Excerpt from Belgian Life in Town and Country It is a fact, which cannot be explained away, that Flemings and Walloons have never in the long course of their combined history, which commenced with the close of feudalism, engaged in a racial war, and this absence of strife has left an abiding impression on their relations. The strongest link, however, in the chain that connects the two peoples of the South Netherlands is provided by identity of religion; so that the most fruitful cause of all human differences and quarrels has never arisen to create a feud between Flemings and Walloons. There is, consequently, every reason to conclude that the two races, which in the past never came into hostile collision, are now well content to perform their duties together, and to be known as Belgians. When people talk of the Belgians as a modern people, with a history of only seventy-four years, they should not forget that the Flemings have scarcely changed in character, and not at all in their tongue, since the days of the Plantagenets; and that the Walloons, of Liege at least, are very much what they were in the time of the prince-bishops. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.