the afternoon of the 16th of April, 1717.
The town-house is one of the most conspicuous of the public buildings at Brussels, although it is situated in the lowest part of the town, its steeple rising to the height of 364 feet; it is a very fine piece of Gothic architecture. The equestrian statue, noticed by M. Dutens, as being placed on the top of a house in the square before the town-house, has disappeared; the horse and his rider having been removed to a more suitable situation. The church of St. Gudule presents a venerable and interesting appearance; it contains several fine paintings, and windows of stained glass. There are many ancient tombs of the old Dukes of Brabant. The church of St. James is also worthy of notice, and its façade of the Corinthian order, is an elegant and uniform piece of architecture, which does honour to the taste of the builder.
Brussels contains many fine collections of paintings, which I have not time to enumerate; but I was much pleased with some pictures of M. Danoots, to whom I had a letter. They are not very numerous, but are undoubted originals of S. Rosa, Teniers, Rembrandt, Myiens, and of J. Bassano, who is remarkable for having attained a greater age (82) than most of the great painters, he has accordingly left behind him a greater number of pictures than almost any other master. He is said to have expressed great regret on his death-bed, that he should be obliged to quit the world at the moment when he had begun to make some little progress in his art. A shorter life than Bassano's, is, however, sufficient to establish the reputation of an artist. Raphael died in his 37th year, but public opinion has placed him at the head of his art for general proficiency.
There are several excellent hotels in Brussels which command a view of the park. I was at one of these, the Hotel de Bellevue, and found the hour of the table d'hote had been changed to accommodate the English, to four o'clock, at least two hours later than the usual time; but as the company consisted always entirely of English it was but reasonable they should fix the hour. The dinner here more resembled an English one than any I had hitherto seen on the Continent, and reminded me of the public tables at Cheltenham.
Brussels was some months since a very cheap residence, but I have been assured, that the prices of most articles have more than doubled since our troops first arrived here. Living at an hotel here is nearly as expensive as in London; but no doubt there is a considerable saving in the expences of a family who are recommended to honest trades-people. There are still a number of good houses to be let, notwithstanding the great influx of English, many of whom have engaged houses for four or five years, on terms which seem very reasonable to those accustomed to the London prices.
The country round Brussels presents several excursions which would probably have better answered my expectations had the weather been more favourable. The Abbey of Jurourin, was a country seat of the princes of the Austrian family, and was formerly famous for its menagerie. The forest of Sogne is of great extent; and its numerous avenues, which now had a sombre appearance, are, no doubt, in summer, much frequented by the inhabitants of Brussels. This forest was the property of the Emperor of Germany, and is said to have produced an annual revenue of one million of florins.
The prison, or house of correction, at Vilvorde, is worthy of attention, from the excellent manner in which it is conducted. Those who wish for the introduction of some improvements into our workhouses, might surely derive many useful hints from the manner in which similar establishments are conducted abroad; and although I have never thought much on the subject, yet I did not fail to remark the cleanliness, regularity, and industry, which prevailed here and in another place of the same kind near Berne.
Brussels is seen to great advantage from the ancient ramparts which surround it. I went entirely round the city in about two hours, and afterwards attended divine service, which was performed in English, to a congregation which proved the great number of English now here. There are at present but few very strongly fortified cities in Belgium, compared with the vast number which it formerly contained. The period is past, when, after the ablest engineers had exerted their utmost skill in the construction of fortifications around its cities, generals, not less distinguished, contended for the honour of reducing them. Amongst numberless other instances, the siege of Ostend sufficiently attests how successful the engineers have been in rendering those places strong; and also bears ample testimony to the perseverance of the commanders who at last succeeded in taking them. Ambrose Spinola entered Ostend in 1604, after a siege of above three years, during which the besieged lost 50,000 and the besiegers 80,000 men. The siege and capture of Valenciennes might also be adduced, if testimony were wanting of the zeal and bravery of British armies and commanders. But however justly these sieges are celebrated in modern times, the antiquarian who contends for the supremacy of past ages over the present, will not fail to instance the siege of Troy and the exploits of Achilles and Agamemnon, as a more distinguished instance of perseverance than any to be met with in these degenerate days, and if he should meet with some sceptic who insists that the heroes of Homer owe their existence only to the imagination of the poet, although he can assent to no such hypothesis, yet he will also instance the siege of Azotus, on the frontiers of Egypt, which Psammeticus, meditating extensive conquests, and thinking it beneath him to leave so strong a fortress unsubdued, is related to have spent 29 years of his reign in reducing.
As I was desirous of visiting Antwerp and Ghent, and as the period allotted for my tour was drawing to a close (a circumstance which the advanced season of the year gave me but little reason to regret) I left Brussels, enveloped in a fog, which might remind the English fashionables of those so prevalent in London during the gloomy season of November, and proceeded to Malines, 14 miles distant, formerly one of the greatest cities of Belgium, but now like too many other once celebrated places in that country, affording a melancholy contrast to its former splendour, and proving that in the vicissitude of all sublunary affairs, cities, as well as their inhabitants, are subject to decay.