76 



BELGIUM. 



apart for their use. The session of the Cham- 

 bers closed on July 3d. 



In October, elections were held throughout 

 the country for half the members of the com- 

 munal councils. The Liberal majority was 

 overthrown at Bruges, Malines, Audenarde, 

 and Spa, and the Catholics suffered similar re- 

 verses at Namur. In the other communes, the 

 elections caused no change in the composition 

 of the councils. The Catholic candidates were 

 reflected in Aerschot, and the Liberals in 

 Brussels, Louvain, Verviers, Mons, Ostend, 

 and Diest. 



The Belgian Chambers were opened, on No- 

 vember 9th, without a speech from the throne. 

 On November 17th the Government was asked, 

 in the Chamber of Deputies, for information on 

 the sale of arms and war-material by the mili- 

 tary authorities at Charlevoix, and the fear 

 was expressed that these sales might lead to 

 diplomatic difficulties. The Minister of Fi- 

 nance, Malou, admitted that the subject de- 

 served to be taken into consideration, though 

 he did not believe that the arms had been 

 purchased for any unlawful purposes. The 

 laws contained no provision relative to the 

 subject, but the Government had resolved to 

 submit to the Chamber a bill for regulating 

 such sales in future. 



At a supplementary election of a member 

 of the Chamber of Deputies, held at Ghent on 

 November 23d, the candidate of the Liberal 

 party, Burgomaster de Kerckhove, of Ghent, 

 was elected by a majority of two hundred 

 votes. His predecessors belonged to the Cath- 

 olic party. 



The Brussels Court of Appeals, in May, gave 

 judgment in an important lawsuit. The late 

 Mademoiselle Deneef had been induced to be- 

 queath her immense fortune to the Jesuits. 

 The court decided that the will was not valid, 

 and that the fortune must go to the legitimate 

 heirs. It was reported that the Jesuits had 

 offered the sum of three million francs to 

 some of the legitimate heirs if they would not 

 go to law. 



Another interesting trial involved the ques- 

 tion, " What constiutes an insult to religion ? " 

 The authorities prosecuted the student at the 

 training college at Huy who, after receiving 

 the consecrated wafer, took it out of his mouth, 

 pocketed it, and, after discussing with his 

 comrades what should be done with it, ate it 

 in a cake. His counsel contended that, the 

 constitution recognized no state religion, the 

 supernatural character of the wafer could not 

 be acknowledged, and that such an act did not 

 come within the terms of the law on insults to 

 religion. The public prosecutor called for a 

 sentence of eight days' imprisonment, but the 

 court inflicted fifteen days' imprisonment, to- 

 gether with a fine, and the costs of the prose- 

 cution. 



The bitter feeling which exists between the 

 Catholic and Liberal parties on religious ques- 

 tions led to several disturbances of the peace. 



On May 23d the ranks of a religious proces- 

 sion in Brussels were broken up en route by 

 the populace, and the police charged the crowd 

 with drawn swords. About ten arrests were 

 effected. The persons composing the proces- 

 sion took refuge in the adjoining houses, and 

 subsequently dispersed. The burgomaster was 

 present. Some further slight demonstrations 

 on the part of a small number of students oc- 

 curred in connection with the intended pil- 

 grimage, which was not held as contemplated. 

 Shouts were raised in front of the various mon- 

 asteries. The month of May, or the month of 

 Mary, as it is called in the Koman Catholic 

 Church, is that usually selected for the reli- 

 gious processions which, since the defeat of M. 

 Frere-Orban's administration, and the entry 

 of the Catholic party into power, have ob- 

 tained a sort of semi-official recognition. In 

 the days of the Liberals they were tolerated 

 only, but during the last four or five years they 

 have frequently demanded, and received, the 

 support of the civil authorities, to the great 

 disgust of a large portion of the population of 

 the great towns. This year this feeling was 

 intensified by the incident of the recent diplo- 

 matic correspondence with Germany, pro- 

 duced, in the opinion of the Liberals, by the 

 fiery zeal of some of the Ultramontane cham- 

 pions; and, while the Catholics seemed bent 

 on increasing the number and importance of 

 their demonstrations, their adversaries were 

 inclined to meet them at least half-way, pos- 

 sibly in the hope of bringing discredit upon the 

 movement. 



Similar disturbances occurred at Ghent. 

 A wealthy lady at Oostacker, near Ghent, 

 had constructed on her property a sort of 

 aquarium in cement, imitating the grotto of 

 Lourdes. This aquarium became at once the 

 resort of many pilgrims, as the water was be- 

 lieved to possess miraculous properties. A 

 pilgrimage on a very large scale was organ- 

 ized to visit the aquarium, but its real object 

 the Liberals believed to be to make a mani- 

 festation in the town of Ghent. The Burgo- 

 master of Ghent had taken the precaution to 

 forbid the entry of the pilgrims into the in- 

 terior of the town. They were, after their 

 arrival at the respective termini, to take the 

 outer boulevards to go to Oostacker. On the 

 return of the pilgrims in the evening their 

 total number was estimated at 20,000. A 

 great melee occurred between them and the 

 people not believing in the miraculous aqua- 

 rium, and one of the Ghent journals estimates 

 the number of people Who were more or less 

 seriously hurt at about 1,000. 



Another religious disturbance was caused in 

 Brussels on June 1st, by some students of the 

 Athenaeum who blew out the candles which 

 were lit at the windows of several houses in 

 honor of the passage of the viaticum, borne 

 by priests to the sick. A number of women, 

 who witnessed this proceeding, attacked the 

 students and the latter fled. The police inter- 



