332 RESEMBLING PETERSBURG. Mound, which is two hundred feet high, and twenty-one hundred feet round, with a pillar and a lion on the top. I was struck with a certain resemblance which this battle-field bears to the Petersburg field of our war, especially to that part of the Petersburg field beginning at the Appomattox River on the north-east, and stretching along in front of the city, across the Norfolk Railroad and the Jerusalem plank-road, thence on to the Weldon Railroad. To make the parallel good, Wellington must be placed along the low ridge held by Lee; and Napoleon must take the position of Grant. The French commander believed in taking the initiative, and in making a bold and impetuous onset. In this engagement, which was his final one, he advanced his army over the level plain, and up to the foot of the ridge on which Wellington was posted, behind very slight intrenchments. His assaults were rapid, vigorous, and persistent. He broke the allied line at one important point, but was quickly driven back; and the line was restored. Even his final charge, just at night, by his trusted Old Guard, failed disastrously; and all was lost. Then the allied troops sent up their wild shouts of victory. The French emperor, thus overwhelmed, was made a prisoner of war, and consigned to the island of St. Helena, off the west coast of Africa, where he died of ulcer of the stomach, May 5, 1821. THE TIDE OF BATTLE. 333 The morning of Sunday, June 18, 1815, broke slowly through the heavy clouds. The rain, which had descended in torrents before daylight, was succeeded, as the morning advanced, by a drizzling shower, which entirely ceased at nine o'clock. Soon the movement of the troops of both armies began. Divisions, brigades, and regiments were changed to the right and left, to strengthen the line here, and reduce it there; and every preparation for a great battle was carefully made. At eleven o'clock the Duke of Wellington rode along the whole length of his line, giving each commander a word of caution, and telling each that a momentary attack was expected. At the same time the French bands struck up lively airs, which were distinctly heard across the intervening space by the allied army. I hazard nothing in the statement, that, at that hour, there was no jesting or frivolous talk among the troops of either army. Only serious thoughts engage the minds of soldiers on the eve of an encounter. At halfAt half-past eleven the memorable battle of Waterloo was opened, Napoleon making the attack. Instantly the fire augmented like the thickening peals of thunder. Each army was ably handled, and each fought with a bravery and persistence never surpassed. The total loss of the allies was twenty-three thousand, and that of the French, thirty thousand. And what a field of carnage was there! 334 MASTERS OF PAINTING. "The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent, The earth is covered thick with other clay, Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent, Rider and horse, — friend, foe, — in one red burial blent.” The next and last place on the Continent to be mentioned is Antwerp, a city of a hundred and sixty-five thousand people. The ancient, narrow, winding streets, like those of many of the towns of Belgium, are not pleasing to the eye of the stranger; but modern improvements are giving to the place a bright and progressive appearance. The churches of Antwerp are embellished by some of the best productions of Rubens, Van Dyck, and other great masters of painting, who were natives of the city. We visited the cathedral and the museum. At the former is the celebrated painting (with the engraved copies of which millions of people are familiar), "The Descent from the Cross." This is reputed to be the masterpiece of Rubens. Here also is the "Elevation of the Cross," which Sir Joshua Reynolds describes as one of the best compositions painted by the same artist. The splendid collection of paintings at the museum embraces "The Crucifixion," "St. John,” “Virgin and Child,” “Christ between two Thieves," and hundreds more of perhaps equal merit. One can linger here, rapt in admiration, for hours and days; though there is quite too much of cross and crucifixion to suit many. CHIEF CITY OF BELGIUM. 335 Antwerp is the first commercial town of Belgium. It is situated on the river Scheldt (pronounced Skelt), sixty miles from the sea. It has extensive docks, made by Napoleon I., large enough for two thousand ships. The trade of the port is on the increase. The city-arms are Two Hands. This grows out of the fact, or fable, that a certain giant, Antigonus, cut off the hands of those who would not pay toll, and threw them into the Scheldt. We left the city in a violent rain-storm. Our sail down the river, and across the English Channel to Harwich, was mainly in the night. The trip from Harwich to London, by rail, succeeded; and we were once more in the metropolis of the world. 336 HIDDEN FROM VIEW. CHAPTER XXVII. ENVELOPED IN FOG. -THE VASTNESS OF LONDON. HISTORIC PLACES. — THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. —A WARM DEBATE. GOING NORTH. — THE CRADLE OF NEW ENGLAND. — DESCRIPTION OF SCROOBY. — AN ALMSHOUSE. — ROWLEY IN YORKSHIRE. — ANCESTRAL HOME. — THE CHURCH OF EZEKIEL ROGERS. INSCRIPTIONS ON THE WALL. GOING, at an early hour in the morning, to an outlook in the tower of our hotel, to obtain a panoramic view of London, we were greatly disappointed. A dense fog had settled down on the entire city, hiding every object, except here and there a high church-spire or tower. It must have been a day like this when Dickens, in the capital story of "Bleak House," set forth, in vivid phrase, the mistiness of the great High Court of Chancery, in the case of "Jarndyce v. Jarndyce." These are his words: "Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping, and the water-side pollutions of a great city. Fog on the Essex . marshes; fog on the Kentish heights." And he adds, "Never can there come fog too thick, never can there come mud and mire too deep, to assort with the groping and floundering condition |