CHAPTER III.GHENT.
GHENT.
Manufacture of machinery in Ghent—Great works of the Phœnix—Exertions of the King of Holland to promote this branch of art—His success—Policy of England in permitting the export of tools—Effect of their prohibiting the export of machines upon the continental artists—Present state of the manufactures in Belgium—The Phœnix, its extent, arrangements and productions—The canal of Sas de Gand—The Beguinage—Tristam Shandy—The churches of Ghent—Religious animosity of the Roman Catholics—The cathedral of St. Bavon—Chef-d’œuvre of Van Eyck—Candelabra of Charles I—Carved pulpit—Church of St. Michael—Vandyck’s crucifixion—The The brotherhood of St. Ivoy—Church of St. Sauveur—Singular picture in the church of St. Peter—Dinner at M. Grenier’s—Shooting with the bow—Roads in Belgium—Domestic habits of the Flemings—The Flemish language—Count d’Hane—Mansion of the Countess d’Hane de Steenhausen—Gallery of M. Schamps—The Universityof Ghent—State of primary education in Belgium.
Manufacture of machinery in Ghent—Great works of the Phœnix—Exertions of the King of Holland to promote this branch of art—His success—Policy of England in permitting the export of tools—Effect of their prohibiting the export of machines upon the continental artists—Present state of the manufactures in Belgium—The Phœnix, its extent, arrangements and productions—The canal of Sas de Gand—The Beguinage—Tristam Shandy—The churches of Ghent—Religious animosity of the Roman Catholics—The cathedral of St. Bavon—Chef-d’œuvre of Van Eyck—Candelabra of Charles I—Carved pulpit—Church of St. Michael—Vandyck’s crucifixion—The The brotherhood of St. Ivoy—Church of St. Sauveur—Singular picture in the church of St. Peter—Dinner at M. Grenier’s—Shooting with the bow—Roads in Belgium—Domestic habits of the Flemings—The Flemish language—Count d’Hane—Mansion of the Countess d’Hane de Steenhausen—Gallery of M. Schamps—The Universityof Ghent—State of primary education in Belgium.
Havingheard so much in England of the gigantic scale of the establishments for the construction of machinery in Belgium,we paid a visit this morning to the greatPhœnix Iron worksat Ghent, the largest in the kingdom; (indeed, I may presume, the largest in Europe), except those of Seraing near Liege. The surprising progress which the Belgians have, within the last few years, made in this department, is naturally a subject of the deepest interest in this country. Twenty years ago, the manufacturers of the Netherlands were altogether dependant upon France and England, for everything except the most ordinary pieces of machinery, which were used in the simplest processes—but the refusal of Great Britain, to permit its exportation upon any terms, naturally left them no alternative, but either to abandon their manufactures, or to apply their own ingenuity to the construction of machinery for themselves. To the encouragement of the latter attempt, the King of Holland, for the fifteen years that Belgium was under his protection, applied himself with an energy and zeal, that is positively without parallel; patronage, personal exertions, and pecuniary assistance,were devoted to the promotion of this important object, with an assiduity and perseverance almost incredible; his efforts were crowned with perfect success, and even his enemies, are forced to admit that the singular developement which has taken place in the resources of Belgium, in this important department, are all to be ascribed to the untiring energy and exertions of the King of Holland.
His efforts were much facilitated by the relaxation, in the meantime, of the policy of England, so far as to permit the free exportation of certain machinery, and what was of infinitely greater importance,of the most complex and ingenious toolsfor its construction. The effects of the latter measure, in particular, and the impetus which it has communicated to the manufacture of machinery, not only in Belgium, but in every other country of Europe which aspires to it, is positively beyond calculation. It gave, at once, to our continental rivals the very arcana of our superiority; tools that arethemselves the most beautiful and elaborate machines, performing like automatons operations that once required all the intelligence as well as all the dexterity of an artisan; lathes and planes that grapple with a beam of iron as if it were green wood, and shape and polish the most ponderous shafts with as much ease as a turner produces an ivory toy.[16]Placing these unreservedlyin the hands of the engineers of the continent, and, at the same time, refusing to let them have the articles which they were almost spontaneously to produce, was neither more nor less than peremptorily withholding the fruit, but making no compliment whatever of sending the tree.
The refusal of Great Britain to concede the whole question has, at all times, excited an intense feeling on the continent, and the Belgians themselves are amongst the loudest in denouncing this “jealous and narrow-minded policy of England;” forgetful that they themselves in 1814 adopted identically the same course, and prohibited under pain of fine and imprisonment the exit of their own machinery or artisans, such as they were! Even now, the value of that which England conceded, is forgotten in the importance attached to that which she still withholds, and even the appearance ofmystery connected with the prohibition increases its importance in imagination and whets the appetite to obtain it. A whimsical illustration of their ideas upon the subject occurs in the work of M. Briavionne, who gravely asserts that “the manufacturers of Lancashire, impatient to participate in the cares of the government upon this point, have submitted to a voluntary tax sufficient to organize a perpetual guard, which surrounds Manchester night and day to prevent the exit of machinery.”[17]
However, it is notorious that notwithstanding these sleepless precautions and in spite of every prohibition, machinery of every description is at the present moment smuggled into Belgium, and every other state that requires it—not, perhaps, in such quantities as to serve for the fitting up ofextensive factories, but so as to afford a model of every improvement and every new invention for the instant adoption, and imitation of the continental engineers and mechanicians. Thus provided and thus encouraged, speculating upon capital supplied lavishly by their government, equipped with the most valuable English tools, inspected by English artisans, and working from English models, the Belgians have now far outstripped all the rest of Europe in the manufacture of machines of every description, and in all but the cost of construction, and that beauty of finish which matured skill can alone achieve, they at present bid fair to rival England herself in her peculiar and hitherto undisputed domain.
The establishment of the Phœnix, is one of those which have sprung up, thus stimulated and thus encouraged. It was originally erected by an individual proprietor, M. Huytens Kerremans, in 1821, and attained much of its reputation under the management of an Englishman, namedBell, so much so, that at the period of the revolution in 1830, it employed upwards of two hundred and twenty workmen daily. In 1836, on the death of the proprietor, it passed into the hands of a joint stock company, by whom it has been enlarged to more than thrice its previous extent, at an expense of upwards of one million of francs. It is at present conducted by Mr. Windsor, a gentleman from Leeds, and is certainly the most admirably arranged establishment of the kind I have ever seen—those of England not excepted.
It at present employs seven hundred hands, of whom two hundred are apprentices, and of the remainder, between fifty and sixty English. The range of its productions includes every species of machine used for spinning flax, cotton, silk, or wool, as well as for other manufactures in which machinery is required, for which there is a brisk demand at present, not only in Belgium, but for Spain, Austria, France and Holland. In point of finish and beauty, the spinning machinery is certainly, as Ihave said, inferior to the English, it is also stated to be defective in other respects, but those proprietors of mills who are using it, made no complaints to me upon the subject, and seemed perfectly satisfied with its execution. Some of the heavier articles in process of construction, especially a spiral roving-frame which some English workmen were completing, seemed, in every respect both of finish and action, to be quite equal to those made at Manchester and Leeds.
The establishment contains a preparatory workshop on a comprehensive scale, fitted up with small tools and machinery, and superintended by two competent directors, solely for the instruction of apprentices, and its success we were told had been most gratifying. The Englishmen employed at the Phœnix receive higher wages than the Flemings, but the majority of them are only retained till their original engagements shall have been completed, when their services will be dispensed with, and their places supplied by native workmen,at wages not exceeding twenty francs per week, and fully competent to undertake their duties.
One important feature in this immense manufactory is, that it is gradually succeeding in making its own tools, instead of importing them as heretofore from England. The majority of those in use had been already constructed upon the spot upon English models, and at the moment we called, a planing machine, twenty feet long, was in process of erection, together with drills, sliding lathes, dividing and filing apparatus, and in short, every description of tool in use in Great Britain. In this respect, the directors assured me of their confidence of being, for the future, perfectly independent of any supply from abroad—but I should add, that afterwards at the rival establishment at Seraing, where all the tools are imported from England, I was told that those made at the Phœnix were not only much more expensive, but of inferior quality.
The works were in full employment atthe period of our visit, from the fact of there being three flax spinning mills in course of construction in Ghent; but it remains to be seen whether its present vigorous prosperity is the result of a permanent cause, and whether the career of Belgian manufactures, and the demand created in consequence, will be such as to maintain in remunerative operation this splendid establishment, as well as that of Seraing and the minor works of the same kind at Brussels, Verviers, Namur, Charleroi and elsewhere.
In the neighbourhood of the Phœnix, we passed the great basin of the Sas de Gand Canal, which by connecting Ghent with Terneuse at the mouth of the Scheldt, has effectually rendered it a sea-port in the heart of Belgium. This bold idea was originally conceived by Napoleon, but carried into effect, and the basin completed, by the King of Holland only two years before he was driven from the country by the revolution. As the embouchure of the canal, however, is situated in Zeeland, a provinceof the Dutch dominions, its navigation was effectually closed from 1830 to 1839, when the treaty was ratified, which finally determined the limits of the two States. During those nine years, the magnificent dock at Ghent, and the line of the canal itself, were stagnant, and the passage rapidly filling up with sand and silt, another of the many inconveniences entailed upon the merchants of Belgium by “the repeal of the union.” It is at last, however, opened to the trade, and when we saw it, contained a number of vessels, some discharging cotton, and one taking in cargo for the Havanna. During the few months that had elapsed from its opening in October, 1839, upwards of one hundred and twenty vessels had entered and departed by it from Ghent, for Holland, and the Hanse Towns, London, the Mediterranean, and the United States.
On our return we drove to theBeguinage, a little enclosed district, appropriated as the residence of an ancient community of nuns, who take no vow, but on contributing to the general funds of the community, areadmitted into the sisterhood, and devote their lives to works of charity and benevolence, especially to attendance on the sick and poor. They are each clad in the costume of the order. For a head-dress, they carry thebeguine, a veil of white muslin, folded square, and laid flat upon the top of the head, whence they derive their name, with a black silk hood, termed afaille, said to have been anciently worn by the ladies of Flanders, and closely resembling, both in name and appearance, thefaldettaof the Maltese. This interesting society contains between seven and eight hundred members, and occupies not a detached building, as elsewhere, but a little retired section of the city, surrounded by a fosse, and enclosed by a wall, at the gate of which, one of the sisterhood acts as porter. The whole is divided into streets, consisting of rows of quaint looking little houses, of venerable brick-work, with Dutch gables and cut stone windows, each door inscribed with the name of a particular saint, Agatha, Catherine, or Theresa, instead of that ofits occupant. In the centre is a spacious square, with an old Spanish looking church, rather richly ornamented, and containing a few curious paintings and carvings in oak. The order is of very high antiquity, dating some twelve hundred years ago, and the present establishment was founded in the thirteenth century.
When the convents of the Low Countries were reduced in number by the Austrian government under Joseph II, he made a special exemption in favour of the Beguines, they were equally recognized and protected, when the French directory completed the suppression of the remaining religious houses of Belgium, and the King of Holland following the same example, confirmed them, in the possession of their privileges and property, by a charter granted in 1826 or 1827. A number of the sisters occupy a portion of their time in making lace; their dwellings, streets and gardens, are preserved with a “beauty of cleanliness” truly delightful. Every thing we could see or learn of their inmates was characterizedby gentleness and goodness, and their active benevolence, (in spite of my uncle Toby’s insinuation,) the dictate of their heart, and not of their profession.[18]In the whole aspect of their dwelling, there was nothing of the
“Relentless walls, whose darksome round contains,Repentant sighs and voluntary pains.”
“Relentless walls, whose darksome round contains,Repentant sighs and voluntary pains.”
“Relentless walls, whose darksome round contains,Repentant sighs and voluntary pains.”
“Relentless walls, whose darksome round contains,
Repentant sighs and voluntary pains.”
But a cheerful serenity, and an enlivening interest, very different from the ideas usually associated with the gloom of a convent.
The churches of Ghent in which, as usual, the grand objects of curiosity and vertu are amassed and exhibited, are in pointof number, richness, and sombre beauty, quite proportionate to the other attractions of Ghent. They are all, (with one exception, that of St. Peter’s, which is a copy of the one at Rome,) built in the same venerable and massive style of gothic architecture, with huge square turrets, lofty aisles, rich altars, pulpits of carved oak and marble, and chapels decorated with paintings by the old masters of the Flemish School. The population is almost exclusively Roman Catholic, hardly 2000 of its 95,000 inhabitants being of the reformed religion. For the use of the latter, a church was appropriated by the King of Holland, in 1817, which had once been attached to a convent of Capuchins, and on their suppression, had been converted into a military magazine and hospital by the French. Such, however, was the animosity of the priesthood to this act of toleration on the part of the King, that it was for some time necessary to station a guard, both within the church and without, to protect thosewho frequented it from violence or insult. And yet Ghent has the reputation of being the least intolerant and bigoted city in the Netherlands.
The cathedral of St. Bavon, besides being the oldest, is by far the most magnificent in Ghent, and seems, in fact, to have a high reputation for its splendour, as we repeatedly heard of it at subsequent points of our tour. The whole of the basement is occupied by one vast crypt orsouterrain, the low vaulted arches of which, rest on the shafts of the huge columns which support the roof of the grand edifice above. Like it, it is divided into a series of little gloomy chapels, containing the tombs of some of the ancient families of distinction, and occasionally decorated by pictures and statues of extreme antiquity. The brothers John and Hubert Van Eyck, the painters and their sister, who was likewise an artist, sleep in one grave under the floor of this melancholy vault. Over the grand entrance to the cathedral is a curious old statue of St. Bavon holding a hawkupon his wrist, a curious attitude, though characteristic of the manners of the times. The coup-d’œil of the interior is surprisingly grand, the choir being separated from the nave and aisles by lofty columns of variegated marbles, and the entrance to each of the four and twenty chapels which surround the church, covered by a screen of neat design, sometimes in carved oak or stone, but more frequently in gilded brass or iron of exquisite workmanship.
The numerous paintings with which the church is covered are few of them of extraordinary merit, they are chiefly by the artists, contemporary and subsequent to Rubens, Crayer, Otto Vennius, Honthorst, Serghers and others. The most remarkable painting is that of the Saint Agneau or adoration of the lamb by the Van Eycks. It is in marvellous preservation, and is one of the most valuable specimens remaining of the school to which it belongs. It contains a profusion of figures, finished with the richness and delicacy of a miniature, and represents the lamb upon an altar, inthe midst of a rich landscape, surrounded by angels, and worshipped by multitudes of popes, emperors, monks and nuns. It is surmounted and surrounded by a number of compartments, containing pictures of the Saviour and the Virgin, and representing divers incidents in the life of the former; in addition to these, there were originally six doors orvoletsto the picture, which, by some ignorance of the persons in charge of them, were actually sold in 1816 for a mere trifle to an Englishman called Solly, from whom they were bought by the King of Prussia, for 400,000 francs, and they now decorate the museum at Berlin. There is also a picture by Rubens, of St. Bavon retiring to a monastery, after having distributed his goods to the poor, which was carried by Napoleon to Paris, and restored in 1819.
The choir, which is finished with carved mahogany, has on either side, at the entrance, two statues of St. Peter and St. Paul casting the viper from his hand, by Van Poucke, a modern Flemish sculptor,who died at Rome in 1809. Among its other ornaments are four lofty candelabra of polished copper, once the property of Charles I of England, and sold along with the other decorations of the chapel at Whitehall by order of the Commonwealth. Round the altar are also some tombs of the former prelates of Ghent, amongst which, that by Duquesnoy of the Bishop Triest, is regarded as the finest piece of sculpture in the Netherlands. The mitred dignitaries each repose upon his sculptured sarcophagus, or kneel with clasped and upraised hands:
“Seeming to say the prayer when dead,That living they had never said.”
“Seeming to say the prayer when dead,That living they had never said.”
“Seeming to say the prayer when dead,That living they had never said.”
“Seeming to say the prayer when dead,
That living they had never said.”
Here, again, the pulpit is an extraordinary production in carved wood of huge dimensions, but with white marble ornaments and figures injudiciously intermingled with the rich old oak. The principal figures are statues of Truth awakening Time, and presenting to him the scriptures with the motto, “surge qui dormis illuminabitte Christus!” This pulpit, which is far inferior to those at Antwerp and elsewhere, is not by Verbruggen, who is the Canova of wood, but by an artist of Ghent, called Laurence Delvaux, who died about 1780.
The other churches present a succession of objects which is almost as tiresome to visit as it is tedious to enumerate. That of St. Michael, in extent and magnificence, is second only to the cathedral. Amongst a host of ordinary paintings, and some by modern artists, especially one of great merit, by Paelinck, a native of Ghent, it possesses a chef d’œuvre of Vandyk, a “Crucifixion,” in which he has introduced the same magnificent horse as in his picture of Charles V, in the Sal di Baroccio, at Florence. Sir Joshua Reynolds calls it “one of his noblest works.” It had been injured by repeated cleanings, but M. Voisin, the historian of Ghent, observes with much naïveté, “qu’il vient d’être restauré par un artiste habile.” Who he may be who has ventured torestore a chef-d’œuvre of Vandyck, M. Voisin discreetly forbears to name.
An association, called the Brotherhood of St. Ivoy, formerly met in this church, which was composed of the most distinguished members of the bar, who gave advice to the poor, and bore the expense of any legal process which it might be necessary to institute for them out of a common fund. This law hospital has not, however, survived the revolution of 1830. The music and choir of St. Michael’s are remarkably fine, the organ is of extraordinary richness and volume, and nothing could possibly be more sublime than its melodious tones resounding amidst the “dim religious light” of the old gothic church, when
“Through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.”
“Through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.”
“Through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.”
“Through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.”
In the church of St. Sauveur, Rue des Prêtres, there is a painting of the “Descent from the Cross,” by Van Hanslaere, oneof the most distinguished living artists of Belgium, and in that of St. Peter, a copy by Van Thulden, from Rubens’ picture of the Triumph of Truth over Luther and Calvin, who are represented in the agonies of annihilation, trampled underfoot by the rampant followers of Truth, who are pursuing their disciples in all directions. In the foreground, a lion is introduced allegorically, pawing a wolf whom he has just strangled, emblematic, no doubt, of the fall of heresy under the hands of the church.
We drove to the village of Gavre, about ten miles from Ghent, to dine at the villa of M. Grenier, a very splendid house recently erected upon one of the very few elevated points, for it cannot be called a hill, which are to be found in Flanders, and which, from the vast level plain over which it rises, commands a most enchanting view; the ancient town of Audenarde lyingimmediatelyin front, and the “lazy Scheldt” winding its devious way amidst innumerable hamlets, woods and villages as far as the eye could reach.
It was at Gavre, that the Duke of Marlborough encamped on his triumphal march from Ramillies, where, after taking all the intervening cities and strong-holds of Flanders, together with Audenarde and Ghent, almost in the space of a week, he addresses thence to the Duchess the remarkable letter, in which he says, “so many towns have submitted since the battle, that it really looks more like a dream than truth,” and in another place, he says, “I am so persuaded that this campaign will give us a good peace, that I beg of you to do all you can that our house at Woodstock may be carried up as much as possible, that I may have a prospect of living in it.”
It was the fête of some saint in the villages through which we drove, and every country inn seemed full of enjoyment; tents filled with dancers, and parties engaged in athletic games before the doors. In one place a considerable crowd were assembled round the maypole to shoot with the bow at the popinjay. This is a favourite exercise of the Flemings, who are exceedinglyexpert in it, the company which we passed, was composed indifferently of the gentry and peasants, who seemed to enter into it with equal spirit. At Ghent, there is an association for the purpose of practising the use of the bow, called the Confrères de Saint George, a relic of the time when every district of Flanders had a similar society, all which used to meet at Ghent to contend for the prize, and the successful town caused a mass to be celebrated in honour of the victor, and gave to the poor the scarlet cloaks, laced with gold, which had been worn as the costume of the day.
The roads through this part of Belgium are made like those of France, with a raised pavé in the centre only, a custom enforced, in a great part, by the great expense of bringing stones from a distance for their construction, scarcely any being to be found in Flanders or the west. The bye-roads being all across sand, unconsolidated in any way, are all but impassable.
The Belgian hour for dinner is equally early with that of the tables-d’hôte, beingfrom two to three or four o’clock, and as there is no prolonged sitting for wine afterwards, the entertainment ends before we in England think of dressing for dinner. The cuisine at M. Grenier’s was altogether French, including, however, some dishes peculiarly Flemish, amongst others, the large smoked ham, which is an invariable accompaniment at every table throughout Belgium, and seems to be in as high estimation now, as when Rome was supplied with them by the ancient Menapii of the Ardennes; it comes to table decorated by a chased silver handle screwed on to the shank bone, to avoid using the fork in carving it. Another national dish was thehareng frais, herring pickled like anchovies, and used like them without further cooking: it is, however, equally common in Holland, where the fishery is of high importance—in Belgium it is rapidly declining.
The style of everything in M. Grenier’s establishment, and in those of the same rank where we had the honour to visit, was essentially French, his family havingbeen educated in Paris, and the conversation was of course in French, although every one at table seemed to understand English perfectly. Flemish is spoken only by the peasantry and the working classes. The account given of it as a dialect was, that “Dutch is bad German, and Flemish bad Dutch.” It is, however, by no means inharmonious, and in point of antiquity, I was told by Count d’Hane, that the earliest printed comedy in Europe still exists in Flemish. A stroll in the grounds after dinner, and music and singing on our return to the drawing-room concluded an exceedingly agreeable evening, and we returned early to Ghent.
10 September, 1840.
We had, this morning, a visit from Count d’Hane, a member of the “senate,” the elective House of Peers for Belgium, to which he is returned for the district of Alost. The Count is a younger brother of the most distinguished family of Ghent, and head of the educational section of the legislature,besides being an ardent amateur of agriculture. He is married to the only daughter of M. de Potter (not the de Potter of the Revolution, however) and in conformity to the Flemish usage, has appended the name of that family to his own. We drove along with him to the house of his mother, the Dowager Countess d’Hane de Steenhausen, in the Rue des Champs, the most splendid mansion in the city, built in the style of Louis XIV, and containing a collection of choice pictures of the Dutch school. The dining-room is a superb saloon with mirrored walls, an inlaid parquet and richly painted ceiling: the latter, however, is torn down in many places, the soldiers of the French revolutionary army having thrust their sabres through it in 1794, in the hope of finding gold concealed between it and the floor above, an outrage, the traces of which the owners have never removed. It was in these apartments that the late Count received the Emperor Alexander on his return from England after the Peace of Paris, and the same suite of roomswere subsequently the residence of Louis XVIII, who fled hither during the Hundred Days, and remained till the events of 1815, restored him to his throne.
A few doors distant in the same street, we visited the gallery of M. Schamps which had long been regarded as one of the lions of Ghent. It has since been dispersed and sold. When we saw it, it was numbered and catalogued, and the rooms filled with dealers from all parts of Europe, inspecting their intended purchases previous to the auction, which was to take place a few days after. The gentleman by whom it was originally collected is but recently dead, and its dispersion now was attributed, we were told, partly to impatience of the present proprietor, at having his retirement perpetually invaded by travellers to see his pictures, and partly by the operation of the law against primogeniture, which rendered its sale indispensable, in order to a more equal partition of the family estates.
Count d’Hane did us the favour to conduct us over the buildings of the University,one of the many valuable institutions for which Belgium is indebted to the munificence of the King of Holland. It was founded by him in 1816, and thrown open for the reception of students in 1826; an inscription upon the portico records the event,Auspice Gulielmo I. Acad. Conditore, posuit, S. P. Q. G.DCCCXXVI. the initials in the usual magniloquence of the low countries, represent the Senatus Populus Que Gandavensis!
The buildings from a design of Roelandt, an artist of Nieuport, are in a style of chaste Corinthian architecture, the portico ornamented with sculpture in alto relievo, the vestibule superbly flagged in a mosaic of colored marbles, and the hall and staircase ornamented with busts and caryatides in white marble. The theatres are on a magnificent scale, richly furnished and lighted by lofty lanterns in the vaults of the roof. The course of education, besides most extensive primary schools, comprises the faculties of law, medicine and divinity, with science and belles-lettres, and the number ofstudents is between 300 and 400 attending the classes of thirty professors. There is attached to the University a library of sixty thousand volumes, a collection of philosophical apparatus of great value, and museums of antiquities, natural history, mineralogy and comparative anatomy, and the whole institution having been recently remodelled and placed under the care of a vigilant and anxious committee, it promises to be one of the most important and beneficial foundations in the kingdom.
The entire system of primary education, however, is in anything but a satisfactory position in Belgium. Under the regence of Holland, the Dutch system of rational education was imparted to Belgium. Schools were established in every district, under the superintendance of provincial committees, instruction was supplied gratuitously, and the children of the poor were required to avail themselves of it, whilst to secure its efficiency, no teacher was allowed to be employed who had not undergone a thoroughexamination, and been furnished with a diploma of competency.
This feature of the government was from the first vehemently opposed by the Belgian clergy, who saw in it an encroachment upon the right claimed by the Catholic Church to regulate the quantity as well as the quality of national education, and when in 1830, they succeeded in effecting the “repeal of the Union,” between the two countries, the entire system was abolished at one fell swoop.[19]
Education, like every thing else, was declared to be free, and the new government did away with all official supervision of schools, and the necessity for any enquiry into the competency of teachers. The result of this has been, that although the number of schools has not been diminished, the nature of the instruction and the qualification of the teacher, is of so very low a description, as to be thus characterised ina modern work upon the subject, by M. Ducpétiaux,[20]himself, a distinguished Belgian, and intimately acquainted with the subject.
“Instruction in our schools is generally faulty and incomplete, and little merits the praise which has been bestowed upon it.The best thing that can be said in its favour is, that it is better than no instruction at all, and that it is more satisfactory to see children sitting on the benches of a school, even although they be doing nothing to the purpose, than to behold them working mischief on the streets. They are taught to read, write, and figure a little;to teach them less is scarcely possible. We speak here of primary schools in general, and affirm that those who attribute a moralising influence to the majority of these schools, deceive themselves in a manner the most strangeand prejudicial to the interest of the class whose children are the pupils in these seminaries. A degree of instruction so limited, so meagre, is nearly equivalent to none whatever; and it is impossible that things should be in a better case, seeing that the education of theteachersthemselves is of the most imperfect kind. Barely do these persons know the little which they undertake to impart, and they have, generally speaking, the most superficial notions of those methods of instilling knowledge, which they impudently attempt to apply in the case of those only a little more ignorant than themselves.”
The experiment of education on both systems has now had an ample trial in Belgium; first in fifteen years of government protection, and now in ten years of “free trade.” The result has been a convincing failure, and those most clamorous for the latter system in 1830, are now the most urgent in their demands to revert to the former. The provincial deputations, in their reports, recommend the samecourse, and the legislature have so far subscribed to their views, as to propose a projet de loi for carrying them into effect, by restoring a modification of the system, as before the revolution.
We dined with Count d’Hane at three o’clock in the afternoon, and as usual, the party broke up between seven and eight o’clock.
Note.—As the comparative cost of machinery in Belgium, and in England, is a matter of much interest at the present moment, a list of the prices of that manufactured at Ghent, with the English charges for the same articles, contrasted with each item, will be found in the Appendix No. I.
Note.—As the comparative cost of machinery in Belgium, and in England, is a matter of much interest at the present moment, a list of the prices of that manufactured at Ghent, with the English charges for the same articles, contrasted with each item, will be found in the Appendix No. I.