The number of pledges redeemed is stated only for 1832, in which year 1,124,115 pledges, on which 3,162,399 francs, or 126,495_l._ sterling, had been lent, were redeemed. It is to be observed that the pledges are for small sums, amounting, on an average, to about three francs, or less than half-a-crown per pledge; and that the amount of the redemption in 1832 nearly corresponds with the amount lent in 1831. On the whole, considering the low rate of interest exacted by the Belgian monts-de-piété, as compared with that taken by our pawnbrokers, the small aggregate amount of deposits, being about 150,000_l._ for four millions of people, is a strong indication of the generally provident habits of the labouring population. As further illustrations of the general working of the Belgian system, we extract the following particulars from the reports from Antwerp and Ostend. (pp. 627, 628, 629, 630, 634, 636, 637, and 639.) [14] “With us no one has a right to relief.” [15] Quetelet, Recherches sur la Population, &c., p. 38. [16] Des Modifications, &c. de la Loi sur les Enfans Trouvés, p. 13. ANTWERP. [Sidenote: Population, 11,328.] _Vagrants._ Indigent travellers, foreigners, or denizens, who pass through Antwerp, are received there at an establishment called St. Julien’s Hospital, where they are lodged and boarded for three nights at the expense of the establishment, which provides their wants for the moment. The foundation of this hospital, which yearly receives about 1000 individuals, dates from the beginning of the 14th century. It subsists by itself, under the direction of a private charitable administration, by means of some fixed revenues, and also by the liberal donations of philanthropic persons. The same poor travellers, when Belgians, receive at Antwerp an indemnity of 15 centimes, or 1½_d._ sterling, per league per head for travelling expenses to the first town in the neighbourhood, where this relief is continued to them. These travelling expenses are at the charge of the town, and paid out of the municipal funds, in virtue of a Royal Act of the 10th May, 1815. _Destitute Able-bodied._ Necessitous individuals of the labouring and indigent class, who do not attempt to go a begging, and who, for want of work, are without means of providing for the necessaries of life, and also the members of their families, are provided for at their own dwellings, by the care of the bureau de bienfaisance, by the means or revenues of this establishment, and the subsidies which the town grants it yearly out of the municipal funds, in order to supply what may be necessary to continue its service. The amount of this grant varies annually, according to the real wants of the establishment, by reason of the circumstances that either augment or reduce its expenses. The succours distributed by this establishment consist in money, bread, potatoes, fuel, and clothing, &c.