Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-10-05

during July and August was over Two
millions Of dollars, or at the rate OF
twelve millions a year. This is a fact
interesting to stockholders, but the
travelling public are not wearing Grape
on account Of it.
Legends and Religion In BEL
gium.
Ostend Cor. Cincinnati Commercial by Mon
cure ID. CoAway,l
There is a sacred place in this region
called Angeldale. The tradition of it
is hat a poor boy, by permission Of
bis employer, went to visit his mother
who was sick; it was some miles away
and he found her very i'll. But he
had to return to his work, and walked
with a heavy heart. He came at
length near an old tree when he heard
a nightingale singing-oh, so eweetlyl
The poor boy sat down under the tree
aud listened, and presently, when the
nightingale paused, the Virgin Mary
attended by Joseph appeared to him,
and told HIM his mother should re-
cover. There is something a little
more pleasing to heart and reason in
this sympathy Of the material universe
for a poor lad and his mother, than in
the belief that special attention is
paid by Heaven to Kings and Presi-
dents. Christ himself has 50 long
been imperial, and the ally of
the powerful, hat he appears to
have slipped out Of the : legends
of heavenly care and tenderness for
the poor. l have just been gazing on
a large picture in a church which rep
resents the Mother of Jesus on her
knees before him interceding for the
souls in purgatory. She has to agonize
in order to move him to forgive his
enemies. Beneath Jesus feet are
seen the suffering souls bathed in surf
OF fire pretty much in the same way
in which the ten thousand people are
bathing there off Ostend beach. 1t
is a queer thing that l have heard,
that there is still seme belief in the
remotcr Flemish villages in the Wan
dering Jew,-Ahasuerus, whom Jesus
is said to have doomed to wander over
the earth till Judgment Day, for hav-
ing insulted him on his way to Golgo-
tina. 1t is believed that the Wanderer
brings good luck, and, especially, that
he rejuvenates aged women. The
doomed mar thus presents a rather
favorable contrast with him whose
unappeasable wrath and curse are be
lieved to rest upon a human
being for a momentary person
al offense. | am continually
struck with the utter absence from
the religious atmosphere Of this region
of any such Christ as Claiming,
Martineau, and the rationalizing
Christians of America and England
have presented in modern times The
Belgian Jesus is perfunctyry official;
the humanities ~relegatod to Mary,
Possibly if the image Of the Mother
were to disappear as it did in Old and
New England, Channings and Mar
tiDeaus might arise here too, offering
to the people a more feminine and
sympathetic Christ. But there1l
never be any Christian Professionalism
here. The time Of that possibility
has gone by. The biblical narratives
and miracles are so blended with the
pious legends and local fables, that
they have all become one formation Of
mythology or folklore, hopelessly vul
CARRIED, which interests the educated
class only, as such scholars as the
late NJ. Delepierre explore it scien-
tifcally.
Researches show that the faith of
the Flemish peasant has changed less
than might be supposed from what it
was in pre- Christian ages. The super
natural guardian of the poor boy at
Angeldale wears the mythical mantle
Of a pagan Madonna who was believed
in long before Mary was heard of.
There we're angels of the sea and land.
One fable Of folklore still haunts this
very coast. 0stend has a historic
record Of thousand years, and among
the earliest legends is one of a poor
fisherman, hard. pressed by a cruel
landlord, who when his family we're
i'll and starving threw himself from
the cliff. The ''saviors" (as they label
themselves) did not walk the beach
then as now and besides, it was at
midnight when the psor fisherman
attempted suicide. But instead Of
drowning he was received by a kindly
seamaid who gave him as much gold
as he could carry home, and a formula
by which he could return to her grotto
in case Of need. The cruel land
lord managed to discover the secret
of his victims sudden prosperity +;
he managed, too, to overhear the
magic formula when the fisherman
told it to his wife. But when attempt
ing to use it at the cliff the oppressoI
forgot some infnitesimal item Of thai
formula, and the result was swift
destruction. This old pagan legend
furnishes a fair basis for belief in
guardian angels and a Virgin protecf
ing the poor, as we'll as of an atysi
for the bad. The church seems Il
have mainly succeeded through tn,
credit of monopolizing the secre
formula that unlocks the treasures
But a good many here seem to thinl
that the holy formula costs more thai
it brings. Belgium has never beef
contented With the church since tn
French Revolution. | have Just seer
an old book entitled LA Republiqu,
Belgique," written here and publishe,
(of all placesl) in Rome, in 1890. Oh
its title page is a picture Of Belgium
as a beautiful woman quite naked
escaping from a cardinal, who holds
sword in one hand and handouts il
the other. Belgium holds in he
hand the queer emblem Of liberty
long pole with a hat stuck on the enc
Of it. 1t is a citizens hat, and anti
podal to Gessler's which was taker
about for popular homage.