alter the progress of ideas, or check the march of events. The peasant woman who now leads her single cow to feast upon the rich herbage of some fertile spot, little thinks that the grass which will fill the pail with milk for her children may be fed by the blood of some noble fellow who sunk in the cause of duty. So it is with the mass of the people, they know not how the comforts which they enjoy may spring from the life-toil or the life-blood of those who laboured for the good of mankind, who persevered, with self-sacrificing industry, to that lofty goal which is only won by the pathway of duty.

I had left Brussels at an early hour in the morning in order to catch the train to Groenendael, and I thoroughly enjoyed my early ramble through the wood of Soignes, through which Wellington intended to fall back on Brussels if it was necessary, and was also glad to contemplate the scene of the struggle without a guide. I hate the presence of a guide or commissary, who takes you, not where you wish to go, but where he chooses to take you, and I had rather wander about making mistakes, and asking my way in bad French, than to be tied to such a Mephistopheles. I doubly enjoyed my freedom this morning, when there was so much to attract and to please. The morning sun beamed brightly through the trees, which cast a pleasant shade on the path, the air was redolent with sweet scents from the woodland, and the birds sung gaily in the overhanging branches; all was sweet and lovely in the field of Waterloo.

Namur.-I have made a circuit of the south-western provinces of this very interesting state, which is a sur

NAMUR. -SIR GEORGE NICHOLLS.

159

prising hive of industry, and possesses great mineral wealth. Having previously gone into so much detail with regard to the condition of Liege and Brabant, I shall not weary my readers with what may seem like a repetition. There is some diversity between the several provinces, but it is not very great, and as I shall have to refer to Holland as a whole, it may be sufficient for the object without going into the details of each province. My route led me through East and West Flanders and Hainault into Namur. I shall, however, state the area and the number of proprietors, that my readers may bear in mind the very minute subdivision of land which exists.*

Mr. (afterwards Sir George) Nicholls was sent by the British Government in 1838, previous to the introduction of the poor-law into Ireland, to report upon the state of Holland and Belgium with regard to the condition of the people and the legal provision for the poor. He attempts to account for the small holdings in the following way :— The extensive manufactures, which at no very remote period flourished in Belgium, appear to have congregated a numerous population of artisans in and around the great towns. As the scene of manufacturing industry changed this population was deprived of its means

* Area and number of Proprietors in the following Pro

of handicraft employment, and was compelled to resort to the cultivation of the soil for subsistence. This seems to have been the chief, though possibly not the sole, origin of the system of small farms which still prevails, and which are cultivated by the holder and his family generally without assistance.' Sir George Nicholls' reasons might, prima facie, appear reasonable, if the farms were held by tenancy, but it altogether fails to account for the existence of small proprietors. It is quite evident that the Celtic race, of which the Belgae were a branch, held the land as tenants-in-common. We are unable to trace in Scotland the time or means by which the joint property of the clan became the demesne of the chieftain. Mr. Maine, in his 'Essay on Ancient Law,' asserts it was by legal decision, under which, he says, The patrimony of the many became the property of the few.' In Ireland we are able distinctly to trace the change. I think the converse to that which took place in Scotland and Ireland, under which the chieftain, or head of the sept, became landlord of the entire common property, occurred in Belgium, and that there a division of the land was made among tenants-in-common. I can see no other rational way of accounting for the minute subdivision of holdings. Sir George Nicholls, writing in 1838, says :-'The houses of the small cultivators in Belgium are generally substantially built and in good repair. The family were decently clad; none of them were ragged or slovenly. In the greater part of the flat country of Belgium the soil is light and sandy, but its productive powers are certainly inferior to the general soil of Ireland, and the climate does not appear to be superior. To the soil and

SIR GEORGE NICHOLLS ON BELGIUM FARMING. 161

climate, therefore, the Belgian does not owe his superiority in comfort and position over the Irish cultivator. It was most gratifying to observe the comfort displayed in the whole economy of the households of these small cultivators, and the respectability in which they lived.' I can, from my own observation, say, that the remarks made by Sir George Nicholls in 1838 are equally applicable now. I was astonished at the luxuriance of the crops now on the ground. The mangolds are in most instances superb. Turnips sown in the stubble are bulbing, and will afford a large amount of sustenance for cattle. Clover, in full bloom, is 1 to 2 feet high, and yet the soil on which these crops grow is a light sand. Sir George Nicholls failed to recognise the reason for the superiority of Belgium tillage over that of Ireland, though it was pointed out by Arthur Young sixty years before Sir George Nicholls wrote: it lies in proprietorship; the difference between Ireland and Belgium may be expressed in two words-tenants and owners. The dwellings of the small proprietors in Belgium are neither so large, nor so tasteful, as those of Switzerland. Here they rarely have a second-floor, except it be a small attic, but they look very comfortable. They are substantially built of stone, mostly covered with tiles, though in some instances I have seen them thatched. Every member of the family works. I was rather amused to-day at seeing a large dog harnessed to a wheelbarrow, full of grass, which he was drawing while the man was pushing it. The girls and children work in the fields with their parents, and I think the employment and the association are both of a more elevating character, than the close rooms and unvarying mo

M

notony of the factory. Potatoes are largely grown, and a family feels very thankful when Providence metes out a full supply of this useful esculent. Paddy used to expound his ideas of political economy and happiness in the lines

The greatest divarsion that's under the sun,

Is to sit by the fire, till the praties is done.

A fine large pit of potatoes,' as they used to be called, at the back of the cottage was a great soothener of the feelings. The potato blight visited Belgium with nearly the same severity as Ireland, but here are seen no roofless walls, no deserted cabins, no diminution of the population. In Ireland you have all three. Mr. Donelly's returns inform us that the number of occupiers of plots of land between one acre and five acres in 1841, was 310,000, and in 1864, 82,451. The reason of the difference appears to be explained by the words -tenant

owner.

The extensive cultivation of flax is peculiar both to Ireland and Belgium, and I felt much interest in examining the process pursued in Flanders, which is known as the Courtrai system. Flax was grown in Egypt in the time of Moses. It forms its seed, in a round pulpy ball, which contains eight or ten grains, and this is now known by the same name given in Exodus. In describing the condition of the flax plant when the plague of hail fell, the sacred historian says, 'the flax was bolled.' The same word 'boll' is still applied to the seed. In some countries where flax is grown for seed, it is sown thin: it branches near the ground, has a large quantity of seed, but the fibre is worthless. In those countries where