Whole number of State conventions, 23; of Sunday-schools, 659, with 60,757 teachers and pupils; of ministers, 722, with 8 licensed lay preachers; of church edifices, 765. Value of parish property, above indebtedness, $6,978,110. One minister is reported in each of the States and Territories of Arkansas, Alaska, Mississippi, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Virginia, and two ministers reside in Colorado. One church organization exists in Arkansas. Four societies, 31 families, and 1 church building and 3 "Union" meeting-houses are returned in Mississippi. The denomination has a church building at Richmond, Va., which is valued at $10,000, but which it does not use. One ordained minister is preaching in Scotland, assisted by several laymen; several church organizations have been formed in that country, of which those at Dunfermline, Selkirk, and Larbert are particularly mentioned; a church has been built at Dunfermline, and a Universalist book and tract depot has been established at the same place. The Universalist faith is also preached at missionary stations in England. One biweekly and 5 weekly general newspapers, 3 Sunday-school papers, 1 quarterly review, and 1 annual Register, are published in the interests of the denomination. The Universalist Publishing House, at Boston, Mass., owns the titles and copyrights of 125 volumes. One of the schools of the denomination which has been reported in previous years, the Liberal Institute, at Jefferson, Wis., is no longer in existence, having passed from the hands of the society under the foreclosure of a *The families are estimated in the parishes which make no report. mortgage. The 11 remaining institutions, of which 5 are classed as colleges or universities, and 6 as seminaries or academies, returned in 1877 a total of 87 professors and teachers, 886 students, and assets valued at $2,289,000. UTAH. Governor Emery, in his message submitted to the Legislature on January 15, 1878, says: Since the meeting of the last Legislature, the affairs of the Territory have continued, in most respects, satisfactory. The general health of the people has been good, and peace and order have prevailed throughout the Territory. Agricultural crops have been abundant, and the husbandmen have been amply rewarded for their labor. The mines, in their further development, have increased in positive value, and, where energy and skill have been displayed in working them, promise large returns to their owners. Many which but two years since were regarded as mere prospects of doubtful worth have grown into well-developed mines of great value. The facilities for milling and smelting have kept pace with the product of the mines. Several extensive establishments have been erected for the reduction of ores, all of which, I believe, are in successful operation, and afford additional employment for a large number of men. Already attention is being directed to the vast coal fields of the San Pete country, where are to be found immense veins of bituminous coal of superior quality for coking and ordinary uses. The day appears not distant when these mines will furnish fuel for the smelting of our ores, at a cost probably of one-fourth the money now paid for Pennsylvania coke. This event will mark a new era, giving fresh impetus to our mining and smelting enterprises. The finances are not unsatisfactory, there being no great indebtedness above the amount due from the counties; but some plan needs to be adopted for the settlement of these outstanding accounts, which embarrass the treasury. Under its present school law every religious denomination in Utah deems it necessary to furnish schools for its children, while but one of these denominations receives any assistance from the public treasury. In Salt Lake alone more than thirty thousand dollars are annually expended for private tuition. This amount of money could furnish schooling for nearly the whole number of children in the city; whereas, under the present arrangement, it procures instruction for only about one-fifth of the entire number of the school age. It is urged that the Legislature provide more effective methods for the capture and conviction of the men who drive out of Utah annually large numbers of stolen cattle and horses. These depredations prove a great obstacle to the extension of grazing, to which vast areas in the Territory are adapted. On the subject of polygamy, Governor Emery addresses the Legislature as follows: The majority of the people of this Territory belong to a religious sect known as the "Latter-Day Saints." I do not intend to discuss the merits or demerits of this new religion, but to refer to one of its distinctive features-polygamy. This system of marriage has continued here for thirty years, and for fifteen years in violation of law. In all the States and Territories, except Utah, it is considered a grave offense, and is severely punished. Polygamy is no less a crime here than in other portions of our country, and yet the law remains a dead letter upon the statutes. I regard this system of marriage an evil, undermining the peace of society brought within its influence, and carrying with it dark shadows, which rest like a blight upon the offspring of these illegal relations, and the women who are maintained in them. The number of polygamous wives in Utah is large-how large I have not the means of knowing -yet it is safe to say they number thousands. The statutes and laws have been compiled by a commission created by the last Legislature. That body also adopted a penal code, modeled upon that of California, but failed to adopt a code of procedure for the courts in criminal cases, except such as are held by justices of the peace. Such a code of procedure the Governor recommends the present Legislature to adopt. He also recommends that a cominission, eminently qualified for its duties, should be appointed to codify the laws and eliminate from them whatever is in conflict with Congressional enactment; and that they should also be instructed to draft such bills as they may deem advisable for the public good, and submit their work to the next Legislature. The silk culture is attracting some attention in the Territory, and it has now been demonstrated by actual experiment that its climate and soil are admirably adapted to the mul berry-tree and the production of silk. It is believed this will be a profitable industry. The silk which has been produced so far is of good quality, and the manufactured fabrics are of an excellent and substantial character. The death of Brigham Young, it was thought by many, would prove a severe blow to Mormonism, and lead to its destruction; but, according to a recent statement, Mormonism has taken a new start, and, instead of disintegration, there never was such unity among its people. Governor Young's government was centralized to the point of creating a sort of VANDERBILT, CORNELIUS, an American capitalist, died in New York, January 4, 1877. He was born near the present Stapleton, Staten Island, N. Y., May 27, 1794. He was averse to education, and at the age of 16 he bought V slavery, which had a deadening effect upon society. Since his death many reforms have been introduced or promised. The priesthoods have been reorganized, and are now held to a strict accountability for their duties. It is promised that the trustee in trust of the Church shall give an account of the tithes twice a year, and that an investigation shall be made into all the Church accounts. Governor Young, during his life, gave no account of the tithes, and no one knew how much he received or what disposition he made of the money. These measures are very popular. a small vessel, with which he plied between the island and New York. At 18 he owned two vessels, and was captain of a third. At 19 he married, removed to New York, and bought sloops and schooners, and at 23 he was 66 free from debt and worth $9,000. In 1817 he assisted Thomas Gibbons in building the first steamboat run between New York and New Brunswick, N. J., and became captain of her at a salary of $1,000 a year. In 1818 he took command of a much larger and better boat on the same line, his wife at the same time keeping the hotel at New Brunswick. In 1824 Vanderbilt had full control of the Gibbons line, and brought it up to paying $40,000 a year. In 1827, while still superintending the Philadelphia route, he leased for 14 years the ferry between New York and Elizabethport, N. J., put on new boats, and made it very profitable. In 1829 he left Gibbons; and in the following 19 years, till 1848, he built and operated steamboats on the Hudson, on Long Island Sound, on the route to Boston, and on the Delaware from Bordentown to Philadelphia. He put on new and superior boats in opposition to an old line till he was bought off, or drove off his competitors, so that he had the monopoly and profits. In 1848-49 he built the steamship Prometheus, in which in 1850 he sailed for the isthmus of Darien. He had already purchased a controlling interest in the American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company," which projected a canal across the isthmus; but for this scheme Vanderbilt substituted a transit route from Greytown at the mouth of the San Juan to San Juan del Sur on the Pacific, which had the advantage over the old transit from Chagres to Panama of saving 700 miles between New York and San Francisco. In 1851 he put three steamers on the Atlantic side, and four on the Pacific side, and went into competition with the "United States" and the "Pacific Mail" companies. In 1852, with three more steamers, he started a branch line from New Orleans to Greytown. In 1853 he went to Europe in his steam yacht North Star; and while he was abroad C. K. Garrison and Charles Morgan, holding a large amount of the transit stock, threw him out of the management. On his return he organized an opposition line to Morgan's between New Orleans and Galveston, and in 1854 established an independent line between New York and Aspinwall, with steamers on the Pacific side to compete with the Pacific Mail line. He soon compelled a compromise, and once more held the control of the transit company. In 1856 William Walker, then ruling in Nicaragua, seized the property of the transit company; and Vanderbilt, with the assistance of Costa Rica, fomented an insurrection which expelled Walk er. The bar of the mouth of the San Juan rendered approach to Greytown difficult, which led to the abandonment of the transit business. In April, 1856, Vanderbilt received a large subsidy for withdrawing his California line, the field not affording profit for two companies. His independent transatlantic line, started in 1855, was abandoned in 1861 by the withdrawal of the Vanderbilt, a steamer costing $800,000, which he gave to the Government on the outbreak of the civil war. During his steamship career he owned 21 steamers, 11 of which he built, and with steamboats his entire steam fleet numbered 66; and for many years he had been popularly known as the "Commodore." When he abandoned the water in 1864 his accumulations were estimated at $40,000,000. As early as 1844 he had become largely interested in the New York & New Haven Railroad, and in 1845 he began to buy the stock of the Harlem Railroad, and in 1864 held the whole of it. In 1859 and subsequently he invested several millions in the mortgage bonds of the Erie road. Soon after coming into possession of the Harlem road, he secured a controlling interest in the Hudson River & New York Central Railroads, and consolidated the two. Since 1873 the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern has been operated in conjunction with the New York Central & Hudson River roads as one continuous route, 978 miles in extent, and with the Harlem and side lines and branches presenting an aggregate of 2,128 miles subject to one management, representing an aggregate capital of $149,000,000, half of which is said to have belonged to Vanderbilt and his family. Mr. Vanderbilt gave $700,000 to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and $50,000 to the Church of the Strangers in New York. His wealth at the time of his death was variously estimated at from $60,000,000 to $100,000,000. All of this excepting about $15,000,000 was bequeathed to his son William H. Vanderbilt. This circumstance led to a contest of the will. William H. Vanderbilt succeeded his father as President of the New York Central Railroad. VERMONT. Almost the only event of the year worthy of note in the State of Vermont was the celebration, at Bennington, of the battle which occurred there on the 16th of August, 1777. The celebration began on the 15th. A salute was fired and the bells of the village were rung at sunrise, and a military and civic procession paraded the streets in the forenoon. The Hon. E. J. Phelps, of Burlington, presided at the exercises in a pavilion, and delivered an address of welcome. This was followed by an historical address delivered by the Hon. Daniel Roberts, of Burlington, and a poem by Mrs. Julia C. R. Dorr, of Rutland. There were also brief speeches by distinguished guests, among whom were the Vice-President of the United States, Senators Edmunds and Morrill, Ex-Governor Hoffman and the Hon. E. W. Stoughton of New York, Ex-Governor Harriman of New Hampshire, Governor Connor of Maine, Governor Van Zandt of Rhode Island, and others. The President of the United States arrived in the afternoon, when there was a military review and a public reception, followed in the evening by a general illumination, torchlight procession, and open-air concerts. On the 16th, there were salutes and bell-ringing at sunrise, and a procession in the forenoon, in which detachments of military Amount of deposits... of surplus Miscellaneous liabilities. Total liabilities.... LIABILITIES. $8.821.726 54 332.500 00 856,274 19 30,326 65 $9,040,827 38 from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massa- As no election and no session of the Legislature took place this year, there was a total lack of political action by the people, and an absence of all official reports and information. A somewhat singular case of the reprieve of a man convicted of murder, only a few minutes before the time set for his execution, occurred at Rutland on the 6th of April. John P. Phair was charged with the murder of Mrs. Frieze, at Rutland, on the morning of June 9, 1874, and had been subsequently convicted on wholly circumstantial evidence. A new trial had been refused, and he was sentenced to be hung on the 6th of April. On the morning of that day a statement prepared by the condemned man was published in a newspaper at Boston, Mass., which had the effect of bringing out what was deemed to be new evidence tending to show the man's innocence. A reprieve of four weeks was granted on telegraphic information from Boston, in order to permit an examination of the evidence. This was regarded of sufficient importance to justify a further reprieve until after the next session of the Legislature, which occurs in October, 1878. As a new trial had been once denied there was no power except that of the Legislature to grant it. On the 30th of June, there were 20 savings institutions in the State. The number of depositors was 31,528, an increase of 3,047 in one year. The amount of deposits was $8,321,726.54, an increase of $263,173.51. The disbursements in dividends amounted to $381,400.10. The total expenses of the banks, including United States revenue taxes, were $42,653.64. The resources and liabilities of the banks were as follows: VIRGINIA. The average annual receipts from taxation for the last eight fiscal years have been $2,401,726. The receipts from the same source for the fiscal year 1876-'77 were $2,505,387. The ordinary expenses of the government for the last fiscal year were less than for any year since the constitution took effect, and less by $88,583 than the average annual expenses of the last eight years on the same account. The principal sum of the entire debt proper of the Commonwealth, September 30, 1877, was $29,350,816.76. The arrears of interest which have accrued since the Funding Bill took effect, and which constitute so much non-interest-bearing debt, amounted to $4,188,141.33. Consequently the whole of the public debt, including the principal and all arrears of interest, is $33,538,958.09. The entire debt assumed by the Funding Bill was $30,478,646.49. The difference is the increase of the debt during the six years which have elapsed since the Funding Bill went into operation. The condition of the sinking and literary funds, which are sometimes erroneously classed as part of the State debt, but which constitute no part of it, is as follows: Sinking fund: principal, $5,145,271.90; interest, $931,996.26; aggregate, $6,077,268.16. Literary fund: principal, $1,428,245.25; interest, $176,271.64; total, $1,604,516.89. The most important measure passed by the Legislature of 1877 is known as the Moffett Register Law, which imposes a tax, and prescribes the mode of collecting it, on the privilege of selling wine, ardent spirits, or malt liquors. It was approved March 30th, and was amended by an act approved April 2d. Its chief object was to create a revenue to pay the interest on the public debt. The law provides that no person shall sell wine, ardent spirits, malt liquors, or any mixture thereof, either by wholesale, retail, or to be drunk at the place where sold, or in any other way, without first having obtained a license. A license to sell by wholesale includes only the privilege of selling in quantities of five gallons or more. A license to sell by wholesale and retail includes only the privilege of selling in quantities of one gallon or A license to sell by retail includes only the privilege of seiling in quantities not exceeding five gallons at any time to any one individual, which shall not be drunk where sold, but shall be delivered to the purchaser in bottles, jugs, demijohns, or other vessels, to be removed therefrom. A license to sell to be drunk where more. sold is known as a bar-room license, under which no wine, ardent spirits, malt liquors, nor any mixture thereof, shall be sold to be taken away from the place of delivery, but shall be drunk there. Any person desiring to carry on the business of a retail liquor merchant, and also that of a bar-room keeper, is required to obtain a separate license for each, and to comply with all the provisions of the law in relation to both privileges. Any person selling without a license shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less than twenty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not less than one month nor more than twelve months. It was made the duty of the auditor of public accounts to have made a bar-room register, to be supplied to the various cities, towns, and counties of the State. The instrument adopted by the act for this purpose was known as the Moffett Register. This is about the size of a common cigar box. All the machinery is inclosed within a box, which is made of cast-iron. On the front of the box is a combination of dials, registering from 1 to 1,000,000. On the reverse side is a crank. The register is permanently fixed on a counter, with the dial facing the customer, and the crank nearest the bartender. Where malt and spirituous liquors are sold, there is a register for each, appropriately labeled. When a glass of lager-beer is sold, the bar-tender turns the crank once, a gong or bell within the box sounds one, and the hands on the dial move forward one point. The alcoholic register is the same, but the latter liquor is taxed 2 cents a drink, the former cent a drink. The duties of the commission of the revenue, and the regulations to be observed by retail dealers, are set forth in sections 4 and 5 of the law, as follows: 4. Whenever the commissioner of the revenue of any county, city, or town shall receive from the auditor of public accounts the necessary registers, he shall immediately cause the same to be firmly fixed, according to plans and instructions furnished by said auditor, in a conspicuous place in the room of delivery and place of business of every bar-room keeper or retail dealer licensed under the provisions of this act within his district. When the bar-room keeper or retail dealer desires to sell malt liquor under his license, there shall be placed an additional register, in like manner as above required, and one is to be marked as a malt-liquor register, and the other as an alcoholic-liquor register, in such form and characters as the said auditor shall prescribe. The commissioner of the register shall see that the instruments are well located, firmly attached, and kept in good working order, and for this purpose shall, from time to time, inspect the same; and if, after such register shall have been put in use, it becomes inoperative or out of order, it shall be the duty of the commissioner of the revenue, upon notice of the fact, to be at once given to him by the dealer, to replace it immediately with a good and perfect instrument, and charge the licensed dealer so supplied with the cost of repairing or replacing the injured register. The auditor of public accounts shall provide each commissioner of the revenue with a sufficient number of registers to enable him to comply with the requirements of this section. The number of registers which may be necessary to the proper registration of the sales of each licensed dealer shall be determined by the commissioner of the revenue of the district in which such dealer resides. Every register shall be locked after each inspection by the commissioner of the revenue, and the key retained in his possession; and he shall seal the register after each inspection in such manner as the auditor of public accounts may direct. The character of the lock and seal required by this section shall be prescribed by the said auditor. 5. After the registers provided for in the next preceding section shall have been placed in the barroom or place of business of licensed dealers, it shall be the duty of the retail dealer, immediately on the sale of every half pint, fraction, or multiple thereof, of ardent spirits, wines, malt liquors, or any mixture thereof, in the presence of the purchaser, or person to whom it is delivered, to turn the crank of the proper register until the bell has struck once, and the indicator on the dial has moved one point or number for each half pint, or multiple thereof, so sold, up to and including one gallon. It shall, in like manner, be the duty of the bar-room keeper, immediately upon the sale of each drink of wine, ardent spirits, malt |