Peeps at Many Lands: Belgium | Page 8

building the cathedral was paid out of their offerings. It is now the seat

of the Archbishop of Belgium; but its former glory has long since
departed, and it is even more quiet and desolate than Bruges.
It is said that once upon a time, when the moon was shining brightly
through the open stonework of the tower, the people thought there was
a fire, and tried to put it out with water! Ever since then the townsmen
of Malines have been laughed at, and called "moon-quenchers" by the
other Belgians.
When you are in the train between Malines and Brussels, you may
recollect that you are travelling on the first railway-line that was made
on the Continent. Well, when the engineer had finished his work, the
very day before the first train was to run, he looked at some plans he
had of railways in England, and exclaimed: "By Jove! I've forgotten a
tunnel!" And so, without more ado, he sent for some workmen, and had
an archway made over a cutting! Then he thought his railway was
complete!
Brussels is by far the nicest town in Belgium. It is a charming place to
live in, clean, bright, and gay. The walls which once surrounded it were
taken down many years ago, and replaced by beautiful roadways called
boulevards, with a broad carriage-drive in the middle, and on each side
a place for riding on, shaded by rows of trees. There is a park, not very
large, but with many trees and shady walks, and a round pond, in the
centre of which a fountain plays. At one end of this park is the King's
Palace, and at the other end the Houses of Parliament. In the new parts
of the town the streets are wide, and there are spacious squares, with
large and handsome houses. There are no end of carriages and
motor-cars driving about, people riding on horseback, and all the bustle
of a great city of pleasure.
The people of Brussels are very fond of jokes and fun. They always
seem to be in good humour with each other and with themselves. The
part of Belgium in which Brussels lies is called Brabant. In olden times
it was spoken of as "gay Brabant," and so, indeed, it might be
nowadays. Dull, pompous people are not liked there. You must be
lively and amusing, like the town itself, of which the people are so
proud that they call it the Little Paris.

Close to Brussels, on the south and west, there is a great forest--the
Forest of Soignies. The part of this forest nearest the town is called the
Bois de la Cambre, which is a favourite place for walking and riding in.
You reach it by a fine boulevard called the Avenue Louise. In the
middle of this Bois de la Cambre there is a lake with an island, on
which stands a little coffee-house, the Châlet Robinson; so called,
perhaps, after Robinson Crusoe, who lived on an island. Belgian
families often go there to spend the summer afternoons. There are lots
of pigeons on the island, so tame that they run about on the grass, and
eat out of the children's hands, while the fathers and mothers sit
drinking coffee at tables under the trees.
[Illustration: ANTWERP.]
In Belgium the fathers and mothers of the petite bourgeoisie, or
lower-middle class, seem always to go about on holidays with their
children. They dine at half-past twelve, and after dinner off they go, the
parents arm-in-arm, and the children strolling before them, and spend
the rest of the day together. It is quite a sight on a summer evening to
see them coming home in crowds down the Avenue Louise, the father
often carrying the youngest on his shoulders, and the mother with a
child hanging on to each arm.
The Avenue Louise is in the modern part of the town. Brussels,
however, is not all modern. Most of the Belgian towns are quite flat,
but to reach the old Brussels you must go down some very steep,
narrow streets, one of which, called the Montague de la Cour, where
the best shops are, leads to the Grande Place, a picturesque square
surrounded by quaint houses with fantastic gables. These were the
houses of the Guilds, or Merchant Companies, in the old days. One of
them is shaped like the stern of a ship. Most of them are ornamented
with gilded mouldings. They are beautiful buildings, and the finest is
the Hotel de Ville, the front of which is a mass of statuettes. Its high,
steep roof is pierced by innumerable little windows, and above it there
is a lofty and graceful spire, which towers up and up, with a gilded
figure of the Archangel Michael at the top.