On the recommendation of M. G. Mignon, the French gentleman with whom I had travelled from Berne to Cologne, and who had arrived in Brussels the day before myself, I fixed my residence at the Hotel de la Paix, Rue Violet.
The great anxiety of various countries to become the masters of this city, may alone be regarded as a strong indication of its importance. It is extensive, handsomely built in an eligible situation, and its inhabitants regarded as a polished people; their politeness towards the English visitors, has, however, been latterly no little tempered by political or commercial jealousy, arising from our being able to furnish better and cheaper commodities than they can manufacture; while, at the same time, they have been subjected to heavy imposts, and deprived of the advantage of exchanging their productions for French wines and goods. They do not hesitate to express their preference of the French government, under which they had been so long subjected, and even the wish to return to it; indeed their habits and characters assimilate more with the French than the Dutch, with whom they are now connected.
The manufactories of carpets, lace, &c. carried on at this place, are well known; few of the former are, however, actually the productions of this city, but made in a number of the towns around, particularly Tournay; they are conveyed, however, into the merchants’ stores at this place, and then come out as real Brussels carpets.
Brussels appears to have had a particular partiality for the number seven; hence there were formerly seven public fountains; seven principal streets that centre in the great market-place; seven parish churches; seven principal noble families; and seven gates of Doric architecture.
There is a canal encircling the town, and forming it into a kind of island, planted with trees, and which runs to Willibrook, a village on the Scheldt, at the distance of fifteen miles; along the banks of this canal lies an excellent road, shaded with four rows of trees on each side, upon which the ladies of Brussels take the air in their carriages. The treckschuyts pass by this canal from Brussels to Antwerp, twice every day.
The great market-place is one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. One side is occupied by the Stadt-house. The states of Brabant used formerly to meet in a palace in this square, which was most richly adorned. In three large rooms the resignation of his empire, by Charles the Fifth, is wrought in tapestry. The other rooms, which belonged to this august assembly, were embellished with fine original paintings. In this square are also situated the halls of the various trading companies of Brussels, the fronts of which are adorned with exquisite sculpture and workmanship.
The herb-market is also a fine square, as well as the horse-market or sablon; both of which are environed by some excellent buildings. The Place Royal, situated near the palace and park, is an airy situation, and contains the two principal hotels, the Bellevue, and the Hotel de Flandres. The museum, and the botanic garden are also situated by this square; in the former is deposited the cradle of Charles the Fifth, and the chair in which
This museum contains also a number of interesting objects of nature and art; amongst the former a good collection of minerals, and amongst the latter, an extensive one of paintings; and which comprises a few valuable originals.
In company with a friend, Mr. M’M—, to whom my warmest acknowledgments are due for his unceasing attentions in conducting me to, and explaining its various parts, I made the complete tour of this city along the ramparts, commencing at the gate of Namur. These ramparts appeared in a bad state, not calculated for a fashionable promenade; we passed an old fort with a very few guns upon it, and these certainly not in fighting order. We did not complete the tour on the first day, but left off at what was lately named Port Napoleon, but now Port Guillaume; this is a handsome modern structure.
On the following day we completed our tour, finishing at Port Namur; in the course of this walk we passed a number of persons employed in making a boulevard, and building a wall from a depth of six feet to the surface to support it.
One afternoon we went to examine the environs around the royal palace of Lacken, and might without much difficulty have been admitted into the palace itself, had it not been too late in the afternoon; we were informed, however, that it offered nothing particularly magnificent or interesting; with its grounds it is enclosed within a wooden fence, which altogether does not comprise an area of two miles in circumference, certainly not an extensive domain for a royal residence, in the neighbourhood of so fine a city.
The churches at Brussels are very fine, particularly that of St. Gudulo, which is a magnificent building with two steeples. There are two places of worship, where the English service is performed in an impressive manner, by their respective preachers; the one the church of St. Augustine, for morning, the other a chapel in the Place Royal, for evening service.
Brussels is almost wholly supplied with firing, from the forest of Soignè, which covers a tract of sixteen or seventeen thousand acres of land, one sixtieth part of which is allowed to be cut down annually, and thus a constant supply ensured.
Lodgings and all kinds of provision are very reasonable, but French wines now comparatively dear. We one day went to a coach-maker’s, where we saw vehicles of every description, which my friend on examining into, declared were as well got up as they generally are in England, and at about two-thirds of the customary English prices. We visited also the lace manufactories, where my companion made some purchases, but I did not choose to run the risk of being laughed at, for taking back the produce of my own country, which, I am assured, is now frequently put off as the manufacture of Flanders.
One evening I went to the larger theatre, with Mr. S—, for the express purpose of hearing the celebrated Mademoiselle Mars, in the character of the Femme Colère in the play of that name. I thought the piece very inferior, and to comprise common place incidents, and trifling dialogues. The plot is founded upon the stratagem of a peaceable kind of husband, to quell the turbulent temper of his wife, and who succeeds in convincing her of her folly, by shewing the impropriety of such conduct in himself; for this purpose, on one occasion, when she has been enraged at her waiting-maid, he throws himself into a still greater passion; upsets the tables, chairs, and every thing that comes in his way; she hears, sees, and is astonished at his violence, becoming proportionately tame, as his rage increases, and at length convinced of her error, determines to reform.
The stage of this theatre I thought not sufficiently advanced towards the audience, the greater part of the sound appearing to be retained upon it.
One day, amongst other amusements in the suburbs, I was present at that of shooting the popinjay, which consists in placing the figure of a bird at the top of a long pole, and shooting at it with bows and arrows; the person who succeeds in displacing the mark, is remunerated with a gold or silver watch, or whatever prize may be contended for; it did not appear, however, an easy matter to effect this, as it was four o’clock when we were there, and they had been engaged the whole day, without being able to remove the popinjay.
During my stay at Brussels, I discovered very few symptoms of gaiety, although the royal family were at the time resident. The English families were many of them gone to different bathing places. I had, however, the gratification of finding there my friend, Admiral D—, whose great condescension and hospitality, demand my warmest acknowledgments, and have left an indelible impression of gratitude and esteem; nor can I forget the kind attentions of his friend Mr. P. H—.
On the 10th of September, I received a letter from my friend C—, dated at the port of Lubec, describing his progress towards St. Petersburg, and which gave me unfeigned pleasure.
Being desirous of reaching England, before the equinoctial gales might come on, on the 12th of September I took my place for Ghent, in one of the many coaches that go daily to that city; after an early dinner, I left Brussels at half past two o’clock, occupying the same seat with an English gentleman and his dog; the middle seat was taken up by a Dutch captain, from Batavia, with a parrot and dog; while a pair of monkies belonging to him, enjoyed the fresh air on the roof, and amused the people as they passed along. We arrived at the fine city of Ghent about half past eight o’clock, and, at the recommendation of Admiral D—, I went to the Hotel de Vienne, in the merché au blê, where, in consequence of using his name, I was treated with particular attention, and charged reasonably for very superior accommodations.
This city derives no little of its celebrity from having been the birth-place of Charles the Fifth, as well as our John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and son of Edward the Third.
We were now in what was formerly called Flanders, the Austrians possessing the larger part with this city for their capital; the French, the south-west, comprising Lisle and Dunkirk; and the Dutch, the north-east, with the strong fortress of Sluys.
On the following morning we breakfasted at seven o’clock, and, after taking a short walk into the town, set off for the barge to Bruges, which lay at a considerable distance from the hotel, and starts at nine o’clock in the morning. The day was unfavourable; it blew hard, and we had frequent showers of rain; however, we were better situated for these gales than had we been in the packet midway between Ostend and Margate. Between twelve and one o’clock, a better dinner was placed before us, than I had met with at any table d’hôte in France, Germany, or the Low Countries, and the wine was universally praised. I certainly had as good a pint of Burgundy as I had met with on the continent, for which, with my dinner, and the fare for thirty miles’ journey, including the conveyance of baggage, I was only charged seven francs and a half. Our dinner concluded with a magnificent dessert; we had more baskets of peaches than we could make use of, grapes (the first I had met with this season), and abundance of the more common fruits. We arrived at Bruges at half-past three, and, without tarrying, immediately traversed the city to the barge for Ostend, on a canal at the opposite side of it. All I know of this place is, that we walked through the town for nearly two miles before we reached the boat.
Our barge from Bruges, as well as our party, was much smaller than the one we had travelled with from Ghent; soon after seven o’clock we arrived at Sas van Ghent, a small village, about a mile from Ostend, where we rested a few minutes, after which we proceeded into the town, when about eight o’clock I reached the Wellington hotel, an inn conveniently situated for the custom-house, and the packets sailing to and from England, and which has been established by an Englishman, lately the head waiter from Nicholson’s hotel.
On our arrival at Ostend we found two packets intending to sail for England, a private one for Margate and London, on the following day, and a government one for Dover on the succeeding day to that; those to whom time is of importance, however, unless a vessel is on the point of sailing from hence, and the wind favourable, will do well to take the barge to Dunkirk, and travel from that place to Calais by the diligence.
On the Friday the wind was unfavourable, and we had nothing to do but amuse ourselves as we pleased; in the morning we walked about the town, and in the evening visited again the village of Sas van Ghent, with the object of examining Paren’s museum, which, as the sole collection of a humble individual, the proprietor of a small inn at this place, is by no means contemptible. He had great variety of land and sea animals, several of the former coming under the head of lusus naturæ. No remuneration is expected for seeing his curiosities; but we could not do less than take refreshment at his house of business; and I presented him with a small piece of Mosaic work which I had brought from Rome, with which he appeared highly pleased, never having seen any before. On returning to our hotel we found the captain intending to sail at midnight, and therefore we did not go to-bed until we ascertained that he had abandoned this intention.
On Saturday the morning was delightful, and the wind favourable; at one o’clock, a.m. we took leave of the town and harbour of Ostend, in the Fox packet, commanded by Captain Fox, with whom I engaged to be landed at Margate. The Dover packet immediately followed, but soon steered a more westerly course. The wind, at first fresh, gradually decreased until midnight, when it became calm, and the weather foggy. At day-break a slight breeze sprung up; at eleven o’clock the fog cleared off; we found ourselves close under the North Foreland; and at twelve myself and a few other passengers were put on board a lugger, which soon landed us upon the pier of Margate.
The indescribable delight with which I hailed my native land, after so long an absence, was not a little enhanced by the general improvement my health had experienced; the restoration of which, had formed one of my leading motives for undertaking the journey.
On a retrospective view of the various incidents and circumstances to which I had been exposed, I found no reason to think that my tour had been defective in interest, or that I had returned without commensurate advantages. Amongst other results, I felt enabled to contrast the advantages of our happy isle, with the less substantial comforts, and more specious characters, of its continential neighbours, and to appreciate its superiority; an inference, which, should it be deemed erroneous or unphilosophical, I am proud to attribute to that spirit of patriotism, which ought to pervade every human bosom, and like the magnetic influence, incline its affections to their native pole.
FINIS.
Printed by W. Woodcock, St. Helena Place, Spa Fields.