the road passes through a level country, which, notwithstanding some strips of desert, presented no serious engineering difficulties; but between Merv and Chardjni it had to be laid across a waterless desert, a length of 232 versts. At Dushakh, where the line turns eastward toward the river Tejend, a branch line to Herat, by way of Sarakhs, will be constructed some day. The Oxus at Chardjni is one and a half verst wide, and is crossed by a steam ferry-boat.

Beyond Chardjui a steppe, twenty versts across, required large quantities of water, taken from the Oxus, to fix the deep, shifting sands. Through Bokhara the line is traced along the edge of the cultivated country, so as not to interfere with the irrigation-works. The time required for the journey from Tiflis to Samarcand will be about three days and a quarter. The railroad already constructed enables the Russians to transport troops and war material from Odessa or any other point in Southern Russia to the Tejend in five days, and thus reach Herat sooner than could the English, even after extending the Indus Railroad to Candahar.

The Council of the Empire appropriated the money for the extension of the railroad to Samarcand. Gen. Annenkoff went to Asia in July, 1887, to prepare for the construction of the last part of the line, which could not be begun before autumn, but will be completed before the summer of 1888. The portion of the line running through Bokharan territory is 300 versts; and that in Russian Turkistan beyond, eighty-five versts. Before this last section of the railroad was begun, the military center of Asiatic Russia was transferred from Tashkend to Samarcand.

Russian Occupation of Kerki.-The town of Kerki, situated on the left bank of the Oxus, on the main road between Bokhara and Herat, was occupied by a Russian detachment under Gen. Ozan Tora, commander of the Samarcand army in May, 1887. This fresh advance of the Russians caused much disquiet in England, and increased the difficulties of the Ameer's position in Afghanistan. Yet no question of an encroachment on Afghan territory could be raised, because the Afghans, who succeeded in extending their sway over Maimena and Andkhoi, never held Kerki, nor brought under their rule the Ersari Turkomans inhabiting the district, which formed a part of the outlying dominions of the Emir of Bokhara. The Russians did not proceed to occupy the place without the latter's consent. Kerki is an important strategical position, and brings the Russians in contact with the discontented Turkoman and Uzbeck subjects of the Ameer. The British Government was informed of the intended occupation a month before it was carried out, the Russian Foreign Office declaring that it was done in order to protect the flank of the Asiatic Railroad.

Ayub Khan.—When Yakub Khan, the son and

successor of Shere Ali, abdicated in 1879, after the murder of Sir Louis Cavagnari, his brother Ayub declared himself the enemy of the English and of his cousin Abdurrahman whom they set upon the throne. He led the Afghans, defeated Gen. Burrows on July 27, 1880, and besieged his forces in Candahar until, on Sept. 1, he was in turn defeated by Gen. Roberts. For a year thereafter he kept up a rival government at Herat, but was finally driven out by Abdurrahman, and fled to Persia, where he was arrested at the instance of the English, and kept interned at Teheran, the British Government paying $60,000 a year for his maintenance. The surveillance grew less strict, as Russian influence gained the upper hand in Persia. He has kept himself in communication with the exiles from Afghanistan and the discontented sections of Abdurrahman's subjects. In August, 1887, Ayub made his escape from Teheran. The Shah issued orders for his apprehension to the local officials between the capital and Afghanistan, but he fled in another direction, and arrived in safety within Russian dominions. In October he was heard of in the neighborhood of the Russo-Afghan frontier, and was supposed to be engaged in fomenting a revolt against his cousin in the Herat province and Afghan-Turkistan. Another influential agent for stirring up rebellion in Herat is Iskender Khan, who was appointed governor of Penjdeh in the spring of 1887.

Dhuleep Singh.-The Russians found a new ally, who may be put forward at a convenient juncture as an Indo-Afghan pretender, in the person of the mediatized hereditary Maharajah of Lahore, whose ancient dominions embraced a large part of Afghanistan as well as the entire Punjaub. When the Punjaub was annexed to British India in 1849, the enormous private treasure of the Maharajah was confiscated. Dhuleep Singh, who was an infant at that time, has several times appealed to the British Government to make restitution of the fortune, but has been told that the allowance of £40,000 a year on which he was induced to live in England was sufficient for the wants of a private individual. He settled on an estate in Norfolk, abandoned the customs and religion of his forefathers, and became thoroughly Anglicized and a popular country squire; but his expenses exceeded his income, and, when he had run deeply in debt, he petitioned to have his allowance increased. The rejection of his suit impelled him to assume a political rôle and become an instrument of Russia in stirring up disaffection among the Sikhs in Northern India. He left England in 1885, for India, but was not permitted to land. Returning to Europe, he was joined in Paris by an Irish revolutionist named Patrick Casey, passed through Berlin under the latter's name, lest English machinations should thwart his purpose, and arrived in June at Moscow, where he took counsel with the editor Katkoff, and was warmly received by the Panslavists.

The Frontier Negotiation. The advance of Russian troops up the Heri Rud to Pul-i-Khatun, and up the Murghab to its junction with the Kushk, defeated the expectation of the English to draw the frontier line of Afghanistan as far north as Sarakhs and Sari Yazi. When, by the battle of Pul-i-Khisti, the possession of Penjdeh passed into the hands of Russia, the contention for an ethnographic frontier was more nearly realized. The interrupted negotiations were resumed after the Ameer had publicly declared that the place was not worth fighting for; and when the Zulfikar difficulty was arranged to the satisfaction of the Russian Cabinet, Sir Peter Lumsden was recalled, and the British boundary commission was divested of its imposing political and military character. Col. Ridgeway and Col. Kuhlberg, the newly-appointed Russian commissioner, proceeded to survey and mark out the frontier on principles that had been settled upon in London. There were differences of opinion regarding the Kaissar pasture-lands in the Maimena district, but no serious disagreement arose until after the commissioners had reached Andkhoi. Between there and the Oxus Col. Kuhlberg contended that the line should be drawn to the mound of the saint called Ziarat Khoja Saleb, whereas Sir West Ridgeway claimed for the Ameer all the country south of Kham-i-Ab. The difficulty was referred, as had been arranged for cases of divergence on questions of principle, to the home governments, and, the surveys having been completed, the commissioners_returned to Europe in the autumn of 1886. The negotiations were continued in St. Petersburg in the spring and summer of 1887. Sir West Ridgeway, after receiving full instructions from his Government, proceeded thither early in April. The principal negotiator on the Russian side was M. Zinovieff, the head of the Asiatic Department in the Russian Bureau of Foreign Affairs. Col. Kuhlberg and M. Lessar also took part in the conferences on behalf of Russia, while Captains Barrow and De Laessoe assisted Col. Ridgeway. The conferences began on April 23. At the earlier meetings both parties adhered firmly to their claims in respect to Kham-i-Ab. The Russians were the less disposed to give way, because the progress of the Ghilzai rebellion raised doubts as to whether Abdurrahman would remain on the throne to receive the benefit of their concessions. The negotiations were interrupted in May, and the English commissioner, after references to the British Foreign Office, and informal discussions with the Russian representatives, returned to London in the beginning of June, to communicate the Russian views and ascertain the maximum concession that his Government was prepared to make. He returned to St. Petersburg with a proposition to compensate Russia for the relinquishment of her claims to Khoja Saleh and the district on the Oxus, which the Ameer, who had it in

actual possession, insisted on retaining, by ceding a tract of pasture-land that was much desired by the Saryk Turkomans of Penjdeh, situated in the Kushk and Kashan valleys. They formerly possessed this district, but were ousted in 1886, notwithstanding the protest of the Russian commissioner, because the London protocol of June 5, 1885, assigned the territory to the Ameer. The St. Petersburg Government accepted the offered arrangement, and conceded to the Ameer the territory around Khojah Saleh, which, by a strict interpretation of the agreement of 1873, would have fallen to Russia, but which was occupied by Afghan Uzbecks, receiving in return the restoration of lands necessary for the sustenance of the Saryks and the development of the town of Penjdeh. The extent of the land restored to the Turkomans is 825 square miles, bringing the Russians 11 miles nearer to Herat. extent of the disputed Kham-i-Ab district is 770 square miles, but it is at present more productive than the lands between the Kushk and the Murghab conceded to Russia. The final protocol was signed at St. Petersburg on July 22, and ratified on August 2. The southern limit of Russian territory on the Oxus is Bosaga. The frontier delimitation extended over three years. The boundary-line, 355 miles in length, was drawn through a wild and previously unknown region. The first portion running from Zulfikar to Maruchak is 120 miles, and the other, reaching to the Oxus, 235 miles. There are no natural boundaries for any part of the distance, yet both Afghans and Turkomans are said to have respected the pillars erected by the British and Russian officers.

The

ALABAMA. State Government.-The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, Thomas Seay, Democrat; Secretary of State, C. C. Langdon; Treasurer, Frederick H. Smith; Auditor, Malcolm C. Burke; Attorney-General, Thomas N. McClellan; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Solomon Palmer; Railroad Commissioners, H. C. Shorter, W. C. Tunstall, L. W. Lawler; Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court, George W. Stone; Associates, David Clopton, H. M. Somerville.

Legislation.—The Legislature, which met Nov. 9, 1886, concluded its session on the last day of February, 1887, when it expired by limitation. Perhaps its most important act was an amendment to the law regulating the rights and estates of married women, which aims to rescue from almost hopeless entanglement a large part of the property of the State. The old law was characterized by the Governor in his inaugural as "a means of fraud to the wicked and a snare to the unwary. It is the result of the work of different epochs, and is largely patchwork." By the amendment, all property of the wife held by her previous to the marriage, or to which she may become entitled after the marriage, is the separate property of the wife, and is not subject to the liabilities of the husband. The earnings of the wife are her sepa

and at the base were wanting to render the memorial complete.

Miscellaneous.—An improvement in the treatment of the State convicts was made this year by the passage of an act establishing a reformatory system for them, but the practice of hiring them out still leaves much room for improvement, especially in the case of county convicts. Of these the State Inspector says: "They are scattered over the State in such a way as to make it almost impossible to properly inspect them and ascertain their real condition. It seems probable that this state of affairs is going to become worse, as new contracts are being made by many of the counties, and some of these are in exceedingly inaccessible localities."

Early in the year ex-State Treasurer Vincent, who, in 1883, embezzled $225,000 of the State funds, was brought back, tried, convicted, and sentenced.

The burning of the building occupied by the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, on June 24, caused a loss of $100,000 to the State, and the destruction of valuable cabinets and apparatus.

Development. The following statement shows the increase of assessments and taxes on railroads in the State for this year, as compared with last, also the increase of mileage:

Total value for 1887、. Total value for 1886.

Increased assessment..

Tax on $27,989,771.26 at 55 cents on $100... Tax on $23,688,431.01 at 60 cents on the $100.

Increase of taxes.. Miles reported in 1886. Miles reported in 1887.

$27,939,771 26 23,688,431 01

$1,251,340 25

$153,668 74 142,130 58

$11.589 16

2,068 94

2,135 82 The towns and cities of the mineral belt have advanced rapidly, while the agricultural districts remain stationary. In Jefferson County, which contains the city of Birmingham, the valuations were fixed by the assessors for this year at $30,000,000, an increase of $17,500,000, or more than 100 per cent. over 1886. The iron industry has grown so rapidly that the pig-iron production of the State has increased from 130,000 tons in 1880 to nearly 400,000 tons in 1887. The production of cotton during this time shows comparatively little change. The movements of the population, and the change at work upon them, are noteworthy. "Already many of the planters of the Black Belt have taken all the money they have heretofore invested in cotton-raising and have invested it in real estate and industries in Birmingham. The chief danger in the impending change is in the fact that the lands are falling into the hands of men who will be inclined to consolidate it in large holdings, and that the poor man will not get a chance for a small farm. All the mineral lands are now owned by corporations, and wherever there is a sign of speculative value land companies have been formed."

ANGLICAN CHURCHES. The "Year-Book" of the Church of England for 1887, being the fifth number of that publication, embodies information furnished by 11.500 of the nearly 14,000 clergymen of the Church. In 80 per cent. of the parishes, 1,182,000 communicants were returned on Easter of 1885. The churches provided 3,000,665 free and 1,000,497 paid sittings. The amount of voluntary offerings during the year was given as £5,000,000: in addition to which, £1,000,000 were raised in the educational department, £16,000 for theological schools, and £10,000 for public schools.

The

Report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.-The report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners gives the following summary of the work accomplished by the commissioners in the augmentation and endowment of benefices during a period of forty-six years, from 1840 (when the common fund was first created), to the 31st of October, 1886: number of benefices endowed, 5,400; amount of grants made in the augmentation and endowment of these benefices, about £754,000 per annum in perpetuity, or in capital value about £22,624,000. benefactions by private donors, consisting of stock, cash, land, tithes, and other property, received by or conveyed to the commissioners or to the incumbents of benefices, amount to about £4,620,000, and are equivalent to a permanent increase of the endowments of benefices of about £154,000 per annum. There is, moreover, a sum of about £26,000 per annum contributed by benefactors to meet the commissioners' grants for curates in mining districts. The total increase in the incomes of benefices from the augmentation and endowments made by the commissioners, or through their instrumentality, amounted, therefore, up to the 31st of October, 1886, to about £934,000 per annum, and may be taken to represent the income which would be derived from a capital sum of about £28,024,000.

Convocation of Canterbury.-The Convocation of Canterbury met on Feb. 8. The subject of a union of the two convocations was considered in both houses. The lower house having requested the president (archbishop) "to direct the appointment of a committee to consider and report on the relations subsisting between the convocations of Canterbury and York, with a view to their common action," the archbishop said that it was not desirable that there should be a mere fusion or union of the two convocations. Each should preserve its integrity. A conference of the two bodies would be very serviceable; and in such a case nothing would be gained by the separation of the bishops into one and the presbyters into another conference, but the conference ought to be held in one combined house. A committee was appointed to consider the subject. In response to a request that an effort be made to secure a reduction of the rate of interest on loans by the Queen Anne's Bounty Office, the committee reported its opinion to be that the

loans could not be made at a lower rate than at present without endangering in some degree the absolute safety of the money and the certainty of making the annual payments that were due. Resolutions were adopted by the lower house, asking for such legislation as would make the collection of tithe-rent charges more easy; requesting the bishops to use all their power to prohibit and suppress the preaching by clergymen of the Church of England in dissenting chapels-a practice which was declared not only to be contrary to the principles and laws of the Church, but also to tend rather to hinder than promote the unity of the Christian people; and deprecating the use in the celebration of the holy communion of wine other than the juice of the grape. A canonical amendment was approved which should make the hours during which marriages may be celebrated from eight o'clock in the forenoon till three o'clock in the afternoon, and should contain a provision that, "in case of the marriage of minors, the parents or governors should signify their consent." The house requested that a committee be appointed to consider the working of the Incumbents' Resignation Act, and that the committee on occasional services be reappointed. The Earl of Selborne was re-elected president of the House of Laymen. This house recommended that a summary and inexpensive tribunal be appointed with power to deal with criminous clerks; declared it desirable to repeal or great ly modify all the legislative enactments which prevent a deacon from engaging in secular occupations; suggested that the law relating to tithe-rent charges should be strengthened and amended; and expressed cordial satisfaction at the scheme of the "Church House """ means of extending and strengthening the action of the Church."

as a

The houses of convocation met again May 10. The upper house approved a scheme for the enlarged representation of the clergy in convocation, for which the sanction of the crown is to be asked. A committee report was adopted adverse to the "Deacons' (Church of England) Bill," then pending in the House of Commons, as contemplating a departure which it was not expedient to make, from the long-continued practice of the Church. The bill provided for the modification of the acts precluding deacons from following secular occupations so that they need not apply to deacons who may hereafter be ordained after they are thirty years of age. The report declared that the resolution passed by Convocation in 1884 approving the ordination to the office of deacon of men possessing other means of living who are willing to serve the clergy gratuitously which involved no change in the law-marked the extreme extent to which it was at present advisable to go in the premises. By this resolution, deacons seeking ordination to the priesthood, besides being subject to all the regular examinations, would first have

to devote their whole time for four years to spiritual labor. On the subject of clergymen of the Church of England preaching in the houses of worship of denominations not in communion with it, the Lower House requested the bishops to take such steps as might be in their power to suppress the innovation. The upper house declared on this subject that, in its opinion, "it is contrary to the principles of the Catholic Church as maintained at the English Reformation, that clergymen should take part in the public religious services of those who are not in full communion with the Church of England, and it is desirable that the bishops should use their authority and influence to induce the clergy of their respective dioceses to abstain from the practice. Nevertheless, the house deeply sympathizes with the desire to bring all Christians into sincere communion with each other through a union with the great Head of the Church, and recognizes the fact that there are many ways of maintaining kindly intercourse with non-conformists, which are not open to reasonable objection." On the report of the committee appointed to deal with proposed additions to the Catechism, a form of answer to the question, What is meant by the Church?" was approved by the lower house, as follows: "I mean the body of which Christ is the head and of which I was made a member by baptism; of this body part is militant here on earth and part at rest in paradise awaiting the resurrection." A modification of the marriage act was recommended for the benefit of seafaring men who are not able to fulfill the conditions of residence required by the existing acts. cerning the case of the Rev. James Bell Cox, of the diocese of Liverpool, who was suffering imprisonment for contempt of court in not obeying a sentence of suspension for ritualistic practices, the lower house expressed its judgment that "such imprisonment is entirely inappropriate to questions of ritual observances, causes the greatest distress to many devout members of the Church, and ought, in accordance with the resolution of the Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Courts, to be abolished." The upper house concurred in the action, and requested the archbishop to seek to obtain a conference on the subject between the bishops and archbishops of the two provinces. The House of Laymen declared itself, by resolution, in favor of the abolition of imprisonment of clergymen as a means of enforcing the judgments of ecclesiastical courts.

Con

The convocation met again in July. The resolution of the Convocation of York on the subject of the canons of the hours of marriage was adopted. Various questions were considered concerning the Additional Rubrics Bill, the proposed amendments to the Church Catechism, and the report of the Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Courts. A joint committee of the three houses was appointed to con