry into the state of elementary instruction. A commission of eight Clerical and seventeen Liberal members was selected on the 5th of May to pursue the designated inquiry. The members of the Right declined to serve upon the commission, and the appointment of members to fill their places was thrown upon the officers of the Chamber. The commission, having been organized, published a statement in June, defining the scope of its inquiry, and inviting all persons who could assist it with evidence to cooperate with it, and proceeded to its work.

The question of maintaining the legation at the Vatican was discussed in March. The Premier on the 3d assured the Chamber that no concession had been made, and no particle of the rights of the kingdom had been alienated by the continued residence of its envoy at the Holy See. The Minister of Foreign Affairs declared on the 9th that no foreign government had made any communication to him on the subject, and that it was well understood that the Chamber would have to pronounce upon the matter every year, and that no decision definitely committing the country could ever be made respecting it. The Chamber decided in favor of maintaining the legation by a vote of ninety-seven yeas to eight nays and two abstentions.

Several Liberal members voted for the measure in order to avoid dividing their party.

The bill to prolong the existing law relative to the treatment of foreigners in Belgium was adopted in May, and was accepted by the Senate on the 12th. During the debate upon it, M. Bara, the Minister of Justice, said that the line of conduct of the Government toward the French Jesuits, should they come to Belgium, would be precisely the same as had been adopted toward the members of religious bodies expelled from Germany. The laws of the state would be enforced as toward them. If they did not trouble the internal and external security of the country, no measure would be taken against them; but, if they came to Belgium to do what was forbidden to them in France, the Government would prevent them.

The Cardinal-Archbishop of Malines and the Bishop of Bruges had made provision before the year began for giving religious instruction to the pupils of the communal schools

within their dioceses. The Archbishop of Malines, in his pastoral for Lent, condemned the public schools, and advised the faithful not to send their children to them. The bishops afterward, upon consultation, decided to allow the children to take their first communion, without raising any objections with reference to the schools they might attend, and to instruct the parish priests to further the religious instruction of the children in their parishes. The Cardinal-Archbishop received a letter from the Pope, in April, approving the position which the bishops had assumed, and commending their efforts to open and found new Catholic schools, "in order to prevent, or at least to diminish, the disastrous consequences of the new school law, which is completely opposed to the principles and prescriptions of the Catholic Church." When asked the meaning of this letter, the Pope replied that he had not in it intended any hostility to the Belgian Government. The payment of salaries from public funds to the curates of parish priests, whose nomination had not been submitted to the Minister of Justice for approval, was suppressed. The expressions of the bishops became more moderate, and their opposition to the secularized schools assumed a less decided form after the elections for the renewal of the Chamber in June, and they appeared desirous to avoid the rupture between the Government and the Vatican which was threatened. Orders had, however, already been sent, on the 5th of June, to the Baron d'Anethan, the envoy, to give notice to Cardinal Nina that the Belgian legation to the Holy See was withdrawn. In his letter conveying the orders the Premier said: "The maintenance of the Belgian legation was possible, and even useful, so long as the Pope remained neutral in the conflict created in Belgium by the opposition of the clergy to the laws and institutions of the country, and so long as his Holiness used his influence to moderate the struggle. The legation, however, became useless from the moment that the Pope encouraged resistance to the laws of the state. After declaring the measures taken by the bishops, with regard to the educational law, to be excessive and inopportune, the Pope, by an unheard-of change of attitude, approves the instructions given by the bishops to the clergy. Under these circumstances the Government considers it to be its duty to recall the legation." The Belgian envoy left Rome immediately after receiving his recall. Notice of the rupture was given to the Papal Nuncio at Brussels on the 28th of June. A memorandum respecting the difficulty was published by the Holy See, which begar by stating that the rupture of diplomatic relations had produced so painful an impression on the minds of Catholics, and had attracted so greatly the attention of all parties, that the Pope felt it a duty imposed upon him by his dignity to make a clear and public exposition of the facts which preceded it. The Belgian Minister of Foreign

Affairs addressed a circular, on the 17th of July, to the Belgian diplomatic representatives abroad, in which, on the evidence afforded by letters from the Primate, and a bishop, he accused the Papal Nuncio of having, at a time when it was pretended at Rome that nothing was known of the resolutions of the Belgian bishops, taken part in the framing of political manifestoes containing direct attacks on the Government. He also, upon the same evidence, accused the Pope and his Secretary of State of having approved and praised, but with the most absolute secrecy, the measures which they declared to the Government of the King they were ignorant of and were unable to prevent. Cardinal Nina replied to the circular, July 25th, defending the action of the Vatican, and accusing M. Frère-Orban of having premeditatedly broken off relations with the Holy See. The Premier replied with a review of the course and letters of the Cardinal.

The elections to the provincial councils were held on the 24th of May, and resulted on the whole favorably to the Liberal party.

The biennial elections for the renewal of one half the members of the second Chamber were held on the 8th of June. The Chamber, as it was constituted previous to the elections, consisted of one hundred and thirty-two members, sixty-one of whom belonged to the Right and seventy-one to the Liberal party. Of the sixtysix members who were to retire, and whose places were to be filled at the elections, fortythree were of the Right and twenty-three of the Liberal party. The elections, when they were completed, resulted in a net gain of two members to the Liberal party. The single Liberal member from Antwerp was lost, all the candidates of the Right being returned; but two Liberal members were gained in the province of Luxemburg, and all of the fourteen Liberal deputies from Brussels were reëlected. The Chamber having been called in extraordinary session to participate in the national festivals, terminated the validation of the elections, and constituted its bureau, August 5th. M. Guillery was reelected President.

The National Exhibition in connection with the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence was opened at Brussels, on the 16th of June, in the presence of the King, the Queen, and the Count of Flanders. The festivities proper in honor of the anniversary were begun on the 18th of July, when the ten thousand civic guards of Brussels and five thousand civic guards representing the provincial towns, the troops of the garrison of Brussels, and the divisions which had gone through the manoeuvres at the camp of Beverloo were reviewed by the King. A statue of King Leopold I, which was erected with the proceeds of a national subscription that was opened after the death of that King, was unveiled in the new public park at Laeken, on the 21st, by the King. The Minister of the Interior delivered an address, reciting the events which had led to the

erection of the statue, and the Governor of Brabant spoke in the name of the subscribers to the monument fund. On the same day a Te Deum was sung in the church of St. Gudule, Brussels, in commemoration of the forty-ninth anniversary of the accession of Leopold I to the throne. The festivities were continued through the rest of July, the whole of August, and a part of September, at the capital and in the principal cities of the kingdom, with meetings, exhibitions, horse-races, boat-races, shooting-matches, concerts, military festivals, cavalcades, illuminations, fireworks, and flowershows. On the 15th of August both the Legislative Chambers met in the hall of the Chamber of Representatives to receive three of the surviving members of the Provisional Government and of the National Congress of 1830 and 1834. Of the three surviving members of the Provisional Government, one, M. Rogier, was still a member of the Chamber; nineteen members of the National Congress were still living, two of whom, M. Rogier and Canon de Haerne, were members of the Chamber, and one, Baron Nothomb, was Belgian envoy to Berlin. After the reception, the members of the Chambers proceeded in procession to take part in a patriotic festival in the Exhibition building. Deputations attended from numerous associations, from the army, from private societies, and burgomasters and deputations from the councils of every municipality in the kingdom. Several speeches were delivered, after which the King spoke at considerable length, expressing his gratitude to those to whom Belgium owed its admirable Constitution, describing the progress which had been made by Belgium since 1830, and adding that the country could not forget to pay a just tribute of thankfulness to the five great powers. A grand historical cavalcade, symbolical of the past and present of the Belgian nation, took place on the 17th.

Forty-two petitions, demanding the reestablishment of a duty on imports of agricultural products for the protection of agriculturists against the competition of importations from America, were referred by the Chamber of Deputies to the Permanent Commission of Industry. The commission in its report on the petitions advised against the reestablishment of the duty, but called the attention of the Government to various means which might be adopted for the improvement of agricultural industry, such as measures to prevent inundations, and the revision of the railway transport tariff.

An International Congress on Education was held in Brussels in the later days of September. Delegates from France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Holland, and Chili, took part in the several sections.

The International Congress of Freethinkers met in Brussels at the beginning of September, and was numerously attended. Reports were read on the historical development and present literature of rationalism in various countries. A committee was appointed on the subject of

a universal federation of freethinkers, the General Council of which, it was resolved, should have its seat in London. An International Congress of Commerce and Industry was opened at Brussels on the 6th of September. The King was present. The purpose of the Congress was explained by M. Dansaert, member of the Chamber and President of the Congress, and by M. Sainctelette, Minister of Public Works.

The Parliamentary session was opened November 9th. The King, in his speech from the throne, thanked the people for the manifestations of loyalty which they had given during the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of the nation; said that the condition of the Treasury had improved; and expressed a hope that the budget of 1880 would show a balance between revenue and expenditure. The rupture of diplomatic relations with the Vatican formed one of the most prominent topics of discussion. M. Frère-Orban, the Premier, in an address which occupied several hours on November 30th and December 1st, said that in his long political career he had always been in favor of the secularization of public education, and against the maintenance of diplomatic relations with the Papal See. He reviewed his negotiations with the Vatican, and contended that the Belgian Cabinet had acted with the greatest straightforwardness, and that the Vatican had been guilty of duplicity unexampled in diplomatic annals. The speech was cheered by the majority, and by the visitors who thronged the Chambers. The debate was continued, and the Premier, speaking during the following week, rebuked the clerical side for having dragged the name of the King into the debate, as if a private correspondence of the King with the Pope, or anybody else, was a matter of common concern. He denied that Leopold I had ever solicited from Pope Gregory XVI a cardinal's hat for the Nuncio Pecci (the present Pope) at Brussels, and stated that documents had been carried off from the archives of the Belgian Foreign Office under former ministries, notably those relating to the missions of the Nuncio Pecci. He also attacked the policy of the Clerical party in opposing amendments to the new Public Education Law, which would have rendered it more acceptable to them. The Liberal party gained one seat in the Senate by the election, in October, of M. de Kerckhove, from Ghent, to fill a seat which was formerly occupied by a member of the Clerical party. An election for one deputy was held in Brussels, November 29th. Five candidates were in the field, all advanced Liberals. Professor Vanderkindere, Rector of the University of Brussels, was chosen. He is an advocate of the movement called "the Flemish movement," the object of which is to secure for the Flemish language in the Flemish provinces equality of consideration with the French lan

guage.

Major-General Gratry was appointed Minister of War in November. He was formerly

director of the Engineer Department in the Ministry of War, and had lately been in military command of the province of Brabant.

Twelve persons were condemned, December 6th, to imprisonment for different terms on charges of participation in the traffic in English girls for immoral purposes. Since the case concerned English girls chiefly, the proceedings were watched by an English solicitor on behalf of the British Government.

BENEDICT, ERASTUS CORNELIUS, LL. D., Chancellor of the University of the State of New York, was born at Branford, Connecticut, March 19, 1800. His family removed to New York when he was three years of age. In 1821 he graduated with the highest honors from Williams College, Massachusetts. He taught school in various parts of the State of New York until he was admitted to the New York bar, in 1824. His interest in all that concerned public education remained undiminished through his legal career, although he attained a large practice, and for half a century was considered a leader in admiralty cases. Ile held no office until 1840, when he was chosen Assistant Alderman for the Fifteenth Ward. In 1850 he became a member of the Board of Education, of which body he remained the President until his resignation in 1863. He systematized the whole educational system of New York, and under his nurturing care the Free Academy developed into the College of the City of New York, of which he may be justly called the founder. He was a member of the Assembly in 1848 and 1864. In 1872 he was sent to the State Senate in the interest of reform. He had been made a member of the Board of Regents of the University of New York State, and, on the death of Chancellor Pruyn, in 1878, he was chosen his successor. He was also a trustee of Williams College, and endowed his alma mater with a fund for "Benedict prizes." An elder in the Dutch Reformed Church, he was widely connected with religious and charitable organizations. He was a manager of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, and Governor of the New York State Woman's Hospital. He published in 1850 what has become a standard legal authority on 66 American Admiralty." In 1860 he wrote a slight volume of European travel. He was the author of many lectures delivered before the Geographical and various historical and scientific societies of which he was a member. He made three distinct translations of the "Dies Ira." The first is remarkable as being expressed entirely in words of Gotho-English derivation. second is very successful from its nearness in words and rhythm to the original. Perhaps the most lasting monument of his elegant and facile pen is the translation of the "Hymn of Hildebert and other Medieval Hymns" (1868). He excelled in metrical translation, and has left many scholarly renderings of French, German, and Latin poems. He received the degree of

The

LL. D. from Rutgers College in 1865. In his legislative career he was chairman of the Senate Committee on Literature. He induced the passage of an act for the revision and consolidation of the acts relating to public instruction. In 1872 and '73, while in the Senate, he was appointed a member of the Court of Impeachment, in which the corrupt judges were tried. After a long life of eminent services as lawyer, legislator, and instructor, he died suddenly, in New York City, on the 22d of October. BERNHARDT, SARAH, a French actress, was born in Amsterdam, about 1847. Her father was a Frenchman, and her mother was Dutch, both parents belonging to the Hebrew race. While a young girl her father placed her in the convent-school at Grand Champ, near Versailles. When she had completed the course of studies taught in the seminary, on expressing a choice for the dramatic profession, she underwent a brief preparation for the entrance examination of the Conservatoire. She owed her acceptance as a pupil of the Conservatoire, it is said, to the expressive and attractive manner in which she recited the tale of "Les deux Pigeons," by La Fontaine, not being provided with a tirade from the dramatists such as it is usual for the candidates to declaim, drawing upon herself the attention of Auber, who was one of the examiners, by her graceful rendering of that simple poem. She entered the Conservatoire in 1861, becoming the pupil of Beauvallet, the famous actor. She was so successful in her studies that she gained a prize for tragedy, winning the right to a début at the Théâtre Français. Her appearance in "Iphigénie" with the company of the Comédie Française was praised by some critics and considered full of artistic promise, but was not a professional success. She also played in Scribe's "Valérie," but did no better. Bernhardt next essayed less ambitious rôles upon humbler stages, serving the dramatic apprenticeship which the most gifted actor seldom escapes, and acquiring theatrical experience and routine by performing comedy and burlesque parts in the theatre of the Porte St. Martin, after undertaking and then breaking off an engagement at the Gymnase; and afterward at the Odéon, where she advanced into the front rank of dramatic artists. Her engagement at the Gymnase was to perform in one of Labiche's comedies. She disappeared after the second night's representation, writing a characteristic note to the author, the import of which was that the part assigned her was not satisfactory. At the Porte St. Martin she appeared in a fairy piece under an assumed name. "I have been turned away every where; but try me, for I assure you there is something there," is said to have been the phrase which she used in applying to M. Duquesnel, who was associated with M. Chilly in the management of the Odéon; pointing, as she said it, to her heart instead of to her head. Chilly declared that she was only fit for tragedy; but Duquesnel engaged her in opposition

to his partner's judgment. At first she made no distinct impression; but when given the leading part in Alexandre Dumas's "Kean,' though the play was coldly received, she herself was enthusiastically applauded.

During the siege of Paris Mlle. Bernhardt left the mimic stage to take a leading part in the patriotic work of nursing the sick and the wounded, tending the ambulances until the end of the war laboriously and devotedly. On the 2d of February, 1872, she reappeared on the boards as Marie de Neuborg in "Ruy Blas," achieving a complete artistic triumph, and gratifying the author not less than the public. This success induced the Comédie Française to not merely receive Bernhardt as an associate, but to press her to become a member of that famous and unique society of dramatic artists by whom the rich traditions of the French stage are sacredly conserved, and invigorated by the constant assimilation of the genuine artistic developments of the modern French theatre. In the Comédie Française Bernhardt could not take the preeminent position which an artist of her powers usually assumes in ordinary companies. Associated with a group of players, all of them of the highest rank, she did not obtain an opportunity to display her talents at first, being unfortunate in the rôles assigned to her. She earliest showed her higher powers in the characters of Andromaque and Junie; but it was not until March, 1874, when the "Sphinx,' was brought out, with Bernhardt as Berthe de Savigny, that she became the great favorite of Paris audiences, and began to be spoken of as the foremost tragedienne of the age, and the successor to the laurels of Adrienne Lecouvreur, Dumesnil, Clairon, and Rachel Félix. Bernhardt has had few opportunities to create new characters. Other parts in which she is most admired are Phèdre and Zaïre of the classic French drama, and Adrienne Lecouvreur and Marguérite Gautier, the heroine of the younger Dumas's "La Dame aux Camélias," of the modern realistic drama.

Bernhardt, though of feeble frame and far from physically vigorous, possesses a fund of nervous energy which she is able to call forth in the passionate moments of a play with thrilling effect. She is an assiduous and tireless student in her profession, searching types and suggestions often in the scenes of real life. She shows a wonderful power of dramatic impersonation and imagination in the lifelike manner in which she projects herself into the character assumed in each play. The remarkable delicacy of her perception of character is the result of indefatigable studies. At the production of "Hernani," in 1870, Bernhardt took the part of Donna Sol, a character which had been identified with Mlle. Mars, who made it famous. The novel and sympathetic reading of Bernhardt was declared by Victor Hugo to correspond completely to his poetic ideal. Her praise in this role was repeated by the critic Sarcey and echoed by all Paris.