A journey over land to India

As I was going to the barquebarque, at Bruges, to take my departure for Ghent, the next town in my route, I was surprised to see a number of officious, busy, poor fellows, crowding round my effects, and seizing them——some my trunk, some my portmanteau, &c. I believe two or three to each: but my astonishment partly subsided when I was told that they were porters, who plied on the canal, and about the city, for subsistence, and only came to have the honour of carrying my baggage down to the vessel. Noting their eagerness, I could not help smiling. I know there are those, and I have heard of such, who would bluster at them: but my mirth at the bustling importance which the poor fellows affected, soon sunk into serious concern; I said within myself, “Alas, how hard must be your lot indeed!” and my imagination was in an instant back again in London, where a porter often makes you pay for a job, not in money only, but in patience also, and where the surliness of independence scowls upon his brow as he does your work. Every one of my men demanded a remuneration for his labour: one man could have easily done the work of five——-but I resolved not to send them away discontented: he is but a sordid churl that would; and I paid them to their full satisfaction. Here, my dear Frederick, let me offer you (since it occurs) my parental advice on this point——from the practice of which you will gain more solid felicity than you can possibly be aware of now: never weigh scrupulously the value of the work of the Poor; rather exceed than fall short of rewarding it: it is a very, very small thing, that will put them in good humour with you and with themselves, and relax the hard furrows of labour into the soft smile of gratitude——a smile which, to a heart of sensibility such as your’s, will, of itself, ten-thousand-fold repay you, even though the frequent practice of it should abridge you of a few of those things called pleasures, or detract a little from the weight of your purse.

Being again seated in my barquebarque, I set off for Ghent, a city lying at a distance of twenty-four miles from Bruges. I must here remark to you, that the company one meets in those vessels is not always of the first rank; it is generally of a mixed, motley kind: but to a man who carries along with him, through his travels, a love for his fellow-creatures, and a desire to see men, and their customs and manners, it is both pleasant and eligible——at least I thought it so, and enjoyed it. There were those amongst us who spoke rather loftily on that subject: I said nothing; but it brought to my mind a reflection I have often had occasion to concur in, viz. that a fastidious usurpation of dignity (happily denominated stateliness) is the never-failing mark of an upstart or a blockhead.The man of true dignity, self-erect and strong, needs not have recourse, for support, to the comparative wretchedness of his fellow-creature, or plume himself upon spurious superiority.You will understand me, however!When I say, “the man of true dignity,” I am far, very far, from meaning a lord, a squire, a banker, or a general officer——I mean a man of intrinsic worth——homo emunctæ naris——one who, in every station into which chance may throw him, feels firm in the consciousness of right——who can see and cherish merit, though enveloped and concealed behind a shabby suit of clothes——and who scorns the blown-up fool of fortune, that, without sense or sentiment, without virtue, wisdom or courage, presumes to call himself great, merely because he possesses a few acres of earth which he had neither the industry nor merit to earn, or because his great-great-great-grandfather purchased a title by perfidy to his Country, the plunder of his fellow-citizens, or the slaughter of mankind.

Although the face of that part of the Country through which we are now passing, like that of the preceding stage from Ostend to Bruges, wants diversity, it has its charms, and would be particularly delightful in the eye of an English farmer; for it is covered with the thickest verdure on each side of the canal, and the banks are decorated all along by rows of stately trees, while the fields in the back ground are cultivated to the highest degree of perfection, and bear the aspect of producing the most abundant harvest.

You will be able to form a judgment of the trifling expence of travelling in this Country, from my expences in this stage of twenty-four miles.I had an excellent dinner for about fifteen pence of our money; my passage cost me but sixteen more, amounting in all to two shillings and seven pence: compare that with travelling in England, where one cannot rise up from an indifferent dinner, in an Inn, under five shillings at the least, and you must be astonished at the disproportion.

Ghent is the capital of Flanders, and is to be reckoned among the largest cities of Europe, as it covers a space of ground of not less than seven miles in circumference; but there is not above one half of that occupied with buildings, the greater part being thrown into fields, gardens, orchards, and pleasure-grounds.Situated on four navigable rivers, and intersected into no fewer than twenty-six islands by a number of canals, which afford an easy, cheap and expeditious carriage for weighty merchandise, it may be considered, in point of local advantages for commerce, superior to most cities in Europe; while those islands are again united by about a hundred bridges, some great and some small, which contribute much to the beauty of the city.

To a man accustomed to mould his thoughts by what he sees in Great Britain, the strong fortifications that surround almost all towns on the Continent convey the most disagreeable sensations——reminding him of the first misery of Mankind, War! ——denoting, alas! too truly, the disposition of Man to violate the rights of his fellow-creatures, and manifesting the tyrannous abuse of power.On me, though trained and accustomed to military habits, this “dreadful note of preparation” had an unpleasing effect; for, though born, bred and habituated to the life of the Soldier, I find the feelings of the Citizen and the Man claim a paramount right to my heart.

Ghent was once extremely well fortified, and calculated, by nature as well as by art, to repel encroachment.It had a very strong castle, walls and ditches; and now, though not otherwise strong, the country may, by shutting up the sluices, be, for above a mile round, laid in a very short time under water.It was formerly so populous and powerful, that it declared war more than once against its Sovereign, and raised amazing armies.In the year 1587, it suffered dreadfully from all the ravages of famine, under which a number not less than three thousand of its inhabitants perished in one week.

This town is distinguished by the nativity of two celebrated characters: one was the famous John of Gaunt, son of King Edward the Third of England; the other, the Emperor Charles the Fifth, who was born there in the year 1500.

It was in this city that the Confederation of the States, well known under the title of the Pacification of Ghent, which united the Provinces in the most lasting union of interest and laws, was held: this union was chiefly owing to the vigorous, unremitted efforts of William the First, Prince of Orange, to whose valour and virtue may be attributed the independence of the United States.

In this city there were computed to be fifty companies of Tradesmen, among whom were manufactured a variety of very curious and rich cloths, stuffs, and silks: it is certain, that the woollen manufacture flourished here before it had made the smallest progress in England, whose wool they then bought.There was also a good branch of linen manufacture here, and a pretty brisk corn trade, for which it was locally well calculated.You will observe, once for all, that in speaking of this Country, I generally use the past tense; for, at present, they are utterly undone.

Ghent was the See of a Bishop, who, like the Bishop of Bruges, was Suffragan to the Archbishop of Mechlin.Thus, in most Christian Countries, are the intellects, the consciences, and the cash too, of the People, shut up and hid from the light, by Priest within Dean, and Dean within Bishop——like a ring in the hand of a conjurer, box within box——till at last they are enveloped in the great receptacle of all deception, the capacious pocket of the Archbishop.Let not sceptered Tyrants, their legions, their scaffolds, and their swords, bear all the infamy of the slavery of Mankind!Opinion, opinion, under the management of fraud and imposture, is the engine that forges their fetters!!——Jansenius, from whom the Jansenists took their name, was the first Bishop of this place; and the late Bishop, I think, may be reckoned the last.

The Municipal Government of this city is correct, and well calculated to secure internal peace and order.The chief magistrate is the High Bailiff; subordinate to whom are Burgomasters, Echivins, and Counsellors.

Ghent is not deficient in stately edifices; and, true to their system, the Holy Fathers of the Church have their share, which, in old Popish Countries, is at least nineteen twentieths. In the middle of the town is a high tower, called Belfort tower; from whence there is a delightful prospect over the whole city and its environs. Monasteries and Churches, there, are without number; besides hospitals and market-places: that called Friday’s market, is the largest of all, and is adorned with a statue of Charles the Fifth, in his imperial robes. The Stadthouse is a magnificent structure——So is the Cathedral, under which the Reverend Fathers have built a subterraneous Church. What deeds are those which shun the light! Why those Holy Patriarchs have such a desire for burying themselves, and working like moles under ground, they themselves best know, and I think it is not difficult for others to conjecture.

This Cathedral, however, is well worth attention, on account of some capital pictures it contains.The marble of the Church is remarkably fine, and the altar-piece splendid beyond all possible description; and, indeed, in all the others, there are paintings, eminent for their own excellence, and for the celebrity of the masters who painted them.

In the Monastery of St. Pierre, there is a grand library, filled with books in all languages; but it is chiefly remarkable for the superlative beauty of its ceiling, one half of which was painted by Rubens

Thus you may perceive, my dear Frederick, the charity of the Clergy!——how, in pure pity for the sins of Mankind, and in paternal care of their souls, they exact from the Laity some atonement for their crimes, and constrain them at least to repent——and, with unparalleled magnanimity, take upon themselves the vices, the gluttony, the avarice, and the sensuality, of which they are so careful to purge their fellow-creatures!