The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-04-27
Treaty House at Client
IS Non Being Restored

lSl* Mr.. Bawvfn -a1airs went badly, and
he was compelled to abandon cotton spin
ming in Client. Me moved with his fam
lily to Italy. leaving the living apart
ments in the center OF the old convent
property fully furnished. 1t was quite
natural that the British commissioners.
through the manufacturers London
agents. should have heard of this op-
portunity to take temporary possession
OF quarters SO well suited to their use.
New Home of Brothers.
After 1874 the cotton-spinning Industry
was resumed in the old convent build
ings under the direction of Mr. Boesaert.
an alderman of the city. He made great
changes In the interior of the property,
destroying nearly all the vestiges Of the
former occupancy of the Carthusians. In
1874 the convent was sold again, and
since then it has been the home of the
Brothers of Saint John Of God. whose
chief mission is the care Of the sick and
the mentally afflicted.
They are most simple and kindly folk,
are these Brothers. They seem to be
dazed by the prospect Of the coming
celebration Fortunately, they have no
special preparations to make-the city
has taken them all into Its own hands.
With the sanction of the superior,
Father Gregoire. Father Henri. the vi
caire, became my cicerone when asked
to see what is now denominated ''the
Hall Of the Treaty" But, alas: the Hall
of the Treaty" no longer exists intact
Long ago 1t was divided exactly in the
middle with a vulgar plaster partition.
one-half being made into a dining-room
and the other into bedroom. Nothing
could be more commonplace than the
present appearance Of both.
The walls are covered with Distress
ingly ugly paper. The former entrance,
which opened upon a marble-tiled vesti-
bu1e. is bricked up. A large ante-room
Is also devoid Of present elegance, and
there is a billiard table in the middle
of it.
But a radical restoration il to be e.
fected between now and the early part
of next year. Mr.. A. Van Verweke, the
distinguished conservator of the anti
quities of Client, very obligingly gave
me copies Of the accepted designs for
the panels which are to be placed in the
treaty hall" Remains of some of the
old paneling were found, and the restora-
ton Is based on careful study of these
and of other decorations of the period
in which the interior of the convent was
fitted up by the Carthusians. The parti-
ton in the great room is to be taken
down, and the door leading into the YES
grafton will be very simple. but at the
same time graceful and elegant. It be- =
trays both the Flemish and the French
influence.
Legends About Place.
The entrance to the middle pavilion of
the convent in which the Hall Of the
Treaty" is situated has before it a semi
circular porch, with Ionic pillars In the
main vestibue a very remarkable "sus-
pended stairway, erected not long after
1900. at once invites attention. A delicate
problem of engineering was cleverly
solved in its. construction. The newels
of mahogany are surmounted by two
bronze heads of the Egyptian type. evil
IDENTIFY suggested by the Napoleonic cam
paign in the land of the Pharoahs. There
Is an ample landing at the top Of the
stairway. and it is hung with a dozen
old pictures Of very uneven merit. The
Brothers of st. John Of God confess
that they do not know who the artists
were, but two or three of them were ap-
parently of the Flemish school of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries On
one side of the upper vestibule Is a large
bedchanber which formerly could also
have been reached by means of a secret
which has long been bricked
up. The bedchamer has two large win
dows opening on the principal courtyard,
which is embellished with trees and
There is a legend. which the Broth
ers of st. John of God willingly re-
peat. to the effect that Napolean once
passed a night in the bedchamber that
have mentioned. At that time Mr.
Bawvins. l was told, was Burgomaster
Of Client.
Reception in Hall of Treaty.
1 was unable to verify this legend
Mr.. Van Verweke. who is an antiquarian
and archaeologist of fine attachments. in
formed me that it was based on abso-
utely no evidence whatever, and that,
although there was a possibility of it's
ruth, the probability was quite the re-
verse. Napoleon made two visits to
ihent, one when he was first consul,
July IA. 1903, and the other, with the
Empress Marie Louise and the King
md Queen of Westphalia, on May II,
SO. There is no historical mention any,
where, i believe. to the effect that he
,assed a night at the rather out-of-the-
way home of Mr.. Bawvins
The chapel at the House of the Car ,
husians is much smaller than it was
n the days of those monks Either
3awvin or Bossaert built a wall of i'm
nense thickness across it, dividing it
nto two unequal parts. in both of which
otton jennies or looms were installed.
n the smaller part a second story was
made, but not in the larger, which con-
titutes the present chapel The original
aulting of the roof remains, and 1t is
decorated with sculptured
cures.
The programme Of the celebration in
December, 1914. will not, of course, be
efinitely prepared for some months to
ONE, but 1t is known that there will
e gala reception in the Hall of the
reaty at the convent. and that grand
anquet will be given in the throne
DOM at the Hotel de VILE 1t 10 pro.
osed to invite to be present at both
unctions as many descendants of the
articlpants in the treaty-making Of
"a as can be found. and also the lead
1g public men of both Great Britain and
merica.
How the japanese Rest.