BELGIUM, one of the smaller European states, consists of the southern portion of the former kingdom of the Netherlands (as created by the Congress of Vienna). In the time of the Romans, it formed a part of Gallia Belgica.

Geography and Statistics.-Belgium lies between lat. 49° 27′ and 51° 30′ N., and between long. 2° 33' and 6° 5' E. It is bounded on the N. by Holland; on the E by Dutch Limbourg, Luxembourg, and Rhenish Prussia; on the S. and S. W. by France; and on the N. W. by the North Sea. Its greatest length, from north-west to south-east, is 173 English miles; and its greatest breadth, from north to south, 112 English miles. The whole area is 11,313 square miles. The following table gives a list of the provinces in Belgium, with the area, population, and chief town of each:

B. is the most densely peopled country in Europe, the population being about 404 to the square mile; and in the particular provinces of East Flanders, Brabant, Hainault, and West Flanders, respectively, not less than 675, 594, 537, and 502 to the square mile. The rural population is to that of the towns as 3 to 1.

Physical Aspect.-B. is, on the whole, a level, and even low-lying country; diversified, however, by hilly districts. In the south-east, a western branch of the Ardennes highlands makes its appearance, separating the basin of the Maas from that of the

Moselle, but attains only the moderate elevation of 2000 feet. In Flanders the land becomes so low, that in parts where the natural protection afforded by the downs is deficient, dikes, &c., have been raised to check the encroachments of the sea. In the northeast part of Antwerp, a naturally unfertile district named the Campine, and composed of marshes and barren heaths, extends in a line parallel with the coast. The once impassable morasses of the Morini and the Menapii, which stayed the progress of Cæsar's legions, are now drained, and converted into fertile fields, surrounded by dense plantations, which make the land at a distance look like a vast green forestthough, when more closely regarded, we see only numerous dwellings interspersed among fields, canals, and meadows.

Hydrography, Climate, Agriculture, &c. The abundant water-system of B. is chiefly supplied by the rivers Scheldt and Maas, both of which rise in France, and have their embouchures in Holland. At Antwerp, the Scheldt, which, like the Maas, is navigable all through Belgium, is 32 feet deep, and about 480 yards wide. Its tributaries are the Lys, Dender, and Rupel. The Maas, or Meuse, receives in its course the waters of the Sambre, the Ourthe, and the Roer. These natural hydrographical advantages are increased by a system of canals which unite Brussels and Louvain with the Rupel, Brussels with Charleroi, Mons with Condé, Ostend with Bruges and Ghent, and this last place with Terneuse. According to the resolution passed by the government in 1842, the long postponed project of cutting canals through the Campine district was at length commenced, and has been very advantageous to the spread of agriculture. A large portion of the Campine seems destined to perpetual barrenness-a dreary, silent, irreclaimable waste; but wherever it has been possible to rescue a patch from the stubborn heath or the relentless sand, there agricultural colonies have been planted, and cornfields shine, and pastures brighten in the heart of the immemorial wilderness. The climate of B., in the plains near the sea, is

cool, humid, and somewhat unhealthy; but in the higher south-east districts, hot summers alternate with very cold winters. April and November are always rainy months. These varieties of climate are favourable to a greater variety of produce than the neighbouring country of Holland can supply. The Ardennes districts yield a large supply of wood; while the level provinces raise all kinds of grain-wheat, rye, barley, oats, &c., leguminous plants, hemp, flax, colza, tobacco, hops, dye-plants, and chicory. Belgium contains upwards of 7,000,000 acres, of which one-half is arable, rather more than one-fifth in meadow and pasture, the same in woods and forests, and not above 500,000 acres lying waste. Some hundreds of acres are devoted to vineyards, but the wine produced is of an inferior quality. The forests of Ardennes abound in game and other wild animals. Good pasturage is found on the slopes and in the valleys of the hilly districts, and in the rich meadows of the low provinces. Gardening occupies not less than 130,000 acres; indeed, it has been said that the agriculture of B. is just gardening on a large scale, so carefully and laboriously is every inch of soil cultivated. The spade is still the principal instrument used. In the Campine, the care of bees is very productive, and the cultivation of the silkworm is encouraged. There are valuable fisheries on the coast, which employ about 200 boats. B. is famous for its horses, and in one year contained as many as 294,537 of these animals, 1,203,891 horned cattle, and 662,508 sheep.

Geology. The geological formations of B. are closely associated with those of France and Britain. The greater portion of the country is covered with Tertiary deposits. A line drawn across the course of the Scheldt, by Mechlin, along the Demer and Maas, will have on its northern and north-western aspect a tract of tertiary deposits, bounded northwards by the sea. In these tertiary strata the different geological periods are fully represented; but only the second, containing the Pleiocene deposits, is rich in fossils. The Secondary deposits occupy an extensive tract in the centre of Belgium, between the Scheldt and the Demer. The most important district, economically, is the south-western, consisting of Palaeozoic rocks-Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous. These beds have a very complicated structure, from the numerous and extensive flexures and folds they have undergone, and these are often accompanied with great upward shifts, by which beds of many different ages are brought to the same level.

Mineral Products.-B. is rich in minerals, which, next to its abundant agriculture, constitute the chief source of its national prosperity. The four provinces in which they are found are Hainault, Namur, Liege, and Luxembourg. They include lead, copper, zinc, calamine, alum, peat, marble, limestone, slate, iron, and coal. Lead is wrought, but only to a small extent, in Liege; copper in Hainault and Liege; manganese in Liege and Namur; black marble at Dinant; slates at Herbemont; and calamine principally at Liege. But these products are insignificant compared to the superabundance of coalfrom anthracite to the richest gas coal-and iron, in which B. ranks next to England. In 1871, the 'put out' of coals in B. was 13,733,176 tons, the total value of which was £6,152,120. Nearly threefourths of the exports of coal during the four years 1868-1871, went to the Netherlands. The number of people employed at the end of that year in the coal-mines of Hainault, Namur, and Liege was 94,186; the average daily pay of the workmen, 24 francs; and the cost of production, 93 francs per ton of coal. The iron-ore weighs annually about two million tons, and the prepared iron nearly half that quantity.

The modern industrial character of the Belgians

may be traced back to a very early period, even to the time of the Romans, who noticed the love of traffic prevailing in the Celtic districts of Gallia Belgica. This characteristic has remained steadfast to the present time. It is impossible not to recognise in the cloth-weaving Atrebate the ancestors of the industrious race who gradually extended themselves towards the east and north of Belgium. During the early commerce of Europe, when trade was secure only within walled towns, Flanders was the principal seat of productive industry; and its recent separation from Holland has also been indirectly favourable to the development of its internal resources. A state which, like B., begins its career under a burden of debt, which is shut in between nations who possess important ports and colonies, and which is peopled by races not yet sufficiently blended to constitute a perfect nationality, must, before all other things, develop its internal, material resources. This has been well understood in Belgium. Since the commencement of its independent career, it has devoted its attention almost exclusively to those branches of industry and commerce by which its future greatness must be supported.

Manufactures.-The chief manufactures are linen, woollen, cotton, silk, lace, leather, and metals. The great seats of the linen manufacture-recently revived after a long depression-are Courtray and Bruges, in West Flanders; Ghent, in East Flanders; Brussels, in Brabant; Mechlin, or Malines, in Antwerp; and Tournay, in Hainault. The number of linen pieces annually produced is about 900,000. The lawn and damask fabrics of Bruges are celebrated, as well as the lace made in and near Brussels, Malines, Louvain, and Bruges, which sometimes commands a price of £40 per yard. But the Belgian hand-spun yarn, though superior in quality, cannot maintain its ground against machinery. Verviers, Liege, Dolhaim, Ypres, Doperinghe, Limbourg, Bruges, Mons, Thuin, and Hodimont are centres of the woollen manufacture. Ypres alone employs 50,000 workmen in this branch of industry. Brussels and Tournay have large carpet manufactures, and Hainault supplies a considerable amount of hosiery. The principal manufactures of cotton are at Ghent and Lokeren, in East Flanders; Bruges and Courtray, in West Flanders; Malines, Louvain, and Anderlecht, in Brabant; Tournay and Mons, in Hainault; and also at Antwerp. The separation of B. from Holland had at first a prejudicial effect on this as on other trades; but the opening of the navigation of the Scheldt, the intersection of the country by railways and canals, and, in consequence, the rapid and extensive communication with other countries, have revived the activity of the cotton trade, which now gives employment to between one and two hundred thousand workmen. Maestricht, which belongs to Holland, is one of the chief seats of manufactures of leather; but this trade is also carried on at Limbourg, Liege, Stadelot, Namur, Dinant, and especially at Bruges and Ghent. The manufacture of gloves has made great progress in recent years. Metallurgy also has rapidly increased in productiveness since 1816, when Cockerill introduced into B. the English method of smelting iron with coke. The principal seats of the metal manufacture are Liege, Namur, Charleroi, Mons, and their neighbourhoods. There are large ordnance foundries at Liege and Malines, and celebrated makers of firearms and machinery in Liege; nail-making at Charleroi; tinware, &c., at Liege and in Hainault; wire and brass factories at Namur; zinc manufactures at Liege; lead and shot factories at Ghent; the gold and silver goods of Brussels and Ghent may also be noticed as important branches of Belgian industry. Flax is

The natural wealth and industrial resources of B. have always been more or less modified by the political relations of the country. In the middle of the 13th c., B., with Bruges as its chief seat of manufactures, had surpassed all its neighbours in industry, and had established a flourishing commerce with the Italians. After the discovery of America, Antwerp took the place of Bruges, and was regarded as a northern Venice. But the unhappy period of Spanish oppression and the war in the Netherlands deeply depressed Belgian commerce, which suffered still more at the peace of Westphalia, when Holland monopolised the navigation of the Scheldt. The river was again opened at the close of the 18th c., when the French had invaded the Netherlands, and Napoleon caused the harbour of Antwerp to be restored and enlarged. At the cost of Amsterdam, Belgian commerce received a new impulse by the union of B. with Holland, as settled by the Congress of Vienna; but scarcely were hopes revived, when the revolution of 1830 changed the prospects of the country. The treaty signed in London, April 19, 1839, gave to Holland the right to levy a toll of two-and-sixpence per ton on all vessels navigating the Scheldt. The privilege of navigation on the inland waters between the Scheldt and the Rhine was purchased by B. for an annual payment of £50,000. In June 1839, this privilege was virtually taken away by the government of Holland, and, in 1843, with additional expense to B., the new treaty of navigation was ratified by both parties. During this crisis preceding the development of a free commerce, B. had not neglected her internal resources. The Société de Commerce de Bruxelles, the Banque de Belgique, and other associations for the extension of trade, had been formed; and May 1, 1834, the government adopted the scheme for a railway-system the most complete of any on the continent. The centre of the Belgian net-work of railways is Malines, whence lines are carried out in all directions. The north line goes to Antwerp and its harbour; the west, by Ghent and Bruges, to Ostend; the south-west, by Brussels and Mons, to Quiévrain and the borders of France, not far from Valenciennes; and the east, by Louvain, Tirlemont, Liege, Verviers, and extending to the confines of Prussia. There were in 1873 open for conveyance in B. 1191 miles of railway lines; of these 467 miles were in the hands of the state, and the rest were worked by companies. The cost of the permanent way and buildings of these lines has been about £18,280 a mile. The net revenue at present is stated to be £1508 a mile. The working of the post-office in B. was, in 1871, as follows: Private letters, 46,136,520; official letters, 7,835,693; packets, 18,371,216; newspapers, 47,120,191. On January 1, 1872, there were in that country 430 postoffices, 452 telegraph stations, and the total length of telegraph lines was 7031 miles, the length of wires 23,994 miles. B., along with France, Italy, and Switzerland, entered on a monetary league in 1865, in which the four states agreed to adopt the French decimal system of coins, weights, and measures. During the three years 1869-1871, the general com

merce of B. averaged £100,000,000 in value, rather more than half of which sum was due to imports. The commercial intercourse of B. with Great Britain, in 1872, was represented in value by £13,211,004 for exports; and for imports of British home produce, £6,499,062. Among the principal articles of export are coal, flax, linen, woollen, and cotton goods, glass, firearms, and nails. More than a third of the whole quantity is consigned to France, and half of the remainder to the Zollverein, England, and is the franc, equal in value to the French franc. It cannot be said that intellectual improvement has kept pace with the material prosperity of B., though in this respect also there has been a perceptible advance. The great hindrances to a thorough development of the national intellect have been the lack of political independence, which has drawn off the most precious energies of the country to foreign centres of activity; and the variety and confused mixture of dialects, whereby the true Flemish individuality has been driven into the background. An independent national literature, acting as the bond of a pure national unanimity, was not possible, under such unfavourable conditions, to which may be added the facilities afforded for supplying the people with cheap reprints of foreign works. The Flemish element-the most important-seems indeed to have become conscious of its capabilities in respect to literature; but a genuine expression of the entire Belgian mind will first become possible when the Walloon element also begins to develop a freer form of speech along with its own peculiar modes of thought. The Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences at Brussels is at the head of several other unions for scientific purposes. Among the most celebrated names in Belgian literature and science, may be mentioned-Quetelet in mathematics, Altmeyer the historian, Fetis the musical critic, Conscience the Flemish poet and novelist, Willems the philologist, and Baron and Moke in literary history and criticism. Painting and architecture formerly flourished in the wealthy old towns of Flanders; but after the brilliant epoch of Rubens and his pupils, a long period of dulness followed. In modern times, a revival of art has taken place, as may be proved by the names of the painters, Wappers, De Keyser, Gallait, De Biefve, Verboekhoven, &c.; the sculptors, W. Geefs, Simonis, Jehotte, Fraikin, &c.; the engravers, Calamatta, Brown, and Meunier; and the medallists, Wiener and Hars.

The Belgian school-system suffered for more than ten years under the freedom of teaching allowed by the constitution, which was chiefly made use of by the wealthy Catholic clergy. The consequence was that education assumed a divided and sectarian character. Since the state, however, has exercised a general superintendence over the universities, gymnasia, and elementary schools, a higher style of education has prevailed. The two universities of Ghent and Liege, united with a school of architecture and mining; ten national schools (Athénées), in which a classical is combined with a commercial education; fifty schools preparatory to these (Ecoles moyennes); two seminaries for teachers at Lierre and Nivelle, besides the superintendence now exercised by the state over the institutions formerly maintained by communes and provincial corporations, and, above all, over the primary schools-all this forms a sufficient counterpoise to the numerous schools supported by private individuals and religious bodies. Among the latter may be noticed the Catholic High School of Louvain, founded in 1836, and conducted under strict ecclesiastical discipline; the free university of Brussels; and the gymnasia of the Jesuits at Namur, Brugelette, Brussels, and Liege. Journalism in B.