It is stated that party feeling, always, high in Belgium,
has of late become exasperated to a datgerous point. The Clericals now in power are supported by a large majority, and are inclined to use it in order to make their power perpetual. They have accordingly introduced a Bill dis- franchising all electors who vote in right of their edu- cation, and transferring their votes to the occupiers of small tenements. It is said that this Bill will almost de- stroy the Liberal party, and, in particular, hand over the Municipalities entirely to their opponents. All sections of the minority have therefore united in resistance ; they demand an educational qualification as the only condition of the right to vote, and they threaten that if the Bill passes, they will resist it by unconstitutional means. The latter course would pro- bably ruin Belgium, where, from its geographical position, social disorder would be fatal ; but it is certain that temper has risen to an unexampled height. One proof of this is, that the burning of the Palace of Laeken, just outside Brussels, which occurred on Wednesday, is attributed to incendiaries, who hoped thus to warn the Government of the popular hatred. It is more probable that it was due to the desiccation caused by flues overheated for a long period—the grand danger of every inhabited great house, from the Winter Palace to Hatfield—but the suspicion shows how hot men's judgments have become.
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