the doors and windows of the houses the
products of their industry and skill.

It is a fact highly honourable to the
Belgians, that they have earned distinction in
almost every branch of human industry; and
that every effort turning to a useful purpose,
obtains from them, ready encouragement and
protection. Another fact, no less creditable
to the nation is, that no class or profession
constituting a part of the great European
family, is depreciated or despised in Belgium.
This trait of the national character is strongly
marked in Brussels, where priests, soldiers,
government officials, noblemen, tradesmen,
merchants, and mechanics, live in close
contact, not only undisturbed by hostile feelings,
but on a footing of mutual respect.

This state of things has, as may naturally
be imagined, given rise to a vast degree of
religious toleration. In Brussels the Jews
have their synagogue; Protestants of various
sects have their respective places of worship,
and all are free to follow their own religious
observances without interference or molestation.
On her emancipation from Austrian
and Dutch dominion, Belgium began to enjoy
a reasonable share of political freedom; and
since the restoration of national independence
and the establishment of the Constitution of
1831, Brussels has been the favourite asylum
of political refugees from all parts of Europe.
During the last twenty years, great numbers
of foreigners have settled in Belgium; and
among them are persons of all ranks and
professions; pleasure-seeking men of wealth,
poor artists, and authors, princes, noblemen,
and ecclesiastics.

It is scarcely possible for any one writing
on Brussels, to omit some notice of its
principal squares, streets, and public buildings,
several of which excel all similar objects
of interest in many other European capitals.
The Grand Square, called the Place de l'Hôtel
de Ville, has not its equal in any city of
northern Europe, and is only excelled by the
great open places in the towns of Italy; as,
for example, the Piazza of St. Mark, at
Venice.

The Place de l'Hôtel de Ville is a spacious
parallelogram, surrounded by buildings
remarkable for their grandeur and beauty, and
deeply interesting for their antiquity. In
otner parts of Brussels many old streets have
been entirely pulled down, and whole
districts have been newly built: but here, in the
centre, and as it were the sanctum sanctorum
of their capital, it would seem that the citizens
of Brussels have preserved every object with
a sort of religious care. This may be, because
it is the spot on which all their most fondly-
cherished national recollections rally; or,
because it would be extremely difficult to
operate any change in that part of the city,
owing to the solid and substantial nature of
the buildings. Several of the houses in this
great square are of genuine old Spanish
structure; others are Gothic and Flemish
buildings: all bear the stamp of venerable
antiquity; and time has wrought upon them
much fewer ravages than are discernible in
the Piazza of St. Mark in Venice.

The Stadhuis, or to call it by its more
generally adopted French name, the Hôtel de
Ville, exceeds in architectural beauty any
similar building in the Netherlands, where in
every city the Stadhuis is an imposing and
handsome structure. The slender tower
which surmounts the roof of the Brussels
Hôtel de Ville is one of the most elegant
creations of architectural skill; on its summit
stands a statue of the Archangel Michael,
which, strangely enough, is made to perform
the functions of a weather-cock. Even the
private houses in the Place de l'Hôtel de
Ville are all more or less profusely decorated
with architectural ornaments. Some have
been the scenes of great events which hold a
prominent place in the world's history; with
others are associated traditionary tales of
strange domestic incidents, which have been
preserved in the memory of the inhabitants,
from generation to generation, during three
or four centuries.

I saw the window from which the Counts
Egmont and Hoorn stepped forth to the
scaffold prepared for their execution. We
Germans, whithersoever we go, find our
thoughts wandering to Goethe and Schiller.
In Switzerland we seek the spot rendered
memorable by Tell's renown, and we wend
our way to Kussnacht and Zwinguri. In
Genoa, Fiesco's palace is our grand object of
attraction, and in Belgium our sympathies
are absorbed in everything associated with
Goethe's Egmont.

It was in the great Hall of the Brussels
Stadhuis that the Emperor Charles the Fifth
performed his solemn act of abdication; his
son Philip kneeling at his feet, and a numerous
assemblage of Princes and Nobles grouped
around him. This abdication is a subject for
which Belgian artists would seem to cherish
a strong predilection, and in many of their
paintings this scene is ably and powerfully
pourtrayed. Few historical subjects exhibit
a deeper and more varied interest, or afford
better opportunity for the employment of
grand pictorial accessories.

One of the most remarkable of the old
historical houses on the Place de I'Hôtel de
Ville at Brussels, is that now distinguished by
the name of the Hôtel de Brasseurs. It is said
to have been the residence of Charles the
Fifth. Another house known by the
appellation of le Pot d'Etain, is that in which the
Duke of Wellington established his
headquarters in the year 1815, and where he gave
a ball on the eve of the battle of Waterloo.

But the house which most firmly rivets the
observer's attention, is one fronted by a
balcony. From that balcony the Duke of
Alba witnessed the execution of Egmont and
Hoorn. There, whilst the fatal axe was
raised over the head of the noble Egmont,