ML 
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 Belgium of the Belgians
 
 UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME 
 6s. net 
 
 Italy of the Italians. By Helen 
 
 ZlMMERN. 
 
 France of the French. By E. 
 
 Harrison Barker. 
 Spain of the Spanish. By Mrs. 
 
 Villiers-Wardell. 
 Switzerland of the Swiss. By 
 
 Frank Webb. 
 Germany of the Germans. By 
 
 Robert M. Berry. 
 Turkey of the Ottomans. By 
 
 Lucy M. Garnett. 
 
 Other volumes in preparation
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 H.M. ALBERT I, KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 CHATEAU DES CONTES AT GHENT 
 
 HOTEL DE VILLE AT BRUSSELS 
 
 THE PULPIT OF STE GUDULE AT BRUSSELS . 
 
 ANTWERP CATHEDRAL 
 
 MONUMENT OF CHARLES THE BOLD AT BRUGES 
 
 ST. BAVON CATHEDRAL, GHENT 
 
 THE RUINS OF MONTAIGLE CASTLE . . 
 
 HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELISABETH OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 MONSIEUR RENKIN, MINISTER OF THE COLONIES 
 
 A FLEMISH MILKWOMAN .... 
 
 CHAPELLE DU SAINT SANG, BRUGES 
 
 JUNCTION OF THE MEUSE AND THE SAMBRE, NAMUR 
 
 THE ABBEY OF MAREDSOUS .... 
 
 THE PORCH, TOURNAI CATHEDRAL 
 
 THE OLD " BOUCHERIE " AT ANTWERP 
 
 THE BOURSE, BRUSSELS ..... 
 
 RED MARBLE QUARRY OF ST. REMY, ROCHEFORT . 
 
 PALAIS DE JUSTICE, BRUSSELS 
 
 RELIQUARY OF ST. URSULA, HOPITAL ST. JEAN, BRUGES 
 
 MEUSE BRIDGE, RUREMONDE .... 
 
 A GENERAL VIEW OF ROCHEFORT 
 
 PANORAMA OF BOUILLON .... 
 
 VIEW ON THE ROER, RUREMONDE 
 
 THE FETE AT HASSELT ..... 
 
 HOTEL DE VILLE, AUDENARDE 
 
 CHATEAU OF CIERGNON ON THE LESSE 
 
 HEAD OFFICES OF THE COCKERILL COMPANY AT SERAING 
 
 THE PULPIT IN ANTWERP CATHEDRAL 
 
 CONGOLESE TROOPS ..... 
 
 THE CONGO MUSEUM AT TERVUEREN 
 
 NAVE OF ANTWERP CATHEDRAL 
 
 facing 
 
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 264
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE EVOLUTION OF BELGIUM ] A PRODUCT OF MEDIEVALISM 
 MOULDED BY MODERN INFLUENCES 
 
 There is no country in Europe where the old and the new 
 are brought into closer juxtaposition than in Belgium. Per- 
 haps it is due to its compactness, to its 
 
 A Microcosm of man if est limitations in size, that the student 
 European History. ' 
 
 seems to find there set out under his eyes for 
 
 close examination a microcosm of European history on 
 one side the well-preserved relics, not merely in Art but in 
 social customs, of the Middle Ages, and on the other the 
 fierce activities of this twentieth century. Only eighty 
 years have passed since Belgium came by her own in full 
 sovereign independence ; yet behind the Revolution of 1830 
 lay ten centuries of recorded history. There are dark periods 
 in that record when it looked on the surface as if the nation- 
 ality that owed its name to Caesar had expired ; but a little 
 research suffices to show that below the surface whatever 
 the ruler's name on the current coin there survived the 
 pride of race which is the surest foundation of independence, 
 and that in the darkest hours of subjugation the cities and 
 the provinces of Belgium knew how to retain, or if lost for 
 brief periods to recover, their civic and constitutional privi- 
 leges. To those who admire the display of courage and 
 fortitude under difficulties, the tenacity of the Belgians 
 throughout their chequered history should serve as a model 
 of how an arduous fight for all that men hold most dear may 
 
 1 
 
 i (2.387)
 
 2 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 be won in the teeth of adversity and against seemingly 
 hopeless odds. 
 
 Belgium is divided into Nine Provinces. Each of their 
 
 names recalls, and indeed represents, the oldest and most 
 
 famous titles on the roll of European chivalry. 
 
 S>vs The y are ^ and 2 ) Flanders ( now divided 
 into East and West to separate the spheres 
 of Ghent and Bruges, rival though, as the poet Ledeganck 
 well called them, " Sister Cities ") which is but the countdom 
 created by Charlemagne, oldest of hereditary titles, the 
 holder of which stood first among the Twelve Peers of the 
 ancient Kingdom of France ; 
 
 (3) Hainaut, another countdom little junior to its neigh- 
 bour, and known to every English schoolboy as the home of 
 good Queen Philippa, saviour of the citizens of Calais ; 
 
 (4) Brabant, a Duchy from the ninth century, whose 
 dukes were long regarded as the mirror of Western chivalry ; 
 
 (5) Limburg, another duchy, connected with the House of 
 Gueldres, of which the famous Egmont was a scion ; 
 
 (6) Luxemburg, the countdom of the illustrious blind 
 King of Bohemia, killed at Crecy ; 
 
 (7) Antwerp, a Marquisate held by the sage Godfrey of 
 Bouillon, Lord and Protector of Jerusalem ; 
 
 (8) Namur, a countdom once possessed by the Courtenay 
 family, Emperors of the East ; and 
 
 (9) Liege, the seat of a long line of prince bishops, who held 
 their own for a thousand years among emperors and kings. 
 
 These provinces remain as separate entities, each preserving 
 
 the crest and coat of arms borne by their feudal owners, but 
 
 are now all merged in the modern constitutional Kingdom of 
 
 Belgium. Before passing on it may interest the inquiring 
 
 reader to state that the seven hereditary 
 
 Th Br?ban C t f titles J ust recapitulated belong by descent to 
 
 the Emperor of Austria, as Head of the Houses 
 
 of Hapsburg and Burgundy ; but it is the present practice in 
 
 Belgium to call the heir apparent Duke of Brabant, his
 
 The Evolution of Belgium 3 
 
 brother, the Count of Flanders, and if the Duke of Brabant 
 should chance to have a son in th King's lifetime he is 
 called the Count of Hainaut. Better proof could scarcely 
 be furnished as to Belgian love for antiquity. 
 
 Side by side with the feudal dignities of which we have 
 been speaking there sprang up in Belgium another institution 
 that is scarcely less ancient than they are. 
 Ch t lfSt ^ e c ^ v ^ c dignities won by the people them- 
 selves are almost as old as those conferred 
 by Emperor and King. In the year 960 cloth markets were 
 recognised by law at Ghent, Courtrai and Ypres ; and in 
 1068 the city of Grammont received the first charter granted 
 by any of the Counts to the people of the towns. This charter 
 established a new law for the citizens, making them secure 
 against the tyranny of Feudal and Clerical Courts. It will 
 be interesting to trace the development of civic liberty in 
 the history of the great cities. For the purpose of this general 
 survey it is only necessary to note that the ancient glories 
 of Belgium are as much civic and communal as noble, feudal 
 and chivalric. It was from Flanders that England borrowed 
 her own civic institutions. The order of Mayor, Sheriffs 
 and Jury, the great City Companies, the social splendours 
 of the Guildhall, the excellent system of apprenticeship, 
 were all based on the Flemish model, and originated in 
 English emulation of Belgian prosperity and enterprise. The 
 connection and resemblance are all the closer because here as in 
 Belgium civic magnificence and independence were regarded 
 as entirely independent of and separate from the State and 
 political power. 
 
 In the fourteenth century James van Artevelde sought to 
 convert the Communes into a solid political confederacy. 
 The attempt was renewed by his son Philip, 
 Traditions ^ut ^ey both failed of success. The citi- 
 zens did not want political influence or to 
 be troubled about high affairs of State. They desired local 
 liberty and freedom to attend to their own business. For
 
 4 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 external questions they were content that the Counts of 
 Flanders should have their own way, and they were willing 
 to provide them even generously with subsidies for the 
 purpose. But this was always on the assumption that the 
 civic privileges remained intact, and when Ghent incurred, 
 at the hands of the Emperor Charles V, the humiliation which 
 its insolence fully deserved, the rights and status of the other 
 cities remained undisturbed. 
 
 The influence of these civic traditions has not disappeared 
 from Belgian life to-day. The Belgian describes himself by 
 the name of his city rather than by his country, and if he 
 happens to be of Brussels he will even be so precise as to cite 
 the name of his commune. For instance, it is quite usual 
 to hear a person reply, instead of " I am a native of Brussels " 
 (" moi, je suis Bruxellois "), " I am of Scaerbeek " or " Ixelles" 
 (" moi, je suis Scaerbeekois " or " Ixellois "). The explana- 
 tion of this local pride is to be found in the fact that whereas 
 the Belgian sometimes lost his country he never lost his 
 commune, and that he always found consolation in local 
 liberty for the loss of national independence. 
 
 There is no doubt that Belgian life and character were 
 greatly modified by the events of the sixteenth century. It 
 does not seem an exaggeration to say that from the time of 
 the Arteveldes to the abdication of Charles V the Belgian 
 provinces formed the richest state in Europe. When that 
 Emperor was chatting and joking with his rival, Francis I, 
 he boasted not of his Indian argosies but of his Flemish 
 possessions. " I could put your Paris in my Gand," punning 
 on the word " gant " or glove. Belgian prosperity was 
 greatly diminished during the troubled reign of Philip II, 
 but the emigration of the weavers to England and Holland 
 dealt it a ruder and more lasting blow than the executions 
 ordered by the Blood Council. The emigrants not merely 
 impoverished the country they quitted, but they enriched that 
 which they made their new home by bringing to its industry 
 the methods devised by their own skill and experience.
 
 The Evolution of Belgium 5 
 
 After the sixteenth century, then, Belgian prosperity declined, 
 
 and the life of the nation passed under a cloud which was 
 
 not dispelled until the country acquired its 
 
 Decline in independence three centuries later. It 
 
 Prosperity. r 
 
 declined not merely in itself but by com- 
 parison with the increased prosperity of its neighbours. In 
 Bruges and Ghent, once the centres of world-wide activity, 
 grass grew in the stone-flagged streets. Antwerp fared no 
 better, for its trade was strangled by the Dutch who closed 
 the Scheldt, and got the Powers to endorse the closure in a 
 long succession of treaties. Trading ships could not get into 
 or out of Antwerp because the door to the port was shut and 
 barred. Nor had Belgium to struggle only against Dutch 
 jealousy. When the Emperor Charles VI took up the develop- 
 ment of his Belgian provinces, and endeavoured to make 
 Ostend the base of a trade with India he roused the appre- 
 hensions of England, whose price for assenting to the Prag- 
 matic Sanction in favour of the succession of his daughter 
 Maria Theresa, was the cancelling of the Charter of the 
 Ostend Company. In interesting himself in Colonial matters 
 like that of the Congo the late King Leopold II took up the 
 thread that was dropped in 1731. 
 
 The self-repression, and even suspended national vitality, 
 to which the Belgians found themselves consigned after the 
 Treaty of Munster served to intensify the feeling that they 
 had to live a life apart from their rulers, and that in the 
 careful preservation of inherited custom they had the sole 
 means of showing that they were still a nation. To the 
 neglect of their foreign rulers were long added the horrors of 
 the wars waged by rival nations on their soil. In the seventy 
 years that closed with the Treaty of Utrecht, scarcely a city 
 escaped pillage once if not twice, many thousands of soldiers 
 had to be fed, the most sanguinary battles of the period were 
 fought in Belgium. War was a curse, all the greater because 
 peace brought no blessing. 
 
 Despite the rude trials of this long period of adversity the
 
 6 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Belgians clung to their own way of living, and carried on the 
 national traditions notwithstanding the presence of foreign 
 hosts and indifferent rulers. When Villeroi, in 1695, laid 
 half Brussels in ashes, and its civic life seemed ended with 
 the destruction of the Hotel de Ville and Guild houses on the 
 Grande Place, the citizens, regardless of the international 
 storms sweeping across the country, set themselves to the 
 task of reconstructing what they loved with patience and per- 
 sistency. Twenty years after the bombardment the Grande 
 Place had resumed its normal appearance ; the Austrian 
 rulers, on assuming the government of the country, found 
 the civic life of the capital in full vigour. It took the Austrians 
 imbued with the spirit of absolutism a generation to discover 
 
 that this subject people, of whose very 
 Constitution existence the Imperial Chancery affected to 
 
 be ignorant, had a Constitution of their own. 
 The Count de Neny, Austrian by service but Irish in blood, 
 reported to his sovereign, " These people have a Con- 
 stitution," and the English traveller, Shaw, declared the 
 Belgians to be " the freest people on the continent of 
 Europe." 
 
 It is necessary to remember these things if we are to under- 
 stand how it was that the Belgians so easily, and as it were 
 naturally, made for themselves a new constitution and system 
 of government in 1830. They had merely to borrow from the 
 old charters the ordinances that had prescribed the freedom 
 of the people from the times of the Baldwins of Flanders and 
 Wenceslas of Brabant. The Belgian Revolution did not 
 then introduce a new system, it merely revived and national- 
 ised what had been cherished as its ideal by the Belgian 
 people under every form of foreign tyranny. There was 
 greater difficulty in providing for the future than in extracting 
 wisdom from the past. 
 
 For after Belgium had achieved her independence she was 
 confronted with the necessity of adapting herself to the 
 conditions of her new life. The old system to which under
 
 The Evolution of Belgium 7 
 
 foreign tyranny she had clung, had totally disappeared from 
 Western Europe ; there remained the problem how would 
 she adapt herself to the new exigencies of an age of mechanical 
 development and social upheaval ? It must be recorded that 
 under the influence of her recent emancipation Belgium suc- 
 cumbed to modern influences. Veneration for the past was 
 superseded by the need of providing for the future. An 
 entirely new Belgium came into evidence. The intense 
 conservatism of the people was modified by the struggle of 
 life, now that it had become a matter of national existence. 
 One common trait connected the men of the two epochs 
 the capacity for work. At all periods of 
 
 A Worke?s f his histor y the Belgian has been a hard 
 worker " Give me a Walloon for honest 
 work," said a German manufacturer of Gladbach only the 
 other day to the present writer. Before 1830 the Belgian 
 worked under adverse circumstances, after that year he 
 worked with hope. In the wake of work has come 
 unexampled prosperity, and that explains why the Belgian 
 character and mode of life have been modified of recent 
 years. 
 
 When its industry was strangled in the sixteenth century 
 Belgium became essentially an agricultural country, and this 
 remained the state of things until long after Waterloo. To 
 the Dutch King William I belongs, indeed, the credit of 
 having initiated the industrial activity which is the charac- 
 teristic feature of modern Belgium by associating himself 
 with the Englishman, John Cockerill, in founding the great 
 enterprise at Seraing. But it was not until after the substitu- 
 tion of national for Dutch rule that the coal mines of Hainaut 
 and Liege were exploited to any extent. The introduction 
 of railways in 1835 rendered a supply of home-produced coal 
 necessary, and about the same time that the Hainaut coal- 
 fields were brought into full activity the extensive iron-field 
 between the Sambre and Meuse was discovered and turned 
 to profit. The foundries of Charleroi and Seraing were thus
 
 8 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 provided with all they needed for immediate activity and 
 future development. 
 
 The achievement of national independence was thus 
 followed by a great outburst of industrial and mechanical 
 activity which enormously increased the wealth of the 
 country. The provinces continued the intensive agricul- 
 tural production which had for centuries kept the people 
 from starving when their land was overrun by foreign soldiers. 
 But the towns, and especially those in the valleys of the 
 Meuse and the Sambre, emerged from a provincial stage and 
 became the head centres of the new national activity. The 
 aspect of the country completely changed. Its rural character 
 was modified and encroached upon by the excavation of mines 
 and quarries, and the erection of factories. Those who 
 knew Belgium at the time of the French Revolution, when 
 much of it was virgin forest, would not have known it fifty 
 years later when the State had executed the plan of main 
 railways devised in 1835. 
 
 The change was not confined to the external aspect of the 
 country. Increased prosperity altered the character of 
 the people. The necessity of thinking out 
 Cutlon 1 an< ^ carr ying out a national policy introduced 
 new views and stimulated larger ideas. Mis- 
 fortune had made the Belgian secretive and reserved. The 
 centuries of foreign subjection had taught him the wisdom 
 of caution, and those who are always cautious must in the 
 end become timid. As a nation the Belgians of the old days 
 sought to efface themselves, and they succeeded in their 
 object so well that no foreign observer, after the close of the 
 Burgundian period, can be found who attempted to diagnose 
 their character or to treat them seriously as a people differing 
 in essential points from all their neighbours. A few writers 
 during the Austrian occupation refer to " the good Belgians " 
 as " humble, meek, and subservient." That was before the 
 Brabant revolution which temporarily ended Austria's 
 domination, but it would have been far nearer the truth to
 
 The Evolution of Belgium 9 
 
 have selected as their chief national characteristic long- 
 suffering pride. They might be imagined as apostrophising 
 Fate in words like these " Do your worst ! You cannot 
 make us suffer more than we have suffered ; yet we survive ! " 
 As great a change as has passed over the face of the country 
 has modified and moulded anew the Belgian character. 
 Prosperity, the remarkable national success, 
 
 Other ^ e f ee jj n pr { independence have dispelled 
 
 Characteristics. ..... , , ,, , . 
 
 the timidity that used to colour all the views 
 
 of the Belgians. Those who describe them as loth to accept 
 responsibility and fearful of their capacity to retain what they 
 have won are thinking of men of the last generation and not 
 of the present day. Quiet but none the less resolute self- 
 confidence is the basis of public opinion among Walloons and 
 Flemings alike. The qualities that enable nations to bear 
 adversity are not always those most suited for prosperity. 
 Self-restraint, the suppression of natural emotion when the 
 withholding influence disappears, may easily become arro- 
 gance, and the desire to browbeat those identified with former 
 oppression may prove irresistible. But in the case of 
 Belgium two circumstances have counteracted this natural 
 revulsion from one extreme to the other. There is the 
 limitation to Belgian sovereignty in the imposition of per- 
 manent neutrality by the Treaty Powers which seemed to 
 carry with it the assumption that Europe had recognised 
 Belgium to a certain extent " on probation." It is scarcely 
 necessary to say that that phase of her national life passed 
 away long ago. Belgium can more or less work out her own 
 destiny. 
 
 The second restraining circumstance is of a material order. 
 To meet the increased financial burden imposed by the task 
 of preserving what has been won under such difficult and 
 perilous conditions attention has had to be concentrated on 
 the development of the country's resources. All the greater 
 effort has been needed because its population has increased 
 at a greater rate than in any other part of Europe. With
 
 10 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 so much at stake, with such constant and continuous demands 
 on the administrative and intellectual faculties of the nation, 
 it is not surprising that the Belgian character has become 
 one of an essentially practical order, and that it recognises 
 only the proved facts of the day.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE STORY OF BRUSSELS 
 
 Nobilibus Bruxella viris is the attribute assigned to the city 
 of Brussels in the well-known monkish quatrain that sum- 
 marises the pretensions of the chief Belgian 
 
 Brussels Noble c jti e s. Seven noble houses alone were in 
 Families. ...... 
 
 the hist four centuries oi its civic existence, 
 
 allowed to build residences of stone within the walls; the 
 
 seven gates were entrusted to the guard of a scion of each 
 
 family, and although the seven lignages have disappeared 
 
 from the livre d'or of Belgian nobility there is not a family 
 
 of distinction to-day in Brabant that omits to trace its 
 
 descent from one or other of those seven 1 Brussels gentes. 
 
 The chronicler knew his subject when he declared that 
 
 Brussels was proudest of its noblemen. 
 
 The early history of Brussels is obscure, and it is not till 
 
 we come to the construction of the first wall in the year 1000 
 
 that we touch firm ground. Yet the place 
 
 Origin of - s mentioned in cartularies of the tenth 
 name Brussels. . . 
 
 century, and popular belief is far astray 
 
 if the building which gave it its name (Brock sele, i.e., 
 
 dwelling on the border of a marsh) was not there a hundred 
 
 years earlier. The dwelling seems to have been the residence 
 
 of the clergy attached to the Church of St. Gery, erected on 
 
 an islet in the river Senne. Here about the year 980 Charles, 
 
 brother of King Lothaire of France, and great grandson of 
 
 Charlemagne, who had been raised to the Duchy of Lower 
 
 Lorraine by the Emperor of Germany, Otho II, built a castle, 
 
 in close proximity to the Church of St. Gery. To this church 
 
 1 The seven lignages were Leeuw, Weert, Hughe, Roelofs, Cauden- 
 berg, Steenweg, and Rodenbuke. The princely family of De Ligne 
 alone reveals in its name the origin from which it sprang. 
 
 11
 
 12 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 he removed from Alost the body of Ste Gudule (niece of the 
 first Pepin distinguished as " of Landen ") and at a later 
 date we shall see how her name became attached to the 
 collegiate church of Brussels. Charles did not reign long, for 
 on attempting to make good his claim to the French throne 
 on his brother's death he was captured by Hugh Capet and 
 died in prison at Orleans. One of his daughters named 
 Gerberga had married Lambert, Count of Louvain, who, 
 on his father-in-law's departure appropriated Brussels. 
 This circumstance explains why Louvain and not Brussels 
 was the first capital of Brabant, and why modern Brussels 
 is not a separate bishopric. 
 
 Lambert is an important personage in Brussels history 
 for he was the first to surround the town with a wall. This 
 enceinte was about two and a half miles in 
 - T Wui rSt len g tn (4,000 metres), and its eastern side 
 ran along the crest of the hill named Michael's 
 Mount, which at the southern extremity was specifically 
 called the Caudenberg, or frigidus tnons (the cold mount). 
 On this side then the wall followed part of the modern rue 
 Royale and the Caudenberg stood on the Place Royale. 
 Lambert was killed at the battle of Florennes, but during the 
 indescribable confusion that followed in the affairs of the two 
 Lorraine duchies his sons Henry and Lambert II succeeded 
 in retaining possession of both Louvain and Brussels. In 
 the year 1081 Henry of Louvain was a signatory of the famous 
 Peace Tribunal established at Liege. In his time also the 
 Church, dedicated to St. Michael alone in the first place, was 
 commenced on its present site half way up the slope of the 
 mountain at Brussels, and the relics of Ste Gudule were 
 removed there from the Church of St. Gery. It was after 
 this incident that the name Ste Gudule gradually displaced 
 that of St. Michael, but in all formal documents both names 
 are preserved to the present day. 
 
 The construction of the wall and the commencement of 
 the Collegiate Church, which has been for so many centuries
 
 The Story of Brussels 13 
 
 the glory of Brussels, marked its inclusion among the cities 
 created by the industrial development of the peoples of 
 
 Flanders and Brabant. If the Count of 
 Ste Gudule. Louvain gave the order for surrounding 
 
 "Brussels with a wall to be pierced by seven 
 gates, it was the citizens themselves who built it for their own 
 ends. Protection from the raids of robber knights, and even 
 from the attack of their own Counts was what they sought, 
 and thus in the first fortification of Brussels no provision of a 
 residence for the Count was made. The seven aristocratic 
 families secured the privilege to build their houses in stone 
 for the others wood or wattle was to suffice and each assumed 
 the custody of the gate nearest to its abode. 
 
 There is not much information to be found on the subject 
 of civic life in Brussels in the eleventh century, but it may 
 
 reasonably be assumed that the provision 
 Wth * secui "ity encouraged the weaving industry 
 
 which furnished the basis of public prosperity 
 in Brabant as well as Flanders. An incident of the year 
 1101, which is still preserved in public memory by at least a 
 partial observance, throws some light on the state of society 
 in that day. In 1096 many Brussels knights and citizens 
 left to follow the banner of Godfrey of Bouillon for the First 
 Crusade. More than four years passed without news, and it 
 was concluded that all had perished in the distant expedition. 
 One afternoon 19th January, 1101 the watchman at one 
 of the gates announced the approach of a small band to the 
 sound of trumpets. It was soon discovered that they were 
 the returned Crusaders, or at least such of them as survived, 
 and their wives and womenfolk rushed through the gates to 
 meet and welcome them. A great banquet was provided in 
 honour of those who were thought to be lost but had returned 
 in safety, and it was declared that the husbands remained so 
 long over their feast and their wine that their wives seized 
 them and carried them off on their shoulders to bed. This 
 event is still known as the Vrouwkins Avondt or la Veillee
 
 14 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 des Dames (the ladies' watch), and in some parts of Brussels 
 on each 19th of January women may still be seen carrying 
 men about on their backs. 
 
 In the year 1140 Godfrey the Bearded, Count of Louvain 
 and Brussels, was raised to the rank of Duke of Lower Lor- 
 raine, but gradually the different Counts (e.g., Luxemburg, 
 Limburg, Namur) shook off their dependence on the Duke 
 who became merely a feudatory of the Empire on the same 
 level as the others. It was in these circumstances that the 
 name Brabant superseded that of Lower Lorraine. The 
 diminution in the extent and significance of the Duke's 
 authority rendered the goodwill of the citizens of Brussels 
 more important to him. Thus it gave the citizens their 
 chance of establishing their own position in an age when there 
 was no intermediate grade between the noble and the serf. 
 The Duke needed the subsidies of the towns ; the communes 
 granted them in return for rights and immunities. In 1235 
 Louvain and Brussels received their first Charters of enfran- 
 chisement. They were exempted from the operation of the 
 feudal law by the Duke's assent to laws of their own making. 
 
 Brussels acquired the right of choosing seven 
 Sh Tuf S rs and sner iffs and thirteen jurors, subject, indeed, 
 
 to the Duke's approbation, but this formality 
 did not affect the main point which was that the citizens 
 were to be tried not in the Duke's court but in their own. 
 Once the immunity of the citizen from the feudal law was 
 secured there was not much difficulty in making each grant 
 of money an occasion for strengthening the terms or enlarging 
 the conditions of the original charter. 
 
 In the midst of these discussions came the reign of John I, 
 Duke of Brabant, one of the most splendid figures of the 
 feudal ages. He was poet, songster and knight-errant as 
 well as a great general and a wise and considerate ruler. His 
 court was the resort of the troubadours, and he and his sister 
 Mary, afterwards Queen of France, took part in the competi- 
 tions of the minstrels. As knight-errant he proved the
 
 The Story of Brussels 15 
 
 victor in seventy tournays, the most memorable of which 
 
 was when he slew his sister's calumniator in the lists at Paris 
 
 on the occasion of his demanding on her behalf the " judgment 
 
 of God." His claims to generalship were established at the 
 
 battle of Woeringen on the Rhine, the most 
 
 Battle of famous victory in the annals of Brabant. 
 Woeringen. J 
 
 His wars proved so costly that he had twice 
 
 to ask the citizens of Brussels and Louvain to aid him with 
 the twentieth of their real property. In return for this 
 " free gift," as it was termed, the cities received further 
 privileges including a definite penal code which they had 
 authority to enforce on all persons except " monks, nuns, 
 priests, Lombards and Jews," who were to remain subject 
 to the Duke alone. He also bound himself to nominate no 
 amraan or other ducal representative in the towns as the 
 reward for money lent to himself, and finally he agreed that 
 the evidence of his officers and servants was not to be regarded 
 as of greater weight than that of their accusers. It was in 
 1292 that John the Victorious granted these privileges ; two 
 years later he was mortally wounded in a tournay in Cham- 
 pagne, and he was buried in the Church of the Franciscans at 
 Brussels, his favourite city. 
 
 The privileges enumerated were won and retained not by 
 the mass of the citizens, but by the privileged members of 
 the aristocratic or plutocratic families who alone provided 
 the sheriffs and jurors. From the disaffection that revealed 
 itself during the reigns of John's two immediate successors 
 it seems plain that they abused their power, and that those 
 born outside the charmed circle found oligarchical tyranny 
 worse than that of the feudal law. Duke John II supported 
 
 the privileged classes at Brussels and Louvain, 
 Hoods anc * * n a k a ttl e in the Vilvorde meadows he 
 
 overthrew the " white hoods," as the artisans 
 called themselves. But in the end the citizens carried their 
 way by closing their coffers, and in the year 1312 the Duke 
 was compelled to sign the famous Charter of Cortenberg,
 
 16 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 which confirmed and extended the privileges his father had 
 granted twenty years before. This Charter was the real 
 basis of all Belgian liberties. John II died soon afterwards, 
 and like his father was buried in Brussels, where his tomb and 
 that of his wife Margaret of York may be seen at the present 
 day in Ste Gudule. 
 
 His son and successor John III was allied, somewhat 
 reluctantly, by treaty with our Edward III, who appointed 
 him his " lieutenant-captain " for the kingdom of France, but 
 his days were saddened by the deaths of his sons and the 
 ravages of the " black death." He died in 1355, leaving his 
 possessions to his daughter Joan and her husband Wenceslas 
 of Luxemburg, son of the blind king of Bohemia who fell at 
 Crecy. At a remarkable assembly on the eve of his death 
 the representatives of thirty-eight towns of Brabant swore 
 before Duke John to uphold the integrity of the dominions 
 he bequeathed to his daughter and her husband. A few 
 days later, January, 1356, Wenceslas and 
 
 Jojous Enfry. his %vife made their " Jy us entry" into 
 Lou vain, and it was decreed that this form 
 of inauguration carried with it the ratification by each 
 successive duke of the Charter of Cortenberg. 
 
 During the reigns of the three Johns Brussels had been 
 growing in importance. Several of the most important 
 churches that have come down to the present day were then 
 commenced. Ste Gudule, the Sablon and La Chapelle may 
 be named. John III built on the Caudenberg the castle 
 residence which ultimately developed into the famous Palace 
 of the Netherlands. His friend and comrade in arms, William 
 de Duvenvoorde, was permitted to build a stone house near 
 his prince's, and this became eventually the Palace of Nassau 
 and the home of William the Silent. The famous Hotel de 
 Ville already flanked the Grande Place, and the guilds and 
 metiers fixed their quarters in the adjacent houses although 
 at first they were built only in wood. At the same time that 
 Brussels was assuming a more imposing appearance by the
 
 HOTEL DE VILLE, BRUSSELS 
 (By permission of the Ligne de Propagande)
 
 The Story of Brussels 17 
 
 erection of these important buildings, its inhabitants were 
 greatly increased by the advent of many persons who wished 
 to exchange the insecurity of the open country for the security 
 of a walled town. Brussels was also the centre of a prosperous 
 weaving industry. At this period the population may be 
 reasonably computed at 50,000 persons. 
 
 Remembering that people required a great deal more 
 space for their houses in those days, and that some cultivation 
 had to be allowed for within the walls, it is not surprising 
 that the original enceinte of the year 1000 seemed too small, 
 and that space within it had grown too cramped. Almost 
 
 the first act of Wenceslas and Joan, so far 
 Wall as Brussels was concerned, was to decide on 
 
 the construction of a new and enlarged wall 
 which was still to be pierced, however, by the seven historic 
 gates. This enceinte embraced a much larger extent of the 
 crest of Michael's Mount than its predecessor, and the three 
 gates of Louvain, Namur and Hal, occupied the very positions 
 which their names at least apply to at the present time, 
 although that of Hal alone remains as a structure. Indeed, 
 the wall of Wenceslas existed more or less completely down 
 to the time of Waterloo. The work begun by Wenceslas in 
 1357 was not completed till the close of the reign, as the year 
 1381 carved in the wall of the Hal tower shows. 
 
 There was a curious but strictly enforced rule passed at 
 this time with regard to entrance and exit to and from the 
 
 city. The gates were open from 3.30 in the 
 Gts morning to nine at night in the summer, and 
 
 from six to five in winter. During the times 
 of closure the gates were opened for no one, high or low, and 
 the belated citizen had to pass the night as well as he could 
 on the other side of the moat. It is said in one of the chroni- 
 cles that these unlucky persons, in addition to being kept 
 out of their beds, had to put up with the jeers and jests of 
 luckier citizens who witnessed their discomfiture from the walls. 
 It was just before the commencement of the second enceinte 
 
 2 (2387)
 
 18 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 that one of the most striking episodes in Brussels history 
 took place. On the death of John III of Brabant, Louis de 
 Male, Count of Flanders, put forward his claim to the pos- 
 session of Brussels in right of his wife the Lady Margaret, 
 Joan's younger sister. He promptly marched with a large 
 arm} ? to seize the city, and Joan, in the absence of her husband 
 Wenceslas, went out to meet him in the fields of Scheut, 
 near Brussels. The battle, fought on 17th August, 1356, 
 proved a victory for Flanders, but Joan escaped to join her 
 husband on the Meuse. Then for the first and only time in 
 history a Flemish garrison was installed in the gay proud 
 city of Brabant. 
 
 The occupation lasted only two months, and Brussels was 
 recovered by an act of heroism on the part of a scion of one 
 of the seven lignages. Everard T'Serclaes 
 T ,^l was a knight attached to the cause of Wen- 
 
 ceslas, and he conceived the idea that it 
 would be easy to recover the city by a coup de main. He 
 collected a small band of resolute men from among those 
 who had fled with Joan, and scaling the wall in the night of 
 24th October, 1356, made straight for the Hotel de Ville. 
 Here they slew the guard, cut down the Flemish standard 
 and proceeded to rouse the citizens to the cry of " Brabant 
 for the Great Duke ! " The Flemish garrison was exter- 
 minated, and the authority of Wenceslas was restored. 
 Everard T'Serclaes became the hero of Brussels and in a 
 sense still remains so. Thirty-three years later he was sur- 
 prised on the high road by an enemy who caused his tongue 
 to be cut out and a foot to be cut off. He was conveyed into 
 Brussels to die. The closing scene took place in a house 
 known as the Ktoile beside the Hotel de Ville. This house, 
 built of wood, was demolished in the sixteenth century to 
 allow of a fresh street being pierced into the square ; and 
 some years ago a recumbent statue of Everard T'Serclaes 
 was placed within a niche to remind the modern age of his 
 achievement.
 
 The Story of Brussels 19 
 
 The later years of the reign of Wenceslas witnessed serious 
 troubles at Lou vain, where the trades rose against the 
 patricians. In the end the Duke had the opportunity of 
 establishing his own power through the fatal rivalry of the 
 two parties, but the prosperity of Louvain declined. It 
 ceased to be regarded as the capital of Brabant, and its 
 pre-eminence was transferred to Brussels. Wenceslas, 
 although he extended the charters and swore more than once 
 to respect them in return for subsidies, did not love the 
 cities. He built a strong moated castle at Vilvorde, which 
 was as much a State prison as a house, and he lived generally 
 at Luxemburg. He died at that place and was buried at 
 the famous abbey of Orval. His widow reigned alone for 
 twenty-three years after his death, dying herself in 
 1406. 
 
 The fifteenth century saw a great advance in the fortunes 
 of Brussels. Somebody described it in the fourteenth cen- 
 tury as " poor, sad, and sombre." This was 
 
 of^urgundy at a moment when the " black death " was 
 ravaging the country. The establishment of 
 the House of Burgundy on the throne of the Netherlands 
 introduced a brighter future. It was not, indeed, until the 
 accession of the third Burgundian ruler, Philip the Good, that 
 any definite change could be noted in the ruler's treatment 
 of Brussels. He was the ruler of Brabant as well as Flanders, 
 having made his " joyous entry " into Brussels in October, 
 1430. That occurrence was the ratification by the new 
 dynasty not merely of the Charters already cited, but of new 
 privileges gained in the interval after Duchess Joan's death. 
 Of these the most important was the division of the forty 
 metiers into the nine Nations that still exist. 
 
 It was in or about the year 1450 that Philip the Good trans- 
 ferred his residence from Ghent to Brussels. He caused the 
 castle of Caudenberg to be enlarged and embellished so that 
 it might form a suitable royal residence. He enclosed a park 
 and garden on adjacent ground, and as a proof that he wished
 
 20 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Brussels to be regarded as the capital of his dynasty he 
 removed to it from Bruges, which had witnessed its founda- 
 tion, the archives and treasury of his famous order of the 
 Golden Fleece. The famous Hotel de Ville 
 
 ^Viik 61 was com P leted and the gilt figure of St. 
 Michael overcoming the Devil (the master- 
 piece of Martin van Rode) was placed as a vane on its lofty 
 tower where it remained until damaged and broken in 1863 
 during a great storm. The present figure is as near as may 
 be a facsimile by the artist Heims. The city seal of Brussels 
 bears the figure of St. Michael as that of its tutelary 
 saint. 
 
 Charles the Bold undid as much as he could of the con- 
 cessions made to the communes, but his military failures led 
 to the cities once more becoming masters of the situation, 
 and after his death his daughter Mary had to restore all that 
 he had taken away. It was at this time that the Burgo- 
 masters of Brussels, who have numbered in their ranks some 
 of the most remarkable men of the Netherlands, began to 
 figure prominently before the public. In 
 B Flanders the communes were always imper- 
 
 sonal, except for the brief passage across the 
 public stage of the Van Arteveldes, but in Brussels the per- 
 sonal element was more obtrusive. The power and authority 
 of the commune became concentrated in the person of 
 the burgomaster, the elected head of the citizens, while 
 the Duke's amman was a mere cypher, and at last the 
 sovereign did not think it worth his while to nominate 
 one. 
 
 The first of these burgomasters to leave a name in history 
 was the Chevalier de Locquenghien, who in 1477 introduced 
 a scheme for improving the water supply of the city. At 
 that time the bulk of the water required was obtained from 
 the Senne, comparatively speaking an insignificant stream. 
 We know nothing of the system of sanitation enforced in 
 cities in those days but an adequate supply of water was
 
 The Story of Brussels 21 
 
 essential both in peace and war. The growth of the popula- 
 tion called for an increased supply. Locquenghien obtained 
 it by the construction of a canal from the Ruppel and the 
 Scheldt to the Senne. This canal, known as the Wille- 
 broeck, provided Brussels with the necessary 
 The Willebroeck SU ppiy an( j a i so w jth a fresh means of com- 
 munication with Antwerp and the outer 
 world. It was by the Willebroeck Canal that the Prince of 
 Orange made his triumphal entry into Brussels at the invita- 
 tion of the States of Brabant on 23rd September, 1577. The 
 medal struck to commemorate the event bears the name of 
 Locquenghien in grateful tribute from the people who benefited 
 by his work. 
 
 Brussels owed much to Charles V. He added to the 
 Palace, which had been little touched since the time of Philip 
 the Good. It was he who built the fine Cour des Bailies, the 
 courtyard surrounded by a stone wall crowned with iron 
 railings elaborately worked and richly gilded. This court 
 occupied the space now allotted to the Place Royale. Some 
 years later he had the satisfaction of seeing before the close 
 of his reign the completion of the beautiful chapel. It was 
 considered at that time that the Palace of the Netherlands 
 was the finest royal residence in Europe. 
 
 Having mentioned Charles V, there is one incident of his 
 last days in Brussels that may be referred to. After his 
 abdication he resided for twelve months in a small house in 
 the park attached to the Palace. The house seems to have 
 been situated at the extremity of the park nearest the Porte 
 de Louvain. The reason for the Emperor's deferring his 
 departure for the monastery of St. Juste, in Estramadura, 
 is not clear, but there is no doubt that he 
 
 Conversation g was S reat *y crippled with gout and rheuma- 
 tism. While waiting here he received a visit 
 from Admiral Coligny, who brought him a letter from the 
 King of France. Charles took it in his hand, but owing to 
 the cramp was unable to break the seals. Coligny had to
 
 22 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 cut them with his dagger. Then they fell to talking of wars 
 and generalship, and Coligny did the part of listener. Charles 
 declared that his brother and he were the two greatest generals 
 because they had seen more wars than anyone else. Then 
 came Alva ; Coligny himself was too young as yet to aspire 
 to that eminence. It must have been an interesting con- 
 versation, but there were no reporters present, and we only 
 get the fragments. 
 
 We come now to the stormy period of Alva and the Spanish 
 Inquisition. Brussels was the scene of all the introductory 
 incidents. It saw the presentation of the famous Petition 
 to Margaret of Parma, the formation of the Beggars' League 
 in the Culemburg Hotel, and then the flight of William of 
 Orange on the approach of Alva, and the 
 
 EgI Ho n rn and arrest of Eg 0111 who would not flee - Horn 
 was then enticed to Brussels and placed in 
 
 the same prison as his friend, first at Ghent and finally in 
 Brussels. This was only a few days before their execution 
 together on the Grand' Place. The Maison du Roi, which 
 was built about 1520, was selected as their final place of 
 detention, because it looked on the Grand' Place, the appointed 
 scene of execution. The Maison du Roi had been named in 
 the first place the Broodhuis because the price of bread was 
 declared there, but its name had been changed on the estab- 
 lishment in the building of some of the Royal Courts of Justice. 
 On 1st June, 1568, Alva caused eighteen Belgian nobles to be 
 executed, the next day four more shared their fate. There 
 was a lull of two days, but Egmont and Horn had been brought 
 from Ghent. On the 5th they were executed on the same 
 spot. The scene has been described by Motley, who, however, 
 omits to say that the French Ambassador exclaimed on seeing 
 Egmont's head fall in the dust " My master's army has been 
 reinforced by 10,000 men." Another and little known 
 instance of the callousness of Alva was furnished in the year 
 following these executions, when a great tournay and jousting 
 festival was held on the Grand' Place. The contemporary
 
 The Story of Brussels 23 
 
 account does not reveal any popular interest in the affair. 
 The citizens of Brussels had for the time at least been cured 
 of their passion for amusement. It was on the Grand' Place, 
 too, that five years later Requescens, the new Governor- 
 General, proclaimed the Pope's Pardon and the King 
 of Spain's amnesty to the people of the Netherlands, 
 or rather to such of them as remained true to their 
 religion. 
 
 A very different scene was enacted on the Grand' Place a 
 little later on. Brussels joined the Pacification of Ghent, 
 
 and the ruling power was vested in the old 
 Pi States and not in a Spanish Governor. This 
 
 was the time when William the Silent paid 
 the visit to Brussels already referred to. He might have 
 given life to the confederacy in Belgium, but unfortunately 
 the nobles of Brabant were jealous of him and sent to Austria 
 for the Archduke Mathias to come as Governor-General of 
 the Netherlands. Mathias came and took the oath to the 
 States in 1578 on the Grand' Place, and at the same time 
 William was installed in the inferior office of Governor of 
 Brabant. William the Silent had also rendered himself 
 unpopular in Belgium by leaving the Catholic Church and 
 proclaiming himself a Lutheran. The hollowness of these 
 appointments was exposed a fortnight later when Don John 
 of Austria routed the States' army at Gembloux. 
 
 The last and most curious incident of this period, that had 
 the Grand' Place as its scene, was the attempt of Philippe 
 d'Egmont, in June, 1579, to recover Brussels for the Spaniards. 
 Accompanied by a few hundred horsemen, detached from the 
 army with which Parma was besieging Maestricht, young 
 Egmont, wishing to signalise his loyalty by some striking deed, 
 made a raid on Brussels. Forcing one of the gates he and his 
 band made straight for the Grand' Place. But the town 
 levies rose to the occasion. They also hastened to the scene 
 and, blocking the seven streets, then and still leading to the 
 Square, the invaders found themselves caught in a trap.
 
 24 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 After listening to the reproaches poured upon him for for- 
 getting his father's death, Philippe d'Egmont was allowed 
 to retire, having lost but few of his men. It was not till 
 1585 that Parma, busily occupied at Ghent, attacked and 
 captured Brussels. Curiously enough the records mention 
 that a Scottish regiment took part in the defence without 
 giving any particulars of its name or composition. 
 
 A brighter future dawned for Brussels in the year 1599 
 
 when the Archduke Albert of Austria and the Infanta Isabella 
 
 of Spain made their " joyous entry " into 
 
 _ 7 the city. It was inaugurated with what was 
 
 Crossbowmen. J . 
 
 deemed a happy omen. From the time of 
 the Crusades crossbowmanship had been one of the popular 
 games of Belgium, and the new chief was expected to draw 
 a bolt at a flying bird. Mary of Burgundy had sped a shaft 
 with unerring aim. So had Philip the Fair and his son 
 Charles V. Isabella was among the fortunate who brought 
 down the quarry, from which a bright future was augured. 
 Even to the present day the guilds of the Crossbowmen of 
 Hainaut and Brabant are important and prosperous. How 
 important they were in the Middle Ages may be inferred from 
 the fact that the Guild of the Crossbowmen founded in 1304 
 the Church of Notre-Dame des Victoires which exists to-day 
 under the name of the Sablon. 
 
 On the whole Brussels flourished during the seventeenth 
 century, at least until it approached its close. Among the 
 greatest of its civic chiefs was Frederic le Marselaer, Baron 
 de Perch, who was seven times Burgomaster in the first 
 quarter of that century and whose lineaments will be known 
 as long as the canvas of Vandyke endures. The same artist's 
 portrait of the worthy Burgomaster's wife, Margaret de 
 Baronaige, also exists, but his group of twenty-three members 
 of the council presided over by Marselaer, which was one of 
 the ornaments of the Hotel de Ville, was destroyed when 
 Villeroi bombarded Brussels in 1695. 
 
 The Brussels of which we are speaking had not changed
 
 The Story of Brussels 25 
 
 since the Middle Ages and probably reached its prime about 
 
 the year 1650, when Conde, sulking like Achilles in his 
 
 tent during the Fronde, took shelter there from 
 
 A Description Richelieu. We have a contemporary descrip- 
 of Brussels. < 
 
 tion of the city from the pen of a French 
 
 officer, Colonel Duplessis l'Ecuyer, who was in his suite, that 
 
 will admit of being quoted : 
 
 " Brussels is one of the finest, largest, and best situated 
 cities not only of Brabant but of the whole of Europe. The 
 old quarters which have an aspect so singularly picturesque 
 with their sloping and tortuous streets, the fine hotels of 
 darkened stone sculptured in the Spanish fashion, and the 
 magnificence of the Place of the Hotel de Ville, are buried 
 behind an enceinte of walls pierced by eight lofty gates 
 flanked with one hundred and twenty-seven round towers 
 at almost equal distance from each other like the balls of a 
 crown. At a distance of less than a mile commenced the 
 forest of Soignes with great numbers of stags, red and roe 
 deer, that were hunted on horseback even under the ramparts 
 of the town. On the promenade of the Court there circu- 
 lated in a long file ceaselessly during fashionable hours five 
 or six hundred carriages, the servants in showy liveries. In 
 the numerous churches the music was renowned. Under the 
 windows of the Palace stretched the park open all the year 
 to respectable people and twice a year to the public, a park 
 filled with trees of rare essences and the most delicious flowers 
 so artistically disposed and so refreshing to the eyes that M. 
 de la Serre declared on leaving that if he had seen there an 
 apple tree he would assuredly have taken it for an earthly 
 Paradise." 
 
 This very pretty picture drawn by a Frenchman was sadly 
 
 interfered with by one of his countrymen some forty years 
 
 later. Marshal Villeroi appeared on the 
 
 B o f m Br a ussd e s nt hei g hts of Anderlecht with an army of 60,000 
 
 men in August, 1695, and forthwith proceeded 
 
 to bombard the city with red-hot bullets. His object was
 
 26 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 to compel William III to abandon the siege of Namur, which 
 was on the point of surrender. Villeroi carried on the bom- 
 bardment for forty-eight hours 13-15th August and during 
 this time an enormous amount of damage was caused. Six- 
 teen old and interesting churches, all the ancient buildings 
 on the Grand' Place, with the exception of the Hotel de 
 Ville tower, and 4,000 houses were laid in ruins. Brussels 
 did not begin to rise from its ashes until after the end of 
 the War of the Spanish Succession. When its citizens did 
 take heart to rebuild, the old Mint was replaced by the first 
 Theatre of " la Monnaie." 
 
 In 1731 Brussels again suffered heavily from fire, when the 
 famous Palace of the Netherlands was destroyed through 
 the carelessness of some cooks preparing 
 Destro^d sweetmeats. The fire continued for two 
 days, the Archduchess Marie Christine barely 
 escaped with her life, and many of Rubens' masterpieces 
 perished in the flames. No attempt was made to restore 
 this palace, and for the rest of the period of Austrian rule 
 the residence of the Governor-General was fixed in the old 
 Nassau Palace. Villeroi's bombardment does not stand alone. 
 Marshal Saxe fired on the city in February, 1746, but more 
 considerate than his predecessor he aimed at the wall and not 
 at the public buildings. After this occurrence Brussels 
 remained in the possession of the French for three years and 
 received two visits from Louis XV, who resided in the palace 
 of the Duke d'Arenberg, of which Egmont had built the first 
 portion in 1548. 
 
 Two further incidents may be referred to in concluding this 
 chronicle. After the treaty of Utrecht the Netherlands 
 passed to Austria, and Prince Eugene was appointed Governor- 
 General. Unfortunately for Belgium he was too much 
 employed with his work as generalissimo to take up personal 
 charge, and he appointed as his nominee the Marquis de 
 Prie. De Prie set himself to the task of establishing a rigid 
 autocracy, and he came into collision with the civic authorities
 
 THE PULPIT OF STE. GUDULE, BRUSSELS 
 {By permission of the Ltgue de Propagande)
 
 The Story of Brussels 27 
 
 who strove to uphold their charters and constitution. The 
 
 champion of the city was Francis Anneessens, one of the 
 
 syndics, and he set the example in refusing to 
 
 A Famous take th oath until the old constitutional 
 
 Citizen. 
 
 rights had been confirmed. De Prie arrested 
 
 Anneessens and three of his brother syndics. They were put 
 on their trial and in a summary manner Anneessens was 
 sentenced to death and the others to banishment. The 
 execution took place on the Grand' Place on 19th September, 
 1719, and through petty spite De Prie refused his victim 
 Christian burial, but his remains were collected by his friends 
 and admirers and given burial in a secret but secure grave 
 of the Church of La Chapelle. 
 
 The later Austrian governors were more considerate in 
 their dealings with the Belgian people, and Prince Charles 
 of Lorraine, who represented the Empress 
 ( Lon 1 ame f Maria Theresa for forty years at Brussels, 
 was one of the most popular rulers the Bel- 
 gians ever had. It was he who planted the avenues of lime 
 trees which still adorn the upper boulevards of the city. 
 
 During the Brabant revolution of 1789 Brussels was cap- 
 tured, as the saying went, " by its own citizens." There 
 was, however, very little fighting and less bloodshed. It is 
 said that 60,000 shots were fired and no one was killed, for 
 " those who knew how to shoot did not want to kill, and 
 those who wished to kill did not know how to shoot." The 
 old capital on the slope and summit of Michael's Mount has 
 held its own in the struggle for existence among great Euro- 
 pean cities during the eight centuries that have elapsed since 
 a monkish chronicler called it " the delice and glory of 
 Brabant."
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE STORY OF ANTWERP 
 
 The records of Antwerp are meagre in comparison with 
 
 those of the other cities, but as its burning by the Norman 
 
 pirates in the year 836 is an historical fact, 
 
 NamTl^twer ** mUSt then have existed at the least for a 
 century or more. In the Frank period a 
 
 castle named Andhunerbo is marked on the site, and this 
 
 brings us to the explanation of its name. The castle was 
 
 built here to protect the approach by the Scheldt, and to 
 
 prevent robbery either by foreign plunderers, or by foreign 
 
 traders introducing goods without paying toll to the sovereign 
 
 of the land. The general European punishment for theft in 
 
 those days was to cut off the thief's right hand. It is still 
 
 the practice in uncivilised Africa and in Afghanistan. On 
 
 the Scheldt the infliction of the penalty had a sequel. The 
 
 cut off hands were thrown into the river, hence the origin 
 
 of the name Andhunerbo in mediaeval Latin or Ant- 
 
 werpen in Flemish, i.e., the place of hand-throwing. On the 
 
 arms of the city to this day appear the Castle and two severed 
 
 hands. 
 
 A suggestion has been made, and naturally Motley, who 
 
 rather lays himself out for ponderous joking at everything 
 
 mediaeval and feudal, favours it, that the name Antwerp 
 
 is nothing more than " an t' werf " (in Flemish, " on the 
 
 wharf"). It is rather curious that so skilful a compiler of 
 
 facts should overlook the point that this really fantastic 
 
 etymology does not explain the origin of the older name of 
 
 Andhunerbo which can only have one meaning. Besides, 
 
 Antwerp was not a place of trade until a much later period. 
 
 It was a castle guarding an approach to the country by a 
 
 river, and proof of this is furnished by the fact that the 
 
 28
 
 The Story of Antwerp 29 
 
 Emperor Otho on creating the fief made it a Marquisate that 
 
 is to say, a frontier countdom. Among the holders of this 
 
 title the most famous was Godfrey of 
 
 The Antwerp B ou ffl on , but if a herald were to recite the 
 Marquisate. 
 
 full titles. and dignities of the Head of the 
 
 House of Hapsburg there would appear among them that of 
 
 Marquis of Antwerp. 
 
 The commercial importance of Antwerp dated from the 
 beginning of the decline of Bruges through the silting up of 
 the Zwyn. It must be remembered that the approach of 
 this calamity was visible half a century before it became 
 complete, and the desertion of Bruges by traders was gradual. 
 The patronage of the Burgundian Court also staved off the 
 blow till the last possible moment. But none the less the 
 commercial importance of Antwerp was well established 
 in the earlier half of the fifteenth century. In the year 1450 
 the Antwerp records show that the Place de Meir was paved 
 with stone for the first time. This was the year also when 
 the famous Cathedral, which was commenced a hundred 
 years before, was brought practically to completion. In 
 1490 the foreign merchant Guilds or Nations transferred 
 their headquarters from Bruges to Antwerp which at once 
 became the principal centre of trade for the whole of the 
 Netherlands. Its position was far superior in every way 
 to that of Bruges. Seated on a tidal river, navigable by the 
 largest ships, it was most advantageously placed for com- 
 munication by various waterways with the central and 
 eastern provinces of Belgium. 
 
 The period of Antwerp's greatest splendour was between 
 
 the years 1550 and 1560, when it contained the houses of 
 
 not fewer than a thousand foreign merchants. 
 
 Prw? S These houses were divided among six nations, 
 
 viz., the Spaniards, the Danes and the Hansa 
 
 together, the Italians, the English, the Portuguese and the 
 
 Germans. In 1560 more business was done in one month 
 
 at Antwerp than in two years at Venice, although that city
 
 30 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 was still one of the chief places of trade in the world. Every 
 day nearly 500 vessels entered and left the great port on the 
 Scheldt, and two thousand waggons entered the city every 
 week from France or Germany. Between 1550 and 1577 
 the total of the population fluctuated between one hundred 
 and fifty and two hundred and fifty thousand persons. 
 During this period of her greatest splendour Antwerp acquired 
 her most famous buildings after her churches. The Hotel 
 de Ville, the Bourse (burnt down in 1858 and rebuilt), the 
 Vieille Boucherie, the Musee Plantin all date from this epoch. 
 
 Bruges fell by the work of nature ; Antwerp declined by 
 
 the act of man. Antwerp has no reason to love the names 
 
 of Spain and Alva. In 1567 Alva placed 
 
 The Citadel, a Spanish garrison in Antwerp, and his first 
 task was to build a citadel with the money 
 of its citizens. Walls and fortified gates had always been 
 the chief demand of the cities ; the construction of a Castle 
 or Citadel in the interior of the city had always been the 
 first step in subjecting it to unrestrained autocratic power. 
 Antwerp had escaped the troubles of the feudal period. Her 
 day of trouble had arrived. The bastions of Alva's citadel 
 were so solid that it took the French siege artillery three 
 weeks to destroy part of them in 1832. 
 
 Beyond providing the means of its downfall, Antwerp did 
 not suffer at the hands of Alva. The great blow was dealt 
 by the mutinous Spanish garrison which, having long arrears 
 of pay to receive, decided to repay itself by sacking the city 
 over which it was supposed to keep guard. The Spanish 
 Fury, as it was called, raged through three days of the month 
 of November, 1576. More than six thousand men, women 
 and children were butchered, eight hundred houses were 
 destroyed by fire, and damage was done to the extent of 
 two millions of our present money. That was the direct loss, 
 the indirect was greater, for a considerable number of the 
 citizens at once took refuge in England. The next blow 
 that fell on Antwerp was the treacherous attempt of Anjou
 
 The Story of Antwerp 31 
 
 to seize the city in 1583, but the French Fury, as it was 
 
 called, unlike the Spanish, ended in the triumph of the citizens. 
 
 It was Parma, the greatest of the Spanish leaders, who 
 
 dealt Antwerp its coup de grace. In 1584 he began its siege 
 
 in a deliberate fashion by cutting off its 
 A Famous communications. The city was held by a 
 
 strong garrison under Marnix de Ste Aldegonde, 
 but so close was the investment that by the summer of 1585 
 the besieged were on the verge of starvation and Marnix 
 was obliged to capitulate. The victory was stained by no 
 act of cruelty, but in the eighteen months covered by the 
 siege, the population of Antwerp fell from 85,000 to 55,000 
 persons. This decline was, of course, largely due to the 
 voluntary emigration of those who elected to follow the new 
 religion. 
 
 Here, again, as is so often the case in human affairs, the 
 indirect consequences were more serious than the direct loss. 
 
 Antwerp passed finally under the rule of 
 of tl Scbldt Spain, and its legitimate successors. That 
 
 signified its complete severance from the 
 revolted northern Provinces, which had acquired the command 
 of the sea. To the great joy of its commercial rivals in 
 Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the blockade of the Scheldt 
 was established, and the prosperity of Antwerp vanished 
 like a dream. This blockade lasted during the better part 
 of three centuries. From an act of war it passed into an 
 international condition embodied in a succession of treaties. 
 One of the most prized possessions of the Dutch was the right 
 to close and keep closed the navigation of the Scheldt. The 
 effect of this exclusion from the sea on the prosperity of 
 Antwerp is recorded in statistics that cannot be challenged 
 or refuted. The city which contained after Parma's conquest 
 a population of 55,000, had no more than 45,000 inhabitants 
 in 1780, and of these one-third received charitable relief. 
 The cause is as clearly revealed as the result. The port, 
 which in 1555 had seen 2,500 ships at anchor in its roadstead,
 
 32 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 and 500 ships sail or arrive in a single day, received in the 
 year 1761 only four vessels. 
 
 Antwerp enjoyed a glimpse of its early prosperity during 
 the French occupation from 1794 to 1814. The closure of 
 
 the Scheldt was declared to be "a survival 
 Occupation * f eu( lal tyranny and a violation of the 
 
 rights of man." When France made a 
 treaty with Holland as the Batavian Republic in 1795, she 
 exacted the freedom of the Scheldt, and for the first and only 
 time the Dutch waived their right. Despite the English 
 command of the seas, as many as 3,000 ships came up to 
 Antwerp in 1813. After the withdrawal of the French, 
 Belgium was joined to Holland as the Kingdom of the 
 Netherlands, and it was, of course, impossible for the Dutch 
 to enforce old treaty rights against their fellow-subjects. 
 But after the Belgian revolution, this claim to close a neigh- 
 bour's river was revived, and once more the European Powers 
 ratified a preposterous pretension. On this occasion, however, 
 it was given a new form. The Dutch were no longer to have 
 the right to close the river by firing upon and sinking any 
 ship that entered it ; but they were authorised to exact 
 what was practically speaking a prohibitive toll, prohibitive 
 in the sense that it only admitted of a moderate traffic, and 
 forbade all expectation of its free expansion. 
 
 The situation thus created between Belgium and Holland 
 was really intolerable, and no friend of the two States could 
 
 find a word to say in favour of its continuance. 
 
 The Toil heldt But old P rivile g es and treaty rights are not 
 easily abandoned, and in this particular 
 the Hague Government resembled every other. The toll 
 of 1^ florins per ton was rigorously levied, and the Belgian 
 Government which had voluntarily taken the burden on its 
 own shoulders found the charge irksome an 1 irritating. 
 Among other consequences it rendered it loth to st mulate 
 the trade of Antwerp. 
 
 A way out of the difficulty was discovered through the
 
 The Story of Antwerp 33 
 
 patient and persistent efforts of the late Baron Lambermont, 
 of the Belgian Foreign Department. The question of river 
 navigation in Europe had been thoroughly discussed at the 
 Congress of Vienna, where the clearest and soundest principles 
 for its complete freedom from all hindrances had been laid 
 down. The arrangements under the Twenty-four Articles 
 for the Scheldt were really an infringement of those principles, 
 and it is to the credit of Lord Palmerston that he strove hard 
 to mould them in a more liberal spirit. His example was 
 an encouragement to the Belgian statesman who set himself 
 to the task of emancipating his countrymen from an 
 unjust and offensive limitation on their own freedom and 
 independence. 
 
 The case of the Scheldt, although the most arbitrary, did 
 not fortunately stand alone. There were others less involved 
 
 with national prejudice which called for 
 Other Cases. settlement, and the solution of which could 
 
 not but hasten that of the major and more 
 difficult problem. The case of the Sound and the Two 
 Belts was the first to present itself. Denmark had there the 
 same right of toll as Holland possessed on the Scheldt. A 
 conference met at Copenhagen in 1856 to put an end to 
 the exaction. At Baron Lambermont's instigation, Belgium 
 negotiated a special convention with Denmark, by which 
 Denmark acquitted Belgium from paying any quota to the 
 sum raised to free the Danish straits in return for Belgium's 
 engagement, that in the event of the capitalisation of the 
 tolls on the Scheldt she would pay whatever there might 
 fall on Denmark. Thus two principles were very adroitly 
 introduced. First, that the tolls of the Scheldt were just as 
 susceptible of being bought up as those of the Sound, and 
 secondly, that each navigating State was liable for its quota. 
 
 A second case of a similar kind arose in 1860, when the 
 Stade tolls levied by the Hanoverian Government on the 
 Elbe were capitalised at the suggestion of the British Govern- 
 ment. Baron Lambermont availed himself of this fresh 
 
 3-(2387)
 
 34 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 opportunity by opening negotiations with the Hanoverian 
 Government, and in 1861 a Belgic-Hanoverian convention 
 was signed on the same lines as that with Denmark. 
 
 Armed with these two precedents, the Belgian Government 
 then asked the Dutch Government the plain question whether 
 it would admit or not the possibility of capitalising the 
 Scheldt tolls. For the first time since the privilege had been 
 asserted to the detriment of the people of Belgium, the Dutch 
 made a considerate reply by giving a cordial assent to the new 
 principle. There remained only the practical point of deciding 
 the quotas to be contributed by the respective navigating 
 Powers. In this part of the matter, England, whose tonnage 
 on the Scheldt was the largest, became the most important 
 factor in the problem. 
 
 The quota could not be fixed by the simple rule of a com- 
 parison of the tonnage under each flag, for by such an arrange- 
 ment Belgium, the chief beneficiary, would 
 
 A Settlement, have got off for a trifling contribution. The 
 Belgian diplomatist avoided this pitfall. 
 He recommended his Government to take upon itself the 
 responsibility of providing one-third of the total capital, 
 or six times the amount that it would have had to pay by a 
 mere comparison of tonnage. These points settled, the 
 British Government was approached, for its co-operation as 
 the largest contributor of all was essential to success. Our 
 policy had always been favourable to the removal of trade 
 impediments, and no difficulty was experienced in London. 
 There remained only to conclude a formal treaty with Holland 
 prior to the summoning of a general Conference for the 
 ratification of these separate arrangements and their embodi- 
 ment in a single Act. Twenty-one Powers took part in the 
 Conference at Brussels in July, 1863, which finally freed the 
 Scheldt. Belgium contributed altogether 13,328,000 francs, 
 but if the toll had continued to be levied it has been computed 
 that she would have paid in the forty years ending in 1903 
 not less than 574,523,317 francs, or nearly twenty-three
 
 ANTWERP CATHEDRAL 
 (By permission of the Ligne de Propagandt
 
 The Story of Antwerp 35 
 
 millions sterling. In modestly describing the significance of 
 his own work Baron Lambermont wrote : "In lending its 
 concurrence to the purchase of the Scheldt tolls the Conference 
 will undoubtedly render a service to trade generally. It 
 will complete to the benefit of all nations the work commenced 
 in the Sound and continued in the Elbe. Nor is this all. 
 The foreign States will, by aiding Belgium in an enterprise 
 which is known to be its legitimate desire and ambition, by 
 giving this country and its venerated head a striking mark of 
 sympathy, and by coming forward to sanction by their 
 co-operation the henceforth perfect freedom of the Scheldt, 
 bring a new consecration to the establishment of our nation- 
 ality, and they will attach to it in some manner the imprint 
 of universal solidarity." 
 
 The freeing of the Scheldt removed the fetters that had 
 hindered the development of Antwerp since the days of its 
 
 prime in the middle of the sixteenth century. 
 oMhe^cheldt Since tnat event, the city has burst its 
 
 barriers, stretching out in every direction, 
 and trebling its population. It has become not merely the 
 chief outlet of Belgium, but one of the principal seaports of 
 Europe. The place has enormous military importance as 
 the bulwark of Belgian independence, but that matter will 
 be dealt with in another chapter.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE STORY OF BRUGES AND GHENT 
 
 The story of the sister cities Bruges and Ghent may be told 
 
 together, and as it forms the best known part of Belgian 
 
 history a brief summary of the leading 
 
 The Sister i ncide nts will suffice. 
 Cities. 
 
 The story of Bruges begins with the 
 
 Foresters of Flanders, the officers entrusted by Charlemagne 
 with the guard of that part of his kingdom who eventually 
 became Counts of Flanders. Bruges itself, at the commence- 
 ment, was known as Flanders (Vlaenderen). It was Baldwin 
 Bras de Fer who gave it a separate name, and that no more 
 high sounding than the place of a bridge. His son, the second 
 Baldwin, fortified it, Ghent, Courtrai and Ypres at the same 
 time thus founding together the four famous Flemish com- 
 munes. Baldwin II married Elstrud, the daughter of Alfred, 
 thus establishing the first link between England and Flanders. 
 The first mention of Ghent is slightly earlier than that of 
 Bruges. It was one of Charlemagne's two naval arsenals 
 the other being Boulogne and on one occasion the Norman 
 pirates came up the Scheldt in their light draught snekkars 
 and burnt his ships. 
 
 If the erection of walls was the first step in the growth 
 
 of cities, the more important incident in the life of those of 
 
 Flanders was the establishment of cloth 
 
 ,, cl ? tl l markets in or about the year 960. These 
 
 Markets. J 
 
 markets were established round the principal 
 
 church, and were distinguished by the name Kerkmesse 
 
 (Kirk, church, and messe, market). The word soon became 
 
 " kermesse," and is still in use as the popular name for a Fair. 
 
 The creation of all Flemish towns was marked by three 
 
 phases. The building of a church was the first phase. 
 
 36
 
 The Story of Bruges and Ghent 37 
 
 This occurred, as a rule, in the seventh and eighth centuries. 
 The next was the construction of a wall and fortified gates, 
 which may be assigned to the ninth century. The concluding 
 phase was the opening of the cloth markets in the tenth 
 century. The Flemish people thus turned at an earlier period 
 than any other race in northern Europe from agriculture to 
 industry. 
 
 A century after the opening of the cloth markets, the 
 citizens who had laid the basis of a sound and expanding 
 prosperity began to talk of and clamour for their rights. 
 Their first triumph was the acquisition of the privilege of 
 erecting a belfry to be used for the purpose of summoning 
 the citizens to public meeting. Up to that moment the only 
 bells had been those in the churches, and the acquisition of 
 a separate belfry was as hard to win as it was highly prized. 
 But the first distinct civic charter was granted neither to 
 Bruges nor to Ghent, but to a town specially created for the 
 purpose of being ruled by a new law by Baldwin VI in the 
 year 1068. This was Grammont, a place which otherwise 
 never obtained fame, and which is to-day a town of the fifth 
 order. None the less the Charter of Grammont is " the 
 most ancient written monument of civil and criminal laws 
 in Flanders." It established trial by jury, it exempted the 
 citizens from Church law except in matters of religion, and 
 it introduced a system of fines in lieu of the almost uniform 
 death sentence. Bruges and Ghent were naturally indisposed 
 to leave Grammont a monopoly of such privileges. 
 
 Having won their charters from their Counts, the people 
 of Bruges and their allied communes, were in danger of losing 
 
 them at the hands of the French King who 
 the Sours invaded and occupied a great part of Flanders 
 
 in the first year of the fourteenth century. 
 This foreign occupation did not last long. The French 
 garrison was massacred during what was known as the 
 Bruges Matins. A few months later this success was com- 
 pleted at the battle of Guinegate or "of the spurs " outside
 
 38 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Courtrai on 11th July, 1302, a memorable date in the history 
 of Flanders. Although this great victory put an end to the 
 fear of a French conquest it was followed by a struggle between 
 the Counts and the communes that went on for two centuries, 
 and that only ended in the time of the Emperor Charles V. 
 
 The " heroic epoch " of Flanders reached its culminating 
 point with the Arteveldes. The elder, James, was not merely 
 
 the leading tribune of Ghent, but he was the 
 Art*" lcT" one Belgian who, prior to the nineteenth 
 
 century, might be called a great national 
 statesman. His conception of Flanders was that of a great 
 " neutral state " strong enough to repel all assailants, and there- 
 fore able to devote its attention to the accumulation of wealth 
 and the enjoyment of industrial prosperity. To accomplish 
 this required an efficient military organisation and the ex- 
 penditure of money. His views were too large for his age. 
 He was accused of wasting the public treasure, and massacred 
 by his brother citizens. Unwittingly the citizens by declining 
 to follow a national policy, had struck the first blow at the 
 continuance of their own commercial existence. The result 
 proved the truth of the saying that " a house divided against 
 itself cannot stand." The assassination of James van 
 Artevelde occurred on 17th July, 1345 ; the people of Ghent 
 expiated their crime on 27th November, 1382, when their 
 forces, led by his son Philip, were routed on the field of 
 Roosebeke by their Count and his French allies. 
 
 The highest point of Bruges' prosperity was reached soon 
 after the establishment of the Burgundian rule, and the 
 
 third marriage of Duke Philip the Good in 
 The Golden t k e y ear j^q ma y ^ e fi xe( j UDon as its apogee. 
 
 It was an incident of special interest for 
 several reasons. The same summer witnessed the Duke's 
 capture of Joan of Arc, and his handing her over to the tender 
 mercies of the Bishop of Beauvais, and also the founding of 
 the most famous order of the Golden Fleece, named in double 
 honour of the mythological quest, and of the source of local
 
 The Story of Bruges and Ghent 39 
 
 prosperity. Philip's third bride was Isabel of Portugal, 
 great granddaughter of John of Gaunt, and she became the 
 mother of Charles the Bold. Our Duke of Bedford, brother 
 of Henry V, had married Anne, sister of Philip, and owing 
 to English defeats in France it had been arranged that Bedford 
 should resign to his brother-in-law the Regency of France 
 which the hero of Agincourt had placed in his charge. From 
 many points of view the occasion was a memorable one, 
 but the one fact that endured longest was the creation of 
 the order of the Golden Fleece. 
 
 There seems good reason to believe that the Golden Fleece 
 was founded by the Duke of Burgundy out of a spirit of 
 emulation. He was a Knight of the Garter, established by 
 Edward III three-quarters of a century earlier, and he 
 resolved to have his own Order and to endow it with features 
 peculiar to itself. The Garter was a chivalric order with a 
 decoration and a badge ; the Fleece was a distinct power 
 in the land with its members immune from the general law. 
 A Knight of the Golden Fleece could only be tried by the 
 Chapter of his order. When Alva caused Egmont and Horn 
 to be executed the worst crime he committed in the eyes of 
 many was in violating the rules of the Order to which he also 
 belonged, and in ignoring the privileges of two brother 
 Knights. 
 
 The Order was ostensibly founded in honour of the new 
 bride, and so intent was the Duke on its maintenance that 
 he passed on its sovereignty to the husband of the last heiress 
 of his family. This timely prescience saved the order from 
 extinction on more than one occasion. The first motto 
 chosen for the Order was essentially applicable to the marriage 
 " Aultre n'aray, Dame Isabeau tant que vivray." As it was 
 his third venture in the matrimonial lists he thought it 
 proper to give the young princess some pledge, but this 
 motto was not long in use. In a few years it was superseded 
 by the motto of the Burgundian family, "Je I' ay emprins" 
 " I have undertaken." The order which was dedicated to
 
 40 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 the Virgin and St. Andrew, the patron saint of Burgundy, 
 was limited to the sovereign and twenty-four knights. At 
 first the archives and treasury of the Order were preserved 
 at Bruges, where the knights had their stalls in the Church of 
 Notre Dame ; but the Archduke, afterwards Emperor 
 Maximilian, removed them to Ste Gudule in Brussels. When 
 the French Revolution broke out they were taken for safety 
 to Vienna where they still remain. In 1725 the order was 
 divided into two branches, the Golden Fleece of Austria 
 and the Golden Fleece of Spain. 
 
 The marriage of Philip the Good was celebrated when 
 Bruges was at its prime. A century earlier a Queen of France 
 
 on visiting it had been so struck by the 
 
 Bruges, the r j c h costumes of its ladies, that she exclaimed, 
 
 NortherTIurope. " l thought I was the only Queen here, but 
 
 I see a thousand around me." At that time 
 Bruges was the leading financial city in Western Europe, 
 or as it was put in those days north of the Alps. The prices 
 on its exchange ruled those elsewhere. It was said that 
 more trading ships were to be seen in its harbour at Damme 
 than in any other port save Venice. The Hansa, English 
 and Italian merchants had their resident agencies and count- 
 ing houses. But a great national disaster was impending, 
 with which neither the skill nor the resources of the men of 
 the age could cope. 
 
 The prosperity of Bruges was based on its access to the 
 sea, but even at the moment of the marriage fetes it was 
 
 known that the navigable channel from 
 The Zwyn. the sea to Damme was silting up, and that 
 
 before many more years had passed it would 
 be permanently closed. This stage was reached in the year 
 1490. The Zwyn became merged in that tract of unfathomed 
 sand extending from Knocke to Terneuzen, which represents 
 the Dutch possessions south of the Scheldt to-day. The 
 merchants and the Guilds left the thus isolated city, trans- 
 ferring their headquarters to Antwerp, and Bruges entered
 
 The Story of Bruges and Ghent 41 
 
 upon its long sleep as a place of enterprise. Only in the 
 twentieth century has it begun to show signs of returning 
 vitality through the construction of the ship canal that 
 connects it with the North Sea. 
 
 The prosperity of Ghent rested on a surer basis than that 
 of Bruges, or perhaps it would be nearer the truth to say 
 that it was less dependent on the co-operation of foreigners. 
 The decline of Bruges increased the importance of Ghent, 
 which was for a century after the marriage of Philip the Good, 
 the centre of the political life of Flanders. It carried on a 
 fierce struggle for its constitutional rights during that period, 
 and it was only when the Emperor Charles V banding together 
 all the forces at his disposal came down upon it with heavy 
 hand in 1540, and imposed his memorable chastisement, 
 that it succumbed. 
 
 Some idea of the stubborn and never-failing courage of 
 the people of Ghent during the last century of its existence 
 as a political entity may be formed from a 
 f Glfnt 113 k" ei summary of the events that preceded 
 the final humiliation in 1540. The story 
 commences in 1453 with the terrible battle of Gavre " the 
 red sea of Gavre " when twenty thousand citizens were 
 slain. Philip the Good seemed touched by the slaughter, 
 for he exclaimed, " These were my subjects," but none the 
 less he hung all his prisoners, including some English archers, 
 who were hoisted to the loftiest trees. Among the penalties 
 imposed were the imposition of a heavy fine, and the suppres- 
 sion of the trained bands of the guilds known as the White 
 Hoods. Yet, in 1467, Charles the Bold in the midst of a 
 turbulent populace uttering threats on the very day of his 
 inauguration as Count of Flanders, found himself obliged 
 to restore all the privileges his father had confiscated fourteen 
 years before. " Wait ten years," he exclaimed, " and we 
 shall see who is master." Ten years later he fell in the battle 
 of Nancy. 
 
 His successor, his only child and daughter, Mary of
 
 42 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Burgundy, was left face to face with the citizens, who took 
 full advantage of her troubles. Before they would allow her 
 to be proclaimed they compelled her to sign a new Charter, 
 embodying all the old privileges. Then only would they 
 permit her to ring the bell known as Roland. Nor were 
 the citizens satisfied until they had executed the principal 
 ministers of their last Duke. The atrocities of the individual 
 ruler are treasured up by the historian, those of the masses 
 or the mob are consigned to an indulgent oblivion. 
 
 What the citizens of Ghent wrested from the last Duchess 
 of Burgundy they kept under her youthful son Philip the 
 
 Fair. They held him as a hostage against 
 A German hi f atner the Archduke Maximilian, who 
 Invasion. ,,,-, , ^ 
 
 overran much of the Provinces with a German 
 
 army. One of the incidents of the struggle was when the 
 citizens of Bruges locked Maximilian up in the Craenenburg, 
 and kept him there for three months. He was only released 
 on giving his promise by oath to abstain from further inter- 
 ference in the Government, and to leave his son in the hands 
 of the Flemings. It is not surprising that Maximilian took 
 the oath to recover his freedom, but it is surprising that he 
 was believed. No sooner had he got to a safe distance than 
 he repudiated his promises, and he returned in a few months 
 with a large German army to besiege Ghent which had thrown 
 in its fortunes with Bruges. 
 
 This was the turning-point in the history of the great 
 Flemish communes. In bad as in good fortune they had 
 up to this managed to hold their own in the struggle with 
 their feudal and hereditary rulers. But they were now 
 confronted by a more formidable master, who had behind 
 him the big battalions of the German Empire. The citizens 
 did not appreciate the change until it was too late. Bruges 
 and Ghent were compelled to pay enormous fines, and by 
 the treaties of Damme and Cadzand they surrendered their 
 privileges. The wounded dignity of Maximilian for his 
 imprisonment was further appeased by the execution of a
 
 The Story of Bruges and Ghent 43 
 
 considerable number of the leading citizens of the two 
 cities. 
 
 Such was the situation at the dawn of the sixteenth century, 
 when the citizens of Ghent laying aside their political ambi- 
 tions applied themselves to the development 
 
 A Decay in Q f t heir trade and industry. The pacific 
 
 Ivlcinncrs. 
 
 rule of Margaret of Austria, sister of Philip 
 the Fair, acting in the name of her young nephew who 
 became Charles V, was highly favourable to their designs, 
 and it was freely said that the prosperity of Ghent had never 
 been greater than it was in the first half of the sixteenth 
 century. In the hour of their greatest prosperity the people 
 of Ghent brought down upon themselves the wrath and 
 punishment of their prince. Some contemporary writers 
 declared that there had been a decay in the manners and 
 character of the citizens one of them wrote : " The old 
 represent that everything is changed in the customs of 
 our citizens, and they complain that instead of simple, frank, 
 loyal, courageous, robust, and tall men a generation has 
 succeeded corrupted by vice, idleness, ambition and pride." 
 
 In 1536 the Emperor, for the purposes of the war with 
 France, demanded a subsidy from Flanders, and the city of 
 
 Ghent was called upon to provide a third of 
 Charles V. the total. The citizens refused to pay, and 
 
 finding that the prince had no available 
 means to compel them to do so, they grew defiant. They 
 formed an association among themselves to carry on the 
 government of their city, and they invited Francis of France 
 to aid them against their liege lord. Unfortunately for them 
 that monarch had just signed a ten years' peace with his old 
 rival, and he dismissed their envoys with cold comfort. 
 Still the citizens were full of confidence in themselves, and 
 to show their contempt for the Emperor they executed his 
 chief representative, Lieven Pym, who told them with his 
 dying breath they would be sorry when " too late." They 
 acted thus recklessly in the belief that as the Emperor was
 
 44 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 in Spain, and had many things to attend to, it would certainly 
 
 be a long time before he could think of them. 
 
 All their expectations were falsified by the act of the 
 
 French King, who sent Charles a pressing invitation to travel 
 
 through France so that he might be able 
 
 .,T he . to promptly chastise his mutinous subjects. 
 
 Humiliation of , r r J . . .. , J , . 
 
 Ghent. * ne er . unusual in those days, was accepted, 
 
 and in February, 1540, Charles appeared 
 before Ghent at the head of a chosen army. Resistance 
 would have been futile ; none was attempted. Having 
 occupied the city with his troops, Charles made a solemn entry 
 at the head of his generals and courtiers. A formal indictment 
 was drafted, and Ghent was placed on its trial. The verdict 
 was delivered with all the proper observances, and after 
 due deliberation the Emperor solemnly ratified it. Seven 
 not nineteen, as Motley says of the men who judicially 
 murdered Lieven Pym were executed, but that was the full 
 extent of the bloodshed. The Emperor's sentence was 
 directed against institutions and not men but in its way it 
 could not have been more severe. The sentence began by 
 depriving the town " body and community " of all its 
 privileges in perpetuity. It was deprived of municipal 
 government, and the guilds as well as the city lost their 
 charters. All sheriffs and magistrates were to be appointed 
 by the Emperor alone. Public property, including artillery, 
 was. to be ceded to the Emperor, and the famous Roland, which 
 had so often given tongue to the discontent of the land, 
 and summoned the people to arms, was cast down and sen- 
 tenced to eternal silence. In addition, the city had to pay 
 not only the refused subsidy, but a heavy fine. Finally, the 
 chief citizens had to make humble penitence in their shirts 
 barefooted, and with halters round their necks. Thus, after 
 five centuries, ended the special privileges and political 
 importance of Ghent, the city associated in the English 
 mind with the names of James van Artevelde and John of 
 Gaunt.
 
 :'v3%j*-- 
 
 ST. BAVOX CATHEDRAL, GHENT, 
 {By permission of the Ligue de Propagande)
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE STORY OF LIEGE 
 
 At many periods, notably during the troubles of the sixteenth 
 century, Liege lay outside the general stream of Belgian life, 
 
 and enjoyed an independent existence. The 
 Liege Separated se p ara t e story of the Liege principality is 
 
 certainly the least known part of Belgian 
 history, and no doubt this is to be attributed to the fact 
 that in the Middle Ages events in Flanders and Brabant had 
 rarely any influence on the future of Liege. It was the one 
 division of Belgium not included in the Burgundian Union. 
 The single incident of the capture of the city by Charles the 
 Bold, told by Scott in " Quentin Durward " with magnifi- 
 cently audacious plagiarism from the pages of Commines, 
 probably exhausts the ordinary reader's knowledge of a 
 State which existed for the better part of a thousand years. 
 
 In the tenth century a great prelate, equally energetic 
 as social reformer and as curber of the feudal barons for the 
 
 exaltation of the Church, founded the clerical 
 Notger. State which existed more or less separately 
 
 from its neighbours down to the French 
 Revolution. It was long a saying among its people" Liege 
 owes Notger to Christ, and everything else to Notger." But 
 three centuries before Notger, Liege was the capital of 
 the Dukes of Austrasia, and Charlemagne was the first to 
 transfer it to Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 
 Once established in the seat of authority, the bishops 
 showed their capacity for administration. Animated by a 
 
 single purpose, free of the petty rivalries 
 Prince Bishops, which were the bane of the feudal system, 
 
 they carried on a deliberate and continuous 
 policy. What one bishop left half done his successor 
 
 45
 
 46 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 completed, and the Bishopric of Liege, which had been 
 regarded as a place of retreat for penitent or invalid 
 Austrasian dukes, soon became a power in the land. Indeed, 
 at the dawn of the twelfth century it looked quite possible 
 that the whole of Belgium might fall into its sphere. 
 
 The Crusades gave the bishops a favourable chance of 
 aggrandisement, and they availed themselves of it. For 
 that remote expedition money was necessary, and as the laws 
 forbade the ordinary citizen from dealing in money which 
 was restricted to Lombards and Jews, there was none available 
 among the classes from which the expeditions were drawn. 
 But the Church was independent of the law or rather its 
 law was supreme and in its hands the gifts of many genera- 
 tions of pious donors had accumulated. It had become the 
 great if not the only capitalist. 
 
 The sinews of war for the first and second Crusades were 
 provided then by the Church, and by no branch of that great 
 organisation more largely than by the 
 f War"" Bishopric of Liege. But it has never been 
 the practice of men, whether marked by a 
 tonsure or not, to give without receiving an equivalent. 
 The bishops helped Godfrey of Bouillon to equip his forces, 
 but they took from him his castle and the feudal rights he 
 enjoyed as Marquis of Antwerp and Lord of Malines. They 
 also helped the Count of Hainaut, but it was at the price of 
 his placing his county under the suzerainty of Liege. But 
 powerful as was the Bishop of Liege, he was not powerful 
 enough to stand alone. He had to lean on somebody, and 
 Notger's successor at the dawn of the eleventh century had 
 been proclaimed Prince of the Empire on recognising the 
 temporal sovereignty of the Emperor of Germany. The 
 aggrandisement, therefore, of the bishopric entailed an 
 extension of German influence, but ultimately Liege became 
 the least German and most intensely French of all the divisions 
 of Belgium. This characteristic was never more noticeable 
 than it is to-day.
 
 The Story of Liege 47 
 
 The triumph of the bishops over the nobles has been 
 
 noted ; there remains now to summarise the long struggle 
 
 for power between the bishops and the 
 
 A Tribunal people. It must, however, be recorded that 
 
 the first popular rights and privileges at 
 
 Liege were conferred by the Bishop on the people. These 
 
 were embodied in the famous " tribunal of peace " which 
 
 formed the charter of the citizens of Liege for over four 
 
 centuries. This Court sat in the Cathedral, the burgesses 
 
 beside the Bishop, and dispensed summary justice on all 
 
 alike only priests and princes being exempted from its 
 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 As a court of law the Peace tribunal answered its purpose 
 very well, but the growth of civic liberty and rights could 
 not be restrained. The guilds and corporations took on 
 themselves more and more the functions of political power, 
 and the clerical position was sometimes weakened by the 
 tyranny of a bad bishop like Henry of Gueldres. 
 
 The citizens aimed chiefly, however, at the overthrow, not 
 
 of the Bishop, but of the aristocratic families who had seized 
 
 all the civic posts and made them hereditary, 
 
 T for Power 16 anc * * n ^ e stru ggl e tne Bishop often sided 
 with the people. It reached a crisis in the 
 year 1312 when, on the death of the Bishop the nobles chose 
 one regent and the citizens another. Five hundred armed 
 nobles entered the city hoping to carry all before them. 
 Instead they were vanquished by the superior numbers of 
 the citizens, driven into the ancient church of St. Martin, 
 and destroyed with the sacred edifice by fire. A new law 
 was made to the effect that all city officers were to be chosen 
 by the people from the people. 
 
 The peace of Fexhe (1315) embodied this and much more 
 in its articles. It prescribed an appeal to the people in the 
 event of any serious difference or doubt, and was long known 
 as the great charter of Liege. Speaking of this period M. 
 de Villenfagne, the historian of Walloon Belgium, has written,
 
 48 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 " The principality of Liege comprising Condroz, Hesbaye 
 the countdom of Looz, the marquisate of Franchimont, 
 the lordship of Bouillon, and of the territory between the 
 Sambre and Meuse, formed at this time (1390) a sort of Federal 
 Republic. The ruling power having belonged first to the 
 aristocracy and then to the Bishop passed into the hands of the 
 people as represented by the three Estates of the country." 
 Having gained all the privileges of a free city the people of 
 Liege became arrogant, and thought they could defy the House 
 of Burgundy which had just welded the 
 
 Ch Bold the whole of Bel g ium > with the exception of 
 the part subject to Liege itself into a united 
 State including Holland and a large part of northern and 
 eastern France as well. The power of the Government as 
 represented by the Duke had never been so preponderant, 
 and Liege should have taken warning from the recent fate 
 of Ghent at the battle of Gavre. Unfortunately for them 
 the citizens were rather carried away by the belief that 
 French aid would be forthcoming, and, therefore, their replies 
 to Philip the Good and his son Charles the Bold were couched 
 in haughty and defiant language. Even a minor defeat at 
 Mortenaeken in 1465 did not bring them to their senses, and 
 when the real struggle began in the following year the citizens 
 were still sanguine of success. The first incident of this was 
 the siege and capture of Dinant, where a population numbering 
 60,000 was wiped out. 
 
 In the following year Liege, after one defeat in the field, 
 
 signed an ignominious treaty recognising the supremacy of 
 
 the Duke by allowing his representative to 
 
 Ca Li6ge of reside in the cit y- But this numilit y was 
 
 assumed, for in 1468 they again defied him 
 and imprisoned his representative. This incident occurred, 
 as described in " Quentin Durward," while Louis XI was the 
 guest of Charles the Bold at Peronne. Louis, to save his 
 life, agreed to accompany Charles on his expedition of punish- 
 ment, and was present at the capture and sack of Liege when
 
 The Story of Liege 49 
 
 40,000 of the citizens axe said to have been slaughtered, 
 many of the women being thrown into the Meuse from the 
 Bridge of Arches. It is declared that every building was 
 demolished with the exception of the churches and convents. 
 Finally the city made " renunciation for all its liberties " 
 by a humble delegation of its chief citizens to Brussels. Thus 
 was an end put to the rule of the citizens of Liege which a 
 little earlier had been called a " Federal Republic." 
 
 Soon after these events evil days fell on Burgundy. Gran- 
 son, Morat and Nancy followed in quick succession, and the 
 
 dream of founding a third kingdom in north- 
 
 The Wild wes t E ur ope that should be the equal of 
 
 the Ardennes. France crumbled in the dust. The power 
 
 of the Bishop of Liege revived. Louis of 
 Bourbon, supported by the Pope, succeeded in restoring some 
 order to the city's affairs, and might have done better if he 
 had not been assassinated by William de la Marck, " the wild 
 boar of the Ardennes."- During the reign of Charles V Liege 
 did not assert itself, but prosperity was gradually returning, 
 and the city succeeded in keeping the combatants during 
 the religious wars outside its boundaries. When Alva and 
 William the Silent were coming to close quarters in the Meuse 
 Valley Bishop Groesbeck maintained his neutrality by warning 
 off the belligerents. 
 
 As time went on Groesbeck' s successors, who were chiefly 
 Bavarian princes, experienced increasing difficulty with 
 
 the citizens who, having secured the nominal 
 
 A p e r riod led revival of the old charters, sought to give 
 them their full ancient significance. More 
 especially did they claim that all the city affairs should be 
 controlled by the council of " thirty-two," to which the 
 burgesses elected twenty-six and the Bishop only six members. 
 One of the striking episodes of this struggle was the assassina- 
 tion of La Ruelle, the burgomaster and a friend of the 
 French connection. He was betrayed by a fellow-plotter, 
 the Count de Warfusee, who did not benefit by his treachery, 
 
 4 (2387)
 
 50 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 for he was torn in pieces by the people of Liege as soon as they 
 discovered his crime. The Bishop then invoked the Emperor's 
 aid and a large German force captured the city. The burgo- 
 masters and many of their colleagues were executed in front 
 of the Hotel de Ville. It was then that the Bishop caused 
 the Citadel to be built on the summit of St. Walburga's 
 Mountain. 
 
 From time to time the citizens had expressed sympathy 
 with France. This was much diminished by the exactions 
 
 of the French army which occupied Li6ge 
 French from 167Q t 167 g Qn leaving they des . 
 
 Occupation. . . . & J . 
 
 troyed the citadel, and the citizens believing 
 
 that with it had also disappeared the Bishop's power, resumed 
 
 their rights. This step proved more than ever disastrous. The 
 
 Emperor lent the Bishop an army to recover his position. 
 
 Such resistance as the citizens attempted was easily overcome, 
 
 and their leaders were executed on the public place. The 
 
 old charters were cancelled, all political power was revoked 
 
 from the guilds which became simply artistic or industrial 
 
 associations. To further consolidate the Bishop's power, 
 
 the Citadel was to be rebuilt, and a new fort constructed 
 
 half way across the Bridge of Arches. It was not many years 
 
 after this event that an English army under Marlborough 
 
 attacked and captured the Citadel, but the English troops 
 
 did not occupy the city. 
 
 At the end of another century Liege witnessed a fresh 
 
 attempt by the people to recover their rights, and it had 
 
 rather a curious origin. A dispute as to the 
 
 The c ^ t tzIar distribution of the profits of the Spa gambling 
 tables ended in the citizens naming two of 
 their order as Chief Magistrates, and in the flight of Bishop 
 Hoensbroeck to Treves. The citizens claimed a free national 
 assembly, but the German Court of Wetzlar ordered them to 
 return to their obedience, and sent a German army to enforce 
 it. On this occasion the triumph of the Bishop by the aid 
 of German arms was not long lived. But a few months
 
 The Story of Lige 51 
 
 later the French overrun and conquered Belgium. For over 
 twenty years Liege formed part of France ; indeed the 
 connection only terminated with the arrival of a Prussian 
 force in January, 1814. After Napoleon's escape from Elba, 
 Bliicher made his headquarters at Liege during the spring 
 of 1815, and it was there that he narrowly escaped being 
 shot at the hands of some mutinous Saxon soldiers by 
 jumping out of the window of his hotel. Whatever else it 
 had failed to do, the French Revolution certainly killed the 
 Prince Bishopric of Liege. It had found it a sort of Power in 
 Europe, it left it without any prospect of revival. Europe 
 then placed Liege in the hands of the King of the Netherlands 
 with the rest of Belgium. 
 
 The people of Liege contributed to the success of the 
 
 Belgian revolution of 1830 more than any other city excepting 
 
 Brussels. They had fought for centuries for 
 
 ^Litee" civic ri hts ' the y now had the cnance of 
 fighting for national independence, and they 
 
 took it. Without any outside assistance they captured from 
 the Dutch garrisons the Citadel and the Chartreuse fort. 
 They sent to Brussels the Volunteer battalion which dis- 
 tinguished itself in the four days' fighting with the Dutch army 
 in the Park. Finally, they furnished three of the heroes of 
 the whole movement, Charles Rogier, Joseph Lebeau, and 
 " the wooden-legged gunner," Charlier. 
 
 There is one little matter affecting the name of the place 
 
 that may be dealt with here in a few lines. The accenting 
 
 of the " e" in the name has given rise to a 
 
 the Name considerable diversity of practice, and whether 
 
 because it is easier to be wrong than to be 
 
 right the erroneous practice has prevailed. It has been 
 
 the universal practice in England to mark the " e " with the 
 
 accent " grave," thus, Liege. In former days many French 
 
 writers did so, and some Belgians. It is just to Bouillet, 
 
 Littre and other sound etymologists to say that they did 
 
 not fall into the error. They give it correctly with the
 
 52 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 accent aigu as Liege. Now what is the significance of the 
 difference for the ordinary reader ? It is simply that the 
 correct pronunciation is as two clearly distinct syllables 
 "Lee-aje." This approximates most nearly to the Walloon 
 (the local dialect) name which is " Le-ege."
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE BELGIAN CONSTITUTION 
 
 Some dates and facts as to the way in which the Belgian 
 Constitution was drafted and passed into law will be of use 
 to the general reader. 
 
 In 1815 the Vienna Congress declared that the South 
 
 or old Spanish Netherlands were to be joined to Holland, 
 
 and to form the Kingdom of the United 
 
 Th K?ngdom andS Netherlands under the sovereign rule of the 
 House of Orange Nassau. This union lasted 
 for fifteen years. Various grievances developed during that 
 period, and the Belgians considered that they were treated 
 with some harshness by the Dutch. The French revolution 
 of July, 1830, when the absolutist Bourbon monarchy was 
 superseded by the constitutional Orleanist regime, greatly 
 increased the confidence of the Belgians in themselves and 
 their cause by leading them to think that the French nation 
 would sympathise with and second their efforts to achieve 
 their own independence. The first disturbance occurred in 
 Brussels during the night of 25th-26th August, 1830, after 
 a performance at the opera of the " Muette de Portici." when 
 Massaniello's appeal for the emancipation of his country 
 inflamed the audience and set fire to the aspirations of the 
 public. Opinions differ as to whether the scene had been 
 carefully prepared, or whether it was one of those impromptus 
 that constitute the eternal fitness of things. At any rate, the 
 night was passed in plundering and destroying the houses 
 of some of the Ministers and others identified in the public 
 mind with the Dutch regime. The Belgian revolution then 
 began. 
 
 Its second and more important phase covered the four 
 days, 23rd-26th September. The Dutch decided to recover 
 
 53
 
 54 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Brussels by force and sent an army to capture it. The troops 
 succeeded after some severe street fighting in reaching the 
 
 Park facing the Royal Palace, but they had 
 F^hting in marched into a trap. Instead of crushing the 
 
 citizens and recovering the city they found 
 themselves besieged in the Park, and more or less cut off 
 from their communications. The incidents of the fighting 
 that went on for four days showed that regular troops have 
 little superiority over armed citizens in street fighting, and 
 on 26th September the Dutch extricated themselves from 
 their false position by retreating during the night, leaving, 
 however, 1,500 killed behind them. The Belgian revolution, 
 which most observers outside the country had affected to 
 regard as of trivial moment, then became a matter of European 
 importance. 
 
 A week after the withdrawal of the Dutch troops the 
 Provisional Government which had been carrying on 
 
 the administration in Brussels issued the 
 
 r ? ecre j Decree of Independence. Its terms deserve 
 
 Independence. r 
 
 quotation : 
 " Art. I. The provinces of Belgium detached by force 
 
 from Holland shall constitute an Independent State. 
 " Art. II. The Central Committee will occupy itself as soon 
 
 as possible with the draft of a Constitution. 
 
 " Art. III. A National Congress representing all the interests 
 
 of the Provinces shall be convoked. It will examine 
 
 the bill drafted for a Belgian Constitution, modify it as 
 
 it thinks proper, and then will make it the definitive 
 
 Constitution of force throughout Belgium." 
 
 The drafting of the Constitution was entrusted to a special 
 
 Commission, and at its first meeting the important question 
 
 was raised and decided as to the form the new Government 
 
 should take. There had been some irresponsible talk of 
 
 creating a Belgian Republic. The Commission decided 
 
 that the Government should be a hereditary constitutional 
 
 monarchy, and when the point was raised before the National
 
 The Belgian Constitution 55 
 
 Congress some weeks later it was promptly decided in the 
 same sense. 
 
 The Commission took three months in accomplishing its 
 task, and at the end of January, 1831, it presented the Con- 
 gress with the draft of a Constitution con- 
 Constitution sisting of 139 Articles. As the Congress had 
 discussed and decided what may be called 
 the vital principles underlying the Articles of the Constitution 
 concurrently with the labours of the Commission, the draft 
 bill did not require alteration, and after a week's formal 
 discussion it was passed into law on 7th February. 
 
 The Constitution bill contained 139 Articles, one of which 
 (No. 131) provided for the right to revise it should a future 
 occasion arise to make it desirable or necessary. Having 
 defined the character of the monarchy to be established, and 
 the administrative divisions of the kingdom which by ancient 
 tradition contained nine provinces, the law proceeded to 
 set forth the constitutional functions of the respective powers 
 in the State. The King was relieved of responsibility by 
 the simple regulation that all his acts had to be countersigned 
 by one of his ministers who thereby became responsible for 
 what was done. The King had, however, one or two privileges 
 that do not fall, as a rule, to the constitutional monarch. 
 He could dissolve the Chambers, and he could also initiate 
 legislation by decreeing that a draft bill (projet de loi) should 
 be prepared on any specific matter of an urgent character. 
 The King was also declared Commander-in-Chief of the Army 
 and Navy, the latter of which did not and does not yet exist. 
 When Leopold I read the Constitution law through before 
 accepting the crown he made the caustic remark " You 
 seem to have left your King very little to do." 
 
 The executive and legislative pow T ers in the State were divided 
 between the King, the Chamber of Representatives and 
 the Senate. The Chamber of Representatives originally con- 
 sisted of 102 members chosen by the duly qualified electors 
 of the country who, until 1894, were few in number. In
 
 56 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 that year the Representatives had increased to 152. A 
 
 general election had to be held every four years, and at the 
 
 end of two years half the members had to 
 
 The King and see k re-election. Of course, Ministers had the 
 two Chambers. ... . , , ' . _ ,. , . 
 
 right, m common with the King, of dissolving 
 
 the Parliament at any time and appealing to the country, 
 
 but the right has been very sparingly used. Members of the 
 
 Chamber must be not less than twenty-five years of age, 
 
 and since 1894 they have been paid a salary of 4,000 francs 
 
 on the stipulation of regular attendance. They are also 
 
 furnished with a free railway pass from the seat of their 
 
 constituency to the capital. 
 
 The strength of the Senate or Second Chamber was 
 
 originally fixed at fifty-one members, but in 1893 the total 
 
 was raised to 102, seventy-six being elected 
 The Senate, by the qualified electors, and twenty-six 
 
 being nominated by the Provincial Councils. 
 A senator sits for eight years. He receives no payment and 
 no one is eligible for a seat in the Upper House under the age of 
 forty. It may be mentioned, as a distinctive feature of the 
 Belgian system, that Ministers who may be taken indiscrimin- 
 ately from either the Senate or the Chamber of Representa- 
 tives have the right of speaking in both Houses as occasion 
 may arise. The King's sons or other Princes of the Royal 
 Family become by right members of the Senate on reaching the 
 age of eighteen, but they have no vote until they are twenty- 
 five years old. A bill must be approved of by both Houses 
 before it can be submitted to the King for the necessary Royal 
 decree to make it law. Consequently the possibility of an 
 unseemly collision between the two Chambers in so far as it 
 would threaten to involve the name or person of the King is 
 eliminated by the Belgian Constitution. No Belgian minister 
 could talk of inviting or compelling the Sovereign to be the ally 
 or tool of the Lower House in coercing the Upper, and a proposal 
 to flood an ancient Chamber with new immigrants would be 
 derisive when the total number of occupants is fixed by law.
 
 The Belgian Constitution 57 
 
 There are some good points to be borrowed from the young 
 
 Belgian Constitution. 
 
 At the time of the passing of the Constitution into law, 
 
 in February, 1831, no sovereign had been selected for the 
 
 Belgian throne. Five months later Prince 
 
 Choosing the Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was inau- 
 Sovereign. r 
 
 gurated as King of the Belgians in Brussels, 
 
 thus founding the Coburg dynasty which still occupies the 
 Throne. The Constitution provided that the Crown was to 
 be vested in the male line to the perpetual exclusion of 
 females, but in the event of the failure of all male heirs the 
 King was to have the right of nominating his successor with 
 the consent of the Chambers. Should he not have made 
 such a nomination the Throne would be " declared vacant " 
 on his death, and the Chambers elected in double strength 
 for the occasion would then proceed to elect a new ruler. 
 
 At one period it seemed not impossible that such an 
 occasion might arise. Leopold I, who at the time of his 
 accession was a widower (having married in 1816 the Princess 
 Charlotte of England, who died in childbirth the following 
 year), married in 1832 the Princess Louise of Orleans, daughter 
 of Louis Philippe, King of the French, and by her had a 
 family of three sons and one daughter. The eldest son died 
 when he was less than a year old. The second son, Leopold, 
 born in 1835, succeeded his father in 1865, the second of his 
 name, and reigned for nearly forty-five years. His death 
 took place in December, 1909. The third son was Philip, 
 Count of Flanders, born in 1837 and died in 1905, and the 
 only daughter, Charlotte, the unhappy Empress of Mexico, 
 is still living. Leopold II, who married in 1853 the Arch- 
 duchess Marie Henriette of Austria, had only one son, who 
 bore the title of Duke of Brabant, and died in 1869 in his 
 tenth year. The reversion to the throne thus passed to the 
 Count of Flanders who had married in 1867 the Princess 
 Mary of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. The issue of this marriage 
 was two sons and two daughters. As the Salic Law prevails
 
 58 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 it is unnecessary to say anything either of these princesses 
 or of the three daughters of Leopold II, all of whom survive. 
 
 The two sons of the Count of Flanders were named Baudouin 
 (Baldwin) and Albert. Prince Baudouin, who was extremely 
 popular with the people, died suddenly in 
 King Albert. 1891 without having married. There re- 
 mained only his brother Albert to prevent 
 the Belgian royal family from extinction in the male line. 
 For some years the situation gave rise to considerable anxiety, 
 but Prince Albert's marriage in 1900 to the Princess Elisabeth, 
 daughter of the late Duke Charles Theodor of Bavaria, followed 
 by the birth of two sons named Leopold and Charles removed 
 all ground for apprehension, and assured the succession in 
 the male line. In December, 1909, Prince Albert succeeded 
 his uncle as Albert I, and he and his wife, Queen Elisabeth, 
 who is renowned for her charitable deeds, have begun what 
 promises to prove a new era in Belgian history. Their sons 
 are now known by the historic titles of Duke of Brabant and 
 Count of Flanders respectively. 
 
 But the Belgian Constitution did a great deal more than 
 
 found and define a constitutional monarchy. It provided 
 
 for the liberties of a people in a manner then 
 
 A Tolerant almost without example in Europe. It is 
 
 System. . . , , r , . , 
 
 rare indeed to find legislators more animated 
 
 by the principles of true freedom for individuals as well as 
 the community than were the framers of the Belgian Con- 
 stitution in 1830-1. The modern politician seems bent on 
 devising new forms of tyranny which are more irritating 
 than those favoured by the most absolute sovereigns. The 
 Belgian Solons displayed a remarkable tolerance not only 
 for their own views but for those of their fellow-citizens. 
 For instance, Belgium was a Catholic country in the old 
 constitution the Church had been one of the States the 
 overwhelming majority of the people were devoted followers 
 of the Church of Rome. Yet one of the Articles of the 
 Constitution separates Church and State, and lays down the
 
 Boitte Brussels 
 
 HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELISABETH OF THE BELGIANS
 
 The Belgian Constitution 59 
 
 law that all cults are equal and free. Another ordains that 
 no one was to be interfered with or disqualified for public 
 service or office on account of his religious opinions. These 
 provisions for religious tolerance and equality were all the 
 more remarkable because no popular movement existed to 
 force or induce the Legislature to adopt them. They might 
 be styled voluntary efforts in the quest of supposed perfection 
 or at least of unfettered liberty. It may be added that the 
 establishment of religious equality has not led to any change 
 in the religion of the people. A Protestant propaganda has 
 never had any chance of success in the Southern Netherlands. 
 Although the influence of the Church did not avail to 
 prevent its deposition from the privileged place it had enjoyed 
 in the State from time immemorial, it was 
 
 A Ktn h0hC felt that ** would not be in accordance with 
 the fitness of things to allow of a non-Catholic 
 prince ruling a Catholic people, and it was consequently 
 stipulated that the King should be of the Catholic religion. 
 But here again the extraordinary broad-mindedness of the 
 Belgian legislators was revealed, for during the first thirty-five 
 years of its national independence, Belgium was ruled by a 
 Protestant King because Leopold I declined to change his 
 religion. His children were, however, brought up as Catholics 
 in accordance with the Constitution, and also with the marriage 
 contract signed at Compiegne on the occasion of his marriage 
 with the French Princess. 
 
 Among the salient vital principles embodied in the Con- 
 stitution were freedom of the press, of the person and of the 
 right of meeting. Nowhere has the press 
 the Press keen more free and nowhere has the individual 
 citizen been more secure against press attack 
 than in Belgium. The sensational journalism to which we 
 have grown painfully accustomed is unknown in Belgium. 
 No Belgian citizen is ever accused or exposed in the papers 
 until he has been condemned and sentenced by a Court of 
 Justice. The accused and their relations are spared by the
 
 60 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 adoption of asterisks and initials instead of names. It may 
 be due to the "smallness of the country, but at least Belgian 
 procedure is considerate of the feelings of the innocent bearers 
 of an unusual name. Among other important changes intro- 
 duced by the new Constitution was the abolition of the 
 forfeiture of civil rights and of the confiscation of property. 
 The right of public meeting, which includes that of street 
 processions, is absolute with the sole reservation that during 
 the session of the Legislature there is a prohibited area round 
 the Parliament House and Royal Palace. 
 
 Everybody knows that Belgium is a neutral State, but 
 
 contrary to what seems to be generally supposed this neutrality 
 
 was not a condition imposed by the Belgians 
 
 Belgian themselves. There is not a word in the 
 
 Neutrality. 
 
 Constitution on the subject. It was a con- 
 dition imposed on Belgium by the Great Powers as the price 
 for their recognition of her existence. The Belgians were 
 quick to see the advantages of the new arrangement which 
 would save their country from again being turned into the 
 cockpit of Europe, and far from raising any objection on the 
 ground of its being an interference in their internal affairs, 
 they welcomed the proposal. Now the Powers were not 
 thinking of the Belgians when they came to this decision, 
 but of themselves ; and the problem in their own mind 
 was how to compose their own rivalries and discords so that 
 the balance of power might be preserved. A few facts as to 
 how this arrangement was brought about, and as to its precise 
 meaning may be appropriately added here to the description 
 already given of the Constitution, for the neutrality of Belgium 
 is an essential feature in its political existence. 
 
 When the Belgians revolted, and showed that they were 
 likely to bring their revolution to a successful issue, the 
 
 Five Powers (England, France, Austria, 
 The London p^^a an( j Russia) at once came together 
 
 Conference. 
 
 and opened the London Conference. The 
 first decisions as to the future status of Belgium in Europe
 
 The Belgian Constitution 61 
 
 were contained in the document known as the "^Eighteen 
 Articles," which was signed in London on 26th June, 1831. 
 The 9th and 10th Articles denned what was the first view 
 and intention of the Powers on the subject of Belgian 
 neutrality, and the following is their text : 
 
 " Art. 9. Belgium within the limits traced in conformity 
 
 with the principles laid down in the present preliminaries 
 
 shall form a perpetually neutral State. The five Powers, 
 
 without wishing to intervene in the internal affairs of 
 
 Belgium, guarantee her that perpetual neutrality as well 
 
 as the integrity and inviolability of her territory in the 
 
 limits mentioned in the present Article. 
 
 " Art. 10. By just reciprocity Belgium shall be held to 
 
 observe this same neutrality towards all the other States 
 
 and to make no attack on their internal or external 
 
 tranquillity whilst always preserving the right to defend 
 
 herself against every foreign aggression." 
 
 The passages in italics show that in June, 1831, the Powers 
 
 were disposed to guarantee Belgium against attack and 
 
 invasion as a sort of return for imposing on her a condition 
 
 of permanent neutrality. 
 
 But events led to the abandonment of the Eighteen Articles, 
 
 and to the substitution in their place of the Twenty-four 
 
 Articles which were eventually embodied 
 
 NeuSlit? in the bindin & treaties. The definition of 
 
 Belgium's neutrality (although none the less 
 
 fettering on her action) in the later instrument is far less 
 
 clearly defined or binding on the Powers than it was in the 
 
 earlier. One brief Article was deemed sufficient, and read 
 
 as follows : 
 
 " Art. 7. Belgium within the limits specified in Articles 
 
 1, 2 and 4 shall form an independent and perpetually 
 
 neutral State. She shall be bound to observe this same 
 
 neutrality towards all other States." 
 
 While pundits in international law will keenly discuss 
 
 the significance of the very marked difference in the language
 
 62 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 employed in the two sets of Articles, there remains clear the 
 one essential fact that Belgium was deemed in the eyes of 
 the Powers, and had to accept as the price of their recognition 
 of her existence the status of, a " perpetually neutral State." 
 Belgium's neutrality in international law comes under 
 the heading of " imposed " or " obligatory " neutrality as 
 contradistinguished from the " voluntary neutrality " of 
 Switzerland.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE COURT AND THE OFFICIAL WORLD 
 
 The official world of Belgium revolves round the Palace of 
 
 Brussels, the State residence of the Sovereign, and the five 
 
 great ministries in the rue de la Loi, in the 
 
 The Brussels cen ^- re f which stands the Palais de la 
 Nation, or Houses of Parliament. Between 
 the Palace of the King and the Palace of the Nation stretches 
 the park which once formed the private grounds of the Palace 
 of the Netherlands, and which was the scene of the fighting in 
 1830. That famous royal residence which witnessed the 
 abdication of Charles V was burnt down in 1731, and its more 
 modest successor was erected by the Archduchess Marie 
 Christine in 1782. It served as the royal residence under 
 the Dutch King William I and the two Belgian Leopolds. 
 No attempt to change its external appearance was made till 
 towards the close of the reign of Leopold II. The State rooms 
 were fine, but the facade was poor, and gave a rather mean 
 appearance to the whole. At one end, too, was the Bellevue 
 Hotel, which was held under a lease dating from the time of 
 the Empress Maria Theresa. A private hotel did not add 
 to the dignity of the palace to which it was attached, but at 
 least it was kept in good repair and looked better than the 
 old Hotel d'Assche at the eastern extremity, which was used 
 as the office of the Civil List. 
 
 About the year 1903 it was decided to embellish the Palace 
 
 by giving it a new front, and as a beginning the Bellevue 
 
 Hotel was acquired. Hereupon an unexpected 
 
 ThC Kts tOn0 dirncult Y arose. Belgian opinion is very 
 
 sensitive in matters of personal association. 
 
 The Bellevue Hotel had played a part in the revolution of 
 
 1830. From its roof a Belgian sportsman had shot twenty-one 
 
 63
 
 64 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Dutch grenadiers, and a protest was raised that even for a 
 new palace front this historic landmark should not be removed. 
 This was not the only protest of the kind. The new facade 
 which was to be protected by a railed terrace encroached to 
 such an extent on the parvis or open square in front of the 
 palace that it was found necessary to cut off a strip of the 
 park. This caused much commotion, not because it diminished 
 the extent of a public park, but because it threatened the 
 existence of the historic pits in which the Dutch buried their 
 slain in September, 1830. Assurances had to be given on both 
 these points before the work could be taken in hand. The 
 Bellevue Hotel was to be embellished, but left intact in its 
 main aspect, and the pits were not to be filled in. Public 
 opinion was thus conciliated with regard to the changes 
 necessitated by the new Palace. 
 
 It must be admitted that the new Palace is a very great 
 improvement on the old. It has quite an imposing front 
 in Belgian stone with a fine dome crowning the centre. At 
 either extremity is a columned terrace or belvedere gallery. 
 The public is also excluded from the walk, passing under the 
 palace windows, and kept at a more respectful distance by 
 an enclosed and terraced garden. All State dinners and 
 receptions are given in this palace, and no doubt the new 
 King and Queen being young will entertain much more than 
 their predecessors. Notwithstanding the improvements 
 effected at this Palace and the increased accommodation 
 furnished by the addition of another storey, Brussels is never 
 likely to supplant Laeken as the residence and home of the 
 Belgian royal family. 
 
 Before passing on it may be mentioned that the Bellevue 
 Hotel has been converted into a private residence for the 
 Princess Clementine, youngest daughter of Leopold II, who 
 is now married to Prince Napoleon, the head of his family. 
 Some of these days it seems safe to assume that both it and 
 the Hotel d'Assche, which has also been left intact, will be 
 incorporated in the Palace to which they are attached.
 
 The Court and the Official World 65 
 
 Laeken, which lives in history as the place from which 
 Napoleon wrote his order for the Russian expedition, is 
 
 situated on the northern side of the city, at 
 Laeken. a distance of about four miles from the 
 
 Park. The old chateau was burnt down 
 in 1889, but it was promptly rebuilt on the old lines, and 
 largely added to by the late King between 1903 and 1907. 
 It was the favourite residence of both the Leopolds, and is 
 famous for its orangery (part of the original building), its 
 gardens and conservatories. A costly Chinese pagoda and a 
 pavilionwere among the embellishments added by Leopold II. 
 At Laeken the sovereigns have been accustomed to give the 
 garden parties which closed the Court season, and no doubt 
 this practice, which was discontinued after the death of Queen 
 Marie Henriette, will be resumed by the new King and Queen. 
 Although not without a certain stateliness in its ceremonial, 
 the Belgian Court has never been a very gay one, various 
 circumstances of more or less public notoriety having 
 overshadowed its life. The Belgian monarchy being of 
 modern creation and founded under what are known as 
 popular conditions, there is not much scope for its attaining 
 the brilliance of older Courts, but at least it may be made 
 brighter and more in evidence than has been the case 
 for the past forty years. 
 
 In Belgium, the society that would be deemed eligible 
 for attendance at Court is divided into three principal sections 
 
 the nobility, the official world, and the 
 S tv^ mos t prominent individuals among the 
 
 moneyed, literary, and artistic classes. The 
 members of the Legislature have a right, subject to the 
 Sovereign's pleasure and convenience, to be received at the 
 Palace by the Sovereign on New Year's Day, but sometimes 
 this ceremony has been omitted. They have no right to 
 attend the regular Court receptions in their character of 
 legislators, and if any of them are invited, it is because they 
 possess what are held to be the suitable qualifications. 
 
 5 (2387)
 
 66 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 With regard to the nobility, it is extremely exclusive, 
 
 and not very numerous if it be counted by the separate 
 
 families. The Belgian litre d'or is supposed 
 
 N b'rtv * anc * P rac tically does, take no note of titles 
 
 created since 1830. The noble class may 
 
 be subdivided among the holders of titles of the Holy Roman 
 
 Empire (that is to say, prior to the cessation of Austrian rule 
 
 in 1794), a few of the Emperor Napoleon's creation, and 
 
 a slightly larger number of creations by the Dutch King 
 
 William I between 1815 and 1830. The Belgian kings since 
 
 1831 have the right to confer the titles of count and baron 
 
 (provided the decree is countersigned by a Minister), but it 
 
 has been very sparingly used. As a rule, the recipients have 
 
 well deserved the honour, but its conference does not secure 
 
 admission within the charmed circle of the classe noble. 
 
 There are a few historic families among the noble class 
 of the southern Netherlands, such as the De Lignes, the 
 D'Arenbergs (now also De Lignes), the Croys (pronounced 
 Cro-ges), the Chimays, de MeYodes, de Lalaings, de Lannoys, 
 D'Assches, D'Ursels, and D'Oultremonts. Members of these 
 families have played their part in history since the time 
 of the Crusades, and some of them are better known in Vienna 
 or Berlin than in Brussels. In any case, they occupy a place 
 quite apart, and are entirely independent of all Court favour. 
 Their indifference to the sovereign's favour is a curious feature 
 in Belgian social life, not perhaps to be paralleled elsewhere. 
 Leopold I once expressed the opinion, however, that " What 
 we have of the old nobility is very patriotic." Below these 
 nine or ten families come perhaps thirty more, whose names 
 would be practically unknown to the English reader, although 
 they possess the full privileges of the golden book. Then 
 we have the few French or Dutch creations, and that constitutes 
 the highest circle in Belgian society. 
 
 It is not very easy to describe it as a wealthy aristocracy 
 or the reverse, but great landed estates are rare, and the 
 resources accumulated in the last century are due to strict
 
 The Court and the Official World 67 
 
 economy and careful husbanding. A safe description would 
 be to describe it as comfortably off, and free from ostenta- 
 tion. The nobility are not at all given to 
 ri h extensive entertaining among themselves, and 
 
 the principal entertainments are held in com- 
 mon at a Nobles' Club, which gives three or four balls during 
 the season. The code of the aristocracy has been rigid on the 
 point that its members must not take up with commerce, 
 trade or finance, and formerly even the official service was 
 taboo. Owing, no doubt, to the increase of numbers, the 
 latter point has been waived and an increasing number of 
 cadets find their way into the chief Government departments. 
 Until this change came into operation, the Army and the Church 
 offered the only available professions. The officers of the 
 two Guides regiments come mainly from this class, and 
 latterly there has been a tendency to join the Lancer regiments 
 and even the Grenadiers. 
 
 With regard to the purely official world it has always 
 enjoyed a favoured position in Belgium. The Palace has 
 ever looked with a friendly eye on the 
 VVorW ial bureaucrats as a sort of buffer against the 
 politicians. The new titles have been 
 principally granted among permanent officials. All officials 
 above the junior grades in the five principal ministries, viz., 
 Foreign Affairs, War, Finance, Interior and Public Works, 
 could rely on an invitation to Court functions provided they 
 wished it, and at least they would be present at the annual 
 reception of the Civil Service which followed upon that of 
 the legislature. In the social life of Brussels the heads of 
 departments, usually called General Secretaries, are received 
 everywhere, because all the world likes to get official informa- 
 tion, even when it is a thin dilution of truth, or specially 
 made up to mislead. The noble class has been averse to 
 replenish or strengthen the public service, but it receives as 
 a welcome and honoured guest the official who has the time 
 and inclination to pass through their salons. Prominent
 
 68 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 among such officials was the late Baron Lambermont, long 
 the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office. 
 
 We come now to the third class in the composition of 
 Court life, the magnates of finance, and the leaders of the 
 
 literary and art worlds. The first-named 
 finance* 5 were ^e last to gain admission, but they 
 
 are now the most prominent of all. La 
 haute finance (High Finance, as we call it) has a firm foothold 
 in Brussels, and has sapped the old exclusive position of the 
 noblesse. The Quartier Leopold is moving with the times. 
 The Jewish colony is one of the most important even in that 
 exclusive faubourg, and it dispenses a hospitality not to be 
 met with among any other set in Belgium. Next to the 
 financier, who is with some rare exceptions a Jew, come the 
 great industrials who have risen to prominence with the 
 development of Antwerp and Liege, Ghent and Brussels. 
 These men are chiefly Belgians, the Jews only coming into 
 prominence in the world of pure finance ; the old laws of 
 Belgium, curiously enough, provided that money matters 
 should be the concern of Jews and Lombards alone. In this 
 section of Belgian society, also, a more cosmopolitan and less 
 exclusive manner is observable. 
 
 Fifty years ago literary and artistic merit filled a larger 
 place in the estimation of the tempo ral powers of Belgium than 
 
 it has now done for some time past. In 
 The Other ^ ^ a Q f jj enr i Conscience and Lavelaye 
 Classes. J J 
 
 (who had other qualifications) letters were a 
 
 surer passport to the throne-room at the Palace than great 
 wealth. Nowadays this is different. Perhaps it is due to 
 the circumstance that literature in Belgium furnishes a very 
 poor career, or it may be that there are no literary giants 
 to-day. Writers, pamphleteers and pressmen, took the 
 most prominent part in organising the revolution of 1830, 
 the revolution itself was followed by a great literary revival, 
 and a galaxy of literary talent ornamented the reign of 
 Leopold I. But the times have become more materialistic
 
 MONSIEUR RENKIX, .MINISTER OF THE COLONIES
 
 The Court and the Official World 69 
 
 in Belgium. Literature has slackened if it has not last caste. 
 There are no longer the same men. The writers who appear 
 now at Court are there for some other reason. They are 
 priests or judges, or at the least one of the popular instructors 
 called conferenciers. The same observation applies to art. 
 The bureaucratic and the moneyed classes have ousted the 
 purely intellectual, and so far as can be seen there is no likeli- 
 hood of the balance being readjusted. The noticeable defect 
 in Belgian life is that the ideal and purely intellectual has 
 been swamped and driven out by the materialistic tendencies 
 of a mainly industrial and strictly money-making state of 
 society. 
 
 With regard to the official world, apart from its relations 
 with the Court, there is every reason to believe that it is 
 thoroughly efficient, fully capable of dealing with the matters 
 that come before it in the course of duty, and free of all 
 suspicion of being amenable to bribery. This is the more 
 creditable because the salaries and rewards are framed on 
 a low scale, the active service is for a much longer period of 
 life than with us, and the conditions of the pension list are 
 somewhat vigorous and elusive. The inducements to 
 retire are so few that men remain on the active list to the very 
 last possible moment, and there is no civil service in Europe 
 with such a large proportion of old men in the higher ranks. 
 Under new regulations that are adopted in principle, if not 
 yet applied in practice, there will be compulsory retirement 
 at the age of seventy. 
 
 These observations apply, of course, only to the staff of the 
 great Departments of State, and not to the minor posts filled 
 by employees of the Government throughout the country, 
 such as railway clerks and tax collectors.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 PARTY POLITICS IN BELGIUM 
 
 Before dealing with the question of Party Politics in Bel- 
 gium and the attitude of the several parties in the State 
 
 towards each other, it will be well to give 
 PoHtical g Svstem some statistics and other essential particulars 
 
 as to the composition of the legislature, the 
 system of election, the electorate, and the various changes 
 that have from time to time been introduced into the political 
 government of the country. 
 
 By the original Constitution of the country drafted in 
 1830-1, the legislative powers were vested in the king, the 
 Chamber of Representatives, and the Senate. By the law 
 of 3rd March, 1831, there were to be 102 Representatives and 
 fifty-one Senators, and the rule that there were to be twice 
 as many of the former as of the latter was observed through 
 all the changes until that of 1893 when the Senate was in- 
 creased in proportional numerical strength by the addition 
 of twenty-seven permanent provincial members. In June, 1839, 
 the principle of one representative per 40,000 of the popula- 
 tion was introduced with the consequence that the Chamber 
 was reduced to ninety-five members and the Senate to forty- 
 seven. A law having to be passed on each occasion of an 
 increase in the Chambers it may be interesting to record what 
 they have been. In 1847, the number was raised to 108 
 representatives and 54 Senators ; in 1859 to 1 16 and 58 
 respectively ; in 1866 to 124 and 62 ; in 1878 to 132 and 66 ; 
 in 1882 to 138 and 69 ; in 1892 to 152 and 76 ; in 1893 to 
 152 and 102 ; and in 1902 to 166 and 1 10. Once the principle 
 is understood it is easy to follow the fluctuations by comparison 
 with the growth of population. 
 
 70
 
 Party Politics in Belgium 71 
 
 With regard to the system of election and the body of the 
 electorate, a General Election for the Chamber of Repre- 
 sentatives must at the longest interval take place every four 
 years and for the Senate every eight years, the Sovereign 
 having the power with or without the assent of the Premier 
 to dissolve the Chambers and compel an appeal to the country 
 at any time. At the commencement of a new reign a dissolu- 
 tion takes place automatically. There is another point, half 
 the Chamber has to be re-elected at the expiration of two 
 years from any General Election, and half the Senate at that 
 of four years. 
 
 The number of electors was extremely limited from 1831 
 
 to 1892. In 1832 there were 45,000 voters, in 1848, 80,000, 
 
 and in 1892 the electorate only numbered 
 
 The Electorate. 136,775 in a population of six and a half 
 
 millions. By the new law passed in 1893 
 
 the number of electors was increased to 1^54 J 891_..who L by 
 
 the plural vote passed at the same time_held^^3.5,6Q5_votes. 
 
 These numbers had increasecTfoT,4727953 voters and 2,269,414 
 
 votes in 1900. 
 
 The Belgian legislature was created in a time of national 
 peril, and in face as it were of the enemy. At such a moment 
 it might be said with truth that " none were for a party but 
 all were for the State." Political parties' -dtd-not exist. The 
 executive members were chosen more or less from both sides, 
 and formed what was called the party of Union. This happy 
 condition of things could not be expected to last longer than 
 the circumstances which rendered it possible. The passing 
 of the national peril revived the ceaseless turmoil of faction 
 fighting. Someone has said that popular assemblies only 
 exist for the purpose of useless and unedifying broiling in 
 which words take the place of lethal weapons, and then has 
 added as an after tribute to their utility, " but they let off 
 dangerous steam." For all the useful work that is done a 
 council of six wise men would do far better. For this reason 
 the first fifteen years of Belgian independence were full of 
 
 a.
 
 72 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 wise and beneficent public measures as well as free from 
 party discord. 
 
 The note of change was struck in 1846, when the first 
 Liberal Congress was held in Brussels. The Liberal party 
 was then provided with a definite programme 
 Party anc j an e ffi c j en t organisation. Having thus 
 
 got the start of the Catholics or Conserva- 
 tives it was not surprising that the Liberals should be 
 returned with a great majority at the General Election of 
 1847, and they remained in office with two intervals, one brief 
 and the other longer, until 1884. For the first half of that 
 long period the Liberal leader was M. Charles Rogier, a true 
 patriot who had done as much as any individual to make the 
 Belgian Revolution successful. His successor in the second 
 half of the period was M. Frere-Orban, a brilliant orator and 
 the chief of the " doctrinaires." The revolution of 1848 
 found Belgium controlled by Liberal influences, and it was 
 one of the few Continental States that escaped the cataclysm 
 of that trying and critical epoch. 
 
 The partial election of 1852 was less favourable to the 
 Liberals than they had expected, and as they were divided 
 amongst themselves it provided an opportunity of once more 
 forming a mixed administration without any definite party 
 colour or aggressive programme. It held the balance between 
 the extremists on the difficult question of religious instruc- 
 tion in secondary schools, and when the General Election of 
 1854 resulted in the return for the first time of a Catholic 
 majority it seemed as if the period of calm might not be 
 interrupted. 
 
 The new premier was M. Pierre de Decker a Catholic of 
 moderate views and the first Fleming to appear among 
 Belgian politicians and his brief tenure of power is chiefly 
 memorable because it witnessed an exceedingly bitter en- 
 counter between Catholics and Liberals. This was the more 
 remarkable because there can be no question of his modera- 
 tion, and the violence of the attack on his measures was due
 
 Party Politics in Belgium 73 
 
 not to their purport but to the opinion among the Liberal 
 leaders that in this way alone could they return to office. 
 The Catholic party had a majority in the Chamber, therefore 
 M. Frere-Orban appealed to the masses. The threat of a 
 revolution was made and for the first time in the history of 
 constitutional Belgium street demonstrations were the order 
 of the day. It was so well known that these were engineered 
 by those desirous of returning to office that the agitation was 
 called " the kid-gloved revolution." However, the Premier 
 lost his nerve and resigned. The Liberals returned to office 
 in 1857, and remained there without a break till 1870. 
 
 The elections of 1860 and 1864 were remarkable for the 
 first appearance of the advanced Liberals who wished to 
 give legislative effect to the extreme argu- 
 Election" 1 ments use( l when Frere-Orban was in opposi- 
 tion and only thinking how best to get back 
 to office. But Frere-Orban was quite a different person as 
 Minister, and turned a deaf ear to all proposals to elimin- 
 ate religious instruction from the school curriculum. The 
 extreme left led by M. Verhaegen in these years was the 
 precursor of the Socialist Party which has played so 
 prominent a role in more recent days. By the time that 
 the General Election of 1870 was reached it had become 
 clear that old party lines were breaking down, and that 
 soon the Chamber would be divided among three parties. 
 What was not expected was that the swing of the pendulum 
 towards Radicalism would bring the Catholic party into office. 
 The electors of the country returned Conservative representa- 
 tives with a clear majority over the two sections of the 
 Liberal party. 
 
 This defeat at a moment when they fully counted on com- 
 plete victory filled the Liberals with wrath, and they deter- 
 mined to make the position of the Catholic Ministry as un- 
 comfortable as possible. The session of 1870-1 was particu- 
 larly stormy, both inside and outside the Chamber. While 
 prominent politicians spoke loudly of violations of the
 
 74 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Constitution, bringing in the King's name, the mob demon- 
 strated in the streets to cries for a Republic, and serious events 
 occurred in Brussels and Antwerp. In a certain degree these 
 demonstrations were not without result. The Premier, an 
 advanced Catholic, resigned in favour of one less extreme, 
 and M. Jules Malou became Minister of Finance with a 
 definite programme for the improvement of labour condi- 
 tions, the increase of the electorate, and the introduction of 
 the ballot. As the Catholic party possessed a majority of 
 twenty-two the bitterness of party strife became somewhat 
 allayed during the next two sessions, and in November, 1873, 
 the King felt himself able to state that "calm and prosperous, 
 Belgium in 1873 may be proud of the past and look at the 
 future with serene confidence." At the General Election 
 of 1874 the Catholics found their majority reduced to four- 
 teen. The partial elections of 1876 further reduced it to 
 twelve. As these majorities may appear small it should be 
 remembered that they are equivalent to four times the 
 number in our own House of Commons. 
 
 The year 1877 was remarkable for three important political 
 
 events! V oting b y ballot was introduced, the Chamber was 
 
 increasecl By fen representatives and the 
 
 ot P SodJu?ste Senate b Y five . and the first avowedly Socialist 
 meeting was held at Ghent. The first elec- 
 tion under the new system was held in June, 1878, when the 
 Liberals secured a majority of twelve, and M. Frere-Orban 
 returned to power. The Catholic party had done quite well 
 enough during its eight years tenure of office to remove the 
 reproach that had often been made against it, that it did not 
 know how to govern. During the critical period of the 
 Franco-German War it had upheld the honour and neutrality 
 of Belgium, and in the region of domestic affairs it had given 
 the elector security in voting and ameliorated the conditions 
 of the labour classes. 
 
 With the return of the Liberal party to power began one 
 of the stormiest periods in Belgian history. The new Ministry
 
 Party Politics in Belgium 75 
 
 resorted to a policy of what was called action, and which was 
 really a course of aggression against everything their oppo- 
 nents held dear. They began by removing several Catholic 
 Governors of the Provinces, diminishing the powers of the ,' 
 " Commissions Permanentes " (the highest division in the j 
 system of local self-government in Belgium) and flooding the / 
 civil and more especially the educational service with their 
 own nominees. Having thus prepared the way they brought 
 in their Education Bill which was avowedly intended to deal 
 a fatal blow to the Church by eliminating all religious instruc- 
 tion from primary schools. The measure was passed into 
 law, and for five years " State instruction was placed under 
 the exclusive control of the Civil authorities." In conse- 
 quence of this law one-third of the children left the primary 
 State schools to join those which the Church established 
 wherever they had the means. A rupture with the Vatican 
 followed, and the bitterness of the strife between the Catholics 
 and Liberals was shown by the refusal of the Church to take 
 any part in the National festivities held in 1880 to celebrate 
 the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence. 
 
 Notwithstanding the efforts made by the Catholic party 
 
 under the able and energetic direction of M. Malou to 
 
 improve their organisation and rouse the 
 
 Universal country, the partial elections of 1880 increased 
 
 Demanded. the Liberal majority by four votes. The 
 
 Liberals, however, had troubles of their own. 
 
 Far as M. Frere-Orban had gone he had not gone anything 
 
 like far enough to satisfy the extreme wing of his followers. 
 
 During the session of 1881 M. Janson and his band of Radicals 
 
 demanded Universal Suffrage and threatened to upset the 
 
 Government unless it brought in a bill to that effect. M. 
 
 Frere-Orban refused to give way on this point, and as a 
 
 " doctrinaire " favoured a restricted instead of an enlarged 
 
 franchise. The utmost concession he would make was the 
 
 granting of a vote for an educational qualification to be 
 
 established by public examination. The Radical section
 
 76 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 finding its position less strong than it had imagined withdrew 
 its demand, but from that moment dated the bitterness of 
 the relations between the two sections of the Liberal party. 
 It was said with some truth that much as they hated the 
 Catholics they hated each other more. 
 
 Under these conditions the time arrived for holding the 
 
 General Election of 1884. The Liberals never doubted that 
 
 their triumph was assured and that they had 
 
 Ca power m the countr Y behind them in their education 
 policy. They were destined to experience 
 a rude disillusion. They went to the country with a majority 
 that had gradually swelled in six years from twelve to twenty. 
 They returned in a minority of thirty-four. Eighty-six 
 Catholics were elected as against fifty-two Liberals of all 
 sections. M. Malou again became Premier, and his first act 
 showed his determination to undo the measures of the fallen 
 administration. He suppressed the separate post of Minister 
 of Public Instruction, adding his functions to those of the 
 Minister of the Interior. In the Senate the " doctrinaire " 
 party still possessed a majority, and before organic changes 
 could be made it was necessary for the Catholics to have a 
 sure majority there also. The Senate sits for eight years as 
 already explained, and in 1884 the period of its re-election 
 had not arrived. It was necessary for it to be dissolved for 
 re-election, and the result of this was that the Catholics 
 obtained in the new Senate a majority of seventeen. 
 
 Having thus ensured the passing of its legislative measures, 
 M. Malou's Government proceeded to abrogate the education 
 law passed by its predecessors, and to introduce a new one 
 leaving primary education in the hands of the Communes. 
 In this way religious instruction was restored in the schools 
 which received State subsidies. The passing of this measure 
 into law was accompanied by some sensational incidents. 
 There were riots in Brussels and even talk of civil war. M. 
 Malou retired from office as a calming measure, and was suc- 
 ceeded by M. Beernaert, who was less identified with the Church
 
 Party Politics in Belgium 77 
 
 than his chief. Thus was the brief interregnum of purely 
 secular instruction in Belgium terminated, and the system of 
 education based on communal control has gone on undisturbed 
 for twenty-five years and seems now to be firmly established. 
 
 The success of the Catholic party did not prove as many 
 expected it to be ephemeral. The partial election of 1886 
 confirmed its triumph by raising its majority from thirty- four 
 to fifty-six. In 1888 the moderate Liberals proposed to the 
 advanced Radicals that they should combine for the purpose 
 of the General Election, but the offer was rejected with the 
 result that the Catholic party achieved a more considerable 
 triumph than it had on first coming into power. There was 
 another consequence. The internal feuds in the Liberal 
 party became more bitter. 
 
 The political situation in the country was not as serene 
 as the overwhelming majority of the Conservatives made it 
 in the Chamber. The masses betrayed great 
 Labour Troubles, discontent with their position and clamoured 
 for the redress of grievances, many of which 
 were only too real. In no industrial country of the first rank 
 was labour then less remunerated or carried out under harsher 
 conditions than in Belgium. Undoubtedly the working 
 classes occupied an intolerable position, and the redress of 
 their hardships provided the only means of averting a revolu- 
 tion. Every year from 1886 to 1890 witnessed serious strikes 
 and collisions between the strikers and the civil authorities. 
 On more than one occasion the military had to be called out 
 and bloodshed ensued. In one encounter near Charleroi as 
 many as seventy men were killed. It was also noticed that 
 every year the Socialist party showed better organisation, 
 and that its attacks in both the Chamber and the street were 
 becoming more menacing. Thus it was high time to think of 
 remedies. A Commission was appointed to inquire into the 
 state of labour and to provide remedies for popular griev- 
 ances. It will suffice to say here that it did good work by 
 raising the scale of pay, diminishing the hours of labour,
 
 78 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 and restricting the employment of women and children. The 
 second of the remedies concerns us more particularly in a 
 sketch of party politics, for it relates to the franchise. 
 
 The Catholic party decided that they could no longer 
 avoid an extension of the franchise. The Belgian Constitu- 
 tion was exceedingly liberal in its principles, 
 
 Smchise but this did not alter the plain fact that Bel " 
 gium, with a population of six millions in 
 
 1890 had only 134,437 voters. In the year just named the 
 Chamber passed by a general vote a motion to the effect that 
 Article47 of the Constitution (the_jQn^^xin^the_4uahfication 
 of electors) required revision. The next thing was to dis- 
 cover how it could be carried out. The Government wished 
 to raise the total to 600,000 voters based on a small property 
 qualification, but it was found impossible to find a minimum 
 that would satisfy the exigencies of the case. Under these 
 circumstances there was no practical remedy but giving all 
 citizens a vote on the basis of an age minimum and residential 
 qualification. This measure, if left alone, would have gone 
 very near to the universal suffrage demanded by the Socialists. 
 The balance was redressed by the iiivenLiuiiufTrTe plural 
 vote which added one or two votes for each elector 
 possessing special defined qualifications. Before describing 
 
 / the new franchise it may be appropriate to give the King's 
 speech in opening the Session which saw the passing of this 
 
 V great legislative reform : 
 
 " The Belgian Constitution is to-day the most ancient of the Conti- 
 nent. It has brought our dear country a long succession of years of 
 peace and fruitful development. Like you, I have more than once 
 proclaimed its wisdom. 
 
 "But the works of men have only their period ; institutions must be 
 appropriate to their surroundings ; and thanks to the progress accom- 
 plished our institutions which were noteworthy for their liberal features 
 half a century ago, can to-day be made better and rejuvenated. 
 
 " This has led you in accordance with my government to the decision 
 that there is room to examine several points of our political organisation ; 
 and in the formal and special consultation prescribed by our funda- 
 mental pact, the electoral body of to-day has just given you a mandate 
 to carry out a large extension of the right of suffrage.
 
 Party Politics in Belgium 79 
 
 " Other problems of the same order are attached thereto, and to solve 
 them will be the essential object of the coming session. 
 
 " In subordinating the revision of the Constitution to the vote of an 
 exceptional majority our fathers wished that it should not be possible 
 tor it to be the work of a party. It is in that spirit, Gentlemen, that 
 proposals will be made to you by my Government. It is in the same 
 spirit, I do not doubt, that you will examine them, and the patriotic 
 sentiments which animate your assemblies each time that a great 
 national interest is at stake are a sure guarantee that the revised 
 Constitution will be another work marked by concord, wisdom and 
 progress. 
 
 " There are in the life of nations historical hours when the decisions 
 to be taken may exercise a decisive influence on their destinies. Such 
 is the present moment for Belgium. 
 
 "You will bring to the examination of the problems placed before 
 you a profound love of your country, and the generous views more 
 than ever demanded by the incessant progress of modern ideas." 
 
 It was not until the session of 1893 was well advanced 
 
 that a definite scheme was elaborated and 
 
 Th v I r 1Ural P asse d into law. The new qualifications are 
 
 set forth in the following statement, and it 
 
 only remains to add that they are those which are at present 
 
 in force. 
 
 " One vote for every Belgian citizen on reaching the age of twenty- 
 five, and who has resided for one year in the same commune. 
 
 " One Extra Vote for every elector on reaching the age of thirty-five 
 who is married, or if a widower who has legitimate descendants 
 provided that he pays 5 francs of direct taxation, or shows that he is 
 exempt from such payment. 
 
 " Two Extra Votes for every elector who is proprietor of real estate 
 with a minimum cadastral revenue of 48 francs, or who shows that \ 
 he derives the sum of 100 francs yearly from an investment in State 
 Stocks or Savings Banks. / 
 
 " (or) Two Extra Votes for every elector (1) holding diplomas / 
 of various descriptions enumerated in Art. 17 ; or (2) holding 
 Government Posts or Public dignities enumerated in Art. 19. 
 
 " Maximum number of votes for any elector is three." 
 
 In addition to the creation of the plural vote a further 
 defefire^of society was formed in the increase of the Senate 
 in numbers__and by importing into it a more permanent 
 element. The numbers of the Senate as fixed by the original 
 law were to be half those of the Chamber, and the law of
 
 80 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 1893 made no change in this respect. These members were 
 elected for eight years, half retiring for re-election at the 
 expiration of four years. But the new law introduced a new 
 element. The Provincial Councils were to delegate twenty- 
 seven representatives to the Senate, and these nominees of 
 the Nine Provinces sit independently of all elections. 
 
 It was computed that the new law created 1,200,000 
 electors who would possess 1 ,900,000 votes. Notwithstanding 
 the ingenious innovation of the plural vote the Conservatives 
 naturally regarded with no little trepidation the possible 
 outcome of this surrender to the demands of the democracy. 
 The elections of 1892, under t he old syste m, had given a 
 return oT~nlnety-three Catholics to fifty-nine Liberals of all 
 shades. Curiosity was naturally felt as to the results of the 
 election of 1894 with the new franchise. It resulted in the 
 return of 104 Catholics, twenty Liberals and Radicals, and 
 twenty-eight Socialists. The old " doctrinaire " party was 
 practically wiped out. The partial elections of 1896 further 
 increased the Catholic majority which then reached its 
 highest point. The new Chamber contained 112 Catholics, 
 only twelve Liberals and twenty-eight Socialists. 
 
 The authors of the new franchise had conceived that it 
 would greatly favour the Liberals, and as a further pre- 
 caution for the protection of minorities M. 
 
 Proportional Beernaert had proposed to supplement the 
 Representation. . , r ,, . 
 
 plural vote with a measure of proportional 
 
 representation." His party would not support him, and 
 therefore he resigned in 1894. The overwhelming Catholic 
 majority in the Chamber, which was in excess of all propor- 
 tion to the votes recorded for the several parties, was in itself 
 an incitement to the attacks of their political adversaries. 
 The Socialists who had only twenty-eight seats for nearly 
 half-a-million votes clamoured loudly for universal suffrage, 
 while the Liberals and the moderate Catholics demanded the 
 introduction of " proportional representation " which would 
 certainly equalise the chances of all parties. It was amid
 
 Party Politics in Belgium 81 
 
 riotous scenes in both the Chambers and the streets that the v ^ 
 new reform was passed into law in 1899. 
 
 By the system of proportional representation Belgium is 
 divided into a fixed number of electoral districts, and each 
 district has the number of its members apportioned in accord- 
 ance with the total strength of each party in it. As a rule, 
 there are only three parties, but the presence of a Catholic j 
 
 Democrat would raise the total to four. The number of seats 
 
 I 
 
 to be filled is divided by the number of parties, and then /' 
 distributed in the proportion of the total votes recorded for ' 
 each. By this system the smallest .minority is. certain of on e 
 seat. The following instance will perhaps make the systemN. 
 clear. An electoral district with 40,000 recorded votes 
 returns seven members. Four parties contest it with the 
 result that, the total votes are Catholics, 25,000 ; Liberals, ' 
 8,000; Socialists, 5,000, and Catholic Democrats, 2,000. 
 The seven seats would then be distributed as follows, one to 
 the Catholic Democrat, one each to the Liberals and Socialists, 
 and four to the Catholics. 
 
 Just as it had been anticipated that the new Franchise 
 would greatly favour the Liberals in 1894, so was it reckoned 
 
 in 1899 that the introduction of propor- 
 ^pities 11 tional representation could not fail to be 
 
 followed by a marked movement towards 
 an equalisation of parties. The estimate of the Liberals of 
 the result of the 1900 election was a total of eighty Catholics 
 as against seventy-two Liberals and Socialists, the two 
 sections of the Left having sunk their differences for a time 
 in the hope of shortening the term of Catholic power. Four- 
 teen new seats had also been created, raising the total to 166. 
 The result of the Election showed ninety-five Catholics, 
 thirty-five Liberals, thirty-four Socialists and two Catholic 
 Democrats, the Catholic majority being still twenty-four. 
 As this majority has been steadily reduced at each subse- 
 quent election, the Liberal prophecy was not so far out as it 
 at first appeared. In 1904 the majority fell to twenty, in 
 
 6 {2387)
 
 82 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 1906 to twelve, in 1908 to eight, and in 1910 to six, which is 
 the present figure. The composition of the House is eighty- 
 six Catholics, forty-four Liberals, thirty-five Socialists and 
 one Catholic Democrat. Lest it might be thought that a 
 Government possessing a majority of six is necessarily doomed 
 to speedy extinction, it may be pointed out that for the 
 Belgian legislature it forms a good working majority which 
 only a sudden epidemic would cause to disappear. The pay- 
 ment of the members (who since 1894 receive a salary of 
 4,000 francs a year) ensures regular attendance because it is 
 the condition of receiving the stipend ; the deliberateness 
 with which business is carried on and the fact that there are 
 no night sittings eliminate the risk of surprise motions and 
 snap divisions ; and therefore provided no split takes place 
 in the party itself a majority of six is just as effective as one 
 of sixty. 
 
 Reference has been made to the break up and disunion 
 in the Liberal party that went on for a long time after the 
 
 fall of the doctrinaire party, and it is only 
 Liberals and ht to say t h at t h e Liberals and Socialists 
 Socialists. J 
 
 have a common working programme to-day 
 
 which gives them equal chances at the hustings. Whether 
 it would avail to enable them to form a joint administration 
 should they succeed in beating the Catholics in 1912 is a 
 question that had better be left till the event has occurred. 
 A curious phenomenon in Belgium's political life is the 
 appearance of a new section in the Catholic party known as 
 the Young Right. These politicians are far more liberal 
 than the older Clericals, and their influence is for the moment 
 in the ascendant. But it cannot be doubted that internal 
 differences in what has so long been the solid phalanx of the 
 Catholic party, are likely to bring sooner to an end the long 
 tenure of power that it has enjoyed since 1884.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE FLEMISH MOVEMENT 
 
 From the earliest recorded times there have been two races 
 
 speaking different languages in Belgium. These are the 
 
 Walloons and the Flemings. The Flemings 
 
 W F 1 l 1 emi 1 ngs and inhabit the two Flanders, Antwerp and 
 Hainaut, and are probably in a majority in 
 Brabant. The Walloons inhabit Liege, Namur, Luxemburg, 
 Limburg, and are largely represented in Brabant. Brabant 
 is a sort of link or barrier between the two, and a very ardent 
 representative of that ancient province will declare that he is 
 neither Fleming nor Walloon but Brabanter (Brabancon), 
 and remembering how many distinct tribes there were in 
 Belgic Gaul he may be ethnologically correct. The Flemings 
 speak Flemish, which is Low German practically identical 
 with Dutch ; the Walloons used to speak Walloon, a Romance 
 language, but now use French, which has been their language 
 since the Middle Ages. In parts of Liege and Luxemburg 
 the people still employ Walloon among themselves. For- 
 tunately for the preservation of the Belgian nationality the 
 German-speaking race has been severed from Germany by 
 provinces occupied by a French-speaking population, and in 
 the feudal ages Flanders was tied to France and not to the 
 Empire. This tradition has become such an integral part of 
 the opinion of the Flemish race that German Pan-Teutons 
 cherish a delusion if they think that they can destroy it. 
 
 There remains then the anomaly that Belgium has two 
 
 languages, and in the eyes of the law and the constitution both 
 
 of them are equal. A man can speak, plead, 
 
 Two Languages, and receive his education in which of the two 
 
 he pleases. In the last fifty years, however, 
 
 the Flemings have gained a more clearly defined position in 
 
 83
 
 84 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 the nation, and it is the purpose of the present chapter to 
 describe as briefly as possible what has been called the Flemish 
 Movement 
 
 In commencing, a few statistics will help the reader to 
 understand what follows, and at the same time to appreciate 
 the importance of the Flemish element in the Belgian nation. 
 The first census of the languages was only taken in 1866. 
 There were at that time 2,406,491 Belgians who spoke nothing 
 but Flemish, 2,041,748 nothing but French, and only 308,361 
 who spoke the two languages. In 1890 these figures (taking 
 them in the same order) had changed with the increase of 
 population, and the spread of education to 2,744,271 Flemish, 
 2,485,072 French, and 700,997 the two languages. In 1900 
 the totals were 3,145,000 Flemish, 2,830,000 French, and 
 770,000 the two languages. 
 
 One of the causes of the Belgian Revolution was the passing 
 
 of a law making a knowledge of the Dutch language obligatory 
 
 for state employment. This did not injure 
 
 TH of French" 07 or offend the Flemin g s who already spoke the 
 language, but it was a blow for the Walloons 
 who spoke French and who were indisposed to learn another 
 language at the dictation of a foreign Government. The 
 Revolution was begun and carried to a successful issue by the 
 French-speaking part of the nation. Its leaders were swayed 
 by French influences and example, and during the stress of 
 the struggle French and not Flemish was the language of the 
 patriot. The success of the insurrectionary movement was, 
 in a sense, a French as well as a Belgian triumph, and there 
 can be no reasonable doubt that if the framers of the new 
 Belgian Constitution had made French the official language 
 of the New Kingdom, the Flemings would not have demurred. 
 They refrained from doing anything of the kind. No superior 
 advantage was claimed for or accorded to French. 
 
 Indeed Article 23 of the Constitution which deals with 
 the matter is exceedingly vague. It reads, " The employment 
 of the languages used in Belgium is optional ; it can only be
 
 A FLEMISH MILKWOMAN 
 (Br permission of the Ligite de Propagande)
 
 The Flemish Movement 85 
 
 regulated by the law, and that solely for acts of the public 
 administration and for judicial business." The interpretation 
 of this somewhat elastic arrangement was that all Belgians 
 were at liberty to use the language to which they had been 
 accustomed, thus placing German (spoken in a few border 
 cantons) and Walloon on a level with French and Flemish. 
 But the legislature had the right to choose the language for 
 the public departments, and the courts of law, and it chose 
 French. No formal enactment to that effect was made. 
 French was simply used and no one thought for a good many 
 years of protesting on behalf of the Flemings. For the first 
 fifty years of Belgium's independence the French language 
 retained undisputed pride of place in the legislature, the 
 courts, official correspondence and the press. 
 
 But all the time Flemish sentiment existed in full activity, 
 and a movement of revival on the part of the sister race began 
 very soon after the national emancipation 
 Revival 1 which has not yet attained the full consum- 
 mation of its programme. It is evidence 
 in its way of the truth of the aphorism that the Fleming 
 is a slow beginner, but once he starts it is difficult to 
 stop him. It is also necessary to bear in mind that the 
 Fleming is a zealous Catholic. His religious sentiments 
 have of late years been stirred up, and his duty to his Church 
 as well as his love of country has led him to take an increasing 
 part in current politics. He represents the Conservative 
 force in the modern life of Belgium. 
 
 For some years after the expulsion of the Dutch the Flemings 
 kept silent and remained in the background. In 1834 there 
 appeared at Ghent a pamphlet expresssing regret at the 
 possibility of a language which had a literature eight hundred 
 years old dying out, and this led to a propaganda being set on 
 foot for the preservation of old Flemish texts. There could 
 not be a more modest commencement for a movement which 
 has not ceased until Flanders has acquired the virtual control 
 of Belgian affairs. The most pronounced Francophil could
 
 86 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 not raise any objection to the printing and bringing together in 
 convenient form of the ancient masterpieces of Flemish poets 
 and historians. Thus encouraged the authors of the move- 
 ment established, in 1836, their own review to which they 
 gave the name of Belgisch Museum, and they chose as 
 their motto the Flemish sentence " De taal is gansch het 
 volk " words signifying " the language is the whole people," 
 which was appropriate enough. 
 
 The movement, begun by T. F. Willems (who died in 1846), 
 
 might have languished but for the appearance of two of 
 
 Belgium's greatest literary men. These were 
 
 Gr WiitenT iSh the P et ' Ledeganck' and the romancist, 
 Henri Conscience. Both selected as their 
 theme the great days of the Flemish communes. Ledeganck 
 the Flemish Byron composed his " Ode to Bruges," and 
 his fine ballad of " The Three Sister Cities." Conscience the 
 Flemish Scott told the stirring story of the Battle of Courtrai 
 in his " Lion of Flanders," which has been called " The 
 Flemish Bible." No critic could declare that a language 
 which found such exponents was dead or deserved to die. 
 The inevitable consequence of the activity and vigour of these 
 Flemish scholars and their successors was that the Flemish 
 language regained the place it had momentarily lost as the 
 joint tongue with French of the Belgian peoples. As a matter 
 of fact, for the twenty-five years" following the first publication 
 of the Flemish Review, Flemish literature was in the 
 ascendant, and alone furnished Belgium with a claim to 
 consideration in the domain of European letters. 
 
 It was when the literary movement began to reveal signs 
 
 of developing into a political agitation that the authorities in 
 
 Brussels manifested signs of holding back. 
 
 ^"Ffemhh 5 So far ^ the y dared the y sou & ht to throvv 
 
 cold water on the movement. For instance, 
 an annual sum was voted in 1845 to assist in preserving Flemish 
 texts, but nothing was paid out till 1854. But while the 
 Walloon Ministers who 5 poke nothing but French were most
 
 The Flemish Movement 87 
 
 averse to admitting the other race and language to a position 
 of equality their main plea being that as the Revolution had 
 been brought about by the French-speaking half of the nation, 
 its character should not be altered. Flemish opinion itself 
 had become so strong that it could no longer be safely ignored, 
 more especially as the Constitution bestowed absolute freedom 
 and equality for all the national languages. In different 
 parts of Flanders various orders were passed by the local 
 authorities requiring all persons in their employ to know 
 Flemish. For instance, the police of Antwerp were only 
 appointed on proving they spoke that tongue. In 1860, a law 
 was passed in the Chamber making it optional for students on 
 taking their degree to compose their theme in either French 
 or Flemish. An important passage in the bill was the eluci- 
 dation of the vague Article XXIII of the Constitution by 
 the explicit declaration that French and Flemish were the 
 national languages. 
 
 In 1856 the Government, led for the first time by a Flemish 
 Premier, appointed a special commission to inquire into the 
 Flemish demands. It made a very close investigation of the 
 question, and drew up a report for the information of the 
 Government. The proposals of the Commission were so 
 greatly in favour of the Flemings that the Government, no 
 longer headed by a Fleming, promptly refused to allow the 
 report to be published, and it has remained a State secret. 
 In 1861 the Flemish case was brought prominently before the 
 Chamber in a debate which raged fiercely for several days. 
 The feelings of the Walloons were not spared. Then for the 
 first time the walls re-echoed the Flemish speech, and in an 
 address to the King a special paragraph recorded the first 
 triumph of the " Mouvement Flamingant." It set forth the 
 " hope that the Government will take steps to satisfy the claims 
 put forward by the Flemish people which are recognised to 
 be well founded." 
 
 The passing of this abstract motion neither satisfied the 
 Flemings nor disarmed Walloon opposition. The Mouvement
 
 88 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Flamingant continued the struggle to gain the tangible spoils 
 
 of success ; the Walloons continued to obstruct and oppose 
 
 the practical realisation of Flemish ideals, 
 
 The Mouvement because they wished to retain the French ascen- 
 
 Flamingant. J , 
 
 dancy. But it must be recorded that there 
 were other considerations at the root of Walloon opposition. 
 As has been shown in another chapter dealing with party 
 politics, the Liberal party had practically enjoyed a monopoly 
 of office since the Revolution, and so long as the Flemings 
 were without a political organisation, there was not much 
 likelihood of their being dispossessed. But the agitation for 
 their rights had led the Flemings to combine. They had 
 learnt their power. They were numerically the larger half 
 of the nation. There was another distinguishing characteris- 
 tic. The Flemings, by preserving their language, had escaped 
 being subjected to French influences. They were not Liberals 
 in the political sense of the word, but Conservatives and 
 Catholics to a man. It was the obvious sphere of the 
 Church to provide them with an efficient organisation and 
 to stimulate the activity of their leaders. 
 
 The Flemish movement which began in such a serene sphere 
 had thus in thirty years developed into a keen political 
 struggle, round which parliamentary factions waged their 
 ceaseless war. To judge by the assertions of the Walloon 
 party the triumph of the Flemish movement would almost 
 certainly entail the disintegration of the newly-formed kingdom. 
 As the Liberals had a majority in the Chamber and a practical 
 monopoly of the administration they were able to retard the 
 final triumph of the Flemish party, but every election 
 brought it nearer by reducing that majority, and at last, in 
 1884, the Clerical party was returned to power. Its first 
 measures were to give full satisfaction to the Flemings. The 
 two languages were placed on an absolute equality. All 
 official documents had to be given in the two languages ; the 
 names of towns, streets, and stations were set forth under their 
 French and also their Flemish designations ; and in the courts
 
 The Flemish Movement 89 
 
 and Chambers speakers could use which tongue they liked. 
 In the primary schools of Flanders and Antwerp instruction 
 was to be given in Flemish, unless the father expressed the 
 desire that it should be in French. This privilege was only 
 exercised in Antwerp city, where perhaps a tenth of the 
 population was, and is, Walloon. By a great piece of self- 
 sacrifice, as the Flemings thought, the curriculum at Ghent 
 University, which was in the French language, was left 
 undisturbed. Finally, a Flemish Academy, and then Flemish 
 theatres in Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels, were built and 
 subsidised out of State funds. 
 
 Thus two languages were set up on an equal footing in the 
 small kingdom of Belgium, and, although the Flemings are, 
 
 and always have been, the more numerous, 
 Bilingualism. they may be considered for all practical 
 
 purposes as dividing it between them. All 
 students of statecraft agree that there is an element of danger 
 and instability in such a condition for the common country, 
 and the best that can be said for Belgium's chances of attaining 
 longevity is that the same dividing fact has existed for a 
 thousand years without the occurrence of fraternal war. Still 
 Belgian statesmen have not been and are not at this moment 
 free from anxiety about the matter, and they have turned 
 in several directions to find a remedy. The one most obvious 
 and most favoured was the adoption of bilingualism. If 
 Flemings will not voluntarily adopt French, if Walloons will 
 not exchange the beautiful French language for the rugged, 
 but vigorous Flemish speech, then, it was said, let them endeav- 
 our to make both languages compulsory. In this spirit a law 
 was passed in 1897 rendering a knowledge of both languages 
 obligatory by all persons entering State employment. This 
 excellent theory has proved difficult to carry out in practice, 
 or rather the attempt to do so has invested the Flemish move- 
 ment with fresh vigour, and a more uncompromising spirit. 
 It entailed the study of French in the Flemish provinces, and 
 at once an outcry began that a sinister propaganda had been
 
 90 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 set on foot for the vulgarisation of French. As a matter of 
 fact, Flemish has retained its position during all the centuries 
 by a rigid exclusiveness. French was never given a chance of 
 propagation within the limits of the three purely Flemish 
 provinces. A few years ago the Flemings discovered that 
 under the law French for the first time on record had gained a 
 foothold within their borders. French is an insinuating 
 tongue, French literary propaganda is aggressive the Flemings 
 could see proof of this in the fact that their fellow-citizen, 
 Maeterlinck, instead of adding to the glories of their own 
 tongue like Ledeganck and Conscience, had succumbed to 
 French influences and the vulgarisation of French once 
 started would sweep away the old Teutonic speech that was 
 identified with Flemish individuality and existence. 
 
 During the last eight or nine years there has been a feeling 
 in Flanders that the old position was undermined. Here again 
 
 political considerations must be taken into 
 Recent account as well as linguistic and racial. The 
 
 spread of the French language carries with it 
 that of French influence which is certainly liberal and anti-cleri- 
 cal. Already there have been signs that the Flemish voter is not 
 so unswervingly Catholic as he once was. There has been no 
 great or alarming defection as yet, but it was felt to be time 
 to close up the ranks and repel intruders. The vulgari- 
 sation of French was to be opposed by all possible means, 
 and the control of the education of young Flanders secured 
 with a tighter grip. Under these impressions a bill was 
 brought before and passed by the Belgian Chamber in the 
 session of 1909-10, which is in a sense a social revolution, 
 for it means not only a death-blow to the French language 
 in Flanders but a great extension of Flemish influence in other 
 provinces. 
 
 By the old system instruction in the primary schools of the 
 Flemish provinces was given exclusively in Flemish up to the 
 fifth year. French was then taken up in combination with 
 Flemish, and in the secondary schools the two were learnt
 
 The Flemish Movement 91 
 
 together. At Ghent University the curriculum was, and is 
 still, in French. By the new law the father is left the right 
 of specifying the language in which his child shall be educated, 
 and as the vast majority of Flemings will choose their own 
 tongue it follows that the scholars will leave school without 
 knowing a word of French. When that stage has been reached 
 Ghent University will have either to alter its curriculum, or 
 see itself superseded by a new purely Flemish University. 
 The most remarkable feature of the new law, however, is that it 
 is not confined to the three purely Flemish provinces, but that 
 it is to be applied in Brabant and Hainaut as well. Here 
 also the father is to decide the language in which his children 
 shall be taught, and there can be no doubt that a large section 
 of the Flemish population of Brussels, for instance, will select 
 Flemish. From a defensive movement the Flemish propa- 
 ganda has thus become highly aggressive, and it is little sur- 
 prising if the Walloons are filled with considerable indignation 
 and alarm. 
 
 At a recent congress of the upholders of French intellectu- 
 
 alism held in Brussels, resolutions were passed in favour of 
 
 " resisting by all possible means the political 
 
 t <. nfi- and literary enterprises seeking to diminish 
 Intellectuahsm. j r e> 
 
 the teaching and use of the French language 
 in Belgium," and " calling upon all electors to vote only for 
 those candidates who pledged themselves irrespective of party, 
 to oppose the Flemish invasion, and defend the French 
 language and its use in Belgium." 
 
 A struggle has thus begun in Belgium, which the English 
 press has hitherto ignored, that may be pregnant with the 
 gravest consequences to Belgium's future. In the revived 
 intensity of the Flemish movement may be seen one of the 
 consequences of the anti-clerical legislation and proceedings 
 in France. The religious sentiments of the Flemish race have 
 been profoundly hurt, and the French language is being 
 strenuously opposed to-day, not merely because it is in the 
 eyes of the Flemings a foreign tongue, but also, and still more
 
 92 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 forcibly, because it is identified among them with irreligion, 
 
 scepticism, and injury to the Catholic Church. 
 
 Whatever else may ensue, a death-blow appears to have been 
 
 dealt to the ideal solution of a bilingual nation. The pride 
 
 and the passions of the Walloons and the 
 
 Bihnguahsm Flemings seem to be aroused as to the 
 Discredited. , 
 
 ment and advantages of their respective 
 
 languages, and in the keenness of the struggle the thought of 
 
 intermingling and combining the two will not find favour with 
 
 the masses. All that the friend of Belgium can hope is, that 
 
 the engrossing nature of the new linguistic and political 
 
 encounter between the two races, who divide that kingdom 
 
 between them, will not blind the contestants to the fact that 
 
 they have interested observers on both sides of their frontier. 
 
 It is to Germany's interest that the Flemish movement should 
 
 develop and become more markedly aggressive. On the other 
 
 hand, France cannot but view with rising apprehension, the 
 
 decline of her influence already brought home to her in 
 
 several ways in Belgium which will sink to a still lower 
 
 point if the propagators of the revived and intensified Flemish 
 
 movement attain all their ends.
 
 Alphonse Watteyne 
 
 CHAPELT. E DU SAINT SAXG, BRUGES 
 
 Bruges
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE ARMY 
 
 As the Belgian Army by the new law is passing through a 
 
 transition stage it is inevitable that part of the following 
 
 description must apply more to what will be 
 
 A T sta n e iti0n than t0 what is> The followin g words 
 spoken by the present King Albert in the 
 
 course of a speech he made in Brussels on 7th January, 1910, 
 
 will serve as a suitable introduction to what follows : " The 
 
 year that has just closed witnessed the passing into law of a 
 
 great measure of reform, one that we had called for with all 
 
 our hearts. By suppressing the principle of pre-emption, all 
 
 classes of society are now equally engaged in the performance 
 
 of the same sacred duty, viz., the defence of our native land. 
 
 For the future a really national army, both solid and numerous, 
 
 will form for poor and rich alike a healthy school of patriotism. 
 
 Belgium will be able to count on it for the preservation of her 
 
 inviolable independence." 
 
 During the life of Leopold I the army was his first thought. 
 
 He was never happy unless a hundred thousand well-trained 
 
 troops could be put in the field with the 
 Leoooldl promptitude required for the preservation 
 
 of the country's neutrality ; and before 1870 
 the presence of such a force sufficed to inspire the neighbours 
 of Belgium with respect. After the death of the first king 
 the military machine got a little rusty, and in 1870 the paper 
 strength of 97,000 men on a war footing produced only 
 85,000 in reality. Some increase of numbers, especially in 
 artillery and engineers, was sanctioned, and in 1880 the 
 paper strength had been raised to 109,000 men, which it was 
 hoped would give 100,000 efficients. But owing to the 
 enormous increase in the armies of France and Germany, 
 
 93
 
 94 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 where standing armies had been abandoned for " armed 
 nations," the Belgian army of 100,000 men had become by 
 the course of events relatively valueless as compared with 
 those of its neighbours. 
 
 The Belgians themselves were fully conscious of the change, 
 
 and gradually created a small reserve which raised the total 
 
 paper strength on a war footing to 163,750 
 
 Paper Strength, in 1900. In 1904 the total was brought up 
 
 to 171,508. The peace effective, however, 
 
 was in the latter year less by 3,500 men than it had been in 
 
 1870, and many of the battalions on parade were described 
 
 as skeletons. If exception were made for the fortress artillery 
 
 the Belgian army in 1904 would have been pronounced far 
 
 weaker and less efficient than it had been thirty-four years 
 
 before, while the armies of its two principal neighbours had 
 
 increased nearly tenfold. 
 
 The demand for army reform and an increased contingent 
 had been going on all the time in the country, and several 
 War Ministers had resigned because the 
 ThC S S "tem tUte Government would not support their pro- 
 posals. One reform was loudly called for 
 before every other because it was aimed at a vicious principle. 
 The military law of the land was conscription, that is to say, 
 the annual contingent was obtained by the drawing of lots 
 by all young men on reaching the age of nineteen. But when 
 a well-to-do conscript drew what was called a bad number 
 he merely paid a sum of about 68, and a substitute was 
 provided by the State. This was the much canvassed and 
 unpopular right of pre-emption. The consequence was that 
 only the poor and needy classes served in the army. It 
 was not until 1909 that this privilege was abolished, and 
 henceforth all classes alike will have to pay what is called the 
 blood tax. The effect of this change will only be perceptible 
 after a few more years of trial and reorganisation. 
 
 The new army is to have a fixed peace strength of 42,800 
 men, exclusive of officers, who in 1904 numbered 3,473. The
 
 The Army 95 
 
 strength on a war footing is to be gradually raised to 188,000. 
 
 The real change of importance is that the 145,200 men called 
 
 to the colours will be fully trained soldiers 
 
 The New and young, whereas the old reserve consisted 
 
 to a large extent of middle-aged men, 
 
 married and loth to leave their homes. The term of service 
 
 with the colours has also been reduced as much as possible 
 
 with regard to the speedy attainment of the minimum total 
 
 felt to be necessary by the Government for the defence of 
 
 Belgium. For the different branches of the service it is fixed 
 
 as follows : 
 
 Infantry, Fortress Artillery, special- 
 ised companies of Artillery, Engi- 
 neers and specialised companies of 
 Engineers . . . . .15 months 
 
 Cavalry and Horse Artillery . . 2 years 
 
 Field Artillery and Train . .21 months 
 
 Administrative Battalion . 12| months 
 
 As soon as the total required has been obtained it is pro- 
 posed to reduce the term by one-third in the case of all con- 
 scripts who have shown their capability by qualifying for the 
 rank of corporal or brigadier. 
 
 The infantry is divided into nineteen regiments in all, named 
 as follows : One regiment of Grenadiers, one regiment of 
 Carabiniers, three regiments of Foot Chasseurs, and fourteen 
 Line regiments distinguished by their numbers. All these 
 regiments have three active and two reserve battalions each, 
 with the exception of the Carabiniers which has four active 
 and three reserve battalions. The Belgian infantry is conse- 
 quently represented by fifty-eight active and thirty-nine 
 reserve battalions. The defect of this distribution is that the 
 fifty-eight active battalions average less then 400 men apiece. 
 There are 2,000 officers serving with the battalions, which is 
 a strong proportion. 
 
 Of cavalry there are only eight regiments. They are two 
 of Guides, two of Horse Chasseurs and four of Lancers. Each
 
 96 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 regiment on the peace establishment numbers about forty 
 officers and 400 men ; but it is not easy to follow how the 
 total strength of the cavalry, which on mobilisation will 
 number 9,600 men, is to be distributed among only eight 
 regiments. The two Guides regiments are always quartered 
 in Brussels, and somewhat resemble our household cavalry, 
 their officers being to a large extent members of the noble 
 families of the Netherlands. They are, however, light and 
 not heavy cavalry, and their uniform cherry trousers, green 
 jackets and busbies although exceedingly pretty is not 
 imposing in the sense that those of our Life Guards, the former 
 Imperial Cent Gardes and the German Garde du Corps are or 
 were. The undress green kepi of the officers is even more 
 becoming than the busby. 
 
 The Lancer and Chasseur regiments also wear attractive 
 uniforms, the Lancers wearing the old Polish lancer head- 
 dress and the Chasseurs a high kepi of black waterproof 
 leather. The regiments are all well mounted, but whether 
 there is a sufficiency of horses available for the demand on 
 mobilisation is not known. Although the material is excel- 
 lent there is reason to doubt whether the training of the 
 cavalry is adequate for the exigencies of modern warfare. 
 There is a dearth of suitable training grounds for cavalry. 
 The riding-school at Ypres is formed on the model of the 
 French similar school at Saumur, but it is admitted to stand 
 in need of reorganisation. It must be recognised that a 
 great deal more attention has been paid by Belgian officers to 
 riding of late years than was formerly the case. 
 
 Belgium possesses a very fine corps of heavy cavalry in 
 
 the gendarmerie. This force has been gradually increased in 
 
 strength. In 1870 it consisted of forty-five 
 
 Gendarmerie omcers ^d M42 men ; in 1904 it numbered 
 
 sixty-seven officers and 3,079 men. The 
 
 force is distributed throughout the kingdom and divided into 
 
 three divisions. It patrols the high roads, is employed in 
 
 arresting malefactors, and keeps a watch on smugglers and
 
 The Army 97 
 
 spies. These duties make it more of a police than a military 
 force. But it has military functions as well. On State 
 occasions a few gendarmes are always on show in their full 
 dress uniform of doeskin riding-breeches, jack -boots, blue 
 tunics and bearskins, which make them resemble our Scots 
 Greys or the old French Grenadiers a Cheval. As they are 
 men picked for their physique from the army they are quite 
 a corfs d' elite, and in the event of invasion they would bear 
 the first shock. They are also specially charged with the 
 execution of the order of mobilisation. 
 
 In 1899, during the worst phase of the Socialist riots, the 
 Division of Brabant, Hainaut, and Namur was concentrated 
 in Brussels, and took a very active part in putting down the 
 street disturbances. In fact the Socialists for the first time 
 had some experience of rough handling, and with them the 
 gendarmes became very unpopular. They called them the 
 Pandours, but none the less they had received a salutary 
 lesson, to which M. Vandervelde, the Socialist leader, gave 
 point by remarking that their revolvers did not place them 
 on an equality with men armed with Mausers. This corps 
 is also exceedingly well mounted, and the horses are kept in 
 rather harder condition than with the regular cavalry 
 regiments. 
 
 The Artillery has always been well organised in Belgium, 
 
 more especially that branch of it which is designated Siege or 
 
 Fortress. There are seventy batteries of 
 
 The Artillery, this class on a peace footing. Its training 
 ground is at Braschaet, near Antwerp, where 
 there is a polygon for testing the newest kinds of heavy 
 ordnance. Within the last ten years the artillery in the forts 
 of Antwerp, Liege and Namur has been completely renovated, 
 and is now quite up to date. The field artillery consists of 
 thirty batteries on a peace footing, but there are only four 
 batteries of Horse Artillery. All these batteries have been 
 armed with a new quick-firing gun. In thirty-four years 
 the strength of the personnel of the artillery has more than 
 
 7-(2387)
 
 98 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 doubled. In 1870 it numbered 380 officers and 13,062 men 
 on a war footing ; in 1904 the corresponding totals were 565 
 officers and 29,798 men. 
 
 The total of the Engineer force is 163 officers and 1,484 men 
 on the peace establishment and 6,808 on mobilisation. The 
 " other corps " number 670 officers and 2,068 men on the 
 peace establishment, which are increased to 11,538 when the 
 reserves are called out. Among these are included the officers 
 of the Head-Quarter Staff, the military train, the administra- 
 tive staff, and the military schools in which young men are 
 being trained either as officers or as non-commissioned 
 officers. 
 
 Now that the reform of the Belgian army has been taken 
 
 seriously in hand a marked improvement may be expected 
 
 in its appearance and real efficiency. With 
 
 hTphySJue* re & ard t0 the Physique of the men, there 
 should soon be a noticeable change, more 
 especially as gymnastics on the Swedish system have recently 
 been introduced into the army. For many years the Belgian 
 officers have laboured for the improvement of the army under 
 very discouraging conditions. Many Belgian politicians used 
 to declare that the country required nothing more than a 
 police force, and even those who did not go quite so far as this 
 were persuaded that the Garde Civique supplied an adequate 
 reserve for the regular army. It is now generally admitted 
 by most Belgians that an efficient army is essential for the 
 preservation of their national independence. 
 
 No mention having been made of the Garde Civique it may 
 
 be stated that this civic force came into being at the time of 
 
 the Belgian Revolution, and the role assigned 
 
 T cfvi G ue de to ** was t^e maintenance of order in the 
 
 towns. It was also intended that it should 
 
 co-operate with the regular troops in their defence in the event 
 
 of hostile attack or invasion. After the war with Holland 
 
 was over the Garde Civique fell into neglect, and although 
 
 over 38,000 men were on the rolls in 1892 they were found
 
 The Army 99 
 
 to be of little use during the serious Socialist troubles and 
 strikes of that period. One of the consequences of those 
 incidents was that the authorities took up the serious reform 
 of the Garde Civique. All citizen householders were enrolled 
 and required to attend a weekly muster held on Sundays. 
 They were also supplied with Mauser rifles, and in 1905 there 
 were 35,700 more or less well-trained men available to sup- 
 port the civil power in any emergency. Besides the Garde 
 Civique, but closely akin to it are the Volunteers. These are 
 corps that have possessed a distinct existence from an older 
 date, and include a considerable proportion of cavalry and 
 artillery, whereas the Garde Civique is composed of infantry 
 alone. The Volunteers consist of 2,466 artillery, 668 cavalry, 
 4,809 infantry or foot chasseurs, and 599 fire brigade, making a 
 total of 8,542. The total of the combined corps exceeds 
 44,000 strong. It is scarcely necessary to say that service 
 in one of the volunteer corps exempts from liability for the 
 ordinary Garde Civique. Since this force was finally re- 
 organised in 1899 there have been fewer street demonstra- 
 tions, and no repetition of the serious riots of that year when 
 for a few days Brussels seemed to be passing through a 
 revolution. 
 
 Although the Belgian army has not got a very extensive 
 war record there is no reason to doubt that under anything 
 
 like fair conditions it would give a very good 
 Midlers account of itself against any opponent. The 
 
 old fiction that the Belgians ran away at 
 Waterloo has been exploded. In the war with the Dutch in 
 1830-1 the Belgians did exceedingly well, and if the ten days' 
 campaign in August, 1831, was unfortunate the conditions 
 under which it was carried on almost precluded success. 
 Since that period Belgian troops have not fought on their 
 own soil. But they furnished contingents for the war in 
 Portugal and the expedition to Mexico, and in both they 
 served with credit. Their best opportunity has been found 
 in Central Africa, but here it must be stated that no Belgian
 
 100 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 troops ever fought in a body. The conquest of the Congo 
 State and the protracted campaign for the destruction of the 
 Arab slave dealers' power were carried out by Belgian and 
 other officers leading black troops. The courage and con- 
 stancy of these men, of whom the late Baron Dhanis was the 
 chief, gave a favourable impression of the army to which 
 they belonged. 
 
 In conclusion, a brief description may be given of the system 
 of fortifications on which the defence of Belgium may be said 
 to be based. After Waterloo Belgium was 
 Fortresses endowed with twenty-four fortresses, all 
 intended to protect the country against 
 French invasion. They were built in accordance with the 
 best principles of the day under the personal supervision of 
 Wellington, and the French taxpayer had the dubious privi- 
 lege of paying the cost oi this barrier against his country. 
 Those were the days when everyone was mortally afraid of 
 French aggression. One little consideration had been over- 
 looked. How was Belgium to provide troops to garrison all 
 of them in time of peace ? The plan of defence was really 
 an absurd anachronism, and Leopold I exposed its defects. 
 In 1832 the number was reduced by five, after negotiations 
 that threatened to produce an European war. In 1858 the 
 nineteen others remained in existence. In that year the 
 Belgian Government took up the question for itself in con- 
 nection with the refortification of Antwerp. The nineteen 
 were then reduced to five, and all the useless second or third- 
 rate fortresses along the French frontier were suppressed and 
 dismantled. The five that were preserved were Antwerp, 
 Namur, Liege, Diest and Termonde. The only one of these 
 to be improved was Antwerp, where a new enceinte and eight 
 detached forts were constructed ; the others remained 
 exactly as they had been in the time of the Dutch regime. 
 
 After the great war of 1870 an immense and far-reaching 
 change took place in the range and destructive power of 
 siege artillery. All the Belgian fortresses, including even
 
 The Army 101 
 
 the fine new works at Antwerp, were rendered useless. In 
 1886 the question was pressed home to the conscience of the 
 Belgian people by the efforts of General Brial- 
 The New mont, who had just made agreat reputation by 
 his elaborate scheme of fortification at Bucha- 
 rest. The Belgian Chambers were induced to vote the neces- 
 sary funds for the modernising of the fortress of Antwerp, 
 and for the erection of new positions or tetes de font at Liege 
 and Namur, thus further reducing the total of Belgian for- 
 tresses to three. At Namur the old citadel, famous for its 
 sieges in the time of Louis XIV, was abandoned, and a ring 
 of nine new forts at distances of four or five miles from the 
 town was substituted. These forts are cupola-shaped and 
 bomb-proof. The guns in them are raised and lowered 
 automatically and have a range of ten miles or even more. 
 At Liege there are twelve new forts ; two of the strongest of 
 them at Fleron and Chaudfontaine command the railway and 
 road from Germany. There is no doubt that the Namur 
 and Liege positions are exceedingly strong, but both require 
 larger garrisons than is generally assumed for the defence of 
 the intervals. For instance, the fort of Evegnee, at Liege, was 
 captured in theory during some recent Belgian manoeuvres, 
 and the loss of one of the detached forts would seriously 
 compromise the security of the others. 
 
 The question of the fortifications at these places is of such 
 great importance that it may be useful to give fuller particu- 
 lars as to the detached forts. Of the twelve forts at Liege 
 six are on the right bank of the Meuse and six on the left. 
 The interval between each of them averages two and a half 
 miles, and the total length of the circumference is thirty-one 
 miles. The six forts on the right bank of the Meuse are in 
 their order from north to south (forming an eastern curve), 
 Barchon, Evegnee, Fleron, Chaudfontaine, Embourg and 
 Boncelles. Fleron and Chaudfontaine command the main 
 railway line from Germany. The six forts on the left bank 
 taking the western curve are Pontisse, Liers, Lantin, Loncin,
 
 102 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Hollogne and Flemalle. The whole constitutes a position 
 which, if held by a sufficient garrison, would be very difficult 
 to capture. The Meuse, which is unbridged at this point, 
 constitutes an element of weakness for both Pontisse and 
 Barchon. 
 
 The nine forts round Namur are St. Heribert, Malonne, 
 Suarlee, Emince, Cognelee, Gelbressee, Maizeret, Andoy and 
 Dave. They are placed at an average interval of two and a 
 half miles, and the perimeter in this case is twenty-one miles. 
 The twenty-one forts together cost four millions sterling. 
 
 While the work to be done at Namur and Liege was brought 
 
 to completion, that at Antwerp, the assumed place of final 
 
 stand for Belgian liberty, was left half- 
 The Antwerp finished A second outer ring of fifteen 
 Position. , , . , 
 
 detached forts was to have been provided, 
 
 but after five had been constructed all the money was gone, 
 and work was suspended. In 1900 two of the missing ten 
 were completed, and at last in 1907, in consequence of the 
 serious international outlook the completion of the fortifica- 
 tion of Antwerp was taken in hand and has now been brought 
 to completion. Part of the scheme, which was received with 
 mixed feelings when it was first broached, is the demolition 
 of the fine enceinte constructed in 1859. This was done to 
 admit of the freer expansion of the city, but some lighter and 
 less costly protection will have to be provided against attack 
 by cavalry and horse artillery or otherwise the security of 
 Antwerp will be compromised. 
 
 The important point in all these changes is that the number 
 of places to be defended by the Belgian army has been brought 
 well within the capacity of its numerical strength. It is 
 even estimated that with 180,000 effective troops Belgium 
 will be able to place an army of 100,000 men in the field to 
 co-operate with the armies of her friends. 
 
 At Beverloo, not far from Hasselt, in the north-east corner 
 of Belgium, there is a military camp somewhat resembling 
 Aldershot, where the infantry regiments are sent in rotation
 
 The Army 103 
 
 during the summer and autumn to perfect their drill. In 
 most years also autumn manoeuvres are held, and, as a rule, 
 the valley of the Meuse between Namur and Liege is chosen 
 for their scene. The most instructive lessons derived from 
 these experiments are those that relate to the defence of the 
 intervals between the detached forts guarding the important 
 crossing places over the Meuse at Liege and Namur. It is 
 also noticeable that no attempt has been made to defend the 
 approach from Dalheim. The late General Brialmont always 
 considered that to perfect the positions of Liege and Namur 
 a fort d' arret was required at St. Trond. If he were living 
 now he would probably stipulate for one at Diest as well.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 POPULATION AND SOCIAL MATTERS 
 
 Density of 
 Population. 
 
 The official returns for the year 1908 gave Belgium a popula- 
 tion of 7,386,444 persons. In 1831 the same extent ot territory 
 had 3,785,814 inhabitants. In seventy-seven 
 years the population has increased by 
 3,600,630, or in other words nearly doubled. 
 In the same period there has been a large migration of Bel- 
 gians into the neighbouring countries, notably into France, 
 and it does not seem an exaggeration to say that half a 
 million Belgians reside out ol their own country. Indeed, 
 some authorities think that these returns are very incom- 
 plete, and that there are more than that number of Belgians 
 in France alone. 
 
 As Belgium contains 29,445 square kilometres the density 
 of population in 1908 was 2509 to the square kilometre, or 
 6495 to the square mile. This density is only exceeded in 
 Saxony, a kingdom half its size. The following table shows 
 the population at the end of the years stated. 
 Population in Years Named 
 1831 1846 1856 1866 1876 
 
 3,785,814 4,337,196 4,529,560 4,827,833 5,336,185 
 1880 1890 1900 1908 
 
 5,520,009 6,069,321 6,693,548 7,386,444 
 Dividing the population among the Nine Provinces, the following 
 are the returns for each of them in 1908 : 
 
 Antwerp 
 
 
 959,218 
 
 Brabant 
 
 
 .. 1,454,363 
 
 Hainaut 
 
 
 .. 1,229,103 
 
 East Flanders 
 
 
 .. 1,111,001 
 
 West Flanders 
 
 
 871,636 
 
 Liege 
 
 
 894,938 
 
 Limburg 
 
 
 269,442 
 
 Luxemburg 
 
 
 232,254 
 
 Namur 
 
 
 364,489 
 
 T 
 104 
 
 otal 7,386,444
 
 Population and Social Matters 
 
 105 
 
 The average annual increase in the population during 
 Rate of the last forty years has been 1 per cent. 
 Increase. The increases in the three decennial periods 
 that follow were : 
 
 1866-76 
 
 10-53 per cent 
 
 1880-90 
 
 9-95 
 
 1890-1900 
 
 1028 
 
 The increase for the eight years alone from 1900 to 1908 has 
 been at the rate of 1035, and by the end of 1910 it seemed 
 likely to reach 12, which would place Belgium as a growing 
 country on a level with Germany and Italy. The increase in 
 population varies in the different provinces. It has been 
 greatest in Antwerp, which increased by 17 per cent, between 
 1890 and 1900, and in Brabant, where the increase was 1423. 
 Between 1846 and 1900 the population of Antwerp doubled, 
 whereas for the whole kingdom the increase was only 54 per 
 cent. Among the towns, Ostend, Antwerp and Brussels in 
 their order show the largest increases. In 1856 and again in 
 1866 there were more men than women in Belgium. In 1908 
 there were nearly 50,000 more women. 
 
 1856 
 Men 2,271,783 
 
 Women 2,257,777 
 
 1866 1908 
 
 2,419,639 3,669,022 
 2,408,194 3,717,422 
 
 With regard to the Belgians living in foreign countries, 
 the following are the totals given for the seven most important 
 countries. They are the latest returns avail- 
 Abroad 5 a ^ e ' n a ^ cases > but they do not relate to the 
 same year. 
 
 Belgians by birth resident in 
 France 
 Holland 
 Germany 
 
 Great Britain and Ireland 
 Grand Duchy, the . . 
 United States, the . . 
 Argentina 
 
 395,498 
 
 14,950 
 
 12,421 
 
 4,588 
 
 3,891 
 
 29,848 
 
 5,634
 
 106 
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 The population of the cities and 
 The Great over 100,000 inhabitants 
 Cities. (1908): 
 
 Brussels and its eight communes 
 
 Antwerp 
 
 Liege 175,870; with Seraing 
 
 Ghent 
 
 towns with 
 was as follows 
 
 637,807 
 391,600 
 218,508 
 163,763 
 
 a very small 
 
 Bruges had 53,897 as against 48,673 in 1856 
 increase, but Courtrai had 34,977 as against 22,216. In the 
 same period Ostend rose from 16,118 to 42,606 (out of the 
 season). Among the historical places the following may be 
 named : 
 
 Town Population in 1856 Population in 1908 
 
 Louvain . . 30,765 . . 42,001 
 
 Malines ..31,371 .. 59,218 
 
 Mons .. 26,061 .. 27,349 
 
 Tournai .. 30,824 .. 37,640 
 
 Charleroi .. 10,702 .. 27,415 
 
 Namur .. 24,716 .. 32,047 
 
 Ypres .. 16,698 .. 17,542 
 
 Verviers ..27,115 .. 48,583 
 
 The increase in the urban population has only been remark- 
 able in a few places. At Mons and Ypres it has been 
 infinitesimal. 
 
 Considering the growth of the Belgian population it is 
 curious to note that it has been due not so much to an extra- 
 ordinarily high birth rate as to a low death 
 rate. In 1908 there were 2489 births per 
 thousand of the population, but in Germany 
 the ratio was 32 ; France, 202 ; England, 265 ; Scotland, 
 272; Italy, 336; Holland, 297 ; Austria, 345 ; Hungary, 
 363 ; and Russia 48' 1. The total births in the year named 
 were 183,834, and the total deaths were 121,964. The death 
 rate was as low as 1651 per thousand. For purposes of com- 
 parison the rates in the other countries named in the same 
 order were Germany, 18 ; France, 19 ; England, 14*7 ; 
 Scotland, 161, Italy, 222; Holland, 15; Austria, 224; 
 Hungary, 263 ; and Russia, 30. In Belgium the male deaths 
 are 52 per cent, and the female 48 of the grand total. 
 
 Low Death 
 Rate.
 
 Population and Social Matters 107 
 
 The number of marriages rose from 26,484 in 1830 to 
 57,564 in 1908. The proportion in the former year was 650 
 
 per thousand inhabitants and in the latter 
 Marriages. 7 - 79. The highest proportion reached was 
 
 870. This occurred in the year 1901. The 
 total for the year 1908 showed for the first time a slight 
 diminution as compared with the previous year, when the 
 number was 58,660. 
 
 The number of illegitimate children is decreasing, and of 
 those subsequently legitimised increasing. In 1880 there 
 was one illegitimate birth to 12*89 legitimate ; in 1908 one 
 illegitimate to 1523 legitimate. There was an average 
 annual increase of 29 per cent, in the number legitimised for 
 the period 1891-1900 as compared with 1881-90. On the 
 other hand, divorce and suicide showed a marked increase. 
 In 1840 there was only one divorce to 1,175 marriages, and 
 in 1865 one in 739, but in 1908 the ratio had risen to one in 
 65. It is only right to say that the increase has occurred 
 chiefly in Brussels, Antwerp, and Liege. In the two Flanders 
 there does not appear to be any increase at all. So also 
 with suicides. In 1880 there were 441 suicides, an average 
 of one per 12,146 of the population. In 1908 there were 
 970 suicides, or one per 7,616 of the inhabitants. 
 
 Since the year 1867 the total number of immigrants has 
 for every ten years exceeded that of emigrants ; since 1890 
 
 this has been true of every year without 
 Emigration, exception. Although there has been a notable 
 
 diminution in the emigration figures, the 
 majority still go to France 54 per cent, of a total emigration 
 of 32,294 souls in 1908. The immigrants in that year num- 
 bered 38,155, of whom 16,984, or 44 per cent, came from 
 France. 
 
 The decline in the comparative total of emigrants must 
 be attributed to the high state of prosperity in Belgium as 
 much as to the stay-at-home sentiments of the Belgian peoples. 
 The Walloons rarely emigrate with the fixed intention of
 
 108 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 not returning. The bulk of Walloon emigrants are those who 
 are attracted by the high wages offered them at Gladbach 
 and other German manufacturing towns, and they always 
 return sooner or later. The Flemings are more adventurous, 
 and in both Flanders the emigrants still exceed the immigrants. 
 
 In the twenty-five years ending in 1908 the number of 
 lunatics almost doubled as compared with an increase of 
 33 per cent, in the population. The totals in 1883 were 
 4,454 men and 4,309 women (total, 8,763), and in 1908, 
 8,975 men and 7,959 women (total, 16,934). 
 
 Since 1890 great ameliorations have been effected in the 
 status of the working man. In that year there were only 
 373 mutual societies for his relief in illness 
 Societies anc * acc 'dent, or for the benefit of his depend- 
 ents after death. In 1908 the number 
 recognised by the State had increased to 7,945. The number 
 of members rose from 228,581 in 1900 to 605,670 in 1908, 
 and their contributions from 2,902,526 francs in the previous 
 year to 8,743,748 in the latter that is from 116,101 to 
 349,749. The majority of these societies are affiliated to 
 the State Savings Bank. 
 
 In 1892 new regulations were made for the provision of 
 improved workmen's dwellings with State aid. Under them 
 advances are made on the recommendation of the societies 
 for the purchase or building of sanitary houses for the working 
 classes. These become the occupiers' property on a sliding 
 scale of repayment combined with life insurance. In 1908 
 over four millions sterling were advanced in one form or other 
 by the Savings Bank for the amelioration of the homes of 
 the working classes, or for the benefit of the pension and 
 death funds of the societies.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 RELIGION IN BELGIUM 
 
 The religious question in Belgium requires very careful 
 
 handling, more especially as it has become mixed up with 
 
 party politics. But it will clear the ground 
 
 ^^t 11 ?" f to mention that while there is no state 
 Catholics. 
 
 religion in modern Belgium there is only one 
 
 religion in the country and that is the Catholic or, as we say 
 for distinction, the Roman Catholic. In a population now 
 approaching eight millions there are said to be 10,000 Pro- 
 testants (French and English churches) and 5,000 Jews. 
 Flemings and Walloons alike are Catholics. There is, of 
 course, a difference in the intensity of their faith and fervour, 
 and, speaking broadly, irreligion and free-thought are somewhat 
 marked characteristics of some classes among the Walloons, 
 while they must be considered as totally non-existent among 
 the Flemings. Among those practising a religion there is 
 no difference between Walloons and Flemings. 
 
 This being the case it will be interesting to explain how it 
 is that there is no State religion in Belgium, and that in the 
 eyes of the law the faith of the whole people counts no more 
 than the cults of a small minority, chiefly aliens. 
 
 Before the French Revolution the Church ranked among 
 the States with the nobility and the citizens. When the 
 States or National Parliament were sum- 
 No State moned the dioceses sent their bishops, deans 
 Kehgion. iii 
 
 and abbots to the assembly. Liege and 
 
 Stavelot did not send to the States, but they had their own 
 separate Constitutions based on the supremacy of the Church, 
 and more or less dependent on the Pope. The French Revolu- 
 tion ended this system, and after the downfall of the Empire 
 it was not restored. The explanation of this may be found in 
 
 109
 
 110 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 the fact that the creation of the kingdom of the Netherlands 
 in 1815 was based on the supremacy, tacit if not expressed, 
 of a Protestant dynasty. Catholic bishops and deans could 
 not expect much consideration from the House of Orange. 
 They received even less than they expected. By Articles 
 190-6 of the Fundamental Law of 1815 all creeds alike were 
 promised protection, and there was to be perfect freedom of 
 conscience. A still ruder blow was dealt by the refusal to 
 sanction even a partial restoration of the lands confiscated 
 in 1794, for the Church found itself almost stripped of its 
 possessions, and without the means of organising the defence 
 of what remained of its ancient privileges. During the whole 
 of the Dutch regime the Church was in a languishing condi- 
 tion, and only in Ghent and Bruges did its leaders continue 
 the struggle with an unfriendly Government. 
 
 Such was the position of affairs so far as the Church was 
 concerned when the Belgian revolution broke out in August, 
 1830. That revolution was in a certain sense the sequel of 
 the July revolution in France which dispossessed the Legiti- 
 mist Bourbons for the Constitutional Orleanists. It was 
 certainly brought about to a large extent by French influ- 
 ences which at that moment were non-clerical. It was also 
 not at all clear what would be put in the place of the deposed 
 Dutch administration. For these reasons and also on account 
 of its own internal difficulties the Church did not take a 
 prominent part in the Belgian insurrection, and when the 
 National Congress was summoned the Clerical party was the 
 least numerous and influential section in the assembly. 
 Besides, French ideas as well as language prevailed. No one 
 would have had the audacity to speak in Flemish, and Flan- 
 ders was even then the stronghold of the Church. No one 
 in Belgium would have proposed that the Church lands 
 refused in 1815 should be restored in 1830-1. 
 
 This situation explains how it was that in a Congress com- 
 posed of Catholics no one protested when the Constitution- 
 framers recommended the separation of Church and State.
 
 Religion in Belgium 111 
 
 But the Church itself betrayed unusual apathy in not 
 making some effort to recover at least part of its ancient rights 
 
 Separation of an( l position. The overthrow of the Protes- 
 
 Church and tant Dutch Government did not entail any 
 State. difference in the religious clause of the Funda- 
 
 mental law. All cults were to be free and equal in the eyes 
 of the law ; no one was to be disqualified from public office 
 on account of his religious opinions. One reservation only 
 was made. It was stipulated that the Sovereign of the 
 country should be a Catholic, but the condition had to be 
 waived in the case of Leopold I, who refused to change his 
 religion. His children were, however, brought up in the old 
 faith, and the clause of the Constitution stipulating that the 
 Sovereign must be a member of the Catholic Church may now 
 be regarded as possessing full and permanent force. 
 
 Since the reign of Philip II, when the Pope first created the 
 
 dignity and conferred it on the celebrated Cardinal Granvelle, 
 
 the Archbishop of Malines has been Primate 
 
 Th primat g e ian of Bel S ium - Th e number of bishops depen- 
 dent on him has varied at different periods, 
 but since modern Belgium came into existence they have 
 been limited to five. They are Liege, Ghent, Bruges, Tournai 
 and Namur. The last official return shows that the total 
 number of the clergy in the six dioceses amounts to 190 of the 
 rank of deans and 5,602 of the inferior ranks of the hierarchy. 
 All these ministers receive a salary from the State. The 
 Archbishop is allowed 800 a year and each Bishop 600 a year. 
 
 Each diocese is divided into a certain number of cures, 
 
 and each cure receives 82 a year and is provided with a house. 
 
 The vicaires, who correspond to curates with 
 
 The Clergy, us, rarely receive more than 30 a year, but 
 they reside in the cure's house. In measuring 
 the importance of these salaries it must be remembered that 
 the clergy are all celibates. Besides in each church or 
 chapel there are special collecting boxes for the support of 
 the clergy, and a part of the general offertories goes to the
 
 112 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 up-keep of the Church which necessarily includes the sus- 
 tenance of its clergy. The regular clergy are consequently 
 far more comfortable and well cared for than the small 
 official salary would seem to convey. All receipts go into a 
 common fund, and it is breaking no secret to say that they 
 live very well. Good food and plenty of it is still an ideal 
 of Belgian life, and the priests are no exception to the rule. 
 They are also very hospitable, and when they detain a friend 
 to dinner, a bottle of Burgundy will not fail to be forth- 
 coming. In the provinces the house of the cur6 has always 
 a vegetable garden, and generally a wall for fruit, and for the 
 favoured guest there will follow a choice dessert as well. 
 
 Besides the regular clergy there are the various religious 
 
 orders which have always been prominent and prosperous 
 
 in Belgium. Before the French Revolution 
 
 Religious j t was computed that they owned half the 
 
 land in Belgium, and it is still the practice 
 
 of the Socialists to denounce them, because by the mere fact 
 
 that they are better organised than ordinary individuals their 
 
 wealth accumulates, and their possessions by growth attract 
 
 more notice. 
 
 The following statistics show their exact strength and 
 position in the country. In the year 1900 (the latest for 
 which these statistics were published) there were 2,474 
 separate religious houses in the country. These were divided 
 into 291 for men and 2,183 for women. They were inhabited 
 by 6,237 priests or brothers, and 31,668 nuns and sisteis. 
 Of the former 4,597 were born in Belgium and of the latter 
 26,368. It follows that 1,690 men and 5,300 women of the 
 total conventual population of Belgium were foreigners. 
 
 The greater number of these orders are devoted to prac- 
 tical objects. There are 389 houses devoted to the care of the 
 sick, 1,248 to education, and only 178 to an exclusively 
 religious ministration ; 47 combine nursing and religious 
 contemplation, and 263 teaching and religious contempla- 
 tion. Over 17,000 nuns and sisters are engaged in some
 
 Religion in Belgium 113 
 
 form or other of female instruction. Most of the nursing in 
 Belgium is done by the religious orders, and some of them 
 have taken up the profession in full conformity with the rules 
 and requirements of modern science. This is especially the 
 case in the large cities. 
 
 In 1907 the Government grant to the Catholic clergy 
 amounted to 6,202,450 francs (say 250,000) for the year, 
 and a further sum of 900,000 francs was 
 R GrSis S allocated for Church buildings. Other ex- 
 penses figured at 50,000 francs. The reader 
 will be able to form an opinion for himself as to the relative 
 position of the several creeds in Belgium when it is stated that 
 the grants to Protestants and Jews together amounted to 
 no more than 147,000 francs, or under 6,000. It is impos- 
 sible to give any idea of the total value of the Church 
 possessions in Belgium, but perhaps fifty millions sterling 
 is not an overstatement. 
 
 Although the Church of Rome then is not the State Church 
 in Belgium it possesses an unquestioned predominance that 
 no one could dispute. When modern Belgium was formed 
 it happened to be in a languishing and embarrassed condition. 
 For many years it possessed no efficient organisation and the 
 spoils of power remained with the party which was anti- 
 Catholic. But fifty years ago the Catholics decided to make 
 their influence felt, and they, too, began to organise as their 
 opponents had been doing for thirty years before in the press 
 and among the public. This they did with such consum- 
 mate skill that they ousted the Liberals from office in 1884, 
 and they have retained the administrative power ever since. 
 The hold which they have established on the mass of the 
 people is not altogether due to cleverness and skill. It has 
 been effected and strengthened by the great services the 
 clergy have rendered and are rendering to the people of 
 Belgium. It is impossible to ignore the fact that they do 
 their best to assist their congregations in every way, and the 
 credit of all the best work in Belgium for the relief of the 
 poor and the suffering must be placed to their credit. The 
 
 8 (2387)
 
 114 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 so-called Liberal organisation is purely political. It is not 
 marked by any beneficent work, it aims wholly at the placing 
 of a particular party in power. 
 
 It would be impossible to give even the skeleton of a list 
 of the Catholic institutions in Belgium which are engaged 
 
 in beneficent work. But the Benedictine 
 Maredsous. Abbey of Maredsous combines the utilitarian 
 
 and the aesthetic in such a superb degree 
 that it may be chosen as an example. Over Belgium are 
 strewn the remains of ancient and mediaeval abbeys that 
 were the pride of Christian Europe. Orval and Villers in 
 their way have never been surpassed. Maredsous is not the 
 legacy of the past. It is a recreation of the Middle Ages 
 dating no farther back in its origin than 1872, but here the 
 early builders of the Church might find cause of envy. The 
 admirer of pointed Gothic might find it difficult to choose 
 between the modern abbey of Maredsous (in Entre Sambre 
 and Meuse) and any of its prototypes. Here, thanks in the 
 first place to the philanthropy of a rich Belgian of Tournai, 
 the Benedictine order of Beuron in Suabia (a noble order), 
 established itself and has flourished marvellously. The 
 Benedictines are the intellectual propagandists of their Church. 
 They claim the best teachers in Belgium. They are ready 
 to take up any work that may be imposed upon them. But 
 at Maredsous they have a special and beautiful mission. 
 Nowhere else are pupils trained to such perfection in the 
 pure Gregorian chant. To hear Salve Regina chanted 
 among the aisles of the abbey of Maredsous is a treat for the 
 senses not to be enjoyed out of St. Peter's at Rome. The 
 Abbey of Maredsous is a magnificent modern achievement, 
 and the contrast may be found close at hand in the ruins of 
 Montaigle. It is true that it is somewhat remote, lying on 
 the branch line from Tamines to Dinant, but the trouble of 
 getting there will be amply rewarded. The Benedictine 
 brothers are very hospitable to those who have any claim to 
 expect it, and for those who have not there is an excellent 
 hotel at Emmaus, almost at the gates of the abbey's domain.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 The system of education in force in Belgium is simple, com- 
 prehensive and free. No one has to pay for the education of 
 
 his children if he cannot afford to do so. The 
 Edif re ^on * nst ruc ^ on gi ven by the State includes practical 
 
 as well as theoretical subjects. For instance, 
 girls are taught to cook and sew, and youths are inculcated 
 in the rudiments of agriculture or some industrial pursuit. 
 At the Universities degrees can be taken in the several schools 
 at fees that bring them within the most moderate means. 
 
 State education is divided into three categories primary, 
 secondary and superior. Primary education is based on the 
 
 fundamental law of 1842 which made educa- 
 E ^ nm ^. ry n tion compulsory and free, but left religious 
 
 instruction in the hands of the different 
 churches that is to say, for nine-tenths of the population 
 the Church of Rome. The law required each commune to 
 maintain at least one free school. The old law was modified 
 in 1879 (abrogated), and again in 1884, 1895 and 1910 ; but the 
 effect of these subsequent enactments has not been to modify 
 the essential provisions of the original law. That of 1910 is 
 the most radical for it will possibly lead to the substitution 
 of Flemish for French as the vehicular language in many of the 
 schools of Brabant and Hainaut. In the year 1908 there 
 were 914,709 pupils in primary schools subject to State in- 
 spection, and of these only 50,861 paid any fees. There were 
 in the year named 7,355 schools divided between 4,629 com- 
 munal and 2,726 "adopted" schools. The adopted 
 schools are those recognised as existing at the time of the 
 passing of the law of 1842. They are chiefly Church schools, 
 and with regard to female education they are more numerous 
 
 115
 
 116 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 than those belonging to the commune. The total cost of 
 these schools in 1907 is given at about 53 million francs, of 
 which the State provided nearly 21, the commune nearly 27, 
 the provinces 2 \, and parents If, all in million francs, the 
 balances coming from minor sources. The total number of 
 teachers in the year 1908 was 19,707. These may be subdi- 
 vided into 8,313 male lay teachers, and 795 priests, and 
 5,113 female lay teachers, and 5,486 sisters of the different 
 religious orders. This, in its way, furnishes proof that the 
 Church has a closer hold on female than male education. 
 
 Primary education is not confined to children. There are 
 primary schools for adults whose education has been neglected 
 or never commenced. In 1908, which showed an enormous 
 increase in the system as compared with previous years, there 
 were 4,473 of those schools with a total attendance of 227,220. 
 The communal schools had 71,433 males and 14,159 females 
 inscribed on their lists, whilst the totals for the adopted schools 
 were 53,673 males and 87,955 females. The grand total 
 of persons receiving primary education is over 1,142,000. 
 
 According to the law primary education is supposed to con- 
 tinue till the age of fourteen, but as a matter of fact it ceases 
 at twelve unless it is intended that the pupil shall pass into a 
 secondary school. These, of course, are a comparative minority 
 and consist chiefly of candidates for Government posts. 
 
 Secondary education is divided into two grades, preparatory 
 
 and superior. Of preparatory schools there are over 78 
 
 State, 6 communal, and 5 under Priests' pat- 
 
 Iducation ronage for boys, and 34 State and 10 communal 
 
 for girls. In 1909 the numbers of pupils 
 
 at the former taken in their order were 15,375, 2,662, and 623; 
 
 and for girls 6,207 and 2,665 respectively. 
 
 The superior grade schools are 20 Royal Athenaeums, 7 
 Communal Colleges, and 8 Colleges under private patronage. 
 In 1909 the Athenaeums had 6,047 pupils, the Communal 
 Colleges 724, and the patronised 1,133. The Athenees, or 
 Athenaeums, which are called Royal, because they are under
 
 National Education 117 
 
 the direct patronage of the King, are the nearest approach to 
 the British Grammar School. Classics and mathematics 
 form part of the regular curriculum, and it is assumed that 
 most of the scholars will proceed to one of the Universities. 
 The majority of the pupils are non-resident, but the masters 
 are allowed to take in boarders. The twenty Athenees are 
 situated at Antwerp, Marines, Brussels, Ixelles, Louvain, 
 Bruges, Ostend, Ghent, Ath, Charleroy, Chimay, Mons, 
 Tournai, Huy, Liege, Verviers, Hasselt, Tongres, Arlon and 
 Namur. 
 
 In 1907 the State contributed 4,311,147 francs, and the 
 communes 2,171,449 francs towards secondary education. 
 
 Superior or High education in Belgium is given at the four 
 Universities: Ghent, Liege, Brussels, and Louvain, the two 
 first named being State, and the latter Free 
 Education Universities. Special Schools are attached 
 to the Universities, but these are more im- 
 portant at the State Universities than the others. The fol- 
 lowing are the number of the students in 1908-9 distinguishing 
 between the regular faculties and the Special Schools : 
 
 Name of University Faculties Schools Total 
 
 Ghent 443 640 1,083 
 
 Liege 1,670 970 2,640 
 
 Brussels 845 369 1,214 
 
 Louvain 2,075 250 2,325 
 
 Grand Totals 5,033 2,229 7,262 
 
 It may be mentioned that at Ghent the principal special 
 course is for Civil Engineering, at Liege for Mining and Elec- 
 trical Engineering, at Brussels for social and political science, 
 and at Louvain for Theology and Agricultural Science. 
 
 Notwithstanding the excellence of its laws on public in- 
 struction, there is more illiteracy in Belgium than would be 
 expected. Some writers have placed it as 
 Illiteracy. high as 30 per cent, but although that is 
 excessive, it is not easy to say what is the 
 correct proportion. It is easier to explain the cause of it.
 
 118 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 The teachers in the primary schools do not possess sufficient 
 qualifications for their mission, and what is learnt before 
 twelve, is very easily forgotten when no subsequent occasion 
 to turn it to account or stimulus to fresh exertions presents 
 itself. 
 
 Teachers in the Primary Schools are selected from those 
 
 who pass through the Secondary Schools, and the selection 
 
 is made by the Communes. There were in 
 
 The Teachers. 1908 nineteen normal male and thirty-five 
 normal female establishments, at which 
 there were 2,180 and 2,575 persons of the two sexes in training 
 respectively, as teachers in the Primary Schools. Of these 
 470 and 563 received the necessary diploma of efficiency in the 
 year named, but the supply far exceeds the demand. 
 
 The pay of the school teacher is, according to our ideas, very 
 low. The law stipulates that it shall never be less than 1,000 
 francs per annum, and leaves everything else in the hands of 
 the commune. The headmaster of a school receives from 
 48 a year in a small, to 96 a year in a large commune. He 
 also has an allowance for a house ranging from 8 to 32 per 
 annum. Finally, an annual increment at the rate of 1 
 per annum is allowed for a period of twenty-four years the 
 maximum salary in a small commune, therefore, may be 48 
 + 8 + 24 or 80, and in a large 96 + 32 + 24 or 152, 
 but in each case only after twenty-four years' service. 
 
 Although the State does not take an active part in the 
 management of the schools, it exercises a certain control over 
 them by inspection. Subject to the Ministry of the Interior 
 and Education, are District Inspectors who are supposed to 
 visit every school in their district twice a year, and to preside 
 at a meeting of all the teaching staff once a quarter. These 
 officials receive a salary of from 120 to 180 a year. Above 
 these are nine chief Inspectors, one for each Province, at a 
 salary of 300 per annum. They are supposed to visit every 
 school once in two years, and they report direct to the Minister 
 in Brussels.
 
 National Education 119 
 
 A few words may be said in conclusion about a certain 
 
 number of special educational institutions which do not come 
 
 under the regular routine of the educational 
 
 Special laws. These exist for technical training 
 Institutions. 
 
 purposes. 
 
 There are sixty-eight commercial schools run by differ- 
 ent communes with an attendance (in 1908) of 4,950 ; 183 
 free schools with an attendance of 19,004. There are eighty- 
 one industrial schools subject to the communes with an 
 attendance of 23,418, and eight free, attended by 1,686 
 students. Special schools of a higher grade are to be found at 
 Antwerp, Liege, Mons and Ghent. Among them may be 
 named the Superior Commercial Institute and the St. Ignatius 
 Institute both at Antwerp, the High Commercial Schools at 
 Liege and Louvain both intended for training consular agents, 
 the Manufacturers' School at Mons, and different technical 
 schools of minor importance at Ghent (brewing and distilling), 
 Venders (textiles), and Virton (arts and trades). There are 
 also seventy-nine schools for special training in household 
 work and duties with an inscribed list of 2,865 attending. 
 In addition to the schools there are 195 special household 
 classes with an attendance of 6,947 attached to different 
 elementary schools. 
 
 There are two special schools for military education. They 
 are the Ecole Militaire in Brussels, and the School of Cadets 
 at Namur. The former is far the more im- 
 Education portant, and the scholars number on an 
 average 240. Formerly it was located in the 
 old Abbey of the Cambre near the Bois of that name, but the 
 position was unhealthy, and a fine new school near the Pare 
 du Cinquantenaire and the Avenue de Tervueren now accom- 
 modates the scholars, who wear a military uniform. On 
 State occasions the Ecole Militaire takes the lead of all the 
 troops present. 
 
 The Cadets School at Namur dates only from 1897, and 
 there were in 1908-9, 108 civil and eighty-three military 
 cadets on its list. The military cadets supply the army
 
 120 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 with non-commissioned officers, and the civil cadets are 
 supposed to be intended for some branch of the public service. 
 In the same way, it does not follow that all the cadets at 
 the Ecole Militaire enter the army. The educational course 
 there being highly esteemed, many parents decide to send their 
 sons to this school in preference to an Athene^, the tone of the 
 place being higher. But the best of all the schools in Bel- 
 gium is that kept by the Jesuit order in Brussels, near the 
 Palais de Justice. Only Catholics of good family are 
 received, and the order aims at turning out gentlemen as well 
 as scholars. In the same way, the highest class schools for 
 young ladies are those attached to Convents. One of the 
 most famous of these is at St. Hubert. 
 
 Special schools exist for educating the blind and deaf mutes. 
 In 1908 there were in the kingdom 3,218 of the former and 
 4,036 of the latter, and with comparatively 
 S^ mng f ew exceptions they are returned as suscep- 
 tible of receiving instruction. Of these 1,145 
 males and 972 females were receiving primary education in 
 nineteen schools endowed by the State. Finally, there are 
 three training schools for the mercantile marine. They are 
 at Ostend, Antwerp, and Nieuport with 160, ninety-five and 
 eight pupils respectively in 1908. A training-ship has also 
 been commissioned, but its cruises are somewhat rare, and 
 since the mishap to the training-ship Smet de Naeyer, named 
 after a recent Premier, there has been a lull in the effort to 
 endow Belgium with the cadre for a navy. 
 
 Free public or popular libraries exist in many of the com- 
 munes. There are 913 libraries in the 2,629 communes. 
 There were nearly 3,322,644 readers, and 
 Free Libraries. 1,535,523 volumes were borrowed. These fig- 
 ures do not include the returns of the Brussels 
 Library, which corresponds to our British Museum. In 
 1908, 40,997 persons used the reading-room, these showing an 
 average daily attendance of 137. In addition 1,245 students 
 attended the MSS. room, and 8,956 persons made use of the 
 room set aside for periodicals.
 
 THE PORCH, TOURXAI CATHEDRAL 
 (By permission of the Ligue de Propagande)
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 AGRICULTURE AND LAND 
 
 Although industry and commerce play such a prominent part 
 in the national life of Belgium, the basis of its prosperity has 
 
 always been in the land, and in its laborious 
 Agriculture, and skilful tillage. Before a mine had been 
 
 excavated, Belgium was a rich and productive 
 country ; when it had suffered most from the ravages of war 
 it owed its recovery to the abundant return of its harvests. 
 
 The total number of persons engaged in agriculture or 
 employed on farms is shown in the following table for the 
 three years 1846, 1880 and 1895 : 
 
 Members of Family 
 Engaged in Agriculture Farm Servants Managers Total 
 
 Men Women Men Women Men 
 
 1846 550,567 356,008 107,303 69,723 1,083,601 
 
 1880 529,673 452,451 141,762 75,433 1,199,319 
 
 1895 558,714 457,085 128,277 58,829 1905 1,204,810 
 
 The totals show a ratio to the rest of the population in the 
 years named of 24*98, 21 77, and 18*79, thus establishing a 
 decline in the proportional number of persons making their 
 livelihood out of agriculture. 
 
 As children and the aged (especially women) are not included 
 in these totals, and remembering that the total number of 
 persons employed in all trades and industries, including 
 mines, is 1,102,244, a slightly lower total, we may safely 
 assume that half Belgium's population lives out of the produce 
 of the land. Agriculture is, of course, more important in some 
 of the provinces than others. The following table shows 
 the ratio of those engaged on the land to the rest of the 
 population in each province. 
 
 121
 
 122 
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Liege 
 Hainaut 
 
 1055 per cent 
 12-87 
 
 Antwerp 
 Brabant 
 
 .. 15-54 
 16-74 
 
 Namur 
 
 . . 2302 
 
 East Flanders 
 
 . . 23-35 
 
 West Flanders 
 
 . . 23-72 
 
 Limburg 
 Luxemburg 
 
 . . 35-57 
 . . 39-29 
 
 The payment to the farm labourer is considerably higher 
 in the provinces where agriculture forms the staple industry 
 
 than in those where it is in competition with 
 Wales' other occupations. For instance, wages in 
 
 Namur, Luxemburg and Liege are far higher 
 than in Brabant and Antwerp. In Flanders, too, farm labour 
 is poorly paid, and, as a general rule, it may be observed that 
 the Walloon requires more pay than the Fleming. It has 
 also to be noted that there are two scales of pay, one with 
 food and the other without. The allowance for food varies 
 from half to a whole franc. In comparison with the year 
 1846 the farm hand now receives a daily wage with food equal 
 to what he then received without. The following is the 
 official scale in francs for 1895 (the last year yet analysed). 
 
 Men per 
 Provinces Without food 
 
 day 
 With food 
 
 Women 
 Without food 
 
 per day 
 With food 
 
 Antwerp 
 Brabant 
 
 1-62 
 1-61 
 
 10 
 101 
 
 106 
 107 
 
 0-65 
 0-68 
 
 West Flanders 
 
 . 1-68 
 
 094 
 
 108 
 
 0-61 
 
 East Flanders 
 
 . 1-63 
 
 0-84 
 
 1-04 
 
 0-53 
 
 Hainaut .... 
 
 . 2-26 
 
 1-36 
 
 1-20 
 
 0-77 
 
 Liege 
 
 . 2-23 
 
 1-40 
 
 1-38 
 
 0-84 
 
 Limburg 
 
 Luxemburg 
 
 Namur 
 
 . 1-44 
 . 2-40 
 . 2-43 
 
 0-84 
 1-54 
 1-62 
 
 102 
 1-63 
 1-42 
 
 0-58 
 0-99 
 0-92 
 
 Average for the Kingdom 1-98 
 
 1 21 
 
 1-22 
 
 0-74 
 
 There is another remarkable thing about Belgian agricul- 
 ture, and that is the enormous proportion of land under
 
 Agriculture and Land 
 
 123 
 
 Land under 
 Cultivation. 
 
 cultivation. Belgium contains an area of 2,945,503 hectares, 
 and of these 2,215,533 are under cultivation. To this total 
 should be added 489,423 hectares of wood, 
 raising the total of land under exploitation 
 to 2,704,956. From this total must be de- 
 ducted, however, 231,693 hectares of waste land. The ground 
 then left for towns, villages, and buildings of all kinds is no 
 more than 240,547 hectares the hectare being equal to nearly 
 2 acres. 
 
 It will give the reader a good idea of the agricultural 
 development of Belgium to specify the 
 principal crops and the area they absorb : 
 
 Crops. 
 
 Oats 
 
 . 249,486 hectares 
 
 Wheat 
 
 . 275,931 
 
 Rye 
 
 . 277,639 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 . 199,357 
 
 Vegetable Gardens 
 
 39,723 
 
 Beans 
 
 19,088 
 
 Beetroot (for sugar) 
 
 32,627 
 
 Beetroot (for cattle) 
 
 26,187 
 
 Flax 
 
 40,078 
 
 Chicory 
 
 11,025 
 
 Clover (red) 
 
 . 112,488 
 
 Clover (white) 
 
 33,133 
 
 Clover (yellow) 
 
 15,198 
 
 Orchards 
 
 37,947 
 
 Meadows and Pastures 
 
 . 351,155 
 
 Hops 
 
 4,185 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 1,577 
 
 Vine 
 
 205 
 
 Tobacco is cultivated in the Semois valley, and has a cer- 
 tain vogue for its mildness. The vine is only cultivated in the 
 Meuse valley between Namur and Huy, and is said to be a 
 sort of survival of the Roman occupation. Attention has 
 never been given to it, but there are persons who declare that 
 it might be cultivated on the Meuse, notably at Huy and 
 Dinant, just as successfully as on the Moselle where the vine 
 was also planted for the first time by the Romans.
 
 124 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 With regard to the woods and forests the proprietorship 
 
 is divided between the State, the com- 
 
 Forests nd munes > public bodies and private individuals. 
 
 The following table shows the proportion in 
 
 1880 (the last published) : 
 
 Hectares 
 
 The State 25,309 
 
 The Communes 149,672 
 
 Public Bodies 4,808 
 
 Private Persons 309,634 
 
 Total 489,423 
 
 It is computed that the sales of wood bring in an annual 
 revenue to all the proprietors of 17,701,875 francs, and that 
 the value of the cuttings for the use of the several proprietors, 
 etc., amounts to 3,931,607, which gives a total return of 
 21,633,482. Of this total the communes received 4,629,939 
 and private owners 15,439,836. 
 
 Of the total area, 203,797 hectares were in 1905 subject to 
 
 Government inspection under the new Forest Law. Included 
 
 in this total is the whole of the woods belong- 
 
 Forest Laws, ing to the communes, and from this later return 
 we ascertain that communal woods had 
 increased from 149,672 hectares in 1880 to 166,641 in 1905. 
 By the law replanting is compulsory to an equal extent with 
 the cutting down, and no cutting down can take place without 
 the prior sanction of the Government Inspector. The prin- 
 cipal forests are to be found in the provinces of Luxemburg 
 and Namur. 
 
 The agricultural land of Belgium is divided between 231,319 
 persons working their own land, and 598,306 who rent it. Of 
 the former 1 17,928, and of the latter 458,120 held land of half 
 a hectare or less. Those who held over one half and under 
 one whole hectare numbered 85,921. Those holding over 
 100 hectares numbered only 923, and of these 302 were only 
 part proprietors or part renters.
 
 Agriculture and Land 125 
 
 The annual value of the agricultural output for the period 
 
 1870-80 (estimated on the average during these years) is put 
 
 at 1,412,223,989 francs or 56,489,000. The 
 The Agricultural value of the fmit crQp is put at 45 m []n on 
 
 francs, and of the horticultural output at 
 fifteen millions. It is probable that the income derived from 
 the products of glass-houses, seed plantations, and nursery 
 grounds is now more than double that estimated in 1880. 
 Ghent, Bruges and Gembloux are the centres of important and 
 constantly increasing floral settlements, and there are hor- 
 ticultural training schools at Ghent, Vilvorde and Gembloux 
 which grant certificates of competency. 
 
 To the output of the soil has to be added the income derived 
 from animal produce, and what is called " la petite culture." 
 
 The number of horses employed in agricul- 
 
 Pr"oduce ture ' and of cattle and P 1 ^ in the y ear 1908 
 
 is given as follows : 
 
 Horses three years and over . . . . . . 168,545 
 
 ,, under three and over one year . . . . 50,025 
 
 ,, under one year . . . . . . . . 34,861 
 
 foals and fillies 43,647 
 
 Total 297,078 
 
 Deduct deaths and accidents . . 9,413 
 
 287,665 
 
 The number of donkeys and mules is small, being only 6,9 15. 
 The number of oxen for the same period was . . . . 1,861,412 
 to which add calves of 1908 807,108 
 
 2,668,520 
 Deduct deaths, natural causes and accidents . . 83,575 
 
 2,584,945 
 
 The number of pigs is given at 1,161,761, and of the litters 
 for the year 1,775,321. The loss by death and accident 
 amounted to 237,270. The number of milch cows (in 1880) 
 was 754,093, and of sheep 365,400. There are stated to be
 
 126 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 241,045 goats. By the light of these totals the following 
 return of animal produce becomes clearer : 
 
 Animal Produce in 1880 
 Hire of animals . . . . . . . . . . 65,883,385 francs 
 
 Mares (117,396) 88,000 colts and fillies at 200 francs 
 
 each 17,600,000 
 
 Cows, milk (754,093) 600,000 calves at 20 francs 
 
 each 12,000,000 
 
 Sheep (365,400) 10 francs the fleece . . 3,654,000 
 
 Chickens, etc., (2,631,000) 4,615,000 
 
 Eggs (3,967,000 hens) 391,132,000 eggs .. .. 100,000,000 
 Milk, 840,000,000 litres 100,000,000 
 
 Total 238,752,385 
 
 These figures would now have to be increased by at least 
 30 per cent., but they are the latest obtainable from official 
 returns, and all others are valueless. The average purchase 
 price of agricultural land in 1895 is given at 2,838 francs for 
 arable and 3,204 for pasture per hectare. These values are in 
 English money 113 10s. Od. and 128 3s. 6d., which works 
 out at 45 8s. Od. and 51 5s. 6d. per English acre respectively. 
 The rental value is given as ninety francs and 105 francs 
 per hectare, which works out at twenty-nine shillings and 
 thirty-four shillings per acre respectively. 
 
 One of the great facilities placed at the disposal of agricul- 
 turists, and consequently benefiting the commerce in land and 
 land produce, is the system of weekly and 
 Markets. periodical markets prevalent throughout 
 Belgium. It is stated on official authority 
 that the number of markets and fairs held in Belgium is as 
 follows : 
 
 Daily Markets 
 Weekly ,, 
 
 71 
 364 
 
 Monthly ,, 
 
 Annual Markets and Fairs 
 
 164 
 731 
 
 Irregular periods 
 
 394 
 
 Total 1,724
 
 THE OLD ' BOUCHERIE ANTWERP 
 
 {By permission of the Ligue de Propagancle)
 
 Agriculture and Land 127 
 
 Among the most important of the annual fairs is the horse 
 fair at Ciney, which lasts several days. It is hardly known 
 to the English buyer, but the Germans attend it in large num- 
 bers, buying many of the Ardennes breed of horse for their 
 artillery. 
 
 In recent years great efforts have been made to increase the 
 
 quantity of fruit under cultivation. Orchards have been 
 
 extensively planted in Namur and Luxemburg, 
 
 Fruit Farming, and apples are reported to show great promise. 
 
 The mode of planting differs from ours, the 
 
 trees being placed at considerable intervals in meadows, 
 
 which furnish pasture for sheep and goats. This system is 
 
 called " en verge." The forest authorities accept replanting of 
 
 fruit trees on very favourable terms to the planter in cases 
 
 of clearing old plantations. There are also a few regular 
 
 fruit farms, and the consumption of home-made jam is largely 
 
 increasing. 
 
 The cultivation of cereals has greatly increased in the two 
 provinces last named which used to be regarded as incapable 
 of raising crops, to any general extent, owing to their being a 
 land of rocks and stones, but those who took this view over- 
 looked what had been done in the district known as the 
 "pays de Waes." This district lies on the left bank of the 
 Scheldt, north of Ghent. By nature it was a tract of sandy 
 moorland which seemed irreclaimable ; but in'seventy years 
 the Belgians have succeeded in converting it into the most 
 productive and highly cultivated region in the State. It has 
 been described as an endless market garden and supports 
 an agricultural population of 500 to the square mile. Its 
 capital St. Nicolas and another town called Lokeren are 
 flourishing places with populations of 35,000 and 25,000 
 respectively.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY 
 
 In proportion to the size of her territory and the number 
 
 of her people the commercial activity of Belgium can only 
 
 be described as immense. But it is some- 
 
 hmiorts times classed greater than it really is owing 
 
 to the statistics on the subject requiring 
 
 explanation. Belgium, owing to its geographical position, 
 
 forms part of the transport route for goods to and from other 
 
 countries. The transit charges benefit Belgian railways, 
 
 but the articles conveyed have nothing to do with either 
 
 the national resources or the commercial activity of Belgium. 
 
 In 1908 Belgium's own exports amounted to about 
 
 3,327,000,000 francs or 133,080,000, and her imports to 
 
 2,506,400,000 francs or 100,256,000. 
 
 These figures represent the true state of Belgian commerce, 
 but in addition it may be stated that the transit trade 
 amounted to 2,021,035,000 francs or 80,841,400. The 
 three largest contribuants to the transit trade in their order 
 of importance were Germany, France and England. The 
 totals were in pounds sterling 28,677,000 ; 18,217,000 and 
 8,974,000 respectively. The practical meaning of German 
 preponderance in this particular is that Antwerp is very 
 largely used as an outlet for German commerce. 
 
 Returning now to the country's own proper trade we find 
 
 that in the matter of Imports France comes first, Germany 
 
 second, and England third, whereas in 
 
 In ?S of exports Germany takes the first place, and 
 
 France only the second. In Imports the 
 
 United States, Argentina and Holland occupy the next 
 
 places, the first named being not much below this country. 
 
 In exports Holland stands fourth, and all the other countries 
 
 128
 
 Commerce and Industry 
 
 129 
 
 have only low places. The tabulated statement on pages 130 
 to 133 shows the progress and development of Belgium's trade 
 with the principal countries of the world compared decade by 
 decade, and ending in 1908. The figures are in thousands 
 of francs. 
 
 The principal articles of Belgian trade in respect of exports, 
 confining the list to those reaching a total value of not less 
 than a million pounds sterling in the year 1908, are the 
 following : 
 
 (1) Foods of all kinds, Vegetables included. 
 
 . 265,047,000 francs 
 
 (2) Iron and Steel, manufactured 
 
 
 . 197,305,000 
 
 (3) Other Metals 
 
 
 . 153,494,000 
 
 (4) Leather and Hides 
 
 
 . 123,256,000 
 
 (5) Cotton, Linen, etc. 
 
 
 . 137,340,000 
 
 (6) Engines and Machines 
 
 
 . 193,567,000 
 
 (7) Minerals (unwrought) 
 
 
 81,194,000 
 
 (8) Raw material (textiles) 
 
 
 . 193,150,000 
 
 (9) Raw material (animal) 
 
 
 63,182,000 
 
 (10) Rubber, raw and manufactured . 
 
 
 55,235,000 
 
 (11) Arms 
 
 
 26,103,000 
 
 (12) Horses (26,012 in number) 
 
 
 29,741,000 
 
 (13) Paper 
 
 
 32,335,000 
 
 (14) Stone 
 
 
 40,636,000 
 
 (15) Chemicals 
 
 
 57,661,000 
 
 (16) Resin and bitumen 
 
 
 48,614,000 
 
 (17) Tissues 
 
 
 90,985,000 
 
 (18) Glassware 
 
 
 68,895,000 
 
 (19) Dyes and Colours . . 
 
 
 36,861,000 
 
 The exports of coal and coke from Belgium are balanced 
 by a slightly larger import. The exact figures being : 
 
 Exported 
 Coal, 4,754,000 tons Value 81,300,000 francs. 
 
 Coke, 917,000 tons 22,381,000 
 
 Imported 
 
 Coal (including briquettes), 5,589,209 tons Value 95,848,000 francs 
 Coke, 287,037 7,004,000 
 
 The receipts from customs are shown in the following 
 table : 
 
 Year 1850 i860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1908 
 Francs 11,104,000 15,761,000 28,561,000 25,608,000 31,766,000 51,182,000 57,327,000 
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 134 
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Change of 
 Tariff. 
 
 Up to 1886 the receipts were on a Free Trade tariff ; after 
 that year Protection became the State policy. Wine pays 
 no import duty since 1887. On the other 
 hand, it is subject to a heavy excise, part 
 of which is attributed to the communal 
 revenue. In 1908 the excise brought in a total sum of 
 114,142,000 francs, of which amount 30,679,000 were handed 
 over to the communes, leaving 83,463,000 francs for the 
 State. The State, therefore, derives nearly six millions 
 sterling from customs and excise, and in addition there is 
 about 1,200,000 for local expenditure from excise. 
 
 The following table shows the principal occupations, 
 
 omitting . agriculture, mines, and metal factories already 
 
 treated of in other chapters, of the population 
 
 Occupations in 1896 which & ves the latest classifted 
 
 returns : 
 
 
 
 Textiles 
 Clothing 
 Building 
 Food 
 
 
 . 169,778 persons 
 . 137,966 
 93,577 
 90,443 
 
 Wood, Furniture, etc. 
 
 
 88,457 
 
 Hides and Leather 
 
 
 57,702 ,, 
 
 Conveyance 
 Specialised industries 
 Glass 
 
 
 41,873 
 24,435 
 22,797 
 
 Chemicals 
 
 
 20,715 
 
 Book trade 
 
 
 14,049 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 
 12,034 
 
 Paper 
 China Ware 
 
 
 9,448 
 28,977 
 
 The hours of labour at these industries range from eight 
 to twelve hours a day. The following table 
 dealing with a total of 504,304 (410,279 men 
 and 94,025 women) shows 
 
 Hours of 
 Labour. 
 
 Working 
 
 8 hours a day 
 
 8 to 9 
 
 9 to 10 
 
 Number 
 19,138 
 34,741 
 
 172,012
 
 Commerce and Industry 
 
 135 
 
 Working 10 to 10 hours a day . . 
 10 to 11 
 
 11 to 11 
 Hi to 12 
 
 12 .. . 
 
 Number 
 77,854 
 88,166 
 70,898 
 30,951 
 10,544 
 
 Total 
 
 504,304 
 
 The bulk of the industrial population work, therefore, between 
 
 nine and twelve hours a day. 
 
 Joint-stock Companies in Belgium are regulated by the law 
 
 of 18th May, 1873, which was modified and amplified by that 
 of 22nd May, 1886. In 1908 there were 
 1,365 such Companies, and in 1909 the total 
 had increased to 1,500. They are classified 
 
 in the following list, but the amount of capital invested in 
 
 them is not stated : 
 
 Public 
 Companies. 
 
 Assurances 
 
 
 28 
 
 Banks and Finance 
 
 
 87 
 
 Commercial 
 
 
 499 
 
 Industrial 
 
 
 653 
 
 Telephone and Electric 
 
 Shipping 
 
 Light Railways 
 
 Tramways 
 
 Transport 
 
 Public Works 
 
 
 24 
 13 
 1 
 3 
 24 
 66 
 
 Unspecified 
 
 
 102 
 
 1,500 
 
 The industrial population has a higher proportion to the 
 rest in Hainaut than in any of the nine provinces, and stands 
 lowest in Luxemburg and Limburg. The totals in each 
 Province and the ratio to the whole of the industrial class 
 are as follows those engaged in the mines and factories 
 being included :
 
 136 
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Hainaut 
 
 Liege 
 
 Brabant 
 
 East Flanders 
 
 West Flanders 
 
 Antwerp 
 
 Xamur 
 
 Luxemburg 
 
 Limburg 
 
 Totals 
 
 269,300 or 2383 per cent. 
 
 190,000 or 16-81 
 
 185,200 or 16- 39 
 
 171,000 or 1513 
 
 109,500 or 9-69 
 
 109,200 or 9-66 
 
 55,800 or 4 94 
 
 20,400 or 1-82 
 
 19,600 or 1 73 
 
 1,130,000 or 100 per cent. 
 
 Commercial 
 Tribunals. 
 
 Revenue and 
 Expenditure. 
 
 The great commercial activity of Belgium is shown by the 
 heavy work performed by the special courts Tribunaux de 
 Commerce dealing with such matters. In 
 1907-8, the last judicial year dealt with, 
 59,588 cases were entered for trial, Of these 
 31,054 were decided by the Courts, 10,981 were struck out, 
 abandoned or arranged, and 17,753 were not reached. 
 
 In concluding this chapter it will not be inappropriate to 
 give a brief account of the revenue and expenditure of the 
 Belgian Government. The following table 
 shows how the ordinary revenue has risen 
 from four millions sterling in 1840 to nearly 
 twenty-five millions in 1907. The extraordinary resources 
 on the side of revenue, and the extraordinary expenditure 
 on the side of outlay are also given. They naturally fluc- 
 tuate to a much greater extent than the ordinary revenue 
 and expenditure, and largely affect the question of a deficit 
 or surplus. 
 
 Ordinary Revenue in Francs 
 Years 1840 i860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1907 
 
 100,558,748 155,612,570 190,537,002 291,921,129 340,525,672 494,105,773 617,808,304 
 
 Add Extraordinary Rkvenue 
 68,817,505 14,096,647 14,005,107 102,294,803 37,878,647 48,672,331 9.45o,593 
 Grand Totals : 
 
 169,376,253 169,709,217 205,442,109 394,215,932 378,404,319 542,778,10+ 708,258,897 
 Ordinary Expenditure 
 Years 1840 i860 1870 1880 1800 1900 1907 
 
 102,840,113 142,880,770 191,843,926 292,009,654 335,230,651 479,055,783 615,237,120 
 
 Add Extraordinary Expenditure 
 63,674,258 16,144,607 25,063,874 90,898,775 82,662,978 95,102,409 I52.5.,64J 
 Grand Totals : 
 
 165,914,371 159,025,377 216,907,800 382,908,429 417,893,^29 574, '58, 192 767,772,763
 
 Commerce and Industry 
 
 137 
 
 By way of comparison between 1840 and 1907 the follow- 
 Sourccs of ing were the figures of the principal sources 
 Revenue. f revenue in francs : 
 
 Sources 1840 
 
 Customs . . . . 9,850,654 
 
 Tand Tax .. .. 17,186,459 
 
 Patents .. .. 2,862,893 
 
 Wines (foreign) .. 2,375,615 
 
 Spirits (home) .. 2,600,788 
 
 Tobacco . . . . nil 
 
 Registration .. 8,715,948 
 
 Succession Duty . . 3,778,963 
 
 Canal and River Tolls 2,210,189 
 
 Railways .. .. 5,335,167 
 
 Telegraphs . . nil 
 
 1907 
 54,492,928 
 27,987,220 
 14,377,476 
 
 5,737,643 
 42,830,800 
 
 2,291,445 
 36,786,437 
 23,213,536 
 
 2,086,885 
 
 259,136,808 
 
 14,315,503 
 
 Spending 
 Departments. 
 
 Instituting the same comparison between 
 the principal spending departments we find 
 
 Department 1840 
 
 Debt service (in francs) 26,639,005 
 
 War 
 
 Education . . 
 
 Foreign Affairs 
 
 Justice 
 
 Public Works 
 
 Railways 
 
 1907 
 
 166,883,308 
 
 30,802,193 .. 74,310,169 
 
 4,443,123 (year 1900) 29,333,833 
 
 1,897,925 .. 4,193,111 
 
 10,467,821 .. 29,901,197 
 
 14,717,455 .. 18,507,447 
 
 8,953,755 .. 218,946,415 
 
 There remains to give some particulars of Belgium's 
 national debt. The first loan was raised in 1832 at 5 per 
 cent., and the following table shows its 
 growth since 1840 : 
 
 1840 1850 i860 1870 
 
 255,831,120 611,992,361 634,137,847 682,880,914 
 
 Public Debt. 
 
 1,422,814,049 
 
 1890 
 8,043,774 
 
 1900 
 2,650,898,151 
 
 3,436,917,850 
 
 In addition to this consolidated debt the State issues as 
 occasion requires Treasury Bonds . This floating debt amounted 
 in 1908 to 169,510,000 francs. With the exception of one old 
 loan, bearing only 2\ per cent, interest, the debt is at the 
 uniform rate of 3 per cent. The total indebtedness of Bel- 
 gium in 1908, therefore, was 3,606,427,850 or 144,257,114. 
 This would have seemed an incredible burden to the Belgians
 
 138 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 ot 1830 or even 1860. The service of the debt, interest and 
 sinking fund, required 166,883,308 francs or 6,675,332 in 
 1907. The main asset against the debt apart from the inter- 
 ests of the State is the Railways, which showed a profit to 
 the Government of forty million francs or 1,600,000 in 1907. 
 The price of Belgian Consols in 1908 ranged from 92*25 to 
 96 per cent., averaging 94. The 2\ per cent, averaged 80*20. 
 Before the Socialist troubles in 1892 Belgian Consols averaged 
 101 or 102. 
 
 In addition to the State debt there is that of the Provinces 
 
 and Communes. In 1908 this amounted to an existing total 
 
 of 36,807,723 francs, but between 1830 and 
 
 Communal 1880 th Communes had borrowed 581 ,4 14,670 
 Debts. 
 
 francs (23,256,187). As the loans are for 
 
 short periods and are frequently amortised the provincial 
 
 debt is in a continuous state of flux and change. A large 
 
 part of the debt went in the construction of schools after the 
 
 new Education Act placed their control in the hands of the 
 
 Communes.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 RAILWAYS AND MINES 
 
 Belgium was the first Continental State to take up a system 
 
 of railway construction under the auspices of Government. 
 
 Immediately upon his arrival in the country 
 
 C TRailwa m s nt Kin & Leo P old l ordered the appointment of 
 a Commission to prepare a plan, and two 
 competent engineers, Messrs. Simons and De Ridder, were 
 entrusted with the task of surveying the country with special 
 reference to such a design. The hostilities with the Dutch 
 and the uncertainty as to Belgium's own future no doubt 
 explained how it was that the elaboration of the plan required 
 three years. The report recommended that Malines should 
 be selected as the central point, and that through it should 
 pass a line north and south from Antwerp to Brussels and 
 Namur, and east and west from Ostend to Bruges, Ghent, 
 Lou vain and Liege. The report was adopted, and in May, 
 1835, the first train ran from Malines to Brussels. In the 
 following year communication was established with Ghent 
 and Liege. M. Charles Rogier was the minister who carried 
 out the King's wishes, and the seventeen speeches he delivered 
 on the subject in a single session contained a remarkable 
 prognostication as to the influence railways would exercise 
 on the development of the country. 
 
 Encouraged by the success of the Government main lines 
 
 a large number of public companies were formed for the 
 
 purpose of constructing special local lines 
 
 Private Lines, that seemed to be needed, and at one time 
 
 these represented a greater mileage than the 
 
 State-owned lines, but these, as was always the intention, 
 
 have, with very few exceptions, been bought up. At the end 
 
 139
 
 140 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 of 1908 the distribution of the different lines of railway is 
 shown in the following table, the mileage being approximate : 
 
 Mileage 
 
 Railways built by the State . . . . . . . . 637 
 
 built for the State and taken over by it . . . . 443 
 
 built by Private Companies and bought up by the 
 
 State 1.430 
 
 ,, worked by the State in conjunction with the 
 
 Companies . . . . . . . . . . 1 50 
 
 Total mileage under State control . . . . . . 2,660 
 
 There are also seven small private railway companies with 
 a total mileage of 250 miles, but portions of these lines are on 
 Dutch and French territory. 
 
 The total cost of constructing the State-controlled lines 
 is given at a little over one hundred millions sterling, or at 
 
 the rate of 40,000 per mile. The number 
 C n truction * P ersons employed on these railways was 
 
 in the year named 70,500, and there were 
 1 ,557 stations and minor halts. These are all included in an 
 official guide called the Indicateur Beige, or Guide Officiel, 
 published three times a year at the price of threepence. This 
 is an admirable publication, and far superior to our own 
 A. B. C. Fares are based on a fixed charge per kilometre, 
 and season-tickets are issued for short or long periods avail- 
 able over the whole of Belgium. The season-tickets bear a 
 photograph of identity and require a deposit of five francs, 
 returnable at the close of the period for which the ticket is 
 taken. The short-term tickets five or fifteen days are 
 especially suitable and convenient for tourists. The total 
 number of travellers on all Belgian railways in 1908 was 
 nearly 177 millions. 
 
 As the State is responsible for accidents and has to indem- 
 nify for death or injury, the following statistics are interesting. 
 
 Out of the 177 million passengers in 1908 
 Accidents. forty . seven were k jii e d an d 1,015 injured. 
 
 Out of the 70,500 employes fifty-one were killed and 549
 
 Railways and Mines 141 
 
 injured. In addition to these, seventy-eight persons described 
 as neither travelling at the time of the accident nor 
 employed on the railways were killed and seventy-four 
 wounded. Included in this total were suicides and persons 
 killed at level crossings. 
 
 In addition to her heavy railways Belgium is endowed with 
 an extensive system of light railways which have been im- 
 mensely developed and extended within the 
 Railwas ^^ twenty years. In 1890 there were 
 only 705 kilometres constructed, but in 1908 
 the total had risen to 3,260 kilometres, or nearly 2,040 miles, 
 and each year witnesses the construction of some more of 
 these useful feeders. These light railways, unlike those in 
 England, have proved very profitable as may be seen from 
 a comparison of the receipts and expenditure, the former 
 being 18,991,354 francs as against 13,120,220 for the latter 
 the working expenses being 69 per cent, of the receipts. The 
 only doubt that may be felt about new undertakings of the 
 kind is whether a sufficient number of them have not been 
 constructed more especially in the Ardennes region. 
 
 Statistics are not available as to the total number of pas- 
 sengers on light railways, but the return of accidents shows 
 among passengers nine killed and seventy- 
 's ^ n * wo m J ure( l' among employes two killed and 
 ten injured, and among other persons forty- 
 two killed and forty injured. The high number of accidents 
 to outsiders will not be surprising to those who know that 
 these railways are quite unprotected, and that the track 
 passes through woods where it is often difficult to see the 
 train's approach. The trains on these lines are restricted 
 to a speed of sixteen miles an hour. The carriages are small, 
 and each is divided by a glass door into two compartments, 
 one for smokers and the other for non-smokers. The plat- 
 form at each extremity is available for passengers, and is 
 specially coveted when the route happens to pass through 
 pretty scenery, as is the case between Paliseul and Bouillon.
 
 142 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 The season tickets mentioned above are available also on the 
 majority of the light railways. 
 
 One of the sources of Belgium's prosperity is her very 
 considerable mineral wealth, more especially in coal. Coal 
 was known to exist in the province of Hainaut 
 Coal-mines, in the eighteenth century and was used 
 locally, but it was not until the Dutch rule 
 was approaching its close that steps were taken to exploit 
 the mines in a serious fashion. The foundation of the Cock- 
 erill firm at Seraing in 1820 marked the commencement of 
 the working of the coal-fields in the Meuse valley. It was 
 not, however, until after 1835 that the coal of Hainaut and 
 Liege, and the iron of the region between Sambre and Meuse 
 were worked to any large extent. Statistics for the early 
 phases of the industry are not available, but in 1846 the first 
 General Census showed that 46,186 miners were employed 
 in 202 coal-mines, 21,312 hands were engaged in ironworks 
 numbering 243 distinct enterprises, and 16,000 artisans 
 worked in metals on their own account. The last named 
 were undoubtedly gunsmiths. 
 
 In 1896, the last census of which full analytical details 
 
 have been published, the number of persons employed in 
 
 or in connection with the mines had risen 
 
 Number of t j 28,3 13, and in iron and steel works to 
 Miners. ' ' 
 
 134,333. Confining our remarks to coal- 
 mines the total of miners of both sexes had risen in 1908 to 
 145,280. These were classified in the following manner. 
 Working under ground, 99,092 men, 8 women, and 6,653 
 boys ; working above ground, 27,924 men, 5,083 women, 
 3,481 boys and 3,039 girls. One of the mining reforms in 
 Belgium has been to put an end to female labour under 
 ground. At one time one-eighth of such labour was per- 
 formed by women. The following totals of women so em- 
 ployed will reveal the progress of this salutary reform effected 
 in the last thirty years in 1880, 4,714 ; in 1885, 4,256 ; in 
 1890, 3,170 ; in 1895, 1,268 ; in 1900, 191 ; in 1905, 25 ; and
 
 Railways and Mines 
 
 143 
 
 in 1908 only eight. Since 1890, no girls have been employed 
 
 under ground ; in 1880 they numbered 3,262. 
 
 In 1835 the total output of Belgian coal is stated to have 
 
 been 2,638,731 tons, and it fetched at the pit's mouth an 
 average price of 9*50 francs per ton. The 
 following table shows the output and market 
 price extending over a term of years down 
 
 Output of 
 Coal. 
 
 Output in Tons 
 
 Average 
 
 Price realised 
 
 
 per ton 
 
 in Francs and 
 Centimes 
 
 3,929,962 
 
 
 11-79 
 
 5,820,588 
 
 
 7-81 
 
 9,610,895 
 
 
 1114 
 
 13,697,118 
 
 
 10-86 
 
 15,011,331 
 
 
 15-31 
 
 16,886,698 
 
 
 1006 
 
 17,437,603 
 
 
 8-87 
 
 20,365,960 
 
 
 13-18 
 
 20,450,604 
 
 
 9-45 
 
 23,462,817 
 
 
 17-41 
 
 23,348,320 
 
 
 12-64 
 
 23,557,900 
 
 
 16-14 
 
 to 1908: 
 Year 
 
 1840 
 1850 
 1860 
 1870 
 1875 
 1880 
 1885 
 1890 
 1895 
 1900 
 1905 
 1908 
 
 It will be noticed that the total output has remained 
 stationary during the last fifteen years. This is one of the 
 results of the new laws restricting the output at the demand 
 of labour. As the population has continued to increase at 
 an unabated rate it follows that only the increased price paid 
 for coal has averted lower wages or considerable unemploy- 
 ment. The wages earned by each miner (the average in- 
 cluding women and children) in 1905 were over twenty per 
 cent, less than in 1900 or 1908. The average annual salary 
 per unit in 1900, 1905 and 1908 respectively was 1,413 francs, 
 1,147 francs, and 1,417 francs being in English money, 
 56 10s. 5d., 45 17s. 7d., and 56 13s. 7d. In fifty years 
 the average wages of the miner have nearly doubled. 
 
 The profit to the mine owners in 1905 worked out at eight- 
 pence per ton of output, and in 1908 at nearly fourteen pence. 
 This is a very narrow margin to work upon, and when in
 
 144 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 1899 the miners of the Borinage threatened to strike for an 
 increase of wages the owners held a great meeting declaring 
 that if this claim were persisted in they would 
 Small Profits, close down. This declaration could not be 
 regarded as an idle statement, for a large pro- 
 portion of the mines being worked were carried on at a loss. 
 In 1895 forty-five out of a total of 122 in activity showed a 
 loss ; in 1900, ten out of 118 ; in 1905, thirty-nine out of 121 ; 
 and in 1908, thirty-nine out of 130. In 1908, eighty-nine 
 mines for which concessions were in force were not worked 
 at all. 
 
 Labour is so fully organised on militant lines in Hainaut 
 
 and the Lige district, and " restriction of the output " has 
 
 acquired such a firm hold on the men's minds 
 
 ReS Ou?ut n f ^ a first principle that it is not at all likely 
 
 that the present annual production of a little 
 
 over twenty-three million tons from existing mines will be 
 
 much increased. There follows from this fact a consequence 
 
 that has not presented itself to the intelligence of the labour 
 
 organisers of Mons and Charleroi. With a fixed output of 
 
 only twenty-three million tons of coal Belgian industry 
 
 must halt. It cannot expand beyond its present limits 
 
 without importing coal at higher prices from its neighbours 
 
 than would recompense all concerned in the home production 
 
 as miners or owners, and in this age of cutting prices the 
 
 difference is sufficient to kill new industries. 
 
 Intelligent and far-seeing Belgian men of business took a 
 gloomy view of the outlook raised after the new laws in 1893 
 and accentuated by the unreasonable demands 
 c^i^fiTd P ut f rwar d in 1899; and it was with con- 
 siderable relief that they learnt, a year or 
 two later, of the possibility of Belgium being endowed with 
 a new coal-field in the region known as the Campine. This 
 tract of country is a barren moorland in the province of 
 Limburg, and the town of Hasselt may be taken as its central 
 point. The discovery that coal could be worked here in
 
 Railways and Mines 
 
 145 
 
 paying quantities was made in the year 1900, but before the 
 State would give the licence to exploit it the question of the 
 rights in new mines had to be discussed in the Chamber, 
 and fresh legislation passed on the subject. A fresh national 
 asset had been revealed, but for a time it looked as if the 
 Government did not know how to deal with it. The rights 
 of the discoverer, the landowner and the State had to be defined, 
 and the miners were propitiated by new laws restricting the 
 hours of labour to eight below ground. It was not till 1909 
 that all these matters were settled, and the first joint-stock 
 companies were formed to work the new mines. Several 
 shafts have been sunk, and it is understood that the mines 
 are promising although no statistics as to output have yet 
 been published. As to the hours of labour in mines they 
 are now definitively fixed at nine hours from bank to bank 
 and eight hours "at the face." 
 
 Whereas the coal-mines of Belgium, despite the restrictions 
 and limitations referred to, show at least no retrogression, 
 
 the other mines of Belgium have not realised 
 Other Mines, their earlier promise. This can be best seen 
 
 from the following table giving the results as 
 to the six principal minerals spread over a term of sixty years. 
 
 Mineral. 
 
 Ye\r. 
 
 1850. 1 i860. 
 
 1870. 
 
 1880. 
 
 1890. 
 
 1900. 
 
 1908. 
 
 
 Quantity 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (Tons) 
 
 299,2721 809,176 
 
 654,332 
 
 253,499 
 
 172,291 
 
 247,890 
 
 188,780 
 
 
 Value (Frs.) 
 
 2,412,7697,748,633 
 
 5,805,452 
 
 1,875,000 
 
 1,083,000 
 
 1,320,100 
 
 992,800 
 
 Pyrites 
 
 Quantity 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (Sulphuret- 
 
 (Tons) 
 
 4,084 42,513 
 
 28,665 
 
 7,913 
 
 2,980 
 
 400 
 
 357 
 
 ted iron) 
 
 Value (Frs.) 
 
 37,062 1,253,109 
 
 620,513 
 
 164,000 
 
 28,000 
 
 1,140 
 
 2,300 
 
 Calamine .... 
 
 Quantity 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (Zinc) 
 
 (Tons) 
 
 62,193 
 
 48,857 
 
 4i,3i6 
 
 15,735 
 
 5,040 
 
 3,000 
 
 3 
 
 
 Value (Frs.) 
 
 2,996,334 
 
 2,123,969 
 
 1,619,495 
 
 696,000 
 
 328,000 
 
 217,150 
 
 200 
 
 Blende 
 
 Quantity 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (Tons) 
 
 7,308 
 
 17,284 
 
 15,783 
 
 23,080 
 
 io,37o 
 
 5,715 
 
 2,099 
 
 
 Value (Frs.) 
 
 208,474 
 
 834,263 
 
 807,466 
 
 1.546,370 
 
 872,000 
 
 339,i8o 
 
 150,700 
 
 Lead 
 
 Quantity 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (Galena) 
 
 (Tons') 
 
 3,854 
 
 9,980 
 
 13,380 
 
 5,434 
 
 150 
 
 230 195 
 
 
 Value (Frs.) 
 
 477,775 
 
 1,606,228 
 
 2,472 616 
 
 892,000 
 
 15,920 
 
 63,280 
 
 29,45o 
 
 Manganese . . 
 
 Quantity 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (Tons) 
 
 
 
 700 
 
 14,255 
 
 10,820 
 
 7,130 
 
 
 Value (Frs.) 
 
 
 4,000 
 
 176,000 
 
 130,350 
 
 124,650 
 
 -(2387)
 
 146 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 The figures show a marked decline in all forms of mineral 
 productiveness. As recently as 1870 Belgium was a great 
 iron-producing country. It also produced large quantities 
 of zinc and lead. All have diminished, zinc to vanishing 
 point and lead to the output of the primitive mine of Longvilly 
 on the frontier of the Grand Duchy. In the last forty years 
 which have witnessed the decline of the Belgian output the 
 iron-mines of the Vosges and the Grand Duchy have come 
 into existence. When the ironmasters of Liege are approached 
 as to tapping new sources of supply in Belgium they respond, 
 " Why should we trouble ? We can get all the iron we want 
 from Lorraine and Luxemburg." Perhaps the most striking 
 proof as to the decline in activity of the mines is furnished 
 by a comparative table of the number of men employed 
 during the years tabulated. 
 
 Years 1830 i860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1908 
 Total number of workers .. .. 5,695 11,141 8,390 3,810 1,427 1,437 855 
 
 Apart from coal, mines in Belgium may be regarded as 
 having practically ceased to be productive. How vitally 
 important minerals are for the Belgian working classes may 
 be judged from there being 134,333 men engaged in metal 
 factories, all the material for which, practically speaking, has 
 to be imported. 
 
 Accidents in coal-mines in the year 1908 resulted in 133 
 
 deaths under ground and twenty-two above ground, and 
 
 137 cases of severe injury under ground and 
 
 thirty-one above. In mines (which in this 
 
 particular includes quarries) six persons were killed and 
 
 five seriously injured in the same year. 
 
 Belgium is famous for her quarries. The 
 Quarries. following statistics relate to their develop- 
 ment : 
 
 V"ar i860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1908 
 
 Number of 
 
 Quarries 1,411 2,319 1,7*9 i,7oi ',579 1,680 
 
 Value of output 
 
 francs 17,393,574 30,170,657 38,671,999 39,280,000 56,300,380 62,874,600 
 
 Number of work- 
 men 17,105 23,662 27,326 31,680 37,?8i 36,877
 
 Marischal Rochefort 
 
 RED MARELE QUARRY OF ST. REMY, ROCHEFORT
 
 Railways and Mines 147 
 
 The quarries are limestone, red sandstone, granite and 
 marble. They are to be found in the Ardennes (Luxemburg), 
 the Condroz district (Meuse Valley), the district between 
 Sambre and Meuse, and parts of Hainaut. The Ambleve 
 valley is remarkable for its red sandstone range. Slate 
 quarries abound in the southern parts of Luxemburg. Lime 
 is largely worked in the valley of the Meuse, and the cement 
 industry is one of the most important in Belgium. 
 
 One of the most interesting quarries in Belgium is that of 
 
 St. Remy, from which a beautiful red marble is excavated. 
 
 This quarry has been worked at for centuries, 
 
 R QuSy bl6 and is sti11 in ful1 use - Zt ori g inall y belonged 
 to the famous Abbey of St. Remy, which lies 
 about a mile north of the town of Rochefort, and was long 
 the burial place of the Counts of that name who were ruling 
 princes coining their own money. Little of the Abbey remains 
 owing to the ravages of time and of the sans culottes in 
 1795, and the Trappists who had it some years ago contented 
 themselves with using it as a farm and brewery. Lately it 
 has passed into the possession of the Benedictines who are 
 engaged in restoring the Abbey to something approaching 
 its original form. The quarry lies about half a mile north 
 of the Abbey, and has been cut out of the side of the rock. 
 Curiously enough it is only at this particular spot that the 
 marble is found. Many other quarries have been opened in 
 the neighbourhood with the object of penetrating into the 
 same mountain from different sides, but on finding no trace 
 of marble these have, one after another, been abandoned. 
 The quarry which, before the French Revolution, was the 
 property of the monks, has long been worked by a private 
 company. The stone is not merely of a rich colour but is 
 beautifully grained, and has been largely used for the interior 
 decoration of Belgian churches. In 1908 Belgium exported 
 from her quarries of all kinds stone of the weight of 1,477,058 
 tons of a total value of 40,636,000 francs or about 1,625,500 
 pounds sterling.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 
 
 The laws of Belgium are contained in a collection called the 
 " Codes Beiges." They are a sort of grafting of the old laws 
 of the Nine Provinces on the Code Napoleon 
 e Cod e e gian which was effected under the charge of a special 
 Commission, appointed after the establish- 
 ment of national rule. The Commission completed its 
 labours in the year 1835, when the Codes were published. 
 Of course many new laws have been added since, but the 
 principles laid down in the first Statute-book have never been 
 departed from. For instance, capital punishment remains 
 on the Statute, and murderers are still sentenced to death in 
 Belgian Courts, although no one has been executed for over 
 half a century. 
 
 We are rather given to say in this country that everything 
 is decided by precedent, but in Belgium the adherence to rule 
 is even more strict. The highest of all the 
 Cassation Courts in Belgium, that is the Cour de Cassa- 
 tion, has indeed no other role than to super- 
 vise judgments, and see how far they conform with the prin- 
 ciples and penalties laid down in the Code. Only when a 
 Minister of State has to be tried is the Cour de Cassation used 
 as a Court of open trial. This Court consists of only one judge, 
 who has under him a body of re visors, and the President of the 
 Court enjoys the position of being the best paid judge in 
 Belgium, with a salary of 20,000 francs or 800 per annum. 
 The salaries of the judges is evidence of the low scale on which 
 salaries run in Belgium. A Judge of Appeal gets 10,000 
 francs or 400 a year. A Judge de Paix, of whom there 
 are 222 in the country, receives from 160 to 220 per 
 annum. 
 
 148
 
 The Administration of Justice 149 
 
 For civil justice there are three Appeal Courts or groups of 
 courts in the country. They are at Brussels, Ghent and 
 
 Liege respectively, and dependent on these 
 Appeal Courts, are the Juge de Paix courts, each of which 
 
 marks a canton. Reporting to the Brussels 
 Courts are eighty-three cantons, to Ghent sixty-five, and 
 to Liege seventy-four. Immediately under the three Appeal 
 Courts are the Courts of First Instance, in which all civil 
 cases are heard before they can be carried to the Appeal Courts. 
 Statistics show that about one case in eight reaches the Appeal 
 Court. These Courts of First Instance are to be found in all 
 the towns of importance and number twenty-six for the whole 
 kingdom. They are supplemented by tribunals of commerce 
 in Antwerp, Ghent and Liege. In 1908 there were 517 
 commercial failures and 390 distraints of goods. 
 
 The following tables show the work of all the Civil Courts in 
 the two last years reported on : 
 
 Court of Cassation 
 
 Cases Decisions Cases Not 
 
 Year Entered Reversed Confirmed Reached 
 
 1906-7 76 2 34 40 
 
 1907-8 86 1 44 41 
 
 Court of Appeal 
 1906-7 3,457 459 1,471 1,527 
 
 1907-8 3,206 391 1,366 1,449 
 
 Turning now to the Lower Courts we 
 ^_.?r r< come to the Tribunaux de Premiere In- 
 stance, and there the official return reads : 
 
 Courts. 
 
 Cases struck 
 
 Year Cases Entered out : dismissed Cases decided Adjourned or 
 
 and compromised for Plaintiff not Reached 
 
 1906-7 25,068 2,955 7,975 14,138 
 
 1907-8 26,481 2,933 8,553 14,995 
 
 Courts of the Juge de Paix 
 
 Arranged without 
 Year Cases Entered formal Judgments Judgments made 
 
 1906-7 141,640 115,574 26,066 
 
 1907-8 144,954 118,155 26,709
 
 150 
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 In the last -mentioned cases the object of the Juge de Paix 
 is to arrange the matter to the satisfaction of everybody, and 
 this explains why 80 per cent, of the cases are settled without 
 a formal judgment being given. 
 
 Criminal cases are tried before three orders of courts 
 Assize, Correctional and Police Courts. The following are 
 the returns for the last two years included in the official 
 annual : 
 
 Year Accused 
 Persons 
 
 1907 94 
 
 1908 74 
 
 Acquitted 
 
 22 
 14 
 
 Assize Courts 
 
 Sentenced I 
 
 to Death 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 Imprisonment 
 
 Me Period Period 
 
 (long) (short) 
 
 5 36 26 
 
 h 27 22 
 
 Year 
 1907 
 1908 
 
 Year 
 1907 
 1908 
 
 Accused 
 56,657 
 54,376 
 
 Persons 
 
 171,277 
 
 172,406 
 
 Correctional Courts 
 
 Sent to 
 Acquitted Imprisoned Fined Reformatory 
 
 9,463 22,869 24.013 312 
 
 8,658 21,938 23,555 225 
 
 Police Courts 
 
 Reprimanded 
 or Acquitted 
 
 19,627 
 22,119 
 
 Term oi Imprisonment Fined 
 4,474 147,176 
 
 3,988 146,299 
 
 Death 
 Sentences. 
 
 Here again the same desire to inflict moderate penalties 
 and thus to prevent bad blood between the accusers, the 
 accused and their relations may be discovered 
 in the large number of fines imposed which 
 in the police courts rarely exceed five francs 
 There has been a marked diminution in the amount of crime 
 in Belgium. Sixty years ago the average number of persons 
 sentenced to death was forty in each year, and they were 
 executed into the bargain. To-day the extreme cases 
 average five a year, but it must be remembered that 
 commutation in these instances does not mean to ordinary 
 imprisonment for fife, but to perpetual seclusion and silence. 
 
 There are two classes of prisons distinguished as central 
 and secondary. In the former, the principal of which are at 
 Louvain and Ghent, the number of prisoners of both sexes
 
 The Administration of Justice 151 
 
 undergoing a term of imprisonment at the end of 1908 was 734. 
 It is not at all easy to analyse the returns of the secondary 
 prisons through which the great majority pass in and out 
 every few days. The average population on any day in 1908 
 is given at 3,797 men and 378 women. About 140 boys and 
 girls were detained in reformatories, and there are agricul- 
 tural colonies for those who are deemed reclaimable. The 
 most noteworthy of these establishments is at Merxplas 
 in the north of Belgium, where the detained, some 2,000 in 
 number, are allowed their liberty within a certain area. 
 
 There are two institutions in Belgium of a quasi-judicial 
 character that claim mention. They are the " Depots de 
 
 Mendicite " and the " Maisons de Refuge." 
 th D^ti/^ ^ ne distinction is one well worth imitating in 
 
 this country. The " Maisons de Refuge " 
 are shelters provided for the really deserving poor and " out 
 of work," who through no fault of their own have no home to 
 sleep in, and are in danger of starvation. There is no legal 
 disadvantage or penalty in the eyes of the law in having 
 been the inmate of a " Maison de Refuge." It is for " the 
 wrecks of the high road " and those who have gone under in 
 the battle of life. 
 
 It is otherwise with the " Depots de Mendicite," which are 
 the receptacles for the professional and worthless beggar, the 
 
 man who has made his livelihood out of begging. 
 the^Idl ^ ne omc i a l definition of those consigned to a 
 
 depot is " able-bodied individuals who instead 
 of working for their sustenance seek the aid of the charitable 
 as professional beggars, or those who through laziness, drunk- 
 enness and debauchery live in a condition of vagabondage." 
 Felons sentenced to less than a year's imprisonment may 
 on release from prison be consigned to a depot. In plain 
 English the Belgian law differentiates clearly between those 
 in need and those who beg through laziness and aversion to 
 work. The average daily population of the depots was 5,421 
 in 1908, and of the Maisons de Refuge 1,279. The student who
 
 152 
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 wishes to compare the social condition of different countries 
 may profitably study the returns of our workhouse population 
 in contrast with these figures. 
 
 The administration of justice in Belgium cost the country 
 at large in 1907 the following sums : 
 
 
 
 Francs 
 
 Department of Minister 
 
 
 732.646 
 
 Judicial Body 
 
 
 7,400,354 
 
 Cost of Prosecutions and Courts 
 
 
 . 2,695,262 
 
 Up-keep of Palais de Justice 
 
 
 34,521 
 
 Official Publications 
 
 
 435,219 
 
 Military Justice 
 
 
 151,453 
 
 Reformatories 
 
 
 6,059,954 
 
 Prisons 
 
 
 3,235.088 
 
 Police Expenses 
 
 
 174,109 
 
 Exceptional Expenses 
 
 
 1,683,149 
 
 
 22,601,755 
 
 Judges and 
 Barristers. 
 
 The judges are chosen from the members of the bar, who 
 are called "avocats" or barristers. They are appointed by 
 the King, are practically irremovable, but in 
 cases of misconduct or mental incapacity can 
 be deprived of their office by the unanimous 
 vote of their brother judges. Such a case does not appear 
 to have arisen. 
 
 Barristers are recruited from students who have taken 
 the degree of Doctor of Laws at one of the Universities, and 
 who then notify their intention to plead in the courts. The 
 fees for admission to the bar are little more than nominal. 
 Barristers do not work in the Juge de Paix Courts. Their 
 principal practice is in the Appeal Courts and the Tribunaux 
 de Commerce. On the criminal side they appear in the 
 Assize and Correctional Courts alone. The fees are small, 
 but the leaders in the Appeal Courts receive payments 
 approximating to our own scale. One of the best paid posts 
 open to the bar is that of Procureur du Roi, that is, Crown 
 Prosecutor, and as the work is heavy and the holder of the 
 substantial appointment may be otherwise engaged, he has
 
 The Administration of Justice 153 
 
 the right to name a substitute among his brother barristers. 
 To simplify the transaction of business a list is kept at each 
 court of barristers eligible to act as Procureurs du Roi. 
 
 Although a barrister may be instructed by his client direct, 
 and it is usual to do so, there are also solicitors in Belgium. 
 They are called avoues. They must have taken a degree in 
 law at one of the Universities, and obtained a diploma author- 
 ising them to practise their profession. It is not very easy 
 to understand how the avoue obtains a sufficiency of work, 
 seeing that the most profitable functions of the profession 
 are discharged by the " notaire." This may explain why there 
 are so few avoues and these only in the most important cities. 
 
 But the notaire is everywhere. He is the indispensable 
 
 man of business, through whom everyone in Belgium possessing 
 
 any property at all transacts his or her affairs. 
 
 The Notaire. His public duties consist exclusively of re- 
 ceiving and confirming affidavits. To that 
 extent he is a Commissioner of Oaths ; the civil marriage is 
 also performed in his presence at the Hotel de Ville, or the 
 Maison Communale. But the bulk of his work is done 
 as agent or representative for his clients, and it is very pro- 
 fitable work, the general opinion being that a notaire ought 
 to make a fair retiring fortune in twenty years. Many decayed 
 estates among the provincial noblesse have been restored by 
 marriage with the daughter of a notaire. 
 
 The notaire is also the man of business. All sales and 
 purchases of estates and house property are effected through 
 him. He generally keeps the family deeds and securities, 
 and as branches of banks are very rare in Belgium, he is to a 
 large extent the local banker, always it must be understood 
 for his clients alone and not for the public at large. While 
 the notaire discharges certain legal business he is not a 
 man of the law, and holds no legal degree or other qualifica- 
 tion. He is a man of business and finance. It is not easy 
 to ascertain the exact number of notaires, but there is at 
 least one for each canton, and in great cities there are, of
 
 154 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 course, as many as think they can find a living. As a rule, 
 a Belgian will only go to law after he has first consulted his 
 notaire on the subject at issue. The notaires as a body are 
 highly honourable men, but sometimes the handling of their 
 clients' money induces them to speculate on the bourse, and 
 when they come to grief there is almost as much suffering as 
 arises from the failure of a savings bank here. 
 
 The machinery of the law in Belgium for civil actions is 
 simple and far from costly to put in motion. The number of 
 cases entered also proves that the people are by no means 
 averse to litigation, and for some time past complaints have 
 been rife as to the law's delay. The large number of cases 
 not reached at the end of each year is proof that the courts 
 are overworked. This result is tending to diminish the 
 eagerness formerly shown in going to law, and much of the 
 work that now falls on avocats and avoues is done in attempt- 
 ing to arrive at settlements out of court. The only court 
 which shows an increasing amount of business is the divorce 
 court. In Belgium, civil marriage being the legal one, the 
 courts can dissolve the marriage tie without the intervention 
 of the Church. 
 
 On the criminal side of justice the tendency is to minimise 
 
 rather than exaggerate the gravity of an offence. This remark 
 
 does not apply to the old offender, and it may 
 
 Re^Tstration eVen ^ e ^ at ^ e ^ eS not & et muc ^ 
 
 consideration. To have offended once 
 
 against the law is regarded almost as proof positive of guilt 
 
 in regard to any fresh charge. In Belgium every citizen is 
 
 on the register of the Etat Civil at the Hotel de Ville of a city, 
 
 or the Maison Communale of a commune. In addition to this 
 
 registration all persons employed in domestic service or in 
 
 shops and restaurants are supplied by the police with a little 
 
 book called indifferently "livret" or "carnet," in which not 
 
 merely their names and family history are given, but also all 
 
 changes of employment. These books have to be shown at 
 
 the police office with each change of place, and as the last
 
 The Administration of Justice 155 
 
 employer inscribes the reason for leaving, there is a complete 
 history of the individual's life with information as to his or 
 her character. In any dispute or trouble with an employee, 
 the very first question the police agent asks is, " Give me your 
 livret." The servant has a bad time and will be certainly 
 lined if neglect has been shown in keeping up the record. 
 
 The agents de police, who are only to be found in the great 
 
 cities, are an admirable body of men, and if we omit the 
 
 qualification of regulating street traffic, in 
 
 Force which they have no experience, need not 
 
 fear comparison with any other civil force in 
 
 the world. They carry a small sword in a leather sheath, 
 
 but it is very rarely drawn, practically speaking never in the 
 
 daytime save on the occasion of Socialist disorders. At 
 
 night they also carry a revolver, but except in notoriously 
 
 bad quarters, like the rue Haute in Brussels, armed collisions 
 
 rarely occur. As all foreigners have to notify their presence 
 
 in Belgium through their landlords to the police, it naturally 
 
 follows that criminals from other countries try to evade this 
 
 regulation, and resort to all possible devices for the purpose. 
 
 The police have an ingenious way of running down these 
 evaders of the law. The agents report from their several 
 beats that they have noticed some suspicious-looking persons 
 about whom they did not know by sight. Note is made of the 
 fact at the central bureau, and about the same time infor- 
 mation comes, generally from Paris or Lille, that some notori- 
 ous criminals have disappeared from those places. Thereupon 
 the Brussels police organise a night hunt (it is called a " rafle" 
 or " sweeping off") and in the small hours of the morning they 
 descend upon the drinking and sleeping places favoured by 
 the thieving fraternity, and arrest all those whose papers are 
 not in order, or who, in the case of foreigners, have not a 
 "permis de sejour." In this way many criminals are traced 
 who were not known to be in the country. The agent de 
 police is just as popular with all law-abiding citizens in Bel- 
 gium as the police are with us, and this is the best proof that
 
 156 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 he does not abuse his authority. He never thinks of inter- 
 fering with the respectable citizen whom he seems to appraise 
 intuitively, but he has the eyes of a lynx for a member of the 
 criminal classes. I have seen instances of this in the Park 
 at Brussels where a great crowd assembles in summer after- 
 noons to hear the music. Hundreds of people will be seated 
 on the chairs under the shade of the trees behind which on 
 a raised terrace is the bandstand. A solitary agent walks up 
 the gravel path at a fair pace. One would imagine his thoughts 
 were with his family and not his work, when suddenly he 
 slackens his pace, looks fixedly at one of the seats, and just 
 raises his little finger. A woman gets up shamefacedly and 
 walks out of the Park. She is a well-known pickpocket, 
 let us say, but perhaps no one else has seen the occurrence. 
 The Brussels "agent" has a fine "flair" for his professional 
 duty, and is very much to be admired in his simple uniform 
 of black broadcloth and smart kepi.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 LITERATURE AND JOURNALISM 
 
 In one particular modern Belgium presents a striking contrast 
 to the mediaeval States that filled its place, and the contrast 
 
 is in this instance based on progress. The 
 Literature. Flemish communes represented the summit 
 
 of industrial and financial success and pros- 
 perity, but theirs was a material and not an intellectual 
 triumph. The age of Van Artevelde disclosed no literary 
 genius. The Burgundian period was sterile in the field of 
 letters, save for a few chroniclers who wrote in French like 
 Froissart and Commines, and whose achievements in the field 
 of letters were done in Paris and not in Ghent or Brussels. 
 It is true that the Flemish Text Society unearthed some 
 mediaeval ballads in Flemish, of which no one outside Flanders 
 had ever heard, but these, however interesting and suggestive, 
 could never have been regarded as of sufficient importance to 
 constitute a literature. It is also the fact that Willems 
 thought he had discovered an original Flemish version of the 
 famous Renard le Fox, and trumpeted it abroad as a proof 
 of early Flemish literary genius. A little examination 
 sufficed to show that it was nothing more than a Flemish 
 translation from the French. 
 
 If the Flemings produced nothing remarkable in the way of 
 literature during their political and industrial prime they 
 
 certainly did nothing during the three dark 
 P d centuries that preceded the French occupation 
 
 to establish a claim to intellectual pre- 
 eminence. They had their schools of rhetoric, in which 
 students were incited to declaim some of the old national 
 ballads and thus save them from dying a natural death 
 by being forgotten. But one fails to find any evidence of 
 
 157
 
 158 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 even literary interest. All the energy of the race was absorbed 
 in the effort to keep alive and not to disappear from the family 
 of nations. It is one of the wonders of history that a Belgian 
 nationality, retaining its two component parts in the Flemish 
 and Walloon communities, both at least 1 ,200 years old, should 
 have survived to emerge as a single and stable State in the 
 nineteenth century. The mind of the race was oppressed 
 with the hard facts of its position ; it had no time to indulge 
 in flights of the imagination. The foreign yoke was so over- 
 whelming that neither the patriot nor the poet could raise 
 himself to such a flight of fancy as to imagine deliverance 
 within the range of possibility. 
 
 It is consequently all the more remarkable that the attain- 
 ment of her independence should have been followed in 
 Belgium by one of the most striking literary 
 Revival" 8 rev i ya l s that Europe witnessed in the nine- 
 teenth century. In subjection her voice 
 had not been heard, but on the morrow of her liberation she 
 became articulate. The first manifestation of literary genius 
 came from Flanders. It was no doubt evoked by the aspersion 
 cast on the Flemish tongue by those who assumed too con- 
 fidently that French would be the language of the new State. 
 Besides the Walloon section of the nation enjoyed the posses- 
 sion of French literature, a satisfying repast for the Belgian 
 public before, in a later generation, it furnished a stimulus to 
 fresh and original exertions of their own. 
 
 Reference has been made in the chapter on the Flemish 
 Movement to the works of Henri Conscience and Ledeganck, 
 
 The Flemish the Walter Scott and Byron as they are called 
 Scott and of Flanders. These men of genius proved 
 Byron. that although Flemish might be in the 
 phrase of a French writer " one of those languages that 
 have had troubles," it was still a tongue in which the noblest 
 thoughts of humanity could find expression. Ledeganck, 
 although an ardent Fleming, was intensely national. He 
 was all for the larger Belgium, which included the brother
 
 Literature and Journalism 159 
 
 people. Conscience was more pronouncedly Flemish. He 
 had taken on his shoulders the propagandist role bequeathed 
 by Willems, but under his direction Antwerp superseded 
 Ghent as the centre of the movement. Here Conscience 
 founded a school which not merely exists but gives abundant 
 proof of activity to-day. Antwerp even produced its own 
 poet as a rival to Ledeganck in Van Beers, who may be com- 
 pared to Shelley or Keats. Other leaders of the Antwerp 
 school were Theodore Van Ryswyck (father of the late burgo- 
 master of Antwerp, who was one of the most brilliant of public 
 orators), Pol de Mont and the Sisters Loveling. The last- 
 named ladies were contemporaries of George Eliot and wrote 
 somewhat in her style. 
 
 It might have been expected that this literary activity would 
 
 have exhausted itself with the first impressionist movement, 
 
 and that the leaders would have found no 
 
 Schod successors capable of giving the movement 
 
 a fresh impetus. The national spirit that 
 
 glorified the deeds of the Flemish communes could not but 
 
 exhaust itself with the recitation of the deeds themselves. 
 
 They did not admit of repetition. The first writers had 
 
 appropriated and worked out the subject. Under such 
 
 conditions it would not have been surprising if the Flemish 
 
 literary movement, after blazing up, had burnt itself 
 
 ont. It was its striking feature that it experienced a 
 
 second revival. What Conscience and Ledeganck did in 
 
 the first phase, Maeterlinck and Verhaeren achieved in 
 
 the second. 
 
 Maurice Maeterlinck, a student and then a professor at 
 Ghent University, revealed himself to the world about twenty- 
 five years ago. He wrote in Flemish, and his theme was not 
 the narrow one of Flemish aspirations but the broad and 
 limitless one of human nature and human passion. Just as 
 the theme was so wide, did he find Flemish too narrow and 
 confined as the implement of his labour. He abandoned 
 Flemish for French, and he left Ghent for Paris, thus
 
 160 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 consummating what might be called by his fellow-citizens 
 " the grand treason." 
 
 Like Conscience and Ledeganck, Maeterlinck had his 
 affinity and complement in Emile Verhaeren. Twin stars 
 shone together at each epoch in the Flemish 
 M Ven and nrmament - Maeterlinck, as his " Douze 
 Chansons " well proves, indulged his genius 
 in the play of poetry, but was at heart romanticist, philosopher 
 and moralist. Verhaeren, who condescended at times to 
 the use of prose, was essentially poet. In him the Flemish 
 landscape, the bare bleak sea-driven stretch of the dunes, 
 the mirage-like fields of the polders, found their Wordsworth, 
 with more than Wordsworth's force, and a daring in word 
 pictures where he was timid. " Les campagnes hallucinees," 
 " Les vagues des dunes," " Toute la Flandre," will prevent 
 critics from pronouncing dull and uninteresting those lands of 
 Flanders whose mystery he has fathomed and of which he 
 offers the reader the key in his melodious verse, seemingly 
 produced without more effort than a human sigh. But 
 Emile Verhaeren, too, appeals to the wider public he can 
 reach through the medium of the French language. The 
 ambition of the individual in both these illustrious cases has 
 proved too strong for the separatist inclinations of the born 
 Fleming. In literature it is not true to say that it is more 
 satisfying to be king in one's own village than an ordinary 
 citizen of Rome. 
 
 If the Flemings provided what may be called the first 
 sensations in Belgian literary activity, the Walloon movement 
 which followed at an interval, has been 
 Movement*" scarce ly l ess significant or meritorious. The 
 Walloon writers of the three troubled periods 
 the Brabant Revolution of 1789, the transition period after 
 the fall of the Empire in 1814, and the Belgian Revolution 
 of 1830-1 were among the most prolific and active pam- 
 phleteers that have ever been known. " Shoot me some of 
 those pamphleteers," exclaimed an irritated Austrian Minister
 
 Literature and Journalism 161 
 
 in 1789, and it would be difficult to discover a publicist 
 who did more in preparing a revolution with the pen than 
 Louis de Potter before 1830. The pamphleteer is only the 
 historian in embryo whose mission will not allow of his waiting 
 to write in extenso. It was, therefore, only natural that the 
 establishment of peace should be followed by a marked 
 development of historical study, elucidation and description. 
 There was a natural explanation for this. Belgium had just 
 been born, but although a new kingdom it was an old country, 
 and history had to be searched and described to explain the 
 tardiness of its birth. It was under these circumstances that 
 Gachard, Schayes, T. Juste, Kervyn de Lettenhove, Villen- 
 fagne, and others too numerous to name, explored the recesses 
 of Belgian history, and set forth the sad national experiences 
 of the hardest treated race in Western Europe. Vander- 
 kindere, one of the latest and the ablest of these searchers 
 after truth, has informed his countrymen in a bitter sentence 
 that they could not expect to come back from those wanderings 
 in subterranean regions without some of their plumage 
 being burnt, and something of their pristine virtue left behind. 
 
 If Flemish writers produced the romance and poetry of the 
 nation, it was the French-speaking community that provided 
 the historians, the political writers and the scientists. They 
 were a band of highly meritorious scholars and teachers, 
 although none reached the higher level of genius. They had 
 none of the stimulus provided by a definite mission of political 
 or racial propaganda. Their principal object was to unearth 
 historical documents, to group them in a harmonious whole, 
 so as to convince the world that Belgium had existed with an 
 almost unbroken thread of national life from the olden time. 
 Their subject alone was interesting in their eyes. It never 
 occurred to them that there was need to establish the superi- 
 ority of prose set down in French to that expressed in Flemish, 
 or to prove the greater fertility of Walloon intellect to that of 
 the men of Flanders. The idea of comparison, competition 
 and contrast never entered their minds. 
 
 ii (2387)
 
 162 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 But the Flemish movement had always been aggressive 
 in its character, and it was scarcely surprising that the pro- 
 ductions of several men whose real genius could not be chal- 
 lenged in any assembly of intellect, should have imparted some 
 measure of arrogance to the Flemish attitude towards the 
 other race in the Union. It became a favourite phrase in the 
 Flemish papers to declare that the Walloon intellect was 
 sterile, and that it was satisfied to let France provide it with 
 such literature as it might require. The Flemish attitude was 
 provocative and a challenge. It gave rise to the Walloon 
 movement which, in its way, has proved as remarkable as the 
 Flemish, and may still be regarded as in the full swing of its 
 vigour. 
 
 The Walloon movement has been double-winged. There 
 
 has been a general effort, and it is still in progress, to preserve 
 
 and revive the Walloon tongue which is as 
 
 ^To^i 00 " oId ^ the Flemish - and which was in use at 
 the Court of Pepin and probably of Charle- 
 magne. The other side of the movement has been to enrich 
 French literature by the great achievements of more than a 
 few Walloon writers. Li6ge, the capital of Wallonia, took 
 the lead in this movement just as naturally as Ghent and 
 Antwerp had done in regard to the Flemish. Defrecheux 
 and Vrindts supplied the Walloons with the popular ballads 
 that the Flemings found in Ledeganck and Van Beers. More 
 even than their Flemish colleagues are these singers the poets 
 of the people. The poems of Vrindts, for instance, give in 
 epitome the life of the stout Walloon race which has preserved 
 its national characteristics amid the rivalry of the Empires 
 by which Liege was surrounded. 
 
 While the movement at Liege remained pre-eminently and 
 
 distinctively Walloon, the second branch of the reaction 
 
 against Flemish arrogance and aggression 
 
 Movement concentrated its forces in Brussels. The 
 
 Belgian capital became the centre of the 
 
 revival of national literature, expressed in the French
 
 Literature and Journalism 163 
 
 tongue. The movement cannot be traced here in all its 
 details. The first writers like Van Hasselt were swayed 
 by the influence of Victor Hugo. The second and more 
 numerous group, of which Camille Lemonnier, Georges Roden- 
 bach and Edmond Picard were the bright and particular stars, 
 were largely influenced by the naturalistic tendencies of the 
 modern French school. Poets such as Giraud, Gilkin, 
 Mockel and Severin have proved that the Belgian mind can 
 soar to the heights of Parnassus, while M. Chainaye, a stren- 
 uous fighter against the aggressions of the " Mouvement 
 Flamingant," has gone to the root of things in his " L'Ame 
 des Choses." M. Maurice Wilmotte, less partisan than 
 Chainaye, has taken his place as a leader of the French move- 
 ment by his captivating sketch of the moral and political 
 aspects of independent Belgium. 
 
 Of all these writers, however, one alpne, it may be admitted, 
 
 has passed the final test of literary fame, the acquisition of an 
 
 European reputation, Camille Lemonnier. 
 
 Lemonnier ^ e ' s one * ^ e nnest stylists in any lan- 
 guage, and his prose reads with the lilt of a 
 song. For that reason translations of his best works are 
 impossible. Those that have been attempted read harsh, 
 and his metaphors defy transference to another scene. This 
 is especially the case in his description of the Borinage and in 
 his great novel " Le Male." The brutalities and coarseness of 
 industrial life have never been brought out with a bolder 
 hand, while behind them are portrayed the blurred features 
 of our common humanity. Walloon as he is, Lemonnier 
 has done full justice to Flanders in his " Contes Flamandes " 
 and his monumental sketch of " La Belgique " which devel- 
 oped out of his contributions to Le Monde Illustre. Enough 
 has been done by this chosen band of " Young Belgium " to 
 show that there is no truth in the Flemish aspersion as to the 
 sterility of Walloon intellect ; and it may even be predicted 
 that the French revival in Belgium, having a wider audience, 
 is likely to prove more enduring than the Flemish. Some
 
 164 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 proof of this might be found in the abandoning of Flemish 
 for French by the two leading writers of Flanders. 
 
 Belgium possesses a very active and influential press. The 
 papers published at Antwerp and Ghent are printed in Flem- 
 ish and those in Brussels, Li6ge and Louvain 
 ^ress" m French. Of course there are a few 
 French papers in Flanders and a few Flemish 
 in Brussels, but the rule is as mentioned. The principal 
 role of each paper is to advocate the cause of the political 
 party to which it adheres, and the original matter is confined 
 to political propaganda. Political views in Belgium are 
 extreme there is no Central Party and the press does not 
 lag behind the demagogue in giving the freest vent to vitu- 
 peration of the adversary. The rival party is denounced as 
 devoid of all virtue, and as no moderation is expected from 
 the other side, it is deemed weak to display it oneself. When 
 the Belgian journalist becomes tired of attacking his own 
 countrymen he relieves his feelings by criticising the people 
 of other countries. The Second Empire was one of its favourite 
 butts, so was England during the South African War. But 
 during the last two years there has been evidence of greater 
 restraint. The general European situation has inspired 
 anxiety, and Belgian publicists have displayed a proper 
 sense of their higher duties and responsibilities. 
 
 In Brussels there are several excellent dailies. The In- 
 
 dependance Beige, the Journal de Bruxelles, and the Etoile 
 
 Beige, are all first-class papers to which able 
 
 Papers 1 writers contribute. They also receive 
 
 official information, and endeavour to instruct 
 
 their readers as well as to promote the cause of the political 
 
 party to which they are attached. M. Roland de Mares of the 
 
 Independance is a publicist of European reputation. Among 
 
 specialist papers the military weekly, La Belgique Militaire, 
 
 takes a foremost place. Under the able editorship of M. 
 
 Leon Chome, it has advocated the cause of army reform during 
 
 the last thirty years, and is entitled to much of the credit for
 
 Literature and Journalism 165 
 
 the changes recently brought about in the system of army 
 recruitment. 
 
 The periodical press is of a somewhat spasmodic character. 
 An incident or the commencement of a commercial move- 
 ment will be heralded by the production of an illustrated 
 journal or magazine, and for a time a very interesting peri- 
 odical appears. The incident passes off, the movement fizzles 
 out, whereupon the publication is dropped. Such was the 
 case of La Chine et Siberie a few years back. The Congolese 
 publications have also diminished in number. Among all 
 the periodicals the most valuable is the Journal of the Royal 
 Society of Belgium. In this have appeared the best works 
 of historical writers like Gachard, Pirenne, Borchgrave, etc. 
 Closely connected with literature and journalism is the 
 literary club. In Brussels there is a rather exclusive club 
 
 located in the Park (near Vauxhall) known as 
 Clubs. the " Cercle Artistique et Litteraire," but 
 
 beyond allowing an occasional conference 
 or exhibition of pictures in its rooms it does not take a very 
 active part in promoting either the status or the interests of 
 literature. The Cercle Africain, held at the picturesque 
 Hotel Ravenstein, is nominally intended for the use of those 
 who have served in Africa, but it has a literary side also, and 
 is the centre of the propagandist movement in Colonial 
 matters which finds expression in the Congo Illustre. As a 
 rule, however, cercles or clubs meet at their chosen restaurant, 
 and in this sense there is scarcely a town in Belgium without 
 its little society. It would be more correct to say that each 
 town has two rival " cercles," the Catholic and the Liberal, 
 thus reflecting in social life the political divisions of the State.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 MUSIC, ART, AND THE DRAMA 
 
 Whatever else he may be or may not be the Belgian is 
 intensely fond of music. Concerts are the most popular 
 
 form of entertainment. There is not a com- 
 M al "st t mune that does not keep up a band or rather 
 
 two, for there are pretty certain to be rival 
 Catholic and Liberal bands wherever one goes, and in no 
 other country are greater facilities provided by the Govern- 
 ment for those desirous of studying vocal or instrumental 
 music in any form. There seems to be an average of not 
 fewer than 20,000 permanent students passing through the 
 conservatoires at any given time. State help is given to 
 these institutions because public opinion demands it, and not 
 with the object of spreading a love of music. The love of 
 music is a national trait. The Government is, therefore, 
 expected to provide those who wish to earn their living by 
 the profession with the suitable means and facilities of 
 becoming experts and virtuosi. 
 
 The four royal conservatoires are situated in Brussels, 
 Antwerp, Ghent and Liege. Each institution is divided into 
 classes covering the whole range of harmony, and at Antwerp 
 and Ghent there are separate classes for French and Flemish 
 declamation. The following table shows the total of inscribed 
 students at each of these institutions in 1908 : 
 
 Name 
 
 Male Students 
 
 Female Students 
 
 Total 
 
 Antwerp 
 Brussels 
 Ghent 
 Liege 
 
 . . 949 
 . . 481 
 . . 580 
 . . 742 
 
 978 
 405 
 601 
 461 
 
 1,927 
 
 886 
 
 1,181 
 
 1,203 
 
 
 
 Grand Total 
 
 5,197 
 
 166
 
 Music, Art, and the Drama 167 
 
 In addition to the four royal conservatoires there are 
 sixty-five other conservatoires and schools of music in the 
 
 country. Of these fifty-six are in Hainaut, 
 SC Music f Brabant and Flanders. The total of inscribed 
 
 students was 14,115 (7,033 males and 7,082 
 females). Among the famous musicians turned out by the 
 Belgian schools of music may be named Cesar Franck and 
 Ysaye, whose reputations are European. The chief merit 
 lies, however, in turning out annually a large number of 
 qualified musicians of all kinds whose influence on the life 
 of the country and the character of its people is not 
 inconsiderable. 
 
 The opera is very popular in Brussels, and has a particu- 
 larly long season at the Theatre de la Monnaie. During the 
 
 three months that the opera house is closed 
 The Opera. the orchestra plays in the open air every 
 
 evening at Vauxhall, in the Bois, except 
 when it rains. The conductors are doctors of music who have 
 qualified at one of the royal conservatoires, and the orchestra 
 is now recruited exclusively from the national schools of music. 
 There are fine concert halls in Brussels besides the hall of the 
 Conservatoire, which is situated in the rue de la Regence. 
 One of these is in the room called La Grande Harmonie, at 
 the top of the rue de la Madeleine. Great interest is taken in 
 the competition among the students of the Conservatoires, 
 but on these occasions only the parents or other near relatives 
 to the number of two apiece are allowed to be present to hear 
 the concours at which the relative merit of the student is 
 announced. At the repetition, however, it is possible for 
 outsiders to be present, and the search for new talent is not 
 the least practical errand of the visitors who include many 
 impresarios. 
 
 Great pride is taken in organising the communal bands 
 which are composed of trained musicians. They are called 
 out to attend the funeral of any prominent resident, and in 
 the smaller communes any funeral, provided the deceased
 
 168 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 belonged to the right political party. They thus acquire 
 
 special skill and harmony in Handel's or Chopin's funeral 
 
 march. On fete days and national holidays 
 
 C B in ds ial tne y P* a y popul 211 " music in the principal 
 square or " Grand Place," winding up with 
 the national anthem of La Braban^onne. The military 
 bands are also first rate, especially those of the two Guide 
 Cavalry regiments, which are always quartered in Brussels. 
 One of these bands plays in the park every afternoon during 
 the summer. The city band of Brussels also plays there, 
 and throughout the country similar arrangements are carried 
 out in all the garrison towns. Whatever shortcomings he 
 may note, the visitor to Brussels and Belgium will have no 
 reason to complain of a lack of good music. The audience at 
 the Monnaie, while retaining their right to criticism are 
 particularly susceptible to the claims of new-comers of 
 evident talent, and many a famous prima donna dates her first 
 European success from the acclamations of a Belgian audience in 
 their historic theatre. The Belgian revolution of 1830 origin- 
 ated with the ebullition of popular enthusiasm aroused by 
 Massanniello's famous song invocating the spirit of patriotism. 
 Art not less than music enjoys official support. The 
 principal institution for the cultivation of the Fine Arts finds 
 its home naturally enough at Antwerp 
 School^T Art assoc ^ ate< i with the memories of Rubens and 
 Vandyke. This is styled the Royal Academy 
 of Fine Arts, and dates from the year 1850. All the well- 
 known artists of Belgium in the last half-century have passed 
 through this Academy, and many others as well who have 
 not followed their profession in Belgium. Among the latter 
 the most distinguished is our great artist, Sir L. Alma-Tadema. 
 So far as mere numbers go the institution reached its prime 
 in 1880, when there were as many as 1,692 students as com- 
 pared with 941 in 1908. The decline seems the more con- 
 siderable when it is stated that female students were admitted 
 for the first time in 1890.
 
 Alphonse IVatteync 
 
 Bruges 
 
 RELIOUARY OF ST. URSULA, HOPITAL ST. fEAX, BRUGES
 
 Music, Art, and the Drama 169 
 
 Besides the Royal Academy of Antwerp there were eighty- 
 six drawing academies and schools in the kingdom attended 
 by 16,137 students of both sexes. Many of these students 
 are trained as architects, gilders, engravers, etc., as well as 
 those who enter the courses of drawing and painting. There 
 was even a class of naval architects at Antwerp, but this 
 was given up in 1885. So far as the different fine art exhibi- 
 tions allow of an opinion to be formed from the total numbers 
 of exhibitors there were about 600 painters of the male sex 
 and 100 of the female actively practising their profession as 
 artist-painters in 1903. 
 
 The modern school in Belgium dating from 1835 was 
 
 chiefly historical. Impressed by the events of the period 
 
 of liberation the artists found their inspira- 
 
 Th Sch t oo1 ern tion in the incidents of Netherlands' history. 
 
 Biefve, Gallait, De Keyser were the leaders 
 in the revival of Belgian art, and their historical works are 
 to be found on the walls of the Museum of Modern Art in 
 Brussels. But the interest of such works soon passed off, 
 and for a time Belgian art languished or waned in the choice 
 of a new bent. After some uncertainty a new school of 
 landscape painters, racy of the soil, has come into existence 
 making present-day Belgian art a real and living fact. Instead 
 of our own it will be best to give M. Edmond Picard's views 
 on the development of modern Belgian art. They are set 
 forth in the following passage which is taken from one of his 
 lively causeries on " the artistic psychology of Belgium." 
 We may only pretend to give M. Picard's sense and not his 
 style, which baffles the translator's efforts. 
 
 " In order to be the artist, to transform one's impressions 
 into the beautiful, it is necessary before everything to be true 
 
 to one's own home and surroundings ; art 
 M. Picard's mus t b e impregnated with national thought, 
 
 ambition and tendencies. At the beginning 
 of our history Belgium had no national soul, because the sense 
 of a nationality did not exist. Across that land of mist,
 
 170 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 where each knew not his neighbour unless it was to combat 
 him, there bloomed no flower of idealism. Whilst in the 
 Greek and Roman civilisations gods walked on earth, whilst 
 Paganism gave free vent to its streams of eternal beauty, 
 with us all was void. The night, during which intellect 
 with us slept, began to break about the year 1000, when in 
 churches and monasteries the aesthetic awakening was 
 revealed by barbarous and coarse decoration and constructive 
 work which were still expressive of the Roman art. Out of 
 this sprang Gothic art which in emotional force, if not in the 
 power of its harmonious beauty, surpassed Greek art itself. 
 With the House of Burgundy appeared the first form of 
 national unity, thus really creating Belgium, and thenceforth 
 national sentiment found its noblest expression in an inde- 
 pendent and original art. The national soul is manifested 
 with striking intensity in the works of Memling and Van 
 Eyck, in which may be found across the centuries the same 
 characteristics as are observable in our art to-day the love 
 of the picturesque, the research in detail, the desire to pro- 
 voke emotion. After the House of Burgundy came the eclipse 
 of our individuality, and with it of our art the eclipse lasted 
 during nearly three centuries. It may be objected that the 
 reign of Albert and Isabella saw the striking genius of Rubens. 
 But Rubens was not Belgian. He was one of those super- 
 natural men like Shakespeare and Michael Angelo who, when 
 they disappear, leave all in darkness after them. And then 
 we arrive at the day of our independence. At first our artists 
 seek to follow in the track of Rubens and we get the mediocre 
 productions of de Keyser and Slingeneyer. But other artists 
 rose with the courage to look about them. It is in landscape, 
 in the representation of the native soil that the renaissance 
 begins ; Artan, Boulenger, Baron and a crowd of others who 
 scatter over their works the light whose marvellous beauty 
 they have appreciated. Then came that great artist Con- 
 stantin Meunier, whom we may describe as of the school of 
 Quentin Metsys, Laermans who may be compared to Breughel,
 
 Music, Art, and the Drama 171 
 
 Alfred Stevens and De Groux to Vermeer and Snyders. All 
 these have created for us a new, striking and vigorous art 
 because they realised that it must be not merely beautiful 
 but true to our national and familiar life." 
 
 Modern Belgium can boast of having produced some very 
 fine sculptors, among the principal being Eugene Simonis, 
 
 the brothers Geefs, Jehoth, Fraikin, and 
 Sculptors. more recently Jacques de Lalaing. The finest 
 
 product of the art of a Belgian sculptor is 
 undoubtedly the colossal equestrian statue of Godfrey of 
 Bouillon, which occupies the centre of the Place Roy ale. 
 The British Waterloo monument in the Evere cemetery may 
 be mentioned as an original piece of work due to the talent 
 of Count J. de Lalaing. 
 
 There is no national theatre in Belgium as in France, and 
 up to the present time no special training school for the 
 stage has been established. The utmost that has been done 
 in any form of State aid, and that under the pressure of the 
 Flemish party, has been the building of special theatres for 
 Flemish plays at Antwerp, Ghent, and Brussels. After the 
 Monnaie, which has been referred to as the house for opera, 
 the principal theatres in Brussels are the Pare, the Moliere, 
 the Galleries, and the Alhambra. The most fashionable of 
 them is the Pare, where it is usual to give the latest success 
 from Paris with French actors and actresses. Classical 
 plays are given from time to time, and matinees of plays to 
 which young ladies can be taken have recently become the 
 vogue. 
 
 If the Pare is the playhouse for society, the Moliere, which 
 is also a house for French plays, appeals to a more general 
 
 public. The theatres in the lower town go 
 Theatres. in for light comedy, operetta, and burlesque. 
 
 Their greatest successes are scored when they 
 put on the boards a " risky " piece like " La Dame de chez 
 Maxim." Its success was phenomenal, not greater, however, 
 than that of the drama " Cyrano de Bergerac." If there
 
 172 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 is a national school of actors in the French tongue it is still 
 largely in the making, and the Belgian stage must be described 
 as cosmopolitan with a majority of the performers claiming 
 French birth. 
 
 It is, of course, different with the Flemish theatres, where 
 the company is necessarily exclusively Belgian. But the 
 Flemish theatres can boast of no large repertoire, and the 
 heroic popular play of " Uylenspiegel " was written origin- 
 ally in French by its author, Charles de Coster. It is, however, 
 a sure draw with the Flemings, for it deals with the heroic 
 period of the communes, and is frequently put on the stage. 
 As a drama it somewhat resembles the " Dead Heart," but 
 the most remarkable point about it is the opportunity it 
 affords of studying a Flemish audience. The royal theatre at 
 Antwerp is used as both an opera-house and for plays, but 
 here the language used is French. It resembles the Monnaie 
 with the exception that its season is shorter September to 
 April and that it only opens its doors on certain days in 
 the week. The most fashionable audience collects for the 
 Sunday matinees. The Antwerp citizens are more staid than 
 those of Brussels, and their dramatic fare has to be selected 
 accordingly. The Flemish Theatre, known as the Schouw- 
 burg, may be described as the home of Flemish drama, and 
 sometimes Flemish translations of Shakespeare's plays are 
 put on the stage. At Ghent there is another Flemish Theatre 
 also called the Schouwburg, which resembles in character 
 those already described. Near it is the French theatre, but 
 its season is short and, as a rule, it only opens its doors twice 
 or thrice a week.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 CANALS AND WATERWAYS 
 
 Although canals in Belgium are not so obtrusive as they are 
 in Holland yet they are far more important and numerous 
 than the visitor to the country might imagine. 
 Can"s ^ e ques^ 011 f tne internal waterways, 
 
 which may be subdivided into rivers, canalised 
 rivers and canals, of the country has always been of national 
 import. The guilds of the watermen (bateliers) were, in the 
 days of the communes, among the most important at Ypres, 
 Bruges, and Ghent ; it was on a matter of rivalry between 
 their boatmen that Ghent fell upon Ypres and shattered its 
 power in 1383. At the present time, despite the advent of 
 railways, communication by water is of the greatest value to 
 the economic system of Belgium, and a new policy has been 
 inaugurated of constructing new ship-canals or enlarging old 
 ones for the passage of ocean steamers into the heart of the 
 country. 
 
 The rivers used as waterways for commerce are the Meuse, 
 the Scheldt, the Lys, the Dendre, and the Dyle. The import- 
 ance of the Scheldt may be judged from the 
 
 P R^er P s al fact that three reat cities ' Antwer P- Ghent, 
 and Tournai, are situated upon it and that 
 boats paid toll on it at Tournai in the tenth century. The 
 Meuse, the Lys and the Dendre have been canalised in different 
 parts of their courses and the question of the more effective 
 control of the Meuse below Maestricht is one in which the 
 Belgian public apparently takes more interest than the 
 Dutch. Further reference will be made to this matter. 
 
 In the official list kept in the office of the " Ponts et Chaussees " 
 fifty-two separate canal systems are recognised among 
 the national waterways. They have a total length of 1,637 
 
 173
 
 174 
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 kilometres, or a little over 1,020 miles. The total tonnage 
 
 of goods carried by ordinary boats on these waterways in 1908 
 
 reached the enormous total of 1,111,773,961 
 
 Canals 1 tonS * * ^ S n ^ a smau< P art re l at ed 
 
 to foreign countries. The imports into 
 Belgium by water in the same year amounted to 6,228,815 
 tons and the exports to 7,128,390. 
 
 In addition to the fifty-two canals, etc., enumerated there 
 are five ship-canals, viz. : 
 
 Length in Kilometres Tonnage 
 Brussels to the Rupel . . . . 27-3 4,807,029 
 
 Ghent, Bruges, Ostend 
 Ghent to Terneuzen 
 Louvain to the Dyle 
 Bruges to Zeebrugge 
 
 23-3 
 
 267,723 
 
 17-5 
 
 22,898,308 
 
 30 6 
 
 8,280 
 
 16 
 
 475,810 
 
 114-7 
 
 28.457,150 
 
 These figures establish the importance to Belgium of her 
 canals and river-ways. Canal life in Holland is a more 
 picturesque affair than in Belgium, but it may be questioned 
 whether the amount of traffic is as great in the Northern 
 Netherlands as it has become in the Southern. The following 
 are the details of the goods conveyed by the internal canals : 
 
 Combustibles 
 Minerals, etc. . . 
 Building Materials and 
 China and Glass 
 Wood 
 
 Agricultural Produce 
 Industrial Produce 
 Merchandise 
 
 Metals 
 
 319,656,095 tons 
 
 108,881,739 
 
 211,016,193 
 
 88,066,579 
 
 36,191,028 
 165,146,470 
 
 52,004,753 
 130,811,104 
 
 Total 
 
 1,111,773,961 
 
 In 1908 the ordinary expenses on canals and waterways 
 amounted to 2,386,172 francs, and the receipts from tolls to 
 2,097,598 francs. But in 1907 and 1908 a capital expendi- 
 ture of nearly two millions sterling on the improvement of
 
 Canals and Waterways 
 
 175 
 
 canals and rivers as waterways was sanctioned. This shows 
 the importance attached to their development, and the 
 following table of the sums expended on the different water 
 routes gives a more or less correct idea of their relative 
 importance : 
 
 Canal or Rivcr-way 
 Scheldt (Antwerp) New Installation 
 
 ,, Improvement below Antwerp 
 Canal Charleroi-Brussels 
 Ghent-Terneuzen 
 Zeebrugge-Bruges 
 Meuse and Scheldt Junction 
 Lys river 
 Ghent-Ostend 
 Ostend port 
 Meuse 
 Coast Defences 
 
 Capital Expenditure in 1907- 
 8,174,260 
 6,848,850 
 4,991,156 
 4,750,286 
 2,938,675 
 2,845,216 
 2,685,835 
 1,683,326 
 1,568,154 
 1,126,779 
 1,206,448 
 
 The closing item, " coast defences," shows that the defence 
 of Belgium against sea encroachment is scarcely less artificial 
 than in the case of Holland. 
 
 It was Drusus, it will be recollected, who first introduced 
 
 a system of canalisation into the Netherlands by giving a 
 
 new arm to the Rhine, and there is evidence 
 
 Antiquity of th t th cana i s f rom Ostend to Bruges, with 
 
 Canal System. 
 
 a prolongation towards Ghent, and from 
 
 Brussels to the Rupel and the Scheldt, existed in the fourteenth 
 and fifteenth centuries. When Charles of Lorraine completed 
 the Bruges-Ghent canal 150 years ago, it was especially 
 recorded that it had been commenced in 1379. When the 
 Willebroek canal was enlarged in the sixteenth century, it 
 enabled William the Silent to perform the whole journey by 
 water from Antwerp to Brussels. In mediaeval Flanders 
 the Lys provided Ghent with a natural water route to Courtrai 
 and, incidentally, to Ypres as well, and the Scheldt one to 
 Audenarde and Tournai. Further east the Dender connected 
 Termonde with Alost and Grammont, while the Ruppel and 
 the Senne linked Brussels with the Scheldt.
 
 176 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 In many respects the Meuse, which is partly a French and 
 
 partly a Dutch river, is the most important of all Belgian 
 
 waterways. In its upper course it is linked 
 
 The Meuse. with some of the most important French 
 canals (the canal des Ardennes among others) 
 giving access to the heart of the old provinces of Cham- 
 pagne, Lorraine and Burgundy. The wine of these provinces 
 is imported by water the whole way to Dinant, Namur, 
 and Liege, and this mode of conveyance explains why the 
 wines of Burgundy have always been especially excellent 
 in Belgium. There is another reason for the superexcellence 
 of Burgundy in the Meuse valley. The cellars are cut in the 
 rock, and at certain seasons of the year when the river is in 
 flood the water is admitted, and when the tide falls it leaves 
 the bottles clothed in mud which is said to invest them with 
 a special and stimulating protection. In old days wine and 
 wood were the principal articles conveyed on the Meuse, but 
 since 1880 the most important import has been iron from the 
 famous iron-field of the Vosges. This is sent direct to Liege, 
 or branches off at Namur to proceed up the Sambre to Char- 
 leroi. Thanks to this cheap water conveyance French iron 
 competes successfully with that from Germany or the Grand 
 Duchy, which can only reach the Liege market after a more or 
 less costly railway journey. Since the exhaustion of the 
 home iron-mines between the Sambre and Meuse, Belgium 
 has been entirely dependent on the supply from foreign 
 sources and cheap transport necessarily forms an important 
 point in the degree of profit with which this mineral can be 
 utilised. 
 
 The most important question relating to the Meuse is as 
 to the possibility of establishing communication for ocean 
 steamers to as high up as Liege. This is rather a Belgian 
 grievance, as the Dutch authorities have been accused of 
 apathy and indifference. The matter requires a little careful 
 consideration. 
 
 When it became clear, after the Belgian Revolution, that
 
 Canals and Waterways 177 
 
 Dutch rule was ended in what used to be called the Spanish 
 Netherlands, the Dutch clung to the possession of the town 
 
 of Maestricht for sentimental reasons as the 
 Maestricht. scene of the heroism of their race, and the 
 
 indulgent Powers accepted and supported the 
 claim. Maestricht is, however, of not the slightest practical 
 value to Holland. At the same time that Maestricht was 
 left to the Dutch the part of Limburg lying on the right 
 bank of the Meuse was ceded to Holland as compensation 
 for what it lost in Luxemburg. This, roughly speaking, con- 
 sists of the cantons of Sittard and Ruremonde. While these 
 cessions of territory were made for the benefit of Holland 
 it was expressly laid down that the use of all canals was to 
 be free and common for both countries. It may be useful 
 to quote the precise stipulations of the treaty, for this question 
 of the Middle Meuse is very likely to become important if only 
 for the interesting and difficult engineering problems con- 
 nected with it. The following is the text of the special 
 Articles relating to the matter : 
 
 " Art. 10. The use of the canals which traverse simul- 
 taneously both countries shall continue to be free and com- 
 mon to their inhabitants. It is understood that the enjoy- 
 ment thereof shall be reciprocal, and on the same conditions, 
 and that on both sides there will be on the canals only 
 moderate navigation-dues. Art. 11. Commercial communi- 
 cations by way of the town of Maestricht and that of Sittard 
 shall remain entirely free and shall not be impeded on any 
 pretext whatsoever." 
 
 The importance of this strip of Dutch territory to Belgium 
 is that it intercepts Belgian communications with Germany, 
 
 while Holland is bound not to impose more 
 Meuse than moderate tolls on goods passing to and 
 
 from Germany by either road or canal. The 
 most important canal in the region is the South William 
 Canal which connects Maestricht with Bois le Due, passing 
 through a certain portion of Belgian territory. This canal 
 
 12 (2387)
 
 178 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 is used chiefly because it saves the wide bend of the Meuse 
 by Venlo, but if the Meuse itself were canalised below Vise 
 there is no doubt that Belgian traffic would favour the main 
 river. 
 
 At the present time Venlo marks the limit of up-stream 
 navigation for steamers. There is a regular daily packet 
 from Rotterdam to this place, but the Dutch have made no 
 attempt to improve the river above that town for the reason 
 as they admit that it would benefit Liege. In anticipation 
 of something being done by the Dutch the Belgians have 
 canalised the Meuse below Liege to the frontier at Vis6, and 
 expend a certain sum annually in its up-keep by dredging. 
 But the state of the river below Vise has rendered this a 
 useless expense. Small pleasure steamers ply in the summer 
 between Liege and Maestricht as they do above Namur to 
 Dinant and Waulsort, but these have no commercial value. 
 Belgium's possession of the left bank of the Meuse, inter- 
 rupted by the enclave of Maestricht, continues below the 
 
 circumference of that town to a point almost 
 Ruremonde. equidistant between Masseyck and Rure- 
 
 monde. The whole of this strip of the 
 Meuse of which Holland holds the right bank, is uncanalised 
 and of no use to commerce beyond what may be conveyed in 
 barges. Moreover, the river in flood is dangerous for naviga- 
 tion even by them, and between Ruremonde and Venlo, 
 where Holland holds both banks, the floods are aggravated 
 by the addition of the equally uncontrolled waters of the 
 river Roer, which flows into the Meuse at Ruremonde. Both 
 the Belgians and the Dutch citizens of Limburg consider it 
 a grievance that nothing has been done in this matter and lay 
 the chief blame at the door of the Hague Government. The 
 people of Ruremonde in particular grumble a good deal 
 because it is impossible for excursion steamers to come as 
 high as that place. It would be different, they have been 
 heard to say, if we belonged to Belgium. 
 A Dutch-Belgian commission has, however, been considering
 
 Canals and Waterways 179 
 
 the question of late, and something may soon be done. The 
 Belgian Government is quite prepared to undertake its share 
 of the work and the expenditure, and that of Holland without 
 committing itself has recently displayed more interest than it 
 has ever done on any former occasion. The canalisation of 
 the Meuse between Vise and Venlo would no doubt be a costly 
 affair, but the reclamation of the land now subject to 
 inundation would go far towards meeting the whole 
 expenditure. 
 
 Another great question with regard to the improvement of 
 
 Belgian waterways is that of rectifying the course of the 
 
 Scheldt just below Antwerp. The river here 
 
 The Scheldt, takes a wide sweep to the westwards, and it 
 has been proposed to obviate this by cutting 
 a new bed for the river across the neck of the promontory. 
 This scheme is known as "la grande coupure," and has had 
 as many opponents as supporters. But there seems no 
 reason for doubting that it is practically decided on, and that 
 as soon as the removal of the enceinte, now in progress, has 
 been effected this task will be taken in hand. No other 
 hypothesis will explain the postponement of work on the two 
 forts intended to defend the river approach to the great city. 
 The adoption of the " grande coupure " will not merely give 
 a direct entrance to the existing quays (thus saving a curve 
 of at least six miles) but it will also allow of their extension 
 northwards for a distance of two miles. It must also be 
 remembered that the lower Scheldt is in a special degree 
 liable to visitations of fog, and the straighter the river course 
 becomes the more is the risk of accident diminished. For 
 the moment the weak point in the defences of Antwerp is 
 to be found on the side of approach from the sea owing to 
 the deferred settlement of the " grande coupure " problem. 
 
 The reported intention of the Dutch Government to fortify 
 the mouth of the Scheldt at Flushing has raised considerable 
 discussion in Belgium, where the Scheldt is regarded as essen- 
 tially a Belgian river. In 1831-9 Europe very foolishly gave
 
 180 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Holland both banks of the Scheldt from a short distance 
 
 below Lillo, but at the same time it established the common 
 
 The Fortifica- rights (that is to say joint and equal) of Bel- 
 
 tion of gium and Holland in the navigation of the 
 
 Flushing. ^ver. A Dutch fortress at the mouth of 
 
 the river might seriously interfere with and, indeed, close the 
 
 access to Antwerp from the sea. Under certain contingencies 
 
 this might mean all the difference between national salvation 
 
 and perdition. It is not surprising then if Belgian opinion is 
 
 seriously disturbed at the outlook.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE COAST TOWNS 
 
 The great national port of Antwerp lies sixty-five miles up 
 a tidal river. The sea-coast of Belgium commences near 
 
 Knocke, on the Dutch frontier, and extends 
 The Dunes, for a distance of fifty miles to the French 
 
 frontier, a little north of Dunkirk. In that 
 stretch there are six places that may be designated by the 
 name of Coast Towns, the most important, of course, being 
 Ostend. The coast is marked by an unbroken line of sand 
 dunes, in places perhaps a hundred feet above sea level, but 
 for the greater distance only a few feet above high water 
 mark. As the number of sea-bathing places is steadily 
 increasing, and as the first step taken in founding a new 
 " plage " is to build an embankment in brick and stone for 
 the purpose of a promenade, the time may not be far distant 
 when the whole of the Belgian coast will be flanked by a 
 raised walk with the exception of the two inlets, at Ostend, 
 for the port and at Zeebrugge for the ship canal. At both 
 these places fine bridges already exist for foot and vehicular 
 traffic. 
 
 The name of the coast towns in their order from north to 
 south are Knocke, Heyst, Blankenberghe, Ostend, Middel- 
 
 kerke, Nieuport and La Panne. Of these 
 To n none have ports except Ostend and Nieuport, 
 
 which are placed on inlets of the sea. Knocke, 
 Heyst, and La Panne are merely minor sea-bathing places 
 inhabited during the summer season chiefly by Belgian 
 families from the great cities. Many Belgians have their 
 own chalets at the seaside ; others less fortunate herd together 
 in the few hotels which are crammed from cellar to roof. At 
 the places named the charges en pension, even during the 
 
 181
 
 182 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 height of the season, do not exceed eight francs a day. Blan- 
 kenberghe is a larger and more fashionable resort of the same 
 character, but the prices are much higher and approximate 
 to those at Ostend. Blankenberghe is the most bracing of 
 the Belgian watering-places, and is very popular with German 
 visitors. It comes with them next after Scheveningen, the 
 seaside suburb of the Hague. Once the season is over in 
 these places the hotels are closed, the shutters are put up all 
 along the front and a stray visitor would find himself in 
 places that for all practical purposes might be regarded as 
 dead cities. 
 
 Ostend, called in the public notices the " Queen of Conti- 
 nental Seaside Places," stands on a plane of its own. Besides 
 being the most fashionable and the most 
 Ostend. popular watering-place in Belgium it is a 
 seaport, and one with an ancient history. 
 It has not merely a past but a future, and the day may come 
 when, by the intervention of scientific dredging, it will be 
 classed as a great maritime port. 
 
 Ostend, which means, as its name reveals, east end or 
 extremity, came into notice at the end of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury because it was the nearest landing place to England. 
 During the religious wars Antwerp, being in the possession of 
 the Spaniards, the Dutch made a great effort to hold Ostend, 
 which was then well fortified, being surrounded by a deep 
 moat or canal. It was garrisoned by a mixed force of Dutch 
 and English, and undoubtedly formed a useful and menacing 
 pied-d-terre for the Protestant Powers. For the same reason 
 the Spaniards resolved to get possession of it, and one of the 
 first undertakings of the Archduke Albert was to entrust 
 the siege of this place to the great Spanish General, Spinola. 
 The siege lasted nearly four years, relays of volunteers from 
 this country going over to take part in the defence, but at 
 last the town had to surrender. It underwent after Fontenoy 
 a siege as brief as the earlier one was protracted ; and it was 
 regarded as one of the fortified places of the country until
 
 The Coast Towns 183 
 
 its fortifications were razed after the new scheme of 1859 
 was sanctioned. 
 
 The Austrians were the first to endeavour to make Ostend 
 a commercial port and they were moved to do this by the fact 
 that Antwerp was useless to them on account of the treaty 
 with the Dutch closing the Scheldt. The Emperor Charles 
 VI took up the question with great energy and founded there 
 the Ostend Company which was intended to trade with the 
 Indies, and to be the rival of the English and Dutch East 
 India Companies. It was far from unsuccessful, and founded 
 several important stations on the coast of India. Its activi- 
 ties brought down upon it the jealousy and resentment of the 
 English Company, but as the Empire and England were 
 allies in those days, the flag of the Ostend Company had to 
 be treated with a certain respect. The opportunity of get- 
 ting rid of a troublesome rival presented itself when the 
 Emperor desired to obtain England's adhesion to the Prag- 
 matic Sanction by which his crown was to pass to his daughter 
 Maria Theresa. Part of the price for this friendly act 
 asked by England in the interests of the East India Company, 
 was the suppression of the Ostend Company, and it was 
 suppressed. 
 
 Although the development of Ostend was thus arrested 
 it continued to be used as the point of departure for England, 
 and the Emperor Joseph II, among his other reforms for the 
 benefit of Belgium, constructed new locks on the old canal 
 between the town and Bruges. During the campaign of 
 1815 the British troops were landed at Ostend and many of 
 them were conveyed by barges up the canals to Ghent. After 
 Waterloo communications between England and Belgium 
 greatly increased, and a packet sailed once a week from Ostend 
 for Harwich. With the introduction of steam the number 
 of passages was increased, and after the supersession of Dutch 
 authority Ostend continued until the freeing of the Scheldt 
 in 1863 to be Belgium's one free port. With the freeing of 
 that river Ostend began to experience official neglect, and but
 
 184 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 for the personal interest taken by Leopold II in its affairs 
 it would have reached a lower depth than ever of misfortune. 
 
 At first that interest was concentrated on the development 
 of Ostend as a resort for those in search of health and pleasure, 
 but about the year 1895 the late King's attention was turned 
 to its greater possibilities as a seaport. One of the defects 
 of the old harbour was that in none of the basins was there 
 sufficient space for a ship to turn round. Steamers had, 
 therefore, to go out backwards, aggravating the difficulties 
 of the narrow entrance and entailing considerable delay. It 
 was decided to excavate an entirely new port lying to the east 
 of the small basin flanked by the old landing-stage, and to 
 make it of sufficient depth and dimensions to accommodate 
 a fleet of large steamers. There is now no difficulty in turning 
 the steamers within the harbour, and the old quay which 
 barely sufficed for the packets has now been carried back 
 for more than a mile. New lines of railway have been laid 
 down close to this quay, and all the appurtenances for dealing 
 with a heavy goods traffic have been provided. 
 
 Ostend now enjoys a practical monopoly of the light goods 
 
 and parcels traffic between England and Belgium. It is 
 
 also the main passenger and mail route, 
 
 StC port aS * new turbine steamers having been recently 
 
 provided, and through express trains run to 
 
 Berlin and St. Petersburg in Northern Europe, and Vienna 
 
 and Constantinople in southern. The new accommodation 
 
 for ships of the largest tonnage in the new basins and docks 
 
 of Ostend is far in excess of its present requirements, and the 
 
 future must be left to show whether it will ever realise the 
 
 grandiose ideas of Leopold II. 
 
 The defect of Ostend as a port for ocean-going commerce 
 is the narrowness of the entrance which, moreover, cannot 
 be widened, and at low tide there is not enough depth of 
 water to admit the largest steamers. It was this considera- 
 tion that led to the construction of the ship-canal from Bruges 
 to the sea at a point called Zeebrugge between Blankenberghe
 
 The Coast Towns 185 
 
 and Heyst. This scheme was taken in hand some years 
 before the improvements at Ostend were commenced, and 
 was specially intended to revive the glories of Bruges. This 
 canal was expressly excavated for the purpose, at a depth of 
 thirty-three feet at low water, the level being kept at that point 
 above the locks, and must not be confounded with the old 
 Ostend-Bruges canal still in use for barges and small pleasure 
 steamers. The entrance to the canal is protected by an 
 enormous breakwater stretching out into the sea for over a 
 thousand yards, and forming a curve at the extremity. This 
 was constructed at enormous cost with the view of preventing 
 the sand silting up again and closing the entrance that had 
 been successfully hollowed out. A steam dredger is also kept 
 constantly at work so that as far as human means allow there 
 is absolute security for the main channel. At the end of the 
 breakwater is a pier and landing-stage in deep water, over 
 100 feet in depth, and it was hoped that the large German 
 steamers from and to Hamburg would make a point of calling 
 there. So they did for a time, but the practice never became 
 general and has now been abandoned. At the present moment 
 steamers ply regularly between Bruges and Grimsby, and a 
 direct trade has sprung up between the North of England and 
 the old Flemish city. The new harbour at Ostend and the 
 ship canal to Bruges are striking testimonies to the commercial 
 activity of the Belgians stimulated by the untiring energy 
 and broad views of their late ruler. 
 
 Nieuport, the only other of the coast towns that need be 
 specially referred to, lives on its past. No reforming ruler 
 has yet taken its fortunes in hand, and yet it possesses a 
 little river which might easily be canalised to as far up as 
 Ypres, at least. This is the Yser. Its importance at present 
 is derived entirely from sea-fishing, and it enjoys in common 
 with Antwerp and Ostend the advantage of possessing a 
 State school of training in navigation. 
 
 All these coast towns are interested more or less in the sea 
 fisheries. It may be said that the bulk of the population
 
 186 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 resident throughout the whole of the yeax at these places 
 
 (Ostend excepted) is composed of fishermen. In 1908 the 
 
 official returns give a total for the fishing 
 
 Sea Fisheries, fleet of 449 smacks of a tonnage of 8,400 
 tons employing 2,150 men. In addition 
 at least as many women are employed on shore in purchasing 
 and distributing the fish. At Ostend there is an extensive 
 and carefully preserved oyster-bed which supplies not merely 
 Belgium but a great part of France. A part is also set aside 
 for lobsters and crabs. The principal fish disposed of at 
 Ostend are turbot and soles, and these are sent in immense 
 quantities to Paris. 
 
 While on the subject of Belgian maritime activity it may 
 
 be mentioned that the whole of the Belgian marine (in 1908) 
 
 consisted of eighty-eight steamers with a 
 
 Th Ma^n! ian tonnage of under 150,000 tons. Three- 
 fourths of the trade to and from Belgium is 
 borne on British ships. The passenger service between 
 Ostend and Dover is at present conducted at a considerable 
 loss, and the different arrangements made to popularise the 
 route have not yet availed to greatly diminish it. The fact 
 is that it has a formidable competitor in the service between 
 Harwich and Antwerp, and now the direct route from York- 
 shire to Bruges has taken away part of the northern traffic. 
 It is clear that the Belgians are still a long way off from 
 ranking as a maritime people. Flemish sailors have a good 
 enough reputation with those who employ them, and they 
 alone are now employed on the national ships, but they are 
 few in number. Many years must elapse before Belgium will 
 be able to boast of even its mercantile marine. With regard 
 to one for coast defence that is non-existent, but in the official 
 plans for defending Antwerp a place was assigned to a river 
 squadron of torpedo boats and submarines. This squadron 
 only exists on paper.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE ARDENNES 
 
 Belgium is provided with a great national playground and 
 holiday centre in the region known to us as the Ardennes. 
 
 This region includes the whole of the province 
 The Great of Luxemburg and a good part of the pro- 
 Centreof vinces of Liege and Namur. It is bounded 
 Belgium. on the north and west by the Meuse, on the 
 
 south by France and the Grand Duchy, and 
 on the east by Prussia. It consists for the most part of 
 undulating country, never less than 600 feet above sea level, 
 and rising in some parts to an altitude of nearly 2,000 feet. 
 The country is well wooded, but the oak forests, which were 
 the pride of the old Ardennes, have totally disappeared. At 
 one time it looked as if the whole country would be stripped 
 clear of timber, but precautions were taken thirty years ago 
 to avert this calamity by passing a law making replanting 
 obligatory. In this way the Ardennes are becoming as 
 remarkable for their fir plantations as they were in the 
 times of Caesar and the Wild Boar for their oak forests. 
 
 While the Meuse forms a convenient water route round 
 the whole of this region, it is rather remarkable that not one 
 
 of its numerous tributaries, which lend such 
 P Scener qUe an attractive feature to Ardennes landscapes, 
 
 is navigable. These streams, commencing in 
 the vicinity of Liege and passing westwards, are the Vesdre, 
 the Ourthe, the Ambleve, the Lesse, and the Semois. 
 They are all in their way picturesque, and a few are dotted 
 with the ruins of the castles once held by the de la Marcks 
 and their vassals. Unfortunately the ruins are mere shells. 
 The most picturesque scenery is encountered in the valleys 
 of the Ambleve and the Semois, the former passing through 
 
 187
 
 188 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 a rocky valley, and the latter through the most beautifully 
 wooded country in Belgium. We shall return to describe 
 both in some detail further on. 
 
 Another remarkable thing about the Ardennes is its acces- 
 sibility and, as it were, penetrability. This is due to the 
 
 well-arranged system of light railways which 
 Railwa 1 s extend in all directions, and without spoiling 
 
 the views owing to the trains being built 
 on a miniature pattern. There are three lines of major 
 importance. These are first the main line from Brussels to 
 Metz and Switzerland. This stretches across the region under 
 description from Namur to Arlon, and has important junc- 
 tions at Marloie and Libramont. At Marloie the second 
 important line links on with the main system. This is the 
 direct line from the heart of the Ardennes to Liege, with a 
 junction at Rivage for the line serving the Amble ve. The 
 third line links on at Libramont. It forms a kind of loop 
 round the whole of eastern Belgium commencing at Pepinster, 
 and passing by Spa, Stavelot, Viel Salm, Gouvy and Bastogne 
 to Libramont. This line continues westwards of that place 
 to Bertrix, Paliseul, and then turns northwards by Beauraing 
 to join the Rochefort-Dinant railway at Houyet. The light 
 railways branching off at different points from these main 
 lines are intended to make the principal points of attraction 
 accessible and need not be more fully particularised. 
 
 The final attraction of the Ardennes as a holiday ground, 
 from the Belgian point of view, is the cheapness of life in the 
 
 numerous hotels scattered all over the 
 e& LUe SS re gi n There is an absence of luxury but 
 
 scrupulous cleanliness. Good food and plenty 
 of it is provided, and the whole pension costs no more than 
 five francs a day, which is increased to six in the more 
 frequented resorts during July and August. It is not sur- 
 prising, then, to find the hotels full to overflowing during the 
 height of their brief season when they have to quarter many 
 of their visitors in lodgings in the village or townlet, but no
 
 The Ardennes 189 
 
 extra charge is made. These hotel proprietors are so highly 
 conscientious that a deduction is made off the bill for meals 
 taken elsewhere, a practice which gives the fullest possible 
 liberty for making excursions. The English tourist has found 
 his way to the best known centres in the Ardennes, such as 
 Dinant, Rochefort and La Roche. He is seen but infre- 
 quently on the Semois, and in some parts of the Ourthe 
 valley is practically unknown. 
 
 To describe the Ardennes as a whole, or even to enter into 
 any close detail about any special portions of it, would far 
 
 exceed the dimensions of this volume. Nor 
 Spa. is it necessary to say anything about Spa, 
 
 which comes within the geographical area, 
 but is more of a fashionable watering-place with which the 
 primitive Ardennes townlets ought not to be compared. It 
 will suffice then to give some description of a few of the best 
 known centres such as Rochefort and the famous grottoes, 
 La Roche, St. Hubert and the forest, Dinant and the Meuse 
 valley, Bouillon and the Semois. 
 
 Rochefort is a well-built and scrupulously clean little town 
 traversed by a stream called the Lomme, and lying in the 
 
 hollow of a basin surrounded by breezy 
 Rochefort. downs and pine woods. Owing to its good 
 
 sanitary conditions and the health-giving 
 properties of the air many Belgians have fixed their residences 
 there, and there is consequently more life in the place through- 
 out the whole of the year than in any other town of the 
 Ardennes with the exception of Dinant. But it is not with 
 Rochefort as a ville coquette that we have to deal, but with 
 Rochefort as the centre of the remarkable grotto region 
 which extends as far as Han sur Lesse. 
 
 The striking feature in this region is the disappearance of 
 the little rivers which find mysterious subterranean channels 
 and are temporarily lost to view. The Lomme and its tribu- 
 tary, the Wamme, pass out of sight at several points round 
 Rochefort, and all attempts to find or expose the hidden
 
 190 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 channel have failed. But in the course of those searches the 
 
 grotto of Rochefort was discovered in the inside of the hill on 
 
 the southern side of the town which is crowned 
 
 The Grottoes, by the ruined castle once owned by the Counts 
 of Rochefort. This discovery was made forty 
 years ago, but it is only within the last ten years that this 
 grotto has been properly exploited by the introduction of the 
 electric light and other improvements. The grotto contains 
 three fine halls, the largest of which is called the hall du 
 Sabbat. The grotto is remarkable for the richness of its 
 stalactites and stalagmites, but no trace of the lost river 
 has been found. It is confidently declared that there are 
 many more subterranean discoveries to be made at Roche- 
 fort, but perhaps it is felt that a sufficiency of grottoes is 
 better than a surfeit, and the really remarkable grottoes at 
 Han now to be described are enough to satisfy most peoples' 
 curiosity. 
 
 The village of Han is situated on the river Lesse, which 
 flows into the Meuse a little south of Dinant. Unlike Roche- 
 fort, which has distinct claims to notice, Han is known only 
 for its grottoes, and derives its name from the Walloon word 
 " han," signifying a gulf or merely a hole in the ground. As 
 a matter of fact, this is exactly what is to be seen on the 
 southern side of the village where the river Lesse buries 
 itself by an insignificant looking hole in the mountain that 
 rears its dome-shaped form above the village, and disappears 
 from view. It reappears within the mamelon itself in a gulf, 
 lofty, vaulted and absolutely shrouded in darkness, and this 
 hidden bay becomes, on reaching the northern side of the 
 mountain, the normal course of the river. By what concealed 
 channels it makes its way under the mountain has never been 
 discovered. All that is seen in the interior is a tiny channel 
 of water filtering through the main hall of the grotto, and 
 although it rises considerably when the river is flooded it 
 never attains dimensions sufficient to justify our regarding 
 it as even an important branch of the stream.
 
 The Ardennes 191 
 
 The entrance to the grottoes is made near the hole in the 
 wall of the mountain which is called " la perte de la Lesse." 
 Despite efforts to trace the exact course of 
 The Lesse. the stream, or to fathom the gulf the dis- 
 coveries have been nil. A more successful 
 effort has been made in establishing a practical passage under 
 the mountain by converting openings through which a man 
 could merely crawl into galleries that allowed of persons 
 walking with little inconvenience in single file. The galleries 
 and passages connect altogether nearly twenty halls, large 
 and small, and furnish the more beautiful part of the extra- 
 ordinary freaks of Nature's architecture which form the 
 inner decoration of this hollowed mountain. Some of the 
 stalactites, especially in the four small side rooms, are of 
 remarkable beauty. They have taken fantastic forms which 
 give their names to these side chapels, such as the Mosque, the 
 Alhambra, and the Portico. In another there is a faithful 
 representation of a Gothic cathedral whose delicate tracery 
 suggests an ivory model. 
 
 The principal of the inner chambers is the vast Hall of the 
 Dome, 165 feet long by 150 feet broad, and rising to a height 
 of over 160 feet into the air. This immense vault is shrouded 
 in darkness except when the electric light is turned on to 
 bring into relief the simulacrum of a throne, assigned to 
 Pluto as the deity of the nether world, but even the roof is 
 practically hidden. It is computed that the floor of the 
 Hall is 230 feet above the bed of the Lesse, and consequently 
 the dome is nearly 400 feet. This must bring it very near 
 to the summit of the mountain. From the Dome room the 
 passages lead by a gradual descent through several salons of 
 minor beauty and importance to the exit. 
 
 Next to the view of the great Hall the exit makes the 
 deepest impression on the visitor. The dark and gloomy 
 bay is approached by a long gallery littered with rocks which 
 are supposed to have fallen during an earthquake in 1828. 
 Waiting for the visitors are a sufficient number of large boats
 
 192 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 capable of carrying a dozen passengers apiece, and as the place 
 is in absolute darkness save for a few lanterns carried by the 
 guides the scene is weird in the extreme. The dark portion 
 of the water, which is of great but unknown depth, extends 
 for two hundred yards and then in the distance appears a 
 little light which might well be taken for a star. At this 
 moment the principal guide fires off the customary pistol 
 which awakes innumerable echoes in the vaulted roof. A 
 visit to the Han grottoes is thus one of considerable interest 
 from start to finish. 
 
 The theory is that the river channel passes through a 
 stratum of Devonian chalk which separates the geological 
 formation of the Condroz region from that of the Ardennes. 
 The crystalline formations of the Devonian stratum lend 
 themselves especially to those strange stalactites which are 
 the ornament of the Han grottoes. Here we have the curious 
 circumstances of stalactites formed from dripping water 
 meeting and even joining the stalagmites formed by rising 
 water, or the jets thrown up through fissures by the pressure 
 of the subterranean water. Explorations are always going 
 on for fresh discoveries, but the beauty spots at least are 
 believed to be all located. All visitors to the Ardennes 
 should make a point of seeing the Han grottoes, but it is 
 wise to avoid doing so on any of the national holidays (Easter, 
 Whitsun, and the Assumption) when the crowd is excessive. 
 
 Another centre of attraction is La Roche, situated on the 
 Ourthe in the heart of the Ardennes. It is chiefly remark- 
 able for its sylvan attractions, and is sur- 
 La Roche. rounded by glorious woods. Indeed, there 
 is no better place for appreciating what 
 the Ardennes forest must have been like in its prime. The 
 small townlet lies in a basin, and consists of one long 
 straggling street with the river casting a loop round it. The 
 place was commanded in old days by a castle situated on a 
 rock of no great altitude on the eastern side of the town, and 
 the town is, of course, named after it. The ruins of the castle
 
 The Ardennes 193 
 
 are of considerable interest, but they were allowed to crumble 
 away during so many years that only the outer shell remains. 
 It is now under State protection as a public monument. The 
 Castle of the Counts, as it is called, is held to be less interesting 
 than the Devil's Castle, a curious freak of nature representing 
 a feudal castle with tower battlements and wall formed out 
 of rock. In old days La Roche was only in communication 
 with the outer world by diligence, and the descent from the 
 heights of La Fraiture or Champion into the little town used 
 to be an exciting experience, but this has all been changed 
 by the laying down of a steam tramway from Melreux (a 
 station on the line from Marloie to Liege) to La Roche, which 
 conveys every day during the season an unending flow of 
 visitors to the place. 
 
 But if La Roche is now easily accessible and in consequence 
 overcrowded in July and August there extends beyond it to 
 the south and the south-east a primitive and still unspoilt 
 region. This may be explored on foot or driving, and in 
 many parts the pedestrian has the advantage. There is 
 first of all the walk up the main Ourthe valley for twenty 
 miles, and then along its eastern branch to Houffalize, patron- 
 ised by the Belgians for its invigorating air. It stands at an 
 altitude of about 1,500 feet. At Houffalize connection is 
 re-established with the outer world, for here is the terminus 
 of a steam tramway connecting with Bourcy, a station on 
 the Libramont-Bastogne-Gouvy line. 
 
 If the tourist, at the point of bifurcation, follows the western 
 Ourthe he will soon find himself in the northern approaches 
 to the Forest of St. Hubert, and after some 
 u S u t distance he will reach Lavacherie from which 
 
 the town of St. Hubert is only a short dis- 
 tance through the beautiful woods of Freyre. Close to Lava- 
 cherie is Amberloop, identified with the fortress of Ambra 
 destroyed by Attila. At this place the two Pepins had a resi- 
 dence for hunting in the Ardennes, and one of them is said 
 to have founded here the church and monastery which were 
 
 13 (2387)
 
 194 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 transferred later on to St. Hubert. Some interesting memo- 
 rials of the Roman period have been found in the neighbour- 
 hood, for instance, the altar with figures in relief of Minerva, 
 Diana, Mercury and Hercules, which now finds a place in the 
 Museum of Luxemburg. 
 
 St. Hubert is famous for its Abbey Church, dedicated to 
 St. Hubert, the patron saint of hunters, and about five miles 
 from the town in the woods near Champion is a place still 
 called Converserie, which is supposed to have witnessed the 
 conversion of the lawless and pagan lieutenant of the House 
 of Pepin. The latest critics have thrown doubt on the 
 accuracy of the legend of his conversion having been effected 
 by the sudden encounter with a stag bearing a fiery cross 
 between its antlers, for the simple reason that the same 
 adventure had befallen a Roman officer named Placidas 
 five and a half centuries earlier who became St. Eustace, the 
 first patron saint of the huntsman. But St. Eustace is for- 
 gotten and St. Hubert is remembered. In the ninth century 
 his shrine had become the centre of pilgrimage for all who 
 had received injury whilst hunting, or been bitten by dogs. 
 A thousand years have not diminished this practice, and it 
 is computed that 50,000 pilgrims visit St. Hubert during the 
 week in which falls the Saint's day, and in cases of hydro- 
 phobia to join the pilgrimage is regarded as an infallible 
 cure. It is probable that this practice acts as a sedative on 
 the nerves, and diminishes the fright which is the chief 
 stimulant of the disease. 
 
 The Abbey Church is interesting, and something has been 
 accomplished in the way of undoing the mischief caused by 
 incompetent and ignorant restorers. At one time the Abbey 
 ruled over forty villages, and was the richest in the diocese 
 of Liege. Its glory was destroyed by the French Revolu- 
 tion. Its possessions were sold for about 75,000, but the 
 church itself was saved by a public subscription of about 
 1,500, which satisfied the Republican authorities. The bells, 
 however, were put in the melting-pot and cast into bullets.
 
 The Ardennes 195 
 
 The valley of the Meuse from Namur to the French fron- 
 tier is one of the most attractive regions of what we call 
 colloquially, and without any precise geo- 
 Dinant. graphical distinction, the Ardennes. In 
 summer steamers ply between Namur and 
 Hastiere, which is some distance above Dinant. A railway 
 also runs alongside the river crossing from the right bank to 
 the left near Yvoir, and finally linking on with a French 
 line at Givet. Owing to its accessibility this region is far 
 better known than the interior of the Ardennes. It is, 
 therefore, well to remember that the conditions are not the 
 same, that the hotels are more up to date and consequently 
 much dearer. This is especially the case at Dinant, where 
 there are two first-rate hotels, the Postes and the Tete d'or. 
 The five chief places of residence are in their order up the 
 river Yvoir, Dinant, Anseremme, Waulsort and Hastiere. 
 Yvoir is situated at the point where the Bocq (which supplies 
 Brussels with its best drinking water) flows into the Meuse, 
 but calls for no special notice. Anseremme is at the junction 
 of the Lesse with the Meuse, and used to be a spot favoured 
 by artists, but the new railway bridge has spoilt the view. 
 Anseremme is, however, much cheaper to stop at than Dinant, 
 and is a very convenient spot from which to explore the 
 most picturesque part of the Lesse. Here are to be seen the 
 beautiful castle of Walzin, the famous caves of the stone age 
 at Furfooz, and the once royal Ardenne domain specially 
 favoured by Leopold I. Further up the Lesse is Ciergnon, 
 which King Albert has selected as his home in the Ardennes, 
 Opposite Ciergnon is the carefully preserved royal chase of 
 Villers. 
 
 Dinant is favoured by the Belgians for its boating and 
 fishing facilities. The river at this point is lined by chalets, 
 which are only used as residences in the summer, and there 
 are floating swimming-baths in the river. Waulsort and 
 Hastiere are more the resort of the tourist than the fixed 
 resident, but at the latter place many modern villas have
 
 196 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 been constructed. These places possess also convenient 
 access to the charming region round Chimay and Couvin, 
 which is more primitive even than the heart of the Ardennes. 
 Dinant itself is an interesting town famous from the Middle 
 Ages when it was the first city of the Prince Bishopric of 
 Liege. It suffered heavily at the hands of Charles the Bold 
 during the great siege of 1466, on which occasion the Burgun- 
 dian demolished the walls and got rid of the principal citizens 
 by throwing them into the river from the cliff of Bouvignes. 
 The old castle on the heights above the town, modernised by 
 Vauban and the Dutch, occupies a picturesque position, and 
 its chroniclers boast that it was once inhabited by Louis XIV 
 and Madame de Maintenon. It is reached by 408 steps from 
 the side of the old church, which is one of the best specimens 
 of early Gothic to be found in Belgium to-day in spite of the 
 ravages of time and war. Down to 1859 Dinant was a 
 fortress. It was then dismantled with other places of the 
 same secondary value from a military point of view. 
 
 Near Dinant and recalling some incidents of the purely 
 legendary period is the locally famous Rocher Bayard. It 
 lies on the right bank half-way between Anseremme and 
 Dinant, and is a pyramidal rock now detached from the 
 main cliff. Formerly the road passed through an archway 
 cut through the rock. The rock receives its name not from 
 the Chevalier Bayard of the sixteenth century but from the 
 legendary horse of the name famous in the eighth century. 
 It was at this point that he is supposed to have escaped from 
 Charlemagne by swimming across the Meuse. The legend of 
 the good horse Bayard and Aymon's Four Sons, whom he 
 once saved by carrying them on his back out of danger, is 
 still one of the most popular in Belgium. The rock itself 
 is gradually crumbling away, and will in the course of a little 
 time disappear. There is much of interest to while away a 
 visit to Dinant, but the air in summer is not invigorating 
 like that of the higher Ardennes. The ordinary visitor 
 never sees the most impressive sight to be beheld here, which
 
 The Ardennes 197 
 
 is in winter when the river, running like a mill race, brings 
 down the blocks of ice formed amidst Ardennes snows. 
 
 We will now pass to the Semois, the most southern tribu- 
 tary of the Meuse so far as Belgium is concerned. It flows 
 
 into the main river at Montherme on French 
 The Semois. soil, but its most picturesque portion begins 
 
 at Hautes Rivieres near which it enters 
 Belgium. The two strikingly characteristic features of this 
 stream are, first, its sinuous course, and secondly, the beautiful 
 woods in which it is embowered. With regard to the former 
 point the length of the river is 120 miles, but as the crow 
 flies from the source to its junction wdth the Meuse the dis- 
 tance is not more than sixty-five miles. The woods at Bohan, 
 Vresse, Alle, Bouillon, Dohan and Amerois are among the 
 finest to be met with throughout the Ardennes region, and 
 for the greater part of the way they come down to the banks 
 of the river, which at a few places is fordable. For a great 
 part of the route from France the way is through the woods 
 by paths raised immediately above the river. Alle, because 
 there are facilities for river bathing, fishing and boating, is 
 the place most favoured by the Belgians. The best hotel in 
 the whole of the region is also situated there. 
 
 The villages that dot the river banks find a striking contrast 
 in the town of Bouillon, a relic of antiquity. Here on the 
 
 rocky promontory which the Semois engirdles 
 Bouillon. on three sides stands the original castle of 
 
 Godfrey of Bouillon which he valiantly and 
 successfully defended when he was only seventeen years of 
 age, and from which he took his name. All things considered 
 it is in an excellent state of preservation, and the seat is still 
 shown from which Godfrey looked out for the approach of 
 his enemies. The old town nestles under the castle on both 
 sides of the river which is crossed by a stone bridge, and as 
 there are good hotels named the Poste and the Ardennes in 
 the town it makes a very good centre for excursions throughout 
 the lower Semois valley, more especially for those who come
 
 198 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 expressly to see the grand view at Rochehaut. Bouillon 
 is also convenient for visiting the battlefield of Sedan. It 
 will be remembered that after the battle about 6,000 French 
 soldiers crossed into Belgium and were detained there till 
 the end of the war. Napoleon III was allowed to proceed 
 to Germany through Belgium and passed the first night after 
 the surrender in the Poste hotel at Bouillon. Bouillon, once 
 a French duchy, was for a short time an independent com- 
 munity before being joined to the Netherlands in 1815. 
 Turenne used to call Bouillon the key of the Ardennes, but 
 it may be doubted whether this is true since the formation 
 of the Elsenborn Camp in Prussia, to which I first drew marked 
 attention in 1907. That has opened a new eastern gate into 
 the Ardennes of which old strategists knew nothing. 
 
 It is not necessary to say much about the upper course of 
 the Semois except to repeat that it preserves its rare and 
 
 distinctive charm. At a place, or rather 
 La Cuisine, channel called La Cuisine, haunted by herons 
 
 and kingfishers, is to be found an unique bit 
 of savage landscape. The Semois has so far escaped the 
 inroads of the excursion hordes. It is just a little too difficult 
 of access for them, and those in search of quiet " far from the 
 madding crowd" could not do better than give one of the 
 places named or Herbeumont a trial. Enough has perhaps 
 been said to explain why the Belgians regard the Ardennes 
 as their great national holiday resort. It is a region remark- 
 able for the picturesqueness and variety of its scenery, the 
 health-giving properties of its mountain air, and the cheapness 
 of the hotels. There is another point of attraction about it. 
 Although certain spots are frequented by the foreign tourist 
 the Belgians enjoy a practical monopoly of some of the best 
 bits for themselves.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE FORMER STAVELOT-MALMEDY PRINCIPALITY 
 
 There are some curious instances of the Belgian nationality 
 
 overlapping the frontier and partially passing under foreign 
 
 rule. The most interesting case in point is 
 
 An State aIl0 n that of the old Stavelot principality which 
 was dissolved by the Treaty of Luneville in 
 1806, and subsequently divided between Prussia and the 
 Netherlands by the Treaty of Vienna in 1815. Stavelot 
 itself went to Belgium and its dependent town Malmedy to 
 Prussia, and the break up of this old Walloon State, which 
 had existed for 900 years, has been ratified, as it were, by 
 the lapse of a century. Until the other day both sections 
 spoke the same tongue, and there was no linguistic frontier. 
 The change effected by the new German language laws has 
 not yet disturbed the harmony of their relations. Neither 
 has it led to any change of religion. They are all Catholics. 
 The town of Stavelot is one of those clean, well-built, and 
 well-ordered townlets that give the visitor a high opinion 
 of Walloon character and capacity. There is 
 Stavelot. a fine old square of mediaeval houses, and both 
 there and in the environs is to be found a 
 considerable leisured class who form among themselves a 
 hospitably disposed society. It is rather curious to come 
 across in this out of the way spot families of the names of 
 Talbot, Herbert, and Pierpont whose ancestors were natives 
 of the old city centuries ago. Not less strange is it to find 
 surnames of Roman origin, such as Gambrinus, Marius, and 
 Mamius. The famous Liege family of Orban (which is only 
 a modification of Urbanus) has also representatives among the 
 citizens of Stavelot. 
 
 199
 
 200 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 There is little to show of the glories of the days of the 
 Prince Abbot. The walls of the Abbey are standing, one 
 
 can see what was the refectory or banqueting 
 St. Remade, hall, the meadows that surround the massive 
 
 framework of the main building were once 
 the garden and orchard. In the adjacent chapel are some 
 relics of St. Remade, who was the patron of Stavelot as well 
 as the first Bishop of Liege. But except for the houses there 
 is little that could be called ancient in Stavelot. Just behind 
 it and parallel with the main street runs the main railway 
 from Pepinster and Spa to Gouvy, and at two and a half miles 
 eastwards along a magnificent road the Prussian frontier may 
 be reached. 
 
 It may seem rather absurd to say so, but it is precisely 
 this proximity to Prussian territory that constitutes the 
 
 importance and interest of Stavelot to-day. 
 Malm6dy. Malmedy, the other half of the Stavelot 
 
 principality, lies in the valley of the Warche, 
 a tributary of the Ambleve, about two miles east of the 
 Belgian frontier, or nearly five miles from Stavelot. The 
 old abbey is still in existence as a Catholic church, but the 
 adjacent Convent is used as a Government office. There 
 is not the same number of old Walloon families at Malmedy 
 that are to be found at Stavelot ; but of recent years the 
 industrial importance of the place has greatly increased, and 
 a considerable number of German men of business have 
 taken up their residence there. There are consequently 
 visible signs in newly-built houses that the town is increasing 
 in population and prosperity. Paper factories, tanneries, 
 and timber yards are becoming quite numerous in a town 
 which twenty years ago enjoyed the calm of the Middle 
 Ages. 
 
 For some years past Malmedy has been connected by a 
 light railway with Weismes, a station on the main line from 
 Aix-la-Chapelle to St. Vith. Since 1908 this line, which was 
 only single railed, has been converted into a double line, as
 
 The Former Stavelot 201 
 
 described by a writer in the Fortnightly Review for February, 
 
 1910, and great importance is attached to it by German 
 
 military authorities. Since the doubling of the 
 
 Railway ma in line the branch line to Malmedy has been 
 Communication. . . J 
 
 continued up to the Belgian frontier, and the 
 
 Belgian authorities are themselves constructing the link from 
 the frontier to the Stavelot station. There will thus be direct 
 communication between the German and Belgian railway 
 systems at a point beyond the range of the fire from the 
 forts surrounding Liege. When General Brialmont laid 
 down those forts it was with the idea of " commanding all 
 the roads leading into Belgium from Germany." With 
 remarkable astuteness the Germans have falsified that 
 prediction. 
 
 The position has been turned by the new railways laid 
 down, or improved in the Malmedy region, and the signifi- 
 cance of the change is increased by the fact 
 Elsenborn. that close to the Belgian frontier Germany 
 has created a large military camp where, 
 during the summer, between twenty and thirty thousand 
 troops are always assembled. This camp is at a place called 
 Elsenborn, and to leave no room for doubt as to the German 
 plans in establishing this camp, roads levelled for the rapid 
 passage of artillery have been laid down in almost a bee line 
 to the Belgian frontier at Viel Salm south of Stavelot. It is 
 also necessary to remember that there are no troops whatever 
 on the Belgian side of the frontier. The Ardennes are com- 
 pletely denuded of troops. There is one infantry regiment 
 at Arlon, close to the frontier of the Grand Duchy which, as 
 a neutral and unarmed State, is not a dangerous neighbour. 
 It is of no military value there, and in the event of an invasion 
 would be isolated and cut off from its line of retreat to Namur. 
 It will thus be seen that a military peril of a grave character 
 has been allowed to spring up almost unperceived at a point 
 less than seventy miles distant from the undefended side of 
 the French frontier.
 
 202 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Another change has taken place in the condition of the 
 
 once tranquil, isolated and little regarded district of which 
 
 Malmedy may be regarded as the central 
 
 L ^fJ ge point. In the days of the French Republic 
 
 and Empire the whole of this region was 
 
 included in the department of the Ourthe, which had its 
 
 administrative centre at Marche. There was a close bond 
 
 of union between the rulers and the ruled in community of 
 
 language. When Prussia was installed in power no attempt 
 
 was made to change the language in use, and the inhabitants 
 
 of the district were allowed to receive their education in French. 
 
 This state of things endured till 1902. 
 
 But French-speaking Germans are not at all to the taste 
 of the powers in Berlin, who, before the year just named, had 
 begun to enforce uniformity of speech in German in Poland 
 and Alsace. Malmedy was given a little more grace, but 
 eventually the time arrived when French was banned in the 
 schools and German substituted and rigorously enforced. 
 At the present moment the struggle of the languages at 
 Malmedy is in full progress, but unless some quite unforeseen 
 events arise it is certain to end in the triumph of German. 
 The Walloons detest the change but they must succumb. 
 In public they are already afraid to employ any language 
 save German, but at their own firesides they deplore the change 
 in French. As a large contingent of the German navy is 
 recruited among the French-speaking races along the frontier 
 the process of assimilating the German tongue will be facili- 
 tated and expedited. Before another generation grows up 
 French will be as rarely heard at Malmedy as it is to-day at 
 Montjoie. Although Montjoie only became Prussian in 1815 
 the French tongue died out there the more rapidly because 
 it was isolated and had little or no intercourse with Belgium. 
 
 It is not only Prussia that is in possession of territory 
 which ethnologically and linguistically ought to form part 
 of Belgium. Dutch Limburg is not less distinctively Belgian 
 than the strip of territory of which Malmedy is the
 
 The Former Stavelot 203 
 
 central point. This was secured from Belgium by the 
 
 Twenty-Four Articles embodied in the definitive treaty of 
 
 1839 by way of compensation to Holland for 
 
 Dutch ^ e surren( i er f h a if f Luxemburg. Dutch 
 
 Limburg is the part of the old Duchy lying 
 on the right bank of the Meuse below Vise, and the town of 
 Maestricht on the left bank was also left to Holland as an 
 " enclave." The principal towns on the right bank that fell 
 to Holland were Ruremonde and Sittard. Ruremonde has 
 a place in history as the point where William of Orange 
 forded the Meuse in his campaign with Alva, and is of con- 
 siderable importance on account of the two bridges which 
 to-day cross that river, one being for the direct railway from 
 Germany to Antwerp. Sittard has become industrially 
 important through the discovery of coal and iron-mines in 
 the neighbourhood which are now worked to great profit 
 and advantage. Altogether the surrender of Dutch Limburg 
 has proved a considerable loss to Belgium, but it would be 
 greatly increased if under any circumstances Ruremonde 
 and the surrounding region were to pass into the possession 
 of Germany. 
 
 There is a third case of this overlapping of authority on 
 
 the frontier between Belgium and her neighbours, but there 
 
 is this difference between it and the others 
 
 eiurai - n ^ a t it relates to a neutral territory. East 
 Moresnet. J 
 
 by north of Liege on the Prussian frontier, 
 
 near Walkenraedt, is a mountain. A little town consisting 
 of a single main street and a public square has been built 
 upon it, and in the interior of the mountain has been found 
 one of the richest zinc mines in the world. It has been well 
 exploited to the great advantage of its members, by a joint- 
 stock company, of which the shares are held by Belgians, 
 chiefly residents of Liege. The name of this place is Moresnet - 
 Montzen, or Moresnet Mountain, and, as a rule, the definition 
 neuter or neutral is added for reasons now to be explained. 
 In 1815 Holland and Prussia in demarcating the frontier
 
 204 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 between Liege and Aix-la-Chapelle found themselves unable 
 to agree as to which should possess the conspicuous mountain 
 just described. At that moment Europe was worn out with 
 war and quarrelling, and it was felt incumbent to make some 
 arrangement quickly. The two neighbours agreed in the 
 dog-in-the-manger spirit that this little commune perched 
 on a mountain, and occupying a strip of territory one and a 
 half miles in length and one in breadth, should belong to 
 neither by declaring it neutral. The fate of Moresnet was 
 thus sealed nearly a hundred years ago, and when Belgium 
 took the place of Holland one of the conditions stipulated 
 for by Prussia was that the arrangement with regard to 
 Moresnet should remain undisturbed. 
 
 The Government of Moresnet has been carried on for the 
 
 best part of a century by a Town Council presided over by a 
 
 burgomaster, and neither of the Powers sought 
 
 The Local t interfere in its affairs. Within the last ten 
 Government. . 
 
 years, however, Prussia has shown an inclina- 
 tion to depart from this policy of non-interference, and has 
 adopted a double-barrelled line of action in the matter. With 
 one shot she has sought to compel the good people of Moresnet 
 to declare their desire to become German subjects ; with 
 the other she has striven to terrorise the Belgian Government 
 into surrendering its rights. That she has so far failed in 
 both objects must be attributed to the unexpected tenacity 
 of the citizens of Moresnet in upholding their independence 
 rather than to the firmness of the Belgian Government. It 
 has sometimes been thought at Brussels that the surrender of 
 Moresnet would be a cheap price to pay for the support of 
 Germany in more important matters. 
 
 The following description of the present situation is based 
 on the best available information : 
 
 " None the less for its neutrality Moresnet 
 
 T sftuation nt was and is Bel g* an in *" essentials. The 
 
 people speak French, are Catholics, and the 
 
 lead from the mine finds its way to Herstal and Liege. The
 
 The Former Stavelot 205 
 
 shares of the Montzen Company are held and dealt with in 
 Liege only. This state of things greatly irritated the German 
 officials, and with the view of upsetting it they have of late 
 been asserting themselves in various unpleasant ways to the 
 intense irritation of the inhabitants. The control of the 
 customs and the expressed desire of preventing Moresnet 
 from being used for purposes of contraband have provided 
 excuses for interference in the most ordinary affairs of life. 
 After a little of this kind of pressure it was assumed that 
 Moresnet was ripe to fall into the Imperial lap. In 1905, 
 then, it was stated in the German papers that the people of 
 Moresnet wished to become Germans and that Belgium was 
 willing to sell or surrender her rights. There was not a word 
 of truth in either part of the story, and an official contra- 
 diction was given as far as Belgium was concerned in the 
 Brussels Chambers. 
 
 " Moresnet herself gave a still more effective answer. In 
 1907 a plebiscite was held, and ninety per cent, of the popula- 
 tion voted for annexation to Belgium. The 
 A Plebiscite, whole communal council voted in this sense 
 with the exception of the burgomaster, who 
 is a German. Since this incident the attitude of the German 
 officials has become more aggressive. Customs officers 
 patrol the street separating German jurisdiction from Belgian, 
 and institute searches of the person with little or no reason. 
 A story is current that to avoid paying the heavy duty on 
 confectionery a wedding party crossed the road to the con- 
 fectioner's and ate their pastry in his shop while the baffled 
 customs officers glared through the window. Se non e veto. 
 The latest incident occurred in 1910. Without word of 
 warning Prussian officials arrived to take the dimensions of 
 the communal buildings and to make an inventory of the 
 contents of the churches and schools." 
 
 Beyond her eastern frontier, then, Belgium sees a set of lost 
 national possessions, the recovery of some of which would be 
 very useful to her. Under the present dispensation they are
 
 206 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 gone past recall, and it would be idle to speculate as to the 
 chances of re-acquiring these detached blocks of the Walloon 
 soil which historically speaking stretched to Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 the capital of Charlemagne, the greatest member of the 
 Walloon race.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE ANCIENT TOWN OF MONTJOIE 
 
 If a striking contrast were sought between two scenes on 
 the same river it would be hard to find one to surpass that 
 of the Roer at Ruremonde and at Montjoie. 
 R r iver At the former place its unrestrained waters 
 flood the meadows in wasteful abundance, 
 while at Montjoie they roll noisily but confined over a stony 
 bottom through the long and sinuous main street of that 
 most ancient and picturesque of mediaeval townlets. Mont- 
 joie (perhaps correctly derived from Mons Jovis) will be 
 familiar as a name to the reader from its forming part of the 
 ancient battle-cries of France, Burgundy, and Bourbon, but 
 the place itself is visited rarely by an Englishman, despite 
 its superb situation. The first King-of-Arms in France 
 (corresponding to our Garter King-of-Arms) was called 
 Montjoie. The name in its French use is probably derived 
 from the practice of raising a pile of stones to celebrate a 
 victory. The highways in France were also marked by piles 
 of stones along the track to which the name " Montjoie " was 
 given. 
 
 Over the highlands, round the crest of the surrounding 
 hills, winds the railway from St. Vith to Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 with its express trains, and its heavy goods traffic, although 
 no one seems to know exactly where the trade that feeds the 
 railway comes from, whilst five hundred feet below in the 
 valley lies the straggling little town of Montjoie, with its 
 extraordinarily lofty houses whose builders seem to have 
 started them with the intention of reaching the surrounding 
 summits, and then, after they had got far on their way, to 
 have given up the effort in despair, and side by side with the 
 main street flows the swiftly-running stream carrying the 
 
 207
 
 208 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 tribute of the snows and the watercourses of the Hohe Venn 
 and the Eiffel to the Meuse and the sea. 
 
 In the feudal ages Montjoie was the home of the Counts 
 
 of Reichenstein, who built their strong castle on the southern 
 
 of the two ranges that compress this town 
 
 Reichenstein mto suc ^ narrow limits between them that 
 a cricket ball could easily be thrown across 
 from one side to the other, while on the northern slope they 
 placed their watch-tower or Haller, from which the four 
 valleys that converge on Montjoie are commanded. The 
 watchman in the Haller gave warning of the approach of 
 friend or foe, and when he lit his signal fire the peasants and 
 townsmen flocked to the Castle for the purpose of a common 
 self-defence, as it was known that serious danger must be 
 at hand. 
 
 Both the castle and the Haller exist as ruins, but it is 
 curious to note that while the extensive range of wall, tower 
 and turret which once formed the home of the Reichensteins, 
 and which still forms the dominating feature in the view, 
 receives few visitors, the solitary Haller represents almost 
 the daily pilgrimage of the resident or sojourner in the valley. 
 Such is the attraction of a panorama. From the Castle 
 little can be seen save the slate roofs of Montjoie, but from 
 the Haller a new view can be discerned day after day for a 
 considerable period in which wood, stream and rock combine 
 to make a landscape as varied as it is charming. The Roer 
 itself forms the central and dividing chain in the group, like 
 a silvery thread it meanders through the valley extending 
 from Grunenthal and Einruhr on the north to the ruins of 
 the ancient monastery of Reichenstein, near Kalterherberg, 
 on the south. 
 
 In this five or six miles of its course it is joined by numerous 
 mountain streams, some little more than miniature water- 
 falls, others streamlets almost as important as the Roer itself. 
 Among the latter the Perlenbach is the most interesting, for 
 as its name implies, the mussels found in it once produced,
 
 The Ancient Town of Montjoie 209 
 
 according to tradition, pearls which were reserved for the 
 
 Count of the district as his feudal right. Mussels are still 
 
 found in the stream, but no one within 
 
 Stream* 1 living memory has been so fortunate as to 
 
 find a pearl, and perhaps, after all, the story 
 
 of their existence is only a legend of the past. To-day the 
 
 walk by the Perlenbach is the most charming in the district, 
 
 and its trout are described as more delicious even than those 
 
 of the Roer, which would satisfy most epicures. 
 
 Although Montjoie lies in a narrow valley the air there 
 in the hottest summer is always fresh and invigorating, which 
 is surprising when it is remembered that its own altitude is 
 no more than 1,000 feet. This is attributed to the fact that 
 Montjoie stands at the junction of four valleys, so that no 
 matter from which direction the wind comes it always blows 
 through the town. Then, again, shade is always obtainable. 
 If the sun strikes the side on which the Haller mourns idly, 
 " if aught inanimate e'er grieve," over its past utility that 
 under the castle is wrapped in welcome shade, or up stream 
 there is always the grateful shelter of the Kalterherberg 
 woods as a place of refuge. 
 
 Another rare charm about Montjoie is its extreme quiet, 
 
 the noisiest sound in the valley is the gurgling stream as it 
 
 forces its way over the boulders past the 
 
 VU Ul q uam t old houses which rise sheer from its 
 
 banks when the river is in flood. The motor 
 
 has not yet destroyed the peacefulness of this valley. For 
 
 one thing it lies a little out of the beaten track, for another 
 
 the Montjoie town council has left the lighting of its streets 
 
 chiefly to nature, and as there are points where two carriages 
 
 could not pass abreast, the most adventurous chauffeur 
 
 rather fights shy of the main street of Montjoie after sunset 
 
 with an unpleasant and almost certain prospect of finding 
 
 himself in the river. 
 
 Even for the pedestrian a walk through the one street 
 which practically forms the whole of the town by the aid 
 14 (2387)
 
 210 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 of moon or starlight, assisted perhaps by an occasional candle 
 in a shop window, or by a swinging oil-lamp at the door of 
 a house of some importance, is attended with no small risk. 
 Weird shapes and shadows fall across the path where the 
 moon happens to break through the gaps in the houses 
 flanking the street, cavernous tunnels scarcely to be dis- 
 tinguished from the irregular stone-flagged pavement itself 
 lead under the houses to the stream, here deep and there 
 again shallow, but always flowing with a swiftness that 
 would quickly carry a man off his feet. 
 
 But after all the true charm of Montjoie can only be realised 
 in the daylight, when every dormer-window and gable is 
 exposed to view, when the exquisite iron and 
 Build'n brass work on gateway, lamp and knocker, 
 
 can be appreciated by close inspection, and 
 when the distinctive crests on ancient houses, like that of 
 the Golden Helmet on the Red House, can be clearly deci- 
 phered. These substantial and roomy houses show a past 
 activity and importance that are not discoverable to-day. 
 When one sees the grass-grown squares of Bruges the mind 
 naturally reverts to its busy past when it was the mart of 
 Europe, but who ever heard of the industry of Montjoie ? 
 Inquiry shows, however, that it, too, had its palmy days 
 Montjoie wool and silk long possessed a high reputation 
 throughout the joint bishopric of Stavelot-Malmedy. 
 
 The industry has gone, but the houses of the wealthy mer- 
 chant-weavers remain. There they are, high-storeyed, many- 
 windowed, to testify to the prosperity of those who reared 
 them high and laid their foundations deep. Many of them 
 are in the rococo style, which shows no greater antiquity 
 than the middle of the eighteenth century, others reveal 
 tokens of a more ancient past. It is averred that many of 
 the fugitives from the Palatinate in 1688-9 took refuge at 
 Malmcdy and Montjoie and brought them increased prosperity 
 and a renewal of their earlier activity. 
 
 But the true secret of the mediaeval charm of Montjoie
 
 The Ancient Town of Montjoie 211 
 
 lies in the fact that it has come down to us untouched by 
 outside influences, whether those of destruction or recon- 
 struction. War has always sought easier valleys to penetrate 
 than those of the Roer and Perlenbach, and more promising 
 towns to pillage than that named from the apocryphal temple 
 to the lord of Olympus on the adjacent summit. For a hostile 
 collision in its valleys it would be necessary to go back to the 
 period of the Robber Knights ; or possibly even to the wars 
 when Lorraine was left as a prize for the strongest in the 
 break-up of the Carolingian Empire. Undisturbed peace and 
 tranquillity furnish the key-note to its charm and explain 
 the almost unique aspect of a town which has changed so 
 little with the lapse of time.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 KERMESSES, FETES, AND LEGENDS 
 
 The first buildings of any permanent construction in Belgium 
 were churches, or in the Flemish tongue, " kerks " ; round 
 
 these clustered the wattle huts of the people. 
 Kermesse. When trade commenced to occupy the time 
 
 and attention of the inhabitants of the land, 
 markets, or " messes " were held under the church's shadow 
 and protection. The church and the market-place supply 
 the origin of the compound name of "kermesse," which has 
 come to mean in the course of centuries, a fair. The Flem- 
 ings were given to jollity, and they enjoyed themselves in 
 the days of their prosperity with high living, somewhat 
 boisterous games and " all the fun of the fair." Nor have 
 they changed, as anyone may discover by a visit during the 
 Carnival, more especially to Binche on Shrove-Tuesday. 
 Kermesse is essentially a Flemish institution, and is not to 
 be met outside of the Flemish-speaking provinces which 
 includes Brabant. In the Walloon part of the country, 
 where " free-thought " and unbelief are alleged to have made 
 great progress, all the popular fetes have a religious basis, 
 and are immune from the noisy licence that seems to 
 characterise the kermesse. 
 
 In Brussels no one would discover any difference between 
 a kermesse and an English country fair, and the only matter 
 that appears strange is that a great city should see in its 
 midst the celebration of a country fair with booths, merry- 
 go-rounds, menageries and stalls for the display of much tinsel 
 and gawds. As each commune of Brussels holds its own 
 kermesse, and a fair generally lasts a week, the air seems 
 to be impregnated for a good portion of the summer with 
 their influence, and if one's domestic returns home late or 
 
 212
 
 Kermesses, Fetes, and Legends 213 
 
 not at all the cause is alleged to have been the kermesse. 
 The fairs are held in some open place like the Boulevard 
 Jamar, near the " gare du Midi," so as to interfere as little 
 as possible with the general traffic. 
 
 The kermesse fete of the city of Brussels concentrates its 
 effect on a procession through the streets and boulevards 
 
 of the lower town to the Grand Place. The 
 M nnV famous statuette known as the Mannikin Pis 
 
 is taken down from its pedestal, dressed up in 
 a fancy costume as a Garde Civique, and paraded in triumph. 
 Gigantic figures of Gog and Magog follow in the cortege at a 
 respectful distance, but all the honours of the day are reserved 
 for the Mannikin, who has been called " the oldest citizen of 
 Brussels." This statue, the work of Duquesnoy, dates from 
 1619, and is said to be only a freak of its author. The 
 uniform in which it has always been dressed for the fete has 
 changed with each form of government, and its wardrobe now 
 numbers eight separate costumes, the person who has charge 
 of them receiving a salary of eight pounds a year. 
 
 The most characteristic of all the kermesses is that cele- 
 brated every year at Binche on Shrove-Tuesday. It has 
 
 more of the spirit of the old kermesse and less 
 Binche* * ^ e m dern ^ T tnan perhaps any other 
 
 still held in Belgium. Binche is a small 
 town of Hainaut with a population of about 12,000 people, 
 situated about half-way between Mons and Charleroi. As it 
 is situated on a branch line it is seldom visited by the English 
 tourist. The fetes of Shrove-Tuesday are said to have origi- 
 nated with Mary of Burgundy, who celebrated them for the 
 first time in the year 1477, on the occasion of her establishing 
 a hunting seat in the neighbourhood. They have conse- 
 quently been held for 433 years. Additions were made 
 under her successors, notably the regents Margaret of Austria 
 and Mary of Hungary ; but the fundamental idea of the 
 fete, viz., a disguise, was supplied by the young Duchess, who 
 it may be supposed proposed it as the only way in which she
 
 214 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 could take part in it. The consequence is that no one may 
 appear in their ordinary clothes on this occasion. The young 
 men and women of the place appear as Pierrots and Pier- 
 rettes, while a special band figures as " Gilles." The precise 
 origin of this name is obscure, by some it is considered a 
 reference to St. George, and by others a term for a silly fellow. 
 But in any case the Gilles of Binche are a select society, 
 and apparently membership is hereditary. The costumes 
 are valuable and include a plumed hat which is estimated to 
 cost not less than twenty pounds. 
 
 The participants in the fray that follows, for the feature 
 of the affair is the pelting of onlookers at the windows or 
 balconies with oranges instead of confetti, are not merely 
 disguised but generally put on false noses and hunchbacks. 
 The Gilles Society has its own band, which plays its own 
 special music, and the mad dances of the Gilles and the 
 Pierrots down the long high street to the gardens where the 
 Carnival ball takes place, savours of pandemonium. All 
 the time the dancers are pelting the windows and people in 
 them with the oranges carried in straw baskets. It is not 
 etiquette to pelt anyone in the streets, but those in the houses 
 are considered fair game. At Binche one sees the kermesse 
 pure and simple combined with the orgy of the Carnival, but 
 free of all the accessories of the fair. It is usual for as many 
 as twenty thousand visitors to come into the place from the 
 neighbouring towns of Hainaut and France, but prudent 
 residents close all their shutters, and take their chance with 
 the crowd in the streets. The festivities begin on the Monday 
 evening and do not terminate till the sun is up on the 
 Wednesday morning. 
 
 The nearest approach to what may be called the wild 
 
 kermesse at Binche is the parade of Lumecon, which takes 
 
 place at Mons on Trinity Sunday. These 
 
 Mons Fete. fetes are familiarly known as those of " dou- 
 
 dou," but no one can give any better 
 
 reason for the name than that it rhymes with " chou, chou,"
 
 Kermesses, Fetes, and Legends 215 
 
 the familiar term for driving or chasing something or some- 
 body which is used as the cry of those marching in the pro- 
 cession. Lumecon is the Walloon of the French word limacon 
 (a snail), but the snail of Mons is a dragon which is carried at 
 the head of the procession in effigy. This is a gilt dragon over 
 thirty feet in length, and when the legend on which the parade 
 is based is critically examined it turns out to be nothing more 
 or less than our old friend of the nursery, St. George and the 
 Dragon. It is impossible to assign a date to the first celebra- 
 tion of this fete, but it was certainly anterior to the battle of 
 Crecy, at which a contingent from Mons fought on our side 
 with much distinction. It has always been said that they 
 took with them into the battle an enormous cannon which was 
 brought home to Mons, and ever afterwards, as long as it held 
 together, it figured in the procession, and when it came to 
 pieces a wooden facsimile was provided. For some time, 
 however, the cannon does not seem to have figured in the 
 procession. The fete ends on the Grand Place with the 
 slaying of the dragon by the modern representative of 
 St. George, who is called Gilles de Chin in the local 
 history. 
 
 While the fetes at Mons and Binche are annual affairs, 
 
 those at Hasselt, in Limburg, are held only once in seven 
 
 years, and consequently they gain in elab- 
 
 The Hasselt orateness. The religious element is also 
 Fete. more prominent. The celebration takes place 
 
 on the day of the Assumption (15th August), 
 which is not only a great day for the Church, but also one 
 of the three national holidays established by law in Belgium. 
 The last fetes were held in 1905, so that the next fall due in 
 1912. 
 
 The celebration is really in honour of the Virgin Mary, 
 and is called that of Virga Jesse the patois for Virgin and 
 Jesus. It seems to be as old as Hasselt itself, and the origin 
 of the legend is thus described. Hasselt derives its name 
 from hazel-bosch (hazel wood), and was situated in old days
 
 216 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 in the centre of an immense hazel wood. The town began 
 with a shrine to the Virgin, which, as some say, was attached 
 to a large tree at cross roads in the heart of the forest. Travel- 
 lers were so rejoiced at getting thus far in safety that they 
 made offerings for the happy termination of their journey. 
 In this way the shrine, to which before long a chapel was 
 added, became rich, and in a clearing of the forest a town 
 gradually sprang up which is the modern Hasselt. The 
 shrine with the Virgin's statue was transferred from the 
 wood to the church, where it may still be seen black with 
 age. On the occasion of the celebration the statue is taken 
 down, dressed in costly robes, and crowned with a jewelled 
 crown given by one of the Popes, and carried under a canopy 
 through the streets. 
 
 That is the religious side of the ceremony, but the popular 
 is still more obtrusive. In the first place the streets are lined 
 with hazel trees placed in buckets, and the houses are em- 
 bowered in branches and foliage gathered by the young from 
 the neighbouring woods. This is to recall the time when 
 Hasselt itself was a wood, and the practice is said to date 
 from the fourteenth century. Indeed, the fetes were held 
 annually down to the eighteenth century, and it was only 
 under French and Dutch rule that they were restricted to a 
 septennial celebration. 
 
 The embowering of Hasselt may be termed the prepara- 
 tion of the scene for what follows. The first inhabitant of 
 Hasselt is supposed to have been a countryman named 
 Hendrich, who lived there in a hut with his pigs and his 
 goats. He and his wife and his animals are carried in 
 triumph through the streets, but his modern representative 
 is allowed to smoke his pipe, which would have somewhat 
 astonished the original Hendrich of the tenth or eleventh 
 century. There also figures in the procession the knight 
 who has lost his way in the forest and is led by the Virgin to 
 Hendrich's hut. This incident has a very important bearing 
 on the fortunes of Hasselt, for the knight kills the giant, or
 
 A. and C. Dianckar 
 
 THE FETE AT HASSELT
 
 Kermesses,- Fetes, and Legends 217 
 
 ogre, who dwelt in the recesses of the forest and rendered the 
 routes unsafe for the peaceful traveller. 
 
 The reader will have no difficulty in concluding that of 
 
 all the personages in the procession the one that attracts 
 
 most popular interest is the Giant himself. 
 
 The Man nge He is called the " Loun g e Man >" the long or 
 tall man. He is so big and tall that his part 
 in the play cannot be filled, and he is therefore carried in 
 effigy. He is shown in armour, seated on the trunk of a tree, 
 placed in a waggon, or chariot, drawn by four horses. So far 
 the procession can be interpreted in all its detail, but for the 
 final touch in the arrangements no reasonable explanation 
 has ever been offered. In the car behind the Giant is an 
 immense barrel with a tap and an attendant. He serves all 
 who wish, and who present basins,' with thick pea-soup! 
 Why it should be pea-soup no one has ever attempted to 
 explain beyond suggesting that it might be intended as an 
 object lesson in the practice of sobriety. Be that as it may, 
 the fetes of Hasselt enjoy an immense popular success, and 
 are attended by as many as 30,000 curious visitors from 
 Holland and Dutch Limburg. 
 
 The fetes of the Walloon region are even more distinc- 
 tively religious than those of Hasselt. They are based, as a 
 rule, on a miracle, and partake of the char- 
 
 r C Fa7th nS acter f a pilgrimage. Typical of these may 
 be chosen for brief description the procession 
 once in seven years from Rochefort to Foy Notre-Dame, near 
 Dinant. The history of this procession is fairly well authenti- 
 cated, and dates no further back than the early years of the 
 seventeenth century. The country was then visited with the 
 plague. Many deaths had occurred, and failing the remedies 
 of science those of faith alone offered. It was reported that 
 someone who had made an offering at the Virgin's shrine at 
 Foy Notre-Dame had been cured of the disease, whereupon 
 the Count of Rochefort led his people in solemn procession 
 to the shrine, which lies about fifteen miles out of Rochefort.
 
 218 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 The plague was stayed, and there does not appear to have 
 been any further outbreak at Rochefort since that time, but 
 the procession is still faithfully kept up. 
 
 Every year devout persons pay their homage at the mira- 
 culous shrine at Foy, but it is only once in seven years that 
 the processional march is held. Long preparations and much 
 drilling precede the expedition, which is made in military 
 order. Those who are selected for the responsible position 
 of the Count's bodyguard are carefully trained by an ex- 
 soldier, not merely in the goose-step, but in the use of fire- 
 arms, for a good deal of firing is indulged in on the return. 
 The local worthy who represents the Count de Rochefort is 
 very proud of himself, as clothed in armour he takes his place 
 at the head of the procession on a spirited horse. He, too, 
 has been carefully trained for his important role, for not 
 everyone accustomed to broadcloth can wear armour without 
 making himself ridiculous. However, thanks to the careful 
 preparation, all goes off very well. 
 
 The date of the procession is Whit-Monday, and it will 
 next take place in 1913. As the distance is considerable, 
 for the majority in the procession walk the whole way there 
 and back, a start is, made shortly after the sun rises. The 
 Count heads the procession, then comes his bodyguard, 
 followed by the Catholic band playing religious and secular 
 music. Then appear the clergy resplendent in chasuble and 
 attended by acolytes, but they only attend the cortege to 
 the limits of the town. The procession includes farmers on 
 horseback, townsmen and villagers on foot, women and 
 children in carts, waggons, and vehicles of all descriptions. 
 The old women are even more keen to be present than the 
 young, and count up the number of processions they have 
 attended in the course of their lives. Sometimes the pro- 
 cession is quite a mile in length, and on that day Rochefort 
 is left practically empty. 
 
 At Foy the procession is received by the local clergy and 
 a crowd of curious sightseers from Dinant. A special service
 
 Kermesses, Fetes, and Legends 219 
 
 is held in the church, offerings are made at the shrine, and 
 then the processionists picnic in the neighbouring woods. 
 Late in the afternoon the order of march is re-formed, and the 
 party return to Rochefort. Darkness has long set in before 
 they reach it, but the little town is lit up in their honour. 
 The priests are again there to receive and bless them before 
 they disperse, and as a final honour an old cannon is brought 
 out from its hiding-place and fired several times on the 
 approach to the old castle. It is said that the Count was 
 thus received on his return from the original procession in 
 1610. There are many other pilgrimages or marches of a 
 similar character carried out to-day in the region between 
 the Sambre and Meuse. Here, if anywhere in Belgium, may 
 be found the old folk-lore of the Belgian division of ancient 
 Gaul. Chimay, Couvin and Mariembourg are samples of 
 mediaeval townlets not to be seen in any other part of the 
 country. 
 
 Belgium is the -home of legend. There is that of John of 
 
 Nivelles and his dog. John was a Montmorency, and the 
 
 ancestor of Count Horn. There is the 
 
 hit 7 Four Sons stor y of Caraco1 and Bristecol (the history 
 of Punch). But the most popular of all is the 
 story of Aymon and his four sons and the wonderful horse 
 Bayard. The Duke Aymon was one of the rebellious vassals 
 of the Emperor Charlemagne, and when he was summoned to 
 attend his sovereign to the wars he sent a curt refusal believ- 
 ing that his castle of Aigremont was so strong and inaccessible 
 that the Emperor could never take it. This castle in the 
 Houyoux valley of the region called Condroz exists to-day, 
 partly as an imposing ruin and partly as the residence of the 
 Counts D'Oultremont. It looks now inaccessible enough ; no 
 wonder it seemed to its owner in the ninth century beyond the 
 reach of the most powerful assailant. Charlemagne having 
 conquered his external foes decided to chastise his vassal, and 
 directed a host to level Aigremont with the ground. The 
 defenders were overmatched. Aymon was taken prisoner
 
 220 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 and carried off to Aix-la-Chapelle, and his brother Buves was 
 slain. 
 
 But Aymon's four sons escaped by mounting all together 
 on the wonderful horse Bayard, which flew like the wind 
 and soon outdistanced all pursuers. They took refuge in 
 the Ardennes forest where they built a stronger fort than 
 Aigremont at Montfort on the Ourthe, and here again they 
 defied the Emperor. The four sons were named Renault, 
 Allard, Guichard and Richard. They were all of gigantic 
 stature, Renault, the biggest, being sixteen feet high, and 
 Bayard was his personal property, having been a gift from his 
 cousin Maugis, the son of Buves. Although the castle was 
 surrounded by a triple wall it fell to the Emperor's arms, 
 and again the brothers had to mount Bayard and flee. They 
 are next heard of in Gascony where they fought for King 
 Yon, who, little grateful for their aid, surrendered them to 
 Charlemagne. They succeeded in escaping, but their sub- 
 sequent adventures are obscure. Renault entered the 
 cloister at Cologne, and was one of the first architects of the 
 cathedral. He is said to have been thrown into the Rhine 
 by some of his masons whom he had offended. If this could 
 be accepted as fact it would be the first " strike " on record. 
 He was eventually canonised, and there is a fine monument 
 to him at Dortmund, in Westphalia. 
 
 Of the other brothers there is little to tell, but report says 
 
 they were all killed at different times and places. The last 
 
 of them let Bayard loose, and he rushed 
 
 T r C H T* * nto ^ e f rest > f r the party had returned 
 to the Ardennes. After a time Bayard 
 himself was caught and brought before Charlemagne, who 
 thus apostrophised him "You have often upset my plans 
 and now you shall do so no more." He ordered a heavy 
 stone to be attached to his neck and then that he should be 
 driven from the cliff at Dinant into the Meuse. The exact 
 scene is supposed to have been at the Rocher Bayard, near 
 Dinant. But when the gallant horse was forced over the
 
 Kermesses, Fetes, and Legends 221 
 
 cliff he succeeded in ridding himself of the stone, and swim- 
 ming across the river, escaped into the woods, and was never 
 more seen by mortal eye. The old belief was that the steed 
 was immortal, and in some of the villages within recent times, 
 when the wind blew loudly at nights and children were 
 querulous, they were silenced by being warned to listen to the 
 noise of the steed Bayard as he raced through the village.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 SPORTS, OLD AND NEW 
 
 The Netherlands have always been the home of sport. Their 
 
 nobles were great huntsmen, and the forest of the Ardennes 
 
 abounded in wild animals, including the wolf, 
 
 Jeno^F?an<Ss Until the cl Se f the ei g hteenth Century. 
 
 Mary of Burgundy died from a fall from her 
 horse out hawking, and the legends of the Ardennes revolve 
 round the chase of the wild boar. The earliest popular sport 
 was probably shooting at a mark with a crossbow, for the 
 crossbowmen of Flanders were as famous as the archers of 
 England. William Clito and Richard Cceur de Lion were 
 both victims of the prowess of a crossbowman (arbaletrier) 
 of Flanders. It is a remarkable proof of how old customs 
 that have lost all utility survive to find a guild of cross- 
 bowmen still at Bruges ; there used to be a guild of St. 
 George, of which our Charles II was a member, flourishing 
 in Hainaut. The first act demanded of a ruler after 
 making his " joyous entry " was to shoot at the 
 popinjay, and favourable auguries were drawn from his 
 hitting the mark. Great was the joy, for instance, when the 
 Infanta Isabella scored at the first trial on her arrival to 
 establish what was expected to prove a national dynasty. 
 
 Archery was very much practised in Hainaut in the Middle 
 Ages, but whether the long bow was introduced into England 
 
 from Hainaut, or whether the Hainauters 
 The H ^^ s of borrowed it from their English comrades on 
 
 many a stricken field may be left for the 
 investigation of those who have leisure to make the neces- 
 sary research. We have only to note that " confreries " of 
 archers still exist at Mons, Quiesnoy, and other towns of 
 Hainaut, and that it is no unusual sight to see on Sundays 
 
 222
 
 Sports, Old and New 223 
 
 and fete days m mbers of these societies attired in a jerkin 
 and buskin with the plumed hat associated here with Robin 
 Hood and carrying the old six-foot longbow. Curiously 
 enough archery as a pastime does not seem to exist in 
 Belgium. Modern Belgium, among the numerous games and 
 sports it has borrowed from England, has not taken up this 
 particular and picturesque game of skill. 
 
 Perhaps among the people the jeu de bal is as old as any 
 game in Europe. It is played all over Belgium in the public 
 
 squares, and even in the open streets of pro- 
 the Ban vincial towns. It is nothing more than hitting 
 
 a small ball backwards and forwards between 
 two players. The feature of the game is that each playei 
 holds a wooden bat or glove into which his hand is inserted. 
 The weapon is called a glove (gant). As the material for this 
 game is practically nothing at all it is not surprising to find 
 it in general use. On fete days or at the different kermesses 
 there are competitions for experts at the jeu de bal to which 
 the commune and even the State give money prizes. 
 
 Another very old sport, still in general indulgence throughout 
 Belgium, is pigeon-flying. Indeed, there is no sport more 
 
 generally followed or more attractive to the 
 Pigeons. masses. In some parts of the country it 
 
 is said the Belgian working man divides his 
 wages into three parts, one for the family, one for himself, 
 and the third for his carrier pigeons. The extent to which 
 the practice is indulged may be gathered from the fact that 
 the railways receive 120,000 (3 million francs) a year for 
 the carriage of the panniers (baskets) conveying pigeons to 
 and from the places of meeting. Large prizes are offered 
 by the different societies, and during the year considerable 
 sums of money are won and lost in bets. The freeing of the 
 birds at an important competition is a remarkable sight. At 
 one held during the late Brussels Exhibition it was declared 
 that as many as 100,000 birds were let loose at the same 
 moment from the baskets of their owners.
 
 224 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 In old days contests between rival parties mounted on 
 stilts were a feature of life at Namur. The use of stilts there 
 seems to have arisen from the prevalence of 
 J StSs n floods, and from the fact that by their means 
 it was possible to cross the river Sambre 
 when the stream was low. The old town of Namur was 
 situated in the fork of the two rivers, and the new town 
 was that which sprang up on the left bank of the Sambre. 
 There was a keen rivalry between the two, and the opponents 
 were called echasseurs because their battles were fought on 
 stilts (echasses). To put a curb on the practice of constant 
 irregular fighting it was arranged by the town authorities 
 to hold a joust once a year on the Place St. Remy (now the 
 Place d'Armes) facing the Town Hall. The two factions, 
 called the Melans for the old town and Avresses for the new, 
 sent their chosen champions to the fray wearing distinctive 
 costumes and colours, yellow and black for the Melans, and 
 red and white for the Avresses. As a rule, the contestants 
 were so skilful in either upsetting their opponents or falling 
 themselves that they escaped any serious injury, but when 
 the French revolutionists overran the country these jousts 
 were abolished as a survival of feudalism and as not comporting 
 with the gravity of the times. 
 
 We come now to the introduction of what were essentially 
 
 English sports into Belgium. About thirty years ago young 
 
 Belgium in the great cities, such as Brussels, 
 
 Football, etc. Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges, took up foot- 
 ball, hockey, and amateur competitions on 
 the running-ground. It was done in a modest and diffident 
 sort of way at first, and some supercilious English critics 
 said of the early football teams that they were not sure what 
 the game was. But that initial stage has passed away, and 
 whatever his skill or success there is one characteristic common 
 to all Belgian athletes. He is in real earnest. No hour is 
 too early for him to get up and begin training ; he is ever 
 ready to join in a game or a trial. In fact he displays the
 
 HOTEL DE VILLE, AUDEXARDE 
 {By permission of the Ligue de Propagande)
 
 Sports, Old and New 225 
 
 old sporting spirit and go which were the monopoly of English- 
 men. The contrast is furnished in Brussels by the young 
 Englishmen who happen to reside in Brussels. They pass 
 most of their time at the cafes and smoking cigarettes. It 
 would be impossible to-day to get together iA Brussels or the 
 whole of Belgium an English side that could hold its own 
 at either football or hockey with any of the leading Belgian 
 college or club teams. This was not the case even fifteen 
 years ago. Owing to the absence of suitable playing-fields 
 cricket has not yet caught on in Belgium, but at the new 
 club grounds in the Avenue Longchamp several first-rate 
 pitches have been laid down and the game finds a few enthu- 
 siastic followers. But cricket is never likely to become as 
 general in Belgium as football or hockey. 
 
 It is in boating, however, that young Belgium has made 
 the most sensational progress, but in this particular matter 
 
 Ghent must be regarded as standing for 
 Rowing. Belgium. Two boating clubs, the " Cercle 
 
 Nautique de Gand " and the Royal Club of 
 Ghent, were founded in the Flemish capital about twenty-five 
 years ago, and the services of English trainers were engaged. 
 The Scheldt at Ghent is a little superior to the Cam as a river 
 and a little inferior to the Isis. The sport or recreation 
 rapidly became very popular among the young Flemings, and 
 under clever coaching they made great progress. About twenty 
 years ago they began to compete with the Dutch at Amsterdam 
 and the Germans at Hamburg. They began by holding their 
 own, and after a time they scored some successes. These 
 preliminaries instilled confidence into them, and at last, in 
 1898, they sent a crew to take part in Henley regatta. 
 
 This was thought rather audacious on their part, and, to 
 tell the truth, the contestants thought so themselves, but 
 
 " nothing venture nothing have." During 
 Henley ^e rS f ew y ears f their appearing at 
 Achievements. __ , -,-,,. i 
 
 Henley the Belgians gained no successes, 
 
 but some observers remarked that each time they came they 
 
 is (2387)
 
 226 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 were gradually getting nearer. At last in 1905 they got into 
 the final heat for the Grand Challenge Cup. In 1906 they 
 scored their first victory carrying off the cup to Ghent where 
 the victors were received with a public triumph. In 1907 
 they won again, and the cup was again carried off to the banks 
 of the Scheldt. The Olympic games of 1908 witnessed the 
 next struggle, and on this occasion a picked crew of the 
 Leander Club wrested the cup from the Belgian visitors 
 after a hard contest. But at the regatta of 1909 the Belgians 
 were again victorious, no special effort having been made 
 in this country to resist the invaders. In 1910 the Ghent 
 clubs professed their inability to send a representative team 
 and the cup was returned to England. Even if Belgium 
 never scored again at Henley her representatives did enough 
 for glory and to show that in whatever they take up they are 
 doughty adversaries. 
 
 Swimming has long been a popular relaxation and swim- 
 ming baths are to be found in most of the towns. The 
 
 rivers are also utilised for floating baths. 
 Swimming. Fencing is also much in vogue, and cercles 
 
 d'escrime are numerous. The Belgians are 
 not quite on a level with the French or possibly the Ital- 
 ians, but they are better than all other nations. Swedish 
 gymnastics have latterly been introduced and are now com- 
 pulsory in the army. A still more recent importation is 
 golf, and first-rate links have been laid out near Antwerp. 
 Speaking generally, sport and athletic games have been taken 
 up with greater avidity and pursued with more energy and 
 perseverance by the Flemings than the Walloons, but of 
 course in the upper strata of society race does not tell at all. 
 The temperament of the Walloon does undoubtedly make 
 him more averse to great exertion than is the case with the 
 Fleming. 
 
 This reservation does not apply, however, to anything 
 that has to do with shooting game or riding horses. The 
 Ardennes are part of the Walloon country, and here everyone
 
 Sports, Old and New 227 
 
 is more or less of a sportsman. For the magnate there 
 are extensive preserves in which pheasants, wild duck, wood- 
 cock and deer of all kinds abound ; for the rich 
 Hunting there are the shooting rights in the communal 
 woods, which can be rented ; and for the 
 people there is the free right in the river valleys to snare 
 woodcock and snipe at certain periods. The principal 
 delight of the sportsman is the wild boar battue which goes 
 on through the winter. In the Campine region black game 
 and partridge are found in large quantities, and in the late 
 autumn the delicious tasting " grives " are captured by the 
 thousand. There is a royal chasse at Villers sur Lesse, near 
 Ciergnon, another at the chateau of the Amerois, and as 
 King Albert is a good shot, like his father, the late Comte de 
 Flandre, and his grandfather Leopold I, it is possible that the 
 Ardennes will see more royal battues in the near future than 
 they have at any former period. The provincial noblesse 
 are rather conservative in their methods. For deer and 
 boar they prefer a charge of slugs to the single bullet of a 
 small bore rifle. 
 
 The Belgians generally take great pride in their horses. 
 At Antwerp the heavy Flemish breed predominates, and iron- 
 greys are rather in favour for private carriages. 
 Love of Horses. In Luxemburg, and Liege the Ardennais, a 
 smaller breed than that of Flanders, but 
 extremely handsome when pure bred, is most often met 
 with. At Brussels English thoroughbreds and Irish hunters 
 are most in demand. A Belgian gentleman is very dis- 
 satisfied if he cannot keep one horse, and most of the houses 
 in the fashionable quarter have the porte cochere, which denotes 
 that there is a stable in the rear. A house is then entitled 
 to use the grander designation of an hotel. 
 
 Within the last twenty years horse-racing has been intro- 
 duced into Belgium. It began at Ostend and Spa as fashion- 
 able watering-places, with the view of attracting foreign 
 visitors. After a time two race -courses were laid out for
 
 228 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Brussels, one at Boitsfort, near the Bois de la Cambre, the 
 
 other at Groenendael, in the forest of Soignes. Both these 
 
 places are picturesquely situated and well 
 
 Horse-Racing, arranged. The fashionable world goes to 
 Boitsfort in particular during the summer 
 season, and the Avenue Louise is crowded with carriages, 
 and latterly with motor-cars as well, on the occasion of the 
 principal meetings. These are always held on Sundays, and 
 as the prizes have been greatly increased in value, many 
 sportsmen attend from Paris, and even from London. It is 
 said that horse-racing has taken a strong hold on the Belgian 
 mind, and that it has become a national pastime. But this 
 is by no means certain. The majority of those who attend 
 the races at Boitsfort go there simply to meet their friends 
 and show off their dresses, and probably never make a bet. 
 A subscription is taken for the whole season which reduces 
 the charge of admission to each meeting to a very low figure. 
 There are other race-courses in different parts of the country, 
 but they are of minor importance and have no attractions 
 for society. A large proportion of the horses were formerly 
 imported from England, but the native-bred horse is coming 
 to the front, and Belgium has started its own stud book. 
 
 Horse-racing in Belgium has as many opponents as here, 
 and the reformers who put down gambling in the casinos and 
 clubs with a ruthless hand often declaim against the evils of 
 the new importation. Although they are not likely to suc- 
 ceed in putting an end to horse-racing altogether, it seems 
 probable that they will succeed in preventing its extension, 
 and the number of meetings is not likely to increase. There 
 is, besides, a stronger reason. The greater prizes to be gained 
 on the French turf will always draw off the most ambitious 
 and successful of owners of race-horses in Belgium. 
 
 Enough has been written to show that sport in all its 
 branches and phases is in vigorous life and constant progression 
 among all classes of the Belgian people.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 NATIONAL THRIFT 
 
 Belgian prosperity is due to many causes, but one of the 
 
 principal is national thrift, and in no country is there a more 
 
 marked tendency to effect les petites econo- 
 
 Capacity for m ^ es w ^^ a y - ew Q f providing for the rainy 
 
 day. Moreover, the State, realising the advan- 
 tage to itself of this practice, has intervened to place all its 
 influence and means at the disposal of those who wish to 
 hoard their savings instead of squandering them. From the 
 moment that the young Belgian enters the primary schools 
 every inducement is placed before him to begin saving. 
 Scholars are divided in the official returns into three cate- 
 goriesthose who have a savings bank book, those who are 
 qualifying to get one, and those who do not save. 
 
 The last category does not mean those who will not save, 
 but the extreme poor, those who literally have nothing out 
 of which savings can be taken. Habits thus formed in child- 
 hood endure through life, and the evils of improvidence are 
 thus mitigated. In France, where the total capital far 
 exceeds per head of population the amount reached in either 
 Belgium or any other country, the great financial world has 
 so perfected its machinery that the individual capitalist, 
 which is really the French people en masse, can place his 
 savings to the greatest possible advantage in large under- 
 takings. The thrift of France is the true support of la haute 
 finance. In Belgium the State has taken supreme control of 
 the educational stage. It has provided a State Savings Bank, 
 and it supervises those Provident societies which existed 
 before it took up the work, for the benefit of la petite finance, 
 which we might translate as " small investors." 
 
 229
 
 230 
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 There are in Belgium first of all the State Savings Bank 
 (called the Caisse Generate d'Epargne), the business of which is 
 
 transacted at the Head Post Office, the branch 
 Savings Banks. Post Offices throughout the Kingdom, the 
 
 National Bank in Brussels, and its agencies 
 throughout the country. There are sixty-six administra- 
 tive offices in Belgium, and 1,094 branch post offices, trans- 
 acting all the business of the Savings Bank including 
 insurance. In addition to these are the special savings 
 banks run by the four communes of Alost, Malines, Nivelles 
 and Tournai. There are five private savings banks managed 
 by special companies, and, finally, there are Professional 
 Unions recognised by the State. The following tables show 
 the activity of each division. Let us take the four communal 
 Savings Banks first as they are the oldest in the country : 
 
 Communal Savings Banks 
 
 Alost 
 
 Malines 
 
 Nivelles 
 
 Tournai 
 
 Of these Nivelles and Tournai alone show signs of any 
 vigour, and the direct competition of the State has already 
 proved too much for Malines, and seems likely to do so also 
 for Alost. 
 
 Year 
 
 Sums paid in 
 
 Sums drawn out 
 
 Balance, or deposit, 
 at end of the year 
 
 1860 
 1880 
 1900 
 1908 
 
 52,050 
 
 194,875 
 
 78,862 
 
 96,345 
 
 54,789 
 181,623 
 104,027 
 
 72,219 
 
 243,160 
 911.193 
 862,245 
 671,095 
 
 1850 
 1880 
 1900 
 1905 
 
 4,338 
 512,675 
 164,033 
 wound up 
 
 6,303 
 382,007 
 162,857 
 800,452 
 
 50,004 
 
 2,095,064 
 
 969,917 
 
 204,430 
 
 1870 
 1880 
 1900 
 1908 
 
 504,139 
 1,607,951 
 1,008,631 
 1,555,557 
 
 804,850 
 1 ,498,696 
 
 924,440 
 1,416,577 
 
 3,640,310 
 3,959,109 
 3,772,137 
 4,765,451 
 
 1850 
 1880 
 1900 
 1908 
 
 431.713 
 
 398,670 
 803,154 
 968,417 
 
 144,212 
 538,943 
 839,996 
 901,689 
 
 1,273,091 
 3,693,720 
 3,889,606 
 4,613,544
 
 National Thrift 231 
 
 We come next to the operations of the Savings Bank which 
 combines pensions and insurance with the ordinary work 
 of saving. The following statistics relate exclusively to the 
 Savings department : 
 
 
 
 Total of Books 
 
 Total Payments 
 
 Total Payments 
 
 Year 
 
 Offices 
 
 at end of each 
 
 in at end of the 
 
 out at end of 
 
 
 
 year 
 
 year 
 
 each year 
 
 1865 
 
 36 
 
 820 
 
 600,670 
 
 71,030 
 
 1880 
 
 784 
 
 53,154 
 
 179,037,531 
 
 53,939,249 
 
 1900 
 
 997 
 
 249,680 
 
 905,989,780 
 
 244,481,894 
 
 1908 
 
 1,160 
 
 301,227 
 
 1,250,545,421 
 
 364,304,680 
 
 In the last year the payments in amounted to fifty millions 
 sterling and the drawings out to between fourteen and fifteen 
 millions, leaving a rest of between thirty-five and thirty-six 
 millions sterling. 
 
 In 1881 the practice of accepting postage stamps for 
 opening fresh accounts was first adopted, and at the end of 
 1908 351,010 accounts had been opened in this manner. 
 
 The returns of the pension fund under the Post Office 
 Savings Bank for 1908 show r that 21,907 persons had reached 
 the age of qualification for a pension, and that they received 
 2,023,781 francs in annuities. In the life assurance depart- 
 ment depositors were insured for 68,048,736 in 1907, a total 
 which had risen at the end of 1908 to 73,120,680 francs. 
 
 Scholars' The results of scholars' savings in the 
 
 Savings. primary schools in 1908 were as follows : 
 
 No. of With a Savings 
 Schools Bank 
 
 Total 
 Scholars 
 
 With a Savings 
 Book 
 
 Qualifying 
 for one 
 
 Without 
 
 one 
 
 10,340 8,735 
 
 1,182,703 
 
 415,013 
 
 59,684 
 
 708,006 
 
 The total of savings in these infant schools had reached at 
 the end of 1908 13,106,909 francs, or rather more than a 
 pound a head. 
 
 The five savings banks belonging to private companies 
 were, with the returns for 1908 :
 
 232 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Company No. of accounts open Total payings in Total payings out 
 Societe Generale de 
 
 Belgique .. 1,946 13,045,261 11,194,799 
 
 Banque Liegeoise .. 212 717,615 427.963 
 
 Banque de Huy . . 14 65,140 25,451 
 
 Mine of the Old Mountain 179 711,201 478,075 
 
 John Cockerill Company 149 1,450,711 1,102.632 
 
 Finally, 1,943 professional Unions are recognised as bodies 
 entitled to co-operate for the benefit of their members in 
 respect of savings funds, life insurance and pension, and to 
 receive support from the State Savings Department. 
 
 In Belgium as in France pawnshops do not exist. Their 
 place is taken by Monts de Piet6, which are under State 
 
 control. There are only fourteen of them 
 Pawnshops, for the whole of Belgium, and the tendency 
 
 is to reduce the number. Although all are 
 under State management there is not an uniform scale of 
 interest. At Brussels and Liege the interest is only five per 
 cent. ; at Courtrai and Liesse it runs as high as fifteen. The 
 total sums lent in the year 1908 amounted to 15,515,031, the 
 maintenance of offices and staff came to 622,249, and the net 
 profit to no more than 114,517 francs. The bulk of the 
 pawning is done in Brussels, Antwerp, and Liege, which 
 between them account for four-fifths of the total sum. 
 
 The thrift of the Belgian people comes out in their way 
 of living. Economy in trifles is practised everywhere, and 
 
 no one who wishes to stand well in the estima- 
 Housekeeping ^ on * ^ s neighbours would think of incurring 
 
 the charge of wastefulness. The great ambi- 
 tion of a Belgian citizen is to own his own house, and 
 many of the middle class will not think of marrying until 
 they can buy one. This may be effected by the marriage 
 dot, or partly by that and a temporary loan to be paid off 
 in a short term of years out of salary or earnings. In any 
 case, the young people setting up housekeeping will not be 
 content till they own their domicile. Then they have only 
 to pay the " contributions," or rates which even in Brussels
 
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 National Thrift 233 
 
 average no more than ten per cent, of the rent, including an 
 abundant water supply from two sources, one for household 
 use and the other for drinking purposes brought from the 
 Bocq in the Ardennes. 
 
 Having obtained the house the next thing is its furnishing, 
 
 and on this very little is spent in the first place, although no 
 
 surer test can be applied of the growing 
 
 F " House thC P ros P erit y of a family than to watch how the 
 furniture improves in quality and increases in 
 quantity. But even at the start one room must be furnished 
 in the best way within the owner's means as a salon de recep- 
 tion. It is very little used, the less used the better from the 
 point of view of preservation, but it is there for state occasions 
 such as the christening of the first child, or the mistress' 
 anniversaire, that is not her own birthday but the Saint's 
 day whose name she bears. Into the living rooms of the house 
 no visitor or even friend is ever admitted. They are always 
 sparsely furnished and contain only necessary furniture. It 
 is regarded as a great convenience if the room in which meals 
 are taken is near the kitchen. Owing to the excellent and 
 extensive service of electric trams in Brussels clerks and the 
 employes in public departments can live at a good distance 
 from the centre of the town, and much building of small 
 houses has gone on of late years in the outer suburbs. 
 
 Taking a superior grade in the social scale the character 
 
 of the house will denote the prosperity or affluence of the 
 
 owner. A very nice house can be bought 
 
 ThC cses~ d0 for 50 ' 000 francs ' or I 2 ' 000 ' in Brussels. 
 This, of course, means freehold or absolute 
 possession. The rates will not exceed 20 a year. The 
 reception rooms will consist of a salon and a salle a manger, 
 generally en suite, but although these will be in frequent use 
 when friends pay visits or are invited to partake of the owner's 
 hospitality, there is always the living-room which is used when 
 the family are alone. This practice has been explained to me 
 as proof of the Belgian's desire to be very much at his ease.
 
 234 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 In a house of this character a good deal of money will be 
 expended on the furniture, but the most remarkable feature 
 in a well-to-do Belgian's house is the richness of the interior 
 decorations and the free use of expensive wood or marble. A 
 house costing 2,000, which from the outside seems nothing 
 extraordinary, may have had a second 2,000 spent on inner 
 decorations, and contain furniture of the same value without 
 including objets d'art. But if it is a Belgian who has gone 
 to this expense it may be assumed as certain that he can very 
 well afford it, and that the proportion of his income to house 
 rent (or its equivalent) is far higher than would be the case 
 in England. 
 
 The law of inheritance in Belgium is also of a nature to 
 
 promote thrift, or rather to prevent the dissipation of property, 
 
 because it makes the family possessions a 
 
 The Law of common f un( j j n which children have defined 
 
 Inheritance. .,., 
 
 rights. The law treats the property of the 
 
 father and mother as one. When either dies the whole 
 property is valued and half goes to the survivor ; the re- 
 maining half is divided in equal parts among the children. 
 On the death of the other parent the second half, with what- 
 ever accretions he or she may have made to it in the interval, 
 is subdivided among the children. The law is automatic, the 
 children know the proportion in which they will benefit and 
 the parents cannot alienate their property. 
 
 That is the law of Belgium. It may be interesting to illus- 
 trate it by contrast with a case of considerable importance 
 and notoriety which came before the Belgian Courts a few 
 years ago, and which is generally misunderstood if not wil- 
 fully misrepresented. I refer to the case of the late King 
 Leopold II and the Queen Marie Henriette. The Queen 
 died in 1902, and if she had been the wife of an ordinary 
 Belgian citizen holding their property in common, there is 
 no question what would have happened on her death. Her 
 fortune, which was very little, would have been added to the 
 fortune of King Leopold, which was very great, the sum would
 
 National Thrift 235 
 
 have been divided into two equal parts, one would have been 
 left to the King, and the other would have been divided 
 among his three daughters. But the King and Queen were 
 not mere ordinary citizens ; neither had they been married 
 under the ordinary Belgian law. Their marriage contract 
 was really on the footing of a treaty between the reigning 
 families of Austria and Belgium. Interested parties refused 
 to recognise the facts and a law suit followed. The matter 
 was fought out in the courts at Brussels, and as there was no 
 question as to the documents and the facts, no division of 
 property occurred. Precisely the same thing had happened 
 when King Leopold I lost his wife, Queen Louise, in 1850. 
 There was no subdivision of property, and on that occasion 
 there was no scandal in the law courts. Other questions 
 arise from the distribution of the inheritance of King Leopold 
 II. but as they are still sub judice they are not ripe for dis- 
 cussion, but as to the earlier case there is no room for doubt 
 as to the judicial points involved and the soundness of the 
 decision arrived at in the Brussels Court of Appeal.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 A GLIMPSE INTO THE GRAND DUCHY 
 
 The reader knows from the earlier chapters that Belgium 
 
 represents a collection of feudal territories some fiefs of 
 
 France and others of the Empire, that is to 
 
 L i?o!Jn g sa y- the Hol y Roman Empire, which expired 
 in 1806 now forming the Nine Provinces. 
 One of these is Luxemburg, first a countdom and then a 
 duchy belonging to the famous house of that name, all the 
 branches of which are extinct except the one that became 
 merged in the illustrious French family of Montmorency. 
 The entire province belonged to the Burgundian, Spanish 
 and Austrian rulers of the other Belgian divisions, all held in 
 common by right of descent from Mary of Burgundy. It 
 formed part of Walloon Belgium by a natural union of race, 
 religion and language. Under the Dutch rule, from 1815 to 
 1830, the province was still left intact, but its sovereignty 
 was vested in the King as a member of the Germanic Con- 
 federation. When the Belgian Revolution broke out in 
 August, 1830, it involved the whole of Luxemburg, which 
 passed into the possession of the Belgian patriotic party 
 with the exception of the fortress of Luxemburg itself, then 
 one of the strongest places in Western Europe. The exis- 
 tence of that fortress was probably the determining fact that 
 led to the break up and subdivision of the province. 
 
 The Twenty-four Articles of 1831, which eventually became 
 
 the Treaty of 19th April, 1839, divided Luxemburg into two 
 
 parts, the northern falling to Belgium and 
 
 Division of the th sout hern being formed into a Grand 
 Province. 
 
 Duchy, which was to be the personal pos- 
 session of the family of Orange-Nassau, the family ruling in 
 Holland. From 1839 to 1890 the Grand Duchy and Holland 
 
 236
 
 A Glimpse into the Grand Duchy 237 
 
 were under the same government, but on the death of William 
 III, without male heir, the Salic law, or rather the Nassau 
 family law, came into operation, and the Grand Duchy 
 passed to his cousin, the Duke Adolphus, who reigned till 
 1905, and then had as his successor the present Duke William, 
 who is the last male representative of his race. Fortunately 
 the family law foresaw the possibility of such a situation, 
 and laid down that failing all male heirs the right should 
 pass to the nearest female in kin. The legislative council 
 of Luxemburg has endorsed this arrangement by a special 
 decree, and the young princess Mary has been recognised 
 and proclaimed to be her father's heir and future successor. 
 One other matter affecting the status of Luxemburg 
 calls for description. In 1867 Europe was threatened with 
 what was called the Luxemburg Question, 
 
 The Ques X tk bUrg and {t was onl y b Y the ver y decided inter- 
 vention of the British Government that war 
 
 was averted. A conference was held in London, and resulted 
 
 in the recognition of Luxemburg as a neutral State while 
 
 the fortress was dismantled. Since that event the Grand 
 
 Duchy has had no army, and its customs have been collected 
 
 by German officials. Before 1867 it was a member of the 
 
 Germanic Confederation and since that year it is included in 
 
 the German Zollverein. The Grand Duchy ought by all 
 
 natural laws to have formed part of Belgium, and would have 
 
 done so but for the short-sightedness of the English and 
 
 French ministers in 1831-9. To-day nothing less than a 
 
 complete reversal of the existing order of things in Western 
 
 Europe can prevent its being absorbed by Germany. 
 
 Thanks to the discovery of rich iron and coal-mines in the 
 
 south-west district of the Duchy, more especially in the valley 
 
 of the Alzette, Luxemburg is a very pros- 
 Iron Mines, perous little State and has lost something 
 
 of the primitive character that belonged to 
 it when it was generally regarded as a mere prolongation of 
 the Ardennes. In those days people visited it partly for its
 
 238 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 fishing, partly for its religious processions, and partly because 
 an economical holiday could be passed amid scenery which 
 had been made famous by the pen of Victor Hugo who selected 
 Luxemburg for his place of exile before fixing on Jersey. 
 These attractions remain, and the visitor to Diekirch, Vianden, 
 Clervaux, and Echternach need never perceive that the 
 duchy possesses " a black country," in which the Italian 
 mining colony stands out in striking contrast with the people 
 of the soil. 
 
 The four places named attract their faithful clientele from 
 
 Belgium and the Prussian Eiffel every season, and a still 
 
 more limited band of English enthusiasts 
 
 iteTribSaSJ have followed - The fishin g in the Sure and 
 its tributaries the Our and the Wiltz is superior 
 
 to that obtainable in the Belgian Ardennes, and there are 
 
 greater facilities in sport for the casual visitor. This explains 
 
 why many visitors pass direct to the duchy without stopping 
 
 to explore the Belgian Ardennes. Besides, the Luxemburg 
 
 hotelier understands better than his Belgian rival the art 
 
 of advertisement and reclame. Mondorf on the Moselle and 
 
 Diekirch on the Sure are far more skilfully boomed in the 
 
 tourist publications than, let us say, Bouillon or La Roche. 
 
 There is another attraction about the Grand Duchy to which 
 
 the Belgian Ardennes can lay no claim. It contains many 
 
 highly interesting ruins from the archaeological point of view 
 
 of the Roman, Frank and mediaeval ages. 
 
 It is a curious but remarkable fact that there are very few 
 
 interesting monuments of antiquity in the Belgian division 
 
 of the province. Apart from Bouillon, which is 
 
 unique, there is only La Roche and Montaigle, 
 
 both mere shells. The Romans held the province and one 
 
 of their main roads, that to Aix-la-Chapelle by Nassogne, 
 
 traversed it, but no remains of the occupation have yet been 
 
 unearthed. The Emperor Justinian twice resided at 
 
 Nassogne, from which he dated three of his Constitutions, 
 
 but no trace has been found of the villa which must have
 
 A Glimpse into the Grand Duchy 239 
 
 existed there. On the high ground between Rochefort and 
 Jemelle there are some partially unearthed foundations of 
 a building called locally a Roman building, but they have 
 been left in supreme neglect to moulder and decay. The 
 neglect of man more than the ravages of war explains why 
 the Ardennes region has been stripped bare of its past relics 
 in stone or brick. When for any reason a feudal building 
 was deserted the peasants hastened to turn the material to 
 use for their own residences. This proceeding has been 
 stopped, but, on the other hand, little or nothing has been 
 done in respect of restoration, and absolutely nothing at all 
 in the direction of excavation. 
 
 In contrast with the barrenness in this respect of the Belgian 
 Ardennes, where nature alone is to be admired, the Grand 
 
 Duchy is covered with ruined castles, abbeys, 
 Famous Ruins, and churches which attract the archaeologist 
 
 and antiquarian. The Cistercian abbey of 
 Clairefontaine, the old castle of the Lannoy family at Clervaux, 
 half a ruin, half a habitable residence, the ruined castles of 
 Schiebourg, Bourscheid and Esch, the palatial castles of 
 Schonfels and Meysembourg, the grand ruins of the castle 
 of the Nassau family at Vianden, and many others too 
 numerous to name, all contribute to invest the Grand Duchy 
 with an interest that does not offer itself in the Belgian 
 Luxemburg. 
 
 Clervaux is famous for more than its castle. It was the 
 scene of the only Luxemburg rising against the French 
 
 republicans in 1798. The French occupation 
 War d ^ ^ e wn l e province was effected without 
 
 resistance after the Austrian evacuation of 
 the Low Countries following Jemmappes, and no one has 
 ever been able to give a plausible reason why the peasants 
 of the Oesling valley, in which Clervaux lies, should have 
 suddenly formed the decision that they would put an end 
 to the French occupation. The local disaffection arose from 
 the operation of the law of conscription, but as the peasants
 
 240 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 were unarmed they would have been wiser to have shown 
 submission. With nothing better than cudgels they prepared 
 to resist the French recruiting officers. At the last moment 
 they were joined by a few gamekeepers and local sportsmen 
 armed with muskets, and when the French arrived they were 
 fired upon and some twenty of their soldiers fell before the 
 volley. Alarmed at their own success those with guns either 
 fled into Germany or concealed their weapons. When the 
 French returned in force they seized all upon whose premises 
 or person cudgels were found. Many were shot on the spot, 
 many others were conveyed to Luxemburg to be guillotined. 
 The rising is still called that of the Klippds Armee (Cudgel 
 Army), and a memorial column bears the names of the peas- 
 ants of Oesling whose lives were given in vain for their little 
 country. 
 
 Of all places in the Grand Duchy Vianden is by general 
 consent the most picturesque and interesting. The castle 
 
 ruins cover the whole of the rocky eminence 
 CasUe SaU on tne si ! 565 f which is situated the little 
 
 town. Originally the town itself was included 
 in the enceinte, and portions of the two gates remain. The 
 inner wall with its Weissenthurm white tower remains 
 in a fairly perfect condition. The castle itself, part of which 
 goes back to the thirteenth century, displays three lofty 
 towers, all more or less dilapidated. The fine Knights' hall 
 (ritter saal) is 120 feet by 35 feet, and below it is a chamber 
 of the same size which in old days was used as a guard-room 
 and kitchens. In the hall itself are two large fireplaces. 
 The windows are beautifully formed in early pointed. Tacked 
 on to the older castle is the residence of the Nassau family, 
 built in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The 
 chapel, with gargoyles of dragons' heads, is another inter- 
 esting building. The dungeons are numerous ; one of them, 
 little more than a well twenty feet deep, is said to have 
 been reserved for those dealing in sorcery. It is called the 
 Hexenloch, or " sorcerers' pit."
 
 A Glimpse into the Grand Duchy 241 
 
 In old days, Vianden had a regular constitution, and its 
 citizens were divided into three classes, nobles, free citizens 
 
 and boors. There were eight noble families, 
 Vianden. and the citizens were divided into three 
 
 guilds, viz., drapers, shoemakers and watch- 
 makers. Vianden is specially interesting because it was 
 the possession of William the Silent, who inherited it from 
 his ancestor, Otho of Nassau, who married the last Coun- 
 tess of Vianden in 1350. Philip II confiscated Vianden and 
 gave it to his general, Ernest de Mansfeld, but it is curious to 
 note that when peace was made between Spain and the 
 Netherlands in 1609 Vianden was restored to the House of 
 Nassau. Under Napoleon it belonged for a time to his general, 
 Baron Marbceuf, whose memoirs are well known. Some 
 attempts have been made to keep the ruins in repair, but much 
 remains to be done if the main part of the castle is to be 
 preserved. 
 
 Luxemburgers are very proud of their Roman monument, 
 which gives proof of their connection with the Empire. This 
 
 is a memorial pillar to the Goddess Diana, 
 
 ^Diana ^ much mutilated b Y the act of man as wel1 
 as the passage of eighteen centuries. The 
 
 following inscription is clearly visible at its base : 
 
 " Deae Dianae 
 
 Q. Postumius 
 
 Potens. V. S." 
 but of the figure only the feet, some drapery, and the lower 
 part of an animal remain. It is situated at Bollendorf, not 
 far from Echternach. 
 
 Mention of Echternach will serve to introduce what is 
 after the capital the best known perhaps of all Luxemburg 
 townlets. It is known for its connection with St. Willebrod, 
 the Anglo-Saxon saint who converted the people of the 
 province to Christianity in the eighth century, for its fine 
 Abbey Church, and above all for its dancing procession on 
 Whit-Tuesday in each year. 
 
 1 6 (2387)
 
 242 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 St. Willebrod was a fervent Christian, and he is rather 
 suspected of having incited his converts to show their zeal 
 
 by destroying the old Roman temples, that 
 A s s ^* n to Diana among them. Time may have 
 
 exacted a retribution when his own Abbey 
 Church was converted into a factory of silk bobbins at the 
 end of the eighteenth century. It was rescued from this 
 ignominious fate seventy years ago, and has been carefully 
 restored, minus, however, two of the four towers which once 
 crowned it. During the restoration of the building much of 
 the original church of the eighth century was excavated 
 and the fine crypt of the eleventh century was cleared of the 
 debris under which it was buried. St. Willebrod was not 
 buried, however, in the Church of the Abbey where he lived 
 and ministered so long, but in that of St. Pierre, where his 
 shrine has been for centuries and is still the bourne of 
 numberless pilgrims. The Church of St. Pierre is, 
 therefore, the one closely associated with the dancing 
 procession which constitutes the fame and attraction of 
 Echternach. 
 
 Not long after the death of Bishop Willebrod Luxemburg 
 was visited by the cattle plague, and it was a popular belief 
 
 in those days that the only way to restore 
 
 The Dancing ^e an j ma is ^ected was for the men and 
 Procession. 
 
 women to imitate them by dancing and 
 
 jumping about. The plague was not arrested by these steps, 
 
 and then it was proposed that a chosen band of " holy dancers " 
 
 (der springenden heiligen) should proceed to St. Willebrod's 
 
 shrine and make an offering. The result of this proceeding 
 
 was considered to be the staying of the plague, and the 
 
 practice has been followed ever since for over 1,100 years. 
 
 It is admitted that some years the pilgrimage, or procession, 
 
 was not held, but then it is recorded that the omission was 
 
 promptly punished by the recurrence of the plague. It is so 
 
 many years since the last omission that no one attempts to 
 
 assign to it a date.
 
 THE PULPIT IN ANTWERP CATHEDRAL 
 (By permission of Hie Ligite de Propagande)
 
 A Glimpse into the Grand Duchy 243 
 
 The dancing procession in its modern dress, which dis- 
 tinguishes it from the more austere presentment of the Middle 
 Ages, is one of the prettiest sights that could be imagined. 
 The participants reveal sometimes the fatigue natural from 
 their severe physical exercise, but none of the frenzy of 
 religious zeal in a high state of exaltation. The procession 
 is formed on Prussian territory, across the bridge over the 
 Sure, and many participants come from the Eiffel, where the 
 people are as good Catholics as in the Duchy. All that 
 region was subject to the Luxemburg princes centuries before 
 Prussia was thought of, and St. Willebrod's fame is not 
 restricted by present-day frontiers. 
 
 About nine in the morning of Whit-Tuesday, those who 
 intend joining the procession form up on the eastern side of 
 the bridge, the clergy await them on the western, and when 
 the signal is given the priests, with their attendant acolytes, 
 lead the way. The bridge and its approaches are fifty yards 
 across, from the bridge to the Church of St. Pierre through 
 the main street of the town 1,200 metres (1,310 yards nearly) 
 have to be traversed, and the dancers have to move three steps 
 forward at a time and then take two backwards. For each 
 five steps they take then they move forward only one ; for 
 the 1,200 metres they come 6,000. The procession is formed 
 seven in a line, and the dancers keep together by holding 
 pocket-handkerchiefs or scarves between them. Along the 
 route, which is crowded, firemen are stationed to pick up 
 those who fall, and the spectators exhort the dancers to 
 persevere to the end. 
 
 The end is the hardest part of the ordeal, for the Church 
 of St. Pierre stands on a slight eminence which is reached by 
 sixty-two steep steps. Even here the processionists, after moun- 
 ting three steps, have to retrace two, and the steps are worn and 
 hollowed by the countless pilgrims of many centuries. The 
 procession ends in front of the Saint's shrine, and by that 
 time the dancers, who include persons of all ages from youth 
 to old age and members of both sexes, are quite exhausted
 
 244 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 by their four miles of hopping. After the ceremony a popular 
 fete is held for the amusement of the twenty thousand visitors 
 who flock into the town on these occasions. The pilgrimage, 
 or procession, is probably the oldest of its kind still existing 
 in Europe, and the fervour of the participants, like the 
 interest of the spectators, shows no sign of abatement. 
 
 Although the Grand Duchy could not be described as an 
 
 important State, its position on the map of Europe between 
 
 the great dominions of France and Germany 
 
 Int Status nal invests its international status with a special 
 significance which at once strikes the eye. 
 Declared neutral by the London Conference of 1867, it pro- 
 longs the belt of neutral territory formed by Belgium alone 
 to the banks of the Moselle. It might have been thought 
 that Germany's acquisition of Alsace and part of Lorraine 
 would have conduced to the preservation of Luxemburg's 
 favoured position as a neutral country, and certainly there 
 is no reason whatever to suspect France of an intention to 
 violate it. 
 
 Economic rather than political questions are likely to 
 undermine its position. The navigation of the Moselle, 
 which is connected with the French river Cher and French 
 canals, has become a rather thorny problem owing to the 
 German pretention to control the stream and to impose such 
 regulations as may seem better in Berlin than they do at 
 Luxemburg on its navigation. This is a very serious matter 
 for French mine owners in the Vosges who have hitherto 
 sent much of their output down the Moselle. At the same 
 time, this question of a free waterway notwithstanding, the 
 neutrality of the Grand Duchy seems to be exposed to fewer 
 perils than that of its Belgian neighbour.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 THE COLONIAL QUESTION 
 
 Belgium having been provided with a magnificent colony 
 
 in the vast Congo region, not by her own merit or efforts, 
 
 but by the cleverness, courage, and per- 
 
 Leopold II tinacity of her great ruler, Leopold II, there 
 
 Acquires the are two points of view from which her posi- 
 Congo. t j on as a Colonial Power may be regarded. 
 
 The first is as to her capacity to retain what 
 she did not acquire by national merit or achievement, and 
 the second is as to how far an African dependency can be 
 successfully governed by a small parent State which has 
 been compelled by the force of opinion and pressure from 
 outside to accept conditions of perfection far in advance of 
 what I would call the chronometrical stage that has been 
 reached in the development of the African problem. 
 
 I must clinch this point to make the differentiation in my 
 argument clear. Belgium is a small Power, she cannot 
 escape from the position under any conceivable circumstances. 
 The meaning of this applied to practical affairs is that 
 she will be held more rigidly than others to the literal execu- 
 tion of her own programme defined by the principles of 
 somebody else. I foresee grave troubles ahead for Belgium 
 in this direction, and so far as I have means of judging, Bel- 
 gian authorities do not appreciate them. A Great Power 
 like England may have the finest principles placed at the 
 head of her African programme, but who is to control her if 
 she interpret them in her own way ? Belgium has adopted 
 those principles, but she will be kept to them. Her range of 
 licence and liberty in judgment and action are restricted. 
 However, let us serious students of that dark and menacing 
 African problem only rejoice that for a time at least the 
 
 245
 
 246 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Congo controversy has been laid at rest and that one may 
 
 write the name without fear of being denounced as a partisan. 
 
 We have been told that the Belgians are not a colonising 
 
 people. It might be rejoined that in the sixteenth and 
 
 seventeenth centuries, when colonising by 
 T Compan nd the ^ mo ? eSin Powers began, the Dutch took 
 
 good care that they should not become one. 
 In the eighteenth century the debut of the Ostend Company 
 was so promising that its English rival took very effective 
 measures to cut short its life. About sixty years ago Leopold 
 I began to point out that Belgium was growing so fast at 
 home that she must look about for possessions across the 
 oceans. She was exhorted to look about not merely for 
 fresh markets, but for points of vantage that would secure 
 fresh markets eventually. She made attempts in Guatemala, 
 Formosa, and elsewhere. Nothing, however, came of them. 
 In 1875, ten years after the second Leopold came to the 
 throne, Belgium was without a colonial possession, and her 
 flag was unknown outside French and English harbours. 
 
 The change that then took place was due to the happy 
 inspiration of the King of the Belgians to concentrate his 
 
 attention on the African slave trade question 
 Trade aVe which had been brought to the front by the 
 
 efforts of Sam Baker, Richard Burton, and 
 David Livingstone. But at that moment nothing was known 
 of the heart of Africa, and more particularly as to how it 
 might be reached from the West Coast. It was, therefore, 
 a very appropriate subject for a Geographical Conference, 
 and King Leopold seized the opportunity to invite the quali- 
 fied authorities to hold it in Brussels. That was the first 
 stone on the road to an African dominion. The second was 
 the securing and monopolising of the services of Stanley when 
 he attempted in vain to interest a jaded England in the 
 discovery of the great river which furnished a water highway 
 across the breadth of Africa. King Leopold was neither 
 tired nor obtuse. He secured Stanley's services till the end
 
 #.#.* 
 
 mm 
 
 4
 
 The Colonial Question 247 
 
 of the century by a handsome retainer. It is needless to 
 dwell on the untiring energy with which he created a chain 
 of stations across the Congo valley, and obtained from the 
 native chiefs treaties ceding to him their sovereign rights to 
 whose validity a British Commissioner in 1884 was constrained 
 to give reluctant testimony. 
 
 When the African Conference met at Berlin towards the 
 
 end of that year the Powers were confronted with a fait 
 
 accompli. King Leopold had constructed a 
 
 The Berlin SQrt ^ d om inion. H e was a ^ least the man 
 
 Conference. . 
 
 in possession. Who was going to turn him 
 
 out ? Prince Bismarck and the French Government were 
 determined that it should not be England. The Conference 
 ended then with the legalising of the Belgian ruler's position 
 in the international sense, and by clever negotiation with 
 the neighbouring States he extended that position over a 
 vast area of Africa far beyond the widest limits explored by 
 either Stanley or any Belgian lieutenant. In less than eight 
 years Leopold II had acquired a colony as large as Europe, 
 omitting Russia. He acquired it almost without firing a 
 shot, and the diplomatists, dazed by his audacity, left the 
 Prussian capital with the secret solace," Well, he will never 
 keep it ! " They were wrong ; he did. 
 
 The King's achievement was too great for his own subjects. 
 In Brussels the gift of a ready-made colony was received with 
 
 fear and anxiety. Had it been a little one 
 ^Belgian ^ m [gfa have been accepted on the ground 
 
 that it did not mean much, that its posses- 
 sion could not possibly offend anyone, and that in the course 
 of time the Belgian people might adapt themselves to the new 
 situation. But this colony, brought back by the King's 
 plenipotentiaries in their portfolio, was almost a continent, 
 a pearl of great price among Tropical lands, and a recent bone 
 of contention among Great Powers. The Belgians of 1885 
 would have nothing to do with the gift. Their Constitution 
 was passed for home use. They preferred the freedom from
 
 248 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 anxiety without a colony, to unknown trouble and worry 
 with one. They candidly admitted their ignorance in the 
 matter, and professed no avidity to learn. The most they 
 would do was to assent to their King taking the problem on 
 his own shoulders as Sovereign of the Congo, and in that 
 capacity he ruled it from 1885 to 1908. 
 
 It would be quite outside the purpose of this chapter to 
 describe even in summary those twenty-three years of per- 
 sonal rule. What concerns our present topic 
 Change ^of j s to note t ^ at B e igi an opinion underwent 
 
 a complete change on the subject in that 
 period. Three main causes contributed to modify the views 
 of 1885, and to convert the indifference of that year into the 
 pride and pleasure of owning a valuable possession which 
 was the dominant sentiment in 1908. These causes were the 
 sacrifice of many noble Belgians' lives in the Arab campaigns, 
 the sinking of a considerable sum of money by the several 
 grants in aid made by the Belgian Government to the Congo, 
 and the evidence acquired as to the great wealth of the 
 African possessions in vegetable and mineral produce. For 
 these reasons the Belgian public were not merely willing but 
 in a hurry to take off their King's hands the Colony at which 
 they had looked askance a quarter of a century before. Not 
 British criticism but Belgian pressure compelled King Leo- 
 pold to surrender the separate role of absolute monarch in 
 Africa which in his closing years he undisguisedly hoped to 
 retain with life. 
 
 When the Belgian Government and Parliament in 1908 
 took over the Congo State they became for the first time a 
 
 Colonial Power, and as they introduced at 
 Tjie New once a new system and new principles the 
 
 experiment was invested with double interest. 
 While some critics have been complaining, unreasonably as 
 every candid person will admit, that the new system has not 
 been introduced with sufficient rapidity to please them, I would 
 draw attention here and also in Belgium to some practical
 
 The Colonial Question 249 
 
 matters that in moments of keen controversy escape notice. 
 The first matter is the probability of Belgium's succeeding 
 as well in her colonising mission under the new laws as King 
 Leopold did by his own will in defiance of everybody. If 
 she does not succeed in her mission she will place her colony 
 in graver jeopardy than it was in, let me say, in 1904, when the 
 British Government was inclined to push matters to extremi- 
 ties. For the Belgian people the motto should be " Success 
 at all costs." 
 
 For running a colony successfully during the stages when 
 
 it is admitted that it cannot pay its way on its own resources 
 
 two things are necessary, men and money. 
 
 An R ^ e c ^ ain Under King Leopold an equilibrium had 
 after the first fifteen years of recurrent deficit, 
 been established by the profits made by the concessionaire 
 companies, and in the, let us say, last ten years of per- 
 sonal rule a large surplus had been derived from the produce 
 of the Congo plantations. But the concessions have been 
 cancelled, the companies have disappeared, and the Govern- 
 ment finds at its immediate disposal a very limited as well 
 as uncertain revenue. This revenue is for the present quite 
 disproportionate to the work that has to be performed. As 
 Belgian public opinion had to be coaxed and propitiated in 
 every way to make the taking over of the Congo as nearly 
 unanimous as possible, one of the official assurances given 
 was that it would cost the country nothing. The Congo was 
 a sound going concern with a good surplus. At the moment 
 when this was said the statement was perfectly true, but the 
 institution of reforms has eliminated, as we shall see, some of 
 the most profitable and easily garnered sources of revenue. 
 
 The new Colonial Minister, M. Renkin, whose zeal in the 
 
 cause of reform on the Congo deserves full recognition, 
 
 realised the position, and his first budget 
 
 M. Renkin. was remarkable for the boldness with which, 
 
 ignoring the possibility of a deficit, he 
 
 sanctioned an expenditure far exceeding anything attempted
 
 250 
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 by his predecessors. As the reward of his courage the price 
 of rubber rose on the international market by over sixty per 
 cent., thus averting the necessity of issuing a new Colonial 
 loan. 
 
 The Budget for 1909 was fixed at 36,119,536 francs, but 
 as this was a transition year, the finances of the new regime 
 really commence with the year 1910. The 
 ordinary expenditure for 1910 was estimated 
 in the Budget at 40,370,814 francs, and the 
 extraordinary at 33,516,775. The extraordinary expenditure 
 was to be provided for by the issue of Treasury Bonds run- 
 ning for a period of not more than five years. It was esti- 
 mated that the ordinary revenue would bring in 39,745,305, 
 thus leaving only a small deficit. The principal items of 
 regular expenditure are set forth as follows : 
 
 The Last 
 Budget. 
 
 Administration in Africa 
 Public Force (military) . . 
 Marine (transport) 
 
 Health 
 
 Public Works 
 
 Customs and Fiscal Service 
 
 Agriculture 
 
 Mines 
 
 Upkeep of Domain 
 
 Justice 
 
 Service of the Debt 
 
 7,034,410 francs 
 
 7,212,200 
 
 2,023,880 ,, 
 
 826,200 
 
 944,500 ,, 
 
 2,133,595 
 
 1,641,945 
 
 1,165,050 ,, 
 
 5,246,280 ,, 
 
 1,840,480 ,, 
 6,530,081 
 
 The items of the extraordinary expenditure include the 
 following : 
 
 Creation of Agricultural and Breeding Estab- 
 lishments 
 
 Divers Public Works 
 
 Katanga Subsidy 
 
 Occupation of lands in Katanga 
 
 New Battery at Shinkakassa . . 
 
 New Boats 
 
 Second Annuity of Special Fund for 50,000,000 
 francs to King Leopold 
 
 2,000,000 francs 
 
 16,927,900 
 
 1,500,000 
 4,000,000 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 1,726,650 
 
 3,300,000
 
 The Colonial Question 
 
 251 
 
 With regard to the last-named item, King Albert, declining 
 to derive any personal benefit therefrom, caused the first 
 annuity to be treated as the nucleus of a 
 Pension Fund for those who have served on 
 the Congo, which was greatly needed, and the 
 second to be applied in the purchase of steamers. The 
 principal items of revenue were the following : 
 
 A Pension 
 Fund. 
 
 Customs 
 
 Ivory (sale of) 
 
 Rubber (sale of) 
 
 Rubber (tax on) 
 
 Mines 
 
 Native taxes . . 
 
 7,056,555 francs 
 3,146,000 
 13,397,500 
 1,295,000 
 2,520,000 
 2,000,000 
 
 As compared with the figures of 1909, mines and ivory 
 show an increase, and rubber, despite its higher market 
 value, a decrease. Customs show a rise of fifteen per cent., 
 and the new export duty promises to prove a valuable addi- 
 tion to the revenue. For the first time, too, a tax paid by 
 the natives in cash figures in the record. 
 
 The public debt of the Congo in 1910 amounted to 
 120,835,200 (bonds actually issued), and the interest for the 
 year to about 4,600,000 francs, while 1,930,081 figured for 
 redemption. 
 
 Allowing for the fact that several of the sources of revenue 
 are of an expanding order and that the assets left by the 
 late administration are likely to prove of 
 great value, the financial outlook for the 
 Congo Colony is bright and encouraging. It 
 ought not to be very long before the Government will be able 
 to raise the sum expended in Africa to two millions sterling 
 per annum. 
 
 We come now to the question of the men. In 1909 the 
 total staff of officials in Africa numbered 1,636. They were 
 The Public subdivided as follows : 
 Service. 
 
 Governor-General . . . . . . 1 
 
 Vice Governor-Generals . . . . 3 
 
 State Inspectors . . . . . . 4 
 
 A Bright 
 Outlook.
 
 252 
 
 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 Commander of Public Force 
 
 1 
 
 Secretaries 
 
 5 
 
 Magistrates 
 
 60 
 
 Commissioners, etc. 
 
 31 
 
 Chiefs of Zone 
 
 55 
 
 Officers of Force 
 
 175 
 
 Engineers 
 
 20 
 
 Doctors, etc. 
 
 47 
 
 Postal Services 
 
 41 
 
 Captains of Steamers 
 
 51 
 
 Forest Service, etc. 
 
 54 
 
 Unspecified 
 
 . 1,083 
 
 Total 
 
 1,636 
 
 In addition to the strictly State service 213 were employed 
 
 on the Great Lakes railways, and seventy-six under the 
 
 Katanga Special Committee, which is in political charge of 
 
 that province. These officials are not exclusively Belgians. 
 
 This will be understood when it is stated that there were in 
 
 all only 1,722 Belgians in the whole of the Congo in 1908, 
 
 and included in this total are at least 322 priests, sisters of 
 
 mercy, women and children. The proportion of Belgians to 
 
 non-Belgians seems to be about sixty per cent. For instance, 
 
 of the sixty magistrates in the last table thirty-five were 
 
 Belgians, eleven Norwegians, nine Italians, one Dane, one 
 
 Roumanian, one French and two Swiss. 
 
 The slow and slight increase in the white population of 
 
 the Congo is a disturbing and discouraging 
 
 White f ac { Thg following table gives the number 
 
 the Congo. f Belgians and non-Belgians in the years 
 
 named : 
 
 Year 
 
 Belgians 
 
 Non-Belgians 
 
 Total 
 
 1900 
 
 1,318 
 
 886 
 
 2,204 
 
 1901 
 
 1,465 
 
 881 
 
 2,346 
 
 1902 
 
 1,417 
 
 948 
 
 2,365 
 
 1903 
 
 1,442 
 
 1,041 
 
 2,483 
 
 1904 
 
 1,410 
 
 1,101 
 
 2,511 
 
 1905 
 
 1,501 
 
 1,134 
 
 2,635 
 
 1906 
 
 1.587 
 
 1,173 
 
 2,760 
 
 1907 
 
 1,713 
 
 1,230 
 
 2,943 
 
 19<>8 
 
 1,722 
 
 1,217 
 
 2,939
 
 The Colonial Question 
 
 253 
 
 Among non-Belgians the numerical order of nationalities 
 was 
 
 Swedes 
 
 
 
 190 
 
 Italians 
 
 
 
 181 
 
 Portuguese 
 Dutch 
 
 
 
 143 
 119 
 
 English 
 Swiss 
 
 
 
 118 
 90 
 
 Germans 
 
 
 
 63 
 
 Americans 
 
 
 
 55 
 
 Russians 
 
 
 
 55 
 
 French 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 Norwegians 
 Danes 
 
 
 
 48 
 29 
 
 Grand Duchy 
 Greeks 
 
 
 
 29 
 11 
 
 Austrians 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Australians 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 Canadians 
 
 
 
 >N 
 
 Transvaalers 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 Turks 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Servians 
 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 JVlexicans . . . 
 
 Bulgarians 
 
 Argentina 
 
 
 
 1,217 
 
 Of these the British subjects and the Americans are either 
 missionaries, or engineers and prospectors. There are none 
 in the State service. The Portuguese, Germans, Greeks, and 
 minor divisions are traders. The Swedes, Italians, Nor- 
 wegians, Danes and Swiss are exclusively in the State service 
 so are the majority of the Dutch, French and Luxembur- 
 geois. At one time there were over 500 Italian officers in 
 the State service, but the pay was low and there was no 
 chance of promotion, so the majority resigned and retired on 
 the expiration of their first engagement. The point of these 
 statistics is that at least forty per cent, of the 1,636 function- 
 aries, from the highest to the lowest grade, are non-Belgians 
 and have to be recruited where they can be obtained. It has 
 always been the practice of the Belgians to refrain from
 
 254 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 engaging either French or Germans, and although Englishmen 
 were utilised in the early years none have been employed for 
 a very long time, and it is unlikely that any will be engaged 
 in the future. The idea is that citizens of small States are 
 the most suitable for another small State to employ, and the 
 sendees rendered by the Scandinavians, Danes, and Swiss 
 have been invaluable and beyond all praise. 
 
 The Congo having become a Belgian colony it is natural 
 that one of the principal objects of the new administration 
 
 should be to make the service more and more 
 T ^ 6 lemeS an exclusively Belgian, and with this object in 
 
 view the salaries for those serving in Africa 
 have been raised to an amount sufficient to attract fully- 
 qualified men. The new pension scheme is also another 
 attraction. While the special services, like the transport, 
 can be left to non-nationals (the captains of the steamers are 
 exclusively Scandinavians), the tendency to place the general 
 civil and military administration in the hands only of Bel- 
 gians will become more marked. The officers of justice are, 
 however, likely to remain of mixed nationalities as at present, 
 for it is considered that this intermixture gives the Courts a 
 greater appearance of impartiality. At all events, the re- 
 morseless critic cannot get up an agitation against Belgian 
 judges in the Congo when they sit with a Norwegian or an 
 Italian beside them. 
 
 Another great reform is the careful selection of the volun- 
 teer for the Congo before he is allowed to proceed to Africa. 
 
 Formerly a man had only to offer to go out to 
 
 Improved ^e accep t ec i an( j shipped off at once. It is 
 
 System. . r . , r / > i i 
 
 quite certain that such a candidate possessed 
 
 no special aptitude for work in the Tropics, and it was a 
 miracle if he turned out to be any good at all. This descrip- 
 tion applies to the rank and file, and not to the comparatively 
 few officers of the Belgian army who went out on " special 
 mission " and helped to raise the tone of the service generally. 
 It is now hoped to raise the standard all round to a level
 
 The Colonial Question 255 
 
 with the special men under the old system. There is another 
 improvement. Formerly the men sent out were untrained ; 
 if it were the case of a second engagement and the applicant 
 had a good record it was a cause of much rejoicing, for it 
 was realised that someone useful had been secured. 
 
 But now this loose system has been radically altered ; yet 
 it is only fair to say that the change began under the late 
 
 King who founded, in the last years of his 
 I t^tf ru ^ e< ^ e School of Tropical Medicine in 
 
 Brussels, the Colonial College, the Colonial 
 Museum at Tervueren, and the World-School, which was to 
 have been at the same place. All these institutions, with the 
 exception of the last named, which has been temporarily 
 dropped, are in active work. No doctor or veterinary surgeon 
 is allowed to go to the Congo until he has passed through the 
 School of Tropical Medicine, in connection with which there 
 is a hospital at Watermael for invalids from the Congo. 
 The student has therefore training in practice as well as in 
 theory. There were forty doctors at this school in 1909, of 
 whom twenty-three were Italians, thirteen Belgians, two Nor- 
 wegians, one English and one French. Their special study is 
 the treatment of the terrible malady called " sleeping sickness." 
 In the year named the course at the Colonial College was 
 followed by twenty-five commissioned officers, eighty-three 
 
 clerks and former agents and nineteen non- 
 C j, commissioned officers. The consequence of 
 
 this improved system is not merely that 
 trained men are now sent out in lieu of untrained, but that 
 the candidates themselves take a more serious view of their 
 mission. Formerly men went to the Congo to a large extent 
 to escape from debt ; now it is to begin a fine career. Evi- 
 dence of the change is already visible in the returns of mor- 
 tality among officials. The percentage of deaths is little 
 more than half what it was a few years ago the figures 
 being 4-60 per cent, in 1908 as against 7*9 in 1901. The 
 tours of King Albert and M. Renkin through the Congo were
 
 256 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 specially intended to demonstrate that a visit to Central 
 Africa did not cut short one's life, and their example could 
 not fail to embolden the timid. 
 
 The Colonial Museum at Tervueren is a splendid monu- 
 ment of the successful work accomplished on the Congo. 
 The building is a magnificent structure 
 
 T Museum ial P laced in one of the most charming spots 
 round Brussels, and the collection gives a 
 complete picture of the ethnology, fauna, and natural pro- 
 ducts of Central Africa. Admirably arranged by its dis- 
 tinguished Director, Baron de Haulleville, author of the best 
 work on the colonising aptitudes of his fellow-countrymen, 
 the student of the development of the Dark Continent will 
 find here the most instructive object lesson that could be 
 desired. The Annales, or journal, published periodically 
 under the Director's editorship, contain information of a high 
 scientific value. 
 
 There is one question connected with the Belgian Congo 
 of great interest. Can it be made a White Man's Colony ? 
 For the greater part of the territory which 
 A ^cSon M ? anS is sub-tropical the idea is not entertained, 
 but in the southern provinces, notably 
 Katanga, the conditions of climate and surroundings approxi- 
 mate to those of Rhodesia. Here the discoveries of great 
 mineral riches provide an attraction to the immigrant that 
 does not exist in any other part of the Belgian colony. The 
 pioneers of the mining movement have never ceased to 
 represent that Katanga could maintain a large white resident 
 population, but the Government has been obliged to proceed 
 with great circumspection, more especially because there is 
 one undeniable peril. This is the presence of the tse-tse fly. 
 Even the parts of Katanga where it is not found are often 
 rendered inaccessible by being environed by tse-tse infected 
 districts through which cattle could not pass. The Govern- 
 ment has established some experimental farms in districts 
 immune from the scourge, and has lately sent out a small
 
 The Colonial Question 257 
 
 colony composed of constabulary to form the nucleus of a 
 
 white settlement. But it is a question that can only be 
 
 settled by care and caution, and perhaps not at all until the 
 
 tse-tse fly has been exterminated or cattle successfully 
 
 innoculated against its at present deadly sting. 
 
 The following are the statistics of trade for 1909 and the 
 
 previous five years. This table shows only the " commerce 
 
 special," that is to say, exports of Congo 
 Trade Returns. r , , . * 
 
 produce and imports for use or consumption 
 
 in the Congo. There is in addition a large transit trade, 
 
 chiefly to the French Congo, with which we need not trouble 
 
 the reader. 
 
 Year 
 
 Imports 
 
 Exports 
 
 1904 
 
 23,344,000 francs 
 
 51,891,000 francs 
 
 1905 
 
 20,075,000 
 
 53,032,000 
 
 1906 
 
 21,478,000 
 
 58,278,000 
 
 1907 
 
 25,182,000 
 
 58,895,000 
 
 1908 
 
 26,586,000 
 
 43,372,000 
 
 1909 
 
 22,126,994 
 
 56,167,000 
 
 The decline in the exports of 1908 was due to the fall in the 
 market value of rubber, and the recovery in 1909 to the rise 
 in price to its old figure or even higher. Belgium provided 
 or took herself in 1909 15,506,690 of the imports and 52,085,699 
 of the exports. Taking a general view of the commercial 
 situation over a period of the last six years the progress is 
 minute, but this should be regarded as evidence not of the 
 limited resources of the Congo colony, but of the deliberate 
 purpose of the Belgian authorities under both regimes to 
 proceed with great care and caution. Those who have studied 
 the colonial problem in Belgium hold the opinion that the 
 success so far achieved has been due to the guiding principles 
 of not attempting too much. Still the weak points in the 
 situation remain (1) the small white colony all told, (2) 
 the uncertainty as to the revenue, (3) and the apparent 
 non-expansion of trade. 
 
 Under the new conditions created by the cancelling of 
 the charters of the Concessionnaire Companies, the abolition 
 
 17 (2387)
 
 258 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 of forced labour, and the substitution of payment in money 
 
 instead of payment in goods to the blacks, it will be 
 
 more difficult to establish an equilibrium in 
 
 Need of t j ie fi nances The surest way of doing so 
 Foreign Capital. J 
 
 is to multiply the resources of the colony, 
 
 which can only be accomplished by the introduction of 
 
 foreign capital into the country. The Belgians, whose 
 
 success up to the present has been far greater than anyone 
 
 could have ventured to predict in 1884, have now to decide 
 
 whether they will encourage outside co-operation in dealing 
 
 with the development of Central Africa, or continue to run 
 
 it on the old exclusive lines. The opening of the several 
 
 zones to free trade, which will be completed in another year, 
 
 is an indication that co-operation will be invited and no 
 
 longer repelled.
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 Eighty years have elapsed since Belgium became by her own 
 efforts in the first place, and with the support of England 
 
 and France in the second, an independent, 
 Bel^m self-governing, and clearly-defined kingdom, 
 
 occupying a position of transcendent import- 
 ance for all concerned in the maintenance of the balance of 
 power in Western Europe. For England in particular the 
 preservation of the national integrity of the Netherlands is 
 a vital necessity. Under no circumstances must Belgium 
 and Holland be allowed to pass into the hands or under the 
 control of Germany. Antwerp might be made a pistol 
 directed at the heart of England, said Napoleon, and if this 
 was true in the days of sailing ships it is incalculably more 
 true in an age of steam, electricity and aeronautic achievement. 
 In those eighty years Europe has greatly changed, but the 
 general change is small compared to that in Belgium herself. 
 
 The Belgium in which Leopold I was invited 
 
 A Great to ru | e was an un d eve loped country posses- 
 Change. r J r 
 
 sing little capital and inhabited by a people 
 
 rendered so cautious by long and bitter experience that they 
 might be described as timid. It made its national debut 
 under the protection of the two Western Powers, and a 
 state of tutelage is not the one most calculated to develop 
 heroic qualities in a people. But there were other perils 
 to national progress from the agreement of the Five Great 
 Powers (Italy not then having been born) to leave Belgium 
 outside the range of their ambitions. The sense of being pro- 
 tected by the solemn pledge of Europe might have bred 
 ease and laziness. The citizens of the new State might have 
 been so rejoiced with the novelty of independence as to enjoy 
 
 259
 
 260 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 the present in oblivion of the future. They might have 
 revelled in the long lost freedom without thinking of the 
 duty and difficulty of preserving it. Foreign guarantees are 
 transient, the only sure bulwark of the existence of a nation, 
 great or small, is its own resolution backed up by careful 
 and wise preparations for the evil day of peril during the long 
 years of peace. 
 
 This reproach cannot be addressed to the Belgian people. 
 They concentrated their attention on the development of 
 
 their little country, and they laboured with 
 Proer set P ur P 0Se an( l a single mind to place it 
 
 in the van of European industrial and intel- 
 lectual progress. At first the movement was slow too slow 
 some impetuous critics observed and the attention and 
 efforts of the people were concentrated at home. No foreign 
 adventure would have tempted the generation which died 
 out with the first king. The present of an El Dorado as a 
 colony would have been rejected, although a few enlightened 
 minds were beginning to realise that some day or other the 
 country would need outlets for its rapidly-increasing popula- 
 tion. But the development of Belgium came first. Not till 
 its plains presented an unbroken expanse of cultivation, and 
 its workshops and factories were working at full pressure 
 did Belgians generally begin to think that some attention 
 should be paid to expansion beyond the limits of their narrow 
 borders. 
 
 By that time Belgium had accumulated no inconsiderable 
 amount of capital. Her financial leaders took their place in 
 
 the influential fraternity which controls the 
 I c" C itaf d mone y markets of the world and which has 
 
 been designated " la haute finance." The 
 national savings were invested with some losses but on the 
 whole with great profits in South America, Russia and China 
 (to mention only a few of Belgium's spheres of interest). 
 The growth of capital led to closer relations with Paris, and 
 Brussels has become almost an agency or branch of the
 
 Conclusion 261 
 
 French metropolis in financial matters. It is sometimes said 
 that French influence in Belgium has declined (and I for one 
 am far from denying the truth of the assertion) but it is 
 supreme in the circles of " la haute finance." 
 
 The acquisition and accumulation of capital, the partici- 
 pation in important World affairs chiefly in combination with 
 
 France and Russia, and finally the possession 
 C fid tef * a S rea -t colonial territory, which has 
 
 apparently excited the envy of onlookers, 
 all these have produced a change in Belgian character and 
 ways of looking at things that is not generally allowed for. 
 It is no longer safe or prudent to speak of the Belgian nation 
 as timid, self-diffident, and afraid to accept responsibility. 
 It would be nearer the truth to say that they have become a 
 trifle venturesome, a little overbold, and not afraid to enter 
 into competition with the great ones of the earth. Perhaps 
 they have gone a little too far in this direction, but the 
 Government that attempts to treat them de haut en has will 
 soon find itself thwarted in its designs by the aroused sense 
 of dignity of the governing classes in modern Belgium. The 
 worst consequence of the assumption that Belgium has stood 
 still since the days of the London Conference is that there 
 are always other Governments ready not merely to flatter, 
 but also to promise support in the event of aggression. The 
 confidence of the Belgian Foreign Office in itself is great 
 enough, but it is rendered infinitely greater by the conviction 
 that it does not lack friends, and the most serious conse- 
 quence of all, resulting from miscalculation in political effort, 
 and from wilful blindness to the magnificent progress of 
 Belgium in all the essentials of prosperity and stability, is 
 that it is driven to take its friends from the wrong quarters. 
 With regard to the home politics of Belgium a foreign 
 observer must be careful in expressing any sweeping opinion. 
 Party passion runs undeniably high, and the gulf separating 
 Catholic and Socialist is very wide and deep. At times 
 revolution seems in the air, and with revolution would come
 
 262 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 such a change in the condition of things in the country that 
 it might lose its integrity and independence. But many 
 
 Belgians who speak with full knowledge and 
 Home authority warn outsiders from forming what 
 
 may seem logical conclusions about the con- 
 flicts of Parties in their country. They admit that political 
 feuds become bitter, that the partisans are noisy it is admit- 
 tedly a Belgian characteristic and that sometimes violence 
 seems imminent ; but they add these Belgians know just 
 when to stop. They will draw back when they see peril from 
 their clamour and excess to the national existence. That 
 assurance is worth bearing in mind, although it does not cover 
 all the possibilities of the situation. It meets the case while 
 the Catholic party remains in office, but it is not at all clear 
 what would follow from the advent to power of a Liberal- 
 Socialist ministry, and the majority now behind the party in 
 power is very small. 
 
 Looking beyond the question of party contests it is pro- 
 bably true that the precautions taken against a Socialist 
 
 upheaval, with which the Legislative Chamber 
 Th Vote Ural * s periodically threatened, have been sufficient 
 
 to assure the preservation of society, and no 
 doubt the new army organisation will also contribute to the 
 same result. But at the same time there is almost as much 
 danger in the Catholic party retaining a monopoly of office 
 as there is from the other side coming in. The Belgian 
 system of electing representatives is one of the fairest that 
 has been devised by human skill, but its merits are obscured 
 by the indisputable result that it has given one side a long 
 and unbroken lease of power. This fact alone weakens its 
 claims to perfection and strengthens the demand for the 
 change to the simple procedure of " one man one vote " or 
 " universal suffrage." The abolition of the plural vote will 
 be a serious blow to Conservatism, and its effects will only 
 be mitigated by extending the suffrage to women whenever 
 the change takes place. Even on the Catholic side of the
 
 Conclusion 263 
 
 Chamber the view is beginning to prevail that in the next 
 political crisis, which is probably not far off, the plural vote 
 in its present form will have to go. 
 
 But to the outsider the recent developments in the Flemish 
 movement seem more alarming as a menace to the stability 
 
 of Belgium than the feuds of Catholic and 
 Demands Socialist deputies. So long as the Flemish 
 
 demands were confined to redress of their 
 own grievances, and to the establishment of their own posi- 
 tion on a footing of equality with the Walloons there was no 
 serious objection to be made, but all this was gained half a 
 century ago and ratified by a second triumph twenty-five 
 years later. The latest efforts of the Flemish party are 
 offensive and not merely defensive. They are seemingly bent 
 on a campaign of aggression into Walloon or quasi- Walloon 
 territory, the reasons of which are still obscure. And this 
 forward movement has raised a volume of irritation and 
 indignation among the Walloons that would not be credited 
 by anyone who had not seen a meeting of French-speaking 
 Belgians discussing the latest Flemish demands. 
 
 Whatever the advocates of minor races may say to the 
 contrary language is the true connecting link of a realm, and 
 
 the attempt to revive half or wholly dead 
 The Bond of i an g ua g e s, if they were ever anything better 
 
 than dialects, becomes a menace to the State 
 in proportion as the language in common use is weakly or 
 strongly established. In Belgium there are the two languages 
 which have hitherto been on a fairly equal footing so far as 
 numbers were concerned. But the Flemings are increasing 
 at a greater rate in numbers and prosperity than the Walloons, 
 and the swing of the pendulum will be increasingly in their 
 favour. They are now displaying an intention to make the 
 most of this superiority and to show their adversary no 
 quarter. It is not surprising that the Walloons are up in 
 arms and are showing resentment. The champions of Flemish, 
 which is only low German, and which in the course of a few
 
 264 Belgium of the Belgians 
 
 generations might be converted by a German Government 
 into a very passable high German, have now embarked on 
 an undertaking aiming apparently at absorbing the populous 
 parts of Belgium hitherto included in Walloon Belgium, 
 and if the plain brutal truth must be told their success seems 
 far from impossible. 
 
 There is no doubt something more behind the Flemish move- 
 ment than meets the eye. If it is only a party move to increase 
 the Conservative forces in a country where 
 
 Vl F V an^e Ut ^ e disruptive forces of Republicanism and 
 Socialism are in active operation the stability 
 of the kingdom may be rather increased than diminished by 
 it. But it is possible that there is another and more sinister 
 explanation. German statesmen have always carefully 
 watched and taken the greatest interest in the Flemish 
 movement. German influence has long been in the ascendant 
 in Antwerp, and the sympathetic attitude of the Berlin 
 Cabinet in the Congo controversy has not failed to make a 
 considerable impression in bureaucratic circles in Brussels. 
 Belgian ministers are probably not unaware that Prussia 
 expects to be paid for services rendered and with interest ; 
 but as no demand has yet been made of this nature the grateful 
 sense remains unalloyed. The Flemish movement is in its 
 essence an anti-French movement, and if it succeeds in 
 weakening French influence in Belgium it must to that extent 
 promote and strengthen the interests and influence of 
 Germany. 
 
 There are two reasons for the outburst of an anti-French 
 feeling in Belgium. The first of these is the new religious 
 laws, which amount to a persecution of the Church, and have 
 made the French Government most unpopular among the 
 true Catholics of Flanders. Nobody in this country or in 
 France seems to realise the new sentiment of dislike for 
 France and French ideas that has sprung up in Flanders 
 within the last ten years. The dread of the spread of French 
 influence was always a sort of bugbear in Flanders ; it has
 
 NAVE OF ANTWERP CATHEDRAL, FROM THE CHOIR 
 [By permission of the Ligue de Propagande)
 
 Conclusion 265 
 
 now given place to aversion and, the word must be written, 
 contempt. 
 
 If the religious question has moved the masses it is political 
 
 considerations that sway the minds of those in power. There 
 
 is a Republican Party in Belgium. It must 
 
 Republicanism, exist and take itself seriously when M. 
 Vandervelde shouts the fact in the presence 
 of his King, but a Republic could only exist in Belgium as a 
 kind of satellite of that of France. If Belgian Republicans 
 look to France it is only natural that those Belgians who are 
 not Republicans should look elsewhere, and that means to 
 Germany. The situation has not yet become acute, but 
 unless the feud between Flemings and Walloons can be 
 arrested serious consequences threatening if not the very 
 existence of, at least the present order of things in, Belgium 
 must follow within no remote future. 
 
 If there has been a deeper purpose in these pages than to 
 describe a country and people among whom I have lived and 
 for whom I have the highest admiration and regard, it is to 
 do what may be done by individual effort towards drawing 
 the attention of the British public to the affairs of Belgium 
 with the view of increasing mutual sympathy. The national 
 alliance between the peoples of Flanders and England is the 
 oldest in Europe. There are no two people more alike. 
 Their most cherished institutions, those of civic liberty, are 
 the same. The English character has been leavened by 
 considerable immigrations of Flemish settlers since the 
 twelfth century. Clouds have arisen from time to time on 
 the horizon of their relations, but they have cleared away. 
 The truest of Belgian patriots, whether he be Walloon or 
 Fleming, knows in his heart of hearts that England apart 
 from the efforts of himself and his fellow-countrymen is 
 the one sure bulwark of Belgium's independence. The 
 appreciation of that great responsibility should on both sides 
 of the Channel stifle criticism and promote regard.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Academies, Drawing, 169 
 
 Adolphus, Duke, 237 
 
 African Slave Trade, 246 
 
 Agriculture (Belgian), 121-7 
 
 , Persons engaged in, 121 
 
 Aigremont, 219 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, 200, 204, 206 
 
 Albert I (King of the Belgians), 
 58, 64, 65, 93, 195, 227, 251, 
 255 
 
 Albert, the Archduke, 24, 182 
 
 Alle, 197 
 
 Alva, 22, 30 
 
 Alzette, 237 
 
 Amberloop, 193 
 
 Ambleve, The, 187 
 
 Amerois, les, 197, 227 
 
 Ammans, The, 20 
 
 Anderlecht, 25 
 
 Animals in Belgium, 125, 126 
 
 Anneessens, Francis, 27 
 
 Anseremme, 195 
 
 Antwerp (city), 5 ; history of, 
 28-35; 76, 90, 128; import- 
 ance of, 259 
 
 (forts), 100, 101, 102 
 
 (province), 2 
 
 School of Art, 168 
 
 Appeal Courts, 149 
 
 Arab Campaign, The, 248 
 
 Ardennes, The, 187-198 
 
 Breed of horse, 127 
 
 Arlon, 201 
 
 Army in Belgium, 93-103 
 Art, Schools of, 168 
 Artists, Belgian, 169 
 Assche, Hotel d', 63, 64 
 Athenaeums, Royal, 116-7 
 Athletics, 224-5 
 
 Austria, Emperor of, 2 
 
 Avoues, 153 
 
 Avresses, The, 224 
 
 Aymon and his sons, 196, 219-20 
 
 Baker, Sir Samuel, 246 
 Baldwin I, 36 
 II, 36 
 
 VI, 37 
 
 Ball, Game of the, 223 
 Bands, 167-8 
 Bar, The, 152-3 
 Baronaige, Margaret de, 24 
 Bastogne, 193 
 Baudouin, Prince, 58 
 Bayard (the horse), 219-221 
 Bedford, Duke of, 39 
 Beermxrt, M., 76, 80 
 Belfry, privilege of a, 37 
 Belgique Militaire, la, 164 
 " Belgisch Museum," 86 
 Belgium, change in, 8 
 
 , Constitution of, 53 et scq. 
 
 , Increase of capital in, 260 
 
 and England, 265 
 
 Belgian character, The, 7-10 
 
 Marine, The, 186 
 
 Soldiers, 99 
 
 Belgians in foreign countries, 105 
 Bellevue Hotel, The (Brussels) , 63 
 Benedictines, The, 114 
 Berlin, African Conference at, 
 
 247 
 Beverloo, 102 
 Bilingualism, 89, 92 
 Binche, 212, 213-4 
 Bishoprics in Belgium, 111 
 Bismarck, Prince, 247 
 Black Death, The, 19 
 
 267
 
 268 
 
 Index 
 
 Blankenberghc, 181, 182 
 Bliicher incident, 51 
 Boating, 225 
 Bocq, The, 195, 233 
 Bois le Due, 177 
 Boitsfort, 228 
 Bouillon, 189, 197-8 
 Bourcy, 193 
 Bourscheid, 239 
 Brabant, 2 
 
 Revolution, The, 27 
 
 , Duke of, 2, 3 
 
 -, Duke of (son of Leopold 
 
 II). 57 
 , Duke of (son of Albert I), 
 
 58 
 Braschaet, 97 
 Brialmont, General, 101, 103, 
 
 201 
 Bruges, 36-44, 222 
 
 Matins, The, 37 
 
 Brussels, 6, 91 ; history of, 11-27 
 , Rising in, 53 
 
 , Geographical Conference 
 
 at, 246 
 
 - Library, 120 
 Royal Palace, 63-4 
 Burgomasters, The, 20 
 Burton, Captain Richard, 246 
 Buves, 220 
 
 Cadets' School, 119 
 Cadzand (treaty), 42 
 Campine, Coal in the, 144-5 
 Canals, 173 et seq. 
 Canal traffic, 174 
 Capital punishment, 148, 150 
 Caracol and Bristecol, 219 
 Cassation, Cour de, 148 
 Catholic Party, The, 72 et seq. 
 Caudenberg, 12, 19 
 Chainaye, M., 163 
 Chapelle, la, 27 
 Champion, 193 
 Charlemagne, 219, 220 
 Charleroi, 77 
 
 Charles the Bold, 20, 41, 48 
 Charles of Lorraine, Prince, 27 
 
 Charles Theodor, Duke, 58 
 
 II (England), 222 
 
 V, 4, 21 
 
 VI, Emperor, 5, 183 
 
 Charlier, 51 [57 
 
 Charlotte, Empress of Mexico, 
 
 , Princess (England), 57 
 
 Charters, The first, 3 
 Chom6, M. Leon, 164 
 Church and State (in Belgium), 
 
 58-9 
 Ciergnon, 195, 227 
 Ciney, Horse fair at, 127 
 Civil marriage, 154 
 
 Registration, 154, 155 
 
 Clairefontaine, 239 
 Clementine, Princess (now Prin- 
 cess Napoleon), 64 
 
 Clervaux, 238, 239 
 Cloth manufacture, 3 
 Clubs in Belgium, 165 
 Coal, 129 
 
 fields, 7 
 
 mines, 142, 143, 144 
 
 Cockerill, John, 7 
 
 Company, 142 
 
 Code of Belgium, 148 
 Coke, 129 
 
 Coligny, Admiral, 21 
 Cologne, 220 
 
 Colonial College, The, 255 
 Colonial Museum, 255, 256 
 
 Questions, 245 et seq. 
 
 Commercial schools, 119 
 
 Tribunals, 136 
 
 " Commissions Permanentes," 75 
 
 Communal Debt, 138 
 
 Conde, 25 
 
 Congo, The, taken over by 
 Belgium, 248 ; present re- 
 venue of, 249 ; budget of, 
 250 ; debt of, 251 ; public 
 service of, 251-2 ; white 
 population of, 252-3 ; im- 
 provements in, 254-5 ; trade 
 of, 257 ; needs foreign capi- 
 tal, 258 
 
 Conscience, Henri, 68, 86, 158, 
 159
 
 Index 
 
 269 
 
 Conservatoires, 166 
 Constitution, The Belgian, 55 
 Cortenberg, charter, 15 
 Courtrai, 36 
 
 Courts of Belgium, 148 et seq. 
 Craenenburg, 42 
 Crecy, 215 
 
 Crime, Diminution of, 150 
 Criminal Courts, 150 
 Crops, Belgian, 123 
 Crossbow, The, 24 
 Crossbowmen, The, 222 
 Crusades, Money for the, 46 
 Cudgel War, The, 239-40 
 Cuisine, La, 198 
 Customs, 129 
 
 Dalheim, 103 
 Damme, 40, 42 
 Death rate in Belgium, 106 
 Decker, M. de, 72 
 Decree of Independence, Bel- 
 gian, 54 
 Defrecheux, M., 162 
 Departments, the Public, 67, 69 
 Depots de Mendicite, 151 
 De Ridder, M., 139 
 Dhanis, Baron, 100 
 Diana Memorial, 241 
 Diekirch, 238 
 Diest, 100, 103 
 
 Dinant, 48, 189, 195, 196, 218 
 Dortmund, 220 
 D'Oultremont, 219 
 " Douze Chansons," Les, 160 
 Dunes, The, 181 
 Duplessis l'Ecuyer, Colonel, 25 
 Duquesnoy, 213 
 Dutch, The, 53-4 
 Duvenvoorde, William de, 16 
 
 Echternach, 238 ; dancing 
 
 procession of, 241-4 
 Ecole Militaire, The, 119, 120 
 Education, 115-120 
 
 Primary, 75, 76, 77 
 
 Edward III, 16 
 Egmont, 2, 22, 26 
 
 Philippe d', 23, 24 
 
 Electors, numbers of, 71, 78, 
 80 
 
 Elisabeth (Queen of the Bel- 
 gians), 58, 64, 65 
 
 Elsenborn Camp, 198, 201 
 
 Emigration from Belgium, 107-8 
 
 Esch, 239 
 
 Etoile Beige, The, 164 
 
 Eugene Prince, 26 
 
 Evire Cemetery, 171 
 
 Exports and Imports, 128, 129, 
 130-3 
 
 Fencing, 226 
 
 Fexhe peace, 47 
 
 First Instance Courts, 149 
 
 Five Powers, The, 60 
 
 Flanders, 2, 36 
 
 , Count of (father of King 
 
 Albert), 57, 227 
 , Count of (son of Albert 1), 
 
 58 
 Flemings, The, 83, 85 
 Flemish language, 83, 84 
 
 movement, The, 83-92 
 
 sailors, 186 
 
 theatres, 172 
 
 Flushing, proposed fortification 
 
 of, 179-80 
 Football, 224 
 Forest law, 124 
 Fortresses in Belgium, 100 
 Foy Notre-Dame, 217-9 
 France, interest of, in Belgian 
 
 rivers, 176 
 France, decline of her influence 
 
 in Belgium, 264 
 Franchise, New, 78, 79 
 Francis I (France), 21, 43, 44 
 Franck, Cesar, 167 
 Franco-German War, The, 74 
 Free Trade, 134 
 Frere-Orban, M., 72, 73 
 French Fury, The, 31 
 
 language, 84-5, 89, 90, 91 
 
 Revolution of 1830, 53 
 
 Fruit, 127 
 
 Furfooz caves, 195
 
 270 
 
 Index 
 
 Gachard, M., 161 
 
 Garde Civique, The, 98-9 
 
 Gavre (battle), 41 
 
 Geefs, M.. 171 
 
 Gendarmerie, The, 96-7 
 
 Germany, 92 
 
 Ghent, 4. 36-44, 85, 89, 90, 91 
 
 Gilkin, M., 163 
 
 Gilles, The, 214 
 
 Gilles de Chin, 215 
 
 Giraud, M., 163 
 
 Givet, 195 
 
 Glad bach, 108 
 
 Godfrey of Bouillon, 2, 29, 197 
 
 Golden Fleece, The, 38-40 
 
 Golf, 226 
 
 Gouvy, 193 
 
 Grammont, charter of, 3 
 
 , 37 
 
 Grand' Place, The, 22, 23 
 Granvelle, Cardinal, 111 
 Grimsby, 185 
 Groenendael, 228 
 Groesbeck, Bishop, 49 
 Grotto region, The, 189 et seq. 
 Gueldres, 2 
 
 Gueldres, Henry of, 47 
 Guide Official, le, 140 
 Guides, The, 67, 96 
 Guinegate (battle), 37 
 
 Hainaut, 2 
 
 , Archers of, 222-3 
 
 Hand-cutting, 28 
 
 Hansa, The, 29 
 
 Han sur Lesse and its grotto, 
 
 190-2 
 Harwich, 183 
 Hasselt, 144 
 
 , Ffites of, 215-7 
 
 Hastiere, 195 
 
 Haulleville, Baron de, 256 
 
 Hautes Rivieres, 197 
 
 Heims (artist), 20 
 
 Henlev, Belgian successes at, 
 
 225^6 
 Herbeumont, 198 
 Hey st, 181 
 Historic families, Some, 66 
 
 Hockey, 225 
 Hoensbroeck, Bishop, 50 
 Holy Roman Empire, 66 
 Horn Court. 22 
 Horse-racing, 227-8 
 Horses, 227 
 Houffalize, 193 
 Hours of Labour, 134-5 
 Houses, Belgian, 233-4 
 Houyoux, 219 
 
 Illiteracy, 117-8 
 Independance Beige, The, 164 
 Industrial population, 136 
 Inheritance, Law of, 234-5 
 Iron, 146 
 
 in Luxemburg, 237 
 
 Isabel of Portugal, 39 
 Isabella, The Infanta, 24, 222 
 
 Janson, M., 75 
 
 Jewish Colony in Belgium, The, 
 
 68 
 Jesuit School, The, 120 
 Jews. 46, 68, 113 
 Joan of Arc, 38 
 Joan (Brabant), 16, 17, 18, 19 
 John of Austria, Don, 23 
 
 of Brabant, Duke, 14 
 
 Joseph II, Emperor, 183 
 Journal de Bruxelles, The, 164 
 Journalism, Belgian, 164-5 
 Judges, Salaries of, 148 
 
 , How chosen, 152 
 
 Jurors, The, 14 
 Juste, M. T., 161 
 Justinian, Emperor, 238 
 
 Kalterherberg, 208 
 Katanga, 256 
 Kermesse, 36, 212-13 
 Kervyn, M., 161 
 Knocke, 40, 181 
 
 Labour Troubles, 77 
 Ladies' watch, The, 13 
 Laeken, 65 
 La Fraiture, 193 
 Lambermont, Baron, 33, 34, 35
 
 Index 
 
 271 
 
 Lalaing, Count J de, 171 
 Land in Belgium, 121 ; value 
 
 of, 126 
 Language problem, A, 263-4 
 
 statistics, 84 
 
 La Panne, 181 
 
 La Roche, 189, 192-3 
 La Ruelle, 49 
 Lavacherie, 193 
 Lavelaye, 68 
 Lead, 146 
 Lebeau, Joseph, 51 
 Ledeganck, 86, 158, 159 
 Lemonnier, Camille, 163 
 Leopold I, 55, 57, 59, 66, 68, 
 
 93, 111, 139, 195, 227, 235, 
 
 246, 259 
 
 - II, 5, 57, 65, 78, 184, 234, 
 245, 247, 248, 255 
 
 Lesse, The, 187, 191, 195 
 
 Liberal Party, The, 72 et seq. 
 
 Libramont, 193 
 
 Libraries, Public, 120 
 
 Liege, 2 ; history of, 45-52 ; 
 
 spelling of name, 51-2, 162, 
 
 176 
 
 - (forts), 100, 101 
 
 Light Railways, 141 [18 
 
 Lignages, The seven, 11, 11m., 
 Limburg, 2 
 
 (Dutch), 178, 202, 203, 217 
 
 Literature, Belgian, 157-64 
 Livingstone, David, 246 
 Livre d'or, Belgian, 66 
 Livret, The, 155 
 Locquenghien, Chev. de, 20, 21 
 Lokeren, 127 
 
 Lombards, 46, 48 
 Lomme, The, 189 
 London Conference, The, 60 
 
 Conference of 1867, 244 
 
 Lorraine, 146 
 
 Louis XI, 48 
 
 XIV, 196 
 
 Philippe, King, 57 
 
 Louise of Orleans (Princess and 
 
 Queen), 57, 235 
 Lou vain, Count of, 12, 14 
 
 2, 19, 106, 117, 139 
 
 Loveling, Sisters, 159 
 Lumecon ffite, The, 214-5 
 Luneville, Treaty of, 199 
 Luxemburg, 2, 146 
 
 fortress, 236 
 
 , Grand Duchy of, 236-7 
 
 Province, Division of, 236 
 
 Maestricht, 173, 177 
 Maeterlinck, Maurice, 90, 159-60 
 Maisons de Refuge, 151 
 Male, Louis de, 18 
 Malines, Archbishop of, 111 
 Malou, M. Jules, 74, 75, 76 
 Malmedy, 199-201, 202 
 Mannikin, The, 213 
 Marbceuf, Baron, 241 
 Marche, 202 
 
 Marck, William de la, 49 
 Maredsous, Abbey of, 1 14 
 Mards, M. Roland de, 164 
 Margaret of Austria, 43, 213 
 
 (Brabant), 18 
 
 of York, 16 
 
 Maria Theresa, 183 [234 
 
 Marie Henriette (Queen), 57, 65, 
 
 Christine, Archduchess, 26 
 
 Marlborough, Duke of, 50 
 Markets, 121 
 
 Marnix de Ste. Aldegonde, 31 
 Marriages in Belgium, 107 
 Marselaer, Frederic le, 24 
 Mary of Burgundy, 42, 213 
 
 of Hungary, 213 
 
 Princess (Countess of 
 
 Flanders), 57 
 
 Princess (Luxemburg) , 237 
 
 Mathias, Archduke, 23 
 
 Maugis, 220 
 
 Maximilian (Archduke and 
 
 Emperor), 42 
 Meir, Place de, 29 
 Melans, The, 224 
 Melreux, 193 
 
 Meuse, 173, 176, 177, 178, 179 
 Meysembourg, 239 
 Mexico, 99 
 Merxplas, 151 
 Michael's Mount, 17
 
 272 
 
 Index 
 
 Middelkerke, 181 
 
 Miners, number of, 142-3, 146 ; 
 
 wages of, 143 
 Mine owners, Profit of, 143-4 
 Mines, Various, 145 
 Mockel, M., 163 
 Mondorf, 238 
 
 Monnaie, la (theatre), 26, 167 
 Mons, 214, 215, 222 
 Montaigle (ruin), 114 
 Montherme, 197 
 Montjoie, 202, 207-11 
 Montmorency family, 236 
 Moresnet, 203-5 
 Mortenaeken, 48 
 Moselle, Navigation of, 244 
 Motley, 22, 28, 44 
 Munster, Treaty of, 5 
 Musee Plantin, 30 
 Music in Belgium, 166 et seq. 
 Mutual societies, 108 
 
 Namur, 2, 26, 224 
 
 (forts), 100, 101, 102 
 
 Napoleon, The Emperor, 65 
 Napoleon III, 198 
 
 , Prince, 64 
 
 Nassau (hotel), 16 
 
 Nassogne, 238 
 
 National languages, The, 87 
 
 Nations, The, 29 
 
 Naval schools, 120 
 
 Neny, Count de, 6 
 
 Netherlands Kingdom, The, 53 
 
 , Palace of the, 26 
 
 Neutrality of Belgium, its form, 
 
 60-2 
 Nieuport, 181, 185 
 Nivelles, John of, 219 
 Nobles' Club, A, 67 
 Notaire, The. 153-4 
 Notger, Bishop, 45 
 
 Oesling Valley, 239, 240 
 Orange-Nassau family, 236, 240 
 Orange, Prince of, 22-23 
 Orval, 19 
 Ostend, 105, 181, 182-5 
 
 Company, The, 183, 246 
 
 Otho, Emperor, 29 
 Our, The, 238 
 Ourthe, The, 187, 192 
 
 Palmerston, Lord, 33 
 
 Pamphleteers, 160 
 
 Park at Brussels, The, 54 
 
 Parma, 23, 24, 31 
 
 Pawnshops, 232 
 
 Payment of Members, 56, 82 
 
 Petite Culture, la, 125 
 
 Philip the Fair, 42-3 
 
 the Good, 19 
 
 Philippa, Queen, 2 
 
 Picard, Edmond, 163, 169-71 
 
 Pigeon-flying, 223 
 
 Pits, The (Brussels Park), 64 
 
 Plural Vote, The, 79, 262 
 
 Pol de Mont, 159 
 
 Police, The, 155-6 
 
 Popinjay, shooting at the, 222 
 
 Population of Belgium, 104 et 
 
 seq. 
 Portugal, 99 
 Potter, L. de, 161 
 Prie, Marquis de, 26 
 Primary Education, 115-6 
 Prisons, 150-1 
 
 Procureur du Roi, 152-3 [80-1 
 Proportional representation, 
 Protection, 1 34 
 Protestants, 113 
 Provinces, The Nine, 2 
 Prussia, 199, 202, 203 
 Public Companies, 135 
 Public debt, 137 
 
 expenditure, 136-7 
 
 revenue, 136-7 
 
 Pym, Lieven, 43 
 
 Quarries, 146-7 
 
 " Quentin Durward," 45, 48 
 
 Quiesnoy, 222 
 
 Railways, 139-40 
 
 accidents, 140 
 
 Railways in the Ardennes, 188 
 Religion in Belgium, 58, 59, 
 
 109 et seq.
 
 Index 
 
 273 
 
 Religious Orders, 112-3 
 Renault, 220 
 Renkin, M., 249, 255 
 Representative Chamber, 55, 56, 
 
 70, 71 
 Republicanism in Belgium, 265 
 Requescens, 23 
 Rhodesia, 256 
 Rivers, The, 173 et seq. 
 Rochefort, 189-90, 217, 218, 219, 
 
 238 
 Rocher Bayard, 196, 220 
 Rode, Martin van, 20 
 Rodenbach, Georges, 163 
 Roer river, 178 
 Rogier, Charles, 51, 72, 139 
 Roland (the bell), 42, 44 
 Roman names, 199 
 Roosebeke (battle), 38 
 Rotterdam, 178 
 Royal Society of Belgium, 
 
 Journal of, 165 
 Rubens, 26 
 Ruremonde, 177, 178, 203 
 
 Sablon, The, 24 
 
 St. Gery, church of, 1 1 
 
 Ste. Gudule, 12 
 
 St. Hubert, 120, 189, 193, 194 
 
 St. Martin, church, 47 
 
 St. Nicolas, 127 
 
 St. Remade, 200 
 
 St. Remy, Abbey of, 147 
 
 Quarry, 147 
 
 St. Trond, 103 
 
 St. Vith, 200 
 
 St. Walburga, 50 
 
 Savings banks, 230-2 
 
 Saxe, Marshal, 26 
 
 Saxony, 104 
 
 Schayes, M., 161 
 
 Scheldt, The, 5, 29, 30 ; block- 
 ade of, 31-5, 179 ; " la grande 
 coupure " scheme, 179 
 
 Schonfels, 239 
 
 Schools of Music, 167 
 
 School teachers, pay of, 118 
 
 Sculptors, Belgian, 171 
 
 Sea fishing, 186 
 
 1 8 (2387) 
 
 Season tickets, 140, 142 
 
 Secondary education, 116-7 
 
 Sedan, 198 
 
 Semois, The, 187, 189, 197-8 
 
 Senate, The, 55, 56, 70, 71 
 
 Senne, The, 11, 20 
 
 Seraing, 7 
 
 Service, New period of (Army), 
 
 95 
 Severin, M., 163 
 Shaw (English traveller), 6 
 Sheriffs, The, 14 
 Simons, M., 139 
 Sittard, 177, 203 
 Sleeping sickness, The, 255 
 Socialists, First appearance of, 74 
 Socialist Party, The, 80 et seq. 
 South William Canal, 177 
 Spa, 189 
 
 Spanish Fury, The, 30 
 Spinola, 182 
 
 Stanley, Sir H. M., 246, 247 
 Stavelot, 109, 199-200 
 Stilts, jousts on, 224 
 Substitute system, The, 94 
 Superior education, 117 
 Sure, 238 
 Swimming, 226 
 Switzerland, neutrality of, 62 
 
 Tadema, Sir L. Alma-, 168 
 
 Termonde, 100 
 
 Terneuzen, 40 
 
 Theatre, The, 171-2 
 
 Thrift, national, 229 et seq. 
 
 Tobacco, 123 
 
 Trades, 134 
 
 Tramways, 233 
 
 Tribunal of Peace, The, 47 
 
 Tropical Medicine, School of, 255 
 
 Tse-tse fly, 256 
 
 T'Serclaes, Everard, 18 
 
 Turenne, 198 
 
 Universal Suffrage, 75 
 Universities, Belgian, 117 
 Utrecht, Treaty of, 5 
 Uylenspiegel, 172
 
 274 
 
 Index 
 
 Van Arteveldes, The, 3, 4, 38 
 
 Van Beers, 159 
 
 Vanderkindere, M., 161 
 
 Vandervelde, M., 97, 265 
 
 Vandyke, 24 
 
 Van Hasselt, 163 
 
 Van Ryswyck, T., 159 
 
 Vatican, The, 75 
 
 Venlo, 178, 179 
 
 Verhaegen, M., 73 
 
 Verhaeren, Emile, 159, 160 
 
 Vesdre, The, 187 
 
 Vianden, 238, 239, 240, 241 
 
 Vieille Boucherie, The, 30 
 
 Viel Salm, 201 
 
 Vienna Congress, 53 
 
 Villenfagne, M. de, 47, 161 
 
 Villeroi, Marshal, 6, 25, 26 
 
 Villers sur Lesse, 197, 227 
 
 Vilvorde, 19 
 
 Vine cultivation, 123 
 
 Vise, 178, 179, 203 
 
 Volunteer corps, 99 
 
 Vresse, 197 
 
 Vrindts, M., 162 
 
 Waes, pays de, 127 
 Wages, farm, 122 
 Walloons, The, 83 
 Walloon language, 83, 84 
 
 Movement, The, 160 et seq. 
 
 Revival, 162-3 
 
 Walzin, 195 
 Wamme, The, 189 
 
 Waste land, 123 
 Warche, The, 200 
 Warfusec, Count de, 49 
 Waterloo, 183 
 Waulsort, 178, 195 
 Weismes, 200 
 Wellington, 100 
 Wenceslas, 16, 17, 18, 19 
 Wetzlar Court, 50 
 White Hoods, The, 15, 41 
 Wild boar, hunting, 227 
 Willebrod, St., 241, 242 
 Willebroeck Canal, 21 
 Willems, T. F., 86, 157, 159 
 William the Silent, 16 
 
 Ill, 26 
 
 I (Netherlands), 7, 66 
 
 Ill (Holland), 237 
 
 Grand Duke, 237 
 
 Wilmotte, M. Maurice, 163 
 Wiltz, The. 238 
 Woeringen, battle, 15 
 Women in mines, 142-3 
 Woods and forests, 123, 124 
 
 Young Right, The, 82 
 Ypres, 36. 96, 173, 185 
 Ysaye, M., 167 
 Yser, The, 185 
 Yvoir, 195 
 
 Zeebrugge, 181, 184 
 Zwyn, 29, 40 
 
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 with biography in a scholarly and instructive manner." Western Mail. 
 
 Mrs. Gaskell 
 
 HAUNTS, HOMES, AND STORIES 
 
 By 
 MRS. ELLIS H. CHADWICK 
 
 Royal 8vo, cloth gilt, photogravure frontispiece, and 38 other 
 illustrations. 16s. net. 
 
 " The book is one which all lovers of Mrs. Gaskell will most cordially 
 welcome. ... It is based upon a most diligent and untiring study of 
 autobiographical passages, scenes, and persons, and the illustrations 
 alone supply us with a mine of most interesting information. . . . 
 enables us to form a more continuous picture of this early life-material 
 than has yet been presented." Daily News. 
 
 " The volume is certain of an enduring place among those which 
 deal with the literary history of tins country, and it is certainly indis- 
 pensable to any who wish to understand the woman of whose life it 
 tells, or the value of her work and influence . . . indeed, a sympathetic 
 and faithful picture not only of Mrs. Gaskell, but also of the days in 
 which she lived." Manchester Daily Dispatch. 
 
 London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., 1 Amen Corner, E.C.
 
 JUST PUBLISHED 
 
 The Beginnings of the American 
 Revolution 
 
 By ELLEN CHASE 
 
 In royal 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 1,500 pp. with 75 full-page plates. 
 Three vols. 25s. net. 
 
 There exist abundant materials for historians of the American 
 Revolution to use, if they have a mind, for their work. But they he 
 hidden away in the archives of the American states and cities, and in 
 the newspaper files at the British Museum. Many also hitherto 
 neglected are preserved in private family papers. These last are 
 especially valuable for the personal information which they supply in 
 regard to the actors in this great drama. For many years past, the 
 author of this book has been making research in these various directions, 
 and particularly has made an effort to place on record the part played 
 in the Revolution by the small towns ; and, in order to present the 
 personal side of the great struggle in a more vivid light, has given 
 unusually large space to the diaries of English civilians and officers, 
 and to those of American tourists and patriots. Thus we get the two 
 sides of the story told by those who took part in the struggle. 
 
 Mrs. E. M. Ward's Reminiscences 
 
 Edited by ELLIOTT O'DONNELL 
 
 In royal 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with 6 photogravure plates. 
 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 " Mrs. E. M. Ward throughout all these pages displays a wide sym- 
 pathy, a charming personality, and an interesting acquaintance with 
 men and things which make her book a sweet, wholesome and delightful 
 volume . . . will win an established place among the records of the 
 Victorian era." Daily Telegraph. 
 
 " As might have been expected, Mrs. Ward's reminiscences are good 
 reading. Mrs. Ward's capacious memory takes in all manner of men 
 and things. She tells piquant stories of royal sitters and visitors ; 
 gives glimpses of Windsor in the days when Queen Victoria was a young 
 and happy wife ; recalls to life Dickens, Thackeray, Lytton, and the 
 other literary lions of an age which is beginning to seem very distant ; 
 and gives her narrative an undercurrent of purely personal reminiscence 
 which reminds one that Mrs. Ward was not only in her time a great 
 painter, and the wife of a great painter, but also the mother of several 
 talented children. The book is written in a simple, straightforward, 
 vivid way that makes it very easy and pleasant reading." Standard. 
 
 London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons. Ltd., 1 Amen Corner, E.C.
 
 [Catalogue O] 
 
 A CATALOGUE 
 
 OF 
 
 GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD. 
 
 (Incorporating Isbister & Co.) 
 
 ANTHOLOGY, AUTOBIOGRAPH V, ART, BIOGRAPHY, ECCLESIOLOGY, 
 
 ETHNOLOGY, FICTION, HISTORY, METALLURGY, NATURAL HISTORY, 
 
 POETRY, CRITICISM AND LITERARY HISTORY, SCIENCE, SOCIOLOGY, 
 
 TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, ETC., ETC., ETC. 
 
 Other Catalogues may be 
 obtained by applying to 
 Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., 
 1 Amen Corner, London, E.C. 
 (See abridged List at end of this 
 Catalogue.) 
 
 SIR ISAAC PITMAN AND SONS, LTD. 
 LONDON, BATH, AND NEW YORK
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 ANTHOLOGY .... 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON LIBRARY 
 
 ART . ... 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY .... 
 
 BIOGRAPHY ..... 
 
 CATALOGUES . 
 
 COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES 
 
 DAINTY VOLUME LIBRARY 
 
 ECCLESIOLOGY ..... 
 
 ETHNOLOGY .... 
 
 FICTION ..... 
 
 HISTORY ..... 
 
 JEUX D'ESPRIT .... 
 
 METALLURGY .... 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS .... 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 PERIODICALS 
 
 POETRY, CRITICISM, -AND LITERARY HISTORY 
 
 POLITICS ..... 
 
 SCIENCE ..... 
 
 SOCIOLOGY ... 
 
 TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, AND SPORT 
 
 PAGE 
 
 3 
 
 . 3&4 
 
 4&5 
 
 5 
 
 . 6-8 
 
 24 
 
 . 9 
 
 9 & 10 
 . 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 & 11 
 12 & 13 
 
 . 13 
 
 13 
 14-18 
 
 14 
 . 24 
 
 18 
 . 19 
 
 20 
 
 20 & 21 
 
 21-23
 
 ANTHOLOGY, ETC. 
 
 ANTHOLOGY 
 
 ENGLAND'S PARNASSUS An Anthology of Anthologies. By W. 
 Garrett Horder. In fcap. 8vo, leather gift, gilt top, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 " ' These pages present . . . not the personal judgments of its 
 editor, but the combined judgments of the most competent antholo- 
 gists.' In other words, it is an anthology composed from anthologies. 
 Therefore, all it contains is pure gold." Evening Standard. 
 
 THE SUNLIT ROAD : Readings in Verse and Prose for Every Day 
 in the Year. By the Rev. W. Garrett Horder. In demy 16mo, 
 cloth gilt, gilt corners, 3s. net ; leather gilt, gilt corners, 4s. net. 
 " A dainty and delightful little ' day book ' for quiet moments. 
 It is the most charming book of its kind we have seen for a very 
 long time, for Mr. Horder has given no day without a thought to 
 crown it, a thought pure and sweet and true, to brighten the hours 
 of workaday life." Lady. 
 
 A BOOK OF THE LOVE OF JESUS. By Robert Hugh Benson. 
 In foolscap 8vo, leather gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. net ; cloth 2s. net. 
 
 " An anthology of some old Catholic devotions, slightly modern- 
 ized, which will appeal to many by reason of its simplicity and 
 beauty." To-Day. 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON LIBRARY 
 
 THE ANGLO-SAXON LIBRARY OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN 
 CLASSICS. In fcap. 8vo, limp lambskin gilt, gilt top. With 
 frontispieces. 2s. 6d. net each volume. Also in cloth Is. 6d. per 
 volume net. 
 
 THE REVERIES OF A BACHELOR : Or, A Book of the Heart. 
 By the late Ik Marvel. With an Introduction by Arlo 
 Bates. (In limp lambskin only, 2s. 6d. net.) 
 
 ESSAYS BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON. First Series. (In 
 
 cloth only, Is. 6d. net.) 
 
 ESSAYS BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON. Second Series. 
 
 NATURE AND OTHER ADDRESSES AND LECTURES. By 
 
 Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
 THE CONDUCT OF LIFE. By Ralph Waldo Emerson. With 
 an introduction by Andrew J. George, M.A. 
 
 THE AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST TABLE. By Oliver 
 Wendell Holmes. With an Introduction by Richard 
 Burton.
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON LIBRARY (contd.) 
 
 THE PROFESSOR AT THE BREAKFAST TABLE. By Oliver 
 Wendell Holmes. With an Introduction bv Richard Burton. 
 
 SOME LITERARY ESSAYS OF THOMAS BABINGTON 
 MACAULAY. Selected and edited by George A. Watrous. 
 
 SOME HISTORICAL ESSAYS OF THOMAS BABINGTON 
 MACAULAY. Selected and edited by George A. Watrous. 
 
 NO CROSS NO CROWN. By William Penn. With an Intro- 
 duction by J. Deane Hilton. (In cloth only. Is. 6d. net.) 
 
 ART 
 
 LONDON : PASSED AND PASSING. A Pictorial Record of Destroyed 
 and Threatened Buildings. With 70 illustrations, by Hanslip 
 Fletcher. With Notes by Various Authors. In demy 4to, 
 cloth gilt, gilt top. 21s. net. 
 
 " In the whole great library of literature which our capital has 
 inspired one might search in vain for a more charming book." 
 The World. 
 
 OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. Delineated by Hanslip Fletcher. 
 With an Introductory Chapter by J. Willis Clark, M.A., Regis- 
 trary of the University of Cambridge, and described by various 
 writers, including : The Provost of King's, The Warden of Keble, 
 W. H. Hutton, Edward Bell, Desmond Coke, Eric Parker, F. D. 
 How, Athelstan Riley, T. A. Lacey, John Murray, John Buchan, 
 ^he Warden of Wadham, Arthur Waugh, Arthur Reynolds, H. P. 
 Stokes, Arthur Gray, E. B. Chancellor. In demy 4to, cloth gilt, 
 gilt top, with about 60 illustrations. 21s. net. 
 
 " An excellent idea enabling us to compare in comfort the different 
 styles followed by the architects of the two Universities." Evening 
 Standard. 
 
 GREAT PAINTERS OF THE 19th CENTURY AND THEIR 
 PAINTINGS. By Leonce Benedite, Keeper of the Musee National 
 de Luxembourg. With over 400 illustrations and 13 coloured plates. 
 In large demy 4to, cloth gilt, gilt top, 10s. 6d. net. 
 
 " It is a splendid survey of the progress of painting in Europe 
 and America during the nineteenth century, and combines art 
 criticism with biography in a scholarly and instructive manner. 
 Western Mail. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC : A Handbook and Guide. By Waldo 
 Selden Pratt. With 130 illustrations and three maps. In demy 
 8vo cloth gilt. 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 " A most convenient and valuable work of reference . . . the 
 book may be said to cover the whole extensive field to which it is 
 devoted, in a remarkably thorough and comprehensive fashion." 
 Westminster Gazette. " Indispensable in the music-lover's 
 library." Pall Mall Gazette. " A book which for terseness and 
 inclusiveness has never been equalled in music literature." 
 Sheffield Telegraph. 
 
 4
 
 ART AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 
 
 ART (contd.) 
 
 SEVEN ANGELS OF THE RENASCENCE: The Story of Art from 
 Camibue to Claude. By the late Sir Wyke Bayliss, F.S.A. (some- 
 time President of the Royal Society of British Artists), author of 
 The Likeness of Christ Rex Regum, etc., with 40 plate illustrations. 
 In demy 8vo, buckram gilt, gilt top, bevelled boards, 10s. 6d. net. 
 
 COLOUR PRINTING AND COLOUR PRINTERS. By R. M. Burch. 
 With a chapter on Modern Processes by W. Gamble. With 23 
 colour prints and 8 half-tone illustrations. In super royal 
 8vo, cloth gilt. 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 " An important contribution to the history of colour printing, 
 and should take its place as the best and most authoritative work 
 on the interesting subject." British and Colonial Printer. 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 MY RECOLLECTIONS. By Princess Catherine Radziwill. Cheap 
 Fourth Edition. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top. 6s. net. 
 With photogravure portrait of the author. 
 
 " The Princess Radziwill's Recollections is one of the most charm- 
 ing and fascinating volumes of the kind ever written in the English 
 language." Review of Reviews. 
 
 THE RECOLLECTIONS OF A HUMOURIST. Grave and Gay. By 
 the late Arthur a Becket (late Assistant Editor of " Punch.") With 
 Photogravure Portrait. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 12s. 6d. 
 net. 
 
 NEW ZEALAND REVISITED. Recollections of the Days of My 
 Youth. By the Right Hon. Sir John Eldon Gorst. With 
 16 illustrations. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 " Mature and mellow with the judgment of a wise and far-reaching 
 career. . . . Full of the fruits of keen observation and mature 
 judgment. . . . The author's descriptions are bright and stimulat- 
 ing to the fancy." Daily Telegraph, 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF MY LIFE. By Sir Charles Santley. In 
 demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with 15 illustrations, 16s. net. 
 
 " Not a trace of the weary veteran is discernible in this enter- 
 taining volume, to the intrinsic interest of wmich its author's 
 perennial youthfulness of spirit and almost boyish love of fun add 
 a peculiar and an irresistible charm." The World. 
 
 MY WORK IN LONDON. By Arthur W. Jephson, M.A., Hon. 
 Canon of Southwark, Rector of Ecton ; Sometime Curate of Croydon, 
 Vicar of St. John's, Waterloo Road, Vicar of St. John's, Walworth. 
 In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, with portrait, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 " It is a work full of practical hints for social work among the 
 very poor, it is written with admirable directness and vigour, and 
 is full of lessons for town workers. Here is a rousing book touching 
 every aspect of Church work, and it deserves to be read far and 
 wide." Contemporary Review. 
 
 5
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 BIOGRAPHY 
 
 A HERO OF DONEGAL. A Memoir of Dr. William Smyth, of 
 Burtonport. By Frederick Douglas How. With portraits and 
 illustrations. In crown 8vo, cloth 2s. 6d. net. 
 
 SHIRLEY BROOKS. (See "A Great 'Punch ' Editor.") 
 
 BOSWELL'S JOHNSON. (See " Life of Samuel Johnson.") 
 
 JOHN BUNYAN : His Life, Times and Work. By the Rev. John 
 Brown, B.A., D.D. With portrait and illustrations by Whymper. 
 Cheap edition. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. 
 
 " The best life of John Bunyan." Literary World. 
 (See also Dainty Volume Library, page 9.) 
 
 THE CAMBRIDGE APOSTLES. By Mrs. Charles Brookfield. 
 With twelve full-page illustrations. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt 
 top, 21s. net. 
 
 " This book not one for the casual reader but one to be loved and 
 remembered by serious men conveys without effort a wonderful 
 impression of the commanding ability, the sincere and noble ideals, 
 the loftiness of purpose of the Apostles." Morning Leader. 
 
 MRS. GASKELL. Haunts, Homes, and Stories. By Mrs. Ellis H. 
 Chadwick. In royal 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, photogravure frontis- 
 piece, and 38 other illustrations. 16s. net. 
 
 " The volume is certain of an enduring place among those which 
 deal with the literary history of this country, and it is certainly 
 indispensable to any who wish to understand the woman of whose 
 life it tells, or the value of her work and influence . . . indeed, 
 a sympathetic and faithful picture not only of Mrs. Gaskell, but 
 also of the days in which she lived." Manchester Daily Despatch. 
 
 THE COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON AND HER CIRCLE. By Sarah 
 Tytler. With photogravure portrait and eight other illustrations. 
 In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 THE LIFE OF DANTE. By the late E. H. Plumptre, D.D., Dean of 
 Wells. Edited by Arthur John Butler. In fcap. 8vo, lambskin 
 gilt, 2s. 6d. net. Also in cloth, Is. 6d. net, and paper, Is. net. 
 
 6
 
 BIOGRAPHY 
 
 THE FIRST GEORGE IN HANOVER AND ENGLAND. Ey Lewis 
 Melville. In two vols., demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with 18 
 illustrations, including two in photogravure, 24s. net. 
 
 GEORGE FOX'S JOURNAL. (See Dainty Volume Library, page 10.) 
 
 THE LIFE OF FROUDE. By Herbert Paul. With two photogravure 
 portraits. Second Edition. Revised. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 
 gilt top, 16s. net. 
 
 " A brilliant piece of biography and vindication by one of the 
 mcst accomplished of contemporary men of letters." Daily News. 
 
 BISHOP WALSHAM HOW. A Memoir. By his Son, Frederick 
 Douglas How. Cheap Edition. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. 
 
 " Extremely well done . . . altogether a book which cannot be 
 read without profit and encouragement." Guardian. 
 
 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. By James Boswell. 
 
 Newly edited with notes by Roger Ingpen. With 568 illustrations, 
 including 12 photogravure plates, fully indexed. In two vols., 
 crown 4to, half morocco, 21s. net. (Also in two vols., handsome 
 cloth gilt, 18s. net.) 
 
 " A singularly complete and attractive edition. The greatest 
 judgment has been shown in selecting pictures which should illus- 
 trate Johnson's period, and bring before the reader's eye the actual 
 features of the men and women among whom he moved. Altogether 
 the New ' Boswell ' is one which will be certain to secure a fresh 
 band of admirers for a work which will ever remain one of the 
 treasures of our literature." Westminster Gazette. 
 
 GEORGE MACDONALD. A Biographical and Critical Appreciation. 
 By Joseph Johnson. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. 6d. net. 
 
 FRIDTJOF NANSEN. By Jacob B. Bull. A book for the young. 
 Translated from the Norwegian by the Rev. Mordaunt R. 
 Bernard, one of the translators of Farthest North. Illustrated. In 
 crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 THE LIFE OF NELSON. By Robert Southey. In fcap. 8vo, leather 
 gilt, gilt top, 2s. 6d. net. 
 
 DANIEL O'CONNELL : HIS EARLY LIFE AND JOURNAL, 1795- 
 1802. Edited with an introduction and explanatory notes by 
 Arthur Houston, LL.D., K.C. With three full-page plate 
 illustrations. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 7
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 THE LIFE Or SIR ISAAC PITMAN (Inventor of Phonography). By 
 Alfred Baker. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with about 
 50 illustrations, including photogravure and steel plates, 7s. 6d. 
 
 " The book is very well done. It gives a life-like picture of a 
 strenuous reformer, an original personality, an inventor to whom 
 every newspaper, every public body, and every great business honse 
 owes an incalculable debt." Christian World. 
 
 LIFE OF REGINALD POLE. By Martin Haile. In demy 8ro, 
 cloth gilt, gilt top, with eight photogravures, 21s. net. 
 
 " An excellent book, based on a first-hand acquaintance with 
 documents, some of which are here utilised for the first time. 
 It gives a vivid and most faithful picture of the last Archbishop 
 of Canterbury who acknowledged the See of Rome." Daiiy 
 Chronicle. 
 
 WILLIAM CONYNGHAM PLUNKET. By F. D. How. Fourth Baron 
 Plunket, and sixty-hrst Archbishop of Dublin. A Memoir. With 
 two portraits. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 16s. 
 
 A GREAT PUNCH " EDITOR Being the Life, Letters, and Diaries 
 of Shirley Brooks. By George Somes Layard. With eight 
 illustrations and 22 initial letters from Punch. In demy 8vo, cloth 
 gilt, gilt top, I8s. net. 
 
 " It is singularly accurate, very full, put together in a most 
 workmanlike way, and full of things which to persons of taste are 
 delightful and precious." British Weekly. 
 
 THE LETTERS OF PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY. Containing about 
 480 letters. Collected and edited by Roger Ingpen. With 42 
 illustrations and two photogravures. In two volumes, large 
 crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 25s. net. Hand-made paper edition 
 de luxe, limited to 200 copies, half leather, large demy 8vo, 42s. net. 
 
 " Mr. Ingpen has done all that can be done to provide us with 
 a perfect edition of one of the most interesting series of letters in 
 English literature. The edition is worthy of the magnificent 
 material with which it deals." Daily News. 
 
 THE LIFE AND WORK OF BISHOP THOROLD. Rochester, 1877-91 ; 
 Winchester, 1891-95. Prelate of the most noble Order of the 
 Garter. New and cheap edition. By C. H. Simpkinson, M.A. In 
 crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 6s. 
 
 MRS. E. M. WARD'S REMINISCENCES. Edited by Elliott 
 O'Donnell. In royal 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with six 
 photogravure plates, 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 8
 
 COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES, ETC. 
 COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES 
 
 GREAT ASTRONOMERS. By Sir Robert Ball. Illustrated. In 
 demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 THE HEROIC IN MISSIONS. Pioneers in six fields. By the Rev. 
 A. R. Buckland, M.A. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, Is. 6d. 
 
 MODERN PAINTERS AND THEIR PAINTINGS. By Sarah Tytler. 
 For the use of Schools and Learners in Art. In crown 8vo, quarter 
 cloth gilt, 4s. 6d. 
 
 MUSICAL COMPOSERS AND THEIR WORKS. By the same Author. 
 For the use of Schools and Students in Music. Revised. In 
 crown 8vo, quarter cloth gilt, 4s. 6d. 
 
 THE OLD MASTERS AND THEIR PICTURES. By the same Author. 
 For the use of Schools and Learners in Art. New and enlarged 
 edition. In crown 8vo, quarter cloth gilt, 4s. 6d. 
 
 THE ORGAN AND ITS MASTERS. A short account of the most 
 celebrated organists of former days, and of the present time, to- 
 gether with a brief sketch of the development of organ con- 
 struction, organ music, and organ playing. By Henry C. Lahee. 
 In large crown 8vo, cloth richly gilt, gilt top, with 14 full-page 
 plate illustrations. 6s. net. 
 
 MODERN COMPOSERS OF EUROPE. Being an account of the 
 most recent musical progress in the various European nations with 
 some notes on their history, and critical and biographical sketches 
 of the contemporary musical leaders in each country. By Arthur 
 Elson. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with 24 full-page 
 plate illustrations. 6s. net. 
 
 PITMAN'S 
 DAINTY VOLUME LIBRARY 
 
 Each in fcap. 8vo, limp lambskin gilt, gilt top, with Photogravure 
 Frontispie.ee, 2s. 6d. per volume net. 
 
 DANTE. THE DIVINA COMMEDIA AND CANZONIERE. Trans- 
 lated by the late Dean Plumptre. With Notes, Studies, 
 Estimates, and Life. In five volumes. 
 
 THE LIFE OF DANTE. By the same Author. In one volume. 
 
 THE TRAGEDIES OF iESCHYLOS. Translated by Dean Plumptre. 
 In two volumes. 
 
 THE TRAGEDIES OF SOPHOCLES. Translated by Dean Plumptre. 
 In two volumes. 
 
 BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON. (Abridged.) With an Introduction 
 by G. K. Chesterton. In two volumes. 
 
 THE POETRY OF ROBERT BROWNING. By Stopford A. Brooke, 
 M.A., LL.D. In two volumes. 
 
 9
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 DAINTY VOLUME LIBRARY (contd.) 
 
 TENNYSON : HIS ART AND RELATION TO MODERN LIFE. By 
 
 Stopford A. Brooke, M.A., LL.D. In two volumes. 
 JOHN BUN Y AN : HIS LIFE, TIMES AND WORK. By John Brown, 
 
 D.D. In two volumes. 
 JOHN WESLEY'S JOURNAL. (Abridged.) With Appreciation by the 
 
 Rt. Hon. Augustine Birrell, M.P. In two volumes. 
 GEORGE FOX'S JOURNAL. (Abridged.) With Introduction by Sir 
 
 W. Robertson Nicoll, M.A., LL.D. In two volumes. 
 NO CROSS, NO CROWN. By William Penn. With an Introduction 
 
 by J. Deane Hilton. In one vol. 
 CLOUGH, ARNOLD, ROSSETTI, AND MORRIS: A Study. By 
 
 Stopford A. Brooke, M.A., LL.D. In one volume, with four 
 
 illustrations, 306 pp., 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 ECCLESIOLOGY 
 
 ROODSCREENS AND ROODLOFTS. By F. Bligh Bond, F.R.I.B.A., 
 and The Rev. Dom Bede Camm, O.S.B. With over 88 full-page 
 collotype reproductions, and upwards of 300 other beautiful 
 illustrations. In demy 4to, two vols., handsome cloth gilt, gilt 
 top, 32s. net. 
 
 " A magnificent work." Evening Standard. 
 
 ETHNOLOGY 
 
 NATIVE LIFE IN EAST AFRICA. By Professor Karl Weule. 
 Translated from the German with Introduction and Notes by 
 Alice Werner. With four maps and 196 illustrations. In 
 royal 8vo, cloth gilt, 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 " Of African lands, of native manners, customs and ideas, this 
 is the most thorough work we ever remember to have read. The 
 author spent six months in the Dark Continent, and has collected 
 in that short time a mass of very valuable information. Throughout, 
 the book is charmingly and interestingly illustrated. The translator 
 is to be sincerely congratulated on the result of her task." Globe. 
 
 SERVIA AND THE SERVIANS. By M. Chedo Mijatovich. Late 
 Servian Minister at the Court of St. James's. In demy 8vo, cloth 
 gilt, gilt top, 16s. net. With 16 illustrations. 
 
 " The subject is a fascinating one, and the material here brought 
 together is fresh and interesting. . . . M. Mijatovich gives us a 
 charming picture of his own people with some gentle criticism. . . . 
 It is full of interest, it makes its effect by sheer simplicity of 
 narration. It should be read by all." Morning Post. 
 
 FICTION 
 
 THE SEPARATIST. By Anon. 6s. 
 
 THE HILL OF TROUBLE. By A. C. Benson. Stories mediaeval, 
 
 mystical, and supernatural. 6s. 
 THE ISLES OF SUNSET. By A. C. Benson. 6s. 
 
 10
 
 FICTION 
 
 FICTION (contd. ) 
 
 BY WHAT AUTHORITY ? By Robert Hugh Benson. 6s. 
 
 THE LIGHT INVISIBLE. By Robert Hugh Benson. 3s. 6d. 
 
 RICHARD RAYNAL, SOLITARY. By Robert Hugh Benson. 3s. 6d. 
 
 THE KING'S ACHIEVEMENT. By Robert Hugh Benson. 6s. 
 
 THE QUEEN'S TRAGEDY. By Robert Hugh Benson. 6s. 
 
 THE SENTIMENTALISTS. By Robert Hugh Benson. 6s. 
 
 A MIRROR OF SHALOTT. By Robert Hugh Benson. 6s. 
 
 LORD OF THE WORLD. By Robert Hugh Benson. 6s. 
 
 MY LORD OF ESSEX. The romantic episode of Cadiz. By Frances 
 M. Brookfield. With photogravure frontispiece. 6s. 
 
 A FRIAR OBSERVANT. A stirring romance of the times of Martin 
 Luther. By Frances M. Brookfield. 6s. 
 
 MY LADY OF AROS. A Tale of Mull and the Macleans. By 
 John Brandane. With coloured irontispiece. 6s. 
 
 MEN OF THE MOSS-HAGS. By S. R. Crockett. Illustrated. 6s. 
 
 WOLFVILLE. By Alfred Henry Lewis. Illustrated. 6s. 
 
 WOLFVILLE DAYS. By Alfred Lewis. Tales of life in a Western 
 cattle town. With Introduction by Robert Barr. 3s. 6d. 
 
 THE GOD OF HIS FATHERS. By Jack London. Tales of the 
 Klondyke. 6s. 
 
 THE SON OF THE WOLF. Bv Jack London. Talcs of the Far 
 North. 6s. 
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE SNOWS. By Jack London. 6s. 
 
 ANNE OF GREEN GABLES. By L. M. Montgomery. 6s. 
 
 ANNE OF AVONLEA. By the same author. Coloured frontispiece. 
 6s. 
 
 KILMENY OF THE ORCHARD. By the same Author. With four 
 coloured illustrations. 6s. 
 
 PRINCESS JOYCE. By Keighley Snowden. 6s. 
 
 HURRICANE ISLAND. By H. B. Marriott Watson. Illustrated 
 Cheap Edition. 3s. 6d. 
 
 THE GLORY OF THE CONQUERED. The Story of a Great Love. By 
 Susan Glaspell. 6s. 
 
 MY HEART AND STEPHANIE. By R. W. Kauffman. With 
 coloured frontispiece. 6s. 
 
 THE LEAD OF HONOUR. By Norval Richardson. Coloured 
 frontispiece. 6s. 
 
 11
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 THE ENGLISH IN CHINA. Being an account of the Intercourse and 
 Relations between England and China. From the year 1600 to 
 the year 1843 and a summary of Later Developments. By 
 J. Bromley Eames, M.A., B.C.L. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt 
 top, with maps and illustrations. 20s. net. 
 
 OUTLINES OF THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF ENGLAND. A Study 
 in Social Development. By H. O. Meredith, M.A., M.Com. 
 In demy 8vo. cloth gilt, 5s. net. 
 
 INNS AND TAVERNS OF OLD LONDON. Setting forth the historical 
 and literary associations of those ancient hostelries, together with 
 an account of the most notable coffee-houses, clubs, and pleasure 
 gardens of the British metropolis. By Henry C. Shelley. In 
 large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with coloured frontispiece and 
 48 other illustrations. 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 OLD COUNTRY INNS. By Henry P. Maskell and Edward W. 
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 wayside inns, haunted inns, the inns of literature and art, historical 
 and fanciful signs and curious signboards ; of inn furniture, etc. 
 Bookman. 
 
 MAKERS OF NATIONAL HISTORY. Edited by W. H.Hutton, 
 B.D. Each volume in this series the aim of which is to do fuller 
 justice to men whose lives have not hitherto been adequately dealt 
 with is in crown 8vo, cloth gilt, with a frontispiece, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 CARDINAL BEAUFORT. By the Rev. L. B. Radford, D.D. 
 " Studiously impartial . . . carefully written.'' Glasgow Herald. 
 
 VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH. By Arthur Hassall. M.A. 
 
 " It is brilliantly written . . . exceptionally clear and vivid . . . 
 a book which was needed." The Morning Leader. 
 
 ARCHBISHOP PARKER. By W. M. Kennedy, B.A. 
 
 " Exceedingly well conceived, clearly expressed, and compiled 
 with great care." The Guardian. 
 
 GENERAL WOLFE. Bv Edward Salmon. 
 
 " A picture and an estimate of Wolfe which could not be more 
 complete." Canada. 
 
 FRANCIS ATTERBURY, Bishop of Rochester (1662-1732). By the 
 
 Rev. H. C. Beeching, M.A., Litt.D., Canon of Westminster. 
 
 " A most delightful as well as a most valuable book." Guardian. 
 
 12
 
 HISTORY, JEUX D 'ESPRIT, METALLURGY, ETC. 
 
 MAKERS OF NATIONAL HISTORY (contd.) 
 
 EDWARD THE FOURTH. By Laurence Stratford, B.A. 
 
 THOMAS BECKET, Archbishop of Canterbury. By W. H. 
 Hutton, B.D. 
 
 Other Volumes in preparation. 
 
 THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES. As illustrated by the 
 Suppression of the Religious Houses of Staffordshire. By Francis 
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 master of Denstone. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 5s. net. 
 
 KNIGHTSBRIDGE AND BELGRAVIA. Their history, topography, 
 and famous inhabitants. By E. Beresford Chancellor. In 
 super royal 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with 20 illustrations, 20s. net. 
 
 JEUX D 'ESPRIT 
 
 HUSTLED HISTORY, or THE SPRINTER'S GUIDE TO KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 By the Authors of Wisdom While You Wait. Illustrated by George 
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 MUSICAL MONSTROSITIES. By C. L. Graves. Illustrated by 
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 " As full of topic and point as // and Hustled History." Pall 
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 METALLURGY 
 
 AUSTRALIAN MINING AND METALLURGY. By Donald Clark, 
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 With numerous illustrations and diagrams. Royal 8vo, cloth gilt, 
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 With numerous illustrations. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 13
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 NATURAL HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 MY BACKYARD ZOO. A Course of Natural History. By the late 
 Rev. J. C. Wood. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. 
 
 " Really a complete course of natural history." Times. 
 
 THE A B C OF POULTRY. By E. B. Johnstone. In crown 8vo, 
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 CATS FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT. By Miss Frances Simpson. 
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 " The author explains that her object has been ' to help those 
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 REPTILES OF THE WORLD. Tortoises and Turtles, Crocodilians, 
 Lizards and Snakes of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. 
 By Professor Raymond L. Ditmars. With frontispiece in colour, 
 and nearly 200 illustrations from photographs taken by the author. 
 In royal 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top. 20s. net. 
 
 MINUTE MARVELS OF NATURE. By John J. Ward. Being some 
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 gilt top, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 PEEPS INTO NATURE 'S WAYS. By the same Author. Being chapter! 
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 demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 BODY AND SOUL. By Percy Dearmer, M.A. An Enquiry into 
 the effects of Religion upon health with a description of Christian 
 works of healing from the New Testament to the present day. 
 In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. net. 
 
 COMMON COMMODITIES OF COMMERCE. Each handbook is 
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 Raw Material to the Finished Product. By R. J. Peake. Oil ; 
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 Mitchell. Sugar Cane and Beet. By Geo. Martineau, C.B. ; 
 and Rubber, Production and utilisation of the raw material. 
 By C. Beadle and H. P. Stevens, M.A., Ph.D. 
 Other Volumes in preparation 
 14
 
 MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 CLERICAL HUMOUR OF OLDEN TIME. By F. D. How. Being 
 Sketches of some clerical humorists between the Twelfth and the 
 Eighteenth Centuries. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with 
 frontispiece, 6s. net. 
 
 EDUCATION AND SOCIAL LIFE. By the Rev. J. Wilson Harper. 
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 FOR HOME SERVICE AND OTHER STORIES. By Lyde Howard. 
 
 With coloured frontispiece and black and white illustrations. 
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 net. 
 
 " This is one of the sweetest of this year's books. The tone 
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 The children's feelings and expressions are perfectly natural. 
 We recommend this book with genuine pleasure." British Weekly. 
 
 HOME GYMNASTICS FOR OLD AND YOUNG. By T. J. Hartelius. 
 M.D. Translated and adapted from the Swedish by C. Lofving. 
 With 31 illustrations. Fifth Edition, revised. With a prefatory 
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 HOW TO CHOOSE A HOUSE. How to Take and Keep it. By 
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 " This book seems to us to contain well nigh all the information 
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 HYPNOTISM AND SUGGESTION. In Daily Life, Education, and 
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 cloth gilt, 6s. net. 
 
 " We specially welcome the book before us. It is the work of 
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 No fact is shirked, and no evidence is either suppressed or rated 
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 IN WIND AND WILD. By Eric Parker. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 
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 " A collection of ' Nature ' Essays which have a singularly varied 
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 LAY SERMONS FROM "THE SPECTATOR." By M. C. E. With 
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 LIGHTER MOMENTS. From the note-book of Bishop Walsham How. 
 Edited by his son, Frederick Douglas How. In small crown 8vo, 
 cloth gilt, gilt top, 2s. 6d. 
 
 15
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 LIGHTER STUDIES OF A COUNTRY RECTOR. By the Rev. John 
 Vaughan, M.A., Canon of Winchester. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 
 gilt top, silk register, 5s. net. 
 
 " Studies of men, birds, flowers, and places, .... thoughtful and 
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 MODERNISM. A Record and Review. By the Rev. A. Leslie 
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 "Mr. Lilley is admirably suited, both by knowledge and sympathy, 
 to be the medium through which the modernist position may be 
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 ON LIFE'S THRESHOLD : Talks to Young People on Character and 
 Conduct. By Pastor Charles Wagner. Translated by Edna St. 
 John. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. 
 
 ON THE QUEEN'S ERRANDS. By Captain Philip Wynter. In 
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 " His varied experiences as a Queen's messenger on foreign 
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 infusion of good stories." World. 
 
 OVERHEARD AT THE ZOO. By Gladys Davidson. With 2 
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 2s. 6d. net. 
 
 The author has catered for all children who love animals. Her 
 aim has been to present the animals' own point of view, so far as 
 it may be divined by sympathetic study. 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE. Each in f'cap 8vo, cloth, with 32 full- 
 page plate illustrations. 2s. net. 
 WESTMINSTER. By W. Teignmouth Shore. 
 ETON. By An Old Etonian. 
 HARROW. By Archibald Fox. 
 RUGBY. By H. H. Hardy. 
 
 PITMAN 'S PUBLIC M AN 'S GUIDE. A Handbook for all who take an 
 interest in questions of the day. Edited by J. A. Slater, B.A., 
 LL.B. (Lond.). In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 442 pp., 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 SELECTIONS FROM THE WORKS OF BISHOP THOROLD. With a 
 Portrait. Preface by the Most Hon. and Most Rev. Randall 
 Davidson, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. In crown 8vo, cloth 
 gilt, gilt top, 5s. 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE CHILD. An Attempt to Set Down what is in the 
 Mind of Children. By Frederick Douglas How. In foolscap 8vo, 
 leather, with dainty cover design, gilt corners, 3s. 6d. net ; cloth 
 2s. net. 
 
 " A subtle analysis of the child-mind enlivened with pleasing 
 stories. Parents will do well to consult these entertaining pages." 
 Madame. 
 
 16
 
 MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 THE INNER LIFE OF THE NAVY. Being an Account of the Social 
 Life of the Navy as seen below deck. By Lionel Yexley (Editor of 
 The Fleet). With 16 illustrations. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt 
 top, 10s. 6d. net. 
 
 " Mr. Yexley writes with an easy straightforward style. We 
 read him as we listen to a good after-dinner speaker, with delightful 
 and eager attention." Morning Leader. 
 
 THE PERSIAN PROBLEM. By H. J. Whigham. With maps and 
 illustrations. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 1 2s. 6d. 
 
 THE SPRING OF THE DAY. Spiritual Analogies from the Things of 
 Nature. By the late Hugh Macmillan, D.D., LL.D. In crown 
 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 " Luminous in a high degree, hlled with matter for children's 
 addresses, and equally sure to prove instructive to persons of 
 mature years." Christian. 
 
 THE CLOCK OF NATURE. By the late Hugh Macmillan, D.D., 
 LL.D. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 An attempt to bring out the wise lessons which the objects of 
 Nature teach, and to illustrate the spiritual revelation of God in 
 Christ by the revelation of God in Nature. 
 
 THE POETRY OF PLANTS. By the late Hugh Macmillan, D.D., 
 LL.D. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 A collection of popular studies, showing the many points of 
 beauty and interest about some of the commonest of our trees and 
 wild flowers. 
 
 " A delightful book . . ." Church Times. 
 
 THE SOCIAL RESULTS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY. By C. Schmidt. 
 Translated by Mrs. Thorpe. With Preliminary Essay by R. W. 
 Dale, LL.D. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 " An easy book to read, and the educated layman will find it 
 full of vital interest, while the more exacting student will have the 
 further satisfaction of being provided with full and precise references 
 to the original authorities, in which many startling assertions are 
 made." Nottingham Daily Express. 
 
 PITMAN'S STUDIES IN ELOCUTION. A guide to the theory and 
 practice of the art of public speaking and reciting, with over 100 
 selections for Reciters and Readers. By E. M. Corbould (Mrs. 
 Mark Robinson). In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, silk register, 
 2s. 6d. net. 
 
 " This treasury of prose and verse will appeal to all who cultivate 
 the art of elocution or appreciate a choice store of literary gems. 
 We welcome it as a companion and give it a place beside our already 
 well known friends, ' Bell's Elocutionist ' and 'Chambers's Reciter.' " 
 Educational News. 
 
 17
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 THE SIMPLE LIFE. By Pastor Charlbs Wagnbr. Translated from 
 the French by Mary Louisb Hkndbe. With an Introduction and 
 Biographical sketch by Grace King. In foolscap 8vo, cloth gilt, 
 Is. net. Cheaper Edition. 
 
 RUBBER AND THE RUBBER MARKET. Being an account of the 
 Present State and Prospects of the Rubber Share Markets. By 
 Emil Da vies. With a History and Description of the Rubber 
 Plant. Reprinted from " The World's Commercial Products." 
 Edited by W. G. Freeman, B.Sc, F.L.S., and S. E. Chandler, 
 D.Sc, F.L.S. In crown 8vo, stout paper cover, with illustrations, 
 6d. net. 
 
 THE WORLD'S COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS. A Descriptive Account 
 of the Economic Plants of the World and of their Commercial Uses. 
 By W. G. Freeman, B.Sc, F.L.S., and S. E. Chandler, D.Sc., 
 F.L.S. With contributions by T. A. Henry, D.Sc., F.C.S., C. E. 
 Jones, B.Sc, F.L.S., and E. H. Wilson. With 420 illustrations 
 from photographs and 12 coloured plates and 10 maps. In demy 
 4to, cloth gilt, gilt top, 10s. 6d. net. 
 
 THE BEGINNINGS OF THE TEACHING OF MODERN SUBJECTS 
 IN ENGLAND. By Foster Watson, M.A. (Professor of Education 
 in the University College of Wales ; Aberystwyth). In crown 8vo, 
 cloth, 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 POETRY, CRITICISM, & LITERARY HISTORY 
 
 THE POETRY OF ROBERT BROWNING. By Stopford A. Brooke. 
 Original issue. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 10s. 6d. 
 
 " The most satisfactory and stimulating criticism of the poet yet 
 published." Times. 
 
 (See also Dainty Volume Library page 9.) 
 
 TENNYSON : HIS ART AND RELATION TO MODERN LIFE. By 
 the same Author. Original issue. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. 
 " Will make a strong appeal to all lovers of our great Laureate." 
 Quarterly Review. 
 
 (See also Dainty Volume Library, page 10.) 
 
 A STUDY OF CLOUGH, ARNOLD, ROSSETTI, AND MORRIS. With 
 an Introduction on the Course of Poetry from 1822 to 1852. By 
 the same Author. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. net. 
 
 " The book is a brilliant and remarkable study .... worthy 
 and we can give it no higher praise to stand side by side with 
 the aids to interpretation from the same vivid and picturesque pens 
 of the vanished masters who gave us, in the one case, In Memoriam 
 and Idylls of the King, and, in the other, The Ring and the Bock 
 and Dramatic Lyrics." Standard. 
 
 (Set also Dainty Volume Library, page 10). 
 18
 
 POETRY, CRITICISM, ETC. 
 
 THE POEMS OF JAMES HOGG. The Ettrick Shepherd. Selected 
 and edited, with an introduction, by William Wallace, LL.L>. 
 With photogravure portrait frontispiece. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 
 gilt top, 5s. 
 
 WITH THE WILD GEESE. Songs of Irish Exile and Lament. By 
 Emily Lawless. With an Introduction by Stopford A. Brooke. 
 
 In square 8vo, cloth gilt 4s. 6d. net. 
 
 MODERN FRENCH LITERATURE. By B. W. Wells, Ph.D. In 
 crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 520 pp. 6s. net. 
 
 A SHORT HISTORY OF GREEK LITERATURE. From Homer to 
 Julian. By Wilmer Cave Wright, Ph.D., late of Girton College, 
 Cambridge. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 544 pp. 6s. net. 
 
 GREEK INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH POETRY. By the late Professor 
 John Churton Collins. Edited with Introduction, by Professor 
 M. Macmillan. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, with portrait. 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 "It is healthy and stimulating. This book, like his other 
 writings, bears the stamp of his fresh, progressive, and independent 
 scholarship." Daily Chronicle. 
 
 POLITICS, ETC. 
 
 OLD-AGE PENSIONS : Are they Desirable and Practicable ? By 
 
 Frederick Rogers and Frederick Millar. In crown 8vo, cloth 
 
 2s. 6d. net. 
 ALIEN IMMIGRATION : Should Restrictions be Imposed ? By 
 
 Frederick Bradshaw, M.A., and Charles Emanuel, M.A. In 
 
 crown 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d net. 
 
 RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN ENGLAND : A Scheme for Providing and 
 Securing Religious Liberty in England and Wales. By J. Fovargue 
 Bradley. With Introductions by the Rev. Dugald Macfadyen, 
 M.A., and the Rev. T. A. Lacey. In demy 8vo, Is. net. 
 
 FREE TRADE OR TARIFF REFORM ? By J. M. Robertson, 
 M.P. 6d. net. 
 
 TARIFF REFORM OR FREE TRADE ? By L. M. S. Amery. 6d. net. 
 
 NONCONFORMITY AND POLITICS. By a Nonconformist Minister. 
 Cheap Edition. In crown 8vo, Is. net. 
 
 It is in every way a serious and notable work." Daily News. 
 
 FAMOUS SPEECHES. Selected and Edited with Introductory 
 Notes by Herbert Paul. Demy 8vo, cloth, 470 pp. 7s. 6d. net. 
 " A remarkable and valuable compilation of masterpieces in 
 the oratory of government." Scotsman. 
 
 19
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 SCIENCE 
 
 GREAT ASTRONOMERS. By Sir Robert Ball. D.Sc. LL.D., F.R.S. 
 With numerous full-page and other illustrations. In demy 8vo, 
 cloth gilt, gilt top. 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 " Sir Robert Ball's gifts as a narrator are very great. He is, of 
 course, a master of his subject. . . . The most earth-bound mortal 
 who opens this book must go on with it." Daily Chronicle. 
 
 IN STARRY REALMS. By the same Author. The Wonders of the 
 Heavens. With numerous full-page and other illustrations. In 
 demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 " The style of popular exposition adopted throughout is indeed 
 admirable, the illustrations are excellent, the binding is tasteful, 
 and the print good." Saturday Review. 
 
 IN THE HIGH HEAVENS. By the same Author. A popular account 
 of recent interesting astronomical events and phenomena, with 
 numerous full-page and other illustrations. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 
 gilt top, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 " It has," says The Scotsman, " the freshest knowledge and the 
 best scientific thought." 
 
 ASTRONOMY FOR EVERYBODY. By Professor Simon Newcombe. 
 LL.D. With an Introduction by Sir Robert Ball. Illustrated. 
 A popular exposition of the wonders of the Heavens. In demy Svo, 
 cloth gilt, gilt top. 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 BY LAND AND SKY. By the Rev. John M. Bacon, M.A., F.R.A.S. 
 The Record of a Balloonist. With four illustrations. In demy 
 8vo. cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 SOCIOLOGY 
 
 SOCIALISM. By Professor Robert Flint, LL.D. New, Revised and 
 Cheaper Edition. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. net. 
 
 " A new, revised and cheaper edition of Professor Flint's masterly 
 study will be generally welcomed. The revision has been carefully 
 carried out. but the original text has been as far as possible pre- 
 served. References show that the additional notes are well up 
 to date." Daily Mail. 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS. By Jack London. A study of the 
 social and economic conditions of life in the East End of London. 
 By the author of The Call of the Wild. With 24 illustrations from 
 actual photographs. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. 
 
 "... Mr. Jack London, who is already known to the British 
 public as a fine descriptive writer, has done for the East End of 
 London what he did for the Klondyke has described it fully and 
 faithfully, looking at it as intimately as dispassionately." Daily 
 Chronicle. 
 
 20
 
 SOCIOLOGY, TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, ETC. 
 
 WHAT IS SOCIALISM ? By " Scotsburn." An attempt to examine 
 the principles and policy propounded by the advocates of Socialism. 
 In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. 
 
 TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, AND SPORT 
 
 THE ADVENTURER IN SPAIN. By S. R. Crockett. With 162 
 illustrations by Gordon Browne and from photographs taken by 
 the Author. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. 
 
 AROUND AFGHANISTAN. By Major de Bouillane de Lacoste. 
 Translated from the French by J. G. Anderson. With five maps 
 and 113 illustrations. In super royal 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 
 10s. 6d. net. 
 
 " This beautifully illustrated book of travels takes the reader 
 
 through Persia, to Yarkand, and other famous cities of Turkestan, 
 
 nchuling Samarkand, with its majestic tomb of Tamerlane. A 
 
 valuable photographic record of little-trodden regions." Evening 
 
 Standard. 
 
 CASTLES AND CHATEAUX OF OLD TOURAINE and the Loire 
 Country. By Francis Miltoun and Blanche McManus. With 
 seventy illustrations reproduced from paintings made on the spot, 
 and maps, plans, etc. In large crown 8vo, cloth richly gilt, gilt top, 
 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 " One of the most delightful travel books that we have come 
 across for some time." Country Life. 
 
 CASTLES AND CHATEAUX OF OLD NAVARRE and the Basque 
 Provinces. By the same Authors. With 63 illustrations (some in 
 colour), maps, plans, etc. In large crown 8vo, cloth richly gilt, 
 gilt top, 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 " The book is well worth reading, not merely as a travel handbook, 
 but for its sympathetic, social and historical review of a very 
 interesting section of the French people." Irish Times. 
 
 CASTLES AND CHATEAUX OF OLD BURGUNDY and the Border 
 Provinces. By the same Authors. With 59 illustrations (some in 
 colour), maps, plans, etc. In large crown 8vo, cloth richly gilt, 
 gilt top, 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 " Their new volume strikes the reader as the most readable and 
 most instructive they have yet given us." Nottingham Guardian. 
 
 IN THE LAND OF MOSQUES AND MINARETS. By the same Authors. 
 With 75 illustrations, in colour and black and white, maps, plans, 
 etc. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with cover of charming 
 design, 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 " A comprehensive account of Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis, and 
 of Mussulman government, religion, art, culture, and French 
 influence. Picturesquely illustrated." Times. 
 
 21
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 Countries and Peoples Series 
 
 Each in imperial 16mo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with about 30 full- page 
 plate illustrations, 6s. net. 
 
 ITALY OF THE ITALIANS. By Helen Zimmern. 
 
 " The knowledge and judgment displayed in the volume are truly 
 astounding, and the labour the author has expended on it has mads 
 it as indispensable as Baedeker to the traveller, as well as invaluable 
 to the student of modern times." Daily Telegraph. 
 
 FRANCE OF THE FRENCH. By E. Harrison Barker. 
 
 " A book of general information concerning the life and genius 
 of the French people, with especial reference to contemporary 
 France. Covers every phase of French intellectual life architecture, 
 players, science, and invention, etc. Times. 
 
 SPAIN OF THE SPANISH. By Mrs. Villiers-Wardell. 
 
 " Within little more than 250 pages she has collected a mass of 
 ordered information which must be simply invaluable to any one 
 who wants to know the facts of Spanish life at the present day. 
 Nowhere else, so far as we are aware, can a more complete and yet 
 compendious account of modern Spain be found." Pall Mall 
 Gazette. 
 
 SWITZERLAND OF THE SWISS. By Frank Webb. 
 
 " Mr. Webb's account of that unknown country is intimate 
 faithful, and interesting. It is an attempt to convey a real know- 
 ledge of a striking people an admirably successful attempt." 
 Morning Leader. 
 
 GERMANY OF THE GERMANS By Robert M Berry 
 
 " Mr. Berry abundantly proves his ability to write of ' Germany 
 of the Germans ' in an able and informing fashion. What he does 
 is to state so far as can be done within the scope of a single handy 
 volume, particulars of all aspects of life as lived in Germany to-day." 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 TURKEY OF THE OTTOMANS. By Lucv M. Garnett. Ready 
 
 shortly. 
 
 %* Other Volumes in this Series in preparation. 
 22
 
 TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, AND SPORT 
 
 TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, AND SPORT (contd.) 
 
 The " All Red " Series. 
 
 Each volume is in demy 8vo, cloth gilt, red edges, with 16 full-page 
 plate illustrations, maps, etc., 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA. By the Hon. Bernhard 
 Ringrose Wise (formerly Attorney-General of New South Wales) 
 
 " The ' All Rod ' Series should become known as the Well-Read 
 Series within a short space of time. Nobody is better qualified to 
 write of Australia than the late Attorney-General of New South 
 Wales, who knows the country intimately and writes of it with 
 enthusiasm. It is one of the best accounts of the Island Continent 
 that has yet been published. We desire to give a hearty welcome 
 to this series." Globe. 
 
 THE DOMINION OF NEW ZEALAND. By Sir Arthur P. Douglas, 
 Bt., formerly Under-Secretary for Defence, New Zealand, and 
 previously a Lieutenant, R.N. 
 
 " Those who have failed to find romance in the history of the 
 British Empire should read The Dominion of New Zealand. Sir 
 Arthur Douglas contrives to present in the 444 pages of his book an 
 admirable account of life in New Zealand and an impartial summary 
 of her development up to the present time. It is a most alluring 
 picture that one conjures up after reading it." Standard. 
 
 Oth rr volumes in preparation. 
 
 THREE YEARS' SPORT IN MOZAMBIQUE. By W. Vasse. Trans- 
 lated from the French by R. Lydekker, F.R.S., and H. M. 
 Lydekker. With 80 illustrations. In super royal 8vo, cloth gilt, 
 8s. 6d. net. 
 
 " The book is full of movement, adventure, and sensational 
 incidents, and should fascinate those who love a plain tale of 
 travel and all the excitements which await the intrepid huntsman." 
 Daily News. 
 
 SERVIA AND THE SERVIANS* (See page 10.) 
 
 NATIVE LIFE IN EAST AFRICA. (See page 10.) 
 
 THE ENGLISH IN CHINA. (See page 12.) 
 
 23
 
 PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 CATALOGUES, ETC. 
 
 Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., have pleasure in calling attention to 
 
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 pleased to send on application any of these Catalogues, all of which 
 
 have been brought up to date. 
 
 [B] PITMAN'S COMMERCIAL SERIES. A list of Books suitable for 
 use in Evening Schools and Classes and for Reference in Business 
 Houses. 40 pp. 
 
 [D] PITMAN'S EDUCATIONAL BOOKS (Primary). 48 pp. 
 
 [E] PITMAN'S LIST FOR INFANT SCHOOLS. Books for the Child 
 
 and the Teacher. Illustrated. 20 pp. with Supplement. 
 
 [F] SOME TEXT-BOOKS specially adapted for Evening and Com- 
 
 mercial Schools. Illustrated. 48 pp. 
 
 [G] PITMAN'S BUSINESS HANDBOOKS. 16 pp. 
 
 [H] PITMAN'S SHORTHAND, TYPEWRITING, STATIONERY AND 
 COMMERCIAL LANGUAGES CATALOGUE. 40 pp. 
 
 [N] A CATALOGUE OF THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS 
 LITERATURE. 16 pp. 
 
 PERIODICALS 
 
 Pitman's Journal ; Pitman's Shorthand Weekly ; The 
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 Exporter ; The Postage Stamp ; United Empire ; 
 Pitman's Commercial Teacher's Magazine ; etc., etc. 
 
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 Any who may happen to be in the neighbourhood of St. Paul's 
 Cathedral are cordially invited to visit Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons' Show 
 Room, at 14 Warwick Lane, where their publications may be examined 
 at leisure. 
 
 S Itaoc f'itnum & Son*, Ltd., London, BtUh *rul Nnt York.
 
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