Young Americans Abroad Part 11

In this church the famous sacramental wafers are placed away as relics of inestimable value. Perhaps you recollect the story of the Jews who purloined them, and profanely stuck the consecrated bread with knives; when, lo, a miracle! blood came from the incision, and the unbelievers were smitten down. Of course, they were taken, and tormented, and burnt.

This was at the close of the fourteenth century. The great celebration of this Popish imposition of a miracle is kept up in July every year.

All one side of this n.o.ble building is a set of mean, low, one and two-story shanties, which deface the appearance of the venerable pile.

While in the church, we saw vast numbers of boys and girls, who had come to make their confession and prepare for their first communion, to take place next day. We often saw in the streets of Paris and Brussels girls dressed in white, with wreaths of flowers, and boys, with dresses that looked as if they were bound to a wedding; these were young people going to communion. The poor children in this church looked as funny on the occasion, sitting and chatting, waiting for their turn to confess, as the priest looked tired and indifferent.

We spent much of our leisure time walking in the n.o.ble park and gardens.

O, when shall we have in America such care taken of our few green spots, in our great cities, as is here displayed? No lady can be more chary of the order of her drawing-room than are the authorities at Brussels of these beautiful promenades. Then, too, here are avenues of trees that make you in love with the city as you enter it. I do wish all our towns would raise committees of public-spirited men, who should undertake, by voluntary contributions, or town action, to plant the roadsides that form the entrances to these places. I was delighted, some months ago, to hear that a few gentlemen at Haverhill, in Ma.s.sachusetts, had banded together for this purpose. Charley, if you live to take an active share in the business of life, try and do something for the place you live in that shall appear after you have gone; make the spot of your residence better, because you have once lived in it. We are too selfish; we do not fulfil our duty to those who are to come after us; we do not, even in the matters of this present state, live up to the great law of our being--"No man liveth to himself."

Leopold's Palace is exceedingly plain and unpretending for a royal residence. It was originally composed of two wings, through which a street ran its course; but they are now united by a central building, with a handsome portico, having for its support six Corinthian pillars.

The edifice is about three hundred and ninety feet in length; and, while the front is on the Park, the rear opens on an extensive garden. At the opposite side of the Park is the Chamber of Representatives. In the Park, and near to the Palace, is the prettiest glen and bit of miniature wood I know of.

We found our accomplished representative, the Hon. Mr. Bayard, kind and attentive. He lives in a charming part of the city; and his position must be a pleasant one, having good society in the place, and near to Paris.

Yours affectionately,

J.O.C.

Letter 32.

BRUSSELS.

DEAR CHARLEY:--

I like this city very much--it is so clean. The buildings in the upper part of the town are new, and in pleasant contrast to the lower portion, which looks so very old. I think, from walking about a great deal, that there must be many English people here; for they carry their country in their dress and manner. We spent a morning at the various shops, and princ.i.p.ally at the lace and print stores. We purchased some very beautiful engravings, lithographs, and ill.u.s.trated works, which will remind us of our pleasant days in Brussels, and which I hope may amuse our friends. The lacework executed here is uncommonly rich, and, you know, is very famous; but, I am sorry to say, also very expensive. A person may soon get rid of large amounts of money here. We made some purchases for the ladies at home; but no doubt, if they had been with us, the bills would have been heavier than they were.

The way we manage for getting money while we are travelling is by a circular letter from Baring & Brothers. On this we are introduced to houses in the great cities through which our route lies, and the letter states our credit at London; then from these houses we obtain what we need, and have each house indorse the amount; so that, as we go from place to place, our financial position in London still appears. In Brussels we found the banker, or, at least, his agent,--for whether the banker or his clerk we did not know,--a perfect specimen of vulgarity and rudeness. He was the most uncivil fellow that we have yet seen in Europe. His most pleasant words were grunts, and his motions and att.i.tudes were almost threats. He looked like a Jew, but he acted like a wild Arab; and his manuvres would have been a G.o.dsend to the comic Dr.

Valentine, if he had witnessed their display. His gray hairs did not command respect; and what made his rudeness so hard to bear, was the fact that nothing occurred to call it out. We probably met him at an unhappy moment.

The Museum is in the old palace of the Spanish governors of the Low Countries, and long before their day it was the ducal residence of the Brabants. The building was begun in 1346, and completed in 1502.

The pictures of Europe are one of my great objects of interest, and here we begin to find them. We have left the London and Paris collections for examination as we return. From the catalogue, we found there were about six hundred pictures here, and some statuary. The chief attraction of this gallery is found in the few early Flemish paintings which it boasts. I think a Gerard Dow will long be remembered by me. It is an interior, and the effect of the light in the room is admirable. Many of the paintings are styled Gothic; that means they were painted previous to the time of Van Eyck. An interior of the Antwerp Cathedral, by Neefs, is very fine; and I was much pleased with some large pictures by Philippe Champagne, some' of whose portraits I have seen in New York.

Here are four pictures by Paul Veronese. No. 285 is the Marriage of Cana. I think I never saw a picture in which I was so impressed with the magnificence of the coloring. The table is richly spread, and the light appears on it, coming down the columns; the rich colors of the fruits contrasting strongly with the white table and gay dress of one of the figures. The management of light, by introducing various colors in the dresses, is wonderful, and the blue sky produces the happiest effect. I never before understood how much a picture depended on the arrangement of color. The drapery of this composition struck me greatly; and although I know little of great paintings, yet I do know what I like, and this picture, as a whole, seems to me wonderfully fine.

In 1695, when this town was bombarded by the French, fourteen churches were destroyed, some of which contained the best pictures of Rubens, Vand.y.k.e, and other great painters of that century. I observed here a good portrait of Henrietta, queen of Charles I., who seems to have been a favorite with painters. I have seen a score of her faces by Vand.y.k.e at Windsor, Paris, and elsewhere. This was by Mignard. All make her very beautiful.

The Adoration of the Magi, by Van Eyck, the inventor of oil painting, is curious; and a Descent from the Cross, by Hemling, who flourished about 1450, interested me. Amongst the pictures by unknown masters I saw some good ones. I thought the portraits in this cla.s.s very spirited. One of b.l.o.o.d.y Mary was quite a picture.

In this building, too, the doctor found a treat in the great Burgundy Library, where are nearly twenty thousand MSS., some of which are the most richly-illuminated vellums that are known. Some of the miniatures of the early fathers and saints are of exquisite beauty. This precious collection has twice, I learn, been stolen by the French, as were also the best pictures. The library consists of about two hundred thousand volumes. I saw some glorious specimens of Russian malachite.

You would, I am sure, Charley, hardly forgive me if I had had so little of your love of the curious as to go away from Brussels without a look at the world-renowned fountain--the _Manekin._ One day, when upon a tramp, we inquired it out. The dirty dog is a little bronze figure, made by the famous Duquesnoy in 1648. It stands at the corner of the Rue du Chene and the Rue de l'Etuve. He still maintains his ground; and there seems no danger of his losing his occupation.

The Botanical Garden lies on the side of the hill leading from the city towards Antwerp, and is apparently kept in fine order. It is about six hundred and fifty yards long, and I should think nearly two hundred wide.

To-morrow we are to spend at Waterloo; and George is well nigh distracted. We have heard very little from him, since we reached Brussels, but about Napoleon, Wellington, Ney, and Grouchy. The last-named marshal finds no favor at his hands, as he regards him as a traitor to the emperor at the critical moment. One thing is certain; he knows more about the battle than most persons, and will feel quite at home when he once makes out his stand-point. We all antic.i.p.ate his transports with interest. We are to start early; so good-night.

Yours,

WELD.

Letter 33.

BRUSSELS.

DEAR CHARLEY:--

I am thoroughly tired out with a day at Waterloo; and, though I should be glad to retire at an early hour, yet, as to-morrow's mail takes all letters for the next steamer, we are all hard at the duty and pleasure of correspondence with our friends. I shall give you but a hurried account of our visit to the great battle field of Europe. We were all up early in the morning, and, after an excellent breakfast, we engaged a carriage and pair of horses for the day. The distance is about twelve miles. After riding about two miles, we found the road touched the Forest of Soignies, so well known in consequence of Byron's description of the march of the army from Brussels to Waterloo. On the way we met several guides, who commended their services to our notice, backed up by testimonials of former travellers. We selected Pirson, and he took his place beside the driver, and we arrived in two hour at the village.

Pa.s.sing by what is called a museum, we addressed ourselves at once to a survey of the field. There are no signs of the past, excepting in monuments and houses that are famous for their being occupied by the hostile parties during the battle. We turned our attention first to the Chateau of Hougomont, because, from our knowledge of the transactions of the great day, we regarded it as the grand point of attraction, and the central one for our observations. This farm is an old-looking affair, with out-buildings--a small chapel, twelve or fifteen feet long, and the garden and orchard, having a strong stone wall around them. This was the strong point of the British army; and if Napoleon could have gained it, he would have turned the flank of the enemy. To this he directed all his power, and the marks of the conflict are yet very apparent. All day the attack was made, upon the farm by thousands, under the command of Jerome Bonaparte. The wall was pierced with loopholes, and through these the English Coldstream Guards kept up a most destructive fire upon the French troops. The exterior of the wall still shows what a terrific onset was made. We went into the house, obtained some refreshment, bought some relics, and, among other things, a neat bra.s.s crucifix, which hung against the wall. We then, went to look at the farms La Belle Alliance and La Haye Sainte--the famous mound where the dead were interred, and which is surmounted by the Belgic lion. This is an immense work, two hundred feet high; and from the summit we saw the entire field. Of course, we all had our feelings excited at standing on a spot where the two greatest soldiers of Europe measured swords, and had a continent for spectators of the conflict.

When the French army marched through Waterloo, on their way to Antwerp, in 1831, they looked savagely at the Belgian monument, and one man fired his musket at the lion, and the mark is still visible upon his chin.

We were much gratified at the farm-house of Hougomont; and the hour we spent in its orchard and gardens will long be remembered by us all. I have read an account of the attack upon the house, which says, "The Belgian yeoman's garden wall was the safeguard of Europe, whose destinies hung upon the possession of this house." The garden wall is covered on the inside with ivy; and here we secured several roots of the plant, and, having bought a basket at the farm-house, we planted them in earth taken from beside the grave of a British officer, who fell in the orchard; his tombstone bears the name of J.L. Blackman. These plants will give us trouble to carry; but Dr. Choules has determined upon carrying them home for Mr. Hall, whose stone house needs ivy on the walls, and he intends obtaining roots from various places of interest in Europe, to serve as mementoes of other lands.

The church is a small affair, but is full of the testimonies of love and affection from fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, children, and friends, to those who fell in the b.l.o.o.d.y conflict.

We were annoyed by urchins, who beset our steps, eager to sell us genuine relics of the field, which are likely to increase in number as long as there is a demand for them. George, of course, was in his element, and he did little but plant the different sites in his memory, for the purpose of comparing notes, by and by, with Gleig, Headley, &c., &c.

I do not attempt to give you any thing like a description of the place, or an account of the battle, as you have books which are devoted to these points.

It is a circ.u.mstance worthy of notice that, in 1705, the Duke of Marlborough came very near fighting a battle with the French, on this ground, but was prevented by the Dutch commissioners who were with him.

We obtained some good engravings of the buildings that are famous for their connection with the battle, but they are nothing like as fine as the folio ill.u.s.trated volume of colored engravings which we have so often looked over with interest. I tried to get a copy in London at any price, and would have given any thing in reason; but the work is out of print and the market, and can only be gotten at the sale of a collector.

On returning to Brussels, and enjoying our dinner at a late hour, we pa.s.sed the evening in the Arcades, where we saw some beautiful goods exposed for sale, and again examined some lacework. You will smile at the idea of pocket handkerchiefs which cost from one hundred to one thousand dollars each. The embroidery of letters upon lacework is costly; and we saw single letters which had required a week's work.

We like this city, and, if time allowed us, should certainly pa.s.s a week here. I should not forget to say that we saw the king in the Park, near to his palace. He looks like a man of fifty-five, and, I thought, had a melancholy air.

Yours,

JAMES.

Letter 34.

ANTWERP.

DEAR CHARLEY:--