BELGIUM 



poor. Counts and barons in society are plentiful as 

 pebbles in a brook. One reason for this is that 

 every son in a noble's family bears his father's 

 title, even if he do not inherit any of his property. 

 The penniless inheritor of a barren title hands 

 it on to his descendants. In the same way 

 all the daughters are countesses and baronesses. 

 Similarly the country gentleman, or better class of 

 farmer, holds himself aloof from the peasant-pro- 

 prietor; and the people of the towns are also a class 

 apart. These sharp social distinctions have at any 

 rate their good side. Each man is contented with 

 his lot in life, and does not seek to be anything 

 but what he is. The State wisely fosters this spirit, 

 by enabling him, as we have seen, to take a pride 

 in the intelligent performance of his work. 



At one time the Danish peasants were serfs. 

 In 1788 serfdom was abolished, and provisions 

 were made enabling the people to acquire for 

 themselves the land on which they had up to 

 that time worked in a condition little above that 

 of slaves. 



Nearly all the Danes are in religion earnest 

 Lutherans. Other creeds are tolerated to the 

 fullest extent, but not 1 per cent, of the inhabi- 

 tants belong to any other than the Danish 

 Lutheran State Church. 



BELGIUM. 



485 



f/to(o by Payne Jennings] [AsMead. 



A. NATIVE OF THE ARDENNES. 



THE little kingdom of Belgium has an area of 

 11,373 square miles, being about one-eighth of 

 the size of Great Britain. It makes up for its 



small dimensions by being the most densely populated country in Europe. In 1898 the popu- 

 lation was 6,670,000. There is no such thing as a Belgian race of people, though there is a 

 Belgian nation. In the days of Julius Caesar the country was inhabited by the Belgae, and 

 formed part of what was afterwards known as Gallia Belgica. The Belgae appear to have 

 differed in dialect, institutions, and laws from the Celts of the other parts of Gaul. They 

 are described by ancient writers as "fair" Celts. This epithet, as well as their distinctive 

 attributes, would seem to point to considerable admixture with the Germans, if indeed they 

 are not to be regarded as a Celtic-speaking German tribe. 



At the present day the population of Belgium is partly of Celtic and partly of Teutonic 

 origin. The Flemings are still as clearly Teutonic as they were a thousand years ago, while 

 Celtic characteristics are as unmistakably apparent in the Walloons, who are descended from 

 the ancient Belgae. Both sections are members of the same Church, and have other interests 

 in common. Yet, though subject to one king and governed by the same code of laws, they 

 have not become so thoroughly blended as to produce a distinct national type. 



The men are of medium height, muscular, and of upright bearing. The Walloons in the 

 southern provinces are nearly as brisk in deportment and as polished in manners as their 

 French neighbours. The Flemings, who inhabit the western and northern provinces, are 

 endowed with greater vivacity than the Dutch, whose laud borders theirs and who belong to 

 the same race. 



