BELGIUM

(French, Belgique; German, Bdgien), a kingdom in the west of Central Europe, between lat. 49" 80' and 51" 30* K., and Ion. 2' 35' and 6" 7' K.; bounded n. by Holland, N.w. by the North Sea or Grerman Ocean, w. and 8. by France, and b. by the duchy of Luxemburg, Rhenish Pru ia, and Dutch Limburg; greatest length, N.w. to 8.E., 165 miles; greatest breadth, N. to 8., 120 miles; area, about 11,400 square miles. Belgium, in shape, resembles a triangle, which has its vertex in the west; the base resting on Grermany on the east, the shorter side facing Holland and the sea^ and the larger forming the frontier of France. For administrative purposes it is divided into nine provinces — Antwerp, South Brabant, East Flanders, West Flanders, Hainaut, Li^ge, Limburg, Luxemburg, and Namur. These provinces do not dififer much in area^ and are so arranged as to form a compact and commodious division of the kingdom. South Brabant, which, from containing Bru eb, the capital, may be considered the metropolitan province, occupies tiie centre, while the others cluster round, and, with exception of the extreme provinces of Luxemburg and West Flanders, actually touch it. The following table shows the areas of the different provinces, with their pop. on 31st Dec. 1870: — Antwerp, ArMlniq. Popnlation. 493,482 Brabant,.. 1093. 1267 879,814 668.976 Flanders, East,. 1167 Flauden, West, 837,726 Hainaut,. 1248. 1436 692,177 Limburg, 896,285. 1116 Lidge,.. 200,836 931 205 784 Luxemburg, 1705 Namur, 1413 313,535 11,366 6,087,105 Physical Fealures. — ^A general idea of the snrfaoe of the country may be obtained by regaixiing an inclined plane, Bomewhat ragged, and considerably elevated in the 8.E., from which it slopes, or le gradually, N. and w., till it sinks into plains, only a few feet above the level of the sea. elevated districts are formed by ramifications of Ardennes, which, entering Belgium from France, stretch along the b. of Namur, occupy the greater part of Luxemburg, and attain their culminating point in the b.b. of Li^ge at Stavelot, in the neighbourhood of Spa^ where tiie height exceeds 2000 The rocks appear to rest on primary formations; those which reach the surface generally consist slate, old red sandstone, and mountain limestone. Proceeding n.w., in the direction of the dip, rocks take a cover, and the coal formation becomes fully developed. This coal-field is a continuation that of the N. of France, and stretches through Belgium in a K.E. direction, occupying the greater part of the province of Hainaut, and a considerable part of that of Li^, and skirting the provinces Namur and Luxemburg. It contains numerous workable seams, both of coal and iron. North west, beyond the limits of this coal-field, a more cent formation is found, covered by deep beds of and sand, the former prevailing more in the interior, and the latter near the coast, where it has drifted into hillocks or downs, and forms the barrier against the encroachments of the sea. of the clay in this district is fit for the manufacture of fine pottery; but the greater part of it is fit for coarse ware, or for bricks. In accordance the general slope of the surface already mentioned, the main streams of Belgium have a K. direction; and the whole country lies within the basin of German Ocean. In tiiie B.B., where the surface elevated and broken, numerous torrents descend rapidity; and becoming confined within rocky, cipitous, and richly woody banks, often furnish, not the grandest, tiie most picturesque and enchanting of landscapes. On reaching the lower country their speed is slackened, and their augmented volume moves along in a slow winding course. Only two them — ^the Mouse and the Scheldt — ^have a magnitude which entitles them to the name of rivers; so important are these two in themselves, and numerous their affluents, that no country in Europe is better supplied with water communication. sides the Scheldt or Schelde, and Mouse or Maas, navigable streams are the Ambleve, Demer, Dender, Paxme, Dyle, Lys, Great Nethe, Little Nethe, Our the, Rupel, SsAibre, Yperlee, and Yser. The climate Belgium bears a considerable resemblance to that the same latitudes in England. Though subject sudden change, it is on the whole temperate agreeable. Luxemburg and Namur, where the face is high, and the numerous hills and dales diversify it both cheer the animal spirits and circulate an air at once keen and pure, are favourable to health and longevity. The only of the country which can be considered unhealthy the low flats which prevail in Flanders, and the ders or rich alluvial tracts which have been gained from the rivers bv embankment^ chiefly in Antwerp. There agues and other diseases engendered humid and sluggish atmosphere are prevalent. Woods and Forests. — Nearly one-fifth of the surface of the kingdom is occupied by wood. distribution of it, however, is by no means equal; and hence, while the two Flanders and Antwerp £all far below the average amount, Luxemburg and Namur rise far above it, and are very densely wooded. In these provinces extensive tracts oovered with natural woods, in which the wolf wild boar still have their haunts. These woods it as are the remains of the ancient forest of Ardexmes^ which Caesar describes as stretching far out into more France from the banks of the Bhine. They conaiBt low of hard wood, principally oak, which is often of great The size, and furnishes large quantities of the most valuthe able timber. By carefully dre ing the stools after it is cut) a fine oak copse is raised, the cuttings of which annually produce many tons of bark, whid i not only supplies the tanneries of the country, but leaves a considerable surplus for exportation, chiefly to Engfeet. land, while the wood unfit for the carpenter is partly but employed as fuel and partly converted into charcoal of for the use of the iron-works, where tbto superiority of the iron smelted and wrought by it is well known. these South Brabant also po e es several fine farests, among others that of Soignies^ with which the field of of Waterloo has made us familiar. In the otho* provinces scarcely anything deserving the name of forest is seen. Wood is distributed over them in occasional patches, and more frequently in the form of hedge of row. The timber thus grown*is by no means small ^ s^lgi^s^ amount, and forms a well-known feature and in the rich rural landscapes which the old Flemish masters loved to paint; but taking into account the reclay injury which the cultivated crops sustain from it, it is very questionable whether it ought to be rebeen garded as a source of profit either to individual pro only prietors or to the country at large. The timber Some itself, consisting principally of various kinds of poplar, is soft and of an izif erior description. only AgricuUure. — The greater part of the country is with well adapted for agricultural operations, and the inhabitants have BO happily availed themselves of their natural advantages that they early began, and in the some respects still deserve, to be regarded as the is model farmers of Europe. In the high lands trawith versed by the Ardennes the climate is ungenial, and the soil so shallow and stony as almost to forbid the preif labour of the plough. Here the occupants display their skill, not so much by what they do, as by what they refrain from attempting. Inc^bead of vain endeavours to force the growth of com where it could of never yield an adequate return, they have been fxmtented to turn the natural pastures of the district to but the best account by employing themselves chiefly in so the rearing of stock. In particular they produce a hardy breed of horses, which, beiug admirably adiqited Befor light cavalry, are largely exported to France for the that purpose, while vast herds of swine are fed almost at no expense on the mast of the forests. At the same time no part of the surface is allowed to lie waste. of Where arable land occurs it is caref uUy ^plied to its of proper use. Even the vine has not been forgotten, to and sunny slopes on which little else oould have been and grown have been made to yield a tolerable wine. In surthe opposite extremity of Belgium, chiefly in the pro which vince of Antwerp, and partiy in that of Limboi^, freely an extensive tract occurs which strikingly contrasts most in appearance with the hilly districts of the 8.E., but parts is perhaps still le adapted for the ordinary opera are tions of agriculture. TUs tracts known by ti^e name pol of Gampine, is a vast expanse of moorland waste of the most dreaxy appearance, a dead monotonous flat composed for the most part of barren sand, in whi ake of Alva^ to all the hoirors of a hostile mHitary rule. ThousaadB of victmu perished by every variety of exec at i on which a barbarous cmelty could devise, hanging, beheading, burning, drowning, interring alive; to which tortures and imprisonments weore added in still greater number. I>«uiag this period of desolation great numbers of artisans, abandoning their country, carried elsewhere, especially to England and Gennany, which sympathized wit i^ their opinions, the arts which had enriched their own country, and which now acquired through them a wider scope, and contributed to the industrial progre of Europe. William of Orange, the Silent, now made himself the champion of the liberties of his countiy. Supported ddefly by the northern states, thwarted by the jealousy of the Flemish nobles, and opposed by the Walloon provinces, which remained faithful to Spain, and even supplied her with troops, he at length succeeded in freeing the seven northern states, and forming them into the confederation of the United Provinces, whose independence, declared in 1581, was ultimately acknowledged by Spain. These events belong chiefly to the Idstory of Holland. Bequesens, the succe or of Alva, had tried too late a more humane policy. At Antwerp and Ghent the Spanish soldiers broke out into exce es. The confederates a embled in the latter town signed the pacilication of Ghent, proclaiming liberty of conscience, and convoking the estates -general. The estates called in the aid of France, and offered the crown to Henry III., who declined to accept it, dreading the Catholic league in his own country. It is a special feature of the history of those days, that whiljB the great rulers, particularly those of fWioe and Germany, persecuted their reformed subjects, each was ready to protect the Protestant subjects of the others when opposed to their political policy. The succe of the revolutionary party, consummated in the north, was at length checked in the southern provinces by the ability of Alexander Famese, duke of Parma, the Spanish commander, and by the reactionary spirit evoked in the provinces themselves, strengthened by the emigration of many influential reformers to the northern states, and the Belgian Netherlands remained attached to Spain. From 1596 to 1633 the Spanish Netherlands were transferred to the Austrian branch of the family by the marriage of Isabella, daughter of Philip II., with the ArchdiUce Albert of Austria. On the death of Isabella they reverted to Spain. By the treaty of Kastadt in 1714 they were again placed under the dominion of Austria. During this period they were the subject of continual intrigues, and frequently of open warfare among the European states. Twice conquered by Loms XTV., conquered again by Marl borough, coveted by Holland, Spain, Grermany, France, and England, they lay continually open to the invasions and the struggles of foreign armies, and it was at this period especially that they were, as they have been ciJled, the battlefield of Europe. Some portions of Maritime Flanders, Brabant, and Limburg, which had remained to Spain, were during this period conquered and annexed by Holland, while France acquired Artois and Walloon Flanders, the south of Hainaut, and part of Namur and Luxemburg, including the important towns of Bouai, Ulle, Valenciennes, Dunkirk, and mimy others. From 1714 Austria was left in undisturbed po e ion of the remainder of the Southern Netherlands. Joseph IL, styled the Philosophical Emperor, excited I by lus reforms a revolt, headed or stimulated by the monks of Inlanders and Brabant, whom he had dispos es ed of their convents. The estates of the two provinces refused to vote the imposts, and were di olved. The populace took to arms. The Viigin was proclaimed generali imo of the patriot army. The Austrian army concentrated at Tumhout was totally defeated. After applying in vain for a istance to Holland land France, neither of which could be expected to have much sympathy with their movement, the in sui gents were at length subdued, and the Austrians re-entered Bru els, October, 1790. Soon after the whole Netherlands were conquered by the revolutionary armies of France, and the country was divided into French departments, a change which, as might be expected, provoked as mud i resistance as the people were able to offer. When Napoleon ruled France, his brother Louis became King of Holland. When the battle of Waterloo, fought on Belgian territory, had once more changed the fate of Europe, Belgium was united by the treaty of Paris to Holland, under the title of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This fusion had much to recommend it. The ports and colonies of the north formed a suitable compliment to the arts and industiy of the south. The Flemings and the Dutch spoke the same language and had the same origin; but there remained outside of this harmony the Walloon provinces, French in language and extraction. A most injudicious measure of Uie Dutch government, an attempt to a imilate the language of the provinces by prohibiting the use of French in the courts of justice, excited an opposition, which, encouraged by the succe of the SVench revolution of 1830, broke out into revolt. The electoral system, moreover, gave the preponderance to the northern provinces, though inferior in population, and the interests of the provinces were diametrically opposed in matters of taxation. Belgium was agricultural and manufacturing, Holland commercial; the one wished to tax imports and exports, the other property and industry, in the chambers three different languages were spoken, Dutch, German, and French; and the members frequently did not understand each other. Nothing but the most skilful government could have overcome these difBculties, and no statesman appeared fitted to grapple with them. The revolutionary movement became general in the south, and the Dutch troops, at first succe ful before Bru els, were finally repulsed, and compelled by the arrival of fresh bands of insurgents from all quarters to retire. The Flemings saluted the volunteers of Li^ge, Mens, and Toumay by the ancient title of Belgians, and this name, which properly distingmshed only a section of the people of the southern provinces, became henceforth recognized as the patriotic designation of the whole. A convention of the great powers a embled in London, to determine on the s2ffairs of the Netherlands, and stop the effusion of blood. It favoured the separation of the provinces, and drew up a treaty to r^;ulato it. In the meantime the National Congre of Belgium offered the crown to the Duke of Nemours, second son of Louis Philippe, and, on his declining it, they offered it, on the recommendation of England, to Leopold, prince of Saxe-Coburg, who acceded to it under the title of Leopold I., on July 21, 1 831. In November of the same year the five powers guaranteed the crown to him by the treaty of London. Some disputes with Holland in regard to the partition of territories stiU remained. A convention was concluded between France and England to bring these differences to a close, and in 1839 Holland acceded to a treaty, by which Belgium surrendered to her portions of Limburg and Luxemburg, which she had retained since 1830. During the reign of Leopold, a prosperous period of thirty-four years, Belgium becune a united and patriotic community. Arts and oommeroe flourished. and a plaoe was taken in the family of nationB which the Belgian people could look with complacency. On the outbreak of the French revolution 1848 Leopold declared his willingne to resign crown if it was contrary to the wishes of his subjects that he should retain it. This declaration disarmed the Be public an party, and confirmed the stability the monarchy at a critical moment. During his Belgium concluded various treaties of oonmierce, with Great Britain in 1851 and 1862, and with France in 1861. Leopold IL succeeded his father in 1865. In a treaty was signed in London between England, Pru ia^ and France confirming the independence Belgium, and guaranteeing its neutrality in the between France and Pru ia. The volunteer ment in both countries has given rise to much cordial intercourse between Belgitmi and England, thus viving the old partiality of the Flemings towards latter country. 141