(or Greek) Church; if to help the Orthodox Church, that might bar friendly access to the Coptic Church; if to carry on a mission, that would be to treat the land of the Copts as a heathen country; if to preach the gospel, that might be regarded as implying that no gospel was preached there at present. But the friends of the movement for establishing intercourse consider themselves as pledged to do something toward carrying out that object.

IV. The Armenian Church. The delegates of the Armenian Church met at Etchmiadzin, in May, to complete their functions in the election of a new Catholicos, or Metropolitan Bishop. When Armenia was an independent nation, the election of the Catholicos was conducted by the representatives of its own bishoprics assembled in conclave; but since the nation has been subjected to foreign powers, and particularly since its territory and people have been divided between Russia and Turkey, this method of election has been impracticable. On the present occasion, the Armenians of Turkey, constituting the majority of the nation, chose Monsignor Nerses, the actual Patriarch of Constantinople, by the highest number of votes; while next to him in the list of persons voted for, stood Monsignor Melchizedek, Bishop of Smyrna, and the ex-Patriarch, Monsignor Khrimian, the bishop who had visited England in 1878, to represent the cause of the Armenians to the British Government. The final election having to be held, however, at Etchmiadzin, delegates were appointed at this conclave to represent the Turkish Armenians there. At this point, the Russian Government interposed an objection to acknowledging the delegates thus chosen, and, declaring that they would be regarded as representing only the See of Constantinople, insisted that the election of the Catholicos should be conducted in accordance with the laws known as the Balageria. These laws require that the names of two or more candidates who have obtained the largest number of votes shall be submitted to the Emperor, and that he shall decide which one among them shall be the Catholicos. This stipulation has always been objected to by the Armenians, as contrary to the canons of their Church and as detrimental to their time-honored right of free and untrammeled election. The conclave at Etchmiadzin concurred with the Turkish bishops in the choice of Monsignor Nerses as the first candidate, and sent up, as alternative candidates for the approval of the Russian Emperor, the names of Monsignors Melchizedek and Khrimian. Although the choice of Monsignor Nerses was approved by the Emperor, he declined to accept the office of Catholicos under the conditions imposed by the Russian statutes, because they were regarded as derogatory to the ancient privileges of the Church. On the 7th of November, Monsignor Nerses died, in the forty-eighth year of his age, after a life distinguished by services to the Armenian people and Church. He was born in Hasskuei, a suburb of Constantinople,

and was educated by the priest Der Kivork to be a teacher at Adrianople, and afterward a vartabed, or preacher. As his first public mission, he was dispatched to Zeitûn, to defend the Armenians there who had been in rebellion. Having been ordained a bishop before returning from Zeitûn, he was immediately sent on a mission to Russia, and afterward to Egypt, where he succeeded in interesting the Arme nian minister, Nubar Pasha, in behalf of the education of his people in Constantinople, and returned with the means to found a superior school for Armenians at Hasskuei. Unfortunately, the endowment funds of this school were invested in Turkish bonds, and were lost by the bankruptcy of the Government. He was afterward made Bishop of Nicomedia, and finally Patriarch of Constantinople, when only thirtysix years old. He was consulted during the negotiations which attended and followed the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War, and secured the insertion in the Treaties of San Ste fano and Berlin of articles binding the Turkish Government to establish a just government in Armenia, which should give full ard equal rights to the Christians.

The elections for a new Catholicos were not to take place for three or four months after the death of Monsignor Nerses. The Turkish candidates for the office were understood to be Archbishop Coren de Lusignan and Monsignor Melchizedek.

ECUADOR, a republic of South America. The area is about 206,200 square miles; the population is estimated at 946,000, exclusive of the aborigines inhabiting the eastern provinces and eastern slopes of the Andes. The population is distributed over the eleven provinces as follows: Pichincha, 120,280; Guayas, 94,442; Manabi, 67,852; Esmeraldas, 10,000; Los Rios, 60,065; Chimborazo, 128,310; Tunguragua, 70,143; Leon, 101,282; Imbabura, 93,659; Azuay, 100,000; and Loja, 100,000. The number of wild Indians is estimated at half a million. Six new provinces have recently been organized, viz., Oro, Almedo, Carchi, Bolívar, Azoguez, and Oriente. The Galápagos Islands, 1,910 square miles, belong to Ecuador, but have only 60 inhabitants. The capital is Quito, population 80,000. Guayaquil, the principal port, has 40,000; Cuenca, 30,000; and Loja, 10,000.

Government.-The President is Don José María Plácido Caamaño, inaugurated at Quito, Nov. 22, 1883, having been elected on October 23 for the term of four years. The Vice-President is Gen. A. Guerrero. The Cabinet is as follows: Interior and Foreign Affairs, M. Espinosa; Finance and Public Works, V. L. Salazar; War and Navy, Gen. J. M. Sarasti. The Governor of Guayaquil is Gen. J. A. Gomez. The Archbishop at Quito is J. J. Ordoñez.

The Minister of Ecuador at Washington is Don Antonio Flores, who has twice before represented his country at the American capital. The American Consul at Guayaquil is

Mr. H. Beach, and the Ecuadorian Consul at New York Mr. H. Kiese wetter.

Army and Navy.-The regular army does not exceed 5,000 men, and the navy has but two

steamers.

Events of 1884.-By the earthquake that took place in Guayaquil on March 25, two of the churches suffered severely; the walls of one of them were badly cracked. Two months previously Cotopaxi had given signs of activity. At noon, on Dec. 13, 1883, ashes began to fall from the crater of the volcano, and by eight o'clock in the evening the shower of ashes was heavy enough to cover people's clothes at Quito like snow-flakes. On the morning of the preceding day a peculiar purple color of the sky toward the south of the capital extended along the horizon 90°, reaching upward about 45°.

Early in the year the Constituent Assembly embodied the following fundamental law in the new Constitution: "The religion of the republic shall be the Catholic Apostolic Roman, to the exclusion of every other. The political powers of the country must cause it to be respected, and protect its rights and liberty."

When, early in December, 1884, the British steamer northward bound approached Ecuadorian ports, it was signaled from shore that communication with any of them was prohibited. President Caamaño was at Guayaquil, and it was then believed that he had no intention of attempting to regain authority in the northern coast towns, where the friends of Gen. Eloy Alfaro were in full possession. Trouble had been brewing since Dec. 24, 1883, the cause being a bitter discussion in the National Convention on the previous day over some feature of the Church question, when Don Timoleon Flores, brother of the Ecuadorian minister at Washington, shot Julio Roman through the arm with a revolver.

On Dec. 16, 1884, news was received from Guayaquil that a general rising against the Government had been arranged, and that in anticipation of it Gen. Alfaro had left the Bay of Panamá, on November 6, in the Alajuela, with 200 Ecuadorian exiles for Esmeraldas. Scattered bands had taken possession of several towns, and in some instances fighting occurred, attended with loss of life. In one of these fights on the slope of the Cotopaxi volcano, twenty or thirty men were killed, and the Government force was compelled to retreat. The rebels on the coast were more unfortunate. After a fight at Tumaco between the Alajuela and the Nueve de Julio, Alfaro effected a landing on the Ecuadorian coast. On November 30 he endeavored to capture Puertoviejo, but was defeated by the Government forces and compelled to seek safety in flight. Gen. Alfaro then returned to the Alajuela, leaving his men to join the parties in revolt in the interior. On December 8 he moved toward Bahia, and when off Las Cruzitas fell in with the Government steamer Huacho. He steamed alongside of her, and, after a heavy fire, carried her by

boarding. She was full of troops, to whom her bare hull offered no protection, and it is said that at least 400 men were killed or wounded. These belonged to the Government party.

While the victors were examining their prize, the Nueve de Julio, another Government vessel, put in an appearance. The Huacho was useless for fighting, and the Alajuela was damaged and her captain dead. It was then determined to run her ashore, take out what could be removed in a hurry, and burn her. This plan was followed, and the Nueve de Julio proceeded to Bahia with her crippled consort. A letter from Quito, dated end of December, says: "This capital is a veritable Babylon. No one appears to comprehend the political sentiments of his neighbor, and the panic in the Government files is increasing daily. Gen. Victor Proaño and other notables have been arrested on suspicion of sympathizing with the revolutionists. The prisons of Guayaquil are full of suspects, among them Señor Pastor Intriago and a number of his workmen, who are accused of having given a canoe to Marcos Alfaro to enable him to go up the river Guayas. Vice-President Guerrero, who is in power in this city, issued a proclamation on Nov. 19, calling upon the people to support him."

Gen. Alfaro is the leader of the Liberal party, and it is asserted by those in favor of his accession to power that if he succeeds in the revolution he has undertaken the church and state will be separated, and religious toleration established for the first time in the republic. National Indebtedness. The foreign debt amounts to £1,824,000, contracted in England in 1855, and the internal debt to £3,200,000. The annual income of the Government is $4,000,000 in silver, and the outlay $3,360,000.

The amount of revenue collected from customs at Guayaquil in 1883 was $1,497,210, of which $1,383,250 was on imports and $113,960 on exports.

Railroads. The railway from Yuaguachi to the river Chimbo, 77 miles, is completed and in operation.

Telegraphs. Since Oct. 1, 1882, the republic has been in direct communication with the rest of the world by means of a land line of telegraph from Guayaquil to Ballenita, and cable from the latter to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, whence there is communication with New York. The company owning the line is the Central and South American.

Mail Steamship Communication.-Since Jan. 1, 1884, the Pacific coast steamers south of Panamá are running on a time-table without reference to the steamers plying between Aspinwall and New York, sometimes making connections, at other times not.

Commerce. The exportation of merchandise in 1883 amounted to $4,923,300, the chief articles being cocoa, 168,600 quintals, of 10 pounds American, worth $3,372,200; cascarilla (quinine) bark, $137,000; India-rubber, $428,800; furthermore tágua (vegetable ivory),

Guayaquil straw-hats, coffee, hides, skins, etc., making up the rest.

The Church.-The concordat that Pope Pius IX. imposed on the republic in 1863 consecrated the ensuing principles: 1. Neither liberty of conscience nor liberty of association. No religion to be tolerated but the Catholic, nor any society condemned by the Church. 2. Monopoly of education for the benefit of the Catholic clergy. 3. The instruction of children and young people generally in universities, colleges, faculties, schools, both public and private, to be entirely in harmony with the doctrines of the Catholic religion. 4. All ecclesiastical causes shall be judged by ecclesiastic law courts only, Article VIII stipulating that this relates specially and above all to matrimonial suits, and all those concerning the faith. 5. The establishment of tithes for the support of the Church and clergy, one third of this tenth to accrue to the Government. 6. The right of refuge criminals can not be arrested if they take refuge in a church or any other holy place.

Climate and Resources. · Early in January, 1884, it was reported from Guayaquil that that section was suffering from continued dry weather. The rainy season ordinarily begins in November or December; but early in January the weather continued very dry, not more than one fourth of an inch of water falling within six months. This has had the effect of curtailing the cocoa and coffee crops.

Balsa-Wood. This wood, celebrated for its extreme lightness, and therefore suitable for life-saving rafts, etc., grows beside the Gulf of Guayaquil, and is used for the construction of craft to sail far out into the ocean for fish, and to carry fruit to ships at anchor in the roadstead. Balsa-wood, when dry, weighs about thirteen pounds to the cubic foot, and has in salt water a supporting power of fifty-one pounds per cubic foot. Consequently, a raft of ten logs, twenty feet long by sixteen inches square, will carry one hundred people.

Cocoa. The crop of 1884 was short, being only 170,000 quintals up to Nov. 21, against 190,000 in 1883, and 210,000 in 1882.

Local Industries.-The American consul, Mr. Beach, says in his latest report from Guayaquil to the State Department:

There are in this city a fair variety of manufactories, but none very extensive, the people relying mainly on the outside world for manufactured supplies. The supplies obtained from the United States are large, and the amount is increased annually. The United States supplies all of the sugar-making machinery, all of the saw-mills, all of the planing-mill machinery, nearly all of the steam-engines, all of the carts, all of the sewing-machines, nearly all of the best saddles and harnesses, all of the street-cars, some of the furniture, all of the store-trucks and wheelbarrows, a large share of the axes, many billiardtables, a portion of the musical instruments, etc. The articles supplied from the United States give good satisfaction, and the trade promises to be largely increased. In some instances the lack of thoroughly skilled labor causes a great abuse of machinery.

The two leading manufacturing establishments of

Guayaquil are combined steam saw-mills, foundries, and machine-shops. The two concerns use gang and circular saws, both of which work slowly and indifferently, because of the remarkably springy nature of the wood, a log twelve feet long springing from two to four inches out of line when a slab is taken off. The two mills turn out about 150,000 feet of lumber & year, which is sold at an average of $35. The fourdry and machine-shop work is mostly in the line of repairs, and is quite extensive. Castings average to sell at 15 cents a pound. About sixty men are employed in the two establishments, whose wages range from 70 cents to 83 a day, United States currency. small-sawing establishment, whose entire outfit was There is one steam planing, matching, turning, and obtained in the United States. It does the general work of such an establishment, but mainly for carpenters and builders. There are two ice-manufac tories, both of whose machinery was obtained in New ice, which is sold at seven cents a pound. Each conYork. They daily turn out a total of 3,000 pounds of cern employs four men, with wages ranging from $1 to $2 a day. The timber of Ecuador is excellently adapted for ship-building.

EGYPT, a principality of northern Africa, tributary to Turkey. Mehemet Ali, the gov ernor, rebelled against the Porte in 1811, and assumed the powers of government. In 1841 he was recognized, under the guarantee of the five great powers of Europe, as Vali, or Viceroy, and the sovereign authority was made hereditary under the Turkish law of succession. In 1866 Ismail obtained a firman creating him Khedive, or King, and establishing direct male succession by primogeniture, in return for which concessions he submitted to the increase of the annual contribution to the Sultan's civil list from $1,880,000 to $3,600,000. By another firman, issued in 1873, he obtained the rights of concluding treaties and maintaining an army. In August, 1879, the Sultan was induced to depose Ismail I, who was involved in financial difficulties. His son Tewfik was placed on the throne, and the government was administered under the supervision of two Controllers-General, appointed one by the French and one by the British Government, who were given the right of investigation into all departments of the public service, and an advisory voice at the councils of the Cabinet. By a second decree of the Khedive, issued April 5, 1880, an International Commission of Liquidation was appointed to elaborate a financial law to regulate the relations of Egypt with her creditors. The scheme, consolidating the foreign debts, fixing the interest at 4 per cent., and reserving certain revenues to meet it, was sanctioned by the Khedive in 1881. That same year a political movement was set on foot to deprive the Controllers of the extraordinary powers they had assumed over legislation and administration, and place the powers of government in native hands. The French and English governments refused to accede to the demand, in the beginning of 1882, for the transfer of legislative powers to a Chamber of Notables. The movement, which was accompanied by military preparations, was treated as a military rebellion. The British Government sent an army to occupy Egypt, the French