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THE BOTANIC GARDEN

BOTANIC GARDEN, BRUSSELS.

FORMERLY adjoined the Palace of the Fine Arts, but was removed about seven years ago to its present situation on the north side of the city, outside the Boulevards, between the Senne and the gate of Schaerbeke. The ground is admirably adapted for the purpose, and is laid out with great taste. On the north side is a splendid conservatory of the Ionic order, containing a large collection of exotics, amongst which are some fine palm-trees. The centre is of a circular form, projecting from the other part of the building; and there are two handsome wings, each adorned with eight pillars. A steam-engine raises water from the canal to the top of the building. The Government makes an annual grant to this establishment, and the city supplies a similar sum, altogether about £1000.

THE PALACE OF JUSTICE

Is a large building in which the courts of law are held. The principal front is in the Palace Square, formerly called the Jesuit's Square, as it occupies the site of the church which belonged to that body: it is adorned with a majestic portico finished in 1823, consisting of twelve stone columus supporting a triangular pediment. The Palace of Justice originally belonged to the Jesuits, and has been successively occupied as a royal college, as barracks, and as a military hospital. Amongst the records preserved here is the celebrated Golden Bull, which confirms the privileges of the inhabitants of Brabant, and is called golden, not only from its importance, but because the large seal attached to it is preserved in a gold box.

THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. GUDULE

Is the principal church in Brussels; it was founded in 1010, and dedicated in 1047 to St. Michael, the original patron of the city; but the body of St. Gudule being transferred to the new church, it was called the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudule, and the latter name has, in the lapse of time, superseded the former. The present building was commenced in 1226, but not finished till 1273. The towers were taken down in 1518, and others of greater height substituted. The Chapel of the Holy Sacrament was also rebuilt between 1534 and 1542, and the church itself underwent considerable repairs in 1720 and 1735. It is an elegant edifice of Gothic architecture, built in the form of a

cross.

The front is richly ornamented with sculpture, and flanked by two lofty towers. The interior is richly ornamented. The nave is lofty, and is separated from the aisles by noble columns, against each of which is placed a statue,

ten feet in height. These statues represent our Saviour, the Virgin Mary, and the Twelve Apostles. Near the centre of the nave is the pulpit, an extraordinary specimen of oak carving, which formerly adorned the Jesuit's church at Louvain; but, after the suppression of that order in 1776, was presented by the Empress Maria Theresa to St. Gudule. It was executed in 1699 by the famous Henry Verbruggen, of Antwerp.

At the entrance of the choir, which is separated from the nave by a screen, are two statues of Faith and Temperance, brought from the ancient Abbey of Grimberg: they were executed by Plumiers, who also sculptured the figures of our Saviour and St. Jerome, at the entrance of the nave. The grand altar is modern, having been executed in 1743, from designs by Donckers: it is of white marble, and of the Composite order. On one side of it is the mausoleum of the Dukes of Brabant, which was erected by the Archduke Albert: it is a handsome monument of black marble, surmounted by a bronzed copper lion, cast by J. de Montford in 1610, and weighing six thousand pounds. It contains the ashes of John the Second, Duke of Brabant, who died in 1312; of his consort Margaret, the daughter of Edward King of England, who died in 1318; and of Philip the First, who died in 1430. On the other side of the altar is the tomb of the Archduke Ernest, who died in 1595; it bears a statue of him in armour.

The choir is adorned with several handsome monuments, and on fête days, is hung with several pieces of tapestry, representing subjects from the history of the hosts which were stabbed by the Jews, and which are carefully preserved in this Cathedral. They are annually carried in a grand procession, which takes place on the Sunday after the 13th of July.

In St. Gudule were held the assemblies of the order of the Golden Fleece: the first was under its founder, Philip the Good, in 1435; the second under Philip the Handsome, in 1501; and the third under Charles the Fifth, in 1516.

Brussels possesses many other churches, but none of them approaching St. Gudule in architectural splendour.

THE BRITISH CHAPEL, in which the service of the Church of England is performed every Sabbath, is situated at the end of the Rue du Musée. It is called the Chapelle de la Cour, having belonged formerly to the ancient palace, which has already been mentioned. It is a small but handsome building, with a gallery supported by pillars painted in imitation of marble.

CEMETERIES.

THE cemeteries of the different parishes of Brussels were formerly, as in most other cities, attached to their respective

churches; and this circumstance has been by many persons considered one of the chief causes of various contagious disorders. The common people were buried in these cemeteries, the monks in their monasteries, the nobles and the wealthy in the churches; and the living were only separated from the dead by the stone placed over the grave. Soldiers and heretics were interred on the banks of the Senne, near the site of the Old Market-place; and suicides and criminals were thrown upon the highways, as food for the dogs and birds of prey. It was not till the year 1784 that the Emperor Joseph II. put an end to this mode of disposing of the dead, by opening burial-grounds outside of the town. There are now three; the first is outside the Halle Gate, the second beyond the Flanders Gate, and the third, which is the largest, beyond the Louvain Gate. In the latter is the monument of David, the celebrated French painter, who was buried here in 1826. Most of the ancient burial-grounds have been converted into open spaces. On that of St. Catherine is a small building, in which bodies found drowned are exposed in order to be owned. Burials generally take place within forty-eight hours after death, and are performed with very little ceremony. The bodies even of persons in the middle ranks are put into very plain coffins, without any shroud, and conveyed to the cemetery at night unattended.

GREAT BEGUINAGE.

THIS is the name of an establishment in Brussels, situated in the Rue de Laeken, and lately rebuilt on a very large scale, as the residence of the Beguin nuns. This class of persons is little known, except in the Netherlands; it consists of females who make a simple vow of chastity, but are not compelled to remain in the single state, if disposed to quit it. Neither are they secluded as the generality of nuns, for they go out alone, and also receive the visits of their friends. Their origin is attributed to St. Begga, a sister of St. Gertrude; and there were Beguins at Vilvorde, as far back as the eleventh century.

MANUFACTURES.

THE principal manufactures for which Brussels is celebrated are lace and carpets. The lace made here is of two sorts, called English or Brussels lace, according to its ground. The best is very expensive; a single veil, of handsome pattern, costs about £40. This will not appear a very large sum, when the time taken in the manufacture is considered; a flower, about two inches in diameter, will occupy one of the workwomen a whole day.

Brussels was formerly famous for its tapestry, but this manufacture has been discontinued some years. The splendid specimens of this work which are annually exhibited in St. Gudule, were made during the last century. The carriages of this city are also noted for their elegance, and the hackney-coaches which ply in the streets are certainly superior to those of London and Paris. The carriage which belonged to Napoleon, and which was exhibited in London after the Battle of Waterloo, was built at Brussels.

Brussels has also manufactories of printed cottons, hats, paper, glass, soap, starch, aqua-fortis, vitriol, sugar, and leather.

PROMENADES.

WITH the exception of the Park and the Boulevards, which have been already noticed, the ALLÉE VERTE, or Green Walk, is the most frequented promenade of Brussels. It is situated on the north side of the town, at a short distance from the Lacken Gate, and extends for about a mile along the side of the canal which goes to Mechlin and Antwerp; it consists of four rows of fine linden-trees, which were planted in the seventeenth century.

| Duke of Wellington, assisted by the Duke of Brunswick, reviewed the troops, who afterwards distinguished themselves at the Battle of Waterloo.

Brussels also possesses a Theatre; a Royal Academy of Science and Belles-Lettres, founded in 1772 by Maria Theresa, Empress of Germany; a Floral Society; an Academy of Drawing, Sculpture, and Architecture; several Literary Clubs and Harmonic Societies; two English Libraries; several Schools on the Madras system; numerous Hospitals; upwards of twenty Fountains; and well-supplied Markets.

The

The kitchen vegetable, called Brussels sprouts, is said to have originated in the vicinity of this city, where it has been cultivated for upwards of four hundred years. In the Horticultural Tour through Flanders, by a Deputation of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, we meet with a description of the Frog Market. Our readers will be struck with the shameful cruelty shown in the mode of preparing the creatures for sale. "The FROG MARKET would appear a novelty to the English visiter. animals are brought alive in pails and cans, and are sold by tale. The frog-women are arranged on forms, like the oyster-wives in the Edinburgh fish-market; and like them they prepare the article for the purchaser on the spot: as the oyster-woman dexterously opens the shells with her gulley, the frog-woman shows no less adroitness, though more barbarity, in the exercise of her scissors: with these she clips off the hind limbs (being the only parts used), flaying them at the same time with great rapidity, and sticking them on wooden skewers. Many hundreds of the bodies of the frogs, thus cruelly mangled, may be seen crawling in the kennel, or lying in heaps till they are carried off in the dust-carts. The species thus used as food (Rana esculenta) is generally larger and more arched on the back than our common frog, (Rana temporaria,) and the colour is rather green, while ours is nearly yellow."

ENVIRONS.

THE environs of Brussels are extremely fertile, and both banks of the Senne abound with rich pasturage. The FOREST of SOIGNY commences at a short distance from the city, and extends over more than 16,000 acres ; the trees are remarkably fine. The tree which chiefly prevails in the forest, is the common beech; but elm, oak, and abele, are not unfrequent. There are also ash-trees, willows, and a few small hornbeam-trees. In many parts of the forest may be seen large piles of billets, prepared for being sent to Brussels as firewood, each billet being about three feet long and one foot in circumference. The woodmen live in small scattered cottages, sometimes having mud walls, and deserving only the name of huts. The forest is traversed by narrow hunting-roads, and its surface is very unequal, sometimes rising into hillocks and sometimes sinking into deep glens.

THE PALACE OF SCHOONENBERG

Is situated at the village of Laeken, about half a league from Brussels, and is built upon a small eminence called Schoonenberg (Beautiful Mountain), from which it takes its name. It was erected in 1782 by the Archduchess Maria Christina, as a summer residence for the governors of the Low Countries, but afterwards fell into the hands of Napoleon, by whom it was given to Josephine.

TERVUEREN

Is a pretty villa, about seven miles from Brussels, near the
Forest of Soigny, which was built by the Prince of Orange.
The gardens are large, but not very picturesque.

WATERLOO.

When Marshal Saxe besieged Brussels in 1746, his soldiers began cutting down the trees of the Allée Verte; but the ladies having sent a petition to him to spare them, he complied with their request and stopped the devastation. OUR account of Brussels might justly be considered imIt was by this noble promenade that Buonaparte entered perfect, should we fail to give some description of the Battle Brussels, July 21, 1803, as First Consul, mounted on a of Waterloo, and of the place on which that gigantic conwhite horse, and preceded by 12,000 men. At the begin-flict took place; for it is a spot to the strong attraction of ning of the Walk was a triumphal arch, in imitation of that which Brussels has owed thousands of her visiters; and of Vespasian at Rome, adorned with representations of many a Briton, on his first arrival in that city, fair and his victories in Italy, and on each side was a spacious pleasant as it is, feels that he has something yet in store amphitheatre for the spectators. By this walk also William for the sake of which, above all other things, he left his the First, King of the Netherlands, made his entry into home. Let us, therefore, proceed to accompany our Brussels as sovereign, March 30, 1815, amidst the accla readers to this truly classic ground. mations of the people; and here, on the 11th of May, and on the 3rd of June, in the memorable year 1815, the

The road from Brussels to the village of Waterloo, a distance of nine miles, lies through the forest of Soigny, in

which the traveller at once finds an object of stirring interest; he may apply the lines of the Northern Bard:

Thy wood, dark Soignies, holds us now,
Where the tall beech's glossy bough,
For many a league around,

With birch and darksome oak between,
Spreads deep and far a pathless screen

Of tangled forest ground.

Emerging from the wood we reach the village,-for it is scarcely more than a village, but bearing a name, compared with which Crecy, Poictiers, Azincour, and Blenheim, are of secondary note. Here, however, let us not delay. The notice which the little town of Waterloo, with its small church and silent cemetery, well deserves, will come after the story of the field. Pass we on, therefore, full of the thoughts of the great but awful 18th of June, to the hamlet of Mont St. Jean, which is a mile beyond Waterloo. Here the road divides, the right branch leading to Nivelles, and that which is rather to our left to Genappe. Yet half a mile further, and as we gradually ascend, there is the battle-plain before us! the clear and open stage on which two of the most consummate generals that ever lived displayed their skill and prowess, while the eyes of Europe were anxiously fixed upon the combatants.

Standing on this ridge, near the farm of Mont St. Jean, with the wood at our back, we are situated on what was the rear of the British line. To this ground the Duke of Wellington had retired with his brave army on the 17th of June, 1815, after the affairs of Ligny and Quatre Bras*. Both these battles had occurred in one day, the 16th,-the former having been well contested, but lost by Blucher and his Prussians against Napoleon,-the latter gallantly won, without cavalry on our side, against Ney by the army of Wellington, who, after many hours severe fighting, remained in possession of Quatre Bras. In this engagement, in which the Duke of Brunswick was killed, the 42nd (Scotch) regiment greatly distinguished itself, and suffered amazing loss. Finding himself, however, separated from Blucher, who had retreated to Wavre without molestation from the enemy, the British general decided upon moving to the plains of Waterloo; and by five o'clock in the afternoon of the 17th, he had conducted his men to "the very place which," as he had on a former occasion remarked, "he would have chosen for the purpose, if ever it were his business to defend Brussels."

During the night of the 17th, the eve of the great battle, the rain fell in torrents; and of those men who laid themselves down upon that cold, clayey soil, particularly the officers, who had not changed the light ball-dresses which they had worn at a party given by the Duchess of Richmond at Brussels, not a few were so disabled as to be rendered unfit for further service. But at last the wishedfor morning came, discovering to our troops opposite to them, about 1200 yards off, a fine army, which Napoleon, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, had brought thither in the course of the night; they are said to have amounted to 80,000 men, including, besides a noble body of cavalry and 300 pieces of artillery, his own renowned Imperial Guard. The numbers the Duke of Wellington had in the field are stated at 65,000 men, 30,000 of whom were English. His right wing, consisting of English divisions, Hanoverians, and Belgians, stretched back as far as Merke Braine, avoiding a ravine, and was commanded by the quiet but intrepid Lord Hill. The left wing, under the orders of the gallant and lamented Picton, terminated at the farm of Ter-la-Haye. The centre consisted of the corps of the Prince of Orange, of Brunswickers, of Nassau regiments, with the Guards under General Cooke. At the centre was a tree which has since been removed, called the Wellington-tree, from the circumstance of the Duke having fixed upon that spot for his own position. The British front extended upwards of a mile. The cavalry was posted chiefly in the rear of the centre.

It so happens, from certain features in the field which cannot be mistaken, that the visiter at this day may accurately trace the chief incidents in the progress of *So called from four roads meeting, the farm of Quatre Bras being situated at the intersection of the routes from Charleroi to Brussels, and from Nivelles to Namur.

+ How Napoleon raised so numerous and splendid a force of cavalry, in the short time which elapsed between his landing from Elba, March 1, and his appearance at Waterloo, in June, is a matter of astonishment to experienced officers. In giving the relative numbers, we must remark on the difficulty, if not impossibility, of obtaining entirely correct particulars on this and some other points connected with the event.

the fray. I. In front of the centre of the British right wing, and near the Nivelles road, was a gentleman's house, called the chateau of Hougoumont, the remains of which are now standing, and bear evident and awful marks of devastation. The house, garden, and orchard, were occupied with our soldiers, and the wood about the house protected by a strong detachment. II. To the extreme left, the hamlet of Ter-la-Haye was likewise occupied: and, III. In front of the left centre the farm of La Haye Sainte was filled and guarded. We have marked these points in the above order, as affording a simple view of the three chief assaults successively made by the French.

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Between nine and ten o'clock, the weather began to clear up. Napoleon had taken his position, with the farm of La Belle Alliance in the centre of his line, and was ready for the attack. He occasionally ascended an observatory which had lately been erected there by the Prince of Orange, for a survey of the country, and from thence admired the appearance of the British army. "Ah!" said he, as he looked upon the steady ranks set in array before Mont St. Jean, Ah! I have them, then, these English! For so far he had in some degree got the wish of his heart. His plan seems to have been first to divide the armies of Wellington and Blucher, and then to pounce in good time upon the British force, lest the Russians should arrive in their aid; and he wished, if possible, to finish the work ere the Prussian columns should advance by way of Wavre. But he had wofully miscalculated: how were his feelings of exultation changed, in a few short hours to bitter and unavailing regret!

At about eleven o'clock firing was heard; the left wing of the French, led by Jerome Buonaparte, rushed violently upon Hougoumont, hoping to seize that important post. But in vain: for though the men in the wood were overpowered by numbers, so that the enemy got even to the gates, Hougoumont never once came into their hands, but notwithstanding their repeated efforts, it was gallantly kept, though at the expense of many lives, throughout the day. Horrid must have been the sights and sounds at this place. When the trial of its defenders was fiercest, the chateau was found to be on fire!-portions of the building were falling in all directions, and the wounded, unable to move, perishing in the flames. This first project, then, having failed, the battle became more general,-French cuirassiers as well as infantry, poured down with the force of a torrent upon the British, who met them face to face with cavalry: and after mutual loss from this encounter, when the enemy returned protected by their artillery to a fresh attack, the British formed closely and steadily into squares, withholding their fire until the assailants were near at hand, when the musketry dealt both the shock and the knell of death. And now another blow was to be aimed, and in a different direction. The day advancing, and no Prussians yet appearing, Napoleon decided to throw the weight of his arms upon the left of the British line, towards Ter-la-Haye, thinking, if he succeeded there, to cut off all passage between Wellington and Blucher. It was a hold measure, valiantly attempted: but Picton advanced his division in a solid square, who charged terribly upon them with bayonets: and when that veteran officer fell, killed by a musket-ball in his temple, he had defeated a design, which, had it answered, might have proved fatal to the then uncertain issue of the day. This was the second great but fruitless move of the French general.

Meanwhile the carnage on both sides was lamentable. The ground was covered with slain; and many officers of worth and high promise, in achieving the defence of their king and country against a common foe, had sunk down in the arms of death. The fortune of the fight now began to smile upon Napoleon. Urging his masses on the farm of La Haye Sainte, his sanguine temper suggested that he should pierce the British line at its centre, and so cut off its retreat from Brussels! This was no blind presumption: for the Prussians were not yet heard of. The brave German Legion occupied the farm, but after doing their utmost to defend it, even to the death, were deprived of this strong hold. Then it was that Napoleon despatched from the field a courier to Paris, with the news that victory was no longer doubtful. A few hours after, he had no longer any army left!

Eager to improve what he had gained by the capture of La Haye, and hoping to end the business, which had then lasted incessantly for upwards of five hours, he brought down his powerful cavalry upon the centre of the allies; presently after, thick columns of infantry approached,-the obvious intention being to force the very point held by

Wellington and his staff, and to carry the farm and village of Mont St. Jean. The Duke, aware of the danger, led several charges in person, encouraged the soldiers by his presence and exhortations, placed himself repeatedly in the middle of several squares, when they appeared to waver, and thus not only gave a check to the rash onset, but drove the enemy from the position they had gained, and recovered the farm of La Haye. To secure this, however, and other advantages, he had employed all his reserves, while the French reserves were all waiting to be called into action; and our great commander, however cool and intrepid, could not conceal from himself or from his staff, that to ensure a successful resuit of that arduous day, the Prussian troops must arrive, and so indeed they did. At half-past six o'clock, Buonaparte first heard that they were advancing:"Psha!" he exclaimed, "it is Grouchy ;" and this deception he circulated through the ranks. But, no, it was Bulow's army, faithfully guided by a peasant, marching full upon the enemy's flank; and Grouchy, who had been sent to keep the Prussians in check, was afar off, Napoleon, however, continued to make his hostile movements with great and rapid, though not lasting, effect. His final resort had yet to be tried: his own Imperial invincible Guard were formed into two columns. They fondly imagined that their master would charge at their head; but they had to pass before him; and giving him a last expressive look, they were, many of them, led to their duty and their doom under the command of Ney.

The effect of that tremendous charge was like the lightning-shock; it carried all before it; and once more, in this strange and eventful battle, the victory was, to appearance, Napoleon's. But "the English," to use an expression of his own, which conveyed an unintended compliment, "the English do not know when they are beaten." In a hollow of the ground, immediately in front of the French, and protected from the fire of their artillery, lay a regiment of British Foot Guards. The Duke of Wellington was close behind them. The Imperial Guard approached within a hundred yards; when the Duke suddenly exclaimed, "Up, Guards, and at them!" and placed himself at their head. All was soon confusion in the French army, who, from being assailants, became fugitives. The British found it their turn to attack. Justly elated at the welcome advance of the Prussians, they did not fear pushing their columns too far; while the vanquished leader of the enemy, with a face of horror, exclaiming that all was lost, was in an instant on the gallop for Charleroi; and the crowds who remained alive, and

who had entered the field under his auspices in the morning, full of high hopes of victory, were now heard to utter that natural but degrading cry, Sauve qui peut, (Escape who can!) The accidental meeting of Wellington and Blucher, after the victory, took place at the farm of La Belle Alliance, so called from this circumstance. The former proposed to pursue the retreating remnant of the French army; he did so; and in this pursuit it is to be regretted that no quarter was shown by the Prussians. The miseries of war had been sufficiently dreadful, without further aggravation on the part of the strong against the weak. We will not pursue this subject, lest it should lead us into painful reflections, when our purpose was to furnish facts. We will therefore conclude our memoir in the words of one of the heroes of Waterloo, which he used on the occasion of receiving the thanks of the House of Commons. Of the Duke of Wellington, Sir Henry Clinton said,-" By his constant vigilance, his undaunted firmness, and the exertion of the greatest intrepidity and perseverance, he was able, throughout the well-contested day, to defeat every effort of a powerful and enterprising enemy, and ultimately to gain that victory by which he restored peace to Europe, and increased, to the impossibility of our ever acquitting it, HIS COUNTRY'S DEBT OF GRATITUDE."

On the field of battle are two interesting monuments viz., that to the memory of the Hon. Sir Alexander Gordon, brother to the Earl of Aberdeen, who there terminated a short but glorious career at the age of twenty-nine, and "fell in the blaze of his fame;" the other to some brave officers of the German Legion, who likewise died under circumstances of peculiar distinction. There is also, on an enormous mound, a colossal lion of bronze, in not a very prepossessing attitude, erected by the Belgians to the honour of the Prince of Orange, who was wounded at about that spot. Against the walls of the church, at the village of Waterloo, are many beautiful marble tablets with the most affecting inscriptions,-records of men of various countries, who expired on that solemn and memorable occasion in supporting a common cause. Many of these brave men were buried in a cemetery at a short distance from the village. Adverting to the feelings of the Duke, on losing so many personal friends, feelings which he was not ashamed to acknowledge, Scott has these lines:

Ah! though her guardian angel's shield
Fenc'd Britain's Hero through the field,
Fate not the less her power made known
Through his friends' hearts to pierce his own!
The Field of Waterloo.

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