diplomatist, whose name figures so largely in the history of the sixteenth century, resided on this spot, and a small tower is still pointed out as a part of his residence. It now shelters the elephants. There is a fine aquarium in another part of the gardens, and the collection of animals is very fine. The Botanical Gardens, which cover the rising ground on one side of the Boulevard of the same name, owe much to the picturesqueness of the situation. There are several large conservatories filled with rare and beautiful plants, and a good library of botanical works. The rhododendrons and azaleas are the chief feature of the gardens, and annually display their brilliant colours to thousands of spectators, who are admitted free three days a week, a happy contrast to the exclusiveness of botanical gardens in other places. Flower shows are frequently held, and to these also the public are freely admitted. The Park of Brussels is very small, being only 500 yards long and 300 yards wide, yet in that small space there is much to please the eye. It was laid out during the last century by direction of the Empress Maria Theresa, and in September, 1830, was the scene of a severe conflict between the Dutch troops under Prince Henry of the Netherlands, and the Belgians. It is surrounded by splendid buildings, including the palaces of the King, of the Legislative Assembly, and of the Prince of Orange, as well as by the handsome houses of the Rue Royale, which forms its western boundary. It is perhaps rather a garden than a park, and may be compared not unfavourably with the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. Carriage traffic is not allowed, but promenaders circulate freely under avenues of lofty trees. Here on Sunday afternoons in summer may be seen high and low, rich and poor, the grand lady in her silks, and the workman in his blue blouse, moving along the well-kept paths, or listening to the music of a military band. The Park contains several statues, including a bust of Peter the Great, who visited the city in 1717. Although, as has been stated, the Park is in size little more than a garden, Brussels possesses a park the extent of which invites comparison with similar enclosures belonging o other large cities. The Bois de la Cambre covers nearly 500 acres, and is a beautiful place of resort. Unfortunately it is a long way off, being a mile and a half from the Boulevards, with which it is connected by a broad roadway, along which a line of tramways has been established. A large artificial grotto and a lake are amongst the attractions of this delightful spot; but the chief charms of the place are the lofty trees (some in long and stately avenues, and some dotted about the greensward), the shady walks, and the smooth well-kept lawns. Here are roads for carriage folk and for horsemen, as well as paths reserved for the pedestrian, who may wander freely about, now in the company of his fellows, and then in by-ways almost solitary, where he may easily forget the busy haunts of men and fancy himself far away from their abodes. But to return to the city. Brussels contains many stately monuments of those who in former or modern times have added to her glories whether as patriots, warriors, statesmen, or men of science and letters. The finest statue is that of Godfrey of Bouillon in front of the Church of St. James, on the Place Royale. Godfrey was the hero of the first Crusade, a man of sincere piety, a valiant and prudent warrior, and one of the few noble-minded leaders whose singleness of heart makes him stand out conspicuously among the group of princes who answered the call of Peter the Hermit to wrest the Holy Sepulchre from the hands of the infidels. He is represented on horseback unfurling a banner. The site of this grand work is most appropriate, for it is said to have been on this very spot that Godfrey invited his fellow-countrymen to enrol themselves under the banner of the Cross. On the west side of the park is a handsome statue of Count Belliard, a French general and diplomatist, who was ambassador at the Court of Brussels in 1831 and 1832, and assisted in the settlement of the Kingdom of Belgium. This statue is one of the best works of Geefs, an eminent Belgian sculptor, who ended a long and prosperous career in January, 1883. A little farther along the Rue Royale, in the Place du Congrès, from which there is a fine view over the lower part of the town, is a Doric column, rising to a height of 285 feet, erected to commemorate the Congress of June, 1831, which founded the Kingdom of Belgium. Several Belgian artists contributed to this memorial of the establishment of the liberties of the nation. The base of the column is adorned with nine figures in relief, representing the provinces of the country, and with four female figures, representing Liberty of the Press, Liberty of Public Worship, Liberty of Association, and Liberty of Education. Marble tablets record the names of the members of the Congress and of the Provisional Government. The whole is crowned with a bronze statue of Leopold I., who laid the foundation-stone in 1850. The monument was not completed until 1859. The Martyrs' Monument, in the Place of the same name, preserves the memory of those who fell in the revolution of 1830 fighting for national independence, and is covered with appropriate reliefs. The famous Mannikin, not far from the Hôtel de Ville, is the most curious statue in the city, and we may hope in the world, but although it is much visited, it cannot be described. The fine church dedicated to St. Michael and St. Gudule, though generally spoken of by the latter name only, is a noble Gothic building, begun in the twelfth century, and carried on for nearly four hundred years. The ground on which it stands slopes upwards from the west, and the church is approached by a fine flight of steps, erected in 1861, which add much to the dignity of the building. The two towers at the west end of the church have never been completed. The pillars of the nave and choir are round, and the former are ornamented with statues of the apostles. The pulpit, which came from the Jesuits' Church at Louvain, is a marvellous specimen of wood-carving, the subject being the expulsion from Paradise. The figures of Adam and Eve are excellent, and amongst the foliage, which forms a balustrade to the stairs, are several animals, including a fox, an eagle, a peacock, an owl, a dove, a bear, and a dog. The pulpit is the work of Verbruggen, the famous wood-carver of Antwerp, but he is not responsible for the balustrade, which is of the last century, and by Vanderaeghen. There are several handsome monuments in St. Gudule, which contains a vault where many princes of the House of Austria have been buried. But the chief glory of the church is the stained glass, much of which dates from the sixteenth century, when glass-painting attained great perfection in Flanders. The windows in the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament were put up to commemorate a sacrilegious theft of consecrated wafers by the Jews, who, it is said, took them away and stabbed them. The hosts bled profusely, and the terrified thieves resolved to restore them, but were discovered. They were, of course, put to death; and this is probably the only true part of the story of the windows, which were put up at the expense of John and Catherine, King and Queen of Portugal, of Louis of Hungary and his queen, of Francis I. of France, of Ferdinand of Austria, and of Charles V. The windows of the Chapel of the Virgin represent episodes in her life, and those of the choir contain figures of various royal personages, including Philip II. and Queen Mary of England. The transept windows contain some good stained-glass of the sixteenth century, and in the great west window there is a "Last Judgment," rather over-crowded with figures, but nevertheless finely executed. The windows of the nave are modern, and were given by wealthy citizens at the time of the last restoration of the church, which was completed in 1870. Another interesting Gothic church, Notre Dame de la Chapelle, has some important monuments, including those of two famous artists, Jan Breughel the younger, who died in 1625, and is generally known by the epithet "Velvet," from the extreme minuteness and softness of his paintings, and Lens, who died in 1822, and has been styled the regenerator of Belgian painting. The pillars of the nave, like those of St. Gudule, support statues of considerable merit. The pulpit of carved wood has for its subject Elijah in the wilderness fed by an angel, and is the work of Plumiers. The church contains some paintings, and the walls are covered with good frescoes. The other churches of the city are not of much interest, with the exception of the Church of St. James, on the Place Royale, which possesses a handsome portico, supported by Corinthian columns. It must be admitted that as regards ecclesiastical architecture Brussels is far behind many smaller towns in Flanders. Some of the newer churches are well designed, bat have no other attractions. An exception ought perhaps to be made in favour of the new church at Laeken, the proportions of which are good. The churchyard ecptains a Document of Malibran, the celebrated singer. At the east end of the church is the royal vault, in which Leopold I., his queen, and two of their children were buried. The Palace of Laeken, the usual residence of the King, is a plain building, erected in the last century for the Austrian Governor of Flanders, who occupied it for a few years only. Napoleon inhabited it occasionally, and it is said that he planned his Russian expedition here. The park is extensive, and the gardens are well laid out. There is a good crangery and several conservatories, which are the chief attractions of the place, but they can only he seen in the absence of the Royal Family. In the suburbs of Brussels are many handsome villas, and the adjoining country on the east and south is more attractive, and possesses more natural beauty, than the flat provinces which form so large a portion of the Kingdom of Belgium. Few persons who visit Brussels fail to make a pilgrimage to the field of Waterloo. It is not within the scope of the present work to conduct the reader over that famous battle-ground, but the opening lines of Sir Walter Scott's poem on "Waterloo" give a picturesque sketch of the road from Brussels, and may fairly conclude this description of the city. "Fair Brussels, thou art far behind, Though, lingering on the morning wind, Peal'd over orchard and canal, With voice prolonged and measured fall, From proud St. Michael's tower; Thy wood, dark Soignes, holds us now For many a league around, With birch and darksome oak between, |