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plains that lie stretched below. He occupies a square stone pedestal, over the spot where the Prince of Orange was wounded, upon a conical mound two hundred feet high, formed from the surrounding soil, and half clothed at present with purple clover. The rank crops with which the surfeited ground teemed for the first few summers after the action, are said to have fully justified the application of Ovid's hemistich :

"Scires è sanguine natos."

:

Yet, I cannot say I observed any unusual luxuriance in the corn, which was waving with the first tinge of harvest all around. The virtue of the sanguine manure is, after twenty-two years, no doubt, exhausted; and muchwhat as on this evening† may be supposed to have been the aspect of the country, antecedent to the three murderous days of 1815. The pretty blue scabious and scarlet poppy were profusely scattered about; and my fancy suggested that their colours symbolized not inaptly the great military powers that then met here in deadly strife, and of whose numbers, myriads (like these flowers) now lay mingled indiscriminately among the sods—the common parent and grave of both. Yet their premature weapons much more rudely marred than do these gaudy weedsthough mischievous after their measure— -the labours of that most honest and useful variety of our species, the farmer.

Hougoumont is really a very interesting spot. The scorched and ruined appearance, and loop-holed battered walls of the château, scarce need a tongue to tell their tale. Prior to the battle, it stood-to use my guide's expression-" dans un forêt;" but the few shattered trees, almost leafless, and literally riddled by balls, which have survived the dreadful firing of which it was the centre, make, at present, but a very scanty one. Captain Blackman's tomb lies in the orchard; a plain slab of stone, with the single inscription of his name. In the little chapel, sixteen wounded English were lodged; but though the farm was fired by the French bombs, it and they escaped. A crucifix over the door, inside, miraculously (so the barber said) arrested the flames. All these buildings have remained untouched to this day.

“La Belle Alliance" is a solitary public-house, a mile and half from Mont St. Jean; and, going thence, on the left-hand side of the road. Above the entrance is an inscription, commemorating the meeting of the Duke and Blucher after the victory, "se saluant vainqueurs." This was Napoleon's post during the engagement, and is little more than half a mile distant from the spot where the British General assembled his staff. Near the latter place are trophies to the memory of his aide-de-camp, Sir Alexander Gordon, and of the Hanoverian officers, and the tree where Sir Thomas Picton fell. That which marked Wellington's head

*I am told this trophy is an object of great offence to the French who repair here; and as Gérard's army passed to the siege of Antwerp, in 1831, they discharged some shells at it, which have slightly broken the pedestal, and damaged the teeth and tail of the beast.

† June 29th, 1837.

quarters has been cut down, and the level of the ground lowered for many acres, in order to supply the tumulus already noticed. This is a fault-a sin: it has destroyed the identity of a spot sacred to history.

The field where the Scotch Greys so heroically sustained the charge of Napoleon's Cuirassiers, is close by La Haye Sainte, a large farm upon the road-side on your right, and a short mile out of Mont St. Jean. The scene of the last decisive attack by the Life-Guards is on both sides the road, and includes the site of the great mound. Shaw's exploits, and the spot where he fell, are not forgotten. He received honourable mention from the barber.

I spent nearly three hours in recognising, tracing, and exploring; and they passed both quickly and pleasurably. The evening was cool, but the sun set in regimental lustre of crimson and gold, as if to sympathise in my somewhat excited train of thought. It was dark ere I regained the inn.

The obtrusive system of silent robbery which Englishmen must endure is truly disgusting. Now a plan, credential, or book-now some apocryphal relique, whose stores appear to be most profitably perennial-anon, some peasant, fortunate enough in holding the door of his inclosure open, should your eye, but in passing, pry through-and, finally, cripples, invalids, and starvelings and beggars (and the last most numerous), destitute of any one of the foregoing claims-but all alike in league against the money of les Anglais. It is imagined, doubtless, that he must approach a spot of so much national triumph in the best possible humour; though, if all are pestered as I was, it is hardly likely they will leave it so. Nay, a trifling douceur is not even thought a favour; and a damsel who joined herself to my guide, and into whose hand I dropped a quarter-franc, from no assignable motive but that she held it forth, actually turned her back rudely, without the slightest acknowledgment of my bounty. True it is, that the exalted opinion foreigners profess to entertain of us English is exactly proportioned to our profuseness in scattering our coin. This imposition is so barefaced, that I quite wonder we endure it patiently as we do. Two fellow-passengers and myself, while the coach relayed this morning, called each for a glass of beer. The woman asked of my companions five centimes. I had no need to inquire, as she was receiving the price under my nose; yet, for experiment's sake, I did, and she demanded ten. I paid her, not thinking the twentieth part of tenpence worth one angry word, but took the hint in future to pay my cents and spare my questions.

I had just sufficient time, in the morning, to pay another hurried visit to the field of battle, and enrol a sketch of it in my portfolio; lingering till the last moment, to imbibe as much as I could of the atmosphere, and realize in some measure the characters of the spot, decidedly the most laurelled in modern annals.

While at breakfast, the English guide, Cotton, visited me, and appeared annoyed, not unnaturally, that the Frenchman had been beforehand with him. From his remarks, however, I have reason to believe that my barber gave me a very correct account; and for all I know, his fragments

may be as genuine as the silver-mounted sabres and pistols, that lay far more serious siege to your purse, within the cottage of the sergeant-major. Yet, I am free to own, that I think the preference is due to a countryman, a British soldier, and a relic of the glorious 18th of June.

We reached Namur about mid-day. The first picturesque view— and, with its domed cathedral, two rivers, junction bridge, and frowning cliff-built citadel, it makes a very picturesque one,-that had greeted my eyes since I left England; and it proved to be the commencement of one of the most beautiful drives in the world: I mean the high road along the Meuse to Liege through Huy. I was reminded, in turn, of Clydesdale, the Clifton Avon, and the valleys of the Dove and Wye; the huge fortresses of Huy and Choquier quite dispelled, however, any illusion which the resemblance might have excited for the moment. The alluvial land in the lap of the valley bears the aspect of great fertility; and there are plantations of the hop at Andenne, and of the vine upon the hill-side, facing south, beyond Huy.

Our road was occasionally canopied by avenues of trees; and as we approached Liege, numerous massy dwellings and factories, with tall chimneys, denoted the vicinity of an important manufacturing town. It is entered through a handsome suburb on the river-side; and, just now, appeared to advantage, from the number and brilliancy of its gas lights.

Liege, though below Brussels and Antwerp in population, is perhaps the most flourishing town in Belgium; owing to its advantageous position for trade, and the facilities which the coal mines in its immediate neighbourhood afford for its manufactures, which are in iron, and consist chiefly of weapons of war. In the estimation of the man of business, accordingly, the importance of Liege is greater than that of either of the cities before named. Brussels suits the man of pleasure; while the attractions of Antwerp, though eminently a mercantile port, are principally for the man of taste. The first may be termed the Birmingham of the land, the last its Liverpool, the other its Parisian metropolis; though all upon a greatly diminished scale.

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The people are rather less in size than ourselves; the "braves Belges," suppose, make amends in the magnitude of their spirits. Pretensions to beauty they have none. Indeed, it is from the faithfulness of their portraits that we find the Flemish School of painting represent their characters-especially the females-so unengaging. Their complexion has neither the bright fairness of the Saxon, nor the comely smoothness of the brunette of southern Europe. The costume of the women is picturesque; and as they bear their large brazen pitchers, the lasses would, many of them, form tolerable representations of the Greek choëphoræ. They are expert basket-women; I noticed one carrying upon her head, and without applying either hand, a bundle of nine muskets, which must have been considerably more than half a hundred weight.

VOL. I.-NO. II.

H

THE CITY OF SYDNEY,

NEW SOUTH WALES.

In the year 1783, the British government resolved upon forming a settlement of convicts in the latest discovered portion of the world; and for this purpose despatched Governor Philip, with necessary instructions, to New South Wales. The Spaniards became acquainted with Australasia so early as 1609, when Don Pedro Fernando de Quiros navigated the southern ocean; and the Dutch visited those countries in 1616, under the conduct of Theodoric Hertoge: a galaxy of celebrated navigators followed in their wake; amongst whom the best known in England are Dampier, Cook, and Flinders. Passing Port Jackson without notice, Cook directed his attention to the inlet since named "Botany Bay," from the amazing variety of new plants discovered there by Sir Joseph Banks, and it was for this port that Philip was originally commissioned to steer. With an excellent judgment, and full powers of action, he determined upon abandoning the site fixed on by government, and wisely, as events have proved, laid the foundation of the first Australian city, Sydney, on a sheltered cove at the head of Port Jackson, in lat. 33o, 55′ S., lon. 150° 10′ E. This noble inlet is not above two miles across at its entrance between two gigantic cliffs, on the southern of which is a lighthouse, the lantern of which is elevated 345 feet above the level of the sea-surface, and 67 above the land; within, the port expands into a spacious and deep basin, where the whole navy of Great Britain might ride securely. It is navigable to a distance of fifteen miles from its entrance, with safe anchorage the whole way, and its shores are indented by nearly a hundred creeks, coves, inlets, and armlets, all deep, with good anchorage, and completely sheltered. On one of the safest and most picturesque of these retiring bays, having a surface that occupies half a mile in length by a greater average breadth, is the city of Sydney, the metropolis of Australasia, overhung and enriched by scenery at once picturesque and happylooking. Fort Macquarie guards the eastern point of the cove, and the height on the western, which separates Sydney Cove from Cockle Bay, is crowned by Dawe's Battery. The old town stood on two banks sloping to a rivulet, the principal part of the buildings being erected on "The Rocks," a name which that ancient, irregular, and now unfashionable quarter still retains. Intent upon the first laws of nature, all considerations of beauty and uniformity were overlooked by the first settlers, and houses were pitched like tents upon the most convenient spot that was disengaged. Governor Macquarie, who explored much of Australia in 1817, and was a great benefactor to the colony, notwithstanding the very obstinate resistance of the inhabitants, caused a complete remodelling of the town, established a perfect allignment in most of the streets, and even reduced "The Rocks" into a civilised form. George-street, which commences at the King's Wharf, bisects the city completely; while several other avenues, of nearly equal breadth, run

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