The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-09-05

BOLLE lin, 81
Port Arthur it was unreasonable to |
consider the capture and occupation
of one of the great modern ring |
fortresses as matter of few hours,
or even of few days. He proceeded
to indicate the nature of the defences,
and, after closely examining all the
conditions, Mr.. Belloc went on to say
that the conclusion forced upon him
was that Liege, with an adequate pro-
vision of gunners and supplies, would
stand siege more thorough and pro-
longed than any of the other great
ring-fortresses of Europe, and calcula-
tions based on rushing" of it's de-
fences would spell defeat. Assuming,
therefore, that the regular siege
which we lately saw in progress would
be necessary, Mr.. Belloc considered
what influence the advance of French
or British troops in aid of the Liege
or Namur defences would have in de-
feating the German plan. He said:
1t is impossible for an army to fight
upon two fronts-at any rate, not for
long; hence, before any great siege
can be undertaken, the besieging army
must have security from attack from
outside it's circle. For this purpose
the besiegers must have a covering
army commensurate with the relieving
forces which it would have to face.
1t was precisely here that the advan-
tage of a British contingent was evil
dent to the French.
Dublin to Have A. o. H. Conference.
Next year which will mark the open
| ing of an Irish Parliament in Dublin
will also witness the assembling of a
conference, representative of Hiber-
nianism in all parts of the world, in
the Irish capital. Members of the A.
o. H. in Australia have taken the mat
ter up and are being aided by Hiber-
mans of America and South Africa
Dates of Last Franco-Gernan War.
July Is, 1870: War announced by
French Emperor. September /: Ger
man victory at Sedan. September 6:
French retreat on Paris. September
8: German advance on Paris. Sep
TENDER Is: Paris siege begun. March
1, 1871: German troops enter Paris.
May Is, 1871: Peace treaty signed at
Frankfort. From start to finish the
campaign lasted about sixteen months.
It cost France the enormous sum of
$1,977, 100000 and the loss of about
$1,000 men. The peace terms included
the cession of parts of Lorraine, in
Guiding Metz and Alsace, les Belfort;
and payment Of $1,00O,00O,00O. The
German losses in battles throughout
the war were about 127,S67.
The Church in Belgium.-The eyes
of the world have been turned to
plucky little Belgium during the open
ing stages of the great European con-
f1ict, when it inflicted such signal
defeat on the German invaders. Bel
GUM has no navy, but her soldiers
are valiant and fearless. The popula-
ton at the census of 1910 was 1876
730. With the exception of about 3d.
900 Protestants, 5000 to 1000 Jews
and some thousand persons, who, not
having been baptized, do not belong
to any faith, the entire population are
Catholics. The kingdom is divided
into six dioceses, namely, the Arch
diocese of Mechlin and the suffragan
Dioceses of Bruges, Client, Liege
Namur, and Journal. Each diocese
has seminary and several prepare
tory schools for the training of the
clergy. There are in addition, the
Belgian College at Rome, seminary
to which all the Belgian Bishops send
the best of their pupils, and the Col.
lege of the Saint-Esprit of Louvain
where a superior theological course is
pursued. The secular clergy number
5,419; the regular clergy, 6,237; the
latter being distributed in 293 houses
The religious Orders in Belgium have
29,303 members living in 2,207 houses
The members of the Orders, both
male and female, devote their time
chiefly to teaching and nursing the
sick. The male Orders also aid the
secular clergy in parochial work.
BeIfry of Ghent.-The belfry OF
Client, Belgium, SIS feet high, con
tains A bells: one of them, now
cracked, was cast in 1914. 1t bears
the inscriptions: my name is Roe
landt; when I toll, then there is a
fire; when peal, there is victory in
Flanders"
Dominicans in Japan.-At the sail
ing of the Mongolia from San Fran
cisco sho-t time ago, little grouT
of priests and religious took passage
on the big liner, bound for various
points in the Oriental missionary field
Rev. Joseph Van COST was there, and
, is now on his way to China, where he
has already spent Ia years as a mis-
sionary. Sister Mary Thomas of the
, Dominican Order was in transit from
an eastern convent, having beer
called upon to go to Japan, and there
!, open the first convent of the Order
She will proceed to Manila, where she
| will receive her final directions, being
as yet uncertain as to her ultimate
destination. She has armed herself
well for her task and has been study
ing Japanese under the guidance of {
Jesuit Father, familiar with that Ian