BELGIUM. 



was granted. The end of the strike was cele- 

 brated by a procession with flags, bands of 

 music, and symbols, expressive of the object 

 of the demonstration. From Brussels, the 

 strikes extended' to other cities. At Ghent, 

 on October 8th, 300 workmen struck work, 

 demanding the reduction of the time of a day's 

 labor to ten hours, wages to be unchanged, 

 and 50 per cent, in addition to be paid for 

 work over-time. The strike gradually spread 

 among all the classes of workmen ; and here 

 also, through the mediation of the burgomaster 

 De Kerkhove, it ended in a triumph of the 

 working-men. 



A new session of the Belgian Chambers was 

 opened on November 14th. In the Senate, the 

 Prince de Ligne was elected President. On 

 November 22d there was an animated debate 

 in the Chamber of Representatives upon the 

 subject of the appointment, as Governor of 

 the province of Limburg, of M. de Decker, the 

 former manager of the Belgian school system. 

 The appointment was vigorously attacked by 

 the opposition, and warmly defended by the 

 Government. The unpopularity of the ap- 

 pointee caused large crowds of the populace 

 to march to the King's palace, and loudly 

 to demand the dismissal of the ministry. 

 On November 23d the Chamber of Repre- 

 sentatives, after further animated discussion, 

 finally, and by a decisive majority, voted to 

 support the Government in its appointment of 

 M. de Decker as Governor of Limburg. An 

 enormous and excited crowd gathered around 

 the Chamber, and noisily manifested opposi- 

 tion to the appointment, but the presence of a 

 large police force was sufficient to prevent a 

 breach of the peace during the day. After 

 nightfall, there were serious disturbances, 

 which continued all the evening. Crowds in- 

 vaded the ministry of Public Works, but were 

 repelled by the police. Several persons were 

 injured in the melee. On the 27th another 

 excited discussion took place in the Chamber, 

 in the course of which a member of the Left 

 demanded that the ministry tender their res- 

 ignation. Subsequently a mob assembled be- 

 fore the residence of M. Nothomb, a member 

 of the Right, who made himself particularly 

 obnoxious in supporting the appointment of 

 M. de Decker, and became very disorderly, 

 their actions culminating in the smashing of 

 the windows of the house. So violent were 

 the manifestations of the mob that an alarm 

 was sounded, and the civic guard mustered in 

 strong force. Owing to the continued dis- 

 orders, and in order to allay the excitement 

 among the people, M. de Decker resigned the 

 governorship. The agitation against the min- 

 istry continued, nevertheless, unabated. Pe- 

 titions to the King for the dismissal of the 

 ministers poured in from all points of the 

 country. An immense mass of people as- 

 sembled in front of the Palais de la Nation. 

 The appearance of the multitude was threat- 

 ening ; but a strong force of troops was on the 



ground, and, although they did not attempt to 

 disperse the crowd, they so far succeeded in 

 preventing violence to persons or destruction 

 of property. Cries of "Resign! resign! " were 

 heard on every side of the palace. On No- 

 vember 30th the burgomaster issued a proc- 

 lamation in the morning, enjoining all good 

 citizens to remain within their dwellings, for- 

 bidding out-door demonstrations, and declar- 

 ing that illegal assemblages would be dispersed. 

 Nevertheless, in the course of the day the 

 recent disturbances were renewed. Monster 

 crowds of men of opposite political parties 

 collected in the streets, and there were fre- 

 quent collisions between them. The police 

 seemed to be unable, or unwilling, to disperse 

 the rioters. In one instance a company of 

 civic guards, 60 strong, were ordered to charge 

 upon the people, but they reversed their mus- 

 kets and refused to obey. The mob held pos- 

 session of the streets, and the excitement was 

 intense. On December 1st the Baron d'Ane- 

 than announced in the Chambers that the 

 King had demanded the portfolios of the min- 

 istry, and they had accordingly resigned. The 

 Chambers would, therefore, stand adjourned 

 until a new ministry was formed. The resig- 

 nation of the d'Anethan government had a 

 most tranquillizing effect. The crowds dis- 

 persed, and the people appeared to be satis- 

 fied. The formation of a new cabinet was in- 

 trusted to M. de Theux, one of the old leaders 

 of the Conservative party. 



On December 7th, the Moniteur announced 

 the appointment of the new cabinet, composed 

 as follows : Count de Theux, State Minister, 

 and member of the Chamber of Representa- 

 tives, minister with out portfolio, and president 

 of the Council of Ministers ; J. Malon, State 

 Minister and Senator, Minister of Finances ; 

 T. de Lantsheere, provincial councillor and 

 lawyer, Minister of Justice ; Charles Delcour, 

 member of the Chamber of Representatives, 

 Minister of the Interior ; Count d'Aspremont- 

 Lynden, Senator, Minister of Foreign Affairs ; 

 Moncheur, member of the Chamber of Repre- 

 sentatives, Minister of Public Works. Lien- 

 tenant-General Guillaume, the only member of 

 the former cabinet whose resignation was not 

 accepted, remained Minister of War. 



The president of the new ministry, Count 

 de Theux, is one of the veterans of the political 

 and parliamentary conflicts in Belgium. He 

 was born in 1794, and in the war of indepen- 

 dence, in 1830, was a prominent member of 

 the national Congress. He has ever since 

 been a member of the Chamber of Represent- 

 atives, and has for many years been the leader 

 of the Catholic party. In the first cabinet of 

 King Leopold L, he was Minister of the In- 

 terior until October, 1832, when M. Rogier 

 received his portfolio in the ministry Goblet^ 

 He again became Minister of the Interior and 

 Foreign Affairs, in August, 1839, and remained 

 in this position until April, 1840. In 1846 ho 

 became the president of the so-called "Minis- 



