The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-01-16 00:00:00

gnat{ an pbtrict getris.

BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS.

The Rev. W. R. Cosen.s, D.D., Vicar of Dudley, I
delivered a lecture, in the Union Hall, on Monday
evening last, the subject of which was "A Tour
through Belgium and the Netherlands." There
was but a small audience present; the young men
of the Church of England Association, for whose
especial behalf the lecture was given, being, to
use a familiar paradox, "conspicuous by their ab-
sence." It must be very mortifying to the com-
mittee who have the getting up of these lectures,
to find that their efforts to provide instruction and
amusement for their fellow-members are so little
appreciated; and we quite sympathise with the
remarks of Mr. W. B. Collis and Major Walker,
expressive of their surprise at this state of affairs.
We trust; that in the future the young men of the
Association (and all others who are desirous of
improving) will show their discrimation and good
sense by attending the lectures in large numbers.
At present, when the fact that "Knowledge is
power" is becoming ever more apparent, it argues
but a small amount of foresight and worldly pru-
dence—to put it on no higher grounds—on the
part of those who neglect these re.T.ns of instruc-
tion; whilst gratitude alone tor lig gentlemen
who place their time and knowledge it their dis-
posal, ought to be a sufficient incentive to cause
the members of the Association to attend in such
numbers as to show they were worthy of the kind-
ness bestowed upon them.
Mr. Collis introduced the lecturer, and expressed
his regret that there were not more present to lis-
ten to him.
The Rev, lecturer having made a passing refer-
ence to a work entitled "A Cruise on Wheels," in
which the troubles of some persons who travelled
over a great portion of France, sometimes in a
cabriolet drawn by a single horse, sometimes in a
char-a-bane, and at others in an ordinary diligence,
were amusingly described, said the troubles of
himself and friend were not of a similar nature to
those. They travelled principally by rail and
steamboat. They slipped into a cab in the great
metropolis, and made their way eastwards. The
sky was of a leaden hue, and the streets were
covered with mud. That steamboat office, in rainy.
weather, was not a very uninviting spot. They
took tickets for Ostend, and secured a passage on
hoard the "Helen," which was a rather inferior
specimen of the class of boats which usually ply
between London and Ostend. He then described
the passage down the river, which was not a very
inspiriting one, owing to the weather. One of the
things which attracted his attention on board the
vessel was the little hole from which the cook was
turning out a large quantity of dinners, the entire
kitchen being only about if ye feet square. There
were 40 or 50 miles of the river which were well
worth inspecting. After they had passed Panic-
gate and Margate the water of the Thames became
bright and pellucid, and sparkled and flashed
under the sun's rays with brilliant coruscations of
light. On the way down they passed an unfinished
vessel, in . the shape of a cigar, which he (the
lecturer) was told was the whim of an American
gentlemen, who fancied that when finished it would
be impregnable; but the lecturer's informant added
that in his belief it would not float. Shortly after
they had reached the sea they saw a large steamer
the "City of Hamburgh." The lecturer advised
those present not to enter themselves on a small
screw boat if they wished to cross the channel;
and he then spoke of the feelings of people who
cross the sea for the first time. The captain of
the steamboat told him he had carried the cele-
brated Mr. Spurgeon across in his vessel. There
was just a capful of wind blowing, and Mr. Spur-
geon came up to him, looking rather white about
the gills, and asked him if he knew any preventi-
tive of sea':sickness. The captain said yes, and
that was not to go on the sea; and told him if he
was afraid of sea sickness he had better stop at
home. The lecturer next referred to the distance
at which lights could be seen at sea, and said that
he saw the lights off Ostend whent they were ten
miles off. Qualified capcains knew those lights as
well as an engine driver knew the names of the
stations on the line on which he drove. The next
thing he noticed was the difference in the cry of
the sailors when bringing a ship to her moorings,
to that of the British sailor performing the same
duty. Instead of the hearty " Yee-hoo," of the
British sailor, the Dutch sailor's cry sounded like
" Hee-hee." It was the witching hour of twelve
when they walked ashore. With reference to the
passing of the custom-house; he said the officials
were not so particular at Ostend as they were on
this side the channel. They inspected those pack-
ages which were easily opened, and those which
were not—such as corded and nailed bores—were
_ _ _ _ _

left alone. But in France they were different..
Directly after landing they made their way to a
hotel, and when they walked into the saloon they
were greeted with a sound which made them think
they were in the land of bells. The sound of the
bells ringing in the square towers of the cathedral
was magnificent. It was the perfection of har-
mony. As soon as they had eaten their breakfast,
on the following morning, they sallied forth to
view the town. The language of the place was
neither French nor German, but a peculiar gib-
berish which was a mixture of both. In walking
on the outskirts of the town, he was particularly
struck with the extraordinary high farming prac-
tised there, The grain was no sooner got, than
the plough was put into it at once. The labourers
all wore red jackets, and it was said these jackets
had once belonged to English soldiers, and had
been bought up by dealers who knew how fondthe
people were of the colour. The superabundance
of water was every where apparent. Fresh canals
met the eye every five minutes, and the tall tap2r-
iag masts of vessels constantly met the eye in the
midst :of high-y cultivated fields, indicating the
presence of canals where they could not be seen.
The gardens and farm-yards were marvellous
specimens of neatness and economy of space. In
fact, everywhere there were signs of extraordinary
industry, and a disposition to make the best pos-
sible use of every thing. They next went to
Bruges, which was at one time the head quarters
of cruel Philip the Second. Our own Charles the
Second resided there during part of his exile. They
directed their steps towards the cathedral. At
every step they were struck with the mcdimval
appearance of the town. The houses were painted
green and white, with mullioned windows. The
cathedral was remarkably high. It had a greyish
appearance, on the outside. The interior was beau-
tifully proportioned, and was adorned with nume-
rous paintings. But the tremendous height of the
church was the most astonishing feature to him.
People who had not been on the continent could
have any idea of the height of the churches tbere.
His (the lecturer's) was a good-sized church, but
it appeared to him like a small chapel, after those
on the continent. The next thing that struck him
there was a service that was going on before an
altar on which was a large image of the Virgin,
which was decorated with flowers, many of which
were artificial. The vast interior of the cathedral
looked cold from the absence of stained glass,
in its windows. . There they saw the works of
Rubens, and of his pupil, Vandyke. Their paint-
ings met the eye everywhere. Rubella was a
monarch in this land of painters, the teacher of
the great Vandyke, and also one of the greatest
politicians of his time. There was a marked dif-
ference between the styles of Rubens and Van-
dyke. Vandyke's was soft and gentle, whilst
Rubens' was large and coarse, and yet very effec-
tive. Rubens lived and painted in the first half of
the 17th century. His females were all massive
women, with saffron hair, and his men were large,
with great beards. He delighted in depicting
human agony. His pictures there were dreadfully
realistic. One was that of a martyr being torn
to pieces by wild horses, in which the sufferings
of the man were painfully realised; whilst his
Mater Dolorosa was, of course, grandly pathetic in
itr intensity of grief. Bruges Cathedral was
Gothic, but the Chapel, was in the Renaissance
style of architecture. They visited the Church
of St. John, where there was a magnificent re •
volving picture of St. Ursula, and many other
interesting things which he had not time to men-
tion. They went to see children taught the manu-
facture of lace, which was a very interesting pro-
cess. They next came to Ghent, which was now a
very fine commercial city. One John of Gaunt,
son of Edward the Third, was born there. Charles
the Fifth, Emperor of Germany and King of Spain
was also born there. He was elected Emperor of
Germany when he was 18 years of age. When
Francis the First, King of France, opposed his
succession he replied, "I have a glove (gaunt
means glovt ) in which I can put your whole city
of Paris," He wa,sithe father of that cruel Philip
of Spain who married our Queen Mary. It was
also interesting on account of the two Counts
Eckmuhl who resided there, This town has a
much more modern appearance than Bruges. At
some of the houses there were small glasses placed
outside the windows at such an angle as to enable
those inside to see without looking through the
window. In the cathedral they saw another pic-
tur by Rubens, 4nd two of those wonderful pulpits
for which foreign churches were so celebrated.
The carving on these represented Adam and Eve,
and they were covered with fruits, flowers, and
animals, tha branches of trees forming the sound-
ing boards. The singing, too, at the services was ,
superb. At one church they heard a tenor soloist
who would have made a sensation in any English
concert room. He next spoke of the manufacture
of Mechlin lace, which was not made only in
bleehlin (or ?Wines) suy more than the mougsw-

turing of Brussels carpets was confined to Brus-
sels. They were also very great in cutlery. Be-
tween Ostend and Liege there was one of those
manufactories where everything was made from a
penknife to a locomotive. He had heard that our
Great Eastern Railway Company were having all
their rails from there. The spire of the cathedral
was 450 feet high. They next visited Brussels,
which wae styled the miniature Paris. The lec-
turer then gave a graphic description of the dif-
ferent objects of interest at Brussels and at Water-
loo; he having been shown over the latter by a
veteran Englishman named Mundy, who had fought
in that famous battle. Antwerp and Rotterdam
' were also described, and the lecturer concluded by
telling his hearers that if they had a holiday they
could not do better than by following the route he
had sketched out, as it would not cost more than
£lO if they spent a fortnight there.
Mr. Collis moved a vote of thanks to the lecturer
for the very interesting and instructive discourse
he had delivered. This was cordially seconded by
Major Walker. Both gentlemen referred to the
absence of the members of the Association, and
remarked that the loss would be their own.
This concluded the proceedings.