xx Statistics.
BELGIUM.
is at Antwerp. — The Garde Civique, or militia, consists ol
32,000 men.
The national colours, adopted in 1831, are red, yellow, and black,
placed in three perpendicular stripes, which were the colours oi
the ancient Duchy of Brabant. The armorial bearings of Belgium
consist of the Lion of Brabant, with the motto 'L'union fait la force'.
Belgium possesses 62 merchant-ships, including 46 steamers, of
an aggregate burden of 82,647 tons, and 299 fishing-boats of
10,476 tons. It has no navy.
Characteristics. Those indicated by the following monkish
lilies are said to exist to some extent even at the present day: —
'Nobilibus Bruxella-viris, Antwerpia nummis,
Gandavum laqueis, formosis Bruga puellis,
Lovanium doctis, gaudet Mechlinia stultis'.
(Brussels rejoices in noble men, Antwerp in money, Ghent in
halters, Bruges in pretty girls, Louvain in learned men, and
Malines in fools.) Halters are mentioned in connection with Ghent
in allusion to the frequent humiliations to which its turbulent
citizens were subjected by their sovereigns. The unenviable repu¬
tation of the citizens of Malines originated in the story that they
once mistook the moon shining through their cathedral-tower for
a conflagration, and endeavoured to extinguish it by means of the
fire-engines.
Permalink: http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/k8vjx
