The international commerce of the kingdom is chiefly carried on by foreigners; and the quantity of shipping belonging to natives is comparatively small, and is moreover declining. The subjoined tabular statement gives the number and tonnage of merchant vessels belonging to the kingdom on the 31st of December, 1861, 1862, and 1863.

Subjoined is the number and tonnage of Belgian merchant vessels, classed according to their tonnage, on the 31st December, 1863.

In the year 1863, there entered at Belgian ports 3,893 vessels of 712,373 tons, and there cleared 3,949 vessels of 723,975 tons. Of the 712,373 tons which entered, only 62,525 belonged to Belgian shipping; and of the 723,975 which cleared, but 65,728 were owned in the kingdom.

In Belgium the State is a great railway proprietor, and the State Railway is the largest source of national revenue. It was the first work of the kind ever undertaken by a Government, or on so great a scale by any proprietary. The act by which it was decreed passed in 1834, and in 1835 the line was open from Brussels to Malines. In 1844, the entire length-560 kilomètres-was completed. It produced to the State a gross revenue in 1863 of 31,750,000 francs, or 1,270,000l., and a net revenue of 16,000,000 francs, or 640,000Z. Other lines have been leased by the State; and there are altogether open 1,906 kilomètres, equal to 1,191 English miles, of which 748 kilomètres, or 467 English miles, are in the hands of the State, and the residue worked by companies. The subjoined tabular statement shows the length of railways open in Belgium in 1864.

The cost of the permanent way and buildings of the State Railway amounted to 18,280l. per mile. The gross receipts of the 748 kilomètres administered by the State amounted in 1862 to 43,478 francs per kilomètre, or 2,8621. per mile, of which sum about 57 per cent. was produced by the goods traffic, and 38 per cent. by passengers. It is mentioned, to the credit of the State Railway, that not one passenger was killed in 1861 or 1862; and that of 100,000,000 passengers carried since 1835, only six were killed by accidents resulting from the service. The net revenue has doubled within the last 10 years, and has now risen to a sum equal to

1,5087. per mile. Nearly all the lines conceded by the Government were constructed between 1840 and 1850 by English companies. Private lines that compete in the slightest degree with that of the State are subjected to very onerous terms. They are for the most part branch lines, and although costing less than the State Railway, which includes the principal trunk lines of the country, they produce a much smaller net revenue. The law obliges the State Railway to redeem itself with its own capital; in other words to purchase itself with its own surplus revenue. The year 1861 was the first year which showed an actual profit on the whole operations from the commencement, irrespectively of the charge for the redemption of the debt. It is expected that the State Railway will have bought itself up in the year 1884, by which time it is calculated the net revenue will amount to 24,000,000 francs, or 960,000l. per annum, or enough to pay the then reduced-through the sinking fund -interest of the national debt. As each conceded railway lapses gratuitously to the State in 90 years from the period of its construction, the entire system will, by the efflux of time, become national property.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Belgium, and the British equivalents, are as follows:

Almanach Royal Officiel de Belgique, contenant les attributions et le personnel de tous les services publics du royaume. Année 1865. Bruxelles, 1865. Documents Statistiques, publiés par le départ. de l'Intérieur, avec le concours de la commission centrale de statistique. Vol. 8. Bruxelles, 1865.

Statistique générale de la Belgique, publié par le départ. de l'Intérieur. 4 vols. Bruxelles, 1864-65.

Dictionnaire des Communes, Hameaux, Châteaux, Fermes, Hauts Fourneaux, Charbonnages, &c., du Royaume de Belgique; ouvrage rédigé d'après le recensement général du 31 décembre, 1856, distribué par le gouvernement aux cours et tribunaux, et aux bureaux de poste. Bruxelles, 1858.

Reports by Mr. Harries, H. M.'s Secretary of Legation, on the Commerce of Belgium, dated June 20, 1861, and Jan. 26, 1862; in Reports of Secretaries of Embassy,' &c. No. V. London, 1862.

Reports of Messrs. Herries and Barron, H. M.'s Secretaries of Legation, on the Commerce, Finance, Agriculture, and Mining and Metallurgical Industry of Belgium, dated March 15, April 15, and July 10, 1862; and Jan. 31 and Feb. 25, 1863; in Reports of Secretaries of Embassy,' &c. No. VI. London, 1863.

Report by Mr. Barron, H. M.'s Secretary of Legation, on the State of Finance and Public Credit of Belgium, dated March 26, 1864; in 'Reports of Secretaries of Embassy,' &c. No. VII. London, 1864.

6

Report by Mr. Barron, H. M.'s Secretary of Legation, on the Commerce of Belgium with Great Britain, dated Feb. 26, 1865; in Reports of Secretaries of Embassy,' &c. No. VIII. London, 1865.

Report of Mr. Consul Grattan on the Trade of Antwerp during the Years 1862 and 1863; in Commercial Reports received at the Foreign Office.' London, 1865.

Report by Mr. Barron, H. M.'s Secretary of Legation, on the Arms Trade of Belgium, dated April 9, 1865; in Reports of Secretaries of Embassy,' &c. No. IX. London, 1865.

Statistical Tables relating to Foreign Countries. Part IX. London, 1864.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Annales des Travaux Publics de Belgique. Documents scientifiques, industriels et administratifs concernant l'art des constructions, les voies de communication et l'industrie minérale. T. 20 (1862-63). Bruxelles, 1864.

Annuaire de l'Industrie, du Commerce et de la Banque en Belgique, rédigé d'après des documents officiels. Neuvième année. 12. Bruxelles, 1865.

Dauby (J.) Les Classes Ouvrières en Belgique. Parallèle entre leur condition d'autrefois et celle d'aujourd'hui ; alimentation, vêtement, logement, mobilier, salaire, conditions de travail, instruction, niveau moral, etc. 2nd ed. 12. Bruxelles, 1864.

Laveleye (Émile de) Essai sur l'Économie Rurale de la Belgique. 2nd ed. 8. Paris, 1865.

L'Économiste Belge: organe des intérêts de l'industrie et du commerce. Directeur-gérant, M. G. de Molinari. 4. Bi-mensuel. Année 11: 1865. Bruxelles, 1865.

Malou (J.) Notice Historique sur la Société Générale pour favoriser l'Industrie Nationale, établie à Bruxelles. (1823 à 1862.) 8. Bruxelles, 1864. Rapport général présenté par la commission d'agriculture sur la situation agricole du grand-duché de Luxembourg en 1861. 4. Luxembourg, 1862. Revue de l'Instruction Publique en Belgique. Mensuelle. 8. Nouvelle série. T. 8. Bruges, 1865.

Scheler (Dr. Aug) Annuaire Statistique et Historique Belge. Douzième année. 12. Bruxelles, 1865.

Tarlier (Jules) Description Géographique de la Belgique. 3 vols. 12. Bruxelles, 1852-54.

Tarlier (Jules) et Wauters (A.) La Belgique Ancienne et Moderne: géographie et histoire des communes Belges. 4 vols. 8. Bruxelles, 1860-65.

Van Bruyssel (Ernest) Histoire du Commerce et de la Marine en Belgique. 2 vols. 8. Bruxelles, 1864.

DENMARK.

Reigning Sovereign and Family.

Christian IX., King of Denmark, born April 8, 1818, the fourth son of the late Duke Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-SonderburgGlücksburg, and of Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. Appointed to the succession of the crown of Denmark by the protocol of London, signed on May 8, 1852, by the representatives of Great Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia, Sweden and Denmark. Succeeded to the throne on the death of King Frederick VII., November 15, 1863. Married, May 26, 1842, to

Louise, Queen of Denmark, born Sept. 7, 1817, the daughter of Landgrave William of Hesse-Cassel. Issue of the union are:-1. Prince Frederick, born June 3, 1843, general in the Danish army. 2. Princess Alexandra, born Dec. 1, 1844; married, March 10, 1863, to Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. 3. Prince William, born Dec. 24, 1845; midshipman in the Danish navy, 1860-63; elected King of Greece, under the title of George I., by the Hellenic National Assembly, March 31, 1863. 4. Princess Maria Dagmar, born Nov. 26, 1847; betrothed, Oct. 1864, to Grand-duke Nicholas, heirapparent of Russia. 5. Princess Thyra, born Sept. 29, 1853. 6. Prince Waldemar, born Oct. 27, 1858.

Brothers and Sisters of the King-1. Prince Charles, born Sept. 30, 1813; married, May 19, 1838, to Princess Wilhelmina, daughter of the late King Frederick VI. of Denmark. 2. Princess Marie,

born Oct. 23, 1810; married, May 19, 1837, to Baron Lasperg, colonel in the service of Anhalt; widow May 9, 1843; married in second nuptials to Count Hohenthal, chamberlain at Dresden; widow Nov. 16, 1860. 3. Princess Frederica, born Oct. 9, 1811; married, Oct. 30, 1834, to Duke Alexander of Anhalt Bernburg; widow Aug. 19, 1863. 4. Prince Frederick, born Oct. 23, 1814; married, Oct. 16, 1841, to Princess Adelaide of Schaumburg-Lippe, of which union there are issue two sons and three daughters. 5. Prince William, born April 10, 1816; field-marshal-lieutenant in the service of Austria, and proprietor of the Imperial 80th regiment of infantry of the line, 6. Princess Louise, born Nov. 18, 1820; nominated abbess of the convent of Itzehoe, Holstein, Aug. 3, 1860. 7. Prince Julius, born Oct. 14, 1824; major in the Prussian army. 8. Prince Johann, born Dec. 5, 1825, major in the Prussian army.