| Full text |
248 Route 26. LIEGE. History
bank by six and a small iron foot-bridge (‘Passerelle’). The prin-
cipal part of the town, with the large public buildings and
churches, lies on the left bank. The quarters on the right bank
(known as Outremeuse) consist mainly of factories and the dwellings
of the artisans. Several new streets have lately been made through
the crowded parts of the old town, and extensive quays and squares
have been laid out. The twelve detached forts, erected by General
Brialmont since 1836, and surrounding the city at a distance of
31/5 to B'/o M., class Litge with Namur as the centre of the fortifica-
tions of the Meuse.
The coal-mines which form the basis of the industrial pros-
perity of Liége were the first on the Continent to be opened and
developed. One of the chief branches of industry is the manufacture
of weapons of all kinds, which have enjoyed both a European and a
Transatlantic reputation since the end of the 18th century. The
pieces are made and mounted by the workmen in their own houses.
These mechanics, 40,000 in number, work at their own risk, for
a piece containing the slightest flaw is at once rejected. The Lidge
zine foundries, engine-factories, cycle and motor works, and other
branches of industry, are also of greatimportance. Among the chief
industrial establishments are the royal Gun Factory (Pl. E, 2), the
Cannon Foundry (Pl. E, 2), the Société de St. Léonard (machinery,
locomotives), near the prison (PI. D, 2), and the Liniére de St. Léo-
nard (flax-spinnery), on the Quai St. Léonard, all in the suburb of
St. Léonard (Pl. D, B, 4, 2).
The WatLooss (p. xvi) are an active, intelligent, and enterprising
race. ‘Cives Leodicenses sunt ingeniosi, sagaces et ad quidvis audendum
prompti’ is the opinion expressed by G@uicciardini with regard to the
Liégeois. Indefatigable industry and a partiality for severe labour are
among their strongest characteristics, but they have frequently manifested
a fierce and implacable spirit of hostility towards those who have at-
tempted to infringe their privileges. The history of Liége records a series
of sanguinary insurrections of the turbulent and unbridled populace against
the oppressive and arrogant bishops by whom they were governed.
Foreign armies have frequently been invoked by the latter to chastise
their rebellious subjects. Thus Charles the Bold of Burgundy took the
town in 1468, razed its walls, and put thousands of the inhabitants to
death by the sword or by drowning in the Meuse. It was twice taken
by Maximilian I. In 1649 it was captured by the Elector of Cologne, ip
1675, 1684, and 1691 by the French, and in 1702 by Marlborough. In the
revolutionary wars of 1792-94, Liége was the scene of several contests
between the French and the Austrians. In former times the Walloon
soldiers, like the Swiss, were in the habit of serving in the armies of
Spain, France, and Austria. ‘Their bravery has been justly extolled by
Schiller in his ‘Wallenstein’. — The BisHorric, founded at Tongeren
(p. 434) and removed to Maastricht in 382 (p. 265), was transplanted to
Liége in 724 by St. Hubert (p. 234). The bishops, who added Malines
(p. 159; 915), Franchimont (p. 275; 1048), and many other places to their
territory, were invested with princely rank in the 14th cent. and sat and
voted in the German imperial diet. They retained their supremacy till
the French Revolution in 1794, when the city was finally severed from
the German Empire.
Leaving the Station des Guillemins (Pl. A, B, 7) we follow the |
