Belgium, Volume I

Belgium, Volume I by James Emerson Tennent

"Belgium, Volume I," by James Emerson Tennent, is a traveller's account of the Low Countries that moves city by city and mixes sightseeing with close reporting on trade, manufacture, agriculture and politics. It opens at Ostend — the harbour, the canal docks, the police, the effluvia, the fortifications and the siege of 1604, the promenade and the sands — together with practical advice on the economy of a private carriage for a party on the continent. From there the railroad carries the author to Bruges, a country he judges naturally suited to railroads, where the old canal travelling has already been superseded. Bruges occupies much of the first chapter. The author describes its ancient houses, streets, canals, gardens and squares, likening the city to Pisa, and recounts its history: the old palaces, the marriages of Charles the Rash and Mary of Burgundy, the house in which the Emperor Maximilian was confined, and the residences of Edward IV. of England and of Charles II. He traces the city's commercial greatness through the Hanseatic League, its tapestries, and the order of the Golden Fleece instituted in its honour, then its present decay — an air of reduced nobility, the grave demeanour of its citizens, and the observation that no traces of the Spaniards are to be found in the Low Countries. Its art receives long treatment: Flemish sculptures in wood, the collection in the Church of St. Sauveur, the characteristics of the early Flemish school, the Museum and the statue of Van Eyck with his claim to be the inventor of oil painting, the collection in the chapel of the Hospital of St. John with the story of Hans Memling and the cabinet of St. Ursula, a statue by Michael Angelo, and the tombs of Mary of Burgundy and Charles the Rash. The chapter closes with the tower of Les Halles and its carillon, the Palais de Justice with its superb carved mantel-piece, the Hôtel de Ville whose statues were destroyed by the French revolutionists, and the manufacture of lace. Ghent occupies the next three chapters. Alongside the city's early history, the turbulence of its people, Jacques and Philip van Artevelde, Charles V. and his bon mots, the siege and Madame Mondragon, the Hôtel de Ville, the belfry and Roland, the Marché de Vendredi and the great cannon, the author reports at length on industry and land. He examines the linen trade of Belgium and the great value of Belgian flax, the hand-spinners and spinning by machinery, the Société de la Lys, and the inferiority of British flax; the manufacture of machinery at the works of the Phœnix and the exertions of the King of Holland to promote it; the churches, including the cathedral of St. Bavon with its chef-d'œuvre of Van Eyck and carved pulpit, the church of St. Michael with Vandyck's crucifixion, the University, and the state of primary education. A chapter on market-day widens into agriculture in Flanders — a Flemish farm, the trade in manure, the Smoor-Hoop, rotation of crops, spade labour, and the cultivation of flax through weeding, pulling and the rouissage as practised in Hainault, the Pays de Waes, at Courtrai and on the Lys. The same chapter visits the Maison de Force at Ghent and its system of prison discipline, with the remarkable story of Pierre Joseph Soëte and the melancholy case of an English prisoner, and closes on a sugar refinery, the failure of beet-root sugar, and the general decline of the city's manufactures since the Revolution of 1830. The last two chapters reach Brussels by railroad through Malines, Dendermonde, Vilvorde and the palace of Laeken. The author walks the Grand Place and the Hôtel de Ville of the old town, the new town, the carved oak pulpits of the Netherlands, the monuments of St. Gudule and the statue of Count F. Merode by Geefs, the museum, the gallery of paintings and the Library with its remarkable manuscripts, and recalls the historical associations of the Hôtel de Ville with Counts Egmont and Horn and the civil commotions of Philip II. He notes the fountains, the Cracheur and the mannekin with his memoirs, and offers a secret for finding the cheapest hotels in travelling. The closing chapter turns to politics: the present ministry, M. Rogier and M. Liedtz the Minister of the Interior, an interview at the Home Office, a project of steam navigation between Belgium and the United States, the freedom of political discussion, and the character of King Leopold. Judging that the revolution produced no man of leading genius and that the original union of Holland and Belgium was apparently desirable, the author sets out Les Griefs Belges — the unwise imposition of the Dutch language, the abolition of trial by jury, financial grievances and inequality of representation — and draws a singular coincidence between the proceedings of the repealers in Ireland and the repealers in Belgium.

By James Emerson Tennent · First published 1841 · Genre: Travel Narrative, History, Topographical Description · 6 chapters · 57,032 words

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OSTEND, the Harbour -- Canal Docks -- Police -- Economy of a private / carriage for a party on the continent -- General aspect of / Ostend -- Effluvia -- Siege in 1604 -- Fortifications -- Promenade -- Sands / and sea-bathing -- Commerce -- BRUGES, the railroad -- Belgium / naturally suited to railroads -- Old canal travelling to Bruges / superseded -- Appearance of the city -- Its style of ancient / houses -- The streets -- Canals and gardens -- Squares -- Style of public / edifices -- Resembles Pisa -- _Ancient history of Bruges_ -- Its / old palaces -- Marriages of Charles the Rash and Mary of / Burgundy -- Singular marriage custom of the middle ages -- House / in which the Emperor Maximilian was confined -- Residences of / Edward IV. of England, and of Charles II. -- _Commercial greatness / of Bruges_ -- The Hanseatic League -- Her tapestries -- The order / of the Golden Fleece instituted in her honour -- Saying of / the Queen of Philip the Fair -- Story of the Burghers at the / court of John of France -- _Her present decay_ -- Air of reduced / nobility -- Costume of the middle classes -- Grave demeanour of / the citizens -- No traces of the Spaniards to be found in the / Low Countries -- _Flemish sculptures in wood_ -- Pictures -- No / modern paintings in Bruges -- _Collection in the Church of St. / Sauveur_ -- Characteristics of the early Flemish school -- The / paintings in _the Museum_ -- Statue of Van Eyck -- His claim to / be the inventor of oil painting -- _Collection in the Chapel of / the Hospital of St. John_ -- Story of Hans Memling -- The cabinet / of St. Ursula -- The folding-doors of the Flemish paintings -- The / Hospital of St. John -- Statue by Michael Angelo -- TOMBS OF / MARY OF BURGUNDY AND CHARLES THE RASH -- The tower of Les / Halles -- Carillon -- Splendid view -- The _Palais de Justice_ -- Superb / carved mantel-piece -- _Hotel de Ville_ -- Its statues destroyed by / the French revolutionists -- Diamond setters -- Comparison of Bruges / and Tyre -- Mr. Murray's hand-books -- The manufacture of lace in / Belgium.

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Belgium · history · travel narrative · European history · 19th century · political history · cultural studies · travelogue · architecture · Belgian revolution · geography · art history

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