BELGIUM. 



BENNETT, JAMES G. 



reaux in 1870 was 445, which forwarded 1,998,- 

 412 dispatches. 



Of post-offices, there were, in 1870, 427. 



The arrival of the Count de Chambord at 

 Antwerp, February 14, 1871, and the conse- 

 quent gathering of prominent Legitimists from 

 all parts of France, created an intense excite- 

 ment and riotous demonstrations. Large 

 crowds of persons opposed to the legitimist 

 principles assembled near the residence of the 

 count, and a number of violent disturbers were 

 arrested by the authorities. On February 24th 

 the Mayor of Antwerp issued a proclamation, 

 calling upon the citizens to have some respect 

 for the Count de Chambord, and announcing 

 that ample measures had been taken to sup- 

 press any disorder. The excitement against 

 the count and the Legitimists continued, how- 

 ever, undiminished. A meeting of citizens, 

 held on February 24th, adopted resolutions, 

 protesting, in forcible terms, against the so- 

 journ of the count, and the gendarmes charged 

 and dispersed several gatherings. The count, 

 therefore, requested his friends to refrain from 

 visiting Antwerp, and left the city himself on 

 February 17th. The subject was also in the 

 meanwhile discussed in the Second Chamber, 

 a liberal deputy declaring that a pretender 

 had arrived in Antwerp to conspire against 

 France, and that the Government therefore 

 should be very careful in its action. The Min- 

 ister of the Interior replied that the count 

 was no conspirator, and that the Government 

 had given him no sign of sympathy. The total 

 number of French Legitimists who visited the 

 count was estimated at 5,000; among them 

 was Bishop Dupanloup, of Orleans, and Dukes 

 Rohan and Tremouille. In March, the Cham- 

 ber of Representatives had a very animated 

 discussion on the question, whether Belgium 

 should, as the Catholic party demanded, retain 

 an accredited minister with the Pope. The 

 Liberal party insisted upon the abolition of the 

 office, but the Chamber, on March 6th, by a 

 vote of 63 yeas to 32 nays, decided to main- 

 tain it. 



The elections for members of the Chamber 

 of Deputies for the provinces of Antwerp, 

 Brabant, Western Flanders, Namur, and Lux- 

 emburg, were held on June llth. In Brussels 

 the thirteen Liberal candidates were reflected 

 by a majority of about 3,000 votes. There 

 were three tickets in the field, a Liberal, which 

 received from 6,420 to 6,606 votes ; a Catholic, 

 receiving 3,071 to 3,421 votes; and a Flemish, 

 at the head of which was the celebrated writ- 

 er, Ilendrick Conscience, receiving from 140 to 

 199 votes, a clear proof that the Flemish ques- 

 tion as yet awakens in Brussels no political in- 

 terest. The total number of Deputies elected 

 in the five provinces was 63 ; of whom, in the 

 last session of the Chamber, 21 had been Lib- 

 erals and 42 Catholics ; at the new election 19 

 Liberals and 44 Catholics were returned. This 

 result increased the Catholic majority in the 

 Chamber of Deputies from 18 to 22 (71 Cath- 



olics against 51 Liberals). The Minister of 

 Justice, De Lantsheere, being elected in Dix- 

 mude, all the members of the ministry, with 

 the exception of the Minister of "War, have a 

 seat either in this Senate or in the Chamber 

 of Deputies. 



On July 1st, the municipal elections were 

 held throughout the kingdom, on the basis of 

 a new electoral law adopted during the last 

 session of the Legislature. The interest shown 

 in these elections was generally very consider- 

 able; nearly everywhere the different sec- 

 tions of the Liberal party united against the 

 Ultramontanes. In nearly all the large cities 

 the former were successful ; in Brussels the 

 Catholics did not even put up a ticket, and the 

 administration of the Liberal mayor, Anspach, 

 one of the most decided opponents of the 

 Catholic party, continues therefore without 

 opposition. In Liege, Ghent, Mons, Tournay, 

 and even in Malines and Louvain" the Liberals 

 either gained or retained the ascendency ; in 

 Namur and Bruges the two parties are now 

 about equally represented. The chief vic- 

 tory of the Liberal party was won in Antwerp, 

 where, nine years before, the popular opposi- 

 tion against the fortifications proposed by the 

 Liberal Cabinet, Frere-Orban, had caused the 

 success of the Catholic party, and it had since 

 remained in power. Now, the opposition of 

 the merchants to the location of the commer- 

 cial buildings, which the present Catholic min- 

 istry, contrary to the wishes of the merchants, 

 intends to erect on the left bank of the Scheldt, 

 has put an end to the Catholic administration, 

 and reinstated the Liberals in power. 



There were, in the course of the year 1872, 

 several strikes of considerable dimensions 

 among the laboring -classes, attended, as in 

 former years, by much turbulence and dis- 

 order. In the coal district of Borinage no less 

 than 10,000 men were, in July, on a strike, 

 and troops were sent from Brussels and Mons 

 to preserve peace. 



BENNETT, JAMES GORDON, a noted and 

 remarkable journalist, for fifty years engaged 

 in the profession, the founder and for thirty 

 years editor and proprietor of the New York 

 Herald ; born at New Mill, near Keith, Banff- 

 shire, Scotland, in 1795 ; died in New York City, 

 June 1, 1872. His parents were Roman Catholics 

 of French descent, and James was brought up a 

 believer in the doctrines of the Roman Church. 

 He was " a liberal Catholic," as he character- 

 istically described himself, "just believing as 

 much of their mysteries and dogmas as I deem 

 compatible with the Scriptures and common- 

 sense, and tolerating the form and ceremony 

 of worship as a mere matter of taste, no way 

 essential to Christian belief." He went to 

 school in his native place until he was fourteen 

 years of age. Then he was sent to Aberdeen 

 to study for the priesthood. Two or three 

 years of seminary life convinced him that he 

 had mistaken his vocation. He had read the 

 poems of Byron as fast as they were published, 



