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The Spell of Belgium
The Spell of Belgium
BY Isabel Anderson Author of “The Spell of Japan,” etc. ILLUSTRATED BOSTON THE PAGE COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1915, by The Page Company All rights reserved Made in U.S.A. First Impression, October, 1915 Second Impression, January, 1916 Third Impression, June, 1917 Fourth Impression, March, 1919 Fifth Impression, January, 1922 PRINTED BY C. H. SIMONDS COMPANY BOSTON, MASS., U.S.A. DEDICATED WITH AFFECTION TO MY GODCHILD CHARLES PELHAM GREENOUGH MAY HE BE AS BRAVE AS THE BELGIANS...
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FOREWORD
FOREWORD
Belgium has contributed generously to the world in the past. Much has been destroyed in this ruthless war, but much remains, for Belgium had much to give. How splendid are her unique guild-halls with their fretted towers, her massive mediæval gates and quaint old houses bordering the winding canals! Through centuries, in one way or another, she has continued to hold the world’s admiration. In olden times, when the clever weavers wrought historic scenes in their Flemish tapestries, they surely wo
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CHAPTER I THE NEW POST
CHAPTER I THE NEW POST
T HE winter which I spent in Belgium proved a unique niche in my experience, for it showed me the daily life and characteristics of a people of an old civilization as I could never have known them from casual meetings in the course of ordinary travel. My husband first heard of his nomination as Minister to Belgium over the telephone. We were at Beverly, which was the summer capital that year, when he was told that his name was on the list sent from Washington. Although he had been talked of for
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CHAPTER II DIPLOMATIC LIFE
CHAPTER II DIPLOMATIC LIFE
T HE American Legation in Brussels was in the Quartier Leopold, on one of the many hills on which the city was built. It was owned by the Comte d’Assche, not by our Government, but it had been used as the American Legation when Mr. Bellamy Storer was Minister, and after we left it was also the Legation under Mr. Marburg. Mr. Brand Whitlock, the present Minister, however, took another house near by, I understand. The Palais d’Assche was one of the handsomest legations in Brussels, having a park i
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CHAPTER III BRUSSELS BEFORE THE WAR
CHAPTER III BRUSSELS BEFORE THE WAR
T HE social life of Brussels we found very interesting. That of the Court was simple but elegant, while that of the aristocracy was old-world and conservative to a degree. Indeed, it was much like that of the Faubourg in Paris. Outside of royalty and serene highnesses, every one “in society” was either a count or a baron. It certainly seemed strange to an American that not one was without a title. Another custom which struck one as odd was that of using titles in letters—they would often sign th
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CHAPTER IV IN DAYS OF KNIGHT AND VILLAIN
CHAPTER IV IN DAYS OF KNIGHT AND VILLAIN
M ANY centuries ago, there was fierce fighting in the glorious Meuse valley, where history seems to have a fancy for repeating itself. Then, as today, Dinant was a center of events, and it is good to know that the Belgians are strong and full of courage, as in the days when Cæsar called them “the bravest of all the Gauls.” When the victorious Roman legions reached this outpost of Gaul, they found themselves opposed by men of two different races—the fishermen of the coast and the hunters of the h
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CHAPTER V BATTLING FOR A KINGDOM
CHAPTER V BATTLING FOR A KINGDOM
O F more interest than Philip the Bold or John the Fearless is the beautiful Jacqueline of Bavaria, who was married to John’s nephew, John of Brabant. According to tradition, Jacqueline, heiress to the counties of Holland and Hainault, was the most charming and gifted woman of her day. John, Duke of Brabant, was in no respect her equal. He subjected her to endless indignities and persecutions, and she at last fled from Brussels to the court of Henry V of England, where she found protection. The
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CHAPTER VI BELGIAN KINGS
CHAPTER VI BELGIAN KINGS
A TRYING period of fifteen years followed the battle of Waterloo. The Congress of Vienna made Holland and Belgium one kingdom under the name of the United Netherlands. But this ill-advised union failed. The Dutch King, William I, was tyrannical and tactless, and ruled entirely in the interests of Holland. Although the population of Belgium was 1,500,000 more than that of the northern states of the Netherlands, four-fifths of the army officers and by far the larger part of the government official
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CHAPTER VII POLITICS AND PLURAL VOTING
CHAPTER VII POLITICS AND PLURAL VOTING
B ELGIAN politics had a peculiar fascination for me from the first. It began perhaps with my amazement at their system of plural voting, which was different from anything of which I had ever heard. But the more I learned of the various issues and parties, the stronger the spell became. The little country was working very hard trying to solve its many problems, and was so fearless and original in some of the methods it used that you could not help but admire its pluck and spirit. To any casual tr
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CHAPTER VIII BELGIUM’S WORKSHOPS
CHAPTER VIII BELGIUM’S WORKSHOPS
B ELGIUM was slightly larger than the State of Massachusetts, yet she ranked eighth among the nations in wealth, and sixth in commerce. Antwerp was one of the five great ports of the world, with more dock-room than New York. Several favouring conditions enabled her to compete so successfully with her big neighbours. Rivers and canals gave her inland cities easy access to the sea. Much of the raw material for her foundries and factories was to be found within her own boundaries, while fuel for he
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CHAPTER IX TAPESTRIES
CHAPTER IX TAPESTRIES
A S we were intensely interested in tapestries we often went to the Museum to study and admire the most famous set in Brussels, an early Renaissance series of four pieces, called Notre Dame du Sablon. These hangings illustrate an old fourteenth-century story, which I condense from Hunter’s delightful work on “Tapestries.” Beatrix Stoelkens, a poor woman of Antwerp, was told by the Virgin in a dream to get from the church of Notre Dame a little image of the Madonna. In obedience to the vision she
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CHAPTER X PRIMITIVES AND LATER PAINTERS
CHAPTER X PRIMITIVES AND LATER PAINTERS
I N the Low Countries, perhaps more than in any other part of Europe, has the many-sided life of the people revealed itself through the various forms of artistic expression. Religion, industry, struggles for independence, the power of the guilds, the splendour of the dukes of Burgundy, the landscape, the homes, the people themselves, all are found in Belgian art. They were pictured in the delicate tracery of cloistered illuminators, carved in wood or stone in the old churches, enshrined within t
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CHAPTER XI LA JEUNE BELGIQUE IN LETTERS
CHAPTER XI LA JEUNE BELGIQUE IN LETTERS
A LTHOUGH for many, perhaps most, of my readers, Belgian literature is summed up in the one word, Maeterlinck, it is nevertheless true that the writers of this little country have been no unworthy spokesmen for so sturdy and independent a race. Even when the nation lay stupefied in the relentless grasp of Spain, among the exiles who sought refuge in Holland was at least one poet, Vondel, who is remembered with pride today. From the earliest days of Belgian fable the name of the chronicler, Luciu
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CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
B RUSSELS is ideally located for the motorist. From it both the Flemish and the Walloon districts could easily be reached. To be sure, the towns were paved with the famous Belgian blocks, but the roads outside the towns were in excellent condition. One of our favourite trips was to Antwerp, where we went often, either to meet people landing from steamers from America or to look up boxes shipped us from home. A bit aside from the direct route between the two cities, but well worth going out of on
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I Antigon; or, The Giant of Antwerp
I Antigon; or, The Giant of Antwerp
I T was a fine night in the year 54 B.C. , the sky clear, the air calm, when a boat—a sort of raft of basket work covered with ox hides—was slowly following the ebb of the Scheldt. A voice was heard from the boat, a woman’s voice, soft and gentle. “Yes, Atuix, for thee have I passed the threshold of my father’s dwelling. I have quitted the deep forests of Gaul, my native country; for thee have I left all, because of my love for thee, Atuix, and thy beautiful harp which sleeps silently by thy sid
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II Yvon Bruggermans: A Legend of the Antwerp Cathedral
II Yvon Bruggermans: A Legend of the Antwerp Cathedral
When you approach the old Flemish city, built upon the banks of the Scheldt, in one of the finest situations of Europe, the first object which attracts the attention of the traveler is the great spire of the Cathedral. This “Heaven-directed” spire is one of the loftiest and finest in the world. It is a masterpiece of pyramidal construction, delighting the vision not more by its vast height than by its exquisite proportions. It is surmounted by a cross of a size corresponding with the edifice its
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III Frügger the Miser
III Frügger the Miser
One evening in the year 1552, the bells of the numerous hurches and chapels of the pious city of Antwerp were heard calling the faithful to divine service, to pray for the repose of the souls of their deceased relatives and friends. The heavens were obscured by black and angry clouds; the wind blew in strong gusts, accompanied by a drizzling rain. A profound silence reigned in the obscure streets. As the greater part of the population were in the churches, one could easily have traversed half th
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IV The Blacksmith of Antwerp
IV The Blacksmith of Antwerp
They were seated in a rich and shady arbour, over which creeping vines wandered in every variety of curve, suspending large clusters of precious fruits, while the atmosphere was laden with the mellow fragrance of the gorgeous plants which grew in wild, untutored luxuriance about the shady retreat. The fading light of day yet lingered, and gave a rosy hue to the face of the maid who sat therein, as she regarded with mournful tenderness the youth seated at her side. “Nay, Quentin,” said she, “say
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V THE MILK GIRL
V THE MILK GIRL
Long, very long before the city of Antwerp had attained the extent which it now has, the milk-women, who supplied the city with this indispensable liquid, met every morning in a public square, which was soon designated by the name of “Marché-au-Lait” (Milk Market). These women, like all business people at that time, belonged to a corporation which had its rules, rights and privileges. They were too proud to serve the “bourgeois” upon the steps of his door, so each servant was obliged to go to th
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CHAPTER XIV IN THE WALLOON COUNTRY
CHAPTER XIV IN THE WALLOON COUNTRY
T HE line of the old Flemish principality ran from Antwerp southwest to Courtrai, but today the line that divides the French and the Flemish speaking Belgians runs due east and west, from Visé to Courtrai, with Brussels midway in its course. North of the line are the fertile plains and gardens, the busy cities and the factories, of Flanders. Through them flows the Scheldt, the river of commerce. South of the line are the mines and the mountains, the foundries and the forests, of Namur, Liège, Ha
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I Synopsis of the War
I Synopsis of the War
Last night, when the half moon was golden and the white stars very high, I saw the souls of the killed passing. They came riding through the dark, some on gray horses, some on black; they came marching, white-faced; hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands. The night smelled sweet, the breeze rustled, the stream murmured; and past me on the air the souls of the killed came marching. They seemed of one great company, no longer enemies. John Galsworthy. W E were in America when the war broke out.
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II Letters from the Front
II Letters from the Front
I insert a few extracts from letters written by reliable people about Belgium, or by Belgians during the war, in order to show the true state of affairs. Most of them were written in French and have been translated. With the exception of the Cardinal’s letter, [14] none of them have been published. Extract from a letter from Brussels in August, 1914. “We are living in suspense now, as the Germans are getting very strict and angry. Boys and young men leave daily to join the army, and the differen
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III American Relief Work
III American Relief Work
At first there was some discussion as to the advisability of America’s feeding the Belgians. International law told us that it was the duty of the army occupying foreign territory to feed the civilian population. English soldiers felt that by importing foodstuffs into Belgium, America was helping the Germans. But Germany was unwilling to take upon herself this additional load, and some one had to do it. While the discussion was going on, seven million people were beginning to starve. “The hungry
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