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diff --git a/2843-h/2843-h.htm b/2843-h/2843-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c31f97 --- /dev/null +++ b/2843-h/2843-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1984 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Little Travels and Roadside Sketches, by William Makepeace Thackeray (aka + Titmarsh) + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Travels and Roadside Sketches, by +William Makepeace Thackeray + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Little Travels and Roadside Sketches + +Author: William Makepeace Thackeray + +Release Date: May 27, 2006 [EBook #2843] +Last Updated: December 17, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE TRAVELS *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + LITTLE TRAVELS <br /> AND ROADSIDE SKETCHES + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By William Makepeace Thackeray (AKA Titmarsh) + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary=""> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>LITTLE TRAVELS AND ROADSIDE + SKETCHES</b></big> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> I.—FROM RICHMOND IN SURREY TO + BRUSSELS IN BELGIUM </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> II.—GHENT—BRUGES. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> III.—WATERLOO. </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + LITTLE TRAVELS AND ROADSIDE SKETCHES + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—FROM RICHMOND IN SURREY TO BRUSSELS IN BELGIUM + </h2> + <p> + . . . I quitted the "Rose Cottage Hotel" at Richmond, one of the + comfortablest, quietest, cheapest, neatest little inns in England, and a + thousand times preferable, in my opinion, to the "Star and Garter," + whither, if you go alone, a sneering waiter, with his hair curled, + frightens you off the premises; and where, if you are bold enough to brave + the sneering waiter, you have to pay ten shillings for a bottle of claret; + and whence, if you look out of the window, you gaze on a view which is so + rich that it seems to knock you down with its splendor—a view that + has its hair curled like the swaggering waiter: I say, I quitted the "Rose + Cottage Hotel" with deep regret, believing that I should see nothing so + pleasant as its gardens, and its veal cutlets, and its dear little + bowling-green, elsewhere. But the time comes when people must go out of + town, and so I got on the top of the omnibus, and the carpet-bag was put + inside. + </p> + <p> + If I were a great prince and rode outside of coaches (as I should if I + were a great prince), I would, whether I smoked or not, have a case of the + best Havanas in my pocket—not for my own smoking, but to give them + to the snobs on the coach, who smoke the vilest cheroots. They poison the + air with the odor of their filthy weeds. A man at all easy in his + circumstances would spare himself much annoyance by taking the above + simple precaution. + </p> + <p> + A gentleman sitting behind me tapped me on the back and asked for a light. + He was a footman, or rather valet. He had no livery, but the three friends + who accompanied him were tall men in pepper-and-salt undress jackets with + a duke's coronet on their buttons. + </p> + <p> + After tapping me on the back, and when he had finished his cheroot, the + gentleman produced another wind-instrument, which he called a "kinopium," + a sort of trumpet, on which he showed a great inclination to play. He + began puffing out of the "kinopium" a most abominable air, which he said + was the "Duke's March." It was played by particular request of one of the + pepper-and-salt gentry. + </p> + <p> + The noise was so abominable that even the coachman objected (although my + friend's brother footmen were ravished with it), and said that it was not + allowed to play toons on HIS 'bus. "Very well," said the valet, "WE'RE + ONLY OF THE DUKE OF B——'S ESTABLISHMENT, THAT'S ALL." The + coachman could not resist that appeal to his fashionable feelings. The + valet was allowed to play his infernal kinopium, and the poor fellow (the + coachman), who had lived in some private families, was quite anxious to + conciliate the footmen "of the Duke of B.'s establishment, that's all," + and told several stories of his having been groom in Captain Hoskins's + family, NEPHEW OF GOVERNOR HOSKINS; which stories the footmen received + with great contempt. + </p> + <p> + The footmen were like the rest of the fashionable world in this respect. I + felt for my part that I respected them. They were in daily communication + with a duke! They were not the rose, but they had lived beside it. There + is an odor in the English aristocracy which intoxicates plebeians. I am + sure that any commoner in England, though he would die rather than confess + it, would have a respect for those great big hulking Duke's footmen. + </p> + <p> + The day before, her Grace the Duchess had passed us alone in a + chariot-and-four with two outriders. What better mark of innate + superiority could man want? Here was a slim lady who required four—six + horses to herself, and four servants (kinopium was, no doubt, one of the + number) to guard her. + </p> + <p> + We were sixteen inside and out, and had consequently an eighth of a horse + apiece. + </p> + <p> + A duchess = 6, a commoner = 1/8; that is to say, + </p> + <p> + 1 duchess = 48 commoners. + </p> + <p> + If I were a duchess of the present day, I would say to the duke my noble + husband, "My dearest grace, I think, when I travel alone in my chariot + from Hammersmith to London, I will not care for the outriders. In these + days, when there is so much poverty and so much disaffection in the + country, we should not eclabousser the canaille with the sight of our + preposterous prosperity." + </p> + <p> + But this is very likely only plebeian envy, and I dare say, if I were a + lovely duchess of the realm, I would ride in a coach-and-six, with a + coronet on the top of my bonnet and a robe of velvet and ermine even in + the dog-days. + </p> + <p> + Alas! these are the dog-days. Many dogs are abroad—snarling dogs, + biting dogs, envious dogs, mad dogs; beware of exciting the fury of such + with your flaming red velvet and dazzling ermine. It makes ragged Lazarus + doubly hungry to see Dives feasting in cloth-of-gold; and so if I were a + beauteous duchess . . . Silence, vain man! Can the Queen herself make you + a duchess? Be content, then, nor gibe at thy betters of "the Duke of B——'s + establishment— that's all." + </p> + <p> + ON BOARD THE "ANTWERPEN," OFF EVERYWHERE. + </p> + <p> + We have bidden adieu to Billingsgate, we have passed the Thames Tunnel; it + is one o'clock, and of course people are thinking of being hungry. What a + merry place a steamer is on a calm sunny summer forenoon, and what an + appetite every one seems to have! We are, I assure you, no less than 170 + noblemen and gentlemen together, pacing up and down under the awning, or + lolling on the sofas in the cabin, and hardly have we passed Greenwich + when the feeding begins. The company was at the brandy and soda-water in + an instant (there is a sort of legend that the beverage is a preservative + against sea-sickness), and I admired the penetration of gentlemen who + partook of the drink. In the first place, the steward WILL put so much + brandy into the tumbler that it is fit to choke you; and, secondly, the + soda-water, being kept as near as possible to the boiler of the engine, is + of a fine wholesome heat when presented to the hot and thirsty traveller. + Thus he is prevented from catching any sudden cold which might be + dangerous to him. + </p> + <p> + The forepart of the vessel is crowded to the full as much as the genteeler + quarter. There are four carriages, each with piles of imperials and + aristocratic gimcracks of travel, under the wheels of which those + personages have to clamber who have a mind to look at the bowsprit, and + perhaps to smoke a cigar at ease. The carriages overcome, you find + yourself confronted by a huge penful of Durham oxen, lying on hay and + surrounded by a barricade of oars. Fifteen of these horned monsters + maintain an incessant mooing and bellowing. Beyond the cows come a heap of + cotton-bags, beyond the cotton-bags more carriages, more pyramids of + travelling trunks, and valets and couriers bustling and swearing round + about them. And already, and in various corners and niches, lying on coils + of rope, black tar-cloths, ragged cloaks, or hay, you see a score of those + dubious fore-cabin passengers, who are never shaved, who always look + unhappy, and appear getting ready to be sick. + </p> + <p> + At one, dinner begins in the after-cabin—boiled salmon, boiled beef, + boiled mutton, boiled cabbage, boiled potatoes, and parboiled wine for any + gentlemen who like it, and two roast-ducks between seventy. After this, + knobs of cheese are handed round on a plate, and there is a talk of a tart + somewhere at some end of the table. All this I saw peeping through a sort + of meat-safe which ventilates the top of the cabin, and very happy and hot + did the people seem below. + </p> + <p> + "How the deuce CAN people dine at such an hour?" say several genteel + fellows who are watching the manoeuvres. "I can't touch a morsel before + seven." + </p> + <p> + But somehow at half-past three o'clock we had dropped a long way down the + river. The air was delightfully fresh, the sky of a faultless cobalt, the + river shining and flashing like quicksilver, and at this period steward + runs against me bearing two great smoking dishes covered by two great + glistening hemispheres of tin. "Fellow," says I, "what's that?" + </p> + <p> + He lifted up the cover: it was ducks and green pease, by jingo! + </p> + <p> + "What! haven't they done YET, the greedy creatures?" I asked. "Have the + people been feeding for three hours?" + </p> + <p> + "Law bless you, sir, it's the second dinner. Make haste, or you won't get + a place." At which words a genteel party, with whom I had been conversing, + instantly tumbled down the hatchway, and I find myself one of the second + relay of seventy who are attacking the boiled salmon, boiled beef, boiled + cabbage, &c. As for the ducks, I certainly had some pease, very fine + yellow stiff pease, that ought to have been split before they were boiled; + but, with regard to the ducks, I saw the animals gobbled up before my eyes + by an old widow lady and her party just as I was shrieking to the steward + to bring a knife and fork to carve them. The fellow! (I mean the widow + lady's whiskered companion)—I saw him eat pease with the very knife + with which he had dissected the duck! + </p> + <p> + After dinner (as I need not tell the keen observer of human nature who + peruses this) the human mind, if the body be in a decent state, expands + into gayety and benevolence, and the intellect longs to measure itself in + friendly converse with the divers intelligences around it. We ascend upon + deck, and after eying each other for a brief space and with a friendly + modest hesitation, we begin anon to converse about the weather and other + profound and delightful themes of English discourse. We confide to each + other our respective opinions of the ladies round about us. Look at that + charming creature in a pink bonnet and a dress of the pattern of a + Kilmarnock snuff-box: a stalwart Irish gentleman in a green coat and bushy + red whiskers is whispering something very agreeable into her ear, as is + the wont of gentlemen of his nation; for her dark eyes kindle, her red + lips open and give an opportunity to a dozen beautiful pearly teeth to + display themselves, and glance brightly in the sun; while round the teeth + and the lips a number of lovely dimples make their appearance, and her + whole countenance assumes a look of perfect health and happiness. See her + companion in shot silk and a dove-colored parasol; in what a graceful + Watteau-like attitude she reclines. The tall courier who has been bouncing + about the deck in attendance upon these ladies (it is his first day of + service, and he is eager to make a favorable impression on them and the + lady's-maids too) has just brought them from the carriage a small paper of + sweet cakes (nothing is prettier than to see a pretty woman eating sweet + biscuits) and a bottle that evidently contains Malmsey madeira. How + daintily they sip it; how happy they seem; how that lucky rogue of an + Irishman prattles away! Yonder is a noble group indeed: an English + gentleman and his family. Children, mother, grandmother, grown-up + daughters, father, and domestics, twenty-two in all. They have a table to + themselves on the deck, and the consumption of eatables among them is + really endless. The nurses have been bustling to and fro, and bringing, + first, slices of cake; then dinner; then tea with huge family jugs of + milk; and the little people have been playing hide-and-seek round the + deck, coquetting with the other children, and making friends of every soul + on board. I love to see the kind eyes of women fondly watching them as + they gambol about; a female face, be it ever so plain, when occupied in + regarding children, becomes celestial almost, and a man can hardly fail to + be good and happy while he is looking on at such sights. "Ah, sir!" says a + great big man, whom you would not accuse of sentiment, "I have a couple of + those little things at home;" and he stops and heaves a great big sigh and + swallows down a half-tumbler of cold something and water. We know what the + honest fellow means well enough. He is saying to himself, "God bless my + girls and their mother!" but, being a Briton, is too manly to speak out in + a more intelligible way. Perhaps it is as well for him to be quiet, and + not chatter and gesticulate like those Frenchmen a few yards from him, who + are chirping over a bottle of champagne. + </p> + <p> + There is, as you may fancy, a number of such groups on the deck, and a + pleasant occupation it is for a lonely man to watch them and build + theories upon them, and examine those two personages seated cheek by jowl. + One is an English youth, travelling for the first time, who has been hard + at his Guidebook during the whole journey. He has a "Manuel du Voyageur" + in his pocket: a very pretty, amusing little oblong work it is too, and + might be very useful, if the foreign people in three languages, among whom + you travel, would but give the answers set down in the book, or understand + the questions you put to them out of it. The other honest gentleman in the + fur cap, what can his occupation be? We know him at once for what he is. + "Sir," says he, in a fine German accent, "I am a brofessor of languages, + and will gif you lessons in Danish, Swedish, English, Bortuguese, Spanish + and Bersian." Thus occupied in meditations, the rapid hours and the rapid + steamer pass quickly on. The sun is sinking, and, as he drops, the + ingenious luminary sets the Thames on fire: several worthy gentlemen, + watch in hand, are eagerly examining the phenomena attending his + disappearance,—rich clouds of purple and gold, that form the + curtains of his bed,—little barks that pass black across his disc, + his disc every instant dropping nearer and nearer into the water. "There + he goes!" says one sagacious observer. "No, he doesn't," cries another. + Now he is gone, and the steward is already threading the deck, asking the + passengers, right and left, if they will take a little supper. What a + grand object is a sunset, and what a wonder is an appetite at sea! Lo! the + horned moon shines pale over Margate, and the red beacon is gleaming from + distant Ramsgate pier. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + A great rush is speedily made for the mattresses that lie in the boat at + the ship's side; and as the night is delightfully calm, many fair ladies + and worthy men determine to couch on deck for the night. The proceedings + of the former, especially if they be young and pretty, the philosopher + watches with indescribable emotion and interest. What a number of pretty + coquetries do the ladies perform, and into what pretty attitudes do they + take care to fall! All the little children have been gathered up by the + nursery-maids, and are taken down to roost below. Balmy sleep seals the + eyes of many tired wayfarers, as you see in the case of the Russian + nobleman asleep among the portmanteaus; and Titmarsh, who has been walking + the deck for some time with a great mattress on his shoulders, knowing + full well that were he to relinquish it for an instant, some other person + would seize on it, now stretches his bed upon the deck, wraps his cloak + about his knees, draws his white cotton nightcap tight over his head and + ears; and, as the smoke of his cigar rises calmly upwards to the deep sky + and the cheerful twinkling stars, he feels himself exquisitely happy, and + thinks of thee, my Juliana! + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Why people, because they are in a steamboat, should get up so deucedly + early I cannot understand. Gentlemen have been walking over my legs ever + since three o'clock this morning, and, no doubt, have been indulging in + personalities (which I hate) regarding my appearance and manner of + sleeping, lying, snoring. Let the wags laugh on; but a far pleasanter + occupation is to sleep until breakfast-time, or near it. + </p> + <p> + The tea, and ham and eggs, which, with a beefsteak or two, and three or + four rounds of toast, form the component parts of the above-named elegant + meal, are taken in the River Scheldt. Little neat, plump-looking churches + and villages are rising here and there among tufts of trees and pastures + that are wonderfully green. To the right, as the "Guide-book" says, is + Walcheren; and on the left Cadsand, memorable for the English expedition + of 1809, when Lord Chatham, Sir Walter Manny, and Henry Earl of Derby, at + the head of the English, gained a great victory over the Flemish + mercenaries in the pay of Philippe of Valois. The cloth-yard shafts of the + English archers did great execution. Flushing was taken, and Lord Chatham + returned to England, where he distinguished himself greatly in the debates + on the American war, which he called the brightest jewel of the British + crown. You see, my love, that, though an artist by profession, my + education has by no means been neglected; and what, indeed, would be the + pleasure of travel, unless these charming historical recollections were + brought to bear upon it? + </p> + <p> + ANTWERP. + </p> + <p> + As many hundreds of thousands of English visit this city (I have met at + least a hundred of them in this half-hour walking the streets, + "Guide-book" in hand), and as the ubiquitous Murray has already depicted + the place, there is no need to enter into a long description of it, its + neatness, its beauty, and its stiff antique splendor. The tall pale houses + have many of them crimped gables, that look like Queen Elizabeth's ruffs. + There are as many people in the streets as in London at three o'clock in + the morning; the market-women wear bonnets of a flower-pot shape, and have + shining brazen milk-pots, which are delightful to the eyes of a painter. + Along the quays of the lazy Scheldt are innumerable good-natured groups of + beer-drinkers (small-beer is the most good-natured drink in the world); + along the barriers outside of the town, and by the glistening canals, are + more beer-shops and more beer-drinkers. The city is defended by the + queerest fat military. The chief traffic is between the hotels and the + railroad. The hotels give wonderful good dinners, and especially at the + "Grand Laboureur" may be mentioned a peculiar tart, which is the best of + all tarts that ever a man ate since he was ten years old. A moonlight walk + is delightful. At ten o'clock the whole city is quiet; and so little + changed does it seem to be, that you may walk back three hundred years + into time, and fancy yourself a majestical Spaniard, or an oppressed and + patriotic Dutchman at your leisure. You enter the inn, and the old Quentin + Durward court-yard, on which the old towers look down. There is a sound of + singing—singing at midnight. Is it Don Sombrero, who is singing an + Andalusian seguidilla under the window of the Flemish burgomaster's + daughter? Ah, no! it is a fat Englishman in a zephyr coat: he is drinking + cold gin-and-water in the moonlight, and warbling softly— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Nix my dolly, pals, fake away, + N-ix my dolly, pals, fake a—a—way."* +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * In 1844. +</pre> + <p> + I wish the good people would knock off the top part of Antwerp Cathedral + spire. Nothing can be more gracious and elegant than the lines of the + first two compartments; but near the top there bulges out a little round, + ugly, vulgar Dutch monstrosity (for which the architects have, no doubt, a + name) which offends the eye cruelly. Take the Apollo, and set upon him a + bob-wig and a little cocked hat; imagine "God Save the King" ending with a + jig; fancy a polonaise, or procession of slim, stately, elegant court + beauties, headed by a buffoon dancing a hornpipe. Marshal Gerard should + have discharged a bombshell at that abomination, and have given the noble + steeple a chance to be finished in the grand style of the early fifteenth + century, in which it was begun. + </p> + <p> + This style of criticism is base and mean, and quite contrary to the orders + of the immortal Goethe, who was only for allowing the eye to recognize the + beauties of a great work, but would have its defects passed over. It is an + unhappy, luckless organization which will be perpetually fault-finding, + and in the midst of a grand concert of music will persist only in hearing + that unfortunate fiddle out of tune. + </p> + <p> + Within—except where the rococo architects have introduced their + ornaments (here is the fiddle out of tune again)—the cathedral is + noble. A rich, tender sunshine is streaming in through the windows, and + gilding the stately edifice with the purest light. The admirable + stained-glass windows are not too brilliant in their colors. The organ is + playing a rich, solemn music; some two hundred of people are listening to + the service; and there is scarce one of the women kneeling on her chair, + enveloped in her full majestic black drapery, that is not a fine study for + a painter. These large black mantles of heavy silk brought over the heads + of the women, and covering their persons, fall into such fine folds of + drapery, that they cannot help being picturesque and noble. See, kneeling + by the side of two of those fine devout-looking figures, is a lady in a + little twiddling Parisian hat and feather, in a little lace mantelet, in a + tight gown and a bustle. She is almost as monstrous as yonder figure of + the Virgin, in a hoop, and with a huge crown and a ball and a sceptre; and + a bambino dressed in a little hoop, and in a little crown, round which are + clustered flowers and pots of orange-trees, and before which many of the + faithful are at prayer. Gentle clouds of incense come wafting through the + vast edifice; and in the lulls of the music you hear the faint chant of + the priest, and the silver tinkle of the bell. + </p> + <p> + Six Englishmen, with the commissionaires, and the "Murray's Guide-books" + in their hands, are looking at the "Descent from the Cross." Of this + picture the "Guide-book" gives you orders how to judge. If it is the end + of religious painting to express the religious sentiment, a hundred of + inferior pictures must rank before Rubens. Who was ever piously affected + by any picture of the master? He can depict a livid thief writhing upon + the cross, sometimes a blond Magdalen weeping below it; but it is a + Magdalen a very short time indeed after her repentance: her yellow + brocades and flaring satins are still those which she wore when she was of + the world; her body has not yet lost the marks of the feasting and + voluptuousness in which she used to indulge, according to the legend. Not + one of the Rubens's pictures among all the scores that decorate chapels + and churches here, has the least tendency to purify, to touch the + affections, or to awaken the feelings of religious respect and wonder. The + "Descent from the Cross" is vast, gloomy, and awful; but the awe inspired + by it is, as I take it, altogether material. He might have painted a + picture of any criminal broken on the wheel, and the sensation inspired by + it would have been precisely similar. Nor in a religious picture do you + want the savoir-faire of the master to be always protruding itself; it + detracts from the feeling of reverence, just as the thumping of cushion + and the spouting of tawdry oratory does from a sermon: meek religion + disappears, shouldered out of the desk by the pompous, stalwart, + big-chested, fresh-colored, bushy-whiskered pulpiteer. Rubens's piety has + always struck us as of this sort. If he takes a pious subject, it is to + show you in what a fine way he, Peter Paul Rubens, can treat it. He never + seems to doubt but that he is doing it a great honor. His "Descent from + the Cross," and its accompanying wings and cover, are a set of puns upon + the word Christopher, of which the taste is more odious than that of the + hooped-petticoated Virgin yonder, with her artificial flowers, and her + rings and brooches. The people who made an offering of that hooped + petticoat did their best, at any rate; they knew no better. There is + humility in that simple, quaint present; trustfulness and kind intention. + Looking about at other altars, you see (much to the horror of pious + Protestants) all sorts of queer little emblems hanging up under little + pyramids of penny candles that are sputtering and flaring there. Here you + have a silver arm, or a little gold toe, or a wax leg, or a gilt eye, + signifying and commemorating cures that have been performed by the + supposed intercession of the saint over whose chapel they hang. Well, + although they are abominable superstitions, yet these queer little + offerings seem to me to be a great deal more pious than Rubens's big + pictures; just as is the widow with her poor little mite compared to the + swelling Pharisee who flings his purse of gold into the plate. + </p> + <p> + A couple of days of Rubens and his church pictures makes one thoroughly + and entirely sick of him. His very genius and splendor pails upon one, + even taking the pictures as worldly pictures. One grows weary of being + perpetually feasted with this rich, coarse, steaming food. Considering + them as church pictures, I don't want to go to church to hear, however + splendid, an organ play the "British Grenadiers." + </p> + <p> + The Antwerpians have set up a clumsy bronze statue of their divinity in a + square of the town; and those who have not enough of Rubens in the + churches may study him, and indeed to much greater advantage, in a good, + well-lighted museum. Here, there is one picture, a dying saint taking the + communion, a large piece ten or eleven feet high, and painted in an + incredibly short space of time, which is extremely curious indeed for the + painter's study. The picture is scarcely more than an immense magnificent + sketch; but it tells the secret of the artist's manner, which, in the + midst of its dash and splendor, is curiously methodical. Where the shadows + are warm the lights are cold, and vice versa; and the picture has been so + rapidly painted, that the tints lie raw by the side of one another, the + artist not having taken the trouble to blend them. + </p> + <p> + There are two exquisite Vandykes (whatever Sir Joshua may say of them), + and in which the very management of the gray tones which the President + abuses forms the principal excellence and charm. Why, after all, are we + not to have our opinion? Sir Joshua is not the Pope. The color of one of + those Vandykes is as fine as FINE Paul Veronese, and the sentiment + beautifully tender and graceful. + </p> + <p> + I saw, too, an exhibition of the modern Belgian artists (1843), the + remembrance of whose pictures after a month's absence has almost entirely + vanished. Wappers's hand, as I thought, seemed to have grown old and + feeble, Verboeckhoven's cattle-pieces are almost as good as Paul Potter's, + and Keyser has dwindled down into namby-pamby prettiness, pitiful to see + in the gallant young painter who astonished the Louvre artists ten years + ago by a hand almost as dashing and ready as that of Rubens himself. There + were besides many caricatures of the new German school, which are in + themselves caricatures of the masters before Raphael. + </p> + <p> + An instance of honesty may be mentioned here with applause. The writer + lost a pocket-book containing a passport and a couple of modest ten-pound + notes. The person who found the portfolio ingeniously put it into the box + of the post-office, and it was faithfully restored to the owner; but + somehow the two ten-pound notes were absent. It was, however, a great + comfort to get the passport, and the pocket-book, which must be worth + about ninepence. + </p> + <p> + BRUSSELS. + </p> + <p> + It was night when we arrived by the railroad from Antwerp at Brussels; the + route is very pretty and interesting, and the flat countries through which + the road passes in the highest state of peaceful, smiling cultivation. The + fields by the roadside are enclosed by hedges as in England, the harvest + was in part down, and an English country gentleman who was of our party + pronounced the crops to be as fine as any he had ever seen. Of this matter + a Cockney cannot judge accurately, but any man can see with what + extraordinary neatness and care all these little plots of ground are + tilled, and admire the richness and brilliancy of the vegetation. Outside + of the moat of Antwerp, and at every village by which we passed, it was + pleasant to see the happy congregations of well-clad people that basked in + the evening sunshine, and soberly smoked their pipes and drank their + Flemish beer. Men who love this drink must, as I fancy, have something + essentially peaceful in their composition, and must be more easily + satisfied than folks on our side of the water. The excitement of Flemish + beer is, indeed, not great. I have tried both the white beer and the + brown; they are both of the kind which schoolboys denominate "swipes," + very sour and thin to the taste, but served, to be sure, in quaint Flemish + jugs that do not seem to have changed their form since the days of Rubens, + and must please the lovers of antiquarian knick-knacks. Numbers of + comfortable-looking women and children sat beside the head of the family + upon the tavern-benches, and it was amusing to see one little fellow of + eight years old smoking, with much gravity, his father's cigar. How the + worship of the sacred plant of tobacco has spread through all Europe! I am + sure that the persons who cry out against the use of it are guilty of + superstition and unreason, and that it would be a proper and easy task for + scientific persons to write an encomium upon the weed. In solitude it is + the pleasantest companion possible, and in company never de trop. To a + student it suggests all sorts of agreeable thoughts, it refreshes the + brain when weary, and every sedentary cigar-smoker will tell you how much + good he has had from it, and how he has been able to return to his labor, + after a quarter of an hour's mild interval of the delightful leaf of + Havana. Drinking has gone from among us since smoking came in. It is a + wicked error to say that smokers are drunkards; drink they do, but of + gentle diluents mostly, for fierce stimulants of wine or strong liquors + are abhorrent to the real lover of the Indian weed. Ah! my Juliana, join + not in the vulgar cry that is raised against us. Cigars and cool drinks + beget quiet conversations, good-humor, meditation; not hot blood such as + mounts into the head of drinkers of apoplectic port or dangerous claret. + Are we not more moral and reasonable than our forefathers? Indeed I think + so somewhat; and many improvements of social life and converse must date + with the introduction of the pipe. + </p> + <p> + We were a dozen tobacco-consumers in the wagon of the train that brought + us from Antwerp; nor did the women of the party (sensible women!) make a + single objection to the fumigation. But enough of this; only let me add, + in conclusion, that an excellent Israelitish gentleman, Mr. Hartog of + Antwerp, supplies cigars for a penny apiece, such as are not to be + procured in London for four times the sum. + </p> + <p> + Through smiling corn-fields, then, and by little woods from which rose + here and there the quaint peaked towers of some old-fashioned chateaux, + our train went smoking along at thirty miles an hour. We caught a glimpse + of Mechlin steeple, at first dark against the sunset, and afterwards + bright as we came to the other side of it, and admired long glistening + canals or moats that surrounded the queer old town, and were lighted up in + that wonderful way which the sun only understands, and not even Mr. + Turner, with all his vermilion and gamboge, can put down on canvas. The + verdure was everywhere astonishing, and we fancied we saw many golden + Cuyps as we passed by these quiet pastures. + </p> + <p> + Steam-engines and their accompaniments, blazing forges, gaunt + manufactories, with numberless windows and long black chimneys, of course + take away from the romance of the place but, as we whirled into Brussels, + even these engines had a fine appearance. Three or four of the snorting, + galloping monsters had just finished their journey, and there was a + quantity of flaming ashes lying under the brazen bellies of each that + looked properly lurid and demoniacal. The men at the station came out with + flaming torches—awful-looking fellows indeed! Presently the + different baggage was handed out, and in the very worst vehicle I ever + entered, and at the very slowest pace, we were borne to the "Hotel de + Suede," from which house of entertainment this letter is written. + </p> + <p> + We strolled into the town, but, though the night was excessively fine and + it was not yet eleven o'clock, the streets of the little capital were + deserted, and the handsome blazing cafes round about the theatres + contained no inmates. Ah, what a pretty sight is the Parisian Boulevard on + a night like this! how many pleasant hours has one passed in watching the + lights, and the hum, and the stir, and the laughter of those happy, idle + people! There was none of this gayety here; nor was there a person to be + found, except a skulking commissioner or two (whose real name in French is + that of a fish that is eaten with fennel-sauce), and who offered to + conduct us to certain curiosities in the town. What must we English not + have done, that in every town in Europe we are to be fixed upon by + scoundrels of this sort; and what a pretty reflection it is on our country + that such rascals find the means of living on us! + </p> + <p> + Early the next morning we walked through a number of streets in the place, + and saw certain sights. The Park is very pretty, and all the buildings + round about it have an air of neatness—almost of stateliness. The + houses are tall, the streets spacious, and the roads extremely clean. In + the Park is a little theatre, a cafe somewhat ruinous, a little palace for + the king of this little kingdom, some smart public buildings (with S. P. + Q. B. emblazoned on them, at which pompous inscription one cannot help + laughing), and other rows of houses somewhat resembling a little Rue de + Rivoli. Whether from my own natural greatness and magnanimity, or from + that handsome share of national conceit that every Englishman possesses, + my impressions of this city are certainly anything but respectful. It has + an absurd kind of Lilliput look with it. There are soldiers, just as in + Paris, better dressed, and doing a vast deal of drumming and bustle; and + yet, somehow, far from being frightened at them, I feel inclined to laugh + in their faces. There are little Ministers, who work at their little + bureaux; and to read the journals, how fierce they are! A great thundering + Times could hardly talk more big. One reads about the rascally Ministers, + the miserable Opposition, the designs of tyrants, the eyes of Europe, + &c., just as one would in real journals. The Moniteur of Ghent + belabors the Independent of Brussels; the Independent falls foul of the + Lynx; and really it is difficult not to suppose sometimes that these + worthy people are in earnest. And yet how happy were they sua si bona + norint! Think what a comfort it would be to belong to a little state like + this; not to abuse their privilege, but philosophically to use it. If I + were a Belgian, I would not care one single fig about politics. I would + not read thundering leading-articles. I would not have an opinion. What's + the use of an opinion here? Happy fellows! do not the French, the English, + and the Prussians, spare them the trouble of thinking, and make all their + opinions for them? Think of living in a country free, easy, respectable, + wealthy, and with the nuisance of talking politics removed from out of it. + All this might the Belgians have, and a part do they enjoy, but not the + best part; no, these people will be brawling and by the ears, and parties + run as high here as at Stoke Pogis or little Pedlington. + </p> + <p> + These sentiments were elicited by the reading of a paper at the cafe in + the Park, where we sat under the trees for a while and sipped our cool + lemonade. Numbers of statues decorate the place, the very worst I ever + saw. These Cupids must have been erected in the time of the Dutch dynasty, + as I judge from the immense posterior developments. Indeed the arts of the + country are very low. The statues here, and the lions before the Prince of + Orange's palace, would disgrace almost the figurehead of a ship. + </p> + <p> + Of course we paid our visit to this little lion of Brussels (the Prince's + palace, I mean). The architecture of the building is admirably simple and + firm; and you remark about it, and all other works here, a high finish in + doors, wood-works, paintings, &c., that one does not see in France, + where the buildings are often rather sketched than completed, and the + artist seems to neglect the limbs, as it were, and extremities of his + figures. + </p> + <p> + The finish of this little place is exquisite. We went through some dozen + of state-rooms, paddling along over the slippery floors of inlaid woods in + great slippers, without which we must have come to the ground. How did his + Royal Highness the Prince of Orange manage when he lived here, and her + Imperial Highness the Princess, and their excellencies the chamberlains + and the footmen? They must have been on their tails many times a day, + that's certain, and must have cut queer figures. + </p> + <p> + The ball-room is beautiful—all marble, and yet with a comfortable, + cheerful look; the other apartments are not less agreeable, and the people + looked with intense satisfaction at some great lapis-lazuli tables, which + the guide informed us were worth four millions, more or less; adding with + a very knowing look, that they were un peu plus cher que l'or. This speech + has a tremendous effect on visitors, and when we met some of our steamboat + companions in the Park or elsewhere—in so small a place as this one + falls in with them a dozen times a day—"Have you seen the tables?" + was the general question. Prodigious tables are they, indeed! Fancy a + table, my dear—a table four feet wide—a table with legs. Ye + heavens! the mind can hardly picture to itself anything so beautiful and + so tremendous! + </p> + <p> + There are some good pictures in the palace, too, but not so + extraordinarily good as the guide-books and the guide would have us to + think. The latter, like most men of his class, is an ignoramus, who showed + us an Andrea del Sarto (copy or original), and called it a Correggio, and + made other blunders of a like nature. As is the case in England, you are + hurried through the rooms without being allowed time to look at the + pictures, and, consequently, to pronounce a satisfactory judgment on them. + </p> + <p> + In the Museum more time was granted me, and I spent some hours with + pleasure there. It is an absurd little gallery, absurdly imitating the + Louvre, with just such compartments and pillars as you see in the noble + Paris gallery; only here the pillars and capitals are stucco and white in + place of marble and gold, and plaster-of-paris busts of great Belgians are + placed between the pillars. An artist of the country has made a picture + containing them, and you will be ashamed of your ignorance when you hear + many of their names. Old Tilly of Magdeburg figures in one corner; Rubens, + the endless Rubens, stands in the midst. What a noble countenance it is, + and what a manly, swaggering consciousness of power! + </p> + <p> + The picture to see here is a portrait, by the great Peter Paul, of one of + the governesses of the Netherlands. It is just the finest portrait that + ever was seen. Only a half-length, but such a majesty, such a force, such + a splendor, such a simplicity about it! The woman is in a stiff black + dress, with a ruff and a few pearls; a yellow curtain is behind her—the + simplest arrangement that can be conceived; but this great man knew how to + rise to his occasion; and no better proof can be shown of what a fine + gentleman he was than this his homage to the vice-Queen. A common bungler + would have painted her in her best clothes, with crown and sceptre, just + as our Queen has been painted by—but comparisons are odious. Here + stands this majestic woman in her every-day working-dress of black satin, + LOOKING YOUR HAT OFF, as it were. Another portrait of the same personage + hangs elsewhere in the gallery, and it is curious to observe the + difference between the two, and see how a man of genius paints a portrait, + and how a common limner executes it. + </p> + <p> + Many more pictures are there here by Rubens, or rather from Rubens's + manufactory,—odious and vulgar most of them are; fat Magdalens, + coarse Saints, vulgar Virgins, with the scene-painter's tricks far too + evident upon the canvas. By the side of one of the most astonishing + color-pieces in the world, the "Worshipping of the Magi," is a famous + picture of Paul Veronese that cannot be too much admired. As Rubens sought + in the first picture to dazzle and astonish by gorgeous variety, Paul in + his seems to wish to get his effect by simplicity, and has produced the + most noble harmony that can be conceived. Many more works are there that + merit notice,—a singularly clever, brilliant, and odious Jordaens, + for example; some curious costume-pieces; one or two works by the Belgian + Raphael, who was a very Belgian Raphael, indeed; and a long gallery of + pictures of the very oldest school, that, doubtless, afford much pleasure + to the amateurs of ancient art. I confess that I am inclined to believe in + very little that existed before the time of Raphael. There is, for + instance, the Prince of Orange's picture by Perugino, very pretty indeed, + up to a certain point, but all the heads are repeated, all the drawing is + bad and affected; and this very badness and affectation, is what the + so-called Catholic school is always anxious to imitate. Nothing can be + more juvenile or paltry than the works of the native Belgians here + exhibited. Tin crowns are suspended over many of them, showing that the + pictures are prize compositions: and pretty things, indeed, they are! Have + you ever read an Oxford prize-poem! Well, these pictures are worse even + than the Oxford poems—an awful assertion to make. + </p> + <p> + In the matter of eating, dear sir, which is the next subject of the fine + arts, a subject that, after many hours' walking, attracts a gentleman very + much, let me attempt to recall the transactions of this very day at the + table-d'-hote. 1, green pea-soup; 2, boiled salmon; 3, mussels; 4, crimped + skate; 5, roast-meat; 6, patties; 7, melons; 8, carp, stewed with + mushrooms and onions; 9, roast-turkey; 10, cauliflower and butter; 11, + fillets of venison piques, with asafoetida sauce; 12, stewed calf's-ear; + 13, roast-veal; 14, roast-lamb; 15, stewed cherries; 16, rice-pudding; 17, + Gruyere cheese, and about twenty-four cakes of different kinds. Except 5, + 13, and 14, I give you my word I ate of all written down here, with three + rolls of bread and a score of potatoes. What is the meaning of it? How is + the stomach of man to be brought to desire and to receive all this + quantity? Do not gastronomists complain of heaviness in London after + eating a couple of mutton-chops? Do not respectable gentlemen fall asleep + in their arm-chairs? Are they fit for mental labor? Far from it. But look + at the difference here: after dinner here one is as light as a gossamer. + One walks with pleasure, reads with pleasure, writes with pleasure—nay, + there is the supper-bell going at ten o'clock, and plenty of eaters, too. + Let lord mayors and aldermen look to it, this fact of the extraordinary + increase of appetite in Belgium, and, instead of steaming to Blackwall, + come a little further to Antwerp. + </p> + <p> + Of ancient architectures in the place, there is a fine old Port de Halle, + which has a tall, gloomy, bastille look; a most magnificent town-hall, + that has been sketched a thousand of times, and opposite it, a building + that I think would be the very model for a Conservative club-house in + London. Oh! how charming it would be to be a great painter, and give the + character of the building, and the numberless groups round about it. The + booths lighted up by the sun, the market-women in their gowns of brilliant + hue, each group having a character and telling its little story, the + troops of men lolling in all sorts of admirable attitudes of ease round + the great lamp. Half a dozen light-blue dragoons are lounging about, and + peeping over the artist as the drawing is made, and the sky is more bright + and blue than one sees it in a hundred years in London. + </p> + <p> + The priests of the country are a remarkably well-fed and respectable race, + without that scowling, hang-dog look which one has remarked among reverend + gentlemen in the neighboring country of France. Their reverences wear + buckles to their shoes, light-blue neck-cloths, and huge three-cornered + hats in good condition. To-day, strolling by the cathedral, I heard the + tinkling of a bell in the street, and beheld certain persons, male and + female, suddenly plump down on their knees before a little procession that + was passing. Two men in black held a tawdry red canopy, a priest walked + beneath it holding the sacrament covered with a cloth, and before him + marched a couple of little altar-boys in short white surplices, such as + you see in Rubens, and holding lacquered lamps. A small train of + street-boys followed the procession, cap in hand, and the clergyman + finally entered a hospital for old women, near the church, the canopy and + the lamp-bearers remaining without. + </p> + <p> + It was a touching scene, and as I stayed to watch it, I could not but + think of the poor old soul who was dying within, listening to the last + words of prayer, led by the hand of the priest to the brink of the black + fathomless grave. How bright the sun was shining without all the time, and + how happy and careless every thing around us looked! + </p> + <p> + The Duke d'Arenberg has a picture-gallery worthy of his princely house. It + does not contain great pieces, but tit-bits of pictures, such as suit an + aristocratic epicure. For such persons a great huge canvas is too much, it + is like sitting down alone to a roasted ox; and they do wisely, I think, + to patronize small, high-flavored, delicate morceaux, such as the Duke has + here. + </p> + <p> + Among them may be mentioned, with special praise, a magnificent small + Rembrandt, a Paul Potter of exceeding minuteness and beauty, an Ostade, + which reminds one of Wilkie's early performances, and a Dusart quite as + good as Ostade. There is a Berghem, much more unaffected than that + artist's works generally are; and, what is more, precious in the eyes of + many ladies as an object of art, there is, in one of the grand saloons, + some needlework done by the Duke's own grandmother, which is looked at + with awe by those admitted to see the palace. + </p> + <p> + The chief curiosity, if not the chief ornament of a very elegant library, + filled with vases and bronzes, is a marble head, supposed to be the + original head of the Laocoon. It is, unquestionably a finer head than that + which at present figures upon the shoulders of the famous statue. The + expression of woe is more manly and intense; in the group as we know it, + the head of the principal figure has always seemed to me to be a grimace + of grief, as are the two accompanying young gentlemen with their pretty + attitudes, and their little silly, open-mouthed despondency. It has always + had upon me the effect of a trick, that statue, and not of a piece of true + art. It would look well in the vista of a garden; it is not august enough + for a temple, with all its jerks and twirls, and polite convulsions. But + who knows what susceptibilities such a confession may offend? Let us say + no more about the Laocoon, nor its head, nor its tail. The Duke was + offered its weight in gold, they say, for this head, and refused. It would + be a shame to speak ill of such a treasure, but I have my opinion of the + man who made the offer. + </p> + <p> + In the matter of sculpture almost all the Brussels churches are decorated + with the most laborious wooden pulpits, which may be worth their weight in + gold, too, for what I know, including his reverence preaching inside. At + St. Gudule the preacher mounts into no less a place than the garden of + Eden, being supported by Adam and Eve, by Sin and Death, and numberless + other animals; he walks up to his desk by a rustic railing of flowers, + fruits, and vegetables, with wooden peacocks, paroquets, monkeys biting + apples, and many more of the birds and beasts of the field. In another + church the clergyman speaks from out a hermitage; in a third from a carved + palm-tree, which supports a set of oak clouds that form the canopy of the + pulpit, and are, indeed, not much heavier in appearance than so many huge + sponges. A priest, however tall or stout, must be lost in the midst of all + these queer gimcracks; in order to be consistent, they ought to dress him + up, too, in some odd fantastical suit. I can fancy the Cure of Meudon + preaching out of such a place, or the Rev. Sydney Smith, or that famous + clergyman of the time of the League, who brought all Paris to laugh and + listen to him. + </p> + <p> + But let us not be too supercilious and ready to sneer. It is only bad + taste. It may have been very true devotion which erected these strange + edifices. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.—GHENT—BRUGES. + </h2> + <p> + GHENT. (1840.) + </p> + <p> + The Beguine College or Village is one of the most extraordinary sights + that all Europe can show. On the confines of the town of Ghent you come + upon an old-fashioned brick gate, that seems as if it were one of the city + barriers; but, on passing it, one of the prettiest sights possible meets + the eye: At the porter's lodge you see an old lady, in black and a white + hood, occupied over her book; before you is a red church with a tall roof + and fantastical Dutch pinnacles, and all around it rows upon rows of small + houses, the queerest, neatest, nicest that ever were seen (a doll's house + is hardly smaller or prettier). Right and left, on each side of little + alleys, these little mansions rise; they have a courtlet before them, in + which some green plants or hollyhocks are growing; and to each house is a + gate, that has mostly a picture or queer-carved ornament upon or about it, + and bears the name, not of the Beguine who inhabits it, but of the saint + to whom she may have devoted it—the house of St. Stephen, the house + of St. Donatus, the English or Angel Convent, and so on. Old ladies in + black are pacing in the quiet alleys here and there, and drop the stranger + a curtsy as he passes them and takes off his hat. Never were such patterns + of neatness seen as these old ladies and their houses. I peeped into one + or two of the chambers, of which the windows were open to the pleasant + evening sun, and saw beds scrupulously plain, a quaint old chair or two, + and little pictures of favorite saints decorating the spotless white + walls. The old ladies kept up a quick, cheerful clatter, as they paused to + gossip at the gates of their little domiciles; and with a great deal of + artifice, and lurking behind walls, and looking at the church as if I + intended to design that, I managed to get a sketch of a couple of them. + </p> + <p> + But what white paper can render the whiteness of their linen; what black + ink can do justice to the lustre of their gowns and shoes? Both of the + ladies had a neat ankle and a tight stocking; and I fancy that heaven is + quite as well served in this costume as in the dress of a scowling, + stockingless friar, whom I had seen passing just before. The look and + dress of the man made me shudder. His great red feet were bound up in a + shoe open at the toes, a kind of compromise for a sandal. I had just seen + him and his brethren at the Dominican Church, where a mass of music was + sung, and orange-trees, flags, and banners decked the aisle of the church. + </p> + <p> + One begins to grow sick of these churches, and the hideous exhibitions of + bodily agonies that are depicted on the sides of all the chapels. Into one + wherein we went this morning was what they called a Calvary: a horrible, + ghastly image of a Christ in a tomb, the figure of the natural size, and + of the livid color of death; gaping red wounds on the body and round the + brows: the whole piece enough to turn one sick, and fit only to brutalize + the beholder of it. The Virgin is commonly represented with a dozen swords + stuck in her heart; bleeding throats of headless John Baptists are + perpetually thrust before your eyes. At the Cathedral gate was a + papier-mache church-ornament shop—most of the carvings and reliefs + of the same dismal character: one, for instance, represented a heart with + a great gash in it, and a double row of large blood-drops dribbling from + it; nails and a knife were thrust into the heart; round the whole was a + crown of thorns. Such things are dreadful to think of. The same gloomy + spirit which made a religion of them, and worked upon the people by the + grossest of all means, terror, distracted the natural feelings of man to + maintain its power—shut gentle women into lonely, pitiless convents—frightened + poor peasants with tales of torment—taught that the end and labor of + life was silence, wretchedness, and the scourge—murdered those by + fagot and prison who thought otherwise. How has the blind and furious + bigotry of man perverted that which God gave us as our greatest boon, and + bid us hate where God bade us love! Thank heaven that monk has gone out of + sight! It is pleasant to look at the smiling, cheerful old Beguine, and + think no more of yonder livid face. + </p> + <p> + One of the many convents in this little religious city seems to be the + specimen-house, which is shown to strangers, for all the guides conduct + you thither, and I saw in a book kept for the purpose the names of + innumerable Smiths and Joneses registered. + </p> + <p> + A very kind, sweet-voiced, smiling nun (I wonder, do they always choose + the most agreeable and best-humored sister of the house to show it to + strangers?) came tripping down the steps and across the flags of the + little garden-court, and welcomed us with much courtesy into the neat + little old-fashioned, red-bricked, gable-ended, shining-windowed Convent + of the Angels. First she showed us a whitewashed parlor, decorated with a + grim picture or two and some crucifixes and other religious emblems, + where, upon stiff old chairs, the sisters sit and work. Three or four of + them were still there, pattering over their laces and bobbins; but the + chief part of the sisterhood were engaged in an apartment hard by, from + which issued a certain odor which I must say resembled onions: it was in + fact the kitchen of the establishment. + </p> + <p> + Every Beguine cooks her own little dinner in her own little pipkin; and + there was half a score of them, sure enough, busy over their pots and + crockery, cooking a repast which, when ready, was carried off to a + neighboring room, the refectory, where, at a ledge-table which is drawn + out from under her own particular cupboard, each nun sits down and eats + her meal in silence. More religious emblems ornamented the carved + cupboard-doors, and within, everything was as neat as neat could be: + shining pewter-ewers and glasses, snug baskets of eggs and pats of butter, + and little bowls with about a farthing's-worth of green tea in them—for + some great day of fete, doubtless. The old ladies sat round as we examined + these things, each eating soberly at her ledge and never looking round. + There was a bell ringing in the chapel hard by. "Hark!" said our guide, + "that is one of the sisters dying. Will you come up and see the cells?" + </p> + <p> + The cells, it need not be said, are the snuggest little nests in the + world, with serge-curtained beds and snowy linen, and saints and martyrs + pinned against the wall. "We may sit up till twelve o'clock, if we like," + said the nun; "but we have no fire and candle, and so what's the use of + sitting up? When we have said our prayers we are glad enough to go to + sleep." + </p> + <p> + I forget, although the good soul told us, how many times in the day, in + public and in private, these devotions are made, but fancy that the + morning service in the chapel takes place at too early an hour for most + easy travellers. We did not fail to attend in the evening, when likewise + is a general muster of the seven hundred, minus the absent and sick, and + the sight is not a little curious and striking to a stranger. + </p> + <p> + The chapel is a very big whitewashed place of worship, supported by half a + dozen columns on either side, over each of which stands the statue of an + Apostle, with his emblem of martyrdom. Nobody was as yet at the distant + altar, which was too far off to see very distinctly; but I could perceive + two statues over it, one of which (St. Laurence, no doubt) was leaning + upon a huge gilt gridiron that the sun lighted up in a blaze—a + painful but not a romantic instrument of death. A couple of old ladies in + white hoods were tugging and swaying about at two bell-ropes that came + down into the middle of the church, and at least five hundred others in + white veils were seated all round about us in mute contemplation until the + service began, looking very solemn, and white, and ghastly, like an army + of tombstones by moonlight. + </p> + <p> + The service commenced as the clock finished striking seven: the organ + pealed out, a very cracked and old one, and presently some weak old voice + from the choir overhead quavered out a canticle; which done, a thin old + voice of a priest at the altar far off (and which had now become quite + gloomy in the sunset) chanted feebly another part of the service; then the + nuns warbled once more overhead; and it was curious to hear, in the + intervals of the most lugubrious chants, how the organ went off with some + extremely cheerful military or profane air. At one time was a march, at + another a quick tune; which ceasing, the old nuns began again, and so sung + until the service was ended. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of it one of the white-veiled sisters approached us with a + very mysterious air, and put down her white veil close to our ears and + whispered. Were we doing anything wrong, I wondered? Were they come to + that part of the service where heretics and infidels ought to quit the + church? What have you to ask, O sacred, white-veiled maid? + </p> + <p> + All she said was, "Deux centiemes pour les suisses," which sum was paid; + and presently the old ladies, rising from their chairs one by one, came in + face of the altar, where they knelt down and said a short prayer; then, + rising, unpinned their veils, and folded them up all exactly in the same + folds and fashion, and laid them square like napkins on their heads, and + tucked up their long black outer dresses, and trudged off to their + convents. + </p> + <p> + The novices wear black veils, under one of which I saw a young, sad, + handsome face; it was the only thing in the establishment that was the + least romantic or gloomy: and, for the sake of any reader of a sentimental + turn, let us hope that the poor soul has been crossed in love, and that + over some soul-stirring tragedy that black curtain has fallen. + </p> + <p> + Ghent has, I believe, been called a vulgar Venice. It contains dirty + canals and old houses that must satisfy the most eager antiquary, though + the buildings are not quite in so good preservation as others that may be + seen in the Netherlands. The commercial bustle of the place seems + considerable, and it contains more beer-shops than any city I ever saw. + </p> + <p> + These beer-shops seem the only amusement of the inhabitants, until, at + least, the theatre shall be built, of which the elevation is now complete, + a very handsome and extensive pile. There are beer-shops in the cellars of + the houses, which are frequented, it is to be presumed, by the lower sort; + there are beer-shops at the barriers, where the citizens and their + families repair; and beer-shops in the town, glaring with gas, with long + gauze blinds, however, to hide what I hear is a rather questionable + reputation. + </p> + <p> + Our inn, the "Hotel of the Post," a spacious and comfortable residence, is + on a little place planted round with trees, and that seems to be the + Palais Royal of the town. Three clubs, which look from without to be very + comfortable, ornament this square with their gas-lamps. Here stands, too, + the theatre that is to be; there is a cafe, and on evenings a military + band plays the very worst music I ever remember to have heard. I went out + to-night to take a quiet walk upon this place, and the horrid brazen + discord of these trumpeters set me half mad. + </p> + <p> + I went to the cafe for refuge, passing on the way a subterraneous + beer-shop, where men and women were drinking to the sweet music of a + cracked barrel-organ. They take in a couple of French papers at this cafe, + and the same number of Belgian journals. You may imagine how well the + latter are informed, when you hear that the battle of Boulogne, fought by + the immortal Louis Napoleon, was not known here until some gentlemen out + of Norfolk brought the news from London, and until it had travelled to + Paris, and from Paris to Brussels. For a whole hour I could not get a + newspaper at the cafe. The horrible brass band in the meantime had quitted + the place, and now, to amuse the Ghent citizens, a couple of little boys + came to the cafe and set up a small concert: one played ill on the guitar, + but sang, very sweetly, plaintive French ballads; the other was the comic + singer; he carried about with him a queer, long, damp-looking, mouldy + white hat, with no brim. "Ecoutez," said the waiter to me, "il va faire + l'Anglais; c'est tres drole!" The little rogue mounted his immense + brimless hat, and, thrusting his thumbs into the armholes of his + waistcoat, began to faire l'Anglais, with a song in which swearing was the + principal joke. We all laughed at this, and indeed the little rascal + seemed to have a good deal of humor. + </p> + <p> + How they hate us, these foreigners, in Belgium as much as in France! What + lies they tell of us; how gladly they would see us humiliated! Honest + folks at home over their port-wine say, "Ay, ay, and very good reason they + have too. National vanity, sir, wounded—we have beaten them so + often." My dear sir, there is not a greater error in the world than this. + They hate you because you are stupid, hard to please, and intolerably + insolent and air-giving. I walked with an Englishman yesterday, who asked + the way to a street of which he pronounced the name very badly to a little + Flemish boy: the Flemish boy did not answer; and there was my Englishman + quite in a rage, shrieking in the child's ear as if he must answer. He + seemed to think that it was the duty of "the snob," as he called him, to + obey the gentleman. This is why we are hated—for pride. In our free + country a tradesman, a lackey, or a waiter will submit to almost any given + insult from a gentleman: in these benighted lands one man is as good as + another; and pray God it may soon be so with us! Of all European people, + which is the nation that has the most haughtiness, the strongest + prejudices, the greatest reserve, the greatest dulness? I say an + Englishman of the genteel classes. An honest groom jokes and hobs-and-nobs + and makes his way with the kitchen-maids, for there is good social nature + in the man; his master dare not unbend. Look at him, how he scowls at you + on your entering an inn-room; think how you scowl yourself to meet his + scowl. To-day, as we were walking and staring about the place, a worthy + old gentleman in a carriage, seeing a pair of strangers, took off his hat + and bowed very gravely with his old powdered head out of the window: I am + sorry to say that our first impulse was to burst out laughing—it + seemed so supremely ridiculous that a stranger should notice and welcome + another. + </p> + <p> + As for the notion that foreigners hate us because we have beaten them so + often, my dear sir, this is the greatest error in the world: well-educated + Frenchmen DO NOT BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE BEATEN THEM. A man was once ready to + call me out in Paris because I said that we had beaten the French in + Spain; and here before me is a French paper, with a London correspondent + discoursing about Louis Buonaparte and his jackass expedition to Boulogne. + "He was received at Eglintoun, it is true," says the correspondent, "but + what do you think was the reason? Because the English nobility were + anxious to revenge upon his person (with some coups de lance) the checks + which the 'grand homme' his uncle had inflicted on us in Spain." + </p> + <p> + This opinion is so general among the French, that they would laugh at you + with scornful incredulity if you ventured to assert any other. Foy's + history of the Spanish War does not, unluckily, go far enough. I have read + a French history which hardly mentions the war in Spain, and calls the + battle of Salamanca a French victory. You know how the other day, and in + the teeth of all evidence, the French swore to their victory of Toulouse: + and so it is with the rest; and you may set it down as pretty certain, + 1st, That only a few people know the real state of things in France, as to + the matter in dispute between us; 2nd, That those who do, keep the truth + to themselves, and so it is as if it had never been. + </p> + <p> + These Belgians have caught up, and quite naturally, the French tone. We + are perfide Albion with them still. Here is the Ghent paper, which + declares that it is beyond a doubt that Louis Napoleon was sent by the + English and Lord Palmerston; and though it states in another part of the + journal (from English authority) that the Prince had never seen Lord + Palmerston, yet the lie will remain uppermost—the people and the + editor will believe it to the end of time. . . . See to what a digression + yonder little fellow in the tall hat has given rise! Let us make his + picture, and have done with him. + </p> + <p> + I could not understand, in my walks about this place, which is certainly + picturesque enough, and contains extraordinary charms in the shape of old + gables, quaint spires, and broad shining canals—I could not at first + comprehend why, for all this, the town was especially disagreeable to me, + and have only just hit on the reason why. Sweetest Juliana, you will never + guess it: it is simply this, that I have not seen a single decent-looking + woman in the whole place; they look all ugly, with coarse mouths, vulgar + figures, mean mercantile faces; and so the traveller walking among them + finds the pleasure of his walk excessively damped, and the impressions + made upon him disagreeable. + </p> + <p> + In the Academy there are no pictures of merit; but sometimes a second-rate + picture is as pleasing as the best, and one may pass an hour here very + pleasantly. There is a room appropriated to Belgian artists, of which I + never saw the like: they are, like all the rest of the things in this + country, miserable imitations of the French school—great nude + Venuses, and Junos a la David, with the drawing left out. + </p> + <p> + BRUGES. + </p> + <p> + The change from vulgar Ghent, with its ugly women and coarse bustle, to + this quiet, old, half-deserted, cleanly Bruges, was very pleasant. I have + seen old men at Versailles, with shabby coats and pigtails, sunning + themselves on the benches in the walls; they had seen better days, to be + sure, but they were gentlemen still: and so we found, this morning, old + dowager Bruges basking in the pleasant August sun, and looking if not + prosperous, at least cheerful and well-bred. It is the quaintest and + prettiest of all the quaint and pretty towns I have seen. A painter might + spend months here, and wander from church to church, and admire old towers + and pinnacles, tall gables, bright canals, and pretty little patches of + green garden and moss-grown wall, that reflect in the clear quiet water. + Before the inn-window is a garden, from which in the early morning issues + a most wonderful odor of stocks and wallflowers; next comes a road with + trees of admirable green; numbers of little children are playing in this + road (the place is so clean that they may roll in it all day without + soiling their pinafores), and on the other side of the trees are little + old-fashioned, dumpy, whitewashed, red-tiled houses. A poorer landscape to + draw never was known, nor a pleasanter to see—the children + especially, who are inordinately fat and rosy. Let it be remembered, too, + that here we are out of the country of ugly women: the expression of the + face is almost uniformly gentle and pleasing, and the figures of the + women, wrapped in long black monk-like cloaks and hoods, very picturesque. + No wonder there are so many children: the "Guide-book" (omniscient Mr. + Murray!) says there are fifteen thousand paupers in the town, and we know + how such multiply. How the deuce do their children look so fat and rosy? + By eating dirt-pies, I suppose. I saw a couple making a very nice savory + one, and another employed in gravely sticking strips of stick betwixt the + pebbles at the house-door, and so making for herself a stately garden. The + men and women don't seem to have much more to do. There are a couple of + tall chimneys at either suburb of the town, where no doubt manufactories + are at work, but within the walls everybody seems decently idle. + </p> + <p> + We have been, of course, abroad to visit the lions. The tower in the Grand + Place is very fine, and the bricks of which it is built do not yield a + whit in color to the best stone. The great building round this tower is + very like the pictures of the Ducal Palace at Venice; and there is a long + market area, with columns down the middle, from which hung shreds of + rather lean-looking meat, that would do wonders under the hands of + Cattermole or Haghe. In the tower there is a chime of bells that keep + ringing perpetually. They not only play tunes of themselves, and every + quarter of an hour, but an individual performs selections from popular + operas on them at certain periods of the morning, afternoon, and evening. + I have heard to-day "Suoni la Tromba," "Son Vergin Vezzosa," from the + "Puritani," and other airs, and very badly they were played too; for such + a great monster as a tower-bell cannot be expected to imitate Madame Grisi + or even Signor Lablache. Other churches indulge in the same amusement, so + that one may come here and live in melody all day or night, like the young + woman in Moore's "Lalla Rookh." + </p> + <p> + In the matter of art, the chief attractions of Bruges are the pictures of + Hemling, that are to be seen in the churches, the hospital, and the + picture-gallery of the place. There are no more pictures of Rubens to be + seen, and, indeed, in the course of a fortnight, one has had quite enough + of the great man and his magnificent, swaggering canvases. What a + difference is here with simple Hemling and the extraordinary creations of + his pencil! The hospital is particularly rich in them; and the legend + there is that the painter, who had served Charles the Bold in his war + against the Swiss, and his last battle and defeat, wandered back wounded + and penniless to Bruges, and here found cure and shelter. + </p> + <p> + This hospital is a noble and curious sight. The great hall is almost as it + was in the twelfth century; it is spanned by Saxon arches, and lighted by + a multiplicity of Gothic windows of all sizes; it is very lofty, clean, + and perfectly well ventilated; a screen runs across the middle of the + room, to divide the male from the female patients, and we were taken to + examine each ward, where the poor people seemed happier than possibly they + would have been in health and starvation without it. Great yellow blankets + were on the iron beds, the linen was scrupulously clean, glittering + pewter-jugs and goblets stood by the side of each patient, and they were + provided with godly books (to judge from the binding), in which several + were reading at leisure. Honest old comfortable nuns, in queer dresses of + blue, black, white, and flannel, were bustling through the room, attending + to the wants of the sick. I saw about a dozen of these kind women's faces: + one was young—all were healthy and cheerful. One came with bare blue + arms and a great pile of linen from an outhouse—such a grange as + Cedric the Saxon might have given to a guest for the night. A couple were + in a laboratory, a tall, bright, clean room, 500 years old at least. "We + saw you were not very religious," said one of the old ladies, with a red, + wrinkled, good-humored face, "by your behavior yesterday in chapel." And + yet we did not laugh and talk as we used at college, but were profoundly + affected by the scene that we saw there. It was a fete-day: a mass of + Mozart was sung in the evening—not well sung, and yet so exquisitely + tender and melodious, that it brought tears into our eyes. There were not + above twenty people in the church: all, save three or four, were women in + long black cloaks. I took them for nuns at first. They were, however, the + common people of the town, very poor indeed, doubtless, for the priest's + box that was brought round was not added to by most of them, and their + contributions were but two-cent pieces,—five of these go to a penny; + but we know the value of such, and can tell the exact worth of a poor + woman's mite! The box-bearer did not seem at first willing to accept our + donation—we were strangers and heretics; however, I held out my + hand, and he came perforce as it were. Indeed it had only a franc in it: + but que voulez-vous? I had been drinking a bottle of Rhine wine that day, + and how was I to afford more? The Rhine wine is dear in this country, and + costs four francs a bottle. + </p> + <p> + Well, the service proceeded. Twenty poor women, two Englishmen, four + ragged beggars, cowering on the steps; and there was the priest at the + altar, in a great robe of gold and damask, two little boys in white + surplices serving him, holding his robe as he rose and bowed, and the + money-gatherer swinging his censer, and filling the little chapel with + smoke. The music pealed with wonderful sweetness; you could see the prim + white heads of the nuns in their gallery. The evening light streamed down + upon old statues of saints and carved brown stalls, and lighted up the + head of the golden-haired Magdalen in a picture of the entombment of + Christ. Over the gallery, and, as it were, a kind protectress to the poor + below, stood the statue of the Virgin. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—WATERLOO. + </h2> + <p> + It is, my dear, the happy privilege of your sex in England to quit the + dinner-table after the wine-bottles have once or twice gone round it, and + you are thereby saved (though, to be sure, I can't tell what the ladies do + up stairs)—you are saved two or three hours' excessive dulness, + which the men are obliged to go through. + </p> + <p> + I ask any gentleman who reads this—the letters to my Juliana being + written with an eye to publication—to remember especially how many + times, how many hundred times, how many thousand times, in his hearing, + the battle of Waterloo has been discussed after dinner, and to call to + mind how cruelly he has been bored by the discussion. "Ah, it was lucky + for us that the Prussians came up!" says one little gentleman, looking + particularly wise and ominous. "Hang the Prussians!" (or, perhaps, + something stronger "the Prussians!") says a stout old major on half-pay. + "We beat the French without them, sir, as beaten them we always have! We + were thundering down the hill of Belle Alliance, sir, at the backs of + them, and the French were crying 'Sauve qui peut' long before the + Prussians ever touched them!" And so the battle opens, and for many mortal + hours, amid rounds of claret, rages over and over again. + </p> + <p> + I thought to myself considering the above things, what a fine thing it + will be in after-days to say that I have been to Brussels and never seen + the field of Waterloo; indeed, that I am such a philosopher as not to care + a fig about the battle—nay, to regret, rather, that when Napoleon + came back, the British Government had not spared their men and left him + alone. + </p> + <p> + But this pitch of philosophy was unattainable. This morning, after having + seen the Park, the fashionable boulevard, the pictures, the cafes—having + sipped, I say, the sweets of every flower that grows in this paradise of + Brussels, quite weary of the place, we mounted on a Namur diligence, and + jingled off at four miles an hour for Waterloo. + </p> + <p> + The road is very neat and agreeable: the Forest of Soignies here and there + interposes pleasantly, to give your vehicle a shade; the country, as + usual, is vastly fertile and well cultivated. A farmer and the conducteur + were my companions in the imperial, and could I have understood their + conversation, my dear, you should have had certainly a report of it. The + jargon which they talked was, indeed, most queer and puzzling—French, + I believe, strangely hashed up and pronounced, for here and there one + could catch a few words of it. Now and anon, however, they condescended to + speak in the purest French they could muster; and, indeed, nothing is more + curious than to hear the French of the country. You can't understand why + all the people insist upon speaking it so badly. I asked the conductor if + he had been at the battle; he burst out laughing like a philosopher, as he + was, and said "Pas si bete." I asked the farmer whether his contributions + were lighter now than in King William's time, and lighter than those in + the time of the Emperor? He vowed that in war-time he had not more to pay + than in time of peace (and this strange fact is vouched for by every + person of every nation), and being asked wherefore the King of Holland had + been ousted from his throne, replied at once, "Parceque c'etoit un + voleur:" for which accusation I believe there is some show of reason, his + Majesty having laid hands on much Belgian property before the lamented + outbreak which cost him his crown. A vast deal of laughing and roaring + passed between these two worldly people and the postilion, whom they + called "baron," and I thought no doubt that this talk was one of the many + jokes that my companions were in the habit of making. But not so: the + postilion was an actual baron, the bearer of an ancient name, the + descendant of gallant gentlemen. Good heavens! what would Mrs. Trollope + say to see his lordship here? His father the old baron had dissipated the + family fortune, and here was this young nobleman, at about five-and-forty, + compelled to bestride a clattering Flemish stallion, and bump over dusty + pavements at the rate of five miles an hour. But see the beauty of high + blood: with what a calm grace the man of family accommodates himself to + fortune. Far from being cast down, his lordship met his fate like a man: + he swore and laughed the whole of the journey, and as we changed horses, + condescended to partake of half a pint of Louvain beer, to which the + farmer treated him—indeed the worthy rustic treated me to a glass + too. + </p> + <p> + Much delight and instruction have I had in the course of the journey from + my guide, philosopher, and friend, the author of "Murray's Handbook." He + has gathered together, indeed, a store of information, and must, to make + his single volume, have gutted many hundreds of guide-books. How the + Continental ciceroni must hate him, whoever he is! Every English party I + saw had this infallible red book in their hands, and gained a vast deal of + historical and general information from it. Thus I heard, in confidence, + many remarkable anecdotes of Charles V., the Duke of Alva, Count Egmont, + all of which I had before perceived, with much satisfaction, not only in + the "Handbook," but even in other works. + </p> + <p> + The Laureate is among the English poets evidently the great favorite of + our guide: the choice does honor to his head and heart. A man must have a + very strong bent for poetry, indeed, who carries Southey's works in his + portmanteau, and quotes them in proper time and occasion. Of course at + Waterloo a spirit like our guide's cannot fail to be deeply moved, and to + turn to his favorite poet for sympathy. Hark how the laureated bard sings + about the tombstones at Waterloo:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "That temple to our hearts was hallow'd now, + For many a wounded Briton there was laid, + With such for help as time might then allow, + From the fresh carnage of the field conveyed. + And they whom human succor could not save, + Here, in its precincts, found a hasty grave. + And here, on marble tablets, set on high, + In English lines by foreign workmen traced, + The names familiar to an English eye, + Their brethren here the fit memorial placed; + Whose unadorned inscriptions briefly tell + THEIR GALLANT COMRADES' rank, and where they fell. + The stateliest monument of human pride, + Enriched with all magnificence of art, + To honor chieftains who in victory died, + Would wake no stronger feeling in the heart + Than these plain tablets by the soldier's hand + Raised to his comrades in a foreign land." +</pre> + <p> + There are lines for you! wonderful for justice, rich in thought and novel + ideas. The passage concerning their gallant comrades' rank should be + specially remarked. There indeed they lie, sure enough: the Honorable + Colonel This of the Guards, Captain That of the Hussars, Major So-and-So + of the Dragoons, brave men and good, who did their duty by their country + on that day, and died in the performance of it. + </p> + <p> + Amen. But I confess fairly, that in looking at these tablets, I felt very + much disappointed at not seeing the names of the MEN as well as the + officers. Are they to be counted for nought? A few more inches of marble + to each monument would have given space for all the names of the men; and + the men of that day were the winners of the battle. We have a right to be + as grateful individually to any given private as to any given officer; + their duties were very much the same. Why should the country reserve its + gratitude for the genteel occupiers of the army-list, and forget the + gallant fellows whose humble names were written in the regimental books? + In reading of the Wellington wars, and the conduct of the men engaged in + them, I don't know whether to respect them or to wonder at them most. They + have death, wounds, and poverty in contemplation; in possession, poverty, + hard labor, hard fare, and small thanks. If they do wrong, they are handed + over to the inevitable provost-marshal; if they are heroes, heroes they + may be, but they remain privates still, handling the old brown-bess, + starving on the old twopence a day. They grow gray in battle and victory, + and after thirty years of bloody service, a young gentleman of fifteen, + fresh from a preparatory school, who can scarcely read, and came but + yesterday with a pinafore in to papa's dessert—such a young + gentleman, I say, arrives in a spick-and-span red coat, and calmly takes + the command over our veteran, who obeys him as if God and nature had + ordained that so throughout time it should be. + </p> + <p> + That privates should obey, and that they should be smartly punished if + they disobey, this one can understand very well. But to say obey for ever + and ever—to say that Private John Styles is, by some physical + disproportion, hopelessly inferior to Cornet Snooks—to say that + Snooks shall have honors, epaulets, and a marble tablet if he dies, and + that Styles shall fight his fight, and have his twopence a day, and when + shot down shall be shovelled into a hole with other Styleses, and so + forgotten; and to think that we had in the course of the last war some + 400,000 of these Styleses, and some 10,000, say, of the Snooks sort—Styles + being by nature exactly as honest, clever, and brave as Snooks—and + to think that the 400,000 should bear this, is the wonder! + </p> + <p> + Suppose Snooks makes a speech. "Look at these Frenchmen, British + soldiers," says he, "and remember who they are. Two-and-twenty years since + they hurled their King from his throne and murdered him" (groans). "They + flung out of their country their ancient and famous nobility—they + published the audacious doctrine of equality—they made a cadet of + artillery, a beggarly lawyer's son, into an Emperor, and took ignoramuses + from the ranks—drummers and privates, by Jove!—of whom they + made kings, generals, and marshals! Is this to be borne?" (Cries of "No! + no!") "Upon them, my boys! down with these godless revolutionists, and + rally round the British lion!" + </p> + <p> + So saying, Ensign Snooks (whose flag, which he can't carry, is held by a + huge grizzly color-sergeant,) draws a little sword, and pipes out a feeble + huzza. The men of his company, roaring curses at the Frenchmen, prepare to + receive and repel a thundering charge of French cuirassiers. The men + fight, and Snooks is knighted because the men fought so well. + </p> + <p> + But live or die, win or lose, what do THEY get? English glory is too + genteel to meddle with those humble fellows. She does not condescend to + ask the names of the poor devils whom she kills in her service. Why was + not every private man's name written upon the stones in Waterloo Church as + well as every officer's? Five hundred pounds to the stone-cutters would + have served to carve the whole catalogue, and paid the poor compliment of + recognition to men who died in doing their duty. If the officers deserved + a stone, the men did. But come, let us away and drop a tear over the + Marquis of Anglesea's leg! + </p> + <p> + As for Waterloo, has it not been talked of enough after dinner? Here are + some oats that were plucked before Hougoumont, where grow not only oats, + but flourishing crops of grape-shot, bayonets, and legion-of-honor + crosses, in amazing profusion. + </p> + <p> + Well, though I made a vow not to talk about Waterloo either here or after + dinner, there is one little secret admission that one must make after + seeing it. Let an Englishman go and see that field, and he NEVER FORGETS + IT. The sight is an event in his life; and, though it has been seen by + millions of peaceable GENTS—grocers from Bond Street, meek attorneys + from Chancery Lane, and timid tailors from Piccadilly—I will wager + that there is not one of them but feels a glow as he looks at the place, + and remembers that he, too, is an Englishman. + </p> + <p> + It is a wrong, egotistical, savage, unchristian feeling, and that's the + truth of it. A man of peace has no right to be dazzled by that red-coated + glory, and to intoxicate his vanity with those remembrances of carnage and + triumph. The same sentence which tells us that on earth there ought to be + peace and good-will amongst men, tells us to whom GLORY belongs. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Travels and Roadside Sketches, by +William Makepeace Thackeray + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE TRAVELS *** + +***** This file should be named 2843-h.htm or 2843-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/4/2843/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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