BELGIUM. 



75 



tioii, expressing entire approval of the decla- 

 rations of the ministry, and concurrence in the 

 regret expressed by the ministers in regard to 

 the occurrences complained of by Germany. 



On May 21st, the tribunal at Li6ge, which 

 had the alleged plot to assassinate Prince 

 Bismarck under investigation, dismissed the 

 charges against Duchesne. All the papers in 

 this case were, on May 23d, handed to the Ger- 

 man embassador, with a note explaining that 

 the investigation was exhaustive and nothing 

 had been discovered beyond the letters which 

 had already been published, and which did not 

 bring Duchesne within the scope of any penal 

 codes. The note added that the Government 

 would propose an amendment to the law, by 

 which proposals of murder would be made 

 punishable the same as threats. 



On May 25th the Senate had a long debate 

 on the diplomatic correspondence between 

 Belgium and Germany. A resolution was pro- 

 posed declaring that the House completely ap- 

 proved of the explanations given by the Gov- 

 ernment, and passed to the order of the day. 

 This resolution was unanimously adopted. In 

 the course of the debate a Liberal member ex- 

 pressed the opinion that the charges put forth 

 by Germany were not of a serious nature. He 

 regretted, at the same time, the language used 

 by the Belgian bishops, and protested against 

 the statement that Belgium felt more sympa- 

 thy for France than for Germany. M. Malou, 

 the Minister of Finance, announced that a bill 

 would be presented, rendering penal such acts 

 as those with which Duchesne was charged. 



On June 22d the Count d'Aspremont Lyn- 

 den, Minister for Foreign Affairs, read in the 

 Chamber of Deputies the note communicated 

 by Count Perponcher, the German minister at 

 Brussels, in which Prince Bismarck replies to 

 the Belgian note of the 23d May. The prince 

 expressed his thanks for the careful investiga- 

 tion made by the Belgian Government in the 

 Duchesne affair, and for the intimation that it 

 proposed to complete its penal legislation. 

 " This," continues Prince Bismarck, " has 

 given great satisfaction to the Emperor, who 

 anticipates that the simultaneous discussion of 

 similar legislative measures in Germany and 

 Belgium will have a salutary effect upon the 

 public conscience. His Majesty also hopes 

 that, should there be any renewal of attempts 

 on the part of Belgian subjects to intervene in 

 German internal questions, they will be dealt 

 with in the same conciliatory spirit of which 

 the Belgian Government in the Duchesne af- 

 fair has given proof so "strongly meriting our 

 gratitude." The bill authorizing the punish- 

 ment of mere proposals for the commission of 

 crime was then discussed. The bill was sup- 

 ported by some deputies, while others advo- 

 cated various amendments. M. Guillery moved 

 an amendment restricting its provisions to at- 

 tempts at assassination. The Minister of Jus- 

 tice, M. d'Lantsheere, made a speech, in which 

 he dwelt upon the necessity for passing the 



bill, and cited a case now pending before the 

 Assizes of Hainault which would have necessi- 

 tated the introduction of the present measure 

 even if occasion had not been furnished for it 

 by the Duchesne affair. M. Bara argued that 

 the bill was due to political circumstances, and 

 he opposed the extension the Government pro- 

 posed to give to the measure. On June 23d 

 the Chamber passed the bill by 75 yeas against 

 6 nays. 



The Minister of Foreign Affairs, though, 

 like all the members of the cabinet belonging 

 to the Catholic party, gave, in January, deep 

 offense to one section of his party. The ques- 

 tion was raised in Parliament as to the desira- 

 bleness of retaining the Belgian embassy to 

 the Pope. The minister argued in favor of 

 retaining it, but one of his reasons was that 

 the legation offered an opportunity of letting 

 the Pope know that " the opinions of Belgium 

 are not those of all the persons who repair to 

 Rome." Some of the provincial Catholic pa- 

 pers in Belgium and France severely criticised 

 the remark of the minister. 



An animated debate was caused in the 

 Chamber of Deputies on April 19th by an 

 interpellation relative to the military honors 

 which, it was announced, would be rendered 

 to the newly-appointed cardinal, Archbishop 

 Deschamps, of Malines, on the occasion of his 

 solemn entrance into the city of Malines. 

 The author of the interpellation, H. Jottrand, 

 a member of the Left, warned the Government 

 against the continuance of this relic of French 

 legislation, as the archbishop, by such an act, 

 would be recognized as an officer of the State, 

 and the Government would become responsible 

 for all his acts, a responsibility which, in view 

 of the diplomatic complication with Germany, 

 involved great danger. The Minister of War 

 and the Prime-Minister defended their con- 

 duct by referring to several precedents. 



The official subornation of the press was 

 made, in May, the subject of an interpellation 

 by M. Bara. He produced in the Chamber 

 of Deputies a receipt for two hundred francs 

 paid to M. Coomans, a prominent member 

 of the Right, and editor of an influential jour- 

 nal, for the insertion of an article strongly 

 attacking the opposition, accompanied by a 

 ministerial resume of the financial situation. 

 He demanded an explanation. The Minister 

 of Finance, M. Malou, candidly admitted that 

 the transaction was indefensible, and had been 

 sanctioned without sufficient consideration. 

 He added that he had reimbursed the Treas- 

 ury. M. Coomans attempted an explanation, 

 which was received with shouts of laughter. 

 He said he believed a similar statement and 

 payment had been received by all journals. 

 M. Bara made some severe remarks upon the 

 transaction, and hinted that this was not the 

 only charge of the same description he might 

 have to make. The incident excited the great- 

 est interest, and thousands of the public were 

 unable to gain admission to the galleries set 



