| Show w i i I Marriage Customs in Belgium I Gorgeous of he Belgio Army By and Young Antwerp Does for br the Poor Belle Ke Kearney T Hotel de Vile Is the splendid THE city lUlU hail w house o OC tor Antwerp From 10 t td 1 I 1 on Saturday mornIngs civil cor aro performed there As 8 one onen n the irand or square with the quaint old guild surrounding famous which tw opening or the he told It ami array or ull black anti and solemn ila up In state booro the Hotel de ille From emerge one pa arly y slowly the marble stops aUld enter ono ot of the tho throe three halls haJJi where the mArr cere ceremonies monies ar to be performed Ith Hilver on their Hand arund of cE in civilians At tho M en to the tho hulls haJbi the brides ind ur UP met by on an usher u ber In black wIth knee breeches und nd low shoes with large square I There hel Is hi s It great creat lO rosette ette or orn n shoulder rom which OUti ous ends ot of bleck ribbon An Immaculate late white Wilt vest adds to th and lL a necktie which If h fluted and ed am snowy dignitary Is accompanied by It Charm churning Charmin in ng pe s vp ot aso who Iii Is also dressed in black knee kne ai white vest est and andon I on or of his shoulders Is a hugo huro white rosette rosetto with white streamers These pages page W r wigs ot of long hair slung about the collar and oars onre hut cropped short over the tho eyebrows I These little fellows are aro busy bus k the brides in 10 order The Tho apparel I ot of the latter varies according to sta statIon tion and HgO The young and wealthy on ones ai wear SUI superb tub white c ot of 1108 ln e silk and satin with long yells cr Crowned ned with orange and carry bouquets of oC the Ule same lowers flowers In their hand The older ohler OU ones WOOl wear black short others with stab orate they too carry arti arH orange blossoms blossom as do all of o th As AK a as a bridal party part a han hail the members are shown to seats which have been boen reserved then one another as rapidly as I po possible the tho couples move mavo up IU to the thelong I long bench behind which Is III seated the I who performs perform the ceremony A I murmur III h heard and the newly marrIed couple mayo mavo LWy from the t lesk k and Imd 1055 through a side Bide door I down the staircase Into n a and away oy In one hall ball seats Heats with velvet I cushions are placed around the tho walls On One da day uOn visiting the Hotel do de yule I saw a number ot of exquisitely at attired tired ladies In this ph co fn fOI or th their Jr turn to be The v small pages very vey gallantly seated each eachon on 01 the cushions and placed her train or of silk sUJ lace and Ind tulle In a white fluffy bank beside her ber Th The m men n tn in the party stood guard There Thero was barely a Bug of a smile alt all was stiff coll funeral In ono one ot of the tho chambers wed ding are played on an unon organ as the couples march h down the tho abdo and the official desk desh Packed In the tho seats eats and aid stand standIng In behind the tho marble banisters in the hallways are Only CivIl M Marriages Legal Only civil are l legal In Bet Bel glum as In many litany other European countries The Tho publicity attached to the ceremony is 15 n a safeguard for wo we women men nien Before a marriage is solemnized the closest Inquiry I ma made e into the lives of oC those who ho desire to be No license is l but at the cole aele bration or of the tho nuptials a little bOk is given ln in which It It is d the marriage hats hus Occurred with elI aU the theothor theother other othor necessary form forme and a record i is kept by the U I the book t is lost or stolen the tho man or 01 woman can have it replaced J lUbe he marriage takes place In the home a civil has bas to per pcr form the ceremony jn in Ute te presence or of wItness a priest or jug Ing would render it null nuU and volt void Even when members of the thi r royal ual are arc the tho are solemnized d I in the same way and the tho doors of the I 1 have to bo be loft ajar for or wit witnesses I I nesses to enter In consequence of this and the scrutiny of thu roe rec records I I of the contracting parties I Ious I oils ous to there are very few I divorces In Belgium It would ho well for other nations to follow tollow this ad admirable mirable plan Gorgeous Religious Fetes I The Virgin Is the patron saint of o Ant warp Verp The cathedral In that ancient city is dedicated to her hor Once a yeas yea a dazzling fete is held In honor ot of the of Mary lIar It bogies begins the Saturday before the of August with a torchlight procession The crowds are aro tremendous The festival occurs on Sunday while ninny many bands are playing On Monday Monda eel cele celebrations I are held bold In the churches and there thero are ari procesSions from St An Andrews Andrews drews That there is n a ropeti tion of the daylight demonstrations Un the addition of torches and floats representative or of certain historical in incidents Tuesday there are aro more fetes and in the tho evening fireworks and il Ii illuminations Business houses are closed the tho first three dJs days ot of the tho week aU all traffic censes rIot not to begin until the not next Wednesday morning The f fat 1 lowing Saturday night there are pro processIons cessIons illumInations and concerts as ason on the first The second ond Sunday after the tho ith of August is the greatest da day of all the tho festal ones Celebrations are performed in the cathedral and churches and about 10 n a high altar Is erected in the Place do de Meer and there mass Is held with all the sur suri i or splendid decorations in crimson and cloth ot of gold gId An hour hOUI later Intel there thero Is an procession I scores of priests in their dIfferent garbs I numbers of boys In the white I and red habit of the altar allar and others in ordinary Sunday apparel hundred of citizens in solemn bla black k aU all holding candles file by them Then rhen appear a I company campan bearing n a multitude ot of gor gorJE JE reous OUS boners banners with the devices of the Catholic church wrought In sil silver I Yer ver and gold gild upon t them m Then comes I a of men nie holding aloft aft a four posted frame on w which Ich rests a figure of the VirgIn draped In a shimmering robe of yellow satin embroidered in crImson and embossed hl heavily with silver and gold On Its head is a 8 crown of solid gold set wIth diamonds that cost Then Thon follows another be of boys priests and citIzens carriers of mo resplendent I dent banners and behind them is seen seena I a 0 canopy below which Is the host and ana under It Is a bishop religiously count counting ing his heads surrounded ed by bi other othel high At this Ulis spectacle the people as one nian mend their knees and uncover their thell heads The Assumption of the Virgin That s sUmmer morn mornIng In ln In Antwerp as asI asI I stood with the masses in the glare of the th sun Suit to behold the th gorgeous pa I there was a desp de p sign from the thO multitude that had boon been for hours In inthe the swelterIng olt ring sun quarreling I scrambling crowd crowding I go other self selfishly and belig g thrust bi upon the sidewalks b by the policemen who bad pIa placed cod their backa to the crowd I and forced them into the d desired post Hons men children in one seething crUsh cruh There was a gradual i unpacking of tile the people tired tire l angry who about the streets beat beating lug ing under their te feet t the remnants of flowers had been scattered there thereby b by the hand ot of women before the tho then dam began hegan All oJ of this has been going Nin on fOl or festivals and proc Ions or since the Jesuits I conceived the idea Idoa of Instituting the tho I dogma of oC the Assumption or of the Vir Virgin VirgiLl gin giLl and the people have obediently I believed 1 or 01 Pretended to believe dur ng itil 11 that time that Mary Iary ascended into heaven Just juat tt ti JestS did dd Fifty I years ago igo the tho p p at the of the Jults l the dogma I of the tho Conception of oC the This Ju Homan ath it and no flow declare that Mary had the I SI same 16 dIvine as Christ In honor honorof I of this on the Sunday night nearest the tho 1st of August there TC 0 of the tho churches Churche ItS as well as tim d ot at the faithful and there thoro is the repetition of the procession procession sion of at the preceding night There are 2000 vents and monas monasteries teries in l are caned called con There lh le are are betweEn and nuna Huna ani monks An air ah of hope lesnes neil the tho whole coun country The Tho priests are aro c accord ng to their thIr s the tho brwn monk oj of the thel l Franciscan can to tile tat fat sleek jollY young who train boys beY fot or their first filst communion Nuns un arc also eov ever lt Present n The glint of their rosaries is isen en amId amici the he folds ot of their black g gowns ail as th they y go upon the streets and In the Convent of t the e Sacred Heart Henrt ahl day there art ar to be e two nuns PUe the th altar Pl praying As A the hour closes I two ho others come and t e their places behind those ho have been kneeling and liS a steal away th two I who have recently fall upon their knees knee and thus up a per perpetual perPetual ador tion Ever afternoon In Inthe Inthe the the whole com company pany or of nuns nun are aro gathered tO together to pray ray and I sing while n a t In their midst are aro seen spen here and the there with block black garbs under th their ir white whit veils voils these nr are the workers 1 In aU all allwhite i white or cream cream color from flom vel on to slippers come from wealthy families and their daYS whoLly In pra prayer er and son song and in tatting care of the at aJ attar tar In this the great hospitals the nuns act as 05 In the chapels at sun sunset set can be heard the drone rono or of their voices vois as they congregate ate for worship with their still tied about theIr waists an anti l their great head headdresses headdresses dresses flaring above aboe the their Ir Sombre hab its The churches and cathedrals of I Belgium are arc magnificent beyond all description positively sumptuous with I their ot of accumulated by the old masters their exquisite statuary in Italian marblo executed by bythe bythe the worlds best bost sculptors their mar rebus wo d carvings the perfect ex cx expression of tIm tho genus and devotion of brains and divinely ot or who lived and worked n ago o n the streets 11 leading to th se hUch and I 4 Me scenes s of poverty and filth I Children In rags and ana dirt lr h In nn an stIlling stifling with wilh often offen while men melt and women move through the f tint tl nechan han with dr drawn awn lips and stony eyes Appearance of the egIc People The Thc Bel Jc are aro generallY un under undersized der swarthy and have sad Un Unsmiling smiling faces Th They y show very el plainly the mixture ot of French Spanish and Dutch blood The Roman Roma Catholic In InI inthe the state church and nd the church and I state arc aro practically one In Belgium Although the Liberal la party t was 05 I in i ij j power only from from 1874 to in the thie 1 ot of It did much towards keeping down an absolutism and giving I n a certain tone of impartiality to the i administration of public affairs For I instance the government always assiSts i iI I in the building of churches churche whether or of I II III I Jews Jow Protestants or Catholics It I the I I numbers of the several congregations have grown on large ns as and It aids i In pa paying ing the mInisters ot of every eory do de denomination nomination and he helps s to buIld their i I Belgium a Government by the People BelGium h has s a government b by the tho people ri rc the Liberal and Socialist i elements were to gut get together and 58 say sayto to the kin king ho he go lii bl I would cease They could h n a anew new government The Socialists are aro strong enough to black bladt the ho house se of they hold the balance I of power Jn in the towns of Belgium whore the miseries rles f the people are arc greater than in other othor one c lions tion resulting from hard and small pay a there is no a distinct trend to toward toward ward SocialIStic doctrines as well nS as asin in Dru Brussels which is the 1 ot of tho ho advocates of that Belgium Is one or of the of SocIalism in Europe but the kind pre alent there Is of a Yen very na fla ture the centres are besides Brussels Ghent and Liege The city government in last place Is IE in the hands of the Socialists Tim The two leading or of Belgium are the Clerical and amI the Lib Liberal oral eral Christian democracy which is an offshoot from the Catholic i to the church party part is declining it is now ery small consists of a house of deputies and a as s tate are limitations to fran chico in that countr country In 1893 1393 U there ere was a general strike for universal suf suffrage suffrage frage which amounted almost to It a rev revolution lution The government realized that if tInt demands ot of the people were not granted that it would be lost as it is greatly in t minority Workmen had bach bachno no right of fr franchise no one olle could vote who did not po sess n a certain amount of property The Tho government consented to gr grant n universal now every man has n a vote but conditIons remain emain just the same A married man has two votes n a single man one olie but property owners have more votes than poor pOOl men thus exercising the same power as before and holding tIle situ situation alion in their grasp The members s of parliament are elected every overy tour four years ane body is almost always in SOS slon The Army and Young Men Belgium is compelled to have soldiers in its standing army by the treaty of 1880 with the powers France spain Prussia A Austria and E England when the country separated from Eel Hol land a young oung man r achoo the ago age ot of 20 Q ho he Is obliged to draw a man num her ber It If ho gets one so 50 high bight as to go I beyond the limit that is wAnted ho he i Is free not to sere at all but if his num ber falls taUs within the required list ho he has no alternative to serve If one has haR mone money he can hire a substitute It If tIle the oldest son ot of n a family gets Into the army the second Is free freo The Tho third Is to draw it If lie he is 15 Be fortunate as i to es then thed the tho f also has baa hasto to draw If tl ate are but bat four fOUT loys in inthe inthe the home cIrcle only two have to servo it If three only one enters tInt army never the tho only son nor DOl the eldest son sono o of a 0 widow Soldiers are arc required to not longer than five years but if the they wish to lo enlist at the tho end of that time th they y often oilen go as substitutes As Asin S Sin in nn an can oan only marry a woman with a certain Income There Thore ar are languages In Belgium French German and English The Tho first is used universally PublIc Schools Since Twelfth Century For hundreds of years the tho public school has been In existence in that I land it 11 establishment dates as fat far fatback back as the twelfth century and at that early day there were pUblic schools even cen for teaching art att In n those the composed or of the dif dlf different ferent tradesmen supported those in institutions Under the Liberal govern gOi rn ot of recent some of the high higher nr er schools were founded and for th the training ot of teachers but as 5 soon as the clerical party part got Into I pow power r ninny many of the tha latt r were abol abolished There were two of gf these In Ant for tor the boys the other for lor gIrls gris In to these free par parochial ochial schools ivere cre established under the tho supervision ot of the church ant and un dor dol th of the government The church pays the expenses but the government makes maltes appropriations of money mone for the su support ort or of the schools In those examinations are arc not necessary necessary sary in |
