As I was going to thebarquebarque, at Bruges, to take my departure for Ghent, the next town in my route, I was surprised to see a number of officious, busy, poor fellows, crowding round my effects, and seizing them——some my trunk, some my portmanteau, &c. I believe two or three to each: but my astonishment partly subsided when I was told that they were porters, who plied on the canal, and about the city, for subsistence, and only came to have thehonourof carrying my baggage down to the vessel. Noting their eagerness, I could not help smiling. I know there are those, and I have heard of such, who would bluster at them: but my mirth at the bustling importance which the poor fellows affected, soon sunk into serious concern; I said within myself, “Alas, how hard must be your lot indeed!” and my imagination was in an instant back again in London, where a porter often makes you pay for a job, not in money only, but in patience also, and where the surliness of independence scowls upon his brow as he does your work. Every one of my men demanded a remuneration for his labour: one man could have easily done the work of five——-butI resolved not to send them away discontented: he is but a sordid churl that would; and I paid them to their full satisfaction. Here, my dearFrederick, let me offer you (since it occurs) my parental advice on this point——from the practice of which you will gain more solid felicity than you can possibly be aware of now: never weigh scrupulously the value of the work of the Poor; rather exceed than fall short of rewarding it: it is a very, very small thing, that will put them in good humour with you and with themselves, and relax the hard furrows of labour into the soft smile of gratitude——a smile which, to a heart of sensibility such as your’s, will, of itself, ten-thousand-fold repay you, even though the frequent practice of it should abridge you of a few of those things called pleasures, or detract a little from the weight of your purse.
Being again seated in mybarquebarque, I set off for Ghent, a city lying at a distance of twenty-four miles from Bruges. I must here remark to you, that the company one meets in those vessels is not always of the first rank; it is generally of a mixed, motley kind: but to a man who carries along with him, through his travels, a love for his fellow-creatures, and a desire to see men, and their customs and manners, it is both pleasant and eligible——at least I thought it so, and enjoyed it. There were those amongst us who spoke rather loftily on that subject: I said nothing; but it brought to my mind a reflection I have often had occasion to concur in, viz. that a fastidious usurpation of dignity (happilydenominatedstateliness) is the never-failing mark of an upstart or a blockhead. The man of true dignity, self-erect and strong, needs not have recourse, for support, to the comparative wretchedness of his fellow-creature, or plume himself upon spurious superiority. You will understand me, however! When I say, “the man of true dignity,” I am far, very far, from meaning a lord, a squire, a banker, or a general officer——I mean a man of intrinsic worth——homo emunctæ naris——one who, in every station into which chance may throw him, feels firm in the consciousness of right——who can see and cherish merit, though enveloped and concealed behind a shabby suit of clothes——and who scorns the blown-up fool of fortune, that, without sense or sentiment, without virtue, wisdom or courage, presumes to call himself great, merely because he possesses a few acres of earth which he had neither the industry nor merit to earn, or because his great-great-great-grandfather purchased a title by perfidy to his Country, the plunder of his fellow-citizens, or the slaughter of mankind.
Although the face of that part of the Country through which we are now passing, like that of the preceding stage from Ostend to Bruges, wants diversity, it has its charms, and would be particularly delightful in the eye of an English farmer; for it is covered with the thickest verdure on each side of the canal, and the banks are decorated all along by rows of stately trees, while the fields in the back ground are cultivated to the highest degree of perfection, and bear the aspect of producing the most abundant harvest.
You will be able to form a judgment of the trifling expence of travelling in this Country, from my expences in this stage of twenty-four miles. I had an excellent dinner for about fifteen pence of our money; my passage cost me but sixteen more, amounting in all to two shillings and seven pence: compare that with travelling in England, where one cannot rise up from an indifferent dinner, in an Inn, under five shillings at the least, and you must be astonished at the disproportion.
Ghent is the capital of Flanders, and is to be reckoned among the largest cities of Europe, as it covers a space of ground of not less than seven miles in circumference; but there is not above one half of that occupied with buildings, the greater part being thrown into fields, gardens, orchards, and pleasure-grounds. Situated on four navigable rivers, and intersected into no fewer than twenty-six islands by a number of canals, which afford an easy, cheap and expeditious carriage for weighty merchandise, it may be considered, in point of local advantages for commerce, superior to most cities in Europe; while those islands are again united by about a hundred bridges, some great and some small, which contribute much to the beauty of the city.
To a man accustomed to mould his thoughts by what he sees in Great Britain, the strong fortifications that surround almost all towns on the Continent convey the most disagreeable sensations——reminding him of the first misery of Mankind, War!——denoting, alas! too truly, the disposition of Man to violate the rights of hisfellow-creatures, and manifesting the tyrannous abuse of power. On me, though trained and accustomed to military habits, this “dreadful note of preparation” had an unpleasing effect; for, though born, bred and habituated to the life of the Soldier, I find the feelings of the Citizen and the Man claim a paramount right to my heart.
Ghent was once extremely well fortified, and calculated, by nature as well as by art, to repel encroachment. It had a very strong castle, walls and ditches; and now, though not otherwise strong, the country may, by shutting up the sluices, be, for above a mile round, laid in a very short time under water. It was formerly so populous and powerful, that it declared war more than once against its Sovereign, and raised amazing armies. In the year 1587, it suffered dreadfully from all the ravages of famine, under which a number not less than three thousand of its inhabitants perished in one week.
This town is distinguished by the nativity of two celebrated characters: one was the famousJohnof Gaunt, son of KingEdwardthe Third of England; the other, the EmperorCharlesthe Fifth, who was born there in the year 1500.
It was in this city that the Confederation of the States, well known under the title of the Pacification of Ghent, which united the Provinces in the most lasting union of interest and laws, was held: this union was chiefly owing to the vigorous, unremitted efforts ofWilliamthe First, Prince of Orange, towhose valour and virtue may be attributed the independence of the United States.
In this city there were computed to be fifty companies of Tradesmen, among whom were manufactured a variety of very curious and rich cloths, stuffs, and silks: it is certain, that the woollen manufacture flourished here before it had made the smallest progress in England, whose wool they then bought. There was also a good branch of linen manufacture here, and a pretty brisk corn trade, for which it was locally well calculated. You will observe, once for all, that in speaking of this Country, I generally use the past tense; for, at present, they are utterly undone.
Ghent was the See of a Bishop, who, like the Bishop of Bruges, was Suffragan to the Archbishop of Mechlin. Thus, in most Christian Countries, are the intellects, the consciences, and the cash too, of the People, shut up and hid from the light, by Priest within Dean, and Dean within Bishop——like a ring in the hand of a conjurer, box within box——till at last they are enveloped in the great receptacle of all deception, the capacious pocket of the Archbishop. Let not sceptered Tyrants, their legions, their scaffolds, and their swords, bear all the infamy of the slavery of Mankind! Opinion, opinion, under the management of fraud and imposture, is the engine that forges their fetters!!——Jansenius, from whom the Jansenists took their name, was the first Bishop of this place; and the late Bishop, I think, may be reckoned the last.
The Municipal Government of this city is correct, and well calculated to secure internal peace and order. The chief magistrate is the High Bailiff; subordinate to whom are Burgomasters, Echivins, and Counsellors.
Ghent is not deficient in stately edifices; and, true to their system, the Holy Fathers of the Church have their share, which, in old Popish Countries, is at least nineteen twentieths. In the middle of the town is a high tower, called Belfort tower; from whence there is a delightful prospect over the whole city and its environs. Monasteries and Churches, there, are without number; besides hospitals and market-places: that called Friday’s market, is the largest of all, and is adorned with a statue ofCharlesthe Fifth, in his imperial robes. The Stadthouse is a magnificent structure——So is the Cathedral, under which the Reverend Fathers have built a subterraneous Church. What deeds are those which shun the light! Why those Holy Patriarchs have such a desire for burying themselves, and working like moles under ground, they themselves best know, and I think it is not difficult for others to conjecture.
This Cathedral, however, is well worth attention, on account of some capital pictures it contains. The marble of the Church is remarkably fine, and the altar-piece splendid beyond all possible description; and, indeed, in all the others, there are paintings, eminent for their own excellence, and for the celebrity of the masters who painted them.
In the Monastery of St.Pierre, there is a grand library, filled with books in all languages; but it is chiefly remarkable for the superlative beauty of its ceiling, one half of which was painted byRubens.
Thus you may perceive, my dearFrederick, the charity of the Clergy!——how, in pure pity for the sins of Mankind, and in paternal care of their souls, they exact from the Laity some atonement for their crimes, and constrain them at least to repent——and, with unparalleled magnanimity, take upon themselves the vices, the gluttony, the avarice, and the sensuality, of which they are so careful to purge their fellow-creatures!
Having given you a general outline of the city of Ghent, I shall now proceed to give you an account of one of the most excellent, and certainly the most interesting, of all the curiosities in that place. It is indeed of a sort so immediately correspondent to the most exalted sensations of humanity, and so perfectly in unison with the most exquisitely sensible chords of the feeling heart, that I resolved to rescue it from the common lumberof the place, and give it to you in a fresh Letter, when the ideas excited by my former might have faded away, and left your mind more clear for the reception of such refined impressions.
On one of the many bridges in Ghent stand two large brazen images of a father and son, who obtained this distinguished mark of the admiration of their fellow-citizens by the following incidents:
Both the father and the son were, for some offence against the State, condemned to die. Some favourable circumstances appearing on the side of the son, he was granted a remission of his share of the sentence, upon certain provisions——in short, he was offered a pardon, on the most cruel and barbarous condition that ever entered into the mind of even Monkish barbarity, namely, that he would become the executioner of his father! He at first resolutely refused to preserve his life by means so fatal and detestable: This is not to be wondered at; for I hope, for the honour of our nature, that there are but few, very few sons, who would not have spurned, with abhorrence, life sustained on conditions so horrid, so unnatural. The son, though long inflexible, was at length overcome by the tears and entreaties of a fond father, who represented to him, that, at all events, his (the father’s) life was forfeited, and that it would be the greatest possible consolation to him, at his last moments, to think, that in his death he was the instrument of his son’s preservation. The youth consented to adopt the horrible means of recovering his life and liberty: he lifted theaxe; but, as it was about to fall, his arm sunk nerveless, and the axe dropped from his hand! Had he as many lives as hairs, he would have yielded them all, one after the other, rather than again even conceive, much less perpetrate, such an act. Life, liberty, every thing, vanished before the dearer interests of filial affection: he fell upon his father’s neck, and, embracing him, triumphantly exclaimed, “My father, my father! we will die together!” and then called for another executioner to fulfil the sentence of the law.
Hard must be their hearts indeed, bereft of every sentiment of virtue, every sensation of humanity, who could stand insensible spectators of such a scene——A sudden peal of involuntary applauses, mixed with groans and sighs, rent the air. The execution was suspended; and on a simple representation of the transaction, both were pardoned: high rewards and honours were conferred on the son; and finally, those two admirable brazen images were raised, to commemorate a transaction so honourable to human nature, and transmit it for the instruction and emulation of posterity. The statue represents the son in the very act of letting fall the axe.
Lay this to your mind, my dearFrederick: talk over it to your brother; indulge all the charming sympathetic sensations it communicates: never let a mistaken shame, or a false idea (which some endeavour to impress) that it is unmanly to melt at the tale of woe, and sympathize with, our fellow-creatures,stop the current of your sensibility——no! Be assured, that, on the contrary, it is the true criterion of manhood and valour to feel; and that the more sympathetic and sensible the heart is, the more nearly it is allied to the Divinity.
I am now on the point of conducting you out of Austrian Flanders——One town only, and that comparatively a small one, lying between Us and Brabant: the name of this town is Alost, or, as the Flemings spell it, Aelst.
From Ghent to Brussels (the next great stage in my way), I found, to my regret, that there was no conveyance by water: I therefore was obliged to go in a voiture, and stopt at Alost, as an intermediate stage; and mathematically intermediate it is——for it lies at equal distance from Ghent and Brussels, being exactly fifteen miles from each.
This is a small, but exceeding neat town, situated on the river Dender; and being a remarkably great thoroughfare, accommodations of every kind are tolerably good in it. It would be idle to suppose, that Catholic zeal had left so many souls unprotected and undisciplined, where there were so many bodies capable of drudgery to pay for it. In truth, there has been as ample provision made for the town of Alost in the way of sacerdotal business, as for any other town in the Netherlands——regard being had to its bulk; for there were several Convents of Friars, and of course several of Nuns: besides, there was a Jesuit’s College of somenote. How they all fare by this time, it is difficult for me to determine.
The Church of SaintMartincould boast of some excellent pictures, particularly a most capital piece,“La Peste,”byRubens.
In a Convent inhabited by a set of Monks, denominated Gulielmite, I saw the tomb ofThierry Martin, who first brought the art of Printing from Germany to that place. His name and fame are transmitted to us by an epitaph upon his tomb, written by his friend, the ingeniousErasmus.
This tomb ofThierry Martinstands a monument, not only of his merit, but of the short-sightedness and folly even of Monks. Alas, silly men! they little knew, that when they grantedThierry Martinthe honours of the Convent, they were harbouring, in their hallowed ground, one of their greatest enemies, and commemorating the man who was contributing to the overthrow of their sacred Order: for the art of Printing, wherever it reached, illuminated the human mind, and first kindled up that light, before which Priestcraft, and all its pious impostures, like evil spectres, have vanished. To the art of Printing is human society indebted for many of the advantages which it possesses beyond the brute or savage tribes——for the perfection of arts, the extension of science, the general enlargement of the mind, and, above all, for the emancipation of person and property from the shackles of despotism, and of the human intellect from the fettersof blindness and ignorance with which sacerdotal fraud had chained it for centuries to the earth.
The territory of this City is of pretty large extent, and is called a County, having, in ancient times, had Counts of its own; and the whole of it is extremely fruitful in pasture, corn, hops, flax, and most other productions of those climes.
I made but a very short stay at Alost, when I proceeded on to Brussels; and, having thus brought you through that part of the Netherlands called Austrian Flanders, I think I ought to give you a general account of the Country at large, as I have hitherto confined myself merely to the cities and towns of it; but as this Letter is already of a length that will not allow of any great addition, I shall postpone my intended description to my next.
Were Mankind to be guided by moderation, reason, and justice——were there no lust for territory in particular States——no ambition or desire in Kings for an undue enlargement of their power——no unjustifiable infractions attempted by one State or Potentate upon the peace and possession of another——no Armies tocarry desolation and plunder through the world, nor Churchmen more mild, but not more moderate, to drain them with their subtle deceptions——were the husbandman, the fisherman, the manufacturer, and the labourer, permitted to make, by their industry, the best use of the soil on which chance or nature had planted them, and to lift the fruits of their labour to their own lips——no people were more happy than the inhabitants of Austrian Flanders.
This Country is bounded, to the North, by the Scheldt; to the North-west, by the Northern Sea; to the South, and South-west, By Artois, one of the finest Provinces of France; and to the East, by Brabant. Its greatest length is seventy-five miles; and its greatest breadth, fifty-five. The air is good; but it is said to be better, in proportion as it recedes from the sea. The Winters are sometimes long and severe, and the Summers sometimes wet and sultry; yet, in general, the climate is agreeable. The soil is in most parts fertile, and in some to a degree equal to that of any part of Europe. It is chiefly famous for its pasturage; in consequence of which, great numbers of black cattle, horses and sheep, are bred in it, and immense quantities of butter and cheese made. It is, besides, abundantly productive of all sorts of culinary vegetables——fruit in great quantities——corn and flax, which last is not only raised in great plenty, but is celebrated for the fineness and strength of its staple. It is true, that in some parts they have not corn sufficient for the inhabitants; but this is well recompensedby other productions, with the redundance of which they purchase the superfluous grain of their neighbours——for, where the inhabitants do follow tillage, the produce is unequalled, and the superfluity must of course be great.
The superior fecundity of the sheep of this Country is very remarkable, and difficult, perhaps, to be accounted for——a ewe here bringing forth constantly three lambs at a birth, sometimes four, sometimes five, and some have been known to produce as many as six and seven——no small instance of the prodigality of Nature in providing for this spot.
At some distance from the sea-coast, the face of the Country is decorated with a profusion of wood, fitted either for timber or for fuel; and towards the coast, where Nature has been rather niggard of that blessing, the inhabitants substitute, in its stead, for fuel, a kind of turf, which they find at the depth of four or five feet from the surface of the earth, and which makes a fire, not only cheerful, pleasant and hot, but remarkably wholesome, being free from the destructive sulphureous and bituminous vapour attendant upon coal.
Perhaps no part of the world is better supplied than this Province with all sorts of fish, as well those of sea as fresh water: fowl and venison were extremely plenty and reasonable; and a great deal of excellent beer was brewed in it. It is washed by several rivers, four of which are noble streams, namely, the Scheldt, theLys, the Scarpe, and the Dender; and there are several canals, the chief of which is that between Bruges and Ghent.
Thus, in whatever way it be considered, Nature seems to have made ample provision for the happiness of the People: how far they are so, you shall hear when I come to give a general view of the Netherlands——that which is applicable to Austrian Flanders being equally so to all the other parts of the Netherlands, excepting those under the dominion of the Republic of the United States.
The States of this Country, according to the Constitution it once possessed, consists of the Clergy, the Nobility, and the Commoners. The Clergy were the Bishops and Abbots: the Nobility was composed of certain families holding hereditary Offices or Baronies, to which that privilege was annexed; and the Commoners were made up of the Burgomasters, Pensioners and Deputies of the Cities and Districts. But the only religion professed or tolerated in this Country, was the Roman Catholic.
Of the People of Austrian Flanders, a celebrated Author gives the following account, which I transcribe for your use, the rather as my stay there was too short to enable me to make any material observations on them, or their manners.——
“With respect to the persons and characters of the inhabitants,” says he, “they are, generally speaking, lusty, fat, and clumsy——very industrious, both in cultivating their lands, and in their trades and manufactures——lovers of Liberty, and enemies to Slavery——and not defective in good sense or judgment, thoughthey have not so lively an imagination as some other Nations. Their women are fair, handsome enough, and honest by their natural constitution, as well as from a principle of virtue: as they cannot pretend to wit and repartee, they do not make themselves ridiculous by the nauseous affectation of them. Both sexes are great lovers of public diversions; and every city, town, and village, have their kermisses, or fairs, in which all sorts of shews are exhibited.”
Many arts which now enrich other Nations, and the importance of which has excited contests and struggles of the most serious kind in the political world, were invented or improved in that Country. Weaving, in general, though not invented, was greatly improved; and the art of forming figures of all sorts in linen was first invented there. To the Flemings we are also indebted for the arts of curing herrings, dying cloths and stuffs, and oil-colours. But those arts, and the manufactures, have gradually slid away from them, and left but a small share behind, when compared with their former flourishing state: they have flown to a Land of Liberty and Security, where hostile feet never tread, where Slavery corrupteth not, where War devoureth not, nor Priests nor Despots break in and steal. Nevertheless, silk, cotton and woollen stuffs, brocades, camblets, tapestry, linen, and lace, are still manufactured here to some small extent.
This Province had Counts of its own, from the ninth century up to the year 1369, when it was made over, by marriage (like aa farm of cattle) to the Dukes of Burgundy; and afterwards, again, was by them made over, in like way of marriage, to the House of Austria. In 1667, France seized the Southern part; and the States General obtained the Northern, partly by the Treaty of Munster, and partly by the Barrier Treaty of 1715.
To reckon upon the natural endowments of this Country, one would suppose that it should be a terrestrial paradise: yet such is the wickedness of Man, and the outrageous spirit of Power, that it is almost the last Country in Europe in which I would have property, and fix a permanent residence. Just now, while I am writing, I have before me an account, that the French, to whom they opened their gates, have plundered them to the last atom of their moveable possessions; and that the property of the unfortunate people is now in waggons, on its way to Paris.
Once more, my boy, I say, bless yourGod, that planted you in a Country cheered by the voice of Freedom, defended by British Valour, and, what is of more consequence, surrounded by the Ocean.
Having conducted you through that part of the Netherlands called Austrian Flanders, we are now to direct our attention to that called Austrian Brabant, of which part, as well as of the Netherlands in general, Brussels, where I arrived the same day I left Ghent, is the capital, giving its name to a quarter or territory that surrounds it.
In all parts of the Netherlands through which I travelled, I could not help admiring the uniform decorations of the roads, rivers, and canals, with rows of lofty trees, which form a most agreeable shade from the Summer’s burning sun, and yet do not obstruct any great extent of prospect, the Country is so extremely flat. And one thing I remarked, and which certainly seems at first view extraordinary, is, that in the great extent of Country through which we have hitherto passed, from Ostend to Brussels, being sixty-eight miles, I scarce saw one Nobleman or Gentleman’s seat——nothing above the house of a husbandman, a curate, or some person of small fortune: and yet the Country is extremely rich; and I saw many spots, as I went along, charming beyonddescription, and such as would tempt, I should think, a man of taste and opulence to settle in them. This must appear unaccountable to those who do not recollect, that in a Country subject like this to the ravaging incursions of contending armies, fortified towns are considered as the most pleasing, because the most secure retreats of opulence.
As I approached the city of Brussels, I was struck with a mixed sensation of surprise and delight at the appearance it made——none that I had ever seen being comparable to it, and not one in Europe, by the account of travellers, being in that respect superior to it, Naples and Genoa only excepted: like them, however, it, when entered, falls far short of the expectation raised by its external appearance, being all composed of hills and hollows, which not only fatigue, but render the appearance of the streets, though well built, contemptible and mean.
Brussels stands on the beautiful little river Senne, on the brow of a hill. The city is about seven miles in circumference, has seven gates, with extensive suburbs, and is encompassed with a double wall made of brick, and ditches; but its size is too great for strength, as a face of defence of such extent could not possibly hold out a long siege——a great and insuperable defect in such a country as I have described.
Great as is the extent of ground on which this city stands, it is nevertheless very well built, and extremely populous. It is ornamented with no fewer than seven squares, all of them remarkablyfine, particularly the great square or market-place, which is reckoned to be perhaps the finest in Europe. Around it are the halls of the different trades, the fronts of which are adorned, in a superb manner, with emblematical sculpture, with gilding, and a variety of Latin inscriptions. One quarter of this square is entirely occupied by the town-houses, a noble pile of building, in which there were apartments where the States of Brabant met, finely adorned with tapestry in gilt frames, and some admirable original paintings. At the time I was there, the whole city was in motion, preparing for the Inauguration of theEmperor, who was then impatiently expected, and whose approach made such a bustle, and promised such a spectacle, as made me regret the necessity I lay under of proceeding on my journey. The town-house was put into the highest order, and subsequently fell a sacrifice to the great and important event for which it was prepared.
The steeple of this building is of a most stupendous height——three hundred and sixty-four feet; and on the top of it is erected a statue of SaintMichaelkilling the Dragon, of the enormous height of seventeen feet: this Colossal statue is so constructed as to serve for a weather-cock; and being made of copper, well gilt, is at once conspicuous, magnificent, and ornamental.
The public buildings of Brussels, particularly the Palaces and Courts of the several Princes, Counts, and other persons of distinction, (and, you may be sure, the Churches and Cloisters too), are spacious, expensive, and magnificent. Behind the Imperial Palace,which stood in the highest part of the city, but was burnt down many years ago, is a park, well stocked with deer, and planted with trees, like St. James’s-park at London, for the inhabitants to walk in. At the farther end of it is a fine pleasure-house, built by the EmperorCharlesthe Fifth, after his abdication.
The Palace is a magnificent structure: the rooms of it are finished in a style far superior to those of any Palace in England, and enriched with many fine paintings: that of the Family ofHector, in the Council Chamber, lays claim to the first rank of eminence. Of the other buildings (the grandeur of which entitle them to the names of Palaces), those of the Prince de la Tour and Taxis, and the British Earl of Aylesbury, are distinguished by great beauty and magnificence. Indeed, in all the Palaces, there are collections of original paintings, by the most eminent masters, both Italian and Flemish.
The Royal Library of Brussels claims particular attention, for the magnitude and liberality of its establishment, containing a grand collection of the most excellent books in all languages, and being open all the year on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, to public access.
The Arsenal of Brussels is extremely well worth going to see, on account of the very curious antique arms it contains——of which it is, at this distance of time, impossible for me to give you any account worth attention. The armour of the EmperorCharlesthe Fifth, together with the furniture of his horse, and state sword,are shewn: I could see nothing either novel or interesting in them——a strong mark; I presume, of my want of taste; but I confess my organs are not so refined as to feel any extraordinary emotions at the sight of a heap of inert matter, merely because it once enveloped the carcase of a Tyrant: neither were they so very coarse or dull as not to undergo very pointed sensations at the sight of the armour ofMontezuma, the injured Emperor of Mexico, the victim of avarice and rapine, under their usual mask, religion. WhyMontezuma’s armour should make a part of the trophies of a Popish State, and be triumphantly exhibited, is hard to account for in human folly: why that should be exhibited which is a stain of the deepest-damned black, in their black code of faith, is astonishing, unless we allow the truth of the old saying,“QuosDeusvult perdere, prius dementat;”and that, after having violated every principle of virtue, morality, and human feeling——after having surpassed in cruelty all that we know of the worst monsters of the earth, or of the deep, the fell hyena, or the ravening shark——after having successfully emulated the worst efforts of the most malignant spirits that are said to hold counsel for the ruin of Mankind in Hell——they were desirous to transmit the spoils of their ravages to posterity, to tell them what glorious things have been achieved in days of yore, for the love ofChrist——to demonstrate what benefits are to be derived from a religion which has, for so many hundred years, given sanction to every enormity that strikes the soul of Man with horror, and thereby to makeconverts to their principles. Monsters! fools! Away with your idle cants, ye hypocrites, who would brand the cruelties of the present days, the massacres of the Jacobins, with the crime of infidelity, and attribute those much lamented defections from humanity to a falling off from the Christian Faith. Look to Mexico!——see a monster, a High Priest of your religion, collecting, by fair promises and sweet persuasion, a people round him; and, when a plain was filled, commanding his bloodhounds, armed with sword and crucifix, to fall upon and murder them——because one poor creature, who knew not what a book meant, had accidentally dropped a bible from his hands!——see him not sparing age or sex, but butchering all, for the love ofChrist!——When have the deluded and enfrenzied mob of France perpetrated, in the full torrent of popular frenzy, such atrocities as this cruel Priest committed in cold blood? when have they hunted down their fellow-creatures, massacred children, and given their yet panting members to their dogs for food, as pious Christians, headed by a pious Priest, have done in Mexico? Never! never!—— Learn wisdom, then, ye hypocrites! and if you cannot convince your enemies by reason, or conquer them by force, and if their predatory and wicked progress is not to be stopped, do not sanctify their enormities, or palliate their crimes, in the eye of reason, by a comparison with those of a deeper dye: remember, that “not to be the worst stands in some rank of praise,” and that the Jacobin cruelties of Paris, horrible though they were, were pity and tender mercy, comparedwith the Christian butchery in Mexico, in Europe, in Asia, in every place where Popery ever set its bloody hoof.
You are not, from what I say, to infer that I entertain any illiberal animosity to Popery, as many men, and more women, do, merely because its articles of Faith differ from those in which I was bred; I trust my heart and understanding are above such very degrading prejudices: but I abhor every thing that militates against human happiness——every thing that crushes the operations of intellect——every thing that stops the current of opinion, and prevents its course from enlarging and meliorating our condition: I abhor the impertinent and hypocritical intrusion of all Churchmen upon national or domestic concerns; the more, when that intrusion is mischievous; and more still, when it assumes the mask of piety——for that is at once a fraud upon Man and an abuse ofGod. All those causes of abhorrence attach, more or less, to all sects of the Christian Religion, the Quakers only excepted——but to Popery rather more than to any of the others; for it is observed, that while the very first principles of Christianity, as originally laid down in theory, are peace and good-will towards men, warfare, persecution and bloodshed, have practically marked its footsteps wherever it has trod, and its very essence been perverted by its own Ministers, who, entrusted with the key of the Temple, steal the vestments from the altar, to cover the deformed, crooked back of vice. But the rays of dawning reason now break with fuller light upon Mankind; and it hastens to meridian resplendence,before which those phantoms raised by pious jugglers will vanish, and, “like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a wreck behind.”
In the Arsenal of Brussels was another curiosity, which I overlooked in my last——a model of a cannon, constructed so as to throw seven balls at once. It is some consolation to philanthropy to reflect, that of all the abominable engines and instruments which the inventive faculties of Man have discovered to increase the cruelty and carnage of war, not one has been of late times adopted. This model lies here, therefore, only as a memorial of the diabolical genius of the inventor.
The Opera-house of Brussels, accounted the noblest and largest in Europe, is built after the Italian manner, with rows of lodges or closets, in most of which are chimneys. One of those, which belonged to a Prince, whose title I now forget, was hung with looking-glasses, in which, while he sat by the fire, took refreshments, or reclined on his couch, he could see the whole representation, without being exposed to the view of either the actors or the audience.
The markets of Brussels are very remarkable. The Dukes of St. Pierre paid no less than forty thousand florins, or upwards of three thousand pounds sterling, for four pictures of them, painted byRubensandSynder——Lewisthe Fourteenth of France offered an immense sum of money for them; but they found their way at last into the collection of the British Earl of Orford. The value of them is said, by connoisseurs, to be beyond computation.
Brussels is extremely well supplied with water; for, besides the river, it has twenty public fountains, adorned with statues, at the corners of the most public streets; and the lower part of the city is cut into canals, which communicate with the great one, extending from Brussels to the Scheldt, fifteen miles: by means of this canal, which was finished in 1561, and cost the city eight hundred thousand florins, a person may sail from Brussels to the North Sea; and barques do actually go twice a day to Antwerp, and back again.
This city is full of Churches, of which the most remarkable is that of SaintMichaeland SaintGudula, commonly called the Cathedral. It is a superb, old Gothic structure, and, from its celebrated situation, a most beautiful ornament to the city. It is not only grand in its external appearance, but finely adorned within. The pillars which support the roof are lofty and elegant: and against each is a statue of ten feet in height. There are no less than sixteen Chapels in it; and each Chapel is enriched with abundance of splendid ornaments, altar finery, candlesticks, crucifixes,&c. and with some excellent pictures too: a picture ofJesus Christpresenting the keys of Paradise to SaintPeter, which is reckoned among the chef-d’œuvres ofRubens, hangs in one of those Chapels. There are some monuments, also, of very great merit, in the choir of this Church. But that which I think by far the greatest and most admirable curiosity (I mean of human workmanship) in the Church, is a pulpit——one of the richest and most exquisitely wrought pieces I have ever seen: at the bottom are seenAdamandEveas large as life, represented as at the moment when the Angel drove them out of Paradise: in both of their faces are deeply and expressively marked the traits of a mind agonised with anguish and remorse: behindEveis a figure of Death, which follows them; and on the top of the pulpit are seen the figures ofJesus Christand the VirginMarycrushing the head of the Serpent. The strong expressions in the faces of all those figures, and the exquisite turn of the workmanship, is the more remarkable, as it is all cut out of oak wood.
Of supernatural curiosities, one of the Chapels in this Cathedral contains some, that, for miracle, yield to none in the long catalogue of Monkish devices. Three hosts or wafers are daily worshipped by the People; which hosts or wafers, the Priests firmly assert, and the People as firmly believe, were, so long ago as the year 1369, stabbed by a Jew, and bled profusely. They are exposed on every festival, in a chalice richly set with diamonds; and on the first Sunday after every thirteenth of July,there is a yearly procession in memory of this stabbing and bleeding, when the hosts are carried in great state round the city, embellished with all manner of precious stones, and attended by all the Clergy, secular and regular, the Magistrates, the Courts of Justice, and even by the Governor of the Province: the Chapel where they are kept is of marble, and the altar of solid silver.
GreatGod! what an opprobrium to the human understanding, that, at the time when the mind of Man is sufficiently enlightened to avoid the weakness of shameful credulity, a whole People should stoop to such extravagant imposition! what a shame to justice and honesty, that those who are trusted to guard the rights of a People, and who certainly are too well informed to yield their belief to such trash, should yet join in, and give the weight of their authority to so gross, so wicked a deception on a Community! The Magistrates, the Courts of Justice, and the Governor——they walk, too, in company with the bald-pated impostors—GoodGod! can more be said? volumes of comment could not elucidate or render it more conspicuously absurd than the bare recital of the fact itself.
It is impossible for me to recount to you the number of Nunneries, of various Orders, in which unfortunate women were cloistered up, some from bigotry, and others by force, in this city. There were, however, two of them English——one of Dominican Ladies, founded by CardinalHoward, in the reign ofCharlesthe Second, of which a Lady of the Noble House of Norfolk wasalways Abbess: the other is of Benedictine Nuns; the Beguinage of the latter is like a little town, surrounded with a wall and ditch, and divided into pretty little streets, where every Beguine has her apartment; the number of them amounts in general to seven or eight hundred, sometimes more.
If population be the true strength of a Nation, this part of Popery is very impolitic. The succession of women in this one Convent since the reign ofCharlesthe Second, must amount to many thousands. Had those been married, and, on an average, had only two children each, with the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, down to the present day, in all the ramifications of descent, there is not a doubt but their number would equal that of the whole people of some extensive Provinces. What, then, must be the loss to the population of the earth, arising from the celibacy of so many millions of males and females as have been consigned to sterility in the Catholic Countries, ever since that extraordinary doctrine came first into fashion? It is out of the reach of calculation: not but, now and then, they may have children——indeed they certainly have; but those are generally disposed of in a way not to bring shame on the frail Sisterhood, or their Confessors.
In wading through such a torrent of offensive ideas as the innumerable absurdities and deceptions of Popish Countries continually raise in the mind, it is a pleasing circumstance to be relieved by the contemplation of some really useful, humane institution;and such a one presents itself now to my recollection: At Brussels, and, I am told, at all great towns of the Netherlands, there is a public office for lending money at a very moderate interest upon pledges: it is called the Mount of Piety; and was established nearly 108 years ago by the ArchdukeAlbert, andIsabella, his wife. By this institution, the Poor are saved from the fleecings and frauds of Pawnbrokers: and, to render it still more perfect in accommodation, there are private passages for entrance; so that those who would with to conceal their necessities, are exempted from the mortification of being seen publicly going in, or coming out.
You have read, I presume, that in the days of Heathenism, the Deities of that curious Mythology were supposed to rejoice in the number Three. The Popish Code has fixed upon Seven as the lucky number. Thus they have seven sacraments, seven deadly sins, &c. &c. Brussels has improved upon that; and, taking the hint from their blessed Liturgy, has seven grand streets; seven parish-churches; seven Patrician families, out of which the Magistrates are or were elected; seven large squares; seven midwives, licensed and sworn by the Senate; and seven gates, leading to seven places of recreation and exercise, one to a place proper for fowling, a second to a place for fishing, a third to one for hunting, a fourth to pleasant fields, a fifth to pastime grounds, a sixth to springs and vineyards, and a seventh to gardens. Besides all which sevens, they boast of having once had the great good fortuneof entertaining, at one time, seven Crowned Heads, with seven, thousand horse belonging to their retinue. If there were any spell in the number Seven, the People of Brussels surely must have been secure from all mischief; but theSans-culotteshave broken the charm, dispersed the necromancers, and lowered poor number Seven to its mere arithmetical value.
The Inns, or eating-houses, in this city, were equal to any in the world: a stranger might dine there better and cheaper than in any place, perhaps, on earth. The wines, also, were excellent and cheap; and coach-hire beyond expectation reasonable——And here I recollect to remark to you, that, all the way from Ostend to Brussels, one is obliged to sit, dine, &c. in bed-chambers; a circumstance which is extremely discordant to the feelings of those who have been used to British Inns, although the bed-chambers are, to say the truth, large and commodious. At the very walls of Brussels begins the famous wood of Sogne, from which the inhabitants were allowed to cut wood for fuel: as fast as the trees were cut down, fresh ones were planted in their stead; by which means the wood was preserved, and it afforded a continual supply to the Poor.
Brussels is so very remarkable a place, that I have taken more than my usual scope of description of it. Just as I had finished it, I read a paragraph in the public papers, stating that it is likely to be annexed to the territories of the French Republic.