Route 1.1

13

Post Office: Rue de l'Université,

A communication between the sea and Ghent exists by means of a canal, which enters the Schelde at Terneuse. This ensures all the advantages of a scaport to the city. Vessels drawing eighteen feet of water can enter the basin. About fourteen miles north, at Sas van Ghent, are sluices, by means of which the entire country can be laid under water.

GHENT TO ANTWERP, see page 55.

Ghent to Mechlin.-Leaving Ghent, the rai way after crossing the Scheldt is carried along the south side of it. The scenery is Interesting, and such as usually characterises the environs of a great and populous city, until

we arrive at

MELLE-Situated on the Escaut, and containing a population of 1,900. The route from Brussels to Ghent, and from Ghent to Mons by Grammont traverses it. From this station to Wetteren the line describes an immense curve, following the bend of the Escaut, on whose surface can be seen the boats as they sail up and down the river.

WETTEREN is a charming village, or rather town, the capital of a canton, situated to the right of the railway, on the right bank of the Escaut. It contains a population of about 1,000 souls. At this point a short branch diverges to the right, forming a communication with

Leaving Wetteren, the road crosses a viaduct, and passing along, has to the left the little village of Cherscamp and Schelle-Belle, and arrives at Wichelen, after passing the Molenbuk, a stream flowing into the Escaut,

WICHELEN is a small commune to the right of This station is the point-d'arrét for each train. the railway, with a population of 4,000 inhabitants. Oa quitting this place, the railway proceeds through a rather quinteresting piece of country,

and arrives at

TERMONDE, (Inns: Aigle; De la Demi-Lune) an ancient town, said to be eariier than the time of Charlemagne. It is situated at the mouth of the river Dendre, at its confluence with the Scheldt. The inhabitants have a taste for the fine arts, and the traveller may readily obtain access to several private collections, among Madame Terlinden. which we may name those of M. Schellekin and David Teniers married in this town, and resided for several years. The population is about 8,000, chiefly engaged in tho hemp and flax trade, It is 16 miles by railway west of Malines, and 19 from Ghent. The church of Notre Dame will repay a visit. It is a low, old building, surmounted by an octagon tower, and contains a Crucifixion and Adoration of the Shep herds, by Van Dyck, and a Virgin and Saints, by Crayer.

On leaving Termonde, we pass a great many pretty villages, of no note, and leaving East

Flanders arrive at

It was formerly the capital of what was called Imperial Flanders, and was reduced to ashes by a conflagration in 1360, and in 1667 the celebrated Marshal Turenne took and dismantled it. The town hall is a fine Gothic edifice, built in 1210, and is in excellent preservation. The collegiate church of St. Martin was built by the same architect as the cathedral of Amiens, and contains a fiue picture by Rubens, representing the "Plague of Alost." The population is about 15,000,

of railway diverge. The entrance from the rai!way station is fine.

Mechlin is a large town in the province of Antwerp, divided by the Dyle into two parts. It is equidistant from Brussels, Antwerp, and Louvain, and contains a population of 33,600.

The streets are broad, and bordered in many places by good buildings.

The river Dyle passes through the town, and has an ebb and flow of tide for more than a league beyond Mechlin, in the direction of Louvain.

This town dates its origin as far back as the fifth century, and was long a subject of contention between the lords of Brabant and Flanders.

The lace produced at Mechlin is considered second only to that of Brussels, from which it differs principally in being made in a single piece, by means of bobbins, by which the entire patterns are produced at once, instead of being worked gradually by the hand, and hence it is stronger than the Brussels lace, though inferior to it in delicacy of workmanship. The principal building of Mechlin is the cathedral, which is the metropolitan church of Belgium. It is dedicated to St. Rombauld, who was assassinated by the Pagans in 755 in the chapel of St. Stephen, which stood near the site of the present edifice. The cathedral was commenced in the latter part of the twelfth century, but was not finished until the year 1513. The chor is of 1366; the great nave of 1487. The tower was begun 1452; and the round tower which surmounts the building, is almost entirely composed of buttresses, which give it, when seen from a distance, the appearance of a fragment of a colossal fluted column. It was built with the funds supplied by the offerings of the pilgrims, who came in crowds to Mechlin, to share the advantages of the jubilee and general indulgence proclaimed by Pope Nicholas V., on the occasion of the war in the East, which however :erminated the very next year in the annihilation of the Eastern Empire, and the occupation of Constantinople by the Turks, under Mahomed. It was from this jubilee that the town acquired the name of "Malines l'heureuse," as it has since, from its great cleanliness, been named "Malines la propre," but it is now often called "la tranquille," as the grass grows in its streets. This tower is three

a dial plate of one hundred and forty-four feet in circumference. The view from the summit ever the surrounding country is extensive, comorising the towns of Antwerp, Brussels, and Louvain. It was originally intended to surmount the tower by a vane of copper gilt, which would have increased the height nearly one-third, but the pro ject has never been put into execution, and the tower rem. ins unfinished. The alarm occasioned which gives it the appearance of being on fire, by the reflection of the moon on this tower, was the origin of the proverb of the wise men of Mechlin, who try to extinguish the moon; the bare mention of which, to an inhab taxt of the town, would even now excite an irritation not easily to be appease:l. The interior of the cathedral presents nothing worthy of notice except the altar-piece, which is by Van Dyck, its subject is the Crucifixion. It has also paintings of Crayer, Janssens, and others. The exterior grand-front is ornamented with several statues, amongst them are Faith, Hope, Charity, and the Apostles. In the church of Nôtre Dame, behind the grand altar, is the Miraculous Draught of Fishes, painted by Rubens expressly for the Guild of Fishmongers, and considered one of his finest produc ions. In the same church are also a few fine pictures by Van Dyck. The traveller mast take care not to confound this church with that called Nôtre Dame d'Hanswyck, which is remark. able for its beautiful cupola, and also for its carved pulpit, representing the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve. This church owes its origin to a miraculous image of the Virgin, which Boated in a boat against the stream, until it arrived at the spot where the church now stands, when it approached the bank and remained firm; of course a sacred edifice to enshrine the image was immediately built; and equally, of course, the image repaid the devotion of the inhabitants by performing numerous and stupendous miracles, which soon attracted pilgrims and offerings, sufficient to repay the expense to which they had put themselves. This purpose being answered, the image no longer thought it worth while to exert its miraculous powers to protect itself, and it was destroyed by sacrilegious hands, when the town was pillaged, as above mentioned. The church formerly belonging to the Jesuits, and still bearing their name, deserves attention for ita