men, is distributed in fifty-four full and nine half battalions. A law passed by the States-General in 1861 orders the assimilation, at a future period, of the standing army and militia; but no steps have been taken as yet to effect this object. The regular army stationed in the Netherlands, at the commencement of 1863, was composed as follows:— The colonial troops numbered the following non-commissioned officers and men on December 31, 1861:: To which force are to be added the officers, all Europeans, consisting of 660 infantry, 27 cavalry, 80 artillery, 20 sappers and miners, and 340 staff officers-total, 1,127. The Previous to the year 1830, when Belgium was united with Holland, the standing army of the Netherlands consisted of but 25,000 men, with 140,000 militia, and 43,000 colonial troops. Belgian revolution caused a great increase of the standing army, which has since that time never been brought down again to its former normal state. The navy of the Netherlands was composed, on July 1, 1862, of the following steam and sailing vessels :—. The navy was manned, on July 1, 1862, by 6,137 sailors, officered by 1 admiral, 1 'admiral-lieutenant,' 3 vice-admirals, 4 rear admirals ('schouten-bij-nacht') 20 captains, 40 commanders, 298 first and second lieutenants, 186 midshipmen ('adelborsten') and 123 administrative officers. The marine infantry, at the same date, consisted of 46 officers and 2,088 non-commissioned officers and privates. Both sailors and marines are recruited by enlistment, conscription being allowed, but not actually in force. At the session of the States-General of 1863, a bill was adopted granting a credit to the ministry of marine for transforming a part of the fleet of the Netherlands into iron-clad vessels. Population. The kingdom, since the separation of Belgium, consists of the following ten provinces: The pure Dutch, or Netherlanders, numbering about 2 millions, inhabit the provinces of North and South Holland, Zealand, Utretcht, and Guelderland; the Friesians, speaking a dialect of the Dutch language, are dispersed, to the number of half a million, through Overyssel, Drenthe, Groningen, and Friesland; while North Brabant is almost entirely inhabited by a Flemish population. The number of births, deaths, and marriages was, at four different annual periods, as follows:— Among the births in the year 1860, were 5,965 illegitimate children, or about five per cent. Still-born children, included in the list, were to the number of 6,743, or nearly six per cent. The male births in the year 1860 numbered 1,663,395, and the female 1,693,934.* The Netherlands possess a comparatively larger town population than any other country in Europe. According to the census of Dec. 31, 1861, there are thirteen towns in the kingdom with a population of above 20,000 inhabitants. They are-Delft, with 20,858; Nymegen, with 21,625; Dort, with 23,117; Hertogenbosh, with 23,243; Leeuwarden, with 25,536; Arnhem, with 26,382; Harlem, with 28,145; Groningen, with 36,112; Leyden, with 37,102; Utrecht, with 54,495; The Hague ('S'Gravenhage'), with 81,393; Rotterdam, with 109,402; and Amsterdam, with 268,355 inhabitants. In the provinces of North and South Holland the population of the eleven principal towns is considerably larger than that of the country districts. The natural increase of population, however, is higher in the rural parts than the cities. Trade and Commerce. The value of merchandise imported from the Netherlands into the United Kingdom during the last ten years has averaged about seven millions sterling annually. In 1862 it amounted to 7,859,6017., which is an increase on 1861 of 166,706l., but a decrease in respect to 1860 of 397,0897. The more prominent articles of importation are cattle, corn, butter, cheese, flax, refined sugar, tobacco, wine, wool, and dried yeast. The miscellaneous items, given at the end of the subjoined table, embrace almost every description of goods not enumerated in the official accounts under a specific head. Comparing the total values for the year 1861 with those for 1860, it will be seen that there is a diminution on eighteen classes of mer * Statistisch Jaarbock voor het Koningrijk der Nederlanden, Jaargang 10, 1862. chandise of one million and a quarter sterling, which falls chiefly on cheese, corn, flax, garancine, geneva, sugar, wine, and wool, the last item showing the great deficiency of 352,2541. The imports of this article in 1860 were of the value of 376,056l.; while, in 1861, they fell to 23,8021. The remaining thirteen classes exhibit a total, increase of 696,1797. To this amount cows and calves, sheep and lambs, butter, cotton, yarn, hides, hops, onions, spelter, tea, and tobacco, most largely contribute. In the following table the separate values of these imports, with their increases or decreases, for the years 1860 and 1861, the latest completed returns, are alphabetically arranged: |