486 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



Pluito by I'uyne Jennings} 



A HELGIAN MAN AND HIS WIFE, AKDE.NNES 



French is the official language of the country. About 45 per cent, of the inhabitants 

 speak Flemish, 41 per cent. French, while 11 per cent, speak both French and Flemish. 



There is nothing in the prevalent costume of the Belgians to distinguish it from that 

 which may be seen in the streets of London or Paris. Apart from the capital, however, then- 

 cities still maintain characteristics which do not change with the caprice of fashion. The 

 observer is forcibly convinced that they grew into existence in the romantic past, when the 

 conditions of life were unlike those that prevail in the nineteenth century. What were held 

 to be the most prominent characteristics of six historic Belgian cities were mentioned in 

 monkish verses composed many centuries ago. Those characteristics are said to remain to some 

 extent at the present time. The Latin lines, translated, proclaim: Brussels rejoices in noble 

 men; Antwerp in money; Ghent in hatters; Bruges in pretty girls; Louvain in learned men; 

 and Malines in fools. Hatters were said to be characteristic of Ghent because of the frequency 

 with which the king found it necessary to humiliate some of the ever-turbulent citizens, by 

 condemning them to traverse the streets under guard, with manacles on their wrists and heavy 

 iron chains on their necks. The reason for distinguishing the people of Malines as "mostly 

 fools" is the story that once, when they saw the moon shining through the cathedral tower, 

 they thought the cherished building was on fire, soumied the alarm, roused up the watch, 

 and did all they could to extinguish the conflagration by means of pumps, hose, and buckets 

 of water. The Flemings, in what they considered an improved version of the poem, called 

 the luxurious inhabitants of Brussels "chicken-eaters"; the citizens of Ghent "hat-bearers"; 

 the people of Louvain "cow-shooters," because they once fired upon a herd of cows, mistaking 

 them for the enemy; and the citizens of Malines "moon-extinguishers," with reference to their 

 action in saving their cathedral from supposed fire. 



The history of the Belgians is thickly studded with episodes, each of which illustrates 

 the bold, generous, freedom-loving spirit by which they were animated. The people are 



