JO U RNAL O F A TO U R IN THE N ETHE RLAN D S IN

T HE AU T U M N O F 1 8 1 5

3

I N T RO D U C T I O N

SOUTHEY wrote this Diary during one of the

d of most prosperous perio s his anxious, labo

’ n an d . 1 8 1 8 Croker s infiu rio s , happy life In

’ R u ence with the egent, backed p by Scott s, procured for him the appointment of Poet

of n ot h £1 00 Laureate , with a salary more t an .

’ That wreath which in Eliza s golden d ays M ma er d ea di i n e S e n r o e y st r, v st p se , w r ’ Tha hich re arde d Dra t on s l arn d l a t w w y e e ys , Which thoughtful Ben an d gentle Dan iel bore Grin En hrou h th a e d m a k of o n ! , vy , t g y r gg s sc r ” I n hon o i wa s iven ith hon our i i orn ur t g , w t s w .

Tho ugh he had stipul ated that he should be excused the drudgery of compo sing birthday

of odes , he was quite alive to the duties his position, and deemed himself bound to cele brate the victory of Waterloo. He did so in

’ the verses entitled The Poet s Pilgrimage t o ” Waterloo , which is a fair specimen of his l N T R O D U C T l O N

on had e poems public events . He b en enjoy ing for some years a good income from the Qua rterly and from the Edinburgh Annual ” R a egister, and had chieved his greatest success ” i n as a prose writer his Life of Nelson , pub lished 1 8 1 R in 8 . His extensive poem , oderick ” b the Last of the Goths, had een applauded by “ the Edin b urg h as the best and the most

’ ”

of . powerful all Mr. Southey s poems The Quarter ly had declared that the work would “ form an epoch in the literary hist orv of his t ” coun ry , convey to himself a name per

on durable earth, and to the age in which he lives a character that need not fear compari son with that of any by which it has been preceded . Southey himself complacently ob “ served : Nothing can be more absurd than thinking of comparing any of my poems with

’

. w Paradise Lost With Tasso, ith Virgil, with Homer there may be fair grounds of compari son This praise had been followed by solid

wa results in the y of cash , and Southey was induced to disturb the regul arity of his life by

taking a Continental journey . There were few

men was who whom it harder to move , few men

vi I N T R O D U C T I O N miss ed more the comfortable routine of his days . He dined at four, and then read himself

on was asleep his sofa . It the short nap then enjoyed which he most missed of all things when by any chance away from home . He wakened for his tea, and turned to work again , especially

- t o happy ifthere were proof sheets correct . The correction of proofs was always the supreme luxury of his experiences . He supped lightly

or at nine, indulged himself for an hour so with

hot some solid folio , and a single glass of rum punch, enriched with a little black currant jelly — and so to bed . Though he was able to afford the expenses of this j ourney, yet it was not till 1 8 8 4 that he found himself in posse ssion of money suffi cient for the usual demands of a

At the time of this excursion there was great ’ m peace in Southey s fa ily circle . There never was a heart more acutely responsive than his to

of the joys and sorrows family life . He traced all his happiness to his early marriage ; and 1 8 8 4 ’ when in his wife s mind gave way, he said in one of his letters that for fort y years she ” of had been the life his life . To his children

Vl l I N T R O D U C T I O N

e he was attached with p culiar tenderness, and there can be little doubt that his sufferings from bereavement gradually broke him down . The greatest sorrow of all was impending when

D a he wrote this i ry, though he did not antici i Hi t . s pate eldest and most gifted son ,

on 1 7th 1 8 1 6 . Herbert, died April , The Diary here printe d is a simple and artless

’ record, less elaborate than Southey s published “ of works the same kind, like the Letters on Spain and Portugal but nevertheless plea sing

0 of and individual . N reader Southey will expect D a contribution to military history . The uke

’ of n Welli gton himself, speaking of Southey s

of P a History the eninsul r War, declared that Southey signally misapprehended his battles

’ and campaigns . Southey s elaborate Quarterly

Review on D l article the uke of We lington shows ,

had however, that he given much attention to his subject . There are one or two glimpses of interesting people . Among them may be noted Mr . and

Mrs . Locker . They were the parents of

- his a Frederick Locker Lampson, who in utobio “ fi ” ' graphy, My Con dences, describes them at

Yl l l I N T R O D U C T I O N some length . Jonathan Boucher (not Bouchers)

d of had a lively career, and ied Vicar Epsom ,

1 8 04 . . in His daughter, Mrs Locker, the beauty of Cumberland, is described by her son as ex “ cee din l . g y handsome Tall and fine , she had a remarkably graceful carriage, a natural dignity of manner and movement ; and this description held good when she was more than sixty years old had . She an innocent anxious face . She told me that she was very timid as a girl, and that when first married to my father she was ” afraid of him . She was much younger than her husband . Mr . Locker was a man of fine

old qualities , and an and true friend of Sir

Walter Scott. The glimpses of Southey as a W book buyer are attractive . One wonders hether he bought his set of the Acta Sanctorum from the young man in dirty but scholarlike costume, in a Ghent library . Whether or not,

n the Acta had a promine t place in his library . Lockhart sketches him there surrounded with

lite of the é his books, mostly Spanish and P ortuguese, and bound in vellum . Works held unworthy of costly bindi ng were clad in calico

d of had by the la ies his family , and a garret

1 X I N T R O D U C T I O N

t o d themselves style the Cottonian Library. Southey sat at a rather tall desk in the middle

of or the apartment, while three four ladies were d fi d either busy with nee lework by the resi e , or

in corners copying extracts .

One notices here, as elsewhere, the immense influence which Southey ’s short stay in Spain

had and Portugal upon his life . It unquestion

ably injured his literary work . He chose subjects ” of like the History Brazil , which had little

interest for Englishmen , and were related with fatal minuteness . Whitwell Elwin is right in saying that if Southey had remained at home during the critical period when his tastes were f becoming ixed , he would have selected an

English theme for his chief productions , and his fame would have been associated with some

of standard history our language and literature . In this way the journey to Lisbon may have been in its permanent consequences a most un fortu

’

s . nate step in Southey life On the other hand, he had the utmost delight in the perpetual

r exhila ation of a climate that not merely, as he said, prolonged life, but gave him double the f i f li e wh le it lasted . The mere act o breathing I N T R O D U C T I O N was a positive pleasure . When he got back to

a Engl nd, his fondest hope, a hope never realised, was that he might obtain a position in Lisbon which would enable him to return and make it his home .

W . R B RT N N I L L O E SO CO .

t X1

A U T H O R ’ S

I N T R O D U C T I O N

I wa s not among those persons who took the earliest opportunity of going to the continent t when , af er having so long been closed to English

s o e the traveller , it was once m re open d upon

overthrow and abdication of Buonaparte . A journey which might have seemed easy from the south of England appeared formidable

e when contemplat d in Cumberland ; moreover, I was wedded to the enj oym ents and occupa tions of domestic life ; and my wishes as well as s n ow habit were so disciplined that, except I and then in books, never incurred any ex

enditure ul p which co d with propriety be spared . If a thought of visiting France and Switzerland

e a was ever ent rt ined, it was in the potential

aulo- ost utwrum mood, and in the p p j tense . t It happened, however, a few weeks af er the battle of Waterloo, that my brother Henry,

Xl l l I N T R O D U C T I O N w ho was s hi m ju t married, asked me to join in a bridal excursion which he was about to make ’ — w ith his wife s mother and sister older friends

of of mine than his . They proposed to go by

s us s s way of O tend to Br el , visit the field of

as far as e ul battle, proceed Spa, if tim wo d a a e llow, and t ke Antwerp on their r turn. d Tempted by this proposal, I prevaile , but

f to not without much persuasion, on my wi e a ccompany me and take with us our eldest d t . The s e aughter, then in her twelf h year al o f R had ub oderick, which been recently p lished was as , at that time such fairly justified s di uch an expen ture, and being, moreover, in some degree bound to celebrate the grea test victory in British history, I persuaded myself that if any person had a valid cause or pretext

“ for of was visiting the field Waterloo, it the

a Poet Laure te . Henry Koster happened to be with us . Soon after his second residence in

Brazil he came to visit me for a few days, and having taken his departure on the top of the s tage coach, was brought back in a few hours

on e of s of with the mu cles the thigh split, in c s of The on equence an overturn . accident con

xiv I N T R O D U C T I O N

fined him several weeks ; he was now thoroughly

Lisbonians t o join a party of .

Our se was l n s s e out t singu arly i au piciou . Som

cc r and m itt e , l l delay had o ur ed on my side ‘ y

to s e s of brother had no time lo e, b cau e his professional engagements an d the arrangements which he had made for supplying his place during his absence. When we drove up to hi s d o n was or in Queen A ne Street he gone. My

s ea r was Uncle, in t d of being at St eatham , at hi s s e l to Hamp hir iving, and compleat the s eries of disappointments Edith found that her t wo s s i si ter , Martha and El za (the latter having lately come to London to visit the former) were

to Ra s s gone m gate. She con oled herself with the x ta of s e pec tion eeing them there, from

to we whence we were embark, but when a on rrived, behold, that very morning they had e e s a for mbark d in the te mboat their return. It was not without great difficulty that I had " to persuaded her leave four children, the

s s s younge t only three year old, for this excur ion. She had left home in ill heal th and worse spirits ; both worsened during the long journey

XV

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

be . sixteen shillings . Capt Aylesbury, of the

L ord Li ver ool s p , seeing her al o , rated her at ff twenty. I o ered to pay him at the time, but

s d he cho e rather to receive the money at Osten , and then demanded by his mate full price f or occupied a whole berth ; but this he knew she must have done, if we were out at night. She

ff a su ered a good de l from sickness her mother, di l to whom it might have proved reme a , wholly

‘ esca ped it. The little food which I took was

in commend aro i taken for the fishes, and fa th

u fully rendered p to them .

There came on rain about two in the night,

of so that I lost the entrance the harbour,

’ of which, tho little importance, I am yet

r so ry that I did not see . We lay close to the quay, and the packet was presently filled with

s e porter , all sp aking English, and all contending

’ ul n who sho d carry the passe gers luggage . An Irishman belonging to the veteran battalion

‘ came among them , but he was treated as an interloper ; and enough passed upon this sion to show that there was a jealousy between

fn atives the and the garrison . We ended the [ 2 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

o on r dispute by leaving ur trunks boa d, and t h when we re urned for t em gave the preference,

as of c . was proper, to the people the pla e At the Custom House we found more dispatch and much more civility than foreigners under like

s l d circum tances wou meet with in England .

’ u of s My first b siness, course, was at the Banker . The moneywhich I took up there was all in

r French coin, which it seems is cur ent every

- around the edge . I observed on a five franc

. X L N a oleon E m erewr piece, bearing date An , p p

on e Re u bli ue Fr an a iae on side, and p q g on the other . The pieces of later date have Emp ir e

n s Fra ea ise and the Chri tian era . Had we arrived las t night we coul d not have

Cowr I m eriale been lodged at the p , to which

Bedford and Herrier had directed me . The

s apartment , they told us there, were all full , owing to the concours e of people returning from the Coronation at Brussels . We were intro duced m h to the public roo , w ich is large and wainscotted ; the pann els of a light blue or

French grey, with mouldings, and a brown

or e s edging ; the framing int rstice tea colour. [ 3 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

n - It has three looki g glasses, two between the

r on e th ee windows, and the third , a tall , over

- the chimney piece . The floor is boarded and — strewn with sand an uncomfortable custom .

l the room, another such against the wa l oppo site the windows, and two long tables, each

of dl . formed two such, in the mid e of the room These tables are all covered with a green oil

cloth, which is let in , like the cloth or leather

- The s of a writing table . chairs are inexpen ive,

- and well shaped for ease, with round rush

of bottoms ; the backs are cherry tree, and in form not un like the present fashion of broad

e i band d dining chairs n England, but rather

o more concave and lower in the back . A bill f

s u D price is hung p in the room . inner at the

’ ' table d hote 2fr 5 0 , . per head ; private dinners,

r 5 1 8 fr. 2fr. f om to ; breakfast, ; apartments

8 fr 9 . 2fr . from to per day ; bedrooms, , mean

s as ing, I uppose, such are distinct from the

- — - sitting room the lodging rooms of thos e who

a live at the public t ble . Wines are from 8 to

I Ofr . per bottle . Claret is the cheapest upon

’ this list ; Burgundy d Enclos de Vegetam the [ 4 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

i t R h ghes priced ; port, Hermitage, and henish

of fr ui r the best quality, 7 . each . When I enq ed

’ table d hdte whether Ladies dined at the , the waiter replied in his English that the bigg est

s s per ons in the town dined there . This suit

dinner s us, the being at one, and the ve sel

for r . s Bruges departing at th ee It plea es us , becaus e we shall see more of Flemish manners

and customs and, moreover, in the present

case there is no alternative. I went into the court to wash myself ; the

s was ba on most inconveniently shallow, being

- The rou just like a small sallad dish . y b ght me

f a i so t bl ck soap and a check towel, wh ch I did not perceive to be dirty till I had used it : a bad specimen this of Flemish cleanl iness ! That my face might undergo its due ablutions I went

u to the p mp, and did not at first discover that it — had a cock instead of a common spout a proof aff this that they cannot ord to waste fresh water.

The bread is shaped like a ring, as if it had been consecrated to my old Portugueze acquaint

Lad of 0 ance Our y the round . They call it

ain de trou p , which may properly be englished

- ul s ring bread ; or we sho d call them simply ring , [ 5 1 J O U R N A L O F A; T O U R

as di we speak of twists . E th May saw the

on baker bringing a number of them his arm ,

s like so many bracelets . I perceive the rea on

of : this form the waiter, who is now

s the bread for dinner, cut the loaf up with more an d ‘rapidity than he could do were it in

can any other form . Nothing be better than the bread ; the butter equall y excellent ; coffee

a m abomin ble and no crea . The urn unlike

i a d anyth ng which be rs that name in Englan ,

s but not ugly, if the workman hip had been good

s l ai or the vessel it e f pl n . It has large handl es

r and a large clumsy b ass cock, and there is a

o w oden tripod of unpainted wood for a stand . Whil e we were at breakfast a man in the street blew a long brazen horn to give notice that the

The town is handsome, if compared with

s English towns ; the street clean , straight and

spacious . There was in the morning an Edi n

or o us e burgh Lisbon dour, evincing that unfit

ad of And was m e the windows . to this the

s n gutter bore some evide ce in their colour . But the maids are so busy with their besoms

his that little of t remains, and the men who [ 6 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

numerous en ough to diffuse a wholes ome savour of s s tobacco through the treet .

’ The only booksellers shop which I could fin d afforded me nothing better than a school

al ul n book h f vocab ary, half grammar, in Fre ch and Flemish . I led Edi th May to a large Calvary at on e of

s o of the Churches , it stand at the fo t the tower, un der a shallow porch which forms part of the edifice . The image on the cross and the per sonages kneeling round it are as and coloured to the life. In front there is a foreground of stones and skulls ; and under

s e 20 thi , which is rais d some feet from the

he ul s of t u . ground, is a picture so in P rgatory The churches into which I entered contained little that was interesting ; and there were onl y three or four old women in them at their devo

on e in tions . In the porch of there was an

t of e scription to forbid the en rance dogs . N ar

- u i a e the Town Ho se, wh ch is in the gre t Squar

Place or , there is a tall pillar with an iron at ’ e s r . T the top, bent lik a hepherd s c ook hinking of elloa ri/nho Portu ueze s the p in g towns, I a ked [ 7 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

us al t if this were ed for a g lows, and was old in reply that they never hang at Ostend, and that a large lanthorn was suspended from this pill ar in winter. The market in this Square and in

lace a a smaller p hard by rem rkably good .

Poultry and rabbits in great abundance, live

a s s- ll sal p rtridges and quails ; eggs in ba ket fu , t fi sh whiter and cleaner tha n I had ever before

e s on e se n it expo ed for sale, and in corner a heap of wooden shoes upon the ground . It is surprizing how commonly English is spok and understood . We bought some grapes in

how the market . I took a bunch and asked much ul , expecting the language wo d pass cur rent ; the woman replied four pence a pound so s the money is current al o . But she ex

e ll a chang d my shi ing as franc, that is, as ten — pence the rate of exchange in such purchases . Upon our landing a man presented hi mself to

s take our passport , and get them approved . When he brought them to the Inn I gave him two francs, and was blamed by some English men for so doing ; they said he had volunteered his services merely in the hope of obtaining

s money, and told me that in all fee and pay 8 l

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

Wri ting this while the waiter was laying the

a s had t ask t ble for dinner, I an oppor unity of ing why certa in plates were reversed upon the

by the week, and use the same napkin from

s s s —a s o rate alver, be ide the alt sensible cu t m

Leather is not so much used as in England . I ' saw a man seated in front of a long low

a e . waggon, driving by long rop Where the streets cross the gutter is covered with wooden

o ff s to do rs it thus o ers no ob truction carriages,

Be and can be cleaned with ease . There is a

uina e e Rue g g in this stre t ( de la Chapelle) , a

a large building of conventual appe rance, with a

all ar large w ed g den . It adjoins the Church

The ai with the Calvary . w ter tells me there

ui e s are about twenty Beg nes, and that strang r are admitted only on Sundays . The large

e s are and wood n gate kept close, forbid even the eye to enter.

’ The di table d héte was nner at the excellent .

o d or in the wall . The company consisted 10 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

n ot s almost entirely of English, and of the be t di sort . There were only two la es , who, finding

a al no room at the long t ble, were at a sm ler one ; so that Edith naturally enough fel t un

comfortable, and we withdrew before the desert . Our luggage (surely as little as four travel lers of gentle appearance an d pretensions ever set forth with) was placed upon a hand- ca rt,

and away we went to the waterside, where we embarked in a boat which carried us al ong the

to of u s al harbour the mouth the Br ge can .

o There were not many ships in the p rt, yet enough to show in these still waters and be tween these level shores that sort of beauty whereof some grea t painters ha ve become i enamoured . A man was fish ng from a boat in the harbour : the net was extended by four long

of and pliant ribs, like those an umbrella, and di thus suspended form the mast, and he, win ng it u l s p and down by a wind a s, managed it alone. It rained while we were in the boat, and when we

on sc — as went board the Trek huit embarking, I

s i h suppo e, at the very place wh ch the Englis ,

’ one of . x su in Mr Pitt s e peditions, so ab rdly

s d r de troyed, and which, when ma e p isoners, [ 1 1 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

they were very properly compelled to labour in

ri repai ng . This was a fact which I did not call

of to mind without some sense humiliation .

fiat - The Trekschuit, being bottomed, is much more roomy than woul d be supposed from its s s i l ize . The be t cabin is somewhat splend d y

e u us fitt d p with cut crimson pl h, a seat covered wi th the same material running round it . There

ad are cabins both at the he and stern , and in the middl e a large apartment full of market women returning from Ostend . The confusion of tongues seemed in our ears to resemble that

es s l at Babel, and the v sel it e f was a perfect Ark , which some Flemish A ntiquary might prove to

’ be built upon the traditional model of Noah s . It was tantalizing to be kept below by a heavy rain, accompanied by so much wind that I could n ot keep a window open without incommoding

of s some the pa sengers, and this I had neither right nor inclination to do . On the lee side m there was luckily a pane wanting in the fra e,

’ and thro this scanty aperture Edith May and

as I spied what we could the Ark glided along. The banks are protected with rows of hurdle or

s - ba ket work, five or six in depth we counted , [ 1 2 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S and were told that they were eight or nine

- e a thick . I thought I saw rat hol s in the b nks . There were two Flemings in the cabin with us - , well behaved and sensible men . I learnt from one of them that the Beguines were of two

one orders, being bound by irrevocable vows,

s and that this order had not been re tored . In the Ramsgate packet was an old lady returning

a ss to her native pl ce, Bru els, from which she

s a had been ab ent eighteen ye rs . She told me

s un or that the Beguine lived in comm ity, five six together under the superintendence of an i elder sister, for some seven years, after wh ch

s s they lived as they plea ed . Beguinage , accord

- ing to her account, are rather like Alms houses than Convents .

The s sc rain cea ed and we a ended the deck . An iron tiller passes under the state part of the

of deck, and rises somewhat in the form a note of interrogation, or the letter S reversed ,

The hi s thus . pilot stood with crupper lean

dl s ing against the han e, and thu with perfect

was nonchalance steered the vessel . It dr awn

s d s we by four horse , fastene to two rope ; but

was had so fair a wind that their work easy, [ 1 3 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

and we advanced about five miles an hour . The

o h to c untry, w ich towards Ostend had little

of recommend it, except the cleanliness the houses and the appearance of competence and

x erceived houses and more trees, and we soon p

all the features of the Flemish landscape . Fresh

as D I am from erwentwater, I can feel the beau

of a ties of this kind country, and underst nd how

ul it sho d have produced so many painters . It has everything which is soothing and tranquil — still waters, a wide horizon , delicious verdure,

fertility and shade . Trees are not considered

ul injurious to agric ture here , or more probably their value overbalances any injury whi ch they

The may occasion . pollard willow often bore

w s no mean resemblance to the cocoa, it light

s bough feathering on all sides . Poplar and as m oak pin are more com on than elm and , and

there are no large trees . Their shade might be detrimental, or the regular cutting is lucrative . The cultivation seems to be beautiful no

: ds weeds , no waste the fiel all in parallelograms of ff di erent forms and sizes, and all with trees i along the ditches wh ch divide them , giving to [ 14 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S the whole country a woodi ness seldom seen in

an d England, never as accompanying a high

ur T state of agricult al improvement. here is a

is great proportion of garden land . Woad

as grown here, and much used a die in the

m s . Al l Bruges anufacture , I believe the houses which we pas t were neat and apparently com fortable , the doors and window shutters were

generally of a bright green . The bridges over this noble canal are so constructed as to wheel

ff a s round and a ord pass ge for the ves el . We reached Bruges a little before dus k ; its towers as we approached were seen very finely

over thi s sort of country . A crowd gathered

us ff round upon our landing, and a fellow o ered to take us and our luggage for two franks to the

i df had recom Fleur de Bled, wh ther Be ord

a mended me . The c rriage proved to be a cab

ri ol et on di , which the driver most incommo ously and not very decently sits close before the per hi sons whom he drives . Into this ve cle the two

-I r Ediths were put, and Koster and t otted

s beside them to the hotel . Upon my pre enting a five -frank piece for chan ge the man offered me

m r t two, clai ing the third pa ly as a gratuity, l 1 5 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

partly for the luggage . I resisted, and even in my embarrassed French put him in some degree

was to shame, maintaining that it at my

withold pleasure to give or the third frank , a bargain having been made for two . But whether

e I saved my cr dit or not, I lost my money. The apartment to which we were shown was a bedchamber in a tower, to which we ascended

of by a winding flight stone stairs. I asked if

- there was no sitting room, and we were then im introduced into the public hall . Here we mediately recognized a party who had come

ac over in the same p ket, and had left Ostend

n . in the mor ing, travelling by land They were i sitting at their dessert after a late d nner, and happening to be the only persons in the room ,

c The greeted us as a quaintance. only previous

u s had had interco r e we was at Ostend, where while we were breakfasting in separate parties ,

L to the ady happened hear me say, as I was

i al writ ng my journ , that for the first time in my life I had forgotten to provide myself with blotting paper ; upon which she rose and re quested that she might supply me . Nothing

s e farther had pa s d. But they had seen my 1 6 l

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R subject than this admirably characteristic scene

ff . i a ords We stood in a large open ch mney, something shallower than those in old farm ing over a wood fire on the hearth ; and teal or pigeons were roastin g in a cylinder (like a candl e-box) against a fire in the wall on the i right . Beh nd was a row of stoves with char coal fires where the process of stewing was going l on . A dresser in the midd e . The roof had t its black raf ers . A board with nails and

figures is against the wall, where each inmate when he goes out hangs the key of his apart

its ment, under correspondent number, the key having the number of the door on a brass plate attached to the handle ; the host is then re

sponsible for all which is entrusted , to his

care .

So s so much bu iness, much cooking, and so much good nature I never saw in on e place

f . r . L l be ore We were all the e The and ady, a

r compleat Flemish figu e, fat and good tem

pered, with that familiarity which we want in

England, shewed us her children, and produced a chalk dr awing which her son Louis Souriez [ 18 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

bo onl 8 (a y y years old, who studies at the

of hi s School design) , had just finished for

’ ad . t father s birthday . It was a he of St Pe er ; for a student of ripe years it woul d have been

one . a fine production, and for so young, Mr

Nas h pronounced it almost miracul ous . The Lan dl ady might indeed well be proud of her — I . family have seldom seen a finer Annette,

ul of the eldest, reminded me painf ly what Nancy

Tonkin was, so exceedingly strong was the like

ss . ness, both in size, features, and expre ion

’ Tho not more than fourteen, she keeps the

c eal probably may ost her her h th, for she

sit t e rarely down to it till af er midnight . Th

old e youngest, about three years , a little bigg r than my Isabel , is a beautiful creature and all have the same beauty and the same intell igent

s of o ca t countenance . The work f preparing supper for the public table went on while we were child ; no person was disturbed or hindered in their business ; and it was evident that our presence seemed rather .to give pleasure than

19 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R us out with the ladl e ; or indeed we shoul d as

’ soon have exposed ourselves to the yard-mastiff s teeth as to her tongue . w The supper as excellent. Beer is placed on - l the table in half ga lon decanters . The custom here seems to be that the first course should

hi e s s of consist of w t meat , the econd brown .

s The porcelain is coar e and thick .

Sunda e t. 24. y , S p During the night the dog got into the fowl house and killed thirteen fowls ; but no loss

for was sustained, for they served dinner and supper just as well . The mode of cookery here makes any mutilation or disfigurement of

s no con equence .

’ Our beds were like the pictures in Quarles

s Emblems, and as the e are originally Flemish, the fashion has not been altered during the

s last two hundred year . There are no bed hi posts, and the curtains, w ch are from twelve

s to fifteen feet high, fall loping in a tentlike shape from a sort of canopy suspended from [ 20 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S the ceiling. They are of brown Holland, or

ds something resembling it . The be tead is a

of kind box, rather more than a foot deep,

filled with a straw mattrass , upon which the

as And other mattr ses are laid as usual . the

l bed bolster is ha f as large as the , a most uneasy fashi on for those who have not been used to it. At breakfast boiling milk was brought with

s use the tea . Cream appear not to be in . The

s bread and butter are the be t possible, but the butter is n ot presented in so neat a form as it is in the West of England ; it seems to be scooped

o he from the p t with a fluted spoon . T urn is

its heated by charcoal in bottom , where there are holes to admit the air. We went to the Cathedral with Annette for

s our guide. The out ide is imposing for its mag

’ has e - tho it been injur d by white washing,

o it is exceedingly fine. Large stone images f Apostles and Saints (of a better colour) are

e on e - plac d against each pillar, about half way

U out o 0. p, not in niches, but standing . up n

s Gothi c pede tal , so that the whole figure comes 21 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

r l fo ward . Before each a large gilt cand estick

out s branches from the column below, but the e

s n were not lighted . The church, notwith tandi g its a great size, was well filled, and cert inly by a

r . had ai devout cong egation Many ch rs, and

n of many were k eeling. While the great body the di as assembly were atten ng High M s, others were offering their lateral devotions at particular

a hi s al alt rs, of w ch (as u u ) the Church is full .

The organ is exceedingly powerful . The ser v ice seemed in truth to fill the Church . There was nothi ng cold and meagre ; the eye and the ear were satisfied ; the incense delighted another s al ense, and my prayer (for I so prayed) was that it might please God to enl ighten this people

own in His good time, and that they might not ( as too surely we have done) pluck up the flower

ss r ma , the Belgian soldiers ma ched in by beat of r of d um to a mass their own . Never did I

a t n so ri he r any hi g so dizzying, ter fic, so terrible — as the sound no fife or other ins trum ent to

ul be attemper it . It co d not imitated in a t e ul heatr , for no theatre co d give the dreadful reverberation whi ch the arches here produced [ 22 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S on Two every side . men with axes stood near the altar, and the soldiers, who were drawn up in military order, shouldered, presented arms,

s and grounded at the elevation . Mr. Na h was a lmost overpowered by the stunning sound, and hi he was shocked at the military display, w ch

s e to his feeling was thus irreverently introduc d .

ss ff It impre ed me di erently, and I felt what such a ceremony would be worth in a besieged town This day fortnight we were at the little

’ of . ohn s so i l Chapel St J , w ld y situated on the

’

. u Nathdale fell between the Vale of St Job s and . What a contras t both between the places of worshi p and the service ! Robbed as this Cathedral has been of its

to h riches, it was not apparent the eye t at any thing was wanting in its proud display ; yet the

dl k s &c. lamps, can estic , censers, , were once of a s an d the ccordant splendour . The monument pictures might delight and employ antiquaries

and artists for many days . There is a picture ’ of . r of D St Barbara s marty dom, by a pupil avid, who took hi s sister for the Saint and a butcher

23 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

priety have taken his master in that character.

or It is of no great merit ; but St. Barbara,

Holy Barbara, as an English or Irish Catholic who volunteered some information concerning

r l e her to me in the Chu ch cal d her, seems to be m in Flemish from a nice old woman who sold such things in the Church . She had also waxen

&c. of ff legs, arms, , for sale, and plenty such o er ings were hanging up in proof of the popul ar devotion . St . Barbara is the advocate here against sudden death , and her Litany says nothing about her virtue as a conductor in a thunderstorm . Printed notifications of recent

ff s deaths are a ixed to the Church doors, reque t

r as ing p ayers for the dece ed . Over some of the tombs on the outside there are crucifixes large as - a life . One family burial pl ce, Annette told us , was immediately opposite the house of the

hi s family to w ch it belong . D We went next to the Church of Notre ame,

which is finer than the Cathedral externally,

s ss but les impre ive within . Here we were shown the tombs of Charles the Bold and Marie hi s

24

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

Mr. Nash pointed out to me in one of the

s public buildings a figure of Justice, with wolve lying peaceably on one side and sheep on the

- of other, and with a plum line instead a balance

- a in her hand better emblem, the balance being so as a of e ily deranged . The im ge Justice over the entrance to Dubli n Castle always had the

. R scales unequal, but Mr ichman sent a man to make holes in them and let the rain water out

s a a The Town Hou e, and the djoining Ch ple

us of the Holy Blood, m t have been very fine, before the former was mutilated and the latter

e destroy d by the rabble, when the revolutionary

s madne s was at its height . A little turret

u which remains is sing l arly picturesque . But

s All the whole city is one series of picture . the houses are decorated on the outside ; all have an air of undil apidated antiquity ; little or nothing has been ad ded ; but in the domestic buildings there is as little appearance of demo li on e i ti or d cay . Everything was well bu lt and

s e I n s s is well pre erv d . tho e hou es which are

li n not faced with brick, the prevai g colour

see to e s ms be white with gre n window , a combi [ 26 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

hi as n nation w ch is very ple i g . The bricks for the ornamental parts are made in moul ds to the

i e form requ r d, and they have taken a good weather stain . The ornamental parts of every

of house, and the abundance large windows , show that wealth abounded when they were l built, and however wea th may have declined ,

a chearful the h bitations are still light, airy, ,

d us as s spacious, commo io human dwelling ought to be . The general impression is something — such as Oxford and Cambridge produce only Bruges carri es you back mor e entirely to former

M rs o times . . Vardon happily said y u might expect to see heads set in the ruffs of Eliza!

’ h out wi The bet s day looking of such ndows .

one whole city is in keeping, and it has especial charm which heightens all the rest ; as t here

ul c so are are no appearances of great op en e, there none of squalid poverty ; poor houses

s— s there are, but no wretched one no stie of

filth and brutality and misery ; poor people, but none of those objects who make you shudder and tremble for a society in the bosom of hi are i l w ch such wretches multipl ed. A l are

sufli cientl well housed, all y even when meanl y [ 27 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

al clothed . There is an most universal appea r ance of competence in a degree which I have

e never seen elsewher . And the inhabitants are a hands ome race . We went up the singular tower of that edifice which forms one side of the great square . People live in it whose business it is to give the

of l alarm in case fire . I shou d have copied a poem in Flemish, which is in the upper room ,

' wrris lo uztur s wherein T g , if some part had not ff d been e ace . The chimes played while we were

of there, but the noise the machinery, though perhaps hardly audible below, and certainly not

di com leatl heard at some little stance, p y over powered the music. There are two bells here so large that to my remembrance Tom of Lin

s a coln doe not appe r larger. The tower is equally remarkable for its height and construe tion . It seems originally to have ended at less

of than a third its present elevation . From thence a second stage is carried up in the same square form , and from the second a third, which

to is either octagonal or polygonal, and appears

t o - as s be p heavy, if it widened toward the

28 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

of s At the corner the hou e, which is now the

A a of D s c demy esign , there is a very grote que

of figure, the size life ; it is a white bear, in

s boots, tanding upright, with the collar of some

r h on hi s o der round his neck, a s ield breast, and

s an inscription underneath, written in the fa hion of that most provoking absurdity, the chrono

1 4 l 7

’ T LUYster LYCK

o rnoY en oo sC t U . g t hap Van D en Witten We l r WI ert Vern I e UWt In De poorters LogI e

I believe thi s means tha t the illustrious Tourney fellowship of the White Bear has been renewed

’ its and holds meetings in the porter s lodge .

dec herin The date is not worth yp g, nor perhaps if I had understood the words while I was copy ing them, should I have thought them worth

of the trouble copying, especially as a crowd of boys got round me. The portrait of Van Eyck is within, the supposed inventor of painting in

oil was hi s . He buried at Bruges, and epitaph

e is now plac d under his picture . [ 29 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

Hi c acet i ia lar u i u an j ex m c s v rt te Jo nes,

i urae a ia i ra fui In q uo p ct gr t m t . i an f a e t hum um floren tibus herbi s Sp r tes orm s,

Pi i e t a d i um u d ib e it u nx t, v v q o l et g op s Quippe illi Phidi as e t cedeve dabat Appell es

uo u i fe i c ui Pol cret us a Arta q q e n r or y er t.

s ui i s docuit m i scere o o Ip e est q pr mu c l res, Hos oleo exp rim ere et reddere perpe tuos Pi o stu uere i u stu uere va ertum ct res p v v m, p p

uo e a i fin l Q persev r n est s ne e co or. Crudel es i i u crudel es di ci t e Pa a g t r, rc s,

uae an um obi cri uer i um Q t t n s p e v v . n m i l acr mi s i u a bi f um Act s t y , ncomm t le at

Vi a ut i n c celi s oe a D um v t s pe prec re e .

HoC ita resta UraVIT M I z aL a Ca De oe e U s.

The pictures in this Aca demy are of little value .

’ ' ta ble d hote At the we met Mr. and Mrs . h d ’ Locker. He a been Lord Exmouth s secre tary and called on me last year soon after his marriage with this lady (a daughter of Jona

B s of than oucher ) , the beauty Cumberland.

c al l Lo ker, by the testimony of who know him, l is a very accomplished, exce lent and obliging man . He recognised Nash as an Indian [ 30 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S acquaintance and showed us a book full of

was ul o skill . His advice that we sho d pr ceed

so the from Waterloo to Namur, and along

s s Meu e to Liege, and he e pecially recommended that we shoul d on no account omit seeing the

s a quarrie at M estricht . He has a sister in a

has Nunnery here, where she professed . We met the boys of the Lyceum they have

s a dress much like the bluecoat boy .

to 4 n Our bill amounted 6 fra cs . After breakfast we embarked for Ghent in a

s ai Trek chuit, which has obt ned the reputation of being both the best and cheapest public

e conveyance in the world . Th scene at the point of embarkation, by the iron gates at the

ul end of the canal, was delightf for any one i ’ who has a pa nter s eye . Vast numbers of

s o people were arriving, many in carriage f sundr y odd forms : the most remarkable of these vehicles was made entirely of black leather, having a hole at which to creep in [ 31 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

of and out, instead of a door. It was venerable antiquity. An English chariot which we took on board was some nuisance by the room which it occupied, and the persons to whom it belonged were no addi tion to the society of the p as

sen e was on . g rs. There a bloody hand the arms

They were said to be Mr. Peel and Sir Charles

on so Saxton , their duelling expedition, and

’ theyproved to be, tho I did not recollect the

r . latter, neither did he ecognise me They sate either in the carri age or on the box the grea ter

the ali hted part of the day, and when y g theykept

of at the head the vessel aloof from everybody .

The Trekschuit has a canopy at the stern , s of w omewhat a bell shape, hich must certainly impede its way when going against the wind on the top of this is a painted plume of feathers . T here are two cabins below and between them ,

commodities i kitchens, (the word is a commod ous one ) , and heaven knows what beside . It was

u s of f ll of pa sengers, whom a great proportion were English . The Vardons were there . A

- s half ca t man, travelling with a lady whom I

. his e supposed to be wife for the time b ing,

o c ntrived to enter into conversation with me, [ 32 ]

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

was all the share he had in it, being perfectly

of innocent any concern in the quarrel, and

e ind ed not knowing what it was .

One passenger, hearing me express an opinion

s in favour of the Ea t India Missionaries, made up to me and let me kn ow that he was a R ff Bible Society man from atcli e Highway . I believe another day woul d have made us acquainted with the history of everybody on board . The scene where we embarked was very beau tiful garden cul tivation and country houses

s that is, suburban retreat ; a swan plying about the Trekschuit and looking as usual to be fed

as al by the p sengers ; the water ive with fish,

- on water lillies (a rare sight navigable waters , but these are perfectly still, and the canal is of such an age that nature has made it com pletely her own ) and Bruges with its majestic

to The towers compleat the picture . weather t oo r t was as joyous as hea could wish . We started at forty minutes after nine, nine being the us stated hour, the wind was against , and the rate of towing from three miles an hour to

e three and a half. Th country for some dis [ 34 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

of i n tance had the same character fertility,

dustr y and beauty, but at length we got

s between high banks which ob tructed all view, except of the long straight line before and

behind generally bordered with willows . No

corn or hay in stacks, all I suppose being

of housed, many stacks brushwood , in such quantity indeed as to explain how the trees

a re kept down in their growth ; very few cattle,

and what there are seemed to be tethered,

s of becau e of the want hedges ; very few sheep,

o and scarcely any swine . I am inclined t think that there are no field pa ths from village to village or house to house ; perhaps the ditches and rigid economy of ground will not allow of

them . But here and there straight narrow

of lanes , between lines of willows , have a charm

own their , such as I have felt near Oxford ; and such as the Willow Walk between Tothill Fields and Chelsea may have had when Aaron Hill expatiated upon the rural beauties there abouts . There was something very singular in

of s the silence and solitude the land cape, for though the agriculture pfoved the existence of a n saw ample and active population , we very [ 35 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

s few people, and none whatever in the field ;

only a few stray travellers .

Kermis or one It proved to be a fair day . In place a party of women were seated before the

door, playing cards in the sun and in a village by which we passed there were booths for drink and gingerbread, and music and dancing in the

. s houses In some part , where the banks are

high and the course of the canal not straight,

’ pleasing landscapes, tho very confined, are

of or formed by the slope the dam, a cottage

two on the top, and the trees . The dam is

ad or often, perhaps generally, m e in two shelves

steps, like the first and second of a Mexican Cu, and there are frequent arches under it to com

mun icate with ditches on the other side, some

times, but I think not always, with sluices .

or When we met another vessel, wanted to have

for s a bridge wheeled round our pas age, the m an at the helm either blew a pocket whistle

or u u r ng a bell, or set p a Flemish halloo .

We had an excellent dinner, included in the

of fare five franks a head. Passed some barges laden with the most

ff of o ensive all manure, for nothing, it seems, [ 36 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S from which profit can be extracted is wasted in

Flanders . Before I discovered whence the

e intolerable stench proc eded, the Flemish gold finders were greatly amused at seeing me hold my nose . We went by some good country hous es with ornamented grounds ; they are

Two of generally white, with green windows .

u these villas were shut p . The country near l Ghent is less beautifu than about Bruges, but the towers indicated the former wealth and

of h n dignity the city which we were approac i g. When we reached the quay it was crowded

had with spectators . Some thousands certainly

s c a sembled , as if all the idle part of the p pu lation regarded the arrival of the Trekschuit as

for . . a sight, and were waiting it Mr Vardon , who knew what a scene of confusion would be occasioned by the rush of boys and porters con

e ri tending for luggage, arrang d the commissa at

off part of the business well . I carried the

ladies in a coach, and the baggage followed upon

- a hand cart, he and Koster conducting it . It was about seven o’clock when we reached the

as Hotel de Flandres . Most of the English p

sen ers g learnt where we were going, and followed [ 37 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

us of . . , but few them could obtain room Mrs Vardon had been here before and knew the land

ds for lady, so that she secured be our united

u t party . The public room is gaily fitted p wi h

s paper representing Ea t Indian scenery, and

of its —a of good kind sort panorama, which reminded Mr. Nash of the country wherein he

s so had pent many years . Supt at the ta ble

’ ' d hote , where some fine people, women as well t as men, came af er the play.

’ The King of France s suite were at thi s hotel .

’ The landl ord spoke of the King s apathy in a hi manner w ch implied much indignation, though

s he expres ed none . He ate well and drank ” well , were his words, while everything was at ” stake . When the officer arrived with tidi ngs

of as the victory the King was leep, and his attendants said that he must n ot be dis

t urbed ; but Lord who brought the news,

insisted upon seeing him immediately. The Prince of Orange has won the hearts of the 38 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

people by the part he bore at Waterloo . He

ar on is a brave g g , they say, and they frankly add that they care not how soon his father may

A bo please to die and make way for him . y

here was quite shocked when Mrs . Vardon ,

s forming her opinion from a portrait, ob erved P “ that the rince was like his Mother. Ah, non,

elle eat at vila ine elle est si laide ! madame, , He could not bear that his hero should not be i d thought beaut ful as well as brave. His woun

is tells grea tly in his favour. The wish here

that he may marry an English Princess , not a

R i of Our uss an, as is now talked . Landlord says that they can never do enough for the

al English . This place was in the utmost arm on the sixteenth and the two succeeding days . He had sent off part of his property and had packed

U l ha p all he cou d for removal, being certain t t if the French were victorious his house woul d

hi s be marked for pillage . Fear made wife so

o to if ill that she t ok her bed, and he says that the all ies had been defeated he is sure she woul d

of s di d have died . Even the joy ecurity not restore her at once ; and when the wounded were brought here she sate the whole day bol 39 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R stered u bed p in , tearing linen for bandages and s craping lint. Wine and water for the wounded

ailful ls was mixed in the street by p . Lord d Uxbridge was lo g ed in an adjoining house,

where he could be quieter than in this, and his f ood was taken from hence .

’ Ghent, tho a fine city, is far less impres

sive than Bruges, a great part being more

modern, and all that is modern proportionately

s in worse ta te . The Cathedral is not such an edifice as might be expected in a place of such

antiquity and ancient opulence . The tower is

of not remarkable, and the body the building

on e was built in a mean age, the former having 1 41 been destroyed by lightning in 6 . The

c . rypt, however, is curious This is as old as

the days of Charlemagne, and service is still performed in its chapels but there is a certain air of neglect as well as of dampness there which l it is melancholy to observe. The pu pit is a

a fine thing, with marble st tues about it and a marble tree with a gilt serpent twisted about

its branches, more probably representing the

brazen serpent, I think, than the tempter. An antiquary woul d find much to interest him in [ 40 ]

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R deception may be accounted for by the want of any decoration without and the profusion of it hi wit n . l d I shou d not have guesse , after walking over d the town, that the bri ges were so numerous ; they are, however, more than three hundred ,

al di and the city, by its rivers and can s, is vided

s The d s into six and twenty island . bri ge are all of wood and add nothing to the beauty of the place, but it seems they have added freely

of s to the insecurity the inhabitant , and that in

h s rac manner. It a been a recent p tice for villains to stretch ropes across them in

of u the dusk the evening, and tripping p the

s i passenger by th s means, rob and murder them

s hi and throw their bodie into the water. On t s account las t year centinels were ordered to be

but stationed at the bridges, we saw none, and

- hi the city is ill lighted . In t s respect, there

bad s fore, the police is , and yet no city tands in

i one need of a more v gilant , morals here being T so abominably depraved . here are at the

940 s of time persons in the hou e correction . The doors of the theatre are beset by boys in

of s ss s the regular exercise their bu ine a pimps . [ 42 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

One of these young wretches accosted Mr. Var don last year and offered to conduct him to his sister he had introduced eleven English gentle

tres men to her, he said, and they had all been conten t of D l with her. These imps the evil wi l

s for i sometimes make other proposition , wh ch

an own did an Englishm in his country, if he not

c ul deliver them over to justi e, wo d send them as far on the road to the Devil as a kick would

r ca ry them . I observed in many houses reflecting cameras — fixed to the windows of the first floor a pretty device for bringing the moving picture of the

is street into the apartment . This, I believe, very usual in these parts. The farriers have an

’ to i s iron bar, wh ch the hor e s leg is fastened

formid when it is shod . Others have a more

s— a o able apparatu frame before the d or, into

s which the horse enter , and being confined there as in a cage, is unable to move in any direction . The horses are remarkably large and fine it was not without reason that the Flanders mares had their reputation in former times . Few creatures seem to be exempt from labour here ;

r the dogs are commonly employed in d aught, 43 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R and the poor things labour with a willingness of exertion which I was sorry to see overtasked

n ot sometimes, and often well applied . Four

ul - s very large b l dogs , abrea t, were drawing a

’ n butcher s cart, and one cart I saw draw by a

use goat . In general, they long, low trough shaped carts, which rattle along the streets like cannon . I picked up an Italian poem upon the taking — ’ of Constantinople by the Latins L I mp eri o

Vendicato Caraccio , by Antonio , Barone di

Corano . But Ghent is a bad place for finding books excepting new French publications, it is surprising, considering the size and wealth and old importance of the city, how few are to be

. of found Some, however, I bought the first

s s fil s bookseller there, G . de Bu cher and , Place

: de la Calandre very obliging persons . They live in a house which, if it were in London , would be thought a desirable residence for one of s us the fir t nobility, and they presented

grapes from the garden . Here I saw some

music called the Battle of Waterloo . The Battle of Waterloo set to music I could not

’ help observing to M . de Busscher that the 44 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S mus ic whi ch had been heard upon the field was i ff of a very d erent kind . Mrs . Vardon gave Edith May a very beautiful book of Dutch

hi s costumes, w ch are exceedingly picture que .

’ There was a fine copy of Houbrak en s lives of

s on s the painter , which I laid hand , but

e s was resign d it to Mr. Na h, who as an artist

s better entitled to become the posses or. With

as s sufli cien t what I purch ed, the e were to make i up a small package, wh ch the bookseller

’ to L on m an s will consign g care .

Hano The Hanoverians are not liked here, vauri n s e s they are called . But the Prus ians are abominated . We hear of nothing but their insolence and brutality their conduct towards women is said to have been even worse than

is that of the French . This it to make nations military

L dl r us Our an o d took to his garden , which is

u in the town . It was f ll of excellent fruit, but withal so damp as to strike on e with an anguish

had - u feeling. Here he a summer house, fitted p

s with a sofa and some English print , and he i e thought th s place a littl Eden . The delight

s and s which the e people their neighbour , the 45 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R D utch, take in such gardens and pleasure houses is a pleasing part of their national

character.

We went to the play in the evening. The

'

i Azemza or the S ava es . p ece was called , g The principal female character was dressed in a hi petticoat w ch did not reach the knees, and close -fitting flesh- colour drawers : even upon our opera stage this would not have been

was : endured . The house very ill lit the

scenery bad and dirty . The music was said to

be good . I did not stay long, but leaving the

n party there, returned to the hotel, and sate dow

ta b to my journal, till they came home to the le

’ ' d lzéte . We had dined at it, and were there

fore quite ready for supper.

W n sda t ed e e . 2 . y , S p 7

s Belfre R We a cended the y in which oland,

a the gre t bell, hangs . The tower does not

ar ri form p t of a church, but there is a p son for

c debtors conne ted with it . I do not remember any one in which the ascent is more pic I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S tures ue q . The stone steps are so worn away

use by long that they are now faced with iron , and much care is requi red in descending lest

ul s the foot sho d hitch in the e iron frames,

ul on where a fall wo d be terribly serious . In e place near the top there is a long, low, straight flight of stone steps than which nothing more dun eon ish g can be imagined . This tower,

’ tho not the highest in Ghent, is the most remarkable object there, and it commands the whole panorama . The great bell Roland is R ’ said to weigh lb . oland s horn I sus pect coul d n ot have been heard so far The carillons are above it , in a place to which you climb by an ascent more resembling ladders than stairs . I delight in chimes and quarter

- d chearful boys, they are good nature , , aecom m odating devices ; proofs that neither poverty nor parcimony were prevailing when they were W set up . hen Christ Church, Bristol (in which

I was christened) , was rebuilt, my Father, who

was churchwarden that year, used his utmost

- endeavours to preserve the quarter boys, and offered to subscribe for their re-establishment he had known them more than twenty years , [ 47 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

old and missed them like acquaintance . But the saving spirit prevailed, and they who have since been born in that parish have one recol ‘ lection the less to attach them to it. On the to Belfre p of the y are four little round towers, one at each corner, each ending in a point with

on its gilt vane . The dragon the summit is said to have been sent by Count Baldwin 9th from Constantinople .

The Stadthouse, which is near this tower, is a largely sta tely pile at the corner of two

e on e stre ts, but the front has been modernized,

of about a century (I suppose) ago, in a sort

Grecian style, which accords miserably with the more characteristic and picturesque architecture of the original building. It is so surrounded with houses that there is no obtaining a good view of it from any point . I found a very intelligent young man at the i public library, evidently poor and stud ous, in

- u di rty but scholar like costume . Upon my e quiring how I could procure a set of the Acta Sanctorum (which was one object of my jour ney) he proposed to exchange a set and other duplicates in that collecti on for English works [ 48 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

' ’ i s a of favourite notion Miss Barker s , and now

I can understa nd what she means by it . But the most interesting objec t in Ghent to m e the , and indeed most remarkable, is the

Be uinea e g g , which is the principal establish

r . ment of the o der, and very much the largest

i n It is at one end of the city, and entirely c or losed, being indeed a little town world

’ o f s You it elf. enter thro a gateway, where

of of n there is a statue St . Elizabeth Hu gary , t he es o patron s f the institution . The space

! enclosed ca nnot be less than the area of the whole town of Keswi ck ; but the Beguin eage

e l its lf is unlike almshouse, college, vi lage or t of u own . It is a collection contig ous houses o f ff a di erent sizes, e ch with a small garden in f - ront, and a high, well built brick wall inclosing t hem all . Upon every door is the name, not o f of the inhabitants, but the Saint under whose protection the house is placed ; but there is no opening in the door thro’ which any t e hing can be s en . There are several streets t s s hu built, with houses on both side ; the silence and solitude of such streets may easily

a e ff be im gin d , and the e ect is very singular [ 5 0 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

n upon coming from the busy streets of Ghe t .

You e se m to be in a different world . There is a large church within the inclosure ; a buryi ng ground in which there are no monuments ; a branch from one of the many rivers or canals wherewith Ghent is intersected, in which the washing of the community is performed from a large boat, and a large piece of ground planted with trees where the clothes are

Our appearance here and the evident curiosity with which we were perambulating a place

s seldom visited by stranger attracted notice, and we were at length courteously accosted by a sister who proved to be the second personage

e in the community . She show d us the interior and gave us such explanations as We desired . It is curious that she seemed to know nothing of ri the o gin of the order, nor by whom it was

r founded, nor could she efer to any book con

a o ul t ining either its history r its r e .

di to ad 000 Accor ng this l y, there are about 6

Beguines in Brabant and Flanders, in which countries they are confined : there are 620 resi

in dent the Beguinage . They were rich before 5 1 l J O U R N A L O F A TO U R the Revolution ; then in the general spoliation their lands were taken from them and they were di commandedto lay aside their stinctive dress , but

an us this m date was only obeyed in part, beca e public opinion was they were of such manifest utility to all ranks that very few were disposed to injure them . They receive the sick who come t o them for succour, and they support as well as attend them as long as the case requires they go out also to nurse the sick where their services are

s . bonn d reque ted They are by no vow, and

Devol der of o r M . (this was the name u obliging informant) assured us with an air of becoming pride that n o instance of a Beguine leaving the Th establishment had ever been known . e reas on is obvious : the institution is in itself reasonable and useful as well as religious ; no

e e i s person is compelled to ent r it, b cause there l no clausure , and no person cou d be compelled

s to stay, and I suppo e their members are gene

u rally, if not wholly, filled p by women who,

when their youth is gone by, seek a retirement D or need an asylum from the world . M . evol der herself entered after the death of her hus [ 5 2 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

s - - with her revert to her heirs at law . During the Revolution the Church of the Beguinage was sold as confiscated religious pro

was —or perty. The sale a mere trick , in English — phrase, a job to accommodate some partisan of ul the r ing demagogues with ready money .

Such a man bought it for a nominal price, and in the course of two or three weeks sold it for

’ 8 00 to Devolder Louis d ors M . and another sister, who then made it over to the com munity . The sisters di ne in the Refectory if they

as ple e, but any one who prefers it may have

r own s dinner sent f om thence to her apartment . We were taken into three of these chambers ;

e they were small, and furnish d with little more

e s s s than n ce sary comfort , but these comfort they

had . , and they were remarkably clean In one, a sister who had been bedridden many yea rs

u bed was sitting p in her , knitting ; we were

er D introduced into her chamb because, M . evol

’ e to der said, it amus d her see visitors , tho she

ul t us co d not converse wi h , for she spoke no

French . Two sisters were spinning in another [ 5 3 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R c —on e of 8 8 hamber them was years of age, the 8 5 other . I might have learn t more if my tongue and my ears had n ot been the most Anti - Gallica n in

- De the world, and the Flemish French of M . vol der, who was little accustomed to speak in any

own other language than her , was not always intelligible to Mrs . Vardon , for she interpreted when I failed to understand or to make myself

The dress of the Beguines is not l ucon ven ient , but it is abominably ugly, as the habits of every female order are, I believe, without exception .

Except for its Beguinage, Ghent is a place which I shall remember with less pleasure than

r of B uges . There is a greater show business,

The city is not so clean , there is an Odour of

’ o or Lisb n Edinburgh about it, tho the filth

r is speedily removed, the ga dens, I suppose,

of requiring a constant supply manure, and thus consuming all that can be obtained . It was so

too in London two centuries ago . Here , , the gutters are in part bridged over with wooden [ 5 4 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

doors for the convenience of pa ssing and clean

ing. The cabinet work here is solid and good

a fu i s they st in wood very beauti lly . What us ed in the more expensive furniture they call If Acajou, and say they get it from Spain .

be its this proper name, it must come from

has di al e Cuba, and the tree an ad tion valu

h was w ich I not aware of. It would in that case be pe rhaps the most valuable tree in the

its its oil world, considering fruit, nut, its , and its power of flourishing upon the driest soil .

’ s But I doubt it s being the ame tree . I should have been tempted at Ghent by

of for some oysters excellent physiognomy, L there is a physiognomy in oysters, but the and lord told us that they had latel y appea red t o

e poss ss some poisonous quality, for no person had eaten them without experi encing some ill

Thursda t Se . 28 . y , p

l Yesterday was a Kermes . I cou d not pre cisely learn the meaning of this word it is not exactly a fair, but it is something of the same [ 5 5 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R dl kind . Women of the mid e and higher ranks

were walking the town in holyday costume, and a t night parties of men paraded the streets s O inging, to the annoyance f those who went to

bed at a reasonable hour. Our wish was to have gone from hence to

s Antwerp . The pas age of the Scheldt at Tete

d u ac . Flandres was an obst le Mrs . Vardon told us the boats were very inconvenient and we might have to wait on thi s side an indefinite t ime at a miserable place . I was then for g oing round by land, but to this the coachmen who were consul ted objected ; they said there

was cha usee s no , and the deep sand road were i mpassable . An Englishman, in the present

s a t te of the roads, which are neither too wet

t oo nor dry, would prefer the side to the paved

w no way . Ho ever, there is contesting these dl points in a foreign country, har y, indeed, in

’

own . one s Mr. Vardon therefore hired two carriages for forty-five francs to carry our con j oined parties (eleven in number including his man and maid servant) with their baggage to

s of t s h Bru sels, a distance thir y mile . T is a ppeared very reasonable when compa red with [ 5 6 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

of l till we came to the little town A ost, where we dined, faring badly in a bad inn . The name of this place occurs in history often enough to make it interesting. The town house bears this motto, with the date in the

N ee s e 1 200 nee meta middle, p , , , but it must not be supposed that the building is six hundred

a old ye rs . The church is remarkable for having an open gallery over the great window . Neither

had Mr. Nash or I seen anything like it . The D ’ ender runs thro the town . There was a well-contrived basket at the inn

for s with partitions small glasses . The be t thing they produced was some small creamy

of cheeses , very good their kind . They come

s from Enghien the Priest , we are told, receive them in exchange for Agnus Deis and such things, and supply the inns with them . It is not the first time that I have been ben efitted by this sort of connection betwee n the Priest and O the Innkeeper. We should ften have fared badly in Portugal if the Estalaj adeiro had not

’ had some game of the Curate s shooting to dis

of pose . As soon as we left Alost the character of the country changed we entered upon a [ 58 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

o trees also were much larger. This is a land f

w l bad e as e ls, but of wat r ; at le t since our land mg the Ladies had met with none that was good

i c t ll, in the large village of Ass he, between

Alost and Brussels, it was presented them in

of ri very long glasses cu ous form , as a delicacy,

after some sweet cakes . These cakes, for which

the it seems Assche is renowned, are made at

udocus sign of the Negro by J de Bisschop , next

’ to door the Bull s Head Inn , and described in hi s handbills by the deformed appellation of

k er- koekwkens q y , which latter word , I think , must belong to the language called by the poet

R croak ation andolph , and never written except

A s - by ristophane . Gateaux Sucres is the French version thereof. But the cakes are good cakes , worthy to be eaten and commended .

- - B can of ! y the bye, I make nothing the chris

udo us tian name J c . Mynheer de Bisschop here frenchifies it by Josse, which , whether it be

in te Joseph or Joshua, required a farther rp re ’ tation Von e s . But d l name is written sometimes

udocus cost J and sometimes J , and Jcost is certainly Justus . [ 5 9 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

a our We past, at some dist nce on left, the

of Affli hem on e of extensive ruins g , the largest

m on astri es and finest in Brabant, and celebrated for its rich library even in a country famous for

L s such riches . arge hewn stone from the ruin

s were lying by the road ide . This destruction

of s was one the act of revolutionary madness .

ri e its The d ver told us that b fore demolition ,

to e which he seemed lament with proper fe ling,

s it had given employment to fifty familie . We heard little of the revolutionary havoc c L ow n ommitted in the Cou tries , the bloodier e normities in France occasioned them to be o verlooked . But I have already seen enough to convince me that great and irrepa rable mis c as hief has been done, quite as much in England a t of R s the time the eformation, and of the ame

has i kind . And here it been pure misch ef,

a without any ccompanying good . Upon thi s stage we were annoyed by childr en begging most importunately by the wayside wherever there was what the Netherlanders call

mon ta n a g e. They sung in a monotonous strain

s s a ch Vi ve the e word , half , half English,

’ ” l An leterre Na OleOfi g dis for p , and then the 60 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

finger was significantly passed across the throat .

I suspect this has come into use since the battle .

Some whistled the tune, accompanying it with

s the same gesture ; other tumbled, like vaga bonds of a like description in England ; and

ho t al of others p ong in imitation frogs . It was dusk before we reached Brussels this

e the was unlucky, as it prevented us from se ing

Our s approach . passport were taken at the

gates, in so courteous a manner that it would have reconcil ed us to a measure of police more

troublesome and less reasonable . The Emperor Al exander was here , and the city illuminated

de in consequence . We drove to the Hotel

Roi the Flandres , in the Place de , adjoining

Park .

Our ffi first business was at the Police O ce, where the people were less courteous than they

had been at any former place, in proportion as they have more business ; he must be unreason

a of ble who complains short and pithy manners ,

necessarily arising from this cause . Here I ascertained that my brother and his party had 6 1 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R gone to Antwerp on their way home instead of proceeding to Spa, as they had talked of doing. All hope of fal ling in wi th them was therefore a t an end . We fairly joined company therefore with the fellow- travellers whom chance had given us and whom choice approved ; and it was settled that we should go on from Waterloo t o Aix Namur, Spa and la Chapelle, and re turn to Brussels by way of Maestricht and

I had read in the Brussels Guide or Pet/it N ecessazre that Anderlecht butter or p istolets c made the breakfasts in that ity excellent . Upon this I as ked the waiter what these pistols were,and he replied by pointing with a smile to some little long rolls upon the breakfast table . We had also the Anderlecht butter, which is not better than what we have found a long the whole way, because the butter every it where is as good as can be . I had been told that we should meet with good coffee on the c ontinent ; it is about as good as you usually

to find it in England, that is say, detestable to

’ Li sbonian s al of a p ate, more like the rinsings

o the p t than what he has been accustomed to. [ 62 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

Tea s evidently is not used in the e countries .

us We had been advised to take some with , but

had of as cream is never to be , it proved little

We sta id at Brussels four days ; this was

s longer than we intended, or de ired, but because the Emperor and the Prussian Prince were

ri r there, car ages we e not to be procured . I had thus ample time to look after books and w see what as to be seen .

s has e too too Brus els b en much modernized , much Frenchified in all respects . As a speci men of the leprous filthin ess with which the

s French have infected these countrie , I saw some toys in a shop window repres enting men

i u with their lo ns ungirt, in the attit de of the

ew Cacaturiens a D , e ch with a piece of yellow

al a d . met , like a sh m coin, inserte behind The persons who exhibit such things as these for sale deserve the pillory or the whipping post the very mob in England would not tolerate

s them . And where the e are exposed, it may eas ily be guessed what sort of ware is to be found within . Indeed, I am told that such damnable abominations as were manufactured [ 63 ] ’ J O U R N A L O F A T O U R by the French prisoners during the war are

a always upon s le here . The Flemings and

of Brabanters have caught this sort corruption .

n ot It does belong to their national character, which must essentially be the same as that of i ff the Dutch . What d erence there is can only

as d ff be such their i erent religions have induced , and it woul d be a very interesting enquiry t o trace this for one who was sufficiently acquainted th wi the respective countries .

M an n eké as the Of course I enquired for the , most notorious, if not the most famous piece of of one sculpture modern times, and which the populace value as if it were the Palladium

of u e Br ssels . The execution is so admirabl that one can hardl y forgive the artist for the

t oo e design, and yet the figure is far infantin ff and innocent to be deemed o ensive . It might probably provoke the cognizan ce of a society

s for the suppres ion of vice ; but for myself, certainly I should not indict it as con tr a bonos

O . mores . I remember livier de la Marche speaks

of such an image at an entertainment given

- The by Philip the Good it made rose water. best manners therefore in that age were not [ 64 ]

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R utmost languor and lis tlessness in their appear

of al ance ; others in a rapid state conv escence, erect and seeming to have no feeling or con cern for their companions . This I particul arly noticed in a load of Frenchmen whom I fol

o i lowed f r some time . They were in wh te

to flannel dresses, and it was gratifying see (however ill this accursed race deserved it !) that they were as well taken care of as if they

our had been own countrymen . The manage

of ment the hospital appeared to be excellent . My errand there was soon accomplished ; the books were turned to and my enquiry answered in less time than it has taken me to describe

of what I saw there . I have no recollection

l ul a the poor fellow himse f, but it wo d h ve gratified me if I coul d have sent home a

ff a di erent account to his p rents . I had never before seen the rea l face of war so closely ; and

God knows ! a deplorable sight it is .

Lt - Inn iskillen Dra . Colonel Miller, of the

s our his e goon , is in hotel lying in bed, mis r ably wounded . His thigh was broken by a

-s the hi grape hot, and splinters and rags w ch were driven into the flesh prevent the wound [ 66 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S from healing . By desire of his servant, who seems most faithfully attached to his master,

a remark abl fin e - we visited him . He is y looking man and bea rs up with wonderful spirit ; and in this he has his best chance ; for the surgeon ff considers his recovery as extremely di icult . I saw the ball which had been extracted ; it was

a s not smaller than a walnut, and very ragged, if the mould in which it was cast had not been

fairly closed . He was wounded near La Haye

Sainte towards the close of the action , and at a time he says when he thought the day wa s

going ill with the English . But he had been

u h rt before he was thus disabled . Leading on

to his men charge a solid square , he thought

a r n they appe ed to fu k, and was afraid they might turn back ; upo n which he pushed on a

too for little far before them, an example , and was thrown from his horse with two bayonet

s wound . These , however, were slight, and when the men did their duty in saving

- him , he had some sticking plaister, he said ,

put on and returned to the field . The . question now is whether nature can hold out till the wound suppurates and expels all the [ 67 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

extraneous substances which now prevent its ! healing. The Great Square is the finest thing of its

ad kind I have yet seen . The St thouse, which

on e ul forms side, is tr y a magnificent building, but the roof, which rises very high, with a long, straight, unrelieved outline and a great number

n of unor amented garret windows, does not accord with the richness of the structure in all

s other part . These Townhouses are indeed splendid edifices, and show what the spirit and wealth of these provinces must have been in their better days . To complain that there is nothing withi n whi ch corresponds with the magnificence of their exterior woul d be findi ng faul t with them for being what they are . It is only in ecclesiastical buildings that the impres sion which the external grandeur makes upon the mind can be heightened when we enter .

Westminster Hall indeed is an exception . At the back of the building there is a row of

M rs Va don met him at Bru e t el e mon hs . r g s w v t after a d on his w a to En l an d onl us then a le w r s y g , y j t b to ear the remo al an d u in ut hes but in a fair b v , s g cr c , w a f y o recovery . 68 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S gigantic gilt arms projecting from the wall , each holding what for want of a more appro

riate for p word I must call a candlestick, a ff torch . The e ect would be very grand if the arm did not, in the worst imaginable taste, come out of the mouth of a huge face !

c t o Not far from hence, a cording the direction d given me by the Librarian at Ghent, I foun

Verbe st ll an d y the bookse er, a very singular

m an striking . A more thorough sloven I never

or saw, and seldom never a man with a better and finer countenance . Frequent as were my

s n to visit to him , I never happe ed see him entirely drest ; sometimes he was without neck cloth , sometimes without stockings . His house , l from the ground floor to the garret, is fu l of ri books , beyond all compa son the largest collection of foreign works I ever saw exposed to sale , a sight which made me wish that I had plenty of money at command . Here was what had been saved from the wreck of many a con vent library, but what a destruction has been

! Verbe st made y , who loves books as dearly as

I do, spoke of it with proper feeling . They had been brought to him in such quantities 69 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

ha fill t t, not having where to stow them , after

own ing his house and a church also, he had been obliged to se ll more than an hundred thou

as a hi us e sand weight for w te p per, for w ch he once sent off five-and-twenty waggon -loads at one time He related this with as much vexation

Verbe st as it gave me to hear it, for y is no ordi nary bookseller ; he has a thorough love of

o b oks, and told me he would not exchange the pleasure which he finds in reading for any

of al or advantages we th station . I dealt with

im a s h l rgely considering my slender mean .

’ Art zem a s r g eat work, with the continuation, — was among my purchases eleven folios , a huge mass of materials quite indispensable for any one who would write upon the history of

1 . too the 7th century Here, , I found the

’ Jesuit Pierre du Jarvie s history of the progress

f Portu ueze o Christianity in the g conquests, the

had ori ginal French in three small quartos . I

is long been in search of th book, which is very

s as scarce, and very important to my pursuit ,

supplying, so far as it goes , better than any

of s of a other work, the want a serie the Annu l

[ 70 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S I went to see the French cannon which had

been taken at Waterloo . They were in an

on of open place the banks the river, under

of who was the care a single centinel, pacing quietly beside them for they had now ceased

to of be an object public curiosity, and few

of m travellers thought enquiring for the ,

or o took the trouble to search them ut .

1 88 of There were pieces , all brass, some bear

R of ui ing the mark of the epublic, others Lo s ,

had others of Buonaparte . Many a name

L e Cousem Le Furet. stamped on them , such as , I remember in my early boyhood a Bristol privateer of some celebrity during the American

s ri all War, which, in a like pi t, was c ed the

Hor t di ne . Procee ng from this place to the

l s cana , we then ascended the rampart and

walked upon them half round the city, and

thus obtained a good prospect of the whole .

Our s quarter were at the Hotel de Flandres ,

P Roi ds s on the in the lace de , a han ome quare to ll e p of the hi , very handsome inde d of its but kind, it is such a square as might as well be

or er in s in London , or Paris, B lin, the build g have

n nothi g about them to characterize their country, 7 1 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R and in this respect, therefore, they ill supply the place of the Palace which was burnt there in 1 1 78 . The Hotel is as good as can be desired ,

of ffi . Our and, course, su ciently expensive sit

- on ting room was the lowest floor, unluckily, not so much becaus e this put us to the trouble of

- to ascending seventy two stairs the bedroom, as

to because it exposed us the street, and we were

e beset, in consequenc , by a class of persons quite

importunate as beggars, and whom there are

c stronger reasons for dis ouraging. While we were at breakfast nosegays of the sweetest

’ flowers, nicely arranged for a lady s dress, were thrown in at the window . After dinner we

a al s were seren ded by musicians and fem e ingers, who were better performers than are found in our One provincial theatres . day an itinerant juggler set up his portable table in front of our apartment and began to exhibit his tricks for our amusement and that of the crowd, but he

e was by no m ans expert in his art .

All this is rather French than Flemish, and,

hi Fren hi indeed, t s is in very many respects a c

fied city . The modern part is sai d to resemble P Paris, and the ark is altogether French , with [ 72 ]

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R external beauty, nor even with some of the fine parochial churches in Lincolnshi re and in the

n West of Engla d . The pulpit here is the most beautiful I ever saw ; it is the work of Henry

Verbou en e 1 9 gg , of Antwerp, who mad it in 69

’ on for the Jesuits Church at Louvain, and the suppression of that order the Emperors pre

a sented it to this Cathedral . This was prob bly l done in honour Of St. Gudu e ; but it is surely an act of great injustice thus to rob one city of

its s to t one of noblest ornament enrich ano her. While we were at Brussels the Emperor

the P s Alexander and russian Prince arrived, so

n that Edi th May saw a live Emperor. Havi g letters to write and more than enough to employ me, I did not join the crowd which had col l ected to behold these great personages, but con tented myself with just going into the Park to

n look at the ill uminations at the Palace . O the

n Alle Ver te u followi g night the was ill minated, and three large vessels also, which produced a ff striking e ect as they moved upon the canal .

’ De Burtin s We went to see M . pictures, a choice and celebrated collection ; but nothi ng in his po ssession is half so extraordinary as 74 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S himself. The Queen and the Prussian Princes

us h in had been just before , so t at he was half dr s n on satt in e s , havi g an embroidered white

a e waistcoat, over which he had a m gnific nt

ou flowered dressing gown . Have y seen my — Book was his first question a critical cata

own logue of his collection, with a preliminary

o treatise up n painting, in two large octavo

a Con stl : volumes , which he, albeit

etc. ls i o Gen Beg etc. sel h mself to wh ever

pleases to buy it. We humbly acknowledged h ! ” that we had not. W at he exclaimed, ” n ot seen it ! And then he told us what an

excellent book it was , and how much we had to

for learn, and what a pleasure we had to come,

as v it was as delightful it was instructi e. It

us was as entertaining as a novel, he assured ; it taught everything concerning pictures which could be known ; it was such a book that it coul d be read a thousand years hence with

al ent husiasm . It was ready famous at Oxford and Cambridge ; the language was so pure that French masters preferred it to any oth er work

i s w for their pup l . An English lady ho never had handled a brush till she read that book [ 75 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R learnt to paint by studying it, came to Brussels

l of from a fee ing gratitude to thank him , and painted his portrait, which he accordingly

robe de chambre wherein he stood before us . It was well that I had prudence enough to caution my companions against ever saying anything in English which they woul d not like the persons present to understand . Sorely, as it proved , should we have been ashamed if this

’ man s extraordinary figure, more extraordinary

- countenance (he was truly an ill favoured rogue) , and mostextraordinaryconversation had tempted us to any such remarks as everyone was strongly

old inclined to make, for the fox, who had pre tended not to understand English, began to speak it just as we were going away. As it hi m was, we left in good humour, for both Nash and I bought his book , and perhaps the most remarkable part of the adventure is that really

on e the book is a very good , probably the best

of which has been written its kind . I pretend to no knowledge of pictures ; but I will venture to say that what he shows as

’ Michael Angelo s was never pa inted by that 76 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

has of master . He prefixed an engraving it to his second volume . While we were at the Hotel an English family

r . arrived there, on their return f om Italy Accordi ng to the account which their servants

s spread, robber are so numerous in that country that they had waited at on e place till fourteen carriages were collected . Even this caravan

a was stopt, but the banditti hesit ted about

a att cking them . A parley ensued, which ended in the travellers hiring these robbers to escort them the rest of the stage, by which means

a they were protected from a second st ge .

Mr. Vardon is acquainted with a very in telli gent German merchant in this city, a native of D the uchy of Berg, Engelbert Werth by name . He tells us that the Prussian Commandant at

has Paris been murdered, that the destruction of Paris must be expected as an inevitable con

a sequence ; th t Alexander, upon this intelligence,

off was had set hastily for France, and that this the reason why he had not been at the theatre

on di the preceding evening, accor ng to the

notice which had been given in the bills . It had been said in the morning that the manager [ 77 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R had been sent to prison for ha ving deceived the public by announcing his intended presence , not being authorized so to do . This , however, woul d ha ve implied a degree of despoti sm which certainly does not exist in Belgium . As for the news, I have lived long enough in a country where the newspapers are of no value, to know how little credit is due to the reports which spring up Wherever authentic intelligence is i ff o want ng. The slightest enquiry su iced t show

n o that this formidable tale rested on authority, and the old saying about the month of March might be applied to it— it came in like a Lion and went out like a Lamb .

of Mr. Werth drew a plan the battle, which he explained with remarkable clearness, and which he has promised to draw out fairly and send after me to Spa . Yet I doubt the accu

of racy his statement in one point, and upon another there is indubitable proof that he is wrong. He says that the English were driven from Hougomont . Certainly they were not ;

of great part the buildings were destroyed, ff but the French never could e ect an entrance . He says that Buonaparte lost the battle by l 78 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S sendi ng Vandamme with men against

W aure in the evening, when he considered the

own l field as decisively his , and that Bu ow took ad s Now vantage of thi fatal error. , unless I am

ri g evously mistaken , Vandamme was despatched

n u der Grouchy the preceding day. A useful

on e lesson this, if I had needed , to teach me with what caution the hearsay relations even of

to intelligent men are be received . He was upon the field five days after the action with

’

R d . Henry e ford s friend, Hercules Sharp They found the house at Papelot full of wounded

Prussians who had literally been f org otten .

of P Falling in with a party russian soldiers , they stated the fact and intreated them to go and assist their countrymen ; the answer was that this was the fortune of war ; they had

ul received orders whither to march, and co d not deviate from them . This indeed was . true, nor was there any assistance which it was in their ff power to have a orded . Mr . Werth and hi s companion then applied to the Mayor of some

had l neighbouring place, but he a ready more wounded than he could find room to lodge or

persons to attend . 79 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

Left Brussels after an early breakfast and

’ went thro the Forest of Soigny to Waterloo .

The forest is for the most part a close planta !

as tion, approaching so close to the road to

an d shade it prevent it from drying. There are wells in all the villages, and almost at every house ; they are generally under a shed, per fectly secured against any accident from care lessness, and with a wheel over which the rope

u passes . The ch rch at Waterloo is a singul ar

ds di its and not unhan ome buil ng, considering size and materials, with a dome . It is some distance from thence thro’ the Forest to the scene of action, which commences at Mont St.

e Jean . We neglect d to mark the distance, and

ff one now di er about it, some saying scarcely

s i t o mile, other extend ng it to three, which

r latter opinion I more nea ly incline, but the difference shows how little a vague estimate is

to be trusted . Upon leaving the forest you

o l come up n an open country, and at the vil age

of Mont St . Jean (where you may look in vain [ 8 0 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

s to aid have decided the fate of the day, two

o ffi a u cers, not in regimentals, c me p . I think

t s hey were Prussians . Koster suppo ed them to i be English . They asked the gu de in French

where the Emperor was during the battle , but

he, in his plain honest sense of right and wrong, d id not understand that they meant Buonaparte

l . by that appellation , ti l they explained When “ o he pointed to the w od and said . There it was that the fifteen thousand Prussians came ” o ut of , one them answered in the most super

’ c ilious n - manner imagi able, Trente deux, s il vous plait moving his moustachios to a sar

donic smile . The farm house at La Haye Sainte is well

represented in the panoramic print . The house here and the stables had been full of wounded ff a nd the yard full of dead . It su ered some

thing, but not much , and having changed its

a tenant since the battle, the holes in the w ll

is have been repaired . La Belle Alliance

s e o n the cha us é , in a line with this house , but we left the road here, and turning to the right,

mont crost the fields to Hougo .

Let me endeavour to describe the scene . It [ 8 2 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N DS

e n is a wide, op n cou try, in which the most con

s icuous of le p object is the Church Braine Leud .

a on ck aussée St nding the by Mont St . Jean and

looking to the field of battle, the forest is behind you ; Papel ot and Frechem on t on its skirts to

the left ; La Haye Sainte, and farther on, La

r on the Belle Alliance, both straight forwa d, high road ; the Observatory to the right at a

e di great r stance, upon what we are told is the highest grou nd in the L ow Countries ; Hongo

to mont farther the right, but less remote ;

Braine la Leud more to the right still , and more

of distant, and thus looking round to the Forest

Soigny you compleat the circle . The ground would n ot appear strong to a person ignorant of di the art of war. But there are ps and swells like those on our South Downs and: Wiltshire hills (tho’ the inequality is considerably less) which in wet weather and in this heavy soil would give grea t ad vantage to the troops

i a defend ng the scent . I suppose Lord Welling t on looked to two advantages : the fair Open

of a l field b tt e, and the security which the forest ff a orded his rear .

' ‘ The observator and y is still upon the ground, 8 3 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R the people here all agree in saying it was erected by theEnglish .

’ Hou oumont g was a gentleman s residence,

- out and a fine one, with chapel , pigeon house,

s r building , extensive ga dens, orchard and grove . This is the only picturesque point in the whole

so—a or field, and it is highly sort of oasis,

- a wood isl nd, having that beauty which a well planted spot possesses in a bare and open

un tr - y. There are avenues and covered walks in the garden ; at the en d of that which faces the middle Of the terrace before the house (where the ascent is by a few steps) a vile picture is placed upon a little eminence, representing another avenue, with a summer house at the end . In a country which

a of abounds with fine pictures , such an inst nce abomin able taste was not to have been looked

was 1 7 Lord Wellington here on the th,

n asking the names of all the places rou d, the

a etc dist nces, . When he went away he said to the Gardener that if he did not occupy this

con point the next day the French woul d . In

as sequence of what Mr. Werth had said, I ked [ 8 4 ]

J O U R N A L O F . A T O U R

was General Picton fell . Here the spot pointed out where Major Howard was killed ; and in ffi the garden the place where an o cer, by name f Craw ord (I think) had been buried, till his

father came from Ireland and removed the body.

of In one place the wall the house, for about

ul five feet in a perpendic ar line, was covered

with blood . Some poor fellow must have been

knocked to pieces against it by a cannon ball . A painter might have foun d many pleasing subjects here before the battle ; the ruins n ow ff would a ord him some of a very different kind .

Beneath these ruins our wounded, who had been

a ri s ed c r ed into the house, were at once cru h

s and buried. Part of the hou e still remains

’ a t o h bitable, and this the Gardener s wife and children have returned . The Chapel was only half ruined . There is a crucifix in it, large as

ur s life, which escaped any inj y from the hot, but had been mutilated by some of our men . When I expressed my regret at this the Gar d en er s dl aid it was ill done, but he said it mil y, and without any apparent feeling of anger or

s indignation . Perhaps the Briti h character never was so highly esteemed in any part of the [ 8 6 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S I world as it is at this time in this country. have heard no other insta nce of misconduct in our u troops, tho gh I made the enquiry ; and the people seem as much conciliated by their good discipline and inoffensive deportment as they are astonished and awed by their courage .

a The pigeon house esc ped all injury. As soon — as the action began the pigeons took flight t o the forest no doubt ; and two or three days

ft sa w f a erwards, when they that the mischie was a over, they c me back again . The Prince of Orange has promised to repair

a The all the dam ge which has been done here .

Hou oum on t present owner of g is a nobleman ,

e off s to who resid s far , and wi hes sell this pro

ul ul n ow perty. One sho d think that he wo d

W e rather pride himself upon possessing it .

a a met his tenant, a respect ble farmer in appe r

a ance, in a c rt .

s In the orchard, which is a large one (not les than four acres) , and in the grove and garden , many trees have had their branches carried

n away or broken, and their tru ks wounded ; but

’ or except in these marks , neither the grounds

s s garden bore any vestige of war. The flower 37 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

were in blossom and the fruit on the trees . Indeed over the whole field poppies and pan sies were in bloom ; you saw them where the foot

s s of ff tep the cavalry were still une aced, and in

s s ome part upon the very graves . I know not whether it were more melancholy or consolatory t o observe how soon these lower creatures of n ature recovered from the havoc which had

m Hou oum on t been co mitted here . Between g

a n d of e La Haye Sainte, where the Prince Orang 2000 was wounded, bodies are buried . Hats

f all e a rom which the lace has be n stript, c ps,

s hoes, belts, and such things, are still lying a bout in great numbers ; but crows and vul tures a re not so active after a battle as the followers

of an army. When Mr. Werth visited the field

a n d its a saw it in recent horrors, all the de d

horses were lying on their backs, with their feet

s ff u ti p in the air, in the attitude wherein they had been placed by those who came for

s ! of our w their shoe One coachmen , who as

t af s here two days ter the action, ob erved tha t it was more shocking to see the wounded horses

t a s han the wounded men, bec use , poor thing , t hey had no wi ll of their own or knowledge why 8 8 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

a i 200 cont in ng Napoleons, which had never

s ow been found . It may well be suppo ed h dl much search this i e story has occasioned . The

had ff people, he gaid, su ered so much by the destruction of their crops that they were all ruined ; but they had since been made rich by

has the English . Well indeed it been for them that the field of Waterloo is within such easy

of reach England . The Prussians are as much detested here as the English are popular. The people give them

as a their due soldiers, and say that they c me in

n ot time, for the English could much longer have supported such a conflict ; an easy error this , for persons who understood nothing of what

on own But was going , except their danger. the behaviour of the Prussian s toward the inha bita nts is represented as abominable : nothing but insolence, violence and rapine . They

’ e to our old threat ned kill guide s father, an

o a of man ab ve seventy ye rs age, for not giving T them what he had not to give . his guide was

e an d e a man whose count nance, manner, gestur s

in ularl g y impressive . His exclamations of astonishment at the courage of the allies were 90 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

s Al l as pa sionate as they were frequent. fought well ' he s , said . The French were like mad dog , they raved and even foamed with fury when they were told to remember Jena and Wagram .

The allies all fought well , and the English Oh m an Dieu how they fought But especi S b ally the cotchmen , those men without reeches ; had it not been for them Mont St . Jean would have been burnt TO him it was evident that the preservation of Mont St. Jean was the great object of the victory. He was very angry that Waterloo should give name to the battle ; call

Hou oum ont it g , he said, call it La Belle Alli

P el ot ance, or La Haye Sainte , or ap , or Mont — St . Jcan anyt hing but Waterloo ! When I told him that I woul d give it its proper name in

and England he seemed perfectly delighted , again and again entreated me to remember this promise, and set the people in England right .

a but Misnamed the battle cert inly has been , “f aterl oo is a word so well suited to English ears that it must needs prevail . A wounded Frenchman who was placed under

’ t he surgeon s care at Mont St . Jean had his arm amputated ; as soon as the operation was over [ 9 1 ] J O U R N A L O F A T O U R he as t he ked for arm , and taking the dead hand in the living one waved it over his head and ” c ried Vive Napoleon ! When the Guide told

us this anecdote, he said he would have killed

him had s was if he been pre ent, for such a man

n ot to fit live . I was silent at this, knowing that if I attempted in my villainous French to

modify his zeal , I should only have disturbed a

of jus t and natural feeling. For the feelings this honest Brabanter were all straight-forward

he took them as they came, and troubled him s elf with none of those sophistries which make the worse appear the better reas on ; the road

from his heart to his lips was short , and on a

e right line . More than once he exclaim d about

e out the blood which had be n shed , crying ,

o uin ’ And all for one man ! cc c q . Very a nxious he was to be assured that we had the tyrant safe ; but he repeatedly said it woul d have been better to have put him to death

t hat this ought to have been done, and that he himself woul d gladly with his own hand have

performed that act of justice . And then he tOld us how his house had been filled with

‘ wounded men ; that it was nothing but sawing [ 92 ]

‘ J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

a p rt . Singly you were each too weak ; together

ou y will be strong enough to stand . They obs erved that they were more English than

r French . I answe ed that they and the English were children of one stock ; nations of the same f amily, who, by inclination and interest, ought to be allies and friends . This conversation pas t while we were crossing the open fields

Hou oum ont to Al from g La Belle liance, whither the two ca rriages had proceeded along the high

La Belle Alliance, where Blucher and the

D of t uke Wellington met af er the victory, is a

us as n poor farm ho e, almost much worse tha La

Haye Sainte, as that dwelling of a substancial yeoman is inferior to the Chateau de Hougou

has mont. Since the action it been converted into a public house, the owners having wisely profited by the Opportunity which Fortune

ff . On a o ered them the Sund y before our visit,

a the Emperor Alex nder dined there, and threw

ur Napoleons among the people, whereby he p Th chas ed much popularity at small cost . e woman of the house was near the hour of her d of two elivery, when the approach the armies [ 94 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

drove her into the woods ; she has since had

i s tw ns . There is a well behind the hou e ; twice

e I dropt ston s into it, and each time dis tinctly counted twelve before the sound reached

. a but the water The water is s id to be good , it was not clear enough in the bucket for me to be

a e induced to t ste it. B hind the well, near a

ruined outhouse , a Frenchman is buried in a

o dunghill, and the b ne of one leg with the shoe

on e is lying above ground, as if it had be n

a off c rried by the shot which killed him , and

was left out when he buried , either from negli gence or perha ps as a slight ! Here we had

s . bread and chee e , wine and fruit The cheese ,

d u s calle B llet from their size and shape, rich

’ and good tho very odorous and strong.

c to s From hen e Genap is two short league , over

an open and uninteresting country . We past

of i was by the remains a few houses wh ch, it said, the enemy had burnt in their retreat .

s Burnt the hou es certainly had been , but the French when they retreated were in too much has te to lose any time in making bonfires by the

! e way . The mischief had probably b en done

before the action . 95 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

of Genap is a poor town , about the size

al Ro Keswick . We were in an Inn c led Le y

’ d Es a ne e p g , from which app llation it may be inferred that the house was an Inn before the

’ Succession War. But whatever may be it s age,

it has now become a memorable place . Welling

a h on 1 7 ton had his he dquarters ere the th,

on 1 8 th 1 t h Buonaparte the , Blucher on the 9 . And t o this house it was that the Duke of

’ Brunswick s body was brought, and laid on a table in the room opposite to that which we

us D . occupied . They told that the of

e Wellington embrac d the body, which is not

a very likely, and that he wept over it and c lled

-in - the Duke his friend and his brother arms . But these things are not according to the Eng

lish character nor to that of the individual . The Brunswick officers knelt round the body

Duhesm w and vowed vengeance . General e as

Brun swicker - cut down by a at the Inn door, where the sabre has left some of its marks on

s the side post , and the blood stains are not yet ff e aced . For fuller justice, the stroke should

was s have come from a Catalan hand . It in thi

t oo town that the Comte de Loban , General [ 96 ]

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R l perpendicu ar bars . Our sitting room is papered with a French paper, containing little land

a as e sc pes in good t te, and a v ry rich border. The lower part was covered with a singular pattern , of ff a tea and co ee services set out upon a t ble.

We had a dismal night ; not f rom the recol lections of the day, or the feelings which the house itself excited with its bullet-holes and

s of — we blood tains, and marks the sabre were fatigued enough to have slept soundl y in spite o f all this . But all night long we were dis t urbed by the al most continual pas sing of heavy

oal c waggons , rattling like fire engines in

nl London , o y with a slower and heavier sound . The whole artillery of an army could not more effectually have prevented sleep ; a n d by way of lighter music in the interval s we had the cracking of the whips (every crack loud as a

’ pistol shot) of all the posts who pass thro

us this town to or from Br sels . The coachman told us yesterday that this was an asses bon ne [ 98 ] I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S a uberg e ; but this morning he asked us if we had slept ! and then told us tha t nobody ever

slept at Genap ; it was impossible to sleep there ,

because of the coal waggons and the posts . R There is a aven in the yard here, fifty years — old the first which Edith May had ever seen , h l except in the air. The coac man te ls us we shall see one at Maestricht which has been

an d there an hundred ten years . The fellow here put his head thro’ the bars of his house

to as if inviting me caress him . I scratched his

head , much to his satisfaction as it appeared , for about a minute ; and then the rascal made

a stroke at my hand, which I was lucky enough

to avoid .

. al Mr Nash and I w ked thro the town . In on e of the shops we saw the common mouse

of e its trap the country, which is ven simpler in construction than ours ; flour is used as the

bait, and it is so placed that in getting at it the mouse brings down a broad block of wood

which crushes him . I asked the price of a

‘ showy handkerchief, intending to buy it as

old W a curiosity for good Mrs . ilson ; the woman in the shop absurdl y supposed that l 99 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

ul s I co d not possibly mean to purcha e it, and therefore said that the price was ten francs, the probable value being two ; so she di sappointed me and lost a customer. At the end of the town is the bridge where Buonaparte was so long impeded in his flight ; i so insignificant a one it is, that but for th s circumsta nce we shoul d have passed it without l notice, and perhaps hard y have known that a D i bridge was there . The yle is a mere d tch, the

- water being at this time scarcely sole deep, and

or the width not above ten twelve feet. We were told that the mill s had now drawn Off the

ul water, and that it was f l at the time of the

r battle . But however full it might be, it neve could impede any men who were flying for

to its their lives, if they could find the way banks . Some houses come close to it, near the

on bridge, both the right and left, and thus it

difli cul t was that the y was occasioned. The best point of view for this little town is

U ou looking back pon it, a little while after y have crost the bridge . Not that it is any

s e where picture que, but b ing a memorable place

on s for other account , as well as its relation with 1 00 l

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R had been put . Nothing had been taken from him D ’ , for the uke s people brought their food, and thus they left a good report behind them ; much better than the Prussians have left at this

time, for here and at Genappe, heartily as the

French are hated , the Prussians are spoken of wi th equal bitterness ; perhaps with more, because they came in the character of friends

and acted as rapaciously as enemies . We were told of a French Officer who woul d have been taken prisoner here if he had not provided himself with a white cockade in hi s

on for pocket , and attempted to put it when

’ tune failed him on the three -coloured side ; when this was perceived he was cut down as a fellow who was true to neither party : a con

’ n clusio which, tho natural enough in hot

ul blood, wo d but ill bear revision ; for it seems much more probable that he was sincerely

attached to the Bourbon cause, and meant to

take the first opportunity of joining it . Our jolly Brabanter expatiated in praise of the Prince of Orange ; and here (as at Mont

St . Jean) his youth was accounted among his

— - merits so handsome he was and so brave ! 102 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

” Oh l D s , he fought i ke a evil on hor eback . But when he spoke of the Duke of Welling “ S acr Dieu ! is ton, he said, é What a man

t hi s hat and putting his finger to eye, He

’ t oo we sees everywhere . Here found the same disposition to claim affinity with the

English . The place where the Scotch suffered so

severely is just at the opposite corner, and

— t oo there are the most graves hastily made . In one the bare ribs of a skeleton were exposed ; dogs or swine, I believe, had opened it . Mrs .

’ Vardon s maid, Mary, and William , their man, saw another in which the worms were at work they wished to persuade themselves that it was the body of a horse which had been thus negli

for gently covered ; myself I turned away, not chusing wilq y to look upon these loathsome D features of mortality . The uke of Brunswick fell a little in advance of these graves . The

a b ra bies of r ge , the a solute the French in this

U our action, had made a deep impression pon friend : they cursed the English while they were fighting, and curst the precision with which their grape shot were fired, which the 103 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

man said was neither too high nor too low, but

struck right in the middle .

’ The grea t Golgotha is opposite this man s

di al o house . At the corner agon ly opp site to his dwelling is a barn bearing many marks of

ff a cannon shot . Nothing was o ered for s le here ; the W aterl ooers not going beyond La l ll Bel e A iance .

a Here we left the Charleroy ro d, and struck V to the left . Koster, Mr. ardon and I walked

&c on . . Caps, shoes , , were lying by the wayside, and there were patches of bare earth which we did not immediately recognise as so many graves, common or solitary . One was open, and the greater part of a skeleton exposed ;

a this seems to h ve excited a proper feeling, and many of the nearest graves were secured by heaps of stones from the animal s which had uncovered it .

e Th country became more hilly and varied .

R s About three miles from the Cross oad , the greater part having been a gradual ascent, we w came to a village where, from the Church To er,

Buonaparte, as we were informed, directed the

104

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

the sea loses all vestiges of a tempest in which d whole fleets are wrecke . From St. Amand to di Ligny is nearly a mile, and the interme ate d space, an open field, is well manure with the

’ to ui a dead . According the g de s ccount, the French lost more than the Prussians ; and the

carnage on both sides was enormous . The

rivulet, as it is called, runs from St . Amand to Ligny ; it is too insignificant a stream to have ’ any name upon the spot, tho a stream it is .

In many places a child might step across it, and

n - I think it was nowhere a cle deep . But the

was as battle fought in a wet se on, and the guide observed that the Prussians might have derived some advantage from the water-course if they had bestowed a little labour in widening it . i You cross it by a br dge near the Castle, which, as you advance in this direction, is at the

a . extremity of the vill ge, on the right hand

s c The Castle is a very picture que obje t, with a moat and bridge . It was in ruins before the

of u battle, but bears marks having been fitted p as a residence some century ago, when the long

e one of avenue was plant d . In the older rooms dl there is a circular opening m the mid e, like 1 06 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

the mouth of a ma ttamore ; but this was the

n of had entra ce a dungeon . The court been

s l converted into a farmyard, with sub tantia

di s buil ng round it. The whole of these were

an d burnt during the conflict, the livestock peri shed in the flames In front of the village

on hi c of t s side, which is to say, at the ba k the

r of st eet, are large quarries granite, from whence fine blocks used to be sent in great quantities

for the public buildings at Paris . Many are

n o r now lying there for which there is ma ket . A great many houses have been burnt ; they

of are all built stone, but, unhappily, were

covered with thatch . The people here all agreed that the Prussians woul d have kept their

“ n n ot n out grou d if they had been bur t . They were busily at work , at almost every house , in

repairing the mischief which had been done .

s Ligny is a pretty village, and before its disaster must have borne a general appearance of sub

s tantial comfort .

We had walked a long while on a hot day, and cast longing eyes Upon the grapes and pears which were growing against the houses that had

t . Our our escaped destruc ion guide, at desire , 107 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

one s entered , and reque ted that the owner would have the kindness to sell a little frui t to some

strangers . We were immediately invited in,

s old and the mistress of the hou e, an lady,

e meanly drest, receiv d us in her kitchen with a native politeness and genuine hospitality

which I cannot praise more than it deserves . ff Grapes and pears were brought, and co ee ff e us . u o er d Her name sounded like Le Br n, but even in our own language it is not easy

s to a certain names by merely hearing them . Buonaparte had been in her house after the

battle, and she and her family were in the cellar . ’ ff Tho the house had escaped, she had su ered

a more si ro greatly, Vand mme, , having pillaged

\ the whole place . This General, according to

one every account, is of the vilest wretches in

us the French army . The Pr sians are not dis

: liked here, for an obvious reason their beha

vi our had an d in action excited admiration , their sufferings had excited compassion ; their deportment in peace there had been no Oppor

tunit y of observing. The French were cordially

c exe rated, and Buonaparte was spoken of as the

of Our worst criminals . guide wondered and 108

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R indul gence would be extended if the times did

of not mend . He spoke very reasonably the

us loss which had been s tained . It fell heavy where it fell, but it had only been partial . The greater part of the country had not suffered anything and if an additional contribution were levi ed upon the whole department to relieve

ff . the su erers , it would fall lightly upon all We were told that the Prussians call Blucher

’ id on Le Gu , the Banner, because he is always at their head and in the hottest fire . 1W ells are numerous here, and indeed all the way from Brussels . Their number is a sure T indication of wealth . hey would not be so frequent and so near each other unless the l ff inhabitants cou d well a ord to sink them .

s Sombref We walked across the field to , about — ’ a mile and half half an hour s wal k at a brisk

’ — of Lady s pace following the course the brook . w ’ We ent thro the village, and on a hill on the other side came to the auberg e whi ch was kept by the niece of the old Lady to whom we O felt urselves so much obliged . The mistress was a newly married woman of seven or eight and twenty, of striking countenance and 1 10 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S i manners . Such a v llage in England woul d

ff hi e have a orded not ng bett r than alehouse fare . The house here was not better than a respect

us able alehouse, but it supplied with a good

dinner, good wine (better, indeed, than we had

u Fo found at Br ssels) , and a good desert r — 5 4 this, however, we were charged dearly

I ve franks . were nine in number, besides two servants and two guides . Everywhere abroad Englishmen are made to pay for the weal th of

an d their country, here we fared so well, and

al were served with such cheerful acrity, that we i were not d sposed to complain . Proceeding towards Namur we pas t a very

large waggon made of basket work . Saint boxes are frequent in this country I call them

- so because they are shaped like watch boxes . h The Saint is generally a little doll in a nic ,

hi . be nd a glass , and a grate The field pigs

which we have seen are lean and . lank as grey

s — - hound miserable looking wretches . Consider

how difli cul t ing easily pigs are fed , it is to understand how these people contrive to starve them— unless they themselves eat what would

s go t o the pig in England . 1 1 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U 'R

Beyond Sombref there is a fine chateau to the right, seated among woods, with a stream at the bottom , but too far from the road to be seen

on distinctly . A pretty village lies the road, where this stream crosses it, and close by the

h on bridge is a C ateau the left with fine grounds . l w The fema e inhabitants were at the windo s, looking at us with as much curiosity as we felt towards them .

ur Evening closed in before we reached Nam ,

s o and thu we l st the approach to that city . The lamps here are suspende d across to the

c to us Af t street, a cording the French c tom . er

’ driving thro streets of no very inviting

’ d Hars appearance, we stopt at the Hotel

The of camp . outside is the gable end a large house without windows, and the gates were shut ; this had a doleful appearance while the questions

d nf respecting be s were going on ; the co erence,

s however, ended in having the gate opened,

’ and we then drove thro o n e large court into i another. There was only l ght enough for i seeing a church tower close at hand, wh ch had

e a very pictur sque appearance in the obscurity . A boy waylaid me at the door of the hous e and 1 12

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

28 . first floor, to the second The court which we first entered is full of orange trees and other

‘ nasturcian s ornamental shrubs , having between m them , which are now in profuse blosso , hang ing from vase to vase . There is a canary bird

r here so tame that it flies about the cou t, and goes about on the head of one of the t U ’ waiters , and pi ches familiarly pon any person s

ul sho der ; thus it did to Edith May, and thus we were told it had done to the Du ke of

was Wellington , who exceedingly pleased at this mark of confidence .

h- - The was hand basons here are called dishes , and we had proof that they are used for both purposes : one of the Ladies asking for a second

s ad ba on, was told that the sall should be taken

out s of it for her. The same sort of bed we

have found everywhere, except at Bruges . They

a are placed against the w ll sideways, and a half circle of iron is fixed in the wall at a grea t

height for the curtains . The bedroom floors

are uncarpeted and unclean . The doors and

s as locks everywhere clumsy, almo t as clumsy in P ortugal . We were annoyed all night by the 1 14 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

’ clocks and church -bells ; the nine o clock bell

se s seemed clo at our ear , and a more dolorous sound I never remember to have heard . I told the waiter in the morning that this cloches was a bad neighbour ; and he smiled and agreed with me . Before the rest of the party made their appearance one of our coachmen led me to the

O f bridge , as if impatient that I should see some the fine parts of the city . There is a bridge m over the Sa bre, some fifty yards above the point where it falls into the Meuse here, look

u V ing p the river, the iew is most singular . It is confined for some distance between the back

a r p rt of some old st eets, and from every house

us an apparat for fishing was suspended, such as

Os us of we saw at tend and Br sels . A mill some

t s kind s retches half acro s the stream ; and farther, on the left, are the heights with the ruins of the

Castle . My guide, leaving those ruins for a se cond visit when the whole party shoul d be

on collected, took me round the heights the town - side to the walk by the Meuse and the w bridge, a less singular but much finer vie the heights , the ruins, and the course of the river 1 15 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R ll beyond, between gardens and vi as, forming a

He told me that some of those gardens were places where parties went in summer.

A s Commissionaire fter breakfa t we took a , as

o lac uies they call the p rters and q in this country,

us U s on of and he led p the height , the side the

ru . h c Sambre, under the ins of the Castle T en e we had an admirable view of the junction of the

t e rivers , h city, and the vale down which the

Sambre flows . Having reached the summit, we

s had then a view of the bridge and the Meu e . The rich autumnal tints of the wild part of the lands cape immediately on the right (towards Dinant) blended most beautiful ly with the dar ker green of the cultivated groves and gar

of un dens, which reached to the skirts this

s on hi reclaimed ground . The height w ch we

o on us st od, with a river both sides , reminded a little of Durham ; the Meuse above the bridge

’ of R a little the Thames at ichmond, tho it wanted (especially on the farther ban k) the luxuriant foliage which makes the view from R ichmond Hill unequalled in its kind . An islet in the Meus e much resembles that in the 1 16 3

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R I should think this fortress could only have been reduced by famine .

This is the first place which we have seen in but u a fine situation, the sit ation and the ruins

al l s are that Namur can boa t . The City itself

The is without beauty of any kind . Low Country stile of building does not extend so far ; the houses are totally unornamented, and the Churches have neither the charm of antiquity f nor of magnificence . It is a manu acturing

of town , chiefly cutlery ; and, of course, both di the place and the people are rty . I bought Val entine and Orson and Les Quatre fols

’ d A m on y , both printed at Lisle in close type

l ar r u . and on coa se paper, for pop sale Here

’ and at Brussels a deer s foot is sometimes used as the handl e of a bell ; and the Ap othecaries

’ u l have sua ly a stag s horns over their door.

i a We l eft Namur by the d rect ro d to France, over the bridge ; but presently turned to the

t s an d lef ea tward, kept along the banks of the

a river. The road for six le gues to Huy is one of the most beautiful that I ever travelled. That from Longtown to Langholme is not more so ; that from Ambleside to Keswick scarcely, 1 1 8 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

i to t i if a t all . It is fool sh compare h ngs

iff a d erent, and yet the folly is so natural th t I am as prone to it as if I di d n ot know it to seems something wider than the Thames at Ri chmond ; but it varies more both in breadth

r o the and depth . At Namu we saw a h rse in

of he middle the river, towing a vessel against t stream ; and the barge which plies with pas se ngers from that city to Liege is in like manner drawn in the water where the cour se of the road or of the strea m does not all ow the animal

o on to perf rm his work dry ground . A second

as was on to a be t board relieve its comr de, for it is severe work ; and we were told that the

im als o thus empl yed were soon worn out . It

f als for is di ficult work o the rider, for the bed of the river is full of holes ; and therefore great skill and great experience are necessary for the

s dangerous ta k of driving. This is the reason why only one horse is used even in drawing

’ against the stream ; tho four are all owed to

sc the Trek huits on the Flemish canals . It may be hoped for mercy’s sake that steamboats will

soon be introduced here . 1 1 9 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

rocks which from the number Of kilns I sup

pose to be limestone . The villages are very

m . nu erous, and mostly very beautiful The ff crags are su iciently high for a painter, and more varred in their forms than any which I can

remember to have seen elsewhere . In some places they jutted out like buttresses in others rose like spires and pinnacles and the chimneys

o f ruined buil dings . They were most richly adorned with brushwood and with a small i leaved ivy, and w th another creeper which, I

believe, is the nightshade . The views of Namur

u were strikingly pict resque, and they varied e a very minute till we lost sight of it . Perh ps

fi s off the ne t is between two and three miles , where the city appears behind a bend of the

Meuse, and that fine river forms the foreground . Some houses were pointed out to us on the left bank whi ch were partly exca vated in the rock on e a remarkable one with h nging gardens , where there was an archway under one of the

a terraces le ding into the excavations, and in

s ss Many Pru sian troops pa ed us . The coach 120 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R We were now entering upon a land of vine

ds to yar . The approach Huy is uncommonly — striking a handsome and very large old church on the right bank, with hanging gardens near l di it, and a high hil impen ng above ; a bridge of several arches over the Meuse, and on the other side gardens and old brick buildings ,

ar app ently convents, coming so close to the water as to produce somewhat of the effect of

s s . Hindoo cenery, such as it appears in print Having secured quarters in the best auberg e the

aff eu ! place orded, we crost the bridge, and dea voured to reach the river side, above the m town , that we ight get a good view of the bridge and the church . But we found ourselves in a labyrinth of narrow lanes between high

i s walls , and among build ngs in variou stages of decay and ruin, the work of the revolution .

s u of a r Huy it elf is f ll m nufactu ers, but this suburb, which had been the residence of the

R the eligioners and wealthy, is now a complete — — Necropolis a place of desolation a deserted — city . I never saw anything like it anything — that impressed me so mournful ly the des ola lation being recent enough to produce this 1 22 J I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

ff on e e ect . In church, which seemed to be

old s entirely forsaken, were many monument

e has - built into the out r wall, with rude reliefs, 1 and inscriptions mostly of the 6th century.

Mr . Vardon and Edith having advanced a

us o of little before , lo ked into the courtyard a large building, which proved to be inhabited, and they were met by two gentlemen . Mr. V . i asked if it were a public build ng, and was answered by on e of them with some ha utem '

hi s . . that it was house Mr . V then begged his

ass d pardon, and apologised for having tresp e , saying he was a stranger. The gentleman upon this demanded in the same offended manner if they were Germans ! Being told that we were

di an d English, his tone imme ately changed , he

hi u . invited us in . By t s time we were come p The person with whom we thus had fallen in dl was a man rather above the mid e stature,

h al t in, p e, and with a melancholy countenance ;

s as er grey eye with a slight c t, which was not p ce tible the p at first sight, and a few marks of 45 small pox . His age was , and his name, as written by hi mself in iny journal in a remark

Onwerx . ably strong, legible hand, F. J . He is 1 23 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

e a native of Li ge . He introduced us into a

s room furnished with good French print , and with some French books lying about it . In an

of instant he uncorked two bottles white wine,

of e of 1 8 1 1 which he called Comet, the vintag , upon which the Comet was supposed to have

ff c produced a beneficial e e t . We assured him

’ ’ that tho it was five O clock we ha d not di for ned, and that dinner was then preparing us at the inn ; but excus es were of no avail : a brimming glass for each was poured out and drank ; it was scarcely swallowed before the

bumpers were replenished and pressed upon us, as if this form of hospitality were necessary towards persons of our country ; we coul d not refuse without the probability of appearing dis

al l courteous, and thus Ladies and were obliged

dri to nk a second and a third bumper, emptying

both bottles .

Onwerx M . then led us into his garden, a

a i be utiful spot extend ng to the river, where the

l was bank was wa led . There a frankness and a decided manly manner about hi m which were

a very interesting. He told us th t he had been

a widower fifteen years, and that there was no 124

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R of : England, he said, was horrible not because it had made these countries a province of Eng land, but because we had let Buonaparte loose

of from Elba . We perceived that the treaty Paris was too advantageous for France that in

al our a few years she would riv manufactures , or d n ot excee them , and become dangerous, if

l us too powerfu for , and therefore we had let this ferocious beas t loose . Miserably as I express lf I myse in French, endeavoured to show him how impossible this was, but the most solemn asservation could make no impression upon him , so thoroughly was he persuaded of the absurd notion and I was really sorry for this, finding him a man of strong feeling and strong sense .

On werx M . has two daughters, whom we did

. f us not see The iring at Waterloo , he told , d was heard distinctly here, and ma e the house i shake . Th s might easily be ; but he added what is very remarkable, that a fri end whose veracity he coul d not doubt as sured him it had in like manner been perceived at Amiens,

’ leagues from the field . He promised to call on us tomorrow after

us breakfast, and walk with to a beautiful place 1 26 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S u -in p the little river Hoyoux, where his father

- . Dell o e of er blanc law, M y , had a manufactory f , I which suppose is tin . He himself manu

a e f ctures soap and, I believe, pap r.

Our al inn is curiously situated, being liter ly upon the Hoyoux, which runs under the court

nd odd d yard , and presently passes u er an bri ge of of one arch ; the arch course is true, but the

u ascent is so steep, continuing p to the bridge , that for more than half the way it is by a flight

of . steps A few yards only beyond, this little river falls into the Meuse close by the bridge . The fireplace in our apartment is a singul ar one ; a perpendicular grate, with fines to the right and left, a broad marble slab over it , and over this an oval window looking to the bridge ,

s on of the flues pas ing both sides the window .

u This was more beautif l than convenient, for fi the chimney smoked . The frame of the re

it of place is brass , above a line tiles, and then

- the broad marble chimney piece . The women here carry a basket with a back

of like that of a chair, but made close wicker

’

. a d work The back rises above the be rer s hea , who carries it back to back . The basket is 127 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

a lower part is full, veget bles or whatever else it contains may be piled up to a great height, the bearer naturall y stooping in proportion to the

of weight the load . It is supported by a strap

s co across the shoulders . This ba ket is so n venient how for those who , like Issachar, their

ul sho ders to bear, that it is used far and wide over the continent

are s of of We at the be t two Inns, the sign the Helmet, but Huy is a place at which few travellers stop, the distance between Namur e and Li ge being but a short journey . We found however good fare, good wine, and very civil treatment .

Our rest was disturbed by various noises . A

s hor eman stopt at the door after midnight ,

one l the and he and his horse, the cal ing and m other sta ping, as if the horse understood and seconded the impatience of the rider, reminded me of the Ghost on horseback in the ballad of

P al hi Lenora. russian troops so were marc ng ” thr o ; among them I saw some lancers in 1 28

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

’ The part of the town thro which we past is very picturesque fr om the number of bridges a nd ruins ; the latter are more probably the

’ of of of work revolution than war, tho war

has its u Huy in former times had f ll share .

’ Dell o e s o i M . y house is ab ut three m les distant, up the valley, and a more truly delicious valley (coul d all vestiges of manufactures be removed) l I have seldom seen . Beautifu it must indeed be to obtain this praise from one who resides at

Keswick and has past a summer at Cintra. The hills on either side I guess to be about as high as the Hatteril Hills ( or Black Mounta in) at

u o La t ny. A few years ago they were clothed

s . with wood, but the forges have tript them

u However, the underwood is springing p , and the valley is so rich that we scarcely felt the

s a n deva tation of the hills as injury. There

h . On werx are many comfortable cottages , whic M with evident pleasure told us belonged to little landholders . The vale is beautifully green ; it

ds abounds with orchar , large walnut and horse chestnut trees are growing in the fields ; and

the little river, before it reaches the works which block and defile the latter part of its 1 30 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

our s channel, reminded me of Cumberland stream

of in the quiet part their course, where they

flow along level ground . The vale , he said , con tinn ed thus beautiful for some twelve miles t o

s its head . The waiter at the inn had told u that the sources of the river at that distance

r were well wo th visiting.

- in - On werx e The mother law of M . had b en

a unn er e educ ted in an English N y at Li ge, but long disuse had made her unwilling or unable

’ a to spe k English, tho she still understood

us a . it . They gave c kes and Muscat wine The house had all marks of comfort and elegance

of and opul ence about it ; none ostentation .

out The garden was well laid that is, nothing had been done there to injure nature . A round

of basin water, with a spouting fountain in the

d of middle, is not to be complaine . They who object to the sight of art thus poorly and feebly employed may look another way and be plea sed with the sound .

’

Dello e s a . M . y works are upon a great sc le I was asked if we had any wheels so large in Englan d ; and these were large enough t o justify the question from one who had never 1 31 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

u of been there . This is the first man factory w tin which as established in these parts , and Buonaparte had given money towards setting

u s of it p . The re t the family, I found, had none of that just and well -founded

On werx detesta tion of this tyrant which M . e x es of pr t . One the Ladies was silent when I said that he ought to have been put to death ; another observed to M rs . Vardon that he had done much good as well as much

e v1 1.

Onwerx The conversation whi ch I had with M . e upon this walk was very interesting . Li ge, he said, had been a free country . The Prince Bishop was elective ; it was a dignity to which a n y man might aspire . There were two and

its twenty towns in the Bishoprick , each sending d eputy to preserve the charter of their freedom ,

our for such a charter they had, like Magna

e old l if Charta, many centuri s . He himse f,

had he been aggrieved by the Prince Bishop, might have brought an action against him and

e r of obtain d edress . There were no delays jus

c d 245 ur tice ; a cause was de i ed in ho s, or in

36 . w s at the farthest Now, there a no such 132

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R said the wine might be good enough to was h

r their feet in, but not to d ink . We parted with much good will toward ea ch o of R ther, and having a copy oderick, which I meant to have carried to M ahh eim for my

’ Osserwald Uncle s friend, M . , if we had pro ceeded so far, I left it with him .

off B u as We set from y at noon, well ple ed

our with adventures there, crost the bridge and proceeded along the left bank of the river . More beautiful scenes than those of yes terday

ss had been promised us ; they were le so, but s till it is a fine and interesting country . The

’ views of Huy are very striking, tho inferior

a Red ff - to those on the other appro ch . cli s the reddest I ever saw broken rocks with creepe rs in great luxuriance ; and many picturesque

The e buildings . river fr quently forms isla nds

its . we in course The vale widened as advanced, losing thereby in beauty . We past almost u Cha teau nder a very remarkable , a large square building upon the brow of a rock which is precipitous on three sides , and the garden wall appeared as if it were on the very brink of the

e precipice . At a village near we halt d, and 1 34 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S had good bread, cheese , butter and wine, all good things, and which seem in these countries

e everywhere to be good in their kind. H re and everywhere we heard the same complaint of the

Prussians . Indeed, we saw something of their insolence upon this stage ; for we met a party

of . a their soldiers A carri ge, with two gentle

of r u men and ladies the count y, had come p

P al with them , and these russians would not low them to drive by, but insisted upon their following patiently and waiting upon their

As we approached Liege we saw nothing but

s l r filth and poverty, and the City it e f p esented

i s nothing inviting in t appearance . The Cathedral was destroyed by the Revolutionists

in their brutal love of destruction . We had been recommended from Namur to the Aig le

air an fh N , Inn not in a good situation, and su

cien tly uninviting in its external . Some dis comfort was apprehended and some discontent exprest when we were shown into the public

was di r room, where there one man at nne and

we a strong odour of tobacco . They told us

s v s should soon have the room to our el e , and 135 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

that the folding doors between it and the bar

our should be shut to secure privacy . Pre

“ sentl y, however, another person came in to

i - d nner. I saw now that the bar part of the c room would fall to our lot, and alling there

for pen, ink and paper, sate down and wrote to

John May, while a woman servant washed the

rt d fire us hea h and ma e a for . The chimney piece was tiled ; the hearth tessellated with little bricks about two inches long and half an inch wide ; a brazen plate , like a waiter, on an iron stem , was the screen . By the time I had

finished my letter the table was spread, and we had an excellent dinner with good wine .

I n al l the inns we have found a want of cleanliness in the bedroom floors and a want of

ds i s be ide carpets . Here we had c garr la id upon — m s the bedroom table being, I suppose , as ece

for a sary a Germ n as his night cap . The windows in Liege and its vicinity are

a aTh mostly squ re and small . e city displays 1 36

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R ing preventing our party from going over this “ dirty city ; but we had driven thr o great part of o it the preceding evening, and my walk t

P -Office the ost showed me more . become more numerous since we entered the e Pais de Li ge . There is neither Flemish comfort here nor Flemish cleanliness ; both have been lessening all the way from Bruges , and both

ol have now disappeared . A few d and poor — persons wea r very broad bever hats the last

of remains old costume. The houses about the

of place are generally a deep red colour.

c n ot One roguery I must noti e , as peculiar to

e . The Li ge, for we have observed it everywhere bottles are manufactured in so ras cally a sha pe

“ that the bulging bottom defrauds you nearly of

on e - third of what the bottle appears to hold .

e hO - As we looked back upon Li ge , the p poles, which were very numerous in the adjoining

an d country, were now pitched together as

the s thickly as tent of an army, combined in a

most singular manner with the steeples . A mile or two of we crost the narrowest bridge

ra a which I ever saw for car i ge , over a stre m

an which, coming from opposite direction to the I 1 38 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

s s . Meuse , fall into it clo e by this bridge From thence we as cended a very long straight paved

i was road , wh ch a tremendous pull for the

. a horses The country here is be utiful , remind i ing me of the Monmouthsh re scenery, not in the mountainous but hilly parts of that

’ fine county ; and the weather, tho the rain sometimes melted into mist and the mist some times dissolved in rain, did not materially city the roadside beggars were v ery numerous ; one m an who was placed in a chair beside the way to excite charity gave me a painful idea of dem on iacks u the in script re . Women were threshing in the barns ; they use a flail shorte r than the English one, especially in the striking part . A man was picking up manure from the — road in a bas ket a proof at least that nothing is allowed to be lost here. The road is for the

s most part hilly, and sometimes it passe over

s s the fir t waste or commons that we have seen .

We halted at Theux, at a wretched house, where the only room in which we could be received was wet The floor was composed of bricks laid in large square pan nel s within a 139 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R black framing—no doubt of that black marble for which this place is celebrated it is said to

r be the finest in Eu ope , and to take a polish as

fine as glass . There were marks of antiquity about the house , some fragments which had been built upon on the chimney bore the date of

1 5 2 of 1 5 65 . 9 , and a fragment in the yard that

We had excellent bread and butter here, and the fine Herve cheese—upon which we dined heartily and hungrily, not knowing that we

a of were sc rcely six miles from Spa. Going out the town you come to a building with this in

Wauwhall cham tr scription p e e. About a quarter

off as of a mile is a c tle on the left, appearing like a square of brickwork without any loop holes . It shows well, with a brook and bridge and village in the foreground, and we had seen it at a considerable distance . The country all

of the way to Spa is very pleasing, still the tamer — Monmouthshire character heights covered with

of — brushwood, and streams clear water much that is soothing and picturesque, nothing that approaches to sublimity .

’ We found at the Hotel de Prince d Orange all the accommodation to be expected at a place 1 40

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

t. R. S Not knowing who the Saint might be, but not doubting that his footstep had been

eu imprinted there for some good purpose, I m quired the eaning, and was informed that Ladies who desired to become fruitful were to set a foot in it and obtain their wish thro’

of Remacl M m . e rs . the erits St . Vardon had already been trying whether the footste p fitted

l ed her. Away I went to Edith , her there and begged her to set her foot in the impression ,

ss which my Governe did, and when we told her the legend she declared that she never again

do would anything I desired . Koster also before he heard of the spell tried his foot, and

had we much laughing about the consequences . t He had stood in the Sain s shoes, we said, but it might not be so pleasant some time hence to

’ stand in his ; and we wished him well thro

The it . third spring, which contains some

l s su phur, is a mile and half from the e and at the same distance from the town ; the woods about this have not been cut down, and the l place is sequestered and beautifu . A poor woman here presented a petition to us with a mournful story, which the people of the well 1 42 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

us had ff e assured was true . She o er d it to the

’ Prince s attendants (for he comes every day to

had drink this water) , and they told her he no

a money and could give to no one . Mrs . V rdon explained to her that this was the answer of the

a . attend nts , not of the Prince himself It is indeed his obvious policy to acquire all the popularity he can , and popularity is always to be cheaply bought by Princes ; a little money

e goes a great way in purchasing it . If he do s not make hay while the sun shines he will never get in his harvest . Spa has suffered much since the days before

R was the evolution, when it , perhaps, the

s a most fa hionable pl ce of resort in Europe .

The woods all around it are gone , except the small part by the sulphur spring. Eight y ago 1 8 0 houses were destroyed by an accidenta l

a u fire ; an inund tion did f rther mischief, and

r P s bivouac ued last yea the rus ians q here . The

of our Master hotel speaks English . His wife,

u who had borne p against repeated calamities . died about six weeks ago broken -hearted by mis h fortunes . Their whole opes had been upon this s eason ; the return of Buonapa rte from Elba 143 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R made her believe there would be no end to their

b she . trou les , and sunk under them The poor

of man is in the deepest dejection , and speaks

al his children, especi ly of a babe who is only a

old few months , with great feeling. One of the Vauxhal ls here has the whole of the upper part cased in wood to preserve it from — the weather a very large house in a packing

of case . The great ambition the boys seems to

ra be to c ck the whip, like the postillions ; they

one w so were emulously practising it, fello with much exertion that he thr ew himself down with

ff . as the e ort We were serenaded here Brussels, and with good music and singing. A blind woman came begging into our room , and told us she was the person who had given occasion to ’ — Madame Genlis story a story which we were supposed to know. She had been in England,

s D D she aid, where the uchess of evonshire intro duced to eof her the Princ Wales, and he gave

as her two guine . She now subsisted upon the

o of b unty the English , and kept a little orphan

o girl t guide her about . Crayfish are very a — a o bundant here provoking sort of f od, which ff promises so much more than it a ords . 1 44

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

agreed with me here, as they did at Brussels .

ff al The e ect for a night and h f a day was violent, and I think the Eau de Cologne, which I took by

’ s Mrs . Vardon s advice, tended to top the com

s plaint . But it was proper to ab tain from any

incl thing that might renew it ; which, as my i ff nation for both had su ered no abatement, made me talk of describing my situation at the dinner

of R table as the Temptation St . obert .

Our coachmen dissuaded us from attempting to reach Aix la Chapelle in one day ; the dis

s tance , they aid, was ten strong leagues and the

ad bad ro , and they assured us that there was a

good Inn at Verviers , four leagues on the way. O wing to this advice, and to some mismanage

our n ot ment about linen , we did start till

noon . We soon rolled over the good road back

as far as Theux, where, being told that we had

plenty of day before us, we went up to examine

Franchimont Castle, which we had only seen

from the road . The place is often mentioned 1 46 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S in the French Memoirs, and, if I am not mis

of ad r taken , is the scene an ventu e with robbers or coiners which is said to have happened to

u Marshal Saxe . It was r ined no longer ago R than the evolution, when a passion for destroy ing whatever was ancient and venera ble seems to have possessed the hearts of the people .

The ruins are extensive, but less picturesque

a th n any which I ever saw before, or than I shoul d have thought possible for so large a mass . We saw some snail shells here of a species larger than any in England, and a yellow

us flower, with which none of were acquainted, we gathered here it was very pretty and sweet . From hence we turned aside by a wretched

u road to Verviers , p a long and most wearying

r hill, and then down it into the fe tile valley wherein the town stands . It is a flourishing place containing inhabitants, and its manufactures of cloth and k ersym ere have the

o reputation f being the best in Europe . Teazles

The grow in the neighbourhood. master of the Hotel at Spa advised us to drive to the sign of e the Emperor ; the hous was dirty, the mistress received us with the utmost incivility, and the 1 47 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

invit beds were neither enough in number, nor

our ing in appearance if they had . We tried fortune therefore at another inn, to which the

Coachman would fain have taken us at first, but we had been assured that it was only part of a di large buil ng, the other part of which was

as t o used a manufactory, noisy enough keep us

n iri awake the whole night . Upo enqu ng here we found that an English family from Spa had arrived before us and engaged all the beds except

: our a t two p rty required eight . The auber is e ‘ g

us was exceedingly civil, and recommended to

Batisse proceed to , and if, as she thought it

ul would prove, we co d not be lodged at the P ost House there, go then to Herve, which was

of out of our only a quarter an hour way . The grumpy coachman grumbled, but could neither

us help himself nor . Henri , as usual, took thi ngs contentedl y ; and having lost half an hour in these fruitless attempts to establish ourselves for the night, we proceeded two

Batisse leagues to ; the trial there was in vain ,

as and we turned ide to Herve, where we arrived

’ about six o clock, dinnerless, and not a little a 1 48

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

had neglected to conform to a precaution which is by no means unnecessary in these parts at

this time . The poor woman was very attentive

an d of obliging, desirous accommodating us in the best manner she could . She spoke with

of r ff bitterness the French ty anny and its e ects, but observed that the Prussian frontiers were

R ul too near, and that the hine wo d be the

proper boundary.

’ The public room in the uncivil woman s inn

at Verviers was heated by a stove, being the first

which we had seen except in kitchens . At Herve we found the same symptom of our approach to

ma a Germany, and whatever y be the advant ge ff of thus di using the heat over the whole room , we all disliked the oppressive sensation which it

To of produced . say nothing the life and

motion and beauty of an English fire, there is the great objection to the stove that when you

to enter the room, and require be warmed, it

a t oo t oo heats the f ce much and the feet little . An insulated spiral staircase of dark brown

us wood fronted as we entered the house, having i a door at the bottom wh ch led to the cellar . 1 50 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S The chairs are wooden and of a fashion rather old on than foreign, but the round knobs the

- crossbars below are polished with black lead .

s of The bed were German fashion, having instead of blanket or counterpane a mattrass

about four feet square for a covering . The

ann els of s p Mrs . Vardon door are painted with

pictures most ludicrously bad, representing an irresistible gentl eman courting an incomparable

a l l dy, both in fu l dress . I was in bed when I was alarmed by the voice di of William, crying in great stress from the

upper story, Mary, Mary, send Mr . Koster

s here send Mr . Ko ter here directly The

’ are Coachmen getting into the gentlemen s beds , ’ ” and I can t make them understand me . It had been arranged that William should sleep in the

same room with Koster and Mr. Nash, there h being no other place . Accordingly he ad gone

to bed and fallen asleep, but happening to open

his eyes on hearing some stir in the chamber, to his utter astonishment he saw the two coachmen undressing themselves and about to take pos

session . Up ran Mr . Nash and Senhor Henrique

at the outcry, hardly able to claim their beds 15 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R for laughing at the circumstance— and the scene . The coachmen, when they discovered

e their mistake, were equally amus d . The whole

a party, having he rd the uproar, joined in the

s laugh, and we never went to re t more merrily

N eeeia mens hominum . than at Herve . For the only time during the journey Edith May had not been lodged in the same room with us . The beds in our chamber would only hold one person each . Mary had a larger, and Edith therefore was to sleep with her The child had a miserable night owing to a sore

had throat which not been perceived before, but which was doubtless occasioned by exposure

a a to the sh rp wind at the Spa r ces, and pro bably aggravated by the discomfort of the bed ; for it is impossible for any person to sleep between two beds or mattrasses unless they

of us n ot have been used to it, and all , having

learnt to sleep in the German fashion, found ourselves repeatedl y without any covering during

the night. She was, owing to this cause, ex

al posed ternately to heat and cold, and obtained

no rest . Being accustomed to seeing the tonsils of all my children frequently swoln without 152

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R where we were it was impossible . There were neither accommodations for sickness nor medical aid if it should be needed . I went out again , looked for a Stag’s Horns (the sign over an

’ Apothecary sdoor in these countries), and bought

t of e of vola ile spirit ammonia, the knowl dge a medical term proving for once in my life of

use o he some . But the appearance of the Ap t cary made me shudder to think how I shoul d have felt if it had been necessary to call him in and rely upon him . This was applied . The child had been sick after taking some Eau de

off Cologne ; she appeared to rally . We set , and the air seemed at first to revive her. But it soon became expedient to remove her to the close carriage, and by the time we reached

Aix la Chapelle she was very ill .

The country is one of the richest I ever saw, completely spotted with villages and single

s hou es . In richness and woodiness it resembles the best parts of Kent or Herefords hire . Pic tures ue q it is not, and its features are too even to be bea utiful ; but it bears abundant marks of o u industry, activity, and of a thriving p p

lation . It improved in beauty as we drew 1 54 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

s e house, which had a series of fish pond b longing

to it on the opposite side of the road . The carts (for they are upon two wheels) seem to be preposterously long ; they are very neatly

covered with cloth when the goods require cover . Walking up a long hill I observed a great

number of pansies entirely yellow . The only place where I remember them growing wild in

England is at Busselton, near St . Helens Auck

al recollec land . I know not why it is that loc tions are so vividly recal led by the sight of

flowers and by odours ; but, according to my experience, nothing makes the strings of memory vibrate so finely . The Belgian Custom House

o is near the b undary, and after a few minutes delay there a few franks prevented further trouble . Near the city there are whole fields of cabbages of both colours . We heard at the Custom House that the King of Prussia was expected every hour from

e ix Li ge ; and accordingly, when we entered A l the whole popu ation was in motion, and the

s him street were crowded to receive , so that we trembled for a lodging. Yesterday a like 1 5 5 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R apprehension at Verviers and at Herve had been a matter of jest in our present situation

ul u it was tr y painf l, for the child was worsening

’ . D d Or every minute The ragon , to which we

u had been directed, was f ll ; the Hotel Grande, ckez Debi h g , which is next door, took us in . While arrangements were making for the rooms

al out for ur On I w ked half an ho . my return the child appeared so ill that I thought it necessary to look for a physician . There was or seemed to be a risque of being recommended to some ignorant or unprincipled fellow if I

on asked the people of the inn to recommend e . I therefore went to the Banker to whom my circular letter was addrest, and asked him

l di r where I shou d apply . He ected me to

Dr R di . . eumont, who had stu ed at Edinburgh The complaint was severe without being

s dangerou , farther than the danger which always exists that such a disease may put on a mal ig

an nant type . Under any circumst ces I should have been anxious ; and here we were under i curious circumstances ofd scomfort . The people of s the hou e were brutal in the extreme . We

for were obliged to take what we wanted, they 1 5 6

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

This roused her so compleatly that she did not

’ ’ W r sleep a ink till th ee o clock , tho between one and two I got out of bed and read to her l for ha f an hour in hope of composing her.

Saturday, however, the disease was subdued ; it left her greatly reduced, and with a compleat

‘ prostration of spirits . Miserable as the occasion was which thus delayed us at Aix la Chapelle, the delay proved

hl a Our hig y advant geous . apartment being close to the sick room it was determined to

’ table d héte dine at the after the first day, and there we fell into the company of some Prussian ofli cers who were here recovering from their P wounds . Major etry, second in command at this place, was one . His companions here assure us that it was he who gained the battle of

D on owit z one of , and that he is the best and m P ost distinguished men in the russian service . His face is a singular compound of two coun — ’ t enan ces perfectly unlike each other Carlisle s

’ R of and ickman s, the character the latter pre dominating. He commanded in the attack

ul upon Namur, where a b let entered his throat under the tongue and came out at the back of 158 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S his neck . It is said that he will recover his

u speech, which at present is nintelligible to

s tho e only who are accustomed to it .

Capt . Ferdinand Augustus Leopold Francis

Dresk of von y, a Silesian by birth , was another our new acquaintances ; during our stay he re ceived the cross of honour and his promotion to the rank of Major for his conduct at Ligny,

Dresk where he was severely wounded . y is the officer who was ridden over wi th Blucher in that battle . He and his servant and the old General knew that their only chance of escaping was to lie as if they were dead . After awhile he ventured to look up and asked his men if

r the coast were clear. I am glad to hea you ” a speak, was the reply. In person I cert inly never have seen any man who excelled—perhaps hardly any one who in all respects equalled him as to outward accomplishments . At this time,

ha iness his when he is overflowing with pp , natural hilarity has full scope and he possesses a ver satilit of he y of talents which is fully conscious , and which he delights to display . His musical i powers absolutely aston shed me . He plays

’ the violin (tho it is not what he calls his in 1 5 9 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R strument) in such a manner as to call from it

— fl ute the tones of almost every instrument ,

ui ar i drum, trumpet, g t , etc . His voice s so powerful that he led the band with it, and it predominated above their music . But his m ost extraordinary exhibition was upon the Jews ff harp, an instrument di ering a little in its con struction here from the English one of that name, but not in more repute . Playing upon two of these at once he produced sounds as sweet as those of an [ Eolian harp ; and an air in which he echoed with the on e the notes of the other was more m agical than anything I

us ever heard before . He assured that if the dl ff can es were put out the e ect would be greater,

a but and that this was not im gination, that darkness produced an actual and perceptible

s difference in the sound . The experiment was made, and every person agreed that it was so ; a fact in confirmation of an opinion which I have long maintained . Another of these ofli cers whom I shall like to remember hereafter is a young Pomeranian , by name Geck, son of a rich merchant at

Stettin . He is said to resemble the Prince of 1 60 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

ad . ff ( being m e to march barefoot, etc ) e ected his escape by way of Strasburg almost m iracu

l ousl y. He was afterwards in the Duke of

’ one of Brunswick s corps, those who stood by

him faithfully to the last , and were ill requited P by that rince, whose only merit seems to have

been his courage and his patriotism, for Forster

says he was wanting in gratitude, principle and

c 1 8 1 0 onduct. In he went to Spain in the G erman Legion, and continued there till the

end of the war, where by marching on foot in t hat climate, by bivouacking, and by a fall in

the Pyrenees down some crags, his constitution

i s has received most serious injury, so that he here on unlimited leave of absence for his

health . All his family are dead except two

on e lad 1 8 brothers ; the is a poor of , whom

a u of he has lways s pported out his pay, and who has n ow for 2 years been suffering with

a an abscess of the spleen , but whom he spe ks of with the deepest affection and the highest s admiration for his pirit and genius . The

o D . of ther, who was also with the Brunswick , has just married the daughter of a Sicilian

noble . Forster had written his own memoirs 1 62 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S u 1 8 1 2 p to the year , when he lost them in a

i off sh pwreck Santona. He has promised to rewrite them under my roof next summer if he

our r lives so long . The day before departu e

a he had a return of h emorrhage from the liver, at a time when his meeting with me and the news of his brother’s marriage had given him bette r hopes and more chearful feelings than

' Ilhi ess have often fallen to his lot. and ill fortune ha ve fixed a melancholy and thoughtful l character upon his countenance, natura ly fine, intellectual and open .

All these men were Free Masons, and Koster having been initiated into the same fraternity, an acquaintan ce with them was facilitated by

W o d that circumsta nce . hen I was intr duce each of them tried me as he shook hands, to the di scomposure of my joints and knuckles and I have no doubt that a man may derive some advantage in his travels from being a Free Mason if he can condescend to degrade himself by submitting to its mysteries and its mum

m eries . a The acquaint nce began at table. The

P us r sians filled their glasses with champagne,

dr stood up, and ad essing themselves to us, gave 163 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

R ’ the Prince egent s health . In return we ren dered the same mark of respect to the King of

Prussia. Each individual then gave a toast in D turn , after we had done honour to the . of

s Wellington and Mar hal Blucher, and when my turn came I mustered up French enough to

Belle Alliance say, The between Prussia and England ; may it continue as long as the ” of memory the battle . The Prussians were so pleased at this that they rose and embraced me . It is not possible that these officers can be a

i ss fair spec men of the Pru ian army, for they would be very much above the average of men anywhere ; but there may be good hopes for

its any nation that has such men in armies . They had a national feeling at once proud and

of generous, such as the last two years their

re history justified , and by which indeed the generation of their country had been brought

r of about . Their hat ed the French was pro i found, pr ncipled and hearty, and perhaps the more indignant for the contempt with which it is mingled. There were some regiments, they

us h ffi had told , in whic the o cers made a rule 1 64

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

’ ds tho she is by no means so han ome, the likeness is as striking as if they were twin

o D daughters f the evil . Never was a house under worse management . The first improve ment in our treatment was when Koster (follow ing the advice of the Prussian officers) told the waiter he would thrash him if he did n ot attend upon us better ; the second when Mr. Vardon took the Landl ady to task and -roundl y repri m anded her. It seems the economy of the household was that there was a woman who

out s weighed everything to the servant , and allowed them so much for each person in the

as house, if every person in an Inn were not entitled to have as much of anything as he

houille or klitter re The fi , as the German l woman called it, requires pecu iar management. Stirring does more harm than good ; if you

ou An blow it you put it t . Aix la Chapelle guide which I bought here taught me to make it burn up by sprinkling salt upon it . The

fire is good and durable, but it makes a great

a D The Cathedral , here c lled the Nostre ame , 1 66 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S is the most extraordinary building we have seen .

’ al hi The centr part, w ch is Charlemagne s work , — seems to have been built after a Greek that is to say, a Constantinopolitan model but in every succeeding age something has been added, and there is n ow so much patchwork that some houses which have been built round the one end

t o of the church, between the buttresses, so as block up the lower part of the longest windows in the world (such I suppose them to be)

dl out of c n o har y appear pla e . There remain other vestiges of the founder’ s tomb than a

ds Carola M ma large slab with the wor ag . We did not see the relics . There are some very curious brasses in the wall of one of the chapels the letters are raised and the groundwork strongly hatched, which makes the inscription much more distinct . It is like wood engraving, an impression of the letters might have been taken .

a of Under some of these , the epit ph some old

a canon, is a ghastly represent tion of a dead body, with worms as large as snakes at their work . Some lads of sixteen or eighteen were whipping tops in the cloisters and smoaking their pipes at the same time . 1 67 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

We had intended to commence our return on

Monday ; it was, however, found prudent to di another day, that E th might recover

t s use a lit le more trength, and making of the time I went up the hill on which the obelisk

s . ll tands The hill is called Lausberg, origina y

L uouesberch c . P s , signifying, a cording to M oi senot of - , the mount observation . Beacon hill is the more likely meaning of the name, and this explanation of the Frenchman savours the o s belisk, which bear these inscriptions

On the south side

Cette pyram ide est n u des sommets d es grands triangles q ui ont servi de base a la carte topo graphique e t militaire d es depart em en s re unis d e l a i au d a R i é ou l e e e d r ve g che h n, lev e s s r gn e ’ N a o on l e G a d t d a re l s d e e de . p le r n , p s or res S A. S . l e i a d B i m i i de l a pr nce Alex n re erth er, n stre

u ar l e s ffi i r i i u - eo ra h g erre, p o c e s ngen e rs g g p es d epot general de la guerre .

On the west

Au i d e uill e t 1 8 04 il a été fai a u i d mo s J , t, p e d e cett e pyramide de s observations astronomiques

ar M . . Tran chot a o di u . e e t p J Jos , str nome, rect r 1 68

Wieder Errichtet Der Wissenschaft Un d Teutscher Kraft Am Tage d er Fever -lichen Hul digung Der Prussi schen Rhein- La ender Den XV M ay

1 8 1 5 .

Just below the summit of this hill is one of

ff s s the co ee. hou es which are so numerou about this city, with a fine room commanding a rich and extensive prospect . The two towers of the Town House come in very finely here with the i i Cathedral . A w llowy hue st ll predominates 1 70 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

ff of i s in the landscape, and the e ect this foliage increased and partly modified with a bluer tinge by the quantity of ground which is planted with cabbages, here cultivated more extensively for

for men than cattle in England . I am per suaded the sour krout would be one of the most useful ad ditions that could be made to our standard food . They are forming a fine public

were walk round the walls , or perhaps making ” Buona arte s it, for it was commenced in p time, ff who, in imitation of Charlemagne, a ected to distinguish this city by his favour. Fishponds ” are very numerous here, tho one never saw ” t l - h6t any fish at the ab e d e except Red herrings .

Bursheid We drove to Borset, or , for it is one inconvenience in these countries that every place

one has two names , its German and its French , ff which are sometimes very di erent, and some times a Dutch name equally differing from

for e bv either ; example, Li ge is called Luttich G D the ermans, Luyk by the utch ; Aix la Cha

Bursheid pelle is Achen or Aken . is a large

fr m village about one mile q the city, and one of the hot springs for which this part of the country

is remarkable rises in the street, in a large open 1 71 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R o s ctagon walled ba in . The water is hot enough

The to dress an egg. stream which it produces flows under cover for about an hundred yards a s fter which it erves as a general washing place, and sundry washerwomen were availing them

o selves f it.

The poultry are very familiar in this city. T m hey frequently come into the public roo , and ” in a stationer s shop there were some perched on — the counter a familiarity this which implies in the inhabitants more good nature than cleanl i n ess . There is a cruel consumption of small

ds all bir in these countries, insomuch that I

are wonder that they are not extirpated, for they a constant and favourite dish everywhere . They

r dress them und awn like woodcocks, but the sight of red herrings in the inside is by no means

tempting. We saw a jay in the market, and I

m m a es s a told gpy may sometime be seen there . In the afternoon we visited the Cabinet of Baron It is one of three collections which the virtuosos of the last centur y were

of fond forming, and which travellers were at one time chiefly employed in visiting an d cata It loguing. was the fashion then for travellers 1 72

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

b an island had een formed in it, communicating

on with the mainland by a bridge, and this island was a boat house, and by this boat house

of oar l lay a boat, which three strokes the wou d have sent to land in any direction except one , where perhaps half a dozen more might have

s been required . The border and alleys were ornamented with a railing and with little

ul al Cupids at reg ar interv s .

Mr. Short wrote to Mr. Vardon from Maes tricht to let him know that the road was very

bad , and that we should find a most obliging ” Leerier hostess at the . This Gentleman s family

s it was which had forestalled us at Vervier . We

had spoken with him there, met them on the ” next day s road , and were at the same hotel at

D a Aix . He is a evonshire man, who, h ving

had his boys educated up to a certain age by

my old friend Lightfoot ( of whom he spoke as

on e loves to hear an old friend spoken of) , had 1 74 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S placed them at Westminster and taken a house in Abingdon Street for the sake of being near w them . Colonel Haliburton called on us ith a

s mes age from him to the same purport, lest his letter should not have arrived . The reason of this solicitude on his part was that he had wit n essed the behaviour of the Aix-le- Chapelle

Hostess, and knew how desirable it was, in case

Edith should have any return of the fever, that we should find common humanity in the mistress of the house . Our coachmen had al ways said that the road

s bad to Mae tricht was , and that a third horse

a ss for each c rriage would be nece ary . They

a n ow had he rd, however, that it was worse than

a they had apprehended, and required e ch an ” ad t . e ditional pair . Af er Mr Short s lett r and ” e the Colonel s account of this road, it would hav been unreasonable to have made any demur ;

re a both the men , mo over, being very c reful, civil, and obliging, and, I believe, very honest

so at least we have every reason to think . Forster would have risen from his bed and

a us come across the street to t ke leave of , but I extorted a promise from him not to attempt 1 75 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

a hi s this, and ch rged servant (a faithful old

has soldier, who refused his discharge that he him may still attend ) not to allow it . He would, however, rise and come to the window . I parted from him with much regret and much f e ear, but not without a hop that our meeting — may prove of some advantage to himself and

s to history, for his Memoirs, eeing what he is

” has s and what he een , would be most valuable . Major Petry was to have escorted us out of

n tow , but his wound, or rather the issue at the

of hi s ul back neck, had been painf in the night and rendered it prudent for him t o keep his

o e apartment . We t ok leav of him there, where ffi he and another o cer were smoking . The skin of that officer was covered with a varnish com

of posed tobacco smoke and perspiration . Dresky and Geck dr ove out with us in an open

a our carriage . The Commissionaire had t ken

s t us passport to the Commandant, and brough

to in return a letter of surety for four days, be

orts renewed if needful . The passp were now

made valid for Maestricht .

s b O ur road lay round the end of the Lau erg, ” on which the obelisk stands . It led us thro 1 76

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

towers, and a general woodiness not produced

s by coppice or forests, but by enclosures and

l redom i hedge rows . The wi lowy hue again p n ated when we had left the bluer tint which the

” of vast fields cabbage occasion round the city. A residence among lakes and mountains has not in any degree diminished my enjoyment

of humbler and milder scenes . We past a

church yard full of gravestones, noticeable because we had not observ ed tombstones before

s in any such situation . The e were all in the m form of a short cross, the ar s and top being

When we were about three miles from Maes tricht it began to rain most heavily ; in so much that our carriage stopt and both Grumpy and the postilion took shelter under

its lee, the former laughing heartily in the

s be t humour, till the pelting had abated a little, 1 78 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

of and then we proceeded. The master the

on e of horses, the hugest and heaviest men I

ever saw, rode postilion to the first carriage

an unmerciful load he was , for he was at least

’ of six feet in stature, and all his limbs were

Our enormous bulk . postillion was a lad,

apparently about seventeen, who smoked as he

to of went, according the abominable custom this country, and had been more than once admonished by his master to pay a little more

- attention to the off horse lest it shoul d fall .

The fellow chose rather to attend to his pipe, and so going down hill the horse tript and ” Grum s fell . It required all py skill to keep the carriage back , and well it was that Grumpy was skilful ; and it was some time before the horse coul d be got up . But then , to our no ” s small a tonishment, the lad, tho he himself had not fallen, was so frightened that he ran

away, meaning to make his way back to Aix

- la Chapelle . Koster pursued and presently brought him back ; he still declared that he

e woul d drive us no farther.; upon this his mast r gave hi m two or three well deserved strokes

r as with the whip, and getting fu ious he gave 1 79 trod upon his neck . Being in the close carriage I was so placed as not to see this act of frightened than hurt ; and the last fear pre vailing over the first, he remounted and we di reached Maestricht safely. The stance is four

s— 1 8 post about miles . The atmosphere was so thick with rain that

saw of as o we little the city we appr ached it, and in this we had some loss, considering its situation and its impor tance in military history . But we caught a sight of the moats and ram parts and dr awbridges and gates in passing

L evri e them . The r is not so pleasantly situa ted as those hotels which stand in the Great Place ; the Hostess has , however, a reputation among

l for an d English travel ers obliging civility, certainly she well deserves it . Everything here

of was l was good its kind. The apartment we l

ls u s furnished . and the wal so f ll of closet as literally to be lined with them . There were

s some family portrait decently executed, two

s ill s of land capes cut in paper, poor specimen a poor art ; a bust of Voltaire about as good as 18 0

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

of remarkable excavations their kind . We hired two hackney coaches at six franks each to

c di s take us thither, and a cor ng to cu tom drove ” r us th o them in the ual route . But the

had horses in one turned restive, and nearly overturned it the way owing to the rain proved act ually impassable ; of necessity there

out l fore we got , and fearfu of her catching cold I carried Edi th May over the wet ground .

or We entered the hill , mountain as it is called,

Lad under a low arch of masonry, where my y

Governess , feeling the oppressiveness of the air, would fain have turned back if I would have

or permitted her, if there had been any one to have returned with her . But we soon past this low entrance and found ourselves in the excava

tions, where, dead as the air is, and motionless,

o ff it produces no sense of weight r su ocation . We continued wal king about an hour at a good

brisk pace in these endless labyrinths, where I beli eve none of the party felt themselves per

fectl as y at e e except the Guide, for irretrievably

s a as lost we mu t h ve been without him , as soon

s a we had lo t sight of the entrance . Cert inly it is not prudent to venture into such a labyrinth 18 2 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S with only one guide who knew the way, and no

flambea ux more than two , which were both

in lighted at the same time . But I determined,

s s ul us ca e the e sho d by any accident fail , to sit down immediately and wait till we should be

us missed at the Hotel and search made for . For if we remained in any part of the regular course, there we should be found . Among the names inscribed on the white stone pillars and roof was that of Ellen Locker. Buonaparte had been there and the Prince of Orange. The sides indeed were everywhere marked with the

us memorials of former visitors . They led to

e a stone holl owed like a basin, into which wat r continually falls from the roof, drop by drop ; and to a chapel decorated upon the excavated

of . n o sides with drawings purgatory, etc , by

an d r means ill executed . Here there we e other

or - drawings, heads, whole length figures, and ” in one place a Cherubim s head . We were told that these excavations extend all the way to

es Liege. I believe indeed that both citi have been built from them . None of our party were so entirely at their

’ during this hour s walk as not to acknow 1 8 3 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

ledge a feeling of hearty pleasure when once

uch more in sight of daylight . We deba ed upon

c s an eminen e above the Meu e, having on the right the ruins of a Castle which the Guide a ssured us was built by Julius Caesar ; and on the left shut in by the door of what had once

R n ow been a Convent of ecollets, but is in great part demolished, and the rest converted into a c ff - o ee house and public garde n . Maestricht

on our was left. The scene reminded us in s ome respects of the view over the same river

n ot from Namur ; it is so fine, but we came upon it in a manner to make us feel its beauty

Few most sensibly. things can be more striking than to emerge from a long subterranean walk upon such a prospect in light and sunshine ; and it is well worth while to go into these f l for rightfu excavations, were it only the

u of out of pleas re coming them . It was from the recollections of having felt thus at W okey

s Hole some twenty year before, that I wrote the

of but Keham beginning the last canto one in a. When we entered the Gate yesterday a young Belgian Ofli cer very civilly said he woul d n ot d us for ur etain in the rain , but would send o 1 8 4

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

” still a grand and venerable edifice, tho dis

r figu ed by some incongruous additions . We entered it in time to be present at a christening.

had The child, which been born that day, was

a dl old re os well, or rather ill sw d ed in the p p terous fashion, and wrapt in a mantel most richly embroidered with coloured silks . The

s midwife carried it, and the father and spon ors — attended decent people in humble life. The ceremony was mumbled over by the Priest with as much ha ste and as little decorum as it is by the Vicar of and the infant having been blown upon , touched with spittle, crost, chrisened an d , sprinkled, oiled salted, was laid

a e hi on the alt r. I obs rved that w le the Priest read the office the lips of the attendants ” moved as if mechanically, tho they did not

a underst nd what he was saying. The service was performed at one of the side altars, but I neglected (which I am sorry for) to observe of what Saint, and to ask the name of the child .

five- for as A frank piece was given her, a memento that some English travellers had been present at her baptism . 1 8 6 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S We lunched here with good appetites upon i bread, butter, cheese and wine, good th ngs whi ch you meet wi th good of their kind every

r — where in these count ies the bread, I think,

e always bett r than in England, and the butter

Our and cheese generally so. room was hung with canvas painted in good imitation of

to for tapestry. I went out look some fruit, ff and finding some excellent apples, pro ered in payment a piece of the base metal which is

r cu rent here, but which had been refused at the e f Li ge post o fice . It was as much like a button as a bad shilling ; they gave me as many apples

s as my pocket would hold, and a heap of copper

money beside in exchange . Upon the same — stal l there were large snails lying for sale the

- common large house snail, not the larger kind D hi which Sir Kenelm igby imported, and w ch,

s has if it still exist in Buckinghamshire, not,

I believe, travelled beyond it . Here we were assured that the next two leagues were actually impassable without four horses to each carriage, and would scarcely be passable with them . The Landlady at Maes tricht had boasted of the road to Louvaine as a 18 7 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R ” — light half day s journey for us it was onl y two

n de term leagues, she said, of cou try road ( was her expression) , and the rest of the way was like — the street which we shoul d have thought no recommendation in England, but here it is as desirable for the traveller to get on the stones

o For as it is there to get ff them . noise and

e ds jolting, however, the pav d roa are just like the streets . We now perceived that we had

c i been at ross purposes with Colonel Hal burton , and that this was the stage concerning which

us Mr. Short had desired him to warn . There was some delay in getting horses from the

e plough, and we resum d our journey about four

The Church continued in sight as long as — there was light for d istinguishing it a grand and solemn object in this wide an d open plain . Of what coarse clay must those beasts upon two legs be formed who are for pull ing down Cathe drals and buildi ng Meeting Hous es

The ds roa were indeed, as Grumpy called

abomi n able. hr oh them, T ee times we were liged to alight and wal k whi le the carri ages ” were dragged thro places so bad that it was 188

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R — and few sounds were ever more welcome to

our . of ears In the midst this slough, where ” the water and mud were up to the horses

out bellies, the pin came a second time, and

was a second time with equal dexterity replaced, tho” poor Grumpy could only act by the sense of see feeling, it now being too dark for him to

was what he about . We were at this time

walking on the high and dry bank above, and

” n us d just the the moon rose behind , red as bloo , over the wide and Open country which we were leaving.

Having at length cleared this passage, we

e chaussée. reach d the From Maestricht, as far e as Tongres , I believe to be the Li ge road from

n ow that city, and we had crost into the road

e to from Li ge Brussels . The first letter in the — alphabet represents the course A : we have t f gone up the lef leg hal way, and then struck

one of by the cross line into the right , instead

ca bar t describing the angle . There is a poor e

- O where this bye road pens into the high one , and we went in to warm ourselves and dry our

i s feet wh le the horses re ted . The only liquor ff it a orded was white beer, a weak , fresh , and 1 90 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

as not unpleasant beverage , t ting well of the malt ; if bottled I have no doubt but that it

ul be wo d a very agreeable summer drink . The kitchen was ful l of country fellows who neither moved their hats nor appeared in the slightest degree curious at beholding so large a party of foreigners . One man sate writing a letter the whole time, without once lifting his eyes from

of the paper. The mistress the house was a woman of prodigious stature, at least six feet high . They were all decent in their appear

our ance , and I may remark here that during

r whole journey we have seen no d unkenness, no

quarrelling (unless the affair of yesterday with

the postillion be called so , which was rather a

of matter of chastisement) , and no ill behaviour any kind . We had full leisure for looking at

these people well , and were all struck by the

general good expression of their countenances . Here the extra horses were dismissed ; the stage had been severe tho” short (about six u miles) , and the drivers were very thankf l for a

frank each , which they had well deserved. We o pai d for what our own h rses had here, and also for the coachmen—which put them also in high 1 91 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

us our moonlight served well for stage to St .

s . Trou , which was three league Our inn was

the Hotel de Sauvage . We went into the

public room, which was heated by a comfortless dl stove in the mid e, and there we found a Bel ffi gian o cer, who commanded the detachment

h n stationed in t is poor decayed tow . Like

every man with whom we have conversed, he seemed to have a strong impression that things P were by no means settled . eace , he said, had

but been dictated to the French , not accepted t by them . The mis ress of the house said we must not expect much in so poor a place

a St . Trou, which she c lled a village . What we had its — , however, was excellent in kind chops , fricassée, and omelet . The beds were good, and the charges more reasonable than had been any

ll be where else . I have ca ed her the mistress

us so ca e we supposed her to be , but it appeared d afterwar s that the mistress was ill , and there was ui s a Beg ne in the hou e nursing her, from a Beguinage near the town .

1 92

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

s it is plainly the cu tom here, and I suppose it

s m i found to secure the from vermin . Some

mud houses here have the whole side, which is

the v most exposed to weather, co ered with

t hatch . The villages are not by the roads ide

r the chu ches very numerous everywhere . Here

R o w or to I saw a oyst n cro , what I took be — one a crow with the head and wings black ” a n d a Dum ouriez the body grey . We p st over

fi of eld battle, in a wide and open country . ” The gate thr o which we entered has ‘ been

e the paint d Orange colour, in compliment to

new sovereign . Much as I may approve the

old of Or an e boven cry g , I certainly do not like ” a n P t i orange coloured town gate . The la d Eta n

here is a good hotel . The Landlord remembers

1 792 of the battle in , when a fourth part the town was destroyed by an explosion ; and thi s ” s hou e had all its windows shattered, tho far e nough from the spot to escape any greater

c injury . This would account for the wide spa e, and the number of fields within the circuit of

its old suf walls . But no part of Europe has

fered so or war frequently, so severely, from as

of Tirlern on t these poor countries, which and 1 94 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

St. Trou and Tongres are melancholy proofs and the latter place especially, which is the more melancholy because it is a famous and a vener able name .

’ a There is fine church at Tirlemont, not a little disfigured by the bui ldings which are stuck against its sides . Buying some apples I was surprized to find that the woman who sold

u them spoke English . I bo ght also two coloured

dr e prints , designed for chil en, of the very coars st kind, but not a little curious , representing in

of one a series compartments , the history of

Gulliver, the other that of Tom Thumb, with

Flemish verses under each . Both stories are greatly corrupted . Gulliver is made to die in

Brobdi gnag by falling into a tureen of soup, and Tom Thumb by fall ing into a pond from a tree where he has climbed to steal apples . The trappings of the horses are in general

as ornamented with br s nails . The leaders in these huge waggons are usually three abreast, the shaft horses in pairs . The

n cattle seem to be very well used . I have see neither instance nor marks of cruelty to an 1 95 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

imal , and I fear no man could travel a day

in England without perceiving both .

k or When a nosegay is stuc in a cart waggon , it is understood as signifying that what is for

o sale there is f the best quality .

Two . Tirle leagues to Louvain Here, as at

s old mont, there are field and barns within the walls ; but Louvain is still a very large and

a of 1 5 populous city . In the early p rt the th century (the golden age of the L ow Countries)

on it was the largest city this side the Alps . We had seen no dogs used in draught since we left Brussels till we arrived here . The church of St . Pauls here has a most magnificent pulpit : on e s th e l side repre ents Conversion of St . Pau , the other St . Peter, sitting, with the keys . These Pulpits in the Low Countries I suppose to be the finest specimens of carving in the

Nor world. , indeed, is sculpture anywhere to be seen upon so large a scale of design and

Chaire de la Ver ité execution . , they call the pulpit, a felicitous name, considering the enor mous fables which have been delivered from it

R Ca holick in oman t countries . I have in my possession Catholi ck sermons containing stories 1 96 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

bo children , a y and a girl, who seem clinging to his knees . Another boy, who holds a cross , ull D is looking wistf y to the Angel , but the evil

o has his leg in a chain . He c ul d tell us nothing of the history of the piece, but it plainly relates to some family unhappily divided in those religious troubles of which this Painter saw the commencement and progress .

out of I set in search the Beguinage, and after a long walk was conducted to the smaller one, for there are two in this city . This proved

s one to be a single narrow street, clo ed at the

rd end . There are no ga ens , and the houses are

so e like those at Ghent, but not large . A B guine whom I met and accosted told me there were

only three sisters here , the apartments being occupied by Nuns formerly belonging to the i suppressed orders . The larger Begu nage, she

but said, had seventy sisters ; that was half an ” al hour s w k, and time did not allow me to get

” Tho this large city is the seat of a Uni

a versity, I could not discover that it cont ined a ” c ul decent bookseller s shop . At the best I o d

out re find, I picked from a very few books th e 1 98 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

h to a w ich I was glad obtain . The one a G z et

e its M a eries te r of Louvain and what are called y ,

e published, I see, in successive years as an app n dage to some Almanack, but collected into a

of volume, a very unpretending and useful kind .

A Acta ‘ of di nother is the a King St . Fer nand, in a good octavo, with the prints reduced, pub lished in this form by the Bollandists before the

of volume their great work, which includes his h day, was ready . This belongs to my Spanis collection . The third relates to Irish or Scotch Ecclesiastical history : S ancti Rumoldi M arty r is

' sium A ostoli Advoca ti sterilium cm u um , p , y g ,

tium Acta M ar t rium Li tur ia An ti ua . , y , g g , etc ,

Vardoeus 1 662. by Hugo , an Irish Franciscan,

It had been a presentation copy from the Author . The book appea rs to contain a good deal of research into the dark as well as the fabulous ages of Scotland and Ireland.

1 99 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

s to Five league Brussels . On the way Edith May”s quick eyes discovered the small or Lilli put cabbages growing like warts upon the sta lks of what seemed common cabbages ; and

o no doubt they are an artificial pr duct. The

a s ro d command a most extensive prospect, such as the slightest elevation gives over a

was plain country . The cathedral at Mechlin di stinctly seen, and Antwerp , we were agreed , is visible to good eyes in clear weather. We

old left Laeken on the right, and reached our

s s quarter at Brussel to dinner. Dur ing this tour wherever we went the blue frock continued t o be the costume of the com

of mon men , and that the women has nowhere

saw O varied from what we at stend . The men of the better orders wear caps more frequently than hats ; these ca ps are mostly of grey or

or of black cloth, with a front of the same ” ca or horn, like a jockey s p ; they are of velvet, an d have general ly then a circle of grey worsted

n a - i (perhaps it may be Astracha l mb sk n , real m or imitated) at the botto . I 200 l

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

r D unde the superintendence of a rill Sergea nt .

oak on of An which stands the verge the forest, where it has room to spread its arms in natural

o t r gr w h, really appea ed like a deformed and

n monstrous being, from its utter unlike ess to all

n the other trees . They sta d in many parts so close that the interstices look only like straight

of s lines green light . The road is in many part

of raised considerably above the level the forest . Labouring men and boys were seated by the

i a wayside at breakfast, and spread ng their d rk brown bread with a white substance , which

or of whether it be lard, a sort inferior butter, ” ur or c d, we have not yet learnt, tho we have

one s frequently seen it thus used. Saw hor e with a comb attached to the trappings of his neck ; another with red tassels pendant

s his face , which must be u eful against the

s flie .

Breakfasted at Waterloo . Among other vessels in the kitchen there were to my no

This brea d is dark enough to explain the Dutch o d for a fa ou ite chil d on e c ck ered as we w r v r , or o , should s a an d u h u on dai n ie . I t is y, bro g t p t s

' — — uf i tte oodskind or kind a a hite ead child br j w br . 202 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

small astonishment, six bright and shining — pewter cha mber-pots han ging up evidently for

m on di orna ental display when not service . E th May tells me there were similar ornaments in the kitchen at Tongres . The inner room, in

was us which a noble wood fire kindled for , con tain ed f has n our beds, which no doubt bee

On chi nm e sadly occupied after the battle . the y

t of piece was a tuf artificial flowers , something of the same kind more artificial still , being

imitation of flowers made with feathers , and

with gilt foil for the stamens, and two hyacinth

s al glasse of blue and gold . There is gener ly a sort of vallance or little ca nopy about a quarter of a yard deep over the chimney piece in these

of cou ntries . The ceiling of the room was

of s black boards, the floor bricks and anded ; and under the window was a hole to let the

water out when the room is washed. Knowing at what sort of hous e we should make our first

our r to halt , we took own tea rather than t ust

of ff as t ad the chance finding co ee there , to ed bre by help of a gridiron which the people of the

us house brought for that purpose , and break

fasted well as well as merrily. 203 Church , and I copied the inscription over its — portico interesting enough for its subject an d

- its semi pagan form .

D . O . M .

Et D . D . Jose ho et o p Ann e, Hoc a u S cell m, Pro Desiderata Domi n ii s Catholi eis

a Hi s . I n d R s P i c P o a a i 2 . i Be . ri nc i i C rol p . eg , lg p r s p , Fran Ant Agurto M archio de Casta n aca Belg G ubern tor

Cause enough indeed had these poor countries to pray that ' that most pitiable poor king might leave issue to succeed him ! There is a good

ct Ferdi portrait of this poor king in the A a S . n a ndi Re is is g , which I bought yesterday it so truly characteristic that it alone woul d make the book valuable . I never saw a more com

of pleat union gentleness , melancholy, and

‘ There are two monuments in the Church to the English Officers : one to those of the first

to 1 5 foot guards, the other those of the th

r hussa s , both at the cost of their brother offi cers ; they are of plain white marble with a

1 204

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R s o ome advantage up n this very ground , but co uld not learn that there was any recollection

of us it . They are so ed to such things in these countries that nothing short of a general action lea ves any impression upon them but I should add that the man of the house both spea ks and understands French worse than any person whom we have met with who pretended

one to do either the or the other. ” Lord Uxbridge s leg, the most remarkable

of relic modern times, is deposited in the

of on garden a house opposite the Inn , and the

of ad same side the ro as the Chapel, the

nearest house to it on the Brussels side . The owner of the hous e is as proud of possessing it as a true Catholic would be of an undoubted

of hi s . ur n leg patron Saint The fig e , ma ner, a n d earnest enthusiasm of this Leg-worshipper

were in the highest degree comic . I accosted

him hat in hand, and with the best French

bad I could muster (which is enough, Heaven

ur knows) , but as much co tesy as if I had been

r e e t French by bi th and br eding, r ques ed per

us t o mission to visit the spot . He led a little

a n O f mound in his g rden, which is i front the 206 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

or house . The mound is about three four feet in diameter, and of proportionate elevation (sound

ds o ing wor should be used on great ccasions) , and in the centre of it is a tuft of Michaelmas da i isies ; at this t me in blossom . The leg, he told us , had been at first interred behind the house but the Wife of my Lord has requested him to plant a tree which should mark the spot ; and he , considering that a tree behind

s n the hou e , which was not private grou d , might

u be very probably inj red or destroyed by boys ,

own had removed the leg into his garden , and

box ffi there deposited it in a proper or co n . The Michaelmas daisy was a mere temporary l ornament . In November he shou d plant the “ — ” was a n m ule willow. tree , it to be English — — — ” Oui l il onsieur r ea tend s l arbre , , I eplied f

in wi ll la rmoy an t the weep g ow. It will be very — picturesque and pa thetic the whole thing so ridicul ously comic that I hope no foolish person will hint to him that the laurel might

be more appropriate . He had composed an

a was epit ph for the leg, he. said, which then in ” the stone cutter s hands ; but he had a copy of

t o it. Of course I requested be favoured with 207 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

e the p rusal, and having perused it with due gravity solicited permission to transcribe it also .

s Upon this he pre ented me with the copy, and I then perceived that he had several other

a copies re dy to be disposed of in like manner .

Here follows the Epitaph, being I believe unique in its kind ” C est en terrée la J ambe de L illu.stre bra ve et l ,

Bel e et Hollandois e bleesé le 1 8 Juin 1 8 1 5 g ; , , en la memorable ba ttaille de Wa terloo qui p ar son her oieme a concouru a u tri omphe de l a cause

’ v r u di t o ur l ecla tan te ictoi e d J . I did not present him with my own Epita ph upon the same subject in return .

’ This is theGrave of Lord Uxbridge s l eg

Pra for the of hi s b d be . y rest o y, I g

He was t oo proud of having such a deposit in

s his garden , too happy, and too seriou in his

e w happiness , for such a jest to have be n allo

us e able . He took into the house and shew d

of s us the stain blood upon two chair , telling 208

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

e the houses, a door opening dir ctly upon it . This must be for the double purpose of security

s and cleanliness . Our guide eemed delighted ” as s we drove pa t, tho his s i e e erv ces were not ne d d on this second visit . We left the carriage and the two horses at La Belle Alliance and crost the fields to Hougou

a bo us mont, t king a y with to carry our pro

The e dl us c visions . Gardin r gla y bade wel ome

s e s the here . Mr. Nash e tablish d him elf by

s house, to the left of the entrance, chu ing a point of view in which the Chapel is the pro

the nent object, with the adjoining ruins to ri ght ; and while he was thus employed we reconnoitred the ground a second time at leisure . I now di scovered in the garden a sun -dial cut

box te to in , but having been neglec d and allowed

w w ul gro in its o n way since the action . I sho d not have perceived what it had been if the wooden gnomon had not caught my eye and induced me to examine the circul ar bed in

s how which it stood . It is urprizing to see many small trees have been destroyed in the

oo s the w d , and in a row be ide the path, at end 210 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

of s f the premise . There can be no better proo how thickly the shot must have fled . The

n s a - ow er of the e t te, a man of eighty six, who

s ll has for reside at Nive es, just sold the wood

s of felling, and wishes to dispo e the whole pro perty. I wish it might be allowed to remain

a untouched, th t the ruins themselves might remain as the best monument of the brave men who are buried underneath them .

s Mr. Nash made a econd sketch from the

of door of the Chapel , comprizing the interior

of the ruins , and another the Mansion looking at

its . se entrance When making this , his at was placed on the mound where the burnt remains

O dre f the Frenchmen are covered , and the chil n who beg here with the most invincible perti nacity actually offered him for sale some calci ned u bones which they had raked o t of a hole .

r Lea ving the ladies here, I walked with Koste to Papelote , which is a large inclosed farm and

Hou oumon t s dwelling house like g , and is perhap ” the more picturesque place of the two , tho it does not appear to have been so recently

of w inhabited as the mansion a wealthy o ner.

r ul v Had these sho t days permitted, I co d ery 21 1 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R l much have wished that Mr. Nash shou d have m ade some sketches here also . They ar e rapidl y

ts r e rebuilding such par as were dest oy d . We

s poke with the owner, a plain farmer he appeared Th i to be . ere had not been many men k lled

r ha d here, but a g eat many wounded Prussians

been carried into the stables, which escaped the ” fi re and tho he made repeated applications a t all the neighbouring places both for means of

t o ransp rt and for assistance, they had neither to

of give, and in this state utter abandonment d id Mr . Werth find these poor creatures five d ays after the battle . At some little di stance a fine plain stone

on r p illar is lying the ground, apparently f om

u di the r ins of some considerable e fice . Hougoum ont and Papelote were the extreme

points of the British position . We were three q uarters of an hour in walking from on e to the i o ther at a brisk pace ; the dista nce therefore s

t hree miles . The fighting extended no farther

o n ft of O s the le than to the end the rchard, ome

s The two hundred yard . French had possession

of O f it for some quarter an hour, and then a bandoned it upon the appearance of the 21 2

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

as never charged at the head of the cuir siers, nor

of s s ever, in any part the action , expo ed him elf.

O se The b rvatory, he says, was erected by the

or Belgian Government, and there are three four such along the frontier between this place

n a d Ghent. Five or six parties of English arrived while

s we were here . We afterward learnt that

Dr r D s . I eland, the ean of Westmin ter, was with one a s hi of them . Among the pertin ciou c ldren

s s was who infe t this place, the most pertinaciou

a girl, drest in a good and apparently new

i l e u upper dress, wh ch was carefu ly pinn d p to display a ragged under petticoat and present l a ppea rance of poverty. It wi l be well if the

of habits greedy mendicity, in which all these children have been encouraged by their parents

of o and by the shoals visit rs , do not render

is a noble dog at Hougoumont who remained

r there with the Gardener, his maste , during the

of s greater part the action, barking at time

as ul a bravely, if he wo d willingly have t ken

ot ss ssi part in it. But when the French g po e on

f s r the O the wood, General Maitland de i ed man 214 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

off l s to get while he cou d, le t the enemy, if he

s fell into their hands, hould put him to death as one who had given information to the

English . It was dar k before we returned to Brus sels some apprehension was expressed as if there might be robbers in the forest (for whom it cer fa ff s inly a ord fine cover) , and at the gate we

e n our s were question d concer ing passport . The women in thi s country take a much greater part in busines s than they do in Eng ” u s land. Very commonly they keep their h sband ts they are quite as active in the shops ; and I am told that it is not uncommon for

of them to have the management the concern .

d as There must be a vantages in this, as well objections to it ; and I am inclined to thi nk the advanta ges predominate . The houses very much resemble those in

to s Spain and Portugal as the entrance, door ,

t f s i etc . ; in fac , the Spanish a hion in build ng

e them still prevails . They are often colour d

l s of a light green . Throughout F ander the favourite colour for doors and window shutters

ards s- e (which all Open outw ) is gras gre n, and 215 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R nothing can give a more chearful appear ance . The doors of good hous es have generall y a brazen kn ob or handle (which is a Bristol

The fas hion) fixed in a brazen star. stables are

a s all without st lls, which make them cooler and

a of cle ner. Hooks are fixed on the roofs the hous es to secure ladders when laid there for the purpose of repairs . The form of the common

saw saw here is like that of a turning .

see Wishing to Antwerp , which the Vardons

s had seen , we left them at Brussel , where they were to remain this day and meet us to - morrow

us evening at Ghent. Mr . Nash accompanied .

On the way we crost the Allée Verte, and had a good view of the gardens at Laeken and the

c a e ba k of the palace, which is cert inly most fin ly situated. A little beyond is a fine villa, with

e long cover d walks and jetting fountains. The covered walk is better in a warmer climate , — and there it is perfectly delightful a natural cloister, perfumed by orange, lemon , or jessamine 21 6 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R and the Clergy of that University deliveredhim — over to the secular arm to be strangled and

. i of burnt The town is still Cathol c, and those its a s n ot inh bitant who are unbelievers would, I

e s hav no doubt, at this day ju tify his execution , such is the unmitigated and immitigable spirit of this abominable superstition . More allow a to nce, however, is be made for its intolerance in the Netherlands than in any other part of

Europe .

The acacia is a very common tree here .

s c or Four league from Brussels to Me hlin,

s a . Maline , as it is here c lled The public room at the Cour Imperial was hun g with embossed

Of leather, of which the greater part the ground was covered with gilding. I never saw so mag

ific al n ent a remnant of old times . The Cathedr

Tower is remarkable (that is, it appeared so to me) for the depth of its projecting parts . They have the fashion of placing only the skeleton of a dial upon their church clocks . In par ticular lights the figures are sufficiently di stinct ; and I suppose the reason for the fashion is the

the same as for our invisible fences, that clock

n o s as may t be seen, or rather een as little 21 8 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

as possible, unless you have occ ion to look at it, ” being, tho a necessary appendage to a church w to er, no ornament to it in the opinion of these

s . ff architect Be this as it may, the e ect of these

skeleton dials is by no means good . Give me an honest clock that shows its face and a quarter

bo a i y st nd ng at each side .

one The Cathedral is a very fine . Within

s al l n the there is, according to the u u custom

L ow u e Co ntries , a whole length statue upon ev ry pillar ; and there is also a second regiment above

i Termes them ; but th s upper range consists of , if that word be fitly applied to half- length

r u figu es, ending in a pedestal which makes p the

” l o f e ful length life . There is much fine marbl

r al of in the Chu ch , and, with , some imitations marble, always provoking for their paltriness ; for example , there is some carving in the choir painted to look like bas relief in white marble,

s ou fine and some monument , which y think very

s at first sight, betray the same meanne s upon nearer inspection . Mechl in is at present the great seminary for

of the Clergy . Many the students were walking about the streets at liberty, which we were told 21 9 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R was only allowed there on Sundays . Some of the houses are ornamented with gilding on the

has ul outside . The great Place a sing ar build

- ing, which I suppose to be the Town house , with two pointed Flemish towers on each side

The i a of the gate . Begu n ge here is some extent, and resembles that at Ghent, except that there are neither courts nor gardens before

s . c the hou es Mechlin is an interesting pla e ,

to which well deserves be seen at leisure . The country from Brussels to this city is

s saw - chiefly pa ture . I a pye bald sheep on the seen so few sports among the boys that the sight of a party at ninepins was noticed by us as some thing extraordinary. There are so many public gardens in the vicinity of every large town that it is evidently very much the custom to frequent them .

From Mechl in to Antwerp four leagues . We ” past thro a large village half way, with a large church where service was going on at three in the afternoon, and the church was w cro ded . The congregation consisted wholly,

re to us of as it appea d , the lower ranks, and 220 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R ‘

The first place to which the Commissionaire

was e Its led us the Cath dral . celebrated tower

o is like the Town house at L uvain , a piece of

to architectural trinketry ; but here, my feelings

out . at least, the trinketry is of place It excited

r surprize, wonder, and pe haps admiration ; but I felt that grandeur and effect had been sacri

You see ficed . must be near enough to the

di w s lace work stinctly, other i e the form only

has is perceived, which neither the solemn mas siveness and majesty of a tower nor the light

- Sur rizin l sky pointing beauty of a spire . p g y

l its . 5 beautifu , however, in kind it is Charles

a s id of it, when he saw it first, that it ought to be shut up in a case and shewn only once a year. We saw it under the most favourable

— ai circumstances in an evening light, ag nst a clear sky, which made all the open parts distinct. Perhaps the interior has lost nothi ng in effect from having been mercilessly stript by

has the Revolutionists and the French . It now

one All the Images have been destroyed except , which a mechanic of the town purchased in the 222 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

s has time of havoc , pre erved, and since replaced .

Of six and thirty chapels which it contained ,

t on e the French only lef . They sold the

ss s e bra e , broke the marbl s, and melted down

l s f of n the p ate . A a er method i laying monu

mental stones is practised here . The stone

the e al is a blueish marble, and lett rs, armori

s or bearings , and ornament emblems are let in

in white . The Pulpit is poor in comparison with those

r s re re which we have lately seen . Four figu e , p

e the s nting four parts of the world, support it, and emblematic birds and other animals are

R s grouped about it. The great picture of uben is expected to-morrow ; others have already

arrived from Paris - (for which honour and praise

to the name of old Blucher) , and when they are replaced there is to be an illumination an d a

da y of public rejoicing, in which, if it were my

lot to be present, I should partake as heartily as if I were a Roman Catholic and a native of

Antwerp . The Commissionaire was now leading us

D had towards the ocks, but we so little day light remaining that none could be afforded for 223 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

“ an object of no great interest to any on e of the

party ; so he turned back to the Museum , in all the avenues to which there was an abomin able and sickening stench of un cleanness from

. i R so the cloacas Here is the Cha r of ubens,

s in cribed , and decorated with a laurel wreath

c e round that inscription, which is always repla d

e befor it grows sere . Mr. Nash, as in duty

bound, kissed the chair. A Church which under the French has been appropriated for the use

of Of D the Academy esign, has lately been emptied of its pictures that it may be fitted up

of as a place worship for the English . The Commissionaire now said he woul d take us to a Church which had not its equal in the world ;

of us and as far as any had seen the World,

w For he as right in his boast. in a Court

belonging to the Church, and adjoining to it, half the scripture history is represented by

a s figures large life, and coloured to life ; and at the end is a huge Calvary built up against the wal l of the Church and made to the model f o the Holy Sepulchre, the two inventors, we

ourn ies eru were told, having made three j to J salem in order that the plan might be perfectly 224 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

f r o . a ues We went also to the Chu ch St J q ,

our which is exceedingly rich in marble, but reas on for gomg there was to see the grave of

R . ubens There was a large Beguinage, which

e the French destroy d , because the site was

of ui wanted for some their works . The Beg nes ,

of or to the number some six seven hundred, are now lodged in a convent, a change made for

the s . wor e There, as throughout these countries,

” not they are much respected, and they are said to be poor . The great street is certainly a very

fine one , and may fairly be ranked with those at

Madrid and Oxford wherewith it is compared .

That at Naples, which is named with them , I

Aleala have not seen . Yet the Calle de is much longer, and terminates more finely in a gateway, and the High Street at Oxford contains much

s un finer building . Water is flowing der the street.

ar As we had asked for a private ap tment, I was displeased upon our retur n at findi ng a great, fleshy, florid fellow, who looked like an

Englishman , seated at dinner in the room which

o we had engaged . However, he soon t ok his

e departure, without having open d his mouth 226 1 I N TH E N E T H E R L A N D S for any other purpose than that of putting i someth ng into it, and when the book was brought for us to enter our names and desig d D nation, I perceived that he style himself octor, and was Irish . The door of the stove when

so as it was opened displayed a grating within,

al of h to low the sight a fire , w ich makes no

a of inconsiderable p rt its comforts . After

r K r n out some trouble in the sea ch , oste fou d our trekschuit acquaintance, Mr. Sergeant, and brought him to pass the remainder of the

us evening with . From him we heard all that

He he had heard or knew respecting Antwerp .

e told us, what may well be believed, that ther

Buon a artists for is a large party of p here, Antwerp is one of the few places which derived

the great advantage from his policy, and that late Mayor, for belonging to this faction, had been compelled to resign his ofli ce a few days

had ago . The English, he said, been very popular as long as there were other troops in the town ; but now, when they were quartered on the inhabitants , they were no longer liked,

‘ con and the people were n ot civil to them . In

ffi s sequence of this marked incivility , many o cer 227 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

ff d s who could a ord it had taken lo ging , to the

s s great alarm of the former host , who are thu put in fear of having their quarters occupied

o by less scrupul ous guests . The firing f the

1 th not of 1 8 th 6 was heard here , that the , w hich, the wind being in an opposite direction,

A Hanoverian Officer assured Sergean t tha t the German Officers in general made it a rule if o n e of them spoke to another in French to

n ot knock him down , and that such a blow was

o t be resented . They had determined also that their children shoul d not learn to speak the language of their mortal enemies . Sergeant told us a truly characteristic story o f his own coun trymen . A fellow was brought before his father for having been one of the most active persons in a desperate riot—to which indeed his appearance bore full proof. He however protested that he was as innocent

: to as a babe unborn All I had do with it ,

was l your honour, was this . As I walking a ong t hinking of nothing at all, I saw a parcel of

so l men fighting, I only took my shi lelah to help one of the parties, and cried out as I ran 228 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R in the market place . The market is held at

of the top the great street.

Charges at the Bear were high . They have indeed everywhere been higher than they ought to be in a land which is overflowing with plenty.

But this is because we are English . The Coachman had crossed the Scheldt at ” e s seven o clock, high wat r being neces ary either for embarking or landing the carriage . We

on vi were the other side before nine, lea ng ” Antwerp thro a gate which has a large

of or God statue Neptune , some river over the e u ntrance . The Scheldt we tho ght to be about as wide as the Thames at Greenwich, and the water was just savoured with sal t . The city a nd its towers were seen to great advantage from the river and the opposite shore . The

a ferry was che p , the weather fine, and the pas sage to Tete de Flandre pleasant ; but if the traveller goes from Ghent to Antwerp it is des irable that he should reach Tete de Flandre e r s s a ly enough to cro s , otherwi e he must put up

aub r a t an uncomfortable e g e. The first thr ee m iles Of our journey lay over o s r pen and mar hy pastu e lands, which of all 230 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S kinds of country is the dreariest . We then entered upon inclosures where the cul tivation

ul was in the highest degree caref , the Pays de

u Waas indeed, being the most highly c ltivated

of part Flanders , and consequently of Christen dom . What there may be in Asia I know not, but in any other part of the world I believe there is nothing can be compared with this . And it is not a little gratifying to perceive how much beauty has been produced by this wise a nd had careful industry, which utility alone in

s of view. The richest part England present ” nothing more woody, tho the wood here

s of of one consist only double rows trees , on

i s each side the di tches which d vide the field . The fields are for the most part very small gardens perhaps they ought rather to be called,

r one both f om their size and produce . Every

l s dl is s ightly rai ed in the mid e, with an inclina tion which is just sufficient to be perceptible toward the sides . This is evidently that the

off s of in water may run , not for the purpo e

s l e crea ing the surface, as has foolish y be n stated by writers who either had not seen the ground or did not reflect upon what they were sayi ng. 231 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

on The first place the way is Beveren , the chief place of the Pays de Beveren (a Barony in old l times) , which is a most surrounded by the

aa one of s Pays de W s . It is tho e places called

a vill ge and less than a town , and may perhaps be rendered a privileged village . In size how

a ever, be uty and apparent opulence and com

l o n fort, it is superior to ha f the t w s we have

. a seen The next place to which we c me,

St. Nicholas , is of the same description ; but it i s a finer place, and has indeed the name of being the wealthiest and finest village in the

world. Nothing can exceed the neatness and hi visible welfare of t s place, and be it observed that this is not a prosperity arising from manu

f r s— if ul actu e it were, there wo d be none of this — nea tness and quiet comfort but wholly from agriculture and the trades which every com

munity requires .

In the Great Place at St . Nicholas, or what

a in England might be c lled the Green , is a pole

with a bird on the top , which the men practise

in shooting at . ” As we drove by I perceived a bookseller s 232 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

In some places where the soil is poorest they

l s un - cu tivate broom , to be u ed for an der layer

in thatching. No corn of any kind is grown along the whole way from the Scheldt ; at least we we had left the pasture land the inclosures were

ul i all filled with c inary herbs, w th here and

there a few fields of flax and woad . In the sandi er and worse soil there is sometimes a slip of woodl and by the wayside ; an d as we advanced

old farther we came again to pasturage . An man was making twine in a manner sufli cien tly

: of r rude the string, which was very g eat

s length, was past over nails driven into ome

of s s bo the road ide tree , and a y (probably his

of son ) turned a wheel at the end the walk . di We ned at Lokeren , which is about eight

miles from St. Nicholas and twelve from Ghent .

Here we had pewter plates and sour red wine,

but the other fare was good . There is an odd ” sign here of a stag s head , in which real horns

are fixed upon a painted head . Some few miles farther a party of men and women were playing

bowls, all in great glee , and some of them

slapping their thighs as an expression of delight. 234 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S We saw many women making lace in their h i to ouses , an employment wh ch seems be t wholly domestic in these countries . Pas ure

s w and bleaching ground near Ghent, here we

’ d ul arrive at five o clock, and were joyf ly recog n ised by the good people of the Hotel de

s Flandres , from the Ma ter and Mistress down to the little boy who ascended the Belfrey with us . Having in consequence of the advanced season G s the O dismis ed pen carriage, we had taken a

one ff close , and a di erent coachman from

s had Brussel . This man been employed in conveying the wounded from Waterloo to the

a hospital in that city, and wh t he had seen while upon that service, he said, had made him

of ill . He enquired Koster what was the meaning of O Lord ! which he said the men

' of repeatedly cried out along the road . Some our Off icers , whom he had seen lying on the feild, were pierced with more than twenty

’ s bayonet wound . The Vardons arrived at Ghent half an hour

’ abl d Hot us T e e. after , and we supt at the Here Koster had a long conversation with a 235 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

i e h gh spirited young Frenchman, who hat d

Buonaparte , despised the Bourbons, and groaned

the a l s over st te of his country . The Marsha ,

one he said, were all brigands, except or two ;

al instancing Clarke and Macdon d as exceptions .

An d Pudin ot e when we mentioned , he exclaim d

Pudin ot with great delight, is my countryman L ouis, he said, ought to have hanged some i th rty of the chief brigands, and broken all the officers of the rabel army and in this I heartily D agreed with him . The uke de Berry seems to be detested by everybody ; he must have a rare union of demerits to be regarded at once e with so much contempt and abhorrenc . In one point this young Frenchman, however, was

mistaken . He insisted that the old Guard cared nothing for Buonaparte ; that it was for

their country they felt and fought, and that they woul d have fought with the same good will

our a for the King. Now co chman had seen

on e of this guard who had lost both thighs, and in that condition lain four and twenty

hours upon the field . He had seen that man

rt wave his hat over his head for Buonapa e, and

Vi ve PEm ereur au sacr heard him exclaim p , é 236 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R over which a curtain literally seemed to be let down when the rain began to fall there in heavy streaks . The effect of the light fal ling upon the red sails of a windmill in motion was equally s ul ing ar and striking. In some places there

of was a most abominable stench manure . Ves pasion might well lay a tax upon such a com m odit h y if it were used in t is way.

u e We put p at the Gold n Lion , which is an excellent hotel, but the charges higher than

t o be of they ought . We had the comfort a grate and a good fire in the sitting room . The

of hearth was composed bricks set within a.

of hi ss brazen plate t s shape , V , the bra where it was straight being more than a foot wide . There were some prints in the room engraved at Augsburg from English originals th e s subject were from Werter, and I think

’ Bun bar s a they were y designs . Here I find th t

- the oiled paper table tops fit like a cover, over

u - s a deal frame . They make p thirty three bed in this house, and one woman , who is the only

al s fem e servant, does the whole work , and clean

s the house also . We had English knive here, 238 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S and the desert was served upon fine old China. This is the only place where we were asked if we had brought our own sheets or woul d use those of the house . Every thing was very good hi here , but the charges gher than we had found them anywhere else , except at Aix la Chapelle .

Place Courtra one The at y has fine object , a

a tower, which appe rs to rise very incongruously from some modern houses . The town has little

a of appe rance of life, and yet little decay. There were some pitiful cari catures of the Eng lish in a shop window : on e of them represented

M lord l n uddi n a vec M lad Corrh y p g y y ée .

ul Nothing co d be worse . Here I bought the Histoire M on mnentaire

Par . L a mbioz . J B . , T printed at Mons ,

1 8 00 As without a date, but about I suppose .

r s who the work of a curious and c edulou man , i has brought together the antiquities, trad tions,

l of s e and fabu ous history the e parts , with som learning and little discrimination , I am glad to have met with it, and wish it had been I 239 l J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

” r continued th o three volumes more, as the

s author propo ed .

Wednesda Oct. 25 . y ,

The Landl ord enquired which of our party had 2 slept in No . 9 , and having learnt that D Koster was the person , told him the uke of York had slept in that same bed and chamber

a o five and twenty years g . Court ray appeared to most advanta ge as we

N o left it. short leagues to Menin , over a

i u of . d smal co ntry, but good pasture Menin ,

which once exported much cloth, especially to

Spain, and whose breweries were famous far and

wide, is now a decayed and dolorous place ,

stri kingly so to those who remember how fre quently it was mentioned in the Gazettes during i the first years of the war. The build ngs are in ruins ; grass is growing in the streets ; the works are neglected ; they are cultivated in

some places , and one part is converted into a

Three longer leagues over a pleasanter country

” The to Ypres . scenery becomes more English, 240 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

r than either, f om its extent and grandeur and position . I know of no building wherewith it may be compared . It has a character of its own a h a , and might be t ken eit er for a pal ce or for the most magnificent of colleges .

a In the Cathedral , which st nds behind this noble edifice, there are some respectable pictures .

us One, which the Sacristan pointed out to , represented an attac k upon the city by the

on e English in former times . Over of the doors within there are some life - large figures of

s on Saint and Bishops painted wood, and cut out to resemble life . In a land which has been

of one above all others prolific great painters , wonders to find such things as these . It is

of an sen ius remarkable that the very name J , ” al l wherewith Europe rung from side to side , is now utterly unknown to the very people who shew this church wherein he is buried . I wished to have seen his grave . The Sacristan knew of no such person ; perhaps, he said, it might be

had the Bishop Henry , whose surname not been

ed added upon his tombstone, and who di in 1 67 the tombstone having apparently either

or s been prepared in his lifetime , by ome strange I 242 l I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

re re neglect, left in this unfinished state by his p

’ sentati ves . an sen i us But J name was Cornelius ,

of Halmale and this was the grave Henrik van , the 1 677 fourth Bishop after him , who died in Perhaps the monumen t of Jan sen ius may have ” been removed thro the influence of the m Jesuits. Perhaps the aterials were worth

something , and it may have been demolished

i n a the days of revolutionary plunder . It was ” disappointment to me not to find it, tho I have no respect for his person and a thorough

e detestation for his doctrine , which is mer

Calvinism .

old d Seeing that an plan of Ypres , ma e in 1 5 th the century , had been newly engraved , and was announced for publication by bills

was upon the walls, I went to the shop where it

. e sold I did not, however, purchase it, becaus from its size it could not have been carried without inconvenience and injury ; but there

were some books in the shop, among which ,

few as they were, I found some that I was very

glad to obtain . The one was a D utch Poem

k s upon the Great Earthqua e at Lisbon, by Fran H de als, a quarto, with some large vignettes, 243 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R and an admirable portrait of the author by

Houbreken , the face being most remarkable for length of narrow chin an d prominence Of nose . D isagreeable the countenance is not, for it is mild and intellectual ; but nothing can well be i magined more unhandsome, and yet the Author has printed some verses, written in his fifteenth ff y ear, on the e ects produced upon him by a kiss from a sweet mouth ! Some of his poems — a re upon a less trivial subject the benefit he ” d S e hen s s had derive from Mrs . t p remedy for the Stone . My other purchase was a collection—and I ” one— of Von dal s believe a compleat Works,

e which must have b en made with no little care, the plays having all been printed separately, a n d c none of the other compositions colle tively,

w of . e xcept t o vol . Poems The portrait of him in his eighty-fourth year is the very finest e ngraved portrait I ever saw for effect and

’ breadth , and yet it has no engraver s name ffi a xed to it . The collection is in eleven m volu es foolscap quarto, and I paid forty i — franks for t a great prize . At Brussels I wished to have bought the works of Jacob 244 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

u pasturage, drear and gly . It soon improved , and again became of English character. Hop poles are laid up in the fields in stacks and thatched over. The stench of manure upon

’ this day s j ourney was sometimes almost in

a l tolerable ; some of it was in b rre s . It was plain even to nasal demonstration that nothing is wasted here which can be applied to this

s useful purpose . The distance are irregularly ” estimated by short leagues , strong leagues , and leagues of the post ; the latter are like our

he posting miles in England, measured for t profit of the posting concern . Indeed , we have e verywhere found the distance less than it was

a represented . The barriers are e ch a post league asunder. There are neither mile nor league stones ; and when you come to a direct d ing post, it expresses the istance by the frac

: were Y res were tions of a post, thus p ,

n wo Pop eri g e. It is a stage of t short leagues

n ow from Ypres to Poperinge, and there I am m writing by a co fortable wood fire, in a bed room at the Gra nd Cerf The fireplace of this chamber is as large as the ing le of an old farm house , and when we came in it was closed by a 246 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S chimney board big enough to have served as a scene for a strolling company of players . The

us people are civil and obliging. They sent good coffee in an Old battered ill -shaped coffee t but po which had once been plated , now the copper was everywhere appearing ; the cups O were f beautiful French porcelain , made at

Nantz .

Thursda Oct. 26. y ,

We breakfasted in the public room , which

was in no better stile than the rest of the poor

house . It was , however, furnished with some ” tho s prints which, poor in themselve , were

interesting to me for their subjects . One which

Li anne r econnaissante bore for its title L a , represented the lying story of the woman at Buenos Ayres which is told by Charlevoix on

the authority of I know not what fellow fabler.

Its companion was upon a truer tale, a mother falling on her knees before a Lion who had got

of loose in the streets Florence, and entreating -O him to spare her child . ver the chimney was

an engraved portrait , which probably had hung 247 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

m d n ow there from the ti e it was publishe , and

of recalled a long train mournful recollections . It was the portrait of Elizabeth Philipp e

len r a M arie He e de F nce, S ceur de M an sei neur le D au hin a te a Versailles le 3M ai g p , ,

1 764 .

r P The chu ch at operinge is much dilapidated .

n ow They are repairing the inside, and the

on masons, to my surprize, were going with thO’ their work during mass , the church was as full as the population of the place gave any m cause for expecting . A flat to bstone from

of the floor the church was lying in the street. I noticed one at Courtray which had bee n laid

in the pavement . In England we walk over them with indifference in a church or church yard ; it would not be so if we were to see them

s thus irreverently laid in the street . But Forbe tells us that during his detention in France he

t had m saw tombs ones , which been taken fro a

demolished church , set up as tables in some public tea gardens The poorest towns thro” which we have ” past have never been without a silversmith s

or i n shop . There are three four this paltry 248 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

arallello ra m p g frame, within which the others are laid at length , and then thatched over.

These stacks look like so many huts . The French Custom House is at Cost Cap

had pelle . That on the Belgian side we past without trouble or impediment at the cost of

or two three franks , and the Coachmen had assured us that the same facility would be found here ; but we met with a sour and surly Frenchman who insisted upon opening every

civiller m an thing. A younger and , whose

whis hand was itching for a five frank piece ,

us but pered to that he was very sorry for this , that it was owing to the presence of the Super

n nden Port u ueze i te t . In these cases the g remedy is of approved efficacy ; and being

to s patient perforce , we submitted what at fir t was a very rude overhauling . The passports were found good . I had had the precaution at Ghent of having all our Waterloo s words and

u one w sabres sewn p in rapper, that we might not unnecessarily expose them to the eyes of

be the French . The smaller trophies which longed to us were so wrapped up among our things that there was little chance of their 1 250 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

being seen unless every separate article were sus

’ iciousl p y examined. Mr . Nash s trunk , which

i our was beh nd carriage, was produced the first, a n d upon opening it the first thing that a t a ppeared, lying on the very p , was the button

of a French uniform , bearing the Eagle . At sight of this the Old Frenchman muttered s omething in a very growling tone, and asked

’ . C est 3mai how that came there , replied poor

Mr. Nash, and put it in his pocket, turning to me with a look of such dolorous expression

a u h th t it was impossible to help la g ing . After opening and examining three or four trunks t he men began to be tired , and they began to be civil also , seeing the good humour and per fect unconcern with which we submitted to the s r us earch . They assu ed that this proceeding here would save us from a much more rigorous e D xamination at Bergues, or unkirk, for their c ertificate would clear us at both places .

We n ow thought all was done . The trunks were replaced, and I had again taken my seat i n the carriage when I was summoned into the house to show what money I had about me . I t was the poor stock of a single guinea and a 25 1 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R single Napoleon . But upon my treasurer ,

Koster, among eight or ten pieces four false

o L uis were found . We had received this money

D s from anot the Banker at Brussels , some day after the Gazette had officially announced that

un s such co terfeit were in circulation , and pointed out the marks by which they might be

’ ” distinguished . Mr . Nash s and the Vardons

d . had were all goo , Mr Worth, who cashed u their bills , having been scr pulously and pro

he perly exact in examining what gave them .

Here was an inconvenient loss, because we had aimed at taking no more foreign coin with

o us than would clear us out f the country . But the loss was likely to be the least unpleasant part of the business . The Superintendent (a gentlemanly man) showed us the circular letter by which he was enjoined to search all tra

s vellers for this fal e money, and he laid some

s little stress , courteou ly but perceptibly, upon the as sumed (and probable) fact that it was of

English manufactory, which we readily admitted

they were likely to be . He must send the four D f pieces to unkirk, he said, and an o ficer of

the customs must go with us to that city . 252 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R yielded to our professions concerning his honour. I am ashamed of the uncharitable Opinion which

for fl I formed at the time, upon re ection I am satisfied that the gentleman acted toward us — both honourably and kindly honourably in believing that we were n ot concerned in ciren

us lating base coin, and kindly in sparing the exp ence and trouble to which he m ight have

us put , and which might have been greater than he was aware of, for upon examining ” of Koster s remaining stock, three others the

’ same die were discovered . The Banker s con duct was inexcusable ; he was, moreover, the

us er only Banker who made pay 2 p cent . for receiving gold instead of silver. So we left the

Louis and proceeded . This Custom House is about five miles from Poperinge ; from Poperinge to Bergues be ing as many leagues . There is high ground in the

on enunen distance the left, and that ce on which

Cassel stands is conspicuous . The country is well cul tivated ; but along the whole line from

Courtra y there are no marks of prosperity, the l towns are dead and stagnant, the vi lages with out the Flemish an dl rabantine characteristics r 254 t 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S of chearful n ess and comfort . The approach to Bergues presents a not unpleasing scene—the church tower ; within the works and on the summit of them a sort of pyramid or obelisk of open wood work (I know n ot of what use nor why erected) , the fortifications, a few poplars, and an Open green country . We past moat ] after moat, and gate after gate, til , at the inner

our an d gate, passports were required, examined, returned to us with much civility by a man with a wooden leg. In another minute, just d as we had turne the corner close at hand, a blackguard-looking fellow stopt the Coach

and again demanded them . Mr . Vardon said they had already been inspected . The fellow

out instantly cried , send two armed men immediately ! and two soldiers stept forward ” from the gate house to the horses heads . We who saw this and had only heard the call were

compleatly ignorant of what might be the cause .

Edith was alarmed, and Koster, thinking at once that the Buonapartists were making a n e w

struggle in France , said, things are evidently ” On in a very disturbed state . here . we moved

at a funeral pace, the two soldiers, like mutes, 255 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

an d of leading the way, the whole population this melancholy town crowding to the doors

a n d to windows, and into the street , see a party of English travellers who had been put under arrest . At length we reached the middle of

Plac e the Great , where the Commandant, coming

out of saw us an Hotel, , and came to enquire

s into the matter. Is it, Sire , aid he, that

ou y have no passpor ts ! Mr . Vardon pre

had sented them, and told him what past.

He looked at the papers, and saying that all

was perfectly correct , begged us to proceed , and reprimanded the fellow for his officious

interference . The soldiers were dismissed and we drove into the hotel from which the Com

out mandant had come , Here were the best beds which we had seen

since we landed on the continent . While the horses rested we had some bread and cheese i ff and ind erent wine, for which we were charged

a very dearly . The Flemish langu ge seems as

common here as the French , the shopkeepers

using it. The helfrey is a fine tower ; the town

s it elf, like all upon this line, mournful and in

256 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

O s wide pen hearth, and its brass ornament have a sort of tin extinguisher to cover them; There

s of is one pair of tong enormous weight, shaped

i an d of l ke pincers, another pair very light

s ones, made in the form of sugar tong . When we went into the streets the first

s beggar who accosted us was an Engli hwoman .

- The tower, which serves as a sea mark , has no church belonging to it ; there is a church oppo

site, to which a new and fine facade has been

e add d . We went in and heard good music

u there, a man walking p and down during the

a for service with a whip in his h nd, the benefit

of the dogs . There are many large open spaces

of in the town , which show that ground is little

value . A tight rope dancer was exhibiting in

a Place c the gre t , and had ollected a large

crowd.

a , u h un com We had esc ped from the h ge, igh, fortabl e Flemish pillows and slept last night

own t , af er the manner of our country, and in a

r e . The s good bed oom , which was carp ted charge

I n at this excellent n were reasonable enough, except that of four franks for candl es (the im 258 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

position of supplying you with wax lights having

a reached this place) . Five franks were ch rged

our for evening fire, one for that by which we

e breakfasted . Fuel is nec ssarily dear where

wood is burnt and brought from a distance. Wine has been everywhere charged at a most

of a imposing rate, but least any pl ce at Liege. It has seldom or never been below four fran ks

more freq uently five, six, and even

P s higher. Here in their list we found ort and Oporto marked as two distinct wines at six

a franks e ch . What was here done with Port has been everywhere done with Claret and ff i ff Burgundy, under di erent names and d erent

— ou of prices all comes t the same binn .

We left Dunkirk after breakfast . The road

s avée row of is a straight and rai ed p , with a

on t pollard willows the lef , and on the right a

a canal, half choked . Along this c nal there are

s for . very many stand fishing An apparatus , O such as we first observed at stend, is fixed to a

of stake in the middle the canal, which is in some places so filled up tha t there are paths

The l or made to these sta kes . sand hi ls downs

(wade Dun kir k) were in sight, and we saw a 259 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R

was d of ds a dry he g e constructed ree . The

of us country is the most doloro and dreary kind. l Ha f way (a nominal five leagues) is Gravelines . Before we entered that place we past a bur ial

ground, in which all the ornaments are black , with inscriptions in white , the shape either a

simple cross, or a cross with a triangle at the

n crossing part for the inscription . We fou d

e c civil p ople at the Inn , and harges so moderate to be strictly honest—8 1 franks for a bottle

of wine, with bread and cheese . We had been 1 8 charged at Bergues for the same fare, with

only an additional bottle . The fortifications of Gravelines have been

m a very strong, and probably y still be so, ” of tho they exhibit marks decay. Indeed, the whole town bea rs di smal symptoms of deca

dence , and the church tower in the great Place is cracked from top to bottom in so many

places that I wonder howitcan resist a high wind . The road to Calais is as dismal as that whi ch

we had already past . Only in one place there — was a scene which the contrast made pleasing a few houses embowered among high trees at 260 1

J O U R N A L O F A T O U R undertook to have that business managed , and

“ r him acco dingly we resolved to go with , because

u t this packet was s re to be well manned, and a this season a fair wind was not to be lost. The

ur an d luggage without any trouble on o part,

ex en ce at a very trifling p . We hurried down an excellent dinner, with wine from which we were loth to part, and proceeded at half past

to The e five the pier. pack t was lying along side, and the descent to it, inconvenient and

ri l f ghtfu enough for women , by a ladder much less upright than we are used to . We made

’ our way thro a great crowd and much dirt .

e Mr. Nash , who parted from us here to proce d

our P us in smaller coach to aris, accompanied to the water side . We parted with mutual regret , but with a promise that he woul d visit us next

us summer at Keswick . We saw him watching from the pier as long as we coul d distinguish

us any thing. A fair and gentle wind carried out of , and as soon as we were out the French

on harbour we saw the light the North Foreland, like a Sta r .

s s The Captain promi ed us a four hours pas age, 262 1 I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S provided the wind shoul d continue as it then D was . He could not enter over, he said, till the morning tide, but a boat would come out

as and land the p sengers . The wind, however,

d - increased, and we were oblige to lie to under bare poles all night, the men declaring that they never saw the wea ther look dirtier. In the evening as it darkened I had a good opp or t unity of Observing the phosphorescent appear

o T ance f the sea . here was no moon and the night was cloudy ; but on looking over the side of the vessel, the water appeared as if it were reflecting the brightest moonlight. The less brilliant parts of the water had exactly the appearance of light clouds in moonlight floating

s fast along a dark blue sky. Brighter spot , like splendid stars , or, more accurately, like glow worms , shot by. About an hour after midnight

I went on deck again . It was then blowing

of hard , and the tops the waves all around

flas hed as they rose and fell .

The morning dawned most inauspiciously .

Nothing coul d look worse than the sky, and the Captain expressed his doubts whether he shoul d

a T s s be able to enter the p rt . his u pense did 263 1 J O U R N A L O F A T O U R not continue long. As soon as he could dis t ingui sh the flag on the pier to denote that t here was water enough for entering, the vessel was steered for the harbour. The coolness of

a i the young Capt in , the activ ty and steadiness o f the men, and the precision with which they

e turn d the corner, approaching so closely to the P ier that it was necessary to throw out a fender, were equally striking, and formed altogether a s cene which repaid me for the anxiety of the night . Immediately we were in smooth water, a nd we landed safely on English ground by seven

’ o of 28 clock on the morning Saturday, Oct. .

- Pri n b Ba s . ted y rma n n ut , HAN SON a CO

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