The French customs are generally prevalent here; and it is said, the inhabitants regret their separation from France. There were vast manufactories of cutlery here, but the French, before their departure, destroyed most of the machinery; this, together with the failure of other trades, is said to produce the distress which fills the streets with beggars.
The general appearance of the inhabitants of Liege is not more prepossessing to a stranger than that of their city. There are said to be a great number of thieves, and I saw some surprised whilst cutting the trunks from behind a carriage at the inn-door. The money here is extremely adulterated, and is not taken one stage from the city, a circumstance which frequently is attended with great loss to the traveller, if he has occasion to receive much change.
In this neighbourhood are several vineyards, but the climate is too cold to admit of the wine having a good flavour. They here cultivate a species of cabbage, the seed of which produces a thick oil, which is used in dying stuffs, and forms part of the composition of the black soap of this country.
I found that the season had long ended at Spa; that the roads were bad, and that it was above thirty miles out of my way, and therefore determined on proceeding to Brussels in the diligence, to make trial of one of the public carriages of this country, having found the posting good from Cologne to Liege. I found it extremely spacious, when compared to those in England, and it was lined with faded yellow damask. I had but two companions, who, according to Rousseau's Axiom, would not be entitled to the name of men, which, he says, belongs to none under five feet six inches.
They proved, however, sufficiently agreeable companions, and I found they resided at Louvain. We proceeded at the rate of rather more than four English miles an hour, which was quicker than I had before travelled in a public carriage on the continent. Our first stage presented nothing remarkable; but the next, St. Tron, was a remarkably neat little town. There is a spacious square, surrounded with good houses, and at one end is the town-house; the church is a large building, and its steeple contains a set of musical chimes, to which the people of this country are very partial.
We next reached Tirlemont, formerly one of the most considerable cities of Brabant, which is at present by no means of equal importance. The surrounding country is fruitful; many of its villages contain cottages of clay, which I did not expect to see in so opulent a province; they are indeed spacious, and the interior is kept very neat. The general appearance of the people here is much more in their favour than at Liege.
Tirlemont contains manufactures of flannels, stockings, and cloth. The cotton trade, formerly the great staple of the Netherlands, has of late years been greatly on the decline.