CHAPTER XIII.

Brussels-Mr. Norris-Military Display-Relations of Belgium to the Great Powers of Europe-Visit to Paris-The Tuileries-The King's Fête Day-Splendid Reception-Royal Family-Cabinet MinistersGuizot-Marshal Soult-Diplomatic Corps-Hôtel des Invalides

Notre Dame-Versailles.

BRUSSELS was in full beauty; the parks and boulevards attracted visitors in unusual numbers, and the suburbs were never more charming. We enjoyed our drives greatly; and the ladies of my family in our open carriage visited places of interest in the neighborhood. As a residence Brussels was more agreeable than Paris, with which city it has often been compared.

Mr. Norris passed some days with us before his departure for Vienna, and we were unwilling to give him up. Among the numbers of our countrymen who came to visit Brussels, we met no one who was more agreeable to us than this friend from Philadelphia.

I was much pleased to have a visit from Mr. Thurlow Weed, who with a party of friends passed a few days in Brussels. I found Mr. Weed a most interesting man, and he showed his appreciation of my attentions by a generous tribute to me in his paper, published in Albany, upon my entering Congress a year or two later.

A splendid military review took place in Brussels, in which the troops, consisting of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, displayed great skill in training. In no country in the world can so large a body of troops be seen equal

THE BELGIAN ARMY.

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to those of the Belgian army. Belgium, it is well known, is the battle-field of Europe, and her soldiers seem to possess the qualities that would make them equal in modern warfare to those composing the armies of any of the great powers. The army of Belgium is, in proportion to the actual population of the country, the largest in the world; in clothing and appointments the troops are superior to any on the continent. Yet Belgium is recognized by the great powers of Europe as a neutral state, its independence guaranteed and its soil respected, so that not even an army of any other kingdom can pass over it to reach another point. But the people, as warlike as the inhabitants were in the times of Cæsar, disdain to acknowledge that they owe their immunity from invasion to any foreign power, trusting to their own valor and strength, and acting upon the counsel of Cromwell to the army which he had trained to be invincible: "Put your trust in God, but keep your powder dry.'

The season was beautiful, and we decided to visit Paris and pass a short time there, embracing the first of May, the King's fête day. We enjoyed the journey through Belgium and France, travelling in railway cars to the boundary between the two countries, where the road terminated, and then in the diligence to Paris. The huge coach was divided into three compartments-the coupé, the intérieur, and the rotonde,-drawn by five powerful horses of the Flanders breed. The turnpike roads were in fine order, and the heavy coaches, filled with passengers and loaded with mail-bags and boxes of fine merchandise, were rolled on their way smoothly, stopping at certain stations to be weighed. We found this mode of travelling very pleasing to us, giving us a view of the country, through which we caught sight of country-seats, increasing in number and exhibiting greater elegance as we approached Paris. I engaged handsome apartments for my party in a pleasant quarter of the city, and we found

our surroundings satisfactory throughout our visit. We took with us from Brussels one of our servants, a German girl of excellent qualities, and even accomplishments, and thus contributed greatly to our comfort in making our excursions through the city and its environs. Mrs. Hilliard and the other ladies of our party enjoyed visits to many places of public interest, and found in the picturegalleries a source of inexhaustible pleasure. The city was thronged with visitors, many persons of distinction being present to witness the display on the first of May, the fête day of Louis Philippe.

I enjoyed the honor, as a member of the Diplomatic Corps, of being present at the morning reception at the palace, and with my friend and colleague, Mr. Ledyard, witnessed the brilliant scene. It surpassed any similar display at which I had been present. The King, his sons, members of the Cabinet, the diplomatic representatives of the nations of the world, the eminent statesmen, soldiers, and scholars of France, men of rank from every country, assembled in the vast saloon called Salle des Maréchaux. Its lofty walls hung with portraits of the living marshals of France, Soult, Moncey, Malitor, Grouchy, Gérard, Valée, and others, with busts of distinguished generals placed around the room, presented a picture far more magnificent than could have been seen in any other capital in the world. His Majesty received us in our turn graciously, inquiring of me in terms of interest of affairs in the United States, and recalling my visit to him on a former occasion. I observed standing near his Majesty his sons-the Duc de Nemours, the Duc d'Aumale, the Duc de Montpensier,—the members of his cabinet-Guizot, the Premier; Marshal Soult, Minister of War, and others.

In the line of the Diplomatic Corps I observed that the Minister of Greece, who stood by my side, wore a court dress so remarkable that it attracted the attention

AT THE French COURT.

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of the Duc de Nemours. style, the long skirts richly embroidered, the loose white trousers hanging over his shoes, and the Turkish cimeter suspended from his waist. The dress of the Austrian Minister was splendid, richly embroidered with gold, and a loose hussar jacket hanging from his shoulders. At that time American ministers wore a court dress similar to that of the English envoys, the coat with the oak leaf embroidered in gold on the collar, cuffs, breast, and skirts, a small sword by the side.

The costume was of Oriental

Never at any period of her history had France enjoyed higher prosperity than under the reign of Louis Philippe, and never had a sovereign surrounded himself with abler ministers. Guizot would have illustrated any administration, and have adorned any reign; he was a thorough scholar and a trained statesman. Such were his abilities that while a Protestant of rigid views he was called into the service of a Catholic prince, and in a country where the Church was jealous of any invasion of its rights, he succeeded in controlling the national system of education. As a political writer he was the most powerful man in France, and controlled the nation by his opinions when not in the service of the government. When he appeared in England as the Ambassador of France, in 1840, he attracted great attention, being the first Protestant envoy since the time of Sully. When I saw him at the reception, in May, 1844, he was in his prime, and displayed immense vigor; tall, slender, erect, his fine head set well on his broad shoulders, his features classical, his gray eyes expressive of intellectual force, and his manner grave. When not in full dress as a minister of the crown, he wore black, his long frock-coat cut in the style of a Prince Albert of our time; and he was always impressive. Unfortunately for the success of his administration he was too conservative, and influenced Louis Philippe, already too much inclined to yield the rank of France among the

great powers to considerations for the promotion of the commercial prosperity of the country, to the adoption of measures that touched the pride of the nation.

There, too, stood Soult, the greatest of Napoleon's marshals, in rich uniform, with his grave, severe look, the dark eyes still flaming with fire, his face bronzed with many campaigns; over the middle height and strongly built. As yet time had not bowed his frame; he stood erect, but limped slightly when he walked, from a wound received in the last desperate charge of Massena, leading the troops in an assault on Monte Creto. Wounded and a prisoner, he lay and heard the storm of battle on the field of Marengo until, at the close of the day, his ear caught the announcement of victory for Napoleon. He was made a Marshal of France by the Emperor, and won his confidence so fully that he committed to him the most important and difficult enterprises. He commanded the right wing of the army at Austerlitz, confronting the two armies of Austria and Russia under the personal command of their Emperors; the French army was under the eye of Napoleon himself. In that splendid battle of the three Emperors at one time, Napoleon sent an order to Soult to break the Russian lines, but the Marshal held his command; not long after the Emperor sent a courier to Soult with the peremptory order to charge; still the Marshal held his men, and just as Napoleon's third courier rode up, Soult led his eager troops to the charge, and breaking the centre of the enemy's line carried everything before him. Later, the Emperor, surrounded by his staff, rode up to Soult, and learning that the Marshal saw from his position that the Russian army was making a false move, weakening its centre, when he received his order to advance, he lifted his cap, and said to the Marshal: "I pronounce you the ablest tactician in the army." All the splendid career of Soult rose before me as I upon him that fair May morning in the Hall of the