Correspondence
A LETTER FROM BRUSSELS. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The second week of September sees Brussels once more springing into a city of activity. The ever-increasing number of popular plages are returning each day by the thousands their sun-tanned visitors of August, and the activities round the Bourse show that the holidays of the Brussels business man are not so prolonged as our own.
Ostend became instantly calm after the Grand Inter- national in the last week of August, a Turf event which fas- cinates all Belgian people in the manner of the Derby, but it is no exaggeration to say that the English were there in almost proportionate numbers. The familiar roar of encouragement that greeted F. Fox, the all-conquering English jockey of this season, when he made a great effort to win with Gay Lord, was as amusing as it was sincere, though it assisted him only to gain second honours behind local talent and a Belgian tho- roughbred. Why British racehorse owners make such feeble attempts to win this great International event each year is a matter of genuine amazement to the sporting com- munity of this country. The prize alone is worth nearly three- quarters of a million francs, and the entrants represent the very highest class in Europe. Why should we not throw down a sporting glove more frequently ?
If the Opera, during a heat wave, is being courted almost exclusively by the ever-faithful, it is but fair tribute to the very living lovers of music here to inform you that a newly founded society for the Development of Musical Talent in Belgium has just launched a public subscription list, and has acquired already nearly five million francs ! That, during the intensive holiday season, when Brussels and her sister towns are well disposed to slumber, and their inhabitants depart en masse for the sea.
To my mind the amazing success of this appeal derives from the simple and practical nature of its objects, which are— the proper publication of worthy compositions by unknown Belgian composers ; scholarships to great musical Universi- ties ; the formation of modern musical libraries ; and even the lending of the more expansive instruments to poorer students. Here is money about to be wisely, interestingly, and soundly spent, and it has a great chance of being repaid by discoverable genius. Surely other countries, including our own, might trust the public to support a scheme to foster any appreciated art which at once assists in so homely and prac- ticable a manner the early necessities of the would-be finished product ? The attics which were so frequently let indulgently to the geniuses of the past are nowadays tenanted, of necessity, by men and families with more tangible purposes than musical students. To breed musicians, Belgium intends to give some of that motherly toleration in the matter of beginnings, and of that licence to persevere, which nearly every great composer enjoyed in the days gone by. It is a big-hearted, interesting move, with a deal of understanding behind it.
Now that the " historic " Hague Conference is at an end, I am able to pass on with some satisfaction the information that the ordinary thinking Belgian in the capital is far more in agreement with Mr. Snowden's attitude than the Press would suggest. Our financial situation is the better appre- ciated here for it, even though no one here realizes yet that the working conditions in Belgium, where it is becoming common for one man to fulfil profitably Iwo separate forms of employment each day on account of the acute scarcity of labour, represent a millennial state which never has been, nor ever will be, achieved in Great Britain.
The arrangements for the Exhibition of Old English Masters in Brussels, to be held from October 13th until the end of November, have been admirably carried out, and connois- seurs of many nations will attend. It will be a notable oppor- tunity for English visitors to see many of our greatest master- pieces admired—temporarily—in a new setting, and to refresh their recollections of the wonderful canvases in this pleasant city of Flemish and Dutch art.—I am, Sir, &c.,
A CORRESPONDENT IN BRUSSELS.
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