Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-09-10

Extract from Private Letter. J


Our visit to Belgium is ended. 1t has
been very interesting of course. Th' coun-
try is so flat and uninteresting that ifs very
curious to our eyes Very rich everywhere.
The grain harvest is beginning and lre and
there some hay is still being cut, an, what
ever land is not green with grass THROWN
with grain is variegated with beetsDnions,
potatoes in blossom, and clover in FIJI bloom
"A market garden everywhere. Buof Hd-
tUre there is very little The trees, Nich in
England everywhere are left to grown their
own way and to show their sturdy :rength
aud exuberance of life as they plese, are
here all under cultivation and disc)line-
trimmed up so as to be tall and spindl1g and
all of the same shape, and staining in
straight lines and hollow squares, or SEEMING
TO be marching in double files over tn coun-
try like professions of boarding schols in
the city. Then the country is so fit that
oftentimes you can see the horizon b, look
ing through a line Of tree-trunks, beIw the
tops which spindle up, so that it gies the
trees the appearance of standing on he edge
of water. This disciplined appearance of
the trees, which with us are subiec TO no
rule whatever, was to me the mosistriking
appearance of the Belgium Landscape and
that same characteristic (of discpline) is
noticeable among the dogs. The Belgium
dogs are not free agents-they work hard for
their living in general. There are now
and then to be seen some little one, rough
little terriers or poodles, which az gener-
ally sheared, lion fashion, nough 10 warrant
the signs which We saw-'eIeer Sliert man
Hunden' or "Tondeur de ciiens" (for the
signs IN Belgium are divided between
French and DUTCH. But mist of the dogs
are stout mastiifs, which art harnessed TO
little carts, and do their workas steadily as
cart horses and more intelligerly. MOTTO
ed that one which was sitting under his cart,
when our carriage came in rathc dangerous
proximity, barked Look out" as plainly
as if he had been biped. The canine race
in Belgium has not that lawless air, often
times degenerating into worthlesSess, which
it has with US. They are stead. respecta-
BILE, Woodworking set, generally working
alone (though saw one team of them four
abreasD and pulling faithfullyat their bur-
dens, so that it hardly seemed fair 10 me,
when saw the sign up on the door of the
cathedral at Antwerp "Hmdcn uit den
Gottes Tempel' dogs out O Gods Tenn
ple). They work so hard seemed to me
that they had earned the right to go to
church. | am sure it was no such race,
that the Apostle had in min! when be wrote
"Without are dogs" Indutry Is charac-
teristic of Belgium, sturdy. We could
look at a very small part o. their national
exposition, but the variety AID extent of the
manufactures which were exhibited there was
very surprising. We enjoyed our day at
Antwerp very much. hid expected to
find Antwerp fortified city but the earth
works around it have all ben taken down
and wide boulevards, plaHed with trees
and bordered by fine houses, have taken
their place. except the outer inc Of fortifica-
ton. The city had So Largely grown out
side of those which formerly marked its
outside boundary that they might well
come down. The church of st. Jacques
was especially rich in marbles and carvings
and windows. But will not begin to write
about churches, for | should never know
when to stop. r.