Belgium seems to Englishmen a quiet place, but there is
probably no country in Europe in which the cleavage between political parties is so deep and wide, or in which there is more possibility of a social upheaval. As regards parties, the real dividing line is religion, the Conservatives being, first of all, rather oppressive Clericals, while the Liberals are, first of all, rather aggressive Secularists ; while as regards social life, the artisans and miners, underpaid and overworked, are almost to a man Revolutionaries. Recently the Ministry have introduced a Bill which, its opponents say, will, under pretence of establishing proportional representation, secure to the Clericals a permanent monopoly of power. The Liberals, therefore, make scenes in Parliament, occasionally resorting to physical violence, while the labouring classes threaten a general strike, if not an insurrection. They are, too, rioting in the cities, and the traditional rioter of a Belgian city is a sanguinary person. The King, it is reported, has returned to Brussels in alarm at the aspect of affairs ; and the troops have received stringent orders to put down all disturbance. Some compromise, we imagine, will be reached,• the Clericals fearing to proceed to extremities; but there will be a revolution in Belgium before there is one in Russia.
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