BRUSSELS, or Bruxelles, the capital of the new king- | to the Ruppel, a branch of the Schelde, by means of dom of Belgium, and alternately with the Hague the seat of the late government of the United Netherlands, stands on the Senne, a small branch of the Schelde, in north latitude 50° 51'. Its central position, joined to the facilities which it possesses for communicating with all parts of the kingdom, renders it a convenient situation for the residence of the government. As early as the year 1561, a canal was made from Brussels VOL. 1. which this city has now had the advantage of water communication with Antwerp and the German Ocean for more than two centuries and a half. Another canal, running south from Brussels, connects it with Char leroi on the Sambre; while a branch, that strikes off to the west before the canal reaches Charleroi, leads to the stone-quarries of Fontaine l'Evêque and the coal districts of Mons. 3 C The city of Brussels is partly situated on a small eminence, and partly on a lower level, some of the streets being very steep. The ramparts, which once surrounded it, are now levelled and changed into promenades like the boulevards of Paris. Brussels is six or seven miles in circumference, has eight principal entrances, as many squares or public places, and, before the late revolution, had about 100,000 inhabitants. The lower town, which is irregularly built, and contains a number of houses in the Gothic style, is chiefly peopled by Flemings who speak their own language. A colony of Walloons is found in the south-east corner of the city; while some Spanish refugees, Jews, French, and English residents add to the motley population of the place. The quarter of the park is that which is occupied by the people of rank and property, and by the English. The park contains a great central area, intersected by broad gravel walks, which are lined with elm, lime, and walnut trees, altogether forming a delightful promenade, and an agreeable shade in the hot days of summer. The principal square in Brussels is the Place Royale, which, among other edifices, contains the Hôtel de Ville, or town-house, a Gothic building, with a tower or steeple, above 360 feet high, crowned by a gilded copper statue of the Archangel Michael. In this building, in the year 1555, Charles V. abdicated the sovereignty of this portion of his extensive dominions in favour of his bigoted and cruel son Philip II. Brussels contains many handsome churches, and some of great antiquity. The old church of Ste. Gudule, near the great Sablon-square, is approached by a magnificent flight of steps, and attracts the attention of travellers by the curious carvings of the pulpit, which is made of oak, and represents, in bas-relief, the banishment of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden. As a seat of science and literature Brussels holds a high rank, and contains the usual appendages of libraries, academies, a botanic garden, &c., which are found in most large continental cities. It has lately been proposed to establish one university in Brussels for the whole kingdom, in place of those already existing in Louvaine, Ghent, and Liege. The gallery of paintings is an extensive and fine collection, adorned with the works of the best Flemish painters, and affording an excellent school for young artists. Painting, indeed, a few years back, received much encouragement at Brussels, to which the general demand in Belgium for fine altar-pieces must materially contribute. The botanic garden of Brussels is neither large nor remarkable for its collection of plants; but it has a noble repository for orange-trees, about 140 feet long and 50 wide. Some tourists say that, in 1817, there were about one hundred and seventy of these beautiful trees of various sizes, some as high as 18 feet including the tub in which they stand, and with stems measuring as much as two feet in circumference. The orange-trees have survived the numerous political changes which this city has undergone. Some of them, being at least two hundred years old, have belonged to the various Archdukes and Archduchesses of Austria, who have held their court at Brussels; they have outlived the dominion of the French, the dynasty of William of Orange, the first and last king of the Entire Netherlands, and, if they still exist, as we suppose they do, they are now flourishing under a new system of government. Among the pleasant walks of Brussels, one of the most delightful is a long avenue planted chiefly with limes and elms, which leads from the north part of the city towards the palace of Lacken, formerly the summer residence of the late King of the Netherlands. To the south of the city lies the forest of Soignies, through which the road passes for the greatest part of the way to Waterloo, which is about 10 miles south of Brussels. The common beech is the most prevalent tree in the forest; but elm, oak, and ash, also grow here. This forest supplies Brussels with fire-wood, which is cut in logs The about three feet long, and about a foot round. scattered huts of the woodmen, sometimes with mud walls, are seen here and there. Brussels has long been a considerable manufacturing town, and is particularly noted for its lace; but, before the late revolution. the cotton-spinning, calico printing, and the manufacture of cotton cloth, employed many thousand people,-in 1815 as many as 12,000. Woollen cloth, hats, glass, gold and silver articles, are also among the products of its manufacturing industry. The bookmanufactory itself, including type-founding, printing, and the sale of books, employs a great number of people. This city, with the territory around it, and indeed the whole country of the Netherlands, has been subject to great political changes, to which, from its position with respect to the west of Europe, it seems particularly exposed. Under the Dukes of Brabant, the Princes of the house of Burgundy, and the Spanish and Austrian Governors, Brussels grew into a city of importance for its wealth and manufacturing industry; but like many of the towns of the Low Countries it has occasionally witnessed scenes of horror, such as, for humanity's sake, we hope will not be soon repeated. The ferocious Duke of Alva resided here during the latter days of Spanish tyranny, and shed more blood during his short administration than probably any European tyrant on record. The Counts of Egmont and Horn were executed in the great square of Brussels before the eyes of this sanguinary governor. In speaking of the literary and scientific institutions of Brussels, we should not omit to mention the geogra phical establishment of a private individual, M. Van der Maelen. The following particulars are derived from M. Balbi's new geographical work, which contains the only account that we have by us at present:- M. Van der Maelen's establishment contains numerous workshops for artists, a garden for naturalizing plants, a museum of natural history, and a good library. The library contains an immense collection of voyages, periodical works, memoirs of academies, and a very large collection of maps. This institution has already published an Atlas in four hundred sheets, which, if properly placed, would form a globe about twenty-four feet in diameter. This spirited individual has also published an Atlas of Europe in one hundred and sixty-five sheets, a map of Belgium in forty-two, of Holland in twenty-four, and special geographical dictionaries of all the Belgic provinces, on a plan entirely new, containing all the geographical and statistical information that can be required. PROVERBS. "A MAN of fashion," says Lord Chesterfield, never has recourse to proverbs and vulgar aphorisms." And yet many greater men than Lord Chesterfield have not been ashamed of employing the pithy maxims that were husbanded in the memories of the people before they had books for their guides. Those of our forefathers who could read had proverbs stamped on the blades of their knives, and the borders of their pewter plates; and, according to an old dramatist, they "conned them out of goldsmith's rings." A member of the House of Commons, in the time of Elizabeth, made a speech in favour of a proposed law for limiting credit, in the following words:" I think this law is a good law. Even reckoning makes long friends. As far goes the penny as the penny's master. Laws are for the good of the wakeful and not the sleeping. Pay the reckoning over night, and you shall not be troubled in the morning. If ready money be the public measure, let every one cut his coat according to his cloth. When his old suit is in the wane, let him stay till that his money bring a new suit in the increase." Proverbs present a curious history of the popular mind; and in many lessons of individual pru dence they are safe guides. But there are some maxims, | animals, who seemed sensible of their hard fate; some especially on subjects connected with the general interests of the community, which show how little our ancestors understood of these leading principles of public economy upon which nations must now found their prosperity. Some of these ancient saws are still in the mouths of many who have not yet learnt to think without prejudice; and we may render an acceptable service if we occasionally endeavour to show the fallacy of such proverbs as the following, which at present occur to us: "The strength of work is the decay of trade." "One man's gain is another man's loss." THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE AT LISBON IN 1755. [Concluded from No. 46.] few were killed, others wounded, but the greater part, which had received no hurt, were left there to starve. From this square, the way led to my friend's lodgings, through a long, steep and narrow street: the new scenes of horror I met with here exceed all description; nothing could be heard but sighs and groans. I did not meet with a soul in the passage who was not bewailing the death of his nearest relations and dearest friends, or the loss of all his substance; I could hardly take a single step, without treading on the dead, or the dying: in some places lay coaches, with their masters, horses, and riders, almost crushed in pieces; here, mothers with infants in their arms; there, ladies richly dressed, priests, friars, gentlemen, mechanics, either in the same condition, or just expiring; some had their backs or thighs broken, others vast stones on their breasts; some lay almost buried in the rubbish, and, crying out in vain to the passengers for succour, were left to perish with the rest. At length I arrived at the spot opposite to the house where my friend, for whom I was so anxious, resided; and finding this as well as the contiguous buildings thrown down (which made me give him over for lost) I now thought of nothing else but saving my own life in the best manner I could, and in less than an hour got to a public-house, kept by one Morley, near the English burying-ground, about half a mile from the city, where I still remain, with a great number of my countrymen, as well as Portuguese, in the same wretched circumstances, having almost ever since lain on the ground, and never once within doors, with scarcely any covering to defend me from the inclemency of the night air, which, at this time, is exceeding sharp and piercing. As I thought it would be the height of rashness to From hence I turned back, and attempted getting by the other way into the great Square of the Palace, twice as large as Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, one side of which had been taken up by the noble quay I spoke of, now no more; but this passage was likewise obstructed by the stones fallen from the great arched gateway: I could not help taking particular notice, that all the apartments wherein the royal family used to reside, were thrown down, and themselves, without some extraordinary miracle, must unavoidably have perished, had they been there at the time of the shock. Finding this passage impracticable, I turned to the other arched-way which led to the new Square of the Palace, not the eighth part so spacious as the other, one side of which was taken up by the Patriarchal Church, which also served for the Chapel Royal, and the other by a most magnificent building of modern architecture, probably indeed by far the most so, not yet completely finished; as to the former, the roof and part of the front walls were thrown down, and the latter, notwithstanding their solidity, had been so shaken, that several large stones tell from the top, and every part seemed disjointed. The square was full of coaches, chariots, chaises, horses, and mules, deserted by their drivers and attendants, as well as their owners. The nobility, gentry, and clergy, who were assisting at divine service when the earthquake began, fled away with the utmost precipitation, every one where his fears carried him, leaving the splendid apparatus of the numerous altars, to the mercy of the first comer: but this did not so much affect me, as the distress of the poor Perhaps you may think the present doleful subject here concluded; but, alas! the horrors of the 1st of November are sufficient to fill a volume. As soon as it grew dark, another scene presented itself little less shocking than those already described-the whole city appeared in a blaze, which was so bright that I could easily see to read by it. It may be said without exaggeration, it was on fire at least in a hundred different places at once, and thus continued burning for six days together, without intermission, or the least attempt being It went on consuming every thing the earthquake had spared, and the people were so dejected and terrified, that few or none had courage enough to venture down to save any part of their substance; every one had his eyes turned towards the flames, and stood looking on with silent grief, which was only interrupted by the cries and shrieks of women and children calling on the saints and angels for succour, whenever the earth began to tremble, which was so often this night, and indeed I may say ever since, that the tremours, more or less, did not cease for a quarter of an hour together. I could never learn that this terrible fire was owing to any subterraneous eruption, as some reported, but to three causes, which all concurring at the same time, will naturally account for the prodigious havock it made. The 1st of November being All Saints Day, a high festival among the Portuguese, every altar in every church and chapel (some of which have more than twenty) was illuminated with a number of wax tapers and lamps, as customary; these setting fire to the curtains and timber-work that fell with the shock, the conflagration soon spread to the neighbouring houses, and being there joined with the fires in the kitchen chimneys, increased to such a degree, that it might easily have destroyed the whole city, though no other cause had concurred, especially as it met with no interruption. But what would appear incredible to you, were the fact less public and notorious, is, that a gang of hardened villains, who had been confined, and got out of prison when the wall fell, at the first shock, were busily employed in setting fire to those buildings, which stood some chance of escaping the general destruction. I cannot conceive what could have induced them to this hellish work, except to add to the horror and confusion, that they might, by this means, have the better opportunity of plundering with security. But there was no necessity for taking this trouble, as they might certainly have done their business without it, since the whole city was so deserted before night, that I believe not a soul remained in it, except those execrable villains, and others of the same stamp. It is possible some among them might have had other motives besides robbing, as one in particular being apprehended (they say he was a Moor, condemned to the galleys) confessed at the gallows, that he had set fire to the King's Palace, with his own hand; at the same time glorying in the action, and declaring with his last breath, that he hoped to have burnt all the royal family. It is likewise generally believed that Mr. Bristow's house, which was an exceeding strong edifice, built on vast stone arches, and had stood the shocks without any great damage, further than what I have mentioned, was consumed in the same manner. The fire in short, by some means or other, may be said to have destroyed the whole city, at least every thing that was grand or valuable in it. With regard to the buildings it was observed that the solidest in general fell the first. Every parish church, convent, nunnery, palace, and public edifice, with an infinite number of private houses, were either thrown down or so miserably shattered, that it was rendered dangerous to pass by them. The whole number of persons that perished, including those who were burnt, or afterwards crushed to death whilst digging in the ruins, is supposed, on the lowest calculation, to amount to more than sixty thousand; and thougn the damage in other respects cannot be computed, yet you may form some idea of it, when I assure you that this extensive and opulent city is now nothing but a vast heap of ruins; that the rich and poor are at present upon a level; some thousands of families which but the day before had been easy in their circumstances, being now scattered about in the fields, wanting every conveniency of life, and finding none able to relieve them. [Interior of the Opera House; from a print by Le Bas, published in 1757, after a drawing made on the spot.] A few days after the first consternation was over, I ventured down into the city by the safest ways I could pick out, to see if there was a possibility of getting any thing out of my lodgings, but the ruins were now so augmented by the late fire, that I was so far from being able to distinguish the individual spot where the house stood, that I could not even distinguish the street amidst such mountains of stones and rubbish which rose on every side. Some days after I ventured down again with several porters, who, having long plied in these parts of the town, were well acquainted with the situation of particular houses; by their assistance I at last discovered the spot; but was soon convinced to dig for any thing here, besides the danger of such an attempt, would never answer the expense, and what further induced me to lay aside all thoughts of the matter, was the sight of the ruins still smoking, from whence I knew for certain that those things I set the greatest value on, must have been irrecoverably lost in the fire. On both the times when I attempted to make this fruitless search, especially the first, there came such an intolerable stench from the dead bodies, that I was ready to faint away, and though it did not seem so great this last time, yet it had like to have been more fatal to me, as I contracted a fever by it, but of which, God be praised, I soon got the better. However, this made me so cautious for the future, that I avoided passing near certain places, where the stench was so excessive that people began to dread an infection. A gentleman told me, that going into the town a few days after the earthquake, he saw several bodies lying in the streets, some horribly mangled, as he supposed, by the dogs; others half burnt; some quite roasted; and that in certain places, particularly near the doors of churches, they lay in vast heaps, piled one upon another. You may guess at the prodigious havock which must have been made, by the single instance I am going to mention :There was a high arched passage, like one of our old city gates, fronting the west door of the ancient cathedral; on the left hand was the famous church of St. Antonio, and on the right some private houses, several stories high. The whole area surrounded by all these buildings did not much exceed one of our small courts in London. At the first shock, numbers of people who were then passing under the arch, fled into the middle of this area for shelter; those in the two churches, as many as could possibly get out, did the same: at this instant the arched gate-way, with the fronts of the two churches and contiguous buildings, all inclining one towards another with the sudden violence of the shock, fell down and buried every soul as they were standing here crowded together. Thus, my dear friend, have I giver. you a genuine, though imperfect account, of this terrible judgment, which has left so deep an impression on my mind, that I shall never wear it off: I have lost all the money I had by me, and have saved no other clothes than what I have on my back; but what I regret most is the irreparable loss of my books and papers. To add to my present distress, those friends to whom I could have applied on any other occasion, are now in the same wretched circumstances with myself. However, notwithstanding all that I have suffered, I do not think I have reason to despair, but rather to return my gratefulest acknowledgments to the Almighty, who hath so visibly preserved my life amidst such dangers, where so many thousands perished; and the same good Providence, I trust, will still continue to protect me, and point out some means to extricate myself out of these difficulties. THE above engraving represents the present appearance | water's edge, while masses of the richest foliage cover in of this picturesque ruin, to the name of which at least the beautiful song, beginning "From Roslin Castle's echoing walls Resound my shepherd's ardent calls," has given so much celebrity. Roslin Castle is in the parish of Lasswade, a few miles south from Edinburgh; and it stands on the north bank of the river called the North Esk, on a rock which overhangs the stream, and at a point where it makes a sharp turn and pursues its course for a moment with something of the dash and hurry of a cataract. Hence, according to one etymology, the name Roslyn, from the Gaelic Ross, a promontory or jutting rock, and Lyn, a waterfall, the Rock of the Waterfall. Others, however, derive it from another compound Roskelyn, signifying the Rock in the Glen; and this is also strikingly descriptive of the position of the castle, which stands in the hollow of a valley, and is surrounded on all sides by hills. The situation is in the highest degree romantic and beautiful, the wood in the bosom of which the castle stands extending to the almost every direction the brows and summits of the surrounding heights. The castle itself is now a mere ruin, consisting of little more than a few fragments of masonry, which project their grey and ragged tops from the midst of the trees, the time-shattered work of man making a fine though melancholy contrast with the fresh and everspringing green of nature. There wave the old, but yet strong and leafy boughs; beside them runs the river along its rocky bed; ""Twill murmur on a thousand years, And flow as now it flows:" but the home of ancient state is stripped bare of all that once adorned it, nor roof nor floor remains of the spacious halls and gilded chambers that were wont to lodge their troops of retainers and guests, and to ring with their festive revelry. And they who tenanted them are still more utterly passed away; man's works are perishable, but he himself is of still briefer date. The old Lords of Roslin are supposed to have had a baronial residence on this spot from the eleventh century, when they first came into |