, 1879-11-24
Glance at Belgium.

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great powers having guaranteed :"
its independence, it is not much dis
turbed by continental wars. France
has long coveted it, and would have an
nexed it long ago, if it had dared.
Just now, Belgium. the most popu-
lous State of Europe, fertile and rich in
its resources, is suffering from the de-
preston of trade. One of its great in
dustries is iron manufacture. Having
both iron and ore and coal in its hills,
of great abundance and superior quality,
its products in this line have COM
manded ready market. France, Ger
many and the United States have been
its customers.
But change has come. One of the
chief sources of complaint lies in the
diminished trade with the United States.
This, as learn from conversation with
intelligent merchants and manufacturer,
is more severely felt in the traffic in
woolen goods than in the products of
iron. Americans" they say, ",who
once bought of us, not only supply
themselves, but bring their manufac
tured woolen goods into our principal
towns and undersell us in our own
markets."
Charleroi, a considerable town short
distance from Brussels, is nearly as
celebrated for its iron works as Liege,
and in the manufacture of plate glass it
stands unrivaled. learned at the
American Cons salate, in this city, that
glass of the largest size plates, and
other descriptions, were hitherto ex-
ported to the United States in large
quantities from the manufactures of
Cha1leroi. But during the last few
years this trade has been gradually
diminished, until now the expectation
has dwindled to zero. On further in
quiry, I was told at the Consulate that
the manufacture of plate glass in the
United States that the progress in the
production of this article had been very
great of late, and the Belgians are be-
ginning to fear that the quick-witted
Americans will soon be sending plate
glass to sell in the shops Of Charleroi.
They supposed that here they had
permanent monopoly. Mr. Wilson, our
Consul at Brussels, is frd b Pittsburg,
and is fully posted in the glass trade,
both at home and in Europe. He is
just now ON a visit to the United States.
I have spent several days in Belgium's
Capital, including Sabbath. Brussels
is Paris in miniature. French is the
prevailing tongue spoken, and every
thing looks Frenchy. The shops, the
boulevards, the parks, the churches,
the air and manners OF the people, all
appear as though they were trying to
ape Paris. On Sunday the likeness is
striking. In the morning the churches
are tolerably we'll attended, and the
afternoon and evening as in Paris
are given up to gayety and pleasure
seeking. This presents mark ed con-
trast to the habits of the people in
Switzerland and Germany, where the
population is more largely Protestant.
Belgium, like France, is mainly Ro-
man Catholic country.
On a summer evening in front of the
large cafes, and in the most fashionable
thoroughfares, the wide sidewalks are
covered with little tables. at which are
seated crowds of men, women, and
children, slipping their beer and VINE.
Some of the women have infants in
their arms. These crowds are not
noisy, but the hum of conversation, the
ripple of laughter, and the countenances
of the people, show that they are en-
joying themselves. These scenes may
be witnessed in every direction, at the
large cafes and along the principal
boulevards. Children sit at these tables
with their parents, families seem to be
all congregated, and from the father to
the youngest child, even The infant at
the breast, they all drink. How far
this may 60, in stamping Incorporate
habits upon the generations as they
grow up, no one can safely say but it
is true, in the most emphatic and literal
sense, that children, in nearly all the
continental cities, drink in spirits with
their mothers milk
Other crowds are pouring through
these streets to the theaters and what
is noteworthy is that on Sunday even
ing both the cafes and theaters are more
patronized than on any other evening
of the week.
1 have alluded to the contrast in the
appearance of the cafes in Paris and
Belgium on Sunday, and such cities as
I have visited in Switzerland and Ger
many, to the credit of the latter. But
as all Americans know, at home as well
as here, Sabbath observance. in any
country on the continent, is very diff
ferent thing from its observance in |
England and the United States. In
nearly all places in Europe, though the
morning may have an externally de-
vout aspect, in the habits of the people,
they give up the afternoon and evening
to pleasure, and often to carousing and
boisterOusness.
London is model, externally con.
sidered, for Sabbath keeping, during