for covering the native boats, and the tough parts are made into boots; their intestines are sewed together into water-proof garments; their stomach-walls are used as oil-pouches; their carcasses are preserved by hanging in the open air for the winter's supply of meat; and their mustache-bristles are sold to the Chinese for use as pickers to opium-pipes, and in the ceremonies of the joss-houses. These animals are far less numerous than the fur-seals. Mr. Elliot does not believe that the number of them, resorting to the islands for breeding purposes, exceeds ten or twelve thousand.

ALGERIA AND THE SEA. The population of Algeria, according to the census of 1881, is as follows:

The inhabitants of Algeria are of two distinct races the Arabs, who invaded and conquered the country, and the Kabyles, who have lived in the country since the time of the Romans, and who were driven into the mountains by the Arabs. Great differences exist between these two races. The Kabyles speak a language which is not understood by the Arabs. They build houses, have a municipal organization which was given to them by the Romans, and cultivate with care small tracts of land, fence and protect them like the Europeans. They hate the Arabs, to whose rule they have never entirely submitted. The ruins of former Kabyle villages can be found in many places. The Kabyles retain to the present day the traditions of the cruel conquest of the Arabs. On the other hand, the Arabs are an idle and destructive race. They do not cultivate more ground than is necessary to produce a supply for their immediate wants, and even this little is done without care and without method. The two races are described by recent French authors, the one as industrious and capable of being civilized, the other lazy, vicious, and entirely opposed to civilization. They have completely separated from each other, and are kept apart by their mutual antipathy. It is now proposed that the French shall make an effort to attract the Kabyles by presenting themselves to the latter as their liberators, and inviting them to descend from their mountains to the fertile plains which formerly were occupied by their ancestors. Thus, it is thought, the French Government would be able to reduce its army of occupation, by opposing the Kabyles to the Arabs.

The question of creating a large inland sea on the south of Algeria has long been agitated in France. A few years ago Commandant Roudaire carefully examined the desert which

it is proposed to change into a sea, and made an estimate of the cost. Afterward he organized a company ready to undertake the work. He then applied to the French Government for a concession to go on with the enterprise; and the latter, on April 27th, appointed an extraordinary commission to investigate the subject in all its bearings. The plan of Commandant Roudaire is to change into a sea the three great natural depressions on the south of Algeria, called Shotts, known as Rharsa, Melrir, and El-Djerid, which extend from east to west to the Gulf of Gabes, in Tunis. Of these only the first two lie below the level of the sea, while the surface of El-Djerid is on an average 66 feet above, so that a canal would have to be dug through the latter, in order to fill the other two with water. This canal would be about 190 miles long, and, although passing through a desert, could be constructed. With regard to the cost, M. Roudaire estimated that about 46,800,000 cubic yards of sand and clay and 1,950,000 cubic yards of rock would have to be removed, which, at 15 cents per cubic yard, would amount to $7,500,000. For other digging and excavation M. Roudaire estimates $2,800,000, which, together with the cost of the necessary machines, and $4,000,000 for miscellaneous expenditures, would bring the total amount to about $15,000,000. This sum had been subscribed, and the company only asked of the Government the concession, and the land which will border on the sea. Among the receipts expected by the company, the principal ones were those from fisheries and salt-works which were to be established.

The commission appointed by the Government divided itself into three sub-commissions

the first a technical one, which was to examine into the feasibility of the project; the second a physical commission, which was to examine into the meteorological and sanitary conditions; and the third a political one, to investigate the question from a political, strategical, meral, and commercial view. The first and most important sub-commission came to the conclusion that the plan was a feasible one, and could be practically carried out. With regard to the cost, however, the commission rejected completely M. Roudaire's estimates. According to its own calculation, it arrives at the following result: If the Shotts are to be filled in to the necessary height, it would require a constant flow of 243 cubic yards of water per second in order to make up the losses by evaporation, and to keep the sea at the proper level. The canals must be wide and deep enough to furnish this amount of water, while, at the same time, the current must not exceed 14 foot per second. According to the estimates of the commission, the construction of the canal would cost, in ordinary ground, 15 cents per cubic yard, and for rocks 464 cents per cubic yard, or, in all, $90,600,000. In order to fill the proposed sea, 223,600,000,000 cubic yards of water would be necessary, and, to do

this at the rate of 243 cubic yards per second, or 6,696,000,000 per year, twenty-nine years would be necessary, without taking into account the loss by evaporation. If this loss is taken into account, the commission thinks, the sea would never be filled at that rate. It furthermore thinks that the formation of an inland sea could not be undertaken, with any expectation of success, if a longer time than ten years was required to fill its basin. But, in estimating the amount of water required, both for filling and replacing the losses by evaporation during the ten years, the commission arrives at a total of 289,000,000,000 cubic yards. This would necessitate a supply of 915 cubic yards per second. As to the amount of the expense, the commission estimated the cost of construction at $145,539,800, other expenses at $7,276,990, and interest on the capital for twelve and a half years, at 5 per cent, at $95,510,500-in all, $248,327,290. The second sub-commission was of the opinion that an inland sea would bring about a decided improvement in the temperature, climate, and sanitary condition of the country. The third sub-commission reported that, in its opinion, no international difficulties were to be apprehended in consequence of the formation of the sea. It would offer but small advantages in the military defense of the country, while for the navy the most important result would be the creation of a port at Gabes. It could not be assumed that the sea would become the means of creating a large commerce. improvement of the climate should take place, it might be possible to permanently settle the Arabs, and to accustom them, under the direction of the Europeans, to regular labor. The full commission, after having received these reports, passed the following resolution at its last session, held on July 7th:

If an

The commission, while fully appreciating the interesting labors of M. Roudaire, and admiring the courage and perseverance which he has shown in the course of his researches in the south of Algeria and Tunis, is, in view of the fact that the expenses would be out of all proportion to the benefits to be derived therefrom, of the opinion that it is not advisable for the French Government to encourage this undertaking.

ALPS, TUNNELS OF THE. In May, 1882, the tunnel through the St. Gothard was finished and formally opened. This great work was begun in 1870, by Switzerland and Italy. These countries had entered into a convention for that purpose in 1869, which Germany joined in 1871. The cost was estimated at 187,000,000 francs, of which 85,000,000 francs were to be furnished by government subsidies, Italy paying 45,000,000, and Germany and Switzerland 20,000,000 francs each. The length of the tunnel is 14.92 kilometres, or about nine miles. It begins at Goeschenen and ends at Airolo. With the exception of a curve of 240 metres, it is perfectly straight. In addition to the tunnel, it was proposed to build the following lines: Lucerne-Küssnacht-Im

mensee-Goldau, Zug-St.-Adrian-Goldau, Goldau-Flüelen-Biasca-Bellinzona, Bellinzona-Lugano-Chiasso, and Bellinzona-Magadino-Luino, with a branch to Locarno. In 1876 it was found that a very considerable deficit existed, which was estimated at 102,000,000 francs. At a conference of the three powers, held in 1877, this was reduced to 40,000,000 franes by dropping the lines Lucerne-Immensee, Bellinzona-Lugano, and Zug-Art. The railroads belonging to the Gothard system, according to this calculation, have a length of 186.6 kilometres, or 116 miles. The deficit was covered by subsidies from Italy and Germany to the amount of 10,000,000 francs each, and from Switzerland 8,000,000 francs, while the balance of 12,000,000 francs was raised by the Gothard Railroad Company. The highest point of the tunnel is 1,162.5 metres above the level of the sea. (See ENGINEERING.)

The St. Gothard Tunnel was regarded in France, long before its completion, with feelings of envy, as it was feared that a great portion of the through freight from the North Sea to the Mediterranean would be lost to the French railroads; and when, therefore, in 1880, the Swiss Federal Council inquired of the French Government whether it would favor an international conference on the subject of a tunnel through the Simplon, a pass through the Alps in the Canton of Valais, the latter answered that the subject was even then being considered by the proper ministers. The consideration of this question was interrupted by a ministerial crisis. Then a motion was made, and supported by 109 deputies, in the French Assembly, to assist the Simplon line with 50,000,000 francs. A commission was appointed to investigate the matter, which made a technical examination of the proposed route, but rather favored another which was spoken of at the time, through Mont Blanc. The general elections again put a stop to the work, as it is a parliamentary custom in France, as elsewhere, that a question proposed in one House falls to the ground when the term of the Assembly expires. Nothing has since been done by the French Government. The Railroad Company of Western Switzerland, which is largely interested in the proposed Simplon Tunnel, has recently again applied to the Swiss Federal Council, and the latter has addressed the French Government. But, owing to fresh ministerial complications in France, it has seemed most prudent to postpone action until the negotiations with France for commercial customs were concluded.

For the Mont Blanc route it is claimed that it would secure for France the through freight from Calais to Chamounix, on the Italian border, for 928 kilometres, and that the distance by this route would be 85 kilometres less than by the Mont Cenis route, which is now used, between Calais and Piacenza. The road from Calais to Genoa, through Mont Blanc, would be 41 kilometres shorter than through

the St. Gothard, and 25 kilometres shorter than by way of Mont Cenis.

One of the results of the St. Gothard Tunnel is the opening of the new railroad from Novara to Pino, the most direct route between the St. Gothard and Rome. The Milan line ascends the Monte Ceneri at Giubiasco, a village below Bellinzona, while another railroad branches off to the right to Locarno, passing through the swampy delta where the Ticino empties into the Lago Maggiore. At the first station of this road, at Cadenazzo, another road branches off, which, passing along the left bank of the lake,

the through commerce from England to the Mediterranean, and which has been brought forward very recently, is to build a new and direct line from Calais to Marseilles. Among the promoters of this new line are M. Rothschild and a number of deputies. The line after leaving Calais would touch Boulogne and Abbeville, then leaving the Railroad of the North, which from Abbeville extends on to Amiens, it would go direct to Paris by way of Beauvais and Pontoise. From Paris it is to pass by way of Nevers to Lyons, and from there would follow the line from Paris to the Mediterranean,

PROPOSED TUNNELS OF THE ALPS.

leads to Pino. Here it connects with the Italian road, which, after passing to Sesto by way of Luvino, crosses the Ticino, which leaves the lake at that point, and then after crossing the railroad from Arona to Milan passes on to Novara and there connects with the roads to Turin and Genoa. The entire line from Pino to Novara is forty-one miles long, and passes through eighteen tunnels, which together have a length of eight and a quarter miles. Another plan to preserve for French roads

to Avignon, and Marseilles. This great line would make several important connections, as follow: with Dijon, Lausanne, Geneva, and Italy by way of Dôle and Poligny; with St. Etienne; with Clermont-Ferrand; and with Cette. These connections bring the new line in direct communication with the different lines of the great French companies, and with the Swiss and Italian railroads. Ir addition, all local roads which could be joined with the main line or its branches would be ceded to this company. (See ENGINEERING.) ANGLICAN CHURCHES. The history of the Church of England during 1882 was marked by continued agitation respecting questions of ritual, and the right of clergymen to obey in respect to them the monitions of their consciences, as opposed to the decrees of the secular power; by the progress of movements seeking to reform the system of patronage; and by continued activity on the part of the advocates of disestablishment and disendowment.

A return issued by the House of Lords shows that there were in the province of Canterbury, in 1880, 4,371 stipendiary curates, and in the province of York, 1,269, making a total, in England and Wales, of 5,640.

A statistical table, published in the "Church Times," gives the total number of confirmations in the two ecclesiastical provinces, during 1881, as 176,464; of these, 105,910 were of girls and women, and 70,554 of boys and men. The largest number of confirmations in any one diocese was 15,525, in that of London; the next largest, 15,183, in that of Manchester; and the third largest, 11,517, in the diocese of Lichfield.

CONDITION OF CATHEDRAL CHURCHES.-The Royal Commissioners for inquiring into the condition of cathedral churches in England and Wales stated in their first report that they had

held sixty-two meetings, and had had twentynine cathedrals under consideration. The report recommended that application should be made to Parliament for the establishment of a Committee of Privy Council for cathedral purposes, to consist of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishop of London, the Lord President, the Lord Chancellor, and two other members of the Privy Council (being members of the Church of England), and to have power to approve cathedral statutes. In a statement of the general principles which they had adopted for their guidance, the commissioners indicated that they would propose regulations for the conduct of cathedral services, and suggested that the capitular bodies might give instruction in theological subjects, and offer their services as preachers; while canons, where accommodation renders it possible, should reside within the cathedral precincts for eight months during the year, and should not hold preferment inconsistent with the performance of diocesan duties. All propositions recommended in the report are qualified by the reserve that vested interests must be respected.

The Bishopric of Newcastle was constituted by an order of council issued in May, the diocese to consist of the county of Northumberland and the towns of Newcastle and Berwickupon-Tweed; the parish church of St. Nicholas, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, to be the cathedral church; and the bishop to be subject to the metropolitan jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York. The Rev. Ernest Roland Wilberforce was appointed bishop of the new diocese, and was consecrated in Durham Cathedral July 224, and enthroned on the following Thursday. A report in favor of the separation of the Channel Islands from the see of Winchester, and their constitution into a separate diocese, has been made by a joint committee of the two Houses of Convocation. The new bishop, it is proposed, should have jurisdiction over the English congregations in Europe which are not under the direction of the Bishop of Gibraltar.

MISSIONARY SOCIETIES.-The reports of the missionary societies of the Church of England showed that they had enjoyed a year of financial prosperity at home, and of encouraging success in the mission-fields abroad. The income of the Church Missionary Society had been £221,135, and had been exceeded in only two years-1878 and 1880-in the history of the society. The expenditures had failen below the income. More than £8,000 sterling had been applied for specific purposes, among which were included a college in Hang-chow, China, the extension of the missions on the Niger and among the Esquimaux, etc. The society employed 260 missionaries, 226 native clergy, and 2,900 native lay agents, and had connected with its churches 36,000 communicants, 160,000 native Christian adherents, and 1,527 schools, with 65,000 scholars. The mis

sion in Sierra Leone continued to develop selfreliance, and make progress in self-support; a large re-enforcement of laborers was to be sent to Uganda, on the north shore of the Victoria Nyanza. Considerable numbers of Moslem children were attending the schools in Palestine; a station in connection with the Persian mission was soon to be opened in Bagdad; in India the native churches were growing in number and strength, and 120 of the clergy were native against 94 European missionaries; better relations had been established with the Bishop of Colombo, in Ceylon; and an extension of the mission in China-where the native Christians had doubled in the last five yearswas proposed, in three of the provinces.

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel had received, on all accounts, £134,978, of which £36,643 were in special funds for particular objects. It employed 594 missionaries, and 1,283 catechists and teachers, and had 300 students in colleges abroad. The field of the work of this society includes British residents in the colonies, and everywhere, of whom the membership of its churches is chiefly composed, and only a small proportion of its resources is spent in work among the heathen. The bishops of Madras reported to the society that the number of baptized native Christians connected with the Church of England had increased during four years from 79,917 to 101,246, the increase being 21,329, or 27 per cent. One half of this increase belonged to the Church Missionary Society and one half to the Propagation Society. The mission at Rangoon, in Burmah, had now fourteen ordained missionaries (including six native clergymen), 1,400 communicants, 3,500 native Christians, and 54 chapels.

The receipts of the South American Missionary Society were £11,639, and its expenditures £12,887. Its mission in Terra del Fuego was under the charge of one clerical and eight lay missionaries. The clerical missionary, the Rev. Thomas Bridges, had compiled a grammar and dictionary of the Yahgan language, and had translated the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, and was now engaged upon a translation of the Gospel of John, into that language.

CHURCH AND STATE.-Both Houses of the Convocation of Canterbury met for the dispatch of business, February 14th. The Convocation of the Province of York met at the same time. An important report on "Church and State," prepared by a joint committee of the two convocations, was considered in both bodies, and was approved in the Convocation of Canterbury, but was deferred in the Convocation of York. Its substance is as follows:

Your committee having been appointed to consider the constitutional relations between the authorities ecclesiastical and civil in this Church and realm, and the best methods whereby common action may be taken by them in matters affecting the Church, have, in conference with a similar committee of the Lower House of the Convocation of Canterbury, agreed to

the following resolutions, which they have now the honor to submit as their report, viz.:

1. That no settlement of ecclesiastical judicature will be satisfactory which does not proceed upon the principle that the ancient canonical courts be preserved, subject to such amendments as may be deemed necessary, and shall receive synodical approval.

2. That all ecclesiastical judges be, as far as possible, canonically qualified and commissioned.

3. That the Archdeacon's Court be retained, and strengthened if necessary.

4. That all questions relating to doctrine, ritual, and discipline, except such as come under the jurisdiction of the archdeacon, be referred, in the first instance, to the bishop, who may stay all proceedings, or hear the cause either in camera or in his court, as he may determine.

5. That the ancient provincial courts of Canterbury and York be retained with their separate jurisdic

tions.

be allowed.

11. That when on appeal to the Crown the judg

ment of the Church court is to be varied, the cause

should be remitted to the court the judgment of which is appealed against, in order that justice may be done therein according to the order of the Crown. 12. That, in accordance with canon 122, whensoever in any cause the sentence is of a spiritual character, such as exclusion from the Church, excommunication, or degradation, or of a mixed character, such as suspension ab officio et beneficio, or deprivation, the sentence be pronounced by the archbishop or the bishop himself in open court.

13. That it is desirable that, in addition to any statutory enactments which may be recommended, her Majesty be requested to grant to the clergy in their convocations her royal assent and license to enact such canons as may be found necessary.

Measures concerning pluralities and the union of benefices, the performance of ecclesiastical duties, the constitution and management of Queen Anne's Bounty and Patronage, were also discussed; and a large share of the attention of both bodies was occupied with the consideration of the case of the Rev. S. F. Green, Vicar of St. John's, Miles Platting, who was lying in prison for contumacy in refusing to obey an admonition of court ordering him to discontinue ritualistic practices.

At the meeting of the Convocation of Canterbury in May, a committee was appointed to make inquiries for the purpose of ascertaining the tenets and practices of the members of the Salvation Army, and to consider how far it was possible to attach that body to the

Church, and "generally to advise the clergy as to their duty in the matter."

CASE OF REV. S. F. GREEN.-The case of the Rev. S. F. Green, of Miles Platting, the clergyman imprisoned for contumacy, continued to occupy the attention of the public, veloping any incidents of striking novelty. the clergy, and the convocations, without deEarly in the year, Mr. Green replied to a number of letters of sympathy which he had received, saying:

There are three great principles involved in our present struggle, and all alike are matters of the first consequence: 1. The rights of the Church. 2. Our rights as citizens to the benefit of the law. 3. Our rights as men to religious liberty. What the end may be we can not forecast, but surely, if we be faithful to God, the future must be in our own hands.

All hope that the Government could be induced to intervene in behalf of the prisoner under the existing conditions was cut off by the Home Secretary's replying to a request for such intervention made by some of Mr. Green's friends, that "the powers of the Crown to discharge persons from custody would not be rightly or even constitutionally exercised in the case of a person imprisoned for contempt of court, cominitted by a persistent disobedience to a competent tribunal." The case of Mr. Green was brought to the attention of the Convocation of Canterbury at its session in February, in the form of a gravamen adopted by the Lower House expressing the universal tinued imprisonment, and praying the bishops feeling of regret and uneasiness at his conto interfere for his release, either by memorial to the Crown, or in any other way which they might think desirable. In the discussion following the presentation of this petition in the Upper House, the Bishop of Lincoln spoke of the pain with which the whole body regarded the imprisonment of Mr. Green. The Bishop of Peterborough controverted the plea that Mr. Green was entitled to consideration because he was acting conscientiously, saying that, "if they once allowed a man to set up a plea of conscience against the authority of law, of course there was an absolute end of law. When a man sets up the plea of conscience against law, one of two things is certain to happen. The community must either feel the law to be unjust, and repeal or amend it; or, the community, considering the man's conscience ill-informed, must retain the law, and the man must suffer." He, however, condemned the manner in which the Church Association had undertaken to enforce the law, intimating that they had acted very unwisely in locking the defendant up when other remedies less violent and less liable to provoke sympathy were provided; and when by waiting three years they might have deprived the offending clergyman of his living; and insisted that the course taken by the promoters of the suit against him was diametrically opposed to the whole spirit of the Public Worship Regu