Chapter XII: IN THE NORD--(continued)

Lille--The _Flamand flamingant_--Pertinacity of the Flemish tongue--A
historic city without monuments--Old customs and traditions--The
Musée Wicar--The unique wax bust--A 'pious foundation'
of art, and M. Carolus Duran--Excellent educational institutions
of Le Nord--A land flowing with beer--Increase of the factory
populations--Decrease of drunkenness in the cities--Increase in
the rural districts--Special cabarets for women--Should women
smoke?--Flemish cock-fighting and the example of England--A
model Republican prefect--Juvenile prostitution--The souls of
the people and their votes--Danton's system of uneducated judges--Dislike
of good people to politics--A pessimist rebuked--The
Monarchist majorities in Lille--Inaccurate representation of the
people in the Chamber--Hazebrouck and its Dutch gardens--The
Republic hated for its extravagance--Relative strength of
Republican and Monarchical majorities--Elections conducted
under secret instructions--Cutting down majorities--The case of
M. Leroy-Beaulieu in the Hérault--Keeping out dangerous
economists--Ballot 'stuffing' in France and the United States--The
methods of Robespierre readopted--Systematic 'invalidation'
of elections--The people must not choose the wrong men--Boulanger
and Joffrin--'Tactical necessities' in politics--The
delusion of universal suffrage--An Austrian view of the elective
and hereditary principles--Energy of the Catholics in North-eastern
France--Father Damien--Public charity--Hereditary mendicants
in French Flanders--Dogs and _douaniers_--The division of
communes--Foundling hospitals and the struggle for life--Mutual
Aid Societies--Is woman a 'Clubbable' animal?--M. Welche and
the agricultural syndicates--'Les Prévoyants de l'Avenir,' a phenomenal
success--It begins in 1882 with 757 members and 6,237
francs; in 1889 it numbers 59,932 members, with a capital of
1,541,868 francs--The Franco-German war and the religious
sentiment--The great Catholic University--Private contributions
of 11,000,000 francs--The scientific and medical schools--M.
Ferry and the free universities--Catholic education in France
and the United States--The case of Girard College--The dangers
of the French system--The monopoly of the University of France--Liberal
outlay of the Catholics of Paris--A mediæval Catholic
merchant--'The work of God' in a business partnership--Mutual
assistance in the Lille factories--Model houses at Roubaix--A
true _Mont-de-Piété_--The Masurel fund of 1607--Loans without
interest--A prosperous charity plundered by the Republic--A
benevolent fund of 455,454 francs in 1789 reduced to 10,408
francs in 1803--The fund restored under the Monarchy and
Second Empire--The 'King William's Fund' of the Netherlanders
in London--Count de Bylandt and Sir Polydore de
Keyser 332-368