aC^B LIBRARY BOGUE'S GUIDES FOR TRAVELLERS. I. BELGIUM AND THE RHINE With Maps and Plans. 6s. II. SWITZERLAND: With Laege Map. 6s. TO BE FOLLOWED BY PARIS: With Railway Excuksions feom it, etc. etc. THE GREAT CITIES OF GERMANY BeeliN; Vienna, Munich, Deesden, etc. etc. ITALY. I. Venice and Xoethern Italy. II, Rome, Naples, and Southeen Italy. BELGIUM AND THE RHINE. ^^^r^^^-^^- BOGUE'S GUIDES FOR TRAVELLERS, I. BELGIUM AND THE RHINE. ^etonb giniwal |sstie llUistrateD. LONDON DAVID BOGUE, 86 FLEET STREET H, MAXDEVILLE, RUE VIVIEXNE. PARIS; A. ASHER. BERLIN. This new series of Guides for Travellers has been prepared for publication at a moderate price, in the hope and belief that such compact volumes will be acceptable to the yearly-increasing number of Tourists. Steam, that has placed nearly all Europe within reach of the summer holiday-maker, by economizing time and money, has also done another service ; it has rendered needless all the old directions about post- roads and cross-roads — post-horses and tolls, and drivers' fees and drink-money, and a score of other nuisances that in old times made travelling costly and troublesome. Now the Tourist has only to take his railway ticket, at a fixed price, from civil clerks, and that part of the business is complete. The lines run to all the places best worth seeing, and Guide Books on the old system are obsolete, with the roads and villages they discoursed about. It is to select a home illustration — no longer necessary — to give a history of Brentford and of Hounslow, to while away the time of the traveller along a dusty road to Windsor. And so of places abroad. A railway and steam-boat Guide Book is what is needed, with full accounts of chief places only. This is now offered, in the sincere hope that it may be acceptable to that great patron of all useful attempts — the Public. The plan adopted in this volume has been to give the Koutes by Railway, and then to arrange in alphabetical order, for easy reference, descriptions of the Chief Places the Tra- veller should visit, or is likely to be interested iU: Any corrections or suggestions for future editions will be gladly received by the publisher, Mr; D. Bogue, Fleet-street, London. CONTENTS. Preliminary Information — Baggage — Money — Passports — Outward Journey — Belgian Railway Fares — Table of English and Foreign Coins — Distances .... p. 3 — 9 Eailway Botiies — 1. Ostend to Cologne 10 2. Calais to Cologne 21 3. Antwerp to Cologne 24 4. Antwerp to Brussels 26 5. Ostend to Brussels 28 6. Calais to Brussels 29 7. Brussels to Cologne ih. 8. Brussels to Quievrain ih. 9. Brussels to Namur 34 10. Namur to Liege 38 11. Calais to Boulogne 39 12. Landen to Hasselt 40 13. Antwerp to Ghent 41 Valley of the Mense from the French to the Dutch Frontier . 47 The PiOute on the Pvhine 57 Alpliahetical Arrangement of Chief Towns and Historical Sites on the JRhine, and in Belgium — Aix-la-Chapelle 74 Alost 82 Andernach 83 Antwerp 84 Ardennes 97 Bacharach 100 Baden-Baden 102 Belgium 113 Biberich 129 Bingen 130 Bonn 132 Boppart ; 136 Bruges 137 Brussels 144 Charleroi 157 Chaudfontaiue 159 Coblentz lt)0 B VI CONTEXTS. Cologne, (Coin) p. ir,3 Courtray 171 Dinant 172 Ems 173 Frankfort-on-the-Maine 174 Freiburg 170 Ghent 181 Heidelberg 188 Homburg 192 Iluy 199 Konigswinter 200 Lesse (Valley of) iO. Liege 203 Linz 210 Louvain ib. Luxemburg 214 IVlaliues 215 ]Manuheim 217 lilayeuce (Mainz) 219 Mons 222 Moselle 224 Namur 226 Kassau 234 Neuwied . . . . ' 237 Ostend 238 llhine 239 Schaffhausen 202 Scheldt 2G3 Spa 2G4 Spier 2(18 Strasburg 2G9 Tremonde 271 Tirlemout 272 Verviers ib. Waterloo 273 Wiesbaden 299 Worms 301 The Pictures in Belgium 30.5 The Museum at Antwerp 315 Gallery of the Academy at Bruges 330 frallery of the Museum at Brussels 336 BOGUE'S GUIDE TO TRAVELLERS, BELGIUM AND THE RHINE. PKEPAKATIOXS FOR THE JOURNEY. Baggag-e.— When the traveller has made up his mind to set out for a holiday on the Continent, the three first things that require lii3 attention are, his baggage, his money, and his passport. As to the fii-st, there is a short and golden rule, which is, — take as little luggajse as possible. The man of many packages becomes a slave to them. On steam-boats, on railways, in seeking inns and on leaving inns, his luggage becomes a source of anxiety, annoyance, and loss. IWoney.— The Continental tourist may, as regards monet/, safely rely, wherever he may go, upon the currency of English sovereigns and Bank of England notes. Should he think it unwise to carry with him as much as he may deem requisite for the trip, he can, before liis departure, obtain a Circular letter of credit. This is done by paying a sum of money into the London and Westminster Bank, the Union Bank of London, or into the banking house of Herries, Farquhar, and Co.; or Coutts and Co. Upon doing this, the tourist receives two papers, authorizing him to receive, at different tov\ms on his intended route, the cash he may be entitled to and require. Two papers are given, lest one should be lost ; and the traveller should carry one of these in his pocket, and the other in his baggage, to lessen the hability of both behig lost together. A. Passport is a thing less easily arranged. For a trip in Belgium anvl on the lihine, an English jKissport is wanted. The following are the last regulations on this subject. OFFICIAL "EEGULATIOXS RESrECTING PASSPORTS." Foreign Office, Feb. 20, 1851. — Notice is hereby given, that on and after Saturday, the -J'Jnd inst., passports will be issued from this department, according to the following regulations : — 1. Applications for Foreign-office passports must be made in writing, and addressed to her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Aflairs, with the word *' I'assport " written upon the cover. 2. The fee on the issue of a passport is 7.v. 6d. 3. Foreign-office passports are granted only to British subjects, including in that description foreigners who have been naturalized by act of parliament, or by certificate of naturalization granted before the 24th day of August, 1850; in this latter case, the party is described in the passport as a " Naturalized British subject." 4. Passports are granted between the hours of twelve and four, on the day following that on which the application for the passport has been received at the Foreign-office. 5. Passports are granted to persons wlio are either known to the Secretary of State or recommended to him by some person who is known to him ; or upon the written application of a banking firm established in London. 6. Passports cannot be sent by the Foreign-office to persons already abroad. Such persons should apply to the nearest British Mission or Consiilate. 7. Foreign-office Passports must be countersigned at the J.Iission, or at some Consulate in England, of the government of the country which the bearer of the passport intends to visit. 8. A Foreign-office Passport granted for one journey may be used for any subsequent journey if countersigned afresh by the Ministers or Consuls of the countries wliich the bearer intends to visit. [A passport obtained as above will carry the traveller through Prussia, without any vise from the Prussian embassy in London.] If the traveller has no banker, the easiest way, perhaps, of obtain- ing the requisite recommendation to the Foreign Office is to obtain a Circular Note of a banker, who will give the necessary line of intro- duction to the Passport Office. The Foreign Office will, it is to be liopcd, make English passports more readily obtainable. It is absurd to ask for a banker's reference for leave to make a summer holiday on the Bhine, and in Bhenish Prussia an Enfr/ixh passport is absn- lutefi/ requisite. To travel in P.elgium alone, a Belgian passport is of course enough, and that may be obtained at once, for C.v. Cd., at the Consul's office, 52, Gracechurch-street, bet ween the hours of eleven and four ; where also other passports are vised for \s. 3il. 'lo travel through Belgium and up the Khine, the English traveller must liave ROUTES. 5 an English passport, vised by the Belgian Consul, the total cost of which Mill be Is. (id. for the passport, and 1*. Gd. for the vise. Route.— After the cash, the passport, and the baggage have been arranged, the next question for decision is — Which is the best route ? For those who do not suffer from sea-sickness, steamboats offer a passage direct from London to Ostend or Antwerp. The latter has its recommendations for those who have much baggage. Steamers are also ready to carry such as please from Ramsgate to the Belgian coast. Both these, however, should be regarded as exceptional routes, suited chiefly to certain classes of travellers. The regular highway between England and Belgium and the Rhine, is by Dover and Ostend — the way the Mails go. It will afford an idea of the cost of this route, to quote here the tariff issued by the South Eastern Railway. Travellers may pm-chase, at the Booking Offices of that Company at London Bridge Railway Station, Through- Tickets as follows : — FROM LOXDOX, To Brussels, via Calais Ditto „ Dover and Ostend . . . Malines.via Calais Ditto „ Dover and Ostend . . . Aix-la-Chapelle, via Calais Ditto „ Dover & Ostend Cologne, via Calais Ditto „ Dover and Ostend . . , 1st Class. 2nd Class. £ s. d. £ s. d. 2 5 1 13 6 ; 2 3 1 10 C 1 2 4 6 1 13 2 2 6 1 10 2 15 2 10 2 13 1 18 6 3 2 2 7 3 2 4 Performing the Journey to Brussels in 12| hours; to Colore in 20^ hours. Toiu-ists who wish to avoid the salt water and its sickness as raucli as possible, may go by way of Dover and Calais. By so doing, the sea passage is reduced to less than two hours, whereas by Dover and Ostend, it is always four hours, and generally more. Going by way of Calais, the tourist passes through Lille. But more of this when we come to the Railway Routes. The route by Ramsgate is sometimes adopted, on the theory of a short sea passage to Ostend, but is not to be recommended, as tlie time of leaving Ramsgate is regulated by tide, and unless tide at Ramsgate and tide at Ostend both suit each other, the tourist may be detained, and lose several hours and much patience, both places having tidal harbours. 6 ROUTES. On landing at Ostend, the traveller who has too much luggage begins to find out tlie mistake he has made — by increased expense on rail, increased porterage, and also tlie need for a Commissionnaire, to get it through the little custom-house quickly. The employment of a Commissionnaire at the Ostend custom-house is not unwise if tliere be ladies and much luggage : he opens your boxes for you, tells you the weight in E7iglish, says what you have to pay, and saves much trouble. If you have a sac de nuH only, such assistance will not be requisite. When going direct to Belgium by way of Calais, baggage is not examined by the custom-house officers, but merely weiglied, ticketed, and deposited in the train, for search at the Belgian frontier. 'Jhe steam-boat lands the traveller close to the Calais station, where he will find a good refi-eshment-room, and close to that (in the same building) the desk where passports are vised. Calais, like Ostend, is not a place to remain in longer than absolutely requisite. The Calais innkeepers have a reputation for being extortionate in their charges. The carriage of much luggage virtually doubles the traveller's fare on all Continental lines. The baggage is weighed, and in Belgium every ounce above 20 kilogrammes (about 44 lbs.) rigorously charged for. A ticket containing a number is pasted on each article, and a corresponding one is given to the owner, and at the end of the journey great is the bustle, noise, and confusion, when English travellers are numerous, and English portmanteaus and carpet-bags are in course of delivery to their respective proprietors. Luggage must be at the station a quarter of an hour before the departure of the train. When about to depart by railway, the traveller will find all his baggage taken possession of by the oflicials attached to the station, who, as already stated, paste separate numbered tickets on each trunk, &c., giving the o^\^ler a correspondingly numbered ticket, with the name of each article of baggage, (as " malle," " sac de nuit," &c.) On no account should the traveller take into the carriage witli him any box, parcel, or bag, unless it is thought desirable to carry any slight refreshments. Any package taken into the railway carriage will be taken from its owner as he passes out of the Belgian into the Prussian territory, and although quite safe, it is difficult to obtain again; in fact, the owner may be detained until all the other baggage is examined before he can get such packages restored to Jiim. Another hint may save some trouble to English travellers, who are trying to use their German for the first time — at Cologne, for instance. Wlien the luggage is broujiht from the railway caniage, it is placed in a room behind a counter. To this tlie traveller comes to reclaim it. The railway porters take the first parcel they lay their hands on, and call aloud the numbers ; now, supposing the RAILWAY FARES IX BELGIUM. 7 number of your box to be 123, they would not call out in German as we should in English, one hundred and twenty-three ; instead of this, they say, "Eiu, zwei, drei," one, two, three. If you do not at once call out, " Here," they pass on to another box, and you lose your chiince for the time. RAILWAY FARES IN BELGIUM. The Fares on the Belgian Railways are very moderate, and the accommodation good. There are three classes of carriages — (1st) Diligence; (-'nd) Char-a-banc ; and (3rd) Wagon : RAILWAY FARES IN BELGIUM. BRUSSELS to 1 2 3! MALINES to 1 2 3 F. C. F. C. F. C. F. C. F. C. F. C Antwerp 3 25 2 50 1 50 Antwerp 2 1 50 1 Bruges 7 75 6 3 75 Bruges 7 5 25 3 25 Courtray 7 70 6 3 75 Brussels 1 50 1 25 75 Frontier 11 8 50 5 50 Courti'ay 7 5 25 3 25 Ghent 4 75 3 50 2 25 Frontier 10 8 5 Liege 8 6 25 4 Ghent 4 3 1 75 Louvain 2 75 2 1 25 i Liege 7 5 50 3^0 Malines 1 50 1 25 75 j Louvain 2 1 •"0 I Ostend 9 25 7 4 50 Ostend 8 50 6 50 4 St. Trond G 25 4 50 3 St. Trond 5 25 4 2 50 Tirlemont 4 25 3 25 2 Tirlemont 3 25 2 50 1 50 Tournay 9 7 4 50 Tournay 8 50 6 50 4 25 Verviers 10 8 5 Verviers 9 7 4 50 COURTRAY OSTEND to to Antwerp 7 75 6 3 75 Antwerp 9 25 7 4 50 Bruges 5 25 4 2 50 Bruges 1 75 1 25 75 Bnissels 7 55 G 3 75 Brussels 9 25 7 4 50 Fi'ontier 16 12 50 8 Courtray 6 75 5 25 3 25 Ghent 3 25 2 50 1 50 Frontier 17 50 13 75 8 75 Liege 13 50 10 50 6 75 Ghent 5 3 75 2 25 Louvain 8 75 6 50 4 Liege 15 11 50 7 25 Malines 7 5 25 3 25 Louvain 10 7 50 4 75 Ostend 6 75 5 25 3 25 Malines 8 50 50 4 St. Trond 11 75 9 5 75 St. Trond 13 10 G 50 Tirlemont 10 7 50 4 75 Tirlemont 11 25 8 50 5 50 Tournay 2 25 1 75 1 25 Tournay 9 7 4 50 Verviers 15 11 75 7 50 Verviers 16 50 13 8 25 GHENT BRUSSELS to to Antwerp 5 3 75 2 25 Hal 1 25 1 i 75 Bruges 3 25 2 50 1 50 Tubise 1 50 1 25 ' 1 Brussels 4 75 3 50 2 25 Br-le-Comte 2 50 2 1 25 Courtray 3 25 2 50 1 50 1 Soignles 1 3 2 25 1 50 Frontier 13 10 25 G 50 Jurbise 3 75 3 2 Liege 10 75 8 25 5 25 Mons 4 50 3 50 2 25 Louvain 5 50 4 25 2 50 Jemmapes 5 3 75 2 50 Malines 4 3 1 75 1 St. Ghislain 5 50 4 25 2 75 Ostend 6 3 75 2 25 Thulin 5 75 4 50 3 St. Trond 8 75 6 75 4 25 ! Quievi-ain 6 4 75 3 25 Tirlemont 7 5 25 3 25 i Manage 2 75 Tournay 5 50 4 25 2 75 Charleroi 4 50 3 50 2 25 Vcrviei-s 12 9 50 6 Namur 6 50 5 3 25 RELATIVE VALL'E OF ENGLISH AND FOREIGN COINS. Names of Coins. — France, francs and centimes. — Germany, florins and 'k.YQwtzers.— Prussia, thalers, silbergroschen and pfennings.— /iws/r/a. in siivei% florins and kreutzers. — Holland, guilders and cents. — Switzer- land, francs, batzen, and rappen. FRANCE GER- AUSTRIA SWITZER- ENGLAND. AND BELGIUM. MANY. PRf^IA. in Silver. HOLLAND. LAND. £s. d. Frs. Cts. FLKr. Th.Sgr. Pf. FLKr. Guild.Cts. Fr. Btz. Rp. I-IO 1 0, 1 U 13 4 10 3 6 10 n 1 27 7 9 23 46 6 8 1 1 25 35 9 10 29 58 8 7 1 n 1 51 42 11 10 35 70 10 1 8^ 2 13 1 16 10 49 1 1 4 7 2 1 2 60 1 13 20 6 1 1 22 1 7 5 3 oi 3 80 1 46 10 1 28 1 77 2 5 1 5 6 25 2 56 1 19 3 2 24 2 93 4 1 4 10 12 50 5 51 3 8 7 4 48 5 85 8 2 8 10 5 13 2 6 6 3 12 8 5 6 10 8 6 1 12 1 15 10 7 4 3 29 2 5 48 7 7 10 17 1 21 35 10 5 18 4 8 12 10 14 1 4 1 25 11 42 6 17 3 9 36 11 70 16 5 5 5 125 58 32 32 26 3 48 58 53 82 7 6 RIEASURES OF DISTANCES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. Englis miles. n. English miles. •2h or 2 leagues make . 5 H. or 7 German miles . . 33 3t\' or 11 Dutch ditto . . 40 li, or 7 Italian ditto . . S 1 French league is 1 German mile is 1 Dutch ditto . . 1 Italian ditto The French metre is 1 J^th of a yard, or 11 metres make 12 yards. 1 French pound is eES.) Leaving the Malines station, the rail describes a curve, and crosses, at a short distance from the town, the high road to Louvain. The first village on the left is ^Iiiysen, upon the Dyle. Its church was founded by St. Lambert, Bishop of Tongres. A little farther on, on the same side, is the commune Hever, in the district of liOuvain. The steeple in the distance, on the left, is that of Kymeuam, in the province of Antwerp. The road soon crosses a small stream, which falls into the Dyle, and waters the commune of Boort-Meerbeck, on the right of the road, containing 1400 inhabitants, and the church of which contains the tombs of the Lords of Lannoy and Santa Cruz. The train next stops at Haecht, on the left of the line, the chief place, at a short distance from the station, and has nothing deserving of notice, if we except tlie beauty of its rural walks. In a few minutes, the train reaches the station of Westpelaer, where the trains call only in the summer months. This is a small commune of about 800 inliabitants, situated between the Louvain canal and the railroad, and is mostly famed for its magnificent gardens and park, which deserve a few hours' visit from tourists spending much time in Belgium. Bel- gium has, perhaps, no better grounds and shrubberies than those of Westpelaer. Indeed, the garden is said to be one of the best laid out in Europe; among the rarities are the tulip-tree and "the tree of thorns, from which it is alleged that the mock crown placed on our Saviour's head was plaited." In the grounds are displayed busts in marble of authors and heroes ; a bridge of boats, grottoes, and Greek temples. Between "VVestpelaer and Louvain the line passes, on the right, the beautiful and picturesque village of Thildonck ; and on the left may be seen the tower of Uotzelaer, formerly one of the most illustrious baronies of Brabant, now a line village, con- 14 OSTEND TO COLOGNE. taining 2000 inhabitants. The church, a relic of the twelfth and thirteenth centui'ies, is worthy of notice. Here the scenery becomes more undulating, and the train runs along the canal, crosses the Dyle, and tlie road from Louvain to Clerschot, over a viaduct, and after jjassing, on tlie left, Kessel and Loo — and, on the right, the village of Wilsile, arrives at Xiouvain. — As in the other towns, omnibuses await the arrival of the trains to convey travellers to their destination. The Hotels recommended are — Hotel du Sauvage, Marclie au Beurre, Hotel de Suede, Kue de Diest (an ordinary here at one o'clock). Hotel de la Cour de Slons, Marche au Foissons. — Cojfee-Houses : the Cafe de I'Europe, Frascati, and Commerce, all on the Place d'Armes, are well served. There are likewise two good Restaurants, Des Quatres Kations, Marche au Beurre, and Du Petit Paradis, Kue des Grands Escaliers. — Hackney Coaches and Cabs may be hired from tlie stands, at the same low rates as in other towns. There is a university here, and much to interest the traveller. (See Louvain.) The railway here follows the paved road, and after passing through a small tunnel, comes in sight of the old abbey of Parcq, founded in 1131. The churcli and grounds are still held by a few monks. The next station is that of Vertyrk, a small commune in the district of Louvain, of no particular interest. The train next passes Roosbeck, and through the tunnel of Cumtich. The commune of Cumtich lies on the left of the railway, immediately on leaving the tunnel ; population 1200. The train now runs along a bank, and in a few minutes is withm the station of Tirlemont. The principal hotels are. Hotel du Noble, Du Plat d'Etain, de Flandre. The Post-Office is in the Grande Place, (See TlULEMONT.) After leaving Tirlemont, and proceeding towards Liege, the road runs along a bank, raised more than fifty feet above the gates of the town. The country hereabouts still preserves traces of the passage of the Komans, and in many places remains of ancient tombs may be seen. The celebrated plain of Neervinden is where the two great battles which bear its name were fought — the one gained by the Marshal of Luxemburg, July 29, 1G93, over the Allies ; and the other, lost to the Austrians, by the French army under the command of General Dumouriez, March 28, 1793. We arrive at Iianden, the chief place of a canton, in the district of Huy, on the left of tlie railway. It was formerly a fortified town of Brabant, and there are still vestiges of its walls. It is the country of Pepin, of Landen, mayor of the palace under Dagobert, king of France, whose proudest title is tliat of having been the founder of the race of Charlemagne. The trade of Landen is confined to that OSTEND TO COLOGNE. 15 of agricultural produce. Immediately after leaving the station of Landen, we enter the province of Limburg, which the railway crosses at its south-west extremity ; it re-enters the province of Lit-ge, and arrives at the station of Xtosouz, a small commune, of GOO inhabitants, on the right of the road, and after passing Corswarden (Limberg), and Besloz, it crosses tlie Jaar, or Geer, and reaches IVaremzne) the chief town of a district in the pr vince of Liege, fonaerly of great importance ; it has now only 1500 inhabitants. The church, wliich is very ancient, was founded in the twelfth century by Gouthier, a templar. Waremme has local fame for the manufacture of gingerbread. On quitting the station, the line crosses a well preserved Eoman road, leading from Bavay to Tongus. The next place passed is the small commune of Kems- court, on the left. The height attained on the line here, is equal to that of the summit of the cathedral of Antwerp. The rail next crosses the brook of Genie, and in a few minutes the train halts at the station of Fexbe-le-Haut-CIocber, where the steeple of the church docs not justify the name. The road continues to rise until, after passing several unimportant villages on either side, we arrive at iins, a commune, consisting of several hamlets, with a popu- lation of about 4000. It stands on an elevation of 182 metres above the level of the sea. Here are the remains of a very ancient castle, and the neighbourhood abounds in picturesque scenery. The route, as far as the next station, is performed on two inclined planes — the first ends at Haut-Pre, from which point there is a magnificent view of the romantic scenery around, but in a few minutes the train reaches the important city of Xiieg^e. — Here omnibuses and cabs abound ; the fare by the former to any part of the town is half-a-franc. — Hoteh are very numerous ; the following are among the best : Pavilion Anglais, Place St. Lambert ; De Flandre, Hue Pout d'Avroy ; Aigle Noir, Eue Feronstree; De Suede, Place de la Comedie. — Coffee IJoiues : Cafe du Midi, and Des Deux Fontaines, Place de la Comedie ; and Cafe Grec, Place Verte. The Post Office is in the Rue de la Re- gence, and is open from 7 a.m. till 9 p.m. There are district otfices throughout the to\vn. — Hacknei/ Carriages : One horse for each course, 50 cents; two horses ditto, 1 franc. (See Liege.) After leaving Liege we are on the most important section of the Belgium line of railway, and the one in the formation of which the greatest difficulties had to be surmounted. The line passes tlirough the beautiful valley of the Vesdre — over bridges, viaducts, and through tunnel after tunnel. The scenery of this valley is — after the valley of the .^leuse — the most delightful the country possesses. Passing the station of Guellemius, there are to be seen on either 16 OSTEXD TO COLOGNE. side handsome chateaux, standing in their own richly cultivated grounds. Kext we remark the beautifully constructed bridge of Yal Benoit, which spans the Meuse by five arches, and is crossed by two roads ; one for the railway, and the other for pedestrians and carriages: the bridge is lighted with gas. If the rapidity with which the train advances prevents the traveller from admiring this monument of art in all its detail, he cannot help being struck with the grandeur of the coup cTceil, for here he finds himself sur- rounded on every side by scenery which, in its class, is perhaps not surpassed in Europe. The railway — passing on the left Grivegnee, celebrated for its iron foundry, and on the right the pretty village of Augleur — crosses the Ourthe, and reaches Cbenee, a commune noticeable for its beauty, and celebrated for its numerous manufactories. The next stoppage is at Cbaudfontaine, famed for picturesque beauty and the efficacy of its mineral waters. Here will be found establishments for the accommodation of the traveller who may be induced to make a pro- longed stay at this salubrious spot. It is situated about six miles from Liege. There are several hotels here, and among the best is the Hotel de Liege, which stands in the midst of the narrow valley in which Chaudfontaine is situated. Leaving the station, the train enters a tunnel, and after passing several magnificent country seats, leaves on the left an immense amphitheatre of rocks, whose summits soar away towards the clouds. On the ridge of one hill, and where the train halts, is a chateau remarkable for its original and picturesque construction ; it is that of Du Trooz. Here the Yesdre flows under the railway ; the latter passing the hill by a tunnel 119 metres long; on the other side of which, it re-crosses the Yesdre, passes through a valley, and enters the tunnel of Fraipont, the extent of which is 300 metres. On emerg- ing from this tunnel, the peculiar wilduess of the scenery is strikingly contrasted with that just before passed. The chateau of Fraipont is a brick building covered with foliage, and harmonizes well with the surrounding country. The village of Fraipont is divided into two parts, upper and lower, the one on the borders of the Yesdre, the other adjoining the chateau. The train soon passes three more tunnels, one of which, at Halinsart, is C34 metres long, and cut out of the solid rock. Emerging from another small tunnel, the eighth on this line, we come to the country seat of M. Biolloy, one of the largest manufacturers of Yerviers. The building, which is called the Chateau des Mazures, is in style a sort of parody on the Gothic. The ninth tunnel passed, and the train stops at Pepinsteri which during the summer moutfcs, is one of the most bustling on the route. Here the line branches oil' to Spa. (See Spa.) Until the opening of the railway Pepinster was an uu- OSTEND TO COLOGNE. 17 imrortant village; it has gradually increased, and may now l.e looked upon more as a tow n than a village. Along the line frc.iu Pepinster are several extensive factories. The Yesdre is soon seen, crossed by two elegant bridges, and the train pursues its route in an entrenchment formed in the midst of rocks of the most picturesque forms. The train merging from this entrenchment arrives at Ensivalf a place of some importance ; number of inhabitants SOOO. It has several factories, and may be considered as a faubourg of Yerviers. The steeple of the church, as seen from the station, has a picturesque effect ; this is the last station but one on the Bel- gian line, and after passing through a tunnel two metres long, the train arrives at Verviers, an important town, deservedly renowned for its manufacture of cloths. (See Yerviers.) At the station there is an excellent refreshment room, and time is allowed for making use of it. The traveller being now near the Prussian frontier, must be pre- pared to show his passport if required. The baggage is here weighed and examined. Omnibuses await the arrival of each train. — Hotels : The best are Hotel des Pays Bas, Place du Spec- tacle; Hotel du 3Ionlin, Kue du Moulin ; Hotel de France, Rue de I'Uarmonie. At each of these establishments there is a table d'hote at one o'clock' daily. There are some good wann baths at very moderate charges in the Rue de I'Hopital. The chief cf^ce house is Cafe du Midi, Place des Recollets. Strangers with an introduction from a member are admitted to a library, which is well supplied with works in modern literature and numerous newspapers. — Cabs ; The fare by these vehicles is half-a-franc each course, or 1 franc 50 cents the first hour, and 1 franc for every succeeding hour. The delay at Yerviers being over, the distance between that town and the next point of interest is soon traversed, and passing Dolhain, Herbcsthal, and Astenet, the tourist finds himself at Aix-la-Cbapelle. — Hotels .- Hotel Grande Monarque. Hotel Quatre Saisons (good); Hotel de la Rose; The Grand Hotel (good). An interesting town, in which a short stay may be pleasantly made (See Aix-LA-CnAPELLE.) The baths are good and numerous, and have a great character for efficacy in the amelioration of many diseases. Passports, when taken from travellers at Her- besthal, are returned to their owners at tiie station at Aix. Charle- magne is the great hero of Aix-la-Chapelle; and when the train has left that town about a mile on its way forward to Cologne, the tourist sees near the line the ruins of tlie castle of Fraukenburg. Of this a legend still exists, and is thus told : — " At the close of a winter's even ng an ola and venerable-looking man was seen busily engaged digging a grave in a small churchyard on the banks of the Elaine outside Frankfurt. His grizzled locks told the number of years that bad passed over his brow ; but his c 18 OSTEND TO COLOGNE. frame was yet hale and vigorous, and as he cast up tlie earth from the deepening pit, two or three curious idlers stood watching his toils and listening to the lUtty, half sung, hallchaunted, with which he lightened his labours. Still the lookers-on lingered about the newly-made grave, although night drew on ajjace and a chilling wind came gustily across the Elaine. The city was full of anxiety ; flying rumours of all sorts were current, and such was the temper of the times, that those most improbable were the most greedily listened to, and the most implicitly believed. Their almost worshipped Emperor Charle- magne was amongst them, but not of them. He mourned for the loss of his beautiful consort Frastrade, and no man could comfort him. For three long weeks had she been dead, but still the monarch would not hear death spoken of She did but sleep, he said, and although her body had long given forth sufficient proof that even an Empress must obey the universal destiny, 'unto dust thou shalt retm'n ;' although the once lovely form, full of life and blooming like an early rose, had been stricken with the cold, heavy, waxen hue of death ; although the face long famed for beauty showed the mimistakable traces of the Destroyer, and was blackening to the hue of the earth, the final destiny of all flesh ; although the freshest flowers of the garden and the strongest frankincense of the Eastern merchant were too weak to drown the most disgusting of the proofs that death had been there; — still the Emperor clung to the chamber of his beloved, and would not abate his watchfulness 'till Frastrade woke.' Meantime the afiairs of the empire were falling into confusion for want of the iron hand of Charlemagne. Trovinces were on the eve of revolt, and foreign foes were mustering their forces to take advantage of the sudden madness of the Emperor, and the confusion of his ministers. Things were in this state when, worn by anxiety and thought, the cliief councillor, the Archbishop of Kheims, walked forth for refreshment on the banks of the Maine. It was a moon- light night, but gusty withal, dark clouds di'iving across the heavens as though one grotesque form chased another to see which should most quickly obscure the face of the luminary, and then drive onward towards the horizon. The Archbishop gazed on all this, and was within himself comparing the shadows to the Evil Spirit that was clouding the destiny of the Emperor, when, as he neared the grave-yard, the largest cloud in the hea^■ens shut out the moon. For a moment all was darkness, when the huge vapour seemed to open in the midst for^ short space, and then through the rift shot down one bright gleam of light, the more brilliant for the surround- ing gloom. ' A good omen,' murmured the old man ; and as he gazed upon the spot where the light fell, he was gradually aware of a form of surpassing majesty built up of the glittering moonbeam ; OSTEND TO COLOGNE. 19 transparent, yet real. ' I am the good genius of Cliarlemagne,' said the vision, in tones like the dying echoes of music over a frozen lake, cold, clear, yet beautiful : ' I come to teach you how to remove the sliadow from his spirit. He sleeps ; dig where I stand a grave, and let the festering body of Frastrade lie in it. But mark! ere you touch her corpse, search beneath her tongue, and take what you will find there ' As IT spoke, the cloud passed from the moon, and the outlines of the Apparition expanded on every side, until it seemed to wrap all things in a robe of glorious moonlight. The Arclibishop of Rheims was the boldest as well as most trusty of the councillors, and, after a moment's thought, he hurried towards tlie grotesquely carved door which marked the abode of the grave-digger. • No silken sleeper so calm as they Who seek a couch in the churchyard clay,' sang a voice from the low-roofed hovel, as though finishing a song. ' Ay, ay,' said the churchman, ' the sexton is still a-foot, and this night will I fulfil the injunction so marvellously laid upon me.' In half an hour the grave was begun, and the song of the old sexton seemed to help him on with his work ; and in half an hour the Archbishop stood in the chamber of Frastrade. Tiie corpse lay on a couch as though asleep, and the Emperor, exhausted by watcli- ing, slept, kneeling at the bedside, his head resting on one of the festering hands of liis once lovely spouse. With careful foot and cautious hand the churchman approached the dead ; the canopy was drawn aside, and, half trembling, he looked curiously at the form before him. The eyes were open, staring with a fixed, glassy look, as thougli to scare the living from the spot ; tlie cheeks were sunken, and the nose pinched up; the jaw had fallen, and, as he peered into the open mouth, he saw that the tongue was shrunk and shrivelled up, exposing just one corner of a glittering gem buried beneath it. With hasty tliough nervous fingers he seized the brilliant token, and, as he moved it from its long-hidden socket, a louieu, a small hamlet on the right, so called after a Pagan idol worshipped in the locality before the introduction of Christianity. The artificial mound upon which the idol is said to have stood is still to be seen. The railway station is crossed by the road to Lierre. The village of Moortsel, a commune of about 1500 inhabitants, is close by. Leaving the station, the village of Edeghem is seen on the right. The land on either side the line is in a higli st ite of cultivation. After passing several ancient chateaux, the train arrives at Conticli, distant from Antwerp seven and a half miles; population, .3040. Between this place and Duffel, which is on the river Nethe, the railway route offers nothing remarkable. From Duflel, omnibuses proceed to Lierre, on the arrival of each train. The train next crosses the Nethe by a 26 ANTWERP TO BRUSSELS, swing -bridge, and enters close to tlie locality where formerly flourished the illustrious Abbey of Rosendael, founded in 1138. The steeple on the left is that of the Church of Wavre Sainte- Catherine, a commune of 2l»74 inliabitants. The scenery in this neighbourhood is good. After crossing the Dyle and the paved road to Louvain, the train enters the Malines station (see p. 13). There is a good refreshment-room here. (See Malines.) From Maliiies to Cologne, same as in Route 1, pp. 13 to 21. EAILWAY EOUTES — No. 4. A]SrT"W:ERP TO BRUSSELS. Distance, 27 J miles. — Time usually occupied, Ij hours. STATIONS, For description of route from L Antwerp to Malines, see Route 3, pp. 24 to 26. ViEUX DiEU. Duflel. Vilvorde. Contich. Malines. Brussels. Leaving the Malines station, the train crosses the Louvain canal by a moveable bridge. On the right may be seen the line of rail to Ghent and Ostend. The first place worthy of notice is the village of Sempst, also on tiie right, remarkable for the antiquity of its cliurch. which is said to have been founded by St. Rumbert, Bishop of Tongres. A little further on, on the same side, is Eppegrliem, a commune of 1000 inhabitants. In the distance, on the left, is seen the steeple of the church of Ferck, and that of Elewyt, small communes, but worthy of mention, as the residences of two of Belgium's greatest painters, Rubens and Teniers. The latter had a country-house at Perck called, " Les Trois Tours," (Flemish, Dry Toren ;) and many of his paintings represent views of tlie surrounding neighbourhood. Rubens possessed the ancient chateau of Steen, near Elewyt, where many of his best productions were painted. We next reach Vilvorde, a small town in the district of Brussels, on the river Seune and the Willebroek canal, but known throughout Europe for the experiments here made in prison-discipline. In this town Tyndale, the first translator of the Bible into English, suflered martyrdom. " This tragedy occurred just three centuries ago. Tyndale was a native of Gloucestershire, and was strangled at the stake as a heretic for rendering the Scriptures into ' a vulgar tongue.' A pious and ANTWERP TO BRUSSELS. 27 learned divine, \Tith great gentleness of heart, but greater firmness of purpose, lie was driven from his quiet home in the West of Eng- hmd by the impending storm of persecution, and -finding that liis personal liberty was in danger, he toolc sliip, and visited Luther, ilis translation was completed and printed at Wittemberg, and, in spite of the dangers incurred, it circulated widely through England. This success aggravated the former anger of Henry the Eighth and Sir Thomas More, and the Chancellor denounced the absent divine in the most virulent terms. The existing epistles of the afterwards bi-headed minister display a rancour of feeling but little creditable to his memory. Great pains were taken to liu-e Tyndale back to his native country, but he was too wary to trust specious promises, or hollow professions for his welfare. Not so his fellow exile John Frith, who, in simphcity of spirit, thought the word of a king, when backed by that of a chancellor, might be relied on. He accepted More's invitation to England — and was burnt. Tyndale, however, with all his talent, his piety, his learning, and pure-hearteduess, was no match for his bigoted enemies. An agent from Henry entrapped him at Antwei-p : an accusation of heresy was easily believed when a king and his minister were witnesses, and the translator of the earliest Engli.-^h version of the Xew Testament, — a version largely used in the preparation of our authorised edition of the Bible, — died by the hands of the executioner at Vilvorde. His last words were, ' The Lord open the eyes of the king of England.' His body was afterwards burnt at a stake on the spot where the huge prison now stands — a building which the traveller can scarcely fail to notice, and which is conducted according to the latest theories of solitary confinement and eternal silence." Vilvorde gaol is capable of holding 2000 prisoners, and was built in 1770, by order of the State. (See Vilvorde). Near this place, there was formerly a fortified castle, constructed, in 1375, by ortler of the Duke Wenceslas, to keep in check the towns of Brussels and Louvain. From Vilvorde the rail passes the villages of Uaeren on the left, and Ober Heembeck and Neder Heembeck on the right ; and following these, the next on the left, surrounded by magnificent country-seats, we have the village of Ever, which has a popiUation of 1017. This part of the route is very flat, and in wet weather is often inundated for weeks together. The open phun seen on the right is that of Mon Flaisir, formerly used as a race-course; beyond it is the Willebroek, sometimes called the Brussels Canal. The palace of Laeken is seen to advantage from this part of the line. It was constructed, in 17S_', by the Archduke Albert, then governor of the Low Comitries, and stands in a most delightful position, surrounded by a park laid out in the most rechciche style. It is a favourite residence of the present king, and was also a favourite retreat of Napoleon Buonaparte. As the train ap- 28 OSTEXD TO BRUSSELS. preaches Brussels, the populous faubourg of Scharbeeck may be seen on the left ; the line of rail now runs parallel with that which leads to another station in the Allee Yerte, and which is used exclusively for the conveyance of merchandize ; and after crossing the Senne, the carriages enter the station of Brussels, which is situated at the extremity of the Longue Rue Neuve, near the Boulevard Botanique. The fare by omnibus to any part of the city is 50 cents — that by cab (vigilante), 1 franc, 25 cents. The principal hotels are — Belle Vue (best, but dear), Hotel de I'Europe, and Hotel de Flandre, all on the Place Royale. The Hotel de France, Rue Royale ; Hotel de la Regence, Rue de la Regence ; all these are in the upper town. Hotel de Suede, Rue de I'Eveque (good, and moderate); Hotel de I'Univers, Longue Rue Keuve (good table d'hote); Hotel des Etrangers and Imperial, Rue des Fripiers; Hotel de Brabant, Marche aux Charbons ; all the latter are in the lower town. — Cafes: the chief of these are, IMille Colonnes and Cafe Suisse, Place de la Monnaie; Trois Suisses, Rue des Princes ; de I'Europe, Longue Rue de I'Ecuyer ; Royale, Rue Royale. — Restaurants : Trois Freres Provencaux, Longue Rue de I'Ecuyer ; Dubost, Rue de la Putterie. — Post Office, Rue de I'Eveque. — Hackney-coaches, two horses, for each course, 1 franc, 25 cents ; or per hour, 2 francs the first, and 1 franc 50 cents for every subse- quent hour. One horse {vigilante), the course, 1 franc; by the hour, 1 franc, 50 cents. — Passports : any information required respecting passports, is to be obtained at the 3Iinistry of the Interior, Rue de la Loi, Xo. 4. The office is open from 10 till 3, and on Sundays, from 10 till 12, (See Brussels). EAILWAY EOUTES — 1^0. 5. OSTEND TO BKUSSELS. Distance, S9i miles. — Time usually occupied, 5 hours. OSTEND. Plasschendael. Jabbeke. Bruges. Oostcamp. Bloemendael. Aeltre. STATIONS. Hunsbeke. Landeghem. Ghent. Mclle. "Wetteren. Audegliem. Termonde. Descriptions of the places passed will be found in Routes 1 and 4, pages 10 and 26; Ostend to Mulines in the one, and Maliues to Brussels in the other. Buggenhout. Malderen. Londerzeel. Cappelle. Malines. Yilvorde. Brussels. 29 EAILWAY ROUTES — Xo. 6. CALAIS TO BRUSSELS. (Via Lille and Ghent.) Distance, loS^- miles. 'Jime usually occupied, 9| hours (stopping about 3 hours at Lille). The stations passed on this route by way of Lille will be found de- scribed in Koute i', pages T2 to -'4, as far as Ghent ; thence as far as Malines in Koute 1 ; and then from that town to Brussels in lioute 4. RAILWAY ROUTES — Xo. 7. BRUSSELS TO COLOGNE. Distance, 150 miles. Time usually occupied 9^ hours. Brussels. Yilvorde. ivralines. Haechet. "Wespelaer. Lou vain. Yertryck. TiRLEMONT. Landeu. Eosoux. Waremme. Fexhe. Ans. Descriptions of and 10, STATIONS. Liege. Chenee. Chaudfontaine. Le Trooz. Vessouvaux. Pepinster (Spa). Ensival. Yerviers (refreshments). Dolhain. Herbcsthal. {Frontier. Pass- ports examined. Enter Prussia.) Astenet. Aix-la-Chapelle. Stalberg. Eschwecler. Langervvehe. Duren. Buir. HoiTem. Konigsdorf. Miingersdorf. Cologne. places passed same as Routes 4 and 1, pages 2G RAILWAY ROUTES — Xo. 8. BRUSSELS TO QUIEVRATN". (Towards France.) Distance, 50 miles. Time usually occupied, 3 hours. STATION'S. Brussels. Braine-le-Comte. St. Ghislain. Kuysbroeck. Soignies. Boussu. Loth. Turbise. Thulin. Hal. MONS. QUIEVRAIN (the Lemecq. Jemmappes. Frontier). Tubize. 30 BRUSSELS TO QUIEVRAIN. The railway station for the above route is situated on the south side of Brussels, between the Hue d'Anderlecht and the Rue de Terre Neuve. The same regulations respecting luggage are in force on this as on all other lines in Belgium. Tlie train, after crossing the Boulevard de France, passes the Port de Hal, at the entrance of which is a large brick building formerly used as a military prison. There is seen the populous district of Saint-Gilles, and on the right the pleasant village of Cureghem, a dependence of the commune of Anderlecht, distant from Brussels a mile and a half. Anderlecht is justly celebrated for its butter. A frightful explosion of gunpowder took place in this district in 1793, which destroyed several houses, burying the inmates in the ruins. At Cureghem, already men- tioned, there is a royal veterinary college. After passing through a tract of rich pasture land, a few minutes suffice to bring us in sight of the village of Forest, pleasantly situated in the midst of rich foliage. From this village the rail crosses the Senne, and reaches Ruysbroeck, a small commune of 500 inhabitants, in the dis- trict of Brussels. Between this place and IiOtb, which is an unimportant hamlet, the line offers nothing of any particular interest. From Loth the train crosses the Senne by a handsome moveable bridge, the river flowing along on the right of the line. Beyond is the new Charleroi Canal, and the road to Mons. On the left are seen the villages of Eysinghem and Buy- singliem, which form a small commune of 550 inhabitants. In a few minutes tlie train stops at Hal or Halle, a town in the district of Brussels; population 5800. The church, which is curious, is dedicated to Notre Dame, and is celebrated throughout the country for the possession of a " miraculous image of the Virgin," which attracts numbei-less pil- grims, more particularly at the annual feast, when the priests have a rich harvest. Tlie tourist who stops here will find the Hotel des Pays Bas, and the Hotel du Due de Brabant, the best. From this point there is no object worthy of mention on the line, till the train reaches laembeck, a commune containing 2300 inhabitants. It is noticeable for the number of distilleries, which supply gin in large quantities. The delay at the station is momentary, and the train moves on between two rising banks, on emerging from which is seen on the right the 3roNS road, which runs parallel with the railway. The next halt is at Tublse, a commune of some importance in the district of Nivelles, province of Brabant. It contains nothing worthy the at- tention of the traveller. In going from Tubise, the train passes through an entrenchment, then upon an embankment running parallel with the road from Brussels to Mons. The houses seen on the height form the village of Genette, a dependence of Hennuyeres. BRUSSELS TO QUIEVRAIN. 31 It was at this village that the French poet, J. B. Rousseau, breathed his last, after living in exile for twenty-eight years. His remains were deposited in the church of Notre Dame des Victoire, Brussels. A little in advance, on the left, is seen the steeple of the church of Ilennuyeres, a commune of 1300 inliabitants, in the province of Ilainaut. After passing an intrenchment and a viaduct, the train enters a tunnel; as it emerges from its subterranean passage it almost immediately halts at Braine-le-Coxnte, a small and very ancient town in the pro- vince of Ilainaut, and in the district of 3Ions; population, 4500. Unless inclined to visit tlieparisli church, and a small chapel belong- ing to the Dominican monks, there is nothing here to interest tlie traveller. The principal inn is the Hotel du Cygne. Immediately on leaving the station of Bruine, the train reaches a viaduct, and almost directly the railway to Xaraur is seen branching off. The route continues for some minutes in a direct line, after which it takes a curve and enters a deep entrenchment, which totally obstructs the view of the country. On merging from this, on the right is seen a wood, the confines of which extend as far as the highroad to Mons ; from this point it is a direct line, crossing a viaduct, to Soigrnies, an agreesible small to«ni, situated on the river Seine, and crossed by the Brussels and 3Ions road. The origin of tliis town dates very early. The present church of St. Vincent is one of tlie most ancient in Belgium, and is most curiously constructed. The cemetery contains tombstones of the thirteentli and fourteenth cen- turies. The mortuary chapel which stands in the centre was con- structed in the twelftli century, and enlarged three centuries later. Tlie appearance of Soignies is agreeable; its houses are well built. Tliere are several public establishments here, among them the col- lege founded by the order of Oratorians, which receives a large number of pupils. Tliere is also an hospital containing li'2 beds, a retreat for old people, and an orphan asylum. There are three good hotels here, L'Ange, Des Voyageurs, and Trois Rois. The post-office is near the church. From Soignies station the train proceeds in a westerly direction, crosses the road from ^Fons to Brussels, and after passing under a viaduct, arrives at the little village of 3Iasnuy- Saint Pierre. The steeple is near the railway, and joins a chateau, the construction of which is heavy and massive, but not at all imposing. The rail, wliich is on a curve all the way from Soignies, now takes a direct line, but in a contrary direction to the town of ^lons, which it loaves to the east. The steeple on the left, at a hundred yards from tlie rail, is that of IMasnuy S. Jean, whilst those on the riglit in the distance belong to 3Ionsignies and Lens. A small tower be- tween tliese two villages is the only remains of the beautiful Abbey of Cambron Saint Vincent. The train now stops at Jurbise, a small commune containing only 700 inhabitants, 32 BRUSSELS TO QUIEVRAIN. six miles from Mons by the high road, but much farther by railway. Here the high road from 3Ions to Ath is crossed, and its territory is watered by the Dendre. Ath is a strongly fortified town, eighteen miles from Tournay, on the high road from that town to Brussels, and on tliat from Brussels to Ghent. Its foundation is attributed to Aetius, a Roman general, who held possession of these parts in 451, and who, after having vanquished Attila, gave his name to Ath, in Flemish Aet. A terrible fire in 1433, a hurricane in 1600, an earthquake in 1C91, aided by time, have left no trace of the ancient monuments of Ath. The steeple of Saint Julien alone escaped the fire. Ath supported several sanguinary sieges; the fortifications (which were re-constructed in 1S15) are carefully kept up. The population of this town is 9000 inhabitants. Leaving the Jurbise station, the line takes a curve in the direction of Mons. Here are apparent, in the deep entrenchments and lofty embankments, the difficulties which had to be overcome in constnacting this branch of the line. The first village on the left, after passing the viaduct, is Erbesceul, thence the train proceeds along the route, as it were between two walls, until it reaches the wood of Ghlin, the church- steeple of which is seen on the right. This commune has 2400 in- habitants. In a few minutes we have a fine panorama of the towji of Mons, with its public edifices, its numerous steeples, and strong fortifications. In the distance, on the right, may be seen signs of the numerous coal-mines of Bourinage, which are the most productive in the country. The train now proceeds along a high embankment, then enters another entrenchment cut through the Forest of 3Ionset, the sides of which admit only partial light. The trench is soon left ; and now we advance towards Mons upon low ground, along the top of an embankment. The steeple seen to the left is that of Nimy, a suburb of Jlons. The line crosses the Haine, a small river, which has its source from the union of three streams which rise upon the territory of Anderlucs. Tliis river follows the road as far as Mons, and passes with it into the fortifications. The railway passes round a portion of the town, crosses the road near the entrance to the park, and enters tlie station, which is Avithin the precincts of the arsenal. l^ons. Omnibuses are always to be found on the arrival of each train. Hotels: Hotel Glineur, Rue de Nimy, (table d'liote at 2 o'clock) ; Hotel Royale, Grande Place (table d'hote, one o'clock) ; Hotel du Singe d'Or; Hotel du Due de Baviere, Rue d'Havre. Coffee-houses: Cafe Pierrard, Grande Place; de la Gaite, and de rUnion. Private dinners may be had at any of the hotels at restau- rant charges. Post-office : Palais de Justice, Rue de Nimy. Hackney coaches are always to be had on the Grande Place ; fare. If. for each course. [See Mons.] Leaving the station, the train proceeds to the right, passing a plain BRUSSELS TO QUIEVKAIN. 33 bordered on the left by Tanisel and Fleim, which are surmounted by the liigh chimiieys of the numerous coal mines in the district. On the left is seen the road from 3Ions to Valenciennes, and the canal from Mons to Conde, which unites the two towns, and which, in its course of fifteen miles, is always on the right. On the left is the village of Cuesme, which was the scene of the most frightful slauglitcr during the battle of Jemmapes. The line crosses tlie Trouille, and almost immediately afterwards the road to Valen- ciennes, wliich is seen on the right as far as Quievrain. On arriv- ing opposite the church of Fleini, the line changes its direction, and i)roceeds towards the left; a line of rail used for the conveyance of the produce of the different mines, from Flenu to the Conde canal, crosses the government line. The buildings seen on the right are called the Levant du Flenu. After crossing the Haine, the train enters the station of Jemmapes, a village rendered celebrated by the victory achieved thereby the French over the Austrians, on the Cth Novem- ber, 170-.', which decided the conquest of Belgium, and raised the fame of General Dumouriez. The first village on the right after leaving Jemmapes is Quaregnon, a commune in the canton of Boussu, with a population of 3174 souls. Near this place are the ruins of an ancient tower, known in the neighbourhood by the name of Haute Cour. At this point the rail curves to the left, to reach the direct line to the frontier of France. On either side the line are numerous country seats, standing in their own grounds, with well cultivated gardens : the land in this neighbourhood is remarkably fertile. A line of rail for the conveyance of coal crosses the main line, and a little farther on is the paved road leading from Quaregnon to the canal of Conde. The modern steeple on the left is that of Wasmue!, a commime in the canton of Boussu. The next station is that of Saint Gbislaln, before reaching which, on the left, are the important factories of Hornu. Saint Giiislain is an ancient town; its fortifications were demolisl'.ed by the French in 174 6. The road from Tournay, which branches off to the road from 3Ions to Valenciennes, passes Saint Ghislain. There is nothing worthy the traveller's notice between this place and Boussu, a commune containing 3000 inhabitants. The station stands upon part of the park of tlie domain of Caramen, from which it is separated by an iron railing. The Chateau du Comte de Caramen Avas erected on the ruins of the celebrated manor of Jean d'ilenin de Boussu. It is a boast that Philipp II., on his journey to 3Ions to be inaugurated Count of Ilainaut, visited this estate. In the church are the tombs of the family of d'ilenin, and some re- markable specimens of sculpture. From Boussu the train passes alternately on an embankment and in an entrenchment; but more D 34 BRUSSELS TO NAMUR. frequently the latter. On the i-ight is the village of Henin, and, after passing under a viaduct, the beautiful steeple of Ville-Poni' meroeul is seen in the distance, as also that of Montroeul sur Haine: and immediately the train enters the station of Tliulin, a commune of 2000 inhabitants, which has nothing worthy" the notice of travellers. Between this place and Quievrain the line presents little of interest. Quievrain has 2000 inhabitants, and is chiefly noticeable as the frontier town. The number of the custom-house officers indicates that a considerable trade is carried on with France. Hotel, Grand Dauphin. Here, passengers change from Belgian into French carriages, which convey them the rest of their way along the French line. RAILWAY EOUTE — No. 9. BBUSSELS TO NAMUR. Distance, 68 miles. Time usually occupied, 4 hours. Brussels. Ruysbroek. Loth. Hal. Lembecq. Tubize. Braine-le-Comte. Ecaussines. STATIONS. Manage. Gouy-lez-Pieton, Pont-a-celles. Luttre. Gossehes. Roux. Marchiennes. Charleroi. Chatelineau. Farciennes. Tamine. Auveiais. Moutiers. Floreffe. Kajiur. A description of the places passed on this line as far as Braine- le-Comte will be found in Route 8, pages 29 to 31. Leaving the station of Braine-le-Comte on the route to Soignies, there is a viaduct with two arches ; the train passes under the one on the left, and leaving the line to Mons on the right, and proceeding in an easterly direction, after making a considerable curve arrives at Belle-tete, wliere the line crosses a double viaduct. Soon is seen on the left the spire of a church; it is that of Ecaussines, a village remarkable for its stone quarries. The train has scarcely halted when it is again in motion, and passing along an embankment, it crosses a viaduct supported by nine arches thrown across a narrow valley, through which a stream mnds its way, and where a kind of small stone is found, used for paving. The train then proceeds almost in a direct line. On the left is tha village of Marche-les-Ecaussines, and a little farther on, on the same side, Farailleureux. This village is very ancient, and was formerly BRUSSELS TO XAML'R. 35 known by the name of Reux. Nicholas do Fameilleiix, wlio was the lord of the manor in 1224, altered its ancient name to that which it now bears. The church contains many curious old monu- ments, and among them one to the memory of the canon Nilbetzh de Bonne Esperance, vicar of the parish. The train soon crosses the Charleroi Canal, and after proceeding for some distance upon a high embankment, arrives at the station of TflansLge, in itself an unimportant hamlet, but placed between two rich communes, Seneffe, which has a population of 31G4, and Fayt, where there are several commercial establishments of import- ance. This place is celebrated as the scene of the bloody victory gained by Conde over the Allies in 1G74. Here, likewise, a battle was fought, in which the Austrians were defeated by the troops under the command of Marceau, on the 2nd July, 17»4. The chateau, in granite, was constructed in 1760 by 31. de Pestre ; it is surrounded by an extensive park. The line from 3Ianage to Gouy-lez-Pieton assumes a different aspect ; the scenery is more varied, and the work of the engineer is seen more frequently. Not the least remarkable object is the viaduct, over which passes one of the private lines of rail for the conveyance of the produce of the mines to the neighbouring canal. The tunnel of Godarville, which is equal in extent to that of liraine, is now entered. From the tunnel to Gouy-lez-Pieton the line forms a complete zig-zag, follow- ing in its course the Charleroi Canal. The ne.\t station is Font-a-celles, a commune of 2200 inhabitants. The rail fol- lows the course of the canal, on an embankment, and enters an entrenchment, at the extremity of which, on the left, is seen the hamlet of Ployet, which is crossed by a Roman road (la Chaussee Brunehaut), which passes over the rail by a viaduct. Some lines of rail for the conveyance of the machinery and the produce of the sur- rounding mines pass under the embankment, over which the train soon passes to Gosselies, which stands in the midst of a rich and populous district. Omnibuses await at the station the arrival of each train, to carry passengers to the town ; which, however, contains nothing to interest the traveller. The church is an insignificant building. Gosselies has a population of 5000 souls. The first village after leaving the station of Gosselies is that of Jumetz, situated on the left of the line. Near it is the ancient abbey of Sart-le-Moine, with a fine carved oak altar. In the distance is seen the village of Heignes. The line forms a considerable curve and enters an entrenchment, on eitlier side of which may be seen veins of coal, and other geological features. As the train emerges from the entrenchment, the church of Roux is seen a little to the right. Rouz, at which the train stops, is a pleasant villasre, with a D 2 36 BRUSSELS TO NAMUR. population of 2,200 inhabitants. From this place to Marchiennes au Tent, the line takes almost a direct course in the midst of coal pits and factories; the small railways from which repeatedly cross the main line. After passing another entrenchment, and crossing a viaduct, the train arrives at IMCarchiennes. The land hereabouts is in a high state of cultivation. Here we join the Sambre, which river we shall notice frequently on the route, for the railway crosses it no less than sixteen times before reaching Xamur. A bridge flanked by two viaducts having been passed, we reach the extensive factories of Blonceau Fontaine ; and you see also the ruins of the Abbey of Alne, distant about J A miles from Monceau. The beauty of these ruins and their picturesque position attract many Belgian visitors. After the .Sambre, the train crosses the Heure, which joins the former river; the line, till now on a curve, takes a direct course, which it maintains till it reaches Charleroi. On the height on the left are seen the coal mines of Lodelinsart, and at the foot of the hill the extensive iron foundry of la Providence. Any traveller who is anxious to see one of the Belgian foundries may visit the Providence, which, from its extent, the power of its machinery, and the number of persons employed, will give a favourable idea of these establishments. As we approach Charleroi, the fortifications become visible through the trees, after crossing a small bridge consisting of ten arches, under which there is no water; and then a wooden bridge over the ditch of the town. The train enters the station which is situated in the lower town, Charleroi, so called after its founder, Charles IT., King of Spain, Avlio ordered the erection of this important fortress in 1666, The present population does not exceed 7000 souls. This is to the traveller one of the least interesting towns in Belgium, and will scarcely repay the trouble of a sojourn. There are several good hotels, a theatre, and some coffee houses, and three newspapers pubhshed here. From the station the line curves off, and crosses the road from Charleroi to Philippeville, near the village of Mar- cinello, which is seen on the left. We then pass through the village of Couillet, celebrated for the cutlery which bears its name. On the left, after pa.-sing Couillet, is seen on an eminence Montigny sur Sambre, and further on the train halts at Chatelet, a small manufacturing town, celebrated for its earthenware. Tliere is a church, two chapels, and several well- built mansions. From Chatelet the rail crosses the road from Gilly to the Sambre, leaving Chatelineau on the left near the river, close to the village of Pont-de-Loup, on the right of the line, and passes the beautiful chateau of Beaulieu, the gardens and grounds of wliich were cut about severely to make way for the line. The next halt is at BRUSSELS TO XAMUR. 37 Farciennes, a village containing 1 500 inhabitants, and consists in part of one long and wide street. The train is again in motion, and advances on a high embankment towards the village of Moig- neioe on the left, and at a little distance on the right is an extensive glass manufactory, established in the ancient Abbey of Oignies. Here the rail again crosses the Sombre and arrives at Tazuines, an unimportant village, between which and Auvelais, which is a pretty village, the scenery becomes more picturesque than hitherto it has been. It consists of a series of rising grounds, covered with the luxuriant foliage, with here and there a village, and numerous coal mines. The sloping grounds are separated by plains most diligentl}' cultivated, and through which flows the Sambre. After passing Auvelais the train passes through an entrenchment in a few seconds, skirts the hamlet of Grand Bois, a dependence of the commune of Jemeppe, crosses the Sambre, which still pursues its capricious course through the luxuriant meadows, which it waters and refreshes on its route. The next object worthy of notice is the steeple of Ham-snr- Sambre on the right, and that of Jemeppe on the left; but scarcely have we had time to distinguisli these objects than the view is hidden from us by the rising ground at Moutiers, where the train halts. The scenery hereabouts is amongst the richest and most luxuriant in the country. The Sambre — ever the Sambre — winds and turns about in all directions, and we cross and re-cross it on our passage. The train now passes through a forest, and now amongst meadows of considerable extent, covered with velvet-like verdure. The nearer trees in full foliage stand out in fine relief before the darker wood, which forms a sort of amphitheatre in the backgroimd. In the distance, as far as the eye can reach, are rows of hills covered with foliage. On a slight elevation is situated the village of Franieres; on the left are the park and chateau of Soye, and on the other side of the viaduct, under which we are about to pass, we see the Abbey of Florefle, which stands on the slope of a hill higher than any we have yet seen. The village of X'lorefi'e, where the train stops, has 1500 inhabitants. It was formerly a place of some importance. It maintained two sieges ; one in IISS and the other in rJSl, which reduced it to the state in which it is seen now. The size and beauty of its abbey bc:ir ample witness to the liberality of its founders — the o d Counts of Namur. From the station the line crosses the Sambre three times in the im- mediate neighbourhood of Florefte, along which the river tiows on the right as far as Namur. The first object seen on emerging from the entrenchment into which the train enters from Florette, is the celebrated Abbey of ^lalonne, the steeple of which is seen on the right. It was constructed in 1651. On the left is seen on the heigl-.t the 38 NAMUR TO LIEGE. church of the hamlet of Beausse. From Tamines to Namur there are uo coal mines or factories seen ; but at intervals, country seats and ancient castles anil abbeys. The scenery now, though less attractive than at Floreffe, offers great attractions, and is very varied. The route malvcs numberless curves in following the course of the Sanibre, winds along the side of a rock, and passes at a rapid rate before Saint Croix and Salzines. At length, the citadel of Namur and the dome of the cathedral come within sight, and following a curve wliicli encircles a considerable portion of the town, the train passes a viaduct, which is crossed by tlie road from Brussels to Namur, and enters the station, which is situated near tlie Porte de Louvain. IVanxur [see Namur]. Omnibuses and other conveyances await the arrival of each train ; fare by either, ^ franc. Hut eh : D'Hars- camp, Rue de Louvain; De Flandres. Rue des Fosses; Hotel de Hollande, Place du Spectacle. Cafes: Du Commerce and Suisse, Place d'Armes. Post-Office : Rue des Fossees-Fleuris. Steamboats to Liege daily. [See Route through the Valley of the Meuse.] EAILWAY EOUTE — No. 10. NAMUR TO LIEGE. Distance, 38^ miles. Time usually occupied, l^^ hours. STATIONS, Namur. Bas-Oha. Flemalle. Marche-les Dames. Huy. Seraiug. Nameche. Amay. Ougree. Sclaygniaux. Engis. Liege. Andeunes. This being a private line, the government official lists make no mention of it. This is mean and unbecoming. The construction of this line was a work of great cost, and was carried out by English capitalists, under the superintendence of Mr. George Rennie. It runs along the left bank of and close to the river INIeuse. The station at Namur is situated without the town, near the Porte de fer. For a description of the scenery, see Route through the Valley of the 3Ieuse, pages 17 to 56. 39 EAILWAY EOUTE — No. 11. CALAIS TO COLOGNE. (By the Valley of the Melse, via Tournav, Ciiarleroi, AND Namur. STATIONS. The stations, Calais to Jlouscron, will be found enumerated and described in Route 2, pages 21, 22. Templeuve. Ligne. I.ens. Tournay. Ath. Jurbise. Havinnes. Maffles. Soignies. Bary. Attres. Brai>e-le-Comte. Leuze. Brugelette. The stations froir 1 Br dine-le-Comte to Xamur will be found desc ribed in Route 9, page 34 to 38. From the station of Mouscron the train passes, on tlie left, the commune of Ilerseaux, whicli is on the extreme frontier, and bounded on the south-east by the province of Hainaut, and after passing through a short tunnel, continues its route through a sandy soil, leaving the village Estairapuis on the left, and that of Wattre- loos, in France, on tlie right. Next come the villages of Leers-Nord and Leers-Sud (the latter is on the right in France ; the hamlets of Fournette, Tonquieres, and Estaimbourg, on the left, and Bailleul on the right. Templeuve (the next station), is a commune containing 3613 inhabitants. Leaving Templeuve, and approaching Tournay and the basin of the Scheldt, on the left may be seen a hill, on the summit of which there is a church. This is called Blount St. Aubert, from the top of which, on a clear day, the steeple of the cathedral of Antwerp may be distinctly seen. The hill forms a favourite promenade of the Tournainois. The surrounding scenery is fine and varied ; on all sides are seen clustering woods and good country seats, 'ihe whole scene is greatly improved by a view of the Scheldt, which is seen wending its way in the distant valley. As the train advances towards Tournay, the village of Froyennes and the promenade of the seven fountains is passed, after which a view of the fine old town of Tournay and the surrounding country presents itself. The five steeples of this ancient cathedral, the belfry, and fortifications, are seen to great advantage. The train here crosses the Scheldt by a viaduct. Looking towards the left you have a good view of the approach to the town, the ancient bridge in ruins," the antique houses, and those walls which have 40 LANDEN TO HASSELT, resisted so many assaults. Tlie train stops at the station, wliicli is enclosed by an iron railing. Tournay. Omnibuses await the arrival of the train. Hotels : De rimperatriee (good), Rue des ]\raux ; De la Petite Nef, Kue du Cygne ; Du Singe d'Or (moderate), Kue de la Tete d'Or. Cafes : De I'Europe and Du Palais Royal, Grand Place ; Des Sept Etoiles, Rue de la Tete d'Or. Restaurants : Huguet Bosset, Kue des Puits I'Eau ; De Guenne, Rue Picquet ; Duponchel, Rue du Cygne. The post-office is in the Rue du Cure de Notre Dame, near the cathedral. [See Tournay.] From Tournay to Ath the country presents no feature of parti- cular interest ; the land is diligently cultivated throughout. The stations along this portion of the line are, Ha^innes, Bary, Leuze, and Eigne, after which we arrive at ilth. Hotels: Cigne d'Or, and the Paon d'Or (see Ath, in route 8, page 32.) The interesting town of Enghien is within an easy distance of Ath. It has a population of 3700 inhabitants. In 1572, the lauds in tliis district were in the possession of Henry lY. of France, but this domain passed in 1607 into the hands of the Due d'Aremberg. The park, which is of considerable extent, and the chateau are fine. The pi'incipal church of Enghien is ricli in ornaments, and contains some curious pictures. In the church of the Capucins, there are the tombs of the princes of Aremberg; there is also a college which was founded by this illustrious house. Carpets and lace are made at Enghien ; of the latter, that called Paris Point is very good. The stations at which the train stops between Ath and Jurbise, are IVIaffles, Attre, and Lens. The other stations on this route, as far as Kamur, and thence by the Meuse to Liege, and so on to Cologne, will be found described in Routes 9, 14, and 1. RAILWAY EOUTE — ISTo. 12. LANDEN TO HASSELT. Distance, 17j miles. Time usually occupied, 1 hour. STATIONS. Landen. | S. Trond. I Aiken. Velm. I Cortenbasch. | Hasselt. The distance from Brussels to Hasselt is Cih miles. All the trains on the main line take up and put down passengers at Landen. Iianden is the point at wliich the line branches off from the main route to Liege and Yervier. It is the chief town of a canton in the district of Huy, and was formerly fortified. Remains of its ANTWERP TO GHENT. 41 walls may still be seen. The population at the present time does not exceed 700. Velm or "Welm (the next station) is a commune of 700 inhabitants in Limbourg, through which a Roman road passes. The line, as it nears the next station, passes Halmael, an unim- portant v. llage in the district of Hasselt, and, crossing the road from Tirlemont, stops at Saint Trond, in Flemish Sint Truyen. Hotels: de I'Europe, du Sauvage, de Brabant. Post Office : Rue de Chevaliers. In the fifth century Saint Trond was a mere village, known by the name of Sarchinium. Its present title is said to be derived from Treeden or Trudon, who, in the year 656, founded an abbey for monks of the order of St. Bernard. The town walls were built in IO-jS. Charles the Bold, after his victory over the people of Liege in 1 J6 7, ordered the walls to be demolished, because within them refuge had been given to some of the rebels, and, at the same time, ten of the in- habitants were executed. Saint Trond was formerly a dependence of Liege. It has no less than eleven churches, the principal one of which stands in a handsome square, as does also the Town Hall. There is an hospital for aged and infirm persons here, likewise a college, and many convents. The manufacture of lace is the chief occupa- tion of the inhabitants, one-sixth of whom are constantly employed in it. The line presents nothing calling for attention between this point and Hasselt, where the railway ceases at present. EAILWAY ROUTE — ^^o. 13. an"t^w:erp to ghent. (THROUGH THE PAYS DE WAES.) Distance, 31 miles. Time usually occupied, 2 hours. STATIONS. Antwerp. I St. Nicholas. I Bienveld. Beveren. | Lokeren. | Ghent. The station of this line is on the other side of the Scheldt, imme- diately opposite to Antwerp, at the fort called La Tete de Flandre, (in Flemish, Het Vlaemsche Hoofd.) This is situate in the commune of Zwyndrecht. The river is crossed in a steam-boat. The finest view of the city of Antwerp is obtained from the Tete de Flandre. The line, after quitting the station, passes through the village of 43 ANTWERP TO GHENT. Zwyndrecht, and stops, for the first time, at the station of the village of Beveren. After a delay of a few minutes, proceeds on its journey to St. N'icbolas. Hotel de Flandre. Population 18,500 inha- bitants. The streets of this town, or more properly immense village, are few, but regular and well built ; the market-place is a good square, planted with trees. In the principal church there are some paintings ; and in the town-hall, which is a modern building, there is a composition by Smeyers. The commerce of St. Nicholas, which consists chiefly in cloths of every description, is in a pros- perous state. The next station is that of IiOkeren, a town of some importance in East Flanders, for- merly a portion of the Pays de Waes, which district we shall shortly enter. The population of Lokeren, after Ghent and St. Nicholas, is the largest in the province; it contains 17,000 inha- bitants. The market-place and the quays on the river Durme are extensive and commodious. The church, which was built in the seventeenth century, boasts of one of the finest carved pulpits in the kingdom. It represents Christ with the doctors in the temple; the grouping in this work of art is very fine. A baker in the town claims to have a master-piece by Otto Venius. A considerable trade is carried on here, and bleaching grounds are very extensive. From Lokeren we proceed to the next station, Beveren, after quitting which we come to that part of East Flanders called the Pays de Waes, which, from its high state of cultivation, has been termed " the pleasure-garden of Flanders." The density of population of this province is said to be double that of Antwerp or Liege, four times that of the province of Namur, and seven times that of Luxembourg. In fact, no part of Europe is more thickly populated than the towns of St. Nicholas, Lokeren, and the twenty-six villages included in the Pays de Waes. In this district not one inch of land is left uncultivated. It is estimated that there are 5210 inhabitants for every square league of three miles of land and that out of every hundred of the population, sixty are employed in agricultural pursuits, twenty-five devote themselves to manufac- tures and trades, and fifteen to various other occupations. It may be here interesting to quote the evidence collected on the spot by a " Commissioner," sent for the purpose by the Morning Chronicle, and whose account is tluis given in that paper for Jan. 22, 1851. "The two pi'ovinces of East and West Flanders are almost exclusively Flemish; and it is here that the peculiar and distinctive features of Belgian agriculture are to be found. In most of the other provinces a system of culture is adopted which already approximates to the large farming of England, and which seeks by every available means to extend itself in that direction. In ANTWERP TO GHENT. 43 East and West Flanders, on tlie other hand, and in the portions of otlier provinces wliich abut upon East Flanders, tliere is, in practice, that kind of small farming which seeks its results through minute and assiduous personal labour, and which, by a confus^ion of terms, is very often designated as spade husbandry. In Belgium itself there is a fierce contest between tlie agronomes who have borrowed the lights of modern agricultural science, and the jjractical men Mho draw their principles and illustrations from long-tried expe- rience, as to the relative merits of the two systems of agriculture. The advocates of the Flemish system possess the advantage of being able to point to the extraordinary results which for centuries have attended its practice ; to the singular fertility attained by a soil not naturally rich — a fertility perpetually renewed by the application of manure ; and to the abundance and variety of the crops which are reared with increasing regularity. The scientific agriculturists of Belgium, on the other hand, being compelled to borrow their examples from England, pending the slow develop- ment of their system in their own country, are laid open to the imputation of being mere theorists— or, at all events, of wishing to force Belgian agriculture at too rapid a pace, and beyond its allotted limits. Flemish small farming has, perhaps, nearly reached its highest point of possible perfectibility, Speaking of the districts under cultivation, and without reference to the large tracts which have yet to be reclaimed, it may be said that the additions or im- provements which could be suggested by even the most acute and well-informed of local observers, are so small, and compara- tively so insignificant, as not to form any serious element in the calculation of future progress. " It would be a mistake to suppose that what is generally known as Flemish agriculture prevails exclusively throughout the two pro- vinces of Flanders. It is only in particular districts, such as the Fays de Waes, the environs of Ghent and Bruges, and some other large towns, that you find the extraordinary minuteness of cultiva- tion under the per.^^onal superintendence of the cultivator which has procured for Flemish agriculture its distinctive character. In the northern parts of the two provinces are situated the ' Folders,' and in the neighbourhood of Dixmude there are extensive pasturages for the rearing of cattle. There are also, in diflerent parts of the two provinces, many thousand hectares of waste land. The country, more especially in East Flanders, is very flat, and there is a con- siderable quantity of peat and bog land. " It is the boast of the admirers of Flemish agriculture that they, too, have their system, which allows them to avail themselves of all appropriate scientific discoveries. They are well aware of the popular misconceptions on the subject ; as, for instance, that the cultivation in these provinces is carried ou by spade labour, that 44. ANTWERP TO GHENT. the land is subdivided among multitudes of pauperized peasant pro- prietors, and that these follow blindly the old habits and practices of their forefathers, remaining stationary amid a general progress and improvement. They maintain that the average production of Avlieat and barley in their provinces is equal to that of England — "while in some districts it is greater than what has resulted with us from our liigh farming in its most perfect development ; that they can rear a greater proportion of cereals on a given surface ; tliat, moreover, they rear to advantage the textile and oleaginous plants ; and that, although their distribution of crops may be more exhausting than tliat of tlie system of alternate crops, they are able, by what they call tlieir recoltes derobees, to replenish the soil. In the other provinces of Belgium the new school of agriculturists seek nothing less than a total revolution in the existing system ; but the Flemish cultivator lias no fear of any such change, partly because the law of division of property impedes the making of large farms, and partly because the results obtained by the present practice are so favourable that there is no temptation to change. " The popular notion is, tliat the careful and minute cultivation of portions of Belgium results from the constant use of spade- labour. The regularly parcelled properties, Avith their little cot- tages, trim gardens, and chessboard-like fields, seem to be on so small a scale that nothing much more unwieldy than the spade could be used with any effect. The trenches and furrows, too, are lined with a regularity, and are smoothed with a care seeming to indicate direct hand-labour. In many of the little farms every inch of ground appears to be so occupied that there would not be room to turn a plough. It is, however, a great mistake to suppose that the spade is used to any large extent by the Flemish peasant cul- tivator. On the contrary, even in the smallest and most bijou-like of these little holdings, the plough is the great instrument of cul- tivation — the spade being only used exceptionally, and for the purpose of perfecting the work wliich the plough has left in the rough. But it should be added that the spade is used by some careful cultivators, where it is an object to have the furrows very deep. In preparing the ground for flax, and for some tubercles, the spade is very much used ; but it will vanish, and is rapidly vanish- ing, before some of the later inventions for the simplifying of labour. For the Flemish peasant-cultivator, although he has not been instructed in the science of economy, quite understands its practice. He knows well that the less labour he expends upon cul- tivation the less costly will be the produce, and the more free his time for those industrial occupations which he joins to his agricul- ture. In the Pays de Waes the spade is frequently used, but not as the principal instrument. In some places it is used to turn the soil once in three years :sometimes once in two years ; and in many ANTWERP TO GHENT. 45 of these small farms the spade is only used to finish off, as it were, tlie work of the plough. In the portions of a farm devoted to flax tlie spade is almost exclusively used ; but as a nine years' rotation of crops prevails very generally in the best-cultivated districts of the two Flanders, and as flax forms only a small proportion of each year's allotment of the soil, it follows that the spade is not extensively employed. Its advantages are well understood, how- ever, and in some leases there is an express stipulation, binding the tenant to use the spade every year as regards a portion of his farm. But the spade is not destined to hold much longer even this place in Flemish agriculture. It will give way before perfected instruments, and, above all, before the sub-soil plough. It may naturally be supposed that the modes of cultivation diller, more or less, with the nature of the soil in the different agricultural regions. The finest specimens of Flemish agriculture are to be found in the sandy region, wherein is situated the celebrated Pays de Waes. From the statements and calculations of a highly intelligent practical agriculturist who is intimately acquainted with East and West Flanders, the following brief notice of the Flemish system has been written, after some of the best farms have been subjected to my own personal observation and examination. "The advance made by modern agriculture consists in the sub- stitution of the system of alternate for that of triennial crops. Two hundred years ago, Flanders emancipated her agriculture from what is called the Jachere — that is to say, the obligation on the tenant of leaving the land fallow once in three years. For this was substituted the cultivation of forage. The alternate system is applied, in some parts of Belgium, even in connexion with the three years" leases; one year being devoted to grain, the next to tubercles and forage, and the third to grain again. But this system is exhausting in the extreme. Where the leases are longer, allowing of a six years' rotation, the alternate system prevails with much mitigation of this evil ; but it is difficult so to arrange the rotation of crops as to prevent exhaustion on the one hand, or waste of means on the other. The admirers of Flemish agriculture contend that by their system alternate culture is maintained, but with a multiplication of its advantages. Instead of having one year wheat, and the next tubercles and forage, they obtain the latter during the same year, by means, partly of simultaneous, and partly of second crops. Instead of giving half their soil to cereals, and the other half to forage and tubercles, they devote three-fifths to cereals, and give the other to the cultivation of flax, hemp, rape-seed, chicory, and so forth. Tliey have a second crop of turnips after the rye ; they mix a crop of carrots with the flax ; and by these means, with the tubercles which they include in their original distribution, they clean and prepare the soil for the next year's crop. Their grand 40 ANTWERP TO GHENT. principle is to produce as much grain as possible with as Httle exliaustion of the soil. The secret of this they find in the alternate system, and they multiply the advantages of that system by a more frequent alternation than can be attained under the old system of alternating from year to year only. " The following is the distribution of crops on a small farm of 33 arpents (each arpent answering as nearly as possible to an English acre) of a mixed clayey and sandy soil : — 10 arpents of rye, 4 ditto of wheat, 3 ditto of oats, 3 ditto of buckwheat, 2 ditto of barley, 3 ditto of flax, 3 ditto of clover, 3 ditto of potatoes, 1 ditto of carrots, 1 ditto of lucerne and ' recoltes derobees ' " This forms the first or principal crop ; but there is also a second crop, consisting of 12 arpents of turnips, after the rye and barley, and 1 arpent of carrots, sown with the flax. Flemish agriculture regards clover, flax, buckwheat, and beans, as croj)s that give rest to the soil. " It will be seen that in the above distribution 9 arpents are devoted to crops of this character ; while in the first crop there are 4 arpents of racines and tubercles (the carrots and potatoes), and in the second 13 arpents of the same species ; both kinds of crops being calculated to prepare the soil for a repetition of the grain crops. This mode of distribution also provides plenty of forage for the cattle. Tlie system, however, is one which demands a large quantity of manure — considerably more than could be produced on a farm of that size. It is in this respect that the intelligence of the Flemish cultivator is developing itself. It is only very lately, however, that he has become sufficiently alive to the necessity of procuring artificial manure, or of increasing the means of producing it on his farm. " \Yhen considering tlie state of agriculture in the Pays de Waes, it will be found that much of the extraordinary fertility of tliat rich and productive district arises from the great pains taken by the cultivators to procure manure. Besides making the most of the ordinary manure of the farm, and obtaining artificial manures from the neighbouring towns, they have also, of late years, begun the use of guano; but the spread of this manure has been much prevented in Flanders, as well as in the rest of Belgium, by the shameful adulteration to which it has been subjected. The evil has reached to such a height that the Government have been compelled to interfere, in the hope of bein? able to make arrangements with respectable firms, from whom the real guano can be obtained." Tlirough a portion of the country thus referred to the tourist travels on this route. Every station on this line is a busy centre of industry. But whilst the quotation we have just given is being read, the train moves on, and quickly reaches its final point in the station of Client, where omnibuses wait to take the traveller and his baggage to his hotel. (See Ghent.) 47 ROUTE THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE MEUSE. {From the French to the Dutch Frontier.) English tourists have not hitherto sufficiently estimated the beauty and the variety of the scenery on the banks of the ileuse. This may be attributed to the fact of the valley being somewhat out of the beaten track of travel ; but now that a railway has been opened along the most beautiful part of the banks, there is no doubt that many travellers who passed along unheeding, will avail themselves of the new facilities now offered for viewing some of the most picturesque scenery in Europe. Tlie IVIeuse, one of the principal navigable rivers in Belgium, rises in France, in the department of the Haute Martie, a few miles from Langres, and enters Belgium, above Givet, between the villages of Heer and Agimont. The French portion of this river is uninteresting. Tlie ordinary traveller will first meet the stream at Xamur, where the Sambre and the Meuse join their waters. From Namur to Liege he will see the most rem;irkable portion of its banks, but if he desires to spend more time over it, he may, from Namur, ascend the stream to Dinant, or further, as he pleases ; and then, descending it again, pass on beyond Liege to Maestricht. In our description of the Valley of the Meuse, we shall pass along the river from tlie French frontier to that of Holland. Ag-imont is the first village on the Meuse after it quits the frontier of France. Here may still be seen the ruins of an ancient castle, the tower and portions of wall are still standing on the summit of a rock. On the opposite side is seen the village of Heer. From the highest point of this village there is a panoramic view of the course of the river, with Givet and the ramparts of Char.'emont prominently seen. Tlie next village is that of Hermcton, on the left, near to a stream of the same name, sometimes called — why, does not appear— Fombay. It was here that the bishops of Liege demanded the tonnage-dues from tlie boatmen ; but the latter, con- sidering the tax to be unjust, took every means to evade payment, and hence many a contest in ancient days. After passing Hormeton, we arrive at Hastiere, divided by the Meuse into two parts, known as Hastiere Lavaux and Hastiere-par-dela — the latter is on the right. In the first of these villages, which has 4-50 inhabitants, there are some paper mills and other manufactories ; the latter, now an unimportant hamlet, once boasted a celebrated abbey. This was demolished by the Calvinists, all that now remains of its former grandeur being a few remnants of the walls. 'Waalsort is the next village. Florennes Eilbert here founded. 48 ROUTE THROUGH THE in 944, an abbey for Benedictine monks, to expiate his sin in having caused the destruction of a church and a village. This abbey, which has since been rebuilt in the original style, is at pre- sent a fine chateau. Ou the right of Waulsort, still descending, we reach the hamlet of Falznigrnoulet remarkable for the ruins, seen on the top of the hill, of an ancient fortified castle, called Chateau Thierry, so called after Thierry, Marquis of Namur, who erected the chateau in 819, In 1554, after having been in the possession of many remarkable persons, it was taken and dismantled by the French. These ruins, which form one of the most picturesque features of the banks of the Meuse, at present belong to the family of Beaufort-Spontin. Leaving these ruins on the right, and following the course of the stream for some time, we arrive opposite the Chateau de Freyr, a magnificent residence, placed at the bottom of the valley, in the midst of splendid gardens, from which the wild and mountainous scenery of the riglit bank of the river is seen to great advantage. It was in this chateau that the treaty of commerce between Louis XIV. and Charles II. of Spain was signed. The treaty is known as that of De Freyr. In addition to the chateau and its grounds, there is a grotto here, of great antiquity, but which was lost sight of for many years, and only brought to light in 1819. This cui-ious structure is situated eighty feet below the surface of the Meuse, the entrance to it is through a passage formed of rock and shells, tlie extraordinary disposition of which bear testimony to the geological revolutions which the locality must have undergone. The Grotte de Freyr is composed of eight sepa- rate apai-tments, filled with curious geological specimens. It derives its name from Freda, or Frea, tlae Venus of the Xorth, who, it is said, had a temple in this locality. It is likewise stated, that the grotto had been used for the celebration of some religious cere- mony; and that when it was discovered in 1819, a Roman vase, or urn, was found cemented in the wall. Leaving both cliateau and grotto of Freyr to follow the fantastic meanderings of the stream, we find, on the right, one of the most picturesque scenes imaginable. Immediately above the httle village of Aaseremme, on the right, the river Lesse joins the Meuse. The grotto of Han is one of the attractions of this spot, and may be visited conveniently from Diuant; it is one of the chief attractions on the river Lesse. Tlie grotto is entered by means of a boat, the proprietor of which serves as a guide. Tliis natural curiosity exhi- bits a series of large caverns, each one bearing some particular name. The guide is always provided wth torches, which show the wonderful formation of the rocks, roof, and sides. On the way through this wonderful place, some of the chambers are passed over a bridge, capable of accommodating only one person at a time, and VALLEY OF THE MEUSE. 49 beneath, at a fearful depth, rolls a torrent, which in its passage makes a frightful noise, echoed and re-echoed like thunder, by the rocks. Other chasms are pa!>sed by climbing almost perpendicular projections of rocks; and one chamber, called the Chambre des Ilenard, is only to be passed by crawling on hands and feet. But to describe in detail the many wo; ders contained in this grotto would occupy more space than can be devoted to such a purpose, and even then no idea of the friglitful grandeur of it could be con- veyed. Those who have courage for such tasks may explore it for themselves. Leaving the grotto of Han, and the river Lesse, we return to the Meuse, the first point of note on which, after passing the chateau of Roche Bayard — a delightful spot, often chosen by artists as a subject for pictures — we arrive at Itinant (Hotel de la Porte). This town was formerly called Dinunt, a name nearly resembling that of the chaste goddess, to whom a temple was dedicated near this place. Dinaut is a place of but little importance, except to the traveller in search of the pic- turesque and beautiful, from whom it deserves especial notice, standing as it does at the foot of high rocks, on the bank of the charming Meuse. Dinant has had its troubles; Philip "the Good" gave it up to pillage for three days, and ordered sOO of the inhabit- ants to be tied two and two, and thrown into the river, in revenge for their having hanged certain messengers wliom he had sent demanding the surrender of the town ; the fortifications were at that time destroyed, by order of the same monarch. The emperor, Charles the Bold, allowed them to be rebuilt ; but they were no sooner completed, than the people of Dinant again offended, and were again severely punished. Amongst the objects best worthy of notice in the town, are the church of Notre Dame, a curious old structure, which replaces a more ancient church, destroyed in 1-225, by the falling of an immense mass of rock. Next to the church the citadel claims attention. The first fortress which was con- structed on the rock commanding Dinant, was erected in 1040 ; this was rebuilt in 1530, by Erard de Lamarck, and was replaced, in 1818, by a citadel constructed according to the modern rules of the art of fortification. Dinant has suffered much from inundations caused by the re- peated overflowings of the Meuse. In the year 1309 many houses were destroyed by the rising of the waters, and several of the inhabitants were drowned. Subsequently, in 1460, a great portion of the town was several feet underwater, and in 1.573 the bridge across the river was carried away by the force of the current, and the water again rose to a considerable lieight. The particulars of this inunda- tion will be found recorded in several parts of the town ; the date appears prominently on one of the pillars in the nave of the church E 50 ROUTE THROUGH THE of Notre Uame. The town sufFerecl from another destructive inun- dation in 1658; this is recorded in an inscription on the front of a house in the Rue Neuve ; it is as follows : — " 1658, En Fevrier la riviere m\i baysez." Mention is made of other and frequent over- flowings of the stream, more particularly of those which took place in 1731 and 1812. On quitting Dinant, the first place is the tower Crevecoeur, and some remains of the fortress erected, in 1321, by the inhabitants of Bouvignes. The tower of Crevecoeur commands the formerly im- portant town of Bouvignes, which now only has 800 inhabitants. At this place they tell of the heroic death of the ladies called les Chatelaines de Crevecoeur, who, when the town was sacked by Henry II., to avoid violation threw themselves from the highest walls of the tower. Looking back up the river upon Bouvignes and Dinant, the scene is one not surpassed in the whole course of the stream. About three miles from Bouvignes is the fortress of Montaigne, constructed in the twelfth century, on the site of an ancient Roman camp. This was destroyed during the contention between the Liegeois and their partisans and the house of Burgundy. The ruins form a very beautiful object in the landscape. Vis-a-vis d'ilnbee. Here there is a pretty church, con- taining a few pictures. The formidable castle of Poilvache, memorable in the wars of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, is now in ruins. It was in the latter period that it was taken by Henry II. ^Ye pass successively Houx and Yvoir. The latter possesses a curious fountfiin, which emits a stream of pure water at every precise interval of seven minutes. We next see, on the left, Annevoye, Rouillon, and Rocber aux Corneilles, and several villages in succession, until we reach Wamur. (See Namur.) There is a regular steamboat communication between Namur and Liege, and also a railway between these towns. The traveller who is in great haste will prefer the latter mode of transit. After quitting Namur, as the dome and steeples of the numerous churches become lost in the distance, we arrive at a long line ol rocks of a most picturesque form and aspect, on the left of the stream ; they are called Les Grandes Malades, so named after an hospital established for the reception of patients affected with con- tagious diseases. From these rocks most of the black marble in such general use throughout the country is procured. On the summit of the Grandes Malades there is a village of 300 inhabitants, called BourgeS' It was in this locality, in the year 1578, that the governor-general of the Netherlands, the vanquisher of Lepanto, VALLEY OF THE MEUSE. 51 Don Juan of Austria, breathed hig last. Xear to this spot is tlie hermitage of St. Hubert, which consists of a small house and a ciiapel. The first village from Xamur on the right is Xiives. Here is one of the many choice views which the scenery of this river presents at almost every step : the right presents one mass of rock of the wildest form ; whereas to the left we have rich meadows, with the magnificent and lofty rocks of Marche les Dames in the distance. The scenery to the right, instead of wild, rocky views, represents luxuriant foliage and plains, divided here and there by some small streams, imparting a freshness and variety to the whole. On the left is seen the fine mansion of 3Iarche les Dames, the residence of the Due d'Arenberg ; it is well situated, and the building gives additional character to the scene. It was in this locality that the ancient abbey of Marche les Dames was situated. It took its name from the fiict that 139 ladies retired here to await tlie return of tlieir husbands from the Holy Land: most of them waited in vain, and those who found themselves widows remained in the convent. Iron mines abound in this part of tlie country, as may be seen by the quantities of mineral produce along the borders of the river. The summit of the rocks of Marche les Dames, after nearing, as it were, the waters, rise again majes- tically, and impart to the landscape a grandeur difficult to describe. Approacliing Roche Samson, we pass ^ameclie, a pleasant village of 450 inhabitants, formerly posses.sing a collegiate church, with six canons. Under Pope Adrian YI. it became the priory of the order of Cluny. In 13C0, this domain was united to Xaraur. The church of Xameche con- tains the tombs of some of the old lords of the surrounding domains. The stone quarries in this neighbourhood afford occupation to a number of workmen. From this point, as far as Huy, the river is studded with a number of small islands, which render the naviga-. tion somewhat difficult, and the best passage for tlie steamboat is found to be close to the bank. At Bo utieril/e, which is a depen- dence of tlie commune of Schlayn, there is a fine Gothic mansion. Behind the rocks, on the left bank, is hidden Schlayniaux, a small hamlet. Tlie neighbourhood of Seilles abounds in stone quarries and lime kilns. Andennes is a small town, remarkable for the manufacture of porcelaine, &c. Pa.ssing the remains of an old Koman bridge, we leave on the right the Ch;"itcau de Gobeche ; from this point the country around is entirely in the province of Liege. The steamer now approaches Huy; after pa.ssing O'/rw, we arrive opposite to lien, where there are several old mansions ; the most remarkable is tliat of Ahin. A wall in i-uins, seen on the heights, is all that remains of Beaufort Castle, a building mentioned in the chronicles as long since as the thirteenth century. It was formerly in the possession of the Counts of Namiir. Not far from Beaufort, E '2 0-2 ROUTE THROUGH THE there is a curious grotto, which contains many noticeable fossil remains: it is called le Trou Mateau. The next village, after passing a number of small islands, is Basoha, containing G30 inhabitants. It is a j)leasant village, standing in the midst of most romantic scenery. On the left a small chapel is seen, it is that of the cemetery of St. Huy. At this point the rocks on the one side overhang the river, whilst on the opposite bank we have delight- ful open scenery. In the midst of a verdant plain stands a country house, called Saint Victor ; it is the residence of the ancient minister, Lebeau. Some time before reaching Huy, the walls and fortifications are seen to great advantage, as is also the stone bridge and the church. On the left there are some mansions of the sixteenth century. Huy is eighteen miles from Liege and fifteen from Namiir. The formidable position of the fortress of this ancient town has always rendered it celebrated. Its castle served not only as a fortress, but occasionally as a state prison. The town stands in a hollow ; the inhabitants numbering about 7000. They are employed in various branches of manufacture, including paper mills, sugar refineries, tan- neries, distilleries, and iron works of various sorts. In many parts of tlie sarrounding neighbourhood the vine is well cultivated, and a wine manufactured which affords a good light drink, somewhat resembling Moselle, but scarcely known in otiier parts of Belgium. The church of Notre Dame at Huy is one of the best specimens of Gothic architecture in the country ; its date from the fourteenth cen- tury. The traveller should certainly visit this church, and take particular note of the porch, called Portail de la Yierge. The bridge of Iluy consists of seven arches ; it was erected in 10 8G, in the place of the ancient bridge, which was washed away by the force of the current, after having stood four hundred years. Peter the Hermit died at Huy in 1115, at which place he sought an asylum, in 1108, in the monastery of Neufmoustier, of which he was the founder. From the river there is a very fine view of the citadel of Huy and the surrounding neighbourhood, which abounds in neat country residences, &c., standing in extensive grounds, parks, or gardens. The road from Namur to Liege, m hich as far as Huy follows the course of the river on the riglit, crosses the stream, and runs along the left bank. On passing the village of Tiharge, and nearly opposite to it, there is a curious old country- house. A little further on stands the zinc manufactory of Cor- phales. After passing several other factories and detached mansions we arrive at the village of Amay, chiefly remarkable for its church, which was founded by St. Ode in the seventh century. The exterior has been somewhat defaced by repairs, executed a la moderne. The interior contains some pieces of sculpture by Delcour, and a richly chased silver reliquary, containing " the relics VALLEY OF THE MEUSE. 53 of St. Ode." The next object to interest the traveller is the Abbey of Flone, on the left bank. The village does not contain one hundred inhabitants, but the position of the abbey is charming. This abbey was founded in lusO, and endowed with great privi- leges; the abbot bore the mitre and crosier, and was subject only to the pope. 1 he next place is the hamlet of 3Iaillieu, situated on the left. The scenery around is much diversified, and in the distance, perched on the rock, is seen the castle of Chokier, near to which we shall shortly pass. The river now becomes larger, forming a sort of basin, and we now pass the village of Engis; and a little further, but at some distance from the river, the new Chateau d'Aigremont. This chateau and the Amyrs are celebrated in the annals of Liege. It was at Aigremont that William de la Lamarck, le Sanglier des Ardennes, took up his residence, but being closely pressed by Louis de Bourbon, bishop of Liege, who, in 14 74, attacked him with a superior force, he was compelled to abandon the castle, which was taken possession of and dismantled by the prince-bishop. The English reader will here remember Sir Walter Scott and Quentin Durward. Les Amyrs is an ancient village. It was made into a county by the Emperor Kodolphe II. in 1590. We now have reached the foot of the chateau of Chokier, already mentioned. The facade of this building is quite modern, and in Itself presents nothing remarkable; but its position, standing on the summit of a high rock, and commanding an uninterrupted view of the surrounding delightful scenery, renders it an object of great interest, alike to the general tourist and the artist. Until lately it was occupied by an English otiicer, who received a number of gentlemen to prepare them for tlie military colleges. After we pass the chateau of Chokier, the scenery is no longer of the wild romantic stamp. We now see instead, at every step, the result of machinery and of the labour and skill of the artificer. Old chateaux and other large buildings, converted into iron and coal works, abound on either side. The immense glass works on the bank here are worthy of particular mention. The building now occupied as a glass factory was formerly the abbey of Val Saint Latnbeit, founded by the bishop Huges de Pierrepont at the com- mencement of the thirteenth century. Trade has superseded the monks in possession of the place. The village of Fleraalle is next passed; it deserves mention as being long tlie residence of Bertliolet the painter. The village of riemelle-Grande is a ricli and populous commune. The church adjoining the chateau is remarkable for its antiquity ; it dates from the fourteenth century. Zuentibold, king of Lorraine, was its founder. Leaving the coal mines of ilarihaye on the left, we reach Seraingr, a village on the right of the Meuse, which has been 54? ROUTE THROUGH THE rendered celebrated by the engineering establishments founded there by Mr. Jolni Cockerill. This establishment only dates back as far as 1816, and it only began to develop its wonderful resources in 1823. Seraing gave employment to upwards of 2.300 men wlien it was in full play. The castle of Seraing, formerly the residence of the bishop princes of Liege, was changed into an hospital at the time of the French revolution; but in 1819 anotlier change was made. Mr. John Cockerill became the proprietor of the property, and com- menced his works; and in 1821 he constructed the first smelting furnace with coke, known in the province. The establishment of Seraing is divided into three divisions, the workshops, iron foundry, and coal mines. All the material, and all the appliances necessary for tlie iron manufacture, from tlie smaller article to the locomotive engine, is obtainable within the walls of this establishment. It has within its boundaries a coal mine, from which the fuel is procured, a mine of iron, and the needful labour for the conversion of the metal into articles of commerce. Opposite Seraing, the river is crossed by a suspension bridge, which unites the commune of Seraing with the village of Jemeppe. On the left is the village of Tilleur, which con- tinues this long route of factories, which extend from the Yal Saint Lambert to the frontier of Holland. After passing the steam mills of Yal Benoit, and the railway bridge newly thrown across the stream, we approach Ziieg'e (see Liege). The portion of the river which remains to be described, viz., from Liege to 3Iaestricht, presents a very different aspect to the part we have already spoken of. The scenery is no longer of the same wild and romantic description. After passing the canon foundry of St. Leonard, the byzantine tower of St. Bar- thelemy, the citadel of the Chartreuse in the distance, we arrive at the village of Herstal, formerly the residence of Pepin le Gros. Herstal Avas a residence of the kings of France, and here Charlemagne celebrated the feast of Easter for three successive years. This estate was in the possession of the house of Nassau in the fifteenth century. On the death of William the Third of England, a severe contest arose between two members of this family, which ended only in 1732, by a decision which gave the estate of Herstal to Frederick AYilliam of Prussia. Nearly opposite to Herstal is the chateau of Jupille, which was, according to some writers, the residence of Pepin ; while Her- stal was, as the name implies, only the stable — Heer-stall, or Heeren- stall, of tliat monarch. The chateau which is seen on the right bank is that of Cheratte, standing in a village of tlie same name, Miiich has a population of 2000 souls, whose chief occupation is working tiie coal mines, and manufacturing fire-arms and woollen cloth. Beyond this point the river takes a considerable curve to the left, divides into two branches, and reunites opposite the com- VALLEY OF THE MEUSE. 55 mune of Yivegiiies on the left. Still further on, on the same side, is tlie village of Oupeye. The only occupation of the inhabitants, 750 in nunibLT, is working a mine of a peculiar species of coal. Hemallef the next place we n ach, is a commune, the import- ance of which has of late increased, in consequence of the establish- ment in the locality of divers manufactories, worked by steam. The church, which was erected in 711, by Saint Hubert, was demo- lished some time since, and an insignificant structure erected in its place. The stream next runs close to the country-seat, called Argenteau, which stands on a rock, and has a picturesque appear- ance. Not far from Argenteau is seen on the eminence the village of Saelbem. Agriculture is the chief employment of the l.'OO inhabitants of this place. As the steamboat halts a short distance farther on to disembark and take in passengers, it afibrds a favourable opportunity of in- specting the little town of Vise, the old houses of which advance to the water's edge. It boasts an ancient church, founded by the Princess Bertha. In the twelfth century Vise was the scene of a sanguinary conflict between the Limbourgeois and the son ot Henry lY., when disputing for the possession of the bridge across the Meuse. The bridge, which was erected in the ninth century, was carried away in 1408 by the floating ice, and so efiectually was it destroyed, that not a single vestige of it could be found. Adolphus de Lamarck, bishop of Liege, fortified Yis^ in 1334. It was here that Louis XIY. esta- blished his head-quarters during the siege of Maestricht. Of the many convents and other religious houses which once existed here, only one simple church remains. The ancient college of the Oratorians is now occupied by a soap-boiler. Yi.-^e was the birth- place of the mathematician Shtze, wlio will be remembered by 1 is correspondence with Pascal. Above Yise, the river Berwinne flows into the Meuse. The next place is I>ixhe, where the steamer stops for a short time, and here the Belgian custom-house oflScers examine the luggage of passengers coming from Maestricht. Lixlic, Loen, and N'ivelle, form one commune, bordered on the nortli and the west by Belgian Limbourg, and on the east by Dutch Limbourg, which reaches beyond the confluence of the Berwinne, and thence all along the right bank of the Meuse. The first village on the right past the Berwinne is Eysden, where the Dutch custom-house officers, wlio are gene- rally civil and obliging, come on board to examine the baggage. This is generally but a short operation, and very soon the steamer pursues her course between the two territories — that of Holland on the right and Belgium on the left. Beyond some calcareous mountains which are seen in the distance, opens the valley of tl:e 56 THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. Jaer, or Geer. From Naye, a village of 720 inhabitants, there is a fine view — the finest yet seen since leaving Liege. On the summit of a row of hills is seen the chateau of Caster, and that of Lichtemberg; the tower of the latter, according to some writers, is the remains of the work of the Roman legion under Julius Caesar. Here is the celebrated I^ontag'ne St. Pierre, where, in days of old, the Romans establislied a formidable camp, the vast quarries in the interior of which have been known as the Cryptes de Maestricht. The hill is nearly 200 feet high. The traveller, if he has leisure, will be repaid for his trouble by a visit to the Cryptes de St. Pierre, where, in addition to many natural curiosities, there are a number of ancient inscriptions and grotesque designs to be seen. Guides are to be had to show the wonders of these subterranean chambers, and the traveller will be sure to hear the true and particular, though melan- choly, account of many tourists who lost their way and perished of hunger in tlie depths of the cavern — having ventured without a guide ! The entrance to these excavations is on the Tongres road, and has an imposing aspect. The steamer continues its route for a short distance further, and after leaving the ancient convent of Recollets, and the Fort Saint Pierre on the left, stops alongside the walls of Maestricht, near to which is a public garden, formed within the last few years from a portion of the ramparts. THE EOUTE 0]^ THE EHIXE. The tourist must make the plan for his tour on the Rhine with one fact fully in mind. It is this : that only one small portion of the river presents that concentration of picturesque scenery which has given the stream its reputation — that portion lying between Bonn (or, more strictly, Coblentz) and Bingen. The traveller who takes the steamer from Cologne to Mayence passes all that is worth seeing — and something more. After Cologne has been examined, perhaps the very best plan is to take the rail to Bonn — a trip which occupies one hour. Fare, ten silbergrosch. Trains generally from six a.m. to half-past seven p.m. The line runs through an uninteresting country. This short run may be taken in the evening, after the tourist has spent the day at Cologne. He may then sleep at Bonn, and be ready early in the morning for the investigations of a new locality. Luggage is weighed at Cologne, and ticketed, and the traveller must pay for excess of baggage. The scenery, as you pass along, is tame, until you approach Bonn and the Siebengeberge. No one THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. 57 stops on the way. There is a royal palace at Bruhl, but it scarcely possesses sufficient interest to justify a visit from the passing stranger. Queen Victoria was entertained there by the King of Prussia, in 1845. There are several good hotels at Bonn, (see BoNX.) The one of greatest repute is the Golden >Star, which, however, is rather dear. The Grand Hotel Royal is good. 1 hose who stay in Bonn will find a very fine view from the summit of the Kreugsberg, four miles distant, through i'oppelsdorf, to reach which you pass through a magnificent avenue of chesnuts. A glance at the Museum will pay for the trouble, as there are some very admirably executed models of the country through which the Rhine passes, forming a sort of bird's-eye view — towns, rivers, lakes, and streams, all coloured to imitate nature. Many persons intending to ascend the Riiiue leisurely, after having taken the railway to Bonn, pro- ceed from thence by omnibus, or private chaise, (of which there are plenty to be hired at the Bonn terminus.) without staying at Bonn, to Godesberg, a village four miles from Bonn, where there is an excellent hotel, and you are close to the Drachenfels. This is a good plan if the traveller does not care for Bonn, as he is then close to a steamboat-landing at Godesberg, and in the immediate vicinity of some very grand and beautiful scenery. If the tourist prefers steam on the river to steam on the railway, he will embark at Cologne for his upward journey. Opposite Cologne he will see Deutz, close to the bridge of boats, where there is a large and good, but expensive, hotel, the Bellevue. On the banks of the river he will pass in succession, as he ascends, the villages of Poll (left), Westhoven (1.), Ensen (1.), Portz (1.), Weiss (right), Xied. and Ob. Zundorf (1.), Surdt (r.), Langel (1.), Godorf and Wesseling, where there is a castle (r.), Liilsdorf (1.) By the time these have been passed, half the passage to Bonn is coniple4e, and the tourist will be weary of discovering the names of unin- teresting places. The banks present no objects of interest, and he will begin to regret, probably, that he did not adopt the railway route. As, however, he is now on the Rhine, and will be called on constantly to say what wine he will take with his dinner, he may here very fitly amuse the way by seeing what Mr. Cyrus Redding, tlie historian of the product of the grape, has to urge in favour of the wines of this famous river. Turning to the volume of that connoisseur, we find him saying — From Bonn to Coblentz, and from the latter city to Jlayence. the country is covered with vineyards. The Johannisberger of ' father' Rhine, the Gruenhaeuseror the Braunebergerof the 3Ioselle, and the Hockheimer of the Mayn, each distinguish and hallow their respective rivers in the eyes of the connoisseur in wine. "Wiioever has visited the noble Rhine must have felt sensible of the beauty of its vineyards, covering steep and shore, interlaced with the most 58 THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. romantic ruins, towns ancient and venerable, smiling villages, and tlie rapid broad German river, reflecting the rich scenery on its banks. From ileutz even to Bonn the vineyards of tlie Rhine are observed to greater advantage tlian any similar cultivation in other countries : Erbach, enthroned on its vines ; the Rheingau, its Johannisberg on a crescent hill of red soil, adorned with cheering vegetation ; Mittelheim, Geisenheim, and Riidsheim with its strong, fine-bodied wine, the grapes from which bask on their promontory of rock, in the summer sun, and imbibe its generous heat from dawn to setting; tlien, again, on the other side, Bingen, delightful, sober, majestic, with its terraces of vines, topped by the chateau of Klopp. The river and its riches, the corn and fruit which the vicinity pro- duces, all remind the stranger of a second Canaan. Tlie Bingerloch, the ruins, and the never-failing vines scattei'ed among them, like verdant youth revelling amid age and decay, give a picture nowhere else exhibited, uniting to the joyousness of wine the sober tuige of meditative feeling. Tiie hills back the picture, covered with feudal relics or monastic remains, below Asmannhausen to Lorcli, mingled with the purple grape. Bacliaracli is near, the wine of which — probably the fancy of the drinkers having changed, is now pro- nounced second-rate in quality, tliough, not long ago, even the French celebrated it in their Bacchanalian songs — is still very good, fashion may say what it chooses. Landscapes of greater beauty, joined to the luxuriance of fruitful vine-culture, can nowhere be seen ; perhaps there is something to be added, for the alliance of Avine, and its agreeable qualities, ^vith the noble sceneiy of the river. The mind will have its associations upon all subjects. To the north of Coblentz tlie wines are of little comparative note, though Bodendorf, near Bonn, has been said to produce a Rhenish wine of tlie second growth, thus far to the north. Coblentz is about the latitude of Plymouth, while Mayence itself is nearlj^ on the same parallel with the Lizard in Cornwall. Either on the Rhine, or on its tributary rivers between these two places, all the most celebrated A\ines of Germany are grown. None of the better wines of France are grown so far to the north. It is at Coblentz that the soil first becomes particularly well adapted for the cultivation of the vine. The right bank descending is most noted for its wines ; but the vineyards, in many parts, cover both banks The grapes which are preferred for general cultivation are the riessUng; a small white species, harsh in taste, but in hot seasons furnishing a remarkably excellent wine, having a fine bouquet ; the kleinberger, a productive species, which ripens easily ; and a small Orleans variety. The produce of all the vineyards it is impossible to ascertain. The circle of Coblentz contains nearly 17,000 Prussian acres, each of which is calculated to yield wine of about fifteen pounds sterling annually in value. The circle of Treves, containing THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. 59 2300 acres, gives an annual product of thirty-nine pounds sterling each acre. In Wirtemberfr, the product of the kingdom, or of 61,r,i4 acres, has been valued at 3,990,831 florins. The true Hock- heimer is grown in a little spot of about eight acres to the eastward of Mentz, between that place and Frankfort. Each acre contains 4O00 plants. The produce, in a tolerable year, is twelve large caiks, wliich sell for about 1.50 pounds each. Worms wa.s formerly reported to grow 1.50 fudders within the territories of the city, ' sweeter than virgin's milk (liebfrauen milch).' The vintage does not take place until the grapes are perfectly mature ; they are then carefully gathered, the bad fruit picked out, and, with the stalks, put aside. The wine of the pressings is sepa- rated, mont i-oin erxteii druck, rom nuckdruck. The more celebrated of these wines are all fermented in casks ; and then, after being repeatedly racked, suffered to remain for years in large fudders (a common fuder, or fudder, contains only -250 gallons) to acquire perfection by time. These huge casks contain each about 3-50 tuns. The wines mellow best in large vessels; hence the celebrated Heidelberg tun, thirty-one feet long by twenty-one high, and holding 150 fudders, or (;00 hogsheads; the second of these was built at Heidelberg in 1(JG3. That which preceded it held but IS.' fudders. The German are a distinct class in character from all other wines. They are generous, dry, finely flavoured, and endure age beyond example. They average about 12.08 per cent, of alcohol. They have been supposed to turn acid sooner than other ^vines, though the reverse is a remarkable fact. On this subject a recent writer observes, with respect to Moselle — and the same will hold good with other wines of Rhenish character — that ' the country which borders on the Moselle produces abundance of grapes, and Some of the wines have an agreeable flavour, especially the vintage of Brauneberg. This highly-flavoured wine has, within the last seven years, become a fashionable beverage at the first tables in London, and when iced in summer, notliing can be more grateful. Some of it has the flavour of the Frontignan grape, without its sweetness. This wine has a singular quality ; it is difficult to make it into vinegar. The author accidentally discovered this property by putting a few bottles into a greenhouse, and afterwards into his cellar, for the purpose of using it as \inegar ; but, the following spring, he was surprised to find that no acetous fermentation had taken place. It has been gene- rally supposed in England, that the wines of the Rhine and Moselle are more acid than the white wnies of France ; but if the above experiment may be any criterion of the qualities of the former, it would prove that they are less acid than Sauterne, Barsac, and the Graves ; for it is well known that it is necessary to sulphur the casks of these wines to prevent the acetous fermentation taking place. Acids are supposed to generate gout, and, in England, Rhine wnes 60 THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. are on this account forbidden to gouty subjects ; yet the gout is a disease rarely known on tlie banks of the Kliine, wliere hardly any otlier wine is drank.' And be it never forgotten, tliat tlie German wines are free from that saturation of brandy which is the higli and mighty fault, as it must ever be a grand dietetic objection, to the wines of France. The names and birth-places of the different German wines are interesting. Tlie ordinary wines are not wortliy of note. The Liebfrauenmilch is a well- bodied wine, grown at Worms, and gene- rally fetches a good price. The same may be said of the wines of Koesterick, near JIayence ; and those from Mount Scharlachberg are equally full-bodied and well-flavoured. Nierstein, Oppenheira, Laubenheim, and Gaubischeim, are considered to yield first growths, but that of Deidesheim is held to be the best ; the last of 1825 sells for twelve pounds sterling the ahm, of thirty gallons, in the present year. The prices vary much, and depend in a great degree upon the age of the wine. New wine may be had from fifteen pence the maas (a little more than two quarts) to four and seven -pence. Very aged wine from eight to ten up to eighteen shillings the bottle. The river ]Mayn runs up to Frankfort close to Mayence; and on its banks the little to^Ti of Hockheim, once the property of General Kellerman, stands upon an elevated spot of ground, in the full blaze of the sun. From Hockheim is derived the name of Hock, too generally applied in England to all German wines. No trees are seen to obstruct the genial fire from the sky, which the Germans deem so needful to render their vintages propitious. The town stands in the midst of vineyards. That which produces the Hock- heimer of the first growth is about eight acres in extent, and situ- ated on a spot well sheltered from the north winds, on a little hill behind the deanery. The wine of 1766 and 1775 now fetches forty- two and fifty pounds the ahm. The other growths of this wine come from the surrounding vineyards. The whole eastern bank of the Rhine to Lorich, called the Rheinffau, has been remarkable cen- turies past for its wines. It was once the property of the Church. The entire district is one delicious vine-garden. In this favoured spot grows the castle, or Schloss Johannisberger, once the property of the Church, and also of the Prince of Orange. Johannisberg is a town, with its castle (schloss), on the right bank of the Rhine below Mentz. The Johannisberger takes the lead in the wines of the Rhine. The vines are grown over the vaults of the castle, and were very near being destroyed by General Hoche. The quantity is not large. The price of the vintage of 1811 is about thirty-six pounds the ahm, of thirty gallons. That of 1770 sells for seventy- five in the present year. The vineyard is now the property of Prince Metternich. The other growths near the same vineyard are excel- lent. The Johannisberger of Messieurs Mumm and Giesler of THE ROUTE ON THE KHINE. CI Cologne and Johannisberg, their own growth of 1822, brings, in 1S33, from twenty-five to sixty pounds the ahm. Kiidesheiin produces wines of tlie tirst Khine growths; the ahm of 1811 is fifty-five pounds; but the Steinberger, belonging to the Diike of Nassau, takes rank alter the Schloss-Johannisberger among these wines. It has the greatest strengtli, and yet is one of tlie most delicate, and even sweetly flavoured. That called the ' Cabi- net,' from the vintage of 1811, brings seventy pounds sterling the ahm at jjresent, or nearly eleven shillings the bottle. The quantity made is small, of the first growth. Graefeuberg, which was once the property of the Church, produces very choice wine, which carries a price equal to the Kiidesheim. :Marcobrunner is an excellent wine, of a fine flavour, especially when the vintage has taken place in a warm year. The vineyards of Roth and Konigsbach grow excellent wines. The wine of 13ach- arach was formerly celebrated, as before mentioned, but time pro- duces revolutions in the history of wines, as well as in that of empires. Notwithstanding the quality of endurance many of the second-rate growths possess, and a freedom from acidity equal to those which hold the first place, they are by no means so well known as they ought to be. The oldest mne wliich is commonly oflered to the purchaser is that of 17t8, a year when the season was ex- ceedingly propitious to the vintage. Older wines may be met with, but less frequently. The excellence of the wine in any particular year always depends more upon the warmth of the season than upon any other cause, and the high price of the wine in corresponding years rates accordingly. The Germans say, the wines of the best body are made on the higher lands, and the worst on the lower; the last requiring the longest keeping to render them mellow for drinking. Tiie wines of 1783 bear a very high character. There is something unaccountable in the extraordinary durability of wines grown so far to the north, when the slightest increase of warmth in a season causes such a ditt'erence in the quality of the wine. While strong southern wines sutler from age after a certain period of years in bottle, and begin to deteriorate sensibly, the Rhine wines seem possessed of inextinguishable vitality, and set th^' greater part of rivalry in keeping at defiance. It is generally found that wines with the lesser proportion of alcohol change sooner than those which are strong. The Rhenish wines averaging so little in spirit Mill endure longer, and continue to improve by age as much as the more potent wines of the south, with double their alcoholic strength. The best vintages were 1748, 17oG, 1779. lliS, 1800, 1802, and ISll. The Steinwein of 1748, brought in 1832 seventy pounds the ahm. This may serve to show how much these wines gain by age. On the whole, the wines of Bischeim, Asmannhaiisen, and Lnu- beuheim, are very pleasant wines; those of the most strength are 63 THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. Marcobrunner, Riidesheimer, and Niersteiner, while those of Johan- nisberg, Geissenheim, and Hockheim, give the most perfect delicacy and aroma. The Germans themselves say, ' Rhein-wein. fein wein ; Necker-wein, lecker wein ; Franken-wein, tranken wein ; Mosel- wein, unnosel wein.' — ' Rhine wine is good ; Neckar pleasant ; Frankfort bad ; Moselle innocent.' The red wines of the Rliine are not of extraordinary quality. The Asmannshaiiser is the best, and resembles some of the growths of France. Near Lintz, at Neuwied, a good wine, called Blischert, is made. Keinigsbach, on the left bank of the Rhine, Altenahr, Rech, and Kesseling, yield extraordinary red growths." By the time tlie tourist has read and pondered well this lesson on wines, the steamer will have reached Sonn steamboat-pier. Hotels : Golden Star (good) ; Hotel Royale. The catalogue of the attractions of this place and its neigh- bourhood runs thus : the Cathedral ; the birth-place and the statue of Beethoven ; the Univer.-ity ; Botanic Garden ; Castle of Clemens- ruhe. (See Bonn.) Leaving Bonn the steamer passes in succession the following places : — PliITTERSDorf. — A small village, and station for those who wish to land to visit Godesberg. GoDESBERG. — A cheerful village, with its castle, a fine ruin. Near it the Draitscher baths, with pump-rooms and inns. Above Godesberg is the Hochkreuz, a Gothic monument. NiEDER DOLEENDORF. — A Small village, near which are the ruins of the Abbey of Heisterbacli, dating from the twelfth century. KoNiGSWiNTER. — A Small town at the foot of the Drachenfels. Of the Siebengebirge, or Seven Mountains, the Lowenberg is 1896, the Oelberg 1S3(), tlie Wolkenburg 1842, the Dranchenfels, 10.56 feet high. Its summit is crowned with a ruin, and commands a magnificent view. On the Drachenfels there is an inn. The castled crag of Drachenfels Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine, Whose breast of waters broadly swells. Between tlie banks which bear the vine. And hills all I'icli with blossom'd trees. And fields which promise corn and wine, And scatter'd cities crowning these. Whose far white walls along them shine, Have strew'd a scene, which 1 should see With double joy wert t/iou with me. And peasant girls with deep blue eyes. And hands wiiich offer early flowers. Walk sraiHng o'er this paradise ; Above, the frequent feudal towers p> a \ '«^>^5 THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. 63 Through green leaves lift their walls of grey, And many a rock which steeply lours, And noble arch in proud decay, Look o'er this vale of vintage-bowers ; But one thing want these banks of Rhine, — Thy gentle hand to clasp in mine I The river nobly foams and flows, The charm of this enchanted ground, And all its thousand turns disclose Some fresher beauty varying round : The haughtiest breast its wish might bound Through life to dwell delighted here; Nor could on earth a spot be found To nature and to me so dear. Could thy dear eyes in following mine Still sweeten more these banks of Rhine \— Byron. RoLANDSECK and NoNNENWERTii, with the Seven ^fountains, form one of the finest points on the Rhine. The ruins of Roland- seek have recently been restored, and the ancient convent Nonnen- werth, which had been converted into an inn, is again tenanted by nuns. With tliese two points is linked the famous tradition of Roland's love, which is tiuis told : — The glory of the lists and the admiration of tlie fair dames and maidens who gazed upon the con- tests of chivalry, the youthful Roland had nought to desire but the love of some fair being whose beauty and whose virtues could deserve and retain the heart of sobraveandgalhint a young knight. Nor did he look long round about in vain, for Hilda, tlie daughter of the lord of the Drachenfels, was all that dreams had pictured to his youthful fancy as worthy of an ardent soul's devotion ; and soon he was made happy by a confession from the maiden tliat his pas- sion was returned. Lost in a dream of first love, the knight forgot the world and its struggles ; and in the expectation of an early day for his wedding with his mistress, lie had no care for the morrow, but lived a life of perfect joy ; — now gazing with Hilda upon the windings of the Rhine; now watching her as she stooped gracefully to tend the flowers which peace allowed to fiourisli umler the walls of her father's abode ; now wandering with his arm round the taper waist of his affianced bride, talking of the happiness in store for them. But Roland lived in times when love was but the bright, transient episode of a life of war. The laws of chivalry forbade a true knight's neglect of duty, and in the week he was to bo wedded, the fatal summons came to call him to his post in the field. The struggle was bitter, but short. " You would love me less, dear Hilda, if you knew me recreant even for your sake ;" and with bitter regrets, cheered by hope of a speedy return, he left his mistress in her home on the Drachenfels. The war was long, for the enemy 61- THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. was brave and the forces were nearly equal, and it was not for three years that the laws of honour would allow Roland to leave the camp. But the long-sought day carae at last, and with a bounding heart he set out upon his way back to the Rhine. Light in his stirrups rode he that journey, and still lighter were the songs with which he strove to temper his impatience and beguile his way. Late on the fourth day he carae in sight of the home of his ladye-love, and swimming his war-horse boldly across the rapid stream, he bounded on foot up the steep, Frightful was the welcome he received. The castle was in ruins; its lord was slain; and Hilda, deceived by reports of Roland's death, had taken the veil in the neighbouring convent of Nonnenwerth ! Over the bright path of the young knight a dark and lasting shadow was cast. His early hopes were broken — the joy of his existence had tied — his spirit bent beneath the weight of his evil fortune. But his faith and constancy were beyond the con- trol of Fate. Retiring to his castle of Rolandseck he made himself a resting-place before a window from which he could look down upon the island of Xonnenwerth and the convent that held in the chains of the church his beloved Hilda. "NYhether she heard of his return, tradition does not say, but such constancy did perhaps waft its rumour tlirough the jealous watchfulness of a nunnery wall. Be that as it may, it is chronicled that, after Roland's watch had been for three years prolonged, he heard one evening the tones of th.e bell that tolled for a passing soul, and next day the white figures of the nuns were seen bearing a sister to her last home. Roland felt that it was Hilda's funeral, and when his servants, alarmed by his watch being prolonged deep into the night, came to urge his retirement to rest, they saw his eyes were fixed on Hilda's grave in death : — a smile brightening his features, as though his spirit's last influence upon his frame had left a happy anticipation of the meeting of two kindred souls in those realms of immortality where " all that's earth, earthy," has no leave to enter. Appolinarisberg. — The church here has lately beenrebuilt in the pointed style, after the plan of the present arcliitect of the Cologne Cathedral. Remagen. — The Rigomagum of the Romans, a small but very ancient town of 1700 inhabitants, with a curiously carved gateway near the parsonage, and a church in the Byzantine style. Near this place is the mouth of the Ahr, and its romantic valley. LiXTZ. — A small but industrious towni, of 2400 inhabitants; close by are Linzerhausen, and the ruins of Okkenfels. SixziG (Station). — Originally a Roman castle. Brohl. — In this neighbourhood are stone quarries, and a very singular volcanic ravine. From here there is a road leading to the Lake and Abbey of Laach. CASTI.E Reineck, rebuilt by its owner, Professor Bethmann- THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. 05 Ilollweg ; the barbican alone is ancient, from wliich there is a fine view. Hammerstein. — Ruins of the castle where Henry IV. reposed, escaping from the hands of his son, in 1105. Andkhnach. — A Roman station. The architectural remains of the middle ages ; the rampart and gates are noticeable. Telfelshals. — Properly Friedrichstein ; the ruin of a castle begun in the seventeenth century, and never finished. Neuwied. — A modern town of 6400 inhabitants. The palace con- tains a collection of curiosities. Opposite is Weissenthurm. — Of historical note, as the spot where the French crossed the Rhine in 1797, and for the monument erected to General Hoche. , ,\ ExGERS. — A hamlet of 900 inhabitants, boasting a palace, garden, 7\v\an d park. '\\ Coblentz. Hotels : Riese, Giant (very good) ; Belle Vue V A Trois Suisse ; Pariser. At Coblentz the beautiful portion of the i^ V Rhine commences. (See Co; _ , Coblentz.) The tourist, as he approaches * the place, sees the waters of the Moselle running in those of the more turbid Rhine, whilst above him frowns the famous rock of Ehrenbreitstein — the Broad Stone of Honour. Here Ehrenbreitstein, with her shatter'd wall Black with the miner's blast upon her height. Yet shows of what she was, when shell and ball Rebounding idly on her strength did light, A tower of victory ! from whence the flight Of baffled foes was watch'd along the plain ; But Peace destroy'd what War could never blight, And laid those pi-oud roofs bare to Summer's rain — On which the iron shower for years had pour'd in vain. Byron. The Rhine steamers touch at Coblentz several times during the day, and there are also steamers making the trip up the Moselle towards Treves. Vehicles leave Coblentz for Ems. (See Ems.) The labour of ascending tlie rock of Ehrenbreitstein is repaid by a fine view of the surrounding country along both Rliine and Moselle. The rock is 400 feet high. The fortress was dismantled by the French, but now once more bristles \vith German cannon. Leaving Coblentz, we enter the most charming portion of the river. Nieder Lahnstetn stands near the point where the Lahn flows into the Rliine. It has a church dedicated to St. John. Above it are the ruins of the castle of Lapneck. This village is in Nassau, and that ducal territory stretches along the right bank as far up as Mayence. 66 THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. Ober-Laiinstein displays a red stone castle of the Electors of Mayence. Stolzenfels is soon seen. This castle is one of the most notice- able on the Rhine, in consequence of its recent restoration. It \yas given when in ruins to the present king of Prussia, who repaired it, and here entertained Queen Victoria during her visit to the Rliine. Rheus. — Above this village was the Konigstuhl, where the Electors met in old times to settle questions of importance. This spot was selected as being equally near to the dominions of all, and thus the most convenient point of rendezvous. At councils at the Konigstuhl many emperors were appointed, and not a few deposed ; treaties were signed, and war and peace decided on. Indeed, it is a place memorable in the history of Germany. Braubach is distinguishable by a tall pointed rock on which is perched the castle of ^larxburg, still in good preservation, and offering a good example of the feudal stronghold. Niedcospey, and Oberspey, and the castle of Osterspey, follow each other in quick succession. The Rhine makes great curves, and soon the peculiarities often described in books present themselves before the charmed eye of the tourist. Ihe steamboat seems to be cleaving her way through a succession of mountain-locked lakes ; the mazes, "bright and winding like a snake," prevent the eye from embracing any great length of the stream ; and the vine-clad hills, that rise from the very margin of the river up towards the clouds, give grandeur as well as beauty to the scene. From this point on to Bingen the tourist realizes a notion of the vaunted charms of the Rhine : A blending of all beauties : streams and dells, FTuit, foliage, crag, wood, cornfield, mountain, vine, And cbiefless castles breathing stern farewells. From grey but leafy walls, where ruin greenly dwells. BoFPART is distinguished by the united spires of its church. It is a picturesque town of some 4000 inhabitants, and boasts several objects of considerable antiquity — amongst them the convent of Marienburg. SuLZiG is a place noted for its orchards, and sceptics in wines are sometimes heard hinting suspicions that the superabundance of apple-trees in some of the vine districts has more to do with the Hock and other Rhine wines than good Germans choose to explain. Sternberg and Liebenstein, twin castles, are soon seen fro\vn- ing from the rocks overhead ; and every tourist is expected to be interested in the legend connected with these two ruins, which are often called The Brothers. The tale is thus told : " Liebenstein, when in its glory, was the abode of a happy family — a father, two sons, and a young female ward. The father was a ;?S.^: u Ji4:S.I«:^w STOLZKNIEI.S. THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. G7 venerable knight, who in his youth had done good service in the cause of chivalry, and on the field of battle had taken charge of the only daughter of a dying comrade. As years flew on, the old man regarded the child thus bequeathed to him with feelings of increased affection ; whilst she — young, rich, and beautiful — was an object of general admiration. What wonder, then, that almost unknovvTi to themselves, both her foster-brothers should love her, and that this love should grow up with their growth, and strengthen with their strength, until it became a passion absorbing both their souls. The experienced eye of the father was the first to discover the fatal secret, and when he contemplated the opposite characters of his children, he felt ill at ease. The eldest was thoughtful, cautious, firm in his resolves, and bitter in his resentment ; the youngest was rash, impetuous, and changeable ; but both were brave, and fond of resolving all differences by the general umpire of the times they lived in — the sword. After much consideration, he called his sons before him, and reminding them that they were brothers, told them what he knew of their feelings, and asked for their resolve. The young Edith, he said, loved both as a sister, but would love one to wedlock if the other was away, — they could not both win her, and one must sacrifice his feelings to the happiness of his mistress and his brother. The scene that followed his words was touching, but short. The youngest son displayed an agony of grief, and tore his hair, and called in tones of supplication to his elder brother to think of his sufferings if driven from the sight of her who was his heart's only happiness. With a noble self-denial, this passionate appeal was answered by three words, 'Brother, I go,' and next morning saw the young Henry von Beyen on his way to the Holy Wars. Time flew on, and the .nuptials of Edith with Conrad were ap- proaching, when news arrived from Palestine of wonders of bravery achieved by the youthful Crusader. The father's heart beat high when listening to the tale of the prowess of his noble son ; but the brow of Conrad became gloomy as the praises were repeated, and, unwilling that his brother, who had been conquered in love, should be most glorious in war, the bridegroom forsook the side of his affianced to join the Crusaders. Thus left alone, the young Edith languished, and her foster-father, after long waiting for the return of his sons, pined and died, leaving unfinished the towers of Stern- berg, which he had raised as a home for his young ward and her husband. Meantime rumours reached tlie castle of Liebenstein of Conrad's boisterous gaieties and carelessness to return, and these flying stories were strengthened by the return of Henry at the con- clusion of the war without his brother. When asked by Edith particulars of their career, he ever extolled the bravery of the absentee, and held silence of all else; whilst his conduct towards F -2 G8 THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. her was ever that which a sister should receive. Still they waited Conrad's return, when on a summer evening there was a sound of music approaching Sternberg, and it was soon discovered to be the long-absent Crusader approacliing his home. Joyfully the vassals went forth to meet him, and Edith was already standing on the drawbridge anxious to receive her lover, when the news came that Conrad vas not alone; — he had brought with him a young and beautiful Greek wife ! Edith was stricken dumb by the perfidy ; Henry was at first astonished, and then enraged. That night he sent a challenge to the new comer to answer with his sword the injustice and insult to his love. At midnight they met, but had no time even to speak of the cause of quarrel, when the forsaken Edith, who had gained intelligence of the intended meeting, threw herself between them. ' As you once loved me, Conrad, — as you ever nobly loved me, Henry, I forbid this. Let no blood be spilled for me. To-morrow I enter a convent, and devote myself to God. Nay ! no words ; I have a vow : and my prayers sliall be given for your happiness, and that you may both live in brotherhood and peace together.' Three years more worked out the tragedy. Edith died in a neighbouring nunnery — but not before the gay young Greek wife had brought dishonour on the head of Conrad, and to avoid his anger had forsaken him for a new lover. The Brothers obeyed the injunction of the dead nun, and dwelt in jaeace ; but it was scarcely three years before the half-finished towers of Sternberg were left to ruin by the death of their owner, Conrad ; and soon afterwards the closed gates of Liebenstein told that the vital spirit of their lord — the last of his race — had departed. From that day to this, the ruins of Die Briider tell to all who journey by the Rhine the sad story of misery and death which there became the penalty of False Love." Kestert may be known by the ruins of its old church. HiRZENACH has an antique priory, once the stately property of a neighbouring abbot, but now environed by the cottages of the vine- dressers. Ehrentiial. — In this neighbourhood there are some mines, which is the case also in reference to the next place we pass, called Welmich, known by its Gotliic tower. At this place is seen the ruins of the castle of Thurmberg, built in 1653, and called also " The Manse," in allusion to another fortress, which was probably built to over-awe it, called " The Cat," near Goarhausen. The steamer is now soon abreast of Rheinfels — a ruined fortress of most imposing appearance, and once as dangerous to travellers as it is now interesting to them. Tradition declares that in the old days of its strength it was occupied THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. C9 by a robber-chieftain of great prowess, wlio levied heavy toll on all who passed either up or down the stream, whetlier passengers or mer- chandise, taking wliat he pleased. This was more or less tlie wont of all the occupants of the numerous strongholds now in ruin on the banks of the lUiine ; but the lord of Uheinfels surpassed them all in strength and voracity. .*^o unbearable did this at last become, that the traders of Mayence and otlier towns united and raised a confederate force, and marching a body of well-armed men, in- Vested Rheinfels. After a gallant fight, the robber-fortress was compelled to yield. It was the hour of retribution, and was not allowed to pass unused. Rheinfels was burnt, and nothing but its walls left to bear testimony to its former strength. This they still do, standing up upon a rocky eminence so grandly as to remind us of Ehrenbreitsteiu on a smaller scale. Rut the conquerors of Rheinfels were not content with one victory. Elated by success, and by their first taste of war, they marched along the banks of the Rhine, and laid siege in succession to stronghold after stronghold ; nor did they stop until they had destroyed the abodes of all the baronial robbers on the banks of the stream. St. Goar is in the centre of one of the most charming portions of the river. The town has about 1500 inhabitants. This place is well adapted for a halt, there being picturesque buildings, and fine scenery and pleasant excursions, in the neighbourhood. The steam- boats land passengers here. St. Goarhausen stands opposite to St. Goar, and is well worth visiting. The entrance to a beautiful valley is found here. Above are the ruins of The Cat (Die Katz), another of the old castellated abodes. It was destroyed by the French in 1806. The Lurley is now soon reached. A lofty rock projects towards the stream, and as the vessel nears it, the crew prepare a small cannon, which, being fired, wakes up a most remarkable echo. Before the navigation was improved there were dangerous whirlpools near this spot, and their depths the German boatmen believed to be the abode of Syrens, who lured the thoughtless to destruction under the waves. Near the Lurleyberg are seven rocks, called the Seven Virgins, so named after seven sisters said to have been drowned there. Oberwesel. — A small town with a picturesque round tower, and about 2.j00 inhabitants, next greets us on our way. It has two churches, which the tourist who journeys along the banks may find worth a visit ; but those who travel by steamer lose little by passing by unexamined. Reineck, another castle, is passed nearly opposite Oberwesel. ScuoNBERG, another ruined castle, is soon approached. It is 70 THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. said to have been the abode of the Seven Virgins lost in tlie stream. Caub — where the boat usually lands passengers — is the point •where Blucher crossed tlie Rhiue in ISli. Above Caub is seen GuTENFELS. — A castle now in ruins ; named, it is said, after the beautiful lady Guda, with whom the brother of Henry III. of England was enamoured. In tlie stream we now see one of the most cliaracteristic buildings in our tour. It is known as The Pfalz — and standing upon a rock in the river has a most picturesque effect. It was, doubtless, placed there for the usual purpose, that of levying blackmail upon passers by — a sort of river toll-bar. Tradition says that in troubled times the Pfalz was the i-etreat of the Empresses of Germany when near their accouchement. They came, it is declared, to this strange spot for security, until their time of travail was over. Bacharach is next seen. It is a curious town, famous for its wine stores, and still possessing ancient walls and towers to enclose its ]S00 peoi)le, and its old Gothic church of St. "NVerner. On the high ground above Bacharach Stahleck is seen, perched aloft in ruins. It stood many sieges during the Thirty Years War. On the opposite bank the village of LoRCiinAUSEN and the towers of NoLEiNGEN, in ruins, companioned in decay by a similar struc- ture on the opposite bank — tlie round tower of FuRSTEXBURG, that, though crumbling away, still frowns down upon tlie village of Eheindiebach. LoRCH is an ancient place, seated at the mouth of the valley AVisperthal. which opens into that of the Rhine. The steep rock here has a legend of the Evil One, who is said to have ridden up its face on horseback with the greatest ease, leaving behind liim the print of his horse's hoofs, just to sliow what he had done. These marks are said to be still visible, and to form a sort of ladder up which — one wonder is parent of another — a youth in love, (always a daring animal,) climbed to rescue his fair one imprisoned on the top by fairies envious of her beauty. The Rhinegau begins at Lorch, and after we pass it the ruined castles become even more numerous than we liave yet seen them. Another and another quick succeeds, and we liave Heimburg, a ruined castle. GoNNECK, also in decay. Falkenbl'rg. Eeichenstein, and Clemen's Chapel. Ehei>stein.-^A castle more fortunate than its companions, in THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. 71 having found an owner to restore it, and refill it with the aspect of antiquity, without forgetting the comforts of more modem life. On the other banks meanwhile, we have passed AssMANSiiAUSEN. — Famous for its wines. Here those land who wish to ascend the eminence of the Niederwald to enjoy the pros- pect there displayed. Ehrenfels. — A castle of the doughty bishops of Mayence, next claims notice, and then we have The 3I0USE Tower, (3Iausethurm,) the scene of the legend of the cruel Bisliop Hatto, who, being importuned by the starving poor, induced a large number of the sufferers to enter one of his strong- liolds, to which he then set fire, when he exulted in having " killed the useless rats who ate the corn." But the story book does not leave him long to glory in his wickedness. Next day myriads of veritable rats surrounded his palace, and he with a horrible sense of impend- ing evil, fled away to this small isolated tower we now see in the Rhine. Here he hugged himself on his security, but his triumph was short-lived. In the night he was roused by horrible cries ; and rising from his couch found that the rats had followed in his track, had in millions swum across the rapid stream, then in countless numbers swarmed up the walls, and in at the loop-holes of his retreat. Defence and prayer were alike in vain, and Bisliop Hatto made a meal for the avengers of the murdered poor. The reader will remember Southey's poetical version of this legend as they pass the ilausethurm. BiNGEN — one of the gems of the Rhine scenery — is a town worth stopping at. Here the mouth of the valley of the Nahe joins that of the Rhine. The views in the neighbourhood are charming, and the town (which has between five and six thousand inhabitants) has several things worth examination. Goethe visited Bingen, and was so charmed with the place and with a religious procession he here witnessed, that he gave an altar-piece for the church. Romanist pilgrims in great numbers visit on the ICth of August the chapel of St. Rock, which stands above the town. The Rhine at Bingen was formerly much impeded by the rocks, but the stream lias of late years been deepened, and the improvement has been recorded on a small obelisk, erected for tlie purpose. The geologist will be interested by contrasting the past with the present condition of the country hereabouts, and investigating the influences which a check to the waters at this spot once had upon the country higher up — giving rise to a succession of lakes. Excursions from Bingon— h'ochus- berg, Rupertsberg, Elesenhohe ; the valley of the Nahe ; ruins of Klopp. (See Bingen.) Rldesiieim, opposite Bingen, is the birth-jjlace of the best wine of that name ; and after glancing at its castles and passing this 72 THE ROUTE ON THE RHINE. point, we begin to leave behind us the more picturesque portions of the river, and to pass between banks more famed for their wines than their beauty. Geisenheim, is a town of about 3000 people, with an ancient church and many good houses. Not far from it, but standing some distance back from the river, on our left as we ascend, stands JoHANNiSBERG — the chateau of Prince Metternich — whose vine- yards gave birth to the best wine of the Rhine. MiTTELHEiM lias an old and i-emarkable church, said to have been founded in 1140. At short distances are seen the villages of Oesti-ich, and Hattenheim, and the now deserted chateau of Count Schon- born. NiEDER Ingelheim boasts some scanty remains of a palace of Charlemagne. On the opposite side we have Erbach, and the hills that grow the Marcobrunner wine. But the banks of the stream have grown Hat ; and the tourist, probably weary of the feast of natural beauty he has been enjoying, thinks the steamer slow, and feels relieved when she stops at BiEBERiCH, where the Duke of Nassau has a palace, and where there is a railway station, from which the traveller can start for Wiesbaden, for Mayence, or Francfort. At Bieberich there is a good inn, where the tourist may rest for the night, and spend an hour in the morning upon an early stroll through the gardens and con- servatories attached to the Duke of Nassau's palace ; — which, how- ever, are not very remarkable. From this point, as already said, we find again the facilities of railway travelling. The fares are very moderate, and the accom- modation very good; the second-class carriages being similar to those of first-class in England. Indeed none but dukes and princes— a?i(/ the English — think of travelling first-class on German railways. From Bieberich the railway lines are complete to Wiesbaden. Mayence. Francfort. Strasburg. Heidelburg. Baden-Baden, and Basle, from which latter place the tourist may hii*e a carriage and set off to visit the Falls of Schauffhausen. But the Rhine above Bieberich is not worth sailing on in searcli of the beautiful. We have described all that can lay claim to such character, and shall close this portion of the volume by saying, that those who proceed higher up should go by railway. On returning from Strasburg or THE ROUTE OX THE RHINE. 73 Mannheim, for instance, the traveller may, if he please, join the boat again ; which descends, of course, with far greater rapidity than it can ascend against the sharp cuiTcnt of the river. In one long day the boat passes from Strasburg to Mayence ; and as the fares are low, the tourist may be induced to adopt that return route ; but he must not expect fine scenery. At Mayence, after he has seen all he wishes above tliat point, he will of course again take boat to descend to Bonn. He may even go lower still and pass down to Holland — and taking a run by rail to the Hague — rejoin the river at Botterdam, and cross thence to England in the steamer. In these descriptions of routes we have omitted any lengthened mention of the larger towns ; they being the points at which the tourist must halt, we arrange ample descriptions of them in alpha- betical order. By this plan they will be more easy of reference than by the old mode of jumbling up in one mass routes and large towns together. 74 CHIEF TOWNS IN BELGIUM AND ON THE KOUTE OF THE RHINE, Arranged a^]^>haheticalJif, with the Excursions that may he made from the most remarJcable. AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, (Aachen.) [Hotels: — Grand j\ronarqiie (good); Grand Hotel (good); Quatre Saison (good, and near the railway) ; Belle Vue ; Dragon D'Or.] Aix-la-Chapelle has now about 50,000 inhabitants, and presents a handsome and cheerful aspect, reminding the tourist in this respect of other Matering-places, both in England and abroad. Historically it may be called the city of Charlemagne. That poten- tate raised it from an unimportant town to the dignity of the second capital of his empire ; and here, Avhen the great conqueror had gone the way of all flesh, were many of his successors enthroned. It has endured various fortunes. At one time the scene of a coronation ; at another of a siege ; then of a conflagration ; then of a Coimcil of the Church ; it has ever contrived to maintain an important posi- tion ; its continued prosperity, and its power of repairing injuries to its property, rendering as the fact, that its mineral waters have always attracted to it a number of invalids and others having money to spend. Besides its baths, it has the tomb of Charlemagne ; a host of wonderful relics ; and a cathedral to ofler, as inducements to visitors, to stay awhile within its boundaries. History. — During the last two centuries, Aix has been the scene of many remarkable meetings and deliberations. In 16C8 the am- bassadors of France, Spain, England, and Holland, met at Aix-la- Chapelle, and agreed on the treaty which bears its name. Amongst the visitors of the season in 1717 was the Kussian Czar, Peter I., who paid great attention to the cloth and needle manu- AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 75 factures ; and, upon visiting the cathedral, is reported to have stood for a long time in silence, contemplating the tomb of Charlemagne. In 1718 this city was ance and Germany, but even to England and the East and West Indies, at a cheaper rate than they can be pro- duced in those countries by native labour from native quarries. The stone is a kind of basaltic lava, which readily separates in columns ; and these being cut in portions of the required thickness, the millstones are, as it were, complete. The church of Andernach is curious, and contains several objects of considerable antiquity. The ruins of the Palace of the once powerful Archbishops of Cologne are interesting. Those who gaze upon them will be ready to admit that the old churchmen knew how to select a beautiful site for their country dwellings. The Excursion from Andernach to the Lake of Laach will lead the tourist through some 'wild scenery, amongst which he will pass places where carbonic gas issues from the rocks. The lake lies nearly seven hundred feet above the level of the Rhine, is nearly two miles long, and a mile and a half broad. It is believed to occupy the crater of an extinct volcano, and the peasantry attribute to it a character similar to that of the Dead Sea:— *• a lake whose gloomy shore Skylark never warbles o'er." On the shore of these elevated and sombre waters, a jet of deadly gas issues from a crevice in the rocks, and there may be seen the skeletons of birds and small animals killed by passing too near these fumes. In a secluded and silent spot near the lake stands tlie Abbey of Laach, once wealthy, but now almost deserted. Tlie lover of clerical arcliitecture will be deliglited to find in the church a very perfect example of the round-arched style. A small inn offers a homely reception to the tourist, which may be acceptable G 2 84. ANTWERP. after the fatigues of an ascent to this curious spot ; and the admirer of the picturesque will doubtless feel fully repaid by an excursion to Laach. The whole locality has also peculiar interest for the geologist. Those who feel inclined may, on their way from Ander- nach, visit the millstone quarries, which are very curious. They lie at Nieder ^lendig, two miles from the Abbey of Laach, over a country evidently of volcanic origin. The tourist may join the Rhine again at Brohl. ANTWEBP. [Hotels : Hotel St. Antoine, Place A'erte, where there is an ordi- nary daily at two and half-past four o'clock; Hotel du Grand Laboureur, Place de Meir, where private dinners are well supplied ; Hotel du Pare, Place Yerte ; Hotel des Pays Bas, Eue des Menui- siers ; Plotel de I'Angleterre, Longue Rue Xeuve. — Restaiirayits : Rocher de Cancale, Rue des Douze Mois ; I'Union, Marche aux Souliers. — Coffee-houses : Cafe Suisse, Francai.s, and 3[ilitaire, all on the Place Yerte; and the Cafe de I'Empereur, Place de Meir. — Post-office, Place Yerte. — Hacknei/-coaches : fares, from the stand to any part of the town, 50 cents, or 1 franc 25 cents for the first, and 1 franc for every subsequent hour.] Antwerp [Anvers] is situated on the banks of the Scheldt, and like Bruges and other Belgian towns, once boasted a much greater population tlian it now enjoys. Unlike Bruges however it has now a considerable trade, and much prosperity. ]\rany of its buildings suggest recollections of the days when the Spaniards held sway in the Netherlands, but its chief interest, in the eyes of the lovers of art, resides in the fact that Antwerp was essentially the city of Rubens, who lived and laboured, and now lies buried within its boundaries. The chief things to be seen in Antwerp are — 1. The Cathe- dral and 3Iatsys' Well ; 2. Church of St. Jacques ; 3. Rubens' house ; 4. Church of St. Paul — Paintings and Calvary ; 5. Church of the Augustines — Pictures by Rubens, Vandyke, and Jordaens ; 6. The IVIuseum — Collection of paintings; 7. Statue of Rubens; S. The Citadel (only interesting to military men). But before describing these let us glance at the history of the place. History. — Antwerp once boasted a population of not less than 200,000 souls; she has now about 76,000. The average number of vessels continually in her basin, in the days of her commercial renown, was 2000. But the successes of commerce were not suffi- cient to secure her (Antwerp) the enjoyment of repose. The vigour of mind which made her citizens successful in home and foreign enterprise and trade, led them to desire freedom of religious ANTWERP. 85 .-;--^-n 8G ANTWERP. opinion. This did not at all meet the views of those in power, and Antwerp, like other Belgian cities, became the scene of numerous atrocities, wliich are thus summarized from the records of the times by a local historian, 31. Lacroix. The ferocious and sanguinary- Philip the Second, under the mask of religion, put into most rigorous execution the decree of the Council of Trent, whose edicts against heresy gave to the clergy an almost unlimited power over the lives and fortunes of the people. But Philip, not satisfied with the hitherto established forms of punishment, expressly commanded that the more revolting means decreed against the religious reformers, such as burning, living burial, and the like, should be adopted; he directed that the victims should be no longer publicly immolated, but secretly destroyed, and the atrocious tribunal of the Inquisition, SO impiously named holy by its founders, was finally established. In the year 15G6, the inquisitors of the faith, with their familiars, stalked about boldly in Antwerp, carrying jjerse- cution and death in their train. This city soon became the scene of frightful executions, it being the central point of union for the sects of the Anabaptists, the Calvinists, and the Lutherans, whose common principle was their aversion to poperj% the Inquisition, and Spain. Yet tliese cruelties were only a prelude to the horrors winch the in- habitants of Antwerp had to expect under the sovereignty of the Duke of Alva,* who, in the month of August, 156 7, had been appointed by Phihp commander-in-chief of the Spanish armies in the ]S'ether- lands. Alva's first care was to establish a special tribunal, composed of twelve members, with full powers to inquire into and pronounce judgment on every circumstance connected with the troubles of which this country had been the scene. He named himself president of this coimcil, and appointed a Spaniard named Vargas, as vice- president — a wretch of the most diabolical cruelty. This council, immortalized by its infamy, was named by the governor the Council of Troubles; by the people it was soon designated by its true name, the Council of Blood. In its atrocious proceedings no respect was paid to titles, contracts, or privileges, however sacred. Its judgments were without appeal. Every subject of the state was amenable to its summons, clergy and laity : the first individuals of the country, as well as the most wretched outcasts of society. Its decrees were passed with disgusting rapidity and contempt of form. Contumacy was punished with exile and confiscation. Those who, conscious of their innocence, dared to brave a trial, were lost with- * Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva, was of a distinguished family in Spain, and even boasted of his descent from one of the Moorish monarchs who had reigned in the kingdom of Toledo. "When he assumed the chief command in the Netherlands, he was sixty years of age, having grown old and obdurate in pride, ferocity, and avarice. ANTWERP. 87 out redress. Tlie accused were forced to its bar without previous warning. Many a wealthy citizen was dra^rged to trial, twelve miles distance, tied to a horse's tail. The number of victims was appalling. Antwerp saw its burgomaster. Van Straeten, and hundreds of its most honourable citizens fall, by the hands of the executioner. Hanging, beheading, quartering, and burning were the every-day spectacles. In addition to this general desolation, Alva committed many deeds of collateral, but minor tyranny : among others, he issued a decree forbidding, under severe penalties, any inhabitant of the country to marry without his express per- mission. On the recorded boast of Alva himself, he caused 18,000 inhabitants of the Netherlands to perish by the hand.s of the executioner, during his less than six years' sovereignty in the Low- Countries. At length the barbarous and rapacious conduct of Alva was now objected to, even by the king, Philip himself, as produc- ing results disastrous to this cause, and he was accordingly deposed. Don Luis Zanega y Eequesens, commander of the order of Malta, was appointed to the government of the Netherlands. He arrived at Brussels on the 17th of November, 1573; and on the 1 Sth of the following month, the monster whom he succeeded set out for Spain, loaded with the booty to which he had waded through oceans of blood, and with the curses of the country. Antwerp is one of those towns which suffered tiie most during the wars of the sixteenth century. On the 3rd of November, 1-3 76. a body of Spanish mutineers in possession of Alost, marched to the support of their fellow brigands in the Citadel of Antwerp, and both simul- taneously attacking this magnificent city, became masters of it at all points, in spite of a vigorous resistance on the part of the citizens. They then began a scene of rapine and destruction imequalled in the annals of these desperate wars. More than ooo private mansions, the town-house, and the neighbouring warehouses, filled with valuable merchandise, were devoted to the flames: 700 citizens perished by the sword or in the waters of the Scheldt. For three successive days the caniage and the pillage went on with unheard-of fury ; and the most opulent city in Europe was thus reduced to ruin and desolation by a few thousand frantic ruffians. The loss was valued at above 2,000,000 golden crowns. "NVliat a catalogue would the crimes and atrocities committed by this barbarous nation of sanguinary monsters make ! In ISS'i, the Duke of Alcncon and Anjou, having been unsuccessful in his attempt to gain the hand of Elizabeth of England, arrived in Antwerp, where he was inaugu- rated Duke of Brabant, in pursuance of tlie treaty made in loso. In 1583, the duke contrived to establish himself as the absolute king of the Low-Countries. In order to prepare for the execution of his enterprise, and to render himself master of Antwerp, he 88 ANTWERP. caused his numerous army of French and Swiss to approach the city, and they were encamped in the suburb of Borgerhout. On the 17 th of January, the duke dined somewhat earlier tlian usual, under the pretext of proceeding afterwards to review his army in their camp. He set out at noon, accompanied by his guard of 200 horse ; and when he reached the second drawbridge, one of his officers gave the preconcerted signal for an attack on the Flemish guard, by pretending tliat he had fallen and broken his leg. The duke called out to his followers, " Courage — courage ! the town is ours !" The guard at the gate was soon despatched ; and the French troops, which waited outside to the number of 3000, rushed quickly in. furiously shouting the war-cry, " Town taken! kill! kill!" Tile astonished citizens, recovering from their confusion, instantly flew to arms. All ditferences of religion or politics were forgotten in the common danger of their freedom. Catholics and protestants, men and women, rushed alike to the conflict. The ancient spirit of Flanders seemed to animate all. AVorkmen, armed with the instru- ments of their various trades, started from their shops, and flung themselves upon the enemy. A baker sprang from the cellar where he was kneading his dough, and with his oven shovel struck a French dragoon to the ground. Those who had fire-arms, after expending their bullets, took from their pouches and pockets pieces of money, which they bent between their teeth, and made use of them for charging their arquebusses. The French were driven successively from the streets and ramparts, and the cannons planted on the latter were immediately turned against the rein- forcements which attempted to enter the town. The French were everywhere beaten ; the Uuke of Anjou saved himself by flight, and reached Tremonde, after the perilous necessity of passing through a large tract of inundated country. His loss in this en er- prise amounted to 1500 men, while that of the citizens did not exceed eighty. The great attack on Antwerp by the Duke of Parma ranks among the most remarkable sieges which history relates. In the year 15S4, the prince, with 80,000 men at his com- mand, completely surrounded the city ; placing a large portion of his army on the left bank of the Scheldt, the other on the right. His only hope of gaining the command of the navigation of the river, on which the success of the siege depended, was by throwng a bridge across the stream between Oordam and Calloo. Neither its great rapidity, nor its immense breadth, nor the want of wood and workmen, could deter him from this undertaking. He was assisted by Barroccio, an Italian. They first caused two strong forts to be erected at opposite sides of the river ; and adding to their resources by every possible means, they threw forward a pier on each side, and far into the stream. The stakes, driven fii-mly ANTWERP. 89 into the bed of the river, aiul cemented with masses of earth and stones, were at a proper height covered with planks and defended by parapets. These estoccades, as they were called, reduced the river to half its original breadth, and the cannon with which they were mounted rendered the passage extremely dangerous to hostile vessels. But, to fill up this strait, a considerable number of boats were fastened together by chain-hooks and anchors ; and being manned and mounted with cannon, they were moored in the in- terval between the estoccade. During these operations, a canal was cut between the Moer and Calloo, by which means the Spaniards formed a communication with Ghent, which ensured to them a supply of ammunition and provisions. The works of the bridge, which was 2400 feet in length, were constructed with such strength and solidity, that they braved the winds, the floods, and the ice of the whole winter. The people of Antwerp at tirst lauglied and scorned the whole of these preparations: but *vhen they found that the bridge resisted the natural elements, by which they doubted not it would have been destroyed, they began to tremble in the anticipation of famine ; yet they vigorously prepared for their defence, and rejected the overtures made by the Prince of Parma, even at this advanced stage of his proceedings. Xinety-seven pieces of cannon now defended the bridge ; besides which, thirty large barges at each side of the river guarded its extremities ; and forty ships of war formed a fleet of protection, constantly ready to meet any attack from the besieged. They, seeing the Scheldt thus really closed up, and all communication with Zealand impossible, felt their whole safety to depend on the destruction of the bridge. The states of Zealand now sent forward an expedition, which, joined with some ships from Lillo, gave new courage to the besieged ; and everything was prepared for their great attempt. An Italian engineer, named Giambelli, was at this time at Antwerp, and by his talents had long protracted the defence. He has tlie cliief merit of being the inventor of fireships, which bore the title of Infernal machines, and with some of these formidable engines and the Zealand fleet the long-projected attack was at length made. Early on the night of the 4th of April, the Prince of Parma and his army were amazed by the spectacle of three huge masses of flame floating down the river, accompanied by a number of lesser appearances of a similar kind, and bearing directly against the prodigious barrier, whicli had cost months of labour to him and his troops, and immense sums of money to the state. The whole surface of the Schelde presented one sheet of fire ; the country all around was as visible as at noon-day ; the flags, the arms of the soldiers, and every object on the bridge, in tlie fleet, or the forts, stood out clearly to view; and the pitchy darkness of the sky gave increased eUect to the marked 90 ANTWERP. distinctness of all. Astonishment was soon succeeded by conster- nation, when one of the three machines burst with a terrific noise before it reached its intended mark, but time enough to offer a sample of its destructive nature. The Prince of Parma, Avith numerous officers and soldiers, rushed to the bridge to witness the effects of this explosion ; and just then a second and still larger fire-ship, having burst through the flying bridge of boats, struck against one of the estoccades. Alexander, unmindful of danger, used every exertion of his authority to stimulate the sailors in their attempts to clear away the monstrous machine which threatened destruction to all within its reach. Happily for him, an ensign who was near, forgetting in his general's peril all rules of discipline and forms of ceremony, actually forced him from the estoccade. He had not put his foot on the river bank when the machine blew up. The effects were such as really baffle description. The bridge was burst through ; the estoccade was shattered almost to atoms, and with all that it supported — men, cannon, and the huge machinery employed in the various works — dispersed in the air. The Marquis of Eoubais, with many other officers, and eight hundred soldiers, perished, in a great variety of shapes — by flood, or flame, or the wounds from the missiles with which the terrible machine was overcharged. Fragments of bodies and limbs were flung far and wide ; and many soldiers were destroyed, without the vestige of the human form being left to prove that the}' had ever existed. The river, forced from its bed at either side, rushed into the forts and drowned numbers of their garrisons ; while the ground far bej'ond shook as in an earthquake. The prince was struck down by a beam, and lay for some time senseless, together with two gefierals, Delvasto and Gajitani, both more seriously wounded than himself; and many of the soldiers were burnt and mutilated in the most frightful manner. Alexander soon recovered, and by his presence of mind, humanity, and resolution, he endeavoured with incredible despatch to repair the injury sustained, and raised the confidence of his army as high as ever. Had the Zealand fleet come in time to the spot, the whole plan might have been crowned with success ; but by some want of concert or accidental delay, it did not appear ; and consequently the beleaguered city received no relief. One last resource was left to the besieged — that which had formerly been resorted to at Leyden, and by which the place was saved. To enable them to inundate the immense plain which stretched between Lillo and Stabroeck up to the walls of Antwerp, it was necessary to cut through the ciyke which defended it against the irruptions of the eastern Scheldt. Tliis plain was traversed by a high and wide counterdyke, called the dyke of Kouwenstcin ; and Alexander, know- ing its importance, had early taken possession of it, and strongly ANTWERP. 91 defended it by several forts. Two attacks were made by the garri- son of Antwerp on this important construction, the latter of which led to one of the most desperate encounters of war. Tlie prince, seeing that on the results of this day depended the whole conse- quences of liis labours, fought with a valour that even he had never before displayed, and he was tinally victorious. The confederates were forced to abandon the attack, leaving three thousand dead upon the dyke or at its base ; and the .Spaniards lost full eight hundred men. One more fruitless attempt was made to destroy the bridge and raise the siege, by means of an enormous vessel bearing the presumptuous title of The Eyid of the War. But this floating citadel ran aground, Avithout producing any effect ; and the gallant governor of Antwerp, the celebrated Philip de Marnix, lord of St. Aldegonde, was forced by famine to capitulate on the Itith of August, after a siege of fourteen months. The reduction of Antwerp was considered as a miracle of perseverance and courage. The Prince of Parma was elevated by his success to the highest pinnacle of renown ; and Philip, on receiving the news, displayed a burst of joy such as rarely varied his cold and gloomy reserve. It was at Antwerp that the truce for twelve years between lielgium and the United Provinces was signed, on the Dth of April, 1(J09. In 1706, after the battle of Ramilies, this city surrendered to the Duke of Marlborough, and in 1746 it was successfully besieged by the French, but restored to Austria, in 17S4, by the treaty of Aix- la-Chapelle. After the French Revolution it was frequently taken and retaken by the French and Austrians, but remained quietly in the possession of the former till IS 1-5, when the celebrated Camot surrendered it to the English troops, on the 14 th of May, after a blockade of four months, and a bombardment of three days. Since that epoch it was under the domination of AVilliam I., King of the Netherlands, from whom it was wrested, as well as the rest of Belgium, in October, 18-30, by the Revolution. Thus far 31. Lacroix, who says nothing, however, of the siege of 1S33, when the French and Belgians attacked the citadel of Antwerp, still held for Hol- land, and after an investment of twenty-four days, compelled it to surrender. The Cathedral. — The great tower, so justly celebrated for its strength and light appearance, was commenced under the direction of the architect Amclius in the year 14-'--' and finished in 1.31S. It is 46G feet high, including the cross, which is fifteen, and the upper gallery is ascended by 622 steps, from which may be seen Brussels, Ghent, Mechlin, Louvain, Turnhout, Breda, and Flushing. The carillons, consisting of ninety-nine bells, were placed there in 1540 ; the great bell, which weighs 16,000 lbs., and requires sixteen men to sound it, is of older date ; it was baptised in lo07; Charles 93 ANTWERP. the Fifth was its godfather. The keeper of the tower will demand of those who wish to ascend a small fee, seventy-five cents for one person, and less in proportion if there are more than one. At the foot of the tower may be read tlie epitaph, and on a medallion of stone is the portrait, of Quentin Metsys, who until the age of twenty was a blacksmith ; when, falling in love with a beautiful girl, the daughter of a painter who refused to give her to any but a man of his own profession, Quentin Metsys changed his employ- ment and studied hard with his palette and pencil to gain his prize. The masterpiece of Kubens, " The Descent from the Cross," is the artistic gem of the cathedral. The companion to the picture just named, " The Elevation of the Cross" is a work of perhaps equal merit, but the subject is so much more painfid that the lormer is usually preferred. These paintings were taken to Paris, but re- stored in ISIJ. The altar-piece, " The Assumption of the blessed Virgin" is also a magnificent picture ; the figures in the foreground stand out wonderfully, particularly the female in the yellow robe. This work was executed by Kubens in the shcrt space of sixteen days for 1,600 florins, (about S^. a day,) the sum usually gained by that incomparable artist. This picture was also carried oflf by the French, but restored in ISlo. It is a delicate and finished piece of art, and, although so rapidly performed, carefully executed. There is a representation of " The Last Supper," by Otto Yenius, the master of Kubens, placed over the marble monument erected to Ambroise Capello, seventh Bishop of Antwerp. Also a fine painting of " The Disciples of Emmuus," by Herreyns, considered one of his best, which adorns the altar of the Blessed Sacrament ; this altar was sculptured by Van den Neer : the tabernacle which represents the arch of alliance was the design of Verbruggen, and tlie com- munion table of exquisite white marble, the magnificent work of A. Quellyn. There are also " The 3Iarriage of Canaan," by Martin De Vos, a portrait of the Saviour by Quatremont, a small picture of *' The Resurrection," by Rubens, and " The Day of Judgment," by Backer. In addition to these the cathedral contains not less than 300 pictures. In the chapel of the Holy Sacrament there is a pic- ture of our Saviour disputing with the doctors, in which the painter, the younger Franck, has introduced the portraits of Erasmus, Calvin, and Luther ; the Resurrection, by Kubens, is reckoned amongst the best of the great master's productions. The ceihng of the dome, painted by Schut, has a curious effect. The grouping is fine, and the whole has been considered as a study wortliy tlie attention of modern artists. The painter was a pupil of Kubens. Against a pillar is placed a fine figure of our Saviour in Parian marble, attached to a black cross, by Van den Jseer, and presented to the cathedral by the Moretus family. The painted glass of the win- ANTWERP. 93 dows, universally admired, is the work of Diepenbeek, who lias inseuiously introduced the portraits of some of the members of the corjjoration. The linely-carved pulpit, by P. ^'erbruggen, repre- sents a rather curious allegory of birds, not an unusual style of ornamentation for pulpits in Belgium. Metsys' Well. — On leaving the cathedral, in the little square close to the entrance, is a curious well ; the iron work of which was executed by the celebrateil Quentin Metsys, by the hammer alone, without the aid of either chisel or tile, before he became a painter to gain the hand of his sweetheart. Quentin Metsys was a man of much talent and perseverance: he excelled in expression and com- position; his colouring has stood the test of time, lie died at Antwerp in 1.5i'9, at the age of seventy-nine. CiiLKCH OF St. Jacques. — Few churches are so rich in pictures, sculpture, marble, and carved wood, as the present, which is richer still in possessing the tomb of the IJubens. A marble slab, bearing the family arms and a long inscription, covers the tomb : a painting executed by Kubens in which he introduces himself as St. George, his two wives as Mary and Martha, his father as Time, and his son as an angel, adorns the altar. This valuable picture is in excellent preservation, and usually kept covered by a curtain : it also was taken to Paris, but restored in 1.^15. A beautiful marble figure of the Blessed Virgin, sculptured by Duquesnoy, and brought from Italy by Rubens, deserves attention. In this cluirch there is a small painting of the Crucifixion by Vandyck, which is considered by many to be one of the finest productions of that great master. Tlie communion rail in the church of St. Jacques, is justly celebrated for its workmanship, being a kind of filigree of white marble repre- senting angels, fruit, and flowers of great beauty, and well pre- served both as to colour and form. Chckcii of St. Paul is rich in a series of paintings by the best masters, fifteen in number, representing the life and sufferings of Our Saviour. The principal of which are, " The Annunciation" by Van Baelen, " The Visitation" by Frank, " The Nativity," by De Yos, "The Purification," by the same, " The Scourging at the pillar" by Kubens, — one of his most celebrated performances and where the subject is but too faithfully portrayed. — "Jesus bearing his Cross" by Vandyck, " 1 he Crucifixion" by Jordaens, and " The Resurrection" by the same. There are some beautiful statues, par- ticularly one of St. Paul, over the marble altar, sculptured by Ver- bruggen. In the churchyard of St. Paul, there is a strange monu- ment representing Mount Calvary, where members of the Komi>li church resort to pray. The Chuuch of St. Andrew contains an original portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, attached to a monument erected to the 94 ANTWERP. memory of that lamented princess by two pious English ladies. There is also a Crucifixion by Otto Yenius. Tlie pulpit is formed of figures as large as life, carved by Van Geel ; the subject taken from that passage in Scripture where our Saviour, seeing St. Simon and St Andrew fishing, calls them from their nets and tells them to follow him, saying, " I will make ye fishers of men." The boat and the fish, and even the net, are most elaborately finished : the work- manship is much admired by amateurs of carving. The Church of St. Augustin is chiefly remarkable for a fine painting of the :Nrarriage of St. Catlierine, by Kubens ; the head of the saint is perhaps one of the finest of his best portraits. The pulpit is by Yerbruggen. The Church of St. Anthony of Padua is only remarkable for two paintings : the one, " St. Francis on his knees receiving the Infant Jesus from his Mother," by Rubens ; the otlier, " Our Saviour dead, supported by the blessed Yirgin," by Yandyck. The Church of St. Charles Borromeus is one of the most curiously fitted up in Belgium, and is worth inspection. The Hotel-de-Yille was first constructed in 1560, but being burnt in 1576, was rebuilt such as it now is in 1581. It contains a library of reference, in many of the rooms of which there are good paintings. The City Library contains a valuable collection of books and manuscripts in various languages, and is open to the public daily from ten till three, except Saturdays and Sundays. The outside of the building is composed of five orders of archi- tecture, and many of the houses in the square still retain the Spanish style : they formerly served as halls for the various cor- porations. The house which Charles tlie Fifth occupied when in Antwerp is here, and is remarkable for its curious windows. Tiie Bourse or Exchange occupies a square 200 feet long and 160 wide ; it is very conveniently constructed for the transaction of busi- ness, having a piazza or cloister all round, formed of iron arches and pillars of granite or blue stone. In 1550, the Royal Exchange iu London, and, later, that of Amsterdam, were constructed after the model of that of Antwerp. The Theatre was built in 1834, at an expense of 40,000/., and on a plan of richness and elegance little to be expected from the Antwerpians, who have generally manifested little taste for the theatre. The Hanseatic Palace, erected in 1564 by the Hanseatic towns as a depot for merchandise, and a place of residence for their Consul, is favourably situated for the discharge of cargoes, being between the two basins. It is 2-30 feet long and 200 broad. The King's Palace, situated in the Place de Meir, is not re- markable ; it is occupied by the royal family during their temporary ANTWERP. 95 visits to Antwerp, which are of rare occurrence. It was originally purchased by Napoleon, and is at present inhabited by the niihtary governor. The House of Rlbens is near the Place de Meir, in the street which still bears his name ; it is divided into two, and little now remains of its original state, except the garden and bower, or alcove, in which he delighted to sit. It is, of course, an object of much interest to travellers. The Port and Docks are on a large scale, and were constructed under the orders of Napoleon, who directed his minister for naval affairs to send 500 convicts from the dockyards of Brest to com- mence this stupendous undertaking, and on the 16th August, 1809, the first stone was laid. There are two spacious basins faced with stone, capable of containing, the one twelve and the other forty vessels of the line. The docks, which can be made dry by means of sluices when occasion requires, cost 1-", 000, 000 francs. For com- munication between the two great basins and the docks, which are at the end of the town, a spacious quay was constructed, wliich now forms a promenade. Some amateurs possess collections of painting, which they politely allow to be viewed by strangers : the most deserving of inspection are those of Mr. Nuyts, Hue du Jardin ; Mr. Steenecruys, hue de Mai ; Mr. Baillie, Longue-rue-Neuve ; Mr. Snyers, Place de Meir ; Sir. Kets, Rue du Couveut, has a cabinet of natural history, which may be easily seen. Antwerp possesses a botanical garden in the Rue des Predicateurs ; also a royal AthenjEum in the same street, and a Society for the encouragement of the fine arts. The Museum, situated on the site of the old Couvent des Recollets, the part appropriated to the pictures being the chapel of the buildings, is rich in some of the finest productions of Rubens, Vaudyck, and Jordaens ; admission gratis. Besides the gallery of paintings, it contains the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1402 by a society of painters, sculptors, and engravers, and now boasts at its head Wappers, an artist of merit. The 3Iuseum contains the chair which Rubens occupied at the Society of St. Luke, of which he was the oldest member; it bears his name and the date of l6oS. The gallery is open to the public on Thursdays and Sundays, from ten to three o'clock. Strangers may see it every day. Whilst speaking of Rubens, two anecdotes, often told in Antwerp, may be repeated : Rubens wished to alter the arrangement of his house, which was contiguous to that of the company of gunsmiths; the latter perceiving that Rubens encroached upon their ground, made a de- mand upon him. Rubens maintained his right ; a long lawsuit was 9G ANTWERP. about to take place, when tlie burgomaster Rockox, his friend, pro- posed an arrangement, which was agreed to : the gi'ound in question was ceded to Eubens on condition that lie would paint an altar- piece for the Company, with sluitters, intended for the gunsmiths* chapel in the cathedral : the picture was to represent St. Christophe, their patron saint. As the name of Christophe signifies, according to the Greek etymology, to bear Christ, Rubens singularly enough imagined a picture in which all tiie figures should concur in bearing Christ, and he painted his admirable Descent from the Cross ; upon the shutters, by a similar allegory, he represented the Visitation, in which the holy Virgin, in her pregnancy, also bears Christ ; and the Presenta- tion at the Temple, with the high priest Simeon bearing the child Jesus in his arms. But the gunsmiths wanted a St. Christophe, and not an allegorical picture ; and a new lawsuit would have taken place, if Rubens had not consented to paint a colossal figure of St. Christophe on the exterior of one of the shutters. It is also said, ^ith respect to the same masterpiece, that during the great master's usual walk, his pupils having obtained his servant's permission to enter his painting-room, one of them, having been pushed by another, fell on the picture, and effaced the arm of Mary Magdalene, and the cheek and chin of the Virgin that Rubens had just finished. It is easy to imagine the young people's consternation. However, it was necessary to repair the misfortune: they prevailed upon the one whom they all considered as the most able, and the accident was so well repaired, that next day Eubens said, in the presence of his pupils, " Here are a head and arm which are not the worst part of my yesterday's work." That pupil was Vandyck. Marche au Vendredi. — Friday market, so called from the public sales of furniture which are held here every Friday. In this square there is a piece of sculpture by Quillyn, of Amsterdam. It represents a Hercules, and likewise a female figure bearing a pair of compasses, and a roll of paper with the inscription, " Lahore et Con- stant ia," the motto of the ancient printing-press of Christopher Plantin, celebrated for employing only learned men in correcting works printed by him. His editions are still in high repute. He died in 1610, and was buried in the cathedral, where there is a tomb to his memory, bearing his portrait. The Statue of Rubens will be found in the centre of the Place Verte. The painter is seen standing in the costume of his period, with a palette at his feet. As a work of art, it has a heavy look. 97 ABDENNES. It is oiily of late years that the attention of the tourist lias been called to tiie Ardennes, as a district likely to repay a visit ; but owing to the reports of certain lovers of the picturesque, and to the facilities now ollered by railways and steamboats, this once remote part of Belgium is beginning to have its share of visitors. Amongst these the anglers form a portion, for the Ardennes atTord not only fine scenery, but good fishing also. 3Ir. Addison, who resided for some time in Belgium, and v*rote a volume for travellers, says — Most of the inhabitants of Belgium know as little of the Ardennes as they do of Iceland or Affghanistan. Interrogate a Belgian on the subject, and unless he happens to be a native of the province of Luxembourg, you will probably find that his knowledge is limited to the environs of Spa, and that he will pronounce the rest of the country to be tn'xfe, sautage, and altogether unworthy of your notice. lu England, before the publication of Quentin Durward, nineteen persons oiit of twenty had never heard of the name, and even now, most likely, all they know is, that it is a district lying somewhere iu the neighbourhood of France ; and that it formerly served as a retreat to William de la ISIarck, and his lawless followers. But I can assure the angler, who may be tempted to pass a few summer weeks by the side of the trout- streams in the Ardennes ; or the traveller who loves to wander througli a picturesque and beautiful country, that nowhere will he find more magnificent forests, more smiling valleys, or a happier combination of hill and dale, wood and water, in short, of all that the mind of the poet, or the eye of the painter, can desire. The characteristic feature of the Ardennes is wildness, heaths, and rocky hills, with dark rapid streams winding round them ; forests of oak stretching over the plains, and crowning the hills ; peopled with deer, wild boars, and wolves ; villages, at long intervals, dirty and poor cottages, thinly scattered among the valleys, and castles frowning from rocky heights, and surrounded by venerable woods, where some baron, of three or four hundred pounds a year, com- mands the reverence of the neighbouring peasantry, and still exercises the virtue of hospitality towards strangers. The best mode of reaching the Ardennes is to leave the Meuse at Dinant. From Dinant, says the traveller just quoted, he may shape his course according to his fancy; but should he be a fisherman, I will endeavour to point out to him where he may have some amusement. I should recommend him to proceed iu the first place to Nieupont, a small village on the Lesse, about sixteen miles off, by an excellent road. If he is not a pedestrian, he will be H 98 ARDENNES. accommodated with a good carriage and horses, at a moderate charge, by M. la Violette, of the Hotel de la Tete d'Or. On his way to Nieupont he will pass by Hardenne, the country-seat of the King of the Belgians, situated on the slope of a charming valley, the natural beauties of wliich have been greatly augmented by the care and taste of the royal owner. There is an auberge at Nieupont, kept by ^Mad. Uandollfct, a good old dame, who does all in her power to make her visitors comfortable. The river here abounds with trout and grayling, and between Sechery and Nieupont, when the water is in tolerable order, a good day's sport may be expected. From the bridge close to the auberge, any one who likes a fry of gudgeons may catch a dishful in half an hour. From the Lesse he should proceed to liocliefort, a distance of ten or twelve miles by a cross-road, st<;pping at Hans, to visit the caves and souterrain. Every one has read of Sinbad the sailor, and that most wonderful of his enterprises, where he escaped from a valley by entering with a river into the heart of a mountain, which carried him into another country. This, however, is no longer a marvel, for any one who chooses to make the journey to Hans may do the same as Sinbad. In this neighbourhood the Lesse, a river of no trifling size, enters beneath a hill of considerable altitude, and after a course of about three miles, issues from the other side, and there is no danger whatever in committing oneself to the stream. At no great distance from this wonder, another river precipitates itself into a gulph, and is nevermore heard of; and, in another place, there is a beautiful little valley so encircled by enormous rocks, that, like the prison of Ilasselas, the only entrance to it is by a subterraneous jjassage. It is not indeed impracticable to enter it otlierwise; one may clamber down the rocks, but this manner of enjoying its sweetness and solitude is only for the adventurous. At Ilochefort there is one of the most comfortable little country inns I have ever met with, the Auberge de I'Etoile. The view from the old castle, which crowns the height above the village, will amply repay the trouble of the ascent. Kochefurt lies on the river de I'Homme, and though there is no good fishing in the immediate vicinity, yet higher up the stream, from Grupont to Mirwart, and Smuidt, there are plenty of trout. Looking up the valley, from the bridge at Grupont, the view is superb ; the river winds through rich meadows, and the hills in the back ground are clothed with the most luxiu'iant woods, froru amidst which, the chateau of Mirwart stands boldly out on an eminence, overhanging the stream. This chateau was formerly the residence of the de la lilarcks, the Sangliers of the Ardennes. From 3Iirwart the distance to St. Hubert is about six miles, and if the angler intends to prolong his stay in the Ardennes I sliould be inclined to recom- mend him to make St. Hubert his head-quarters ; for although it is ARDENNES. d'J not close to any one of the different rivers, yet it is so situated, that by walking some three or four miles, he may vary his fishing ground every day in tlie week. Hatrival, Smuidt, Mirwart, and Grupont, on tlie I'llomme, and Muircy, lionnerue, and Amberloup, on the Ourte, are witliin easy reach of St. Hubert, and at these places there is abundance of trout and a few grayling. After these hints to the angler, 3Ir. Addison adds another morsel of his experience, when he says : For the lovers of good eating, in no part of Europe perhaps can one live better than in the Ardennes ; the mutton has that fine flavour which is only to be found in heathy countries, and the wikl boar or a tame pig, are equally deli- cious, since the acorn of the forest is the food of both. Venison, hare, and other game are common fare ; the rivers atTord trout of excellent flavour, and the miniature lobster is as common in tiiem as the pebbles they flow over ; nowhere have the vegetables a sweeter ta^te, and nowhere is there richer milk, or more delicious honey. The charges at the inns are moderate. The Ardennes send great numbers of the small birds called grives to the Brussels and Paris laarkets, the forests in the neighbourhood affording them a copious supply of food from the berries of the service trees. From the Ardennes the traveller may go by diligence to Treves, and descentling the Moselle, join the Rhine at Coblentz, passing on his way some of the most charming river-scenery in Europe. The Englishman has two literary attachments to the Ardennes. Walter Scott has introduced him within their confines to "William de la Marck, and still more, there Shakspere lays the scene of a most charming play. Mr. Dudley Costello, in his pleasant volume on " The Valley of the Meuse," describes a halt he made at Champion, a large inn standing alon at a point where four roads meet on the skirts of the most picturesque part of the forest of Ardennes. It is here truly (lie says) " the scene as Shakspere has painted it, a perfect picture of sylvan beauty. Except the ' green and gilded snake,' and the ' lioness, with udders all drawn dry,' that laid in wait for Orlando's elder brother, all the features of ' tlie forest of Arden,' in ' As You Like It,' are drawn to the life. The truth of the description arises of course from the poet's quick sense of the beauties of nature, and his ready apprehension of all that unites to render forest scenery delightful, whether in England or beyond the Meuse. Nurtured iu tradition, and steeped in the recollection of the days when he did lay him down within the shade Of waving trees, and dreamed uncounted hours,' the forest of Ardennes was to him as real an object as the woods that bordered the Avon ; and thus the scenery of his unrivalled H -2 ] 00 BACHARACH. comedy is as true as the personages with whom he has filled these wilds ax-e instinct with life. At every step we meet with ' Oaks, whose antique roots peep out Upon the brooks that brawl along the wood ;' we cannot penetrate beyond the glades, without disturbing some ' careless herd, full of the pasture,' the ' dappled fools' that formed the subject of the moralizing reverie of the 'melancholy Jaques ;' we linger in many a spot where still seems to echo the song of the forester lord, nor can we refrain from chanting with him — ' Who doth ambition shun, And loves to lie i' the sun, Seeking the food he eats. And pleas'd with what he gets. Come hither, come hither, come hither; Here he shall see No enemy. But winter and rough weather.' " Although oaks are numerous in the Ardennes, beech trees are stiU more so. The peasants call the beech " le brochet des bois" because it prevents all other trees from groA\ing near it. Its AValloou name is fays, from the Latin fagus, and many plants are called after it; Beaufays, Thirifays (beech of Thierry), Fayenbois, &c. Speaking of the Ardennes, Saumery says : — " A number of altars were raised in ditferent parts of the forest to Diana, and hence the etymology of Ardenue, ' Ara Dianne.' At a place called Amberloux an antique marble was foimd with the inscription ' Curia Arduennse.' " Thierry, in his " Histoire des Gaulois," gives the following more probable derivation : — " This great extent of forests, which covered the space comprised between the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt, was called in Celtic Ar-denn, that is to say, the profound. These forests were as old as the world." ' BACHABACH. {Hotel: Post.] Bacharach, formerly the chief city of an electorate, stands on the left bank of the Rhine, about ten miles below Bingen. Some derive its name from one Bacchus, who is said to have settled on the Rhine long before the birth of Christ, and who was the first to introduce the culture of the vine. The building of the city is ascribed to King Pharamund. Others hold that the Romans having tasted of the good wines grown there erected an altar to the god of wine, from which circumstance the place came to be called Bachi Ara, whence the Teutonic Bacharach. The name Bacha- rach, however, is to be found neither in the old Roman chronicles nor in any other before the beginning of the twelfth century. Until BACHAUACU. 101 the fifteenth century Bacharach was a place of little or no import- ance in history, and was not constituted a city before tlie year 13C8 ; its walls were raised about thirty years later. Its position between the Khine and a steep mountain of necessity circumscribed greatly the area of the city, so that before the Bohemian outbreak its popu- lation did not exceed two hundred and fifty families. It had, notwithstanding, a noble aspect, being adorned as far as to the point wliere it joined the wall of the still existing ruins of Staleck, with sixteen high and beautiful towers. In the Thirty Years and subsequent wars Bacharach suffered exceedingly. Between 1620 and 1040 it was eight times taken and four times sacked; and having in 1CS9 been set on fire by the enemy, it is no wonder if it has lost much of former glory. In the present day it wears a de- jected air. On entering the narrow cramped streets, with houses hanging one over the other, as if every moment threatening to fall, feelings of anxiety are awakened in the stranger. Among the churches of Bacharach thelargest is thatof St. Peter; the St. Wernerskerche, however, in spite of its dilapidated condition, is by far the most handsome structure. On the Ilhine towards Bingen stands the former church of the Capucliins, with its cloister. The Lutherans have a church iiere, and the Catholics, in addition to those already named, have the small church of the hospital, and the school- chapel. Besides the former electoral kellerer, or wine-house, and the ancient court-house on the Rhine, there is in the city a curious old hall used by the electors, and now called the Saal. The city once had its own Mint, in memory of which, the gate towards the Rhine is still called the Jliinztlior. About two miles below Bachai"ach, and upon the so-called Rutzbach, stood the old custom- house on the Rhine, where all vessels must stop and pay a toll, which, being in the beginning a royalty of the German monarch, came to be pledged in turn to archbishops, knights, and Jews, and at last to be the property of the elector. The elector, Karl Theodor, in order to promote commerce by land and water, constructed at great cost a road from the city through a part of the Steegerthal over the opposite hills. The popular fame of the wines produced on the vine-hills of Bacharach, as among the best produced in the Rhine district, dates from the age of King "Wenzel and Rope Rius II. The first was so great a lover of Bacharach wine, that in exchange for a few pipes he absolved the city of >'uremberg from its oath of allegiance to him, while the latter was careful to have a barrel of his favourite drink brought yearly to Rome. A rhyming proverb is extant, which declares that — " At Klingenberg on the ^^aine, At Bacharach on the Rhine, And at Wurzburg on the Steinc, Grows the very best wine." 103 BADEN-BADEN, So much evidence ought to place the excellence of Bacharach wine beyond dispute ; but the fact is otherwise. The city does indeed produce on the immediately adjacent Vagts and Kuhlberge a very good wine, which for its Muscatel flavour is much esteemed, but it is altogether devoid of tlie liveliness and body of the Rhine-wines of Joliannisberg, Iludesheim, or Hocheim. Indeed the growths which have procured for Bacharach so much reputation have not been actually produced in its immediate vicinity, but have rather been those which the merchants, favoured in their commerce by the traditional reputation of the place, have selected from the best vineyards within reach. Bacharach was the general lading city of the Khine. BADEK-BADEN. [Hotels : The Baden (good) ; de I'Europe (good) ; d'Angleterre (good) ; the Court of Zahringen (good) ; the Golden Sun ; the Darmstadt; the Russie (good). All the chief inns have the steam- baths, the water for which is brought from the rocks above.] Baden-Baden is certainly the most picturesque, and by far the most cheerful of all the German bathing-towns, and for a short stay during summer, will be found a pleasjint spot. Its hot springs suit some, and its mineral waters improve others, whilst those who desire the excitement of the gaming-table find here a host of persons similarly disposed, and ready to keep them in countenance. The gambling is the black spot of the place, and though it brings many persons to Baden-Baden, it also keeps many aAvay, and diminishes the stay of others, who might otherwise be induced, by the beauty and natural recommendations of the neighbourhood, to make long and frequent residence in the place. The chief things to be seen in and around Baden are — The Conversation House, the Trinkhar.e (Pump-room), the Pro- menades, Hot Springs, the New Castle, the Alley of Oaks (Die Eichen-Allee), the Nunnery of Liehtenthal, the Hill of Cecilia, Geroldsau and the Waterfall, the Old Castle, the Bocks, Eberstein- burg or Alt-Eberstein, IVIount Mercury or the Great Staufenberg, the Ha^slig, Scheuern and the little Ci.apel of the Jesuits, the Beitig, Balg, Seelach and the Valley of Beuern, Ybiirg, Fremersberg, the Jagdhaus or Hunting House, the Valley of the Murg, New Eberstein the Favourite, the Kniebis, Emperor's Chair (Kaiserstuhl). The Conversation-House is the first object that claims the visitor's attention, and he can scarcely fail to be pleased with its situation and aspect. Standing in the midst of beautifully arranged gardens, it is the chief point of attraction of tiie place. At once a lounge, a ball-room, a gaming-house, a restaurant, a library, a reading-room, and a theatre, it constantly offers amusement of one BADEN-BADEN. 103 kind or the otlier. Altogether it is the first building of the sort in Germany. For the privilege of conducting the gaming-tables (very profitable tliey must be), their owners pay, it is stated, about 5000/. a-year to the Grand Duke; besides which they exjjend a still larger sum in the embellishment of the town and neighbourhood. Indeed all the improvements of the place — the walks, the plantations, the frescoes, the new public buildings, have been raised out of the profits of the gaming-tables ! A recent resident in Baden, Mr. AVhitelock, speaks of the Conversation-House as " the metroi>olitan pump-room of Europe, conducted on the principle of gratuitous admittance to all bearing the semblance of gentility, and conducting themselves with propriety. It opens its doors to all the world with tlie most laudable hospitality, and witii a perfect indilference to exclusive- ness, requiring only the hat to be taken off upon entering, and rejecting only short jackets, cigar, pipe, and meerschaum. Let us suppose a vast saloon of regular proportions, rather longer than broad, at eitiier end garnished by a balcony : beneath, doors to the rigiit and left and opposite to the main entrance conduct to other apartments, dedicated to different purposes. On entering, the eye is at once dazzled by tiie blaze of lights from cliandeliers, lustres, and sconces. The ceiling and borders set off into compartments, showered over with arabesques, the gilded pillars, the moving mass of promenaders, the labyrinth of human beings assembled from all parts of Europe, tlie costly dresses, repeated by a host of mirrors, — all tliis combined, the eye conveys to the brain at a single glance. As with the eye, so it is with the ear, at every step a new language falls upon it, and every tongue with a different intonation, for the high and the low, the prince, peer, vassal, and tradesman, the proud beaut •, the decrepit crone, some fresh budding into the world, some standing near the grave, the gentle and the stern, the sombre and the gay, are here met. Let us approach the stationary crowd (continues the writer) to tiie left hand and s<.e wiuit it is tliat so fascinates and rivets their attention. They are looking upon a long table, covered with green clotli, in the centre of which is a large polished wooden ba--in, witii a moveable rim, and around it are small compartments, numbered to a certain extent, namely 3S, alternately red and black in .negular order, numbered from 1 to 30, a nought or zero in a red, and a double zero upon a black, making up the 3S, and each capable of holding a marble. The moveable rim is set in motion by the hand, and as it revolves horizontally from east to west round by its axis, the marble is caused by a jerk of the finger and thumb to fly off in a contrary nKjvemeut. The public therefore conclude that no calculation can foretel where the marble will fall, and rightly, inasmuch as the bank plays a certain and sure game, however deep, runs no risk of loss, and consequently lias no necessity for superfluously cheating or deluding the public. It also lO-i BADEN-BADEN. plays double, that is to say, on both sides of the wheel of fortune at once. When the whirling of both rim and marble cease, the latter falls, either instantaneously, or after some coy uncertainty, into one of the compartments, and the number and colour, &c., are imme- diately proclaimed, the stakes deposited are dexterously raked up by the croupier, or increased by payment from the bank, according as the colour wins or loses. Now the two sides or tables are merely duplicates of one another, and each of tliem is divided sometliing . like a chess-board into three columns of squares, which amount to 36, the numbers advance arithmetically from right to left, and con- sequently there are twelve lines down, so as to complete the rect- angle; as one therefore stands at the head, four stands immediately under it, and so on. At the bottom lie three squares, with the French marks, 12 p — 12 m — 12 d — that is, first, middle, third dozen. The three large meadows on either side are for red and black, pair and odd, miss and pass, which last signify the division of the numbers into the first and second half, from 1 to 18, and from 19 to 36 inclusive. If a number be staked upon and wins, the stake is increased to six and thirty times its amount, and so on, always less, as tiie stake is placed in different positions, which may be effected in the following ways: by placing the piece of gold or silver on the line (« cheval) partly ou one and partly on its neiglibour, two numbers are represented, and should one win, the piece is augmented to eighteen times the sum ; three numbers are signified upon the stroke at the end or beginning of the numbers that go across ; six, by placing the coin on the border of a perpendicular and a horizontal line between two strokes; four, where the lines cross within ; twelve numbers are signified in a twofold manner, either upon the column where the figures follow in the order of one, four, seven, and so on, or on the side-fields mentioned above ; these receive the stake trebled, and those who stake solely upon the colour, the two halves, or equal and odd, have their stake doubled when they win. Now the two zeros, that is, the simple and com- pound, stand apart, and may be separately staked upon : should either turn up, the stake is increased in a far larger proportion. To render the game equal, without counting in the zeros and other trifles, the winner ought to receive the square of thirty-six, in- stead of thirty-six." It will be difficult for a person who reads without watching the table, to understand this — but to those who visit Baden, and as one of its liojis watch the infatuated people who sit in tlie Conversation-House, losing tlieir money, the description may afford some little information of the hieroglyphical mystery of the movements on and around the gaming-table. On Saturday, a ball takes place in the Conversation-House, superior to those held on the other nights. It is called the baJ pare ; the grand saloon is then usurped by the dancers. The left wing of the Conversation-. BADEN-BADEN, 105 House consists of an hotel for dinners and refreshment, what is called a liestauratiou : an cstamiuet or smoking-room separates it from the temple of fortune ; the right wing is a theatre, wliere, during the season, Frencii and German plays are alternately repre- sented ; the library of Mr. Marx separates tliis building also from the temple. This is the news-room and circulating library of the town, where all Englishmen meet with courtesy and attention. Before the building is a charming promenade; shops or rather small bazaars are close at hand, and grounds laid out in something like the English taste surround the edifice. Ices and other refresh- ments are taken alfresco. As far as the bazaars are concerned, the owners are mostly non-residents of the town, and come from various parts — such as Carlsruhe, Strasburg, Nancy, &c. The Trink-Halle, or Pump-Koom, is the next chief object ou the promenades. It is a fine building, where the visitors go to drink the waters — a process usually undergone here, as at other German watering-places, early in the morning. The exterior of this structure is showily embellished by frescoes, illustrating the legends of the neighbouring Black Forest. The MiNEUAX, \Vaters of Baden-Baden are derived from more than a dozen springs, which diff'er in temperature, not in their component parts, one source excepted. The taste of it has a mawkish resemblance to weak broth with a faint animal smell. The principal fountain is situated near the collegiate church of St. Peter, tolerably elevated, and bears in German the name of Urspruiig, or " Original spring." When the Romans became masters of the soil, they threw an arcli over it^ which still remains. The arch has a funnelled aperture for the escape of the steam, which, curling up in wreaths, slowly rises, part evaporating into thin air, while another portion is economically preserved, and con- veyed by pipes into the building adjoining, where vapour baths may be had. They throw sulphur also upou flame, if desired, and by this means an artificial sulphur vapour bath is formed. All the inns with baths are fitted up likewise with steam baths. The Ursprung forces its way through the crevices of a hanl rock, formed of quartz and hornblende. Here it lias boiled and bubbled up for an his- torical period of nearly two thousand years, and, in all probability, of a geological one of two hundred thousand, never " within the memory of the oldest inliabitant" changing its intensity of heat, by day or by night, in winter or summer, and yielding the same supply — namely, above three millions of cubic inches of water in the twenty-four hours. The temperature of the Ursprung is 54^ of Reaumur, or 153-5 of Fahrenheit, and, as before remarked, never varies. The other sources are somewhat less, and one goes as low as 38^ of Reaumur, or 117-5 of Fahrenheit. These other sources may be considered perhaps as branches of the main fountain, and, 106 BADEN-BADEN. relatively speaking, of inferior value, excepting, however, the Hollenquelle, or " infernal spring," which bears the name from the figure of the rock it springs from, though the explanation, I rather fancy, is erroneous, but of no importance. It has a red aspect, produced by heavy deposits of carbonate of iron. Tlie water of the Ursprung is, according to ancient rights and privileges, conveyed to different hotels in the town, wliere, after a certain time has elapsed for the cooling down of the water, it is distributed to the deputy pipes that pass into the private bathing-rooms. One of these streams is brought down to the Saumon, or Salmon ; anotlier main-pipe conveys the water to the Baden Hotel and the Court of Zahringen, the Golden Sun, the Inn of Darmstadt, and the Holland Hotel. The common bath costs twenty-four kreuzers, or eight- pence ; and the bath with douche, &c., tliirty-six kreuzers, or a shilling. Those who like to have baths in their own rooms can do so, when in private lodgings, and the price is not sixpence dearer than at an inn. A steel batli, as the Germans call a chalybeate bath, is to be had at a baker's in tiie suburb of Lichtenthal ; another suite of batlis of pure water, either cold or warm, is to be found at the Stephanie inn, which stands to the left of the town entrance into the Oak- alley. The New Castle {Das Ne?!e Sch/oss) is chiefly remarkable for the fine situation it occupies, and for the dungeons beneath its floors. Tlie IVIarkgrave I'hilip the Second built a castle on tins spot in 1570, but in the year l(!Si) the French destroyed it, as they did the town, by fire ; it was afterwards rebuilt as it now stands. The castle that was built by the Markgrave Cliristopher in 1417 was not in this spot, but nearer to tlie warm fountains. The view from tlie castle windows presents a glorious prospect. The snail- garden (Schneckengarten) is reserved for flowers : snails, it is said, were oiice cnltivated there. Tliere are several ways conducting to the New Castle: one is through the garden of t!ie Zahringer Hof; another by a flight of stone steps not far ofl' from tlie Baden Hotel, but on the side leading to the Stag Inn, near a black- smith's s'.iop; but the most agreeable road is between the Pro- testant church and the nunnery ; this is called the Turkish way ; and about halfway up there is a flight of steps considerably abridging the fatigue of climbing in sultry weather. The most interesting object certainly is the chain of subterranean vaults and galleries. The entrance goes through a tower to tlie right at the corner of the castle, down a spiral staircase, past Avhat was once a Roman swimming-batli. The greatest obscurity hangs over its origin. Some sujjpose these vaults to have been the substructions of a Roman temple, dedicated to the guardian divinities of the Aurelian city of fountains, such as the Minerva alluded to by Cicero, Mercury, the Sun, and others. The universal BADEN-BADEN. 107 traflition is, that the dreaded Vehmgericht held its sittings in thia spot, and it records tlie secret executions which here took place. Many visitors will remember the description of this secret tribunal in " Anne of Gierstehi." One of tiie chambers, on the walls of whicli iron rings are secured, still bears the traditional name of the *' Folterkammer," or torture-room, and in one of the galleries an opening is pointed out that bears the name of " .Jungfernkiiss," or virgin's kiss. Here those condemned to die are said to have been pitched down and to have fallen into the arms of a machine called " an Iron virgin," who embraced them with spikes and knives, pro- ducing a horrible death. The rotunda already spoken of is gene- rally called the turret of Dagobert. At the end of a long walk is a wicket generally open in the daytime, it leads to a small path, and one of the most delightful quiet walks in tlie wood opposite, through which, by taking the path to the right, visitors can descend to tlie Alien of Sighs, and so to their inn. The Hall of Antiquities contains a few relics described to be Eoman. Tliey include — An inscription to the P^mperor Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus, whose other names, Marcus Aurelius An- toninus, caused old writers to stumble on Marcus Aurelius the Wise. The date of the inscription is equivalent to 137 of our era. Three altars of Hercules, found at "Aue" formerly an island of tlie Khine ; they are about three feet high and about a foot and a lialf wide. On one side there is a Hercules, on the three others a ^Minerva, a Cybele, and a Mercury, in alto-relievo. Hercules appears here as the tutelary God of Trade of Tyre, with the apples of tlie Hcsperides in his hand ; these monuments point to the time when tlie I'hoenicians and later the Massiliots, raised columns and altars on the Khine in honour of their god. A monument dedicated to Neptune, about two feet high, as Schreiber supposes, during tiie time when the Khine was confounded with tlie Eridanus (as the Nile and Niger were in tlie la?t century), and when it was believed that the river with its three moutlis emptied itself at the same time into the Jfediterranean and the North-western Ocean. An altar stone to 3Iercury, but merely the copy; the original is still uix)n the moun- tain, or the great ^taulenberg, as it is sometimes called ; its being there is rather extraordinary, as the temples and altars of this god were confined to main roads, in the proximity of fountains. Two gravestones, one for the Koman legionary, Lucius Aurelius Crescens, tlie other for Lucius Keburinus Candidus, of tlie twenty-tiiird cohort of volunteers. Tiiese stones were found in the garden of the Grand Duchess Stephanie. A fountain-stone found in the year ISTJ in the little castle opposite the village of Scheuern. It is symbolically carved, a sun in tlie middle, from whose open moutli the water once llowed. Beneath are aquatic plants, drinking shells, and figurative animals, half stag, half fish. A fragment of stone with the name of 108 BADEN-BADEN. Trajan ; another, also with the same name, difficult to be deciphered. A stone, dedicated to Diana, found at the village of Os. A mile- stone or boundary-stone of the year 213, as Bassianus Caracalla (wlio here bears tlie names again of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) was a second time consul and in Germany; it shows a distance of four miles or leagues from Baden. There are five other mile-stones at the castle-garden at Durlach, two of which were dug out between Steinbacli aud Sinslieim, and two at Xottingen, a German mile from Pforzheim. The first is of the year 222, dedicated to Heliogabalus, the second to Alexander Severus in 223. On both Baden is termed cii:itas aiirelia aquensis. The third has likewise the name of A. Severus, and the fourth. Caracalla. The chief interest attacherl to these relics is the proof tliat Baden was regarded with veneration by tlie ancient inhabitants of Rome, and had a Hygeian value equal if not superior to that of its military position. The Chief Church of Baden contains some monuments worthy of notice, erected to the memory of bygone notables of the place. There is an English Protestant clergyman in Baden, who regularly conducts the services of the church. Post Office. — Letters arrive and are despatched twice a day. Sir. AVliitelocke, from whom we freely quote, gives, after a lengtliened residence In the place, a very favourable verdict on the government and people. The government of the country (he says) is mild and impartial, and strangers are under the especial protection of the pohce. The institutions of the country are entitled to the greatest respect, and the longer an Englishman resides in the land, the higher does the collective population rise in his esteem; his prejudices soon wear oiT, and he gives them tardy justice. The laws of the country are founded on the Code of Napoleon. All notions of comfort, however, are a hundred years behindhand, when placed in juxtaposition with the comfort and domestic luxury of an English house. The post leaves and arrives regularly every day without exception. The visitor's address should be left there upon arrival. The hiring of carriages, post-horses, and so on, is under the control or watchful eye of government, and the prices are fixed. ExccRSioxs FROM Baden-Badex into the charmingly picturesque country that surrounds it are frequent and agreeable. The following are the distances from Baden to the chief places of report: — To Lichtenthal and Mount Cc^cilia, one mile and a quarter ; to Seelach, two miles ; to Waterfall, six miles ; to Echo, Sophia's Rest, half a mile; to Old Castle, two miles and a half; to The Rocks, three miles ; to Ebersteinburg, four miles and a half; to the Devil's Pulpit, two miles and a half; to the Top of ]\Iount .Alercury, five miles ; to Scheuern, three quarters of a mile; to The Hunting-house, two miles and a half ; to Favourite, six miles; to Rastadt, six miles ; to Yburg, six miles ; to Fremersburg, two miles and a half; to . BADEN-BADEN. 109 Ebcrstein and Gernsbach, six miles; to Murg-V alley and Forbach, twelve miles ; to Ilubbad and Windeck, ten miles ; to Erlenbad and Sassbach, thirteen miles and a half. The Alley of Oaks, near the Conversations-House, offers a cool and cliarming walk or drive to Lichtenthal, much p^itronized during tlie season. On reaching the village of Lichtenthal, an inn will be found, where the visitor may, if he pleases, refresh himself after his walk ; or, if more to his taste, he may enjoy there what is called a stahlbad (steel bath)— a dip in the waters of a chalybeate spring. The Nunnery of Lichte>th.\l is now occupied by a much smaller number of nuns than once occupied it, and their vows now only confine them for three years, at the end of which period they can either renew their religious engagements, or return to the world, as they think best. The situation of the Nunnerj' is very beautiful, and the chapel contains some monuments to the memory of some of the old Markgraves. A legend attached to the building declares that Irmengart, a daughter of Henry the Handsome, and grand-daughter of Henry the Lion, was married to Hermann, tlie 5th Markgrave of Baden. In l-'4 3 her husband died, and, as a pious catiiolic of that age, she wished to build a chapel for a place of repose to her dead husband, and a convent for herself. Pier sons Hermann and Rudolph participated the wishes of their mother, and accordingly in 1245 the corner-stone of the convent was laid, and christened with the name of Lichtentlutl. The foun- dress immediately summoned several Cistercian nuns, who follow the rules of a certain saint, known in the calendar as St. Bernard, from tlie nunnery of AValden, and named one of them, wliose name ■was Trudinda, the first abbess. A crowd of abbesses followed, of course, as regularly as pope comes after pope, or one lord-mayor after the other, though not quite so often : the lands and revenues flourished in due proportion, until at length, as the chroniclers aver, economy and good management augmented the revenues to twenty thousand florins a year. In the war of succession to the throne of Spain, which involved Louis the Fourteenth in war with the greater part of Europe, this convent escaped the general destruction in the following manner : One of the sisters had once been cook to the governor of Haggenau. As the desolating hordes of Jlelac ap- proached the state of the 3Iarkgrave, she offered to beg of her former master protection for the consecrated building. The abbess accorded to her permission ; so, taking a basket full of monastic productions, as presents lor the children of the governor, she courageously set out upon her journey, and was fortunate enough to soften the heart of the man by feminine entreaty. He sent word to the abbess that she should immediately cause all the towers, gates, and walls of the convent to be dismantled. The abbess followed Ills advice, and the building was savetl. The convent a second tim© 110 BADEN-BADEN. , escaped the fate that awaited others throughout Germany, which had been declared the property of the state. The Grand Duke Charles Frederick, moved by sympathy for the preservation of a spot holding the bones of his ancestors, interfered in its behalf; the convent was allowed to exist, having previously submitted to a different form or control and management. The Old Castle (Das Alte Schloss) may be reached by more than one route, but all of them will repay the visitor. One way is from the Kew Ca.^tle by the echo, which is just opposite to that part which looks over the Khiue ; another way is to be found at the end of the Alley of Sighs, and continuing on to almost as far as the Devil's Pulpit, then turning on to tiie left, not far from tlie Wolf's Jaws or " Wolfsschlucht;" but this is better for returning: we therefore recommend the carriage-road that passes by the New Castle, and that continues straight and broad through the forest. After an hour's walk through a wood of pines and evergreen foliage, with now and then a glimpse of the Rhine, the visitor reaches the ruins of the Castle, once the abode of the rulers of Baden. The view from this spot is most extensive and very fine, and includes the range of country from the Black Forest to the Vosges in France. The Rocks (Die Felsen). — Behind the castle, a patli leads to the rock-bridge, or " Felsenbriicke," where four groups of gigantic masses of porphyry repose in rugged majesty. I'rofound cracks and rents attest the ravages of time ; and huge fragments broken off from tlie parent mass strew the sloping or precipitous sides. Various paths and rock-steps lead to di.Tereut points, where the views are very fine. Behind one group of i\)cks the road separates to lead to the " Black Cross," near Roppelstein, and from there to the " Devil's Pulpit." In following one of the superior paths, a little wooden cabin is reached, where Upper Alsace lies expanded, and the spire of Strasburg is seen. The porter of the " Old Castle" plays also " mine host," and supplies humble refreshments. Ebersteinburg or Alt-Eberstein. — About half an hour's way through the forest from the Old Castle takes us to Alt-Eberstein. A walk or ride to this spot should be so contrived as to take place in the afternoon. On emerging from the daik wood, the castle starts into view. The ascent to it is short and easy ; the view over the valley of the Rhine soft and lovely, like a quiet sea ; with the distant villages and towns gemming it like islands. A tradition is attached to this building : The Count Eberhard had a dispute with King Otho, and was besieged. King Otho, unable to storm this fortress, resorted to stratagem ; he published a tournament at Spire, inviting his friends as well as foes to tlie jousting, having caused his troops previously to retire. Count Eberlianl with his three brothers went. At the ball, Edwig, the sister of the king, who had fallen in love " at first sight" either with him or one of his brothers, whispered BADEN-BADEX. Ill in his ears tlie treason meditated against his castle. Tiie plot therefore failed. Otlio afterwards proposed peace to the count, and offered, as the best pletlge of harmony, his sister Edwig in marriage. On the way back, the tourist should take another road, leading to the " Devil's Pulpit ;" thence to the Alley of Sighs, and so home. Mount ;5rERCLRY (or the Great Staufenber; ). — The monarch of tlie mountains in the neighbourhood of Baden presides over the City of the Fountains, and, as emblematical of his supremacy, bears a turret upon his head. The coronation was brought about by the zeal of 31. de Theobald, to whom the city owes much. The road is good, if that by the Alley of Sighs is taken, avoiding the wild path by the Uaeslig. Many charming views, many glorious bursts of scenery, cheer the tourist onwards, and he forgets the toil up- hill. On reaching the top, an inscription is found, which has been thus translated : " In honour of the divine imperial house, consecrate