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of learning, or artists, with whom he shared his frugal suppermeal, and passed the evening in instructive and cheerful conversation. Such were the domestic habits of this illustrious artist, the details of whose life cannot be perused without conveying a lively conviction of the truth of the observation, that when industry is allied with genius, men may command success, and often attain the highest honours of the state.

Among the churches visited by us during our stay in the town, was that of the Jesuits, which we found decorated with flowers and growing shrubs, disposed in a tasteful manner among the aisles and on the high altar. Adjoining the building, and near the entrance, the visitor is shewn through a door, opening into a place called the Calvary'-a small plot of apparently garden-ground, covered with a motley collection of the statues of patriarchs, prophets, and martyrs, all heterogeneously huddled together, like so many figures in a sculptor's yard, without any regard to proportion, arrangement, or consistency of design. Immediately before us, upon a mass of small round stones, walled up to a considerable height, was a clumsy piece of sculpture-work, exhibiting the crucifixion, with figures above, below, and around, which we abstain from describing. Underneath this unseemly pile was the most remarkable part of the spectacle, which assumes to be a model taken from Jerusalem of the holy sepulchre. Upon entering a narrow opening, intended to represent a chasm in the rock, we found ourselves before an iron grating, railing in a recess, upon the floor of which is a bier, covered over with a white sheet, and the hand apparently of the dead body protruding through it. The walls of this cavernous-looking place were covered with figures in different attitudes, with their faces smeared with coarse red paint, to depict the tortures of the wicked in purgatory. How strange, that such things should be presented with a view to excite to piety!

Trade having departed from Antwerp, its people seem to make a business of religion; and it may be said that gloom and silence exercise an overmastering influence in the place. Latterly, a spirit of modern life has been attempted to be introduced, the most significant token of which is a newly erected theatre on a rather considerable scale, in which we found tolerable acting by a company of French players. The Bourse, or Exchange, where, in days of yore, 5000 merchants congregated daily, is an elegant old structure, with a central court and piazzas, which formed a model for the Royal Exchange in London. It is unfortunately placed in a confined situation, but is still resorted to for the purposes to which it was originally destined.

Returning on our track, it was necessary again to pass through Malines, and thence a run of half an hour brought us to Brussels. The railway terminates at the outskirts of the lower part of the town, on a level plain, through which flows the river Senne.

On

a small island formed by the Senne, a chapel and a few houses

were built about the year 600, and thus was commenced a town which spread to both sides of the river, and, gradually ascending the face of a sloping hill, was surrounded with walls, and named Bruxelles, or Brussels-a term said to be equivalent to Bridgetown in the old Flemish tongue.

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In the present day, Brussels is found to have stretched all over the face of the rising-ground to its broad summit, where now the finer part of the town is situated. The hill fronting the south and south-west is of that easy inclination which permits streets to be built upon it in regular order; and though inconveniently steep in some places for the passage of wheeled-carriages or horses, it is nowhere unsuitable for walking. The lower and upper town, as they are called, differ in many respects from each other. The markets, the theatre, the Exchange, the Post-office, and the Hôtel de Ville, also some splendid old family mansions, fashionable in their day, and a large infusion of mean thoroughfares, occupy the lower division. The upper consists almost exclusively of the elegant mansions of the gentry, the finest kind of hotels, the palaces, senate-house, and other structures of a superior description. The Park is likewise here. Along the western Boulevards, an exterior road leading down to the lower town, there are also many mansions of modern date, the residences of persons of the higher classes. Brussels is a town of stone, not brick. In the upper part of the city every edifice is painted white (in oil), and this, with the white jalousies of the windows, imparts a strikingly brilliant appearance to the streets, particularly in the sunshine of summer. Some of the descending streets of the best order are likewise painted; but the further down you proceed, the darker and more ancient is the aspect of the houses. Another peculiarity is observable. The names of the streets and the words on the sign-boards in the higher town are in French, and in the lower they are in Flemish. In some cases they are both in French and Flemish in the lower, as if to suit two sets of people which the town contains-as, for example, 'Oude Kirk Straat-Rue de l'Ancienne Eglise,' which may be observed marked together on the corner of one of the streets. Latterly, the town has been lighted with gas, but as yet the supply of water is entirely from public or private wells.

It may be seen at a glance that Brussels is a remarkably fine town, and that, although not large, it is in other respects entitled to rank with Paris and other first-rate continental cities. Within the last ten years, it has been vastly improved as regards paving, lighting, and the construction of new streets and covered galleries or passages, these latter being of an elegant style of architecture. The Park of Brussels resembles the garden of the Tuileries, but with lofty trees instead of shrubs. I do not know any city-view more imposing and more beautiful than that which we obtain from the Place Royale across to the entrance of the Park. The Place Royale is a large open square (no enclosure in the centre of it as in

our English squares), surrounded with tall handsome edifices, with the Church of St Jacques in the centre of its northern side; opposite this church the Rue Montagne de la Cour, in which are the principal shops, leads down a mile in length to the lower town; and on the western side of the Place there is an opening which leads to, and exposes to view, the grand entrance to the Park, and the long terrace-like street called the Rue Royale, bounding the Park on its southern side. The appearance of everything in this part of the upper town is on a scale of princely magnificence. The Park, to which a stranger usually proceeds on his first excursion through the city, is planted with rows of trees at the sides, and also radiating from a centre, where there is a pond in which goldfish are confined for the amusement of the promenaders. Thick shrubberies, light coppices, two deep dells, and patches of green-sward, variously disposed between the divisions, give variety to the scene, while at different points are disposed marble statues, busts, and vases, in the style of the gardens of the Tuileries. The prettily wooded and well-kept piece of ground forms, as we observed, the chief place of promenade on Sundays. On this day, which is one of general recreation in Brussels, a military band takes its station in one of the clumps of wood near a central plot, where there are numerous seats scattered about for the visitors. All classes move hither in crowds on these occasions; and from the immense concourse which is seen moving in every direction, a good idea may be had of the luxury and fashion of the Belgian metropolis.

The Park is environed with a number of the principal state buildings. At the western extremity is situated the Senate House, and opposite it, on the east, close by the Place Royale, is the palace of the king. At the north-east corner, adjacent to the king's palace, stands the palace of the Prince of Orange. The king's palace, now inhabited by Leopold, is a handsome Grecian structure of large extent, no way secluded from the street, and is said not to contain anything of particular interest to strangers. The love of sight-seeing is concentrated on the palace of the Prince of Orange. Here we found a crowd waiting for admission, and, taking our place, we were allowed to enter as soon as a previous set of visitors had been dismissed. The edifice, which measures 230 feet in length, was planned by the Dutch architect Vanderstraeten, and finished for William, king of the Netherlands, only about a year before the revolution which in 1830 displaced his dynasty. Exteriorly, it consists of a rustic basement, surmounted by Ionic pilasters extending along its two stories, and is tasteful in its appearance. The interior is disposed so as to render the groundfloor of no avail except for mean purposes; the whole strength of the design is thrown into the series of apartments on the first floor, which we reach by an exceedingly grand staircase of marble. Having arrived at the upper lobby, the crowd of visitors is told to halt until each person has his or her feet invested in a pair of soft woollen slippers over the shoes, in order to save the floors

from being injured. All being properly accoutred, we are bid to enter the first apartment in the suite. The first thing remarked on entrance is the smooth polished floor, along which we glide or skate, rather than walk, the surface being to all appearance as slippery as a sheet of ice. The floor of each room is of a similar kind, and consists of small pieces of rosewood, oak, and other very fine woods, inlaid in stars and patterns of divers shapes. These floors alone must have cost some thousands of pounds. The suite of apartments consists of the usual court-like waiting, reception, throne, dining, and ball rooms. They are diversified in appearance by the colours of their walls. One is decorated with hangings of green silk, another has crimson, a third blue, and a fourth crimson-velvet with gold fringes. The curtains of the windows are of a silk fabric similar to these gorgeous hangings or coverings of the walls. The ball-room or grand saloon is a spacious apartment, with walls of a light yellowishcoloured marble, and enriched with twelve or-molu stands for candles, of twelve feet in height, each of which, it was mentioned to us, was worth L.600. From this apartment we were led to the vestibule where we had entered, there divested of our clumsy feet trappings, and conducted to the door. Here, on passing out, each paid his fee; altogether, for our party of four, six francs were exacted; and I should suppose that the person who acts as showman must clear something like L.1000 a year. At present, the house is under national sequestration.

Brussels contains a number of public buildings, a picture museum, and an institution for exhibiting philosophical and other instruments, all of which, with one or two private palaces, form objects for the visits of strangers. As descriptions of such places, however, have usually little interest, I offer only the following sketches of what came under our notice.

The

In proceeding down the Rue Montagne de la Cour, the eye catches sight of a tall Gothic spire, rising in prominent relief from the centre of the older portion of the town beneath. This is the tower of the Hôtel de Ville, an edifice which stands on the south side of an open market-place, near the foot of the street. square is surrounded with exceedingly picturesque buildings, in the Spanish style, harmonising well with the magnificent structure of the Hôtel de Ville, which they environ. This large pile of building is several stories in height, and of great length, with a vast number of windows in front, and also in the tall narrow roof. The tower springs from nearly the centre of the front, and, rising to a height of 364 feet, is probably the finest specimen of the Lombardo-Gothic in the world. It is light, elegant, and pointed with a gilt copper figure of St Michael standing on the apex, as a vane. The house is quadrangular, with a square in the centre, and is now used for municipal purposes, including those of the police. It was erected in the year 1441. In the grand saloon, on the first floor from the street, Charles V. held his court while in Brussels;

and here, on the 25th of October 1555, did he abdicate his sovereignty in favour of his son, Philip II., through whose cruelty the northern Netherlands were lost to the Spanish crown. It was in the middle of the square, or ancient market-place, in which stands the Hôtel de Ville, that the Counts Egmont and Horn were executed on the 5th of June 1568.

The Cathedral of Brussels, or Church of St Gudule, is another fine old Gothic structure meriting the admiration of visitors. It stands in one of the old sloping streets, with an open space around, and its spires, though not tall, are seen at a great distance. It was erected in 1275; but having been partially destroyed by a mob of violent reformers in 1579, much of it is of a more modern date. The appearance is, nevertheless, old and dingy; and at present considerable repairs are in the course of being made on the exterior ornamental stones. The interior is remarkable for figures of saints in stone on the rows of pillars in the nave, and a pulpit of carved wood-work. The figure of each saint, which is ten feet in height, and elevated twenty-five feet from the floor, is sculptured with surprising skill: the whole are by Flemish and French artists. The pulpit, which stands on the open floor between two of the pillars, is a most elaborate work of art, emblematic of the Fall of Man. Adam and Eve are represented the size of life, sustaining the globe; an angel is driving them from Paradise, and Death is pursuing them. The figure and countenance of Adam (carved in dark yellow wood) are exceedingly expressive and striking. The concavity of the globe forms the pulpit, which rests upon the tree of Good and Evil, laden with fruit, and decorated with birds, some of which, by the way, it would be difficult to find in any work of ornithology. The tree is represented as growing up the back of the pulpit, with its branches and two angels supporting the canopy overhead. This beautiful work of art was executed by Verbruggen of Antwerp in 1699, and was presented to the Cathedral of Brussels by Maria Theresa a few years later. The church contains several splendid objects in the side-chapels, besides some monuments of distinguished personages connected with the history of the Netherlands. The grand altar is a gorgeous structure of white marble, erected in 1743, from a bequest of 18,000 florins made by a pious and wealthy widow in the town. Latterly, the windows have been filled with modern coloured glass, representing Scriptural scenes: they are spoken of as being well executed; but they seemed to us extravagantly full of blue, and are inferior in taste and tone to the old painted windows of Gouda.

A glance at the shop-windows of Brussels makes it evident that a taste for elegant articles, many of them of native manufacture, generally prevails. Lace, tapestry, silks, gloves, cloth, jewellery, house-furniture, and books, invite the attention of strangers; and it may be noticed, that a considerable retail-trade is going on. The book-shops are exceedingly numerous, which may be

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