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<h2>Letter 32.</h2> 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 principally at the lace and print stores. We purchased some very beautiful engravings, lithographs, and illustrated 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 attitudes were almost threats. He looked like a Jew, but he acted like a wild Arab; and his manœuvres would have been a godsend 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, Vandyke, 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 Vandyke 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 class very spirited. One of Bloody 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 Chêne 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 anticipate his transports with interest. We are to start early; so good-night. Yours, weld. <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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