BRUSSELS is noted the world over for its fine laces and superior carpets. The Kingdom of Belgium is very little larger than the state of Connecticut, and yet it maintains a standing army of 50,000 men, while the whole of the United States has a standing army of only 36,000. The large army, together with the maintenance of the royal family, impose upon the people a very burdensome taxation. The people here know very little about improved implements of any kind, their work being done mostly by main strength and native awkwardness. Belgium is cultivated like a garden, and is as pretty as a picture.
We now leave Belgium. As the train dashes across an imaginary line, “a change comes o’er the scene.” The soldiers wear a different uniform, the people speak a different language, pay homage to a different king, and handle a different money. Money, however, is a scarce article in this portion of the moral vineyard.
I have always associated the name of Charlemagne with Aix-la-Chapelle. It is, therefore, with no little interest that I visit this ancient and historical city. I find this place of 80,000 inhabitants beautifully situated in the midst of a fertile valley surrounded by gently sloping hills. This was the birthplace and favorite residence of Charlemagne, the Julius Caesar of the eighth century. This venerable place was the second city of importance in the holy Roman Empire, its being the capital of Charlemagne’s dominions north of the Alps. Here thirty-seven emperors were crowned; here ecclesiastical convocations assembled, and from here imperial edicts went forth.
The Cathedral, or Muenster, built (796-804) by Charlemagne still stands, and is one of the most interesting objects in the city. On the right of the principal entrance to the Cathedral is a brazen wolf. According to the legend connected with this quadruped, the funds for the erection of the church having run short, the devil offered to supply the deficiency on condition that the first living being that entered the house should be sacrificed to himself. The magistrate entered into the compact, but defrauded the devil of his expected reward by admitting a wolf into the sacred edifice immediately on its completion.
I seat myself in the Imperial Throne of Charlemagne, in which also his remains reposed for more than 350 years, having been found by Otho III, who opened the tomb in the eleventh century. In the Cathedral Treasury is the famous “Shrine of the Four Relics.” It is composed of the purest gold, and is studded with fifteen hundred precious stones. This shrine is said to contain the robes of the Virgin Mary, the swaddling clothes of the infant Christ, the bloody cloth in which the body of John the Baptist was wrapped, and the linen cloth with which the Savior was girded on the Cross. The relics are shown only once in seven years, on which occasion thousands of people flock to see them notwithstanding the exorbitant charges made. It has now been six years since the last exhibition took place. The next time for robbing the superstitious people is close at hand.
The pulpit, presented by Henry II, of Germany, is a gem of beauty, being richly adorned with gold, carved ivory, diamonds, and other precious stones. I dare say, however, that this Romish pulpit, as splendid as it is, has seldom been adorned with the precious truths of God’s blessed Word.
In three hours after leaving Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne is in sight. Coleridge sarcastically says:
