that the Governor shall take steps to give publicity and circulation to the instrument "in as economical a manner as possible; that all laws requiring an enumeration of the inhabitants of the State in 1875 are annulled; that the Board of Education is abolished; and that the salaries of executive and judicial officers already in office and of members of the existing Legislature shall not be affected by the provisions of the constitution."

Soon after the convention had completed its work, an address to the people was issued by a committee chosen for the purpose, in which the new constitution was commended to the approval of the citizens.

There was a warm canvass in behalf of the new constitution, and very little opposition to it was developed. It was submitted to a vote of the people on the 2d of November, and was ratified by a very large majority. The total vote was 114,879, of which 85,662 were in favor of ratification and 29,217 against it, making the majority for the constitution 56,445. On the 2d of December the Governor issued his proclamation making known the result, and declaring that the constitution should go into effect on the 6th day of December, and be henceforth binding on the people of the State. The public debt of Alabama has been stated in connection with the report on the finances of the State to the Constitutional Convention. The report of the Treasurer, for the fiscal year ending June 30th, shows the receipts of the Treasury for that period to be $1,123,569.80, including a balance of $395,199.58 on hand September 30, 1874. The disbursements for the year amounted to $1,058,988.30, including $54,203.23 "interest on obligations," $2,763.33 "expenses in providing interest on obligations," and $1,590 "interest on temporary loan." Besides this $13,007.36 was in part on old warrants of 1873 and 1874, leaving a balance in the Treasury, September 30th, of $51,574.14.

According to the Auditor's Report for 1871, there were in Alabama that year 1,496 miles of railroad, valued at $25,943,052.59; in 1872 there were 1,629 miles, valued at $29,580,737.64; in 1873 there were 1,793 miles, valued at $25,408,110.76; in 1874 the value was $22,745,444. The statement for 1875 is as follows: $550,280 11 1,488,900 00 106,535 00 442,384 09 1,440,280 00 470,700 00 1,534,625 00

Alabama Central..
Alabama & Chattanooga,
East Alabama & Cincinnati.
Montgomery & Eufaula...
Memphis & Charleston.

253,170 36 256,815 00 84,450 00 255,612 50

Mobile & Girard...

Mobile & Montgomery.

Mobile & Ohio...

Mobile & Alabama Grand Trunk.

748,592 50 237,862 50

187,017 50 172,770 00 1,216,192 91 1,222,964 67 5,225 00

1,228,036 25

83,300 00 98,600 00 $12,033,769 39

The expenses of the institution, for the year ending September 30th, were $62,773.42, of which $11,125 was covered by receipts from paying patients.

A case was decided in the Supreme Court in February involving the validity of the decrees of the courts of the State made during the civil war. After a thorough discussion of the question, the judges reached the conclusion announced as follows:

Our conclusion then is, that the courts of Alabama, during the war, were a portion of the rightful -de jure-government of the State; and that their judgments, decrees, and proceedings, not in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States, or of any right or obligation arising under them, and not in violation of the constitution of Alabama, are valid, and must have operation and effect accordingly.

One consequence of this holding is, that no act of the Legislature or ordinance of a convention is necessary to give validity to the judgments, decrees, and proceedings of those courts.

Another consequence is, that the records and paPers of those courts during the war are to be preserved with the same care, and certified in the same manner, as those of courts held since; and like punishments are to be inflicted for the destruction, mutilation, abstraction, or falsification of the records and papers of the one, as of the other.

In a case in the United States Circuit Court, decided by Mr. Justice Bradley, in June, involving the validity of bonds issued by the city of Montgomery in 1850 and 1852 to aid in the construction of the Montgomery South Plank Road and the Montgomery & Wetumpka Plank Road, the conclusion was laid down that the city had no authority to issue these bonds, and that the holders had no remedy. thority to issue bonds or to subscribe to the stock of private corporations was contained in the charter of the city, and no special power to issue these particular bonds had been granted by the Legislature, and in the absence of these specific provisions the court decides that the authority and power did not exist.

No au

The Alabama Centennial Commissioners appointed under authority of the act of the last Legislature, alluded to above, and consisting of John T. Milner, chairman, Peter Hamilton, R. O. Pickett, A. Cunningham, and John S. Kennedy, held a meeting at Montgomery on the 10th of September, and appointed Colonel Hiram Haines secretary and agent, to take

charge of the preparation of "suitable and attractive specimens, endeavoring to get such as will show the quality of our coals, ores, and minerals, and prepare such geological maps and sections as will indicate the position and extent of the same, the region and localities of our timber, productions, manufactures, etc., and have them carefully boxed and labeled, and forwarded to Philadelphia." The Faculties of the State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College were requested to lend their aid, and the Judges of Probate and Commissioners of Roads and Revenue in each county were appointed executive committees to aid in carrying out the work of the commissioners. ALASKA. "A Report upon the Condition of Affairs in the Territory of Alaska, by Henry W. Elliott, Special Agent of the Treasury Department," gives a very different picture of the character and resources of that acquisition, although its agricultural statements are disputed by Colonel S. F. Tappan. Regarding the productiveness of the soil, and its availabilty for agricultural purposes, he says: "There are more acres of better land lying now as a wilderness and jungle in sight of the mountain-tops of the Alleghanies from the car-window of the Pennsylvania road than can be found in all Alaska." It is subject to frosts as late as June 10th and as early as August 20th even in the southern districts, and nothing which the gardener plants will ripen. For the most unsatisfactory and unprofitable agriculture which is possible in some spots, "there is not one acre of tillable land to every ten thousand of the objectionable character throughout the larger portion" of this southern area, and "certainly not more than one acre to a thousand in the best regions." Cattle cannot find food in winter, and the making of hay is "simply impossible. . . . . The country will not, in its whole extent, allow the successful growth and ripening of a sigle crop of corn, wheat, or potatoes,' and "the most needful of domestic animals cannot be kept by poor people." Of the climate the report says that on the Sitkan or southern division of the coast the winter is "never anything but wet and chilly," unfavorable for the production of ice and subject to high winds and drizzling rains. In the interior the winters are extremely cold, and the vast rolling plains and rounded mountain-tops are covered with a dense jungle of spruce, fir, and cedar, so thick, dark, and damp, as to be nearly impenetrable. The next division to the north, reaching to Prince William's Sound, presents 300 miles of bold sea-front with scarcely an island or a rock, and has belts of spruce in the lowlands by the sea, while the interior is mountainous and bare, abounding in glaciers. It is a desolate region, poor in game and fish, and avoided by the Indians. The peninsula and Khodiak District is described as the most valuable portion of the territory, growing the best garden vegetables, and having some valuable timber of spruce and fir.

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Within a limited area grass grows luxuriantly, but cannot be cured for hay. There are many winters in which cattle might be kept there in small numbers. The greater part of this district, however, is broken and barren, and subject to foggy and dark weather which renders agriculture impossible even in the arable patches of land. North of this is the Yukon District extending to the arctic regions, "an immense area of desolate sameness, almost unknown, and likely to be so for an indefinite time." The summers there are short, but warm and pleasant, while the winters are "long and bitterly cold and inclement." The Ounalashka District, embracing the Aleutian Islands, is a "great chain of rugged islands, enveloped the greater part of the year in fogs and, swept over by frequent gales." The summers are "mild, foggy, and humid;" the winters damp, with a temperature averaging 30° above zero, but often dropping to 3°. "Rain falls at all times and with all winds. Snow begins to fall in September (and even in August), and does not cease earlier than May." The cloudiness of the district is remarkable, and there are not “a dozen cloudless days in the whole year," while winds prevail almost constantly. Of the whole Territory the report says: "It would seem undeniable that, owing to the unfavorable climatic conditions which prevail on the coast and in the interior, the gloomy fogs and damp ness of the former, and the intense protracted severity of the winters, characteristic of the latter, unfit the Territory for the support of any considerable civilization." The mineral wealth of Alaska is represented as wholly imaginary or yet to be discovered. Nothing is said of the existence of whales near the coasts, but the walrus are declared to be "so shy and timid that they have deserted the other islands, as they were populated by man," and have retreated to Walrus Island, a remote place seldom visited. They are also declared to be of little commercial importance, the ivory being of poor quality, the oil of a low grade, and the hide valueless. The fur-product is valuable, coming chiefly from the seal and seaotter. The sea islands are leased to a company which is restricted to the killing of 100,000 seals a year, and it is thought that with this destruction the number will be kept up. The whole number of breeding seals that visit the islands, and their young, is estimated at 4,700,000. The inhabitants of the Territory, both the Christianized Aleuts and the savage Indians, are represented as having deteriorated since the acquisition of these possessions by the United States. They are practically exempt from all restraint, and have sunk into drunkenness and sloth. Whiskey is freely imported, and the natives brew a strong beer from sugar, dried apples, and other ingredients. The number of inhabitants is estimated at 5,000 Aleuts and 18,000 to 20,000 Indians, the latter having no settled abodes, but wan

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dering from place to place. The Government maintains a single revenue-cutter, a sailingvessel, to guard the whole vast coast with its numerous islands and inlets, and the military force consists of two companies of artillery stationed at Sitka, and with no adequate means of transportation to any other point.

AMERICA. Peace has prevailed throughout North America during the year 1875. Some local disturbances have occurred in one or two of the States of the Federal Union, but these were of momentary importance.

In the United States political questions have excited very little interest. The attention of the public mind was chiefly engrossed with financial affairs. The great stagnation of commerce caused much anxiety and social distress. The best method by which to reach specie payments on the part of the Government and people was a question that created much conflict of opinion, and no definite result was reached. In some of the States the elections turned upon the issue of the substitution of the paper-money of the Federal Government, known as "legal tenders," in the place of the paper-money or bills of the local banks. Those are the most important subjects for decision at present before the people. The prosperity of the country during the year, although limited, has been very substantial.

Some measures were adopted in almost every State to secure a representation of its products at the Centennial Exhibition to be opened in May, 1876, in Philadelphia. In some quarters the arrangements proposed were of a most extensive character.

In the Latin-American states the year commenced with the suppression of two revolutions, one in the Argentine, the other in the Peruvian Republic, and both of which had for some time threatened to be obstinate and very detrimental to the general interests of the respective countries.

A new and happier state of things has, how ever, been established in those republics: unconstitutional acts are not only no longer popular, but are promptly opposed by the people, now resolved upon the maintenance of peace as indispensable to the national weal.

In Peru, notwithstanding, the public tranquillity was frequently disturbed by political uprisings, in one of which an attempt was made upon the life of the President. Internal strife has been the invariable order of the day in Bolivia. In the second half of the year, the signal for revolution was given by the assassination of García Moreno; and Colombia in the mean time was thrown into commotion, for the first time after a period of thirteen years of peace-unprecedented in the Spanish-American republics. But only a few of the Colombian States were placed under martial law, and there was comparatively little bloodshed. The Central-American republics and Mexico have been to an unusual degree exempt from civil turmoils, and warfare has been almost forgot

ten in Venezuela; nor has any international disturbance taken place from the Rio Grande to the Pampas. Little progress has been made toward the settlement of the boundary questions so long at issue between Brazil and the Argentine Republic, in relation to Paraguay; the Argentine Republic and Chili, concerning Patagonia; and the Argentines and Bolivians.

The Spanish-American states and Brazil have not been exempt from the paralyzing effects of the great financial crisis; foreign commerce in most of them has been materially reduced, but more especially in the Argentine Republic and Peru.

In the first of these numerous failures have occurred, and many of the oldest importinghouses been constrained to suspend their payments; but trade is now gradually recovering its wanted buoyancy; and the producing power, neither in the two mentioned, nor in any of the others, has been affected in the slightest degree.

Colonization bills were laid before the legislative bodies in Brazil and the Argentine Republic, offering extensive inducements to immigrants, and making more liberal provision for their well-being and prosperity in the respective countries. In the mean time material improvements have been pushed forward as rapidly as possible; railways and telegraphs extended, and new lines projected. Mexico seems at last determined to establish the link between her railway system and the United States network; and even Ecuador has her locomotives, some thirty miles of the southern line having been completed as early as January, 1875. The most liberal measures and untiring energy are everywhere brought to bear upon the extension of public instruction.

ANCELOT, MARGUERITE LOUISE VIRGINIE CHARDON, a French authoress, born March 15, 1792; died March 21, 1875. In 1818 she married Monsieur Ancelot, to whose lighter works she largely contributed. The first of her own works, "Le mariage raisonnable," was written in 1832, and followed by her best work, "Marie, ou trois Époques," which was translated into almost every language of Europe, and was well received on every stage of importance. She supplied, until 1848, the Gymnase, Variétés, and the Vaudeville Theatres, with a large number of plays, all of which met with considerable success. She also wrote several novels, among which "Renée de Varville" and "La Nièce" are best known; and even had time to cultivate her talent for painting, of which she sent some good specimens to the exhibitions from 1835 to 1845. The house of Madame Ancelot was, during this time, among the most influential of Paris, and, like that of Madame Récamier, formed a centre for the literary conflicts of the period, and the intrigues connected with the filling of the vacant seats of the French Academy. Her daughter married the celebrated advocate Lachaud, and it used to be Madame Ancelot's delight to say, "I

have a son-in-law of whom every one speaks, and a daughter of whom no one has said a word," which is considered the greatest praise that can ever be given to a woman in France. ANDERSEN, HANS CHRISTIAN, a Danish author, was born at Odense, April 2, 1805; died in Copenhagen, August 4, 1875. His father, a poor shoemaker, died when Hans was nine years old, leaving the family entirely destitute. After his father's death a good lady gave him a home, making him the companion of her children. Here he showed his taste for learning by studying some tragedies, which he tried to imitate. In this his first attempt, however, he was not successful. He soon after went to work in a factory, where he endeavored to amuse his fellow-workmen by reciting dramatic pieces. But, as his efforts were not appreciated by them, he returned home, where he spent most of his time in studying the few books he had at his command. His mother intended to apprentice him to a tailor, but, before sending him to work, she let him go to Copenhagen to see a drama. The play made such an impression upon him, that Hans, then fourteen years old, resolved to be an actor. As the manager would not engage him, he went to work for a time with a carpenter. Being soon again without occupation, he went to the Royal Conservatory, where Prof. Siboni received him kindly, and, recognizing his talents, had him instructed as a singer for the stage. At the end of six months his voice failed him, and his teacher advised him to return home and learn a trade. This he was too ambitious to do, and so for one or two years he struggled on, either as a member of a theatrical corps, or engaged in his studies. During this period he wrote some tragedies, which, however, met with no success. At this time, when his prospects were so gloomy, a good friend turned up for him in the person of Councilor Collin, who, seeing that he was clever and fond of study, had him admitted, free of charge, to the Royal College. Before this he had written a poem, "The Dying Infant," which was greatly praised. While at college he wrote his first book, “A Journey on Foot to Amack," which gained for him many friends and great fame. Some volumes of poems which followed greatly increased his reputation. Aided by a royal stipend, obtained for him by some friends, he visited Italy in 1833, and in the year following gave his impressions of that country in his novel, the "Improvisatore." This work, which has been translated into almost all modern languages, is considered one of the finest on the scenery and manners of Southern Europe. He subsequently traveled considerably through Europe and the East. His next novel, "O. T.," described life in the North, and "Only a Fiddler" presented some striking scenes from his youth. Among his other works are "Fairy Tales," "Picture Book without Pictures," "Travels in the Hartz Mountains," "A Poet's Ba

zaar," "Ahasuerus," and "New Fairy Tales." He published his works not only in Danish but also in German. Of the second German edition of his complete works, forty-six volumes had appeared at the time of his death. An edition of "The Story of a Mother" in fifteen languages was published in Copenhagen in 1875. A German edition of his "Fairy Tales," with excellent illustrations by Richter, Pletsch, and other artists (Leipsic, eleventh edition, 1874) was published by Reuscher. His works have been translated into English by Mary Howitt and others. The first complete edition of his works in English was published in New York in 1870-'71, in 10 vols., 8vo. He has also written one of his longest works, "The Two Baronesses," in the English language. In 1845 he received an annuity from the King, which placed him in comfortable circumstances for the rest of his life. In his old age he was greatly honored in his own land and abroad. Twenty thousand crowns were subscribed in Denmark for a monument for him. His fairy-tales have been read by children of almost all nations, and when, in 1874, it was said that the old "tale-teller," as he called himself, was living in straitened circumstances, the children of America raised a considerable sum of money to be sent him as a Christmas present. A small part of this sum was reserved for the purchase of a copy of "Picturesque America." This present reached him on his seventieth birthday, and gave him great pleasure. death was mourned not only in Denmark, but wherever his works have been read. The day of his funeral, Wednesday, August 11th, was made one of national mourning throughout Denmark. In Copenhagen all business was suspended and flags were placed at half-mast. The King and other members of the royal family, with the ministers and chief officers, attended the funeral. Deputations from all parts of the kingdom had arrived, while in the cathedral were representatives of the public bodies, the diplomatic corps, the faculty and students of the university, and workmen's societies. Thus he died, loved and respected by all.

His

ANDREE, KARL, an eminent German geog rapher, was born October 20, 1808; died August 10, 1875. He studied in Jena, Berlin, and Göttingen, and, being under suspicion of having taken part in the revolutionary movements of the time, he could not obtain an appointment as teacher. He therefore devoted himself to journalism, and was successively editor of the Mainzer Zeitung, the Kölnische Zeitung, the Bremer Zeitung, and the Deutsche Reichszeitung. In 1858 he was appointed consul of Chili for the kingdom of Saxony, which position he retained until 1869. His principal works are: "Nordamerika in geographischen und geschichtlichen Umrissen" (Brunswick, second edition, 1854); "Buenos Ayres und die argentinische Republik" (Leipsic, 1856); Geographische

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