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by (lie Decree of 3 December, 1873. Its function is Ihr encouragement and direction of the study of painting, sculpture, architecture, and music, for which, at the same time, special conservatories exist. The .Vc.adcmv of Exact Sciences, Physical and Natu- ral, created in 1847, has 36 academicians resident at Madrid and 36 corresponding members in Spain and abroad. The Academy of Moral and Political Sci- ences was established in 1857 by the Law of Public Instruction of the same year. It h.as 3 academicians resident at Madrid, 30 corresponding members in

Sp.ain and alimail. and 10 lurcij;u lic'norar\' members. There are also Academies of Medicine at Madrid, Barcelona, .and other leading cities, as well as Acade- mies of Jurisprudence and Legislation, of the Fine Arts, etc. Notable among those of the provinces are the Literary Academy (.\cademia de Buenos Lettras) of Barcelona, dating from the end of the seventeenth centurj'; the Literary Academy of Seville, the Acade- mia Juridica Aragonesa, of Saragossa (1733), the Real Academia de las nobles y bellas Artes de S. Carlos, of Valencia, etc. The members of numerous American Academies are correspondents of the Span- ish Academy — those of Colombia, Ecuador (Quito), Mexico, Salvador, Venezuela, Chile, Peru (Lima), Argentina, Guatemala, and the Republic of Honduras. For the study of astronomy there are several observa- tories, the principal being the two State observatories of S. Fernando, founded at Cadiz in 17.54, by Don Jorge Juan, and transferred in 1779, and of Madrid, the project of which had already been formed in the reign of Chiirles III, though it was not realized until the reform of public education in 184.5. .\mong the private ob.servatories should be mentioned that of Tibidabo (Barcelona), that of the Ebro, and the Jesuit observatorj' at Tortosa, where the various branches of astro-physics, terrestrial magnetism, etc., are studied.

It is very difficult to obtain correct statistics of the

works of social improvement existing in Spain, owing to the persistent tendency of ofhcials to suppress all mention of Catholic institutions. The Institute of Social K(>forms, managed chiefly by the Krausist Free-Teacliing Institution, published in 1907 the fol- lowing account of workingmen's associations existing in the year 1904 ; —

Catholic associations G7

For the amelioration of

the conditions of labour 1147

Co-operative 93

Mutual benefit 309

Political 86

For instruction and recrea- tion 79

Musical (including choral) 84

Total 1865

In 1908 the following figures are given : —

Savings banks 13 1 Mutual i

Co-operative societies 274

Mutual benefit 1691 | Total 2020

The following statistics published by "La Paz So- cial" (a social review of Saragossa and Madrid) give a better idea of Catholic social enterprise:

Catholic rural banks

Catholic agricultural syndicates.

In 11)0.',. 1907.

1909. 373 450

From this it appears that the number of Catholic so- cial enterprises is rapidly increasing, which is due to the appreciation by the clergy of the importance of combining social work with the pastoral ministry, so as to meet both the spiritual and temporal needs of the people. For the general direction of these works there has been formed at Madrid a Central Com- mittee {Junta) of Catholic Action. The duties of this committee are to co-operate with the prelates of the respective dioceses in the preparation of Cathohc congresses in such dioceses, to carry out the resolu- tions of the congresses approved by the prelates, and til direct the Catholic propaganda in all its branches. It is made up of a president [at present (1910) the Bishop of Madi-id-Alcald] and 18 members, nine of whom represent the nine ecclcsia.st ical prox'inces. Up to the present (1910) six Catholic congresses have been held: at Madrid (1887), Seville, Saragossa, Tar- ragona, Burgos, and Santiago (191)2). Kucharistic congresses have also been held at Valencia, Lugo, .and Madrid, and "congres.ses of the good Press" at Sev- ille and Saragossa (1908). But political dissensions among Catholics have hindered the practical results which might have been expected. The ''social weeks" are also held among some communities, to bring together those who are engaged in works of this kind and to spread the knowledge of them in the vari- ous provinces. In 1907 the "Social Popular Move- ment" was inaugurated at Barcelona, in imitation of the Volksverein at Munich-Glailbach, in Germany.

D. C/iori(!/.— Though the charity of Catholic Spain has flourished in all ages and been manifested by the foundation of numerous benevolent institutions, it is undeniable that the second half of the nineteenth cen- tury saw a greater number of such foundations than did" many of the centuries preceding it. The cause of this W.1S p.artly the reaction of religious feelings after the Revolution and partly the necessity for su(Oi works resulting from the destruction, by disamortization, of those which had previously existed. Under the administration of Senor La Cierva as Director-Gen- eral, there was published in folio (cii-704 pages) "Memoranda for the Study and Organization of Benevolent and Provident Institutions" (Apuntes para el estudio . . . de las Instituciones de Beneficencia) from which the following data are ex- tracted. The benevolent institutions may be classi- fied as general, provincial, municipal, and^ private. The general institutions, supported by the State, are nine in number, and may be divided into hospitals, asylums, and schools, according to the objects for which they exist. The hospitals are those of La Prin- cesa, with 300 beds, for acute cases in medicine and surgery; the Ophthalmic Institute, with 100 beds;