new trial unless all the formalities laid down in the Code of Criminal Instruction have been faithfully followed. I may add that a person accused of a crime punishable by a correctional penalty, who escapes and is not caught, may be tried and convicted by de fault. There is only one matter pertaining to the subject of judgment and execution that is of special interest, and this concerns capital punishment. It is still in force in Belgium and is not infrequently imposed. But Leo pold II, the present king, has scruples against its infliction and invariably commutes the penalty to that of travaux forees dperpctuite. Many believe that this is worse than death, and the glimpses which I have caught of life within the prison walls lead me to coincide. The life-convict is sent to the central peni tentiary at Ghent, where he undergoes soli tary confinement in the cellular department for ten years. The discipline is terribly rigorous. If at the end of that time he is still living he is allowed to pass into the common quarter and there to spend the re mainder of his days.
V. Avoues. — Connected with the Tribu nals of Primary Instance, Courts of Appeal, and the Cour de Cassation are certain min isterial officers called avoues, whose services are obligatory. They virtually constitute a grade of lawyers, for they represent the par ties in court and attend to the required for malities of inscribing and systematizing the case, draw up documents of procedure, lay down a summary exposition of the demands of one party and the defense of the other, and expose the conclusions which the avocats must thereupon develop. In fact, they pre pare what corresponds to our written plead ings. As I have stated, their services cannot be dispensed with, and constitute a fruitful source of unavoidable expense in litigation. VI. Avocats. — The profession of the law is highly respected in Belgium and is fol lowed by many gentlemen of the nobility, which class still preserves its ancient preju
dice against engaging in trade. The youngest and most obscure lawyer is invariably ad dressed as "Monsieur I'avocat." This is the simplest of titles, but its significance consists in the fact that one never hears " Monsieur le bouclter," " Monsieur le boulanger" etc. Admission to the bar is only obtained by those who take a course of four years in the law department of one of the four universi ties (Brussels, Ghent, Liege and Louvain), and receive the degree of Doctor in Law. The Belgian university is not an institution for general culture, but merely a group of professional schools. However, an academic education, embracing classical languages, higher mathematics, natural science, history and geography, is required for admission. The annual fees for lectures in the " faculty" of law are $50, besides $20 for each exami nation to which the student is admitted. The law course includes Roman law (particularly the pandects), public and administrative law, Belgian criminal law, modern civil law, com mercial law, court organization, civil proce dure, and political economy. The total number of law students has fallen off in the last fifteen years. In 1893 it was 1024. A large percentage of those inscribed fail in their final examinations, and so the annual crop of lawyers scarcely amounts to 200. But this is enough for a country which is no larger than the state of Maryland, even although the population does exceed six million. Young lawyers serve an apprenticeship of three years in the office of an older practi tioner. During this period they are called avocats stagiaires, and are obliged to serve the poor without charge. Every lawyer be fore being allowed to practice and charge fees (delicately styled llonoraires), must have his name inscribed in the On/re des Avocats, which is the bar association of each locality, and is presided over by a batonnier. The members are subject to the jurisdiction of the Council of Discipline of the Order, which is empowered to inflict disciplinary
