,transcriber's ,note   ,the punctuation 
and spelling from the original text have
 been faithfully  preserved4 ,only      
obvious typographical errors have been  
corrected4    ,illustration3 ,the ,great
 ,cloth ,hall3 ,ypres   ,illustration3  
,,vanished ,,towers and ,,chimes of     
,,flanders   ,written and ,pictured by  
,george ,wharton ,edwards   ,the ,penn  
,publishing ,company #aiaf              
,,philadelphia    ,,copyright   #aiaf   
,,by   ,,george   ,,wharton   ,,edwards 
,vanished ,towers and ,chimes of        
,flanders     ,,foreword   ,the unhappy 
,flemish people1 who are at present much
 in the lime-light1 because of the      
invasion and destruction of their once  
smiling and happy little country1 were  
of a character but little known or      
understood by the great outside world4  
,the very names of their cities and     
towns sounded strangely in foreign ears4
  ,towns named ,ypres1 ,courtrai1       
,alost1 ,furnes1 ,tournai1 were in the  
beginning of the invasion               

unpronounceable by most people1 but     
little by little they have become       
familiar through newspaper reports of   
the barbarities said to have been       
practised upon the people by the        
invaders4 ,books giving the             
characteristics of these heroic people  
are eagerly sought4 ,unhappily these are
 few1 and it would seem that these very 
inadequate and random notes of mine upon
 some phases of the lives of these      
people1 particularly those related to   
architecture1 and the music of their    
renowned chimes of bells1 might be      
useful4  ,that the ,fleming was not of  
an artistic nature ,i found during my   
residence in these towns of ,flanders4  
,the great towers and wondrous          
architectural marvels throughout this   
smiling green flat landscape appealed to
 him not at all4 ,he was not interested 
in either art1 music1 or literature4 ,he
 was of an intense practical nature4 ,i 
am of course speaking of the ordinary or
 ,bourgeois class now4 ,then1 too1 the  

class of great landed proprietors was   
numerically very small indeed1 the land 
generally being parcelled or hired out  
in small squares or holdings by the     
peasants themselves4 ,occasionally the  
commune owned the land1 and sublet      
portions to the farmers at prices       
controlled to some extent by the demand4
 ,rarely was a taking 7so-called7 more  
than five acres or so in extent4 ,many  
of the old ,noblesse are without landed 
estates1 and this1 ,i am informed1 was  
because their lands were forfeited when 
the ,french ,republic annexed ,belgium1 
and were never restored to them4 ,thus  
the whole region of the ,flemish        
littoral was given over to small        
holdings which were worked on shares by 
the peasants under general conditions   
which would be considered intolerable by
 the ,anglo-,saxon4 ,a common and rather
 depressing sight on the ,belgian roads 
at dawn of day1 were the long lines of  
trudging peasants1 men1 women and boys  
hurrying to the fields for the long     

weary hours of toil lasting often into  
the dark of night4 ,but we were told    
they were working for their own profit1 
were their own masters1 and did not     
grumble4 ,this grinding toil in the     
fields1 as practised here where nothing 
was wasted1 could not of course be a    
happy or healthful work1 nor calculated 
to elevate the peasant in intelligence1 
so as a matter of fact the great body of
 the country people1 who were the       
laborers1 were steeped in an            
extraordinary state of ignorance4  ,if  
their education was neglected1 they are 
still sound ,catholics1 and it may be   
that it was not thought to be in the    
interest of the authorities that they   
should be instructed in more worldly    
affairs4 ,i am not prepared to argue    
this question4 ,i only know that while  
stolid1 and unemotional ordinarily1 they
 are intensely patriotic4 ,they became  
highly excited during the struggle some 
years ago to have their ,flemish tongue 
preserved and taught in the schools1 and

 ,i remember the crowds of people       
thronging the streets of ,antwerp1      
,ghent and ,bruges1 with bands of music 
playing1 and huge banners flying1       
bearing in large letters legends such as
 ,flanders for the ,flemings4 ,hail to  
the ,flemish ,lion and ,flanders to the 
,death4 ,all this was when the struggle 
between the two parties was going on4   
,the ,flemings won1 be it recorded4     
,let alone1 the ,fleming would have     
worked out his own salvation in his own 
way4 ,the country was prosperous4 ,the  
,king and ,queen were popular1 indeed   
beloved2 all seemed to be going well    
with the people4 ,although ,belgium was 
not a military power such as its great  
neighbors to the north1 the east1 and   
the south1 its army played an important 
part in the lives of the people1 and the
 strategical position which the country 
held filled in the map the ever present 
question of balance2 the never absent   
possibility of the occasion arising when
 the army would be called upon to defend

 the neutrality of the little country4  
,but they never dreamed that it would   
come so soon4444 ,one might close with  
the words of the great ,flemish song of 
the poet ,ledeganck3       ,thou art no 
more1      ,the towns of yore3  ,the    
proud-necked1 world-famed towns1  ,the  
doughty lion's lair2   7,written in     
#ahdf47   ,,the ,,author  ,greenwich1   
,conn4    ,april1 #aiaf4     ,contents  
,,page   ,,malines1 ,,and ,,some ,,of   
,,the ,,vanished ,,towers       #ag     
,,some ,,carillons ,,of ,,flanders      
#da   ,,dixmude                         
#ee   ,,ypres                           
#fe   ,,commines                        
#he   ,,bergues                         
#ic   ,,nieuport                        
#ii   ,,alost                           
#aaa   ,,courtrai                       
#aai   ,,termonde 7,,dendermonde7       
#acc   ,,louvain                        
#adg   ,,douai                          
#aeg   ,,oudenaarde                     
#afc   ,,furnes                         

#aga   ,,the ,,artists ,,of ,,malines   
#aha   ,a ,,word ,,about ,,the          
,,belgians                     #aii     
,list of ,illustrations   ,the ,great   
,cloth ,hall3 ,ypres                    
,frontispiece   ,title page decoration  
,,page   ,the ,tower of ,st4 ,rombauld3 
,malines                                
#ah   ,malines3 ,a ,quaint ,back ,street
                                    #bb 
,porte de ,bruxelles3 ,malines          
#bf   ,the ,beguinage3 ,dixmude         
#cd   ,detail of the ,chimes in the     
,belfry of ,st4 ,nicholas3 ,dixmude     
#db   ,the ,belfry3 ,bergues            
#df   ,the ,old ,porte ,marechale3      
,bruges                                 
#ej   ,the ,ancient ,place3 ,dixmude    
#ef   ,the ,great ,jube1 or ,altar      
,screen3 ,dixmude                       
#eh   ,the ,fish ,market3 ,dixmude      
#fj   ,no4 #d1 ,rue de ,dixmude3 ,ypres 
#gb   ,arcade of the ,cloth ,hall3      
,ypres                                  
#gf   ,gateway1 ,wall1 and ,old ,moat3  

,ypres                               #hj
   ,the ,belfry3 ,commines              
#hh   ,the ,towers of ,st4 ,winoc3      
,bergues                                
#id   ,the ,tower of the ,templars3     
,nieuport                               
#ajj   ,the ,town ,hall--,hall of the   
,knights ,templar3 ,nieuport            
#ajc   ,tower in the ,grand' ,place3    
,nieuport                               
#ajd   ,the ,town ,hall3 ,alost         
#aab   ,the ,belfry3 ,courtrai          
#abj   ,the ,brol ,towers3 ,courtrai    
#abd   ,the ,museum3 ,termonde          
#ach   ,the ,cathedral3 ,louvain        
#adh   ,the ,town ,hall3 ,louvain       
#aej   ,the ,town ,hall3 ,douai         
#aeh   ,the ,town ,hall3 ,oudenaarde    
#afd   ,old ,square and ,church3        
,oudenaarde                             
#aff   ,the ,fish ,market3 ,ypres       
#agb   ,the ,church of ,our ,lady of    
,hanswyk                                
#aij     ,malines  ,illustration3       
,,vanished ,,towers and ,,chimes ,,of   

,,flanders     ,malines   ,the immense1 
flat-topped1 gray ,gothic spire which   
dominated the picturesque line of low1  
red-tiled roofs showing here and there  
above the clustering1 dark-green masses 
of trees in level meadows1 was that of  
,st4 ,rombauld1 designated by ,vauban as
 the ,eighth ,wonder of the ,world1     
constructed by ,keldermans1 of the      
celebrated family of architects4 ,he it 
was who designed the ,bishop's ,palace1 
and the great town halls of ,louvain1   
,oudenaarde1 and ,brussels1 although    
some authorities allege that ,gauthier  
,coolman designed the ,cathedral4 ,but  
without denying the power and artistry  
of this latter master1 we may still     
believe in the well-established claim of
 ,keldermans1 who showed in this great  
tower the height of art culminating in  
exalted workmanship4 ,keldermans was    
selected by ,marguerite and ,philip of  
,savoie to build the ,greatest ,church  
in ,europe1 and the plans1 drawn with   
the pen on large sheets of parchment    

pasted together1 which were preserved in
 the ,brussels ,museum up to the        
outbreak of the war1 show what a wonder 
it was to have been4 ,these plans show  
the spire complete1 but the project was 
never realized4  ,charles the ,fifth1   
filled with admiration for this         
masterpiece1 showered ,keldermans with  
honors2 made him director of            
construction of the towns of ,antwerp1  
,brussels1 and ,malines1 putting thus   
the seal of artistic perfection upon his
 dynasty4  ,illustration3 ,the ,tower of
 ,st4 ,rombauld3 ,malines  ,historical  
documents in the ,brussels ,library     
contained the following3  ,the precise  
origin of the commencements of the      
,cathedral of ,malines is unknown1 as   
the ancient records were destroyed1     
together with the archives1 during the  
troubles in the sixteenth century4 ,the 
',nefs' and the transepts are the most  
ancient1 their construction dating from 
the thirteenth century4 ,it is          
conjectured that the first three        

erections of altars in the choir and the
 consecration of the monument took place
 in ,march1 #acab4 ,the great           
conflagration of ,may1 #acdb1 which     
destroyed nearly all of the town1 spared
 the church itself1 but consumed the    
entire roof of heavy beams of ,norway   
pine4 ,the ruins remained thus for a    
long period because of lack of funds for
 restoration1 and in the meantime       
services were celebrated in the church  
of ,st4 ,catherine4 ,it was not until   
#acff that the cathedral was            
sufficiently repaired to be used by the 
canons4 ,once begun1 however1 the       
repairs continued1 although slowly4 ,but
 the tower remained uncompleted as it   
was at the outbreak of the ,great ,war1 
standing above the square at the great  
height of #ig4gj metres4 ,on each face  
of the tower was a large open-work clock
 face1 or cadran1 of gilded copper4     
,each face was forty-seven feet in      
diameter4 ,these clock faces were the   
work of ,jacques ,willmore1 an          

,englishman by birth1 but a habitant of 
,malines1 and cost the town the sum of  
ten thousand francs 7#bjjj74 ,the       
citizens so appreciated his work that   
the council awarded him a pension of two
 hundred florins1 which he enjoyed for  
fourteen years4  ,st4 ,rombauld was     
famous for its chime of forty-five bells
 of remarkable silvery quality3         
masterpieces of ,flemish bell founding4 
,malines was for many hundreds of years 
the headquarters of bell founding4 ,of  
the master bell founders1 the most      
celebrated1 according to the archives1  
was ,jean ,zeelstman1 who practised his 
art for thirty years4 ,he made1 in      
#addf1 for the ancient church of ,saint 
,michel at ,louvain 7destroyed by the   
,vandals in #aiad7 a large bell1 bearing
 the inscription3 ,michael prepositus   
paradisi quem nonoripicant angelorum    
civis fusa per ,johann ,zeelstman anno  
dmi1 m4 ccc4 xlvi4  ,the family of      
,waghemans furnished a great number of  
bell founders of renown1 who made many  

of the bells in the carillon of the     
cathedral of ,st4 ,rombauld2 and there  
was lastly the ,van den ,gheyns 7or     
,ghein71 of which ,william of           
,bois-le-,duc became ,bourgeoisie       
7,burgess7 of ,malines in #aejf4 ,his   
son ,pierre succeeded to his business in
 #aecc1 and in turn left a son ,pierre  
,,ii1 who carried on the great repute of
 his father4 ,the tower of the ,hospice 
of ,notre ,dame contained in #aiad a    
remarkable old bell of clear mellow     
tone--bearing the inscription3 ,peeter  
,van den ,ghein heeft mi ,ghegotten in't
 jaer ,m4,d4 ,,lxxx ,,viii4 ,on the     
lower rim were the words3 ,campana      
,sancti spiritus ,divi ,rumlodi4 ,pierre
 ,van den ,ghein ,,ii had but one son1  
,pierre ,,iii1 who died without issue in
 #afah4 ,william1 however1 left a second
 son1 from whom descended the line of   
later bell founders1 who made many of   
the bells of ,malines4 ,of these ,pierre
 ,,iv1 who associated himself with      
,pierre de ,clerck 7a cousin german71   

made the great bourdon called ,salvator4
  ,during the later years of the        
seventeenth century1 the ,van den       
,gheyns seem to have quitted the town1  
seeking their fortunes elsewhere1 for   
the foundry passed into other and less  
competent hands4  ,in ,malines dwelt the
 ,primate of ,belgium1 the now          
celebrated ,cardinal ,mercier1 whose    
courageous attitude in the face of the  
invaders has aroused the admiration of  
the whole civilized world4 ,malines1    
although near ,brussels1 had1 up to the 
outbreak of the war and its subsequent  
ruin1 perhaps better preserved its      
characteristics than more remote towns  
of ,flanders4 ,the market place was     
surrounded by purely ,flemish gabled    
houses of grayish stucco and stone1 and 
these were most charmingly here and     
there reflected in the sluggish water of
 the rather evil-smelling river ,dyle4  
,catholicism was a most powerful factor 
here1 and the struggle between ,luther  
and ,loyola1 separating the ancient from

 the modern in ,flemish architecture1   
was nowhere better exemplified than in  
,malines4 ,it has been said that the    
modern ,jesuitism succeeded to the      
ancient mysticism without displacing it1
 and the installation of the first in   
the very sanctuary of the latter has    
manifested itself in the ornamentation  
of the ecclesiastical edifices          
throughout ,flanders1 and indeed this   
fact is very evident to the travelers in
 this region4 ,the people of ,malines   
jealously retained the integrity of     
their ancient tongue1 and many books in 
the language were published here4       
,associations abounded in the town      
banded together for the preservation of 
,flemish as a language4 ,on fte days    
these companies1 headed by bands of     
music1 paraded the streets1 bearing     
large silken banners on which1 with the 
,lion of ,flanders1 were inscriptions   
such as ,flanders for the ,flemish1 and 
,hail to our ,flemish ,lion4 ,on these  
occasions1 too1 the chimes in ,st4      

,rombauld were played by a celebrated   
bell-ringer1 while the square below the 
tower was black with people listening   
breathlessly to the songs of their      
forefathers1 often joining in the       
chorus1 the sounds of the voices        
carrying a long distance4 ,on the       
opposite side of the square1 in the     
center of which was a fine statue of    
,margaret of ,austria1 adjoining the    
recently restored ,halles1 a fine       
building in the purest ,renaissance was 
being constructed1 certainly a credit to
 the town1 and an honor to its          
architect1 attesting as it did the      
artistic sense and prosperity of the    
people4 ,this1 too1 lies now in         
ashes--alas6  ,flanders fairly bloomed1 
if ,i may use the expression1 with      
exquisite architecture1 and this garden 
spot1 this cradle of art1 as it has well
 been called1 is levelled now in heaps  
of shapeless ruin4  ,illustration3      
,malines3 ,a ,quaint ,back ,street      
,certainly in this damp1 low-lying      

country the ,gothic style flourished    
amazingly1 and brought into existence   
talent which produced many cathedrals1  
town halls1 and gateways1 the like of   
which were not to be found elsewhere in 
,europe4 ,these buildings1 ornamented   
with lace-like traceries and crowded    
with statuary1 their interiors          
embellished with choir screens of       
marvelous detail wrought in stone1      
preserved to the world the art of a     
half-forgotten past1 and these works of 
incomparable art were being cared for   
and restored by the ,state for the      
benefit of the whole world4 ,here1 too1 
in ,malines was a most quaint           
,beguinage1 or asylum1 in an old quarter
 of the town1 hidden away amid a network
 of narrow streets3 a community of      
gentle-mannered1 placid-faced women1 who
 dwelt in a semi-religious retirement   
after the ancient rules laid down by    
,sainte ,begga1 in little1 low1         
red-roofed houses ranged all about a    
grass-grown square4 ,here1 after        

depositing a considerable sum of money1 
they were permitted to live in groups of
 three and four in each house1 each     
coming and going as she pleased1 without
 taking any formal vow4 ,their days were
 given up to church1 hospital1 parish   
duties and work among the sick and      
needy3 an order1 by the way1 not found  
outside of ,flanders4  ,each day brought
 for them a monotonous existence1 the   
same duties at the same hours1 waking in
 a gentle quietude1 rhythmed by the     
silvery notes of the convent bell       
recalling them to the duties of their   
pious lives1 all oblivious of the great 
outside world4 ,each ,beguinage door    
bore the name of some saint1 and often  
in a moss-covered niche in the old walls
 was seen a small statue of some saint1 
or holy personage1 draped in vines4     
,the heavy1 barred door was nail        
studded1 and furnished usually with an  
iron-grilled wicket1 where at the sound 
of the bell of the visitor a panel slid 
back and a white-coiffed face appeared4 

,this secluded quarter was not          
exclusively inhabited by these gentle   
women1 for there were other dwellings   
for those that loved the quiet solitude 
of this end of the town4  ,the ,malines 
,beguinage was suppressed by the        
authorities in #agih1 and it was not    
until #ahjd that the order was permitted
 to resume operations under their former
 rights1 nor were they allowed to resume
 their quaint costume until the year    
#ahad4  ,in the small church on my last 
visit ,i saw the portrait of the        
,beguine ,catherine ,van ,halter1 the   
work of the painter ,i4 ,cossiers1 and  
another picture by him representing the 
dead ,christ on the knees of the ,virgin
 surrounded by disciples4 ,cossiers     
seemed to revel in the ghastliness of   
the scene1 but the workmanship was      
certainly of a very high order4 ,the    
,beguine showed me with much pride their
 great treasure1 a tiny1 six-inch figure
 of the ,crucifixion1 carved from one   
piece of ivory by ,jerome due ,quesnoy4 

,it was of very admirable workmanship1  
the face being remarkable in expression4
 ,despatches 7,march1 #aiaf7 report this
 ,beguinage entirely destroyed by the   
siege guns4 ,one wonders what was the   
fate of the saintly women4  ,on the     
,place de la ,boucherie in ,malines was 
the old ,palais1 which was used as a    
museum and contained many ill-assorted  
objects of the greatest interest and    
value1 such as medals1 embroideries1    
weapons1 and a fine collection of       
ancient miniatures on ivory4 ,there was 
also a great iron ,armoire ,aux         
,chartes1 quite filled with priceless   
parchments1 great vellum tomes1 bound in
 brass2 large waxen seals of dead and   
gone rulers and nobles2 heavy volumes   
bound in leather1 containing the        
archives4 ,and also a most curious      
strong box bound in iron bands1 nail    
studded1 and with immense locks and     
keys1 upon which reclined a strange1    
wooden figure with a grinning face1 clad
 in the moth-eaten ancient dress of     

,malines1 representing ,op ,signorken   
7the card states71 but the attendant    
told me it was the ,vuyle ,bridegroom1  
and related a story of it which cannot  
be set down here1 ,flemish ideas and    
speech being rather freer than ours4    
,but the people1 or rather the peasants1
 are devoted to him1 and there were     
occasions when he was borne in triumph  
in processions when the town was en fte4
  ,the ancient palace of ,margaret of   
,york1 wife of ,charles the ,bold1 who  
after the tragic death of her consort   
retired to ,malines1 was in the ,rue de 
l',empereur4 ,it was used latterly as   
the hospital1 and was utterly destroyed 
in the bombardment of #aiad4  ,the only 
remnant of the ancient fortifications1  
,i found on my last visit in #aiaj1 was 
the fine gate1 the ,porte de ,bruxelles1
 with a small section of the walls1 all 
reflected in an old moat now overgrown  
with moss and sedge grass4 ,there were1 
too1 quaint vistas of the old tower of  
,our ,lady of ,hanswyk and a number of  

arched bridges along the banks of the   
yellow ,dyle1 which flows sluggishly    
through the old town4  ,on the          
,quai-au-sel1 ,i saw in #aiaj1 a number 
of ancient faades1 most picturesque and 
quaintly pinnacled4 ,there also a small 
botanical garden floriated most         
luxuriantly1 and here again the ,dyle   
reflected the mossy walls of ancient    
stone palaces1 and there were rows of   
tall1 wooden1 carved posts standing in  
the stream1 to which boats were moored  
as in ,venice4  ,illustration3 ,porte de
 ,bruxelles3 ,malines  ,throughout the  
town1 up to the time of the bombardment1
 were many quaint market-places1 all    
grass grown1 wherein on market days were
 tall-wheeled1 peasant carts1 and lines 
of huge1 hollow-backed1 thick-legged1   
hairy horses1 which were being offered  
for sale4 ,and there were innumerable   
fountains and tall iron pumps of knights
 in armor2 forgotten heroes of bygone   
ages1 all of great artistic merit and   
value2 and over all was the dominating  

tower of ,st4 ,rombauld1 vast1 gray1 and
 mysterious1 limned against the pearly1 
luminous sky1 the more impressive       
perhaps because of its unfinished state4
 ,and so1 however interesting the other 
architectural attractions of ,malines   
might be1 and they were many1 it was    
always to the great cathedral that one  
turned1 for the townspeople were so     
proud of the great gray tower1 venerated
 throughout the whole region1 that they 
were insistent that we should explore it
 to the last detail4 ,the bells1 they   
would exclaim1 the great bells of ,saint
 ,rombauld6 ,you have not yet seen them8
  ,st4 ,rombauld simply compelled one's 
attention1 and ended by laying so firm a
 hold upon the imagination that at no   
moment of the day or night was one      
wholly unconscious of its unique        
presence4 ,by day and night its chimes  
floated through the air like the music  
of fairy bells1 weird and soft1 noting  
the passing hours in this ancient       
,flemish town4 ,for four hundred years  

it had watched over the varying fortunes
 of this region1 gaining that precious  
quality which appealed to ,ruskin1 who  
said1 ,its glory is in its age and in   
that deep sense of voicefulness1 of     
stern watching1 of mysterious sympathy1 
nay1 even of approval or condemnation1  
which we feel in walls that have long   
been washed by the passing waves of     
humanity4  ,from below the eye was      
carried upward by range upon range of   
exquisite ,gothic detail to the four    
great open-work1 gilded1 clock discs1   
through which one could dimly see the   
beautiful1 open-pointed lancets behind  
which on great beams hung the carillon  
bells1 row upon row4  ,no words of mine 
can give any idea of the rich grayish   
brown of this old tower against the pale
 luminous sky1 or the pathetic charm of 
its wild bell music1 shattering down    
through the silent watches of the night1
 over the sleeping town1 as ,i have     
heard it1 standing by some silent1 dark1
 palace-bordered canal1 watching the    

tall tower melting into the immensity of
 the dusk1 or by day in varying light   
and shade1 in storm and sunshine1 with  
wind-driven clouds chasing each other   
across the sky4  ,the ascent of the     
tower was a formidable task1 and really 
it seemed as if it must have been far   
more than three hundred and fifty feet  
to the topmost gallery1 when ,i essayed 
it on that stormy ,august day4 ,it was  
not an easy task to gain admittance to  
the tower2 on two former occasions1 when
 ,i made the attempt1 the custode was   
not to be found4 ,he had gone to market 
and taken the key to the tower door with
 him1 said the withered old dame who at 
length understood my wish4 ,on this day1
 however1 she produced the key1 a huge  
iron one1 weighing1 ,i should say1 half 
a pound1 from a nail behind the green   
door of the entry4 ,she unlocked a      
heavy1 white-washed door into a dusty1  
dim vestibule1 and then proceeded to    
lock me in1 pointing to another door at 
the farther end1 saying1 as she returned

 to her savory stew pot on the iron     
stove1 ,montez1 ,montez1 vous trouverez 
l'escalier4 ,the heavy door swung to by 
a weight on a cord1 and ,i was at the   
bottom step of the winding stairway of  
the tower4 ,for a few steps upward the  
way was in darkness1 up the narrow stone
 steps1 clinging to a waxy1 slippery    
rope attached to the wall1 which was    
grimy with dust1 the steps sloping worn 
and uneven4 ,quaint1 gloomy openings in 
the wall revealed themselves from time  
to time as ,i toiled upwards1 openings  
into deep gulfs of mysterious gloom1    
spanned at times by huge oaken beams4   
,here and there at dim landings1 lighted
 by narrow ,gothic slits in the walls1  
were blackened1 low doorways heavily    
bolted and studded with iron nails4 ,the
 narrow slits of windows served only to 
let in dim1 dusty beams of violet light4
 ,through one dark slit in the wall ,i  
caught sight of the huge bulk of a      
bronze bell1 green with the precious    
patina of age1 and ,i fancied ,i heard  

footsteps on the stairway that wound its
 way above4  ,it was the watchman1 a    
great hairy1 oily ,fleming1 clad in a   
red sort of jersey1 and blue patched    
trousers4 ,on the back of his shock of  
pale1 rope-colored hair sat jauntily a  
diminutive cap with a glazed peak4 ,in  
the lobes of his huge ears were small   
gold rings4  ,i was glad to see him and 
to have his company in that place of    
cobwebs and dangling hand rope4 ,i gave 
him a thick black cigar which ,i had    
bought in the market-place that morning1
 and struck a match from which we both  
had a light4 ,he expressed wonder at my 
matches1 those paper cartons common in  
,america1 but which he had never before 
seen4 ,i gave them to him1 to his       
delight4 ,he brought me upwards into a  
room crammed with strange machinery1 all
 cranks and levers and wires and        
pulleys1 and before us two great        
cylinders like unto a ,brobdingnagian   
music box4 ,he drew out a stool for me  
and courteously bade me be seated1      

speaking in ,french with a strong       
,flemish accent4 ,he was1 he said1 a    
mechanic1 whose duty it was to care for 
the bells and the machinery4 ,he had an 
assistant who went on duty at six       
o'clock4 ,he served watches of eight    
hours4 ,there came a whir from a fan    
above1 and a tinkle from a small bell   
somewhere near at hand4 ,he said that   
the half hour would strike in three     
minutes4 ,had ,i ever been in a bell    
tower when the chimes played8 ,yes8     
,then ,m'sieur knew what to expect4  ,i 
took out my watch1 and from the tail of 
my eye ,i fancied that ,i saw a gleam in
 his as he appraised the watch ,i held  
in my hand4 ,he drew his bench nearer to
 me and held out his great hairy1 oily  
paw1 saying1 ,let me see the pretty     
watch4 ,not necessary1 ,i replied1      
putting it back in my pocket and calmly 
eying him1 although my heart began to   
beat fast4 ,i was alone in the tower    
with this hairy ,cerberus1 who1 for all 
,i knew1 might be contemplating doing me

 mischief4  ,if ,i was in danger1 as ,i 
might be1 then ,i resolved to defend    
myself as well as ,i was able4 ,i had an
 ammonia gun in my pocket which ,i      
carried to fend off ugly dogs by the    
roadside1 which infest the country4 ,and
 this ,i carried in my hip pocket4 ,it  
resembled somewhat a forty-four caliber 
revolver4 ,i put my hand behind me1 drew
 it forth1 eying him the while1 and     
ostentatiously toyed with it before     
placing it in my blouse side pocket4 ,it
 had1 ,i thought1 an instantaneous      
effect1 for he drew back1 opening his   
great mouth to say something1 ,i know   
not what nor shall ,i ever know1 for at 
that instant came a clang from the      
machinery1 a warning whir of wheels1 the
 rattle of chains1 and one of the great 
barrels began to revolve slowly2 up and 
down rattled the chains and levers1     
then1 faint1 sweet and far off1 ,i heard
 a melodious jangle followed by the     
first notes of the ,mirleton ,i had so  
often heard below in the town1 but now  

subdued1 etherealized1 and softened like
 unto the dream music one fancies in the
 night4 ,the watchman now grinned       
reassuringly at me1 and1 rising1        
beckoned me with his huge grimy hand to 
follow him4 ,grasping my good ammonia   
gun ,i followed him up a wooden stairway
 to a green baize covered door4 ,this he
 opened to an inferno of crash and din4 
,the air was alive with tumult and the  
booming of heavy metal4 ,we were among  
the great bells of the bottom tier4     
,before us was the bourdon1 so called1  
weighing #b1bjj pounds1 the bronze      
monster upon which the bass note was    
sounded1 and which sounded the hour over
 the level fields of ,flanders4 ,dimly  
above ,i could see other bells of       
various size1 hanging tier upon tier    
from great1 red-painted1 wooden beams   
clamped with iron bands4  ,i contrived  
to keep the watchman ever before me1 not
 trusting him1 although his frank smile 
somewhat disarmed my suspicion4 ,it may 
be ,i did him an injustice1 but ,i liked

 not the avaricious gleam in his little 
slits of eyes4  ,the bells clanged and  
clashed as they would break from their  
fastenings and drop upon us1 and my     
brain reeled with the discord4 ,on they 
beat and boomed1 as if they would never 
stop4 ,no melody was now apparent1      
though down below it had seemed as if   
their sweetness was all too brief4 ,up  
here in the tower they were not at all  
melodious2 they were rough1 discordant1 
and uneven1 some sounding as though out 
of tune and cracked4 ,all of the mystery
 and glamour of sweet tenderness1 all   
their pathos and weirdness1 had quite   
vanished1 and here amid the smell of    
lubricating oil and the heavy1 noisy    
grinding of the cog wheels1 and the     
rattle of iron chains1 all the poetry   
and elusiveness of the bells was        
certainly wanting4  ,all at once just   
before me a great hammer raised its     
head1 and then fell with a sounding     
clang upon the rim of a big bell2 the   
half hour had struck4 ,all about us the 

air resounded and vibrated with the     
mighty waves of sound4 ,from the bells  
above finally came the hum of faint     
harmonics1 and then followed silence    
like the stillness that ensues after a  
heavy clap of thunder4  ,cerberus now   
beckoned me to accompany him amongst the
 bells1 and showed me the machinery that
 sets this great marvel of sound in     
motion4 ,he showed me the huge          
tambour-carillon1 with barrels all      
bestudded with little brass pegs which  
pull the wires connected with the great 
hammers1 which in their turn strike the 
forty-six bells1 that unrivaled chime   
known throughout ,flanders as the master
 work of the ,van den ,gheyns of        
,louvain1 who were1 as already told1 the
 greatest bell founders of the age4     
,the great hour bell weighing1 as       
already noted1 nearly a ton1 required   
the united strength of eight men to ring
 him4 ,cerberus pointed out to me the   
narrow plank runway between the huge    
dusty beams1 whereon these eight men    

stood to their task4 ,the carillon      
tunes1 he told me1 were altered every   
year or so1 and to do this required the 
entire changing of the small brass pegs 
in the cylinders1 a most formidable     
task1 ,i thought4 ,he explained that the
 cutting of each hole costs sixty       
centimes 7twelve cents7 and that there  
were about #cj1jjj holes1 so that the   
change must be quite expensive1 but ,i  
did not figure it out for myself4  ,the 
musical range of this carillon chime of 
,malines may be judged by the fact that 
it was possible to play1 following on   
the hour1 a selection from ,don         
,pasquale1 and on the half and quarter  
hours a few bars from the ,pre aux      
,clercs4 ,every seven and a half minutes
 sounded a few jangling sweet notes1 and
 thus the air over the old town of      
,malines and the small hamlets          
surrounding it both day and night was   
musical with the bells of the carillon4 
,on fte days a certain famous bell      
ringer was engaged by the authorities to

 play the bells from the clavecin4 ,this
 is a sort of keyboard with pedals      
played by hand and foot1 fashioned like 
a rude piano4 ,the work is very hard1   
one would think1 but ,i have heard some 
remarkable results from it4 ,in former  
times the office of carilloneur was a   
most important position1 and1 as in the 
case of the ,van den ,gheyn family of   
,louvain1 it was hereditary4 ,the music 
played by these men1 those morceaux     
fugues1 once the pride and pleasure of  
the ,netherlands1 is now the wonder and 
despair of the modern bell ringer1      
however skillful he may be4             
,illustration3 ,the ,beguinage3 ,dixmude
  ,cerberus informed me that sometimes  
months pass without a visit from a      
stranger to his tower room1 and that he 
had to wind up the mechanism of the     
immense clock twice each day1 and that  
of the carillon separately three times  
each twenty-four hours1 and that it was 
required of him that he should sound two
 strokes upon the do bell after each    

quarter1 to show that he was on the job1
 so to speak4  ,i told him ,i thought   
his task a hard and lonely one1 and ,i  
offered him another of the black cigars1
 which he accepted with civility1 but ,i
 kept my hand ostentatiously in my      
blouse pocket1 where lay the ammonia    
gun1 and he saw plainly that ,i did so4 
,i am inclined now to think that my     
fears1 as far as he was concerned1 were 
groundless1 but nevertheless they were  
very real that day in the old tower of  
,saint ,rombauld4  ,he began his task of
 winding up the mechanism1 while ,i     
mounted the steep steps leading upwards 
to the top gallery4 ,here on the open   
gallery ,i gazed north1 east1 south1 and
 west over the placid1 flat1            
green-embossed meadows threaded with    
silver1 ribbon-like waterways1 upon     
which floated red-sailed barges4 ,below1
 as in the bottom of a bowl1 lay        
,malines1 its small red-roofed houses   
stretching away in all directions to the
 remains of the ancient walls1 topped   

here and there with a red-sailed        
windmill1 in the midst of verdant fresh 
fields wooded here and there with clumps
 of willows1 where the armies of the    
counts of ,flanders1 and the ,van       
,arteveldes1 fought in the olden days4  
,i could see the square below where1 in 
the ,grand' ,place1 those doughty       
,knights of the ,golden ,fleece had     
gathered before the pilgrimage to the   
,holy ,land4 ,now a few dwarfed1 black  
figures of peasants crawled like insects
 across the wide emptiness of it4 ,here 
among the startled jackdaws ,i lounged  
smoking and ruminating upon the bells1  
oily ,cerberus1 and his lonely task1 and
 inhaling the misty air from the winding
 canals in the fertile green fields     
below--appraising the values of the pale
 diaphanous sky of misty blue1          
harmonizing so exquisitely with the     
tender greens of the landscape which had
 charmed ,cuyp and ,memling1 until the  
blue was suffused with molten gold1 and 
over all the landscape spread a tender  

and lovely radiance1 which in turn      
became changed to ruddy flames in the   
west1 and then the radiance began to    
fade4  ,then ,i bethought me that it was
 time ,i sought out the terrible        
,cerberus1 the guardian of the tower1   
and induce him peaceably to permit me to
 go forth unharmed4 ,i confess that ,i  
was coward enough to give him two francs
 as a fee instead of the single one     
which was his due1 and then ,i stumbled 
down the long winding stairway1 grasping
 the slippery hand rope timorously until
 ,i gained the street level1 glad to be 
among fellow beings once more1 but not  
sorry ,i had spent the afternoon among  
the bells of the ,carillon of ,saint    
,rombauld--those bells which now lie    
broken among the ashes of the tower in  
the ,grand' ,place of the ruined town of
 ,malines4     ,some ,carillons of      
,flanders     ,some ,carillons of       
,flanders   ,it is worth noting that    
nearly all of the noble ,flemish towers 
with their wealth of bells are almost   

within sight 7and ,i had nearly written1
 sound7 of each other4 ,from the summit 
of the tower in ,antwerp one could see  
dimly the cathedrals of ,malines and    
,brussels1 perhaps even those of ,bruges
 and ,ghent in clear weather4 ,haweis   
7,music and ,morals7 says that one      
hundred and twenty-six towers can be    
seen from the ,antwerp ,cathedral on a  
fair morning1 and he was a most careful 
observer4 ,so these mighty spires1 gray 
and changeless in the high air1 seem to 
hold converse together over the heads of
 puny mortals1 and their language is    
rolled from tower to tower by the music 
of the bells4  ,non sunt loquellae neque
 sermones1 audiantur voces eorum1 7there
 is neither speech nor language1 but    
their voices are heard among men74      
,this is an inscription copied by       
,haweis in the tower at ,antwerp1 from a
 great bell signed1 ,f4 ,hemony         
,amstelo-damia1 #afeh4  ,speaking of the
 rich decorations which the ,van den    
,gheyns and ,hemony lavished on their   

bells1 he says1 ,the decorations worked 
in bas relief around some of the old    
bells are extremely beautiful1 while the
 inscriptions are often highly          
suggestive1 and even touching4 ,these   
decorations are usually confined to the 
top and bottom rims of the bell1 and are
 in low relief1 so as to impede the     
vibration as little as possible4 ,at    
,malines on a bell bearing date #afig1  
,antwerp 7now destroyed7 there is an    
amazingly vigorous hunt through a forest
 with dogs and all kinds of animals4 ,i 
did not see this bell when ,i was in the
 tower of ,st4 ,rombauld1 as the light  
in the bell chamber was very dim4 ,the  
inscription was carried right around the
 bell1 and had all the grace and freedom
 of a spirited sketch4  ,illustration3  
,detail of the ,chimes in ,belfry of ,st
 ,nicholas3 ,dixmude  ,on one of        
,hemony's bells dated #afgd and bearing 
the inscription1 ,laudate ,domini omnes 
,gentes1 we noticed a long procession of
 cherub boys dancing and ringing flat   

hand bells such as are even now rung    
before the ,host in street processions4 
,some of the inscriptions are barely    
legible because of the peculiarity of   
the ,gothic letters4 ,haweis mentions   
seeing the initials ,j4,r4 7,john       
,ruskin7 in the deep sill of the        
staircase window2 underneath a slight   
design of a rose window apparently      
sketched with the point of a compass4   
,ruskin loved the ,malines ,cathedral   
well1 and made many sketches of detail  
while there4 ,i looked carefully for    
these initials1 but ,i could not find   
them1 ,i am sorry to say4  ,bells have  
been strangely neglected by antiquaries 
and historians1 and but few facts       
concerning them are to be found in the  
libraries4 ,haweis speaks of the        
difficulty he encountered in finding    
data about the chimes of the ,low       
,countries1 alleging that the published 
accounts and rumors about their size1   
weight1 and age are seldom accurate or  
reliable4 ,even in the great libraries  

and archives of the ,netherlands at     
,louvain1 ,bruges1 or ,brussels the     
librarians were unable to furnish him   
with accurate information4  ,he says3   
,the great folios of ,louvain1 ,antwerp1
 and ,mechlin 7,malines7 containing what
 is generally supposed to be an         
exhaustive transcript of all the        
monumental and funereal inscriptions in 
,belgium1 will often bestow but a couple
 of dates and one inscription upon a    
richly decorated and inscribed carillon 
of thirty or forty bells4 ,the reason of
 this is not far to seek4 ,the fact is1 
it is no easy matter to get at the bells
 when once they are hung1 and many an   
antiquarian who will haunt tombs and    
pore over illegible brasses with        
commendable patience will decline to    
risk his neck in the most interesting of
 belfries4 ,the pursuit1 too1 is often a
 disappointing one4 ,perhaps it is      
possible to get half way around a bell  
and then be prevented by a thick beam1  
or the bell's own wheel from seeing the 

outer half1 which1 by perverse chance1  
generally contains the date and the name
 of the founder4  ,perhaps the oldest   
bell is quite inaccessible1 or1 after a 
half hour's climbing amid the utmost    
dust and difficulty1 we reach a         
perfectly blank or commonplace bell4    
,he gives the date of #afbj1 as that    
when the family of ,van den ,gheyns were
 bringing the art of bell founding to   
perfection in ,louvain1 and notes that  
the tower and bells of each fortified   
town were half civic property4 ,thus the
 curfew1 the carolus1 and the ,st4 ,mary
 bells in ,antwerp ,cathedral belong to 
the town4  ,let us1 he says1 enter the  
town of ,mechlin 7,malines7 in the year 
#afch4 ,the old wooden bridge 7over the 
river ,dyle7 has since been replaced by 
a stone one4 ,to this day the           
elaborately carved faades of the old    
houses close on the water are of        
incomparable richness of design4 ,the   
peculiar ascent of steps leading up to  
the angle of the roof1 in a style       

borrowed from the ,spaniards1 is a style
 everywhere to be met with4 ,the noblest
 of square florid ,gothic towers1 the   
tower of ,st4 ,rombauld 7variously      
spelled ,st4 ,rombaud1 ,st4 ,rombaut1 or
 ,st4 ,rombod7 finished up to three     
hundred and forty-eight feet1 guides us 
to what is now called the ,grand'       
,place1 where in an obscure building are
 the workshops and furnaces adjoining   
the abode of ,peter ,van den ,gheyn1 the
 most renowned bell founder of the      
seventeenth century1 born in #afje4 ,in 
company with his associate1 ,deklerk1   
arrangements are being made for the     
founding of a big bell4  ,before the    
cast was made there was no doubt great  
controversy between the mighty smiths1  
,deklerk and ,van den ,gheyn3 plans had 
to be drawn out on parchment1           
measurements and calculations made1     
little proportions weighed by fine      
instinct1 and the defects and merits of 
ever so many bells canvassed4 ,the      
ordinary measurements1 which now hold   

good for a large bell1 are1 roughly1    
one-fifteenth of the diameter in        
thickness1 and twelve times the         
thickness in height4 ,describing the    
foundry buildings3 ,the first is for the
 furnaces1 containing the vast caldron  
for the fusing of the metal2 in the     
second is a kind of shallow well1 where 
the bell would have to be modeled in    
clay4  ,the object to be first attained 
is a hollow mold of the exact size and  
shape of the intended bell1 into which  
the liquid metal is poured through a    
tube from the furnace1 and this mold is 
constructed in the following simple but 
ingenious manner3  ,suppose the bell to 
be six feet high1 a brick column of     
about that height is built something in 
the shape of the outside of a bell4     
,upon the smooth surface of this solid  
bell-shaped mass can now be laid        
figures1 decorations1 and inscriptions  
in wax2 a large quantity of the most    
delicately prepared clay is then        
produced1 the model is slightly washed  

with some kind of oil to prevent the    
fine clay from sticking to it1 and three
 or four coats of the fine clay in an   
almost liquid state are daubed carefully
 all over the model4 ,next1 a coating of
 common clay is added to strengthen the 
mold to the thickness of some inches4   
,and thus the model stands with its     
great bell-shaped cover closely fitting 
over it4  ,a fire is now lighted        
underneath1 the brick work in the       
interior is heated1 through the clay1   
through the wax ornaments and oils1     
which steam out in vapor through two    
holes at the top1 leaving their         
impressions on the inside of the cover  
7of clay74  ,illustration3 ,the ,belfry3
 ,bergues  ,when everything is baked    
thoroughly hard1 the cover is raised    
bodily into the air by a rope1 and held 
suspended some feet exactly above the   
model4 ,in the interior of the cover    
thus raised will1 of course1 be found   
the exact impression in hollow of the   
outside of the bell4 ,the model of clay 

and masonry is then broken up1 and its  
place is taken by another perfectly     
smooth model1 only smaller--exactly the 
size of the inside of the bell1 in fact4
 ,on this the great cover now descends1 
and is stopped in time to leave a hollow
 space between the new model and itself4
 ,this is effected simply by the bottom 
rim of the new model forming a base1 at 
the proper distance upon which the rim  
of the clay cover may rest in its       
descent4  ,the hollow space between the 
clay cover and second clay mold is now  
the exact shape of the required bell1   
and only waits to be filled with metal4 
,so far all has been comparatively easy2
 but the critical moment has now        
arrived4 ,the furnaces have long been   
smoking2 the brick work containing the  
caldron is almost glowing with red heat2
 a vast draft passage underneath the    
floor keeps the fire rapid2 from time to
 time it leaps up with a hundred angry  
tongues1 or in one sheet of flame1 over 
the furnace-imbedded caldron4 ,then the 

cunning artificer brings forth his heaps
 of choice metal1 large cakes of red    
coruscated copper from ,drontheim1      
called ',rosette1' owing to a certain   
rare pink bloom that seems to lie all   
over it like the purple on a plum2 then 
a quantity of tin1 so highly refined    
that it shines and glistens like pure   
silver2 these are thrown into the       
caldron and melted down together4 ,kings
 and nobles have stood beside those     
famous caldrons1 and looked with        
reverence upon the making of these old  
bells4 ,nay1 they have brought gold and 
silver and1 pronouncing the name of some
 holy saint or apostle which the bell   
was thereafter to bear1 they have flung 
in precious metals1 rings1 bracelets1   
and even bullion4  ,but for a moment or 
two before the pipe which is to convey  
the metal to the mold is opened1 the    
smith stands and stirs the molten mass  
to see if all is melted4 ,then he casts 
in certain proportions of zinc and other
 metals which belong to the secrets of  

the trade2 he knows how much depends    
upon these little refinements1 which he 
has acquired by experience1 and which   
perhaps he could not impart even if he  
would1 so true is it that in every art  
that which constitutes success is a     
matter of instinct1 and not of rule1 or 
even science4  ,he knows1 too1 that     
almost everything depends upon the      
moment chosen for flooding the mold4    
,standing in the intense heat1 and      
calling loudly for a still more raging  
fire1 he stirs the metal once more4 ,at 
a given signal the pipe is opened1 and  
with a long smothered rush the molten   
metal fills the mold to the brim4       
,nothing now remains but to let the     
metal cool1 and then to break up the    
clay and brick work and extract the     
bell1 which is then finished for better 
or for worse4  ,we learn much of the    
difficulties encountered even by these  
great masters in successfully casting   
the bells1 and that even they were not  
exempt from failure4 ,the ,great        

,salvator bell at ,malines1 made by     
,peter ,van den ,gheyn1 cracked eight   
years after it was hung in the tower    
7#afif74 ,it was recast by ,de ,haze of 
,antwerp1 and existed up to a few years 
ago--surely a good long life for any    
active bell4  ,in the belfry of ,st4    
,peter's at ,louvain1 which is now in   
ruins and level with the street1 was a  
great bell of splendid tone1 bearing the
 following inscription3 ,claes ,noorden 
,johan ,albert de ,grave me fecerunt    
,amstel--odamia1 ,,mdccxiv4  ,haweis    
mentions also the names of ,bartholomews
 ,goethale1 #afhj1 who made a bell now  
in ,st4 ,stephen's belfry at ,ghent2 and
 another1 ,andrew ,steilert1 #aefc1 at  
,malines 7,mechlin74 ,the great carillon
 in the belfry at ,bruges1 thus far     
spared by the iconoclasts of #aiad1     
consisting of forty bells and one large 
,bourdon1 or triumphal bell1 is from the
 foundry of the great ,dumery1 who also 
made the carillon at ,antwerp4  ,haweis 
credits ,petrus ,hemony1 #afeh1 with    

being the most prolific of all the bell 
founders4 ,he was a good musician and   
took to bell founding only late in life4
 ,his small bells are exceedingly fine1 
but his larger ones are seldom true4    
,to the ear of so eminent an authority  
this may be true1 but1 to my own1 the   
bells seem quite perfect1 and ,i have   
repeatedly and most attentively listened
 to them from below in the ,grand'      
,place1 trying to discover the          
inharmonious note that troubled him4 ,i 
ventured to ask one of the priests if he
 had noticed any flatness in the notes1 
and he scorned the idea1 saying that the
 bells1 all of them1 were perfect4      
,nevertheless1 ,i must accept the       
statement of ,haweis1 who for years made
 a study of these bells and their       
individualities and than whom perhaps   
never has lived a more eminent          
authority4  ,from my room in the small  
hotel de ,buda1 just beneath the old    
gray tower of ,st4 ,rombauld in this    
ancient town of ,malines1 ,i have       

listened by day and night to the music  
of these bells1 which sounded so        
exquisite to me that ,i can still recall
 them4 ,the poet has beautifully        
expressed the idea of the bell music of 
,flanders thus1 ,the ,wind that sweeps  
over her campagnas and fertile levels is
 full of broken melodious whispers      
7,haweis74  ,certainly these chimes of  
bells playing thus by day and night1 day
 in1 day out1 year after year1 must     
exercise a most potent influence upon   
the imagination and life of the people4 
,the ,flemish peasant is born1 grows up1
 lives his life out1 and finally is laid
 away to the music of these ancient     
bells4  ,illustration3 ,the ,old ,porte 
,marechale3 ,bruges  ,when ,i came away 
from ,malines and reached ,antwerp1 ,i  
lodged in the ,place ,verte1 as near to 
the chimes as ,i could get4 ,my student 
days being over1 ,i found that ,i had a 
strange sense of loss1 as if ,i had lost
 a dear and valued friend1 for the sound
 of the bells had become really a part  

of my daily existence4  ,victor ,hugo1  
who traveled through ,flanders in #ahcg1
 stopped for a time in ,malines1 and was
 so impressed with the carillon that he 
is said to have written there the       
following lines by moonlight with a     
diamond upon the window-pane in his     
room3   ,j'aime le carillon dans tes    
cits ,antiques1  ,o vieux pays1 gardien 
de tes moeurs domestiques1  ,noble      
,flandre1 o le ,nord se rchauffe        
engourdi  ,au soleil de ,castille et    
s'accouple au ,midi4  ,le carillon1     
c'est l'heure inattendue et folle  ,que 
l'oeil croit voir1 vtue en danseuse     
espagnole  ,apparatre soudain par le    
trou vif et clair  ,que ferait1 en      
s'ouvrant1 une porte de l'air4  ,it was 
not until the seventeenth century that  
,flanders began to place these wondrous 
collections of bells in her great       
towers1 which seem to have been built   
for them4 ,thus came the carillons of   
,malines1 ,bruges1 ,ghent1 ,antwerp1    
,louvain1 and ,tournai4 ,of these1      

,antwerp possessed the greatest in      
number1 sixty-five bells4 ,malines came 
next with forty-four1 then ,bruges with 
forty1 and a great bourdon or bass bell2
 then ,tournai and ,louvain with forty1 
and finally ,ghent with thirty-nine4    
,in ancient times these carillons were  
played by hand on a keyboard1 called a  
clavecin4 ,in the belfry at ,bruges1 in 
a dusty old chamber with a leaden floor1
 ,i found a very old clavecin4 ,it was  
simply a rude keyboard much like that of
 a primitive kind of organ1 presenting a
 number of jutting handles1 something   
like rolling pins1 each of which was    
attached to a wire operating the hammer1
 in the bell chamber overhead1 which    
strikes the rim of the bells4 ,there was
 an old red1 leather-covered bench      
before this machine on which the        
performer sat1 and it must have been a  
task requiring considerable strength and
 agility so to smite each of these pins 
with his gloved fist1 his knees and each
 of his feet 7on the foot board7 that   

the hammers above would fall on the rims
 of the different bells4  ,from my room 
in the old ,panier d'or in the          
market-place on many nights have ,i     
watched the tower against the dim sky1  
and seen the light of the veilleur1     
shining in the topmost window1 where he 
keeps watch over the sleeping town1 and 
sounds two strokes upon a small bell    
after each quarter is struck1 to show   
that he is on watch4 ,and so passed the 
time in this peaceful land until that   
fatal day in ,august1 #aiad4            
,dixmude     ,dixmude   ,there is no    
longer a ,grand' ,place at ,dixmude4 ,of
 the town1 the great squat church of    
,st4 ,martin1 and the quaint town hall  
adjoining it1 now not one stone remains 
upon another4 ,the old mossy walls and  
bastion are level with the soil1 and    
even the course of the small sluggishly 
flowing river ,yser is changed by the   
ruin that chokes it4  ,i found it to be 
a melancholy1 faded-out kind of place in
 #aiaj1 when ,i last saw it4 ,i came    

down from ,antwerp especially to see old
 ,st4 ,martin's1 which enshrined a most 
wondrous ,jube1 or altar screen1 and a  
chime of bells from the workshop of the 
,van den ,gheyns4 ,there was likewise on
 the ,grand' ,place1 a fine old prison  
of the fourteenth century1 its windows  
all closed with rusty iron bars1 most of
 which were loose in the stones4 ,i     
tried them1 to the manifest indignation 
of the solitary gendarme1 who saw me    
from a distance across the ,grand'      
,place and hurried over to place me     
under arrest4 ,i had to show him not    
only my passport but my letter of credit
 and my sketch book before he would     
believe that ,i was what ,i claimed to  
be1 a curious ,american1 and something  
of an antiquary4 ,but it was the sketch 
book that won him1 for he told me that  
he had a son studying painting in       
,antwerp at the academy4 ,so we smoked  
together on a bench over the bridge of  
the ,pape ,gaei and he related the story
 of his life1 while ,i made a sketch of 

the silent1 grass-grown ,grand' ,place  
and the squat tower of old ,st4         
,martin's1 and the ,town ,hall beside   
it4  ,while we sat there on the bench   
only two people crossed the square1 that
 same square that witnessed the entry of
 ,charles the ,fifth amid the silk-and  
velvet-clad nobles and burghers1 and the
 members of the great and powerful      
guilds1 which he regarded and treated   
with such respect4 ,in those days the   
town had a population of thirty thousand
 or more4 ,on this day my friend the    
gendarme told me that there were about  
eleven hundred in the town4 ,of this    
eleven hundred ,i saw twelve market     
people1 the custode of the church of    
,st4 ,martin2 ditto that of the ,town   
,hall2 the gendarme2 one baby in the    
arms of a crippled girl1 and two gaunt  
cats4  ,the great docks to which        
merchantmen from all parts of the earth 
came in ships in the sixteenth and      
seventeenth centuries had now vanished1 
and long green grass waved in the       

meadows where the channel had been4     
,illustration3 ,the ,ancient ,place3    
,dixmude  ,the ancient corporations and 
brotherhood1 formerly of such power and 
renown1 had likewise long since         
vanished1 and nought remained but here  
and there on the silent1 grass-grown    
streets gray1 ancient palaces with      
barred and shuttered windows4 ,the very 
names of those who once dwelt there     
could be found only in the musty        
archives in ,bruges or ,brussels4 ,a    
small estaminet across the bridge bore  
the sign ,in den ,pape ,gaei1 and to    
this ,i fared and wrote my notes1 while 
the crippled girl carrying the baby     
seated herself where she could watch me1
 and then lapsed into a sort of trance1 
with wide open eyes which evidently saw 
not4  ,in company with a large1 black1  
savage-looking dog which traveled       
side-ways regarding me threateningly1 ,i
 thought1 and gloweringly refused my    
offers of friendship1 ,i crossed the    
,grand' ,place to the ,htel de ,ville1  

or ,town ,hall1 the door of which stood 
open4 ,inside1 no living soul responded 
to my knock4 ,the rooms were rather bare
 of furniture1 many of them of noble    
proportions1 and a few desks and chairs 
showed that they were used by the town  
officers1 wherever they were4  ,st4     
,martin's was closed1 and ,i skirted its
 walls1 hoping to find somewhere a door 
unfastened that ,i might enter and see  
the great ,jube or altar screen4 ,in a  
small1 evil-smelling alley-way1 where   
there was a patch of green grass1 ,i saw
 low down in the wall a grated window1  
which ,i fancied must be at the back of 
the altar4 ,i got down on my knees and1 
parting the grass which grew there      
rankly1 ,i put my face in against the   
iron bars that closed it4 ,for a moment 
,i could see nothing1 then when my eyes 
became accustomed to the light ,i saw a 
tall candle burning on an iron ring on  
the wall2 then a heavy black cross      
beside it1 and finally a figure in some 
sort of heavy dark robe kneeling        

prostrate before it1 only the tightly   
clasped white hands gleaming in the dim 
candle light2 almost holding my breath  
,i withdrew my head1 feeling that ,i was
 almost committing sacrilege4           
,unfortunately for me1 ,i dislodged some
 loose mortar1 and ,i heard this rattle 
noisily into the chamber below4 ,then ,i
 fled as rapidly as ,i could down the   
dim alley-way to the silent sunlit      
,grand' ,place4 ,here ,i found the      
verger1 and he admitted me to the great 
old church1 in return for a one-franc   
piece1 and brought me a rush-bottom     
chair to a choice spot before the       
wondrous ,jube1 where ,i made my        
drawing4  ,illustration3 ,the ,great    
,jube1 or ,altar ,screen3 ,dixmude  ,in 
the silence of the great gray old church
 ,i labored over the exquisite ,gothic  
detail1 all unmindful of the passing    
time1 when all at once ,i became        
conscious that a small green door beside
 the right hand low retable was moving  
outward4 ,i ceased working and watched  

it2 then the solitary candle before the 
statue of the ,virgin guttered and      
flared up2 then the small door opened   
wide and forth came an old man in a     
priest's cassock1 with a staff in his   
hand4 ,the small1 green1 baize-covered  
door closed noiselessly2 the old man    
slowly opened the gate before the altar 
and came down the step toward me4       
,without a word he walked behind my     
chair and peered over my shoulder at the
 drawing ,i was making of the great     
,jube4  ,he tapped the floor with his   
staff1 placed it under his arm1 sought  
his pocket somewhere beneath his        
cassock1 from which he produced a snuff 
box4 ,from this he took a generous      
pinch1 and a moment later was blowing   
vigorously that note of satisfaction    
that only a devotee of the powder can   
render an effective adjunct of emotion4 
,bien faite1 ,m'sieur1 he exclaimed at  
length1 wiping his eyes on a rather     
suspicious looking handkerchief4        
,t-r-r-r-r-es bien faite6 ,j'vous fais  

mes compliments4 ,admirable6 ,you have  
certainly rendered the spirit of our    
great and wondrous altar screen4  ,a    
little later we passed out of the old   
church through a side door leading into 
a small green enclosure1 now gloomy in  
the shade of the old stone walls4 ,at   
one end was a tangle of briar1 and here 
were some old graves1 each with a tinsel
 wreath or two on the iron cross4 ,and  
presiding over these was the limp figure
 of a one-legged man on two crutches1   
who saluted us4 ,we passed along to the 
end of the inclosure1 where lay a chance
 beam of sunshine like a bar of dusty   
gold against the rich green grass4      
,oui1 ,m'sieur1 said the priest1 as if  
continuing a sentence he was running    
over in his mind4 ,cass6 ,pauvre        
,pierre1 un peu cass1 le pauvre         
bonhomme1 but then1 he's good for       
several years yet2 cracked he is1 but   
only cracked like a good old basin1 and 
7in the idiom7 he'll still hold well his
 bowl of soup4  ,he laughed at his wit1 

became grave1 then shook out another    
laugh4  ,see1 he added1 pointing to the 
ground all about us strewn with morsels 
of tile2 the roof cracks1 but it still  
holds1 he added1 pointing upwards at the
 old tower of ,st4 ,martin's4 ,and now1 
,m'sieur1 ,i shall take you to my house2
 tenez1 figure to yourself1 and he laid 
a fine1 richly veined1 strong old hand  
upon my arm with a charming gesture4 ,i 
have been here twenty-five years2 ,i    
bought all the antique furniture of my  
predecessor4 ,i said to myself1 ',yes1  
,i shall buy the furniture for five     
hundred francs1 and then1 later ,i shall
 sell to a wealthy amateur for one      
thousand francs1 perhaps in a year or   
two4' ,twenty-five years ago1 and ,i    
have it yet4 ,and now it creaks and     
creaks and snaps in the night4 ,we all  
creak and creak thus as we grow old2 ah1
 you should hear my wardrobes4 ',elles  
cassent les dos1' and ,i lie in my warm 
bed in the winter nights and listen to  
my antiques groan and complain4 ,poor   

old things1 they belonged to the        
',empire' ,period2 no wonder they groan4
  ,illustration3 ,the ,fish ,market3    
,dixmude  ,and when my friend the       
notaire comes to play chess with me1 you
 should see him eye my antiques1 ah1 so 
covetously2 ,i see him1 but ,i never let
 on4 ,such a collection of antiques as  
we all are1 ,m'sieur4 ,then he became   
serious1 and lifting his cane he pointed
 to a gravestone at one side1 ,my old   
servant lies there1 ,m'sieur2 we are all
 old here now1 but still we do not die4 
,alas6 we never die4 ,there is plenty of
 room here for us1 but we die hard4     
,see1 myotis1 heliotrope1 hare bells1   
and mignonette1 a bed of perfume1 and   
there lies my old servant4 ,a restless  
old soul she was1 and she took such a   
long time to die4 ,she was eighty-five  
when she finally made up her mind4  ,i  
had a cup of wine with the old man in   
his small salle  manger4 ,his house was 
indeed a mine of wealth for the         
antiquary and collector1 more like a    

shop than a house4 ,i lingered with him 
for nearly an hour1 telling him of the  
great world lying beyond ,dixmude1 of   
,london and ,paris1 and of ,new ,york   
and some of its wonders1 of which ,i    
fancied he was rather sceptical4 ,and   
then ,i came away1 after shaking hands  
with him at his doorstep in the dim     
alley-way1 with the bar of golden       
sunlight shining at the entrance to the 
,grand' ,place and the noise of the     
rooks cawing on the roof4  ,au revoir1  
,m'sieur le ,peintre1 et bon voyage1 and
 remember1 ',ask1 and it shall be given1
 seek and you shall find1' and with     
these cryptic words1 he stood with      
uplifted hands1 a smile irradiating his 
fine ascetic face glowing like that of a
 saint4 ,behind the faded black of his  
old soutane ,i could see his treasures  
of blue china and ancient cabinets1 and 
a chance light illumined a mirror behind
 his head1 and aureoled him like unto   
one of the saints behind the great      
,jube1 and thus ,i left him4  ,and now  

,dixmude is in formless heaps of ashes  
and burnt timbers4 ,hardly one stone now
 remains upon another4 ,there is no     
longer a ,grand' ,place--and the very   
course of the river ,yser is changed4   
,ypres     ,ypres   ,ypres as a town    
grew out of a rude sort of stronghold   
built1 says ,m4 ,vereeke in his         
,histoire ,militaire d',ypres1 in the   
year #ijj1 on a small island in the     
river ,yperlee4 ,it was in the shape of 
a triangle with a tower on each corner1 
and was known to the inhabitants as the 
,castle of the three ,turrets4  ,its    
establishment was followed by a         
collection of small huts on the banks of
 the stream1 built by those who craved  
the protection of the fortress4 ,they   
built a rampart of earth and a wide     
ditch to defend it1 and to this they    
added from time to time until the works 
became so extensive that a town sprang  
into being1 which from its strategic    
position on the borders of ,france soon 
became of great importance in the wars  

that constantly occurred4 ,probably no  
other ,flemish town has seen its        
defenses so altered and enlarged as     
,ypres has between the primitive days   
when the crusading ,thierry d',alsace   
planted hedges of live thorns to        
strengthen the towers1 and the formation
 of the great works of ,vauban4 ,we have
 been so accustomed to regarding the    
,fleming as a sluggish boor1 that it    
comes in the nature of a surprise when  
we read of the part these burghers1     
these weavers and spinners1 took in the 
great events that distinguished ,flemish
 history4 ,in ,july1 #acjb1 a contingent
 of twelve hundred chosen men1 five     
hundred of them clothed in scarlet and  
the rest in black1 were set to watch the
 town and castle of ,courtrai1 and the  
old ,roman ,brol bridge1 during the     
battle of the ',golden ,spurs1' and the 
following year saw the celebration of   
the establishment of the confraternity  
of the ,archers of ,st4 ,sebastian1     
which still existed in ,ypres when ,i   

was there in #aiaj4 ,this was the last  
survivor of the famed1 armed societies  
of archers which flourished in the      
,middle ,ages4 ,seven hundred of these  
men of ,ypres embarked in the ,flemish  
ships which so harassed the ,french     
fleet in the great naval engagement of  
,june1 #acdj4  ,forty years later five  
thousand men of ,ypres fought upon the  
battlefield with the ,french1 on that   
momentous day which witnessed the death 
of ,philip ,van ,artevelde and the      
triumph of ,leliarts4 ,later1 when the  
,allies laid siege to the town1 defended
 by ,leliarts and ,louis of ,maele1 it  
was maintained by a force of ten        
thousand men1 and on ,june #h1 #achc1   
these were joined by seventeen thousand 
,english and twenty thousand ,flemings1 
these latter from ,bruges and ,ghent4   
,at this time the gateways were the only
 part of the fortifications built of    
stone4 ,the ramparts were of earth1     
planted with thorn bushes and interlaced
 with beams4 ,outside were additional   

works of wooden posts and stockades1    
behind the dyke1 which was also         
palisaded4 ,the ,english1 believing that
 the town would not strongly resist     
their numbers1 tried to carry it by     
assault4 ,they were easily repulsed1 to 
their great astonishment1 with great    
losses4  ,at last they built three great
 wooden towers on wheels filled with    
soldiers1 which they pushed up to the   
walls1 but the valiant garrison swarmed 
upon these towers1 set fire to them1 and
 either killed or captured those who    
manned them4  ,all the proposals of     
,spencer demanding the surrender of     
,ypres were met with scorn1 and the     
,english were repeatedly repulsed with  
great losses of men whenever they       
attempted assaults4  ,the ,english      
turned upon the ,flemish of ,ghent with 
fury1 saying that they had deceived them
 as to the strength of the garrison of  
,ypres1 and ,spencer1 realizing that it 
was impossible to take the town before  
the ,french army arrived1 retired from  

the field with his soldiers4 ,this left 
,flanders at the mercy of the ,french4  
,but now ensued the death of ,count     
,louis of ,maele 7#achd7 and this       
brought ,flanders under the rule of the 
,house of ,burgundy1 which resulted in  
prosperity and well nigh complete       
independence for the ,flemings4  ,the   
,great ,kermesse of ,our ,lady of the   
,garden 7,notre ,dame de ,thuine7 was   
then inaugurated because the townspeople
 believe that ,ypres had been saved by  
the intercession of the ,virgin         
,mary--the word ,thuin meaning in       
,flemish an enclosed space1 such as a   
garden plot1 an allusion to the barrier 
of thorns which had so well kept the    
enemy away from the walls--a sort of    
predecessor of the barbed-wire          
entanglements used in the present great 
world war4  ,the ,kermesse was held by  
the people of ,ypres on the first       
,sunday in ,august every year1 called   
most affectionately ,thuindag1 and while
 there in #aiaj ,i saw the celebration  

in the great square before the ,cloth   
,hall1 and listened to the ringing of   
the chimes2 the day being ushered in at 
sunrise by a fanfare of trumpets on the 
parapet of the tower by the members of a
 local association1 who played ancient  
patriotic airs with great skill and     
enthusiasm4  ,in the ,place de ,muse1 a 
quiet1 gray corner of this old town1 was
 an ancient ,gothic house containing a  
really priceless collection of medals   
and instruments of torture used during  
the terrible days of the ,spanish       
,inquisition4 ,i spent long hours in    
these old musty rooms alone1 and ,i     
might have stolen away whatever took my 
fancy had ,i been so minded1 for the    
custode left me quite alone to wander at
 will1 and the cases containing the     
seals1 parchments1 and small objects    
were all unfastened4  ,i saw the other  
day another wonderful panorama          
photograph taken from an aeroplane      
showing ,ypres as it now is1 a vast heap
 of ruins1 the ,cloth ,hall gutted2 the 

,cathedral leveled1 and the site of the 
little old museum a vast blackened hole 
in the earth where a shell had landed4  
,the photograph1 taken by an            
,englishman1 was dated ,september1      
#aiae4  ,the great ,hanseatic ,league1  
that extensive system of monopolies1 was
 the cause of great dissatisfaction and 
many wars because of jealousy and bad   
feeling4 ,ypres1 ,ghent1 and ,bruges1   
while defending their rights and        
privileges against all other towns1     
fought among themselves4 ,the monopoly  
enjoyed by the merchant weavers of      
,ypres forbade all weaving for three    
leagues around the walls of ,ypres1     
under penalty of confiscation of the    
looms and all of the linen thus woven4  
,constant friction was thus engendered  
between the towns of ,ypres and         
,poperinghe1 resulting in bloody battles
 and the burning and destruction of much
 property4 ,even within the walls of the
 town this bickering went on from year  
to year4 ,when they were not quarreling 

with their neighbors over slights or    
attacks1 either actual or fancied1 they 
fought among themselves over the eternal
 question of capital versus labor4 ,a   
sharp line was drawn between the        
workingman and the members of the guilds
 who sold his output4 ,the artisans1    
whose industry contributed so greatly to
 the prosperity of these towns1 resented
 any infringement of their legal rights4
 ,the merchant magistrates were annually
 elected1 and on one occasion1 in #acfa1
 to be exact1 because this was omitted1 
the people arose in their might against 
the governors1 who were assembled in the
 ,nieuwerck of the ,htel de ,ville4 ,the
 ,baillie1 one ,jean ,deprysenaere1     
haughty in his supposed power1 and      
trusting in his office1 as local        
representative of the ,court of         
,flanders1 appeared before the insurgent
 weavers and endeavored to appease them4
 ,they fell upon him and slew him       
7,vereeke74 ,then1 rushing into the     
council chamber1 they seized the other  

magistrates and confined them in the    
belfry of the ,cloth ,hall4  ,then the  
leaders in council resolved to kill the 
magistrates1 and beheaded the           
,burgomaster and two sheriffs in the    
place before the ,cloth ,hall in the    
presence of their colleagues 7,vereeke74
  ,following the custom of the          
,netherlands1 each town acted for itself
 alone4 ,the popular form of government 
was that of gatherings in the           
market-place where laws were discussed  
and made by and for the people4 ,the    
spirit of commercial jealousy1 however1 
kept them apart and nullified their     
power4 ,consumed by the thirst for      
commercial1 material prosperity1 they   
had no faith in each other1 no bond of  
union1 each being ready and willing to  
foster its own interest at its rival's  
expense4 ,thus neither against foreign  
nor internal difficulties were they     
really united4 ,the motto of modern     
,belgium1 ,l',union fait la ,force1 was 
not yet invented1 and there was no great

 and powerful authority in which they   
believed and about which they could     
gather4  ,this history presents the     
picture of ,ghent assisting an army of  
,english soldiers to lay siege to       
,ypres4 ,so the distrustful people dwelt
 amid perpetual quarreling1 trade pitted
 against trade1 town against town1      
fostering weakness of government and    
shameful submission in defeat4 ,no town 
suffered as did ,ypres during this      
distracted state of affairs in ,flanders
 of the sixteenth century1 which saw it 
reduced from a place of first importance
 to a dead town with the population of a
 village4 ,and so it remained up to the 
outbreak of the world war in #aiad4     
,this medieval and most picturesque of  
all the towns of ,flanders had not felt 
the effect of the wave of restoration1  
which took place in ,belgium during the 
decade preceding the outbreak of the    
world war1 owing to the fact that its   
monuments of the past were perhaps finer
 and in a better state of preservation  

than those of any of the other ancient  
towns4 ,ypres in the early days had     
treated the neighboring town of         
,poperinghe with great severity through 
jealousy1 but she in turn suffered      
heavily at the hands of ,ghent in       
#achc-hd when the vast body of weavers  
fled1 taking refuge in ,england1 and    
taking with them all hope of the town's 
future prosperity4  ,its decline        
thenceforward was rapid1 and it never   
recovered its former place in the       
councils of ,flanders4 ,its two great   
memorials of the olden times were the   
great ,cloth ,hall1 in the ,grand'      
,place1 and the ,cathedral of ,saint    
,martin1 both dating from the twelfth   
and thirteenth centuries4  ,the ,cloth  
,hall1 begun by ,count ,baldwin ,,ix of 
,flanders1 was perhaps the best         
preserved and oldest specimen of its    
kind in the ,netherlands1 and was       
practically complete up to the middle of
 ,august1 #aiae1 when the great guns of 
the iconoclastic invader shot away the  

top of the immense clock tower1 and     
unroofed the entire structure4 ,its     
faade was nearly five hundred feet long1
 of most severe and simple lines1 and   
presented a double row of ogival        
windows1 surmounted by niches containing
 thirty-one finely executed statues of  
counts and countesses of ,flanders4     
,there were small1 graceful turrets at  
each end1 and a lofty belfry some two   
hundred and thirty feet in height in the
 center1 containing a fine set of bells 
connected with the mechanism of a       
carillon4  ,illustration3 ,no4 #d1 ,rue 
de ,dixmude3 ,ypres  ,the interior of   
the hall was of noble proportions1      
running the full length1 its walls      
decorated by a series of paintings by   
two modern ,flemish painters1 which were
 not of the highest merit1 yet good     
withal4 ,at the market-place end was a  
highly ornate structure called the ,new 
,work 7,nieuwerke71 erected by the      
burghers as a guild-hall in the         
fifteenth century4 ,this was the first  

part of the edifice to be ruined by a   
,german shell4  ,the destruction of this
 exquisite work of art seems entirely   
wanton and unnecessary4 ,it produced no 
result whatever of advantage4 ,there    
were neither ,english1 ,french1 nor     
,belgian soldiers in ,ypres at the time4
 ,the populace consisted of about ten   
thousand peaceful peasants and          
shopkeepers1 who1 trusting in the fact  
that the town was unarmed and           
unfortified1 remained in their homes4   
,the town was battered and destroyed1   
leveled in ashes4 ,the bombardment      
destroyed also the great ,cathedral of  
,saint ,martin adjoining the ,cloth     
,hall1 which dated from the thirteenth  
century although the tower was not added
 until the fifteenth century4 ,it formed
 a very fine specimen of late ,gothic1  
the interior containing some fine oak   
carving and a richly carved and         
decorated organ loft4 ,bishop           
,jansenius1 the founder of the sect of  
,jansenists1 is buried in a ,gothic     

cloister which formed a part of the     
older church that occupied the site4    
,another interesting monument of past   
greatness was the ,htel de ,ville1      
erected in the sixteenth century1 and   
containing a large collection of modern 
paintings by ,french and ,belgian       
artists4 ,of this structure not a trace 
remains save a vast blackened pile of   
crumbled stones and mortar4 ,in the     
market-place now roam bands of          
half-starved dogs in search of food2 not
 a roof remains intact4 ,a couple of    
sentries pace before the hospital at the
 end of the ,grand' ,place4 ,a recent   
photograph in the ,illustrated ,london  
,news taken from an aeroplane shows the 
ruined town like a vast honeycomb       
uncovered1 the streets and squares      
filled with dbris1 the fragments of     
upstanding walls showing where a few    
months ago dwelt in peace and prosperity
 an innocent1 happy people1 now         
scattered to the four winds--paupers1   
subsisting upon charity4 ,their valiant 

and noble king and queen are living with
 the remnant of the ,belgian army in the
 small fishing village of ,la ,panne on 
the sand dunes of the ,north ,sea4  ,the
 unique character of the half-forgotten 
town was exemplified by the number of   
ancient1 wooden-faced houses to be found
 in the side streets4 ,the most curious 
of these1 perhaps1 was that situated    
near the ,porte de ,lille1 which ,i have
 mentioned in another page1 and which   
noted architects of ,brussels and       
,antwerp vainly petitioned the ,state to
 protect1 or to remove bodily the faade 
and erect it in one of the vast ,salles 
of the ,cloth ,hall4 ,both ,,mm4        
,pauwels and ,delbeke1 the mural        
painters1 then engaged in the           
decorations of the ,cloth ,hall1 joined 
in protests to the authorities against  
their neglect of this remarkable example
 of medieval construction1 but all these
 petitions were pigeonholed1 and nothing
 resulted but vain empty promises1 so   
the matter rested1 and now this         

beautiful house has vanished forever4   
,the great mural decorations of the     
,halles were nearly completed by ,,mm4  
,delbeke and ,pauwels1 when they both   
died within a few months of each other1 
in #ahia4 ,in these decorations the     
artists traced the history of ,ypres    
from #aahg to #achc1 the date of the    
great siege1 showing taste and elegance 
in the compositions1 notably in that    
called the ,wedding feast of ,mahaut1   
daughter of ,robert of ,bethune1 with   
,mathias of ,lorraine 7#acad74  ,one of 
the panels by ,m4 ,pauwels showed most  
vividly the progress of the ,pest1 under
 the title of the ,mort d',ypres 7de    
,dood van ,yperen1 ,flemish74 ,it       
represented the ,fossoyeur calling upon 
the citizens upon the tolling of the    
great bell of ,st4 ,martin's1 to bring  
out their dead for burial4  ,m4         
,delbeke's talent was engaged upon      
scenes illustrating the civil life of   
the town1 the gatherings in celebration 
of the philanthropic and intellectual   

events in its remarkable history1 a task
 in which he was successful in spite of 
the carping of envious contemporaries4  
,a committee of artists was appointed to
 examine his work1 and although this    
body decided in his favor1 it may be    
that the criticism to which he was      
subjected hastened his death4 ,at any   
rate the panels remained unfinished1 no 
other painter having the courage to     
carry out the projected work4           
,illustration3 ,arcade of the ,cloth    
,hall3 ,ypres  ,the original sketches   
for these great compositions were       
preserved in the museum of the town1 but
 the detailed drawings1 some in color1  
were1 up to the outbreak of the war in  
#aiad1 in the ,museum of ,decorative    
,arts in ,brussels1 together with the   
cartoons of another artist1 ,charles de 
,groux 7#ahgj71 to whom the decoration  
of the ,halles had been awarded by the  
,state in competition4 ,a most sumptuous
 ,gothic apartment was that styled the  
,salle ,echevinale1 restored with great 

skill in recent years by a concurrence  
of ,flemish artists1 members of the     
,academy4 ,upon either side of a        
magnificent stone mantel1 bearing       
statues in niches of kings1 counts and  
countesses1 bishops and high            
dignitaries1 were large well executed   
frescoes by ,,mm4 ,swerts and ,guffens1 
showing figures of the evangelists ,st4 
,mark and ,st4 ,john1 surrounded by     
myriads of counts and countesses of     
,flanders1 from the time of ,louis de   
,nevers and ,margaret of ,artois to     
,charles the ,bold1 and ,margaret of    
,york1 whose tombs are in the ,cathedral
 at ,bruges4 ,the attribution of these  
frescoes to ,melchior ,broederlam does  
not1 it would seem1 accord with the     
style or the date of their production1  
,m4 ,alph4 van den ,peereboom thinks1   
and he gives credit for the work to two 
painters who worked in ,ypres in        
#adfh--,,mm4 ,pennant and ,floris       
,untenhoven4  ,in my search for the     
curious and picturesque1 ,i came1 one   

showery day1 upon a passageway beneath  
the old belfry which led to the tower of
 ,st4 ,martin's4 ,here one might believe
 himself back in the ,middle ,ages4 ,on 
both sides of the narrow street were    
ancient wooden-fronted houses not a whit
 less interesting or well preserved than
 that front erected in the chamber of   
the ,halles4 ,this small dark street led
 to a vast and solitary square4 ,on one 
side were lofty edifices called the     
,colonnade of the ,nieuwerck1 at the end
 of which was a quaint vista of the     
,grand' ,place4 ,on the other side was a
 range of most wondrous ancient         
constructions2 the conciergerie and its 
attendant offices1 bearing finials and  
gables of astonishing richness of       
character1 and ornamented with          
chefs-d'oeuvres of iron-work1 marking   
the dates of erection1 all of them prior
 to #afaf4 ,in this square not a soul   
appeared1 nor was there a sound to be   
heard save the cooing of some doves upon
 a rooftree1 although ,i sat there upon 

a stone coping for the better part of a 
half hour4 ,then all at once1 out of a  
green doorway next the conciergerie1    
poured a throng of children1 whose      
shrill cries and laughter brought me    
back to the present4 ,one wonders where 
now are these merry light-hearted little
 ones1 who thronged that gray           
grass-grown square behind the old ,cloth
 ,hall in #aiab4444  ,in this old square
 ,i studied the truly magnificent south 
portal and transept of ,st4 ,martin's1  
the triple portal with its splendid     
polygonal rose window1 and its two      
graceful slender side towers1 connecting
 a long gallery between the two smaller 
side portals4 ,one's impression of this 
great edifice is that of a sense of     
noble proportions1 rather than          
ornateness1 and this is to be considered
 remarkable when one remembers the      
different epochs of its construction4   
,that the choir was commenced in #abba  
is established by the epitaph of        
,hugues1 prvt of ,st4 ,martin's1 whose  

ashes reposed in the church which he    
built3 that the first stone of the nave 
transepts was laid with ceremony by     
,marguerite of ,constantinople in #abed2
 that the south portal was of the       
fifteenth century and that a century    
later the chapel called the doyen toward
 the south wall at the foot of the      
tower1 was erected4 ,the tower itself1  
visible from all parts of the town1 was 
the conception of ,martin ,untenhoven of
 ,malines1 and replaced a more primitive
 one in #adcc4 ,of very severe          
character1 its great bare bulk rose to  
an unfinished height of some hundred and
 seventy feet1 and terminated in a      
squatty sort of pent-house roof of      
typical ,flemish character4 ,it was     
flanked by four smaller1 unfinished     
towers1 one at each corner4 ,this tower1
 one may recall1 figures in many of the 
pictures of ,jean van ,eyck4 ,it is not 
without reason that ,schayes1 in his    
,histoire de l',architecture en         
,belgique1 speaks of the choir of ,st4  

,martin's as one of the most remarkable 
of the religious constructions of the   
epoch in ,belgium4 ,of most noble lines 
and proportion if it were not for the   
intruding altar screen in the ,jesuit   
style1 which mars the effect1 the       
ensemble were well-nigh perfect4  ,its  
decoration1 too1 was remarkable4 ,a     
fresco at the left of the choir1 with a 
portrait of ,robert de ,bethune1 ,count 
of ,flanders1 who died at ,ypres in     
#acbb and was buried in the church1 was 
uncovered early in the eighties during a
 restoration2 this had been most        
villainously repainted by a local       
artist7872 and ,i mortally offended the 
young priest who showed it to me1 by the
 vehemence of my comments4  ,the stalls 
of the choir1 in two banks or ranges1   
twenty-seven above1 twenty-four below1  
bore the date of #aeih1 and the         
signature of d',urbain ,taillebert1 a   
native sculptor of great merit1 who also
 carved the great ,jube of ,dixmude 7see
 drawing74 ,other works of ,taillebert  

are no less remarkable1 notably the     
superb arcade with the ,christ          
triumphant suspended between the columns
 at the principal entrance4 ,he was also
 the sculptor of the mausoleum of       
,bishop ,antoine de ,hennin1 erected in 
#afbb in the choir4  ,in the pavement   
before the altar a plain stone marked   
the resting place of the famous         
,corneille ,jansen 7,cornelius          
,jansenius71 seventh ,bishop of ,ypres1 
who died of the pest the #fth of ,may1  
#afch4 ,one recalls that the doctrine of
 ,jansen gave birth to the sect of that 
name which still flourishes in ,holland4
  ,following the ,rue de ,lille one came
 upon the old tower of ,st4 ,pierre1    
massed among tall straight lines of     
picturesque poplars1 its bulk recalling 
vaguely the belfry of the ,cloth ,hall4 
,in this church was shown a curious     
little picture1 representing the devil  
setting fire to the tower1 which was    
destroyed in #afch1 but was later       
rebuilt after the original plans4 ,the  

interior had no dignity of style        
whatever4 ,there were1 however1 some    
figures of the saints ,peter and ,paul  
attributed to ,carel ,van ,yper1 which  
merited the examination of connoisseurs4
 ,they are believed by experts to have  
been the volets of a triptych of which  
the center panel was missing4           
,illustration3 ,gateway1 ,wall1 and ,old
 ,moat3 ,ypres  ,the ,place ,st4 ,pierre
 was picturesque and smiling4 ,following
 this route we found on the right at the
 end of a small street the hospital ,st4
 ,jean1 with an octagonal tower1 which  
enshrined some pictures attributed to   
the prolific ,carel ,van ,yper1 comment 
upon which would be perhaps out of place
 here4 ,on the corner of this street was
 a most charming old faade in process of
 demolishment1 which we deplored4  ,now 
we reached the ,porte de ,lille again   
and the remains of the old walls of the 
town4 ,again and again we followed this 
same route1 each time finding some new  
beauty or hidden antiquity which well   

repaid us for such persistence4 ,few of 
the towns of ,flanders presented such   
treasures as were to be found in ,ypres4
 ,following the walk on the ramparts1   
past the caserne or infantry barracks1  
one came upon the place of the ancient  
chteau of the counts1 a vast            
construction under the name of de       
,zaalhof4 ,here was an antique building 
called the ,lombard1 dated #afaf1       
covered with old iron ancres and crosses
 between the high small-paned windows4  
,by the ,rue de ,beurre one regained the
 ,grand' ,place1 passing through the    
silent old ,place ,van den ,peereboom in
 the center of which was the statue of  
the old ,burgomaster of that name4  ,the
 aspect of this silent grass-grown      
square behind the ,cloth ,hall was most 
impressive4 ,here thronged the burghers 
of old1 notably on the occasion of the  
entry of ,charles the ,bold and his     
daughter ,marguerite1 all clad in fur1  
lace1 and velvet to astonish the        
inhabitants1 who instead of being       

impressed1 so outshone the visitors1 by 
their own and their wives' magnificence 
of apparel1 that ,marguerite was        
reported to have left the banquet hall  
in pique4 ,the belfry quite dominated   
the square at the eastern angle1 where  
were the houses forming the             
conciergerie4  ,turning to the right by 
way of the ,chemin de ,st4 ,martin1 one 
found the ancient ,beguinage latterly   
used by the gendarmerie as a station1   
the lovely old chapel turned into a     
stable6 ,in this old town were hundreds 
of remarkable ancient houses1 each of   
which merits description in this book4  
,but perhaps in this brief and very     
fragmentary description the reader may  
find reason for the author's enthusiasm1
 and agree with him that ,ypres was     
perhaps the most unique and interesting 
of all the destroyed towns in ,flanders4
     ,commines     ,commines   ,it was  
not hard to realize that here we were in
 the country of ,bras-de-,fer1 of       
,memling1 of ,cuyp1 and ,thierry        

d',alsace1 for1 on descending from the  
halting1 bumping train at the small     
brick station1 we were face to face with
 a bizarre1 bulbous-topped tower rising 
above the houses surrounding a small    
square1 and now quite crowded with      
large1 hollow-backed1 thick-legged      
,flemish horses1 which might have been  
those of the followers of ,thierry      
gathered in preparation for an onslaught
 upon one of the neighboring towns4  ,it
 seemed as though any turning might     
bring us face to face with a grim cohort
 of mounted armed men in steel corselet 
and morion1 bearing the banner of       
,spanish ,philip1 so sinister were the  
narrow1 ill-paved streets1 darkened by  
the projecting second stories of the    
somber1 gray-stone houses4 ,rarely was  
there an open door or window4 ,as we    
passed1 our footsteps on the uneven     
stones awakened the echoes4 ,a fine     
drizzle of rain which began to fall upon
 us from the leaden sky did not tend to 
enliven us1 and we hastened toward the  

small ,grand' ,place1 where ,i noted on 
a sign over a doorway the words1 ,in de 
,leeuw ,van ,vlanderen 7,to the ,flemish
 ,lion71 which promised at least shelter
 from the rainfall4 ,here we remained   
until the sun shone forth4  ,commines   
7,flemish1 ,komen7 was formerly a       
fortified town of some importance in the
 period of the ,great ,wars of          
,flanders4 ,it was the birthplace of    
,philip de ,commines 7#adde-aeji74 ,it  
was1 so to say1 one of the iron hinges  
upon which the great military defense   
system of the burghers swung and creaked
 in those dark days4 ,to-day1 in these  
rich fields about the small town1 one   
can find no traces of the old-time      
bastions which so well guarded the town 
from ,van ,artevelde's assaults4 ,inside
 the town were scarcely any trees1 an   
unusual feature for ,flanders1 and on   
the narrow waterways floated but few    
craft4  ,the only remarkable thing by   
virtue of its ,renaissance style of     
architecture was the belfry and clock   

tower1 although some of the old ,flemish
 dwelling houses in the market square1  
projecting over an ogival ,colonnade    
extending round one end of the square1  
and covering a sort of footway1 were of 
interest1 uplifting their step-like     
gables as a silent but eloquent protest 
against a posterity devoid of style1 all
 of them to the right and left falling  
into line like two wings of stone in    
order to allow the carved front of the  
belfry to make a better show1 and its   
pinnacled tower to rise the prouder     
against the sky4  ,one was struck with  
the ascendency of the religious element 
over all forms of art1 and this was a   
characteristic of the ,flemings4 ,one   
was everywhere confronted with a curious
 union of religion and war1             
representations peopled exclusively by  
seraphic beings surrounded or           
accompanied by armed warriors4          
,everything is adoration1 resignation1  
incense fumes1 psalmody1 and crusaders4 
,the greatest buildings we saw were     

ecclesiastical1 the richest dresses were
 church vestments1 even the princes and 
burghers accompanied by armed knights   
remind one of ecclesiastics celebrating 
the ,mass4 ,all the women are holy      
virgins1 seemingly4 ,the chasm between  
the ideal and the reality itself1       
however idealized1 but by meditation    
manifested pictorially4 7,the ,land of  
,rubens1 ,c4,b4 ,huet74  ,we sat for an 
hour in the small1 sooty1               
tobacco-smelling estaminet 7from the    
,spanish estamento--an inn71 and then   
the skies clearing somewhat we fared    
forth to explore the belfry1 which in   
spite of its sadly neglected state was  
still applied to civic use4 ,some dark1 
heavy1 oaken beams in the ceiling of the
 principal room showed delicately       
carved1 fancy heads1 some of them       
evidently portraits4 ,at the rear of the
 tower on the ground floor1 ,i came upon
 a vaulted apartment supported on       
columns1 and being used as a storehouse4
 ,its construction was so handsome1 it  

was so beautifully lighted from without1
 as to make one grieve for its          
desecration2 it may have served in the  
olden time as a refectory1 and if so was
 doubtless the scene of great festivity 
in the time of ,philip de ,commines1 who
 was noted for the magnificence of his  
entertainments4  ,the ,flemish burghers 
of the ,middle ,ages first built        
themselves a church2 when that was      
finished1 a great hall4 ,that of ,ypres 
took more than two hundred years to     
complete4 ,how long this great tower of 
,commines took1 ,i can only conjecture4 
,its semi-oriental pear-shaped 7or      
onion-shaped1 as you will7 tower was    
certainly of great antiquity2 even the  
unkempt little priest whom ,i questioned
 in the ,grand' ,place could give me    
little or no information concerning it4 
,indeed1 he seemed to be on the point of
 resenting my questions1 as though he   
thought that ,i was in some way poking  
fun at him4 ,i presume that it was the  
scene of great splendor in their early  

days4 ,for here a count of ,flanders or 
a duke of ,brabant exercised sovereign  
rights1 and at such a ceremony as the   
laying of a corner-stone assumed the    
place of honor1 although the real       
authority was with the burghers1 and    
founded upon commerce4 ,while granting  
this privilege1 the ,flemings ever hated
 autocracy4 ,they loved pomp1 but any   
attempt to exercise power over them     
infuriated them4  ,illustration3 ,the   
,belfry3 ,commines  ,the architecture of
 the ,fleming was the expression of     
aspiration1 says ,c4,b4 ,huet 7,the     
,land of ,rubens74  ,the ,flemish hall  
has often the form of a church2 art     
history1 aiming at classification1      
ranges it among the ,gothic by reason of
 its pointed windows4 ,the ,hall usually
 is a defenceless feudal castle without 
moats1 without porticullis1 without     
loopholes4 ,it occupies the center of a 
market-place4 ,it is a temple of peace1 
its windows are as numerous as those in 
the choirs of that consecrated to the   

worship of ,god4  ,from the center of   
the building uprises an enormous mass1  
three1 four1 five stories high1 as high 
as the cathedral1 perhaps higher4 ,it is
 the belfry1 the transparent habitation 
of the alarm bell 7as well as the       
chimes74 ,the belfry cannot defend      
itself1 a military character is foreign 
to it4 ,but as warden of civic liberty  
it can1 at the approach of domination   
from without1 or autocracy uplifting its
 head within1 awaken the threatened     
ones1 and call them to arms in its own  
defence4 ,the belfry is thus a symbol of
 a society expecting happiness from     
neither a dynasty nor from a military   
despotism1 but solely from common       
institutions1 from commerce and         
industry1 from a citizen's life1 budding
 in the shadow of the peaceful church1  
and borrowing its peaceful architecture 
from it4 ,to the town halls of ,flanders
 belonged the place of honor among the  
monuments of ,belgian architecture4 ,no 
other country of ,europe offered so rich

 a variety in that respect4  ,courtrai  
replaces ,arras2 ,oudenaarde and ,ypres 
follow suit4 ,then come ,tournai1       
,bruges1 ,ghent1 ,antwerp1 ,brussels1   
,louvain4 ,primary ,gothic1 secondary   
,gothic1 tertiary ,gothic1 satisfying   
every wish4 ,flanders and ,brabant      
called the communal style into life4 ,if
 ever ,europe becomes a commune1 the    
communards have but to go to ,ypres to  
find motifs from their architects4      
,since this was written1 in #aiad1 many1
 if not most1 of these great buildings  
thus enumerated above1 are now in ruins1
 utterly destroyed for all time6        
,bergues     ,bergues   ,a tiny sleepy  
town among the fringe of great willow   
trees which marked the site of the      
ancient walls4 ,belted by its crumbling 
ramparts1 and like a quaint gem set in  
the green enamel of the smiling         
landscape1 it offered a resting place   
far from the cares and noise of the     
world4  ,quite ignored by the guide     
books1 it had1 ,i found1 one of the most

 remarkable belfries to be found in the 
,netherlands1 and a chime of sweet      
bells1 whose melodious sounds haunted   
our memories for days after our last    
visit in #aiaj4  ,there were winding1   
silent streets bordered by mysteriously 
closed and shuttered houses1 but mainly 
these were small and of the peasant     
order4 ,on the ,grand' ,place1 for of   
course there was one1 the tower sprang  
from a collection of rather shabby      
buildings1 of little or no character1   
but this did not seem to detract from   
the magnificence of the great tower4 ,i 
use the word great too often1 ,i fear1  
but can find no other word in the       
language to qualify these ,campanili of 
,flanders4  ,this one was embellished   
with what are known as ogival arcatures1
 arranged in zones or ranks1 and there  
were four immense turrets1 one at each  
corner1 these being in turn covered with
 arcatures of the same character4 ,these
 flanked the large open-work1 gilded1   
clock face4 ,surmounting this upon a    

platform was a construction in the      
purely ,flemish style1 containing the   
chime of bells1 and the machinery of the
 carillon1 and topping all was a sort of
 inverted bulb or gourd-shaped turret1  
covered with blue slate1 with a gilded  
weathervane about which the rooks flew  
in clouds4  ,the counterpart of this    
tower was not to be found anywhere in   
the ,netherlands1 and one is surprised  
that it was so little known4            
,illustration3 ,the ,towers of ,st4     
,winoc3 ,bergues  ,upon the occasion of 
our visit the town was given up to the  
heavy and stolid festivities of the     
,kermesse1 which is now of interest here
 only to the laboring class and the     
small farmers of the region4 ,the center
 of attraction1 as we found in several  
other towns1 seemed to be an incredibly 
fat woman emblazoned on a canvas as the 
,belle ,heloise who was seated upon a   
sort of throne draped in red flannel1   
and exhibited a pair of extremities     
resembling in size the masts of a ship1 

to the great wonder of the peasants4    
,there were also some shabby            
merry-go-rounds with wheezy organs      
driven by machinery1 and booths in which
 hard-featured show women were frying   
waffles in evil smelling grease4 ,after 
buying some of these for the children   
who stood about with watering mouths1 we
 left the ,kermesse and wandered away   
down a silent street towards a smaller  
tower rising from a belt of dark trees4 
,this we found to be the remains of the 
ancient abbey of ,st4 ,winoc4 ,a very   
civil mannered young priest who overtook
 us on the road informed us of this1 and
 volunteered further the information    
that we were in what was undoubtedly the
 ancient jardin-clos of the ,abbey4 ,of 
this retreat only the two towers        
standing apart in the long grass        
remained1 one very heavy and square1    
supported by great buttresses of        
discolored brick1 the other octangular1 
in stages1 and retaining its high       
graceful steeple4  ,we were unable to   

gain entrance to either of these towers1
 the doorways being choked with weeds   
and the dbris of fallen masonry4 ,the   
invaders destroyed both of these fine   
historical remains in ,november1 #aiad1 
alleging that they were being used for  
military observation by the ,belgian    
army4 ,these small towns of ,flanders   
had a simple dignity of their own which 
was of great attraction to the tourist1 
who could1 without disillusionment1     
imagine himself back in the dim past4   
,in the wayside inns or estaminets one  
could extract amusement and profit      
listening to the peasantry or admiring  
the sunlight dancing upon the array of  
bottles and glass on the leaden         
counters1 or watch the peasants kneel   
and cross themselves before the         
invariable quaint niched figure of the  
,virgin and ,child under the hanging    
lighted lantern at a street corner1 the 
evidence of the piety of the village1 or
 the throngs of lace-capped1            
rosy-cheeked milkmaids with small green 

carts drawn by large1 black1 slobbering 
dogs of fierce mien1 from the distant   
farms1 on their way to market4  ,thus   
the everyday life of the region was     
rendered poetic and artistic1 and all   
with the most charming unconsciousness4 
,nieuport     ,nieuport   ,in the midst 
of a level field to the east of the town
 of ,nieuport in #aiad was a high square
 weather-beaten tower1 somewhat ruinous1
 built of stone and brick in strata1    
showing the different eras of           
construction in the various colors of   
the brick work ranging from light reds  
to dark browns and rich blacks4 ,this   
tower1 half built and square topped1    
belonged to a structure begun in the    
twelfth century1 half monastery1 half   
church1 erected by the ,templars as a   
stronghold4 ,repeatedly attacked and set
 on fire1 it escaped complete           
destruction1 although nearly laid in    
ruins by the ,english and burghers of   
,ghent in #achc1 the year of the famous 
siege of ,ypres4 ,during the ,wars of   

#afjj1 it was an important part of the  
fortifications1 and from the platform of
 its tower the ,spanish garrison        
commanded a clear view of the           
surrounding country and the distance    
beyond the broad moat1 which then       
surrounded the strong walls of          
,nieuport4  ,in plain view from this    
tower top were the houses of ,furnes1   
grouped about the church of ,saint      
,nicolas to the southwest1 while to the 
north the wide belt of dunes1 or sand   
hills1 defended the plains from the     
,north ,sea4 ,nearer were the populous  
villages of ,westende and               
,lombaerd-,zyde1 connected with         
,nieuport by numerous small lakes and   
canals derived from the channel of the  
,yser river1 which flowed past the town 
on its way to the sea4  ,illustration3  
,the ,tower of the ,templars3 ,nieuport 
,the history of ,nieuport1 from the     
terrible days of the ,spanish invasion  
down to these days of even worse fate1  
has been pitiable4 ,its former sea trade

 after the ,spanish invasion was never  
recovered1 and its population1 which was
 beginning to be thrifty and prosperous 
up to #aiad1 has now entirely           
disappeared4 ,nieuport is now in ashes  
and ruins4 ,when ,i passed the day there
 in the summer of #aiaj1 it was a       
sleepy1 quiet spot1 a small fishing     
village1 with old men and women sitting 
in doorways and on the waysides1 mending
 nets1 and knitting heavy woolen socks  
or sweaters of dark blue4 ,in the small 
harbor were the black hulls of fishing  
boats tied up to the quaysides1 and a   
small steamer from ,ghoole was taking on
 a cargo of potatoes and beets4 ,some   
barges laden with wood were being pulled
 through the locks by men harnessed to a
 long tow rope1 and a savage dog on one 
of these barges menaced me with dripping
 fangs and bloodshot eyes when ,i       
stopped to talk to the steersman1 who   
sat on the tiller smoking a short1      
evil-smelling pipe1 while his vrouwe was
 hanging out a heavy wash of            

vari-colored garments on a line from the
 staff on the bow to a sweep fastened   
upright to the cabin wall4  ,the ancient
 fortification had long since           
disappeared--those impregnable walls of 
stone which once defended the town from 
the assaults of ,philip the ,second4 ,i 
found with some difficulty a few        
grass-grown mounds where they had been1 
and only the gray1 grim tower of the    
,templars1 standing solitary in a turnip
 field1 remained to show what had been a
 mighty stronghold4 ,in the town1       
however1 were souvenirs enough to occupy
 an antiquary for years to his content  
and profit4 ,there was the ,cloth ,hall1
 with its five pointed low arched       
doorways from which passed in and out   
the ,knights of the ,temple gathered for
 the first pilgrimage to the ,holy      
,land4 ,on this market square too was   
the great ,gothic ,church1 one of the   
largest and most important in all       
,flanders1 and on this afternoon in the 
summer of #aiaj1 ,i attended a service  

here1 while in the tower a bell ringer  
played the chime of famous bells which  
now lie in broken fragments amid the    
ashes of the fallen tower4  ,here was   
fought the bloody ,battle of the ,dunes1
 between the ,dutch and the ,spaniards  
in those dim days of long ago1 when the 
stubborn determination of the           
,netherlanders overcame the might and   
fiery valor of the ,spanish invaders4   
,from time to time the peasants laboring
 in the fields uncovered bones1 broken  
steel breast-plates1 and weapons1 which 
they brought to the museum on the       
,grand' ,place1 and which the sleepy    
custode showed me with reluctance1 until
 ,i offered him a franc4 ,it is curious 
that famous ,nieuport1 for which so much
 blood was shed in those early days1    
should again have been a famous battle  
ground between the handful of valiant   
soldiers of the heroic ,king ,albert and
 a mighty ,teutonic foe4  ,the dim gray 
town with its silent streets1 the one   
time home of romance and chivalry1 the  

scene of deeds of knightly valor1 is now
 done for forever4 ,it is not likely    
that it can ever again be of importance1
 for its harbor is well-nigh closed by  
drifting sand4 ,but ,i shall always keep
 the vision ,i had of it that summer    
day1 in its market place1 its gabled    
houses against the luminous sky1 its    
winding streets1 and narrow byways      
across which the roofs almost touch each
 other4 ,the ancient palaces are now in 
ruins1 and the peaceful population      
scattered abroad1 charges upon the      
charity of the world4 ,certainly a      
woeful picture in contrast to the       
content of other days4  ,the vast green 
plains behind the dunes1 or sand hills1 
extend unbrokenly from here to the      
,french frontier1 spire after spire     
dominating small towns1 and windmills1  
are the objects seen4 ,to some the      
flatness is most monotonous1 but to     
those who find pleasure in the paintings
 of ,cuyp1 the country is very          
picturesque4 ,the almost endless        

succession of green1 well-cultivated    
fields and farmsteads is most           
entertaining1 and the many canals       
winding their silvery ways through the  
country1 between rows of pollards2 the  
well kept though small country houses   
embowered in woody enclosures2 the      
fruitful orchards in splendid           
cultivation2 the gardens filled with    
fair flowers and the most compact little
 towns--these give the region a romance 
and attraction all its own4             
,illustration3 ,the ,town ,hall--,hall  
of the ,knights ,templars3 ,nieuport    
,here and there is a hoary church       
erected in forgotten times on ground    
dedicated to ,thor or ,wodin4 ,this part
 of the country bordering the fifty mile
 stretch of coast line on the ,north    
,sea was given over latterly to the     
populous bathing establishments and     
their new communities1 but the other    
localities1 such as ,tournai1 ,courtrai1
 ,oudenaarde or ,alost1 were seldom     
visited by strangers1 whose advent      

created almost as much excitement as it 
would in ,timbuctoo4 ,it was not        
inaccessible1 but the roads were not    
good for automobiles2 they were mainly  
paved with rough ,belgian blocks of     
stone1 high in the center1 with a dirt  
roadway on either side1 used by the     
peasants and quite rutty4  ,a walking   
tour for any but the hardiest pedestrian
 was out of the question1 so ,i was told
 that the best way for a bachelor       
traveler was to secure transportation on
 the canal boats4 ,this was the warning 
that our kind hearted landlord in       
,antwerp gave us1 after vainly          
endeavoring to discourage us from       
leaving him for such a tour4  ,the      
canals1 however1 are not numerous enough
 in this region1 ,i found1 and besides  
there are various other disadvantages   
which ,i leave to the reader's          
imagination4  ,in addition to the main  
lines of the ,state ,railway1 there were
 what are called                        
,chemins-de-fer-vicinaux1 small narrow  

gauge railways which traversed ,belgium 
in all directions4 ,on these the fares  
were very reasonable1 and they formed an
 ideal way in which to study the country
 and the people4 ,there were first1     
second and third class carriages on     
these1 hung high on tall wheels1 which  
looked very unsafe1 but were not really 
so4 ,the classes varied only in the     
trimming of the windows1 and quality of 
the cushions on the benches4 ,rarely if 
ever1 were those marked ,i ,klasse used4
 ,those of the second class were used   
sometimes2 but the third class cars were
 generally very crowded with peasantry1 
who while invariably good humored and   
civil were certainly evil smelling1 and 
intolerant of open windows and fresh    
air4 ,the men and boys generally smoked 
a particularly vile-smelling black      
tobacco1 of which they seemed very fond1
 and although some of the cars were     
marked ,niet rooken 7no smoking7 no one 
seemed to object to the fumes4          
,illustration3 ,tower of the ,grand'    

,place3 ,nieuport  ,here one seldom saw 
the purely ,spanish type of face so     
usual in ,antwerp and ,brabant4 ,the    
race seemed purer1 and the peasants used
 the pure ,flemish tongue4 ,few of the  
elders ,i found spoke ,french fluently1 
although the children used it freely to 
each other1 of course understanding and 
speaking ,flemish also4  ,there were    
various newspapers published in the     
,flemish language exclusively4 ,these1  
however1 were very primitive1 given over
 entirely to purely local brevities1 and
 the prices of potatoes1 beets and other
 commodities1 and containing also a     
feuilleton of interest to the farmers   
and laborers4  ,there were several      
organs of the ,flemish ,patriotic party 
devoted to the conservation and         
preservation of the ,flemish language   
and the ancient traditions1 which were  
powerful among the people1 although     
their circulation could not have been   
very profitable4 ,the peasantry in truth
 were very ignorant1 and knew of very   

little beyond their own parishes4 ,the  
educational standard of the people of   
,west ,flanders was certainly low1 and  
it was a matter of comment among the    
opponents of the established church1    
that education being in the hands of the
 clergy1 they invariably defeated plans 
for making it compulsory4 ,but          
nevertheless1 the peasantry were to all 
appearances both contented and fairly   
happy4  ,as their wants were few and    
primitive1 their living was cheap4      
,their fare was coffee1 of which they   
consumed a great deal1 black bread1 salt
 pork and potatoes4 ,the use of         
oleomargarine was universal in place of 
butter4 ,they grew tobacco in their     
small gardens for their own use1 and    
also1 it is whispered1 smuggled it and  
gin over the border into ,france4 ,they 
worked hard and long from five in the   
morning until seven or eight in the     
evening4  ,the ,flemish farmhouse was   
generally well built1 if somewhat untidy
 looking1 with the pigstys and out      

buildings in rather too close proximity 
for comfort4 ,there was usually a large 
living room with heavy sooty beams      
overhead1 and thick walls pierced by    
quaint deeply sunken windows furnished  
often with seats4 ,these picturesque    
rooms often contained good finds of the 
old ,spanish furniture1 and brass2 but  
as a rule the dealers had long since    
bought up all the old things1 replacing 
them by brummagem1--modern articles     
shining with cheap varnish4  ,the       
peasants themselves in their everyday   
clothes certainly did not impress the   
observer greatly4 ,they were not        
picturesque1 they wore the sabt or      
,klompen1 yellow varnished1 and clumsy  
in shape4 ,their stockings were coarse  
gray worsted4 ,their short trousers were
 usually tied with a string above the   
calf1 and they wore a sort of smock1    
sometimes of linen unbleached1 or of a  
shining sort of dark purple thin stuff4 
,the usual headgear was for the men a   
cap with a glazed peak and for the women

 and girls a wide flapped embroidered   
linen cap1 but this headgear was worn   
only in the country towns and villages4 
,elsewhere the costume was fast         
disappearing4 ,on ,sundays when dressed 
in their holiday clothes these peasants 
going to or returning from mass1 looked 
respectable and fairly prosperous1 and  
it was certainly clear that although    
poor in worldly goods1 these animated   
and laughing throngs were far from being
 unhappy or dissatisfied with life as   
they found it in ,west ,flanders4       
,alost     ,alost   ,the ancient ,htel  
de ,ville on the ,grand' ,place was     
unique1 not for its great beauty1 for it
 had none1 but for its quaintness1 in   
the singular combination of several     
styles of architecture4 ,without going  
into any details its attraction was in  
what might be called its venerable      
coquettishness1--bizarre1 one might have
 styled it1 but that the word conveys   
some hint of lack of dignity4 ,one is at
 a loss just how to characterize its    

attractiveness4 ,against the sky its    
towers and minarets held one's fancy by 
their very lightness and airiness1 the  
lanterns and fleches presupposing a like
 grace and proportion in the edifice    
below4 ,the great square belfry at one  
side seemed to shoulder aside the       
structure with its beautiful            
,renaissance faade and portal and quite 
dominate it4  ,my note book says that it
 dated from the fifteenth century1 and  
its appearance certainly bore evidence  
of this statement4 ,it had been erected 
in sections at various periods1 and     
these periods were marked in the various
 courses of brick1 showing every variety
 of tone of dull reds1 buffs1 and mellow
 purplish browns4 ,the effect was quite 
delightful4 ,the tower contained a fine 
carillon of bells arranged on a rather  
bizarre platform1 giving a most quaint  
effect to the turret which surmounted   
it4 ,the face of the tower bore four    
niches1 two at each side of the center  
and upper windows1 and these contained  

time worn statues of the noble counts of
 ,alost4 ,on the wall below was a tablet
 bearing the inscription ,ni ,espoir1   
,ni ,craint1 and this ,i was told       
referred either to the many sieges which
 the town suffered1 or a pestilence     
which depopulated the whole region4 ,a  
huge gilt clock face shone below the    
upper gallery1 at each corner of which  
sprang a stone gargoyle4  ,the old      
square upon which this tower was placed 
was quite in keeping with it4 ,there    
were rows of gabled stone houses of     
great antiquity1 still inhabited1       
stretching away in an array of faades1  
gables1 and most fantastic roofs1 all of
 mellow toned tile1 brick and stone4    
,illustration3 ,the ,town ,hall3 ,alost 
,thierry ,moertens1 who was a renowned  
master printer of the ,netherlands1 was 
born here1 and is said to have          
established in ,alost the very first    
printing house in ,flanders4 ,from this 
press issued a translation of the ,holy 
,bible1 which was preserved in the      

,museum of ,brussels1 together with     
other fine specimens of his skill4 ,a   
very good statue in bronze to this      
master printer was in the center of the 
market place1 and on the occasion of my 
last visit1 there was a sort of carnival
 in the town1 with a great gathering of 
farmers and merchants and their families
 from the surrounding country all       
gathered about the square1 which was    
filled with wagons1 horses1 booths1 and 
merry-go-rounds1 above which the statue 
of the old master printer appeared in   
great dignity4 ,there was a great       
consumption of beer and waffles at the  
small estaminets1 and the chimes in the 
belfry played popular songs at intervals
 to the delight of these simple happy   
people1 all unaware of the great        
catastrophe of the war into which they  
were about to be plunged4  ,a disastrous
 conflagration destroyed most of ,alost 
in #acfj1 and thereafter history deals  
with the fury of the religious wars     
conducted by the ,spanish against       

,alost1 a most strongly fortified town4 
,the story of the uniting of these      
,spanish troops under the leadership of 
,juan de ,navarese is well known4       
,burning and sacking and murder were the
 sad lot of ,alost and its unfortunate  
citizens1 who had hardly recovered1 ere 
the ,duke d',alenon arrived before the  
walls with his troops1 bent upon        
mischief4 ,the few people remaining     
after his onslaught died like flies     
during the plague which broke out the   
following year1 and the town bid fair to
 vanish forever4  ,rubens painted a     
large and important picture based upon  
the destruction of ,alost1 and this work
 was hanging in the old church of ,st4  
,martin just before the outbreak of the 
war in #aiad4 ,its fate is              
problematical1 for ,st4 ,martin's       
,church was razed to the ground in the  
bombardment in #aiad-ae1 the charge     
being the usual one that the tower was  
used for military purposes by the       
,french4  ,this old church with its     

curious bulbous tower cap was at the end
 of a small street1 and my last view of 
it was on the occasion of a church fte  
in which some dignitaries were present1 
for ,i saw them all clad in scarlet and 
purple walking beneath silken canopies  
attended by priests bearing lighted     
lanterns 7although the sun was shining  
brightly at the time7 and acolytes      
swinging fragrant smoking censers4 ,we  
were directed to a rather shabby looking
 hostelry1 over the door of which was an
 emblazoned coat of arms of ,flanders1  
where we were assured we could get      
djeuner before leaving the town4  ,as   
usual1 a light drizzle came on1 and the 
streets became deserted4 ,the hotel was 
a wretched one and the meal furnished us
 was in character with it4 ,we were     
waited on by a sour1 taciturn old man   
who bore a dirty towel on his arm1 as a 
sort of badge of office1 ,i presume4 ,he
 nodded or shook his head as the case   
might demand1 but not a word could ,i   
extract from him4 ,at the close of our  

meal1 which we dallied over1 waiting for
 the rain to cease1 ,i called for the   
bill1 which was produced after a long   
wait1 and proved to be1 as ,i           
anticipated1 excessive4 ,we had coffee  
and hot milk and some cold chicken and  
salad4 ,this repast1 for two1 came to   
twelve francs4 ,and as the chicken had  
reached its old age long before1 and the
 period of its roasting must have taken 
place at an uncertain date1 this1       
together with the fact that the lettuce 
was wilted1 placed these items upon the 
proscribed list for us4 ,the coffee and 
hot milk1 however1 was good and1 thus   
revived and rested1 ,i paid the bill    
without protest1 and having retained the
 carriage which we hired at the station1
 ,i bundled our belongings into it4 ,i  
had resolved not to tip the surly old   
fellow1 but a gleam in his eye made me  
hesitate4 ,then ,i weakened and gave him
 a franc4  ,to my amazement he said in  
excellent ,english3 ,i thank you1 sir2  
you are a kind1 good and patient man1   

and madam is a most charming and        
gracious lady4 ,i am sorry your         
breakfast was so bad1 but ,i can do     
nothing here2 these people are          
impossible2 but it is no fault of mine4 
,and shaking his head he vanished into  
the doorway of the hotel4 ,driving away1
 ,i glanced up at the windows1 where    
behind the curtains ,i thought ,i saw   
several faces watching us furtively4 ,it
 might be that we had missed an         
adventure in coming away4 ,had ,i been  
alone ,i should have chanced it1 for the
 old waiter interested me with his      
sudden confidence and his command of    
,english4 ,but whatever his story might 
have been1 it must ever be to me a      
closed book4 ,quaint ,alost among the   
trees is now a heap of blackened ruins4 
,courtrai     ,courtrai   ,the two large
 and impressive stone towers flanking a 
bridge of three arches over the small   
sluggish river ,lys were those of the   
celebrated ,brol1 dating from the       
fourteenth century4 ,the towers were    

called respectively the ,speytorre and  
the ,inghelbrugtorre4 ,the first named  
on the south side of the river formed   
part of the ancient enceinte of the     
first chteau of ,philip of ,alsace1 and 
was erected in the twelfth century1 and 
famed with the chteau of ,lille1 as the 
most formidable strongholds of          
,flanders4 ,the ,inghelbrugtorre was    
erected in #adaa-ac1 and strongly       
resembles its sister tower opposite4 ,it
 was furnished with loopholes for both  
archers and for arquebusiers1 as well as
 openings for the discharge of cannon   
and the casting of molten pitch and lead
 upon the heads of besiegers after the  
fashion of warfare as conducted during  
the wars of the ,middle ,ages4 ,the     
,breton soldiers under ,charles the     
,eleventh attacked and almost razed this
 great stronghold in #achb4  ,a sleepy  
old custode whom we aroused took us down
 into horrible dungeons1 where1 with a  
dripping tallow candle1 he showed us    
some iron rings attached to the dripping

 walls below the surface of the river   
where prisoners of state were chained in
 former times1 and told us that the     
walls here were three or four yards     
thick4 ,the town was one of beauty and  
great charm1 and here we stopped for a  
week in a most delightfully kept small  
hotel on the square1 which was bordered 
with fine large trees1 both linden and  
chestnut4  ,the town was famed in       
history for the ,great ,battle of the   
,spurs which took place outside the     
walls1 in the year #acjb1 on the plains 
of ,groveninghe4 ,history mentions the  
fact that seven hundred golden spurs    
were picked up afterwards on the        
battlefield and hung in the cathedral4  
,these we were unable to locate4  ,the  
water of the ,lys1 flowing through the  
town and around the remains of the      
ancient walls1 was put to practical use 
by the inhabitants in the preparation of
 flax1 for which the town was renowned4 
,illustration3 ,the ,belfry3 ,courtrai  
,it ranked with the old city of ,bruges 

in importance up to #aiad1 when it had  
some thirty-five thousand inhabitants4  
,in the middle of the beflowered ,grand'
 ,place stood a quaint brick belfry     
containing a good chime of bells1 and on
 market days when surrounded with the   
farmers' green wagons and the lines of  
booths about which the people gathered  
chaffering1 its appearance was          
picturesque enough to satisfy anyone1   
even the most blas of travelers4 ,the   
belfry had four large gilt clock faces1 
and its bells could be plainly seen     
through the windows hanging from the    
huge beams4 ,on the tower were gilded   
escutcheons1 and a couple of armor-clad 
statues in niches4 ,there was a fine    
church dedicated to ,notre ,dame1 which 
was commenced by ,baldwin in #aaii1 and 
a very beautiful ,counts ,chapel with   
rows of statues of counts and countesses
 of ,flanders whose very names were     
forgotten4  ,here was one of the few    
remaining ,beguinages of ,flanders1     
which we might have overlooked but for  

the kindness of a passerby who1 seeing  
that we were strangers1 pointed out the 
doorway to us4  ,on either hand were    
small houses through the windows of     
which one could see old women sitting   
bowed over cushions rapidly moving the  
bobbins over the lace patterns4 ,a heavy
 black door gave access to the          
,beguinage1 a tiny retreat1 ,noy de     
,silence1 inaugurated1 tradition says1  
in #abch1 by ,jean de ,constantinople1  
who gave it as a refuge for the ,sisters
 of ,st4 ,bogga4 ,and here about a small
 grass grown square in which was a      
statue of the saint1 dwelt a number of  
self-sacrificing women1 bound by no vow1
 who had consecrated their lives to the 
care of the sick and needy4  ,we spent  
an hour in this calm and fragrant       
retreat1 where there was no noise save  
the sweet tolling of the convent bell1  
and the cooing of pigeons on the ridge  
pole of the chapel4  ,in the square     
before the small station was a statue1  
which after questioning a number of     

people without result1 ,i at length     
found to be that of ,jean ,palfyn who1  
my informant assured me1 was the        
inventor of the forceps1 and expressed  
surprise that ,i should be so interested
 in statuary as to care who it was4 ,he 
asked me if ,i was not ,english and when
 ,i answered that ,i was an ,american1  
looked somewhat dazed1 much as if ,i had
 said ,new ,zealander or ,kamschatkan1  
and was about to ask me some further    
question1 but upon consideration thought
 better of it1 and turned away shrugging
 his shoulders4  ,to show how well the  
river ,lys is loved by the people1 ,i   
quote here a sort of prose poem by a    
local poet1 one ,adolph ,verriest4 ,it  
is called ,het ,leielied4  ,la ,lys     
flows over the level fields of our      
beautiful country1 its fecund waters    
reflecting the blue of our wondrous     
,flemish landscape4 ,active and diligent
 servant1 it seems to work ever to our  
advantage1 multiplying in its charming  
sinuosities its power for contributing  

to our prosperity1 accomplishing our    
tasks1 and granting our needs4 ,it gives
 to our lives ammunition and power4 ,the
 noise of busy mills and the movement of
 bodies of workmen in its banks is sweet
 music in our ears1 in tune to the      
rippling of its waters4  ,a silver      
ribbon starred with the blue            
corn-flower1 the supple textile baptised
 in its soft waters is transformed by   
the hand of man into cloudy lace1 into  
snowy linen1 into fabrics of filmy      
lightness for my lady's wear1 ,la ,lys1 
name significant and fraught with poetry
 for us--giving life to the germ of the 
flax which it conserves through all its 
life better than any art of the chemist 
in the secret chambers of his           
laboratory4  ,thanks to this gracious   
river1 our lovely town excels in napery 
and is known throughout all the world4  
,in harvest time the banks of the ,lys  
are thronged with movement1 the         
harvesters in quaint costumes1 their    
bodies moving rhythmically to the words 

of the songs they sing1 swinging the    
heavy bundles of flax from the banks to 
the level platforms1 where it is allowed
 to sleep in the water1 and later the   
heavy wagons are loaded to the cadence  
of other songs appropriate to the work4 
,large picturesque colored windmills    
wave their brown velvety hued sails     
against the piled up masses of cloud1   
and over all is intense color1 life and 
movement4  ,the river plays then a most 
important part in the life on the       
,flemish plains about ,courtrai1 giving 
their daily bread to the peasants1 and  
lending poetry to their existence4 ,so1 
,o ,lys1 our beautiful benefactor1 we   
love you4  ,at this writing 7,march1    
#aiaf7 ,courtrai is still occupied by   
the troops of the ,german ,kaiser1 and  
with the exception of the destruction of
 the ,brol towers1 the church of ,st4   
,martin1 and the ,old ,belfry in the    
market place1 the town is said to be    
intact4  ,whenever possible we traveled 
through the ,flemish littoral on the    

small steam trams1                      
chemins-de-fer-vicinaux1 as they are    
called in ,french1 in the ,flemish      
tongue ,stoomtram1 passing through      
fertile green meadows dotted with fat1  
sleek1 black and white cows1 and        
embossed with shining silvery waterways 
connecting the towns and villages4 ,we  
noticed ,englishy cottages of white     
stucco and red tiled roofs1 amid well   
kept fields and market gardens in which 
both men and women seemed to toil from  
dawn to dewy evening4 ,flanders before  
the war was simply covered with these   
light railways4 ,the little trains of   
black carriages drawn by puffing covered
 motors1 discharging heavy black clouds 
of evil-smelling smoke and oily soot1   
rushed over the country from morning    
until night1 and the clanging of the    
motorman's bell seemed never ending4    
,illustration3 ,the ,brol ,towers3      
,courtrai  ,to see the country thus was 
a privilege1 and was most interesting1  
for one had to wait in the squares of   

the small towns1 or at other central    
places until the corresponding motor    
arrived before the journey could        
proceed4 ,here there was a sort of      
exchange established where the farmers  
compared notes as to the rise or fall in
 commodities1 or perchance the duty upon
 beets and potatoes4  ,loud and vehement
 was the talk upon these matters2       
really1 did one not know the language1  
one might have fancied that a riot was  
imminent4  ,one morning we halted at a  
small village called ,gheluwe1 where the
 train stopped beside a white-washed    
wall1 and everyone got out1 as the      
custom is4 ,there seemed no reason for  
stopping here1 for we were at some      
distance from the village1 the spire of 
which could be seen above a belt of     
heavy trees ahead4 ,the morning was     
somewhat chilly1 and the only other     
occupant of the compartment was a young 
cleric with a soiled white necktie4 ,he 
puffed away comfortably at a very thin1 
long1 and evil-smelling stogie which he 

seemed to enjoy immensely1 and which in 
the ,flemish manner he seemed to eat as 
he smoked1 eyeing us the while amicably 
though absent mindedly1 as if we were   
far removed from his vicinity4 ,as we   
neared the stopping place1 two very     
jolly young farmer boys raced with the  
train in their quaint barrow-like wagon 
painted a bright green1 and drawn by a  
pair of large dogs who foamed and panted
 past us ventre  terre1 with red jaws   
and flopping tongues4  ,had we not known
 of this breed of dogs we might have    
fancied1 as many strangers do1 that     
,flemish dogs are badly treated1 but    
this is not the case4 ,these dogs are   
very valuable1 worth sometimes as much  
as five hundred francs 7about #ajj74    
,inspections of these dogs are held     
regularly by the authorities4 ,the      
straps and the arrangement of the girths
 are tested lest they should chafe the  
animal1 and1 ,i am told1 the law now    
requires that a piece of carpet be      
carried for the animal to lie upon when 

resting1 and a drinking bowl also has   
been added to the equipment of each     
cart4 ,the dogs do not suffer4 ,they are
 bred for the cart1 and are called      
chiens de traite1 so that the charge of 
cruelty upon the part of ignorant       
tourists may be dismissed as untrue4    
,there is a society for the prevention  
of cruelty to animals1 and it is not    
unusual to see its sign displayed in the
 market places1 with the caution        
,traitez les animaux avec douceur4      
,rarely if ever is a case brought into  
court by the watchful police4  ,the     
young cleric gazed at us inquiringly1 as
 if he expected to hear us exclaim about
 the cruelty to animals1 but catching   
his eye ,i smiled1 and said something   
about ces bons chiens1 at which he      
seemed relieved1 and nodded back        
grinning1 but he did not remove the     
stogie from his mouth4  ,priests in     
,flanders seemed to enjoy much liberty  
of action1 and do things not possible   
elsewhere4 ,for instance1 at            

,blankenberghe1 a fashionable watering  
place on the coast1 ,i saw a prosperous1
 well-fed one 7if ,i may so characterize
 him without meaning any offense7 dining
 at the ,great ,gasthof on the digue1   
who after finishing his filet aux       
champignons1 with a bottle of ,baune    
superior1 ordered his demi tasse with   
fine champagne1 and an ,havana cigar    
which cost him not less than three      
francs 7sixty cents7 which he smoked    
like a connoisseur while he listened to 
the fine military band playing in the   
,kiosk4 ,and why not1 if you please8    
,we remained for nearly twenty minutes  
beside this white wall at the roadside1 
the animated discussions of the farmers 
continuing1 for the group was constantly
 augmented by fresh arrivals who meant  
to travel with us or back to the town   
from which we had come4 ,it was here    
that we saw the first stork in          
,flanders1 where indeed they are        
uncommon4 ,this one had a nest in a     
large tree nearby4 ,one of the boys     

shied a small stone at him as he flapped
 overhead1 but1 ,i think1 without any   
idea of hitting him4 ,the peasants      
assembled here eyed us narrowly4 ,they  
probed me and my belongings with eyes of
 corkscrew penetration1 but since this  
country of theirs was a show place to   
me1 ,i argued that ,i had no right to   
object to their making in return a show 
of me4 ,but such scrutiny is not        
comfortable1 especially if one is seated
 in a narrow compartment1 and the       
open-mouthed vis  vis gazes at one with 
steely bluish green unwinking           
eyes--somewhat red rimmed4 ,especially  
if such scrutiny is accompanied by free 
comments upon one's person1 delivered in
 a voice so pitched as to convey the    
information to all the other occupants1 
and mayhap the engine driver ahead4     
,the other train at length arrived1     
there was an interchange of occupants   
and then we proceeded amid heavy clouds 
of thick black smoke which1 for a time1 
the wind blew with us4 ,across the      

tilled fields are narrow paths leading  
to dykes and roads4 ,there are many     
green ditches filled with water and in  
them we could see rather heavy splashes 
from time to time4 ,these we discovered 
were made by large green bull           
frogs--really monsters they were1 too4  
,of course we were below the sea level  
here1 but one cannot credit the old     
story about the boy who plugged the dyke
 with his thumb1 thereby saving the     
whole country4  ,the dykes are many feet
 high and as the foundation is composed 
of heavy black stones1 then layers of   
great red bricks and tiles1 and finally 
turf and large willow branches          
interlaced most cunningly like giant    
basket work1 such a story is impossible4
  ,my vis  vis1 all the while regarding 
me unwinkingly1 overheard me speak to   
,a--1 in ,english4  ,then he slowly took
 the stogie from his mouth and          
ejaculated1 ,ach--,engelsch6--,do it    
well met you8  ,i replied that it       
certainly did4  ,and met ,madame8  ,i   

nodded4  ,alst' u blieft mynheer--sir1  
he said4 ,then he changed his seat and  
thereafter related to the others that he
 had conversed with the strangers1 who  
were ,english1 and were traveling for   
pleasure1 being enormously rich4 ,i     
think thereafter he enjoyed the         
reputation of being an accomplished     
linguist4 ,so1 pleasantly did we amble  
along the narrow little steam tramway   
through luxurious green fields and      
smiling fertile landscape of the        
,flemish littoral in our well rewarded  
search for the quaint and the unusual4  
,the ,gothic ,town ,hall1 a remarkable  
construction on the ,grand' ,place1 and 
erected #aebf1 has been restored with a 
great amount of good taste in recent    
years1 and the statues on its faade have
 been replaced with such skill that one 
is not conscious of modern work4  ,the  
great ,hall of the ,magistrates on the  
ground floor1 with its magnificent      
furniture1 and the admirable modern     
mural paintings by the ,flemish artists 

,guffens and ,severts 7#ahge7 was worth 
a journey to see4 ,the most noteworthy  
of these paintings represented the      
,departure of ,baldwin ,,ix1 ,count of  
,flanders1 at the beginning of the      
,fourth ,crusade in #abjb1 and the      
,consultation of the ,flemish1 before   
the great ,battle of the ,spurs in      
#acjb4  ,in this chamber is a remarkable
 ,renaissance mantelpiece1 which is     
embellished with the arms of the ,allied
 ,towns of ,bruges and ,ghent1 between  
which are the standard bearers of the   
doughty ,knights of ,courtrai1 and two  
statues of the ,archduke ,albert and his
 ,lady1 all surrounding a statue of the 
,holy ,virgin4  ,on the upper floor is  
the ,council ,chamber1 in which is      
another mantelpiece hardly less ornate  
and interesting1 and executed in what   
may be called the flamboyant manner in  
rich polychrome4 ,it is dated #aebg and 
was designed by 7one of the7 ,keldermans
 7874  ,it has rows or ranges of        
statuary said to represent both the     

,vices and the ,virtues4 ,below are     
reliefs indicating the terrible         
punishment inflicted upon those who     
transgress4 ,statues of ,charles ,v1 the
 ,infanta ,isabella1 and others are on  
corbels4  ,very large drawn maps of the 
ancient town and its dependencies cover 
the walls1 and these are dated #afda4a  
,termonde 7,dendermonde7     ,termonde  
7,dendermonde7   ,a strange half        
deserted little town on the right bank  
of the river ,scheldt1 clustered about a
 bridge1 on both sides of a small       
sluggish stream called the ,dendre1     
where long lines of women were washing  
clothes the live-long day1 and          
chattering like magpies the while4 ,a   
,grand' ,place1 with heavy trees at one 
side1 and on the other many small       
estaminets and drinking shops4 ,that was
 ,termonde4 ,my note book says          
,population #aj1jjj1 town fortified2    
forbidden to make sketches outside the  
walls1 which are fortifications4 ,two   
good pictures in old church of ,notre   

,dame1 by ,van ,dyck1 ',crucifixion' and
 an ',adoration of the ,shepherds'      
7#afce74 ,fine ,htel de ,ville1 with    
five gables and sculptured decoration4  
,also belfry of the fourteenth century4 
,termonde is famed throughout ,flanders 
as the birthplace of the ,four sons of  
,aymon1 and the exploits of the great   
horse ,bayard4 ,the legend of the ,four 
,sons of ,aymon is endeared to the      
people1 and they never tire of relating 
the story in song as well as prose4     
,indeed this legend is perhaps the best 
preserved of all throughout ,flanders4  
,it dates from the time of ,charlemagne1
 the chief of the great leaders of      
,western ,europe1 whose difficulty in   
governing and keeping in subjection and 
order his warlike and turbulent         
underlords and vassals is a matter of   
history known to almost every schoolboy4
  ,among these vassal lordlings1 whose  
continued raids and grinding exactions  
caused him most anxious moments1 was a  
certain ,duke 7,herzog7 called ,aymon1  

who had four sons1 named ,renault1      
,allard1 ,guichard1 and ,ricard1 all of 
most enormous stature and prodigious    
strength4 ,of these ,renault was the    
tallest1 the strongest1 the most agile1 
and the most cunning4 ,in height he     
measured what would correspond to       
sixteen feet1 and he could span a man's 
waist with his hand1 and lifting him in 
the air1 squeeze him to death4 ,this was
 one of his favorite tricks with the    
enemy in battle4  ,aymon had a brother  
named ,buves who dwelt in ,aigremont1   
which is near ,huy1 and one may still   
see there the castle of ,aymon1 who was 
also called the ,wild ,boar of the      
,ardennes4 ,this brother ,buves in a fit
 of anger against ,charlemagne for some 
fancied slight1 sent an insulting       
message to the latter1 refusing his     
command to accompany him on his         
expedition against the ,saracens1 which 
so exasperated ,charlemagne that he sent
 one of his sons to remonstrate with    
,buves and if need be1 to threaten him  

with vengeance1 in case he persisted in 
refusing4 ,buves was ready1 and without 
waiting to receive his message1 he met  
the messenger half way and promptly     
murdered him4  ,then ,charlemagne1 in a 
fury1 sent a large and powerful body of 
men to punish ,buves1 who was killed in 
the battle which took place at          
,aigremont4 ,thereupon the four sons of 
,aymon met and over their swords swore  
vengeance against ,charlemagne1 and     
betook themselves to the fastnesses of  
the ,ardennes1 in which they built for  
themselves the great ,castle of         
,montfort which is said to have been    
even stronger than that called          
,aigremont4  ,on the banks of the river 
,ourthe may still be seen the great gray
 bulk of its ruins4 ,about this         
stronghold they constructed high walls1 
and there they sent out challenges      
defying the great ,emperor4  ,now each  
of the four sons had his own fashion of 
fighting4 ,renault fought best on       
horseback1 and to him ,maugis son of    

,buves brought a great horse named      
,bayard 7,beiaard in ,flemish7 of magic 
origin1 possessed of demoniac powers1   
among which was the ability to run like 
the wind and never grow weary4 ,here in 
this stronghold the four sons of ,aymon 
dwelt1 making occasional sallies against
 the vassals of ,charlemagne1 until at  
length the ,emperor gathered a mighty   
force of soldiers and horses and engines
 and scaling ladders1 and1 surrounding  
the stronghold1 at length succeeded in  
capturing it4  ,tradition says that     
among ,charlemagne's retinue was ,aymon 
himself1 and intimates that it was by   
the father's treachery that the four    
mighty sons were almost captured1 but at
 any rate the great castle of ,montfort 
was reduced to ashes and ruin1 and only 
the fact of ,renault's taking the other 
brothers on the back of the wondrous    
horse ,bayard saved them all from the   
,emperor's fury4 ,so they escaped into  
,gascony1 where they independently      
attacked the ,saracens and drove them   

forth and extended their swords to the  
,king of ,gascony1 ,yon1 who            
treacherously delivered them in chains  
over to ,charlemagne4 ,these chains they
 broke and threw in the ,emperor's face1
 fighting their way to freedom with     
their bare hands4  ,history thereafter  
is silent as to their end4 ,of ,renault 
it is known only that he became a friar 
at ,cologne1 where his skill and        
strength were utilized by the           
authorities in building the walls1 and  
that one day while at work1 some masons 
whom he had offended crept up behind him
 and pushed him off a great height into 
the ,river ,rhine1 and thus he was      
drowned4 ,years afterward the ,church   
canonized him1 and in ,westphalia at    
,dortmund may be seen a monument erected
 in his memory extolling his prowess1   
his deeds1 and his strength4  ,as to the
 great and magical horse ,bayard1 the   
chronicle says that1 captured finally by
 ,charlemagne's soldiers and brought    
before him1 the ,emperor deliberated    

what he should do with it1 since it     
refused to be ridden4 ,finally he       
ordered that the largest mill stone in  
the region should be made fast to its   
neck by heavy chains1 and that it should
 then be cast into the ,river ,meuse4   
,bayard contemptuously shook off the    
heavy stone and with steam pouring from 
his nostrils1 gave three neighs of      
derision and triumph and1 climbing the  
opposite bank1 vanished into the gloom  
of the forest where none dared follow4  
,of the immortality of this great horse 
history is emphatic and gravely states  
that1 for all that is known to the      
contrary1 he may still be at large in   
the ,ardennes1 but that no man has since
 beheld him4  ,and now yearly on the    
,grand' ,place at ,termonde there is a  
great festival and procession in his    
honor depicting the chief incidents of  
his life and mighty deeds1 while1 at    
,dinaut1 on the ,river ,meuse1 the scene
 of some of his mightiest deeds1 may    
still be seen the great ,rock ,bayard1  

standing more than forty yards high and 
separated from the face of the mountain 
by a roadway cut by ,louis the          
,sixteenth1 who cared little for        
legends4 ,from the summit of this great 
needle of rock sprang the horse ,bayard1
 flying before the forces of            
,charlemagne with the four brothers on  
his back1 and1 so tradition says1 leaped
 across the river1 disappearing in the  
woods on the further bank4              
,illustration3 ,the ,museum3 ,termonde  
,we were fortunate in being at ,termonde
 on the occasion of this picturesque    
festival4 ,songs of ,bayard and his     
prowess were sung in the streets by     
various musical societies1 each of which
 carried huge banners bearing their     
titles and honors1 and some curious     
frameworks on poles which were literally
 covered with medals and wreaths        
bestowed upon the societies by the town 
at various times4 ,these were borne     
proudly through the streets1 and each   
society had its crowd of partisans and  

loud admirers4 ,had it not been so      
picturesque and strange1 it would have  
seemed childish and pathetic1 but the   
people were so evidently in earnest and 
seemed to enjoy it so hugely that the   
chance stranger could not but enter into
 the spirit of it all with them4 ,this  
we did and wisely4 ,there was much      
drinking of a thin sour beer called     
faro1 which is very popular with the    
peasants1 and the various societies sang
 themselves hoarse1 to the delight of   
all1 including themselves4 ,the horse   
,bayard1 as seen in the market place1   
was a great wicker affair hung in       
wondrous chain armor1 and the four sons 
of ,aymon1 also of wickerwork1 and      
likewise clad in armor1 each bearing a  
huge sword1 sat upon his back and were  
trundled through the streets4 ,there    
were also booths in which the inevitable
 and odoriferous fritters were fried1   
and some merry-go-rounds with           
thunderous1 wheezy1 groaning steam      
organs splitting one's ears1 and        

platforms upon which the peasants danced
 and danced until one would have thought
 them fit to drop with fatigue4  ,it did
 not take long to examine the           
attractions most thoroughly1 but there  
were two very extraordinary exhibits of 
enormously fat women 7who are great     
favorites with the peasantry1 and no    
celebration seems to be complete without
 them74 ,their booths were placed       
opposite to each other1 nearly face to  
face1 with only about forty feet between
 them4 ,in this space crowded the       
peasants listening open mouthed in      
wonder at the vocabulary of the rival   
barkers4  ,as usual1 a shower came on   
during the afternoon1 and the           
decorations were soaked with the        
downpour4 ,the wickerwork horse ,bayard 
was left to itself out in the square1   
and the wind whisked the water soaked   
draperies over its head1 disclosing     
piteously all of its poor framework4    
,the leaden skies showing no promise of 
clearing1 we called the driver of the   

ancient fiacre1 and after settling our  
score at the ,grande ,htel ,caf ,royal  
de la ,tte d',or1 we departed for the   
station of the chemin de fer1 which     
bumped us well but safely along the road
 to ,antwerp4  ,we came again later on  
to this little town on the river1       
thinking that we might not have done it 
entire justice1 because of the          
discomfort of the rainy day4 ,and while 
we did not1 it is true1 find anything of
 great value to record1 nor anything in 
the way of bells to gloat over1 still   
our rather dismal impression of the     
little town in the drizzling rain as we 
last saw it1 was quite removed and      
replaced by a picture more to our       
liking4  ,we were constantly finding new
 and unusual charms in the quaint old   
towns1 each seeming for some reason     
quainter than the preceding one4 ,here  
on this occasion it looked so tranquil1 
so somnolent1 that we tarried all       
unwilling to lose its flavor of the     
unusual4 ,there were old weather beaten 

walls of ancient brick1 mossy in places1
 and here and there little flights of   
steep steps leading down into the water2
 broad pathways there were too1 shaded  
by tall trees and behind them vistas of 
delightful old houses1 each doubtless   
with its tales of joy1 gayety1 pain or  
terror of the long ago4  ,the local     
policeman stood at a deserted street    
corner examining us curiously4 ,he was  
the only sign of life visible except    
ourselves1 and soon he1 satisfied that  
we were only crazy foreigners with      
nothing else to do but wander about1    
took himself off yawning1 his hands     
clasped behind his back1 and his short  
sword rattling audibly in the stillness4
  ,the atmosphere of this silent street 
by the river1 shaded almost to a        
twilight by the thick foliage1 with the 
old houses all about us1 seemed to      
invite reminiscence1 or dreams of the   
stern and respectable old burghers and  
burgesses in sombre clothing1 wide      
brimmed hats1 and stiffly starched linen

 ruffs about their necks as rendered by 
,rembrandt1 ,hals1 ,rubens and          
,jordaens4 ,they must have been         
veritable domestic despots1 magnates of 
the household1 but certainly there must 
have been something fine about them too1
 for they are most impressive in their  
portraits4  ,they shook the foot of     
,spain from their necks1 and when they  
were not fighting men they fought the   
waters4 ,truly the history of their     
struggles is a wondrous one6 ,none of   
these was in sight1 however1 as we      
strolled the streets1 but we did disturb
 the chat or gossip of two delightful1  
apple cheeked old ladies in white caps1 
who became dumb with astonishment at the
 sight of two foreigners who walked     
about gazing up at the roofs and windows
 of the houses1 and at the mynheer in   
knickerbockers who was always looking   
about him and writing in a little book4 
,one cannot blame them for being so     
dumbfounded at such actions1 such       
incomprehensible disturbing actions in a

 somnolent town of long ago4 ,in the    
vestibule of the dark dim old church1 ,i
 copied the following inscription from a
 wall4 ,it sounds something like        
,english gone quite mad--and the last   
line1 it seems to me1 runs rather       
trippingly--and contains something of an
 idea too1 whatever it means3   ,al wat 
er is4 ,mijn hoop is ,christus en zyn   
bloed4   ,door deze leer ik en hoop door
 die het eenwig goed4   ,ons leven is   
maar eenen dag1 vol ziekten en vol naar 
geklag4   ,vol rampen dampen 767 en     
vendriet4 ,een schim   ,eien droom en   
anders niet4  ,a small steamer had      
advertised to leave for ,antwerp about  
#c o'clock4 ,it lay puffing and wheezing
 at the side of the stream1 and we went 
on board and settled ourselves          
comfortably1 tired out with our         
wanderings4 ,here a bevy of children    
discovered us and ranged themselves     
along the dyke to watch our movements1  
exploding with laughter whenever we     
addressed one another4 ,finally an oily 

hand appeared at the hatchway of the    
engine room1 followed by the touseled   
yellow head of a heavily bearded man4   
,he looked at us searchingly1 then at   
the line of tormenting children4 ,then  
he seized a long pole and advanced      
threateningly upon the phalanx4 ,they   
fled incontinently out of reach1 calling
 out various expletives in ,flemish--of 
which ,i distinguished only one1 ,koek  
bakker6 ,this would seem to be the      
crowning insult to cast at a respectable
 engineer1 for he shook his fist at     
them4  ,to our amazement he then touched
 his greasy cap to us1 and in the       
broadest possible ,scotch dialect bade  
us welcome4 ,there is a saying that one 
has only to knock on the companion      
ladder of any engine room in any port   
the world over1 and call out ,sandy to  
bring up in response one or two canny   
,scots from the engine room below4 ,this
 little steamer evidently took the place
 of the carrier's cart used elsewhere2  
for passengers and parcels1 as well as  

crates of vegetables were her cargo4 ,at
 length we started puffing along the    
river1 and stopping from time to time at
 small landings leading to villages     
whose roofs appeared above the banks and
 dykes4  ,delightful bits of the more   
intimate side of the people's life      
revealed themselves to us on these      
unusual trips4 ,we passed a fine looking
 old peasant woman in a beautiful lace  
cap1 rowing a boat with short powerful  
strokes in company with a young girl1   
both keeping perfect time4 ,the boat was
 laden with green topped vegetables and 
brightly burnished brass milk cans1     
forming a picture that was most quaint  
to look upon4 ,and later we passed a    
large ,rhine barge1 from the cabin of   
which came the most appetizing odor of  
broiled bacon4 ,our whistle brought out 
the whole family1 and likewise a little 
nervous black and white dog who went    
nearly mad with the excitement attendant
 upon driving us away from the property 
he had to protect4  ,night was falling  

when we reached the quay side in        
,antwerp1 and we disembarked to the     
tinkling melody of the wondrous chimes  
from the tower of the great ,cathedral4 
,louvain     ,louvain   ,it was in the  
great ,gothic ,church of ,st4 ,peter    
that ,mathias ,van den ,gheyn delighted 
to execute those wonderful morceaux     
fugues now at once the delight and the  
despair of the musical world1 upon the  
fine chime of bells in the tower4 ,this 
venerable tower was entirely destroyed  
in the terrible bombardment of the town 
in #aiad4 ,it is probable that no town  
in ,belgium was more frequented by      
learned men of all professions1 since   
its university enjoyed such a high      
reputation the world over1 and certainly
 its library1 likewise entirely         
destroyed1 with its precious tomes and  
manuscripts1 was considered second to   
none4  ,the old ,church of ,st4 ,peter1 
opposite the matchless ,htel de ,ville1 
was a cruciform structure of noble      
proportions and flanked with remarkable 

chapels2 it was begun1 according to the 
archives in ,brussels1 in #adbc1 to     
replace an earlier building of the tenth
 century1 and was finished in the       
sixteenth century4 ,there was1 it seems1
 originally a wooden spire on the west  
side of the structure but it was blown  
down in a storm in #afjf4  ,when ,i saw 
it in #aiaj1 the church was in process  
of restoration1 and the work was being  
very intelligently done by competent    
men4 ,before the faade was a most       
curious row of bizarre small houses of  
stucco1 nearly every one of which was a 
sort of saloon or caf1 and the street   
before them was quite obstructed by     
small round tables and chairs at which1 
in the afternoon from four to five1 the 
shopkeepers and bourgeois of the town   
gathered for the afternoon aperitif1    
whatever it might be1 and to discuss    
politics4 ,for be it known that this    
period before the outbreak of the war1  
was in ,belgium a troublous one for the 
,flemings1 because of the continued     

friction between the clerical and the   
anti-clerical parties4 ,these bizarre   
houses1 ,i was told by one of the       
priests with whom ,i talked1 were owned 
by the church1 and were very profitable 
holdings1 but tourists and others had   
made such sport of them1 and even       
entered such grave protests to the      
,bishop1 that the authorities finally   
concluded to tear them down4 ,but they  
were certainly very picturesque1 as my  
picture shows1 their red tiled roofs and
 green blinds1 making most agreeable    
notes of color against old ,st4 ,peter's
 gray wall4  ,illustration3 ,the        
,cathedral3 ,louvain  ,the church so    
wantonly destroyed in #aiad contained   
some most remarkable works of art in the
 nine chapels4 ,among these were the    
,martyrdom of ,st4 ,erasmus1 by ,dierick
 ,bouts1 long thought to be a work of   
,memling4 ,another painting1 ,the ,last 
,supper1 was also considered one of     
,memling's works1 until its authenticity
 was established by the finding of the  

receipt by ,bouts for payment1          
discovered in the archives of the       
,library in ,louvain in #ahgj4 ,formerly
 the church owned a great treasure in   
,quentin ,matsys' ,holy ,family1 but    
this was sold to the ,brussels ,museum  
for something less than #aj1jjj1 and    
upon the outbreak of the war was in that
 collection4 ,it is said that most of   
these great paintings owned in ,belgium 
were placed in zinc and leaden cases and
 sent over to ,england for safety4 ,it  
is to be hoped that this is true4  ,the 
custode showed1 with most impressive    
manner1 a quaint image of the ,savior   
which1 he related1 was connected with a 
miraculous legend to the effect that the
 statue had captured and held a thief   
who had broken into the church upon one 
occasion6 ,the townspeople venerate this
 image1 and on each occasion when ,i    
visited the church1 ,i noted the number 
of old women on their knees before it1  
and the many lighted waxen candles which
 they offered in its honor4 ,a wave of  

indignation passed over the world of art
 when the newspapers reported the       
destruction of the beautiful ,htel de   
,ville1 just opposite old ,st4 ,peter's4
 ,this report was almost immediately    
followed by a denial from ,berlin that  
it had suffered any harm whatever1 and  
it would seem that this is true4  ,the  
,library1 however1 with its hundreds of 
thousands of priceless records1 and     
masterpieces of printing is1 it is      
admitted1 entirely destroyed6 ,this     
great building1 black and crumbling with
 age1 was situated in a small street    
behind the ,htel de ,ville4 ,the town   
itself was bright and clean looking1 and
 there was a handsome boulevard leading 
from the new ,gothic railway station    
situated in a beflowered parkway1 which 
was lined with prosperous looking shops4
 ,this whole district was put to the    
torch and wantonly destroyed when the   
town was captured in #aiad4 ,late       
photographs show the new station        
levelled to the ground1 and the parkway 

turned into a cemetery with mounds and  
crosses showing where the soldiers who  
lost their lives in the bombardment1 and
 subsequent sacking1 are buried4        
,remembering the complete destruction of
 ,ypres1 one can only believe that the  
preservation of the ,htel de ,ville was 
entirely miraculous and unintentional4  
,p4,j4 ,verhaegan1 a ,flemish painter of
 considerable reputation and ability1   
had decorated one of the two absidiole  
chapels which contained a very richly   
carved tomb over a certain lady of the  
thirteenth century whose fame is known  
all over ,flanders4 ,the legend was most
 dramatically told to me by one of the  
young priests of ,st4 ,peter's1 and this
 is the story of the beautiful          
,margaret1 called the ,courageous1 7,la 
,fire74  ,illustration3 ,the ,town      
,hall3 ,louvain  ,by the ,grace of ,god1
 there lived in ,louvain1 in the year   
#abce1 one ,armand and his wife1 both   
devout ,catholics and the keepers of a  
travelers' ordinary on the road to the  

coast1 called ,tirlemont4 ,these two at 
length decided to retire from their     
occupation as ,hteliers1 and devote and 
consecrate the remainder of their lives 
to ,god1 and the blessed saints4  ,now  
they had a niece who was a most         
beautiful girl and whose name was       
,margaret1 and she had such disdain for 
the young gallants of ,louvain that they
 bestowed upon her the name of ,la      
,fire4 ,although but eighteen years of  
age she determined to follow the example
 of her uncle and aunt1 and later become
 a ,beguine1 thus devoting her life to  
charity and the care of the sick and    
unfortunate1 for this is the work of the
 order of ,beguines4  ,they realized a  
large sum of money from the sale of the 
hotel1 and this became known throughout 
the countryside4 ,it was said that the  
money was hidden in the house in which  
they lived1 and at length eight young   
men of evil lives1 pondering upon this1 
resolved that they would rob this noble 
couple4 ,upon a stormy night they       

demanded admittance1 saying that they   
were belated travelers4  ,the young girl
 ,margaret was absent from the room for 
a moment1 when these ruffians seized the
 old couple and murdered them4 ,on her  
return to the upper room from the       
cellar1 ,margaret surprised them        
ransacking the strong box beside the    
fireplace4 ,so they overpowered her     
also1 but at once there ensued an       
argument as to what should be done with 
her1 when the chief rogue1 admiring her 
great beauty1 proposed to her that she  
accept him as her lover and depart with 
him for ,france1 where they could live  
happily4 ,this she scornfully refused1  
whereupon one of the ruffians strangled 
her for ten marcs of silver2 and her    
soul1 white and pure as the angels1     
ascended to the throne of ,jesus1 in    
whom she so well believed1 and there    
became 'l'unique espoux dont elle       
ambitionait l',amour4'  ,it is said that
 ,henry the ,first sitting in a window  
of his chteau on the river ,dyle one    

night1 saw floating on the dark water   
the corpse of this young martyr1 where  
the ruffians had thus thrown her1 and   
the pale radiance from her brow         
illuminated the whole valley4 ,calling  
to his consort1 ,marguerite of          
,flanders1 he pointed out to her the    
wondrous sight1 and hastening forth they
 drew her dripping body from the dark   
slimy water and bore it tenderly to the 
chteau4 ,the news spread far and wide1  
and for days came throngs to view the   
sweet martyr's body1 for which the      
priests had prepared a costly           
catafalque1 and for her a grand mass was
 celebrated in ,st4 ,peter's where she  
was laid at rest in a tomb1 the like of 
which for costliness was never seen in  
,flanders4  ,and this is the legend of  
,margaret1 called ,la ,fire1 whose      
blameless life was known throughout the 
land4  ,i wish that ,i had made a       
drawing of this tomb while ,i was in the
 church1 but ,i neglected unfortunately 
to do so4 ,it was of simple lines1 but  

of great richness of detail4 ,of course 
both it and the beautiful wax paintings 
of ,m4 ,verhaegan are now entirely      
destroyed in the ruins of ,st4 ,peter's4
     ,douai     ,douai   ,although      
across the border in ,france1 ,douai    
must still be called a ,flemish town1   
because of its history and affiliations4
 ,the town is quaint in the extreme and 
of great antiquity1 growing up          
originally around a ,gallo-,roman fort4 
,in the many wars carried on by the     
,french against the ,english1 the       
,flemish and the ,germans1 not to       
mention its sufferings from the invading
 ,spaniards1 it suffered many sieges and
 captures4 ,resisting the memorable     
attack of ,louis the ,eleventh1 it has  
regularly celebrated the anniversary of 
this victory each year in a notable ,fte
 or ,kermesse1 in which the effigies of 
the giant ,gayant and his family1 made  
of wickerwork and clad in medieval      
costumes1 are paraded through the town  
by order of the authorities1 followed by

 a procession of costumed attendants    
through the tortuous streets1 to the    
music of bands and the chimes from the  
belfry of the ,htel de ,ville4  ,this1  
the most notable edifice in the town1 is
 a fine ,gothic tower one hundred and   
fifty feet high1 with a remarkable      
construction of tower and turrets1      
supported by corbels of the fifteenth   
century1 containing a fine chime of     
bells made by the ,van den ,gheyns4 ,the
 bells are visible from below1 hanging  
sometimes well outside the turret of the
 bell chamber1 and1 ranging tier upon   
tier1 from those seemingly the size of a
 gallon measure1 to those immense ones  
weighing from fifteen hundred to two    
thousand pounds4 ,this great tower      
witnessed the attack and occupation of  
the ,spaniards1 the foundation by the   
,roman ,catholics of the great          
,university in #afeb to counter-act the 
,protestantism of the ,netherlands1     
which had but a brief career1 and the   
capture of the town by ,louis the       

,fourteenth4 ,here was published in     
#afaj an ,english translation of the    
,old ,testament for ,roman ,catholics1  
as well as the ,english ,roman ,catholic
 version of the scriptures1 and the ,new
 ,testament translated at ,rheims in    
#aehb1 and known as the ,douai ,bible4  
,this was also the birthplace of ,jean  
,bellgambe1 the painter 7#aedj7 surnamed
 ,matre des ,couleurs1 whose nine great 
oaken panels form the wonderful         
altarpiece in the church of ,notre      
,dame4  ,illustration3 ,the ,town ,hall3
 ,douai  ,douai was1 before the great   
war1 a peaceful industrial center of    
some importance1 of some thirty thousand
 inhabitants4 ,it has been said that the
 ,fleming worked habitually fifty-two   
weeks in the year4 ,an exception1       
however1 must be made for fte days1 when
 no self-respecting ,fleming will work4 
,on these days the holiday makers are   
exceedingly boisterous1 and the streets 
are filled with the peasants clad in all
 their holiday finery4 ,but it is on the

 day of the ,kermesse that your ,fleming
 can be seen to the best advantage4     
,there are merry-go-rounds1 shooting    
galleries1 swings1 maybe a traveling    
circus or two1 and a theatrical troupe  
which shows in a much bespangled and    
mirrored tent1 decorated with tinsel and
 flaming at night with naphtha torches4 
,bands of music parade the streets1 each
 carrying a sort of banneret hung with  
medals and trophies awarded by the town 
authorities at the various sances4  ,but
 the greatest noise comes from the      
barrel organs of huge size and played by
 steam1 or sometimes by a patient horse 
clad in gay apparel who trudges a sort  
of treadmill which furnishes the motive 
power4 ,in even these small towns of    
,ancient ,flanders such as ,douai1 the  
old allegorical representations1        
formerly the main feature of the event1 
are now quite rare1 and therefore this  
event of the parade of the wicker       
effigies of the fabulous giant ,gayant  
and his family was certainly worth the  

journey from ,tournai4 ,the day was made
 memorable also to the writer and his   
companion because of the following      
adventure4  ,there had been1 it seems1  
considerable feeling against ,england   
among the lower orders in this border   
town over the ,anglo-,boer ,war1 so that
 overhearing us speaking ,english1 some 
half grown lads began shouting out at us
 ,verdamt ,engelsch and other           
pleasantries1 and in a moment a crowd   
gathered about us4  ,with the best      
,flemish at his command the writer      
addressed them1 explaining that we were 
,americans1 but what the outcome would  
have been1 had it not been for the      
timely arrival of a gendarme1 ,i know   
not2 but under his protection we        
certainly beat a hasty retreat4 ,the    
lower classes of ,flemings in their cups
 are unpleasant people to deal with1 and
 it were well not to arouse them4 ,but  
for this incident1 and the fact that the
 afternoon brought on a downpour of     
rain1 which somewhat dampened the ardor 

of the people and the success of the    
fte1 our little trip over the border to 
this historic town would be considered  
worth while4 ,our last view of ,douai   
was from the train window as we         
recrossed the river ,scarpe1 with the   
massive tower of the ,htel de ,ville    
showing silhouetted dim and gray against
 a streaming sky4     ,oudenaarde       
,oudenaarde   ,from the small stucco    
station1 embowered in luxuriant trees1  
we crossed a wide grass grown square1   
faring towards the turrets of the town1 
which appeared above the small red and  
black tiled roofs of some mean looking  
peasant houses1 and an estaminet1 of    
stucco evidently brand new1 and bearing 
a gilt lion over its door4 ,here a wide 
and rather well paved street led towards
 the town1 bordered upon either hand by 
well kept and clean but blank looking   
houses1 with the very narrowest         
sidewalks imaginable1 all of which      
somehow reminded us of some of the      
smaller streets of ,philadelphia4 ,the  

windows of these houses flush with the  
street were closely hung with lace1 and 
invariably in each one was either a vase
 or a pot of some sort filled with      
bright flowers4 ,occasionally there was 
a small poor looking shop window in     
which were dusty glass jars of candy1   
pipes1 packages of tobacco1 coils of    
rope and hardware1 and in one1 evidently
 that of an apothecary1 a large carved  
and varnished black head of a grinning  
negro1 this being the sign for such     
merchandise as tobacco and drugs4  ,here
 and there doorways were embellished    
with shiny brass knockers of good form1 
and outside one shop was a tempting     
array of cool green earthenware bowls of
 such beautiful shape that ,i passed    
them by with great longing4  ,soon this 
street made a turning1 where there was a
 good bronze statue to some dignitary or
 other1 and ,i caught a glimpse of that 
wondrous tower of the famous ,htel de   
,ville1 the mate to that at ,louvain1   
and soon ,i was beneath its ,gothic     

walls1 bearing row upon row of niches1  
empty now1 but once containing effigies 
of the powerful lords and ladies of     
,flanders4 ,these rows rise tier upon   
tier to that exquisitely slender        
lace-like tower crowned with a large    
gilded statue of the town's patron1     
pennant in hand1 and shining in the     
sunlight4  ,from the ,inn of the ,golden
 ,apple of ,oudenaarde just opposite1 ,i
 appraised its beauties over a good meal
 of young broiled chicken and lettuce   
salad1 and a bowl of caf au lait that   
was all satisfying4  ,afterwards1 the   
custode1 an old soldier1 showed us the  
,salle des ,pas ,perdus1 containing a   
fine chimney piece alone worth the      
journey from ,antwerp1 and the ,council 
,chamber1 still hung with some good     
ancient stamped leather1 and several    
large badly faded and cracked ,spanish  
paintings of long forgotten dignitaries 
both male and female4  ,illustration3   
,the ,town ,hall3 ,oudenaarde  ,one     
,paul ,van ,schelden1 a wood carver of  

great ability and renown1 wrought a     
wonderful doorway1 which was fast       
falling apart when ,i saw it4 ,this gave
 access to a large room1 the former     
,cloth ,hall1 now used as a sort of     
theatre and quite disfigured at one end 
by a stage and scenic arch4 ,the walls  
were stenciled meanly with a large      
letter ,a surmounted by a crown4 ,the   
interior had nothing of interest to     
show4  ,on the opposite side of the     
square was the large old church of ,st4 
,walburga1 with a fine tower capped by a
 curious upturned bulbous cupola1 upon  
which was a large gilt open-work clock  
face4 ,as usual1 there was a chime of   
bells visible1 and a flock of rooks     
circling about the tower4 ,the style of 
,st4 ,walburga was ,romanesque1 with    
,gothic tendencies4 ,built in the       
twelfth century1 it suffered severely at
 the hands of the ,iconoclasts1 and even
 in its unfinished state was very       
impressive1 none the less1 either1      
because of the rows of small stucco red 

roofed houses which clung to its walls1 
leaving only a narrow entrance to its   
portal4 ,inside ,i found an extremely   
rich polychromed ,renaissance reredos1  
and there was also the somewhat         
remarkable tomb of ,claude ,talon1 kept 
in good order and repair4  ,oudenaarde  
was famed for the part it played in the 
history of ,flanders1 and was also the  
birthplace of ,margaret of ,parma4 ,it  
was long the residence of ,mary of      
,burgundy1 and gave shelter to ,charles 
the ,fifth1 who sought the protection of
 its fortifications during the siege of 
,tournai in #aeba4  ,here1 too1         
,marlborough vanquished the ,french in  
#agjh4 ,i might go on for a dozen more  
pages citing the names of remarkable    
personages who gave fame to the town1   
which now is simply wiped from the      
landscape4 ,but by some miracle1 it is  
stated1 the ,town ,hall still stands    
practically uninjured4 ,i have tried in 
vain to substantiate this1 or at least  
to obtain some data concerning it1 but  

up to this writing my letters to various
 officials remain unanswered4  ,i like  
to think of ,oudenaarde as ,i last saw  
it--the huge black door of the church   
yawning like a gaping chasm1 the square 
partly filled with devout peasants in   
holiday attire for the church fte1      
whatever it was4 ,part of the procession
 had passed beyond the gloom of the vast
 aisles into the frank openness of      
daylight4 ,between the walls of the     
small houses at either hand a long line 
of figures was marching with many silken
 banners4 ,there seemed to be an        
interminable line of young girls--first 
communicants1 ,i fancied1--in all the   
purity of their white veils and gowns   
against the somber dull grays of the    
church4 ,this mass of pure white was of 
dazzling1 startling effect1 something   
like a great bed of white roses4        
,illustration3 ,old ,square and ,church3
 ,oudenaarde  ,then came a phalanx of   
nuns clad in brown--,i know not what    
their order was--their wide white cowls 

or coifs serving only to accentuate the 
pallor of their grave faces1 veritable  
incarnations of meek renunciation1 as   
some poet has beautifully expressed it4 
,then followed a group of seminarians   
clad in the lace and scarlet of their   
order1 swinging to and fro their brazen 
censers from which poured fragrant      
clouds of incense4  ,all at once a      
curious murmur came from the multitude1 
followed by a great rustling1 as the    
whole body of people sank to their      
knees1 and then ,i saw beyond at a      
distance across the square1 the         
archbishop's silken canopy1 and beneath 
it a venerable figure with upraised     
arms1 elevating the ,host4  ,surely a   
moment of great picturesqueness1 even to
 the non-participant2 the bent heads of 
the multitude2 the long lines of        
kneeling black figures2 scarlet and gold
 and lace of the priests' robes against 
the black note of the nuns' somber      
draperies2 the white coifs and veils1   
through which the sweet rapture of young

 religious awe made even homely features
 seem beautiful3 the gold and scarlet   
again of the choristers2 and finally1   
that culminating note of splendor       
beneath the silken canopy of the        
cardinal archbishop 7,cardinal ,mercier7
 enthroned here like some ancient       
venerated monarch2 all this against the 
neutral gray and black lines of the     
townspeople2 surely this was the        
psychological moment in which to leave  
,oudenaarde1 that ,i might retain such a
 picture in my mind's eye4     ,furnes  
,furnes   ,the old red brick1 flat      
topped1 tower of ,st4 ,nicholas was the 
magnet which drew us to this dear sleepy
 old town1 in the southwest corner of   
the ,belgian littoral2 and here1 lodged 
in the historic hostel of the ,noble    
,rose we spent some golden days4 ,the   
name of the town is variously pronounced
 by the people ,foorn1 ,fern1 and even  
,fearn4 ,i doubt if many travelers in   
the ,netherlands ever heard of it4 ,yet 
the town is one of great antiquity and  

renown1 its origin lost in the dimness  
of the ages4  ,according to the         
chronicles in the great ,library at     
,bruges1 as early as ,a4,d4 #hjj it was 
the theatre of invasions and massacres  
by the ,normans4 ,that learned student  
of ,flemish history1 ,m4 ,leopold       
,plettinck1 has made exhaustive         
researches among the archives in both   
,brussels and ,bruges1 and while he has 
been unable to trace its beginnings he  
has collected and assorted an immense   
amount of detailed matter referring to  
,baudoin 7or ,baldwin7 ,bras de ,fer1   
who seems to have been very active in   
harassing the people who had the        
misfortune to come under his hand4  ,the
 ,war of the ,deux ,roses was fought    
outside the walls here1 likewise the    
,battle of the ,spurs took place on the 
plains between ,furnes and ,ypres4      
,following the long undulations of the  
dunes from ,dunkerque1 overgrown here   
and there with a rank coarse grass sown 
by the authorities to protect them from 

the wind and the encroachments of the   
ever menacing sea1 dune succeeds dune1  
forming a landscape of most unique      
character4 ,passing the small hamlet of 
,zuitcote1 marked by the sunken tower of
 its small church1 which now serves as a
 sort of semaphore for the fishing boats
 off the coast1 one reached the canal   
which crosses the plain picturesquely4  
,this led one along the path to the     
quaint old town of ,furnes1 showing     
against the heavy dark green of the old 
trees1 its dull red and pink roofs with 
the bulk of the tower forming a picture 
of great attractiveness4  ,the town     
before the war had about six thousand   
population which seemed quite lost in   
the long lines of silent grass grown    
streets1 and the immense ,grand' ,place1
 around which were ranged large dark    
stone ,flemish houses of somewhat       
forbidding exteriors4 ,all the activity 
of the town1 however1 was here in this  
large square1 for the lower floors had  
been turned into shops1 and also here   

was the hotel1 before which a temporary 
moving picture theatre had been put up4 
,illustration3 ,the ,fish ,market3      
,ypres  ,these are very popular in      
,flanders1 and are called               
,cinema-,amricain4 ,the portable        
theatres are invariably wooden and are  
carried knocked down in large wagons    
drawn by hollow-backed1 thick-legged    
,flemish horses4 ,as a rule they have   
steam organs to furnish the music and   
the blare of these can be heard for     
miles across the level plains4  ,the    
pictures shown are usually of the lurid 
sort to suit the peasants1 and the      
profits must be considerable1 as the    
charge is ten and twenty-five cents for 
admission4 ,on this square is the ,htel 
de ,ville1 the ,palace of ,justice1 and 
,conciergerie4 ,this latter is a sort of
 square donjon of great antiquity1      
crenelated1 with towers at each corner  
and the whole construction forming an   
admirable specimen of ,hispano-,flemish 
architecture4  ,the angle of the ,place 

opposite the pavilion of the officers is
 occupied by the ,htel de ,ville and the
 ,palais de ,justice1 very different in 
style1 for on one side is a massive     
faade of severe aspect and no particular
 period1 while on the other is a most   
graceful ,flemish ,renaissance          
construction1 reminding one of a ,rubens
 opposed1 in all its opulence1 to a cold
 classic portrait by ,gainsborough4     
,the ,htel de ,ville1 of #afab1 exhibits
 in its ,pignons1 its columns and       
,renaissance motifs1 a large high tower 
of octagonal form surmounted by a small 
cupola4 ,its frontage pushes forward a  
loggia of quite elegant form1 with      
balustrades in the ,renaissance style4  
,above this grave looking gray building 
rises the tower of the ,beffroi1 part   
,gothic in style4  ,all the houses on   
the ,place have red tiled roofs1 and    
gables in the ,renaissance style very   
varied in form1 and each one with a     
characteristic window above1 framed     
richly en coquille1 and decorated with  

arabesques4  ,behind these houses is    
what remains of the ancient ,church of  
,st4 ,walburga1 half buried in the thick
 verdure of the garden4 ,after          
considerable difficulty we gained       
admittance to the ruin1 because it is   
not considered safe to walk beneath its 
walls4 ,even in its ruin it was most    
imposing and majestic4 ,we would have   
tarried here1 but the custode was very  
nervous and hurried us through the      
thickets of bushes growing up between   
the stones of the pavement1 and fairly  
pushed us out again into the small      
parkway1 accepting the very generous fee
 which ,i gave him with what ,i should  
call surliness4 ,but we ignored this    
completely1 after the manner of old     
travelers1 which we had been advised to 
adopt4  ,at one side were stored some   
rather dilapidated and dirty wax figures
 which reclined in various postures1    
somewhat too lifelike in the gloom of   
the chamber1 and entirely ludicrous1 so 
much so that it was with much difficulty

 that we controlled our smiles4 ,the    
roving eye of the surly custode1        
however1 warned us against levity of any
 sort4 ,these wax figures1 he explained1
 gruffly enough1 were those of the most 
sacred religious personages1 and the    
attendant saints and martyrs1 used in   
the great procession and ceremony of the
 ,sodalit1 which is a sort of ,passion  
,play1 shown during the last ,sunday in 
,july of each year in the streets of the
 town4 ,the story relates an adventure  
of a ,count of ,flanders1 who brought to
 ,furnes1 during the first years of the 
,holy ,crusades1 a fragment of the ,true
 ,cross4 ,assailed by a tempest in the  
,channel off the coast1 he vowed the    
precious object to the first church he  
came to1 if his prayers for succor were 
answered4 ,immediately the storm abated1
 and the ,count1 bearing the fragment of
 the ,cross aloft1 was miraculously     
transported over the waves to dry land4 
,this land proved to be the sand dunes  
of ,flanders1 and the church tower was  

that of ,st4 ,walburga4 ,after a        
conference with his followers1 who also 
were saved1 he founded the solemn annual
 procession in honor of the ,true       
,cross1 in which was also introduced the
 representation of the ,mysteries of the
 ,passion4#b  ,this procession was      
suppressed during the religious troubles
 of the ,reform1 but afterwards was     
revived by the church authorities1 and  
now all of the episodes of the life of  
,christ pass yearly through the great   
,grand' ,place--the stable in           
,bethlehem2 the flight into ,egypt2 down
 to the grand drama of the ,calvary and 
the ,resurrection1 all are shown and    
witnessed with great reverence by the   
crowds of devout peasants from the      
surrounding country4 ,and these pathetic
 waxen figures were those of ,prophets1 
,apostles1 ,jews1 ,angels1 ,cavaliers   
and ,roman ,soldiers1 lying all about   
the dim dusty chamber in disorder4      
,afterwards1 from the window of the     
quaint ,htel of the ,noble ,rose1 we saw

 this procession passing through the    
crowded streets of ,furnes1 and almost  
held our breaths with awe at the long   
line of black cloaked1 hooded penitents1
 bare-footed1 the faces covered so that 
one could hardly tell whether they were 
men or women1 save for the occasional   
delicate small white foot thrust forward
 beneath the black shapeless gown4  ,and
 finally ,one ,figure1 likewise black   
gowned and with concealed face1         
staggering along painfully--feebly--and 
bearing a heavy wooden cross1 the end of
 which dragged along on the stones of   
the street4#c  ,outside of this1 the    
,grand' ,place1 and the old red brick   
tower of ,st4 ,nicholas1 so scorched by 
the sun and beaten by the elements1 and 
the rows of quaint gabled houses        
beneath1 ,furnes has little to offer to 
the seeker after antiquity4 ,the bells  
in the tower are of sweet tone1 but the 
chimes which hung there were silent1 and
 no amount of persuasion could induce   
the custode to admit me to the bell     

chamber4 ,madame at the ,noble ,rose had
 assured me that ,i could go up there   
into the tower whenever ,i wished1 but  
somehow that pleasure was deferred1     
until finally we were forced to give it 
up4 ,of course ,madame did rob me2 when 
the bill was presented1 it proved to be 
fifty per cent4 more than the price     
agreed upon1 but she argued that we had 
used the window in our apartment        
overlooking the procession1 so we must  
pay for that privilege4 ,the point was  
so novel that ,i was staggered for a    
suitable reply to it1--the crucial      
moment passed1--,i was lost4 ,i paid6   
,the ,artists of ,malines     ,the      
,artist of ,malines   ,it may not be out
 of place to add here some account of   
the artists#d who dwelt in and made     
,malines famous in the early days4      
,primitively the painters formed part of
 the ,society of ,furniture ,makers1    
while sculptors affiliated with the     
,masons' ,gild4 ,these at length formed 
between them a sort of federation as    

they grew in number and power4 ,finally1
 in #aedc1 they formed the ,gild of     
,saint ,luke4 ,in #aefj they numbered   
fifty-one free masters1 who gave        
instruction to a great number of        
apprentices4 ,they admitted the gold    
beaters to membership in #afah1 and the 
following year the organization had     
increased to ninety-six members4        
,working in alabaster was1 during this  
epoch1 a specialty with the sculptors of
 ,malines1 which soon resulted in a     
monopoly with them1 for they made a law 
that no master workman could receive or 
employ more than one apprentice every   
four years4 ,the workers in gold covered
 the statues with heavy ornaments of    
gold1 it being forbidden to market      
statuary not so gilded4 ,the ,gild of   
,saint ,luke chafed under this ruling of
 the ,gild ,master1 and surreptitiously 
made and delivered some statuary and    
paintings without any gilding whatever4 
,charges being brought against the      
offenders1 they were fined twenty-five  

florins1 and a law was passed authorized
 by the magistrate1 permitting          
domiciliary visits upon certain days    
known only to the officers1 to the      
houses of suspected men engaged in art  
work4 ,of course reputable workmen were 
free from suspicion1 it being only those
 mediocre craftsmen and irregular       
apprentices who would engage in such    
traffic4  ,it was not until #aggb that  
any sculptor was permitted to paint or  
gild for profit1 nor was any painter    
allowed to model4 ,the profession of an 
artist was regarded as less than an     
industry1 being a sort of hand to mouth 
existence in which the unfortunate was  
glad to accept whatever work the artisan
 could give him4 ,in #aghc the ,gild had
 dwindled to twelve members1 who finally
 were absorbed by the ,academy of       
,design1 established by ,maria ,theresa 
in #aggc4 ,thus perished the ,gild of   
,painters and ,sculptors of ,malines4   
,the following is a list of the         
principal artists and engravers1        

chronologically arranged1 who made      
,malines famous3  ,jean ,van ,battele1  
one of the promoters of the ,gild of    
,saint ,luke of ,malines1 was a         
successful workman in #adjc4 ,he was    
said to be more of a painter-glazer than
 a painter of pictures1 but there is    
sufficient evidence that he practised   
both genres4  ,gauthier ,van ,battele1  
son of the above1 was admitted to the   
,gild in #adbf1 and figured in the      
artistic annals of the town in #adgd-ge4
  ,baudoin ,van ,battele1 alias ,vander 
,wyck1 believed to be petitfils of      
,gauthier1 is mentioned in the          
chronicles of #adie4 ,he painted many   
mural pictures for the ,beyaerd2 the    
fresco of the ,judgment ,day in the     
great hall of the ,vierschaer is his    
greatest work4 ,he died about #aejh4    
,he had one son1 ,jean1 who executed a  
triptych in the ,htel de ,ville of      
,malines in #aece1 and illuminated a    
manuscript register on vellum relating  
to the ,toison d',or4 ,this book was    

presented to ,charles-,quint1 and so    
pleased him that he ordered a duplicate 
which cost the artist three years of    
hard work to complete4 ,he died in      
,july1 #aeeg1 highly honored4  ,daniel  
,van ,yleghem was the chief workman upon
 the ,holy tabernacle of the chief altar
 of ,st4 ,rombauld4 ,an engraver of     
great merit2 he died in #adea7874  ,jean
 ,van ,orshagen occupied the position of
 ,royal ,mint ,engraver of ,malines1    
#adfd-fe4 ,the following year he was    
discovered passing false money at       
,louvain4 ,imprisoned1 he died of the   
pestilence in #adga4  ,guillaume        
,trabukier excelled in the art of a     
designer-engraver 7ciseleur7 in gold4   
,for the town he made many beautiful    
pieces of work1 notably the silver      
statue of ,st4 ,rombauld which decorated
 the high altar of the ,cathedral4 ,he  
died in #adhb4  ,zacherie ,van          
,steynemolen1 born about #adcd1 was an  
excellent engraver of dies4 ,during more
 than forty years 7#adfe-aejg7 he made  

the seals of the town corporations4     
,notably he engraved for the ,emperor   
,frederic ,,iv the two great seals which
 are now in the museum4 ,he died in     
#aejg4  ,michael or ,michel ,coxie1 le  
vieux1 was a greatly esteemed painter   
who worked under the direction of       
,raphal4 ,his real name was ,van        
,coxcin1 or ,coxcyn1 but he changed its 
form to ,coxie4  ,his son1 ,michel      
,coxie le ,jeune1 surnamed the ,flemish 
,raphal1 was born in #adii1 and first   
studied under his father4 ,he was       
shortly placed with ,bernard ,van       
,orley1 who sent him to ,rome1 where he 
might study the work of ,raphal ,sanzio4
 ,his work was of very unequal merit1   
although he painted hundreds of         
compositions in triptych form for the   
churches4 ,towards the end of his life  
he was commissioned to paint a          
decoration for the ,htel de ,ville of   
,antwerp4 ,he fell from the scaffolding 
during his work1 receiving such injuries
 that he was incapacitated4 ,removed to 

his home in ,malines1 he died after some
 years of suffering1 aged #ic years6    
,his second son1 ,raphal ,coxie1 born in
 #aedj1 was a painter of great merit1   
whose paintings were ordered for the    
,royal ,spanish ,cabinet4 ,he lived at  
,antwerp1 ,ghent1 and ,brussels         
respectively1 and died1 full of honors1 
in #afaf4  ,michael1 or ,michel1 ,coxie1
 the third of the name1 was received in 
the ,gild of ,painters the #bhth day of 
,september1 #aeih4 ,he is the author of 
the triptych over the altar of the      
,jardiniers of ,notre-,dame au dela de  
la ,dyle4 ,he died in #afah4  ,michel   
,coxie1 the ,fourth1 son of the above1  
born ,september1 #afjd1 was elected to  
the ,gild in #afbc4 ,he became ,court   
,painter to the ,king4  ,jean ,coxie1   
son of ,michel 7above7 excelled as a    
painter of landscape4 ,he it was who    
decorated the two great salons of the   
,parc ,abbey4 ,the subjects were drawn  
from the life of ,saint ,norbert4  ,his 
son1 ,jean-,michel1 though a member of  

the ,gild of ,malines1 passed almost his
 whole life in ,amsterdam1 ,dusseldorf1 
and ,berlin4 ,in the latter town he     
enjoyed the favor and patronage of      
,frederick ,i4 ,he died in ,milan in    
#agbj4  ,jean de ,gruyter1 gold worker  
and engraver1 came in #aejd to ,malines1
 where he enjoyed a certain renown4     
,after his death in #aeah1 his sons     
,jean and ,pierre continued the work    
which he began4 ,jean made seals of     
great beauty of detail1 but ,pierre was 
condemned to banishment in #aecf and    
confiscation of all his goods and       
chattels1 for counterfeiting the state  
coinage4  ,jean ,hoogenbergh1 born about
 #aejj1 was a successful painter of     
miniatures2 he lived about fifty years4 
,jean ,van ,ophem was appointed ,civic  
,engraver of ,seals and ,gold ,worker4  
,he died in #aeec4  ,franois ,verbeek   
became master workman in #aeca1 and     
finally doyen of the craft4 ,he         
abandoned oil painting for distemper1 in
 which medium he excelled1 producing    

masterpieces depicting the most         
fantastic subjects4 ,he died in ,july1  
#aegj4  ,hans ,verbeek1 or ,hans de     
,malines1 believed to be the son of     
,franois4 ,he was ,court ,painter to    
,albert and ,isabella4 ,he died sometime
 after #afai4  ,grgoire ,berincx1 born  
in #aebf1 visited ,italy and there made 
paintings in distemper of the ruins and 
ancient constructions4 ,returning to his
 native town in #aeee he was at once    
made a ,gild ,member of the ,corporation
 of ,painters4 ,he died in #aegc4  ,his 
youngest son1 ,grgoire1 became doyen1   
and of him the following story is told3 
,the great ,van ,dyck visited him       
unexpectedly one day1 and demanded that 
he make a sketch of him 7,van ,dyck7 at 
once1 in his presence4 ,berincx         
accordingly painted in monotone the     
sketch in full length1 adding the       
details in carnation1 and so charmed was
 ,van ,dyck1 that he assured him that he
 would adopt the system in his own work1
 if he would permit4 ,he died full of   

honors the #adth of ,october1 #affi4    
,jacques de ,poindre1 born in #aebg1    
acquired a brilliant reputation as a    
portrait painter4 ,he afterwards        
established himself under royal         
patronage in ,denmark where he died in  
#aegj4  ,corneille ,ingelrams1 a painter
 in distemper1 was born in #aebg4 ,he   
practised his art successfully in       
,malines and died in #aehj4  ,his son1  
,andr1 was admitted to the ,painters'   
,gild in ,may1 #aega1 and died in #aeie4
  ,marc ,willems1 born about #aebg1 was 
a pupil of ,michel ,coxie 7le vieux71   
was considered a great painter in his   
time4 ,he made many designs for the     
decorators1 and admirable cartoons for  
tapestry makers4 ,he died in #aefa4     
,jean ,carpreau was commissioned in     
#aeed to take charge of the restorations
 of the chasse of the patron saint of   
the town4 ,such was his success that he 
was appointed ,official ,seal ,cutter   
and ,engraver1 a position of great      
importance in those days4 ,at the ,htel 

de ,ville was preserved and shown a     
remarkable die in silver from his hand1 
for the ,seal of the ,municipality of   
,malines4  ,jean or ,hans ,bol1 born    
,december1 #aecd1 was the pupil of his  
uncles ,jacques and ,jean the ,elder1   
but after two years of apprenticeship he
 went to ,germany for a time4 ,returning
 to ,malines1 he devoted himself to the 
painting of landscapes with great       
success4 ,likewise he sometimes engraved
 plates on copper4 ,his productions are 
many4 ,he died at ,amsterdam in #aeic4  
,lambert de ,vos1 admitted to the ,gild 
of ,saint ,luke in #aefc1 was engaged in
 the service of ,charles ,kimy1         
,imperial ,ambassador to                
,constantinople4 ,he painted oriental   
subjects in water colors1 which were    
distinguished for richness of color1 and
 accuracy of drawing4 ,many of these are
 in the ,library of ,brme4  ,jean       
,snellinck1 born about #aeed1 was an    
historical and battle painter4 ,it was  
he who prepared the designs for the     

tapestries of ,oudenaarde4 ,during his  
residence in that town he painted the   
triptych for the church of ,notre ,dame 
de ,pamele4 ,he died at ,antwerp in     
#afch4  ,louis ,toeput was born about   
#aeej4 ,he was a landscape painter of   
renown1 but also drew many architectural
 subjects4 ,in his later period1 he     
devoted himself to ,flemish literature  
with marked success as an authority4    
,luc ,van ,valckenborgh1 called partisan
 of the ,reform1 was born in #aeff1 and 
in his student days went to ,germany1   
where he practised his art as a portrait
 painter4 ,his reputation was made by   
his portrait of the ,archduke ,matthias4
  ,he died in #afbe1 leaving a son      
,martin1 also his pupil1 who established
 himself at ,antwerp and later at       
,frankfort4 ,martin was an historical   
and landscape painter1 although he      
painted some good portraits in the      
manner of his father4 ,he is thought to 
have died about #afcf4  ,philip         
,vinckboons1 the elder1 was born about  

#aeej1 became an associate of the ,gild 
of ,painters in #aehj1 and died #afca4  
,his son ,maur1 the younger1 born #aehe1
 studied painting under his father1     
finishing under his uncle ,pierre       
,stevens4 ,he died in #afdg4  ,pierre   
,stevens1 born about #aeej1 was an      
historical painter and engraver1 as well
 as a portrait painter4 ,this master    
latinized his name and signed his works 
thus--,p4 ,stephani4 ,he died in #afjd  
at ,prague1 where he had dwelt since    
#aeij1 under the patronage of the       
,emperor ,rudolphe ,,ii4  ,rombaut ,van 
,avont1 incorporated in the ,gild of    
,saint ,luke in #aeha1 was a sculptor   
and painter as well as an illuminator of
 manuscripts on vellum4 ,he died in     
#afai4 ,his son ,pierre1 born in #aeii1 
was an excellent painter of landscapes1 
which were distinguished by a most      
agreeable manner4 ,admitted as a franc  
maitre at ,antwerp1 he became one of the
 burgesses of that town in ,october1    
#afca4  ,luc ,franchoys1 the elder1 born

 ,january1 #aegd1 was admitted to the   
,gild in #aeii4 ,a painter of remarkable
 talent1 he turned to historical        
subjects1 which he produced with great  
success4 ,in drawing1 too1 he was most  
skillful and correct4 ,he died in #afic 
and was buried with honors in the church
 of ,st4 ,jean4  ,his son ,pierre1 born 
in #afjf1 became pupil of ,grard        
,seghers of ,antwerp1 where he resided  
for some time4 ,afterward he lived in   
,paris1 where his works were eagerly    
sought and appreciated4 ,he never       
married1 but always surrounded himself  
with young pupils to the time of his    
death in #afed4  ,his younger brother1  
,luc1 was born #afaf4 ,he remained with 
his father1 working in his studio until 
he was admitted to the ,gild1 when he   
went to ,paris1 where he painted        
portraits of members of the ,court1     
enjoying considerable renown and favor4 
,he returned finally to ,malines1 where 
he died in ,april1 #afha4  ,frans ,hals 
7,the ,great71 was born either here in  

,malines1 or at ,antwerp1 in #aehd4     
,accounts differ4 ,his parents were     
citizens of ,malines1 at any rate4 ,he  
had the honor and glory of introducing  
into ,holland the procede magistral of  
,rubens and his school4 ,his works are  
too well known to need description here4
 ,he established himself at ,haarlem1   
where he died in great poverty in #afff4
 ,not even his burial place is now      
known4  ,illustration3 ,the ,church of  
,our ,lady of ,hanswyk  ,jean le ,saive 
of ,namur1 son of ,le ,saive the ,elder1
 was born in the commencement of the    
seventeenth century4 ,he painted        
animals1 landscapes1 and historical     
subjects4 ,in the latter genre he is    
inferior to his father2 his color is    
drier1 and his drawing less correct4    
,the date of his death is not recorded4 
,george ,biset1 painter-decorator1      
entered the studio of ,michel ,coxie    
7,third7 in #afae4 ,he lived throughout 
his life at ,malines1 and died #afga4   
,his son1 ,charles ,emmanuel1 born      

#afcc1 was an excellent portrait        
painter1 enjoying much appreciation at  
the ,court of ,france4 ,he became       
,burgess of ,antwerp in #affc1 and was  
elected a ,director of the ,academy4 ,he
 died at ,breda in #afhe4  ,martin      
,verhoeven was elected to the ,gild in  
#afbc4 ,he painted flowers and fruit    
pieces which enjoyed great celebrity4   
,his brother ,jean was known as a       
portraitist of great ability4 ,in late  
life he produced some good sculptures4  
,david ,herregouts1 born #afjc1 was     
elected to the ,gild in #afbd4 ,examples
 of his work are rare4 ,he died at      
,ruremonde4 ,his son ,henri was a pupil 
of his father4 ,david went to ,italy1   
residing at ,rome4 ,after traveling in  
,germany he returned to ,malines1 and   
died at ,antwerp at an advanced age4    
,jacques de 7or ,van7 ,homes1 painter in
 distemper1 was a pupil of ,grgoire     
,berincx 7,second7 and executed much    
work in cisel under the direction of    
,fayd'herbe4 ,he died in #afgd4  ,jean  

,philippe ,van ,thieleu1 born #afah1 was
 an eminent flower and still-life       
painter1 under the guidance of ,daniel  
,zeghers4 ,he was patronized by the     
,king of ,spain1 and died in #afgd4     
,ferdinand ,elle1 born #afca1 according 
to some2 in #afab1 say other accounts1  
painter of portraits1 went to ,paris1   
where he remained until his death in    
#affj7874  ,gilles 7or ,egide7 ,smeyers1
 historical painter1 was born in #afce1 
and studied under his father ,nicholas1 
later under ,jean ,verhoeven4 ,in       
friendship for his companion and master 
,luc ,franchoys the younger1 he finished
 many of the latter's incompleted works 
after his death4  ,his son ,jacques1    
born #afeg1 was admitted to the ,gild in
 #afhh1 and died in #agcb4  ,egide      
,joseph1 natural son of ,jacques1 born  
#afid1 was an historical painter1 as    
well as a poet4 ,he lived at ,dusseldorf
 for three years4 ,obliged to support   
his sick parents1 he did a great deal of
 work4 ,smeyers had a profound knowledge

 of the ,latin tongue1 which he wrote   
with great fluency and ease1 in both    
poetry and prose4 ,he possessed1 too1 a 
working knowledge of ,french1 ,german1  
and ,italian4 ,his historical works are 
many4 ,at length1 sick and helpless1 he 
was admitted to the hospital of ,notre  
,dame1 where he died in #agga4 ,he      
painted the large portrait of ,cardinal 
,thomas ,philippe d',alsace1 ,archbishop
 of ,malines4  ,daniel ,janssens1 born  
in #afcf1 was a painter-decorator of the
 first order4 ,he adopted the manner of 
,jacques de ,hornes of whom he was the  
favorite pupil4 ,after having resided in
 ,antwerp for some years he returned to 
,malines1 where he died in #afhb4 ,he it
 was who designed and constructed the   
immense triumphal arch for the ,jubilee 
of #afhj4 ,this arch is preserved in the
 ,town ,hall1 and serves to decorate the
 faade of the ,halles on the occasion of
 the ,grandes ,ftes4  ,sebastian ,van   
,aken1 born #afdh1 was pupil of ,luc    
,franchoys the ,younger4 ,later he      

entered the studio of ,charles ,maratti 
in ,rome4 ,after painting in ,spain and 
,portugal he returned to ,malines1 where
 he died in #agbb4  ,august ,casimir    
,redel1 born #afdj4 ,this painter of    
merit became insane from excesses and   
died in #afhg4 ,he was also the author  
of a life of ,st4 ,rombaut 7,rombold7   
and wrote much in verse4 ,he composed an
 ode on the occasion of the ,jubilee of 
,malines in #afhj4  ,jacques la ,pla1   
pupil of ,jean le ,saive1 a master      
painter of ,malines in #afgc1 died in   
#afgh4  ,jean ,barthelemy ,joffroy1 born
 #affi1 was historian1 painter1 and     
engraver4 ,he died #agdj4  ,jean ,joseph
 ,van ,campenhout1 designer and         
engraver4 ,he was designer of the great 
book of the ,cavalcade of ,malines in   
#agge4  ,antoine ,opdebeek1 born #agji1 
author of many paintings of merit1 was  
an untaught genius4 ,employed in the    
hospital of ,st4 ,hedwige in ,malines1  
he taught himself the art1 with success1
 but never reached the height which     

would have been his had he had          
instruction in his youth4 ,he died      
#agei4  ,pierre ,antoine ,verhulst1 born
 #agea1 painter of marines and          
landscape1 which he executed with great 
delicacy and charm1 died #ahji4         
,matthieu ,joseph ,charles ,hunin1 born 
#aggj1 was a master engraver1 producing 
many plates after ,rubens and other     
masters4 ,to his talent is also due a   
great number of original engravings of  
the ,tower of ,st4 ,rombold2 the        
interior and exterior of the ,cathedral 
of ,antwerp2 the ,htels de ,villes of   
,oudenaarde1 ,brussels and ,louvain1    
etc41 etc4 ,he died in #ahea4  ,his son1
 ,pierre ,paul ,aloys1 born #ahjh1 was a
 genre painter of great taste and       
renown4 ,his works in which the painting
 of silk and satin appeared were in     
great demand4 ,he was professor of the  
,malines ,academy1 and in #ahdh ,leopold
 ,i conferred upon him the decoration of
 the ,order of ,leopold4 ,he died       
,february #bgth1 #ahee4 ,many of his    

paintings have been reproduced in       
engravings4  ,jean ,ver ,vloet1 the     
doyen of the artists of ,malines1 died  
,october #bgth1 #ahfi1 after a long and 
successful artistic career4 ,one of the 
founders of the society ,pour           
l',encouragement des ,beaux ,arts of    
,malines1 he was indefatigable in all   
art movements of the town4 ,to him was  
due the success of the magnificent      
,cavalcades for which ,malines has been 
famous4 ,for fifty years he was the     
director of the ,academy of ,design and 
,painting of his native town4  ,this    
ends the list of famous painters of     
,malines1 and so far as ,i know it is   
the first and only one in ,english4 ,did
 space permit ,i might include the      
architects who made ,flanders famous the
 world over as the cradle of art and    
architecture4     ,a ,word ,about the   
,belgians     ,a ,word ,about the       
,belgians   ,the little country called  
,belgium1 it should be remembered1 dates
 only from #ahcj1 when the existing     

constitution was prepared and adopted   
for the nine southern provinces of the  
ancient ,netherlands4 ,the sudden and   
unexpected revolt against the ,dutch in 
that year has been since styled a       
misunderstanding upon the part of the   
,belgians1 and was brought about by the 
action of the ,king1 ,william ,i1 of the
 house of ,orange-,nassau1 who attempted
 ostentatiously to change at once the   
language and religion of his southern   
subjects4 ,they were both ,roman        
,catholic and conservative to the last  
degree1 attached to traditional rights  
and forms and fiercely proud of the     
ancient separate constitutions of the   
southern provinces1 which could be      
traced back to the charters of the      
,baldwins and ,wenceslas4  ,undoubtedly 
the ,french ,revolution of #ahcj1 which 
closed the ,monarchy of the ,bourbons1  
hastened the crisis4 ,for the ,belgians 
had no liking for the rule of the ,house
 of ,orange-,nassau against which they  
had discontentedly struggled for some   

years more or less openly4 ,but matters 
might have gone on thus indefinitely had
 not the ,french ,revolution furnished  
ground for hope of support from a people
 akin in religion and language1 as well 
as race4 ,the smouldering fire of       
discontent broke into fierce flame on   
,august #beth1 #ahcj1 in the city of    
,brussels1 during a performance of the  
opera ,muette de ,portici1 when the     
tenor was singing the inspired words of 
,massaniello3   ,plutt mourir que rester
 misrable1  ,pour un esclave est-il     
quelque danger8  ,tombe le joug qui nous
 accable1  ,et sous nos coups prisse    
l'tranger4  ,amour sacr de la patrie1   
,rends nous l'audace et la fiert2   mon 
pays je dois la vie1  ,il me devra sa   
libert6  ,the immense audience1 roused  
to patriotic enthusiasm1 took up the    
words of the song and1 rushing from the 
theatre en masse1 paraded the streets1  
attacking the residences of the ,dutch  
ministers1 which they sacked and burned4
  ,the few troops in the town were      

powerless to stem the revolt1 which grew
 until ,brussels was entirely in the    
hands of the revolutionists1 who then   
proceeded to appoint a ,council of      
,government1 which prepared the now     
celebrated ,document of ,separation4    
,william sent his son1 the ,prince of   
,orange1 to treat with the ,council1    
instead of sending a force of soldiers  
with which the revolt might have been   
terminated easily1 it is claimed4 ,the  
,prince entered ,brussels accompanied   
only by a half dozen officers as escort4
 ,after three days' useless parley1 he  
returned to ,king ,william with the     
,document of ,separation4  ,the reply of
 the ,king to this message was made to  
the ,dutch ,chambers ten days later4    
,denouncing the revolt1 he declared that
 he would never yield to passion and    
violence4 ,orders were then issued to   
,dutch troops under ,prince ,frederick  
of ,holland to proceed to ,brussels and 
retake the city4 ,the attack was made   
upon the four gates of the walled city  

on ,september #bcrd4 ,the ,belgians     
prepared a trap1 cunningly allowing the 
,dutch soldiers to enter two of the     
gates and retreating towards the ,royal 
,park facing the ,palace4 ,here they    
rallied and attacked the troops of      
,william from all sides at once4 ,joined
 by a strong body of men from ,lige they
 fought for three days with such        
ferocity that ,prince ,frederick was    
beaten back again and again1 until he   
was forced to retreat at midnight of the
 third day4  ,in the battle six hundred 
,belgian citizens were slain1 and to    
these men1 regarded now as the martyrs  
of the ,revolution1 a great monument has
 been erected in the ,place des         
,martyrs1 near the trench in which they 
were buried4  ,a provisional government 
was now formed which issued the         
following notice3 ,the ,belgian         
provinces1 detached by force from       
,holland1 shall form an independent     
state4 ,measures were taken to rid the  
country of the ,dutch1 who were expelled

 forcibly across the border4  ,envoys to
 ,paris and ,london presented documents 
to secure sympathy for the new          
government1 while the fight for         
independence was still going on         
fiercely4 ,waelhern and ,berchem1       
besieged by the ,belgian volunteers1    
soon fell1 and the city of ,antwerp was 
occupied by them before the end of      
,october4  ,then the ,conference of the 
,five ,powers1 sitting in ,london1      
interposed to force an armistice in     
order to determinate some understanding 
and arrangement between the ,dutch and  
the ,belgians1 since it had become      
evident that the ,netherlands kingdom of
 #ahae had practically come to an end4  
,by the treaty of ,london in #ahad1 and 
that of ,vienna in #ahae1 ,belgium1     
after a short interregnum of ,austrian  
rule1 was incorporated with ,holland    
into the ,kingdom of the ,netherlands4  
,in the space of a month then the       
,belgian patriots had accomplished their
 task1 and on ,november #ahth the       

,national ,assembly1 convoked1 declared 
as its first act the independence of the
 ,belgians4  ,it was now necessary to   
find a head upon which to place the     
crown4 ,the first choice of the         
provisional government was the ,duc de  
,nemours1 the son of ,louis ,philippe1  
but objection was made to him on the    
ground that his selection would add too 
much1 perhaps1 to the power of ,france1 
so his candidature was withdrawn4       
,choice was fixed finally upon ,prince  
,leopold of ,saxe-,coburg1 who had but  
recently declined the throne of ,greece 
by advice of the ,european diplomats4 ,a
 resident of ,england1 this ,prince1 who
 had espoused ,princess ,charlotte1 the 
daughter of ,george ,,iv1 was well known
 as a most clear headed diplomat1 a     
reputation he enjoyed during his whole  
career4  ,in his acceptance he said3    
,human destiny does not offer a nobler  
or more useful task than that of being  
called to found the independence of a   
nation1 and to consolidate its          

liberties4  ,the people hailed and      
received him with great enthusiasm1 and 
on ,july #bast he was crowned ,king of  
the ,belgians1 with most impressive     
ceremonies1 at ,brussels4 ,the ,dutch1  
however1 viewed all this with much      
concern1 and at once began hostilities1 
thinking that the powers would sustain  
them rather than permit ,france to      
occupy ,belgium4 ,at once ,dutch troops 
were massed for attack on both ,brussels
 and ,louvain4 ,outnumbered by the      
,dutch1 the badly organized national    
forces of ,belgium met disaster at      
,hasselt1 and1 realizing his peril1     
,leopold besought the ,french1 who were 
at the frontier1 to come to his         
assistance4 ,simultaneously with the    
assault on ,louvain1 therefore1 the     
,french troops arrived at ,brussels4    
,great ,britain now entered the fray1   
threatening to send a fleet of warships 
to occupy the ,scheldt unless ,king     
,william recalled his army from         
,belgium4 ,this settled the matter1 and 

the ,dutch withdrew4 ,the ,french       
likewise returned to their own          
territory4 ,jealousy1 however1 was      
manifested by ,austria1 ,prussia and    
,russia toward the new kingdom1 and     
their refusal to receive ,leopold's     
ambassadors was calculated to encourage 
hope in ,holland that the reign of the  
new monarch was to be limited4  ,new    
troubles began for the ,belgians1 in the
 presentation of the ,london ,protocol  
of ,october #ae1 #ahca1 in consequence  
of a demand that the greater part of    
,limbourg and ,luxembourg be ceded4 ,not
 only the ,belgians but the ,dutch      
opposed this demand1 as well as the     
conditions of the protocol4 ,and at once
 ,king ,william prepared for armed      
resistance4 ,leopold immediately after  
obtaining votes for the raising of the  
sum of three millions sterling for war  
purposes1 increased the army to one     
hundred thousand men4  ,now ensued a    
most critical period for the little     
kingdom1 but both ,france and ,england  

held their shields over it1 while       
,leopold's marriage to the ,princess    
,louise1 eldest daughter of ,king ,louis
 ,philippe1 gained for it still greater 
strength in its relations with ,france4 
,king ,william1 however1 refused        
stubbornly to recognise the protocol1   
and retained possession of ,antwerp1    
which he held with a garrison of five   
thousand soldiers4 ,antwerp ,citadel    
being the pride of the kingdom1 the     
,belgians1 restive under the control of 
the powers1 demanded that both ,england 
and ,france help them at once to recover
 it1 alleging that in case this help was
 refused1 they1 with their hundred      
thousand men1 were ready to capture it  
themselves4 ,so in the month of         
,november the ,french troops1 under     
,marchal ,grard1 laid siege to the      
,antwerp stronghold1 held by ,general   
,chass1 who after three weeks' siege    
capitulated1 and the ,dutch1 rather than
 have their warships captured1 burnt and
 sank them in the ,scheldt4  ,with the  

surrender of ,antwerp1 the ,french      
withdrew their army1 but the ,dutch     
sullenly refused to recognise the       
victory until the year #ahci1 when they 
withdrew from and dismantled the forts  
on the ,scheldt facing ,antwerp4        
,naturally the support of the ,french   
and ,english brought about a deep and   
lasting feeling of gratitude on the part
 of the ,belgians4 ,louis ,philippe     
said1 ,belgium owes her independence and
 the recovery of her territory to the   
union of ,france and ,england in her    
cause4  ,her independence thus gained   
and recognised1 ,belgium turned her     
attention to the development of the     
country and its rich natural resources4 
,the ,manufactures flourished1 her mines
 of coal and iron became famous         
throughout the world1 and she trod the  
peaceful path of strict neutrality among
 the great nations4 ,passing over the   
all familiar history of ,waterloo1 one  
may quote the saying of ,m4 ,northomb3  
,the ,battle of ,waterloo opened a new  

era for ,europe1 the era of             
representative government4 ,and this new
 era was enjoyed by ,belgium until the  
,franco-,prussian ,war confronted the   
little country with a fresh crisis1 and 
one fraught with danger4 ,although her  
absolute neutrality had been earnestly  
proclaimed and presented to the powers1 
it was feared that she might be invaded 
and be unable to maintain her integrity 
by her military force4  ,leopold        
promptly mobilized the army and massed  
it upon the frontier4 ,during and after 
the battle of ,sedan1 a large number of 
both ,french and ,german soldiers       
crossed the border and were interned    
until the close of the war4444 ,once    
more peace descended upon the ,belgians1
 for a fresh treaty prepared by ,england
 and signed by both ,france and ,prussia
 engaged the ,british ,government to    
declare war upon the power violating its
 provisions4  ,after his acceptance of  
the ,crown of ,belgium1 the             
,constitution declared the monarchy     

hereditary in the male line of the      
family of ,prince ,leopold of           
,saxe-,coburg1 which consisted of two   
sons and one daughter4 ,the elder of the
 sons was born in #ahce1 and succeeded  
his father as ,leopold ,,ii1 in #ahfe4  
,the ,austrian ,archduchess ,marie      
,henriette became his wife in #ahec1 and
 their descendants were one son and     
three daughters1 none of whom is now    
living4 ,the ,salic ,law prevailing in  
,belgium1 the history of the female     
descendants is not of political         
importance4 ,the only son of ,leopold   
,,ii dying in #ahfi1 the succession     
passed to the brother of the ,king1 the 
,count of ,flanders1 who married ,mary1 
,princess of ,hohenzollern1 a sister of 
the ,king of ,roumania4  ,the death of  
their son ,prince ,baldwin in #ahia was 
held to be a national calamity4 ,this   
left the nephew of ,leopold ,,ii1       
,prince ,albert 7the present ,king of   
,belgium71 the heir presumptive to the  
throne4 ,he married in #aijj the        

,princess ,elizabeth of ,bavaria2 to    
them have been born three children1 two 
boys and a girl4 ,both the ,king and    
,queen1 the objects of intense devotion 
on the part of the ,belgians1 are very  
simple and democratic in their bearing  
toward the people4 ,the ,queen is a very
 beautiful woman1 and a most devoted    
wife and mother4444 ,since the seat of  
government has been removed to ,havre1  
the ,queen divides her time between the 
little hamlet of ,la ,panne1            
headquarters of the ,belgian army1 near 
the town of ,furnes on the dunes of the 
north sea1 and ,london1 where the       
children are being cared for and        
educated4444 ,may not one hope that     
brighter days are in store for this     
devoted and heroic ,king and ,queen1 for
 the once smiling and fertile land1 and 
for the kindly1 gentle1 and law abiding 
,belgian people8#e   ,,the ,,end        
,,index    ,albert1 ,king of ,belgium1  
#ajb1 #bjg   ,alost1 church of ,st4     
,martin's1 #aac1 #aad    ,htel de       

,ville1 #aaa   ,antwerp1 carillon of1   
#eb    cathedral of1 #da1 #dd1 #adc     
,archers of ,st4 ,sebastian1 #ff        
,artists of ,malines1 list of the1      
#ahc-aie   ,aymon1 legend of the four   
sons of1 #acc-acf    ,baldwin           
,bras-de-,fer1 #ee1 #aga   ,baldwin the 
,ninth1 ,count of ,flanders1 #gb1 #aba  
,battle of the ,dunes1 the1 #aja        
,battle of the ,spurs1 the1 #abj1 #agb  
,battle of ,waterloo1 the1 #bjf         
,bayard1 the horse1 #acc-ach            
,beguinage1 the1 ,courtrai1 #aba        
,malines1 #bc-bd                ,ypres1 
#hb   ,bell-founding1 process of1 #de-dh
   ,berincx1 ,grgoire1 #ahf             
,grgoire le ,jeune1 #ahf1 #aia          
,bethune1 ,robert of1 ,count of         
,flanders1 #ge1 #gi   ,biset1 ,charles  
,emmanuel1 #aia        ,george1 #aia    
,bol1 ,jean1 #ahh   ,bouts1 ,dierick1   
#dh1 #adi   ,brol ,towers1 the1         
,courtrai1 #aai1 #abc   ,bruges1        
cathedral of1 #da    library1 #aga      
,brussels1 cathedral of1 #da    ,museum 

of ,decorative ,arts1 #gf1 #adi         
,burgundy1 ,house of1 #fh               
,mary of1 #afe    ,carillons of         
,antwerp1 #eb           of ,bruges1 #eb 
of ,ghent1 #eb           of ,louvain1   
#eb           of ,malines1 #eb          
of ,tournai1 #eb   ,carpreau1 ,jean1    
#ahg   ,cathedral of ,antwerp1 #da      
of ,bruges1 #da           of ,brussels1 
#da           of ,ghent1 #da            
of ,malines1 #ah-ai1 #da1 #db           
of ,ypres1 #fi1 #gc   ,charlemagne1     
#acd-acf   ,charles the ,bold1 #be1 #gf1
 #ha   ,charles the ,eleventh1 #aai     
,charles the ,fifth1 #ah1 #acj1 #afe    
,cloth ,hall1 the1 ,ypres1 #fi1 #gb-ge1 
#gh1 #hj1 #ha   ,commines1 ,philip of1  
#hf   ,cossiers1 ,i41 #bd   ,coxie1     
,jean1 #ahe        ,jean ,michel1 #ahe  
,michel1 #ahd        ,michel le ,jeune1 
#ahd        ,michel the ,third1 #ahe    
,michel the ,fourth1 #ahe               
,raphal1 #ahe   ,counts' ,chapel1 the1  
,courtrai1 #aba   ,courtrai1 the        
,counts' ,chapel1 #aba    the ,hall of  

the ,magistrates1 #abi    the ,town     
,hall1 #abi   ,cuyp1 #cf1 #ajb    ,de   
,gruyter1 ,jean1 #ahe   ,de ,hornes1    
,jacques1 #aia1 #aic   ,deklerk1 #dd1   
#de   ,de ,poindre1 ,jacques1 #ahg   ,de
 ,vos1 ,lambert1 #ahh   ,douai1 ,htel de
 ,ville1 #aeg1 #afj   ,douai ,bible1    
the1 #aeh   ,dyle1 the river1 #ba1 #bf1 
#aeb    ,elle1 ,ferdinand1 #aib         
,franchoys1 ,luc1 #ahi            ,luc  
le ,jeune1 #aij1 #aib1 #aic             
,pierre1 #aij   ,franco-,prussian ,war1 
the1 #bjf   ,furnes1 ,htel de ,ville1   
#agc    ,ghent1 the carillons of1 #eb   
,gild of ,st4 ,luke1 the1 #aha   ,gothic
 architecture1 styles of1 #ij   ,great  
,wars of ,flanders1 the1 #hf    ,hall of
 the ,magistrates1 the1 ,courtrai1 #abi 
,hals1 ,frans1 #ada1 #aij   ,hanseatic  
,league1 the1 #fi   ,hanswyk1 the ,tower
 of ,our ,lady of1 ,malines1 #bf        
,haweis1 #da1 #dc1 #di1 #ej   ,hemony1  
#db1 #di   ,henry the ,first1 #aeb      
,herregouts1 ,david1 #aia               
,hoogenbergh1 ,jean1 #ahf   ,htel de    

,ville of ,alost1 #aaa              of  
,douai1 #aeg1 #afj              of      
,furnes1 #agc              of ,louvain1 
#adg1 #adi #aej              of         
,oudenaarde1 #afd              of       
,ypres1 #gc   ,huet1 #hg1 #hi   ,hunin1 
,matthieu ,joseph ,charles1 #aid        
,pierre ,paul ,aloys1 #aid   ,hugo1     
,victor1 #eb    ,ingelrams1 ,andr1 #ahg 
,corneille1 #ahg   ,inghelbrugtorre1    
,courtrai1 #aai   ,inquisition1 the     
,spanish1 #fh    ,jansenius1 ,cornelius1
 ,bishop of ,ypres1 #gc1 #hj            
,janssens1 ,daniel1 #aic   ,joffroy1    
,jean ,barthelemy1 #aic   ,jordaens1    
#ada   ,jube1 at ,st4 ,martin's1        
,dixmude1 #ee1 #eg-ei1 #fb1 #gi         
,keldermans1 #ag1 #ah1 #acj   ,knights  
of the ,golden ,fleece1 #cf   ,knights  
,templar1 the1 #ii1 #aja    ,la ,panne1 
#gd1 #bjg   ,la ,pla1 ,jacques1 #aic    
,leopold of ,saxe-,coburg1 ,king of     
,belgium1 #bjc1 #bjd1 #bje   ,leopold   
the ,second of ,belgium1 #bjg   ,le     
,saive1 ,jean1 #aij1 #aic   ,library1   

the1 ,bruges1 #dc1 #aga    ,brussels1   
#dc    ,louvain1 #dc1 #di1 #aej   ,lion 
of ,flanders1 the1 #bb1 #bh   ,louis of 
,maele1 #ff1 #fg   ,louis of ,nevers1   
#gf   ,louis ,philippe1 #bjc1 #bje      
,louis the ,eleventh1 #aeg   ,louis the 
,fourteenth1 #aeh   ,louvain1 church of 
,st4 ,peter1 #adg1 #aeb    carillons of1
 #eb    ,htel de ,ville1 #adi           
library1 #adi   ,loyola1 ,ignatius1 #ba 
,luther1 ,martin1 #ba   ,lys1 the river1
 #aai1 #abj1 #abb-abc    ,malines1      
carillons of1 #eb    cathedral of1      
#ah-ai1 #da1 #db    ,st4 ,rombauld1 #ag1
 #ai1 #bb1 #bf1 #cg1 #dd   ,margaret of 
,artois1 #gf          of ,austria1      
statue of1 #bb          of ,parma1 #afe 
of ,york1 #be1 #gf          the         
,courageous1 the legend of1 #aej-aec    
,marguerite of ,flanders1 #aeb          
of ,savoie1 #ah   ,mary of ,burgundy1   
#afe   ,matsys1 ,quentin1 #adi          
,memling1 #he1 #adh1 #adi   ,mercier1   
,cardinal1 ,primate of ,belgium1 #ba1   
#afg   ,moertens1 ,thierry1 #aab        

,museum of ,decorative ,arts1 the1      
,brussels1 #gf1 #adi   ,mysteries of the
 ,passion1 the1 #age    ,nemours1 ,duc  
de1 #bjb   ,nieuwerck1 ,ypres1 #gj1 #gc1
 #gg   ,notre ,dame1 the church of1     
,courtrai1 #aba    ,opdebeek1 ,antoine1 
#aid   ,oudenaarde1 church of ,st4      
,walburga1 #afe        ,htel de ,ville1 
#afd        ,town ,hall1 #ag1 #afe      
,philip of ,alsace1 #aai        of      
,savoie1 #ah        the ,second of      
,spain1 #he1 #aja   ,place de la        
,boucherie1 #be    ,quesnoy1 ,jerome    
due1 #bd    ,redel1 ,august ,casimir1   
#aic   ,rembrandt1 #ada   ,rubens1 #aac1
 #ada1 #agc1 #aij   ,ruskin1 #bh1 #db   
,st4 ,martin's1 cathedral of1 ,ypres1   
#gc1 #gg1 #gh1 #gi               church 
of1 ,alost1 #aac1 #aad                  
church of1 ,dixmude1 #ee1 #ef1 #eg1 #fj 
,st4 ,mary ,bells1 in ,antwerp          
cathedral1 #dd   ,st4 ,nicholas1 church 
of1 ,furnes1 #ii1 #aga   ,st4 ,peter1   
church of1 ,louvain1 #adg1 #aeb   ,st4  
,pierre1 tower of1 ,ypres1 #hj   ,st4   

,rombauld1 ,malines1 chimes of1 #ai1 #bb
                       spire of1 #ag    
tower of1 #bf-cg1 #dd   ,st4 ,walburga1 
church of1 ,oudenaarde1 #afe1 #agd-agf  
,st4 ,winoc1 the abbey of1 ,bergues1 #ie
   ,sainte ,begga1 #bc1 #aba   ,salvator
 ,bell1 the1 #bj1 #dh   ,scheldt1 the   
river1 #acc1 #bjd1 #bje   ,smeyers1     
,egide ,joseph1 #aib          ,gilles1  
#aib          ,jacques1 #aib            
,snellinck1 ,jean1 #ahh   ,speytorre1   
the1 ,courtrai1 #aai   ,stevens1        
,pierre1 #ahi    ,taillebert1 d',urbain1
 #gi   ,thierry d',alsace1 #fe1 #he     
,toeput1 ,louis1 #ahh   ,tournai1 ,town 
,hall1 #eb   ,tower of the ,templars1   
the1 ,nieuport1 #ii1 #aja   ,town ,hall 
of ,brussels1 #ag          of ,courtrai1
 #abi          of ,dixmude1 #ef         
of ,louvain1 #ag          of            
,oudenaarde1 #ag          of ,tournai1  
#eb   ,trabukier1 ,guillaume1 #ahd      
,untenhoven1 ,martin1 #gh    ,van ,aken1
 ,sebastian1 #aic   ,van ,artevelde1    
family of1 #cf               ,philip1   

#ff1 #hf   ,van ,avont1 ,pierre1 #ahi   
,rombaut1 #ahi   ,van ,battele1         
,baudouin1 #ahc             ,gautier1   
#ahc             ,jean1 #ahc            
,jean le ,jeune1 #ahc   ,van den ,gheyn1
 family of1 #bj1 #cc1 #db1 #dd1 #de1    
#aeh              ,mathias1 #adg        
,peter1 #dh   ,van ,dyck1 #acc   ,van   
,eyck1 ,jean1 #gi   ,van ,halter1       
,catherine1 #bd   ,van ,ophem1 ,jean1   
#ahf   ,van ,orley1 ,bernard1 #ahd      
,van ,orshagen1 ,jean1 #ahc   ,van      
,steynemolen1 ,zacherie1 #ahd   ,van    
,thieleu1 ,jean ,philippe1 #aib   ,van  
,valckenborgh1 ,luc1 #ahh               
,martin1 #ahi   ,van ,yleghem1 ,daniel1 
#ahc   ,van ,yper1 ,carel1 #hj          
,vauban1 #fe   ,verbeek1 ,franois1 #ahf 
,hans1 #ahf   ,vereeke1 #fe1 #gj        
,verhaegan1 ,p4,j41 #aej1 #aec          
,verhoeven1 ,jean1 #aia                 
,martin1 #aia   ,verhulst1 ,pierre      
,antoine1 #aid   ,ver ,vloet1 ,jean1    
#aie   ,vinckboons1 ,maur1 #ahd         
,philip1 #ahi    ,waghemans1 family of1 

#bj   ,waterloo1 the ,battle of1 #bjf   
,willems1 ,marc1 #ahg   ,william the    
,first of ,holland1 #aii1 #bja1 #bjd    
,ypres1 the ,beguinage1 #hb    the      
cathedral of1 #fi1 #gb    the ,cloth    
,hall1 #fi1 #gc1 #gd1 #ge1 #gh1 #hj1 #ha
    the ,htel de ,ville1 #gc   ,yser1   
the river1 #ee1 #fb    ,zeelstman1 #ai  
,,footnotes3  #a ,those who are         
interested in the subject are referred  
to ,c4 ,lemonnier's ,histoire des ,beaux
 ,arts en ,belgique 7,brussels1 #ahha71 
,e4 ,hessling's ,la ,sculpture ,belge   
,contemporaire 7,berlin1 #aijc71        
,destree's ,renaissance of ,sculpture in
 ,belgium1 ,crowe and ,cavalcaselle's   
,early ,flemish ,painters 7#aheg74  #b  
,this passion play is described in      
detail in ,some ,old ,flemish ,towns4   
7,same author4 ,moffat1 ,yard  ,co41    
,new ,york1 #aiaa47  #c ,see ,some ,old 
,flemish ,towns4  #d ,the list is drawn 
in part from the ,histoire de la        
,peinture et de la ,sculpture  ,malines1
 par ,emmanuel ,neefs--,gand1 ,van der  

,heeghen1 #ahgf1 translated from the    
manuscripts composed in ,latin by the   
painter ,egide ,joseph ,smeyers1        
,malines1 #aggd4  #e ,the author refers 
the reader to ,the ,constitution of     
,belgium1 ,j4,m4 ,vincent1 ,phila41     
#ahih2 ,belgium and the ,belgians1 ,c4  
,scudamore1 ,london1 #aijd2 ,history of 
,belgium1 ,d4,c4 ,boulger1 ,london1     
#aijj2 ,the ,story of ,belgium1 ,c4     
,smythe1 ,london1 #aijb4